Editor's Corner

 

By Mary E. Adair

SEPTEMBER 2024

"Another Fall, another turned page:
there was something of jubilee
in that annual autumnal beginning,
as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean
by Summer."
_Wallace Stegner

 

All types of activities are scheduled or underway in this Fall month. School from Kindergarten through College has both teachers and students hopping to keep up with their schedules. The rest of the world, for the most part, has new occasions as well as the chores that are part and parcel, as my grandmother used to say. Most of these events are and have been for awhile - pleasantly anticipated.

The last few days of August brought welcome showers to your editor's desert area. Just amazing when one scents the first aroma of rain--it awakens dried up memories with the freshened air. It turns listlessness into a bundle of new ideas and plans.

John I. Blair surprised himself with two new poems that we welcome, "Parking" and "Fly By Night." So pleased that his muse is tapping on his shoulder again and that they arrived in time for this issue. Walt Perryman's September poems are "July on My Mind" and "A Quiz."

Bud Lemire sent "Wandering in My Mind," and "Sam" for this month and Bruce Clifford's poem "How Long Can This Go On" was the first arrival. "Moving Day" is from yours truly while "I Like Texas" was penned during a visit by Grandmother Joslin many years ago. "My Work" is by Linnie Jane (Joslin) Burks, my mother's sister, who with her husband Dr. Edgar Burks served over 30 years as missionaries in Nigeria.

We are remembering the sadness that in many ways continues from the tragic 9-11. Here is a link to the poem about it written by Christopher Alaniz, a great-grandson, who was in Fifth Grade at the time. Special Reprint 9-11 Poem

Thomas F. O'Neill in "Introspective" treats us to one of his stories and Judith Kroll's column "On Trek" includes an encore poem that fit with her column's point. Marilyn Carnell in her "Sifoddling Along" admits meeting deadlines, even if only one a month, can be a hassle especially when one is beset with various appointments. "Woo Woo" by Pauline Evanosky shares her experiences with Ghosts and Spirits. as a psychic.

Mattie Lennon's "Irish Eyes" column has updates about competitors who won the writing contests. He discusses Tadhg Coakley, author of the books with fictional detective Tim Collins, and states he is anxious for the next book in the series. Ara Parisien, our newest columnist, explains a helpful method to reach a creative state. See this in "Ara Parisien Author-Medium-Spiritual Teacher."

"Armchair Genealogy" by columnist Melinda Cohenour is encoring the column about our Mother's grandmother, known as "The Songbird of the Ozarks", Linnie Bullard. She also has a tribute to her late husband, Rod Cohenour who was our Cooking Editor. We are all in a state of disbelief, since his condition appeared and accelerated so rapidly. He is sorely missed.

We are supported and kept in good production capability by our co-founder and webmaster Mike Craner. With this eZine in its 27th year online, he is the one we trust for our status quo. Thank you, Mike, for all you accomplish. I shall keep expressing my gratitude to my talented friend and creative webmaster. We place our confidence in Mike as we have in the past and shall continue doing so.

See you in October!

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Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.

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Armchair Genealogy

 

By Melinda Cohenour

Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard – or
Linnie Bullard, the Songbird of the Ozarks

    This column is devoted to the story of my namesake, Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard, a remarkable woman whose years on this earth were chronicled, in part, by the United States Census where her existence was documented from the year 1850 (when she was just a five-year-old girl) to the year 1930 (the last Census taken before her death in 1937) a total of NINE Census enumerations. Unfortunately, as all seasoned genealogists are aware, the 1890 US Census records were damaged in a fire, but destroyed by the water damage caused in attempts to salvage those very records.

    Malinda Ellen Hopper was born 21 December 1845, almost exactly one hundred years before the birth of the child who would be granted use of her name – her great-granddaughter, the author, who was born 6 January 1946. My mother was blessed to have the opportunity of knowing her grandparents on both sides: Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard and William Henry Bullard, maternal, and Sarah Jane Godwin Joslin and William Henry Joslin, paternal.

    My inspiration for chronicling the life and times of Malinda Hopper Bullard was the chance viewing of a movie, Songcatcher, released in 2000 but not viewed by your author until last night. The parallels of the story line of the movie and the life and times of my great grandmother were amazing and the inclusion of two of her folksong ballads, Pretty Saro, moved me to tears. My night was a restless one, seeking out the soundtrack of the movie, listening endlessly to the songs of the mountains, then dreaming of the bits and pieces known about the remarkable woman, Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard. Rosanne Cash performs another of her ballads, Fair and Tender Ladies.

