The story of Lucy Clarke

One of the most popular ghost stories, in the small village of Londonderry NS, is that of Lucy Clarke. Here are two versions of that story, as they were relayed to us.

I don’t know how much truth there is to the story, and how much of it was fabricated by the minds of elementary students looking to scare one another. 

There may have been such an individual as Lucy Clarke, or she may be completely fictional. However, I do know that as a young child it was a terrifying story and that to this day my group of friends must have a re-telling of it every Halloween. 

Lucy Clarke was said to have lived in the Londonderry area during the beginning of the 1900s on a small pig farm with her mother, father and older brother. 

Basically, one night the parents leave the two children alone on this farm with one simple instruction: feed the pigs but don’t forget to latch their gate when you are done. As such, the children go about their evening and as it is foreshadowed, forget to close the latch. Thus allowing the pigs to escape and wander around the yard. The children, fearful of what kind of trouble they will be in when the parents get home, rush to chase the pigs back into their pen. 

When this method proves to be too time consuming, the brother grabs an axe having made the decision to kill the last few running around the yard. Sadly, his aim is poor and as you may have guessed he ends up hitting poor Lucy instead. Lucy dies instantly and the brother, in an attempt to cover up his guilt, dumps her body into the Great Village River. 

It is said that to this day, in certain sections of the river, that it is not uncommon to see Lucy’s ghostly hand sticking out through the water.

Laura Sharpe

Great Village 

I live in a small community - Londonderry NS - there are many ghost stories that have been passed down through the years.  

One I know of is the story of Lucy Clark, a young girl who was left home with her brother while her parents went away.  Upon their return, they learned that Lucy was missing and assumed lost in the woods. It was years after that a local man on his horse and wagon was travelling the old Cumberland Road and was approached by a young girl in the woods, wearing no shoes and had an obvious injury to the back of her head.  When asked what happened, the girl told the man that her brother had hit her with the axe, killing her.  He then took her body, dammed up the stream, buried her in the stream bed, and then allowed the water to flow again.   

When the stream bed was searched, they found bones which were assumed to belong to Lucy.  When her brother was questioned, he admitted to killing Lucy with the axe, damming the stream and hiding her body - exactly the way that the man on the wagon had been told. I believe the man who saw the little girl was Art Mattix - his family still lives in the area.

Anonymous

Londonderry

 

The paranormal world can very fascinating! If you are from Nova Scotia, and have experienced something paranormal, or a event that happened to someone you know, we would love to share your story!