barnburner
08-03-2010, 10:04 PM
With this amount of darkness, I hope this shows up ok on here. It shows ok on my desktop and my laptop, so hopefully it will be ok.
As I recall, the story goes thus....
In the early 1800s, an Irish lass we shall call Maureen,being of the Irish Royal bloodline and fearing for her life, fled from Ireland, . She stowed away on a ship in the harbor, not knowing that it was a pirate ship. Two days underway, she was discovered.
As luck would have it, she and the pirate captain fell for each other, to the point that when they arrived on American shores, he left the sea forever, and took her with him.
From town to town they searched for a home, but always her enemies followed, determined to kill her.
Finally, he came to Clay County, Arkansas, and bought a farm far from the nearest town. Realizing that her enemies would not easily give up, he searched for, and found, a hideaway for Maureen. It was a cave in the remote section of their property, that could not be seen until one was right on top of it.
The ex-pirate captain stocked it full of provisions, and told her that she would have to live there for a year. He would stay with her whenever he was not working in the fields. After a year, they could chance her living in the house with him, for by then, her enemies would probably have left America.
Unfortunately, after only a few months, they found the house, broke in, and the ex-pirate managed to kill three of them before he was overpowered and killed himself. The killers searched high and low, but were never able to find Maureen.
At this point, the facts are sketchy...
Most say that realizing he must have been killed, Maureen attempted to cross the Mississippi in a canoe, trying to reach Tennessee. Unfortunately, she made her attempt at the same time the New Madrid earthquake occurred, and they say - she must have drowned.
However, as the old timers say, a few whispers came around that she never gave up on the idea that her lover would return to her. The story goes that she never left the cave except at night, when she foraged for food. Some say she spent the remainder of her life in her secret cave, secure in her faith that the ex-pirate captain would return to her.
Most of the folks in the area today scoff at that notion, reminding everyone --
"it's just a legend".
:confused:
As I recall, the story goes thus....
In the early 1800s, an Irish lass we shall call Maureen,being of the Irish Royal bloodline and fearing for her life, fled from Ireland, . She stowed away on a ship in the harbor, not knowing that it was a pirate ship. Two days underway, she was discovered.
As luck would have it, she and the pirate captain fell for each other, to the point that when they arrived on American shores, he left the sea forever, and took her with him.
From town to town they searched for a home, but always her enemies followed, determined to kill her.
Finally, he came to Clay County, Arkansas, and bought a farm far from the nearest town. Realizing that her enemies would not easily give up, he searched for, and found, a hideaway for Maureen. It was a cave in the remote section of their property, that could not be seen until one was right on top of it.
The ex-pirate captain stocked it full of provisions, and told her that she would have to live there for a year. He would stay with her whenever he was not working in the fields. After a year, they could chance her living in the house with him, for by then, her enemies would probably have left America.
Unfortunately, after only a few months, they found the house, broke in, and the ex-pirate managed to kill three of them before he was overpowered and killed himself. The killers searched high and low, but were never able to find Maureen.
At this point, the facts are sketchy...
Most say that realizing he must have been killed, Maureen attempted to cross the Mississippi in a canoe, trying to reach Tennessee. Unfortunately, she made her attempt at the same time the New Madrid earthquake occurred, and they say - she must have drowned.
However, as the old timers say, a few whispers came around that she never gave up on the idea that her lover would return to her. The story goes that she never left the cave except at night, when she foraged for food. Some say she spent the remainder of her life in her secret cave, secure in her faith that the ex-pirate captain would return to her.
Most of the folks in the area today scoff at that notion, reminding everyone --
"it's just a legend".
:confused: