LIBRARY OF
WELLES LEY COLLEGE
FROM THE FUND OF
ELIZABETH W. MANWARING
THE HAUNTED HOMES
AND FAMILY TRADITIONS OF
GREAT BRITAIN
CUMXOR HALL.
l^tTo^n
w-^
RP
PBEFACE.
This collection of strange stories and weird traditions
has not been compiled with a view of creating un frisson
nouveau, bnt to serve as a guide to the geography of
Ghostland — a handbook to the Haunted Houses of
Great Britain. Many historic tales of apparitions
and supernaturally disturbed dwellings are imbedded
in British literature ; are frequently alluded to in
journalistic and other publications, and are known to
everybody by name, but by name only. Most people
have heard of "The Demon of Tedworth," "The
Lord Lyttleton Ghost Story/' and other celebrated
narratives of the uncanny kind, but it is rare to find
anyone able to furnish particulars of them : to
enable them to do this is the raison d'etre of this
work.
The number of dwellings reputed to be haunted
is much greater than is commonly supposed ; and
VI PEE FACE.
although steam-engines and speculative builders are
rapidly diminishing these lingering relics of the past,
Dr. Mackay's words, in his Extraordinary Popular
Delusions, anent this theme, are still applicable : —
" Who has not either seen or heard of some house,
shut up and uninhabitable, fallen into decay, and
looking dusty and dreary, whence, at midnight,
strange sounds have been heard to issue — the rattling
of chains, and the groaning of perturbed spirits ? — a
house that people have thought it unsafe to pass after
dark, and which has remained for years without a
tenant, and which no tenant would occupy even were
he paid to do so ? There are hundreds of such houses
in England at the present day .... which are
marked with the mark of fear — places for the timid
to avoid, and the pious to bless themselves at, and ask
protection from, as they pass — the abodes of ghosts
and evil spirits. There are many such houses in
London; and if any vain boaster of the march of
intellect would but take the trouble to find them out
and count them, he would be convinced that intellect
must yet make some enormous strides before such old
superstitions can be eradicated."
Although Dr. Mackay may not have exaggerated
the number of places having the discredit of being
PKEFACE. Vll
haunted, particulars of the manner of the haunting are
generally difficult to obtain : nearly every ancient
castle, or time-worn hall, bears the reputation of being
thus troubled, but in a very large majority of such
cases no evidence is forthcoming — not even the ghost
of a tradition ! Guide-books, topographical works,
even the loquacious custodian —where there is one —
of the building, fail to furnish any details ; were it
otherwise, instead of one modest volume a many-tomed
cyclopedia would be necessary.
To mention here separately the many sources whence
the information contained in this compilation has been
drawn would be impossible, and as in most instances
the authority for each story has been specified under
its respective heading, would be needless ; but still
thanks are due and are hereby tendered to those
authors whose books have been made use of, and to
those noblemen and gentlemen who have aided the
work by their friendly information.
In conclusion, it should be remarked that autnors
and correspondents having, as far as possible, been
allowed to tell their tales after their own fashion, the
editor does not hold himself responsible for their
opinions. Had he ever entertained any belief what-
ever in supernatural manifestations — as evidently many
Vlll PREFACE.
of his authorities do — the compilation of this work
would have effectually cured him of such mental weak-
ness; but, it must be added, no story has been
included the incidents of which have been proved to
have been the result of palpable deception, or for
which any natural explanation has been found.
Trusting that his psychomanteum will exercise no
worse effect upon his readers than it has had upon
its compiler, he leaves it to their judgment.
JOHN H. INGRAM.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PAGE
AJJanbank
.
1
Cheshunt -
m •
37
vAlthirp
-
- 323
Clegg Hall
-
402
t-Ashley Hull
- 326
Combermere Abbey
-
406
Bagley House -
-
- 334
Corby Castle
-
43
Bair Hall
-
4
vCortachy Castle
-
51
Barby
-
6
Creslow Manor House
56
Beaminster School
-
- 10
Cumnor Hall
-
409
* Berry Pomeroy Castle
- 336
* Daintree -
-
59
Bettiscombe House
-
- 341
De Burgh Castle
-
413
Birchen Bower
-
- 345
V-Denton Hall
-
414
Bisham Abbey
-
- 13
Dobb Park Lodge
-
427
Blackadon
-
- 352
Dosmery Pool -
-
433
Black Heddon -
-
- 355
Dunfermline
-
61
Blenkinsopp Castle
-
- 360
Edge Hill -
-
65
Bognor
-
- 367
Edinburgh —
Boiling Hall
-
- 375
^ Canongate
-
70
Botathen -
-
- 15
Gillespie Hospital
-
72
Bowood
-
- 20
Mary King's Close
-
438
Bristol — the Vicar a
ge
22
Trinity -
-
74
Brundon Hall -
- 378
Eastbury House
-
441
Burton Agnes Hall
-
- 380
Enfield Chace -
-
76
^ Calgarth -
-
- 392
-'Epsom — Pitt Place
-
79
V Calverley Hall -
-
- 394
1 Epworth Parsonage
-
82
Cambridge
-
- 24
Esher
-
94
Cambridge University
- 29
Eton -
-
95
Canterbury
-
- 32
Ewshott House -
-
446
Cawood Castle -
-
- 33
* Glamis Castle -
-
98
Chartley Park -
.
- 401
^Glamis Castle -
-
459
Ched worth
m
- 36
" Glasgow (« The Hell Club "
) 101
J.W
PAGE
rji> id.
PAGE
Grayrigg Hall -
-
-
105
Peele Castle
.
-
190
Guildford Grammar
School
473
Perth
•
-
528
Hackwood House
-
-
108
Plymouth -
■
-
192
Hampton Court
-
-
475
Portsmouth
m
.
530
Hand, The Dead (yi
de Ince
Powis Castle
_
-
195
Hall) -
-
-
504
Rainham -
-
-
202
Hanley
-
-
111
Ramhurst Manor House
.
204
Heanor
-
-
113
Rochester -
-
.
212
Heath Old Hall -
-
-
477
Roslin Chapel -
«
-
541
Hereford -
-
-
119
Rushen Castle -
.
.
216
Henhow Cottage
-
-
121
Samlesbury Hall
-
-
544
Hilton Castle
-
-
122
Sampford Peverell
-
-
548
A^ Hinton Ampner Manor H<
mse 481
Sarratt
.
_
219
Holland House -
-
-
126
Scorrier House -
-
.
224
' InceHall -
-
-
502
Settle
_
_
228
Jedburgh Castle
-
-
506
Skipsea Castle -
-
-
555
Lambton Castle
-
-
129
VSmithills Hall -
-
-
5G1
Littlecot House -
-
.
134
Souldern Rectory
.
-
230
London —
1
l^Souter Fell
-
.
568
Argyle Rooms
-
-
138
Spedlin's Tower
-
-
234
Broad Street -
-
-
140
Strachur Manse
-
.
236
Brook Street -
-
-
509
Swinst}'- Hall
-
-
571
James Street, W.C.
-
145
Sykes Lumb Farm
-
-
574
St. James's Palace
.
146
Taunton -
.
_
239
St. James Street
-
-
150
Tedworth -
-
_
242
Southampton Fields
-
514
Tregeagle (vide Dosmerv
* The Hammums
-
-
512
Pool) -
-
-
433
The Tower -
-
-
152
Truro
-
-
252
Lostock Tower -
-
-
517
Tunstead Farm
.
.
579
Lowther Hall -
-
-
156
Ullswater -
m
.
581
Lumley
-
-
158
Waddow Hall -
-
.
585
Mannington Hall
-
-
161
Waltham -
-
-
254
Milford Haven -
-
-
166
Warblington Parsonage
-
256
Montgomery
-
-
520
Wardley Hall -
-
-
602
Nannau
-
-
172
Watton Abbey -
-
-
588
Newstead Abbey
-
-
176
Westminster
-
.
262
North Shields — Stevenson
Westminster — King
Street
264
Street -
-
-
180
Willington Mill -
-
.
266
Okehampton
-
-
526
Windsor Castle -
Woodhouselee -
-
-
277
Ottery . -
-
-
183
-
-
285
Oulton High House
-
-
186
Wyecoller Hall -
-
-
600
Oxford University-
-Queen's
Yorkshire. Hall
-
287
College -
-
-
188
CONTENTS.
XI
APPENDIX TO FIEST SEEIES.
Lord Brougham
The Rev. T. A. Buckley
Caisho Burroughs
X John Donne
PAGE
295
297
299
301
"oir John Sherbrooke
General Wynyard -
The Luminous Woman
The Result of a Curse
and
PAGE
304
310
315
APPENDIX TO SECOND SERIES.
^Bath
PAGE
PAGE
- 609
Newark
631
Bowland -
- 612
"Wadebridge -
632
Clifton Park -
- 615
Captain Blomberg's Appari-
/ Edinburgh
- 617
tion
637
Edinburgh Castle
- 622
Smellie and Greenlaw
640
Glenshiray
- 624
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Cumnor Hall
Bisham Abbey
Corby Castle
Glamis Castle
Hackwood House -
Hilton Castle
Lambton Castle -
Lowther Hall
New stead Abbey -
Peele Castle
Powis Castle
Rushen Castle
Sbedlin's Tower -
Berry Pomeroy Castle
Bolling Hall
Ince Hall -
Roslin Chapel
Frontispiece
''oface
p. 13
JJ
43
JJ
98
JJ
108
JJ
122
JJ
129
JJ
156
JJ
176
5}
190
JJ
195
JJ
216
JJ
234
JJ
336
JJ
375
J5
502
»J
541
THE HAUNTED HOMES
AND
FAMILY TRADITIONS
OF GREAT BRITAIN,
ALLANBANK.
In North Britain haunted castles, and hereditary ap-
paritions, appear to have lingered more persistently
and to have had longer leases of existence, than they
have had in the less romanticallv inclined southern
portion of the island. One of the roost noted Scotch
spirits attendant upon a certain family is that known
as " Pearlin Jean," so called from a species of lace
made of thread with which this spectre is bedecked.
"Pearlin Jean's " continuous and demonstrative annoy-
ances at Allanbank — a seat of the Stuarts, a family of
Scotch baronets — are so thoroughly believed in and
widely known, that it has been found difficult to obtain
a tern nt for the place.
1
2 HAUNTED HOMES.
Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, the antiquary, has
furnished the following explanatory account of Pearlin
Jean's hauntings at Allanbank, together with the cause
of her doing so.
" In my youth," says Mr. Sharpe, " Pearlin Jean
was the most remarkable ghost in Scotland, and my
terror when a child. Our old nurse, Jenny Blackadder,
had been a servant at Allanbank, and often heard her
rustling in silks up and down stairs, and along the
passages. She never saw her ; but her husband did.
" She was a French woman, whom the first baronet
of Allanbank,* then Mr. Stuart, met with at Paris,
during his tour to finish his education as a gentleman.
Some people said she was a nun ; in which case she
must have been a sister of Charity, as she appears not
to have been confined to a cloister. After some time,
young Stuart either became faithless to the lady or was
suddenly recalled to Scotland by his parents, and had
got into his carriage at the door of the hotel, when his
Dido unexpectedly made her appearance, and stepping
on the fore-wheel of the coach to address her lover, he
ordered the postilion to drive on ; the consequence of
which was that the lady fell, and one of the wheels
going over her forehead, killed her.
"In a dusky autumnal evening, when Mr. Stuart
drove under the arched gateway of Allanbank, he per-
ceived Pearlin Jean sitting on the top, her head and
shoulders covered with blood.
* Sir "Robert Stuart was created a baronet in the year 1C37.
ALLANBANK. 3
«
After this, for many years, the house was haunted;
doors shut and opened with great noise at midnight*
the rustling of silks and pattering of high-heeled shoes
were heard in bed-rooms and passages. Nurse Jenny
said there were seven ministers called in together at one
time to lay the spirit ; ' but they did no mickle good,
my dear.'
" The picture of the ghost was hung between those
of her lover and his lady, and kept her comparatively
quiet ; but when taken away, she became worse-natured
than ever. This portrait was in the present Sir J. G.'s
possession. I am unwilling to record its fate.
" The ghost was designated Pearlin, from always
wearing a great quantity of that sort of lace.
"Nurse Jenny told me that when Thomas Blackadder
was her lover (I remember Thomas very well), they
made an assignation to meet one moonlight night in
the orchard at Allanbank. True Thomas, of course,
was the first comer ; and seeing a female figure in a
light-coloured dress, at some distance, he ran forward
with open arms to embrace his Jenny ; when lo, and
behold ! as he neared the spot where the figure stood,
it vanished ; and presently he saw it again at the very
end of the orchard, a considerable way off. Thomas
went home in a fright ; but Jenny, who came last, and
saw nothing, forgave him, and they were married.
" Many years after this, about the year 1790, two
ladies paid a visit at Allanbank — I think the house was
then let — and passed the night there. They had never
heard a word about the ghost ; but they were disturbed
4 HAUNTED HOMES.
the whole night with something walking backwards and
forwards in their bed-chamber. This I had from the
best authority."
To this account may be added that a housekeeper,
called Betty Norrie, who, in more recent times, lived
many years at Allanbank, positively averred that she,
and many other persons, had frequently seen Pearlin
Jean ; and, moreover, stated that they were so used to
her as to be no longer alarmed at the noises she made.
BAIR HALL.
The communicator of the story hereafter detailed was
described in Notes and Queries as a well-informed
young lady, and as one who firmly believed what she
stated. Moreover, it was further remarked that, pre-
vious to her seeing the apparition she tells of, she had
heard nothing whatever of any story or legend that
could have put it into her mind or have caused her to
dream of it ; whilst the corroborative evidence of her
hostess and her household, would put all idea of a
dream or hallucination out of the question. In conse-
quence of the correspondence this story called forth, a
contributor to Notes and Queries made it fairly evident
that the "Bair Hall" visited by the narrator was
identical with Torisholme Hall, the property of J. Lodge
of Bare, in the county of Lancashire, Esquire.
BAIR HALL.
it
n
A short time ago," states the reiater of this story,
1 went "with a friend to pay a visit to a family in the
neighbourhood of Lancaster. We were very cordially
received at Bair Hall by the hostess, who assigned to
our use a spacious bed-room with old-fashioned furni-
ture, and we noticed particularly an old press. My
companion and myself retired to bed, and enjoyed a good
night's rest. I happened to awaken at about five o'clock,
it being a bright summer's morning, broad daylight, and,
to my great surprise, saw distinctly within a few feet
of the old-fashioned bed, an old gentleman seated in
an arm-chair, earnestly gazing at me with a pleasant
expression of countenance. I was not alarmed, but
surprised, as I had locked the door when I went to
bed, and, considering it a mental delusion, I closed my
eyes for a moment and looked again ; in the interval
the old gentleman had moved his chair, and placed its
back against the chamber door ; he was seated in it as
before, and gazed at me with rather an amused ex-
pression. I turned round to look at my companion ;
she was fast asleep. I immediately awoke her, and
requested her to look across the room at the door.
She could see nothing, neither could I ; the old gentle-
man had gone. When I told her what I had seen,
she got out uf bed in haste ; we both quitted the room
in great alarm, and went to the bed-room of our
hostess, who admitted us, and there we remained until
it was time to dress.
" The lady asked us if we had opened the old press
wardrobe; it appeared we had. * Oh ! ' said she, 'it
6 HAUNTED HOMES.
is only James Bair, my uncle (or great-uncle) ; he does
not like anyone but myself to examine his ancient
clothes, or interfere with his press. He frequently joins
me in the house, and some of the other members of
the family also, but they don't like him. With me he
often converses/
" I found," concludes the narrator, who does not
appear to have had any further encounter with James
Bair's apparition, " if any of the roems or closets were
locked at night they were found open in the morning,
and our hostess thought nothing of it."
BARBY.
Dr Lee, in his work on Glimpses of the Supernatural,
furnishes a curious account of the discovery of hidden
treasure by the agency of an apparition. He does not
appear to entertain the slightest doubts as to the cor-
Tectness of his information in this case, and indeed
declares, as will be seen later on by the reader, that the
circumstances recorded were completely verified.
The events to which Dr. Lee refers are stated to have
occurred at Barby, a village of between six and seven
hundred inhabitants, in the county of Northampton,
situated about eight miles from Rugby, and a little
more than five miles from Daventry. A house in this
small village was, until recently, reputed to be haunted-
BAKBY. 7
and this in the following manner, according to the
authority above referred to.
"An old woman of the name of Webb, a native of
the place, and above the usual height, died on March
3rd, 1851, at 2 a.m., aged sixty-seven. Late in life she
had married a man of some means, who having pre-
deceased her, left her his property, so that she was in
good circumstances. Her chief and notorious charac-
teristic, however, was excessive penuriousness, she being
remarkably miserly in her habits; and it is believed by
manv in the village that she thus shortened her days.
Two of her neighbours, women of the names of Griffin
and Holding, nursed her during her last illness, and her
nephew, Mr. Hart, a farmer in the village, supplied
her temporal needs ; in whose favour she had made
a will, by which she bequeathed to him all her pos-
sessions.
"About a month after the funeral, Mrs. Holding,
who with her uncle lived next door to the house of the
deceased (which had been entirely shut up since the
funeral), was alarmed and astonished at hearing loud
and heavy thumps against the partition wall, and espe-
cially against the door of a cupboard in the room wall,
while other strange noises, like the dragging of furniture
about the rooms, though all the furniture had been
removed, and the house was empty. These were chiefly
heard about two o'clock in the morning.
"Early in the month of April a family of the name
of Accleton, much needing a residence, took the deceased
woman's house — the only one in the village vacant —
8 HAUKTED HOMES.
and bringing their goods and chattels, proceeded to
inhabit it. The husband was often absent, but he and
his wife occupied the room in which Airs. Webb had
died, while their daughter, a girl of about ten years of
age, slept in a small bed in the corner. Violent noises
in the night were heard about two o'clock — thumps,
tramps, and tremendous crashes, as if all the furniture
had been collected together and then violently banged
on to the floor. One night at 2 a.m. the parents were
suddenly awakened by the violent screams of the child.
' Mother ! mother ! there *s a tall woman standing by
my bed, a shaking her head at me ! ' The parents could
see nothing, so did their best to quiet and compose the
child. At four o'clock they were awakened by the
child's screams, for she had seen the woman again ; in
fact, she appeared to her no less than seven times on
seven subsequent nights.
"Mrs. Accleton, during her husband's absence,
having engaged her mother to sleep with her one night,
was suddenly aroused at the same hour of two by a
strange and unusual light in her room. Looking up,
she saw quite plainly the spirit of Mrs. Webb, which
moved towards her with a gentle appealing manner, as
though it would have said ' Speak ! speak ! '
" This spectre appeared likewise to a Mrs. Rad-
Dournc, a Mrs. Griffiths, and a Mrs. Holding. They
assert that luminous balls of light seemed to go up and
towards a trap-door in the ceiling which led to the roof
of the cottage. Each person who saw it testified like-
wse to hearing a low, unearthly moaning noise, ' strange
BARBY. 9
and unnatural like,' but somewhat similar in character
to the moans of the woman in her death-agony.
"The subject -was of course discussed, and Mrs
Accleton suggested that its appearance might not im-
possibly be connected with the existence of money
hoarded up in the roof— an idea which may have arisen
from the miserly habits of the dead woman. The hint
having been given to and taken by her nephew, Mr.
Hart, the farmer, he proceeded to the house, ami witli
Mrs. Accleton's personal help, made a search. The loft
above was totally dark, but by the aid of a candle there
was discovered, firstly, a bundle of old writings, old
deeds, as they turned out to be, and afterwards a large
bag of gold and bank-notes, out of which the nephew
took a handful of sovereigns and exhibited them to
Mrs. Accleton. But the knockings, moanings, strange
noises, and other disturbances, did not cease upon this
discovery. They did cease, however, when Mr. Hart,
having found that certain debts were owing bv her,
carefully and scrupulously paid them. So much for the
account of the haunted house at Barby."
The circumstances detailed were most carefully in-
vestigated by Sir Charles Isham and other gentlemen
in the neighbourhood, and the conclusion they arrived
at was that the above facts were completely verified by
the evidence laid before them.
10 HAUNTED HOMES.
BEAMINSTER SCHOOL.
In 1774 the Gentleman's Magazine printed the follow-
ing narrative, prefacing it with these words : " The
following very singular story eomes well authenticated."
In many respects the story may be deemed unique in
the history of the supernatural. The apparition appears
m broad daylight, and is seen by five children, one of
whom did not even know the individual it represented
when alive, and yet proved its identity by a wonderful
piece of circumstantial evidence. The intense pathos
of the unfortunate and evidently -murdered lad, re-
appearing amid the scenes of his childish occupations,
and where he had been wont to play with those bovs
who now could only look upon him as a passing
shadow, is most suggestive.
The school of Beminster (Beaminster), says the
account, is held in a gallery of the parish church to
which there is a distinct entrance from the churchyard.
Every Saturday the key of it is delivered to the clerk
of the parish by one or the other of the schoolboys.
On Saturday, June the 22nd, 1728, the master had
dismissed his lads as usual. Twelve of them loitered
about in the churchyard to play at ball. It was just
about noon. After a short space, four of the lads
returned into the school to search for old pens, and
were startled bv hearing in the church a noise which
they described as that produced by striking a brass pan.
They immediately ran to their playfellows in the church-
BEAMINSTEE SCHOOL. 11
yard and told them of it. They came to the conclusion
that someone was in hiding in order to frighten them,
and they all went back into the school together to
discover who it was, but could not find anyone. As
they were returning to their sport, on the stairs that
lead into the churchyard, they heard in the school a
second noise. Terrified at that, they ran round the
church, and when at the belfry, or west door, they
heard what seemed to them the sound of someone
preaching, which was succeeded by another sound as of
a congregation singing psalms. Both of these noises
lasted but a short time.
With the thoughtlessness of youth the lads soon
resumed their sport, and after a short time one of them
went into the school for his book, when he saw a coffin
lying on one of the benches, only about six feet away.
Surprised at this, he ran off and told his playfellows
what he had seen, on which they all thronged to the
school- door, whence^/z^ of the twelve saw the appari-
tion of John Daniel, who had been dead more than
seven weeks, sitting at some distance from the coffin,
further in the school. All of them saw the coffin, and
it was conjectured that why all did not see the apparition
was because the door was so narrow they could not all
approach it together. The first who knew it to be the
apparition of their deceased schoolfellow was Daniel's
half-brother, and he, on seeing it, cried out, " There
sits our John, with just such a coat on as I have " —
(in the lifetime of the deceased boy the half-brothers
were usually clothed alike)^ — " with a pen in his hand,
12 HAUNTED HOMES.
and a book before him, and a coffin by him. I '11 throw
a stone at him." The other boys tried to stop him, but
he threw the stone, as he did so saying, " Take it ! "
upon which the apparition immediately disappeared.
The immense excitement this created in the place
may be imagined. The lads, whose ages ranged between
nine and twelve, were all magisterially examined by
Colonel Broadrep, and all agreed in their relation of the
circumstances, even to the hinges of the coffin ; whilst
their description of the coffin tallied exactly with that
the deceased lad had been buried in. One of the lads
who saw the apparition was quite twelve years of age,
and was a quiet sedate lad for his age ; he entered the
school after the deceased boy had left it (on account of
illness about a fortnight before his death), and had
never seen Daniel in his life-time. This lad, on exami-
nation, gave an exact description of the person of the
deceased, and took especial notice of one thing about
the apparition which the other boys had not observed,
and that was, it had a white cloth or rag bound round
one of its hands. The woman who laid out the corpse
of John Daniel for interment deposed on oath that she
took such a white cloth from its hand, it having been
put on the boy's hand (he being lame of it) about four
days or so before his death.
Daniel's body had been found in an obscure place in
a field, at about a furlong distant from his mother's
house, and had been buried without an inquest, in
consequence of his mother alleging that the lad had
been subject to fits. After the appearance of the
BISHAM ABBEY 13
apparition the body was disinterred, a coroner's inquest
held, and a verdict returned to the effect that the boy
had been " strangled." This verdict appears to have
been mainly arrived at in consequence of the depositions
of two women " of good repute " that two days after
the corpse was found they saw it, and discovered
a " black list " round its neck ; and likewise of the
joiner who put the body into the coffin, and who had an
opportunity of observing it, as the shroud was not put
on in the usual way, but was in two pieces, one laid
under and the other over the body. A " chirurgeon "
who gave evidence could not or would not positively
affirm to the jury that there was any dislocation of the
neck. So far as can be learnt, no steps were taken to
bring anyone to justice on account of the suggested
death bv violence ot the lad.
BISHAM ABBEY.
Bisham Abbey, in Berkshire, was formerly the familv
seat of the Hobbys, and about the first half of the
sixteenth century was in possession of Sir Thomas
Hobby, or Hoby, a man of no slight reputation for
learning in those days. He married Elizabeth, the
third daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, who shared the
general fame of her family for intellectual qualifications.
When Sir Thomas went to France as ambassador for
14 HAUNTED HOMES.
Queen Elizabeth his wife accompanied him, and on hia
death abroad in 1566 Lady Hoby brought his body
home and had it interred in a mortuary chapel at
Bisham. Subsequently she married John, Lord Russell.
By her first husband the Lady Hoby is said to
have had a son who, when quite young, displayed the
most intense antipathy to every kind of study ; and
such was his repugnance to writing, that in his fits of
obstinacy he would wilfully and deliberately blot his
writing-books. This conduct enraged his mother, whose
whole family were noted for their scholastic attainments,
and who, like her three sisters, Lady Burleigh, Lady
Bacon, and Lady Killigrew, was not only an excellent
classical scholar, but was also married to a man of
literary note, that she chastised the unfortunate lad
with all the violence at that period permitted to, and
practised by, parents on their children. She beat him,
according to the old legend, again and again on the
shoulders and head, and at last so severely and unmer-
cifully that he died.
It is commonly reported that, as a punishment for
her unnatural cruelty, her spirit is doomed to haunt
Bisham Abbey, the house where this cruel act of man-
slaughter was perpetrated. Several persons have seen
the apparition, the likeness of which, both as regards
feature and dress, to a pale portrait of her ladyship in
antique widow's weeds still remaining at Bisham, is said
to be exact and life-like. She is reported to glide
through a certain chamber, in the act of washing blood-
stains from her hands, and on some occasions her
BOTATHEN. 1 5
apparition is said to have been seen in the grounds of
the old mansion.
A very remarkable occurrence in connection with this
narrative took place some years ago, according to Dr.
Lee, author of Glimpses of the Supernatural. " In
taking down an old oak window-shutter of the latter
part of the sixteenth century," he states that " a packet
o antique copy-books of that period were discovered
pushed into the wall between the joists of the skirting,
and several of these books on which young Hobby s
fiame was written were covered with blots, thus sup-
porting the ordinary tradition."
BOTATHEN.
In the second volume of Hitchen's History of Cornwall
is given in extenso a most remarkable account of an
apparition that is believed to have appeared in that
county. The scene of its appearance was a place called
Botaden, or Botathen, in the parish of South Petherwin,
near Launceston. Various authors have alluded to this
marvellous, and, all things considered, inexplicable
story ; but as Hitchen appears to have derived his
account direct from one of the persons chiefly con-
cerned— that is to say, from the Rev. John Ruddle,
Head Master of the Grammar School at Launceston,
Vicar of Altemon, and Prebendary of Exeter, it is
better to follow him.
1G HAUNTED HOMES.
" Young Mr. Bligh," says Hitchen, " a lad of bright
parts and of no common attainments, became on a
sudden pensive, dejected, and melancholy. His friends,
observing the change without being able to discover the
cause, attributed his behaviour to laziness, an aversion
to school, or to some other motive which they suspected
he was ashamed to avow. He was, however, induced to
inform his brother, after some time, that in a lield
through which he passed to and from school " — that is
to say, to and from Launceston Grammar School, ot
which, as has alreadv been observed, Mr. Raddle was
Head Master — "he was invariably met by the apparition
of a woman, whom he personally knew while living, and
who had been dead about eight years." Young Bligh
is said to have been at this time about sixteen. " Ridi-
cule, threats, and persuasions were alike used in vain
by the family to induce him to dismiss these absurd
ideas. Air. Ruddle was, however, sent for, to whom
the lad ingenuously communicated the time, manner,
and frequency of this appearance. It was in a field
called Higher Broomfield. The apparition, he said,
appeared dressed in female attire, met him two or three
times while he passed through the field, glided hastily
by him, but never spoke. He had thus been occasion-
ally met about two months before he took any particular
notice of it ; at length the appearance became more
frequent, meeting him both morning and evening, but
always in the same field, yet invariably moving out of
the path when it came close to him. He often spoke,
but could never get any reply. To avoid this unwel-
BOTATHEN. 17
come visitor he forsook the field, and went to school
and returned from it through a lane, in which place,
between the quarry pack and nursery, it always met
him. Unable to disbelieve the evidence of his own
senses, or to obtain credit with any of his family, he
prevailed upon Mr. Ruddle to accompany him to the
place.
" i I arose,' says this clergyman, ' the next morning,
and went with him. The field to which he led me I
guessed to be about twenty acres, in an open country,
and about three furlongs from any house. We went
into the field, and had not gone a third part before the
spectrum, in the shape of a woman, with all the cir-
cumstances he had described the day before, so far as
the suddenness of its appearance and transition would
permit me to discover, passed by.
"'I was a little surprised at it, and though I had
taken up a firm resolution to speak to it, I had not the
powTer, nor durst I look back ; yet I took care not to
show any fear to my pupil and guide, and therefore,
telling him that I was satisfied in the truth of his state-
ment we walked to the end of the field and returned —
nor did the ghost meet us that time but once.
" * On the 27th July, 1665, I went to the haunted
field bv mvself, and walked the breadth of it without
any encounter. I then returned and took the other
walk, and then the spectre appeared to me, much about
the same place in which I saw it when the young
gentleman was with me. It appeared to move swifter
than before, and seemed to be about ten feet from me
2
IS HAUNTED HOMES.
on my right hand, insomuch that I Lad not time to
speak to it, as I had determined with myself beforehand.
The evening of this day, the parents, the son, and
myself, being in the chamber where I lay, I proposed to
them our going all together to the place next morning.
We accordingly met at the stile we had appointed;
thence we all four walked into the field together. We had
not gone more than half the field before the ghost made
its appearance. It then came over the stile just before
us, and moved with such rapidity that by the time we had
gone six or seven steps it passed by. I immediately
turned my head and ran after it, with the young man by
my side. We saw it pass over the stile at which we
entered, and no farther. I stepped upon the hedge at
one place and the young man at another, but we could
discern nothing ; whereas I do aver that the swiftes
horse in England could not have conveyed himself out
of sight in that short space of time. Two things I
observed in this day's appearance : first, a spaniel dog,
which had followed the company unregarded, barked
and ran away as the spectrum passed by ; whence it is
easy to conclude that it was not our fear or fancy which
made the apparition. Secondly, the motion of the
spectrum was not gradatim or by steps, or moving of
the feet, but by a kind of gliding, as children upon ice,
or as a boat down a river, which punctually answers the
description the ancients give of the motion of these
Lamures. This ocular evidence clearly convinced, but
withal strangely affrighted, the old gentleman and his
wife. They well knew this woman, Dorothy Durant, m
BOTATHEN. 19
her life-time ; were at her burial, and now plainly saw
her features in this apparition.
"' The next morning, being Thursday, I went very
early by myself, and walked for about an hour's space
in meditation and prayer in the field next adjoining.
Soon after five I stepped over the stile into the haunted
field, and had not gone above thirty or forty paces before
the ghost appeared at the further stile. I spoke to it in
some short sentences with a loud voice ; whereupon it
approached me, but slowly, and when I came near
it moved not. I spoke again, and it answered in a
voice neither audible nor very intelligible. I was not
in the least terrified, and therefore persisted until it
spoke again and gave me satisfaction ; but the work
could not be finished at this time. Whereupon the
same evening, an hour after sunset, it met me again
near the same place, and after a few words on each side
it quietly vanished, and neither doth appear now, nor
hath appeared since, nor ever will more to any man's
disturbance. The discourse in the morning lasted
about a quarter of an hour.
" ' These things are true,' concludes the Eev. John
Ruddle, ' and I know them to be so, with as much
certainty as eyes and ears can give me; and until I can
be persuaded that my senses all deceive me about their
proper objects, and by that persuasion deprive me of the
strongest inducement to believe the Christian religion,
I must and will assert that the things contained in this
paper are true.' " .
2 *
20 UAUKTED HOMES.
BOWOOD.
In the popular Memoirs of Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, the
well-known authoress, a curious story connected with
Bowood, the seat of the Marquis of Lansdowne, is
related as having occurred whilst the celebrated Dr.
Priestley was librarian there to Lord Shelburn.
" One day," says Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, " Mr
Petty, the precocious and gifted youth, sent for Dr.
Priestley (Lord Shelburn, Mr. Petty's father, being
then absent, I think, in London). When the doctor
entered, Mr. Petty told him he had passed a very restless
night, and had been much disturbed by uncomfortable
dreams, which he wished to relate to Dr. Priestley,
hoping that, by so doing, the painful impression would
pass away.
" He then said he dreamed he had been very unwell,
when suddenly the whole household was in preparation
for a journey. He was too ill to sit up, but was carried
lying down in the carriage. His surprise was extreme
in seeing carriage after carriage in an almost inter-
minable procession. He was alone, and could not
speak ; he could only gaze in astonishment. The pro-
cession at last wound slowly off. After pursuing the
road for many miles towards London, it at last appeared
to stop at the door of a church. It was the church at
High Wycombe, which is the burial-place of the Shel-
burn family. It seemed, in Mr. Petty's dream, that he
entered, or rather was carried into the church. He
BO WOOD. 21
looked back; he saw the procession which followed him
was in black, and that the carriage from which he had
been taken bore the semblance of a hearse. Here the
dream ended, and he awoke.
" Dr. Priestley told him that his dream was the result
of a feverish cold, and that the impression would soon
pass off. Nevertheless, he thought it best to 'send for
the family medical attendant. The next day Mr. Petty
was much better ; on the third day he was completely
convalescent, so that the doctor permitted him to leave
his room ; but as it was in January, and illness was
prevalent, he desired him on no account to leave the
house, and, with that precaution, took his leave. Late
the next afternoon the medical man was returning from
his other patients ; his road lay by the gates of
Bowood, and as Lord Shelburn was away, he thought
he might as well call to see Mr. Petty and enforce his
directions. What was his surprise, when he had passed
the lodge, to see the youth himself, without his hat,
playfully running to meet him ! The doctor was much
astonished, as it was bitterly cold and the ground
covered with snow. He rode towards Mr. Petty to
rebuke him for his imprudence, when suddenly he
disappeared — whither he knew not, but he seemeh
instantaneously to vanish. The doctor thought it very
extraordinary, but that probably the youth had not
wished to be found transgressing orders, and he rode
on to the house. There he learnt that Mr. Petty had
just expired. "
22 HAUNTED HOMES.
THE BRISTOL VICARAGE.
In 1846 certain strange doings were reported to be
going on in an ancient residence in Bristol. The papers
found the matter exciting such interest that they felt
bound to notice it, but did so in a half-serious, half-
sarcastic spirit, as the following excerpt from the Bristol
Times will show. Under the heading of " A Ghost at
Bristol," the journal named made this statement: —
"We have this week a ghost story to relate. Yes, a
real ghost story, and a ghost story without, as yet, any
clue to its elucidation. After the dissolution of the
Calendars, their ancient residence, adjoining and almost
forming a part of All Saints' Church, Bristol, was
converted into a vicarage-house, and it is still (in 1846)
called by that name, though the incumbents have for
many years ceased to reside there. The present occu-
pants are Mr. and Mrs. Jones, the sexton and sextoness
of the church, and one or two lodgers; and it is to the
former and their servant-maid that the strange visitor
has made his appearance, causing such terror by his
nightly calls, that all three have determined upon
quitting the premises, if indeed they have not already
carried their resolution into effect. Mr. and Mrs.
Jones's description of the disturbance as given to the
landlord, on whom they called in great consternation,
is as distinct as any ghost story could be. The noc-
turnal visitor is heard walking about the house when
the inhabitants are in bed ; and Mr. Jones, who is a
THE BRISTOL VICARAGE. 28
man of by no means nervous constitution, declares he
has several times seen a light flickering on one of the
walls. Mrs. Jones is equally certain that she has heard
a man with creaking shoes walking in the bed-room
above her own, when no man was on the premises (or at
least ought not to be), and ' was nearly killed with the
fright.' To the servant-maid, however, was vouchsafed
the unenvied honour of seeing this restless night
visitor; she declares she has repeatedly had her bed-
room door unbolted at night, between the hours of
twelve and two o'clock — the period when such beings
usually make their promenades — by something in human
semblance. She cannot particularise his dress, but
describes it as something antique, and of a fashion
'lang syne gane,' and to some extent corresponding to
that of the ancient Calendars, the former inhabitants of
the house. She further says, he is ' a whiskered gentle-
man' (we give her own words), which whiskered
gentleman has gone the length of shaking her bed,
and, she believes, would have shaken herself also, but
that she invariably puts her head under the clothes
when she sees him approach. Mrs. Jones declares she
believes in the appearance of the whiskered gentleman,
and she had made up her mind the night before she
called on her landlord to leap out of the window (and
it is not a trifle that will make people leap out of the
windows) as soon as he entered the room. The effect
of the * flickering light ' on Mr. Jones was quite terrific,
causing excessive trembling, and the complete doubling
up of his whole body into a round ball, like."
24> HAUNTED HOMES.
As far as can be ascertained no elucidation of this
mysterious affair was ever forthcoming. Mrs. Crowe —
to whose knowledge the account was brought — sub-
sequently wrote to the editor of the Bristol Times,
and received a reply that " the whole affair remains
wrapped in the same mystery as when chronicled in the
pages of" the paper, and this statement was sub-
sequently confirmed by Mrs. Jones.
CAMBRIDGE.
In the narrative about to be recited, the appearance of
the apparition, and the coincidence of the date of death
with its appearance, differ in no way from the usual
records of such thinsrs. But the wonderful series of
events by which the discrepancies between the official
report and the spectral visit were ultimately explained,
render this story one of the most marvellous known.
Tt is related by Robert Dale Owen, in his famous
Footfalls, wherein he declares that although in accord-
ance with the wishes of the family some of the names
are merely represented by initials, they are all known
to him. As, however, the name of the officer subse-
quently appeared in print, we shall not be committing
any breach of courtesy or of good feeling in stating
that Captain German Wheatcroft is the name in full.
The story taken as a whole is so truly marvellous,
CAMBRIDGE. 25
that it is deemed but just that it should be given
verbatim from Owen's record, not abridging or altering
a single foot-note, nor omitting aught save a spiritual
episode which does not affect the general narrative.
The tale runs thus : —
"In the month of September, 1857, Captain German
Wheatcroft, of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, went
out to India to join his regiment.
"His wife remained in England, residing at Cam-
bridge. On the night between the 14th and 15th of
November, 1857, towards morning, she dreamed that
she saw her husband, looking anxious and ill; upon
which she immediately awoke, much agitated. It was
bright moonlight: and, looking up, she perceived the
same figure standing by her bed-side. He appeared in
his uniform, the hands pressed across the breast, the
hair dishevelled, the face very pale. His large dark
eyes were fixed full upon her ; their expression was
that of great excitement, and there was a peculiar con-
traction of the mouth, habitual to him when agitated.
She saw him, even to each minute particular of his
dress, as distinctly as she had ever done in her life ; and
she remembers to have noticed between his hands the
white of the shirt-bosom, unstained, however, with
blood. The figure seemed to bend forward, as if in
pain, and to make an effort to speak; but there was no
sound. It remained visible, the wife thinks, as long as
a minute, and then disappeared.
" Her first idea was to ascertain if she was actually
awake. She rubbed her eyes with the sheet, and felt
26 HAUNTED HOMES.
that the touch was real. Her little nephew was in bed
with her ; she hent over the sleeping child and listened
to its breathing : the sound was distinct, and she be-
came convinced that what she had seen was no dream.
It need hardly be added that she did not again go to
sleep that night.
" Next morning she related all this to her mother,
expressing her conviction, though she had noticed no
marks of blood on his dress, that Captain Wheatcroft
was either killed or grievously wounded. So fully
impressed was she with the reality of that apparition,
that she thenceforth refused all invitations. A young
friend urged her soon afterwards to go with her to a
fashionable concert, reminding her that she had received
from Malta, sent by her husband, a handsome dress
cloak, which she had never yet worn. But she posi-
tively declined, declaring that, uncertain as she was
whether she was not already a widow, she would never
enter a place of amusement until she had letters from
her husband (if indeed he still lived) of a later date
than the 14th of November.
" It was on a Tuesday, in the month of December,
1857, that the telegram regarding the actual fate of
Captain Wheatcroft was published in London. It was
to the effect that he was killed before Lucknow on the
fifteenth of November.
"This news, given in the morning paper, attracted
the attention of Mr. Wilkinson, a London solicitor, who
had in charge Captain Wheatcroft's affairs. When at a
later period this gentleman met the widow, she informed
CAMBRIDGE. 27
him that she had heen quite prepared for the melancholy
news, hut that she had felt sure her husband could not
have been killed on the 15th of November, inasmuch as
it was during the night between the 14th and 15th
that he appeared to her.*
" The certificate from the War Office, however, which
it became Mr. Wilkinson's duty to obtain, confirmed
the date given in the telegram, its tenor being as
follows : —
" 4 No. ssp War Office,
30th January, 1858
" * These are to certify that it appears, by the records in this office,
that Captain German Wheatcroft, of the 6th Dragoon Gnards, waa
killed in action on the loth of November, 1857. f
" ' (Signed) B. Hawes.'
" Mr. Wilkinson called at the office of Messrs. Cox
and Greenwood, the army agents, to ascertain if there
were no mistake in the certificate. But nothing there
appeared to confirm any surmise of inaccuracy. Captain
Wheatcroft's death was mentioned in two separate de-
spatches of Sir Colin Campbell, and in both the date
corresponded with that given in the telegram.
" So matters rested, until, in the month of March,
* " The difference of longitude between London and Lucknow
being about five hours, three or four o'clock a.m. in London would be
eight or nine o'clock a.m. at Lucknow. But it was in the afternoon,
not in the morning, as will be seen in the sequel, that Captain Wheat-
croft was killed. Had he fallen on the 15th, therefore, the apparition
to his wife would have appeared several hours before the engagement
in which he fell, and while he was yet alive and well. — R. D. Owen."
f " Into this certificate, of which I possess the original, an error has
crept. Captain German "Wheatcroft was of the 6th (Inniskilling)
Dragoons, not of the 6th Dragoon Guards. — R. D. Owen."
28 HAUNTED HOMES.
t
t
1858, the family of Captain Wheatcroft received from
Captain G C , then of the Military Train, a
letter dated near Lucknow, on the 19th of December,
1857. This letter informed them that Captain Wheat-
croft had been killed before Lucknow, while gallantly
■ft
leading on the squadron, not on the 15th of November,
as reported in Sir Colin Campbell's despatches, but on
the fourteenth, in the afternoon. Captain C was
riding close by his side at the time he saw him fall.
He was struck by a fragment of shell in the breast, and
never spoke after he was hit. He was buried at the
Dilkoosha; and on a wooden cross, erected by his friend,
Lieutenant R of the 9th Lancers, at the head of his
grave, are cut the initials * G. W.,' and the date of
his death, the * 14th of November, 1857.'*
" The War Office finally made the correction as to
the date of death, but not until more than a vear after
the event occurred. Mr. Wilkinson, having occasion
to apply for an additional copy of the certificate in
April, 1857, found it in exactly the same words as that
which I have given, only that the 14th of November
had been substituted for the 15th. f
* " It was not in his own regiment, which was then at Mcerut, that
Captain Wheatcroft was serving at the time of his death. Immedi-
ately on arriving from England at Cawnpore, he had offered his
services to Colonel Wilson, of the Gith. They were at first declined,
but finally accepted ; and he joined the Military Train then starting
for Lucknow. It was in their ranks that he fell. — R. D. Owen."
f " The originals of both these certificates are in my possession :
tho first bearing date 30th January, 1858, and certifying, as already
shown, to the loth ; the second, dated 5th April, 1859, and testifying
to the 14th.— R. D. Owen "
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. 29
"This extraordinary narrative was obtained by me
direct from the parties themselves," says Owen. " The
widow of Captain Wheatcroft kindly consented to
examine and correct the manuscript, and allowed me
to inspect a copy of Captain C 's letter, giving the
particulars of her husband's death. To Mr. Wilkinson,
also, the manuscript was submitted, and he assented to
its accuracy so far as he is concerned. I have neglected
no precaution, therefore, to obtain for it the warrant of
authenticity.
" It is, perhaps," concludes Owen, " the only
example on record where the appearance of what is
usually termed a ghost proved the means of correcting
an erroneous date in the despatches of a Commander-
in-Chief, and of detecting an inaccuracy in the certificate
of a War-Office."
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY.
Innumerable stones are related of various rooms in
the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge being haunted.
One of the most circumstantial is given in Howitt's
History of the Supernatural, as related to him by
Wordsworth, on his return from paying a visit to his
brother, Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, then Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge. According to the poet's
30 HAUNTED HOMES.
account, as detailed by Howitt, a young man, having
just come to enter himself a student at Trinity, brought
with him a letter of introduction to Dr. Wordsworth.
Upon presenting his introductory epistle, the student
asked the Master if he could recommend comfortable
quarters to him, and Dr. Wordsworth mentioned some
that were at that time vacant. The young man took
them.
A few days after this, Dr. Wordsworth, seeing the
collegian, asked him how he liked his new quarters.
He replied that the rooms themselves were very com-
fortable, but that he should be obliged to give them up.
Upon being asked what was his reason for doing so,
the young freshman replied, Dr. Wordsworth might
think him fanciful, but that the rooms were haunted,
and that he had been awakened every night by the
apparition of a child, which wandered about the rooms
moaning, and, strange to say, with the palms of its
hands turned outwards ; that he had searched his
rooms, and on each occasion found them securely
locked, and that he was convinced nothing but an
apparition could have traversed them. Dr. Wordsworth
said he would now be candid with him, and confess
that these rooms had been repeatedly abandoned by
students on the plea that they were haunted, but that,
having a perfect reliance on his judgment and veracity,
from what he had heard of him, he was desirous of
seeing whether he would confirm the story, having had
no intimation of it beforehand. " Whether," says
Howitt, very pertinently, "the young man thanked the
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. 31
Master for his recommendation of such lodgings, does
not appear."
In The Night Side of Nature is given another in-
stance of the appearance of an apparition in one of the
colleges at Cambridge, but, unfortunately, the name of
the college is not given, and only the initial of the
ghost-seer's name. The story is that three young men,
students at the university, after having been out hunt-
ing, met and dined together in the apartments of one of
them. After dinner the host and one of his guests,
fatigued with their heavy exercise, fell asleep ; but the
third person present, Mr. M , remained awake.
After a time Mr. M beheld the door open, and an
elderly gentleman enter and place himself behind the
sleeping owner of the rooms. Having stood there for
about a minute, the stranger moved away, and pro*
ceeded into the " gyp " room, a small inner chamber,
whence there was no other means of exit than through
the door he had entered. As the stranger did not come
out again from the " gyp " room, Mr. M woke his
host, and told him that somebody had gone into the
room, remarking, " I don't know who it can be."
The young man rose and looked into the " gyp "
room, but as there was no one there, he very naturally
accused Mr. M of having been dreaming ; but he
was quite positive that he had not been asleep. He
then gave a description of the visitor's appearance,
describing him as dressed like a country squire, with
gaiters, and so forth. " Why, that 's like my father,"
6aid the host, and at once instituted inquiry as to
32 HAUNTED HOMES.
whether the old gentleman had been there, ana had
contrived to slip out again unobserved. He had not
been seen ; and an early post brought the intelligence of
his death, which had occurred about the time he was
seen at Cambridge.
CANTERBURY.
In his celebrated Athena* Oxonie?isesi Anthony a
Wood, the learned antiquary, states that Dr. Jacob, a
well-known medical man. told him the following mar-
vellous relation of an apparition that visited his house
at Canterbury. "This very story," records a Wood,
" Dr. Jacobs told me himself, being then at Lord Teyn-
ham's, in Kent, where he was then physician to m}
eldest son, whom he recovered from a fever:" Dr
Jacob also repeated the relation in a letter which
Aubrey, the antiquary, alludes to in his Miscellanies.
The story is that " the learned Henry Jacob," a fellow
of Merton College, Oxford, died at Dr. Jacob's house at
Canterbury.
About a week after Henry Jacob's death, the doctor
being in bed and awake, and the moon shining bright
into his room, he beheld his deceased cousin standing
by the bedside in his shirt, with a white cap on his
head, and his "mustachoes turning up, as when he was
alive." The doctor pinched himself to be assured that
CAWOOD CASTLE. 33
he was awake, and turned to the other side away from
the apparition. After some time he plucked up courage
to turn towards it again, and Henry Jacob stood there
still. The doctor would have spoken to him, but could
not, for which he has been sorrv ever since. In some
little time the apparition disappeared.
Not long after this incident the cook-maid, going out
to the wood-pile one evening to fetch some wood for the
kitchen fire, averred that she saw the apparition of Mr.
Henry in his shirt, standing on the pile of wood.
This spectre does not seem to have troubled the
doctor any more ; but it is stated that when dying
Henry Jacob would fain have told his cousin some-
thing, but was not able to. It is imagined, says
Aubrev, that he would have informed Dr. Jacob with
what person he had deposited the manuscripts of his
own writings, which were all the riches he had, and
which, it was strongly suspected, fell into the hands
of a certain person who printed them under his own
name. If anything could bring an author's spirit
back to this sphere, certainly such an outrage on his
memory would.
CAWOOD CASTLE.
Anyone conversant with the less-known judicial records
of the past, is well aware that supernatural evidence
frequently formed an important factor in ancient crimi
34 HAUNTED HOMES.
nal trials. One of these curious case3 is recorded in
Aubrey's Miscellanies, that mediey of useful and use-
less matters, as having taken place in the immediate
vicinity of Cawood Castle, Yorkshire. The depositions
made at the trial, but for one extraordinary and all-
important piece of evidence, were of common-place type.
According to the circumstances brought out in the
course of investigation, the facts were these: —
On Monday, the 14th of April, 1690, William Bar-
wick was out walking with his wife, Mary Barwick, close
to Cawood Castle. From motives not divulged at the
trial, although shrewdly guessed at by Aubrey, he deter-
mined to murder her, and finding a pond conveniently
at hand, he threw her in. Deeming, doubtless, that the
bodv would soon be discovered where it was, he went
the next day to the place, procured a huge spade, and,
getting the corpse out of the water, made a grave close
by, and buried it.
Apparently satisfied that no one had witnessed his
ghastly deed, Barwick actually went on the day he had
committed the murder to his wife's sister, and informed
her husband, Thomas Lofthouse, that he had taken his
wife to a relative's house in Selbv, and left her there.
Lofthouse, however, according to his deposition on
oath, averred that on the Tuesday after the visit of
Barwick, " about half an hour after twelve of the clock,
in the day-time, he was watering quickwood, and as he
was going for the second pail, there appeared, walking:
before him, an apparition in the shape of a woman.
Soon after she sat down over against the pona, on a
OAWOOD OASTLE. 35
green hill. He walked by her as he went to the pond,
and as he came with the pail of water from the pond,
looking sideways to see if she sat in the same place,
which he saw she did." The witness then observed that
the apparition was dandling " something like a white
bag" on her lap, evidently suggestive, indeed, of her
unborn babe that was slain with her. Lofthouse now
emptied his pail of water, so he averred, and then stood
in the yard of his house, to see if he could still see the
woman's figure, but she had disappeared. He described
her attire as exactly similar to that worn by his sister-
in-law at the time of her murder, but remarked that she
looked extremely pale, and that her teeth were visible,
" her visage being like his wife's sister."
Notwithstanding the horror of this apparition, Loft-
house, according to Aubrey's account, did not mention
anything about it to his wife till night-time, when, at
his family duty of prayers, the thoughts of the appari-
tion were so overpowering, that they interrupted his
devotion. After he had made an end of his prayers,
therefore, he told the whole story of what he had seen
to his wife, "who, laying the whole circumstances
together, immediately inferred that her sister was either
drowned or otherwise murdered, and desired her hus-
band to look after her the next day, which was Wednes-
day in Easter week." Lofthouse now recalled to mind
what Barwick had told him about having left his wife
at his uncle's at Selby, and therefore went to him and
made inquiries, and found that neither the man nor his
wife had been seen or heard of there. This information,
3 *
36 HAUNTED HOMES.
coupled with the appearance of the apparition, increased
his suspicions against Barwick to such a degree, that he
went before the Lord Mayor of York, and obtained a
warrant for the arrest of his brother-in-law.
The culprit, when arrested, confessed the crime, and
the body of the murdered woman being disinterred, was
found dressed in clothing similar, apparently, to that
worn by the apparition. Ultimately Barwick suffered
the extreme penalty of the law for his crime.
CHEDWORTH.
According to an anecdote related by Mrs. Crawford,
in the Metropolitan Magazine for 1836, Chedworth,
the seat of Lord Chedworth, in Gloucestershire, has
not escaped the fate common to the residences of most
noble families; that is to say, it has a story of an
npparition attached to it. The account of this circum-
stance is stated to have been told to Mrs. Crawford bv
Miss Wright, the adopted child of Lord Chedworth, and
daughter of a sister of his. The story, as told by his
niece, was, that Lord Chedworth had great doubts as to
the existence of the soul in another world, doubts
which were equally shared by a gentleman for whom he
had a very great friendship.
One morning Miss Wright remarked, when her uncle
joined her at the breakfast-table, that he was very
thoughtful, had no nppetite, and was unusually silent.
CHESHUNT. 37
At last he said, " Molly " — for thus he was accustomed
to call his niece — "I had a strange visitor last night.
My old friend B came to me."
"What!" said Miss Wright, "did he come after I
went to bed ? "
"His spirit did" said Lord Chedworth, solemnly.
" Oh, my dear uncle ! how could the spirit of a living
man appear ? " said she, smiling.
" He is dead, beyond doubt," replied his lordship ;
" listen, and then laugh as much as you please. I had
not entered my bedroom many minutes when he stood
before me. Like you, I could not believe but that I
was looking on the living man, and so accosted him;
but he (the spirit) answered, ' Chedworth, I died this
night at eight o'clock. I came to tell you there is
another world beyond the grave ; there is a righteous
God that judgeth all!"*
" Depend upon it, uncle, it was only a dream ; " but
even as Miss Wright was still speaking, a groom on
horseback rode up the avenue, and immediately after-
wards delivered a letter to Lord Chedworth, announcing
the sudden death of his friend.
CHESHUNT.
In Mrs. Crowe's Night Side of Nature is a remarkable
account of a haunted dwelling, stated to be (( in the
neighbourhood of the metropolis." Mrs. Crowe neither
38 HAUNTED HOMES.
mentions the name of the locality, nor furnishes more
than the initial of the " gentleman engaged in business
in London," whose family suffered from the "hauntings"
at this residence; but in Howitt's History of the Super-
natural these omitted particulars are supplied. Accord-
ing to Mr. Howitt, the old-fashioned house referred to
by Mrs. Crowe was at Cheshunt, and belonged to Sir
Henry Meux ; and the account given by the authoress
was taken down from the recital of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Kean, the well-known actors, who also furnished the
same particulars to Mr. Howitt. A comparison of the
statements given bv Mrs. Crowe and Mr. Howitt enables
us to give the following details : —
Mr. Chapman, the brother-in-law of Mr. Kean, and
apparently the well-known publisher, had been induced,
by the unusually low rental, to purchase the seven years'
lease of a large old-fashioned house at Cheshunt. The
house was a good country residence, was furnished, and
had a considerable quantity of land attached to it, in-
cluding a garden and pleasure-ground. The family
removed into the place, and Mr. Chapman joined them
once or twice a week, as his business engagements
permitted.
" They had been some considerable time in the house,"
says Mrs. Crowe, " without the occurrence of anything
remarkable, when one evening, towards dusk, Mrs.
Chapman, on going into what was called the oak bed-
room, saw a female figure near one of the windows ; it
was apparently a young woman with dark hair hanging
over her shoulders, a silk petticoat, and a short white
OHESHCJNT. 39
robe, and she appeared to be looking eagerly through
the window, as if expecting somebody. Mrs. Chapman
clapped her hands upon her eyes, ' as thinking she had
seen something she ought not to have seen,' and when
she looked again the figure had disappeared.
" Shortly after this, a young girl, who filled the
situation of under nursery-maid, came to her in great
agitation, saying that she had had a terrible fright, from
seeing a very ugly old woman looking in upon her as
she passed the window in the lobby. The girl was
trembling violently, and almost crying, so that Mrs.
Chapman entertained no doubts of the reality of her
alarm. She, however, thought it advisable to laugh her
out of her fear, and went with her to the window, which
looked into a closed court, but there was no one there,
neither had any of the other servants seen such a person.
Soon after this the family began to find themselves dis-
turbed with strange and frequently very loud noises
during the night. Among the rest, there was some-
thing like the beating of a crowbar upon the pump in
the above-mentioned court, but, search as they would,
they could discover no cause for the sound.
" One day, when Mr. Chapman had brought a friend
from London to stay the night with him, Mrs. Chapman
thought proper to go to the oak bed-room, where the
stranger was to sleep, for the purpose of inspecting the
arrangements for his comfort, when, to her great
surprise, someone seemed to follow her up to the fire-
place, though, on turning round, there was nobody to
be seen. She said nothing about it, however, and
40 HAUNTED HOMES.
returned below, where her husband and the stranger
were sitting. Presently one of the servants (not the
one mentioned above) tapped at the door, and requested
to speak with her, and Mrs. Chapman going out, she
told her, in great agitation, that in going up-stairs to
the visitor's room a footstep had followed her all the
way to the fire-place, although she could see nobody.
Mrs. Chapman said something soothing, and that matter
passed, she herself being a good deal puzzled, but still
unwilling to admit the idea that there was anything
extra-natural in these occurrences. Kepeatedly after this
these footsteps were heard in different parts of the house,
when nobody was to be seen; and often whilst she
was lying in bed she heard them distinctly approach her
door, wThen, being a very courageous woman, she would
start out with a loaded pistol in her hand, but there
was never anyone to be seen. At length it was im-
possible to conceal from herself and her servants that
these occurrences were of an extraordinary nature, and
the latter, as may be supposed, felt very uncomfortable.
Amongst other unpleasant things, whilst sitting all
together in the kitchen, they used to see the latch lifted,
and the door open, though no one came in that they
could see ; and when Mr. Chapman himself watched for
these events, although they took place, and he was quite
on the alert, he altogether failed in detecting any visible
agent.
" One night, the same servant who had heard the
footsteps following her to the bed-room fire-place,
happening to be asleop in Mrs. Chapman's chamber, she
CHESHUNT. 41
became much disturbed, and was heard to murmur,
' Wake me ! Wake me!' as if in great mental anguish.
Being aroused, she told her mistress a dream she had
had, which seemed to throw some light upon these
mysteries. She thought she was in the oak bed-room,
and at one end of it she saw a young female in an old-
fashioned dress, with long dark hair ; whilst in another
part of the room was a very ugly old woman, also in
old-fashioned attire. The latter, addressing the former,
said, * What have you done with the child, Emily ?
What have you done with the child ? ' To which the
younger figure answered, ' Oh, I did not kill it. He was
preserved, and grew up, and joined the Regiment,
and went to India.' Then, addressing the sleeper, the
young lady continued, ' I have never spoken to mortal
before, but I will tell you all. My name is Miss Black, and
this old woman is nurse Black. Black is not her name,
but we call her so because she has been so long in the
family.' Here the old woman interrupted the speaker by
coming up and laying her hand on the dreaming girl's
shoulder, whilst she said something ; but she could not
remember what ; for, feeling an excruciating pain from
the touch, she had been so far aroused as to be sensible
she was asleep, and to beg to be wholly awakened.
" As the old woman seemed to resemble the figure
that one of the other servants had seen looking into the
window, and the young one resembled that she had
herself seen in the oak chamber, Mrs. Chapman
naturally concluded that there was something extra-
ordinary about this dream ; and she consequently took
42 HAUNTED HOMES.
an early opportunity of inquiring in the neighbourhood
what was known as to the names or circumstances of
the former inhabitants of this house ; and after much
investigation she learnt that, about seventy or eighty
years before, it had been in the possession of a Mrs.
Ravenhall, who had a niece named Miss Black living
with her. This niece, Mrs. Chapman supposed, might
be the younger of the two persons who had been seen.
Subsequently she saw her again in the same room,
wringing her hands, and looking with a mournful signi-
ficance to one corner. They had the boards taken up
on that spot, but nothing was found.
" One of the most curious incidents connected with
this story remains to be told. After occupying the
house three years, they were preparing to quit it — not
on account of its being haunted, but for other reasons
— when, on awaking one morning, a short time before
their departure, Mrs. Chapman saw, standing at the
foot of her bed, a dark-complexioned man, in a working
dress, a fustian jacket, and red comforter round his neck,
who, however, suddenly disappeared. Mr. Chapman
was lying beside her at the time, but asleep. This was
the last apparition that was seen ; but the strange thing
is, that a few clays after this, it being necessary to order
in a small quantity of coals, to serve till their removal,
Mr. Chapman undertook to perform the commission on
his way to London. Accordingly, the next day she
mentioned to him that the coals had arrived ; which he
said was very fortunate, since he had entirely forgotten
to order them. Wondering whence they had come, Mrs.
ft
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CORBY CASTLE. 43
Chapman hereupon inquired of the servants, who none
of them knew anything about the matter ; but, on
interrogating a person in the village by whom they had
frequently been provided with this article, he answered,
that they had been ordered by a dark man, in a fustian
jacket and a red comforter, who had called for the
purpose ! "
After this last event Mr. Chapman quitted the house,
and when he had given up possession found that several
previous tenants had been under the necessity of doing
so, on account of annovances similar to those his
household had suffered from. However, he kept the
cause of his removal quiet, and managed to sell his lease
to a clergyman who kept a school, but be, in his turn,
was compelled to give up the house for the same cause,
and for years it stood empty. Ultimately, it was partly
pulled down and re-built : and it would seem as if this
alteration had broken the spell, for it has been inhabited
since, and reported, said Mr. Howitt, in 1863, free from
hauntings.
CORBY CASTLE, CUMBERLAND.
The apparition of a "Kadiant Boy," as it is called, is
not uncommon in the history of haunted buildings, as
various sections of this work will show. Dr. Kerner,
the great German authority on spectral affairs, cites an
44 HAUNTED HOMES.
instance of one of these apparitions which was believed
to appear only once in seven years, and to be connected
in some way with the murder of a child by its mother.
Mrs. Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature t refers to the
well-known tradition that C(orby ?) Castle, Cumber-
land, is haunted by a spirit of this description. A
friend of the familv owning this ancient dwelling is
authority for the following account of an appearance of
the ghostly visitant : it is copied from a manuscript
volume, and it is dated C Castle, December 22nd,
1824 :—
"In order to introduce my readers to the haunted
room, I will mention that it forms part of the old house,
with windows looking into the court, which, in early
times, was deemed a necessary security against an
enemy. It adjoins a tower built by the Eomans for
defence ; for C was, properly, more a border tower
than a castle of any consideration. There is a winding
staircase in this tower, and the walls are from eight to
ten feet thick.
" When the times became more peaceable, our
ancestors enlarged the arrow-slit windows, and added to
that part of the building which looks towards the river
Eden ; the view of which, with its beautiful banks, we
now enjoy. But many additions and alterations have
been made since that.
" To return to the room in question ; I must observe
that it is by no means remote or solitary, being
surrounded on all sides by chambers that are constantly
inhabited. It is accessible by a passage cut through a
CORBY CASTLE. 4
K
wall eight feet in thickness, and its dimensions are
twenty-one by eighteen. One side of the wainscoting
is covered with tapestry, the remainder is decorated
with old family pictures, and some ancient pieces of
embroidery, probably the handiwork of nuns. Over a
press, which has doors of Venetian glass, is an ancient
oaken figure, with a battle-axe in his hand, -which was
one of those formerly placed on the walls of the city of
Carlisle, to represent guards. There used to be also
an old-fashioned bed and some dark furniture in this
room ; but so many were the complaints of those who
slept there, that I was induced to replace some of these
articles of furniture by more modern ones, in the hope of
removing a certain air of gloom, which I thought might
have given rise to the unaccountable reports of appari-
tions and extraordinary noises which were constantly
reaching us. But I regret to say I did not succeed in
banishing the nocturnal visitor, which still continues to
disturb our friends.
" I shall pass over numerous instances, and select one
as being especially remarkable, from the circumstance of
the apparition having been seen by a clergyman well
known and highly respected in this county, who, not six
weeks ago, repeated the circumstances to a company of
twenty persons, amongst whom were some who had
previously been entire disbelievers in such appearances.
" The best way of giving you these particulars, will
be by subjoining an extract from my journal, entered at
the time the event occurred.
" Sept. 8, 1803. — Amongst other guests invited to
46 HAONTED HOMES.
C Castle, came the Kev. Henry A. of Redburgh,
and rector of Greystoke, with Mrs. A., his wife, who
was a Miss S., of Ulverstone. According to previous
arrangements, they were to have remained with us some
days ; hut their visit was cut short in a very unexpected
manner. On the morning after their arrival we were
all assembled at breakfast, when a chaise and four
dashed up to the door in such haste that it knocked
down part of the fence of my flower-garden. Our
curiosity was, of course, awakened to know who could
be arriving at so early an hour ; when, happening to
turn my eyes towards Mr. A., I observed that he
appeared extremely agitated. ' It is our carriage ! ' said
he : ' I am very sorry, but we must absolutely leave you
this morning.'
" We naturally felt and expressed considerable
surprise, as well as regret, at this unexpected departure ;
representing that we had invited Colonel and Mrs. S.,
some friends whom Mr. A. particularly desired to meet,
to dine with us on that day. Our expostulations, how-
ever, were vain ; the breakfast was no sooner over than
they departed, leaving us in consternation to conjecture
what could possibly have occasioned so sudden an
alteration in their arrangements. I really felt quite
uneasy lest anything should have given them offence ;
and we reviewed all the occurrences of the preceding
evening, in order to discover, if offence there was,
whence it had arisen. But our pains were vain; and
alter talking a great deal about it for some days, other
circumstances banished the matter from our minds.
COEBY CASTLE. 47
" It was not till we some time afterwards visited the
part of the county in which Mr. A. resides, that we
learnt the real cause of his sudden departure from
C . The relation of the fact, as it here follows, is
in his own words : —
" ' Soon after we went to bed, we fell asleep : it might
he between one and two in the morning when I awoke.
I observed that the fire was totally extinguished ; but
although that was the case, and we had no light, I saw
a glimmer in the centre of the room, which suddenly
increased to a bright flame. I looked out, apprehending
that something had caught fire ; when, to my amaze-
ment, I beheld a beautiful boy, clothed in white, with
bright locks resembling gold, standing by my bedside,
in which position he remained some minutes, fixing his
eyes upon me with a mild and benevolent expression.
He then glided gently towards the side of the chimney,
where it is obvious there is no possible egress, and
entirely disappeared. I found myself again in total
darkness, and all remained quiet until the usual hour of
rising. I declare this to be a true account of what I
saw at C Castle, upon my word as a clergyman.' "
Mrs. Crowe, in alluding to this story in her above-
mentioned book, remarks that she was acquainted with
some of the family and several of the friends of the
Bev. Henry A , who, she continues, " is still alive,
though now an old man; and I can most positively
assert that his own conviction with regard to the nature
of this appearance has remained ever unshaken. The
circumstance made a lasting impression upon his mind,
48 HAUNTED HOMES.
and he never willingly speaks of it ; but when he does,
it is always with the greatest seriousness, and he never
shrinks from avowing his belief that what he saw admits
of no other interpretation than the one he then put
upon it."
As a pendant to this narrative it will be appropriate
to relate the story of " The Radiant Boy," so well
known in traditionary lore as having appeared to the
second Marquis of Londonderry, better known as Lord
Castlereagh, whilst on a visit to a gentleman resident
in the north of Ireland. The time of this visit would
appear to have been about the end of the last century.
The story has been variously detailed by different writers,
but in the following account, derived from Mrs. Crowe's
Ghost Stories, it is less romantically told than usual,
and, consequently, has a greater air of vraisemblance.
In this form it is stated to have been obtained from a
member of the Marquis's family : —
" Captain Stewart, afterwards Lord Castlereagh,"
reads the account, " when he was a young man,
happened to be quartered in Ireland. He was fond of
sport, and one day the pursuit of game carried him so
far that he lost his way. The weather, too, had become
very rough, and in this strait he presented himself at
the door of a gentleman's house, and, sending in his
card, requested shelter for the night. The hospitality
of the Irish country gentry is proverbial ; the master of
the house received him warmly, said he feared he could
not make him so comfortable as he could have wished,
his house being full of visitors already — added to which,
CORBY CASTLE. 49
some strangers, driven by the inclemency of the nigbt,
hod sought shelter before him; but that such accommo-
dation as he could give he was heartily welcome to :
whereupon he called his butler, and, committing his
guest to his good offices, told him he must put him up
somewhere, and do the best he could for him. There
was no lady, the gentleman being a widower.
" Captain Stewart found the house crammed, and a
very jolly party it was. His host invited him to stay,
and promised him good shooting if he would prolong
his visit a few days ; and, in fine, he thought himself
extremely fortunate to have fallen into such pleasant
quarters.
" At length, after an agreeable evening, they all
retired to bed, and the butler conducted him to a large
room almost divested of furniture, but with a blazing
peat fire in the grate, and a shake-down on the floor,
composed of cloaks and other heterogeneous materials.
Nevertheless, to the tired limbs of Captain Stewart,
who had had a hard day's shooting, it looked very
inviting; but, before he lay down, he thought it
advisable to take off some of the fire, which was blazing
up the chimney in what he thought an alarming manner.
Having done this, he stretched h'mseif upon the couch,
and soon fell asleep.
'* He believed he had slept about a couple of hours
when he awoke suddenly, and was startled by such a
vivid light in the room that he thought it was on fire ;
but on turning to look at the grate he saw the fire was
out* though it was from the chimney the light proceeded.
4
50 HAUNTED HOMES*
He sat up in bed, trying to discover what it was, when
he perceived, gradually disclosing itself, the form of a
beautiful naked boy, surrounded by a dazzling radiance.
The boy looked at him earnestly, and then the vision
faded, and all was dark. Captain Stewart, so far from
supposing what he had seen to be of a spiritual nature,
had no doubt that the host, or the visitors, had been
amusing themselves at his expense, and trying to
frighten him. Accordingly, he felt indignant at the
liberty ; and, on the following morning, when he
appeared at breakfast, he took care to evince his dis-
pleasure by the reserve of his demeanour, and by
announcing his intention to depart immediately. The
host expostulated, reminding him of his promise to
stay and shoot. Captain Stewart coldly excused him-
self, and, at length, the gentleman seeing something was
wrong, took him aside and pressed for an explanation ;
whereupon Captain Stewart, without entering into
particulars, said that he had been made the victim of a
sort of practical joking that he thought quite un-
warrantable with a stranger.
"The gentleman considered this not impossible
amongst a parcel of thoughtless young men> and
appealed to them to make an apology ; but one and all,
on their honour, denied the impeachment. Suddenly a
thought seemed to strike him ; he clapt his hand to his
forehead, uttered an exclamation, and rang the bell.
' Hamilton/ said he to the butler, c where did Captain
Stewart sleep last night ? '
" ' Well, Sir,' replied the man, in an apologetic tone.
COETACHY CASTLE. 51
* you know every place was full — the gentlemen were
lying on the floor three or four in a room — so I gave
him the Boy's Room ; but I lit a blazing fire to keep
him from coming out.'
" ' You were very wrong,' said the host ; ' you know I
have positively forbidden you to put anyone there, and
have taken the furniture out of the room to insure its
not being occupied.' Then retiring with Captain
Stewart, he informed him verv gravely of the nature of
the phenomenon he had seen; and at length, being
pressed for further information, he confessed that there
existed a tradition in his family that whomever the
Radiant Boy appeared to would rise to the summit of
power, and when he had reached the climax, would die
a violent death ; * and I must say,' he added, * the records
that have been kept of his appearance go to confirm
this persuasion.' "
It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that sub-
sequently Lord Castlereagh became head of the Govern-
ment, and, finally, perished by his own hand.
COETACHY CASTLE.
Of all the haunted castles in Great Britain, none, pro-
bably, has acquired a greater amount of notoriety than
that of Cortachy Castle, the seat of the Earl of Airlie.
This ancient stronghold is haunted by the spirit of a
4 *
52 HAUNTED HOMES.
drummer, and whenever his drum is heard it may be
accepted, according to the popular belief, as a token of
the speedy death of a member of the Ogilvie family.
The origin of this tradition is that either the drummer,
or some officer whose emissary he was, had excited the
jealousy of a former Lord Airlie, and that, in conse-
quence, he was put to death by being thrust into his
own drum, and flung from the window of the tower in
which is situated the chamber where his music is,
apparently, chiefly heard. It is said that he threatened
to haunt the family if his life were taken ; and he would
appear to be as good, or rather as bad, as his word,
the strain of his invisible drum having been heard several
times even in the memory of living persons, and once,
notoriously, quite recently.
The authoress who gives the following account of a
somewhat recent occasion when the drummer was heard
performing upon his ill-omened instrument, introduces
it by the remark that about Christmas, 1844, a letter
just received from a member of a distinguished Perth-
shire family was sent to her for perusal. The sender,
an eminent literary man, accompanied the communica-
tion with the remark, " Read the enclosed ; and we shall
now have an opportunity of observing if any eveut
follow the prognostic."
The information afforded by the letter was to the
following effect : —
"Miss Dalrymple, a relative of the present Lady
C , who had been staying some time with the Earl
and Countess at their seat, near Dundee, was invited to
*. ._>—•• .
CORTACHY CASTLE. 53
spend a few days at Cortachy Castle, with the Earl and
Countess of Airlie. She went, and whilst she was
dressing for dinner, the first evening of her arrival, she
heard a strain of music under her window, which finally
resolved itself into a well-defined sound of a drum.
When her maid came upstairs, she made some inquiries
about the drummer that was playing near the house,
but the maid knew nothing on the subject. For the
moment the circumstance passed from Miss Dalrymple's
mind ; but recurring to her again during the dinner, she
said, addressing Lord Airlie, 'My Lord, who is your
drummer ? ' upon which his lordship turned pale, Lady
Airlie looked distressed, and several of the company,
who all heard the question, embarrassed; whilst the
lady, perceiving that she had made some unpleasant
allusion, although she knew not to what their feeling3
referred, forebore further inquiry till she reached the
drawing-room, when, having mentioned the circumstance
again to a member of the family, she was answered,
'What! have vou never heard of the drummer-boy?'
' No,' replied Miss Dalrymple, ' who in the world is
he? ' 'Why,' replied the other, 'he is a person who goes
about the house playing his drum whenever there is a
death impending in the family. The last time he
was heard was shortly before the death of the last
Countess (the Earl's former wife) ; and that is why
Lord Airlie became so pale when you mentioned it. The
drummer is a very unpleasant subject in this family, I
assure you ! '
"Miss Dalrymple was naturally much concerned, and
54 HAUNTED HOMES.
indeed, not a little frightened at this explanation, and
her alarm being augmented by hearing the sounds on
the following day, she took her departure from Cortachy
Castle, and returned to Lord C.'s, stopping on her way
to call on some friends, where she related this strange
circumstance to the family through whom the informa-
tion reached me.
" This affair was very generally known in the north,
and we awaited the event with interest. The melancholy
death of the Countess about five or six months after-
wards, at Brighton, sadly verified the prognostic. I
have heard that a paper was found on her desk after her
death, declaring her conviotion that the drum was for
her ; and it has been suggested, that probably the thing
preyed upon her mind and caused the catastrophe ; but
in the first place, from the mode of her death, that does
not appear to be the case ; and, in the second, even if it
were, the fact of the verification of the prognostic
remains unaffected ; besides which, those who insist
upon taking refuge in this hypothesis, are bound to
admit, that before people living in the world, like Lord
and Lady Airlie, could attach so much importance to
the prognostic as to entail such fatal effects, they must
have had very good reasons for believing in it."
The incidents just narrated took place, it will be re-
collected, in 1844. Five years later, or, to be more
precise, on the evening of the 19th of August 1849, a
young English gentleman was on his way to the Tulchan,
a shooting-lodge belonging to the Earl of Airlie. He
was mounted on a stout pony, having a stalwart High-
COETACHY CASTLE. 55
lander for his guide across the wild Forfarshire moor.
For about two hours darkness had fallen upon the
sceDes, that is to say, it was about half-past eight in the
evening, when the welcome lights, issuing from the
windows of the Tulchan, met our traveller's anxious
gaze. At the same moment a swell of faint music smote
suddenly upon his ear. The sound was as that of a
distant band accompanied by the drum, and appeared to
emanate from the low ridge of ground below the hunting-
lodge in front of him. As it was wafted in ]ouder
accents across the moor, he could not forbear from feeling
that it had something of an eerie and unearthly character
about it. Astonished at such an unaccountable occur-
rence in a spot where the Tulchan was the only house
within many miles, and where bracken, brown heath,
and morass stretched far and wide upon every side of
him, the young man called the attention of his guide to
the strange burst of music which he had just heard.
Muttering that such sounds were "no canny," and pro-
fessing that to him they were inaudible, the Highlander
urged on his pony to as great a speed as the weary beast
could exert after a journey of twenty-five miles, and in a
little while the two riders drew rein at the hospitable
door of the lodge.
Upon descending from his pony the Englishman
learnt that his friend and host, Lord Ogilvie (afterwards
tenth Earl of Airlie), had been summoned to London
on account of his father's dangerous illness. On the
following day the ninth Earl of Airlie breathed his last
in Eegent Street, London, thus affording another testi-
5G HAUNTED HOMES.
mony to the truth of the old tradition, that weird music
and the sound of the drum haunt the dwellings of the
Ogilvies prior to the death of a memher of the family.
CRESLOW MANOR HOUSE.
Creslow, in Buckinghamshire, like so many ancient
English manor-houses, has its family ghost. According
to Dr. Lee, the old residence is haunted by the restless
spirit of a lady long since deceased : she frequents
a certain sleeping-chamber in the most ancient portion
of the building. She has not often been seen, yet has
but too frequently been heard, and only too distinctly, by
those who have ventured to sleep in or to enter after
midnight the room she appears to deem hers. She is
said to come up from the old groined crypt, and always
appears to enter by the door at the top of the nearest
staircase. After entering the chamber she is heard to
walk about it, sometimes in a stately manner, with her
long silk train sweeping the floor, and at other times
with a quick and hurried motion, with her silken dress
rustling violently, as if she were engaged in a desperate
struggle. The fact that the whole of this time the lady
and her accessories are invisible adds in no slight degree
to the horror of the affair.
This haunted chamber, although furnished as a bed-
room, is rarely used, and it is said that it cannot be
CBESLOW MANOB HOUSE. 57
entered, even in the day-time, without trepidation and
awe. However, some persons have been found bold
enough to dare the harmless noises of the mysterious
intruder ; and many are the traditions current in Buck-
inghamshire respecting the results to these people of
the adventure.
The following will suffice as a specimen, and may,
according to Dr. Lee, be depended on as authentic : —
" About the year 1850, a gentleman, not many years
ago High Sheriff of the county, who resides some few
miles distance from Creslow, rode over to a dinuer
party; and, as the night became exceedingly dark and
rainy, he was urged to stay over the night if he had no
objection to sleep in the haunted chamber. The offer
of a bed in such a room, so far from deterring him,
induced him at once to accept the invitation. He was
a strong-minded man of a powerful frame and undaunted
courage, and, like so many others, entertained a sovereign
contempt for all haunted chambers, ghosts and appari-
tions. The room was prepared for him. He would
neither have a fire nor a night-light, but was provided
with a box of lucifers that he might light a candle if he
wished. Arming himself in jest with a cutlass and
a brace of pistols, he took a serio-comic farewell of the
familv and entered his formidable dormitorv.
" In due course morning dawned ; the sun rose, and
a most beautiful day succeeded a very wet and dismal
night. The family and their guests assembled in the
breakfast room, and every countenance seemed cheered
and brightened by the loveliness of the morning.
58 HAUNTED HOMES.
They drew round the table, when the host remarked
that Mr. S , the tenant of the haunted chamber,
was absent. A servant was sent to summon him
to breakfast, but he soon returned, saying he had
knocked loudly at his door, but received no answer,
and that a jug of hot water left there was still stand-
ing unused. On hearing this, two or three gentlemen
ran up to the room, and, after knocking and receiviug
no answer, opened it and entered. It was empty.
Inquiry was made of the servants ; they had neither
seen nor heard anything of him. As he was a county
magistrate, some supposed that he had gone to attend
the Board whicb met that morning at an early hour.
" But his horse was still in the stable, so that could
not be. While they were at breakfast, however, he
came in, and gave the following account of his last
night's experiences : — ' Having entered my room,' said
he, ' I locked and bolted both the doors, carefully
examined the whole room, and satisfied myself that
there was no living creature in it but myself, nor any
entrances but those which I had secured. I got into
bed, and, witb the conviction that I should sleep
soundly as usual till six in the morning, was soon
lost in a comfortable slumber. Suddenly I was
awakened, and, on raising my head to listen, I
certainly heard a sound resembling the light soft
tread of a lady's footstep, accompanied with the rust-
ling as of a silk gown. I sprang out of bed, and,
having lighted a candle, found that there was nothing
either to be seen or heard. I carefully examined the
DAINTEEE. 59
whole room. I looked under the bed, into the fire-
place, up the chimney, and at both the doors, which
were fastened just as I had left them. I then looked
at my watch, and found it was a few minutes past
twelve. As all was now perfectly quiet again, I put
out the candle, got into bed, and soon fell asleep.
I was again aroused. The noise was now louder than
before. It appeared like the violent rustling of a
stiff silk dress. A second time I sprang out of bed,
darted to the spot where the noise was, and tried to
grasp the intruder in my arms. My arms met together,
but enclosed nothing. The noise passed to another
part of the room, and I followed it, groping near the
floor to prevent anything passing under my arms. It
was in vain, I could do nothing. The sound died at
the doorway to the crypt, and all again was still. I
now left the candle burning, though I never sleep
comfortably with a light in my room, and went to
bed again, but certainly felt not a little perplexed at
being unable to detect the cause of the noise, nor to
account for its cessation when the candle was
lighted.' "
DAINTREE.
In the Rev. John Mastin's History of Naseby, is
cited a story of an apparition that was supposed to have
appeared to Charles the First at Daintree, near Naseby,
previous to the famous battle of that name.
60 HAUNTED HOMES.
The army of Charles, says the historian, consisting
of less than 5,000 foot, and about as many horse, was
ordered to Daintree, whither the King went with a
thorough resolution of fighting. The next day, however,
to the surprise of Prince Eupert and all the rest of the
army, this design was given up, and the former one of
going to the north resumed. The reason of this alter-
ation in his plans was alleged to he some presages of
ill-fortune which the King had received, and which were
related to me, says Mr. Mastin's authority, by a person
of Newark, at that time in His Majesty's horse. About
two hours after the King had retired to rest, said the
narrator, some of his attendants hearing an uncommon
noise in his chamber, went into it, where they found His
Majesty sitting up in bed and much agitated, but nothing
which could have produced the noise they fancied they
had heard. The King, in a tremulous voice, inquired
after the cause of their alarm, and told them how much
he had been disturbed, apparently by a dream, by
thinking he had seen an apparition of Lord Strafford,
who, after upbraiding him for his cruelty, told him he
was come to return him good for evil, and that he
advised him by no means to fight the Parliament army
that was at that time quartered at Northampton, for it
was one which the King could never conquer by arms.
Prince Kupert, in whom courage was the predominant
quality, rated the King out of his apprehensions the
next day, and a resolution was again taken to meet
the enemy. The next night, however, the apparition
appeared to him a second time, but with looks of anger
DUNFERMLINE. 61
assuring him that would be the last advice he should
be permitted to give him, but that if he kept his resolu-
tion of fighting he was undone. If His Majesty had
taken the advice of the friendly ghost, and marched
northward the next day, where the Parliament had few
English forces, and where the Scots were becoming very
discontented, his affairs might, perhaps, still have had
a prosperous issue, or if he had marched immediately
into the west he might afterwards have fought on more
equal terms. But the King, fluctuating between the
apprehensions of his imagination and the reproaches
of his courage, remained another whole day at Daintree
in a state of inactivity. The battle of Naseby, fought
14th June, 1645, put a finishing stroke to the King'?
affairs. After this he could never get together an army
fit to look the enemy in the face. He was often heard
to say that he wished he had taken the warning, and
not fought at Naseby ; the meaning of which nobody
knew but those to whom he had told of the apparition
which he had seen at Daintree, and all of whom were,
subsequently, charged to keep the affair secret.
DUNFERMLINE.
Ont the 31st May 1847, Sir Joseph Noel Paton, the
celebrated artist, wrote a letter to Mrs. Crowe, vhich
she subsequently published in her eerie work, The
62 HAUNTED HOMES.
Night Side of Nature. This letter, although it only
recites a dream, is of a marvellous character when
it is considered how numerous were the coincidences
required in order to accomplish its prophetic symbolism,
if one may so term it. The vision is so clearly por-
trayed in Sir Joseph's own letter, and it is obviously, in
citations of this kind, so far preferable to give the
original words of an authority, that we print the lettei
intact.
" That dream of my mother's was as follows," says
Sir Joseph. " She stood in a long, dark, empty gallery :
on one side was my father, and on the other my eldest
sister, Amelia ; then myself, and the rest of the family
according to their ages. At the foot of the hall stood
my younger sister, Alexes, and above her my sister
Catherine — a creature, by the way, in person and mind
more like an angel of heaven than an inhabitant of earth.
We all stood silent and motionless. At last It entered
— the unimagined something that, casting its grim
shadow before, had enveloped all the trivialities of the
preceding dream in the stifling atmosphere of terror. It
entered, stealthily descending the three steps that led
from the entrance down into the chamber of horror, and
my mother^/* It was Death. He was dwarfish, bent,
and shrivelled. He carried on his shoulder a heavy
axe ; and had come, she thought, to destroy * all her
little ones at one fell swoop.' On the entrance of the
shape my sister Alexes leapt out of the rank, interposing
herself between him and my mother. He raised his
axe and aimed a blow at Catherine, a blow which, to her
DUNFEKMLINE. 63
horror, my mother could not intercept, though she had
snatched up a three-legged stool, the sole furniture of
the apartment, for that purpose. She could not, she
felt, fling the stool at the figure without destroying
Alexes, who kept shooting out and in between her and
the ghastly thing. She tried in vain to scream ; she
besought my father, in agony, to avert the impending
stroke ; but he did not hear, or did not heed her, and
stood motionless, as in a trance. Down came the axe,
and poor Catherine fell in her blood, cloven to ' the
white halse bane.' Asrain the axe was lifted bv the
inexorable shadow, over the head of my brother, who
stood next in the line. Alexes had somewhere dis-
appeared behind the ghastly visitant, and with a scream
my mother flung the footstool at his head. He vanished,
and she awoke.
" This dream left on my mother's mind a fearful
apprehension of impending misfortune, ' which would
not pass away.' It was murder she feared, and her
suspicions were not allayed by the discovery that a man
some time before discarded by my father for bad
conduct, and with whom she had, somehow, associated
the Death of her dream, had been lurking about the
place, and sleeping in an adjoining outhouse on the
night it occurred, and for some nights previous and
subsequent to it. Her terror increased ; sleep forsook
her, and every night, when the house was still, she arose
and stole, sometimes with a candle, sometimes in the
dark, from room to room, listening, in a sort of waking
night-mare, for the breathing of the assassin, who, she
64 HAUNTED HOMES.
imagined, was lurking in some one of them. This could
not last. She reasoned with herself, but her terror became
intolerable, and she related her dream to my father, who,
of course, called her a fool for her pains — whatever
might be his real opinion of the matter.
" Three months had elapsed, when we children were
all of us seized with scarlet fever. My sister Catherine
died almost immediately — sacrificed, as my mother in
her misery thought, to her (my mother's) over-anxiety
for Alexes, whose danger seemed more imminent. The
dream -prophecy was in part fulfilled. I also was at
death's door — given up by the doctors, but not by my
mother : she was confident of my recovery, but for my
brother, who was scarcely considered in danger at all,
but on whose head she had seen the visionary axe im-
pending, her fears were great, for she could not recollect
whether the blow had, or had not, descended when the
spectre vanished. My brother recovered, but relapsed,
and barely escaped with life. But Alexes did not; for
a year and ten months the poor child lingered, and
almost every night I had to sing her asleep; often, I
remember, through bitter tears ; for I knew she was
dying, and I loved her the more as she wasted away. I
held her little hand as she died, I followed her ;> the
grave — the last thing that I have loved on earth. And
the dream was fulfilled.
" Truly and sincerely yours,
"J. Noel Faton."
Go
EDGE HILL.
In Lord Nugent' s Memorials of John Hampden is
cited, from a pamphlet of Charles the First's time, ono
of the most, if not the most, marvellous account of
two entire armies of apparitions on record. Somewhat
similar, but more distant and weakly testified to
phantoms, are averred to have been seen in various times
and climes, but, as Lord Nugent points out, this
wonderful story is " attested upon the oath of three
officers, men of honour and discretion, and of three
other gentlemen of credit, selected by the King as com-
missioners to report upon these prodigies, and to tran-
quillise and disabuse the alarms of a country town ;
adding, moreover, in confirmation, their testimony to the
identity of several of the illustrious dead, as seen among
the unearthly combatants who had been well-known to
them, and who had fallen in the battle." " A well
supported imposture," adds Lord Nugent, " or a stormy
night on the hill-side might have acted on the weakness
of a peasantry in whose remembrance the terrors of the
Edge Hill fight were still fresh;* but it is difficult to
imagine how the minds of officers, sent there to correct
the illusions, could have been so imposed upon. It will,
also, be observed, that no inference is attempted by
* The battle of Edge Hill, between the forces of the King and
those of the Parliament, had been fought about two months previouj
%o the first appearance of these apparitions.
66 HAUNTED HOMES.
the witnesses to assist any notion of a judgment of
warning favourable to the interests or passions of
their own party."
The pamphlet referred to by Lord Nugent was printed
immediately after the events it records, on the 23rd of
January 1642. It narrates the appearance of the late
apparitions, and records the particulars of the Pro-
digious Noises of War and Battle, at Edge Hill,
near Keinton, in Northamptonshire, and its truth is
certified to by " William Wood, Esquire and Justice for
the Peace for the same county, and Samuel Marshall,
Preacher of God's Word in Keinton, and other persons
of quality."
Omitting the introductory matter, which merely refers
to the antiquity of, and the great mass of evidence in
favour of the reality of apparitions, and modernizing
the spelling, this strongly accredited pamphlet reads
thus : — -
" Edge Hill, in the very confines of Warwickshire,
near unto Keynton, in Northamptonshire, a place, as
appears by the sequel, destined for civil wars and battles;
as where King John fought a battle with his barons, and
where, in defence of the kingdom's laws and liberty, was
fought a bloody conflict between His Majesty's and the
Parliament's forces. At this Edge Hill, at the very
place where the battle was fought, have since, and doth
appear, strange and portentous apparitions of two
jarring and contrary armies, as I shall in order deliver,
it being certified by men of most credit in those parts,
as William Wood, Esquire, Samuel Marshall, Minister,
EDGE HILL. 67
and others, on Saturday, which was in Christmas time
. . . Between twelve and one o'clock in the morning,
was heard by some shepherds, and other countrymen,
and travellers, first the sound of drums afar off, and the
noise of soldiers, as it were, giving out their last groans;
at which they were much amazed, and amazed stood
still, till it seemed, by the nearness of the noise, to
approach them; at which, too much affrighted, they
sought to withdraw as fast as possibly they could ; but
then, on the sudden, whilst they were in their cogita-
tions, appeared in the air the same incorporeal soldiers
that made those clamours, and immediately, with
ensigns displayed, drums beating, muskets going off,
cannons discharged, horses neighing, which also to these
men were visible, the alarum or entrance to this game
of death was, one army, which gave the first charge,
having the King's colours, and the other the Parliament's
at their head or front of the battle, and so pell-mell to
it they went. The battle, that appeared to the King's
forces seeming at first to have the best, but afterwards
to be put into apparent rout. But till two or three in the
morning in equal scale continued this dreadful fight, the
clattering of arms, noise of cannons, cries of soldiers,
so amazing and terrifying the poor men, that they could
not believe they were mortal, or give credit to their
eyes and ears ; run away they durst not, for fear of
being made a prey to these infernal soldiers, and so
they, with much fear and affright, stayed to behold the
snecess of the business, which at last suited to this
efFect. After some three hours' fight, that army which
5 *
68 HAUNTED HOMES.
carried the King's colours withdrew, or rather appeared
to fly ; the other remaining, as it were, masters of the
field, stayed a good space triumphing, and expressing
all the signs of joy and conquest, and then, with all
their drums, trumpets, ordnance, and soldiers, vanished.
The poor men, glad that they were gone that had so
long stayed them there against their wills, made with all
haste to Keinton, and there knocking up Mr. Wood, a
Justice of Peace, who called up his neighbour, Mr.
Marshall, the Minister, they gave them an account of
the whole passage, and averred it upon their oaths to be
true. At which affirmation of theirs, being much
amazed, they should hardly have given credit to it, but
would have conjectured the men to have been either mad
or drunk, had they not known some of them to have
been of approved integrity ; and so, suspending their
judgments till the next night about the same hour, they,
with the same men, and all the substantial inhabitants
of that and the neighbouring parishes drew thither;
where, about half an hour after their arrival, on Sunday,
being Christmas night, appeared in the same tumultuous
warlike manner, the same two adverse armies, fighting
with as much spite and spleen as formerly ; and so
departed the gentlemen and all the spectators, much
terrified with these visions of horror, withdrew them-
selves to their houses, beseeching God to defend them
from those hellish and prodigious enemies. The next
night they appeared not, nor all that week, so that the
dwellers thereabout were in good hope they had for ever
departed. But on the ensuing Saturday night, in the
EDGE HILL. 69
same place, and at the same hour, they were again seen
with far greater tumult, fighting in the manner afore-
mentioned, for four hours, or very near, and then
vanished. Appearing again on Sunday night, and per-
forming the same actions of hostility and bloodshed, so
that Mr. Wood and others, whose faith, it should seem,
was not strong enough to carry them out against these
delusions, forsook their habitations thereabout, and
retired themselves to other more secure dwellings; but
Mr. Marshall stayed, and some other; and so success-
ively the next Saturday and Sunday the same tumults
and prodigious sights and actions were put in the state
and condition they were formerly. The rumour whereof
coming to His Majesty at Oxford, he immediately dis-
patched thither Colonel Lewis Kirke, Captain Dudley,
Captain Wainman, and three other gentlemen of credit,
to take full view and notice of the said business, who, at
first hearing the true attestation and relation of Mr.
Marshall and others, stayed there till the Saturday night
following, wherein they heard and saw the fore- mentioned
prodigies, and so on Sunday, distinctly knowing clivers
of the apparitions, or incorporeal substances, by their
faces, as that of Sir Edmund Varney, and others that
were there slain, of which upon oath they made testimony
to His Majesty. What this doth portend God only
knoweth, and time perhaps will discover; but doubt-
lessly it is a sign of His wrath against this land, for
these civil wars, which He in His good time finish,
and send a sudden peace between His Majesty and
Parliament."
70 HAUNTED HOMES.
EDINBURGH: CANONGATE.
About the beginning of the eighteenth century stood h
grand mansion near the head of the Canongate, the site
of which now, however, is covered with buildings of a
very different character. With this old mansion is
connected a tale of terror, the circumstances of which
were well known and talked about no longer ago than
the beginning of the present century. A friend of Sir
Walter Scott, in whose early life the story was still
current, furnished him with the account from which the
following version of the tradition is derived.
At the period referred to, a divine of great sanctity
was summoned in the middle of a certain night, to come
and pray with a person at the point of death. This was
no unusual summons, but the consequences which
followed were very terrifying. He was forced into a
sedan chair, and, after having been carried for a con-
siderable distance, was set down in a remote part of
the city, where, at the muzzle of a cocked pistol, he
was compelled to submit to being blindfolded. In the
course of the discussion which his remonstrances
caused, he heard enough, and, indeed, saw enough of
their garb, to make him conjecture that the chairmen
were greatly above the menial position they had assumed.
After many turnings and windings the sedan was
carried up-stairs into an apartment, where the bandage
was removed from his eyes, and whence he was con-
EDINBURGH '. CANONGATE. 71
ducted into a bed-chamber, where he found a lady
recently delivered of an infant. He was commanded by
one of those who had brought him to this place to say
such prayers by the lady's bed-side as were suitable for
a person not expected to survive a mortal disorder. The
divine ventured to remoustrate, observing that the lady's
appearance warranted a more hopeful condition. He
was sternly commanded to obey his instructions, and
so, but with much difficulty, recollected himself -suffi-
ciently to acquit himself of the duty enjoined him.
As soon as his ministrations were deemed performed,
the divine was again blindfolded ; replaced in the chair,
and hurried off, but, as he was being carried down-stairs,
he heard the ominous report of a fire-arm. He was
taken home safely, and a p irse of gold forced upon him ;
but, at the same time, he was warned that the least
allusion to the affair which had just transpired would
cost him his life. He betook himself to his bed-
chamber, but was speedily aroused by his servant with
the information that a most furious fire had just broken
out in the house of ... , near the head of the
Canongate, and that the proprietor's daughter, a lady
eminent for her beauty and accomplishments, had
perished in the flames.
Our divine had his suspicions, but to have made them
public would have availed nothing but to jeopardise his
Dwn safety. He was timid, and the family was one
of power and distinction, so he soothed himself with
the reflection that the deed was done and could not
be undone. Time passed ou, and with it carried away
72 HAUNTED nOMES.
some of his fears. He became unhappy at being the
sole custodian of so dark a secret, and, therefore,
gradually told it to some of his brother clergy, so that
by degrees the whole story leaked out.
In due course the divine died, and his terrible tale
had become nearly forgotten, when it so happened that a
fire broke out again on the very same site where the
house of . . . had formerly stood, but where now stood
buildings of an inferior style. When the flames were
at their height, the tumult which usually attends such
a scene, was suddenly suspended by a marvellous appa-
rition. A beautiful female, in an extremely rich, but
very antique style of night-dress, appeared in the very
midst of the fire, and in an awful voice uttered these
terrifying words: — "Once burned! twice burned! the
third time I will scare you all ! "
"The belief in this story," says our authority, "was
formerly so strong, that on a fire breaking out, and
seeming to approach the fatal spot, there was a good
deal of anxiety testified lest the apparition should make
good her denunciation."
EDINBURGH: GILLESPIE HOSPITAL.
On the site where Gillespie Hospital now stands,
formerly stood an ancient mansion that some years
after the conclusion of the American War of Inde-
EDINBURGH : GILLESPIE HOSPITAL. 73
pendence, was used by the late Lieutenant-General
Robertson of Lawers, who had served through the
whole of the said war, as his town residence. The
General, on his return to Europe, brought with him a
negro called "Black Tom," who remained in his service
as a servant. Tom's own particular room was on the
ground floor of the residence, and he was frequently
heard to complain that he could not rest in it, for every
night the figure of a headless woman, carrying a child
in her arms, rose up from the hearth and frightened him
terribly.
No one paid much attention to poor Tom's trouble,
altlumgh the apartment had an uncanny reputation, as
it was supposed to be the result of dreams caused by
intoxication, the negro's character for sobriety not being
very remarkable. But a strange thing happened when
the General's old residence was pulled down to make
way for James Gillespie's Hospital. There under the
hearthstone which had caused "Black Tom" so many
restless nights, was discovered a box containing the
body of a woman, from which the head had been
severed, and beside her lay the remains of an infant,
wrapt in a pillow-case trimmed with lace. The unfor-
tunate lady appeared to have been murdered without any
warning; she was fully dressed, and her scissors were
yet hanging by a ribbon to her side, and her thimble was
also in the box, having apparently dropped from tiie
shrivelled finger of the corpse.
74 HAUNTED HOMES,
EDINBURGH: TRINITY.
