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The Legend of the Badlands Banshee Haunting the Prairie

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From the Dakota prairie a legend of a wailing woman is said to haunt the area known as the Badlands. It is said that the Badlands Banshee will find those staying in her barren domain after dark. 

Deep in the Lakota’s Mako Sica, more commonly known as the Badlands is a landscape of sandstone with rugged terrain and goes from impaling cliffs to deep canyons, and amidst them all, we find the legend of the Banshee of the Badlands. 

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from USA

The Badlands in Dakota are often described as hell without fire, because of its barren terrain and the smoke seeping from the earth. This is where the word comes from as it was “bad land to traverse“. Despite of this, there are plenty of people that have traveled through these lands, and come back with the tale of an encounter with a wailing woman.

The Banshee of the Badlands

Banshee: The Banshee is an Irish entity from folklore that takes the form of a female wailing spirit. It is said that if you hear a banshee cry you will soon suffer the death of a beloved. Although the Banshee is Irish, most cultures have stories about the spirit of these wailing women.

The most retold version of the legend tells three cowboys traveling through the Badlands many years ago and stopping for the night around a campfire, the only light in the barren landscape as their herd is grassing. 

This area used to be at the bottom of the sea, but is today filled with rattlesnakes and coyotes while the bison grass on the prairie. This also used to draw the settlers from Europe to farm and cowboys would lead their flock over the grassland. 

Settling in for the night, the three cowboys noticed that something was wrong, and that someone was watching them from afar. Suddenly they saw through the darkness, a woman, almost translucent. She was described as pretty before turning scary and it’s clear, this is not a human, at least not a living one. Without saying anything else she unleashed a blood-curdling scream, her jaw twisting unnaturally wide, her eyes darkening. 

The horror of the night was far from over though and they heard a music from a fiddle coming through the night, although no one was playing and the night went on like this and the woman disappeared as the music grew louder. 

Eventually two of the cowboys fell asleep, exhausted by it all. The next morning when they awoke to blue sky and the music silenced. They found one of them missing and followed his footprints of his heavy boots, leading all the way to a steep cliff before vanishing right in front of the edge.

The cowboys quickly left as they didn’t want to be the Banshee’s next victims.  

Behind the Prairie Legend

So who, or what even is the Banshee of the Badlands? There are two battling versions as to who she was when alive, some claim a native woman killed by a settler, or vice versa. The first written account from this legends is from Charles M. Skinner from 1896 in his collection called Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, but it suggests that this is a much older story. 

Read More: Check out The Banshee Curse Haunting Duckett’s Grove to read more about ghosts called Banshee.

People claiming to have seen her, have approached her, unsuspecting of her supernatural presence. Until asked a question, the Badlands Banshee is said to have simply silently observed the people passing through her domain. But when they talk to her, she will unleash her terrifying scream. Her terrifying shrieks differ from the wolves and prairie dogs of the desert pierce through the Badlands’ silence, echoing into the depths of the night. 

Stories says the Badlands Banshee looks beautiful from afar, bathing in a ghostly blue light, but when she starts to scream, her eyes blacken into a dark void and opens her jaw unnaturally wide when she screams. According to others though, she looks weathered and gestures to people passing through the Badlands as if she needs help or want to speak with them. 

Bison grassing in the Dakota Badlands Prairie

Haunting the Watch Dog Butte

According to reports, her haunting is particularly often around Dog Butte or Watch Dog as it’s called and that it was here that the woman behind the ghost died all those years ago, one of the sandstone cliffs defining the landscape in the Badlands.

How did the Badlands Banshee die though? Was she pushed from one of the buttes as some of the versions of the legends suggest?

It is also said that the Badlands Banshee had a lover who died with her, and that is the reason why she screams, like her name and legend claims. 

According to legend, cattle refuse to graze near the butte, as they have sensed with a sort of sixth sense never to go near her domain. Also the cowboys herding the flocks reportedly also avoid the place as it is thought to be haunted by the Badlands Banshee.

Skeleton Companion Playing the Music

But what about the music that the tale of the three cowboys encountering her? To further amplify the terror, the Badlands Banshee is said to occasionally bring a spectral companion—a ghastly skeleton that revels in the eerie tunes of music around the campfire. 

