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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14099-0.txt b/14099-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ab020a --- /dev/null +++ b/14099-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4940 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14099 *** + + TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES + + COMPILED BY + + ST JOHN D. SEYMOUR, B.D. + + AUTHOR OF "IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY" ETC. + + AND + + HARRY L. NELIGAN, D.I.R.I.C. + + 1914 + + + + +TO THREE LIVELY POLTERGEISTS W----, J----, AND G----, THIS BOOK IS +DEDICATED BY THE COMPILERS + + + + +FOREWORD + + +This book had its origin on this wise. In my _Irish Witchcraft and +Demonology_, published in October 1913, I inserted a couple of famous +17th century ghost stories which described how lawsuits were set on foot +at the instigation of most importunate spirits. It then occurred to me +that as far as I knew there was no such thing in existence as a book of +Irish ghost stories. Books on Irish fairy and folk-lore there were in +abundance--some of which could easily be spared--but there was no book of +ghosts. And so I determined to supply this sad omission. + +In accordance with the immortal recipe for making hare-soup I had first +to obtain my ghost stories. Where was I to get them from? For myself I +knew none worth publishing, nor had I ever had any strange experiences, +while I feared that my friends and acquaintances were in much the +same predicament. Suddenly a brilliant thought struck me. I wrote out a +letter, stating exactly what I wanted, and what I did _not_ want, and +requesting the readers of it either to forward me ghost stories, or else +to put me in the way of getting them: this letter was sent to the +principal Irish newspapers on October 27, and published on October 29, +and following days. + +I confess I was a little doubtful as to the result of my experiment, and +wondered what response the people of Ireland would make to a letter which +might place a considerable amount of trouble on their shoulders. My mind +was speedily set at rest. On October 30, the first answers reached me. +Within a fortnight I had sufficient material to make a book; within a +month I had so much material that I could pick and choose--and more was +promised. Further on in this preface I give a list of those persons whose +contributions I have made use of, but here I should like to take the +opportunity of thanking all those ladies and gentlemen throughout the +length and breadth of Ireland, the majority of whom were utter strangers +to me, who went to the trouble of sitting down and writing out page after +page of stories. I cannot forget their kindness, and I am only sorry that +I could not make use of more of the matter that was sent to me. As one +would expect, this material varied in value and extent. Some persons +contributed incidents, of little use by themselves, but which worked in +as helpful illustrations, while others forwarded budgets of stories, +long and short. To sift the mass of matter, and bring the various +portions of it into proper sequence, would have been a lengthy and +difficult piece of work had I not been ably assisted by Mr. Harry L. +Neligan, D.I.; but I leave it as a pleasant task to the Higher Critic to +discover what portions of the book were done by him, and what should be +attributed to me. + +Some of the replies that reached me were sufficiently amusing. One +gentleman, who carefully signed himself "Esquire," informed me that he +was "after" reading a great book of ghost stories, but several letters of +mine failed to elicit any subsequent information. Another person offered +to _sell_ me ghost stories, while several proffered tales that had been +worked up comically. One lady addressed a card to me as follows: + +"THE REVD. ---- + +(Name and address lost of the clergyman whose letter appeared lately in +_Irish Times, re_ "apparitions") + +CAPPAWHITE." + +As the number of clergy in the above village who deal in ghost stories is +strictly limited, the Post Office succeeded in delivering it safely. I +wrote at once in reply, and got a story. In a letter bearing the Dublin +postmark a correspondent, veiled in anonymity, sent me a religious tract +with the curt note, "_Re_ ghost stories, will you please read this." I +did so, but still fail to see the sender's point of view. Another person +in a neighbouring parish declared that if I were their rector they would +forthwith leave my church, and attend service elsewhere. There are many, +I fear, who adopt this attitude; but it will soon become out of date. + +Some of my readers may cavil at the expression, "_True_ Ghost Stories." +For myself I cannot guarantee the genuineness of a single incident in +this book--how could I, as none of them are my own personal experience? +This at least I _can_ vouch for, that the majority of the stories were +sent to me as first or second-hand experiences by ladies and gentlemen +whose statement on an ordinary matter of fact would be accepted without +question. And further, in order to prove the _bona fides_ of this book, I +make the following offer. The original letters and documents are in my +custody at Donohil Rectory, and I am perfectly willing to allow any +responsible person to examine them, subject to certain restrictions, +these latter obviously being that names of people and places must not be +divulged, for I regret to say that in very many instances my +correspondents have laid this burden upon me. This is to be the more +regretted, because the use of blanks, or fictitious initials, makes +a story appear much less convincing than if real names had been employed. + +Just one word. I can imagine some of my readers (to be numbered by the +thousand, I hope) saying to themselves: "Oh! Mr. Seymour has left out +some of the best stories. Did he never hear of such-and-such a haunted +house, or place?" Or, "I could relate an experience better than anything +he has got." If such there be, may I beg of them to send me on their +stories with all imagined speed, as they may be turned to account at +some future date. + +I beg to return thanks to the following for permission to make use of +matter in their publications: Messrs. Sealy, Bryers, and Walker, +proprietors of the _New Ireland Review_; the editor of the _Review of +Reviews_; the editor of the _Proceedings_ of the Society for Psychical +Research; the editor of the _Journal_ of the American S.P.R.; the editor +of the _Occult Review_, and Mr. Elliott O'Donnell; Messrs. Longmans, +Green and Co., and Mrs. Andrew Lang; the editor of the _Wide World +Magazine_; the representatives of the late Rev. Dr. Craig. + +In accordance with the promise made in my letter, I have now much +pleasure in giving the names of the ladies and gentlemen who have +contributed to, or assisted in, the compilation of this book, and as well +to assure them that Mr. Neligan and I are deeply grateful to them for +their kindness. + +Mrs. S. Acheson, Drumsna, Co. Roscommon; Mrs. M. Archibald, Cliftonville +Road, Belfast; J.J. Burke, Esq., U.D.C., Rahoon, Galway; Capt. R. +Beamish, Passage West, Co. Cork; Mrs. A. Bayly, Woodenbridge, Co. +Wicklow; R. Blair, Esq., South Shields; Jas. Byrne, Esq., +Castletownroche, Co. Cork; Mrs. Kearney Brooks, Killarney; H. Buchanan, +Esq., Inishannon, Co. Cork; J.A. Barlow, Esq., Bray, Co. Wicklow; J. +Carton, Esq., King's Inns Library, Dublin; Miss A. Cooke, Cappagh House, +Co. Limerick; J.P.V. Campbell, Esq. _Solicitor_, Dublin; Rev. E.G.S. +Crosthwait, M.A., Littleton, Thurles; J. Crowley, Esq., Munster and +Leinster Bank, Cashel; Miss C.M. Doyle, Ashfield Road, Dublin; J. Ralph +Dagg, Esq., Baltinglass; Gerald A. Dillon, Esq., Wicklow; Matthias and +Miss Nan Fitzgerald, Cappagh House, Co. Limerick; Lord Walter Fitzgerald, +Kilkea Castle; Miss Finch, Rushbrook, Co. Cork; Rev. H.R.B. Gillespie, +M.A., Aghacon Rectory, Roscrea; Miss Grene, Grene Park, Co. Tipperary; +L.H. Grubb, Esq. J.P., D.L., Ardmayle, Co. Tipperary; H. Keble Gelston, +Esq., Letterkenny; Ven. J.A. Haydn, LL.D., Archdeacon of Limerick; Miss +Dorothy Hamilton, Portarlington; Richard Hogan, Esq., Bowman St., +Limerick; Mrs. G. Kelly, Rathgar, Dublin; Miss Keefe, Carnahallia, Doon; +Rev. D.B. Knox, Whitehead, Belfast; Rev. J.D. Kidd, M.A., Castlewellan; +E.B. de Lacy, Esq., Marlboro' Road, Dublin; Miss K. Lloyd, Shinrone, +King's Co.; Canon Lett, M.A., Aghaderg Rectory; T. MacFadden, Esq., +Carrigart, Co. Donegal; Wm. Mackey, Esq., Strabane; Canon Courtenay +Moore, M.A., Mitchelstown, Co. Cork; J. McCrossan, Esq., _Journalist_, +Strabane; G.H. Miller, Esq., J.P., Edgeworthstown; Mrs. P.C.F. Magee, +Dublin; Rev. R.D. Paterson, B.A., Ardmore Rectory; E.A. Phelps, Esq., +Trinity College Library; Mrs. Pratt, Munster and Leinster Bank, +Rathkeale; Miss Pim, Monkstown, Co. Dublin; Miss B. Parker, Passage West, +Co. Cork; Henry Reay, Esq., Harold's Cross, Dublin; M.J. Ryan, Esq., +Taghmon, Co. Wexford; P. Ryan, Esq., Nicker, Pallasgrean; Canon +Ross-Lewin, Kilmurry, Limerick; Miss A. Russell, Elgin Road, Dublin; +Lt.-Col. the Hon. F. Shore, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny; Mrs. Seymour, +Donohil Rectory; Mrs. E.L. Stritch, North Great Georges St., Dublin; +M.C.R. Stritch, Esq., Belturbet; Very Rev. the Dean of St. Patrick's. +D.D.; Mrs. Spratt, Thurles; W.S. Thompson, Esq., Inishannon, Co. Cork; +Mrs, Thomas, Sandycove, Dublin; Mrs. Walker, Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry; Miss +Wolfe, Skibbereen, Co. Cork; Mrs. E. Welsh, Nenagh; T.J. Westropp, Esq., +M.A., M.R.I.A., Sandymount, Dublin; Mrs. M.A. Wilkins, Rathgar, Dublin; +John Ward, Esq., Ballymote; Mrs. Wrench, Ballybrack, Co. Dublin; Miss +K.E. Younge, Upper Oldtown, Rathdowney. + +ST. JOHN D. SEYMOUR. + +DONOHIL RECTORY, + +CAPPAWHITE, TIPPERARY, +_February 2_, 1914. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + I. HAUNTED HOUSES IN OR NEAR DUBLIN + II. HAUNTED HOUSES IN CONN'S HALF + III. HAUNTED HOUSES IN MOGH'S HALF + IV. POLTERGEISTS + V. HAUNTED PLACES + VI. APPARITIONS AT OR AFTER DEATH + VII. BANSHEES, AND OTHER DEATH-WARNINGS +VIII. MISCELLANEOUS SUPERNORMAL EXPERIENCES + IX. LEGENDARY AND ANCESTRAL GHOSTS + X. MISTAKEN IDENTITY--CONCLUSION + + + + +TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HAUNTED HOUSES IN OR NEAR DUBLIN + + +Of all species of ghostly phenomena, that commonly known as "haunted +houses" appeals most to the ordinary person. There is something very +eerie in being shut up within the four walls of a house with a ghost. The +poor human being is placed at such a disadvantage. If we know that a +gateway, or road, or field has the reputation of being haunted, we can in +nearly every case make a detour, and so avoid the unpleasant locality. +But the presence of a ghost in a house creates a very different state of +affairs. It appears and disappears at its own sweet will, with a total +disregard for our feelings: it seems to be as much part and parcel of the +domicile as the staircase or the hall door, and, consequently, nothing +short of leaving the house or of pulling it down (both of these solutions +are not always practicable) will free us absolutely from the unwelcome +presence. + +There is also something so natural, and at the same time so unnatural, in +seeing a door open when we know that no human hand rests on the knob, or +in hearing the sound of footsteps, light or heavy, and feeling that it +cannot be attributed to the feet of mortal man or woman. Or perhaps a +form appears in a room, standing, sitting, or walking--in fact, situated +in its three dimensions apparently as an ordinary being of flesh and +blood, until it proves its unearthly nature by vanishing before our +astonished eyes. Or perhaps we are asleep in bed. The room is shrouded +in darkness, and our recumbent attitude, together with the weight of +bed-clothes, hampers our movements and probably makes us more cowardly. A +man will meet pain or danger boldly if he be standing upright--occupying +that erect position which is his as Lord of Creation; but his courage +does not well so high if he be supine. We are awakened suddenly by the +feel that some superhuman Presence is in the room. We are transfixed with +terror, we cannot find either the bell-rope or the matches, while we +_dare_ not leap out of bed and make a rush for the door lest we should +encounter we know not what. In an agony of fear, we feel it moving +towards us; it approaches closer, and yet closer, to the bed, and--for +what may or may not then happen we must refer our readers to the pages of +this book. + +But the sceptical reader will say: "This is all very well, but--there are +_no_ haunted houses. All these alleged strange happenings are due to a +vivid imagination, or else to rats and mice." (The question of deliberate +and conscious fraud may be rejected in almost every instance.) This +simple solution has been put forward so often that it should infallibly +have solved the problem long ago. But will such a reader explain how it +is that the noise made by rats and mice can resemble slow, heavy +footsteps, or else take the form of a human being seen by several +persons; or how our imagination can cause doors to open and shut, or else +create a conglomeration of noises which, physically, would be beyond the +power of ordinary individuals to reproduce? Whatever may be the ultimate +explanation, we feel that there is a great deal in the words quoted by +Professor Barrett: "In spite of all reasonable scepticism, it is +difficult to avoid accepting, at least provisionally, the conclusion that +there are, in a certain sense, haunted houses, _i.e._ that there are +houses in which similar quasi-human apparitions have occurred at +different times to different inhabitants, under circumstances which +exclude the hypothesis of suggestion or expectation." + +We must now turn to the subject of this chapter. Mrs. G. Kelly, a lady +well known in musical circles in Dublin, sends as her own personal +experience the following tale of a most quiet haunting, in which the +spectral charwoman (!) does not seem to have entirely laid aside all her +mundane habits. + +"My first encounter with a ghost occurred about twenty years ago. On that +occasion I was standing in the kitchen of my house in ---- Square, when a +woman, whom I was afterwards to see many times, walked down the stairs +into the room. Having heard the footsteps outside, I was not in the least +perturbed, but turned to look who it was, and found myself looking at a +tall, stout, elderly woman, wearing a bonnet and old-fashioned mantle. +She had grey hair, and a benign and amiable expression. We stood gazing +at each other while one could count twenty. At first I was not at all +frightened, but gradually as I stood looking at her an uncomfortable +feeling, increasing to terror, came over me. This caused me to retreat +farther and farther back, until I had my back against the wall, and then +the apparition slowly faded. + +"This feeling of terror, due perhaps to the unexpectedness of her +appearance, always overcame me on the subsequent occasions on which I +saw her. These occasions numbered twelve or fifteen, and I have seen her +in every room in the house, and at every hour of the day, during a period +of about ten years. The last time she appeared was ten years ago. My +husband and I had just returned from a concert at which he had been +singing, and we sat for some time over supper, talking about the events +of the evening. When at last I rose to leave the room, and opened the +dining-room door, I found my old lady standing on the mat outside with +her head bent towards the door in the attitude of listening. I called +out loudly, and my husband rushed to my side. That was the last time I +have seen her." + +"One peculiarity of this spectral visitant was a strong objection to +disorder or untidyness of any kind, or even to an alteration in the +general routine of the house. For instance, she showed her disapproval of +any stranger coming to sleep by turning the chairs face downwards on the +floor in the room they were to occupy. I well remember one of our guests, +having gone to his room one evening for something he had forgotten, +remarking on coming downstairs again, 'Well, you people have an +extraordinary manner of arranging your furniture! I have nearly broken my +bones over one of the bedroom chairs which was turned down on the floor.' +As my husband and I had restored that chair twice already to its proper +position during the day, we were not much surprised at his remarks, +although we did not enlighten him. The whole family have been disturbed +by a peculiar knocking which occurred in various rooms in the house, +frequently on the door or wall, but sometimes on the furniture, quite +close to where we had been sitting. This was evidently loud enough to be +heard in the next house, for our next-door neighbour once asked my +husband why he selected such curious hours for hanging his pictures. +Another strange and fairly frequent occurrence was the following. I had +got a set of skunk furs which I fancied had an unpleasant odour, as this +fur sometimes has; and at night I used to take it from my wardrobe and +lay it on a chair in the drawing-room, which was next my bedroom. The +first time that I did this, on going to the drawing-room I found, to my +surprise, my muff in one corner and my stole in another. Not for a moment +suspecting a supernatural agent, I asked my servant about it, and she +assured me that she had not been in the room that morning. Whereupon I +determined to test the matter, which I did by putting in the furs late at +night, and taking care that I was the first to enter the room in the +morning. I invariably found that they had been disturbed." + +The following strange and pathetic incident occurred in a well-known +Square in the north side of the city. In or about a hundred years ago a +young officer was ordered to Dublin, and took a house there for himself +and his family. He sent on his wife and two children, intending to join +them in the course of a few days. When the latter and the nurse arrived, +they found only the old charwoman in the house, and she left shortly +after their arrival. Finding that something was needed, the nurse went +out to purchase it. On her return she asked the mother were the children +all right, as she had seen two ghostly forms flit past her on the +door-step! The mother answered that she believed they were, but on going +up to the nursery they found both the children with their throats cut. +The murderer was never brought to justice, and no motive was ever +discovered for the crime. The unfortunate mother went mad, and it is said +that an eerie feeling still clings to the house, while two little heads +are sometimes seen at the window of the room where the deed was +committed. + +A most weird experience fell to the lot of Major Macgregor, and was +contributed by him to _Real Ghost Stories_, the celebrated Christmas +number of the _Review of Reviews_. He says: "In the end of 1871 I went +over to Ireland to visit a relative living in a Square in the north side +of Dublin. In January 1872 the husband of my relative fell ill. I sat up +with him for several nights, and at last, as he seemed better, I went to +bed, and directed the footman to call me if anything went wrong. I soon +fell asleep, but some time after was awakened by a push on the left +shoulder. I started up, and said, 'Is there anything wrong?' I got no +answer, but immediately received another push. I got annoyed, and said +'Can you not speak, man! and tell me if there is anything wrong.' Still +no answer, and I had a feeling I was going to get another push when I +suddenly turned round and caught a human hand, warm, plump, and soft. I +said, 'Who are you?' but I got no answer. I then tried to pull the person +towards me, but could not do so. I then said, 'I _will_ know who you +are!' and having the hand tight in my right hand, with my left I felt the +wrist and arm, enclosed, as it seemed to me, in a tight-fitting sleeve of +some winter material with a linen cuff, but when I got to the elbow all +trace of an arm ceased. I was so astounded that I let the hand go, and +just then the clock struck two. Including the mistress of the house, +there were five females in the establishment, and I can assert that the +hand belonged to none of them. When I reported the adventure, the +servants exclaimed, 'Oh, it must have been the master's old Aunt Betty, +who lived for many years in the upper part of that house, and had died +over fifty years before at a great age.' I afterwards heard that the room +in which I felt the hand had been considered haunted, and very curious +noises and peculiar incidents occurred, such as the bed-clothes torn off, +&c. One lady got a slap in the face from some invisible hand, and when +she lit her candle she saw as if something opaque fell or jumped off +the bed. A general officer, a brother of the lady, slept there two +nights, but preferred going to a hotel to remaining the third night. He +never would say what he heard or saw, but always said the room was +uncanny. I slept for months in the room afterwards, and was never in the +least disturbed." + +A truly terrifying sight was witnessed by a clergyman in a school-house a +good many years ago. This cleric was curate of a Dublin parish, but +resided with his parents some distance out of town in the direction of +Malahide. It not infrequently happened that he had to hold meetings in +the evenings, and on such occasions, as his home was so far away, and as +the modern convenience of tramcars was not then known, he used to sleep +in the schoolroom, a large bare room, where the meetings were held. He +had made a sleeping-apartment for himself by placing a pole across one +end of the room, on which he had rigged up two curtains which, when drawn +together, met in the middle. One night he had been holding some meeting, +and when everybody had left he locked up the empty schoolhouse, and went +to bed. It was a bright moonlight night, and every object could be seen +perfectly clearly. Scarcely had he got into bed when he became conscious +of some invisible presence. Then he saw the curtains agitated at one end, +as if hands were grasping them on the outside. In an agony of terror he +watched these hands groping along outside the curtains till they reached +the middle. The curtains were then drawn a little apart, and a Face +peered in--an awful, evil Face, with an expression of wickedness and hate +upon it which no words could describe. It looked at him for a few +moments, then drew back again, and the curtains closed. The clergyman +had sufficient courage left to leap out of bed and make a thorough +examination of the room, but, as he expected, he found no one. He dressed +himself as quickly as possible, walked home, and never again slept a +night in that schoolroom. + +The following tale, sent by Mr. E. B. de Lacy, contains a most +extraordinary and unsatisfactory element of mystery. He says: "When I was +a boy I lived in the suburbs, and used to come in every morning to school +in the city. My way lay through a certain street in which stood a very +dismal semi-detached house, which, I might say, was closed up regularly +about every six months. I would see new tenants coming into it, and then +in a few months it would be 'To let' again. This went on for eight or +nine years, and I often wondered what was the reason. On inquiring one +day from a friend, I was told that it had the reputation of being +haunted. + +"A few years later I entered business in a certain office, and one day it +fell to my lot to have to call on the lady who at that particular period +was the tenant of the haunted house. When we had transacted our business +she informed me that she was about to leave. Knowing the reputation of +the house, and being desirous of investigating a ghost-story, I asked her +if she would give me the history of the house as far as she knew it, +which she very kindly did as follows: + +"About forty years ago the house was left by will to a gentleman +named ----. He lived in it for a short time, when he suddenly went mad, +and had to be put in an asylum. Upon this his agents let the house to a +lady. Apparently nothing unusual happened for some time, but a few months +later, as she went down one morning to a room behind the kitchen, she +found the cook hanging by a rope attached to a hook in the ceiling. After +the inquest the lady gave up the house. + +"It was then closed up for some time, but was again advertised 'To let,' +and a caretaker, a woman, was put into it. One night about one o'clock, a +constable going his rounds heard some one calling for help from the +house, and found the caretaker on the sill of one of the windows holding +on as best she could. He told her to go in and open the hall door and let +him in, but she refused to enter the room again. He forced open the door +and succeeded in dragging the woman back into the room, only to find she +had gone mad. + +"Again the house was shut up, and again it was let, this time to a lady, +on a five-years' lease. However, after a few months' residence, she +locked it up, and went away. On her friends asking her why she did so, +she replied that she would rather pay the whole five years' rent than +live in it herself, or allow anyone else to do so, but would give no +other reason. + +"'I believe I was the next person to take this house,' said the lady who +narrated the story to me (_i.e._ Mr. de Lacy). 'I took it about eighteen +months ago on a three years' lease in the hopes of making money by taking +in boarders, but I am now giving it up because none of them will stay +more than a week or two. They do not give any definite reason as to why +they are leaving; they are careful to state that it is not because they +have any fault to find with me or my domestic arrangements, but they +merely say _they do not like the rooms_! The rooms themselves, as you can +see, are good, spacious, and well lighted. I have had all classes of +professional men; one of the last was a barrister, and he said that he +had no fault to find except that _he did not like the rooms_! I myself do +not believe in ghosts, and I have never seen anything strange here or +elsewhere; and if I had known the house had the reputation of being +haunted, I would never have rented it." + +Marsh's library, that quaint, old-world repository of ponderous tomes, is +reputed to be haunted by the ghost of its founder, Primate Narcissus +Marsh. He is said to frequent the inner gallery, which contains what was +formerly his own private library: he moves in and out among the cases, +taking down books from the shelves, and occasionally throwing them down +on the reader's desk as if in anger. However, he always leaves things in +perfect order. The late Mr. ----, who for some years lived in the +librarian's rooms underneath, was a firm believer in this ghost, and said +he frequently heard noises which could only be accounted for by the +presence of a nocturnal visitor; the present tenant is more sceptical. +The story goes that Marsh's niece eloped from the Palace, and was married +in a tavern to the curate of Chapelizod. She is reported to have written +a note consenting to the elopement, and to have then placed it in one of +her uncle's books to which her lover had access, and where he found it. +As a punishment for his lack of vigilance, the Archbishop is said to be +condemned to hunt for the note until he find it--hence the ghost. + +The ghost of a deceased Canon was seen in one of the Dublin cathedrals +by several independent witnesses, one of whom, a lady, gives her own +experience as follows: "Canon ---- was a personal friend of mine, and +we had many times discussed ghosts and spiritualism, in which he was a +profound believer, having had many supernatural experiences himself. +It was during the Sunday morning service in the cathedral that I saw +my friend, who had been dead for two years, sitting inside the +communion-rails. I was so much astonished at the flesh-and blood +appearance of the figure that I took off my glasses and wiped them with +my handkerchief, at the same time looking away from him down the church. +On looking back again he was still there, and continued to sit there for +about ten or twelve minutes, after which he faded away. I remarked a +change in his personal appearance, which was, that his beard was longer +and whiter than when I had known him--in fact, such a change as would +have occurred _in life_ in the space of two years. Having told my +husband of the occurrence on our way home, he remembered having heard +some talk of an appearance of this clergyman in the cathedral since his +death. He hurried back to the afternoon service, and asked the robestress +if anybody had seen Canon ----'s ghost. She informed him that _she_ had, +and that he had also been seen by one of the sextons in the cathedral. I +mention this because in describing his personal appearance she had +remarked the same change as I had with regard to the beard." + +Some years ago a family had very uncanny experiences in a house in +Rathgar, and subsequently in another in Rathmines. These were +communicated by one of the young ladies to Mrs. M. A. Wilkins, who +published them in the _Journal_ of the American S.P.R.,[1] from which +they are here taken. The Rathgar house had a basement passage leading to +a door into the yard, and along this passage her mother and the children +used to hear dragging, limping steps, and the latch of the door rattling, +but no one could ever be found when search was made. The house-bells were +old and all in a row, and on one occasion they all rang, apparently of +their own accord. The lady narrator used to sleep in the back drawing +room, and always when the light was put out she heard strange noises, as +if some one was going round the room rubbing paper along the wall, while +she often had the feeling that a person was standing beside her bed. A +cousin, who was a nurse, once slept with her, and also noticed these +strange noises. On one occasion this room was given up to a very +matter-of-fact young man to sleep in, and next morning he said that the +room was very strange, with queer noises in it. + +[Footnote 1: For September 1913.] + +Her mother also had an extraordinary experience in the same house. One +evening she had just put the baby to bed, when she heard a voice calling +"mother." She left the bedroom, and called to her daughter, who was in a +lower room, "What do you want?" But the girl replied that she had _not_ +called her; and then, in her turn, asked her mother if _she_ had been in +the front room, for she had just heard a noise as if some one was trying +to fasten the inside bars of the shutters across. But her mother had been +upstairs, and no one was in the front room. The experiences in the +Rathmines house were of a similar auditory nature, _i.e._ the young +ladies heard their names called, though it was found that no one in the +house had done so. + +Occasionally it happens that ghosts inspire a law-suit. In the +seventeenth century they were to be found actively urging the adoption of +legal proceedings, but in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries they +play a more passive part. A case about a haunted house took place in +Dublin in the year 1885, in which the ghost may be said to have won. A +Mr. Waldron, a solicitor's clerk, sued his next-door neighbour, one +Mr. Kiernan, a mate in the merchant service, to recover £500 for damages +done to his house. + +Kiernan altogether denied the charges, but asserted that Waldron's house +was notoriously haunted. Witnesses proved that every night, from August +1884 to January 1885, stones were thrown at the windows and doors, and +extraordinary and inexplicable occurrences constantly took place. + +Mrs. Waldron, wife of the plaintiff, swore that one night she saw one of +the panes of glass of a certain window cut through with a diamond, and a +white hand inserted through the hole. She at once caught up a bill-hook +and aimed a blow at the hand, cutting off one of the fingers. This finger +could not be found, nor were any traces of blood seen. + +A servant of hers was sorely persecuted by noises and the sound of +footsteps. Mr. Waldron, with the aid of detectives and policemen, +endeavoured to find out the cause, but with no success. The witnesses +in the case were closely cross-examined, but without shaking their +testimony. The facts appeared to be proved, so the jury found for +Kiernan, the defendant. At least twenty persons had testified on oath to +the fact that the house had been known to have been haunted.[2] + +[Footnote 2: See _Sights and Shadows_, p. 42 ff.] + +Before leaving the city and its immediate surroundings, we must relate +the story of an extraordinary ghost, somewhat lacking in good manners, +yet not without a certain distorted sense of humour. Absolutely +incredible though the tale may seem, yet it comes on very good authority. +It was related to our informant, Mr. D., by a Mrs. C., whose daughter he +had employed as governess. Mrs. C., who is described as "a woman of +respectable position and good education," heard it in her turn from her +father and mother. In the story the relationship of the different persons +seems a little involved, but it would appear that the initial A belongs +to the surname both of Mrs. C.'s father and grandfather. + +This ghost was commonly called "Corney" by the family, and he answered to +this though it was not his proper name. He disclosed this latter to Mr. +C.'s mother, who forgot it. Corney made his presence manifest to the +A---- family shortly after they had gone to reside in ---- Street in the +following manner. Mr. A---- had sprained his knee badly, and had to use a +crutch, which at night was left at the head of his bed. One night his +wife heard some one walking on the lobby, thump, thump, thump, as if +imitating Mr. A----. She struck a match to see if the crutch had been +removed from the head of the bed, but it was still there. + +From that on Corney commenced to talk, and he spoke every day from his +usual habitat, the coal-cellar off the kitchen. His voice sounded as if +it came out of an empty barrel. + +He was very troublesome, and continually played practical jokes on the +servants, who, as might be expected, were in terror of their lives of +him; so much so that Mrs. A---- could hardly induce them to stay with +her. They used to sleep in a press-bed in the kitchen, and in order to +get away from Corney, they asked for a room at the top of the house, +which was given to them. Accordingly the press-bed was moved up there. +The first night they went to retire to bed after the change, the doors of +the press were flung open, and Corney's voice said, "Ha! ha! you devils, +I am here before you! I am not confined to any particular part of this +house." + +Corney was continually tampering with the doors, and straining locks +and keys. He only manifested himself in material form to two persons; +to ----, who died with the fright, and to Mr. A---- (Mrs. C.'s father) +when he was about seven years old. The latter described him to his mother +as a naked man, with a curl on his forehead, and a skin like a +clothes-horse(!). + +One day a servant was preparing fish for dinner. She laid it on the +kitchen table while she went elsewhere for something she wanted. When she +returned the fish had disappeared. She thereupon began to cry, fearing +she would be accused of making away with it. The next thing she heard was +the voice of Corney from the coal-cellar saying, "There, you blubbering +fool, is your fish for you!" and, suiting the action to the word, the +fish was thrown out on the kitchen floor. + +Relatives from the country used to bring presents of vegetables, and +these were often hung up by Corney like Christmas decorations round the +kitchen. There was one particular press in the kitchen he would not allow +anything into. He would throw it out again. A crock with meat in pickle +was put into it, and a fish placed on the cover of the crock. He threw +the fish out. + +Silver teaspoons were missing, and no account of them could be got until +Mrs. A---- asked Corney to confess if he had done anything with them. He +said, "They are under the ticking in the servants' bed." He had, so he +said, a daughter in ---- Street, and sometimes announced that he was +going to see her, and would not be here to-night. + +On one occasion he announced that he was going to have "company" that +evening, and if they wanted any water out of the soft-water tank, to take +it before going to bed, as he and his friends would be using it. +Subsequently that night five or six distinct voices were heard, and next +morning the water in the tank was as black as ink, and not alone that, +but the bread and butter in the pantry were streaked with the marks of +sooty fingers. + +A clergyman in the locality, having heard of the doings of Corney, called +to investigate the matter. He was advised by Mrs. A---- to keep quiet, +and not to reveal his identity, as being the best chance of hearing +Corney speak. He waited a long time, and as the capricious Corney +remained silent, he left at length. The servants asked, "Corney, why did +you not speak?" and he replied, "I could not speak while that good man +was in the house." The servants sometimes used to ask him where he was. +He would reply, "The Great God would not permit me to tell you. I was a +bad man, and I died the death." He named the room in the house in which +he died. + +Corney constantly joined in any conversation carried on by the people of +the house. One could never tell when a voice from the coal-cellar would +erupt into the dialogue. He had his likes and dislikes: he appeared to +dislike anyone that was not afraid of him, and would not talk to them. +Mrs. C.'s mother, however, used to get good of him by coaxing. An uncle, +having failed to get him to speak one night, took the kitchen poker, and +hammered at the door of the coal-cellar, saying, "I'll make you speak"; +but Corney wouldn't. Next morning the poker was found broken in two. This +uncle used to wear spectacles, and Corney used to call him derisively, +"Four-eyes." An uncle named Richard came to sleep one night, and +complained in the morning that the clothes were pulled off him. Corney +told the servants in great glee, "I slept on Master Richard's feet all +night." + +Finally Mr. A---- made several attempts to dispose of his lease, but with +no success, for when intending purchasers were being shown over the house +and arrived at Corney's domain, the spirit would begin to speak and +the would-be purchaser would fly. They asked him if they changed house +would he trouble them. He replied, "No! but if they throw down this +house, I will trouble the stones." + +At last Mrs. A---- appealed to him to keep quiet, and not to injure +people who had never injured him. He promised that he would do so, and +then said, "Mrs. A----, you will be all right now, for I see a lady in +black coming up the street to this house, and she will buy it." Within +half an hour a widow called and purchased the house. Possibly Corney is +still there, for our informant looked up the Directory as he was writing, +and found the house marked "Vacant." + +Near Blanchardstown, Co. Dublin, is a house, occupied at present, or up +to very recently, by a private family; it was formerly a monastery, and +there are said to be secret passages in it. Once a servant ironing in the +kitchen saw the figure of a nun approach the kitchen window and look in. +Our informant was also told by a friend (now dead), who had it from the +lady of the house, that once night falls, no doors can be kept closed. +If anyone shuts them, almost immediately they are flung open again with +the greatest violence and apparent anger. If left open there is no +trouble or noise, but light footsteps are heard, and there is a vague +feeling of people passing to and fro. The persons inhabiting the house +are matter-of-fact, unimaginative people, who speak of this as if it were +an everyday affair. "So long as we leave the doors unclosed they don't +harm us: why should we be afraid of them?" Mrs. ---- said. Truly a most +philosophical attitude to adopt! + +A haunted house in Kingstown, Co. Dublin, was investigated by Professor +W. Barrett and Professor Henry Sidgwick. The story is singularly well +attested (as one might expect from its being inserted in the pages of the +_Proceedings S.P.R._[3]), as the apparition was seen on three distinct +occasions, and by three separate persons who were all personally known to +the above gentlemen. The house in which the following occurrences took +place is described as being a very old one, with unusually thick walls. +The lady saw her strange visitant in her bedroom. She says: "Disliking +cross-lights, I had got into the habit of having the blind of the back +window drawn and the shutters closed at night, and of leaving the blind +raised and the shutters opened towards the front, liking to see the trees +and sky when I awakened. Opening my eyes now one morning, I saw right +before me (this occurred in July 1873) the figure of a woman, stooping +down and apparently looking at me. Her head and shoulders were wrapped in +a common woollen shawl; her arms were folded, and they were also wrapped, +as if for warmth, in the shawl. I looked at her in my horror, and dared +not cry out lest I might move the awful thing to speech or action. Behind +her head I saw the window and the growing dawn, the looking-glass upon +the toilet-table, and the furniture in that part of the room. After what +may have been only seconds--of the duration of this vision I cannot +judge--she raised herself and went backwards towards the window, stood at +the toilet-table, and gradually vanished. I mean she grew by degrees +transparent, and that through the shawl and the grey dress she wore I saw +the white muslin of the table-cover again, and at last saw that only in +the place where she had stood." The lady lay motionless with terror until +the servant came to call her. The only other occupants of the house at +the time were her brother and the servant, to neither of whom did she +make any mention of the circumstance, fearing that the former would laugh +at her, and the latter give notice. + +[Footnote 3: July 1884, p. 141.] + +Exactly a fortnight later, when sitting at breakfast, she noticed +that her brother seemed out of sorts, and did not eat. On asking +him if anything were the matter, he answered, "I have had a horrid +nightmare--indeed it was no nightmare: I saw it early this morning, just +as distinctly as I see you." "What?" she asked. "A villainous-looking +hag," he replied, "with her head and arms wrapped in a cloak, stooping +over me, and looking like this--" He got up, folded his arms, and put +himself in the exact posture of the vision. Whereupon she informed him of +what she herself had seen a fortnight previously. + +About four years later, in the same month, the lady's married sister and +two children were alone in the house. The eldest child, a boy of about +four or five years, asked for a drink, and his mother went to fetch it, +desiring him to remain in the dining-room until her return. Coming back +she met the boy pale and trembling, and on asking him why he left the +room, he replied, "Who is that woman--who is that woman?" "Where?" she +asked. "That old woman who went upstairs," he replied. So agitated was +he, that she took him by the hand and went upstairs to search, but no one +was to be found, though he still maintained that a woman went upstairs. A +friend of the family subsequently told them that a woman had been killed +in the house many years previously, and that it was reported to be +haunted. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +HAUNTED HOUSES IN CONN'S HALF + + +From a very early period a division of Ireland into two "halves" +existed. This was traditionally believed to have been made by Conn +the Hundred-fighter and Mogh Nuadat, in A.D. 166. The north was in +consequence known as Conn's Half, the south as Mogh's Half, the line of +division being a series of gravel hills extending from Dublin to Galway. +This division we have followed, except that we have included the whole +of the counties of West Meath and Galway in the northern portion. We had +hoped originally to have had _four_ chapters on Haunted Houses, one for +each of the four provinces, but, for lack of material from Connaught, we +have been forced to adopt the plan on which Chapters I-III are arranged. + +Mrs. Acheson, of Co. Roscommon, sends the following: "Emo House, Co. +Westmeath, a very old mansion since pulled down, was purchased by my +grandfather for his son, my father. The latter had only been living in it +for a few days when knocking commenced at the hall door. Naturally he +thought it was someone playing tricks, or endeavouring to frighten him +away. One night he had the lobby window open directly over the door. The +knocking commenced, and he looked out: it was a very bright night, and as +there was no porch he could see the door distinctly; the knocking +continued, but he did not see the knocker move. Another night he sat up +expecting his brother, but as the latter did not come he went to bed. +Finally the knocking became so loud and insistent that he felt sure his +brother must have arrived. He went downstairs and opened the door, but no +one was there. Still convinced that his brother was there and had gone +round to the yard to put up his horse, he went out; but scarcely had he +gone twenty yards from the door when the knocking recommenced behind his +back. On turning round he could see no one." + +"After this the knocking got very bad, so much so that he could not rest. +All this time he did not mention the strange occurrence to anyone. One +morning he went up through the fields between four and five o'clock. To +his surprise he found the herd out feeding the cattle. My father asked +him why he was up so early. He replied that he could not sleep. 'Why?' +asked my father. 'You know why yourself, sir--the knocking.' He then +found that this man had heard it all the time, though he slept at the end +of a long house. My father was advised to take no notice of it, for it +would go as it came, though at this time it was continuous and very loud; +and so it did. The country people said it was the late resident who could +not rest." + +"We had another curious and most eerie experience in this house. A former +rector was staying the night with us, and as the evening wore on we +commenced to tell ghost-stories. He related some remarkable experiences, +and as we were talking the drawing-room door suddenly opened as wide as +possible, and then slowly closed again. It was a calm night, and at any +rate it was a heavy double door which never flies open however strong the +wind may be blowing. Everyone in the house was in bed, as it was after 12 +o'clock, except the three persons who witnessed this, viz. myself, my +daughter, and the rector. The effect on the latter was most marked. He +was a big, strong, jovial man and a good athlete, but when he saw the +door open he quivered like an aspen leaf." + +A strange story of a haunting, in which nothing was seen, but in which +the same noises were heard by different people, is sent by one of the +percipients, who does not wish to have her name disclosed. She says: +"When staying for a time in a country house in the North of Ireland some +years ago I was awakened on several nights by hearing the tramp, tramp, +of horses' hoofs. Sometimes it sounded as if they were walking on +paving-stones, while at other times I had the impression that they were +going round a large space, and as if someone was using a whip on them. I +heard neighing, and champing of bits, and so formed the impression that +they were carriage horses. I did not mind it much at first, as I thought +the stables must be near that part of the house. After hearing these +noises several times I began to get curious, so one morning I made a tour +of the place. I found that the side of the house I occupied overlooked a +neglected garden, which was mostly used for drying clothes. I also +discovered that the stables were right at the back of the house, and so +it would be impossible for me to hear any noises in that quarter; at any +rate there was only one farm horse left, and this was securely fastened +up every night. Also there were no cobble-stones round the yard. I +mentioned what I had heard to the people of the house, but as they would +give me no satisfactory reply I passed it over. I did not hear these +noises every night." + +"One night I was startled out of my sleep by hearing a dreadful +disturbance in the kitchen. It sounded as if the dish-covers were being +taken off the wall and dashed violently on the flagged floor. At length I +got up and opened the door of my bedroom, and just as I did so an +appalling crash resounded through the house. I waited to see if there was +any light to be seen, or footstep to be heard, but nobody was stirring. +There was only one servant in the house, the other persons being my host, +his wife, and a baby, who had all retired early. Next morning I described +the noises in the kitchen to the servant, and she said she had often +heard them. I then told her about the tramping of horses: she replied +that she herself had never heard it, but that other persons who had +occupied my room had had experiences similar to mine. I asked her was +there any explanation; she said No, except that a story was told of a +gentleman who had lived there some years ago, and was very much addicted +to racing and gambling, and that he was shot one night in that house. For +the remainder of my visit I was removed to another part of the house, and +I heard no more noises." + +A house in the North of Ireland, near that locality which is eternally +famous as having furnished the material for the last trial for witchcraft +in the country, is said to be haunted, the reason being that it is built +on the site of a disused and very ancient graveyard. It is said that when +some repairs were being carried out nine human skulls were unearthed. It +would be interesting to ascertain how many houses in Ireland are +traditionally said to be built on such unpleasant sites, and if they all +bear the reputation of being haunted. The present writer knows of one, in +the South, which is so situated (and this is supported, to a certain +extent, by documentary evidence from the thirteenth century down) and +which in consequence has an uncanny reputation. But concerning the above +house it has been found almost impossible to get any information. It is +said that strange noises were frequently heard there, which sometimes +seemed as if cartloads of stones were being run down one of the gables. +On one occasion an inmate of the house lay dying upstairs. A friend went +up to see the sick person, and on proceeding to pass through the bedroom +door was pressed and jostled as if by some unseen person hurriedly +leaving the room. On entering, it was found that the sick person had just +passed away. + +An account of a most unpleasant haunting is contributed by Mr. W. S. +Thompson, who vouches for the substantial accuracy of it, and also +furnishes the names of two men, still living, who attended the "station." +We give it as it stands, with the comment that some of the details seem +to have been grossly exaggerated by local raconteurs. In the year 1869 a +ghost made its presence manifest in the house of a Mr. M---- in Co. +Cavan. In the daytime it resided in the chimney, but at night it left its +quarters and subjected the family to considerable annoyance. During the +day they could cook nothing, as showers of soot would be sent down the +chimney on top of every pot and pan that was placed on the fire. At night +the various members of the family would be dragged out of bed by the +hair, and pulled around the house. When anyone ventured to light a lamp +it would immediately be put out, while chairs and tables would be sent +dancing round the room. At last matters reached such a pitch that the +family found it impossible to remain any longer in the house. The night +before they left Mrs. M---- was severely handled, and her boots left +facing the door as a gentle hint for her to be off. Before they departed +some of the neighbours went to the house, saw the ghost, and even +described to Mr. Thompson what they had seen. According to one man it +appeared in the shape of a human being with a pig's head with long tusks. +Another described it as a horse with an elephant's head, and a headless +man seated on its back. Finally a "station" was held at the house by +seven priests, at which all the neighbours attended. The station +commenced after sunset, and everything in the house had to be uncovered, +lest the evil spirit should find any resting-place. A free passage was +left out of the door into the street, where many people were kneeling. +About five minutes after the station opened a rumbling noise was heard, +and a black barrel rolled out with an unearthly din, though to some +coming up the street it appeared in the shape of a black horse with +a bull's head, and a headless man seated thereon. From this time the +ghost gave no further trouble. + +The same gentleman also sends an account of a haunted shop in which +members of his family had some very unpleasant experiences. "In October +1882 my father, William Thompson, took over the grocery and spirit +business from a Dr. S---- to whom it had been left by will. My sister was +put in charge of the business, and she slept on the premises at night, +but she was not there by herself very long until she found things amiss. +The third night matters were made so unpleasant for her that she had to +get up out of bed more dead than alive, and go across the street to Mrs. +M----, the servant at the R.I.C. barrack, with whom she remained until +the morning. She stated that as she lay in bed, half awake and half +asleep, she saw a man enter the room, who immediately seized her by the +throat and well-nigh choked her. She had only sufficient strength left to +gasp 'Lord, save me!' when instantly the man vanished. She also said that +she heard noises as if every bottle and glass in the shop was smashed to +atoms, yet in the morning everything would be found intact. My brother +was in charge of the shop one day, as my sister had to go to Belturbet to +do some Christmas shopping. He expected her to return to the shop that +night, but as she did not do so he was preparing to go to bed about +1 A.M., when suddenly a terrible noise was heard. The light was +extinguished, and the tables and chairs commenced to dance about the +floor, and some of them struck him on the shins. Upon this he left the +house, declaring that he had seen the Devil!" Possibly this ghost had +been a rabid teetotaller in the flesh, and continued to have a dislike to +the publican's trade after he had become discarnate. At any rate the +present occupants, who follow a different avocation, do not appear to be +troubled. + +Ghosts are no respecters of persons or places, and take up their quarters +where they are least expected. One can hardly imagine them entering a +R.I.C. barrack, and annoying the stalwart inmates thereof. Yet more than +one tale of a haunted police-barrack has been sent to us--nay, in its +proper place we shall relate the appearance of a deceased member of the +"Force," uniform and all! The following personal experiences are +contributed by an ex-R.I.C. constable, who requested that all names +should be suppressed. "The barrack of which I am about to speak has now +disappeared, owing to the construction of a new railway line. It was a +three-storey house, with large airy apartments and splendid +accommodation. This particular night I was on guard. After the constables +had retired to their quarters I took my palliasse downstairs to the +day-room, and laid it on two forms alongside two six-foot tables which +were placed end to end in the centre of the room." + +"As I expected a patrol in at midnight, and as another had to be sent out +when it arrived, I didn't promise myself a very restful night, so I threw +myself on the bed, intending to read a bit, as there was a large lamp +on the table. Scarcely had I commenced to read when I felt as if I was +being pushed off the bed. At first I thought I must have fallen asleep, +so to make sure, I got up, took a few turns around the room, and then +deliberately lay down again and took up my book. Scarcely had I done so, +when the same thing happened, and, though I resisted with all my +strength, I was finally landed on the floor. My bed was close to the +table, and the pushing came from that side, so that if anyone was playing +a trick on me they could not do so without being under the table: I +looked, but there was no visible presence there. I felt shaky, but +changed my couch to another part of the room, and had no further +unpleasant experience. Many times after I was 'guard' in the same room, +but I always took care not to place my couch in that particular spot." + +"One night, long afterwards, we were all asleep in the dormitory, when we +were awakened in the small hours of the morning by the guard rushing +upstairs, dashing through the room, and jumping into a bed in the +farthest corner behind its occupant. There he lay gasping, unable to +speak for several minutes, and even then we couldn't get a coherent +account of what befel him. It appears he fell asleep, and suddenly awoke +to find himself on the floor, and a body rolling over him. Several men +volunteered to go downstairs with him, but he absolutely refused to leave +the dormitory, and stayed there till morning. Nor would he even remain +downstairs at night without having a comrade with him. It ended in his +applying for an exchange of stations." + +"Another time I returned off duty at midnight, and after my comrade, a +married Sergeant, had gone outside to his quarters I went to the kitchen +to change my boots. There was a good fire on, and it looked so +comfortable that I remained toasting my toes on the hob, and enjoying my +pipe. The lock-up was a lean-to one-storey building off the kitchen, and +was divided into two cells, one opening into the kitchen, the other into +that cell. I was smoking away quietly when I suddenly heard inside the +lock-up a dull, heavy thud, just like the noise a drunken man would make +by crashing down on all-fours. I wondered who the prisoner could be, as I +didn't see anyone that night who seemed a likely candidate for free +lodgings. However as I heard no other sound I decided I would tell the +guard in order that he might look after him. As I took my candle from the +table I happened to glance at the lock-up, and, to my surprise, I saw +that the outer door was open. My curiosity being roused, I looked inside, +to find the inner door also open. There was nothing in either cell, +except the two empty plank-beds, and these were immovable as they were +firmly fixed to the walls. I betook myself to my bedroom much quicker +than I was in the habit of doing." + +"I mentioned that this barrack was demolished owing to the construction +of a new railway line. It was the last obstacle removed, and in the +meantime workmen came from all points of the compass. One day a powerful +navvy was brought into the barrack a total collapse from drink, and +absolutely helpless. After his neckwear was loosened he was carried to +the lock-up and laid on the plank-bed, the guard being instructed to +visit him periodically, lest he should smother. He was scarcely half an +hour there--this was in the early evening--when the most unmerciful +screaming brought all hands to the lock-up, to find the erstwhile +helpless man standing on the plank-bed, and grappling with a, to us, +invisible foe. We took him out, and he maintained that a man had tried to +choke him, and was still there when we came to his relief. The strange +thing was, that he was shivering with fright, and perfectly sober, though +in the ordinary course of events he would not be in that condition for at +least seven or eight hours. The story spread like wildfire through the +town, but the inhabitants were not in the least surprised, and one old +man told us that many strange things happened in that house long before +it became a police-barrack." + +A lady, who requests that her name be suppressed, relates a strange sight +seen by her sister in Galway. The latter's husband was stationed in that +town about seventeen years ago. One afternoon he was out, and she was +lying on a sofa in the drawing-room, when suddenly from behind a screen +(where there was no door) came a little old woman, with a small shawl +over her head and shoulders, such as the country women used to wear. She +had a most diabolical expression on her face. She seized the lady by the +hand, and said: "I will drag you down to Hell, where I am!" The lady +sprang up in terror and shook her off, when the horrible creature again +disappeared behind the screen. The house was an old one, and many stories +were rife amongst the people about it, the one most to the point being +that the apparition of an old woman, who was supposed to have poisoned +someone, used to be seen therein. Needless to say, the lady in question +never again sat by herself in the drawing-room. + +Two stories are told about haunted houses at Drogheda, the one by A.G. +Bradley in _Notes on some Irish Superstitions_ (Drogheda, 1894), the +other by F.G. Lee in _Sights and Shadows_ (p. 42). As both appear to be +placed at the same date, _i.e._ 1890, it is quite possible that they +refer to one and the same haunting, and we have so treated them +accordingly. The reader, if he wishes, can test the matter for himself. + +This house, which was reputed to be haunted, was let to a tailor and his +wife by the owner at an annual rent of £23. They took possession in due +course, but after a very few days they became aware of the presence of a +most unpleasant supernatural lodger. One night, as the tailor and his +wife were preparing to retire, they were terrified at seeing the foot of +some invisible person kick the candlestick off the table, and so quench +the candle. Although it was a very dark night, and the shutters were +closed, the man and his wife could see everything in the room just as +well as if it were the middle of the day. All at once a woman entered the +room, dressed in white, carrying something in her hand, which she threw +at the tailor's wife, striking her with some violence, and then vanished. +While this was taking place on the first floor, a most frightful noise +was going on overhead in the room where the children and their nurse were +sleeping. The father immediately rushed upstairs, and found to his horror +the floor all torn up, the furniture broken, and, worst of all, the +children lying senseless and naked on the bed, and having the appearance +of having been severely beaten. As he was leaving the room with the +children in his arms he suddenly remembered that he had not seen the +nurse, so he turned back with the intention of bringing her downstairs, +but could find her nowhere. The girl, half-dead with fright, and very +much bruised, had fled to her mother's house, where she died in a few +days in agony. + +Because of these occurrences they were legally advised to refuse to pay +any rent. The landlady, however, declining to release them from their +bargain, at once claimed a quarter's rent; and when this remained for +some time unpaid, sued them for it before Judge Kisby. A Drogheda +solicitor appeared for the tenants, who, having given evidence of the +facts concerning the ghost in question, asked leave to support their +sworn testimony by that of several other people. This, however, was +disallowed by the judge. It was admitted by the landlady that nothing on +one side or the other had been said regarding the haunting when the house +was let. A judgment was consequently entered for the landlady, although +it had been shown indirectly that unquestionably the house had had the +reputation of being haunted, and that previous tenants had been much +inconvenienced. + +This chapter may be concluded with two stories dealing with haunted +rectories. The first, and mildest, of these is contributed by the present +Dean of St. Patrick's; it is not his own personal experience, but was +related to him by a rector in Co. Monaghan, where he used to preach on +special occasions. The rector and his daughters told the Dean that they +had often seen in that house the apparition of an old woman dressed in a +drab cape, while they frequently heard noises. On one evening the rector +was in the kitchen together with the cook and the coachman. All three +heard noises in the pantry as if vessels were being moved. Presently they +saw the old woman in the drab cape come out of the pantry and move up the +stairs. The rector attempted to follow her, but the two servants held him +tightly by the arms, and besought him not to do so. But hearing the +children, who were in bed, screaming, he broke from the grip of the +servants and rushed upstairs. The children said that they had been +frightened by seeing a strange old woman coming into the room, but she +was now gone. The house had a single roof, and there was no way to or +from the nursery except by the stairs. The rector stated that he took to +praying that the old woman might have rest, and that it was now many +years since she had been seen. A very old parishioner told him that when +she was young she remembered having seen an old woman answering to the +rector's description, who had lived in the house, which at that time was +not a rectory. + +The second of these, which is decidedly more complex and mystifying, +refers to a rectory in Co. Donegal. It is sent as the personal experience +of one of the percipients, who does not wish to have his name disclosed. +He says: "My wife, children, and myself will have lived here four years +next January (1914). From the first night that we came into the house +most extraordinary noises have been heard. Sometimes they were inside +the house, and seemed as if the furniture was being disturbed, and the +fireirons knocked about, or at other times as if a dog was running up and +down stairs. Sometimes they were external, and resembled tin buckets +being dashed about the yard, or as if a herd of cattle was galloping up +the drive before the windows. These things would go on for six months, +and then everything would be quiet for three months or so, when the +noises would commence again. My dogs--a fox-terrier, a boar-hound, and a +spaniel--would make a terrible din, and would bark at something in the +hall we could not see, backing away from it all the time. + +"The only thing that was ever _seen_ was as follows: One night my +daughter went down to the kitchen about ten o'clock for some hot water. +She saw a tall man, with one arm, carrying a lamp, who walked out of the +pantry into the kitchen, and then through the kitchen wall. Another +daughter saw the same man walk down one evening from the loft, and go +into the harness-room. She told me, and I went out immediately, but could +see nobody. Shortly after that my wife, who is very brave, heard a knock +at the hall door in the dusk. Naturally thinking it was some friend, she +opened the door, and there saw standing outside the self-same man. He +simply looked at her, and walked through the wall into the house. She got +such a shock that she could not speak for several hours, and was ill for +some days. That is eighteen months ago, and he has not been seen since, +and it is six months since we heard any noises." Our correspondent's +letter was written on 25th November 1913. "An old man nearly ninety died +last year. He lived all his life within four hundred yards of this house, +and used to tell me that seventy years ago the parsons came with bell, +book, and candle to drive the ghosts out of the house." Evidently they +were unsuccessful. In English ghost-stories it is the parson who performs +the exorcism successfully, while in Ireland such work is generally +performed by the priest. Indeed a tale was sent to us in which a ghost +quite ignored the parson's efforts, but succumbed to the priest. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HAUNTED HOUSES IN MOGH'S HALF + + +The northern half of Ireland has not proved as prolific in stories of +haunted houses as the southern portion: the possible explanation of this +is, not that the men of the north are less prone to hold, or talk about, +such beliefs, but that, as regards the south half, we have had the good +fortune to happen upon some diligent collectors of these and kindred +tales, whose eagerness in collecting is only equalled by their kindness +in imparting information to the compilers of this book. + +On a large farm near Portarlington there once lived a Mrs. ----, a +strong-minded, capable woman, who managed all her affairs for herself, +giving her orders, and taking none from anybody. In due time she died, +and the property passed to the next-of-kin. As soon, however, as the +funeral was over, the house was nightly disturbed by strange noises: +people downstairs would hear rushings about in the upper rooms, banging +of doors, and the sound of heavy footsteps. The cups and saucers used to +fall off the dresser, and all the pots and pans would rattle. + +This went on for some time, till the people could stand it no longer, +so they left the house and put in a herd and his family. The latter was +driven away after he had been in the house a few weeks. This happened +to several people, until at length a man named Mr. B---- took the house. +The noises went on as before until some one suggested getting the priest +in. Accordingly the priest came, and held a service in the late +Mrs. ----'s bedroom. When this was over, the door of the room was locked. +After that the noises were not heard till one evening Mr. B---- came home +from a fair, fortified, no doubt, with a little "Dutch courage," and +declared that even if the devil were in it he would go into the locked +room. In spite of all his family could say or do, he burst open the door, +and entered the room, but apparently saw nothing. That night pandemonium +reigned in the house, the chairs were hurled about, the china was broken, +and the most weird and uncanny sounds were heard. Next day the priest +was sent for, the room again shut up, and nothing has happened from that +day to this. + +Another strange story comes from the same town. "When I was on a visit to +a friend in Portarlington," writes a lady in the _Journal_ of the +American S.P.R.[4] "a rather unpleasant incident occurred to me. At about +two o'clock in the morning I woke up suddenly, for apparently no reason +whatever; however, I quite distinctly heard snoring coming from under or +in the bed in which I was lying. It continued for about ten minutes, +during which time I was absolutely limp with fright. The door opened, +and my friend entered the bedroom, saying, 'I thought you might want me, +so I came in.' Needless to say, I hailed the happy inspiration that sent +her to me. I then told her what I had heard; she listened to me, and then +to comfort (!) me said, 'Oh, never mind; _it is only grandfather_! He +died in this room, and a snoring is heard every night at two o'clock, the +hour at which he passed away.' Some time previously a German gentleman +was staying with this family. They asked him in the morning how he had +slept, and he replied that he was disturbed by a snoring in the room, but +he supposed it was the cat." + +[Footnote 4: For September, 1913.] + +A lady, formerly resident in Queen's Co., but who now lives near Dublin, +sends the following clear and concise account of her own personal +experiences in a haunted house: "Some years ago, my father, mother, +sister, and myself went to live in a nice but rather small house close to +the town of ---- in Queen's Co. We liked the house, as it was +conveniently and pleasantly situated, and we certainly never had a +thought of ghosts or haunted houses, nor would my father allow +any talk about such things in his presence. But we were not long settled +there when we were disturbed by the opening of the parlour door every +night regularly at the hour of eleven o'clock. My father and mother used +to retire to their room about ten o'clock, while my sister and I used to +sit up reading. We always declared that we would retire before the door +opened, but we generally got so interested in our books that we would +forget until we would hear the handle of the door turn, and see the door +flung open. We tried in every way to account for this, but we could find +no explanation, and there was no possibility of any human agent being +at work. + +"Some time after, light was thrown on the subject. We had visitors +staying with us, and in order to make room for them, my sister was asked +to sleep in the parlour. She consented without a thought of ghosts, +and went to sleep quite happily; but during the night she was awakened by +some one opening the door, walking across the room, and disturbing the +fireirons. She, supposing it to be the servant, called her by name, but +got no answer: then the person seemed to come away from the fireplace, +and walk out of the room. There was a fire in the grate, but though she +heard the footsteps, she could see no one. + +"The next thing was, that I was coming downstairs, and as I glanced +towards the hall door I saw standing by it a man in a grey suit. I went +to my father and told him. He asked in surprise who let him in, as the +servant was out, and he himself had already locked, bolted, and chained +the door an hour previously. None of us had let him in, and when my +father went out to the hall the man had disappeared, and the door was as +he had left it. + +"Some little time after, I had a visit from a lady who knew the place +well, and in the course of conversation she said: + +"'This is the house poor Mr. ---- used to live in.' + +"'Who is Mr. ----?' I asked. + +"'Did you never hear of him?' she replied. 