Fireship of Baie des Chaleurs

Last updated

The Baie Chaleur Fireship, more commonly referred to as the Chaleur Phantom or the Phantom Ship, is a form of ghost light, an unusual visual phenomenon, occasionally seen in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada, or across the bay in New Carlisle, Quebec. It takes the form of an arc of light, usually seen before a storm. Its cause is unknown, but speculation includes rotting vegetation, undersea releases of natural gas, and St. Elmo's fire. [1]

Contents

The phenomenon has been the source of many a tall tale, and has been said to appear as a flaming three-mast galley much like the style of ship featured on New Brunswick's provincial flag. Local accounts of the supernatural vessel claim that it is possible to hear the screams of the burning ship passengers by submerging one's feet in the Chaleur Bay waters. Sightings are claimed to be most frequent on hot summer nights.

Versions of the story

Portuguese captain selling Mi'kmaq

In this version of the fireship tale, a Portuguese captain arrived on the shores of Heron Island in Chaleur Bay in 1501. Upon his second trip to the region to capture more Mi'kmaq natives for the slave trade, he was tortured and killed by the locals who had bitter memories of his first visit. A year later his brother came looking for him and was also attacked by the locals; their ship caught fire and they jumped into the waters and swore to haunt the bay for 1,000 years. In several eye witness reports from early settlers on Heron Island, most notably the Pettigrew family, the ship is most often seen on the north side of the island, during the full moon. In a horrifying incident, Mrs. Pettigrew reported to be on her veranda at dusk one summers evening in 1878, when a ghostly figure of a sailor appeared at the corner of the farm house, and reportedly asked her to help him, see to his burns. When she turned away from the figure to run inside, it apparently brushed by her and to her horror she realized he was legless. Victims, both Mi'kmaq and Portuguese of the sinking, reportedly washed up on the shores of the island, and were buried in shallow graves at French Woods, a low-lying area at the west tip of the island. [2]

Pirate killing near Port Daniel

This Restigouche lady's version tells of a group of pirates who killed a woman. With her dying words she cast a curse upon them that "For as long as the world is, may you burn on the bay." [2]

Sailor murdered aboard

Sailors aboard a ship heading to sea in bad weather feared they would die and blamed their bad luck on one of their own whom they murdered. When the ship caught fire, it was told that it was Catholic blood reaping its vengeance. [2]

Explanation

Dr. J. Orne Green a professor from Harvard Medical School investigated and concluded it was a natural phenomenon, electrical in nature. [3]

Prof William Francis Ganong who visited the area, believed the Fireship of Baie des Chaleurs to be a case of St. Elmo's fire. [4] He wrote a paper on the subject in 1906. [5]

G. L. Ellis a geologist from Newnham College, Cambridge speculated that the fireship might be marsh gas that had drifted over water. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaleur Bay</span> Arm of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence between Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada

Chaleur Bay, also Chaleurs Bay, Bay of Chaleur, is an arm of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence located between Quebec and New Brunswick, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst, New Brunswick</span> City in New Brunswick, Canada

Bathurst is a city in northern New Brunswick with a population of 12,157 and the 4th largest metropolitan area in New Brunswick as defined by Census Canada with a population of 31,387 as of 2021. The City of Bathurst overlooks Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campbellton, New Brunswick</span> City in New Brunswick, Canada

Campbellton is a city in Restigouche County, New Brunswick, Canada.

Dalhousie is a former town located in Northern New Brunswick. On January 1, 2023, Dalhousie merged with the village of Charlo and all or part of five local service districts (LSDs) to form the new town of Heron Bay, named Baie-des-Hérons in French. Heron Bay is New Brunswick's northernmost point of land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst High School (New Brunswick)</span> Public school in Bathurst, Gloucester, New Brunswick, Canada

Bathurst High School is an English-language secondary school located in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Restigouche</span> 1750 naval battle of the Seven Years War

The Battle of Restigouche was a naval battle fought in 1760 during the Seven Years' War on the Restigouche River between the British Royal Navy and the small flotilla of vessels of the French Navy, Acadian militia and Mi'kmaq militias. The loss of the French vessels, which had been sent to support and resupply the troops in New France after the fall of Quebec, marked the end of any serious attempt by France to keep hold of their colonies in North America. The battle was the last major engagement of the Mi'kmaq and Acadian militias before the Burying of the Hatchet Ceremony between the Mi'kmaq and the British.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Lovibond</span> Legendary ship

The Lady Lovibond is the name given to a legendary schooner that is alleged to have been wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, off the Kent coast of south-east England, on 13 February 1748, and is said to reappear there every fifty years as a ghost ship. No contemporary records of the ship or its supposed sinking have been found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolas Denys</span> Canadian politician

Nicolas Denys was a French-born merchant, governor, author, and settler in New France. He founded settlements at St. Pierre, Ste. Anne and Nepisiquit.

