The Wells Journal of July 17, 1902 contains this intriguing story.
"On Monday morning between 6 and 7 o'clock one of the finest statues on the West Front of the cathedral fell from its niche to the ground with a crash and was smashed to pieces. The fallen figure is that of John Scotus.
"On examining the remains of the statuary it was found that brought down with the statue was a human thigh bone which was bleached white where it had been exposed to the weather.
"How had it got there it is hard to conjecture. It is suggested that an eagle may have dropped it behind the statue or that during the levelling of the ground known as the Cathedral Green, formerly a burial ground, it is known that human remains were disturbed in the course of the work. The bone may have been thrown in some wantonness by some person and fallen into the niche."
Clare Blackmore