Thirteen Tally Marks: The Mill That Keeps Counting Children

Dark Myths and Legends · Aug 30, 2026 · 18m

Thirteen Tally Marks: The Mill That Keeps Counting Children

There is a cold, meticulous counting that has lasted almost a century on a ridge above Aldwell Creek: thirteen tally marks carved into fieldstone beneath the initials H. M., and a fresh sheet of paper with pencil lines reading "ONE FOR THE COLD, TWO FOR THE CLAY" left atop it - why is someone still adding to a memorial that points to thirteen children who died in March 1873?

In this episode, we follow how a surveyor's photograph, a folklorist's notebook, and a parish burial register connect a stone, a verse, and a cluster of deaths…