deaths from the lookout spot, and a man is even alleged to have hung himself from the railway tracks that run near the base of the gorge.
One of the legends told of the Punchbowl is that of a lone still operator who, on dark and moonless nights, can be heard lugging pails of moonshine along Ridge Road, the eerie red glow of his eyes beaming through the dark — a reminder of the “devil’s brew” he was offering.
Due to its magnificent scenery, the Punchbowl has been the location for various television and movie shoots. In 1989, television star Super Dave Osborne taped his “atomic yo-yo” stunt here.[11] As he rode inside the hub of a giant yo-yo suspended from a crane, the yo-yo broke free of its tether and rolled off the cliff, plunging into the ravine.[12]
Both the Devil’s Punchbowl and the large illuminated cross were featured in the first few scenes of the 2006 horror film Silent Hill,[13] which is about a woman’s search for her missing daughter within a small, desolate town. It was a fitting sort of movie for such a picturesque yet ominous piece of Hamilton landscape.
Chapter Six
The Hermitage
About three kilometres west of Ancaster and located in the Dundas Valley is a once-large residence that now stands in ruins. Called the Hermitage or the Hermitage Ruins, they are part of the Hermitage and Gatehouse Museum maintained by the Hamilton Conservation Authority. The location is quite popular with hikers and those interested in the paranormal.[1]
I went on a ghost walk run by Haunted Hamilton as part of their Ghost Walks and Historical Tours[2] under a new moon in July of 2011. Of the phases of the moon, a new moon, the time when the moon is not at all visible to the naked eye, is as significant in terms of ritual as a full moon. And for those who are not interested in the effects of lunar phases on supernatural energy and ritual, walking through a forest at night without a radiant orb in the sky can be that much more unsettling.
Just driving out to the location where the tour began, alone in my car and heading down the long and winding Sulphur Springs Road, I began to feel trepidation set in. It felt as if the forests on either side of the road were closing in on me, that beyond the range of my headlights were eyes following my every movement.
When I arrived at the site, a dark and faceless figure in long, flowing black robes, holding a single white candle, stood by the entrance and greeted me, waving me into the parking lot. It was only after I parked the car and walked out near the gathering crowd awaiting the 10:00 p.m. tour that I started to take comfort in the presence of others around me.
Of course, once the tour began, and Ghost Guide George led our group down the path into the rich blackness of the night and relayed the history of the Hermitage to our group, I again felt the eyes of the forest upon me as I delightedly stepped down the path and into a spooky historical journey.
The first building to appear on the now legendary spot was a small and humble home built in 1830 by Reverend George Sheed, Ancaster’s first Presbyterian minister, who had a dream of building and ministering his own church. Unfortunately, Sheed died before fully realizing this dream and his funeral took place in the very church he had been building (the 1st St. Andrew’s Church on Mineral Springs Road in Ancaster).[3]
Not long after, the property was sold to Colonel Otto Ives, an English officer who had fought in the Greek War of Independence and emigrated to Ancaster in 1833 with his wife and their beautiful young niece.[4]
A servant of Ives, William Black, fell in love with his master’s niece. Some accounts of the tale indicate that Black was a coachman as well as a tutor who was asked to assist the niece with speaking and writing English. The niece apparently felt the same way about Black, and thus began a secret and unfulfilled courtship between the two. When Black finally gathered the courage to meet with his boss, and in the gentlemanly and respectful way of the time ask for his niece’s hand in marriage, Ives was outraged. The sheer idea of a servant marrying a woman of station was preposterous, and Ives instantly and vehemently rejected the proposal.
The Hermitage, originally built in 1830 by the Reverend George Sheed, now exists as ruins, inspiring visitors with echoes from times long past.
Courtesy of Stephanie Lechniak.
Stunned and an instantly broken man, Black stumbled out of the house. Unable to bear a life without the woman he loved, Black hung himself.
Conflicting reports reveal Black hanging himself either in a stable or by the branches of a nearby willow tree. But as the legend goes, the next morning, Black was founding hanging by Ives, who proceeded to cut the body down. Because, in those days, the body of a person who committed suicide could not be buried on consecrated ground, Ives took Black’s body on a cart and buried him at a nearby crossroads of Sulphur Springs Road and what later became known as Lover’s Lane (after this very incident).[5]
The ghost of William Black is said to be heard during the night of a full moon, still crying for his lost love. Others have reported seeing his ghost walking the stretch of road near where his body and the cart were buried, wandering aimlessly in his distress and angst, or moving slowly along the grounds of the Hermitage, seeking, in vain, the woman he could not have.
Daniel Cumerlato tells a tale of one eerie moonlit night. At the end of that particular night’s tour, he headed back to the ruins to explain to the people still walking around that the security guard would soon be locking the gate to the parking lot. As he moved around the side wall of the Hermitage building, he spotted two people walking toward him. Daniel called out to them to hurry back to the parking lot, but they paid him no heed.
He called out again, and the two moved into the forest.
Concerned for their safety, Daniel ran after them into the woods with his flashlight, mere seconds behind their own entry. But they were nowhere to be found.
Of even more curiosity, Stephanie, who was a few yards back, saw him addressing the people, then chasing after them, but saw nobody other than Daniel on the grounds ... as if they were visible only to him.
One of the tales told regarding the ruins and Black’s ghost involves a new park employee, who, upon approaching the ruins, was disturbed to see a body hanging from a tree. Horrified that someone had committed suicide, he stood there, stunned, unable to do anything except watch the body swaying back and forth in the wind. When the figure suddenly vanished, the terrified employee ran as fast as he could off the grounds. It was only later that he learned of the story of William Black.
In a piece of fiction based upon some real experiences, Rob Howard wrote “The Second Ghost,” which ran in the Hamilton Spectator on Halloween of 2000. In the piece, he shared a fanciful story that he’d been mulling over in his mind for more than two decades.
Howard was hanging out at the site of the ruins with a group of friends after dark on a moonlit night, telling ghost stories, drinking some beers, and engaging in the kind of playful mischief that teenagers are apt to be up to in the days leading up to Halloween. One of the friends, Kenny, who had been planning on
