The Legend of Tambour Yokel - Allentown, PA - Ghosts and Hauntings on Waymarking.com

The ghost story is based upon a folk ballad of how the devil one night slew, dismembered and carried away from the cemetery the body and soul of Tambour Yokel. The story so shook up the local community in the late 1700s that people would drive several miles out of their way to avoid passing the cemetery. This ancient cemetery clings to the side of a hill overlooking the Little Lehigh Creek and contains many old graves, dating back to Revolutionary War times and contains several Revolutionary War veterans and several indigenous Lenape. Does the ghost still linger amongst the weathered tombstones? Is there still reason to make a wide berth for fear of encountering Tambour Yokel's spirit or drawing the wrath of the fiend who tore him to shreds? Who knows - I only go there during the day!

A series of folk ballads recorded by D. Joseph Henry Dubbs in the late 19th century was based upon a collection of poems and verses gathered from around eastern Pennsylvania. The purpose of Dr. Dubbs' work was to honor the memory of forgotten pioneers and indicate how the rich stores of legends and folklore may be used for historical purposes.

Recent historians (such as William L. F. Schhmehl in 1976 and Kelly Ann Butterbaugh) have pinpointed the location of the Legend of Tambour Yokel to be the old graveyard of Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church. The following is the poem collected by Dr. Dubbs.

The Legend of Tambour Yokel

Tell the story with bated breath—
A story of horror, and gloom, and death.

A little church on a lonely hill;
A churchyard near it, calm and still;

Fair in the morning's early light;
Dark and gloomy it seems at night.

There it is said, in the olden time,
Happened a nameless deed of crime;

And stalwart men, with swiftest pace,
Haste when they pass that dreadful place.

Home, with the troop, from the war had come
Tambour Yokel, who beat the drum:

A worthless wretch, who on his way
Had learned but the arts of a bird of prey;

Who had sold, it was said, in the dreadful strife,
His soul to Satan to save his life.

"Now where," he cried, "is my ancient foe?
I have come from the battle to lay him low."

"Peace! Peace!" they answered. "Your boast is vain;
The man will never fight again;

The foe you hated, and sought to kill,
Now rests in the churchyard on the hill."

"Ho! What of that?" the drummer cried,
"Perhaps it was well the coward died;

But I know a way, as you'll see to-night,
To bring the man from his grave to fight."

Then a dreadful oath the ruffian swore,
He would call him forth to fight once more.

In their cups that night, at the tavern near,
His comrades met him with mock and jeer:

"Ho, wizard!" they cried. "Why don't you go
To the churchyard now to meet your foe?"

Then Tambour Yokel cursed and swore,
And sallied forth from the tavern door.

"Come forth!" he cried, through the startled night,
"Come forth, thou fiend, from the grave and fight!"

He reached the churchyard gate, and then
The fearful challenge was heard again.

But soon a cry that was wild and shrill
Was heard from the churchyard on the hill.

"Help! help!" he cried, but none drew near,
His comrades trembled, aghast with fear,

In silence waiting—that godless crew—
While the cries still fainter and fainter grew.

Next morning they came, with silent tread,
Seeking their comrade among the dead.

There, 'mid the graves, the man they found,
Naked and cold on the trodden ground;

Scattered his garments, far and wide;
Bloody the soil where the wretch had died.

And this was all; but who can tell
Who wounded the victim, and how he fell?

Did a panther, perchance, of the forest tear
The limbs of the wretched boaster there?

Or, was it the fiend, as the neighbors say,
That bore his godless soul away?

Ah! none could tell—nor cared to know—
But a mighty hand had laid him low.

Yet, with a shudder, men still relate
The tale of Tambour Yokel's fate;

And none forgets the legend grim—
How a fearful judgment was sent to him.

This poem originally appeared in “The Guardian”, a monthly magazine for young men and women, Sunday School and families. Rev. J. H. Dubbs, D. D., Editor, Vol. XXV 1884. Detailed information can be found in the book written by Charles J. Adams III: "Ghost Stories of the Lehigh Valley - Book Two", p. 38-43.

We provide the GPS coordinates of the old cemetery along with some photos of the church as it is today from the old and new cemeteries.

Public access?: Church and Cemetery ground. Open all the time, but please be respectful. Website about the location and/or story: [Web Link] Visting hours: Not listed

Visit Instructions:

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