Murder By Mistake
One 18th Century owner of The Flushing Inn is remembered for more than the quality of his cuisine! John Breads was the landlord of the Flushing and also owned the Butchers Shop. He had fallen on hard times and blamed his bad luck on the Mayor of Rye, James Lamb. Over time, Breads had built up Lamb's very small part in his misfortunes into a consuming hatred, and so Breads decided to do away with Lamb. Like all the best stories, this sorry saga had an even sadder sting in its tail.
An Unfortunate Night
The night when Breads had decided to kill Mayor Lamb was lucky for Lamb but unlucky for another whom Breads mistook for his victim. James Lamb was feeling unwell so asked his brother-in-law, Allan Grebell, to attend a party in his place. Grebell was happy to oblige but made the fatal mistake of borrowing the Mayor's distinctive Mayoral cloak. It was this cloak that Grebell was wearing as he returned happily from the party that caused Breads to mistake him for Lamb.
Breads barged into Grebell and stabbed him in the back, thinking him to be Lamb. The unfortunate Grebell did not realise he had been wounded, and returned home thinking he had just been pushed. He dismissed the concerns of his manservant and fell asleep in front of his fire never to wake up.
"Butchers should kill Lambs!"
As Breads stabbed Grebell he is said to have cried out then and later in a drunken stupor, "Butchers should kill Lambs!" This and the fact that his knife was found covered in blood led to his arrest. He was held in chains in the Ypres Tower, (above), for over 60 days until his trial, when he was found guilty of murdering the unfortunate Allan Grebell and executed. His remains (you can see his skull still in the gibbet in the photo below) can still be seen in Rye's Local Museum. You can also read the full, intriguing story of Breeds' curious obsession and hatred of Lamb in the book, " Murder By Mistake" by Kenneth Clark, which is available from the Museum.
