What a lovely afternoon....

A Ghostly Encounter?

Flipping through a book on haunted castles of the British Isles (there are a lot of them!)  I happened upon a small entry about Dunollie Castle in Oban, Scotland.

It strikes me as kind of interesting, because 21 years ago almost to the day, Louisa and I visited Oban, and had an interesting experience at this very castle.  At the time, we were told that there were no known accounts of paranormal activity at Dunollie and all through the subsequent years I have never read anything remotely interesting about the castle, until today. 

The castle ruin is located on a rocky promentory overlooking the Firth of Lorn.  It was once the seat of the MacDougall family and is still owned by them.  (The photograph to the left is not one I took, by the way.)

It was just past sunset on that long ago May evening as Louisa and I walked along the waterfront, enjoying the bracing breeze from off the Firth.  We decided to take a walk up to the castle, as we had been told that the view was breathtaking and the walk up lined with bluebells.   My journal entry, written later that same evening, goes thusly;

"The view was beautiful, but the atmosphere around that little ruin was uncomfortable.  After scrambling to the top I found myself stopped short on the very edge of a very nasty cliff, almost as though an invisible hand had brought me to a halt before I plunged over.  It was getting hard to see in the twilight.  I wondered where Louisa had got to, we had gotten separated somehow on the way up.  She had taken another path which had led into the castle.  I followed her and noticed an ancient looking celtic cross - someone was buried there.  I couldn't see Louisa - or hear her, although she must have gone up the stairs and into the castle to look through the second floor window.  For some reason I didn't want to call out to her.  She appeared above me however, in the window and I joined her.  We sat down on a ledge with our legs dangling into what would have been the ground floor, but of course the ceiling was gone.  We began to feel very uncomfortable - I can't describe the feeling.  It was rather a cold urgency - and a feeling that someone was coming.  We both decided we didn't want to be there anymore and wanted to run down the short flight of stone spiral stairs, but you can't because there's no railing and you have to lean into the wall to not fall.  It was getting quite dark now, and when we got back outside we ran away down the path like it was for our lives to get away from the place.  I couldn't shake the feeling of fear until we were well away.  I don't know if we spooked ourselves, or whether there was something there.  Sandy informed me the next morning that the little castle has a very mundane history, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.  Of course, there are few things more desolate than a ruined castle at dusk.  The wind blows through the jagged, uneven windows and whistles about the enclosed spaces of stone....If there are rooks they soon become quiet and the place becomes all still and cold.  An interesting experience."

Well, apparently Dunollie Castle has long been haunted by a spectral piper in full Highland dress.  It's been witnessed fairly frequently.  But the first I've read of it is today. 

Learn more about Dunollie Castle here - http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_scotland/49/dunolliecastle.htm

It's kind of funny but the next day we visited Glencoe, reputedly one of the most haunted places in the world because an entire clan was massacred there.  It's known as the 'Vale of Tears' because of the death that occurred.  Didn't sense a damn thing.  It just seemed like a pretty valley to me. 

One day I plan to re-visit Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and explore as many ghostly haunts as I can.  You can't move over there without tripping over a ghost story.  It's like being a kid in a candy store for a paranormal enthusiast!

 

 

Haunted Northumberland - Part 1

Most communities have ghost stories, some of which are fairly established and well-known. Northumberland County is no exception; most summer nights you can participate in Cobourg’s ‘Haunted Ghost Walks’, an evening tour of some of the town’s more famous haunted places. You will hear about the ghost of Victoria Hall, Marie Dressler House, and get to sample the atmosphere of the old Cobourg Jail. Fascinating stuff. If you’d like to know more about the Cobourg Haunted Ghost Walks, look here

http://www.downtowncobourg.ca/events.asp and scroll down.