According to the story, the skeleton companion searches for music and if he hears it, he will sit down and listen to it, and it is even said that the skeleton will play a violin if he sees it and plays it all night. 

It is said if you hear the music grow fainter as the day starts to light up the sky, never follow the sound! Apparently, the skeleton will only lead you astray to rocky pitfalls you will never escape from, like what happened to the one cowboy. Much like what is said happened to the Badlands Banshee herself. 

The Haunting of the Badlands Banshee

Today the Badland National Park where the legend of the Badlands Banshee has spread is managed with the National Park Service as well as the Oglala Lakota tribe in the south of the park. 

So what is the Badlands Banshee? a ghost or a monster? Who was she when alive? Is this from old native american folklore, or a story the Irish settlers brought with them from Europe to explain the piercing shrieks coming from an unknown animal across the prairie?

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References:

12 Haunted National Parks | Shaka Guide 

Banshee Of The Bad Lands – Legends of America 

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The Haunting of Belvelly Castle

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At Belvelly Castle in Ireland, the ghosts haunting it, all met a tragic end. It is said that the unfortunate singer is heard singing out in the night, and the ghost of the faceless woman is said to haunt the castle after she refused a man, turned mad and died. 

In the heart of the Irish countryside, near the Cork Road bridge onto Fota Island, stands a relic of another time – Belvelly Castle. Belvelly Castle’s history is woven with legend and folklore, a tapestry of stories that has endured through centuries. 

It was originally built by the Anglo-Norman Hodnett family in the 1200s to connect the Great Island to the mainland of Ireland. Over the centuries the castle was in between several feuding families, wars and by the 19th century the Belvelly Castle had fallen into ruins after being abandoned. 

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from Ireland

This 14th-century tower house that remains from the castle may appear serene under the daylight, but as night falls, an eerie aura descends upon it, invoking spine-tingling tales of restless spirits and unsettling apparitions.

The Spanish Bard and the Musical Duel

In the year 1209, off the Irish coast near Ballycotton Light, a Spanish galleon was in distress and ultimately wrecked. Among the survivors was a Spanish minstrel named Luccero Moreno. His haunting melodies and enchanting music won him a place in the big stone houses of Cobh, where troubadours were a rare sight.

Luccero’s presence reached the attention of Lady Hodnett that resided at the Belvelly Castle, who invited him to stay with her family. This marked the beginning of a rivalry between Luccero and Dion the Thrush, Ireland’s leading bard, who had been the Hodnetts’ entertainer for years.

To settle the rivalry, Lady Hodnett arranged a “duel with song” over three nights in Belvelly Castle’s great hall between the two musicians. Each contender would sing three songs of their choice, and the winner of two out of three songs over two out of three nights would be retained at the castle.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Haunted Castles around the world

Luccero won the first night, Dion the second, setting the stage for a dramatic final night. In the end though, Luccero’s performance was so moving that he was crowned the victor.

As he stood in the window, about to sing one more song, Dion, consumed by jealousy, lunged at Luccero with a dagger. In a swift and desperate move, Luccero managed to disarm Dion and fatally wound him. Before anyone could intervene, Dion died cursing Luccero.

Hodnett, infuriated by the murder of his favorite bard, imprisoned Luccero in a room beside the water gate. Eventually, a vengeful girl, who had loved Dion, poisoned Luccero’s food, leading to his agonizing death.

Luccero’s body was disposed of in the River Lee, weighted down with chains, in accordance with the customs of the time. Centuries later, fragments of a human skeleton were found in the river, believed to be Luccero’s remains.

To this day, people claim to see a ghostly figure in Belvelly Castle, a young man in black, singing strange melodies in an unknown tongue. He stands in a window overlooking the water gate, his eerie music filling listeners with unease as they gaze upon his pale, sunken eyes under the moonlight.

The Faceless Lady Margaret Hardnett

This is not the only ghost said to haunt the castle though. Lady Margaret Hodnett, who resided at Belvelly Castle in 1685 and was renowned for her beauty but also notorious for her capricious and shallow nature. She played with the affections of many suitors, including Clon Rockenby, a member of the Desmond family.

Rockenby’s infatuation with Lady Margaret endured for years, despite her tendency to reject and then recall him. In a fit of jealousy and frustration, Rockenby initiated a siege of Belvelly Castle, aiming to starve Lady Margaret and her family into submission. They blocked off the road where they would transport food, and was hoping that this would teach her.

