The Haunted Hudson River And The Enchanted Muskoka Lakeland

Doctor Livingston I presume. Photo by Rob Currie

THE HAUNTED HUDSON RIVER VALLEY? THE HAUNTED MUSKOKA LAKELAND?

     I HAVE BEEN READING WASHINGTON IRVING'S FASCINATING TALE OF THE "STORM SHIP," OVER THE LAST FEW HOURS.....A FICTIONAL STORY ABOUT A TIME IN HISTORY, WHICH TOOK PLACE, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE HISTORIC HUDSON RIVER, WHERE MY ANCESTORS HAD SETTLED IN THE COMMUNITIES SPREAD OUT ALONG ITS SHORE. ON THE DUTCH SIDE OF MY FAMILY, THE VANDERVOORTS WERE PRETTY SIGNIFICANT PROPERTY OWNERS ON THE EASTERN SEABOARD, AND WHEN THERE'S A FAMILY REUNION, WE NEED MORE THAN A FEW BOWLS OF POTATO SALAD AND COLESLAW. I THINK THEY WERE THE CITIZEN RESIDENTS OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, AS WELL. SUZANNE HAS DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH, AND SURE ENOUGH, MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE, WAS A CULTURAL LINK BETWEEN THE DUTCH AND GERMAN SETTLERS OF EARLY AMERICA. MAYBE IT'S WHAT HAS DRAWN ME TO THE WORK OF WASHINGTON IRVING FOR SO MANY YEARS NOW. I KNOW THAT WHEN I WAS FINISHED MY RESEARCH WORK, ON THE NAMING OF BRACEBRIDGE, ONTARIO, AFTER HIS BOOK, "BRACEBRIDGE HALL," I NEVER SHELVED MY IRVING BOOKS FOR LONG. I USE THEM ALL THE TIME, IN FACT, OFTEN FOR JUST READING ENTERTAINMENT. HE HAS MANY STORIES INVOLVING THE DUTCH SETTLERS......AND IT REMINDS ME OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS. I JUST WASN'T THERE TO GET THE FULL BENEFIT. IRVING LETS ME KNOW WHAT I MISSED. I KEEP TELLING SUZANNE THAT WE'RE GOING TO CRASH ONE OF THE FAMILY PARTIES ONE OF THESE DAYS. OF COURSE, THEY DON'T KNOW ME YET. THAT'S COMING.

     WASHINGTON IRVING WAS VERY FOND OF TRADITION AND ITS PRESERVATION, AND HE WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE OLD FOLK STORIES FROM HIS AREA OF RESIDENCE.....AT SUNNYSIDE, NEW YORK. "THE STORM SHIP," IS ONE OF THOSE EXAMINATIONS OF FOLK TALES, PUT INTO A SHORT STORY, WITH A RICH HISTORIC TEXTURE......SO WELL WRITTEN, YOU CAN FEEL THE STORMY MIST THE SHIP SAILS THROUGH, WITH ITS CAST OF ODD DUTCH CHARACTERS MANNING THE SAILS. I WILL RE-VISIT THIS STORY IN COMING BLOGS, BECAUSE IT DOES RELATE TO WHAT MANY FOLKSTORIES CHARACTERIZE HERE IN MUSKOKA. JUST NOT WITH SCHOONERS. MORE SO WITH PHANTOM STEAMSHIPS, ROW BOATS AND CANOES. I'VE GOT ONE ABOUT THE PHANTOM RAILWAY EMPLOYEE, WHO WALKS ALONG THE TRACKS NEAR FALKENBURG, WITH A LIT LANTERN. THERE WAS AN EMPLOYEE KILLED ON THAT STRETCH EARLY IN THE 1900'S.

