Читать книгу Haunted Ontario 4 - Terry Boyle - Страница 7

~ Cobourg ~

Elizabeth is lonely, a forgotten child. She is good at hide-and-seek — so good that few people ever see her. She is, in fact, lost to herself; unaware that she is dead. She might seek you out at MacKechnie House, a bed and breakfast establishment in Cobourg, Ontario. If you don’t meet Elizabeth, you may encounter a piper or an elderly woman who also share this glorious nineteenth-century Greek Revival manor.

The story of MacKechnie House begins in 1837, when a young man by the name of D’Arcy Boulton relocated to Cobourg and joined his uncle’s law firm. In 1843 he persuaded three brothers, Henry, Andrew, and Stuart MacKechnie, to leave Scotland and settle in Cobourg. Captain Wallace, a second cousin, also came along.

At that time Cobourg had a bustling harbour, significant for shipping and immigration. In 1823 the population was a mere 350 citizens. By 1840 it had grown to 3,300.

William Cattermole recorded this description of Cobourg in 1831: “This is a fine and flourishing village, in which many half-pay officers of his Majesty’s Army and Navy are comfortably settled. Cobourg is a handsome and thriving place. It has its stores in abundance, its post office, printing office, with a newspaper, its churches, chapels, wharfs, lawyers, blacksmiths, inns and innkeeper; hatters, shoe makers, and every convenience.”

The Rose Room. One guest staying in the room felt a spirit tuck them in at night.

Cobourg featured one hundred and fifty dwellings including twenty stores, three taverns, two schools, a post office, an apothecary, three surgeons, a coach and wagon factory, three furniture warehouses, two brickyards, and several mills on the outskirts of the village.

Upon his arrival in 1843 Stuart MacKechnie purchased a gristmill and piece of property to the west of downtown Cobourg. There he built a sizeable solid-brick, “temple form” Greek Revival-style home. The front porch and double French doors at the main entrance displayed Regency-influenced architecture.

In 1845 the MacKechnie brothers, along with Captain Wallace’s son, Sinclair, formed a partnership and constructed a huge woollen mill on the site of the gristmill that Stuart had originally purchased. They called their business Ontario Woollen Mills, and it quickly became the largest woollen mill in British North America. By 1856 the mill was producing 800 metres a day and employing 200 people. The MacKechnies enjoyed considerable prosperity.

In 1853 Stuart became the mayor of Cobourg, but he only served for a period of four months before his untimely death at the age of thirty-six. His widow, Anna Maria Barbara Poore, the daughter of English baronet Sir Edward Poore, was left to manage the estate.

As for the remaining MacKechnie brothers, fortunes come and go. Despite the efforts of the mill manager to maintain production and profit, the business faltered and the Bank of Montreal foreclosed in 1856. The MacKechnies moved on to other things.

Anna Maria Poore MacKechnie expanded the MacKechnie estate to suit her own needs. In the early 1850s she had another wing added to the north side of the house and there she established a sizeable library. Today it serves as a library and dining area.

In 1862 Anna Maria sold the home to Sheriff James Fortune and his wife, Alice. It was during this period of ownership that the estate became known as Mount Fortune. The location dictated the name. The house stood virtually alone on a high piece of land overlooking the town of Cobourg. Lake Ontario was only a short distance to the southeast. The elevation of the land is no longer what it was in the 1860s, but the inhabitants could indeed look down from the “Mount.” The Fortunes also increased the size of the house. An extensive addition at the back is the kitchen today.

The sheriff oversaw the operations of the gaol and other community matters until his untimely death in 1864, of Bright’s disease at the early age of fifty-one. Rumour indicated some sort of political scandal, and certainly his financial arrangement with his wife was very unusual for the time. The deed to the house and property was only in his wife’s name. Obviously the sheriff wanted to protect his property from his financial dealings.

In 1866, shortly after the beginning of the Fenian raids in Niagara, an infantry battalion associated with the Cobourg Militia was billeted behind the MacKechnie house. The Fenian Brotherhood was a society of Irishmen who sought to force the British to give Ireland its freedom. Many Irish-Americans inhabiting the United States near the Canadian border had banded together to attack British-controlled soil. The fear of Fenian attacks continued for five years. For part of the time the MacKechnie house served as an officers’ mess. Among the soldiers billeted there was a piper.

The MacKechnie Estate.

Alice Fortune sold the estate in 1869 and the home changed hands several times before Cathryn Thompson and Ian Woodburn bought MacKechnie house from Arnold Burgis in 1993. They moved in with their son, Rory. By then the house was in a state of disrepair and every room was full of heirlooms and boxes of Burgis’ possessions. Arnold Burgis had been living in this spacious home alone since the death of his mother.

