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Ghost Stories of St Helena
Dont look round, but
During the day, I dont believe in ghosts. At night, Im a little more open minded{a}
St Helena has more than its share of ghost stories and superstitions
Please note:
A ghost or phantom is the spectre of a dead person, usually believed to reside in some netherworld and to be capable of returning in some form to the world of the living. According to descriptions or depictions provided by believers, a ghost may appear as a living being or as a nebulous likeness of the deceased and, occasionally, in other forms. Belief in ghosts is based on the ancient notion that a human spirit is separable from the body and may maintain its existence after the bodys death. In many societies funeral rituals are believed to prevent the ghost from haunting the living.
This website does not promote any belief in ghosts. The stories presented here have not been independently verified and some have doubtless mutated over many generations. Some lend themselves to rational explanation; others less so. They are presented here for amusement only, and as an illustration of St Helenas culture - Saints tend to be of a superstitious nature and are readily willing to believe in the supernatural.
It may not be surprising that the enslaved feature in quite a few ghost stories, given how badly they were treated, and how gruesomely they often died.
Incidentally, according to research published in 2009, people who drink too much coffee could start seeing ghosts or hearing strange voices
SEE ALSO: You may also be interested in our page Myths Debunked!; and if youre coming here to visit you may be interested to explore the darker parts of our history.
Below: Runaway enslaved Phantoms of West Lodge High Knoll execution Ghosts of Pilling School Free Molly Standard Lady Kingshurst Community Centre Gentleman in the Run Ghosts of Plantation House Mysterious concierge Mutineers of Alarm House Lowrys Cell Bishop Welby Phantom Ship Bertrands Cottage Garden Hall Unseen Passenger Grapevine Gut Apparition
Back in the 16th Century, two of the enslaved ran away from their owner and hid in a cave at Lot, in Sandy Bay. Troops were sent to capture them and as the soldiers climbed Lot, to evade capture the fugitives stood on the ledge in front of their cave and threw stones down on their pursuers.
One of the soldiers was sent to climb up the back of Lot and reach a ledge above where the enslaved stood. Once there he hurled down a large rock that killed one of the enslaved and severely wounded the other, who was immediately re-captured and would doubtless later have been executed.
The story goes that, since that day, the ghost of the enslaved that was killed haunts the spot where he was brutally murdered. Apparently he takes nightly strolls around the base of Lot.
{b}
West Lodge is in the Blue Hill district, on the ridge above Blue Hill village, and this story is one of the more widely-known on the island. A late 19th Century sailor described an apparition he witnessed while staying overnight at West Lodge thus:
Figures were there, figures in the dress of the earlier part of this century. In the centre stood, bound, a tall, well-formed mulatto{1}, his naked back standing out almost white in the moonlight. By him was a white man wielding a terrible looking lash. Stroke followed stroke, but no sound broke the stillness. The mulatto was impassive as a statue, though I could see the great weals cross and re-cross till the blood spurted out in jets. A moan turned my spellbound eyes to a group standing in the shadow. Dimly revealed in the obscurity were an elderly man, a gentleman, supporting a fainting girl and evidently forcing her to watch the torture. At length the mulatto tottered and fell and was lashed as he lay on the ground. A groan followed and his executioner turned him over. His eyes were glazed and starring, his jaw dropped. Everything to me seemed reeling. I caught at a post and fell, fainting.
The story behind the vision is that an enslaved man and the daughter of his overseer fell in love, but upon the discovery of their relationship the overseer beat the man to death{2} at West Lodge in front of his daughter, just as seen by our watching sailor.
Our witness ends his tale with the words:
I would not spend another night alone in West Lodge for all the wealth of the Indies.
There is a curious similarity between this and the story of the High Knoll execution.
It is claimed that night-time visitors to High Knoll Fort sometimes see a figure, described as a black slave, being brutally murdered, whilst his owners daughter is forced to watch.
Unfortunately, it seems there is no way to know on what night this mysterious apparition will show itself.
There is a curious similarity between this and the story of the Phantoms of West Lodge.