     I HAVE FOR LONG AND LONG, FOUND PARALLELS BETWEEN WHAT IRVING WROTE, BACK IN THE EARLY 1800'S, RELATED TO THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF NEW YORK AND THE HAUNTED HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, (LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW), AND MY OWN RESEARCH ABOUT THE FOLK TALES TOLD HERE SINCE PIONEER TIMES. WHILE VERY LITTLE WAS RECORDED, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO IRVING TO DOCUMENT AND RE-TELL THEM, FOR THE SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS SINCE. BUT I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH, TO ASSESS, THAT MUSKOKA MIGHT ALSO HAVE BEEN A WONDERFULLY RICH GARDEN TO HARVEST, IF ONE HAD THE INCLINATION TO WRITE A BOOK OR TWO. I'M WORKING ON IT, AT LEAST THE BEST I CAN, BUT IT IS A PROGRESSIVE THING, AFTERALL. WHAT EVENTUALLY HAPPENS, IS THAT FOLKS, WHEN READING THE PREAMBLES, WILL OFFER UP STORIES FROM THEIR FAMILIES, ABOUT LORE THAT HAD BEEN PASSED DOWN THROUGH THEIR FAMILIES......SOME OF IT WITH DISTINCT EUROPEAN ROOTS. THE EARLY HOMESTEADERS, YOU SEE, BROUGHT WITH THEM THEIR OWN CULTURAL SUPERSTITIONS, FOLK STORIES, VIEWS ON THE PARANORMAL, AND WHAT MAY BE CONSIDERED THE EXTRAORDINARY. THEY HAVE BEEN PASSED ON IN MANY FAMILIES, AND THEY WILL ONE DAY BE HARVESTED.....AND HOPEFULLY BY ME.

     WHILE VARIOUS GHOST STORY AUTHORS FOCUS ON PARTICULAR ENTITIES THAT HAUNT THE HOMES AND BUILDINGS OF OUR COMMUNITIES, I AM VERY MUCH OF THE OPINION, THAT THE BIGGEST HAUNT OF ALL, IS ALMOST TOTALLY NEGLECTED. AND THAT IS THE NATURE AROUND US.....OF WHICH, ADMITTEDLY, WE MOSTLY NOW (TODAY), ONLY KNOW WHAT THE BOTANISTS AND ECOLOGISTS TELL US. IN IRVING'S DAY, AND BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, THERE WAS A WORRY THAT SCIENCE WAS DESTROYING THE SECRET, HIDDEN WORLD OF "THE FANTASTIC." THAT THE BOTANIST, IN DISSECTING A FLOWER, AND KNOWING EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, WAS BY FACT, AND DETECTION, BASICALLY TRAMPLING THE CREATURES UNSEEN, AND UNKNOWN, THAT HAUNT NATURE DAY AND NIGHT. THE BOTANIST SAW NO HARD EVIDENCE OF FAIRY RINGS AFTER MOONLIGHT REVELS, AND WORRIED NOT ABOUT PHANTOMS, APPARITIONS, HOBGOBLINS, THE FAIRY-KIND, AND ASSORTED BANDY-LEGGED WEE BEASTIES, SAID TO EXIST WHEN NO MORTAL IS IN THE VICINITY.

     IF THERE IS ONE THING, ABOUT THE MODERN GENERATION, AND THE WAY OUR OFFSPRING ARE BEING EDUCATED, THAT WORRIES ME CONTINUALLY THESE DAYS, IT'S THE DIMINISHED FOCUS ON, AND STIMULATION OF IMAGINATION; WHICH FOR MANY YOUNGSTERS HAS BEEN STUNTED, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE APPRECIATION OF NATURE.....WHAT IS SEEN AND WHAT REMAINS UNSEEN......TO BE SPECULATED UPON, BASED ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE OLD TALES, AND TIME HONORED TRADITIONS. IN FACT, IN 1819, AND THEN IN 1822, WHEN WASHINGTON IRVING PUBLISHED HIS TWO INSTALLMENTS OF "THE SKETCH BOOK," THE SECOND IN THE FORM OF "BRACEBRIDGE HALL," IT WAS HIS ADMITTED WORRY, THAT THE TRADITIONS OF ENGLAND, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THOSE OF ENGLISH ANCESTRY IN AMERICA, WERE BEING SENSELESSLY ABANDONED, QUICKLY AND RECKLESSLY, AS IF THERE WAS NO CONSEQUENCE IN DOING SO.  THEY WERE CERTAINLY BEING ABANDONED IN A NEW LAND, AND IN THE FANNING OUT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, THE BELIEF IN THE SUPERNATURAL SEEMED IRRELEVANT. IT WAS APPARENT TO IRVING THAT IT WAS A GREAT SHAME, TO DISMISS THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE CULTURAL NECESSITIES OF SOCIAL CHARACTER.....GENERATION TO GENERATION, AS WE SHOULD ALL BE PROUD OF OUR CONNECTEDNESS TO CULTURAL HERITAGE; ESPECIALLY ITS RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE.