One of the most curious law suits of recent years
occurred at Edinburgh in 1835, concerning the ghost
disturbances in a dwelling-house at Trinity, about two
miles or so from Edinburgh. This law-suit lasted for
two years, and during its progress, Mr. Maurice Lothian,
(afterwards Procurator Fiscal for the county), the advo-
cate employed by Mr. Webster, the plaintiff, spent many
hours in examining the numerous witnesses, several of
whom were military officers, and gentlemen of good
social position, but without obtaining any solution of the
mysterious affair. The account furnished by Mr.
Lothian himself is this : —
" Captain Molesworth took the house of a Mr.
Webster, who resided in the adjoining one, in May
or June 1835, and when he had been in it about two
months, he began to complain of sundry extraordinary
noises, which, finding it impossible to account for, he
took it into his head, strangely enough, were made by
Mr. Webster. The latter naturally represented that it
was not probable he should desire to damage the reputa-
tion of his own house, or drive his tenant out of it, and
retorted the accusation. Still, as these noises and
knockings continued, Captain Molesworth not only
lifted the boards in the room most infected, but actually
made holes in the wall which divided his residence from
Mr. Webster's, for the purpose of detecting the delin-
quent— of course without success. Do what they
EDINBURGH I TRINITY. 75
would, the thing went on just the same ; footsteps of
invisible feet, knockings, scratchings, and rustlings, first
on one side, and then on the other, were heard daily
and nightly. Sometimes this unseen agent seemed to be
knocking to a certain tune, and if a question were
addressed to it which could be answered numerically,
as ' How many people are there in this room ? ' for
example, it would answer by so many knocks. The
beds, too, were occasionally heaved up, as if somebody
were underneath, and where the knockings were, the
wall trembled visibly, but, search as they would, no one
could be found. Captain Molesworth had had two
daughters, one of whom, named Matilda, had lately
died ; the other, a girl between twelve and thirteen,
called Jane, was sickly, and generally kept her bed ; and
as it was observed that wherever she was these noises
most frequently prevailed, Mr. Webster, who did not
like the mala fama that was attaching itself to his
house, declared that she made them, whilst the people
in the neighbourhood believed that it was the ghost of
Matilda warning her sister that she was soon to follow.
Sheriff's officers, masons, justices of the peace, and the
officers of the regiment quartered at Leith, who were
friends of Captain Molesworth, all came to his aid, in
hopes of detecting or frightening away his tormentor,
but in vain. Sometimes it was said to be a trick of
somebody outside the house, and then they formed a
cordon round it ; and next, as the poor sick girl was
suspected, they tied her up in a bag, but it was all to no
purpose.
76 HAUNTED HOMES.
"At length, ill and wearied out by the annoyances
and the anxieties attending the affair, Captain Moles-
worth quitted the house ; and Mr. Webster brought an
action against him for the damages committed by lifting
the boards, breaking the walls, and firing at the
wainscot, as well as for the injury clone to his house by
saying it was haunted, which prevented other tenants
taking it."
Miss Molesworth died soon after " the haunted
house '' was quitted, hastened out of the world, so
people declared, by the severe measures to which she
was subjected whilst she was an object of suspicion. At
any rate, the house became quiet after the Captain and
his family left it, and the persons who have since
inhabited it, so it is said, have not experienced any
repetitions of the disturbances.
ENFIELD CHACE.
Mr. T. Westwood, from whose most attractive com-
munication to Notes and Queries on the subject of
" Ghosts and Haunted Houses," an excerpt is made in
another portion of this work, gives the following
account of a most singular and, as far as our knowledge
of such things extends, unique experience. According
to Mr, Westwood's narrative, which no one has as yet
appeared to question, he on one occasion was directly
and personally " under ghostly influences," or what
ENFIELD CHACE* 77
appeared to be such. His story is, that a in a lonely
neighbourhood on the verge of Ecfield Chace, stands an
old house, much beaten by wind and weather. It was
inhabited when I knew it," states Mr. Westwood, "by
two elderly people, maiden sisters, with whom I had
some acquaintance, and who once invited me to dine
with them, and meet a circle of local guests. I well
remember my walk thither. It led me up a steep ascent
of oak avenue, openiDg out at the top on what was
called the * ridge-road' of the Chace.
" It was the close of a splendid autumn afternoon*
through the mossy boles of the great oaks I saw
. . . The golden autumn woodland reel
Athwart the emoke of burning flowers . , ,
it
On reaching my destination, the sun had already
dipped below the horizon, and the eastern front of the
house projected a black shadow at its foot. What was
there in the aspect of the pile that reminded me of the
corpse described by the poet — the corpse that
Was calm and cold, as it did hold
Some secret, glorying ?
I crossed the threshold with repugnance.
" Having some changes to make in my attire, a
servant led the way to an upper chamber, and left me
No sooner was he gone than I became conscious of a
peculiar sound in the room — a sort of shuddering
sound in the room, as of suppressed dread. It
seemed close to me. I gave little heed to it at first,
setting it down for the wind in the chimney, or a
78 HAUNTED HOMES.
draught from the half open door ; but moving about
the room, I perceived that the sound moved with me.
Whichever way I turned it followed me. I went to the
furthest extremity of the chamber — it was there also.
Beginning to feel uneasy, and being quite unable to
account for the singularity, I completed my toilet in
haste, and descended to the drawing-room, hoping I
should thus leave the uncomfortable sound behind me,
but not so. It was on the landing, on the stair, it
went down with me, alwavs the same sound of shudder-
ing horror, faint, but audible, and always close at hand.
Even at the dinner- table, when the conversation flagged,
I heard it unmistakably several times, and so near, that,
if there was an entity connected with it, we ivere tico on
one cJiair. It seemed to be noticed by nobody else, but
t ended by harassing and distressing me, and I was
relieved to think that I had not to sleep in the house
that night.
" At an early hour, several of the guests having far
to go, the party broke up, and it was a satisfaction to
me to breathe the fresh, wholesome air of the night, and
feel rid at last of my shuddering incubus.
" When I saw my hosts again, it was under another
and ttnhaunted roof. On my telling them what had
occurred to me, they smiled and said it was perfectly
true, but added they were so used to the sound it had
ceased to perturb them. Sometimes, they said, it would
be quiet for weeks, at others it followed them from room
to room, from floor to floor, pertinaciously, as it had
followed me. They could give me no explanation of
EPSOM : PITT PLACE. 79
the phenomenon. It was a sound., no more, and quite
harmless.
"Perhaps so, hnt of what strange horror," demands
Mr. Westwood, "not ended with life, but perpetuated
in the limbo of invisible things, was that sound the
exponent ? "
EPSOM: PITT PLACE.
The story of Lord Lyttleton's "warning," as it is
termed, has been frequently told, and almost as fre-
quently attempts have been made to explain it away.
Up to the present time, however, it must be confessed
that all the evidence, circumstantial though it be, is
in favour of the original tellers of the tale. Well
known though the story be, it must not be omitted from
this collection.
Thomas, the second Lord Lyttleton, had long led a life
of dissipation. As he lay in bed one night at Pitt Place,
Epsom, he was awakened out of his sleep, according to
his own account, by a noise like the fluttering of a bird
about the curtains. On opening his eyes he saw the
apparition of a woman, who was, it is generally
supposed, Mrs. Amphlett, the mother of a lady he had
seduced, and who had just died of a broken heart.
Dreadfully shocked, he called out, "What do you
want?"
80 HAUNTED HOMES.
" I have come to warn you of your death/' was the
reply.
" Shall I not live two months ? " he asked.
"No; you will die within three days," was the
response.
The following day Lord Lyttleton was observed to he
much agitated in his mind, and when questioned as to
the cause, informed several persons of the apparition.
By the third day, which was a Saturday, he was observed
to have grown very thoughtful, but he attempted to carry
it off by saying to those about him, "Why do you look
so grave ? Are you thinking about the ghost ? I am
as well as ever I was in my life."
He invited company to dinner, doubtless expecting
in the midst of society to get rid of unwelcome thoughts.
In the evening he said to his guests, " A few hours
more and I shall jockey the ghost." At eleven o'clock
he retired to his bed-room, and after a time began to
undress himself. Meanwhile his servant was preparing
a rhubarb draught for him, according to custom; but,
having nothing to mix it with, went out of the room
for a spoon. By the time he returned Lord Lyttleton
was getting into bed, but before the man could give him
the draught, he reclined his head back on the pillow,
fell into convulsions, and died. The servant's cries
aroused the household, they hastened to his assistance,
but it was useless, for all was over.
The sequel to this story is as singular, but is less
generally known, although quite as well testified to, as
reference to the preface to Croker's edition of Bosweli's
EPSOM : PITT PLACE. 81
Life of Johnson will show. Mr. Miles Peter Andrews,
the intimate friend of Lord Lyttleton, lived at Dartford,
about thirtv miles off. Mr. Andrews was entertaining
a large company at his place, and expected a visit from
Lord Lyttleton, whom he had just left, apparently in
good health. Disturbed, however, by the impressive
message he had received from the apparition, the noble-
man, without giving Mr. Andrews any intimation of his
intention, had determined to postpone his visit.
On the evening of the Saturday, Mr. Andrews finding
Lord Lyttleton did not arrive, and feeling somewhat
indisposed, retired to bed somewhat early, leaving one
of his guests to do the honours of the supper-table on
his behalf. He went to bed in a somewhat feverish
condition, but had not been lying down long when the
curtains at the foot of his bed were drawn open, and
he beheld his friend standing before him, in a large-
figured bed-gown which was always kept in the house
for Lord Lyttleton's exclusive use. Mr. Andrews at
once imagined that his friend had arrived alter he had
retired to rest, as he had so positively promised to come
that day, and knowing how fond the nobleman was of
practical joking, cried out to him, "You are at some
of your tricks ; go to bed, or I will throw something at
you." The reply to which was " // 's all over with me*
Andrews."
Still deeming it was Lord Lyttleton joking with him,
Mr. Andrews stretched his arm out of the bed, and,
seizing one of his slippers, the nearest thing he could
get hold of, he flung it at the figure, which then retreated
6
82 HAUNTED HOMES.
to the dressing-room, whence there was no mean* of
egress. Upon this Mr. Andrews jumped out of bed,
intending to follow and punish his friend for startling
him, hut could find nobody in that room, nor in his
bed-room, the bolt of which was in its place. He rang
his bell, and inquired of the servants where Lord Lyttle-
tonwas; but no one had seen him, and the nightgown,
when sought for, was found in its usual place. Mr.
Andrews, getting annoyed, and unable to solve the
mystery, ordered that no bed was to be given to the
nobleman, who might find one at the inn for serving
him such a trick.
The next morning, Mrs. Pigou, the guest who had
headed Mr. Andrew's table when he retired, departed
early for London, and on arriving there heard of Lord
Lyttleton's death ; she sent an express to Dartford to
inform Mr. Andrews, who, when he received the news,
was so shocked that he swooned away, and, to use his
own words, " was not his own man again, for three years."
EPWORTH PARSONAGE.
In 1716, the Rev. Samuel Wesley, father of the
famous John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was
rector of Epworth, in Lincolnshire. During the months
of December 1716, and January 1717, the parsonage
was haunted in a most unpleasant fashion. The rector
kept a diary in which the disturbances were recorded.,
and which eventually formed the basis of the narrative
\
EPWORTH PARSONAGE, 83
afterwards compiled by his well-known son, for the
Arminian Magazine. This account, supplemented by
personal inquiries, and carefully written statement of
each member of the household, forms not only one of
the most marvellous, but also one of the best authen-
ticated cases of haunted houses on record. The famous
Dr. Priestley, and the equally well-known Dr. Adam
Clark, both furnish voluminous particulars of the affair,
the latter devoting forty-six pages of his Memoirs of the
Wesley Family to the narrative. In his Life of Wesley
Southey, in reproducing the accounts of the mysterious
disturbances, remarks that, " An author who, in this
age, relates such a story and treats it as not utterly in-
credible and absurd, must expect to be ridiculed ; but
the testimony upon which it rests is far too strong to be
set aside because of the strangeness of the relation."
It is needless to reproduce anything like a complete
account of the disturbances at Epworth Parsonage, so
the reader must be content to have in a somewhat
abridged form the narrative drawn up by John Wesley,
supplemented by a few additional data gathered from
other equally reliable sources.
" On December 2, 1716," says John Wesley, " while
Robert Brown, my father's servant, was sitting with one
of the maids, a little before ten at night, in the dining-
room which opened into the garden, they both heard
someone knocking at the door. Robert rose and opened
it, but could see nobody. Quickly it knocked again and
groaned. ' It is Mr. Turpine,' said Robert, ' he used
to groan so.' He opened the door again twice or thrice,
6 *
84 HAUNTED HOMES.
the knocking being twice or thrice repeated ; but still
seeing nothing, and being a little startled, they rose up
and went to bed. When Robert came to the top of the
garret stairs, he saw a handmill, which was at a little
distance, whirled about very swiftly. When he related
this he said, ' Nought vexed me but that it was empty.
I thought if it had been but full of malt he might have
ground his hand out for me.' When he was in bed, he
heard as it were the gobbling of a turkey-cock close to
the bed-side, and soon after the sound of one stumbliug
over his shoes and boots ; but there was none there,
he had left them below. The next day he and the maid
related these things to the other maid, who laughed
heartily, and said, * What a couple of fools you are !
I defy anything to fright me ! ' After churning in the
evening, she put the butter in the tray, and had no
sooner carried it into the dairy than she heard a knock-
ing on the shelf where several puncheons of milk stood,
first above the shelf, then below. She took the candle
and searched both above and below, but, being able to
find nothing, threw down butter, tray, and all, and ran
away for life.
"The next evening, between five and six o'clock, my
sister Molly, then about twenty years of age, sitting
in the dining-room reading, heard as if it were the door
that led into the hall open, and a person walking in that
seemed to have on a silk nightgown, rustling and trailing
along. It seemed to walk round her, and then to the
door, then round again ; but she could see nothing.
She thought, 'It signifies nothing to run away; for,
EPWORTH PARSONAGE. 85
whatever it is, it can run faster than me.' So she rose,
put her book under her arm, and walked slowly away.
After supper, she was sitting with my sister Sukey
(about a year older than her), in one of the chambers,
and telling her what had happened. She made quite
light of it, telling her, ' I wonder you are so easily
frightened. I would fain see what would frighten me/
Presently a knocking began under the table. She took
the candle and looked, but could find nothing. Then
the iron casement began to clatter. Next the catcfc
of the door moved up and down without ceasing. She
started up, leaped into the bed without undressing,
pulled the bed-clothes over her head, and never ventured
to look up until next morning.
" A night or two after, my sister Hetty (a year younger
than my sister Molly) was waiting as usual between nine
and ten, to take away my father's candle, when she
heard someone coming down the garret stairs, walking
slowly by her, then going slowly down the best stairs,
then up the back stairs and up the garret stairs,
and at every step it seemed the house shook from top
to bottom. Just then my father knocked, she went in,
took his candle, and got to bed as fast as possible.
In the morning she told it to my eldest sister, who told
her, ' You know T believe none of these things ; pray
let me take away the candle to-night, and I will find
out the trick.' She accordingly took my sister Hetty's
place, and had no sooner taken away the candle, than
she heard a noise below. She hastened down-stairs to
the hall, where the noise was, but it was then in the
86 HAUNTED HOMES.
kitchen. She ran into the kitchen, when it was drum*
mins on the inside of the screen. When she went round
it was drumming on the outside, and so always on the
side opposite to her. Then she heard a knocking at the
back kitchen door. She ran to it, unlocked it softly,
and, when the knocking was repeated, suddenly opened
it, but nothing was to be seen. As soon as- she had shut
it, the knocking began again. She opened it again, but
could see nothing. When she went to shut the door,
it was violently knocked against her; but she set her knee
and her shoulder to the door, forced it to, and turned
the key. Then the knocking began again ; but she
let it go on, and went up to bed. However, from that
time she was thoroughly convinced that there was no
imposture in the affair.
" The next morning, my sister telling my mother
what had happened, she said, ' If I hear anything
myself, I shall know how to judge.' Soon after she
begged her mother to come into the nursery. She did,
and heard, in the corner of the room, as it were the
violent rocking of a cradle; but no cradle had been
there for some years. She was convinced it was preter-
natural, and earnestly prayed it might not disturb her
in her own chamber at the hours of retirement; and
it never did. She now thought it was proper to tell
my father. But he was extremely angry, and said,
* Sukey, I am ashamed of you. These boys and girls
frighten one another ; but you are a woman of sense,
and should know better. Let me hear of it no more.'
"At six in the evening he had family prayers as
EPWORTH PARSONAGE. 87
usual. When he began the prayer for the King, a
knocking began all round the room, and a thundering
knock attended the Amen. The same was heard from
this time every morning and evening while the prayer
for the King was repeated. As both my father and
mother are now at rest, and incapable of being pained
thereby, I think it my duty to furnish the serious reader
with a key to this circumstance.
" The year before King William died, my father
observed my mother did not say Amen to the prayer for
the King. She said she would not, for she did not
believe the Prince of Orange was King. He vowed he
would never cohabit with her until she did. He then
took his horse and rode away, nor did she hear anything
of him for a twelvemonth. He then came back and
lived with her as before. But I fear his vow was not
forgotten before God."
" Being informed that Mr. Hoole, the vicar of
Haxey," resumes John Wesley, " could give me some
further information, I walked over to him. He said,"
referring to the bygone disturbances at Epworth Parson-
age, " Robert Brown came over to me and told me your
father desired my company ; when I came, he gave me an
account of all that had happened, particularly the knock-
ing during family prayer. But that evening (to my great
satisfaction) we heard no knocking at all. But between
nine and ten a servant came in and said, ' Old Jeffrey is
coming (that was the name of one that had died in the
house), for I hear the signal.' This, they informed me,
was heard every night about a quarter before ten. It
88 fiAUNTEfc HOMES*
was towards the top of the Louse, on the outside, at
the north-east corner, resembling the loud creaking of
a saw, or rather that of a windmill, when tbe body of
it is turned about in order to shift the sails to the wind.
We then heard a knocking over our heads, and Mr.
Wesley, catching up a candle, said, ' Come, Sir, now you
shall hear for yourself.' We went up-stairs, he with
much hope, and I (to say the truth) with much fear.
When we came into the nursery, it was knocking in the
next room : when we went there, it was knocking in
the nursery; and there it continued to knock, though
we came in, and particularly at the head of the bed
(which was of wood) in which Miss Hetty and two of
her younger sisters lay. Mr. Wesley, observing that
they were much affected, — though asleep, sweating, and
trembling exceeding, — was very angry, and, pulling
out a pistol, was going to fire at the place whence
the sound came. But I snatched him by the arm and
said, ' Sir, you are convinced that this is something
preternatural. If so, you cannot hurt it, but you give it
power to hurt you.' He then went close to the place
and said, sternly : ' Thou deaf and dumb devil ! why dost
thou fright these children who cannot answer for them-
selves I Come to me, in my study, that am a man ! '
Instantly it knocked his knock (the particular knock
which he always used at the gate), as if it would shiver
the board to pieces, and we heard nothing more that
night."
Commenting upon this portion of the narrative, as
furnished by the Kev. Mr. Hoole, John Wesley remarks :
EPWORTH PARSONAGE. 89
" Till this time my father had never heard the least
disturbance in his study. But the next evening, as he
attempted to go into his study (of which none had the
key but himself), when he opened the door it was thrust
back with such violence as had like to have thrown him
down. However, he thrust the door open, and went in.
Presently there was a knocking, first on one side, then
on the other, and, after a time, in the next room,
wherein my sister Nancy was. He went into that room,
and, the noise continuing, adjured it to speak, but in
vain. He then said, ' These spirits love darkness : put
out the candle, and perhaps it will speak.' She did so,
and he repeated the adjuration ; but still there was only
knocking, and no articulate sound. Upon this he said,
' Nancy, two Christians are an overmatch for the devil.
Go all of you down-stairs, it may be when I am alone
he will have courage to speak.' When she was gone, a
thought came into his head, and he said, * If thou art
the spirit of my son Samuel, I pray knock three knocks,
and no more.' Immediately all was silence, and there
was no more knocking at all that night. I asked my
sister Nancy (then fifteen years old), whether she was
not afraid when my father used that adjuration. She
answered she was sadly afraid it would speak when she
put out the candle, but she was not at all afraid in the
day-time, when it walked after her, only she thought
when she was about her work, he might have clone it
for her and saved her the trouble."
"By this time," continues John Wesley, "all my
sisters were so accustomed to these noises, that they
90 HAUNTED HOMES.
gave them little disturbance. A gentle tapping at their
bed-head usually began between nine and ten at night.
They then commonly said to each other, * Jeffrey is
coming; it is time to go to sleep.' And if they heard
a noise in the day, and said to my youngest sister,
' Hark, Kezzy, Jeffrey is knocking above,' she would run
upstairs, and pursue it from room to room, saying she
desired no better diversion.
"My father and mother had just gone to bed/' says
Wesley, citing another instance of these mysterious
disturbances, " and the candle was not taken away,
when they heard three blows, and a second and a third
three, as it were with a large oaken staff, struck upon a
chest which stood by the bedside. My father im-
mediately arose, put on his nightgown, and, hearing
great noises below, took the candle and went down ; my
mother walked by his side. As they went down the
broad stairs, they heard as if a vessel full of silver was
poured upon my mother's breast and ran jingling down
to her feet. Quickly after, there was a sound as if a
large iron bell were thrown among many bottles under
the stairs ; but nothing was hurt. Soon after, our large
mastiff dog came, and ran to shelter himself between
them. While the disturbances continued he used to
bark and leap, and snap on one side and the other, and
that frequently before any person in the room heard any
noise at all. But after two or three days he used to
tremble, and creep away before the noise began. And
by this the family knew it was at hand ; nor did the
observation ever fail.
EPWORTH PARSONAGE. 91
a
A little before my father and mother came into the
hall," says Wesley, resuming the thread of his story,
"it seemed as if a very large coal was violently thrown
upon the floor, and dashed all in pieces ; but nothing
was seen. Mv father then cried out, ' Sukev, do vou
not hear ? all the pewter is thrown about the kitchen.'
But when they looked all the pewter stood in its place.
Then there was a loud knocking at the back door. My
father opened it, but saw nothing. It was then at the
front door. He opened that, but it was still lost labour,
After opening first the one, then the other, several times,
he turned and went up to bed. But the noises were so
violent all over the house that he could not sleep till
four in the morning.
" Several gentlemen and clergymen now earnestly
advised my father," concludes Wesley, " to quit the
house. But he constantly answered, 'No : let the devil
flee from me ; I will never flee from the devil.' But he
wrote to my eldest brother, at London, to come down.
He was preparing so to do, when another letter came
informing him the disturbances were over, after they had
continued (the latter part of the time day and night),
from the 2nd of December to the end of January."
The elder Wesley's diary fully confirms all the more
remarkable portions of John Wesley's Narrative, and
even mentions some curious incidents not given by the
son : for instance, the Rev. Samuel says, " I have been
thrice pushed by an invisible power, once against the
corner of my desk in the study, a second time against
the door of the matted chamber, a third time against
I
92 HAUNTED HOMES.
the right side of the frame of my study-door, as I was
going in."
On the 25th December he records, " Our mastiff came
whining to us, as he did always after the first night of
its coming ; for then he barked violently at it, but was
silent afterwards, and seemed more afraid than any of
the children/'
John Wesley, also, received several lengthy letters
from various members of the family, corroborating the
various details already given, but these communications
are too lengthy to cite, besides being frequently but
repetitions of the same, or similar stories. From a
letter written by Emily Wesley (afterwards Mrs. Harper),
some extracts, however, may be given. " A whole
month was sufficient to convince anybody," she writes,
" of the reality of the thing. ... I shall only tell you
what I myself heard, and leave the rest to others.
" My sisters in the paper-chamber had heard noises,
and told me of them, but I did not much believe till
one night, about a week after the first groans were heard,
which was the beginning. Just after the clock struck
ten, I went down-stairs to lock the doors, which I
always do. Scarce had T got up the west stairs, when
I heard a noise like a person throwing down a vast coal
in the middle of the fore kitchen. I was not much
frighted, but went to my sister Sukey, and we together
went all over the lower rooms, but there was nothing
out of order. Our dog was fast asleep, and our only cat
in the other end of the house. No sooner was I got
up- stairs and undressing for bed, but I heard a noise
EPWORTH PARSONAGE. 93
. . . This made me hasten to bed. But my sister,
Hetty, who sits always to wait on my father, going to
bed, was still sitting on the lowest step of the garret
stairs, the door being shut at her back, when, soon after,
there came down the stairs behind her something like
a man in a loose night-gown trailing after him, which
made her fly rather than run to me in the nursery."
Emily Wesley, the writer of these words, it may be
added, appeared to believe herself followed by this
manifestation through life. When writing to her brother
John, thirty-four years after the Epworth disturbances
had taken place, she alludes to " that wonderful thing
called by us Jeffrey " as calling upon her before any
extraordinary new affliction.
In summing up the general circumstances attendant
upon the disturbances in their household, John Wesley
remarks :
" Before it came into any room, the latches were fre-
quently lifted up, the windows clattered, and whatever
iron or brass was about the chamber rung and jarred
exceedingly. -
" When it was in any room, let them make what noise
they would, as they sometimes did, its dead hollow note
would be clearly heard above them all.
" The sound very often seemed in the air in trhe
middle of a room ; nor could they ever make any such
themselves, by any contrivance.
"It never came by day till my mother ordered the
born to be blown. After that time scarce anyone
could go from one room into another but the latch
94 HAUNTED HOMES.
of the room they went to was lifted up before they
touched it.
" It never came into my father's study till he talked
to it sharply, calling it a deaf and dumb devil, and bid
it cease to disturb the innocent children, and come to
him in his study if it had anything to say to him.
" From the time of my mother desiring it not to
disturb her from five to six, it was never heard in her
chamber from five till she came down-stairs, nor at anv
other time when she was employed in devotion."
No satisfactory explanation of these remarkable cir-
cumstances has ever, so far as we can discover,
been afforded.
ESHER.
Miss Anna Maria Porter, the authoress, and, sister
of the still better known writer, Jane Porter, authoress
of The Scottish Chiefs, at one period of her life resided
at Esher, in Surrey. An aged gentleman of her
acquaintance, who lived in the same place, was accus-
tomed to visit at her house almost daily, generally
making his appearance in the evening, when he would
take a cup of tea and read the paper.
One evening Miss Porter saw.him enter the room as
usual, and seat himself at the table, but without saying
a word. She addressed some remark to him, but
received no reply, and, after a few seconds, was surprised
ETON. 95
to see him rise and leave the room without uttering a
word.
Fearing that he might have been taken ill suddenly,
Miss Porter sent a servant to his house to make
inquiries. She sent at once, but the answer the servan!-
brought back was that the old gentleman had died
suddenly about an hour before.
Miss Anna Maria, it is avowed, believed that she had
seen an apparition, and was herself the authority for
this story.
ETON.
Several writers of a past generation, including Joseph
Glanvill. were fond of relating the story of Major
Sydenham and his friend, Captain William Dyke, but it
appears to have escaped the researches of modern
commentators on the Supernatural. Shortly after the
death of Major Sydenham, Dr. Thomas Dyke called on
his cousin, Captain William Dyke, of Skilgate, in the
county of Somersetshire, and agreed to pass the night
with him. At the captain's request, Dr. Dyke agreed to
sleep in the same bed with his cousin, but previous to
composing himself to sleep, the Doctor was aroused by
his companion calling up a servant and bidding the man
bring him two of the largest candles he could obtain,
and have them lighted.
The Doctor naturally inquired what these were
96 HAUNTED HOMES.
intended for, to which the Captain answered: — "You
know, cousin, what disputes the Major and I have had
touching the immortality of the soul, on which point we
could never yet be resolved, though we so much desired it.
And, therefore, it was at length fully agreed between us,
that he who died first should, the third night after his
funeral, between the hours of twelve and one, come to
the little house which is here in the garden, and there
give a full account touching these matters to the
survivor, who should be sure to be present there at the
set time, and so receive a full satisfaction. And this,"
says the Captain, " is the very night, and I am come on
purpose to my present lodging to fulfil my promise."
The Doctor advised him not to follow strange
counsels, for which he could have no warrant. The
Captain replied, " that he had solemnly engaged," and
that nothing should discourage him ; and added, " that
if the Doctor should wake awhile with him, he would
shake him, if not, he might compose himself to rest ;
but, for his own part, he was resolved to watch, that he
might be sure to be present at the hour appointed." To
that purpose he set his watch by him, and as soon as he
perceived that it was half an hour past eleven, he arose,
and taking a candle in each hand, went out by a back
door, of which he had before got the key, and walked
into the garden house, where he continued two hours
and a half. At his return he declared he had neither
seen nor heard anything more than usual. "But I
know," said he, " that the Major would sureiy nay$
come had he been able."
ETON. 97
About six weeks after, the Captain rode to Eton, to
place his son a scholar there, when the Doctor went
thither with him. They lodged at the sign of the
" Christopher," and tarried two or three nights, not
lying together njw, as before at Dulverton,but in two
several chambers. The morning before they went away,
the Captain stayed in his chamber longer than usual,
before he called the Doctor. At length he came into the
chamber, but with his body shaking and trembling.
Whereat the Doctor, wondering, presently demanded,
" What is the matter ? " The Captain replied, " I have
seen the Major." The Doctor seeming to smile, the
Captain said, " If ever I saw him in my life, I saw him
but now," and then related to the Doctor what had
passed. " This morning, after it was light,*' said he,
u one came to my bedside, and suddenly drawing back
the curtains, called, ' Captain ! Captain ! ' To whom I
replied, ' What, Major ? ' To which he returned, 'I
could not come at the time appointed, but I am now
come to tell you, That there is a God, and a very
just and terrible one, and if you do not turn over a
new leaf (the very expression the Doctor punctually
remembered) you shall find it so.* " The Captain pro-
ceeded : — " On the table there lay a sword which the
Major had formerly given me, and after the apparition
had walked a turn or two about the chamber, he took
up the sword, drew it, and finding it not so bright as it
ought to be, cried, c Captain ! Captain ! this sword did
not use to be kept after this manner when it was mine*'
After which he presently disappeared."
7
9S HAUNTED HOMES.
The Captain was not only thoroughly persuaded of
the truth of what he had seen and heard, but was from
that time observed to have become quite an altered man.
And it was judged, by those who were well acquainted with
his conversation, that the remembance of this passage
stuck close to him ; and that those words of his dead
friend were frequently sounding in his ears during the
remainder of his life ; which was something more than
two years.
GLAMIS CASTLE.
One of our ancient castles that has long had a reputa-
tion for the hauntings and the apparitions that trouble it
is Glamis or Glammis Castle, in Forfarshire, the seat of
Lord Strathmore. Although the whole pile of buildings
appears to suffer under the ban, there is one particular
chamber which is especially known as "the Haunted
Room." Access to this ominous chamber is said to be now
cut off by a stone wall, and none are supposed to be
acquainted with its locality save Lord Strathmore, his
heir, and the factor of the estate. This wall is alleged
to have been erected some few years ago by order of the
late proprietor, in consequence of certain mysterious
sights and sounds which he had both seen and heard.
"There is no doubt," writes a correspondent of Dr.
Lee, " about the reality of the noises at Glamis Castle.
Oh one occasion, some years ago, the head of the family.
GLAMIS CASTLE. 09
with several companions, was determined to investigate
the cause. One night, when the disturbance was
greater, and more violent and alarming than usual — and,
it should be premised, strange, weird, and unearthly
sounds had often been heard, and by many persons,
some quite unacquainted with the ill-repute of the
the castle — his lordship went to the Haunted Eoom,
opened the door with a key, and dropped back in a dead
swoon into the arms of hjs companions; nor could he
ever be induced to open his lips on the subject after-
wards."
A well-known antiquary furnishes the following
local legend connected with the old stronghold, to
account for the sights and noises heard about it. He
states that the tradition is that in olden time, during one
of the constant feuds between the Lindsays and the
Ogilvies, a number of the latter clan, flying from their
enemies, came to Glamis Castle and begged hospitality
of the owner. He did not like to deny them the shelter
of his castle walls, and therefore admitted them, but, on
the plea of hiding them, so it is averred, he secured them
all in a large out-of-the-way chamber — that afterwards
known as the haunted one — and there left them to starve.
Their bones lie there till this day, according to the
common tradition, their bodies never having been
removed. It has been suggested that it was the sight
of these which so startled the late Lord Strathmore on
entering the room, and which caused him, subsequently,
to have it walled up. The scene is believed to have
been particularly horrifying, some of the unfortunate
100 HAUNTED HOMES.
captives having died apparently in the act of gnawing
the flesh from their arms.
Thus much for the tradition that accounts for the
weird disturbances which, if Dr. Lee's correspondent
may he credited, were still in a state of activity not very
long ago. Among other strange instances, the writer
states that " on one occasion a lady and her child were
staying for a few days at the castle. The child was asleep
in an adjoining dressing-room, and the lady, having
gone to bed, lay awake for awhile. Suddenly a cold blast
stole into the room, extinguishing the night-light by her
bedside, but not affecting the one in the dressing-room
beyond, in which her child had its cot. By that light
she saw a tall mailed figure pass into the dressing-room
from that in which she was lying. Immediately there-
after there was a shriek from the child. Her maternal
instinct was aroused. She rushed into the dressing-
room and found the child in an agony of fear. It
described what it had ssen as a giant, who came and
leant over its face."
We are unable to learn when this disturbing appa-
rition appeared, but it is to be hoped not since Lord
Strathmore had the Haunted Boom walled up ; that, it
is most devoutly to be hoped, shut in all unpleasant
sights, even if it could not quite suppress the sounds,
ji p ii « ;«^*—
GLASGOW HELL CLUB. 101
GLASGOW : THE HELL CLUB.
There is a somewhat well-known story, of an extremely
startling character, related by Mrs. Crowe, under the title
of the " Glasgow Hell Club," in that chapter of The Night
Side of Nature styled " The Future that Awaits us."
The story, notwithstanding its sensationalism, is declared
to be a relation of facts, of which a contemporary
account was published, but was bought up by the family
of the chief actor in the drama. As usual in such
cases, a few copies escaped destruction, and the narrative
was reprinted and widely diffused. Mrs. Crowe's version
of this " undoubted and well attested fact," is as follows: —
" Some ninety years ago, there flourished in Glasgow
a club of young men, which, from the extreme pro-
fligacy of its members and the licentiousness of their
orgies, wras commonly called the ' Hell Club.' Besides
these nightly or weekly meetings, they held one grand
annual saturnalia, in which each tried to excel the
other in drunkenness and blasphemy ; and on these
occasions there was no star amongst them whose lurid
light was more conspicuous than that of young Mr.
Archibald B., who, endowed with brilliant talents and
a handsome person, had held out great promise in
his boyhood, and raised hopes, which had been com-
pletely frustrated by his subsequent reckless dissi-
pations.
102 HAUNTED HOMES.
" One morning, after returning from this annual
festival, Mr. Archibald B., having retired to bed,
dreamt the following dream : —
" He fancied that he himself was mounted on a
favourite black horse that he alwavs rode, and that
he was proceeding towards his own house, then a
country seat embowered by trees, and situated upon
a hill, now entirely built over and forming part of the
city, when a stranger, whom the darkness of night
prevented his distinctly discerning, suddenly seized his
horse's reins, saying, * You must go with me ! '
" ( And who are you?' exclaimed the young man,
with a volley of oaths, whilst he struggled to free
himself.
'"That you will see by and by,' returned the other,
in a tone that excited unaccountable terror in the
youth, who, plunging his spurs into his horse,
attempted to fly. But in vain : however fast the
animal flew, the stranger was still beside him, till at
length, in his desperate efforts to escape, the rider
was thrown, but instead of being dashed to the earth,
as he expected, he found himself falling — falling —
foiling still, as if sinking into the bowels of the
earth.
"At length, a period being put to this mysterious
descent, he found breath to inquire of his companion,
who was still beside him, whither they were going :
* Where am I ? where are you taking me ? ' he ex-
claimed.
" ' To hell ! ' replied the stranger, and immediately
GLASGOW HELL CLUB. 103
interminable echoes repeated the fearful sound, ' To
hell ! to hell ! to hell ! '
"At length a light appeared, which soon increased
to a blaze ; but instead of the cries and groans, and
lamentiugs the terrified traveller expected, nothing
met his ear but sounds of music, mirth and jollity;
and he found himself at the entrance of a superb
building, far exceeding any he had seen constructed
by human hands. Within, too, what a scene! No
amusement, employment, or pursuit of man on earth,
but was here being carried on with a vehemence that
excited his unutterable amazement. ' There the young
and lovely still swam through the mazes of the giddy
dance ! There the panting steed still bore his brutal
rider through the excitement of the goaded race !
There, over the midnight bowl, the intemperate still
drawled out the wanton song or maudlin blasphemy !
The gambler plied for ever his endless game, and the
slaves of Mammon toiled through eternity their bitter
task ; whilst all the magnificence of earth paled before
that which now met his view ! '
" He soon perceived that he was amongst old
acquaintances whom he knew to be dead, and each, he
observed, was pursuing the object, whatever it was, that
had formerly engrossed him ; when, finding himself
relieved of the presence of his unwelcome conductor,
he ventured to address his former friend, Mrs. D., whom
he saw sitting as had been her wont on earth, absorbed
at loo, requesting her to rest from the game, and intro
duce him to the pleasures of the place, which appeared
104 HAUNTED HOMES.
to him to be very unlike what he had expected and,
indeed, an extremely agreeable one. But with a cry of
agony, she answered, that there was no rest in hell;
that they must ever toil on at those very pleasures; and
innumerable voices echoed through the interminable
vaults, ' There is no rest in hell ! ' Whilst, throwing
open their vest, each disclosed in his bosom an ever-
burning flame ! These, they said, were the pleasures
of hell ; their choice on earth was now their inevitable
doom ! In the midst of the horror this scene inspired,
his conductor returned, and, at his earnest entreaty,
restored him again to earth ; but as he quitted him,
he said, ' Remember ; in a year and a day we meet
again ! '
" At this crisis of his dream the sleeper awoke feverish
and ill ; and whether from the effects of the dream,
or of his preceding orgies, he was so unwell as to be
obliged to keep his bed for several days, during which
period he had time for many serious reflections, which
terminated in a resolution to abandon the club and
his licentious companions altogether.
" He was no sooner well, however, than they flocked
around him, bent on recovering so valuable a member
of their society ; and having wrung from him a confession
of the cause of his defection, which, as may be supposed,
appeared to them eminently ridiculous, they soon con-
trived to make him ashamed of his good resolutions.
He joined them again, resumed his former course of life,
and when the annual saturnalia came round, he found
himself with his glass in his hand, at the table, when
GEAYEIGG HALL. 105
the president, rising to make the accustomed speech,
began by saying, ' Gentlemen : this being leap-year
it is a year and a day since our last anniversary,' &c. &c.
The words struck upon the young man's ear like
a knell ; but ashamed to expose his weakness to the jeers
of his companions, he sat out the feast, plying himself
with wine even more liberally than usually, in order
to drown his intrusive thoughts ; till, in the gloom of
a winter's morning he mounted his horse to ride home.
Some hours afterwards, the horse was found with his
saddle and bridle on, quietly grazing by the road-side,
about half-way between the city and Mr. B's house;
whilst a few yards off lay the corpse of his master."
Comment on this weird tale is needless on our part,
unless it be to remark that it would "point a moral"
in a far more emphatic manner were the real names
given of the young man whose fate is supposed to be
described.
GRAYBIGG HALL.
In Duchetiana it is stated by Sir G. B. Duckett, that
not a vestige remains of those extensive foundations
which, a hundred years ago, attested the solidity and
importance of the Westmoreland Ducketts' residence,
the Manor House known formerly as Grayrigg Hall.
A strange story is told of the last member of this
opulent family, who inhabited this line old English
106 HAUNTED HOMES.
mansion ere it was dismantled. The narrative has been
detailed with great similarity in various works, such as
Ferguson's Early Cumberland and Westmoreland
Friends, and Backhouse's Life of Hoivgill, and is
popularly known as " The Quaker's Curse and its Ful-
filment."
Francis Howgill, a noted member of the Society
of Friends, resided at Todthorne, near Grayrigg,
in Westmoreland, about the middle of the seven-
teenth centurv. At one time he travelled about
the south of England preaching, and when he visited
Bristol, in company with his compatriot, John Oamm,
his preaching was made the occasion of great rioting.
In 1663 he returned to his own neighbourhood, whither
his reputation had apparently preceded him, for, upon
arriving at the market-place of Kendal, he was
summoned to appear before the Justices, who were
holding a court in a tavern. They tendered Howgill
the oath of allegiance when he came before them, and
as he refused to take it they committed him to con-
finement in Appleby jail. It may be pointed out, as a
matter of history, that in the earliest days of the
brotherhood, members of the Society of Friends were
often subjected to severe penalties and much persecution
for their refusal to conform to the taking of judicial
oaths. At Appleby the judges of Assizes also tendered
Howgill the same oath and, on his refusal to swear it,
ordered him to be indicted at the next Assizes. Mean-
while they offered to release him from custody if he
would give a bond for his good behaviour in the interim,
GRAYRIGG HALL. 107
but this he refused to do, and therefore was re-com-
mitted to prison.
During his imprisonment a curious incident happened.
Howgill was allowed by the magistrates to go home to
Grayrigg for a few days on private affairs, and in the
course of the time he was at liberty the Quaker felt
himself compelled to # visit a justice of the name of
Duckett, residing at Grayrigg Hall, who was a great
persecutor of the Quakers, and was, also, one of the
magistrates concerned in committing him to prison.
Francis Howgill, on this occasion, was accompanied by
a friend who, over the initials " J. D." would appear to
have left a written report of the interview. Justice
Duckett expressed much surprise at seeing Howgill, and
said to him, " What is your wish now, Francis ? I thought
you had been in Appleby jail." Howgill replied to this
effect, " No, I am not, but I am come with a message
from the Lord. Thou hast persecuted the Lord's
people, but His hand is now against thee, and He will
send a blast upon all that thou hast, and thy name shall
rot out of the earth, and this thy dwelling shall become
desolate, and a habitation for owls and jackdaws."
When Howgill had delivered this message, the Justice
trembled, and said, " Francis, are you in earnest ? " To
which Howgill responded, "Yes, I am in earnest, it is
the word of the Lord to thee, and there are many now
living who will see it."
This prediction by the Quaker appears to have been
remarkably fulfilled ; for, according to the testimony of
James Wilson, who was a minister among the Friends,
108 HAUNTED HOMES.
and who lived at one time at Grayrigg Foot, in West4
moreland, this Justice Duckett had several children, and
all those children died without leaving any issue, whilst
some of them came to poverty. James Wilson himself
had repeatedly given alms at his door to a woman, the
last of the Duckett family, who hegged her bread from
door to door. Grayrigg Hall passed into the posses-
sion of the Lowther family, was dismantled, fell into
ruins, and in 1777 little more than its extensive founda-
tions were visible. After having long been the habita-
tion of " owls and jackdaws," the ruins were entirely
removed, and a farmhouse erected upon the site of the
old Hall. And thus the Quaker's curse was fulfilled.
HAOKWOOD HOUSE.
In April, 1862, one of those stories of haunted houses,
which are continually " cropping up," both in print and
in private conversation, went the usual round of the
press. The London correspondent of Saunders's News
Letter, having read the comments of his contemporaries,
told the tale in his own fashion, as below. It should be
premised that the " Mr. E " of the story is Mr.
Henry Phillip Eoche, the friend of Lord Weslbury, and,
thanks to that friendship, was by him appointed one of
the Eegistrars of the London Court of Bankruptcy.
" Eeally, what with Mr. Home, Mr. Forster, and Sir
02
O
a
o
o
HACKWOOD HOUSE. 109
Bulwer Lytton's Strange Story" says the correspondent,
"London Society seems just now affected with a general
phantom mania. The last new phase of the malady is
a ghost story which has lately obtained extensive
currency in what are called the ' upper circles/ and which
claims for its believers two counsel learned in the law,
and the Lord High Chancellor himself. I don't pretend
to vouch that the story can pretend to the ' ghost' of a
foundation for its existence, I merely testify that it is
being talked of by ' everybody,' and that the first
question asked at most dinner-tables is, ' Have you
heard of Lord Westbury's ghost ? '
" The story runs thus : — Lord Westbury lately pur-
chased Hackwood House, an old mansion near Basing-
stoke, the property of Lord Bolton. Snatching a
spare day or two to obtain a more minute inspection of
his investment, he took with him two of the gentlemen
belonging to his official establishment, both members of
the learned profession. On separating for the night,
the bedroom destined for one of them, a Mr. R ,
was found to be on the opposite side of the hall to those
of the other gentlemen ; he therefore shook hands and
said ' good-night' in the hall, leaving the others talking
there. He had not been very long asleep before he
1 felt' himself awoke, but could neither hear nor perceive
anything. By degrees, however, he became conscious
of something luminous on the side of the room opposite
his bed, which gradually assumed the appearance of a
woman clothed in grey. He at first thought it was an
optical illusion, next that his companions were playing
110 HAUNTED HOMES.
him some phosphoric trick, and then, turning round, he
composed himself to sleep again.
'• Further on in the night he was awoke again, and
then at once he saw the same figure brilliantly conspi-
cuous on the wall. Whilst he was gazing at it, it seemed
to leave the wall and advance into the middle of the
apartment. He immediately jumped out of bed, rushed
to it, and, of course, found — nothing. He was so im-
pressed with the power of the delusion, that he found
it impossible to seek any more sleep, and, as the day was
beginning to break, he dressed and made his way into
the grounds, where he walked for some time, pondering
over the illusion so forcibly produced upon him.
" On his return to his room he wrote out an exact
account of what he thought he had seen, it being then
quite clear to him that it was no trick played by others,
but simply an hallucination of his own brain. At the
breakfast-table, however, he began to fancy that he had
been cleverly imposed on by his friends, as they com-
menced at once bantering him on his night's rest,
broken sleep, and so forth Wishing to detect them
if possible, he pretended unconsciousness and utter
ignorance of their meaning, when, to his horror, one of
them exclaimed, ' Come, come, don't think we didn't see
one of the women in grey follow you into your room
last night.' He rushed up-stairs, produced his written
account, which he gave them to read, and the conster-
nation became general. On inquiry, of course, they
found the legend of a murder done in the days of yore,
and ths Lord Chancellor is supposed to be exceedingly
HANLEY. Ill
vexed at an incident which has decidedly shut up one
room in his house for ever, if not, in all probability,
tabooed the mansion altogether. Thus much do the
' upper ten thousand ' aver — how truly is quite another
question."
HANLEY.
In August, 18G4, the Spiritual Magazine, published
an account stated to have been related to the Stafford-
shire Sentinel in the previous year, of an apparition
that had appeared to Mr. William Ridgway, a well-
known pottery owner, of Hanley, Staffordshire. It is
a curious circumstance that the manufacturer should
have concealed the story from all his family and friends,
and, after so many years of silence, have revealed it
to an apparent stranger. The editor of the newspaper
in question does not, and, of course, in the circum-
stances, cannot produce any corroborative evidence of
Mr. Ridgway's belief that he had seen the apparition
of his deceased mother, nor does he state why the
story was held back until three months after Mr. Ridg-
way's death. However, it is not our present purpose
to question the editor's narrative but to cite it.
" For many years the family of the Ridgways," remarks
our authority, " have held a high and influential position
in the commercial world. Their name will go down to
112 HAUNTED HOMES.
posterity as promoters of the beautiful art which gives
wealth and fame to the Staffordshire potteries. William
was in partnership with his elder brother, John, and was
esteemed for his manly courage, untiring energy, and
great probity of character ; no man doubted the word
of William Ridgway ; it is, therefore, of great value
in the support of the belief in and reality of appari-
tions to have the testimony of such a man, and I am
able to give a well-authenticated story from the columns
of the Staffordshire Sentinel, where a memoir of this
much-respected gentleman appeared, about the time of
his death in April last. The story is thus related: —
" The two brothers became partners with their father
at the same time, when Mr. William was twenty-one
years' old, and on equal terms, and their own partner-
ship continued many years after his death.
"Immediately after this event they had a dispute
which of the two should have the paternal mansion.
Mr. John maintained the right of the elder^ Mr. William
the claim of an increasing family. The controversy
threatened to culminate in a quarrel, when, about
ten o'clock on a light evening, William beheld the
apparition of his deceased mother, near to the side of
the entrance of the house.
" The appearance was perfect as life, and she
addressed him audibly and distinctly, saying, ' William,
my dear, let your brother have the house, and God will
make it right with you.' The next morning he simply
said to his brother. 'John, you shall have the house.*
But he never divulged the reason why h3 said this,
fifiANOR. 113
etther to his brother, or his wife, or to any human
being, until he related it to us in the month, of June
J8G3.
"The superstitious may regard this statement in one
aspect, and the philosophical in another, but all must
admit that its truth is simply a question of credibility.
No one would doubt Mr. Ridgway's word, and few will
believe that the eyes and ears of the then young man
were deceived by an illusion. Happily, the friendship
of the two brothers was uninterrupted, and it continued
unbroken through life."
HEANOR, DERBYSHIRE.
In that remarkable work, Footfalls on the Boundary
of Another World, Robert Dale Owen publishes an
interesting account of an apparition, supposed to have
appeared about the time of the death of tl.e person it
represented. This account was supplied by Mr. Wil-
liam Howitt, the well-known author, it having happened
in his own family ; and in accordance with our usual
custom of giving as nearly as possible the original
narrator's own words — the only proper course in such
cases — the story referred to above shall be told as Mr.
Howitt tells it in his letter dated Higbgate, March 28,
1859.
8
114 HAUNTED HOMES.
" The circumstance you desire to obtain from me is
one which I have many times heard related by my
mother. It was an event familiar to our family and
the neighbourhood, and is connected with my earliest
memories ; having occurred about the time of my birth,
at my father's house at Heanor, Derbyshire, where I
was born.
'My mother's family name, Tantum, is an uncommon
one, which I do not recollect to have met with except
in a story of Miss Leslie's. My mother had two
brothers, Francis and Richard. The younger, Richard,
I knew well, for he lived to an old age. The elder,
Francis, was, at the time of the occurrence I am about
to report, a gay young man, about twenty, unmarried,
handsome, frank, affectionate, and extremely beloved
by all classes throughout that part of the country. He
is described, in that age of powder and pig-tails, as
wearing his auburn hair flowing in ringlets on his
shoulders, like another Absolom, and was much admired,
as well for his personal grace as for the life and gaietv
of his manners.
" One fine calm afternoon my mother, shortly after a
confinement, but perfectly convalescent, was lying in
bed, enjoying from her window the sense of summer
beauty and repose ; a bright sky above, and the quiet
village before her. In this state she was gladdened by
hearing footsteps, which she took to be those of her
brother Frank, as he was familiarly called, approaching
the chamber door. The visitor knocked and entered.
The foot of the bed was towards the door, and the
HEANOR. 115
curtains at the foot, notwithstanding the season, were
drawn, to prevent any draught. Her brother parted
them, and looked in upon her. His gaze was earnest
and destitute of its usual cheerfulness, and he spoke
not a word. ' My dear Frank,' said my mother, ' how
glad I am to see you! Come round to the bedside, I
wish to have some talk with you.'
" He closed the curtains, as if complying ; but instead
of doing so, my mother, to her astonishment, heard him
leave the room, close the door behind him, and begin
to descend the stairs. Greatlv amazed, she hastilv
rang, and when her maid appeared she bade her call her
brother back. The girl replied that she had not seen
him enter the house. But my mother insisted, saying,
* He was here but this instant, run ! Quick ! Call him
back ! I must see him ! '
" The girl hurried away, but, after a time, returned,
saying that she could learn nothing of him anywhere ;
nor had anyone in or about the house seen him either
enter or depart.
*'f Now, my father's house stood at the bottom of the
village, and close to the high road, which was quite
straight ; so that anyone passing along it must have
been seen for a much longer period than had elapsed.
The girl said she had looked up and down the road,
then searched the garden, a large, old-fashioned one,
with shady walks; but neither in the garden nor on
the road was he to be seen. She had inquired at the
nearest cottages in the village, but no one had noticed
him pass.
8 *
116 HAUNTED HOMES.
" My mother, though a very pious woman, was far
from superstitious; yet the strangeness of this cir-
cumstance struck her forcibly. While she lay ponder-
ing upon it, there was heard a sudden running and
excited talking in the village street. My mother
listened, it increased, though up to that time the village
had been profoundly still ; and she became convinced
that something very unusual had occurred. Again she
rang the bell, to inquire the cause of the disturbance.
This time it was the monthly nurse who answered it.
She sought to tranquillize my mother, as a nurse usually
does a patient. ' Oh, it is nothing particular, ma'am,'
she said, ' some trifling affair,' which she pretended to
relate, passing lightly over the particulars. But her
ill-suppressed agitation did not escape my mother's eye.
' Tell me the truth,' she said, ' at once. I am certain
something very sad has happened.' The woman still
equivocated, greatly fearing the effect upon my mother
in her then situation; and at first the family joined in
the attempt at concealment. Finally, however, my
mother's alarm and earnest entreaties drew from them
the terrible truth that her brother had just been
stabbed at the top of the village and killed on the
spot.
" The melancholy event had thus occurred. My
uncle, Francis Tantum, had been dining at Shipley Hall
with Mr. Edward Miller Mundy, Member of Parliament
for the county. Shipley Hall lay off to the left of the
village as you looked up the main street from my
father's house, and about a mile distant from it ; while
HEANOR. 117
Heanor Fall, my uncle's residence, was situated to the
right; the road from the one country seat to the other
crossing nearly at right angles the upper portion of the
village street, at a point where stood one of the two
village inns, the ' Admiral Rodney,' respectably kept by
the widow H ks. I remember her well — a tall, fine-
looking woman, who must have been handsome in her
youth, and who retained, even past middle age, an air
superior to her condition. She had one only child, a
son, then scarcely twenty. He was a good-looking,
brisk, young fellow, and bore a very fair character.
He must, however, as the event showed, have been of a
very hasty temper.
"Francis Tantum, riding home from Shipley Hall
after the early country dinner of that day, somewhat
elated, it may be, with wine, stopped at the widow's inn,
and bade the son bring him a glass of ale. As the
latter turned to obey, my uncle, giving the youth a
smart switch across the back with his riding-whip, cried
out, in his lively joking way, ' Now, be quick, Dick ; be
quick ! '
" The young man, instead of receiving the playful
stroke as a jest, took it as an insult. He rushed into
the house, snatched up a carving-knife, and darting
back into the street, stabbed my uncle to the heart as
he sat on his horse, so that he fell dead, on the instant,
in the road.
" The sensation tnrougnoui tne quiet village may be
imagined. The inhabitants, who idolised the murdered
man, were prevented from taking summary vengeance
113 HAUNTED HOMES.
on the homicide only by the constables carrying him
off to the office of the nearest magistrate.
"Young H ks was tried at the next Derby
Assizes ; but (justly, no doubt, taking into view the
sudden irritation caused by the blow) he was convicted
of manslaughter only ; and, after a few months im-
prisonment, returned to the village ; where, notwith-
standing the strong popular feeling against him, he
continued to keep the inn, even after his mother's
death. He is still present to my recollection, a quiet,
retiring man, never guilty of any other irregularity of
conduct, and seeming to bear about with him the
constant memory of his rash deed — a silent blight
upon his life.
" So great was the respect entertained for my uncle,
and such the deep impression of his tragic end, that so
long as that generation lived the church bells of the
village were regularly tolled on the anniversary of his
death.
" On comparing the circumstances and the exact
time at which each occurred, the fact was substantiated
that the apparition presented itself to my mother almost
instantly after her brother had received tho fdial
stroke.**
119
HEREFORD.
The Rev. Dr. Bretton, towards the close of his career
appointed rector of Ludgaf.e, early in life held a living
in Hereford. He had married a daughter of Dr. Santer,
a lady well known for her piety and virtue, but who died
and left an infant to her husband's care. The child
was entrusted to the charge of an old servant of Mrs.
Bretton, who had since married, and who nursed it
in her own cottage, near the doctor's residence. The
story, which has often been related in various collections
and in different ways, according to the original account,
states that one day when the woman was nursing the
infant, the door of her cottage was opened, and a lady
entered so exactly resembling the late Mrs. Bretton in
dress and appearance, that she exclaimed, " If my
mistress were not dead, I should think you were she ! "
Whereupon, the apparition told her she was so, and
requested her to go with her, as she had business of
importance to communicate. Alice objected, being very
much frightened, and entreated her to address herself
rather to Dr. Bretton ; but Mrs. B. answered, that she
had, endeavoured to do so, and had, been several times in
his room for that purpose, but he was still asleep, and
she had no power to do more towards awaketiing him
than once uncover his feet, Alice then pleaded that
she had nobody to leave with her child ; but Mrs. B.
promising that the child should sleep till her return,
120 HAUNTED HOMES.
she at length obeyed the summons, and having accom-
panied the apparition into a large field, the latter bade
her observe how much she measured off with her feet,
and having taken a considerable compass, she made her
go and tell her brother that all that portion had been
wrongfully taken from the poor by their father, and
that he must restore it to them, adding, that she was
the more concerned about it, since her name had been
used in the transaction. Alice then asking how she
should satisfy the gentleman of the truth of her mission,
Mrs. B. mentioned to her some circumstances known
only to herself and this brother ; she then entered into
much discourse with the woman, and gave her a great
deal of good advice, till, hearing the sound of horse-bells,
she said, " Alice, I must be seen by none but yourself/'
and then disappeared.
When the apparition had gone away the servant pro-
ceeded to the residence of her master, and acquainted
him with what had occurred. Dr. Bretton admitted
that he had actually heard someone walking about
in his room in a way that he could not account for,
as no one was visible. He then mentioned the matter
to his brother, who laughed heartily at it, until Alice
communicated to him the secret which she was com-
missioned to reveal to him : upon hearing it he changed
his tone, and declared himself ready to make the resti-
tution required. Dr. Bretton, it may be remarked,
never made any secret of the affair, but discussed it
freely with many persons.
.
121
HENHOW COTTAGE.
An account of a haunted neighbourhood, as described
in 3. Sullivan's Cumberland and Westmoreland, illus-
trates either the long term of years apparitions are
doomed to haunt the scenes of their former life, or the
tenacity of tradition. Sullivan, referring to other pre-
vious cases of supernatural troubles it had been his lot
to record, remarks, that if some incredulous individuals
may consider the evidence already proffered unsatis-
factory, they should investigate that of the Henhow
spectre, " the truth of which they may ascertain by a
little inquiry." This particular case, he remarks,
happened about twenty-three years ago, and the man to
whom the spectre appeared lived in Martindale, at a
cottage called "Henhow." His wife had heard some
unaccountable noises in or around the house, and in-
formed her husband, but no further notice was taken.
One morning he had to go to his work at an early hour
and, having several miles to walk, he started soon after
midnight. He had not got above two hundred yards:
from the house, when the dog by which he was accom-
panied gave signs of alarm. He looked round —at the
other side of the wall that bounded the road, appeared
a woman, keeping pace with him, and carrying a child in
her arms. There was no means of escape; he spoke to the
figure, and asked her what "was troubling her." Then
ghe told him her story. She had once lived at Henhow,
122 HAUNTED HOMES.
and had been seduced. Her seducer, to cloak his guilt
and her frailty, met her by appointment at a certain
market town, and gave her a medicine, the purpose of
which is obvious. It proved too potent, and killed both
mother and child. Her doom was to wander thus for a
hundred years, forty of which were already expired.
On his return home at night, the man told what he had
seen and heard, and when the extraordinary story spread
through the dale, the " old wives " were enabled to
recall some almost forgotten incidents precisely identical
with those related by the apparition. The seducer was
known to be a clergyman. <c The occurrence is believed
to have made a lasting impression on the old man,"
says Sullivan, "who still lives, and was until very lately
a shepherd on the fells. There can be no moral doubt
that he both saw and spoke with the apparition ; but
what share his imagination had therein, or how it had
baen excited, are mysteries, and so they are likely to
remain."
HILTON CASTLE.
Formerly the homes of nearly every Scottish, and of
many English, families of importance were haunted by
domestic spirits known as " Brownies." Hilton Castle,
once one of the most magnificent dwellings in the north
of England, but now hastening to decay, among other
weird inhabitants was a long while, perchance still is,
H
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HILTON CASTLE. 123
frequented by a Brownie, popularly known as the '* Cauld
Lad of Hilton." As a rule, these domestic spectres
appear to have taken up their abode in any suitable
dwelling, without the usual precedent of a crime, as is
the case with a ghost or apparition of the ordinary type,
and to have generally employed themselves for the
benefit of the household. The antiquary Surtees, in
his History of Durham, assumes the being that haunted
Hilton Castle to have been one of these somewhat
commonplace spirits, and although there are other more
eerie stories of the Cold Lad, it will be as well to give
the historian's account first.
The Cauld Lad, he says, was seldom seen, but was
heard nightly by the servants, who slept in the great
hall. If the kitchen were left in perfect order, they
heard him amusing himself by breaking plates and
dishes, hurling the pewter in all directions, and throw-
ing everything into confusion. If, on the contrary, the
apartment had been left in disarray, a practice which
the servants found it most prudent to adopt, the inde-
fatigable goblin arranged everything with the greatest
precision. This poor spirit, whose pranks were never
of a dangerous or hurtful character, was at length
banished from his haunts by the usual and universally
known expedient of presenting him with a suit of
clothes. A green cloak and hood were laid before the
kitchen fire, and the domestics sat up watching at a
prudent distance. At twelve o'clock the sprite glided
gently in, stood by the glowing embers, and surveyed the
garments provided for him very attentively, tried them
121 HAUNTED HOMES.
on, and seemed delighted with his appearance in them,
frisking about for some time and cutting several somer-
saults, till, on hearing the first cock-crow, he twitched
his mantle about him and disappeared with the male-
diction usually adopted on such occasions : —
" Here 's a cloak, and here 's a hood,
The Cauld Lad o' Hilton will do no more good."
Although this spirit was thus summarily disposed of
by the historian, the inhabitants of Hilton and its
viciniiy for many generations continued to believe in
its frequent reappearance, and over the glowing embers
told wonderful tales of its deeds. So strange were its
doings at times, and so frequent its apparition, that it
was difficult to retain the domestics in the castle. Among
other stories told of the terror with which it contrived
to imbue the minds of the servants, is one of a dairy-
maid who was too fond of helping herself to the richest
cream the pantry afforded. One day, as this not over
scrupulous young woman was taking her usual sips from
the various pans, the Cauld Lad suddenly addressed her
from some invisible vantage-ground, " Ye taste, and ye
taste, and ye taste, but ye never gie the Cauld Lad a
taste ! " On hearing this appalling accusation, the
affrighted maid dropped the spoon on the ground,
rushed out of the place, and could never be induced to
enter it again.
The local tradition of the " Cold Lad," more closely
assimilates his nature to that of any ordinary ghost or
apparition, and in no way to the Brownie of our fore-
fathers. The popular idea is that a lad, a domestic of
HILTON CASTLE. 125
the house, was cruelly ill-treated and kept confined in a
cupboard, and the cupboard is, or was quite recently,
pointed out by the guide who shows visitors over the
house, as " the place where they used to put the Cold
Lad.*' He is supposed to have received the suggestively
awesome name of the " Cold Lad," from hi3 stiff and
stark form having been discovered in the cupboard.
Surtees endeavours to explain the origin of this
ancient legend by reference to a murder of Roger
Skelton, apparently a servant, by his master, Robert
Hilton, of Hilton, on the 3rd July 1609. Hilton was
found guilty of having killed Skelton, but received a
pardon some few months after his conviction. According
to the old tale, the lord of Hilton one day, in a fit of
wrath or intemperance, enraged at the delay in bringing
his horse after he had ordered it, rushed to the stable,
and finding the boy, whose duty it was to have brought
the horse, loitering about, he seized a hay-fork, and
struck him with it. Intentionally or not, he had given
the lad a mortal blow. The tale proceeds to tell how
the murderer covered his victim with straw until night-
time, when he took the body and flung it into the pond,
where, indeed, the skeleton was discovered in the last
Lord of Hilton's time.
With such ghastly and such ghostly traditions con-
nected with it, it is no wonder that Hilton Castle is a
haunted placo.
126 EAUNTED HOMES.
HOLLAND HOUSE.
The History of Holland House by the .Princess
Marie Lichtenstein, the adopted daughter of the present
Lady Holland, is a -well-known popular account of one
of the most interesting London residences extant. The
many highly-gifted men and beautiful women, who
have frequented Holland House for several generations
past, have endowed it with memories of a most attractive
nature ; but the Princess Marie's work tells us that
reminiscences of a far less pleasing character hover
about the old house, and, indeed, that, like most respect-
able dwellings of any antiquity, Holland House is
haunted, At least two ghostly legends, according to
the fair authoress, are connected with it.
An ancient manor-house, belonging to Sir William
Cope, it is believed, formerly stood where Holland
House now stands, and, so it would seem, was incor-
porated in the present mansion. Sir William Cope's
daughter and heiress, Isabel, was married to Sir Henry
Eich, created Baron Kensington in 1622, and sent
to Spain by James the First, to assist in negociating
a marriage between Prince Charles and the Infanta.
In 1624 he was created Earl of Holland, and it was this
same nobleman, as the Princess tells us, '* who added
to the building its wings and arcades, and more than
this, he employed the best artists of the time in
decorating the interior."
HOLLAND HOUSE* 127
Clarendon describes the Earl as " a very handsome
man. of a lovely and winning presence, and gentle
conversation." He played, says the historian, a con-
spicuous part during the reign of Charles the First
and the commencement of the struggle with the
Parliament. After having stood in high favour with
Queen Henrietta, he fell under suspicion of disloyalty,
which was confirmed by his lending Holland House for
a meeting between Fairfax and certain discontented
members of Parliament. The year following, having
rejoined the Koyalists. he was taken in arms at St Neot's,
and, having been imprisoned in Warwick Castle, he
was condemned to death, and beheaded in March 1648-9
in Palace Yard. Warburton, in a note to Clarendon's
History, says : " He lived like a knave, and died like
a fool. He appeared on the scaffold dressed in a white
satin waistcoat, and a white satin cap with silver lacec
After some divine conference with a clergyman and an
affectionate leave-taking with a friend, he turned to the
executioner and said, ' Here, my friend, let my clothes
and my body alone ; there is ten pounds for thee —
that is better than my clothes, I am sure of it. And
when you take up my head, do not take off my cap.' "
He appears, however, even by Warburton's account,
to have died with much firmness, and his head was
severed by one blow from his body.
This Lord Holland, the first of his name, and the
chief builder of Holland House, is, the Princess Lichten-
stein tells us, believed to yet haunt one room of the
splendid old mansion. " The gilt room is said to be
128 HAUNTED HOMES.
tenanted Dy the solitary ghost of its first lord, who,
according to tradition, issues forth at midnight from
behind a secret door, and walks slowly through the
scenes of former triumphs with his head in his hand.
To add to this mystery, there is a tale of three spots of
blood on one side of the recess whence he issues — three
spots which can never be effaced."
In the grounds of Holland House is " the Green
Lane," formerly called " Nightingale Lane," as long
as nightingales frequented it. " It is," says the Princess,
" a long avenue, like an immense gallery arched with
trees and carpeted with grass, the distant light at the
end softening down into that misty blue so peculiar
to dear England." This avenue is the scene of a
" spiritual experience," chronicled by Aubrey in his
Miscellanies, and which is as follows : —
" The beautiful Lady Diana Rich, daughter to the
Earl of Holland, as she was walking in her father's
garden at Kensington, to take the air before dinner,
about eleven o'clock, being then very well, met her own
apparition, habit and everything, as in a looking-glass.
About a month after she died of small-pox. And 'tis
said that her sister, the Lady Isabella Thinne, saw the
like of herself also before she died. This account I
had from a person of honour."
"A third sister, Mary, was married to the Earl of
Breadalbane," we are informed, and it has been
recorded that she also, not long after her marriage,
had some such warning of her approaching dissolution.
And so the old tradition has remained, and who would
H
02
55
O
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LAMBTON CASTLE. 129
wish, it removed ? Belonging to past times, it should"
be respected. But whether we respect tradition or not,
it is a received fact that, whenever the mistress of
Holland House meets herself, Death is hovering about
her.
LAMBTON CASTLE.
At Lambton Castle, in Durham, there is shown the
figure of a man in armour, cut in stone, having some-
thing like razors set in his back-plate. He is repre-
sented in the act of thrusting his sword down the throat
of a dragon or serpent. The tradition which is typified
by this ancient figure, and which for centuries has
been identified with the Lambton family, now repre-
sented by the Earl of Durham, is one of the most
singular and notorious in England. Burke, in his
Vicissitudes of Families, gives the tale at some length,
but derives it chiefly from Surtees, the historian and
antiquary, and from him, with some few additional
particulars from other local authorities, we purpose
giving it in a somewhat abridged form.
According to the old legend the Lambtons " were so
brave that they feared neither man nor God," and, appa-
rently, had no respect for the Sabbath. One Sunday,
therefore, the reckless heir of the race, according to his
profane custom, went to fish in the river Wear, and,
after trving his piscatorial skiU for a long time without
9
180 HAUNTED HOMES.
success, vented his disappointment in curses loud and
deep, much to the distress of passers hy on their road to
church. At length his luck appeared as if about to
change, for he felt something struggling at the end of
his line. Pulling it carefully to land, in expectation of
capturing a great fish, he was wofully disappointed and
enraged to find it was a worm or snake, of repulsive
appearance. He cleared it from his hook, and flung it
into an adjacent well, remarking to a passer-by that he
thought he had caught the devil, and requesting his
opinion on the strange animal. The stranger, after
looking into the well, remarked that he had never seen
anything like it before, that it was like an eft, but that
it had nine holes on each side of its mouth, and opined
that it betokened no good.
After a while, the heir of the Lambtons repented of
his evil courses, and proceeded to a distant land, in
order to wage war against the infidels. During the
seven long years that he was absent from home, a most
distressing and unexpected state of affairs had come to
pass. The worm or serpent, which he had flung into
the well on that desecrated Sabbath, had grown so large
that it had to seek another and more capacious place of
residence. The locality which it selected as its favourite
abode was a small hill near the village of Fatfield, on
the north side of the river Wear, about a mile and a half
below Lambton Castle; and at last, so great was its
length, and so great was its strength, that it could, and
would, wind itself round this hill, which is upwards of
throe hundred yards in circumference, in a triple cord,
LAMBTON CASTLE. 131
in such a manner that traces of its folds have remained
almost to within memory of the last generation. It
became a terror to the whole country, committing all
kinds of devastation on the flocks and herds, arid poison-
ing the pasture with its reeking breath. In vain did the
knights and gentlemen thereabouts endeavour to slay this
monster, it was a match for the best of them, always
leaving them minus life or limb ; for although many of
them had succeeded in cutting it asunder, the severed
parts had reunited immediately, and the worm remained
whole as before the conflict.
Finally, the heir of Lambton returned from the wars;
he was naturally distressed to learn of the desolation of
his ancestral lands, and still more so when he discovered
that the cause of all the misery was really due to the
monster he had drawn to land on the long bygone
desecrated Sabbath. He determined, at all risks, to
endeavour to destroy the monster ; but as all previous
adventurers had failed, he deemed it best, before under-
taking the conflict, to consult a witch or wise woman as
to the best method of proceeding. Accordingly, he applied
to a witch, and, after having been reproached as the cause
of all the misery brought upon the country, she advised
him how to act. He was directed to provide himself
with a coat of armour covered with razors, and, by means
of that and his trusty sword, promised success, that
is to say, conditionally upon his making a solemn vow
to kill the first living thing which he should meet after
slaying the worm. Lambton agreed to the conditions ;
but was informed that if he failed to keep his word, the
9 *
132 HAUNTED HOMES.
" Lords of Lambton for nine generations should not die
in their beds," no very great hardship, it might be
deemed, for that martial age.
According to his instructions, the knight had a
suit of armour covered with razors made, and having
donned this, he instructed his aged father that when
he had destroyed the worm, he would blow three blasts
upon his horn as a signal of his victory, whereupon his
favourite greyhound was to be let loose, so that it might
run to him, and therefore be the first thing that would
meet him, and thus be slain in fulfilment of his agree-
ment with the witch. The father promised and gave
his blessing, and young Lambton, having made the vow
enjoined, started on his dangerous expedition. As soon
as he approached the hill round which the worm was
coiled, it unwound itself and came down to the river-
side to attack him. Nothing daunted by its hideous
aspect, the knight struck at it with might and main,
yet without appearing to make any impression upon it
beyond increasing its rage. It now seized its opponent
in its horrid folds and sought to strangle him; but the
more tightly it grasped him, the more frightfully was it
wounded, the razor blades cutting it through and
through. But as often as the monster fell to the ground
cut by the knight's terrible coat of mail, as often, says the
legend, did the severed pieces re-unite, and the wounds
heal up. Lambton, seeing that the worm was not to be
destroyed in this way, stept into the river Wear, whither
the monster followed him. The change of position
proved fatal to the worm, for as fast as the pieces were
LAMBTON OASTLE, 133
cut off by the razors they were carried away by the
stream, and the monster, being unable to re-unite itself
was, after the desperate conflict, at last utterly de-
stroyed.
As soon as Lamb ton had achieved the victory, he
blew three blasts upon his horn ; but his father, in the
excitement of the moment, forgot to have the greyhound
unloosened, and in his impatience ran out of the castle
to greet his son, and was the first living being that met
his gaze. The knight embraced his father, and again
blew his horn, upon which the hound was let loose, and,
running towards Lambton, was slain. But this was too
late to retrieve matters, his vow having enjoined the
slaying of the first living creature that he should meet
with, and his father had been the first to meet him. So
the curse was on the house of Lambton, and for nine
generations not one of its lords could die in his bed.
Sir Bernard Burke points out that popular tradition
traces the curse back to Robert Lambton, who died
without issue in 1442, leaving the estates to his brother
Thomas, but bequeathing by his will to his " brother,
John Lambton, knight of Rhodes, 100 marks." In an
ancient pedigree this John Lambton, knight of Rhodes,
is described as he " that slew the worm," and as " Lord
of Lambton after the death of four brothers without
male issue." His son Robert is said to have been
drowned at Newbrig, near the chapel where the knight
had registered his rash and unperformed vow, and
tradition specifies a bedless death for each successive
nine generations of the Lords of Lambton. After
134 HAUNTED HOMES.
adverting to the various ways and places in which
different heirs of Lamb ton met with death, our chief
authority for this portion of the legend concludes : —
Great curiosity prevailed in the life-time of Henry to
know if the curse would " hold good to the end." He
died in his chariot, crossing the new bridge, in 1761,
thus giving the last connecting link to the chain of
circumstantial evidence connected with the history
of the worm of Lambton. His succeeding brother,
General Lambton, who lived to a great age, fearing that
the prophecy might be possibly fulfilled by his servants,
under the idea that he could not die in his bed, kept a
horsewhip beside him in his last illness, and thus eluded
the prediction. Although the spell put on this ancient
family by the witch is said to have been broken by the
death of Henry Lambton in 1761, yet neither of the
two last lords have died at home, and this, to the knights
of ancient times, says Burke, " would have been sorer
punishment than dying in the battle-field, for they
loved to sleep in their own country and with their
fathers."
LITTLECOT HOUSE.
Littlecot House, or Hall as it is sometimes called, \
the ancient seat of the Darrells, is two miles from
Hungerford in Berkshire. It stands in a low and lonely
situation, and is thoroughly typical in appearance of a
LITTLECOT HOUSE. 135
haunted dwelling. On three sides it is surrounded by a
park, which spreads over the adjacent hill, and on
the fourth by meadows, through which runs the river
Kennet. A thick grove of lofty trees stands on one side
of the gloomy building, which is of great antiquity, and
would appear to have been erected towards the close of
the age of feudal warfare, when defence came to be no
longer the principal object in a country mansion. The
interior of the house, however, presents many objects
appropriate to feudal times. The hall is very spacious,
paved by stones, and lighted by large transon windows.
The walls are hung with coats-of-mail and helmets, and
on every side are quantities of old-fashioned pistols and
guns, and other suitable ornaments for an old baronial
dwelling. Below the cornice at the end of the hall,
hangs a row of leathern jerkins, made in the form of
shirts, and supposed to have been worn as armour by the
retainers of the Darrell family, to whom the old Hall
belonged. An enormous oaken table, reaching nearly
from one end of the chamber to the other, might have
feasted the entire neighbourhood, and an appendage to
one end of it made it answer at other times for the old
game of shuffleboard. The rest of the furniture is in a
corresponding style, or was a few years ago ; but the
most noticeable article is an old chair of cumbrous
workmanship, constructed of wood, curiously carved,
with a high back and triangular seat ; it is said to have
been used by Judge Popham, in the days of Elizabeth.
The entrance into the hall of this ancient mansion is
at one end by a low door, communicating with a passage
136 HAUNTED HOMES.
that leads from the outer door in the front of the house
to a quadrangle within ; at the other it opens upon a
gloomy stair-case, by which you ascend to the first floor,
and, passing the doors of some bed-chambers, enter a
narrow gallery which extends along the back front of the
house from one end to the other of it. This gallery is
hung with old family portraits, chiefly in Spanish cos-
tumes of the sixteenth century. In one of the bed-
chambers, which you pass in going towards the gallery,
is a bedstead with blue furniture, that time has now
made dingy and threadbare ; and in the bottom of one
of the bed-curtains you are shown a place where a small
piece has been cut out and sewn in again. To account
for this curious circumstance, and for the apparitions
which tenant this haunted chamber, the following terrible
tale is told : —
" It was on a dark rainy night in the month of
November, that an old midwife sat musing by her cottage
fireside, when on a sudden she was startled by a loud
knocking at the door. On opening it she found a
horseman, who told her that her assistance was required
immediately by a person of rank, and that she should be
handsomely rewarded, but that there were reasons for
keeping the affair a strict secret, and therefore she
must submit to be blind-folded, and to be conducted in
that condition to the bed-chamber of the lady. With
some hesitation the midwife consented; the horseman
bound her eyes, and placed her on a pillion behind him.
After proceeding in silence for many miles, through
rough and dirty lanes, they stopped^ and the midwife
LITTLECOT HOUSE. 137
was led into a house which, from the length of her walk
through the apartments, as well as the sounds about her,
she discovered to be the seat of wealth and power.
" When the bandage was removed from her eyes, she
found herself in a bed-chamber, in whicli were the lady
on whose account she had been sent for, and a man of a
haughty and ferocious aspect. The lady was delivered
of a fine boy. Immediately the man commanded the
midwife to give him the child, and, catching it from her,
he hurried across the room, and threw it on the back
of the fire that was blazing in the chimney. The child,
however, was strong, and by its struggles rolled itself
off upon the hearth, when the ruffian again seized it
with fury, and, in spite of the intercession of the mid-
wife, and the more piteous entreaties of the mother,
thrust it under the grate, and, raking the live coals
upon it, soon put an end to its life.
" The midwife, after spending some time in affording
all the relief in her power to the wretched mother, was
told that she must be gone. Her former conductor
appeared, who again bound her eyes, and conveyed her
behind him to her own home; he then paid her hand-
somely and departed. The midwife was strongly agitated
by the horrors of the preceding night, and she imme-
diately made a deposition of the facts before a magistrate.
Two circumstances afforded hopes of detecting the house
in which the crime had been committed ; one was, that
the midwife, as she sat by the bed-side, had, with a view
to discover the place, cut out a piece of the hed-curtain,
and sewn it in again ; the other was, that as she had
138 HAUNTED HOMES.
descended the staircase she had counted the steps.
Some suspicion fell upon one Darrell, at that time the
proprietor of Littlecot House and the domain around it.
The house was examined, and identified by the midwife,
and Darrell was tried at Salisbury for the murder. By
corrupting his judge, he escaped the sentence of the law,
but broke his neck by a fall from his horse in hunting,
a few months afterwards. The place where this hap-
pened is still known by the name of DarreU's Stile, — a
spot to be dreaded by the peasant whom the shades of
evening have overtaken on his way."
This is the fearsome legend connected with Littlecot
House, the circumstances related are declared to be true,
and to have happened in the reign of Elizabeth. With
such a tale attached to its guilty wails, no wonder that
the apparition of a woman with dishevelled hair, in
white garments, and bearing a babe in her arms, haunts
that gloomy chamber.
LONDON : ARGYLE ROOMS.
In the well-known diary of Thomas Raikes, and under
date of December 26, 1832, is recounted a very singular
account of an apparition which appeared to a young
lady at the Argyle Kooms, a highly-fashionable estab-
lishment in those days, and, need it be stated, then noted
for a class of entertainment very different from that it
afterwards became known for. Mr. Raikes, who had
LONDON : ARGYLE ROOMS. 139
the anecdote from a member of the lady's family chiefly
concerned, tells the story in these words : —
"It is now about fifteen months ago that Miss
M , a connection of my family, went with a party of
friends to a concert at the Argyle Rooms. She appeared
there to be suddenly seized with indisposition, and,
though she persisted for some time to struggle against
what seemed a violent nervous affection, it became at
last so oppressive that they were obliged to send for
their carriage and conduct her home. She was for a
long time unwilling to say what was the cause of her
indisposition ; but, on being more earnestly questioned,
she at length confessed that she had, immediately on
arriving in the concert-room, been terrified by a horrible
vision, which unceasingly presented itself to her sight.
It seemed to her as though a naked corpse was lying on
the floor at her feet ; the features of the face were
partly covered by a cloth mantle, but enough was
apparent to convince her that the body was that of Sir
J Y . Every effort was made by her friends at
the time to tranquillize her mind by representing the
folly of allowing such delusions to prey upon her spirits,
and she thus retired to bed ; but on the following day
the family received the tidings of Sir J Y having
been drowned in Southampton river that very night by
the oversetting of his boat ; and the body was afterwards
found entangled in a boat-cloak. Here," remarks
Raikes, " is an authenticated case of second sight, and
of very recent date."
140 HAUNTED HOMES.
LONDON : BROAD STREET.
One of those stories of apparitions which are so
frequently alluded to, but of which the facts are appa-
rently, chiefly or entirely unknown to most authors
of supernatural works, is that related by the Rev. Dr.
Scott, an eminent divine in his days. The narrative
of this most marvellous affair originally appeared in
The History and Reality of Apparitions, from which
curious little work we shall transcribe it. The editor
of that book, which was published in 1770, and who
was, apparently, de Foe, asserts that this story had never
appeared in print before, and adds of the Rev. Dr. Scott,
that he was not only a man whose learning and piety
were eminent, but one whose judgment was known
to be good, and who could not be easily imposed
upon.
According to the story, Dr. Scott was sitting alone
by his fireside in the library of his house in Broad
Street ; he had shut himself in the room to study and,
so it is alleged, had locked the door. In the midst of
his reading happening to look up, he was much astounded
to see, sitting in an elbow-chair on the other side of the
fire-place, a grave, elderly gentleman, in a black velvet
gown and a long wig, looking at him with a pleased
countenance, and as if about to speak. Knowing that
he had locked the door, Dr. Scott was quite confounded
at seeing this uninvited visitor sitting in the elbow-
LONDON : BROAD STREET. 141
chair, and from the first appears to have suspected its
supernatural character. Indeed, so disturbed was he at
the sight of the apparition, for such it was, that he was
unable to speak, as he himself acknowledged in telling
the story. The spectre, however, began the discourse
by telling the doctor not to be frightened, for it would
do him no harm, but came to see him upon a matter
of great importance to an injured family, which was
in danger of being ruined. Although the doctor was
a stranger to this family, the apparition stated that
knowing him to be a man of integrity it had selected
him to perform an act of great charity as well as justice.
At first Dr. Scott was not sufficiently composed to
pay proper attention to what the apparition propounded;
but was rather more inclined to escape from the room
if he could, and made one or two futile attempts to
knock for some of his household to come up ; at which
his visitor appeared to be somewhat displeased. But,
as the doctor afterwards stated, he had no power to go
out of the room, even if he had been next the door,
nor to knock for help, even if any had been close at
hand.
Then the apparition, seeing the doctor still so confused,
again desired him to compose himself, assuring him that
he would not do him the slightest injury, nor do anything
to cause him the least uneasiness, but desired that he
would permit him to deliver the business he came about,
which, when he had heard, he said, he would probably
see less cause to be surprised or apprehensive than ho
did now.
142 . HAUNTED HOMES.
By this time "Dr. Scott had somewhat recovered him-
self, and encouraged by the calm manner in which the
apparition addressed him, contrived to falter out :
" In the name of God, what art thou ? "
" I desire you will not be frightened," responded the
apparition. " I am a stranger to you, and if I tell you
my name you will not know it. But you may do the
business without inquiring farther." The doctor could
not compose himself, but still remained very uneasy,
and for some time said nothing. Again the apparition
attempted to reassure him, but could only elicit from
him a repetition of the ejaculation, " In the name of
God, what art thou ? "
Upon this, says the narration, the spectre appeared
to be displeased, and expostulated with Dr. Scott,
telling him that it could have terrified him into com-
pliance, but that it chose to come quietly and calmly to
him ; and, indeed, made use of such civil and natural
discourse that the doctor began to grow a little more
familiar, and at last ventured to ask what it wanted
of him. Upon this the apparition appeared to be very
gratified, and began its story. It related that it had
once owned a very good estate, which at that time
was enjoyed by its grandson ; two nephews, however,
the sons of its younger brother, were then suing for
possession of the property and, owing to certain family
reasons which the doctor could not or would not specify,
were likely to oust the young man from his property.
A deed of settlement, being the conveyance of the
inheritance, could not be found and without it the
LONDON: BROAD STEEET. 143
owner of the estate had every reason to fear he would
be ejected.
" Well," said Dr. Scott, "what can I do in the case?"
" Go to my grandson," said the apparition, "and direct
him where to find the missing deed, which is concealed
in a place where I put it myself/' And then it gave the
doctor minute particulars of the chest wherein the needed
document was hidden stowed away in an old lumber-
room. When the apparition had impressed the matter
thoroughly upon the doctor's mind, Dr. Scott not
unnaturally asked his visitor why it could not direct
the grandson himself to recover the missing deed.
" Ask me not about that," said the apparition ; " there
are divers reasons, which you may know hereafter.
I can depend upon your honesty in it in the mean-
time."
Still Dr. Scott did not like to take upon himself the
strange mission, whereupon the apparition seemed to
grow angry, and even begin to threaten him, so that
he was at last compelled to promise compliance. The
apparition then assumed a pleasant aspect, thanked him,
and disappeared.
The strangest part of this strange story yet remains
to be told. At the earliest opportunity Dr. Scott posted
away to the address given him by the apparition, or
dream as some persons deemed it. He asked for and
wras at once introduced to the gentleman the apparition
had sent him to, and to his surprise was received most,
cordially by him. Dr. Scott's surprise was, indeed,
quickened when the stranger entered most unreservedly
144 HAUNTED HOMES.
into the particulars of his law-suit, telling him that he
had had a dream the previous night, in which he had
dreamed that a strange gentleman came to him, and
assisted him to find the deed which was needed to
confirm him in the possession of his estate.
This assured Dr. Scott that it was not a dream which
he had had, and that he was really selected to discover
the missing document. Making himself agreeable to his
host, he eventually got him to take him all over his
splendid old mansion. Finally, he beheld just such
a lumber-room as the apparition had told him of,
and on entering it, saw an exact facsimile of the chest
described to him by his supernatural visitant. There
was an old rusty key in it that would neither turn
round, nor come out of the lock, which was exactly
what the apparition had forewarned him of! At the
doctor's request a hammer and chisel were sent for, and
the chest broken open, and, after some difficulty, a false
drawer was found in it. This being split open, there
lay the missing parchment spread out flat over the whole
breadth of the bottom of the trunk !
The joy of the young heir, and of his family, may be
imagined, whilst their surprise can have been no less.
Whether Dr. Scott informed them of the means by which
he was led to make the discovery is not stated; but it
is alleged the production of the needed deed confirmed
the owner in the possession of his estates. As this
gentleman was still living, the narrator was not inclined
to publish his name ; and, now-a-days, the chances of
discovering it are, doubtless, far less than they were in
London: james street, w.o. 145
his time of finding the missing document. Regard it
how we may, as a dream or a coincidence, certainly
Dr. Scott's adventure was a very marvellous one.
LONDON : JAMES STREET, W.C.
In his Miscellanies, Aubrey records in his very conciso
manner, the account of an apparition that appeared to
a lady who lodged in James Street, Covent Garden.
This lady was beloved by Lord Mohun's son and heir,
M a gallant gentleman, valiant, and a great master of
fencing and horsemanship " ; but, although she wa3
very handsome, she was of lowlier lineage than her lover.
Mr. Mohun, on account of some reason not stated, had
a quarrel with " Prince Griffin," and a challenge result-
ing therefrom, agreed to meet his antagonist in the
morning at Chelsea-fields, and there fight him on
horseback.
In the morning Mr. Mohun started off to keep his
appointment, but by Ebury Farm he was met by some
people who quarrelled with and shot him. These folk
were supposed to have been acting under " Prince
Griffin's " orders, as Mr. Mohun, being so much the
better horseman was, it is suggested, certain to have
proved victorious had he met his opponent in the
manner agreed upon.
Mr. Mohun was murdered about ten o'clock in the
10
146 HAUNTED HOMES.
morning; and at the identical time of his death, his
mistress, being in bed at her lodgings in James Street,
saw her- lover come to her bed-side, draw the curtains,
look upon her, and then go away. She called after him,
but received no answer. She then knocked for her maid,
and inquired for Mr. Mohun, but the maid said she had
not seen him, and he could not have been in the room,
as she had the key of it in her pocket.
This account the narrator had direct from the mouths
of the lady and her maid.
LONDON: ST. JAMES'S PALACE.
In a small collection of more or less known accounts of
apparitions, edited by T. M. Jarvis, and published in
1823, under the title of Accredited Ghost Stories, is
one which describes the appearance of the Duchess of
Mazarine, after her death, to Madame de Beauclair.
The name of the authority for this story is not given,
but Mr. Jarvis declares that he solemnly protested Lis
conviction of the truth of it, and that several other
persons of undoubted credit, alive when the narrative
was published, were also satisfied as to its being a
relation of fact.
The Duchess of Mazarine, need it be premised, was
mistress to Charles the Second, whilst Madame de
Jjeauclair held a similar position towards his brother
and successor, James the Second. These two women
ore said to have been greatly attached to each other, a
London : st. james's palace. 147
somewhat singular circumstance when their positions
are taken into consideration.
After the burning of Whitehall these favourites of
royalty were removed to St. James's Palace, where they
were allotted very handsome suites of apartments, but,
says our author, " the face of public affairs being then
wholly changed, and a new set of courtiers as well as
rules of behaviour come into vogue, they conversed
almost wholly with each other." The truth would
appear to be that these women, being neglected on
account of new favourites, had a fellow-feeling for each
other, and, as is not unusual in such cases, began to
discuss matters of a graver nature than had been their
custom hitherto. In one of the more serious consulta-
tions which these ci-devant favourites held together on
the immortality of the soul, they discussed the doctrine
of apparitions, and made a solemn stipulation that
whichever one died first, she should return, if there was
a possibility of so doing, and give the other an accoun
of what position she was in in the next life.
This promise, says the account, was often repeated,
and the Duchess happening to fall sick, and her life
despaired of by all about her, Madame de Beauclair
reminded her of her solemn promise, to which Her Grace
responded that she might depend upon her performance
of it. These words passed between them not above an
hour before the dissolution of the Duchess, and were
spoken before several persons who were in the room,
although they did not comprehend the meaning of what
they heard.
10 *
148 HAUNTED HOMES*
" Some years after the Duchess's decease, happening,*
says our author, "in a visit I made to Madame de
Beauclair, to fall on the topic of futurity, she expressed
her disbelief of it with a great deal of warmth, which a
little surprising me, as being of a quite contrary way of
thinking myself, and had always, by the religion she
professed, supposed her highly so." In answer to her
interlocutor's arguments, the lady related her compact
with her departed friend, and, in spite of all he could
urge, deemed the non-appearance of her friend's appari-
tion was a proof of the non-existence of a future state.
Some months after this conversation, its narrator
states that he was visiting at an acquaintance of Madame
de Beauclair. " We were just set down to cards, about
nine o'clock in the evening, as near as I can remember,"
is his record, " when a servant came hastily into the
room and acquainted the lady I was with that Madame
de Beauclair had sent to entreat she would come that
moment to her, adding that if she desired ever to see
her more in this world she must not delay her visit."
The lady having a severe cold, and hearing that
Madame de Beauclair was, apparently, in good health,
declined to accede to this request, but on receiving a
second, still more urgent message, accompanied by a
bequest of a casket containing the watch, chain, necklace,
and other trinkets of Madame de Beauclair, hastened to
that lady's apartments, accompanied by our narrator.
On arrival at Madame's, he sent up his name, and was
requested to come up with his companion at once.
Upon entering the room where Madame de Beauclair
1
London: st. james's palace. 140
was, she informed him, after a few introductory words,
that she would very soon pass from this world into that
eternity which she once doubted, but was now assured
of. She then proceeded to declare that she had seen
the Duchess of Mazarine. "I perceived not how she
entered," was her statement, " but, turning my eyes
towards yonder corner of the room, I saw her stand in
the same form and habit she was accustomed to appear
in when living : fain would I have spoken, but had not
the power of utterance. She took a little circuit round
the chamber, seeming rather to swim than walk, then
stopped by the side of that Indian chest, and, looking
on me with her usual sweetness, said, ' Beauclair,
between the hours of twelve and one this night you will
be with me.' The surprise I was in at first being a
little abated, I began to ask some questions concerning
that future world I was so soon to visit ; but, on the
opening of my lips for that purpose, she vanished from
my sight."
i It was now nearly twelve, and Madame de Beauclair
not appearing to be suffering from any ailment, they
endeavoured to revive her spirits ; but, says the narrator,
** we scarce began to speak, when suddenly her counte-
nance changed, and she cried out, ' 0 ! I am sick at
heart.' Mrs. Wood applied some restoratives, but to no
effect. She grew still worse, and in about half an hour
expired, it being exactly the time the apparition had
foretold."
f- ^~T-^~-
150 HAUNTED HOMES.
LONDON : ST. JAMES STREET,
It is a carious circumstance that more buildings having
a reputation for being haunted are discoverable in towns
and cities than in sparsely populated places. The
British metropolis, despite its gas-lamps and guardian
police, contains many residences that even now are
left to the mercies of those spectral tenants who alone
inhabit them. It must be confessed, however, that
instead of increasing, the number of these disturbed
residences, for reasons obvious to all, is rapidly de-
creasing. It is not many years since a house in St. James
Street, the number of which it is as well to omit,
acquired considerable notoriety on account of the un-
pleasant noises which took place in it. It had stood
empty for a long time, in consequence of the annoyances
to which the various tenants who had tried it had been
subjected. There was one apartment in particular which
nobody was able to occupy without being disturbed.
On one occasion a youth who, having been abroad for
a considerable time, had not any knowledge of the evil
reputation this chamber had acquired, was put there to
sleep on his arrival, as it was hoped his rest might not
be disturbed. In the morning, however, he complained
sadly of the terrible time he had had in the night, with
people looking in at him between the curtains of his bed,
and he avowed his determination to terminate his visit
London: st. james street. 151
at once, as he could not possibly sleep there any
more.
After this period the house was again vacant for a
considerable time, but was at length taken and work-
men were sent in to put it in habitable repair. One
day, when the men were away at their dinner, says our
informant, " the master builder took the key with him
and went to inspect progress, and having examined the
lower rooms, he was ascending the stairs, when he heard
a man's foot behind him. He looked round, but there
was nobody there, and he moved on again ; still there
was somebody following, and he stopped and looked
over the rails, but there was no one to be seen. So,
though feeling rather queer, he advanced into the
drawing-room, where a fire had been lighted, and
wishing to combat the uncomfortable sensation that was
creeping over him, he took hold of a chair, and drawing
it resolutely along the floor, he slammed it down upon
the hearth with some force, and seated himself in it ;
when, to his amazement, the action, in all its par-
ticulars of sound, was immediately repeated by his
unseen companion, who seemed to seat himself beside
him on a chair as invisible as himself. Horror-stricken,
the worthy builder started up and rushed out of the
house,"
152 HAUNTED H0ME3
LONDON : THE TO WEE.
There is no place in the kingdom one would deem
more likely to be haunted than that strange conglomera-
tion of rooms, castles, and dungeons, known as the
Tower of London. For many centuries it has been the
scene of numberless deaths by violence, some by public
execution and others by private murder, until it is
scarcely metaphorical language to declare that its walls
have been built out of human bones and cemented by
human blood. That ghosts and spectres have haunted
its weird precincts no believer in the supernatural can
doubt; and, if we may credit all that has been told
Df it of late years, its apparitions are not yet quite
beings of the past. In Notes and Queries for 1860, the
late Edmund Lenthal Swifte, Keeper of the Crown
Jewels, published a remarkable account of a spectral
illusion witnessed by himself in the time-honoured for-
tress ; and his account, together with such additions
and explanations as a subsequent correspondence in-
voked, shall now be presented to the reader: —
" I have often purposed to leave behind me a faithful
record of all that I personally know of this sirauge
story," writes Mr. Swifte, in response to an inquiry as
to particulars of the ghost in the Tower of London.
" Forty-three years have passed, and its impression is as
vividly before me as on the moment of its occur-
rence . . . but there are yet survivors who can testify
LONDON : THE TOWEE. 153
that I have not at any time either amplified or abridged
my ghostly experiences.
"In 1814 I was appointed Keeper of the Crown Jewels
in the Tower, where I resided with my family till my
retirement in 1852. One Saturday night in October,
1817, about ' the witching hour/ I was at supper with
my wife, her sister, and our little boy, in the sitting-
room of the Jewel House, which — then comparatively
modernised — is said to have been the ' doleful prison ' of
Anne Boleyn, and of the ten bishops whom Oliver
Cromwell piously accommodated therein. . . .
" The room was — as it still is — irregularly shaped,
having three doors and two windows, which last are cut
nearly nine feet deep into the outer wall ; between these
;s a chimney-piece, projecting far into the room, and
(then) surmounted with a large oil-painting. On the
night in question the doors were all closed, heavy and
dark cloth curtains were let down over the windows, and
the only light in the room was that of two candles on
the table ; I sate at the foot of the table, my son on my
right hand, his mother fronting the chimney-piece, and
her sister on the opposite side. I had offered a glass of
wine and water to my wife, when, on putting it to her
lips, she paused, and exclaimed, ' Good God ! what is
that? ' I looked up, and saw a cylindrical figure, like
a glass-tube, seemingly about the thickness of my arm,
and hovering between the ceiling and the table ; its
contents appeared to be a dense fluid, white and pale
azure, like to the gathering of a summer-cloud, and
incessantly mingling within the cylinder This lasted
154 HAUNTED HOMES.
about two minutes, when it began slowly to move
before my sister-in-law ; then, following the oblong-
shape of the table, before my son and myself; passing
behind my wife, it paused for a moment over her right
shoulder [observe, there was no mirror opposite to her in
which she could there behold it]. Instantly she crouched
down, and with both hands covering her shoulder, she
shrieked out, '0 Christ! It has seized me!' Even
now, while writing, I feel the fresh horror of that
moment. I caught up my chair, struck at the wainscot
behind her, rushed up- stairs to the other children's
room, and told the terrified nurse what I had seen.
Meanwhile, the other domestics had hurried into the
parlour, where their mistress recounted to them the
scene, even as I was detailing it above stairs.
"The marvel," adds Mr. Swifte, " of all this is
enhanced by the fact that neither my sister-in-law nor
my son beheld this 'appearance? When I the next
morning related the night's horror to our chaplain,
after the service in the Tower church, he asked me,
might not one person have his natural senses de-
ceived ? And if one, why might not two ? My
answer was, if two, why not two thousand ? an argu-
ment which would reduce history, secular or sacred, to
a fable."
c< Our chaplain," remarked Mr. Swifte in a subsequent
communication to Notes and Queries, " suggested the
possibilities of some foolery having been intromitted at
my windows, and proposed the visit of a scientific
friend, who minutely inspected the parlour, and made
LONDON : THE TOWER. 155
the closest investigation, but could not in any way solve
the mystery."
In reply to further communications later on, the Jewel-
Keeper stated that his wife did not perceive any form in
the cylindrical tube, hut only the cloud or vapour which
both of them at once described. Her health was not
affected, nor was her life terminated, as had been sug-
gested, by the apparition which both had seen ; nor
could it have been, as Mr. Swifte pertinently pointed
out, a fog or vapour that seized his wife by the shoulder.