The siege endured for three harsh winters, during which Lady Margaret’s beauty withered, and the castle’s inhabitants suffered greatly. The situation grew desperate, and Lady Margaret’s father did not intervene. Exactly why they let it continue and didn’t just give in, no one has an answer to. As the siege intensified, Lady Margaret’s reflection in a Venetian mirror began to deteriorate, mirroring her physical decline.

Upon realizing the extent of the suffering, Rockenby ordered a complete blockade of supplies. Lady Margaret was on the brink of death when the siege finally ended and they raised the white flag. She confronted Rockenby, pointing to her haggard face in the mirror and fainted.

Rockenby, horrified, destroyed the mirror, leading Lady Margaret to regain consciousness. However, a young brother of Lady Margaret, wielding a powerful bow, avenged his sister by fatally wounding Rockenby with an arrow.

As Rockenby died, he cursed Lady Margaret, wishing that she would search for mirrors but never find them. Lady Margaret survived but only partially regained her beauty. She shunned mirrors but eventually sneaked small ones into her possession. Her mind began to unravel, and she exhibited erratic behavior, including trying to dam up the River Lee and obsessively gazing into spots on the walls.

Lady Margaret died alone in Belvelly Castle, leaving behind a haunted legacy. Some witnesses claim to have seen her ghost, but her appearance remains a subject of debate. Some say she is obscured by a thick white cloth or veil, while others claim she has no face, only a sphere of pale mist where her face should be. She is said to roam the castle, rubbing the stones as if looking into invisible mirrors, leaving some stones smoother and gleaming as if glazed, reflecting blurred images of those who dare to look.

Restoration and the Haunting’s Persistence

Recent years have seen Belvelly Castle undergo a restoration process under the care of new private owners. The castle has emerged from the shadows, its ancient stone walls standing tall once more. Yet, despite the renewal, the eerie legends that have clung to it persist like the ivy on its walls.

Visitors and locals alike continue to report eerie encounters within the castle’s hallowed halls. Whispers in empty chambers, fleeting glimpses of shadowy figures, and the inexplicable sensation of being watched are all part of the ghostly tapestry woven into Belvelly’s very foundations.

The Haunted Belvelly Castle

Belvelly Castle, with its timeless beauty and tumultuous history, remains an enigmatic and haunting presence on the Irish landscape. As day turns to night, and the stars cast their pale glow upon its ancient stones, the spectral residents of this medieval tower house come to life once more. Their stories, steeped in sorrow, revenge, and lost beauty, continue to captivate the imagination of those who dare to venture into this chilling realm where legends merge with reality.

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References:

https://belvellycastle.com/history_haunting/the-shattered-mirror/ 
https://belvellycastle.com/history_haunting/duel-with-song/

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5 Songs About the Devil

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Some of them uses him more of a muse of exploring the dark sides of humanity. Some use him just for financially gain, like Jack Black himself said when saying: “Satan sells tickets.” Some have gone even further, dabbling in the occult or being straight believing in Satan and worshiping. This is mostly harmless, but then again, churches have definitely burnt down in the name of Satan.

Satan was something of a multi-instrumentalist himself, because as well as playing the fiddle, Ezekiel 28:13 states that he had his own instruments built into his very being. So perhaps not that strange that many musicians find him alluring as a character.

The Deamon Lover

This is a famous Scottish ballad about a man (usually the Devil) returns to his former lover after a very long absence, and finds her with a husband and a baby. He entices her to leave both behind and come with him, luring her with many ships laden with treasure. It can be traced back to the 1700.