Pilling School{c}
During the early 20th Century, a young girl had an accident in the area of Pilling School in Jamestown (which was, at that time, the military barracks). While skipping down the road she somehow fell and died. In recent years a resident from the area told that, early one morning she was in bed and heard a sound as if someone was skipping in the street outside. She looked, but could see nobody. Then she heard a thump, as if someone had fallen, followed by a moaning like someone in pain, which grew fainter and ceased.
Students at Pilling School have also reported seeing a woman in white, who was initially taken as a new teacher until she just vanished.
And in 2006 a student at the school and a keen footballer sadly died by falling over the cliffs at Ladder Hill Fort while attempting to retrieve a football. For some time afterwards, both children and teachers at the school reported seeing the child playing football in the school playground, generating sufficient concern that the Bishop of St Helena was called in to Exorcise the school.
A story is told that Free Molly can be seen at night, strolling in the streets near Pilling School in Jamestown. Molly was a young woman imprisoned by her father, who would not allow her out of the house or any human contact apart from her immediate family. Molly was often seen, looking out of her window at all the children playing and doubtless wishing that she could be free like them.
She died young, in her early twenties, some say from suicide. Now, it is said, her ghost walks at night, enjoying the freedom she was never permitted in life.
The Standard today is a relatively modern building, but there was previously a much larger version of The Standard on the same site, and that explains this story. This ghost seems to be seen only late at night, usually by the bar keeper and staff clearing up after the customers have left. A woman in a long flowing white dress (some specify a wedding dress) enters the bar through the back wall, walks half way across the room then ascends a non-existent staircase and disappears into the ceiling. Some claim this is followed shortly afterwards by a scream/cry of fear. The apparition never reappears on the same night.
Our informants theory is that there was in the old building a door in what is now the back wall and a staircase leading up from the middle of the current floor. They say the woman was a bride who climbed to the upper story and there threw herself, or was thrown, out of one of the upper story windows, hence the cry. A jilted bride, perhaps? A bride murdered for her dowry?
We have tried to establish if such a suicide/murder actually occurred without success, but absence of records does not mean it didnt happen
Kingshurst CC as a house{d}
The building that is currently Kingshurst Community Centre, at White Gate near Plantation House and St. Pauls Cathedral, was originally a house (right) and later became an isolation centre for people suffering from communicable diseases. Several ghosts are said to haunt the place, but one is most commonly mentioned. It is said that the ghost of a young girl who died in the isolation centre of Tuberculosis can be seen at night, walking through the building.
The Run is the waterway that runs through Jamestown, enclosed many years ago into a stone-built channel and featuring a tunnel under the area known as The Bridge, around The Market. This story relates to the area between Duke of Edinburgh Playground and this tunnel. A handsomely dressed gentleman in a top hat is seen walking purposefully down the side of the Run, heading towards the sea, in the late hours - some time between midnight and 1am. His dress would be consistent with being a wealthy late 18th or early 19th Century man. Reports vary as to where he is first seen, but all agree he appears somewhere above the area of Duke of Edinburgh Playground (formerly the Jamestown Lower Graveyard). He strides down but continues on his way even when the path runs out, and disappears into the wall that crosses the Run about half way down Nosegay Lane - the beginning of the tunnel. He is not reported to appear again further down after disappearing into the wall (e.g. outside The Market or in Narra Backs). Most say he does not speak, though some claim they have heard him moan. Some people ascending the Run say they have stood aside to let him pass.
The original route of the Run was not bridged (the bridge under The Market area was built later) so it is presumed that the ghost is following the old pre-tunnel path, which is why he continues when the path runs out (modern pedestrians follow a route that takes them to the left then either over the tunnel into Nosegay Lane or round behind The Standard). The moaning reported by some, the purposeful stride and the smart dress suggest a man heading down into town to address some problem that is causing him distress, but we can find no records of any incident that might explain the story.
It should be noted that many people use the Run in the early morning to get back to Upper Jamestown after partying in the bars in Jamestown, and it might be suggested that such people are perhaps more susceptible to seeing the unusual Recently a bright new streetlight was installed in this area and it will be interesting to see if this affects sightings.
