Legends and Lore of the Mississippi Golden Gulf Coast (6 page)

St. Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis was established in 1854 by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.
Courtesy of Alan Santa Cruz Collection
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The silence was broken by the sounds of a human groan that startled him. As the groaning continued, he cocked one of the revolvers and continued up the tunnel in waist-high water.

The groaning grew louder, so he cried out, “Hello, who is here?” At this point, he arrived at what he called a well with the groans coming from above. The water began to rise, and he jumped up, grabbing the edge of the well. As he pulled himself up, he realized he was in a small circular chamber with a low vaulted ceiling. Ayres's companion gained his footing just as a rowdy burst of gruesome laughter mixed with unworldly screams and shrieks filled his ears. Before he could respond, he was struck by a blow to his forehead and lost consciousness.

After lying unconscious for an unknown amount of time, he came to his senses. At this point, he beheld what he described as the most astonishing sight of his life, something he would never forget until his dying day, later recounting to Ayres, “Soft light filled the vaulted apartment and two stalwart figures, richly dressed in the curious costumes that we see in pictures of the sixteenth century, were seated on rough stools in the middle of the floor, drinking wine from huge silver goblets out of a cask that stood near, and apparently playing at dice.”

Two or three pirate ruffians stood around them. Suddenly, the younger of the two seated men jumped to his feet and yelled, “I let you know, old man, that your daughter is not my equal, nor you yourself!” The other, with the appearance of an old cavalier from noble blood, sprang to his feet, drawing his sword with surprising agility, and yelled, “Dog! Dare you speak thus to me.”

At this point, the three ruffians disarmed and bound the older man. As Reverend Ayres's companion continued his tale, it soon became apparent that the older man was a pirate lord, as he said, “Your gentle blood is too good to be mingled with mine, is it? Your pretty daughter is too good for me? You should learn now that one outlaw's blood is no better than another's and that gentlemen do not defy the throne of Castile and Leon to be domineered by any other. I am lord now of you and of your ship and of your treasures and of your daughter.”

Ayres's companion then described a bloody, brutal scene that made him sick, even though he knew he was witnessing a ghostly tragedy. The younger pirate yelled, “Do homage, kiss my foot!” and with that, he gave the prostrated figure a cruel kick in the face. He just stared as the old man groaned while “every imaginable indignity and torture” was done to him by the pirates beating him to death. Ayres's companion realized that this sound was the groan that drew him to this chamber. After his death, the pirates tossed him in the hole where the companion had entered.

Ghost of the Pirate Lord.
Edmond Boudreaux
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Suddenly, he found himself alone in total darkness with the tunnel full of water and no way out. He searched the chamber, but no secret door or escape could be found. For several hours, he contemplated his situation and his untimely death. Soon he realized that the roar of a hurricane caused the faint sounds he heard. He felt the trembling of the earth as waves pounded the bluff and tunnel. The sudden feeling of not being alone aroused him, and he recounted to Ayres, “There was a presence near me, something not to be seen but felt. Presently I was moved by a mysterious pulse to write. I took out my notebook and pencil and laid my hand to the paper, when, with no volition on my part, rather against my will my hand began writing rapidly.”

The writing was in Spanish, and it took him a few minutes to translate. In the dim light, he could only translate, “Sword, tinderbox, behind you.” After a long search, he found an opening at ground level with a square door and a box inside. The box contained a flint, steel and tinder to relight the lantern. In the lantern light, he continued to translate the note that he described as having been written by a feminine hand.

Stranger, for the love of the blessed Virgin, take the luckless gold from this accursed place and deliver me from my bondage. I am chained by this treasure to a spirit that I loathe and a place that I detest; and my father suffers torments worse than purgatory for hundreds of years. Set us free by taking the gold. You will find a sword with which you can easily dig through the top of the vault, and a tinderbox in the treasure vault behind you. Be in haste, lest Bernardo return and interrupt you. Take all the gold for the peace of Dona Maria Verez
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He opened the square door again and peered into a low vault about five feet deep. Here he found piles of “oaken boxes and kegs overflowing with gold and silver as well as rotten bags spilling their gold coins and gold and silver bars.” The companion also found a short sword with the treasure. After filling his pockets with treasure, he returned to the large chamber. Using the sword, he “attacked the brick vault over [his] head.” After several bricks were removed, a large section of the vault caved in. “A sudden gust of fresh air swept around the cave, and the wild howling of the winds and the roar of breakers became more distinctly audible.” At this point, he climbed out of the hole and found himself in a room with four walls and a brick floor. He realized that this must be the cellar under the old mansion on the bluff.