However, the stories that I find the most interesting are the ones you won’t find included on any guided tour. These are the stories that come down to us from generations back, tales and legends that locals have been telling and talking about for years. This type of local lore is so interesting I think because of it’s very lack of any sort of ‘evidence’. Attempts to verify the stories behind these ghosts just peter away into nothing, a trail that fades away and disappears. Yet the stories persist, and the ghosts keep popping up. It is this sort of lore that is the subject of this post.

For anyone who happens to land here from far beyond the boundaries of Northumberland, and who might be interested in knowing where it is, Northumberland County is located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the towns of Cobourg and Port Hope, as well as many other small towns and villages. Named after Northumberland England, it’s known for it‘s scenic, rolling countryside.

I have a few folks to thank who introduced me to stories, went on excursions, and shared their photos with me. Some wish to remain anonymous, while others will be credited in the following. I hope you enjoy Part 1 of Haunted Northumberland!

6^thConcession, near Osaca

Thanks to Laurie Banton for introducing me to this very interesting story, and for most of the photos.

The Location:

Very rural 6^thConcession Road, just west of the small village of Osaca.

The Lore:

This derelict and long abandoned house was owned and occupied by a farm couple. As the years passed, they aged and one day the husband died. The distraught wife became mentally unbalanced by this event and hid the body of her husband in the basement. She spent the remainder of her life and energy trying to prevent anyone from entering her property and finding the remains of her husband. After she too died, stories began to circulate about the old house. Those attempting to approach the house did so at their own risk, as the spirit of the wife would try to block their way. Laurie shared an interesting story of investigating this location with friends one night. As they guided their vehicle up the overgrown driveway, three green and fresh branches fell on them, one after the other. The conditions were windless.

This house is certainly creepy, buried deep in the undergrowth. I checked it out on a rainy afternoon, and I’m not completely sure that it was just the weather that discouraged me from staying very long. Laurie and Steff Renaud teamed up one afternoon and did a much more thorough excursion. They got some fascinating photos.

 

The overgrown roadway in, lined with wildflowers, and the ominous facade of the house

 

Laurie and Steff got some interesting photos during their exploration of the house.  Note the strange light anomaly in the above left hand picture.  The animal skull added some creepy ambiance!

 

Lakeshore Road

Thanks to Sylvia Whyte for her information about the Port Britain area

The Location:

Lakeshore Road, west of Port Hope

The Lore:

A hundred years ago or more, a young woman who lived in a house on Lakeshore Road was set to marry her sweetheart. On the night before the wedding, her father apparently decided that she should not marry, and locked her in her room so that she could not show up at her own wedding. A year later, upon the August night that her intended married someone else, she put on her white wedding finery, walked across the fields, and drowned herself in Lake Ontario. On August nights, her white-clad spirit can still be seen walking along the road or across the fields towards the lake.

This is a very interesting area. People report, in addition to sightings of the distraught young woman, feelings of depression, sadness, goosebumps or even nausea while driving along Lakeshore Road. The ruins of a few abandoned farmsteads and houses can be seen along the route. Many of the houses that still stand are very old, although beautifully maintained. You will not get cellular service on Lakeshore Road. Why this is I have no idea, not being well versed in the mysteries of wireless communication. All I know is that a cell phone will not work here; but a five minute drive east up the road brings you back into Port Hope and up will pop your cellular signal. *Shrugs.*

There is a particularly interesting legend concerning Port Britain Road, which offshoots from Lakeshore Road. It’s the location of an old tomb on the side of the road, once the final resting place of some members of an old established area family. Over the years, stories grew up around the tomb, and because it kept being vandalized the remains it contained had to be removed and reburied elsewhere. Now the tomb has a metal plate fastened to the entrance way to keep people out of there. Anyway, the story goes that if you travel down to the end of Port Britain Road, which basically ends on the shoreline of Lake Ontario, on a certain night in May, you will catch sight of a ghost ship out on the water! If you make the journey down there to see for yourself, keep in mind that the residents of this very quiet little community probably value their peace, quiet and privacy, so be respectful.

 

Some ruins within view of Lakeshore Road, and a view of the old tomb near Port Britain.

