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Seeing People After They're Dead (But You Didn't Know)

Eponastill

Justified & Ancient
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This is a classic fortean theme isn't it. I'm sure there must be a thread for it but I'm not sure where it'd be? So sorry if it belongs somewhere obvious.

I was doing some transcribing of the 'Schools Collection' at Duchas.ie. It's lots of local information and folklore that was collected by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s. There are lots of great stories about ghosts and fairies and holy wells and all sorts. I found the following story. It reminded me of the one in 'Ghost Hunters' when the Scottish plane captain reports speaking to his colleague at the airport (if you know the one I mean).

I like that this one (albeit not a first person account) still has lots of names and places to make it sound Convincing.
https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5177653/5177210/5190776
"Michael Markham and Pat Corbett were bosom companions. They were particularly fond of fowling together. On one occasion they made an appointment to meet at Danny Keefe's Hill on a certain Saturday about three oclock. The hill was convenient to both their homes. They both were to spend the rest of the evening fowling. That Saturday Michael Markham had a sudden seizure. He died about three oclock. Mr Corbett unaware of what had happened proceeded to Danny Keefe's Hill at the appointed hour. He was joined by Michael Markham, and both spent the evening fowling in the neighbouring hills. They parted, and each faced home. When Patt Corbett reached home he was told of the death of his friend, but he would not believe it, as he had only quite recently parted from him. It was only with great difficulty that he could be got to believe that Markham was dead. He was so overcome with this strange experience that he did not attend wake or funeral. "
 
There's an old story about a psychiatric nurse who worked on a long-stay ward and looked after an old "bin" lady and both were quite fond of each other.

Psych Nurse goes on holiday for 3 weeks. Comes back, gets greeted outside the ward by her lady - they have a chat. The nurse says "I have to go as I'll be late for handover, I'll catch up later" only to find out during handover the old patient had been dead for a couple of weeks.
 
This happened to a relation of mine.

She saw her brother driving a big posh car along a street in their home town. The traffic was slow so she had a good look, and it was definitely Bro. They waved and smiled at each other.
She mimed astonishment at the car, which was a change from his usual banger, and he grinned.

Relation assumed he'd stop and pick her up, but the traffic suddenly speeded up do he moved away. She thought 'Maybe he'll drive back for me!' as she watched the car disappear over a bridge. He didn't come back and she carried on walking to the shops.

He didn't come back, and she heard nothing from him for a few days; and then the news came that he'd been found dead.
He was already dead when she 'saw' him and furthermore he had not acquired a new car. Relation was baffled because she'd SEEN Bro as clear as day and they'd interacted.

The two people here are/were closely related to me and the death was terrible. We were all distraught.

It was a long time before anyone began to wonder if Relation had seen Bro set off on his journey. This came to be a comfort to her.
 
I once read the autobiography of a Big Brother contestant (mea culpa, I was young and foolish and the housemate in question was a former headmistress and recruiter in her 60s, so not the usual Day-Glo orange horrors they had in latter years) which had a story that always stuck with me.

The author and her husband called into a small tea room whilst travelling on the Cornish (I believe) coast and engaged in some friendly chatter with the waitress. When the waitress returned with their orders, she asked: "and what about your friend, has she decided what she wants?" The couple were (understandably) puzzled and asked the girl who she was referring to? The waitress responded with "the lady that was sat with you a minute ago, in the green hat?"

Cue our narrator fishing around in her bag for a picture of her mother... "that's the one!" the girl responded. The old woman had been dead for several years.

Could quite easily have been some fluff to bolster a slim autobiography, but it was an interesting little tale (and probably the best bit of the book!)
 
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I once read the autobiography of a Big Brother contestant (mea culpa, I was young and foolish and the housemate in question was a former headmistress and recruiter in her 60s, so not the usual Day-Glo orange horrors they had in latter years) which had a story that always stuck with me.

The author and her husband called into a small tea room whilst travelling on the Cornish (I believe) coast and engaged in some friendly chatter with the waitress. When the waitress returned with their orders, she asked: "and what about your friend, has she decided what she wants?" The couple were (understandably) puzzled and asked the girl who she was referring to? The waitress responded with "the lady that was sat with you a minute ago, in the green hat?"

Cue our narrator fishing around in her bag for a picture of her mother... "that's the one!" the girl responded. The old woman had been dead for several years.

Could quite easily have been some fluff to bolster a slim autobiography, but it was an interesting little tale (and probably the best bit of the book!)

That was an interesting story ----i went through an odd experience too when i was young .I used to pass this flat to get to school every day and the elderly woman that lived there used to give me cheery wave or have a quick word with me ,to see how things were going ,as i went past . She did that on the way to school in the morning and on the way home in the afternoon .
It was quite reassuring to have that friendship at that time because i was having a few problems with bullies and i felt unsettled because we had recently moved ,so this was something settled in my life .
Anyway ,one day i passed the flat and the woman was nowhere to be seen ,but i wasn't overly worried because i figured she was a grown up and was probably busy in the flat doing other things .
When i got home ,Mum and Dad sat me down and told me they had some bad news for me -----the woman in the flat had passed away .I remember being really sad about it but i'm not sure at that age i understood the concept of deathbecause no one i knew had ever died
I was dreading passing the flat next morning as i left my house but when i reached it ,my elderly friend was standing on the pavement ,beside her gate ,and she gave me a warm ,kindly smile and an enthusiastic wave .It didn't seem odd to me ---i just thought Mum and Dad had got it wrong
When i passed the flat in the afternoon ,the woman was nowhere to be seen but because i thought my parents had made a mistake ,it didn't worry me
When i reached home i told them they had made an error ,but they double checked . They were right and the woman had passed away ,but i like to think she came back one last time to say a proper goodbye
 
Michael Markham and Pat Corbett were bosom companions. They were particularly fond of fowling together.

What on earth, in this context, does fowling mean? To me it means something that I doubt they'd be doing together, and something I certainly can't imagine a ghoul doing. :rollingw:

Anyway, interesting tale nonetheless. I wonder whether this type of phenomena is more likely to occur with an unexpected death, like the deceased hasn't realised or accepted that they've died?
 
What on earth, in this context, does fowling mean? To me it means something that I doubt they'd be doing together, and something I certainly can't imagine a ghoul doing. :rollingw:

'Fowling' is hunting gamebirds. Men might prefer to do this with a trusted friend if it involved illegal shooting or poaching.
 
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