My name is Noreen and I live on the Canadian island called Prince Edward
Island. Until recently, the only way to get to Prince Edward Island was by boat
or airplane. Then in 1997, Canada built a bridge. Now we get lots more tourists
on the island.
Most of the people who live here came from Scotland many years
ago. My family has a small mill. We raise sheep and use their wool
to make yarn. I have three grandsons, and they love to hear ghost
stories. This story is one of their favorites!
In the wee hours of Friday morning, October 7, 1859, when all the good
residents of Charlottetown should still be sleeping in their beds, a deep
bell tone was heard from the bell tower in St. James Church. The somber
sound rang out over the rooftops, waking many with the unexpectedness of its
doom-laden ring. Then a second toll rang slowly overhead, followed by a
third.
Bewildered by the unexpected tolling of the bell, two neighbors who
lived near the church hurriedly joined forces in the road outside their
homes and went to investigate. Above them, the bell tolled for the fourth
time, and again for the fifth time.
As they entered the church yard, the bell tolled for the sixth time,
and the front doors of the church swung open with a windy blast. Framed in
the doorway were three glowing women dressed all in white. The men gasped,
unsure if they were seeing real women, or angels. Overhead, the bell tolled
for a seventh time and the doors slammed shut as quickly as they had opened.
The men raced to the doors and tugged on the handles, but they were firmly
locked. When they peered through the windows, the men saw a glowing woman in
white ascending the stairs to the belfry.
The minister and the sexton arrived at that moment, demanding to know
what the disturbance was about. The neighbors told the new arrivals what
they had seen, and the minister unlocked the door to the church. As they
entered the vestibule, they saw no sign of the women the neighbors had seen
in the doorway. A quick glance through the church revealed not a living
soul.
As the men ascended toward the belfry, the bell tolled for the eighth
time. They ran up the stairs, determined to confront the culprit and demand
and explanation. When they reached the top, they found the belfry empty and
the bell rope tied firmly in place, though the metal of the church bell was
still vibrating slightly.
Puzzled and frightened, the minister and his companions searched the
church from top to bottom, but it was completely empty. As the bell gave no
further sign of tolling, the men left the church, mystified by what had
happened.
That evening, the local passenger steamer between Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island - called the Fairie Queene - failed to arrive. The
people of Charlottetown learned a few days later that the ship had sunk,
killing the eight passengers who had boarded her that day. It is said that
the bell of Saint James Church tolled eight times on the day of the
disaster, thus foretelling the doom of the five men and three women who
would board the Fairie Queene later that day.
Used with permission of S.E. Schlosser and
AmericanFolklore.net. Copyright 200__. All rights reserved.
A Ghost Story: Tolling of the Bell