If you're around for as long as we have been some pretty weird things are bound to happen sooner or later. We've decided to share some of the weird and wonderful tales we've heard that involve our favourite sauce. We've also set up a little quiz for you. By clicking here you can view some other legends and myths and see if you can tell which ones are genuine and which ones we've made up. How it all Began More Beer! Sauce or sorcery? Tibetan Trail Smoking Ghost Volcanic Proof Bloody Mary How it all Began The story of our famous Worcestershire Sauce begins in the early 1800s, in the county of Worcester. Returning home from his travels in Bengal, Lord Sandys, a nobleman of the area, was eager to duplicate a recipe he had acquired. Enter John Lea and William Perrins, owners of a chemist shop. On the request of Lord Sandys, the two made up the requested sauce. More to satisfy their curiosity and assess the sauce's viability as a commercial proposition, than anything else, it is then believed that the pair prepared a few gallons for themselves, which they put into store jars. When they tasted it, however, they found it so unpalatable; they simply left it in the cellars gathering dust. A few years later, they stumbled across these jars. Before finally discarding them, they tasted the sauce once again. And to their surprise, the mixture had matured, into a most palatable sauce. Soon Mr Lea & Mr Perrins were bottling the sauce. Without any kind of advertising, in just a few short years it was known and coveted in kitchens throughout Europe. It wasn't long before in kitchens around the globe, Lea & Perrins sauce quickly became the indispensable ingredient that cooks relied on to create mouth-watering meals. As it still is today. More Beer! In 1942 the War Department, using emergency powers, took possession of the Midland Road factory. A new home had to be found for the Lea & Perrins' barrels of maturing sauce. It was decided to move the vats to local public houses. As soon as the locals saw the barrels arrive they assumed it was a delivery of beer (which was unavailable at the time). The landlords' insistence that the barrels contained Worcester's favourite sauce fell on deaf ears and angry scenes ensued. The only way to calm the crowds was to remove the tops from the barrels, as soon as the lids were removed the distinctive smell reached the noses of the crowds and disappointed, they dispersed. Sauce or Sorcery? A chief of the Peluan tribe from Borneo, many years ago, decided to have an unusual and magical design tattooed onto his arm, next to the usual patterns and crux ansata. The 'unusual and magical design' was the words 'Lea and Perrins', which he copied from a piece of paper he had found! Tibetan Trail From 1903 to 1904, Lt.-Col. Sir Francis Edward Young made a pioneering visit to Tibet, finally arriving at the forbidden city of Lhasa on 3rd August 1904. Weary after the long and difficult journey, the monks offered him refreshment. To his amazement, he saw sitting in the middle of the refectory table, a bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. It had beaten him to it! Smoking Ghost Mr Smith had worked at the factory for a long time as an odd-job man. A tall, sad man, he usually wore a cloth cap, and could often be found having a quiet smoke in a corner of the courtyard. There was a no smoking rule - but he chose his spot well to avoid detection. His habit, however, was well known to some of his colleagues. Suddenly in 1980, Mr Smith died. One evening, a guard on duty spotted smoke rising from a corner of the courtyard and upon investigation, saw a figure in the corner smoking a cigarette. As the guard approached the figure, it disappeared. He later described the figure - as tall, sad looking and wearing a cloth cap. For the next two or three days, factory workers would occasionally smell tobacco smoke, or glimpse a shadowy figure in the courtyard. Was this the ghost of Mr Smith safeguarding Lea & Perrins? On the fourth evening, a different guard was on duty. He, too, saw smoke and a man's figure. Thinking it was an intruder he telephoned the police. By the time the two officers arrived, the figure had vanished - but the smell of tobacco lingered on and a search of the premises revealed no intruder. Volcano Proof In 1886 a volcanic eruption destroyed and engulfed the Maori village of Te Wairoa in New Zealand. During excavations in the 1970's a bottle of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce was found buried in the rubble. Bloody Mary The Bloody Mary, one of the world's most popular cocktails was created in 1921, when Fernand Petiot, the barman at the fashionable 'Harry's New York Bar' in Paris added Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce to that glorious combination of vodka and tomato juice. Try our online true or false quiz Our history is very long and very colourful, read all about it here.