The O’Briens’ Banshee

 The O’Briens’ Banshee

By Cole Herrold

Banshees are a bizarre breed of Faerie as Banshees are not one specific variety or species of fae but instead more of an entity that holds a position. This position which is to be a faithful servant to a noble Irish family, holds an important position as these spectral apparitions appear, wail, and keen before the death of a family members death. The word Banshee comes from both Bean si or Bean Sidhe, which translates to "Faerie Woman" however, as previously stated, these omenic figures are not always elven women or some other member of the Seelie or Unseelie court but on occasion tend to be apparitions from a specific family line usually those who died an untimely death or were murder victims. It's in cases like Banshees that we see an overlap with another Fortean phenomenon, such as hauntings and spectral apparitions. In classic faerie lore, there is a kind of muddying in the water when it comes to the origins of the fae, and one of the most famous was that the fae are the souls of the dead or that the souls of the dead could become enslaved to the fae or continue to live with the fae after they died. So, where the Banshee exactly fits in this complex otherworld or faerie realm is not exactly clear; in fact, faeries are often taxonomically categorized by kind, and some of the major categories include Trooping Fairies and Solitary Faeries the Banshee, Dullahan, Phooka, and Leprechaun are placed into the Solitary faerie category but there’s always a major distinction between them and the more traditional fae like the Leprechaun, Red Cap, Far Darrig, and Clurichaun thereby implying that they probably belong in their own category altogether.

Now with all that said, I had mentioned that some of the reports of Banshees are not of a fae attached to a household or family but of a deceased person performing the exact same behavior as the faerie woman. The Banshee of the O'Briens is one such case. The apparition of the Banshee began when a young woman was seduced in the garden of the House of Lady Honora O'Brien by one of the O'Briens. The young woman who in the blinding throws of passion in the green was after the romance ended murdered right there at the same spot by the murderous O'Brien and, in an effort to hide the crime, flung her body from an open window on the property where it sank to the bottom to never be found. The crime went unpunished, and so now the poor maiden haunts the property as an apparition who behaves as a kind of malevolent Banshee. Reports of her were kept tightly by the O'Briens until a sighting, and consequently, death occurred after the apparition was seen by Lady Fanshawe and her husband, who was staying on the property during a visit. Lady Fanshawe's husband was an ambassador at the Spanish Court throughout the reign of both King Charles the First and King Charles the Second (sometime throughout 1625-1685) and, having it grown late one night, retired to bed. The Lady Fanshawe was then awoken at around one o'clock in the morning by a strange sound that permeated outside by one of the windows in their room. She, getting out of bed, began to walk towards the old antediluvian window, and upon moving back, the curtains began to look out and around the perimeters of the property, searching for just what could have made the sound. As she looked, the light of the moon was not the only source of illumination on the property; as she peered down, she saw a pale white glow coming from an open casement. As she stared at the seemingly self-illuminated casement, she soon noticed that there leaning in through it was the figure of a woman. She was very beautiful, but something she could tell was very off about her; she seemed to be very pale and sickly, and this was offset by her bright, vibrant red hair, and the skin was just one tone darker than the white gown the woman wore. The woman seemed upset as she paced to and fro, and as she listened closely just over the sound of the wind, she could hear that the woman was weeping and seemingly talking to herself. The few words she uttered were in a loud strange tone, but she was unable to decipher just what the girl had said. Then suddenly, the girl sighed, and as she did, so a massive rush of wind seemed to come from her. Upon this, the Lady watched and saw that the girl began to dissipate before her eyes as though she was made up of some "dense air." The Lady realizing that she had seen an apparition, was truly disturbed and so proceeded in fainting only to be found sprawling on the floor the next morning.