Ian specializes in restorations and renovations. Cathryn was a business executive in need of a change. A bed and breakfast and catering enterprise seemed the perfect solution. They had a brochure printed.

Built for Upper Canada settler Stuart MacKechnie in the grand and glorious Greek Revival style, MacKechnie House is the finest remaining example of this type of monumental domestic architecture in the Cobourg area …

The MacKechnie House ghost dates from around the same time (mid-1800s), and local rumour spins tales of a Highland Infantry Company Bagpiper’s untimely demise. Duty-conscious to the end (and beyond, it seems!) the only wailing he indulges in is that of his pipes, and modern encounters with this shy fellow, though delightful, can be sporadic.

However, a reluctant ghost is no reason to put off your visit to Cobourg. By the time you’ve seen all there is to see in this history- and event-packed corner of Northumberland County, you’d probably just sleep through his nocturnal perambulations anyway!

When Cathryn first moved into the home she had no idea it was haunted. In fact, she had never been exposed to any unexplained spirit activity. “I am not extremely sensitive to spirits. I didn’t have an experience until I moved here.

“During the first year we experienced something very unusual. One day a friend and her seven-year-old daughter were sitting in the kitchen. We were chatting away when suddenly her daughter pointed toward the library and said, ‘Who is the little girl?’ We didn’t know what she was talking about. We couldn’t see anything.”

On three separate occasions, psychics who were staying in the house reported the existence of three spirits in the home, an old woman, a little girl named Elizabeth, and a bagpipe-playing soldier. According to one psychic, Elizabeth longs to play with other children. She is seldom seen because she doesn’t want to frighten anyone. Elizabeth lives in the attic, a prisoner of her own world.

A Scottish bagpiper, who was billeted here back in 1866, is still seen on the stairwell.

At the top of the stairs to the right of the landing is the Rose Room. This is where Mrs. Burgis is said to have died. Could she be the elderly spirit? When Cathryn first began decorating this room she felt the need to choose wallpaper with roses. She even went a step further and had a dried rose framed to hang in the room. The bedspreads also reflect the rose theme. Cathryn is not attracted to roses. In fact, she had no idea why she felt compelled to decorate in this manner. She later discovered that roses just happened to be Mrs. Burgis’ favourite flower.

There is a cold spot in this room a short distance from the bed. Guests often complain about feeling a draft in this one area of the room. According to Cathryn there is a reason for this. Near the end of her life Mrs. Burgis was quite ill and bedridden. The nurse staying with her said she tried to get out of bed because she thought that someone had come for her. Mrs. Burgis rose from her bed and stepped forward to meet a man who only she could see. Then she collapsed and died.

Guests staying overnight in the Rose Room report a cold spot near the table and chairs.

Some people who have stayed in this room have told Cathryn that they could never get warm, even in the summertime. One overnight guest said they felt the spirit tucking them in at night.

Cathryn has to smooth out the blankets on the bed almost every day. It’s as if someone lays there on a daily basis. People often complain about the loss of personal items when they stay there. They blame it on forgetfulness or their partner, who they feel certain has placed it somewhere else. Then just when they give up, the item reappears right where they know they left it.

One day Cathryn was about to place a phone call. She carefully took one earring off and placed it on the table before lifting the receiver to her ear. After a lengthy conversation she put the phone down and reached for her earring. It was gone! “Many things go missing, such as clothing. I have lost a skirt, a belt, and some jewellery. These belongings have not yet returned.”

Ian often still spends his weekends restoring areas of the house. The disappearance of tools is also not an uncommon occurrence. One day their son Rory asked his dad to hook up the video machine. Ian recalls what happened. “I needed a pair of pliers to do the job. I remember placing the pliers back in the tool box after the job was completed. The next day they were gone. I looked everywhere. Three days later I walked by the video machine and there they were right in front of it, in plain view on the floor.”

When asked if he believes in ghosts Ian’s reply is, “My mother had just died. I was sitting alone in the living room and I could sense a strong presence. I knew I was not alone in the room. That was it.”

One morning a guest named Joanne complained over breakfast about not getting much sleep the night before. Cathryn explains, “Joanne told me a little girl and an elderly woman visited her during the night in her room. Joanne had asked them not to show themselves although she could hear them speak. Joanne said the girl, Elizabeth, was twelve years old. At first Elizabeth told her that she had been dramatically murdered in the house. However, she later said she had died of an illness. She said she was waiting to leave. It was Elizabeth and the elderly woman who told her there was another spirit in the house.”

That other spirit could be the Scottish bagpiper who apparently was billeted here back in 1866. Cathryn says, “People who have lived around Cobourg for a number of years and as children played in the house can vividly recall hearing his music. A number of people I have met claimed to have seen him.”

