Dungarvon Whooper (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The cook in a Dungarvon River lumber camp dies. The crew suspect the skipper murdered him. That night "fearful whoops and yells the forest fill" and are heard around "the Whooper's grave" until "God's good man" prays that they stop.
AUTHOR: Michael Whelan
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi)
KEYWORDS: homicide burial lumbering ghost ritual clergy
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi 13, "The Dungarvon Whooper -- I" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi013 (Partial)
Roud #9198
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Where the Silvery Colorado Sweeps Along" (tune)
NOTES [128 words]: Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi: "Rev Edward Murdoch, the Roman Catholic parish priest at Renous, felt seriously enough about the matter to come up to Dungarvon and read the church service of exorcism. It is said that after this the evil spirit which was responsible for the horrible sounds was heard no more. But people still say they sometimes hear the Whooper, and they fear to visit the grave by the Whooper Spring. The Dungarvon River is a branch of the Main Renous River, which it joins above Quarryville....
"The train on the Canada Eastern Railway, between Fredericton and Newcastle, named for the Whooper, made its last run in 1936." - BS
For a less mysterious explanation of the origin of the name "Whooper," see the notes to "The Dungarvon Whooper (II)." - RBW
File: MaWi013

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