The Curse of Black Aggie

The piece was designed by John La Forge over the course of four obsessive years of work.  Henry Adams, stricken with grief over the death of his wife Marian.  The piece was constructed and placed behind a large stone wall, and brush grew heavily around the monument.  When Adams was asked to inscribe the monument with an epitaph for Marian, he refused.  And shortly after that, stories began circulating of the mysterious statue that remained in Druid Ridge.

Legends of the statue first started small, the first being the easiest to confirm.  It was said that as the sun set on the statue, shadows overtook its face and left the shroud surrounding it completely black.  The figure that was left sitting at the grave looked gravely as if death itself were waiting for those brave enough to venture past the thick bushes surrounding the monument, ready to take their souls to whatever world awaited them.  And as curious sightseers were drawn to the graveyard, another story was heard amid hushed and terrified whispers.

It was said that if you approached the statue under the cover of darkness and sat upon the monument’s lap you would be immediately beset by a ghost that would haunt you from that point on.  Dares were made to perform the grim task and soon more accounts followed the first.  One legend tells of a young man, himself never believing the stories told of Black Aggie tracking through the bushes as his friends waited outside the cemetery.  As he approached the statue he was immediately troubled by the thick obsidian veil the darkness had cast over the face of Black Aggie.  And as he approached it he almost could see the figure as if it were breathing and having its robe rustling in the windy night.  As he reached out to touch the cold iron knee of the figure and go up to sit upon its lap he felt iron hands set upon his shoulders.  The legend goes that he was later institutionalized not out of fear, but a fitful agonizing grief.

Another story followed the arm of Black Aggie which was cut off in 1962.  When the arm was discovered, the man accused of stealing it stood before a judge and under oath claimed the statue had cut off its own arm in a fit of grief and commanded him to take it.  The man was not believed and the arm was returned to the statue.  For weeks afterward people would flock to the site hoping to catch sight of the statue moving about, but it never seemed to do anything in front of an audience of more than one.

Later the statue would be moved leaving behind only its stony throne where it once surveyed its tiny clearing of bushes.  And that’s where the newest stories come in.  It’s said some visitors to the grave in the middle of the night who have never heard of Black Aggie will still tell of a mysterious statue sitting in the darkness with its face completely shrouded in shadow and mystery.  And sometimes those hearing the story don’t have the heart to tell them that Aggie has been gone for many years.