The Spectre of Stanhope Lane

By James W. Macnutt

Every summer Frank Longworth, a pragmatic and matter-of-fact lawyer, takes himself away from the bustle of his business and family life and enjoys a few solitary weeks in the pristine coastal landscape of Prince Edward Island, Canada. One evening, as he takes his usual walk from his cottage to the beach, he comes into contact with something inexplicable and sinister. It is an encounter that will shake his tidily organised life to its foundations…
"The Spectre of Stanhope Lane is written with imagination, creativity, and amazing insight and attention to historical detail and research into the Scottish world and the place of the diaspora. Sense of place, heritage, genealogy, class, and mystery are woven together and exhibit a writer who has come of age. Warmly recommended to Prince Edward Islanders and visitors to the Island and all who are intrigued by all things Scottish. I want to see that wall!"
Dr Jack Whytock, author and lecturer

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Nov 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528939720

James W. Macnutt

James W. Macnutt has been a practising lawyer for over 54 years and was honoured with a K.C. appointment in 1989. He continues in his full-time practice of law with the law firm of Cox & Palmer having offices in each of the four Canadian Atlantic provinces. Mr. Macnutt has written extensively on Canadian architectural, legal and parliamentary history as presented in numerous journal articles and in twelve major publications in book form. He is concentrating now on creative writing in the fictionalized history genre of which the stories in this volume are part. He continues to write and has four new manuscripts in draft form which will be published in due time. Married with two children, Mr. Macnutt has four grandchildren, two girls and two boys who collectively prevent complacency and indolence.

Book preview

About the Author

James W. Macnutt is the author of seven non-fiction books. Mr Macnutt’s first novel was published in November 2017 with the title On Five Dollars a Day – An Innocent Abroad Summer 1965. His earlier publications related to historical architecture, furniture and maps in separate volumes. Mr Macnutt is married with two children, Jane and Carolyn and grandfather of two girls, Charlotte and Emma and two boys, Mark and Jack. Writing has been a major part of Mr Macnutt’s life having been a Legislative Counsel, practising barrister and solicitor and author of various articles on historical matters. The Spectre of Stanhope Lane is in the tradition of Scottish supernatural beliefs and encounters. It is set in one of the earliest Scottish settlements in Canada.

Books by the Same Author

Heritage House of Prince Edward Island (2006)

Inside Island Heritage Homes (2008)

The Historical Atlas of Prince Edward Island (2009)

Building for Democracy (2010)

Building for Justice (2015)

A Century of Service of Rotary on Prince Edward Island (2017)

Historic Furniture of Prince Edward Island (2017)

On Five Dollars a Day - An Innocent Abroad Summer 1965 (2017)

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my four grandchildren: Charlotte Macnutt Lawson, Mark Macnutt Lawson, Jack McNamara and Emma McNamara as encouragement for continuing to develop their creative interests and in recognition of their growing appreciation of and fascination for books and the stages involved in creating a book in final form and their interest in the cultural roots to which they are heirs. They each have expressed an interest in writing; I hope this dedication and book shall further engage their interest.

James W. Macnutt

The Spectre of Stanhope Lane

Copyright Information

Copyright © James W. Macnutt (2019)

The right of James W. Macnutt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-52893-296-7 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-52893-972-0 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the continuing support and encouragement I receive from my wife Barbara, and the exceptional work of my clerical assistant Inez Somers in the typing, organization and coordination involved in taking my handwritten manuscript and creating a working document for the use of my editors and the publisher, without whose dedication none of my ten books could have been produced. Also, I extend thanks to my friends Pamela Borden, and Rev. Dr Jack Whytock for their editorial reviews of the text and helpful recommendations for improvements to the text.

Foreword

This is a work of fiction. It is unlikely anyone walking on Stanhope Lane will encounter a spectre of any kind. While many of the persons named as residents of the Island in the 1700s are historical, the story has no basis in fact.

However, Scottish traditional beliefs in the supernatural were prevalent among the early Scottish settlers of what is now Canada. This story could have been part of the numerous supernatural stories and traditions of the Island.

Chapter 1

The warm early summer heat lasted into the late evening enticing Frank out for a walk to observe the full moon and vivid sparkle of the stars. The remote location of his cottage on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island provided a quiet and peaceful environment to walk at night on the road in front of his cottage that led to and through part of a National Park.

He could have walked the one kilometre to the beach blindfolded, having walked along the road to swim almost daily during the summer months over the past thirty years.

In the dark, brightened faintly by the light of the moon, he was able to get his bearings from the silhouettes of the spruce treetops catching more illumination from the moon than the road surface Frank was following. He passed the few houses along the way leaving him with virtual darkness in the shade created by the solid bank of trees on both sides of the narrow single-lane earthen road.

The fireflies and occasional guttural calls of foxes in the nearby woods provided him with a sense of connection with the natural world he enjoyed so much.

