Dale Gilbert Jarvis - Storyteller: Recent Episodes
Dale Gilbert Jarvis
One of Canada's favourite storytellers, and much in demand at festivals and concerts across the country, Dale specializes in ghost stories, tales of the fairy folk, and traditional folk tales and local legends from his home in Newfoundland, as well as stories from Ireland, the United Kingdom, and beyond.
Master of the macabre, Dale Jarvis, Storyteller and Author, was recently featured on the CBC St. John's Morning Show, speaking about his new collection, Haunted Houses of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Listen here:
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-56-st-johns-morning-show/clip/16094755-folklorist-dale-jarvis-released-newest-book-haunted-houses
We will have details on the launch of Haunted Houses of Newfoundland and Labrador coming very soon . . .
The Ugly Stick's Australian Cousin – The Lagerphone
by Dale Gilbert Jarvis
| | | photo: Item 3390 - National Capital Development Commission, Australia |
We in Newfoundland and Labrador might be able to claim the name “ugly stick” as a local invention, but similar percussion instruments were known in Europe as far back as the 1500s. The French Foreign Legion marching band had a similar instrument called a “Chinese hat” - while British Army marching bands used a stick covered with bells called a “Jingling Johnny.” Today in England, folk musicians still play a version of the ugly stick called a mendoza or a monkey stick. Other names include thunderstick, Ompa-stick, gazunkaphone, pogocello, and clad-hopper. Mike Madigan of The Sharecroppers is a well-known Newfoundland musician, entertainer, retired educator, and ugly stick enthusiast. The first time Mike saw an ugly stick, or something like one, was around 1975. He and a fellow teacher had gone off to Europe, backpacking. They found themselves in the little town of Hamelin, Germany, the same town made famous by the Pied Piper of yore. In the centre of Hamelin there was a kiosk, and inside of that was a Bavarian band playing music. Mike remembers,
This guy had this thing on a stick. It didn't have bottle caps, but it had washers of some sort. It had a horn on it, and it had a bell that he would ring. It didn't have a boot on the bottom, and it was much taller than the average ugly stick, it was probably seven feet high. He was just banging that and keeping the beat with a stick.
The German musician that Mike Madigan saw in Hamelin might have been playing the “Teufelsgeige” - the ominously named “Devil's fiddle.”If any place matches the fiery passion we have for the Devil’s fiddle, it must be Australia. There, it is known as a “lagerphone,” after the beer or lager bottle caps used in its construction. There are also similar Aboriginal instruments made using shells instead of lager caps. Bush bands playing Australian folk music have been using lagerphones since the 1950s.
Legend credits one of the first lagerphones to a nameless travelling rabbit-poisoner (rabbits were introduced to Australia, and a menace to local species). Our friendly rabbiter showed up at an open-mic Red Cross fundraiser in New South Wales in 1952, bringing with him a broom handle adorned with old bottle tops. With piano accompaniment, he rattled himself up a prize and vanished into the night. One audience member was so impressed that he made his own, paired up with a button accordionist, and started a band. The rest is history!
Newfoundland and Labrador is a safe place. This is what we tell ourselves and the tourists who visit. There are still places in the province where people do not lock their doors at night, comfortable in the knowledge that they have little to fear in the way of nocturnal intruders.
But just imagine if that safety was just an illusion. Imagine a supernatural terror stalking the night, an evil so powerful that locks and latches, bolts and barricades were not strong enough to keep it out. What would you do to keep your loved ones safe from that type of evil?
If you had lived in Grand Bank a hundred years ago, you might have gone looking for horseshoes.
On College Street in Grand Bank stood a small house with a peaked gable roof. It hasda dormer window above the main door, a central chimney and a quiet sense of dignity. The building was constructed around 1890, and for the early twentieth century was owned by a man named White.
A number of years ago renovations were done on the house. Much to the owner's surprise, when one of the front windows was taken out, twelve horseshoes were removed from the window frame. The horseshoes had been nailed up inside the wall of the house around the window box, and had never been visible.
The practice of nailing a single horseshoe over a door is fairly common, and countless sheds, net lofts and stores across the province boast a horseshoe hanging from a nail above the entrance. Depending on where you are from, the horseshoe can be nailed in place with the ends pointing up or down. Some folks believe it must point up or the luck runs out, while others believe it must point down so the luck can pour onto you.
No matter which way you nail it, the single horseshoe is recognized today as a good luck charm.
One hundred years ago, a single horseshoe meant something different, and twelve horseshoes together was probably pretty rare. Twelve horseshoes nailed up inside a wall where no could see them is more than rare. Indeed, it may point to something bordering on the sinister, as horseshoes were used as a form of protection against evil.
The lowly horseshoe was once used as an amulet against malicious spirits, the Devil, fairies and, most importantly, witches. Nailed over a doorway it was believed to prevent evil from crossing the threshold, since no witch would pass under it. One placed in the chimney could even prevent a witch from entering from above, like a creepy version of Santa Claus.
The belief in horseshoes as protection against witchcraft goes back to the Middle Ages. In 1584 Reginald Scot wrote the following in his book, The Discoverie of Witchcraft:
“To prevent and cure all mischeefes wrought by these charmes & witchcrafts... naile a horse shoo at the inside of the outmost threshold of your house, and so you shall be sure no witch shall have power to enter... You shall find that rule observed in manie countrie houses.”
One hundred years after Scot wrote this, the custom was still firmly in practice. Around 1686, James Aubrey wrote,
“A Horse-Shoe nailed on the threshold of ye dore is yet in fashion: it ought... to be a Horse-shoe that one finds by chance on the Roade. The end of it is to prevent the power of Witches, that come into your house.”
If one horseshoe would provide protection against witches, the twelve found in the house in Grand Bank would have been even more effective. The number of shoes was probably no mistake. The number twelve is one of those magical numbers, like the number seven, that constantly reappear in folklore and folk beliefs. There are twelve months, for example, and the number has several religious connotations, one example being the number of Christ’s disciples.
Were the citizens of turn of the century Grand Bank terrorized by witches? If they were, there is certainly little in the historical record to prove it. Twelve horseshoes built into the frame of a house was most likely very rare, perhaps even unique in the province. A traditional charm against evil, repeated a mystical number of times, and hidden inside a house frame, this was probably an isolated example of a highly superstitious homeowner.
Or was it?
A short distance away on Evans Street is another house, constructed around 1906. When renovations were done on that property in the early 1990s, copies of the Holy Bible were found placed around the inside of one of the windows. They had been hidden from view for years and there were exactly seven of them.
Again, the number of items is probably not a coincidence. According to the Cassel Dictionary of Superstitions, “the number seven is associated with the supernatural and will bring success to any project connected with it.”
When the Bibles were found, the popular explanation was that they had been used for insulation. It seems a little unusual that books would be used for insulation around a window when there are other materials that would be more effective. Even if books, for some reason, had been seen as a good form of insulation, it seems remarkable that the Bible would have been chosen. Likely, the use of the seven Bibles would have had some specific mystical meaning, possibly related to the protection of the property.
One of the Bibles was placed on display at the George C. Harris House museum in Grand Bank. Unfortunately, the remaining six, due to their poor condition, were placed in the garbage.
Interestingly, a hay fork was also found in the same window. It was believed to have fallen from the attic and gotten lodged between the walls. However, much like the tradition of horseshoes, there are traditions of protection involving knives, scissors, and the like. Scissors could be thrust into the door (or into a ship’s mast) for protection, or opened to form a cross-shape and laid on the threshold to prevent evil from entering. Knives, and other iron items, were believed to ward off witches or even the Devil himself if they were hidden beneath a windowsill.
One occurrence in a Newfoundland community of this type of protection from evil would be intriguing. Two is downright spooky.
It is possible that in the late 1880s, some of the good citizens of Grand Bank may have honestly felt a need for protection from witches. While Newfoundland certainly never suffered through the same witch hunt craze that swept through Europe or the Boston States, a belief in the malevolent powers of witchcraft certainly did exist. In 1997 folklorist Barbara Rieti reported that the Memorial University Folklore and Language Archive held several hundred accounts of witchcraft from all across the province.
What is also known is that witches, or at least people believed to be witches, were known to be at work on the Burin Peninsula in the recent historical period. As late as the 1950s stories were circulating the Burin Peninsula about "black stick men", men who had entered into a dark pact with Old Nick. In return they had been given a short, slender piece of burnt wood with which they could force the winds and tides to do their bidding.
Were there witches in Grand Bank in the late 1800s? If there were, they themselves have left no traces behind. There is little in the written historical record to suggest they had much impact, if they existed at all. But obviously, something was creeping around in the shadows. Whether it was a witch, some dark spirit, or the Devil incarnate, it was frightening enough to have two different homeowners seek a little supernatural protection for themselves and their families. Who knows what other secrets are hidden away in the walls of historic Grand Bank?
An earlier version of this story was published as "Bewitched in Grand Bank" in Downhomer, April 2004, Vol. 16(11), pp. BP21-BP24.
A Digression Both Winding and Overblown on the Origins of Windgap Road, FlatrockBy Dale Gilbert Jarvispublished 5 July 2024
The toponym “Windgap” occurs in several places in in Atlantic Canada. There is a Windgap Brook in Kings, New Brunswick, and a Windgap Tarn in Torngat, Labrador. There are also references to a Wind Gap or Windy Gap near Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove.
The name may originally have meant a path that winds through a hilly or rocky spot. An article in the Newfoundland Quarterly from 1935 describes such a entranceway to the community of Perry’s Cove, Conception Bay:
Through a “windgap” the road leads down the side of the valley, past pretty little lakes and scattered houses, and trees all green or russet and gold, until the river is crossed as the road to Perry's Cove turns off to the right.
This sense of the word is conveyed in a report by the Newfoundland Hiking Club, who made a trek from Rennie’s Bridge to Pouch Cove and back (in an admirable 9 hours and 5 minutes) in 1932:
After stopping here [Pouch Cove] to buy refreshments we carried on to Flatrock and had tea at the top of the Windgap which we made by 5:10.
The group made the same hike again in 1936, with one participant writing:
This afternoon’s long trek brought us through Pouch Cove and Flatrock, and up through the Windgap, the origin of which name set us speculating. While climbing that tortuous ascent awinding its way up towards its gap in the hills we decided upon its meaning; but on meeting the gale that charged down on us as we entered the gap, we wondered whether it meant “Winding Gap” or “Windy Gap.”
A 1982 article in Decks Awash notes, “‘Wind’ is still pronounced in the old way, to rhyme with ‘find.’” Folklorist Lara Maynard, who grew up in the area, told me the name is pronounced “Wind as in wind up. But the d is hardly pronounced. So ‘Winegap.’”
There are print references to both “Wind Gap” and” Windgap” for Flatrock (or “Flat Rock”) in the 1830s, and there are also early references to a “Windgap Route” in the location of the current roadway. By 1833, work had begun on opening up a pathway along this route. The Journal of the Legislative Council of the Island of Newfoundland for 1833 notes the following for Flat Rock Road:
The Road between Flat Rock and Torbay has been opened, but no part of it has yet been made; it is, consequently, in a very rough and imperfect state. On approaching Flat Rock from the Torbay side it will be impracticable to follow the old line. At the top of the hill which overlooks Flat Rock, it will be necessary to keep further from the shore, and to sweep the high ground which, immediately to the South and West of this Settlement, joins the Pouch Cove Road to the North and West of the Cove. To trace out and level this part of that line only, the sum of £200 will be required, and until this shall have been done, the whole line of Road beyond Flat Rock to Pouch Cove will be comparatively unavailable for Horse and Cart work.