Finally, replying to the suggestion of f< phantasmagoric
agency," Mr. Swifte not only made it clear that no
optical action from outside could have produced any
manifestation within, through the thick curtains, but
also, that the most skilful operator could not produce
an appearance visible to only half the persons present,
and that could bodily lay hold of one individual among
them. The mystery remains unsolved.
A more tragical incident, following hard on the visita-
tion to his own habitation, is thus alluded to by
Mr. Swifte ; and although the tale has been told by
many, and in many different ways, as he was so closely
connected with it, it is but just that the Keeper's version
should be the one accepted.
" One of the night-sentries at the Jewel Office,"
records our authority, " was alarmed by a figure like a
huge bear issuing from underneath the jewel-room door,"
— as ghostly a door as ever was opened to or closed on
a doomed man. " He thrust at it with his bayonet,
which stuck in the door, even as my chair dinted the
156 HAUNTED HOMES.
wainscot ; he dropped in a fit, and was carried senseless
to the guard-room.
" When on the morrow I saw the unfortunate soldier
in the main guard-room," continues Mr. Swifte, " his
fellow-sentinel was also there, and testified to having
seen him on his post just before the alarm, awake and
alert, and even spoken to him. Moreover, I then heard
the poor man tell his own story. ... I saw him once
again on the following day, but changed beyond my
recognition ; in another day or two the brave and steady
soldier, who would have mounted a breach or led a
forlorn hope with unshaken nerves, died at the presence
of a shadow."
Mr. George Offor, referring to this tragedy, speaks of
strange noises having also been heard when the figure
resembling a bear was seen by the doomed soldier.
LOWTHER HALL.
According to Mr. J. Sullivan, in his Cumberland and
Westmoreland, the latter county never produced a more
famous spectre, or " bogie," to give the local term, than
Jemmy Lowther, well known for want of a more appro-
priate name, as the "bad Lord Lonsdale"; infamous as
a man, he was famous as a ghost. This notorious
character, who is described as a modern impersonation
of the worst and coarsest feudal baron ever im-
LOWTHER HALL. 157
ported into England by the Conqueror, became a still
greater terror to the neighbourhood after death than he
had ever been during his life. So strongly had super-
stitious dread of the deceased nobleman impregnated
the popular mind, that it was asserted as an absolute
fact, that his body was buried with difficulty, and that
whilst the clergyman was praying over it it very nearly
knocked him from his desk.
When placed in his grave, Lord Lonsdale's power of
creating alarm was not interred with his bones. There
were continual disturbances in the hall and noises in
the stables ; and, according to popular belief, neither
men nor animals were suffered to rest. His Lordship's
phantom " coach and six " is still remembered and
spoken of, and still believed in by some to be heard
dashing across the country. Nothing is said of the
" bad lord's " shape or appearance, and it is doubtful
whether the spectre has ever appeared to sight, but it
has frequently made itself audible. The hall became
almost uninhabitable on account of the dead man's
pranks, and out of doors was, for a long time, almost
equally dreaded, as even there there was constant danger
of encountering the miscreant ghost. Of late years this
eccentric spirit appears to have relinquished its mortal
haunts, and by the peasantry is believed to have been
laid for ever under a large rock called Wallow Crag.
158 HAUNTED HOMES.
LUMLEY.
Many judicial decisions have been based upon, or in-
fluenced by, the presumed testimony of apparitions,
These pages contain more than one historical record of
such cases, but none more singular than that of Anne
Walker, which may be found fully detailed in the works
of the famous Dr. Henry More, the Platonist.
In 1680, according to Dr. More, there lived at
Lumley, a village near Chester-le-Street, in the county of
Durham, a widower named Walker, who was a man in
good circumstances. Anne Walker, a young relation of
his, kept his house, to the great scandal of the neigh-
bourhood, and, as it proved, with but too good cause.
A few weeks before this young woman expected to
become a mother, Walker placed her with her aunt, one
Dame Cave, in Chester-le-Street, and promised to pro-
vide both for her and her future child. One evening
towards the end of November, this man, in company
with Mark Sharp, an acquaintance of his, came to
Dame Cave's door, and told her they had made arrange-
ments for removing her niece to a place where she
could remain in safety till her confinement was over.
They would not say where it was, but as Walker bore
in most respects an excellent character, he was allowed
to take the young woman away with him, and he pro-
fessed to have sent her away with his acquaintance
Sharp into Lancashire.
LUMLEY. 159
" Fourteen days after," runs the story, one Graeme, a
fuller who lived about six miles from Lumley, had been
engaged till past midnight in his mill; and on coming
down-stairs to go home, in the middle of the ground floor
he saw a woman, with dishevelled hair, covered with blood,
and having five large wounds on her head. Graeme, on
recovering a little from his first terror, demanded what
the spectre wanted ; "I/' said the apparition, " am the
spirit of Anne Walker," and then proceeded to tell
Graeme the particulars which have already been related
as to her removal from her aunt's abode. "When I
was sent away with Mark Sharp,'"' it proceeded, " he
slew me on such a moor," naming one that Graeme
knew, " with a collier's pick, threw my body into a coal
pit, and hid the pick under the bank; and his shoes and
stockiugs, which were covered with blood, he left in a
stream." The apparition proceeded to tell Graeme that
he must give information of this to the nearest Justice
of the Peace, and that till this was done he must look
to be continually haunted.
Graeme wrent home very sad ; he dared not bring such
a charge against a man of so unimpeachable a character
as Walker, and yet he as little dared to incur the anger
of the spirit that had appeared to him. So, as all weak
minds will do, he went on procrastinating, only ho took
care to leave his mill early, and while in it never to be
alone. Notwithstanding this caution on his part, one
night, just as it began to be dark, the apparition met
him again, in a more terrible shape, and with every cir-
cumstance of indignation, Yet he did not even then
160 HAUNTED HOMES.
fulfil its injunction, till, on St. Thomas's Eve, as he
was walking in his garden, just after sunset, it
threatened him so effectually that in the morning he
went to a magistrate, and revealed the whole thing.
" The place was examined, the body and the pickaxe
found, and a warrant was granted against Walker and
Sharp. They were, however, admitted to bail, but in
August, 1681, their trial came on before Judge Daven-
port, at Durham. Meanwhile the whole circumstances
were known all over the north of England, and the
greatest interest was excited by the case. Against
Sharp the fact was strong that his shoes and stockings,
covered with blood, were found in the place where the
murder had been committed ; but against Walker,
except the accounts received from the ghost, there seemed
not a shadow of evidence. Nevertheless, the judge
summed up strongly against the prisoners, the jury
found them guilty, and the judge pronounced sentence
upon them that night, a thing which was unknown in
Durham, either before or after. The prisoners were
executed, and both died professing their innocence
to the last. Judge Davenport was much agitated
during the trial, and it was believed," says the historian,
" that the spirit had also appeared to him, as if to
supply in his mind the want of legal evidence."
161
MANNINGTON HALL.
Whether Lord Orford's Norfolk residence Las the
general reputation of being haunted, or whether the
occasion of the much-talked-of spectral illusion to
Dr. Augustus Jessop is the only known instance of an
apparition having appeared there, we are not in a position
to state. The remarkable story, as communicated by
Dr. Jessop, the well-known antiquary, to the Athenceum
of January 1880, is as follows.
On the 10th of October 1879, Dr. Jessop drove to
Lord Orford's from Norwich. It was his intention to
spend some time at the Hall in examining and making
extracts from various scarce works, which he had long
been seeking for, and which he now learnt were in Lord
Orford's library.
He arrived at Mannington at four in the afternoon,
and, after some agreeable conversation, dressed for dinner.
Dinner took place at seven, and was partaken of by six
persons, including Dr. Jessop and his host. The con-
versation is declared to have been of a pleasant character,
to have been chiefly concerned with artistic questions,
and the experiences of men of the world, and to have
never trenched upon supernatural subjects. After dinner
cards were introduced, and at half-past ten, two of the
guests having to leave, the party broke up. Dr. Jessop
now desired to be permitted to sit up for some hours, in
order to make extracts from the works already referred
11
162 HAUNTED HOMES.
to. Lord Orford wished to leave a valet with his guest,
hut the doctor deeming that this might embarrass him,
and cause him to go to bed earlier than he wished,
requested to be left to his own devices. This was agreed
to, the servants were dismissed, and the host and his
other guests retired to their rooms, so that by eleven
o'clock Dr. Jessop was the only person down-stairs.
The apartment in which he was preparing to set to
work for a few hours is a large one, with a huge fire-
place ' and a great old-fashioned chimney, and is
furnished with every luxury. The library, whence Dr.
Jessop had to bring such volumes as he needed, opens
into this room, and in order to obtain the works he
wanted he had not only to go into it, but when there to
mount a chair to get down the books he required. In
his very circumstantial account of the affair, the anti-
quary relates that he had altogether six small volumes,
which he took down from their shelves and placed in a
little pile on the table, at his right hand. In a little while
he was busily at work, sometimes reading, sometimes
writing, and thoroughly absorbed in his occupation. As
he finished with a book he placed it in front of him,
and then proceeded with the next, and so on until ho
had only one volume of his little pile of tomes left to
deal with. The antiquary being, as he states, of a chilly
temperament, sat himself at a corner of the table with
the fire at his left. Occasionally he rose, knocked the
fire together, and stood up to warm his feet. In this
manner he went on until nearly one o'clock, when he
appears to have congratulated himself upon the rapid
MANNINGTON HALL. 163
progress lie had made with his task, and that after all
he should get to hed by two. He got up, and wound up
his watch, opened a bottle of seltzer-water, and then,
reseating himself at the table, upon which were four
silver candlesticks containing lighted candles, he set to
work upon the last little book of the heap. What now
happened must be told in Dr. Jessop's own words : —
" I had been engaged upon it about half an hour,"
said he, referring to the little volume, " and was just
beginning to think that my work was drawing to a close,
when, as I was actually writing, I saw a large white
hand within a foot of my elbow. Turning my head,
there sat a figure of a somewhat large man, with his
back to the fire, bending slightly over the table, and
apparently examining the pile of books that I had been
at work upon. The man's face was turned away from
me, but I saw his closely-cut reddish-brown hair, his
ear, and shaved cheek, the eye-brow, the corner of the
right eye, the side of the forehead, and the large high
cheek-bone. He was dressed in what I can only describe
as a kind of ecclesiastical habit of thick-corded silk, or
some such material, close up to the throat, and a narrow
rim or edging, of about an inch broad, of satin or velvet,
serving as a stand-up collar, and fitting close to the
chin. The right hand, which had first attracted my
attention, was clasping, without any great pressure, the
left hand ; both hands were in perfect repose, and the
large blue veins of the right hand were conspicuous. I
remember thinking that the hand was like the hand of
Velasquez's magnificent * Dead Knight/ in the National
11 •
164 HAUNTED HOMES.
Gallery. I looked at my visitor for some seconds, and
was perfectly sure that he was not a reality. A thou*
sand thoughts came crowding upon me, but not the
least feeling of alarm, or even uneasiness ; curiosity
and a strong interest were uppermost. For an instant I
felt eager to make a sketch of my friend, and I looked
at a tray on my right for a pencil ; then I thought,
' Up-stairs I have a sketch-book — shall I fetch it?'
There he sat, and I was fascinated ; afraid not of his
staying, but lest he should go,
" Stopping in my writing, I lifted my left hand from
the paper, stretched it out to the pile of books, and
moved the top one. I cannot explain why I did this —
my arm passed in front of the figure, and it vanished.
I was simply disappointed and nothing more. I went
on with my writing as if nothing had happened, perhaps
for another five minutes, and had actually got to the
last few words of what I had determined to extract, when
the figure appeared again, exactly in the same place and
attitude as before. I saw the hands close to my own ; I
turned my head again to examine him more closely, and
I was framing a sentence to address him when I dis-
covered that I did not dare to speak. / was afraid of
the sound of my own voice. There he sat, and there
sat I. I turned my head again to my work, and finished
writing the two or three words I still had to write. The
paper and my notes are at this moment before me, and
exhibit not the slightest tremor or nervousness. I could
point out the words I was writing when the phantom
came, and when he disappeared. Having finished my
MANN1NGT0N HALL. 1G5
task, I shut the book, and threw it on the table ; it
made a slight noise as it fell — the figure vanished.
" Throwing myself back in my chair, I sat for some
seconds looking at the fire with a curious mixture of
feeling, and I remember wondering whether my friend
would come again, and if he did whether he would hide
the fire from me. Then first there stole upon me a dread
and a suspicion that I was beginning to lose my nerve.
I remember yawning ; then I rose, lit my bed-room
candle, took my books into the inner library, mounted
the chair as before, and replaced five of the volumes ;
the sixth I brought back and laid upon the table where
I had been writing when the phantom did me the honour
to appear to me. By this time I had lost all sense of
uneasiness. I blew out the four candles and marched
off to bed, where I slept the sleep of the just or the
guilty — I know not which — but I slept very soundly."
And that is the conclusion of the story, so far as
Dr. Jessop's published account goes, Numerous eluci-
dations have been attempted by the wise, and the—
otherwise; but whether hallucination, spectral illusion,
or trickery, no one has been enabled to prove, and as
the hero of the tale declines to proffer " explanation,
theory, or inference," the affair continues to be a
mystery.
166 HAUNTED HOMES.
MILFOED HAVEN.
In July 1858, Mr. John Pavin Phillips, a well-known
contributor to Notes and Queries, furnished that valu-
able publication with some instances of " Second Sight
and Supernatural Warnings," which had occurred either
to himself, or to his most immediate relatives. The
whole country of Pembroke, Mr. Pavin Phillips states,
is rife with tales of this class, and, indeed, he might
have added, every county of the three kingdoms as
well, so universal and deeply-defined is the belief in
them. From the stories, for the authenticity of which
this gentleman vouches, may be cited the following.
" Many years ago, seven or eight members of the
family of my paternal grandfather, were seated at the
door of his house on a fine summer evening, between
the hours of eight and nine o'clock. The parish church
and its yard are only separated from the spot by a brook
and a couple of meadows. The family happened to
be looking in the direction of the churchyard, when
they were amazed by witnessing the advent of a funeral
procession. They saw the crowd, and the coffin borne
on men's shoulders come down the pathway towards the
church, but the distance was too great to enable them to
recognise the faces of any of the actors in the scene.
As the funeral 'cortege neared the church porch, they
distinctly saw the clergyman, with whom they were
personally acquainted, come out in his surplice to meet
MILFOED HAVEN. 167
the mourners, and saw him precede them into the
church. In a short time they came out, and my rela-
tives saw them go to a particular part of the yard,
where they remained for a time long enough to allow
the remainder of the supposed funeral rites to he per-
formed. Greatly amazed at what he beheld, my grand-
father sent over to the church to inquire who had been
buried at that unusual hour. The messenger returned
with the intelligence that no person had been buried
during that day, nor for several days before. A short
time after this a neighbour died, and was buried in the
precise spot where the phantom interment was seen."
The whole of Mr. Pavin Phillips's family would
appear to have possessed the faculty of ghost-seeing, or
rather to have been endowed with the capability, so well
known among the Scotch, of Second Sight. In another
instance of this power of foreseeing events his mother
was the medium. Her father, says our authority,
" lived on the banks of one of the many creeks or pills
with which the beautiful harbour of Milford Haven is
indented. In front of the house is a large court, built
on a quay wall to protect it from the rising tide. In
this court my mother was walking one fine evening,
rather more than sixty years ago " (this was written in
1858), " enjoying the moonlight and the balmy summer
breeze. The tide tvas out, so that the creek was empty.
Suddenly my mother's attention was aroused by hearing
the sound of a boat coming up the pill ; the measured
dip of the oars in the water, and the noise of their revo-
lution in the rowlocks, were distinctly audible. Pre-
1G8 HAUNTED HOMES.
sently she heard the keel of the boat grate on the
gravelly beach by the side of the quay wall. Greatly
alarmed, as nothing was visible, she ran into the house,
and related what she had heard. A few days afterwards,
the mate of an East Indiaman, which had put into
Milford Haven for the purpose of undergoing repair,
died on board, and his coffined corpse was brought up
the pill, and landed at the very spot where my mother
heard the phantom boat touch the ground."
In the next incident of supernatural foresight related
by Mr. Pavin Phillips, it is in a servant of the family
that the power is manifested, so that it would appear as
if the locality, rather than the dwellers in it, were
haunted. He relates that in the year 1838 he was on a
visit to his parents, " who, at that time, resided on the
spot on which my mother was born, and where she
passed the latter years of her life. Within a short
distance of the house stood a large walled garden,
which was approached through a gate leading into a
stable-yard. From underneath the garden wall bubbled
d well of delicious spring water, whence the domestic
offices were supplied. It was a custom of the family,
in the summer time, that the water for the use of the
house should be brought in late in the evening, in order
that it might be cool, and it was the duty of a servant
to go out with a yoke and a couple of pails to fetch
the water just before the time of closing up the house
for the night. One evening the girl had gone out for
this purpose ; the night was beautifully fine, the moon
shining so brightly that the smallest object was distinctly
MILFORD HAVEN. 169
visible. Tho servant had not been absent many
minutes when she ran into the house without her
burden, and throwing herself into a chair in a state of
extreme terror, fainted away. Restoratives having been
used, she recovered a little and, upon being questioned
as to the cause of her alarm, she told us that as she
was stooping over the well, about to fill one of her
pails, she suddenly found herself in the midst of a
crowd of people who were carrying a coffin, which they
had set down at the gate of the stable-yard. As she
had received no intimation of the approach of the con-
course by any sound of footsteps, she was greatly
alarmed, and as the object borne by the throng did not
tend to tranquillise her nerves, she took to her heels,
leaving her pails behind her. As no persuasion could
induce her to return to the well, I offered to do so for
her, and to ascertain the cause of her terror. When I
arrived at the stable-yard, there was neither coffin nor
crowd to be seen, and upon asking a neighbour, whose
cottage commanded a view of the well, whether she had
seen a funeral go by, she put a stop to any further
inquiry by asking me * who had ever heard of a funeral
at ten o'clock at night ? ' To which pertinent query I
could only reply by stating what the servant professed
to have seen. So the matter rested for a few weeks,
when there occurred an unusually high tide in Milford
Haven. The water rose above the level of the ordinary
springs, filling the creek, and flowing into the court in
front of the house. It only ebbed when it had reached
the door. The roadway at the end of the pill was im-
170 HAUNTED HOMES.
passable. A person having died on the opposite side of
the inlet a few days before this, the funeral took place on
the morning of the high tide ; and as it was impossible
to take the corpse to the parish church by the usual
route, the bearers crossed the pill in a boat with the
coffin and having laid it down at the gate of our stable -
yard, remained there until the boat could bring over the
remainder of the funeral concourse."
The last instance of this insight into the future which
we shall cite from Mr.Pavin Phillips's highly suggestive
and interesting communication, is the record of an inci-
dent of the character referred to which occurred to him
himself, in the year 1848, upon his return home after
several years' absence. "A few days after my arrival," he
states, "I took a walk one morning in the yard of one of
our parish churches^ through which there is a right of
way for pedestrians. My object was a twofold one : firstly
to enjoy the magnificent prospect visible from that
elevated position ; and secondly, to see whether any of
my friends or acquaintances who had died during my
absence were buried in the locality. After gazing around
me for a short time, I sauntered on, looking at one
tombstone and then at another, when my attention was
arrested by an altar-tomb enclosed within an iron
railing. I walked up to it, and read an inscription
which informed me that it was in memory of Colonel
. This gentleman had been the assistant Poor
Law Commissioner for South Wale*, and while on one
of his periodical tours of inspection, he was seized with
apoplexy in the workhouse of my native town, and died
MILFORD HAVEN. 171
in a few hours. This was suggested to my mind as I
read the inscription on the tomb, as the melancholy
event occurred during the period of my absence, and I
was only made cognisant of the fact through the
medium of the local press. Not being acquainted with
the late Colonel , and never having even seen him,
the circumstances of his sudden demise had long passed
from my memory, and were only revived by my thus
viewing his tomb. I then passed on, and shortly after-
wards returned home. On my arrival my father asked
me in what direction I had been walking ? I replied,
1 In churchyard, looking at the tombs, and among
others I have seen the tomb of Colonel , who died
in the workhouse.' 'That,' replied my father, 'is im-
possible, as there is no tomb erected over Colonel 's
grave/ At this remark I laughed. ' My dear father/ said
I, ' you want to persuade me that I cannot read. I was
not aware that Colonel was buried in the church-
yard, and was only informed of the fact by reading the
inscription on the tomb.' * Whatever you may say to
the contrary,' said my father, ' what I tell you is true,
there is no tomb over Colonel 's grave.5 Astounded
by the reiteration of this statement, as soon as I had
dined I returned to the churchyard, and again inspected
all the tombs having railings round them, and found
that my father was right. There was not only no tomb
bearing the name of Colonel , but there was no
tomb at all corresponding in appearance with the one I
had seen. Unwilling to credit the evidence of my own
senses, I went to the cottage of an old acquaintance of
172 HAUNTED HOMES.
my boyhood, who lived outside of the churchyard gate,
and asked her to show me the place where Colonel
lay buried. She took me to the spot, which was a green
mound, undistinguished in appearance from the sur-
rounding graves. Nearly two years subsequent to this
occurrence, surviving relatives erected an altar-tomb,
with a railing round it, over the last resting-place of
Colonel — , and it was, as nearly as I could remem-
ber, an exact reproduction of the memorial of my day-
dream."
Verily, " there are more things in heaven and earth
than are dreamt of in your philosophy ,"
NANNATT.
Nannau, the ancient residence of the Vaughan family,
in Merionethshire, is said to stand upon the highest
ground of any gentleman's seat in Great Britain. In
the days of the famous Owen Glendower, this roman-
tically-situated dwelling was occupied by Howel Sele, a
first cousin of the Welsh prince. The cousins do not
appear to have lived on friendly terms, Howel Sele
siding with the Lancastrians, whilst Glendower, it need
scarcely be remarked, was a fierce Yorkist. Ultimately
their antagonism came to a fatal termination. There
NANNAU. 173
are several versions of the legend, but it is better to
adopt that related by Pennant because, although it does
not accord with some of the ballads on the subject, it
appears to have a historic basis. The historian states
that Glendower and Sele having long been at variance,
the Abbot of Kymmer brought them together in hopes
of reconciling them, and had, apparently, succeeded in
effecting this charitable purpose. Whilst the two cousins
were out hunting together, after their apparent recon-
ciliation, Owen observed a doe feeding, and remarked to
Howel, who was considered the best archer of the day,
that there was a fine mark for him. Howel bent his
bow and, pretending to take aim at the doe, suddenly
turned and discharged his arrow full at Glendower's
breast : —
Then cursed Howel's cruel shaft,
His royal brother's blood had quaffed,
Alas ! for Cambria's weal !
But the false arrow glanced aside,
For 'neath the robe of royal pride,
Lay plate of Milan steeL*
Fortunately for him the Welsh chieftain, as described
by the poet, had armour beneath his clothes, and there-
fore received no hurt. But, enraged at his kinsman's
treachery, he turned upon him fiercely, and although
Howel was fully armed, after a short conflict, slew him !
The next thing was how to dispose of the body ; and
according to the ballad of the Spirit's Blasted Tree, by
the Kev. George Warrington, it wa3 Madog, Glen-
* The Demon Oak, by Walter Thornbury.
174 HAUNTED HOMES.
dower's companion, who suggested for the place of
sepulture — -
A broad and blasted oak,
Scorcbed by tbe ligbtning's vivid glare,
Hollow its stem from branch to root,
And all its shrivelled arms were bare.
Be this, I cried, the proper grave
(The thought in me was deadly sin) :
Aloft we raised the bapless chief,
And dropped his "bleeding corpse within.
After this dire catastrophe Glendower returned in
haste to his stronghold, without, of course, giving any
information to the Lord of Nannau's people. Howel
was sought for in every direction, hut was nowhere to
be found. His alarmed retainers hunted through all the
recesses of the neighbouring forest, the while his sorrow-
ing wife shut herself up from all comfort in the solitude
of her gloomy castle. The years passed by, and no
tidings reached Nannau of the missing lord : —
Yet Fancy, in a thousand shapes.
Bore to his home the chief once more ;
Some saw him on High Mod's top,
Some saw him on the winding shore.
With wonder fraught, the tale went round-
Amazement chained the hearer's tongue,
Each peasant felt his own sad loss,
Yet fondly o'er tho story hung.
Oft by the moon's pale shadowy light,
His aged nurse, and steward gray.
WduM lean to catch the storied sounds,
Or mark the flitting spirit stray.
NANNATJ. 175
Pale lights on Cader's rocks were seen,
And midnight voices heard to moan ;
'Twas even said the Blasted Oak,
Convulsive, heaved a hollow groan
But still the fate of Howel Sele remained unknown to
everyone save Glendower and bis companion Madog.
At last, after ten years of silence, Glendower died, and
the partaker of the chieftain's secret was at liberty to
reveal the mystery ; his lord's last words being : —
To Sole's sad widow bear the tale,
Nor let our horrid secret rest :
Give but his corse to sacred earth,
Then may my parting soul be blest,
Madog hastened to obey his prince's last behest, and,
as soon as events allowed, betook himself to Nan nan's
saddened home, and told the horrified and long-hoping
wife that she was a widow indeed. The revelation was
rapidly noised abroad among the retainers, and confirm-
ation of it demanded; Madog led them to the blasted
oak, which was hastily rent open, and the bleaching
skeleton exposed to view : —
Back they recoiled — the right hand still,
Contracted, grasped the rusty sword ;
Yv'hich erst in many a battle gleamed,
And proudly decked their slaughtered lord.
They bore the corse to Vanner's shrine,
With holy rites and prayers address'd ;
Nine white-robed monks the last dirge sang,
And gave the angry spirit rest.
But notwithstanding the burial rites were read, and
17G HAUNTED nOMES.
many masses said for their dead lord, his spirit was not
believed to be at rest, and almost down to the present
day the fearsome peasant has dreaded to pass at night
by the blasted oak, " the hollow oak of the demons."
Until its fall and destruction on the 13th of July 1813,
the haunted tree was an object of nocturnal dread, and
the poet could truly say: —
And to this day the peasant still
With fear avoids the ground ;
In each wild branch a spectre sees,
And trembles at each rising sound.
NEWSTEAD ABBEY.
Like so many old baronial residences, Newstead has
the reputation of beiug haunted, and that by more than
one spectre. But the name and fame of the last of
the Byron s of Newstead has over-clouded and obscured
all previous tenants, mortal or otherwise, and flung
a pall of poetic melancholy over the whole domain
that no spiritual apparitions can survive. The legends
connected with Newstead are manv, and descend from
that mysterious maid of Saracen birth or residence,
whose form and features are so frequently repeated in
the ancient panel-work of the Abbey's interior, down
to Lord Byron's immediate predecessor in the title
and estates. "Devil Byron," as this man was called,
NEWSTEAD ABBEY. 177
among other wild tales connected with his name, was
said to he haunted by the spirit of a sister, whom he
refused to speak to for years preceding her death in
consequence of a family scandal, notwithstanding her
heart-rending appeals of " Speak to me, my lord ' Do
speak to me ! - Ebenezer Elliott, in a ballad he wrote
on this legend, int/oduces the apparitions of both
* Devil Byron" and his sister as riding forth together
in foul weather, the lady still making passionate
appeals to the immovable brother to speak to her :—
Well sleep the dead : in holy ground
Well sleeps the heart of iron ;
The worm that pares his sister's cheek,
What cares it for Byron ?
Yet when her night of death comes round,
They ride and drive together ;
And ever, when they ride and drive,
Wilful is the weather.
On mighty winds, in spectre coach,
Fast speeds the heart of iron ;
On spectre-steed, the spectre-dame
Side by side with Byron.
Oh, Night doth love her ! Oh, the clouds
They do her form environ 1
The lightning weeps— it hears her sob—
" Speak to me, Lord Byron I "
•
On winds, on clouds, they ride, they drive.—
Oh, hark, thou heart of iron !
The thunder whispers mournfully,
" Speak to her, Lord Byron I "
Another family apparition which is said to have
12
178 HAUNTED HOMES,
haunted the old Abbey, was that of " Sir John Byron
the Little, with the Great Beard." An ancient portrait
of this mysterious ancestor, some few years since, was
still hanging over the door of the great saloon, and
was said to sometimes descend at midnight from its
sombre frame, and promenade the state apartments.
Indeed, this ancient worthy's visitations were not con-
fined to night only ; one young lady, on a visit to the
Abbey some years ago, positively asserting that in broad
daylight, the room of his chamber being open, she saw
Sir John the Little sitting by the fire-place, and reading
out of an old-fashioned book.
Many other apparitions have been seen about this
ancient time-honoured building, and Washington Irving
mentions that a young lady, Lord Byron's cousin, when
she was staying at the Abbey, slept in the room next
the clock, and that one night, when she was in bed,
she saw a lady in white come out of the wall on one
side of the room and go into the wall on the other side.
Many curious noises and strange sights have been heard
and seen by residents and visitors at Newstead; but the
best known and most noted spectre connected with the
place, and immortalised by Byron's verse, is the "Goblin
Friar." The particular chamber that this spectre is sup-
posed to especially frequent, and which is known par
excellence, as "the Haunted Chamber," adjoins Byron's
bed-room. During the poet's residence this dismal-
looking room was occupied by his page, a beautiful
ooy, whom the scandal-loving female servants would
have was a girl.
NEWSTEAD ABBEY. 179
Lord Byron, and many others, not only believed in
the existence of the Black Friar, but asserted that they
had reallv seen it. It did not confine its visitations,
however, to the "haunted chamber," but at night walked
the cloisters and other portions of the Abbey:
A monk arrayed
In cowl, and beads, and dusky garb, appeared,
Now in the moonlight, and now lapsed in shade,
"With steps that trod as heavy, yet unheard.
This apparition is the evil genius of the Byrons,
and its appearance portends misfortune of some kind to
the member of the family to whom it appears. Lord
Byron fully believed that he beheld this apparition a
short time before the greatest misfortune of his life, his
ill-starred union with Miss Millbanke. Alluding to his
faith in these things, he said : —
I merely mean to say what Johnson said,
That in the course of some six thousand years,
All nations have believed that from the dead
A visitant at intervals appears ;
And what is strangest upon this strange head,
Is that whatever bar the reason rears
'Gainst such belief, there 's something stronger still
In its behalf, let those deny who will.
And he thus introduces the presumed duties, as it
were, of the Black Friar : —
By the marriage-bed of their lords, 'tis said,
He flits on the bridal eve ;
And 'tis held as faith, to their bed of death
He conies — but not to grieve.
ISO HAUNTKD HOMES.
When an heir is born, he is heard to mourn.
And -when aught is to befall
That ancient line, in the pale moonshine,
He walks from hall to hall.
His form you may trace, but not his face, i
Tis shadowed by his cowl ;
But his eyes may be seen from the folds between,
And they seem of a parted soul.
Among the numerous people who have asserted that
they saw the Black Friar was a Miss Kitty Parkins, a
relative of the poet ; and she is even said to have made
a sketch of the apparition from memory,
NORTH SHIELDS: STEVENSON
STREET.
The following account, certainly one of the most
remarkable in our collection, is related upon the autho*
rity of Mrs. Crowe, who introduces it in her Night Side
of Nature, as having been furnished to her by the Mrs.
L. of the story, herself a lady, remarks Mrs. Crowe,
" with whose family I am acquainted."
A few years since, Mrs. L. took a furnished house,
in Stevenson Street, North Shields, and she had been in
it a very few hours before she was perplexed by hearing
feet in the passage, though whenever she opened the
door she could see nobody. She went to the kitchen*
NORTH SHIELDS : STEVENSON STREET. 181
and asked the servant if she had not heard the same
sound ; she said she had not, but there seemed to be
strange noises in the house. When Mrs. L. went to
bed, she could not go to sleep for the noise of a child's
rattle, which seemed to be inside her curtains. It
rattled round her head, first on one side then on the
other ; then there were sounds of feet and of a child
crying, and a woman sobbing; and, in short, so many
strange noises, that the servant became frightened, and
went away. The next girl Mrs. L. engaged came from
Leith, and was a stranger to the place ; but she had
only passed a night in the house, when she said to her
mistress, u This is a troubled house you 've got into
ma'am," and she described, amongst the rest, that she
had repeatedly heard her own name called by a voice
near her, though she could see nobody.
One night Mrs. L. heard a voice, like nothing human,
close to her, cry, " Weep ! Weep ! Weep ! " Then there
was a sound like someone struggling for breath, and
again, " Weep ! Weep ! Weep ! ' Then the gasping,
and a third time, " Weep ! Weep ! Weep ! " She stood
still, and looked steadfastly on the spot whence the voice
proceeded, but could see nothing ; and her little boy,
who held her hand, kept saying, " What is that,
Mamma? What is that ? " She describes the sound
as most frightful. All the noises seemed to suggest
the idea of childhood, and of a woman in trouble. One
night, when it was crying round her bed, Mrs. L. took
courage and adjured it; upon which the noise ceased
for that time, but there was no answer. Mr. L. was
182 HAUNTED HOMES.
at sea when she took the house, and when he came
home, he laughed at the story at first, but soon became
so convinced the account she gave was correct, that he
wanted to have the boards taken up, because, from the
noises seeming to hover much about one spot, he
thought perhaps some explanation of the mystery might
be found. But Mrs. L. objected that if anything of
a painful nature were discovered she should not be able
to continue in the house ; and, as she must pay the
year's rent, she wished, if possible, to continue for the
whole period.
She never saw anything but twice; once, the appear-
ance of a child seemed to fall from the ceiling close
to her, and then disappear ; and another time she saw
a child run into a closet in a room at the top of the
house ; and it was most remarkable that a small door
in that room which was used for going out on the roof,
always stood open. However often they shut it, it was
opened again immediately by an unseen hand, even
before they got out of the room, and this continued
the whole time they were in the house ; whilst night
and day, someone in creaking shoes was heard pacing
backwards and forwards in the room over Mr. and Mrs.
L.'s heads.
At length the year expired, and, to their great relief,
they quitted the house ; but five or six years afterwards,
a person who had bought it having taken up the floor
of that upper room to repair it, there was found, close to
the small door above alluded to, the skeleton of a child.
It was then remembered that, some years before, a
OTTERY. 183
gentleman of somewhat dissolute habits had resided
there, and that he was supposed to have been on very
intimate terms with a young woman servant who lived
with him ; but there had been no suspicion of anything
more criminal.
OTTERY,
The famous Dr. Abererombie, in his Inquiries concern-
ing the Intellectual Powers, adduces, as an undoubted
fact, one of the most singular and inexplicable stories
on record. The marvel of this story does not merely
consist in the wonderful coincidence of the two con-
curring and synchronous dreams, but also in the per-
sistent way with which the mother held that she had
not dreamed her son appeared to her, but that he had
really, if not in body then in spirit, been to her bedside
and spoken to her. The account of this extraordinary
affair was written by one of the persons concerned ; that
is to say, the Rev. Joseph Wilkins, who at the time it
occurred, in 1754, he being then twenty-three years of
age, was usher in a school at St. Mary Ottery, Devon-
shire, celebrated as the birth-place of Coleridge. Wil-
kins subsequently became a well-known dissenting
minister.
" One night," runs his narrative, "soon after I was
in bed, I fell asleep, and dreamed I was going to Lon
184 HAUNTED HOMES.
don. I thought it would not be much out of my way
to go through Gloucestershire, and call upon my friends
there. Accordingly, I set out, hut remembered nothing
that happened by the way till I came to my father's
house ; when I went to the front door and tried to open
it, but found it fast. Then I went to the back door,
which I opened and went in ; but finding all the
family were in bed, I crossed the rooms only, went up-
stairs, and entered the chamber where my father and
mother were in bed. As I went by the side of the bed
on which my father lay, I found him asleep, or thought
he was so ; then I went to the other side, and having just
turned the foot of the bed, I found my mother awake,
to whom I said these words : " Mother, I am going a
long journey, and am come to bid you good-bye.'
Upon which she answered in a fright, * Oh, dear son,
thou art dead ! ' With this I awoke, and took no
notice of it more than a common dream, except that it
appeared to me very perfect.
" In a few days after, as soon as a letter could reach
me, I received one by post from my father; upon the
receipt of which I was a little surprised, and concluded
something extraordinary must have happened, as it was
but a short time before I had a letter from my friends,
and all were well. Upon opening it I was more sur-
prised still, for my father addressed me as though I
were dead, desiring me, if alive, or whose ever hands the
letter might fall into, to write immediately; but if the
letter should find me living, they concluded I should
not live long, and gave this as the reason of their fears :
OTTERY. 185
That on a certain night, naming it, after they were in
bed, my father asleep and my mother awake, she heard
somebody try to open the front door; but finding it
fast, he went to the back door, which he opened, came
in, and came directly through the rooms upstairs, and
she perfectly knew it to be my step ; but I came to her
bedside, and spoke to her these words : ' Mother, I am
going a long journey, and have come to bid you good-
bye.' Upon which she answered me in a fright, ' Oh,
dear son, thou art dead ! ' — which were the circum-
stances and words of my dream. But she heard nothing
more, and saw nothing more; neither did I in my
dream. Much alarmed she woke my father, and told
him what had occurred ; but he endeavoured to appease
her, persuading her it was only a dream. She insisted
it was no dream, for that she was as perfectly awake as
ever she was, and had not the least inclination to sleep
since she was in bed.
" From these circumstances I am inclined to think it
was at the very same instant when my dream happened,
though the distance between us was about one hundred
miles ; but of this I cannot speak positively. This
occurred while I was at the academy at Ottery, Devon,
in the year 1754, and at this moment every circum-
stance is fresh upon my mind. I have, since, had
frequent opportunities of talking over the affair with
my mother, and the whole was as fresh upon her mind
as it was upon mine. I have often thought that her
sensations as to this matter were stronger than mine.
What may appear strange is, that I cannot remember
186 HAUNTED HOMES.
anything remarkable happening hereupon. This is
only a plain, simple narrative of a matter of fact."
As the Rev. Joseph Wilkins points out, at the con-
clusion of this marvellous story, nothing remarkable
followed it; his own death, which his mother had so
much feared was portended, did not take place until
November 22, 1800, when he was in the seventieth year
of his age. The Gentleman's Magazine, in its obituary
of Wilkins, remarked that, " for liberality of sentiment,
generosity of disposition, and uniform integrity, he had
few equals and hardly any superiors."
OULTON HIGH HOUSE.
Oulton High House, in Suffolk, now a school, was
long known as <; the Haunted House." It was built in
1550 by one of the Hobarts, and still retains a fine old
mantelpiece, and other curious carved work, as ancient
as the house itself. It is popularly believed to have
acquired its ill-omened title on account of some deed
of darkness committed within its precincts. At mid-
night, according to tradition, a wild huntsman and his
hounds, together with a white lady carrying a poisoned
cup, are supposed to issue forth and go their feverish
rounds.
The origin of one member of this spectral group is
traced back to the reign of George II., and the story is
that the owner at that period of the High House, a
OULTON HIGH HOUSE. 187
roystering squire, returning home from the chase un-
expectedly, discovered his wife with an officer, his guest,
in too familiar a friendship. High words followed, and
the injured hushand striking his wife's lover, the man
drew his sword and drove it through his assailant's
heart. The assassin and his guilty love fled, carrying
away with them all the jewels and gold they could
obtain possession of.
After a lapse of several years the guilty woman's
daughter, who had been forgotten in the hasty de-
parture, having grown to womanhood, was affianced to
a youthful farmer of the neighbourhood. A bleak
November night, on the eve of the marriage, as the
happy pair were sitting together in the old hall, a car-
riage, black and sombre as a hearse, with closely-drawn
curtains, and attended by servants clad in sable liveries,
drew up to the door. These men, who were masked,
rushed into the hall, and seizing the young girl, carried
her off in the carriage to her unnatural mother, after
having stabbed her betrothed as he vainly endeavoured
to rescue her. A grave is stated to be pointed out in
the cemetery at Namur, as that in which was laid the
corpse of the unhappy daughter, her mother having, so
it is alleged, completed the catalogue of her crimes by
poisoning the hapless girl. And after that, there is
little wonder that the old residence was haunted by the
spectre of the wretched woman, as wife and as mothel
equally criminal. As to what the weird huntsman and
his ghostly hounds signify, tradition is silent.
188 HAUNTED HOMES.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY: QUEEN'S
COLLEGE.
Like most of the older foundations of Alma Maier,
Queen's College has had its ghost. The Kev. Mr. More
of Leyton, Essex, formerly of Queen's, Oxford, a man of
veracity and learning, who died in 1778, left this story
of an apparition that favoured his own college with
a visit.
Mr. John Bonnell was a commoner of Queen's
College, Oxford. He was remarkable in his person
and gait, and, from a peculiar manner he had of holding
up his gown behind, might be recognised almost as
readily by his back as by his face.
" On Sunday, November the 18th, 1750, at noon,
Mr. Ballard, who was then of Magdalen College, and
myself," says Mr. More, "were talking together at
Parker's door. I was then waiting for the sound of
the trumpet for dinner, and suddenly Mr. Ballard cried
out, ' Dear me, who is that coming out of your college? '
I looked, and saw, as I supposed, Mr. Bonnell, and
replied, * He is a gentleman of our house, and his name
is Bonnell ; he comes from Stanton Harcourt.' ' Why,
bless me,' said Mr. Ballard, ' I never saw such a face
in all my life.' I answered slightly, ' His face is much
the same as it always is ; I think it is a little more
inflamed and swelled than it is sometimes, perhaps he
has buckled his band too tight, but I should not have
oxfoed : queen's college. 189
observed it if you had not spoken.' ' Well,' said Mr.
Ballard again, ' I never shall forget him, as long as
I live ' ; and appeared to be much disconcerted and
frightened.
(t This figure I saw without any emotion or suspicion,"
proceeds Mr. More; "it came down the quadrangle,
came out at the gate, and walked up the High Street.
We followed it with our eyes till it came to Catherine
Street, where it was lost.
" The trumpet then sounded, and Mr. Ballard and I
parted ; and I went into the hall, and thought no more
of Mr. Bonnell.
" In the evening the prayers of the chapel were
desired for one who was in a very sick and dangerous
condition. When T came out of the chapel, I inquired
of one of the scholars, James Harrison, in the hearing
of several others who were standing before the kitchen
fire, who it was that was prayed for, and was answered,
' Mr. Bonnell, senior.' * Bonnell senior ! ' said I, with
astonishment; what is the matter with him? He was
very well to-day, for I saw him go out to dinner.' 'You
are very much mistaken,' answered Harrison, ' for he has
not been out of his bed for some days.' I then asserted
more positively that I had seen him, and that a gentle-
man was with me who saw him too.
" This came presently to the ears of Dr. Fothergill,
who had been my tutor. After supper he took me aside,
and questioned me about it, and said he was very sorry
1 had mentioned the matter so publicly, for Mr. Bonnell
was dangerously ill. I replied I was very sorry too,
190 HAUNTED HOMES.
but I had done it innocently. The next day Mi.
Bonnell died."
Mr. More states that Mr. Ballard was applied to,
and bore witness to the fact that the figure he had so
particularly noticed was stated to be Mr. Bonnell, who
was of Queen's, and came from Stanton Harcourt. It
may, also, be added that when this curious story, found
among the Rev. Mr. More's papers at his decease,
was published in the Gentleman }s Magazine t and other
contemporary publications, the particulars were con-
firmed, in various ways, by persons referred to in the
story. As the account of an apparition or wraith of
a person on the pjir.t of death, seen by more than
one individual, it is by no means unique in literary
records.
PEELE CASTLE.
In no portion of the British kingdom are legends more
rife, and superstitions more tenacious, than in the Isle of
Man. Of the various romantic ruins which bedeck the
island, and around which tradition has flung its ivy-like
tendrils, none are more picturesque or more closely con-
nected with mediaeval myths than Peele Castle. Among
other marvellous stories told of the supernatural beings
which haunt its precincts is the following, to be found
in the pages of Waldron, whose account of the island
H
-Jl
<
PEELE CASTLE. 191
is an inexhaustible mine of Manx legendary and folk
lore.
" An apparition, which they call the Manthe Doog, in
the shape of a shaggy spaniel, was stated to haunt the
Castle in all parts, but particularly the guard-chamber,
where the dog would constantly come and lie down hy the
fire at candle-light. The soldiers lost much of their terror
hy the frequency of the sight ; yet, as they believed it to be
an evil spirit, waiting foi an opportunity to injure them,
that belief kept them so far in order, that they refrained
from swearing and discourse in its presence, and none
chose to be left alone with such an insidious enemy.
Now, as the Manthe Doog used to come out and returr-
by the passage through the church, by which also some-
body must go to deliver the keys every night to the
Captain, they continued to go together, he whose turn
it was to do that duty being accompanied by the next in
rotation.
"But one of the soldiers, on a certain night, being
much disguised in liquor, would go with the key alone,
though it really was not his turn. His comrades in vain
endeavoured to dissuade him ; he said he wanted the
Manthe Doog's company, and he would try whether he
were dog or devil ; and then, after much profane talk,
he snatched up the keys and departed. Some time
afterwards a great noise alarmed the soldiers, but none
of them would venture to go and see what was the cause.
When the adventurer returned, he was struck with
horror and speechless, nor could he even make such
signs as might give them to understand what had
192 HAUNTED HOMES.
happened to him, but he died, with distorted features, in
violent agony. After this none would go through the
passage, which was soon closed up, and the apparition
was never more seen in the castle."
"This accident happened about three-score years
since," says Waldron, " and I heard it attested by
several, but especially by an old soldier, who assured me
he had seen it (i.e. the Manthe Doog), oftener than he
had then hairs on his head."
PLYMOUTH.
Amongst the innumerable multitude of buildings which
have the reputation of being haunted, it will be noted
that by far the larger number are haunted by strange
noises and mysterious sounds only, but few of them
really attaining to the dignity of being visited by
visible beings. Some of the places, however, which
have had the character of being disturbed by unusual
and unaccountable noises are very interesting from the
suggestiveness of these noises : in the following account,
for instance, and indeed in many others, the ghostly
but invisible visitants appear to be condemned to return
to the occupations they followed before they shuffled off
the mortal coil, and to resume, after their incorporeal
fashion, the labours of their past life.
The mother of the famous premier, George Canning,
PLYMOUTH. 1Q3
after the death of her first husband, became an actress,
and married an actor. Becoming a widow for the
second time, she married a third husband, named Hunn,
and under his name appears to have acted in the pro-
vinces. Among other provincial towns Mrs. Hunn
visited Plymouth, but previous to her arrival there she
had requested Mr. Bernard, who was in some way con-
nected with the theatre there, to procure lodgings for
her in the town. When Mrs. Hunn arrived, she was
met by Mr. Bernard with the intimation that if she
were not afraid of a ghost, he could obtain very com-
fortable lodgings for her at a very low rate, " for there
is," said he, " a house belonging to our carpenter that
is reported to be haunted, and nobody will live in it. If
you like to have it, you may, and for nothing, I believe,
for he is so anxious to get a tenant ; only you must
not let it be known that you do not pay any rent
for it."
Mrs. Hunn, alluding to theatrical apparitions, said
it would not be the first time she had had to do with
a ghost, and that she was very willing to encounter this
one ; so she had her luggage taken into the house in
question, and the bed prepared. At her usual hour, she
sent her maid and her children to bed, and curious to
see if there was any foundation for the rumour she had
heard, she seated herself with a couple of candles and
a book, to watch the event. Beneath the room she
occupied was the carpenter's workshop, which had two
doors ; the one which opened into the street was barred
and bolted within; the other, a smaller one, opening into
13
194 HAUNTED HOMESo
the passage, was only on the latch ; and the house was,
of course, closed for the night. She had read somewhat
more than half an hour, when she perceived a noise
issuing from this lower apartment, which sounded very
much like the sawing of wood ; presently, other such
noises as usually proceed from a carpenter's workshop
were added, till, by-and-bye, there was a regular concert
of knocking and hammering, and sawing and planing,
&c. ; the whole sounding like half a dozen busy men in
full employment. Being a woman of considerable
courage, Mrs. Hunn resolved, if possible, to penetrate
the mystery ; so, taking off her shoes, that her approach
might not be heard, with her candle in her hand, she
very softly opened her door and descended the stairs,
the noise continuing as loud as ever, and evidently pro*
ceeding from the workshop, till she opened the door,
when instantly all was silent — all was still— not a
mouse was stirring ; and the tools and the wood, and
everything else, lay as they had been left by the
workmen when they went away. Having examined
every part of the place, and satisfied herself that there
was nobody there, and that nobody could get into it,
Mrs. Hunn ascended to her room again, beginning
almost to doubt her own senses, and question with her-
self whether she had really heard the noise or not, when
it re-commenced, and continued, without intermission,
for about half an hour. She however went to bed, and
the next day told nobody w7hat had occurred, having
determined to watch another night before mentioning
the affair to anyone. As, however, this strange scene
<m> - /few
•as
1 <~
POWIS CASTLE. 195
was acted over again, without her being able to dis-
cover the cause of it, she now mentioned the circum-
stance to the owner of the house and to her friend
Mr. Bernard ; and the former, who would not believe it,
agreed to watch with her, which he did. The noise
began as before, and he was so horror-struck that,
instead of entering the workshop as she wished him to
do, he rushed into the street. Mrs. Hunn continued to
inhabit the house the whole summer, and when referring
afterwards to the adventure, she observed that use
was second nature ; and that she was sure, if any night
these ghostly carpenters had not pursued their visionary
labours, she should have been quite frightened lest they
should pay her a visit up- stairs.
POWIS CASTLE.
According to Camden this ancient stronghold was
formerly called " Kasteth Koch," or Ked Castle, on
account of the colour of the stone with which it was
built. It stands on a rocky elevation in the midst of a
well-wooded park, and despite the restoration which it
has undergone at the hands of Sir Eobert Smirke is
not considered " a thing of beauty." If the outside be
irregular in style the interior is heavy and gloomy, and
thoroughly appropriate for the localisation of ghostly
legends. It possesses, among other interesting relics,
3 *
196 HAUNTED HOMES.
a state chamber, still maintained in the exact condition
it was in when prepared for the reception of Charles I.
Since the time of Queen Elizabeth, when the surround-
ing estate was purchased by the Heberts, Powis Castle
has been the seat of the Earls Powis. There are
naturally various legends connected with this time-
honoured dwelling, one being that the lake in the Castle
park, from which the adjacent town of Welshpool takes
its name, " shall sometime overflow and deluge the
town." But there is also a well-authenticated and most
circumstantial ghost story of Powis Castle, for the
record of which we are indebted to the Autobiography of
Thomas Wright, of Birkenshaw.
In 1780, it became known to the townsfolk of Welsh-
pool, that there was living amongst them a certain poor
unmarried woman who had conversed with the Castle
ghost, and that it had confided a great secret to her.
The woman thus selected for this alleged trust was a
member of the Methodist Society, and "had become
serious under their ministry." Mr. John Hampson, a
well-known preacher amongst the Wesleyan Methodists,
being desirous of probing this strange story to the core,
sent for the woman, and earnestly besought her to tell
him the whole truth about the affair. She promised to
give him as exact an account as she possibly could, and
then proceeded with the following narration, to the
correctness of which many persons could bear witness.
She described herself as a poor woman who obtained a
livelihood by spinning hemp and line, and stated that it
was customary for the farmers and gentlemen of the
POWIS OASTLE. 197
district to grow enough hemp or line in their fields for
their own home-consumption, and as she was a good
hand at spinning, she was accustomed to go from house
to house to inquire for work. It was the custom at
houses where she stayed, to provide her with meat and
drink, and if necessary with lodging, whilst she was
thus employed, and when she left to make her some
little present.
One day she chanced to call at Earl Powis's country
residence, Red Castle as it was called, to inquire for work,
according to custom. The " quality," as she termed
the family, were at this time in London, hut had, as
usual, left the steward and his wife, with certain other
servants, to take charge of the place during their
absence. The steward's wife set her to work, and in
the evening told her that she must stay all night with
them, as they had more work for her to do next day.
When it was time to go to bed, three of the servants,
each carrying a lighted candle in her hand, conducted
her to the room she was to sleep in. It was an apart-
ment on the ground floor, with a boarded floor and two
sash windows, and was grandly furnished, with a hand-
some bedstead in one corner of it. They had made up
a good fire for her, and had placed a chair and table
before it, with a large lighted candle upon the table.
They informed her that that was to be her bed-room,
and that she might go to bed whenever she pleased.
They then wished her a good night, and all withdrew
together, pulling the door quickly after them, so as to
hasp the spring-sneck in the brass lock that was upon it.
198 HAUNTED HOMES.
When the servants had thus hastily departed, the
poor spinster gazed around at the grand furniture, and
was in no slight astonishment that they should put such
a person as she was in so fine a room and so comfort-
able a bed, with all the conveniences of fire, chair, table,
and candle. After having made a survey of the place,
she sat down, and took out of her pocket a small Welsh
Bible which she always carried about with her, and in
which she always read a chapter, chiefly in the New
Testament, before she said her prayers and retired to rest.
Whilst the woman was reading she heard the door
opeu, and turning her head, was astonished to see a
gentleman enter the room ; he wore a gold-laced hat
and waistcoat, with coat and the rest of his attire to
correspond. He walked down by the sash window to
the corner of the room, and then returned. When
he came, as he returned to the first window, the bot-
tom of which was nearly breast high, he rested his
elbow on the bottom of the window and the side of
his face upon the palm of his hand, and stood in
that leaning posture for some time, with his side
partly towards her. She looked at him earnestly to
see if she knew him, but although, from her frequent
intercourse with them, she had a personal knowledge
of all the family and its retainers, he appeared to be a
perfect stranger to her. She supposed, afterwards, that
he stood in this manner to eucourage her to speak ;
but as she did not utter a word, after some little time he
walked off, pulling the door to after him as the servants
had done previously. She began now to be much
POWIS CASTLE. 199
alarmed, concluding it to be an apparition, and that
they had put her in that grand room because it was
haunted. And that was reallv the case.
For some long time past the room had been so dis-
turbed that nobody could sleep in it peaceably, and as
she passed for a very serious woman, the servants con-
ceived the fine project of putting the poor Methodist
and the spirit together, in order to see what the result
would be.
Startled at the thought that it was an apparition she
had seen, the woman rose from her chair, and kneeling
down by the bedside, began saying her prayers. Whilst
she was praying the apparition came in again, walked
round the room, and came close behind her. She now
endeavoured to speak, but when she attempted it she
was so agitated that she could not utter a word. The
apparition walked out of the room again, pulling the
door after it as it had done before. She begged that God
would strengthen her, and not suffer her to be tried
bevond what she was able to bear ; she now recovered
her spirits somewhat, and thought she felt more con-
fidence and resolution, and determined if it came in
again she would speak to it if possible. Presently it
came in again, walked round the room, and came behind
her as before. She turned her head and said, —
" Pray, Sir, who are you, and what do you want ? "
It lifted its finger, and said, —
"Take up the candle and follow me, and I will tell
you."
She got up, took up the candle, and followed it out
200 HAUNTED HOMES.
of the room. It led her through a long boarded pas-
sage till they got to the door of another room, which
it opened and went into. It was a very small room, or
what might be called a large closet.
" As the room was small, and I believed him to be a
spirit," said she, in her recital of the affair, " I stopped
at the door ; he turned and said, —
" « Walk in ; I will not hurt you/
" So I walked in. Then he said, —
" * Observe what I do.'
" I said, < I will/
" He stooped and tore up one of the boards of the
floor, and there appeared under it a box with an iron
handle in the lid. He said, —
" * Do you see that box V
" I said, ' Yes, I do.'
" He then stepped to one side of the room, and
showed me a crevice in the wall, where he said a key
was hid that would open it. He said, — >
" ' This box and key must be taken out and sent to
the Earl in London ' ; naming the Earl and his place of
residence in the metropolis. He said, —
" ' Will you see it done ? '
" I said, * I will do my best to get it done.'
" He said, ' Do, and I will trouble the house no
more.' "
It then walked out of the room and left her. As
soon as the woman saw that the apparition had de-
parted, she went to the room-door and set up a loud
shout. The steward and his wife, together with all the
POWIS OASTLE. 201
other servants, ran to her immediately ; they were all
clinging to one another and carrying lights. It seems
that they had all been waiting to see the issue of the
interview between the woman and the apparition. They
asked her what was the matter. She then told them
all that had taken place, and showed them the box.
The steward dare not meddle with it, but his wife was
of a more courageous temperament, and with the assist-
ance of the other servants, tugged it out, and found the
key in the place indicated by the apparition. The
woman stated that, by the way in which they lifted it,
it appeared to be pretty heavy, but that she did not see
it opened, and, therefore, did not know what it con-
tained ; whether money or writings of importance to the
family, or both. The servants took it away with them,
and the woman averred that she then went to bed and
slept peaceably till the morning.
It appeared, from what was subsequently learnt, that
the box and its contents were sent to the Earl in Lon-
don, together with an account of how it was discovered
and by whom. The Earl immediately sent down orders
to his steward to inform the poor woman, who had been
the means of the discovery, that if she would come and
reside in his family she should be comfortably provided
for for the remainder of her days ; or, if she did not
care to reside constantly with them, if she would let
him know when she wanted assistance, she should be
liberally supplied at his lordship's expense as long as
she lived.
And according to the account related by Mr. John
202 HAUNTED HOMES.
Hampson, it was a fact well known in the neighbour-
hood that the woman had been supplied from the Earl's
family ever since the time when the affair was said to
have happened.
RAINHAM.
Kainham, the seat of the Marquis Townshend, in Nor-
folk, has long been noted for its ghost known as " the
Brown Lady." Mrs. Crowe, and many other writers on
apparitions and kindred themes, have alluded to the
circumstance of this family residence being haunted by
a spectral woman, but their references are very slight
and the particulars they give exceedingly meagre. Mrs.
Crowe, indeed, mentions that many persons have seen
" the Brown Lady," and speaks of a guest who one day
inquired of his host, " Who was the lady in brown that
he had met frequently on the stairs ? ' But the most
circumstantial account of the appearance of this appari-
tion would appear to be that given by Lucia C. Stone,
in Rifts in the Veil. This record she states she re-
ceived from an eye-witness, and as a proof of its
authenticity draws attention to the fact that the names
of all parties concerned are given in full. The time of
the incidents, however, cannot be given any nearer than
between 1835 and 1849.
According to this narrative a large party had assem-
RAINHAM. 203
bled at Rainham, in order to pass the Christmas there.
Lord and Lady Charles Townshend were the host and
hostess on this occasion, and among the assembled
guests were Colonel and Mrs. Loftus, and Miss Page, a
cousin of the latter. Colonel Loftus was a brother of
Lady Charles and cousin to Lord Charles, being a
Townshend on his mother's side.
There was a tradition in the Townshend family that
at certain intervals the apparition of a lady attired in
brown brocade had been seen flitting about the build-
ing ; but nothing had occurred for some long time past,
and the old stories respecting the hauntings had been
well-nigh forgotten.
One night Colonel Loftus and a gentleman named
Hawkins sat up rather late over a game of chess ; they
went up-stairs, and were bidding each other " good-
night," when Mr. Hawkins exclaimed, " Loftus, who is
that standing at your sister's door? How strangely
she is dressed." Colonel Loftus, who was near-sighted,
put up his glass and followed the figure, which went on
for some little distance, when he lost sight of it. A
second night she appeared to him, and this time, to
prevent her escape, he went up a staircase which would
bring him face to face with her. There, in a full light,
stood a stately lady in her rich brocade, a sort of coif
on her head, the features clearly defined ; but where
there should have been eyes were nothing but dark
hollows.
"These were the two appearances he described to
me," says Lucia Stone, (e and he sketched her after-
204 HAUNTED HOMES.
wards. I saw the sketch just after his return from
Rainham. The lady was seen hy several others, and I
have heard the stories, but not from their own lips, so
I forbear to give them ; but perhaps I should mention
that the cousin of Mrs. Loftus, Miss Page, whom I
knew very intimately, asked Lord Charles if he too
believed in the apparition ? He replied, ' I cannot but
believe, for she ushered me into my room last night.'
The servants were frightened, and one after the other
gave warning. Lord Charles Townshend, thinking that,
perhaps, after all, it might be a trick on the part of
someone in the house, had various alterations made in
the way of bolts, locks, and so forth. This proving
useless, he engaged some of the London police force to
come down, and made them assume his livery ; but they
were unable to discover anything during their stay at
Kainham.
There does not seem to be any known legend con-
nected with the appearance of the apparition of "the
Brown Lady."
RAMHURST MANOR-HOUSE.
When the complicated developments of the tale con-
nected with this Kentish Manor-house are known, it
must be acknowledged that the affair is one of the most
mysterious on record. Robert Dale Owen, from whose
RAMHURST MANOR-HOUSE. 205
singular work, Footfalls on the Boundary of Another
World, this strange story is extracted, does not furnish
the actual names of the ladies from whom he derived
his information about the haunting of Ramhurst, but
veils their identity under initials ; and as we have no
other authority for the account than his, it will be
necessary, in this instance to follow his example.
Ramhurst Manor-house, it must be premised, is an
ancient residence near Leigh, in Kent. In October
1857, and for several subsequent months, it was occu-
pied by Mrs. R , the wife of an English officer of
high rank, and her servants. From the time this ladv
first occupied the place she, and every inmate, were
disturbed by knockings, unaccountable voices, and the
sounds of mysterious footsteps. The strange voices
were generally, but not invariably, heard proceeding
from an unoccupied room, and were sometimes as of
someone talking in a loud tone, sometimes as if some
person were reading aloud, and occasionally as if
screaming. The servants were, as may be imagined,
in a great state of terror, and although they did not
see anything, the cook one day informed Mrs. R
that in broad day she heard the rustle of a silk- dress
close behind her, and which seemed to touch her ; but
on turning suddenly round, thinking it was her mis-
tress, she could not see anyone, much to her surprise
and horror. Mrs. R 's brother, a young officer
addicted to field sports, and quite incredulous on the
subject of ghostly visitations, was much disturbed and
annoyed by these strange voices, which he asserted must
206 HAUNTED HOMES.
be those of his sister and a lady friend of hers sitting
up chatting at night. Twice, when a voice which he
considered to resemble his sister's rose to a scream, he
rushed into her bed-room, between two and three o'clock
in the morning, with a gun in his hand, but only to find
her sleeping quietly.
" On the second Saturday in the above month of
October," says our authority, " Mrs. R drove over
to the railway station at Tunbridge, to meet her friend
Miss S , whom she had invited to spend some
weeks with her. This young lady had been in the
habit of seeing apparitions, at times, from early child-
hood.
" When, on their return, at about four o'clock in the
afternoon, they drove up to the entrance of the Manor-
house, Miss S perceived on the threshold the
appearance of two figures, apparently an elderly couple,
habited in the costume of a former age. They appeared
as if standing on the ground. She did not hear any
voice, and not wishing to render her friend uneasy, she
made at that time no remark to her in connection with
this apparition.
" She saw the appearance of the same figures, in the
same dress, several times within the next ten days,
sometimes in one of the rooms of the house, sometimes
in one of the passages — always by daylight. They
appeared to her surrounded by an atmosphere nearly
of the colour usually called ' neutral tint.' On the third
occasion they spoke to her, and stated that they had
been husband and wife, that in the former days they
EAMHUKST MANOR-HOUSE. 207
had possessed and occupied that Manor-house, and that
their name was Children. They appeared sad and down-
cast, and, when Miss S inquired the cause of their
melancholy, they replied that they had idolized this
property of theirs ; that their pride and pleasure had
centred in its possession ; that its improvement had
engrossed their thoughts; and it troubled them to know
that it had passed away from their family, and to see
it now in the hands of careless strangers."
To Miss S , the ghost-seer, the voices of the
apparitions were not only perfectly audible, but also
intelligible ; but it does not appear certain, so far as
our record goes, that others who heard the conversing
were enabled to comprehend what was said by the
spirits. Meanwhile, Mrs. R , thinking that some-
thing unusual had occurred to her friend in connection
with the household disturbances, questioned her on the
subject, and was then informed by Miss S of what
she had seen and heard from the apparitions. Hitherto
Mrs. R , though her rest had been disturbed by
the frequent noises, had not seen anything, nor, indeed,
had anyone save Miss S ; but about a month after
the latter lady had had the interview with the spectres
styling themselves Mr. and Mrs. Children, they made
another optical manifestation.
One day, Mrs. R , who had ceased to expect the
appearance of the apparitions to herself, was hurriedly
dressing for dinner, " her brother," to cite from Owen,
" who had just returned from a day's shooting, having
called to her in impatient tones that dinner was served
208 HAUNTED HOMES.
and that he was quite famished. At the moment of
completing her toilet, and as she hastily turned to leave
her bed-chamber, not dreaming of anything spiritual,
there in the doorway stood the same female figure
Miss S had described, identical in appearance and
in costume, even to the old point-lace on her brocaded silk
dress, while beside her on the left, but less distinctly
visible, was the figure of her husband. They uttered
no sound ; but above the figure of the lady, as if written
in phosphoric light in the dusk atmosphere that sur-
rounded her, were the words ' Dame Children* together
with some other words, intimating that, having never
aspired beyond the joys and sorrows of this world, she
had remained * earth-bound.'
" These last words Mrs. E scarcely paused to
decipher ; for a renewed appeal from her brother, as
to whether they were to have any dinner that day,
urged her forward. The figure, filling up the doorway,
remained stationary. There was no time for hesitation,
she closed her eyes, rushed through the apparition and
into the dining-room, throwing up her hands and ex-
claiming to Miss S , * Oh ! my dear, I 've walked
through Mrs. Children ! ' "
This was the only time Mrs. R saw anything of
the apparitions during her residence in the old Manor-
house, nor do they seem to have appeared again to
anyone there, save Miss S . Mrs. R had her
bedroom not only lit up by a blazing fire, but also
by candles, whilst a lighted lamp was kept burning
in the corridor. Miss S , however, appears to have
EAMHURST MANOR-HOUSE. 209
been honoured with subsequent interviews by the appa-
ritions, and from her conversations with them learnt
that the husband's name was Richard, and that he had
died in 1753. She remarked that the costumes in
which they appeared " were of the period of Queen
Anne or one of the early Georges, she could not be
sure which, as the fashions in both were similar."
Deeply impressed with the mystery that appertained
to the old Manor-house, Mr. R endeavoured to
elucidate it by making inquiries among the servants
and in the neighbourhood, but without success. No one
knew that the house had ever been owned or inhabited
by persons of the name of " Children," although a nurse
in the family, Sophy 0 -, had spent all her life in the
vicinity. About four months afterwards, and when her
mistress had given up all hopes of unravelling the
mystery, Sophy went home for a holiday to her father's
at Riverhead, near Sevenoaks. During her visit she
called on a sister-in-law, an old woman of seventy, who
fifty years previous had been housemaid in a family
residing in Ramhurst Manor-house. Sophy asked her
old sister-in-law if she had ever heard of a family
named Children living at the Manor, and was informed
that there was no such familv there in her time, but
she recollected having been informed by an old man,
that in his boyhood he had assisted to keep the hounds
of the Childrens who were then residing at Ramhurst.
On her return Sophy communicated this information to
Mrs. R , who thus learnt that a family named
Children had once really occupied the Manor-house,
14
:
210 HAUNTED HOMES.
but beyond that she was unable to learn anything about
them.
In December 1858, Robert Dale Owen, being in the
company of the two ladies referred to, Mrs. E and
Miss S , learnt all the particulars of the haunting
and the apparitions already given. Having accepted
an invitation to spend Christmas week with some friends
living near Sevenoaks, he determined to prosecute
further inquiries about the haunted Manor, and its
former inhabitants in the neighbourhood. He sought
out Sophy and questioned her closely about the
disturbances at the Manor-house during Mrs. R -'s
residence, but was enabled to elicit little more than
confirmatory evidence of what the reader knows already.
Nor did his inspection of the churches and graveyards
of Leigh and Tunbridge afford him any fresh informa-
tion about the Children family, save that a certain
George Children left, in the year 1718, a weekly gift
of bread to the poor, and that another George Children,
his descendant, who had died about forty years pre-
vious, and who had not resided at Ramhurst, had a
marble tablet in Tunbridge Church erected to his
memory.
Thus far Mr. Owen had not obtained any further
particulars of much value, but having been referred to
a neighbouring clergyman, by him he was lent a docu-
ment that contained the following extract from the
Hasted Papers, which are preserved in the British
Museum, and may be consulted there : —
" George Children . . . who was High Sheriff of
EAMHURST MANOE-HOUSE. 211
Kent in 1698, died without issue in 1718, and by will
devised the bulk of his estate to Eichard Children,
eldest son of his late uncle, William Children, of Hed-
corn, and his heirs. This Eichard Children, who settled
himself at Ramhurst, in the Parish of Leigh, married
Anne, daughter of John Saxby, in the parish of Leeds,
by whom he had issue four sons and two daughters/''
&c.
Thus Mr. Owen had ascertained that the first of the
Children family who had occupied Kamhurst as a
residence was named Eichard, and that he settled there
in the early part of George I.'s reign, but he was still
ignorant of the date of his death, which, it will have
been noted, was given by the apparition as 1753. Being
referred by an antiquarian friend to Hasted's History of
Kent, published in 1778, he fo md the following para-
graph : —
" In the eastern part of the parish of Lyghe (now
Leigh), near the river Medway, stands an ancient man-
sion, called Eamhurst, once reputed a manor, and held
of the honour of Gloucester. ... It continued in the
Culpepper family for several generations. ... It passed
by sale into that of Saxby, and Mr. William Saxby
conveyed it by sale to Children. Eichard Children,
Esq., resided here, and died possessed of it in 1753,
aged eighty-three years. He was succeeded in it by
his eldest son, John Children, of Tunbridge, Esq.," &c.
" Thus I verified," remarks Eobert Dale Owen, " the
last remaining particular, the date of Eichard Children s
death. It appears from the above, also, that Eichard
14 *
212 HAUNTED HOMES.
Children was the only representative of the family who
lived and died at Eamhurst ; his son John being de-
signated not as of Eamhurst, hut as of Tunhridge.
From the private memoir above referred to, I had pre-
viously ascertained that the family seat after Eichard's
time was Ferox Hall, near Tunbridge.
"It remains to be added that in 1816, in consequence
of events reflecting no discredit on the family, they
lost all their property, and were compelled to sell Earn'
hurst, which has since been occupied, though a some-
what spacious mansion, not as a family residence, but
as a farm-house. I visited it, and the occupants as-
sured me that nothing worse than rats or mice disturb
it now."
ROCHESTER.
Baxter's Certainty of the World of Spirits contains
one of the most marvellous and, apparently, best
authenticated stories of modern miracles extant. If it
be accepted as fact it will be a difficult matter to doubt
any supernatural incident merely on account of its inex
plicability. The story was sent to Baxter by the Eev.
Thomas Tilson, the minister of Aylesford, near Maid-
stone, in Kent, within five weeks of the event to which
it referred happening ; the narrator was on the spot,
and therefore had every opportunity of disproving or
confirming the statements made ; whilst the names and
residences of the witnesses are given, together with the
HKKBJHU
^E
-ibridge.
-..in
iiv, they
ell Bam-
a some
nee, bill
ants aj
disturb
ROCHESTER.
213
3xact time and place of the occurrences to which they
,estify. It would be difficult to adduce any historic
jvent with, apparently, better testimony of its accuracy.
Mr. Tilson's story, as written out for Baxter, is this : —
" Mary, the wife of John Goffe, of Rochester, being
iffiicted with a long illness, removed to her father's
louse at West Mailing, which is about nine miles dis-
tant from her own. There she died June the 4th, this
)resent year, 1691.
" The day before her departure she grew very im-
patiently desirous to see her two children, whom she
iad left at home to the care of a nurse. She prayed
ler husband to hire a horse, for she must go home and
lie with the children. When they persuaded her to the
contrary, telling her she was not fit to be taken out of
ler bed, nor able to sit on horseback, she entreated
,hem, however, to try. ' If I cannot sit/ said she, ' I
,vill lie all along upon the horse ; for I must go to see
ny poor babes.'
" A minister who lived in the town was with her at
;en o'clock that night, to whom she expressed good
lopes in the mercies of God, and a willingness to die.
But,' said she, ' it is my misery that I cannot see my
mildren.' Between one and two o'clock in the morning
he fell into a trance. One, widow Turner, who watched
;vith her that night, says that her eyes were open and
ixed and her jaw fallen. She put her hand upon her
ring 0' nouth and nostrils, but could perceive no breath. She
,hought her to be in a fit, and doubted whether she
contains
:ly, best
t Ifj
to doubt,
its inei
the Eei
■\: Mail
■ spa
I a ai;
ti rcere dead or alive.
I
214 HAUNTED HOMES.
ffThe next morning this dying woman told her
mother that she had been at home with her children.
* That is impossible,' said the mother, ' for you have
been in bed all the while.' ' Yes,' replied the other,
' but I was with them last night when I was asleep.'
" The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander by name,
affirms, and says she will take her oath on't before a
magistrate, and take the sacrament upon it, that a little
while before two o'clock that morning she saw the
likeness of the said Mary Goffe come out of the next
chamber (where the elder child lay in a bed by itself),
the door being left open, and stood by her bedside for
about a quarter of an hour; the younger child was
there lying by her. Her eyes moved and her mouth
went, but she said nothing. The nurse, moreover, says
that she was perfectly awake ; it was then daylight,
being one of the longest days in the year. She sat up
in her bed and looked steadfastly upon the apparition.
In that time she heard the bridge clock strike two, and
a while after said, ' In the name of the Father, who
art thou.' Thereupon the appearance removed and
went away. She slipped on her clothes and followed,
but what became on't she cannot tell. Then, and not
before, she began to be grievously affrighted, and went
out of doors and walked upon the wharf (the house is
just on the river-side) for some hours, only going in
now and then to look to the children. At five o'clock
she went to a neighbour's house and knocked at the
door, but they would not rise. At six she went again ;
then they rose and let her in. She related to them all
ROCHESTER. 215
0
that had passed ; they would persuade her she was mis-
taken or dreamt. But she confidently affirmed, * If
ever I saw her in all my life, I saw her this night.'
" One of those to whom she made the relation (Mary
the wife of John Sweet), had a messenger come from
Mailing that forenoon, to let her know her neighbour
Goffe was dying and desired to speak with her. She
went over the same day, and found her just departing.
The mother, among other discourse, related to her how
much her daughter had longed to see the children, and
said she had seen them. This brought to Mrs. Sweet's
mind what the nurse had told her that morning; for
till then she had not thought to mention it, but dis-
guised it, rather, as the woman's disturbed imagination.
" The substance of this I had related to me/' savs
' ml
Mr. Tilson, "by John Carpenter, the father of the
deceased, the next day after her burial, July the 2nd.
I fully discoursed the matter with the nurse and two
neighbours, to whose house she went that morning.
Two days after, I had it from the mother, the minister
that was with her in the evening, and the woman who
sat up with her that last night. They all agree in the
same story, and everyone helps to strengthen the other's
testimony. They appear to be sober, intelligent persons,
far enough off from designing to impose a cheat upon
the world, or to manage a lie; and what temptation they
could lie under for so doing I cannot conceive."
And thus ends this incomprehensible affair.
216 HAUNTED HOMES.
KUSHEN CASTLE.
To mention many of the curious supernatural legends
connected with the Castle of Rushen, in Castletown,
Isle of Man, might only excite ridicule, and yet belief
in the wildest of them still lingers in the vicinity.
Among other terrifying apparitions which still, or until
very recently did haunt this ancient stronghold is that
of a woman who, some years ago, was executed for the
murder of her child. The quantity and quality of the
testimony adduced in corroboration of the appearance
of this spectre is absolutely startling, many persons of
good position and acknowledged veracity giving con-
firmatory evidence. Their united testimony is to the
effect that an apparition of the executed woman fre-
quently passes in and out of the castle gates when they
are shut, in the presence of the sentinels and other
spectators. Indeed, it is alleged that the sight of this
phantom has become quite familiar to them ; but no
one has yet had the courage to speak to it, therefore it
has not been enabled to unfold the object of its ap-
pearance.
In his quaint Description of the island, Waldron gives
the following curious tradition as connected with the
venerable Manx Castle, in which, he states, there is an
apartment that has never been opened in the memory
of man. The persons belonging to the castle are very
cautious in giving any reason for it, it is alleged, but
mm i
KUSHEN OASTLE. 217
the natives unconnected with the castle aver that there
is something supernatural in it, and tell you that for-
merly the place was inhabited by giants, who were
dislodged by Merlin, and such as were not driven away
are spell-bound beneath the castle. In proof of this
they relate a very strange story which is told by Waldron
in these terms : —
" They say there are a great many fine apartments
under ground, exceeding in magnificence any of the
upper rooms. Several men of more than ordinary
courage have, in former times, ventured down to explore
the secrets of this subterranean dwelling-place, but none
of them ever returned to give an account of what they
saw. It was, therefore, judged expedient that all the
passages to it should be continually shut, that no more
might suffer by their temerity. About some fifty or
fifty-five years since a person possessed of uncommon
boldness and resolution begged permission to visit these
dark abodes. He at length obtained his request, went
down, and returned by the help of a clue of pack-thread
which he took with him, which no man before had ever
done, and brought this amazing discovery : — That after
he had passed through a great number of vaults, he
came into a long narrow place, which, the further he
penetrated, he perceived that he went more and more
on a descent, till having travelled, as near as he could
guess, for the space of a mile, he began to see a gleam
of light which, though it seemed to come from a vast
distance, was the most delightful object he ever beheld.
Having at length arrived at the end of that lane of
218 HAUNTED HOMES.
darkness, he perceived a large and magnificent house,
illuminated with many candles, whence proceeded the
light he had seen. Having, before he began the expe-
dition, well fortified himself with brandy, he had courage
enough to knock at the door, which, on the third knock,
was opened by a servant, who asked him what he wanted.
'I would go as far as I can,' replied our adventurer ;
' be so kind, therefore, as to direct me how to accom-
plish my design, for I see no passage but that dark
cavern through which I came.' The servant told him
he must go through that house, and accordingly led
him through a long entry and out at a back door. He
then walked a considerable way, till he beheld another
house more magnificent than the first, and, all the
windows being open, he discovered innumerable lamps
burning in everv room.
" Here also he designed to knock, but had the curi-
osity to step on a little bank which commanded a view
of a low parlour, and looking in, he beheld a vast table
in the middle of the room, and on it, extended at full
length, a man, or rather monster, at least fourteen feet
long, and ten or twelve round the body. This pro-
digious fabric lay as if sleeping, with his head upon a
book, with a sword by him, answerable to the hand
which he supposed made use of it. The sight was
more terrifying to our traveller than all the dark and
dreary mansions through which he had passed. He
resolved, therefore, not to attempt an entrance into a
place inhabited by persons of such monstrous stature,
and made the best of his way back to the other house,
SARRATT, HERTFORDSHIRE. 219
when the same servant who reconducted him informed
him that if he had knocked at the second door he would
have seen company enough, but could never have re-
turned, on which he desired to know what place it was,
and by whom possessed. The other replied that these
things were not to be revealed. He then took his leave,
and by the same dark passage got into the vaults, and
soon afterwards once more ascended to the light of the
sun."
Such is the marvellous legend told by the historian
of Manxland, and he adds to it the statement that
" whoever seems to disbelieve it is looked on as a person
of weak faith," by the islanders, of course.
SARRATT, HERTFORDSHIRE.
In that most curious collection of stories by Mrs.
Crowe, styled The Night Side of Nature, is recounted a
marvellous narrative, received from a professional gen-
tleman resident in London ; his relation is to this
effect : —
" I was, some few years since, invited to pass a day
and night at the house of a friend in Hertfordshire, with
whom I was intimately acquainted. His name was
B , and he had formerly been in business as a
saddler, in Oxford Street, where he had realised a hand-
220 HAUNTED HOMES.
some fortune, and had now retired to enjoy his otium
cum dignitate in the rural and beautiful village of
Sarratt.
" It was a gloomy Sunday, in the month of November,
when I mounted my horse for the journey, and there
was so much appearance of rain, that I should certainly
have selected some other mode of conveyance had I
not been desirous of leaving the animal in Mr. B 's
straw-yard for the winter. Before I got as far as
St. John's Wood, the threatening clouds broke, and by
the time I reached Watford I was completely soaked.
However, I proceeded, and arrived at Sarratt before my
friend and his wife had returned from church. The
moment they did so, they furnished me with dry clothes,
and I was informed that we were to dine at the house of
Mr. D , a very agreeable neighbour. I felt some
little hesitation about presenting myself in such a cos-
tume, for I was decked out in a full suit of Mr. B rs,
who was a stout man, of six feet in height, whilst I am
rather of the diminutive order; but my objections were
over-ruled ; we went, and my appearance added not a
little to the hilarity of the party. At ten o'clock we
separated, and I returned with Mr. and Mrs. B to
their house, where I was shortly afterwards conducted to
a very comfort %r* bed-room.
" Fatigued with my day's ride, I was soon in bed, and
soon asleep ; but I do not think I could have slept long
before I was awakened by the violent barking of dogs.
I found that the noise had disturbed others as well as
myself, for J heard Mr. B , who was lodged in the
SARRATT, HERTFORDSHIRE. 221
adjoining room, open his window and call to them to be
quiet. They were obedient to his voice, and as soon as
quietness ensued, I dropped asleep again ; but I was
again awakened by an extraordinary pressure upon my
feet ; that I was perfectly awake I declare ; the light
that stood in the chimney-corner shone strongly across
the foot of the bed, and I saw the figure of a well-dressed
man in the act of stooping, and supporting himself in so
doing by the bed-clothes. He had on a blue coat, with
bright gilt buttons, but I saw no head ; the curtains at
the foot of the bed, which were partly looped back, just
hung so as to conceal that part of his person. At first,
I thought it was my host, and as I had dropped my
clothes, as is my habit, on the floor, at the foot of the
bed, I supposed he was come to look after them, which
rather surprised me ; but just as I had raised myself
upright in bed, and was about to inquire into the occa-
sion of his visit, the figure passed on. I then recollected
that I had locked the door ; and becoming somewhat
puzzled, I jumped out of bed; but I could see nobody;
and on examining the room, I found no means of ingress
but the door through which I had entered, and one other;
both of which were locked on the inside. Amazed and
puzzled, I got into bed again, and sat some time
ruminating on the extraordinary circumstance, when it
occurred to me that I had not looked under the bed.
So I got out again, fully expecting to find my visitor,
whoever he was, there ; but I was disappointed. So
after looking at my watch, and ascertaining that it was
ten minutes past two, 1 stepped into bed again, hoping
222 HAUNTED hOMES.
now to get some rest. But alas ! sleep was banished for
that night ; and after turning from side to side, and
making vain endeavours at forgetfulness, I gave up the
point, and lay till the clock struck seven, perplexing my
brain with the question of who my midnight visitor
could be ; and also how he had got in and how he had
got out of my room. About eight o'clock, I met my
host and his wife at the breakfast-table, when, in answer
to their hospitable inquiries of how I had passed the
night, I mentioned, first, that I had been awaked by the
barking of some dogs, and that I had heard Mr. B
open his window and call to them. He answered that
two strange dogs had got into the yard and had disturbed
the others. I then mentioned my midnight visitor, ex-
pecting that they would either explain the circumstance,
or else laugh at me and declare I must have dreamt it.
But, to my surprise, my story was listened to with grave
attention ; and they related to me the tradition with
which this spectre, for such I found they deemed it to
be, was supposed to be connected. This was to the
effect, that many years ago a gentleman so attired, had
been murdered there, under some frightful circumstances ;
and that hi3 head had been cut off. On perceiving that
I was very unwilling to accept this explanation of the
mystery — for I had always been an entire disbeliever in
supernatural appearances — they begged me to prolong
my visit for a day or two, when they would introduce me
to the rector of the parish, who could furnish me with
such evidence with regard to circumstances of a similar
nature, as would leave no doubt on my mind as to the
SAEEATT, HEETFOEDSHIEE. 223
possibility of their occurrence. But I had made an en-
gagement to dine at Watford, on my way back ; and I
confess, moreover, that after what I had heard, I did not
feel disposed to encounter the chance of another visit
from the mysterious stranger; so I declined the proffered
hospitality, and took my leave.
" Some time after this, I happened to be dining in
C Street, in company with some ladies resident in
the same county, when, chancing to allude to my visit to
Sarratt, I added that 1 had met with a very extraordinary
adventure there, which I had never been able to account
for; when one of these ladies immediately said, that she
hoped I had not had a visit from the headless gentle-
man, in a blue coat and gilt buttons, who was said to
have been seen by many people in that house.
" Such is the conclusion of this marvellous tale as
regards myself; and I can only assure you that I have
related facts as they occurred ; and that I had never
heard a word about this apparition in my life, till
Mr. B related to me the tradition above alluded to.
Still, as I am no believer in supernatural appearances, I
am constrained to suppose that the whole affair was the
product of my imagination."
224 HAUNTED HOMES.
SCORRIER HOUSE.
Ir seems impossible to explain away the well vouched-
for facts of the following marvellous historic incident
by any theory of coincidence. The points of identity
between the tragedy enacted afar off and the dreams in
Cornwall are so many, that the Calculus of Probabilities
would scarcely include their agreement within the rules
of the Possible. And if not by coincidence, by what
law can the mystery be analysed ? It is not our task,
however, to attempt to solve the problem, but to tell
the story, basing our narrative upon the account which
was given in the Times newspaper of August 16th, 1868.
It was on the night of the 11th of May 1812, accord-
ing to the version of the story told by the Times during
the life-time of Mr. Williams, that that gentleman, then
residing at Scorrier House, near Kedruth, in Cornwall,
awoke his wife, and in great agitation informed her that
he had dreamed he was in the lobby of the House of
Commons, and had seen a man shoot with a pistol a
gentleman who had just entered the lobby, and who
was said to be the Chancellor. Mrs. Williams verv
naturally replied that it was only a dream and endea-
voured to calm her husband by recommending him to
go to sleep again. He did fall asleep again, but shortly
afterwards awoke his wife and told her that he had had
the same dream a second time. Upon this, Mrs. Wil-
liams suggested that he had been so disturbed by his
no
SCORKIER HOUSE. 225
former dream that it bad probably dwelt on his mind,
and, therefore, begged him to try and compose himself
and go to sleep, which he did. Once more, for the
third time, the vision was repeated ; whereupon, not-
withstanding his wife's entreaties that he would be quiet,
and trv to forsret the affair, Mr. Williams arose and
dressed himself, it then being between one and two
o'clock in the morning.
At breakfast Mr. Williams's sole subject of conversa-
tion was the vivid dreams by which his night's rest had
been disturbed. In the afternoon he had occasion to
go to Falmouth, where he gave every acquaintance he
met particulars of his strange visions.
The following day Mr. Tucker, of Trematon Castle
accompanied by his wife, a daughter of Mr. Williams,
visited at Scorrier House. No sooner were the family
greetings over than Mr. Williams related his wonderful
dream to the new arrivals ; as Mrs. Williams laughingly
remarked to her daughter, her father would not even
allow Mr. Tucker to be seated before he told him of his
nocturnal visitation. Upon hearing his father-in-law's
statement, Mr. Tucker observed that it might do very
well in a dream to have the Chancellor in the lobby of
the House of Commons, but that he would Ljver be
found there in reality.
Subsequently, Mr. Tucker inquired what sort of a
man the person shot appeared to be ; and when Mr.
Williams described him with great minuteness, he re-
marked, "Your description is not at all that of the
Chancellor, but is certainly exactly that of Mr. Perceval,
15
226 HAUNTED HOMES.
the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; and, although he has
been to me the greatest enemy I ever met with, for a
supposed cause which had no foundation in truth " (or
words to that effect), " I should be exceedingly sorry,
indeed, to hear of his being assassinated, or of any
injury of the kind happening to him." Mr. Tucker
then asked Mr. Williams if he had ever seen Mr. Per-
ceval, and was told that he never had seen him, nor had
ever even written to him, either on public or private
matters ; in short, that he had never had anything to
do with him, nor had he ever been in the lobby of the
House of Commons in his life.
In the midst of this conversation, and whilst the two
gentlemen were still standing, they heard a horse gallop
up to the door of the house, and immediately afterwards
Mr. Michael Williams, of Treviner, son of Mr. Williams,
of S comer, entered the room, and said that he had
galloped out from Truro, a distance of seven miles,
having seen a gentleman there who had come by that
evening's mail from London, who said that he was in
the lobby of the House of Commons on the evening of
the 11th, when a man called JBellingham had shot Mr.
Perceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; and that,
as it might occasion some great ministerial changes,
and might affect Mr. Tucker's political friends, he had
come out as fast as he could to make him acquainted
with it, having heard at Truro that he had passed
through that place in the afternoon on his way to
Scorrier House.
After the astonishment which this unexpected fulfil-
SCORRIER HOUSE. 227
ment of the dream caused had a little subsided, Mr.
Williams most particularly described the appearance and
dress of the man whom he beheld in his dreams fire the
pistol, as he had previously described Mr. Perceval.
Some six weeks after the fatal affair, Mr. Williams,
having business in London, availed himself of the op-
portunity to go, accompanied by a friend, to the House
of Commons, where, as has already been stated, he had
never been before. As soon as he came to the steps at
the entrance of the lobby, he stopped and said, " This
plaoe is as distinctly within my recollection in my dream
as any room in my house " ; and he repeated the obser-
vation when he entered the lobby. He then pointed
out the exact spot where Bellingham stood when he
fired, and which Mr. Perceval had reached when he was
struck by the ball, and where and how he fell. The
dress and appearance of both Mr. Perceval and his
assassin, Bellingham, are declared to have agreed
exactly, even to the most minute particular, with the
descriptions given by Mr. Williams.
The Times, when furnishing its readers with this
wonderful story, drew attention to the fact that Mr.
Williams was still alive, and would, therefore, have
denied any inaccuracy in their account, whilst many of
the witnesses to whom he had made known the particu-
lar of his dreams directly after he had had them were
also living. Moreover, added the editor, he had received
the whole statement from a correspondent of unquestion-
able veracity.
15 *
223 HAUNTED HOMES.
SETTLE.
In April, 1876, the following very curious account of
an apparition that was seen by three children at once
was communicated to the Psychological Society by Mr.
Hensleigh Wedgwood. The documentary story, written
by Mrs. S. H. Fox, of Falmouth, had been handed to
Mr. Wedgwood by Mrs. Backhouse, wife of the Member
of Parliament for Darlington. It is to this effect : —
In the early part of the last century a member of the
Society of Friends, living at Settle, in Craven, had to
take a journey to the borders of Scotland. This lady
left her family, consisting of a little boy and two little
girls, in charge of a relative, who, in lieu of sending
frequent letters (iu those days a slow and costly mode
of communication between places wudely remote), en-
gaged to keep a journal, to be transmitted to the mother
r.t any convenient opportunity, of all that concerned
the little ones, who wrere aged respectively seven, six,
and four.
After an absence of about three weeks, and when on
her homeward journey, the Quakeress was seized with
illness and died at Cockermouth, even before her hus-
band at Settle could hear by post that she had been
taken ill. The season was winter, when in the moun-
tainous borderland between the counties the conveyance
of letters by postmen on foot was an especially length-
ened and difficult process. The friends at whose house
SETTLE. 229
the event occurred, seeing the hopeless nature of the
attack, made notes of every circumstance attending the
last hours of the dying wife and mother, for the satis-
faction of her family, so that the accuracy of the several
statements as to time as well as facts was beyond the
doubtfulness of mere memory, or of even any uncon-
scious attempt to bring them into agreement with each
other. One morning, between seven and eight o'clock,
on the relation at Settle going into the sleeping room of
the three children, she found them all sitting up in
their beds in great excitement and delight, crying out,
"Mamma has been here! Mamma has been here!"
And the little one said, " She called, c Come, Esther! ,M
Nothing could make them doubt the fact, intensely
visible as it was to each of them, and it was carefully
noted down to entertain the mother on her speedily
expected return to her home.
That same morning, as she lay dying on her bed at
Cockermouth, to those who were watching her tenderly
and listening for her latest breath, she said, " I should
be ready to go if I could but see my children." She
then closed her eyes, they thought to re-open them no
more ; but after ten minutes of perfect stillness she
looked up brightly and said, " I am ready now; I have
been with my children," and then at once peacefully
passed away. When the notes taken at the two places
were compared, the day, hour, and minute were the
same.
" One of the three children," says Mrs. Fox, " was my
grandmother, Sarah Birkbeck (daughter of William
230 HAUNTED HOMES.
Birkbeck, banker, of Settle), afterwards wife of Dr.
Fell, of Ulverton, from whom I had the above account
almost literally as I have repeated it. The elder was
Morris Birkbeck, afterwards of Guildford. Both these
lived to old age, and retained to the last so solemn and
reverential a remembrance of the circumstance that they
rarely would speak of it, or permit any allusion to it,
lest it should be treated with doubt or levity. Esther,
the youngest of the three, died soon after. Her brother
and sister only heard the child say that her mother called
her, but could not speak with any certainty of having
themselves heard the words, nor did they seem sensible
of any communication from her but simply of her
standing there and looking at them. My grandmother
and her brother," is the testimony of Mrs. Fox, " were
both persons remarkable for strong matter-of-fact, rather
than imaginative, minds, and to whom it was especially
difficult to accept anything on faith, or merely hearsay
evidence, and who by nature would be disposed to reject
whatever seemed beyond the region of reason or of
common experience."
SOULDERN RECTORY.
In the register of Brisly Church, Norfolk, against the
12th of December 1706, stands the following words,
which may serve as introduction to the extraordinary
SOULDERN RECTORY. 231
storv we have to tell in connection with Souldern
Eectory : —
"I, Robert Withers, M.A., vicar of Gately, do insert
here a story which I had from undoubted hands ; for I
have all the moral certainty of the truth of it possible."
The narrative referred to by Mr. Withers is as given
in the following sentences, but not in the precise words
of that gentleman, as they only furnish a very abridged
account of the mysterious affair, besides deviating
slightly from the more circumstantial and exact par-
ticulars given in the private correspondence, subse-
quently published in the Gentleman's Magazine, which
passed between the Rev. John Hughes, of Jesus College,
Cambridge (the learned editor of St. Ghrysostom on the
Priesthood) t and the Rev. Mr. Bonwicke, very shortly
after the events referred to took place. Mr. Hughes,
who derived his information from Mr. Grove, public
registrar of the Cambridge University, and the intimate
friend of Mr. Shaw, writes thus : —
" The Rev. Mr. Shaw, formerly fellow of St. John's
College, Cambridge, and subsequently rector of
Souldern, a college living within twelve miles of
Oxford, on the night of the 21st of July 1706, was
sitting by himself smoking a pipe and reading, when
he observed somebody open the door, and turning round
was astounded to see the appearance of Mr. Naylor,
formerly his fellow collegian at St. John's, and his
intimate friend, but who had been dead fully five years.
The apparition came into the room, garbed apparently
in exactly the same clothes, and in exactly the same
232 HAUNTED HOMES.
manner, as Mr. Navlor had been accustomed to at the
University. Mr. Shaw was, of course, intensely amazed,
but asserted that he " was not much affrighted, " and,
after a little while recollecting himself, desired his
visitor to sit down; this the apparition of Mr. Naylor
did, drawing the chair up to his old friend and sitting
by him. They then had a conference of upwards of an
hour and a half, during which the visitor informed Mr.
Shaw that he had been sent to give his old friend
warning of his death, which would be very soon and
very sudden. The apparition also mentioned several
others of St. John's, particularly the famous Orchard,
whose deaths were at hand. Mr. Shaw asked him if he
could not give him another visit; but he said " No," as
his (the apparition's) alloted time was but three days,
and that he had others to visit who were at great
distances apart. Mr. Shaw had an intense desire to
inquire about the apparition's present condition, but was
afraid to mention it, not knowing how it would be
taken. At last he expressed himself in this manner : —
" Mr. Naylor, how is it with you in the other world ? '
He, the apparition, answered with a brisk and cheer-
ful countenance, "Very well."
Mr. Shaw proceeded to ask, " Are there any of our
old friends with you ? "
" Not one," responded he; "but Orchard will be with
me soon, and you not long after."
After this discourse the apparition took its leave and
went out. Mr. Shaw offered to accompany it out of
the room, but it beckoned with its hand that he should
SOULDERN RECTORY. 233
stay where he was, and seeming to turn into the next
room, disappeared.
The next day Mr. Shaw made his will, and not very
long after, being seized with an apoplectic fit while he
was reading service in church, he fell out of the desk,
and died almost immediately.
" He was ever looked upon as a pious man and a
good scholar," says Mr. Hughes, who had the story of
the apparition from Mr. Grove, a particular friend of
Mr. Shaw, and who, being on a visit to Souldern
soon after the event, had the whole particulars from
the minister's own lips. Mr. Grove returned to Cam-
bridge soon afterwards, and meeting with one of his
college, was told that Mr. Arthur Orchard was dead.
On the 21st of January 1707, the Rev. M. Turner,
writing to the Rev. Mr. Bonwicke, with reference to
this story, says, " There 's a circumstance relating to
the apparition which adds a great confirmation to it,
which, I suppose, Mr. Hughes did not tell you. There
is one, Mr. Cartwright, a Member of Parliament,* a
man of good credit and integrity, an intimate friend of
Mr. Shaw, who told the same story with Dr. Grove
(which he had from Mr. Shaw), at the Archbishop of
Canterbury's table ; but he says further, that Mr. Shaw
told him of some great revolutions in states, which he
won't discover, being either obliged to silence by Mr.
Shaw, or concealing them upon some prudent and
polite reason."
Mr. Shaw, it may be added, had been a noted enemy
* I.e. for Northamptonshire.— Editor
23-1 HAUNTED HOMES.
to a belief in apparitions, and in company was
accustomed to inveigh against any credence being
placed in them, but after his presumed interview with
the apparition of his old friend, spoke of that in such
a way, with his more intimate acquaintances, as quite
convinced them of his belief in its spirituality ; one
of whom, the Rev. Richard Chainbre, vicar of Sopping-
ton, Shropshire, wrote out an account, still extant, of
the affair as related to him by Mr. Shaw.
SPEDLIFS TOWER.
*
ThA ancient fortress bore the reputation, for a long
number of years, of being haunted by the spirit of a
certain man, known in the flesh as Porteous. The story
of this haunting has been frequently told by Grose, the
antiquary, and other well-known writers, and the truth of
the events about to be recorded has been most emphati-
cally asserted by persons of respectability and credit ;
indeed, many a ghost story passes current that has not
had such corroborative evidence as this tale of antique
lore.
Spedlin's Tower, which stands on the south-west bank
of the Annan, in the time of Charles the Second was in
the possession of Sir Alexander Jardine, of Applegarth.
At one time this baronet had confined in the dungeon
of his tower a miller, named Porteous, who was suspected,
■ ■» ■
£«».
I.
~'^^f$l&«
&&>:
i 1:4
O
H
spedlin's tower, 235
truthfully or not cannot be known, of having set fire
wilfully to his own premises ; the alleged object tradition
does not condescend to inform us. Sir Alexander Jar-
dine, soon after this man's incarceration, was suddenly
called away to Edinburgh, and carrying the keys of the
dungeons with him, forgot or disregarded his prisoner,
until he was passing through the West Port, when,
it has been suggested, perhaps the sight of the warder's
kevs brought to his mind his own. He sent back im-
mediately a courier to liberate the unfortunate man, but
Porteous had, in the meantime, perished of hunger.
No sooner was he dead than his ghost began to tor-
ment the household, and no rest was to be had within
Spedlin's Tower by day or by night. In this dilemma
Sir Alexander, according to old use and wont, summoned
a whole legion of ministers to his aid; and by their
strenuous efforts, Porteous was at length confined to the
scene of his mortal agonies where, however, he con-
tinued to scream occasionally at night, '"'Let me out,
let me out, for I 'm deem' o' hunger ! '" He also used
to flutter against the door of the vault, and was always
sure to remove the bark from any twig that was sportively
thrust through the key-hole.
The spell which thus compelled the spirit to remain in
bondage was attached to a large black-lettered Bible,
used by the exorcists, and afterwards deposited in a
stone-niche, which still remains in the wall of the stair-
case ; and it is certain that after the lapse of many
years, when the family repaired to a newer mansion
(Jardine Hall), built on the other side of the river, the
236 HAUNTED HOMES.
Bible was left behind, to keep the restless spirit in order.