Upon being revived in the morning, she proceeded to tell the Lady of the house about the apparition she witnessed, but Lady O'Brien looked unsurprised by her tale. Lady O'Brien then began, "My Cousin, whose ancestors owned this house, died at two o’clock this morning, and as is the case with the rest of my family, the Banshee was heard wailing every night during his illness. The individual who utters the caoine (cry) for this branch of the O’Briens, is supposed to be the ghost of a woman who was seduced and murdered in the garden of this very house by an ancestor of the gentleman who died this morning. He flung her body into the river under the window, so the voice and appearance of this wailer causes more terror than those of other spirits, with whose grief there is no blending of revenge". As the nights went on, there were no other reported sounds or sights of this apparition, but the experience haunted Lady Fanshawe and her husband so much that they each wrote down about their experiences. These experiences were almost completely forgotten until they were collected by Folklorist Patrick Kennedy of Co. Wexford, Ireland and was included in his Fireside Stories of Ireland book of first and secondhand tales of faerie encounters and folktales. This story and other similar first and secondhand accounts have later appeared in several other books of Irish Fairy Tales and Folklore, such as Barnes and Nobles A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales.

Now I’m sure that there are those out there that will automatically place this account into folklore and fiction, which I can completely understand however It is important to note that the witness to this case is a historical figure, and there is alleged documentation of the sighting implying more or less the figures did see something. Banshee accounts interestingly, unlike most Faerie stories that are out there are usually first or second person accounts, but due to the fact that these accounts are usually put into tomes which feature oral stories that date back to time and memorial such as Teig O'Kane and the Corpse a story about a foolish youth who becomes partially enslaved to the fae one night and to be freed has to bury a corpse of a man who the fae were friendly with. To me, the fact that so many of these accounts are first-person and even second-person to me seems to indicate that this is a phenomenon worth investigating and taking seriously now, just what it is; we're up for speculation.

The first and clear place to put this phenomenon is actually not fae but as a traditional spectral apparition. This case has all the earmarks of a ghost case and not what one would typically associate with the fae. While the fae can be vengeful upon those who insult them or tread upon their land, this is more akin to cases such as the Greenbrier Ghost, where the murdered apparition is seeking some kind of post grave justice for the crimes enacted upon her. Vengeful apparitions or ghosts are common in countless countries, especially in places like Japan, the Philippines, and Africa, and in these cases, these apparitions do cause the death of those who did them wrong and those that might not have directly done them wrong. These vengeful ghosts are not exactly people but more released emotions in the form of those who have done wrong; they seek one purpose and one only vengeance. This particular Banshee seems to be one of those varieties it unlikely other traditional murdered spirits seeking justice does not seem to show intelligence in the same way as again the Greenbrier ghost did and seems to only manifest either to cause or as a way of viewing the demise of the line that ended her life. This behavior seems to go against just what a Banshee from the traditional faerie world would be as Banshees, while frightening, seems to be more as a warning and do not cause death but portray the important and ancient tradition of the Keening Woman. The fae seem to mimic our world in various ways, from creating wealth and having royalty but at the same time, they seem to have no real purpose for it; it's almost something they do solely for imitation the Banshee as a keening woman seems to be very much a mirror image of this but on their own term. This clearly does not seem to be the case here as there is a main reason for this entities actions and not in the same way that a Banshee is almost a part of the household like a Brownie would be, which is the only discernible reason the fae banshee does what it does.

While I strongly feel that the entity seen at Lady Honora O'Brien's house is not a traditional Banshee, I also cannot rule it out entirely either. The main reason the Fae Banshee hypothesis does not work with this case is that it is assumed that the apparition seen is the murdered girl of legend; however, there is a possibility that the murdered girl and the Banshee might not be connected at all. There's a lot we don't know simply because nothing from a member of the O'Briens was written about their Banshee, so there's no ancient relative who can point directly that this spirit seen on the property was the same that was murdered; perhaps it's a totally different entity that over the years was connected to the story of the murdered girl but in reality could just be a Banshee that is connected to the family. A lot of this is pure speculation, but from what is known about Banshees, they do connect themselves with ancient Irish families, especially those with Mc, Mac, or O at the beginning of their last names, something the O'Briens clearly have. Upon Digging into Lady Honora O'Brien, it is also revealed that she is the daughter of Murrough O'Brien, the 1st Earl of Thomond, and interestingly enough, is descended from the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru. From this, it does seem that her family would fit the bill into having their own family Banshee; however, again, all of this is pure speculation.

