With subjects ranging from the Croglin Vampire and the Renwick Cockatrice to witchcraft and the Cursing Stone of Carlisle, this collection of first-hand accounts contains all manner of weird and wonderful events from Cumbria's long and tumultuous history. With more than 50 photographs, both archive and modern, and sightings of everything from lake monsters and anomalous big cats to fairies, phantom airships and the Solway Spaceman, prepare to be astonished! Geoff Holder is the author of more than twenty titles exploring strange and unexplained events in the North of England and in Scotland, and this collection will fascinate and amaze both residents and visitors alike.

Spiritually there is a great hunger today for contemplative and more satisfying experiences with God. Puritanism might seem to be an unlikely source for this, yet few groups in the history of Christian spirituality have written more extensively or wisely on the subject. Isaac Ambrose (1604-64), a relatively forgotten English Puritan, developed a theological foundation for the spiritual life based upon the Christian's intimate union with Christ, which the Puritans often called "spiritual marriage." Schwanda demonstrates that this vibrant relationship of union and communion with Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was manifested in a deep contemplative piety of gazing lovingly and gratefully upon God. At the same time, Ambrose did not neglect loving his neighbors. This study reveals how heavenly meditation was one of the significant practices engaged by Ambrose to cultivate spiritual intimacy and enjoyment of God. Further, his experiential reading of Scripture, in particular the Song of Songs, provided him with a language of ravishment and delight in God. This book provides a distinctively Protestant foundation for recovering the contemplative life while recognizing the significant contributions of the Western Catholic tradition.

"The volume provides a detailed account of the Symson family, and an appendix profiles some 200 correspondents, including many north west families."--BOOK JACKET.