Plantation House is one of the islands most prominent country houses, and has stood, broadly in its present form since 1792, so its perhaps not surprising that a number of ghost stories have become associated with it.
Upper east wing
Most of the stories seem to centre in or around the Generals room, upstairs at the far end of the east wing. A butler who spent the night in the room awoke to find things flying around the room. Another visitor, as recently as the 1960s, reporting awakening in the night to find all the drawers of the rooms Victorian chest sliding continuously in and out, an event witnessed by another guest in an adjacent room. (For the record, no earthquakes were reported on St Helena in the 1960s.)
Another vision from the east wing was of a man in a black silk coat, of saturnine countenance{3} and wearing an undone cravat, standing in the doorway and holding back the curtain with a clearly deformed thumb. When the witness switched on the light, the man vanished.
But the stories do not relate just to the upper east wing. There is a report of a coach and horses passing the house late at night and disappearing through the locked gates. There are also many reports of footsteps being heard, late at night, long after all the house staff had gone home.
{e}
In the gardens of Plantation House there remain two graves, the Butcher Graves and the surrounding area is locally reputed to be haunted{4}. These are the graves of an enslaved husband, who was a butcher, as depicted by a cleaver on the gravestone, and his enslaved wife, who presumably must have worked at Plantation House and been buried in the grounds. The local legend is that he killed his wife; probably started because her grave bears a skull and two arrows, and his, a butchers cleaver. Actually there is no evidence for this in the Records{5}.
Government Secretary C G Dixon, who stayed at Plantation for his first days on the island in 1957, was not given to superstition but even he reported mysterious door openings and closings and unexplained noises coming from Chaos. His dog, Ted, also reacted noisily to some unseen presence in the Billiard Room, and refused to spend the night there. Dixon was told by locals that the Billiard Room had been the location of both a duel and a suicide, though we cannot find any evidence of either. Read the full story, below
Hear Tony Leo on Radio St Helena interviewing Mrs Joan Guy [wife of former Governor Geoffrey Guy, 1976-1981] about her ghostly experiences in Plantation House, 7th August 1991 (right).
A presumably reliable report comes from Governor Gallwey (1903-1912) himself. He says that one night after his guests and the staff had departed he was sitting alone in the library when some whim urged him to rap loudly three times on the library table, which was answered a few seconds later by three more. He reports that there was no sequel because I decided to pursue it no further, and went to bed.
The West Room is also sometimes said to be haunted but we cannot find any reports describing the nature of this haunting. If you can help, please contact us.
We asked Governor Lisa Phillips if she had ever met a ghost at Plantation House and she replied: Fraid not there are just the spirits in the wine cupboard.
Many Saints are reluctant to enter Plantation House late at night.
In recent times one of the islands police told a curious story. While on duty at the (old) police station in Jamestown{6}, he was requested by a yachtie to accompany him back to his hotel in the town. The visitor had, it seemed, been drinking late in one of the bars in Jamestown and had got back to the hotel to find the place locked up with nobody answering the door. The constable accompanied the yachtie back to the hotel, knocked loudly on the door and it was promptly opened by the owner, who let the guest in. And that, says the officer, would have been that except that when he got back to the police station he learned that the owner of the hotel - the man who had answered his knock - had actually passed away at the General Hospital some two hours earlier. Curiously, he also reports that the yachtie was never seen again
Apparently you can see ten or eleven red-coated soldiers, pulling a cannon through sulphurous vapours, usually around midnight on Christmas Day in the vicinity of Alarm House. They are apparently the ghosts of mutineers executed after the 1787 rebellion (though actually Christmas Day was the ending of the 1811 mutiny, not the 1787).
For a long time the islands police had an effective way of dealing with wayward youngsters - the miscreants were threatened with being locked overnight in Lowrys Cell. This was apparently adequate disincentive for causing further trouble.
We know the cell was supposed to be somewhere in The Prison, but we have no idea which cell it might have been, if one was even ever designated. It is most likely to have been one of the four cells in the basement, which are now used for meeting rooms and storage because everybody is too scared to go down there at night.