    Malinda was the second child and second daughter of John David Hopper, Jr. (b. 27 Jul 1823, Hamilton County, Tennessee; d. 19 Jul 1895, Jane, McDonald County, Missouri) and his wife, Mary Johnson Young (b. 11 Apr 1821, Lafayette County, Missouri, d. 22 Jun 1896, Jane, McDonald County, Missouri). Her mother, Mary Johnson Young was the daughter of John Young (b. 1792, Burke County, North Carolina, d. 1850, McDonald County, Missouri) and Sarah “Sally” Hopper (b. 1796, Burke County, North Carolina, d. 1854, Lafayette County, Missouri) who was the sister to Napa Charlie Hopper who led the Bartleson-Bidwell party in 1842 from Missouri to California, an historic journey memorialized in several State’s history books.

    Malinda’s grandmother, Mary “Polly” Davenport Hopper (b. 24 Feb 1793, Chattanooga, Tennessee d. 3 Mar 1876, Brushy Knob, Johnson County, Missouri) was the daughter of Capt. Martin Thomas Davenport, Jr. one of the Heroes of King’s Mountain and the subject of one of the author’s in-depth research studies provided in an earlier column. Mary “Polly” was Martin’s daughter by his second wife, Martha Jane Browning (b. 1755 in Virginia, d. 1821, presumably in North Carolina).

    Mary “Polly” Davenport was a strong influence on Malinda Hopper Bullard. She was a midwife of great esteem and a courageous woman. From another family historian’s book, the following story was told about her:

    “Ida Hopper Cox has this to say about her G-Grandmother, Mary Davenport. “My G-Grandmother was a mid-wife and used to ride all over the country on horseback and attend to the sick. We often heard my mother tell of her starting to confine some woman and an awful snowstorm came up and she lost her way. They expected to find her frozen to death. She had taken off the saddle and blankets and laid down and covered up with them the best she could, and the poor horse stood over her all night and blew his breath on her feet…she came through unharmed.”
SOURCE: Source This story was also related to our Aunt, Linnie Jane Joslin Burks, who had included the story in her handwritten family tree records.

    Like her grandmother before her, Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard would become an herbalist, Ozark midwife, and provide medicinal care to friends, family, and neighbors.

    Malinda lived a hard and demanding life. In her early teens, the conflicts preceding the Civil War would disrupt her life. Her father was a member of the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and, therefore, a conscientious objector. At that time, no man was granted that right. Soldiers for either side upon finding an able man not committed to one side of the conflict or the other considered him a traitor and rendered judgment immediately. The only punishment for treason was death. Thus, John David Hopper, Jr., spent a good portion of his time in hiding in a cave near the family farm. That left the job of running the farm to Malinda. The family legend is told that early in the conflict a group of Union sympathizers or soldiers arrived at the farm. Such a visit was typically prompted by need of food, water, shelter or even care for their horses. On this occasion, the young officer in charge of the small group “took a shine” to young Malinda who was reputed to be not yet 15 years of age. After having their demands acquiesced, the Lieutenant ordered his men to “burn it.” Alarmed, Malinda pled with the Lieutenant not to destroy their farm, her mother and young siblings and all their livelihood. “Well, let’s see…a pretty young thing like you, begging for this favor, must be willing to give a favor in return, right?” With that, Malinda responded, “I’ll give ye not more than a Yankee dime, as that’s what’s said you barter in.” The Lieutenant, rather than be angered found her retort to be charmingly naïve. He said, “Well, if that’s what you have to offer, guess we just may have struck a bargain.” With that, Malinda put a boot toe into his stirrups, pulled herself up and planted a kiss upon his cheek. The soldiers were ordered to pass the farm by – and to pass the word on that it should not be harmed in future visits.

    The Census for 1860 shows the family in Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri, but the 1870 Census enumerates the family in nearby Jane, McDonald County, Missouri. The entire area of McDonald County at that time was filled with Hopper, Young, Russell, Davenport, Coffee and Bullard families. In 1880, Malinda Ellen, now age 34 was found yet to be faithfully caring for her aged parents on the family farm in Jane.

    Malinda grew up in a community largely populated by relatives. Two of her best friends were Susan Caudill, about two years younger, and her just older cousin, Eliza Coffee (Pitts) whose parents were her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth “Betsy” Hopper (elder sister to her father) and Meredith Coffee. Just after the War, the family legend is that one day the three friends were coming back from market when they saw a handsome young man with rich auburn hair and a lush auburn beard came riding by on a fine horse whose color closely matched his hair and beard. His saddle was not the ordinary “every day” saddle, but a very fancy one of leather adorned with brass fittings. The three girls each said, almost as one, “Oh, my! I think I must marry that very man one day!” And, as luck would have it – all three would, indeed, be wed to William Henry Bullard, Confederate hero of the Civil War.