On one occasion, indeed, the volume requiring to be
re-bound was sent to Edinburgh ; but the ghost, getting
out of the dungeon, and crossing the river, made such a
disturbance in the new house, hauling the baronet and his
lady out of bed, and committing other annoyances, that
the Bible was recalled before it reached Edinburgh, and
replaced in its former situation.
The good woman who told Grose this story in 1788,
declared that should the Bible again be taken off the
premises, no consideration whatever should induce her
to remain there a single night. But the charm seems to
be now broken, or the ghost must have become either
quiet or disregarded ; for the old Bible has been removed,
and is now kept at Jardine Hall.
STRACHUR MANSE.
Although the name of the person chiefly concerned in
the following narrative is concealed under the initial
" S," the reference to the house where he had his
remarkable vision, and the fact that it was then
occupied by a relative of the gallant Captain, will
afford sufficient means of identification to the curious.
Premising this, it will now suffice to say that some
few years ago Captain S was spending a single
night in the Manse of Strachur, in Argyleshire. This
STRACHUB MANSE. 23?
residence was then in the occupation of some relations
of the Captain, and, so far as is known, had not at
that time the reputation of being haunted.
Soon after the weary guest had retired to rest, the
curtains of the bed were opened and somebody looked
in upon him. Supposing it to be some inmate of the
house who was not aware that the bed was occupied,
the Captain took no notice of the circumstance till,
it being two or three times repeated, he at length said,
"What do you want ? Why do you disturb me in this
manner ? "
" I come," replied a voice, " to tell you that this day
twelvemonth you will be with your father."
After this Captain S was no more disturbed. In
the morning he related the circumstance to his host,
but, being an entire disbeliever in all spiritual pheno-
mena, without attaching any importance to the warning.
In the natural course of events, and quite irrespective
of this visitation, on that day twelvemonth he was
again at the Manse of Strachur, on his way to the
north, for which purpose it was necessary that he should
cross the ferry of Craigie. The day was, however, so
exceedingly stormy, that his friend begged him not to
go ; but he pleaded his business, adding that he was
determined not to be withheld from his intention by the
ghost, and although the minister delayed his departure
by engaging him in a game of backgammon, he at
length started up, declaring he could stay no longer.
They therefore proceeded to the water, but found the
boat was moored to the side of the lake, and the boat*
238 HAUNTED HOMES.
man assured them that it would be impossible to cross.
Captain S , however, insisted, and as the old man was
firm in his refusal, he became somewhat irritated, and
laid his cane lightly across his shoulders.
"It ill becomes you, Sir," said the ferryman, "to
strike an old man like me ; but since you will have your
way, you must. I cannot go with you, but my son
will ; but you will never reach the other side, he will be
drowned, and vou too."
The boat was then set afloat, and Captain S ,
together with his horse and servant, and the ferryman's
son, embarked in it.
The distance was not great, but the storm was
tremendous ; and having, with great difficulty, got half
way across the lake, it was found impossible to proceed.
The danger of tacking was of course considerable ; but,
since they could not advance, there was no alternative
but to turn back, and it was resolved to attempt it. The
manoeuvre, however, failed, the boat capsized, and they
were all precipitated into the water.
"You keep hold of the horse, I can swim," said
Captain S to his servant, when he saw what was
about to happen.
Being an excellent swimmer, and the distance from
the shore inconsiderable, he hoped to save himself, but
he hod on a heavy topcoat, with boots and spurs. The
coat he contrived to take off in the water, and then
struck out with confidence ; but, alas ! the coat had got
entangled with one of the spurs, and as he swam it
clung to him, getting heavier and heavier as it became
TAUNTON. 239
saturated with water, even dragging him beneath the
stream. He, however, reached the shore, where his
anxious friend still stood watching the event, and as the
latter bent over him, he was just able to make a gesture
with his hand, which seemed to say, " You see, it was to
be ! " and then expired.
The boatman was also drowned, but, by the aid of the
horse, the servant escaped.
I
TAUNTON.
Stories of haunted houses and ghostly tales are very
prevalent in the western counties. Somersetshire is
especially rich in these things, and one of the most
suggestive accounts, of the many which have appeared
in the pages of Notes and Queries, relates to this
county. Mr. T. Westwood, who furnished the follow-
ing narrative to the above publication, gave it as a
faithful report, so far as he was concerned, and we re-
produce it in the words of our authority : —
In the year 1840 I was detained for several months
in the sleepy old town of Taunton. My chief associate
during that time was a fox-hunting squire — a bluff,
hearty, genial type of his order, with just sufficient
intellectuality to temper his animal exuberance. Many
were our merry rides among the thorpes and hamlets of
pleasant Somersetshire ; and it was in one of these
^10 HAUNTED HOMES.
excursions, while the evening sky was like molten
copper, and a fiery March wind coursed like a race-
horse over the open downs, that he related to me the
story of what he called his Luminous Chamber.
" Coming back from the hunt, after dark, he said he
had frequently observed a central window, in an old hall
not far from the roadside, illuminated. All the other
windows were dark, but from this one a wan, dreary
light was visible ; and as the owners had deserted the
place, and he knew it had no occupant, the lighted
window became a puzzle to him.
" On one occasion, having a brother squire with him,
and both carrying good store of port wine under their
girdles, they declared they would solve the mystery of
the Luminous Chamber then and there. The lodge was
still tenanted by an aged porter ; him they roused up,
and after some delay, having obtained a lantern, and
the keys of the hall, they proceeded to make their
entry. Before opening the great door, however, my
squire averred he had made careful inspection of the
front of the house from the lawn. Sure enough, the
central window was illuminated — an eerie, forlorn-
looking light, made it stand out in contrast to the rest
— a dismal light, that seemed to have nothing in
common with the wrorld, or the life that is. The two
squires visited all the other rooms, leaving the luminous
room till the last. There was nothing noticeable in
any of them ; they were totally obscure. But on enter-
ing the luminous room a marked change was percep-
tible. The light in it was not full, but sufficiently so
TAUNTON. 211
beneath them to distinguish its various articles of furni-
ture, which were common and scanty enough. What
struck them most was the uniform diffusion of the light ;
it was as strong under the table as on the table, so that
no single object projected any shadow on the floor, nor
did they themselves project any shadow. Looking into
a great mirror over the mantel-piece, nothing could be
weirder, the squire declared, than the reflection in it of
the dim, wan-lighted chamber, and of the two awe-
stricken faces that glared on them from the midst — his
own and his companion's. He told me, too, that he
had not been many seconds in the room before a sick
faintness stole over him, a feeling — such was his expres-
sion, I remember — as if his life were being sucked out
of him. His friend owned afterwards to a similar sen-
sation. The upshot of it was that both squires de-
camped crestfallen, and made no further attempt at
solving the mystery.
"It had always been the same, the old porter grum-
bled ; the family had never occupied the room, but
there were no ghosts — the room had a light of its oun.
*'A less sceptical spirit might have opined that the
room was full of ghosts — an awful conclave — viewless,
inscrutable, but from whom emanated that deathly and
aeauiy luminousness.
"My squires must have gone the way of all squires
ere this. After * life's fitful fever,' do they { sleep well ' ?
Or have they both been 'sucked' into the luminous
medium, as a penalty for their intrusion ? "
u
242 HAUNTED HOMES,
TEDWORTH.
Joseph Glanvil, whose unjustly neglected Essays con-
tain some of the most magnificent germ thoughts of his
age, wrote a curious work on witchcraft entitled Saddu-
cismus Triumphatus. This work contains what its
author styles " a choice collection of modern relations,"
referring to more or less known cases of apparitions,
and similar supernatural phenomena. The chief of these
relations is an account of the haunting of a house at
Tedworth, Wiltshire, belonging to a Mr. John Mompes-
son, and considering the length of time the disturbances
endured, the position of the people who investigated the
case, and the unfathomable mystery in which it still
remains, it may be considered one of the most remark-
able instances of its kind on record. Following the
particulars furnished by Glanvil, who personally investi-
gated the whole affair, the extraordinary story may be
thus detailed : —
In March, 1661, Mr. Mompesson, who was a man of
good family and well endowed with worldly possessions,
in his magisterial capacity caused to be arrested and
sent to Gloucester Jail as a rogue and vagabond a
wandering beggar, who had been going about the
country annoying people by his vehement solicitations
for alms, and disturbing their quiet by the noisy beating
of a large drum. Mr. Mompesson committed him to
prison and had the drum consigned to the custody of
TEDWORTH. 243
the bailiff, and to this circumstance was attributed all
the disturbances to which the unfortunate magistrate
and his household were subsequently subjected.
In the month following the vagrant's arrest Mr.
Mompesson had occasion to visit London, but just
before his departure the bailiff, for reasons not stated,
took an opportunity of sending the man's drum to the
magistrate's house. When he returned from his journey
to the metropolis, Mr. Mompesson was informed by his
wife that they had been much frightened during his
absence bv thieves, and that the house had been nearly
Mr * •*
broken into. He had not been home above three nights
when noises similar to those that had terrified his family
in his absence were again heard. It was a great knocking
at the doors and outside of the house. " Hereupon he
got up," to follow Glanvil's account, " and went about
the house with a brace of pistols in his hands. He
opened the door where the great knocking was, and
then he heard the noise at another door. He opened
that also, and went out round his house, but could
discover nothing, only he still heard a strange noise
and hollow sound. When he got back to bed there was
a thumping and drumming on the top of his house,
which continued a good space, and then by degrees went
off into the air.
" After this," according to Glanvil, " the noise of
thumping and drumming was very frequent, usually five
nights together, and then it would intermit three. It
was on the outside of the house, which was most of it
of board. It constantly came as they were going to
16 *
244 HAUNTED HOMES.
sleep, whether early or late. After a month's distur-
bance without, it came into the room where the drum
lay, four or five nights in seven, within half an hour
after they were in bed, continuing almost two. The
sign of it, just before it came, was a hurling in the air
over the house ; and at its going off, the beating of a
drum, like that at the breaking up of a guard. It
continued in this room for the space of two months,
which time Mr. Mompesson himself lay there to
observe it.
Mrs. Mompesson's confinement now taking place, the
distressing noises politely refrained from manifesting
themselves; but " after this civil cessation," as Glanvil
phrases it, of about three weeks, the disturbances re-
turned " in a ruder manner than before, and followed
and vexed the youngest children, beating their bedsteads
with that violence that all present expected that they
would fall to pieces. In laying hands on them one
could feel no blows, but might perceive them to shake
exceedingly. For an hour together it would beat" the
"Tattoo," and "several other points of war, as well
as any drummer. After this they would hear a scratch-
ing under the children's bed, as if by something that
had iron talons. It would lift the children up in their
beds, follow them from one room to another, and for a
while haunted none particularly but them."
" On the 5th of November," says Glanvil, " it made
a mighty noise ; and a servant observing two boards
in the children's room seeming to move, he bid it give
him one of them. Upon which the board came (nothing
TEDWORTH. 245
moving it that he saw) within a yard of him. The man
added, * Nay, let me have it in my hand ' ; upon which
the spirit, devil, or drummer pushed it towards him so
close that he might touch it. This," continues Glanvil,
" was in the day-time, and seen by a whole roomful of
people. That morning it left a sulphureous smell behind
it which was very offensive.
" At night the minister, one Mr. Cragg, and several
of the neighbours came to the house on a visit. Mr.
Cragg went to prayers with them, kneeling at the
children's bedside, where it then became very trouble-
some and loud. During prayer-time the spirit withdrew
into the cock-loft, but returned as soon as prayers were
done ; and then, in sight of the company, the chairs
walked about the room of themselves, the children's
shoes were hurled over their heads, and every loose
thing moved above the chamber. At the same time a
bed-staff was thrown against the minister, which hit
him on the leg, but so favourably that a lock of wool
could not have fallen more softly."
As Mr. Mompesson found his youngest children were
suffering so much from these persecutions, he had them
removed, and lodged them at the house of a neighbour.
His eldest daughter, who was about ten years of age,
was taken into her father's own room, where there had
not been any disturbance for a month or so. " As soon
as she was in bed," continues the narration, " the
disturbance began there again, continuing three weeks,
drumming and making other noises; and it was observed
that it would answer exactly, in drumming, anything
246 HAUNTED HOMES.
that was beaten or called for," just in the same way as
with the modern spirit-rappings, it has been suggested.
Among the many things noted or reported of this
house-haunting was, "that when the noise was loudest,
and came with the most sudden and surprising violence,
no dog about the house would move, though the knock-
ing was oft so boisterous and rude that it hath been
heard at a considerable distance in the fields, and
awakened the neighbours in the village," none of whom
lived very near Mr. Mompesson's bewitched abode.
On one occasion when the village blacksmith, a fellow
who feared neither man nor devil, slept with John, the
footman, so that he might hear the supernatural noises
and be cured of his incredulity, " there came a noise in
the room as if one had been shoeing a horse, and some-
what came, as it were, with a pair of pincers," snipping
away at the sceptical blacksmith the chief part of the
night. Next day the invisible being came panting like
a dog out of breath, and a woman who was present
taking up a staff to knock at it, the weapon "was
caught suddenly out of her hand and thrown away; and
company coming up, the room was presently filled with
a bloomy noisome smell, and was very hot, though
without fire, in a very sharp and severe winter. It con-
tinued in the bed, panting and scratching for an hour
and a half, and then went into the next room, when it
knocked a little, and seemed to rattle a chain."
For two whole years, with some occasional inter-
missions, these disturbances continued, creating such
intense excitement, not only in the vicinity of Tedworth,
TEDWORTH. 247
but all over the country, that at last the King sent
a Commission to specially investigate the circumstances,
and to draw up and furnish him with a report of the
whole affair. Whatever, however, may have "been the
cause, during the visit of the Royal Commission the
disturbances ceased, and no manifestations took place.
" As to the quiet of the house when the courtiers were
there," says Glanvil, " the intermission may have been
accidental, or, perhaps, the demon was not willing to
give so public a testimony of those transactions which
might possibly convince those whom he had rather should
continue in unbelief of his existence."
However, no sooner were the Royal Commissioners
gone than the mysterious annoyance recommenced,
and was manifested in many unpleasant fashions;
sometimes it purred like a cat, or beat the children's
legs black and blue; once it put a long spike into Mr.
Mompesson's bed, and a knife into his mother's; filled
the porringers with ashes, hid a Bible in the grate, and
turned the money in people's pockets black. On one
occasion a servant of Mr. Mompesson's averred that he
had not only heard but seen this pertinacious demon,
which came and stood at the foot of his bed. " The exact
shape and proportion of it he could not discover ; but
he saw a great body, with two red and glaring eyes,
which, for some time, were fixed steadily on him, and at
length disappeared."
In the meanwhile, Mr. Mompesson believed, and
several of his friends appear to have had a similar
opinion, that all the noises and troubles were occasioned
tt
tt
248 HAUNTED HOMES.
by the imprisoned drummer who was still in jail at
Gloucester. In confirmation, as it were, of this idea,
the following evidence is given :
During the time of the knocking," says Glanvil,
when many were present, a gentleman of the company
said, 'Satan, if the drummer set thee to work, give three
knocks, and no more,' which it did very distinctly, and
stopt. Then the gentleman knockt to see if it would
answer him as it was wont; hut it did not. For farther
trial, he bid it, for confirmation, if it were the drummer,
to give five knocks and no more that night, which it did,
and let the house quiet all the night after. This was
done in the presence of Sir Thomas Chamberlain, of
Oxford, and divers others."
In the meantime, the drummer being visited one day
in jail by a person from the neighbourhood of Ted worth,
he asked what was the news in Wiltshire, and, so it is
alleged, whether people did not talk a great deal about
a drumming in a gentleman's house there ? The visitor
replied that he had heard of nothing ; to which the
drummer responded: "I have done it; I have thus
plagued him ; and he shall never be quiet until he
hath made me satisfaction for taking away my drum."
Mr. Mompesson had the drummer taken up again,
and this time for felony, for the supposed witchcraft
about his house. The grand jury found a true bill
against the man, but he was acquitted, his connection
with the disturbances not being proved.
What subsequently became of the drummer is rather
uncertain, but that he was eventually tried and convicted
TEDWOETH. 249
of witchcraft at Salisbury appears to be a fact, as also
that he was sentenced to transportation for the crime.
The leniency of the sentence is said to have excited no
little surprise at that time, the offence of which he was
found guilty generally being punished by death.
Hitherto the history of the haunting at Tedworth is
only a recapitulation of what Glanvil took down from
the mouths of other people, but his own personal expe-
riences should not be ignored in any account of this
extraordinary affair. In January 1662 he visited the
scene of the disturbance himself, and furnishes the
following record of what he observed : —
"About this time I went to the house on purpose to
inquire the truth of those passages, of which there was
so loud a report. It had ceased from its drumming and
ruder noises before I came thither ; but most of the
more remarkable circumstances before related were con-
firmed to me there, by several of the neighbours together,
who had been present at them. At this time it used to
haunt the children, and that as soon as they were laid
in bed. They went to bed that night I was there, about
eight of the clock, when a maid-servant, coming down
from them, told us it was come. The neighbours that
were there, and two ministers who had seen and heard
divers times, went away ; but Mr. Mompesson and I,
and a gentleman that came with me, went up. I heard
a strange scratchiug as we went up the stairs, and when
we came into the room, I perceived it was just behind
the bolster of the children's bed, and seemed to be
against the tick. It was loud scratching, as one with
250 HAUNTED HOMES.
long nails could make upon a bolster. There were two
little modest girls in the bed, between seven and eleven
years old, as I guessed. I saw their hands out of the
clothes, and they could not contribute to the noise that
was behind their heads. They had been used to it, and
had still somebody or other in the chamber with them,
and therefore seemed not to be much affrighted. I,
standing at the bed's head, thrust my hand behind the
bolster, directing it to the place whence the noise seemed
to come. Whereupon the noise ceased there, and was
heard in another part of the bed. But when I had
taken out my hand it returned, and was heard in the
same place as before. I had been told that it would
imitate noises, and made trial by scratching several
times upon the sheet, as five, and seven, and ten, which
it followed, and still stopped at my number. I searched
under and behind the bed, turned up the clothes to the
bed-cords, graspt the bolster, sounded the wall behind,
and made all the search that possibly I could, to find
if there were any trick, contrivance, or common cause of
it. The like did my friend ; but we could discover nothing.
So that I was then verily persuaded, and am so still,
that the noise was made by some demon or spirit. After
it had scratched about half an hour or more, it went into
the midst of the bed, under the children, and then seemed
to pant, like a dog out of breath, very loudly. I put
my hand upon the place, and felt the bed bearing up
against it, as if something within had thrust it up. I
grasped the feathers to feel if any living thing were in
it. I looked under, and everywhere about, to see if
TEDWOBTH. 251
there were any dog, or cat, or any such creature, in the
room, and so we all did, but found nothing. The motion
it caused by this panting was so strong, that it shook the
rooms and windows very sensibly. It continued more
than half an hour, while my friend and I stayed in the
room, and as long after, as we were told.
"It will, I know, be said by some, that my friend
and I were under some affright, and so fancied noises
and sights that were not. This is the eternal evasion.
But if it be possible to know how a man is affected
when in fear, and when unaffected, I certainly know,
for mine own part, that during the whole time of my
being in the room, and in the house, I was under no
more afTrightnient than I am while I write this relation.
And if I know that I am now awake, and that I see
the objects that are before me, I know that I heard
and saw the particulars that I have told."
Thus ends the Rev. Joseph Glanvil's account of this
extraordinary affair, from which Mr. Mompesson, as he
remarks, " suffered by it in his name, in his estate, in
all his affairs, and in the general peace of his family,"
because, as the same authority points out, " the un-
believers, in the matter of spirits and witches, took him
for an impostor, many others judged the permission of
such an extraordinary evil to be the judgment of God
upon him for some notorious wickedness or impiety.
Thus his name was continually exposed to censure, and
his estate suffered by the concourse of people from all
parts to his house ; by the diversion it gave him from
his affairs ; by the discouragement of servants, by
252 HAUNTED HOMES.
reason of which he could hardly get any to live with
him ; to which I add the continual hurry that his
family was in, the affrights, and the watchings and dis-
turbance of his whole house (in which himself must
needs be the most concerned). I say if these things
are considered, there will be little reason to think he
would have any interest to put a cheat upon the world,
in which he would most of all have injured and abused
himself."
Mr. Mompesson, writing on the 8th of November
1672, or ten years after the events recorded had taken
place, besides pointing out that no discovery had been
made of any cheat, declared most solemnly that he
knew of none, as he had, indeed, testified at the assizes.
" If the world will not believe it," he concluded, "it
shall be indifferent to me, praying God to keep me from
the same or the like affliction."
TRURO.
Probably the last person one would imagine selected
for a supernatural warning was Samuel Foote, the
mimic and buffoon. And yet the so-called "English
Aristophenes " not only dwelt in a haunted house, or
at least believed so, but was closely connected with the
chief characters of one of the most unnatural tragedies
our judicial records have preserved. Foote's maternal
TKTJRO. 253
uncles were Sir John Goodere and Captain Goodere, a
naval officer. In 1740 the two brothers dined at a
friend's house near Bristol ; for a loner time they had
been on bad terms owing to certain money transactions,
but at the dinner table a reconciliation was, to all
appearance, arrived at between them. On his return
home, however, Sir John was waylaid by some men
from his brother's vessel, acting by his brother's
authority, carried on board, and deliberately strangled ;
Captain Goodere not only unconcernedly looking on,
but actually furnishing the rope with which the crime
was committed. For this atrocity the fratricidal officer
and his confederates were tried at the Bristol assizes,
found guilty, and executed.
But, say the biographers of Foote, the strangest
part of this terrible tale remains to be told. On the
night the murder was perpetrated Foote arrived at his
father's house at Truro ; he describes himself as having
been kept awake for some time by the softest and
sweetest strains of music he had ever heard. At first
he tried to fancy it was a serenade got up by some of
the family to welcome him home; but not beinsr able
to discover any trace of the musicians, he was com-
pelled to come to the conclusion that the sounds were
the mere offspring of his imagination.
Some short time afterwards Foote learnt the par-
ticulars of his uncle's terrible fate, and remarking that
the murder had been consummated at the same hour
of the same night that he had been haunted by the
mysterious sounds, he arrived at the conclusion that it
254 HAUNTED HOMES.
was a supernatural warning, and this impression he is^
said to have retained to the last moments of his
existence.
WALTHAM, ESSEX.
In his Treatise on Spirits, John Beaumont recites a
very singular account of an apparition seen by the
daughter of Sir Charles Lee, and related to the Bishop
of Gloucester by the lady's father himself. It is
considered one of the best authenticated cases on
record.
Sir Charles Lee had one only daughter by his first
wife, who died at the child's birth. At her own desire,
Lady Everard, sister of the deceased lady, had the
child with her to educate it, and kept it under her care
until she was of marriageable age. Ultimately, Miss
Lee was engaged to Sir William Perkins, and the
marriage was agreed upon, when it was prevented in an
extraordinary manner. " Upon a Thursday night," to
quote the Bishop's own words, Miss Lee, i{ thinking
she saw a light in her chamber after she was in bed,
knocked for her maid, who presently came to her ; and
she asked her why she left a candle burning in hei
chamber. The maid said she left none, and there was
none but what she brought with her at that time. Then
she said it was the fire ; but that, her maid told her,
was quite out, and said she believed it was only a dream.
WALTHAM. ESSEX. 2->5
whereupon she said it might be so, and composed her-
self again to sleep. But about two of the clock she
was awakened again, and saw the apparition of a little
woman between her curtain and her pillow, who told
her she was her mother, that she was happy, and that
by twelve o'clock that day she should be with her.
Whereupon she knocked again for her maid, called for
her clothes, and when she was dressed went into her
closet, and came not out again till nine, and then
brought out with her a letter, sealed, to her father,
brought it to her aunt, the Lady Everard, told her
what had happened, and desired that as soon as she
was dead it might be sent to him. But the lady thought
she was suddenly fallen mad, and thereupon sent
presently away to Chelmsford for a physician and
surgeon, who both came immediately; but the physician
could discern no indication of what the lady imagined,
or of any indisposition of her body Notwithstanding
the lady would needs have her let blood, which was
done accordingly. And when the young woman had
patiently let them do what they would with her, she
desired that the chaplain might be called to read prayers ;
and when the prayers were ended she took her guitar
and psalm-book, and sate down upon a chair without
arms, and played and sung so melodiously and admir-
ablv, that her music-master, who was there, admired at
it. And near the stroke of twelve she rose, and sat
herself down in a great chair with arms, and presently,
fetching a strong breathing or two, immediately ex
pired ; and was so suddenly cold as was much wondered
256 HAUNTED HOMES.
at by the physician and surgeon. She died at Waltham,
in Essex, three miles from Chelmsford ; and the letter
was sent to Sir Charles, at his house in Warwickshire ;
but he was so afflicted with the death of his daughter,
that he came not till she was buried. But when he
came he caused her body to be taken up and to be t
buried by her mother at Edmonton, as she desired in
her letter."
This event occurred in 1662, and there is no record,
so far as we are aware, that any later, or, indeed, any
previous, supernatural manifestations took place at Lady
Everard's place.
WABBLINGTON PAKSONAGE.
The following account of the hauntings at Warblington
Parsonage, Hampshire, furnishes particulars of a story
often referred to by writers on the supernatural, but
which, apparently, they have never read, and only speak
of by repute. The original version, as now repeated,
was given in a letter written by Caswell, the mathe-
matician, to the learned Dr. Bentley, whilst the
latter was living at the house of Stillingfleet, the
celebrated Bishop of Worcester. The name of the
deceased person who was supposed to have appeared
was suppressed at the time, for obvious reasons, but it
has since been discovered to have been the Rev.
Sebastian Pitfield, who was incumbent in 1677. An
WARBLINGTON PARSONAGE. 257
extract from Caswell's letter to Bentley will serve to
introduce the narrative itself ; he writes : —
"I have sent you enclosed a relation of an appa-
rition. The story I had from two persons, who each had
it from the author, and yet their accounts somewhat
varied, and passing through more mouths has varied
much more ; therefore I got a friend to hring me the
author, at a chamber, where I wrote it down from the
author's mouth, and which, when I read it to him, and
gave him another copy, he said he could swear to the
truth of it as far as he was concerned. He is the curate
of Warblington, Bachelor of Arts in Trinity College,
Oxford, about six years standing in the University. T
hear no ill report of his behaviour here. He is now gone
to his curacy. He has promised to send up the hands of
the tenant and his man, and the farmer's men, as far as
they are concerned. Mr. Brereton, the rector, would
have him say nothing of the story, for that he can get
no tenant, though he has offered the house for ten
pounds a year less. Mr. P., the former incumbent,
whom the apparition represented, was a man of a very ill
report, supposed to have got children of his maid, and
to have murdered them ; but I advised the curate to say
nothing himself of this last part of P., but to leave
that to the parishioners who knew him."
The narrative enclosed by Caswell, of the apparition,
as written out by the curate, the Rev. Thomas Wilkins,
on the 15th of December 1695, is as follows : —
"At Warblington, near Havant, Hampshire, within
six miles of Portsmouth, in the parsonage-house, dwelt
17
258 HAUNTED HOMES.
Thomas Perce, the tenant, with his wife and child, a
man-servant Thomas, and a maid-servant. About the
beginning of August 1695, on a Monday, about nine or
ten at night, all being gone to bed except the maid
with the child, she being in the kitchen, and having
raked up the fire, took a candle in one hand, and the
child in the other arm, and turning about, saw someone
in a black gown walking through the room, and thence
out of the door into the orchard. Upon this the maid,
hasting up-stairs, having recovered but two steps,
cried out ; on which the master and mistress van
down, found the candle in her hand, she grasping the
child about its neck with the other arm. She told them
the reason of her crying out ; she would not that night
tarry in the house, but removed to another belonging to
one Henry Salter, farmer, where she cried out all the
night from the terror she was in, and she could not be
persuaded to go to the house upon any terms.
" On the morrow, Tuesday, the tenant's wife came to
me, lodging then at Havant, to desire my advice, and
have consultation with some friends about it. I told her
I thought it was a flam, and that they had a mind to
abuse Mr. Brereton, the rector, whose house it was. She
desired me to come up. T told her T would oomo up
and sit up, or lie there, as she pleased ; for then, as to
all stories of ghosts, or apparitions, I was an infidel. I
went thither and sat up the Tuesday night with the
tenant and his man-servant. About twelve or one o'clock
I searched all the rooms in the house, to see if anybodv
were hid there to impose upon me. At last we came,
WARBLINGTON PARSONAGE. 259
into a lumber-room; there I smiling told the tenant
that was with me, that I would call for the apparition,
if there was any, and oblige him to come. The tenant
then seemed to be afraid, but I told him I would defend
him from harm, and then I repeated Barbara celarent
Darii, &c. jestingly ; on this the tenant's, countenance
changed, so that he was ready to drop down with fear.
Then I told him I perceived he was afraid, and I would
prevent its coming, and repeated Baralipton, &c, and
then he recovered his spirits pretty well, and we left
the room and went down into the kitchen, where we
were before, and sate up there the remaining part of the
night, and had no manner of disturbance.
"Thursday night the tenant and I lay together in
one room, and he saw something walk along in a black
gown and place itself against a window, and there stood
for some time, and then walked off. Friday morning,
the man relating this, I asked him why he did not call
me, and I told him I thought that it was a trick or flam ;
he told me the reason why he did not call me was
that he was not able to speak or move. Friday night
we lay as before, and Saturday night, and had no dis-
turbance either of the nights.
" Sunday I lay by myself in one room (not that
where the man saw the apparition), and the tenant, and
his man in one bed in another room, and betwixt
twelve and two the man heard something walk in their
room at the bed's foot, and whistling very well, and at
last it came to the bed's bide, drew the curtain, ami
looked on them. After some time it moved off; tLicn Lho
17 *
260 HAUNTED HOMES.
man called to me, desired me to come, for that there was
something in the room went about whistling. I asked
him whether he had any light, or could strike one ; he
told me no. Then I leapt out of bed, and not staying
to put on my clothes, went out of my room, and along
a gallery to the door, which I found locked or bolted.
I desired him to unlock the door, for that I could not
get in ; then he got out of bed and opened the door,
which was near, and went immediately to bed again.
I went in three or four steps, and it being a moonlight
light, I saw the apparition move from the bedside, and
stop up against the wall that divided their room and
mine. I went and stood directly against it, within my
arm's length of it, and asked it, in the name of God,
what it was that made it come disturbing of us ? I
stood some time expecting an answer and receiving
none, and thinking it might be some fellow hid in
the room to fright me, I put out my arm to feel it, and
my ha?id seemingly icent through the body of it, and
felt no manner of substance till it came to the wall;
then I drew back my hand, and still it was in the same
place.
" Till now," declares Mr. Wilkins, "I had not the
least fear, and even now had very little ; then I adjured
it to tell me what it was. When I had said those
words it, keeping its back against the wall, moved
gently along towards the door. I followed it, and it,
going out at the door, turned its back towards me. It
went a little along the gallery, I followed it a little into
the gallery, and it disappeared, where there was no
WARBLINGTON PAKSONAGE. 261
corner for it to turn, and before it came to the end of
the gallery, where were the stairs. Then I found myself
very cold from my feet as high as my middle, though I
was not in great fear. I went iuto the bed betwixt
the tenant and his man, and they complained of my
being exceedingly cold. The tenant's man leaned over
his master in the bed, and saw me stretch out my hand
towards the apparition, and heard me speak the words ;
the tenant also heard the words. The apparition
seemed to have a morning gown of a darkish colour, no
hat nor cap, short black hair, a thin, meagre visage of a
pale swarthy colour, seemed to be of about forty-
five or fifty years old, the eyes half shut, the arms
hanging down, the hands visible beneath the sleeves, of a
middle stature. I related this description to Mr. John
Lardner, rector of Havant, and to Major Battin of
Langstone, in Havant parish ; they both said the
description agreed very well to Mr. P(itfield), a former
rector of the place, who has been dead above twenty
years. Upon this the tenant and his wife left the house,
which has remained void since.
" The Monday after last Michaelmas," resumes Mr.
Wilkins, " a man of Chodson, in Warwickshire, having
been at Havant fair, passed by the foresaid parsonage
house about nine or ten at night, and saw a light in
most of the rooms of the house. His pathway being
close by the house, he, wondering at the light, looked
into the kitchen window, and saw only a light ; but
turning himself to go away, he saw the appearance of a
man in a long gown. He made haste away ; the appa-
262 HAUNTED HOMES.
rition followed him over a piece of glebe-land of several
acres to a lane, which he crossed, and over a little
meadow, and then over another lane to some pales
which belong to farmer Henry Salter, my landlord, near
a barn, in which were some of the farmer's men and
some others. This man went into the barn, told them
how he was frighted and followed from the parsonage-
house by an apparition, which they might see standing
against the pales if they went out. They went out, and
saw it scratch against the pales, and make a hideous
noise. It stood there some time, and then disappeared.
Their description agreed with what I saw. This last
account I had from the man himself whom it followed,
and also from the farmer's men."
In conclusion may be appended to this very circum-
stantial document of the Rev. Thomas Wilkins, the
statement that it was subsequently alleged that the Rev.
Sebastian Pitfield, whom the apparition was presumed
to personify, had murdered his own illegitimate children.
WESTMINSTER.
Among the many extremely curious stories of appari-
tions which correspondence on them and kindred sub-
jects has elicited, is the following, which was fur-
nished bv Mr. T. J. Allman to the columns of Notes and
Queries. It was communicated to that gentleman, the
WESTMINSTER. 263
well-known publisher (it is believed), by the Rev. Mr.
L , a clergyman of the Church of England ; but as
it was published without Mr. L 's consent having
been first obtained, his name was not given. Unfortu-
nately, no more definite address than Westminster can
be given, that being the locality, however, where the
apparition appeared to Captain L . The clergy-
man's narrative is this : —
" One evening, some two years since, my brother, an
officer in the army, residing at Westminster, surprised
me with a late visit at my house in Holloway, just as
we were retiring to rest. ' Brother ! ' exclaimed he, in
an excited manner, ' mother is dead ! ' ' When and how*
did you hear ? ' I replied, as she was living some con-
siderable distance from town, and was, a3 far as we both
knew, although aged, in good health. ' I have seen her
pass me twice this evening in my room, with her head
bandaged up, and I could not rest till I saw you,' was
his answer.
" In consequence of his conviction and entreaties, it
was determined to take the first train in the morning to
the locality where our mother resided, and, upon our
arrival, sure enough we found, to my surprise, that our
mother had died suddenly the previous evening at the
exact hour my brother had witnessed the apparition."
For the truth of this story Mr. Allman stated he
would vouch.
264 HAUNTED HOMES.
WESTMINSTER: KING STREET.
In his Miscellanies, Aubrey cites the singular narrative
of Captain Henry Bell, originally given in the Preface
to the translation of Luther's Table Talk. Captain
Bell begins by declaring that whilst employed beyond
the seas in various State affairs for King Charles II.
and his successor, James II., he had heard much lamen-
tation made over the great destruction, by burning
and otherwise, of Martin Luther's Discourses. This
work, which was supposed to have largely promoted
the reformation, was condemned by Pope Gregory
XIII., and placed under the ban of the Empire by
Rudolph III. This latter monarch ordered that all
printed copies of the work should be burned, and
that any person retaining a copy would be liable to
the punishment of death. In consequence of this
rigorous edict, and the stringency with which it was
enforced, in a little while no copies were obtainable.
A certain Caspar von Sparr, however, according to
Captain Bell's account, accidentally discovered a copy,
in 1626, which had escaped the wholesale destruction
the work had suffered. As the prosecution of Protes-
tantism still continued, this gentleman was afraid to
retain possession of the interdicted book, and yet, un-
willing to destroy it, thought of Captain Bell. Know-
ing that he was thoroughly acquainted with German, he
forwarded him the wonderfully preserved work, earnestly
WESTMINSTER: KING STREET. 2()5
impressing upon him the utility of translating it into
English.
Captain Bell did not appear to he in any great hasto
to comply with this request, but, nevertheless, took the
work in hand, " and many times began to translate the
same," as he remarks, "but always I was hindered
therein, being called upon about other business, inso-
much that by no possible means I could remain by that
work." About six weeks after he had received the book
from Germany, "it fell out," to cite his own words,
" that being in bed with my wife, one night between
twelve and one o'clock, she being asleep, but myself
yet awake, there appeared unto me an ancient man,
standing at my bedside, arrayed in white, having a long
and broad white beard hanging down to his girdle, who,
taking me by the right ear, spake these words following
unto me : f Sirrah, will not you take time to translate
that book which is sent unto you out of Germany ? I
will provide for you both place and time to do it' ; and
then he vanished out of my sight.
" Whereupon, being much affrighted," Captain Bell
continues, " I fell into an extreme sweat, insomuch that,
my wife awaking, she asked me what I ailed. I told
her what I had seen and heard ; but I never did heed or
regard visions nor dreams, and so the same fell soon out
of my mind.
m
" Then about a fortnight after I had seen the vision,
on a Sunday, I went to Whitehall to hear the sermon,
after which ended, I returned to my lodging, which was
then in King Street, Westminster, and sitting down
266 HAUNTED HOMES.
to dinner with my wife, two messengers were sent from
the Council Board to carry me to the keeper of the
gate-house at Westminster, there to be safely kept, until
further orders from the Lords of the Council."
This was done, avers Bell, without any cause being
shown ; but his real offence, according to Aubrey, was
that he had much importuned the Lord Treasurer for
considerable arrears which were due to him, and which
that official not being willing to discharge, " clapt him
up into prison." Be the cause what it may, Bell was
detained in close confinement for ten years, five of
which, he states, he spent in translating the work of
Luther above referred to. As he quaintly remarks,
" I found the words very true which the old man in the
aforesaid vision said unto me, ' i" will shortly provide
you both place and time to translate it.' w
WILLINGTON MILL.
Willington is a hamlet, lying in a deep valley between
Newcastle-on-Tyne and North Shields. Thirty years
ago it consisted of a parsonage, some few cottages, a
mill, and the miller's house. The mill is, or was thirty
years ago, a large steam flour-mill, like a factory, and
near it, but completely detached, was the miller's house.
WILLINGTON MILL. 26
rm
Messrs. Unthank and Proctor were the proprietors and
workers of the mill, aud Mr. Joseph Procter, one of the
partners, resided in the house adjoining it. Mr. Procter,
a respectable member of the Society of Friends, a man
in the prime of life, was married to a lady belonging to
the same religious fraternity, and was the father of
several young children.
The house in which Mr. Procter resided was built
about the beginniug of the present century, and as
described by Mr. Howitt in 1847, had nothing spectral
in its appearance, although located in a somewhat wild-
looking region, just off the river Tyne. The railway
runs close by it, and engines connected with coal mines
are constantly at work in its vicinity. When rumours
as to the miller's residence being haunted began to
spread, Mr. Procter, it is alleged, although evidently
much troubled by the disturbances in his dwelling, was
unwilling to give publicity to his troubles. Apparently
this unwillingness wore off eventually, as in course of
time Mr. Procter frequently communicated with the
Press on matters connected with the singular events at
Wellington.
The chief published authority for an account of the
haunted house at Willington, would appear to be a
pamphlet reprinted in The Local Historian's Table
Book, whence Mr. Howitt and Mrs. Crowe derived their
particulars, and whence the following statement is chiefly
taken.
" We have visited the house in question," says the
writer of the pamphlet referred to, " and it may not be
268 HAUNTED HOMES.
irrelevant to mention that it is quite detached from the
mill, or any other premises, and has no cellaring under
it. The proprietor of the house, who lives in it, de-
clines to make public the particulars of the disturbance
to which he has been subjected, and it must be under-
stood that the account of the visit we are about to lay
before our readers is derived from a friend to whom
Mr. Drury presented a copy of his correspondence on
the subject, with power to make such use of it as he
thought proper. We learned that the house had been
reputed, at least one room in it, to have been haunted
forty years ago, and had afterwards been undisturbed
for a long period, during some years of which
quietude the present occupant lived in it unmolested.
We are also informed that, about the time that the
premises were building there were reports of some
deeds of darkness having been committed by someone
employed about them."
The writer of this account, after alluding to the
strange things seen and heard, or said to have been seen
and heard, by various persons in the neighbourhood,
proceeds to quote the following correspondence which,
he remarks, " passed between individuals of undoubted
veracity." The copy of the first letter on the subject,
written by Mr. Edward Drury, of Sunderland, to Mr.
Procter, reads thus: —
" 17th June 1840. "
" Sir, — Having heard from indisputable authority,
viz. that of my excellent friend, Mr. Davison, of Low
Willi ngton, farmer, that you and your family are dis-
WILLINGTON MILL. 2G9
turbed by most unaccountable noises at night, I beg
leave to tell you that I have read attentively Wesley's
account of such things, but with, I must confess, no
great belief; but on account of this report coming
from one of your sect, which I admire for candour and
simplicity, my curiosity is excited to a high pitch,
which I would fain satisfy. My desire is to remain
alone in the house all night, with no companion but my
own watch-dog, in which, as far as courage and fidelity
are concerned, I place much more reliance than upon
any three young gentlemen I know of. And it is, also,
my hope that if I have a fair trial I shall be able to
unravel this mystery. Mr. Davison will give you every
satisfaction if you take the trouble to inquire of him
concerning me. I am, &c."
In response to this application, Mr. Procter sent the
lollowing note : —
" Joseph Procter's respects to Edward Drury, whose
note he received a few days ago, expressing a wish to
pass a night in his house at Willington. As the family
is going from home on the 23rd instant, and one of
Unthank and Procter's men will sleep in the house, if
E. D. feels inclined to come, on or after the 24th, to
spend a night (sic) in it, he is at liberty so to do, with
or without his faithful dog, which, by-the-bye, can be of
no possible use, except as company. At the same time,
J. P. thinks it best to inform him that particular dis-
turbances are far from frequent at present, being only
occasional, and quite uncertain ; and, therefore, the
270 HAUNTED HOMES.
satisfaction of E. D.'s curiosity must be considered as
problematical. Tbe best chance will be afforded by
his sitting up alone in the third story till it be fairly
daylight, say 2 or 3 a.m.
" Willington, 6th mo. 21st, 1840.
" J. P. will leave word with T. Maun, foreman, to
admit ED."
The Procters left home on the 23rd of June, leaving
the house in charge of an old servant, who, being out
of place on account of ill-health, was induced to under-
take the duty during their absence. On the 3rd of
July, Mr. Procter returned home, having been recalled
by business matters, and on the evening of the same
day Mr. Drury and a companion arrived unexpectedly.
After the house had been locked up for the night,
every corner of it underwent minute examination on
the part of the visitors. The room out of which the
apparition was accustomed to issue was found to
be too shallow to contain any person. Mr. Drury
and his companion were well provided with lights,
and satisfied themselves that there was no one in
the house besides Mr. Procter, his servant, and them-
selves.
Some correspondence which subsequently took place
between Mr. Drury and Mr. Proctor, with respect to
the ill effects of what he did see had had upon the
former, and the request of the latter for a detailed
account of his visitor's experience, need not be
given, as the following letter, copied verbatim, will
WILLINGTON MILL. 271
fully describe what Mr. Drury says he really saw and
heard : —
" Sunderland, July 13th, 1840.
"Dear Sir,
" I hereby, according to promise in my last
letter, forward you a true account of what I heard and
saw at your house, in which I was led to pass the night
from various rumours circulated by most respectable
parties, particularly from an account by my esteemed
friend. Mr. Davison, whose name I mentioned to you in
a former letter. Having received your sanction to visit
your mysterious dwelling, I went, on the 3rd of July,
accompanied by a friend of mine, T. Hudson. This
was not according to promise, nor in accordance with
my first intent, as T wrote you I would come alone;
but I felt gratified at your kindness in not alluding to
the liberty I had taken, as it ultimately proved for the
best. I must here mention that, not expecting you at
home, I had in my pocket a brace of pistols, deter-
mining in my mind to let one of them drop before the
miller, as if by accident, for fear he should presume
to play tricks upon me; but after my interview with
you, I felt there was no occasion for weapons, and did
not load them, after you had allowed us to inspect as
minutely as we pleased every portion of the house. I
sat down on the third-story landing, fully expecting to
account for any noises that I might hear in a philo-
sophical manner. This wras about eleven o'clock p.m.
About ten minutes to twelve we both heard a noi^c, as
272 HAUNTED HOMES. /
if a number of people were pattering with their bare
feet upon the floor, and yet, so singular was the noise,
that I could not minutely determine from whence it
proceeded. A few minutes afterwards we heard a noise,
as if someone was knocking with his knuckles among
our feet ; this was followed by a hollow cough from the
very room from which the apparition proceeded. The
only noise after this, was as if a person was rustling
against the wall in coming up-stairs. At a quarter to
one, I told my friend that, feeling a little cold, I would
like to go to bed, as we might hear the noise equally
well there ; he replied, that he would not go to bed till
daylight. I took up a note which I had accidentally
dropped, and began to read it, after which I took out
my watch to ascertain the time, and found that it
wanted ten minutes to one. In taking my eyes from
the watch they became riveted upon a closet door,
which I distinctly saw open, and saw also the figure of
a female, attired in greyish garments, with the head
inclining downwards and one hand pressed upon the
chest as if in pain, and the other, viz. the right hand,
extended towards the floor with the index finger
pointing downwards. It advanced with an apparently
cautious step across the floor towards me; immediately
as it approached my friend, who was slumbering,
its right hand was extended towards him. I then
rushed at it, giving, as Mr. Procter states, a most
awful yell ; but, instead of grasping it, I fell upon my
friend, and I recollect nothing distinctly for nearly
three hours afterwards. I have since learnt that
WILLINGTON MILL, 273
I was carried down-stairs in an agony of fear and
terror.
"I hereby certify that the above account is strictly
true and correct in every respect.
" Edward Drury."
The appearance in print of Mr. Drury's letter
naturally created a great sensation. Mr. Procter re-
ceived a large number of letters in consequence of the
publication, many of them, it is alleged, being from
individuals in various positions of society, informing
him that their residences were, and had long been,
subjected to similar disturbances to those alleged to
trouble his.
Other instances of the way in which Mr. Procter's
house was haunted are recorded by Mr. Howitt. On
one occasion another apparition was seen by four wit-
nesses, who were enabled to watch its proceedings for
the space of ten minutes. They were on the outside of
the building, when they beheld the apparition of a bare-
headed man, in a flowing robe like a surplice, gliding
backwards and forwards about three feet from the floor,
or level with the bottom of the second-story window,
seeming to enter the wall on each side, thus presenting
the spectators with a side view in passing. " It then
stood still in the window, and a part of the figure came
through both the blind, which was close down, and the
window, as its luminous body intercepted the view of
the framework of the window. It was semi-trp-nsparent,
and as bright as a star, diffusing a radiance ail around.
18
274 HAtJNT&D HOMES.
As it grew more dim, it assumed a blue tinge, and
gradually faded away from the head downwards." The
foreman, one of the spectators, passed close to the house
under the window, and also went up to inform the
family, but found the house locked up. " There was
no moonlight," says the account, " nor a ray of light
visible anywhere about, and no person near."
"One of Mrs. Procter's brothers, a gentleman in
middle life and of a peculiarly sensible, senate, and
candid disposition," says Mr. Howitt, " assured me
that he had himself, on a visit there, been disturbed by
the strangest noises. That he had resolved, before
going, that if any noises occurred he would speak, and
demand of the invisible actor who he was, and why he
came thither. But the occasion came, and he found
himself unable to fulfil his intention. As he lay in bed
one night, he heard a heavy step ascend the stairs
towards his room, and someone striking, as it were,
with a thick stick on the bannisters as he went along.
It came to his door, and he essayed to call, but his
voice died in his throat. He then sprang from his bed,
and, opening the door, found no one there, but now
heard the same heavy steps deliberately descending,
though perfectly invisible, the steps before his face, and
accompanying the descent with the same loud blows on
the bannisters." A thorough search was at once made
of the premises, in the company of Mr. Procter, but
nothing was discovered that would account for the
mysterious noises.
From two young ladies who, whilst on a visit to Mr.
WILLINGTON MILL, 275
Procter's, were annoyed by the apparition, Mr. Howitt
received this terrifying account of their experiences : —
" The first night, as they were sleeping in the same bed,
they felt the bed lifted up beneath them. Of course they
were much alarmed. They feared lest someone had
concealed himself there for the purpose of robbery.
They gave an alarm, search was made, but nothing
was found. On another night their bed was violently
shaken, and the curtains suddenly hoisted up all round
to the very tester, as if pulled by chords, and as rapidly
let down again, several times. Search again produced
no evidence of the cause. The next day they had the
curtains totally removed from the bed, resolving to sleep
without them, as they felt as though evil eyes were
lurking behind them. The consequences of this, how-
ever, were still more striking and terrific. The following
night, as they happened to awake, and the chamber was
light enough — for it was summer — to see everything in
it, they both saw a female figure, of a misty substance
and bluish-grey hue, come out of the wall at the bed s
head, and through the head-board, in a horizontal
position, and lean over them. They saw it most
distinctly. They saw it, as a female figure, come out
of, and again pass into, the wall. Their terror became
intense, and one of the sisters, from that night, refused
to sleep any more in the house, but took refuge in the
house of the foreman during her stay, the other shifting
her quarters to another part of the house."
Among the various forms in which these disturbances
were manifested at Mr. Procter's house were, according to
18 *
276 HAUNTED HOMES*
the statements made by different persons to Mr. Howitt
a noise like that of a pavior with his hammer thumping
on the floor ; at other times similar noises are heard
coming down the stairs ; frequently are heard coughs,
sighs and groans, as of a person in distress, and some-
times there is the sound of a number of little feet
pattering on the floor of the upper chamber when the
female apparition has more particularly exhibited itself,
and which, for that reason, is solely used as a lumber-
room. " Here these little footsteps," says the narrative,
"may be often heard, as if careering a child's carriage
about, which in bad weather is kept up there." Some-
times, again, it utters the most blood-curdling laughter,
whilst it does not even confine itself to making " night
hideous," but appears in broad daylight. " On one
occasion, a young lady assured me," says Mr. Howitt,
" she opened the door in answer to a knock, the house-
maid being absent, and a lady in a fawn-coloured silk
entered and proceeded up-stairs. As the young lady, of
course, supposed it to be a neighbour come to make a
morning call on Mrs. Procter, she followed her up to the
drawing-room, where, however, to her astonishment, she
did not find her, nor was anything more seen of her."
Two apparitions appear to have haunted the house,
one in the likeness of a man, as already described, which
is luminous, and passes through the walls as if they
offered no solid obstacle to it, and which is well known
to the neighbours by the name of " Old Jeffrey." The
other is the figure of a female in greyish garments, as
described by Mr. Drury. She is said to be sometimes
WINDSOR CASTLE. 277
seen sitting wrapped in a sort of mantle, with her head
depressed and her hands crossed on her lap. " The
most terrible fact is that she is without eyes."
After enduring these terrible annoyances for some
years, Mr. Procter, apprehensive of the ill effect they
might have upon his children, says Mr. Howitt, quitted
"Wellington and removed to North Shields, and subse-
quently to Tynemouth. At neither of these new abodes
was he troubled by any similar manifestations. Mr.
Procter states that a strange lady, strange to the district,
being thrown into a clairvoyant state, and asked to go
to the Mill, she described the priest and the grey lady,
the two apparitions which haunted it. She also added
that the priest had refused to allow the female ghost to
confess a deadly crime committed at that spot many
years ago, and that this was the troubling cause of the
poor woman's apparition.
WINDSOR CASTLE.
Windsor, like most of our old castles, whether the
residences of royalty, nobility, or commonalty, has had
its apparitions. It is well known that previous to the
assassination of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
by Felton, an apparition of the Duke's father, Sir
George Villiers, had appeared to, and sent him warning
of his approaching fate by, a certain person ; but it has
278 HAUNTED HOMES.
created endless controversy that the accounts of this
apparition, as recorded by Aubrey, Lord Clarendon, and
others, are so various and varied. It never appears to
have occurred to anyone to remark that it is just as
probable that the apparition may have appeared to three
or more persons, at different times and places, as to one,
and that, looking at the different stories from this point
of view, all the alleged discrepancies disappear, and, in
fact, the various records of the marvellous story, instead
of contradicting, serve to corroborate one another.
In Notes and Queries for July, I860, Mr. Hargrave
Jennings published a very curious and circumstantial
account of the appearance, on three separate occasions,
of an apparition of Sir George Villiers to one Parker,
formerly a servant of Sir George, and at that time in
the employment of his son, the Duke. This letter,
originally published some few years after the Duke's
death, is of considerable interest ; but as it, in many
respects, parallels other and less accessible accounts, it
may be passed over in favour of the story as told by
Lord Clarendon and Aubrey. According to the account
furnished by the former in his History of the Rebellion.
the apparition of Sir George Villiers appeared to an
officer in the King's Wardrobe, in Windsor Castle. This
man, says Clarendon, was of a good reputation for
honesty and discretion, and at the time referred to was
about fifty years of age.
" He had in his youth been bred in a school in the
parish where Sir George Villiers, the father of the Duke,
lived, and had been much cherished and obliged, in that
WINDSOR CASTLE. 279
season of his age, by the said Sir George, whom after-
wards he never saw.
" About six months before the miserable end of the
Duke of Buckingham, about midnight, this man being
in his bed at Windsor, where his office was, and in
good health, there appeared to him, at the side of his
bed, a man of a very venerable aspect, who drew the
curtains of his bed, and, fixing his eyes upon him, asked
him if he knew him.
" The poor man, half dead with fright and appre-
hension, being asked the second time whether he remem-
bered him, and having in that time called to his memory
the presence of Sir George Villiers, and the very clothes
he used to wear, in which at that time he seemed to be
habited, he answered him that he thought him to be that
person. He replied he was in the right, he was the
same, and that he expected a service from him, which
was, that he should go from him to his son, the Duke
of Buckingham, and tell him if he did not somewhat to
ingratiate himself with the people, or at least to abate
the extreme malice which they had against him, he
would be suffered to live but a short time.
" After this discourse he disappeared, and the poor
man (if he had been at all waking), slept very well till
morning, when he believed all this to be a dream, and
considered it no otherwise.
" The next night, or shortly after, the same person
appeared to him again, in the same place, and
about the same time of the night, with an aspect
a little more severe than before, and asked him
280 HAUNTED HOMES.
whether he had done as he required of him ; and per-
ceiving he had not, gave him very severe reprehensions,
told him he expected more compliance from him, and
that, if he did not perform his commands, he should
enjoy no more peace of mind, but should always be
pursued by him, upon which he promised him to obey.
" But the next morning, waking out of a good sleep,
though he was exceedingly perplexed with the lively
representation of all particulars to his memory, he was
willing still to persuade himself that he had only
dreamed, and considered that he was a person at such a
distance from the Duke, that he knew not how to gain
admission to his presence, much less had any hope of
being believed in what he should say ; so he spent some
time in thinking what he should do, and in the end he
resolved to do nothing in the matter.
" The same person appeared to him the third time,
with a terrible countenance, and bitterly reproached him
for not performing what he had promised to do. The poor
man had by this time recovered the courage to tell him
that, in truth, he had deferred the execution of his com-
mands, upon considering how difficult a thing it would
be for him to get any access to the Duke, having
acquaintance with no person about him ; and if he should
obtain admission to him, he should never be able to
persuade him that he was sent in such a manner; that
he should at least be thought to be mad, or to be set on
and employed by his own, or the malice of other men, to
abuse the Duke, and so he should be sure to be undone.
" The apparition replied, as he had done before, that
, " WINDSOR CASTLE. 281
he should never find rest till he had performed what he
required, and therefore he were better to despatch it ;
that the access to his son was known to be very easy, and
that few men waited long for him. As for his gaining
credit, he would tell him two or three particulars, which
he charged him never to mention to any person living
but to the Duke himself, and he should no sooner hear
them but he should believe all the rest he said ; and so,
repeating his threats, he left him.
"In the morning the poor man, more confirmed by
the last appearance, made his journey to London, where
the Court then was. He was very well known to Sir
Ralph Freeman, one of the Masters of Requests, who
married a lady that was nearly allied to the Duke,
and was himself well received by him. To him this
man went, and though he did not acquaint him with all
the particulars, he said enough to let him know there
was something extraordinary in it, and the knowledge
he had of the sobriety and discretion of the man made
the more impression on him. He desired that, by his
means, he might be brought to the Duke, in such a
place and in such a manner as should be thought fit,
affirming that he had much to say to him, and of such
a nature as would require much privacy, and some time
and patience in the hearing.
" Sir Ralph promised that he would first speak to
the Duke of him, and then he should understand his
pleasure. Accordingly, the first opportunity, he did
inform him of the reputation and honesty of the man, and
then what he desired, and of all he knew of the matter.
282 HAUNTED HOMES.
" The Duke, according to his usual openness and
condescension, told him that he was the next day early
to hunt with the King, that his horses should attend
him at Lambeth bridge, where he should land by five
o'clock in the morning, and, if the man attended him
there at that hour, he would walk and speak with him
as long as should be necessary.
" Sir Ealph carried the man with him the next
morning, and presented him to the Duke at his landing,
who received him courteously, and walked aside in con-
ference near an hour ; none but his own servants being
at that hour in that place, and they and Sir Ealph at
such a distance that they could not hear a word, though
the Duke sometimes spoke loud, and with great com-
motion, which Sir Ralph the more easily perceived,
because he kept his eyes always fixed upon the Duke,
having procured the conference upon somewhat he knew
there was of extraordinary.
" The man told him, in his return over the water,
that when he mentioned those particulars which were to
gain him credit (the substance whereof, he said, he
durst not impart to him), the Duke's colour changed,
and he swore he could come at that knowledge only by
the Devil, for that those particulars were only known to
himself, and to one person more, who he was sure would
never speak of it.
" The Duke pursued his purpose of hunting, but was
observed to ride all the morning with great pensiveness,
and in deep thoughts, without any delight in the exercise
he was upon ; and before the morning was spent, he left
WINDSOR OASTLE. 283
the field and alighted at his mother's lodgings in White-
hail, with whom he was shut up for the space of two or
three hours, the noise of their discourse frequently
reaching the ears of those who attended in the next
rooms. And when the Duke left her, his countenance
appeared full of trouble, with a mixture of anger — a
countenance that was never before observed in him in
any conversation with her, towards whom he had a
profound reverence ; and the Countess herself (for
though she was married to a private gentleman, Sir
Thomas Compton, she had been created Countess of
Buckingham shortly after her son had first assumed
that title) was, at the Duke's leaving, found overwhelmed
in tears, and in the highest agony imaginable.
"Whatever there was in all this," says Clarendon,
"it is a notorious truth, that when the news of the
Duke's murder (which happened within a few months
after), was brought to his mother, she seemed not in the
least degree surprised, but received it as if she had
foreseen it ; nor did afterwards express such a degree of
sorrow as was expected from such a mother, for the loss
of such a son."
This is the story as repeated by the grave historian of
the so-called "Rebellion," with the assurance that it is
"upon a better foundation of credit than usually such
discourses are founded upon." Other versions of the
mysterious affair were published some few years after
the Duke of Buckingham's murder ; and although the
discrepancies in them have never been explained, still
there has been a sufficient similarity in the leading
23-1 HAUNTED HOMES.
features of the narratives to cause most people to
imagine that they were all derived from one source.
But this does not necessarily follow. If the apparition
appeared to different people and at different times — a d
it does not seem more wonderful that it should have
manifested itself to two or more individuals than to one
— the variations in the tales told of its appearance are
readily explicable. Lilly, the astrologer, notoriously
published a false version of the story ; and it was for
that reason only that Sir Edmund Wyndham, who was
fully acquainted with the facts of the case, gave the
narrative that ultimately passed into the hands of
Aubrey, the antiquary, and by him is thus told : —
" To one, Mr. Towes, who had been school-fellow
with Sir George Villiers, the father of the first Duke of
Buckingham (and was his friend and neighbour), as he
lay in his bed awake (and it was daylight), came into
his chamber the phantom of his dear friend, Sir George
Villiers. Said Mr. Towes to him, ' Why, you are dead,
what make you here ? ' Said the knight, ' T am dead,
but cannot rest in peace for the wickedness and abomi-
nation of my son George, at Court. I do appear to
you, to tell him of it, and to advise and dehort him
from his evil ways.' Said Mr. Towes, * The Duke will
not believe me, but will say that I am mad, or dote.
Said Sir George, ' Go to him from me, and tell him by
such a token (a mole) that he had in some secret place>
which none but himself knew of.' According, Mr.
Towes went to the Duke, who laughed at his message.
At his return home, the phantom appeared again, and
WOODHOUSELEE, 285
told him that the Duke would be stabbed a quarter of a
year after ; ' and the warning which you will have of
your death, will be, that your nose will fall a bleeding.'
All which accordingly fell out so.
" This account I have had in the main," says
Aubrey, " from two or three ; but Sir William Dugdale
affirms what I have here taken from him to be true, and
that the apparition told him of several things to come,
which proved true, e.g. of a prisoner in the Tower that
shall be honourably delivered. This Mr. Towes had so
often the ghost of his old friend appear to him, that it
was not at all terrible to him. He was Surveyor of the
Works at Windsor, by the favour of the Duke. Being
then (i.e. at that time) sitting in the hall, he cried out,
' The Duke of Buckingham is stabbed ! ' He was stabbed
that very moment."
" This relation Sir William Dugdale had from Mr.
Pine, neighbour to Mr. Towes ; they were sworn
brothers." Sir Edmund Wyndham married the daughter
of Mr. Pine, and possessed a large roll of manuscript
wherein Mr. Towes had recorded the particulars of his
conferences with the apparition.
WOODHOUSELEE.
Many of our haunted houses are indebted to ancient
feud3, in which their owners suffered or inflicted murder,
for their present troubles. Scotland especially has
286 HAUNTED HOMES.
reaped a crop of ghostly legends and terrifying tradi-
tions from the homicidal tendencies of its former
notables. The apparition of Lady Hamilton, of Both-
wellhaugh, is an enduring monument of the blood-
thirsty spirit of the age in which she lived. Her
husband, Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, exists in history
as the barbarous murderer of the Regent Murray, whom
he shot as he passed through Linlithgow on the 23rd
of January 1569 ; bat if any man can be excused for
such a crime as assassination, it must be pleaded that
Bothwellhaugh is he. Whilst Hamilton was from
home, a favourite of the Regent seized his house and,
in a cold night, turned out his wife, Lady Bothwell,
naked into the open fields, where before next morning
she became furiously mad. Her infant, it would seem,
also perished either by cold, neglect, or, more probably,
murder. The ruins of the mansion of Woodhouslee,
whence Lady Bothwell was expelled in the brutal
manner which occasioned her insanity and death, are
still to be seen, or were some few years since, in a
hollow glen beside the river Esk. Popular report
tenants these ruius with the unfortunate lady's ghost ;
and so tenacious is this spectre of its rights, that, a part
of the stones of the ancient edifice having been employed
in building or repairing the present mansion, the
apparition has deemed it one of her privileges to haunt
that house also. But a very few years since this
apparition of Lady Bothwell, who always appears in
white, and with her child in her arms, excited no slight
disturbance and terror among the domestics at the new
YORKSHIRE : — HALL. 287
Woodhouselee, which is situated on the slope of the
Pentland Hills, distant at least four miles from the
ancient dwelling. Whether this apparition still haunts
either old or new mansion we have been unable to
learn.
YORKSHIRE : HALL.
In March, 1880, a communication was handed to the
editor of Notes and Queries by a well-known contributor
of that invaluable publication. The narrative it con-
tained was headed, " Ghost or Nightmare ? " clearly an
incorrect title, if any credence is to be given to its
author. The young lady who indited the communica-
tion is described as intelligent, whilst " her hereditary
acumen" is declared to be such as "precludes altogether
the possibility of any self-deceit in regard to her own
personal experiences, as narrated by herself. Moreover,
as it is pointed out, hers is not the only evidence on
the subject, as the reader will notice. The contributor
to Notes and Queries remarks that it is " in the con-
viction that this statement contains matter of un-
questionable interest to every sort of thinker/' that
it is submitted to the consideration of his readers.
Evidently acquainted, not only with the fair communi-
cator of the narrative, but also with the locality to
which his friend refers, H.C.C. states that " the scene
of the occurrences is an old mansion in the north of
288 fiAUNTED HOMES.
Yorkshire ; cosy and cheerful, though large, and lonely
in point of site."
The young lady's experiences in this haunted dwelling
are thus graphically described : —
" What I am going to relate happened to myself
while staying with some north-country cousins, last
July, at their house in Yorkshire. I had spent a few
days there in the summer of the previous year, but
without then hearing or seeing anything out of the
common. On my second visit, arriving early in the
afternoon, I went out boating with some of the family,
spent a very jolly evening, and finally went to bed, a
little tired, perhaps, with the clay's work, but not the
least nervous. I slept soundly until between three and
four, just when the day was beginning to break. I
had been awake for a short time when suddenly the
door of my bed-room opened, and shut again rather
quickly. I fancied it might be one of the servants, and
called out, * Come in ! ' After a short time the door
opened again, but no one came in — at least, no one that
I could see. Almost at the same time that the door
opened for the second time, I was a little startled by
the rustling of some curtains belonging to a hanging
wardrobe, which stood by the side of the bed ; the
rustling continued, and I was seized with a most un-
comfortable feeling, not exactly of fright, but a strange,
unearthly sensation that I was not alone. I had had
that feeling for some minutes, when I saw at the foot of
the bed a child, about seven or nine years old. The
child seemed as if it were on the bed, and came glid-
YORKSHIRE: - — —HALL. 2S9
ing towards me as I lay. It was the figure of a little
girl in her night-dress — a little girl with dark hair and
a very white face. I tried to speak to her, but could
not. She came slowly on up to the top of the bed,
and I then saw her face clearly. She seemed in great
trouble; her hands were clasped and her eyes were
turned up with a look of entreaty, an almost agonized
look. Then, slowly unclasping her hands, she touched
me on the shoulder. The hand felt icy cold, and while
I strove to speak she was gone. I felt more frightened
after the child was gone than before, and began to be
very anxious for the time when the servant would make
her appearance. Whether I slept again or not, I hardly
know. But by the time the servant did come, I had
almost persuaded myself that the whole affair was
nothing but a very vivid nightmare. However, when I
came down to breakfast, there were many remarks
made about my not looking well — it was observed that
I was pale. In answer I told my cousins that I had
had a most vivid nightmare, and I remarked if I was
a believer in ghosts I should imagine I had seen one.
Nothing more was said at the time upon this subject,
except that my host, who was a doctor, observed that I
had better not sleep in the room again, at any rate not
alone.
" So the following night one of my cousins slept in
the same room with me. Neither of us saw or heaid
anything out of the way during that night or the early
morning. That being the case, I persuaded myself that
what I had seen had been only imagination, and much
19
290 HAUNTED HOMES.
against everybody's expressed wish, I insisted the next
night on sleeping in the room again, and alone. Accord-
ingly, having retired again to the same room, I was
kneeling down at the bed-side to say my prayers, when
exactly the same dread as before came over me. The
curtains of the wardrobe swayed about, and I had the
same sensation as previously, that I was not alone. I
felt too frightened to stir, when, luckily for me, one of
my cousins came in for something which she had left.
On looking at me she exclaimed, ' Have you seen any-
thing ? ' I said * No,' but told her how I felt, and,
without much persuasion being necessary, I left the room
with her, and never returned to it. When my hostess
learnt what had happened (as she did immediately) she
told me I must not sleep in that room again, as the
nightmare had made such an impression on me ; I
should imagine (she said) all sorts of things and make
myself quite ill. I went to another room, and during
the rest of my visit (a week), I was not troubled by any
reappearance of the little girl.
" On leaving, my cousin, the eldest daughter of the
doctor, went on a visit with me to the house of an uncle
of mine in the same county. We stayed there for about
a fortnight, and during that time the * little girl ' was
alluded to only as my 'nightmare.'
" In this I afterwards found there was a little reticence,
for, just before leaving my uncle's, my cousin said to
me, ' I must tell you something I have been longing to
tell you ever since I left home. But my father desired
me not to tell you, as, not being very strong, you might
Yorkshire: hall. 291
be too frightened. Your nightmare was not a nightmare
at all, but the apparition of a little girl ! She then went
on to tell me that this * little girl ' had been seen three
times before, by three different members of the family ;
but as this was some nine or ten years since, they had
almost ceased to think anything about it until I related
my experiences on the morning after the first night of
my second visit.
" My cousin further went on to tell me that her
younger sister whilst in bed had one morning, about
day-break, to her great surprise, seen a little girl with
dark hair, standing with her back to her, looking out of
the window. She took this figure for her little sister,
and spoke to it. The child not replying, or moving
from her position, she called out to it, 'It's no use
standing like that; I know you. You can't play tricks
with me.' On looking round, however, she saw that her
little sister, the one she thought she was addressing, and
who was sleeping with her, had not moved from the bed.
Almost at the same time the child passed from the
window into the room of her (my cousin's) sister A ,
and the latter, as she afterwards declared, distinctly saw
the figure of a child with dark hair standing by the side
of a table in her room. She spoke to it, and it instantly
disappeared. The ' little girl ' was subsequently again
seen, for the last time before I saw it, by my cousin's
father, Dr. H . It was in the early daylight of a
summer's morning, and he was going up-stairs to his
room, having just returned from a professional visit.
On this occasion he saw the same child (he noticed its
19 *
292 HAUNTED HOMES*
dark hair) running up the stairs immediately before hiras
until it reached his room and entered it. When he got
into the room it was gone.
" Thus the apparition has been seen three times by
the family, and once by me. I am the only one, how-
ever, that has seen its face. It has, also, never been
seen twice in the same room by anyone else."
No refutation, explanation, or continuation of this
mysterious matter appears to have been attempted as
yet by anyone.
APPENDIX.
MISCELLAK EOUS
295
LORD BROUGHAM,
In the Life and Times of Lord Brougham, written by
Himself and published in 1871, is given the following
strange story, which shall be repeated in the autobiogra-
pher's own words. " A most remarkable thing happened
to me," records brougham, ,J so lemarkable, that I
must tell the story from the beginning. After I left
the High School (in Edinburgh), I went with G ,
my most intimate friend, to attend the classes in the
University. There was no divinity class, but we fre-
quently in our walks discussed and speculated upon
many grave subjects, among others, on the immortality
of the soul, and on a future state. This question and
the possibility, I will not say of ghosts walking, but
of the dead appearing to the living, were subjects of
much speculation ; and we actually committed the folly
of drawing up an agreement, written with our blood, to
the effect that whichever of us died first should appear
to the other, and thus solve any doubts we had enter-
tained of the ' Life after Death.'
"After we had finished classes at the College, G
went to India, having got an appointment there in the
Civil Service. He seldom wrote to me, and after the
296 HAUNTED HOMES.
lapse of a few years, I had almost forgotten him ;
moreover, his family having little connection with
Edinburgh, I seldom saw or heard anything of
them, or of him through them, so that all the old
schoolboy intimacy had died out, and I had nearly for-
gotten his existence. I had taken, as I have said, a warm
bath ; and while in it and enjoying the comfort of the
heat after the late freezing I had undergone, I turned
my head round towards the chair on which I had depo-
sited my clothes, as I was about to get out of the bath.
On the chair sat G , looking calmly at me. How I
got out of the bath I know not, but on recovering my
senses I found myself sprawling on the floor. The ap-
parition, or whatever it was that had taken the likeness
of G , had disappeared. The vision produced such
a shock, that I had no inclination to talk about it, or
to speak about it even to Stuart; but the impression it
made upon me was too vivid to be easily forgotten ;
and so strongly was I affected by it, that I have here
written down the whole history with the date 19th
December, and all the particulars as they are now
fresh before me, No doubt I had fallen asleep ; and
that the appearance presented to my eyes was a dream,
I cannot for a moment doubt, yet for years I had had
no communication with G , nor had there been any-
thing to recall him to my recollection ; nothing had
taken place during our Swedish travels, either con-
nected with G or with India, or with anything
relating to him or to any member of his family. I
recollected quickly enough our old discussion, and the
THE REV. T. A. BUCKLEY. 297
bargain we had made. I could not discharge from my
mind the impression that G must have died> and
that his appearance to me was to be received by me as
a proof of a future state."
This was on December 19, 1799. In October 1862,
Lord Brougham added as a postscript : —
"I have just been copying out from my journal the
account of this strange dream : certissima mortis imago.
And now to finish the story begun about sixty years
since. Soon after my return to Edinburgh, there arrived
a letter from India, announcing G 's death ! and
stating that he had died on the 19th of December."
THE REV. T. A. BUCKLEY.
Literature, ghostly literature especially, is replete
with stories of the fulfilment by the dead of ante mortem
promises. Abroad, the recorded instances of this mys-
terious completion of the compact with the survivor
are, apparently, more numerous than in the British
Isles ; but we know of none described more circumstan-
tially, and yet with more conventionality, than a case
mentioned in Newton Crosland's new Theory of Appari-
tions,
On the 30th January 1856, at the early age of thirty,
died the Rev. Theodore Alois Buckley, author of The
Dawnings of Genius, a work on the enrly lives of
eminent m^1 and formerly one of the chaplains of
298 HAUNTED HOMES.
Christ Church, Oxford. He was a man of extraordinary
ability, but, says Mr. Orosland, " his life was unfor-
tunate, and his death sad." When he was alive and
well at Oxford, about the year 1850, conversing on
the subject of ghosts one day with a mutual frieud, Mr.
Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, a gentleman who contributed
the chapter on " Chatterton" to the above-mentioned
work, the two friends entered into a compact that, who-
ever departed this life first, should, if permitted, visit
the other as an apparition ; and the signal of commu-
nication was arranged to be the placing of a ghostly
hand on the brow of the survivor. On the night of the
2nd of February, about twelve or half-past twelve
o'clock, Mr. Mackenzie was lying in bed, watching the
candle expiring, preparing his mind for sleep, and not
thinking of his departed friend, when he felt placed
over one eye and his forehead a cool damp hand. On
looking up he saw Buckley in his ordinary apparel, and
with his portfolio under his arm, as in life, standing at
the bedside. The figure, as soon as it was recognised,
retreated to the window; and after remaining plainly in
sight for about a minute, disappeared. A few nights after-
wards, the spectral Buckley again made his appearance,
bearing in his hand the exact image of a letter, which
Mr. Mackenzie at once identified as an old one that he
had casually picked up from his letter-box in the course
of the day. The letter was one that had been formerly
written by Mr. Buckley to his friend Mr. Mackenzie.
«wt/«7
BURROUGHS.
In his account of " Apparitions," Aubrey relates some
curious particulars of one that was believed to haunt
Caisho Burroughs, eldest son of Sir John Burroughs;
and if the antiquary's record, derived from his friend
Monson, might be credited, it is one of the best
authenticated stories of its class now extant. Sir John
Burroughs, a high-spirited gentleman, who subse-
quently perished in the ill-fated siege of Kochelle,
being sent by Charles I. as envoy to the Emperor of
Germany, took with him his son Caisho. Subse-
quently Sir John made a tour through Italy, leaving
Caisho at Florence to learn the language.
Whilst residing in the Tuscan capital, young Bur-
roughs fell passionately in love with a beautiful cour-
tesan, a mistress of the Grand Duke. At last their
intimacy became so notorious that it came to the
Grand Duke's ears, and he, it is alleged, grew so
jealous that he formed the design of having Caisho
assassinated. Warned by some of the English residents
in Florence of the fate awaiting him, the young man
hastily left the city, without even acquainting his mis-
tress of his intended departure. When the Grand Duke
found himself baulked of his anticipated vengeance on
his rival, he vented his spite on his mistress, " in most
reproachful language," and she, on her side, "resenting
300 HAUNTED HOMES.
the sudden departure of her gallant, of whom she was
roost passionately enamoured, killed herself."
At the very moment that the unfortunate woman
expired in Florence, her apparition^ so it is alleged,
appeared to her lover at his residence in London.
Colonel Remeo, a Member of Parliament, and after-
ward's an officer of Charles II. 's household, was sleeping
with young Burroughs, and he, also, is said to have
seen the apparition. This ghost, it is averred, re-
proached her lover for his conduct in flying from her so
suddenly, and leaving her exposed to the fury of the
Grand Duke. She informed him of her tragical fate,
and warned him that he should be slain in a duel.
Henceforth this spectre frequently appeared to
Caisho, even when his younger brother, after Sir
John Burrough's death, was sleeping with him. As
often as the apparition came, the unfortunate man,
unable to restrain his mental anguish, " would cry out
with great shrieking and trembling of his body, saying,
1 O God ! here she comes — she comes ! ' " These
visitations continued from time to time until Caisho's
death. He was killed in a duel, and the morning be-
fore his death the apparition appeared to him for the last
time. " Some of my acquaintances have told me," says
Aubrey, " that he was one of the most beautiful men in
England, and very valiant, but proud and bloodthirsty."
The rumour of this haunting of Caisho Burroughs
had spread so widely that it reached the King's ears.
Charles I. was so interested in the account, Aubrey
declares, that he cross-examined Sir John Burroughs,
JOHN DONNE, 801
as also Colonel Keraeo, as to the truth of the matter,
and. in consequence of tlieir report, thought it worth his
while to send to Florence in order to make inquiries
there. The result of the King's investigations in Tuscany
was, the story states, that it was found that the unhappy
woman had expired at the very time her apparition first
appeared to her lover in London, when he was in bed
with Colonel Remeo. Mi. Monson, Aubrey's authority
for this marvellous account, was intimate with Sir John
Burroughs and both his sons, and declared that when-
ever Caisho alluded to the affair he wept bitterly.
JOHN DONNE.
In Tsaak Walton's life of the well-known Dean of St.
Paul's is a very strange family legend, that is none the
less worthy of quotation that it has been so often told.
According to the old piscatorial biographer, Dr. Donne
and his wife were living at one time in the house of Sir
Robert Drury, in Drury Lane. The Lord Haye being
about to depart to the Court of Henry IV. of France,
on an Embassy from James I. of England, Sir Robert
Drury resolved to accompany him to the French Court,
and to be present at his audience there. No sooner
had Sir Robert formed this resolution, than he deter-
mined Dr. Donne should be his companion on the
journey. This desire having been made suddenly
302 HAUNTED HOMES.
known to Mrs. Donne, "who was not only in very bad
health, but also expecting her speedy confinement, she
was so distressed, and protested so earnestly against her
husband's departure, saying that she had a presentiment
that some ill would occur in his absence, that finally the
doctor laid aside all thoughts of his projected journey,
and determined to stay at home.
When Sir Eobert heard of this he exerted himself to
the utmost to alter Dr. Donne's determination; and the
doctor, fearing that after all the many benefits he had
received from his friend, he should be deemed unthank-
ful if he so persistently declined to accompany him,
told his wife so ; who, therefore, with very great reluc-
tance, at last gave way, and most unwillingly assented
to her husband's departure. The visit was to last for
two months, and was begun within a little while after
Mrs. Donne's consent had been gained.
The party reached Paris safely. Two days after their
arrival there, Donne was left alone in the room where
Sir Eobert and he, with some others, had dined. About
half-an-hour after his departure, Sir Robert returned,
and found Dr. Donne where he had left him, but in
sucli a state of agitation, and so strangely altered in his
looks, that he was perfectly amazed at him, and
earnestly desired him to inform him what had hap-
pened during the short space of time in which he had
been left. At first Donne was not sufficiently collected
to reply, but after a long and perplexed pause,
answered :
"I have seen a dreadful vision since I saw you. I
JOHN DONNE. 303
have seen my dear wife pass twice by me through this
room, with her hair hanging about her shoulders, and a
dead child in her arms ; this I have seen since I saw
you.':
To this Sir Robert responded :
" Surely, Sir, you have slept since I saw yon, and
this is the result of some melancholy dream, which I
desire you to forget, for you are now awake."
Dr. Donne's reply to this was :
"I cannot be surer that I now live, than that I have-
not slept since I saw you, and am sure that at her
second appearing she stopped and looked me in the
face and vanished."
Nothing would alter Dr. Donne's opinion that he had
had a vision, and the next day he was more than ever
confirmed in his idea, affirming it with such a deliberate
confidence that he finally persuaded Sir Robert that
there must be some truth in the vision. Determined to
learn the truth as speedily as possible, the knight sent
a special messenger back to England, to learn how it
fared with Mrs. Donne : whether still alive, and, if alive,
in what state. On the twelfth day the messenger re-
turned to Paris with the information that he had found
and left Mrs. Donne very ill in bed, and that, after a
long and dangerous confinement she had been delivered
of a dead child; the date and hour of the child's birth
having proved to have been, so it is alleged, identical
with that at which Dr. Donne affirmed he had seen the
apparition pass by him in the room.
304 HAUNTED HOMES.
SIB JOHN SHERBROKE AND
GENERAL WYNYARD.
Of all the stories of apparitions extant, none, probably,
has excited so much discussion as that of the Wynyard
ghost. With variations of one kind and another it has
been published in many dozens of works, and has been
continually discussed at the mess dinners of our army
in every part of the world. From time to time inquiries
have been made about the circumstances in Notes and
Queries, in the pages of which invaluable publication
nil the facts of the case have been gradually revealed.
From the periodical referred to, and from other sources
of credit, we have been enabled to compile a complete
history of the affair.
In 1785, the 33rd Regiment, at the time commanded
by Lieutenant-Colonel Forke, was stationed at Sydney,
in the island of Cape Breton, off Nova Scotia. Among
the officers of this regiment were Captain (afterwards
Sir John) Sherbroke and Lieutenant (afterwards
General) George Wynyard. These two young men are
said to have been connected by similarity of tastes and
studies, and to have spent together in literary occupa-
tion much of that vacant time which was squandered bv
their brother officers in those excesses of the table that,
in those days at least, were deemed part of the accom-
plishments of the military character.
On the 15th of October of the above year, between
SIB JOnN SHBRBROKE AND GEN. WTNYARD. 305
eight and nine o'clock in the evening, these two officers
were seated before the fire in Wynyard's parlour drink-
ing coffee. It was a room in the new barracks, and
had two doors, the one opening on an outer passage,
the other into Wynyard's bed-room. There were no other
means of entering the sitting-room but from the pas-
sage, and no other egress from the bed-room but
through the sitting-room ; so that any person passing
into the bed-room must have remained there unless he
returned by the way he entered. This point is of con-
sequence to the story.
As these two young officers were thus sitting toge-
ther, Sherbroke, happening accidentally to glance towards
the door that opened to the passage, observed a tall
youth of about twenty years of age, but pale and very
emaciated, standing beside it. Struck with the pre-
sence of a perfect stranger, he immediately turned to
his friend, who was sitting near him, and directed his
attention to the guest who had thus strangely broken
in upon their studies. As soon as Wynyard's eyes were
turned towards the mysterious visitor his countenance
became agitated. " I have heard/' said Sherbroke,
" of a man's being as pale as death, but I never saw a
living face assume the appearance of a corpse, except
Wynyard's at that moment." As they looked silently
at the form before them — for Wynyard, who seemed to
apprehend the import of the appearance, was deprived
of the faculty of speech, and Sherbroke, perceiving the
agitation of his friend, felt no inclination to address it
— as they looked silently on the figure, it proceeded
20
£06 HAUNTED HOMES.
|
slowly into the adjoining apartment, and in the act of
passing them cast its eyes with an expression of some-
what melancholy affection on young Wynyard. The
oppression of this extraordinary presence was no
sooner removed than Wynyard, seizing his friend by
the arm, and drawing a deep breath, as if recovering
from the suffocation of intense astonishment and emotion,
muttered in a low and almost inaudible tone of voice,
"Great God! my brother ! " "Your brother!" re-
peated Sherbroke, " what can you mean, Wynyard ?
There must be some deception. Follow me." And
immediately taking his friend by the arm, he preceded
him into the bed-room, which, as I before stated, was
connected wTith the sitting-room, and into which the
strange visitor had evidently entered. I have already
said that from this chamber there was no possibility of
withdrawing, but by the way of the apartment through
which the figure had certainly passed, and as certainly
never had returned. Imagine, then, the astonishment
of the young officers when, on finding themselves in
the centre of the chamber, they perceived that the room
was untenanted. Another officer, Lieutenant (afterwards
Colonel) Ralph Gore, coming in, joined in the search,!
but without avail. Wyuyard's mind had received an
impression, at the first moment of his observing it, that
the figure which he had seen was the spirit of his brother.
Sherbroke still persevered in strenuously believing that
some delusion had been practised.
At the suggestion of Lieutenant Gore, they took note
of the day and hour in which the event had happened,.
SIB JOHN SHERiBROKB AND GEN. WYNYARD. 307
but they resolved not to mention the occurrences in the
regiment, and gradually they persuaded each other that
they had been imposed upon by some artifice of their
fellow officers, though they could neither account for
the reason, or suspect the author, or conceive the means
of its execution. They were content to imagine any-
thing possible rather than admit the possibility of a
supernatural appearance. But though they had at-
tempted these stratagems of self-delusion, Wynyard
could not help expressing his solicitude with respect to
the safety of the brother whose apparition he had either
seen or imagined himself to have seen ; and the anxiety
which he exhibited for letters from England, and his
frequent mention of his fears for his brother's health, at
length awakened the curiosity of his comrades, and
eventually betrayed him into a declaration of the cir-
cumstances which he had in vain determined to
conceal.
The story of the silent and unbidden visitor was no
sooner bruited abroad than the destiny of Wynyard's
brother became an object of universal and painful
interest to the officers of the regiment ; there were few
who did not inquire for Wynyard's letters before they
made any demand after their own, and the packets that
arrived from England were welcomed with a more than
usual eagerness, for they brought Hot only remem-
brances from their friends at home, but promised to
afford the clue to the mystery which had happened
among themselves. By the first ships no intelligence
relating to the story could have been received, for they
20 *
308 HAUNTED nOMES.
had all departed from England previously to the ap-
pearance of the spirit. At length the long- wished- for
vessel arrived. All the officers had letters except
Wynyard. Still the secret was unexplained. They
examined the several newspapers ; they contained no
mention of any death, or of any other circumstance
connected with his family that could account for the
preternatural event. There was a solitary letter for
Sherbroke, still unopened. The officers had received
Iheir letters in the mess-room at the hour of supper.
After Sherbroke had broken the seal of his last packet,
and cast a glance on its contents, he beckoned his friend
away from the company and departed from the room.
All were silent. The suspense of the interest was now
at its climax ; the impatience for the return of Sherbroke
was inexpressible. They doubted not but that letter
had contained the long-expected intelligence. At the
interval of an hour Sherbroke joined them. No one
dared be guilty of so great a rudeness as to inquire the
nature of his correspondence ; but they waited, in mute
attention, expecting that he would himself touch upon
the subject. His mind was manifestly full of thoughts
that pained, bewildered, and oppressed him. He drew
near to the fire-place, and, leaning his head on the
mantel-piece, after a pause of some moments, said iu
a low voice to the person who was nearest to him,
" Wynyard 's brother is no more!" The first line of
Sherbroke's letter was, " Dear John, break to your
friend, Wynyard, the death of his favourite brother."
He had died on the day, nnd at the very hour, on which
SIR JOHN SHERBROKE AND GEN. WYNYARD. 300
his friends had seen his spirit pass so mysteriously
through the apartment.
Some years after, on Sherbroke's return to England,
lie was walking with two gentlemen in Piccadilly, when
on the opposite side of the way, he saw a person
bearing the most striking resemblance to the figure
which had been disclosed to Wynyard and himself. His
companions were acquainted with the story, and he
instantly directed their attention to the gentleman oppo-
site, as the individual who had contrived to enter and
depart from Wynyard 's apartment without their being
conscious of the means. Full of this impression, he
immediately went over, and at once addressed the gentle-
man ; he now fully expected to elucidate the mystery.
He apologised for the interruption, but excused it by
relating the occurrence which had induced him to the
commission of this solecism in manners. The gentle
man received him as a friend. He had never been out
of the country, but he was another brother of the youth
whose spirit had been seen.
This story is related with several variations. It is
sometimes told as having happened at Gibraltar, at
others in England, at others in America. There are
also differences with respect to the conclusion. Some
say that the gentleman whom Sir John Sherbroke after-
wards met in London, and addressed as the person
whom he had previously seen in so mysterious a manner,
was not another brother of General Wynyard, but a
gentleman who bore a strong resemblance to the family.
But, however, the leading facts in every account are the
o
10 HAUNTED HOMES,
same. Sir John Sherbroke arid General Wynyard, two
gentleman of veracity, were together present at the
spiritual appearance of the brother of General Wynyard,
the appearance took place at the moment of dissolution,
and the countenance and form of the ghost's figure were
so distinctly impressed upon the memory of Sir John
Sherbroke, to whom the living man had been unknown,
that, on accidentally meeting with his likeness, he per-
ceived and acknowledged the resemblance.
It maybe added that the brother of General Wynyard,
who died on;the 15th of October 1785, was John Otway
Wynyard, af the time of his death lieutenant in the
3rd Regiment of Foot Guards.
Colonel Gore, being asked many years afterwards by
Sir John Harvey to give an account of the affair, so far
as it came within his cognizance, testified in writing to
the main facts of the narrative here given ; and Sir John
Sherbroke, forty years after the event, assured his
friend, General Paul Anderson, in the most solemn
manner, that he believed the appearance he had seen to
have been a ghost or spirit, and this belief, he added,
was shared by his friend Wynyard.
THE LUMINOUS WOMAN.
The following startling relation was furnished to Robert
Dale Owen by a clergyman of the Church of England,
chaplain to a British legation abroad. Although the
/
THE LUMINOUS WOMAN. 311
narrator's name is not given, Owen had the consent of
the Rev. Doctor to communicate it in any case in which
he might deem it would serve the cause to advance which
his work, Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World,
was written. It is not given now, for ohvious reasons,
but the story is too characteristic to be omitted, and
shall, therefore, be given as nearly as possible in the
narrator's own terms : —
"In the year 185- I was staying, with my wife and
children, at a favourite watering- place. In order to
attend to some affairs of my own, I determined to leave
my family there for three or four days. Accordingly,
one day in August, I took the railway, and arrived in
the evening, an unexpected guest, at Hall, the
residence of a gentleman whose acquaintance I had re-
cently made, and with whom my sister was then staying.
" I arrived late ; soon afterwards went to bed, and
before long fell asleep. Awaking after three or four
hours, I was not surprised to find I could sleep no more ;
for I never rest well in a strange bed. After trying,
therefore, in vain again to induce sleep, I began to
arrange my plans for the day.
" I had been engaged some little time in this way,
when I became suddenly sensible that there was a light
in the room. Turning round, I distinctly perceived a
female figure ; and what attracted my especial attention
was, that the light by which I saw it emanated from
itself. I watched the figure attentively. The features
were not perceptible. After moving a little distance, it
disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
312 HAUNTED HOMES.
" My first thoughts were that there was some trick.
I immediately got out of hed, struck a light, and found
my bedroom-door still locked. I then carefully examined
the walls, to ascertain if there were any other concealed
means of entrance or exit ; but none could I find. I
drew the curtains and opened the shutters ; but all
outside was silent and dark, there being no moonlight.
" After examining the room well in every part, I
betook myself to bed and thought calmly over the whole
matter. The final impression on my mind was that I
had seen something supernatural, and, if supernatural,
that it was in some way connected with my wife. What
was the appearance ? What did it mean ? Would it
have appeared to me if I had been asleep instead of
awake ? These were questions very easy to ask and
very difficult to answer.
" Even if my room-door had been unlocked, or if there
had been a concealed entrance to the room, a practical
joke was out of the question. For, in the first place, I
was not on such intimate terms with my host as to
warrant such a liberty ; and, secondly, even if he had
been inclined to sanction so questionable a proceeding,
he was too unwell at the time to permit me for a moment
to entertain such a supposition.
" In doubt and uncertainty I passed the rest of the
night ; and in the morning, descending early, I imme-
diately told my sister what had occurred, describing to
her accurately everything connected with the appearance
I had witnessed. She seemed much struck with what
I told her, and replied, * It is very odd ; for you have
THE LUMINOUS WOMAN. 313
heard, I dare say, that a lady was, some years ago,
murdered in this house ; but it was not in the room you
slept in.' I answered that I had never heard anything
of the kind, and was heginniug to make further inquiries
about the murder, when I was interrupted by the entrance
of our host and hostess, and afterwards by breakfast.
" After breakfast I left without having had any oppor-
tunity of renewing the conversation. But the whole
affair had made upon me an impression which I sought
in vain to shake off. The female figure was ever before
my mind's eye, and I became fidgety and anxious about
my wife. 'Could it in any way be connected with her?
was my constantly recurring thought. So much did this
weigh on my mind that, instead of attending to the busi-
ness for the express purpose of transacting which I had
left my family, I returned to them by the first train ;
and it was only when I saw my wife and children in
good health, and everything safe and well in my house-
hold, that I felt satisfied that, whatever the nature of the
appearance might have been, it was not connected with
any evil to them.
" On the Wednesday following 1 received a letter from
my sister, in which she informed me that, since I left,
she had ascertained that the murder was committed in
the very room in which I had slept. She added that she
purposed visiting us next day, and that she would like
me to write out an account of what I had seen, together
with a plan of the room, and that on that plan she wished
me to mark the place of the appearance and of the
disappearance of the figure.
814 HAUNTED HOMES.
" This I immediately did ; and the next day, when my
sister arrived, she asked me if I had complied with her
request. I replied, pointing to the drawing-room table,
'Yes; there is the account and the plan.' As she rose
to examine it, I prevented her, saying, 'Do not look at
it until you have told me all you have to say, because
you might unintentionally colour your story by what
you may read there.'
"Thereupon she informed me that she had had the
carpet taken up in the room I had occupied, and that
the marks of blood from the murdered person were
there, plainly visible, on a particular part of the floor.
At my request she also then drew a plan of the room,
and marked upon it the spots which still bore traces of
blood.
"The two plans — my sister's and mine — were then
compared, and we verified the most remarkable fact,
that the places she had marked as the beginning and
ending of the traces of blood, coincided exactly ivith
the spots marked on my plan as those o?i which the
female figure had appeared and disappeared.
"I am unable to add anything to this plain statement
of facts," remarks the narrator. " I cannot account in
any way for what I saw. I am convinced no human
being entered my chamber that night; yet I know that,
being wide awake and in good health, I did distinctly
see a female figure in my room. But if, as I must
believe, it was a supernatural appearance, then I am un-
able to suggest any reason why it should have appeared
to me. I cannot tell whether, if I had not been in the
THE RESULT OF A CURSE. 815
room, or had been asleep at the time, that figure would
equally have been there. As it was, it seemed con-
nected with no warning nor presage. No misfortune of
any kind happened then, or since, to me or mine, Tt
is true that the host, at whose house I was staying,
when this incident occurred, and also one of his chil-
dren, died a few months afterwards; but I cannot pre-
tend to make out any connection between either of these
deaths and the appearance I witnessed. . . . But what I
distinctly saw, that, and that only, I describe."
It. is unfortunate that there is no evidence available
as to whether this was the only appearance recorded of
the apparition ; or whether it was known to have ever
been seen before or after the night on which the nar-
rator of the above account beheld it.
THE RESULT OF A CURSE.
In Dr. Lee's Glimpses of the Supernatural — a collec-
tion of ghost tales and revivified mediseval legends — is
given a marvellous narrative of the results of a curse, as,
according to the reverend author, "fresh evidence of the
existence of the supernatural amongst us, had we only
eyes to see and ears to hear." We include the story in
our collection as a fair specimen of the way in which
such subjects are treated in our days, but must suggest
that it would bear a greater air of vraisemhlance were
316 HAUNTED SOMES.
the names of some at least of the persons introduced
given, or some more definite clue to the localities
afforded. The story, as told by Dr. Lee, is this : —
"The younger son of a Nova Scotia baronet, under
promise of marriage, betrayed the only surviving daughter
of a Northumbrian yeoman of ancient and respectable
family, nearly allied to a peer, so created in William the
Fourth's reign. She was a person of rare beauty and
of considerable accomplishments, having received an
education of a very superior character in Edinburgh.
After her betrayal, she was deserted by her lover, who
fled abroad. The night before he left, however, at her
earnest request, he met her in company with a friend,
with the avowed intention of promising marriage in the
future, when his family, as he declared, might be less
averse to it.
" After events show that this was merely an empty
promise, and that he had no intention of fulfilling it.
A long discussion took place between the girl and her
betrayer, in the presence of the female friend in
question, a first cousin of her father. High words,
strong phrases, and sharp upbraidings were uttered on
both sides ; until at last the young man, in cruel and
harsh language, turning upon her fiercely, declared that
he would never marry her at all, and held himself, as
he maintained, perfectly free to wed whom he should
choose.
" * You will be my certain death,' she exclaimed, ' but
death will be more welcome than life.'
" l Die and be ,' he replied.
THE RESULT OF A CURSE. 317
" At this the girl, with a wail of agony, swooned
away. On her recovery she seemed to gather up her
strength to pronounce a curse upon him and his. She
uttered it with deliberation, yet with wildness and
bitterness, maintaining that she was his wife, and
would haunt him to the day of his death ; declaring at
the same time to her relation present, ' And you shall
be the witness.'
" He left the place of meeting without any recon-
ciliation or kind word, and, it was believed, went
abroad. In less than five months, in giving birth to
her child, she died, away from her home, and was
buried with it (for the child, soon after its baptism,
died likewise) in a village church-yard near Ambleside.
Neither stone nor memorial marks her grave. Her
father, a widower, wounded to the quick by the loss of
his only daughter, pined away and soon followed her to
his last resting-place.
"Five years had passed, and the female cousin of
the old yeoman, being possessed of a competency, had
gone to live in London, when, on a certain morning
in the spring of the year 1842, she was passing by
a church in the West End, where, from the number
of carriages waiting, she saw that a marriage was
being solemnized. She felt mysteriously and instinc-
tively drawn to look in. On doing so, and pressing
forwards towards the altar, she beheld, to her astonish-
ment, the very man, somewhat altered and weather-worn,
who had caused so much misery to her relations, being
married (as on inquiring she discovered) to the daughter
318 HAUNTED HOMES.
of a rich city merchant. This affected lier deeply, bring-
ing back the saddest memories of the past. But, as the
bridal party were passing out of the church, and she
pushed forward to look, and be quite sure she had made
no mistake, both herself and the bridegroom at one
moment saw an apparition of her relation, the poor girl
whom he had ruined, dressed in white, with flowing
hair and a wild look, holding up in both hands her
little infant. Both seemed perfectly natural in appear-
ance and to be of ordinary flesh and blood. There was
no mistaking her certain identity. This occurred in
the full sunshine of noon, and under a heavy Palladian
porch in the presence of a crowd. The bridegroom
feurned deathly pale in a moment, trembled violently,
and then, staggering, fell forward down the steps. This
occasioned a vast stir and sensation among the crowd.
It seemed incomprehensible. The bridegroom, said
the church officials in answer to inquiries, was in a fit.
He was carried down the steps and taken in the bridal
carriage to his father-in-law's house. But it was re-
ported that he never spoke again ; and this fact is
mentioned in a contemporary newspaper account of the
event. Anyhow, his marriage and death appeared in
the same number of one of the daily papers.
" And although the family of the city merchant
knew nothing of the apparition, what is thus set forth
was put on record by the lady in question, who knew
the mysterious circumstances in all their details, which
record is reasonably believed by her to afford at once a
signal example of retributive justice «;**' niaikud
THE EESULT OF A CURSE. 319
piece of evidence of the supernatural. Names, for
various reasons, are not mentioned here. The truth
of this narrative, however, was affirmed on oath by the
lady in question," why or wherefore Dr. Lee does not
state, "before two justices of the peace at Windsor, on
October 3rd- 1848, one of whom was a beneficed clerary-
man in the diocese of Oxford, well known to the editor of
this volume, to whom this record was given in the year
1857 (when he was assistant minister of Berkley
Chapel) by a lady of rank who worshipped there."
THE HAUNTED HOMES
LSD
FAMILY TKADITIONS
OF GKEAT BEITAIN.
ALTHOKP.
Althorp, the magnificent Northamptonshire seat of
Ear] Spencer, has been the residence of its proprietors
from the " olden time," as Baker says, in his history of
the county. The simplicity of its exterior is fully com-
pensated by the attractions within : its magnificent
library is one of the wonders of England, and its superb
collection of paintings another. Since Althorp has
been in possession of the Spencers it has been hon-
oured by two royal visits; the first was paid by the Queen
and the elder son of James the First, and the second
by William the Third, in 1695, when a large gathering
21
324 HAUNTED HOMES.
of the nobility and gentry of the county took place in
honour of the event.
