The Lincoln Imp....and indecorous intrigue

There is a little known fact about Lincoln (well, technically, about Lincoln's famous landmark) that many do not know of.......the little imp that resides inside the cathedral. On many a school trip I would search for it as we walked round; I often wonder if I could find it today (perhaps that can be a summer holiday activity to enjoy with Ben next year if I can manage to persuade him that Grandad doesn't actually sing there at all during the day..)

There are many stories about how the imp came to be there, but this is my favourite:

"...A version of the story with two imps is that they were sent by the devil to cause trouble in the cathedral and they soon started to annoy the angels in the cathedral. The angels told the two imps to leave but the first started to throw things at the angels and the second hid. The angels turned the first imp to stone but this gave the second imp a chance to escape. The second imp is said to have escaped with the help of a witch. The imp went off with the witch on her broomstick but the witch was so fond of the imp she turned the imp into a black cat...."

Of course, anything that involves witches and broomsticks and I'm sold; add a black cat to the mix and there is no contest.

So, that said, imagine how an imp situated in the city of your birth might impact on your character... As this dawned on me this afternoon I have to say much became clearer to me, if only I had thought to blame my life's' transgressions on that little stony scamp. When all is said, there has to be some implication, does there not? A reasonably engrained desire to seek an imp out must influence somehow over the years...

So my albeit relaxed fascination this week became slightly clearer....

How do you go from thinking there is little to attract you to a place, to retain your interest, to stir up intrigue....to being fully engaged with your present and immediate future? Somewhere there has to be an imp up to no good.