    First, Susan D. Caudill, the youngest of the trio would be married to William Henry, and come to bear three sons: Jacob Alexander Bullard who would survive a mere 13 years, James Russell Bullard who would succumb as an infant, and Thomas Jeremiah Bullard who would survive to adulthood. Only two years following that third birth, Susan Caudill Bullard passed away. It is believed she did not survive a fourth pregnancy, but records have not been located to prove that to be true.

    After the death of his first wife, William Henry Bullard would take his second wife, this time wedding the recently widowed Eliza Coffee (Pitts) in 1875. By May of 1880, this second wife would die, leaving William Henry a second time widower. In June the US Census would record William Henry Bullard and his young son, Thomas just 9 years old, living in White Rock, McDonald County, Missouri. By October of 1880, William Henry Bullard and Malinda Ellen Hopper would be wed, “sitting horseback in front of Parson Scogg’s cabin.” Malinda and William Henry Bullard would have seven children of their own: Stella Lee Anice “Stell” Bullard, Vincil Clarence “Vince” Bullard, Lilvia Acenith “Lil” Bullard, Azalia Lovethia “Zail” Bullard, Mary Ester Zenobia “Nobe” Bullard, Evan Ones Bullard and Carrie Edyth Bullard.

    When Carrie married James Arthur Joslin it raised eyebrows around town. For Carrie had remained home to care for her aging parents much as her mother before her. And James Arthur Joslin was, perhaps, THE most eligible bachelor in town, dapper, tall, handsome, charming, and several years her elder. But, that was not the biggest reason for the townfolk’s interest in this prospective union but the history of the two fathers: William Henry Bullard, Confederate veteran, Democrat, Methodist and William Henry Joslin, Union veteran, Republican, Baptist. In spite of this, the wedding proceeded, but it was always said a family reunion was more like a reenactment of the Big War!

    Malinda Ellen was widowed in 1911. By 1920, the US Census would find her heading the household that included son Evan (who never married) her daughter Carrie and her little family, husband Artie and new baby daughter, Lena May.

Malinda Ellen in mourning attire – circa 1911

    The household was filled with music, as always had been true. The families of Hoppers, Russells, Youngs, Davenports and even the Bullards came from the mountains of North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee – the Appalachian Mountains. And those mountains were filled with immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. The music of the Appalachian Mountain range is renowned as the origins of Bluegrass. Plaintive songs of life: struggles, unrequited love, and loss, war and conflict, and the inevitability of death. Those songs were carried down in the family by oral tradition, each generation learning the tunes and the lyrics of age-old ballads. And Malinda, known to all as “Linnie”, was born to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother and her mother before her – midwife, herbalist, medicine woman and bard. Her fame was widespread as one who knew more of the old tunes and lyrics than any other around.

    Thus, it was, that Vance Randolph would seek her out in 1926 to document what he believed to be a vanishing treasure – the folksongs of the Old Country, carried to the Appalachians and now beyond. Ironically, it is now believed the mountains of the Ozark are merely a continuation of that largest and most extensive of all American mountain ranges, beginning in the far North in New York state, to Alabama, and extending to what is now believed by some geologists to be a continuation on the Ozark Plateau. An extract from Appalachia and the Ozarks reads as follows:

    

The Appalachian Uplands, stretching from New York to Alabama, and the area of the Ozark-Ouachita mountains are separated by some 400 kilometers of land. They are actually two parts of a single physiographic province that have a strong topographic similarity and an unusually close association between topography and human settlement.

Early settlers, when they reached the shores of colonial America, heard tales of a vast range of high mountains to the west. As they moved into those mountains, they discovered that their elevation had been exaggerated. Only in a few small areas do the Appalachians or Ozarks approach the dramatic vistas so common in the West.

Nevertheless, most who concern themselves with such questions would agree that much of the Appalachian and Ozark topography should be called mountainous. Local relief is greater than 500 meters in many areas, and it is sometimes greater than 1,000 meters. Slopes are often steep.