'He was a minister who used to +live in this house quite alone, and was murdered in this very parlour. +His landlord used to visit him sometimes, and one night he was seen +coming in about eleven o'clock, and was seen again leaving about five +o'clock in the morning. When Mr. ---- did not come out as usual, the door +was forced open, and he was found lying dead in this room by the fender, +with his head battered in with the poker.' + +"We left the house soon after," adds our informant. + +The following weird incidents occurred, apparently in the Co. Kilkenny, +to a Miss K. B., during two visits paid by her to Ireland in 1880 and +1881. The house in which she experienced the following was really an old +barrack, long disused, very old-fashioned, and surrounded with a high +wall: it was said that it had been built during the time of Cromwell +as a stronghold for his men. The only inhabitants of this were Captain +C---- (a retired officer in charge of the place), Mrs. C----, three +daughters, and two servants. They occupied the central part of the +building, the mess-room being their drawing-room. Miss K. B.'s bedroom +was very lofty, and adjoined two others which were occupied by the three +daughters, E., G., and L. + +"The first recollection I have of anything strange," writes Miss B., "was +that each night I was awakened about three o'clock by a tremendous noise, +apparently in the next suite of rooms, which was empty, and it sounded as +if some huge iron boxes and other heavy things were being thrown about +with great force. This continued for about half an hour, when in the room +underneath (the kitchen) I heard the fire being violently poked and raked +for several minutes, and this was immediately followed by a most terrible +and distressing cough of a man, very loud and violent. It seemed as if +the exertion had brought on a paroxysm which he could not stop. In large +houses in Co. Kilkenny the fires are not lighted every day, owing to the +slow-burning property of the coal, and it is only necessary to rake it up +every night about eleven o'clock, and in the morning it is still bright +and clear. Consequently I wondered why it was necessary for Captain +C---- to get up in the middle of the night to stir it so violently." + +A few days later Miss B. said to E. C.: "I hear such strange noises every +night--are there any people in the adjoining part of the building?" She +turned very pale, and looking earnestly at Miss B., said, "Oh K., I am so +sorry you heard. I hoped no one but myself had heard it. I could have +given worlds to have spoken to you last night, but dared not move or +speak." K. B. laughed at her for being so superstitious, but E. declared +that the place was haunted, and told her of a number of weird things that +had been seen and heard. + +In the following year, 1881, Miss K. B. paid another visit to the +barrack. This time there were two other visitors there--a colonel and his +wife. They occupied Miss B.'s former room, while to her was allotted a +huge bedroom on the top of the house, with a long corridor leading to it; +opposite to this was another large room, which was occupied by the girls. + +Her strange experiences commenced again. "One morning, about four +o'clock, I was awakened by a very noisy martial footstep ascending the +stairs, and then marching quickly up and down the corridor outside +my room. Then suddenly the most violent coughing took place that I ever +heard, which continued for some time, while the quick, heavy step +continued its march. At last the footsteps faded away in the distance, +and I then recalled to mind the same coughing after exertion last year." +In the morning, at breakfast, she asked both Captain C---- and the +colonel had they been walking about, but both denied, and also said they +had no cough. The family looked very uncomfortable, and afterwards E. +came up with tears in her eyes, and said, "Oh K., please don't say +anything more about that dreadful coughing; we all hear it often, +especially when anything terrible is about to happen." + +Some nights later the C----s gave a dance. When the guests had departed, +Miss B. went to her bedroom. "The moon was shining so beautifully that I +was able to read my Bible by its light, and had left the Bible open on +the window-sill, which was a very high one, and on which I sat to read, +having had to climb the washstand to reach it. I went to bed, and fell +asleep, but was not long so when I was suddenly awakened by the strange +feeling that some one was in the room. I opened my eyes, and turned +around, and saw on the window-sill in the moonlight a long, very thin, +very dark figure bending over the Bible, and apparently earnestly +scanning the page. As if my movement disturbed the figure, it suddenly +darted up, jumped off the window-ledge on to the washstand, then to the +ground, and flitted quietly across the room to the table where my +jewellery was." That was the last she saw of it. She thought it was some +one trying to steal her jewellery, so waited till morning, but nothing +was missing. In the morning she described to one of the daughters, G., +what she had seen, and the latter told her that something always happened +when that appeared. Miss K. B. adds that nothing did happen. Later on she +was told that a colonel had cut his throat in that very room. + +Another military station, Charles Fort, near Kinsale, has long had the +reputation of being haunted. An account of this was sent to the _Wide +World Magazine_ (Jan. 1908), by Major H. L. Ruck Keene, D.S.O.; he +states that he took it from a manuscript written by a Captain Marvell +Hull about the year 1880. Further information on the subject of the +haunting is to be found in Dr. Craig's _Real Pictures of Clerical Life in +Ireland_. + +Charles Fort was erected in 1667 by the Duke of Ormonde. It is said to be +haunted by a ghost known as the "White Lady," and the traditional account +of the reason for this haunting is briefly as follows: Shortly after the +erection of the fort, a Colonel Warrender, a severe disciplinarian, was +appointed its governor. He had a daughter, who bore the quaint Christian +name of "Wilful"; she became engaged to a Sir Trevor Ashurst, and +subsequently married him. On the evening of their wedding-day the bride +and bridegroom were walking on the battlements, when she espied some +flowers growing on the rocks beneath. She expressed a wish for them, and +a sentry posted close by volunteered to climb down for them, provided Sir +Trevor took his place during his absence. He assented, and took the +soldier's coat and musket while he went in search of a rope. Having +obtained one, he commenced his descent; but the task proving longer than +he expected, Sir Trevor fell asleep. Meantime the governor visited the +sentries, as was his custom, and in the course of his rounds came to +where Sir Trevor was asleep. He challenged him, and on receiving no +answer perceived that he was asleep, whereupon he drew a pistol and shot +him through the heart. The body was brought in, and it was only then the +governor realised what had happened. The bride, who appears to have gone +indoors before the tragedy occurred, then learned the fate that befell +her husband, and in her distraction, rushed from the house and flung +herself over the battlements. In despair at the double tragedy, her +father shot himself during the night. + +The above is from Dr. Craig's book already alluded to. In the _Wide World +Magazine_ the legend differs slightly in details. According to this the +governor's name was Browne, and it was his own son, not his son-in-law, +that he shot; while the incident is said to have occurred about a hundred +and fifty years ago. + +The "White Lady" is the ghost of the young bride. Let us see what +accounts there are of her appearance. A good many years ago Fort-Major +Black, who had served in the Peninsular War, gave his own personal +experience to Dr. Craig. He stated that he had gone to the hall door one +summer evening, and saw a lady entering the door and going up the stairs. +At first he thought she was an officer's wife, but as he looked, he +observed she was dressed in white, and in a very old-fashioned style. +Impelled by curiosity, he hastened upstairs after her, and followed her +closely into one of the rooms, but on entering it he could not find the +slightest trace of anyone there. On another occasion he stated that two +sergeants were packing some cast stores. One of them had his little +daughter with him, and the child suddenly exclaimed, "Who is that white +lady who is bending over the banisters, and looking down at us?" The two +men looked up, but could see nothing, but the child insisted that she had +seen a lady in white looking down and smiling at her. + +On another occasion a staff officer, a married man, was residing in the +"Governor's House." One night as the nurse lay awake--she and the +children were in a room which opened into what was known as the White +Lady's apartment--she suddenly saw a lady clothed in white glide to the +bedside of the youngest child, and after a little place her hand upon its +wrist. At this the child started in its sleep, and cried out, "Oh! take +that cold hand from my wrist!" the next moment the lady disappeared. + +One night, about the year 1880, Captain Marvell Hull and Lieutenant +Hartland were going to the rooms occupied by the former officer. As they +reached a small landing they saw distinctly in front of them a woman in a +white dress. As they stood there in awestruck silence she turned and +looked towards them, showing a face beautiful enough, but colourless as a +corpse, and then passed on through a locked door. + +But it appears that this presence did not always manifest itself in as +harmless a manner. Some years ago Surgeon L---- was quartered at the +fort. One day he had been out snipe-shooting, and as he entered the fort +the mess-bugle rang out. He hastened to his rooms to dress, but as he +failed to put in an appearance at mess, one of the officers went in +search of him, and found him lying senseless on the floor. When he +recovered consciousness he related his experience. He said he had stooped +down for the key of his door, which he had placed for safety under the +mat; when in this position he felt himself violently dragged across the +hall, and flung down a flight of steps. With this agrees somewhat the +experience of a Captain Jarves, as related by him to Captain Marvell +Hull. Attracted by a strange rattling noise in his bedroom, he +endeavoured to open the door of it, but found it seemingly locked. +Suspecting a hoax, he called out, whereupon a gust of wind passed him, +and some unseen power flung him down the stairs, and laid him senseless +at the bottom. + +Near a seaside town in the south of Ireland a group of small cottages was +built by an old lady, in one of which she lived, while she let the others +to her relatives. In process of time all the occupants died, the cottages +fell into ruin, and were all pulled down (except the one in which the old +lady had lived), the materials being used by a farmer to build a large +house which he hoped to let to summer visitors. It was shortly afterwards +taken for three years by a gentleman for his family. It should be noted +that the house had very bare surroundings; there were no trees near, or +outhouses where people could be concealed. Soon after the family came to +the house they began to hear raps all over it, on doors, windows, and +walls; these raps varied in nature, sometimes being like a sledgehammer, +loud and dying away, and sometimes quick and sharp, two or three or five +in succession; and all heard them. One morning about 4 A.M., the mother +heard very loud knocking on the bedroom door; thinking it was the servant +wanting to go to early mass, she said, "Come in," but the knocking +continued till the father was awakened by it; he got up, searched the +house, but could find no one. The servant's door was slightly open, and +he saw that she was sound asleep. That morning a telegram came announcing +the death of a beloved uncle just about the hour of the knocking. Some +time previous to this the mother was in the kitchen, when a loud +explosion took place beside her, startling her very much, but no cause +for it could be found, nor were any traces left. This coincided with the +death of an aunt, wife to the uncle who died later. + +One night the mother went to her bedroom. The blind was drawn, and the +shutters closed, when suddenly a great crash came, as if a branch was +thrown at the window, and there was a sound of broken glass. She opened +the shutters with the expectation of finding the window smashed, but +there was not even a crack in it. She entered the room next day at one +o'clock, and the same crash took place, being heard by all in the house: +she went in at 10 A.M. on another day, and the same thing happened, +after which she refused to enter that room again. + +Another night, after 11 P.M., the servant was washing up in the kitchen, +when heavy footsteps were heard by the father and mother going upstairs, +and across a lobby to the servant's room; the father searched the house, +but could find no one. After that footsteps used to be heard regularly at +that hour, though no one could ever be seen walking about. + +The two elder sisters slept together, and used to see flames shooting up +all over the floor, though there was no smell or heat; this used to be +seen two or three nights at a time, chiefly in the one room. The first +time the girls saw this one of them got up and went to her father in +alarm, naturally thinking the room underneath must be on fire. + +The two boys were moved to the haunted room [which one?], where they +slept in one large bed with its head near the chimneypiece. The elder +boy, aged about thirteen, put his watch on the mantelpiece, awoke about +2 A.M., and wishing to ascertain the time, put his hand up for his watch; +he then felt a deathly cold hand laid on his. For the rest of that night +the two boys were terrified by noises, apparently caused by two people +rushing about the room fighting and knocking against the bed. About 6 +A.M. they went to their father, almost in hysterics from terror, and +refused to sleep there again. The eldest sister, not being nervous, was +then given that room; she was, however, so disturbed by these noises that +she begged her father to let her leave it, but having no other room to +give her, he persuaded her to stay there, and at length she got +accustomed to the noise, and could sleep in spite of it. Finally the +family left the house before their time was up.[5] + +[Footnote 5: _Journal of American S.P.R._ for September 1913.] + +Mr. T.J. Westropp, to whom we are indebted for so much material, sends a +tale which used to be related by a relative of his, the Rev. Thomas +Westropp, concerning experiences in a house not very far from the city of +Limerick. When the latter was appointed to a certain parish he had some +difficulty in finding a suitable house, but finally fixed on one which +had been untenanted for many years, but had nevertheless been kept aired +and in good repair, as a caretaker who lived close by used to come and +look after it every day. The first night that the family settled there, +as the clergyman was going upstairs he heard a footstep and the rustle of +a dress, and as he stood aside a lady passed him, entered a door facing +the stairs, and closed it after her. It was only then he realised that +her dress was very old-fashioned, and that he had not been able to enter +that particular room. Next day he got assistance from a carpenter, who, +with another man, forced open the door. A mat of cobwebs fell as they did +so, and the floor and windows were thick with dust. The men went across +the room, and as the clergyman followed them he saw a small white bird +flying round the ceiling; at his exclamation the men looked back and also +saw it. It swooped, flew out of the door, and they did not see it again. +After that the family were alarmed by hearing noises under the floor of +that room every night. At length the clergyman had the boards taken up, +and the skeleton of a child was found underneath. So old did the remains +appear that the coroner did not deem it necessary to hold an inquest on +them, so the rector buried them in the churchyard. Strange noises +continued, as if some one were trying to force up the boards from +underneath. Also a heavy ball was heard rolling down the stairs and +striking against the study door. One night the two girls woke up +screaming, and on the nurse running up to them, the elder said she had +seen a great black dog with fiery eyes resting its paws on her bed. Her +father ordered the servants to sit constantly with them in the evenings, +but, notwithstanding the presence of two women in the nursery, the same +thing occurred. The younger daughter was so scared that she never quite +recovered. The family left the house immediately. + +The same correspondent says: "An old ruined house in the hills of east +Co. Clare enjoyed the reputation of being 'desperately haunted' from, at +any rate, 1865 down to its dismantling. I will merely give the +experiences of my own relations, as told by them to me. My mother told +how one night she and my father heard creaking and grating, as if a door +were being forced open. The sound came from a passage in which was a door +nailed up and clamped with iron bands. A heavy footstep came down +the passage, and stopped at the bedroom door for a moment; no sound was +heard, and then the 'thing' came through the room to the foot of the bed. +It moved round the bed, they not daring to stir. The horrible unseen +visitant stopped, and they _felt_ it watching them. At last it moved +away, they heard it going up the passage, the door crashed, and all was +silence. Lighting a candle, my father examined the room, and found the +door locked; he then went along the passage, but not a sound was to be +heard anywhere. + +"Strange noises like footsteps, sobbing, whispering, grim laughter, and +shrieks were often heard about the house. On one occasion my eldest +sister and a girl cousin drove over to see the family and stayed the +night. They and my two younger sisters were all crowded into a huge, +old-fashioned bed, and carefully drew and tucked in the curtains all +round. My eldest sister awoke feeling a cold wind blowing on her face, +and putting out her hand found the curtains drawn back and, as they +subsequently discovered, wedged between the bed and the wall. She reached +for the match-box, and was about to light the candle when a horrible +mocking laugh rang out close to the bed, which awakened the other girls. +Being always a plucky woman, though then badly scared, she struck a +match, and searched the room, but nothing was to be seen. The closed room +was said to have been deserted after a murder, and its floor was supposed +to be stained with blood which no human power could wash out." + +Another house in Co. Clare, nearer the estuary of the Shannon, which was +formerly the residence of the D---- family, but is now pulled down, had +some extraordinary tales told about it in which facts (if we may use the +word) were well supplemented by legend. To commence with the former. +A lady writes: "My father and old Mr. D---- were first cousins. Richard +D---- asked my father would he come and sit up with him one night, in +order to see what might be seen. Both were particularly sober men. The +annoyances in the house were becoming unbearable. Mrs. D----'s work-box +used to be thrown down, the table-cloth would be whisked off the table, +the fender and fireirons would be hurled about the room, and other +similar things would happen. Mr. D---- and my father went up to one of +the bedrooms, where a big fire was made up. They searched every part of +the room carefully, but nothing uncanny was to be seen or found. They +then placed two candles and a brace of pistols on a small table between +them, and waited. Nothing happened for some time, till all of a sudden a +large black dog walked out from under the bed. Both men fired, and the +dog disappeared. That is all! The family had to leave the house." + +Now to the blending of fact with fiction, of which we have already +spoken: the intelligent reader can decide in his own mind which is which. +It was said that black magic had been practised in this house at one +time, and that in consequence terrible and weird occurrences were quite +the order of the day there. When being cooked, the hens used to scream +and the mutton used to bleat in the pot. Black dogs were seen frequently. +The beds used to be lifted up, and the occupants thereof used to be +beaten black and blue, by invisible hands. One particularly ghoulish tale +was told. It was said that a monk (!) was in love with one of the +daughters of the house, who was an exceedingly fat girl. She died +unmarried, and was buried in the family vault. Some time later the vault +was again opened for an interment, and those who entered it found that +Miss D----'s coffin had been disturbed, and the lid loosened. They +then saw that all the fat around her heart had been scooped away. + +Apropos of ineradicable blood on a floor, which is a not infrequent item +in stories of haunted houses, it is said that a manifestation of this +nature forms the haunting in a farmhouse in Co. Limerick. According to +our informants, a light must be kept burning in this house all night; if +by any chance it is forgotten, or becomes quenched, in the morning the +floor is covered with blood. The story is evidently much older than the +house, but no traditional explanation is given. + +Two stories of haunted schools have been sent to us, both on very good +authority; these establishments lie within the geographical limits of +this chapter, but for obvious reasons, we cannot indicate their locality +more precisely, though the names of both are known to us. The first of +these was told to our correspondent by the boy Brown, who was in the +room, but did _not_ see the ghost. + +When Brown was about fifteen he was sent to ---- School. His brother told +him not to be frightened at anything he might see or hear, as the boys +were sure to play tricks on all new-comers. He was put to sleep in a room +with another new arrival, a boy named Smith, from England. In the middle +of the night Brown was roused from his sleep by Smith crying out in great +alarm, and asking who was in the room. Brown, who was very angry at being +waked up, told him not to be a fool--that there was no one there. The +second night Smith roused him again, this time in greater alarm than the +first night. He said he saw a man in cap and gown come into the room with +a lamp, and then pass right through the wall. Smith got out of his bed, +and fell on his knees beside Brown, beseeching him not to go to sleep. At +first Brown thought it was all done to frighten him, but he then saw that +Smith was in a state of abject terror. Next morning they spoke of the +occurrence, and the report reached the ears of the Head Master, who sent +for the two boys. Smith refused to spend another night in the room. Brown +said he had seen or heard nothing, and was quite willing to sleep there +if another fellow would sleep with him, but he would not care to remain +there alone. The Head Master then asked for volunteers from the class of +elder boys, but not one of them would sleep in the room. It had always +been looked upon as "haunted," but the Master thought that by putting in +new boys who had not heard the story they would sleep there all right. + +Some years after, Brown revisited the place, and found that another +attempt had been made to occupy the room. A new Head Master who did not +know its history, thought it a pity to have the room idle, and put a +teacher, also new to the school, in possession. When this teacher came +down the first morning, he asked who had come into his room during the +night. He stated that a man in cap and gown, having books under his arm +and a lamp in his hand, came in, sat down at a table, and began to read. +He knew that he was not one of the masters, and did not recognise him as +one of the boys. The room had to be abandoned. The tradition is that many +years ago a master was murdered in that room by one of the students. The +few boys who ever had the courage to persist in sleeping in the room said +if they stayed more than two or three nights that the furniture was +moved, and they heard violent noises. + +The second story was sent to us by the percipient herself, and is +therefore a firsthand experience. Considering that she was only a +schoolgirl at the time, it must be admitted that she made a most plucky +attempt to run the ghost to earth. + +"A good many years ago, when I first went to school, I did not believe in +ghosts, but I then had an experience which caused me to alter my opinion. +I was ordered with two other girls to sleep in a small top room at the +back of the house which overlooked a garden which contained ancient +apple-trees. + +"Suddenly in the dead of night I was awakened out of my sleep by the +sound of heavy footsteps, as of a man wearing big boots unlaced, pacing +ceaselessly up and down a long corridor which I knew was plainly visible +from the landing outside my door, as there was a large window at the +farther end of it, and there was sufficient moonlight to enable one to +see its full length. After listening for about twenty minutes, my +curiosity was aroused, so I got up and stood on the landing. The +footsteps still continued, but I could see nothing, although the sounds +actually reached the foot of the flight of stairs which led from the +corridor to the landing on which I was standing. Suddenly the footfall +ceased, pausing at my end of the corridor, and I then considered it was +high time for me to retire, which I accordingly did, carefully closing +the door behind me. + +"To my horror the footsteps ascended the stairs, and the bedroom door was +violently dashed back against a washing-stand, beside which was a bed; +the contents of the ewer were spilled over the occupant, and the steps +advanced a few paces into the room in my direction. A cold perspiration +broke out all over me; I cannot describe the sensation. It was not actual +fear--it was more than that--I felt I had come into contact with the +Unknown. + +"What was about to happen? All I could do was to speak; I cried out, "Who +are you? What do you want?" Suddenly the footsteps ceased; I felt +relieved, and lay awake till morning, but no further sound reached my +ears. How or when my ghostly visitant disappeared I never knew; suffice +it to say, my story was no nightmare, but an actual fact, of which there +was found sufficient proof in the morning; the floor was still saturated +with water, the door, which we always carefully closed at night, was wide +open, and last, but not least, the occupant of the wet bed had heard all +that had happened, but feared to speak, and lay awake till morning. + +"Naturally, we related our weird experience to our schoolmates, and it +was only then I learned from one of the elder girls that this ghost had +manifested itself for many years in a similar fashion to the inhabitants +of that room. It was supposed to be the spirit of a man who, long years +before, had occupied this apartment (the house was then a private +residence), and had committed suicide by hanging himself from an old +apple tree opposite the window. Needless to say, the story was hushed up, +and we were sharply spoken to, and warned not to mention the occurrence +again. + +"Some years afterwards a friend, who happened at the time to be a boarder +at this very school, came to spend a week-end with me. She related an +exactly similar incident which occurred a few nights previous to her +visit. My experience was quite unknown to her." + +The following account of strange happenings at his glebe-house has been +sent by the rector of a parish in the diocese of Cashel: "Shortly after +my wife and I came to live here, some ten years ago, the servants +complained of hearing strange noises in the top storey of the Rectory +where they sleep. One girl ran away the day after she arrived, declaring +that the house was haunted, and that nothing would induce her to sleep +another night in it. So often had my wife to change servants on this +account that at last I had to speak to the parish priest, as I suspected +that the idea of 'ghosts' might have been suggested to the maids by +neighbours who might have some interest in getting rid of them. I +understand that my friend the parish priest spoke very forcibly from the +altar on the subject of spirits, saying that the only spirits he believed +ever did any harm to anyone were ----, mentioning a well-known brand of +the wine of the country. Whether this priestly admonition was the cause +or not, for some time we heard no more tales of ghostly manifestations. + +"After a while, however, my wife and I began to hear a noise which, while +in no sense alarming, has proved to be both remarkable and inexplicable. +If we happen to be sitting in the dining-room after dinner, sometimes we +hear what sounds like the noise of a heavy coach rumbling up to the hall +door. We have both heard this noise hundreds of times between eight P.M. +and midnight. Sometimes we hear it several times the same night, and then +perhaps we won't hear it again for several months. We hear it best on +calm nights, and as we are nearly a quarter of a mile from the high +road, it is difficult to account for, especially as the noise appears to +be quite close to us--I mean not farther away than the hall-door. I may +mention that an Englishman was staying with us a few years ago. As we +were sitting in the dining-room one night after dinner he said, 'A +carriage has just driven up to the door'; but we knew it was only the +'phantom coach,' for we also heard it. Only once do I remember hearing it +while sitting in the drawing-room. So much for the 'sound' of the +'phantom coach,' but now I must tell you what I _saw_ with my own eyes as +clearly as I now see the paper on which I am writing. Some years ago in +the middle of the summer, on a scorching hot day, I was out cutting +some hay opposite the hall door just by the tennis court. It was between +twelve and one o'clock. I remember the time distinctly, as my man had +gone to his dinner shortly before. The spot on which I was commanded +a view of the avenue from the entrance gate for about four hundred yards. +I happened to look up from my occupation--for scything is no easy +work--and I saw what I took to be a somewhat high dogcart, in which two +people were seated, turning in at the avenue gate. As I had my coat and +waistcoat off, and was not in a state to receive visitors, I got behind a +newly-made hay-cock and watched the vehicle until it came to a bend in +the avenue where there is a clump of trees which obscured it from my +view. As it did not, however, reappear, I concluded that the occupants +had either stopped for some reason or had taken by mistake a cart-way +leading to the back gate into the garden. Hastily putting on my coat, I +went down to the bend in the avenue, but to my surprise there was nothing +to be seen. + +"Returning to the Rectory, I met my housekeeper, who has been with me for +nearly twenty years, and I told her what I had seen. She then told me +that about a month before, while I was away from home, my man had one day +gone with the trap to the station. She saw, just as I did, a trap coming +up the avenue until it was lost to sight owing to the intervention of the +clump of trees. As it did not come on, she went down to the bend, but +there was no trap to be seen. When the man came in some half-hour after, +my housekeeper asked him if he had come half-way up the avenue and turned +back, but he said he had only that minute come straight from the station. +My housekeeper said she did not like to tell me about it before, as she +thought I 'would have laughed at her.' Whether the 'spectral gig' which I +saw and the 'phantom coach' which my wife and I have often heard are one +and the same I know not, but I do know that what I saw in the full blaze +of the summer sun was not inspired by a dose of the spirits referred to +by my friend the parish priest. + +"Some time during the winter of 1912, I was in the motor-house one dark +evening at about 6 P.M. I was working at the engine, and as the car was +'nose in' first, I was, of course, at the farthest point from the door. +I had sent my man down to the village with a message. He was gone about +ten minutes when I heard heavy footsteps enter the yard and come over to +the motor-house. I 'felt' that there was some one in the house quite +close to me, and I said, 'Hullo, ----, what brought you back so soon,' as +I knew he could not have been to the village and back. As I got no reply, +I took up my electric lamp and went to the back of the motor to see who +was there, but there was no one to be seen, and although I searched the +yard with my lamp, I could discover no one. About a week later I heard +the footsteps again under almost identical conditions, but I searched +with the same futile result. + +"Before I stop, I must tell you about a curious 'presentiment' which +happened with regard to a man I got from the Queen's County. He arrived +on a Saturday evening, and on the following Monday morning I put him to +sweep the avenue. He was at his work when I went out in the motor car at +about 10:30 A.M. Shortly after I left he left his wheel-barrow and tools +on the avenue (just at the point where I saw the 'spectral gig' +disappear) and, coming up to the Rectory, he told my housekeeper in a +great state of agitation that he was quite sure that his brother, with +whom he had always lived, was dead. He said he must return home at once. +My housekeeper advised him to wait until I returned, but he changed his +clothes and packed his box, saying he must catch the next train. Just +before I returned home at 12 o'clock, a telegram came saying his brother +had died suddenly that morning, and that he was to return at once. On my +return I found him almost in a state of collapse. He left by the next +train, and I never heard of him again." + +K---- Castle is a handsome blending of ancient castle and modern +dwelling-house, picturesquely situated among trees, while the steep glen +mentioned below runs close beside it. It has the reputation of being +haunted, but, as usual, it is difficult to get information. One +gentleman, to whom we wrote, stated that he never saw or heard anything +worse than a bat. On the other hand, a lady who resided there a good many +years ago, gives the following account of her extraordinary experiences +therein: + +DEAR MR. SEYMOUR, + +I enclose some account of our experiences in K---- Castle. It would be +better not to mention names, as the people occupying it have told me they +are afraid of their servants hearing anything, and consequently giving +notice. They themselves hear voices often, but, like me, they do not +mind. When first we went there we heard people talking, but on looking +everywhere we could find no one. Then on some nights we heard fighting in +the glen beside the house. We could hear voices raised in anger, and the +clash of steel: no person would venture there after dusk. + +One night I was sitting talking with my governess, I got up, said +good-night, and opened the door, which was on the top of the back +staircase. As I did so, I _heard_ some one (a woman) come slowly +upstairs, walk past us to a window at the end of the landing, and then +with a shriek fall heavily. As she passed it was bitterly cold, and I +drew back into the room, but did not say anything, as it might frighten +the governess. She asked me what was the matter, as I looked so white. +Without answering, I pushed her into her room, and then searched the +house, but with no results. + +Another night I was sleeping with my little girl. I awoke, and saw a girl +with long, fair hair standing at the fireplace, one hand at her side, the +other on the chimney-piece. Thinking at first it was my little girl, I +felt on the pillow to see if she were gone, but she was fast asleep. +There was no fire or light of any kind in the room. + +Some time afterwards a friend was sleeping there, and she told me that +she was pushed out of bed the whole night. Two gentlemen to whom I had +mentioned this came over, thinking they would find out the cause. In the +morning when they came down they asked for the carriage to take them to +the next train, but would not tell what they had heard or seen. +Another person who came to visit her sister, who was looking after the +house before we went in, slept in this room, and in the morning said she +must go back that day. She also would give no information. + +On walking down the corridor, I have heard a door open, a footstep cross +before me, and go into another room, _both_ doors being closed at the +time. An old cook I had told me that when she went into the hall in the +morning, a gentleman would come down the front stairs, take a plumed hat +off the stand, and vanish _through_ the hall door. This she saw nearly +every morning. She also said that a girl often came into her bedroom, and +put her hand on her (the cook's) face; and when she would push her away +she would hear a girl's voice say, "Oh don't!" three times. I have often +heard voices in the drawing-room, which decidedly sounded as if an old +gentleman and a girl were talking. Noises like furniture being moved were +frequently heard at night, and strangers staying with us have often asked +why the servants turned out the rooms underneath them at such an unusual +hour. The front-door bell sometimes rang, and I have gone down, but found +no one. + +Yours very sincerely, +F.T. + +"Kilman" Castle, in the heart of Ireland--the name is obviously a +pseudonym--has been described as perhaps the worst haunted mansion in the +British Isles. That it deserves this doubtful recommendation, we cannot +say; but at all events the ordinary reader will be prepared to admit that +it contains sufficient "ghosts" to satisfy the most greedy ghost-hunter. +A couple of months ago the present writer paid a visit to this castle, +and was shown all over it one morning by the mistress of the house, who, +under the _nom de plume_ of "Andrew Merry" has published novels dealing +with Irish life, and has also contributed articles on the ghostly +phenomena of her house to the _Occult Review_ (Dec. 1908 and Jan. 1909). + +The place itself is a grim, grey, bare building. The central portion, in +which is the entrance-hall, is a square castle of the usual type; it is +built on a rock, and a slight batter from base to summit gives an added +appearance of strength and solidity. On either side of the castle are +more modern wings, one of which terminates in what is known as the +"Priest's House." + +Now to the ghosts. The top storey of the central tower is a large, +well-lighted apartment, called the "Chapel," having evidently served that +purpose in times past. At one end is what is said to be an _oubliette_, +now almost filled up. Occasionally in the evenings, people walking along +the roads or in the fields see the windows of this chapel lighted up for +a few seconds as if many lamps were suddenly brought into it. This is +certainly _not_ due to servants; from our experience we can testify that +it is the last place on earth that a domestic would enter after dark. It +is also said that a treasure is buried somewhere in or around the castle. +The legend runs that an ancestor was about to be taken to Dublin on a +charge of rebellion, and, fearing he would never return, made the best of +the time left to him by burying somewhere a crock full of gold and +jewels. Contrary to expectation, he _did_ return; but his long +confinement had turned his brain, and he could never remember the spot +where he had deposited his treasure years before. Some time ago a lady, a +Miss B., who was decidedly psychic, was invited to Kilman Castle in the +hope that she would be able to locate the whereabouts of this treasure. +In this respect she failed, unfortunately, but gave, nevertheless, a +curious example of her power. As she walked through the hall with her +hostess, she suddenly laid her hand upon the bare stone wall, and +remarked, "There is something uncanny here, but I don't know what it is." +In that very spot, some time previously, two skeletons had been +discovered walled up. + +The sequel to this is curious. Some time after, Miss B. was either trying +automatic writing, or else was at a séance (we forget which), when a +message came to her from the Unseen, stating that the treasure at Kilman +Castle was concealed in the chapel under the tessellated pavement near +the altar. But this spirit was either a "lying spirit," or else a most +impish one, for there is no trace of an altar, and it is impossible to +say, from the style of the room, where it stood; while the tessellated +pavement (if it exists) is so covered with the debris of the former +roof that it would be almost impossible to have it thoroughly cleared. + +There is as well a miscellaneous assortment of ghosts. A monk with +tonsure and cowl walks in at one window of the Priest's House, and out at +another. There is also a little old man, dressed in the antique garb +of a green cut-away coat, knee breeches, and buckled shoes: he is +sometimes accompanied by an old lady in similar old-fashioned costume. +Another ghost has a penchant for lying on the bed beside its lawful and +earthly occupant; nothing is seen, but a great weight is felt, and a +consequent deep impression made on the bedclothes. + +The lady of the house states that she has a number of letters from +friends, in which they relate the supernatural experiences they had while +staying at the Castle. In one of these the writer, a gentleman, was +awakened one night by an extraordinary feeling of intense cold at his +heart. He then saw in front of him a tall female figure, clothed from +head to foot in red, and with its right hand raised menacingly in the +air: the light which illuminated the figure was from within. He lit a +match, and sprang out of bed, but the room was empty. He went back to +bed, and saw nothing more that night, except that several times the same +cold feeling gripped his heart, though to the touch the flesh was quite +warm. + +But of all the ghosts in that well-haunted house the most unpleasant is +that inexplicable thing that is usually called "It." The lady of the +house described to the present writer her personal experience of this +phantom. High up round one side of the hall runs a gallery which connects +with some of the bedrooms. One evening she was in this gallery leaning on +the balustrade, and looking down into the hall. Suddenly she felt two +hands laid on her shoulders; she turned round sharply, and saw "It" +standing close beside her. She described it as being human in shape, and +about four feet high; the eyes were like two black holes in the face, and +the whole figure seemed as if it were made of grey cotton-wool, while it +was accompanied by a most appalling stench, such as would come from a +decaying human body. The lady got a shock from which she did not recover +for a long time. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +POLTERGEISTS + + +Poltergeist is the term assigned to those apparently meaningless noises +and movements of objects of which we from time to time hear accounts. The +word is, of course, German, and may be translated "boisterous ghost." A +poltergeist is seldom or never seen, but contents itself by moving +furniture and other objects about in an extraordinary manner, often +contrary to the laws of gravitation; sometimes footsteps are heard, but +nothing is visible, while at other times vigorous rappings will be heard +either on the walls or floor of a room, and in the manner in which the +raps are given a poltergeist has often showed itself as having a close +connection with the physical phenomena of spiritualism, for cases have +occurred in which a poltergeist has given the exact number of raps +mentally asked for by some person present. Another point that is worthy +of note is the fact that the hauntings of a poltergeist are generally +attached to a certain individual in a certain spot, and thus differ from +the operations of an ordinary ghost. + +The two following incidents related in this chapter are taken from a +paper read by Professor Barrett, F.R.S., before the Society for Psychical +Research.[6] In the case of the first anecdote he made every possible +inquiry into the facts set forth, short of actually being an eye-witness +of the phenomena. In the case of the second he made personal +investigation, and himself saw the whole of the incidents related. There +is therefore very little room to doubt the genuineness of either story. + +[Footnote 6: _Proceedings_, August 1911, pp. 377-95.] + +In the year 1910, in a certain house in Court Street, Enniscorthy, there +lived a labouring man named Redmond. His wife took in boarders to +supplement her husband's wages, and at the time to which we refer there +were three men boarding with her, who slept in one room above the +kitchen. The house consisted of five rooms--two on the ground-floor, of +which one was a shop and the other the kitchen. The two other rooms +upstairs were occupied by the Redmonds and their servant respectively. +The bedroom in which the boarders slept was large, and contained two +beds, one at each end of the room, two men sleeping in one of them; John +Randall and George Sinnott were the names of two, but the name of the +third lodger is not known--he seems to have left the Redmonds very +shortly after the disturbances commenced. + +It was on July 4, 1910, that John Randall, who is a carpenter by trade, +went to live at Enniscorthy, and took rooms with the Redmonds. In a +signed statement, now in possession of Professor Barrett, he tells a +graphic tale of what occurred each night during the three weeks he lodged +in the house, and as a result of the poltergeist's attentions he lost +three-quarters of a stone in weight. It was on the night of Thursday, +July 7, that the first incident occurred, when the bedclothes were gently +pulled off his bed. Of course he naturally thought it was a joke, and +shouted to his companions to stop. As no one could explain what was +happening, a match was struck, and the bedclothes were found to be at the +window, from which the other bed (a large piece of furniture which +ordinarily took two people to move) had been rolled just when the clothes +had been taken off Randall's bed. Things were put straight and the light +blown out, "but," Randall's account goes on to say, "it wasn't long until +we heard some hammering in the room--tap-tap-tap-like. This lasted for a +few minutes, getting quicker and quicker. When it got very quick, their +bed started to move out across the room.... We then struck a match and +got the lamp. We searched the room thoroughly, and could find nobody. +Nobody had come in the door. We called the man of the house (Redmond); he +came into the room, saw the bed, and told us to push it back and get into +bed (he thought all the time one of us was playing the trick on the +other). I said I wouldn't stay in the other bed by myself, so I got in +with the others; we put out the light again, and it had only been a +couple of minutes out when the bed ran out on the floor with the three of +us. Richard struck a match again, and this time we all got up and put on +our clothes; we had got a terrible fright and couldn't stick it any +longer. We told the man of the house we would sit up in the room till +daylight. During the time we were sitting in the room we could hear +footsteps leaving the kitchen and coming up the stairs; it would stop on +the landing outside the door, and wouldn't come into the room. The +footsteps and noises continued through the house until daybreak." + +The next night the footsteps and noises were continued, but the +unfortunate men did not experience any other annoyance. On the following +day the men went home, and it is to be hoped they were able to make up +for all the sleep they had lost on the two previous nights. They returned +on the Sunday, and from that night till they finally left the house the +men were disturbed practically every night. On Monday, 11th July the bed +was continually running out from the wall with its three occupants. They +kept the lamp alight, and a chair was seen to dance gaily out into the +middle of the floor. On the following Thursday we read of the same +happenings, with the addition that one of the boarders was lifted out +of the bed, though he felt no hand near him. It seems strange that they +should have gone through such a bad night exactly a week from the night +the poltergeist started its operations. So the account goes on; every +night that they slept in the room the hauntings continued, some nights +being worse than others. On Friday, 29th July, "the bed turned up on one +side and threw us out on the floor, and before we were thrown out, the +pillow was taken from under my head three times. When the bed rose up, it +fell back without making any noise. This bed was so heavy, it took both +the woman and the girl to pull it out from the wall without anybody in +it, and there were only three castors on it." The poltergeist must have +been an insistent fellow, for when the unfortunate men took refuge in the +other bed, they had not been long in it before it began to rise, but +could not get out of the recess it was in unless it was taken to pieces. + +"It kept very bad," we read, "for the next few nights. So Mr. Murphy, +from the _Guardian_ office, and another man named Devereux, came and +stopped in the room one night." + +The experiences of Murphy and Devereux on this night are contained in a +further statement, signed by Murphy and corroborated by Devereux. They +seem to have gone to work in a business-like manner, as before taking +their positions for the night they made a complete investigation of the +bedroom and house, so as to eliminate all chance of trickery or fraud. By +this time, it should be noted, one of Mrs. Redmond's lodgers had +evidently suffered enough from the poltergeist, as only two men are +mentioned in Murphy's statement, one sleeping in each bed. The two +investigators took up their position against the wall midway between the +two beds, so that they had a full view of the room and the occupants of +the beds. "The night," says Murphy, "was a clear, starlight night. No +blind obstructed the view from outside, and one could see the outlines of +the beds and their occupants clearly. At about 11.30 a tapping was heard +close at the foot of Randall's bed. My companion remarked that it +appeared to be like the noise of a rat eating at timber. + +"Sinnott replied, 'You'll soon see the rat it is.' The tapping went on +slowly at first ... then the speed gradually increased to about a hundred +or a hundred and twenty per minute, the noise growing louder. This +continued for about five minutes, when it stopped suddenly. Randall then +spoke. He said: 'The clothes are slipping off my bed: look at them +sliding off. Good God, they are going off me.' Mr. Devereux immediately +struck a match, which he had ready in his hand. The bedclothes had partly +left the boy's bed, having gone diagonally towards the foot, going out at +the left corner, and not alone did they seem to be drawn off the bed, but +they appeared to be actually going back under the bed, much in the same +position one would expect bedclothes to be if a strong breeze were +blowing through the room at the time. But then everything was perfectly +calm." + +A search was then made for wires or strings, but nothing of the sort +could be found. The bedclothes were put back and the light extinguished. +For ten minutes silence reigned, only to be broken by more rapping which +was followed by shouts from Randall. He was told to hold on to the +clothes, which were sliding off again. But this was of little use, for he +was heard to cry, "I'm going, I'm going, I'm gone," and when a light was +struck he was seen to slide from the bed and all the bedclothes with him. +Randall, who, with Sinnott, had shown considerable strength of mind by +staying in the house under such trying circumstances, had evidently had +enough of ghostly hauntings, for as he lay on the floor, trembling in +every limb and bathed in perspiration, he exclaimed: "Oh, isn't this +dreadful? I can't stand it; I can't stay here any longer." He was +eventually persuaded to get back to bed. Later on more rapping occurred +in a different part of the room, but it soon stopped, and the rest of the +night passed away in peace. + +Randall and Sinnott went to their homes the next day, and Mr. Murphy +spent from eleven till long past midnight in their vacated room, but +heard and saw nothing unusual. He states in conclusion that "Randall +could not reach that part of the floor from which the rapping came on any +occasion without attracting my attention and that of my comrade." + +The next case related by Professor Barrett occurred in County Fermanagh, +at a spot eleven miles from Enniskillen and about two miles from the +hamlet of Derrygonelly, where there dwelt a farmer and his family of four +girls and a boy, of whom the eldest was a girl of about twenty years of +age named Maggie. His cottage consisted of three rooms, the kitchen, or +dwelling-room, being in the centre, with a room on each side used as +bedrooms. In one of these two rooms Maggie slept with her sisters, and it +was here that the disturbances occurred, generally after they had all +gone to bed, when rappings and scratchings were heard which often lasted +all night. Rats were first blamed, but when things were moved by some +unseen agent, and boots and candles thrown out of the house, it was seen +that something more than the ordinary rat was at work. The old farmer, +who was a Methodist, sought advice from his class leader, and by his +directions laid an open Bible on the bed in the haunted room, placing a +big stone on the book. But the stone was lifted off by an unseen hand, +the Bible moved out of the room, and seventeen pages torn out of it. They +could not keep a lamp or candle in the house, so they went to their +neighbours for help, and, to quote the old farmer's words to Professor +Barrett, "Jack Flanigan came and lent us a lamp, saying the devil himself +would not steal it, as he had got the priest to sprinkle it with holy +water." "But that," the old man said, "did us no good either, for the +next day it took away that lamp also." + +Professor Barrett, at the invitation of Mr. Thomas Plunkett of +Enniskillen, went to investigate. He got a full account from the farmer +of the freakish tricks which were continually being played in the house, +and gives a graphic account of what he himself observed: "After the +children, except the boy, had gone to bed, Maggie lay down on the bed +without undressing, so that her hands and feet could be observed. The +rest of us sat round the kitchen fire, when faint raps, rapidly +increasing in loudness, were heard coming apparently from the walls, +the ceiling, and various parts of the inner room, the door of which was +open. On entering the bedroom with a light the noises at first ceased, +but recommenced when I put the light on the window-sill in the kitchen. I +had the boy and his father by my side, and asked Mr. Plunkett to look +round the house outside. Standing in the doorway leading to the bedroom, +the noises recommenced, the light was gradually brought nearer, and after +much patience I was able to bring the light into the bedroom whilst the +disturbances were still loudly going on. At last I was able to go up to +the side of the bed, with the lighted candle in my hand, and closely +observed each of the occupants lying on the bed. The younger children +were apparently asleep, and Maggie was motionless; nevertheless, knocks +were going on everywhere around; on the chairs, the bedstead, the walls +and ceiling. The closest scrutiny failed to detect any movement on the +part of those present that could account for the noises, which were +accompanied by a scratching or tearing sound. Suddenly a large pebble +fell in my presence on to the bed; no one had moved to dislodge it, even +if it had been placed for the purpose. When I replaced the candle on the +window-sill in the kitchen, the knocks became still louder, like those +made by a heavy carpenter's hammer driving nails into flooring." + +A couple of days afterwards, the Rev. Maxwell Close, M.A., a well-known +member of the S.P.R., joined Professor Barrett and Mr. Plunkett, and +together the party of three paid visits on two consecutive nights to the +haunted farm-house, and the noises were repeated. Complete search was +made, both inside and outside of the house, but no cause could be found. +When the party were leaving, the old farmer was much perturbed that they +had not "laid the ghost." When questioned he said he thought it was +fairies. He was asked if it had answered to questions by raps and he said +he had; "but it tells lies as often as truth, and oftener, I think. We +tried it, and it only knocked at L M N when we said the alphabet over." +Professor Barrett then tested it by asking mentally for a certain number +of raps, and immediately the actual number was heard. He repeated this +four times with a different number each time, and with the same result. + +Perhaps the most interesting part of this particular case is at the end +of Professor Barrett's account, when, at the request of the old farmer, +Mr. Maxwell Close read some passages from Scripture, followed by the +Lord's Prayer, to an accompaniment of knockings and scratches, which were +at first so loud that the solemn words could hardly be heard, but which +gradually ceased as they all knelt in prayer. And since that night no +further disturbance occurred. + +Another similar story comes from the north of Ireland. In the year 1866 +(as recorded in the _Larne Reporter_ of March 31 in that year), two +families residing at Upper Ballygowan, near Larne, suffered a series of +annoyances from having stones thrown into their houses both by night and +by day. Their neighbours came in great numbers to sympathise with them in +their affliction, and on one occasion, after a volley of stones had been +poured into the house through the window, a young man who was present +fired a musket in the direction of the mysterious assailants. The reply +was a loud peal of satanic laughter, followed by a volley of stones and +turf. On another occasion a heap of potatoes, which was in an inner +apartment of one of the houses, was seen to be in commotion, and shortly +afterwards its contents were hurled into the kitchen, where the inmates +of the house, with some of their neighbours, were assembled. + +The explanation given by some people of this mysterious affair was as +mysterious as the affair itself. It was said that many years before the +occurrences which we have now related took place, the farmer who then +occupied the premises in which they happened was greatly annoyed by +mischievous tricks which were played upon him by a company of fairies who +had a habit of holding their rendezvous in his house. The consequence was +that this man had to leave the house, which for a long time stood a +roofless ruin. After the lapse of many years, and when the story about +the dilapidated fabric having been haunted had probably been forgotten, +the people who then occupied the adjoining lands unfortunately took some +of the stones of the old deserted mansion to repair their own buildings. +At this the fairies, or "good people," were much incensed; and they +vented their displeasure on the offender in the way we have described. + +A correspondent from County Wexford, who desires to have his name +suppressed, writes as follows: "Less than ten miles from the town +of ----, Co. Wexford, lives a small farmer named M----, who by dint of +thrift and industry has reared a large family decently and comfortably. + +"Some twenty years ago Mr. M----, through the death of a relative, fell +in for a legacy of about a hundred pounds. As he was already in rather +prosperous circumstances, and as his old thatched dwelling-house was not +large enough to accommodate his increasing family, he resolved to spend +the money in building a new one. + +"Not long afterwards building operations commenced, and in about a year +he had a fine slated cottage, or small farm-house, erected and ready for +occupation: so far very well; but it is little our friend M---- +anticipated the troubles which were still ahead of him. He purchased some +new furniture at the nearest town, and on a certain day he removed all +the furniture which the old house contained into the new one; and in the +evening the family found themselves installed in the latter for good, as +they thought. They all retired to rest at their usual hour; scarcely were +they snugly settled in bed when they heard peculiar noises inside the +house. As time passed the din became terrible--there was shuffling of +feet, slamming of doors, pulling about of furniture, and so forth. The +man of the house got up to explore, but could see nothing, neither was +anything disturbed. The door was securely locked as he had left it. After +a thorough investigation, in which his wife assisted, he had to own he +could find no clue to the cause of the disturbance. The couple went to +bed again, and almost immediately the racket recommenced, and continued +more or less till dawn. + +"The inmates were puzzled and frightened, but determined to try whether +the noise would be repeated the next night before telling their +neighbours what had happened. But the pandemonium experienced the first +night of their occupation was as nothing compared with what they had +to endure the second night and for several succeeding nights. Sleep was +impossible, and finally Mr. M---- and family in terror abandoned their +new home, and retook possession of their old one. + +"That is the state of things to this day. The old house has been repaired +and is tenanted. The new house, a few perches off, facing the public +road, is used as a storehouse. The writer has seen it scores of times, +and its story is well known all over the country-side. Mr. M---- is +disinclined to discuss the matter or to answer questions; but it is said +he made several subsequent attempts to occupy the house, but always +failed to stand his ground when night came with its usual rowdy +disturbances. + +"It is said that when building operations were about to begin, a little +man of bizarre appearance accosted Mr. M---- and exhorted him to build on +a different site; otherwise the consequences would be unpleasant for him +and his; while the local peasantry allege that the house was built across +a fairy pathway between two _raths_, and that this was the cause of the +trouble. It is quite true that there are two large _raths_ in the +vicinity, and the haunted house is directly in a bee-line between them. +For myself I offer no explanation; but I guarantee the substantial +accuracy of what I have stated above." + +Professor Barrett, in the paper to which we have already referred, draws +certain conclusions from his study of this subject; one of the chief of +these is that "the widespread belief in fairies, pixies, gnomes, +brownies, etc., probably rests on the varied manifestations of +poltergeists." The popular explanation of the above story bears out this +conclusion, and it is further emphasized by the following, which comes +from Portarlington: A man near that town had saved five hundred pounds, +and determined to build a house with the money. He fixed on a certain +spot, and began to build, very much against the advice of his friends, +who said it was on a fairy path, and would bring him ill-luck. Soon the +house was finished, and the owner moved in; but the very first night his +troubles began, for some unseen hand threw the furniture about and broke +it, while the man himself was injured. Being unwilling to lose the value +of his money, he tried to make the best of things. But night after night +the disturbances continued, and life in the house was impossible; the +owner chose the better part of valour and left. No tenant has been found +since, and the house stands empty, a silent testimony to the power of the +poltergeist. + +Poltergeistic phenomena from their very nature lend themselves to +spurious reproduction and imitation, as witness the famous case of Cock +Lane and many other similar stories. At least one well-known case +occurred in Ireland, and is interesting as showing that where fraud is at +work, close investigation will discover it. It is related that an old +Royal Irish Constabulary pensioner, who obtained a post as emergency man +during the land troubles, and who in 1892 was in charge of an evicted +farm in the Passage East district, was being continually disturbed by +furniture and crockery being thrown about in a mysterious manner. Reports +were brought to the police, and they investigated the matter; but nothing +was heard or seen beyond knocking on an inside wall of a bedroom in which +one of the sons was sleeping; this knocking ceased when the police were +in the bedroom, and no search was made in the boy's bed to see if he had +a stick. The police therefore could find no explanation, the noises +continued night after night, and eventually the family left and went to +live in Waterford. A great furore was raised when it was learnt that the +hauntings had followed them, and again investigation was made, but it +seems to have been more careful this time: an eye was kept on the +movements of the young son, and at least two independent witnesses saw +him throwing things about--fireirons and jam-pots--when he thought his +father was not looking. It seems to have been a plot between the mother +and son owing to the former's dislike to her husband's occupation, which +entailed great unpopularity and considerable personal risk. Fearing for +her own and her family's safety, the wife conceived of this plan to force +her husband to give up his post. Her efforts were successful, as the man +soon resigned his position and went to live elsewhere.[7] + +[Footnote 7: _Proceedings_, S.P.R.