Heron Island is a formerly inhabited 7.15 kilometres (4.44 mi) long island in Chaleur Bay, located approximately 4 km from New Mills, New Brunswick, and across from Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec. It is accessible only at high tide from a wharf on the south side of the island. Today the island has been declared a provincial reserve and is under the care of the New Brunswick government. There is a native traditional burial ground near the northwest end of the island.

Abbé Joseph-Mathurin Bourg was a Roman Catholic Spiritan priest. His family was among those Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia during the French and Indian War. They eventually ended up in France, where Bourg entered the seminary in Paris and joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. He was sent to Quebec, where he was ordained. He was assigned to the missions in Nova Scotia, and in 1774 made vicar-general for Acadia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caraquet Bay</span> Bay in Canada

Caraquet Bay is situated in the northeast of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It is bordered on the south by the town of Caraquet and the village of Bertrand, to the south by the parish of New Bandon, to the north by the village of Maisonnette and to the northwest by the Baie des Chaleurs. Caraquet Island is located between the two bays. There are a number of beaches on the bay, as well as oyster farms and the port of Caraquet. Caraquet Bay flows into the Caraquet River and the Du Nord River

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colborne Parish, New Brunswick</span> Parish in New Brunswick, Canada

Colborne is a geographic parish in Restigouche County, New Brunswick, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst Parish, New Brunswick</span> Parish in New Brunswick, Canada

Bathurst is a geographic parish in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caraquet Parish, New Brunswick</span> Parish in New Brunswick, Canada

Caraquet is a geographic parish in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caraquet</span> Town in New Brunswick, Canada

Caraquet is a town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait</span> Mythical ghost ship of Canadian folklore

In Canadian ghostlore, the Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait is a ghost ship said to sail ablaze within the Northumberland Strait, the body of water that separates Prince Edward Island from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in eastern Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepisiguit Mi'gmaq Trail</span> Hiking trail in New Brunswick, Canada

The Sentier Nepisiguit Mi'gmaq Trail is a 147 kilometre wilderness hiking and backpacking trail in New Brunswick, Canada that follows the Nepisiguit River from the Daly Point’s Nature Reserve in Bathurst to Mount Carleton Provincial Park. Officially opened for hiking in 2018, the trail is a recommissioned ancient Mi'gmaq portage route and is one of the eleven signature hiking trails in New Brunswick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepisiguit Bay</span> Bay in New Brunswick, Canada

Nepisiguit Bay is located in northern New Brunswick, Canada on the southern part of the Chaleur Bay, which extends from the Atlantic Ocean and Nepisiguit Bay is a southern arm of it, stretching between Petit-Rocher and Stonehaven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heron Bay, New Brunswick</span> Town in New Brunswick, Canada

Heron Bay is a town in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It was formed through the 2023 New Brunswick local governance reforms.

References

  1. "The Legend of the Phantom Ship". Source: City of Bathurst.
  2. 1 2 3 "Fireship of Baie des Chaleurs" Archived 2006-06-18 at the Wayback Machine (in French) Source: Université de Moncton, Centre d'études acadiennes, Fonds Catherine-Jolicoeur, 63.011.
  3. Behe, George; Goss, Michael. (2005). Lost at Sea: Ghost Ships and Other Mysteries. Prometheus Books. p. 83. ISBN   1-57866-147-1
  4. Frazer, Calvin. (1929). What is St. Elmo's. Popular Mechanics . pp. 98-103
  5. Ganong, William Francis. (1906). On the Fact Basis of the Fire (or Phantom) Ship of Bay Chaleur. Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick 5: 419-423.
  6. Behe, George; Goss, Michael. (2005). Lost at Sea: Ghost Ships and Other Mysteries. Prometheus Books. p. 85. ISBN   1-57866-147-1