Sarah, a lifelong Cobourg resident, attended a birthday party in the house back in the late 1960s and this is what she saw: “There was a group of us playing on the second floor of the home. We had never heard of ghosts before. For whatever reason, I looked up at the staircase that leads to the third floor. I caught a glimpse of the back of a man from the waist down just as he was turning the top of the stairs. I saw one leg. He was wearing a black shoe and a kilt. I knew it was a kilt because I was a highland dancer at the time. The kilt was the Black Watch tartan with dark blue and green and a bit of yellow. I wasn’t the only one who saw him. We rushed up the stairs but there was nothing there.”

Little is known about this piper or his reason for remaining in the house. Cathryn and Ian have never seen him or heard his music.

In December 1997 Cathryn did encounter one of the spirits. “Back then I was usually rising about four a.m. to begin my catering work. I had one businessman who was a guest staying for the week. He rose for breakfast promptly at seven-fifteen a.m. I always made sure I had coffee ready before he arrived in the kitchen. This particular morning I slept in. I awakened at six-thirty a.m. to the sound of footsteps going down the stairs. Thinking it was him I rushed down to the kitchen to hit the switch on the coffee percolator. No one was there, but someone had helped me out: just as I entered the kitchen the coffee percolator started to drip. I stood there in shock.”

On yet another occasion Cathryn was astounded by the generosity of the spirits. “I always know how much money I have in my wallet. On this particular day I was going out for lunch with some friends. I knew I had two five-dollar bills in my wallet. Before reaching the restaurant I gave one five-dollar bill to my son before dropping him off. I then stopped at a convenience store and spent the other five dollars. During lunch a musical group entertained us. I decided to have the waiter deliver five dollars and a request to one of the players. I pulled my wallet out and to my amazement discovered the five dollars was gone. I made a fuss about missing this money. I couldn’t believe it. Then I realized on the way home, after picking up my son, that I had spent the money at the variety store. Feeling quite foolish with myself I drove home. There at the top of the basement stairs was a soaking-wet five-dollar bill. I then remembered the psychics saying the spirits were there to help me.”

Cathryn and Ian renovated the north wing at the back of the house into an apartment that they rent out. A previous tenant once borrowed two books from Cathryn. After she had read the books they were returned. Cathryn remembers placing them on her desk. One day she noticed that one book had disappeared. A short time later her tenant discovered the missing book back in her apartment standing upright on the floor.

The same tenant often complained about missing her clip-on sunglasses. Each time she would have to go out and buy another pair. Then one day the missing sunglasses appeared. Three pairs of sunglasses, all clipped together, were discovered on a shelf.

MacKechnie House hosts many celebrations. One evening Cathryn catered for a woman who wanted to celebrate her fiftieth birthday by holding a séance in the house. She hired a psychic and invited eighteen people to attend.

According to Cathryn, “It was a strange experience. They held the séance in the library and dining room. Holding hands they waited and waited. Then someone spoke, ‘There is something in the basement.’”

Cathryn said, “I believe this. I have seen a pink light or beam travel by me. I can also feel someone standing behind me. At the top of the basement stairs you often get the feeling that someone is walking by.” This is the same place where the $5.00 bill mysteriously appeared.

When it comes to spirits one never knows what will happen next. This was true for Cathryn one day last year when she went shopping for antiques in Port Hope. “I was in Port Hope visiting an antique shop on the main street. The woman who owns the store said to me, ‘Have you seen the ghost?’

“I replied, ‘No, but we understand we have three ghosts. One of them is a little girl, another an elderly woman, and there is a bagpiper.

“I then said to the woman, ‘I wonder if the elderly woman is Mrs. Burgis?’

“Then the lady said to me, ‘My dead grandmother is with me.’ I said, ‘Oh yes, I feel that way about my grandmother, too.’

“The woman was looking at me with tears in her eyes. ‘You don’t understand. My grandmother is talking to me right now. And Mrs. Burgis has asked my grandmother to ask you to give her permission to leave this plane.’

“I was at a loss for words. I said, ‘All right.’

“I came home and went to the room where Mrs. Burgis had died. I then addressed her. I said ‘You are more than welcome to stay but if you want to go, please do so.’”

It would seem she didn’t go. Just a week later a guest staying in the Rose Room was hugged. During the night the guest felt a coldness around her shoulders and neck. It felt as though someone was embracing her. Was it Mrs. Burgis?

When did Elizabeth arrive and why did she stay? How did the bagpiper die? Why did Mrs. Burgis not leave with the male figure at her bedside? Who or what is the presence in the basement?

Elizabeth and Mrs. Burgis seem to have a friendship, or at least communication with one another. Is this common phenomenon in the spirit dimension? Other ghosts at other sites seem oblivious to one another. Does this mean they were connected in life or is this just another coincidence?

At least Elizabeth has someone to talk to! Maybe you should pay her a visit.