That a residence of the antiquity and importance of
Althorp should have a ghost is nothing unusual; if,
indeed, it had several it need not be a matter of wonder,
as such things go. The apparition which is connected
with Earl Spencer's palatial dwelling, however, is not
of the character one generally finds connected with
places of that rank, nor are we aware that it habitually
haunts the place, but it is so remarkable an instance of
ghost-seeing, related to us on such good authority, that
is well worth record here.
Mr. (afterwards Archdeacon) Drury was invited by
Lord and Lady Lyttleton to accompany them on a visit
to Earl Spencer, the lady's father, then at Althorp. After
dinner Mr. Drury and Lord Lyttleton amused them-
selves with billiards, and continued so late at their game
that at last one of the servants went to them to request
that when they went to bed they would extinguish the
lights themselves. He asked them to be very careful in
doing so, as Lord Spencer was always uneasy about fire.
Looking at their watches, they were amazed to find that
it was past two, and both of them went to bed without
further delay.
Mr. Drury was awakened from his slumbers by the
reflection of a light falling on his face; opening his
eyes, he beheld at the foot of his bed a man dressed as
a stable-man, in striped shirt and flat cap, and carrying
a lantern with the bull's-eye turned full upon the dis-
uirbud sleeper.
ALTHORP. 325
" What do you want, my man ? Is the house on
fire ? " exclaimed Mr. Drury ; but he received no reply,
liis visitor remaining silent and immovable.
" What do you mean by coming into a gentleman's
room in the middle of the night? What business have
you here?" he demanded, but, unable to elicit any
response, became more imperious in his remarks, bidding
the fellow be gone as an impudent scoundrel, whose
conduct should be reported to his master.
The figure then slowly lowered the lantern and passed
into the dressing-room, from which there was no other
means of exit than that bv which he had entered.
" You won't be able to get out that way," Mr. Drury
called out, and then, overcome by drowsiness, he
dropped off to sleep again, without even waiting to see
the result.
Next morning Mr. Drury remarked to Lady Lyttleton
that it was a very odd thing, but a stable-man had
walked into his room in the middle of the night, and
would not go away for some long time, adding, " I sup-
pose the man was drunk, but he did not look so '* ; and
he then proceeded to describe his dress and general
appearance.
Lady Lyttleton turned pale. : You have described,"
she said, " my father's favourite groom, who died a
fortnight ago, and whose duty it was to go round the
house after everyone had gone to bed, to see that the
lights were extinguished, and with strict orders to enter
any room where one was seen burning."
Mr. Dairy's feelings may be imagined, and that he
21*
326 HAUNTED HOMES.
never slept in that room again alone will readily be
assumed ; but whether he, or anyone else at Althorp,
ever beheld the apparition of the dead groom again is
another matter, about which we are unable to furnish
any information.
ASHLEY HALL.
In a work styled News from the Invisible World, pur-
porting to be a collection of remarkable narratives on
"the certainty of supernatural visitations," by " T.
Ottway," is given an account of certain marvellous
occurrences which are stated to have taken place at
" Ashley Park," Cheshire. .This Ashley Park would
appear to be identical with Ashley Hall, and the " Man-
nerings" of the narratives but another name for the
Merediths, whose country seat the Hall once was.
Ottway's account, which has been followed here, was
derived from someone at Cambridge University, but his
name and position are untold.
Ashley Hall, it may be premised, is somewhat more
than a mile south-east of Bowdon, and is pleasantly
situated on the banks of the Bollen. According to the
description given in Omerod's History oj Cheshire, the
exterior is stuccoed, and finished with gables ; the in-
terior contains an old entrance-hall, and a variety of
ASHLEY HALL. 327
apartments, more or less altered, but retaining, in
general, an air of respectable antiquity.
The story which I am about to relate, says our autho-
rity, has reference to a subject often discussed and little
understood — the connection which exists between this
shifting scene and the world of spirits. "It is of little
import to the reader," the narrator opines, " whether I
am a sceptic or a convert to the theory. It may be
more material for him to be assured that he is troubled
with the details on the authority of one whose fortitude
I have often witnessed, and for whose veracity I could
pledge my own. I give the story, as nearly as I can
recollect, in her own words."
"You know theMannerings of Cheshire, andremember
their seat, Ashley Park. It was when I had just left
school that I accompanied my intimate friend, Miss
Mannering, on a visit to her mother at Ashley. Mrs.
Mannering was a widow, blessed with an ample fortune
and great animal spirits, who laughed, and ate, and
talked, and played the kind hostess, and delighted in
seeing everyone happy about her ; who thanked God
that she had ' not a nerve in her body ' ; and hoped she
should die as she had lived — comfortably. The house
was crowded with company, ana Mrs. M. made an
apology for being obliged to assign to me, as my bed-
chamber, the ' Cedar Room.' It was a large, fine, old
apartment, wainscotted with cedar, and, from there being
a door at each end of it, which led to different parts of
the house, had, on high days and holidays, been used as
an ante-chamber. There were no old pictures, no Gothic
828 HAUNTED HOMES.
furniture, no tapestry, to predispose the imagination to
superstitious feelings, or to foster in the mind melan-
choly forebodings.
" The windows were sashed — the fire-place good, but
neither Gothic nor over-large — and the room itself,
though of unusual dimensions, had the appearance of
antiquity, unaccompanied by anything sombre. We had
been dancing, and I went to bed in high spirits. It
was between two and three in the morning, when I awoke
with a start, and saw distinctly a female figure pass
through my room. I enquired without fear who was
there. There was no answer. The figure proceeded
slowly onwards, and disappeared at the door. It struck
me as being singular, but, knowing the house to be filled
with company, and that the greater part were strangers
to the endless labyrinth of staircase and ante-room which
overrun the mansion, I concluded some heedless guest
had mistaken my chamber, or that one of the servants,
forgetting the circumstance of its being inhabited, had
literally put it to its old use — a passage-room. At all
events, thought I, it will be cleared up at breakfast ;
and without feeling any alarm, or attaching any impor-
tance to the incident, I struck the hour by my watch,
and fell asleep. The next morning I was somewhat
startled by finding both the doors locked on the inside,
and by recollecting with what care I had turned the key
the preceding evening. The breakfast-bell, however,
disturbed the train of my ruminations. I hurried hastily
down-stairs, and thought no more on the subject. In
the course of conversation, my kind hostess inquired
ASHLEY HALL. 329
how I had slept. ' Very soundly,' said I, ' except that
I was rather surprised by someone who, no doubt by
mistake, passed through my room at two this morning.'
Mrs. Mannering looked earnestly at me, seemed on the point
of asking me a question, checked herself, and turned away.
" The next night I went to bed earlier, and, at nearly
the same hour, the figure appeared. But there was no
doubt now upon my mind. On this occasion I saw the
face. Its pale countenance, its large, melancholy black
eyes, its step noiseless as it glided over the oaken floor,
gave me a sensation that I can never forget. Terrified as
I was, I fixed my eyes on it. It stood before me — then
slowly receded ; when it reached the middle of the room,
stopped — and while I looked at it, was not. I own it
affected me strangely. Sleep for the remainder of the
night was impossible. And though I endeavoured to
fortify my mind by recollecting all I had heard and read
against the theory, to persuade myself that it was illu-
sion, and that I should see no more of it, I half deter-
mined to conclude my visit at once, or, at all events, tc
change my room immediately. Morning came — bright
sunny morning — and the race-ball of the morrow, and a
dread of the ridicule which would follow my determina-
tion, overpowered my resolution. I was silent, and — I
stayed.
" The third night came. I confess, as the evening
drew in, I shuddered at the idea of going to bed. I
made excuses; I talked over the events of the night;
I played; I sang ; I frittered away minute after minute ;
and so well did my stratagem succeed, that two, thf
880 HAUNTED HOMES.
dreaded hour, was past long ere I entered my room. I
admit, that had I retired to rest, on the first evening of
my visit at Ashley, with the impressions that, in spite of
myself, forced themselves upon me in this, imagination
might then have claimed a part in what I witnessed.
But the feelings were wholly distinct. On the first
night I had seen nothing — knew nothing. On this, I
was steeling my mind against the worst.
"After a determined and minute investigation of
the room, after a thorough examination of every closet
and coruer, after barring and bolting each door with a
beating heart, a woman's fears (shall I confess it ?) stole
over me ; and, hastily flinging myself on the bed, I
muffled up my face entirely in the clothes. After lying
in this manner for two hours in a state of agony that
baffles all description, I ventured to cast a hurried
glance around the room. It must be, I thought, near
daybreak. It was so ; but by my side stood the figure
— her form bent over me, her face so close to mine that
I could have touchad it; her white drapery leaning
over me, so that my slightest motion would have dis-
composed it. I looked again, to convince myself that
it was no deception, and — have no recollection of any-
thing further.
" When I came to myself it was nearly noon. The
servants and, indeed, Mrs. Mannering herself had re-
peatedly knocked at the door, and, receiving no answer,
were unwilling to disturb me. My kind hostess was
alone in the breakfast-room when I entered, and was
preparing to rally me on my early hours, when, evi-
ASHLEY HALL. 381
dently struck by my appearance, she inquired if I was
well. 'Not particularly,' said I, faintly; ' and, if you
will allow me, I return home this morning.' She
looked at me in silence for some moments, and then
said with emphasis, ' Have you any particular reason ?
Nay, I am sure you have,' she continued, as her keen,
penetrating eyes detected an involuntary tremor. ' I
have no concealments/ was my reply, and immediately
I detailed the whole transaction. She heard me gravely,
without interruption, or expressing any surprise. ' I
am grieved, beyond measure, my dear young friend, for
the event; I certainly have heard strange and unac-
countable stories about that room ; but I always
treated them as idle tales, quite unworthy of credit.
This is the first time for years it has been occupied, and
I shall never cease to reproach myself for having tried
the experiment. But, for God's sake ! ' she added,
'don't mention it. Assure me, promise me, you will
not breathe a syllable on the subject to any living being.
If, among these ignorant and superstitious people, the
inexplicable occurrence should once get wind, not a
servant would stay with me.' I assented ; and on all
her offers of a different room, pressing entreaties to
remain, and promises of fresh arrangements, I put a
decided negative. Home I returned that morning.
" A long interval elapsed before I again visited
Ashley. Miss Mannering, my kind and warm-hearted
friend, had sunk into an early grave, and I had had, in
the interim, to stem the torrent of affliction, and buffet
with its waves. At length, a most pressing and per-
332 HAUNTED HOMES.
sonal invitation brought me under Mrs. Mannering's
roof. There I found her sister, who, with three young
children, were laughing and revelling away their Christ-
mas. Lady Pierrepoint was one of those fortunate
women who, by dint of undaunted assurance, and, as
Poor Eichard informed his friends, * an unparalleled
tongue,' had contrived to have her own way through
life. Her first exploit, on coming to Ashley, was to
fix upon the cedar-room for the children. In vain poor
Mrs. Mannering pointed out its faults. She 'was afraid
they would find it cold.' Her ladyship ' wished them
to be hardy.' 'It was out of the way.' ' So much the
better ; their noise would not be troublesome.' l I fear
' went on Mrs. Mannering. ' Don't know what it
is,' said Lady Pierrepoint. ' In short,' she continued,
with her imperturbable face, ' this room or none.' And
Mrs. Mannering, not daring to avow the real cause of
her fears, yet feeling that further contest was useless,
saw, with feelings of horror, the little cribs and rocking
horses, nurses and nine-pins, formally established in the
dreaded apartment.
" Things went on very smoothly for a fortnight. No
complaints of the cedar-room transpired, and Mrs.
Mannering was congratulating herself on the happy
turn affairs had taken, when, one day, on her going into
the nursery, she saw her little nephews busily engaged
in packing up their playthings. ' What, are you tired
of Ashley, and going to leave me?' ' Oh, no ; but we
are going to hide away our toys from the White Lady.
She came last night, and Sunday night. And she had
ASHLEY HALL. 333
such large black eyes, and she stood close by our cribs
— just here, aunt. Who is she, do you know ? for Fred
says she never speaks. What does she do here, and
what does she want ? '
" 'What a wretched, miserable woman I am!' cried
the panic-stricken Mrs. Mannering. 'Every hope I had
entertained of this abominable affair is dashed to the
ground for ever ; and if, by any chance, Lady Pierre-
point should discover Oh, they must be moved
directly. Ring the bell ! Where's the housekeeper?
I'll give no reason — I '11 have no reason. Oh, Manner-
ing ! to what sorrows have you not exposed your
widow ! ' In spite of all inquiries, interrogatories, and
surmises, moved the little Pierrepoints were that very
evening. Our precautions, however, were all but de-
feated ; for one of the little magpies began after dinner:
1 Mamma, I 've something to tell you about the White
Lady.' He was instantly crammed almost to suffoca-
tion with sweetmeats. The rest were very shortly
trundled out of the room, choking with bon-bons. And
I shall never forget the piteous expression of Mrs.
Mannering's countenance, as she passed me with her
party, or her declaration : c God forgive me ! but I see
very clearly this White Lady will put me in my grave.'
" The room was then shut up for some years, and I
can give no account of what passed at Ashley in the
interim. The last time I was there was on the day on
which young Mannering came of age. His mother had
been receiving the loud and rustic, but not, on that
account, the less sincere, congratulations of the tenants
334 HAUNTED HOMES.
on the lawn, when she was told her more courtly visitors
were awaiting her in the drawing-room. On this occa-
sion the sins of the cedar-room were forgotten, and it
was once more used as an ante-chamber. To enter it,
throw off her shawl and bonnet, and run to a large
swing-glass which stood near a window, was the work
of an instant. She was hastily adjusting her dress,
when she started, for she saw — reflected at full length
in the glass beside her — the figure of the White Lady !
"It was days before the brain-fever, which her fright
and her fall brought on, would allow her to give any
connected account of what, til] then, appeared an in-
explicable occurrence. Her reason and recollection
gradually returned, but her health — never. A few
weeks afterwards she quitted Ashley Park for — the
grave ! "
BAGLEY HOUSE.
In an interesting paper on " Devonshire Ghosts," con-
tributed by Miss Billington to Merry England, for
August 1883; is an account of Bagley House, near
Bridport, a well-known haunted building. About this
old residence various ghostly legends have clustered,
but Miss Billington refers mainly to a traditional
Squire Lighte. This worthy was formerly owner of
Bagley.
BAGLEY HOUSE. 335
"He had been hunting one day," says our authority,
u and after reaching home had gone away again and
drowned himself. His groom had followed him with a
presentiment that something was wrong, and arrived at
the pond in time to see the end of the tragedy. As he
returned, he was accosted by the spirit of his drowned
master, which unhorsed him. He soon fell violently ill,
and never recovered; one of the consequences of this
illness being that his skin peeled entirely off! Shortly
after Squire Lighte's suicide his whole house was
troubled with noisy disturbances which were at once
associated with the evil deed of self-destruction. It was
suggested that the spirit should be formally and duly
' laid ' or exorcised. A number of the clergy went,
therefore, for that purpose, and succeeded in inducing
the ghost to confine itself to a chimney in the house for
a certain number of years ; it is not known exactly now
for how long.
" For many years after this, however, the place remained
at peace ; but on the expiration of the power of the
charm, very much worse disturbances broke out again.
Raps would be heard at the front door; steps in the
passage and on the stairs, doors opening and closing.
The rustle of ladies dressed in silk was audible in the
drawing-room, and from that room the sound was traced
into a summer-house in the garden. The crockery
would all be violentlv moved, and at certain rare
intervals a male figure, dressed in old-fashioned costume,
is said to have made itself visible and walked about the
house. The neighbours say that these extraordinary
336 HAUNTED HOMES,
occurrences continued for many years. They believe in
them most firmly, and are of opinion that as long as the
house stands it will be thus troubled."
BERRY POMEEOY CASTLE.
Berry Pomeroy Castle is situated in the midst of some
of the most beautiful scenery of Devonshire. Its remains
are very extensive and imposing, and attract many
visitors from Torquay and neighbourhood. Artists are '
especially drawn to the place by its well-deserved I
reputation for presenting eligible points of view for
study. The ruin consists of a mass of late Tudor
buildings, grouped around an inner court, and sur-
rounded by an escarped bank of great height. There is
but one approach ; a gateway with spaces for two port-
cullises, and two flanking towers. The walls are clad
with ivv ; and trees, almost as ancient as the castle
itself, are scattered about the grounds. The picturesque
beauty of the situation is heightened and completed by
the river, which winds round the charming ruins. With
this delightful spot a terrible tragedy is connected, the
details of which have been given to us in some such
words as these :
Somewhat more than a century ago, Dr. Walter
Farquhar, who was created a baronet in 1796, made a
temporary sojourn in Torquay. This phvsician was
H
H
m
<
o
o
BERRY POMEEOY CASTLE. 337
quite a young man at that time and had not acquired
the reputation which, after his settlement in London, pro-
cured him the confidence and even friendship of royalty.
One day, during his stay in Devon, he was summoned
professionally to Berry Pomeroy Castle, a portion of which
building was still occupied by a steward and his wife.
The latter was seriously ill, and it was to see her that
he had been called in. Previous to seeing his patient
Dr. Farquhar was shown into an outer apartment and
requested to remain there until she was prepared to see
him. This apartment was large and ill-proportioned;
around it ran richly-carved panels of oak that age had
changed to the hue of ebony. The only light in the
room was admitted through the chequered panes of a
gorgeously-stained window, in which were emblazoned
the arms of the former lords of Berry Pomeroy. In one
corner, to the right of the wide fire-place, says the
narrative attributed to the doctor, was a flight of dark
oaken steps, forming part of a staircase leading appa-
rently to some chamber above ; and on these stairs the
fading gleams of summer's twilight shone through.
While Dr. Farquhar wondered, and, if the truth be
told, chafed at the delay which had been interposed
between him and his patient, the door opened, and a
female somewhat richly dressed entered the apartment.
He, supposing her to be one of the family, advanced to
meet her. Unheeding him she crossed the room with a
hurried step, wringing her hands, and exhibiting by her
motions the deepest distress. When she reached the
foot of the stairs, she paused for an instant, and then
338 HAUNTED HOMES.
began to ascend them with the same hasty step and
agitated demeanour. As she reached the highest stair
the light fell strongly on her features, and displayed
a countenance, youthful, indeed, and beautiful, but in
which vice and despair strove for mastery. " If ever
human face," to use the doctor's own words, " exhibited
agony and remorse ; if ever eye, that index of the soul,
portrayed anguish uncheered by hope, and suffering
without interval ; if ever features betrayed that within
the wearer's bosom there dwelt a hell, those features and
that being were then present to me."
Before he could make up his mind on the nature of
this strange occurrence, he was summoned to the bed-
side of his patient. He found the lady so ill as to
require his undivided attention, and had no opportunity,
and in fact no wish, to ask any questions which bore on
a different subject to her illness.
But on the following morning, when he repeated his
visit, and found the sufferer materially better, he com-
municated what he had witnessed to the husband, and
expressed a wish for some explanation. The steward's
countenance fell during the physician's narrative, and
at its close he mournfully ejaculated:
" My poor wife ! my poor wife ! "
" Why, how does this relation affect her ? "
" Much, much ! " replied the steward, vehemently.
" That it should have come to this ! I cannot — cannot
lose her ! You know not," he continued in a milder
tone, " the strange, sad history ; and — and his lordship
is extremely averse to any allusion being ever made to
Berry pomeroy castle. 339
tne circumstance, or any importance attached to it; bat
I must and will out with it ! The figure which you saw-
is supposed to represent the daughter of a former baron
of Berry Pomeroy, who bore a child to her own father.
In that chamber above us the fruit of their incestuous
intercourse was strangled by its guilty mother; and
whenever death is about to visit the inmates of the
castle she is seen wending her way to the scene of her
crimes with the frenzied gestures you describe. The
day my son was drowned she was observed; and now my
wife ! "
"I assure you she is better. The most alarming
symptoms have given way, and all immediate dancrer is
at an end."
" I have lived in and near the castle thirty years/'
was the steward's desponding reply, " and never knew
the omen fail."
" Arguments on omens are absurd," said the doctor,
rising to take his leave. " A few days, however, will,
I trust, verify my prognostics, and see Mrs. S
recovered."
They parted mutually dissatisfied. The lady died at
noon.
Many years intervened and brought with them many
changes. The doctor rose rapidly and deservedly into
repute; became the favourite physician and even per-
sonal friend of the Prince Kegent, was created a baronet,
and ranked among the highest authorities in the medical
world.
When he was at the zenith of his professional career,
340 HAUNTED HOMES,
a lady called on him to consult him about her sister,
whom she described as sinking, overcome, and heart-
broken, by a supernatural appearance.
" I am aware of the apparent absurdity of the details
which I am about to give," she began, " but the case
will be unintelligible to you, Sir Walter, without them.
While residing at Torquay last summer, we drove over
one morning to visit the splendid remains of Berry
Pomeroy Castle. The steward was very ill at the time
(he died, in fact, while we were going over the ruins),
and there was some difficulty in getting the keys. While
my brother and I went in search of them, my sister was
xeit alone for a few moments in a large room on the
ground-floor ; and while there — most absurd fancy ! —
she has persuaded herself she saw a female enter and
pass her in a state of indescribable distress. This
spectre, I suppose I must call her, horribly alarmed
her. Its features and gestures have made an impression,
she says, which no time can efface. I am well aware of
what you will say, that nothing can possibly be more
preposterous. We have tried to rally her out of it, but
the more heartily we laugh at her folly, the more
agitated and excited does she become. In fact, I fear
we have aggravated her disorder by the scorn with which
we have treated it. For my own part, I am satisfied her
impressions are erroneous, and arise entirely from a
depraved state of the bodily organs. We wish for your
?ninion ; and are most anxious you should visit her
without delay/'
'Madam, I will make a point of seeing your sister
BETTISCOMBE HOUSE. 341
immediately; but it is no delusion. This I think it
proper to state most positively, and previous to anv
interview. I, myself, saw the same figure, under some-
what similar circumstances, and ahout the same hour
of the day ; and I should decidedly oppose any raillery
or incredulity being expressed on the subject in your
sister's presence."
Sir Walter saw the young lady next day, and after
being for a short time under his care she recovered.
Our authority for th® above account of how Berry
Pomeroy Castle is haunted, derived it from Sir Walter
Farquhar, who was a man even more noted for his
probity and veracity than for his professional attain-
ments, high as they were rated. The story has been
told as nearly as possible in Sir Walter's own words.
BETTISCOMBE HOUSE.
There is a certain old farmstead known as Bettiscombe,
or Bettiscombe House, in a parish of the same name,
about six miles from Bridport, in Dorsetshire. This
ancient dwelling, which is still inhabited, is celebrated
for the so-called "Screaming Skull' that it contains.
There are various versions of the cause and conse-
quences of the malign influence exercised by this relic
of humanity. Mr. William Andrews, in his essay on
Skull Superstitions, states that the peculiar superstition
attachiug to the Bettiscombe skull is, " that if it be
22*
■
m
340
HAUNTEJJ) HOMES,
a lady called on him to consult him about her sister,
whom she described as sinking, overcome, and heart-
broken, by a supernatural appearance.
" I am aware of the apparent absurdity of the details
which I am about to give," she began, "but the case
will be unintelligible to you, Sir Walter, without them
While residing at Torquay last summer, we drove ovei
one morning to visit the splendid remains of Bern
Pomeroy Castle. The steward was very ill at the tim<
(he died, in fact, while we were going over the ruins)
and there was some difficulty in getting the keys. WhiL
my brother and I went in search of them, my sister wa
reit alone for a few moments in a large room on th
ground-floor ; and while there — most absurd fancy !—
she has persuaded herself she saw a female enter an
pass iier in a state of indescribable distress. Thi
spectre, I suppose I must call her, horribly alarme
her. Its features and gestures have made an impressior
she says, which no time can efface. I am well aware c
what you will say, that nothing can possibly be mor
preposterous. We have tried to rally her out of it, bu
the more heartily we laugh at her folly, the mor
agitated and excited does she become. In fact, I fea
we have aggravated her disorder by the scorn withwhic
we have treated it. For my own part, I am satisfied he
impressions are erroneous, and arise entirely from
depraved state of the bodily organs. We wish for you
^ninion: and are most anxious vou should visit he
without delay.""
' Madam, I will make a point of seeing your siste
BETTISCOMBE HOUSE. 343
spirits started off, hoping to discover the skull and
investigate its history. This much we knew, that the
skull would only scream when it was buried, and so we
hoped to get leave to inter it in the churchyard.
" The village of Bettiscombe was at length reached,
pr^i we found our way to the old farm-house, which
stuud at the end of the village by itself. It had evi-
dently been a manor-house, and a very handsome one
too. We were admitted into a fine paved hall, and
attempted ' to break the ice ' by asking for milk ; we
then endeavoured to draw the good woman of the house
into conversation by admiring the place and asking, in
a guarded manner, respecting the famous skull. On
this subject she was most reserved; she had only lately
taken the farm-house, and had been obliged to take
possession of the skull also ; but she did not wish us
to suppose that she knew much about it, it was a veri-
table ' skeleton in the closet' to her. After exercising
great diplomacy we persuaded her to allow us a sight
of it. We tramped up the fine old oak staircase till we
reached the top of the house, when, opening a cupboard
door, she showed us a steep winding staircase leading
to the roof, and from one of the steps the skull sat
grinning at us. We took it in our hands and examined
it carefully ; it was very old and weather-beaten, and
certainly human. The lower jaw was missing; the
forehead very low and badly proportioned. One of
our party, who was a medical student, examined it long
and gravely, and then, after first telling the good woman
that he was a doctor, pronounced it to be, in his opinion.
344 HAUNTED HOMES.
the skul] of a negro. After this oracular utterance she
resolved to make a clean breast of all she knew, which,
however, did not amount to much. The skull, we were
informed, was that of a negro servant, who had lived
in the service of a Eoman Catholic priest ; some differ-
ence arose between them, but whether the priest mur-
dered the servant in order to conceal some crimes
known to the negro ; or whether the negro, in a fit of
passion, killed his master, did not clearly appear. How-
ever, the negro had declared before his death that his
spirit would not rest unless his body was taken to his
native land and buried there. This was not done, he
being buried in the churchyard at Bettiscombe. Then
the haunting began : fearful screams proceeded from the
grave ; the doors and windows of the house rattled and
creaked ; strange sounds were heard all over the house ;
in short, there was no rest for the inmates until the
body was dug up. At different periods attempts were
made to bury the body, but similar disturbances always
recurred. In process of time the skeleton disappeared,
all save the skull which we now saw before us.
" We were naturally extremely anxious to bury the
skull, and remain in the house that night to see what
would happen; but this request was indignantly refused,
and we were promptly shown off the premises."
Therefore the reputation of "the Screaming Skull
of Bettiscombe House remains unimpaired.
33
345
BIECHEN BOWEE.
Most accounts of haunted duellings are connected with,
if, indeed, they are not derived from, some terrible
tragedy. The legend of the old haunted house at
Birchen Bower is, however, not without its comic ele-
ment. As usual, gold is at the bottom of the story.
Whatever amount of credence the reader may be willing
to give to the sights and sounds declared to appertain
to Birchen Bower, that some kind of hereditary trouble
belongs to it can scarcely be denied, as the following
particulars, derived chiefly from an article by Mr. James
Dronsfield, in the Oldham Chronicle for 1869, will
make manifest.
About the latter end of July 1869, a body buried in
Harpurhey Cemetery was declared to be that of old Miss
Beswick, whose mummified corpse had long been ex-
hibited as a curiosity in the Manchester Museum. For
upwards of a century, so it was alleged, the rightful
heirs of Birchen Bower, Kose Hill and Cheetwood
Estates had been kept out of their property by a crafty
stratagem, and the burial of the body of the so long
deceased lady was to be the means of restoring to the
family of the former owners their long-withheld domains.
The ancient homestead of Birchen Bower, Hollin-
wood, was a quaint four-gabled edifice, built in the form
of a cross, and remarkable for the beauty of its summer
surroundings. All of it, save the southern wing, was
demolished some vears ago ; but the spirit or whatever
346 HAUNTED HOMES.
else it may be termed, belonging to tbe residence, did
not desert the spot when so much of its beauty and in-
terest was destroyed. A large barn, that is still, or was
recently, standing, and which bears the initials of the
Beswick family engraved on it, with the date of 1728,
but which appears to have been built much earlier, is
the centre of quite a number of legends and superstitious
stories.
Miss, or Madame Beswick, as she is often called, is
the nucleus about which all these curious myths gather.
Who she really was would seem to be somewhat un-
certain, but tradition states that she lived at Bower
House, and farmed the estate, until old age compelled
her to retire to a little stone cottage which stood on the
brink of the mill-stream that ripples through the sloping
front garden. The old lady was said to be very wealthy,
and when the rebels under Prince Charlie visited the
neighbourhood in 1745, she was terribly afraid they
would requisition her belongings, so secreted " vast
sums of money and articles of value " about the pre-
mises. The Scottish intruders did not carry the war
into Miss Beswick's territory, but the relatives of the
old lady could never afterwards induce her to reveal
where the hidden treasures were. A few days before her
death, it is said, she promised if they would carry her
up to Bower House she would disclose the secret and
point out wThere the gold was secreted, but they neglected
the opportunity. She became suddenly worse, and died,
leaving the whole affair enveloped in mystery.
Here was, indeed, a capital foundation for a ghost
BIRCHEN BOWER. 347
story! But better material lurks behind. A hundred
years passed away, and the body of Miss Beswick was
not buried ! Why this interment was so long deferred
has been variously stated, but the following account
would appear to embody the most popular, if not, in-
deed, the most historical elements of the case. A bro-
ther of Miss Beswick was supposed £o have been
considered dead, but just before the coffin-lid was
screwed down signs of animation were noticed ; restora-
tives were applied, and, after having been in a trance for
several days, he revived, and lived for many years after.
This circumstance is supposed to have made so intense
an impression upon the mind of Miss Beswick, that she
left her estates to Dr. White, her medical attendant, to
be held by him as long as her body was kept above
ground. The doctor embalmed the body, and thus was
enabled to keep it unburied, and so withhold the pro-
perty from the long-expectant descendants of the
Beswick family.
Whatever may be fact and what fiction about this
tradition is not in our power to say, but the following
extract from the Manchester Guardian of Saturday,
August 15 th, 1868, is certainly confirmatory of some
portions of the popular account : —
"A Curious Interment. — On the 22nd of July
were committed to the earth in the Harpurhey Cemetery
the remains of Miss Beswick, removed from the Peter
Street Museum. There is a tradition that this lady,
who is supposed to have died about one hundred years
ago, had acquired so strong a fear of being buried alive
348 HAUNTED HOMES,
that she left certain property to her (medical?) attendant,
so long (so the story runs) as she should be kept above
ground. The doctor seems to have embalmed the body
with tar, and then swathed it with a strong bandage,
leaving the face exposed, and to have kept ' her' out of
the grave as long as he could. For many years past the
mummy has been lodged in the rooms of the Manchester
Natural History Society, where it has long been an
object of much popular interest. It seems that the
Commissioners, who are charged with the re- arrange-
ment of the Society's collections, have deemed this
specimen undesirable, and have at last buried it."
One of the curious arrangements tradition asserts
Miss Beswick bargained for was that every twenty-one
years her body should be brought to Birchen Bower and
remain there for one week, and old folks — who should
know about it — declare the body was taken there at
the stipulated times, and put in the granary of the old
farmstead. Thus far, nothing beyond the eccentricity
of humanity has been cited, but the eccentricities of a
supernatural being have now to be referred to. In the
morning, state these authorities, when the corpse was
fetched, the horses and cows were always found let
loose, and sometimes a cow would be found up in the
hay-loft, although how it came there was, indeed, a
mystery, as there was no passage large enough to admit
a beast of such magnitude. The last prank of this
description played by Miss Beswick, so far as our infor-
mation goes, was a few years ago, when a cow belonging
to the farmer then tenanting the place was found on the
BIRCHEN BOWER. 349
hay-loft, and it was the firm belief of many thereabouts
that supernatural agency had been employed to place it
there. What made it particularly ominous was the fact
that it was the fourteenth anniversary of seven years
since Miss Beswick died, and it was a well-established
fact that something supernatural happened or was seen
at the expiration of every seven years at Birchen Bower.
How the cow was got up was a mystery to everyone, whilst
that blocks had to be borrowed from Bower Mill to let
it down through the hay-hole outside the barn was an
equally well known fact.
After Miss Beswick's death, her old house was divided
into several dwellings, and many strange stories are rife
of the marvellous things therein seen and heard. One
family had grown so familiar with the apparition of the
old lady in the silken gowu that they were in no way
alarmed when she appeared. Sometimes when they were
seated at supper a rustling of silk would be heard at the
front entrance, and presently a lady arrayed in black
silk would glide through the room, walk straight into
the parlour, and then disappear at one particular flag-
stone. It was a harmless spirit, annoying no one, and
her appearance never drew forth any further remarks
from the family than " Hush ! the old lady comes
again." In another part of the dwelling an inmate had
a treadle-lathe for wood-turning, which he used after his
day's work was over in doing petty jobs of joinery for
the neighbours. Sometimes when he went into his little
work-room an invisible visitor would be working away
with the lathe in full motion.
350 HAUNTED HOMES.
It is now about eighty-five years since the almost
forgotten " Barley Times " made sad oppression amongst
the poor people of this country. Protection had nearly
ruined the nation ; flour was at a fearful price, and
good bread scarcely obtainable. As a body the hand-
loom weavers were starving for want of food ; but one
of them, " Joe at Tamer's," made such large purchases
and seemed so flush of money that everybody was
puzzled. It was well known that Joe had a large family
of small children, who were supposed to depend for
their daily bread upon his labours with the shuttle, and
yet it was clear that they were stinted neither in food
nor clothing. Joe lived in one wing of Birchen Bower
house, and it was whispered that he had found the gold
which had been hidden by "Madame" Beswick. Years
passed away before the source of Joe's wealth was dis-
covered ; but eventually he confessed that he had pulled
up the floor of the haunted parlour, intending to put up
a loom for one of his children to learn to weave, and
in digging the treadle-hole he had found a tin vessel
filled with gold wedges, each valued at three pounds
ten shillings. He never mentioned the circumstance
to anyone at the time, but took his find to Oliphant's,
in St. Anne's Square, Manchester, and got it changed
into current coin. People were still living a few years
ago who knew "Joe at Tamer's," and the tin vessel in
which he found the gold is said to be still preserved by
his descendants.
It was thought that the discovery of her hidden trea-
sure would break the snell, and that Madame Beswick's
BIBCflEN BOWER, S5l
troubled spirit would now rest; but this is not the case.
Some few years ago she was seen near the old well by
the brook-side, when a presumed heir of the estates
was pressing his claim. A rustic was goiug to fetch a
pail of water ; but when he got to the well he beheld a
tall lady standing by it, wearing a black silk gown and
a white cap with a frilled border of those stiff, old-
fashioned puffs which were formerly worn. She stood
there in the dusk, in a defiant or threatening attitude,
streams of blue light seeming to dart from her eyes and
flash on the horror-stricken man. This appearance of
the lady's apparition was considered as a token that she
would get no rest until the estates had reverted to the
real heir. In light of the hitherto want of success of
the Beswicks to regain the property, notwithstanding
their frequent efforts, the old lady's spirit appears
doomed for a very lengthy and uncertain space of time
to walk the earth.
Madame Beswick, indeed, still haunts the old neigh-
bourhood ; on clear, moonlight nights she walks in
a headless state between the old barn and the horse-
pool, and at other times assumes the forms of different
animals, but is always lost sight of near the horsepool :
this causes some folk to fancy that she concealed
something there during the Scottish invasion, which she
is now desirous of pointing out to anyone courageous
enough to speak to her.
On dark and dreary winter nights the barn, it is said,
appears to be on fire ; a red glare of glowing heat being
observable through the loop-holes and crevices of the
352 HAUNTED HOMES.
building, and strange, unearthly noises proceed from it, as
if Satan and all his imps were holding jubilee there.
Sometimes, indeed, the sight is so threatening that the
neighbours will raise an alarm and knock up the farmer
and tell him the barn is in flames. When the premises
are searched, however, nothing is found wrong, every-
thing is in order, and the neighbours go terror-stricken
home, fully convinced that they have witnessed another
of Madame Beswick's supernatural pranks
BLACKADON.
The belief in headless spectres of not only human, but
equine and canine beings is very widely spread through-
out England, as readers of Charles Hardwick's Tradi-
tions, and other kindred works, are well aware. In the
western counties the myth is frequently localised, as at
Plymouth, where Sir Francis Drake has been seen
driving a hearse drawn by headless horses, and followed
by a pack of headless hounds. In Cornwall such appa-
ritions are quite common, one of the most noted being
that told of by the Rev. Thistleton Dyer in One and All.
The Rev. Richard Dodge, early in the last century,
vicar of Talland, near Looe, in Cornwall, like several
other Cornish clergymen, was very eccentric. His
singularities impressed the surrounding peasantry with
a great awe of him, and to meet him on the highway
BLACEADON. 353
after dark inspired, it is averred, the utmost consterna-
tion and terror. At that lonesome time he was believed
to drive along the evil spirits, some of whom were
visible in various sorts of shapes, and pursue them with
his whip in a most audacious manner. Not unfre-
quently, too, he would be seen in the churchyard at
midnight, to the great horror of passers-by. As an
exorcist Mr. Dodge had a great reputation ; he was
supposed to be deeply versed in the black art, and able,
not only to raise ghosts, but to " lay" them in the Red
Sea, or other convenient resting-place, by a nod of his
head. A truly useful clergyman for the time and
locality, although, indeed, his fame was not confined te
his own parish nor limited to the age in which he
lived.
One day a messenger arrived at his house with a note
from Mr. Mills, Rector of Lanreath, to this effect :
" On divers occasions has the labourer, returning from
his work across the moor, been frightened nigh into
lunacy by sounds and sights of a very dreadful character.
The appearance is said to be that of a man, habited in
black, driving a carriage drawn by headless horses.
My present business is to ask your assistance in this
matter, either to reassure the minds of the country
people if it only be a simple terror, or, if there be any
truth in it, to set the troubled spirit of the man at
rest."
This was quite sufficient to put a man of Mr. Dodge's
temperament upon his mettle. The next night, accom-
panied by Mr. Mills, he set out to visit the haunted
354 HAUNTED HOMES.
locality; but, although the night "was dark and murky,
they could catch no glimpse of the ghostly driver, and
only hear the occasional howling of dogs belonging to
distant farm-houses, or else the melancholy wailing oi
the wind, as it soughed across the moor. After some
long time the clergymen became wearied of waiting, and
decided that it was useless to watch any longer then, but
they agreed to meet again some other night in hopes of
meeting the spectre.
They separated, Mr. Dodge for the vicarage at Tal-
land, and Mr. Mills for his rectory at Lanreath. Mr.
Dodge had not proceeded far before his steed became
excessively restive, and, although he applied whip and
spur, the beast grew most uneasy, pricked up its ears,
snorted, and swerved from side to side of the road, as if
something stood in the path before it. This continued
for some time, until Mr. Dodge, thinking it dangerous
to attempt to pursue his journey, threw the reins on the
neck of the horse, when it immediately started back
towards the moor, and, with immense rapidity, carried
him to the spot where he had parted from his com-
panion. On nearing this place, the horse seemed seized
with incontrollable fury ; and the vicar was horrified to
behold Mr. Mills prostrate on the ground, and by bis
side, the much-dreaded spectre of the black coach and
the headless horses !
Jumping down to the assistance of his insensible
friend, Mr. Dodge raised his lips in prayer, when, in-
stantly, the spectre screamed, " Dodge is come ! I must
be gone ! " and leaped into its chariot, whipping furi-
BLACK HEDDON. 355
ously the headless horses, and vanishing into the dark-
ness of the night. The rector's horse, which had taken
flight on beholding its own headless kith and kin,
galloped off homewards at a terrible rate. The sound
of its hoofs, as it dashed madly through the quiet
little village, aroused the cottagers, who, deeming their
clergyman had been thrown and, perhaps, killed, turned
out in a body to seek for him. On arriving at Blacka-
don, they discovered their rector, supported by Mr.
Dodge, but in an insensible condition. They escorted
him home, and, in a few days, much to the satisfaction
of everybody, he recovered completely from the ill effects
of his severe fright and fall. Curious to relate, from
that time, nothing has been seen or heard of this
ghost and its headless horses driving over that moor.
BLACK HEDDON.
Black Heddon, a quiet village near Stamfordham, in
Northumberland, acquired an unenviable notoriety some
fifty years or so ago, on account of a troublesome
spectre by which it was haunted. The supernatural
being, whose pranks so disturbed this picturesque but
secluded place, was known as " Silky," on account of
its silken and rustling attire. It is a strange but by no
means unparalleled circumstance, that spirits bearing
the same name, and endowed with similar characteristics,
23
856 HAUNTED HOMES.
have rendered untenantable the once famed manor-
house of Chirton, as well as many other ancient English
dwellings. Although Eicharclson, in his Table-Booh of
Traditions, asserts that " Silky " has now disappeared
from Black Heddou, and has ceased her manifold
methods of annoying its inhabitants, this scarcely seems
borne out by facts, if our information may be relied
on. The tradition of her vagaries was too deeply im-
pressed upon the locality to be quite eradicated in one
generation or so.
" Silky," although occasionally manifesting herself,
or itself, in various shapes and ways, has a marked
predilection for making herself visible in the semblance
of a female dressed in silken attire.
Many a time, when one of the more timorous of the
community had a night journey to perform, has he,
unawares and invisibly, been clogged and watched by
this spectral tormentor, who, at the dreariest part of the
road, the most suitable for thrilling surprises, would
suddenly break forth in dazzling splendour. If the
•person happened to be on horseback, a sort of exer-
cise for which " Silky" evinced a strong partiality, she
would unexpectedly seat herself behind him, " rattling
in her silks." Then, after the enjoyment of a comfort-
able ride, with instantaneous abruptness, she would
dissolve "into thin air," leaving the bewildered horse-
man in blank amazement.
At Belsay, two or three miles from Black Heddon,
the spectre had a favourite resort. It was a romantic
crag, finely studded with trees, under the gloomy shadov
BLACK HEDDON. 357
of which she loved to wander all the live-long night.
Here often has the Delated peasant beheld her dimly
through the sombre twilight, as if engaged in splitting
great stones, or hewing, with many a stroke, some
stately monarch of the grove. Whilst he thus stood
and gazed, he would suddenly hear the howling of a
resistless tempest rushing through the woodland, while
to the eye not a leaf was seen to quiver, nor a spray
to bend.
The bottom of this crag is washed by a picturesque
hike or fish-pond, at whose outlet is a waterfall, over
which a venerable tree, sweeping its shadowy arms,
adds to the impressiveness of the scene. Amid the
complicated and contorted limbs of this tree " Silky "
possessed a rude chair, where she was wont, in her
moodier moments, to sit, rocked by the winds, enjoying
the rustling of the storm through the woods, or the
rush of the cascade during the pauses of the gale.
This tree, so consecrated by the terrors of the vicinity,
was carefully preserved through the care of the late
proprietor, Sir Charles M. L. Monk, Bart.*, of Belsay
Castle, and, though no longer tenanted by its ghostly
visitant, it yet spreads majestically its time-hallowed
canopy over the mysterious spot, and still, in memory of
its spectral occupant, bears the name of " Silky's Seat/'
" Silky '' exercised a marvellous influence over the brute
creation. Horses — which would appear to possess a
discernment of spirits superior to man, at least are more
sharp-sighted in the dark — were in an extraordinary
degree sensitive to her presence and control. Having
23 *
358 HAUNTED HOMES.
once perceived the effects of her power, she seems to
have had a perverse pleasure in meddling with and
arresting them in the midst of their lahours. When
this misfortune occurred there was no ordinary remedy
brute force could devise to make the restive beast resume
the proper and intended direction. Expostulation,
soothing, whipping, and kicking were all exerted in
vain. The ultimate resource, unless it might be her
whim to revoke the spell in the interim, was Witch-wood
or Kowan tree, an antidote of unfailing efficacy in this
as in all similar cases.
One night, an unfortunate farm-servant was the
selected victim of her mischievous frolics. He had to
go to a colliery at some distance for coals, and it was
late in the evening before he could return. i{ Silky"
waylaid him at a bridge, henceforth called " Silky's
Brig," lying a little to the south of Black Heddon,
on the road between that place and Stamfordham.
Just as he had arrived at the " height of that bad
eminence " the keystone, horses and cart became fixed
and immovable ; and in that melancholy plight might
man and beast have continued, quaking, sweating, and
paralysed, till morning light, had not a neighbouring
servant come up opportunely to the rescue, carrying
some of the potent Witch-wood with him. On the
arrival of this seasonable aid the charm was effectually
broken, and in a short time both man and coals reached
home in safety.
" Silky " was wayward and capricious, but at length
her erratic course came to an end. She abruptly dis-
BLACK HEDDON. 359
appeared. It had been long surmised, by those who
paid attention to the matter, that she was the troubled
phnntom of some person who had died miserably, in
consequence of being overtaken by mortal agony before
she was able to disclose the whereabouts of a great
treasure she was in possession of, and on that account
could not lie still in her grave. About the period
referred to, a domestic female servant, being alone in
one of the rooms of a house at Black Heddon, was
frightfully alarmed by the ceiling above suddenly giving
way, and the dropping from it, with a prodigious clash,
of something black, shapeless, and uncouth. The
servant did not stop to scrutinize an object so hideous
and startling, but fled to her mistress, screaming at the
pitch of her voice, " The deevil 's in the house ! The
deevil 's in the house ! He 's come through the ceil-
ing ! " With this terrible announcement, the whole
family were speedily convoked, and great was their
consternation at the idea of the foe of mankind being
amongst them in a visible form. In this appalling
extremity, a considerable time elapsed before anyone
could brace up courage to face " the enemy," or be
prevailed on to go and inspect the cause of the alarm.
At last the mistress, who happened to be the most stout-
hearted, ventured into the room, when, instead of the
personage on whose account such awful apprehensions
were entertained, a great dog's skin lay on the floor,
black and hideous enough forsooth, but filled with gold.
The house where this occurred was, at the time, occu-
pied by the Hepples, respectable yeomen of the place;
360 HAUNTED HOMES.
their descendants were still the proprietors of it in
1844, and, it is said, had acquired a very considerable
sum from " Silky's" long hidden treasure.
After this, " Silky " was neither seen nor heard, is
the opinion of the narrator of the above circumstances.
" Her destiny was accomplished, her spirit laid, and
she now," according to this informant, "sleeps as peace-
fully aud unperturbed as the degenerate and unenter-
prising ghosts of more recent times."
BLENKINSOPP CASTLE.
Grim, gaunt, and hoary, the fragmentary ruins of the
ancient fortress of Blenkinsopp, stand as a shadowy
semblance of the majestic strength which the castle
wore in former ages. Upwards of five centuries have
elapsed since this border stronghold was erected upon a
commanding knoll on the western frontier of North-
umberland, and naturally so antique a building has
gathered about it a garment of tradition. The most
noteworthy legend attached to Blenkinsopp, and one
most devoutly believed in by the neighbouring peasantry,
is that of "The White Lady," whose apparition has
haunted the castle for centuries and even now appears
from time to time.
The legend which accounts for this long-existent
phantom, this rival to "The White Lady of Skipsea/'
is related with more or less minuteness by various
BLENKINSOPP CASTLE. 361
historians; but in the following version, derived from
Richardson's Table Book of Traditions, the more
salient points of the story will be found.
Bryan de Blenkinsopp, or <? Blenship " as the name
is provincially contracted into, was gallant and brave ;
in a private feud, a border raid, or on the battle-field, he
was ever first. The mighty and brave ranked him
rvs one of their number ; the harps of the minstrels
sang his praises in numerous lays, whilst divers
bright eyes looked fondly and favourably on the
form of the dark and handsome warrior. But with all
his good qualities, and they were many, Bryan de
Blenkinsopp had a failing which ultimately wrecked his
fortune. This failing was an inordinate love of wealth ;
this vice he cherished in secret, and as earnestly though
vainly sought to discard ; it grew with his growth and
strengthened with his strength, and gnawed into his
very soul.
At the marriage of a brother warrior with a lady of
high rank and fortune, amongst other health-drinkings
was given that of Bryan de Blenkinsopp and his " ladye
love." "Never/' said Bryan, "never shall that be
until I meet with a lady possessed of a chest of gold
heavier than ten of my strongest men can carry into my
castle." This extraordinary announcement was received
by the company in silence, but the many looks of sur-
prise which were exchanged did not escape his jealous
observation. Ashamed of having betrayed his secret
thoughts, he quitted the place, and his country.
After an absence of many years Sir Bryan returned,
362 HAUNTED HOMES.
bringing with him not only a wife, but also a box of
gold that took twelve of his strongest men to carry into
the Castle. There was great feasting and rejoicing for
many days for the lord's return, amongst friends and
followers, and the fame of his wealth was spread far and
wide. After a length of time it began to be whispered
that the life of the rich baron was anything but a happy
for he and his lady quarrelled continually; she,
ETri the assistance of the followers who accompanied
her, having secreted the chest of gold in some part of
the castle, and refused to give it up to her lawful
husband and master. Whom she was or whence she
came was unknown; her followers spoke a foreign
tongue, so nothing could be gleaned from them. Some
folks even hinted that she was not a human being, but
an imp of darkness sent with her wealth to ensnare Sir
Bryan's soul.
One day the young lord suddenly left the Castle, and
went no one knew whither. His lady was inconsolable
for her loss, and filled the whole castle with her lamen-
tation. The vassals were despatched to all parts in order
to discover whither he had fled, but without success.
After searching in vain, and waiting for more than a
year, she and her attendants started forth in search of
the missing man.
The fate of Bryan de Blenkinsopp and his wife is
enveloped in mystery, and there is no hand to draw
aside the impenetrable veil and show us if ever they met
again, through what climes they wandered, or on what
field he fell ! Certain it is that neither ever returned to
BLENKINSOPP CASTLE. 363
Blenkinsopp. Tradition asserts that the lady, filled
with remorse for her undutiful conduct towards her
lord, cannot rest in her grave, but must needs wander
back to the old castle and mourn over the chest of
wealth — the cursed cause of all their woe — so uselesslv
buried beneath the crumbling ruins. Here she must
continue to wander until someone possessed of sufficient
courage to follow her to the vault shall discover and
remove the hidden treasure, and so give her perturbed
spirit rest.
The knowledge of this tradition naturally inclined
the surrounding peasantry to regard the old castle with
superstitious awe, and certain comparatively recent
events have contributed, in no slight degree, to heighten
the impression. The following curious circumstance
was communicated to Richardson by Mr. W. Pattison,
of Bishopwearmouth.
More than thirty years ago, said this correspondent
in an account written nearly forty years ago, there lived,
in two of the more habitable apartments of the weather-
beaten walls of the massive structure raised by Thomas
de Blenkinsopp, a labourer of the estate, and his family.
Both rooms appear to have been used as sleeping
chambers, because, as we are informed, one night, after
retiring to rest, the parents were alarmed by loud,
reiterated screams, issuing from the adjoining apart-
ment. Rushing in, they found one of their children, a
boy, sitting up in bed, trembling, bathed in perspira-
tion, and evidently in extreme terror.
"The White Lady! the White Lady I" screamed
"■v
364 HAUNTED HOMES.
the lad, holding his hands before his eyes as if to shut
out some frightful object.
. " What lady ? n cried the astonished parents, looting
around the room, which, to all appearance, was entirely
untenanted ; " there is no lady here."
" She is gone/' replied the boy, " and she looked so
angry at me because I would not go with her. She was
a fine lady — and she sat down on my bedside, and
wrung her hands and cried sore ; then she kissed me and
asked me to go with her, and she would make me a
rich man, as she had buried a large box of gold, many
hundred years since, down in the vault, and she would
give it me, as she could not rest as long as it was there.
When I told her I durst not go, she said she would
carry me, and was lifting me up when I cried out and
frightened her away."
A tale so singular, and yet, to all appearance, narrated
with fidelity, filled the old people with fear and astonish-
ment. It was currently reported that the Castle was
haunted by a white lady, although since their entrance
into the dreary abode they had hitherto been undis-
turbed. Persuading themselves that the child had been
dreaming, they succeeded in quieting and getting him
to sleep. The three following nights they were disturbed
in the same manner — the child repeating the same story,
with little variation, when, after a little consideration,
they removed him, and were no longer troubled with
the spectre; yet, such was the terror with which it in-
spired him, that he dared not enter into any part of the
old castle alone, even in daylight.
BLENKINSOPP CASTLE. 365
When the boy grew to manhood, although a sensible
person, adds Mr. Pattison, he invariably persisted in the
truth of his statement, and said that at forty years of
age he could recall the scene so vividly as to make him
shudder, as if still he felt her cold lips press his checks,
and the death-like embrace of her wan arms. He was
alive in 1805, and had become a settler in Canada.
The belief that treasure lies buried in Blenkinsopp
Castle was not a little strengthened, some years ago, by
the arrival of a strange lady at the neighbouring village.
She, it would appear, had dreamt that a large chest of
gold lay buried in the castle vaults, and, although she had
never seen it before, she instantly recognised the castle
as the same she had seen in her dream. She staved
■r
several weeks, awaiting the return of the owner of the
property to ask leave to search. She had, meanwhile,
made the hostess of the inn her confidant, with strict
injunctions not to divulge it to anyone. The landlady,
unable to preserve so interesting a secret, appears to
have told it to every person in the village, but always
accompanied with a caution similar to that she had re-
ceived herself: " Dinna ye be speaking on 't." Whether
from the circumstances having acquired such publicity,
or from reasons unknown to our informant, cannot be
said, but, at any rate, the unknown lady suddenly de-
parted, without, of course, having accomplished the
purpose of her pilgrimage to Blenkinsopp.
Up till 1820 some poor families continued to occupy
a few of the more habitable rooms of the old castle, but
even these are now ruinous and deserted. A few years
366 HAUNTED HOMES.
ago, the occupier of the neighbouring farm gave orders
for the vaults underneath the keep to be cleared out, for
the purpose of wintering cattle therein. On removing
the rubbish, a small doorway, level with the bottom of the
keep, was discovered. On clearing out the entrance,
the workmen were surprised by the appearance of a large
swarm of meat-flies, and the place itself smelt damp
and noisome. The news soon spread abroad that the
entrance to the " Lady's Vault" had been discovered,
and people flocked in great numbers to see it. Of the
whole number assembled, however, but one man was
found willing to enter. He described the passage as
narrow, and not sufficiently high to admit of a man
walking upright. He walked in a straightforward direc-
tion for a few yards, then descended a flight of steps,
after which he again proceeded in a straightforward
course until he came to a doorway ; the door itself had
fallen to pieces, the bolt was rusting in its fastening,
and the hinges clung to the post with shaky hold. At
this juncture the passage took a sudden turn, and a
lengthened flight of precipitous steps presented them-
selves. Opening his lantern, and turning the light, he
peered down the stairs into the thick darkness, but, en-
countering thick noxious vapours, his candle was ex-
tinguished, and he was obliged to grope his way back to
his companions. He made another attempt, but never
descended the second flight of stairs; and so little curio-
sity had their employer about the matter, that he ordered
it to be closed up, and the contents of the vault remain
undiscovered to this day, "When I saw the place/' records
BOGNOS. 367
Mr. Pattison, u some time after this adventure, the hole
had been partially opened by some boys, who were
amusing themselves with tossing stones therein, and
listening to the hollow echoes as they rolled in the
depths of the mysterious cavern."
BOGNOR.
The number for August 10th, 1867, of All the Year
Hound, contained the following very strange circumstan-
tial narrative of a supernatural character. It purports
to have been "taken down in shorthand from the lips
of the narrator," and the transcriber is believed to have
been Charles Dickens himself. The story is related as
" a pendant to the paper which recently appeared in
this journal headed 'Is it Possible?' (particulars of
which will be found under the heading of " Hampton
Court"); to which story a note was added by the editor,
believed to have been, at that time, as also in this
instance, Charles Dickens.
This " simple narrative," as it is editorially described,
is said to have been derived from a man getting on in
years, " who, distrustful of all other people's experience
verging on what we impertinently term the supernatural,
scarcely even ventures to believe his own." "As a state
ment at first hand," says the supposed transcriber,
whose alleged transcription is evidently the work of an
experienced litterateur. " as a statement at first hand of
368 haunted homes.
an appearance testified to by the narrator and corrobo-
rated by his ,wife, both living, it has seemed to me,
while simply transcribing the notes, to possess an
interest often wanting in more artistic stories of artificial
manufacture." After these introductory words the
tc transcriber " proceeds to give his story in the following
terms :—
"My wife's sister, Mrs. M , was left a widow at
the age of thirty-five, with two children, girls, of whom
she was passionately fond. She carried on the draper's
business at Bognor, established by her husband. Being
still a very handsome woman, there were several suitors
for her hand. The only favoured one amongst them
was a Mr. Barton. My wife never liked this Mr. Bar-
ton, and made no secret of her feelings to her sister,
idiom she frequently told that Mr. Barton only wanted
to be master of the little haberdashery shop in Bognor.
He was a man in poor circumstances, and had no other
motive in his proposal of marriage, so my wife thought,
than to better himself,
"On the 23rd of August, 1831, Mrs. M — - arranged
to go with Barton to a pic-nic party at Goodwood
Park, the seat of the Duke of Richmond, who had kindly
thrown open his grounds to the public for the day. My
wife, a little annoyed at her going out with this man.
told her she had much better remain at home to look
after her children and attend to the business. Mrs.
M , however, bent on going, made arrangements
about leaving the shop, and got my wife to promise to
ive to her little girls wliile she was away.
BOGNOB, 869
if'Vhe party sot cut in a four-wheeled phaeton; will;
fi pair of ponies driven by Mrs. M , and a g\<? for
which I lent my horse.
"Nov; we did not expect them to come back till nine
or ten o'clock, at any rate. I mention this particularly
to show that there could be no expectation of their
earlier return in the mind of my wife, to account for
what follows.
" At six o'clock that bright summer's evening my
wife went out into the garden to call the children. Not
finding them, she went all round the place in her search
till she came to the empty stable; thinking they might
have run in there to play, she pushed open the door;
there, standing in the darkest corner, she saw Mrs.
M . My wife was surprised to see her, certainly ;
for she did not expect her return so soon; but, oddly
enough, it did not strike her as being singular to see her
there. Vexed as she had felt with her all day for going,
and rather glad, in her woman's way, to have something
entirely different from the genuine casus belli to hang
a retort upon, my wife said : ' Well, Harriet, I should
have thought another dress would have done quite as
well for your picnic as that best black silk you have
on.' My wife was the elder of the twain, and had
always assumed a little of the air of counsellor to her
sister. Black silks were thought a great deal more of
at that time than they are just now, and silk of any
kind was held particularly inconsistent wear for Wes-
leyan Methodists, to which denomination we belonged.
"Receiving no answer, my wife said : * Oh, well,
3?0 HAUNTED HOMES.
Harriet, if you can't take a word of reproof without
being sulky, I '11 leave you to yourself;' and then she
came into the house to tell me the party had returned,
and that she had seen her sister in the stable, not in the
best of tempers. At the moment it did not seem extra-
ordinary to me that my wife should have met her sister
in the stable.
" I waited in-doors some time, expecting them to
return my horse. Mrs. M was my neighbour, and,
being always on most friendly terms, I wondered that
none of the party had come in to tell us about the day's
pleasure. I thought I would just run in and see how
they had got on. To my great surprise the servant told
me they had not returned. I began, then, to feel auxiety
about the result. My wife, however, having seen
Harriet in the stable, refused to believe the servant's
assertion ; and said there was no doubt of their return,
but that they had probably left word to say they were
not come back, in order to offer a plausible excuse for
taking a further drive, and detaining my horse for
another hour or so.
" At eleven o'clock Mr. Pinnock, my brother-in-law.
who had been one of the party, came in, apparently
much agitated. As soon as she saw him, and before he
had time to speak, my wife seemed to know what he
had to say.
"'What is the matter?' she said; * something has
happened to Harriet, I know ! '
" ' Yes,' replied Mr. Pinnock ; ' If you wish to see
her alive you must come with me directly to Goodwood.'
BOGNOB. 371
" From what he said it appeared that one of the
ponies had never been properly broken in; that the
man from whom the turn-out was hired for the day had
cautioned Mrs. M respecting it before they started;
and that he had lent it reluctantly, being the only
pony to match in the stable at the time, and would not
have lent it at all had he not known Mrs. M to be
a remarkably good whip.
" On reaching Goodwood, it seems, the gentlemen
of the party had got out, leaving the ladies to take a drive
round the park in the phaeton. One or both of the
ponies must then have taken fright at something in the
road, for Mrs. M had scarcely taken the reins
when the ponies shied. Had there been plenty of
room she would readily have mastered the difficulty;
but it was in a narrow road, where a gate obstructed
the way. Some men rushed to open the gate — too
late. The three other ladies jumped out at the begin-
ning of the accident; but Mrs. M still held on to
the reins, seeking to control her ponies, until, finding
it was impossible for the men to get the gate open in
time, she, too, sprang forward ; at the same instant the
ponies came smash on to the gate. She had made
her spring too late, and fell heavily to the ground
on her head. The heavy, old-fashioned comb of the
period, with which her hair was looped up, was driven
into her skull by the force of the fall. The Duke of
Richmond, a witness to the accident, ran to her assist-
ance, lifted her up, and rested her head upon his knees.
The only words Mrs. M had spoken were uttered
24
372 HAUNTED HOMES.
at the time : " Good God, my children ! '' By direction
of the Duke she was immediately conveyed to a neigh-
houring inn, where every assistance, medical and other-
wise, that forethought or kindness could suggest was
afforded her.
"At six o'clock in the evening, the time at which my
wife had gone into the stable and seen what we now
knew had been her spirit, Mrs. M -, in her sole
interval of returning consciousness, had made a violent
but unsuccessful attempt to speak. From her glance
having wandered round the room, in solemn, awful
wistfulness, it had been conjectured she wished to see
some relative or friend not then present. I went to
Goodwood in the gig with Mr. Pinnock, and arrived
in time to see my sister-in-law die at two o'clock in the
morning. Her only conscious moments had been those
in which she laboured unsuccessfully to speak, which
had occurred at six o'clock. She wore a black silk
dress.
" When we came to dispose of her business, and to
wind up her affairs, there was scarcely anything left for
the two orphan girls. Mrs. M 's father, however,
being well to do, took them to bring up. At his death,
which happened soon afterwards, his property went to
his eldest son, who speedily dissipated the inheritance.
During a space of two years the children were taken as
visitors by various relations in turn, and lived an
unhappy life with no settled home.
" For some time I had been debating with myself,
how to help these children, having many boys and girls
BOGNOIt. 373
of my own to provide for. I had almost settled to take
them myself, bad as trade was with me at the time, and
bring them up with my own family, when one day
business called me to Brighton. The business was so
urgent that it necessitated my travelling at night.
" I se<" cut from Bognor in a close-headed gig on a
beautiful moonlight winter's night, when the crisp frozen
snow lay deep over the earth, and its fine glistening
dust was whirled about in little eddies on the bleak night-
wind — driven now and then in stinging powder against
my tingling cheek, warm and glowing in the sharp air.
I had taken my great dog ' Bose ' (short for * Boat-
swain ' ) for company. He lay, blinking wakefully,
sprawled out on the spare seat of the gig beneath
a mass of warm rugs.
" Between Littlehampton and Worthing, is a lonely
piece of road, long and dreary, through bleak and bare
open country, where the snow lay knee-deep, sparkling
in the moonlight. It was so cheerless that I turned
round to speak to my dog, more for the sake of hearing
the sound of a voice than anything else. ' Good Bose,'
I said, patting him, ' there 's a good dog ! ' Then sud-
denly I noticed he shivered, and shrank underneath the
wraps. Then the horse required my attention, for he
gave a start, and was going wrong, and had nearly taken
me into the ditch.
" Then I looked up. Walking at my horse's head,
dressed in a sweeping robe, so white thfft it shone
dazzling against the white snow, I saw a lady, her back
turned to me, her head bare ; her hair dishevelled and
24*
374 HAUNTED HOMES.
strayed, showing sharp and black against her white
"Iress.
" I was at first so much surprised at seeing a lady,
ao dressed, exposed to the open night, and such a night
as this, that I scarcely knew what to do. Recovering
myself, I called out to know if I could render assistance
— if she wished to ride ? No answer. I drove faster,
the horse blinking, and shying, and trembling the while,
his ears laid back in abject terror. Still the figure
maintained its position close to my horse's head. Then
I thought that what I saw was no woman, but perchance
a man disguised for the purpose of robbing me, seeking
an opportunity to seize the bridle and stop the horse.
Filled with this idea, I said, ' Good Bose ! hi ! look a3
it, boy ! ' but the dog only shivered as if in fright.
Then we came to a place where four cross roads met.
" Determined to know the worst, I pulled up the
horse. I fetched Bose, unwilling, out by the ears. He
was a good dog at anything from a rat to a man, but
he slunk away that night into the hedge, and lay there,
his head between his paws, whining and howling. I
walked straight up to the figure, still standing by the
horse's head. As I walked, the figure turned, and I
saw Harriet's face as plainly as I see you now — white
and calm — placid, as idealized and beautified by death.
I must own that, though not a nervous man, in that
instant I felt sick and faint. Harriet looked me full
in the face with a long, eager, silent look. I knew
then it was her spirit, and felt a strange calm corne over
me, for I knew it was nothing to harm me. When J
BOLLING HALL. 375
could speak, I asked what troubled her. She looked at
me still, never changing that cold fixed stare. Then I
felt in my mind it was her children, and I said :
" * Harriet ! is it for your children you are troubled ? '
" No answer.
" ' Harriet,' I continued, ' if for these you are trou-
bled, be assured they shall never want while I havs
power to help them. Rest in peace ! '
" Still no answer.
" I put up my ho.nd to wipe from my forehead the
cold perspiration which had gathered there. When I
took my hand away from shading my eyes, the figure
was gone. I was alone on the bleak snow-covered
ground. The breeze, that had been hushed before,
breathed coolly and gratefully on my face, and the
cold stars glimmered and sparkled sharply in the fat
blue heavens. My dog crept up to me and furtively
licked my hand, as who should say, ' Good master,
don't be angry, I have served you in all but this.'
"I took the children and brought them up till they
could help themselves."
BOLLING- HALL.
' ;
Bolling, or Bowling Hall, near Bradford, the residence
of J. M. Tankard, Esq., is a fine old manor-house in a
very good state of preservation ; the present owner
o
76 HAUNTED HOMES.
having done everything to render it convenient and
comfortable without sacrificing its ancient appearance.
This Hall was formerly the abode of the Boilings ; but
in 1502 Eosamund Boiling, sole heiress of the pro-
perty, carried it by marriage into the Tempest family,
from whom it passed through the hands of several
successive owners until finally it became the property
of the present proprietor.
Some portions of this picturesque old place are very
ancient; the embattled western tower, says Mr. William
Scruton, to whom we are chiefly indebted for the infor-
mation contained in this chapter, appearing, from its
weather-beaten masonry and the thickness of its walls,
to date not later than the reign of Edward the Third.
Another tower of great antiquity flanks the other end
of the fabric. That portion of the front which lies
between the towers seems, from the ornate style of its
architecture, to have been the work of earlier Tempests,
and contains two large embayed windows, of which the
western bay with heavy mullions is the window of " the
ghost chamber." This haunted room is above the break-
fast room, and formerly communicated by a passage,
now bricked up, with the kitchens and servants' apart-
ments. Its plaster ceiling is beautifully moulded, being
covered with an elaborate tracery of conventionally
treated branches bearing fruit and flowers, that, with the
birds resting on them, issue out of the mouths of horses,
boars, and other animals. The walls, which are covered
with oak panels, painted a light colour, are surrounded
by a curious cornice and frieze, consisting of human
BOLLING HALL. 377
heads and grotesque animals in relief. The lofty carved
oak mantel-piece is very remarkable ; it is supported by
two fluted columns, which support a canopy ornamented
with oak and vine leaves and sprays, below which are
portraits of Sir Eichard Tempest and Rosamund his
wife, painted on wood, and in a remarkably good state
of preservation, considering the three centuries and a half
which have elapsed since they were painted.
The last Tempest who held sway at Boiling Hall was
Richard, styled by Markham <( a weak, imprudent man,
a Royalist and a gamester." When the Puritan party
finally triumphed, this Tempest compounded for his
estates by a heavy fine, which, coupled with his gambling
proclivities, led to his ruin. In the autumn of 1658 he
died in the King's Bench, a prisoner for debt. Accord-
ing to the current legend he staked and lost Boiling
Hall and all his estates at cards, during the deal
exclaiming :
" Now ace, deuce, and tray,
Or farewell, Boiling Hall, for ever and aye I "
No wonder if this Royalist reprobate's uneasy spirit
haunts its squandered-away Hall ; but what his ancient
dwelling is chiefly noted for is for an apparition which
visited it, or, rather, rendered itself visible at the time
of his ownership of the place.
During the Civil War Bradford was closely invested
by the Royalists under the Earl of Newcastle. This
nobleman, who had made Boiling Hall his head-quarters,
being enraged at the slaughter of the Earl of Newport,
prepared instructions for a general massacre of the
378 HAUNTED HOMES.
inhabitants, men, women, and children ; no quarter to
be given to any. However, before the town capitulated,
different orders were issued, and instructions given that
none should be put to death. The reason of this great
change of orders is generally attributed to supernatural
intervention. Popular tradition declares that a female
arrayed in white appeared in the Earl's bed-chamber at
Boiling Hall, and besought mercy for the townsfolk. Ac-
cording to the well-known account of Mr. Joseph Lister,
who was in Bradford during the siege, " it was generally
reported that something came on the Lord's Day night,
and pulled the clothes off his bed several times, and
cried out with a lamentable voice ' Pity poor Bradford!'
that then he sent out his orders that neither man,
woman, nor child should be killed in the town ; and that
then the apparition which had so disturbed him left him
and went away."
There does not appear to be any record of another
appearance of this apparition, but the story of its visit
to the Earl is an old and widely-diffused one; wherefore
it would not do to omit from this collection the account
of " The Boiling Hall Ghost/'
BBUNDON HALL.
Mr. Barham, in his life of his father, the author of
the world-famed Ingolchby Legends, cites the following
curious circumstances from the reverend author's diarv.
BEUNDON HALL. 379
Barham states that the story is current in the Carter
family, of which his first wife was a member, and that
it was told to him bv Dr. Roberts : —
11 One dav," proceeds his narrative, " about the year
1785, two lads, one of whom was the uncle of the lady
in question, were playing in the large hall of Brandon
Hall, a mansion situated on the borders of Suffolk,"
and at that time the property of the Carters, but which
afterwards passed into the possession of the Hurrells.
The attention of the boys was suddenly caught by the
opening of a door, usually kept locked, which led to
the more ancient part of the landing ; and they were
more astonished still by the appearance of a strange
lady dressed in blue satin, who slowly walked towards
the great staircase, stamped three times on a large
slab of blue stone which lay at the foot, and then, con-
tinuing her walk across the hall, disappeared through
a door opposite the one by which she had entered. The
boys, more puzzled than frightened, left off playing,
and ran and told Mrs. Carter, the mistress of the house,
and the mother of the narrator's (Mr. Roberts') uncle.
She immediately fainted. Subsequently she told her
son that the apparition had been frequently seen by
other members of the family, and that there was a very
dreadful story connected with it — which, however, she
declined to communicate. Some years afterwards, the
house having, I believe, changed hands in the interval,
certain repairs were undertaken, in the course of which
* It is actually in Essex, and now forms part of Sudbury. — Ed
380 HAUNTED HOMES.
the entrance to a large vault was discovered, concealed
by the stone upon which the lady in blue satin had
stamped. On examination two skeletons were found
below ; a gold bracelet was on the arm of one, and gold
spurs were lying near the feet of the other. In addition,
a goblet having some dark-coloured sediment at the
bottom, supposed to be blood, was found in a recess in
the wall, and a considerable quantity of infants' skulls
and bones were heaped up in one corner. Lastly, a
considerable sum in gold coin was brought to light."
The present representative of the Hurrells informs
me that he is ignorant of the tradition attaching to
Brundon Hall ; but he adds that a pair of antique spurs
and a sword were directed by his great grandfather in
his will to be preserved as heir-looms in the family.
How far this coincidence may be thought to corrobo-
rate the story of the well-known Sudbury apparition,
afterwards to be referred to, must be left to the reader
to decide.
BURTON AGNES HALL.
Amongst the haunted houses of Great Britain those
which are the permanent residence of certain skulls are
the most curious. Various grand old halls, quaint
farm-houses, and ancient dwellings, scattered about the
kingdom, are troubled at times by all kinds of super-
BURTON AGNES HALL. 381
natural disturbances, in consequence of some long and
carefully preserved skull being removed from its resting-
place, or otherwise interfered with. These pages fur-
nish several singular instances of such legends con-
nected with old ancestral dwellings, but none more
mvsterious, or devoutly believed in, than that con-
nected with Burton Agnes Hall, the family seat of Sir
Henry Somerville Boynton.
Burton Agnes is a picturesque village, between Brid-
lington and Driffield, in the East Hiding of Yorkshire.
It has some pretty cottages, a handsome church, con-
taining several splendid tombs of the Boynton, Griffiths,
and Somerville families (one of the last dating back to
1336), and the grand old Hall, the residence of the
Boyntons. The village, which is chiefly, if not entirely,
owned by the Boyntons, lies on the slope of the Wolds ;
a long chain of hills sweep round it from Flamborough
Head on the north, whence extensive views over the
lowlands of Holderness are obtainable.
The Hall, says Mr. F. Ross, from whose interesting
article in the Leeds Mercury much of the following in-
formation is derived, is a large and picturesque building
of red brick, with stone quoins — a mixture of the
Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean styles, with a long
broken faQade, ornamented with octagonal bays in the
wings, and mullioned windows. In the interior are a
grand hall, with a fine carved screen, behind which is
the magnificent staircase ; a noble gallery, containing a
choice collection of paintings — an apartment which has
not its equal for many miles. All the chief apartments
382 HAUNTED HOMES.
are profusely ornamented with carved woodwork, over
the fire-place of the hall being a curious specimen re-
presenting " The Empire of Death." Inigo Jones is
said to have designed the Hall, and Rubens to have
decorated some portions of the interior. Inwardly and
outwardly, this English home is as magnificent as it it
curious yet comfortable. From the grand entrance
gateway, an avenue of yew-trees stretches away to the
porch of the Hall, producing a picturesque effect.
Standing, as the edifice does, on an elevation, the
panorama seen over the surrounding neighbourhood
from its windows is both grand and impressive. Alto-
gether, Burton Agnes Hall might be deemed, in every
respect, a desirable dwelling. But there is a skeleton,
or, rather, a portion of one, in this splendid mansion.
In the course of centuries the estates had passed, by
descent, into possession of the De Somervilles, Griffiths,
and Boynton families, until they became vested in the
persons of three sisters, co-heiresses. A painting at the
Hall, represents these three ladies in costumes of the
Elizabethan period ; and in one of the upper rooms
is the portrait of a lady, apparently one of these three,
the bodily representative of the spirit which haunts the
ancient mansion, and who is familiarly and irreverently
called "Awd Nance," by the domestics. The skull of
this lady is preserved at the Hall, much against the will,
it is averred, of the inhabitants thereof, but it is more
than mortal dare do to remove it. When this relic of
mortality is left quietly upon its resting-place, all goes
well ; but whenever any attempt is made to remove it,
BUETON AGNES HALL. 383
most diabolical disturbances and unearthly noises are
raised in the house, and last until it is restored. The
story to account for these phenomena, as told by Mr.
Ross, is as follows : —
" The three ladies, co-heiresses of the estate of Burton \
Agnes, were in possession of considerable wealth, and had :
very exalted ideas of the dignity of the family. For a
while they resided in the ancient mansion, which had
been the home of several generations of Griffiths and
Somervilles ; but it had become dilapidated, and was
altogether out of fashion with the existing Eliza-
bethan style of architecture, now merging into the
Jacobean, and the three ladies began to think it alto-
gether too mean for the residence of so important a
family as theirs. They had many consultations on the
subject, and, at length, determined to erect a hall in
such a style as should eclipse the splendour of all the
mansions in the neighbourhood, even that of the mighty
Earls of Northumberland at Leckonfield, a few miles
distant. The most active promoter of the scheme was
Anne, the younger sister, who could talk, think, and
dream of nothing but the magnificent home to be
erected for themselves and their descendants. Money
they had in abundance. They called in the best archi-
tects of the day to furnish designs ; bricklayers,
masons, and carpenters were soon at work building up
the mansion, and then, for the decorative portions, the
genius of Inigo Jones and the talents of Rubens were
employed on whatever portion of the interior that wa3
susceptible of artistic treatment. In process of time it
384 HAUNTED HOMES.
emerged from the hands of artists and workmen, like a
palace erected by the Genii of the Arabian Nights, a
palace encrusted throughout on walls, roof, and furni-
ture with the most exquisite carvings and sculptures of
the most skilled masters of the age, and radiant with the
most glowing tints of the pencil of Peter Paul.
"Of the three sisters, Anne took the most lively in-
terest in the new house. She witnessed the uprising
walls, the development of the architectural features of
the grand facade, and the outgrowth of the chiselled
design of the interior under the cunning handicraft of
the carvers and sculptors, with the most rapturous "de-
light ; and, when it was completed, could never suffi-
ciently admire its symmetrical proportions, noble hall,
stately gallery, and manifold artistic enrichments.
" Some little time after its completion and occupation
by its lady owners, Anne, the enthusiast, paid an after-
noon visit to the St. Quentins, at Harpham, about
nightfall proposing to return home. She was wholly
unattended, excepting by a dog, as the houses were only
about a mile apart, singing merrily as she went along. As
she approached St. John's Well, she perceived two
ruffianly-looking mendicants stretched on the grass by
its side. This was a very numerous and dangerous
class, since the dissolution of the monasteries, at whose
gates they had been supplied with food, and lived by
traversing the country, and going from abbey to priory
and priory to abbey, being generally too lazy to apply
themselves to work ; and although parochial Poor Laws
had been passed in the two or three preceding reigns, it
BUKTON AGNES HALL. 385
had been left in a great measure to the people to contri-
bute to the poor funds, more by way of a benevolence
than as a compulsory rate, so that many parishes shirked
the collection altogether, and thus the roads of the
country and the streets of the towns swarmed with
sturdy beggars, who would take no denial when they
were able to demand alms bv threats and violence.
The lady approached them with some tremor, but did
not feel much fear, as she was still within the precincts
of Hnrpham, and not far from those who would afford
her protection. The men rose as she came up to them,
and asked alms, and she drew out her purse and gave
them a few coins ; but in doing so the glitter of her
finger-ring attracted their notice, and, in a threatening
tone, they demanded that it should be given up to them.
As it was a heirloom that she had inherited from her
mother, she valued it above all price, and declared she
could not, on any account, give up her mother's ring.
' Mother or no mother,' replied one of the men in a gruff
tone, * we mean to have it, and if you do not bestow it
freely, we must take it.' So saying, he seized her hand
and attempted to draw off the ring. At this manifes-
tation of violence she screamed aloud for help, when
the other ruffian, exclaiming, ' Stop that noise ! ' struck
her a blow on the head with his stick, and she fell
senseless to the earth. Her screams had reached the
village, and some rustics came hurrying up, upon which
the villains made a hastv retreat, without beinsf able to
get the ring from her finger. She was found, as it was
supposed, dead or dying, and was carried carefully to
386 HAUNTED HOMES.
Harpham Hall, where, under the care of Lady St.
Quentin and the application of restoratives, she re-
covered sufficiently to be removed the following day to
her home. Although she was restored to sensibility
she was suffering acutely from the blow, and was placed
in bed in a state of utter prostration ; she remained so
for a few days, becoming weaker gradually, until,
despite the tender nursing of her sisters, and the best
medical advice that York could afford, she fell a victim
to the brutal attack of the robbers, and was buried in
the church of Burton Agnes.
" During these few intervening days she was alter-
nately sensible and delirious ; but in whichever state she
was, her thoughts seemed to turn on what had latterly
been the passion of her life — her affection for her fondly
loved home. ' Sisters,' said she, ' never shall I sleep
peacefully in my grave in the churchyard unless I, or a
part of me at least, remain here in our beautiful home
as long as it lasts. Promise me this, dear sisters, that
when I am dead my head shall be taken from my body
and preserved within these walls. Here let it for ever
remain, and on no account be removed. And under-
stand and make it known to those who in future shall
become possessors of the house, that if they disobey this
my last injunction, my spirit shall, if so able and so
permitted, make such a disturbance within its walls as
to render it uninhabitable for others so long as my head
is divorced from its homo' Her sisters, to pacify her,
promised to obey her instructions, but without any in-
tention of keeping the promise, and the bodv was laid
BUETON AGNES HALL. 387
entire and unmutilated under the pavement of the
church.
" About a week after the interment, as the inhabitants
of the Hall were preparing one evening to retire to rest,
they were alarmed by a sudden and loud crash in one of
the up-stairs rooms ; the two sisters and the domestics
rushed up together in great consternation, but after
much trembling came to the conclusion that some heavy
piece of furniture had fallen, and the men-servants, of
whom there were two in the house, went up-stairs to
ascertain the cause of the noise, but were not able to
find anything to account for it. The household became
still more alarmed at this report, and for a long time
were afraid to go to bed; but hearing nothing further,
at length retired, and the night passed away without
further disturbance. Nothing more occurred until the
same night in the following week, when the inmates
were aroused from sleep in the dead of the night by a
loud clapping to, seemingly, of half a dozen of the doors.
With fear-stricken countenances and hair standing on
end, they struck lights and mustered up sufficient
courage to go over the house. They found all the doors
closed, but for a while the clapping continued, but
always in a different part of the house, remote from
where they were. At length the disturbance ceased, and
as nothing untoward followed the noise of the preceding
A-eek, they again ventured to return to their beds, where
they lay sleepless and quaking with fear until daylight.
"Another week of quietness passed away, but on the
corresponding night they were again disturbed by what
25
388 HAUNTED HOMES.
appeared to be a crowd of persons hurrying along the
galleries and up and down the stairs, which was followed
by a sound of groaning as from a dying person. On
this occasion they were all too terrified to leave their
beds, but lay crouching under the bed-clothes perspiring
with fear. The following day the female servants fled
from the house, refusing to remain any longer in com-
panionship with the ghost which, they all concluded,
was the author of the unearthly noises.
M The two ladies took counsel with their neighbour,
Mr., afterwards Sir, William St. Quintin and the Vicar
of the parish. In the course of conversation it occurred
to them that the noises took place on the same night of
the week that Anne had died, and the sisters remembered
her dying words, and their promise that some part of
her body should be preserved in the house ; also her
threat that if her wish were not complied with, she
would, if she were so permitted, render the house un-
inhabitable for others, and it appeared evident that she
was carrying out her threat. The question then was :
What was to be done in order to carry out her wish,
and the clergyman suggested that the coffin should be
opened to see if that could throw any light on the
matter. This was done the following day, when a
ghastly spectacle presented itself. The body lay with-
out any marks of corruption or decay, but the head was
disengaged from the trunk, and appeared to be rapidly
assuming the semblance of a fleshless skull. This was
reported to the ladies, who, although terrified at the idea,
agreed to the suggestion of the Vicar that the skull
BURTON AGNES HALL. 389
should be brought to the house, which was done, and so
long as it was allowed to remain undisturbed on the
table where it was placed, the house was not troubled
with visitations of a ghostly nature.
" Many attempts have since been made to rid the Hall
of the skull, but without success ; as whenever it has
been removed the ghostly knockings have been resumed,
and no rest or peace enjoyed until it has been restored.
On one occasion a maid-servant threw it from the win-
dow upon a passing load of manure, but from that
moment the horses were not able to move the waggon
an inch, and despite the vigorous whipping of the wag-
goner, all their efforts were in vain, until the servant
confessed what she had done, when the skull was
brought back into the house, and the horses drew the
waggon along without the least difficulty. On another,
one of the Boyntons caused it to be buried in the garden,
when the most dismal wailings and cries kept the house
in a state of disquietude and alarm until it was dug up
and restored to its place in the Hall, when they ceased."
A correspondent of Mr. Ross, to whom, indeed, that
gentleman was indebted for some of the particulars
already given, furnished him with the following account
of his own personal experience of the Burton Agnes
hauntings, gained during a night spent at the Hall. He
writes : —
" Some forty years ago, John Bilton, a cousin of
mine, came from London on a visit to the neighbour-
hood, and having a relative, Matthew Potter, who was a
gamekeeper on the estate, and resided in the Hall, he
25 *
390 HAUNTED HOMES.
paid him a visit, and was invited to pass the night
there. Potter, however, told him that, according to
popular report, the house was haunted, and that if he
were afraid of ghosts he had better sleep elsewhere ; but
John, who was a dare-devil sort of a fellow, altogether
untinctured by superstitious fancies, replied, ' Afraid !
not I, indeed ; I care not how many ghosts there may
be in the house so long as they do not molest me.'
Potter then told him of the skull and the portrait of
' Awd Nance,' and asked him if he would like to see the
latter ; the skull, it would appear, from what followed,
was not then in the house. He replied that he should
like to see the picture, and they passed into the room
where it was hanging, and Potter held up the candle
before the portrait, when, in a moment, and without any
apparent cause, the candle became extinguished, and
defied all attempts at * blowing in again/ and they were
obliged to grope their way to the bed-room in the dark.
They occupied the same bed, and Potter was soon asleep
and snoring ; but Bilton, ruminating over the tale of
the skull and the curious circumstance of the sudden
extinguishment of the light in front of the portrait of
the ghost, lay awake. When he had lain musing for
half an hour, he heard a shuffling of feet outside the
chamber door, which at first he ascribed to the servants
going to bed, but as the sounds did not cease, but kept
increasing, he nudged his bed-fellow, and said, f Matty,
what the deuce is all that row about? ' ' Jinny Yew-
lats ' (owls), replied his companion, in a half-waking
tone, and turning over, again began to snore. The
BUKTON AGNES HALL. 391
noises became more uproarious, and it seemed as if ten
or a dozen persons were scuffling about in the passage
just outside, and rushing in and out of the rooms, slam-
ming the doors with great violence, upon which he gave
his friend another vigorous nudge in the ribs, exclaim-
ing, ' Wake up, Matty ; don't you hear that confounded
row ? What does it all mean ? ' ' Jinnv Yewlats,' again
muttered his bed-fellow. ' Jinny Yewlats,' replied
Bilton, 'Jinnv Yewlats can't make such an infernal
uproar as that.' Matty, who was now more awakened,
listened a moment, and then said, ' It's Awd Nance, but
ah nivver take any notice of her,' and he rolled over and
again began to snore. After this ' the fun grew fast
and furious,' a struggling fight seemed to be going on
outside, and the clapping of the doors reverberated in
the passage like thunder-claps. He expected every
moment to see the chamber door fly open, and Awd
Nance with a troop of ghosts come rushing in, but no
such catastrophe occurred, and after a while the noises
ceased, and about daylight he fell asleep. " The writer
adds that his cousin, though a fear-nought and a tho-
rough disbeliever in the supernatural, told him that he
never passed so fearful a night before in his life, and
would not sleep another night in the place if he were
offered the Hall itself for doing so. He further adds
that his cousin was a thoroughly truthful man, who
might be implicitly believed, and that he had the
narrative from his own lips on the following day."
392 HAUNTED HOMES.
CALGAETH.
In a series of articles on the English Lakes, contributed
by Mr. Moncure D. Conway to Harper s Magazine,
are many little quaint bits of legendary lore, collected
here and there in happily styled " Wordsworthshire."
One curious story told by our American cousin respect-
ing the manner in which an ancient building near
Ambleside is haunted, and the cause of this visitation,
must be told in his own words, as there does not appear
to be any other available source of information.
" As we gained the height beyond Bowness, on the
road to Ambleside," relates Mr. Conway, " we paused for
some time ; and while my comrade the artist . . . passes
an hour of ecstasy over the southward view of Winder-
mere, my eyes were dwelling on an ancient farm and
homestead over against the northward water, with which
is associated one of the weird legends of this region.
Calgarth is the name of it, and it is not picturesque
enough for the guide-books to do more than mention it.
Miss Martineau praises the owner for leaving depres-
sions in his walls in order that travellers may look
across his estate to the scenery beyond, and mentions
that the arms of the Phillipsons are still there in the
kitchen, carved amid a profusion of arabesque devices
over the ample fire-place. But none of our professional
guides appear to have got hold of the story of the place
as it is known to the more aged peasants.
" It runs that Calgarth (which seems to be from Old
CAL GARTH. 393
Norse Kalgarde, a vegetable garden) was a bit of
ground owned by a bumble farmer named Kraster Cook
and his good wife Dorothy. But their little inheritance
was coveted by the chief aristocrat and magistrate
of the neighbourhood, Myles Phillipson. The Phillip-
sons were a great and wealthy family, but they could
not induce Kraster and Dorothy to sell them this piece
of ground to complete their estate. Myles Phillipson
swore he M have that ground, be they * live or deead ' ;
but as time went on, he appeared to be more gracious,
and once he gave a great Christmas banquet to the
neighbours, to which Kraster and Dorothy were invited.
It was a dear feast for them. Phillipson pretended they
had stolen a silver cup, and sure enough it was found
in Kraster's house — a ' plant ' of course. The offence
was then capital ; and as Phillipson was the magistrate,
Kraster and Dorothy were sentenced to death. In the
court-room, Dorothy arose, glowered at the magistrate,
and said, with words that rang through the building : —
" ' Guard thyself, Myles Phillipson ! Thou thinkest
thou hast managed grandly ; but that tiny lump of land
is the dearest a Phillipson has ever bought or stolen;
for you will never prosper, neither your breed ; whatever
scheme you undertake will wither in your hand ; the
side you take will always lose ; the time shall come
no Phillipson will own an inch of land ; and while
Calgarth walls shall stand, we '11 haunt it night and day
— never will ye be rid of us !
" Thenceforth the Phillipsons had for their guests
two skulls, They were found at Christmas at the head
394 HAUNTED HOMES.
of a stairway ; they were buried in a distant region,
but they turned up in the old house again. The two
skulls were burned again and again ; they were brayed
to dust and cast to the wind; they were several years
sunk in the lake ; but the Phillipsons never could get
rid of them. Meanwhile old Dorothy's weird went
on to its fulfilment, until the family sank into poverty,
and at length disappeared."
The well-known Dr. Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, was
at one time an occupant of Calgarth, and, whilst residing
there, in order to satisfy local fears, went through a
solemn form of " laying " the two ghostly skulls. For
a time, at least, this had the desired effect, and Dorothy
and Kraster have remained quiet of late years.
CALVERLEY HALL.
Calverley is an old-fashioned village in Yorkshire,
chiefly known to historians and strangers as the scene
of a terrible tragedy which took place early in the 17th
century. The Hall, although now modernised and
otherwise mutilated, and subdivided into seven dwell-
ings, still retains many remains of its ancient pictur-
esqueness. Once the residence of the ancient Calverley
family, whose pedigree is traced back to the time of the
Empress Maud, and of whom Mr. John Batty has
preserved records, in his History of Rothwell, as far
CALVERLEY HALL. 395
back as 1457, and amongst whose most distinguished
scions may be mentioned the late 0. S. Calverley, the
poet, old Calverley Hall was formerly a place of great
importance as well as mediaeval comfort. Mr. William
Scruton, in The Yorkshireman of January 5th, 1884,
describes fully the present condition of the fine old
place, telling of traces of ancient carving ; of oak ceilings
and battlemented corbels; of decorated Gothic windows,
and of many vestiges of the former grandeur of the
place.
One chamber in particular is not only noteworthy
on account of its fine oaken panelling and archaic
specimens of fresco work, but because it was therein
that the " bloodie deed" which has rendered the place
for ever dreadful and dreaded was committed. The
doorway, says Mr. Scruton, which led to the flight of
steps down which Walter Calverley threw the servant,
is now blocked up.
The story of the tragedy connected with Calverley
Hall has been a favourite theme for authors and anti-
quarians from the days of John Whitaker, to those of
John Timbs, but all that is necessary to repeat of it
here may be given from a very condensed account by
Mr. Samuel Margerison, of Calverley, cited in the above
number of The Yorkslrireman. He says: —
"Walter Calverley, whose father was a rich Roman
Catholic, was a wild, reckless man, though his wife was
a most estimable and virtuous ladv. It is said that he
inherited insanity from his mother's family. Be that
as it may, on the 23rd of April, 1604, he went into a
396 HAUNTED HOMES.
fit of insane frenzy of jealousy, or pretended so to do.
The fact was he had- completely beggared himself, and
got ' over head and ears * into debt. Money-lenders
were pressing him hard, and he had become desperate.
Rushing madly into the house he snatched up one and
then another of his children ; plunged his dagger into
them, threw them down, and then attempted to take the
life of their mother. A steel corset which she wore
was luckily in the way, and saved her life. The assassin,
however, thought he had killed her, and left hurriedly.
He then mounted his horse, intending to kill the only
other child he had, Henry, a ' brat at nurse,' who was
then at Norton. He was pursued by some villagers :
his horse fell and threw him off, and so he was caught.
When brought to trial at York he refused to plead,
knowing that thereby his estates would not be forfeited
to the Crown, but would descend to his surviving son.
[And this according to the well-known law of peine
forte et dure.]
" Walter Calverley was punished for his crime by
being pressed to death at York Castle. Tradition saith
that an old servant was with him when they were put-
ting the stones on his chest that were to crush out his
life, and that the wretched criminal begged him to put
him out of his misery by sitting on the stones, saying,
* A pund o' more weight lig on, lig on.' The old servant
complied with his request, but was straightway hanged
for his pains. Walter was buried at St. Mary's, Castle-
gate, York ; but there is a tradition that, after several
pretended interments, his body was secretly buried at
CALVERLEY HALL. 397
Calverley, among the remains of the sixteen previous
generations of the Calverleys."
Little wonder that after so dire a tragedy, Calverley
and its precincts were regarded as haunted ground.
Walter's spirit, says Mr. Scruton, could not rest. He
was often seen galloping about the district at night on
a headless horse, and was generally accompanied by a
number of followers similarly mounted, who delighted
to run down any poor benighted folks who happened to
be thereabouts. These spectral horsemen generally dis-
appeared into a cave in the wood, but this cave has
now been quarried away. At last the ghostly horseman
became so troublesome that the Vicar of Calverley Church
undertook the task of laying it, and, for a time at least,
succeeded in getting rid of the " Bogie." Walter was
not to appear again, " as long as hollies grew green in
Calverley Wood." The hollies still grow green in that
wood, but, apparently, something has occurred to pre-
vent the spell from being quite successful, as the follow-
ing incidents would seem to show.
The Kev. Richard Burdsall, a devoted Wesleyan
preacher, having to preach at Calverley, about a century
ago, was entertained as a guest at the Hall, on a cer-
tain Saturday evening in the month of January.
"About twelve o'clock," records the rev. gentleman,
" I was conducted up one pair of stairs into a large room
which was surrounded by an oaken wainscot after the
ancient plan. . . . After my usual devotions I laid down
to rest. I had not been asleep long before I thought
something crept up to my breast, pressing me much. I
398 HAUNTED HOMES.
was greatly agitated, and struggled hard to awake. In
this situation, according to the best judgment I could
form, the bed seemed to swing as if it had been slung
in slings, and I was thrown out on the floor. When
I came to myself I soon got on my knees, and returned
thanks to God that I was not hurt. Committing my-
self to His care, I got into bed the second time. After
lying for about fifteen minutes, reasoning with myself
whether I had been thrown out of bed, or whether I had
got out in my sleep, to satisfy me fully on this point,
I was clearly thrown out a second time from between
the bed-clothes to the floor, by just such a motion as
before described. I quickly got on my knees to pray
to the Almighty for my safety, and to thank Him that I
was not hurt. After this I crept under the bed, to feel
if there was anything there; but I found nothing. I
got into bed for the third time. Just as I laid myself
down I was led to ask, 'Am I in my right senses ? ' I
answered, ' Yes, Lord, if ever I had any.' I had not
lain a minute before I was thrown out of bed a third
time. After this I once more crept under the bed to
ascertain whether all the cords were fast, and examined
until I touched all the bed-posts ; but I found all right.
This was about one o'clock. I now put on my clothes,
not attempting to lie down any more. ... I was after-
wards told that this very house had formerly been the
residence of Calverley, who, in the reign of King James,
was tried at York for the murder of his wife and two
children, and, standing neuter, was pressed to death in
the castle."
OALVERLEY HALL. 399
Such is the worthy preacher's record of the way in
which he was tormented in the haunted Hall ; but other,
and more recent manifestations of spectral agency, are
believed to have taken place. " The last mad freak of
the ghost of poor Walter Calverley," according to Mr.
Scruton, took place about twelve years ago, when,
towards the close of the vear, " the bell in the church
tower began to toll at one o'clock in the morning, and
went on tolling for a long, long time. Men came rush-
ing to the scene, some of whom bad come out of warm,
comfortable beds, and some who had not been in bed
at all. All were struck dumb with terror and cold.
The keys could not be found. Toll, toll, toll ! still
went out the mysterious sounds in the night winds. At
last came the keys ; but just as they rattled at the key-
hole the noise stopped, and all was silent as death."
Although such supposed direct manifestations of
Walter Calverley's ghostly powers have not been
repeated of late, certain weird signs of the tragedy are,
it is said, still visible. Stains of blood — irremovable
stains — are yet to be seen on the floor ; and there is a
flag, one particular flag, in the cellar, which always
has a mysterious damp place on it; all the other flags
are dry save this. " Wise men have tried," says Mr.
Scruton, "to account for this; but, as yet, have signally
failed. Here it is, plain to be seen, and what one sees,
one can believe."
A correspondent writes that a Bradford paper,
published in March 1874, in an article entitled Cal-
verley, Forty Years Ago, gives the following anecdote in
400 HAUNTED HOMES.
proof of how strong an impression had been made upon
the public mind by the old legend connected with this
place. The writer of the article describes how, in his
youthful days, he assisted at an attempt to raise the
ghost of the old murderous squire ; the modus operandi,
he says, was as follows : —
About a dozen of the scholars having leisure, and
fired with the imaginative spirit, used to assemble after
school-hours close to the venerable church of Calverley
and then put their hats and caps down on the ground,
in a pyramidal form. Then, taking hold of each other's
hands, they formed a " magic circle,'' holding firmly
together, and making use of an old refrain : —
" Old Calverley, old Calverley, I have thee by the ears,
I '11 cut thee into collops, unless thee appears."
Whilst this incantation was going on, crumbs of bread
(saved from their dinner), and mixed with pins, were
strewn on the ground, the meanwhile the lads tramped
round in the circle with a heavy tread. Some of the
more venturesome boys had to go round to each of the
church doors, and whistle aloud through the key-holes,
repeating the magical couplet which their comrades in
the circle were chanting. At this culminating point
a pale and ghostly figure was expected to appear, and,
on one occasion, some such apparition does seem to
have issued forth, apparently from the church. The
lads, in their terrified haste to avoid the ghost's fearful
grasp, scampered off as fast as their legs would carry
them, leaving their hats and caps scattered about the
ground as legitimate spoil for old Calverley.
401
CHAETLEY PARK.
One of the most bizarre superstitions of any time or
clime is connected with Chartley, near Lichfield, a seat
of the Ferrers family. When the immense possessions
of the Ferrers were forfeited by the attainder of the
Earl after his defeat at Burton Bridge, where he led the
rebellious barons against Henry the Third, the Chartley
estate, being settled in dower, was alone reserved to
the family.
In the Park of Chartley, still described as a wild and
romantic spot, untouched by the hand of the agricul-
turist, and left in its primitive state, is preserved a
singular species of wild cattle, declared to be indigenous,
and of a race nearly extinct. In Bewick's Quadrupeds,
the principal external appearances which distinguish
this breed of cattle from all others are thus described :
" their colour is invariably white, muzzles black; the
whole of the inside of the ear, and about one third of
the outside, from the tip downwards, red ; horns white
with black tips, very fine, and bent upwards."
