‘Midnight and graves and weirdness’: Order of Gimghoul’s initiation rituals uncovered

When sophomore Hanna Berg gave a speech in early February at a Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies meeting about the initiation rituals of the Order of Gimghoul, she figured it may cause a stir. 

But she didn’t expect what came next.

“I got a letter under my door that told me to stop looking,” Berg said.

Inside the letter, sealed with red wax, there was one neatly-printed sentence: “LOOK NO FURTHER.”

The public policy major heard a rumor that strange things happen to people who pull documents from the Order’s archives, which is precisely why she decided to dig into the Wilson Library Special Collections, where she discovered the rituals.

According to a Wilson Library web page, the Order of Gimghoul is a secret, invitation-only society for male students and faculty of the University that was founded in 1889 by five students: Edward Wray Martin, William W. Davies, Shepard Bryan, Andrew Henry Patterson and Robert Worth Bingham.

The page states that after hearing the legend of Peter Dromgoole from University President Kemp Battle in a lecture, the founders solidified the purpose of their new society – which they originally called the Order of Dromgoole. 

Dromgoole was a UNC student who went missing in 1833 under contested circumstances, according to University Communications. Legend has it that Dromgoole fell in love with a woman called Miss Fanny. Allegedly, another student dueled Dromgoole for Miss Fanny’s love near present-day Gimghoul Castle, where Dromgoole lost the duel and died on a rock.

Shortly after, the society's name was changed to the Order of Gimghoul, to be "in accord with midnight and graves and weirdness,” William W. Davies said at the time.

Berg said the legend is simply a result of several stories being mixed together.

“He didn’t die," Berg said of Dromgoole. "He just kind of vanished. His uncle was in a duel, but he didn’t die.”

According to the web page, materials from the Order’s collection that are at least 50 years old are open to the general public.

On Feb. 12, Berg posted scanned pages of the initiation rituals to the student meme Facebook group — "Kevin G's Big L Meme Stream: 'Basketball School' Edition."

Elements of the legend appear to have influenced the 1959 rituals. 

The neophyte — or a prospective member of the Order — lays on the “Rock of Sacrifice” and a member of the Order holds a sword to his throat, according to the scans.

Before that, though, the neophyte is blindfolded and led into the Great Hall of Gimghoul Castle. 

"His blindfold is raised just enough to show him the blazing fire and a red-hot branding iron," the ritual says. 

As the neophyte kneels, a member of the Order brands him on his chest with a piece of dry ice.

After the neophyte makes a series of affirmations and vows, a member accuses him of being a “renegade and forsworn.” Then, the accused must face the accuser “in mortal combat.”

The neophyte then must fire a pistol at the accuser, who falls. 

Then, the rituals enter a stage — “the test of the dark secret” — where the neophyte is asked the "final question." After answering, the accusing member stirs and rises, and the neophyte is dubbed “Knight of the Order of Gimghoul."

Berg said she had no particular agenda in deciding to post the pages. 

“I thought it was interesting,” she said.

Cecelia Moore, who is now retired, was the University historian for about six years. She said she knows little about the Order of Gimghoul and was not asked about the Order when she was historian.

“I’ve gotten very few questions about it — at all, if any,” Moore said.

She said she believes it’s not common for a public university to have a secret society.

“You think of Harvard and Yale and places like that,” Moore said. “I think it’s kind of unusual for a public university to have one.”

The Daily Tar Heel reached out to Nicholas Graham, the University archivist, to find out more about the Order’s documents. Graham responded with a comment without mentioning the Order specifically.

"While the vast majority of the collections are open for public research, we sometimes work with private donors who request that access be restricted – usually for a set period of time," Graham said in the comment. "Those terms are at the discretion of the donor and the Library respects the donor’s wishes. The practice of restricting access at the request of a donor is a standard practice in the field of special collections libraries and archives.”

Berg said that when she accessed the Order’s collection, the Wilson Library web page did not have a restriction on immediate or same-day access, but it now does have such a restriction, which offers an email address for potential viewers "to discuss options for consulting this collection."

As for the letter she received in February, Berg said it’s possible one of her friends delivered it — but nobody has since confessed to doing it. She suspects it was the Order.

“It made my weekend,” Berg said.

@_sashaschroeder

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