The Hauntings Of Skull Point – Part 1

Recently there was an article published in the Jamaican newspaper – The Gleaner.  It was written by a well-known contributor.

On a visit to a certain parish in Jamaica, he  had made a stop at a local bar where he overheard a strange conversation between the bar cashier and a local parishioner.  From the discussion back and forth between the two, it was apparent, something weird and mysterious was surrounding an area known as Skull Point, located in Mile Gully, Manchester.

Immediately, the writer’s instincts kicked in, realizing there was an interesting story afoot.  Upon the departure of the parishioner, the writer began to quiz the cashier about the earlier discussion he had overheard.

From the information, he gleaned, there were some unusual-looking trees  that grew in the area of Skull Point  said to be possessed by ghosts.  According to local legend, the ghosts lived on or around  the bottom of  these trees and could be heard whispering among themselves at various times of the day.

Naturally curious, the writer traveled to the area to view the trees in question.  Strange looking trees they were. Unlike any the writer had ever seen.

While there, he came across a farmer known as “Shaky”, who up til that day, had been carrying his goat to feed on the grass surrounding the alleged haunted site.  Somehow or other, Shaky did not seem to be aware of the chilling legend. The writer recounted the strange goings on as earlier related by the bar cashier.  Shaky admonished he had never witnessed any such thing.

So, together they stood, waiting for signs of any ghostly banter.  However, the only sounds to be heard came from Shaky himself.  He was afflicted with a bad case of the hiccups.  For the next few seconds, before another hiccup interruption, they listened intently, waiting for something to happen.

At that moment, the gently swaying breeze caused a rustling of the leaves of the trees. The writer wondered aloud if that may have been the origin of the legend. He felt confident they had unmasked the true story here.  Not so for Shaky though.

In spite of the writer’s calm, Shaky declared most assuredly, he was packing up his goats and fleeing the area, never to return.  When asked why by the writer, since they had clearly conducted a fruitful investigation, Shaky’s response was “Mi ol’ but mi nuh fool.” ( I am old but not foolish).  He was not planning to come back to be taken away by any tree trunk “duppy” (Jamaican term for ghosts).

Tune in for my next post: The Hauntings Of Skull Point – Part 2 – Story of the Haunted Abandoned Church,