Lyrics

Well met, well met, my own true love
Well met, well met, cried he
I’ve just returned from the salt, salt sea
And it’s all for the sake of thee

I’ve come for the vows that you promised me
To be my partner in life
She said my vows you must forgive
For now I’m a wedded wife

Yes I have married a house carpenter
To him I’ve born two fine sons
For it’s seven long years since you sailed to the west
And I took you for dead and gone

If I was to leave my husband dear
And my two babies also
Just what have you to take me to
If with you I should now go

I have seven ships out upon the sea
And the eighth one that brought me to land
With four and twenty bold mariners
And music on every hand

It was then she went to her two little babes
She kissed them on cheek and on chin
Saying fare thee well my sweet little ones
I’ll never see you again

They had not sailed much more than a week
I know that it was not three
When altered grew his countinence
And a raging came over the sea

When they reached the shore again
On the far side of the sea
It was there she spied his cloven hoof
And wept most bitterly

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Me and the Devil Blues

One of the most famous Made-A-Pact-With-The-Devil stories must be Robert Johnson, that made a deal for some crazy guitar skills. In the crossroad of highway 61 and 49 intersect a legend was born. In 1930 it is alleged he went out to make a Faustian pact with the devil to be the greatest guitar player. In any case, talent he got. When he died he was only 27 and it is said he was poisoned by the devil. The legend goes he heard the howling of the hell hounds, coming for him when the devil claimed him as his own.

Lyrics

Early this mornin’
When you knocked upon my door
Early this mornin’, ooh
When you knocked upon my door
And I said, “Hello, Satan,”
I believe it’s time to go.”

Me and the Devil
Was walkin’ side by side
Me and the Devil, ooh
Was walkin’ side by side
And I’m goin’ to beat my woman
Until I get satisfied

She say you don’t see why
That you will dog me ’round

Now, babe, you know you ain’t doin’ me right, don’cha

She say you don’t see why, ooh
That you will dog me ’round
It must-a be that old evil spirit
So deep down in the ground

You may bury my body
Down by the highway side

Baby, I don’t care where you bury my body when I’m dead and gone

You may bury my body, ooh
Down by the highway side
So my old evil spirit
Can catch a Greyhound bus and ride

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Sympathy For The Devil

The Rolling’s stones is perhaps not remembered as a satanic rock band, but once upon the time, they kind of were. Mostly Mick Jagger was the one interested in occult books like Taoist Secret Of The Golden Flower. And in 1969 sympathy for the devil came out. There were also claims that the Church Of Satan used the song as an anthem. Hey, it was the late 60s!

Lyrics

Lyrics:
Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith

I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersberg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a general’s rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
What’s puzzling you is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched with glee as your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the Gods they made
I shouted out
“Who killed the Kennedys?”
When after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
And I lay traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reach Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game, oh yeah
Well, get down, hit it

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
But what’s confusin’ you is just the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails just call me Lucifer
‘Cause I’m in need of some restraint

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste, mmm yeah
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, mmm yeah
But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game

The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Released in 1979, the song was the most successful one for the band Charlie Daniels Band. It is a pretty upbeat song, but with a more sinister lyric. Inspired by a poem the song deals with the deal with the devil motif. The song begins as a disappointed Devil arrives in Georgia, apparently “way behind” on stealing souls, when he comes upon a fiddle-playing young man named Johnny.

Lyrics

The devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin’ for a soul to steal
He was in a bind
‘Cause he was way behind
And he was willin’ to make a deal
When he came across this young man
Sawin’ on a fiddle and playin’ it hot
And the devil jumped up on a hickory stump
And said, “boy, let me tell you what”
“I guess you didn’t know it
But I’m a fiddle player too
And if you’d care to take a dare, I’ll make a bet with you
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy
But give the devil his due
I’ll bet a fiddle of gold
Against your soul
‘Cause I think I’m better than you.”
The boy said, “my name’s Johnny
And it

The devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin’ for a soul to steal
He was in a bind
‘Cause he was way behind
And he was willin’ to make a dealWhen he came across this young man
Sawin’ on a fiddle and playin’ it hot
And the devil jumped up on a hickory stump
And said, “boy, let me tell you what””I guess you didn’t know it
But I’m a fiddle player too
And if you’d care to take a dare, I’ll make a bet with youNow you play a pretty good fiddle, boy
But give the devil his due
I’ll bet a fiddle of gold
Against your soul
‘Cause I think I’m better than you.”The boy said, “my name’s Johnny
And it might be a sin
But I’ll take your bet, you’re gonna regret
‘Cause I’m the best there’s ever been.”Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard
‘Cause Hell’s broke loose in Georgia, and the devil deals the cards
And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold
But if you lose, the devil gets your soulThe devil opened up his case
And he said, “I’ll start this show.”
And fire flew from his fingertips
As he rosined up his bowAnd he pulled the bow across the strings
And it made an evil hiss
Then a band of demons joined in
And it sounded something like thisWhen the devil finished
Johnny said, “well, you’re pretty good, ol’ son
But sit down in that chair right there
And let me show you how it’s done.””Fire on the Mountain” run boys, run
The devil’s in the House of the Rising Sun
Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, noThe devil bowed his head
Because he knew that he’d been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle
On the ground at Johnny’s feetJohnny said, “Devil, just come on back
If you ever wanna try again
I done told you once you son of a bitch
I’m the best that’s ever been.”He played “Fire on the Mountain” run boys, run
The devil’s in the House of the Rising Sun
The chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough
Granny, will your dog bite? No child, no

