The Legend of the Ringing Bell

It was an event that had all the makings of a major Hollywood movie.

Before global warming or the fear of the magic doomsday year of 2012 and way back in the dark cold days of October 1859 a bell rang out into the early morning hours. Those who heard the sound will never forget. St. James Church bell tower is the focal point and the building of this tale and the people of Charlottetown, P.E.I., and the players. Why the ringing?

It wasn't Sunday or a religious holiday, no one in their right mind would be married or buried in the early morning hours. Still the sound of the first ring of the bell rang out. When a second ring cried out into the stillness of the night two neighbours who heard the sound ran outside and met on the road. They joined forces and went to the source to investigate. As they ventured forth, the bell continued to cry out its ringing.

Was it ringing of doom or of joy? Only time will tell of the fate of the sleepy town.

As the investigative team ventured into the courtyard, the bell rang out six times. Like a scene in a Hollywood movie, the front doors of the church crashed open with a windy blast forcing the team to hit the ground by its shear blast. Before them were three glowing women all dressed in white. Angels of life or death? Angels to tell them of a future happenings or the sum of an event whose outcome will soon take place.

When the bell rang out for its seventh time, the heavy wooden doors slammed shut with the entities inside the church. The team rushed to the shut door and tried to open it but all was in vain. The door simply couldn't be open. Nothing on heaven or earth would open what was once opened by the three entities. The team rushed to the windows to gain further information on what they seem. The three glowing women were seen walking upstairs to the belfry. Were they specters walking towards a bewitching event? The minister and the sexton (caretaker) arrived at the place of excitement and wanted to know what was going on at his church.

When the team told the newly arrived minister what they had seen the minister unlocked the doors and they ventured inside. Once inside the place of worship, none could see the three women anywhere. The bell was about to cry out one more time. As the team crept upwards towards the bell, the bell rang out its eighth and last time.

The brave team ran upstairs at this point to confront the intruders only to find nothing. Only the bell which they soon discovered was vibrating slightly. They were relieved that they were not the victims of mass hysteria but still bewildered on who, what or even why the bell tolled. Did it toll for them or perhaps the town itself? The church was investigated by the team. Every square inch of the building was searched. They left no stone unturned. They simply couldn't find the answer behind what they seen or heard.

That night, the Fairie Queen, a local steamer ship from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, which was supposed to arrive in the nearby docks never showed. Her billowing clouds of black smoke, never seen. The answer to this mystery arrived a couple of days later. If they had telephones or internet the answer would have come sooner. The bell which rang out eight times was for the eight victims, five men and three women, who perished from the sinking of the Fairie Queen.

If you suddenly got a chill from this tale then perhaps you will never hear a bell ring the same way again.

Haunts, ghosts or even tales are told and retold in Things that Go Bump in a Canadian Night.

The Legend of the Ringing Bell (retold by Ronald Wolf)