In 1841, a petition to the House of Assembly was made by Michael Wade (who had settled in the area around 1838), James Burke, and other inhabitants of Flatrock, “praying the house to grant such sum as may be necessary for making a road from Flat Rock to Torbay.” The path at that point was described as “partially opened” and it was noted that the line “which has been marked and opened passes through private property. The Journal of the Assembly went on to state:
At Flat Rock it is difficult to bring the road convenient to any of the Rooms of the Inhabitants, except by the line of road which has been made by Mr. Michael Wade. His would be the most level line to Flat Rock ; but it would much increase the distance for those persons resident on the North side of Flat Rock, in Pouch Cove, &c. Mr. Wade has made a tolerably good road here at his own expense.
Several calls for tenders were made in the 1840s, funds were allocated, and work progressed. In 1846, another petition to the Assembly was made by William Bulger and others of Flatrock, “praying for a grant to repair and complete the roads from Windgap to Gallows Cove pond, and from Flat Rock to Windgap in said settlement.” That year, £30 were disbursed for construction along the Windgap section of the road.
Trouble, however, was brewing.
The Wade family had been involved in the early construction of the road, but were apparently unhappy about the allocation of funds. In 1851, they had their case presented to the House:
Mr. Parsons, with consent of His Excellency the Governor, presented a Petition from Michael Wade of Flat Rock, and the same was received and read, setting forth,—That in 1845 he opened a road from his farm to Wind Gap, about two hundred and seventy-seven perches, a considerable portion of which had, since that time, been used as the public road. That it had been surveyed by the Road Surveyors, and the cost thereof estimated ; and praying that he may be indemnified for his outlay, in accordance with that estimate.
The petition was put to a vote, and was declined. The decision did not sit well with the Wades. In protest, they built across the portion of the road that traversed their property, blocking access.
In 1852, things had escalated to the point where another petition was presented to the government of the day. Traffic along the route was described as “proportionably great,” due to the numerous settlers living along the line, so interruptions were a serious matter. The road, “in every point of view is the most important bye-road within the district,” stated the Journal of the House of Assembly. Notice was brought to the House by Mr. Parsons, who,
…presented a Petition from Thomas Dee and others, of Flat Rock, Torbay, and Pouch Cove, setting forth,— That a part of the main line of road extending from Windgap to Waterman House, near the beach at Flat Rock, has been claimed by a resident there as his private property, and the public prevented using the same as a public road ; and praying that such proceedings maybe adopted as will enable them to have the benefit of this road.
Local oral tradition presents a more colourful version of the dispute. As Decks Awash reported in 1982,
After they had completed their road, the Wade brothers built a house across it with a gate. The first winter, they freely let local people pass, in order not to arouse any hostility in the town, while they waited for some authority figure to happen by. One summer day, the Anglican priest from Torbay came along on a sick call to Pouch Cove. They had their victim, and the boys refused to let him pass. After loud protest, the priest turned back, vowing to have James Wade arrested by the British authorities on the man-of-war anchored in Torbay harbour. When Wade appeared before the captain of the man-of-war, he claimed that he owned the road because he had built it, and would only open it as a public thoroughfare if he were paid back the money he had spent on it. The captain thought this a reasonable point, and after receiving Wade's promise that the house and gate would be removed if payment were received, he reimbursed the settler, adding that the King of England certainly did not expect his people to work for nothing.
The official website for the Town of Flatrock tells another version of the history, stating,
After a period of time a Michael Wade obtained permission to build a road but when he wasn’t paid for it he built a house across the road and refused to allow anyone to pass. When the government finally paid him, he removed the house. Great difficulties were met in building the new road which is called Wind Gap today.
Michael Wade continued to make petitions for funding for various projects till the 1870s.
The road was eventually completed, though it seems the 19th-century Wade family had acquired a taste for property-related drama. The Evening Telegram newspaper reported the following in 1888:
A DISPUTE between two brothers named Wade, belonging to Flat Rock, about their respective rights in certain property, was a subject of investigation before Judge Conroy this morning, and he settled the quarrel by sending one of the two to prison for two months. But does this settle it? Some say it tends to make bad worse. Both are sons of one of the most respectable pioneers of the suburban villages—the late Michael Wade, of Flat Rock.
Sources
“About Us - The History of Flatrock.” https://townofflatrock.com/about-us/
“A DISPUTE.” Evening Telegram, 1888-12-12 P4
“Flatrock.” Decks Awash, vol. 11, no. 01 (February 1982) Page 8-9
“Flatrock.” Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 2 [Extract: letter F] Page 210
“Flat Rock Road.” Journal of the Legislative Council of the Island of Newfoundland 1833. Page 95
“Down the Trail.” Daily News, 1936-11-07. Page 14
Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland 1841 (6th session) (With Appendix). Page 79, 185
Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland 1846 (4th Session) Page 15, 136
Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland 1851 Page 64, 299
Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland 1852 (4th Session) Page 61, 234
Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland 1865 (5th Session) Page XXX
Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland 1866 (1st Session) Page XXXIV
Maynard, Lara. Personal Communication. 5 July 2024.
“Newfld. Hiking Club.” Daily News, 1932-06-08. Page 6
“Tenders.” Patriot, 1844-05-15 Page 3
I wouldn’t turn down $150, but I’m not sure I’d return from the great beyond to watch over it.
When I hear a story about a ghostly guardian protecting some kind of treasure, it is usually about a chest of gold or something of substantial value.
The community of Baie Verte, just to be contrary, has a local urban legend about a cheap ghost haunting the old Roman Catholic cemetery on Barn Hill.
Children in the town were told to stay out of there because it was haunted by an old man who was buried there years earlier with $150 dollars in his pocket.
It was claimed he haunted the place to protect his money.
- Dale Jarvis
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A local landmark, the Majestic Theatre has a colourful (and possibly supernatural) history. The Majestic opened in 1918 as a movie theatre, and later was one of the first to play talking pictures. It was also the birthplace of a famous political riot of April 1932, when two thousand people gathered there to march on the Colonial Building.
Said to be built on haunted ground, visitors to the building have reported poltergeist-like activity, sounds of screaming, and objects moving on their own. Employees have left items in one place, only to find them in another when the building was unlocked the next morning.
“We used to hear people running around upstairs when no one was up there and the toilets would flush on their own,” one former worker stated on Reddit in 2023.
We want to hear your stories! Did you work (or party) in the building? What strange things did you see or hear there? Have you had an encounter with one of the Majestic’s resident spirits? We are dying to find out….
Share with someone who knows the building, comment here, or answer anonymously with our Ghosts of the Majestic questionnaire!
https://forms.gle/CH3MtP5krph7CMma7
Photo of the Majestic by Leona Rockwood Photography, courtesy TerraBruce Productions.
The monster surfaced, its skin shiny and slick under the summer sun. Water poured from its gaping mouth. It was long, about twenty feet in length, and it swam silently across the top of the lake before diving down into its cool depths once more. A passenger in a passing car shrieked at the driver, and the two of them watched in amazement as the creature vanished from sight.
The amazing part of the story is that it actually happened in July of 2003 in the community of Robert's Arm, "The Loch Ness of Newfoundland." The creature, known as Cressie, is a long-time inhabitant of Crescent Lake
“I was just screaming, We saw Cressie, we saw Cressie!” the eyewitness later told radio reporters.
The 2003 cryptozoological sighting was only the most recent in a long list of reports, as sightings of Cressie date back to the start of the twentieth century. One of the first residents of the community, a lady remembered today as Grandmother Anthony, was startled from her berry-picking by a giant lake serpent.
The monster seems to have been fairly active in the late 1990s. In the late spring of 1990, a resident of Robert's Arm saw a slim, black shape rise five feet from a patch of churning water before sinking out of sight. On July 9, 1991, Cressie was spotted once more, and then again on September 5 of the same year. There were several sightings in 1995, and while a summer student crew was working on the boardwalk around the lake in 2000, they too spotted the local wonder.
In a 2003 interview CBC Radio, Robert’s Arm town clerk Ada Rowsell noted that reports of monster sightings had been flooding in over the first week of that August.
“I've had several reportings of sightings - people sighting some kind of a huge monster or sea serpent or some kind of a fish," Ada told CBC radio, following the well publicized July 2003 sighting.
Locals described the creature as looking long and shiny, and having a fish-like head. It was reported that one man even hit the monster with his boat. Cressie, apparently, chose not to retaliate.
One eyewitness was reported as exclaiming “Oh my, that's big, that could eat four or five people if they were swimming. I wouldn't trust it around kids, I tell ya - no, not tiny kids. I wouldn't say tiny kids could beat it off. I wouldn't say anybody 10- or 12-years old could beat it off either.”
By Dale JarvisStalking through the fog near Burnt Islands is a strange figure, with an insatiable, supernatural appetite for a rather ordinary object. The Brass Button Man is a possibly murderous spirit who haunts the southwest coast of Newfoundland on foggy nights. If you’re out in the fog he will sneak up on you, tap you on the shoulder, and ask for brass buttons. If you have one – you’re safe. If you don’t, he will snatch you up and take you away in his dory, never to be seen again.The origins of the Brass Button Man legend are murky. The expression “brass button” referring to a soldier or officer was well-known in North America by the 1860s, appearing in ballads in the 1870s.In 1935, the Western Star newspaper, Corner Brook, printed a children’s story about a dog named Shadow, who was accidentally abducted by a “brass button man” - the uniformed driver of a passenger bus. At the end of the story, Shadow’s poor little paws were sore and bleeding, and the dog had still not found his way home, ensuring local children were unlikely to trust any brass button men they might come across. Brass button men are often associated with pirate ghosts guarding their treasure. One northern Newfoundland story tells how Aunt Et repeatedly had a sailor dressed up with brass buttons come to her in her dreams. The man told her there was money buried in a spot called Dane's Bight, and to visit at midnight. When she eventually approached the spot, she was frightened off by the sights and sounds of phantom sword fighting.In 1990, Newfoundland folk musician Eric West produced his own version of the legend, sending shivers down kids' backs as he sang about a strange fellow lurking on Duck Island.Another version of the Brass Button Man is found in a ghostly legend from Shalloway Brook, located between the appropriately named Deadman’s Bay and Musgrave Harbour. A local man was surrounded by a whirlwind, when there wasn’t a draft of wind anywhere else. Then, he saw a figure materialize out of the whirlwind: a man with one wooden leg, wearing a uniform with brass buttons down the front. The ghost was wearing a three cornered hat and carrying a cutlass in his right hand, with a great wound in his head.Old legends fade slowly, and the Burnt Islands story is still told and retold today as an urban legend. If you should be out late in the fog, and come across a man asking you for a brass button, you best be prepared to tear one off your jeans, lest you become the most recent victim of the Brass Button Man.
Would you eat a fish that had been marked by the Prince of Darkness himself? You may have, without knowing it.
