Молли Лей: Қарғыс және қайырымдылық тарихы

the English noblewoman, activist, writer and hymn writer
the English writer about crofting in Scotland

Margaret 'Molly' Leigh (1685–March 1748) was an English property owner in the Staffordshire town of Burslem who, in her will, left substantial sums to charity. She was also accused of witchcraft, and, after her death, her grave was disturbed following claims she was haunting the town.

Margaret Leigh was born in 1685 in a cottage at Jackfield on the edge of the moors at Burslem (now one of the towns of Stoke on Trent) in Staffordshire. She was reputedly a solitary character who made a living selling milk from her herd of cows to travellers and passers by. Described as ugly possibly disfigured through smallpox After claims that her ghost haunted the town, it is said Spencer—along with clerics from Stoke, Wolstanton, and Newcastle under Lyme—exhumed her body, opened the coffin, and threw in the still living blackbird that had been her companion. They then reburied Molly in a north to south direction, at a right angle to all the other graves in the churchyard.

Leigh ran a successful business and in her will left substantial sums to relatives including her mother, Sarah Booth, who received the rent and profits from Jackfield. A friend, Alice Beech, who lived on land at Wall Flatt, owned by Leigh, witnessed the will, dated 21 March 1748, and was given Wall Flatt after Leigh died. Her will also included land at Newbold Astbury, near Congleton, and gold mourning rings for all her surviving relatives. that all her land and tenements – apart from Wall Flatt – should be sold and the profits used to build "a hospital in Burslem for the reception and habitation of poor women" and to provide food and clothing for these "poor women of the Parish". filmed in the Stoke area in 2012 and distributed through Distrify via Facebook in 2014. The film plot involves the spirit of Molly returning to wreak revenge upon the descendants of those who wronged her. It won Best Drama at Portobello Film Festival in 2013. Molly Crows is now available to watch in full on YouTube. The story of Molly Leigh is featured in the finale of the Alton Towers' Dungeon attraction. The story is told to guests in a dark atmospheric room before inanimate objects begin to move and the guests encounter Molly herself. Local Staffordshire band Mercia wrote a song about her story, entitled "Molly Leigh (As the Crow Flies)", released in 2021.