Another outlet to examine is the idea of a death spirit while Banshees are known as; thus, I have often wondered if Death Spirits are their own separate entities. In the Bible, there was the Angel of Death who God sent to murder the firstborn of the Egyptians; the Grim Reaper has almost always been depicted as the spirit that comes to end the lives of humans and take them to the next life, I wonder if there are a variety of entities that are essentially the bringers of death they are neither good nor evil and can be either connected to families in the case of Banshees or in an alternative spectral figure of death case the Oxenham White Bird of Doom which was a spectral bird with a white spot on its breast that would encircle those about to die in the Oxenham family before dematerializing. If this is the case, perhaps death is more complex than most of the currently accepted beliefs, and that death may be more akin to the Greek underworld or the faerie realm or perhaps the intricate mandala-type death dimension that has appeared in a few near-death experiences.

Just what Banshees are exactly is a mystery in itself. They seem to be more apparition-like in most cases than fae, but then there are those early accounts where the Banshee was something more tangible and simply could disappear as it would wash the bloody clothes of those about to die in rivers and other waterways or with their own basin. Banshees have always been one of my favorite figures in Irish folklore, along with the Dullahan, Leprechaun, Phooka, and Changeling, and so I'm always fascinated whenever I come across a potentially authentic case of an encounter with one. The realm of ghosts and fae are something that even though we have so much evidence for once, we have practically scant for the other, so I think that is one of the most interesting things about the Banshee as it’s one of the closest researchable fae out there due to its connectivity to ghosts. In fact, Ghost Hunters such as Zak Bagans and Josh Gates have gone and searched for Banshees in several locations where they are said to roam. Both cases came up fairly empty-handed in regard to getting proof of an actual Banshee, and a lot of the reasons I think is that they went in more as ghost hunters and less as someone searching for a death spirit or a fae. If evidence of a Banshee is captured by a ghost hunter, I often wonder if that would open the flood gate to more serious research into other fae reports such as Trolls, Gnomes, and Pixies as accounts of them are still reported, or would it instead simply just focus more on the study of what all spirits and ghosts can do and how do they seemingly do things without physical form? With all that said, however, we are still no closer to capturing a glimpse of or understanding just what people are seeing and hearing before their demise in the castles and cities of Ireland.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Human Spectral Apparition

Location: House of Lady Honora O’Brien, Ireland

Sighted: Sometime Between 1625 -1685

Works Cited:

Fireside Stories of Ireland by Patrick Kennedy

“ The Banshee of the O’Briens” collected by Patrick Kennedy for A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales By Barnes and Nobles

The Marrtown Banshee

 The Marrtown Banshee

By Cole Herrold

Banshees are traditionally only associated with Ireland, but their range is far greater than just the Emerald Isle reports of a female spectral omen of death or washerwoman are common throughout Scotland, Wales, France, and England and goes by several names other than Banshee such as Lavandière de Nuit, Lavandière, Laveuse de Nuit, Kannerez Noz, Cannerez Noz, Gannerez Noz, Bean Nighe, Bhean Nighe, Caoineachag, Nigheag Bheag a Bhroin, Washerwoman, Night Washerwoman, Washer of the Ford, and Little Washer of Sorrow. When many of these European countries with Banshees immigrated, they either brought their tales of Banshees with them or the vast ships that carried these travelers also brought several faeries aboard with them for while this may seem like a purely European phenomenon beginning by the early 19^th century America too began having reports of Banshees.

One of perhaps the most famous American Banshees is the Marrtown Banshee. Now before we get into the old girl, let's set the scene with the family that the Banshee seemed to align itself with. For while the name is slightly misleading as one would think that this Banshee is actually associated more with a place than a person, this is not to be the case and that this entity is, in fact, associated with one particular family. Thomas Marr, a Scottish immigrant and founder of Marrtown, came to the area in 1836 and, along with several other Scotts, developed the community as best they could in the hills of West Virginia. Marrtown today is a small community that is only almost a mile and a half away from Parkersburg, the scene of another famous West Virginia Case in 66'. At the time, Thomas Marr, as his community grew, came to fall in love with a local West Virginia gal by the name of Mary and eventually got married. The pair was happily married and had several children, but as was the misfortune of the time out of the nine, she gave life to only three survived to live to marry and have a full life. These trials, however, were simply steppingstones and elements that made Thomas and Mary enjoy their life to the best of their ability and to succeed as best as possible. Then the Civil War hit. The war between brothers caused a great stir all over the nation but especially in West Virginia as the state seemingly created itself after breaking out of the Confederacy as the land was a part of Virginia. Times were tough, and Marr attempted to raise his children as best he could until the conflict was resolved. He succeeded in this, but after the war, he suddenly realized that he now was struggling financially and needed to find a better way to gain some finances; from here, he took a job as a watchman.