In 1853 Lowry, a negro servant{7}, was executed for murder (on what today would be considered merely circumstantial evidence). He would naturally have been held in the prison awaiting trial and execution, but why his cell would have held any more horrors than any other is not clear. Why not Richard and Louis Crowies cell? The stories portray Lowry as a rather nasty character but we wonder how much this is simply because of his crime.
Our supposition is that Lowrys Cell is really just a bogeyman story, with the benefit that the threat, if successful, avoided an awful lot of paperwork that would have been needed if actual charges were brought. Even so it is widely remembered, though the details vary: the name is sometimes rendered as Loudie; sometimes he died in the cell; and in one version Lowry had horns sticking out of his head!
You can read a version of the Lowry storyⒾ{g}, though it doesnt mention the threat associated with his cell.
The threat is no longer used because nowadays the Police have a greater deterrent: If we arrest you, you wont be able to work on the Falkland Islands.
Bishop Welby
The islands Anglican Bishop, Bishop Welby, was killed on Shy Road in Jamestown in 1899:
The horse shied and ran out-of-control, throwing the bishop over the edge. This is probably related to a persistent story whereby a ghostly horseman, sometimes claimed to be headless, is seen to ride at night on Shy Road. Some say he is dressed as a bishop. Our theory is that this is how Shy Road got its name.
Various island fishermen have reported encountering a mysterious vessel out at sea while fishing. It is always described as a huge sailing ship, usually brightly lit but occasionally with no lights. It normally blocks the fishermens intended path, forcing them to change course or, after repeated blockings, return to their moorings. It is also sometimes reported as being seen approaching Jamestown from the eastern side of the island and then disappearing.
Some say the ship seen is in fact the Flying Dutchman, though unlike the legend associated with the Flying Dutchman, no harm seems to befall those that encounter it. It has been reported as recently as the 1950s.
Another fishermans tale describes a fishing boat rowed out of a cave near Egg Island by six headless oarsmen. There seems to be no historic reference point for this story.
M. Bertrand{h}
A lady in black is said to climb the stairs at Bertrands Cottage, and some say it is the ghost of Mdme Fanny Bertrand, wife of General Henri Gatien Bertrand, one of Napoleons most loyal companions during his exile here. Mdme Bertrand didnt die there, but the explanation offered is that she is in her mourning clothes after Napoleon died.
It seems Fanny Bertrand hated St Helena. The devil shat this rock when he passed from one world to the next she is supposed to have said. It would therefore be somewhat ironic if her ghost should be forever trapped here!
Garden Hall
Garden Hall in Castle Gardens, currently the home of South Atlantic Media Services Ltd. (SAMS), apparently has a ghostly woman with long hair and a very distinctive perfume. She is seen out of the corner of the eye when in the Conference Room but disappears when you turn your head towards here, or her perfume is smelt when entering the room which has previously been unoccupied.
In addition to being a former Museum, Garden hall was the home of the Ward family until the end of the 20th Century and it has been claimed that the women is a deceased member of the family. Sadly, given that South Atlantic Media Services Ltd. (SAMS) is a Media Organisation with plenty of photography equipment, nobody has so far managed to capture a snap of the ghost
A chap who lived on the island all his life and died in the early 2000s recalls an incident from his youth. One late evening he was riding his motorcycle home (Seaview) from having dinner at a friends house in Spring Knoll. As he was riding past Hallams, the temperature dropped to freezing and he could feel that he had someone riding on the back of his bike. He couldnt bring himself to look back - he just went as fast as he could until he got back to the road towards Jamestown, where the weight lifted from behind him and the temperature rose to normal again. He never got an explanation of his unseen passenger.
Story from The Sentinel, 17th October 2024{8}
Ivan [Beard] recalls a day spent hunting rabbits near Grapevine Gut. As he walked, he felt an unsettling presence. The dog I was with ran through my legs, growling, and I thought, Whats going on?
