The Lady in White

In researching online for folklore and urban legends local to Twillingate, I found repeated references to the story of “The Lady in White”. These stories were not all local to Twillingate, and many were not based on Newfoundland folklore. I discovered one story local to Salmon Cove which I’ve paraphrased below. I’ve also written an adapted version of “Lady in White”, based on stories in Twillingate. I found at least one reference to an incident involving a “Lady in White” at Long Point Lighthouse in Twillingate, which I’ve referenced below.

“The Woman in White” – Salmon Cove

As the story goes, the lady in white was a ghostly figure who was often seen during certain inclement weather or at nightfall. It was unclear what the history was behind the story. Was the lady in white a victim of a horrible crime, or was she the ghost of someone who had suffered a tremendous loss? No one truly knows the origins, but local residents of Salmon Cove were terrified of having an encounter with her.

As they were walking past the church and graveyard toward Parsons’ Hill, they looked ahead to the top of the hill, only to see “the lady in white” walking toward them. The boys were startled, started to scream and threw rocks at the figure. They then ran away and at some point made their way home.

The next day, the talk of the town was an attack on poor Aunt Gladys Parsons, who apparently was attacked by a group of kids who threw rocks at her the night before as she was walking along the road on Parsons’ Hill. Reluctantly, the boys felt so guilty for the incident, they confessed what they had done to their parents. Furious, the parents of all four boys forced them to go in person and apologize for what they had done. When word got around, many of the adults had a good chuckle at the incident, especially since Aunt Gladys reportedly didn’t get injured. She did get quite the scare though.

Historic Wabana. (n.d.). The Woman in White. Historic Wabana. https://www.historic-wabana.com/woman-in-white.html#:~:text=Everybody%20would%20talk%20about%20this,the%20Woman%20in%20White%2C%20so (Accessed: February 26, 2025).

The Lady in White – Twillingate

Legend has it that at the turn of the
19th century, there lived a young lady in Twillingate whose character was as
beautiful as her smile. She loved life and was often seen in her white dress
walking the local beaches. At the age of 18 years, she met a young man, a local
fisherman who spent much time at sea, especially in the summer and early fall.

The young couple became quite smitten
with each other. They had plans of marrying and starting a family. When the
young man was not at sea, the two were inseparable. They spent all their time planning
for their future, often seen walking together hand in hand around town. 

One day in late September, tragedy
struck. The young man had not returned to dock when expected. The town was in
an uproar. Reports say no one had seen the young man and his small crew as they
sailed home to Twillingate. A massive search ensued, but weeks later the search
was called off, the young man never to return.

The young lady was devastated. Every
day she scoured the rocky cliffs and shorelines around Twillingate in hopes of
seeing the young man’s fishing vessel approach. She clung unto hope until first
snowfall that year and beyond. One day the young lady never returned from her
walk.

Search parties looked everywhere for
the young lady but there was no sign of her anywhere. Some thought she may have
slipped into the ocean, others thought perhaps she ran away. Nonetheless, the
young lady did not return.

Soon after, the locals started
reporting sightings of a young lady dressed in white around the rocky shores
and cliffs, but when approached she would vanish. Some believe this was the spirit
of the young lady, still waiting for the young fisherman to return. No one truly knows.

Adapted and written by Tony Card based on numerous stories of “The Lady in White”

The Lady in White and the Moving Mop

This is a very compelling story of a lighthouse keeper who fell from a height of about 12 meters while tending to the lighthouse and would have certainly been critically injured or died if it weren’t for this strange occurrence. Just as he was about to hit the brick floor below, he fell into the arms of a lady all dressed in white. 

See the following link for a more detailed story of this strange occurrence as written by Dale Jarvis.

Jarvis, D. (2017, July 24). The moving mop and mystery lady of St. John’s. Dale Jarvis. https://www.dalejarvis.ca/2017/07/the-moving-mop-and-mystery-lady-of.html