Captain Hatfield was dazed and puzzled, but there was something so commanding about the stranger that he felt intuitively that he must obey him. He now ordered the mate to alter course. He returned to his cabin and this time he slept undisturbed.
At daybreak the captain resumed his post on deck, thinking about his strange experience of the night before, and about whether or not to continue on the new course. Although the storm had abated a little, towering waves raged around them and their situation was extremely dangerous.
Suddenly, urgent shouts rang out from the lookout. He had sighted a schooner and it was in dire trouble. It was clear that there was not a moment to lose. A great cry went up from both ships. The newly spotted vessel was bucking in the heavy seas, her masts had fallen, her steering was shattered, and she was out of control. After a heroic effort, everyone was rescued, but only just before the schooner sank.
The doomed ship had been a United States vessel, the SS Talbot, under the command of Captain Amesbury. Later, when the storm eased and the rescued crew had recovered a little from their dreadful ordeal, Captain Hatfield spent some time with them. He found that Captain Amesbury had been travelling with his young wife and child aboard. As Hatfield recounted his odd experience of the night before, and explained how they had happened upon the Talbot in the nick of time, his listeners begged for more detail. Mrs. Amesbury hung on his every word as Captain Hatfield described the stranger’s old-fashioned clothes, and she turned deathly white. She began to question him closely. She asked about the fob watch, the type of shirt, the shoes and what material the suit was made of.
At last she was convinced. Tears streaming, looking shaken, she shocked everyone present when she blurted out, “That description exactly fits my father. But he died ten years ago!”
After both crews disembarked safely in New York, the United States government awarded Captain Hatfield an inscribed gold watch for his valour. The watch is still treasured by his descendants today, as is the story behind it — that it was the spirit of Mrs. Amesbury’s father who so forcefully persuaded Captain Hatfield to rescue his daughter and grandchild from a horrible death.
Epilogue
Ghost Busters
Currently, there is an ever-growing public absorption with the paranormal. Among many points of interest there are television shows on every possible aspect of the supernatural, community college courses, university research, paranormal societies, local “haunted walks,” ghost-busting groups and the worldwide sharing of ghostly experiences online.
Harry Price, who investigated the Caledonia Mills Fire-Spook Farm in the early 1900s, was one of the first people to assemble a ghost-busting kit. Much simpler than today’s technological approach, it simply contained a thermometer, a camera, felt overshoes, a telescope and fingerprinting equipment.
One modern-day group that conducts free-of-charge investigations of reputedly haunted sites in Atlantic Canada is the Atlantic Centre for Paranormal Research and Investigation (ACPRI).
The first step in any investigation is to look for natural explanations. Radon and carbon monoxide levels are monitored because even small gas leaks can cause hallucinations that have nothing to do with the spirit world.
If, after close inspection, a site is still suspected of being haunted, environmental specialists move in with an assortment of scientific tools to document the case.
Photographic experts use infrared as well as standard equipment to photograph apparitions after dark.
Magnetic tape recorders, or a radio tuned to a blank FM frequency, are used to listen to electronic voice phenomena (or EVP), since spirit voices may be outside the range of human hearing.
Electromagnetic field detectors indicate changes in the environment, such as the presence or absence of domestic electrical current. Radiation testers measure microwave emissions from TVs and microwave ovens. If a spirit is present the readings will show above normal. It seems that ghosts like to use electromagnetic waves to manifest their presence. Interestingly, there is reason to believe that supernatural events and personal psychic development are more prevalent in areas most influenced by electromagnetic fields and fault lines.
Infrared thermal scanners detect changes in temperature. The presence of a spirit may cause an extreme temperature drop of between 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once it has been established that a place is genuinely haunted, psychics may be called in to perform an exorcism, especially if it concerns a private home and a scared family. In September 1987, Ian Currie and his partner Carole Davis were requested to travel from Toronto to deal with a haunted house in the Annapolis Valley.