In the year the battle of Burton Bridge was fought
and lost, a black calf was born in this unique race; and
the downfall of the grand house of Ferrers happening
about the same time, gave rise to the tradition, stiU
current, that the birth of a dark-hued, or parti-coloured
calf from the wild breed in Chartley Park, is a sure ome?i
of death within the same year to a member of the
Ferrers family. It is a noticeable coincidence, says
402 HAUNTED HOMES.
the Staffordshire Chronicle of July 1835, that a calf of
this description has been born whenever a death has
happened in the family of late years. The decease of
the seventh Earl Ferrers, and of his countess, and of
his son, Viscount Tamworth, and of his daughter, Mrs.
William JollifFe, as well as the deaths of the son and
heir of the eighth Earl, and of his daughter, Lady
Francis Shirley, were each preceded by the ominous
birth of the fatal-hued calf. In the spring of 1835
an animal perfectly black was calved by one of this
mysterious tribe, in the Park of Chartley, and the por-
tentous event was speedily followed by the death of
the Countess, the second wife of the eighth Earl Ferrers.
This outre family tradition has served for the ground-
work of a romantic, once popular novel, entitled Charlie//,
or the Fatalist.
CLEGG HALL.
In Roby and Wilkinson's suggestive work on Lan-
cashire Let/ends, to which we are indebted for some of
the traditions in this volume, is an account of the Clegg
Hall tragedy. The story, as given in the work just
referred to, is as follows : —
" Clegg Hall, about two miles N.E. from Rochdale*
stands on the only estate within the parish of Whalley
which still continues in the local family name. On this
OLEGG HALL. 403
site was the old house built by Bernulf de Clegg and
Quenilda his wife, as early as the reign of Stephen.
Not a vestige of it remains. The present comparatively
modern erection was built by Theophilus Ashton, of
Koch dale, a lawyer, and one of the Ashtons of Little
Clegg, about the year 1620. After many changes of
occupants, it is now in part used as a country ale-house;
other portions are inhabited by the labouring classes,
who find employment in that populous manufacturing
district. It is the property of the Fentons, by purchase
from the late John Entwisle, Esq., of Foxholes.
" To Clegg Hall, or rather what was once the site of
that ancient house, tradition points through the dim
vista of past ages as the scene of an unnatural and
cruel tragedy. It was in the square, low, dark man-
sion, built in the reign of Stephen, that this crime is
said to have been perpetrated, — one of those half-
timbered houses, called 'post-and-petrel/ having huge
main timbers, crooks, &c, the interstices being wattled
and filled with a compost of clay and chopped straw.
Of this rude and primitive architecture were the houses
•of the English gentry in former ages. Here, then, was
that horrible deed perpetrated which gave rise to the
stories yet extant relating to the ' Clegg Hall boggarts.'
The prevailing tradition is not exact as to the date of
its occurrence ; but it is said that some time about
the thirteenth or fourteenth century, a tragedy re-
sembling that of the ' Babes in the Wood ' was perpe-
trated here. A wicked uncle destroyed the lawful heirs
of Clegg Hall and estates — two orphan children that
•20
404 HAUNTED HOMES.
were left to his care — by throwing them over a balcony
into the moat, in order that he might seize on their
inheritance. Ever afterwards — so the story goes — the
house was the reputed haunt of a troubled and angry
spirit, until means were taken for its removal, or rather
expulsion.
" Of course, this ' boggart,' " says Mr. Wilkinson,
" could not be the manes of the murdered children,
or it would have been seen as a plurality of spirits ;
but was, in all likelihood, the wretched ghost of the
ruffianly relative, whose double crime would not let him
rest in the peace of the grave. Even after the original
house was almost wholly pulled clown, and that of
a.d. 1620 erected on its site, the ' boggart' still haunted
the ancient spot, and its occasional visitations were
the source of the great alarm and annoyance to which
the inmates were subjected. From these slight mate-
rials, Mr. Roby has woven one of those fictions, full
of romantic incident, which have rendered his Traditions
of Lancashire* so famous. We have taken such facts
only," concludes Mr. Wilkinson, " as seem really tra-
* " It is only just to state," remarks Mr. Wilkinson, " that the story
of ' Clcgg Hall Boggart ' was communicated to Mr. Roby b}*- Mr
William Nuttall, of Rochdale, author of Le Voi/ageur, and the com-
poser of a ballad on the tradition. In this ballad, entitled ' Sir Roland
and the Clegg Hall Boggart,' Mr. Nuttall makes Sir Roland murder
the children in bed with a daggei\ Remorse eventually drove him
mad, and he died raving during a violent storm. The Hall was ever
after haunted by the children's ghosts, and also by demons, till St.
Antonea (St Anthony) with a relic from the Virgin's shrine, exorcised
and laid the evil spirits."
CLEGG HALL. 405
ditionary, recommending the lovers of the marvellous
to the work just cited for a very entertaining tale on
this subject."
To this meagre if suggestive account of a popular
story, may be added, that in a curious manuscript
volume, now, or recently, the property of Dr. Charles
Clay, of Manchester, Mr. Nuttall notes that " many
ridiculous tales were told of the two boggarts of Clegg
Hall, by the country people." That there were two, all
local accounts would seem to testify. " At one time,0
proceeds Mr. Nuttall, " they (the country people) un-
ceasingly importuned a pious monk in the neighbour-
hood to exorcise or * lay the ghosts,' to which request
he consented. Having provided himself with a variety
of charms and spells, he boldly entered on his under-
taking, and in a few hours brought the ghosts to a
parley. They demanded, as a condition of future quiet
(the sacrifice of) a body and a soul. The spectators
(who could not see the ghosts), on being informed of
their desire, were petrified, none being willing to become
the victim. The cunning monk told the tremblers:
' Bring me the body of a cock, and the sole of a shoe.'
This being done, the spirits were forbidden to ' revisit
the pale glimpses of the moon ' till the whole of the
sacrifice was consumed. Thus ended the first laying of
the Clegg Hall boggarts."
Unfortunately, the plan of laying the ghosts adopted
by the wily priest has not proved; permanently success-
ful ; whether the " sacrifice" has been wholly consumed,
or the fact that the spirit of the demand not being
26*
406 HAUNTED HOMES.
truly acceded to is the cause, is, of course, unknown, but,
for some reason or other, the two ghosts continue to
walk, and the belief in their appearance is as complete
and as general as ever.
\
COMBERMEBE ABBEY.
The following account of an apparition haunting a room
in Combermere Abbey is from Ail the Year Round,
in which journal, however, the writer, who derived the
story from the persons chiefly concerned, only gives
their initials. Combermere Abbey, in Cheshire, it should
be stated, stands in a delightful richly-timbered park,
many of the trees being of great age and size. The
ancient abbey was founded in the twelfth century, by
Hugh de Malbanc, and its site was selected with the
taste generally shown by the Cistercian order in the
selection of sites for their habitations. It is one of the
most romantic spots in the whole county, and is situated
on the banks of a natural lake. This lake, at present
about three-quarters of a mile in length, winds about
like a river, and appears, from a general view of the
surrounding ground, to have formerly wound round the
back of the abbey, and thus to have formed a natural
moat, a very needful appendage in those days to all
buildings of any pretensions in that neighbourhood of
Welsh marauders*
OOMBEBMEBB ABBEY. 407
Upon the dissolution of monasteries, in the 34th year
of Henry the Eighth's reign, the abbey was granted to
George Cotton, Esq., and has since been held and in-
habited by his lineal descendants, without interruption
down to the present day — Viscount Combermere, the
present possessor, being the representative of the family.
A part of the ancient conventual buildings was preserved
in the mansion which the Cottons erected on acquiring
the property, a portion of which was the monastic re-
fectory, now converted into a handsome library, hung
round with ancient portraits of different members of the
family. The antique appearance of the old walls has,
however, been entirely destroyed by modern alterations.
Connected with this fine old mansion is the following
story, given in All the Year Round, on the 24th of Decem-
ber 1870. The narrator pointedly remarks that " Direct
ocular evidence, or the strongest circumstantial evidence,
being the rule in courts of law, nothing is hereafter
stated on the warrant of the writer that would not be
considered good legal evidence. The facts come direct
from the witnesses themselves, and were by them repeated
to the writer." He then proceeds to state that Com-
bermere Abbey, in Cheshire, the ancestral seat of the
Cotton family, is the scene to which the writer invites
the reader's attention.
" The old part of this fine old mansion has been made
into bed-rooms and offices, not being in keeping with
the splendour of modern requirements. Thus, what
used to be called the e coved saloon ' was first degraded
into a nursery, and is now used as a bed-room. When
408 HAUNTED HOMES.
the late Lord Cotton grew old, this room, in which he
had played as a child, was occupied by his niece, Miss
P., who before her marriage resided in the house. Lady
Cotton's dressing-room was only divided from the ' coved
saloon ' by a short corridor.
" One evening Miss P. was alone, dressing for a very
late dinner, and as she rose from her toilet-glass to get
some article of dress, she saw standing near her bed —
a little iron one, placed out in the room away from the
wall — the figure of a child dressed in a very quaint
frock, with an odd little ruff round its neck. For some
moments Miss P. stood and stared, wondering how this
strange little creature could have entered her room.
The full glare of the candle was upon its face and figure.
As she stood looking at it, the child began to run round
the bed in a wild distressed way, with a look of suffering
in its little face.
"Miss P., still more and more surprised, walked up
to the bed and stretched out her hand, when the child
suddenly vanished, how or where she did not see, but
apparently into the floor. She went at once to Lady
Cotton's room, and inquired of her to whom the little
girl could belong she had just seen in her room, ex-
pressing her belief that it was supernatural, and describ-
ing her odd dress and troubled face.
" The ladies went down to dinner, for many guests
were staying in the house. Lady Cotton thought and
thought over this strange appearance. At last she re-
membered that Lord Cotton had told her that one of
his earliest recollections was the grief he felt at the
CUMNOR HALL. 409
sudden death of a little sister of whom he was very fond^
fourteen years old. The two children had been playing
together in the nursery — the same ' coved saloon ' —
running round and round the hed overnight. In the
morning, when he woke, he was told she had died in the
night, and he was taken by one of the nursery-maids to
see her laid out on her little hed in the * coved saloon/
The sheet placed over her was removed to show him her
face. The horror he had felt at the first sight of death
made so vivid an impression on him that in extreme old
age he still recalled it. The dress and face of the child,
as described by Miss P., agreed precisely with his remem-
brance of his sister. Both Lady Cotton and Miss P.
related this to the writer."
CUMNOR HALL.
Cumnor Hall was a large, quadrangular building,
ecclesiastical in style, having formerly belonged to the
dissolved Monastery of Abingdon, near which Berkshire
town it was situated. It has acquired a romantic in-
terest from the poetic glamour flung over it by Mickle,
in his ballad of Cumnor Hall, and by Sir Walter Scott,
in his novel of Kenilworth. Both authors allude to it
as the scene of Lady Amy Robsart's murder, and, al-
though the contemporary coroner's jury pronounced the
lady's death to have been accidental, and modern anti-
416 HAUNTED HOMES.
quarians* endeavour to exonerate Lord Robert Dudley
(afterwards Earl of Leicester) from having bad any hand
in bis wife's tragic end, the matter is still enveloped in
mystery.
According to the evidence given before the Coroner,
Lady Dudley, on Sunday, the 8th of September, 1560,
had ordered all her household to go to a fair then being
held at Abingdon. Mrs. Odingsell, her companion, had
remonstrated with her for this order, observing that the
day was not a proper one for decent folks to go to a
fair; whereupon her Ladyship grew very angry, and
said, "All her people should go."" And they went,
leaving only Lady Dudley and two other women in the
house. Upon their return the unfortunate lady was found
dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs, but whether
fallen by accident, or through suicide, or flung there by
assassins, is, seemingly, an unfathomable mystery.
Sir Walter Scott, taking Mickle's ballad for his
authority, assumed that a foul murder had been com-
mitted, and, in his romance of Kenilworth, gives the
following dramatic but purely imaginative account of
the affair. Lady Dudley, miscalled the Countess of
Leicester,! is described as imprisoned in an isolated
tower, approached only by a narrow drawbridge. Half-
way across this drawbridge is a trap-door, so arranged
that any person stepping upon it would be precipi-
* Vide Canon Jackson's paper in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine
for May 1877, on " Amye Robsart."
t Lord Dudley was not created Earl of Leicester until 29th Sep-
tember 1563, three years after his wife's death.
CUMNOB HALL, 41]
tated below into a darksome abyss. Varney, the chief
villain of the novel, rides into the courtyard and gives
a peculiar kind of whistle, which Amy recognises, and,
deeming her husband is coming, rushes out, steps on
the trap-door, and falls headlong down. " Look down
into the vault," says Varney to Foster ; " what seest
thou ? " "I see only a heap of white clothes, like a
snow-drift," said Foster. " Oh, God ! she moves her
arm!' "Hurl something down upon her: thy gold-
chest, Tony, it is a heavy one."
The imputation of this terrible crime, derived by Scott
from Mickle, was obtained, by the latter, from Ash-
mole's Ajitiqaities of Berkshire, the compiler of which
work is said to have found the accusation against Lord
Dudley in a book styled Leicester's Commonwealth, a
publication published in 1584, four years before Dud-
ley's death, and publicly condemned by the Privy
Council as an infamous and scandalous libel. It is
interesting to know that Amy Eobsart, who is believed
to have been born at Stansfield Hall, Norfolk, a house
which obtained a fearful notoriety some years ago as
the scene of the murder of the Jermyns by Rush, was
married publicly at Sheen, in Surrey, on 4th June 1550,
instead of clandestinely, as generally stated. King
Edward the Sixth, then only eleven years old, kept a
little diary (preserved in the British Museum), and,
says Canon Jackson, to whom we are indebted for much
of the information given here, therein alludes to the
marriage in these terms : —
" 1550, June 4. Sir Robert Dudeley, third sonne to
412 HAUNTED HOMES.
th' Erie of Warwick, married S. Jon. Kobsartes
daughter, after wich mariage, ther were certain gentle-
men that did strive who shuld first take away a goose's
head which was hanged alive on two cross posts."
Although the jury and Lady Dudley's relatives agreed
to accept the poor woman's death as accidental, the
country folk about Cumnor would not forego their idea
that foul play had been resorted to. Ever since the
fatal event, the villagers have asserted that " Madam
Dudley's ghost did use to walk in Cumnor Park, and
that it walked so obstinately that it took no less than
nine parsons from Oxford 'to lay her/ That they at
last laid her in a pond, called 'Madam Dudley's Pond';
and, moreover, wonderful to relate, the water in that
pond was never known to freeze afterwards."
Notwithstanding the " laying of Madam Dudley,"
however, her apparition still contrives at intervals to
reappear, and he is a brave, or a foolhardy man, who
dares to visit, at nightfall, the haunts of her past life.
Mickle's ballad is still applicable :
" And in that Manor now no more
Is cheerful feast and sprightly ball ;
For ever, since that dreary hour,
Have spirits haunted Cumnor Hall.
" The village maids, with fearful glance,
Avoid the ancient mossgrown wall ;
Nor ever lead the merry dance,
Among the groves of Oumnor Hall.
*' Full many a traveller oft hath sighed
And pensive wept the countess's fall,
As, wandering onward, they espied
The haunted towers of Cumnor Hall."
413
DE BUKGH CASTLE.
There is, or perhaps it would be better to say, there
■was, according to the account given in Ottway's work
on apparitions, a very ancient castle in Lancashire, near
Liverpool, called Castle de Burgh, belonging to a family
of that name. Some years since, Mr. de Burgh, the
owner, died, and the castle was then let out to some of
the tenantry, among whom was a carpenter. One even-
ing, about two years after the death of Mr. de Burgh, as
this carpenter was employed in his workshop, a quarter
of a mile or so from the castle, melting glue, and only
four of his men with him, he perceived a gentleman
in mourning passing the lathe where the men were at
work. He was immediately seized with a violent trem-
bling and weakness, his hair stood on end, and a
clammy sweat spread over his forehead. The lights
were put out, he knew not how, and, at last, in fear and
terror, he was obliged to return home. On his arrival
at the castle, as he was passing up the stairs, he heard
a footstep behind him, and, on turning round, he per-
ceived the same apparition. He hastily entered his
room, bolted, locked, and barred the door, but, to his
horror and surprise, these offered no impediment to his
ghostly visitor, for the door sprang open at his touch,
and he entered the room ! The apparition was seen by
various others, all of whom asserted it bore the strongest
resemblance to their deceased master ! One gentleman
spoke to it, and the spirit told him " that he was not
414 HAUNTED HOMES.
happy." Here our information rests, and whether the
apparition has ceased from troubling or not, we have no
recent evidence to show.
DENTON HALL.
A considerable portion of the following account of
Denton Hall is derived from notes and information
kindly furnished to us by William Aubone Hoyle,
Esquire, the present occupant of the famous old man-
sion. From Mr. Hoyle's description we learn that the
Hall is situated a few miles distant from Newcastle-on-
Tyne, on the Carlisle road, and close to the site of the
old wall of Severus. It is a venerable building, stand-
ing on a gentle eminence, embosomed in trees. Its
time-worn aspect amply confirms the antiquity it boasts
of; records carrying its history back to the very begin-
ning of the sixteenth century being extant; but the
original building was far older. It is said to have been
built of stones taken from the old Koman wall. The
east and west fronts, partially overgrown with ivy, are
of a very picturesque aspect ; the exterior of the edifice
is a plain but interesting example of a manorial resi-
dence of the Tudor period, with that excessive solidity
characteristic of ancient dwellings near the Border. It
has been stated that many of the windows, especially
those near the ground, formerly resembled narrow
DENTON HALL. 415
arrow-slits, rather than apertures for the admission of
light and air, but nothing about the Denton Hall of
to-day affords the slightest evidence of such having ever
been the case.
About a century ago, while the old Hall was in the
occupancy of the famous Mrs. Montagu, the interior
underwent a destructive process of modernizing, being
fitted up in the George the Third style, and many of
its antique characteristics hidden or disfigured. The
original windows still remain, divided into three, four,
or five lights, by stone mullions, whilst some of the old
carved fire-places preserve their original appearance,
one in the kitchen being seventeen feet wide.
This old Hall, which for several generations was the
mansion-house of the lords of the manor in which it
stands, is approached by a short avenue of fine old
trees. It does not boast a very extensive prospect, but
is surrounded by pretty gardens. The traces of a moat
are stated to have been once discernible, but no vestige
of it now remains. In this antique house and its
grounds, says Mr. Hoyle, " we tread on ground which
once knew footsteps yet more venerable than those of
its builders. History and tradition indicate this spot
as once occupied by the ministers of religion, and there
is good reason to believe that a chapel was maintained
here by the Monks of Tynemouth, when they were lords
of this fair estate. Traces of a chapel and cemetery
have been found in the gardens, and a carved baptismal
font is still preserved." As is usual with nearly all
antique buildings once used for ecclesiastical purposes,
416 HAUNTED HOMES.
tradition assigns underground communications to
Denton; a passage having existed formerly, so it is
asserted, between the Hall and the Priory, by means of
which the monks could quit and return to their convent,
on business or pleasure, without being exposed to public
observation. In the lower garden, supposed to have
served as a cemetery for the monks, have been found at
intervals stone coffins and other relics of its former
occupants ; and in digging for the formation of the
pleasure garden to the south of the Hall, steps, supposed
to lead to a vaulted chamber, were disclosed.
Records of families connected with the Hall extend
back to the time of Edward the Second, in the ninth
year of whose reign John de Denton obtained from the
King a grant of certain lands. He died before 1325,
but his descendants for some generations held posses-
sion of the surrounding property. In 1380, the manor
of Denton was assigned, by the King's license, to the
Prior and Convent of Tynemouth, a small lien only
being held by the original family. Shortly after the
Eeformation the property is found to be in the hands of
the Erringtons, a family connected by marriage with,
and descended from the Dentons. The Erringtons took
an active part in the affairs of the country; one of
them, Lancelot Errington, aided by his nephew Mark,
by a ruse capturing Holy Island Castle on behalf of
James Stuart, the old Chevalier, in the Rebellion of
1715. Denton next passed into the hands of a family
named Rogers, and the last of this race dying without
issue, in 1760, it became the property of the well-known
DENTON HALL. 417
Honourable Edward Montagu and the residence of his
equally celebrated wife, the famous Mrs. Elizabeth
Montagu. This lady resided chiefly at Denton Hall,
or Castle as it was then frequently styled, until her
death there in 1800, when it became the property of her
nephew, Matthew Montagu, afterwards Lord Kokeby, in
the possession of whose descendants it still remains.
Mrs. Montagu, whose literary talents and beauty
were the frequent themes of her contemporaries, and
whose society and conversation were eagerly sought for
by them, is recorded by Mr. W. Aubone Hoyle to have
"resided long at Denton Hall, and during her lifetime
caused it to be the resort of the celebrated men of that
period : Dr. Johnson, G-oldsmith, Garrick, Sir Joshua
Eeynolds, and other persons of renown were her guests.
A gloomy chamber, rendered still more gloomy by
tradition pointing to it as the especial haunt of the
spirit of Denton Hall, is called ' Dr. Johnson's
Chamber/ but from its window is beheld a pleasant
landscape of field, pasture, and wood, whilst to the
right some gigantic sycamores throw up their broad
green foliage. A shady walk beneath lofty and
venerable trees is seen from the window and is known
as * Johnson's walk/ in consequence of the great
lexicographer having been fond of its studious seclusion.
An old bookcase and desk used by the learned moraliser
during his visits to Denton Hall still remain in the
house.
" On the demise of Mrs. Montagu, some large boxes
filled with letters were left in the attics, and these
418 HAUNTED HOMES.
letters," Mr. Hoyle records, on his father entering the
house, were found to have been burnt by the woman in
charge. " On questioning the female Vandal as to
her motives for the act, she replied, * Indeed, we found
them very useful, very, for the fires and such like ; and
they could not be very valuable, there were too many of
a sort for that ! A vast there were ; a vast from one,
Mr. Reynolds ! ' "
For two or three years after the death of Mrs. Mon-
tagu the house remained empty, till Richard Hoyle,
Esq., of Swift Place, in the West Riding of Yorkshire,
took up his residence there, and there his descendants
have continued to reside, notwithstanding the fact that
their possession of it is disputed, or rather shared, by
a supernatural being. That Denton Hall is the abode
of this mysterious guest is firmly believed in, even at
the present time, not only by the vulgar folk, but by
persons of superior education and social rank, we learn
from indisputable evidence.
The spirit of Denton Hall not only makes known its
presence by sound, but also, at times, by sight. It is
a benevolent spirit, apparently, and the old pitmen of
the last century are stated to have averred that more
than once they have been warned by it to fly from im-
pending danger in the mine. " Examples, supported
by credible testimony," remarks our informant, " are
not wanting, in which apparitions have fulfilled some
office of warning or mercy to beings yet amongst the
living; and such seems to be the mission of this spirit.
It takes the form of a woman dressed in a white silk
DENTON HALL. 419
dress of antique fashion, and is commonly called
' Silky/ although also known as * Old Barbery ' ; but
what being of other days, returned from the regions of
silence, or what its object, are questions of mystery,
perhaps never to be solved. A dim tradition only
remains of a lovely girl falling a victim, by strangling,
to the fury of a jealous sister.
" Silky's haunts are not confined to any particular
room, although two rooms especially have a ghostly
reputation. She has been seen flitting along the pas-
sages, up the stone stair-cases, and outside the house in
the shady walks. On one occasion, to the terror of
an old nurse, she stood silently in the doorway, barring
the entrance ; on another, she seized the hand of a
sleeping inmate of the house, in the middle of the night,
and drew it towards her, leaving a touch that was felt
with pain for days. A death in the family, however
distant, or a warning of good or ill fortune, is frequently
marked by her sudden appearance, apparently indiscri-
minately, to anyone in the house ; or the same occasions
are marked by unearthly noises. It was but lately
(1884) that Silky was heard, apparently dragging some-
thing through two unoccupied rooms, down a flight of
stairs, to a window which was flung open.
"Instances have occurred," says our correspondent,
" of visitors having been so frightened as never to have
returned to the house; a notable instance having
occurred about fifty years ago, when two sisters of
Macready, the famous actor, who were guests, came
down one morning to breakfast, and requested to be sent
27
420 HAUNTED HOMES.
from the house at once, declaring they would never
revisit it. They could never be persuaded to confess
what it was that had terrified them.
" On another occasion the door of a bed-room has
been noiselessly thrown open, and Silky has rustled
into the middle of the room, with a warning arm
extended. Silky has rarely been heard to speak, never
by any of the present inmates of the Hall ; but tradi-
tion tells of a visitor being addressed and warned about
eighty years ago ; and the villagers around Denton have
stories of a voice heard at night, of a voice warning them,
whenever sickness or death was at any of their doors,
and this they attribute to the kindly spirit of Silky."
The tradition of the visitor who was addressed and
warned at Denton Hall, may have reference to the
account recorded in Moses Kichardson's Table Book of
Remarkable Occurrences. From that work we learn
that the lady to whom the spirit spoke told her experi-
ences to Mr. Thomas Doubleday, by whom it was com-
municated to the work mentioned. The account given
in the Table Book has evidently undergone some
editorial revision, and bears more trace of the roman-
cist's art than of the amateur's diction. Somewhat
abridged, the story ascribed to the lady is as follows: —
" A day or two after my arrival at Denton Hall,
when all around was yet new to me, I had accom-
panied my friends to a bal] given by a gentleman in
the neighbourhood, and returned heartily fatigued,
though much delighted. At this time I need not
blush, nor you smile, when I say that on that even-
DENTON HALL. 421
ing I had met, for the second time, one with whose des-
tinies mv own were doomed to become connected, and
that his attentions to me from that period became too
marked and decided to be either evaded or misunder-
stood.
" I think I was sitting upon an antique carved chair,
near to the fire, in the room where I slept, busied in
arranging my hair, and probably thinking over some
of the events of a scene doomed to be so important to
me. Whether I had dropped into a half slumber, as
most persons endeavour to persuade me, I cannot
pretend to say ; but on looking up — for I had my face
bent towards the fire — there seemed sitting on a similar
high-backed chair on the other side of the ancient
tiled fire-place, an old lady, whose air and dress were
so remarkable that to this hour they seem as fresh in
my memory as they were the day after the vision. She
appeared to be dressed in a flowered satin gown, of a
cut then out of date. It was peaked and long-waisted.
The fabric of the satin had that extreme of glossy stiff-
ness which old fabrics of this kind exhibit. She wore
a stomacher. On her wrinkled fingers appeared some
rings of great size and seeming value ; but, what was
most remarkable, she wore also a satin hood of a peculiar
shape. It was glossy like the gown, but seemed to be
stiffened either by whalebone or some other material.
Her age seemed considerable, and the face, though not
unpleasant, was somewhat hard and severe and indented
with minute wrinkles. I confess that so entirely was
my attention engrossed by what was passing in my
27*
422 HAUNTED HOMES.
mind, that, though I felt mightily confused, I was not
startled (in the emphatic sense) by the apparition. In
fact, I deemed it to be some old lady, perhaps a house-
keeper, or dependant in the family, and, therefore,
though rather astonished, was by no means frightened
by my visitant, supposing me to be awake, which I am
convinced was the case, though few persons believe me
on this point.
" My own impression is that I stared somewhat
rudely, in the wonder of the moment, at the hard, but
lady-like, features of my aged visitor. But she left me
small time to think, addressing me in a familiar half-
whisper and with a constant restless motion of the hand
which aged persons, when excited, often exhibit in
addressing the young. 'Well, young lady,' said my
mysterious companion, * and so you 've been at yon hall
to-night! and highly ye've been delighted there ! Yet
if ye could see as I can see, or could know as I can
know, troth ! I guess your pleasure would abate. 'Tis
well for you, young lady, peradventure, ye see not with
my eyes ' — and at the moment, sure enough, her eyes,
which were small, grey, and in no way remarkable,
twinkled with a light so severe that the effect was un-
pleasant in the extreme : ' 'Tis well for you and them,'
she continued, ' that ye cannot count the cost. Time
was when hospitality could be kept in England, and the
guest not ruin the master of the feast — but that 's all
vanished now : pride and poverty — pride and poverty,
young lady, are an ill-matched pair, Heaven kens ! ' My
tongue, which had at first almost faltered in its office,
DENTON HALL. 423
riow found utterance. Bv a kind of instinct, I addressed
my strange visitant in her own manner and humour.
1 And are we, then, so much poorer than in days of yore? '
were the words that I spoke. My visitor seemed half
startled at the sound of my voice, as at something unac-
customed, and went on, rather answering my question by
implication than directly : ' 'Twas not all hollowness
then,' she exclaimed, ceasing somewhat her hollow
whisper; ' the land was then the lord's, and that which
seemed, was. The child, young lady, was not then
mortgaged in the cradle, and, mark ye, the bride, when
she kneeled at the altar, gave not herself up, body and
soul, to be the bondswoman of the Jew, but to be the
help-mate of the spouse.'' ' The Jew ! ' I exclaimed in
surprise, for then I understood not the allusion. * Ay,
young lady ! the Jew,' was the rejoinder. * 'Tis plain
ye know not who rules. 'Tis all hollow yonder ! all
hollow, all hollow ! to the very glitter of the side-board
all false ! all false ! all hollow ! Away with such make-
believe finery ! ' And here again the hollow voice rose
a little, and the dim grey eye glistened. * Ye mortgage
the very oaks of your ancestors — I saw the planting
of them ; and now 'tis all painting, gilding, varnishing
and veneering. Houses call ye them ? Whited sepul-
chres, young lady, whited sepulchres. Trust not all
that seems to glisten. Fair though it seems, 'tis but
the product of disease — even as is that pearl in your
hair, young lady, that glitters in the mirror yonder,
— not more specious than is all, — ay, all ye have seen
to-night/
424 HAUNTED HOMES*
" As my strange visitor pronounced these words, I
instinctively turned my gaze to a large old-fashioned
mirror that leaned from the wall of the chamber,
'Twas but for a moment. But when I again turned
my head, my visitant was no longer there ! I heard
plainly, as I turned, the distinct rustle of the silk, as if
she had risen and was leaving the room. I seemed dis-
tinctly to hear this, together with the quick, short, easy
footstep with which females of rank at that period were
taught to glide rather than to walk ; this I seemed to
hear, but of what appeared the antique old lady I saw no
more. The suddenness and strangeness of thi3 event
for a moment sent the blood back to my heart. Could
I have found voice I should, I think, have screamed,
but that was, for a moment, beyond my power. A few
seconds recovered me. By a sort of impulse I rushed
to the door, outside which I now heard the footsteps of
some of the family, when, to my utter astonishment, I
found it was — locked ! I now recollected that I myself
locked it before sitting down.
" Though somewhat ashamed to give utterance to
what I really believed as to this matter, the strange
adventure of the night was made a subject of conversa-
tion at the breakfast-table next morning. On the words
leaving my lips, I saw my host and hostess exchange
looks with each other, and soon found that the tale I
had to tell was not received with the air which generally
meets such relations. I was not repelled by an angry
or ill-bred incredulity, or treated as one of diseased
fancy, to whom silence is indirectly recommended as the
DENTON HALL. 425
alternative of being laughed at. In short, it was not
attempted to be concealed or denied that I was not the
first who had been alarmed in a manner, if not exactly
similar, yet just as mysterious ; that visitors, like my-
self, had actually given way to these terrors so far as to
quit the house in consequence ; and that servants were
sometimes not to be prevented from sharing in the same
contagion. At the same time they told me this, my host
and hostess declared that custom and continued residence
had long exempted all regular inmates of the mansion
from any alarms or terrors. The visitations, whatever
they were, seemed to be confined to new-comers, and
to them it was by no means a matter of frequent
occurrence.
" In the neighbourhood, I found, this strange story
was well known ; that the house was regularly set down
as ' haunted,' all the country round, and that the spirit,
or goblin, or whatever it was that was embodied in these
appearances, was familiarly known by the name of
« Silky.'
" At a distance, those to whom I have related my
night's adventure have one and all been sceptical, and
accounted for the whole by supposing me to have been
half asleep, or in a state resembling somnambulism. All
I can say is, that my own impressions are directly con-
trary to this supposition ; and that I feel as sure that I
saw the figure that sat before me with my bodily eyes,
as I am sure I now see you with them. Without affect-
ing to deny that I was somewhat shocked by the adven-
ture, I must repeat that I suffered no unreasonable
426 HAUNTED HOMES.
alarm, nor suffered my fancy to overcome my better
spirit of womanhood.
" I certaiDly slept no more in that room, and in that
to which I removed I had one of the daughters of my
hostess as a companion ; but I have never, from that
hour to this, been convinced that I did not actually
encounter something more than is natural — if not an
actual being in some other state of existence. My ears
have not been deceived, if my eyes were — which, I
repeat, I cannot believe.
" The warnings so strongly shadowed forth have been
too true. The gentleman at whose house I that night
was a guest has long since filled an untimely grave !
In that splendid hall, since that time, strangers have
lorded it — and I myself have long ceased to think of
such scenes as I partook of that evening — the envied
object of the attention of one whose virtues have sur-
vived the splendid inheritance to which he seemed
destined.
" Whether this be a tale of delusion and superstition,
or something more than that, it is, at all events, not
without a legend for its foundation. There is some
obscure and dark rumour of secrets strangely obtained
and enviously betrayed by a rival sister, ending in de-
privation of reason, and death; and that the betrayer
still walks by times in the deserted Hall which she ren-
dered tenantless, always prophetic of disaster to those
she encounters. So has it been with me, certainly ; and
more than me, if those who say it say true. It is many,
many years since I saw the scene of this adventure ; but
DOBB PARK LODGE. 427
I have heard that since that time the same mysterious
visitings have been more than once renewed ; that mid-
night curtains have been drawn by an arm clothed in
rustling silks ; and the same form, clad in dark
brocade, has been seen gliding along the dark corridors
of that ancient, grey, and time-worn mansion, ever
prophetic of death or misfortune."
DOBB PARK LODGE.
On the southern slope of a picturesque valley, through
which the Washburn pours its waters, stands the ruins
of Dobb Park Lodge ; a lofty, four-storied mansion of
the Tudor period. About half of the original building
is supposed to have been pulled down, not to have been
destroyed by the slow processes of time, and the remainder
to have been left standiDg> though uninhabitable. In
its pristine state the lodge must have been an elegant
and spacious pile, and even now, ruined and deserted as
it is, it is a picturesque feature in the romantic scenery
around. There are some singular traits in the building,
as, for instance, the fact that, apparently, the only
means of access to its interior was by a winding stair in
a projecting turret in the rear. Of the southern front
of the residence one half remains, and contains square
windows of two lights each, divided by a transom.
Over the lower, relates a correspondent, is a cornice
428 HAUNTED HOMES.
embracing both, supported by brackets, ornamented
with armorial shields, charged with quoits or circular
discs. In the centre are the remains of a projecting
semi-circular window. Who lived in this strange and
romantically situated abode history tells not. Shaw,
the historian of Wharfedale, says : " There was a court
held in it long after it was dilapidated, called Dog
Court, belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster/' and that
appears to be all that is known of it; although this same
authority supposes, omitting all account of its Tudor
architecture, that it was erected about the same time as
Barden Lodge, a building in existence in 1311.
But if history has neglected Dobb Park Lodge,
tradition has not overlooked it; and, amongst other
remarkable stories of it, records that the place is
haunted by a strange being known as " The Talking
Dog." The tale of this marvellous spectre bears a
likeness to a well-known Manx, and some other equally
famous legends ; it has been related to us by Mr.
William Grainge, of Harrogate, who obtained it from
" a lover of forest lore, a collector and preserver of all
that belongs thereto " ; but it was taken down in the
dialect of the neighbourhood, and to render it compre-
hensible to the general reader it will be necessary to
translate it into the ordinary vernacular. The legend
is as follows.
At the foot of the winding stair already alluded to is
a doorway (now choked with rubbish) leading into a
dungeon. The country folks thereabouts believe this
doorway to be the entrance to one of those mysterious
DOBB PARK LODGE. 429
passages, so generally ascribed to old ruins, which lead
to some strangely terrible cavern, or other abode of
horror. Such unearthly noises were heard to issue
from this subterranean place that no one ventured to
explore its mysteries; until at length a countryman, one
of those ne'er-do-wells who are ever ready to risk what
respectable people prudently shrink from, determined
to examine it thoroughly, and, in order to fortify him-
self for the arduous task, he imbibed a no small quantum
of potent stimulant.
Thus invigorated, the local Columbus seized his
lanthorn, bravely entered the passage, and instantly
disappeared in its gloomy recesses. His neighbours
and admirers lingered about the place in expectation
of his speedy return, but his absence was so prolonged
that they became seriously alarmed. At length, when
they had all given him up for lost, he reappeared, but
in a most wretched, abject, and terrified condition.
Some long time afterwards, when he had recovered from
his fright, he was induced to give a recital of his adven-
tures, and his account was this : —
" Aiter leaving the doorway, I went for a long dis-
tance, rambling and scrambling, turning and twisting
about the crooked passages, until I thought I should
get to no place at all. So I began to feel rather dazed
and tired like, and had some thoughts of turning back
again, when, suddenly, the sweetest music that ever I
had heard, in all my born days, struck up right before
me. I couldn't have turned back then if I had wanted
to ever so much, for the sound charmed me completely.
480 HAUNTED HOMES.
I had never felt so lightsome before, and feared nothing,
and could have gone anywhere. I followed up where
the music seemed to come from, thinking I should come
to it at last, but I was wrong ; I have never seen the
players to this very day. I kept following the sound
until at last I came to what seemed to be a great, long,
high, wide room, as big as any church, and bigger than
some. At one side of it was a great lire blazing away
as bright as the sunshine; and either it, or something
else, made everything glitter like gold.
"Thinks I to myself, this is a grand place, and no
mistake ! But what struck me more than all was a
great, black, rough dog, as big as any two or three
mastiffs, which stood before the fire, and appeared to be
the master of the place, for not another living creature
beside it could I see. I was troubled to make him
out; I had heard tell of ' barguests,'* but had never
seen one, and thought this might be one of them. At
last, by all that is true, if the thing did not open its
mouth and speak ! Not bark like a dog, as it ought to
have done, but talked just like one of ourselves. Didn't
I feel queer now ! I think I just did. That did for
me more than all the rest. I wished myself safe out
again, and over the mile bridge. It said: * Now, my
man, as you 've come here, you must do one of three
things, or you '11 never see daylight again. You must
either drink all the liquor there is in that glass ; open
that chest ; or draw that sword.'
• A provincial name for spectres.
DOBB PARK LODGE. 431
'•'I looked, and there I saw a strange, great chest,
seemingly bound with iron bands, and with two or
three great iron locks on it. At the top of that chest
was placed a fine great glass, with a long stem, full of
the nicest-looking drinking-stuff that ever I saw.
Above that, on a peg, or something of the sort, against
the wall was hung what he called the sword — a great,
long, broad, heavy, ugly thing, nearly as long as
myself.
" I looked them all over and over, and over again,
considering which job to do, for I dursn't, for the life
of me, think of not doing what that dog bade me. The
chest looked much too strong for me to open — besides,
T had no tools with me that would be likely to open it
with ; and, as for the sword, I knew nought about sword
work, I had never held one in mv life, and should be
quite as likely to cut myself as anyone else with it,
so I thought I would let it alone. Then there was
naught but the drink left for me, and I began to feel
rather dryish, what with rambling about the place so
long, and what with the drop of drink I had before I
started ; so, says I to myself, ' Here goes at the drink ! '
I took hold of the glass with my hand, the dog all the
time glowering at me with all the eves he had ; and, I
assure you, he bad two woppers — saucers are not so big ;
thev were more like pewter plates, and gleamed and
glittered like fire.
"I lifted the glass up to my mouth and just touched
my lips with the stuff, to taste before I gave a big swig ;
when, would you believe it? it scalded just like boiling
432 HAUNTED HOMES.
water, or burnt like fire itself. All the skin 's cff my
lips and tongue-end with it yet. If I 'd swallowed all
the lot it would have burned my inside clean out, and I
should have been as hollow as a drum ; but I stopped
short of that, or else I should have made a bonnie mess
of it. I just tasted the stuff, but what it was I cannot
tell ; it was not the colour of aquafortis, but it was
quite as hot. As soon as ever I tasted it, up flew the
lid of the chest with a bonnie bang ; and I do declare
if it didn't seem to be as full of gold as ever it could
cram : I 'd be bound to say there were thousands upon
thousands of pounds in that very chest. But I 'm no
better for that, nor ever shall be, for I '11 never go there
any more. The sword, at the same time, was drawn by
somebody's hand that I didn't see, and it glittered and
flashed like lightning. I banged the glass down, and
don't know whether it broke or not, but all the stuff
was spilt. In a minute after all was dark as pitch ; the
fire went out; my lantern had gone out before; the
music gave over playing, and instead of it such a howl-
ing and yelling struck up and filled the place as I 'd
never heard in my time ; it seemed as if hundreds of
dogs were all getting walloped at once ; and something
besides screamed and yelled as if it were frightened out
of its wits. Oh, it was awful ! I fell down flat on the
floor, I think in a swoon, and I could not have done
better, How long I lay I cannot tell, but for a goodish
bit, I think. At last I came to myself, rubbed my eyes,
and glowered about me, and wondered where I was. At
last I bethought myself, and scrambled up, and after a
DOSMERY POOL. 4$3
great deal of ups and downs, I got my carcase dragged
out ; and now, you may depend upon it, you '11 not eaten
me going in there any more of a sudden."
Such, says Mr. Grainge, was the result of the search
for hidden treasure in the ruined vaults of Dobb Park
Lodge. Since that time no one appears to have ven-
tured into those subterranean recesses, so that the chest
full of gold still remains, waiting for some explorer to
brave the terrors of " The Talking Dog" and his sur-
roundings.
DOSMERY POOL.
Who, knowing anything of Cornwall, but is acquainted
with Tregeagle, the Demon of Dosmery Pool, on
Bodmin Downs ? How long he has haunted " Old
Cornwall" is difficult to sav: but his terrible howling,
when the wintry blast rushes over the Downs, is pro-
verbial, and "to roar like Tregeagle" is a time-honoured
saying. Mr. R. Hunt, in his interesting Popular
Romances of the West of England, recounts many
exploits of this famous spirit, whose voice is still
heard, and whose shadowy form is even still seen, when
the winds are at their highest and the nights are the
most stormy.
"Who has not heard of the wild spirit of Tregeagle ? '
asks Mr. Hunt. " He haunts equally the moor, the
434 HAUNTED HOMES.
rocky coasts, and the blown sand-hills of Cornwall.
From north to south, from east to west, this doomed
spirit is heard of, and to the Day of Judgment he is
doomed to wander, pursued by avenging fiends. For
ever endeavouring to perform some task by which he
hopes to secure repose, and being for ever defeated.
Who has not heard of the howling of Tregeagle ?
When the storms come with all their strength from
the Atlantic, and urge themselves upon the rocks around
Land's End, the howls of the spirit are louder than the
roaring of the winds. When calm rests upon the
ocean, and the waves can scarcely form upon the resting
waters, low wailings creep along the coast. These are
the wailings of« this wandering soul.
"When midnight is on the moor, or on the moun-
tains, and the night winds whistle amidst the rugged
cairns, the shrieks of Tregeagle are distinctly heard.
We know that he is pursued by the demon dogs, and
that till day-break he must fly with all speed before
them."
This Tregeagle, whose attributes are so mysterious
and, according to the district where related, so varied,
is traditionally reported to be the spirit of a " tyrannical
magistrate," a "rapacious and unscrupulous landlord/*
who was " one of the Tregeagles who once owned Tre-
vorcler, near Bodmin." At the demise of this hardened
sinner, who had committed more crimes than the deca-
logue contained, the foul fiend wished to at once obtain
possession of what he deemed rightly his, to wit, the
criminal's soul ; but the wretched man, in the agony of
DOSMEKY POOL. 435
despair, consigned his -wealth to the priesthood, that
they might fight with the evil spirits, and save his soui
from its just doom.
The power of the priesthood so far prevailed, that as
long as Tregeagle's spirit had "some task difficult
beyond the power of human nature " to perform, demo-
niac agency should be unable to carry him away. His
tasks were to extend into eternity, so that repentance
might have time to gradually work out his sin. His
only chance of ultimate salvation was in perpetual toil:
as long as he continued his labour the demons could do
him no real harm. Frequent were the tussles he had
with the fiends : on one occasion his restless spirit is
said to have even given evidence in a court of law,
when his relentless pursuers vainly endeavoured to carry
him off.
Tregeagle's first and most famous task was the empty-
ing of Dosmery Pool, a mountain tarn, some miles in
circumference; and local lore would have he is still
engaged upon this endless operation. The difficulty of
this gigantic labour was increased by the supposed fact
that the lonely pool was bottomless ; and yet one
learned ecclesiastic was not convinced of the hopeless-
ness of the work, and, to decrease the prospect of it
ever coming to an end, he proposed that the wretched
sinner should only be provided with a limpet shell, with
a large hole in it, for the purpose of baling out the
water. The Evil One did not lose sight of the doomed
Tregeagle, but kept a careful eye on him, and tried
ivery possible means to divert his attention from his
28
436 HAUNTED HOMES.
task, in order that he might make him his prey. Still
the hapless spirit continued to toil, although on one
occasion the fiends almost overcame him. Mr. Hunt's
graphic account of the terrific struggle is as follows : —
"Lightnings flashed and coiled like fiery snakes
around the rocks of Houghton. Fire-balls fell on the
desert moors and hissed in the accursed lake. Thun-
ders pealed through the heavens, and echoed from hill
to hill ; an earthquake shook the solid earth, and terror
was on all living. The winds rose and raged with a
fury which was irresistible, and hail beat so mercilessly
on all things that it spread death around. Long did
Tregeagle stand the ' pelting of the pitiless storm,' but
at length he yielded to its force and fled. The demons
in crowds were at his heels. He doubled, however,
on his pursuers and returned to the lake ; but so rapid
were they that he could not rest the required moment
to clip his shell in the now seething waters. Three
times he fled round the lake, and the evil ones pursued
him. Then, feeling that there was no safety for him
near Dosmery Pool, he sprang swifter than the wind
across it, shrieking with agony, and thus — since the
devils cannot cross water, and were obliged to go round
the lake — he gair ed on them and fled over the moor.
Away, away wen( Tregeagle, faster and faster, the dark
spirits pursuing, and they had nearly overtaken him,
when he saw Roach Rock and its chapel before him.
He rushed up the rocks, with giant power clambered
to the eastern window, and dashed his head through it,
thus securing the shelter of its sanctity. The defeated
DOSMEKY POOL. 437
demons retired, and long and loud were their wild wail-
ings in the air. The inhabitants of the moors and of
the neighbouring towns slept not a wink that night."
But the baling out Dosmery Pool was by no means
the only task assigned to Tregeagle's unresting spirit.
One labour, on the shore near Padstow, was to make
trusses of sand and ropes of sand with which to bind up
the trusses. Each recurring tide swept away the result
of his toil, and, according to the tradition, " the ravings
of the baffled soul were louder than the roarings of the
winter tempest." By priestly influence Tregeagle was
emoved to the estuary of the Loo, and ordered to carry
sand across to Porthleven, A malicious demon con-
trived to trip him up, and the contents of his enormous
sack supplied the material of the sand-bank out of which
was formed the bar that destroyed the harbour.
Land's End was eventually assigned to Tregeagle as
a place of labour, a place where, as Mr. Hunt says, " he
would find no harbour to destroy, and few people to
terrify. His task was to sweep the sands from Porth-
curnow Cove round the headland called Tol-Peden-
Penwith, into Nanjisal Cove. Those who know that
rugged headland, with its cubical masses of granite
piled in Titantic grandeur one upon another, will appre-
ciate the task ; and when to all the difficulties are added
the strong sweep of the Atlantic current, — that portion
of the Gulf stream which washes our southern shores, —
it will be evident that the melancholy spirit has. indeed,
a task which must endure to the world's end. Even
until to-day is Tregeagle labouring at his task. In
28*
438 HAUNTED HOMES.
calms his wailing is heard ; and those sounds which
some call the ' soughing of the wind,' are known to be
the moanings of Tregeagle ; while the coming storms
are predicted by the fearful roarings of this condemned
mortal."
But these excerpts from Mr. Hunt's account by no
means exhaust the deeds or doings of this supernatural
being, a thorough belief in whose continual existence is
prevalent throughout the length and breadth of old
Cornwall. Alluding to the widely diffused belief of a
spectre huntsman, whose wild chase permeates the
legends of so many lands, Mr. Hunt remarks, " The
tradition of the Midnight Hunter and his headless
hounds, always in Cornwall associated with Tregeagle,
prevails everywhere. The Abbot's Way, on Dartmoor,
an ancient road which extends into Cornwall, is said to
be the favourite coursing ground of the ' wish hounds
of Dartmoor,' called also the * yell hounds.' "
These "yell" or "yeth hounds" form the theme of
the beautiful fragmentary "Legend of Dartmoor," bv
the late Oliver Madox Brown, a legend which the highly
talented youth left, unfortunately, unfinished.
EDINBURGH: MARY KING'S CLOSE,
Old Edinburgh was full of quaint, narrow, anti-
quated passages, some of which still exist, and these
''Closes," as they are locally called, contained numerous
EDINBURGH : MAEY KING'S CLOSE. 439
houses bearing the reputation of being haunted. Mar)
King's Close was noted for the many terrible appa-
ritions which had found suitable quarters within its
mouldering dwellings. Mary King's Close has dis-
appeared to make way for modern erections; but just
two centuries ago, that is to say, in 1685, it was a
well-to-do thoroughfare, the residence of a respectable
class of people. George Sinclair, Professor of Moral
Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, and after-
wards minister of Eastwood, in Renfrewshire, a con-
temporary of the events he refers to, gives the following
account, in Satan's Invisible World Discovered, of
some terrible apparitions in Mary King's Close, in the
house of Mr. Thomas Coltheart, a respectable law agent.
Mr. Coltheart' s business having improved, he removed
into a superior residence in the Close above-named.
Having been warned by some kind neighbour that the
house was haunted, the maid-servant decamped in haste,
and left Mr. Coltheart and his wife to manage as they
best could. On Sunday afternoon Mr. Coltheart, being
unwell, retired to rest, whilst his wife seated herself at
his bedside and read the Scriptures. Happening to
raise her eves, she was intensely horrified to behold the
head of an old man, with grey floating beard, suspended
in the air but a short distance oft', gazing at her intently
with weird, fixed glare. She swooned at the sight, and
remained in an insensible condition until the neighbours
came back from church. Her husband did his best to
reason her out of her credulity, and the evening passed
without anything further taking place.
440 HAUNTED HOMES.
They had not been in bed long, however, before Mr.
Coltheart also beheld the phantom head, floating in
mid-air, and surveying him with ghostly eyes. He got
up and lit a candle, and then betook himself to prayer.
An hour passed, when the spectre head was joined by
that of a child, also suspended in the air, followed
speedily by an arm naked from the elbow, which, despite
the lawyer's pious ejaculations, seemed to wish to shake
hands with him and his wife ! In vain did Mr. Colt-
heart conjure the phantoms to entrust him with the
story of their grievances, so that he might have their
wrongs rectified : all was useless. They seemed to
regard him and his wife as intruders, and to wish them
away. Other phantoms joined them, including that of
a dog, which curled itself up on a chair, and seemed to
go to sleep ! Others — some of a most horrifying and
monstrous form — appeared, until the whole room
swarmed with them : and the unfortunate couple were
compelled to take refuge on the bed. Suddenly,
with a deep and awful groan, all the apparitions
vanished, and the pious lawyer and his wife were left
in peace.
After such a terrifying house-warming, one would
suppose that Mr. and Mrs. Coltheart would have got
out of the house as quickly as possible ; but such was
not the case. The brave couple, if Professor Sinclair
is to be relied on, continued to reside in the place
for many years, and till the day of Mr. Coltheart's
death, without anv further molestation from the
spirits.
EASTBURY HOUSE. 441
About the time of Mr. Coltheart's death, a strange
circumstance happened. A client of his who lived at
Tranent, ten miles from Edinburgh, was aroused in the
night by a nurse, who had been affrighted by " some-
thing like a cloud moving about the room." Starting
up, the gentleman instinctively seized his sword, when
he was confronted by the face and form of his legal
adviser and friend, Thomas Coltheart. " Are you
dead ? " he demanded ; " what is your errand ?
whereupon the apparition shook its head twice, and
melted away. The gentleman started at once for Edin-
burgh, and proceeded directly to his friend's house in
Mary King's close, and on arriving there found Mrs.
Coltheart bewailing her husband's recent death.
EASTBURT HOUSE.
Eastbury House, Tarrant Grrenville, near Blandford,
owing to the galaxy of famous names surrounding its
story, must take a prominent place among the haunted
homes of the country. Its career as a residence was
short but brilliant. It has been celebrated both in prose
and verse by poets and prosateurs, and, for the space of
three lustra or so, was the glory of Dorset. Thomp-
son introduced it in his Seasons, in "Autumn." After
alluding to its " green delightful walks," "where simple
442 HAUNTED HOMES.
nature reigns," he alluded to its more artificial beauties,
and apostrophizes them thus,
The grandeur of thy lofty dome,
Far-splendid, seizes on the ravished eye,
New beauties rise with each revolving day ;
New columns swell ; and still the fresh Spring finds
New plants to quicken, and new groves to green.
Full of thy genius all ! the Muses' seat :
Where in the secret bower, and winding walk,
For virtuous Young and thee they twine the bay.
George Bubb Dodington (afterwards Lord Melcombe)
of Diary fame, whose seat it was, and in whose secret
bowers and winding walks he and Night Thoughts
Young were to be so pleasantly arrayed by the Muses,
made Eastbury a meeting-place for the wit and literati
of the day. Young, Thompson, and Fielding were
among the crowd of notables, who enjoyed its pleasures.
The last resided at Eastbury some time, and thence
dated some of his works. In later days it was visited
by Beck ford, and its ruins were celebrated in verse by
Samuel Marsh Oram, a local writer, of some temporary
if transient repute, who died at the early age of
twenty-six.
Eastbury was begun by Bubb Dodington in 1718.
The future Lord Melcombe had projected the house
and grounds on a scale of great magnificence ; but when
little beyond some less important out-houses had been
completed, the work was discontinued, and for six
years everything remained at a standstill. Eventually
the building was resumed and carried on at an enor-
mous expenditure — the total outlay up to 1738, when
EASTBUKY HOUSE, 443
the house was completed, being stated as one hundred
and forty thousand pounds, a far higher sum at that
time than now-a-days. The park and grounds were
laid out on the same magnificent scale as the house,
no expense being spared; trees half a century old, and
some tons in weight, were transported bodily from dis-
tant woods and replanted at Eastbury.
In 1763, a change came over the scene, and Eastbury
House was destroyed even more rapidly than it had been
created; all the rooms were dismantled, and the splendid
furniture scattered to the winds. Twelve years later
the ruin was consummated, the house being pulled
down, and the beautiful and costly materials disposed
of; one wing only was left in naked grandeur, and that
still exists, but let in tenements to the day-labourers
of the Farquh arson estate.
It is little to be wondered at, says Miss Billington,
to whom we are chiefly indebted for this account of
Eastbury, that a place possessing so chequered a his-
tory should bear the reputation of being haunted. The
ghostly legend attached to the house is said to be firmly
believed in by the inhabitants of Grenville and its
neighbourhood, and is to the following effect. Lord
Melcombe advanced considerable sums of money, vaguely
spoken of now, says Miss Billington, as " many thou-
sands," to his steward William Doggett. The greater
part of this loan Doggett is said to have parted with to
a brother, who got into " difficulties/' and was utterly
powerless to repay it. In course of time Lord Melcombe
required repayments of his money, and Doggett, unable
444 HAUNTED HOMES.
to comply with the demand, was reduced to great ex-
tremity.
" I am not aware of the exact date at which this took
place," says Miss Billington, ""but it must have been
during the destruction of the house, as the only expe-
dient Doggett could find to meet his liabilities was to
appropriate some of the building materials and sell
them on his own account. Shortly before Lord Mel-
combe came down to receive his money, Doggett's
courage failed ; probably he had a much smaller sum
with which to repay his master than he owed ; he could
not pay him, and, therefore, shot himself.
" It was in a marble-floored room that Doggett com-
mitted suicide, and it is said the stains of his blood are
still visible. I was told a propos of this," says our
correspondent, "that the blood-stains of murder or
suicide are ineffaceable.
" Since this tragedy, Doggett's ghost has lingered
about Eastbury, and the tradition is that, headless, he
drove about the park in a spectral coach and four
driven by a coachman in livery. No doubt," is the
lady's reflection, " the troubled spirit derived a bitter
satisfaction from contemplation of the decayed grandeur
of the once proud house, now reduced to scarcely a
shadow of its former grandeur. But it is many years
now since the apparition has made itself visible, though
the taint of ghostly inhabitation still clings to the
remaining wing of the house. On dark nights, when
all else is still, mysterious movements are heard, the
doors open and shut unaccountably, pointing to the
EASTBURY HOUSE. 445
inference that the troubled spirit has not yet served its
term of earthly wanderings.
" It may not be inappropriate to add," remarks Miss
Billington, " that about forty years ago, the old church
at Grenville was pulled down, and a new one erected
on the same spot : the contractors, wishing to fulfil
their undertaking as cheaply as possible, caused the old
vaults to be destroyed and their brickwork utilized.
The old man who told me much of this story, said it
ell to his share to pull Doggett's vault to pieces. They
found the self-murdered man's body in fair preservation,
and the course of the bullet from the jaw through the
head was distinctly visible. The old man described
him as ' a short ginger-haired man.' His legs had been
tied together with a broad yellow ribbon, which was as
fresh and brightly coloured as when it was buried. My
informant added that he had abstracted a piece of the
ribbon, and a lock of the hair, which he had kept as
curiosities for many years, and much regretted that he
had not got them still to show to me."
And thus Eastbury, with all its much-vaunted magni-
ficence, the palatial home of the vivacious Bubb Dod-
ington, and the erstwhile staying-place of Fielding and
Thompson, of Young and his famous contemporaries,
is known only now as having been the house where a
fraudulent servant committed suicide !
446 HAUNTED HOMES.
EWSHOTT HOUSE.
Major Edward Moor, the author, among other works,
of the Hindu Pantheon, in its day a valued authority
upon Indian antiquities, in 1841 published a brochure
on the " Bealing Bells." This little hook not only
furnished a full account of the disturbances ascribed
to supernatural agency at Bealing, but also gave par-
ticulars, derived from various correspondents, of similar
manifestations that had occurred in different parts of
the country. There is no need of referring to the
acrimonious controversy between the believers and
sceptics which the publication of Major Moor's little
book aroused, our present purpose being merely to
cite from the Appendix to it the following account of the
hauntinffs at Ewshott House.
o
In "Bealing Bells," it may be mentioned, the names
of the persons and places hereafter referred to, are left
blank ; but by means of a copy annotated, probably, by
Major Moor, and assisted by private inquiry, they are
now, for the first time, filled in. The local topo-
graphical and historical data, it should be mentioned,
are the result of independent research, and are not
derived from Major Moor's suggestive little work.
Ewshott House, or Itchell, as it was formerly called,
is in the parish of Crondall, in Hampshire. It is a
respectable old manor-house, and in very early times
was the principal residence of the GifTords, one of the
most ancient and eminent families in Hampshire ; some
EWSHOTT HOUSE. 447
of them filled the office of sheriff of the coimtv in a
period ranging from the reign of Henry VI. to that of
Elizabeth. It was afterwards a seat of the Bathursts,
and was in their possession for several generations.
About the year 1680 the chief part of the ancient
mansion seems to have been pulled down, and the pre-
sent house erected in its place. The remaining portion
of the old house was allowed to stand, separated only
by a party wall, and was let as a farm-house to the
tenant of the adjoining property.
The estate came into the possession of Mr. Lefroy
in the year 1818 ; by which time Ewshott had already
acquired the reputation of being "haunted." The
writer of the account which Major Moor gives, and
whom he describes as a gentleman of unimpeachable
veracity, and as deservedly held in high estimation,
says: "Many tales were told among the neighbouring
villagers of uncouth sights and sounds, from which it
gained that ill repute. It was not until 1823 that Mr.
Lefroy's family resided constantly at Ewshott. During
their occasional visits there the peculiar noises of which
I am about to speak were often heard ; but from the
circumstances above related of the old house, which
joined the back part of the new, being occupied by a
farm establishment, they were thought nothing of; being
attributed by the family in the mansion to their neigh-
bours in the farm, and by the inhabitants of the farm
to their neighbours in the mansion ; each party wonder-
ing exceedingly what the other could be doing at so
late au hour as that at which the sounds were heard.
448 HAUNTED HOMES.
" About fifteen years ago," said this correspondent,
" the old farm-house was taken down, to be rebuilt at
a greater distance from the mansion. During the pro-
gress of this work a man was constantly employed in
watching round the premises, to guard the timber.
This man has often solemnly declared that as he went
his rounds he saw . . . . ! But this may have been
fancy, and I believe it was ; the poor man's ears having
inspired his eyes with an unnatural susceptibility of
vision. But what he heard was not to be mistaken.
It was the same the family had heard for years ; and
have heard, almost nightly, ever since. He described
it, 'as a great thumping noise, as if someone was beat-
ing heavy blows with a great mallet in the hall/ The
hall is exactly in the centre of the house, over against
the spot where the old farm-house stood, and there-
fore very near to the place where he watched.
This is as good a description as can be given of the
peculiar sound, which is known familiarly as the ghost.
In the dead of night, when every member of the
family has gone to bed, and there is no imaginable
cause to be assigned for them, a succession of distinct
and heavy blows are heard, as of some massive instru-
ment upon a hollow wall or floor. These sounds are
seldom heard more that once in the night; and gene-
rally between the hours of twelve and two. They are
sometimes so loud as to awaken one from sleep, and
startle even those who are the most familiar with them ;
at other times almost inaudible ; sometimes struck with
great rapidity, at other times more slowly and leisurely;
EWSHOTT HOUSE, 449
varying in duration also in about the same degree.
But whether in his noisier or more gentle movements,
the ghost is so peculiar in his sound, as not to be easUy
mistaken bv those who have once heard him. No one
has been able to determine from what part the sound
proceeds; nor, indeed, to say with certainty that it is
within the house at all. But in whatever part you
may be listening, it seems to come from some remoter
corner. Thus, if you hear it, being in the drawing-
room, at one extremity of the house, the ghost appears
to come from the library at the other end ; if you are
in the library, it sounds as if proceeding from the
drawing-room. At another time, it seems to come from
underneath the stable-yard, or lawn, or in the cellar.
" Considerable pains have been taken, at different
times, to ascertain whence the sounds proceed, with a hope
of finding some sufficient cause of them ; but entirely
without success ; and, after about twenty years, we
are as entirely in the dark as ever. The length of
time it has been heard, the fact of everv domestic of
the family having been often changed during the time,
and the pains that have been taken to investigate the
matter, while every member of the family, except the
watcher, has been in bed, have put the possibility of any
trick out of the question ; and have no less convinced
the inmates that it cannot be accounted for, on any of
the usual suppositions, v of horses in the stable kick-
ing,' or ' dogs rapping with their tails,' or * rats jumping
in the tanks and drains beneath the house.' Horses
stamp, and dogs rap, and rats gallop ; but they do not
450 HAUNTED HOMES.
make such sounds as that one startling and peculiar
noise with which our ears are so familiar.
" To convey a notion of the nature of the ghost,
and of the force and violence with which it sometimes
bursts out, I will describe the way it has repeatedly been
heard, by different members of the family. On one
occasion it burst forth with so much violence that the
writer of this, accustomed as he was to hear and disre-
gard it, sprang out of bed and ran to the landing at
the head of the stairs, under a conviction that the outer
door of the house had been burst in with violence.
After a few moments the sounds ceased, and he retired
to bed again ; it was the ghost. On another occasion,
when he was going up to bed, the ghost began to
thump violently, in the direction of the brew-house; and
continued so long that he had time to go to the back
door of the house and sally forth in quest. On his
arrival, nothing was to be heard or seen.
" On another occasion, the sound having for a con-
siderable time appeared to come from a direction that
suggested it to spring from some loose vessels in the
brew-house, or from the cellar, which was close adjoin-
ing ; the writer, with two of his brothers, sat up, one in
the cellar, and the others in the brew-house. He in
the cellar did not hear it. The two who had watched
exactly where it had appeared to be for a good while
before, heard it, loudly and distinctly as ever ; but it
sounded underneath the lawn, fifty yards away from
where they were.
" About a month ago," says this correspondent of
EWSHOTT HOUSE. 45 1
Major Moor, " the owner of the house, and a friend
who happened to be staying on a visit, occupied adjoin-
ing apartments. One morning, at the breakfast table,
each demanded of the other an explanation of his
movements on the previous night; each having been
astonished at hearing, as he thought, his neighbour
moving about and making a great noise among his
books or the furniture of his apartment. ' I expected/
said one, ' to see you open my door and walk in.' * I
thought you must have been ill, and had almost gone
in to see,' said the other. Each had been quiet in bed ;
and the sound was nothing but the ghost.
" The usual sound is that described as a succession
of deep thumps ; but other sounds, almost more curious
and unaccountable, are often heard, of which I will
relate a few particulars.
"Some time ago a gentleman, a relation of the family,
was on a visit to Ewshott House. One morning, at the
breakfast table, he related the following curious and
unaccountable circumstance : — He had been awakened
in the night by hearing, as he thought, a cart drawn
along on the gravel road, immediately under his win-
dows ; it appeared to be heavy-laden, and rattled as if
with a load of iron rods. Wondering what could be
about at that hour of the night, he got up and opened
his window to investigate ; there was neither sight nor
sound of anything to cause the noise. He got into bed
again, and thought it possible he had been dreaming ;
but half an hour after, as he lay awake, he heard the
very same again — the rattling of a loaded cart upon the
29
452 HAUNTED HOMES.
drive beneath his windows. ' Now/ thought our Mend,
'I'll find the cause.' So up he got again, opened his
windows, and looked out ; but all was still. He went
to bed again, and heard no more. He told the story in
the morning, and inquired if anything had taken place
to cause the sound he had heard; but nothing could
be thought of to account for it, and he tells the story to
this day.
" To this it may be well to add two other anecdotes
of our nocturnal friend. Four or five years ago, the
writer of this ghost story was in the habit of sitting up
at night to a very late hour, reading in the library;
and though the family are all much too familiar with
our ghost to be disturbed by any of his gambols, the
sounds that used to strike his ears were often most
remarkable and startling. On one occasion, in parti-
cular, it seemed as if a flock of sheep from the adjoining
paddock had rushed by the windows on the gravel
drive. It was not a windy night ; and so convinced
was he, after attentive listening, that it was the rapid
rushing of a flock he heard, that he considered with
himself the propriety of going out to drive them back
again. But idleness prevailed : it was cold ; he was
busy; so he voted it the ghost, and sat still at his
books. But when he came down in the morning, fully
expecting to find marks of sheep and damage done, to
his surprise there was no sign at all of any such inva-
sion. The lawn was smooth, and the gravel was un-
trodden ; and it was indeed the ghost.
"At another time it happened, that when the whole
EWSHOTT HOUSE. 458
family were in one room, at prayers — not one member
of the family absent but a young child in the nursery —
a noise was heard, as of someone walking across the
hall, next to the room in which they were assembled©
The lady who was reading prayers rose from her knees
directly, and went into the hall with the servants at her
heels, before it was possible a person could have got
away ; but there was no one to be seen, nor anything to
lead to the supposal of a visitor of any more substantial
kind than our old friend the ghost.
" It should be mentioned here that there is, running
underneath the house, a very large old drain, which has
been thought to be connected with the sounds above
described. A few years ago this drain was thoroughly
examined, with a view to ascertaining whether some
loose brick or timber might be lying on it, which might
create such sounds on being trod upon by rats, etc. A
man was sent up through it, from one end to the other;
but nothing of the kind appeared. The whole was
thoroughly and carefully cleared out, but the noise
proceeded as ever. How long the ghost had been
observed before the present family resided is not known,
but the popular belief attaches all the unblest circum-
stances here related to the unquiet spirit of one Squire
, a man of but indifferent repute, as it would seem,
and one whose grave might not be found an easy
resting-place. The old Squire has been dead three
hundred years. He appears to have been the person
who pulled down the old house and built up the present
one in its stead."
29*
454 HAUNTED HOMES.
Thus far Major Moor gave the words of his principal
informant; but being anxious to obtain further testi-
mony, he applied to several visitors at Ewshott House,
and published the letters of three of them, all testifying
to their personal experience of the phenomena. He
published, also, a letter from his own nephew, Captain
A. H. Frazer, R.A., which is as follows : —
" Carlisle, 19th July 1841.
" With regard to the Haunted House affair at Ewshott
House, I will give as full and minute an account as I can.
I wrote an account at the time, which has been unfor-
tunately destroyed ; but as the facts are well impressed
on my memory, the loss of it is of less consequence.
" Soon after my intimacy with Lefroy began, he invited
me to stay a few days at his mother's house in Hamp-
shire. 'You must know,' he laughingly added, 'that
ours is a haunted house, and has been so for many years.
The inconvenience of this reputation has been very great,
as, at times, we have had difficulty in getting servants
to stay with us, especially maid-servants ; and we have
by common consent dropped all allusion to the subject,
and I now mention it to you that you may not, during
your visit, transgress this rule.'
" ' About twenty years ago ' (I think he said twenty),
' when we first came to Ewshott House, there was an
old house adjoining it, in which a bailiff, who had
charge of the estate, lived with his family. Very
strange noises used to be heard after eleven o'clock
almost every night, which we attributed at first to the
people in the other house, and did not, in consequence,
EWSHOTT HOUSE. 455
pay so much attention to them as we afterwards did.
But when the bailiff left this house (which we intended
pulling down) we asked him why he had every night
made such a noise ? To our great surprise, he informed
us that he was not the occasion of it ; and we found,
both from him and from other inquiries we set on foot,
that the house had enjoyed the reputation of being
haunted for many years. It appeared from some of
the oldest inhabitants of the village in the parish, that
Ewshott House had formerly been occupied by an
eccentric and dubious character yclept Squire .
This gentleman had, in his younger days, travelled much
on the Continent, and had, amongst other countries,
visited Italy, and brought home with him, on his return
to England, an Italian valet — also a character. The
two lived in seclusion at Ewshott House; and in pro-
cess of time many reports and suspicions got abroad
respecting them and the doings at the Hall; though
nothing definite could be brought against Squire ,
except his being a great miser. At last he died, or
disappeared' (I forget which Lefroy said), 'and shortly
afterwards noises began to be heard in the house ; and
the common legend was, that he had been bricked up
by his Italian servant, between the walls in some room
or vault, and so left to perish ; and that the noise was
occasioned by his rapping the walls with the butt end of
his hunting-whip in trying to get out.'
" Such was Lefroy's account. He added other par-
ticulars, which, as you have probably had them from
some of the family in a more authentic form than I
456 HAUNTED HOMES.
could give, I omit. Now for ray own part in the mys-
tery. As I had never before been in a haunted house
my curiosity was greatly excited ; and I persuaded
Lefroy to come up and sit up with me in my bed-room.
He did so. The noise began much later than usual
that evening — at least, we did not hear it till about half
past twelve p.m. or a quarter before one a.m. It was
as if someone was striking the walls with a hammer,
or mallet, muffled in flannel. It began at first slowly,
with a distinct interval between the blows, then became
more rapid ; but afterwards followed no rule, but was
slow or rapid as caprice dictated. The noise did not
appear to come always from the same part of the house.
Sometimes it was heard faintly, as if at a distance ; at
others it became startlingly near, but seemed always
heloiv the room we were in. It was much louder than
I expected. I think if I had been outside the house
I should have heard it. I passed three other days at
Ewshott House, and heard the same noise two nights
out of the three. When all was still and asleep, there
was something uncomfortable — not to say fearful — in
hearing this hollow muffled noise, moving about the
house, and coming at times so near that I expected to
see the door open and some person come in, though
no footsteps were ever heard. It usually began about
eleven and half-past eleven p.m. But one evening I
heard it a quarter before ten p.m., before any of the
family had gone upstairs. The noise generally con-
tinued, with intervals, for about two hours ; and I think
there was a slight interval between every./^v? blows, but
EWSHOTT HOUSE. 457
am not quite sure on this point. I never heard it
during the day, though when every member of the
family was out, and all was quiet, I would listen ; nor
did I ever hear it, except in one instance above named,
before ten p.m.
" A slight interval between every five blows has been
mentioned, but it is not mentioned that you should
infer from this that there was any regularity in the
striking of those five blows ; on the contrary, the time
was very uncertain and irregular. It was when the
blows followed each other most rapidly that the noise
was loudest. It was only at first that there was any
regularity in the interval between the blows. I tried
in vain to form a probable conjecture as to the cause of
the noise" — after suggesting possible causes Capt. Frazer
proceeds — "but the want of regularity in the sound, and
its locomotive powers, render it improbable that any of
these should be the real cause. And besides which they
would all be heard in the daytime, if listened for ; but
the mysterious sound never has been, I believe.
" Although always much interested in anything par-
taking of the marvellous, I have no faith in superhuman
agency in these matters. Still, it was impossible at night
to hear this unaccountable sound without a slight feeling
of depression, and I think it would have an (ill) effect
upon a person of weak nerves or mind.
" Such is all I can recollect of what I heard myself,
but the stories were numerous. One night, about twelve,
the lady of the house was sitting in the drawing-room
reading, all the family had retired to rest, when the
458 HAUNTED HOMES.
noise was heard close to a glass door (leading to another
room) so loudly that she got up and went to the spot
that it seemed to proceed from ; but nothing, of course,
was seen. There was a strange story connected with
the room I slept in ; it was told me by my friend
Lefroy.
" Many years ago he came home for the holidays
from school, and slept the first night there. About the
middle of the night, he was awaked by a very loud noise,
as if a cart, heavily laden with iron bars, was passing
slowly along the path under the windows, which were
in the front of the house, and looked towards the park.
He threw open the shutters and window ; it was a bright
moonlight night ; but he could see nothing, though
the noise continued for a short time after. When he
mentioned all this next morning he was laughed at foi
his pains. Some years after this, however (I think
Lefroy said eleven), an uncle of his slept the first
night of his arrival in this very room. When he came
to breakfast next morning, in reply to hopes that he had
slept well, &c, he said, c It is a curious thing, but I was
awaked by a cart, laden as if with iron, rattling under
my windows ; but it was so pitch dark I could not see
anything.'
" One more observation about the mysterious sounds :
there are some noises which, though very loud, the ear,
from a long habit of judging of and weighing them,
knows to be at a great distance ; but this noise seemed
to me (as a general rule) to become loud or faint, not
so much from any change in the intensity of the blows
GLAMIS CASTLE. 459
as from a change of distance and position. And I am
borne out in this remark by Lefroy, who mentioned
that when several members of the family were stationed
at different parts of the house, their accounts as to the
loudness of the sound and its distance from them gene-
rally differed.
"I have now told you, in a somewhat lengthy style,
all I can call to mind on the subject. I thought it
better to put down facts as they occurred to me, and
leave you, should you deem them suited to your pur-
pose, to condense and arrange them as you pleased."
Thus ends Captain Frazer's account of this mysterious
affair. Ewshott House, we are given to understood, is
still inhabited ; but whether still troubled by these un-
accountable noises we are unable to learn.
GLAMIS CASTLE.
In the First Series of these stories and traditions some
allusions were made to the mystery, or rather many
mysteries, attached to Glamis Castle, the Forfarshire
seat of the Earl of Strathmore. But the legends invest-
ing this immense and ancient palace are inexhaustible.
In point of antiquity and historical interest the Castle is
one of the most remarkable edifices in the kingdom.
u Although dilapidated and dimmed in its original
460 HAUNTED HOMES.
splendour," writes Dr. Beattie, "its feudal air of strength
and haughty defiance, and its sullen gloom of seclusion
in an antique forest, is a subject peculiarly adapted
for the pencil, and for exciting the imagination of the
poet."
Glamis Castle, or rather some portions of the mag-
nificent old edifice, is of immense antiquity ; indeed, it
claims to be the most ancient inhabited castle in Scot-
land ; but it has undergone, save in the central tower,
manifold repairings and rebuildings. The first legend
which lends historic importance to the place is that
Duncan was there murdered by Macbeth, " Thane of
Glamis," even the very room in which the deed was done
having been pointed out formerly, whilst in the armoury
of the Castle the sword and the shirt of mail worn by
Macbeth are still shown. Local tradition points to the
Hunter's Hill, an eminence overlooking the Castle, as
the spot where Malcolm the Second was attacked by the
assassins.
The Glamis estates first came into possession of the
Lyon family in 1371-2, when Sir John Lyon, feudal
Baron of Fortevist, secretary and son-in-law to Robert
the Second, received the grant of the lordship from that
monarch. A long series of tragedies, we are informed,
overgloomed the Lyons "from the moment they brought
to Glamis their lion cup/' the original of Scott's Blessed
Bear of Bradwardine, and a kind of family palladium,
like the Luck of Edenhall. Sir John Lyon, who was
Great Chamberlain of Scotland, fell in a duel in 1383.
His son, the grandson of King Robert the Second,
GLAMIS CASTLE. 461
married his cousin, another grandchild of the same
monarch, and, unlike many inheritors of the estate, died
a natural death. His son was raised to the dignity of
the peerage, in 1445, as Lord Glamis, and for some
generations the Lyons lived and died in peace. The
widow of the sixth Lord, Janet Douglas, a daughter of the
Earl of Angus, together with her son Lord Glamis, and
other relatives, was indicted for attempting the life of
King James the Fifth by witchcraft. Lady Glamis was
found guilty on evidence afterwards confessed to have
been fabricated, and, horrible to relate, was burned to
death on the Castle Hill, Edinburgh, in 1537. The son
of this unfortunate lady, having been respited till of age,
was, ultimately, released and restored to his honours
and estates. In 1578 John, eighth Lord Glamis, was
slain in an accidental encounter with the Lindsays, the
hereditary enemies of his race.
In the following century an earldom, first of King-
home, and then of Strathmore and Kinghorne, was
conferred upon the ruler of Glamis. The grandson of
the first Earl was slain at Sheriffmuir, in 1715, and his
brother and successor, Charles, died on the 11th of May,
1728, "in consequence,''' say the peerages, "of an acci-
dental wound received in a scuffle.'' According to the
common story, however, his death was brought about
in a duel over the gaming-table. One authority relates
it thus, in All the Year Round,
" The old feud between Lindsays and Lyons had
so far healed over that the members of the two
families dined, and drank, and diced together, like fine
462 HAUNTED HOMES.
old Scottish gentlemen as they were. According to
local tradition, the play one night at Glamis was very
high, and when its owner had lost all his money, he
staked his estates, one after the other, against the
victorious player. At last Glamis itself was set on
the turn of a card — and lost. Then the head of the
house, maddened by his losses, accused his guest of
cheating. The reply was a blow, swords were drawn,
and after a few passes the victorious guest ran Lord
Strathmore through the body, and thus sacrificed all
his winnings." The Earl was really slain by James
Carnegy, of Finhaven. Thus far the tradition is clear
and comprehensible enough ; but other legends put a
very different complexion on it. There is a secret room
in Glamis Castle, as everybody knows; a room no
mortal eye may behold, and the locality of which is
known only to the possessor of the Castle, his heir and
his factor. This room is believed to have been the
scene of a hideous gambling affair, and the hero of it
was an Earl of Strathmore, said by William Howitt, in his
account of Glamis, to have been " Earl Beardie," whose
portrait is at Abbottsford. Whoever the nobleman was
his name has been corrupted into that of " Earl Patie,"
by the Forfarshire peasantry, who, we are informed
by Mr. Hugh Maclauchlan, tell the following story of
his misdeeds.
"Many, many years ago, when gentlemen got regu-
larly drunk at dinner-time, and had to be carried to
bed by their servants, there reigned supreme at Glamis
one Patie, known to fame as the wild Earl of* Strath-
GLAM1S CASTLE. 463
more. Earl Patie was notoriously good at all the vices,
but his favourite vice was that of gambling. He would
play Lord's Day or week day, whatever day it was ; and
if he could find no one else to humour him in his fancy,
he would hob and nob with the humblest menial within
the castle walls.
" It happened once, on a dark and stormy November
night, that Earl Patie had been wearied by his forced
inactivity from horse and hound — for it was the Lord's
Day, and that means complete abstinence from all
worldly pursuits in bonnie Scotland — and, at last, with
oaths and curses, he called for a pack of cards, and
comforted himself with the anticipation of a pleasant
game. The ladies were at their devotions, so he called
the servants to him, one by one ; but never since the
days of the feast in the New Testament were so many
excuses invented to cover disinclination. Of all those
who had humoured him so often, not one could be found,
from the steward to the scullion, to take a hand with
the wicked Earl. In desperation the chaplain was
attacked ; but he, too, proved temptation proof, and
strengthened the rebellion among the menials by brand-
ing the pack of cards as * deevil's bricks,' and hurling
terrible anathemas at the head of any wight who should
venture on so terrible a desecration of the Sabbath.
For a time there was dire confusion and alarm in the
Castle ; and at last Earl Patie, swearing tremendously,
and consigning everybody around him to an unmen-
tionable locality, seized a pack of cards and went
growling away up the old oak stairs to his chamber,
464 HAUNTED HOMES.
saying he would play with the ' deil himsel,' sooner
tli an be thwarted in his desire.
" He had not sat long in the room before a knock
came at the door, and a deep voice sounded from
the corridor, asking the Earl if he wished a partner.
' Yes,' roared the Earl ; ' enter, in the foul fiend's name,
whoever you are/ And with that there entered a tall,
dark stranger, wholly wrapped up in a cloak, who
nodded in a familiar manner to the Earl, and took his
seat on a vacant chair on the opposite side of the table.
The Earl stared at his strange guest, and doubtless
felt a momentary uneasiness as he remembered whom
he had invited to play with him ; but a look at the
cards on the table reassured him, and they commenced
the game in real earnest. The stranger, who did not
remove his bonnet and cloak, proposed a high stake ;
and in reply the Earl said, if he were the loser, and had
not wherewith to discharge his debt, he would sign a
bond for whatever his guest might choose to ask. Fast
and furious became the game, loud oaths resounded
through the chamber, and the terrified menials crept up
the corridor, wondering what brave man dared to bandy
words with the wicked Earl, and who was sinful enough
\o hold his hand at the ' deevil's bricks ' on the Lord's
Day. As they fearfully listened they could hear the
fierce utterances of the Earl, and the fiercer and more
unearthly utterances of the stranger, whose presence
they were quite unable to account for.
" At last the old butler, who had served the family
for two generations, ventured close to the chamber-door
GLAMIS CASTLE. 465
and peeped through the key-hole; but no sooner had
he done so than he fell back and rolled on the floor with
a yell of agony that resounded to the remotest part of
the Castle. In an instant the door was rudely torn open
and the Earl came out with fury in his face, and told
them to slay anyone who passed, while he went back
to settle with his guest. But his guest was nowhere to
be found. They searched the chamber through and
through, but in vain. He was gone, and he had taken
with him Earl Patie's bond, but what for the confused
and startled Earl did not exactly know. Keturning by
the old butler, Earl Patie found him stunned and
bruised, with a yellow circle round the erring eye ; and
then he told the terror-stricken menials that, as he sat
at play, the stranger suddenly threw down his cards and
said, with an oath, 'Smite that eye!'' whereupon a
sheet of flame darted directly to the key-hole, and the
mysterious stranger disappeared.
" Earl Patie lived five years before he paid his bond,
but afterwards, on every Sabbath evening, the old
chamber was filled with strange noises that echoed
through the passages, as if the wicked Earl and the dark
strranger were again wrangling and swearing over the
' deevil's bricks/ For a time the unearthly noises were
put up with, but at last the room was built up, and
nothing now remains to tell where the chamber was
where Earl Patie and his fiery guest played their stormy
game of cards/' Such is the story, according to local
tradition, of the secret room of Glamis Castle.
William Howitt's version of this tradition is, that the
466 HAUNTED HOMES.
famous " Earl Beardie," Earl of Crawford, of whom
there is a portrait at Abbotsford, famous for his re-
bellion against James IT. of Scotland, and popularly
known as "the wicked laird," was playing at cards in
the Castle, and, being warned to give oyer, as he was
losing dreadfully, swore an oath that he would play till
the Day of Judgment; whereupon the Devil suddenly
made his appearance, and as sudden disappearance with
old " Beardie ° and all his company. The room has
never been found again, but the people believe firmly
that old " Beardie" and his company are playing on,
ind will play till the Day of Judgment ; and that on
stormy nights the players are heard stamping and
swearing in their rage over their play.
But other, and deeper mysteries than that told of
Earl Patie, or "Beardie," hover about that ancient and
majestic castle. Those frowning towers, grey with age,
and sombre with time, hold within their strong walls
tales of almost unspeakable terror, and within their
gloomy rooms, if rumour speak true, terrible tragedies
have been enacted. Glamis, which a well-known tra-
veller describes as one of the finest specimens of
feudal architecture now existing, and as combining in
a striking manner the gloom of prison security with the
grandeur of a palace, is not so supremely interesting
to outsiders for its magnitude or magnificence, its his-
torical connexions or its melancholy associations, as
for the seemingly impenetrable mystery that belongs to
it. The local legend of Earl "Patie" or " Beardie M
will not account for what has been seen and heard
GLAMIS CASTLE. 467
In 1880, a contributor to All the Year Round, whilst
disclaiming all sympathy with ghost stories, or mys-
teries of any kind, and declaring himself to be " an
utter sceptic as to all assumed supernatural manifesta-
tions," gave two strange incidents, as given to him on
" good authority." The first narrative is told thus : —
" A lady, very well known in London society, an
artistic and social celebrity, wealthy beyond all doubts
of the future, and what is called a very cultivated and
instructed, but clear-headed, and perhaps slightly matter-
of-fact woman, went to stay at Glamis Castle for the
first time. She was allotted very handsome apartments,
just on the point of junction between the new buildings
— perhaps a hundred or two hundred years old — and
the very ancient part of the castle. The rooms were
handsomely furnished ; no gaunt carvings grinned from
the walls ; no grim tapestry swung to and fro, making
strange figures look still stranger by the flickering fire-
light ; all was smooth, cosy, and modern, and the
guest retired to bed without a thought of the mysteries
of Glamis.
" In the morning she appeared at the breakfast-table
quite cheerful and self-possessed. To the inquiry how
she had slept, she replied: 'Well, thanks, very well,
up to four o'clock in the morning. But your Scottish
carpenters seem to come to work very early. I suppose
they put up their scaffolding quickly, though, for they
are quiet now." This speech produced a dead silence,
and the speaker saw with astonishment thai, the faces of
-members of the family were very pale-
30
468 HAUNTED HOMES.
<e She was asked, as she valued the friendship of all
there, never to speak to them on that subject again;
there had been no carpenters at Glamis Castle for
months past. This fact, whatever it may be worth, is
absolutely established, so far as the testimony of a
single witness can establish anything. The lady was
awakened by a loud knocking and hammering, as if
somebody were putting up a scaffold, and the noise did
not alarm her in the least. On the contrary, she took
it for an accident, due to the presumed matutinal
habits of the people. She knew, of course, that there
were stories about Glamis, but had not the remotest
idea that the hammering she had heard was connected
with any story. She had regarded it simply as an
annoyance, and was glad to get to sleep after an un-
restful time ; but had no notion of the noise being
supernatural until informed of it at the breakfast-
table.
" To what particular event in the stormy annals of
the Lyon family the hammering is connected is quite
unknown, except to members of the family, but there is
no lack of legends, possible and impossible, to account
for any sights or sounds in the magnificent old feudal
edifice."
This same writer, after alluding to many of the
tragic stories connected with Glamis, including the
romantic episode of the renowned " Bowes " abduction
case, proceeds to step into the dim borderland which
separates tradition from fiction. " It is said," remarks
this authority, " that once a visitor stayed at Glamis
GLAMIS CASTLE. 469
Castle for a few days, and, sitting up late one moon-
light night, saw a face appear at the window opposite
to him. The owner of the face — it was very pale, with
great sorrowful eyes — appeared to wish to attract at-
tention ; but vanished suddenly from the window, as if
plucked suddenly away by superior strength. For a
long while the horror-stricken guest gazed at the
window, in the hope that the pale face and great sad
eyes would appear again. Nothing was seen at the
window, but presently horrible shrieks penetrated even
the thick walls of the castle, aud rent the night air.
An hour later, a dark huddled figure, like that of an
old decrepit woman, carrying something in a bundle^
came into the waning moonlight, and presently van-
ished."
This writer hints at a very dreadful deed to explain
the cause of the apparition, but, for some reason or the
other, evades connecting the two tales by any intelli-
gible method. He adds, however, that there is a more
modern story of a stonemason, having been engaged
at Glamis Castle on an important occasion, and having
discovered, or been suspected of discovering, more than
he should have done, was supplied with a handsome
competency, upon the conditions that he emigrated, and
preserved inviolable secrecy as to what he had learned.
This writer continues : —
" The employment of a stonemason is explained by
the conditions under which the mystery is revealed to
successive heirs and factors. The abode of the dread
secret is in a part of the castle, also haunted by the
30*
470 HAUNTED HOMES.
apparition of a bearded man, who flits about at night,
but without committing any other objectionable actiou.
What connection, if any, the bearded spectre may have
with the mystery is not even guessed. He hovers at
night over the couches of children for an instant, and
then vanishes. The secret itself abides in a room — a
secret chamber — the very situation of which, beyond
a general idea that it is in the most ancient part of the
castle, is unknown. Where walls are fifteen feet thick it
is not impossible to have a chamber so concealed, that
none but the initiated can guess its position. It was
once attempted by a madcap party of guests to discover
the locality of the secret chamber, by hanging their
towels out of window, and thus deciding in favour of
any window from which no spotless banner waved ; but
this escapade, which is said to have been ill-received by
those most interested, ended in nothing but a vague
conclusion that the old square tower must be the spot
sought.
"It seems to have been forgotten by these harum-
scarum mystery-hunters that a secret chamber might
well be like the curious places of concealment called
' priests' holes,' so common in old English country-
houses, and the only mystery whereof is how the unfor-
tunate hidden tenants could breathe in them.
" It is in the secret chamber of Glamis Castle that
the mystery is revealed to the next heir, and to the new
factor, when one is appointed ; this much is known
beyond all possible doubt. It is also assumed, from
the stonemason story, and the mysterious sounds fre-
GLAMIS CASTLE. 471
quently heard, that the secret chamber is approached by
a passage duly closed with masonry after every visit.
" This latter conclusion mayor may not be correct,
but the existence of a mystery of some kind concealed
within a secret chamber is fairly well made out."
No wonder that this writer asks, and many others
repeat the question, " What is this mystery?" Of all
the many attempted hypotheses not one may be deemed
conclusive ; but few probable, or even possible. It has
been suggested, contrary to the proven facts [if proof
were needed], that the beautiful and unfortunate Lady
Glamis, the supposed witch, the victim of acknowledged
perjury, who perished amid the flames on Castle Hill,
at Edinburgh, " was actually in commerce with the Evil
One, and that her familiar demon, an embodied and
visible fiend, endures unto this day, shut from the light,
in Glamis Castle ! "
Another wild suggestion is, that owing to some here-
ditary curse, like those believed to rest on many well-
known families, at certain intervals a kind of vampire
is born into the family of the Strathmore Lyons. It is
scarcely possible to destroy this monstrosity; it is, there-
fore, kept concealed till its term of life is run. But, it
might be remembered, even monsters need nourishment,
and this secret chamber at Glamis is only visited once
in a generation. Other theories and suggestions are
equally unfortunate, and no probable solution of the
mystery has yet been given.
Thus far we have shown that strange sights and
stranger sounds are reported upon good authority to
472 HAUNTED HOMES.
have been seen and heard at Glamis. Moreover, it may
be assumed that there is a family secret, concealed
within the depths of the old castle, and that the facts
about it are never known to more than three persons.
The three persons who have to hide within their bosoms
this grim secret are the Earl of Strathmore for the time
being, the heir-apparent, if he have attained his majority,
and the " factor," or, as he might be termed in England,
the house steward. On the night before he attains his
twenty-first birthday, the heir, who bears the courtesy
title of Lord Glamis, is solemnly initiated in the terrible
mystery by the reigning Earl and his factor, and this
secret he has to preserve until the majority of his own
son, or, if he remain sonless, till the coming of age of
his heir presumptive, and till the appointment of another
factor to the property.
" Why the factor should be instructed in this terrible
matter/' says one of our authorities, " is a question
which has excited, and continues to excite, the Caledo-
nian mind to a remarkable degree. If the office of
factor were hereditary, there would be an apparent reason
for taking such an important functionary into the family
confidence. But this is not the case in Scotland as a
rule. In fact, the balance of experience is very greatly
on the other side. The factor is sometimes a poor
relation of a great house, but frequently a retired officer
or a country gentleman unconnected with his employers
by ties of blood. There is nothing in the occupation
of a factor greatly in excess of that of an agent, saving
that he is resident on the property instead of living in
GUILDFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 473
the nearest large town. There is no reason why the
connection between employer and factor should not be
brought to an end at any time by individual or mutual
dissatisfaction. There is, however, no record of any
factor having disclosed any inkling of the Mystery of
Glamis. As a Strathmore a Strathmore succeeds, there
is generally much talk of the old story being exploded
at last. Gay gallants in lace ruffles, beaus, bucks,
bloods, and dandies have, until their twenty-first birth-
day, made light of the family mystery, and some have
gone so far as to make after-dinner promises to ' hoist
the old ghost with his own petard,' and tell the whole
stupid old story in the smoking-room at night, after the
Doming of age humbug was all over. This promise has
been made more than once. . . But it has never bee?i
kept. No heir to the Strathmore peerage has revealed
the secret. On the morrow, when all looked for an
explanation of the terrible mystery, they were met by a
courteous but cold refusal ; a simple statement that the
fulfilment of the rash promise was impossible, a request
to say no more about it, and thus the matter has ended,"
and so the Mystery of Glamis Castle remains a mystery
still.
GUILDFOED GBAMMAK SCHOOL.
At the conclusion of an entertaining paper entitled
"A Winter's Night with my Old Books," the late
Albert Smith gives a short account of an apparition
which appeared at Guildford Grammar School ; and it is
474 HAUNTED HOMES.
the more interesting from the fact that, having thrown
discredit upon all the ghostly legends of the old writers,
Lilly, Aubrey, Glanvil, and the rest, its writer adduces
this as a story for which he can personally -vouch. It
originally appeared in Bentleifs Miscellany, vol. xxv.
p. 100, and was reprinted in " Dead Leaves," a post-
humous publication of the well-known popular enter-
tainer and author. It should be pointed out, however,
that in this latter work, the initial of the youth who
saw the spirit of the deceased huntsman is given as
" Young M ," instead of as "Young K 9" as
given in the present narrative.
I mentioned, remarks Albert Smith, that I had a
ghost story, hitherto unpublished, to tell of Guildford.
" About ten years ago my brother was a pupil at the
Grammar School in that town. The boys had been
sitting up all ni^ht in their bed-room for a frolic, and,
in the early morning, one of them, young K , of
Godalming, cried out, * Why, I '11 swear there 's the
likeness of our old huntsman on his grey horse going
across the white-washed wall ! ' The rest of the boys
told him he was a fool, and that all had better think about
going to sleep. After breakfast a servant came over
from K 's family to say that ' their old huntsman
had been thrown from his horse and killed, early that
morning, whilst airing the hounds.' "
Albert Smith adds : " Leaving the reader to explain
this strange story, which may be relied upon, I put my
old books back on their shelves, and lay aside my
pen."
475
m
HAMPTON COURT.
In the week's issue of All the \'ear Hound for 22nd
June 1867, was published a paper entitled " Is it Pos-
sible ? " This communication is supposed to have been
made by Dr. Phillimore. Whoever the author was, he
refers to his mother as a daughter of "Sir G(eorge)
P(rescott), of Theobald's Park, Herts," and in a note
subjoined to the story by Dickens is alluded to as " the
esteemed writer." The story is in every way so curious,
so startling, and so strongly vouched for, that it should
be given in the narrator's own words, which are to this
effect : —
" Several years ago the brother of Colonel C was
killed in battle, leaving a widow and one little girl. The
widow subsequently married a German baron, and the
little girl, Maud, was brought up entirely in Germany.
The latter was about twelve years old when her mother,
being attacked with an illness that threatened to prove
fatal, became very uneasy about the probable future of
her child; and feeling, one evening, more depressed than
usual, called the little Maud to her bed-side, warned
her that their parting was near, and enjoined the weep-
ing girl to write immediately to Mrs. B (a friend
of many years' standing), entreating her to come at once
to receive her last embrace, and take charge of her
orphan child.
"Maud obeyed without delay, but the dying woman's
eyes were not gladdened by the appearance of her friend.
476 HAUNTED HOMES.
The summons had reached its destination, but the
absence of her husband, without whom she felt un-
willing to travel so far, had induced Mrs. B to
postpone her departure, consoling herself with the hope
that her friend, being naturally of a nervous and de-
sponding temperament, had somewhat magnified her
own danger.
" Mrs. B resided at Hampton Court, and here
it was that, on the night of the 9th of November, a
curious incident occurred. Retiring to her room be-
tween eleven and twelve, she rang for her maid, and,
the latter not appearing as promptly as usual, went to
her still open door to listen if she were coming. Oppo-
site to her was a wide staircase, and up this came,
noiselessly, a figure which the lamp held by Mrs. B
showed to be that of a lady dressed in black, with white
gloves, A singular tremor seized her. She could
neither stir nor speak. Slowly the figure approached
her, reached the landing, made a step forward, and
seemed to cast itself on her neck ; but no sensation
accompanied the movement ! The light fell from her
hand ; she uttered a shriek that alarmed the house, and
fell senseless on the floor.
" On recovering, Mrs. B related minutely what
she had seen, her memory especially retaining the image
of the white gloves ; but nothing more than the usual
unsatisfactory solutions were propounded, nor does it
appear that the occurrence was at all associated with the
dying baroness in Germany.
" In a few days, however, came a letter from little
HEATH OLD HALL. 477
Maud, annouDcing that her mother was no more; that
her latest thoughts were directed to Mrs. B , and
her sole regret was the not being permitted to embrace
her before her spirit passed away. She had died a little
before midnight on the ninth of November.
" Mrs. B hastened to Germany to claim her
orphan charge, and then was added a noteworthy con-
firmation of the vision. Little Maud, in one of their
conversations, observed, ' Mamma had a curious fancy.
On the night she died, she made the baron promise that
she should be buried in her black satin dress — with
white kid gloves? The request had been complied
with."
HEATH OLD HALL.
There are three Halls at Heath, near Wakefield, but
the one known as the Old Hall, at present occupied by
Edward Green, Esquire, is that which bears the reputa-
tion of being haunted. It is a truly magnificent and
palatial pile of buildings, and has been well described
to us as one of the finest specimens remaining in
Yorkshire of the Elizabethan period of architecture.
The Hall was built for John Kaye of Dalton. The
windows were formerly emblazoned with the arms of
many of the chief nobility of England, but these have
disappeared, such painted glass as there is there now
having been brought over by some nuns, with whom, it
47S HAUNTED HOMES.
is said, -was a Princess of Conde, who resided at the Hall
during the Kevolutionary troubles abroad.
Mr. John Batty, to whom we are indebted for much
of the following information, says, the Kayes were
succeeded in possession of the Old Hall by William
Witham, Esquire. This owner died in 1593, and it is
not improbable that some peculiar circumstances which
attended his disease and death first obtained for the
place its curious reputation. His illness, and its fatal
termination, were ascribed to demoniacal agency, and a
poor woman of the neighbourhood, named Mary Pannal,
who lay under the suspicion of being a witch, was
arrested, and executed for the supposed crime at York.
William Witham's son, Henry, dying without issue,
Heath Old Hall became the property of his sister Mary,
wife of Thomas Jobson of Cudworth, whose family had
grown rich upon the plunder of abbey lands, another
very potent reason for an uncanny fame being acquired
by the race. Her first husband dying, Mary took for a
second, Thomas Bolles, of Osberton, Nottinghamshire.
