The Legend of "Piper's Pond"

Located on the grounds of the Haliburton House, in Windsor NS, lies a body of water known as “Piper’s Pond.” Legend has it that it was named after a Scottish soldier who drowned there.

There are many different versions to this story, that from a kilted Piper drowning, trying to retrieve his watch from the pond, to a Scottish Piper from the Black Watch, who died from a fall on his horse. 

 

"Piper's Pond"

My favorite version tells the story of a young soldier, who fell in love with a young woman. 

He was a piper in the Highland Regiment, stationed at Fort Edward. Whenever he could, he would sneak away from the Fort, and meet his true love by a pond. 

Soon news came to the Fort that the regiment would be shipping out. The young couple immediately made plans to meet by the pond and run away together. 

On the night in question, the young man tried to sneak away from the fort with his bagpipes tucked under his arm. As fate would have it the sergeant of the regiment happened to catch the young piper as he was trying to leave. 

Fortunately the sergeant was a kind hearted soul and after much discussion, the young soldier was finally allowed to go and meet his true love. The sergeant assumed that the soldier would simply be meeting her to say his last farewell before his regiment left Windsor.

In the meantime, the delay meant that the young woman had been waiting by the pond for a very long time, and she began to believe that her lover was not coming after all. Her heart was broken, and after walking around the pond six times, she was so distraught that she decided to end her life. She wrapped heavy rocks in her long flowing dress, and then threw herself in the water.

When the young soldier arrived at the pond he did not see his lover. He circled the pond seven times after which he finally saw her face staring up at him from the water’s depths. In his anguish, he took up his bagpipes and while playing a mournful tune, he marched straight into the pond in order to be with his true love for eternity.

Legend has it, “that if you run around the pond thirteen times in a counter-clockwise direction, six times for her and seven for him, or once for every full moon in a year, the piper will rise up out of Piper’s Pond and begin to play the bagpipes”.

Another legend, as told by folklorist Helen Creighton, reports that local children were told that if they ran around the pond twenty times, a soldier would emerge from its depths on horseback. The children ran nineteen times around the pond, but lost their courage on the twentieth.

Sources:

www.geocaching.com

Ghost Stories of Canada

Helen Creighton

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!