As a watchman, the now 66-year-old Marr would have to protect the borders of the town at a given time in the evening at the nearby bridge that gained access to Marrtown. As he took this position, he soon began to notice a bizarre figure that would appear around the bridge as he was on his way to and from work. The figure was a cloaked person who road a bright white horse. Marr was never able to officially make out the gender on his time as a watchman but strongly felt that whoever this person was, was most definitely female. He had seen this figure and its mount on more than one occasion and several times came surprisingly close to her, but whenever a time would come that he would approach the figure, it suddenly would disappear before his eyes. Seeing this on almost a daily basis disturbed Marr, and eventually, he broke down and told his wife about the bizarre apparition he kept seeing near the bridge. His wife was unsure of what to make of the story her husband told her that is until the date of February 5, 1876. On this particular day, Thomas left to work like any other, and as the time for him to return was about to approach, a bizarre figure began to approach his property. His wife seeing that someone was coming, came out to see just who it was and noticed that it was a woman wrapped in dark-colored clothing and that she was approaching the house on top of a pure white horse. The figure remained quiet and seemed frozen to the spot for some time before finally speaking and said, "I am here to tell you, Mary Marr, that Thomas Marr has just died. Say your prayers, lady. I bid you well". The figure then turned and rode off until it disappeared into mist. A short time later, a coworker of Thomas arrived at Mary's home and confirmed what the being had said. Just how Thomas had died is varied; some claim he was shot by an assassin's bullet, others claim he drowned into the river, but the State Journal and Parkersburg Examiner would go in their obituary of Thomas to say that he was that he fell from a ladder of a distance of ten feet at his job site and upon impact died most likely from a broken neck and that he was found near the platform of the freight drop. Regardless of the method, the Banshee did come at the exact moment of when her husband had shuffled off this mortal coil. Some years later, Mary too would be prognosticated by the Banshee as cries would be heard around their property, and these cries would be heard by many upon when she too passed away at the age of 90 at her viewing in her home. The Banshee wailed, cried outside of the property as the procession went on, and also dropped and rattled spectral chains in the attic all while the procession went on.

While it is unknown whether the Marrtown Banshee prognosticated or appeared before or during any of their children or descendants' deaths, it is rumored that the apparition does still appear. There are claims that people to this day will see the faerie woman riding on horseback out in the hills and fields or into the woodlands of Marrtown very close to the bridge and home where both Mary and Thomas had lost their lives. Yet no one at least has reported any similar encounter with this kind of oracle of demise in the same way as Thomas and Mary did in the area.

When looking at Banshee cases, typically, there are two possibilities as to the identity of the entity; the first is that the entity is the classical fairy woman that appears in the traditional tales, and the other variety would be that of a spectral apparition, in this case, there are a lot of factors that seem to point towards a fae version of the Banshee than an apparition. The entity riding a horse is very similar to other accounts of the fae, but this is very different than almost every Banshee account I've come across as Banshee, at least from the research I've read, do not ride or have mounts. Banshees frequently will appear near rivers and streams and will be seen with washing basins and blood-stained clothing from those who are about to die, so the fact that this entity is seen very near a river is interesting, and the same goes for the fact that the entity also later appeared at the home of Mary and Thomas both during and after both of their deaths is indicative of traditional Banshee behavior. The fact that the figure was also described as being robed is a feature that has also been described in the crone version of Banshees, and of course, the fact that this entity appeared to a Scottish family and seemed to be connected to them specifically seems to indicate that it is a familial fae.

While the overall description and behavior of this entity do appear to be that of a fae, one cannot remove the possibility off the table that the entity observed was a traditional ghost. There are countless cases of apparitions of typical ghosts appearing before family members of death. Many times people will claim to have experienced ghosts of this variety tend to simply be ways of guiding the about to be deceased to the afterlife, but on occasion, they warn or tell of a family member's death. These cases, however, are particularly rare in the realm of classical ghost encounters but do, in fact, happen.

