The Ghost Horse of Tatlock — A Faerie Tale???

Photo of Sophia Seccaspina by Stephanie Seccaspina–Stephanie Seccaspina Photography

Once upon a time Tatlock was a thriving little village with various outcrops of natural marble formed from the glacier age everywhere you looked. On the Indian River in the north of Ramsay township, was a section where some of the last Natives of the township lived. Over the five year period before the pioneers of Ramsay had arrived settlers had located at points along the Mississippi from Morphys Falls and Mississippi Lake up to Dalhousie Lake.

Sections still occupied by Indians included those at Mississippi Lake where as then noted by the Rev. William Bell, ‘some of the islands in the lake are still inhabited by Natives, whose hunting grounds are on the north side and who are far being pleased with the encroachments our settlers are making on their territories’.

In 2012 Abigail Gossage wrote about seeing a ghost stallion moving through the grass in the Tatlock area. Could it be real? It seems that decades ago in the mists of local history one of the Native chiefs had a beautiful daughter who was loved by another young chief who lived nearby.

Photo of Sophia Seccaspina by Stephanie Seccaspina-Stephanie Seccaspina Photography

Her father consented to marriage and the young couple were happy. Sadly, that was not to be meant for long however. There was a chief from another local band who also desired the maiden. When he heard she was being given to another he vowed to kill them both. To save his daughter and her future husband the Chief advised them to run away as far as they could.

To speed the couple on their way he gave them his favourite white horse, noted for its speed and its stamina. However, the villainous Chief did catch up to them and killed the young couple. But the horse escaped, and for years afterwards it was seen on occasions, roaming the roads and forests in the Talock area. Sometimes he was seen with a tiny bright light following him. That tiny white light was said to be the spirit of the young Native maiden that was killed and had turned into a white fairy because of her tragic love story and pureness.

In the 1960s two men were walking down the road to the Tatlock mine and one looked up and said to the other,

‘There’s an old white cow coming up the road!’

The other man looked and saw it and then both of them just stood there looking at the thing that was soon close and the other said:

‘Jim, that ain’t no cow, it is too big for a cow, it’s a white horse’.

Well, that white vision came up closer and closer and when it was almost up to the both of them it stopped. It was so close they could see its ears and tail a twitchin’ and they both decided someone should hit it with a rock.

The rock flew thought the air and went right through that horse and hit way down the hillside. It was obvious that white steed was a ghost. It stood there and switched its tail and flicked its ears for a little bit longer in the moonlight and then turned slowly and walked right over the bluff. It just kept on going until it was out of sight.

With the skies full of UFO’s and other things that go bump in the night maybe you wouldn’t be interested in such things as harmless ghosts. But next time you are driving on the Tatlock back roads and you see that magical white horse— look for the tiny white light that follows him. That tiny fairy princess constantly is beside him and protects him from harm.

Before you shake your head in disbelieve remember—-things like this happen all the time on the backwoods of Lanark County — you just have to look carefully. They don’t only exist in fairy tales, they live and breathe in our local countryside having come from the old country with all the old settlers that made their homes here. Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale!

Photo of Sophia Seccaspina by Stephanie Seccaspina-Stephanie Seccaspina Photography

Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place and The Tales of AlmonteInformation where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun  Screamin’ Mamas (USA)  and The Sherbrooke Record

Somewhere in the Lanark County Woods– Inukshuk — Faeries of the Woods?

The Mysterious 5th Line ?????

Faeries on the Malloch Farm

Tales from the Ghost Story Wagon– 1- Alligators on Lake Avenue East

Pat Burns And the Black Pig– A Ghost Story?

The Mysterious Tatlock Mine

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The Faeries of McArthur Island- Dedicated to the Bagg Children

Oddities — Lanark County Puffball Mushrooms

Beware of the Lanark County Fairy Rings

The Seven Wonders of Lanark County

CLIPPED FROM
The Lanark Era
Lanark, Ontario, Canada02 May 1917, Wed  •  Page 5

Beware of the Lanark County Fairy Rings

Die to the damp weather lots of mushrooms have been spotted through Lanark County and even the rare Blue Mushroom have been seen. If you do not know the history of the Blue Mushroom be careful around them as they are said to be food for the Leprechauns. Leprechauns eat some nuts, different types of wild flowers and mushrooms.

Did you know that under European law Leprechauns are a protected species? So if on your wanderings you happen to spot a leprechaun, you can take a picture, but you must leave the little fellow alone– even in Lanark County.