The human geography of Appalachia remains closely intertwined with its topography. Without the mountains, the area would merely be a part of several adjoining areas, such as the Deep South. With them, Appalachia and the Ozarks exist as a distinctive and identifiable American region. Source

    “Vance Randolph was a folklorist and professional writer” begins the biography of this extraordinary man SOURCE His story alone is remarkable. He fell in love with the unique quality of life in the Ozarks, the incredibly beautiful landscape, and the equally unique people who had settled the area. To quote from the bio again: ‘He had first visited nearby Noel, Missouri, in 1899 as a boy while on vacation with his parents. It was then at the age of seven that he came to believe ‘the Ozark country was the garden spot of all creation.” It was the beginning of Randolph’s life-long love affair with the Ozarks of southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.’

    He moved to Pineville, Missouri, in 1919 and in the course of his research and documentation of the Ozarks and the way of life, learned of Mrs. Linnie Bullard, bard extraordinaire. He began visiting Linnie on her front porch and soon obtained her agreement to let him capture her ballads and folksongs on the wax cylinders he had created for this purpose.

    And, here, if you have seen Songcatcher you will recognize the incredible parallels between that movie, the musicologist heroine, Dr. Lily Penleric and our Linnie Bullard and her own musicologist, Vance Randolph. In the film, Dr. Lily visits her sister in the Appalachian Mountains and ends up falling in love with the land, the people and, most importantly, the MUSIC. She visits various people who are known to “have the music” and documents their songs by handwriting the notes and lyrics but also on a machine she creates, thus the title Songcatcher.

    Over the course of time, Vance Randolph would record Linnie Bullard’s version of many Old Country folk songs and ballads: The following is a list of songs recorded by Vance Randolph on handmade wax recording cylinders in 1926 by my great-grandmother, Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard identified by the name by which she was normally called Mrs. Linnie Bullard. These recordings now reside in the Library of Congress. The index created originally by the University of Missouri and included by Jane Keefer in her Index.]

    Bullard, Linnie - Appearance as principal performer:

• 1. Banks of the Nile - I (Men's Clothes I Will Put On), Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p216/# 42A [1926]
• 2. Becky at the Loom, Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religious Songs and Other Items, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p123/#677 [1926]
• 3. Brown Girl and Fair Ellen/Eleanor (Brown Girl IV), Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 97/# 15C [1927]
• 4. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies/Maidens (You Fair and Pretty Ladies), Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk
• 5. Green Bed/Beds (Johnny the Sailor), Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p251/# 53B [1926]
• 6. Homespun Dress, Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and West, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p263/#215 [1928]
• 7. Hunters of Kentucky (Hunter from Kentucky), Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religious Songs and Other Items, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p104/#666 [1926]
• 8. Lonesome Grove (Lonesome Dove - I), Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religious Songs and Other Items, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 39/#607 [1926]
• 9. Lord Lovel/Lovelle/Loven/Lover, Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p115/# 17B [1925]
• 10. Mary Hamilton (Four Marys/Maries), Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p151/# 26 [1926]
• 11. Ocean Is Wide, Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p390/#580 [1926]
• 12. Pretty Saro, Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religious Songs and Other Items, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p222/#744A [1926]
• 13. Southern Encampment, Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and West, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), P275/#223 [1926]

SOURCE

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    For my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I urge you to listen to the soundtrack from this movie, Songcatcher, which includes a version of Pretty Saro by Iris Dement that is what I believe to be closest to the song my grandmother Carrie Bullard Joslin sang to me. Grandmother Carrie never believed she had the voice that her mother was blessed with, but strove to keep alive the oral tradition of this historic music. ‘Pretty Saro” has been recorded by Bob Dylan, by Doc Watson, by Judy Collins and many, many more. The current best link to hear it is a rendition on YouTube by Iris DeMent singing Pretty Saro from Songcatcher Here is the link: Pretty Saro on YouTube ris DeMent singing Pretty Saro from Songcatcher/B> I youtube.com
    Notable artists who have recorded Pretty Saro include: (Artist and Album)
    Derroll Adams – 65th Birthday Concert
    Sam Amidon – All is Well
    Judy Collins – A Maid of Constant Sorrow
    Shirley Collins and Davy Graham – Folk Roots, New Routes
    Iris Dement – Songcatcher
    Jay Munly – Galvanized Yankee
    Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol 10 – Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)
    Pete Seeger – God Bless the Grass
    Doc Watson – Home Again
    Chris Jones – Cloud of Dust
    Ashley Monroe featuring Aubrey Haynie – Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War
    “During his Self Portrait sessions in March 1970 at Columbia Records' New York studio, Bob Dylan ran through "Pretty Saro" six consecutive times. While none of those versions made the final cut for the album, the song remained in Columbia's vault, until it was released on Another Self Portrait, a 35-track box set of songs cut for Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait and New Morning.”
    SOURCE:This is an excellent link for it provides links to the artist’s actual music.

