Sue St.Clair and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

From Matthew double-decker bus guy Didier...

This isn't TOO harsh a "smackdown"... but it is something to consider...

When looking at ghosts and hauntings, all too often people desperately want to attach a legitimate history to the phenomena to make it seem more "legitimate".

More often than not, it's not really necessary... and more often than not, in the "race" to "prove" that there's something going on, people tend to make mistakes.

Allow me to give two excellent examples... one that's not-so-well known and a VERY famous one that people take as gospel... and in study, maybe they shouldn't...

The first one happened on Canada's East Coast... there was a famed haunted house that had been turned into a bed and breakfast. The legend went that the ghostly manifestation (which were "ghostly" footsteps, items being moved about - but not violently, and occasional sounds of someone "whispering" or "talking" but always almost inaudible,) was that of a former slave.

The house was built and occupied by a United Empire Loyalist... one of the thousands that fled North during the American Revolution in the latter 1700's... in those times, slavery was unknown in Canada and the governments of the day (in British North America) were staunch abolitionists. This made for a wee problem when Loyalists came North... with slaves in tow. The governments "turned a blind eye" on the newcomers and their slaves and, by proxy, most had to free their slaves anyway for want of plantations and money to support them. Either way, in 1793 legislation was passed starting the outward outlawing of slavery in British North America (Canada) altogether.

Many of the former slaves either became hired help to their former masters or migrated and settled further West in the country.

The fellow in the East Coast, that is our "ghost" (so far) did the former... in fact, he was so beloved by the family that they kept him on even after he was so infirmed, he could no longer do chores... in essence, the family became caregivers to their former slave... and from historical reports, everyone was quite happy with the whole arrangement.

The fellow died feeling very much a part of this family and this house so it seemed a logical conclusion that "he" was the ghost.

Depending on what "spin" is put on it, he haunted because he loved it so much, or he haunted because he had always been a slave and died one regardless of what the "law" thought.

The latter is unlikely as writing of the time and whatnot do say that he had become an honoured member of the family... but I digress...

Years later and LONG after the original family had moved on, a man who was staying at the home as a paying guest saw a figure... he was standing near the dining room table and when the guest approached him, he vanished.

Thrilled with the final "sighting" of their ghosts, the owners were awestruck by the description... an old man in fishing gear... and decidedly Caucasian.

Was this the ghost? If so, what about the former slave?

A nameless fisherman vs. the wonderful story of the Loyalist's former slave... tough call... but kudos to the owners who decided that BOTH stories should be out there... but one has to wonder, was the former slave being blamed for behaviour that wasn't his?

The next one's a touch more famed... and is definitely bad history and folklore over fact... and it involves Hampton Court Palace in England.

The story involves Henry VIII's wife, Catherine Howard, who knew her head was not long to be attached to her body as she had been placed under "house arrest" at Hampton Court after being "tried" and found "guilty" of having some illicit affairs.

The story goes that Henry was in the Chapel Royal for services and Catherine escaped her room, ran screaming past the guards and banged on the door to Henry's private chapel imploring him for mercy and screaming her innocence... to no avail. Henry remained unmoved within the chapel and the guards dragged poor Catherine back to her room and, eventually, to the Tower of London to face the axe.

Her ghosts is now said to be heard (and even occasionally seen) running from her apartment to the chapel royal re-enacting her last, desperate attempt to receive Henry's mercy.

I've been to the palace personally three times (last time in the mid-1990's) and I can recommend a tour of the palace without hesitation and the chapel royal is one of the most breathtaking sights one can see within Hampton Court. There is a "certain air", if I may be allowed to say that, in the space at the door near Henry's private entrance to his seat within the chapel... Take this as you will... which, I'm sure after reading the next bit, will be with a grain of salt.

Catherine Howard's run to the Chapel Royal does not stand up to greater historical scrutiny... According to historian, Dr. David Starkey, Catherine was at Hampton under suspicion, but not charged. In fact, while at Hampton, Henry seemed like he might "break" and relent the pursuit of the charges levied against her.

A while after their arrival, Henry left to go hunting (usually a trip that lasted weeks) with Catherine feeling very much like she was out of the proverbial woods. Henry even sent her a note saying that he would send for her to join him and didn't believe the charges at all.

A touch over a month later, Catherine was "escorted" (suddenly) to a nunnery, this was done in an instant and didn't give her time to even consider what was going on... It also wasn't a "death sentence". This didn't happen until much later, when at the nunnery, she was told of her new accommodations at The Tower of London. That was when her "fate" was more or less confirmed.

So, to believe the "legend" of the palace, we'd have to believe that Catherine ran to an empty room where she knew Henry couldn't be... and all the time assuming she was not in any danger. Hard to believe the "running screaming woman" with this being the case.

That said, how come this is such an enduring legend? How come even I, your humble writer, admitted there is an "air" around the corridor and the door to the chapel royal? Could it be millions of visitors are told the story and their own "fear" or whatever has "tainted" the place?

Perhaps Catherine ISN'T the screaming lady and someone else is?

Either way, the "ghost story" that is oft told just doesn't cut it with the real historians.

Now that I've given two examples, I could do more... like mention an Ontario "ghost hunting group" that actually fired their "historian" because his studies found that their favourite haunted place and story didn't stand up to historic scrutiny... that story's probably best left for another day... but the long and the short of it is, they made a mistake about what happened at a site (mistaking something that happened thousands of miles away for happening there) and when this boo-boo was pointed out with evidence by someone on their own team, they fired the fellow... and ignored the evidence. Darn those inconvenient facts, eh?

Anyway, my point is that we must NOT always assume "folklore" and "history" are the same thing... "traditional stories" should always be questioned... and just because "weird stuff happens", we don't necessarily need to pin it on someone... at least, not without really good evidence to back up the claim.

There's really nothing wrong with folklore and story-telling... but when it's mistaken for actual history, it can be quite problematic...

The ghost on Canada's East Coast may not be a slave. Catherine Howard, if making the infamous "run" may only be doing it for tourists spoon fed the story... and who knows, maybe the ghost you've seen or your friend has seen or your family member has seen wasn't exactly who they think it was.

Trust me on this one, asking a ghost for I.D. (preferably something with a picture) is damnedably difficult... and pinning a "persona" on an entity is a little too easy to do in some cases.

It comes down to three little words that some people hate hearing... Do Your Homework!