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +HAUNTED PLACES + + +That houses are haunted and apparitions frequently seen therein are +pretty well established facts. The preceding chapters have dealt with +this aspect of the subject, and, in view of the weight of evidence to +prove the truth of the stories told in them, it would be hard for anyone +to doubt that there is such a thing as a haunted house, whatever +explanation maybe given of "haunting." We now turn to another division of +the subject--the outdoor ghost who haunts the roadways, country lanes, +and other places. Sceptics on ghostly phenomena are generally pretty full +of explanations when they are told of a ghost having been seen in a +particular spot, and the teller may be put down as hyper-imaginative, or +as having been deluded by moonlight playing through the trees; while +cases are not wanting where a reputation for temperance has been lost by +a man telling his experiences of a ghost he happens to have met along +some country lane; and the fact that there are cases where an imaginative +and nervous person has mistaken for a ghost a white goat or a sheet +hanging on a bush only strengthens the sceptic's disbelief and makes him +blind to the very large weight of evidence that can be arrayed against +him. Some day, no doubt, psychologists and scientists will be able to +give us a complete and satisfactory explanation of these abnormal +apparitions, but at present we are very much in the dark, and any +explanation that may be put forward is necessarily of a tentative nature. + +The following story is sent us by Mr. J. J. Crowley, of the Munster and +Leinster Bank, who writes as follows: "The scene is outside Clonmel, on +the main road leading up to a nice old residence on the side of the +mountains called ---- Lodge. I happened to be visiting my friends, two +other bank men. It was night, about eight o'clock, moonless, and +tolerably dark, and when within a quarter of a mile or perhaps less of +a bridge over a small stream near the house I saw a girl, dressed in +white, wearing a black sash and long flowing hair, walk in the direction +from me up the culvert of the bridge and disappear down the other side. +At the time I saw it I thought it most peculiar that I could distinguish +a figure so far away, and thought a light of some sort must be falling on +the girl, or that there were some people about and that some of them had +struck a match. When I got to the place I looked about, but could find no +person there. + +"I related this story to my friends some time after arriving, and was +then told that one of them had wakened up in his sleep a few nights +previously, and had seen an identical figure standing at the foot of his +bed, and rushed in fright from his room, taking refuge for the night with +the other lodger. They told the story to their landlady, and learned from +her that this apparition had frequently been seen about the place, and +was the spirit of one of her daughters who had died years previously +rather young, and who, previous to her death, had gone about just as we +described the figure we had seen. I had heard nothing of this story until +after I had seen the ghost, and consequently it could not be put down to +hallucination or over-imagination on my part." + +The experiences of two constables of the Royal Irish Constabulary while +on despatch duty one winter's night in the early eighties has been sent +us by one of the men concerned, and provides interesting reading. It was +a fine moonlight night, with a touch of frost in the air, when these two +men set out to march the five miles to the next barrack. Brisk walking +soon brought them near their destination. The barrack which they were +approaching was on the left side of the road, and facing it on the other +side was a whitethorn hedge. The road at this point was wide, and as the +two constables got within fifty yards of the barrack, they saw a +policeman step out from this hedge and move across the road, looking +towards the two men as he did so. He was plainly visible to them both. +"He was bare-headed" (runs the account), "with his tunic opened down the +front, a stout-built man, black-haired, pale, full face, and short +mutton-chop whiskers." They thought he was a newly-joined constable who +was doing "guard" and had come out to get some fresh air while waiting +for a patrol to return. As the two men approached, he disappeared into +the shadow of the barrack, and apparently went in by the door; to their +amazement, when they came up they found the door closed and bolted, and +it was only after loud knocking that they got a sleepy "All right" from +some one inside, and after the usual challenging were admitted. There +was no sign of the strange policeman when they got in, and on inquiry +they learnt that no new constable had joined the station. The two men +realised then that they had seen a ghost, but refrained from saying +anything about it to the men at the station--a very sensible precaution, +considering the loneliness of the average policeman's life in this +country. + +Some years afterwards the narrator of the above story learnt that a +policeman had been lost in a snow-drift near this particular barrack. +Whether this be the explanation we leave to others: the facts as stated +are well vouched for. There is no evidence to support the theory of +hallucination, for the apparition was so vivid that the idea of its being +other than normal never entered the constables' heads _till they had got +into the barrack_. When they found the door shut and bolted, their +amazement was caused by indignation against an apparently unsociable +or thoughtless comrade, and it was only afterwards, while discussing the +whole thing on their homeward journey, that it occurred to them that it +would have been impossible for any ordinary mortal to shut, bolt, and bar +a door without making a sound. + +In the winter of 1840-1, in the days when snow and ice and all their +attendant pleasures were more often in evidence than in these degenerate +days, a skating party was enjoying itself on the pond in the grounds of +the Castle near Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. Among the skaters was a man who +had with him a very fine curly-coated retriever dog. The pond was +thronged with people enjoying themselves, when suddenly the ice gave +way beneath him, and the man fell into the water; the dog went to his +rescue, and both were drowned. A monument was erected to perpetuate the +memory of the dog's heroic self-sacrifice, but only the pedestal now +remains. The ghost of the dog is said to haunt the grounds and the public +road between the castle gate and the Dodder Bridge. Many people have seen +the phantom dog, and the story is well known locally. + +The ghost of a boy who was murdered by a Romany is said to haunt one of +the lodge gates of the Castle demesne, and the lodge-keeper states that +he saw it only a short time ago. The Castle, however, is now in +possession of Jesuit Fathers, and the Superior assures us that there has +been no sign of a ghost for a long time, his explanation being that the +place is so crowded out with new buildings "that even a ghost would have +some difficulty in finding a comfortable corner." + +It is a fairly general belief amongst students of supernatural phenomena +that animals have the psychic faculty developed to a greater extent than +we have. There are numerous stories which tell of animals being scared +and frightened by something that is invisible to a human being, and the +explanation given is that the animal has seen a ghost which we cannot +see. A story that is told of a certain spot near the village of G----, in +Co. Kilkenny, supports this theory. The account was sent us by the +eye-witness of what occurred, and runs as follows: "I was out for a walk +one evening near the town of G---- about 8.45 P.M., and was crossing the +bridge that leads into the S. Carlow district with a small wire-haired +terrier dog. When we were about three-quarters of a mile out, the dog +began to bark and yelp in a most vicious manner at 'nothing' on the +left-hand side of the roadway and near to a straggling hedge. I felt a +bit creepy and that something was wrong. The dog kept on barking, but I +could at first see nothing, but on looking closely for a few seconds I +believe I saw a small grey-white object vanish gradually and noiselessly +into the hedge. No sooner had it vanished than the dog ceased barking, +wagged his tail, and seemed pleased with his successful efforts." The +narrator goes on to say that he made inquiries when he got home, and +found that this spot on the road had a very bad reputation, as people had +frequently seen a ghost there, while horses had often to be beaten, +coaxed, or led past the place. The explanation locally current is that a +suicide was buried at the cross-roads near at hand, or that it may be the +ghost of a man who is known to have been killed at the spot. + +The following story has been sent us by the Rev. H.R.B. Gillespie, to +whom it was told by one of the witnesses of the incidents described +therein. One bright moonlight night some time ago a party consisting of a +man, his two daughters, and a friend were driving along a country road in +County Leitrim. They came to a steep hill, and all except the driver got +down to walk. One of the two sisters walked on in front, and after her +came the other two, followed closely by the trap. They had not gone far, +when those in rear saw a shabbily-dressed man walking beside the girl who +was leading. But she did not seem to be taking any notice of him, and, +wondering what he could be, they hastened to overtake her. But just when +they were catching her up the figure suddenly dashed into the shadow of a +disused forge, which stood by the side of the road, and as it did so the +horse, which up to this had been perfectly quiet, reared up and became +unmanageable. The girl beside whom the figure had walked had seen and +heard nothing. The road was not bordered by trees or a high hedge, so +that it could not have been some trick of the moonlight. One of the girls +described the appearance of the figure to a local workman, who said, "It +is very like a tinker who was found dead in that forge about six months +ago." + +Here is another story of a haunted spot on a road, where a "ghost" was +seen, not at the witching hour of night, not when evening shadows +lengthen, but in broad daylight. It is sent to us by the percipient, +a lady, who does not desire to have her name mentioned. She was walking +along a country road in the vicinity of Cork one afternoon, and passed +various people. She then saw coming towards her a country-woman dressed +in an old-fashioned style. This figure approached her, and when it drew +near, suddenly staggered, as if under the influence of drink, and +disappeared! She hastened to the spot, but searched in vain for any clue +to the mystery; the road was bounded by high walls, and there was no +gateway or gap through which the figure might slip. Much mystified, she +continued on her way, and arrived at her destination. She there mentioned +what had occurred, and was then informed by an old resident in the +neighbourhood that that woman had constantly been seen up to twenty years +before, but not since that date. By the country-people the road was +believed to be haunted, but the percipient did not know this at the time. + +The following is sent us by Mr. T. J. Westropp, and has points of its own +which are interesting; he states: "On the road from Bray to Windgates, at +the Deerpark of Kilruddy, is a spot which, whatever be the explanation, +is distinguished by weird sounds and (some say) sights. I on one occasion +was walking with a friend to catch the train at Bray about eleven o'clock +one evening some twenty-five years ago, when we both heard heavy steps +and rustling of bracken in the Deerpark; apparently some one got over the +gate, crossed the road with heavy steps and fell from the wall next Bray +Head, rustling and slightly groaning. The night was lightsome, though +without actual moonlight, and we could see nothing over the wall where we +had heard the noise. + +"For several years after I dismissed the matter as a delusion; but when I +told the story to some cousins, they said that another relative (now a +Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin) had heard it too, and that there was +a local belief that it was the ghost of a poacher mortally wounded by +gamekeepers, who escaped across the road and died beyond it." Mr. +Westropp afterwards got the relative mentioned above to tell his +experience, and it corresponded with his own, except that the ghost was +visible. "The clergyman who was rector of Greystones at that time used to +say that he had heard exactly similar noises though he had seen nothing." + +The following story of an occurrence near Dublin is sent us by a lady who +is a very firm believer in ghosts. On a fine night some years ago two +sisters were returning home from the theatre. They were walking along a +very lonely part of the Kimmage Road about two miles beyond the tram +terminus, and were chatting gaily as they went, when suddenly they heard +the "clink, clink" of a chain coming towards them. At first they thought +it was a goat or a donkey which had got loose, and was dragging its chain +along the ground. But they could see nothing, and could hear no noise but +the clink of the chain, although the road was clear and straight. Nearer +and nearer came the noise, gradually getting louder, and as it passed +them closely they distinctly felt a blast or whiff of air. They were +paralysed with an indefinable fear, and were scarcely able to drag +themselves along the remaining quarter of a mile to their house. The +elder of the two was in very bad health, and the other had almost to +carry her. Immediately she entered the house she collapsed, and had +to be revived with brandy. + +An old woman, it seems, had been murdered for her savings by a tramp near +the spot where this strange occurrence took place, and it is thought that +there is a connection between the crime and the haunting of this part of +the Kimmage Road. Whatever the explanation may be, the whole story bears +every evidence of truth, and it would be hard for anyone to disprove it. + +Churchyards are generally considered to be the hunting-ground of all +sorts and conditions of ghosts. People who would on all other occasions, +when the necessity arises, prove themselves to be possessed of at any +rate a normal amount of courage, turn pale and shiver at the thought of +having to pass through a churchyard at dead of night. It may be some +encouragement to such to state that out of a fairly large collection of +accounts of haunted places, only one relates to a churchyard. The story +is told by Mr. G. H. Millar of Edgeworthstown: "During the winter of +1875," he writes, "I attended a soiree about five miles from here. I was +riding, and on my way home about 11.30 P.M. I had to pass by the old +ruins and burial-ground of Abbeyshrule. The road led round by two sides +of the churchyard. It was a bright moonlight night, and as my girth broke +I was walking the horse quite slowly. As I passed the ruin, I saw what I +took to be a policeman in a long overcoat; he was walking from the centre +of the churchyard towards the corner, and, as far as I could see, would +be at the corner by the time I would reach it, and we would meet. Quite +suddenly, however, he disappeared, and I could see no trace of him. Soon +after I overtook a man who had left the meeting long before me. I +expressed wonder that he had not been farther on, and he explained that +he went a 'round-about' way to avoid passing the old abbey, as he did not +want to see 'The Monk.' On questioning him, he told me that a monk was +often seen in the churchyard." + +A story told of a ghost which haunts a certain spot on an estate near the +city of Waterford, bears a certain resemblance to the last story for the +reason that it was only after the encounter had taken place in both cases +that it was known that anything out of the ordinary had been seen. In the +early eighties of last century ---- Court, near Waterford, was occupied +by Mr. and Mrs. S---- and their family of two young boys and a girl of +twenty-one years of age. Below the house is a marshy glen with a big open +drain cut through it. Late one evening the daughter was out shooting +rabbits near this drain and saw, as she thought, her half-brother +standing by the drain in a sailor suit, which like other small boys he +wore. She called to him once or twice, and to her surprise got no reply. +She went towards him, and when she got close he suddenly disappeared. The +next day she asked an old dependent, who had lived many years in the +place, if there was anything curious about the glen. He replied at once: +"Oh! you mean the little sailor man. Sure, he won't do you any harm." +This was the first she had heard of anything of the sort, but it was then +found that none of the country-people would go through the glen after +dusk. + +Some time afterwards two sons of the clergyman of the parish in +which ---- Court stands were out one evening fishing in the drain, when +one of them suddenly said, "What's that sailor doing there?" The other +saw nothing, and presently the figure vanished. At the time of the +appearance neither had heard of Miss S----'s experience, and no one has +been able to explain it, as there is apparently no tradition of any +"little sailor man" having been there in the flesh. + +Mr. Joseph M'Crossan, a journalist on the staff of the _Strabane +Chronicle_, has sent us a cutting from that paper describing a ghost +which appeared to men working in an engine-house at Strabane railway +station on two successive nights in October 1913. The article depicts +very graphically the antics of the ghost and the fear of the men who saw +it. Mr. M'Crossan interviewed one of these men (Pinkerton by name), and +the story as told in his words is as follows: "Michael Madden, Fred +Oliphant, and I were engaged inside a shed cleaning engines, when, at +half-past twelve (midnight), a knocking came to all the doors, and +continued without interruption, accompanied by unearthly yells. The three +of us went to one of the doors, and saw--I could swear to it without +doubt--the form of a man of heavy build. I thought I was about to faint. +My hair stood high on my head. We all squealed for help, when the +watchman and signalman came fast to our aid. Armed with a crowbar, the +signalman made a dash at the 'spirit,' but was unable to strike down the +ghost, which hovered about our shed till half-past two. It was moonlight, +and we saw it plainly. There was no imagination on our part. We three +cleaners climbed up the engine, and hid on the roof of the engine, lying +there till morning at our wit's end. The next night it came at half-past +one. Oliphant approached the spirit within two yards, but he then +collapsed, the ghost uttering terrible yells. I commenced work, but the +spirit 'gazed' into my face, and I fell forward against the engine. Seven +of us saw the ghost this time. Our clothes and everything in the shed +were tossed and thrown about." + +The other engine-cleaners were interviewed and corroborated Pinkerton's +account. One of them stated that he saw the ghost run up and down a +ladder leading to a water tank and disappear into it, while the signalman +described how he struck at the ghost with a crowbar, but the weapon +seemed to go through it. The spirit finally took his departure through +the window. + +The details of this affair are very much on the lines of the good +old-fashioned ghost yarns. But it is hard to see how so many men could +labour under the same delusion. The suggestion that the whole thing was +a practical joke may also be dismissed, for if the apparition had flesh +and bones the crowbar would have soon proved it. The story goes that a +man was murdered near the spot some time ago; whether there is any +connection between this crime and the apparition it would be hard to say. +However, we are not concerned with explanations (for who, as yet, can +explain the supernatural?); the facts as stated have all the appearance +of truth. + +Mr. Patrick Ryan, of P----, Co. Limerick, gives us two stories as he +heard them related by Mr. Michael O'Dwyer of the same place. The former +is evidently a very strong believer in supernatural phenomena, but he +realises how strong is the unbelief of many, and in support of his +stories he gives names of several persons who will vouch for the truth +of them. With a few alterations, we give the story in his own words: "Mr. +O'Dwyer has related how one night, after he had carried the mails to the +train, he went with some fodder for a heifer in a field close to the +railway station near to which was a creamery. He discovered the animal +grazing near the creamery although how she came to be there was a +mystery, as a broad trench separated it from the rest of the field, +which is only spanned by a plank used by pedestrians when crossing the +field. 'Perhaps,' he said in explanation, 'it was that he _should_ go +there to hear.' It was about a quarter to twelve (midnight), and, having +searched the field in vain, he was returning home, when, as he crossed +the plank, he espied the heifer browsing peacefully in the aforementioned +part of the field which was near the creamery. He gave her the fodder +and--Heavens! was he suffering from delusions? Surely his ears were not +deceiving him--from the creamery funnel there arose a dense volume of +smoke mingled with the sharp hissing of steam and the rattling of cans, +all as if the creamery were working, and it were broad daylight. His +heifer became startled and bellowed frantically. O'Dwyer, himself a man +of nerves, yet possessing all the superstitions of the Celt, was startled +and ran without ceasing to his home near by, where he went quickly to +bed. + +"O'Dwyer is not the only one who has seen this, as I have been told by +several of my friends how they heard it. Who knows the mystery +surrounding this affair!" + +The second story relates to a certain railway station in the south of +Ireland; again we use Mr. Ryan's own words: "A near relative of mine" (he +writes) "once had occasion to go to the mail train to meet a friend. +While sitting talking to O'Dwyer, whom he met on the platform, he heard +talking going on in the waiting-room. O'Dwyer heard it also, and they +went to the door, but saw nothing save for the light of a waning moon +which filtered in through the window. Uncertain, they struck matches, but +saw nothing. Again they sat outside, and again they heard the talking, +and this time they did not go to look, for they knew about it. In the +memory of the writer a certain unfortunate person committed suicide on +the railway, and was carried to the waiting-room pending an inquest. He +lay all night there till the inquest was held next day. 'Let us not look +further into the matter,' said O'Dwyer, and my relative having +acquiesced, he breathed a shuddering prayer for the repose of the dead." + +The following story, which has been sent as a personal experience by Mr. +William Mackey of Strabane, is similar in many ways to an extraordinary +case of retro-cognitive vision which occurred some years ago to two +English ladies who were paying a visit to Versailles; and who published +their experiences in a book entitled, _An Adventure_ (London, 1911). Mr. +Mackey writes: "It was during the severe winter of the Crimean War, when +indulging in my favourite sport of wild-fowl shooting, that I witnessed +the following strange scene. It was a bitterly cold night towards the end +of November or beginning of December; the silvery moon had sunk in the +west shortly before midnight; the sport had been all that could be +desired, when I began to realise that the blood was frozen in my veins, +and I was on the point of starting for home, when my attention was drawn +to the barking of a dog close by, which was followed in a few seconds by +the loud report of a musket, the echo of which had scarcely died away in +the silent night, when several musket-shots went off in quick succession; +this seemed to be the signal for a regular fusillade of musketry, and it +was quite evident from the nature of the firing that there was attack and +defence. + +"For the life of me I could not understand what it all meant; not being +superstitious I did not for a moment imagine it was supernatural, +notwithstanding that my courageous dog was crouching in abject terror +between my legs; beads of perspiration began to trickle down from my +forehead, when suddenly there arose a flame as if a house were on fire, +but I knew from the position of the blaze (which was only a few hundred +yards from where I stood), that there was no house there, or any +combustible that would burn, and what perplexed me most was to see pieces +of burning thatch and timber sparks fall hissing into the water at my +feet. When the fire seemed at its height the firing appeared to weaken, +and when the clear sound of a bugle floated out on the midnight air, it +suddenly ceased, and I could hear distinctly the sound of cavalry coming +at a canter, their accoutrements jingling quite plainly on the frosty +air; in a very short time they arrived at the scene of the fight. I +thought it an eternity until they took their departure, which they +did at the walk. + +"It is needless to say that, although the scene of this tumult was on my +nearest way home, I did not venture that way, as, although there are many +people who would say that I never knew what fear was, I must confess on +this occasion I was thoroughly frightened. + +"At breakfast I got a good sound rating from my father for staying out so +late. My excuse was that I fell asleep and had a horrible dream, which I +related. When I finished I was told I had been dreaming with my eyes +open!--that I was not the first person who had witnessed this strange +sight. He then told me the following narrative: 'It was towards the end +of the seventeenth century that a widow named Sally Mackey and her three +sons lived on the outskirts of the little settlement of the Mackeys. A +warrant was issued by the Government against the three sons for high +treason, the warrant being delivered for execution to the officer in +command of the infantry regiment stationed at Lifford. A company was told +off for the purpose of effecting the arrest, and the troops set out from +Lifford at 11 P.M. + +"'The cottage home of the Mackeys was approached by a bridle-path, +leading from the main road to Derry, which only permitted the military to +approach in single file; they arrived there at midnight, and the first +intimation the inmates had of danger was the barking, and then the +shooting, of the collie dog. Possessing as they did several stand of +arms, they opened fire on the soldiers as they came in view and killed +and wounded several; it was the mother, Sally Mackey, who did the +shooting, the sons loading the muskets. Whether the cottage went on fire +by accident or design was never known; it was only when the firing from +the cottage ceased and the door was forced open that the officer in +command rushed in and brought out the prostrate form of the lady, who was +severely wounded and burned. All the sons perished, but the soldiers +suffered severely, a good many being killed and wounded. + +"'The firing was heard by the sentries at Lifford, and a troop of cavalry +was despatched to the scene of conflict, but only arrived in time to see +the heroine dragged from the burning cottage. She had not, however, been +fatally wounded, and lived for many years afterwards with a kinsmen. My +father remembered conversing with old men, when he was a boy, who +remembered her well. She seemed to take a delight in narrating incidents +of the fight to those who came to visit her, and would always finish up +by making them feel the pellets between the skin and her ribs.'" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +APPARITIONS AT OR AFTER DEATH + + +It has been said by a very eminent literary man that the accounts of the +appearance of people at or shortly after the moment of death make very +dull reading as a general rule. This may be; they are certainly not so +lengthy, or full of detail, as the accounts of haunted houses--nor could +such be expected. In our humble opinion, however, they are full of +interest, and open up problems of telepathy and thought-transference to +which the solutions may not be found for years to come. That people have +seen the image of a friend or relative at the moment of dissolution, +sometimes in the ordinary garb of life, sometimes with symbolical +accompaniments, or that they have been made acquainted in some abnormal +manner with the fact that such a one has passed away, seems to be +demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt. But we would hasten to add that +such appearances are not a proof of existence after death, nor can they +be regarded in the light of special interventions of a merciful +Providence. Were they either they would surely occur far oftener. The +question is, Why do they occur at all? As it is, the majority of them +seem to happen for no particular reason, and are often seen by persons +who have little or no connection with the deceased, not by their nearest +and dearest, as one might expect. It is supposed they are _veridical_ +hallucinations, _i.e._ ones which correspond with objective events at a +distance, and are caused by a telepathic impact conveyed from the mind of +an absent agent to the mind of the percipient. + +From their nature they fall under different heads. The majority of them +occur at what may most conveniently be described as the time of death, +though how closely they approximate in reality to the instant of the +Great Change it is impossible to say. So we have divided this chapter +into three groups: + +(1) Appearances at the time of death (as explained above). + +(2) Appearances clearly _after_ the time of death. + +(3) In this third group we hope to give three curious tales of +appearances some time _before_ death. + + +GROUP I + +We commence this group with stories in which the phenomena connected with +the respective deaths were not perceived as representations of the human +form. In the first only sounds were heard. It is sent as a personal +experience by the Archdeacon of Limerick, Very Rev. J. A. Haydn, LL.D. +"In the year 1879 there lived in the picturesque village of Adare, at a +distance of about eight or nine miles from my residence, a District +Inspector named ----, with whom I enjoyed a friendship of the most +intimate and fraternal kind. At the time I write of, Mrs. ---- was +expecting the arrival of their third child. She was a particularly tiny +and fragile woman, and much anxiety was felt as to the result of the +impending event. He and she had very frequently spent pleasant days +at my house, with all the apartments of which they were thoroughly +acquainted--a fact of importance in this narrative. + +"On Wednesday, October 17, 1879, I had a very jubilant letter from my +friend, announcing that the expected event had successfully happened on +the previous day, and that all was progressing satisfactorily. On the +night of the following Wednesday, October 22, I retired to bed at about +ten o'clock. My wife, the children, and two maid-servants were all +sleeping upstairs, and I had a small bed in my study, which was on the +ground floor. The house was shrouded in darkness, and the only sound that +broke the silence was the ticking of the hall-clock. + +"I was quietly preparing to go to sleep, when I was much surprised at +hearing, with the most unquestionable distinctness, the sound of light, +hurried footsteps, exactly suggestive of those of an active, restless +young female, coming in from the hall door and traversing the hall. They +then, apparently with some hesitation, followed the passage leading to +the study door, on arriving at which they stopped. I then heard the sound +of a light, agitated hand apparently searching for the handle of the +door. By this time, being quite sure that my wife had come down and +wanted to speak to me, I sat up in bed, and called to her by name, asking +what was the matter. As there was no reply, and the sounds had ceased, I +struck a match, lighted a candle, and opened the door. No one was visible +or audible. I went upstairs, found all the doors shut and everyone +asleep. Greatly puzzled, I returned to the study and went to bed, leaving +the candle alight. Immediately the whole performance was circumstantially +repeated, but _this_ time the handle of the door was grasped by the +invisible hand, and _partly_ turned, then relinquished. I started out of +bed and renewed my previous search, with equally futile results. The +clock struck eleven, and from that time all disturbances ceased. + +"On Friday morning I received a letter stating that Mrs. ---- had died at +about midnight on the previous Wednesday. I hastened off to Adare and had +an interview with my bereaved friend. With one item of our conversation I +will close. He told me that his wife sank rapidly on Wednesday, until +when night came on she became delirious. She spoke incoherently, as if +revisiting scenes and places once familiar. 'She thought she was in +_your_ house,' he said, 'and was apparently holding a conversation with +_you_, as she used to keep silence at intervals as if listening to your +replies.' I asked him if he could possibly remember the hour at which +the imaginary conversation took place. He replied that, curiously enough, +he could tell it accurately, as he had looked at his watch, and found the +time between half-past ten and eleven o'clock--the exact time of the +mysterious manifestations heard by me." + +A lady sends the following personal experience: "I had a cousin in the +country who was not very strong, and on one occasion she desired me to go +to her, and accompany her to K----. I consented to do so, and arranged a +day to go and meet her: this was in the month of February. The evening +before I was to go, I was sitting by the fire in my small parlour about +5 P.M. There was no light in the room except what proceeded from the +fire. Beside the fireplace was an armchair, where my cousin usually sat +when she was with me. Suddenly that chair was illuminated by a light +so intensely bright that it actually seemed to _heave_ under it, though +the remainder of the room remained in semi-darkness. I called out in +amazement, 'What has happened to the chair?' In a moment the light +vanished, and the chair was as before. In the morning I heard that my +cousin had died about the same time that I saw the light." + +We now come to the ordinary type, _i.e._ where a figure appears. The +following tale illustrates a point we have already alluded to, namely, +that the apparition is sometimes seen by a disinterested person, and +_not_ by those whom one would naturally expect should see it. A lady +writes as follows: "At Island Magee is the Knowehead Lonan, a long, +hilly, narrow road, bordered on either side by high thorn-hedges and +fields. Twenty years ago, when I was a young girl, I used to go to the +post-office at the Knowehead on Sunday mornings down the Lonan, taking +the dogs for the run. One Sunday as I had got to the top of the hill +on my return journey, I looked back, and saw a man walking rapidly after +me, but still a good way off. I hastened my steps, for the day was muddy, +and I did not want him to see me in a bedraggled state. But he seemed to +come on so fast as to be soon close behind me, and I wondered he did not +pass me, so on we went, I never turning to look back. About a quarter of +a mile farther on I met A. B. on 'Dick's Brae,' on her way to church or +Sunday school, and stopped to speak to her. I wanted to ask who the man +was, but he seemed to be so close that I did not like to do so, and +expected he had passed. When I moved on, I was surprised to find he was +still following me, while my dogs were lagging behind with downcast heads +and drooping tails. + +"I then passed a cottage where C. D. was out feeding her fowls. I spoke +to her, and then feeling that there was no longer anyone behind, looked +back, and saw the man standing with her. I would not have paid any +attention to the matter had not A. B. been down at our house that +afternoon, and I casually asked her: + +"'Who was the man who was just behind me when I met you on Dick's Brae?' + +"'What man?' said she; and noting my look of utter astonishment, added, +'I give you my word I never met a soul but yourself from the time I left +home till I went down to Knowehead Lonan.' + +"Next day C. D. came to work for us, and I asked her who was the man who +was standing beside her after I passed her on Sunday. + +"'Naebody!' she replied,' I saw naebody but yoursel'.' + +"It all seemed very strange, and so they thought too. About three weeks +later news came that C. D.'s only brother, a sailor, was washed overboard +that Sunday morning." + +The following story is not a first-hand experience, but is sent by the +gentleman to whom it was related by the percipient. The latter said to +him: + +"I was sitting in this same chair I am in at present one evening, when I +heard a knock at the front door. I went myself to see who was there, and +on opening the door saw my old friend P. Q. standing outside with his gun +in his hand. I was surprised at seeing him, but asked him to come in and +have something. He came inside the porch into the lamplight, and stood +there for a few moments; then he muttered something about being sorry he +had disturbed me, and that he was on his way to see his brother, Colonel +Q., who lived about a mile farther on. Without any further explanation he +walked away towards the gate into the dusk. + +"I was greatly surprised and perplexed, but as he had gone I sat down +again by the fire. About an hour later another knock came to the door, +and I again went out to see who was there. On opening it I found P. Q.'s +groom holding a horse, and he asked me where he was, as he had missed his +way in the dark, and did not know the locality. I told him, and then +asked him where he was going, and why, and he replied that his master was +dead (at his own house about nine miles away), and that he had been sent +to announce the news to Colonel Q." + +Miss Grene, of Grene Park, Co. Tipperary, relates a story which was told +her by the late Miss ----, sister of a former Dean of Cashel. The latter, +an old lady, stated that one time she was staying with a friend in a +house in the suburbs of Dublin. In front of the house was the usual grass +plot, divided into two by a short gravel path which led down to a gate +which opened on to the street. She and her friend were one day engaged in +needlework in one of the front rooms, when they heard the gate opening, +and on looking out the window they saw an elderly gentleman of their +acquaintance coming up the path. As he approached the door both +exclaimed: "Oh, how good of him to come and see us!" As he was not shown +into the sitting-room, one of them rang the bell, and said to the maid +when she appeared, "You have not let Mr. So-and-so in; he is at the door +for some little time." The maid went to the hall door, and returned to +say that there was no one there. Next day they learnt that he had died +just at the hour that they had seen him coming up the path. + +The following tale contains a curious point. A good many years ago the +Rev. Henry Morton, now dead, held a curacy in Ireland. He had to pass +through the graveyard when leaving his house to visit the parishioners. +One beautiful moonlight night he was sent for to visit a sick person, and +was accompanied by his brother, a medical man, who was staying with him. +After performing the religious duty they returned through the churchyard, +and were chatting about various matters when to their astonishment a +figure passed them, both seeing it. This figure left the path, and went +in among the gravestones, and then disappeared. They could not understand +this at all, so they went to the spot where the disappearance took place, +but, needless to say, could find nobody after the most careful search. +Next morning they heard that the person visited had died just after their +departure, while the most marvellous thing of all was that the burial +took place at the very spot where they had seen the phantom disappear. + +The Rev. D. B. Knox communicates the following: In a girls' +boarding-school several years ago two of the boarders were sleeping +in a large double-bedded room with two doors. About two o'clock in the +morning the girls were awakened by the entrance of a tall figure in +clerical attire, the face of which they did not see. They screamed in +fright, but the figure moved in a slow and stately manner past their +beds, and out the other door. It also appeared to one or two of the other +boarders, and seemed to be looking for some one. At length it reached the +bed of one who was evidently known to it. The girl woke up and recognised +her father. He did not speak, but gazed for a few moments at his +daughter, and then vanished. Next morning a telegram was handed to her +which communicated the sad news that her father had died on the previous +evening at the hour when he appeared to her. + +Here is a story of a very old type. It occurred a good many years ago. A +gentleman named Miller resided in Co. Wexford, while his friend and +former schoolfellow lived in the North of Ireland. This long friendship +led them to visit at each other's houses from time to time, but for Mr. +Miller there was a deep shadow of sorrow over these otherwise happy +moments, for, while he enjoyed the most enlightened religious opinions, +his friend was an unbeliever. The last time they were together Mr. Scott +said, "My dear friend, let us solemnly promise that whichever of us shall +die first shall appear to the other after death, if it be possible." "Let +it be so, if God will," replied Mr. Miller. One morning some time after, +about three o'clock, the latter was awakened by a brilliant light in his +bedroom; he imagined that the house must be on fire, when he felt what +seemed to be a hand laid on him, and heard his friend's voice say +distinctly, "There is a God, just but terrible in His judgments," and all +again was dark. Mr. Miller at once wrote down this remarkable experience. +Two days later he received a letter announcing Mr. Scott's death on the +night, and at the hour, that he had seen the light in his room. + +The above leads us on to the famous "Beresford Ghost," which is generally +regarded as holding the same position relative to Irish ghosts that Dame +Alice Kyteler used to hold with respect to Irish witches and wizards. The +story is so well known, and has been published so often, that only a +brief allusion is necessary, with the added information that the best +version is to be found in Andrew Lang's _Dreams and Ghosts_, chapter +viii. (Silver Library Edition). Lord Tyrone appeared after death one +night to Lady Beresford at Gill Hall, in accordance with a promise (as in +the last story) made in early life. He assured her that the religion as +revealed by Jesus Christ was the only true one (both he and Lady +Beresford had been brought up Deists), told her that she was _enceinte_ +and would bear a son, and also foretold her second marriage, and the time +of her death. In proof whereof he drew the bed-hangings through an iron +hook, wrote his name in her pocket-book, and finally placed a hand cold +as marble on her wrist, at which the sinews shrunk up. To the day of her +death Lady Beresford wore a black ribbon round her wrist; this was taken +off before her burial, and it was found the nerves were withered, and the +sinews shrunken, as she had previously described to her children. + + +GROUP II + +We now come to some stories of apparitions seen some time after the hour +of death. Canon Ross-Lewin, of Limerick, furnishes the following incident +in his own family. "My uncle, John Dillon Ross-Lewin, lieutenant in the +30th Regiment, was mortally wounded at Inkerman on November 5, 1854, and +died on the morning of the 6th. He appeared that night to his mother, who +was then on a visit in Co. Limerick, intimating his death, and indicating +where the wound was. The strangest part of the occurrence is, that when +news came later on of the casualties at Inkerman, the first account as to +the wound did _not_ correspond with what the apparition indicated to his +mother, but the final account did. Mrs. Ross-Lewin was devoted to her +son, and he was equally attached to her; she, as the widow of a field +officer who fought at Waterloo, would be able to comprehend the battle +scene, and her mind at the time was centred on the events of the Crimean +War." + +A clergyman, who desires that all names be suppressed, sends the +following: "In my wife's father's house a number of female servants were +kept, of whom my wife, before she was married, was in charge. On one +occasion the cook took ill with appendicitis, and was operated on in the +Infirmary, where I attended her as hospital chaplain. She died, however, +and was buried by her friends. Some days after the funeral my wife was +standing at a table in the kitchen which was so placed that any person +standing at it could see into the passage outside the kitchen, if the +door happened to be open. [The narrator enclosed a rough plan which made +the whole story perfectly clear.] She was standing one day by herself at +the table, and the door was open. This was in broad daylight, about +eleven o'clock in the morning in the end of February or beginning of +March. She was icing a cake, and therefore was hardly thinking of ghosts. +Suddenly she looked up from her work, and glanced through the open +kitchen door into the passage leading past the servants' parlour into the +dairy. She saw quite distinctly the figure of the deceased cook pass +towards the dairy; she was dressed in the ordinary costume she used to +wear in the mornings, and seemed in every respect quite normal. My wife +was not, at the moment, in the least shocked or surprised, but on the +contrary she followed, and searched in the dairy, into which she was just +in time to see her skirts disappearing. Needless to say, nothing was +visible." + +Canon Courtenay Moore, M.A., Rector of Mitchelstown, contributes a +personal experience. "It was about eighteen years ago--I cannot fix the +exact date--that Samuel Penrose returned to this parish from the +Argentine. He was getting on so well abroad that he would have remained +there, but his wife fell ill, and for her sake he returned to Ireland. He +was a carpenter by trade, and his former employer was glad to take him +into his service again. Sam was a very respectable man of sincere +religious feelings. Soon after his return he met with one or two rather +severe accidents, and had a strong impression that a fatal one would +happen him before long; and so it came to pass. A scaffolding gave way +one day, and precipitated him on to a flagged stone floor. He did not die +immediately, but his injuries proved fatal. He died in a Cork hospital +soon after his admission: I went to Cork to officiate at his funeral. +About noon the next day I was standing at my hall door, and the form of +poor Sam, the upper half of it, seemed to pass before me. He looked +peaceful and happy--it was a momentary vision, but perfectly distinct. +The truncated appearance puzzled me very much, until some time after I +read a large book by F.W.H. Myers, in which he made a scientific analysis +and induction of such phenomena, and said that they were almost +universally seen in this half-length form. I do not profess to explain +what I saw: its message, if it had a message, seemed to be that poor Sam +was at last at rest and in peace." + +A story somewhat similar to the above was related to us, in which the +apparition seems certainly to have been sent with a definite purpose. Two +maiden ladies, whom we shall call Miss A. X. and Miss B. Y., lived +together for a good many years. As one would naturally expect, they were +close friends, and had the most intimate relations with each other, both +being extremely religious women. In process of time Miss B. Y. died, and +after death Miss A. X. formed the impression, for some unknown reason, +that all was not well with her friend--that, in fact, her soul was not at +rest. This thought caused her great uneasiness and trouble of mind. One +day she was sitting in her armchair thinking over this, and crying +bitterly. Suddenly she saw in front of her a brilliant light, in the +midst of which was her friend's face, easily recognisable, but +transfigured, and wearing a most beatific expression. She rushed towards +it with her arms outstretched, crying, "Oh! B., why have you come?" At +this the apparition faded away, but ever after Miss A. N. was perfectly +tranquil in mind with respect to her friend's salvation. + +This group may be brought to a conclusion by a story sent by Mr. T. +MacFadden. It is not a personal experience, but happened to his father, +and in an accompanying letter he states that he often heard the latter +describe the incidents related therein, and that he certainly saw the +ghost. + +"The island of Inishinny, which is the scene of this story, is one of the +most picturesque islands on the Donegal coast. With the islands of Gola +and Inismaan it forms a perfectly natural harbour and safe anchorage for +ships during storms. About Christmas some forty or fifty years ago a +small sailing-ship put into Gola Roads (as this anchorage is called) +during a prolonged storm, and the captain and two men had to obtain +provisions from Bunbeg, as, owing to their being detained so long, their +supply was almost exhausted. They had previously visited the island on +several occasions, and made themselves at home with the people from the +mainland who were temporarily resident upon it. + +"The old bar at its best was never very safe for navigation, and this +evening it was in its element, as with every storm it presented one +boiling, seething mass of foam. The inhabitants of the island saw the +frail small boat from the ship securely inside the bar, and prophesied +some dire calamity should the captain and the two sailors venture to +return to the ship that night. But the captain and his companions, having +secured sufficient provisions, decided (as far as I can remember the +story), even in spite of the entreaties of those on shore, to return to +the ship. The storm was increasing, and what with their scanty knowledge +of the intricacies of the channel, and the darkness of the night, certain +it was the next morning their craft was found washed ashore on the +island, and the body of the captain was discovered by the first man who +made the round of the shore looking for logs of timber, or other useful +articles washed ashore from wrecks. The bodies of the two sailors were +never recovered, and word was sent immediately to the captain's wife in +Derry, who came in a few days and gave directions for the disposal of her +husband's corpse. + +"The island was only temporarily inhabited by a few people who had cattle +and horses grazing there for some weeks in the year, and after this +catastrophe they felt peculiarly lonely, and sought refuge from their +thoughts by all spending the evening together in one house. This +particular evening they were all seated round the fire having a chat, +when they heard steps approaching the door. Though the approach was +fine, soft sand, yet the steps were audible as if coming on hard ground. +They knew there was no one on the island save the few who were sitting +quietly round the fire, and so in eager expectation they faced round to +the door. What was their _amazement_ when the door opened, and a tall, +broad-shouldered man appeared and filled the whole doorway--and that man +the captain who had been buried several days previously. He wore the +identical suit in which he had often visited the island and even the +"cheese-cutter" cap, so common a feature of sea-faring men's apparel, was +not wanting. All were struck dumb with terror, and a woman who sat in a +corner opposite the door, exclaimed in Irish in a low voice to my father: + +"'O God! Patrick, there's the captain.' + +"My father, recovering from the first shock, when he saw feminine courage +finding expression in words, said in Irish to the apparition: + +"'Come in!' + +"They were so certain of the appearance that they addressed him in his +own language, as they invariably talked Irish in the district in those +days. But no sooner had he uttered the invitation than the figure, +without the least word or sign, moved back, and disappeared from their +view. They rushed out, but could discover no sign of any living +person within the confines of the island. Such is the true account of an +accident, by which three men lost their lives, and the ghostly sequel, in +which one of them appeared to the eyes of four people, two of whom are +yet alive, and can vouch for the accuracy of this narrative." + + +GROUP III + +We now come to the third group of this chapter, in which we shall relate +two first-hand experiences of tragedies being actually witnessed some +time before they happened, as well as a reliable second-hand story of an +apparition being seen two days before the death occurred. The first of +these is sent by a lady, the percipient, who desires that her name be +suppressed; with it was enclosed a letter from a gentleman who stated +that he could testify to the truth of the following facts: + +"The morning of May 18, 1902, was one of the worst that ever dawned in +Killarney. All through the day a fierce nor'-wester raged, and huge +white-crested waves, known locally as 'The O'Donoghue's white horses,' +beat on the shores of Lough Leane. Then followed hail-showers such as I +have never seen before or since. Hailstones quite as large as small +marbles fell with such rapidity, and seemed so hard that the glass in the +windows of the room in which I stood appeared to be about to break into +fragments every moment. I remained at the window, gazing out on the +turbulent waters of the lake. Sometimes a regular fog appeared, caused by +the terrible downpour of rain and the fury of the gale. + +"During an occasional lull I could see the islands plainly looming in the +distance. In one of these clear intervals, the time being about 12.30 +P.M., five friends of mine were reading in the room in which I stood. +'Quick! quick!' I cried. 'Is that a boat turned over?' My friends all ran +to the windows, but could see nothing. I persisted, however, and said, +'It is on its side, with the keel turned towards us, and it is empty.' +Still none of my friends could see anything. I then ran out, and got one +of the men-servants to go down to a gate, about one hundred yards nearer +the lake than where I stood. He had a powerful telescope, and remained +with great difficulty in the teeth of the storm with his glass for +several minutes, but could see nothing. When he returned another man took +his place, but he also failed to see anything. + +"I seemed so distressed that those around me kept going backwards and +forwards to the windows, and then asked me what was the size of the boat +I had seen. I gave them the exact size, measuring by landmarks. They then +assured me that I must be absolutely wrong, as it was on rare occasions +that a 'party' boat, such as the one I described, could venture on the +lakes on such a day. Therefore there were seven persons who thought I was +wrong in what I had seen. I still contended that I saw the boat, the +length of which I described, as plainly as possible. + +"The day wore on, and evening came. The incident was apparently more or +less forgotten by all but me, until at 8 A.M. on the following morning, +when the maid brought up tea, her first words were, 'Ah, miss, is it not +terrible about the accident!' Naturally I said, 'What accident, Mary?' +She replied, 'There were thirteen people drowned yesterday evening out of +a four-oared boat.' That proved that the boat I had seen at 12.30 P.M. +was a vision foreshadowing the wreck of the boat off Darby's Garden at +5.30 P.M. The position, shape, and size of the boat seen by me were +identical with the one that was lost on the evening of May 18, 1902." + +The second story relates how a lady witnessed a vision (shall we call it) +of a suicide a week before the terrible deed was committed. This incident +surely makes it clear that such cannot be looked upon as special +interventions of Providence, for if the lady had recognised the man, she +might have prevented his rash act. Mrs. MacAlpine says: "In June 1889, I +drove to Castleblaney, in Co. Monaghan, to meet my sister: I expected her +at three o'clock, but as she did not come by that train, I put up the +horse and went for a walk in the demesne. At length becoming tired, I sat +down on a rock by the edge of a lake. My attention was quite taken up +with the beauty of the scene before me, as it was a glorious summer's +day. Presently I felt a cold chill creep through me, and a curious +stiffness came over my limbs, as if I could not move, though wishing to +do so. I felt frightened, yet chained to the spot, and as if impelled to +stare at the water straight before me. Gradually a black cloud seemed +to rise, and in the midst of it I saw a tall man, in a tweed suit, jump +into the water, and sink. In a moment the darkness was gone, and I again +became sensible of the heat and sunshine, but I was awed, and felt eerie. +This happened about June 25, and on July 3 a Mr.----, a bank clerk, +committed suicide by drowning himself in the lake.[8]" + +[Footnote 8: _Proceedings S.P.R._, x. 332.] + +The following incident occurred in the United States, but, as it is +closely connected with this country, it will not seem out of place to +insert it here. It is sent by Mr. Richard Hogan as the personal +experience of his sister, Mrs. Mary Murnane, and is given in her own +words. + +"On the 4th of August 1886, at 10.30 o'clock in the morning, I left my +own house, 21 Montrose St., Philadelphia, to do some shopping. I had not +proceeded more than fifty yards when on turning the corner of the street +I observed my aunt approaching me within five or six yards. I was greatly +astonished, for the last letter I had from home (Limerick) stated that +she was dying of consumption, but the thought occurred to me that she +might have recovered somewhat, and come out to Philadelphia. This opinion +was quickly changed as we approached each other, for our eyes met, and +she had the colour of one who had risen from the grave. I seemed to feel +my hair stand on end, for just as we were about to pass each other she +turned her face towards me, and I gasped, 'My God, she is dead, and is +going to speak to me!' but no word was spoken, and she passed on. After +proceeding a short distance I looked back, and she continued on to +Washington Avenue, where she disappeared from me. There was no other +person near at the time, and being so close, I was well able to note what +she wore. She held a sunshade over her head, and the clothes, hat, etc., +were those I knew so well before I left Ireland. I wrote home telling +what I had seen, and asking if she was dead. I received a reply saying +she was not dead at the date I saw her, but had been asking if a letter +had come from me for some days before her death. It was just two days +before she actually died that I had seen her." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +BANSHEES, AND OTHER DEATH-WARNINGS + + +Of all Irish ghosts, fairies, or bogles, the Banshee (sometimes called +locally the "Boh[-e][-e]ntha" or "Bank[-e][-e]ntha") is the best known to +the general public: indeed, cross-Channel visitors would class her with +pigs, potatoes, and other fauna and flora of Ireland, and would expect +her to make manifest her presence to them as being one of the sights of +the country. She is a spirit with a lengthy pedigree--how lengthy no man +can say, as its roots go back into the dim, mysterious past. The most +famous Banshee of ancient times was that attached to the kingly house of +O'Brien, Aibhill, who haunted the rock of Craglea above Killaloe, near +the old palace of Kincora. In A.D. 1014 was fought the battle of +Clontarf, from which the aged king, Brian Boru, knew that he would never +come away alive, for the previous night Aibhill had appeared to him to +tell him of his impending fate. The Banshee's method of foretelling death +in olden times differed from that adopted by her at the present day: now +she wails and wrings her hands, as a general rule, but in the old Irish +tales she is to be found washing human heads and limbs, or bloodstained +clothes, till the water is all dyed with human blood--this would take +place before a battle. So it would seem that in the course of centuries +her attributes and characteristics have changed somewhat. + +Very different descriptions are given of her personal appearance. +Sometimes she is young and beautiful, sometimes old and of a fearsome +appearance. One writer describes her as "a tall, thin woman with +uncovered head, and long hair that floated round her shoulders, attired +in something which seemed either a loose white cloak, or a sheet thrown +hastily around her, uttering piercing cries." Another person, a coachman, +saw her one evening sitting on a stile in the yard; she seemed to be a +very small woman, with blue eyes, long light hair, and wearing a red +cloak. Other descriptions will be found in this chapter. By the way, it +does not seem to be true that the Banshee exclusively follows families of +Irish descent, for the last incident had reference to the death of a +member of a Co. Galway family English by name and origin. + +One of the oldest and best-known Banshee stories is that related in the +_Memoirs_ of Lady Fanshaw.[9] In 1642 her husband, Sir Richard, and she +chanced to visit a friend, the head of an Irish sept, who resided in his +ancient baronial castle, surrounded with a moat. At midnight she was +awakened by a ghastly and supernatural scream, and looking out of bed, +beheld in the moonlight a female face and part of the form hovering at +the window. The distance from the ground, as well as the circumstance +of the moat, excluded the possibility that what she beheld was of this +world. The face was that of a young and rather handsome woman, but pale, +and the hair, which was reddish, was loose and dishevelled. The dress, +which Lady Fanshaw's terror did not prevent her remarking accurately, +was that of the ancient Irish. This apparition continued to exhibit +itself for some time, and then vanished with two shrieks similar to that +which had first excited Lady Fanshaw's attention. In the morning, with +infinite terror, she communicated to her host what she had witnessed, +and found him prepared not only to credit, but to account for the +superstition. "A near relation of my family," said he, "expired last +night in this castle. We disguised our certain expectation of the event +from you, lest it should throw a cloud over the cheerful reception which +was your due. Now, before such an event happens in this family or castle, +the female spectre whom you have seen is always visible. She is believed +to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my ancestors +degraded himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate the +dishonour done to his family, he caused to be drowned in the moat." In +strictness this woman could hardly be termed a Banshee. The motive for +the haunting is akin to that in the tale of the Scotch "Drummer of +Cortachy," where the spirit of the murdered man haunts the family out of +revenge, and appears before a death. + +[Footnote 9: Scott's _Lady of the Lake_, notes to Canto III (edition of +1811).] + +Mr. T.J. Westropp, M.A., has furnished the following story: "My maternal +grandmother heard the following tradition from her mother, one of the +Miss Ross-Lewins, who witnessed the occurrence. Their father, Mr. +Harrison Ross-Lewin, was away in Dublin on law business, and in his +absence the young people went off to spend the evening with a friend who +lived some miles away. The night was fine and lightsome as they were +returning, save at one point where the road ran between trees or high +hedges not far to the west of the old church of Kilchrist. The latter, +like many similar ruins, was a simple oblong building, with long +side-walls and high gables, and at that time it and its graveyard were +unenclosed, and lay in the open fields. As the party passed down the long +dark lane they suddenly heard in the distance loud keening and clapping +of hands, as the country-people were accustomed to do when lamenting +the dead. The Ross-Lewins hurried on, and came in sight of the church, on +the side wall of which a little gray-haired old woman, clad in a dark +cloak, was running to and fro, chanting and wailing, and throwing up her +arms. The girls were very frightened, but the young men ran forward and +surrounded the ruin, and two of them went into the church, the apparition +vanishing from the wall as they did so. They searched every nook, and +found no one, nor did anyone pass out. All were now well scared, and got +home as fast as possible. On reaching their home their mother opened the +door, and at once told them that she was in terror about their father, +for, as she sat looking out the window in the moonlight, a huge raven +with fiery eyes lit on the sill, and tapped three times on the glass. +They told her their story, which only added to their anxiety, and as they +stood talking, taps came to the nearest window, and they saw the +bird again. A few days later news reached them that Mr. Ross-Lewin had +died suddenly in Dublin. This occurred about 1776." + +Mr. Westropp also writes that the sister of a former Roman Catholic +Bishop told his sisters that when she was a little girl she went out one +evening with some other children for a walk. Going down the road, they +passed the gate of the principal demesne near the town. There was a rock, +or large stone, beside the road, on which they saw something. Going +nearer, they perceived it to be a little dark, old woman, who began +crying and clapping her hands. Some of them attempted to speak to her, +but got frightened, and all finally ran home as quickly as they could. +Next day the news came that the gentleman, near whose gate the Banshee +had cried, was dead, and it was found on inquiry that he had died at the +very hour at which the children had seen the spectre. + +A lady who is a relation of one of the compilers, and a member of a Co. +Cork family of English descent, sends the two following experiences of a +Banshee in her family. "My mother, when a young girl, was standing +looking out of the window in their house at Blackrock, near Cork. She +suddenly saw a white figure standing on a bridge which was easily visible +from the house. The figure waved her arms towards the house, and my +mother heard the bitter wailing of the Banshee. It lasted some seconds, +and then the figure disappeared. Next morning my grandfather was walking +as usual into the city of Cork. He accidentally fell, hit his head +against the curbstone, and never recovered consciousness. + +"In March 1900, my mother was very ill, and one evening the nurse and I +were with her arranging her bed. We suddenly heard the most extraordinary +wailing, which seemed to come in waves round and under her bed. We +naturally looked everywhere to try and find the cause, but in vain. The +nurse and I looked at one another, but made no remark, as my mother did +not seem to hear it. My sister was downstairs sitting with my father. She +heard it, and thought some terrible thing had happened to her little boy, +who was in bed upstairs. She rushed up, and found him sleeping quietly. +My father did not hear it. In the house next door they heard it, and ran +downstairs, thinking something had happened to the servant; but the +latter at once said to them, 'Did you hear the Banshee? Mrs. P---- must +be dying.'" + +A few years ago (_i.e._ before 1894) a curious incident occurred in a +public school in connection with the belief in the Banshee. One of the +boys, happening to become ill, was at once placed in a room by himself, +where he used to sit all day. On one occasion, as he was being visited by +the doctor, he suddenly started up from his seat, and affirmed that he +heard somebody crying. The doctor, of course, who could hear or see +nothing, came to the conclusion that the illness had slightly affected +his brain. However, the boy, who appeared quite sensible, still persisted +that he heard someone crying, and furthermore said, "It is the Banshee, +as I have heard it before." The following morning the head-master +received a telegram saying that the boy's brother had been accidentally +shot dead.[10] + +[Footnote 10: A.G. Bradley, _Notes on some Irish Superstitions_, p. 9.] + +That the Banshee is not confined within the geographical limits of +Ireland, but that she can follow the fortunes of a family abroad, and +there foretell their death, is clearly shewn by the following story. A +party of visitors were gathered together on the deck of a private yacht +on one of the Italian lakes, and during a lull in the conversation one of +them, a Colonel, said to the owner, "Count, who's that queer-looking +woman you have on board?" The Count replied that there was nobody except +the ladies present, and the stewardess, but the speaker protested that he +was correct, and suddenly, with a scream of horror, he placed his hands +before his eyes, and exclaimed, "Oh, my God, what a face!" For some +time he was overcome with terror, and at length reluctantly looked up, +and cried: + +"Thank Heavens, it's gone!" + +"What was it?" asked the Count. + +"Nothing human," replied the Colonel--"nothing belonging to this world. +It was a woman of no earthly type, with a queer-shaped, gleaming face, a +mass of red hair, and eyes that would have been beautiful but for their +expression, which was hellish. She had on a green hood, after the fashion +of an Irish peasant." + +An American lady present suggested that the description tallied with that +of the Banshee, upon which the Count said: + +"I am an O'Neill--at least I am descended from one. My family name is, as +you know, Neilsini, which, little more than a century ago, was O'Neill. +My great-grandfather served in the Irish Brigade, and on its dissolution +at the time of the French Revolution had the good fortune to escape the +general massacre of officers, and in company with an O'Brien and a +Maguire fled across the frontier and settled in Italy. On his death his +son, who had been born in Italy, and was far more Italian than Irish, +changed his name to Neilsini, by which name the family has been known +ever since. But for all that we are Irish." + +"The Banshee was yours, then!" ejaculated the Colonel. "What exactly does +it mean?" + +"It means," the Count replied solemnly, "the death of some one very +nearly associated with me. Pray Heaven it is not my wife or daughter." + +On that score, however, his anxiety was speedily removed, for within two +hours he was seized with a violent attack of angina pectoris, and died +before morning.[11] + +[Footnote 11: _Occult Review_ for September, 1913.] + +Mr. Elliott O'Donnell, to whose article on "Banshees" we are indebted for +the above, adds: "The Banshee never manifests itself to the person whose +death it is prognosticating. Other people may see or hear it, but the +fated one never, so that when everyone present is aware of it but one, +the fate of that one may be regarded as pretty well certain." + +We must now pass on from the subject of Banshees to the kindred one of +"Headless Coaches," the belief in which is widespread through the +country. Apparently these dread vehicles must be distinguished from +the phantom coaches, of which numerous circumstantial tales are also +told. The first are harbingers of death, and in this connection are very +often attached to certain families; the latter appear to be spectral +phenomena pure and simple, whose appearance does not necessarily portend +evil or death. + +"At a house in Co. Limerick," writes Mr. T.J. Westropp, "occurred the +remarkably-attested apparition of the headless coach in June 1806, when +Mr. Ralph Westropp, my great-grandfather, lay dying. The story was told +by his sons, John, William, and Ralph, to their respective children, who +told it to me. They had sent for the doctor, and were awaiting his +arrival in the dusk. As they sat on the steps they suddenly heard a heavy +rumbling, and saw a huge dark coach drive into the paved court before +the door. One of them went down to meet the doctor, but the coach swept +past him, and drove down the avenue, which went straight between the +fences and hedges to a gate. Two of the young men ran after the coach, +which they could hear rumbling before them, and suddenly came full tilt +against the avenue gate. The noise had stopped, and they were surprised +at not finding the carriage. The gate proved to be locked, and when they +at last awoke the lodge-keeper, he showed them the keys under +his pillow; the doctor arrived a little later, but could do nothing, and +the sick man died a few hours afterwards." + +Two other good stories come from Co. Clare. One night in April 1821, two +servants were sitting up to receive a son of the family, Cornelius +O'Callaghan, who had travelled in vain for his health, and was returning +home. One of them, Halloran, said that the heavy rumble of a coach roused +them. The other servant, Burke, stood on the top of the long flight of +steps with a lamp, and sent Halloran down to open the carriage door. He +reached out his hand to do so, saw a skeleton looking out, gave one yell, +and fell in a heap. When the badly-scared Burke picked himself up there +was no sign or sound of any coach. A little later the invalid arrived, so +exhausted that he died suddenly in the early morning. + +On the night of December 11, 1876, a servant of the MacNamaras was going +his rounds at Ennistymon, a beautiful spot in a wooded glen, with a broad +stream falling in a series of cascades. In the dark he heard the rumbling +of wheels on the back avenue, and, knowing from the hour and place that +no mortal vehicle could be coming, concluded that it was the death coach, +and ran on, opening the gates before it. He had just time to open the +third gate, and throw himself on his face beside it, when he heard a +coach go clanking past. On the following day Admiral Sir Burton Macnamara +died in London. + +Mr. Westropp informs us that at sight or sound of this coach all gates +should be thrown open, and then it will not stop at the house to call for +a member of the family, but will only foretell the death of some relative +at a distance. We hope our readers will carefully bear in mind this +simple method of averting fate. + +We may conclude this chapter with some account of strange and varied +death-warnings, which are attached to certain families and foretell the +coming of the King of Terrors. + +In a Co. Wicklow family a death is preceded by the appearance of a +spectre; the doors of the sitting-room open and a lady dressed in white +satin walks across the room and hall. Before any member of a certain +Queen's Co. family died a looking-glass was broken; while in a branch of +that family the portent was the opening and shutting of the avenue gate. +In another Queen's Co. family approaching death was heralded by the cry +of the cuckoo, no matter at what season of the year it might occur. A +Mrs. F---- and her son lived near Clonaslee. One day, in mid-winter, +their servant heard a cuckoo; they went out for a drive, the trap jolted +over a stone, throwing Mrs. F---- out, and breaking her neck. The ringing +of all the house-bells is another portent which seems to be attached to +several families. In another the aeolian harp is heard at or before +death; an account of this was given to the present writer by a clergyman, +who declares that he heard it in the middle of the night when one of his +relatives passed away. A death-warning in the shape of a white owl +follows the Westropp family. This last appeared, it is said, before a +death in 1909, but, as Mr. T. J. Westropp remarks, it would be more +convincing if it appeared at places where the white owl does _not_ nest +and fly out every night. No doubt this list might be drawn out to much +greater length. + +A lady correspondent states that her cousin, a Sir Patrick Dun's +nurse, was attending a case in the town of Wicklow. Her patient was +a middle-aged woman, the wife of a well-to-do shopkeeper. One evening the +nurse was at her tea in the dining-room beneath the sick-room, when +suddenly she heard a tremendous crash overhead. Fearing her patient had +fallen out of bed, she hurried upstairs, to find her dozing quietly, and +there was not the least sign of any disturbance. A member of the family, +to whom she related this, told her calmly that that noise was always +heard in their house before the death of any of them, and that it was a +sure sign that the invalid would not recover. Contrary to the nurse's +expectations, she died the following day. + +Knocking on the door is another species of death-warning. The Rev. +D. B. Knox writes: "On the evening before the wife of a clerical friend +of mine died, the knocker of the hall-door was loudly rapped. All in +the room heard it. The door was opened, but there was no one there. +Again the knocker was heard, but no one was to be seen when the door +was again opened. A young man, brother of the dying woman, went into +the drawing-room, and looked through one of the drawing-room windows. +The full light of the moon fell on the door, and as he looked the knocker +was again lifted and loudly rapped." + +The following portent occurs in a Co. Cork family. At one time the lady +of the house lay ill, and her two daughters were aroused one night by +screams proceeding from their mother's room. They rushed in, and found +her sitting up in bed, staring at some object unseen to them, but which, +from the motion of her eyes, appeared to be moving across the floor. When +she became calm she told them, what they had not known before, that +members of the family were sometimes warned of the death, or approaching +death, of some other member by the appearance of a ball of fire, which +would pass slowly through the room; this phenomenon she had just +witnessed. A day or two afterwards the mother heard of the death of her +brother, who lived in the Colonies. + +A strange appearance, known as the "Scanlan Lights," is connected with +the family of Scanlan of Ballyknockane, Co. Limerick, and is seen +frequently at the death of a member. The traditional origin of the lights +is connected with a well-known Irish legend, which we give here briefly. +Scanlan Mor (died A.D. 640), King of Ossory, from whom the family claim +descent, was suspected of disaffection by Aedh mac Ainmire, Ard-Righ of +Ireland, who cast him into prison, and loaded him with fetters. When St. +Columcille attended the Synod of Drom Ceat, he besought Aedh to free his +captive, but the Ard-Righ churlishly refused; whereupon Columcille +declared that he should be freed, and that that very night he should +unloose his (the Saint's) brogues. Columcille went away, and that night a +bright pillar of fire appeared in the air, and hung over the house where +Scanlan was imprisoned. A beam of light darted into the room where he +lay, and a voice called to him, bidding him rise, and shake off his +fetters. In amazement he did so, and was led out past his guards by an +angel. He made his way to Columcille, with whom he was to continue that +night, and as the Saint stooped down to unloose his brogues Scanlan +anticipated him, as he had prophesied.