Fisher's ghost Fisher's Ghost
Ringkasan
Hantu Fisher adalah kisah hantu populer Australia dari awal abad ke-19 yang bermula dari peristiwa nyata di Campbelltown: hantu seorang petani yang dibunuh konon menunjukkan tempat jasadnya terkubur.
Fisher's ghost is a popular Australian ghost story from the early 19th century that grew out of real events in Campbelltown: the ghost of a murdered farmer is said to have pointed out where his body lay.
Kisah dan tradisi
Legenda hantu Fisher adalah cerita rakyat atau kisah hantu populer Australia dari awal abad ke-19. Kisah ini muncul dari serangkaian peristiwa nyata di Campbelltown, New South Wales, yang kini menjadi pusat permukiman besar di pinggiran barat daya Sydney tetapi saat itu merupakan pos pedesaan terpencil. Pada 17 Juni 1826, Frederick Fisher menghilang. Tetangganya George Worrall mengaku Fisher telah pulang ke Inggris dan memberinya kuasa atas hartanya, tetapi Dictionary of Sydney mencatat bahwa alasan itu tidak meyakinkan karena Fisher masih narapidana dan berisiko ditangkap di Inggris. Menurut versi legenda, empat bulan kemudian John Farley berlari ke hotel setempat dan mengatakan telah melihat hantu Fisher duduk di pagar jembatan; hantu itu tidak berbicara dan hanya menunjuk ke sebuah padang di seberang kali. Menurut legenda, polisi menggeledah padang yang ditunjuk hantu itu dan menemukan jasad Fisher terkubur di tepi kali; Worrall ditangkap, mengaku, dan digantung. Catatan sejarah memberi gambaran lain: dua anak laki-laki melaporkan noda darah pada pagar pertanian Fisher, polisi menemukan sehelai rambut dan sebuah gigi, lalu seorang pelacak Aborigin bernama Gilbert menuntun polisi ke makam di tanah Worrall. Catatan polisi dan pengadilan sezaman tidak menyebut kisah hantu itu. Asal-usul kisah ini diperdebatkan. Ada usul bahwa Farley mengarangnya untuk menutupi sumber pengetahuan lain tentang letak jasad Fisher, tetapi hal itu tidak dapat dipastikan; Joe Nickell menulis bahwa kisah itu mungkin berawal dari puisi anonim tahun 1832. Dictionary of Sydney mencatat kisah itu pertama kali tercetak dalam puisi "The Sprite of the Creek" pada Agustus 1832. Desas-desus beredar bahwa penemuan jasad Fisher bukan kebetulan, dan kisah hantunya dicetak ulang sejak awal 1830-an. Kisah ini kemudian masuk ke cerita rakyat populer dan menamai Fisher's Ghost Creek, tempat jasad ditemukan. Festival Fisher's Ghost digelar di Campbelltown, dan sebuah film bisu Australia tahun 1924 menceritakan ulang peristiwa dalam legenda itu.
The legend of Fisher's ghost is a popular Australian folk tale or ghost story from the early 19th century. It grew out of a series of real events in Campbelltown, New South Wales, now a large urban area on the southwestern edge of Sydney but then a remote rural outpost. On 17 June 1826 Frederick Fisher disappeared. His neighbour George Worrall claimed Fisher had gone back to England and given him power of attorney over his property, but the Dictionary of Sydney finds the excuse hard to believe, since Fisher was still a convict who risked being arrested if he turned up in England. In the legend, four months later John Farley ran into the local hotel and said he had seen Fisher's ghost sitting on the rail of a bridge; the ghost did not speak and merely pointed to a paddock beyond the creek. In the legend, police searched the paddock the ghost had pointed to and found Fisher's remains buried by a creek; Worrall was arrested, confessed, and hanged. The historical account differs: two boys reported bloodstains on a fence at Fisher's farm, the police found a lock of hair and a tooth, and an Aboriginal tracker named Gilbert then led them to the grave on Worrall's land. Contemporary police and court records do not mention the ghost story. The origin of the tale is debated. It has been suggested that Farley invented it to conceal some other source of his knowledge of where the body lay, though this cannot be confirmed; Joe Nickell wrote that it may have begun with an anonymous 1832 poem. According to the Dictionary of Sydney, the tale reached print for the first time in August 1832, in the poem "The Sprite of the Creek". Rumours spread that the finding of Fisher's body was no accident, and the ghost story has been retold in print since the early 1830s. The tale later entered popular folklore and gave its name to Fisher's Ghost Creek, beside which the body was found. A Festival of Fisher's Ghost is held in Campbelltown, and a 1924 Australian silent film retells the events of the legend.
Konteks budaya
Dictionary of Sydney menyebut "Fisher's Ghost" telah menjadi unsur penting ingatan kolektif Campbelltown, dan kisahnya dipentaskan ulang dalam festival tahunan di sana.
The Dictionary of Sydney describes "Fisher's Ghost" as a key part of how Campbelltown remembers its past, with the tale acted out each year at a festival.
Fakta utama
- Budaya / Culture
- Tradisi Australia (folklor pasca-kolonial)
- Kawasan / Region
- Oseania
- Negara / Country
- Australia
- Era
- Dating to the early 19th century
- Klasifikasi / Classification
- Spirit
Tahukah kamu? / Did you know?
Catatan polisi dan pengadilan sezaman tidak menyebut hantu itu sama sekali.
Contemporary police and court records do not mention the ghost at all.