Mary Bolles, whether for her loyalty or wealth is not
stated, was created a baronetess of Scotland, with
remainder to her heirs whatever, by James the First, in
1635, if not a solitary, still a very rare instance of such
a title having been conferred. Lady Bolles lived in
great state at the Old Hall, and, after much wealth and
prosperity, died there in 1662, when eighty-three. Her
interment did not take place until six weeks after her
decease, she having assigned .£120 — a very much larger
sum then than now — for keeping open house for all
HEATH OLD HALL. 470
comers during that time. Her will, only signed the
day before her death, besides containing a number of
charitable bequests, legacies to relatives and friends,
and £200 for the erection of her tomb, further provides
for the funeral festivities as follows: " I give all my fat
beeves and fat sheep to be disposed of at the discretion
of my executors, whom I charge to perform it nobly,
and really to bestow this, my gift in good provision ;
two hogsheads of wine or more, as they shall see cause,
and that several hogsheads of beer be taken care for
(there being no convenience to brew). And, my bedding
being plundered from me, I desire that the chambers
may be well furnished with beds, borrowed for the time,
for the entertaining of such as shall be thought fit
lodgers." Besides these arrangements, Lady Bolles
left £700 to be expended in mourning, and £400 for
funeral expenses, and charged her executors most
earnestly to see her will exactly performed, adding that
if any person interested in it obstructed them in any
degree, he or she should forfeit all claim to any benefit
from it.
The Old Hall fell to the share of Sir William Dalston,
in right of his wife Anne, daughter of Lady Bolles by
her second husband, but, after changing hands more
than once, passed by purchase to John Smyth, Esquire,
of Heath, from whom it descended to Captain Smyth,
of the Grenadier Guards, its present possessor.
The Hall and its environs, says Mr. John Batty, are
beautifully described in " Emilia Monterio," a ballad by
Mr. W. H. Leatham^ on a young Portuguese lady who
480 HAUNTED HOMES.
lived with the nuns when they inhabited the Hall, some
sixty years ago.
But the grand feature about this magnificent old Hall
is that it is haunted, and by the apparition of Lady
Bolles. Her ladyship is said to walk and disturb the
neighbourhood ; but her favourite resort is a fine
banqueting-room, with a splendid carved stone chimney-
piece, upon which are the Witham arms. Hunter, the
Yorkshire antiquarian, deems that the lady's restless-
ness in the grave may probably be connected with the
romantic circumstances surrounding her father's death;
whilst others think it clue to the non-observance by her
executors of certain clauses in her will. According ta
this latter account, the lady long " walked " in Heath
Grove, till at length she was conjured down into a hole
of the river, near the Hall, called to this day " Bolles
Pit." " The spell, however, was not so powerful but
that she still rises and makes a fuss now and then." A
tradition, however, exists in Heath that a room in the
edifice which she had had walled up for a certain period,
because large sums of money had been gambled away in
it, was opened before the stipulated time expired, hence
the restlessness of Lady Bolles.
At any rate, even now-a-days she is reported to be
seen sometimes gliding along the passages of the house
she once inhabited in the flesh, whilst servants in a
neighbouring residence have refused to go out after
dark, as they have repeatedly seen at dusk a tall woman
dressed in antiquated style in the coach-road of Heath
Old Hall.
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 481
One correspondent, as evidence of the general feeling
of the neighbourhood about this time-honoured appari-
tion, informs us that when at Ledsham some time since,
he was looking over the tomb in the north chancel,
beneath which Lady Bolles lies buried, when two little
lads whispered to him, rt Don't go there, maister, there's
t'awd Lad ! " (Anglice, the Devil.)
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE.
In the Life of the Rev. Richard Barham, author of
The Ingoldsby Legends, by his son, the Rev. R. H.
Dalton Barham, some extraordinary particulars are
given respecting the haunting of Hinton Ampner Manor
House, in Hampshire. Mr. Barham, who had recorded
the story in his note-book for 1836, obtained the details
from a Mrs. Hughes, who derived them originally from
Mrs. Gwynn, a personal witness of the wonders referred
to. The latter lady's account was subsequently con-
firmed by several persons, including the late Duchess of
Buckingham, a resident in the neighbourhood.
" The story as told by Mrs. Hughes," says the Rev.
Dalton Barham, " though substantially accurate as to
incidents, contained some important errors in respect of
the dramatis jtersonce. These were, I regret, repro-
duced in the second edition of my father's Life. I have
now, however, thanks to the kindness of certain mem-
482 HAUNTED HOMES.
bers of the family mainly interested, the means of
correcting them, and of presenting an authentic account
of the Haunted House in Hampshire." Mr. Barham
then proceeds to narrate the events connected with the
presumed supernatural manifestations at Hinton Ampner,
and his account we shall chiefly follow, correcting and
amplifying it where necessary from the voluminous
notes and affidavits cited in the Gentleman' }s Magazine
for November and December 1872, to which periodical
the whole affair was communicated under the title of
" A Hampshire Ghost Story."
Mrs. Ricketts, the lady chiefly concerned with the
following narrative, was a woman of aristocratic con-
nections ; her brother was the famous Admiral Jervis,
afterwards Earl St. Vincent, and other members of her
family held high positions in Church and State. Her
husband, William Henry Ricketts, a Bencher of Gray's
Inn, was a West Indian landowner ; and it was during
a somewhat lengthy visit which he paid to his estates in
Jamaica that Mrs. Ricketts resided, with her three
infant children and servants, in the old Manor House
of Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, in Hampshire.
Previous to recounting particulars of the series of
strange sights and sounds, the effect of which rendered
Mrs. Ricketts' continued occupation of the old manor
house an impossibility, it should be premised that that
lady, according to all accounts, was a woman of remark-
able vigour, both physical and mental. The coolness
and courage with which Mrs. Ricketts endured for so
lon& «, neriod the disturbances at the old Hampshire
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 483
residence certainly speaks strongly in favour of her
good sense, and her physical capacity may not inaptly
be gauged by the fact that she preserved her intellectual
powers unimpaired to the advanced age of ninety-one.
Her second son, Edward Jervis, who succeeded his
elder brother as Viscount St. Vincent, it may be men-
tioned, was ninety-two when he died. He is said to
have " inherited the fine and powerful intellect of his
mother."
The mansion of Hinton Ampner, where, in 1771,
Mrs. Ricketts took up her residence, had for many
generations been in possession of the Stewkeley family,
and on the death of Sir Hugh Stewkeley, the last male
heir, passed, by right of his wife, to Edward, Lord
Stawell. On the evening of April 2nd, 1755, this
nobleman, whilst sitting in the little parlour at Hinton,
died suddenly of apoplexy, after having articulated a
few words. For the next ten years the house, now
become the property of the Right Hon. Henry Bilson
Legge, husband of Lord Stawell's daughter, was left
chiefly in the occupation of servants, Mr. Legge only
visiting it for a month or so during the shooting
season. At his death, in 1764, his widow let it to
Mr. Ricketts.
For some time prior to the arrival of the new tenants
the house seems to have been gradually acquiring an
evil reputation ; strange sounds were said to have been
heard in it, and strange sights seen. In particular it
was asserted that the figure of a gentleman in a drab-
coioured coat, standing in the moonlight with his hands
31
484 HAUNTED HOMES.
behind him, after the manner of the late Lord Stawell,
was seen by a groom, and recognised by him as that of
his deceased master. These reports, however, do not
seem to have reached the ears of either Mr. or Mrs.
Ricketts, although they had not been long settled at
Hinton before their attention was aroused bv certain
noises which they themselves heard in the night, as of
persons opening and shutting doors with violence. Mr.
Ricketts frequently went round the house in the hope
of detecting the offenders ; but, failing in his efforts
to discover the cause of these disturbances, and suppos-
ing some ill-disposed persons possessed keys which
gave them admission to the house, he had all the locks
©hanged ; but with no better result. The noises were
repeated from time to time, yet, apparently, without
causing any great annoyance to the family. Towards
the close of 1769 Mr. Ricketts was called awav to
Jamaica, and his wife, who was not only a woman of
remarkable vigour, both physical and mental, but whose
good sense had acquired additional strength under the
training of the learned Nicholas Tindal, determined to
remain at home with her three infant children. There
were also in the house eight servants, all of whom, it
is to be observed, left it from various causes in the
course of the following year, and were replaced by
others. Soon after the departure of Mr. Ricketts the
disturbances became more serious. The servants got
frightened. Mrs. Ricketts herself, among other inex-
plicable sounds, frequently heard the rustling of silk
clothes and the steps of someone walking in the adjoin-
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 485
ing room or lobby. On one occasion sbe plainly
distinguished the tread of a man walking heavily towards
the foot of her bed. Here it will be as well to furnish
some extracts from the account drawn up by Mrs.
Kicketts herself of the extraordinary affair.
" About six months after we came thither," is Mrs.
Kickett's personal record, " Elizabeth Brelsford, nurse
to our eldest son, Henry, then about eight months old,
was sitting by him when asleep, in the room over the
pantry, appropriated for the nursery, and, being a hot
summer's evening, the door was open that faces the
entrance into the yellow bed-chamber, which, with the
adjoining dressing-room, was the apartment usually
occupied by the lady of the house. She was sitting
directly opposite to this door, and plainly saw, as she
afterwards related, a gentleman in a drab-coloured suit
of clothes go into the yellow room. She was in no way
surprised at the time, but on the housemaid, Molly New-
man, coming up with her supper, she asked what strange
gentleman was come. Upon the other answering there
was no one, she related what is already described, and
desired her fellow-servant to accompany her to search
the room ; this they did immediately, without any
appearance of what she had seen. She was much con-
cerned and disturbed, and she was thoroughly assured
she could no ways be deceived, the light being sufficient
to distinguish any object clearly. In some time after
it was mentioned to me. I treated it as the effect of
fear or superstition, to which the lower class of people
are so prone ; and it was entirely obliterated from my
31*
486 HAUNTED HOMES.
mind till the late astonishing disturbances brought to
my recollection this and other previous circumstances.
" In the autumn of the same year George Turner,
son of the gardener of that name, who was then groom,
crossing the great hall to go to bed, saw at the other
end a man in a drab-coloured coat, whom he concluded
to be the butler, who wore such coloured clothes, he
being lately come, and his livery not made. As he
passed immediately upstairs to the room where all the
men-servants lay, he was in great astonishment to find
the butler and the other men-servants in bed. Thus
the person he had seen in the hall remained unaccounted
for, like the same person before described by the nurse ;
and George Turner, now living, avers these particulars
in the same manner he first related them.
" In the month of July, 1767, about seven in the
evening, there were sitting in the kitchen, Thomas
Wheeler, postilion ; Ann Hall, my own woman ; Sarah,
waiting-woman to Mrs. Mary Poyntz ; and Dame Lacy ;
the other servants were out, excepting the cook, then
employed in washing up her things in the scullery.
"The persons in the kitchen heard a woman come
down-stairs, and along the passage leading towards them,
whose clothes rustled as of the stiffest silk ; and on
their looking that way, the door standing open, a female
figure rushed past, and out of the house door, as they
conceived. Their view of her was imperfect ; but they
plainly distinguished a tall figure in dark-coloured
clothes. Dame Brown, the cook, instantly coming in,
siiis figure passed close by her, and- instantly disap-
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 487
peared. She described the person and drapery as before
mentioned, and they all united in astonishment who or
what this appearance could be ; and their surprise was
heightened when a man, coming directly through the
yard and into the house the way she went out, on being
asked who the woman was he met, declared he had seen
no one.
" Some time after Mr. Ricketts left me," continues
the lady, "I, then lying in the bed-room over the
kitchen, heard frequently the noise of someone walking
in the room within, and the rustling as of silk clothes
against the door that opened into my room, sometimes
so loud and of such continuance as to break my rest.
Instant search being often made, we never could dis-
cover any appearance of human or brute being.
" Repeatedly disturbed in the same manner, I made
it my constant practice to search the room and closets
within, and to secure the only door that led from that
room on the inside in such manner as to be certain no
one could gain entrance without passing through my
own apartment, which was always made fast by a draw-
bolt on the door. Yet this precaution did not preclude
the disturbance, which continued with little interruption."
Mrs. Ricketts proceeds to furnish the names and
various other particulars of the different domestics she
had employed during her residence at the old Manor
House, remarking : —
" I mention these changes among my domestics,
though in themselves unimportant, to evince the im-
possibility of a confederacy, for the course of nearly
488 HAUNTED HOMES.
seven years, and with a succession of different persons,
so that at the time of my leaving Hinton I had not one
servant that lived with me at my first going thither, nor
for some time afterwards.
" In the summer of 1770, one night that I was lying
in the yellow bed-chamber (the same I have mentioned
that the person in drab-coloured clothes was seen to
enter), I had been in bed half an hour, thoroughly
awake, and without the least terror or apprehension on
my spirits. I plainly heard the footsteps of a man, with
plodding step, walking towards the foot of my bed. I
thought the danger too near to ring my bell for assis-
tance, but sprang out of bed, and in an instant was in
the nursery opposite ; and with Hannah Streeter and a
light I returned to search for what I had heard, but all
in vain. There was a light burning in the dressing-
room within, as usual, and there was no door or means
of escape save at the one that opened to the nursery.
This alarm perplexed me more than any preceding, being
within my own room, the footsteps as distinct as ever I
heard, myself perfectly awake and collected.
" I had, nevertheless, resolution to go to bed alone in
the same room, and did not form any conclusion as to
the cause of this very extraordinary disturbance. For
some months afterwards I did not hear any noise that
particularly struck my attention, till, in November of
the same year, I then being removed to the chintz bed-
room over the hall, as a warmer apartment, I once or
twice heard sounds of harmony, and one night in par-
ticular I heard three distinct and violent knocks as given
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 489
with a club, or something very ponderous, against a
door below stairs ; it occurred to me that housebreakers
must be forcing into some apartment, and I immediately
rang my bell. No one hearing the summons, and the
noise ceasing, I thought no further of it at that time.
After this, and in the beginning of the year 1771, I
was frequently sensible of a hollow murmuring that
seemed to possess the whole house ; it was independent
of wind, being equally heard on the calmest nights, and
it was a sound I had never been accustomed to hear.
" On the morning of the 27th February, when Eliza-
beth Godin came into my room, I inquired what
weather. She replying in a very faint tone, I asked if
she were ill. She said she was well, but had never in
her life been so terrified as during the preceding night;
that she had heard the most dismal groans and flutter-
ing round her bed most part of the night, that she had
got up to search the room and up the chimney, and
though it was a bright moonlight she could not dis-
cover anything. I did not pay much attention to her
account, but it occurred to me that should anvone tell
her it was the room formerly occupied by Mrs. Parfait,
the old house-keeper, she would be afraid to lie there
again. Mrs. Parfait dying a few days before at Kilm-
ston, was brought and interred in Hinton churchyard
the evening of the night this disturbance happened.
" That very day five weeks, being the 2nd of April,
I waked between 1 and 2 o'clock, as I found by my
watch, which, with a rushlight, was on a table close to
my bedside. I lay thoroughly awake for aagae time,
490 HAUNTED HOMES.
and then heard one or more persons walking to and
fro in the lobby adjoining. I got out of bed and listened
at the door for the space of twenty minutes, in which
time I distinctly heard the walking, with the addition
of a loud noise like pushing strongly against a door.
Being thus assured my senses were not deceived I deter-
mined to ring my bell, to which I had before much
reluctance on account of disturbing the nursery maid,
who was very ill of a fever.
"Elizabeth Godin, during her illness, lay in the
room with my sons, and came immediately on hearing
my bell. Thoroughly convinced there were persons in
the lobby, before I opened my door, I asked her if
she saw no one there. On her replying in the nega-
tive, I went out to her, examined the window, which
was shut, looked under the couch, the only furniture
of concealment there ; the chimney board was fastened,
and, when removed, all was clear behind it. She found
the door into the lobby shut, as it was every night.
After this examination I stood in the middle of the
room, pondering with much astonishment, when sud-
denly the door that opened into the little recess leading
to the yellow apartment sounded as if played to and
fro by a person standing behind it. This was more
than I could bear unmoved. I ran into the nursery and
rang the bell there that goes into the men's apartments.
Robert Camis came to the door at the landing place,
which door was every night secured, so that no person
could get to that floor unless through the windows.
Upon opening the door to Robert I told him the reason
HINTON AMPKEK MANOR HOUSE. 491
I had to suppose that someone was entrenched behind
the door 1 before mentioned, and, giving him a light
and arming him with a billet of wood, myself and Eliza-
beth Godin waited the event. Upon opening the door
there was not any being whatever, and the yellow
apartment was locked, the key hanging up, and a great
bolt drawn across the outside door, as usual when not in
use. There was then no further retreat or hiding place.
After dismissing Robert and securing the door, I went
to bed in my sons' room, and about half an hour after-
wards heard three distinct knocks, as described before ;
they seemed below, but I could not then or ever after
ascertain the place. The next night I lay in my own
room ; I now and then heard noises and frequently the
hollow murmur,
" On the 7th of May, exactly the day five weeks from
the 2nd of April, this murmur was uncommonly loud.
I could not sleep, apprehending it the prelude to
some greater noise. I got up and went to the nursery,
stayed there till half an hour past three, and then,
being daybreak, I thought I should get some sleep in
my own apartment ; I returned and lay till ten minutes
before four, and then the great hall door directly under
me was slapped to with the utmost violence, so as to
shake my room perceivably. I jumped out of bed to
the window that commands the porch. There was a
light to distinguish every object, but none to be seen
that could account for what I had heard. Upon
examining the door it was found fast locked and bolted
as usual.
492 HAUNTED HOMES*
" From this time I determined to have my woman
lie in a little bed in my room. The noises grew
more frequent, and she was always sensible of the
same sounds, and much in the same direction as they
struck me. Harassed and perplexed, I was yet very
unwilling to divulge my embarrassment. I had taken
every method to investigate the cause, and could not
discover the least appearance of trick ; on the contrary,
I became convinced it was beyond the power of any
mortal agent to perform ; but, knowing how exploded
such opinions were, I kept them in my own bosom, and
hoped my resolution would enable me to support what-
ever misrht befall.
" After Midsummer the noises became every night
more intolerable. They began before I went to bed,
and with intermissions were heard till after broad day
in the morning. I could frequently distinguish inar-
ticulate sounds, and usuallv a shrill female voice would
begin, and then two others with deeper and manlike
tone seemed to join in the discourse; yet, though this
conversation sounded as if close to me, I never could
distinguish words. /
" I have often asked Elizabeth Godin if she heard
any noise, and of what sort. She as often described the
seeming conversation in the manner I have related, and
other noises. One night in particular my bed-curtains
rustled, and sounded as if dragged by a person walking
against them. I then asked her if she heard any noise
and of what kind. She spoke of it exactly in the
manner I have done. Several times I heard .sounds of
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 493
harmony within the room — no distinct or regular notes,
but a vibration of harmonious tones; walking, talking,
knocking, opening and slapping of doors were repeated
every night. My brother,* who had not long before
returned from the Mediterranean, had been to stay with
me, yet so great was my reluctance to relate anything
beyond the bounds of probability that I could not bring
myself to disclose my embarrassed situation to the
friend and brother who could most essentially serve and
comfort me. The noises continuing in the same manner
when he was with me, I wished to learn if he heard
them, and one morning I carelessly said : ' I was afraid
last night the servants would disturb you, and rang my
bell to order them to bed.' He replied he had not
heard them. The morning after he left me to return to
Portsmouth, about 3 o'clock and daylight, Elizabeth
Godin and myself both awake — she had been sitting up
in bed looking round her, expecting, as she always did,
to see something terrible — I heard with infinite astonish-
ment the most loud, deep, tremendous noise, which
seemed to rush and fall with infinite velocity and force
on the lobby floor adjoining to my room. I started up,
and called to Godin, ' Good God ! did vou hear that
noise ? ' She made no reply ; on repeating the ques-
tion, she answered with a faltering voice, ' She was so
frightened she scarce durst speak.' Just at that instant
we heard a shrill and dreadful shriek, seeming to pro-
ceed from under the spot where the rushing noise fell,
and repeated three or four times, growing fainter as it
* Captain John Jervis, afterwards Earl St, Vincent.
494 HAUNTED HOMES.
seemed to descend, till it sank into earth. Hannah
Streeter, who lay in the room with my children, heard
the same noises, and was so appalled she lay for two
hours almost deprived of sense and motion.
" Having heard little of the noises preceding, and
that little she did not regard, she had rashly expressed
a wish to hear more of them, and from that night till
she quitted the house there was scarce a night passed
that she did not hear the sound as if some person
walked towards her door, and pushed against it, as
though attempting to force it open. This alarm, so
more than commonly horrible, determined me to impart
the whole series to my brother on his return to Hinton,
expected in a week. The frequency of the noises,
harassing to my rest, and getting up often at unreason-
able hours, fixed a slow fever and deep cough, my
health was much impaired, but my resolution firm. I
remained in anxious expectation of my brother, and he
being detained a week longer at Portsmouth than he
had foreseen, it occurred to me to endeavour, by
changing my apartment, to obtain a little rest. I
removed to that formerly occupied by Elizabeth Godin.
I did not mention my intention till 10 at night, when
the room was prepared, and I went to bed soon after.
1 had scarce lain down when the same noises surrounded
me that I before have related, and I mention the cir-
cumstance of changing my room without previous notice
to prove the impossibility of a plan of operations being
so suddenly conveyed to another part of the house, were
they such as human agents could achieve. The week
HINTON AMPNEB MANOR HOUSE. 495
following I was comforted by the arrival of my brother.
However desirous to impart the narrative, yet I forbore
till the next morning; I wished him to enjoy a night's
rest, and therefore contented myself with preparing him
to hear on the morrow the most astonishing tale that
ever assailed his ears, and that he must summon all his
trust of my veracity to meet my relation. He replied
it was scarce possible for me to relate any matter he
could not believe, little divining the nature of what I
had to offer to his faith.
" The next morning I began my narrative, to which
he attended with mixed surprise and wonder. Just as I
had finished, Captain Luttrell, our neighbour at Kilm-
ston, chancing to call, induced my brother to impart
the whole to him, who in a very friendly manner offered
to unite his endeavours to investigate the cause. It
was then agreed he should come late in the evening,
and divide the night watch between them, keeping
profoundly secret there was any such intention. My
brother took the precaution, accompanied by his own
servant, John Bolton, to go into every apartment, par-
ticularly those on the first and attic story, examined
every place of concealment, and saw each door fastened,
save those to chambers occupied by the family. This
done, he went to bed in the room over the servants'
hall.
" Captain Luttrell and my brother's man, with arms,
Bat up in the chintz room adjoining, and my brother
was to be called on any alarm.
"I lay that night in Elizabeth Godin's room, atid
496 HAUNTED HOMES.
the children in the nurseries ; thus every chamber on
that floor was occupied. I bolted and locked the door
that opened to that floor from the back stairs, so that
there was no entrance unless through the room where
Captain Luttrell kept watch.
" So soon as I lay down, I heard a rustling as of a
person close to the door. I ordered Elizabeth Godin to
sit up a while, and, if the noise continued, to go and
acquaint Mr. Luttrell.
" She heard it, and instantly Mr. Luttrell's room door
was thrown open, and we heard him speak.
"I must now give his account, as related to my
brother and myself the next morning.
"He said he heard the footsteps of a person walking
across the lobby, that he instantly threw the door open,
and called, ' Who goes there ? ' That something flitted
past him, when my brother directly called out, ' Look
against my door.' He was awake, and heard what
Mr. Luttrell had said, and also the continuance of the
same noise till it reached his door. He arose and
joined Mr. Luttrell. Both astonished, they heard
various other noises, examined everywhere, found the
staircase door fast secured as I had left it. I lay so
near, and had never closed my eyes ; no one could go
to that door unheard. My brother and his man pro-
ceeded up-stairs, and found the servants in their own
rooms, and all doors closed as they had seen just
before. They sat up together, my brother and Mr.
Luttrell, till break of day, when my brother returned to
his own chamber. About that time, as I imagined., I
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 497
heard the chintz room door opened and slammed to
with the utmost violence, and immediately that of the
hall chamber opened and shut in the same manner. I
mentioned to Godin my surprise that my brother, who
was ever attentive not to alarm or disturb the children,
should hazard both by such vehement noise. An hour
after I heard the house door open and slam in the same
way, so as to shake the house. No one person was
then up, for, as I had never slept, I heard the servants
rise and go down about half an hour afterwards. When
we were assembled at breakfast, I observed the noise my
brother had made with the doors.
" Mr. Luttrell replied, ' I assure you Jervis made not
the least noise ; it was your door and the next I heard
opened and slapped in the way you describe.'
"My brother did not hear either. He afterwards
acknowledged to me that when gone to bed, and Mr.
Luttrell and I were sitting below, he heard dreadful
groans and various noises that he was then and after
unable to account for. His servant was at that time
with mine below.
" Captain Luttrell declared the disturbances of the
preceding night were of such a nature that the house
was an unfit residence for any human being. My
brother, though more guarded in his expressions, con-
curred in that opinion, and the result of our delibera-
tions was to send an express to Mr. Sainsbury, Lady
Hillsborough's steward, to request he would come over
immediately on a very particular occasion, with which
he would be made acquainted on his arrival.
498 HAUNTED HOMES.
" Unluckily, Mr. Sainsbury was confined with tho
gout, and sent over his clerk, a youth of fifteen, to
whom we judged it useless and improper to divulge the
circumstances.
"My brother sat up every night of the week he then
passed at Hinton. In the middle of one of these nights
I was surprised with the sound of a gun or pistol let off
near me, immediately followed by groans, as of a person
in agonies, or expiring, that seemed to proceed between
my chamber and the next, the nursery. I sent Godin
to Nurse Horner, to ask if she had heard any noise ; she
had not. Upon my inquiry the next morning of my
brother, he had (not?) heard it, though the report and
groans were loud and deep.
" Several instances occurred where very loud noises
were heard by one or two persons, when those equally
near and in the same direction were not sensible of
the least impression.
" As the watching every night made it necessary for
my brother to gain rest in the day, he usually lay down
after dinner. During one of these times he was gone
to rest, I had sent the children and their attendants
out to walk, the dairymaid gone to milk, the cook in
the scullery, my own woman with my brother's man
sitting together in the servant's hall ; I, reading in the
parlour, heard my brothers bell ring with great quick-
ness. I ran to his room, and he asked me if I had
heard any noise; "because," said he, " as I was lying
wide awake an immense weight seemed to fall through
the ceiling to the floor just by that mahogany pre e£ an I
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 499
it is impossible I should be deceived.' His man was
by this time come up, and said he was sitting under-
neath the room, as I before mentioned, and heard not
the least noise. The inquiry and attention my brother
devoted to investigate this affair was such as from the
reach of his capacity and ardent spirit might be expected;
the result was his earnest request that I would quit the
place, and, when obliged to return to Portsmouth, that
I would permit him to send Mr. Nichols, his Lieutenant
of Marines, and an old friend of the family, to continue
till my removal with me. ^
" One circumstance is of a nature so singularly
striking that I cannot omit to relate it. In one of our
evening's conversations on this wonderful train of dis-
turbances I mentioned a very extraordinary effect I had
frequently observed in a favourite cat that was usually
in the parlour with me, and when sitting on table or
chair with accustomed unconcern she would suddenly
slink down as if struck with the greatest terror, conceal
herself under my chair, and put her head close to my
feet. In a short space of time she would come forth
quite unconcerned. I had not long given him this
account before it was verified to him in a striking man-
ner. We neither, then, nor I at other times, perceived
the least noise that could give alarm to the animal, nor
did I ever perceive the like effect before these disturb-
ances, nor afterwards, when she was removed with me
to another habitation. The servants gave the same
account of a spaniel that lived in the house, but to that,
as I did not witness, I cannot testify."
I 32
500 HAUNTED HOMES.
Various causes, as Mr. Barham records, were assigned
in the neighbourhood for these supernatural visitations.
The most popular reason was that which connected the
late Lord Stawell, " a notorious evil liver," with the
manifestations. He had had in his employment as a
bailiff a certain Isaac Mackrel, a man with a remarkably
hoarse, guttural voice, and one who was declared to have
been well, or rather ill known as a pander to his master's
vices. Although Mackrel had been detected in robbing
his master, he was retained in his service, having evi-
dently some private hold upon him.
There had resided in the Manor House with Lord
Stawell a younger sister of his deceased wife, and, it
was rumoured, a guilty intrigue had been carried on
between these two. Although no child was known posi-
tively to have been born, strong suspicions had been
entertained on that score by the village gossips. The
lady died at Hinton in 1754. In the year following
Lord Stawell, as has been said, expired in a fit of apo-
plexy, and sometime after the steward was killed by the
fall of a fagot-stack.
Mrs. Eicketts and her friends endeavoured to trace
out the origin of these rumours, but without much suc-
cess. One day, indeed, an old man living in the poor-
house at West Meon came to her, and said that his wife
had often related to him that, in her younger days, a
carpenter had told her that he was once sent for by Sir
Hugh Stewkeley, and directed by him to take up some
boards in the lobby, and that Sir Hugh had concealed
something, which he (the carpenter) conceived was
HINTON AMPNER MANOR HOUSE. 501
treasure. Some investigation appears to have been
made in consequence of this communication, but nothing
came of it.
Sixtv pounds reward was offered bv Ladv Stawell for
discovery of the cause of the disturbances, and this offer
Mr. Ricketts, on his return to England, increased to
one hundred, but no claim was ever made for the
monev.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Kicketts removed to YVolvesey, the
palace of the Bishop of Winchester, with whom she was
connected by marriage. After her removal the people
left in charge complained of some annoyances, but the
manifestations do not appear to have been so frequent
nor so terrifying.
Eventually the Manor House was let to a Mr. Law-
rence, who forbade the servants saying a word about the
disturbances, under penalty of losing their places. Not-
withstanding this judicious rule, rumours were still pro-
pagated, and it was stated that once, when the housemaid
was standing in the lobby, a female figure rushed past
and disappeared. Mr. Lawrence brought his family
with him to Hinton, but, doubtless, the manifestations
were too much for them ; he only stayed in the house
for a year, and then left it suddenly.
After this, the Manor House was never occupied. In
1797 it was pulled down, and under the floor of the lobby
there was found a box containing bones and what was
said to be the skull of a monkey. No regular inquiry
was made into the matter, and no professional opinion
was ever sought as to the real character of the relic.
32*
502 HAUNTED HOMES.
The only person thought able to throw any light
upon the mystery was an old woman who had been
housekeeper in Lord Stawell's time : on her death-bed
she expressed a desire to make a confession to a member
of the Jervis family, but unfortunately she expired before
the lady summoned could arrive.
It is declared that the subject was always a very sore
one with the first Lord St. Vincent, and that any allu-
sion to it commonly brought down a rebuke upon anyone
who ventured to make it.
INCE HALL.
Ince Hall, famous as being connected with one of the
most curious beliefs in existence, is an ancient Lanca-
shire dwelling. In Koby and Wilkinson's popular
Lancashire Lege?ids this old Hall is described as " one
of those curious half-timbered mansions which are now
becoming rare in this country. Its six sharply-pointed
gables, and its long ranges of mullioned pointed win-
dows, give it an imposing appearance from a distance ;
and on a nearer approach the remains of a moat are
visible, which proves that it had once possessed means
of defence. The estate connected with the Hall be-
longed to the Gerards for upwards of seven hundred
years; the owners being descended from Walter
Fitzothe, Castellan of Windsor., at the time when
p>. •-<
life
INCE HALL. 503
Domesday Book was compiled * His son William
adopted the surname of de Windsor, but another son,
Gerard, was contented to bear his ordinary patronymic,
and became the ancestor of the Gerards of Bryn, now
represented by Sir Robert Gerard, of Garswood Hall.
About the year 1368, John, the third son of Sir Peter
Gerard, of Bryn, married Ellen, daughter and sole
heiress of Richard de Ince, the representative of a very
ancient family, dating very nearly, if not quite, from the
Conquest. In consequence of this marriage, the town-
ship of Ince passed to the Gerards, who, for many suc-
ceeding generations, resided at the old Hall.
The tradition connected with the building now known
as Ince Hall, which mansion was not erected till the
reign of James the First, is thus related in the Lanca-
shire Legends : " There is a story of wrong attaching to
Ince Hall, which has given rise to the legend of * the
Dead Hand.' One of its early possessors lay on his
death-bed, and a lawyer was sent for at the last moment
to make his will ; but before he reached him the man
was dead. In this dilemma it was determined to try
the effect of a dead man's hand on the corpse, and the
attorney's clerk was sent for one to Bryn Hall in all
haste. The body of the dead man was rubbed with the
holy hand, and it was asserted that he revived suffi-
ciently to sign his will. After the funeral a daughter
of the deceased produced a will which was not signed,
leaving the property to his son and daughter ; but the
lawyer soon produced another will, signed by the dead
hand, which conveyed all the property to himself. The
504 HAUNTED HOMES,
son quarrelled with the attorney, and after wounding
him, as he supposed mortally, he left the country, and
was never heard of more. The daughter also dis-
appeared, but no one knew how or when. After many
years the gardener turned up a skull in the garden with
his spade, and the secret was revealed. When this took
place the Hall had long been uninhabited ; for the mur-
dered daughter's ghost hung suspended in the air before
the dishonest lawyer wherever he went. It is said that
he spent the remainder of his days in Wigan, the victim
of remorse and despair. There is a room in the Hall
which is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young
lady, and her shadowy form is frequently seen by the
passers-by hovering over the spot where her remains
were buried."
The Dead Hand.
The " Dead Hand," or the " Holy Hand," as it is
sometimes styled, alluded to in the foregoing tradition,
is the centre around which quite a galaxy of marvellous
tales have gathered. It is known to have belonged to
Father Edmund Arrowsmith, a Jesuit, who suffered the
extreme penalty of the law at Lancaster, on the 28th
August 1628.
The cause of Father Arrowsmith's trial and execution
has been variously stated, certain sceptical persons
alleging that he had been found guilty of some foul
crime, and that the tale of his martvrdom for the sake
of his faith, and the miracles which attest his sanctity,
have been invented for the purpose of preventing scandal
INCE HALL. 505
in the Church. The onus probandi lies, of course,
with them, and until these unbelievers in miraculous
intervention can adduce any evidence on behalf of their
allegations, there does not appear to be any reason for
refusing to accept the testimony of the Catholics, which
is to the following effect.
Arrowsmith was born at Haydock, in the parish of
Winwick, Lancashire, in 1585. In 1605 he entered the
Jesuit College at Douay, and in 1612 was ordained
priest. The next year he was sent on a mission to
England ; and in 1623 was apprehended and taken to
Lancaster on a charge of being a Eomish priest, con-
trary to the laws " in that case made and provided."
He was tried for this offence, found guilty, sentenced to
death, and executed. After his body was cut down one
of his friends or, as other accounts say, his spiritual
attendant, cut off his right hand, in compliance with his
dying injunctions, and to fulfil his dying promise that
he should work miraculous cures on those who had faith
in its efficacy.
For many years the hand was kept at Bryn Hall, and
when that ancient edifice was demolished it was removed
to Garswood Hall, Sir Kobert Gerard's residence.
Ultimately it was placed in the Catholic Chapel at
Ashton-in-Maskerfield, where it now is in custody of
the priest. This holy relic, by which so many marvel-
lous cures have been wrought, is most carefully preserved
in a white silk bag. We have before us an account of a
case which occurred in August 1872 : a woman named
Catherine Collins, was sent to the Wigan Workhouse a
506 HAUNTED HOMES.
wholly destitute. She had been sitting all day on a
door-step, after having come out of the workhouse at
Salford on leave, and walked all the way from that town
to Mackerfield, in order to have the " Holy Hand "
applied to her side, which was paralyzed. When her
case came before the Wigan Board of Guardians, Mr.
Clarke, one of the guardians for Ashton, informed the
Board that hundreds of persons visited the township on
a similar errand to that of this paralytic woman.
JEDBURGH CASTLE.
Even the ruins of this ancient border-fortress have
disappeared, and its site is, or was recently, occupied by
a large prison. But time was in Scottish history that
Jedburgh boasted of an important and even magnificent
castle, that was the favourite residence of royalty.
William the Lion and Alexander the Second often
graced it with their regal presence, but it was left to
Alexander the Third to still further enhance its glory
and carry its splendour to its highest pitch. The
childless monarch, having determined upon marrying
again, ordered the wedding festival to be kept at Jed-
burgh, and there, in October 1285, he was united in
marriage to Jolande, or, as some style her, Joleta,
daughter of the Count of Dreux.
Notwithstanding the high character borne by King
JEDBURGH CASTLE. 507
Alexander, and the universal festivity and jollification,
melancholy forebodings were not wanting on the occa-
sion of this wedding. The hilarity, indeed, of the royal
host and his guests was destroyed, or at all events
overshadowed, by a circumstance by many deemed
supernatural, and of which no explanation has ever yet
been afforded. The occurrence appears to have given
Edgar Poe a hint which he expanded into the tale, if
such it may be termed, of The Masque of the Red
Death. Whilst the wedding revelry was at its height, a
figure was suddenly observed by the startled guests,
gliding through their midst. In the poet's imaginative
words, the figure is described as "tall and gaunt, and
shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the
grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made
so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened
corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty
in detecting the cheat."
" * Who dares ? ' " he makes the royal host demand,
' insult us with this blasphemous mockery ? Seize him
and unmask him, that we may know whom we have to
hang at sunrise from the battlements ! ' . . .
" At first, as he spoke, there was a slight rushing
movement of the group of pale courtiers in the direction
of the intruder . . . but, from a certain nameless awe
with which the mad assumption of the mummer had
inspired the whole party, there was found none who put
forth hand to seize him, so that . . . while the vast
assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centre
of the room to the walls, he made his way uninter-
508 HAUNTED HOMES.
ruptedly, but with the same solemn and measured step
which had distinguished him from the first." Ultimately,
the revellers take courage, and, " seizing the mummer,
whose tall figure stood erect and motionless," they
" gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave
cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled
with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible
form ! "
Less terrifying, yet not the less suggestive, are the
lines of Heywood, Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels,
when recounting the ill-omened tale : —
In the mid revels, the first ominous night
Of their espousals, when the moon shone bright
With lighted tapers — the King and Queen leading
The curious measures, lords and ladies treading
The self-same strains — the King looks hack by chance,
And spies a strange intruder fill the dance ;
Namely, a mere anatomy, quite bare ;
His naked limbs both without flesh and hair,
(As we decipher Death), who stalks about,
Keeping true measure till the dance be out.
Nothing further is known of this spectral appearance,
which had glided so suddenly into the midst of the
startled revellers, and had as suddenly and as mys-
teriously vanished. But everyone felt that it was the
portent of some great approaching calamity. Thomas
the Eymer, the famous seer and prophet, informed the
Earl of March, in the presence of several persons, that
the 16th of March should be " the stormiest day that
ever was witnessed in Scotland." The day came clear
and mild, and the scoffers laughed the prophecy to
LONDON I BROOK STEEET. 509
scorn, when suddenly came the news that the King was
dead. "That is the storm which I meant," said
Thomas, " and there was never tempest which will
hring more ill luck to Scotland." The seer was right.
Alexander the Third, riding in the dusk, between
Burntisland and Kinghorn, was thrown from his horse
over a precipice, and killed, in his forty-fifth year, a few
months after his marriage. When the sad news spread,
causing distraction among the people, and civil war
between the claimants to the vacant throne, manv
thought of the dire omen which had appeared at the
King's wedding, and deemed that it had been sent to
betoken his speedy and premature death.
LONDON : BEOOK STEEET.
In a work by Mr. H. Spicer, entitled Strange Things
Among Us, is related the story we are about to narrate,
but with the names of all the persons and places sug-
gested by initial letters only. After no little trouble,
we have succeeded in identifying the names implied,
and now give the tale in a completed condition. It is
stated to have been communicated to the writer by a
friend of Lady Clark, from whose own lips the story
had been received : —
" One morning, some years since, the wife of a di«-
510 HAUNTED HOMES.
tinguished London physician was in bed, at her house
in Brook Street. It was daylight, and she was broad
awake. The door opened ; but Lady Clark, concluding
that it was her maid entering, did not raise her head,
until a remarkable-looking figure, passing between hei
bed and .the window, walked up to the fire-place, when,
reflected in the mirror which hung above, Lady Clark
recognized the features of her step-son, Dr. John
Forbes Clark, then attached to a foreign embassy. He
wore a long night-dress, and carried something on
his arm.
" ' Good Heavens ! Is that yoa, John, and in that
dress ? ' cried Lady Clark, in the first surprise.
" The figure turned slowly round, and she then
became aware that the object he carried was a dead
child, the body being swathed round and round in a
large Indian scarf of remarkable workmanship, which
Lady Clark had presented to Mrs. John Clark on the
eve of her departure.
"As she gazed, the outlines of the figure became
indistinct, invisible, vanishing in the grey light, or
blending with the familiar objects in the room.
" Lady Clark neither fainted nor shrieked, nor even
rang the bell. She lay back and thought the matter
over, resolving to mention it to no one until the return
of her husband, then absent in attendance on an
illustrious household. His experience would* decide
whether her physical health offered any solution of the
phenomenon. As for its being a dream, it may be
taken as an accepted fact that, though nobody is con-
LONDON : BKOOK STEEET. 511
scious of the act of going to sleep, everybody knows
by the sudden change of scenery, by the snapping
of the chain of thought, and so forth, when he has
been sleeping.
" Very shortly after, Sir James returned home. On
hearing the story, he immediately looked at the tongue
that related such wonders, and likewise felt the lady's
pulse. Both organs perfect. Of her nerves he had seen
proof. Touching veracity, she was truth itself. All
his skill could devise nothing better than a recom-
mendation to patience, and to see what came of it.
In the meantime, the day and hour were noted down,
and the next advices from T awaited with more
than usual interest.
" At length they came. Dr. John Forbes Clark
informed his father that their child, an only one, had
died on such a day (that of the apparition), and that
his wife, anxious that it should be laid to rest in the
land of its birth, had begged that it might be forwarded
by the next homeward ship. In due course it arrived,
embalmed, but enclosed in a coffin so much larger than
was required for the tiny occupant, that the intervening
spaces had to be filled up with clothes, &c, while the
Indian scarf had been wound, in many folds, around
the child's body."
,512 HAUNTED HOMES.
LONDON: THE HUMMUMS.
In the thirteenth chapter of Boswell's Life of Johnson,
will be found a sigular account of an apparition which
appeared in Covent Garden, at a place called the " Old
Hummunis." The story is slight, but it is famous ;
and should, therefore, find a place in this collection.
Some description of the place where the apparition
appeared is necessary, in order to comprehend the full
force of the impression which the account of its being
seen there made upon the public mind.
In the south-east corner of Covent Garden market-
place were quite recently two hotels known by the
strange names of the " Old Hummums " and the " New
Hummums." The name is said to be a corruption of
the Turkish name " Hamam," a bath. These buildings
were originally devoted to the use of what is now known
as " the Turkish Bath/' an institution introduced into
England many years ago, the so-called "Turkish Bath"
of the present day being only a revival of what was once
very fashionable, but which, for a long time, had grown
obsolete and been forgotten. These Hummums, how-
ever, when first established in London, seem to have
been mostly frequented by characters of ill reputation, and
became, as in the East, a favourite rendezvous for gossip.
They speedily grew to be useful for the purposes of
intrigue, and this circumstance gradually led to their
suppression as baths. Both the Old Hummums and the
New Hummums were changed into respectable hotels,
LONDON : THE HUMMUMS. 513
which character they have retained until their recent
demolition, the original signification of their former
titles being almost forgotten.
The " Old Hummums " was the scene of what the
great Dr. Johnson pronounced " the best accredited
ghost story that he had ever heard/' The individual
whose apparition was said to have appeared there was a
Mr. Ford, a relation or connection of the learned doctor
himself, and is said to have been the riotous parson of
Hogarth's " Midnight Modern Conversation." Boswell,
relating a conversation which took place at Mr. Thrale's
house, at Streatham, between himself and Dr. Johnson,
savs : —
" Amongst the numerous prints pasted on the walls
of the dining-room of Streatham was Hogarth's 'Modern
Midnight Conversation.' I asked him what he knew
of Parson Ford, who makes a conspicuous figure in the
riotous group. Johnson said : ' Sir, he was my acquain-
tance and relation ; my mother's nephew. He had pur-
chased a living in the country, but not simoniacally. I
never saw him but in the country. I have been told he
was a man of great parts ; very profligate, but I never
heard he was impious/ Boswell asked, ' Was there
not a story of his ghost having appeared ? ' Johnson
said, ' Sir, it was believed. A waiter at the Hummums,
in which house Ford died, had been absent for some
time, and returned, not knowing that Ford wras dead.
Going down to the cellar, according to the story, he met
him ; going down again, he met him a second time.
When he came up, he asked some of the people of
514 HAUNTED HOMES.
the house what Ford could be doing there. They told
him Ford was dead. The waiter took a fever, in which
he lay for some time. When he recovered he said he
had a message to deliver to some women from Ford ;
but he was not to tell what, or to whom. He walked
out; he was followed, but somewhere about St. Paul's
they lost him. He came back, and said he had delivered
the message, and the women exclaimed, " Then we are
all undone ! ' Dr. Pellet, who was not a credulous
man, inquired into the truth of this story, and he said
the evidence was irresistible. My wife went to the
Hummums (it is a place where people get themselves
cupped). I believe she went with the intention to hear
about this story of Ford. At first they were unwilling
to tell her ; but after they had talked to her she came
away satisfied that it was true. To be sure the man
had a fever, and this vision may have been the begin
ning of it. But if the message to the women, and their
behaviour upon it, were true as related, there was some-
thing supernatural. That rests upon his word, and there
it remains. ' "
LONDON: SOUTHAMPTON FIELDS.
A very curious, but not an unparalleled, tradition is
that referring to the so-called " Field of the Forty Foot-
steps." The story, as generally told, and as adapted
by Jane and Anna Maria Potter, in their romance on
London: Southampton fields. 5lo
the subject, is that two brothers, having taken different
sides in the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion, met, and,
having engaged each other in fight, were both killed.
Where they fought was in a field at the back of the
British Museum, at the extreme north-east of Upper
Montague Street, formerly known as Southampton
Fields. Where the steps of the two desperate men
pressed the ground no grass, according to tradition,
would ever grow, and for many years the impressions,
said to have been forty, of their feet, remained bare and
ungrown over.
Many other accounts of this popular tradition exist,
however, and from them may be selected the following,
the substance of which appeared in the Arminian
Magazine for 1781. The Brothers Steps, as they are
styled, are stated to be discoverable in a field about the
third of a mile northward from Montague House, now
replaced by the British Museum. Their origin is,
according to this version, due to the footprints of two
brothers who quarrelled about a worthless woman, and
fought out their quarrel at this place. u The prints of
their feet," says this authority, " are about the depth of
three inches, and nothing will vegetate, so much as to
disfigure them. The number is only eighty-three "
{forty may have been adopted for its alliterative sound),
"but probably some at present are filled up. For I
think there were formerly more in the centre, where
each unhappy combatant wounded the other to death.
And a bank on which the first fell retains the form
of his agonizing couch by the curse of barrenness, while
33
516 HAUNTED HOMES*
grass flourishes all about it. Mr. George Hall, who
was the librarian of Lincoln's Inn, first showed me those
steps twenty-eight years ago, when, I think, they were
not quite so deep as now. He remembered them about
thirty years, and the man who first showed them him
about thirty more, which goes back to the year 1692 ;
but I suppose they originated in the reign of King
Charles the Second.* My mother well remembered
their being ploughed up, and corn sown to deface
them, about fifty years ago. But all was labour in
vain, for the prints returned, in a while, to their pristine
form, as probably will those that are now filled up.'-'
The above account of the The Brothers' Footsteps
appeared so extraordinary to the Editor of the Arminian
Magazine that, as he says, he did not know what to
think of it. He knew his informant to be a person of
good understanding and real piety, and yet " he testified
what he had seen with his own eyes/' To satisfy him-
self about the strange recital, the Editor determined to
seek out more evidence, and he soon found it.
"Awhile ago," runs his narrative, "being at Mr.
Cary's, in Copthall Buildings, I occasionally mentioned
The Brothers' Footsteps, and asked the company if they
had heard anything of them. ' Sir,' said Mr. Cary,
' sixteen years agu I saw and counted them myself.'
Another added, ' And I saw them four years ago.' I
could no longer doubt but they had been seen. And,
a week or two after, I went with Mr. Cary and another
person to seek them.
* The Duke of Monmouth's rebellion took place in 1685. — Ed.
LOSTOCK TOWEB. 517
w We sought for nearly half an hour in vain. We
could find no steps at all within a quarter of a mile, no,
nor half a mile, north of Montague House. We were
almost out of hope, when an honest man, who was at
work, directed us to the next ground, adjoining to a
pond. There we found what we sought for, about
three-quarters of a mile north of Montague House, and
about five hundred vards east of Tottenham Court Eoad.
The steps answer Mr. W 's description. They are
of the size of a large human foot, about three inches
deep, and lie nearly from north-east to south-west. We
counted only seventy-six ; but we were not exact in
counting. The place where one, or both, the brothers
are supposed to have fallen is still bare of grass. The
labourer showed us also the bank where (the tradition
is) the wretched woman sat to see the combat."
LOSTOCK TOWEE.
Lostock Tower, about four miles to the west of Bolton,
is one of the numerous haunted homes of Lancashire.
It figures in Roby's well-known Lancashire Legends as
the locality of a cruel wrong, aud proves that appari-
tions have more regard for moral than legal rights. The
Tower was formerly an imposing structure, built chiefly
of wood and plaster, and surrounded by a moat. The
gateway, which occupies the site of a much more
33*
518 HAUNTED HOMES.
ancient building, is now almost all that is left of the
Anderton's old homestead. It is chiefly " built of brick
and stone, interspersed with string courses and mould-
ings. The windows are very large, and are divided into
compartments by strong mullions."
" Over one of the upper windows," writes Mr. Wil-
kinson, " there is a deep panel containing a coat of
arms, now almost obliterated. On the front of the
house there is the date ' a.d. 1591 ' ; and a panel over
the doorway, on which is the inscription ' S. F. A.
1702,' obviously marks the period when this portion of
the Hall was either enlarged or repaired. This cha-
racteristic residence was not very judiciously situated,
according to modern ideas. There is much low ground
in the neighbourhood, which contains several rather
picturesque sheets of water, and it is, besides, in the
immediate vicinity of the boggy tract known as Red
Moss. The river Croal rises from this marshy ground,
which, after passing through Bolton, falls into the
Irwell ; the far-famed Douglas, also, has its origin in the
same Moss, and, after flowing through Wigan, falls into
the Kibble near Hesketh.
" Lostock Tower formerly belonged to the Andertons,
but has since merged into the hands of the Blundells of
Ince. There is a story of wrong connected with one
of the early Andertons, which has passed into a tradi-
tion, and is even yet a source of heart-burning to a
family named Heaton, resident in a neighbouring town-
ship of the same name. This tradition states that one
of the Heatons was an improvident man, and wasted
LOSTOCK TOWER. 519
much of his patrimony. He became deeply involved
in debt, and mortgaged his township to Anderton of the
Tower. The day for payment duly arrived, but the
Heatons had not raised the money. The evening passed
on, and at a somewhat early hour the Andertons retired
to bed. They had not lain long before the Heatons
were thundering at the doors ; for they had raised the
amount at the last moment, and were ready to pay. The
owner of the Tower, however, coveted the property, and
refused to let them in, because they ought to have been
ready before the going down of the sun. On the
morrow he said they were too late, and declared that
the mortgage was foreclosed.
" The wrong done to the Heatons was never for-
given, for the family was utterly ruined; and it is
stated that the soul of the wrongdoer is doomed to re-
visit the scene of his crime until the property is restored.
It is also affirmed that no horse from the Tower, so
long as it was occupied by an Anderton, could ever be
forced to cross the stream into the manor of Heaton.
Sir Francis Anderton took part in the Rebellion of
1745, and soon after lost his estates. In 1750 he was
reported to be over sixty years of age, and childless ;
his property was held by the Crown under trustees, and
eventually passed to the Blundells, he living in retire-
ment until his death. This gentleman's fate is con-
sidered to be an act of retributive justice for the wrong
done to the Heaton family by his ancestor of the
Tower.
520 HAUNTED HOMES.
MONTGOMERY.
In 1852 the Rev. R. Mostyn Pryce published an
account of certain circumstances of a singular charac-
ter which had occurred in Montgomery. In the Intro-
duction to his narrative, he refers to a solitary grave in
a remote corner of the churchyard, known as " The
Robber's Grave." It is not a raised mound, but is a
bare space, level with the surrounding ground, and is
of the shape and size of a coffin. The story con-
nected with this grassless grave is to the following
effect : —
At Chirbury, in the vicinity of Montgomery, was
Oakfield, a house (that in better days had been a manor
house) which, with the surrounding farm, was possessed
by a widow named Morris. Her husband, a dissolute,
indolent man, had left her and their only child, a
daughter, in distressed circumstances, and, for some
time, it was supposed that Mrs. Morris would have to
part with the property, in which case it was to be let
to a Thomas Pearce, to whose ancestors it had formerly
belonged. Pearce had long waited and watched in
hopes of one day becoming a tenant of the property his
ancestors had squandered away; but just at the time
when his expectations appeared to be on the point of
realization, they were utterly frustrated. A young man
styled " John Newton " in the story,* from Stafford-
* His real name was John Da vies.
MONTGOMEBY. 521
shire, having been introduced to Mrs. Morris by her
brother, was taken into her service as bailiff, and
managed the farm for her with such assiduity and skill,
that in a little while it became prosperous and flourish-
ing, and all thoughts of resigning it to Pearce were
relinquished.
Newton, to whose able management and industry this
improvement was due, was an utter stranger to the
neighbourhood. Nor did he appear willing to make
any acquaintances beyond what business arrangements
necessitated. He was obliged to attend the neighbour-
ing fairs and markets, and he was a regular attendant
at Chirbury Church ; but he kept only his own com-
pany and his own counsel, even all the efforts of the
clergyman of the parish failing to draw him out of his
secluded habits and reserved manner. " He was, in-
deed," says Mr. Pryce, "for the most part, a melancholy
grief-haunted man. Yet, in the pursuit of his occupa-
tions at Oakfield, he appeared contented and happy.
His manner and behaviour towards the widow and her
daughter were, at all times, marked with respect and
even cheerfulness. He seemed to consider it a part of
his duty to alleviate, by every means in his power, their
cares and troubles, and to lighten their domestic soli-
tude. Occasionally, when the day had closed upon his
toils, he would read to them."
For more than two years this state of affairs lasted,
and Mrs. Morris was by no means displeased to notice
that her daughter's sentiments towards Newton were of
a very friendly nature. " She watched with a mother's
522 HAUNTED HOMES.
anxiety and a mother's approbation," says our autho-
rity, " the growing affection of her child towards the
stranger: for he was a stranger still. Studiously avoid-
ing all reference to himself, his kindred, or his former
life, he shrank sensitively from any allusion to the past,
and felt grateful to them both when, with instinctive
delicacy, they seemed content that his early history
should remain unknown to them."
The stranger's skilful management of Oakfield, and
the continually increasing interest which he appeared to
obtain in its household, had excited anything but
pleasurable feelings in more breasts than one. Thomas
Pearce had naturally felt jealous with Newton, and was
intensely disappointed " when baffled in his hopes of
sheltering himself again beneath the roof-tree of his
forefathers," yet he had apparently lived down his
regrets. But Robert Parker, a young farmer and neigh-
bour of Pearce, hated Newton with a still keener hate,
for in him he beheld a successful rival for the affections
of Jane Morris, of whom he had long been a fond but,
as yet, unprofessed lover.
These two disappointed and vengeance-seeking men
met frequently to discuss matters, and, at last, devised
a plan for getting rid of the obnoxious stranger. Their
proceedings are thus detailed by Mr. Pryce : —
" It was at length resolved to charge Newton with
s ome offence which should banish him the country.
" An opportunity of accomplishing their purpose at
length occurred. Newton had been attending a fair in
the neighbourhood, and was detained on business till a
MONTGOMERY. 523
late hour, It was six o'clock on a dark November
evening, when he left Welshpool to walk home. Parker,
who had been stealthily watching his proceedings, fol-
lowed, with Pearce, at a little distance. In a short time
Newton was brought back to town by the two men,
taken before a magistrate, charged with high-way robbery,
and committed."
The charge brought against him by the two confede-
rates, men of known respectability, was that of '* High-
way robbery with violence," a crime, at that time,
punishable with death. The prisoner employed no
counsel, asked the witnesses no questions, and merely
protested his innocence of the charge.
He was pronounced "Guilty." When the judge
asked him if he had anything to say why sentence of
death should not be passed upon him, he responded in
a firm voice, that he forgave those men upon whose
false testimony he had been convicted, "But, my Lord,''
he exclaimed, " I protest most solemnly, before that God
in whose presence I must shortly appear, I am entirely
guiltless of the crime for which I am about to suffer.
. . . I do not say that I am an innocent man. I have
committed a crime, but it is known only to my Creator
and myself. I have endeavoured to atone for it by
all the means in my power . . . and I humbly believe
I have been forgiven. ... I protest once more, I am
entirely innocent of this charge. ... It is my devout
and earnest desire that the stain of this crime may not
rest upon my name. ... I have, therefore, in humble
devotion, offered a prayer to heaven, and believe it has
524 HAUNTED HOMES.
been heard and accepted. ... I venture to assert that
if I am innocent of the crime for which I suffer, the
grass, for one generation, at least, will not cover my
grave"
The unfortunate man was condemned and executed,
and his remains were buried in Montgomery Church-
yard. It was noticed that no sooner did the bell begin
to toll for the execution than the sky became overcast ;
•' no sooner had he placed his foot upon the scaffold
than a fearful darkness spread around; and the moment
the fatal bolt was withdrawn, the lightnings flashed
with terrific vividness, the thunders rolled in awful
majesty, until the town hill seemed shaken to its base ;
the rain poured down in torrents; the multitude dis-
persed horror-stricken and appalled, some crying out,
' The end of all things is come ! '" This was in
1821.
Of the two witnesses against the unfortunate man,
Parker became a dissolute drunkard and was killed at
the blasting of some rocks in the lime-works in Llany-
mynech, whilst the other, Pearce, became dispirited
and, as our informant remarks, " wasted away from
the earth." Mrs. Morris and her daughter left Oak-
field for ever.
Writing in 1852, Mr. Pryce says : " Thirty years
have passed away and the grass has not covered his
grave!" And again : "Numerous attempts have, from
time to time, been made by some who are still alive,
and others who have passed away, to bring grass upon
that bare spot. Fresh soil has been frequently spread
MONTGOMERY. 525
upon it, and seeds of various kinds have been sown ; but
not a blade has ever been known to spring from them,
and the soil has soon become a smooth, and cold, and
stubborn clay."
In 1852, soon after Mr. Pryce's narrative had been
written, " some sacrilegious hand " covered the grave
with turf, and so tended it, that it grew all over it, save
at the head, which remained bare, with the turf withered
" as if blasted by the lightning's stroke." A month or
so, and the grass again died away, leaving the grave
once more bare !
The Rev. Fred. W. Parker, Rector of Montgomery,
informs us that there is still a bare spot over the grave,
which he has known for thirty-eight years, but that it is
not so large as it has been in his memory. Mr. Parker
has, also, kindly forwarded us a copy of a statement
made some years ago by William Weeks, the then
Parish Clerk, confirming some of the particulars above
given, and stating that he made the grave (in 1821),
and buried John Davies, and that " attempts have been
made by different persons to cause the grass to grow on
the grave by putting fresh soil and sowing seeds, &c,
but hitherto without success. The grave has always
returned, in a short time after each experiment, to the
state in which it now is."
526 HAUNTED HOMES.
OKEHAMPTON.
In January 1884, Mr. James Spry sent an account to
The Western Antiquary, of a supernatural being, popu-
larly known as " Benjie Gear," which long troubled
Okehampton and the neighbourhood with its pranks,
and even now-a-days occasionally disturbs the good folks
thereabouts. There is little in the legend connected
with this apparition to distinguish it from many similar
bits of folk-lore which crop up in most parts of England,
but as a specimen of its class it is worth citation.
On the high gable end of an ancient house in Oke-
hampton may be seen two gigantic iron letters, the
initials of Benjamin Gayer, a former inhabitant. The
house may readily be discovered, as it abuts on an
irregular triangle formed by the houses behind the
chantry. These initials, in italic capitals, are alluded
to, in a local metrical version of the legend they com-
memorate, thus : —
Behind the chantry mote be yred,
The initial scroll of the burgher dead.
Stout of heart they esteem the wight
"Who reads these letters at dead of night ;
Though the moon be glinted back the while
From the oriel light of the chantry aisle :
Never pass but breathe a prayer
For the soul's best peace on Master Gayer,
Tcedio vitoz quo confectus
Nunc ad ozthera transvectus,
Socius fuit qui sanctorum,
Ccelu gaudeat angelorum !
Where life's troubled waters rest,
In the haven of the blest.
OKEHAMPTON. 52?
Mr. Spry suggests that the citizen thus commemorated
may have been almoner of the money collected from
the charitable of his time for the ransom of captives in
Mohammedan lands, and that he may have appropriated
such alms to his own use; hence his unsettled condition
in the spirit "world. His reason for this opinion would
appear to be this extract u from a note on the history of
Okehampton " : —
" Mr. B. Gayer, with the philanthropy of a good
burgess, as shown in his collections for the relief of
poor Protestant prisoners in Turkey, would have been,
but for these researches, a dead letter in the book of
his little history : but tradition has preserved an ugly
report of his own unquiet and imprisoned spirit. What
child, or eke man or woman of our town, but has, some
time or other, been terrified or amused at the story of
Gayer the revenant ? "
Notwithstanding the statement that this old citizen
Btill haunts his native place, he is declared to have been
laid some years ago. Mr. Spry's account is that Benjie
Gear troubled the inhabitants of Okehampton to such
an extent that " the aid of the Archdeacon was called
in, and the clergy were assembled in order that the
troubled spirit might be laid and cease to trouble
them. There were twenty-three of the clergy who
invoked him in various classic languages, but the
insubordinate spirit refused to listen to their request.
At length one, more learned than the rest, addressed
him in Arabic, to which he was forced to succumb,
saying, ' Now thou art come, I must be gone ! ' He
528 HAUNTED HOMES*
was then compelled to take the form of a colt ; a new
bridle and bit, which had never been used, were pro-
cured, with a rider, to whom the Sacrament was admini-
stered. The man was directed to ride the colt to
Cranmere Pool on Dartmoor, the following instructions
being given him. He was to prevent the colt from
turning its head towards the town until they were out
of the Park, and then make straight for the Pool, and
when he got to the slope, to slip from the colt's back,
pull the bridle off, and let him go. All this was
dexterously performed, and the impetus thus gained by
the animal with the intention of throwing the rider
over its head into the Pool, accomplished its own
fate."
As the citizens of Okehampton are still somewhat
nervous on the score of meeting old " Benjie Gear's "
apparition, the " laying," after all, was, probably, only
temporary, or not so well carried out as it should have
been.
PERTH.
A frequent objection to ghostly visitants is that they
trouble folks for no apparent purpose : they come and
go, without seeming to accomplish anything more than
the disarrangement of the spectator's nervous system.
Such an objection cannot be raised against the follow*
PEKTH. 529
ing curious account, related by the Earl of Shrewsbury
to Dr. Binns, and published by the latter in his Anatomy
of Sleep, with the remark that " perhaps there is not a
better authenticated case on record." The apparently
trivial nature of the spectral communication, so different
from the deadly or important presage commonly accorded
to the appearance of ghosts, only renders this case
more noteworthy. The story was originally told to the
Countess of Shrewsbury by the Kev. Charles McKay, a
Catholic priest, in the following letter, dated Perth,
October 21, 1842 :—
"In July 1838 I left Edinburgh, to take charge of
the Perthshire missions. On my arrival in Perth, the
principal station, I was called upon by a Presbyterian
woman (Anne Simpson by name), who for more than a
week had been in the utmost anxiety to see a priest.
On asking her what she wanted with me, she answered,
1 Oh, Sir, I have been terribly troubled for several nights
by a person appearing to me during the night.' ' Are
you a Catholic, my good woman ? ' 'No, Sir; I am a
Presbyterian.' ' Why, then, do you come to me ? I
am a Catholic priest.' ' But, Sir, she (meaning the
person that had appeared to her) desired me to go to
the priest, and I have been inquiring for a priest during
the last week.' ' Why did she wish you to go to the
priest ? ' ' She said she owed a sum of money, and the
priest would pay it.' 'What was the sum of money she
owed?' 'Three and tenpence, Sir.' 'To whom did
she owe it?' ' I do not know, Sir.' 'Are you sure
you have not been dreaming ? ' ' Oh, God forgive you !
530 HAUNTED HOMES.
for she oppears to me every night. I can get no rest.'
* Lhd you know the woman you say appears to you ? '
' I was poorly lodged, Sir, near the barracks, and I
often saw and spoke to her as she went in and out to
the barracks, and she called herself Maloy.'
" I made inquiry, and found that a woman of that
name had died, who had acted as washerwoman and
followed the regiment. Following up the inquiry, I
found a grocer with whom she had dealt, and, on asking
him if a person, a female, named Maloy, owed him any-
thing, he turned up his books, and told me she did owe
him three and tenpence. I paid the sum. The grocer
knew nothing of her death, nor, indeed, of her character,
but that she was attached to the barracks. Subsequently
the Presbyterian woman came to me, saying that she
was no more troubled."
PORTSMOUTH.
The Life of the Rev. R. H. Barham, as these pages
will show, contains more than one singular narration of
the supernatural. One of the most popular is that
related by Mrs. Hughes, of an apparition seen at Ports-
mouth ; and although the exact house in that seaport is
not mentioned by name, the story itself is so frequently
alluded to, that, despite this want of authenticated
locality, it should be included in our collection. It
PORTSMOUTH. 531
was narrated to Mrs. Hughes by Mrs. Hastings, wife
of Captain Hastings, R.N., and is to the following
effect :
Captain and Mrs. Hastings were driving into Ports-
mouth one afternoon, when a Mr. Hamilton, who had
recently been appointed to a situation in the dockyard
there, made a third in their chaise, being on his way to
take possession of his post. As the vehicle passed the
end of one of the narrow lanes which abound in the
town, the latter gentleman, who had for some little time
been more grave and silent than usual, broke through
the reserve which had drawn a remark from the lady,
and gave the following reason for his taciturnity :
"It was," said he, "the recollection of the lane we
have just passed, and of a very singular circumstance
which occurred to me at a house in it some eighteen
years ago, which occupied my thoughts at the moment,
and which, as we are old friends, and I know you will
not laugh at me, I will repeat to you.
" At the period alluded to, I had arrived in the town
for the purpose of joining a ship in which I was about
to proceed abroad. On inquiry, I found that the vessel
had not come round from the Downs, but was expected
every hour. The most unpleasant part of the business
was, that two or three King's ships had just been paid
off in the harbour, a county election was going on, and
the town was filled with people waiting to occupy
berths in an outward-bound fleet which a contrary wind
had for some days prevented from sailing. This com-
bination of p-vents, of course, made Portsmouth very
34
532 HAUNTED HOMES.
full and very disagreeable. After wandering half over
the town without success, I at length happened to
inquire at a decent-looking public-house, situate in the
lane alluded to, where a very civil, though a very cross-
looking landlady at length made me happy by the
intelligence that she would take me in, if I did not mind
sleeping in a double-bedded room. I certainly did
object to a fellow-lodger, and so I told her; but as I
coupled the objection with an offer to pay handsomely
for both beds, though I should occupy only one of
them, our bargain was settled, and I took possession of
my apartment.
" Having retired for the night, and having, as I
thought, carefully locked the door to keep out intruders,
I undressed, jumped beneath the clothes, and fell fast
asleep.
" I had slept, I suppose, an hour or more, when I
was awakened by a noise in the lane below. I was
turning round to recompose myself, when I peroeived,
by the light of the moon which shone brightly into the
room, that the bed opposite was occupied by a man,
having the appearance of a sailor. He was only partially
undressed, having his trousers on, and what appeared
to be a belcher handkerchief tied round his head by
way of a nightcap. His position was half sitting, half
reclining on the outside of the bed, and he seemed to be
fast asleep.
" I was, of course, very angry that the landlady
should have broken her covenant with me, and at first
felt half disposed to desire the intruder to withdraw;
PORTSMOUTH. 533
but, as the man was quiet, and I had no particular wish
to spend the rest of the night in an altercation, I
thought it wiser to let things alone till the morning,
when I determined to give my worthy hostess a good
jobation for her want of faith. After watching him for
some time, and seeing that my chum maintained the
same posture, though he could not be aware that I
was awake, I reclosed my eyes, and once more fell
asleep.
" It was broad daylight when I awoke in the morning,
and the sun was shining full in through the window.
My slumbering friend apparently had never moved, and
I had a fair opportunity of observing his features,
which, though of a dark complexion, were not ill-
favoured, and were set off by a pair of bushy black
whiskers that would have done honour to a rabbi.
What surprised me most, however, was that I could now
plainly perceive that what I had taken in the moonlight
for a red handkerchief on his forehead was in reality a
white one, but quite saturated in parts with a crimson
fluid, which trickled down his left cheek, and seemed to
have run upon the pillow.
"At the moment the question occurred to me, how
could the strauger have procured admission to the
room ? as I saw but one door, and that I felt confident
I had locked, while I was quite positive my gentleman
had not been in the chamber when I retired to bed.
"I got out and walked to the door, which was in the
centre of one side of the room, nearly half-way between
the two beds ; and as I approached it, one of the
34*
534 HAUNTED HOMES.
curtains interposed for a moment so as to conceal my
unknown companion from my view. I found the door
fastened, with the key in the lock, just as I had left it.
Not a little surprised at the circumstance, I now walked
across to the further bed to get an explanation from my
comrade, when, to my astonishment, he was nowhere to
be seen ! Scarcely an instant before I had observed him
stretched in the same position which he had all along
maintained ; and it was difficult to conceive how he had
managed to make his exit so instantaneously, as it
were, without my having perceived or heard him. I, in
consequence, commenced a close examination of the
wainscot near the head of the bed, having first satisfied
myself that he was concealed neither under it nor by the
curtain. No door nor aperture of any kind was to be
discovered.
" I was the first person up in the house ; a slipshod
being, however, soon made its appearance, and began
to place a few cinders, &c, in a grate not much cleaner
than its own face and hands. From this individual I
endeavoured to extract some information respecting my
nocturnal visitor, but in vain ; it ' knowed nothing of
no sailors,' and I was compelled to postpone my
inquiries till the appearance of the mistress, who de-
scended in due time.
"After greeting her with all the civility I could
muster, I proceeded to inquire for my bill, telling her that
I certainly should not take breakfast, nor do anything
more for the good of the house, after her breach of promise
respecting the privacy of my sleeping-room. The good
POBTSMOUTH. 535
lady met me at once with a * Marry come up ! ' a faint
flush came over her cheeks, her little grey eyes twinkled,
and her whole countenance gained in animation what
it lost in placidity.
" ' What did I mean ? I had bespoke the whole
room, and I had had the whole room ; and, though she
said it, there was not a more comfortable room in all
Portsmouth ; she might have let the spare bed five times
over, and had refused because of my fancy. Did I think
to bilk her ? and called myself a gentleman, she sup-
posed ! '
" I easily stopped the torrent of her eloquence by
depositing a guinea (about a fourth more than her
whole demand) upon the bar, and was glad to relin-
quish the offensive for the defensive. It was, therefore,
with a most quaker-like mildness that I rejoined that
certainly I had not to complain of any actual incon-
venience from the vicinity of my fellow-lodger, but
that, having agreed to pay double for the indulgence of
my whim, if such she was pleased to call it, I, of course,
expected the conditions to be observed on the other side;
but I was now convinced that they had been violated
without her privity, and that some of her people had
doubtless introduced the man into the room, in igno-
rance, probably, of our understanding.
" ' What man ? ' retorted she, briskly. * There was
nobody in your room, unless you let him in yourself;
had you not the key, and did not I hear you lock the
door after you ? "
"That I admitted to be true. * Nevertheless,' added
536 HAUNTED HOMES.
I, taking up my portmanteau and half turning to depart,
1 there certainly was a man, a sailor, in my room last
night ; though I know no more how he got in or out
than I do where he got his hroken head or his uncon-
scionable whiskers.'
" My foot was on the threshold as I ended, that I
might escape the discharge of a reply which I foreboded
would not be couched in the politest of terms. But it
did not come; and, as I threw back a parting glance at
my fair foe, I could not help being struck with the very
different expression of her features from that which I
had anticipated.
" I hesitated, and at length a single word, uttered
distinctly but slowly, and as if breathlessly spoken,
fell upon my ear ; it was ' Whiskers ! '
" ' Ay, whiskers,* I replied ; ' I never saw so splendid
a pair in my life.'
" ' And a broken ! For Heaven's sake come back
one moment,' said the lady ; ' let me entreat you, Sir,
to tell me, without disguise, who and what you saw in
your bedroom last night.'
" 'No one, madam,' was my answer, 'but the sailor
of whose intrusion I before complained, and who, I
presume, took refuge there from some drunken fray to
sleep off the effects of his liquor ; as, though evidently
a good deal knocked about, he did not appear to be
very sensible of his condition/
" An earnest request to describe his person followed,
which I did to the best of my recollection, dwelling par-
ticularly on the wounded temple and the remarkable
PORTSMOUTH. 537
whiskers, which formed, as it were, a perfect fringe to
his face.
" ' Then, Lord have mercy upon me ! ' said the woman
in accents of mingled terror and distress ; * it 's all true,
and the house is ruined for ever ! '
"So singular a declaration only whetted my curiosity;
and the landlady, who now seemed anxious to make
a friend of me, soon satisfied my inquiries in a few
words.
" After obtaining a promise of secrecy she informed
me that, on the third evening previous to my arrival, a
party of sailors were drinking in her house, when a
quarrel ensued between them and some marines. The
dispute at length rose to a great height. The landlady
in vain endeavoured to interfere, till at length a heavy
blow, struck with the edge of a pewter pot, lighting
upon the temple of a stout young fellow of five-and-
twenty, one of the most active of the sailors, brought
him to the ground senseless and covered with blood.
He never spoke again ; but, although his friends imme-
diately conveyed him upstairs and placed him on the
bed, endeavouring to staunch the blood, and doing all
in their power to save him, he breathed his last in a few
minutes.
" In order to hush up the affair, the woman admitted
that she had consented to the body being buried in
the garden, where it was interred the same night by
two of his comrades. The man having been just dis-
charged, it was calculated that no inquiry after him was
likely to take place.
538 HAUNTED HOMES.
'"But then, Sir,' cried the landlady, wringing her
hands, ' it 's all of no use ! Foul deeds will rise ; and
I shall never dare to put anybody into your room again,
for there it was he was carried; they took off his
jacket and waistcoat, and tied up his wound with a
handkerchief, but they never could stop the bleeding
till all was over; and, as sure as you are standing
there a living man, he is come back to trouble us, for if
he had been sitting to you for his picture you could not
have painted him more accurately than you have done.'
" Startling as this hypothesis of the old woman was,
I could substitute no better ; and, as the prosecution of
the inquiry must have necessarily operated to delay my
voyage, without answering, as far as I could see, any
good end, I walked quietly down to the Point, and, my
ship arriving in the course of the afternoon, I went im-
mediately on board, set sail the following morning for
the Mediterranean, and have never again set foot in
Portsmouth from that hour to this."
Thus ended Mr. Hamilton's narrative.
The next day the whole party set out to reconnoitrs
the present appearance of the house, but some difficulty
was experienced in identifying it, the building having
been converted into a greengrocer's shop about five
years before. A dissenting chapel had been built on
the site of the garden, but nothing was said by their
informant of any skeleton having been found while
digging for the foundation, nor did Mr. Hamilton think
it advisable to push any inquiries on the subject.
Why Mr. Hamilton should not have deemed it advi-
POKTSMOUTH. 539
sable to investigate the matter fully is difficult to divine.
The house, however, would appear to have in some
respects resembled one referred to by a Mr. Sam well in
the following narrative, and was, probably, the same.
In the year 1792, according to the account given, Mr.
Samwell, a medical officer of the Royal Navy, was
travelling from London to Portsmouth by the coach, in
order to join the man-of-war to which he had been
appointed. He was a man of some little literary and
scientific attainment, and had published various works
in both prose and verse. Among the former was a nar-
rative of the death of Captain Cook, whom he had sailed
with on his last voyage, and which was believed to be
thoroughly accurate, as well as well-written. It was
quoted verbatim by Dr. Kippis in his life of the cele-
brated circumnavigator. With such acquirements, re-
marks our informant, Mr. Samwell was not likely to
harbour any notions bordering on the superstitious.
An accident which had befallen the coach near Lewes,
in Sussex, caused a delay of several hours, insomuch
that the passengers, on reaching Portsmouth, found the
inns and other houses of entertainment shut. After
wandering for a considerable time, Mr. Samwell per-
ceived a light in an obscure quarter leading to Portsea,
and, entering the house, inquired if he could repose
there for the night. Being conducted to a bed-room,
he was scarcely in bed, taken up with reflections about
joining his ship in the morning, when he distinctly
heard several taps at the door. Piising in his bed, he
saw, at the bed-side, a figure of a tall man, wrapped in
540 HAUNTED HOMES.
a shaggy great-coat, and wearing a slouched hat, with a
lantern in his hand. Not being able to procure any
reply to the question he propounded as to the drift of
this intrusion, Mr. Samwell sprang forward and made a
grasp at the intruder, when, to his immense surprise, he
only grasped the air !
The light suddenly disappeared ; not a footstep was
to be heard, and everything was wrapped in silence.
From his bed he crept to the door, which was bolted
inside, and alarmed the house.
On the arrival of the inmates, whom he was careful
not to admit into the apartment, he provided himself
with a light, and searched everywhere within, to dis-
cover, if possible, a trap-door by which the intruder
might have silently escaped ; but his search was without
success.
The woman of the house, when he explained matters,
treated his story as a dream, and solicited him to go to
bed again ; but, having dressed himself, he left the
house, preferring to pass the night on the ramparts
rather than endure any more such interruptions. In
the morning he related what had happened to him to
several persons, describing the house and its position ;
when he was told that a mystery was hanging about it,
which Sir John Carter, the mayor, had for some time
anxiously endeavoured to clear up. Not one, but
several strangers, who had resorted thither, had, from
time to time, unaccountably disappeared; and what
seemed to prove how easily their bodies might have been
disposed of after they had been robbed and murdered,
Pi
<
o
o
BOSLIN CHAPEL, 541
was shown from the fact that the back part of the house
hung over a mud ditch, into which the bodies might
have been cast without causing any alarm to the vicinity.
Mr. Samwell's loquacity does not, however, appear to
have drawn forth any more definite information than did
Mr. Hamilton's reticence.
KOSLIN CHAPEL.
Seven miles to the south of Edinburgh is the village of
Roslin, celebrated for its chapel and castle. Roslin
Chapel, about which traditions still flourish, is as much
noted for its legendary lore as for its unique architec-
tural beauty. The building is small, but is particularly
rich in Gothic decorative stonework ; its chief attraction,
however, in that way being a very fine carved column
known as the " Prentice's Pillar.*' This pillar, in
marked contrast with the severe simplicity of the other
columns, is wreathed about, from base to capital, with
richly carved bands, and, according to tradition, was
executed by an inspired apprentice.
This charming architectural gem, the ancient and
romantic chapel of Roslin, was founded, in the %ear
1446, by William St. Clair, Prince of Orkney, Duke ot
Oldenburgh, and of enough other titles, as an old
authority observes, even to weary a Spaniard. The
original design for the chapel was never carried out, the
542 HAUNTED HOMES.
chancel only being completed, and the transept begun.
About two centuries ago, the edifice was much defaced
by a mob, and at one time was in danger of becoming
quite ruinous, when, happily, General St. Clair had it
repaired, and his successors have continued the work
of preservation.
The family vault of the St. Clairs is beneath the
pavement of the chapel, and there the barons were
anciently buried in their armour, without any " useless
coffin.'-' A manuscript history, quoted by Sir Walter
Scott, thus alludes to a family interment in the vault at
.Roslin : — " When my good father was buried, his (a
long deceased Baron of Roslin) corpse seemed to be
entire at the opening of the cave ; but when they came
to touch his body, it fell into dust. He was laying in
his armour, with a red velvet cap on his head, on a flat
stone ; nothing was spoiled, except a piece of the white
furring that went round the cap, and answered to the
hinder part of the head. All his predecessors were
buried after the same manner, in their armour ; late
Kosline, my good father, was the first that was buried
in a coffin, against the sentiments of King James the
Seventh, who was then in Scotland, and several other
persons well versed in antiquity, to whom my mother
would not hearken, thinking it beggarly to be buried
after that manner."
But the wierd and curious superstition which lends
so much romantic interest to Roslin, and which has
caused it to be a favourite theme for poets, is the belief
that whenever any of the founder's descendents are
ROSLIN CHAPEL. 543
about to die the chapel appears to be on fire. Not-
thstanding the fact that the last " Roslin," as he was
called, died in 1778, and the estates passed into the
possession of the Erskines, Earls of Rosslyn, the old
tradition has not been extinguished. The manner
and matter of the time-honoured legend are so well
portrayed by Harold's song in The Lay of the Last
Minstrel, that it had better be quoted from here : —
O'er Roslin all that dreary night
A •wondrous blaze was seen to gleam ;
'Twas broader than the watch-fire liffht.
And redder than the bright moon-beam.
It glared on Roslin's castled rock,
It ruddied all the copse-wood glen ;
'T was seen from Dryden's groves of oak,
And seen from caverned Hawthornden.
Seemed all on fire that chapel proud,
Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie ;
Each baron, for a sable shroud,
Sheathed in his iron panoply.
Seemed all on fire, within, around,
L)eep sacristy and altars pale ;
Shone every pillar, foliage bound,
And glimmered all the dead men's maiL
Blazed battlement and pinnet high,
Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair-
So still they blaze when fate is nigh
The lordly line of Hugh St. Clair.
There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold
Lie buried within that proud chapelle I
Each one that holy vault doth hold —
But the sea holds lovely Rosabella I
544 HAUNTED HOMES.
SAMLESBURY HALL.
The famous old Samlesbury Hall stands about half-way
between Preston and Blackburn. It is placed in a broad
plain, looking southwards towards the woody heights of
Hoghton ; eastwards towards the lofty ridges which run
through Mellor and Billington to Pendle ; Preston and
the broad estuary of the Ribble occupy the western
prospect, whilst northwards, Longridge, leading towards
the heights of Bowland, fills the scene : " enclosing a
landscape," remarks Mr. T. T. Wilkinson, " which for
picturesque beauty and historic interest has few equals
in the country."
Samlesbury is famed in occult lore as the place
whence Grace Sowerbutts and other notorious witches
came. They were tried for witchcraft early in the
seventeenth century, but escaped the fate generally
meted out in those days to supposed members of the
sisterhood, because, notwithstanding the fact that some
of them had confessed their guilt, they were acquitted
as impostors. Whilst their neighbours, from Tendle,
Demdike, ChafFox, &c, were condemned and hanged
as genuine sorcerers, the Samlesbury witches were let
off as counterfeits. The eerie reputation acquired by
Samlesbury may have partially arisen in consequence
of these alleged dealings in the black art by its weird
daughters, but that the haunting of the old Hall arose
from quite a different cause local tradition guarantees.
Harland's Lancashire Legends traces the history of
SAMLESBUKY HALL. 545
the famous old building back to the early part of the
reign of Henry the Second, when Gospatric de Samles-
bury was residing in an ancestral home occupying the
site now covered by the present Hall. His dwelling
was surrounded by rich pastures and was shut in by
the prima? val forests of oak from which the massive
timbers were obtained out of which was formed the
framework of the structure still standing. This magni-
ficent building was erected during the reign of Edward
the Third.
11 The family pedigrees tell us," says Harland, " that
Cicely de Salmesbury married John de Ewyas about the
middle of the thirteenth century ; but, dying without
male heir, his daughter was united to Sir Gilbert de
Southworth, and the property thus acquired remained
in the possession of his family for upwards of three
hundred and fifty years. It was then sold to the
Braddylls, and ultimately passed into the hands of
Joseph Harrison, Esq., of Galligreaves, Blackburn;
whose eldest son, William Harrison, Esq., now resides
at the Hall.
" After the disposal of the property by John South-
worth, Esq., in 1677, the house was suffered to fall into
decay. For many years it was occupied by a number of
cottagers ; it was afterwards converted into a farm-
house, and passed through various stages of degradation
from neglect. Mr. Harrison, however, determined that
this fine old structure should be no longer thus dese-
crated. With a wise and just appreciation he restored
both the exterior and the interior of the house in
546 HAUNTED HOMES.
accordance with their original design ; and under his
hands the Old Hall atSamlesbury has become one of the
most interesting and instructive mansions in the county.
" Sir John Southworth was the most distinguished
personage of his race. He was high in military com-
mand during the early years of the reign of Elizabeth —
he mustered three hundred men at Berwick; and served
the office of Sheriff of Lancashire in 1562. His posses-
sions included Southworth, Samlesbury, Mellor, besides
lands in eighteen other townships ; but he was illiterate,
bigoted, and self-willed. His rigid devotion to the
faith of his ancestors led him to speak rashly of the
changes introduced into the national religion; he also
acted unwisely in contravening the laws, for which he
was ultimately cast into prison, and otherwise treated
with much severity until his death in 1595.
" Tradition states that during his later years one of
his daughters had formed an acquaintance with the heir
of a neighbouring knightly house. The attachment was
mutual, and nothing was wanting to complete their
happiness except the consent of the lady's father. Sir
John was thereupon consulted ; but the tale of their
devoted attachment only served to increase his rage,
and he dismissed the supplicants with the most bitter
denunciations. * No daughter of his should ever be
united to the son of a family which had deserted its
ancestral faith,' and he forbade the youth his presence
for ever. Difficulty, however, only served to increase
the ardour of the devoted lovers ; and after many secret
interviews among the wooded slopes of the Kibble, an
SAMLESBURY HALL. 547
elopement was agreed upon, in the hope that time would
bring her father's pardon. The day and place were un-
fortunately overheard by one of the lady's brothers, who
was hiding in a thicket close by, and he determined to
prevent what he considered to be his sister's disgrace.
" On the evening agreed upon both parties met at
the hour appointed ; and as the young knight moved
away with his betrothed, her brother rushed from his
hiding-place, and slew both him and two friends by
whom he was accompanied. The bodies were secretly
buried within the precincts of the domestic chapel at
the Hall; and Lady Dorothy was sent abroad to a
convent where she was kept under strict surveillance.
Her mind at last gave way — the name of her murdered
lover was ever on her lips, and she died a raving
maniac. Some years ago three human skeletons were
found near the walls of the Hall, and popular opinion
has connected them with the tradition. The legend also
states that on certain clear, still evenings, a lady in
white can be seen passing along the gallery and the
corridors, and then from the Hall into the grounds :
that she then meets a handsome knight who receives
her on his bended knees, and he then accompanies her
along the walks. On arriving at a certain spot, most
probably the lover's grave, both the phantoms stand
still, and as they seem to utter soft wailings of despair,
they embrace each other, and then their forms rise
slowly from the earth and melt away into the clear blue
of the surrounding sky."
35
548 HAUNTED HOMES.
SAMPFORD PEVERELL.
The well-known " Sampford Peverell Ghost" is one of
those notorious cases of continuous haunting with
which local history in England is rife. Again and
again has it been asserted that the whole matter has
been found out, the fraud has been discovered, the per-
petrators have confessed, and so forth ; and yet, as in
so many other cases, when these allegations have been
investigated they have been found to be baseless, and
the mystery remains as much a mystery as ever. As
far as we have been enabled to learn, the Sampford
Peverell Ghost has never been discovered to be the work
of human agency.
The Kev. Caleb C. Colton, the well-known and un-
fortunate author of Lacon, decidedly gave a much
wider notoriety, and more important character, to the
manifestations about to be chronicled than they would
otherwise have acquired, by the publication, iu 1810, of
his Narrative of the Sampford Ghost. From this
scarce pamphlet, supplemented by some particulars in
a subsequent work by the same author, and a few
additional data from other sources, the following account
is compiled.
The fact that so many of the circumstances connected
with this curious case of supposed supernatural mani-
festation were vouched for by the Vicar of Kew and
Petersham, at the time a resident in Sampford, as having
taken place under his own personal observation, natu-
SAMPFOKD PEVERELL. 549
rally created considerable excitement, not only in the
immediate neighbourhood, but, indeed, all over the
country ; and the fact that the affair differed in many
respects from the ordinary accounts of haunted houses,
as, for instance, in the manifestations taking place in
the day as well as in the night, and in physical results
following blows received from invisible agents, made it
all the more marvellous and sensational.
The village of Sampford Peverell, where all these
wonders came to pass, is about five miles from Tiver-
ton, in the county of Devon ; and the events to be re-
corded occurred in 1810 and the following years, in the
house of a Mr. John Chave. According to the accounts
published by the Kev. C. C. Colton, some very un-
accountable things had occasionally happened in this
said house previous to the manifestations he makes
special record of. An apprentice boy had been greatly
terrified by the apparition of a woman, and had de-
clared that he had heard some extraordinary sounds in
the night ; but little or no attention was paid to his
statements. About April 1810, however, the inhabi-
tants of the house were alarmed by terrific noises being
heard in every apartment, even in the daytime. Upon
anyone going up-stairs and stamping on the floor in
any of the rooms, say five or six times, the sounds
would be repeated instantly, but louder, and generally
more in number, and the vibrations of the boards caused
by these repeated sounds could be sensibly felt through
the soles of one's boots, whilst dust was thrown up with
such velocity, and in such quantity, as to affect the eyes.
35*
550 HAUNTED HOMES.
At mid-day the cause of these effects would announce
its approach by loud knockings in some apartment or
other of the house, above or below, as the case might be.
At times more than a dozen persons have witnessed
these mid-day knockings at once. The noises would
very often, and in repeated instances, follow the persons
through any of the upper apartments, and faithfully
answer the stamping of their feet wherever they went.
If persons were in different rooms, and one stamped
with his foot in one room, the sound was instantly re-
peated in the other. These phenomena continued day by
day, almost incessantly, for about five weeks, when they
gradually gave place to others still more curious and
alarming.
There were two apartments in the house in which the
females who slept in them were dreadfully beaten by
invisible agency. Mr. Colton stated that he himself
heard more than two hundred blows given in the course
of a night, and he could compare them to nothing but
a strong man striking with all his force, with a closed
fist, on the bed. These blows left great soreness, and
visible marks. Mr. Colton saw a swelling, at least as
big as a turkey's egg, on the cheek of Ann Mills, who
voluntarily made oath that she was alone in the bed
when she received the blows from an invisible hand.
Mrs. Dennis, and Mary Woodbury, also, both swore
voluntarily before Mr. Colton, Mr. Sully, an exciseman,
and Mr. Govett, a surgeon, that they were so beaten as
to experience a peculiar kind of numbness, and were
sore for many days after. Their shrieks while being
SAMPEOBD PEVEBELL. 551
beaten were too terrible, it is averred, to have been
counterfeited.
Mr. Chave, the occupier of the house, deposed that
one night the two servants were so much agitated that
they refused to sleep any longer in their apartment, and
he therefore permitted them, in the dead of the night,
to bring their bed and bed-clothes into the room where
he and Mrs. Chave slept. After the light had been put
out, and they had been quiet about half an hour, a large
iron candlestick began to move rapidly about the room.
Mr. Chave could hear no footsteps, but while in the act
of attempting to ring the bell the candlestick was
violently thrown at his head, which it narrowly missed.
Another night Mr. Searle, keeper of the county gaol,
and a friend, kept watch, and they saw a sword, which
they had placed near them on the foot of a bed, with a
large folio Testament placed on it, thrown violently
against the wall, seven feet away. Mr. Taylor deposed
that, upon going into the room, in consequence of the
shrieks of the women, he saw the sword, which had been
previously lying on the floor, clearly suspended in the
middle of the room with its point towards him. About
a minute after it fell to the ground with a loud noise.
Ann Mills deposed on oath that one night, while
striking a light, she received a very severe blow on the
back, and the tinder-box was forcibly wrenched out of
her hands and thrown into the centre of the room.
The Rev. C. C. Colton said that the names of the
women who were thus afflicted were Mary Dennis senior,
Mary Dennis junior, Martha Woodbury, Ann Mills,
552 HAUNTED HOMES,
Mrs. Pitts, and Sally Case. He himself had witnessed
most of the phenomena recorded above, whilst the women
were in bed. Mr. Colton was sure thev never moved,
and he administered an oath to them upon the subject
next morning, in presence of several gentlemen, whose
names he gave. He adds : " I have often heard the
curtains of the bed violently agitated, accompanied with
a loud and almost indescribable motion of the rings.
These curtains, four in number, to prevent their motion,
were often tied up, each in one large knot. Every cur-
tain in that bed was agitated, and the knots thrown and
whirled about with such rapidity that it would have
been unpleasant to be within the sphere of their action.
This lasted about two minutes, and concluded with a
noise resembling the tearing of linen ; Mr. Taylor and
Mr. Chave, of Mere, being also witnesses. Upon ex-
amination, a rent was found across the grain of a strong
new cotton curtain."
Also Mr. Colton heard, in the presence of other wit-
nesses, footsteps walking by him and round him. He
was, also, conscious of candles burning near him, but
could see nothing. Mr. Quick heard it come down-stairs
like a man's foot in a slipper, and seem to pass through the
wall. "I have been," he says, "in the act of opening
a door which was already half open, when a violent
rapping was produced on the opposite side of the same
door; I paused a moment, and the rapping continued;
I suddenly opened the door, with a candle in my hand,
yet I can swear I could see nothing. I have been in
one of the rooms that has a large modern window, when,
SAMPFORD PEVERELL, 553
from the noises, knockings, blows on the bed, and rat
tling of the curtains, I did really begin to think th<3
whole chamber was falling in. Mr. Taylor was sitting
in the chair the whole time ; the females were so terrified
that large drops stood on their foreheads. When the
act of beating has appeared, from the sound of the
blows, near the foot of one bed, I have rushed to the
spot, but it has been instantly heard near the head of
the other bed."
Mr. Colton emphasised his own statement by a
voluntary affidavit, which he made in the presence of
Mr. B. Wood, Master-in-Chancery, Tiverton, in the
course of which he declared that, after an attendance
of six nights at Mr. Chave's house, during which time
he had used every endeavour to discover the cause of
these disturbances, and placed a seal with a crest to
every door, cavity, &c, in the house through which any
communication might be carried on, and having re-
peatedly sworn the domestics as to the truth of the
phenomena, and their own ignorance of the means
whereby they were produced, he was still utterly unable
to account for the things which he had seen and heard.
Mr. Talley, the landlord of the house, whose interest
it certainly was to rid his property of such visitations,
when he brought it into the market for sale, pretended
to have found out the whole mystery, and alleged that
the noises were produced by a cooper with a broomstick
and a bludgeon. This pretended exposure was not
however, acknowledged by any of the parties who had
made the previous statements. Nevertheless, it served
554 HAUNTED HOMES.
to draw down the vengeance of the populace of Tiverton
on Mr. Chave, and he narrowly escaped with his life.
Two years afterwards, however, Mr. Colton published
the following remarks upon the subject, in notes to
Hypocrisy, a Satire : — " An affair is still going on in
this neighbourhood, and known to the public by the
title of the Sampford Ghost, which might puzzle the
materialism of Hume, or the immaterialism of Berkeley.
Here we have an invisible and incomprehensible agent
produciug visible and sensible effects. The real truth
is that the slightest shadow of an explanation has not
yet been given, and that there exist no good grounds
even for suspecting anyone. The public were given to
understand that the disturbances had ceased, whereas
it is well known to all in this neighbourhood that they
continue, with unabating influence, to this hour. We
were told, by way of explanation, that the whole affair
was a trick of the tenant, who wished to purchase the
house cheap — the stale solution of all haunted houses.
"But such an idea never entered his thoughts, even if
the present proprietors were able to sell the house;
but it happens to be entailed. And at the very time
when this was said, all the neighbourhood knew that
Mr. Chave was unremitting in his exertions to procure
another habitation in Sampford on any terms. And, to
confirm this, these disturbances have at length obliged
the whole family to make up their minds to quit the
premises, at a very great loss and inconvenience. If these
nocturnal and diurnal visitations are the effects of a
plot, the agents are marvellously secret and indefatig-
SKIPSEA CASTLE. 555
able. It has been going on more than three years; and
if it be the result of human machination, there must
be more than sixty persons concerned in it. Now I
cannot but think it rather strange, that a secret by
which no one can possibly get anything, should be so
well kept ; particularly when I inform the public, what the
newspapers would not, or could not, acquaint them with;
namely, that a reward of two hundred and fifty pounds
has been offered for anyone who can give such infor-
mation as may lead to a discovery. Nearly two years
have elapsed, and no claimant has appeared. I myself,
who have been abused as the dupe at onetime, and the
promoter of this affair at another, was the first to come
forward with one hundred pounds, and the late mayor
of Tiverton has now an instrument in his hands em-
powering him to call on me for the payment of that
sum to anyone who can explain the cause of the
phenomena."
When the manifestations ceased, if they even have
now, we cannot learn ; but it certainly would appear
to be the case that no sure and unqualified exposure of
the affair has ever yet been given.
SKIPSEA CASTLE.
Skipsea, an out of the way Yorkshire village, on the
sea-coast between Bridlington and Hornsea, is cele-
556 HAUNTED HOMES.
brated for one of the most enduring apparitions on
record. " The White Lady of Skipsea," as this phan-
tom is styled, has haunted the old castle, of which,
now-a-days, little more than the foundations remain,
ever since the days of William the Conqueror. This
Skipsea ghost, whose local habitation no native of the
place would venture near after nightfall, is described as
haunting the Castle mound, and its vicinity, in the form
of a beautiful young woman, of mournful aspect, at-
tired in long white drapery. Occasionally she may be
seen flitting about the intrenchments or slopes of the
Castle mound, and at times, even in the daylight, she is
seen wandering about the precincts of what was formerly
her home. No ill effects are reported to follow the
appearance of this apparition, whose story is detailed by
Mr. F. Ross in his interesting " Yorkshire Legends and
Traditions,'-' now appearing in the Leeds Mercury, in
these words : —
" The White Lady was the wife of Drogo de Bevere, a
Flemish soldier of fortune, who took up arms under the
banner of the Norman Duke William, in the army he
assembled together for the conquest of England. He was
a good and valiant soldier, and fought with great bravery
at the battle of Hastings, for which he was rewarded by
Duke William, when he had subdued Northumbria, with
a grant of the district of Holderness, which he constituted
a Seigniory, and made Drogo the first Lord, who went to
reside there, and erected a castle at Skipsea, as a defence
against the Danes, who were wont to land at Flam-
borough, and to serve as his caput baronium, where he
SKIPSEA CASTLE. 557
exercised a semi-regal rule over the district. Although
a brave warrior, he was tyrannical and oppressive to the
Angles and Banes of Holderness, whose lands had been
reft from them in his behoof, and whom he reduced to
complete serfdom. He was subject to ungovernable
bursts of passion, and, when in this mood, would per-
petrate the grossest acts of cruelty and injustice. He
was also exceedingly covetous and avaricious, as was
evidenced by his seizure, by forcible means, of the lands
in Holderness belonging to St. John's Church, at
Beverley, which had been specially confirmed to the
Canons, by King William; but these he was compelled
to disgorge.
M As a further proof of his favour the Conqueror gave
him one of his nieces in marriage, whose identity has not
been clearly ascertained, but who, possibly, from the
obscurity in which she is enveloped, may have been a
grand- daughter of William's mother, Herteva, by her
second marriage. However this may be, they were
married, and he carried her down to his Yorkshire
domain, where they resided together in Skipsea Castle.
The marriage does not appear to have been a happy one;
their tempers were incompatible. He was brutal in his
tastes and manners, delighting only in war, the chase,
and tyrannising over his menials and tenants ; she,
gentle and refined, as were the Norman ladies of the
period. He always treated her with churlishness, often
with savage barbarity, frequently threatened her with
death, and, at length, in a fit of fierce passion, caused
her to be poisoned.
