Legends and superstitions among our ancestors were common, and sometimes believing them was pretty scary. I have the book Contes Legendes by Georges Arsenault .Mister Arsenault interviewed many of the local people of PEI .They shared stories brought down from the grandparents, and they shared songs they used to sing. What a beautiful thing to share with all of us. The book I have is in French , I shall translate one of the stories for you. I believe the story was shared with Mister Arsenault by Ozelie Boisvert. So have a cup of coffee and listen to the story she shared:
The lady in white:
This was a story that scared us all through our lifetime.We lived on lot 7 and we were the only catholics in the area and it seemed we were not wanted there. I don't know if this was true but I had heard it said. My sister who is now deceased was babysitting my younger brother one day and there was a lady taking care of me because my Mom was sick and mother had decided to come get me that day. My other sister who is still living was also at the house.It was a small house,the door was hard to open.It was so hard to close that it wore the floor down.It was in the spring and my sister remembers that the door opened and closed three times. She never saw anything, but my sister who has died saw a lady dressed in white enter into the house. My late sister said" there was something telling me to go to the door and you won't be afraid.Then she met the lady who brushed her with her veil three times and she moaned three times and then she left and dissappeared.
Then my sister said to my other sister"Go see if there is anyone around the house" B.ecause it was spring and there was mud they saw footprints.Then she said "Watch our brother , I will go meet mother she might still be sick."
Mother saw her coming and noticed how pale she was and asked her what happened. Your father didn't drown did he? They were always afraid. The daughter said " No there was a lady in white who came into the house. Then the daughter fainted. Then mother went and saw the priest and found out that another young woman saw the same thing in that same house.
We never slept there that night,we left and never returned. And that was the scare of our lifetime. When we would talk about the lady in white, everyone would be afraid. We would go to bed at night and at that time it was dark, and sometimes we would think we saw the lady in white and come downstairs in fear. The children all died the following spring and mother said she believes that all the moaning from the lady in white was a prediction , but she was very superstitious and it took us a long time to get that fear out of our system.
Was it superstition or was it a prediction?
Did I ever tell you about my late husband Gerry? Well he had Alzheimers and I was taking care of him at home , I had his bed in our front room, so he could look out the window and watch the birds and he could also watch the television. His sickness progressed and he could no longer walk or get up by himself. One day I was in the kitchen preparing his meal, and I always peaked around the corner to see if he was ok. This paticular day, I believe it was the end of June or first part of July, I peaked around the corner, and I saw him, he had a glow on his face and the most beautiful smile I had ever seen and he was half sitting in his bed and he had one of his arms stretched way out as if he was reaching, his eyes were focussed straight ahead as if he was seeing someone. When he saw me looking, he gently laid back and that was the only time I ever saw this. He passed away July 27th, and I honestly believe he did see someone or something.
Do you have any such stories or legends or supersticions you want to share?You can click on the comment at the bottom and share them with us.
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