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Houses Of The Holy

Songs like this made people talk aboud Led Zeppelin being a Satanic Band. Jimmy Page himself was extremly occupied of exploring the occult, attending séances, collected occult artefacts. He also bought a house in Loch Ness. Page once said that mixing in Satanic influences was like an “alchemical process”.

Lyrics

Let me take you to the movies
Can I take you to the show
Let me be yours ever truly
Can I make your garden grow

From the houses of the holy, we can watch the white doves go
From the door comes satan’s daughter, and it only goes to show, you know

There’s an angel on my shoulder, in my hand a sword of gold
Let me wander in your garden and the seeds of love I’ll sow you know

So the world is spinning faster are you dizzy when you’re stoned
Let the music be your master will you heed the master’s call
Oh Satan and man

Said there ain’t no use in crying ’cause it will only, only drive you mad
Does it hurt to hear them lying?
Was this the only world you had? oh oh

So let me take you, take you to the movie
Can I take you, baby, to the show
Why don’t you let me be yours ever truly
Can I make your garden grow, you know

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Five Murder Ballads

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What does the Appalachian range, the Scottish Highland, the Scandinavian mountains and Nick Cave have in common? Filled of the sub genre murder ballads. A strange phenomenon we don’t hear much in songs anymore. Often a man killing his girlfriend or a mother killing her children, these bone chilling songs have lasted centuries, growing and changing according to the time and place. But one thing remains, someone is murdered.

Child Owlet

Most likely Scottish. This creepy and bloody tale of a woman’s desire turned to a crime is bone chilling when you read behind the jolly tune.

Lyric

Lady Erskine sits intae her bower, a-sowing a silken seam,
A bonny shirt for Child Owlet as he goes out and in
His face was fair, long was his hair, she’s called him to come near
“Oh, you must cuckold Lord Ronald for all his lands and gear.”

“Oh, lady, hold your tongue for shame for such should ne’er be done.
How can I cuckold Lord Ronald and me his sister’s son?”
Then she’s ta’en out a small penknife that lay beside her head
She’s pricked herself below her breast which made her body bleed.

Lord Ronald’s come into her bower where she did make her moan.
“Oh, what is all this blood,” he said, “That shines on your breast bone?”
“Young Child Owlet, your sister’s son, is new gone from my bower.
If I’d not been a good woman I’d have been Child Owlet’s whore.”

Then he has taken Child Owlet, thrown him in prison strong
And all his men a council held to judge Child Owlet’s wrong
Some said, Child Owlet he should hang, some said that he should burn,
Some said they would he Child Owlet between wild horses torn.

“Ten horses in my stable stand, can run right speedily.
It’s you must to my stable go and take out four for me.”
They tied a horse unto each foot and one unto each hand.
They’ve sent them out o’er Elkin Moor as fast as they could run.

There was no stone on Elkin Moor, no broom nor bonny whin
But’s dripping with Child Owlet’s blood and pieces of his skin.
There was no grass on Elkin Moor, no broom nor bonny rush
But’s dripping with Child Owlet’s blood and pieces of his flesh.

Down in the Willow Garden

You click on an Everly Brother’s song and expect it to be a sugar sweet song about eternal love. Little did you know you were getting a well known bloody murder-ballad about a guy murdering his girlfriend.