 

Monkey Mountain

 

Thanks to Sylvia Whyte for her information about the Monkey Mountain legend.

The Location:

Anyone who’s been around Port Hope for very long, or who has attended the local high school, has probably heard of Monkey Mountain. There are slightly varying opinions upon exactly what or where Monkey Mountain is, but most seem to agree that it’s an uninhabited area in the centre of the town, roughly bordered by Cavan Street to the east, the back of the high school property to the south, Jocelyn Street to the north, and Victoria Street to the west.

The Lore:

Monkey Mountain is thickly forested, bisected by trails, and much inhabited by crows and fox. It’s very interesting terrain; there are some very deep ravines and unexpected, high hills. How it got the name of Monkey Mountain is unclear, but one story tells of how, back in the 1890’s, a traveling circus came to town and some monkeys escaped and lived for awhile in the Monkey Mountain woods. Some were recaptured, others died when winter came. Once however, part of the Monkey Mountain area was known as Pigeon Hill. Maybe Monkey Mountain is just a common name for such areas; Armour Hill in Peterborough used to be called Monkey Mountain too. Interestingly, Armour Hill is also allegedly haunted.

Stories abound of how, if you walk in Port Hope’s Monkey Mountain woods at night, you will hear the voices of children, and catch sight of mysterious red lights following you along the trails. The story goes that once a home in the area burned down, killing a family of 6. The voices are allegedly the spirits of the children who perished in that fire. It’s said that the ruins of the house can still be seen in the woods.

 

A trail in the Monkey Mountain area, and possible house ruins

 

 

Reservoir in the Monkey Mountain area, and one of the many crows that are always present

House in Cobourg

The Location:

Uninhabited house somewhere in Cobourg. I can’t disclose the exact location, and I apologize for the quality of the photo. But the story is kind of interesting so I wanted to include it.

The Lore:

There’s a story of an OPP officer being shot and killed on the front doorstep of the house, sometime during the 1970s, but I have not been able to verify this event. What is true however is that twenty-odd years later the last people to live in the house took a photo of their daughter standing in front of a window. When the photo was developed, they were surprised to see a strange reflection behind the young woman. It looked like the reflection of someone in uniform, with stripes on his shoulder discernible. I was in this house once, and I didn’t care much for the dark, stagnant energy I sensed clotting in the corners. The house now stands abandoned.

Bowmanton Cemetery

The Location:

Along a lonely stretch of Bowmanton Road, north of Baltimore.

The Lore:

Another of those stories that you can’t miss if you’ve lived around here long enough. It’s fact that once upon a time, the village of Bowmanton was located somewhere around the Bowmanton Road area. It has long since disappeared into the surrounding forest, leaving only the cemetery. Over the years the cemetery became overgrown, and, located as it was along such a lonely stretch of road, it became a pilgrimage for teenagers on Halloween. Stories grew up around a certain grave, the burial place of William Gummow, or ‘Weird Willie’. Weird Willie, according to what version of the legend you’re listening to, murdered his family, killed himself, or lived in the village of Bowmanton where he burned his own house down with his family trapped inside. In actual fact, William Gummow did none of these things and lived and died in a relatively mundane manner. This didn’t stop the tales of his ghost appearing if you walked around his grave three times, and of coins and other items placed on the grave marker disappearing. Perhaps the inscription on the stone is in part what fueled these stories; it’s the rather famous ‘Young people all as you pass by, think of me as you must die…..’, which was actually a pretty standard and common epitaph in the mid to late 1800s.

Another story is that people visiting this cemetery at night often have car trouble when they try to leave. I myself once experienced this. I also once heard a raven here. This sounds appropriately and rather humorously gothic, but the fact remains that ravens aren't indigenous to Northumberland County, and I’ve never heard one anywhere around the area before or since.

