THE WANDERING GHOST OF SALEM

It is a fact widely acknowledged that in many castles there is a ghost wandering from room to room. Hence, it is no surprise to claim that Salem is not an exception. Referring to the rhymed tale enclosed in the Baddish book of sayings from 1846 it is believed that there is a ghost dwelling in the basement of the monastery. Dating from the 17th century two differently worded stories about a drunken monk exist, which ultimately collide to the same common end, i.e. the monk led by his avarice drew in a wine barrel and since then haunts the basement.

The two stories differ from literary style utilized. Whereas one of them is a prose by Carl Borromäus Alois Fickler, the other one is a rhyme by Ignaz Hub. The story, in details, talks about a monk who never had enough wine. That is why, he decided once to take the key from the basement keeper and copy it with wax. After doing this, he had an unlimited access to the wine barrels. The very same night he went down to the basement with the intention of getting more wine. There was no wine in the barrels on the floor, so he had to climb on the ladder to reach the second row of barrels. Unfortunately, he tripped on the last step and fell in the barrel. On the next day, the basement keeper found the monk drown in the wine, took him out and buried him secretly to keep the good moral reputation of the rest of the monks. Nowadays, evidence that partially backs up the legends and contributes to the supernatural belief is the winepress in the so-called Torkel in Salem.