My grandad was one of those Scouse 'characters' who claimed to have done multiple jobs (butcher, bartender, sailor, inventor, boxing trainer, magician, dog breeder, etc etc, you get the idea) who used to dazzle me as a kid with an endless series of wildly improbable stories. The oddest of all of these concerned the mice in woolly suits.
According to him, back in the forties, a weird phenomenon started - if I recall correctly - in the Everton area of the city. People started finding dead mice in alleyways. Nothing odd about that, of course, but these ones were beautifully dressed in knitted black and white woollen suits. It looked like they'd been on their way to some kind of upper class mouse dining club. A day or so would go by and then another would turn up, and then another. The odd one was seen alive, dashing around in these smart little outfits. This went on for a couple of months or so.
Eventually the mystery was solved: while most people were killing the mice to cut down on the infestation in the area, a little old lady in this terraced street couldn't bear to harm them, so she'd knit these little suits, catch the mice, pull on the outfits and release them outside where she felt they'd be better kitted out to cope with the elements.
Now, as I got older, I gradually filed most of my grandad's stories in the 'Barking Mad Myth' section of my mental library. But then I heard Mike McCartney, Paul's brother, on the radio a few weeks ago - and he told the exact same story, saying that his uncle, who was a rent collector in the area, had witnessed these mice himself. I nearly fell off my chair.
So I was wondering: has anyone else heard of this? It could still just be an urban myth, but to suddenly think, after all these years, that it might actually have happened is gobsmacking!
According to him, back in the forties, a weird phenomenon started - if I recall correctly - in the Everton area of the city. People started finding dead mice in alleyways. Nothing odd about that, of course, but these ones were beautifully dressed in knitted black and white woollen suits. It looked like they'd been on their way to some kind of upper class mouse dining club. A day or so would go by and then another would turn up, and then another. The odd one was seen alive, dashing around in these smart little outfits. This went on for a couple of months or so.
Eventually the mystery was solved: while most people were killing the mice to cut down on the infestation in the area, a little old lady in this terraced street couldn't bear to harm them, so she'd knit these little suits, catch the mice, pull on the outfits and release them outside where she felt they'd be better kitted out to cope with the elements.
Now, as I got older, I gradually filed most of my grandad's stories in the 'Barking Mad Myth' section of my mental library. But then I heard Mike McCartney, Paul's brother, on the radio a few weeks ago - and he told the exact same story, saying that his uncle, who was a rent collector in the area, had witnessed these mice himself. I nearly fell off my chair.
So I was wondering: has anyone else heard of this? It could still just be an urban myth, but to suddenly think, after all these years, that it might actually have happened is gobsmacking!
