CW60 INSPIRE p94 - Ghost Stories:Layout 1 30/9/08 10:55 Page 94
Inspire
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Steeped in history and folklore, Cornwall has too many ghost stories
to mention. To whet your appetite for Halloween, we’ve picked out
some of the scariest and most legendary...
The Grey Lady of Lanhydrock The Drunken Sailor
Lanhydrock House, Bodmin Jamaica Inn, Bolventor
Lanhydrock’s gallery and drawing room, the only parts of the original house to survive A sailor who was murdered nearby apparently haunts the site of Daphne Du
a catastrophic fire in 1881, are said to be haunted by the spectre of a grey lady. Maurier’s famous novel.
When the Paranormal Research Organisation conducted a night vigil in 2004, The story goes that many years ago a stranger stood at the bar of Jamaica
they reported many occurrences, among them the sound of a young girl Inn drinking a tankard of ale when he was summoned outside, never to return.
laughing in the nursery suite of the house. The next morning his body was found on the
moor, but the details of his murder were never
unearthed. People tell of hearing footsteps as the
man returns to the bar to finish his drink, and the
spirit has been spotted, many times in 1911,
sitting motionlessly on the wall outside the inn.
Many have also told of hearing the sound of
horses’ hooves and carriage wheels on the
courtyard cobbles in the dead of night – perhaps
the ghostly visitation of past smugglers.
The Irish Lady
Near Land’s End
A notorious rock named the Irish Lady is so called because of the spirit that is
said to remain there.
After a ship ran aground in the time of Charles I, all hands were lost save one
woman: an Irish lady. Somehow, she managed to cling onto the rock for some
hours before slipping to her death. Many have reported seeing her spirit still
hanging from the rock. Other versions of this story tell that the woman didn’t
hang, but calmly sat for days before dying, whereupon her body was washed into
the sea. In this version, the Irish Lady’s ghost is said to sit serenely atop her rock.
Lanhydrock House. Photo courtesy of The National Trust / Rupert Tenison.
The Bells of Boscastle
A Brother’s Revenge
Blackways Cove, near Tintagel Though the church at Boscastle has no bells, on many occasions tolling has been
heard. It is thought to foretell a shipwreck in the area or is said to come, during
Perhaps the most famous ghost story associated with Blackways Cove is that stormy times, from a ship that sank when bringing bells for the church tower.
of the vengeful brother.
It is said that many years ago a farmer with two sons worked some land Charlotte Dymond
nearby. Upon his death, the farmer left everything to his eldest son, leaving no Roughtor
provision for his younger brother. So consumed with jealousy was the younger
son that he disappeared for many years, finally returning to enact his revenge Charlotte Dymond will be forever remembered thanks to the poet Charles
on his brother by burning down the farm buildings and barns. Causley, who immortalised her story in The Ballad of Charlotte Dymond.
Imagine his horror the following day when he discovered that his brother had Charlotte’s body was found on the slopes of Roughtor, near Camelford, on April 14,
died a short time before his return, leaving the entire estate to him. 1844. Matthew Weeks, her lover, was hanged for her murder at Bodmin Gaol, though
Legend has it that the man was so devastated by his loss that he took his own many still believe that he was innocent. Charlotte, however, is destined to wander the
life, now roaming the farm and cove, moaning and crying, to this day. earth: each year on the anniversary of her death she is said to walk the area in her
gown, silk bonnet and red shawl. A memorial stone marks the site of her murder.
12 Inspire
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