Right Next to Giant Tiger in Carleton Place

Right Next to Giant Tiger in Carleton Place

There is a said to be a  Leprechaun colony located in Portland, Oregon. The journalist who first said that it was a leprechaun colony—these leprechauns could only be seen by him—wrote about the adventures of the leprechauns who lived here. They say the leprechaun is the poor cousin of the fairy — but if you see any out and about or any fairy rings– please let me know.

Perfect Fairy Ring

Right Next to Giant Tiger in Carleton Place–There was a semblance of a fairy circle there but someone had kicked them all over. NO leprechauns for us!

A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow to over 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or even in the Lanark Highlands.

Fairy rings are the subject of much folklore and myth worldwide—particularly in Western Europe. While they are often seen as hazardous or dangerous places, they can sometimes be linked with good fortune.

Of course it can take a darker turn when the fairies curse those humans who dare to intrude upon their circle. Locals in Somerset, England, used to give fairy rings the forbidding nickname “galley-traps” as late as the twentieth century. They believed that when a man who had committed a crime passes through a fairy ring, he is doomed to hang within the year.

In Scandinavia, you didn’t have to be a criminal to fall victim to the curse: anyone entering a fairy ring would be haunted by illusions forever after, unable to tell reality from imagination. The curse may be related to a specific aspect of life, like food: one tale warns that after taking part in the fairy’s dance circle, a man will crumble to dust at the first taste of non-fairy cooking. Other folk tales warn of more general punishments such as disease, bad luck, or an early death.

In all these tales, a ring of toadstools marks off a space distinct from the human world. Therein lies its fascination, and its peril. Whether the curious human escapes with only bruises or whether his time in fairy territory addles his brain permanently, he cannot stay with the fairies. They are beautiful and intriguing but ultimately unknowable.

How to forge ahead with wild edibles in Lanark County—Sarah Cavanagh–Hometown News-August

The world is your oyster! Well maybe not your oyster in Eastern Ontario but quite possibly your leek, your berry, your apple or your fiddlehead. We are blessed in our region to have a plentiful bounty of wild edibles right outside our door.

If you have ever considered trying your hand at the 100 mile challenge, from May to October in Lanark County is the time to do it. The 100 mile challenge refers to consuming only foods grown, raised and produced within a 100 mile radius of your home. The idea was first described by J.B. MacKinnon and Alisa Smith in the book The 100-Mile Diet. The book spurned a Canadian TV series based in Mission, British Columbia that followed six families who agreed to consume only foods grown, raised and produced within a 100 mile radius of their home for 100 days.

You might be saying to yourself – I live in town, it’s not like I have access to a 100 acre farm! Alas, there is no need. This afternoon, I had a delightful bowl of wild berry crumble foraged from my backyard right in the heart of Carleton Place. You don’t need to go into the depths of the wild to find wild edibles (although it certainly offers more variety). Many can be found in backyards, parks and along public trails.

Now a word of caution to the novices in our midst. Never eat anything you aren’t 100 per cent sure is edible. Ask a local, sign up for a foraging seminar or grab a copy of the Peterson Field Guide. Many poisonous plants are mistaken for edibles and some are only edible in certain stages of growth or have certain parts of the plant that can be eaten. All wild mushrooms are a bit of a forager’s Russian roulette so study up. The reward is some delicious (and free) meals for the summer.

There are some great local resources for the foragers among you. The Valley Wild Edibles Facebook page as over 900 members, all discussing wild edibles and sharing tips and tricks.

In the past few years there have been a variety of “wild food” walks in our area hosted by groups such as the Lanark Wild Food Club. Bodywork for Women, a local company that hosts workshops and offers therapies for myofascial release, lymphatic drainage, Chinese therapeutic massage and reflexology,  hosted two talks this spring at the Carleton Place arena. You can find their page on Facebook at: facebook.com/getherfixednow/if you’d like to keep an eye out for their 2018 offerings.

These are great opportunities to learn from experts and hone your food hunting skills. The Wild Garden (www.thewildgarden.ca) hosts learning walks and online resources for the new forager. The company also offers monthly herb boxes that the website describes as an “opportunity to connect with and learn about the wild edible and healing plants of the Ottawa bioregion.” There is a theme each month and edibles are delivered to your door. Typically the boxes contain a loose tea blend, an infused honey/syrup or vinegar, a seasoning blend, a preserve, salve, incense etc.

Another great online resource is www.ediblewildfood.com, which provides recipes and blog posts on how to survive on wild edibles at various times of the year.