Haddock is one of the most valuable food fishes of Europe, both fresh and smoked. The fish has long been popular due to its delicate flake and tender texture. Early cookbooks mention “rizzared” or sun dried haddock, as a popular fare on breakfast tables. After the Industrial Revolution, English fishing vessels travelled far and wide for haddock in order to satisfy a booming demand for fish and chips.
One of the identifying features of the haddock is its large blackish spot above each pectoral fin. Because of this mark, the haddock has the unfortunate reputation as being the fish the Devil touched, a belief brought to Newfoundland with English settlers. This spot is known in Newfoundland as the devil's thumb-print, which the Dictionary of Newfoundland English describes as being “black marks on haddock's back - from a belief that the devil once grabbed the fish, which then got away.”
One version of the legend says the mark was created when St. Peter and the Devil were fishing. The Devil caught a haddock, but St. Peter freed the fish. As it swam away, the Devil tried to grab it. The black mark represents the Devil's fingerprint, and the dark lateral line along the side of the fish represents the scratch marks from his devilish nails as the fish slipped out of Satan’s grasp.
More righteous souls claim that the marks were left by the finger and thumb of St Peter when he opened the fish’s mouth to take out a coin. It is another good story, but the humble haddock is a salt water fish, and could not survive in the fresh water of the Sea of Galilee.
So was the mark on the haddock burned there by infernal powers?
Only the haddock, and possibly the Devil, know for certain.
It's Open Line for the Undead!
Tonight, Hallowe'en Night, 7pm-9pm (NLT) VOCM will open up the Haunted Hotline. Dale Jarvis, storyteller, author, folklorist, and the proprietor of the Haunted Hike ghost tour, will be on the other end of the line. We want to hear your ghost stories!
Listen anywhere on www.VOCM.com
If you had a horn that could summon spirits from the underworld, would you risk blowing it?
One gentleman in Newfoundland claimed to have done it frequently.
This is the story of Rohan’s Cottage.
The Paranormal Investigations at Cochrane Street sold out immediately... so we've added two more nights, Oct 19-20th! Very limited number of tickets available.https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/paranormal-investigations-at-cochrane-street-tickets-705616637357?aff=oddtdtcreator
Paranormal Investigations at Cochrane Street
Thursday, October 12th and Friday, October 13th
Investigation slots: 7pm-9pm, and 10pm-Midnight
http://paranormalatcochrane.eventbrite.ca/
Rebuilt after a disastrous fire, the 107-year-old historic Cochrane Street Methodist Centennial Church is the perfect spot for an exclusive exploration into true hauntings.
Your evening will begin with a full briefing on the history and supernatural lore of the building, and its otherworldly inhabitants, presented by storyteller and folklorist Dale Jarvis.
To add to the experience, investigators will be provided with equipment that would have been in use by Spiritualists at the time of the building’s construction in 1916. Dale will walk you through the equipment you will use and the best practices to follow when collecting and analyzing evidence. Then participants will explore under the building’s soaring Byzantine dome… in the dark… attempting to document paranormal activity.
Participants are asked to bring a flashlight, notebook, and their camera or mobile phones to record what they might experience. Following the event, you will be given access to a private Facebook group to upload and share what you found with your fellow investigators. What will you capture?
With a max of 16 people per group, tickets are extremely limited.
$45 per Investigator
120 minutes
http://paranormalatcochrane.eventbrite.ca/
Bio:
Storyteller and folklorist Dale Jarvis is the creator and proprietor of the award-winning St. John’s Haunted Hike. Mixing history, humour, and traditional storytelling, Dale has been winning over audiences and throwing in the odd scare since 1997. He is the author of eight books on Newfoundland and Labrador ghost stories, folklore, and quirky local history, and has been featured by a wide variety of local, national, and international media.
Along Mount Scio Road, the fairies can still be found. But would you really want to meet them?
Join folklorist and storyteller Dale Jarvis at twilight for an exploration of the darkly magical and at times eerie realms of the fairy folk. Then, set off by lamplight to find your own way home through the deepening shadows of the wooded paths of the Botanical Gardens.
Be warned however! These fairies are the unpredictable, quick-to-anger, child-snatching fairies of legend. Put some bread in your pockets, bring a friend, and be careful which voices you follow into the forest...
Presented by the St. John’s Haunted Hike and MUN Botanical Gardens
Approx. 60 minutes. This is an outdoor event, so dress for the weather, and wear comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots. Fairy lanterns will be provided, but feel free to bring your own flashlight. Suitable for ages 10+
For tickets:
A strange looking ship entered Lolly Cove, Fortune Bay, crewed by dark, foreign men. Locals watched as they marched to the outskirts of town. There, the men turned upon two of their crew, dispatching and burying them on the spot.
With the grave filled in, they departed, and as they did so their ship vanished away.
Afterwards, the townsfolk could not find the freshly dug grave, finding instead a slight depression in the earth, much grown over, untouched for centuries.
www.hauntedhike.com
Local lore says Juggler’s Cove got its name because one would need the dexterity of a juggler to navigate the harbour. Rumours persist of a buried treasure that was excavated here by a man named Locke Thomas, one of the mysteries of Juggler’s Cove, the oldest settlement of Bay Roberts.
A magnet for supernatural activity, Vinegar Hill was likely named by early Irish settlers after the failed Irish uprising of 1798 which ended at the Battle of Vinegar Hill. It is home to numerous ghost and fairy stories.
www.hauntedhike.com
The first St. John's Haunted Hike of the 2023 season is this Sunday, May 28th. We've shifted slightly to a 9pm start, and have tickets available for opening night!Order here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/haunted-hike-2023-tickets-615042567877
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| Fort Point Light, Trinity |
Every part of Newfoundland and Labrador has its own tradition of strange nautical tales, and Trinity Bay, is no exception. A number of local spirits were recorded for posterity in 1925 by William White (1860-1949). A native of Trinity, Trinity Bay, William White devoted much time in his later years to the collection and recording of local and church history. His 1925 article documented a number of ghost stories, including a ghost ship seen by a local man nicknamed “Crusty Harry.”
According to White, another apparition was seen by many people, starting around the year 1916. A very brilliant light was seen just a few miles off Trinity narrows. The light had not been seen before, but was soon a regular occurrence. When it was first seen, the strange light was initially believed to be the lights of an approaching ship.
It was written that when the Fort Point lighthouse keeper first observed the glow, he was convinced it was the SS Prospero. The lighthouse keeper, convinced the ship was making an unscheduled stop at Trinity, rowed all the way across the harbour "in great haste" to the public wharf. He reached the wharf to wait for the arrival of the SS Prospero, but discovered no sign of an approaching ship.
 |
| SS. Prospero |
The ghostly light became very much talked about. Unlike other phantasms, this one was viewed by hundreds of witnesses. It also displayed astonishing regularity. The light was seen frequently, and usually from 9 o'clock pm to 11 o'clock pm.
When the light showed no sign of vanishing, the population of the town became very excited, fearing it to be a German submarine attempting to cut the Atlantic cable or preparing to attack the town. Perhaps strange today, at the time it was a very real fear.
In the early 1920s a fisherman on the fishing grounds off Trinity after dark had a close encounter with the light. He saw the light a few hundred yards distant, but as he drew nearer, it vanished.
Hatto, an evil bishop, was hoarding food during a terrible famine. The peasants became angry, so Hatto promised to feed them, inviting them to an empty barn. Hatto ordered the barn's doors locked, then set the barn on fire and burned the peasants commenting on their cries with the words "Hear the mice squeak!" Perhaps he should have chosen his words more carefully.
Roll for Folklore ep2: Tunguska!
Today's Roll for Folklore: The Tunguska Explosion!
On the morning of June 30, something cause an 12-megaton explosion that flattened 80 million trees in the middle of the Siberian wilderness. At around 7 o’clock in the morning, Indigenous people and Russian settlers northwest of Lake Baikal saw a bluish light, nearly as bright as the Sun, moving across the sky.
About 10 minutes later they heard what sounded like artillery - followed by a shock wave that knocked people off their feet and broke windows hundreds of kilometres away. The boom was so loud it was heard as far away as Washington DC
Get the book:
Looking for non-fiction books on Newfoundland and Labrador supernatural folklore? You could always start with some of mine, of course, but there are a lot of other titles out there for lovers of the paranormal!
Here is a selection to get you started:
Fairies and Witches
- Strange Terrain: The Fairy World in Newfoundland by Barbara Rieti
- Making Witches: Newfoundland Traditions of Spells and Counterspells by Barbara Rieti
- Spirited Away: Fairy stories of old Newfoundland by Tom Dawe
- Fables, Fairies & Folklore by Mike Mccarthy
Ghosts and Hauntings
- The Ferryland Visitor: A mysterious tale by Charis Cotter and Gerald Squires
- Screech!: Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland by Charis Cotter
- Haunted Towns: Ghost Stories Of Newfoundland And Labrador by Geraldine Ryan-Lush
- Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador by Edward Butts
- Ghost Stories from Newfoundland Folklore by Alice Lannon and Mike McCarthy
Cryptozoology and The Old Hag
- Here Be Dragons by Bruce Hynes
- The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions by David J. Hufford
PDF volumes* Folk Cures and Practical Magic (2017) * Folk Belief and Legends of Bay Roberts and Area (2014) * Devine's folk lore of Newfoundland in old words, phrases and expressions (1937) * Tales of Fogo Island edited by Della Coish * Some superstitions and traditions of Newfoundland (1919)
Fiction more your style? I've got you covered here!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – Hallowe’en season! October is here, and as the veil between worlds grows thin, it is the perfect time to explore the supernatural along the haunted laneways of old St. John’s. Luckily for fans of the paranormal, the St. John’s Haunted Hike returns for the 2022 Hallowe’en season! We are adding some new stories to our regular hike, and have a few other tricks and treats up our black sleeves, including an exclusive paranormal investigation at the very haunted LSPU Hall (stay tuned for more on that, we are very excited), a virtual open mic ghost story night, an evening of spooky stories and music, and the return of the Hallowe’en Night VOCM call-in show!
(All tickets for the Hallowe’en Hikes are here – follow links below for other events)
Hallowe’en Schedule 2022
Wed, Oct 12 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Sat, Oct 15 - 7:30pm Songs and Stories of Ghosts and Spirits (organized by First Light Centre, Cochrane St)
Sun, Oct 16 -8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Mon, Oct 17 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Tues, Oct 18 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Wed, Oct 19 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Thurs, Oct 20 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Sun, Oct 23 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Mon, Oct 24 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Tues, Oct 25 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Wed, Oct 26 - 6pm Ghost Story Open Mic (virtual, pre-registration required)
Wed, Oct 26 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Thurs, Oct 27 - 7pm Paranormal Investigation at the LSPU Hall tickets tba
Thurs, Oct 27 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Thurs, Oct 27 - 10pm Paranormal Investigation at the LSPU Hall tickets tba
Sun, Oct 30 - 7pm Hallowe’en Hike
Sun, Oct 30 - 8pm Hallowe’en Hike
Sun, Oct 30 - 9pm Hallowe’en Hike
Mon, Oct 31 - time tbd VOCM Hallowe’en Phone In Show!
