We've heard of the ghosts that haunt the shores.
The lizard men of the swamps. But one tale has yet to be let
off its leash. Deep in the heart of the Sumter
National Forest, lies a myth, a myth for which
locals may be familiar, but one that often goes untold.
The ghost dog, seems to be a legend within a legend. I've
known about the legend at least since I was six or seven years
old. The original story took place along the highway that
led from Charleston to the mountains of North Carolina.
Hence the Buncombe road, because it led up to Buncombe county, in
North Carolina. Essentially a peddler is coming through town,
he has a big white dog with him. Some tales say, he was like
a Mastiff, or Great Dane, or something of that nature.
There's a series of incidents, whether it's petty theft, or
just a rumor mongering, and there's only one stranger in
town. So he gets accused of the crime, and the hasty crowd hangs
him from a nearby tree. But they don't take into account
that his big white dog is not willing to give up so easily.
And the dog stays at the gallows and howls for about a
week, until somebody in the neighborhood puts the dog out of
their misery. After that, rather than the tradesman,
who was later found innocent. Rather than him haunting the
area, the ghost dog, started haunting the area. He has
burning eyes, and a toothy grin. I suppose its the toothy grin,
that earns him the name happy dog. There'are bits and pieces
of the legend that don't make much sense, if you stop and
analyze them. Probably the biggest one being that, Ebenezer
Methodist Cemetery is involved. The story, would involve Peters
Creek Road, which is the closest to parallel the old highway,
that's not really there anymore. That road is in the national
forest now. So, there are pieces of it around, but not really one
that you could travel from point A to point B.
Adding Ebenezer, as the cemetery of choice, is that it's
the most visible one. And it's certainly historic and Doctor
Douglas, who plays a part in the, one of the original
tales, is actually buried there. The most recent sightings I've
seen documented were in the early seventies, and there were
several newspaper articles, that fit along people
seeing Happy Dog. After that it seems that it didn't get
news worthy attention. But if you ask just about anybody
between Newberry and Union, if they've ever seen the Ghost Dog
they'll say that they saw the dog, they were terrified, and
they got away as fast as they could. But other people see him
along Maybinton road, even as far as Brazzleman's Bridge Road,
which probably is trying to tie the Ebenezer Cemetery
into it. I don't consider that Happy Dog,
is particularly a nice spirit. I wouldn't go out looking for him.
There's really no good reason to be driving along those roads
in the middle of the night. Goshen and Maybinton are two of
the most isolated areas in South Carolina, it's one of
those places you have to gas up before you go, because there's
not a gas station anywhere. I suspect that there may be some
truth to the legend, but it's all tied up in folklore. But
i'm not going to say that the Hound of Goshen story, is
completely unique, but I think it's pretty unique to the upper
part of South Carolina. To have a localized Ghost Dog haunting a
specific stretch of road. The story just doesn't seem to
want to go away. ♪