Point Prim Lighthouse Ghost

<h1>Transcript</h1>00:00:15Hi, friends. Welcome back to foggy oak scary tales.00:00:21This week we have a true story about my family's visit to the point Prim Lighthouse on Prince Edward Island this summer, and the ghost we met while touring the lighthouse.00:00:32Join us for a cozy exploration of a very special lighthouse, and it's very special ghost Michael.00:00:42Over the summer, my family took a trip to Prince Edward Island, which is Canada's smallest province in terms of both land and population.00:00:52It's known as the Gentle Island, situated north of Nova Scotia and cradled protectively between Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island and New Brunswick.00:01:03While PEI is sheltered from some of the most brutal sea weather, it has its fair share of rocky shorelines, harsh storms and blinding fog.00:01:14That is how this small island came to be home to 61 lighthouses and range light buildings over time, with around 35 still active today.00:01:24As the PEI Lighthouse Society tells us, that amounts to 1 lighthouse every 34 square miles, which happens to be the highest concentration of lighthouses for a province or state in North America.00:01:39It's a lot of lighthouses to help guide ships safely into harbor or around the island.00:01:46We happen to be staying near Peis oldest lighthouse, the point Prim lighthouse, and decided to make a trip there 1 sunny morning in June.00:01:57Constructed in 1845, it is one of only two round brick lighthouses in Canada.00:02:03Originally built to help guide ships into the major harbour at Charlottetown, the capital of PE I, the point from Lighthouse helped ships navigate the challenging N Umberland Strait in the Atlantic Ocean.00:02:17To find the lighthouse, you drive down one of Peis's famous red dirt roads, which during this time of year were lined with flowering lupins, which are conical flowers in purples and pinks and whites which create a perfect foreground to rolling red potato fields and the hazy ocean beyond.00:02:38As you might expect from the name point, Prim Lighthouse sits out on a rounded point surrounded by a rocky coastline.00:02:46The Round Lighthouse is a crisp white with a cheerful red adorning lighthouse tower and entrance door.00:02:55In appearance, it is singularly charming.00:02:58When you walk up to it, a sign on the lighthouse door directs you to the nearby keepers cottage and welcome center and gift shop to purchase a ticket.00:03:07We walked across the lawn to the keeper's cottage, also painted in a crisp white with a cheerful red roof.00:03:13The center includes a wonderful gift shop stocked with books and treasures from local artists, and the kids, of course, were immediately drawn to the display.00:03:23We promised to take them after the tour and walked up to the kiosk to purchase tickets.00:03:29The two women running the operation that morning clearly loved the lighthouse and their role in overseeing it. And of course, in introducing others to its history.00:03:39We called the kids over and were given our instructions and overview along with our tickets.00:03:45Now the first level is the Museum of sorts. You can learn more about the history of the point from Lighthouse and even try out an old fashioned fog horn that you crank to run. We'll see if we can hear you try it from inside the shop. The first woman enthused.00:04:01And then you'll go up to see the rest of the lighthouse. Are all of you OK on stairs? The second woman asked.00:04:10We all nodded, the kids leaning forward with interest. All right, good. Now, bear in mind, you'll need to go one by one, up those stairs, and when you come back down, we suggest you come down backwards. The stairs are steep and narrow and can be a bit of a tight squeeze up towards the top.00:04:30Be cautioned.00:04:32I began to have worried images of getting stuck squeezing between the floors of the lighthouse, but the kids seemed even more eager now.00:04:40There's one other thing we should tell you about. The first woman began. Do you girls believe in ghosts?00:04:50The kids nodded enthusiastically. My oldest asked why our lighthouse has a ghost, she replied. Don't worry, I don't want you to worry. He's a friendly ghost, but we like to warn people so they aren't surprised by him.00:05:07His name is Michael, and he's most often found in the bedroom on the 2nd floor. You can look for him if you like. He loves kids and sometimes he enjoys hiding under the bed. He was one of the light housekeepers for many years and he loved it here.00:05:24The girls were wide eyed in surprise at this point. The woman smiled and said or not, if you prefer, but he always appreciates when people say hi. We think. Let us know if you see him.00:05:38We thanked them and took our tickets walking back across the sunny yard to the lighthouse door.00:05:44OK, kids, what do you think? I asked them. I'm going to find Michael. My daughter Rory crowd practically galloping into the lighthouse.00:05:55What do you think, Kathy? I asked.00:05:58I think we should help Rory find him, she responded.00:06:03Are you going to look for him? I wondered. I'll help Rory find him, she replied, following her younger sister through the door.00:06:12My husband and I smiled at each other, appreciating that there was ghostly lore to go along with the lighthouse, but not really believing there was anything or any one at all. In the ghostly vein to find within.00:06:26The beautiful sunny day and cloudless