On demand any time - Virtual Campfire
Not far from La Scie, Newfoundland, is the former community of Shoe Cove Bight. The Bight was said to be a favourite stomping ground of a supernatural phenomenon which locals know as Jack the Lantern. Storyteller and author Dale Jarvis shares the tale of what happened when a group of boys rowed home one September night from La Scie to The Bight.
Lunenburg is said to have more folklore, witches, and superstitions than any other place in Nova Scotia. Of all its sinister places, the Lunenburg Academy is definitely the most famous of the historic town's many haunted buildings.
The Lunenburg Academy was built in 1895, and operated as a school continuously to 2012. It stands on Gallows Hill, close to the Hillcrest Cemetery, dating back to the 1700s.
Years ago, a carpenter working alone in the school felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Turning around he saw the vision of a man, strung up by his neck, before it vanished.
The building’s basement was nicknamed The Dungeon by students, thanks to an evil feeling pervading the space and rumours of a dark creature inhabiting one of the toilet stalls. More recently, a film crew captured the image of a face in the window of the Academy. When the image was circulated, it was identified in a school yearbook as Mr. Sidney Knickle, a past custodian and caretaker.
- Listen to the tale on TikTok
The churchyard at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Fogo. was in use as a burial ground from at least the 1760s and into the first half of the twentieth century.
One who lies here is Henry Waterman, assistant keeper of the Offer Wadham Island Lighthouse. The Wadham Islands are a group of islands southeast of Fogo Island; Offer Wadham Island is the most northeasterly.
The lighthouse was built following many petitions to government, especially after the "Spring of the Wadhams" in 1852, when more than 40 ships were crushed and abandoned in the ice near Offer Wadham Island.
Unfortunately, Henry Waterman "came to an untimely end in the spring [of 1880] by falling through the ice, thus removing from service an officer who had always conducted himself worthily."
- Watch on TikTok!
Long after his earthly passing, one Port de Grave man can still be heard hard at work.
One of the most important side-hustles in a busy fishing community like Port de Grave was barrel-making. Wooden barrels were needed for transporting fish and other goods; even berries were exported in herring barrels. Skilled coopers were always needed, and many outport fishermen augmented their meagre yearly earnings making barrels or supplying materials for the cooper’s trade.
According to legend, one of Port de Grave’s coopers did not let his own passing interfere with his enterprise.
After his burial, locals claimed that the sound of the cooper knocking the hoops onto the barrels could be heard ringing mysteriously through the night air.
Listen on TikTok
At the bottom of Hare Bay, Newfoundland, there is a little spot called Locks Cove, known for strange and unexplainable happenings.
Years ago, a crew just off the fishing grounds were bunked down in an old fishing stage in Locks Cove.
They got in, had a mug up, and settled down for the night. They lashed the door shut with trawl line, and retired for a few hours sleep.
It was a calm clear night, without another living soul for miles.At 3:00 in the morning, they woke up to the sound of something pounding at the door. Then, the door, which had been tied tight with trawl line swung open.
When they got up to investigate, they saw that line, strong enough for the heavy work of hauling fish, had been snapped like a thread. All was calm, still and silent, without a breath of wind. They quickly gathered their belongings, jumped in their boat and never looked back.
Years later, one of those old fishermen said that whatever was strong enough to bust a trawl line, was not something to be messed with. He added,
"It must have been the devil himself."
View the story on TikTok here.
Have a story from Hare Bay? Let me know at dale@dalejarvis.ca
The second wife of Bishop John Medley, first Bishop of Fredericton NB was Margaret Hudson Medley. Well educated and independent, she was a choral singer, gardener, botanist, lithographer, horseback rider, and ice skater. It was rumoured that prior to her marriage she served alongside fellow nurse Florence Nightingale in the Crimean war.Margaret survived her husband and was fiercely protective of his reputation. When she passed in 1905 at the age of 84, she was entombed beside him beneath the Cathedral's elaborate east window.
Busy as she had been in life she did not rest long.
Reports circulated of a woman in a white dress floating through the grounds. The first written account appeared in 1975 when a worker reported a veiled spirit walking down Church Street and entering via the west door.
Most often, Margaret is seen seated or kneeling in prayer, but she is also partial to playing the church's magnificent pipe organ. To this day she still walks the path from their house to the Cathedral bringing her husband supper, as there have been numerous inexplicable incidents of people smelling tomato soup.
She has also been spotted standing at the pulpit as if delivering a sermon, a fitting spot to spend eternity for a bishop's wife.
Listen to the story on TikTok
Image source: https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/elrcdne/id/5619/rec/15
You better be good or else the Boo Beggers will get you.
Up to the mid-20th century and possibly later, mothers in Springdale, Newfoundland, would warn their children to keep away from the wharf head with threats of the Boo Beggars.
A Boo Beggar is a said to be a supernatural creature related to the fairies in Newfoundland folklore, but usually only seen as a ghost-like black shadow. It’s often found living in wells or other dangerous places.
Their dark and devilish cousins Boo Darbies and Boo Men haunted other parts of the island, and in modern english, we still use the word “Boogeyman” to mean something regarded as an object of fear.
NEW! Explore the legend of the Boo Beggars on TikTok!
Save the date! I'll be on Facebook Live on April 6th talking about the weird and wonderful stories behind the Place Names of Newfoundland and Labrador! 7pm NLT, 5:30 pmEST
https://www.facebook.com/events/1136643893766932You can order your own copy at: https://flankerpress.com/product/place-names-of-newfoundland-and-labrador
The launch of my latest project is getting closer and closer! Over the pandemic, I've been working on a new book, all about the dirt behind the place names of Newfoundland and Labrador's towns and cities. Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of the place names of a region or a language, and we have a lot of fascinating stories behind the names of provincial places. It's been a treat to get to dig deep into the legends and lore behind the names of places, from Appleton to Zoar.
No date set yet for the official release, but you can preorder through the fine folks at Flanker Press:
https://flankerpress.com/product/place-names-of-newfoundland-and-labrador
and you can follow along and post your reviews on Goodreads (and add me!):
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60475254-place-names-of-newfoundland-and-labrador
October 23-24, 2021
For Immediate Release
Media Advisory
Contact: Katie Knutson, (651) 246-7168 - call or text, katie@storynet.org
CANADIAN STORYTELLER PART OF GLOBAL STORYTELLING EFFORTS TO KNOW LORE BEHIND STORIES
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, USA / Virtual – The National Storytelling Network (NSN) aspired to share the stories and the lore behind them with professional storytellers across the nation and the world including Canada, Northern Ireland, Argentina, Scotland and the United States. From October 23-24, 2021, there will be a virtual celebration of spirits and monsters for middle school and older audiences.
The National Storytelling Network has offered many virtual events while awaiting for people of all ages to have access to the vaccine. From 9-day to 3-day to 1-day events, NSN now plans to have virtual listeners enjoy the story and the cultural and historical significance of the stories. The Haunted event includes two fringe performances, a how-to workshop on crafting scary stories from long-time ghost tour guide and storyteller Dale Jarvis, and two on demand showcases called "Clawing the Coffin" and "Shadows Talk Back" that can be viewed starting on October 23 with a couple weeks afterwards to watch at one's leisure.
National Storytelling Network Chair Katie Knutson shared, “While this pandemic has challenged us in unexpected ways, it has also given us the nudge we needed to fully embrace digital programming.”
One of these presenters is Dale Jarvis from Canada who will teach "Building Suspense: Crafting & Sharing Scary Stories." People will look at where to find supernatural stories, story ideas, how to craft a suspenseful story, and hear how fact and fiction blended together to become the chilling and entertaining tales of the St. John’s Haunted Hike ghost tour.
WHAT: National Storytelling Network's Haunted
WHEN: October 23-24, 2021, day/night, see schedule at http://www.storynet.org/Halloween, times listed are in Central Time
WHERE: Your Computer/Zoom
COST: Pay for separate show(s) or for full Haunted Package, $38/NSN member or $48/General Public for package or various individual tickets ranging from $5 to $30
AUDIENCE: Events geared for middle school and older audiences.
For more information, please visit: http://www.storynet.org/Halloween
NSN Haunted Funding: Virginia Storytelling Alliance; Parkhurst Brothers Publishing; Target; as well as Detroit Story League; Clyde Thompson; Todd Thompson; Brookside Part Warehouse
The Haunted Hike returns with a coffin-load of new tour dates. Get your tickets before they fade into nothingness before your very eyes…
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-haunted-hike-returns-tickets-163443988369
Mon Aug 16 – 9:30pm
Tues Aug 17 – 9:30pm
Wed Aug 18 – 9:30pm
Thurs Aug 19 – 9:30pm
Sat Aug 21 – 9pm
Sun Aug 22 – 9pm
Mon Aug 23 – 9pm
Tues Aug 24 – 9pm
Wed Aug 25 – 9:30pm
Thurs Aug 26 – 9pm
Sun Aug 29 – 9pm
Mon Aug 30 – 9pm
Tues Aug 31 – 9pm
Wed Sept 1 – 9pm
Thurs Sept 2 – 9pm
Mon Sept 6 – 9pm
Tues Sept 7 – 9pm
Wed Sept 8 – 9pm
Thurs Sept 9 – 9pm
The award for "Best Excuse for Missing Pig" goes to Farmer John of the Southside of St. John's, whose story was told in the Evening Telegram of 1897-02-08:
THE MISSING PIG. John is a farmer who lives on the Southside, but one of the many pigs which he is owner of suddenly and mysteriously disappeared on Saturday morning. A search party was arranged, but up to sunset that evening not as much as the "oneen's"' footsteps could be traced in the snow. John left to procure the service of Head Dawe, but when about 29 feet from his house the pig loomed up before him. As to where piggy was various opinions have been expressed; but .Jack says either he or the pig must have been with the fairies.
Tales (and Tails) from St. John’s, Whale’s Gulch, Beachy Cove, Saglek Bay, and various other locations
The sun splits the rocks, and on the shore perches a remarkable girl. With one hand she combs out her luxurious locks, all the while admiring herself in the mirror she holds in her other hand. You make a noise on the stones of the landwash, and startled, she turns to look at you. Then, with a splash of water and a flick of what might be a great fishy tail, the girl is gone beneath the foam.
Have you just seen a mermaid?
Mermaids and mermen are legendary aquatic creatures with the head and upper body of a human and the tail of a fish. “The name mermaid comes from ‘mere,’ meaning lake,” writes English author Jane Hutchins, “and ‘molgd’ meaning Maid, which has been replaced by the latter. However this race of so-called mer-people has always been associated more with the sea than with inland waters.”
While the first merfolk stories may have appeared in ancient Assyria, mermaids now appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Given the province’s long maritime history, mermaid stories have been a small but persistent part of our storytelling traditions for generations. As an example, an article in the Journal of American Folklore in 1895 wrote of a Newfoundland man who, “saw a mermaid sitting on a rock as plainly as he ever saw anything, and was within a couple of boat's lengths of her when she dived to her crystal caves below and was lost to sight.”