[12] + +[Footnote 12: Canon Carrigan, in his _History of the Diocese of Ossory_ +(I. 32 intro.), shows that this legend should rather be connected +with Scanlan son of Ceannfaeladh.] + +Such appears to be the traditional origin of the "Scanlan lights." Our +correspondent adds: "These are always seen at the demise of a member of +the family. We have ascertained that by the present head of the family +(Scanlan of Ballyknockane) they were seen, first, as a pillar of fire +with radiated crown at the top; and secondly, inside the house, by the +room being lighted up brightly in the night. By other members of the +family now living these lights have been seen in the shape of balls of +fire of various sizes." The above was copied from a private manuscript +written some few years ago. Our correspondent further states: "I also +have met with four persons in this county [Limerick] who have seen the +lights on Knockfierna near Ballyknockane before the death of a Scanlan, +one of the four being the late head of the family and owner, William +Scanlan, J.P., who saw the flames on the hill-side on the day of his +aunt's death some years ago. The last occasion was as late as 1913, on +the eve of the death of a Scanlan related to the present owner of +Ballyknockane." + +In front of the residence of the G---- family in Co. Galway there is, or +formerly was, a round ring of grass surrounded by a low evergreen hedge. +The lady who related this story to our informant stated that one evening +dinner was kept waiting for Mr. G----, who was absent in town on some +business. She went out on the hall-door steps in order to see if the +familiar trot of the carriage horses could be heard coming down the road. +It was a bright moonlight night, and as she stood there she heard a child +crying with a peculiar whining cry, and distinctly saw a small childlike +figure running round and round the grass ring inside the evergreen hedge, +and casting a shadow in the moonlight. Going into the house she casually +mentioned this as a peculiar circumstance to Mrs. G----, upon which, to +her great surprise, that lady nearly fainted, and got into a terrible +state of nervousness. Recovering a little, she told her that this crying +and figure were always heard and seen whenever any member met with an +accident, or before a death. A messenger was immediately sent to meet Mr. +G----, who was found lying senseless on the road, as the horses had taken +fright and bolted, flinging him out, and breaking the carriage-pole. + +But of all the death-warnings in connection with Irish families surely +the strangest is the Gormanstown foxes. The crest of that noble family is +a running fox, while the same animal also forms one of the supporters of +the coat-of-arms. The story is, that when the head of the house is dying +the foxes--not spectral foxes, but creatures of flesh and blood--leave +the coverts and congregate at Gormanstown Castle. + +Let us see what proof there is of this. When Jenico, the 12th Viscount, +was dying in 1860, foxes were seen about the house and moving towards the +house for some days previously. Just before his death three foxes were +playing about and making a noise close to the house, and just in front of +the "cloisters," which are yew-trees planted and trained in that shape. +The Hon. Mrs. Farrell states as regards the same that the foxes came in +pairs into the demesne, and sat under the Viscount's bedroom window, and +barked and howled all night. Next morning they were to be found crouching +about in the grass in front and around the house. They walked through +the poultry and never touched them. After the funeral they disappeared. + +At the death of Edward, the 13th Viscount, in 1876, the foxes were also +there. He had been rather better one day, but the foxes appeared, barking +under the window, and he died that night contrary to expectation. + +On October 28, 1907, Jenico, the 14th Viscount, died in Dublin. About 8 +o'clock that night the coachman and gardener saw two foxes near the +chapel (close to the house), five or six more round the front of the +house, and several crying in the "cloisters." Two days later the Hon. +Richard Preston, R.F.A., was watching by his father's body in the above +chapel. About 3 A.M. he became conscious of a slight noise, which seemed +to be that of a number of people walking stealthily around the chapel on +the gravel walk. He went to the side door, listened, and heard outside +a continuous and insistent snuffling or sniffing noise, accompanied by +whimperings and scratchings at the door. On opening it he saw a +full-grown fox sitting on the path within four feet of him. Just in the +shadow was another, while he could hear several more moving close by in +the darkness. He then went to the end door, opposite the altar, and on +opening it saw two more foxes, one so close that he could have touched it +with his foot. On shutting the door the noise continued till 5 A.M., when +it suddenly ceased.[13] + +[Footnote 13: _New Ireland Review_ for April 1908, by permission of +the publishers, Messrs Sealy Bryers, & Walker.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MISCELLANEOUS SUPERNORMAL EXPERIENCES + + +The matter in this chapter does not seem, strictly speaking, to come +under the head of any of the preceding ones: it contains no account of +houses or places permanently haunted, or of warnings of impending death. +Rather we have gathered up in it a number of tales relative to the +appearance of the "wraiths" of living men, or accounts of visions, +strange apparitions, or extraordinary experiences; some few of these +have a purpose, while the majority are strangely aimless and +purposeless--something is seen or heard, that is all, and no results, +good or bad, follow. + +We commence with one which, however, certainly indicates a purpose which +was fulfilled. It is the experience of Mrs. Seymour, wife to one of the +compilers. When she was a little girl she resided in Dublin; amongst the +members of the family was her paternal grandmother. This old lady was not +as kind as she might have been to her grand-daughter, and consequently +the latter was somewhat afraid of her. In process of time the grandmother +died. Mrs. Seymour, who was then about eight years of age, had to pass +the door of the room where the death occurred in order to reach her own +bedroom, which was a flight higher up. Past this door the child used to +fly in terror with all possible speed. On one occasion, however, as she +was preparing to make the usual rush past, she distinctly felt a hand +placed on her shoulder, and became conscious of a voice saying, "Don't be +afraid, Mary!" From that day on the child never had the least feeling of +fear, and always walked quietly past the door. + +The Rev. D. B. Knox sends a curious personal experience, which was shared +by him with three other people. He writes as follows: "Not very long ago +my wife and I were preparing to retire for the night. A niece, who was in +the house, was in her bedroom and the door was open. The maid had just +gone to her room. All four of us distinctly heard the heavy step of a +man walking along the corridor, apparently in the direction of the +bathroom. We searched the whole house immediately, but no one was +discovered. Nothing untoward happened except the death of the maid's +mother about a fortnight later. It was a detached house, so that the +noise could not have been made by the neighbours." + +In the following tale the "double" or "wraith" of a living man was seen +by three different people, one of whom, our correspondent, saw it through +a telescope. She writes: "In May 1883 the parish of A---- was vacant, so +Mr. D----, the Diocesan Curate, used to come out to take service on +Sundays. One day there were two funerals to be taken, the one at a +graveyard some distance off, the other at A---- churchyard. My brother +was at both, the far-off one being taken the first. The house we then +lived in looked down towards A---- churchyard, which was about a quarter +of a mile away. From an upper window my sister and I saw _two_ surpliced +figures going out to meet the coffin, and said, 'Why, there are two +clergy!' having supposed that there would be only Mr. D----. I, being +short-sighted, used a telescope, and saw the two surplices showing +between the people. But when my brother returned he said, 'A strange +thing has happened. Mr. D---- and Mr. W----(curate of a neighbouring +parish) took the far-off funeral. I saw them both again at A----, but +when I went into the vestry I only saw Mr. W----. I asked where Mr. +D---- was, and he replied that he had left immediately after the first +funeral, as he had to go to Kilkenny, and that he (Mr. W----) had come on +_alone_ to take the funeral at A----.'" + +Here is a curious tale from the city of Limerick of a lady's "double" +being seen, with no consequent results. It is sent by Mr. Richard Hogan +as the personal experience of his sister, Mrs. Mary Murnane. On Saturday, +October 25, 1913, at half-past four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Hogan +left the house in order to purchase some cigarettes. A quarter of an hour +afterwards Mrs. Murnane went down the town to do some business. As she +was walking down George Street she saw a group of four persons standing +on the pavement engaged in conversation. They were: her brother, a Mr. +O'S----, and two ladies, a Miss P. O'D----, and her sister, Miss M. +O'D----. She recognised the latter, as her face was partly turned towards +her, and noted that she was dressed in a knitted coat, and light blue +hat, while in her left hand she held a bag or purse; the other lady's +back was turned towards her. As Mrs. Murnane was in a hurry to get her +business done she determined to pass them by without being noticed, but a +number of people coming in the opposite direction blocked the way, and +compelled her to walk quite close to the group of four; but they were so +intent on listening to what one lady was saying that they took no notice +of her. The speaker appeared to be Miss M. O'D----, and, though Mrs. +Murnane did not actually hear her _speak_ as she passed her, yet from +their attitudes the other three seemed to be listening to what she was +saying, and she heard her _laugh_ when right behind her--not the laugh of +her sister P.--and the laugh was repeated after she had left the group a +little behind. + +So far there is nothing out of the common. When Mrs. Murnane returned to +her house about an hour later she found her brother Richard there before +her. She casually mentioned to him how she had passed him and his three +companions on the pavement. To which he replied that she was quite +correct except in one point, namely that there were only _three_ in the +group, as M. O'D---- _was not present_ as she had not come to Limerick at +all that day. She then described to him the exact position each one of +the four occupied, and the clothes worn by them; to all of which facts he +assented, except as to the presence of Miss M. O'D----. Mrs. Murnane +adds, "That is all I can say in the matter, but most certainly the fourth +person was in the group, as I both saw and heard her. She wore the same +clothes I had seen on her previously, with the exception of the hat; +but the following Saturday she had on the same coloured hat I had seen on +her the previous Saturday. When I told her about it she was as much +mystified as I was and am. My brother stated that there was no laugh from +any of the three present." + +Mrs. G. Kelly sends an experience of a "wraith," which seems in some +mysterious way to have been conjured up in her mind by the description +she had heard, and then externalised. She writes: "About four years ago a +musical friend of ours was staying in the house. He and my husband +were playing and singing Dvorak's _Spectre's Bride_, a work which he had +studied with the composer himself. This music appealed very much to both, +and they were excited and enthusiastic over it. Our friend was giving +many personal reminiscences of Dvorak, and his method of explaining the +way he wanted his work done. I was sitting by, an interested listener, +for some time. On getting up at last, and going into the drawing-room, +I was startled and somewhat frightened to find a man standing there in a +shadowy part of the room. I saw him distinctly, and could describe his +appearance accurately. I called out, and the two men ran in, but as +the apparition only lasted for a second, they were too late. I described +the man whom I had seen, whereupon our friend exclaimed, 'Why, that was +Dvorak himself!' At that time I had never seen a picture of Dvorak, but +when our friend returned to London he sent me one which I recognised +as the likeness of the man whom I had seen in our drawing-room." + +A curious vision, a case of second sight, in which a quite unimportant +event, previously unknown, was revealed, is sent by the percipient, who +is a lady well known to both the compilers, and a life-long friend of one +of them. She says: "Last summer I sent a cow to the fair of Limerick, a +distance of about thirteen miles, and the men who took her there the day +before the fair left her in a paddock for the night close to Limerick +city. I awoke up very early next morning, and was fully awake when I saw +(not with my ordinary eyesight, but apparently _inside_ my head) a light, +an intensely brilliant light, and in it I saw the back gate being opened +by a red-haired woman and the cow I had supposed in the fair walking +through the gate. I then knew that the cow must be home, and going to the +yard later on I was met by the wife of the man who was in charge in a +great state of excitement. 'Oh law! Miss,' she exclaimed, 'you'll be mad! +Didn't Julia [a red-haired woman] find the cow outside the lodge gate as +she was going out at 4 o'clock to the milking!' That's my tale--perfectly +true, and I would give a good deal to be able to control that light, and +see more if I could." + +Another curious vision was seen by a lady who is also a friend of both +the compilers. One night she was kneeling at her bedside saying her +prayers (hers was the only bed in the room), when suddenly she felt a +distinct touch on her shoulder. She turned round in the direction of the +touch and saw at the end of the room a bed, with a pale, +indistinguishable figure laid therein, and what appeared to be a +clergyman standing over it. About a week later she fell into a long and +dangerous illness. + +An account of a dream which implied an extraordinary coincidence, if +coincidence it be and nothing more, was sent as follows by a +correspondent, who requested that no names be published. "That which I am +about to relate has a peculiar interest for me, inasmuch as the central +figure in it was my own grand-aunt, and moreover the principal witness +(if I may use such a term) was my father. At the period during which +this strange incident occurred my father was living with his aunt and +some other relatives. + +"One morning at the breakfast-table, my grand-aunt announced that she had +had a most peculiar dream during the previous night. My father, who was +always very interested in that kind of thing, took down in his notebook +all the particulars concerning it. They were as follows. + +"My grand-aunt dreamt that she was in a cemetery, which she recognised as +Glasnevin, and as she gazed at the memorials of the dead which lay so +thick around, one stood out most conspicuously, and caught her eye, for +she saw clearly cut on the cold white stone _an inscription bearing her +own name:_ + +CLARE S.D-- +Died 14th of March, 1873 +Dearly loved and ever mourned. +R.I.P. + +while, to add to the peculiarity of it, the date on the stone as given +above was, from the day of her dream, exactly a year in advance. + +"My grand-aunt was not very nervous, and soon the dream faded from her +mind. Months rolled by, and one morning at breakfast it was noticed that +my grand-aunt had not appeared, but as she was a very religious woman it +was thought that she had gone out to church. However, as she did not +appear my father sent someone to her room to see if she were there, and +as no answer was given to repeated knocking the door was opened, and my +grand-aunt was found kneeling at her bedside, dead. The day of her death +was March 14, 1873, corresponding exactly with the date seen in her dream +a twelvemonth before. My grand-aunt was buried in Glasnevin, and on her +tombstone (a white marble slab) was placed the inscription which she had +read in her dream." Our correspondent sent us a photograph of the stone +and its inscription. + +The present Archdeacon of Limerick, Ven. J. A. Haydn, LL.D., sends the +following experience: "In the year 1870 I was rector of the little rural +parish of Chapel Russell. One autumn day the rain fell with a quiet, +steady, and hopeless persistence from morning to night. Wearied at length +from the gloom, and tired of reading and writing, I determined to walk +to the church about half a mile away, and pass a half-hour playing the +harmonium, returning for the lamp-light and tea. + +"I wrapped up, put the key of the church in my pocket, and started. +Arriving at the church, I walked up the straight avenue, bordered with +graves and tombs on either side, while the soft, steady rain quietly +pattered on the trees. When I reached the church door, before putting +the key in the lock, moved by some indefinable impulse, I stood on the +doorstep, turned round, and looked back upon the path I had just trodden. +My amazement may be imagined when I saw, seated on a low, tabular +tombstone close to the avenue, a lady with her back towards me. She was +wearing a black velvet jacket or short cape, with a narrow border of +vivid white: her head, and luxuriant jet-black hair, were surmounted by a +hat of the shape and make that I think used to be called at that time +a "turban"; it was also of black velvet, with a snow-white wing or +feather at the right-hand side of it. It may be seen how deliberately and +minutely I observed the appearance, when I can thus recall it after +more than forty years. + +"Actuated by a desire to attract the attention of the lady, and induce +her to look towards me, I noisily inserted the key in the door, and +suddenly opened it with a rusty crack. Turning round to see the effect of +my policy--the lady was gone!--vanished! Not yet daunted, I hurried to +the place, which was not ten paces away, and closely searched the stone +and the space all round it, but utterly in vain; there were absolutely no +traces of the late presence of a human being! I may add that nothing +particular or remarkable followed the singular apparition, and that I +never heard anything calculated to throw any light on the mystery." + +Here is a story of a ghost who knew what it wanted--and got it! "In the +part of Co. Wicklow from which my people come," writes a Miss D----, +"there was a family who were not exactly related, but of course of the +clan. Many years ago a young daughter, aged about twenty, died. Before +her death she had directed her parents to bury her in a certain +graveyard. But for some reason they did not do so, and from that hour she +gave them no peace. She appeared to them at all hours, especially when +they went to the well for water. So distracted were they, that at length +they got permission to exhume the remains and have them reinterred in the +desired graveyard. This they did by torchlight--a weird scene truly! I +can vouch for the truth of this latter portion, at all events, as some of +my own relatives were present." + +Mr. T. J. Westropp contributes a tale of a ghost of an unusual type, +_i.e._ one which actually did communicate matters of importance to his +family. "A lady who related many ghost stories to me, also told me how, +after her father's death, the family could not find some papers or +receipts of value. One night she awoke, and heard a sound which she at +once recognised as the footsteps of her father, who was lame. The door +creaked, and she prayed that she might be able to see him. Her prayer was +granted: she saw him distinctly holding a yellow parchment book tied with +tape. 'F----, child,' said he, 'this is the book your mother is looking +for. It is in the third drawer of the cabinet near the cross-door; tell +your mother to be more careful in future about business papers.' +Incontinent he vanished, and she at once awoke her mother, in whose room +she was sleeping, who was very angry and ridiculed the story, but the +girl's earnestness at length impressed her. She got up, went to the old +cabinet, and at once found the missing book in the third drawer." + +Here is another tale of an equally useful and obliging ghost. "A +gentleman, a relative of my own," writes a lady, "often received warnings +from his dead father of things that were about to happen. Besides the +farm on which he lived, he had another some miles away which adjoined a +large demesne. Once in a great storm a fir-tree was blown down in the +demesne, and fell into his field. The woodranger came to him and told him +he might as well cut up the tree, and take it away. Accordingly one day +he set out for this purpose, taking with him two men and a cart. He got +into the fields by a stile, while his men went on to a gate. As he +approached a gap between two fields he saw, standing in it, his father as +plainly as he ever saw him in life, and beckoning him back warningly. +Unable to understand this, he still advanced, whereupon his father looked +very angry, and his gestures became imperious. This induced him to turn +away, so he sent his men home, and left the tree uncut. He subsequently +discovered that a plot had been laid by the woodranger, who coveted his +farm, and who hoped to have him dispossessed by accusing him of stealing +the tree." + +A clergyman in the diocese of Clogher gave a personal experience of +table-turning to the present Dean of St. Patrick's, who kindly sent +the same to the writer. He said: "When I was a young man, I met +some friends one evening, and we decided to amuse ourselves with +table-turning. The local dispensary was vacant at the time, so we said +that if the table would work we should ask who would be appointed as +medical officer. As we sat round it touching it with our hands it began +to knock. We said: + +"'Who are you?' + +"The table spelt out the name of a Bishop of the Church of Ireland. We +asked, thinking that the answer was absurd, as we knew him to be alive +and well: + +"'Are you dead?' + +"The table answered 'Yes.' + +"We laughed at this and asked: + +"'Who will be appointed to the dispensary?' + +"The table spelt out the name of a stranger, who was not one of the +candidates, whereupon we left off, thinking that the whole thing was +nonsense. + +"The next morning I saw in the papers that the Bishop in question had +died that afternoon about two hours before our meeting, and a few days +afterwards I saw the name of the stranger as the new dispensary doctor. I +got such a shock that I determined never to have anything to do with +table-turning again." + +The following extraordinary personal experience is sent by a lady, well +known to the present writer, but who requests that all names be omitted. +Whatever explanation we may give of it, the good faith of the tale is +beyond doubt. + +"Two or three months after my father-in-law's death my husband, myself, +and three small sons lived in the west of Ireland. As my husband was a +young barrister, he had to be absent from home a good deal. My three boys +slept in my bedroom, the eldest being about four, the youngest some +months. A fire was kept up every night, and with a young child to look +after, I was naturally awake more than once during the night. For many +nights I believed I distinctly saw my father-in-law sitting by the +fireside. This happened, not once or twice, but many times. He was +passionately fond of his eldest grandson, who lay sleeping calmly in his +cot. Being so much alone probably made me restless and uneasy, though I +never felt _afraid_. I mentioned this strange thing to a friend who had +known and liked my father-in-law, and she advised me to 'have his soul +laid,' as she termed it. Though I was a Protestant and she was a Roman +Catholic (as had also been my father-in-law), yet I fell in with her +suggestion. She told me to give a coin to the next beggar that came to +the house, telling him (or her) to pray for the rest of Mr. So-and-so's +soul. A few days later a beggar-woman and her children came to the door, +to whom I gave a coin and stated my desire. To my great surprise I +learned from her manner that such requests were not unusual. Well, she +went down on her knees on the steps, and prayed with apparent earnestness +and devotion that his soul might find repose. Once again he appeared, and +seemed to say to me, 'Why did you do that, E----? To come and sit here +was the only comfort I had.' Never again did he appear, and strange to +say, after a lapse of more than thirty years I have felt regret at my +selfishness in interfering. + +"After his death, as he lay in the house awaiting burial, and I was in a +house some ten miles away, I thought that he came and told me that I +would have a hard life, which turned out only too truly. I was then +young, and full of life, with every hope of a prosperous future." + +Of all the strange beliefs to be found in Ireland that in the Black Dog +is the most widespread. There is hardly a parish in the country but could +contribute some tale relative to this spectre, though the majority of +these are short, and devoid of interest. There is said to be such a dog +just outside the avenue gate of Donohill Rectory, but neither of the +compilers have had the good luck to see it. It may be, as some hold, +that this animal was originally a cloud or nature-myth; at all events, it +has now descended to the level of an ordinary haunting. The most +circumstantial story that we have met with relative to the Black Dog is +that related as follows by a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, who +requests us to refrain from publishing his name. + +"In my childhood I lived in the country. My father, in addition to his +professional duties, sometimes did a little farming in an amateurish sort +of way. He did not keep a regular staff of labourers, and consequently +when anything extra had to be done, such as hay-cutting or harvesting, he +used to employ day-labourers to help with the work. At such times I used +to enjoy being in the fields with the men, listening to their +conversation. On one occasion I heard a labourer remark that he had once +seen the devil! Of course I was interested and asked him to give me his +experience. He said he was walking along a certain road, and when he came +to a point where there was an entrance to a private place (the spot was +well known to me), he saw a black dog sitting on the roadside. At the +time he paid no attention to it, thinking it was an ordinary retriever, +but after he had passed on about two or three hundred yards he found the +dog was beside him, and then he noticed that its eyes were blood-red. He +stooped down, and picked up some stones in order to frighten it away, but +though he threw the stones at it they did not injure it, nor indeed did +they seem to have any effect. Suddenly, after a few moments, the dog +vanished from his sight. + +"Such was the labourer's tale. After some years, during which time I had +forgotten altogether about the man's story, some friends of my own bought +the place at the entrance to which the apparition had been seen. When my +friends went to reside there I was a constant visitor at their house. +Soon after their arrival they began to be troubled by the appearance of a +black dog. Though I never saw it myself, it appeared to many members of +the family. The avenue leading to the house was a long one, and it was +customary for the dog to appear and accompany people for the greater +portion of the way. Such an effect had this on my friends that they soon +gave up the house, and went to live elsewhere. This was a curious +corroboration of the labourer's tale." + +As we have already stated in Chapter VII, a distinction must be drawn +between the so-called _Headless_ Coach, which portends death, and the +_Phantom_ Coach, which appears to be a harmless sort of vehicle. With +regard to the latter we give two tales below, the first of which was sent +by a lady whose father was a clergyman, and a gold medallist of Trinity +College, Dublin. + +"Some years ago my family lived in Co. Down. Our house was some way out +of a fair-sized manufacturing town, and had a short avenue which ended in +a gravel sweep in front of the hall door. One winter's evening, when my +father was returning from a sick call, a carriage going at a sharp pace +passed him on the avenue. He hurried on, thinking it was some particular +friends, but when he reached the door no carriage was to be seen, so he +concluded it must have gone round to the stables. The servant who +answered his ring said that no visitors had been there, and he, feeling +certain that the girl had made some mistake, or that some one else had +answered the door, came into the drawing-room to make further inquiries. +No visitors had come, however, though those sitting in the drawing-room +had also heard the carriage drive up. + +"My father was most positive as to what he had seen, viz. a closed +carriage with lamps lit; and let me say at once that he was a clergyman +who was known throughout the whole of the north of Ireland as a most +level-headed man, and yet to the day of his death he would insist that he +met that carriage on our avenue. + +"One day in July one of our servants was given leave to go home for the +day, but was told she must return by a certain train. For some reason she +did not come by it, but by a much later one, and rushed into the kitchen +in a most penitent frame of mind. 'I am so sorry to be late,' she told +the cook, 'especially as there were visitors. I suppose they stayed to +supper, as they were so late going away, for I met the carriage on the +avenue.' The cook thereupon told her that no one had been at the house, +and hinted that she must have seen the ghost-carriage, a statement that +alarmed her very much, as the story was well known in the town, and +car-drivers used to whip up their horses as they passed our gate, while +pedestrians refused to go at all except in numbers. We have often _heard_ +the carriage, but these are the only two occasions on which I can +positively assert that it was _seen_." + +The following personal experience of the phantom coach was given to the +present writer by Mr. Matthias Fitzgerald, coachman to Miss Cooke, of +Cappagh House, Co. Limerick. He stated that one moonlight night he was +driving along the road from Askeaton to Limerick when he heard coming up +behind him the roll of wheels, the clatter of horses' hoofs, and the +jingling of the bits. He drew over to his own side to let this carriage +pass, but nothing passed. He then looked back, but could see nothing, the +road was perfectly bare and empty, though the sounds were perfectly +audible. This continued for about a quarter of an hour or so, until he +came to a cross-road, down one arm of which he had to turn. As he turned +off he heard the phantom carriage dash by rapidly along the straight +road. He stated that other persons had had similar experiences on the +same road. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LEGENDARY AND ANCESTRAL GHOSTS + + +Whatever explanations may be given of the various stories told in our +previous chapters, the facts as stated therein are in almost every case +vouched for on reliable authority. We now turn to stories of a different +kind, most of which have no evidence of any value in support of the +_facts_, but which have been handed down from generation to generation, +and deserve our respect, if only for their antiquity. We make no apology +for giving them here, for, in addition to the interesting reading they +provide, they also serve a useful purpose as a contrast to authenticated +ghost stories. The student of folklore will find parallels to some of +them in the tales of other nations. + +Lord Walter Fitzgerald sends us the following: "Garrett oge" (or Gerald +the younger) "Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, died in London on the +16th November 1585; his body was brought back to Ireland and interred in +St. Brigid's Cathedral, in Kildare. He was known as 'the Wizard Earl' on +account of his practising the black art, whereby he was enabled to +transform himself into other shapes, either bird or beast according to +his choice; so notorious was his supernatural power that he became the +terror of the countryside. + +"His wife, the Countess, had long wished to see some proof of his skill, +and had frequently begged him to transform himself before her, but he had +steadily refused to do so, as he said if he did and she became afraid, he +would be taken from her, and she would never see him again. Still she +persisted, and at last he said he would do as she wished on condition +that she should first of all undergo three trials to test her courage; to +this she willingly agreed. In the first trial the river Greese, which +flows past the castle walls, at a sign from the Earl overflowed its banks +and flooded the banqueting hall in which the Earl and Countess were +sitting. She showed no sign of fear, and at the Earl's command the river +receded to its normal course. At the second trial a huge eel-like monster +appeared, which entered by one of the windows, crawled about among the +furniture of the banqueting hall, and finally coiled itself round the +body of the Countess. Still she showed no fear, and at a nod from the +Earl the animal uncoiled itself and disappeared. In the third test an +intimate friend of the Countess, long since dead, entered the room, and +passing slowly by her went out at the other end. She showed not the +slightest sign of fear, and the Earl felt satisfied that he could place +his fate in her keeping, but he again warned her of his danger if she +lost her presence of mind while he was in another shape. He then turned +himself into a black bird, flew about the room, and perching on the +Countess's shoulder commenced to sing. Suddenly a black cat appeared from +under a chest, and made a spring at the bird; in an agony of fear for its +safety the Countess threw up her arms to protect it and swooned away. +When she came to she was alone, the bird and the cat had disappeared, and +she never saw the Earl again." + +It is said that he and his knights lie in an enchanted sleep, with their +horses beside them, in a cave under the Rath on the hill of Mullaghmast, +which stands, as the crow flies, five miles to the north of Kilkea +Castle. Once in seven years they are allowed to issue forth; they gallop +round the Curragh, thence across country to Kilkea Castle, where they +re-enter the haunted wing, and then return to the Rath of Mullaghmast. +The Earl is easily recognised as he is mounted on a white charger shod +with silver shoes; when these shoes are worn out the enchantment will be +broken, and he will issue forth, drive the foes of Ireland from the land, +and reign for a seven times seven number of years over the vast estates +of his ancestors. + +Shortly before '98 he was seen on the Curragh by a blacksmith who was +crossing it in an ass-cart from Athgarvan to Kildare. A fairy blast +overtook him, and he had just time to say, "God speed ye Gentlemen" +to the invisible "Good People," when he heard horses galloping up behind +him; pulling to one side of the road he looked back and was terrified at +seeing a troop of knights, fully armed, led by one on a white horse. The +leader halted his men, and riding up to the blacksmith asked him to +examine his shoes. Almost helpless from fear he stumbled out of the +ass-cart and looked at each shoe, which was of silver, and then informed +the knight that all the nails were sound. The knight thanked him, +rejoined his troop, and galloped off. The blacksmith in a half-dazed +state hastened on to Kildare, where he entered a public-house, ordered a +noggin of whisky, and drank it neat. When he had thoroughly come to +himself he told the men that were present what had happened to him on the +Curragh; one old man who had listened to him said: "By the mortial! man, +ye are after seeing 'Gerod Earla.'" This fully explained the mystery. +Gerod Earla, or Earl Gerald, is the name by which the Wizard Earl is +known by the peasantry. + +One other legend is told in connection with the Wizard Earl of a +considerably later date. It is said that a farmer was returning from a +fair in Athy late one evening in the direction of Ballintore, and when +passing within view of the Rath of Mullaghmast he was astonished to see a +bright light apparently issuing from it. Dismounting from his car he went +to investigate. On approaching the Rath he noticed that the light was +proceeding from a cave in which were sleeping several men in armour, with +their horses beside them. He cautiously crept up to the entrance, and +seeing that neither man nor beast stirred he grew bolder and entered the +chamber; he then examined the saddlery on the horses, and the armour of +the men, and plucking up courage began slowly to draw a sword from its +sheath; as he did so the owner's head began to rise, and he heard a voice +in Irish say, "Is the time yet come?" In terror the farmer, as he shoved +the sword back, replied, "It is not, your Honour," and then fled from the +place. + +It is said that if the farmer had only completely unsheathed the sword +the enchantment would have been broken, and the Earl would have come to +his own again. + +In 1642 Wallstown Castle, the seat of the Wall family, in County Cork, +was burnt down by the Cromwellian troops, and Colonel Wall, the head of +the family, was captured and imprisoned in Cork jail, where he died. +One of the defenders during the siege was a man named Henry Bennett, who +was killed while fighting. His ghost was often seen about the place for +years after his death. His dress was of a light colour, and he wore +a white hat, while in his hand he carried a pole, which he used to place +across the road near the Castle to stop travellers; on a polite request +to remove the pole he would withdraw it, and laugh heartily. A caretaker +in the place named Philip Coughlan used frequently to be visited by this +apparition. He came generally about supper time, and while Coughlan and +his wife were seated at table he would shove the pole through the window; +Coughlan would beg him to go away and not interfere with a poor +hard-worked man; the pole would then be withdrawn, with a hearty laugh +from the ghost. + +In the Parish Church of Ardtrea, near Cookstown, is a marble monument and +inscription in memory of Thomas Meredith, D.D., who had been a Fellow of +Trinity College, Dublin, and for six years rector of the parish. He died, +according to the words of the inscription, on 2nd May 1819, as a result +of "a sudden and awful visitation." A local legend explains this +"visitation," by stating that a ghost haunted the rectory, the visits of +which had caused his family and servants to leave the house. The rector +had tried to shoot it but failed; then he was told to use a silver +bullet; he did so, and next morning was found dead at his hall-door while +a hideous object like a devil made horrid noises out of any window +the servant man approached. This man was advised by some Roman Catholic +neighbours to get the priest, who would "lay" the thing. The priest +arrived, and with the help of a jar of whisky the ghost became quite +civil, till the last glass in the jar, which the priest was about to +empty out for himself, whereupon the ghost or devil made himself as thin +and long as a Lough Neagh eel, and slipped himself into the jar to get +the last drops. But the priest put the cork into its place and hammered +it in, and, making the sign of the Cross on it, he had the evil thing +secured. It was buried in the cellar of the rectory, where on some nights +it can still be heard calling to be let out. + +A story of a phantom rat, which comes from Limerick, is only one of many +which show the popular Irish belief in hauntings by various animals. Many +years ago, the legend runs, a young man was making frantic and +unacceptable love to a girl. At last, one day when he was following her +in the street, she turned on him and, pointing to a rat which some boys +had just killed, said, "I'd as soon marry that rat as you." He took her +cruel words so much to heart that he pined away and died. After his death +the girl was haunted at night by a rat, and in spite of the constant +watch of her mother and sisters she was more than once bitten. The priest +was called in and could do nothing, so she determined to emigrate. A +coasting vessel was about to start for Queenstown, and her friends, +collecting what money they could, managed to get her on board. The ship +had just cast off from the quay, when shouts and screams were heard up +the street. The crowd scattered, and a huge rat with fiery eyes galloped +down to the quay. It sat upon the edge screaming hate, sprang off, and +did not reappear. After that, we are told, the girl was never again +haunted. + +A legend of the Tirawley family relates how a former Lord Tirawley, who +was a very wild and reckless man, was taken from this world. One evening, +it is said, just as the nobleman was preparing for a night's carouse, a +carriage drove up to his door, a stranger asked to see him and, after a +long private conversation, drove away as mysteriously as he had come. +Whatever words had passed they had a wonderful effect on the gay lord, +for his ways were immediately changed, and he lived the life of a +reformed man. As time went on the effect of whatever awful warning the +mysterious visitor had given him wore off, and he began to live a life +even more wild and reckless than before. On the anniversary of the visit +he was anxious and gloomy, but he tried to make light of it. The day +passed, and at night there was high revelry in the banqueting hall. +Outside it was wet and stormy, when just before midnight the sound of +wheels was heard in the courtyard. All the riot stopped; the servants +opened the door in fear and trembling: outside stood a huge dark coach +with four black horses. The "fearful guest" entered and beckoned to Lord +Tirawley, who followed him to a room off the hall. The friends, sobered +by fear, saw through the door the stranger drawing a ship on the wall; +the piece of wall then detached itself and the ship grew solid, the +stranger climbed into it, and Lord Tirawley followed without a struggle. +The vessel then sailed away into the night, and neither it nor its +occupants were ever seen again. + +The above tale is a good example of how a legend will rise superior to +the ordinary humdrum facts of life, for it strikes us at once that the +gloomy spectre went to unnecessary trouble in constructing a ship, even +though the task proved so simple to his gifted hands. But the coach was +at the door, and surely it would have been less troublesome to have used +it. + +A strange legend is told of a house in the Boyne valley. It is said that +the occupant of the guest chamber was always wakened on the first night +of his visit, then he would see a pale light and the shadow of a skeleton +"climbing the wall like a huge spider." It used to crawl out on to the +ceiling, and when it reached the middle would materialise into apparent +bones, holding on by its hands and feet; it would break in pieces, and +first the skull and then the other bones would fall on the floor. One +person had the courage to get up and try to seize a bone, but his hand +passed through to the carpet though the heap was visible for a few +seconds. + +The following story can hardly be called _legendary_, though it may +certainly be termed ancestral. The writer's name is not given, but he is +described as a rector and Rural Dean in the late Established Church of +Ireland, and a Justice of the Peace for two counties. It has this added +interest that it was told to Queen Victoria by the Marchioness of Ely. + +"Loftus Hall, in County Wexford, was built on the site of a stronghold +erected by Raymond, one of Strongbow's followers. His descendants +forfeited it in 1641, and the property subsequently fell into the hands +of the Loftus family, one of whom built the house and other buildings. +About the middle of the eighteenth century, there lived at Loftus Hall +Charles Tottenham, a member of the Irish Parliament, known to fame as +'Tottenham and his Boots,' owing to his historic ride to the Irish +capital in order to give the casting vote in a motion which saved £80,000 +to the Irish Treasury. + +"The second son, Charles Tottenham, had two daughters, Elizabeth and +Anne, to the latter of whom our story relates. He came to live at Loftus +Hall, the old baronial residence of the family, with his second wife and +the two above-mentioned daughters of his first wife. Loftus Hall was an +old rambling mansion, with no pretence to beauty: passages that led +nowhere, large dreary rooms, small closets, various unnecessary nooks and +corners, panelled or wainscotted walls, and a _tapestry chamber_. Here +resided at the time my story commences Charles Tottenham, his second wife +and his daughter Anne: Elizabeth, his second daughter, having been +married. The father was a cold austere man; the stepmother such as that +unamiable relation is generally represented to be. What and how great +the state of lonely solitude and depression of mind of poor Anne must +have been in such a place, without neighbours or any home sympathy, may +easily be imagined. + +"One wet and stormy night, as they sat in the large drawing-room, they +were startled by a loud knocking at the outer gate, a most surprising +and unusual occurrence. Presently the servant announced that a young +gentleman on horseback was there requesting lodging and shelter. He had +lost his way, his horse was knocked up, and he had been guided by the +only light which he had seen. The stranger was admitted and refreshed, +and proved himself to be an agreeable companion and a finished +gentleman--far too agreeable for the lone scion of the House of +Tottenham, for a sad and mournful tale follows, and one whose strange +results continued almost to the present day. + +"Much mystery has involved the story at the present point, and in truth +the matter was left in such silence and obscurity, that, but for the acts +of her who was the chief sufferer in it through several generations, +nothing would now be known. The fact, I believe, was--which was not +unnatural under the circumstances--that this lonely girl formed a strong +attachment to this gallant youth chance had brought to her door, which +was warmly returned. The father, as was his stern nature, was obdurate, +and the wife no solace to her as she was a step-mother. It is only an +instance of the refrain of the old ballad, 'He loved, and he rode away'; +he had youth and friends, and stirring scenes, and soon forgot his +passing attachment. Poor Anne's reason gave way. + +"The fact is but too true, she became a confirmed maniac, and had to be +confined for the rest of her life in the tapestried chamber before +mentioned, and in which she died. A strange legend was at once invented +to account for this calamity: it tells how the horseman proved such an +agreeable acquisition that he was invited to remain some days, and made +himself quite at home, and as they were now four in number whist was +proposed in the evenings. The stranger, however, with Anne as his +partner, invariably won every point; the old couple never had the +smallest success. One night, when poor Anne was in great delight at +winning so constantly, she dropped a ring on the floor, and, suddenly +diving under the table to recover it, was terrified to see that her +agreeable partner had an unmistakably cloven foot. Her screams made him +aware of her discovery, and he at once vanished in a thunder-clap leaving +a brimstone smell behind him. The poor girl never recovered from the +shock, lapsed from one fit into another, and was carried to the tapestry +room from which she never came forth alive. + +"This story of his Satanic majesty got abroad, and many tales are told of +how he continued to visit and disturb the house. The noises, the +apparitions, and disturbances were innumerable, and greatly distressed +old Charles Tottenham, his wife, and servants. It is said that they +finally determined to call in the services of their parish priest, a +Father Broders, who, armed with all the exorcisms of the Church, +succeeded in confining the operations of the evil spirit to one room--the +tapestry room. + +"Here, then, we have traced from the date of the unhappy girl's +misfortune that the house was disturbed by something supernatural, +and that the family sought the aid of the parish priest to abate it, and +further that the tapestry room was the scene of this visitation. + +"But the matter was kept dark, all reference to poor Anne was avoided, +and the belief was allowed to go abroad that it was Satan himself who +disturbed the peace of the family. Her parents were ready to turn aside +the keen edge of observation from her fate, preferring rather that it +should be believed that they were haunted by the Devil, so that the story +of her wrongs should sink into oblivion, and be classed as an old wives' +tale of horns and hoofs. The harsh father and stepmother have long gone +to the place appointed for all living. The Loftus branch of the family +are in possession of the Hall. Yet poor Anne has kept her tapestried +chamber by nearly the same means which compelled her parents to call in +the aid of the parish priest so long ago. + +"But to my tale: About the end of the last century my father was invited +by Mrs. Tottenham to meet a large party at the Hall. He rode, as was then +the custom in Ireland, with his pistols in his holsters. On arriving he +found the house full, and Mrs. Tottenham apologised to him for being +obliged to assign to him the tapestry chamber for the night, which, +however, he gladly accepted, never having heard any of the stories +connected with it. + +"However, he had scarcely covered himself in the bed when suddenly +something heavy leaped upon it, growling like a dog. The curtains were +torn back, and the clothes stripped from the bed. Supposing that some of +his companions were playing tricks, he called out that he would shoot +them, and seizing a pistol he fired up the chimney, lest he should wound +one of them. He then struck a light and searched the room diligently, but +found no sign or mark of anyone, and the door locked as he had left it on +retiring to rest. Next day he informed his hosts how he had been annoyed, +but they could only say that they would not have put him in that room if +they had had any other to offer him. + +"Years passed on, when the Marquis of Ely went to the Hall to spend some +time there. His valet was put to sleep in the tapestry chamber. In the +middle of the night the whole family was aroused by his dreadful roars +and screams, and he was found lying in another room in mortal terror. +After some time he told them that, soon after he had lain himself down in +bed, he was startled by the rattling of the curtains as they were torn +back, and looking up he saw a tall lady by the bedside dressed in stiff +brocaded silk; whereupon he rushed out of the room screaming with terror. + +"Years afterwards I was brought by my father with the rest of the family +to the Hall for the summer bathing. Attracted by the quaint look of the +tapestry room, I at once chose it for my bedroom, being utterly ignorant +of the stories connected with it. For some little time nothing out of the +way happened. One night, however, I sat up much later than usual to +finish an article in a magazine I was reading. The full moon was shining +clearly in through two large windows, making all as clear as day. I was +just about to get into bed, and, happening to glance towards the door, to +my great surprise I saw it open quickly and noiselessly, and as quickly +and noiselessly shut again, while the tall figure of a lady in a stiff +dress passed slowly through the room to one of the curious closets +already mentioned, which was in the opposite corner. I rubbed my eyes. +Every possible explanation but the true one occurred to my mind, for the +idea of a ghost did not for a moment enter my head. I quickly reasoned +myself into a sound sleep and forgot the matter. + +"The next night I again sat up late in my bedroom, preparing a gun and +ammunition to go and shoot sea-birds early next morning, when the door +again opened and shut in the same noiseless manner, and the same tall +lady proceeded to cross the room quietly and deliberately as before +towards the closet. I instantly rushed at her, and threw my right arm +around her, exclaiming 'Ha! I have you now!' To my utter astonishment my +arm passed through her and came with a thud against the bedpost, at which +spot she then was. The figure quickened its pace, and as it passed the +skirt of its dress lapped against the curtain and I marked distinctly the +pattern of her gown--a stiff brocaded silk. + +"The ghostly solution of the problem did not yet enter my mind. However, +I told the story at breakfast next morning. My father, who had himself +suffered from the lady's visit so long before, never said a word, and it +passed as some folly of mine. So slight was the impression it made on me +at the time that, though I slept many a night after in the room, I never +thought of watching or looking out for anything. + +"Years later I was again a guest at the Hall. The Marquis of Ely and his +family, with a large retinue of servants, filled the house to +overflowing. As I passed the housekeeper's room I heard the valet say: +'What! I to sleep in the tapestry chamber? Never! I will leave my lord's +service before I sleep there!' At once my former experience in that room +flashed upon my mind. I had never thought of it during the interval, and +was still utterly ignorant of Anne Tottenham: so when the housekeeper was +gone I spoke to the valet and said, 'Tell me why you will not sleep in +the tapestry room, as I have a particular reason for asking.' He said, +'Is it possible that you do not know that Miss Tottenham passes through +that room every night, and, dressed in a stiff flowered silk dress, +enters the closet in the corner?' I replied that I had never heard a word +of her till now, but that I had, a few years before, twice seen a figure +exactly like what he had described, and passed my arm through her body. +'Yes,' said he, 'that was Miss Tottenham, and, as is well known, she was +confined--mad--in that room, and died there, and, they say, was buried in +that closet.' + +"Time wore on and another generation arose, another owner possessed the +property--the grandson of my friend. In the year 185--, he being then a +child came with his mother, the Marchioness of Ely, and his tutor, the +Rev. Charles Dale, to the Hall for the bathing season. Mr. Dale was no +imaginative person--a solid, steady, highly educated English clergyman, +who had never even heard the name of Miss Tottenham. The tapestry room +was his bed-chamber. One day in the late autumn of that year I received a +letter from the uncle of the Marquis, saying, 'Do tell me what it was you +saw long ago in the tapestry chamber, for something strange must have +happened to the Rev. Charles Dale, as he came to breakfast quite +mystified. Something very strange must have occurred, but he will not +tell us, seems quite nervous, and, in short, is determined to give up his +tutorship and return to England. Every year something mysterious has +happened to any person who slept in that room, but they always kept it +close. Mr. D----, a Wexford gentleman, slept there a short while ago. +He had a splendid dressing-case, fitted with gold and silver articles, +which he left carefully locked on his table at night; in the morning he +found the whole of its contents scattered about the room.' + +"Upon hearing this I determined to write to the Rev. Charles Dale, then +Incumbent of a parish near Dover, telling him what had occurred to myself +in the room, and that the evidence of supernatural appearances there were +so strong and continued for several generations, that I was anxious to +put them together, and I would consider it a great favour if he would +tell me if anything had happened to him in the room, and of what nature. +He then for the first time mentioned the matter, and from his letter now +before me I make the following extracts: + +"'For three weeks I experienced no inconvenience from the lady, but one +night, just before we were about to leave, I had sat up very late. It was +just one o'clock when I retired to my bedroom, a very beautiful moonlight +night. I locked my door, and saw that the shutters were properly +fastened, as I did every night. I had not lain myself down more than +about five minutes before something jumped on the bed making a growling +noise; the bed-clothes were pulled off though I strongly resisted the +pull. I immediately sprang out of bed, lighted my candle, looked into the +closet and under the bed, but saw nothing.' + +"Mr. Dale goes on to say that he endeavoured to account for it in some +such way as I had formerly done, having never up to that time heard one +word of the lady and her doings in that room. He adds, 'I did not see the +lady or hear any noise but the growling.' + +"Here then is the written testimony of a beneficed English clergyman, +occupying the responsible position of tutor to the young Marquis of Ely, +a most sober-minded and unimpressionable man. He repeats in 1867 almost +the very words of my father when detailing his experience in that room in +1790--a man of whose existence he had never been cognisant, and therefore +utterly ignorant of Miss Tottenham's doings in that room nearly eighty +years before. + +"In the autumn of 1868 I was again in the locality, at Dunmore, on the +opposite side of the Waterford Estuary. I went across to see the old +place and what alterations Miss Tottenham had forced the proprietors to +make in the tapestry chamber. I found that the closet into which the poor +lady had always vanished was taken away, the room enlarged, and two +additional windows put in: the old tapestry had gone and a billiard-table +occupied the site of poor Anne's bed. I took the old housekeeper aside, +and asked her to tell me how Miss Tottenham bore these changes in her +apartment. She looked quite frightened and most anxious to avoid the +question, but at length hurriedly replied, 'Oh, Master George! don't talk +about her: last night she made a horrid noise knocking the billiard-balls +about!' + +"I have thus traced with strict accuracy this most real and true +tale, from the days of 'Tottenham and his Boots' to those of his +great-great-grandson. Loftus Hall has since been wholly rebuilt, but +I have not heard whether poor Anne Tottenham has condescended to visit +it, or is wholly banished at last." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MISTAKEN IDENTITY--CONCLUSION + + +We have given various instances of ghostly phenomena wherein the +witnesses have failed at first to realise that what they saw partook +in any way of the abnormal. There are also many cases where a so-called +ghost has turned out to be something very ordinary. Though more often +than not such incidents are of a very trivial or self-explanatory +nature (_e.g._ where a sheep in a churchyard almost paralysed a midnight +wayfarer till he summoned up courage to investigate), there are many +which have an interest of their own and which often throw into prominence +the extraordinary superstitions and beliefs which exist in a country. + +Our first story, which is sent us by Mr. De Lacy of Dublin, deals with an +incident that occurred in the early part of last century. An epidemic +which was then rife in the city was each day taking its toll of the +unhappy citizens. The wife of a man living in Merrion Square was stricken +down and hastily buried in a churchyard in Donnybrook which is now +closed. On the night after the funeral one of the city police, or +"Charlies" as they were then called, passed through the churchyard on his +rounds. When nearing the centre he was alarmed to hear a sound coming +from a grave close at hand, and turning, saw a white apparition sit up +and address him. This was all he waited for; with a shriek he dropped his +lantern and staff and made off as fast as his legs would carry him. The +apparition thereupon took up the lamp and staff, and walked to Merrion +Square to the house of mourning, was admitted by the servants, and to the +joy of the whole household was found to be the object of their grief +returned, Alcestis-like, from the grave. It seems that the epidemic was +so bad that the bodies of the victims were interred hastily and without +much care: the unfortunate lady had really been in a state of coma or +trance, and as the grave was lightly covered, when she came to she was +able to force her way up, and seeing the "Charlie" passing, she called +for assistance. + +An occurrence which at first had all the appearance of partaking of the +supernormal, and which was afterwards found to have a curious +explanation, is related by Dean Ovenden of St. Patrick's Cathedral, +Dublin. "At Dunluce Rectory, Co. Antrim," he writes, "I had a strange +experience. There was a force-pump attached to the back wall of the +house, and many people drew water from it, as it was better than any +obtained at that time in Bushmills. We used to notice, when going to bed, +the sound of someone working the pump. All the servants denied that they +ever used the pump between 11 P.M. and 12 midnight. I often looked out +of the back window when I heard the pump going, but could not see anyone. +I tied threads to the handle, but although they were found unbroken in +the morning the pumping continued, sometimes only for three or four moves +of the handle. On many nights no pumping was heard. The man-servant sat +up with a gun and the dog, but he neither saw nor heard anything. We gave +it up as a bad job, and still the pumping went on. After about two years +of this experience, I was one night alone in the house. It was a calm and +frosty night and I went to bed about 11.30 P.M. and lay awake; suddenly +the pump began to work with great clearness, and mechanically I counted +the strokes: they were exactly twelve. I exclaimed, 'The dining-room +clock!' I sprang from bed and went down, and found that the clock was +fast, as it showed two minutes past twelve o'clock. I set back the hands +to 11.55 and lay in bed again, and soon the pumper began as usual. The +explanation was that the vibration of the rising and falling hammer was +carried up to the bedroom by the wall, but the sound of the bell was +never heard. I found afterwards that the nights when there was no pumping +were always windy." + +A man was walking along a country lane at night and as he was coming +round a bend he saw a coffin on the road in front of him. At first he +thought it was a warning to him that he was soon to leave this world; but +after some hesitation, he finally summoned up courage to give the thing a +poke with his stick, when he found that the coffin was merely an outline +of sea-weed which some passer-by had made. Whereupon he went on his way +much relieved. + +The unbeliever will state that rats or mice are more often than not the +cause of so-called ghostly noises in a house. That, at any rate, +instances have happened where one or other of these rodents has given +rise to fear and trepidation in the inmates of a house or bedroom is +proved by the following story from a Dublin lady. She tells how she was +awakened by a most mysterious noise for which she could give no +explanation. Overcome by fear, she was quite unable to get out of bed, +and lay awake the rest of the night. When light came she got up: there +was a big bath in the room, and in it she found a mouse which had been +drowned in its efforts to get out. So her haunting was caused by what we +may perhaps call a ghost in the making. + +The devil is very real to the average countryman in Ireland. He has given +his name to many spots which for some reason or other have gained some +ill-repute--the Devil's Elbow, a very nasty bit of road down in Kerry, is +an instance in point. The following story shows how prevalent the idea is +that the devil is an active agent in the affairs of this world. + +A family living at Ardee, Co. Louth, were one night sitting reading in +the parlour. The two maids were amusing themselves at some card game in +the kitchen. Suddenly there was a great commotion and the two girls--both +from the country--burst into the sitting-room, pale with fright, and +almost speechless. When they had recovered a certain amount, they were +asked what was the matter; the cook immediately exclaimed, "Oh, sir! the +devil, the devil, he knocked three times at the window and frightened us +dreadfully, and we had just time to throw the cards into the fire and run +in here before he got us." One of the family, on hearing this, +immediately went out to see what had caused all this trepidation, and +found a swallow with a broken neck lying on the kitchen window-sill. The +poor bird had evidently seen the light in the room, and in its efforts to +get near it had broken its neck against the glass of the window. + +An amusing account of a pseudo-haunting comes from County Tipperary, and +shows how extraordinarily strong is the countryman's belief in +supernatural phenomena. The incidents related occurred only a very short +time ago. A farmer in the vicinity of Thurles died leaving behind him a +young widow. The latter lived alone after her husband's death, and about +three months after the funeral she was startled one night by loud +knocking at the door. On opening the door she was shocked at seeing the +outline of a man dressed in a shroud. In a solemn voice he asked her did +she know who he was: on receiving a reply in the negative, he said that +he was her late husband and that he wanted £10 to get into heaven. The +terrified woman said she had not got the money, but promised to have it +ready if he would call again the next night. The "apparition" agreed, +then withdrew, and the distracted woman went to bed wondering how she was +to raise the money. When morning came she did not take long in telling +her friends of her experience, in the hope that they would be able to +help her. Their advice, however, was that she should tell the police, +and she did so. That night the "apparition" returned at the promised +hour, and asked for his money. The amount was handed to him, and in a low +sepulchral voice he said, "Now I leave this earth and go to heaven." +Unfortunately, as he was leaving, a sergeant and a constable of the +R.I. Constabulary stopped him, questioned him, and hauled him off to the +barracks to spend the remainder of the night in the cell, where no doubt +he decided that the haunting game has its trials.[14] + +[Footnote 14: _Evening Telegraph_ for Dec. 10, 1913.] + +An occurrence of very much the same description took place in County +Clare about three years ago. Again the departed husband returns to his +sorrowing wife, sits by the fire with her, chatting no doubt of old +times, and before he leaves for the other world is regaled with pig's +head and plenty of whisky. The visit is repeated the next night, and a +request made for money to play cards with down below: the wife willingly +gives him the money. Again he comes, and again he borrows on the plea +that he had lost the night before, but hoped to get better luck next +time. On the woman telling a neighbour a watch was kept for the dead +man's return, but he never came near the place again. + +An account of a police-court trial which appeared in the _Irish Times_ of +31st December 1913 emphasizes in a very marked degree the extraordinary +grip that superstition has over some of the country people. A young woman +was on her trial for stealing £300 from the brother of her employer, +Patrick McFaul of Armagh. District Inspector Lowndes, in opening the case +for the Crown, told the bench that the money had been taken out of the +bank by McFaul to buy a holding, for the purchase of which negotiations +were going on. The money was carelessly thrown into a drawer in a +bedroom, and left there till it would be wanted. A short time afterwards +a fire broke out in the room, and a heap of ashes was all that was found +in the drawer, though little else in the room besides a few clothes was +injured. "The McFauls appeared to accept their loss with a complacency, +which could only be accounted for by the idea they entertained that the +money was destroyed through spiritual intervention--that there were +ghosts in the question, and that the destruction of the money was to be +taken as a warning directed against a matrimonial arrangement, into which +Michael McFaul was about to enter." The accused girl was servant to +the McFauls, who discharged her a few days after the fire: but before +this she had been into Derry and spent a night there; during her stay she +tried to change three £20 notes with the help of a friend. But change was +refused, and she had to abandon the attempt. "If some of the money was +burned, some of it was certainly in existence three days later, to the +amount of £60. One thing was manifest, and that was that an incredible +amount of superstition appeared to prevail amongst families in that +neighbourhood when the loss of such a sum as this could be attributed to +anything but larceny, and it could for a moment be suggested that it was +due to spiritual intervention to indicate that a certain course should +be abandoned." + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +The foregoing tales have been inserted, not in order that they may throw +ridicule on the rest of the book, but that they may act as a wholesome +corrective. If _all_ ghost stories could be subjected to such rigid +examination it is probable that the mystery in many of them would be +capable of equally simple solution--yet a remnant would be left. + +And here, though it may seem somewhat belated, we must offer an apology +for the use of the terms "ghost" and "ghost story." The book includes +such different items as hauntings, death-warnings, visions, and +hallucinations, some of which obviously can no more be attributed to +discarnate spirits than can the present writer's power of guiding his pen +along the lines of a page; whether others of these must be laid to the +credit of such unseen influences is just the question. But in truth there +was no other expression than "ghost stories" which we could have used, or +which could have conveyed to our readers, within reasonable verbal +limits, as they glanced at its cover, or at an advertisement of it, a +general idea of the contents of this book. The day will certainly come +when, before the steady advance of scientific investigation, and the +consequent influencing of public opinion, the word "ghost" will be +relegated to limbo, and its place taken by a number of expressions +corresponding to the results obtained from the analysis of phenomena +hitherto grouped under this collective title. That day is approaching. +And so, though we have used the term throughout the pages of this book, +it must not therefore be assumed that we necessarily believe in "ghosts," +or that we are bound to the theory that all, or any, of the unusual +happenings therein recorded are due to the action of visitants from the +Otherworld. + +We may now anticipate one or two possible points of criticism. It might +be alleged that the publication of such a book as this would tend to show +that the Irish nation was enslaved in superstition. Without stopping to +review the question as to what should, or should not, be classed as +"superstition," we would rejoin by gleefully pointing to a leading +article in the _Irish Times_ of Jan. 27, 1914, which gives a short +account of a lecture by Mr. Lovett on the folklore of London. Folklore in +London! in the metropolis of the stolid Englishman! The fact is that the +Irish people are not one whit more superstitious than their cross-channel +neighbours, while they are surely on a far higher level in this respect +than many of the Continental nations. They _seem_ to be more +superstitious because (we speak without wishing to give any offence) the +_popular_ religion of the majority has incorporated certain elements +which may be traced back to pre-Christian times; but that they _are_ +actually more superstitious we beg leave to doubt. + +Another and more important series of objections is stated by one of our +correspondents as follows. "I must confess that I can never reconcile +with my conception of an All-Wise Creator the type of 'ghost' you are at +present interested in; it seems to me incredible that the spirits of the +departed should be permitted to return and indulge in the ghostly +repertoire of jangling chains, gurgling, etc., apparently for the sole +purpose of scaring housemaids and other timid or hysterical people." The +first and most obvious remark on this is, that our correspondent has +never read or heard a ghost story, save of the Christmas magazine type, +else he would be aware that the above theatrical display is _not_ an +integral part of the "ghostly repertoire"; and also that persons, who are +_not_ housemaids, and who can _not_ be classed as timid or hysterical, +but who, on the other hand, are exceedingly sober-minded, courageous, and +level-headed, have had experiences (and been frightened by them too!) +which cannot be explained on ordinary grounds. But on the main point our +correspondent is begging the question, or at least assuming as fully +proved a conclusion which is very far from being so. Is he quite sure +that the only explanation of these strange sights and weird noises +is that they are brought about by the action of departed spirits (we +naturally exclude cases of deliberate fraud, which in reality are very +unusual)? And if so, what meaning would he put upon the word "spirits"? +And even if it be granted that the phenomena are caused by the +inhabitants of another world, why should it be impossible to accept such +a theory, because of its _apparent_ incompatibility with any conception +of an All-Wise Creator, of whose workings we are so profoundly ignorant? +Are there not many things in the material world which _to the limited +human mind_ of our correspondent must seem puzzling, meaningless, +useless, and even harmful? He does not therefore condemn these offhand; +he is content to suspend judgment, is he not? Why cannot he adopt the +same attitude with respect to psychic phenomena? Our correspondent might +here make the obvious retort that it is _we_ who are begging the +question, not he, because such happenings as are described in this book +have no existence apart from the imaginative or inventive faculties of +certain persons. This would be equivalent to saying bluntly that a +considerable number of people in Ireland are either liars or fools, or +both. This point we shall deal with later on. Our correspondent belongs +to a type which knows nothing at all about psychical research, and is not +aware that some of the cleverest scientists and deepest thinkers of the +day have interested themselves in such problems. They have not found the +answer to many of them--goodness knows if they ever will this side of the +grave--but at least they have helped to broaden and deepen our knowledge +of ourselves, our surroundings, and our God. They have revealed to us +profundities in human personality hitherto unsuspected, they have +suggested means of communication between mind and mind almost incredible, +and (in the writer's opinion at least) these points have a very important +bearing on our conceptions of the final state of mankind in the world to +come, and so they are preparing the way for that finer and more ethical +conception of God and His Creation which will be the heritage of +generations yet unborn. The materialist's day is far spent, and its sun +nears the horizon. + +Another objection to the study of the subjects dealt with in this book +is that we are designedly left in ignorance of the unseen world by a +Wise Creator, and therefore that it is grossly presumptuous, not to say +impious, on the part of man to make any attempt to probe into questions +which he has not been intended to study. Which is equivalent to saying +that it is impious to ride a bicycle, because man was obviously created +a pedestrian. This might be true if we were confined within a +self-contained world which had, and could have, no connection with +anything external to itself. But the very essence of our existence here +is that the material and spiritual worlds interpenetrate, or rather that +our little planet forms part of a boundless universe teeming with life +and intelligence, yet lying in the hollow of God's hand. He alone is +"Supernatural," and therefore Transcendent and Unknowable; all things in +the universe are "natural," though very often they are beyond our normal +experience, and as such are legitimate objects for man's research. Surely +the potential energy in the human intellect will not allow it to remain +at its present stage, but will continually urge it onwards and upwards. +What limits God in His Providence has seen fit to put upon us we cannot +tell, for every moment the horizon is receding, and our outlook becoming +larger, though some still find it difficult to bring their eyesight to +the focus consequently required. The marvellous of to-day is the +commonplace of to-morrow: "our notion of what is natural grows with our +greater knowledge." + +Throughout the pages of this book we have, in general, avoided offering +explanations of, or theories to account for, the different stories. Here +something may be said on this point. As we have already pointed out, the +expression "ghost stories" covers a multitude of different phenomena. +Many of these may be explained as "hallucinations," which does not imply +that they are simply the effect of imagination and nothing more. "The +mind receives the hallucination as if it came through the channels of +sense, and accordingly externalises the impression, seeking its source in +the world outside itself, whereas in all hallucinations the source is +within the mind, and is not derived from an impression received through +the recognised organ of sense.