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The Strange Tale of Richard Parsons, Bisley Parish Register (P47/IN1/2)

Sometimes, these old tales contain a grain of truth.  This is one such instance for there is evidence of the eventual outcome.  In February 1766, a Minchinhampton gentleman called Richard Parsons visited a friend’s house in Chalford to play cards.  The evening apparently went well until around 11pm, when a fierce dispute arose between the players about the number of hands played in the game.  Parsons said six, while the others said five.  Furious, Parsons accused his fellow players of cheating and shouted aloud that he “might never enter heaven and that his flesh might rot upon his bones if there were not six in the game!” The next night the men played again and all went well, except that during the evening Parsons kept complaining to his fellow card-players of pain and swelling on his limbs.  Over the next few days his whole body began to suffer and he went to a doctor who gave him some medicine but this didn’t help.  Parsons deteriorated quickly and those who saw him thought he’d become a zombie with his flesh simply rotting off his bones.  He died within the month and was buried on the 5th March 1766 at Bisley as the above entry in the Bisley parish register shows.