The Wild Rose

This is a folk legend that may or may not be based on a true story. It happened during the Middle Ages, in Ireland, with no specific date.  A young woman named Elisa Day was regarded as so beautiful that she was like a wild rose. There were wild red roses that grew along the river bank near where she lived, and these roses were so red that they looked like blood. 

Elisa, sometimes named Eliza, had many suitors, and men who fell in love with her. But there was one man in particular who was deeply in love with her that took things too far. He was from outside of town, and he became infatuated with Elisa Day. He found out where she lived and visited her. The next time he went to see her bringing a red rose, and he invited her to go with him to where the wild red roses grow. The third time he visited her, he took her out to the riverbank, a beautiful location full of blooming wild red roses. It was romantic. It wasn't to last.

Then he cruelly turned violent and hit her head with a rock, so that blood poured down her hair and face. As she lay there dying, he whispered "All beauty must die!" and then he killed her. He then put a red rose between her teeth and pushed her into the river. Afterwards, many people wondered where Elisa Day had gone, as she disappeared. Some people saw Elisa Day's spirit aimlessly walking along the riverbank, with blood all over her. The ghost of Elisa held a red rose. 

Whether or not this is based on a true event, it's a very sad one. It also has become a legend, and warns of the dangers of trusting people and falling in love with total strangers. The body of Elsa Day was never found and there's no evidence that she was a real person who died that tragic way. People always regard her as "The Wild Rose". Her killer is also unknown.

She Wolf Night