    To add just one more bit to the mystique that seemed to surround Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard, several years ago while researching the Bullard family, I found among thousands of entries one intriguing hit on the search engine. A lady named Marilyn Carnell living in California had obtained, by chance, a series of letters among members of the Bullard family written in the Civil War era. She did not want those letters to be lost so had posted online. I responded to her post and after a series of emails she determined I had sufficient documentation to be entrusted with the letters. She mailed a package to me of the original letters and I was, ultimately, able to identify the writers and recipients of each letter. During the course of our email correspondence, I was amazed to learn that Marilyn Carnell had a link to Pineville. In fact, when my great-grandmother Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard passed away, the undertaker who crossed the swinging bridge to the island home where she had lived was Lee Carnell – Marilyn Carnell’s great-grandfather!

    Our great grandmother lived long enough to see the birth of my eldest sister, the Editor of PencilStubs.Online. There is a wonderful four-generation photograph of Malinda Ellen, her daughter Carrie, her granddaughter Lena May and her great-granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Carroll. (See pic below)

    On the 4th of February in 1937, Malinda Ellen Hopper Bullard watched her last sunrise, looking out the window of her room across the wide river from the island home she shared with her daughter, Carrie. She was buried beside her husband in the Pineville Cemetery, Pineville, Missouri, among the graves of so many family members.

Compiled and Researched by Melinda Ellen (Carroll) Cohenour

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Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.

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Cooking with Rod

 

By Melinda Cohenour

It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dearly beloved husband, Roderick William Cohenour.

This column, ""Cooking With Rod, has been a shared project for Rod and me as we worked on it together. We looked forward to joyful interaction between us as we discussed what recipe or meal plan to share with our readers. Rod always enjoyed providing the introduction whether presenting a favorite recipe he developed that our kids and grandkids requested he share or some dish he particularly enjoyed that I created. Occasionally he requested one of our kids to share their own special recipes. But always, he had that delightful turn of phrase that let all know how he had selected that recipe to present.

Since so much of our love has been poured into this column through the years, I have requested to continue offering recipes developed by me or a family member. It is a matter of practicality that we change the title, however.

It has been suggested we label the column "Cooking with Rod's Family" to continue the work that was so close to his heart.

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Editor's Note: I believe that the quality of this column will not be reduced and that we can look forward to some interesting and enticing recipes. It is a lovely way to show our love and respect to Rod.

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Rod, Tito, and Melinda

Woo Woo

 

By Pauline Evanosky

A Story of Ghosts and of Spirits

Do you know the hype out there about people being fascinated with haunted houses and ghosts? I don’t generally dwell upon things like that. I have talked to ghosts occasionally, and I can tell you they sound different than the spirit guides and folk on the other side I usually speak to.

For one thing, they don’t talk a whole lot. Also, they tend to repeat themselves. Sometimes, insistently. Also, sometimes, there is a rush of emotion that I sense involved.

As a psychic, I hear things like, “My house. My house. My house!” According to the tenants, there was a ghost haunting an old house in Alameda, California. I went to investigate, and it was on the grand staircase going up to the second story that for every step I took on three stair treads, I heard, “My House!” three times. Fast. Emphatic. Almost angry. I don’t believe there was anything I could do with that particular investigation. I was almost too intimidated.

Another time, I went to the home of a friend of ours, a fellow writer who had just had a baby. There were all sorts of things going bump in the night. There were odd noises that were unsettling, things were being shifted in the house and banging in the air ducts. The people had gotten exterminators in, had inspections, and found nothing.

Nobody felt too terribly frightened; they just weren’t able to get a good night’s sleep. There was also some concern about their newborn child. In this instance, there was a spirit who introduced himself to me as Captain Jack and others who were buried in a Native American burial ground next to the house. What I understood was that they had a concern about the care the newborn baby was getting. I did not sense any of the Native American spirits, but I spoke with Captain Jack, who appeared to be the spokesperson, or should I say, spokes-spook.

As a psychic, I can hear somebody laughing.

Anyway, I assured Captain Jack that although the parents were first-time parents and didn’t exactly have a whole lot of experience with babies, they did love their child. I assured him that they would learn and would be good parents.

Captain Jack told me in no uncertain terms that the spirits were there to stay in the house and in their graveyard. Nobody was going anywhere. I told him I understood and that I would tell the parents that all was well, but the ghosts were not leaving.