The family had moved out a year previously. They were frightened by the sound of footsteps, lights that turned on and off, and the presence of a number of phantom men around the house. Events came to a crisis when the homeowner’s daughter was bitten on the neck and bruised by a ghost dog that accompanied one of the male phantoms.
Ian Currie and Carole Davis lived in the empty house in order to carry out the exorcism. Carole’s role was to locate ghosts, after which Ian confronted them.
The psychics learned that the property had belonged to a brutal Loyalist slave owner in the late eighteenth century. This man, they were told by several of the apparitions, savagely beat his black slaves, and on at least one occasion thrashed one to death. The spirits of these black people told Ian that they wanted a proper burial, and then Ian discovered there were numerous graves scattered throughout the property. He arranged for a formal burial service, and the ghosts then left the area peacefully.
Ian still had to deal with the Loyalist owner, who could not be convinced that he was dead. He demanded to know what the psychics were doing on his land, and threatened to have Ian shot. After considerable argument, Ian and Carole persuaded him that he really was deceased, and guided him to look for the bright light that he must enter to successfully pass on to the next plane.
Ian stayed the entire weekend in the house to make sure that the exorcism was complete, and that all of the men, as well as the dog, had truly gone. This was the 54th house exorcism that the two psychics had completed between them.
They estimate that ten percent of all homes are haunted, but only a few ghosts are genuinely frightening or dangerous.
Further Reading
Armstrong, Warren. 1961. Sea Phantoms. Toronto: Longmans, Green.
Caplan, Ronald (ed.). 2002. Cape Breton Book of the Night: Stories of Tenderness and Terror. Wreck Cove: Breton Books.
Colombo, J.R. 2004. The Midnight Hour: Canadian Accounts of Eerie Experiences. Toronto: Dundurn Press.
Heaps, Willard A. 1972. Superstition. New York: Thomas Nelson.
Fowke, Edith. 1994. Legends Told in Canada. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum.
Mosher, Edith. 1974. The Sea and the Supernatural. Hantsport: Lancelot Press.
Snow, Edward Rowe. 1972. Ghosts, Gales and Gold. New York: Cornwall Press.
The Findhorn Community. 1968. The Findhorn Garden: Pioneering a New Vision of Man and Nature in Cooperation. New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row.
Young, George. 1997. Ghosts in Nova Scotia: Tales of the Supernatural. Queensland: Lunenburg County Print.
Online Sources
Amherst poltergeist:
http://hollowhill.com/amherst-mystery/
http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa061200a.htm
Demonic blazes:
www.perceptions.couk.com
Exorcism:
http://archives.cbc.ca (Search for “exorcism”)
Halifax Explosion:
www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/
www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/remembrance/sources.asp
The Titanic Disaster:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/titanic.htm
www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/e
nglish/Sinkingofthetitanic/chap.3.html
Bibliography
Books
Anon. 1862. Halifax: ‘Its Sins and Sorrows.’ Halifax: Conference Job Printing Office.
Behe, George. 1989. Psychic Forewarnings of a Tragedy. Wellingborough: Aquarian Press.
Bruce, Harry. 1997. An Illustrated History of Nova Scotia. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing & the Province of Nova Scotia.
Creighton, Helen. 1957. Bluenose Ghosts. Toronto: The Ryerson Press.
Currie, Ian, 1978. You Cannot Die. Toronto: Methuen Press.
Glasner, Joyce. 2003. The Halifax Explosion: Surviving the Blast that Shook a Nation. Canmore: Altitude Publishing.
Hancock, Pat. 2003. Haunted Canada. Toronto: Scholastic Canada.
Hubbell, Walter. 1879. The Great Amherst Mystery. Saint John: reprinted by The Cumberland Publishing Company, Amherst, 1979.
Jessome, Bill. 2004. The Stories That Haunt Us. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing.
Kitz, Janet. 1992. Survivors: Children of the Halifax Explosion. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing.
Lannon, Alice and McCarthy, Mike. 1995. Ghost Stories from Newfoundland Folklore. St. John’s: Jesperson Publishing.
