Simon McTavish

Did you know Simon McTavish, is buried on Mount Royal, not in the cemetery, but rather in the park? Many people daily, pass near his resting place, without realizing it. His remains and that of several other family members are buried, not far from the Pine and Peel, Mount Royal park entrance.

The Ravenscrag, Nevermore, Nevermore

The Ravenscrag

Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought I'd write about the Ravenscrag. The Ravenscrag is now known as the Allan Memorial and is part of the Royal Victoria Hospital. Most of the interior of the Ravenscrag was gutted in the 1940s, when it was donated to the RVH. The outside  looks pretty much the same as it did, over one hundred years ago. The front gates haven't been well maintained however, and now looks like a haunted house, straight out of a movie. 

The building is located on Pine, near McTavish Street. Sir Allan Hugh, a very wealthy shipping magnate, had the Ravenscrag built on land that he bought from Simon McTavish (McTavish Street and the McTavish Reservoir are named after Simon McTavish). Construction of the house began around 1860 and was completed in 1863. The photo below shows how it looked in the 1900s and how it looks today. 

 
Comparing the circa 1900 and 2014 photos, it's interesting to note, one of the front right gate columns is missing. I am speculating this was removed to accommodate wider vehicles in the 1940s, when the property was transferred to the RVH. The photo below illustrates where the column would be today.

The remains of that missing column, surprisingly, are still there, about 15 feet to the right, behind the east side gates. I took a photo of them this past summer. It looked like Greek archeological ruins.

And now on a more humorous note, I wonder what Sir Hugh Allan would think if he came back from the dead and saw his beloved Ravenscrag that way it is today. He probably would be shaking his head.

The iron gates didn't keep me from entering the compound and I did dare venture inside.

It is very easy to escape, or enter the place. So for you trick or treaters tomorrow evening, have fun.

As for me, I dared not go any further than this, lest I be cursed by the ghost of Sir Allan Hugh. Legend has it, every Halloween, he can be seen looking through his brass telescope, high on top his 75 foot tower above his mansion, much as he did when he was alive, looking to make sure his Allan Line Steamer arrived safely from overseas. I hope you enjoyed this short story. Good day, and good fright.