The next day, I got a call from our friend, who told me that morning she smelled an overwhelming scent of roses in the front of the house. We figured that meant everything was okay. And it was. Eventually, my friend and her husband and child relocated due to their jobs changing, but there were no more noises in the middle of the night.

What I think now is that in the reasonable speaking of Captain Jack, I might have been speaking with a spirit, much as I would have been speaking any other day. Why I did not hear from the ghosts was a little odd but understandable. I don’t think ghosts particularly like to talk to people. And, as I said before, my experience with them has been spotty and generally abrupt.

Recently, I had an interesting experience of hearing from a lady who had been buried in an old cemetery in the southern United States. My husband and I were watching the show on YouTube in our house in California. In the video, the presenter in Georgia said he wasn’t sure why there were both headstones and footstones at many of the gravesites. We were not watching a live show. It had been recorded sometime earlier.

That’s when the lady spoke and told me the footstones were to “Keep them from wandering.” I could not see her either in my mind’s eye or on the video, but what I sensed was a frail, elderly black woman. I remember that her dress was sort of crackly, like it was her best dress, and had been saved especially for her burial. I don’t know for sure, but that was what I sensed. I think that was the first time I’d ever heard a ghost speak from a video. That actually makes sense because I’ve sometimes “sensed” things from pictures taken of earlier times. Not all of them. Just some.

My objection to ghost hunters and programs of that nature is the fear factor. If I had to deal with fear in my experiences as a psychic communicating with ghosts or as a psychic talking to Folk in Spirit, I would not like it. I would have to make a choice as to whether I was going to continue with all of this, which, I have a feeling would be rather difficult. In point of fact, I don’t think I can cut those ties. So, I have insisted from the beginning that all of my contacts with Spirit be polite and peaceful. Those are the rules. I will not tolerate anything other than that. And luckily, that has been the case for me all these years, which at the time of this writing is 31 years.

Was it me? Was it my insistence on everybody being polite? It sounds silly. It really does, even to me, and yet, that has been my experience. No bad stuff in. No bad stuff out.

Do you want to talk to Roy Rogers? He just asked. I think that was to provide a bit of levity.

I don’t tell everyone in my experience of the things I sense in a psychic manner. If it is a close friend or if the person I am speaking to is particularly upset about something, I might say something. I never want to cause fear. Many times, it is when they are grieving, and the person they are missing comes quickly to our conversation. In circumstances like that I might say something.

Spirit is not all that far away for any of us. Relax and say your piece to have peace. Just say, “I love you,” to whoever it is you are missing. This also includes your animals who have passed.

And, again, if you’ve never heard me say it, beings are at peace once they have passed. At least the ones who I speak to regularly are. The ones who are ghosts? I can’t say. I believe they are on a different level. At least, that’s what I am thinking. I also think they are not at all bothered by it. They are as content where they are as we are.

I am not an expert in anything, but I know a little bit about some stuff. My experiences, for the most part, have not been frightening. At the beginning of anything, there might always be a bit of trepidation, like the first time I ever fried up chicken livers. I swore we were never going to do that again. But there were other instances of weird bread that I kept experimenting with. I can say I bake a mean loaf of bread these days, but it took a few years.

Trying to discern the differences between ghosts and Spirits has taken a good many years for me, too. I guess I could say that ghosts are stuck, though they might not feel stuck at all. Spirit is not stuck anywhere. We all have choices to make. Maybe we do that too after we have passed on.

Thanks for reading.
Pauline Evanosky

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Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.

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Irish Eyes

 

By Mattie Lennon

Who Fears to Speak of 98, Antique Coffins,
And Dark Streets?

Wicklow played an active role in the 1798 Insurrection. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 which was an insurrection against the British Crown. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen. First formed in Belfast by Presbyterians. One day at a funeral in Templeboden a historian, looking at the weathered tombstones said, “ I’d say there are 98 men buried here.” My old neighbour Jimmy added, “Begob there is, or there could be more than a hundred in it.”

I always liked living in the past, it’s cheaper. Consequently I love museums. I was in a sex museum in Amsterdam and I had just left Prague when I discovered that there is a Museum of Instruments of torture there. (A musician friend of mine claims that the Bodhrán should be in it.)

Imagine my delight when I found that there is a coffin museum on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. It’s owned and run by Newman Brothers Coffin Works and is situated at 13-15 Fleet Street, Birmingham B3.

The Coffin Works is an award winning museum. The shelves and workbenches at Newman Brothers are full of original stock and tools of the trade. A very nice young lady there called Emma told me, “The Coffin Works is an award winning museum in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. The shelves and workbenches at Newman Brothers are full of original stock and tools of the trade. With the original machinery working again, you can truly experience how this old Jewellery Quarter firm once operated on a day to day basis, producing some of the world’s finest coffin furniture, including the fittings for the funerals of Winston Churchill, Princess Diana and the Queen Mother.”

