In the early 20th century the crossroads at Dree Hill Road in Finnis had a dark reputation. A malevolent spirit was said to haunt the small bridge over the upper River Lagan, and many locals would not pass after dark. Beside the bridge stood a large sycamore.
The village priest, distressed at the terror among his parishioners, is said to have exorcised the spirit and trapped it in a glass bottle, which he sealed in a hollow of the sycamore. The tree was thereafter treated as sacred and untouchable, and villagers would stop outsiders from cutting or even pruning it. Eventually it died, its withered trunk looking lightning-struck, but it was left standing out of respect and superstition.
Decades later, workers installing power or telephone cables planned to fell it. Residents objected strongly and the modern-day priest was called to intervene. In the end the workers rerouted the cables through the upper branches of the dead tree. It was brought down in a ferocious storm in 2009.
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