You may find you are not such a novice once you get reading up on the practice. There are some classic spring favourites like dandelions (which can be used in salads, as a coffee substitute or to make syrup), wild leeks, asparagus and fiddleheads that many of us local Lanark kids have harvested, eaten or at the very least heard about.

Once you hit the sweet spot between mid-June and late July the berries are plentiful – we have classics like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, but also some lesser known treasures like the gooseberry. These are commonly foraged items and most of you, like me, probably spent many childhood afternoons filling your faces with every sweet thing we could find growing in the fence line.

Once mid-September hits, we’ll be filling our baskets with apples that are ripe for the picking down most backroads.

There are some less common but equally delectable options – alfalfa, bull thistle, cattails, sunflowers and milkweed are all wild edibles. In fact nothing is quite as astonishing as the versatility of a cattail.

Something to remember if harvesting wild food, specifically in spring, is to never over harvest. If you want the crop to return next year you have to leave some behind and be weary of the roots. Only take what you can use. Also it’s a good to pay attention to where you are foraging to make sure there are no obvious area pollutants or bad water sources that could make the food unsafe for you to consume. Basically avoid chemical spray zones, factories or right along a big highway.

This article was first published in the August issue of Hometown News. For more articles from our August issue, pick up a print copy at a local retailer or read their digital version.

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun andScreamin’ Mamas (USA)

  

The Faeries of McArthur Island- Dedicated to the Bagg Children

The Sugar Bush Fairy at Temple’s Sugar Bush

The Dreams of a Sugar Plum Fairy

The Faerie Gates of Lanark County

see description below of these gates.

There are magical things that dance about the fields and towns of Lanark County.  There is no doubt there are tales to be told. I do not know who builds these fences throughout our county, but one day  I hope to meet this magical artist. Each time I pass these pieces of mystical art on the Appleton side road, and in Almonte, I stop to take pictures. They take my breath away. My friend George Lanzon calls them “Dreamcatcher Gates”.  

I encountered an incident a few years ago that only that faeries could have done. A real magical true love story. Have you seen any faeries out and about? PM me..

She sat there quietly at the memorial and remembered their past. Thirty years had gone by too fast, and now he was suddenly gone. What would she do without him? 

While she wept softly, a crane walked slowly beside the white picket fence. He was watching her carefully as the wise flower elves wept in the hollows. How could he explain to her that he was there?

Flying over the fence in a gentle swoop, he felt the drops of dew, and kissed cold tears fromthe grass. Was it really a crane, perhaps it was a faerie in disguise?

                                    He tried to get closer to her with one measured step at a time. The grass blades parted with sighs as he was trying to tell her that he was there. He had been gone for a few brief days but had returned to tell her that he loved her. Yes, he would always remember the joy from the life they had shared together.

He stopped during certain moments when people spoke of the love they had for him. Cocking his head from time to time he listened to words of memories and laughter. Attempting to make a sound so she might turn her head;  a silent noise filled his throat, and she would never know he was there.

Three people watched him closely from their seats, and he knew they realized who he might be. They had already decided that he was not really a proud graceful crane walking across the grass – he was simply the departed, trying to tell his wife he was okay.

The spoken words of love suddenly stopped, and everyone became silent. The crane knew he must go; but somehow must tell her that he had read the beautiful card she had made just for him.

“The heavens part the high planets, blade parts back and edge; not even eternity can part souls that are sealed in love.”

“Yes”, he thought. Eternity will never separate our souls as we are forever sealed with love. Remember that my darling; never ever forget.”

And with that, as quickly as he had appeared, he was suddenly gone.Those that had seen him spoke quietly, and told each other their thoughts. They knew that when the heavens had grown clear, he had come.

His soul had descended when the mountain brims grew bright to speak of his eternal love. Others would tell her later that he had been there to silently tell her that he loved her one final time.

                                                We saw him Johanna, he was there.

The words are written by me – BUT  I also used a handful of selected words used in a scattered “here nor there fashion”  from the card Johanna had made for her departed husband, Bruce. I believe she used some of the selected words from : Journey’s End (Ferdalok)

Photos by Linda Secaspina

 

On the Appleton Side Road on the way to Almonte

Diane Duncan

Those gates are on the farm where we lived until 1994. It was one of the original Duncan farms, purchased by Robert Duncan Jr about 1846. It was originally designated a clergy reserve. There have been a couple of owners since we left the farm. The gates were built by Giussepe Lund, husband of Jane Bidgood formerly of Carleton County. I think they make their main home in England. Giuseppe has many significant metal sculptures around the world, including the Queen Elizabeth Gate in Hyde park London. Check out his website metal garden.ca