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Wednesday, October 27, 1982The Daily Tar Heel5
Order of Gimghouls
Cryptic castle evok
I
Accent
6S iCSCIld
By LYNSLEY ROLLINS
Staff Writer
In the midst of Glandon Forest atop a
hill at the end of Gimghoul Road, a lonely
castle sits.
Tangles of ivy grow up the sides of its
rough-hewn walls, some of the vines so
gnarled dnd weatherbeaten that one can
scarcely tell them from the stones to which
they cling. The heavy oaken door is
locked, but when wandering round the
castle cT:e can view its great hail, flanked
by high, barred windows.
The tower looms high above, and one
imagines that guards watch through the
leaded flass windows of the stairwell or
from the tower room, beneath its greenish
copper dome.
Before the castle lies a circular plot,
bordered with shrubs, in the center of
which lies a red-stained boulder the site
of a legendary duel to the death, which is
said to have occurred more than a century
ago.
The castle and grounds are located
about half a mile east of campus, on
Gimghoul Road, which turns off Country
Club Road. They are owned by the Order
of Gimghouls, a University social
organization which was founded in 1899.
From its inception, the Order has incor
porated the ideal of chivalry and the
mystery and imagination of King Arthur's
mythical court into its rituals. The
Gimghouls also incorporated the unex
plained disappearance and legendary kill
ing of a one-time UNC student, Peter
Dromgoole, into their initiation ceremony
and the mystique of their organization.
The Order of Gimghouls is a secret
society, so just how Dromgoole' s demise
fits in also is secret. The facts surrounding
his disappearance and the most popular
legend concerning it are as follows:
Peter Dromgoole came to UNC in 1831
from a prominent family in Virginia. Ac
cording to several reports, he gambled and
enjoyed wild company. One day in 1831
Dromgoole disappeared and was never
heard from again by his family or his
school companions.
He had recently written a letter to his
parents saying he might bring sadness
upon them and that they probably would
not hear from him again. He left behind a
trunk and some clothes, but nothing to in-1
dicate his whereabouts.
Peter Dromgoole's uncle, the
Honorable George C. Dromgoole, also a
Virginian and a UNC alumnus, came to
Chapel Hill to investigate the disap
pearance of his nephew. He found nothing
of consequence and abandoned the search
after three weeks.
Some years after the disappearance, the
romantic account of Peter Dromgoole's
duel to the death was told.
Piney Prospect is the hill upon which
Gimghoul castle is located. It has, for well
over a century, been a favorite of nature
lovers because of its scenic view and
peaceful woods. According to legend,
Piney Prospect was favored by Peter
Dromgoole as well.
He fell in love .with a Chapel Hill
woman, whom tradition has named Fan
ny, and they met at Piney Prospect often
to woo.
But according to the story, another
young man on campus was in love with
Fanny as well. He is said to have chal
lenged Dromgoole to a duel. Dromgoole
accepted the challenge but did not tell Fan
ny his plans.
The duelists chose weapons and one
friend each as assistants, and the party met
at Piney Prospect. Dromgoole was shot in
'the chest during the duel, and his compan
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Hontoclict
ions placed him on a rounded boulder a
few yards away, where he is said to have
died, his blood staining the rock. (To this
day, one can see red marks on Dromgoole
Rock.)
When the three remaining students
realized that they had participated in a
serious crime, they reportedly buried
Dromgoole underneath the rock or near it,
depending on which version of the story
one reads. The three swore never to tell of
the duel.
No one explained Dromgoole's disap
pearance to Miss Fanny. She pined away
for her loved one and is said to have died
of a broken heart.
According to professor Geoffrey Feiss
of the UNC geology department, however,
the blood stains on Dromgoole rock are
probably rust stains caused by weathering
of the rock, which has some metallic con
tent. In addition, no evidence has ever
been found of a burial near the rock.
John Buxton Williams, who had been
Peter Dromgoole's roommate at UNC,
once published a letter stating that he
knew of no one with whom Dromgoole
had argued. Williams said he believed the
romantic legend was the product of an
over-active imagination.
Former University President Kemp P.