Ivan describes the chill he felt. When he looked up, he saw a woman standing by the waterfall in the area. She looked real, but something was off about her, he says. I didnt know what to do. A man Ivan knew named Artie Joshua reassured him later, dont worry about her; shes scared many people. Artie explained that the ghostly woman is part of local stories, known for stopping cars and frightening those who encounter her. Grapevine Gut is a terrible place! Ivan said.
We would like to know more about these fragments of stories. If you can help, please contact us.
There is no tradition of Werewolves here, but you never know
!☺
Heavy breathing is said to be sometimes heard in the stairwell of Bishops Rooms, at the bottom of Napoleon Street - currently the offices of Sure but previously a house.
Apparently if you see a light at night over a swampy area, beware. Its Jack-O-Lantern, who will draw you towards his light and lead you over a cliff{9}.
An ethereal horse and carriage has apparently been seen coming up Deadwood, in the Longwood district.
A ferryman told that late one night he heard someone out in James Bay shouting boat ahoy, but when he went out to see who it was nobody was there, so he returned to the steps and tied his dinghy up. He told some of his fellow fishermen and they said that they and others had heard it too, but in all cases there was never anybody there.
There are various stories of people hearing a baby crying at The Wharf, particularly in the area of the old Coal Yard (now part of the Customs complex).
It is commonly believed that the souls of dead Liberated Africans still haunt Ruperts Valley (where they were quartered after being rescued from Slavers) or Lemon Valley (where the sick were quarantined). Wed like to hear specific stories.
Apparently there is something in the Guinea Grass Community Centre when no-one is around that freaks my dog out completely!
A ghost is said to haunt the Post Office building in Jamestown, but the nature of the haunting is not clear. When Bank of St Helena was based there only the Manager{10} was happy to be in the building after dark.
The Community Care Centre, a residential home for the elderly in Half Tree Hollow, opened on 6th September 2008. Despite being so new, in 2017 it was claimed that there were ghosts in Blue Block, and the Bishop was called to perform an exorcism. Some say Blue Block was put into mothballs because of the ghosts. Others say it was due to shortage of staff. Believe whichever explanation you prefer!
Dracula, 1931
You may have noticed that none of the above tales feature vampires, werewolves and other such entities. We think we may know why this is.
Ghost stories are almost always created in the cultural context of the time and place. Vampires, werewolves and the like originate in literature and were given a new lease of life in early 20th Century cinema, but with a population where literacy was low, where Cinema was limited and where broadcast radio and television did not exist, there were few ways for these icons to enter the islands consciousness. Cruelly mistreated enslaved persons, people who died in mysterious circumstances and nautical mishaps were all much more real to Saints sitting at home after dark sharing scary tales.
We actually think this is a shame. In our opinion the islands folklore might have been enlivened by tales of vampires in Plantation House or werewolves running amok in Longwood, but there it is
Saints tend to be of a rather superstitious nature. This is not uncommon on communities associated with the sea and seafaring. Here are a few of the more interesting ones.
Incidentally, we have been told that even writing about these superstitions renders us liable to suffering an undefined penalty. However the editor of this website is not superstitious
Below: Gilly Gilly Visiting the Wharf Dont Salvage Stones Friday the Thirteenth Sundries Prohibited by law?
There is a superstition that remains alive today, known as the Gilly Gilly. Perhaps the term Evil Eye best describes it. The belief is that certain people in the population are able to curse others. If you are the victim of such a curse you will suffer poor health, or have accidents, or some other continual misfortune.
Exactly who has these mystical powers is never discussed, though the person believing themselves to be so cursed usually knows who they have wronged and hence believes they know the identity of their attacker.
Dr. Richard Grainger in Mixed Medical Memories of St Helena 1966-69{13}{8} writes:
There were many people who believed in the evil eye. In effect they had a spell placed on them by a practitioner of the art. It was said that Dago Stevens, the local butcher, was a practitioner who would threaten to put the evil eye onto cattle if he did not get a good deal from the farmer who was providing meat to the butcher. There was plenty of meat at the time as the flax mills were closing and the beasts of burden that dragged the carts and turned the mill wheels were being used as a source of meat as they were culled over time.
