Peg o' Nell, the water spirit of the River Ribble, was was once a young servant girl at the Hall.
Legend
Peg o' Nell was said to have slipped through the ice and drowned in the Ribble while fetching water on a frigid night. To punish those who failed to rescue her, came back every seven years to steal a victim. On Peg's night, when the Ribble rises to snare a new victim, and, because she could be tricked by drowning some sort of animal, it was considered appropriate to make proprietary sacrifices of small birds or animals to the river spirit.