MacIntyre, N. Carroll. 1985. The Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills. Antigonish: Sundown Publications
Monnon, Mary Anne. 1997. Miracles and Mysteries: The Halifax Explosion December 6, 1917. Hantsport: Lancelot Press.
Nunn, Bruce. 2001. More History with a Twist. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing.
Oickle, Vernon. 2001. Ghost Stories of the Maritimes. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing.
Ruffman, Alan and Howell, Colin D. (eds.) 1994. Ground Zero: A Reassessment of the 1917 Explosion in Halifax Harbour. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing and the Gorsebrook Research Institute.
Sherwood, Roland H. 1976. Maritime Mysteries. Haunting Tales From Atlantic Canada. Windsor: Lancelot Press.
Walsh, Darryll. 2000. Ghosts of Nova Scotia. Lawrencetown Beach: Pottersfield Press.
Walsh, Darryl. 2002. Ghost Waters: Canada’s Haunted Seas and Shores. East Lawrencetown: Pottersfield Press.
Magazine Articles
Adams, Trevor J. “Spirited Homes.” East Coast Living. Fall & Winter 2004/05.
Brackley, Darren. “The Explosion — A Child’s Story.” Shunpiking. Vol. 2, No. 7, Issue #17. Dec/Jan 1998.
Campbell, Mark. “Spectral Speculation.” Southender. Oct. 1994 .
Davidson, June. “Entrepreneurial Spirit.” Dalhousie Magazine. Fall, 1991.
Fellows, Mark. “Fr. Byles and the ‘Ship of Dreams.’” The Angelus. Vol. 27, No. 5. May 2004.
Gibson, Kevin. “After Dark.” The Watch. Feb. 1991.
Newspaper Articles
Anon. “Caledonia Mills.” The Evening Mail. Jan. 30, Feb. 4, 1922.
Anon. “First in series of articles on the Great Amherst Mystery.” The Citizen. Nov. 14, 1973, p.13
Anon. “Freight Cars Were Blown Off Track” Toronto Daily Star. Dec. 6, 1917.
Anon. “Mr. Strauss’s Horse Dead.” The New York Times. April 26, 1912.
Anon. “Poltergeist haunted, may still haunt farm.” Caledonia. Oct. 31, 1994.
Anon. “The Story of the Great Amherst Mystery.” The Barometer. Aug. 31, 1978
Barnard, Elissa. “ Who you gonna call? Ghostbuster Arthur Black.” Mail Star. Oct. 29, 1987.
Burnett, Thane. “Spirited duo banishes ghost.” The Daily News. Sept. 29, 1987.
Conrad, Rick. “Voices of explosion’s wee victims echoing still.” Chronicle Herald and Mail Star. Dec. 6, 2003.
Covert, Kim “H-H-H-Haunted Halifax.” The Daily News. Aug. 17, 1992.
Jones, Deborah. “Some ghosts are surprised to learn they are dead.” Globe & Mail Special. Oct. 31,1987.
Marshall, Dianne. “d’Anville’s spirit roams.” Chronicle Herald and Mail Star. July 24, 2005.
Owen, J.M. “The Old Milledge House.” Halifax Herald. Jan. 28, 1898, p. 8. (Source: Public Archives of Nova Scotia).
Reid, Leonard. “Former Resident of Caledonia Mills Tells of Strange Happenings on MacDonald Farm.” New Glasgow Evening News. Aug. 23, 25 and 26, 1971.
Robert M.C.G. Thomas Jr. “Titanic survivor dies at 91.” The New York Times. Feb. 16, 1996. (Obituary notice of Eva Hart)
Wheeler, Scott. “Interview with Eva Hart (A Survivor of the 1912 Disaster)” The Sunday Enterprise. (Brockton, Mass.) Sept. 4, 1998.
