Latest / The Best Ghost Stories / Banshees

Transcript

Banshees · The Best Ghost Stories

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Section six of the Best Ghost Stories. This is a
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Read by NYE. Swanson The Best Ghost Stories Bansheese. Of
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: all Irish ghosts, fairies or boguls, the banshee, sometimes called
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: locally the Bohita or Baquinita, is the best known to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the general public. Indeed, Cross Channel visitors would class her
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: with pigs, potatoes and other fauna and flora of Ireland,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and would expect her to make manifest her presence to
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: them as being one of the sites of the country.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: She is a spirit with a lengthy pedigree. How lengthy
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: no man can say, as its roots go back into
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: the dim mysterious past. The most famous banshee of ancient
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: times was that attached to the kingly house of O'Brien Abel,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: who haunted the rock of Cragley above Killaloo, near the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: old Palace of Cancora. In a d ten fourteen, was
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: fought the Battle of Clintarfe, from which the aged king
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Brian bu knew that he would never come away alive.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: For the previous night Abel had appeared to him to
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: tell him of his impending fate. The Banshee's method of
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: foretelling death in olden times differed from that adopted by
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: her at the present day. Now she wails and wrings
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: her hands as a general rule. But in the old
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Irish tales she is to be found washing human heads
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: and limbs, or blood stained clothes till the water is
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: all dyed with human blood. This would take place before
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: a battle, so it would seem that in the course
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: of centuries her attributes and characteristics have changed somewhat. Very
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: different descriptions are given of her personal appearance. Sometimes she
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: is young and beautiful, sometimes old and of a fearsome appearance.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: One writer describes her as a tall, thin woman with
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: uncovered head and long hair that floated round her shoulders,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: attired in something which seemed either a loose white cloak
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: or a sheet thrown hastily around her, uttering piercing cries.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Another person, a coachman, saw her one evening sitting on
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: a style in the yard. She seemed to be a
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: very small woman, with blue eyes, long light hair, and
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: wearing a red cloak. Other descriptions will be found in
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: this chapter by the way, it does not seem to
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: be true that the banshee exclusively follows families of Irish descent,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: for the last incident had reference to the death of
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: a member of a County Galway family, English by name
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: and origin. One of the oldest and best known banshee
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: stories is that related in the memoirs of Lady fanshaw.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: In sixteen forty two, her husband Sir Richard, and she
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: chanced to visit a friend, the head of an Irish sept,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: who resided in his ancient baronial castle surrounded with a moat.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: At midnight. She was awakened by a ghastly and supernatural scream, and,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: looking out of bed, beheld in the moonlight a female
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: face and part of the form hovering at the window.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: The distance from the ground, as well as the circumstance
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: of the moat, excluded the possibility that what she beheld
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: was of this world. The face was that of a
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: young and rather handsome woman, but pale, and the hair,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: which was reddish, was loose and disheveled. The dress, which
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Lady Fanshawe's terror did not prevent her from remarking accurately,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: was that of the ancient irish. This apparition continued to
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: exhibit itself for some time, and then vanished with two
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: shrieks similar to that which had first excited Lady Fanshaw's attention.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: In the morning, with infinite terror, she communicated to her
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: host what she had witnessed, and found him prepared not
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: only to credit but to account for the superstition. A
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: near relation of my family said, he expired last night
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: in this castle. We disguised our certain expectation of the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: event from you, lest it should throw a cloud over
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the cheerful reception which was your due. Now before such
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: an event happens in this family or castle, the female
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: specter whom you have seen is always visible. She is
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: believed to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: whom one of my ancestors degraded himself by marrying, and whom, afterwards,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: to expiate the dishonor done to his family, he caused
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: to be drowned in the moat. In strictness, this woman
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: could hardly be termed banshee. The motive for the haunting
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: is akin to that in the tale of the Scotch
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Drummer of Cordici, where the spirit of the murdered man
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: haunts the family out of revenge and appears before death.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Mister T. J. Westrop m A. Has furnished the following story.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: My maternal grandmother heard the following tradition from her mother,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: one of the miss ross Lewins who witnessed the occurrence.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Their father, mister Harrison ross Lewin, was away in Dublin
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: on law business, and in his absence, the young people
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: went off to spend the evening with a friend who
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: lived some miles away. The night was fine and lightsome
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: as they were returning, save at one point where the
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: road ran between trees or high hedges, not far to
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: the west of the old Church of Kilchrist. The latter,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: like many similar ruins, was a simple oblong building with
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: long side walls and high gables, and at that time
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: it and its graveyard were unenclosed and lay in the
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: open fields. As the party passed down the long, dark lane,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: they suddenly heard in the distance loud keening and clapping
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: of hands, as the country people were accustomed to do
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: when lamenting the dead. The ross Lewins hurried on and
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: came in sight of the church, on the side wall
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: of which a little gray haired old woman clad in
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: a dark cloak, was running to and fro chanting and
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: wailing and throwing up her arms. The girls were very frightened,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: but the young men ran forward and surrounded the ruin,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: and two of them went into the church, the apparition
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: vanishing from the wall as they did so. They searched
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: every nook and found no one, nor did anyone pass out.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: All were now well scared and got home as fast
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: as possible. On reaching their home, their mother opened the
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: door and at once told them that she was in
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: terror about their father, for as she sat looking out
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: the window in the moonlight, a huge raven with fiery
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: eyes lit on the sill and tapped three times on
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the glass. They told her their story, which only added
