Some criticise Halloween as an American import, but Australia has always had a taste for ghosts and ghouls.
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Australia → criticise → ghosts
In what other country does the most beloved song feature a ghost who will still be heard as you “pass by that billabong”?
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you → feature → billabong
That suicidal swagman, hero of Waltzing Matilda, is only one ghoul among many.
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swagman → waltz → many
Bill Wannan in his Dictionary of Australian Folklore lists 21 Australian ghost stories, most featuring details more terrifying than anything the Americans or Europeans can offer.
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Americans → list → anything
There’s the Headless Ghost of Berrima, for example, which Wannan says is “probably the best attested ghost story in Australia.”
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Wannan → ’ → Australia
In 1842 Lucretia Dunkley was hanged in Berrima Gaol, alongside her lover Martin Beech.
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Dunkley → hang → lover
They’d been convicted of the axe murder of Dunkley’s husband.
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They → convict → husband
Adding to the outrage was the fact the two had enjoyed a “hearty breakfast” following their bloody crime, and that Lucretia had made “jovial comments” to the coppers who arrested her.
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who → add → her
Lucretia and her lover were both found guilty.
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Lucretia → find → ?
Lucretia was pregnant but they were both hanged anyway.
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they → hang → ?
After the hangman had completed his task, the heads of both offenders were removed for scientific study, this being a time when pseudo-scientific studies of the cranium were strangely popular.
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studies → complete → cranium
Their skulls were later donated to the Australian Museum, alongside the skull of Lucretia’s unborn child.
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skulls → donate → child
Perhaps, by then, some semblance of morality had declared the skull of the unborn child should be removed from display.
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skull → declare → display
It’s also said their headless bodies were buried standing up, so that they could never rest, which serves them right for enjoying a hearty breakfast.
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which → say → breakfast
For decades, eyewitnesses came forward to say they’d seen Lucretia’s headless ghost roaming the pine trees in front of the Berrima Gaol.
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ghost → come → Gaol
Presumably, she was endlessly hunting for an affordable Devonshire Tea at one of Berrima’s cafes, as so many of us have done.
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many → hunt → us
More famous is Fisher’s Ghost, said to still haunt Campbelltown.
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Ghost → say → Campbelltown
Frederick Fisher was killed by his mate George Worrall, who then invented a story about his housemate going back to England, leaving all his possessions to Worrall.
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housemate → kill → Worrall
At this time, in 1826, few Australians – whether settlers or convicts – would ever return to England, on account of the terrible weather.
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Australians → return → weather
Worrall’s story sounded unlikely, but it still convinced the authorities – right until Fisher’s ghost was spotted.
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ghost → sound → authorities
The sightings of the ghost, in late October 1826, caused the case to be reopened.
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case → cause → October
Fisher’s body was soon discovered at the bottom of a deep pool, close to where the ghost was said to have been pointing.
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ghost → discover → pool
Worrall was duly found guilty.
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Worrall → find → ?
He was hanged on February 5, 1827.
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He → hang → February
Amazingly, he was buried horizontally and allowed to keep his head.
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he → bury → head
Presumably he’d eschewed the “hearty breakfast” and the “jovial comments”.
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he → eschew → breakfast
Campbelltown has held an annual Festival of Fisher’s Ghost since 1956.
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Campbelltown → hold → 1956
This year’s festival, marking 199 years since the first sighting of Fisher’s Ghost, includes a parade tonight on Queen St.
Next up there’s the Ghost of Yarralumla, a First Nations man said to haunt the residence of the Governor-General in Canberra.
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festival → mark → Canberra
The story is complicated but in one telling, he swallowed a stolen diamond to protect a friend, was shot dead for his troubles, and then the diamond was buried with his body, somewhere in the grounds of what eventually became Government House.
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what → swallow → grounds
This seems unlikely.
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This → seem → ?
Surely, Sir John Kerr would have excavated the body way back in 1975 and spent the proceeds on grog.
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Kerr → excavate → grog
And then there’s the ghost of Johnny Gilbert, a member of Ben Hall’s band of bushrangers who, in 1865, was shot dead by police before he could return a horse he’d recently borrowed from a local squatter.
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he → ’ → squatter
Unable to rest in peace given his unreturned loan, Gilbert’s ghost rode in on the borrowed horse and placed it safely in the squatter’s stables, supposedly watched by many witnesses.
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ghost → rest → witnesses
Why this career criminal – his rap sheet listed 630 hold-ups – had a post-death crisis of morality over a relatively minor loan is unclear.
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had → list → loan
The modern equivalent would be the ghost of a slain Sydney gang member whipping into Telstra to pay his overseas roaming fee.
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equivalent → slay → fee
So, I agree, none of these stories make sense.
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none → agree → sense
But neither do the imported stories of ghosts and ghouls.
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stories → do → ghosts
If we want scary scenes in our front gardens celebrating Halloween, at least we could feature some locals.
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we → want → locals
According to David Hunt’s book True Girt, Horrocks purchased a bad-tempered camel called Harry for an expedition in 1846.
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Horrocks → accord → 1846
When Horrocks was distracted, trying to unload his shotgun, the camel attacked him, causing the gun to go off, killing the explorer.
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gun → distract → explorer
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