558 HAUNTED HOMES.
rt The deed was no sooner perpetrated than Drogo per-
ceived his folly, feeling assured that her uncle would
take vengeance upon him for it, and that the result would
be a confiscation of the Seigniory, and his execution as a
murderer. His craft and subtlety, however, served him
well in this crisis. His victim was scarcely cold when he
mounted the fleetest horse in his stable and rode south-
wards, bating neither whip nor spur until he reached the
Court of the King. He represented to the latter that he
was very desirous of taking his wife across sea to
Flanders, to show her the land of his birth, and intro-
duce her to his family. The King applauded the idea,
nnd granted his permission for them to leave England,
upon which Drogo represented that the domain which
had been given him was of so poor a nature that it
would grow nothing but oats, and that a great portion
of it consisted but of woodland and morass, so that he
was utterly destitute of the means of taking shipping to
cross the sea. ' If that be all,' said the King, ' you
shall not be baulked of your pleasure trip, for want of
money,' and he gave him an order on his exchequer for
a sum sufficient for the purpose. As soon as he got
the money he took leave of the King, hastened to the
sea-side, and set sail for Flanders. He had not been
long gone, when a messenger arrived from Skipsea, who
informed the King of the death of his niece and the
manner of it. Upon receipt of this intelligence the
King sent a body of horsemen after the murderer, with
instructions to bring him back, alive or dead. But
Drogo had got too much start, and eluded the pursuit,
SKIPSEA CASTLE. 559
arriving in due course in Flanders, but what was bis
after fate records tell not.
"We have no account of the place of burial of the
unfortunate lady. There was no church at Skipsea at
the time of the Domesday survey, but we find that
Stephen, Earle of Albemarle, Lord of the Seigniory in
the time of Rufus, gave his church of the Castle of
Skipsea to the Monastery of Albemarle, and it is pro-
bable that within its walls her body was deposited.
Her spirit, however, seems not to have found a resting-
place, but for the past eight hundred years has been
wandering about the scene of her unhappy wifehood.
The phantom has not appeared in recent years, but in
the Hid! Advertiser, early in the present century, we
have an account of the apparition having been seen.
The editor prefaces the account by saying — 'In in-
troducing the following singular article, it may be
necessary to state that the writer as well as the two
persons upon whose testimony the circumstances rest,
are well known to us, and above all suspicion of having
thus related anything save what they believed to be
strictly correct.'
" The writer states that he was visiting a lady in
Holderness, when the conversation of the party then
assembled turned upon supernatural appearances, the
lady expressing the opinion that they ' were owing to
some misapprehension of the senses,' upon which a
gentleman of the party, of unimpeachable character, said
that he was under the necessity of differing from the
lady. ' For/ said he, ' about ten years ago I was
560 HAUNTED HOMES.
travelling on horseback one afternoon from Bridlington
to Hornsea, and just as I was descending the brow of a
hill, on the south of Skipsea, I observed a woman,
apparently young, dressed in white, walking a little
before me on my left hand, between the hedge and the
road. Supposing that she had been visiting at a house
on the top of the hill, I turned my head to see if there
were any persons in attendance at the door, but the door
was shut and none to be seen. My curiosity being now
greater than before to know who this genteel person
was, I followed her at the distance of twenty or thirty
yards down the hill, which was 100 or 150 yards long,
and expected when she got to the bottom, where there
was a small brook, that I should meet her in attempting
to gain the carriage bridge, but to my great astonish-
ment, when she approached the brook, instead of turning
to the right to gain the bridge, she vanished from my
sight, at the very time that my eyes were fixed upon
her. As soon as I got home, I related the strange
affair to my family ; and as it was light, and I had not
previously been thinking about apparitions, nor was I
ever in the habit of speculating on such subjects, I am
firmly persuaded that what I saw was one.*
" The lady of the house said that the recital had
made ' a greater impression on her than anything she
had ever heard before.' ' For,' continued she, ' about
five years ago I had a servant, who was a young man of
good character and of a bold, active disposition, one
who professed a disregard for any extraordinary appear-
ances. In the month of November, about Martinmas
SMITHILLS HALL. 561
time, he requested leave to go to Bridlington and also
to be accommodated with a horse, which was granted
him. Being very desirous to make a long holiday of it,
he rose early in the morning and set off two hours
before daybreak ; but, to our very great surprise,
returned home early in the afternoon, before it was
dark. On being questioned if anything was the matter
with him, he rep-lied that he had been so much alarmed
that he was resolved never to travel alone in the dark if
he could avoid it. ' For, as I was cantering along
Skipsea-lane in the morning, bending forward with my
face downwards, the horse suddenly bolted from the
road to such a distance that I was very nearly dis-
mounted. On recovering myself and looking about to
discover what had frightened my horse, I saw a fine
lady, dressed in white, with something like a black veil
over her head, standing close by. How I got to
Skipsea I cannot tell, but I was so frightened that I
durst go no farther, but walked up and down the hill
till it was light, when I found some persons going the
same road, whom I accompanied to Bridlington.' "
SMITHILLS HALL.
Smithills Hall, Halliwell, Lancashire, the seat of
Richard Henry Ainsworth, Esq., is one of those lovely
and picturesque ancestral abodes for which England is
562 HAUNTED HOMES.
famous. It is replete with the subdued charms which
only antiquity can generate, and which no amount of
expenditure, however lavish, can create. The origin of
this splendid old mansion is lost in the proverbial
" mist of ages " ; historians retrace its story to the time
of the so-called Saxon ''Heptarchy," and, as if in con-
firmation of this remote ancestry, an ancient gateway
bears the date of 680. Less mythical records of the
place and its various owners are carried back to the
early part of the fourteenth century, when the Lord of
the Manor of Smithills was a William Radcliffe.
Subsequently, an heiress by marriage carried this
manor and the estates into the Barton family, and from
that family it passed by purchase, in 1801, into the
possession of the Ainsworths, by whom it is still held.
In a description of this ancient mansion, recently
given in the Bolton Journal, it is said : " Smithills
Hall requires to be sought for. It lies far from the
road, which curves in its course, thus effectually hiding
it from the public gaze. . . . When reached, the full
beauty of the building is not at once seen. But passing
through an arched gateway the south front is dis-
closed to view. Emerging by the gateway with the
'680' inscribed above it, the visitor finds himself in
the antique court-yard, at the head of a beautiful lawn,
reached by a flight of steps. Turning from the view
before us to admire the architecture and appearance of
the old building, one is impressed with the air of calm
repose which seems to rest over all. The old Lancashire
lath-and-plaster style of building is everywhere apparent.
SMITHILLS HALL. 563
Black beams placed obliquely on a ground of dazzling
whiteness, with ornamentations of quatrefoil standing
out in charming relief, present a pleasing picture of the
taste of our ancestors in matters architectural. The ivy
clusters lovingly over porch and walls, the effect on the
' 680 ' gateway being especially lovely. The old-
fashioned domestic chapel forms a wing to the east of
the block, and around this, too, clusters the loving
parasite, the healthy hue of green blending charmingly
with the stained windows, rich in design, and com-
memorative of the heraldry of past and present of
Smithills."
The writer then proceeds to speak of the interior
of this fine old place, of its rich wainscottings, its
oaken mouldings, and of its other relics of the past, but
then recurs, as must all who mention Smithills Hall,
to the mysterious footprint, to the far-famed Bloody
Footstep seen on the stone in the passage leading to
the chapel. Above this indelible footstep is a plate
bearing the inscription, "Footprint of the Keverend
George Marsh, of Deane, martyr, who was examined at
Smithills, and burnt at Chester, in the reign of Queen
Mary."
The legend connected with this marvellous relic of
the past is thus given in the local journal: — Robert
Barton, at one time owner of Smithills, was " the
famous magistrate before whom George Marsh, the
Martyr of Deane, appeared in 1555, to answer for his
Protestant faith. Tradition described Mr. Barton as a
zealous bigot, and alleges rude treatment on his part
36
564 HAUNTED HOMES.
towards the martyr. It was after the examination
before this worthy that, it is stated, Marsh, descending
the stairs leading from the court-room, stamped his foot
on the stones, and ' looking up to heaven, appealed to
God for the justness of his cause ; and prayed that
there might in that place remain a constant memorial
of the wickedness and injustice of his enemies,' the
print of a man's foot remaining to the present day as
such ' constant memorial/ "
A tradition in the place, a resident of Smithills Hall
informs us, says the stone bearing the imprint of the
mysterious footprint was once removed and cast into a
neighbouring wood, but ghostly noises became so
troublesome in consequence that the stone had to be
restored to its original position.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, the famous American novelist,
at one time enjoyed the hospitality of Smithills Hall.
The legend of the " Bloody Footstep " made an intense
and lasting impression upon his mind, and in three
separate instances he founded fictions upon it. He saw
the " Bloody Footstep/' as he says himself, with his
own eyes, and from the lips of his hostess heard the
particulars of its origin. Either from what he heard,
or imagined, about this weird symbol of a bygone
crime, he gave in his romance of Septimius the following
story as that of the Bloody Footstep : —
" On the threshold of one of the doors of Smithills
Hall there is a bloody footstep impressed into the door-
step, and ruddy as if the bloody foot had just trodden
there ; anfl it is averred that, on a certain night of the
SMITHILLS HALL. 565
year, and at a certain hour of the night, if you go and
look at the door-step you will see the mark wet with
fresh hlood. Some have pretended to say that this
appearance of blood was hut dew; but can dew redden
a cambric handkerchief? Will it crimson the finger-
tips when you touch it ? And that is what the bloody
footstep will surely do when the appointed night and
hour come round. . . .
" It is needless to tell you all the strange stories that
have survived to this day about the old Hall, and how
it is believed that the master of it, owing to his ancient
science, has still a sort of residence there and control of
the place, and how in one of the chambers there is
still his antique table, and his chair, and some rude old
instruments and machinery, and a book, and everything
in readiness, just as if he might still come back to finish
some experiment. . . . One of the chief things to
which the old lord applied himself was to discover the
means of prolonging his own life, so that its duration
should be indefinite, if not infinite; and such was his
science that he was believed to have attained this
magnificent and awful purpose. . . .
" The object of the lord of Smithills Hall was to
take a life from the course of Nature, and Nature did
not choose to be defrauded ; so that, great as was the
power of this scientific man over her, she would not
consent that he should escape the necessity of dying at
i his proper time, except upon condition of sacrificing
some other life for his ; and this was to be done once
for every thirty years that he chose to live, thirty years
36*"
566 HAtJKTED HOMES.
being the account of a generation of man ; and if in
any way, in that time, this lord could be the death of
a human being, that satisfied the requisition, and he
might live on. . . .
" There was but one human being whom he cared
for — that was a beautiful kinswoman, an orphan, whom
his father had brought up, and dying, left to his care.
• . . He saw that she, if anyone, was to be the person
whom the sacrifice demanded, and that he might kill
twenty others without effect, but if he took the life of
this one it would make the charm strong and good. . . .
He did slay this pure young girl ; he took her into the
wood near the house, an old wood that is standing yet,
with some of its magnificent oaks, and there he plunged
a dagger into her heart. . . .
" He buried her in the wood, and returned to the
house ; and, as it happened, he had set his right foot in
her blood, and his shoe was wet in it, and by some
miraculous fate it left a track all along the wood-path,
and into the house, and on the stone steps of the
threshold, and up into his chamber. The servants saw
it the next day, and wondered, and whispered, and
missed the fair young girl, and looked askance at their
lord's right foot, and turned pale, all of them. . . .
" Next, the legend says, that Sir Forrester was struck
with horror at what he had done . . . and fled from
his old Hall, and was gone full many a day. But all
the while he was gone there was the mark of a bloody
footstep impressed upon the stone door-step of the Hall.
. . . The legend says that wherever Sir Forrester went,
SMITHILLS HALL. 567
in his wanderings about the world, he left a bloody
track behind him. . . . Once he went to the King's
Court, and, there being a track up to the very throne,
the King frowned upon him, so that he never came there
any more. Nobody could tell how it happened; his
foot was not seen to bleed, only there was the bloody
track behind him. . . .
"At last this unfortunate lord deemed it best to go
back to his own Hall, where, living among faithful old
servants born in the family, he could hush the matter
up better than elsewhere. ... So home he came, and
there he saw the bloody track on the door-step, and
dolefully went into the Hall, and up the stairs, an old
servant ushering him into his chamber, and half a dozen
others following behind, gazing, shuddering, pointing
with quivering fingers, looking horror-stricken in one
another's pale faces. . . .
u By-and-by he vanished from the old Hall, but
not by death ; for, from generation to generation, they
say that a bloody track is seen around that house,
and sometimes it is traced up into the chambers, so
fresh that you see he must have passed a short time
before."
" And this is the legend," says Hawthorne, " of the
Bloody Footstep, which I myself have seen at the Hall
door."
It will be seen, however, how widely different is the
story told by the great American romancist from that
given by the owner of Smithills Hall, and believed in
by the tenants around. Whether the author of Septi-
568 HAUNTED HOMES.
mius really had any traditional authority for his version,
or whether he evolved the whole recital from the depth
of his imagination, it would he difficult to say.
SOUTER FELL.
Harriet Martineau, in her description of The English
Lakes, writes : " The ascent of Saddleback mav beenn
behind Threlkeld, up a path which the villagers will
point out; but an easier way is to diverge from the
main road some way farther on, by the road to Hesket,
near the village of Scales. The hill-side path is to be
taken which leads along Souter Fell, by the side of the
stream which descends from Scales Tarn.
" This part is the very home of superstition and
romance. This Souter or Soutra Fell is the mountain
on which ghosts appeared in myriads, at intervals dur-
ing ten years of the last century ; presenting the same
appearances to twenty-six chosen witnesses, and to all
the inhabitants of all the cottages within view of the
mountain, and for a space of two hours and a half at
one time — the spectral show being closed by darkness !
The mountain, be it remembered, is full of precipices,
which defy all marching of bodies of men ; and the
north and west sides present a sheer perpendicular of
900 feet.
" On Midsummer-eve, 1735, a farm servant of Mr.
SOUTEB FELL. 569
Lancaster, half a mile from the mountain, saw the
eastern side of its summit covered with troops, which
pursued their onward march for an hour. They came,
in distinct bodies, from an eminence on the north end,
and disappeared in a niche in the summit. When the
poor fellow told his tale, he was insulted on all hands;
as original observers usually are when they see anything
wonderful. Two years after, also on a Midsummer- eve,
Mr. Lancaster saw some men there, apparently following
their horses, as if they had returned from hunting. He
thought nothing of this ; but he happened to look up
again ten minutes after, and taw the figures, now
mounted, and followed by an interminable array of
troops, five abreast, marching from the eminence and
over the cleft as before. All the family saw this, and
the manoeuvres of the force, as each company was kept
in order by a mounted officer, who galloped this way
and that. As the shades of twilight came on, the disci-
pline appeared to relax, and the troops intermingled,
and rode at unequal paces, till all was lost in darkness.
Now, of course all the Lancasters were insulted, as their
servant had been; but their justification was not long
delayed.
" On the Midsummer-eve of the fearful 1745, twenty-
six persons, expressly summoned by the family, saw all
that had been seen before, and more. Carriages were
now interspersed with the troops ; and everybody knew
that no carriages had been, or could be, on the summit
of Souter Fell. The multitude was beyond imagination ;
for the troops filled a space of half a mile, and marched
570 HAUNTED HOMES*
quickly till night hid them — still marching. There was
nothing vaporous or indistinct about the appearance of
these spectres. So real did they seem, that some of the
people went up, the next morning, to look for the hoof-
marks of the horses; and awful it was to them to
find not one foot-print on heather or grass. The
witnesses attested the whole story on oath before a
magistrate; and fearful were the expectations held by
the whole country-side about the coming events of the
Scotch rebellion.
"It now came out that two other persons had seen
something of the sort in the interval — viz. in 1743 — but
had concealed it, to escape the insults to which their
neighbours were subjected. Mr. Wren, of Wilton Hall,
and his farm-servant, saw, one summer evening, a man
and a dog on the mountain, pursuing some horses
along a place so steep that a horse could hardly by any
possibility keep a footing on it. Their speed was pro-
digious, and their disappearance at the south end of the
fell so rapid, that Mr. Wren and the servant went up,
the next morning, to find the body of the man who
must have been killed. Of man, horse, or dog, they
found not a trace ; and they came down and held their
tongues. When they did speak, they fared not much
the better for having twenty- six sworn comrades in their
disgrace.
" As for the explanation, the editor of the Lonsdale
Magazine declared (vol. ii., p. 313) that it was dis-
covered that on the Midsummer-eve of 1745 the rebels
were 'exercising on the western coast of Scotland,
SWINSTY HALL. 571
whose movements had been reflected by some trans-
parent vapour, similar to the Fata Morgana.' This is
not much in the "way of explanation ; but it is, as far as
we know, all that can be had at present. These facts,
however, brought out a good many more; as the spec-
tral march of the same kind seen in Leicestershire in
1707; and the tradition of the tramp of armies over
Helvellyn, on the eve of the battle of Marston Moor."
We have allowed Harriet Martineau to tell her tale in
her own words, without comment; but on reference to
our chapter on "Edge Hill," in the First Series of this
work, something pertinent to the theme will be found.
SWINSTY HALL.
In the picturesque valley of the Washburn, high up on
the right bank, in the parish of Otley, stands Swinsty
Hall. It is a large building, in a kind of Elizabethan
architecture, says Mr. William Grainge, and " on its
first creation would, doubtless, be considered a great,
grand, and glorious mansion, with its many gables and
multitudinous windows. The greatest wonder is to see
it here at all, in such a lonely place. It has been built
in a substantial manner, and at a heavy cost. The
©round plan is that of an irregular quadrangle, with a
projecting wing on the north-west. The south front is
the most interesting portion, three stories in height ;
572 HAUNTED HOMES.
the central rooms, the fronts of which project some
distance from the main line on the first and second
floors, are each lighted by a window of twenty lights,
divided by a transom, which gives forty openings in
all ; indeed, that side has much the appearance of an
enormous lanthorn."
" Swinsty Hall/' continues Mr. Grainge, " has fallen
somewhat from its high estate in modern times, stripped
of its antique furniture, and now {i.e. 1864) occupied
by the families of four farmers (a giant or enchanter,
with a rambling ghost or two, would be a much more
appropriate tenantry), the barns and outhouses clus-
tered around give it quite a singular and unique
appearance :
" A kind of old hobgoblin ball,
Now somewhat fallen to decay,
With weather-stains upon the wall,
And stairways worn, and crazy doors,
And creaking and uneven floors,
And chimneys huge and tall.
" A region of repose it seems,
A place of slumber and of dreams,
Remote among the wooded hills,
For there no noisy railway speeds,
In torch-race, scattering smoke and gleeda ;
But, noon and night, the parting teams
Stop under the great oaks, that throw
Tangles of light and shade below,
On roofs, and doors, and window-sills. .
<<
Singular to relate," continues Mr. Grainge, " there
is no road to this house deserving of the name, the
principal carriage-road beiag a mere random trackway
across the unenclosed common, so tkafc it may be said
SWINSTY HALL. 573
to be isolated from the world, or, rather, to form a little
old-fashioned world of its own."
There is, as might be guessed, a strange weird legend
connected with this old out-of-the-way dwelling, and
it is generally told, says Mr. Grainge, in the following
way: —
m
" The builder of the Hall was a man of the name of
Robinson, who, in his youth, was a poor weaver, and
resided in a humble cottage near where the Hall now
stands. This cottage, now doing duty as a cow-house,
yet remains to vouch for the truth of the story. This
young man left his humble home, travelled to London
at a time when the plague was raging in that city ;
when death had left many houses totally uninhabited
and desolate, wherein no survivors were left to bury the
dead, and no heirs to claim their wealth. Our north
country adventurer seeing this state of things, not for-
getting himself amid the general mourning and con-
fusion, took possession of the gold thus left without an
owner, to such an extent, that he loaded a waggon and
team of horses with the wealth thus acquired ; with
which he returned homeward, and, in due time, again
reached the place of his birth. But the story of the
plague had reached the place as soon as himself and his
gold, and none of his former neighbours would admit
him into their dwellings, for fear of contagion ; so he
took up his abode in a barn, which still remains. In
order to cleanse his gold from any infectious taint
which might possibly cling to it, Robinson washed the
whole carefully in the Greenwell Spring, which well yet
574 HAUNTED HOMES.
i)
remains, bearing the same name. With the wealth thus
acquired he purchased the estate and built the Hall at
Swinsty."
For a considerable period, many generations of
.Robinsons enjoyed the property, until, at last, it passed
by marriage to the Bramleys, who still enjoy it, or did
quite recently.
But, according to popular faith, the founder of the
family, the original possessor of the Hall, cannot cleanse
himself, so readily as he did his gold, from its con-
tamination : his troubled spirit still haunts the old
spot. At certain times, those who are gifted with the
faculty of seeing apparitions, may behold that of
Robinson bending over the Greenwell Spring, and
striving to cleanse his strangely acquired coin — coin
even more spectral than himself. There he bends,
and rubs, and rubs, and rubs away at his ghastly
spoil, and never seems satisfied that it is freed from
its taint, or, perhaps, from its stains : who knows ?
SYKES LUMB FAEM.
" In a secluded dell, on the banks of Mellor Brook/'
says Mr. T. T. Wilkinson, " not far from the famous
old Hall of Samlesbury, near Blackburn " (a haunted
old Hall whereof an account will be found in these
pages), " stands a lonely farm-house, which was occu-
SYKES LUMB FARM. 575
pied for many generations by a family named Sykes.
They gave their name to the homestead, or vice versa,
on its being cleared from the forest ; and, from the fact
of the pastures lying at a short distance from a broad
and deep portion of the brook, it became generally
known by the name of Sykes Lumb Farm."
This Sykes family, however, as Mr. Wilkinson re-
cords, have long since passed to dust, and many gene-
rations of strangers have dwelt on their lands, but the
doings of one particular member of the race have been
handed down, from year to year, by tradition, and still
exercise a potent influence upon the minds of the sur-
rounding population. Before referring to the especial
tradition for which Sykes Lumb Farm is noted, it may
be as well to point out that it possesses an uncanny
reputation for a supernatural inhabitant other than the
apparition from which its fame is chiefly derived. In
one work by Mr. Wilkinson it is referred to as the resi-
dence of a noted boggart, or domestic familiar, in these
terms : —
" When in a good humour, this noted goblin will
milk the cows, pull the hay, fodder the cattle, harness
the horses, load the carts, and stack the crops. When
irritated by the utterance of some unguarded expression
or marked disrespect, either from the farmer or his
servants, the cream-mugs are then smashed to atoms,
no butter can be obtained by churning, the horses and
other cattle are turned loose, or driven into the woods,
two cows will sometimes be found fastened in the same
stall, no hay can be pulled from the mow ; and all the
576 HAUNTED HOMES.
i
while the wicked imp sits grinning with delight upon
one of the cross-beams in the barn. At other times the
horses are unable to draw the empty carts across the
farm-yard ; if loaded, they are upset, whilst the cattle
tremble with fear without any visible cause. IS or do the
inmates of the house experience any better or gentler
usage. During the night the clothes are said to be
violently torn from off the beds of the offending parties,
whilst, by invisible hands, they themselves are dragged
down the stone stairs by the legs, one step at a time,
after a most uncomfortable manner."
The way in which this boggart is described as
haunting Sykes Lumb Farm is in no way out of the
common, especially in Lancashire and the neighbouring
counties, but it is of interest in this case, as showing
the popular belief that the place is troubled in some
way. In what way the house and grounds are really
believed to be, or, until recently, to have been, haunted
is thus described in Eoby and Wilkinson's "Lancashire
Legends, and William Dobson's Rambles by the Ribble.
In the days when the farm was owned by old Sykes
and his wife, careful living and more than ordinary
thrift enabled the old couple to gather together a fair
amount of wealth, which, added to the continual hoard-
ing of the farmer's ancestors, caused the pair to be re-
garded as wonderfully rich, in those days. Whatever
the facts as to their wealth may have been, they saw its
possession ultimately jeopardized by civil troubles and
national famine. It was their chief, if not their only
object of affection, as they had neither son nor daughter,
SYKES LUMB FAEM. 57?
nor any other object upon which to expend their love ;
therefore, the risk of losing it gave them more than
ordinary anxiety. Old Sykes does not appear to have
clung to their darling hoard with half the affection dis-
played by his worthy consort ; her dread of losing it
was intense. Besides, says our chief authority, she had
no " notion of becoming dependeDt upon the bounty of
the Southworths of the Hall, nor did she relish the idea
oi soliciting charity at the gates of the lordly Abbot of
"Whalley. The treasure was therefore carefully secured
in earthenware jars, and was then buried deep beneath
the roots of an apple-tree in the orchard. Years passed
away, and the troubles of the country did not cease.
The Yorkists at length lost the ascendancy, and the
reins of government passed into the hands of the Lan-
castrians ; until at last the northern feud was healed
by the mingling of the White Rose with the Red.
Henry VII. sat upon the throne with Elizabeth of York
as Queen ; but, ere peace thus blessed the land, old
Sykes had paid the debt of nature, and left his widow
the sole possessor of their buried wealth. She, too,
soon passed away ; and, as the legend asserts, so sud-
denly that she had no opportunity to disclose the place
where she had deposited her treasure. Rumour had
not failed to give her the credit of being possessed of
considerable wealth ; but, although her relatives made
diligent search, they were unsuccessful in discovering
the place of the hidden jars.
" The farm passed into other hands, and old Sykes' s
wife might have been forgotten had not her ghost, un-
578 HAUNTED HOMES.
able to find rest, continued occasionally to visit the old
farm-house. Many a time, in the dusk of the evening,
have the neighbouring peasants met an old wrinkled
woman, dressed in ancient garb, passing along the
gloomy road which leads across the Lumb, but fear
always prevented them from speaking. She never lifted
her head, hut helped herself noiselessly along by means
of a crooked stick, which bore no resemblance to those
then in use. At times she was seen in the old barn, on
other occasions in the house, but more frequently in
the orchard, standing by an apple-tree which still flou-
rished over the place where the buried treasure was
afterwards said to have been found. Generations passed
away, and still her visits continued. One informant
minutely described her withered visage, her short
quaintly-cut gown, her striped petticoat, and her stick.
He was so much alarmed that he ran away from the
place, notwithstanding that he had engaged to perform
some urgent work. * She was not there/ he gravely
said, ' when I went to pluck an apple, but no sooner did
I raise my hand towards the fruit, than she made her
appearance just before me/ At last, it is said, an
occupier of the farm, when somewhat elated by liquor,
ventured to question her as to the reasons of her visits.
She returned no answer, but, after moving slowly to-
wards the stump of an old apple-tree, she pointed signi-
ficantly towards a portion of the orchard which had
never been disturbed. On search being made, the
treasure was found deep down in the earth, and as the
soil was being removed, the venerable-looking shade was
TUNSTEAD FAKM. 579
seen standing on the edge of the trench. When the
iastjarwas lifted out, an unearthly smile passed over
her withered features ; her bodily form became less and
less distinct, until at last it disappeared altogether.
" Since then the old farm-house has ceased to be
haunted. Old Sykes's wife is believed to have found
eternal rest; but there are yet many, both old and
young, who walk with quickened pace past the Lurnb
whenever they are belated, fearful lest they should be
once more confronted with the dreaded form of its
unearthly visitor."
TUNSTEAD FAEM.
Tunstead Farm-house is about a mile and a half from
Chapel-en-le-Frith, in Derbyshire, and is only distin-
guished from numberless other English farm-houses by
the fact that it is the possessor of a most eccentric
skull. John Hutchinson, in his Tour through the High
Peak, published in 1809, remarks that this skull, al-
though popularly known by the not very reverent male
cognomen of " Dickie," has " always been said to be
that of a female. Why it should have been baptized
with a name belonging to the male sex seems/' as
Hutchinson says, " somewhat anomalous ; still, not
more wonderful than a many, if not all, of its very
singular pranks and services. To enumerate all the
37
580 HAUNTED HOMES.
particulars of the incalculably serviceable acts and deeds
done by ' Dickie,' would form a wonder; but not a
wonder past belief, for hundreds of the inhabitants of
the locality for miles around have full and firm faith in
its mystical performances. How long it has been
located at the present house is not known ; of whose
body in the flesh it was a member is equally as mys-
terious, save that it is said (but what has not been said
about it that is not pure fiction \) that one of two co-
heiresses residing here was murdered, and who declared,
in her dying moments, that her bones should remain
in the place for ever. Tt is further said that the
skull did not, some years u&,ek, appear the least
decayed."
Hutchinson's account is supplemented by Mr. William
Andrews, in his Historic Romance, with these re.
marks : — " It is believed that if the skull be removed
everything on the farm will go wrong — the cows will be
dry and barren, the sheep have the rot, and the horses
fall down, breaking their knees and otherwise injuring
themselves. The most amusing part of the superstition
connected with * Dickie ' is the following : — When the
London and North-Western Kailway to Manchester was
being made, the foundations of a bridge gave way in
the yielding sand and bog on the side of the reservoir,
and, after several attempts to build the bridge had
failed, it was found necessary to divert the highway, and
pass it under the railway on higher ground. These
engineering failures were attributed to the malevolent
influence of ' Dickie,' . . . but when the road was
tJLLSWATEE. 581
diverted, it was bridged successfully, because no longer
on ' Dickie's ' territory.''
The influence thus exercised by the Tunstead skuil
against the construction of so unghostly a work as a
railroad, inspired Samuel Laycock, the Lancashire bard,
to publish, in a local paper, a poetic Address to
Dickie.
ULLSWA.T1R.
In a volume styled News from the Invisible World, the
following story is related, as given from an account
drawn up by the lady herself, " who was most literally
exact and faithful to the truth." Miss Elizabeth Smith,
the lady referred to, was the daughter of Colonel Smith,
of Piercefield, on the river Wye, and the marvellous
incident is said to have happened to her during her
residence at Ullswater, in the winter of 1800. The
version of the story given in the above volume is as
follows : —
There is, on the western side of Ullswater, a fine
cataract (or, in the language of the country, a force) ,
known by the name of " Aira Force," and it is of im-
portance enough, especially in rainy seasons, to attract
numerous visitors from among the " Lakers." Thither
with some purpose of sketching, not the whole scene,
but some picturesque feature of it, Miss Smith was
37*
582 HAUNTED HOMES.
*
gone, quite unaccompanied. The road to it lies
through Gobarrow Park; and it was usual, at that
time, to take a guide from the family of the Duke of
Norfolk's keeper, who lived in Lyulph's Tower, a
solitary hunting-lodge, built by His Grace for the pur-
pose of an annual visit which he used to pay to his
estates in that part of England. She, however, think-
ing herself sufficiently familiar with the localities, had
declined to encumber her movements with such an
attendant ; consequently, she was alone. For half an
hour or more, she continued to ascend ; and, being a
good " cragswoman," from the experience she had won
in ^Wales as well as in northern England, she had
reached an altitude much beyond what would generally
be thought corresponding to the time occupied. The
path had vanished altogether ; but she continued to
trace out one for herself amongst the stones which had
fallen from the u force," sometimes approaching much
nearer to the openings allowed by the broken nature of
the rock. Pressing forward in this manner, and still
never looking back, all at once she found herself in a
little stony chamber, from which there was no egress
possible in advance. She stopped and looked up.
There was a frightful silence in the air. She felt a
sudden palpitation at her heart, and a panic from she
knew not what. Turning, however, hastily, she soon
wound herself out of this aerial dungeon ; but by steps
so rapid and agitated that, at length, on looking round
she found herself standing at the brink of a chasm,
frightful to look down. That way, it was clear enough,
ULLSWATER. 583
all retreat was impossible ; but, on turning round,
retreat seemed in every direction alike quite impos-
sible.
Down the chasm, at least, she might have leaped,
though with little or no chance of escaping with life ;
but in all other quarters it seemed to her eye that at
no price could she effect an exit, since the rocks stood
round her in a semicircle, all lofty, all perpendicular, all
glazed with trickling water, or smooth as polished
porpyhry. Yet how, then, had she reached the point ?
The same track, if she could discover it, would surely
secure her escape. Round and round she walked;
gazed with almost despairing eyes ; her breath came
thicker and thicker ; for path she could not trace by
which it was possible for her to have entered. Finding
herself grow more and more confused, and every instant
nearer to sinking into some fainting fit or convulsion,
she resolved to sit down and turn her thoughts quietly
into some less exciting channel. This she did ; gra-
dually recovered some self-possession ; and then suddenly
a thought rose up to her, that she was in the hands of
God, and that He would not forsake her. . . .
Once again she rose, and supporting herself upon a
little sketching-stool that folded up into a stick, she
looked upwards in the hope that some shepherd might,
by chance, be wandering in those aerial regions ; but
nothing could she see, except the tall birches growing
at the brink of the highest summits, and the clouds
sailing overhead. Suddenly, however, as she swept the
whole circuit of her station with her alarmed eye, she
584 HAUNTED HOMES.
saw clearly, about two hundred yards beyond her own
position, a lady in a white muslin morning-robe, such
as were then universally worn by young ladies until
dinner-time. The lady beckoned with a gesture, and in
a manner that, in a moment, gave her confidence to
advance — how., she could not guess, but in some way
that baffled all power to retrace it, she found instan-
taneously the outlet which previously had escaped her.
She continued to advance towards the lady, whom now,
in the same moment, she found to be standing upon the
other side of the " force," and, also, to be her own sister.
How or why that young lady, whom she had left at
home earnestly occupied with her own studies, should
have followed and overtaken her, filled her with per-
plexity. But this was no situation for putting questions;
for the guiding sister began to descend, and by a few
simple gestures, just serving to indicate when Miss
Elizabeth was to approach, and when to leave, the brink
of the torrent, she gradually led her down to a platform
of rock, from which the further descent was safe and
conspicuous. There Miss Smith paused, in order to
take breath from her panic, as well as to exchange
greetings and questions with her sister. But sister was
none ! All trace of her had vanished ; and when, two
hours after, she reached her home, Miss Smith found
her sister in the same situation and employment in
which she had left her; and the whole] family assured
Elizabeth that her sister had never stirred from the
house I
585
WADDOW HALL.
Mr. William Dobson's interesting Rambles by the
Bibble, furnish one or two accounts of local dwellings
labouring under the uncanny odour of beinsf haunted.
Mr. Dobson, although evidently no believer in ghosts,
and unable to resist the temptation of having a fling at
their erratic courses, tells of their doings with a chroni-
cler's exactitude.
Writing in 1864, our authority says that Waddow
Hall, in the township of Waddington, Yorkshire, was
then in the occupation of James Garnett, Esquire,
Mayor of Clitheroe. The property of the Ramsden
family, Waddow Hall is situated in a pleasant park,
which, though not of great extent, is of great beauty.
The house stands on a knoll, with pleasant wood-
lands about it. At the foot of a gentle slope flows the
Eibble ; the castle and church of Clitheroe are seen to
advantage, the smoke only indicating where the town of
Clitheroe lies, an intervening hill hiding the town itself
from view. The mansion contains many portraits of
its former owners and various members of their family,
but the main interest of Waddow appears to arise from
its being the scene of an old legend, which the folks of
Clitheroe and the neighbouring Yorkshire villages are
never weary of repeating, and for the truth of which they
are perfectly willing to vouch. Many of the older
inhabitants of Clitheroe and Waddington would as soon
586 HAUNTED HOMES.
i
doubt the Scriptures as they would a single iota of the
following tradition.
In the grounds of Waddow and near the banks of the
Kibble, there is a spring called Peg o' Nell's Well, and
good water the spring sendeth forth in plenty. Near
the spring is a headless, now almost shapeless figure,
said to be a representation of the famous Peg herself.
Peg o' Nell, as I learned, says Mr. Dobson, was a
young woman who, in days of yore, was a servant at
Waddow Hall. On one occasion she was going to the
well for water, the very well that to this day supplies
the Hall with water for culinary purposes. She had
had a quarrel with the lord or lady of Waddow, who, in
a spirit of anger, not common, it is to be hoped, with
masters and mistresses, wished that she might fall and
break her neck. It was winter, and the ground was
coated with ice; her pattens tripped in some way or
other, Peggy fell, and the sad malediction was fully
realised. To be revenged on her evil wisher, Peggy was
wont to revisit her former home in the spirit, and
torment her master and mistress by " making night
hideous." Every disagreeable noise that was heard at
Waddow was attributed to Peggy; every accident that
occurred in the neighbourhood was through Peggy. No
chicken was stolen, no cow died, no sheep strayed, no
child was ill, no youth " took bad ways," but Peg
was the evil genius. "When a Waddow farmer had
stopped too long at the ' Dule ups' Dun,' and going
home late had slipped off the hipping-stones at Brun-
£»erley into the river, or a Clitheroe burgess, when in
WADDOW HALL. 587
Borland, had, like 'Tarn o' Shanter' sat too long
' fast by an ingle bleezing finely/ while ' the ale was
growing better/ and had fallen off his horse in going
home, and broken a limb, it was not the host's liquor
that was charged with the mishap, but on Peggy's
shoulders that the blame was laid."
What was worse, in addition to these perpetual
annoyances, every seven years Peg required a life ;
and the story is that " Peg's Night," as the time of
sacrifice at each anniversary was called, was duly
observed ; and if no living animal were ready as a
septennial offering to her manes, a human being became
inexorably the victim. Consequently it grew to be the
custom on " Peg's Night " to drown a bird, or a cat, or
a dog in the river, and, a life being thus given, for
another seven years Peggy was appeased.
One night, at an inn in the neighbourhood, as the
wind blew and the rattling showers rose on the blast,
" and as the swollen Kibble roared over the hipping-
stones, a young man, not in the soberest mood, had to
go from Waddington to Clitheroe. No bridge then
spanned the Bibble at Bungerley ; the only means of
crossing the river was by the stones, which Henry the
Sixth, in his last struggle for liberty, had tripped over
towards ' Clitherwood.' He was told he must not
venture over the water, it was not safe. He must be at
Clitheroe that night, was his response, and go he would.
j But,' said the young woman of the inn, by way of
climax to the other arguments used to induce him not
to go onward, * it 's Peg o' N^l's night, and she has
588 HAUNTED HOMES.
not had her life.' He cared not for Peg o' Nell ; he
laughed at her alleged requirement, gave loose to his
horse's rein, and was soon at Bungerley. The following
morning horse and rider had alike perished, and, of
course, many believed the calamity was through Peg's
malevolence."
Peg, it is averred, is still as insatiable as ever, and
many would dread to dare her wrath.
WATTON ABBEY.
Mr. F. Eoss is contributing a most interesting series of
antiquarian, historical, and folk-lore sketches to the
Leeds Mercury, entitled, " Yorkshire Legends and
Traditions." Some of these sketches have already been
made use of for this volume, and from one on Watton
Abbey, which appeared in the Mercury for June 1884,
the following particulars are derived.
The Tudor style of building which goes by the name
of Watton Abbey, never was an Abbey, Mr. Ross
informs us, but was a Gilbertine Priory. It is situated
between the towns of Driffield and Beverley, in a charm-
ing sequestered spot, surrounded by patriarchal trees.
It has been occupied for some years past as a private
residence, after having served for several years as an
educational establishment. The present residence
appears to bare been erected since the Reformation,
WATTON ABBEY. 589
and for its erection nearly the whole of the original
conventual buildings appear to have been destroyed.
Two hundred years ago the somewhat extensive remains
of the old Priory were removed and made use of to
repair Bolton Minster.
The original nunnery is supposed to have been
founded in the earliest period of Anglo-Saxon Chris-
tianity. In the ninth century the establishment is
believed to have been destroyed by the Danes, and to
have been refounded in the twelfth century by Lord
Eustace Fitz-John of Knaresborough, at the instigation
of Murdac, Archbishop of York, and in atonement for
his manifold crimes. He endowed it with the Lordship
of Watton and its appurtenances, for the benefit of his
own soul, and the souls of his parents, relatives, friends,
and servants. It was to provide for thirteen canons,
and thirty-six nuns of the new Gilbertine Order, who
were to reside in the same block of buildings, but with
a party-wall for the separation of sexes; the canons " to
serve the nuns perpetually in terrene, as well as in divine
matters. "
Murdac had obtained preferment from Thurstan,
Archbishop of York, and when that dignitary died,
Murdac headed the Cistercians against William Fitz-
herbert, the nephew and nominee of King Stephen for
the vacant Archbishopric. Appeal was made to Pope
Eugenius, and His Holiness suspended Fitzherbert, the
Archbishop elect. Out of revenge for this, Fitzherbert
went, with his supporters, to Fountains, of which place
Murdac was now Abbot, and after an ineffectual search
590 HAUNTED HOMES.
for his rival, set fire to the abbey, and retired. The
deed caused an immense sensation. Fitzherbert's
triumph was short ; he was deposed from his Arch-
bishopric, and, in 1147, Murdac elected in his stead.
Murdac went to Rome and had his election confirmed
by the Pope, but on returning to England found York
barred against his entry. He retired to Beverley, but
the King refused to recognise him, sequestered the
stalls of York, and fined Beverley for harbouring him.
Murdac, however, appears to have continued to perform
all the functions of his exalted office, even excommuni-
cating certain Church dignitaries, and laying the
northern metropolis under an interdict. He died at
Beverley in 1153, and was interred at York Cathedral.
Soon after Murdac's return from Borne he greatly
promoted the welfare of the re-established Watton, and
placed within its walls for education, with a view of her
ultimately taking the veil, a child of about four years
old. Of this little girl Mr. Ross furnishes the following
story : —
" Elfrida, the child whom Murdac had placed in the
convent, was a merry, vivacious little creature; and
whilst but a child was a source of amusement to the
sisterhood, who, although prim and demure in bearing,
and some of them sour-tempered and acid in their tem-
pers, were wont to smile at her youthful frolics and
ringing laugh ; but as she grew older, her outbursts of
merriment, and the sallies of wit that began to animate
her conversation, were checked, as being inconsistent
with the character of a voting ladvwhowas now enrolled
WATTON ABBEY. 591
as novice, preparatory to taking the veil. As she
advanced towards womanhood her form gradually de-
veloped into a most symmetrical figure ; and her features
became the perfection of beauty, set off with a trans-
parent delicacy of complexion, such as would have
rendered her a centre of attraction even among the
beauties of a Koyal Court. This excited the jealousy of
the sisters, who were chiefly elderly and middle-aged
spinsters, whose homely and somewhat coarse features
had proved detrimental to their hopes of obtaining hus-
bands. They began to treat her with scornful looks,
chilling neglect, and petty persecutions ; but when she,
later on, evinced a manifest repugnance to convent life,
ridiculed the ways of the holy sisters, and even satirised
them, they charged her with entertaining rebellious and
ungodly sentiments, and subjected her to penances and
other modes of wholesome correction, such as they con-
sidered would subdue her worldly spirit.
" Sprightly and light-hearted as she was, Elfrida was
not happy, immured as she was within these detested
walls, and condemned to assist in wearisome services,
such as she thought might perhaps be congenial to the
souls of her elder sisters, whose hopes of worldly happi-
ness and conjugal endearment had been blighted, but
which were altogether unsuited for one so beautiful (for
she knew that she was fair, and was vain of her looks)
and so cheerful-minded as herself; and she longed with
intense desire to escape, mingle with the outer world,
and have free intercourse with the other sex.
" According to the charter of endowment, the lav
592 HAUNTED HOMEg.
brethren of the monastery were entrusted with the
management of the secular affairs of the nunnery, which
necessitated their admission within its portals on certain
occasions for conference with the prioress. On these
occasions Elfrida would cast furtive and very un-nunlike
glances upon their persons. She was particularly
attracted by one of them, a young man of prepossessing
mien and seductive style of speech, and she felt her
heart beat wildly whenever he came with the other
visitors. He noticed her surreptitious glances, and saw
that she was exceedingly beautiful, and his heart re-
sponded to the sentiment he felt that he had inspired
in hers. They maintained this silent but eloquent lan-
guage of love for some time, and soon found means of
having stolen interviews under the darkness of night,
when vows of everlasting love were interchanged, and
led, eventually, to consequences which, at the outset,
were not dreamt of by the erring pair.
" Suspicion having been excited by her altered form,
she was summoned before her superiors on a charge of
' transgressing the conventual rules and violating one of
the most stringent laws of monastic life/ and as con-
cealment was impossible she boldly confessed her fault,
adding that she had no vocation for a convent life, and
desired to be banished from the community. This re-
quest could not be listened to for a moment. The culprit
had brought a scandal and indelible stain upon the
fair fame of the house, which must, at any cost, be con-
cealed from the world; and her open avowal of her
guilt raised in the breasts of the pious sisterhood a
WATTON ABBEY. 593
perfect fury of indignation, and a determination to in-
flict immediate and condign punishment on her. It was
variously suggested that she should be burnt to death,
that she should be walled up alive, that she should be
flayed, that her flesh should be torn from her bones
with red-hot pincers, that she should be roasted to death
before a fire, &c. ; but the more prudent and aged
averted these extreme measures, and suggested some
milder forms of punishment, which were at once carried
out. The miserable object of their vengeance was
stripped of her clothing, stretched on the floor, and
scourged with rods until the blood trickled down pro-
fusely from her lacerated back. She was then cast into
a noisome dungeon, without light, fettered by iron
chains to the floor, and supplied with only bread and
water, ' which was administered with bitter taunts and
reproaches.'
" Meanwhile the young man, her paramour, had left
the monastery, and as the nuns were desirous of inflict-
ing some terrible punishment upon him for his horrible
crime, they extorted from Elfrida, under promise that
she should be released and given up to him, the confes-
sion that he was still in the neighbourhood in disguise,
and that, not knowing of the discovery that had been
made, he would come to visit her, and make the usual
signal of throwing a stone on the roof over her sleeping
cell. The Prioress made this known to the brethren of
the monastery, and arranged with them for his capture.
The following night he came, looked cautiously round,
and then threw the stone, when the monks rushed out of
594 HAUNTED HOMES.
ambush, cudgelled him soundly, and then took him a
prisoner into the house. The younger part of the nuns,
inflamed with a pious zeal, demanded the custody of
the prisoner, on pretence of gaining further information.
Their request was granted, and taking him to an un-
frequented part of the convent, they committed on his
person such brutal atrocities as cannot be translated with-
out polluting the page on which they are written ; and, to
increase the horror, the lady was brought forth to be
witness of the abominable scene.'
Whilst lying in her dungeon, Elfrida became penitent
and conscious of having committed a gross crime, and
one night, whilst sleeping in her fetters, Archbishop
Murdac appeared to her and charged her with having
cursed him. She replied that she certainly had cursed
him for having placed her »n so uncongenial a sphere.
' Rather curse yourself,' said he, ' for having given way
to temptation.' ' So I do,' she answered, ' and I regret
having imputed the bl^me to you.' He then exhorted
her to repentance aud the daily repetition of certain
psalms, and then vanished, — a vision which afforded her
much consolation.
" The holy sisters were now much troubled on the
question of what should be done with the infant which
was expected daily, and preparations were made for its
reception; when Elfrida was again visited by the Arch-
bishop, accompanied by two women, who, * with the
holy aid of the Archbishop, safely delivered her of the
infant, which they bore away in their arms, covered with
a fair white cloth.' When the nuns came the next morn-
WATTON ABBEY. 595
ing tliey found her in perfect health and restored to her
youthful appearance, without any signs of the accouche-
ment, and charged her with murdering'the infant — a very
improbable idea, seeing that she was still chained to the
floor. She narrated what had occurred, but was not
believed. The next night all her fetters were miraculously
removed, and when her cell was entered the following
morniug she was found standing free, and the chains not
to be found.
" The Father Superior of the convent was then called
in, and he invited Alured, Abbot of Rievaulx, to assist
him in the investigation of the case, who decided that
it was a miraculous intervention, and the Abbot de-
parted, saying, ' What God hath cleansed call not thou
common or unclean, and whom He hath loosed thou
mavest not bind/
■J
" What afterwards became of Elfrida is not stated, but
we may presume that after these miraculous events she
frould be admitted as a thrice holy member of the sister-
hood, despite her little peccadillo."
Now there is a haunted room in Watton Abbey, and
the spectre which frequents it is popularly known as
"The Headless Nun of Watton." The belief of the
learned is, however, that the apparition which haunts
Watton is not that of the transgressing nun of the
twelfth, but a brutally beheaded lady of the seventeenth,
century. Mr. Ross opines that the story-tellers have
confused the two traditions, and have treated them as
one story, regarding the two heroines as identical. No
one would appear to have seen the possibility of the
38
596 HAUNTED HOMES.
old place being haunted by two ghosts — by rival appa-
ritions !
The stories of both the heroines are narrated by Mr.
Koss ; that of the frail nun being derived from Alured
of Rievaulx's account. The old monkish chronicler
vouches for the truth of his narration, saying, " Let no
one doubt the truth of this account, for I was an eye-
witness to many of the facts, and the remainder were
related to me by persons of such mature age and dis-
tinguished position that I cannot doubt the accuracy of
their statements."
So much for the account of the fair nun ; that of her
more unfortunate sister is of comparatively recent date.
According to the later tradition, as related to us by Mr.
Ross, " a lady of distinction who then occupied the
house (at Watton), was a devoted Royalist in the great
Civil War which resulted in the death of King Charles.
It was after the battle of Marston Moor, which was a
death-blow to the Royalists north of the Humber, and
when the Parliamentarians dominated the broad lands
of Yorkshire, that a party of fanatical Roundheads came
into the neighbourhood of Watton, ' breathing out
threatenings and slaughter,' against the ' Malignants/
and especially against such as still clung to the * vile rags
of the whore of Babylon/ vowing to put all such to the
sword. The lady of Watton, who was a devout Catho-
lic, heard of this band of Puritan soldiers, who were
' rampaging ' over the Wolds, and of the barbarous
murders of which they had been guilty. Her husband
was away, fighting in the ranks of the King, down
WATTON ABBEY. 597
Oxford way, and she was left without any protector ex-
cepting a handful of servants, male and female, who
would be of no use against a hand of armed soldiers,
and it was with great fear and trembling that she heard
of their arrival at Driffield, some three or four miles
distant, where they had been plundering and maltreating
' the Philistines,' fearing more for her infant than her-
self, as she believed the prevalent exaggerated rumour,
that it was a favourite amusement with them to toss
babies up in the air, and catch them on the points of
their pikes.
" At length news was brought that the marauders were
on the march to Watton, for the purpose of plundering
it, as the home of a ' malignant/ and the lady, for better
security, shut herself, with her child and her jewels, in
the wainscotted room, hoping in case of extremity to
escape by means of the secret stair, and in the mean-
while, committed herself and her child to the care of the
Virgin Mother. It was not long ere the band of soldiers
arrived and hammered at the door, calling aloud for ad-
mittance, but met with no response. They were about
breaking down the door, and went in search of imple-
ments for the purpose, when they caught sight of a low
archway opening upon the moat, which they guessed to
be a side entrance to the house, and, crossing the moat,
they found the stair, which they ascended, and came to
the panel, which they concluded was a disguised door.
A few blows sufficed to dash it open, and they came
into the presence of the lady, who was prostrate before
a crucifix. Rising up, she demanded what they wanted,
38*
598 HAUNTED HOMES.
and wherefore this rude intrusion. They replied tha\,
they had come to despoil the ' Egyptian ' who owned the
mansion, and, if he had been present, to smite him to
death as a worshipper of idols and an abomination in
the eyes of God.
"An angry altercation ensued, the lady, who possessed
a high spirit, making a free use of her tongue in up-
braidings and reproaches for their dastardly conduct on
the Wolds, of which she had heard, to which they lis-
tened very impatiently, and replied in coarse language,
not fit for a lady's ears, at the same time demanding the
plate and other valuables of the house. She scorn-
fully refused to give them up, and told them that
if they wanted them they must find them for them-
selves, and, at length, so provoked them by her taunta
that they cried, ' Hew down with the sword the woman
of Belial and the spawn of the malignant/ and suit-
ing the action to the word, they caught her child from
her arms, dashed its brains out against the wall, and
then cut her down and ' hewed ' off her head, after
which they plundered the house and departed with
their spoil.
" It must not be supposed that these ruffians were a
fair specimen of the brave, God-fearing men v/ho fought
under Fairfax, and put Newcastle and Kupert to flight
at Marston Moor, who fought with the sword in one
hand and the Bible in the other, who laid the axe at the
root of Royal arbitrary prerogative, and were the real
authors of the civil and religious liberty which we now
enjoy. But, as in all times of civil commotion, there
Watton abbey, 599
were evil-minded wretches who, for purposes of plunder,
assumed the garb and adopted the phraseology of the
noble-minded soldiers of Fairfax and Hampden and the
Ironsides of Cromwell, out-Puritaned them in their
hypocritical cant, bringing disgrace and scandal upon
the armies with which they associated themselves. And
such were the villains who despoiled Watton, and slew
so barbarously the poor lady and her infant ; and from
that time the ghost of the lady has haunted the room in
which the deed was perpetrated."
In the present house at Watton, says our authority,
" there is a chamber wainscotted throughout with panelled
oak, one of the panels forming a door, so accurately fitted
that it cannot be distinguished from the other panels. It
is opened by a secret spring, and communicates with a
stone stair that goes down to the moat; and it may be
that the room was a hiding-place for the Jesuits or
priests of the Catholic Church when they were so ruth-
lessly hunted down and barbarously executed in the
Elizabethan and Jacobean reigns. The room is re-
puted to be haunted by the ghost of a headless lady
with an infant in her arms, who comes, or came
thither formerly, to sleep there nightly, the bed-clothes
being found the following morning in a disordered
state, as they would be after a person had been
sleeping in them. If by chance any person had daring
enough to occupy the room, the ghost would come,
minus the head, dressed in blood-stained garments, with
her infant in her arms, and would stand motionless at
the foot of the bed for a while, and then vanish. A
600 HAUNTED HOMES.
visitor on one occasion, who knew nothing of the legend,
was put to sleep in the chamber, who, in the morning,
stated that his slumbers had been disturbed by a spectral
visitant, in the form of a lady with bloody raiment and
an infant, and that her features bore a strange resem-
blance to those of a lady whose portrait hung in the
room ; from which it would appear that on that special
occasion she had donned her head."
Does not the appearance of this last-seen apparition
seem to favour the theory, despite our authority's
ironical remark, that Watton may be haunted by the
apparitions of both the unfortunate women whose stories
have just been narrated ?
WYECOLLEE HALL.
Spectre Horsemen and Wild Huntsmen throng the tra-
ditionary lore of all European nations. Those who wish
to trace the theme to its earliest origin, should consult
Mr. Charles Hardwick's work on the Traditions, Su-
perstitions, and Folk-lore of the north of England. A
typical legend is related by Sam Bamford, in his poem
of The Wild Rider, of a Sir Ashton Lever of whom it
was asserted that he performed such wonderful feats of
horsemanship, " that no horse could have carried him
save one of more than earthlv breed." Other writers,
both British and foreign, have celebrated in prose and
WYECOLLEB HALL. 601
verse the deeds of spectre riders and their ghostly
steeds, but the following account is the one most closely
allied to the theme set before us : it is in Harland's
Lancashire Legends, and is of contemporary belief.
" Wyecoller Hall, near Colne, was long the seat of
the Cunliffes of Billington. They were noted persons
in their day, and the names of successive members of
the family are attached to documents relating to the
property of the Abbots of Whalley. But evil days came,
and their ancestral estates passed out of their hands
In the days of the Commonwealth their loyalty cost
them dear ; and ultimately they retired to Wyecoller
with a remnant only of their once extensive estates.
About 1819 the last of the family passed away, and the
Hall is now a mass of ruins. Little but the antique
fire-place remains entire ; and even the room alluded to
in the following legend cannot now be identified.
" Tradition says that once every year a spectre
horseman visits Wyecoller Hall. He is attired in the
costume of the early Stuart period, and the trappings of
his horse are of a most uncouth description. On the
evening of his visit the weather is always wild and
tempestuous. There is no moon to light the lonely
roads, and the residents of the district do not venture
out of their cottages. When the wind howls the
loudest the horseman can be heard dashing up the road
at full speed, and after crossing the narrow bridge, he
suddenly stops at the door of the Hall. The rider then
dismounts and makes his way up the broad oaken stairs
into one of the rooms of the house. Dreadful screams,
602 HAUNTED HOMES.
as from a woman, are then heard, which soon subside
into groans. The horseman then makes his appearance
at the door — at once mounts his steed — and gallops off
the road he came. His body can be seen through by
those who may chance to be present ; his horse appears
to be wild with rage, and its nostrils stream with fire.
" The tradition is that one of the Cunliffes murdered
his wife in that room, and that the spectre horseman is
the ghost of the murderer, who is doomed to pay an
annual visit to the home of his victim. She is said to
have predicted the extinction of the family, which (pre-
diction) has literally been fulfilled."
WARDLEY HALL.
Many a curious chapter has been written about the
human cranium, but, probably, none more singular than
that titled " Skull Superstitions," by Mr. William
Andrews, in his work on Historic Romance. Among
other instances of the belief prevalent in certain locali-
ties of the way in which skulls influence the fortunes of
families, or at any of their residences,, he cites the sin-
gular and oft-referred-to case of the empty head-piece
kept at Wardley Hall. This ancient pile of buildings,
erected in the reign of the sixth Edward, is about seven
miles from Manchester, and is historically noted for its
possession of an unburied human skull.
The old Hall is situated in the midst of a small
Wakdley hall. 603
woody glade, and was originally surrounded by a moat,
except on the east side, which was protected by natural
defences. In Lancashire Legends, Mr. T. T. Wilkin-
son says : " This black and white half-timbered edifice
m
is of a quadrangular form, consisting of ornamented
wood and plaster frames, interlined with bricks (plas-
tered and white-washed, the woodwork being painted
black), and entered by a covered archway, opening into
a court-yard in the centre, like so many of the manor-
houses of the same age in Lancashire. About 1830 it
was in a ruinous condition, one part being occupied as
a farm-house, and the other formed into a cluster of
nine cottages. The Hall has since been thoroughly
renovated, and has been occupied ^or many years by a
gentleman farmer &m\ collie^ owner.'
Wardley Hall, and the surrounding property, after
having been in the possession of various gentle fami-
lies, in the early part of the seventeenth century passed
into the hands of the Downes, and the Hall became
the residence of Roger Downe. Roger, the grandson of
this gentleman, and the heir to the property, is de-
scribed as one of the most dissolute courtiers of Charles
the Second's Court. After a reckless career of crime,
this young man, the last male representative of his
family, was slain in a drunken brawl, and, says tradi-
tion, his head having been severed from his body, was
sent as a memento mori to his sister. That head, ac-
cording to popular faith, has been kept at the Hall
ever since, none of the tenants having ever been enabled
to get rid of it.
604 HAUNTED HOMES.
Mr. Andrews refers to various accounts relating to
this noted relic, but quotes, as the most curious, one
found in the manuscripts of Thomas Barritt, the Man-
chester antiquary, describing his own visit to Wardley
Hall about the end of the last century. That account
it will be well to follow.
" A human skull which, time out of mind, hath had a
superstitious veneration paid to it by [the occupiers of
the Hall] not permitting it to be removed from its situ-
ation, which is on the topmost step of a staircase.
There is a tradition that, if removed or ill-used, some
uncommon noise and disturbance always follows, to the
terror of the whole house ; yet I cannot persuade my-
self this is always the case. But, some years ago, I
and three of my acquaintances went to view this sur-
prising piece of household furniture, and found it as
above mentioned, and bleached white with weather, that
beats in upon it from a four-square window in the hall,
which the tenants never permit to be glazed or filled
up, thus to oblige the skull, which, they say, is unruly
and disturbed at the hole not being always open.
" However, one of us, who was last in company with
the skull, removed it from its place into a dark part
of the room, and then left, and returned home ; but the
night but one following, such a storm arose about the
house, of wind and lightning, as tore down some trees,
and unthatched out-housing. We hearing of this, my
father went over in a few days after to see his mother,
who lived near the Hall, and was witness to the wreck
the storm had made. Yet ail this might have hap-
WARDLEY HALL. 605
pened had the skull never been removed; but, withal,
it keeps alive the credibility of its believers.
" What I can learn of the above affair from old people
in the neighbourhood is, that a young man of the
Downes family, being in London, one night in his
frolics vowed to his companions that he would kill the
first man he met ; and accordingly he ran his sword
through a man immediately, a tailor by trade. How-
ever, justice overtook him in his career of wickedness ;
for, in some while after, he being in a riot upon London
Bridge, a watchman made a stroke at him with his bill,
and severed his head from his body, which head was
enclosed in a box, and sent to his sister, who then lived
at Wardley, where it hath continued ever since."
Roby, in his Traditions of Lancashire, refers to this
Wardley legend. After relating the fate of young
Downes, and the sending home of his decapitated head,
he says : " The skull was removed, secretly at first, but
invariably it returned to the Hall, and no human power
could drive it thence. It hath been riven to pieces,
burnt, and otherwise destroyed; but on the subsequent
day it was seen filling its wonted place."
Elsewhere he relates that at Wardley " a human skull
is still shown here, which is usually kept in a little
locked recess in the staircase wall, and which the occu-
piers of the Hall would never permit to be removed.
This grim caput mortuum being, it is said, much averse
to any change of place or position, never failed to punish
the individual severely which should dare to lay hands
upon it with any such purpose. If removed, drowned
606 HAUNTED HOMES.
in the neighbouring pond (which is, in fact, a part of
the old moat which formerly surrounded the house), or
buried, it was sure to return ; so that, in the end, each
succeeding tenant was fain to endure its presence rather
than be subject to the terrors and annoyances conse-
quent upon its removal. Even the square aperture in
the wall was not permitted to be glazed without the
skull or its long-defunct owner creating some distur-
bance. It was almost bleached white by exposure to
the weather, and many curious persons have made a
pilgrimage there, even of late years."
In Harland and Wilkinson's Lancashire Legends, a
quite recent work, the Editor says that when he visited
the Hall, some years ago, he found that a locked door
concealed at once the square aperture and its fearful
tenant. At that time two keys were provided for this
tl place of a skull," one being kept by the tenant of the
Hall, and the other by the Countess of Ellesmere, the
owner of the property. Occasionally the Countess
would accompany visitors from the neighbouring
Worsley Hall, and would unlock the door and show to
her friends the Wardley Hall skull. Mr. Wilkinson
revisited the quaint old residence in 1861, and again
personally inspected this strange relic of mortality. An
account of this re-inspection is given in the volume
above referred to.
APPENDIX.
809
BATH.
Bath is veritably honeycombed, even in these realistic
days, with inexplicable mysteries. Haunted houses are
of common occurrence in Bladud's city, and there are
now before us several cases of ghostly doings therein
which, for reasons pecuniary or personal, the owners or
tenants deprecate direct allusion to. One of the best-
known of these troubled homes is in Lansdowne Cres-
cent, and upon the story connected with this building,
the number of which we cannot furnish, an interesting
romance has been founded by Miss Mary C. Kowsell.
The story current in Bath is that every Sunday night,
at eleven o'clock, the sound of clashing swords and of
angry mutterings is heard outside the doors of the
first-floor rooms, and that everyone who has ventured
within those rooms at such a time has heard the noises ;
yet when the doors are opened nothing is seen, nothing
is heard.
Another of these haunted houses is in the Villa Fields ;
but the mysteries connected with it, although alleged to
have been detailed at length in a London magazine, we
have been unable to fathom. Other tales, more or less
610 HAUNTED HOMES.
circumstantial, have been related to us of houses in
Bath, including one in Henrietta Street, Great Pulteney
Street. In this house, some years ago, a man murdered
his wife, and left her bleeding corse on the hearth-stone
in the kitchen. With foresight rarely displayed by
murderers, he locked the front door previous to escaping
by the back, which he pulled-to after him. Getting
into Great Pulteney Street, he made his way to his
residence in Henrietta Street, and attempted to open
the front door, or rather pretended to. The door was,
of course, locked, so he called a policeman, who forced
his way in and found the dead body of the wife. Not-
withstanding the man's cunning, the crime was ulti-
mately brought home to him, and, doubtless, he suffered
the punishment awarded by law for his crime. The
fact, however, which causes us to allude to this con-
ventional story of assassination is, that the tragedy left
ineffaceable traces ; ever since the ghastly body of the
murdered wife was flung upon that hearth the stone
there has had stains which cannot be got out. Even
new hearth-stones have been put down, but the blood-
stains force their way through, and cannot be eradicated !
In All the Year Round for January 1868, attention
is drawn to the fact that Bath is " a perfect nest of
ghosts/' Amongst its haunted houses is Jervis House,
described as a handsome country seat, possessed of a
traditional ghost, and as a building about two centuries
old, standing in extensive grounds, within which is a
large ornamental lake, with a treeless island in the
centre of it. " A gentleman who was on a visit for the
BATH. 611
first time at Jervis House, a year or two ago/' says
this writer, " observed to his host at breakfast, * I see
there is no bridge accommodation with your little
island.'
" ' None.1
" ' I thought, too, you told me you had at present no
boat on the lake ? '
" ' Nor have I,' replied his friend. ' Why ? '
° ' How, then, do ladies effect the passage?'
" The host hesitated.
" * Ladies ? ' he repeated ; ' do you mean '
" ' I mean, my good friend, that I noticed a lady
walking on the island this morning, so early that I won-
dered at her fancy. She passed entirely round, and
crossed it twice, so that I could not possibly be mis-
taken/
" ' You have seen the Jervis ghost,' said his friend
curtly.
" And the subject was dismissed."
Of course, this is a very tantalizing" finale, but all our
efforts to obtain any further information for the benefit
of our readers about Jervis House, orits ghostly tenant,
have proved fruitless.
Another narrative told in the same number of the
periodical cited refers to another haunted residence in
the vicinity of Bath, and is, if equally inexplicable,
certainly more blood-curdling. It relates to Barton
Hall, and the circumstances are asserted bv its narrator
to be " oerfectlv true/' and to have occurred but a verv
short time since (1868) to two young ladies, sisters,
39
612 HAUNTED HOMES.
from whom the facts were derived, on the occasion of
their visit to the Hall.
" They had retired/' says the account, " to the cham-
ber occupied by both, and the elder sister was already
in bed. The younger was kneeling before the fire. The
door opened softly, and a woman, entering, crossed
the apartment, and bent down before a chest of drawers,
as if intending to open the lower one. Thinking it was
one of the maids, the young lady who was in bed
accosted her. * Is that you, Mary ? What are you
looking for there ? '
"Her sister, who was before the fire, had risen to
her feet, and turned towards the woman. In the act
she uttered a loud shriek, and, staggering back, fell
haif-fainting on the bed. The other sprang up, and
followed the intruder, who seemed to retreat quickly
into an adjoining dressing-room. The young lady
entered. It was empty.
'* Returning to her sister, the latter, who had re-
covered from her consternation, explained the cause of
her outcry. The woman, in turning to meet her, dis-
played a human countenance, but devoid of eyes."
BOWLAND.
One of those singular dreams, which have attained to
historic importance as much by their recorder's position.
BOWL AND, 613
as their own inexplicable nature, is given in a note to
The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott himself. In vouch-
ing for the entire authenticity of the story, Sir Walter
states that it was told to him " by persons who had the
best access to know the facts, who were not likely
themselves to be deceived, and who were certainly in-
capable of deception." He was, therefore, as he
remarks of the story, unable " to refuse to give it
credit, however extraordinary the circumstances may
appear."
Sir Walter's version of the story, with the names, of
which he gives only the initials and final letters, duly
filled in, is : —
" Mr. Kutherford, of Bowland, a gentleman of landed
property in the Vale of Gala, was prosecuted for a very
considerable sum, the accumulated arrears of teind (or
tithe), for which he was said to be indebted to a noble
family, the titulars (lay impropriators of the tithes).
Mr. Kutherford was strongly impressed with the belief
that his father had, by a form of process peculiar to the
law of Scotland, purchased these teinds from the titular,
and, therefore, that the present prosecution was ground-
less. But, after an industrious search among his
father's papers, an investigation among the public
records, and a careful inquiry among all persons who
had transacted law business for his father, no evidence
could be recovered to support his defence. The period
was now near at hand, when he conceived the loss of
his law-suit to be inevitable ; and he had formed the
determination to ride to Edinburgh next day, and make
39*
614 HAUNTED HOMES.
the best bargain he could in the way of compromise.
He went to bed with this resolution ; and, with all the
circumstances of the case floating upon his mind, had a
dream to the following purpose. His father, who had
been dead many years, appeared to him, he thought,
and asked him why he was disturbed in his mind. In
dreams men are not surprised at such apparitions. Mr.
Rutherford thought that he informed his father of the
cause of his distress, adding that the payment of a con-
siderable sum of money was the more unpleasant to him
because he had a strong consciousness that it was not
due, though he was unable to recover any evidence in
support of his belief. * You are right, my son,'
replied the paternal shade : 'I did acquire right to these
leitids, for payment of which you are now prosecuted.
The papers relating to the transaction are in the hands
of Mr. , a writer (or attorney), who is now retired
from professional business, and resides at Inveresk,
near Edinburgh. He was a person whom I employed
on that occasion for a particular reason, but who never,
on any other occasion, transacted business on my
account. It is very possible,' pursued the vision, ' that
Mr. may have forgotten a matter which is now of
a very old date ; but you may call it to his recollection
by this token, that, when I came to pay his account,
there was difficulty in getting change for a Portugal
piece of gold, and we were forced to drink out the
balance at a tavern.
" Mr. Rutherford awoke, in the morning, with all the
words of the vision imprinted on his mind, and thought
CLIFTON PAKK 615
it worth while to walk across the country to Inveresk,
instead of going straight to Edinburgh- When he
came there he waited on the gentleman mentioned in
the dream — a very old man. Without saying anything
of the vision, he inquired whether he ever remembered
having conducted such a matter for his deceased father.
The old gentleman could not, at first, bring the circum-
stance to his recollection ; but, on mention of the
Portugal piece of gold, the whole returned upon his
memory. He made an immediate search for the papers,
and recovered them; so that Mr. Rutherford carried to
Edinburgh the documents necessary to gain the cause
which he was on the verge of losing.'
CLIFTON PARK.
In Horace Welby's Sig?is before Death, a work to
which we have elsewhere had occasion to refer, the
following narrative is given, and in these words : —
" One morning in the summer of 1745, Mrs. Jane
Lowe, housekeeper to Mr. Pringle, of Clifton Park, in
the south of Scotland,, beheld the apparition of a lady
walking in the avenue, on the margin of a rivulet, which
runs into Kale water. The form resembled a daughter
of her master who had long been absent from the
family, at the distance of about a hundred miles south
of Paris. As Mrs. Lowe walked down the avenue and
616 HAUNTED HOMES.
approached the rivulet, this resemblance impressed her
so strongly that, seeing her master in an enclosure
adjoining, she went and told him what she had seen.
Mr. Pringle laughed, and said, ' You simple woman !
that lady is Miss Chattow, of Morebattle.' However,
Mrs. Lowe prevailed upon him to accompany her to the
place, which they had nearly reached, when the appari-
tion sprang into the water and instantly disappeared.
" Mr. Pringle and Mrs. Lowe, on returning to the
hall, apprized the family of the vision, and for their
pains were heartily laughed at. The Kev. Mr. Turnbull,
minister of Linton, happened to breakfast that morning
with Mr. Pringle, his lady, and two young daughters,
who joined in the laugh. About three months after-
wards, the same reverend gentleman honoured the
family with his company ; when, standing at a window
in the lower room, he observed a poor, ragged, lame,
lean man slowly approaching the house. ' Here comes
another apparition/ cried Mr. Turnbull, with a kind of
contemptuous smile. This drew the immediate atten-
tion of all present, and Mr. Pringle quickly recognised
the person to be his second son, whom he had not seen
for above ten years.
" On his arrival, he soon convinced them that he was
not an apparition, declaring that he had narrowly
escaped with his life from Tunis, in the vicinity of
which he had been a slave to the Algerines seven years,
but had happily been ransomed at the critical moment
when he was ordered to be put to death for mutiny.
He added, that on his return home through France, he
EDINBURGH. 617
called at the place where he had heard that his sister
resided, and to his unspeakable grief found that she
died on the 25th of May, the same summer, about five
o'clock in the morning, which he recollected to have
been the precise time when he was saved from the jaws
of death, and when he thought he beheld his sister.
Mrs. Lowe, who was present in the room, on hearing his
declaration, added her testimony by affirming that the
day alluded to was that on which she had shown Mr.
Pringle the apparition ; and this was confirmed by the
Reverend Mr. Turnbull, in whose study this narrative
was found after his death/'
EDINBURGH.
m
Under the title of Aunt Margaret's Mirror, Sir Walter
Scott published a tale, the incidents of which were de-
rived from some circumstances in the early life of the
Countess of Stair, wife of John, the second Earl. The
author of Waverley only related the remarkable events
alluded to in a condensed manner, but from various
Scottish writers, especially Robert Chambers, we are
enabled to furnish the story in a more ample form.
Lady Eleanor Campbell was youngest daughter of
James, second Earl of Loudon, and, therefore, grand-
daughter to that stern old Earl who played so important
a part in the affairs of the Covenant, and who was Lord
618 HAUNTED HOMES.
Chancellor of Scotland during the Civil War. Whilst
very young, in the beginning of the last century, Lady
Mary was married to James, the first Viscount Primrose.
Her husband is described as a nobleman of bad temper
and dissolute habits, and is averred to have treated his
young wife with great brutality. Eventually his con-
duot became so outrageous that the unfortunate lady
went in fear of her life. One morning, it is stated,
whilst she was labouring under this dreadful anticipa-
tion, she was dressing herself in her chamber, near an
open window, when she saw her husband enter the room
with a drawn sword in his hand. He had opened the
door softly, and approached his wife with stealthy steps,
but she had caught a glimpse, in the mirror, of his face,
upon which his horrible resolution was depicted, and
before he had time to do her any injury, she leapt
through an open window into the street. She does not
appear to have sustained any important injury by her
dangerous leap, and was enabled, half-dressed as she
was, to gejt to the house of her husband's mother and
claim her protection, which was, of course, accorded.
After such proceedings, it was impossible to think of
a reconciliation, and, in future, the ill-assorted couple
lived apart. Soon after this escapade, Lord Primrose
went abroad, and for a very long while Lady Primrose
heard nothing whatever about him. During this lengthy
separation a foreign fortune-teller, or necromancer,
came to Edinburgh, and, among other accomplishments,
professed to be able to inform anyone of the present
condition or position of any other person in whom the
EDINBURGH. 619
applicant was interested, irrespective of their distance.
Hearing of the marvels performed by this foreigner, and
incited by curiosity, Lady Primrose went, with a lady
friend, to his lodgings in the Canongate for the purpose
of inquiring about her absent husband.
The two ladies, escorted by their servants, duly
reached the place of their quest. Lady Primrose
having described the individual in whose fate she was
interested, and having expressed her desire to know how
he was occupied, was led by the conjuror to a large
mirror. Upon looking into it, she perceived distinctly
the inside of a church, within which, grouped about
the altar, a marriage ceremony appeared to be pro-
ceeding. What, however, was Lady Primrose's astonish-
ment when, in the shadowy bridegroom, she recognised
her own husband, although the bride's face was entirely
strange to her ! The magical scene thus wonderfully
displayed before her bewildered gaze, she described as not
so much like a picture, or the delineation of the pencil,
as a living, moving tableau of real life. Whilst Lady
Primrose gazed, the whole ceremonial of the marriage
appeared to be taking place before her. The necessary
arrangements had been made; the priest appeared
about to pronounce the preliminary service ; he was,
apparently, on the point of bidding the bride and bride-
groom join hands, when, suddenly, a gentleman, whom
the party seemed to have been waiting for some time,
and in whom Lady Primrose recognised a brother of her
own, then abroad, entered the church, and hurried
towards the bridal group. At first the aspect of this
620 HAUNTED HOMES.
person was only that of a friend, who had been invited
to the ceremony, and who had arrived late ; but when
he arrived near the party, the expression of his counte-
nance suddenly altered. He stopped short; his face
assumed a wrathful expression ; he drew his sword and
rushed at the bridegroom, who also drew his weapon.
The whole scene then became quite tumultuous and
indistinct, and speedily vanished away.
Upon her return home, Lady Primrose wrote out a
minute account of the whole affair, and appended to her
narrative the day of the month on which she had seen
the mysterious vision. This account she sealed up in
the presence of a witness and then deposited it in a
place of security.
Eventually the absent brother returned home, and
naturally went to visit his sister. Lady Primrose
inquired if, in the course of his wanderings, he had
happened to see or hear anything of her husband. The
young man only responded that he wished never to hear
that detestable person's name mentioned. Pressed
closely by his sister, however, he confessed at last
that he had met Lord Primrose and under very strange
circumstances. Whilst he was making a stay in Amster-
dam he became acquainted with a very wealthy merchant
whose only child, a beautiful girl, was the heiress of his
enormous fortune. This merchant informed him that
his daughter was engaged to a Scotchman of good
position who had recently come to reside in Holland,
and asked him, as a fellow-countryman of the bride-
groom, to the forthcoming wedding. He went, but was
EDINBUKGH. 621.
a little late for the commencement of the ceremony, yet
arrived, fortunately, just in time to prevent the marriage
of the beautiful and amiable young Dutch girl to his
own brother-in-law, Lord Primrose !
Lady Primrose had so far succumbed to the prevalent
superstition of her time as to write down a full account
of the vision she had beheld in the magic mirror, but
she was so confounded and overcome when this wonder-
ful confirmation of its truth was revealed to her that
she almost fainted away. But one important fact had
still to be ascertained. When did Lord Primrose's
attempted marriage take place ? Her brother was fully
enabled to answer this. Upon receiving his reply she
took out a key, opened the drawer containing the
account of her vision in the mirror, and, handing
the manuscript to her brother, desired him to read it.
He did so, and found that Lady Primrose's narrative
not only tallied in every important particular with the
scene he had taken part in, but, also, that it was dated
on the day that her husband's attempted nuptials were
interrupted in the way he had described !
A few words about Lady Primrose's career will not
be out of place here. In 1709 her husband died,
leaving her still young and beautiful. She had many
good offers, but, more than dissatisfied with her experi-
ence of the married state, she formed a resolution never
to remarry. Among her suitors was the famous Earl of
Stair, who for twenty years had made Edinburgh his
place of residence. Lady Primrose preferred him to all
her wooers, but even on his behalf could not be per-
622 HAUNTED HOMES.
suaded to relinquish the comforts of widowhood. In
order to change her resolution the Earl hit upon an
expedient which, as one authority remarks, " certainly
marks the age as one of little delicacy."' He bribed one
of her servants to admit him into her dressing-room,
the window of which looked out upon the High Street.
At this window, when the morning was somewhat
advanced, the Earl showed himself en dishabille to the
passers-by. The fatal effect which this exhibition
threatened to have upon the lady's reputation, induced
her to accept Lord Stair for her second husband. As
Countess of Stair the lady is said to have had a fairly
happy life, especially after she had succeeded in weaning
the Earl from over fondness for the bottle. In 1747
she was left a widow for the second time, and in
November 1759, after having long exercised sway over
the first coteries of the Scottish capital, died there, at a
very advanced age.
EDINBURGH CASTLE.
A singular prophetic, or warning dream, is related
and vouched for as " entirely authentic," by Dr.
Abercrombie, in his work on Inquiries Concerning
the Intellectual Powers. The Doctor, however, only
gives the skeleton of the story and omits the names of
the persons concerned. Lady Clerk, of Pennicuik,
daughter of the Mr. D'Acre of the dream, communicated
EDINBURGH CASTLE, 623
the tale more fully to Blackwood's Magazine, in a letter
dated May 1, 1826, and beginning, " Being in company
the other day when the conversation turned upon
dreams, I related one, of which, as it happened to my
own father, I can answer for the perfect truth.'"
Even Lady Clerk's printed narrative, however, is in-
complete, as it, also, gives the initials only of the names,
but Mr. Dale Owen was successful in obtaining these
names in full from a manuscript account of the whole
affair by her ladyship, and he succeeded, also, in
unearthing, from a contemporary newspaper, The
Caledonian Mercury, the date of the accident referred
to, and particulars of the whole occurrence.
The anecdote is related by Mr. Dale Owen in the
following terms :
Major and Mrs. Griffith, of Edinburgh, then residing
in the Castle, had received into their house their
nephew, Mr. Joseph D'Acre, of Kirklinton, in the
county of Cumberland — a young gentleman who had
come to the Scottish capital for the purpose of attending
college, and had been specially recommended to his
relatives' care. One afternoon Mr. D'Acre communi-
cated to them his intention of joining some of his
young companions on the morrow in a fishing-party to
Inch-Keith; and to this no objection was made.
During the ensuing night, however, Mrs. Griffith
started from a troubled dream, exclaiming, in accents
of terror, " The boat is sinking ! Oh, save them ! "
Her husband ascribed this to apprehension on her
part ; but she declared she had no uneasiness whatever
624 HAUNTED HOMES.
about the fishing-party, and, indeed, had not thought
about it. So she again composed herself to sleep.
When, however, a similar dream was thrice repeated in
the course of the night (and the last time presenting the
image of the boat lost and the whole party drowned),
she became seriously alarmed, threw on her dressing-
gown, and, without waiting for morning, proceeded to
her nephew's room. With some difficulty she persuaded
him to relinquish his design, and to send his servant to
Leith with an excuse.
The morning was fine, and the fishing- party
embarked. It consisted of Mr. Patrick Cumming, a
merchant, Colin Campbell, shipmate, a boy named
Cleland, nephew to Campbell, and two sailors. About
3 o'clock a sudden squall arose from the south-west,
the boat upset and foundered, and all were drowned
except Campbell, who was picked up after being five
hours in the water, almost dead with fatigue. This
happened on the 7th of August, 1734, and the affair
is narrated, so far as concerns the accident, in the
Caledonian Mercury for the 12th of the same month.
GLENSHIEAY.
In the First Series of this collection of supernatural
stones is given an account of the wonderful appa-
ritional armies seen at Edge Hill some few months
after the battle there between the King's forces and
those of the Parliament. As then remarked, several
GLENSHIRAY. 625
well-authenticated instances are on record of such
phantasmal appearances, but as yet no lucid or con-
vincing explanation of the phenomenon has been given.*
vn some cases these apparitions might be deemed a
wonderfully realistic reproduction of real human beings
at some distant place, a mirage produced by some
natural law that we are not conversant with; but as
regards the case of Edge Hill, such an explanation is
valueless, the faces and figures of many of the com-
batants killed in that engagement having been recognised
by several spectators.
In the following narrative, related in Ottway's col-
lection of supernatural stories, and in several similar
works, the events detailed are not so marvellous, nor so
inexplicable as those of Edge Hill ; but, nevertheless,
are worthy citation in an epitome of this kind. The tale
is told thus :
" As you wish to have an account of the vision
which my father and grandfather saw in the neighbour-
hood of this place, I will endeavour to comply with
your request. I have heard it, with all its circum-
stances, so often related by them both, when together, as
well as by my father separately, since my grandfather's
decease, that I am as fully convinced that they saw this
vision, as if I had seen it myself. At the same time I
must acknowledge that, however desirous I am to oblige
Lady and you, I commit this account to writing
with some degree of reluetance, well knowing how little
credit is generally given, by the more intelligent classes
* Vide, also, " Souter Fell," pp. 246-249. of this volume.
626 HAUNTED HOMES.
of mankind, to a narrative of that kind, and how little
it corresponds with the ordinary course of causes and
events.
" This vision was seen bv them about 3 o'clock
in the afternoon of a very warm, clear sunshiny day, in
the month of June or July, between the years 1746 and
1753. I cannot go nearer to ascertain the year. My
grandfather was then a farmer in Glenary (which you
know is within four miles of this place), and my father,
who was at that time a young unmarried man, resided in
the family with him.
" On the morning of the day above-mentioned, my
grandfather having occasion to transact some business
in Glenshiray, took my father along with him. They
went there by crossing the hill which separates it from
Glenary ; and their business in Glenshiray having been
finished a little after mid-day, they came round by
Inverary, in order to return home.
" As soon as they came to Gairan Bridge, and had
turned towards Inverness, they were very much surprised
to behold a great number of men under arms, marching
on foot towards them. At this time the foremost ranks
were only advanced as far as Kilm alien. They were
marching in regular order, and as closely as they could
move, from that point of the new town near the Quay,
where Captain Gillie's house now stands, along the
shore and high road, and crossing the river Avay near
the town, at or about the spot where the new bridge has
been since built ; of the rear there appeared to be no
end. The ground upon which the town now stands was
GLENSHIRAY. 627
then surrounded by a park wall. From the nature of
the ground my father and grandfather could see no
further than this wall ; and as the army was advancing
in front, the rear as regularly succeeded, and advanced
from the furthest verge of their view.
" They stood a considerable time to observe this ex-
traordinary sight, then walked slowly on, but stopped
now and then, with their eyes constantly fixed on the
objects before them. Meantime, the army continuing
regularly to advance, they counted that it had fifteen
or sixteen pairs of colours ; and they observed that the
men nearest to them were marching upon the road, six
or seven abreast, or in each line, attended by a number
of women and children, both below and above the road,
some of whom were carrvim ua cans and other imple
ments or cookery, which, I am told, is customary on a
march. They were clothed in red (but as to that par-
ticular circumstance I do not recollect whether my
grandfather mentioned it or not, though I know my
father did), and the sun shone so bright that the gleam
of their arms, which consisted of muskets and bayonets,
sometimes dazzled their sight. They also observed
between Kilmalien and the Salmon Draught, an animal
resembling a deer or a horse, in the middle of a crowd
of soldiers, who were, as they conjectured, stabbing and
pushing it forward with their bayonets.
"My father, who had never seen an army before,
naturally put a number of questions to my grandfather
(who had served in the Argyleshire Highlanders in
assisting to suppress the rebellion of 1745) concerning
40
628 HAUNTED HOMES.
the probable route and destination of the army which
was now advancing towards them, and of the number
of men it seemed to consist of. My grandfather replied
that ' he supposed it had come from Ireland, and had
]anded at Kyntyre, and that it was proceeding to Eng-
land ; and that, in his opinion, it was more numerous
than the army on both sides at the battle of Culloden.,
My father, having particularly remarked that the rear
ranks were continually running forward in order to
overtake those who were before them, and inquiring into
the reason, my grandfather told him that was always
the case with the rear ; that the least obstacle stopped
and threw them behind, which necessarily, and in a
still greater degree, retarded the march of those who
were behind them, and obliged them to come forward
until they had recovered their own places again. And
he therefore advised my father, if he went into the army,
to endeavour, if possible, to get into the front rank,
which always marched with leisure and ease, while those
in the rear were generally kept running in the manner
he had seen.
" My father and grandfather were now come to the
Thorn Bush, between the Gairan Bridge and the gate
of the Deer Park, and at the same time the rear of the
army had advanced very near to the gate. And as the
road forms a right angle at that gate, and the front of
the army was then directly opposite to them, they had,
of course, a better opportunity of observing it minutely.
The van-guard, they then observed, consisted of a party
of forty or fifty men, preceded by an officer on foot.
GLENSHIRAY. 629
At a little distance behind them another officer ap-
peared, riding upon a grey dragoon-horse. He was the
only person they observed on horseback, and from his
appearance and station in the march they considered
him as the commander-in-chief. He had on a gold-
laced hat, and a blue hussar-cloak, with wide, open,
loose sleeves, all lined with red. He also wore boots
and spurs ; the rest of his dress they could not see.
My father took such particular notice of him, that he
often declared he would know him perfectly well if he
ever saw him again. Behind this officer the rear of the
army marched all in one body, so far as they observed,
but attended by women and children, as I mentioned
above.
" My father's curiosity being now sufficiently gratified,
he represented to my grandfather that these men, who
were advancing towards them, would force them to go
along with them, or use them otherwise ill ; and he
therefore proposed that they should both go out of
their way by climbing over a stone dyke which fences
the Deer Park from the high-road. To this my grand-
father objected, saying that as he was a middle-aged
man, and had seen some service, he believed they would
not give any trouble to him, but at the same time he
told my father, that as he was a young man, and they
might possibly take him along with them, he might go
out of the way or not, as he thought fit. Upon this my
father instantly leaped over the dyke. He then walked
behind it for a little time ; but when he arrived near the
clumps, he looked back to observe the motions of the
40*
630 HAUNTED HOMES.
army, and found, to his utter astonishment, that they
were all vanished, not a soul of them was to be seen.
" As soon as he had recovered from his surprise,
he returned to my grandfather, and cried out, 'What
has become of the men ? ' My grandfather, who did
not seem to have paid them much attention after my
father left him, then observed also that they had dis-
appeared, and answered with an equal degree of aston
ishment, ' that he could not tell.'
"As they proceeded on their way to Inverary, he
recommended my father to keep what they had seen
secret, lest they should make themselves ridiculous, for
that no person would believe they had seen a vision so
extraordinary ; at the same time he told him that though
he (my grandfather) might not live to see it, my father
might possibly live to see the vision realised.
" This conversation was scarcely ended, when they met
one Stewart, an old man who then resided in Glenshiray,
going home, and driving a horse before him. This, as
they believed, was the same animal they had before
observed surrounded by a crowd. My father, notwith-
standing the admonition he had just received, asked
Stewart what had become of the people who were
travelling with him. Stewart, not understanding the
drift of the question, answered that nobody had been
in company with him since he left Inverary, but that
he never travelled in so warm a day, that the air was
so close and sultry that he was scarcely able to breathe,
and that his horse had become so weak and feeble, that
he was obliged to alight and drive it before him.
NEWARK. 631
" The account of this vision was communicated by
my father and grandfather, not only to me, but to
many others in this place and neighbourhood, it being
scarcely possible that so extraordinary an occurrence
could long be concealed. It is no doubt extremely
difficult to account for it, but no person acquainted
with my father or grandfather ever supposed that either
of them was capable of inventing such a story; and,
accordingly, as far as I can understand, no person to
whom they told it ever doubted that they told the truth.
My grandfather died several years ago ; my father died
within these two years ; but neither of them saw their
vision realised, although, indeed, my father had strong
expectations of seeing it realised a few years before his
death, particularly at the time of the Irish rebellion,
and of the last threatened invasion of the French."
NEWARK.
Many quaint old customs linger in the towns as well as
in the country districts of England, and some of them
are so ancient that their origin is lost in obscurity. A
singular instance of such customs as are alluded to is
discoverable at Newark-on -Trent, but, unlike some
others, tradition, or rather history, is well able to
account for its existence. On the 11th of March every
year, penny loaves are given away in this place, at the
632 HAUNTED HOMES.
Town Hall, to all such poor persons as choose to
apply for them. This custom originated in the follow-
ing way.
During the bombardment of Newark by the Parlia-
mentarian troops under Oliver Cromwell, a certain
Alderman Clay dreamed on three successive nights that
his house had taken fire. Impressed by the persistence
and vividness of these dreams, the worthy magistrate
removed with his family to another residence, and a few
days later, on the 11th of March, sure enough his
vacated house was burnt down by the besiegers' fire.
In gratitude for what he considered his miraculous pre-
servation, Alderman Clay, by his will, dated the 11th
of December 1694, left two hundred pounds in trust to
the Mayor and Aldermen of Newark for the time being.
The interest of half this money has to be paid to the
vicar annually, conditionally upon his preaching an
appropriate sermon, and the interest of the other half
has to be expended in bread for distribution among the
poor in the way specified above.
WADEBEIDGE.
In the pages of this work, as is seen, are some ex-
amples of very wonderful dreams: prophetic dreams,
warning dreams, double dreams, or dreams simul-
taneously occurring to two persons, and dreams of clis-
WADEBIUDGE. 633
covery. To the last-named species may be assigned
the strange and oft-alluded-to story of the Wad eb ridge
murder. The murder was one replete with common-
place horrors, and would not stand out from the usual
category of such crimes but for the marvellous manner
in which it was, according to the evidence before us,
supernaturally displayed before a person some hundreds
of miles away. As the account of this curious cause
celebre is given very circumstantially by Dr. Clement
Carlyon (in his Early Years and Late Reflections) ,
and as, after sifting the case thoroughly, he avers " its
unquestionable authenticity," it is better to quote it
in his exact words. Dr. Carlyon's account is as fol-
lows : —
On the evening of the 8th of February 1840, Mr.
Nevell Norway, a Cornish gentleman, was cruelly mur-
dered by two brothers, of the name of Lightfoot, on his
way from Bodmin to Wadebridge, the place of his resi-
dence. At that time his brother, Mr. Edmund Norway,
was in the command of a merchant vessel, the Orient,
on her voyage from Manilla to Cadiz ; and the following
is his own account of a dream which he had on the
night when his brother was murdered : —
" Ship Orient, from Manilla to Cadiz.
"February 8, 1840.
"About 7.30 p.m., the island of St. Helena N.N.W.,
distant about seven miles; shortened sail and rounded
to with the ship's head to the eastward ; at eight, set the
watch and went below; wrote a letter to my brother,
634 HAUNTED HOMES.
Nevell Norway. About twenty minutes or a quarter
before ten o'clock, went to bed ; fell asleep, and dreamt
I saw two men attack my brother and murder him.
One caught the horse by the bridle, and snapped a
pistol twice, but I heard no report ; lie then struck him
a blow, and he fell off the horse. They struck him
several blows, and dragged him by the shoulders across
the road and left him. In my dream, there was a house
on the left-hand side of the road. At four o'clock I
was called, and went on deck to take charge of the
ship. I told the second officer, Mr. Henry Wren, that
I had had a dreadful dream — namely, that my brother
Nevell, was murdered by two men on the road from St.
Columb to Wadebridge, but that I felt sure it could
not be there, as the house there would be on the right-
hand side of the road ; so that it must have been some-
where else. He replied : * Don't think anything about
it ; you west-country people are so superstitious. You
will make yoursen miseraoie tne remainder of the
voyage.' He then left the general orders and went
below. It was one continued dream, from the time
I fell asleep until I was called, at four o'clock in the
morning.
" Edmund Norway,
" Chief Officer, Ship Orient."
Thus ends the Captain's account of his dream.
The confession of William Lightfoot, one of the
assassins who did really murder Mr. Norway, and
who was executed, together with his brother, for the
WADEBRIDGE. G35
crime, at Bodmin, on the 13th of April 1840, is as
follows : —
" I went to Bodmin last Saturday week, the 8th
instant (February 8, 1840), and in returning I met my
brother James at the head of Dummer Hill. It was
dim like. We came on the turnpike-road all the way
till we came to the house near the spot where the
murder was committed. We did not go into the house,
but hid ourselves in a field. My brother knocked Mr.
Norway down ; he snapped a pistol at him twice, and it
did not go off. He then knocked him down with the
pistol. I was there along with him. Mr. Norway was
struck while on horseback. It was on the turnpike-road
between Pencarron Mill and the directing-post towards
Wadebridge. I cannot say at what time of the night it
was. We left the body in the water, on the left side
of the road coming to Wadebridge. We took some
money in a purse, but I did not know how much.
My brother drew the body across the road to the
watering."
The evidence of various witnesses called at the trial
of the assassins proved that the murder must have
been committed between ten and eleven at night.
Dr. Carlyon, in concluding his account of this dream,
remarks, " It will be seen that Mr. Edmund Norway, in
relating his dream the following morning to his ship-
mate, observed that the murder could not have been
committed on the St. Columb road, because the house,
in going thence to Wadebridge, is on the right hand,
whereas the house was, in his dream, on the left. Now,
636 HAUNTED HOMES.
this circumstance, however apparently trivial, tends
somewhat to enhance the interest of the dream, without
in the least impugning its fidelity ; for such fissures
are characteristic of these sensorial impressions, which
are altogether involuntary, and bear a much nearer
relation to the productions of the daguerreotype than
to those of the portrait-painter, whose lines are at his
command.'1
63 7
MISCELLANEOUS.
CAPTAIN BLOMBERG' S APPARITION.
In the following extraordinary account of an apparition
heard, if not seen, by two persons at once, the exact
locality where the appearance took place is not stated,
but the story is well known and often alluded to, and,
therefore, deserves publication here. The Dr. Blomberg,
to whom the tale refers, is said to have been a celebrated
metropolitan clergyman, in the early part of this cen-
tury. When Blomberg was a boy, his father, Captain
Blomberg, was stationed with his regiment in Mar-
tinique.
One day the Captain was ordered to a distant part of
the island with some important dispatches. The bar-
racks at head-quarters, where the absent man had been
residing, were just then very crowded, and, in con-
sequence, the officers had to share their apartments with
one another, in order that all might be housed within
the barracks. One night, shortly after Blomberg's de-
parture, the door of one of these apartments was heard
638 HAUNTED HOMES.
to open, and the noise awakened the two occupants.
One of them, a friend of the absent Captain, raised
himself in bed, and, to his intense astonishment, beheld
Blomberg approach the bedside, and draw back the mos-
quito curtain.
" Why, Blomberg," said he, " what on earth has
brought you back ? "
Blomberg looked at him for a few seconds, with a
melancholy and abstracted air, but at last said dis-
tinctly—
"I died this night, and I have come to ask you to
take charge of my little orphan boy."
He then gave his friend the address of the child's re-
latives in London, and asked him to have the boy sent
to them at once, adding that the papers necessary to
establish the boy's claims to some property would be
found in a certain drawer which he designated. This
communication made, the visitant departed, closing the
door after him with an audible sound, and leaving the
friend deeply perplexed. Calling out to the occupant
of the other bed, he asked him if he had heard anyone
in the room.
" Yes/' was the reply, " was it not Blomberg ? What
did he want?"
The first officer then asked his companion if he had
not heard what Blomberg had said, but he answered
that he had merely heard the sound of his voice. At
breakfast next day the two officers recounted the extra-
ordinary affair to their companions, and were, of course,
heartily laughed at for their pains. In the evening,
CAPTAIN blombebg's apparition. 639
however, a message arrived that put a speedy stop to
their merriment. Captain Blomberg, so they were in-
formed, having given way to depression of spirits in his
solitude, had fallen into a fever, and, on the very night
and at the very hour in which the apparition had
appeared to his friends, had succumbed to the disorder.
The friend to whom the apparition appeared was
deeply impressed, and noted down the strange communi-
cation which he had received. He sent the boy over to
London, to the stated address, which proved to be that
of the relatives ; and had search made in the drawer
designated by Blomberg's apparition, and there, sure
enough, were found the deeds which proved the child's
title to the property.
This wonderful affair acquired a widespread notoriety
and at last reached the ears of Queen Charlotte. Her
Majesty was greatly interested, and at once ordered the
child to be received into the royal nursery, where,
indeed, he was brought up under the direct care and
superintendence of his royal benefactress.
Dr. Blomberg, it is stated, was remarkably lax in his
ideas of the Sabbath, being so devoted, according to
report, to his fiddling, that he kept a greased bow for
Sunday playing. But it generally follows, whenever
anyone has acquired a reputation for some " uncanny "
connection or the other, rumour attributes all kinds
of unconventional things to him or her.
640 HAUNTED HOMES.
SMELLIE AND GKEENLAW.
Post-mortem assignations are among the most frequent
and best-known form of ghostly visitations. The in-
stances recorded of dead men keeping appointments
made with living friends are so numerous that it is eas'1
to select from them many unimpeachable cases. Sue
a case is that given in the biography of William Smellie,
author of the Philosophy of Natural History. Smellie's
most intimate acquaintance was William Greenlaw, a
man of great probity, and who, after having gone
through the usual theological studies, and taken orders
in the Church of Scotland, for certain conscientious
reasons refused a living when it was offered to him,
and sought his subsistence by teaching the learned
languages.
In the course of their long and close friendship
Smellie and Greenlaw entered into a solemn compact
in writing, and even formally sealed it, and signed it
with their blood, whereby both mutually engaged, that
whoever died first should return, if possible, and give
the survivor an account of the spiritual world. A pro-
viso was made that if the deceased did not return
within the expiration of twelve months, it was to be
concluded that he was unable, or not permitted, to
come back.
Greenlaw died on the 26th of June 1774. When the
anniversary of his death drew near Smellie became exceed-
ingly anxious about the expected visit, and lost several
SMELLIE AND GBEENLAW. 641
successive nights' sleep, in watching for his deceased
friend's reappearance. At last, one evening, worn out
with fatigue. Smellie would appear to have fallen asleep
in his easy chair. The apparition of Greenlaw, clad all
in spectral white, now appeared to him, and in a solemn
tone informed him, " That he had experienced great
•difficulties in procuring permission to return to this
arth, according to their agreement ; that he was now in
a much better world thau the one he had left; and yet
that the hopes and wishes of its inhabitants were by no
means satisfied, as, like those of the lower world, they
still looked forward in the hope of eventually reaching
a still happier state of existence."
This spiritual communication is said to have com-
pletely satisfied William Smellie, and to have quite
removed from his mind all further anxiety on the subject
of the agreement. He related the whole story, and
showed the blood-signed agreement, to the eccentric but
learned Lord Monboddo ; that nobleman observed there
could not be the slightest reasonable doubt or hesi-
tation in believing that Greenlaw did actually appear.
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tra*tions
BF 1475 . 15 1897
Ingram, John Henry, 1842
1916.
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