Nanny Rutt

Lore & Background

The story of Nanny Rutt is an oral tradition that varies depending on the teller, but common features exist. A young girl, given different names in versions, arranges to meet a lover at the well in Math Wood. She sets off in the early evening and meets an old woman wrapped in a shawl that casts a deep shadow on her face. The old woman warns the girl about the dangers of the wood at night and of eloping without parental permission. The girl ignores the warnings and continues to the well, where she waits for her lover, who never arrives. As darkness falls, she becomes lost and stumbles upon a clearing with an overgrown stone building. In the doorway stands the old woman, her shawl pulled back to reveal a hideous face lit by ghostly moonlight. The girl tries to run but stumbles; the old woman's shadow falls on her, freezing her body and drying her throat. The girl is never seen again.

Reader's Guide

Nanny Rutt's significance lies in her role as a local bogeyman figure used to warn children against wandering in Math Wood. The story's date of origin is obscure, but it was current in the 1920s and is likely earlier. The name 'Nanny Rutt' may carry symbolic weight: 'le rut' is a French word derived from Latin 'rugitus' meaning 'sexual drive', and 'Nanny' can refer to a grandmother or childminder, as well as a female goat. One possible explanation for the tale is that a girl's developing sexuality led her into the wood, where she met someone and was taken to a home for unmarried mothers, never to return. At a time of reticence about sexuality, Nanny Rutt was invented to explain the disappearance. If this occurred when French was remembered in England, the story could be medieval. Nanny Rutt might also be based on a real woman who once lived in the woods.

Did You Know?

• Nanny Rutt is associated with an artesian spring called Nanny Rutt's well in Math Wood, near Northorpe, Lincolnshire.
• The story was used by parents to warn children against wandering in the wood, making Nanny Rutt a form of the Bogeyman.
• The name 'Nanny Rutt' may derive from the French 'le rut', meaning 'sexual drive', and 'Nanny' can mean grandmother or childminder.
• One explanation suggests the tale may have originated to account for a girl sent to a home for unmarried mothers.