The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

BELIEF - LEGEND

ALONG THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST, ESPECIALLY AROUND PARLEY'S
ISLAND, A STORY HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO
GENERATION OF THE "GREY GHOST." THE STORY ORIGINATED PRIOR
TO CIVIL WAR TIMES. THE STORY BEGAN FROM A YOUNG MAN
RETURNING HOME FROM A WAR TO FIND HIS FIANCEE MARRIED. HE
ONLY PEEPED IN A WINDOW AND FOUND HER HAPPY, WHICH WAS HIS
MAIN DESIRE, AND SO HE TURNED FROM THE HOME ANAD WALKED INTO
THE OCEAN. ON MANY OCCASIONS, THE GREY GHOST HAS RETURNED
AS A WARNING OF IMPENDING TROUBLE OR DISASTER. THE LAST
SUCH OCCURANCE WAS DURING THE APPROACH OF THE HURRICANE,
HAZEL IN 1955. THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF EVACUATING PARLEY'S
ISLAND HAD CHECKED EACH HOUSE, BUT AS THEY LEFT THE ISLAND,
THEY SAW THE FIGURE OF THE GREY GHOST IN A LIGHTED WINDOW
WATCHING OVER THE ISLAND. DURING MY VACATION ON THE ISLAND
A FEE YEARS AGO, TWO TEENAGE BOYS WERE WALKING ON THE BEACH
BEFORE A THUNDER AND WINDSTORM ARRIVED AND DECLARED THEY
SAW A FIGURE WALKING TOWARD THEM, BUT AS THEY CAME NEARER,
THE FIGURE DISAPPEARED. WHEN THEY CAME INSIDE, THEY WERE
AS WHITE AS A SHEET, AS IF THEY HAD SEEN A GHOST.

Where learned: NOT GIVEN ; DORM