A ħares is a Maltese spirit of some sort that protects the place it resides in. Stories about them tend to be connected to a specific location. The Maltese ħares are known to be guardian ghosts. Still, in many stories they appear malignant on mischevious. The true intention of the ħares is difficult to identify in folklore, mostly because there is a fine line between a ħares and simple ghost. One of the most famous Maltese stories, for example, is about something between a ħares and poltergeist. This is the story of the sad Grey Lady.
Fort St. Angelo
For anyone interested in these kinds of stories, Fort St. Angelo in Birgu is a hotspot for paranormal activity. It was and still is very famous for all kinds of visions and apparitions.
What does it owe this reputation to? We can point to the bloody baptism of the place in the great siege and its part in the victorious outcome. Simply approaching the fort can make you feel the giant footprints of history surrounding this place. Even more so, its positioning near the Grand Harbour makes the fort’s legacy even grander.
As bodies piled around the area during the Seige, it is very beleivable some ghost stories may have been written. What’s more, the Knights used to hang the corpses of executed individuals in public view. They would act as a deterrent to anyone who tries to go against them or the law. Seeing that during the night would undoubtedly spark a ghostly rumour.
All of these things, and of course the actual witnesses of the phenomenon, come together in explaining the legend of The Grey Lady.
The Grey Lady in Literature
The Grey Lady appears in Eric Brockman’s 1961 book ‘The Last Bastion: Sketches of the Maltese Islands’. Brockman recounts certain tales and experiences of people who witnessed the Grey Lady. The whole fort seemed to be her palace yet it seems that most experiences happened in this one area. Cold blasts of air, self-opening doors and the sounds of footsteps all preceded her sightings.
Where did The Grey Lady Come From?
The legend supposedly comes from one of Captain di Nava’s two Sicilian women. The story goes that di Nava was potentially cheating on his wife with a mysterious woman. Once, she tried to get in touch with him but he was with his wife and getting paranoid that he would get caught. Ultimately, his paranoia overtook him and he ordered two guards to murder the mistress. The guards were to hide her body somewhere in the fort.
He later decided to have the two men murdered as well as his paranoia at being found out grew again. He was in an escalating spiral. In fact, suring the recent restorations of the fort, three bodies were discovered. The body of a woman and two men, in a deep dungeon inside the bastion.
Coincidence or legend?
Her Disappearance
The mistress appeared often to people in the fort and was named the Grey Lady. Her nature was melancholy. According to legend, during the British stay in Malta, the Maltese wife of an English captain who was living in the fort due to his work, tried to use prayer to get rid of the ghost. Instead she supposedly infuriated the specter and this led to chaos. The succeeding captain’s wife did the same. But this time she somehow managed to exercise the evil from the bastions and the spirit was never seen again.
It is worth mentioning that the stories around the Grey Lady rarely tend to be about evil or malevolence. In fact, it was the other way round many times.
The Grey Lady as a Protective Ħares
There are accounts of all kinds of people encountering her. Yet in many cases, people are in awe of her beauty and her sad demeanor. Children who encounter her always say that she’s a kind woman.
One story shows the Grey Lady as a true guardian. She supposedly haunted a ward in the infirmary of St. Angelo during the second world war. She appeared to the patients, soldiers and nurses and by way of signals, urged them to leave the room. Naturally, they did without hesitation and in horror. A few minutes later a bomb fell on this part of the fort.
A similar story happened to some sailors nearby, who said they saw the figure of a grey lady walking next to the sea. They had heard the stories, and so decided to follow her. As they did, a bomb fell on the place where they were drinking and they were all saved.
Skepticism about the Grey Lady
Unfortunately, the story of the Grey ghost is likely just that, a legend. In his book ‘Ghosts of Malta’ Joseph Attard says how it seemed like British officials were never bothered with the specter of this lady. He argues that this is probably more evidence that this might have been a fabricated story. In other words, he implies that the British might have come up with this story to keep the Maltese away from the bastions, especially since these were military spaces.
