Friday, October 2, 2009

HBT - Ghost Story: The Silent Pool


YAY it's the second day of my Haunted Blog Tour! Today's post is a ghost story called "The Silent Pool" that originated from Surrey - a country in the southern section of England. There is a small, tree-lined lake close to the town of Shere in Surrey, which is known as the Silent Pool. This lake is linked with a ghostly legend that dates back to Saxon times.

The legend tells of a woodcutter who lived in the forest that surrounded the lake with his beloved son and daughter. One day, the woodcutter's daughter, who was a beautiful young woman called Emma, went bathing in the lake. As she was doing so, she was disturbed by the sound of a horse and rider approaching. She had no time to return to the bank to dress, so she waded to the deepest part of the lake to cover her naked body. The stranger on horseback arrived at the lakeside, and seeing the beautiful woman, tried to lure her out of the water. The man frightened Emma, and she continued to wade deeper and deeper into the lake. This angered the stranger, and he rode his horse into the lake after the screaming maiden. Her brother, who had been working in the forest, heard her cries of distress and ran to the lake to rescue her. The young man desperately tried to drag his sister from the water, but he could barely swim himself. The deep water engulfed them both, and they drowned together at the bottom of the deep lake. The stranger galloped away from the water and disappeared into the forest.


The woodcutter searched for his beloved children for days on end, until one afternoon, he dragged their bodies from the water. It is believed that the wicked horseman was Prince John, Regent of Britain, who was known for his evil deeds.

The ghost of the drowned maiden still haunts the lake to this day. Some have seen the pale figure floating on the surface of the water, others have heard her dying screams and pleas for help. The lake's eerie calmness sends shivers down the spines of many visitors, and hence it has come to be known as The Silent Pool.

8 comments:

  1. OMG, scary story. Thank you for the post.

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  2. Mary D

    Wonder how much truth is behind that legend? In this day and age it seems foolish to risk drowning because a man sees you naked, BUT those were far different times so who knows?

    It's incredible how many ghost stories have originated from legends and such of Great Britain - maybe that's why some of the best victorian ghost authors were Britains.

    FYI - this has just occurred to me, but one of the absolute BEST horror/creepy stories I've EVER had the pleasure to read is an old one (got my copy on ebay) by Hodgson called: THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND. Check it out :)

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  3. Yes, many of the ghost stories I read while researching online for some to post, were originally from Great Britain! Especially Surrey.

    Thanks for the book recommendation - I'll definitely look into it.

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  4. Mary D

    Ashley, a few more incredible anthologies by famous gothic ghost authors are:
    Widdershins by Oliver Onions
    The Moonlit Road by Ambrose Bierce
    Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman
    The Collected Ghost Stories by E.F. Benson

    These are my favorite reads :)

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  5. Creepy! That almost scared me as bad the Bloody Mary legend! LOL. But, I heard the Bloody Mary legend at night, when everyone else was asleep. Anyway, this is first ghost haunting story that I’ve heard this month. Which surprise me, since usually I hear them like crazy in the month of October.

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  6. It's incredible how many ghost stories have originated from legends and such of Great Britain - maybe that's why some of the best victorian ghost authors were Britains.
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Thanks, I love what you have to say!