Acknowledgements
A special thank you to the many people who shared their experiences with me, and for the intimacy and trust that was so vital to creating a safe place to discuss the supernatural. A similar heartfelt thanks for sharing their scary stories to Angela Channer, Amber Colp, Kate Brookes, Peter Brown, Ian Currie, Gwen Davies, Joyce Glasner, Virginia Hayden, Nancy MacLaughlin, Dorothy Moore, Arthur Patterson, Marie Phelan, Sandra Phinney, Ansala Pictou, Destiny Pictou, Karen Pictou, ‘Sarah,’ Arthur Shier, Mabel Shier and Ida Zifkin. It was appallingly spooky on the Ghost Tour among the cemeteries and eerie haunts of Halifax. Thank you Rene Slauney. Thank you, too, Floyd Currie, for a creepy afternoon spent in the haunted dining room of The Five Fishermen in Halifax. Thank you as well Trish Aikens, Dr. Kevin Carbyn, Patricia Charlton, Sharon Dakins, Mev Ternan and Jim Whittaker for your generous support and encouragement.
I am also grateful for help in researching information to the staff of the Daily News archives, of the Chronicle Herald & Mail Star archives, of the Halifax Public Library reference files, of The Maritime Museum of The Atlantic, of the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia and to the past staff at Altitude Press. Jane Buss at The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia was most generous in sharing her time and literary expertise.
I also owe many, many thanks to my editor, Gillian Robinson, for your uplifting enthusiasm, your insightful suggestions, your careful review of the work and above all your unfailing good humour. I have so appreciated that you have always found time for me however busy your schedule. Last but not least, I want to thank my daughters, Andrea and Philippa. To Andrea, for your unstinted patience and help in refining my ideas and explaining the mysteries of my computer. Without your support this book would not have been possible. And to Philippa, who provided me with so much material and inspiration. Above all, I am grateful for the fun we shared while I was writing the book, and for the unforgettable moments when we set out together as a family to brave the horrors of the Ghost Walk one dark night.
About the Author
Barbara Whitby developed a boundless interest in the supernatural while growing up in a haunted house in England. This interest was strengthened by her study of mediaeval history (B.A. with Honours, London University), that touched upon some decidedly spooky material from past centuries. A Master of Divinity degree from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax added to her fascination with the mysteries of the universe. She has been published in a variety of anthologies, literary magazines and newspapers, and
has broadcast her work on CBC radio. She is the author
of the history The Last of the Beothuk, in this series. She lives in Halifax.
Index
A
American Society for Psychical Research, 100
Amesbury, Captain and Mrs., 118
Amherst, NS, 15
Amherst poltergeist, 15–20
Annapolis Royal, NS, 60
Annapolis Valley, NS, 27, 121
Atlantic Centre for Paranormal Research and Investigation, 119
B
Bell Island Hag, 25–26
Birch Cove, 67, 73
Black, Arthur, 79–80
bridge destroyed, 13, 14
Bristol Hope, 113–116
C
Caledonia Mills, NS, 95
changing shape, 16, 25, 104
children, spirits of, 92
Conne River, NL, 33
Cox, Esther, 15–20
Creighton, Helen, 103
Currie, Ian, 79–82
curse on Halifax Harbour, 9–15
removed, 14
D
Davis, Carol, 79–82
Davison, Arthur, 20
de la Jonquiere, Marquis, 72
Death Hags, 24–25
demon, see ghost
d’Estournel, Vice-Admiral, 71–72
Devil’s Island, 103
Duc d’Anville, 68–71
E
exorcism, 79–82, 120–122
F
fire, non-burning, 103–104
fire, spontaneous human combustion, 104–105
fire, spontaneous, in Caledonia Mills, 97–98, 101
in Canneto di Caronia, 102
Flaming Woman, 105
forerunner, 27–32, 115
Fox River, NS, 116
Freivever, Etienne, 63–66
G
George’s Island, 67, 71–73
ghost ships, Bristol Hope, 113–116
Yarmouth, 108–113
ghost, 61, 121–122
beneficent, 36, 116–118
causing noises, 16, 17, 61, 77
causing physical changes in victim, 16, 24, 25, 78, 81–82
causing temperature change, 22, 23, 76
dog, 121
dropping lit matches, 18, 20
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