Villagers spooked as fallen tree 'frees spirit'
A FALLEN tree has brought a century-old ghost story in Co Down back to life.
Residents in the small hamlet of Finnis, near Dromara, fear that a recent storm, which felled a haunted tree, has now set free an evil spirit.
Legend has it that more than 100 years ago a malevolent spirit haunted the Dree Hill Road bridge in the centre of Finnis. The local priest is believed to have exorcised the spirit, capturing it in a bottle, which he then placed inside a nearby sycamore tree.
Last week, villagers were shocked to discover that the tree had inexplicably been struck down, thrusting open the bottle in the process.
The tree, long dead from a lightening strike, fell under the cover of darkness last weekend, sparking a flurry of local rumour and superstition.
And nowhere are the ghost stories more alive than in the local pub in Dromara.
"I'm in the business of selling spirits, but I wouldn't know too much about evil spirits," said Eddie Doyle, owner of the Square One bar.
"Anyone who lives around here knows the history of that tree and all the stories associated with it.
"Since this tree has fallen, many of my customers have been talking about little else.
"I'm not superstitious myself, but I can certainly tell you that there is a fear among local people. Now that it has finally fallen after all these years, they believe that the spirit will have been released.
"It looks as if the tree just fell over in the wind, it was old and rotten, but some people believe something else happened to it."
Adding to the intrigue, a number of old bottles could be seen among the debris at the base of the tree.
But Eddie remains unconvinced: "That tree was hollow for years, and I think a lot of the bottles were thrown into the tree by folk coming home from the pub over the years.
"But, of course, the major talking point now is that one of the bottles which contains this evil spirit has now been opened, letting out the spirit. It's all a bit of craic I suppose, but many of my older customers wouldn't laugh about it.
"There are people here who have never touched that tree or let anyone else touch it, and now that the tree is gone and the spirit is missing all the old stories are being retold.
"I have heard most of the stories many times and they are very entertaining, and I'm sure there are going to be plenty more in the weeks ahead.
"We might even have to have another exorcism."
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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