# 29 A Witch Burning: PEI Legends and Lore series Traditional Cache
Olewaif: Out and about retrieving caches down Argyle Shore to Rocky Point way.. the process goes on.
# 29 A Witch Burning: PEI Legends and Lore series
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camoed Pill bottle
"They have tales ." Oh yes they do ! P.E. Islanders love to share tales and there is no shortage of yarns both short and tall to tell. The history of this tiny island is replete with strange occurrences and each seems to spawn one or more explanations to account for them. Ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night are commonplace in this lore. The stranger the actual events the more detailed the often supernatural story around it. Some of these tales go back centuries. Loss and gain, treasure, triumph, disaster, birth, life and death all feature prominently. Not many who live here doubt the existence of spirits and ' haunts' , nor the places they can be found. Forerunners, omens of all kinds, even Satan himself often show up in these accounts.
I have lived here too long to dismiss all these tales as fiction, nor the beliefs that they encompass. I know too many perfectly sober honest people who have had ' strange ' experiences to doubt the veracity of what they say happened.
This series contains a variety of such tales I gleaned from several Island folklore books, old newspaper articles, a few first-person accounts and even an on-line site or two. None are original to me and I certainly wish to thank all those who gathered the stories. I have tried to place the caches in the communities and, if possible, on or close to the exact sites of the described events. For some of these stories you would NOT find me at the exact site late at night. Not a chance. I hope you enjoy both the story and the going to where it happened !
# 29 : A Witch Burning:
The story of La Belle Marie comes to us from the Micmac as well as from the early French settlers. It concerns
a widow, Mrs. Granville, and her fifteen year old daughter, Marie, who came here to Isle St. Jean in 1721. The two women were lively and quickly accepted by both the French settlers and the Micmac people. Marie , in particular was known and admired for her beauty aas well as her singing and dancing. She was fluent in several languages and soon learned Micmac. Marie loved the indian ways and even learned to shoot the bow and arrow.
Over time the two women became more and more atttracted to the indian ways, which caused some of the french settlers to think less of them. When Marie became captivated with and eventually betrothed to the Micmac Chief's son, Kaktoogwasees, even some of the Micmac were not please as they felt he should marry into his own race.
Madame Granville and Marie left to travel down river to Port la Joie to purchase wedding things but disaster occurred . When the empty canoe was seen floating down the river a search along the bank found the two women. Madame Granville was dead and scalped. Marie was near death. It seemed she could not survive.
The chief used sacred magic to cure Marie, against the wishes of many in his tribe, and the wedding plans were renewed. A bower was built and the sacred vows were said within.. but as the young chief to be stepped from the bower an arrow flew from the forest and pierced his heart. revenge no doubt from some tribe member. Marie was shunned by the tribes and went back to the settlement whhere she was no longer wanted. .. she was said by many to be a sorceress and to practice evil magic. The Intendent at Port la Joie heard these stories and not wanting the peace of his settlement disturbed, he had Marie arrested and tried for witchcraft. She was sentenced to be burned at the stake and this horrible death was
carried out on November 17th at Rocky Point near the fort.
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(Decrypt)
5' hc
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