Algernon Blackwood was one of the most prolific writers of gothic horror stories, particularly ghost stories, including both novels and short stories. No less a personage than H.P. Lovecraft named Blackwood as one of his inspirations. As a young man he moved from his native England to the United States, working in a variety of […]
Wild Columbine poison … this colorful flower hides darker purposes in the witch’s garden, May 5, 2019
Can you make a Wild Columbine poison for the witch’s garden? Whilst reports vary, it seems that you’d need at the very least, a very high concentration of seeds or plants to make Wild Columbine poison potions. It’s said the Wild Columbine poison comes from the naturally occurring chemical Wild Columbine aconitine, also found in […]
My Death
And school’s out early and soon we’ll be learning that the lesson today is how to die. Bob Geldof Dying is something we all face, whether we think about it or not. For most of my life, if I thought about it, it was to find ways to avoid it. I turned 58 years old […]
Jack Haggerty
A FELLOW BY THE NAME OF DAN McGINNIS wrote the lyrics to take the piss out of his boss, George Mercier. Old George was engaged to Anna Tucker, and managed to land a job that McGinnis wanted. In spite, McGinnis wrote the lyrics, and tagged Jack Haggerty’s name on it, some think to make George […]
On Springfield Mountain
IT’S A TRAGIC TALE … telling of the death of one Timothy Merrick, who died on August 7, 1761 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts from the bite of a serpent. The town clerk recorded at the time, “Lieut Thomas Mirick’s only Son dyed, August 7th, 1761, By the Bite of a Ratle Snake, Being 22 years, two months […]
Nineteen Years Old (The Virgin)
ON THE FRONTIER THERE WERE NO STANDUP COMEDIANS. They were forced to make each other laugh. When it comes to topics, we haven’t progressed much as this song shows. Variations exist of this song under a number of names, including In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree, The Burgler Man, My Little Girl, A Dandy […]
I Courted A Wee Girl (The False Bride)
I Courted A Wee Girl is a heartbreaking tale, Scottish in origin though the Irish lay claim as well. The Brits made it popular as a broadside ballad. It’s also known as “The False Bride,” “The Week Before Easter”, “The False Hearted Lover”, “The Forsaken Bridegroom” or “Love Is The Cause Of My Mourning” or “The […]
Fair Fannie Moore
HERE’S A NEWFOUNDLAND VERSION of a British murder ballad, which drifted its way all over North America, and found some success later on as a cowboy song. It found its way to us via an album titled Green Fields Of Illinois,” put out by the Campus Folksong Club of the University of Illinois in 1963. The […]