The Newman family have been making coffins since 1882 so if you are in Birmingham be sure to call in.

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The annual Sean McCarthy Memorial Weekend was the usual get-together of writers, poets, singers/songwriters and storytellers.

Caroline O Callaghan took first place with her ballad "My Maryann" in second place was Pete Gilroy with his ballad "Claddagh" and in third place was Pat McCarthy with his ballad, "Tell me what happened to yesterday".

And for the Mick McCarthy Story Telling competition the winner was Tom Moore from Moyvane, with "Left it too Late for a Wife" second place was Maria Gillen with "Wolf Eyes" and in third place was John Carew with "Geroid Laria."

Tom Moore, Storyteller

One commentator had this to say about Tom Moore, “Moyvane is very proud to have a talented seanchai such as Tom Moore living in our midst. His storytelling is a blend of Eamonn Kelly and Eddie Lenehan washed down with a healthy North Kerry accent.”

Tom told me, “I have been storytelling since 1982. My stories, which I write myself, are all based on the past in rural Ireland. I remember the past fondly and it is easy to build stories around such amazing times. Some of my favourite stories to tell are Mickeen and Paudeen, The Common Market, The Carnival and A servant boy going to confession on holy week. I've always loved stories that are humorous with a good punch line as I believe these best engage the audience. I'm also a country singer and enjoy singing a mix of old and modern country songs. I've taken part in many concerts, fundraisers and storytelling competitions over the years.”

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Still in Kerry the Dan Paddy Andy Festival.

"Who was Dan Paddy Andy ? In the days before Tinder or match.com, legendary matchmaker Dan Paddy Andy O’ Sullivan of Renagown had perfected the job of bringing people together in rural areas. The late and great Listowel writer, John B Keane, whose book, Man of the Triple Name is a tribute to Dan Paddy Andy, suggested that Dan did more for his own people during the 1930s and 1940s than any other man of his time.

Keane described how there was more to the gentle art of matchmaking than land and stock and condition of the dwelling house. Dan Paddy Andy wanted to know the parties involved like the back of his hand, to have intimate knowledge of them down to the number of teeth or sets of false teeth (upper and lower); their ancestors, history of sickness, life spans.

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Tadhg Coakley is the author of six books, Before He Kills Again,The First Sunday in September, Whatever It Takes. His, The Game: A Journey into the Heart of Sport (2023) was shortlisted as Sports Book of The Year. (You can see his photo at his web page, "Tadhg Coakley.webp")

He is a prolific writer of short stories, articles, and essays which have been published in The Stinging Fly, The Winter Papers, The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times, The42.ie, Aethlon, The Holly Bough, The Honest Ulsterman, Quarryman, Silver Apples and elsewhere.

Tadhg is a writer from Mallow, he lives in Cork city. A former librarian and researcher, he worked in MTU for 30 years before he retired in 2015.

After that he became a writer and he signed up for a Masters in Creative Writing in UCC. That course was crucial for him. This Dissertation became his first book, The First Sunday in September, which is published by Mercier Press in 2018.

His second novel was published in 2020, Whatever it Takes, and the first thriller featured Tim Collins, a Detective based in Cork city. His third book was the Autobiography of Denis Coughlan, which he ghost-wrote. It was published by Hero Books in 2020. It got rave reviews and was selected as one of the sports books of the year by the Irish Examiner, the Irish Times and the Sunday Times.

His fourth book is The Game: A Journey into the Heart of Sport published by Merrion Press in 2022. It was a bestseller and was shortlisted for Irish Book of the Year.

His 5th is a follow-up to Whatever It Takes, in the Tim Collins series of crime thrillers, published by the Mercier Press in 2023. It’s called Before He Kills Again. His crime novel Whatever It Takes (Part 1 of the Tim Collins Series) was chosen as the 2020 Cork, One City One Book. Fresh from solving a harrowing abduction case linked to drug gangs in Kerry In the latest Dark Streets Detective Tim Collins returns to Cork City, only to discover lurking in the lanes is a world he's unprepared for.

