SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE HAUNTED ORGANIST OF HURLY BURLY

"The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly" by Rosa Mulholland (first published in All Year Round, November 1866; reprinted in Mullholland's collection The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly and Other Stories, 1891; reprinted many times)

There was a raging thunderstorm in the village of Hurly Burly and Mistress Hurley was frightened, thinking she may have heard something other than thunder.  The squire chides her because that particular sound had not been heard for months.  The sound is that of the great organ at the manor.  What they can discern over the sounds of thunder, however, is the wheels of an approaching carriage.  The carriage brings a young, waif-like woman, just eighteen, who says she is expected --but if so, not by the squire or his wife.  The girl has travelled from Italy, where she had been making a meager living teaching music.  The girl (a bit simple-minded, I fear) was named Lisa; she told the couple that their son had asked her to marry him, and then charged her to travel to his parents' home in England and play the organ there:  "You must play all day, and you must get up in the night and play.  You must never tire.  You are my betrothed and you have sworn to do my work."  An astounding confession, all the more so since their son Lewis had been dead for twenty years,

Lewis, handsome and popular and spoiled by his parents, had fallen into "evil ways," becoming "more and more abandoned to wickedness."  Once, during a very solemn funeral service, the young man and his cronies had snuck into the church and Lewis began playing a racous (and certainly inappropriate) drinking song on the organ while his fellow roisterers sang as loudly as possible.  The father of the dead went to the alter and cursed Lewis to Hell for all eternity, and cursed the organ that it may never be played again except by Lewis's fingers, until they "stiffened in death."  Lewis, ever cocky, had the organ removed from the church and brought to his father's house, where it sat until one day Lewis began to play it.  Over time, Lewis played the organ more and nmre, locking himself in with the organ.  It soon became apparent that he was a slave to the instrument:  he would physically try to force his hands away from the keyboard to more avail -- some supernatural force was complelling him to continue playing.  Lewis would play day and night, forsaking food and rest, until one day he was found dead on the ground in front of the organ.  Since that time, the sound of the organ could be heard throughout the manjor until it has stopped just recently.  All this was explained to Lisa, who just said that the signor had told her play and that she would play.

She sat down and began to play.  And play.  At night, she would go from her room to the organ to play.  The Hurleys moved her to a neighboring friend's house, but she would sneak and return to the manor to play the organ.  Finally, the squire had some local stonemasons block up the room with the organ.  But soon the sound of the organ would come from the sealed room.  After three days, the squire had the stonemasons open the room once more and there, at the foot or the organ, was little Lisa, dead.

The Hurlys moved to France and never returned to the village.  The house was abandoned for years but had lately been bought.  The organ had been removed and banished.  The room where the organ had been was transformed to an elegant bedroom, but no one ever slept in it twice.

Rosa Mulholland (1841-1921), born in Belfast, was a Protestant and a Unionist.  As writer, she produced novels for both adults and young women, as well as many poems and short stories, a number of them ghost stories.  The ghost story as a literary form was a fairly recent invention and had only begun to take shape with the writing of Sir Walter Scott, beginning in 1824.  It was often felt that the ghost story was best served in the form of a short story, and Charles Dickens (who admired Mulholland's wiring) promoted the form both as a writer and editor.  In her stories Mulholland would balance her Protestantism with her Irish roots, often writing about issues concerning land and property.  Shje had a distinct love for the land and people of Ireland and would often include strong female Catholics in her stories.  Trained as an artist, Mulholland had one of the largest libraries in Ireland when she died.

"The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly" is an effective tale made all the more poignant by the doomed character of Lisa and by the unrelenting force of the supernatural.  It is an early -- and worthy -- example of the ghost story as a literary genre.  You may wonder, if only Lewis's fingers were ever to play the organ according to the curse, how Lisa was was able to play the instrument.  Although not specifically explained, this could well have been the first story of hands haunted by a supernatural force.

The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly and Other Ghost Stories is availabnle to read online.  Or, if you prefer, a recording of the short story is availabel at LibriVox.