Ghosts associated with animals are rather frequently reported the ghost of Anne Boleyn for example, the most famous of King Henry the VIII's wives is said to be the most traveled Ghost in all of London was said to at Blickling Hall appear with a set of headless spectral horses and a headless horseman that pull her carriage. These accounts of Headless horsemen and headless horses are an ancient spectral tradition that, much like the Banshee, can be traced back to another fae known as the Dullahan. The Dullahan is an incredible figure in Irish folklore, and he is the original Headless Horseman; he is seen usually as a male figure (though females are reported) riding a horse and in one of his hands is his severed head, and in the other a whip made from a spinal cord. The Dullahan, much like the Banshee, was an omen of death but unlike the Banshee seeing a Dullahan was not a guarantee of death; in fact, one would be more likely to get their eyes whipped out of their skull by the skeletal whip or have a basin of blood thrown in your face by the fae than be killed by the entity. If someone was being chased by a Dullahan or sees a Dullahan, if they had a piece of gold on their person and showed it to the entity, they would be safe from impending doom as the entity has an intense hatred for gold. The Dullahan also is associated with leading a spectral procession of the dead and is at times known as the coachman to the afterlife, which includes a spectral cart with wheels made from human thighbones and skulls that are filled with fire to help light the way and that features headless horses and a headless rider. Much like Banshees, Dullahan also are both described as fae and spirits of the dead, and Headless Horsemen, similar to the Dullahan, are seen in other countries such as Ewen of the Little Head from Scotland, who also is an omen of death. Even the fact that the horse is seen as white is something that has appeared in many cultures; a pale or white horse was the mount of one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, specifically the rider Death. So, the horse riding apparition is something that is heavily associated with similar types of cases.

There are also cases of people seeing spectral apparitions of themselves known as Doppelgangers traditionally, these copycat ghosts are in almost every case an omen of death as there are several legends that simply seeing a Doppelganger instantly leads to death in the same way as seeing a black dog three times or hearing a Cu Sith's bark three times instantly causes one's demise. It is important to point that in this case, there is no definitive description of the apparition aside from the fact that it was conceivably female and that from this lack of description, perhaps the figure might have been the Doppelganger of Mary or some other family member. Many times, in Doppelganger cases, members of the family will report seeing duplicates of their family members even though they could be in alternative places of the country or right next to them, and just as seeing one's own Doppelganger these cases usually lead to death.

While just what the Marrtown Banshee is, we can only speculate. I do think that it is particularly interesting that this case is one of the closest to a classical encounter with a faerie Banshee in America. Faerie encounters in America, while not particularly uncommon from a native standpoint, are particularly rare when it comes to faeries typically associated with European folklore and fairy lore. I had discussed the idea that faeries do have connections with people and will follow them to new locations, such as in the Trolls of Sorenson's Woods Case, where several reported Trolls seemingly followed Norwegian and Swedish immigrants over to a Minnesota community. Banshees typically, when one reports them in America, they seem to be more apparition-like and less like what one would expect from a traditional fae. I think again that this is overly interesting and something that the Fortean community needs to do more research on. The fact that such accounts exist is mind-boggling to me as the fae seem like something from before the dawn of technology, and while the late 1800s is not exactly modern, it is interesting that in a time where the world was seemingly developing away from the old ways and traditions that such beings were still being reported. Is this evidence of their existence? I can only stand to guess, but I hope so for who wouldn't like to have a being with you as a kind of lookout or warning something that not only could prepare oneself but also their family that something bad would happen. Until the day that this case and the phenomenon is either validated or debunked, I'll definitely keep an eye out for any bizarre figure and an ear open for any cries or sobs that might permeate some dark mist-filled night.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Faerie, Ghost, Supernatural Entity

Location: Marrtown, West Virginia

Sighted: 1875-1876

Works Cited:

Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Haunted West Virginia By Patty A. Wilson