Battle once wrote that he thought
Dromgoole was embarrassed to go home
after failing at UNC. So the mystery of
Dromgoole's disappearance remains un
solved. The Order of Gimghouls was estab
lished almost 70 years after the disap
pearance of Peter Dromgoole. Wray Mar
tin conceived the symbols around which
the Order is built when he was a law stu
dent at UNC in the 1880s.
He had ready widely of heraldry,
chivalry, romance and mystery, and he
wove these elements into the Order of
Gimghouls when he later became its chief
officer, the Rex. (Wray's role in the for
mation of the Order is described in A.H.
Patterson's Report of the Building Com
mittee.) During his walks out to Piney
Prospect, Martin daydreamed and his
dreams laid the foundation for the
Gimghoul mythology.
Martin imagined that atop Piney Pro
spect, which he renamed Glandon Forest,
"lay" the city of a mythical race called
Gimghouls. The city of which he dreamed
contained a royal palace and a fortress. He
named the imaginary fortress Hippol cas
tle. The present-day castle is a representa
tion of Hippol, although it is commonly
called Gimghoul castle, after the name of
the Order.
Martin also imagined that Piney Pro
spect overlooked a sea filled with islands.
Interestingly, former University President
Battle, author of History of the University
of North Carolina wrote that the valley
below Piney Prospect was indeed once a
sea during the Triassic Period.
The construction of Gimghoul Castle
was not completed until 1926. In the
meantime, the Order had built a lodge on
. the corner of Rosemary and Boundary
Streets. In loyalty to the Gimghoul myth,
however, the Order return-addressed all of
its proclamations, announcements to
members and invitations to dinner-dances
and formal events from the Rex at Hippol
Castle in Glandon Forest.
The Gimghouls built their stronghold
on 34 acres of land atop Piney Prospect.
The names of streets nearby, Gimghoul
Road and Glandon Drive, attest to the in
terest their activities inspired in their
neighbors. The Gimghouls chose the cas
tle's precise location because of the view
that members have of the hill and the
valley, from the terrace and tower room,
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Gimghoul Castle is site of duel, according to legend
.mysterious Order of Gimghouls meets here regularly
and because it is near Dromgoole Rock.
The castle is decorated in medieval style.
Its contents include a gargoyle; a minstrels'
gallery; a secret closet; pieces of armor;
battle axes; a round table; stuffed trophy
heads; and antique swords and life-sized
hand-carvings of Apollyon (a devil) and
Christian,., two characters from Paul Bu
nyan's novel Pilgrim's Progress.
The floor plan of the castle contains a
dance hall, kitchen, dressing rooms, club
room, terrace and an observation tower.
The Order of Cimghouls is made up of
college men, most of whom are members
of fraternities. It was founded by five
fraternity men, including Wray Martin, as
a social group which would be smaller,
and therefore more closely knit, than their
several fraternities.
According to one Gimghoul, the Order
accepts only ten pledges each year so that it
can 'retain its personal atmosphere. He
stressed that Gimghouls pick their pledges
on the basis of friendship, not athletic or
scholastic achievement. The Order differs
from most fraternities in that its pledges
are accepted during their junior year
there are no fttshmen or sophomore
Gimghouls..
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GIVE TO THE AMERICAN
.no
Why hot have steak
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DTHStretch Ledford
Although scholastic achievement is not
a requisite consideration in the choice of
Gimghoul pledges, the membership roster
is almost a Who's Who of figures known
state-wide and nationally. A sampling
from the list contains UNC President
William C. Friday; Charles Shaffer, UNC
Director of Development for 30 years; .
former University presidents Frank Porter
Graham and Gordon Gray; John'C.B.
Ehringhaus, one-time North Carolina
governor; William Randolph Kenan, for
whom our stadium is named; two former
Chief Justices of the North Carolina
Supreme Court, William Augustus Devin
and John Wallace Winborne; Joseph W.
Lineberger and James H. Lineberger, who
have donated millions Xoward the con
struction of a cancer research building at
UNC which will be named in their honor;
and Charles R. Jones, a Republican
representative to the United States Con
gress. The list contains many other
distinguished names, including those of
doctors, lawyers, scholars and
businessmen.
But this Halloween,, do not expect to
find a display of. goblins and torchlights at
Hippol Castle settle for Gimghouls and
socialites.
