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A new "ballad" by the Red Clay Ramblers' Bland Simpson...
Ghost ship's brass bell to ring in talk about 1921 mystery The brass bell of the Carroll A. Deering, the mystery ship that ran aground off Cape Hatteras in January 1921, will ring out again on Thursday (Nov. 14) during a talk by UNC assistant professor of English Bland Simpson, who will discuss his new nonfiction novel about the shipwreck. The event will mark the bell's first appearance in North Carolina since its salvage from the wreck on Feb. 4, 1921, Simpson said. Pat Davis of Tifton, Ga., great-great grandson of Carroll A. Deering, will bring the bell and ring it during the program. Deering, for whom the schooner was named, was the son of a shipbuilder in Maine, where the vessel was constructed. The free public presentation will be at 5:30 p.m. in UNC's Wilson Library off South Road, after a reception with light refreshments beginning at 5 p.m. After the talk, Simpson will be available to sign copies of the book, "Ghost Ship of Diamond Shoals: The Mystery of the Carroll A. Deering," issued last month by UNC Press. Also, guests may tour the library exhibit "North Carolina Mysteries, Myths and Legends," which includes a model of the Deering and memorabilia related to the ship's story. Rescuers who boarded the Deering several days after it was spotted aground on Diamond Shoals -- the cause of many a shipwreck -- found food ready to eat, small lifeboats gone, no bodies and no crew members. Investigations including one by the federal commerce department never determined what happened to the crew. |