[15]" + +[Footnote 15: Prof. Sir W. Barren, _Psychical Research_, p. 111.] + +Many of these hallucinations are termed "_veridical_", or truth-telling, +because they coincide with real events occurring to another person. +Illustrations of this will be found in Chapter VI, from which it would +appear that a dying person (though the power is not necessarily confined +to such) occasionally has the faculty of telepathically communicating +with another; the latter receives the impression, and externalises it, +and so "sees a ghost," to use the popular expression. Some hallucinations +are _auditory i.e._ sounds are heard which apparently do not correspond +to any objective reality. Incomprehensible though it may appear, it may +be possible for sounds, and very loud ones too, to be heard by one or +more persons, the said sounds being purely hallucinatory, and not causing +any disturbance in the atmosphere. + +Some of the incidents may be explained as due to telepathy, that +mysterious power by which mind can communicate with mind, though what +telepathy is, or through what medium it is propagated, no one can tell as +yet. Belief in this force is increasing, because, as Professor Sir W. +Barrett remarks: "Hostility to a new idea arises largely from its being +unrelated to existing knowledge," and, as telepathy seems to the ordinary +person to be analogous to wireless telegraphy, it is therefore accepted, +or at least not laughed at, though how far the analogy really holds good +is not at all certain. + +Again there is the question of haunted houses and places, to accounts of +which the first five chapters of this book are devoted. The actual +evidence for many of these may not come up to the rigorous standard set +by the S.P.R., but it is beyond all doubt that persons who are neither +fools, liars, nor drunkards firmly believe that they have seen and heard +the things related in these chapters (not to speak of Chapters VI-VIII), +or that they have been told such by those in whose statements they place +implicit confidence; while so certain are they that they are telling the +truth that they have not only written down the stories for the compilers, +but have given their names and addresses as well, though not always for +publication. Can we contemptuously fling aside such a weight of evidence +as unworthy of even a cursory examination? This would hardly be a +rational attitude to adopt. Various theories to account for these strange +hauntings have been formulated, which may be found on pp. 199-200 of Sir +William Barrett's _Psychical Research_, and so need not be given here. + +Yet, when all is said and done, the very formulating of theories, so far +from solving problems, only raises further and more complex ones, perhaps +the greatest of which is, Have the spirits of the departed anything to +do with the matter? As we have shown, we hope with success, in the +preceding paragraphs, many "ghosts" have no necessary connection with the +denizens of the unseen world, but may be explained as being due to laws +of nature which at present are very obscure. Does this hold good of all +"ghosts," or are some of them to be placed to the credit of those who +have passed beyond the veil, or perhaps to spirits, good or evil, which +have never been incarnate? That is the problem for the future, for in +the present state of our knowledge it would be premature to give a direct +answer, either positive or negative. + +This book was written with a twofold purpose: first, that of entertaining +our readers, in which we trust we have been successful; secondly, to +stimulate thought. For, strange though it may seem, authenticated "ghost +stories" have a certain educative value. Taking them at their lowest they +suggest inquiry into the strange workings of the human mind: at their +highest how many strange lines of inquiry do they not suggest? For it is +obvious that we have now arrived at one of those interesting periods in +the history of human thought which might be described as the return of +the pendulum. We are in the process of emerging from a very materialistic +age, when men either refused to believe anything that was contrary to +their normal experience, or else leavened their spiritual doctrines and +beliefs with the leaven of materialism. The pendulum has swung to its +highest point in this respect, and is now commencing to return, so +perhaps the intellectual danger of the future will be that men, instead +of believing too little, will believe too much. Now is the time for +laying a careful foundation. Psychical research, spiritualism, and the +like, are not ends in themselves, they are only means to an end. At the +present state of thought, the transition from the old to the new, from +the lower to the higher, it is inevitable that there must be confusion +and doubt, and the earnest thinker must be prepared to suspend judgment +on many points; but at a later stage, when all absurdity, error, and +fraud, now so closely connected with psychical research in its various +branches, will have been swept away, Truth will emerge and lift the human +race to a purer and loftier conception of God and His universe. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's True Irish Ghost Stories, by St John D Seymour + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14099 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1063f4a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #14099 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14099) diff --git a/old/14099.txt b/old/14099.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d76bfb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14099.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5330 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of True Irish Ghost Stories, by St John D Seymour + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: True Irish Ghost Stories + +Author: St John D Seymour + +Release Date: November 20, 2004 [EBook #14099] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES + + COMPILED BY + + ST JOHN D. SEYMOUR, B.D. + + AUTHOR OF "IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY" ETC. + + AND + + HARRY L. NELIGAN, D.I.R.I.C. + + 1914 + + + + +TO THREE LIVELY POLTERGEISTS W----, J----, AND G----, THIS BOOK IS +DEDICATED BY THE COMPILERS + + + + +FOREWORD + + +This book had its origin on this wise. In my _Irish Witchcraft and +Demonology_, published in October 1913, I inserted a couple of famous +17th century ghost stories which described how lawsuits were set on foot +at the instigation of most importunate spirits. It then occurred to me +that as far as I knew there was no such thing in existence as a book of +Irish ghost stories. Books on Irish fairy and folk-lore there were in +abundance--some of which could easily be spared--but there was no book of +ghosts. And so I determined to supply this sad omission. + +In accordance with the immortal recipe for making hare-soup I had first +to obtain my ghost stories. Where was I to get them from? For myself I +knew none worth publishing, nor had I ever had any strange experiences, +while I feared that my friends and acquaintances were in much the +same predicament. Suddenly a brilliant thought struck me. I wrote out a +letter, stating exactly what I wanted, and what I did _not_ want, and +requesting the readers of it either to forward me ghost stories, or else +to put me in the way of getting them: this letter was sent to the +principal Irish newspapers on October 27, and published on October 29, +and following days. + +I confess I was a little doubtful as to the result of my experiment, and +wondered what response the people of Ireland would make to a letter which +might place a considerable amount of trouble on their shoulders. My mind +was speedily set at rest. On October 30, the first answers reached me. +Within a fortnight I had sufficient material to make a book; within a +month I had so much material that I could pick and choose--and more was +promised. Further on in this preface I give a list of those persons whose +contributions I have made use of, but here I should like to take the +opportunity of thanking all those ladies and gentlemen throughout the +length and breadth of Ireland, the majority of whom were utter strangers +to me, who went to the trouble of sitting down and writing out page after +page of stories. I cannot forget their kindness, and I am only sorry that +I could not make use of more of the matter that was sent to me. As one +would expect, this material varied in value and extent. Some persons +contributed incidents, of little use by themselves, but which worked in +as helpful illustrations, while others forwarded budgets of stories, +long and short. To sift the mass of matter, and bring the various +portions of it into proper sequence, would have been a lengthy and +difficult piece of work had I not been ably assisted by Mr. Harry L. +Neligan, D.I.; but I leave it as a pleasant task to the Higher Critic to +discover what portions of the book were done by him, and what should be +attributed to me. + +Some of the replies that reached me were sufficiently amusing. One +gentleman, who carefully signed himself "Esquire," informed me that he +was "after" reading a great book of ghost stories, but several letters of +mine failed to elicit any subsequent information. Another person offered +to _sell_ me ghost stories, while several proffered tales that had been +worked up comically. One lady addressed a card to me as follows: + +"THE REVD. ---- + +(Name and address lost of the clergyman whose letter appeared lately in +_Irish Times, re_ "apparitions") + +CAPPAWHITE." + +As the number of clergy in the above village who deal in ghost stories is +strictly limited, the Post Office succeeded in delivering it safely. I +wrote at once in reply, and got a story. In a letter bearing the Dublin +postmark a correspondent, veiled in anonymity, sent me a religious tract +with the curt note, "_Re_ ghost stories, will you please read this." I +did so, but still fail to see the sender's point of view. Another person +in a neighbouring parish declared that if I were their rector they would +forthwith leave my church, and attend service elsewhere. There are many, +I fear, who adopt this attitude; but it will soon become out of date. + +Some of my readers may cavil at the expression, "_True_ Ghost Stories." +For myself I cannot guarantee the genuineness of a single incident in +this book--how could I, as none of them are my own personal experience? +This at least I _can_ vouch for, that the majority of the stories were +sent to me as first or second-hand experiences by ladies and gentlemen +whose statement on an ordinary matter of fact would be accepted without +question. And further, in order to prove the _bona fides_ of this book, I +make the following offer. The original letters and documents are in my +custody at Donohil Rectory, and I am perfectly willing to allow any +responsible person to examine them, subject to certain restrictions, +these latter obviously being that names of people and places must not be +divulged, for I regret to say that in very many instances my +correspondents have laid this burden upon me. This is to be the more +regretted, because the use of blanks, or fictitious initials, makes +a story appear much less convincing than if real names had been employed. + +Just one word. I can imagine some of my readers (to be numbered by the +thousand, I hope) saying to themselves: "Oh! Mr. Seymour has left out +some of the best stories. Did he never hear of such-and-such a haunted +house, or place?" Or, "I could relate an experience better than anything +he has got." If such there be, may I beg of them to send me on their +stories with all imagined speed, as they may be turned to account at +some future date. + +I beg to return thanks to the following for permission to make use of +matter in their publications: Messrs. Sealy, Bryers, and Walker, +proprietors of the _New Ireland Review_; the editor of the _Review of +Reviews_; the editor of the _Proceedings_ of the Society for Psychical +Research; the editor of the _Journal_ of the American S.P.R.; the editor +of the _Occult Review_, and Mr. Elliott O'Donnell; Messrs. Longmans, +Green and Co., and Mrs. Andrew Lang; the editor of the _Wide World +Magazine_; the representatives of the late Rev. Dr. Craig. + +In accordance with the promise made in my letter, I have now much +pleasure in giving the names of the ladies and gentlemen who have +contributed to, or assisted in, the compilation of this book, and as well +to assure them that Mr. Neligan and I are deeply grateful to them for +their kindness. + +Mrs. S. Acheson, Drumsna, Co. Roscommon; Mrs. M. Archibald, Cliftonville +Road, Belfast; J.J. Burke, Esq., U.D.C., Rahoon, Galway; Capt. R. +Beamish, Passage West, Co. Cork; Mrs. A. Bayly, Woodenbridge, Co. +Wicklow; R. Blair, Esq., South Shields; Jas. Byrne, Esq., +Castletownroche, Co. Cork; Mrs. Kearney Brooks, Killarney; H. Buchanan, +Esq., Inishannon, Co. Cork; J.A. Barlow, Esq., Bray, Co. Wicklow; J. +Carton, Esq., King's Inns Library, Dublin; Miss A. Cooke, Cappagh House, +Co. Limerick; J.P.V. Campbell, Esq. _Solicitor_, Dublin; Rev. E.G.S. +Crosthwait, M.A., Littleton, Thurles; J. Crowley, Esq., Munster and +Leinster Bank, Cashel; Miss C.M. Doyle, Ashfield Road, Dublin; J. Ralph +Dagg, Esq., Baltinglass; Gerald A. Dillon, Esq., Wicklow; Matthias and +Miss Nan Fitzgerald, Cappagh House, Co. Limerick; Lord Walter Fitzgerald, +Kilkea Castle; Miss Finch, Rushbrook, Co. Cork; Rev. H.R.B. Gillespie, +M.A., Aghacon Rectory, Roscrea; Miss Grene, Grene Park, Co. Tipperary; +L.H. Grubb, Esq. J.P., D.L., Ardmayle, Co. Tipperary; H. Keble Gelston, +Esq., Letterkenny; Ven. J.A. Haydn, LL.D., Archdeacon of Limerick; Miss +Dorothy Hamilton, Portarlington; Richard Hogan, Esq., Bowman St., +Limerick; Mrs. G. Kelly, Rathgar, Dublin; Miss Keefe, Carnahallia, Doon; +Rev. D.B. Knox, Whitehead, Belfast; Rev. J.D. Kidd, M.A., Castlewellan; +E.B. de Lacy, Esq., Marlboro' Road, Dublin; Miss K. Lloyd, Shinrone, +King's Co.; Canon Lett, M.A., Aghaderg Rectory; T. MacFadden, Esq., +Carrigart, Co. Donegal; Wm. Mackey, Esq., Strabane; Canon Courtenay +Moore, M.A., Mitchelstown, Co. Cork; J. McCrossan, Esq., _Journalist_, +Strabane; G.H. Miller, Esq., J.P., Edgeworthstown; Mrs. P.C.F. Magee, +Dublin; Rev. R.D. Paterson, B.A., Ardmore Rectory; E.A. Phelps, Esq., +Trinity College Library; Mrs. Pratt, Munster and Leinster Bank, +Rathkeale; Miss Pim, Monkstown, Co. Dublin; Miss B. Parker, Passage West, +Co. Cork; Henry Reay, Esq., Harold's Cross, Dublin; M.J. Ryan, Esq., +Taghmon, Co. Wexford; P. Ryan, Esq., Nicker, Pallasgrean; Canon +Ross-Lewin, Kilmurry, Limerick; Miss A. Russell, Elgin Road, Dublin; +Lt.-Col. the Hon. F. Shore, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny; Mrs. Seymour, +Donohil Rectory; Mrs. E.L. Stritch, North Great Georges St., Dublin; +M.C.R. Stritch, Esq., Belturbet; Very Rev. the Dean of St. Patrick's. +D.D.; Mrs. Spratt, Thurles; W.S. Thompson, Esq., Inishannon, Co. Cork; +Mrs, Thomas, Sandycove, Dublin; Mrs. Walker, Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry; Miss +Wolfe, Skibbereen, Co. Cork; Mrs. E. Welsh, Nenagh; T.J. Westropp, Esq., +M.A., M.R.I.A., Sandymount, Dublin; Mrs. M.A. Wilkins, Rathgar, Dublin; +John Ward, Esq., Ballymote; Mrs. Wrench, Ballybrack, Co. Dublin; Miss +K.E. Younge, Upper Oldtown, Rathdowney. + +ST. JOHN D. SEYMOUR. + +DONOHIL RECTORY, + +CAPPAWHITE, TIPPERARY, +_February 2_, 1914. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + I. HAUNTED HOUSES IN OR NEAR DUBLIN + II. HAUNTED HOUSES IN CONN'S HALF + III. HAUNTED HOUSES IN MOGH'S HALF + IV. POLTERGEISTS + V. HAUNTED PLACES + VI. APPARITIONS AT OR AFTER DEATH + VII. BANSHEES, AND OTHER DEATH-WARNINGS +VIII. MISCELLANEOUS SUPERNORMAL EXPERIENCES + IX. LEGENDARY AND ANCESTRAL GHOSTS + X. MISTAKEN IDENTITY--CONCLUSION + + + + +TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HAUNTED HOUSES IN OR NEAR DUBLIN + + +Of all species of ghostly phenomena, that commonly known as "haunted +houses" appeals most to the ordinary person. There is something very +eerie in being shut up within the four walls of a house with a ghost. The +poor human being is placed at such a disadvantage. If we know that a +gateway, or road, or field has the reputation of being haunted, we can in +nearly every case make a detour, and so avoid the unpleasant locality. +But the presence of a ghost in a house creates a very different state of +affairs. It appears and disappears at its own sweet will, with a total +disregard for our feelings: it seems to be as much part and parcel of the +domicile as the staircase or the hall door, and, consequently, nothing +short of leaving the house or of pulling it down (both of these solutions +are not always practicable) will free us absolutely from the unwelcome +presence. + +There is also something so natural, and at the same time so unnatural, in +seeing a door open when we know that no human hand rests on the knob, or +in hearing the sound of footsteps, light or heavy, and feeling that it +cannot be attributed to the feet of mortal man or woman. Or perhaps a +form appears in a room, standing, sitting, or walking--in fact, situated +in its three dimensions apparently as an ordinary being of flesh and +blood, until it proves its unearthly nature by vanishing before our +astonished eyes. Or perhaps we are asleep in bed. The room is shrouded +in darkness, and our recumbent attitude, together with the weight of +bed-clothes, hampers our movements and probably makes us more cowardly. A +man will meet pain or danger boldly if he be standing upright--occupying +that erect position which is his as Lord of Creation; but his courage +does not well so high if he be supine. We are awakened suddenly by the +feel that some superhuman Presence is in the room. We are transfixed with +terror, we cannot find either the bell-rope or the matches, while we +_dare_ not leap out of bed and make a rush for the door lest we should +encounter we know not what. In an agony of fear, we feel it moving +towards us; it approaches closer, and yet closer, to the bed, and--for +what may or may not then happen we must refer our readers to the pages of +this book. + +But the sceptical reader will say: "This is all very well, but--there are +_no_ haunted houses. All these alleged strange happenings are due to a +vivid imagination, or else to rats and mice." (The question of deliberate +and conscious fraud may be rejected in almost every instance.) This +simple solution has been put forward so often that it should infallibly +have solved the problem long ago. But will such a reader explain how it +is that the noise made by rats and mice can resemble slow, heavy +footsteps, or else take the form of a human being seen by several +persons; or how our imagination can cause doors to open and shut, or else +create a conglomeration of noises which, physically, would be beyond the +power of ordinary individuals to reproduce? Whatever may be the ultimate +explanation, we feel that there is a great deal in the words quoted by +Professor Barrett: "In spite of all reasonable scepticism, it is +difficult to avoid accepting, at least provisionally, the conclusion that +there are, in a certain sense, haunted houses, _i.e._ that there are +houses in which similar quasi-human apparitions have occurred at +different times to different inhabitants, under circumstances which +exclude the hypothesis of suggestion or expectation." + +We must now turn to the subject of this chapter. Mrs. G. Kelly, a lady +well known in musical circles in Dublin, sends as her own personal +experience the following tale of a most quiet haunting, in which the +spectral charwoman (!) does not seem to have entirely laid aside all her +mundane habits. + +"My first encounter with a ghost occurred about twenty years ago. On that +occasion I was standing in the kitchen of my house in ---- Square, when a +woman, whom I was afterwards to see many times, walked down the stairs +into the room. Having heard the footsteps outside, I was not in the least +perturbed, but turned to look who it was, and found myself looking at a +tall, stout, elderly woman, wearing a bonnet and old-fashioned mantle. +She had grey hair, and a benign and amiable expression. We stood gazing +at each other while one could count twenty. At first I was not at all +frightened, but gradually as I stood looking at her an uncomfortable +feeling, increasing to terror, came over me. This caused me to retreat +farther and farther back, until I had my back against the wall, and then +the apparition slowly faded. + +"This feeling of terror, due perhaps to the unexpectedness of her +appearance, always overcame me on the subsequent occasions on which I +saw her. These occasions numbered twelve or fifteen, and I have seen her +in every room in the house, and at every hour of the day, during a period +of about ten years. The last time she appeared was ten years ago. My +husband and I had just returned from a concert at which he had been +singing, and we sat for some time over supper, talking about the events +of the evening. When at last I rose to leave the room, and opened the +dining-room door, I found my old lady standing on the mat outside with +her head bent towards the door in the attitude of listening. I called +out loudly, and my husband rushed to my side. That was the last time I +have seen her." + +"One peculiarity of this spectral visitant was a strong objection to +disorder or untidyness of any kind, or even to an alteration in the +general routine of the house. For instance, she showed her disapproval of +any stranger coming to sleep by turning the chairs face downwards on the +floor in the room they were to occupy. I well remember one of our guests, +having gone to his room one evening for something he had forgotten, +remarking on coming downstairs again, 'Well, you people have an +extraordinary manner of arranging your furniture! I have nearly broken my +bones over one of the bedroom chairs which was turned down on the floor.' +As my husband and I had restored that chair twice already to its proper +position during the day, we were not much surprised at his remarks, +although we did not enlighten him. The whole family have been disturbed +by a peculiar knocking which occurred in various rooms in the house, +frequently on the door or wall, but sometimes on the furniture, quite +close to where we had been sitting. This was evidently loud enough to be +heard in the next house, for our next-door neighbour once asked my +husband why he selected such curious hours for hanging his pictures. +Another strange and fairly frequent occurrence was the following. I had +got a set of skunk furs which I fancied had an unpleasant odour, as this +fur sometimes has; and at night I used to take it from my wardrobe and +lay it on a chair in the drawing-room, which was next my bedroom. The +first time that I did this, on going to the drawing-room I found, to my +surprise, my muff in one corner and my stole in another. Not for a moment +suspecting a supernatural agent, I asked my servant about it, and she +assured me that she had not been in the room that morning. Whereupon I +determined to test the matter, which I did by putting in the furs late at +night, and taking care that I was the first to enter the room in the +morning. I invariably found that they had been disturbed." + +The following strange and pathetic incident occurred in a well-known +Square in the north side of the city. In or about a hundred years ago a +young officer was ordered to Dublin, and took a house there for himself +and his family. He sent on his wife and two children, intending to join +them in the course of a few days. When the latter and the nurse arrived, +they found only the old charwoman in the house, and she left shortly +after their arrival. Finding that something was needed, the nurse went +out to purchase it. On her return she asked the mother were the children +all right, as she had seen two ghostly forms flit past her on the +door-step! The mother answered that she believed they were, but on going +up to the nursery they found both the children with their throats cut. +The murderer was never brought to justice, and no motive was ever +discovered for the crime. The unfortunate mother went mad, and it is said +that an eerie feeling still clings to the house, while two little heads +are sometimes seen at the window of the room where the deed was +committed. + +A most weird experience fell to the lot of Major Macgregor, and was +contributed by him to _Real Ghost Stories_, the celebrated Christmas +number of the _Review of Reviews_. He says: "In the end of 1871 I went +over to Ireland to visit a relative living in a Square in the north side +of Dublin. In January 1872 the husband of my relative fell ill. I sat up +with him for several nights, and at last, as he seemed better, I went to +bed, and directed the footman to call me if anything went wrong. I soon +fell asleep, but some time after was awakened by a push on the left +shoulder. I started up, and said, 'Is there anything wrong?' I got no +answer, but immediately received another push. I got annoyed, and said +'Can you not speak, man! and tell me if there is anything wrong.' Still +no answer, and I had a feeling I was going to get another push when I +suddenly turned round and caught a human hand, warm, plump, and soft. I +said, 'Who are you?' but I got no answer. I then tried to pull the person +towards me, but could not do so. I then said, 'I _will_ know who you +are!' and having the hand tight in my right hand, with my left I felt the +wrist and arm, enclosed, as it seemed to me, in a tight-fitting sleeve of +some winter material with a linen cuff, but when I got to the elbow all +trace of an arm ceased. I was so astounded that I let the hand go, and +just then the clock struck two. Including the mistress of the house, +there were five females in the establishment, and I can assert that the +hand belonged to none of them. When I reported the adventure, the +servants exclaimed, 'Oh, it must have been the master's old Aunt Betty, +who lived for many years in the upper part of that house, and had died +over fifty years before at a great age.' I afterwards heard that the room +in which I felt the hand had been considered haunted, and very curious +noises and peculiar incidents occurred, such as the bed-clothes torn off, +&c. One lady got a slap in the face from some invisible hand, and when +she lit her candle she saw as if something opaque fell or jumped off +the bed. A general officer, a brother of the lady, slept there two +nights, but preferred going to a hotel to remaining the third night. He +never would say what he heard or saw, but always said the room was +uncanny. I slept for months in the room afterwards, and was never in the +least disturbed." + +A truly terrifying sight was witnessed by a clergyman in a school-house a +good many years ago. This cleric was curate of a Dublin parish, but +resided with his parents some distance out of town in the direction of +Malahide. It not infrequently happened that he had to hold meetings in +the evenings, and on such occasions, as his home was so far away, and as +the modern convenience of tramcars was not then known, he used to sleep +in the schoolroom, a large bare room, where the meetings were held. He +had made a sleeping-apartment for himself by placing a pole across one +end of the room, on which he had rigged up two curtains which, when drawn +together, met in the middle. One night he had been holding some meeting, +and when everybody had left he locked up the empty schoolhouse, and went +to bed. It was a bright moonlight night, and every object could be seen +perfectly clearly. Scarcely had he got into bed when he became conscious +of some invisible presence. Then he saw the curtains agitated at one end, +as if hands were grasping them on the outside. In an agony of terror he +watched these hands groping along outside the curtains till they reached +the middle. The curtains were then drawn a little apart, and a Face +peered in--an awful, evil Face, with an expression of wickedness and hate +upon it which no words could describe. It looked at him for a few +moments, then drew back again, and the curtains closed. The clergyman +had sufficient courage left to leap out of bed and make a thorough +examination of the room, but, as he expected, he found no one. He dressed +himself as quickly as possible, walked home, and never again slept a +night in that schoolroom. + +The following tale, sent by Mr. E. B. de Lacy, contains a most +extraordinary and unsatisfactory element of mystery. He says: "When I was +a boy I lived in the suburbs, and used to come in every morning to school +in the city. My way lay through a certain street in which stood a very +dismal semi-detached house, which, I might say, was closed up regularly +about every six months. I would see new tenants coming into it, and then +in a few months it would be 'To let' again. This went on for eight or +nine years, and I often wondered what was the reason. On inquiring one +day from a friend, I was told that it had the reputation of being +haunted. + +"A few years later I entered business in a certain office, and one day it +fell to my lot to have to call on the lady who at that particular period +was the tenant of the haunted house. When we had transacted our business +she informed me that she was about to leave. Knowing the reputation of +the house, and being desirous of investigating a ghost-story, I asked her +if she would give me the history of the house as far as she knew it, +which she very kindly did as follows: + +"About forty years ago the house was left by will to a gentleman +named ----. He lived in it for a short time, when he suddenly went mad, +and had to be put in an asylum. Upon this his agents let the house to a +lady. Apparently nothing unusual happened for some time, but a few months +later, as she went down one morning to a room behind the kitchen, she +found the cook hanging by a rope attached to a hook in the ceiling. After +the inquest the lady gave up the house. + +"It was then closed up for some time, but was again advertised 'To let,' +and a caretaker, a woman, was put into it. One night about one o'clock, a +constable going his rounds heard some one calling for help from the +house, and found the caretaker on the sill of one of the windows holding +on as best she could. He told her to go in and open the hall door and let +him in, but she refused to enter the room again. He forced open the door +and succeeded in dragging the woman back into the room, only to find she +had gone mad. + +"Again the house was shut up, and again it was let, this time to a lady, +on a five-years' lease. However, after a few months' residence, she +locked it up, and went away. On her friends asking her why she did so, +she replied that she would rather pay the whole five years' rent than +live in it herself, or allow anyone else to do so, but would give no +other reason. + +"'I believe I was the next person to take this house,' said the lady who +narrated the story to me (_i.e._ Mr. de Lacy). 'I took it about eighteen +months ago on a three years' lease in the hopes of making money by taking +in boarders, but I am now giving it up because none of them will stay +more than a week or two. They do not give any definite reason as to why +they are leaving; they are careful to state that it is not because they +have any fault to find with me or my domestic arrangements, but they +merely say _they do not like the rooms_! The rooms themselves, as you can +see, are good, spacious, and well lighted. I have had all classes of +professional men; one of the last was a barrister, and he said that he +had no fault to find except that _he did not like the rooms_! I myself do +not believe in ghosts, and I have never seen anything strange here or +elsewhere; and if I had known the house had the reputation of being +haunted, I would never have rented it." + +Marsh's library, that quaint, old-world repository of ponderous tomes, is +reputed to be haunted by the ghost of its founder, Primate Narcissus +Marsh. He is said to frequent the inner gallery, which contains what was +formerly his own private library: he moves in and out among the cases, +taking down books from the shelves, and occasionally throwing them down +on the reader's desk as if in anger. However, he always leaves things in +perfect order. The late Mr. ----, who for some years lived in the +librarian's rooms underneath, was a firm believer in this ghost, and said +he frequently heard noises which could only be accounted for by the +presence of a nocturnal visitor; the present tenant is more sceptical. +The story goes that Marsh's niece eloped from the Palace, and was married +in a tavern to the curate of Chapelizod. She is reported to have written +a note consenting to the elopement, and to have then placed it in one of +her uncle's books to which her lover had access, and where he found it. +As a punishment for his lack of vigilance, the Archbishop is said to be +condemned to hunt for the note until he find it--hence the ghost. + +The ghost of a deceased Canon was seen in one of the Dublin cathedrals +by several independent witnesses, one of whom, a lady, gives her own +experience as follows: "Canon ---- was a personal friend of mine, and +we had many times discussed ghosts and spiritualism, in which he was a +profound believer, having had many supernatural experiences himself. +It was during the Sunday morning service in the cathedral that I saw +my friend, who had been dead for two years, sitting inside the +communion-rails. I was so much astonished at the flesh-and blood +appearance of the figure that I took off my glasses and wiped them with +my handkerchief, at the same time looking away from him down the church. +On looking back again he was still there, and continued to sit there for +about ten or twelve minutes, after which he faded away. I remarked a +change in his personal appearance, which was, that his beard was longer +and whiter than when I had known him--in fact, such a change as would +have occurred _in life_ in the space of two years. Having told my +husband of the occurrence on our way home, he remembered having heard +some talk of an appearance of this clergyman in the cathedral since his +death. He hurried back to the afternoon service, and asked the robestress +if anybody had seen Canon ----'s ghost. She informed him that _she_ had, +and that he had also been seen by one of the sextons in the cathedral. I +mention this because in describing his personal appearance she had +remarked the same change as I had with regard to the beard." + +Some years ago a family had very uncanny experiences in a house in +Rathgar, and subsequently in another in Rathmines. These were +communicated by one of the young ladies to Mrs. M. A. Wilkins, who +published them in the _Journal_ of the American S.P.R.,[1] from which +they are here taken. The Rathgar house had a basement passage leading to +a door into the yard, and along this passage her mother and the children +used to hear dragging, limping steps, and the latch of the door rattling, +but no one could ever be found when search was made. The house-bells were +old and all in a row, and on one occasion they all rang, apparently of +their own accord. The lady narrator used to sleep in the back drawing +room, and always when the light was put out she heard strange noises, as +if some one was going round the room rubbing paper along the wall, while +she often had the feeling that a person was standing beside her bed. A +cousin, who was a nurse, once slept with her, and also noticed these +strange noises. On one occasion this room was given up to a very +matter-of-fact young man to sleep in, and next morning he said that the +room was very strange, with queer noises in it. + +[Footnote 1: For September 1913.] + +Her mother also had an extraordinary experience in the same house. One +evening she had just put the baby to bed, when she heard a voice calling +"mother." She left the bedroom, and called to her daughter, who was in a +lower room, "What do you want?" But the girl replied that she had _not_ +called her; and then, in her turn, asked her mother if _she_ had been in +the front room, for she had just heard a noise as if some one was trying +to fasten the inside bars of the shutters across. But her mother had been +upstairs, and no one was in the front room. The experiences in the +Rathmines house were of a similar auditory nature, _i.e._ the young +ladies heard their names called, though it was found that no one in the +house had done so. + +Occasionally it happens that ghosts inspire a law-suit. In the +seventeenth century they were to be found actively urging the adoption of +legal proceedings, but in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries they +play a more passive part. A case about a haunted house took place in +Dublin in the year 1885, in which the ghost may be said to have won. A +Mr. Waldron, a solicitor's clerk, sued his next-door neighbour, one +Mr. Kiernan, a mate in the merchant service, to recover £500 for damages +done to his house. + +Kiernan altogether denied the charges, but asserted that Waldron's house +was notoriously haunted. Witnesses proved that every night, from August +1884 to January 1885, stones were thrown at the windows and doors, and +extraordinary and inexplicable occurrences constantly took place. + +Mrs. Waldron, wife of the plaintiff, swore that one night she saw one of +the panes of glass of a certain window cut through with a diamond, and a +white hand inserted through the hole. She at once caught up a bill-hook +and aimed a blow at the hand, cutting off one of the fingers. This finger +could not be found, nor were any traces of blood seen. + +A servant of hers was sorely persecuted by noises and the sound of +footsteps. Mr. Waldron, with the aid of detectives and policemen, +endeavoured to find out the cause, but with no success. The witnesses +in the case were closely cross-examined, but without shaking their +testimony. The facts appeared to be proved, so the jury found for +Kiernan, the defendant. At least twenty persons had testified on oath to +the fact that the house had been known to have been haunted.[2] + +[Footnote 2: See _Sights and Shadows_, p. 42 ff.] + +Before leaving the city and its immediate surroundings, we must relate +the story of an extraordinary ghost, somewhat lacking in good manners, +yet not without a certain distorted sense of humour. Absolutely +incredible though the tale may seem, yet it comes on very good authority. +It was related to our informant, Mr. D., by a Mrs. C., whose daughter he +had employed as governess. Mrs. C., who is described as "a woman of +respectable position and good education," heard it in her turn from her +father and mother. In the story the relationship of the different persons +seems a little involved, but it would appear that the initial A belongs +to the surname both of Mrs. C.'s father and grandfather. + +This ghost was commonly called "Corney" by the family, and he answered to +this though it was not his proper name. He disclosed this latter to Mr. +C.'s mother, who forgot it. Corney made his presence manifest to the +A---- family shortly after they had gone to reside in ---- Street in the +following manner. Mr. A---- had sprained his knee badly, and had to use a +crutch, which at night was left at the head of his bed. One night his +wife heard some one walking on the lobby, thump, thump, thump, as if +imitating Mr. A----. She struck a match to see if the crutch had been +removed from the head of the bed, but it was still there. + +From that on Corney commenced to talk, and he spoke every day from his +usual habitat, the coal-cellar off the kitchen. His voice sounded as if +it came out of an empty barrel. + +He was very troublesome, and continually played practical jokes on the +servants, who, as might be expected, were in terror of their lives of +him; so much so that Mrs. A---- could hardly induce them to stay with +her. They used to sleep in a press-bed in the kitchen, and in order to +get away from Corney, they asked for a room at the top of the house, +which was given to them. Accordingly the press-bed was moved up there. +The first night they went to retire to bed after the change, the doors of +the press were flung open, and Corney's voice said, "Ha! ha! you devils, +I am here before you! I am not confined to any particular part of this +house." + +Corney was continually tampering with the doors, and straining locks +and keys. He only manifested himself in material form to two persons; +to ----, who died with the fright, and to Mr. A---- (Mrs. C.'s father) +when he was about seven years old. The latter described him to his mother +as a naked man, with a curl on his forehead, and a skin like a +clothes-horse(!). + +One day a servant was preparing fish for dinner. She laid it on the +kitchen table while she went elsewhere for something she wanted. When she +returned the fish had disappeared. She thereupon began to cry, fearing +she would be accused of making away with it. The next thing she heard was +the voice of Corney from the coal-cellar saying, "There, you blubbering +fool, is your fish for you!" and, suiting the action to the word, the +fish was thrown out on the kitchen floor. + +Relatives from the country used to bring presents of vegetables, and +these were often hung up by Corney like Christmas decorations round the +kitchen. There was one particular press in the kitchen he would not allow +anything into. He would throw it out again. A crock with meat in pickle +was put into it, and a fish placed on the cover of the crock. He threw +the fish out. + +Silver teaspoons were missing, and no account of them could be got until +Mrs. A---- asked Corney to confess if he had done anything with them. He +said, "They are under the ticking in the servants' bed." He had, so he +said, a daughter in ---- Street, and sometimes announced that he was +going to see her, and would not be here to-night. + +On one occasion he announced that he was going to have "company" that +evening, and if they wanted any water out of the soft-water tank, to take +it before going to bed, as he and his friends would be using it. +Subsequently that night five or six distinct voices were heard, and next +morning the water in the tank was as black as ink, and not alone that, +but the bread and butter in the pantry were streaked with the marks of +sooty fingers. + +A clergyman in the locality, having heard of the doings of Corney, called +to investigate the matter. He was advised by Mrs. A---- to keep quiet, +and not to reveal his identity, as being the best chance of hearing +Corney speak. He waited a long time, and as the capricious Corney +remained silent, he left at length. The servants asked, "Corney, why did +you not speak?" and he replied, "I could not speak while that good man +was in the house." The servants sometimes used to ask him where he was. +He would reply, "The Great God would not permit me to tell you. I was a +bad man, and I died the death." He named the room in the house in which +he died. + +Corney constantly joined in any conversation carried on by the people of +the house. One could never tell when a voice from the coal-cellar would +erupt into the dialogue. He had his likes and dislikes: he appeared to +dislike anyone that was not afraid of him, and would not talk to them. +Mrs. C.'s mother, however, used to get good of him by coaxing. An uncle, +having failed to get him to speak one night, took the kitchen poker, and +hammered at the door of the coal-cellar, saying, "I'll make you speak"; +but Corney wouldn't. Next morning the poker was found broken in two. This +uncle used to wear spectacles, and Corney used to call him derisively, +"Four-eyes." An uncle named Richard came to sleep one night, and +complained in the morning that the clothes were pulled off him. Corney +told the servants in great glee, "I slept on Master Richard's feet all +night." + +Finally Mr. A---- made several attempts to dispose of his lease, but with +no success, for when intending purchasers were being shown over the house +and arrived at Corney's domain, the spirit would begin to speak and +the would-be purchaser would fly. They asked him if they changed house +would he trouble them. He replied, "No! but if they throw down this +house, I will trouble the stones." + +At last Mrs. A---- appealed to him to keep quiet, and not to injure +people who had never injured him. He promised that he would do so, and +then said, "Mrs. A----, you will be all right now, for I see a lady in +black coming up the street to this house, and she will buy it." Within +half an hour a widow called and purchased the house. Possibly Corney is +still there, for our informant looked up the Directory as he was writing, +and found the house marked "Vacant." + +Near Blanchardstown, Co. Dublin, is a house, occupied at present, or up +to very recently, by a private family; it was formerly a monastery, and +there are said to be secret passages in it. Once a servant ironing in the +kitchen saw the figure of a nun approach the kitchen window and look in. +Our informant was also told by a friend (now dead), who had it from the +lady of the house, that once night falls, no doors can be kept closed. +If anyone shuts them, almost immediately they are flung open again with +the greatest violence and apparent anger. If left open there is no +trouble or noise, but light footsteps are heard, and there is a vague +feeling of people passing to and fro. The persons inhabiting the house +are matter-of-fact, unimaginative people, who speak of this as if it were +an everyday affair. "So long as we leave the doors unclosed they don't +harm us: why should we be afraid of them?" Mrs. ---- said. Truly a most +philosophical attitude to adopt! + +A haunted house in Kingstown, Co. Dublin, was investigated by Professor +W. Barrett and Professor Henry Sidgwick. The story is singularly well +attested (as one might expect from its being inserted in the pages of the +_Proceedings S.P.R._[3]), as the apparition was seen on three distinct +occasions, and by three separate persons who were all personally known to +the above gentlemen. The house in which the following occurrences took +place is described as being a very old one, with unusually thick walls. +The lady saw her strange visitant in her bedroom. She says: "Disliking +cross-lights, I had got into the habit of having the blind of the back +window drawn and the shutters closed at night, and of leaving the blind +raised and the shutters opened towards the front, liking to see the trees +and sky when I awakened. Opening my eyes now one morning, I saw right +before me (this occurred in July 1873) the figure of a woman, stooping +down and apparently looking at me. Her head and shoulders were wrapped in +a common woollen shawl; her arms were folded, and they were also wrapped, +as if for warmth, in the shawl. I looked at her in my horror, and dared +not cry out lest I might move the awful thing to speech or action. Behind +her head I saw the window and the growing dawn, the looking-glass upon +the toilet-table, and the furniture in that part of the room. After what +may have been only seconds--of the duration of this vision I cannot +judge--she raised herself and went backwards towards the window, stood at +the toilet-table, and gradually vanished. I mean she grew by degrees +transparent, and that through the shawl and the grey dress she wore I saw +the white muslin of the table-cover again, and at last saw that only in +the place where she had stood." The lady lay motionless with terror until +the servant came to call her. The only other occupants of the house at +the time were her brother and the servant, to neither of whom did she +make any mention of the circumstance, fearing that the former would laugh +at her, and the latter give notice. + +[Footnote 3: July 1884, p. 141.] + +Exactly a fortnight later, when sitting at breakfast, she noticed +that her brother seemed out of sorts, and did not eat. On asking +him if anything were the matter, he answered, "I have had a horrid +nightmare--indeed it was no nightmare: I saw it early this morning, just +as distinctly as I see you." "What?" she asked. "A villainous-looking +hag," he replied, "with her head and arms wrapped in a cloak, stooping +over me, and looking like this--" He got up, folded his arms, and put +himself in the exact posture of the vision. Whereupon she informed him of +what she herself had seen a fortnight previously. + +About four years later, in the same month, the lady's married sister and +two children were alone in the house. The eldest child, a boy of about +four or five years, asked for a drink, and his mother went to fetch it, +desiring him to remain in the dining-room until her return. Coming back +she met the boy pale and trembling, and on asking him why he left the +room, he replied, "Who is that woman--who is that woman?" "Where?" she +asked. "That old woman who went upstairs," he replied. So agitated was +he, that she took him by the hand and went upstairs to search, but no one +was to be found, though he still maintained that a woman went upstairs. A +friend of the family subsequently told them that a woman had been killed +in the house many years previously, and that it was reported to be +haunted. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +HAUNTED HOUSES IN CONN'S HALF + + +From a very early period a division of Ireland into two "halves" +existed. This was traditionally believed to have been made by Conn +the Hundred-fighter and Mogh Nuadat, in A.D. 166. The north was in +consequence known as Conn's Half, the south as Mogh's Half, the line of +division being a series of gravel hills extending from Dublin to Galway. +This division we have followed, except that we have included the whole +of the counties of West Meath and Galway in the northern portion. We had +hoped originally to have had _four_ chapters on Haunted Houses, one for +each of the four provinces, but, for lack of material from Connaught, we +have been forced to adopt the plan on which Chapters I-III are arranged. + +Mrs. Acheson, of Co. Roscommon, sends the following: "Emo House, Co. +Westmeath, a very old mansion since pulled down, was purchased by my +grandfather for his son, my father. The latter had only been living in it +for a few days when knocking commenced at the hall door. Naturally he +thought it was someone playing tricks, or endeavouring to frighten him +away. One night he had the lobby window open directly over the door. The +knocking commenced, and he looked out: it was a very bright night, and as +there was no porch he could see the door distinctly; the knocking +continued, but he did not see the knocker move. Another night he sat up +expecting his brother, but as the latter did not come he went to bed. +Finally the knocking became so loud and insistent that he felt sure his +brother must have arrived. He went downstairs and opened the door, but no +one was there. Still convinced that his brother was there and had gone +round to the yard to put up his horse, he went out; but scarcely had he +gone twenty yards from the door when the knocking recommenced behind his +back. On turning round he could see no one." + +"After this the knocking got very bad, so much so that he could not rest. +All this time he did not mention the strange occurrence to anyone. One +morning he went up through the fields between four and five o'clock. To +his surprise he found the herd out feeding the cattle. My father asked +him why he was up so early. He replied that he could not sleep. 'Why?' +asked my father. 'You know why yourself, sir--the knocking.' He then +found that this man had heard it all the time, though he slept at the end +of a long house. My father was advised to take no notice of it, for it +would go as it came, though at this time it was continuous and very loud; +and so it did. The country people said it was the late resident who could +not rest." + +"We had another curious and most eerie experience in this house. A former +rector was staying the night with us, and as the evening wore on we +commenced to tell ghost-stories. He related some remarkable experiences, +and as we were talking the drawing-room door suddenly opened as wide as +possible, and then slowly closed again. It was a calm night, and at any +rate it was a heavy double door which never flies open however strong the +wind may be blowing. Everyone in the house was in bed, as it was after 12 +o'clock, except the three persons who witnessed this, viz. myself, my +daughter, and the rector. The effect on the latter was most marked. He +was a big, strong, jovial man and a good athlete, but when he saw the +door open he quivered like an aspen leaf." + +A strange story of a haunting, in which nothing was seen, but in which +the same noises were heard by different people, is sent by one of the +percipients, who does not wish to have her name disclosed. She says: +"When staying for a time in a country house in the North of Ireland some +years ago I was awakened on several nights by hearing the tramp, tramp, +of horses' hoofs. Sometimes it sounded as if they were walking on +paving-stones, while at other times I had the impression that they were +going round a large space, and as if someone was using a whip on them. I +heard neighing, and champing of bits, and so formed the impression that +they were carriage horses. I did not mind it much at first, as I thought +the stables must be near that part of the house. After hearing these +noises several times I began to get curious, so one morning I made a tour +of the place. I found that the side of the house I occupied overlooked a +neglected garden, which was mostly used for drying clothes. I also +discovered that the stables were right at the back of the house, and so +it would be impossible for me to hear any noises in that quarter; at any +rate there was only one farm horse left, and this was securely fastened +up every night. Also there were no cobble-stones round the yard. I +mentioned what I had heard to the people of the house, but as they would +give me no satisfactory reply I passed it over. I did not hear these +noises every night." + +"One night I was startled out of my sleep by hearing a dreadful +disturbance in the kitchen. It sounded as if the dish-covers were being +taken off the wall and dashed violently on the flagged floor. At length I +got up and opened the door of my bedroom, and just as I did so an +appalling crash resounded through the house. I waited to see if there was +any light to be seen, or footstep to be heard, but nobody was stirring. +There was only one servant in the house, the other persons being my host, +his wife, and a baby, who had all retired early. Next morning I described +the noises in the kitchen to the servant, and she said she had often +heard them. I then told her about the tramping of horses: she replied +that she herself had never heard it, but that other persons who had +occupied my room had had experiences similar to mine. I asked her was +there any explanation; she said No, except that a story was told of a +gentleman who had lived there some years ago, and was very much addicted +to racing and gambling, and that he was shot one night in that house. For +the remainder of my visit I was removed to another part of the house, and +I heard no more noises." + +A house in the North of Ireland, near that locality which is eternally +famous as having furnished the material for the last trial for witchcraft +in the country, is said to be haunted, the reason being that it is built +on the site of a disused and very ancient graveyard. It is said that when +some repairs were being carried out nine human skulls were unearthed. It +would be interesting to ascertain how many houses in Ireland are +traditionally said to be built on such unpleasant sites, and if they all +bear the reputation of being haunted. The present writer knows of one, in +the South, which is so situated (and this is supported, to a certain +extent, by documentary evidence from the thirteenth century down) and +which in consequence has an uncanny reputation. But concerning the above +house it has been found almost impossible to get any information. It is +said that strange noises were frequently heard there, which sometimes +seemed as if cartloads of stones were being run down one of the gables. +On one occasion an inmate of the house lay dying upstairs. A friend went +up to see the sick person, and on proceeding to pass through the bedroom +door was pressed and jostled as if by some unseen person hurriedly +leaving the room. On entering, it was found that the sick person had just +passed away. + +An account of a most unpleasant haunting is contributed by Mr. W. S. +Thompson, who vouches for the substantial accuracy of it, and also +furnishes the names of two men, still living, who attended the "station." +We give it as it stands, with the comment that some of the details seem +to have been grossly exaggerated by local raconteurs. In the year 1869 a +ghost made its presence manifest in the house of a Mr. M---- in Co. +Cavan. In the daytime it resided in the chimney, but at night it left its +quarters and subjected the family to considerable annoyance. During the +day they could cook nothing, as showers of soot would be sent down the +chimney on top of every pot and pan that was placed on the fire. At night +the various members of the family would be dragged out of bed by the +hair, and pulled around the house. When anyone ventured to light a lamp +it would immediately be put out, while chairs and tables would be sent +dancing round the room. At last matters reached such a pitch that the +family found it impossible to remain any longer in the house. The night +before they left Mrs. M---- was severely handled, and her boots left +facing the door as a gentle hint for her to be off. Before they departed +some of the neighbours went to the house, saw the ghost, and even +described to Mr. Thompson what they had seen. According to one man it +appeared in the shape of a human being with a pig's head with long tusks. +Another described it as a horse with an elephant's head, and a headless +man seated on its back. Finally a "station" was held at the house by +seven priests, at which all the neighbours attended. The station +commenced after sunset, and everything in the house had to be uncovered, +lest the evil spirit should find any resting-place. A free passage was +left out of the door into the street, where many people were kneeling. +About five minutes after the station opened a rumbling noise was heard, +and a black barrel rolled out with an unearthly din, though to some +coming up the street it appeared in the shape of a black horse with +a bull's head, and a headless man seated thereon. From this time the +ghost gave no further trouble. + +The same gentleman also sends an account of a haunted shop in which +members of his family had some very unpleasant experiences. "In October +1882 my father, William Thompson, took over the grocery and spirit +business from a Dr. S---- to whom it had been left by will. My sister was +put in charge of the business, and she slept on the premises at night, +but she was not there by herself very long until she found things amiss. +The third night matters were made so unpleasant for her that she had to +get up out of bed more dead than alive, and go across the street to Mrs. +M----, the servant at the R.I.C. barrack, with whom she remained until +the morning. She stated that as she lay in bed, half awake and half +asleep, she saw a man enter the room, who immediately seized her by the +throat and well-nigh choked her. She had only sufficient strength left to +gasp 'Lord, save me!' when instantly the man vanished. She also said that +she heard noises as if every bottle and glass in the shop was smashed to +atoms, yet in the morning everything would be found intact. My brother +was in charge of the shop one day, as my sister had to go to Belturbet to +do some Christmas shopping. He expected her to return to the shop that +night, but as she did not do so he was preparing to go to bed about +1 A.M., when suddenly a terrible noise was heard. The light was +extinguished, and the tables and chairs commenced to dance about the +floor, and some of them struck him on the shins. Upon this he left the +house, declaring that he had seen the Devil!" Possibly this ghost had +been a rabid teetotaller in the flesh, and continued to have a dislike to +the publican's trade after he had become discarnate. At any rate the +present occupants, who follow a different avocation, do not appear to be +troubled. + +Ghosts are no respecters of persons or places, and take up their quarters +where they are least expected. One can hardly imagine them entering a +R.I.C. barrack, and annoying the stalwart inmates thereof. Yet more than +one tale of a haunted police-barrack has been sent to us--nay, in its +proper place we shall relate the appearance of a deceased member of the +"Force," uniform and all! The following personal experiences are +contributed by an ex-R.I.C. constable, who requested that all names +should be suppressed. "The barrack of which I am about to speak has now +disappeared, owing to the construction of a new railway line. It was a +three-storey house, with large airy apartments and splendid +accommodation. This particular night I was on guard. After the constables +had retired to their quarters I took my palliasse downstairs to the +day-room, and laid it on two forms alongside two six-foot tables which +were placed end to end in the centre of the room." + +"As I expected a patrol in at midnight, and as another had to be sent out +when it arrived, I didn't promise myself a very restful night, so I threw +myself on the bed, intending to read a bit, as there was a large lamp +on the table. Scarcely had I commenced to read when I felt as if I was +being pushed off the bed. At first I thought I must have fallen asleep, +so to make sure, I got up, took a few turns around the room, and then +deliberately lay down again and took up my book. Scarcely had I done so, +when the same thing happened, and, though I resisted with all my +strength, I was finally landed on the floor. My bed was close to the +table, and the pushing came from that side, so that if anyone was playing +a trick on me they could not do so without being under the table: I +looked, but there was no visible presence there. I felt shaky, but +changed my couch to another part of the room, and had no further +unpleasant experience. Many times after I was 'guard' in the same room, +but I always took care not to place my couch in that particular spot." + +"One night, long afterwards, we were all asleep in the dormitory, when we +were awakened in the small hours of the morning by the guard rushing +upstairs, dashing through the room, and jumping into a bed in the +farthest corner behind its occupant. There he lay gasping, unable to +speak for several minutes, and even then we couldn't get a coherent +account of what befel him. It appears he fell asleep, and suddenly awoke +to find himself on the floor, and a body rolling over him. Several men +volunteered to go downstairs with him, but he absolutely refused to leave +the dormitory, and stayed there till morning. Nor would he even remain +downstairs at night without having a comrade with him. It ended in his +applying for an exchange of stations." + +"Another time I returned off duty at midnight, and after my comrade, a +married Sergeant, had gone outside to his quarters I went to the kitchen +to change my boots. There was a good fire on, and it looked so +comfortable that I remained toasting my toes on the hob, and enjoying my +pipe. The lock-up was a lean-to one-storey building off the kitchen, and +was divided into two cells, one opening into the kitchen, the other into +that cell. I was smoking away quietly when I suddenly heard inside the +lock-up a dull, heavy thud, just like the noise a drunken man would make +by crashing down on all-fours. I wondered who the prisoner could be, as I +didn't see anyone that night who seemed a likely candidate for free +lodgings. However as I heard no other sound I decided I would tell the +guard in order that he might look after him. As I took my candle from the +table I happened to glance at the lock-up, and, to my surprise, I saw +that the outer door was open. My curiosity being roused, I looked inside, +to find the inner door also open. There was nothing in either cell, +except the two empty plank-beds, and these were immovable as they were +firmly fixed to the walls. I betook myself to my bedroom much quicker +than I was in the habit of doing." + +"I mentioned that this barrack was demolished owing to the construction +of a new railway line. It was the last obstacle removed, and in the +meantime workmen came from all points of the compass. One day a powerful +navvy was brought into the barrack a total collapse from drink, and +absolutely helpless. After his neckwear was loosened he was carried to +the lock-up and laid on the plank-bed, the guard being instructed to +visit him periodically, lest he should smother. He was scarcely half an +hour there--this was in the early evening--when the most unmerciful +screaming brought all hands to the lock-up, to find the erstwhile +helpless man standing on the plank-bed, and grappling with a, to us, +invisible foe. We took him out, and he maintained that a man had tried to +choke him, and was still there when we came to his relief. The strange +thing was, that he was shivering with fright, and perfectly sober, though +in the ordinary course of events he would not be in that condition for at +least seven or eight hours. The story spread like wildfire through the +town, but the inhabitants were not in the least surprised, and one old +man told us that many strange things happened in that house long before +it became a police-barrack." + +A lady, who requests that her name be suppressed, relates a strange sight +seen by her sister in Galway. The latter's husband was stationed in that +town about seventeen years ago. One afternoon he was out, and she was +lying on a sofa in the drawing-room, when suddenly from behind a screen +(where there was no door) came a little old woman, with a small shawl +over her head and shoulders, such as the country women used to wear. She +had a most diabolical expression on her face. She seized the lady by the +hand, and said: "I will drag you down to Hell, where I am!" The lady +sprang up in terror and shook her off, when the horrible creature again +disappeared behind the screen. The house was an old one, and many stories +were rife amongst the people about it, the one most to the point being +that the apparition of an old woman, who was supposed to have poisoned +someone, used to be seen therein. Needless to say, the lady in question +never again sat by herself in the drawing-room. + +Two stories are told about haunted houses at Drogheda, the one by A.G. +Bradley in _Notes on some Irish Superstitions_ (Drogheda, 1894), the +other by F.G. Lee in _Sights and Shadows_ (p. 42). As both appear to be +placed at the same date, _i.e._ 1890, it is quite possible that they +refer to one and the same haunting, and we have so treated them +accordingly. The reader, if he wishes, can test the matter for himself. + +This house, which was reputed to be haunted, was let to a tailor and his +wife by the owner at an annual rent of £23. They took possession in due +course, but after a very few days they became aware of the presence of a +most unpleasant supernatural lodger. One night, as the tailor and his +wife were preparing to retire, they were terrified at seeing the foot of +some invisible person kick the candlestick off the table, and so quench +the candle. Although it was a very dark night, and the shutters were +closed, the man and his wife could see everything in the room just as +well as if it were the middle of the day. All at once a woman entered the +room, dressed in white, carrying something in her hand, which she threw +at the tailor's wife, striking her with some violence, and then vanished. +While this was taking place on the first floor, a most frightful noise +was going on overhead in the room where the children and their nurse were +sleeping. The father immediately rushed upstairs, and found to his horror +the floor all torn up, the furniture broken, and, worst of all, the +children lying senseless and naked on the bed, and having the appearance +of having been severely beaten. As he was leaving the room with the +children in his arms he suddenly remembered that he had not seen the +nurse, so he turned back with the intention of bringing her downstairs, +but could find her nowhere. The girl, half-dead with fright, and very +much bruised, had fled to her mother's house, where she died in a few +days in agony. + +Because of these occurrences they were legally advised to refuse to pay +any rent. The landlady, however, declining to release them from their +bargain, at once claimed a quarter's rent; and when this remained for +some time unpaid, sued them for it before Judge Kisby. A Drogheda +solicitor appeared for the tenants, who, having given evidence of the +facts concerning the ghost in question, asked leave to support their +sworn testimony by that of several other people. This, however, was +disallowed by the judge. It was admitted by the landlady that nothing on +one side or the other had been said regarding the haunting when the house +was let. A judgment was consequently entered for the landlady, although +it had been shown indirectly that unquestionably the house had had the +reputation of being haunted, and that previous tenants had been much +inconvenienced. + +This chapter may be concluded with two stories dealing with haunted +rectories. The first, and mildest, of these is contributed by the present +Dean of St. Patrick's; it is not his own personal experience, but was +related to him by a rector in Co. Monaghan, where he used to preach on +special occasions. The rector and his daughters told the Dean that they +had often seen in that house the apparition of an old woman dressed in a +drab cape, while they frequently heard noises. On one evening the rector +was in the kitchen together with the cook and the coachman. All three +heard noises in the pantry as if vessels were being moved. Presently they +saw the old woman in the drab cape come out of the pantry and move up the +stairs. The rector attempted to follow her, but the two servants held him +tightly by the arms, and besought him not to do so. But hearing the +children, who were in bed, screaming, he broke from the grip of the +servants and rushed upstairs. The children said that they had been +frightened by seeing a strange old woman coming into the room, but she +was now gone. The house had a single roof, and there was no way to or +from the nursery except by the stairs. The rector stated that he took to +praying that the old woman might have rest, and that it was now many +years since she had been seen. A very old parishioner told him that when +she was young she remembered having seen an old woman answering to the +rector's description, who had lived in the house, which at that time was +not a rectory. + +The second of these, which is decidedly more complex and mystifying, +refers to a rectory in Co. Donegal. It is sent as the personal experience +of one of the percipients, who does not wish to have his name disclosed. +He says: "My wife, children, and myself will have lived here four years +next January (1914). From the first night that we came into the house +most extraordinary noises have been heard. Sometimes they were inside +the house, and seemed as if the furniture was being disturbed, and the +fireirons knocked about, or at other times as if a dog was running up and +down stairs. Sometimes they were external, and resembled tin buckets +being dashed about the yard, or as if a herd of cattle was galloping up +the drive before the windows. These things would go on for six months, +and then everything would be quiet for three months or so, when the +noises would commence again. My dogs--a fox-terrier, a boar-hound, and a +spaniel--would make a terrible din, and would bark at something in the +hall we could not see, backing away from it all the time. + +"The only thing that was ever _seen_ was as follows: One night my +daughter went down to the kitchen about ten o'clock for some hot water. +She saw a tall man, with one arm, carrying a lamp, who walked out of the +pantry into the kitchen, and then through the kitchen wall. Another +daughter saw the same man walk down one evening from the loft, and go +into the harness-room. She told me, and I went out immediately, but could +see nobody. Shortly after that my wife, who is very brave, heard a knock +at the hall door in the dusk. Naturally thinking it was some friend, she +opened the door, and there saw standing outside the self-same man. He +simply looked at her, and walked through the wall into the house. She got +such a shock that she could not speak for several hours, and was ill for +some days. That is eighteen months ago, and he has not been seen since, +and it is six months since we heard any noises." Our correspondent's +letter was written on 25th November 1913. "An old man nearly ninety died +last year. He lived all his life within four hundred yards of this house, +and used to tell me that seventy years ago the parsons came with bell, +book, and candle to drive the ghosts out of the house." Evidently they +were unsuccessful. In English ghost-stories it is the parson who performs +the exorcism successfully, while in Ireland such work is generally +performed by the priest. Indeed a tale was sent to us in which a ghost +quite ignored the parson's efforts, but succumbed to the priest. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HAUNTED HOUSES IN MOGH'S HALF + + +The northern half of Ireland has not proved as prolific in stories of +haunted houses as the southern portion: the possible explanation of this +is, not that the men of the north are less prone to hold, or talk about, +such beliefs, but that, as regards the south half, we have had the good +fortune to happen upon some diligent collectors of these and kindred +tales, whose eagerness in collecting is only equalled by their kindness +in imparting information to the compilers of this book. + +On a large farm near Portarlington there once lived a Mrs. ----, a +strong-minded, capable woman, who managed all her affairs for herself, +giving her orders, and taking none from anybody. In due time she died, +and the property passed to the next-of-kin. As soon, however, as the +funeral was over, the house was nightly disturbed by strange noises: +people downstairs would hear rushings about in the upper rooms, banging +of doors, and the sound of heavy footsteps. The cups and saucers used to +fall off the dresser, and all the pots and pans would rattle. + +This went on for some time, till the people could stand it no longer, +so they left the house and put in a herd and his family. The latter was +driven away after he had been in the house a few weeks. This happened +to several people, until at length a man named Mr. B---- took the house. +The noises went on as before until some one suggested getting the priest +in. Accordingly the priest came, and held a service in the late +Mrs. ----'s bedroom. When this was over, the door of the room was locked. +After that the noises were not heard till one evening Mr. B---- came home +from a fair, fortified, no doubt, with a little "Dutch courage," and +declared that even if the devil were in it he would go into the locked +room. In spite of all his family could say or do, he burst open the door, +and entered the room, but apparently saw nothing. That night pandemonium +reigned in the house, the chairs were hurled about, the china was broken, +and the most weird and uncanny sounds were heard. Next day the priest +was sent for, the room again shut up, and nothing has happened from that +day to this. + +Another strange story comes from the same town. "When I was on a visit to +a friend in Portarlington," writes a lady in the _Journal_ of the +American S.P.R.[4] "a rather unpleasant incident occurred to me. At about +two o'clock in the morning I woke up suddenly, for apparently no reason +whatever; however, I quite distinctly heard snoring coming from under or +in the bed in which I was lying. It continued for about ten minutes, +during which time I was absolutely limp with fright. The door opened, +and my friend entered the bedroom, saying, 'I thought you might want me, +so I came in.' Needless to say, I hailed the happy inspiration that sent +her to me. I then told her what I had heard; she listened to me, and then +to comfort (!) me said, 'Oh, never mind; _it is only grandfather_! He +died in this room, and a snoring is heard every night at two o'clock, the +hour at which he passed away.' Some time previously a German gentleman +was staying with this family. They asked him in the morning how he had +slept, and he replied that he was disturbed by a snoring in the room, but +he supposed it was the cat." + +[Footnote 4: For September, 1913.] + +A lady, formerly resident in Queen's Co., but who now lives near Dublin, +sends the following clear and concise account of her own personal +experiences in a haunted house: "Some years ago, my father, mother, +sister, and myself went to live in a nice but rather small house close to +the town of ---- in Queen's Co. We liked the house, as it was +conveniently and pleasantly situated, and we certainly never had a +thought of ghosts or haunted houses, nor would my father allow +any talk about such things in his presence. But we were not long settled +there when we were disturbed by the opening of the parlour door every +night regularly at the hour of eleven o'clock. My father and mother used +to retire to their room about ten o'clock, while my sister and I used to +sit up reading. We always declared that we would retire before the door +opened, but we generally got so interested in our books that we would +forget until we would hear the handle of the door turn, and see the door +flung open. We tried in every way to account for this, but we could find +no explanation, and there was no possibility of any human agent being +at work. + +"Some time after, light was thrown on the subject. We had visitors +staying with us, and in order to make room for them, my sister was asked +to sleep in the parlour. She consented without a thought of ghosts, +and went to sleep quite happily; but during the night she was awakened by +some one opening the door, walking across the room, and disturbing the +fireirons. She, supposing it to be the servant, called her by name, but +got no answer: then the person seemed to come away from the fireplace, +and walk out of the room. There was a fire in the grate, but though she +heard the footsteps, she could see no one. + +"The next thing was, that I was coming downstairs, and as I glanced +towards the hall door I saw standing by it a man in a grey suit. I went +to my father and told him. He asked in surprise who let him in, as the +servant was out, and he himself had already locked, bolted, and chained +the door an hour previously. None of us had let him in, and when my +father went out to the hall the man had disappeared, and the door was as +he had left it. + +"Some little time after, I had a visit from a lady who knew the place +well, and in the course of conversation she said: + +"'This is the house poor Mr. ---- used to live in.' + +"'Who is Mr. ----?' I asked. + +"'Did you never hear of him?' she replied. 'He was a minister who used to +live in this house quite alone, and was murdered in this very parlour. +His landlord used to visit him sometimes, and one night he was seen +coming in about eleven o'clock, and was seen again leaving about five +o'clock in the morning. When Mr. ---- did not come out as usual, the door +was forced open, and he was found lying dead in this room by the fender, +with his head battered in with the poker.' + +"We left the house soon after," adds our informant. + +The following weird incidents occurred, apparently in the Co. Kilkenny, +to a Miss K. B., during two visits paid by her to Ireland in 1880 and +1881. The house in which she experienced the following was really an old +barrack, long disused, very old-fashioned, and surrounded with a high +wall: it was said that it had been built during the time of Cromwell +as a stronghold for his men. The only inhabitants of this were Captain +C---- (a retired officer in charge of the place), Mrs. C----, three +daughters, and two servants. They occupied the central part of the +building, the mess-room being their drawing-room. Miss K. B.'s bedroom +was very lofty, and adjoined two others which were occupied by the three +daughters, E., G., and L. + +"The first recollection I have of anything strange," writes Miss B., "was +that each night I was awakened about three o'clock by a tremendous noise, +apparently in the next suite of rooms, which was empty, and it sounded as +if some huge iron boxes and other heavy things were being thrown about +with great force. This continued for about half an hour, when in the room +underneath (the kitchen) I heard the fire being violently poked and raked +for several minutes, and this was immediately followed by a most terrible +and distressing cough of a man, very loud and violent. It seemed as if +the exertion had brought on a paroxysm which he could not stop. In large +houses in Co. Kilkenny the fires are not lighted every day, owing to the +slow-burning property of the coal, and it is only necessary to rake it up +every night about eleven o'clock, and in the morning it is still bright +and clear. Consequently I wondered why it was necessary for Captain +C---- to get up in the middle of the night to stir it so violently." + +A few days later Miss B. said to E. C.: "I hear such strange noises every +night--are there any people in the adjoining part of the building?" She +turned very pale, and looking earnestly at Miss B., said, "Oh K., I am so +sorry you heard. I hoped no one but myself had heard it. I could have +given worlds to have spoken to you last night, but dared not move or +speak." K. B. laughed at her for being so superstitious, but E. declared +that the place was haunted, and told her of a number of weird things that +had been seen and heard. + +In the following year, 1881, Miss K. B. paid another visit to the +barrack. This time there were two other visitors there--a colonel and his +wife. They occupied Miss B.'s former room, while to her was allotted a +huge bedroom on the top of the house, with a long corridor leading to it; +opposite to this was another large room, which was occupied by the girls. + +Her strange experiences commenced again. "One morning, about four +o'clock, I was awakened by a very noisy martial footstep ascending the +stairs, and then marching quickly up and down the corridor outside +my room. Then suddenly the most violent coughing took place that I ever +heard, which continued for some time, while the quick, heavy step +continued its march. At last the footsteps faded away in the distance, +and I then recalled to mind the same coughing after exertion last year." +In the morning, at breakfast, she asked both Captain C---- and the +colonel had they been walking about, but both denied, and also said they +had no cough. The family looked very uncomfortable, and afterwards E. +came up with tears in her eyes, and said, "Oh K., please don't say +anything more about that dreadful coughing; we all hear it often, +especially when anything terrible is about to happen." + +Some nights later the C----s gave a dance. When the guests had departed, +Miss B. went to her bedroom. "The moon was shining so beautifully that I +was able to read my Bible by its light, and had left the Bible open on +the window-sill, which was a very high one, and on which I sat to read, +having had to climb the washstand to reach it. I went to bed, and fell +asleep, but was not long so when I was suddenly awakened by the strange +feeling that some one was in the room. I opened my eyes, and turned +around, and saw on the window-sill in the moonlight a long, very thin, +very dark figure bending over the Bible, and apparently earnestly +scanning the page. As if my movement disturbed the figure, it suddenly +darted up, jumped off the window-ledge on to the washstand, then to the +ground, and flitted quietly across the room to the table where my +jewellery was." That was the last she saw of it. She thought it was some +one trying to steal her jewellery, so waited till morning, but nothing +was missing. In the morning she described to one of the daughters, G., +what she had seen, and the latter told her that something always happened +when that appeared. Miss K. B. adds that nothing did happen. Later on she +was told that a colonel had cut his throat in that very room. + +Another military station, Charles Fort, near Kinsale, has long had the +reputation of being haunted. An account of this was sent to the _Wide +World Magazine_ (Jan. 1908), by Major H. L. Ruck Keene, D.S.O.; he +states that he took it from a manuscript written by a Captain Marvell +Hull about the year 1880. Further information on the subject of the +haunting is to be found in Dr. Craig's _Real Pictures of Clerical Life in +Ireland_. + +Charles Fort was erected in 1667 by the Duke of Ormonde. It is said to be +haunted by a ghost known as the "White Lady," and the traditional account +of the reason for this haunting is briefly as follows: Shortly after the +erection of the fort, a Colonel Warrender, a severe disciplinarian, was +appointed its governor. He had a daughter, who bore the quaint Christian +name of "Wilful"; she became engaged to a Sir Trevor Ashurst, and +subsequently married him. On the evening of their wedding-day the bride +and bridegroom were walking on the battlements, when she espied some +flowers growing on the rocks beneath. She expressed a wish for them, and +a sentry posted close by volunteered to climb down for them, provided Sir +Trevor took his place during his absence. He assented, and took the +soldier's coat and musket while he went in search of a rope. Having +obtained one, he commenced his descent; but the task proving longer than +he expected, Sir Trevor fell asleep. Meantime the governor visited the +sentries, as was his custom, and in the course of his rounds came to +where Sir Trevor was asleep. He challenged him, and on receiving no +answer perceived that he was asleep, whereupon he drew a pistol and shot +him through the heart. The body was brought in, and it was only then the +governor realised what had happened. The bride, who appears to have gone +indoors before the tragedy occurred, then learned the fate that befell +her husband, and in her distraction, rushed from the house and flung +herself over the battlements. In despair at the double tragedy, her +father shot himself during the night. + +The above is from Dr. Craig's book already alluded to. In the _Wide World +Magazine_ the legend differs slightly in details. According to this the +governor's name was Browne, and it was his own son, not his son-in-law, +that he shot; while the incident is said to have occurred about a hundred +and fifty years ago. + +The "White Lady" is the ghost of the young bride. Let us see what +accounts there are of her appearance. A good many years ago Fort-Major +Black, who had served in the Peninsular War, gave his own personal +experience to Dr. Craig. He stated that he had gone to the hall door one +summer evening, and saw a lady entering the door and going up the stairs. +At first he thought she was an officer's wife, but as he looked, he +observed she was dressed in white, and in a very old-fashioned style. +Impelled by curiosity, he hastened upstairs after her, and followed her +closely into one of the rooms, but on entering it he could not find the +slightest trace of anyone there. On another occasion he stated that two +sergeants were packing some cast stores. One of them had his little +daughter with him, and the child suddenly exclaimed, "Who is that white +lady who is bending over the banisters, and looking down at us?" The two +men looked up, but could see nothing, but the child insisted that she had +seen a lady in white looking down and smiling at her. + +On another occasion a staff officer, a married man, was residing in the +"Governor's House." One night as the nurse lay awake--she and the +children were in a room which opened into what was known as the White +Lady's apartment--she suddenly saw a lady clothed in white glide to the +bedside of the youngest child, and after a little place her hand upon its +wrist. At this the child started in its sleep, and cried out, "Oh! take +that cold hand from my wrist!" the next moment the lady disappeared. + +One night, about the year 1880, Captain Marvell Hull and Lieutenant +Hartland were going to the rooms occupied by the former officer. As they +reached a small landing they saw distinctly in front of them a woman in a +white dress. As they stood there in awestruck silence she turned and +looked towards them, showing a face beautiful enough, but colourless as a +corpse, and then passed on through a locked door. + +But it appears that this presence did not always manifest itself in as +harmless a manner. Some years ago Surgeon L---- was quartered at the +fort. One day he had been out snipe-shooting, and as he entered the fort +the mess-bugle rang out. He hastened to his rooms to dress, but as he +failed to put in an appearance at mess, one of the officers went in +search of him, and found him lying senseless on the floor. When he +recovered consciousness he related his experience. He said he had stooped +down for the key of his door, which he had placed for safety under the +mat; when in this position he felt himself violently dragged across the +hall, and flung down a flight of steps. With this agrees somewhat the +experience of a Captain Jarves, as related by him to Captain Marvell +Hull. Attracted by a strange rattling noise in his bedroom, he +endeavoured to open the door of it, but found it seemingly locked. +Suspecting a hoax, he called out, whereupon a gust of wind passed him, +and some unseen power flung him down the stairs, and laid him senseless +at the bottom. + +Near a seaside town in the south of Ireland a group of small cottages was +built by an old lady, in one of which she lived, while she let the others +to her relatives. In process of time all the occupants died, the cottages +fell into ruin, and were all pulled down (except the one in which the old +lady had lived), the materials being used by a farmer to build a large +house which he hoped to let to summer visitors. It was shortly afterwards +taken for three years by a gentleman for his family. It should be noted +that the house had very bare surroundings; there were no trees near, or +outhouses where people could be concealed. Soon after the family came to +the house they began to hear raps all over it, on doors, windows, and +walls; these raps varied in nature, sometimes being like a sledgehammer, +loud and dying away, and sometimes quick and sharp, two or three or five +in succession; and all heard them. One morning about 4 A.M., the mother +heard very loud knocking on the bedroom door; thinking it was the servant +wanting to go to early mass, she said, "Come in," but the knocking +continued till the father was awakened by it; he got up, searched the +house, but could find no one. The servant's door was slightly open, and +he saw that she was sound asleep. That morning a telegram came announcing +the death of a beloved uncle just about the hour of the knocking. Some +time previous to this the mother was in the kitchen, when a loud +explosion took place beside her, startling her very much, but no cause +for it could be found, nor were any traces left. This coincided with the +death of an aunt, wife to the uncle who died later. + +One night the mother went to her bedroom. The blind was drawn, and the +shutters closed, when suddenly a great crash came, as if a branch was +thrown at the window, and there was a sound of broken glass. She opened +the shutters with the expectation of finding the window smashed, but +there was not even a crack in it. She entered the room next day at one +o'clock, and the same crash took place, being heard by all in the house: +she went in at 10 A.M. on another day, and the same thing happened, +after which she refused to enter that room again. + +Another night, after 11 P.M., the servant was washing up in the kitchen, +when heavy footsteps were heard by the father and mother going upstairs, +and across a lobby to the servant's room; the father searched the house, +but could find no one. After that footsteps used to be heard regularly at +that hour, though no one could ever be seen walking about. + +The two elder sisters slept together, and used to see flames shooting up +all over the floor, though there was no smell or heat; this used to be +seen two or three nights at a time, chiefly in the one room. The first +time the girls saw this one of them got up and went to her father in +alarm, naturally thinking the room underneath must be on fire. + +The two boys were moved to the haunted room [which one?], where they +slept in one large bed with its head near the chimneypiece. The elder +boy, aged about thirteen, put his watch on the mantelpiece, awoke about +2 A.M., and wishing to ascertain the time, put his hand up for his watch; +he then felt a deathly cold hand laid on his. For the rest of that night +the two boys were terrified by noises, apparently caused by two people +rushing about the room fighting and knocking against the bed. About 6 +A.M. they went to their father, almost in hysterics from terror, and +refused to sleep there again. The eldest sister, not being nervous, was +then given that room; she was, however, so disturbed by these noises that +she begged her father to let her leave it, but having no other room to +give her, he persuaded her to stay there, and at length she got +accustomed to the noise, and could sleep in spite of it. Finally the +family left the house before their time was up.[5] + +[Footnote 5: _Journal of American S.P.R._ for September 1913.] + +Mr. T.J. Westropp, to whom we are indebted for so much material, sends a +tale which used to be related by a relative of his, the Rev. Thomas +Westropp, concerning experiences in a house not very far from the city of +Limerick. When the latter was appointed to a certain parish he had some +difficulty in finding a suitable house, but finally fixed on one which +had been untenanted for many years, but had nevertheless been kept aired +and in good repair, as a caretaker who lived close by used to come and +look after it every day. The first night that the family settled there, +as the clergyman was going upstairs he heard a footstep and the rustle of +a dress, and as he stood aside a lady passed him, entered a door facing +the stairs, and closed it after her. It was only then he realised that +her dress was very old-fashioned, and that he had not been able to enter +that particular room. Next day he got assistance from a carpenter, who, +with another man, forced open the door. A mat of cobwebs fell as they did +so, and the floor and windows were thick with dust. The men went across +the room, and as the clergyman followed them he saw a small white bird +flying round the ceiling; at his exclamation the men looked back and also +saw it. It swooped, flew out of the door, and they did not see it again. +After that the family were alarmed by hearing noises under the floor of +that room every night. At length the clergyman had the boards taken up, +and the skeleton of a child was found underneath. So old did the remains +appear that the coroner did not deem it necessary to hold an inquest on +them, so the rector buried them in the churchyard. Strange noises +continued, as if some one were trying to force up the boards from +underneath. Also a heavy ball was heard rolling down the stairs and +striking against the study door. One night the two girls woke up +screaming, and on the nurse running up to them, the elder said she had +seen a great black dog with fiery eyes resting its paws on her bed. Her +father ordered the servants to sit constantly with them in the evenings, +but, notwithstanding the presence of two women in the nursery, the same +thing occurred. The younger daughter was so scared that she never quite +recovered. The family left the house immediately. + +The same correspondent says: "An old ruined house in the hills of east +Co. Clare enjoyed the reputation of being 'desperately haunted' from, at +any rate, 1865 down to its dismantling. I will merely give the +experiences of my own relations, as told by them to me. My mother told +how one night she and my father heard creaking and grating, as if a door +were being forced open. The sound came from a passage in which was a door +nailed up and clamped with iron bands. A heavy footstep came down +the passage, and stopped at the bedroom door for a moment; no sound was +heard, and then the 'thing' came through the room to the foot of the bed. +It moved round the bed, they not daring to stir. The horrible unseen +visitant stopped, and they _felt_ it watching them. At last it moved +away, they heard it going up the passage, the door crashed, and all was +silence. Lighting a candle, my father examined the room, and found the +door locked; he then went along the passage, but not a sound was to be +heard anywhere. + +"Strange noises like footsteps, sobbing, whispering, grim laughter, and +shrieks were often heard about the house. On one occasion my eldest +sister and a girl cousin drove over to see the family and stayed the +night. They and my two younger sisters were all crowded into a huge, +old-fashioned bed, and carefully drew and tucked in the curtains all +round. My eldest sister awoke feeling a cold wind blowing on her face, +and putting out her hand found the curtains drawn back and, as they +subsequently discovered, wedged between the bed and the wall. She reached +for the match-box, and was about to light the candle when a horrible +mocking laugh rang out close to the bed, which awakened the other girls. +Being always a plucky woman, though then badly scared, she struck a +match, and searched the room, but nothing was to be seen. The closed room +was said to have been deserted after a murder, and its floor was supposed +to be stained with blood which no human power could wash out." + +Another house in Co. Clare, nearer the estuary of the Shannon, which was +formerly the residence of the D---- family, but is now pulled down, had +some extraordinary tales told about it in which facts (if we may use the +word) were well supplemented by legend. To commence with the former. +A lady writes: "My father and old Mr. D---- were first cousins. Richard +D---- asked my father would he come and sit up with him one night, in +order to see what might be seen. Both were particularly sober men. The +annoyances in the house were becoming unbearable. Mrs. D----'s work-box +used to be thrown down, the table-cloth would be whisked off the table, +the fender and fireirons would be hurled about the room, and other +similar things would happen. Mr. D---- and my father went up to one of +the bedrooms, where a big fire was made up. They searched every part of +the room carefully, but nothing uncanny was to be seen or found. They +then placed two candles and a brace of pistols on a small table between +them, and waited. Nothing happened for some time, till all of a sudden a +large black dog walked out from under the bed. Both men fired, and the +dog disappeared. That is all! The family had to leave the house." + +Now to the blending of fact with fiction, of which we have already +spoken: the intelligent reader can decide in his own mind which is which. +It was said that black magic had been practised in this house at one +time, and that in consequence terrible and weird occurrences were quite +the order of the day there. When being cooked, the hens used to scream +and the mutton used to bleat in the pot. Black dogs were seen frequently. +The beds used to be lifted up, and the occupants thereof used to be +beaten black and blue, by invisible hands. One particularly ghoulish tale +was told. It was said that a monk (!) was in love with one of the +daughters of the house, who was an exceedingly fat girl. She died +unmarried, and was buried in the family vault. Some time later the vault +was again opened for an interment, and those who entered it found that +Miss D----'s coffin had been disturbed, and the lid loosened. They +then saw that all the fat around her heart had been scooped away. + +Apropos of ineradicable blood on a floor, which is a not infrequent item +in stories of haunted houses, it is said that a manifestation of this +nature forms the haunting in a farmhouse in Co. Limerick. According to +our informants, a light must be kept burning in this house all night; if +by any chance it is forgotten, or becomes quenched, in the morning the +floor is covered with blood. The story is evidently much older than the +house, but no traditional explanation is given. + +Two stories of haunted schools have been sent to us, both on very good +authority; these establishments lie within the geographical limits of +this chapter, but for obvious reasons, we cannot indicate their locality +more precisely, though the names of both are known to us. The first of +these was told to our correspondent by the boy Brown, who was in the +room, but did _not_ see the ghost. + +When Brown was about fifteen he was sent to ---- School. His brother told +him not to be frightened at anything he might see or hear, as the boys +were sure to play tricks on all new-comers. He was put to sleep in a room +with another new arrival, a boy named Smith, from England. In the middle +of the night Brown was roused from his sleep by Smith crying out in great +alarm, and asking who was in the room. Brown, who was very angry at being +waked up, told him not to be a fool--that there was no one there. The +second night Smith roused him again, this time in greater alarm than the +first night. He said he saw a man in cap and gown come into the room with +a lamp, and then pass right through the wall. Smith got out of his bed, +and fell on his knees beside Brown, beseeching him not to go to sleep. At +first Brown thought it was all done to frighten him, but he then saw that +Smith was in a state of abject terror. Next morning they spoke of the +occurrence, and the report reached the ears of the Head Master, who sent +for the two boys. Smith refused to spend another night in the room. Brown +said he had seen or heard nothing, and was quite willing to sleep there +if another fellow would sleep with him, but he would not care to remain +there alone. The Head Master then asked for volunteers from the class of +elder boys, but not one of them would sleep in the room. It had always +been looked upon as "haunted," but the Master thought that by putting in +new boys who had not heard the story they would sleep there all right. + +Some years after, Brown revisited the place, and found that another +attempt had been made to occupy the room. A new Head Master who did not +know its history, thought it a pity to have the room idle, and put a +teacher, also new to the school, in possession. When this teacher came +down the first morning, he asked who had come into his room during the +night. He stated that a man in cap and gown, having books under his arm +and a lamp in his hand, came in, sat down at a table, and began to read. +He knew that he was not one of the masters, and did not recognise him as +one of the boys. The room had to be abandoned. The tradition is that many +years ago a master was murdered in that room by one of the students. The +few boys who ever had the courage to persist in sleeping in the room said +if they stayed more than two or three nights that the furniture was +moved, and they heard violent noises. + +The second story was sent to us by the percipient herself, and is +therefore a firsthand experience. Considering that she was only a +schoolgirl at the time, it must be admitted that she made a most plucky +attempt to run the ghost to earth. + +"A good many years ago, when I first went to school, I did not believe in +ghosts, but I then had an experience which caused me to alter my opinion. +I was ordered with two other girls to sleep in a small top room at the +back of the house which overlooked a garden which contained ancient +apple-trees. + +"Suddenly in the dead of night I was awakened out of my sleep by the +sound of heavy footsteps, as of a man wearing big boots unlaced, pacing +ceaselessly up and down a long corridor which I knew was plainly visible +from the landing outside my door, as there was a large window at the +farther end of it, and there was sufficient moonlight to enable one to +see its full length. After listening for about twenty minutes, my +curiosity was aroused, so I got up and stood on the landing. The +footsteps still continued, but I could see nothing, although the sounds +actually reached the foot of the flight of stairs which led from the +corridor to the landing on which I was standing. Suddenly the footfall +ceased, pausing at my end of the corridor, and I then considered it was +high time for me to retire, which I accordingly did, carefully closing +the door behind me. + +"To my horror the footsteps ascended the stairs, and the bedroom door was +violently dashed back against a washing-stand, beside which was a bed; +the contents of the ewer were spilled over the occupant, and the steps +advanced a few paces into the room in my direction. A cold perspiration +broke out all over me; I cannot describe the sensation. It was not actual +fear--it was more than that--I felt I had come into contact with the +Unknown. + +"What was about to happen? All I could do was to speak; I cried out, "Who +are you? What do you want?" Suddenly the footsteps ceased; I felt +relieved, and lay awake till morning, but no further sound reached my +ears. How or when my ghostly visitant disappeared I never knew; suffice +it to say, my story was no nightmare, but an actual fact, of which there +was found sufficient proof in the morning; the floor was still saturated +with water, the door, which we always carefully closed at night, was wide +open, and last, but not least, the occupant of the wet bed had heard all +that had happened, but feared to speak, and lay awake till morning. + +"Naturally, we related our weird experience to our schoolmates, and it +was only then I learned from one of the elder girls that this ghost had +manifested itself for many years in a similar fashion to the inhabitants +of that room. It was supposed to be the spirit of a man who, long years +before, had occupied this apartment (the house was then a private +residence), and had committed suicide by hanging himself from an old +apple tree opposite the window. Needless to say, the story was hushed up, +and we were sharply spoken to, and warned not to mention the occurrence +again. + +"Some years afterwards a friend, who happened at the time to be a boarder +at this very school, came to spend a week-end with me. She related an +exactly similar incident which occurred a few nights previous to her +visit. My experience was quite unknown to her." + +The following account of strange happenings at his glebe-house has been +sent by the rector of a parish in the diocese of Cashel: "Shortly after +my wife and I came to live here, some ten years ago, the servants +complained of hearing strange noises in the top storey of the Rectory +where they sleep. One girl ran away the day after she arrived, declaring +that the house was haunted, and that nothing would induce her to sleep +another night in it. So often had my wife to change servants on this +account that at last I had to speak to the parish priest, as I suspected +that the idea of 'ghosts' might have been suggested to the maids by +neighbours who might have some interest in getting rid of them. I +understand that my friend the parish priest spoke very forcibly from the +altar on the subject of spirits, saying that the only spirits he believed +ever did any harm to anyone were ----, mentioning a well-known brand of +the wine of the country. Whether this priestly admonition was the cause +or not, for some time we heard no more tales of ghostly manifestations. + +"After a while, however, my wife and I began to hear a noise which, while +in no sense alarming, has proved to be both remarkable and inexplicable. +If we happen to be sitting in the dining-room after dinner, sometimes we +hear what sounds like the noise of a heavy coach rumbling up to the hall +door. We have both heard this noise hundreds of times between eight P.M. +and midnight. Sometimes we hear it several times the same night, and then +perhaps we won't hear it again for several months. We hear it best on +calm nights, and as we are nearly a quarter of a mile from the high +road, it is difficult to account for, especially as the noise appears to +be quite close to us--I mean not farther away than the hall-door. I may +mention that an Englishman was staying with us a few years ago. As we +were sitting in the dining-room one night after dinner he said, 'A +carriage has just driven up to the door'; but we knew it was only the +'phantom coach,' for we also heard it. Only once do I remember hearing it +while sitting in the drawing-room. So much for the 'sound' of the +'phantom coach,' but now I must tell you what I _saw_ with my own eyes as +clearly as I now see the paper on which I am writing. Some years ago in +the middle of the summer, on a scorching hot day, I was out cutting +some hay opposite the hall door just by the tennis court. It was between +twelve and one o'clock. I remember the time distinctly, as my man had +gone to his dinner shortly before. The spot on which I was commanded +a view of the avenue from the entrance gate for about four hundred yards. +I happened to look up from my occupation--for scything is no easy +work--and I saw what I took to be a somewhat high dogcart, in which two +people were seated, turning in at the avenue gate. As I had my coat and +waistcoat off, and was not in a state to receive visitors, I got behind a +newly-made hay-cock and watched the vehicle until it came to a bend in +the avenue where there is a clump of trees which obscured it from my +view. As it did not, however, reappear, I concluded that the occupants +had either stopped for some reason or had taken by mistake a cart-way +leading to the back gate into the garden. Hastily putting on my coat, I +went down to the bend in the avenue, but to my surprise there was nothing +to be seen. + +"Returning to the Rectory, I met my housekeeper, who has been with me for +nearly twenty years, and I told her what I had seen. She then told me +that about a month before, while I was away from home, my man had one day +gone with the trap to the station. She saw, just as I did, a trap coming +up the avenue until it was lost to sight owing to the intervention of the +clump of trees. As it did not come on, she went down to the bend, but +there was no trap to be seen. When the man came in some half-hour after, +my housekeeper asked him if he had come half-way up the avenue and turned +back, but he said he had only that minute come straight from the station. +My housekeeper said she did not like to tell me about it before, as she +thought I 'would have laughed at her.' Whether the 'spectral gig' which I +saw and the 'phantom coach' which my wife and I have often heard are one +and the same I know not, but I do know that what I saw in the full blaze +of the summer sun was not inspired by a dose of the spirits referred to +by my friend the parish priest. + +"Some time during the winter of 1912, I was in the motor-house one dark +evening at about 6 P.M. I was working at the engine, and as the car was +'nose in' first, I was, of course, at the farthest point from the door. +I had sent my man down to the village with a message. He was gone about +ten minutes when I heard heavy footsteps enter the yard and come over to +the motor-house. I 'felt' that there was some one in the house quite +close to me, and I said, 'Hullo, ----, what brought you back so soon,' as +I knew he could not have been to the village and back. As I got no reply, +I took up my electric lamp and went to the back of the motor to see who +was there, but there was no one to be seen, and although I searched the +yard with my lamp, I could discover no one. About a week later I heard +the footsteps again under almost identical conditions, but I searched +with the same futile result. + +"Before I stop, I must tell you about a curious 'presentiment' which +happened with regard to a man I got from the Queen's County. He arrived +on a Saturday evening, and on the following Monday morning I put him to +sweep the avenue. He was at his work when I went out in the motor car at +about 10:30 A.M. Shortly after I left he left his wheel-barrow and tools +on the avenue (just at the point where I saw the 'spectral gig' +disappear) and, coming up to the Rectory, he told my housekeeper in a +great state of agitation that he was quite sure that his brother, with +whom he had always lived, was dead. He said he must return home at once. +My housekeeper advised him to wait until I returned, but he changed his +clothes and packed his box, saying he must catch the next train. Just +before I returned home at 12 o'clock, a telegram came saying his brother +had died suddenly that morning, and that he was to return at once. On my +return I found him almost in a state of collapse. He left by the next +train, and I never heard of him again." + +K---- Castle is a handsome blending of ancient castle and modern +dwelling-house, picturesquely situated among trees, while the steep glen +mentioned below runs close beside it. It has the reputation of being +haunted, but, as usual, it is difficult to get information. One +gentleman, to whom we wrote, stated that he never saw or heard anything +worse than a bat. On the other hand, a lady who resided there a good many +years ago, gives the following account of her extraordinary experiences +therein: + +DEAR MR. SEYMOUR, + +I enclose some account of our experiences in K---- Castle. It would be +better not to mention names, as the people occupying it have told me they +are afraid of their servants hearing anything, and consequently giving +notice. They themselves hear voices often, but, like me, they do not +mind. When first we went there we heard people talking, but on looking +everywhere we could find no one. Then on some nights we heard fighting in +the glen beside the house. We could hear voices raised in anger, and the +clash of steel: no person would venture there after dusk. + +One night I was sitting talking with my governess, I got up, said +good-night, and opened the door, which was on the top of the back +staircase. As I did so, I _heard_ some one (a woman) come slowly +upstairs, walk past us to a window at the end of the landing, and then +with a shriek fall heavily. As she passed it was bitterly cold, and I +drew back into the room, but did not say anything, as it might frighten +the governess. She asked me what was the matter, as I looked so white. +Without answering, I pushed her into her room, and then searched the +house, but with no results. + +Another night I was sleeping with my little girl. I awoke, and saw a girl +with long, fair hair standing at the fireplace, one hand at her side, the +other on the chimney-piece. Thinking at first it was my little girl, I +felt on the pillow to see if she were gone, but she was fast asleep. +There was no fire or light of any kind in the room. + +Some time afterwards a friend was sleeping there, and she told me that +she was pushed out of bed the whole night. Two gentlemen to whom I had +mentioned this came over, thinking they would find out the cause. In the +morning when they came down they asked for the carriage to take them to +the next train, but would not tell what they had heard or seen. +Another person who came to visit her sister, who was looking after the +house before we went in, slept in this room, and in the morning said she +must go back that day. She also would give no information. + +On walking down the corridor, I have heard a door open, a footstep cross +before me, and go into another room, _both_ doors being closed at the +time. An old cook I had told me that when she went into the hall in the +morning, a gentleman would come down the front stairs, take a plumed hat +off the stand, and vanish _through_ the hall door. This she saw nearly +every morning. She also said that a girl often came into her bedroom, and +put her hand on her (the cook's) face; and when she would push her away +she would hear a girl's voice say, "Oh don't!" three times. I have often +heard voices in the drawing-room, which decidedly sounded as if an old +gentleman and a girl were talking. Noises like furniture being moved were +frequently heard at night, and strangers staying with us have often asked +why the servants turned out the rooms underneath them at such an unusual +hour. The front-door bell sometimes rang, and I have gone down, but found +no one. + +Yours very sincerely, +F.T. + +"Kilman" Castle, in the heart of Ireland--the name is obviously a +pseudonym--has been described as perhaps the worst haunted mansion in the +British Isles. That it deserves this doubtful recommendation, we cannot +say; but at all events the ordinary reader will be prepared to admit that +it contains sufficient "ghosts" to satisfy the most greedy ghost-hunter. +A couple of months ago the present writer paid a visit to this castle, +and was shown all over it one morning by the mistress of the house, who, +under the _nom de plume_ of "Andrew Merry" has published novels dealing +with Irish life, and has also contributed articles on the ghostly +phenomena of her house to the _Occult Review_ (Dec. 1908 and Jan. 1909). + +The place itself is a grim, grey, bare building. The central portion, in +which is the entrance-hall, is a square castle of the usual type; it is +built on a rock, and a slight batter from base to summit gives an added +appearance of strength and solidity. On either side of the castle are +more modern wings, one of which terminates in what is known as the +"Priest's House." + +Now to the ghosts. The top storey of the central tower is a large, +well-lighted apartment, called the "Chapel," having evidently served that +purpose in times past. At one end is what is said to be an _oubliette_, +now almost filled up. Occasionally in the evenings, people walking along +the roads or in the fields see the windows of this chapel lighted up for +a few seconds as if many lamps were suddenly brought into it. This is +certainly _not_ due to servants; from our experience we can testify that +it is the last place on earth that a domestic would enter after dark. It +is also said that a treasure is buried somewhere in or around the castle. +The legend runs that an ancestor was about to be taken to Dublin on a +charge of rebellion, and, fearing he would never return, made the best of +the time left to him by burying somewhere a crock full of gold and +jewels. Contrary to expectation, he _did_ return; but his long +confinement had turned his brain, and he could never remember the spot +where he had deposited his treasure years before. Some time ago a lady, a +Miss B., who was decidedly psychic, was invited to Kilman Castle in the +hope that she would be able to locate the whereabouts of this treasure. +In this respect she failed, unfortunately, but gave, nevertheless, a +curious example of her power. As she walked through the hall with her +hostess, she suddenly laid her hand upon the bare stone wall, and +remarked, "There is something uncanny here, but I don't know what it is." +In that very spot, some time previously, two skeletons had been +discovered walled up. + +The sequel to this is curious. Some time after, Miss B. was either trying +automatic writing, or else was at a séance (we forget which), when a +message came to her from the Unseen, stating that the treasure at Kilman +Castle was concealed in the chapel under the tessellated pavement near +the altar. But this spirit was either a "lying spirit," or else a most +impish one, for there is no trace of an altar, and it is impossible to +say, from the style of the room, where it stood; while the tessellated +pavement (if it exists) is so covered with the debris of the former +roof that it would be almost impossible to have it thoroughly cleared. + +There is as well a miscellaneous assortment of ghosts. A monk with +tonsure and cowl walks in at one window of the Priest's House, and out at +another. There is also a little old man, dressed in the antique garb +of a green cut-away coat, knee breeches, and buckled shoes: he is +sometimes accompanied by an old lady in similar old-fashioned costume. +Another ghost has a penchant for lying on the bed beside its lawful and +earthly occupant; nothing is seen, but a great weight is felt, and a +consequent deep impression made on the bedclothes. + +The lady of the house states that she has a number of letters from +friends, in which they relate the supernatural experiences they had while +staying at the Castle. In one of these the writer, a gentleman, was +awakened one night by an extraordinary feeling of intense cold at his +heart. He then saw in front of him a tall female figure, clothed from +head to foot in red, and with its right hand raised menacingly in the +air: the light which illuminated the figure was from within. He lit a +match, and sprang out of bed, but the room was empty. He went back to +bed, and saw nothing more that night, except that several times the same +cold feeling gripped his heart, though to the touch the flesh was quite +warm. + +But of all the ghosts in that well-haunted house the most unpleasant is +that inexplicable thing that is usually called "It." The lady of the +house described to the present writer her personal experience of this +phantom. High up round one side of the hall runs a gallery which connects +with some of the bedrooms. One evening she was in this gallery leaning on +the balustrade, and looking down into the hall. Suddenly she felt two +hands laid on her shoulders; she turned round sharply, and saw "It" +standing close beside her. She described it as being human in shape, and +about four feet high; the eyes were like two black holes in the face, and +the whole figure seemed as if it were made of grey cotton-wool, while it +was accompanied by a most appalling stench, such as would come from a +decaying human body. The lady got a shock from which she did not recover +for a long time. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +POLTERGEISTS + + +Poltergeist is the term assigned to those apparently meaningless noises +and movements of objects of which we from time to time hear accounts. The +word is, of course, German, and may be translated "boisterous ghost." A +poltergeist is seldom or never seen, but contents itself by moving +furniture and other objects about in an extraordinary manner, often +contrary to the laws of gravitation; sometimes footsteps are heard, but +nothing is visible, while at other times vigorous rappings will be heard +either on the walls or floor of a room, and in the manner in which the +raps are given a poltergeist has often showed itself as having a close +connection with the physical phenomena of spiritualism, for cases have +occurred in which a poltergeist has given the exact number of raps +mentally asked for by some person present. Another point that is worthy +of note is the fact that the hauntings of a poltergeist are generally +attached to a certain individual in a certain spot, and thus differ from +the operations of an ordinary ghost. + +The two following incidents related in this chapter are taken from a +paper read by Professor Barrett, F.R.S., before the Society for Psychical +Research.[6] In the case of the first anecdote he made every possible +inquiry into the facts set forth, short of actually being an eye-witness +of the phenomena. In the case of the second he made personal +investigation, and himself saw the whole of the incidents related. There +is therefore very little room to doubt the genuineness of either story. + +[Footnote 6: _Proceedings_, August 1911, pp. 377-95.] + +In the year 1910, in a certain house in Court Street, Enniscorthy, there +lived a labouring man named Redmond. His wife took in boarders to +supplement her husband's wages, and at the time to which we refer there +were three men boarding with her, who slept in one room above the +kitchen. The house consisted of five rooms--two on the ground-floor, of +which one was a shop and the other the kitchen. The two other rooms +upstairs were occupied by the Redmonds and their servant respectively. +The bedroom in which the boarders slept was large, and contained two +beds, one at each end of the room, two men sleeping in one of them; John +Randall and George Sinnott were the names of two, but the name of the +third lodger is not known--he seems to have left the Redmonds very +shortly after the disturbances commenced. + +It was on July 4, 1910, that John Randall, who is a carpenter by trade, +went to live at Enniscorthy, and took rooms with the Redmonds. In a +signed statement, now in possession of Professor Barrett, he tells a +graphic tale of what occurred each night during the three weeks he lodged +in the house, and as a result of the poltergeist's attentions he lost +three-quarters of a stone in weight. It was on the night of Thursday, +July 7, that the first incident occurred, when the bedclothes were gently +pulled off his bed. Of course he naturally thought it was a joke, and +shouted to his companions to stop. As no one could explain what was +happening, a match was struck, and the bedclothes were found to be at the +window, from which the other bed (a large piece of furniture which +ordinarily took two people to move) had been rolled just when the clothes +had been taken off Randall's bed. Things were put straight and the light +blown out, "but," Randall's account goes on to say, "it wasn't long until +we heard some hammering in the room--tap-tap-tap-like. This lasted for a +few minutes, getting quicker and quicker. When it got very quick, their +bed started to move out across the room.... We then struck a match and +got the lamp. We searched the room thoroughly, and could find nobody. +Nobody had come in the door. We called the man of the house (Redmond); he +came into the room, saw the bed, and told us to push it back and get into +bed (he thought all the time one of us was playing the trick on the +other). I said I wouldn't stay in the other bed by myself, so I got in +with the others; we put out the light again, and it had only been a +couple of minutes out when the bed ran out on the floor with the three of +us. Richard struck a match again, and this time we all got up and put on +our clothes; we had got a terrible fright and couldn't stick it any +longer. We told the man of the house we would sit up in the room till +daylight. During the time we were sitting in the room we could hear +footsteps leaving the kitchen and coming up the stairs; it would stop on +the landing outside the door, and wouldn't come into the room. The +footsteps and noises continued through the house until daybreak." + +The next night the footsteps and noises were continued, but the +unfortunate men did not experience any other annoyance. On the following +day the men went home, and it is to be hoped they were able to make up +for all the sleep they had lost on the two previous nights. They returned +on the Sunday, and from that night till they finally left the house the +men were disturbed practically every night. On Monday, 11th July the bed +was continually running out from the wall with its three occupants. They +kept the lamp alight, and a chair was seen to dance gaily out into the +middle of the floor. On the following Thursday we read of the same +happenings, with the addition that one of the boarders was lifted out +of the bed, though he felt no hand near him. It seems strange that they +should have gone through such a bad night exactly a week from the night +the poltergeist started its operations. So the account goes on; every +night that they slept in the room the hauntings continued, some nights +being worse than others. On Friday, 29th July, "the bed turned up on one +side and threw us out on the floor, and before we were thrown out, the +pillow was taken from under my head three times. When the bed rose up, it +fell back without making any noise. This bed was so heavy, it took both +the woman and the girl to pull it out from the wall without anybody in +it, and there were only three castors on it." The poltergeist must have +been an insistent fellow, for when the unfortunate men took refuge in the +other bed, they had not been long in it before it began to rise, but +could not get out of the recess it was in unless it was taken to pieces. + +"It kept very bad," we read, "for the next few nights. So Mr. Murphy, +from the _Guardian_ office, and another man named Devereux, came and +stopped in the room one night." + +The experiences of Murphy and Devereux on this night are contained in a +further statement, signed by Murphy and corroborated by Devereux. They +seem to have gone to work in a business-like manner, as before taking +their positions for the night they made a complete investigation of the +bedroom and house, so as to eliminate all chance of trickery or fraud. By +this time, it should be noted, one of Mrs. Redmond's lodgers had +evidently suffered enough from the poltergeist, as only two men are +mentioned in Murphy's statement, one sleeping in each bed. The two +investigators took up their position against the wall midway between the +two beds, so that they had a full view of the room and the occupants of +the beds. "The night," says Murphy, "was a clear, starlight night. No +blind obstructed the view from outside, and one could see the outlines of +the beds and their occupants clearly. At about 11.30 a tapping was heard +close at the foot of Randall's bed. My companion remarked that it +appeared to be like the noise of a rat eating at timber. + +"Sinnott replied, 'You'll soon see the rat it is.' The tapping went on +slowly at first ... then the speed gradually increased to about a hundred +or a hundred and twenty per minute, the noise growing louder. This +continued for about five minutes, when it stopped suddenly. Randall then +spoke. He said: 'The clothes are slipping off my bed: look at them +sliding off. Good God, they are going off me.' Mr. Devereux immediately +struck a match, which he had ready in his hand. The bedclothes had partly +left the boy's bed, having gone diagonally towards the foot, going out at +the left corner, and not alone did they seem to be drawn off the bed, but +they appeared to be actually going back under the bed, much in the same +position one would expect bedclothes to be if a strong breeze were +blowing through the room at the time. But then everything was perfectly +calm." + +A search was then made for wires or strings, but nothing of the sort +could be found. The bedclothes were put back and the light extinguished. +For ten minutes silence reigned, only to be broken by more rapping which +was followed by shouts from Randall. He was told to hold on to the +clothes, which were sliding off again. But this was of little use, for he +was heard to cry, "I'm going, I'm going, I'm gone," and when a light was +struck he was seen to slide from the bed and all the bedclothes with him. +Randall, who, with Sinnott, had shown considerable strength of mind by +staying in the house under such trying circumstances, had evidently had +enough of ghostly hauntings, for as he lay on the floor, trembling in +every limb and bathed in perspiration, he exclaimed: "Oh, isn't this +dreadful? I can't stand it; I can't stay here any longer." He was +eventually persuaded to get back to bed. Later on more rapping occurred +in a different part of the room, but it soon stopped, and the rest of the +night passed away in peace. + +Randall and Sinnott went to their homes the next day, and Mr. Murphy +spent from eleven till long past midnight in their vacated room, but +heard and saw nothing unusual. He states in conclusion that "Randall +could not reach that part of the floor from which the rapping came on any +occasion without attracting my attention and that of my comrade." + +The next case related by Professor Barrett occurred in County Fermanagh, +at a spot eleven miles from Enniskillen and about two miles from the +hamlet of Derrygonelly, where there dwelt a farmer and his family of four +girls and a boy, of whom the eldest was a girl of about twenty years of +age named Maggie. His cottage consisted of three rooms, the kitchen, or +dwelling-room, being in the centre, with a room on each side used as +bedrooms. In one of these two rooms Maggie slept with her sisters, and it +was here that the disturbances occurred, generally after they had all +gone to bed, when rappings and scratchings were heard which often lasted +all night. Rats were first blamed, but when things were moved by some +unseen agent, and boots and candles thrown out of the house, it was seen +that something more than the ordinary rat was at work. The old farmer, +who was a Methodist, sought advice from his class leader, and by his +directions laid an open Bible on the bed in the haunted room, placing a +big stone on the book. But the stone was lifted off by an unseen hand, +the Bible moved out of the room, and seventeen pages torn out of it. They +could not keep a lamp or candle in the house, so they went to their +neighbours for help, and, to quote the old farmer's words to Professor +Barrett, "Jack Flanigan came and lent us a lamp, saying the devil himself +would not steal it, as he had got the priest to sprinkle it with holy +water." "But that," the old man said, "did us no good either, for the +next day it took away that lamp also." + +Professor Barrett, at the invitation of Mr. Thomas Plunkett of +Enniskillen, went to investigate. He got a full account from the farmer +of the freakish tricks which were continually being played in the house, +and gives a graphic account of what he himself observed: "After the +children, except the boy, had gone to bed, Maggie lay down on the bed +without undressing, so that her hands and feet could be observed. The +rest of us sat round the kitchen fire, when faint raps, rapidly +increasing in loudness, were heard coming apparently from the walls, +the ceiling, and various parts of the inner room, the door of which was +open. On entering the bedroom with a light the noises at first ceased, +but recommenced when I put the light on the window-sill in the kitchen. I +had the boy and his father by my side, and asked Mr. Plunkett to look +round the house outside. Standing in the doorway leading to the bedroom, +the noises recommenced, the light was gradually brought nearer, and after +much patience I was able to bring the light into the bedroom whilst the +disturbances were still loudly going on. At last I was able to go up to +the side of the bed, with the lighted candle in my hand, and closely +observed each of the occupants lying on the bed. The younger children +were apparently asleep, and Maggie was motionless; nevertheless, knocks +were going on everywhere around; on the chairs, the bedstead, the walls +and ceiling. The closest scrutiny failed to detect any movement on the +part of those present that could account for the noises, which were +accompanied by a scratching or tearing sound. Suddenly a large pebble +fell in my presence on to the bed; no one had moved to dislodge it, even +if it had been placed for the purpose. When I replaced the candle on the +window-sill in the kitchen, the knocks became still louder, like those +made by a heavy carpenter's hammer driving nails into flooring." + +A couple of days afterwards, the Rev. Maxwell Close, M.A., a well-known +member of the S.P.R., joined Professor Barrett and Mr. Plunkett, and +together the party of three paid visits on two consecutive nights to the +haunted farm-house, and the noises were repeated. Complete search was +made, both inside and outside of the house, but no cause could be found. +When the party were leaving, the old farmer was much perturbed that they +had not "laid the ghost." When questioned he said he thought it was +fairies. He was asked if it had answered to questions by raps and he said +he had; "but it tells lies as often as truth, and oftener, I think. We +tried it, and it only knocked at L M N when we said the alphabet over." +Professor Barrett then tested it by asking mentally for a certain number +of raps, and immediately the actual number was heard. He repeated this +four times with a different number each time, and with the same result. + +Perhaps the most interesting part of this particular case is at the end +of Professor Barrett's account, when, at the request of the old farmer, +Mr. Maxwell Close read some passages from Scripture, followed by the +Lord's Prayer, to an accompaniment of knockings and scratches, which were +at first so loud that the solemn words could hardly be heard, but which +gradually ceased as they all knelt in prayer. And since that night no +further disturbance occurred. + +Another similar story comes from the north of Ireland. In the year 1866 +(as recorded in the _Larne Reporter_ of March 31 in that year), two +families residing at Upper Ballygowan, near Larne, suffered a series of +annoyances from having stones thrown into their houses both by night and +by day. Their neighbours came in great numbers to sympathise with them in +their affliction, and on one occasion, after a volley of stones had been +poured into the house through the window, a young man who was present +fired a musket in the direction of the mysterious assailants. The reply +was a loud peal of satanic laughter, followed by a volley of stones and +turf. On another occasion a heap of potatoes, which was in an inner +apartment of one of the houses, was seen to be in commotion, and shortly +afterwards its contents were hurled into the kitchen, where the inmates +of the house, with some of their neighbours, were assembled. + +The explanation given by some people of this mysterious affair was as +mysterious as the affair itself. It was said that many years before the +occurrences which we have now related took place, the farmer who then +occupied the premises in which they happened was greatly annoyed by +mischievous tricks which were played upon him by a company of fairies who +had a habit of holding their rendezvous in his house. The consequence was +that this man had to leave the house, which for a long time stood a +roofless ruin. After the lapse of many years, and when the story about +the dilapidated fabric having been haunted had probably been forgotten, +the people who then occupied the adjoining lands unfortunately took some +of the stones of the old deserted mansion to repair their own buildings. +At this the fairies, or "good people," were much incensed; and they +vented their displeasure on the offender in the way we have described. + +A correspondent from County Wexford, who desires to have his name +suppressed, writes as follows: "Less than ten miles from the town +of ----, Co. Wexford, lives a small farmer named M----, who by dint of +thrift and industry has reared a large family decently and comfortably. + +"Some twenty years ago Mr. M----, through the death of a relative, fell +in for a legacy of about a hundred pounds. As he was already in rather +prosperous circumstances, and as his old thatched dwelling-house was not +large enough to accommodate his increasing family, he resolved to spend +the money in building a new one. + +"Not long afterwards building operations commenced, and in about a year +he had a fine slated cottage, or small farm-house, erected and ready for +occupation: so far very well; but it is little our friend M---- +anticipated the troubles which were still ahead of him. He purchased some +new furniture at the nearest town, and on a certain day he removed all +the furniture which the old house contained into the new one; and in the +evening the family found themselves installed in the latter for good, as +they thought. They all retired to rest at their usual hour; scarcely were +they snugly settled in bed when they heard peculiar noises inside the +house. As time passed the din became terrible--there was shuffling of +feet, slamming of doors, pulling about of furniture, and so forth. The +man of the house got up to explore, but could see nothing, neither was +anything disturbed. The door was securely locked as he had left it. After +a thorough investigation, in which his wife assisted, he had to own he +could find no clue to the cause of the disturbance. The couple went to +bed again, and almost immediately the racket recommenced, and continued +more or less till dawn. + +"The inmates were puzzled and frightened, but determined to try whether +the noise would be repeated the next night before telling their +neighbours what had happened. But the pandemonium experienced the first +night of their occupation was as nothing compared with what they had +to endure the second night and for several succeeding nights. Sleep was +impossible, and finally Mr. M---- and family in terror abandoned their +new home, and retook possession of their old one. + +"That is the state of things to this day. The old house has been repaired +and is tenanted. The new house, a few perches off, facing the public +road, is used as a storehouse. The writer has seen it scores of times, +and its story is well known all over the country-side. Mr. M---- is +disinclined to discuss the matter or to answer questions; but it is said +he made several subsequent attempts to occupy the house, but always +failed to stand his ground when night came with its usual rowdy +disturbances. + +"It is said that when building operations were about to begin, a little +man of bizarre appearance accosted Mr. M---- and exhorted him to build on +a different site; otherwise the consequences would be unpleasant for him +and his; while the local peasantry allege that the house was built across +a fairy pathway between two _raths_, and that this was the cause of the +trouble. It is quite true that there are two large _raths_ in the +vicinity, and the haunted house is directly in a bee-line between them. +For myself I offer no explanation; but I guarantee the substantial +accuracy of what I have stated above." + +Professor Barrett, in the paper to which we have already referred, draws +certain conclusions from his study of this subject; one of the chief of +these is that "the widespread belief in fairies, pixies, gnomes, +brownies, etc., probably rests on the varied manifestations of +poltergeists." The popular explanation of the above story bears out this +conclusion, and it is further emphasized by the following, which comes +from Portarlington: A man near that town had saved five hundred pounds, +and determined to build a house with the money. He fixed on a certain +spot, and began to build, very much against the advice of his friends, +who said it was on a fairy path, and would bring him ill-luck. Soon the +house was finished, and the owner moved in; but the very first night his +troubles began, for some unseen hand threw the furniture about and broke +it, while the man himself was injured. Being unwilling to lose the value +of his money, he tried to make the best of things. But night after night +the disturbances continued, and life in the house was impossible; the +owner chose the better part of valour and left. No tenant has been found +since, and the house stands empty, a silent testimony to the power of the +poltergeist. + +Poltergeistic phenomena from their very nature lend themselves to +spurious reproduction and imitation, as witness the famous case of Cock +Lane and many other similar stories. At least one well-known case +occurred in Ireland, and is interesting as showing that where fraud is at +work, close investigation will discover it. It is related that an old +Royal Irish Constabulary pensioner, who obtained a post as emergency man +during the land troubles, and who in 1892 was in charge of an evicted +farm in the Passage East district, was being continually disturbed by +furniture and crockery being thrown about in a mysterious manner. Reports +were brought to the police, and they investigated the matter; but nothing +was heard or seen beyond knocking on an inside wall of a bedroom in which +one of the sons was sleeping; this knocking ceased when the police were +in the bedroom, and no search was made in the boy's bed to see if he had +a stick. The police therefore could find no explanation, the noises +continued night after night, and eventually the family left and went to +live in Waterford. A great furore was raised when it was learnt that the +hauntings had followed them, and again investigation was made, but it +seems to have been more careful this time: an eye was kept on the +movements of the young son, and at least two independent witnesses saw +him throwing things about--fireirons and jam-pots--when he thought his +father was not looking. It seems to have been a plot between the mother +and son owing to the former's dislike to her husband's occupation, which +entailed great unpopularity and considerable personal risk. Fearing for +her own and her family's safety, the wife conceived of this plan to force +her husband to give up his post. Her efforts were successful, as the man +soon resigned his position and went to live elsewhere.