He entered a deep hollow in the road where the continuous passage of vehicles, animals and humans over a span of two hundred years and through spring levelling had reduced the natural elevation of the landscape of the road by several feet. The tunnel effect was accented by dry stone walls on both sides of the roads.

This area was first settled by Europeans in 1770 by Scottish settlers one of whom was an ancestor of Frank’s. He was a descendant of the earliest Scottish settlers both here in Stanhope and in another 1770 settlement further west along the North Shore of the province’s Gulf of St. Lawrence at a place then known as Princetown.

The dry stone walls were covered in soil and natural growth of grasses, wildflowers and trees. They had taken root long after these walls ceased to have relevance in the lives of those living on Stanhope Lane, the name of the road.

Frank had taken notice of these walls each time he walked to or from the beach. They were goosebumps link to his connection with this community and the numerous generations of people who had taken possession of it.

From time to time he would pause on his walks and with bare hands strip off the overburden covering the stone walls. He would not disturb the stones themselves but would gently caress them thinking of the people who had quarried the stone and perhaps had built them – some of whom may have been his ancestors.

The skill of the builders of the dry stone walls was evident in the landscaping of one of Frank’s neighbour’s property who had revealed and exposed the walls as part of redesigning the frontage of his property near the road. He had sensitively exposed the stones intact when he brought them into use in his landscaping. The dry stone configuration of the walls was there for passersby with an interest to observe the originality and history embedded in the walls.

As Frank entered the deepest part of the sunken roadbed, he felt the chill often experienced there even on a hot summer day at midday.

There was a difference this night, however.

Frank was walking carefully looking primarily at the road for uneven surfaces to avoid tripping. His attention was fully engaged in navigating safely in this part of the road because he remembered there were several sandstone outcrops exposed during the annual spring run-off from melting snow as the water flowed thick and fast down the steep slope of the hill at this part of the road.

It was an unusual rapid drop in temperature that made him look up. It was accompanied by a strange and unaccustomed swirl of air – a seemingly self-contained breeze.

Frank felt the breeze but his reaction to the drop in air temperature was magnified by a sense of someone unseen being nearby.

He felt the goosebumps growing on his arms and shoulders. They intensified as a sense of apprehension enveloped him. It was not fear – there was no sense that flight from the scene was required.

Gradually he became aware of an amorphous image appearing before him. This image was an aberration from anything he had experienced before. Frank felt the image, a spectre with indistinct features, was with him in his immediate presence.

It was not possible to ascertain whether the spectre was male or female or what the age was of this being.

Frank said nothing, waiting; knowing there would be some communication from it.

As he stood there waiting, a sense of calm reassurance and peace entered him. He sensed he had nothing to fear and that this spectre was not only benign but kindly. Frank sensed the spectre wished to engage him in some fashion.

The spectre began to take shape as if leaving a heavy fog. The face took form first. It appeared to be the face of a woman in her thirties, many teeth missing creating a hollow around her mouth, which made the young face look much older.

As Frank watched in wonder and fascination, the contours of the body of his companion took sufficient shape to enable him to identify that it was indeed female.

It was the clothing that caught his attention. This was not the image of a woman wearing clothing which he had observed being worn at any time during his lifetime. A study of Prince Edward Island history enabled him to identify the clothing as similar to what would have been worn by Scottish female settlers in the late eighteenth century.

She seemed to levitate. There was no apparent contact between her form and the ground. In fact, she appeared to float with a gently swaying movement that brought her ever closer to Frank.

The spectre raised her right arm which had hung loosely at her side as had her left arm. She raised it parallel to the road and extended it to Frank inviting him, it seemed, to extend his hand to her. He did so without hesitation.

She gently touched his downward-facing hand with her fingers.

He sensed rather than felt the contact.

No words had been spoken up to this point.

When he felt the presence of her fingers on his hand, she acknowledged and sensed his awareness of the connection. She spoke. No, she didn’t speak in a conventional sense.

There was no sound. Her lips did not move. Frank received and understood a message from her that she had been a resident in the Scots settlement shortly after it was established. Frank responded by communicating wordlessly that he was a descendant of one of the earliest of the Scots settlers in that area – a fact she appeared to know.

Why did she appear at this time? asked Frank – again non-vocally. She said she sensed and was convinced that he was someone she could connect with without causing him fear or grief. Frank thanked her and expressed happiness in meeting and talking to her, and he asked her to tell him what it was that gave her a need to communicate with the living two hundred years later.

Much later, she said sadly. Yes, later than my own death. My own death was much earlier than your ancestors. She stated that she knew in approaching Frank that she could communicate with him without creating horror and distaste in him. She said it gave her happiness to meet someone with ancestry connecting him with the original settlement, even if two hundred years separated them.

