The Bloodied Hand, Chirk, Denbighshire, Wales
Posted by: 
Ddraig Ddu
N 52° 55.952 W 003° 03.409
30U E 496181 N 5864766
A blood red hand features on the coat of arms of the Myddleton family who lived at Chirk Castle for 500 years, a dark tale of what a son would do to beat his brother is believed to lay as the heart of the bloodlied hand
Waymark Code: WMAKJ4
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/25/2011
Views: 6
A blood red hand features on the coat of arms of the Myddleton family who lived at Chirk Castle for 500 years.
There are many tales of how the heraldic symbol came to be, writes Nick from the Web Team. Locals tell of how one Lord Myddleton issued a challenge to his feuding twin sons as he lay on his death bed. Unsure of which son was born first, the dying Lord challenged the pair to race on horseback around Chirk Castle. The first son to return and touch his father's deathbed would inherit the estate.
Legend has it that the race was a close one. As the feuding sons tore up the staircase, neck and neck, to their father's chamber, one of the sons tripped. Realising he would lose the race and all the wealth that went with it, he instantly drew his sword, sliced off his own hand and threw the bloody appendage onto his father's bed thereby claiming his right to inherit the 13th century Marches Fortress.
A lighter tale tells of the red hand signifying the warm hand of friendship extended to visitors to the castle.
There are three hotels nearby with the name 'The Hand Hotel' nearby named after this dark tale.
With thanks to the BBC site for giving a more complete story than the one that had been told to me as a child.