The Magick of Faeries: Working with the Spirits of Nature By Cassandra Eason

Monsters of West Virginia By Rosemary Ellen Guiley 

Tar River Mills Banshee

Tar River Mills Banshee

By Cole Herrold

Banshees associated with areas are a part of the phenomenon, although mostly this is due to a specific person or family line, so it's rare when we see a Banshee case that seems to not specifically point towards an individual person or familial line. However, the Tar River near Tarboro, North Carolina, allegedly has one such Banshee that not only appears to frequent the area but also appears to be vindictive as it appears to of been responsible for the deaths of several British soldiers toward the end of the American Revolutionary War. This version of vindictive Banshee has occasionally been reported, such as The O'Brien's Banshee, but this case seems to be of a less directly vengeful entity but one that seems to simply be just a Spirit of Vengeance. 

Along the Tar River, a man by the name of David Warner had opened up a mill that would be his source of livelihood, his undoing, and a future prison. David was a Whig and, as a member of the Whig party, was one of countless American Patriots during the Revolutionary War. David would use his mill to feed the countless troops that would come into the area corn and wheat and was known to absolutely hate the British. As the war raged on, he was still hard at work, but all that would change one August day in 1781. Word had reached the town that was near the mill that the Redcoats were indeed on their way towards the community, and so they all began to pack up and flee to avoid being caught in the onslaught. All of the town evacuated except for David Warner and his assistant. The following day the British had come to town, and almost instinctively, they worked their way to the Mill. Five of the British platoon had entered the premise, and Warner pretended not to notice them but instead began to speak to his assistant, saying, "Try to save every precious ounce of it my lad, and we'll deliver it to General Greene, I hate to think of those British hogs eating a single mouthful of gruel made from America's corn." The Redcoats, enraged by this comment and seeing him as a traitor, proceeded to seize the miller and took him outside, where each one began to hit and kick the man. After they had their fill of beating the life of him, they bent down and said that they would drown him in the river. Warner, bruised beyond recognition, looked up at his captors and said with a smile, "Do it, but if you do, the Banshee will get you all." Warner knew that the river was home to a bizarre female apparition that he had heard several nights crying; it seemed to always be there, and Warner seemingly knew more about it than anyone else in the area. The men looked at each other after this warning and hesitated; legends of such entities were not lost to them, and they knew well enough to avoid such beings at all cost. However, one soldier who had "evil eyes and a cruel mouth egged them on." The soldier proceeded to pick the beaten Warner up, and two of his still slightly unnerved companions began to chain him to several large stones by his back, neck, arms, and legs, and upon feeling that he was heavy enough to not resurface threw the miller into the river and watched as the throshing turned into small ripples and then only a few a bubbles till nothing appeared on the water at all. As soon as the water was placid, however, a haunting scream broke out over the stillness of the water. They could not see what was making the sound, but they could hear it as it seemed to bounce from one riverbank to the next. 

The men were terrified by this auditory manifestation and, realizing at that moment the terror they just unfurled on themselves, began to run into the only conceivable place of safety that they knew, namely the Mill. All was calm for some time after hearing the inevitable Banshee's Cry, but the men refused to go out and search the area. The hour grew late, and so the men decided to bunk down in the Mill until the first light of dawn. That night the Commander of the Platoon and the rest of the troops arrived at the mill and found the men who said nothing about the murder that they had committed or the eerie cry and the Banshee said to accompany it. The Commander and the troops began to set up a perimeter around the mill and set up camp. All was quiet, and soon almost everyone fell asleep in tents, but this would not last long. Sometime in the early hours of the morning, while the world was the blackest, a rain crow was seen flying which the few troops who were awake knew that rain was coming. As they began to find some preparation to stay dry during this oncoming storm, a loud hideous cry rang out from the river. This cry woke everyone in the camp, and as the Commander began to leave his tent, he saw what the disturbance was. There forming just above the water was a pillar of gray mist that slowly changed into the form of a woman. She was exceptionally graceful with long flowing yellow hair and a veil that obstructed her facial features from the soldiers. She continued to let out countless cries and sobs and continued to do this over the stillness of the water before vanishing without a trace. While the spirit was gone from sight, the cries continued for what seemed like hours until the soldiers raced from the mill and threw themselves at the feet of their Commander, where they confessed their crime upon which the crying stopped. The Commander realizing the evil the men did, proceeded to rule out sentencing in this impromptu trial and stated that the men would have to work in the mill for the rest of their lives, upon which he told the rest of his troops to start packing as they would leave as soon as possible. 

