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John Middleton (1578-1623), the Child of Hale, was 9ft 3in
tall. He was said to have been bewitched after falling asleep
on the sands one evening, and awoke to find he had burst
out of his clothes. Following this event, many legends and
stories clung to this Jacobean giant. Attacked by a bull,
he threw it by the horns over a hedge. On another occasion,
he had to be chained to his bed during a fever and on his
recovery one of the chains was sent to Chester to prevent
the mills on the Dee from floating down-river; the second
went to Lincolnshire to keep the tower of St Botolph’s
Church from being blown out to sea; while the third was
used to hold down the Devil who had been captured while
he had bellyache.
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