     IN THE COMING WEEKS, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THIS REGION, I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE A NEW EVALUATION FOR MUSKOKA........BASED ON SOME OF THE PARALLELS IRVING FOUND WITH THE HISTORIC HUDSON RIVER VALLEY. WHILE ITS SETTLEMENT HISTORY GOES BACK MUCH FURTHER, IT IS THE MAGIC AND ENCHANTMENTS OF THE REGION, WHERE I FIND THE RICHEST PARALLELS.....THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN THOROUGHLY EXAMINED BY CULTURAL HISTORIANS. I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT MUSKOKA, IN THIS FASHION, FOR THIRTY-FIVE YEARS, BUT THIS WILL MARK THE FIRST TIME, IN A SUCCESSION OF CHAPTERS (BLOGS); THAT WILL, HOPEFULLY, AT IT CONCLUSION, ARRIVE AT SOME SECURE STARTING POINT, FOR EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE RESEARCH BY FUTURE HISTORIANS.....AND AUTHORS, WHO SEE MUSKOKA, AS I DO......AS A VERY INSPIRING, ENCHANTING AND HAUNTED PLACE ON EARTH. THOUSANDS OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS HAVE FOUND IT SO, SINCE THE MID 1850'S, AND AS FAR AS "STORM SHIPS," YOU'D BE SURPRISED WHAT FOLKS HAVE SEEN AND HEARD EMERGING FROM THE MUSKOKA FOG. MUCH MORE COMING.

Not so spooky encounters with those who have passed

One such instance of a possible spirit encounter that comes immediately to mind, involved my father-in-law on the eve of his passing.

My wife had been at the hospital in Bracebridge, Ontario for most of the sunny day in October, awaiting what was inevitable. Her father was slowly succumbing to a serious heart condition and it was a matter of hours before he was released from this mortal coil. I was looking after our young lads here at our Gravenhurst home, sitting out on the deck looking over the beautiful woodlands we call The Bog. We were talking about their grandfather's circumstance when all of a sudden a small brass bell (which had once hung on the verandah of the family cottage on Lake Rosseau), rang everso lightly. We all heard the faint ping of brass but there was no one standing close by or any chance it was accidentally hit. I have no recollection why I said it aloud or why I related it to the ring of a bell but I whispered immediately to the boys, "Your grandfather has just died." In less than five minutes the phone rang and it was Suzanne calling to let us know her dad had passed. Coincidence? The work of the spirit world? A message from the deceased? Or just the tieing together of what we find convenient, wishful truths at that precise moment. It makes it a tidy bit of legend when we credit such things with paranormal intervention, when in fact it could have been a bug bouncing off the bell, at around the time my father-in-law succumbed. Still, keeping this story in mind as you read on, you will find many other stories that happen in a similar unanticipated, unexpected, quite impromtu way that seems a tad more than mere coincidence. Do these things happen to us because we're open to possibility? I think the messages are received, as John Edward, the well known medium has maintained, when we validate that those who have passed can communicate with the living. We have always been receptive but we don't spend our time questing out spirits from their eternal peace. They find us when they feel so inclined. And we pay attention, let me tell you.