The most famous Newfoundland mermaid sighting is the story of Captain Richard Whitbourne, who described meeting a “strange Creature” in his book “Discourse and Discovery of Newfoundland.” Early one July morning in 1610, Whitbourne spotted something fishy swimming in St. John's Harbour. As Whitbourne tells it, the mermaid swam swiftly towards him:
“Now also I will not omit to relate some thing of a strange Creature, which I first saw there in the year 1610, in a morning early, as I was standing by the water side, in the Harbour of Saint John’s,which very swiftly came swimming towards me, looking cheerfully, as it had been a woman: by the face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears, neck, and forehead, it seemed to be so beautiful, and in those parts so well proportioned, having round about upon the head, all blue streaks, resembling hair, down to the Neck, (but certainly it was no hair), yet I beheld it long, and another of my company also yet living, that was not then far from me, saw the same coming so swiftly towards me: at which I stepped back; for it was come within the length of a long Pike.”
The mermaid, with a tail proportioned “like a broad hooked Arrow,” then tried to climb into a boat owned by William Hawkridge, who was not impressed with the creature's attentions:
“...the same Creature did put both his hands upon the side of the Boat, and did strive much to come in to him, and diverse then in the same Boat; whereat they were afraid, and one of them struck it a full blow on the head, whereby it fell off from them: and afterwards it came to two other Boats in the said Harbour, where they lay by the shore: the men in them, for fear fled to land. This (I suppose) was a Marmaid.”
Many years later, the Reverend Moses Harvey, who had a fine appreciation for giant squid and other denizens of the deeps, was not overly impressed by Whitbourne’s interpretation. “There can be no doubt that the honest captain had seen a seal disporting in the waters of the harbour, in the haze of the morning,” opined Harvey in 1885, “and his excited imagination did the rest.”
Mermaids lived on in the imaginations Newfoundlanders for generations. A different Reverend, the Rev. Fred T. Fuge, originally of Whale’s Gulch (now Valley Pond, near Twillingate) wrote in 1955:
“Everybody believed in dreadful sea-serpents and charming mermaids, and many imaginary creatures that never did exist. But, as I see it now, the old seafolk could not altogether be blamed for the strange stories they told. The giant cuttlefish lived in our waters; and this monster, shooting his eight great horns into the air for fifteen or twenty feet, and at the same time concealing his bulk beneath the surface, would forever settle the question of sea-serpents. And the beautiful sea-cow standing erect, half out of the water, and holding her calf between her front flippers while it nursed, was sufficient to impress the ancient mariner with the idea of lovely sea-women, who came out of the water to fondle and nurse their babies.”
Mermaids are mysterious creatures, and their passions and motives are not clearly understood, not even in the legends we tell about them. They might be charming, as Reverend Fuge describes, or worthy of a smack across the head, as Whitbourne describes. Sarah Peverley, a professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool, writes,
“Mermaids have been used across the ages, and across world cultures, to reflect human hopes and fears. In the Middle Ages, for instance, they were used as icons of pride and pleasure, speaking to clerical anxieties about female sexuality and worldly sin, and yet they could also embody Christians’ hope of achieving salvation. The mermaid’s hybrid form makes her a perfect cipher for navigating contrasting ideas and emotions like hope and fear.”
Folklorist John Widdowson notes that mermaids were sometimes used as a threatening figure in Newfoundland folklore, as in an example from Elliston which goes “Don't go down on that ice today, recess time, mind now! If you are not careful a mermaid will get you and carry you out to sea.” It is a belief that was common in mermaid lore. Researcher Allan Jøn argues that like “the half-women Sirens of Classical mythology, mermaids are reported to be highly dangerous to male sailors, sometimes using their feminine wiles and sweet songs to lure ships onto rocks, thereby causing the sailors’ deaths.” Another writer, Barbara Rieti, came across a mermaid story while doing research on Newfoundland fairy traditions. It well illustrates the confusing dual nature of merfolk:
“...there were two sisters who were mermaids. They lived in a place called Beacy [sic] Cove. He says that they would come up by the side of the boat and talk to him. They were very beautiful creatures, half woman and half fish. The older sister was bad and used to cast a spell; this spell was counteracted by the younger sister. The mermaids would come in on the beach at night and comb their hair. These mermaids were daughters of the sea and would bring him strokes of good and bad luck as well as played tricks on him. Once they warned him of a storm and saved his life.”
The book “Folklore of the Sea” is a great resource for nautical tales, and was originally published in 1973 by the Mystic Seaport Museum. The author, Horace Beck, was a former professor of American Literature at Middlebury College, and at the time of writing had been gathering the sea's folklore for decades in Europe, North America, and the West Indies. His life seems the stuff of romantic legend: his first sailing at age three, work on whaling ships, 28 transatlantic crossings under his belt, and an ear torn half-off in a wrestling match.
Luckily for us, his book contains a few references to Newfoundland mermen, including one encountered by a fisherman who was hand-lining by himself in a dory just off the Newfoundland shore. Like the sisters in Rieti’s story, the mermen of Beck’s stories could be either bad or good.
“At noon he stopped fishing and started to eat his lunch, when much to his surprise and annoyance he discovered a merman about to climb into the boat,” writes Beck. “He tried to shoo it away with no success, so he grabbed the fish gaff and bashed it on the fingers, after which it acquired a lively interest in other things.”
A second merman was seen in the same area around the same time. When two men were out hunting, they saw a strange creature in the water and shot at it.
“Whatever it was sank,” describes Beck, “but a short time later a dead merman with a black beard and hair washed ashore nearby.”
Not all of Beck’s Newfoundland merfolk stories end badly. In one, a mermaid helped a Newfoundlander caught in a storm.
“On still another occasion a man was caught in a small boat in a heavy gale. When the situation became most critical a mermaid appeared, climbed onto the gunnel and conned the boat safely through the breakers to shore.”
Another helpful mermaid was recorded by author PJ Wakeham in 1967, who notes that the encounter took place around the middle of the nineteenth century. He writes,
“This story goes on to say that a diver from the United States was working on a wreck at St. Shotts Rock, trying to effect a salvage job, and finding the work almost beyond his capabilities, because of strong tides and undertow, he was on the point of giving up, when a strange creature appeared and taking the ropes he was trying to fasten onto an object, the stranger did the job for him. He was scared at first and wondered where the party had come from, as he was the only diver, as far as he knew who was working on the wreck. But when this friendly helper stayed around and appeared to be anxious to help, he took confidence and continued his salvage operations. In the murky waters the diver said, it was difficult to be certain of anything or anybody, but the creature that assisted him appeared to have the body of a woman from the waist up, but from the centre of her back down the body tapered away to a large fish’s tail. The diver stated emphatically that he could never have effected that salvage job if it hadn't been for the assistance he received from the friendly mermaid.”
Our final mermaid story, from Labrador, also has a happy ending. In this instance, the story was collect by the Torngâsok Cultural Centre as part of its first Inuttitut language storytelling festival, which was held on May 20, 2006. The festival was created with four goals: to provide an opportunity for speakers to share their knowledge of culture and history, to create a forum to collect and record stories, to increase the prestige given to the Inuittut language in local communities, and to bring people together to celebrate that language as a vital part of Labrador culture.
Many of the stories from the festival were brought together in a book, and one of those stories was contributed by elder Bertha Holeiter, who was born in 1951 in Saglek Bay. In her legend, an orphaned boy rescues a mermaid who had become grounded on the rocks. Holeiter says,
“They look like people but they have tails, upper half of them are human and the lower part look like a fish, and they can’t speak. Because they don’t speak, the mermaid spoke to the orphan boy through his mind, ‘I have been grounded and my body is starting to dry up and if I dry up I will die, if you put me to the water I will grant you a wish whatever you want but you have to wear gloves to lift me.’”
The boy dons gloves, and carries her to the water. Safe in the water, she offers to grant his wish, as long as it is not for eternal life. The boy asks for a sealskin cap, and the mermaid gives him one with a fancy broach as his reward. Later, visiting sailors recognize the broach as one lost by the King of England, who in turn gives the boy a hefty sum of money for its return. The boy buys a house for other orphans with the money and thanks the mermaid for his good fortune.
So if you meet a mermaid, you take your chances. You might end up with wealth, fame, and a houseful of orphans, or you might end up with nothing but bad luck and an underwater grave. Keep an eye on the sea, and hope for the best.
Mythic Beasts
Wednesday, October 28th
7:30 pm NF (3:00pm PDT, 6:00pm EST, 11:00pm GMT)
Free | Live on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbmk486g5eU
Cozy up, turn off all the lights, and get ready to be immersed in a world of Mythic Beasts! Frothy creatures rise out of the depths off the shores of Ireland; others slink out of the graveyards of the Brothers Grimm. From the waters, fields, and forests of Newfoundland emerge scaly pond-dwellers, gallumphing giants, and forlorn spirits that will raise the hair on the back of your neck.
Our host for the evening is folklorist, author and local legend Dale Jarvis (who is no stranger to things that go bump in the night). Joining him are renowned NL authors and storytellers Charis Cotter and Gary Green. From far away west in British Columbia comes award-winning storyteller Melanie Ray, and from across the Atlantic comes acclaimed storyteller Maria Gillen.
“Canada from Ghost to Ghost” Virtual Haunted Campfire
Thursday, October 29th
9:00 pm NF (4:30pm PDT, 7:30pm EST, 11:30pm GMT)
$10.00 per Family
https://hauntedwalk.com/virtual-haunted-campfires/
Featuring:
Dale Jarvis, St. John's Haunted Hike
John Adams, Ghostly Walks of Victoria
Glen Shackleton, Haunted Walks Inc.
Grab a hot chocolate, cozy up with a warm blanket and get ready for some Hallowe’en chills at home. Our special guests make their homes at opposite ends of this creepy continent but are some of Canada’s finest storytellers. From ghost ships to haunted pubs, the true north strong and free is also the perfect place for a supernatural encounter. Join us around the “fire” as we share our favourite stories just before welcoming in the final weekend of our spooky season.
NSO Hallowe’en Spooktacular
Friday, October 30th
7:00 pm NF (2:30 pm PDT, 5:30 pm EST, 9:30 pm GMT)
$10 – $25
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/nso-halloween-spooktacular-tickets-125964496199
The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra presents our second annual Hallowe'en Spooktacular. This year, join our NSO musicians together with resident teller of ghoulish tales Dale Jarvis. We will bring you on a journey through some fun and spooky (kid-friendly) tales with a Newfoundland and Labrador twist. Gather your ghosts and goblins round the living room, scrounge up some spooky snacks and settle in for a great night of family entertainment.
Here it is, the cover art for my latest book, published by Flanker Press, art by Graham Blair! Stay tuned, new news on virtual launches and print releases coming soon!
Pre orders here:https://www.flankerpress.ca/product/on-this-day
“I can recall her saying to us, ‘If you go out tonight the Boo-Darby will carry you away.’ She said that he was a black man with horns. This proved to be very effective, because I always shuddered when she mentioned the Boo-Darby.”
A word you will not hear very often anymore in Newfoundland is “darby” -- meaning a type of potentially supernatural figure.
The word is not lost completely, however. There are at least three place names in Newfoundland that include the word “darby.” The first is Darby's Harbour, a former settlement located on Merasheen Island, Placentia Bay. There is also another Darby Harbour in Placentia Bay, in Paradise Sound, which was abandoned before the official resettlement period of the 1960s and ‘70s. A third is Darby's Island, still shown on some maps as “Old Ferrole Island,” which fronts the communities of Brig Bay and Plum Point, on the Great Northern Peninsula.
