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| GOTHIC LANE presents... |
| LEGENDS
- Signal Hill: Landscape of Fear |
| One
of the more popular stories told about Signal Hill involves the past presence
of a gibbet. The story goes that sometime after 1750 a gibbet was
placed on the promontory now known as Gibbet Hill. From this
gibbet were to be displayed the tar-coated bodies of executed criminals.
The tar helped preserve the bodies while they hung on display as a warning
to other criminal-minded individuals. When the rotted remains of
those unfortunate souls were removed from the gibbet they were put into
barrels, weighed down with rocks, and rolled over a cliff into Deadman's
Pond below.
The
stories about the pond itself are provocative. The belief that it
is bottomless has been around for quite some time and may owe its origins
to treasure legends in the area. Like the
one about a pirate who was murdered by his Captain to ensure a ghostly
guardian for their buried pirate treasure: |
Oh I am
the ghost of Deadman's Pond, / And I cannot rest until,
Someone finds
the gold / Of the pirate bold
That's hidden
on Signal Hill.
- E.T. Furlong,
1939
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The
pond has also been the site of several drownings. Once known as Parsons
Pond its present name is said to have been inspired by the death in 1869,
of two young girls and the son of Sir Frederick Carter. On December
26, Fred Jr. lost his life while trying to save the lives of two girls
who had fallen through the ice while skating. All three perished.
A monument to Fred's heroic efforts sits on the grounds of Government
House in St. John's. |
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