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: to their anxiety, And as they stood talking, taps came
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: to the nearest window, and they saw the bird again.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: A few days later, news reached them that mister ross
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Lewin had died suddenly in Dublin. This occurred about seventeen
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: seventy six. Mister Westrup also writes that the sister of
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: a former Roman Catholic bishop told his sisters that when
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: she was a little girl, she went out one evening
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: with some other children for a walk. Going down the road,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: they passed the gate of the Principal near the town.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: There was a rock or large stone beside the road
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: on which they saw something going nearer. They perceived it
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: to be a little, dark old woman who began crying
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: and clapping her hands. Some of them attempted to speak
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: to her, but got frightened, and all finally ran home
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: as quickly as they could. Next day the news came
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: that the gentleman near whose gate the banshee had cried
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: was dead, and it was found on inquiry that he
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: had died at the very hour at which the children
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: had seen the specter. A lady who was a relation
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: of one of the compilers and a member of a
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: County Cork family of English descent, sends the two following
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: experiences of a banshee in her family. My mother, when
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: a young girl was standing looking out of the window
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: in their house at Black Rock, near Cork, she suddenly
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: saw a white figure standing on a bridge which was
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: easily visible from the house. The figure waved her arms
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: towards the house, and my mother heard the bitter wailing
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: of the banshee. It lasted some seconds, and then the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: figure disappeared. Next morning, my grandfather was walking as usual
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: into the city of Cork. He accidentally fell, hid his
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: head against the curbstone and never recovered consciousness. In March
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: nineteen hundred, my mother was very ill, and one evening,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the nurse and I were with her arranging her bed.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: We suddenly heard the most extraordinary wailing, which seemed to
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: come in waves round and under her bed. We naturally
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: looked everywhere to try and find the cause, but in
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: vain The nurse and I looked at one another, but
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: made no remark, as my mother did not seem to
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: hear it. My sister was downstairs sitting with my father.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: She heard it and thought some terrible thing had happened
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: to her little boy, who was in bed upstairs. She
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: rushed up and found him sleeping quietly. My father did
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: not hear it. In the house next door, they heard
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: it and ran downstairs, thinking something had happened to the servant.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: But the latter at once said to them, did you
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: hear the banshee? Missus p must be dying. A few
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: years ago I e. Before eighteen ninety four, a curious
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: incident occurred in a public school in connection with the
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: belief in the Banshee. One of the boys happening to
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: become ill, was at once placed in a room by himself,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: where he used to sit all day. On one occasion,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: as he was being visited by the doctor, he suddenly
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: started up from his seat and affirmed that he heard
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: somebody crying. The doctor, of course, who could hear or
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: see nothing, came to the conclusion that the illness had
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: slightly affected his brain. However, the boy, who appeared quite sensible,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: still persisted that he heard some one crying, and furthermore said,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: it is the Bansheet, as I have heard it before.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: The following morning, the head master received a telegram saying
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: that the boy's brother had been accidentally shot dead. That
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: the Banshee is not confined within the geographical limits of Ireland,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: but that she can follow the fortunes of a family
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: abroad and there foretell their death is clearly shown by
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the following story. A party of visitors were gathered together
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: on the deck of a private yacht on one of
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the Italian lakes, and during a lull in the conversation,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: one of them, a colonel said to the owner, count,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: who's that queer looking woman you have on. The Count
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: replied that there was nobody except the ladies present and
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: the stewardess. But the speaker protested that he was correct,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: and suddenly, with a scream of horror, he placed his
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: hands before his eyes and exclaimed, oh my God, what
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: a face. For some time he was overcome with terror,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: and at length reluctantly looked up and cried, Thank Heavens,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: it's gone. What was it, asked the Count. Nothing human,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: replied the colonel. Nothing belonging to this world. It was
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: a woman of no earthly type, with a queer shaped,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: gleaming face, a mass of red hair, and eyes that
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: would have been beautiful but for their expression, which was hellish.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: She had on a green hood after the fashion of
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: an Irish peasant. An American lady present suggested that the
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: description tallied with that of the Banshee, upon which the
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Count said, I am an O'Neill. At least I am
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: descended from one. My family name is, as you know, Nilsinni,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: which little more than a century ago was O'Neill. My
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: great grandfather served in the Irish Brigade, and on its
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: dissolution at the time of the French Revolution, had the
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: good fortune to escape the general massacre of officers, and,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: in company with an O'Brien and a McGuire, fled across
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the frontier and settled in Italy. On his death, his son,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: who had been born in Italy and was far more
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Italian than Irish, changed his name to Nilsini, by which
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: name the family has been known ever since. But for
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: all that we are Irish, the banshee was yours, then,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: ejaculated the colonel. What exactly does it mean? It means,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: the count replied, solemnly, the death of some one very
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: nearly associated with me. Pray heaven, it is not my
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: wife or daughter. On that score, however, his anxiety was
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: speedily removed, for within two hours he was seized with
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: a violent attack of angina pectoris and died before morning.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Mister Elliot O'Donnell, to whose article on banshee's we are
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: indebted for the above, adds, the banshee never manifests itself
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: to the person whose death it is prognosticating. Other people
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: may see or hear it, but the fated one never,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: so that when every one present is aware of it,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: but one the fate of that one may be regarded
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: as pretty well certain end of Section six at