If any one is bold enough to cast a stone into the black gulf beyond the clear borders…the waves rise higher and higher, and presently a tempest bursts forth of hideous violence…and the villagers below tremble; for they know that the Spirit of Lake Pavin has been insulted, and is taking his revenge.-Louisa Stuart Costello
Since its founding in 2023, Visit Auvergne has constantly tried to revisit lost or under-studied regional histories by bringing back to the fore old books and sources that have fallen by the wayside. And so it’s in this spirit that I present “The Spirit of Lake Pavin And Our Lady of Vassivière”, a short story written almost two centuries ago by the British writer Louisa Stuart Costello.
Costello, author of the two-volume A Pilgrimage to Auvergne (1842) spent several months in Auvergne in 1841 and picked up many a ghost story and anecdote during her stay. Her ghost tale, which — to be clear — is entirely her own creation, was nevertheless likely influenced by some local traditions. In Costello’s time, Lake Pavin had even more of a haunted reputation than it does now. People were more than aware of the lake’s treacherous depths, and many had probably seen or heard about its waterspouts and seiches (standing waves). Surely, all of this suggested to them that something strange — or even infernal — was at work below the surface. Pavin, they must have thought, was haunted by a Spirit, and this Spirit, like the old-world monsters of myth, preyed upon mortals who strayed too far into its domain. This is precisely what unfolds in Costello’s cautionary tale:
In the words of the American folklorist Charles G. Leland: “Minor local legends sink more deeply into the soul than greater histories.” To learn more about Clermont-Ferrand’s seemingly endless secrets and ghostlore, sign up for our newsletter below.