sky didn't particularly lend themselves to thoughts of spectres.00:06:34As promised, the first floor of the lighthouse had large wall displays on the history. Original pictures of the lighthouse, a 3D model, and the old crankle foghorn.00:06:46Oh, let's try the foghorn. My husband said to the kids. But they had taken one look around the room and made a beeline for the stairs, which appeared to be freshly painted in a warm grey, while the treads of the stairs were the same. Happy red of the lighthouse door.00:07:01A helpful Gray stripe was painted along the wall of the round lighthouse to mark the location of the stairs as well.00:07:09Steep stairs climb at your own.00:07:12Risk a sign on the wall declared.00:07:16I'm not usually afraid of heights or stairs, but these stairs looked like they went almost straight up and I found myself feeling a little nervous. What if we ran into someone else taking a tour of the lighthouse at the same time?00:07:30We decided to send my husband David up first with the girls in the middle and me bringing up the rear. That way I could catch them if anyone fell backwards and David could let us know if someone else was coming and we needed to get out of the way.00:07:44One by one, we ascended the steps carefully, holding on to the handrail and placing our feet.00:07:51Sure enough, the second landing brought us into the cozy, historically outfitted bedroom of the lighthouse keepers.00:07:59Hello, Michael. We're here taking a tour of your lovely lighthouse. I sat as I pulled myself onto the landing. Hi, Michael.00:08:07Rory yelled, moving confidently into the room. Hi, Michael, Cathy said, more cautiously.00:08:15David, not believing any of this for a.00:08:17Minute said nothing.00:08:19I admired the bedroom slash primary living quarters of the lighthouse keepers of the past, a cast iron stove with a red and white tea kettle atop it took up the center of the room while a wash stand and table lined one wall around the side of a center support post. A small bed was tucked, covered in a Plaid blanket.00:08:38A window set into the wall of the lighthouse LED in the morning sun, but one of the first things I noticed when we entered that room was the temperature difference. It was noticeably colder than the ground floor.00:08:53Goosebumps ran across my forearms as the hair on them.00:08:56Stood up.00:08:58From the chill.00:08:59From the ghost.00:09:02Where's Michael? Rory demanded, waving her hands over the bed and pulling the bed skirt up to peek underneath. I don't see any one, she said in an exasperated tone.00:09:17Maybe Michael's feeling shy. I suggested it. Sure feels a lot colder in here to me. Maybe that's Michael's way of saying hello.00:09:26Maybe Rory grudgingly.00:09:29Reed, why don't we keep going? David asked us, clearly ready to move along.00:09:36Say bye to Michael for now, kids, I advised.00:09:40The three of us said goodbye and that we'd be back soon and followed David, who had already begun making his way up the second layer of steps.00:09:48These stairs were even narrower and steeper than the first set.00:09:52Fortunately, no one else seemed to be in the lighthouse at all, so we took our time moving to.00:09:57The next landing.00:09:58I think Michael is probably just waiting for.00:10:01Us up top.00:10:02Rory said firmly as we began to climb because he definitely wasn't under the bed.00:10:09This third level had more information about the lighthouse's history lighting the walls. The floor was ringed with tables displaying the different generation of lights that had been used as beacons, giving you a great sense for how technology has changed over time and of how hard it used to be to maintain the lights the original beacons.00:10:29Were used for only four years, from 1845 to 1840.00:10:33Nine, basically. These lamps were fueled with seal oil and.00:10:38Didn't really cast enough light because the reflected rays coming off of those parabolic reflectors just couldn't cast far enough out to see to warn ships. 1849 saw a transition to kerosene lamps, and the lighthouse keepers now also had to trim 12 kerosene Wicks every day.00:10:57Several other iterations of lamps were used over the years, and they got less intensive to maintain with the advent of electricity, but it's easy to imagine what a hard job it was to climb all those stairs in all kinds of weather to make sure those lights were shining and bright for the ships that depended on them.00:11:16After we had looked at the lights, we moved to the next set of stairs, which brought us to an even smaller landing where we discovered a final set of stairs that twisted part way up with the sign warning you firmly to watch your head.00:11:29Read good advice because the Hatch that opens into the tower was narrow and has a wide lip, making it easy to conk yourself as you come through the open hatch door.00:11:42The kids wanted to charge immediately up that final set of steps, steeper and narrower still than their prior brethren, so we carefully made our way up to the top of the lighthouse, emerging through the Hatch and into the tower itself.00:11:55The point Prim tower is ringed by expansive windows and has the beacon light in the center. The red hatched floor was complemented by the red metal of the safety cage surrounding the outside of the tower.00:12:09The view from the top was breathtaking, showing us the minimal land of the point surrounded by the wide expanse of the Atlantic. The tide was low while we were there, so