Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: The Ghost’s Shirt
Category: Ghost
The Myth
In Lebbeke, three women went out washing together every day. They began their work early in the morning, long before the sun appeared in the east. Whenever they passed the cemetery, they saw a mysterious figure standing before the entrance, wearing a white shirt. At first, the women were terrified, but after seeing the apparition so often, their fear gradually faded. They even began making mocking remarks, eventually convincing themselves that some prankster was dressing in white to frighten them.
The boldest of the three women decided that, given the next opportunity, she would pull the shirt straight off the mysterious figure’s body. A few days later, while the women were doing the washing at the priest’s house and passing the cemetery again, she carried out her plan. She seized the shirt, pulled it from the figure, and placed it in the washing tub with the other linen.
After Mass, the priest was walking through his garden when he noticed the linen laid out to bleach. One particular shirt caught his attention. Upon examining it more closely, he recognized it with horror as a ghost’s shirt. He hurried to the washing women to discover how it had come into their possession. The woman who had taken it was terrified when she learned what she had done. The priest ordered her to return the shirt to the ghost at exactly the same hour the following night. He promised to follow her from a distance and protect her from harm if necessary.
When the appointed hour arrived, the frightened woman approached the apparition with the priest following behind her. With a trembling heart, she placed the shirt back on the ghost. As soon as she had finished, the spirit turned toward her and spoke in a hollow voice, thanking her a thousand times. He explained that she had freed him from purgatory, where he had been condemned to return every night until someone removed his shirt and put it back on him. Having finally been released from his punishment, the ghost vanished and was never seen again.
Sources
De Cock, Alfons. Vlaamsche sagen uit den volksmond. Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur, 1921.