[7] + +[Footnote 7: _Proceedings_, S.P.R.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +HAUNTED PLACES + + +That houses are haunted and apparitions frequently seen therein are +pretty well established facts. The preceding chapters have dealt with +this aspect of the subject, and, in view of the weight of evidence to +prove the truth of the stories told in them, it would be hard for anyone +to doubt that there is such a thing as a haunted house, whatever +explanation maybe given of "haunting." We now turn to another division of +the subject--the outdoor ghost who haunts the roadways, country lanes, +and other places. Sceptics on ghostly phenomena are generally pretty full +of explanations when they are told of a ghost having been seen in a +particular spot, and the teller may be put down as hyper-imaginative, or +as having been deluded by moonlight playing through the trees; while +cases are not wanting where a reputation for temperance has been lost by +a man telling his experiences of a ghost he happens to have met along +some country lane; and the fact that there are cases where an imaginative +and nervous person has mistaken for a ghost a white goat or a sheet +hanging on a bush only strengthens the sceptic's disbelief and makes him +blind to the very large weight of evidence that can be arrayed against +him. Some day, no doubt, psychologists and scientists will be able to +give us a complete and satisfactory explanation of these abnormal +apparitions, but at present we are very much in the dark, and any +explanation that may be put forward is necessarily of a tentative nature. + +The following story is sent us by Mr. J. J. Crowley, of the Munster and +Leinster Bank, who writes as follows: "The scene is outside Clonmel, on +the main road leading up to a nice old residence on the side of the +mountains called ---- Lodge. I happened to be visiting my friends, two +other bank men. It was night, about eight o'clock, moonless, and +tolerably dark, and when within a quarter of a mile or perhaps less of +a bridge over a small stream near the house I saw a girl, dressed in +white, wearing a black sash and long flowing hair, walk in the direction +from me up the culvert of the bridge and disappear down the other side. +At the time I saw it I thought it most peculiar that I could distinguish +a figure so far away, and thought a light of some sort must be falling on +the girl, or that there were some people about and that some of them had +struck a match. When I got to the place I looked about, but could find no +person there. + +"I related this story to my friends some time after arriving, and was +then told that one of them had wakened up in his sleep a few nights +previously, and had seen an identical figure standing at the foot of his +bed, and rushed in fright from his room, taking refuge for the night with +the other lodger. They told the story to their landlady, and learned from +her that this apparition had frequently been seen about the place, and +was the spirit of one of her daughters who had died years previously +rather young, and who, previous to her death, had gone about just as we +described the figure we had seen. I had heard nothing of this story until +after I had seen the ghost, and consequently it could not be put down to +hallucination or over-imagination on my part." + +The experiences of two constables of the Royal Irish Constabulary while +on despatch duty one winter's night in the early eighties has been sent +us by one of the men concerned, and provides interesting reading. It was +a fine moonlight night, with a touch of frost in the air, when these two +men set out to march the five miles to the next barrack. Brisk walking +soon brought them near their destination. The barrack which they were +approaching was on the left side of the road, and facing it on the other +side was a whitethorn hedge. The road at this point was wide, and as the +two constables got within fifty yards of the barrack, they saw a +policeman step out from this hedge and move across the road, looking +towards the two men as he did so. He was plainly visible to them both. +"He was bare-headed" (runs the account), "with his tunic opened down the +front, a stout-built man, black-haired, pale, full face, and short +mutton-chop whiskers." They thought he was a newly-joined constable who +was doing "guard" and had come out to get some fresh air while waiting +for a patrol to return. As the two men approached, he disappeared into +the shadow of the barrack, and apparently went in by the door; to their +amazement, when they came up they found the door closed and bolted, and +it was only after loud knocking that they got a sleepy "All right" from +some one inside, and after the usual challenging were admitted. There +was no sign of the strange policeman when they got in, and on inquiry +they learnt that no new constable had joined the station. The two men +realised then that they had seen a ghost, but refrained from saying +anything about it to the men at the station--a very sensible precaution, +considering the loneliness of the average policeman's life in this +country. + +Some years afterwards the narrator of the above story learnt that a +policeman had been lost in a snow-drift near this particular barrack. +Whether this be the explanation we leave to others: the facts as stated +are well vouched for. There is no evidence to support the theory of +hallucination, for the apparition was so vivid that the idea of its being +other than normal never entered the constables' heads _till they had got +into the barrack_. When they found the door shut and bolted, their +amazement was caused by indignation against an apparently unsociable +or thoughtless comrade, and it was only afterwards, while discussing the +whole thing on their homeward journey, that it occurred to them that it +would have been impossible for any ordinary mortal to shut, bolt, and bar +a door without making a sound. + +In the winter of 1840-1, in the days when snow and ice and all their +attendant pleasures were more often in evidence than in these degenerate +days, a skating party was enjoying itself on the pond in the grounds of +the Castle near Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. Among the skaters was a man who +had with him a very fine curly-coated retriever dog. The pond was +thronged with people enjoying themselves, when suddenly the ice gave +way beneath him, and the man fell into the water; the dog went to his +rescue, and both were drowned. A monument was erected to perpetuate the +memory of the dog's heroic self-sacrifice, but only the pedestal now +remains. The ghost of the dog is said to haunt the grounds and the public +road between the castle gate and the Dodder Bridge. Many people have seen +the phantom dog, and the story is well known locally. + +The ghost of a boy who was murdered by a Romany is said to haunt one of +the lodge gates of the Castle demesne, and the lodge-keeper states that +he saw it only a short time ago. The Castle, however, is now in +possession of Jesuit Fathers, and the Superior assures us that there has +been no sign of a ghost for a long time, his explanation being that the +place is so crowded out with new buildings "that even a ghost would have +some difficulty in finding a comfortable corner." + +It is a fairly general belief amongst students of supernatural phenomena +that animals have the psychic faculty developed to a greater extent than +we have. There are numerous stories which tell of animals being scared +and frightened by something that is invisible to a human being, and the +explanation given is that the animal has seen a ghost which we cannot +see. A story that is told of a certain spot near the village of G----, in +Co. Kilkenny, supports this theory. The account was sent us by the +eye-witness of what occurred, and runs as follows: "I was out for a walk +one evening near the town of G---- about 8.45 P.M., and was crossing the +bridge that leads into the S. Carlow district with a small wire-haired +terrier dog. When we were about three-quarters of a mile out, the dog +began to bark and yelp in a most vicious manner at 'nothing' on the +left-hand side of the roadway and near to a straggling hedge. I felt a +bit creepy and that something was wrong. The dog kept on barking, but I +could at first see nothing, but on looking closely for a few seconds I +believe I saw a small grey-white object vanish gradually and noiselessly +into the hedge. No sooner had it vanished than the dog ceased barking, +wagged his tail, and seemed pleased with his successful efforts." The +narrator goes on to say that he made inquiries when he got home, and +found that this spot on the road had a very bad reputation, as people had +frequently seen a ghost there, while horses had often to be beaten, +coaxed, or led past the place. The explanation locally current is that a +suicide was buried at the cross-roads near at hand, or that it may be the +ghost of a man who is known to have been killed at the spot. + +The following story has been sent us by the Rev. H.R.B. Gillespie, to +whom it was told by one of the witnesses of the incidents described +therein. One bright moonlight night some time ago a party consisting of a +man, his two daughters, and a friend were driving along a country road in +County Leitrim. They came to a steep hill, and all except the driver got +down to walk. One of the two sisters walked on in front, and after her +came the other two, followed closely by the trap. They had not gone far, +when those in rear saw a shabbily-dressed man walking beside the girl who +was leading. But she did not seem to be taking any notice of him, and, +wondering what he could be, they hastened to overtake her. But just when +they were catching her up the figure suddenly dashed into the shadow of a +disused forge, which stood by the side of the road, and as it did so the +horse, which up to this had been perfectly quiet, reared up and became +unmanageable. The girl beside whom the figure had walked had seen and +heard nothing. The road was not bordered by trees or a high hedge, so +that it could not have been some trick of the moonlight. One of the girls +described the appearance of the figure to a local workman, who said, "It +is very like a tinker who was found dead in that forge about six months +ago." + +Here is another story of a haunted spot on a road, where a "ghost" was +seen, not at the witching hour of night, not when evening shadows +lengthen, but in broad daylight. It is sent to us by the percipient, +a lady, who does not desire to have her name mentioned. She was walking +along a country road in the vicinity of Cork one afternoon, and passed +various people. She then saw coming towards her a country-woman dressed +in an old-fashioned style. This figure approached her, and when it drew +near, suddenly staggered, as if under the influence of drink, and +disappeared! She hastened to the spot, but searched in vain for any clue +to the mystery; the road was bounded by high walls, and there was no +gateway or gap through which the figure might slip. Much mystified, she +continued on her way, and arrived at her destination. She there mentioned +what had occurred, and was then informed by an old resident in the +neighbourhood that that woman had constantly been seen up to twenty years +before, but not since that date. By the country-people the road was +believed to be haunted, but the percipient did not know this at the time. + +The following is sent us by Mr. T. J. Westropp, and has points of its own +which are interesting; he states: "On the road from Bray to Windgates, at +the Deerpark of Kilruddy, is a spot which, whatever be the explanation, +is distinguished by weird sounds and (some say) sights. I on one occasion +was walking with a friend to catch the train at Bray about eleven o'clock +one evening some twenty-five years ago, when we both heard heavy steps +and rustling of bracken in the Deerpark; apparently some one got over the +gate, crossed the road with heavy steps and fell from the wall next Bray +Head, rustling and slightly groaning. The night was lightsome, though +without actual moonlight, and we could see nothing over the wall where we +had heard the noise. + +"For several years after I dismissed the matter as a delusion; but when I +told the story to some cousins, they said that another relative (now a +Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin) had heard it too, and that there was +a local belief that it was the ghost of a poacher mortally wounded by +gamekeepers, who escaped across the road and died beyond it." Mr. +Westropp afterwards got the relative mentioned above to tell his +experience, and it corresponded with his own, except that the ghost was +visible. "The clergyman who was rector of Greystones at that time used to +say that he had heard exactly similar noises though he had seen nothing." + +The following story of an occurrence near Dublin is sent us by a lady who +is a very firm believer in ghosts. On a fine night some years ago two +sisters were returning home from the theatre. They were walking along a +very lonely part of the Kimmage Road about two miles beyond the tram +terminus, and were chatting gaily as they went, when suddenly they heard +the "clink, clink" of a chain coming towards them. At first they thought +it was a goat or a donkey which had got loose, and was dragging its chain +along the ground. But they could see nothing, and could hear no noise but +the clink of the chain, although the road was clear and straight. Nearer +and nearer came the noise, gradually getting louder, and as it passed +them closely they distinctly felt a blast or whiff of air. They were +paralysed with an indefinable fear, and were scarcely able to drag +themselves along the remaining quarter of a mile to their house. The +elder of the two was in very bad health, and the other had almost to +carry her. Immediately she entered the house she collapsed, and had +to be revived with brandy. + +An old woman, it seems, had been murdered for her savings by a tramp near +the spot where this strange occurrence took place, and it is thought that +there is a connection between the crime and the haunting of this part of +the Kimmage Road. Whatever the explanation may be, the whole story bears +every evidence of truth, and it would be hard for anyone to disprove it. + +Churchyards are generally considered to be the hunting-ground of all +sorts and conditions of ghosts. People who would on all other occasions, +when the necessity arises, prove themselves to be possessed of at any +rate a normal amount of courage, turn pale and shiver at the thought of +having to pass through a churchyard at dead of night. It may be some +encouragement to such to state that out of a fairly large collection of +accounts of haunted places, only one relates to a churchyard. The story +is told by Mr. G. H. Millar of Edgeworthstown: "During the winter of +1875," he writes, "I attended a soiree about five miles from here. I was +riding, and on my way home about 11.30 P.M. I had to pass by the old +ruins and burial-ground of Abbeyshrule. The road led round by two sides +of the churchyard. It was a bright moonlight night, and as my girth broke +I was walking the horse quite slowly. As I passed the ruin, I saw what I +took to be a policeman in a long overcoat; he was walking from the centre +of the churchyard towards the corner, and, as far as I could see, would +be at the corner by the time I would reach it, and we would meet. Quite +suddenly, however, he disappeared, and I could see no trace of him. Soon +after I overtook a man who had left the meeting long before me. I +expressed wonder that he had not been farther on, and he explained that +he went a 'round-about' way to avoid passing the old abbey, as he did not +want to see 'The Monk.' On questioning him, he told me that a monk was +often seen in the churchyard." + +A story told of a ghost which haunts a certain spot on an estate near the +city of Waterford, bears a certain resemblance to the last story for the +reason that it was only after the encounter had taken place in both cases +that it was known that anything out of the ordinary had been seen. In the +early eighties of last century ---- Court, near Waterford, was occupied +by Mr. and Mrs. S---- and their family of two young boys and a girl of +twenty-one years of age. Below the house is a marshy glen with a big open +drain cut through it. Late one evening the daughter was out shooting +rabbits near this drain and saw, as she thought, her half-brother +standing by the drain in a sailor suit, which like other small boys he +wore. She called to him once or twice, and to her surprise got no reply. +She went towards him, and when she got close he suddenly disappeared. The +next day she asked an old dependent, who had lived many years in the +place, if there was anything curious about the glen. He replied at once: +"Oh! you mean the little sailor man. Sure, he won't do you any harm." +This was the first she had heard of anything of the sort, but it was then +found that none of the country-people would go through the glen after +dusk. + +Some time afterwards two sons of the clergyman of the parish in +which ---- Court stands were out one evening fishing in the drain, when +one of them suddenly said, "What's that sailor doing there?" The other +saw nothing, and presently the figure vanished. At the time of the +appearance neither had heard of Miss S----'s experience, and no one has +been able to explain it, as there is apparently no tradition of any +"little sailor man" having been there in the flesh. + +Mr. Joseph M'Crossan, a journalist on the staff of the _Strabane +Chronicle_, has sent us a cutting from that paper describing a ghost +which appeared to men working in an engine-house at Strabane railway +station on two successive nights in October 1913. The article depicts +very graphically the antics of the ghost and the fear of the men who saw +it. Mr. M'Crossan interviewed one of these men (Pinkerton by name), and +the story as told in his words is as follows: "Michael Madden, Fred +Oliphant, and I were engaged inside a shed cleaning engines, when, at +half-past twelve (midnight), a knocking came to all the doors, and +continued without interruption, accompanied by unearthly yells. The three +of us went to one of the doors, and saw--I could swear to it without +doubt--the form of a man of heavy build. I thought I was about to faint. +My hair stood high on my head. We all squealed for help, when the +watchman and signalman came fast to our aid. Armed with a crowbar, the +signalman made a dash at the 'spirit,' but was unable to strike down the +ghost, which hovered about our shed till half-past two. It was moonlight, +and we saw it plainly. There was no imagination on our part. We three +cleaners climbed up the engine, and hid on the roof of the engine, lying +there till morning at our wit's end. The next night it came at half-past +one. Oliphant approached the spirit within two yards, but he then +collapsed, the ghost uttering terrible yells. I commenced work, but the +spirit 'gazed' into my face, and I fell forward against the engine. Seven +of us saw the ghost this time. Our clothes and everything in the shed +were tossed and thrown about." + +The other engine-cleaners were interviewed and corroborated Pinkerton's +account. One of them stated that he saw the ghost run up and down a +ladder leading to a water tank and disappear into it, while the signalman +described how he struck at the ghost with a crowbar, but the weapon +seemed to go through it. The spirit finally took his departure through +the window. + +The details of this affair are very much on the lines of the good +old-fashioned ghost yarns. But it is hard to see how so many men could +labour under the same delusion. The suggestion that the whole thing was +a practical joke may also be dismissed, for if the apparition had flesh +and bones the crowbar would have soon proved it. The story goes that a +man was murdered near the spot some time ago; whether there is any +connection between this crime and the apparition it would be hard to say. +However, we are not concerned with explanations (for who, as yet, can +explain the supernatural?); the facts as stated have all the appearance +of truth. + +Mr. Patrick Ryan, of P----, Co. Limerick, gives us two stories as he +heard them related by Mr. Michael O'Dwyer of the same place. The former +is evidently a very strong believer in supernatural phenomena, but he +realises how strong is the unbelief of many, and in support of his +stories he gives names of several persons who will vouch for the truth +of them. With a few alterations, we give the story in his own words: "Mr. +O'Dwyer has related how one night, after he had carried the mails to the +train, he went with some fodder for a heifer in a field close to the +railway station near to which was a creamery. He discovered the animal +grazing near the creamery although how she came to be there was a +mystery, as a broad trench separated it from the rest of the field, +which is only spanned by a plank used by pedestrians when crossing the +field. 'Perhaps,' he said in explanation, 'it was that he _should_ go +there to hear.' It was about a quarter to twelve (midnight), and, having +searched the field in vain, he was returning home, when, as he crossed +the plank, he espied the heifer browsing peacefully in the aforementioned +part of the field which was near the creamery. He gave her the fodder +and--Heavens! was he suffering from delusions? Surely his ears were not +deceiving him--from the creamery funnel there arose a dense volume of +smoke mingled with the sharp hissing of steam and the rattling of cans, +all as if the creamery were working, and it were broad daylight. His +heifer became startled and bellowed frantically. O'Dwyer, himself a man +of nerves, yet possessing all the superstitions of the Celt, was startled +and ran without ceasing to his home near by, where he went quickly to +bed. + +"O'Dwyer is not the only one who has seen this, as I have been told by +several of my friends how they heard it. Who knows the mystery +surrounding this affair!" + +The second story relates to a certain railway station in the south of +Ireland; again we use Mr. Ryan's own words: "A near relative of mine" (he +writes) "once had occasion to go to the mail train to meet a friend. +While sitting talking to O'Dwyer, whom he met on the platform, he heard +talking going on in the waiting-room. O'Dwyer heard it also, and they +went to the door, but saw nothing save for the light of a waning moon +which filtered in through the window. Uncertain, they struck matches, but +saw nothing. Again they sat outside, and again they heard the talking, +and this time they did not go to look, for they knew about it. In the +memory of the writer a certain unfortunate person committed suicide on +the railway, and was carried to the waiting-room pending an inquest. He +lay all night there till the inquest was held next day. 'Let us not look +further into the matter,' said O'Dwyer, and my relative having +acquiesced, he breathed a shuddering prayer for the repose of the dead." + +The following story, which has been sent as a personal experience by Mr. +William Mackey of Strabane, is similar in many ways to an extraordinary +case of retro-cognitive vision which occurred some years ago to two +English ladies who were paying a visit to Versailles; and who published +their experiences in a book entitled, _An Adventure_ (London, 1911). Mr. +Mackey writes: "It was during the severe winter of the Crimean War, when +indulging in my favourite sport of wild-fowl shooting, that I witnessed +the following strange scene. It was a bitterly cold night towards the end +of November or beginning of December; the silvery moon had sunk in the +west shortly before midnight; the sport had been all that could be +desired, when I began to realise that the blood was frozen in my veins, +and I was on the point of starting for home, when my attention was drawn +to the barking of a dog close by, which was followed in a few seconds by +the loud report of a musket, the echo of which had scarcely died away in +the silent night, when several musket-shots went off in quick succession; +this seemed to be the signal for a regular fusillade of musketry, and it +was quite evident from the nature of the firing that there was attack and +defence. + +"For the life of me I could not understand what it all meant; not being +superstitious I did not for a moment imagine it was supernatural, +notwithstanding that my courageous dog was crouching in abject terror +between my legs; beads of perspiration began to trickle down from my +forehead, when suddenly there arose a flame as if a house were on fire, +but I knew from the position of the blaze (which was only a few hundred +yards from where I stood), that there was no house there, or any +combustible that would burn, and what perplexed me most was to see pieces +of burning thatch and timber sparks fall hissing into the water at my +feet. When the fire seemed at its height the firing appeared to weaken, +and when the clear sound of a bugle floated out on the midnight air, it +suddenly ceased, and I could hear distinctly the sound of cavalry coming +at a canter, their accoutrements jingling quite plainly on the frosty +air; in a very short time they arrived at the scene of the fight. I +thought it an eternity until they took their departure, which they +did at the walk. + +"It is needless to say that, although the scene of this tumult was on my +nearest way home, I did not venture that way, as, although there are many +people who would say that I never knew what fear was, I must confess on +this occasion I was thoroughly frightened. + +"At breakfast I got a good sound rating from my father for staying out so +late. My excuse was that I fell asleep and had a horrible dream, which I +related. When I finished I was told I had been dreaming with my eyes +open!--that I was not the first person who had witnessed this strange +sight. He then told me the following narrative: 'It was towards the end +of the seventeenth century that a widow named Sally Mackey and her three +sons lived on the outskirts of the little settlement of the Mackeys. A +warrant was issued by the Government against the three sons for high +treason, the warrant being delivered for execution to the officer in +command of the infantry regiment stationed at Lifford. A company was told +off for the purpose of effecting the arrest, and the troops set out from +Lifford at 11 P.M. + +"'The cottage home of the Mackeys was approached by a bridle-path, +leading from the main road to Derry, which only permitted the military to +approach in single file; they arrived there at midnight, and the first +intimation the inmates had of danger was the barking, and then the +shooting, of the collie dog. Possessing as they did several stand of +arms, they opened fire on the soldiers as they came in view and killed +and wounded several; it was the mother, Sally Mackey, who did the +shooting, the sons loading the muskets. Whether the cottage went on fire +by accident or design was never known; it was only when the firing from +the cottage ceased and the door was forced open that the officer in +command rushed in and brought out the prostrate form of the lady, who was +severely wounded and burned. All the sons perished, but the soldiers +suffered severely, a good many being killed and wounded. + +"'The firing was heard by the sentries at Lifford, and a troop of cavalry +was despatched to the scene of conflict, but only arrived in time to see +the heroine dragged from the burning cottage. She had not, however, been +fatally wounded, and lived for many years afterwards with a kinsmen. My +father remembered conversing with old men, when he was a boy, who +remembered her well. She seemed to take a delight in narrating incidents +of the fight to those who came to visit her, and would always finish up +by making them feel the pellets between the skin and her ribs.'" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +APPARITIONS AT OR AFTER DEATH + + +It has been said by a very eminent literary man that the accounts of the +appearance of people at or shortly after the moment of death make very +dull reading as a general rule. This may be; they are certainly not so +lengthy, or full of detail, as the accounts of haunted houses--nor could +such be expected. In our humble opinion, however, they are full of +interest, and open up problems of telepathy and thought-transference to +which the solutions may not be found for years to come. That people have +seen the image of a friend or relative at the moment of dissolution, +sometimes in the ordinary garb of life, sometimes with symbolical +accompaniments, or that they have been made acquainted in some abnormal +manner with the fact that such a one has passed away, seems to be +demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt. But we would hasten to add that +such appearances are not a proof of existence after death, nor can they +be regarded in the light of special interventions of a merciful +Providence. Were they either they would surely occur far oftener. The +question is, Why do they occur at all? As it is, the majority of them +seem to happen for no particular reason, and are often seen by persons +who have little or no connection with the deceased, not by their nearest +and dearest, as one might expect. It is supposed they are _veridical_ +hallucinations, _i.e._ ones which correspond with objective events at a +distance, and are caused by a telepathic impact conveyed from the mind of +an absent agent to the mind of the percipient. + +From their nature they fall under different heads. The majority of them +occur at what may most conveniently be described as the time of death, +though how closely they approximate in reality to the instant of the +Great Change it is impossible to say. So we have divided this chapter +into three groups: + +(1) Appearances at the time of death (as explained above). + +(2) Appearances clearly _after_ the time of death. + +(3) In this third group we hope to give three curious tales of +appearances some time _before_ death. + + +GROUP I + +We commence this group with stories in which the phenomena connected with +the respective deaths were not perceived as representations of the human +form. In the first only sounds were heard. It is sent as a personal +experience by the Archdeacon of Limerick, Very Rev. J. A. Haydn, LL.D. +"In the year 1879 there lived in the picturesque village of Adare, at a +distance of about eight or nine miles from my residence, a District +Inspector named ----, with whom I enjoyed a friendship of the most +intimate and fraternal kind. At the time I write of, Mrs. ---- was +expecting the arrival of their third child. She was a particularly tiny +and fragile woman, and much anxiety was felt as to the result of the +impending event. He and she had very frequently spent pleasant days +at my house, with all the apartments of which they were thoroughly +acquainted--a fact of importance in this narrative. + +"On Wednesday, October 17, 1879, I had a very jubilant letter from my +friend, announcing that the expected event had successfully happened on +the previous day, and that all was progressing satisfactorily. On the +night of the following Wednesday, October 22, I retired to bed at about +ten o'clock. My wife, the children, and two maid-servants were all +sleeping upstairs, and I had a small bed in my study, which was on the +ground floor. The house was shrouded in darkness, and the only sound that +broke the silence was the ticking of the hall-clock. + +"I was quietly preparing to go to sleep, when I was much surprised at +hearing, with the most unquestionable distinctness, the sound of light, +hurried footsteps, exactly suggestive of those of an active, restless +young female, coming in from the hall door and traversing the hall. They +then, apparently with some hesitation, followed the passage leading to +the study door, on arriving at which they stopped. I then heard the sound +of a light, agitated hand apparently searching for the handle of the +door. By this time, being quite sure that my wife had come down and +wanted to speak to me, I sat up in bed, and called to her by name, asking +what was the matter. As there was no reply, and the sounds had ceased, I +struck a match, lighted a candle, and opened the door. No one was visible +or audible. I went upstairs, found all the doors shut and everyone +asleep. Greatly puzzled, I returned to the study and went to bed, leaving +the candle alight. Immediately the whole performance was circumstantially +repeated, but _this_ time the handle of the door was grasped by the +invisible hand, and _partly_ turned, then relinquished. I started out of +bed and renewed my previous search, with equally futile results. The +clock struck eleven, and from that time all disturbances ceased. + +"On Friday morning I received a letter stating that Mrs. ---- had died at +about midnight on the previous Wednesday. I hastened off to Adare and had +an interview with my bereaved friend. With one item of our conversation I +will close. He told me that his wife sank rapidly on Wednesday, until +when night came on she became delirious. She spoke incoherently, as if +revisiting scenes and places once familiar. 'She thought she was in +_your_ house,' he said, 'and was apparently holding a conversation with +_you_, as she used to keep silence at intervals as if listening to your +replies.' I asked him if he could possibly remember the hour at which +the imaginary conversation took place. He replied that, curiously enough, +he could tell it accurately, as he had looked at his watch, and found the +time between half-past ten and eleven o'clock--the exact time of the +mysterious manifestations heard by me." + +A lady sends the following personal experience: "I had a cousin in the +country who was not very strong, and on one occasion she desired me to go +to her, and accompany her to K----. I consented to do so, and arranged a +day to go and meet her: this was in the month of February. The evening +before I was to go, I was sitting by the fire in my small parlour about +5 P.M. There was no light in the room except what proceeded from the +fire. Beside the fireplace was an armchair, where my cousin usually sat +when she was with me. Suddenly that chair was illuminated by a light +so intensely bright that it actually seemed to _heave_ under it, though +the remainder of the room remained in semi-darkness. I called out in +amazement, 'What has happened to the chair?' In a moment the light +vanished, and the chair was as before. In the morning I heard that my +cousin had died about the same time that I saw the light." + +We now come to the ordinary type, _i.e._ where a figure appears. The +following tale illustrates a point we have already alluded to, namely, +that the apparition is sometimes seen by a disinterested person, and +_not_ by those whom one would naturally expect should see it. A lady +writes as follows: "At Island Magee is the Knowehead Lonan, a long, +hilly, narrow road, bordered on either side by high thorn-hedges and +fields. Twenty years ago, when I was a young girl, I used to go to the +post-office at the Knowehead on Sunday mornings down the Lonan, taking +the dogs for the run. One Sunday as I had got to the top of the hill +on my return journey, I looked back, and saw a man walking rapidly after +me, but still a good way off. I hastened my steps, for the day was muddy, +and I did not want him to see me in a bedraggled state. But he seemed to +come on so fast as to be soon close behind me, and I wondered he did not +pass me, so on we went, I never turning to look back. About a quarter of +a mile farther on I met A. B. on 'Dick's Brae,' on her way to church or +Sunday school, and stopped to speak to her. I wanted to ask who the man +was, but he seemed to be so close that I did not like to do so, and +expected he had passed. When I moved on, I was surprised to find he was +still following me, while my dogs were lagging behind with downcast heads +and drooping tails. + +"I then passed a cottage where C. D. was out feeding her fowls. I spoke +to her, and then feeling that there was no longer anyone behind, looked +back, and saw the man standing with her. I would not have paid any +attention to the matter had not A. B. been down at our house that +afternoon, and I casually asked her: + +"'Who was the man who was just behind me when I met you on Dick's Brae?' + +"'What man?' said she; and noting my look of utter astonishment, added, +'I give you my word I never met a soul but yourself from the time I left +home till I went down to Knowehead Lonan.' + +"Next day C. D. came to work for us, and I asked her who was the man who +was standing beside her after I passed her on Sunday. + +"'Naebody!' she replied,' I saw naebody but yoursel'.' + +"It all seemed very strange, and so they thought too. About three weeks +later news came that C. D.'s only brother, a sailor, was washed overboard +that Sunday morning." + +The following story is not a first-hand experience, but is sent by the +gentleman to whom it was related by the percipient. The latter said to +him: + +"I was sitting in this same chair I am in at present one evening, when I +heard a knock at the front door. I went myself to see who was there, and +on opening the door saw my old friend P. Q. standing outside with his gun +in his hand. I was surprised at seeing him, but asked him to come in and +have something. He came inside the porch into the lamplight, and stood +there for a few moments; then he muttered something about being sorry he +had disturbed me, and that he was on his way to see his brother, Colonel +Q., who lived about a mile farther on. Without any further explanation he +walked away towards the gate into the dusk. + +"I was greatly surprised and perplexed, but as he had gone I sat down +again by the fire. About an hour later another knock came to the door, +and I again went out to see who was there. On opening it I found P. Q.'s +groom holding a horse, and he asked me where he was, as he had missed his +way in the dark, and did not know the locality. I told him, and then +asked him where he was going, and why, and he replied that his master was +dead (at his own house about nine miles away), and that he had been sent +to announce the news to Colonel Q." + +Miss Grene, of Grene Park, Co. Tipperary, relates a story which was told +her by the late Miss ----, sister of a former Dean of Cashel. The latter, +an old lady, stated that one time she was staying with a friend in a +house in the suburbs of Dublin. In front of the house was the usual grass +plot, divided into two by a short gravel path which led down to a gate +which opened on to the street. She and her friend were one day engaged in +needlework in one of the front rooms, when they heard the gate opening, +and on looking out the window they saw an elderly gentleman of their +acquaintance coming up the path. As he approached the door both +exclaimed: "Oh, how good of him to come and see us!" As he was not shown +into the sitting-room, one of them rang the bell, and said to the maid +when she appeared, "You have not let Mr. So-and-so in; he is at the door +for some little time." The maid went to the hall door, and returned to +say that there was no one there. Next day they learnt that he had died +just at the hour that they had seen him coming up the path. + +The following tale contains a curious point. A good many years ago the +Rev. Henry Morton, now dead, held a curacy in Ireland. He had to pass +through the graveyard when leaving his house to visit the parishioners. +One beautiful moonlight night he was sent for to visit a sick person, and +was accompanied by his brother, a medical man, who was staying with him. +After performing the religious duty they returned through the churchyard, +and were chatting about various matters when to their astonishment a +figure passed them, both seeing it. This figure left the path, and went +in among the gravestones, and then disappeared. They could not understand +this at all, so they went to the spot where the disappearance took place, +but, needless to say, could find nobody after the most careful search. +Next morning they heard that the person visited had died just after their +departure, while the most marvellous thing of all was that the burial +took place at the very spot where they had seen the phantom disappear. + +The Rev. D. B. Knox communicates the following: In a girls' +boarding-school several years ago two of the boarders were sleeping +in a large double-bedded room with two doors. About two o'clock in the +morning the girls were awakened by the entrance of a tall figure in +clerical attire, the face of which they did not see. They screamed in +fright, but the figure moved in a slow and stately manner past their +beds, and out the other door. It also appeared to one or two of the other +boarders, and seemed to be looking for some one. At length it reached the +bed of one who was evidently known to it. The girl woke up and recognised +her father. He did not speak, but gazed for a few moments at his +daughter, and then vanished. Next morning a telegram was handed to her +which communicated the sad news that her father had died on the previous +evening at the hour when he appeared to her. + +Here is a story of a very old type. It occurred a good many years ago. A +gentleman named Miller resided in Co. Wexford, while his friend and +former schoolfellow lived in the North of Ireland. This long friendship +led them to visit at each other's houses from time to time, but for Mr. +Miller there was a deep shadow of sorrow over these otherwise happy +moments, for, while he enjoyed the most enlightened religious opinions, +his friend was an unbeliever. The last time they were together Mr. Scott +said, "My dear friend, let us solemnly promise that whichever of us shall +die first shall appear to the other after death, if it be possible." "Let +it be so, if God will," replied Mr. Miller. One morning some time after, +about three o'clock, the latter was awakened by a brilliant light in his +bedroom; he imagined that the house must be on fire, when he felt what +seemed to be a hand laid on him, and heard his friend's voice say +distinctly, "There is a God, just but terrible in His judgments," and all +again was dark. Mr. Miller at once wrote down this remarkable experience. +Two days later he received a letter announcing Mr. Scott's death on the +night, and at the hour, that he had seen the light in his room. + +The above leads us on to the famous "Beresford Ghost," which is generally +regarded as holding the same position relative to Irish ghosts that Dame +Alice Kyteler used to hold with respect to Irish witches and wizards. The +story is so well known, and has been published so often, that only a +brief allusion is necessary, with the added information that the best +version is to be found in Andrew Lang's _Dreams and Ghosts_, chapter +viii. (Silver Library Edition). Lord Tyrone appeared after death one +night to Lady Beresford at Gill Hall, in accordance with a promise (as in +the last story) made in early life. He assured her that the religion as +revealed by Jesus Christ was the only true one (both he and Lady +Beresford had been brought up Deists), told her that she was _enceinte_ +and would bear a son, and also foretold her second marriage, and the time +of her death. In proof whereof he drew the bed-hangings through an iron +hook, wrote his name in her pocket-book, and finally placed a hand cold +as marble on her wrist, at which the sinews shrunk up. To the day of her +death Lady Beresford wore a black ribbon round her wrist; this was taken +off before her burial, and it was found the nerves were withered, and the +sinews shrunken, as she had previously described to her children. + + +GROUP II + +We now come to some stories of apparitions seen some time after the hour +of death. Canon Ross-Lewin, of Limerick, furnishes the following incident +in his own family. "My uncle, John Dillon Ross-Lewin, lieutenant in the +30th Regiment, was mortally wounded at Inkerman on November 5, 1854, and +died on the morning of the 6th. He appeared that night to his mother, who +was then on a visit in Co. Limerick, intimating his death, and indicating +where the wound was. The strangest part of the occurrence is, that when +news came later on of the casualties at Inkerman, the first account as to +the wound did _not_ correspond with what the apparition indicated to his +mother, but the final account did. Mrs. Ross-Lewin was devoted to her +son, and he was equally attached to her; she, as the widow of a field +officer who fought at Waterloo, would be able to comprehend the battle +scene, and her mind at the time was centred on the events of the Crimean +War." + +A clergyman, who desires that all names be suppressed, sends the +following: "In my wife's father's house a number of female servants were +kept, of whom my wife, before she was married, was in charge. On one +occasion the cook took ill with appendicitis, and was operated on in the +Infirmary, where I attended her as hospital chaplain. She died, however, +and was buried by her friends. Some days after the funeral my wife was +standing at a table in the kitchen which was so placed that any person +standing at it could see into the passage outside the kitchen, if the +door happened to be open. [The narrator enclosed a rough plan which made +the whole story perfectly clear.] She was standing one day by herself at +the table, and the door was open. This was in broad daylight, about +eleven o'clock in the morning in the end of February or beginning of +March. She was icing a cake, and therefore was hardly thinking of ghosts. +Suddenly she looked up from her work, and glanced through the open +kitchen door into the passage leading past the servants' parlour into the +dairy. She saw quite distinctly the figure of the deceased cook pass +towards the dairy; she was dressed in the ordinary costume she used to +wear in the mornings, and seemed in every respect quite normal. My wife +was not, at the moment, in the least shocked or surprised, but on the +contrary she followed, and searched in the dairy, into which she was just +in time to see her skirts disappearing. Needless to say, nothing was +visible." + +Canon Courtenay Moore, M.A., Rector of Mitchelstown, contributes a +personal experience. "It was about eighteen years ago--I cannot fix the +exact date--that Samuel Penrose returned to this parish from the +Argentine. He was getting on so well abroad that he would have remained +there, but his wife fell ill, and for her sake he returned to Ireland. He +was a carpenter by trade, and his former employer was glad to take him +into his service again. Sam was a very respectable man of sincere +religious feelings. Soon after his return he met with one or two rather +severe accidents, and had a strong impression that a fatal one would +happen him before long; and so it came to pass. A scaffolding gave way +one day, and precipitated him on to a flagged stone floor. He did not die +immediately, but his injuries proved fatal. He died in a Cork hospital +soon after his admission: I went to Cork to officiate at his funeral. +About noon the next day I was standing at my hall door, and the form of +poor Sam, the upper half of it, seemed to pass before me. He looked +peaceful and happy--it was a momentary vision, but perfectly distinct. +The truncated appearance puzzled me very much, until some time after I +read a large book by F.W.H. Myers, in which he made a scientific analysis +and induction of such phenomena, and said that they were almost +universally seen in this half-length form. I do not profess to explain +what I saw: its message, if it had a message, seemed to be that poor Sam +was at last at rest and in peace." + +A story somewhat similar to the above was related to us, in which the +apparition seems certainly to have been sent with a definite purpose. Two +maiden ladies, whom we shall call Miss A. X. and Miss B. Y., lived +together for a good many years. As one would naturally expect, they were +close friends, and had the most intimate relations with each other, both +being extremely religious women. In process of time Miss B. Y. died, and +after death Miss A. X. formed the impression, for some unknown reason, +that all was not well with her friend--that, in fact, her soul was not at +rest. This thought caused her great uneasiness and trouble of mind. One +day she was sitting in her armchair thinking over this, and crying +bitterly. Suddenly she saw in front of her a brilliant light, in the +midst of which was her friend's face, easily recognisable, but +transfigured, and wearing a most beatific expression. She rushed towards +it with her arms outstretched, crying, "Oh! B., why have you come?" At +this the apparition faded away, but ever after Miss A. N. was perfectly +tranquil in mind with respect to her friend's salvation. + +This group may be brought to a conclusion by a story sent by Mr. T. +MacFadden. It is not a personal experience, but happened to his father, +and in an accompanying letter he states that he often heard the latter +describe the incidents related therein, and that he certainly saw the +ghost. + +"The island of Inishinny, which is the scene of this story, is one of the +most picturesque islands on the Donegal coast. With the islands of Gola +and Inismaan it forms a perfectly natural harbour and safe anchorage for +ships during storms. About Christmas some forty or fifty years ago a +small sailing-ship put into Gola Roads (as this anchorage is called) +during a prolonged storm, and the captain and two men had to obtain +provisions from Bunbeg, as, owing to their being detained so long, their +supply was almost exhausted. They had previously visited the island on +several occasions, and made themselves at home with the people from the +mainland who were temporarily resident upon it. + +"The old bar at its best was never very safe for navigation, and this +evening it was in its element, as with every storm it presented one +boiling, seething mass of foam. The inhabitants of the island saw the +frail small boat from the ship securely inside the bar, and prophesied +some dire calamity should the captain and the two sailors venture to +return to the ship that night. But the captain and his companions, having +secured sufficient provisions, decided (as far as I can remember the +story), even in spite of the entreaties of those on shore, to return to +the ship. The storm was increasing, and what with their scanty knowledge +of the intricacies of the channel, and the darkness of the night, certain +it was the next morning their craft was found washed ashore on the +island, and the body of the captain was discovered by the first man who +made the round of the shore looking for logs of timber, or other useful +articles washed ashore from wrecks. The bodies of the two sailors were +never recovered, and word was sent immediately to the captain's wife in +Derry, who came in a few days and gave directions for the disposal of her +husband's corpse. + +"The island was only temporarily inhabited by a few people who had cattle +and horses grazing there for some weeks in the year, and after this +catastrophe they felt peculiarly lonely, and sought refuge from their +thoughts by all spending the evening together in one house. This +particular evening they were all seated round the fire having a chat, +when they heard steps approaching the door. Though the approach was +fine, soft sand, yet the steps were audible as if coming on hard ground. +They knew there was no one on the island save the few who were sitting +quietly round the fire, and so in eager expectation they faced round to +the door. What was their _amazement_ when the door opened, and a tall, +broad-shouldered man appeared and filled the whole doorway--and that man +the captain who had been buried several days previously. He wore the +identical suit in which he had often visited the island and even the +"cheese-cutter" cap, so common a feature of sea-faring men's apparel, was +not wanting. All were struck dumb with terror, and a woman who sat in a +corner opposite the door, exclaimed in Irish in a low voice to my father: + +"'O God! Patrick, there's the captain.' + +"My father, recovering from the first shock, when he saw feminine courage +finding expression in words, said in Irish to the apparition: + +"'Come in!' + +"They were so certain of the appearance that they addressed him in his +own language, as they invariably talked Irish in the district in those +days. But no sooner had he uttered the invitation than the figure, +without the least word or sign, moved back, and disappeared from their +view. They rushed out, but could discover no sign of any living +person within the confines of the island. Such is the true account of an +accident, by which three men lost their lives, and the ghostly sequel, in +which one of them appeared to the eyes of four people, two of whom are +yet alive, and can vouch for the accuracy of this narrative." + + +GROUP III + +We now come to the third group of this chapter, in which we shall relate +two first-hand experiences of tragedies being actually witnessed some +time before they happened, as well as a reliable second-hand story of an +apparition being seen two days before the death occurred. The first of +these is sent by a lady, the percipient, who desires that her name be +suppressed; with it was enclosed a letter from a gentleman who stated +that he could testify to the truth of the following facts: + +"The morning of May 18, 1902, was one of the worst that ever dawned in +Killarney. All through the day a fierce nor'-wester raged, and huge +white-crested waves, known locally as 'The O'Donoghue's white horses,' +beat on the shores of Lough Leane. Then followed hail-showers such as I +have never seen before or since. Hailstones quite as large as small +marbles fell with such rapidity, and seemed so hard that the glass in the +windows of the room in which I stood appeared to be about to break into +fragments every moment. I remained at the window, gazing out on the +turbulent waters of the lake. Sometimes a regular fog appeared, caused by +the terrible downpour of rain and the fury of the gale. + +"During an occasional lull I could see the islands plainly looming in the +distance. In one of these clear intervals, the time being about 12.30 +P.M., five friends of mine were reading in the room in which I stood. +'Quick! quick!' I cried. 'Is that a boat turned over?' My friends all ran +to the windows, but could see nothing. I persisted, however, and said, +'It is on its side, with the keel turned towards us, and it is empty.' +Still none of my friends could see anything. I then ran out, and got one +of the men-servants to go down to a gate, about one hundred yards nearer +the lake than where I stood. He had a powerful telescope, and remained +with great difficulty in the teeth of the storm with his glass for +several minutes, but could see nothing. When he returned another man took +his place, but he also failed to see anything. + +"I seemed so distressed that those around me kept going backwards and +forwards to the windows, and then asked me what was the size of the boat +I had seen. I gave them the exact size, measuring by landmarks. They then +assured me that I must be absolutely wrong, as it was on rare occasions +that a 'party' boat, such as the one I described, could venture on the +lakes on such a day. Therefore there were seven persons who thought I was +wrong in what I had seen. I still contended that I saw the boat, the +length of which I described, as plainly as possible. + +"The day wore on, and evening came. The incident was apparently more or +less forgotten by all but me, until at 8 A.M. on the following morning, +when the maid brought up tea, her first words were, 'Ah, miss, is it not +terrible about the accident!' Naturally I said, 'What accident, Mary?' +She replied, 'There were thirteen people drowned yesterday evening out of +a four-oared boat.' That proved that the boat I had seen at 12.30 P.M. +was a vision foreshadowing the wreck of the boat off Darby's Garden at +5.30 P.M. The position, shape, and size of the boat seen by me were +identical with the one that was lost on the evening of May 18, 1902." + +The second story relates how a lady witnessed a vision (shall we call it) +of a suicide a week before the terrible deed was committed. This incident +surely makes it clear that such cannot be looked upon as special +interventions of Providence, for if the lady had recognised the man, she +might have prevented his rash act. Mrs. MacAlpine says: "In June 1889, I +drove to Castleblaney, in Co. Monaghan, to meet my sister: I expected her +at three o'clock, but as she did not come by that train, I put up the +horse and went for a walk in the demesne. At length becoming tired, I sat +down on a rock by the edge of a lake. My attention was quite taken up +with the beauty of the scene before me, as it was a glorious summer's +day. Presently I felt a cold chill creep through me, and a curious +stiffness came over my limbs, as if I could not move, though wishing to +do so. I felt frightened, yet chained to the spot, and as if impelled to +stare at the water straight before me. Gradually a black cloud seemed +to rise, and in the midst of it I saw a tall man, in a tweed suit, jump +into the water, and sink. In a moment the darkness was gone, and I again +became sensible of the heat and sunshine, but I was awed, and felt eerie. +This happened about June 25, and on July 3 a Mr.----, a bank clerk, +committed suicide by drowning himself in the lake.[8]" + +[Footnote 8: _Proceedings S.P.R._, x. 332.] + +The following incident occurred in the United States, but, as it is +closely connected with this country, it will not seem out of place to +insert it here. It is sent by Mr. Richard Hogan as the personal +experience of his sister, Mrs. Mary Murnane, and is given in her own +words. + +"On the 4th of August 1886, at 10.30 o'clock in the morning, I left my +own house, 21 Montrose St., Philadelphia, to do some shopping. I had not +proceeded more than fifty yards when on turning the corner of the street +I observed my aunt approaching me within five or six yards. I was greatly +astonished, for the last letter I had from home (Limerick) stated that +she was dying of consumption, but the thought occurred to me that she +might have recovered somewhat, and come out to Philadelphia. This opinion +was quickly changed as we approached each other, for our eyes met, and +she had the colour of one who had risen from the grave. I seemed to feel +my hair stand on end, for just as we were about to pass each other she +turned her face towards me, and I gasped, 'My God, she is dead, and is +going to speak to me!' but no word was spoken, and she passed on. After +proceeding a short distance I looked back, and she continued on to +Washington Avenue, where she disappeared from me. There was no other +person near at the time, and being so close, I was well able to note what +she wore. She held a sunshade over her head, and the clothes, hat, etc., +were those I knew so well before I left Ireland. I wrote home telling +what I had seen, and asking if she was dead. I received a reply saying +she was not dead at the date I saw her, but had been asking if a letter +had come from me for some days before her death. It was just two days +before she actually died that I had seen her." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +BANSHEES, AND OTHER DEATH-WARNINGS + + +Of all Irish ghosts, fairies, or bogles, the Banshee (sometimes called +locally the "Boh[-e][-e]ntha" or "Bank[-e][-e]ntha") is the best known to +the general public: indeed, cross-Channel visitors would class her with +pigs, potatoes, and other fauna and flora of Ireland, and would expect +her to make manifest her presence to them as being one of the sights of +the country. She is a spirit with a lengthy pedigree--how lengthy no man +can say, as its roots go back into the dim, mysterious past. The most +famous Banshee of ancient times was that attached to the kingly house of +O'Brien, Aibhill, who haunted the rock of Craglea above Killaloe, near +the old palace of Kincora. In A.D. 1014 was fought the battle of +Clontarf, from which the aged king, Brian Boru, knew that he would never +come away alive, for the previous night Aibhill had appeared to him to +tell him of his impending fate. The Banshee's method of foretelling death +in olden times differed from that adopted by her at the present day: now +she wails and wrings her hands, as a general rule, but in the old Irish +tales she is to be found washing human heads and limbs, or bloodstained +clothes, till the water is all dyed with human blood--this would take +place before a battle. So it would seem that in the course of centuries +her attributes and characteristics have changed somewhat. + +Very different descriptions are given of her personal appearance. +Sometimes she is young and beautiful, sometimes old and of a fearsome +appearance. One writer describes her as "a tall, thin woman with +uncovered head, and long hair that floated round her shoulders, attired +in something which seemed either a loose white cloak, or a sheet thrown +hastily around her, uttering piercing cries." Another person, a coachman, +saw her one evening sitting on a stile in the yard; she seemed to be a +very small woman, with blue eyes, long light hair, and wearing a red +cloak. Other descriptions will be found in this chapter. By the way, it +does not seem to be true that the Banshee exclusively follows families of +Irish descent, for the last incident had reference to the death of a +member of a Co. Galway family English by name and origin. + +One of the oldest and best-known Banshee stories is that related in the +_Memoirs_ of Lady Fanshaw.[9] In 1642 her husband, Sir Richard, and she +chanced to visit a friend, the head of an Irish sept, who resided in his +ancient baronial castle, surrounded with a moat. At midnight she was +awakened by a ghastly and supernatural scream, and looking out of bed, +beheld in the moonlight a female face and part of the form hovering at +the window. The distance from the ground, as well as the circumstance +of the moat, excluded the possibility that what she beheld was of this +world. The face was that of a young and rather handsome woman, but pale, +and the hair, which was reddish, was loose and dishevelled. The dress, +which Lady Fanshaw's terror did not prevent her remarking accurately, +was that of the ancient Irish. This apparition continued to exhibit +itself for some time, and then vanished with two shrieks similar to that +which had first excited Lady Fanshaw's attention. In the morning, with +infinite terror, she communicated to her host what she had witnessed, +and found him prepared not only to credit, but to account for the +superstition. "A near relation of my family," said he, "expired last +night in this castle. We disguised our certain expectation of the event +from you, lest it should throw a cloud over the cheerful reception which +was your due. Now, before such an event happens in this family or castle, +the female spectre whom you have seen is always visible. She is believed +to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my ancestors +degraded himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate the +dishonour done to his family, he caused to be drowned in the moat." In +strictness this woman could hardly be termed a Banshee. The motive for +the haunting is akin to that in the tale of the Scotch "Drummer of +Cortachy," where the spirit of the murdered man haunts the family out of +revenge, and appears before a death. + +[Footnote 9: Scott's _Lady of the Lake_, notes to Canto III (edition of +1811).] + +Mr. T.J. Westropp, M.A., has furnished the following story: "My maternal +grandmother heard the following tradition from her mother, one of the +Miss Ross-Lewins, who witnessed the occurrence. Their father, Mr. +Harrison Ross-Lewin, was away in Dublin on law business, and in his +absence the young people went off to spend the evening with a friend who +lived some miles away. The night was fine and lightsome as they were +returning, save at one point where the road ran between trees or high +hedges not far to the west of the old church of Kilchrist. The latter, +like many similar ruins, was a simple oblong building, with long +side-walls and high gables, and at that time it and its graveyard were +unenclosed, and lay in the open fields. As the party passed down the long +dark lane they suddenly heard in the distance loud keening and clapping +of hands, as the country-people were accustomed to do when lamenting +the dead. The Ross-Lewins hurried on, and came in sight of the church, on +the side wall of which a little gray-haired old woman, clad in a dark +cloak, was running to and fro, chanting and wailing, and throwing up her +arms. The girls were very frightened, but the young men ran forward and +surrounded the ruin, and two of them went into the church, the apparition +vanishing from the wall as they did so. They searched every nook, and +found no one, nor did anyone pass out. All were now well scared, and got +home as fast as possible. On reaching their home their mother opened the +door, and at once told them that she was in terror about their father, +for, as she sat looking out the window in the moonlight, a huge raven +with fiery eyes lit on the sill, and tapped three times on the glass. +They told her their story, which only added to their anxiety, and as they +stood talking, taps came to the nearest window, and they saw the +bird again. A few days later news reached them that Mr. Ross-Lewin had +died suddenly in Dublin. This occurred about 1776." + +Mr. Westropp also writes that the sister of a former Roman Catholic +Bishop told his sisters that when she was a little girl she went out one +evening with some other children for a walk. Going down the road, they +passed the gate of the principal demesne near the town. There was a rock, +or large stone, beside the road, on which they saw something. Going +nearer, they perceived it to be a little dark, old woman, who began +crying and clapping her hands. Some of them attempted to speak to her, +but got frightened, and all finally ran home as quickly as they could. +Next day the news came that the gentleman, near whose gate the Banshee +had cried, was dead, and it was found on inquiry that he had died at the +very hour at which the children had seen the spectre. + +A lady who is a relation of one of the compilers, and a member of a Co. +Cork family of English descent, sends the two following experiences of a +Banshee in her family. "My mother, when a young girl, was standing +looking out of the window in their house at Blackrock, near Cork. She +suddenly saw a white figure standing on a bridge which was easily visible +from the house. The figure waved her arms towards the house, and my +mother heard the bitter wailing of the Banshee. It lasted some seconds, +and then the figure disappeared. Next morning my grandfather was walking +as usual into the city of Cork. He accidentally fell, hit his head +against the curbstone, and never recovered consciousness. + +"In March 1900, my mother was very ill, and one evening the nurse and I +were with her arranging her bed. We suddenly heard the most extraordinary +wailing, which seemed to come in waves round and under her bed. We +naturally looked everywhere to try and find the cause, but in vain. The +nurse and I looked at one another, but made no remark, as my mother did +not seem to hear it. My sister was downstairs sitting with my father. She +heard it, and thought some terrible thing had happened to her little boy, +who was in bed upstairs. She rushed up, and found him sleeping quietly. +My father did not hear it. In the house next door they heard it, and ran +downstairs, thinking something had happened to the servant; but the +latter at once said to them, 'Did you hear the Banshee? Mrs. P---- must +be dying.'" + +A few years ago (_i.e._ before 1894) a curious incident occurred in a +public school in connection with the belief in the Banshee. One of the +boys, happening to become ill, was at once placed in a room by himself, +where he used to sit all day. On one occasion, as he was being visited by +the doctor, he suddenly started up from his seat, and affirmed that he +heard somebody crying. The doctor, of course, who could hear or see +nothing, came to the conclusion that the illness had slightly affected +his brain. However, the boy, who appeared quite sensible, still persisted +that he heard someone crying, and furthermore said, "It is the Banshee, +as I have heard it before." The following morning the head-master +received a telegram saying that the boy's brother had been accidentally +shot dead.[10] + +[Footnote 10: A.G. Bradley, _Notes on some Irish Superstitions_, p. 9.] + +That the Banshee is not confined within the geographical limits of +Ireland, but that she can follow the fortunes of a family abroad, and +there foretell their death, is clearly shewn by the following story. A +party of visitors were gathered together on the deck of a private yacht +on one of the Italian lakes, and during a lull in the conversation one of +them, a Colonel, said to the owner, "Count, who's that queer-looking +woman you have on board?" The Count replied that there was nobody except +the ladies present, and the stewardess, but the speaker protested that he +was correct, and suddenly, with a scream of horror, he placed his hands +before his eyes, and exclaimed, "Oh, my God, what a face!" For some +time he was overcome with terror, and at length reluctantly looked up, +and cried: + +"Thank Heavens, it's gone!" + +"What was it?" asked the Count. + +"Nothing human," replied the Colonel--"nothing belonging to this world. +It was a woman of no earthly type, with a queer-shaped, gleaming face, a +mass of red hair, and eyes that would have been beautiful but for their +expression, which was hellish. She had on a green hood, after the fashion +of an Irish peasant." + +An American lady present suggested that the description tallied with that +of the Banshee, upon which the Count said: + +"I am an O'Neill--at least I am descended from one. My family name is, as +you know, Neilsini, which, little more than a century ago, was O'Neill. +My great-grandfather served in the Irish Brigade, and on its dissolution +at the time of the French Revolution had the good fortune to escape the +general massacre of officers, and in company with an O'Brien and a +Maguire fled across the frontier and settled in Italy. On his death his +son, who had been born in Italy, and was far more Italian than Irish, +changed his name to Neilsini, by which name the family has been known +ever since. But for all that we are Irish." + +"The Banshee was yours, then!" ejaculated the Colonel. "What exactly does +it mean?" + +"It means," the Count replied solemnly, "the death of some one very +nearly associated with me. Pray Heaven it is not my wife or daughter." + +On that score, however, his anxiety was speedily removed, for within two +hours he was seized with a violent attack of angina pectoris, and died +before morning.