The reader is brought through the life of Detective Tim Collins, the Na Piarsaigh and Cork hurler, from 1990 to 2015. Coakley, who I would describe as a mixture of Agatha Christie and Richard Osmon, skilfully takes the reader on this journey, over a quarter century. There are many twists, turns, cul-de-sacs and atrocities. The author, a Corkman himself , is very familiar with all of the locations mentioned in the text including the streets, restaurants, cafes, pubs etc. He says, “That helps me in no small way to visualise with great clarity and appreciate more the various aspects of this thriller as it evolves. I am there with Tim Collins in the Oval, in the Long Valley with Peadar, in the Roundy”

His word pictures are equally vivid when describing Collins’s experiences in the beautiful area around Dingle in County Kerry and the love that the author has for this part of “the Kingdom” with its contrast to the “Dark Streets” of Cork city is evident.

While still a student in UCC in 1990 his girlfriend, Jessie, was murdered. He was accused and several stunts were pulled to frame him. Despite his parents misgiving, Tim Collins joined the Garda Síochána in 1991. In later life he often wondered if his parents were right; that maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a policeman. He learned fairly quickly that An Garda Síochána is not one big happy family; that all human life is there. His colleagues and superiors include at least one sadist, a rugby fan, several who would stop at nothing to achieve their own ends and a few decent officers.

It is very obvious that Coakley also has a fierce grá for Kerry and once again while these Kerry locations are quite central to the plot, they are also areas of breathtaking natural beauty in their own right.

Coakley builds his thriller at a gradual and entertaining pace. The stories central to the book, both present and past, are seamlessly stitched together. The storyline also gives the reader quite a detailed appreciation of how the Garda Síochána conduct their business internally and how they might actually approach the stories as contained in the book. I’m certain the reader will find them very informative and interesting.

A series of terrible crimes have been committed in Cork. Collins has been framed by a colleague who claimed that he assaulted them causing grievous bodily harm. If he agreed to a suspension for a year and then resigned no charges would be brought. He agreed but decided to embark on a one-man mission to solve the brutal crimes in his native city which his colleagues and superiors had ignored. Yes, they had opened files on them but didn’t do any follow ups.

He asks himself, "Can one man make a difference?” and appears to answer in the affirmative. He goes undercover posing as a homeless person and sleeping rough in Cork in his effort to find justice for victims.

As Collins digs deeper, the line between justice and revenge blurs. Trust becomes a luxury he can't afford as allies become adversaries and the truth slips further away. The streets he once knew now hold secrets that challenge everything he knows, forcing him to confront the demons of his haunted past?a past rooted in his formative years at University College Cork making him question the nature of justice and the path he has chosen in its pursuit.

As the story unfolds, Tim must decide how far he will go to uncover the truth and whether redemption lies at the end of the road. The question remains: Can one man make a difference?

Experience the brutal and blood-soaked world of Detective Tim Collins in the third instalment of this riveting series. Filled with unforeseen twists, this book promises a visceral journey that will hold you in suspense from beginning to end.

The minute I finished it I found myself looking forward to the fourth instalment which no doubt will bring the reader through another riveting journey with Tim Collins.

See you in October.

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Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.

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Sifoddling Along

 

By Marilyn Carnell

Writing an article once a month sounds easy enough and usually very do-able. This month I am suffering from a severe case of writer’s block (the fancy term is agraphia).

Possible topics race through my brain only to be swatted down like flies. Nah, boring. Nah, too much work to research the topic . Nah, politics is off limits. Nah, no one in their right mind would find THAT interesting.

There is nothing like a looming deadline to activate the senses. In my case, it is one of imminent doom. I have already written articles about going back to school and my connections with people who were close to the events of 9/11. Wait. I just thought of a topic:

Last week I had a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Big words for saying that my alimentary canal has been closely examined from one end to another. The procedures went well, but the anesthetic did a real number on me. I can report that the preparation for the peek into my insides have not improved over the years. It takes several disruptive days ending with drinking a gallon of a noxious brew that is likely used to interrogate spies. I know I would have confessed to almost any heinous crime and suggested a few more with murder of the inventor of this concoction among the top ten.

This year a special twist was added. I was to drink 8 ounces of the fluid every 10 minutes the night before and finish it off the next morning four hours before leaving the house for my appointment. My 8:40 appointment meant I had to start drinking at 4:40 am. Fearful I would not hear the alarm, I slept very little, but I got there on time, and they kept me so busy that I hardly felt the prick of the needle that sent me into oblivion.

I am pleased to report that my internal pathway passed all tests. Now all I have to do is fight my way out of this fog.

If you want to read the funniest account about a colonoscopy, Google Dave Barry’s Essay “A Journey into my Colon – and Yours” on February 22, 2008: amp.miamiherald.com. I guarantee a belly laugh.

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Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.

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