The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales

Notes

Notes THE INFORMATION given in the following notes seems largely self-explanatory, but perhaps some comment on the arrangement is in order. First, I have given my source of the story; in full, I have included the informant's name, his residence, and the date I collected the story, together with the informant's source of the story. Second, there is additional information on the circumstances of the story or its locale which the informant may have given me or which I may have provided. Third, I have mentioned comparisons with ghost stories in other collections or literary uses of certain themes when these have seemed pertinent. Finally, I have listed the motifs present in the story. All of this information is not given for each story; many stories, for example, have only the source and the motifs. 1. The Phantom Soldier William K. Smith, Clarksburg, 1956. The soldier's return, apparently alive, is similar to the return of the RAF officers in a story in Things That Go Bump in the Night (pp. 157-58) by Louis C. Jones. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E230, return from the dead to inflict punishment. 2. The Mysterious Horseshoe Bonnie Arnett, Farmington, 1963, as told to her by Mrs. Madeline Buchanan. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E426, revenant as object; E421.3, luminous ghosts. 163 3. The Damico Family John Pienkos, Grant Town, 1959. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E221.3, dead husband returns to reprove wife's second husband; E231.5, ghost returns to murderer, causes him to confess. 4. What Price Love? Jean West, Fairmont, 1956, as told to her by Mrs. Effie Bunner Hale of Fairmont. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E422.1.1, headless revenant; E535.2, ghostly wagon. 5. The Legend of Boiling Springs John Parker, Parkersburg, 1958, as told to him by an elderly man who lived near Boiling Springs. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E402, mysterious ghostlike noises heard. 6. Hunting Friends Alfred De Blassio, Fairmont, 1963, as told to him by Richard Taylor of Preston County. Although the locale is given as Preston County, the story is probably widely known. In Things That Go Bump in the Night (pp. 94-96), Louis C. Jones gives a version of the same tale from the Adirondacks. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E234.3, return from dead to avenge death (murder). 7. A Head and a Body 164 Robert Leeper, Fairmont, 1954, as told to him by his mother. According to stories handed down to Mr. Leeper's mother, the scythe murder actually happened, and, supposedly , the ghost cries too. Mt. Harmony is about three and a half miles from Fairmont, just off the road to Morgantown . The unhappiness of this poor body that could not find its head is very similar to that of "The Headless Hant" in The Book of Negro Folklore (pp. 164-65) by Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps. Motifs: T92.1, the triangle plot and its solutions; E422.1.1, headless revenant; E412.3, dead without proper funeral rites cannot rest; E419.7, person with missing bodily member cannot rest in grave. 8. The Telltale Lilac Bush Keith Ketchem, 1963, as told to him by Mrs. Sarah Dadisman of Union, Monroe County. Motifs: E221, dead spouse's malevolent return; E231, return from dead to reveal murder; possibly E631.6, reincarnation in tree from grave. 9. The Chain Terry Ann Bradley, Mannington, 1963, as told to her by her grandfather. Motifs: E221, dead spouse's malevolent return; E413, murdered person cannot rest in grave; E402.1.4, invisible ghost jingles chains. 10. The Face on the Wall Frank Savich, Grant Town, 1958, as told to him by his grandfather. This is somewhat similar to a story in Helen Creighton 's Bluenose Ghosts (p. 205) in which a dead woman's face appears on the wall of a house she had dreamed of and planned but had not lived to enjoy. Motifs: E422.1.11.2, revenant as face or head; E322, dead wife's friendly return; E363.1, ghost aids living in emergency. 11. Bill White's Wife Mrs. Josephine Shriver, Littleton, 1950. Motifs: E221, dead spouse's malevolent return; E402, mysterious ghostlike noises heard. 12. Uncle Tom Howe Harlan M. Bell, Parkersburg, 1957, as told to...