As a boy growing wild in the Low Country of South Carolina, I heard many tales of scary places and people. It is a mystical land, of ancient history, that impresses the minds of little boys. All children should grow up in such places. I am thankful every day for that part of my childhood, and hope to return to those lands in my old age.
One of those places that had a great mythology around it was Frogmore, South Carolina, and especially the forbidden places of its marshes. Many tales are told in that area, blending actual history with fiction of elaborate detail. Here is a short one, I hope will peek your interest to explore that area; for what is worth saving, is worth sharing.
Phantoms in Frogmore
All the more, from the foggy moor, where lovers swoon and sway.
The misty waters, filled with lights, that all could see, but none explain.
Stories of phantoms, filled the minds, of all that stayed too long.
Around the soggy boggy lands, terror, from dust till dawn!
As a lad, I ventured there, a fearless soul was I. Until the lights, from far away, came closer in my eyes.
I froze! As one would think one would, the lights, the smells, the sounds.
Arrested, by what was yarned about, but no one ever found.
Tales of soldiers, from long ago, lost in the foggy moor.
Men in Red coats, from far away, enticed, by fortune and war!
Often, did I wandered back, a curiosity, would not subside.
And every time I wandered close, voices in concert would cry!
“Leave this place, never to return! For the moor will never yield.
We soldiers here, that did her harm, that fell in this boggy field.”
Though they came, for fame, for glory, only one, did the bog supply.
Fame! That lives in haunted tales, and stories, from passers by.
“Phantoms in Frogmore”
Service to God and honor to the South.