we saw the rocky shoreline and the beds of Irish Moss, which is the type of red algae that grow along the rocky ocean floor near the coastline.00:12:30We could see fog at a distance, but it was far away and did nothing to obscure our view as we admired the beautiful land and seascape spread out below us.00:12:40After taking a family picture, Rory walked back towards the Hatch. Well, Michael isn't up here after all, so let's go back down so I can find him, she chirped happily as she gestured to the stairs. David and I took one last appreciative look at the view, and then decided that.00:13:00I would go down first backwards as recommended. The kids would be in the middle and David would bring.00:13:05Up the rear I took a deep breath because going backwards down the steep, narrow stairs felt scary and then began to carefully pick my way down.00:13:15Steps the kids had no interest in revisiting any of the levels besides the lighthouse keepers quarters, so we went down, down, down until we reached the bedroom again and again. It was cooler than any other spot in the lighthouse. Michael Rory wheedled.00:13:35Come say hi.00:13:38She picked her way around the room again, looking for him, including under the bed. Of course. I don't know what we'd do if she really did see him, and I don't know if she really did see him, but I quickly said OK, well, it seems like Michael doesn't want to come out today, so let's just say thank you for letting us see the lighthouse.00:13:59And uh, go check out that gift shop.00:14:02The kids were quite amenable to going to the gift shop and agreed readily to following me down. The final set of stairs and out of the.00:14:08Lighthouse. But as I moved back over to the stairwell to prepare myself for a final descent, I felt an even colder patch of air sweep over me. Goosebumps and raised hair rippled.00:14:22Crossed my arms again and it certainly felt to me like Michael was bidding us a farewell.00:14:29I shivered a little and pointed out the cold spot to my kids as I started to move backwards down.00:14:33The steps.00:14:34They shuddered and delight, feeling it too, and followed me down when we all finished our truck down the stairs, the kids spent a bit cranking the foghorn. It was loud. Once they got it going and we thought they would certainly be able to hear it in.00:14:48The keeper's cottage.00:14:50We were so engrossed in trying the horn that we were all surprised when we exited the lighthouse and the sunny day had disappear.00:14:58We were shrouded in a dense and swirling sea fog. The cool, moist Gray fog had seemingly come out of nowhere, rolling in from the sea in the time it took us to descend from the Sunny lighthouse tower to the exit.00:15:12We had briefly spied the fog at a distance when we were up there.00:15:16But it was.00:15:16Incredible how quickly it had blanketed the point.00:15:20We made our way back to the keeper's cottage and made some gift shop selections. While we told the keepers about our experience as we left David and I with a beautiful painting of the ocean foregrounded by the Lupin flowers that we have so admired on our way into the lighthouse and the kids with crocheted octopi are mermaid, a starfish.00:15:40Pillow covered in sperm whales, all of which were made by local PEI artists.00:15:46I found myself.00:15:46Thinking more about Michael and that fog.00:15:51Had Michael held off the onset of the fog so that we could enjoy the view from the lighthouse and then let it roll in while the kids tested the foghorn to help us understand why a lighthouse is so important to see safety? Was it a coincidence?00:16:07Were the cold spots a function of the lighthouses architecture, or were they supernatural in origin? Was there ever even a light housekeeper named Michael at all? Or was this just a fun story to help entertain kids while they tore the lighthouse?00:16:23When I wrote this story, I went to the official point Prim Lighthouse website to learn more about the lighthouse and see what I could find.00:16:30Out and in addition to the incredibly helpful resources for writing this story, I found a list of lighthouse keepers for the entire history of the point. Prim lighthouse, one name in particular stood out.00:16:44Michael McLeod, keeper of the lighthouse for 24 years from 1873 to 1897.00:16:54Michael was indeed real.00:16:57And had dedicated almost a quarter century to caring for the point Prim lighthouse more than 125 years ago, when it was an incredibly grueling and lonely job.00:17:09I leave it to you to determine whether he still remains as a friendly ghost, welcoming visitors to the lighthouse to day.00:17:17I know what I believe based on what we experienced.00:17:21What do you think?00:17:23If you and your grown up want, I highly recommend the point Prim Lighthouse website to learn more. It's an excellent site and includes a 3D tour of the lighthouse so you can get a visual on the point and the lighthouse exterior as well as every level inside the lighthouse itself.00:17:41If you want to see it, you can go to pointprimlighthouse.com and if you're ever visiting PEI near Belfast, it is a truly magical place to visit.00:17:52Do say hello to Michael for me if you go.00:17:57I hope you're enjoying our foggy oaks scary tales featuring music by Lee Knight, who composed and performed the music for these stories. Thank you so much, Lee and happy Spooky season to all of you.

The Point Prim Lighthouse Ghost 👻| A Foggy Oak Scary Tale from Canada

About this episode