In 1883, after returning from a visit to Stonehenge in England, it "suddenly occurred" to Hazard "that sometime or other a well would be needed by somebody after I am dead in the lot that is at the northeast corner of Gibson Avenue and Hazard Avenue." The next year, believing that he "had been used by spirits," Hazard "determined to build a stone house near the well, and to name it 'Druidsdream'--but for what purpose I have never been able to determine to this day . . . excepting that 'Some one will need it'." He went on to say that the title "Druidsdream" applied to the entire locality, including the tomb (in which, by the way, Hazard is not buried). The force of the folklore about Druidsdream was driven home to me as I was researching a vampire incident that involved the family of William Rose, said to be from Peace Dale. Since one of several books authored by Raymond McNally, a well-known vampire scholar (who, unfortunately, passed way on October 2, 2002) included a brief reference to this event, I wrote to him, hoping that he could add to what little I knew. McNally included the following in his reply: "I know that William Rose dug up the body of his daughter in 1874 and burned the heart of the corpse, because he thought she was a vampire. I visited the Rose family graveyard; there I was told that rumor had it that William Rose was involved in Druid rituals. I was even shown what was purported to be an altar on which he performed sacrifices." Has the legend process turned a vampire incident into a Druid sacrifice? Had McNally been taken to Druidsdream? Or are there really other Druid altars out there?

Text © Dr. Michael Bell