Lyric

Down in the Willow garden
Where me and my love did meet
As we sat a-courtin’
My love fell off to sleep
I had a bottle of Burgundy wine
My love she did not know
So I poisoned that dear little girl
On the banks below

I drew a sabre through her
It was a bloody knife
I threw her in the river
Which was a dreadful sign
My father often told me
That money would set me free
If I would murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connolly

My father sits at his cabin door
Wiping his tear-dimmed eyes
For his only son soon shall walk
To yonder scaffold high
My race is run, beneath the sun
The scaffold now waits for me
For I did murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly

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The Maid and the Palmer

I don’t know what the deal is with mixing happy folk tunes with the grimmest of lyrics. But it does give it an extra dimension of creepiness.

Lyric

HE maid shee went to the well to washe,
      Refrain: Lillumwham, lillumwham!
The mayd shee went to the well to washe,
      Refrain: Whatt then? what then?
The maid shee went to the well to washe,
Dew fell of her lilly white fleshe.
      Refrain: Grandam boy, grandam boy, heye!
Leg a derry, leg a merry, mett, mer, whoope, whir!
Driuance, larumben, grandam boy, heye!
While shee washte and while shee ronge,
While shee hangd o the hazle wand.
There came an old palmer by the way,
Sais, ‘God speed thee well, thou faire maid!’
‘Hast either cupp or can,
To giue an old palmer drinke therin?’
Sayes, ‘I have neither cupp nor cann,
To giue an old palmer drinke therin.’
‘But an thy lemman came from Roome,
Cupps and canns thou wold find soone.’
She sware by God & good St. John,
Lemman had shee neuer none.
Sais, ‘Peace, faire mayd, you are forsworne!
Nine children you haue borne.
‘Three were buryed vnder thy bed’s head,
Other three vnder thy brewing leade.
‘Other three on yon play greene;
Count, maid, and there be 9.’
‘But I hope you are the good old man
That all the world beleeues vpon.
‘Old palmer, I pray thee,
Pennaunce that thou wilt giue to me.’
‘Penance I can giue thee none,
But 7 yeere to be a stepping-stone.
‘Other seaven a clapper in a bell,
Other 7 to lead an ape in hell.
‘When thou hast thy penance done,
Then thoust come a mayden home.’

‘SEVEN years ye shall be a stone,
      Refrain: . . . . .
For many a poor palmer to rest him upon.
      Refrain: And you the fair maiden of Gowden-gane
‘Seven years ye’ll be porter of hell,
And then I’ll take you to mysell.’
* * * * *
‘Weel may I be a’ the other three,
But porter of hell I never will be.’

Long Lankin

I mean. If you can listen to the Wainwright sister’s version of this murder ballad, I don’t know what will affect you.

Lyric

Said the Lord unto his Lady as he rode over the moss
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the gorse
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin
Be sure the doors are bolted well
Lest Lankin should creep in”
Said the Lord unto his Lady as he rode away
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the hay
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin
Be sure the doors are bolted well
Lest Lankin should creep in”
“Where’s the master of the house?”, says Long Lankin
“He’s ‘way to London”, says the nurse to him
“Where’s the lady of the house?”, says Long Lankin
“She’s up in her chamber”, says the nurse to him
“Where’s the baby of the house?”, says Long Lankin
“He’s asleep in the cradle”, says the nurse to him
“We will pinch him, we will prick him
We will stab him with a pin
And the nurse shall hold the basin
For the blood all to run in”So they pinched him and they pricked him
Then they stabbed him with a pin
And the false nurse held the basin
For the blood all to run in”Lady, come down the stairs, ” says Long Lankin
“How can I see in the dark?”, she says unto him
“You have silver mantles”, says Long Lankin
“Lady, come down the stairs by the light of them”
Down the stairs the lady came, thinking no harm
Lankin, he stood ready to catch her in his arms
There was blood all in the kitchen
There was blood all in the hall
There was blood all in the parlor
Where my lady she did fall
Now Long Lankin shall be hanged
From the gallows, oh, so high
And the false nurse shall be burned
In the fire close by
Said the Lord unto his Lady as he rode over the moss
“Beware of Long Lankin that lives amongst the gorse
Beware the moss, beware the moor, beware of Long Lankin
Make sure the doors are bolted well
Lest Lankin should creep in”

Where the Wild Roses Grow

Most of the songs on this list is older ballads. But murder ballads is not a died out genre. The king of creepy songs, Nick Cave, wrote Where the wild roses grows in 1996. He said in an interview: “Where The Wild Roses Grow” was written very much with Kylie in mind. I’d wanted to write a song for Kylie for many years. I had a quiet obsession with her for about six years. I wrote several songs for her, none of which I felt was appropriate to give her. It was only when I wrote this song, which is a dialogue between a killer and his victim, that I thought finally I’d written the right song for Kylie to sing. I sent the song to her and she replied the next day.”