The name pops up in other contexts as well; the Newfoundland folk music quartet of Jean Hewson, Christina Smith, Rick West, and Dave Penny have performed together under the name “Boo Darby.”
But clearly defining what is meant by “darby” or “boo darby” is difficult, as the meaning varies from place to place, from person to person, and changes over time.
In certain contexts, darby can mean a type of ghostly apparition or spook. It can also be used to refer to a Hallow-e'en spectre, or a boogey-man type figure used to frighten or threaten children. One person from Ramea told folklorist John Widdowson how their mother used the name “Boo-Darby” to keep them in line:
“My five-year-old brother was taught and expected to obey at all times but like most kids he occasionally disobeyed, when mother would step in and say, ‘Now Tommy, you do like you’re told or under the steps you go where the Boo-Darby is ready for bad little boys.”
In one story from Colinet, St. Mary's Bay, Barbara Rieti’s informants told her a strange story about serving girl who was killed, flattened, by the darbies. She writes,
“So by and by she hears them coming, they come down the back of the meadow. She hears the fences busting and cracking, and she ran to sing out to tell them that they were corning. And they were gaining on her so fast that she see she couldn't do it and when she got to the door they were nearly on top of her and she sung out, ‘Darbies.’ And as quick as that, they said, you could hear the big ruption. They trampled her in the door, flattened her out, and she was black as tar. And the whole house, our uncle said, full up, great big long white feathers was full from the floor right up to the ceiling, he said. And a cold breeze going through the house , frightening everyone to death, and about two seconds everyone was gone.”
While it seemed clear to the storytellers that the darbies killed the girl, it was a bit confusing if those particular darbies were fairies, evil spirits, or humans in disguise.
The Dictionary of Newfoundland English includes several different meanings for the word darby, but most commonly it seems to have referred to disguised people who participate in disguised mummering activities during the twelve days of Christmas, though it could also mean a scoundrel, sly or cunning fellow.
Mr. Hubert Furey, of Harbour Main, is a great raconteur and a master recitationist, and a fabulous person to turn to when you are looking for bits of Newfoundland folklore.
“We never called them mummers, when I was young,” he told me. “We called them darbies.”
“We would make up our costumes, with cardboard masks with holes, and paint, crayon and whatever, sheets and pillows, wool for hair, whatever you could do to make yourself look ridiculous or funny or otherworldly. There wasn’t much style in the thing, it was very individual, whatever you could make up. You had the odd person who was very ingenious and creative, who had a good costume. But generally speaking it was whatever found itself on the body, so to speak, from whatever was lying around.”
Darbies in Harbour Main followed many of the customs followed by mummers and jannies in other parts of the province, except for the fact that darbies would start their rounds at about December 15th, but they would be done by Christmas Eve.
Joseph Dobbin, writing in 1984, shared his thoughts and memories about Christmas in St. Mary’s Bay at the start of the twentieth century. He included a reference to the darbies, saying:
“You and your brothers and father now begin to make your rounds. You go from house to house, singing, dancing, dressing up as the darbies, frightening children and little old ladies with your masks and the hobby-horse, and you have a wonderful time chasing, finding and blackening your friends, particularly the ones who showed any sign of fear of the darbies.”
In Conception Harbour, the darbies would go out even earlier, around Colcannon time (All Souls’ Night) at the end of October. There, the darbies would burn corks in the stove and pull them out with tongs, then use the blackened cork to darken their faces.
So are darbies a type of frightening, black-skinned supernatural creature, who inspired people to mimic them during mummering season? Or did it work the other way around, with costumed figures giving mothers a story to use to frighten naughty children?
If you have had a run-in with darbies, boo-darbies, boo-baggers, or other frightening creatures, comment below.
Chances are, if you've been spending more time on social media lately than usual, you may have seen the above photo with some variation of the following:
We will get through this together.....
A poem written in 1869, reprinted during 1919 Pandemic. Truly shows history repeating itself. This is Timeless....It was written in 1869 by Kathleen O’Meara:‘And people stayed home
and read books and listened
and rested and exercised
and made art and played
and learned new ways of being
and stopped
and listened deeper
someone meditated
someone prayed
someone danced
someone met their shadow
and people began to think differently
and people healed
and in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways,
dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
even the earth began to heal
and when the danger ended
and people found each other
grieved for the dead people
and they made new choices
and dreamed of new visions
and created new ways of life
and healed the earth completely
just as they were healed themselves’Reprinted during Spanish flu Pandemic, 1919
Photo taken during Spanish flu
Awesome, right? It's a great poem, made even better by its astonishing history, and the accompanying photo shows people getting about their business, and even looking fashionable, during one of the worst pandemics of the 20th century. If they can do it, so can we!
It is fabulous, except that the historical aspect of it is fabricated. It is a great story, but, surprise, not everything you read on the internet is accurate.
First, the poem. Kathleen O’Meara was a real person and her life sounds pretty interesting. She was an Irish-French Catholic writer and biographer, and wrote about women's suffrage and social reform. She died of pneumonia at only age 49, in 1889. She wrote novels, biographies of leading Catholics, and journal articles. She did not write "And the people stayed home."
The poem was written circa March 2020, in response to the current coronavirus pandemic. It was written by an Irish-American teacher coincidentally-named Kitty O'Meara, from Madison, Wisconsin. Her poem went viral online, and she was profiled in an article in Oprah magazine by writer Elena Nicolaou on March 19, 2020.
"It offers a story of how it could be, what we could do with this time," O'Meara told OprahMag.com of her viral work.
What about the photo taken during Spanish flu Pandemic? Surely that is the historically-true part of the viral phenomenon?
It is an old photo, but it predates the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 (which was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin).
The photo dates to 1913, and has been shared and shared again online through sites like Pintrest and via social media, and one of the earliest versions posted online was uploaded by the stock photo company Alamy. The photo comes from the archives of the former press empire of major Berlin publisher August Scherl. The Alamy online catalog includes this version of the photo:
| | | After the Balkan War, a new fashion is emerging. Women wear nose veil that is commonly used in Turkey. |
Helpfully, it also includes the following metadata (information about the image):
More information: This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.Ladies' fashion from 1913. New veil fashions, based on Turkish nose veils., 01.01.1913-31.12.1913Photographer: Scherl/Süddeutsche Zeitung PhotoDate taken: 1913
I'm not the first one to point this out, either. On April 6, 2020, actor Scott Baio tweeted out the photo.
It was retweeted hundreds of times, and generated a response three days later from the Fake History Hunter twitter account @fakehistoryhunt who wrote:
Incorrect.Photo was taken in 1913, probably in Germany, years before the Flu pandemic began.This original description states that it is a fashion fad inspired by the Balkan war, they're wearing veils based on Turkish nose veils.
I'm guessing that the Balkan war referenced here is the First Balkan War, 1912-1913, which was tied into a very complex history of conflicts before and after that I'll let some military historian far more knowledgeable than I unpack. And if you want more information on how the conflicts of that era impacted fashion (and set the stage for designers like future Nazi-collaborator Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel) you can read Anja Reinthaler's article "Clothing during World War I - How the war influenced the fashion industry."
Why does this matter? "Whatever," you might say, "I still like the poem." It matters, in part, because your perception of history is being modified by unknown persons for unknown reasons, and there are a lot of historical precedents that teach us why that sort of behaviour is problematic.
Another reason it matters is that we are living in the midst of a historical event, and the works that are created now will be the history (and folklore) of the future. Kitty O'Meara of Wisconsin deserves to be recognized and remembered for her contributions, just as much as Kathleen O’Meara deserves to be honoured for hers. The innovators of 1913 deserve credit for their creativity, and the global impact and historical echoes of local conflicts deserves proper study.
For more on how folklore is evolving and ever-present in times like these, check out Smithsonian folklorist James Deutsch's recent article "How to Detect the Age-Old Traditions of Folklore in Today’s COVID-19 Misinformation."
As I wrote above, not everything you read on the internet is accurate (sorry, Scott Baio). If you have more information on either the poem or the photograph, email me and I'll add it!
And if you want an awesome photo of badass women wearing face masks in response to Spanish Influenza, here you go: the St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps on duty during the Oct. 1918 Influenza epidemic, from Library of Congress.
Keep safe, wash your hands, and watch what you post online. I'm off to research Turkish nose veils.
- Dale Jarvis, Clarke's Beach, Newfoundland, 15 April 2020.
Our friends over at Flanker Press have announced that for this week (April 6 - 12), all e-book versions of Haunted Ground are just $4.99! In this collection of ghostly tales, I will introduce you to old legends, including spectral Viking longships, encounters with ghostly ferrymen, and strange voices on the trapline, while exploring classic elements of local folklore such as tokens and premonitions, bad weather lights, and the Old Hag herself. In addition to historical tales, you will also come face to face with some of the province’s eeriest urban legends, from the mysterious Red Eyes of Glovertown, to the chilling west coast Webber, to the Phantom Drummer of Conception Bay North. With leaping witches, dancing devils, phantom locomotives, and even a ghostly kitten or two, there is no mistaking that you are exploring truly haunted ground. You can find your copy here: Kobohttps://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/haunted-ground-3Amazonhttps://www.amazon.ca/Haunted-Ground-Ghost-Stories-Rock-ebook/dp/B075RLMTRD/Barnes and Noblehttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/haunted-ground-dale-jarvis/1127125662?ean=9781771176231Applehttps://books.apple.com/ca/book/haunted-ground/id1287205676
Things That Go Bump In The BasementLivingstone Street, St. John’sBy Dale Jarvis
Winter nights seem made for the sharing of spooky tales. Wind swirling ‘round the gables of old houses and the tappings of skeletal branches against attic windows would certainly set the stage for many a ghost story.
In his book, Streets of St. John’s, author Jack White quotes newspaper columnist, J.M Byrnes. Byrnes reminisced of a particular poplar tree from his youth on Livingstone Street in the 1880s, “its stark branches now in the sleep of winter and ghostly with bandages of falling snow, sprawling over the gables of the adjoining houses and stirring restlessly with the ever increasing wind which tapped and swirled against the attic windows.”
Livingstone Street is more that just atmospheric, however. Indeed, it seems to have attracted a fair share of local legends.
It was not that long ago that there was a woman living on Livingstone Street with her young son. The boy, like many young children, was possessed of an imaginary friend. In this particular case, it was an imaginary dog. The boy would often go down into the basement to play with his invisible friend, and the mother thought nothing of it.
The basement was only roughly finished, and not the most comfortable of spaces. So the woman hired a contractor to come in, tear up the old broken concrete floor and pour a new one, in order to finish the basement and make it more liveable. When the workman pulled up the floor, there, underneath the old concrete, he found the skeleton of a dog.
Or so the local legend goes, anyway. Like many ghost stories, it is one that I have come across through second-hand sources, so it difficult to judge its accuracy. What is interesting, however, is that it is a story which does not seem out of place on Livingstone Street. Haunted basements, in fact, seem to be a recurring theme in the neighbourhood.
Around 1972, a family with several children was living in a house on that street. By and by, several family members started to experience strange things. One of the eldest boys saw a strange face looking in at him through a window. The mother started to hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs in the middle of the night. But it was the two youngest children that witnessed the most terrifying event, down in the basement of the property.
“Caroline” was only a young girl at the time, about six years old. Over 30 years later, she still has a vivid memory of what she saw in that basement.