When I carried out school medical examinations there were a number of children with rabbit paws on necklaces around their neck. They readily acknowledged that it was to ward off the evil eye.
Whilst I did not believe in the evil eye I had to be aware that some patients did. This did lead me to a difficulty once as a man described very strange feelings in his arm with mysterious crawling and tingling that moved around. He did believe in the evil eye but I eventually recognised what he was describing as pins and needles so was able to reassure him he was not under a spell.
This superstition is still sufficiently active that when we asked about it on Social Media most of the people who usually respond declined to do so. A few commented that we should not be asking such questions (though we didnt take their posting as a threat). Only one person - a Saint who no longer lives here - made a meaningful comment:
There were many people on the island who were supposedly able to perform the gilly gilly cant name names as youll always find theres someone whos related and who wont like it. I remember a lady (lets call her A - lived in the area of the Dungeon) who often visited a supposed good friend B in the Alarm Forest area. She always turned up in time for lunch and apparently before leaving shed always ask for something treasured and special. B had apparently being told that if A asked for anything she was to give it or shed never be in possession of it again. One day A asked B for the biggest hen in the hen-house. Oh God, my best laying hen, cant part with her B thought. This time I have really got to say no. Said no she did. A apparently stared strongly at her and said a peculiar Good Bye. Two hours later B found her precious hen sprawled on the floor of the pen dead! I have heard some hair-raising stuff and the people we got told, who were able to perform the gilly gilly or the evil eye, had a strange aura about them, even a strange smell hairs stood on end at the sight of them.
So if this website disappears off the Internet shortly after we upload this page, youll know why ☺{12}
You will notice that if a car comes into Jamestown, perhaps to drop somebody off, it will always continue down to The Wharf before turning round to go back home. This is not technically necessary - there are plenty of other places to turn around; its a superstition. Apparently it is bad luck not to go all the way to The Seaside, stop, then return and resume your journey. Exactly what you might suffer if you fail to do this is not clear but very few Saint drivers take the risk.
Could this superstition perhaps have been started by the petrol vendors ?☺
It is sometimes reported that an ancient ruin is seen, at night, to be on fire, but when approached no fire is present. And there is an interesting corollary to this story. It is also said that if you take stones from the ruin to build your house, your home will itself exhibit the appearance of being on fire.
We are bound to question whether this belief wasnt created by early historians simply to stop people from raiding historic ruins for building materials!
Saints are moderately superstitious about Friday 13th, but most are not afraid enough to, for example, miss work and stay in bed hiding under the duvet.
Here briefly are some sundry superstitions weve come across:
Saints will not pass one another on the stairs. If you start up or down while a Saint is coming the other way they will usually reverse to let you climb/descend alone.
It is said that if a gecko (lizard) appears in the daytime it will be a lucky day.
Many Saints will not accept a black cat. If one of a litter is black it will be given away.
No Saint will willingly enter a graveyard after dark, and peculiarly this is extended to Napoleons Tomb, even though the tomb is empty (Napoleons body was taken back to France in 1840).
In 1941 Former Governor Henry Gallwey (right) wrote an article about his time here, A Sojourn in St. Helena for the Journal of the Royal African Society, which included the following:
Another Ordinance I enacted in the early years of my tenure of office was also of an unusual kind. In those days the islanders were great believers in the Evil Eye, Love potions, and such nonsense, in connection with which many undesirable persons made an uncommonly good practice. The Ordinance in question put an end to all such quackery, and if not popular when enacted, the islanders were cute enough to bless it in the long run.
We think it rather touching that Governor Gallwey believed his Ordinance ended these superstitions! If the Ordinance had any effect at all it was to drive such things underground. Given the almost feudal power a Governor wielded at the beginning of the 20th Century it is perhaps unsurprising that he should over-estimate his ability to control the thinking of Saints. All of these superstitions remain to some extent today, though very much reduced - which can be attributed to education, not Ordinances.
Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft are written by men.{i}
World Paranormal Day, on 3rd May, is not celebrated on St Helena (most people who know about the day probably stay in bed with the covers over their head!)
For more annual events see our page This Year.