Much more interesting is the older part of the cemetery. Many of the very old grave stones are toppled and scattered, some due to the unfortunate vandalism that used to take place here during the 1980s, and some just due to sheer age. One gets an odd sense of being followed around here. Although it’s an interesting place, I’m never entirely at my ease while exploring the Bowmanton Cemetery, despite the fact that it’s now being maintained, and that a newly built house just across the road diminishes the feeling of isolation. The watchful presence of the house will hopefully provide the additional bonus of putting an end to the vandalism for good.

McEwen Road

The Location:

McEwen Road east of Cobourg

The Lore:

Up until several years ago, an old house stood on this site. This house was allegedly a ‘stopover’ on the underground railway. Murders and other unsavory events took place in and around the house. About 15 years ago, the house was still inhabited, by some folks who had some interesting tales to tell about the paranormal activity they experienced. Perceptions seemed to warp in the house, creating odd sensations of disappearing floors and walls. Eventually, the house was abandoned. An acquaintance of mine once investigated the house after the tenants left for good. Nothing remained in the house except for one chair, all by itself in a small room, facing the wall.

Then the house, being of historical import, was purchased by some history buffs in Kingston, who wanted to move the structure there. Work got underway to prepare the house for it’s removal to the new location. The story goes that so many strange things started to happen that all work on the house had to be stopped for awhile. When it began again, the dismantling was successful and the house was removed, and apparently was reassembled somewhere in Kingston.

However, if this is actual fact, they left an awful lot of it behind. An investigation of this location revealed a lot of wood and foundation, and also an unnerving sense of someone walking just behind me through the long grass.

 

Remains of the McEwen Road House

 

 

Scriven/Pengelly Cemetery

The Location:

Scriven Road, north of Baliboro

The Lore:

In fact, there is no lore about this place. It’s just a lovely, peaceful, quiet little cemetery, way in the back of nowhere, with a beautiful view of Rice Lake, and the resting place of the poet and humanitarian Joseph Scriven. Members of the Pengelly family are also buried here; Scriven tutored the young Pengellys, way back in the mid 1800’s. There’s a small, uninhabited cottage here too, but whether or not Scriven actually lived in it I don’t know.

I included the Scriven/Pengelly Cemetery because of an interesting image I caught there. I have no idea whether it’s a puff of dust, a trick of the light, or something paranormal. Since I am not one to jump to any conclusions, I will have to say at this point that it although I have no idea what it is, it is most likely not a spirit. Still, one never knows………

Haunted or not, it’s a beautiful spot, and I implore that if you visit it, treat it with respect. There may be family members still living that would appreciate their ancestral burial ground not being overrun with ghost hunters. It’s worth seeing just for the quietude and sense of peace. Let’s preserve that!

 

Note the small patch of mist just above and to the right of the heart-shaped wreath

 

A close-up of the anomaly

 

Thus ends Part One of my Haunted Northumberland Post. But please, bear with me a bit longer and read to the end, because I need to add some important, and possibly life-saving information for ghost hunters. First, as I’ve said once or twice already, respect the places you’re visiting. The inhabitants, both the living and the dead, will appreciate it. In addition, if an abandoned house you’re wanting to check out is posted No Trespassing, respect this and stay away. If however, you find yourself able to explore around an abandoned dwelling, be careful where you’re walking. Summer is not the ideal time to be investigating old ruins, not only because you can’t usually spot them easily due to the waist high foliage, which often includes nettles, bugs and poison ivy, but because that same foliage could conceal a potentially deadly hazard - an old well.

Sometimes these have rotting covers and it’s a very real possibility that you could fall into one. So watch where you’re walking!

In addition, remember that if you check out an abandoned house, it’s possible that the floor or stairs could be rotten and unsafe. It’s not worth finding yourself with a broken leg on the basement floor of a haunted house. With no cellular service.

Finally, if anyone knows of any interesting lore, legends or ghost stories local to the Northumberland area, I would love to hear them! I am collecting stories to include in Part 2 of this post, so contact me at myzen66@yahoo.com if you have something interesting to share.