The soldiers, now millers, continued to live in the abandoned mill but took up the same duties as Warner; they would grind corn and wheat during the day and attempt to sleep at night. Sleeping was almost impossible for the soldiers as now whenever the darkness came, so too did the Banshee who would keep the men awake all night with the sounds of her keening. This continued for countless nights until one fateful night, the Banshee appeared at the door of the mill; two of the soldiers saw the spirit and began to creep away as she sobbed, but then the spirit did an odd thing it lifted the veil before its face, and the men seemingly seduced or entranced began to approach the entity as it beckoned to them. They followed the spirit to the riverbank, where the entity continued to float above the ground, going so far as to go above the water of the river where the deepest pools were. It hung there like some saintly figure, and the men still followed as they walked down the bank and walked towards the figure as their bodies slowly disappeared beneath the currents until they were gone. The Banshee would do this same Pied Piper-esque trance to the second set of men a short time later, with the result being the same. Leaving only the soldier with "evil eyes and cruel mouth." 

The soldier, now stricken mad from the lack of sleep and constant wailing at night, began to search for his friends. Over the course of the days since their disappearance, their bodies were never found, and in his delirious mindset, he had the hopes of them still being alive, so on one night, he walked into the surrounding wilderness by the mill calling out their names, and when that didn't work, he switched to the name of David Warner he did this for some time until a voice answered him. He ran to the voice, thinking it might be one of his colleagues, but as he approached the bank, he soon saw the misty form near the riverbank and knew the truth. Sometime later, his body was found floating in the river face up his face in a horrible expression, but the spot that he was found was eerily enough, the exact same spot that the soldiers had thrown David Warner to drown. It is reported now that the Banshee still does haunt the river and that on August nights, in particular, people will still hear the spirit's cries and that they will see a misty female figure either over the water or on the nearby riverbanks. 

This account seems to be very reminiscent of other alleged sightings and encounters that have been recorded over time, as most of the telling of these tales seem to be much more as a kind of folk narrative than a first-person account. I’ve covered several of these cases over the years, most notably those of the Red Dog Fox and Ghost Werewolf of Northumberland; these cases also date back to the Revolutionary War or a little after, depending on the variation, and also deal with ghostly apparitions. Such tales are rampant in Fortean literature as ghosts, and other strange figures are constantly associated with wars, but the problem with these accounts is that very few can be authenticated. These encounters tend to overlap with traditional Folklore and Folk Tales which, while interesting and a crucial part of life, make it difficult to assess whether these accounts are genuine and not as something created to entertain or pass the time during times of strife. Now with all that said, I do need to explain that Folklore, while it is the traditional telling of tales and customs and other forms of art, these tales are often cited as true accounts or at the very least are believed to be true and so with that as a researcher we have to keep an open mind with such tales as well while it's easy to paint these tales as explanations for drowning or some Creepshow-esque moral tale all of which is very important as a storyteller there is also the possibility that this case as with almost all cases of Folklore could have been formed by some true Fortean encounter albeit over time they might be dramatized or altered, but the main points possibly did happen and if so just what was seen?

When discussing the possible Identity of the Tar River Mill Banshee, it is important I feel to point out that it seems connected more towards a location and possibly was in the location before the formation of the community. If this is to be the case, then this entity is not the traditional Banshee as it has no connection to anyone specific nor any connection to any of the fae from Europe, which is seemingly where all these entities originated from. It's from this that the entity more than likely is some kind of traditional spectral apparition like a ghost or a death entity if such beings are their own category. The ambiguous nature of the entity in the report is bizarre; the face is covered by a veil, and it has a gray, misty form with yellow hair and seems to be interconnected with the location of the river. My first thought would be the traditional white lady accounts which are often women in white who died on their wedding day or through suicide; the veil instantly to me seems to be reminiscent of this, but of course, the problem with this is the vengeful nature of the entity after Warner's death as well as the fact that there is no clear indication that someone died in the river matching the description of the entity. Traditionally in antediluvian ghost cases such as this, there is some assumed identity of the entities seen, such as the spirits of two ghost boys in the Tower of London being associated with Princes Edward and Richard with this case, we have no frame of reference for this entity aside from the fact that the entity is only known as the Banshee. 

