A phantom funeral and a ghost ship

What is perhaps one of the finest natural harbours in the British Isles was once the scene of a phantom funeral. In July 1858 Mr John Pavin Phillips vouched for the authenticity of this story. He said that many years previously seven or eight members of the family of his parental grandfather were seated at the door of the house one fine summer evening at around eight to nine o'clock. The parish church and churchyard are separated by a brook and a couple of meadows from the house, and it was purely by chance that the family were looking in that direction. They were amazed to see a funeral procession at that time of night. They distinctly saw a crowd of mourners and the coffin borne on the shoulders of the bearers along the pathway towards the church, but the distance was too great for them to be able to make out and recognise any one. As the funeral cortege reached the porch of the church, they saw the clergyman with whom they were personally acquainted come out and meet the mourners and precede them into the church. After a short time the priest and the mourners re-appeared, and the watchers saw the procession walk to a corner of the churchyard where they remained long enough for the rest of the funeral rites to be completed. More than a little astonished at what they had seen, John Phillip's grandfather sent someone over to the church to enquire who had been buried at such an odd time. The messenger returned with the information that no one had been buried there today, nor for several days previously. Shortly afterwards a neighbour died suddenly and was buried in that exact spot where the ghostly interment had been seen to have taken place. The beautiful harbour at Milford has apparently given shelter to phantom ships as well as material ones. Many years ago the owner of one of the large houses on the banks of one of the many creeks that constitute the harbour was walking home one fine summers evening enjoying the moonlight and cooling breeze. The tide was out so the creek was deserted but suddenly he heard the unmistakable sound of a boat coming up the sound. There was the measured dip of the oars in water and the noise of them revolving in the rowlocks, but nothing was visible! The sounds increased in volume and were presently followed by the grind of a keel grating on the gravelly beach by the side of the quay. Still nothing was visible! More than a little alarmed at these inexplicable sounds the resident ran back to his house and related all that he had just heard in detail. The only other thing he had noticed was an unusual stillness, almost a total absence of the normal sounds of and evenings walk, while the sounds of the phantom boat was heard. A few days afterwards the mate of an East Indiaman, which put into Milford for the purpose of undergoing repairs, died on board, and his coffin was brought up the sound and landed at the exact spot where the ghostly boat and crew had been heard a couple of days earlier.

back to Dragonslore main page
back to Ghosts index