It may just be a word, a sensation, aroma in a room, a reaction to a piece of music or a scene outdoors that often reminds us of days with loved ones now passed. Usually we are reminded of some incident that occurred, vividly recalling the time and place, and we often pause and ponder whether there is a subtle message within. Was it just a sentimental moment? Or did someone on the other side feel compelled to remind us of a commitment we once made, or a promise yet to be fulfilled. As one example, I was sitting in the yard one afternoon in the fall of 2007, when all of a sudden I said to Suzanne "Witch Hazel." "I have no idea why this came to my mind......does it ring a bell with you?" She didn't have an immediate answer but the more we thought about it, many suggestions were made about where this would have come up in our respective lives. While there was no conclusion it did make us talk about the old days of Suzanne's family in the Ufford and Windermere area of Muskoka.....dating back as far as the 1870's family homestead. Was it a mission inspired by the other side to link us with some important detail we needed to know? We have no idea to this day but every now and again the plant name will pop up as if to remind us to keep up the quest.

I probably validate the spirit-kind more than most people I suppose, and I frequently will make some one-way chatter with old chums of mine, when I'm suddenly reminded of their unretiring characters. If I'm looking for an old book I need for some research project, I may seek the help of my old book collecting buddy, David Brown, ( I wrote his biography following his death in the mid 1990's), and on many, many occasions, possibly a few days later, I will eventually find the book I was looking for. Rather than making adament claims that "No of course, Brownie couldn't possibly have helped me from the spirit-world," I just take the book and thank Dave as if he was fully responsible. Reminds me of the old anecdote about the woman who complained to a friend that her mentally stressed son thought he was a chicken, and when the friend said that she should tell him bluntly he was to cease the nonsense, the mother replied, "I would but we need the eggs." If Dave Brown can help me find a book I need, because that was his specialty amongst the living, well folks, I'm going to chatter away and take what breaks are afforded me. That's pretty much the slant of this series of blogs on ghosts and spirit-kind I have encountered. It's not to convince you that ghosts exist but rather to explain why we, the Curries, have been able to walk so freely, happily and communicative amongst them for all these years. We're not mediums and we've never been to a seance. We do read a lot of books about ghosts and the paranormal but I couldn't even quote you one line that convinced me of ghost/paranormal existence.

Much of it goes back to having parents that refused to quash expectation, and who nurtured free thought and unrestricted privilege to challenge anything we felt was mired in doubt, inaccuracy and complacency from counter-point. Suzanne's parents and mine never once discouraged us from full investigation, and in fact, gave us the moral courage to take giant steps where others chose modest proportion, and caution every step of the way. We celebrated fantasy as we embraced freedom, and it made us cunning investigators, who might well have squeezed through the small door that opened to Alice's Wonderland, or snuck in line to get the first enchanted step along the yellow brick road (ahead of Dorothy) on the way toward Oz. And if we had come upon the midnight revel of the wee fairies in these enchanted Muskoka woodlands, we would have instinctively and by knowledge known, to watch only in silence, respectful of the full rights and privilege of legend and lore.

My favorite author, Washington Irving, once wrote that he was disappointed that science was dissecting all the fantasy from the world, into only what could be precisely identified, documented and thusly and finally attributed to the life of individual species. Irving thought that it would be a terrible corruption to those traditions and fantasies, if mankind was to give up on things like fairies and the existence of other enchanted wee beasties that emerge occasionally from the mist of such haunted places as dark, historic woodlands; from beneath rickety old bridges, and deep caverns in the rock grandeur of moss covered hillsides. Science, he thought, should not be the only source for information, and it certainly must not be the initiative to abandon expectation and fantasy, or believe for one moment that there are no such things as phantom sailing ships on the Hudson River, or a headless horseman who seeks the noggins of unsuspecting weak-willed mortals. He thought enchantments had their place in this world, and I have taken his advisory to heart all these years, and have never been disappointed in the immersion and fantasy, I have been privileged to experience......by being open to possibility, and believing as an eternal child, that the universe is a very fascinating, dynamic place afforded to mortals in which to dwell.