Do you have questions for me or do you have a message for me? asked Frank.

I died when I was only twenty-two, partly from exhaustion having worked hard in clearing the land and building boundaries around the land we were permitted to occupy under the terms of our lease from the owner of the land. The exhaustion was only part of the reason, she said.

Frank asked what form the boundaries took, to which she replied that, At first, they were just the debris from land clearance, then when the fields were well enough developed to enable farming, the numerous stones removed from the land as they cleared it were mounted as dry stone walls on the major property boundaries, but rail fences were usually built to enclose livestock within the boundaries of each settler’s own property.

Where did you learn how to build dry stone walls?

I worked with men of the settlement who were trained to build them in Scotland. Layering, balancing and configuring the stones had to be just right, she said, or the walls would collapse after a few years.

Frank pointed to the mounds bordering the lane where they stood, and asked whether they were some of the walls she worked on?"

Yes, I worked on these, or walls near here. The family I lived with had land down at the end of the peninsula, but I was betrothed to a young man whose family also had possession of the right side of this lane. I worked with him and others of his family building these walls when I was not required for women’s work back at the croft.

Did you have children?

Yes, one who lived longer than me. I died in childbirth during the birth of my second child. I was too worn down and had a fever. The child I carried died before me.

What became of your surviving child?

He was brought up by one of his father’s brothers and his wife. He had a very rough time as a child but he survived. I know nothing of what became of him.

How would you know he had a rough time?

I was so distressed when I died that I have continued to with the desire and determination that has allowed me to follow those I cared for.

What is your message for me – or what is it you need me to tell you?

I would like you to tell me how the settlers of this area and my son got along after I died. Did they all die young like me? Those I lived with thought we might all die during our first few years here, it was so hard. There was little food; there was much sickness. The cold and snow in winter were more than we imagined before we came.

Was it always really hard for you?

No. It was always hard work and there were no luxuries or time away from chores, but within about two or three years with the help from Mr Montgomery, the proprietor and the others in our community most of us created a world better than we left.

I have little information on many of the early settlers, but I may be able to tell you about those you lived with if you tell me who they were, replied Frank, trying to encourage her.

As Frank was about to embark on telling the spectre about what he knew of his ancestors, she said, I must leave you now. If you will permit it I will return to you in three or four night’s time. It must be clear and warm as this evening. So, the first night good for our next meeting we shall resume our conversation.

Frank had no opportunity to respond. The spectre disappeared even more quickly than she had appeared.

As to where they would meet again there was no instruction or agreement, so Frank assumed it would be at the same time and in the same place.

With the spectre’s disappearance, the temperature rose significantly, and Frank was left wondering whether the encounter was real or imagined, perhaps stimulated by his interest in and proximity to the dry stone walls.

Chapter 2

Reflecting on his encounter with the spectre, Frank pondered the implications of an encounter with the other side, the spirit world or the afterlife whatever it was. Fear and apprehension were no part of the reaction as he would have predicted.

A sense of adventure and opportunity to learn about this dimension of a world unknown to him – and certainly to most of those of his species living on the planet – opened up to him. He needed to know more about this distant element of history and to place this spectre in his family tree. His limited knowledge of the genealogy of his Stanhope relatives came through a genealogical listing of the 1770 Falmouth settlers in Covehead/Stanhope in a community history.

A re-examination of the genealogy revealed a particularly fecund family that in the first generation of his ancestors on the Island produced nine children who in turn produced sixty-four children of their own. Succeeding generations were not quite as diligent in populating the forests and meadows of Prince Edward Island; much which was originally occupied by the Aboriginals and Acadians.

The history of his ancestors was contained in his source of all things historical about Stanhope, namely the community history entitled The Sands of Time. Frank went through the numerous family genealogies contained in the book to try to identify who the spectre would be based on her disclosure that she died young shortly after childbirth and had one child surviving her. He could find no reference that could be her or her surviving child. A stillborn child usually would not be listed.

Prior to his encounter with the spectre, from time to time Frank had a sense of an inchoate presence as he walked down the road in front of his summer residence on Stanhope Lane. He had dismissed it as being nothing more than a happy feeling associated with having discovered familial connections there unknown when he and his wife purchased the house over twenty years before his encounter.

Frank’s family, the Longworths, were connected to Robert and Jean Fossett Auld through the Aulds’ eldest daughter who married Frank’s Longworth ancestor, Francis Longworth. They became one of the most influential and successful families on the Island, active in public life and in business and the legal profession. Through that family, Frank had numerous near and distant relatives on the Island and further afield elsewhere in Canada and in the United States.

Frank always marvelled at the emigration of his namesake Francis Longworth. The man’s middle name Fitzgerald brought him into a lineage linking him to one of the most influential and historical Anglo-Irish families, several of whom bore titles establishing them as part of the British aristocracy. It intrigued him that Francis