Curses! English city won’t destroy artwork

A 14-ton “cursed” artwork that some in a northern English city wanted destroyed because they said it had brought misery and misfortune has been saved.

The city council has rejected a motion tabled by one of its members, Councilor Jim Tootle, that the “cursing stone” should be destroyed, blaming it for Carlisle’s recent bad luck.

Since the boulder, which is inscribed with a 1,069-word curse, was installed in one of the city’s museums in 2001, Carlisle has been plagued by floods, foot-and-mouth disease, sporting humiliation and job losses.

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Written by the Archbishop of Glasgow in the 16th century, the curse was directed at “reivers” who terrorized the area with blackmail, rape, pillage and robbery.

Debate about the stone has attracted worldwide interest in Carlisle’s woes. Spoon-bending Israeli psychic Uri Geller even offered to “save” Carlisle by exorcising the curse of evil forces in his healing garden.

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“The right decision was made because there was no logical reason why the stone could be blamed for events,” city council leader Mike Mitchelson said.

“We live in a modern era. People in Carlisle are sound, rational people and don’t continue to live in medieval times.”

Many other areas of Britain suffered from both foot and mouth disease and flooding, he added.