John Shorne, rector of North Marston, whose will is dated 8 May 1308, was honoured as a saint without ever being made one. He was believed to cure the ague and to have conjured the devil into a boot, and church screens in Norfolk show him holding the boot with the devil peeping out. His shrine drew pilgrims until the Reformation, and a well near the church bearing his name was thought to heal many diseases.
Master John Shorne and the devil in the boot
8 May · North Marston, Buckinghamshire
No longer kept
he was thought to have a gift for curing the ague. He had greater powers than this, however, for it was reported of him that he once conjured the devil into a boot.
From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, pp. 609-610. Read the original
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