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

From the first day I saw her, I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild

When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

On the second day, I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I’ve seen
I said, “Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?”

On the second day, he came with a single red rose
He said, “Give me your loss and your sorrow”
I nodded my head as I lay on the bed
If I show you the roses, will you follow?

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

On the third day, he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
She lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, “All beauty must die”
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
My name was Elisa Day
For my name was Elisa Day

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Songs About Ghosts and Hauntings

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There are countless, countless, COUNTLESS ballads, songs, poems and plays about ghosts and hauntings throughout history. Here are a collection of some songs about ghosts that have a connection or is about an actual ghost legend or a haunting.

Murder of Maria Marten (1971)
by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band

This modern folk ballad is actually inspired by the real Red Barn Murder. Maria Marten supposed eloped with her lover, William Corder in 1827, in Polstead, county Suffolk, England. He wrote back to her family, claiming they were fine. But then, Maria started appearing to her stepmother in her dreams. The ghost of Maria told she was dead and were they would find her.

They found her body in the barn and Corder was found and executed. Corder’s skeleton was reassembled, exhibited, and used as a teaching aid in the West Suffolk Hospital. The skeleton was put on display in the Hunterian Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, where it hung beside that of Jonathan Wild until 2004. The murder inspired plays, songs and movies, one of them sung by Shirley Collins, with her voice echoing the ye’ old England ballads.

Read more about Maria Marten and The Red Barn Murder:

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Jacob’s dream
by Allison Krauss

Few voices are as haunting than Alison Krauss. And the song, Jacob’s dream, even more so because of its backstory of The Lost Children of the Alleghenies. It’s a well known folk story from the Appalachia region of the United States. George and Joseph Cox, then aged seven and five , disappeared from their home in Pavia on April 24, 1856.

The legend tells that the night after the disappearance a local farmer, Jacob Dibert dreamt he walked a path through the woods past a dead deer, a child’s shoe and a fallen birch tree and eventually to a copse of birch trees in a small ravine. Here he found the bodies of the Cox boys. The dream recurred on the two following nights. He and his brother in law decided to make a search, culminating in the discovery of the bodies just as the dream had described – under birch trees in a small ravine reached along a track with a dead deer, a child’s shoe and a fallen birch.

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The Ride (1983)
by David Allan Coe

The writer, Gary Gentry swears the ghost of Hank Williams appeared to him in his darkened house one night. Gentry says he tried to summon Williams for a little inspiration. And he supposedly came. The ballad tells the story of a hitchhiker’s meeting with the ghost of Hank Williams, Sr. in a ride from to Nashville, Tennessee. The mysterious driver, “dressed like 1950, half drunk and hollow-eyed” and driving an “antique Cadillac” (referring to the baby blue 1952 Cadillac convertible that Williams died in), questions the narrator whether he has the musical talent and dedication to become a star in the country music industry.

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Elizabeth (2010)
by Ghost

The Swedish occult rock band could have had many listings on this particular list of songs about ghosts. Especially since they have dedicated their carrier to warn about the coming of the devil and other satanical topics. The song “Elizabeth” is about Elizabeth Báthory, not exactly a ghost, but who is remembered as one of the deadliest women and well… a vampire. In 2010, the band produced a three-track demo and the vinyl-only single “Elizabeth”, before releasing their first studio album, Opus Eponymous, on October 18, 2010.

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Angels (1997)
by Robbie Williams

Yes, that is correct, a songs about ghosts. The romantic breakout hit of former Take That singer and solo singer, Angels, was actually inspired by paranormal occurrences that Robbie Williams experienced himself as young. “There hasn’t been a moment of my life when I haven’t been aware of the presence of something unseen,” he said. “The very first song I wrote was Angels and it’s about actual angels.”

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Here is our list of songs about ghosts and hauntings. Do you know of anyone else? Feel free to notify us about it.

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