When looking at the Banshee, in this case, another figure immediately comes to mind, and that figure is La Llorona. La Llorona is very similar to other apparitions such as Bloody Mary and the Women in White figures but very unique when examining the full range of tales involving her. La Llorona is the apparition of a woman who drowned her children in life and now in the afterlife proceeds to weep bitterly as she searches for her children. Now that’s not the end of the story. La Llorona now is a sort of boogeyman figure that has been prominent in Mexican and Southern United States Native and Latin cultures and is believed to go after children who misbehave. La Llorona, also much like Bloody Mary, is a figure who features in a sort of summoning game that is often played at sleepovers. The goal of the game is to repeat her name a set number of times depending on the version you choose, and after so many times, the spirit will come from the mirror and kill you. Now the reason I mention this spirit is that she is said to appear wearing a wedding dress or simply veiled; she also is associated with rivers because of the fact that she drowned her kids in one and allegedly those who have encouraged her wrath or are singled out by them will be drowned. La Llorona also is said to seduce men, and interestingly enough, any who succumb to her charms will, of course, be drowned. This is almost exactly what happened to the soldiers, and there are a lot of parallels with the La Llorona legend and the Banshee as both are associated with death and water, but of course, the big problem with this connection and the case is that the entity seen by the soldiers was blonde. La Llorona is very much a Latin phenomenon; she is prominent in their beliefs and Folklore, and her story actually goes all the way back to the Aztecs and their weeping goddess of motherhood and fertility Cihuacoatl these stories seem to be interconnected or at least the origin of the entity either authentically or folklorically and if authentic La Llorona should look more akin to someone from Mexico and not a blonde-haired apparition so more than likely she is not the entity seen here even though variations of how La Llorona looks have been reported as some Latin communities in California will describe her as having the head or face of a horse or mule on a woman’s body with long flowing black hair so perhaps she can change her appearance depending on location or that there are a variety of similar entities altogether.  

As stated earlier, a lot of this seems to not fit the traditional Banshee category; however, one cannot take the fae off the table. One of the problems with this case is that the Banshee's history pre-David Warner's death is never stated or mentioned, so one can only speculate when the apparition appeared. While Warner is not exactly the kind of name one would expect to be connected with a Banshee, it does seem that the Warner had a lot of knowledge of the entity before his death, so perhaps the Banshee was his family Banshee and that he could have inherited it from some clearly Scottish, French, Welsh, or Irish parent or ancestor and that the Banshee being loyal to the family it was apart of proceeded in dealing with those who attacked its family. Fae are reportedly very protective of those who they become attached to, so a violent confrontation is not impossible and actually probably happens more than we are aware of. However, all of this is pure speculation, but I will say Warner does seem to be some sort of key in this case, just how or why I can only guess, however. 

Banshee cases are some of my favorite Fortean phenomena because of two main reasons; the main is I love diving into tales involved with cultures that I'm descended from, and two because the more one researches them, the weirder and different each case seems to be. Banshees are a bizarre bunch of beings as with every case, there are elements that are identical to those reported in Ireland and other European countries, but then there are those little details that have you scratching your head and wondering, well, that's not in the traditional literature so what is it or why is it appearing in that way or doing that? Personally, I would love to investigate a case like this because of the love I have for such entities but also because now there does not seem to be a multifaceted look into these cases; they almost always are lumped in with Ghost hunting, and I would love to try something new or different when researching a case like this and if possible have some sort of contact. Needless to say, however, Id have to be armed with iron, salt, or, if all else fails, a snorkel. 

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Faerie, Ghost, Supernatural Entity

Location: Tar River, Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina

Sighted: August 1781, Augusts since the initial sighting 

Works Cited:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings By Tom Ogden

The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits By Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Ghost Stories from the American South By W. K. McNeil

Haunted Bridges By Rich Newman

Mysterious Tales of the North Carolina Piedmont By Sherman Carmichael