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Off I
9
Chapel Hill
Lyrx rtsrs, 2 li school
serlcr frcm Cc'.-r.bia, Mi, had
h;;;h schcsl stu-t frcn Co!um
V.i. Cr.2 d:y !:t v.cck, they ssw
cctus fcr the fa time on an
XJndvrtradu2itv Ac.Tussiions csnt
pus tour t:A szii ibiy loved it.
Lzzh vcikd.:y zt 2 p.m. zt least
-cr.e xcup cf prospective UNC
studcr.ts .r.d their parents leave the
- iiofts for a canrp-as tour.
ducted by a brother or pledge of
the Alpha Phi Omega senice
fraternity, ths visitors learn
pclleies r:J:trit!cn proeedurcs
znd campus tri:ia.
Lyv.n z?A Eleanor. learned that
- university SI fa construction costs,
acccrd:r-3 to' legend. Supposedly,
the ha!i backwards, the
urJverdty rcf j::J to psy mere than
The . bricks of Memorial Hall
were cr.ee part cf the old North
Carolina State Prison, and actor
Andy Griffith fccsan his acting'
career in this hall.
The Old Well once served as the
sole water supply for campus.
Rumors tzy that medical students
once threw cadavers down into the
well and the c savins bodies caus
ed the water's brackish taste '
. The Morel. ead Planetarium- was
C3 astronauts have trained in
celestial navigation in the
Legend ch.;r.5 the Morehead
IIIaSyleipected:eI
named for them because of their
ccntricutirns. When administra
tions duhbed the library after the
- V;il:n family, the ? '. - -hr.d sup
posed ' liLlt t! . h' :-!.ead Tatter-
Luncheon Specials
available at lunch
11 to 2 p.m. M-F
Pizza buffet .... $2.95
Spaghetti ...... $1.95
Lasagaa ....... $2.95
Salad bar ...... $1.95
Great Potato .... $1.95
! ' 1 Trrrrr
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Open Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-midnite,
Fri. & Sat. 11-1 a.m.. Sun 4-11 p.m.
2C3 W. FRANKLIN ST. 942-5149
Management
i
cordially Invites
Uniucrsitv of nortli Carolina students
to a
Presentation
on
Research Associate
Opportunities
in
Corporate strategies consulting
wefinssdav, octp&sr 27 .1882
'3:30-5:00 ; . .
tianss Kail Room 210
son 11:11 Tcv. :r v!.-;-e it would -form
s dun'o rrp c .1 t!.e dome cf
Undergradiiete-. 'Admissions
receptionists S;.lv:a Perry ani Pat
i?as oa;and rha rhi :Orria 'caml
pus tours chin mail j
will crraniae tours fcr tho spprox-'
ar,SllilSrtSWlliSil
- "I enjoyei the tour," she said,
"I didn't real.'oe the campus was so -lare,
from my prrrpeetive." Mrs.
IpitiSlflln
when she came - to UNC for a
meeting, but she had never taken a
formal tour. . ,
hour-ions tour, she i aid. -,
'I would have P;ed to have
. been broui-t into a c!r.ssroom to
said, adding that J.he zLo would .
have enjoyed seeing the in::de of a
guides- do' not enter" students
' The Undorrjradoets Admissions
Office now spen.ors tours on a '
regular basis, with more par-'
ticipants than in previous years. ',
Perry said this v.as bcoaure o f more
publicity in the university pubhea-
;ii6nsllll
Most tour guides belong to APO
but the office en:cv.rc.::s a:iy.in-
prcsed,lStefienit
quired sample tor? or. i then b:ain
giving reohtr tours, Porry said. .
"We like to h-ve vclonteors
other than ATG, but cf course we
' count cn AFQ t.z said. "We are
pleased they chooe this as a service
project.
, AFO p'vdje pre- Gauve con--ducted
Lynn and Lienor's tour.
from Maaie Valley, said he enjoys
the tours.
"I think it's a beautiful
of
r:c; d:y-.Lr.:;-r:e:i
the .;!aJ cen cot! -
, Tc:rJ. . 11 th 3 r '-en Cc
solid yru coi r:a!
Consultants
v. : ; -; ; ;:t:.a J
f; -1 v . r ' i