“Me and my brother were down in the basement playing,” remembers Caroline. “He wanted me to sit on top of an old oil barrel that was in our basement. I was afraid to sit on the barrel because I was afraid I would fall off. I reluctantly agreed to go up there only after he went first.”
Caroline’s brother started to climb up the barrel when the girl looked across the room.
“There in the middle of the basement was the most terrifying sight of my entire life,” she says, thinking back on the events of that day. “There was this giant head and face staring at me. It had black hair; the face was very ugly. The lips were the scariest part, and were snarled up and sneering at me.”
“It was horrifying,” she remembers.
The image was in the middle of the basement, with an evil smirk on its face, about three feet high. Both Caroline and her brother saw the apparition.
“I ran out of the basement screaming, my brother ran after me,” Caroline describes. “I ran upstairs and told my older brother, he went downstairs to check out what I had seen”
When the family went downstairs, the head had disappeared. The basement light, which had been on when the children had fled, was now turned off.
“I guess the darkness hates the light,” says Caroline
Originally printed in Haunted Waters, published by Flanker Press.
Map: Insurance plan of the city of St. John's, Newfoundland
The Ghost Dory of Cape St. Mary’sIn 1999, John Lou Ennis of Placentia released a book about the changes that have taken place in Placentia Bay over the centuries. Ennis, the son of John Louis Ennis and Leah Best of Merasheen, included in his book one example of a ghostly encounter which he explained as being caused by a mirage.
Ennis’ father was a fisherman out of Merasheen, and would often fish off the coast of Cape St. Mary’s. One night while anchored near Cape St. Mary’s, the man saw what he believed to be an optical illusion.
“Looking out through the thick fog, he suddenly spotted a dory coming towards his boat, rowed by two men,” writes the witness’ son. “He had no idea who the men were although he could dimly see their faces.”
The first thought of the fisherman was that the men in the dory must have gotten separated from their schooner, or that they were in need of something. He called to another man on watch, who could also see the dory approaching them.
Together, Ennis Sr. and the man on watch ran to assist the small vessel. The two rushed forward to catch hold of the thrown rope as the dory came closer to them. As they did so, the dory vanished before their astonished eyes.
“Mirages are a fairly common sight at sea and I’m sure sailors still get a shock when one occurs,” writes Ennis.
While visually startling, the concept of a mirage has been well understood for many years. This natural phenomenon may explain some ghostly sightings from Newfoundland and Labrador. The 1915 edition of The New Practical Reference Library defines a mirage as “the appearance of an object in the sky, due to the reflection of rays of light by a layer of atmosphere of different density from that in which the object is situated.”
One type of mirage presents the appearance of ships and icebergs, sometimes inverted and suspended in the clouds. This particular type of mirage is frequently observed at sea in the northern latitudes. It occurs when the lower air is very much colder and therefore denser than the air immediately above it, causing distant objects to appear in the low sky.
This type of mirage is known as a “superior mirage” and is most common in the Arctic and Antarctic. One phenomenon commonly associated with superior mirages is a repeat sunset. In this, the sun appears to set, reappear, and then set again some time later. This was witnessed in 1915 on a Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Shackleton encountered many mirages, and in January of 1915 he wrote, “From the mast-head the mirage is continually giving us false alarms. Everything wears an aspect of unreality. Icebergs hang upside down in the sky; the land appears as layers of silvery or golden cloud.”
The ghost dory of Cape St. Mary’s may have been a mirage of an event occurring at some distance. Or could it have been a phantom boat doomed to row for all eternity? Optical illusion or true haunting? You will have to decide for yourself.
- by Dale Jarvis, originally printed in "Wonderful Strange" published by Flanker Press. Photo credit: Three men in dory, circa 1930s. George W. Bailey fonds, Item B 22-3, The Rooms. Inscription: To Geo. W Bailey from [Eben] A Ayers for The Associated Press
Experience a Holographic Fairy and a Giant Teacup.
Meet the Fairy Rescue Professors. Learn About the Giants of Placentia Bay.
NewfoundlandLand is a magical and interactive storytelling event that includes family-friendly attractions based on the legends, lore and popular culture of Newfoundland and Labrador. This touring attraction has officially launched in St. John’s and will be visiting communities across the province throughout the summer and fall.
This interactive exhibit combines today’s cutting-edge technology with traditional Newfoundland folklore, is designed for all ages and is composed of three unique pavilions:
- Dark Night of the Ugly Stick: Puppet/stop animation film and installation.
- Fact or Fiction: The Talls: Fairy Rescue Professors will lead a storytelling session based on historical NL “tall tales”. Experience giant artifacts like a larger than life lunch box and teacup.
- NL Fairy Rescue: Guests will be invited into the Fairy Research Centre where they will learn about the history of fairies and meet a fairy!
Theodore Thales Laxity, Founder of the Newfoundland Fairy Rescue and Research Laboratory says, “Newfoundland is a place of wonder and magic deeply rooted in the tradition of storytelling. Growing up in a small community, my parents and grandparents passed down stories of fairies and other marvellous tall tales. I wanted to create an interactive exhibit that is portable and can be easily toured to small communities across the province, as a way of engaging both young and old by sharing traditional stories in a contemporary way. Myself and the rest of the Professors will also give people an opportunity to have a hands-on experience with artifacts like a giant tea cup, as well as an enormous lunch box, and provide an up-close-and-personal visit with a real-life fairy!”
How does it work? Guests can decide which pavilions they would like to visit for a small fee. There’s also lots of fun activities to keep guests entertained in the general area including:
- Performers entertaining guests as Fairy Rescue Professors
- Children’s colouring and drawing centre
- Popcorn and fairy cloud (cotton candy)
- A mini-documentary starring local historian Dale Jarvis about fairies and its ongoing impact on Newfoundland culture
- Merchandise table with fairy colouring books and special giveaways for kids
Starring
David Keating as Professor Theodore Thales Laxity | Paul David Power as Professor Rocky Earle | Chris Adams as Professor Conroy Bowman | Matthew Dawe as Professor Popcorn |
Richard Short as Professor Hot Dog
Booking NewfoundlandLand
NewfoundlandLand utilizes technological and entertainment approaches to engage our young population in our cultural heritage. From the rich tradition of fairy lore to showcasing how people in our outport communities used material on hand for entertainment - NewfoundlandLand is committed to complementing the educational curriculum when it comes to learning about and appreciating traditions. On a school and or community visit we provide all or any of our attractions to engage youth.
For more information about bookings please contact:
www.Newfoundlandland.ca | www.facebook.com/NewfoundlandLand
Someone asked for these today, so I've decided to put them all in one blog entry!
Jarvis. Dale Gilbert.
- Exploring God's Acre: The Moravian Church Mission Graveyard at Hebron, Labrador. Newfoundland Ancestor, 13.2 (Summer 1997): 93-95.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jcSZYou8wZoZO9VHRaSpG56u74WktaDB/view - A History of St. Mark’s Anglican Cemetery, New Perlican. Heritage NL Fieldnotes Series, 001, November 2018. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R8FjVWaAr3YBiNH5TuvWVwvE3-UrBETmuHnk1lQuI94/edit
- Lych Gates in Newfoundland. Occasional Paper on Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 004. St. John's: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, August 2013. https://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/Occasional_Paper_04.pdf
- The Moravian Dead Houses of Labrador, Canada. Communal Societies Volume 21, 2001
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KvXSjUJh6zmnX2_v-oxV6qmlSIu2cPC8/view
Jarvis, Dale Gilbert; Drover, Kelly.
- A Survey of White Bronze Mortuary Monuments in St. John's [Newfoundland, Canada]. Newfoundland Ancestor, 34.1 (2018): 27-38. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OeirdK9BDJxEcuBZgVaJ45ZjcqpDSt7-/view
Jarvis, Dale Gilbert; Barrett, Terra; Elliott, Heather; Li Xingpei.
- Chinese Graves at the General Protestant Cemetery, St. John's. Occasional Paper on Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 007. St. John's: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, February 2017. https://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/Occasional_Paper_07_Web.pdf
I've been having a chat tonight with the October Witch about Newfoundland supernatural, dark folklore, and folk horror literature, and I've gone down a bit of an eerie rabbit hole. I've started to compile a list of all the published fictional work that I can think of with distinctly Newfoundland and Labrador paranormal/supernatural themes and motifs.
This is a work in progress, so if you can think of anything not here, leave a comment or email dale@dalejarvis.ca. I'm specifically including fictional work, so no non-fiction collections of ghost stories (that rules out most of my own stuff!), and I'm excluding things like science fiction, speculative fiction, books written by NL writers but set elsewhere, or straight up horror. To get on this list, the piece should be: published; based in Newfoundland and Labrador; have characters/themes/motifs that are clearly linked to "traditional" local folklore in some way. I have made a short list at the bottom of this list of works that are set in the province but which deal with more contemporary paranormal themes (vampires, werewolves, etc). I'm not sure if all of the stage plays have been published, so let me know that too.
Stage plays
Barry, Frank. Wreckhouse.
Chafe, Robert. Butler’s Marsh.
Chafe, Robert. Isle of Demons.
Pinsent, Gordon. Corner Green.
Pittman, Al. West Moon.
Stapleton, Berni. The Double Axe Murders.
Sullivan, Joan. Wolf in the Fold.
Books
Barbeau, Melissa. The Luminous Sea.
Butler Hallett, Michelle. Deluded Your Sailors.
Butler Hallett, Michelle. Double-blind.
Collins, Gerard. Finton Moon.
Cotter, Charis. The Ferryland Visitor.
Crummy, Michael. Galore.
Dawe, Tom. The Loon in the Dark Tide: Old Newfoundland Ghost Stories.
Dawe, Tom. An Old Man's Winter Night: Ghostly Tales.
Dawe, Tom. Spirited Away: Fairy stories of old Newfoundland.
Harvey, Kenneth. Town that Forgot How to Breathe.
Hynes, Joel Thomas. Say Nothing Saw Wood.
Kavanagh, Ed. The Confessions of Nipper Mooney.
Pilgrim, Earl. Curse of the Red Cross Ring.
Pilgrim, Earl. The Ghost of Ellen Dower.
Rowe, Bill. The Monster of Twenty Mile Pond.
Steffler, John. The Afterlife of George Cartwright.
Story, Kate. Blasted.
Tilley, Sara. Skin Room.
Poetry
Dalton, Mary. Merrybegot.
McGrath, Carmelita. Ghost Poems.
Rogers, Nico. The Fetch.
YA/Children’s Fiction
Abbott, L. M. The Riddle.
Baird, Alison. The Hidden World (The Tales of Annwn #1)
Baird, Alison. The Wolves of Woden (The Tales of Annwn #2)
Cotter, Charis. The Painting.
Cotter, Charis. The Ghost Road.
Davis, Harold. The Starrigans of Little Brook Bottom.
Dinn, Philip; Jones, Andy. Peg Bearskin.
Falcone, Lucy M. The Mysterious Mummer.
Jarvis, Dale. The Golden Leg.
Jones, Andy. The Jack Series (Running the Goat Press).
Kennedy, Patti. The Fairies of Billy's Gully.
McNaughton, Janet. Brave Jack and the Unicorn.
