A Black Mass at North Adelaide.

A Black Mass at North Adelaide.

  This remarkable eyewitness account was published in the Evening Journal newspaper in 1904.

  A person identifying themselves as only “B.S.S.” witnessed an apparition of a funeral near the corner of Barnard Street some years prior and recounted it for the newspaper.

 The witness had walked down Molesworth Street, along Hill Street, and when at the corner of Barnard Street, near the hospital, witnessed an intensely black shape moving in the street. On this night, a very well-known lady in the area, lay dying in the Calvary Hospital just metres away from where the witness was standing.

 The witness watched on as the black shape paused in the road, and then marched onto vacant land nearby. Walking closer to get a better view, the witness realised it was a funeral procession occurring in the night in front of them. A coffin, covered in black velvet was being held by four men, while two walked in front, and four behind. All the men wore ‘hose and doublet’, small cloaks or capes, swords at their sides and feathers in their caps.

 The funeral procession stopped. They turned back towards the hospital slowly vanishing as they returned toward it, and where the dying woman lay.

 The woman would not die, and in her final hours, called desperately for her individual ancestors. Was it them, dressed in black, bearing swords and holding the coffin, or was it death coming to collect his dues?

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019


Bibliography

1904 'GHOSTS, OR WHAT:', Evening Journal, 18 October, p. 1. , viewed 22 Apr 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200827889