Sunday 18 June 2017

Banshees dragged into rubbish predictions about Peace in Europe

There's nothing like being optimistic. But we were at war six weeks later.

"Fuehrer Coming to Britain"
Special to "The People": "I dreamed that I saw Herr Hitler entering the foreign office in Whitehall with Lord Halifax..."

These words, spoken by an Irishwoman living in Dollis Hill, London, have caused intense interest. Not only her friends, but hundreds of local people who know her reputation as a prophetess who has foretold world events with amazing accuracy, are taking seriously this account of a strange dream. Mrs Bridget Driscoll, a Belfast woman, the widow of a distinguished Irish Civil Servant, is to-day the central figure in a remarkable little drama.

Already she has intrigued and interested many people in her locality by her accounts of "Banshee" warnings followed by visions which have almost invariably foreshown events of international importance. Mrs Driscoll is a firm believer in the existence of that queer spirit known as the Banshee.

"Ever since I was a child, living with my parents on the outskirts of Belfast," she told me, "I have had implicit faith in these warnings. I have heard so many stories of how these unhappy spirits have foretold things, and how their predictions have been carried out to the very letter, that I have no doubt as to their genuineness."

The Banshee is the "domestic" spirit which is supposed to be continually watching over certain Irish or Highland Scottish families. This spirit is credited with taking an interest in each member of the family, and to wail immediately before a member of it passes away. The word is the old Irish, ben side, meaning a woman of the elves, or fairies.

The first public intimation of Mrs Driscoll's powers of prophecy was given about two years ago. In the Willesden church of which she is a member, grave anxiety was felt concerning the Rector, who was seriously ill. With her fellow-members of the congregation, Mrs. Driscoll was offering up prayers for the padre's recovery. "Then one night, in the silence of my room," she declared, "I was awakened by the plaintive, unmistakable wailing of the Banshee. I had not heard that sound since the night six years before when it echoed in my ears to fortell the passing of my beloved husband. He was ill, and he died two days later. This time, however, I had the feeling that something pleasant would follow the crying of the Banshee. I cannot tell you how or why this conviction impressed itself upon me, but it was there. And when I slept, after listening to that sad wailing, I dreamt that the Rector, Mr. Wadham, was completely restored to health. Next morning I told many of my friends about my experience. I added that I was certain that Mr. Wadham would recover. And this despite the fact that his doctor had said his case was hopeless. Sure enough, the next thing we heard was that Mr. Wadham had turned the corner. Three weeks from the date of my 'warning' he was well enough to get up and walk about."

Long before this occurrence, Mrs Driscoll had another experience of her startling prophetic "voice," the strange wailing that seems always to be ready to lift for her the curtain of Fate. "In 1922, just before the Irish Treaty was signed," she went on,"I awoke one night to hear the cry of the Banshee. Later, when I fell again into a restless sleep, I saw in a vivid dream a little party of men stepping off the Irish mail boat at Holyhead and being greeted by another party. In the midst of the disembarking party I saw Michael Collins. Now up to this time there had been no hint that any Irish leaders would come to London to arrange peace terms. Yet there it was - the signing of the Irish Treaty had been foretold to me by the Banshee."

The crying of her "familiar spirit" followed by another dream, made Mrs Driscoll certain that a terrible sea disaster would be enacted. Shortly afterwards came the news of the lossof the Thetis. "Twelve months before the Royal visit to Canada and the United States was decided on," she continued,"I dreamt that I saw the King and Queen shaking hands with President Roosevelt. I didn't know what to make of this, because I was aware that an English Sovereign had never visited the United States, and at that time it didn't seem at all likely that such a thing could happen. Yet in the end the tradition was broken. I was proved to be right!"

Can it be wondered at that Mrs Driscoll's description of her "Hitler warning" has created excitement and anticipation in the ranks of those who regard her as an oracle? She interprets this dream as an indication of the coming of a lasting peace in Europe. That the possibility of a London visit by the German leader is not such a remote possibility is borne out by this story which has just been published of Herr Hitler's reported proposal to come to London at the time of the September Crisis. "I don't quite know what to make of this dream," Mrs Driscoll said. "I can only hope that it may prove to be a good omen. Please don't make it appear that I am trying to make a reputation for myself as a 'prophetess'. I am merely telling you of some things that have happened to me, and of this curious dream, which was so clear that I felt I must mention it to my friends."

Ah well Mrs Driscoll, better luck next time. But it is quite unusual to interpret the Banshee as a good omen. That may be where you were going wrong.

In The People, Sunday 23rd July 1939.

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