McNaughton, Janet. Catch Me Once Catch Me Twice
Obed, Ellen Bryan. Borrowed Black: A Labrador Fantasy.
Pierce, Nicola. Spirit of the Titanic.
Reed, Don C. The Kraken.
Story, Alice. Beneath the Barrens: A novel
Wallace, Ian. Hansel and Gretel.
Newfoundland-based contemporary horror/paranormal fantasy
Dunne, Brad. After Dark Vapours.
Frost, Tanith. Immortal Soulless series.
Gosse, Douglas. The Celtic Cross.
Labonté, Amanda. Call of the Sea series.
Meikle, William. The Green and the Black.
Meikle, William. Home From The Sea.
O’Keefe, Charles. The Newfoundland Vampire series.
Osmond, Candace. The Dark Tides series.
Peddle, Geoff. The Atonement of Jack Fowler.
Ryan-Lush, Geraldine. Hannigan's hand: the ghost woman talks.
Sora, Kit. The Artobiography.
Sullivan, Shannon Patrick. The Dying Days.
Traverse, Tina. Destiny of a Vampire.
Traverse, Tina. Scarlet Desire: Covet.
Anthologies/Short Stories/Songs
Chillers from the Rock (Engen Books)
Fantasy from the Rock (Engen Books)
Great Big Sea. “French Perfume” on Sea of No Cares
Nelson, Kou K. “Safe Upon the Shore” in Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales. Edited by Eileen Wiedbrauk.
Power, Colleen. “Taken Away By The Fairies” on Lucky You Are
Zombies on the Rock (Engen Books)
Last updated 30 January 2019(see also Engen Books for additional straight-up horror titles)
Got more for me? Let me know!
And because Bob Hallett suggested it, a song for you:
The Ghost Ship of the Bay of Islands
By Dale Jarvis
Ghost ships have a permanent berth in the folklore of Newfoundland and Labrador. They sail out of the night or emerge from stormy seas in countless harbours across the province. Yet while many a port boasts a ghostly galleon of its own, they are few phantom ships as mysterious as that of the Bay of Islands.
The vessel was first spotted several generations ago. Along the shores of the bay lived an old Native American woman in a small cabin. She lived alone, far from the nearest settlement, and was more than content with her life of solitude.
One evening, the woman's peaceful stretch of shoreline was disturbed by a strange series of noises. The night was filled with the sounds of a ship close by. The woman could hear the sound of men shouting orders, the sound of water lapping against its hull, the sound of ropes twisting under strain.
Amidst these noises she could make out another noise. This was a sound more troublesome: the echo of clanking chains, of men in iron fetters. A slave ship had taken shelter in the bay.
Certainly the Bay of Islands is no stranger to sailing ships. Captain Cook charted its waters, finding the bay an excellent base when he visited the coast in 1767. Cook was marine surveyor of Newfoundland from 1763 to 1767. His detailed charts made life safer for mariners, and he made maps so precise they were usedby generations of seafarers afterwards. Pirates too had ventured into the bay, seeking safety from storms and from those who sought to bring them to justice.
But a slave ship was something rare, and unheard of in the woman's lifetime. Years had passed since the last slaver had made its run between Africa and the New World. The appearance of such a ship now bode no good.
The woman opened the door to her small cabin and stepped out onto the beach. From there, the sounds of the ship were louder. She looked out onto the waters of the bay and was startled by what she saw.
The evening sky was clear, and a sliver of moon and twinkling stars shone down on a empty bay. No ship graced its waters. For as far as she could see in any direction, she was alone.
The noise did not stop however. It was as if a ship lay at anchor just in front of her, but was hidden behind some invisible veil. Clearly, a ghost ship had sailed into the bay from points unknown.
Such a dramatic and eerie haunting would no doubt provoke a feeling of great terror in the hearts of many. But the old woman had lived a long life of self-sufficiency, and had seen much in her day. No ghost ship was going to scare her. After the initial surprise of the encounter wore off, she took matters firmly and decisively into her own hands.
She disappeared back into the sanctuary of her cabin for a moment, only to re-emerge holding in her wizened hands an ancient shotgun. She marched down to the edge of the beach without any sign of fear. Raising the gun to her shoulder, she took aim at the general area where the slave ship seemed to be, and fired a mighty volley into the nothingness.
The shot reverberated throughout the night, and then died away. The air resumed its normal stillness, and the clanking and groaning of the slave ship could be heard no more.
Satisfied at the outcome of her attack, the woman slung the shotgun over her shoulder, and marched back into the cabin. She bolted the door behind, and hung the weapon in its usual place from the one of the cabin's exposed beams. She then extinguished the oil lantern she kept by the bed, and went to sleep, untroubled by any further ghostly troubles, phantom ships or mysterious noises.
When the sun rose and spread its warm light across the waters of the bay, the woman rose as well. She left her cabin and once more made her way down to the water's edge.
The water was as calm and as devoid of ships as it had been the night before. She stood still for a moment and tilted one ear to the water, but no noise out of the ordinary could be heard. Soft waves licked the smooth stones which defined the curving line of the beach. Looking into the water, the woman noticed something peculiar within easy reach. She stooped down, and thrusting her hand into the coolness of the bay, withdrew the object from its watery bed.
Rusty and weathered, with weak links and missing pieces betraying its venerable age, was a set of iron manacles.
While the slaving vessel was not seen again, the woman held on to the physical proof its visit for many a year. She would share the story with those rare visitors to her cabin, and would pull out the old manacles as an indication of her honestly.
Forty or so years ago, the woman, grown ancient with the passing of time, told her story to a young boy, and showed him the manacles.
The boy grew in a man, but never forgot what he had seen or heard.. Years later, he told they story to his son. In turn, his son told the story to me, and now I have passed it along to you.
When the wind dies down and the night grows quiet over the Bay of Islands, and the moon has diminished till it is just a sliver of its former self, listen carefully.
photo courtesy Old Book Illustrations.
Mysterious lights have a great tradition in Newfoundland and Labrador. There are numerous stories from around the province of an eerie light that would appear in times of danger and was usually followed by a tragic incident.
This pale flame, known in the Latin as ignis fatuus, has been ofttimes reported flickering over marshy ground, and, it is said, over churchyards. It often appears specifically to lead travellers astray, into bog holes, or over cliffs.
This strange phenomena is known most commonly in Newfoundland as the Jacky Lantern, the West Country England name for the Will o' the Wisp. However, it was also known as a Corpse Candle around the capital city of St. John’s, and as a Corpse Light in the picturesque and historic community of Harbour Grace.
Harbour Grace is one of Newfoundland's oldest outport communities, and one with a rich and colourful history. As early as 1550 Harbour Grace was a thriving fishing community, with the majority of fishermen arriving from the Channel Islands. In the early 1600s, oral tradition holds that fortifications were established at Harbour Grace by the famous English pirate Peter Easton, who plundered fishing stations, stole provisions and munitions, induced men to join his fleet, and generally wrought havoc along the eastern coast of Newfoundland.
The community is no stranger to the stuff of legends, and the corpse candle has a firm place in local folklore. In Harbour Grace, however, these strange lights were not always evil or dangerous, nor did they always lure travellers into treacherous areas. In one documented case, one corpse light actually led the Revered Canon Noel and his wife to safety during a blizzard just outside the community.
That event took place at the very beginning of the twentieth century. The Reverend and his wife had taken their horse and sleigh to a blacksmith, several miles distant. Delays meant the couple had to leave during a storm. Their horse was soon bogged down in high snow, and they realized they were completely lost.
A bright light began moving around. Believing it to be rescuers, the couple shouted for help. The light approached them and passed by, but there was no sign of a person carrying it.
The frozen pair walked in the direction of the light. This led them to a stone fence, which in turn led them to a house where they found shelter for the night. When the owners of the house were told of the strange light, they expressed no surprise. The corpse light was no stranger to the citizens of Harbour Grace. It had been seen many times before, generally before some terrible tragedy. For whatever reason, the ghostly glow had decided to protect the Reverend and his fair wife, instead of leading them to their doom.
Photo: A 14-65.3; Harbour Grace. Aerial photograph by Lee Wulff,
c1955. Fonds GN 186, The Rooms.
I am currently sold out for all the summer dates for the Tombstones and Tea walking tour of the General Protestant Cemetery. But if you'd like to be notified about future dates for Sept/Oct, you can subscribe to the mailing list here:http://eepurl.com/W7DKD
Tea and Tales
The Annex, 365 Old Placentia Rd, Mount Pearl
Join tea lady Kelly Jones and storyteller Dale Jarvis as they celebrate their love of tea with stories, tastings, and treats. As you listen to stories of missing eyelids, wise dragons, haunted tea plantations, and the Iron Goddess of Mercy Herself, you will sample four varieties of tea. Learn about proper brewing techniques, and take away tips to make a perfect cup.
Tuesday, July 17th
7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $35.00
Recently, this stone caught my eye in the Old Methodist Cemetery in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The stone reads:
HARRIET PATTE [broken, possibly PATTEN]BELOVED CHILD OFCHARLES & ELEANORHICKMANDIEDIN DIPTHERIA NOV. 161884Yet these now rising from the tombWith lustre brighter far shall shineRevive with ever during bloomSafe from diseases and decline.HICKMAN
There are several markers from the 1880s in the cemetery noting that the individual interred died of diphtheria. Archivist Larry Dohey has noted, "A diphtheria epidemic raged throughout Newfoundland from 1888 -1891, medical officials identified at least 3,183 cases and it had resulted in at least 624 deaths."
The phrase "died in diptheria" is intriguing. Other markers in the cemetery use the phrase "died of" rather than "died in." Also, the spelling of diptheria (without the first "H") seems to have peaked in the 1860s, and then was surpassed and largely replaced with the current spelling of diphtheria.
Below: Uses of the words diptheria vs diphtheria*, 1800-present*
The "Yet these now rising from the tomb" epitaph is taken from Hymn 46 "The morning flowers display their sweets," published in "A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the people called Methodists" by the Rev. John Wesley, 1790, and is attributed to Samuel Wesley, Jr.:
THE morning flowers display their sweets,
And gay their silken leaves unfold
As careless of the noontide heats,
As fearless of the evening cold.
Nipt by the wind's unkindly blast,
Parched by the sun's directer ray,
The momentary glories waste,
The short-lived beauties die away.
So blooms the human face divine,
When youth its pride of beauty shows;
Fairer than spring the colours shine,
And sweeter than the virgin rose.
Or worn by slowly-rolling years,
Or broke by sickness in a day,
The fading glory disappears,
The short-lived beauties die away.
Yet these, new rising from the tomb,
With lustre brighter far shall shine;
Revive with ever-during bloom,
Safe from diseases and decline.
Let sickness blast, let death devour,
If heaven must recompense our pains:
Perish the grass, and fade the flower,
If firm the word of God remains.
The stone carving itself is attributed to J. McIntyre, and is most likely the work of the Standard Marble Works, a St. John's-based firm under the direction of James McIntyre, as advertised below in the Evening Telegram of 1892-09-05. A high percentage of the monuments of the same period in the cemetery bear the maker's mark McIntyre or J. McIntyre. The stone is somewhat damaged along the top and top right, but it could have potentially been topped with a carved lamb, a common motif for the markers of children, and a motif seen on similar monuments in the cemetery.