A Ghost at World’s End
Near Burra in South Australia's Mid
North lies a place with one of the state's most intriguing names—World's End.
The settlement of Lapford, surveyed in 1877, was once
located in what is now known as World's End. Although the township was planned,
it never really took off. Even so, the district had a thriving community for
many years. A post office operated from 1876 until 1971; a school opened in 1888 and closed in 1941 due to a shortage of teachers; and a Wesleyan
church served the community from 1889 until 1975. Today, the ruins of many of
these buildings can still be seen along the World's End driving trail.
The origin of the name "World's End" has inspired
a few stories over the years. One popular tale links it to Goyder's Line,
suggesting it marked the edge of reliable farming country. It's a romantic
idea, but it isn't true. The name predates Goyder's Line by 15 years. It was
given by Scotsman Donald McDonald, who established the World's End pastoral
station in 1851.[1]
For a Scot, the name "World's End" would have
carried a very different meaning. It recalls the aftermath of the Battle of
Flodden in 1513, when the English defeated the Scots. Fearing Edinburgh was
left vulnerable, King James IV ordered defensive walls to be built around the
city. A pub just beyond those walls became known as the World's End because it
stood outside the city's protection—the point where the safe world ended. That
historic pub still exists today, and the present building stands on the foundations
of the original Flodden Wall.[2]
The Edinburgh World's End was just one of many inns and pubs
that adopted the name on the outskirts of Scottish towns. Donald McDonald, who
came from Aberdeenshire, would also have been familiar with World's End House,
built there in 1767 and associated with the Scottish folk tale of the Well of
World's End.[3]
With such familiar and affectionate associations back home, it's easy to see
why McDonald chose the name for his pastoral run in colonial South Australia.
In 1908, at The World’s End, South Australia, it
was reported that multiple ghosts had been terrifying residents in the area.
One incident involved a team of horses that took off from their owner after encountering a ghost. A ‘white-robed’ ghost had been witnessed by the
driver of the horses. The ghost scared the horses so much that they got spooked
and fled. In an interview with the Burra Record (newspaper), the witness
elaborated that it was not a white-robed ghost he had seen, but the ghosts of a
little girl and a little boy. He stated in an interview, ‘it was
on account of their tender years that he decided to speak to them concerning
their early morning travels, and as he did so the forms disappeared, in the
most mysterious fashion.’[4]
On another occasion, a woman was doing
her laundry. She pinned some white bed sheets to her clothesline. Later
that evening, she went out to collect her sheets and noticed one had been
removed and thrown some distance away. Rather than being logical and thinking
the wind did it, she instantly went to ghosts being the cause! She rallied her
family, they armed themselves with sticks and other weapons, and went and beat
the bed sheet, as if it were the ghosts, only to find it was just a bed sheet.[5]
Have you
been to World’s End? Have you seen a ghost? Let me know in the comments.
[1]
'Late William McDonald', The Proserpine Guardian, (29 February
1936), p. 6.
[2]
About The World’s End,
Belhaven, (2026), https://www.belhaven.co.uk/pubs/edinburgh/worlds-end
[3]
Joseph Jacobs, ‘The
Well of the World’s End’, (1890), https://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-44.html
[4] 'The
Ghosts.', Burra Record, (25 November 1908), p. 2.
[5] 'The
Ghost.', Burra Record, (18 November 1908), p. 2.
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