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Marie Ward was the wife of Casey Ward. After their wedding in 1937, at the wedding reception held at their home, Wester Drumlins, Marie and Casey became trapped dancing to the song "The Band Played On", unable to stop as the gramophone continued to repeat the song over and over. Their guests believed the Wards to be playing a prank and departed with words of encouragement to the newlyweds.
Five weeks later, a guest returned to the house to discover Marie and Casey still dancing, their shoes worn away and their feet with raw, blood soles. Marie and Casey had the same smiles on their faces, but mad looks in their eyes. The Wards were subsequently admitted to the London County Mental Hospital, where they would both die on the same day, one year after their wedding.
An article about the Wards was published in the local press that described them as "dancing the night away", the author making light of the situation. It was rumoured Marie and Casey had made a deal with the devil which they had subsequently reneged upon, leading the "force" to take control of their bodies and force them to dance. The Wards' story became remembered as the urban legend "As Long as You Both Shall Live".
In 2021, journalist Rani Chandra researched the Wards' story for a history on Wester Drumlins she was writing for Into The Unknown, finding to her surprise that it was true. (PROSE: The Very Real Mystery of Wester Drumlins [+]Loading...["The Very Real Mystery of Wester Drumlins (short story)"])