Below: Article: Remember the gho-ul times - its Hallo-scream! Article: The Plantation Poltergeist
Remember the gho-ul times - its Hallo-scream!
Published in the St Helena Herald 30th October 2009{8}
Halloweens origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter; a time of year that was often associated with human death.
Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31st, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each others fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st as All Saints Day, a time to honour saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2nd All Souls Day, a day to honour the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints, All Saints, and All Souls, were called Hallowmas.
The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.
The Plantation Poltergeist
By C.G. & K. Dixon, published in Wirebird, the magazine of Friends of St Helena{11} Number 1, 1990{8}
Ted came to us as a wedding present when he was just over four years old; a cross between a Skye terrier and a Scottie. With a tremendously strong personality, he was loyal, aggressive in defence of his people and his own rights, and very intelligent - so much so that he was short-listed by Elstree Studios for inclusion in their films! When we were given a three-year assignment to St Helena, beginning in January 1957, he was 11 years old, and getting a bit stiff in the joints. It was, of course, taken for granted that he would go with us, and he duly made the voyage with us in the Beaumaris Castle.
In those days it was the custom for newly arrived officers and their families to stay at Plantation House for a few days while their quarters were organised - Red Roofs, in our case. After dinner on the first evening, it was agreed that Ted should spend the night in the billiard room on the ground floor.
Soon after midnight, we, in our bedroom on the first floor were awakened by Teds vociferous barking, interspersed with pitiful howls. After several attempts to settle him down, we gave up and took him back to our bedroom, where we all, eventually, spent a peaceful night.
First, however, we had two rather distinbing experiences. As we reached the top of the stairs, we saw, further along the corridor, a bathroom door open and close, and the bedroom door opposite behave similarly, just as though somebody had retired for the night. Needless to say, nobody was there.
Then quite close to our bedroom was Chaos, a former nursery obviously named by a parent with a sense of humour. The patter of little feet and joyous laughter we didnt hear - but noises reminiscent of removal men at work.
Naturally enough, we asked about this next morning, and were regaled with numerous stories from the staff. It seems that the noises from Chaos were a commonplace occurrence, though nobody could tell us when or how they had started. As far as the billiard room was concerned, less still was known, but at least two of our informants had heard of a fatal duel and suicide there.
Draughts, dreams, hallucinations, too much wine at dinner? We shall never know. Ted, however, was perfectly certain. He knew. Maybe his ESP was more sensitive than ours.
Things that go Bump in the night,
Should not really give one a fright.
Its the hole in each ear
That lets in the fear,
That and the abscence of light!
{j}{8}
Credits:
{a} Anon{b} Illustration by Johnny Drummond.{c} Walter Barshai{d} Museum of St Helena{e} The Historic Environment Record{f} Radio St Helena/Museum of St Helena, digitised by Burgh House Media Productions{g} St Helena Herald, April/May 2002{8}{h} Domaines Français de Sainte Hélène{i} Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, in Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990){j} Spike Milligan
Footnotes:
{1} A lighter-skinned Black, possibly of mixed race.{2} Which, incidentally, would have been entirely legal at that time - a fact that is possibly more scary than the ghost story.{3} Having a tendency to be gloomy, bitter, and sarcastic; sullenly sardonic. - en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saturnine.{4} Students at Prince Andrew School studying GCSE English are taken there each year on a school trip to experience the atmosphere.{5} See other debunked myths.{6} Next to the Courthouse, on Grand Parade.{7} Sometimes described as a slave, but all the enslaved had been freed by 1853
{8} @@RepDis@@{9} We suspect this to be a St Helena version of an old English story. In the original the light draws you into the swamp and you drown, but St Helena has few swamps but plenty of cliffs
The scientific explanation for seeing lights over a swamp is the sporadic burning of Swamp Gas (Methane) given off by decomposition. The name Jack-O-Lantern does not seem to be related to the Halloween Pumpkin.{10} Who is now the editor of this website.{11} The four Wirebird publications should not be confused.{12} years later and still here!{13} Published in Wirebird, the magazine of Friends of St Helena{11} #48, August 2019.