After covering the hole, he exited the cellar into a fierce hurricane. He continued telling Ayres, “But high above the uproar of the elements rose the unearthly screams and yells behind me, and without pausing a moment, I flew from the place as fast as my legs could carry me.”

He soon arrived at his boardinghouse and realized that he had been in the cave for twenty-four hours. He told Ayres, “My hair was as white as it is now, and it was a week before my nervous system had recovered from the shock sufficiently to permit me to walk.”

At this, Reverend Ayres asked about the treasure. The companion said he had returned with a yacht and trusted individuals to assist him. He was able to recover all the treasure without being seen but with resistance from the pirate ghosts. “I had to keep faith with the unhappy girl that saved my life.” When asked if he had heard from her ghost since, he replied, “I can't talk about that, or I shall give myself away. I am writing her life.”

In 1969, Hurricane Camilla destroyed the Pirates House and tunnel, but the legends continue to this day.

CHAPTER 7

T
HE
L
EGENDS OF THE
G
HOST OF
B
LUE
F
IRE AND THE
H
EADLESS
G
HOST OF
D
EER
I
SLAND

While attending my first Boy Scout Camporee at Camp Wilkes in Biloxi, I heard my first local legend. The legend of Camp Wilkes' Green Eyes is still fresh in my mind. Green Eyes flew through the air and seemed to have a taste for Boy Scouts. Of course, “Green Eyes” was actually just a few older scouts with flashlights covered with leaves raised about their heads on poles. It was a scary welcome to the tenderfoots, and to this day, some form of the Camp Wilkes' Green Eyes legend still exists.

To have a good ghost story, a few elements are needed. First of all, the person relating the ghost tale should be believable. There has to be a reason for the haunting. A kind of who, what and why. Some of the older ghost stories usually have pirates in them. The story has to have the fear factor and the untimely death of the ghost. Yet the unexplainable also makes for an interesting and scary story.

The unexplainable legend of the “Ghost of Blue Fire” is an interesting one. In the 1890s, a number of old Biloxi fishermen claimed to have encountered the “Fire Water Ghost.” Of course, one must realize that at that time, there was no glow of city lights to illuminate the waterfront or bays. In this pitch-black darkness, these fishermen encountered a mystical object moving along the water that had the shape of a ball of fire.

One eyewitness was Captain Eugene Tiblier Sr., who was born on May 16, 1842, in Biloxi and is buried in the Biloxi Cemetery. In about 1891, Captain Tiblier and his brother, Louis, were on Biloxi's Back Bay. They were rowing their skiff along the bay about two o'clock in the morning. Suddenly, the mysterious light appeared, and Captain Tiblier and his brother stopped rowing and watched. Captain Tiblier described it as a bluish light that was traveling about a foot off the water toward Ocean Springs, but it soon moved out of sight. Some of the fishermen believed it was a ghost holding a lantern in his hand as he moved about Biloxi Bay. Most who saw it described it as moving from Biloxi toward Ocean Springs. While the “Ghost of Blue Fire” seems to be unexplainable, it may well have been some type of natural phenomena.

Biloxi's Back Bay at twilight.
Courtesy of Alan Santa Cruz Collection
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The Headless Pirate Ghost of Deer Island.
Edmond Boudreaux
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The story of Deer Island's headless ghost began with a story about a not-so-wise pirate. The legend says that a pirate ship arrived in the Bay of Biloxi near Deer Island. The apparent purpose of their visit was to bury their plundered loot and replenish their provisions. The pirate captain and a few men journeyed to Deer Island to bury the treasure. After the treasure was buried, the captain asked, “Who wants to guard this treasure?” One not-so-wise pirate exclaimed, “Me guard treasure!” The legend indicates that shortly after these words parted his lips, the first mate “swung his cutlass and cut the man's head off.” His lifeless head was thrown into the palmetto bushes that lined the shore, but his headless skeleton would continue to protect the buried treasure from intruders.

The legend of the headless ghost supposedly dates back to the late 1800s, when two fishermen decided to spend the night on Deer Island. Making their encampment on the beach, they began to prepare supper and coffee. Suddenly, the palmetto bushes behind them began to stir with activity. Of course, the fishermen paid little attention, assuming it was the wild hogs that lived on the island. The noise continued, however, and like most folks, they finally turned to see what was causing the noise. There, standing erect, was a skeleton without a skull. Abandoning everything, they headed for their boat. Upon realizing the headless ghost was pursuing them, they made a mad dash, shoving their boat off the island and heading into the open Mississippi Sound.