[11] + +[Footnote 11: _Occult Review_ for September, 1913.] + +Mr. Elliott O'Donnell, to whose article on "Banshees" we are indebted for +the above, adds: "The Banshee never manifests itself to the person whose +death it is prognosticating. Other people may see or hear it, but the +fated one never, so that when everyone present is aware of it but one, +the fate of that one may be regarded as pretty well certain." + +We must now pass on from the subject of Banshees to the kindred one of +"Headless Coaches," the belief in which is widespread through the +country. Apparently these dread vehicles must be distinguished from +the phantom coaches, of which numerous circumstantial tales are also +told. The first are harbingers of death, and in this connection are very +often attached to certain families; the latter appear to be spectral +phenomena pure and simple, whose appearance does not necessarily portend +evil or death. + +"At a house in Co. Limerick," writes Mr. T.J. Westropp, "occurred the +remarkably-attested apparition of the headless coach in June 1806, when +Mr. Ralph Westropp, my great-grandfather, lay dying. The story was told +by his sons, John, William, and Ralph, to their respective children, who +told it to me. They had sent for the doctor, and were awaiting his +arrival in the dusk. As they sat on the steps they suddenly heard a heavy +rumbling, and saw a huge dark coach drive into the paved court before +the door. One of them went down to meet the doctor, but the coach swept +past him, and drove down the avenue, which went straight between the +fences and hedges to a gate. Two of the young men ran after the coach, +which they could hear rumbling before them, and suddenly came full tilt +against the avenue gate. The noise had stopped, and they were surprised +at not finding the carriage. The gate proved to be locked, and when they +at last awoke the lodge-keeper, he showed them the keys under +his pillow; the doctor arrived a little later, but could do nothing, and +the sick man died a few hours afterwards." + +Two other good stories come from Co. Clare. One night in April 1821, two +servants were sitting up to receive a son of the family, Cornelius +O'Callaghan, who had travelled in vain for his health, and was returning +home. One of them, Halloran, said that the heavy rumble of a coach roused +them. The other servant, Burke, stood on the top of the long flight of +steps with a lamp, and sent Halloran down to open the carriage door. He +reached out his hand to do so, saw a skeleton looking out, gave one yell, +and fell in a heap. When the badly-scared Burke picked himself up there +was no sign or sound of any coach. A little later the invalid arrived, so +exhausted that he died suddenly in the early morning. + +On the night of December 11, 1876, a servant of the MacNamaras was going +his rounds at Ennistymon, a beautiful spot in a wooded glen, with a broad +stream falling in a series of cascades. In the dark he heard the rumbling +of wheels on the back avenue, and, knowing from the hour and place that +no mortal vehicle could be coming, concluded that it was the death coach, +and ran on, opening the gates before it. He had just time to open the +third gate, and throw himself on his face beside it, when he heard a +coach go clanking past. On the following day Admiral Sir Burton Macnamara +died in London. + +Mr. Westropp informs us that at sight or sound of this coach all gates +should be thrown open, and then it will not stop at the house to call for +a member of the family, but will only foretell the death of some relative +at a distance. We hope our readers will carefully bear in mind this +simple method of averting fate. + +We may conclude this chapter with some account of strange and varied +death-warnings, which are attached to certain families and foretell the +coming of the King of Terrors. + +In a Co. Wicklow family a death is preceded by the appearance of a +spectre; the doors of the sitting-room open and a lady dressed in white +satin walks across the room and hall. Before any member of a certain +Queen's Co. family died a looking-glass was broken; while in a branch of +that family the portent was the opening and shutting of the avenue gate. +In another Queen's Co. family approaching death was heralded by the cry +of the cuckoo, no matter at what season of the year it might occur. A +Mrs. F---- and her son lived near Clonaslee. One day, in mid-winter, +their servant heard a cuckoo; they went out for a drive, the trap jolted +over a stone, throwing Mrs. F---- out, and breaking her neck. The ringing +of all the house-bells is another portent which seems to be attached to +several families. In another the aeolian harp is heard at or before +death; an account of this was given to the present writer by a clergyman, +who declares that he heard it in the middle of the night when one of his +relatives passed away. A death-warning in the shape of a white owl +follows the Westropp family. This last appeared, it is said, before a +death in 1909, but, as Mr. T. J. Westropp remarks, it would be more +convincing if it appeared at places where the white owl does _not_ nest +and fly out every night. No doubt this list might be drawn out to much +greater length. + +A lady correspondent states that her cousin, a Sir Patrick Dun's +nurse, was attending a case in the town of Wicklow. Her patient was +a middle-aged woman, the wife of a well-to-do shopkeeper. One evening the +nurse was at her tea in the dining-room beneath the sick-room, when +suddenly she heard a tremendous crash overhead. Fearing her patient had +fallen out of bed, she hurried upstairs, to find her dozing quietly, and +there was not the least sign of any disturbance. A member of the family, +to whom she related this, told her calmly that that noise was always +heard in their house before the death of any of them, and that it was a +sure sign that the invalid would not recover. Contrary to the nurse's +expectations, she died the following day. + +Knocking on the door is another species of death-warning. The Rev. +D. B. Knox writes: "On the evening before the wife of a clerical friend +of mine died, the knocker of the hall-door was loudly rapped. All in +the room heard it. The door was opened, but there was no one there. +Again the knocker was heard, but no one was to be seen when the door +was again opened. A young man, brother of the dying woman, went into +the drawing-room, and looked through one of the drawing-room windows. +The full light of the moon fell on the door, and as he looked the knocker +was again lifted and loudly rapped." + +The following portent occurs in a Co. Cork family. At one time the lady +of the house lay ill, and her two daughters were aroused one night by +screams proceeding from their mother's room. They rushed in, and found +her sitting up in bed, staring at some object unseen to them, but which, +from the motion of her eyes, appeared to be moving across the floor. When +she became calm she told them, what they had not known before, that +members of the family were sometimes warned of the death, or approaching +death, of some other member by the appearance of a ball of fire, which +would pass slowly through the room; this phenomenon she had just +witnessed. A day or two afterwards the mother heard of the death of her +brother, who lived in the Colonies. + +A strange appearance, known as the "Scanlan Lights," is connected with +the family of Scanlan of Ballyknockane, Co. Limerick, and is seen +frequently at the death of a member. The traditional origin of the lights +is connected with a well-known Irish legend, which we give here briefly. +Scanlan Mor (died A.D. 640), King of Ossory, from whom the family claim +descent, was suspected of disaffection by Aedh mac Ainmire, Ard-Righ of +Ireland, who cast him into prison, and loaded him with fetters. When St. +Columcille attended the Synod of Drom Ceat, he besought Aedh to free his +captive, but the Ard-Righ churlishly refused; whereupon Columcille +declared that he should be freed, and that that very night he should +unloose his (the Saint's) brogues. Columcille went away, and that night a +bright pillar of fire appeared in the air, and hung over the house where +Scanlan was imprisoned. A beam of light darted into the room where he +lay, and a voice called to him, bidding him rise, and shake off his +fetters. In amazement he did so, and was led out past his guards by an +angel. He made his way to Columcille, with whom he was to continue that +night, and as the Saint stooped down to unloose his brogues Scanlan +anticipated him, as he had prophesied.[12] + +[Footnote 12: Canon Carrigan, in his _History of the Diocese of Ossory_ +(I. 32 intro.), shows that this legend should rather be connected +with Scanlan son of Ceannfaeladh.] + +Such appears to be the traditional origin of the "Scanlan lights." Our +correspondent adds: "These are always seen at the demise of a member of +the family. We have ascertained that by the present head of the family +(Scanlan of Ballyknockane) they were seen, first, as a pillar of fire +with radiated crown at the top; and secondly, inside the house, by the +room being lighted up brightly in the night. By other members of the +family now living these lights have been seen in the shape of balls of +fire of various sizes." The above was copied from a private manuscript +written some few years ago. Our correspondent further states: "I also +have met with four persons in this county [Limerick] who have seen the +lights on Knockfierna near Ballyknockane before the death of a Scanlan, +one of the four being the late head of the family and owner, William +Scanlan, J.P., who saw the flames on the hill-side on the day of his +aunt's death some years ago. The last occasion was as late as 1913, on +the eve of the death of a Scanlan related to the present owner of +Ballyknockane." + +In front of the residence of the G---- family in Co. Galway there is, or +formerly was, a round ring of grass surrounded by a low evergreen hedge. +The lady who related this story to our informant stated that one evening +dinner was kept waiting for Mr. G----, who was absent in town on some +business. She went out on the hall-door steps in order to see if the +familiar trot of the carriage horses could be heard coming down the road. +It was a bright moonlight night, and as she stood there she heard a child +crying with a peculiar whining cry, and distinctly saw a small childlike +figure running round and round the grass ring inside the evergreen hedge, +and casting a shadow in the moonlight. Going into the house she casually +mentioned this as a peculiar circumstance to Mrs. G----, upon which, to +her great surprise, that lady nearly fainted, and got into a terrible +state of nervousness. Recovering a little, she told her that this crying +and figure were always heard and seen whenever any member met with an +accident, or before a death. A messenger was immediately sent to meet Mr. +G----, who was found lying senseless on the road, as the horses had taken +fright and bolted, flinging him out, and breaking the carriage-pole. + +But of all the death-warnings in connection with Irish families surely +the strangest is the Gormanstown foxes. The crest of that noble family is +a running fox, while the same animal also forms one of the supporters of +the coat-of-arms. The story is, that when the head of the house is dying +the foxes--not spectral foxes, but creatures of flesh and blood--leave +the coverts and congregate at Gormanstown Castle. + +Let us see what proof there is of this. When Jenico, the 12th Viscount, +was dying in 1860, foxes were seen about the house and moving towards the +house for some days previously. Just before his death three foxes were +playing about and making a noise close to the house, and just in front of +the "cloisters," which are yew-trees planted and trained in that shape. +The Hon. Mrs. Farrell states as regards the same that the foxes came in +pairs into the demesne, and sat under the Viscount's bedroom window, and +barked and howled all night. Next morning they were to be found crouching +about in the grass in front and around the house. They walked through +the poultry and never touched them. After the funeral they disappeared. + +At the death of Edward, the 13th Viscount, in 1876, the foxes were also +there. He had been rather better one day, but the foxes appeared, barking +under the window, and he died that night contrary to expectation. + +On October 28, 1907, Jenico, the 14th Viscount, died in Dublin. About 8 +o'clock that night the coachman and gardener saw two foxes near the +chapel (close to the house), five or six more round the front of the +house, and several crying in the "cloisters." Two days later the Hon. +Richard Preston, R.F.A., was watching by his father's body in the above +chapel. About 3 A.M. he became conscious of a slight noise, which seemed +to be that of a number of people walking stealthily around the chapel on +the gravel walk. He went to the side door, listened, and heard outside +a continuous and insistent snuffling or sniffing noise, accompanied by +whimperings and scratchings at the door. On opening it he saw a +full-grown fox sitting on the path within four feet of him. Just in the +shadow was another, while he could hear several more moving close by in +the darkness. He then went to the end door, opposite the altar, and on +opening it saw two more foxes, one so close that he could have touched it +with his foot. On shutting the door the noise continued till 5 A.M., when +it suddenly ceased.[13] + +[Footnote 13: _New Ireland Review_ for April 1908, by permission of +the publishers, Messrs Sealy Bryers, & Walker.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MISCELLANEOUS SUPERNORMAL EXPERIENCES + + +The matter in this chapter does not seem, strictly speaking, to come +under the head of any of the preceding ones: it contains no account of +houses or places permanently haunted, or of warnings of impending death. +Rather we have gathered up in it a number of tales relative to the +appearance of the "wraiths" of living men, or accounts of visions, +strange apparitions, or extraordinary experiences; some few of these +have a purpose, while the majority are strangely aimless and +purposeless--something is seen or heard, that is all, and no results, +good or bad, follow. + +We commence with one which, however, certainly indicates a purpose which +was fulfilled. It is the experience of Mrs. Seymour, wife to one of the +compilers. When she was a little girl she resided in Dublin; amongst the +members of the family was her paternal grandmother. This old lady was not +as kind as she might have been to her grand-daughter, and consequently +the latter was somewhat afraid of her. In process of time the grandmother +died. Mrs. Seymour, who was then about eight years of age, had to pass +the door of the room where the death occurred in order to reach her own +bedroom, which was a flight higher up. Past this door the child used to +fly in terror with all possible speed. On one occasion, however, as she +was preparing to make the usual rush past, she distinctly felt a hand +placed on her shoulder, and became conscious of a voice saying, "Don't be +afraid, Mary!" From that day on the child never had the least feeling of +fear, and always walked quietly past the door. + +The Rev. D. B. Knox sends a curious personal experience, which was shared +by him with three other people. He writes as follows: "Not very long ago +my wife and I were preparing to retire for the night. A niece, who was in +the house, was in her bedroom and the door was open. The maid had just +gone to her room. All four of us distinctly heard the heavy step of a +man walking along the corridor, apparently in the direction of the +bathroom. We searched the whole house immediately, but no one was +discovered. Nothing untoward happened except the death of the maid's +mother about a fortnight later. It was a detached house, so that the +noise could not have been made by the neighbours." + +In the following tale the "double" or "wraith" of a living man was seen +by three different people, one of whom, our correspondent, saw it through +a telescope. She writes: "In May 1883 the parish of A---- was vacant, so +Mr. D----, the Diocesan Curate, used to come out to take service on +Sundays. One day there were two funerals to be taken, the one at a +graveyard some distance off, the other at A---- churchyard. My brother +was at both, the far-off one being taken the first. The house we then +lived in looked down towards A---- churchyard, which was about a quarter +of a mile away. From an upper window my sister and I saw _two_ surpliced +figures going out to meet the coffin, and said, 'Why, there are two +clergy!' having supposed that there would be only Mr. D----. I, being +short-sighted, used a telescope, and saw the two surplices showing +between the people. But when my brother returned he said, 'A strange +thing has happened. Mr. D---- and Mr. W----(curate of a neighbouring +parish) took the far-off funeral. I saw them both again at A----, but +when I went into the vestry I only saw Mr. W----. I asked where Mr. +D---- was, and he replied that he had left immediately after the first +funeral, as he had to go to Kilkenny, and that he (Mr. W----) had come on +_alone_ to take the funeral at A----.'" + +Here is a curious tale from the city of Limerick of a lady's "double" +being seen, with no consequent results. It is sent by Mr. Richard Hogan +as the personal experience of his sister, Mrs. Mary Murnane. On Saturday, +October 25, 1913, at half-past four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Hogan +left the house in order to purchase some cigarettes. A quarter of an hour +afterwards Mrs. Murnane went down the town to do some business. As she +was walking down George Street she saw a group of four persons standing +on the pavement engaged in conversation. They were: her brother, a Mr. +O'S----, and two ladies, a Miss P. O'D----, and her sister, Miss M. +O'D----. She recognised the latter, as her face was partly turned towards +her, and noted that she was dressed in a knitted coat, and light blue +hat, while in her left hand she held a bag or purse; the other lady's +back was turned towards her. As Mrs. Murnane was in a hurry to get her +business done she determined to pass them by without being noticed, but a +number of people coming in the opposite direction blocked the way, and +compelled her to walk quite close to the group of four; but they were so +intent on listening to what one lady was saying that they took no notice +of her. The speaker appeared to be Miss M. O'D----, and, though Mrs. +Murnane did not actually hear her _speak_ as she passed her, yet from +their attitudes the other three seemed to be listening to what she was +saying, and she heard her _laugh_ when right behind her--not the laugh of +her sister P.--and the laugh was repeated after she had left the group a +little behind. + +So far there is nothing out of the common. When Mrs. Murnane returned to +her house about an hour later she found her brother Richard there before +her. She casually mentioned to him how she had passed him and his three +companions on the pavement. To which he replied that she was quite +correct except in one point, namely that there were only _three_ in the +group, as M. O'D---- _was not present_ as she had not come to Limerick at +all that day. She then described to him the exact position each one of +the four occupied, and the clothes worn by them; to all of which facts he +assented, except as to the presence of Miss M. O'D----. Mrs. Murnane +adds, "That is all I can say in the matter, but most certainly the fourth +person was in the group, as I both saw and heard her. She wore the same +clothes I had seen on her previously, with the exception of the hat; +but the following Saturday she had on the same coloured hat I had seen on +her the previous Saturday. When I told her about it she was as much +mystified as I was and am. My brother stated that there was no laugh from +any of the three present." + +Mrs. G. Kelly sends an experience of a "wraith," which seems in some +mysterious way to have been conjured up in her mind by the description +she had heard, and then externalised. She writes: "About four years ago a +musical friend of ours was staying in the house. He and my husband +were playing and singing Dvorak's _Spectre's Bride_, a work which he had +studied with the composer himself. This music appealed very much to both, +and they were excited and enthusiastic over it. Our friend was giving +many personal reminiscences of Dvorak, and his method of explaining the +way he wanted his work done. I was sitting by, an interested listener, +for some time. On getting up at last, and going into the drawing-room, +I was startled and somewhat frightened to find a man standing there in a +shadowy part of the room. I saw him distinctly, and could describe his +appearance accurately. I called out, and the two men ran in, but as +the apparition only lasted for a second, they were too late. I described +the man whom I had seen, whereupon our friend exclaimed, 'Why, that was +Dvorak himself!' At that time I had never seen a picture of Dvorak, but +when our friend returned to London he sent me one which I recognised +as the likeness of the man whom I had seen in our drawing-room." + +A curious vision, a case of second sight, in which a quite unimportant +event, previously unknown, was revealed, is sent by the percipient, who +is a lady well known to both the compilers, and a life-long friend of one +of them. She says: "Last summer I sent a cow to the fair of Limerick, a +distance of about thirteen miles, and the men who took her there the day +before the fair left her in a paddock for the night close to Limerick +city. I awoke up very early next morning, and was fully awake when I saw +(not with my ordinary eyesight, but apparently _inside_ my head) a light, +an intensely brilliant light, and in it I saw the back gate being opened +by a red-haired woman and the cow I had supposed in the fair walking +through the gate. I then knew that the cow must be home, and going to the +yard later on I was met by the wife of the man who was in charge in a +great state of excitement. 'Oh law! Miss,' she exclaimed, 'you'll be mad! +Didn't Julia [a red-haired woman] find the cow outside the lodge gate as +she was going out at 4 o'clock to the milking!' That's my tale--perfectly +true, and I would give a good deal to be able to control that light, and +see more if I could." + +Another curious vision was seen by a lady who is also a friend of both +the compilers. One night she was kneeling at her bedside saying her +prayers (hers was the only bed in the room), when suddenly she felt a +distinct touch on her shoulder. She turned round in the direction of the +touch and saw at the end of the room a bed, with a pale, +indistinguishable figure laid therein, and what appeared to be a +clergyman standing over it. About a week later she fell into a long and +dangerous illness. + +An account of a dream which implied an extraordinary coincidence, if +coincidence it be and nothing more, was sent as follows by a +correspondent, who requested that no names be published. "That which I am +about to relate has a peculiar interest for me, inasmuch as the central +figure in it was my own grand-aunt, and moreover the principal witness +(if I may use such a term) was my father. At the period during which +this strange incident occurred my father was living with his aunt and +some other relatives. + +"One morning at the breakfast-table, my grand-aunt announced that she had +had a most peculiar dream during the previous night. My father, who was +always very interested in that kind of thing, took down in his notebook +all the particulars concerning it. They were as follows. + +"My grand-aunt dreamt that she was in a cemetery, which she recognised as +Glasnevin, and as she gazed at the memorials of the dead which lay so +thick around, one stood out most conspicuously, and caught her eye, for +she saw clearly cut on the cold white stone _an inscription bearing her +own name:_ + +CLARE S.D-- +Died 14th of March, 1873 +Dearly loved and ever mourned. +R.I.P. + +while, to add to the peculiarity of it, the date on the stone as given +above was, from the day of her dream, exactly a year in advance. + +"My grand-aunt was not very nervous, and soon the dream faded from her +mind. Months rolled by, and one morning at breakfast it was noticed that +my grand-aunt had not appeared, but as she was a very religious woman it +was thought that she had gone out to church. However, as she did not +appear my father sent someone to her room to see if she were there, and +as no answer was given to repeated knocking the door was opened, and my +grand-aunt was found kneeling at her bedside, dead. The day of her death +was March 14, 1873, corresponding exactly with the date seen in her dream +a twelvemonth before. My grand-aunt was buried in Glasnevin, and on her +tombstone (a white marble slab) was placed the inscription which she had +read in her dream." Our correspondent sent us a photograph of the stone +and its inscription. + +The present Archdeacon of Limerick, Ven. J. A. Haydn, LL.D., sends the +following experience: "In the year 1870 I was rector of the little rural +parish of Chapel Russell. One autumn day the rain fell with a quiet, +steady, and hopeless persistence from morning to night. Wearied at length +from the gloom, and tired of reading and writing, I determined to walk +to the church about half a mile away, and pass a half-hour playing the +harmonium, returning for the lamp-light and tea. + +"I wrapped up, put the key of the church in my pocket, and started. +Arriving at the church, I walked up the straight avenue, bordered with +graves and tombs on either side, while the soft, steady rain quietly +pattered on the trees. When I reached the church door, before putting +the key in the lock, moved by some indefinable impulse, I stood on the +doorstep, turned round, and looked back upon the path I had just trodden. +My amazement may be imagined when I saw, seated on a low, tabular +tombstone close to the avenue, a lady with her back towards me. She was +wearing a black velvet jacket or short cape, with a narrow border of +vivid white: her head, and luxuriant jet-black hair, were surmounted by a +hat of the shape and make that I think used to be called at that time +a "turban"; it was also of black velvet, with a snow-white wing or +feather at the right-hand side of it. It may be seen how deliberately and +minutely I observed the appearance, when I can thus recall it after +more than forty years. + +"Actuated by a desire to attract the attention of the lady, and induce +her to look towards me, I noisily inserted the key in the door, and +suddenly opened it with a rusty crack. Turning round to see the effect of +my policy--the lady was gone!--vanished! Not yet daunted, I hurried to +the place, which was not ten paces away, and closely searched the stone +and the space all round it, but utterly in vain; there were absolutely no +traces of the late presence of a human being! I may add that nothing +particular or remarkable followed the singular apparition, and that I +never heard anything calculated to throw any light on the mystery." + +Here is a story of a ghost who knew what it wanted--and got it! "In the +part of Co. Wicklow from which my people come," writes a Miss D----, +"there was a family who were not exactly related, but of course of the +clan. Many years ago a young daughter, aged about twenty, died. Before +her death she had directed her parents to bury her in a certain +graveyard. But for some reason they did not do so, and from that hour she +gave them no peace. She appeared to them at all hours, especially when +they went to the well for water. So distracted were they, that at length +they got permission to exhume the remains and have them reinterred in the +desired graveyard. This they did by torchlight--a weird scene truly! I +can vouch for the truth of this latter portion, at all events, as some of +my own relatives were present." + +Mr. T. J. Westropp contributes a tale of a ghost of an unusual type, +_i.e._ one which actually did communicate matters of importance to his +family. "A lady who related many ghost stories to me, also told me how, +after her father's death, the family could not find some papers or +receipts of value. One night she awoke, and heard a sound which she at +once recognised as the footsteps of her father, who was lame. The door +creaked, and she prayed that she might be able to see him. Her prayer was +granted: she saw him distinctly holding a yellow parchment book tied with +tape. 'F----, child,' said he, 'this is the book your mother is looking +for. It is in the third drawer of the cabinet near the cross-door; tell +your mother to be more careful in future about business papers.' +Incontinent he vanished, and she at once awoke her mother, in whose room +she was sleeping, who was very angry and ridiculed the story, but the +girl's earnestness at length impressed her. She got up, went to the old +cabinet, and at once found the missing book in the third drawer." + +Here is another tale of an equally useful and obliging ghost. "A +gentleman, a relative of my own," writes a lady, "often received warnings +from his dead father of things that were about to happen. Besides the +farm on which he lived, he had another some miles away which adjoined a +large demesne. Once in a great storm a fir-tree was blown down in the +demesne, and fell into his field. The woodranger came to him and told him +he might as well cut up the tree, and take it away. Accordingly one day +he set out for this purpose, taking with him two men and a cart. He got +into the fields by a stile, while his men went on to a gate. As he +approached a gap between two fields he saw, standing in it, his father as +plainly as he ever saw him in life, and beckoning him back warningly. +Unable to understand this, he still advanced, whereupon his father looked +very angry, and his gestures became imperious. This induced him to turn +away, so he sent his men home, and left the tree uncut. He subsequently +discovered that a plot had been laid by the woodranger, who coveted his +farm, and who hoped to have him dispossessed by accusing him of stealing +the tree." + +A clergyman in the diocese of Clogher gave a personal experience of +table-turning to the present Dean of St. Patrick's, who kindly sent +the same to the writer. He said: "When I was a young man, I met +some friends one evening, and we decided to amuse ourselves with +table-turning. The local dispensary was vacant at the time, so we said +that if the table would work we should ask who would be appointed as +medical officer. As we sat round it touching it with our hands it began +to knock. We said: + +"'Who are you?' + +"The table spelt out the name of a Bishop of the Church of Ireland. We +asked, thinking that the answer was absurd, as we knew him to be alive +and well: + +"'Are you dead?' + +"The table answered 'Yes.' + +"We laughed at this and asked: + +"'Who will be appointed to the dispensary?' + +"The table spelt out the name of a stranger, who was not one of the +candidates, whereupon we left off, thinking that the whole thing was +nonsense. + +"The next morning I saw in the papers that the Bishop in question had +died that afternoon about two hours before our meeting, and a few days +afterwards I saw the name of the stranger as the new dispensary doctor. I +got such a shock that I determined never to have anything to do with +table-turning again." + +The following extraordinary personal experience is sent by a lady, well +known to the present writer, but who requests that all names be omitted. +Whatever explanation we may give of it, the good faith of the tale is +beyond doubt. + +"Two or three months after my father-in-law's death my husband, myself, +and three small sons lived in the west of Ireland. As my husband was a +young barrister, he had to be absent from home a good deal. My three boys +slept in my bedroom, the eldest being about four, the youngest some +months. A fire was kept up every night, and with a young child to look +after, I was naturally awake more than once during the night. For many +nights I believed I distinctly saw my father-in-law sitting by the +fireside. This happened, not once or twice, but many times. He was +passionately fond of his eldest grandson, who lay sleeping calmly in his +cot. Being so much alone probably made me restless and uneasy, though I +never felt _afraid_. I mentioned this strange thing to a friend who had +known and liked my father-in-law, and she advised me to 'have his soul +laid,' as she termed it. Though I was a Protestant and she was a Roman +Catholic (as had also been my father-in-law), yet I fell in with her +suggestion. She told me to give a coin to the next beggar that came to +the house, telling him (or her) to pray for the rest of Mr. So-and-so's +soul. A few days later a beggar-woman and her children came to the door, +to whom I gave a coin and stated my desire. To my great surprise I +learned from her manner that such requests were not unusual. Well, she +went down on her knees on the steps, and prayed with apparent earnestness +and devotion that his soul might find repose. Once again he appeared, and +seemed to say to me, 'Why did you do that, E----? To come and sit here +was the only comfort I had.' Never again did he appear, and strange to +say, after a lapse of more than thirty years I have felt regret at my +selfishness in interfering. + +"After his death, as he lay in the house awaiting burial, and I was in a +house some ten miles away, I thought that he came and told me that I +would have a hard life, which turned out only too truly. I was then +young, and full of life, with every hope of a prosperous future." + +Of all the strange beliefs to be found in Ireland that in the Black Dog +is the most widespread. There is hardly a parish in the country but could +contribute some tale relative to this spectre, though the majority of +these are short, and devoid of interest. There is said to be such a dog +just outside the avenue gate of Donohill Rectory, but neither of the +compilers have had the good luck to see it. It may be, as some hold, +that this animal was originally a cloud or nature-myth; at all events, it +has now descended to the level of an ordinary haunting. The most +circumstantial story that we have met with relative to the Black Dog is +that related as follows by a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, who +requests us to refrain from publishing his name. + +"In my childhood I lived in the country. My father, in addition to his +professional duties, sometimes did a little farming in an amateurish sort +of way. He did not keep a regular staff of labourers, and consequently +when anything extra had to be done, such as hay-cutting or harvesting, he +used to employ day-labourers to help with the work. At such times I used +to enjoy being in the fields with the men, listening to their +conversation. On one occasion I heard a labourer remark that he had once +seen the devil! Of course I was interested and asked him to give me his +experience. He said he was walking along a certain road, and when he came +to a point where there was an entrance to a private place (the spot was +well known to me), he saw a black dog sitting on the roadside. At the +time he paid no attention to it, thinking it was an ordinary retriever, +but after he had passed on about two or three hundred yards he found the +dog was beside him, and then he noticed that its eyes were blood-red. He +stooped down, and picked up some stones in order to frighten it away, but +though he threw the stones at it they did not injure it, nor indeed did +they seem to have any effect. Suddenly, after a few moments, the dog +vanished from his sight. + +"Such was the labourer's tale. After some years, during which time I had +forgotten altogether about the man's story, some friends of my own bought +the place at the entrance to which the apparition had been seen. When my +friends went to reside there I was a constant visitor at their house. +Soon after their arrival they began to be troubled by the appearance of a +black dog. Though I never saw it myself, it appeared to many members of +the family. The avenue leading to the house was a long one, and it was +customary for the dog to appear and accompany people for the greater +portion of the way. Such an effect had this on my friends that they soon +gave up the house, and went to live elsewhere. This was a curious +corroboration of the labourer's tale." + +As we have already stated in Chapter VII, a distinction must be drawn +between the so-called _Headless_ Coach, which portends death, and the +_Phantom_ Coach, which appears to be a harmless sort of vehicle. With +regard to the latter we give two tales below, the first of which was sent +by a lady whose father was a clergyman, and a gold medallist of Trinity +College, Dublin. + +"Some years ago my family lived in Co. Down. Our house was some way out +of a fair-sized manufacturing town, and had a short avenue which ended in +a gravel sweep in front of the hall door. One winter's evening, when my +father was returning from a sick call, a carriage going at a sharp pace +passed him on the avenue. He hurried on, thinking it was some particular +friends, but when he reached the door no carriage was to be seen, so he +concluded it must have gone round to the stables. The servant who +answered his ring said that no visitors had been there, and he, feeling +certain that the girl had made some mistake, or that some one else had +answered the door, came into the drawing-room to make further inquiries. +No visitors had come, however, though those sitting in the drawing-room +had also heard the carriage drive up. + +"My father was most positive as to what he had seen, viz. a closed +carriage with lamps lit; and let me say at once that he was a clergyman +who was known throughout the whole of the north of Ireland as a most +level-headed man, and yet to the day of his death he would insist that he +met that carriage on our avenue. + +"One day in July one of our servants was given leave to go home for the +day, but was told she must return by a certain train. For some reason she +did not come by it, but by a much later one, and rushed into the kitchen +in a most penitent frame of mind. 'I am so sorry to be late,' she told +the cook, 'especially as there were visitors. I suppose they stayed to +supper, as they were so late going away, for I met the carriage on the +avenue.' The cook thereupon told her that no one had been at the house, +and hinted that she must have seen the ghost-carriage, a statement that +alarmed her very much, as the story was well known in the town, and +car-drivers used to whip up their horses as they passed our gate, while +pedestrians refused to go at all except in numbers. We have often _heard_ +the carriage, but these are the only two occasions on which I can +positively assert that it was _seen_." + +The following personal experience of the phantom coach was given to the +present writer by Mr. Matthias Fitzgerald, coachman to Miss Cooke, of +Cappagh House, Co. Limerick. He stated that one moonlight night he was +driving along the road from Askeaton to Limerick when he heard coming up +behind him the roll of wheels, the clatter of horses' hoofs, and the +jingling of the bits. He drew over to his own side to let this carriage +pass, but nothing passed. He then looked back, but could see nothing, the +road was perfectly bare and empty, though the sounds were perfectly +audible. This continued for about a quarter of an hour or so, until he +came to a cross-road, down one arm of which he had to turn. As he turned +off he heard the phantom carriage dash by rapidly along the straight +road. He stated that other persons had had similar experiences on the +same road. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LEGENDARY AND ANCESTRAL GHOSTS + + +Whatever explanations may be given of the various stories told in our +previous chapters, the facts as stated therein are in almost every case +vouched for on reliable authority. We now turn to stories of a different +kind, most of which have no evidence of any value in support of the +_facts_, but which have been handed down from generation to generation, +and deserve our respect, if only for their antiquity. We make no apology +for giving them here, for, in addition to the interesting reading they +provide, they also serve a useful purpose as a contrast to authenticated +ghost stories. The student of folklore will find parallels to some of +them in the tales of other nations. + +Lord Walter Fitzgerald sends us the following: "Garrett oge" (or Gerald +the younger) "Fitzgerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, died in London on the +16th November 1585; his body was brought back to Ireland and interred in +St. Brigid's Cathedral, in Kildare. He was known as 'the Wizard Earl' on +account of his practising the black art, whereby he was enabled to +transform himself into other shapes, either bird or beast according to +his choice; so notorious was his supernatural power that he became the +terror of the countryside. + +"His wife, the Countess, had long wished to see some proof of his skill, +and had frequently begged him to transform himself before her, but he had +steadily refused to do so, as he said if he did and she became afraid, he +would be taken from her, and she would never see him again. Still she +persisted, and at last he said he would do as she wished on condition +that she should first of all undergo three trials to test her courage; to +this she willingly agreed. In the first trial the river Greese, which +flows past the castle walls, at a sign from the Earl overflowed its banks +and flooded the banqueting hall in which the Earl and Countess were +sitting. She showed no sign of fear, and at the Earl's command the river +receded to its normal course. At the second trial a huge eel-like monster +appeared, which entered by one of the windows, crawled about among the +furniture of the banqueting hall, and finally coiled itself round the +body of the Countess. Still she showed no fear, and at a nod from the +Earl the animal uncoiled itself and disappeared. In the third test an +intimate friend of the Countess, long since dead, entered the room, and +passing slowly by her went out at the other end. She showed not the +slightest sign of fear, and the Earl felt satisfied that he could place +his fate in her keeping, but he again warned her of his danger if she +lost her presence of mind while he was in another shape. He then turned +himself into a black bird, flew about the room, and perching on the +Countess's shoulder commenced to sing. Suddenly a black cat appeared from +under a chest, and made a spring at the bird; in an agony of fear for its +safety the Countess threw up her arms to protect it and swooned away. +When she came to she was alone, the bird and the cat had disappeared, and +she never saw the Earl again." + +It is said that he and his knights lie in an enchanted sleep, with their +horses beside them, in a cave under the Rath on the hill of Mullaghmast, +which stands, as the crow flies, five miles to the north of Kilkea +Castle. Once in seven years they are allowed to issue forth; they gallop +round the Curragh, thence across country to Kilkea Castle, where they +re-enter the haunted wing, and then return to the Rath of Mullaghmast. +The Earl is easily recognised as he is mounted on a white charger shod +with silver shoes; when these shoes are worn out the enchantment will be +broken, and he will issue forth, drive the foes of Ireland from the land, +and reign for a seven times seven number of years over the vast estates +of his ancestors. + +Shortly before '98 he was seen on the Curragh by a blacksmith who was +crossing it in an ass-cart from Athgarvan to Kildare. A fairy blast +overtook him, and he had just time to say, "God speed ye Gentlemen" +to the invisible "Good People," when he heard horses galloping up behind +him; pulling to one side of the road he looked back and was terrified at +seeing a troop of knights, fully armed, led by one on a white horse. The +leader halted his men, and riding up to the blacksmith asked him to +examine his shoes. Almost helpless from fear he stumbled out of the +ass-cart and looked at each shoe, which was of silver, and then informed +the knight that all the nails were sound. The knight thanked him, +rejoined his troop, and galloped off. The blacksmith in a half-dazed +state hastened on to Kildare, where he entered a public-house, ordered a +noggin of whisky, and drank it neat. When he had thoroughly come to +himself he told the men that were present what had happened to him on the +Curragh; one old man who had listened to him said: "By the mortial! man, +ye are after seeing 'Gerod Earla.'" This fully explained the mystery. +Gerod Earla, or Earl Gerald, is the name by which the Wizard Earl is +known by the peasantry. + +One other legend is told in connection with the Wizard Earl of a +considerably later date. It is said that a farmer was returning from a +fair in Athy late one evening in the direction of Ballintore, and when +passing within view of the Rath of Mullaghmast he was astonished to see a +bright light apparently issuing from it. Dismounting from his car he went +to investigate. On approaching the Rath he noticed that the light was +proceeding from a cave in which were sleeping several men in armour, with +their horses beside them. He cautiously crept up to the entrance, and +seeing that neither man nor beast stirred he grew bolder and entered the +chamber; he then examined the saddlery on the horses, and the armour of +the men, and plucking up courage began slowly to draw a sword from its +sheath; as he did so the owner's head began to rise, and he heard a voice +in Irish say, "Is the time yet come?" In terror the farmer, as he shoved +the sword back, replied, "It is not, your Honour," and then fled from the +place. + +It is said that if the farmer had only completely unsheathed the sword +the enchantment would have been broken, and the Earl would have come to +his own again. + +In 1642 Wallstown Castle, the seat of the Wall family, in County Cork, +was burnt down by the Cromwellian troops, and Colonel Wall, the head of +the family, was captured and imprisoned in Cork jail, where he died. +One of the defenders during the siege was a man named Henry Bennett, who +was killed while fighting. His ghost was often seen about the place for +years after his death. His dress was of a light colour, and he wore +a white hat, while in his hand he carried a pole, which he used to place +across the road near the Castle to stop travellers; on a polite request +to remove the pole he would withdraw it, and laugh heartily. A caretaker +in the place named Philip Coughlan used frequently to be visited by this +apparition. He came generally about supper time, and while Coughlan and +his wife were seated at table he would shove the pole through the window; +Coughlan would beg him to go away and not interfere with a poor +hard-worked man; the pole would then be withdrawn, with a hearty laugh +from the ghost. + +In the Parish Church of Ardtrea, near Cookstown, is a marble monument and +inscription in memory of Thomas Meredith, D.D., who had been a Fellow of +Trinity College, Dublin, and for six years rector of the parish. He died, +according to the words of the inscription, on 2nd May 1819, as a result +of "a sudden and awful visitation." A local legend explains this +"visitation," by stating that a ghost haunted the rectory, the visits of +which had caused his family and servants to leave the house. The rector +had tried to shoot it but failed; then he was told to use a silver +bullet; he did so, and next morning was found dead at his hall-door while +a hideous object like a devil made horrid noises out of any window +the servant man approached. This man was advised by some Roman Catholic +neighbours to get the priest, who would "lay" the thing. The priest +arrived, and with the help of a jar of whisky the ghost became quite +civil, till the last glass in the jar, which the priest was about to +empty out for himself, whereupon the ghost or devil made himself as thin +and long as a Lough Neagh eel, and slipped himself into the jar to get +the last drops. But the priest put the cork into its place and hammered +it in, and, making the sign of the Cross on it, he had the evil thing +secured. It was buried in the cellar of the rectory, where on some nights +it can still be heard calling to be let out. + +A story of a phantom rat, which comes from Limerick, is only one of many +which show the popular Irish belief in hauntings by various animals. Many +years ago, the legend runs, a young man was making frantic and +unacceptable love to a girl. At last, one day when he was following her +in the street, she turned on him and, pointing to a rat which some boys +had just killed, said, "I'd as soon marry that rat as you." He took her +cruel words so much to heart that he pined away and died. After his death +the girl was haunted at night by a rat, and in spite of the constant +watch of her mother and sisters she was more than once bitten. The priest +was called in and could do nothing, so she determined to emigrate. A +coasting vessel was about to start for Queenstown, and her friends, +collecting what money they could, managed to get her on board. The ship +had just cast off from the quay, when shouts and screams were heard up +the street. The crowd scattered, and a huge rat with fiery eyes galloped +down to the quay. It sat upon the edge screaming hate, sprang off, and +did not reappear. After that, we are told, the girl was never again +haunted. + +A legend of the Tirawley family relates how a former Lord Tirawley, who +was a very wild and reckless man, was taken from this world. One evening, +it is said, just as the nobleman was preparing for a night's carouse, a +carriage drove up to his door, a stranger asked to see him and, after a +long private conversation, drove away as mysteriously as he had come. +Whatever words had passed they had a wonderful effect on the gay lord, +for his ways were immediately changed, and he lived the life of a +reformed man. As time went on the effect of whatever awful warning the +mysterious visitor had given him wore off, and he began to live a life +even more wild and reckless than before. On the anniversary of the visit +he was anxious and gloomy, but he tried to make light of it. The day +passed, and at night there was high revelry in the banqueting hall. +Outside it was wet and stormy, when just before midnight the sound of +wheels was heard in the courtyard. All the riot stopped; the servants +opened the door in fear and trembling: outside stood a huge dark coach +with four black horses. The "fearful guest" entered and beckoned to Lord +Tirawley, who followed him to a room off the hall. The friends, sobered +by fear, saw through the door the stranger drawing a ship on the wall; +the piece of wall then detached itself and the ship grew solid, the +stranger climbed into it, and Lord Tirawley followed without a struggle. +The vessel then sailed away into the night, and neither it nor its +occupants were ever seen again. + +The above tale is a good example of how a legend will rise superior to +the ordinary humdrum facts of life, for it strikes us at once that the +gloomy spectre went to unnecessary trouble in constructing a ship, even +though the task proved so simple to his gifted hands. But the coach was +at the door, and surely it would have been less troublesome to have used +it. + +A strange legend is told of a house in the Boyne valley. It is said that +the occupant of the guest chamber was always wakened on the first night +of his visit, then he would see a pale light and the shadow of a skeleton +"climbing the wall like a huge spider." It used to crawl out on to the +ceiling, and when it reached the middle would materialise into apparent +bones, holding on by its hands and feet; it would break in pieces, and +first the skull and then the other bones would fall on the floor. One +person had the courage to get up and try to seize a bone, but his hand +passed through to the carpet though the heap was visible for a few +seconds. + +The following story can hardly be called _legendary_, though it may +certainly be termed ancestral. The writer's name is not given, but he is +described as a rector and Rural Dean in the late Established Church of +Ireland, and a Justice of the Peace for two counties. It has this added +interest that it was told to Queen Victoria by the Marchioness of Ely. + +"Loftus Hall, in County Wexford, was built on the site of a stronghold +erected by Raymond, one of Strongbow's followers. His descendants +forfeited it in 1641, and the property subsequently fell into the hands +of the Loftus family, one of whom built the house and other buildings. +About the middle of the eighteenth century, there lived at Loftus Hall +Charles Tottenham, a member of the Irish Parliament, known to fame as +'Tottenham and his Boots,' owing to his historic ride to the Irish +capital in order to give the casting vote in a motion which saved £80,000 +to the Irish Treasury. + +"The second son, Charles Tottenham, had two daughters, Elizabeth and +Anne, to the latter of whom our story relates. He came to live at Loftus +Hall, the old baronial residence of the family, with his second wife and +the two above-mentioned daughters of his first wife. Loftus Hall was an +old rambling mansion, with no pretence to beauty: passages that led +nowhere, large dreary rooms, small closets, various unnecessary nooks and +corners, panelled or wainscotted walls, and a _tapestry chamber_. Here +resided at the time my story commences Charles Tottenham, his second wife +and his daughter Anne: Elizabeth, his second daughter, having been +married. The father was a cold austere man; the stepmother such as that +unamiable relation is generally represented to be. What and how great +the state of lonely solitude and depression of mind of poor Anne must +have been in such a place, without neighbours or any home sympathy, may +easily be imagined. + +"One wet and stormy night, as they sat in the large drawing-room, they +were startled by a loud knocking at the outer gate, a most surprising +and unusual occurrence. Presently the servant announced that a young +gentleman on horseback was there requesting lodging and shelter. He had +lost his way, his horse was knocked up, and he had been guided by the +only light which he had seen. The stranger was admitted and refreshed, +and proved himself to be an agreeable companion and a finished +gentleman--far too agreeable for the lone scion of the House of +Tottenham, for a sad and mournful tale follows, and one whose strange +results continued almost to the present day. + +"Much mystery has involved the story at the present point, and in truth +the matter was left in such silence and obscurity, that, but for the acts +of her who was the chief sufferer in it through several generations, +nothing would now be known. The fact, I believe, was--which was not +unnatural under the circumstances--that this lonely girl formed a strong +attachment to this gallant youth chance had brought to her door, which +was warmly returned. The father, as was his stern nature, was obdurate, +and the wife no solace to her as she was a step-mother. It is only an +instance of the refrain of the old ballad, 'He loved, and he rode away'; +he had youth and friends, and stirring scenes, and soon forgot his +passing attachment. Poor Anne's reason gave way. + +"The fact is but too true, she became a confirmed maniac, and had to be +confined for the rest of her life in the tapestried chamber before +mentioned, and in which she died. A strange legend was at once invented +to account for this calamity: it tells how the horseman proved such an +agreeable acquisition that he was invited to remain some days, and made +himself quite at home, and as they were now four in number whist was +proposed in the evenings. The stranger, however, with Anne as his +partner, invariably won every point; the old couple never had the +smallest success. One night, when poor Anne was in great delight at +winning so constantly, she dropped a ring on the floor, and, suddenly +diving under the table to recover it, was terrified to see that her +agreeable partner had an unmistakably cloven foot. Her screams made him +aware of her discovery, and he at once vanished in a thunder-clap leaving +a brimstone smell behind him. The poor girl never recovered from the +shock, lapsed from one fit into another, and was carried to the tapestry +room from which she never came forth alive. + +"This story of his Satanic majesty got abroad, and many tales are told of +how he continued to visit and disturb the house. The noises, the +apparitions, and disturbances were innumerable, and greatly distressed +old Charles Tottenham, his wife, and servants. It is said that they +finally determined to call in the services of their parish priest, a +Father Broders, who, armed with all the exorcisms of the Church, +succeeded in confining the operations of the evil spirit to one room--the +tapestry room. + +"Here, then, we have traced from the date of the unhappy girl's +misfortune that the house was disturbed by something supernatural, +and that the family sought the aid of the parish priest to abate it, and +further that the tapestry room was the scene of this visitation. + +"But the matter was kept dark, all reference to poor Anne was avoided, +and the belief was allowed to go abroad that it was Satan himself who +disturbed the peace of the family. Her parents were ready to turn aside +the keen edge of observation from her fate, preferring rather that it +should be believed that they were haunted by the Devil, so that the story +of her wrongs should sink into oblivion, and be classed as an old wives' +tale of horns and hoofs. The harsh father and stepmother have long gone +to the place appointed for all living. The Loftus branch of the family +are in possession of the Hall. Yet poor Anne has kept her tapestried +chamber by nearly the same means which compelled her parents to call in +the aid of the parish priest so long ago. + +"But to my tale: About the end of the last century my father was invited +by Mrs. Tottenham to meet a large party at the Hall. He rode, as was then +the custom in Ireland, with his pistols in his holsters. On arriving he +found the house full, and Mrs. Tottenham apologised to him for being +obliged to assign to him the tapestry chamber for the night, which, +however, he gladly accepted, never having heard any of the stories +connected with it. + +"However, he had scarcely covered himself in the bed when suddenly +something heavy leaped upon it, growling like a dog. The curtains were +torn back, and the clothes stripped from the bed. Supposing that some of +his companions were playing tricks, he called out that he would shoot +them, and seizing a pistol he fired up the chimney, lest he should wound +one of them. He then struck a light and searched the room diligently, but +found no sign or mark of anyone, and the door locked as he had left it on +retiring to rest. Next day he informed his hosts how he had been annoyed, +but they could only say that they would not have put him in that room if +they had had any other to offer him. + +"Years passed on, when the Marquis of Ely went to the Hall to spend some +time there. His valet was put to sleep in the tapestry chamber. In the +middle of the night the whole family was aroused by his dreadful roars +and screams, and he was found lying in another room in mortal terror. +After some time he told them that, soon after he had lain himself down in +bed, he was startled by the rattling of the curtains as they were torn +back, and looking up he saw a tall lady by the bedside dressed in stiff +brocaded silk; whereupon he rushed out of the room screaming with terror. + +"Years afterwards I was brought by my father with the rest of the family +to the Hall for the summer bathing. Attracted by the quaint look of the +tapestry room, I at once chose it for my bedroom, being utterly ignorant +of the stories connected with it. For some little time nothing out of the +way happened. One night, however, I sat up much later than usual to +finish an article in a magazine I was reading. The full moon was shining +clearly in through two large windows, making all as clear as day. I was +just about to get into bed, and, happening to glance towards the door, to +my great surprise I saw it open quickly and noiselessly, and as quickly +and noiselessly shut again, while the tall figure of a lady in a stiff +dress passed slowly through the room to one of the curious closets +already mentioned, which was in the opposite corner. I rubbed my eyes. +Every possible explanation but the true one occurred to my mind, for the +idea of a ghost did not for a moment enter my head. I quickly reasoned +myself into a sound sleep and forgot the matter. + +"The next night I again sat up late in my bedroom, preparing a gun and +ammunition to go and shoot sea-birds early next morning, when the door +again opened and shut in the same noiseless manner, and the same tall +lady proceeded to cross the room quietly and deliberately as before +towards the closet. I instantly rushed at her, and threw my right arm +around her, exclaiming 'Ha! I have you now!' To my utter astonishment my +arm passed through her and came with a thud against the bedpost, at which +spot she then was. The figure quickened its pace, and as it passed the +skirt of its dress lapped against the curtain and I marked distinctly the +pattern of her gown--a stiff brocaded silk. + +"The ghostly solution of the problem did not yet enter my mind. However, +I told the story at breakfast next morning. My father, who had himself +suffered from the lady's visit so long before, never said a word, and it +passed as some folly of mine. So slight was the impression it made on me +at the time that, though I slept many a night after in the room, I never +thought of watching or looking out for anything. + +"Years later I was again a guest at the Hall. The Marquis of Ely and his +family, with a large retinue of servants, filled the house to +overflowing. As I passed the housekeeper's room I heard the valet say: +'What! I to sleep in the tapestry chamber? Never! I will leave my lord's +service before I sleep there!' At once my former experience in that room +flashed upon my mind. I had never thought of it during the interval, and +was still utterly ignorant of Anne Tottenham: so when the housekeeper was +gone I spoke to the valet and said, 'Tell me why you will not sleep in +the tapestry room, as I have a particular reason for asking.' He said, +'Is it possible that you do not know that Miss Tottenham passes through +that room every night, and, dressed in a stiff flowered silk dress, +enters the closet in the corner?' I replied that I had never heard a word +of her till now, but that I had, a few years before, twice seen a figure +exactly like what he had described, and passed my arm through her body. +'Yes,' said he, 'that was Miss Tottenham, and, as is well known, she was +confined--mad--in that room, and died there, and, they say, was buried in +that closet.' + +"Time wore on and another generation arose, another owner possessed the +property--the grandson of my friend. In the year 185--, he being then a +child came with his mother, the Marchioness of Ely, and his tutor, the +Rev. Charles Dale, to the Hall for the bathing season. Mr. Dale was no +imaginative person--a solid, steady, highly educated English clergyman, +who had never even heard the name of Miss Tottenham. The tapestry room +was his bed-chamber. One day in the late autumn of that year I received a +letter from the uncle of the Marquis, saying, 'Do tell me what it was you +saw long ago in the tapestry chamber, for something strange must have +happened to the Rev. Charles Dale, as he came to breakfast quite +mystified. Something very strange must have occurred, but he will not +tell us, seems quite nervous, and, in short, is determined to give up his +tutorship and return to England. Every year something mysterious has +happened to any person who slept in that room, but they always kept it +close. Mr. D----, a Wexford gentleman, slept there a short while ago. +He had a splendid dressing-case, fitted with gold and silver articles, +which he left carefully locked on his table at night; in the morning he +found the whole of its contents scattered about the room.' + +"Upon hearing this I determined to write to the Rev. Charles Dale, then +Incumbent of a parish near Dover, telling him what had occurred to myself +in the room, and that the evidence of supernatural appearances there were +so strong and continued for several generations, that I was anxious to +put them together, and I would consider it a great favour if he would +tell me if anything had happened to him in the room, and of what nature. +He then for the first time mentioned the matter, and from his letter now +before me I make the following extracts: + +"'For three weeks I experienced no inconvenience from the lady, but one +night, just before we were about to leave, I had sat up very late. It was +just one o'clock when I retired to my bedroom, a very beautiful moonlight +night. I locked my door, and saw that the shutters were properly +fastened, as I did every night. I had not lain myself down more than +about five minutes before something jumped on the bed making a growling +noise; the bed-clothes were pulled off though I strongly resisted the +pull. I immediately sprang out of bed, lighted my candle, looked into the +closet and under the bed, but saw nothing.' + +"Mr. Dale goes on to say that he endeavoured to account for it in some +such way as I had formerly done, having never up to that time heard one +word of the lady and her doings in that room. He adds, 'I did not see the +lady or hear any noise but the growling.' + +"Here then is the written testimony of a beneficed English clergyman, +occupying the responsible position of tutor to the young Marquis of Ely, +a most sober-minded and unimpressionable man. He repeats in 1867 almost +the very words of my father when detailing his experience in that room in +1790--a man of whose existence he had never been cognisant, and therefore +utterly ignorant of Miss Tottenham's doings in that room nearly eighty +years before. + +"In the autumn of 1868 I was again in the locality, at Dunmore, on the +opposite side of the Waterford Estuary. I went across to see the old +place and what alterations Miss Tottenham had forced the proprietors to +make in the tapestry chamber. I found that the closet into which the poor +lady had always vanished was taken away, the room enlarged, and two +additional windows put in: the old tapestry had gone and a billiard-table +occupied the site of poor Anne's bed. I took the old housekeeper aside, +and asked her to tell me how Miss Tottenham bore these changes in her +apartment. She looked quite frightened and most anxious to avoid the +question, but at length hurriedly replied, 'Oh, Master George! don't talk +about her: last night she made a horrid noise knocking the billiard-balls +about!' + +"I have thus traced with strict accuracy this most real and true +tale, from the days of 'Tottenham and his Boots' to those of his +great-great-grandson. Loftus Hall has since been wholly rebuilt, but +I have not heard whether poor Anne Tottenham has condescended to visit +it, or is wholly banished at last." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MISTAKEN IDENTITY--CONCLUSION + + +We have given various instances of ghostly phenomena wherein the +witnesses have failed at first to realise that what they saw partook +in any way of the abnormal. There are also many cases where a so-called +ghost has turned out to be something very ordinary. Though more often +than not such incidents are of a very trivial or self-explanatory +nature (_e.g._ where a sheep in a churchyard almost paralysed a midnight +wayfarer till he summoned up courage to investigate), there are many +which have an interest of their own and which often throw into prominence +the extraordinary superstitions and beliefs which exist in a country. + +Our first story, which is sent us by Mr. De Lacy of Dublin, deals with an +incident that occurred in the early part of last century. An epidemic +which was then rife in the city was each day taking its toll of the +unhappy citizens. The wife of a man living in Merrion Square was stricken +down and hastily buried in a churchyard in Donnybrook which is now +closed. On the night after the funeral one of the city police, or +"Charlies" as they were then called, passed through the churchyard on his +rounds. When nearing the centre he was alarmed to hear a sound coming +from a grave close at hand, and turning, saw a white apparition sit up +and address him. This was all he waited for; with a shriek he dropped his +lantern and staff and made off as fast as his legs would carry him. The +apparition thereupon took up the lamp and staff, and walked to Merrion +Square to the house of mourning, was admitted by the servants, and to the +joy of the whole household was found to be the object of their grief +returned, Alcestis-like, from the grave. It seems that the epidemic was +so bad that the bodies of the victims were interred hastily and without +much care: the unfortunate lady had really been in a state of coma or +trance, and as the grave was lightly covered, when she came to she was +able to force her way up, and seeing the "Charlie" passing, she called +for assistance. + +An occurrence which at first had all the appearance of partaking of the +supernormal, and which was afterwards found to have a curious +explanation, is related by Dean Ovenden of St. Patrick's Cathedral, +Dublin. "At Dunluce Rectory, Co. Antrim," he writes, "I had a strange +experience. There was a force-pump attached to the back wall of the +house, and many people drew water from it, as it was better than any +obtained at that time in Bushmills. We used to notice, when going to bed, +the sound of someone working the pump. All the servants denied that they +ever used the pump between 11 P.M. and 12 midnight. I often looked out +of the back window when I heard the pump going, but could not see anyone. +I tied threads to the handle, but although they were found unbroken in +the morning the pumping continued, sometimes only for three or four moves +of the handle. On many nights no pumping was heard. The man-servant sat +up with a gun and the dog, but he neither saw nor heard anything. We gave +it up as a bad job, and still the pumping went on. After about two years +of this experience, I was one night alone in the house. It was a calm and +frosty night and I went to bed about 11.30 P.M. and lay awake; suddenly +the pump began to work with great clearness, and mechanically I counted +the strokes: they were exactly twelve. I exclaimed, 'The dining-room +clock!' I sprang from bed and went down, and found that the clock was +fast, as it showed two minutes past twelve o'clock. I set back the hands +to 11.55 and lay in bed again, and soon the pumper began as usual. The +explanation was that the vibration of the rising and falling hammer was +carried up to the bedroom by the wall, but the sound of the bell was +never heard. I found afterwards that the nights when there was no pumping +were always windy." + +A man was walking along a country lane at night and as he was coming +round a bend he saw a coffin on the road in front of him. At first he +thought it was a warning to him that he was soon to leave this world; but +after some hesitation, he finally summoned up courage to give the thing a +poke with his stick, when he found that the coffin was merely an outline +of sea-weed which some passer-by had made. Whereupon he went on his way +much relieved. + +The unbeliever will state that rats or mice are more often than not the +cause of so-called ghostly noises in a house. That, at any rate, +instances have happened where one or other of these rodents has given +rise to fear and trepidation in the inmates of a house or bedroom is +proved by the following story from a Dublin lady. She tells how she was +awakened by a most mysterious noise for which she could give no +explanation. Overcome by fear, she was quite unable to get out of bed, +and lay awake the rest of the night. When light came she got up: there +was a big bath in the room, and in it she found a mouse which had been +drowned in its efforts to get out. So her haunting was caused by what we +may perhaps call a ghost in the making. + +The devil is very real to the average countryman in Ireland. He has given +his name to many spots which for some reason or other have gained some +ill-repute--the Devil's Elbow, a very nasty bit of road down in Kerry, is +an instance in point. The following story shows how prevalent the idea is +that the devil is an active agent in the affairs of this world. + +A family living at Ardee, Co. Louth, were one night sitting reading in +the parlour. The two maids were amusing themselves at some card game in +the kitchen. Suddenly there was a great commotion and the two girls--both +from the country--burst into the sitting-room, pale with fright, and +almost speechless. When they had recovered a certain amount, they were +asked what was the matter; the cook immediately exclaimed, "Oh, sir! the +devil, the devil, he knocked three times at the window and frightened us +dreadfully, and we had just time to throw the cards into the fire and run +in here before he got us." One of the family, on hearing this, +immediately went out to see what had caused all this trepidation, and +found a swallow with a broken neck lying on the kitchen window-sill. The +poor bird had evidently seen the light in the room, and in its efforts to +get near it had broken its neck against the glass of the window. + +An amusing account of a pseudo-haunting comes from County Tipperary, and +shows how extraordinarily strong is the countryman's belief in +supernatural phenomena. The incidents related occurred only a very short +time ago. A farmer in the vicinity of Thurles died leaving behind him a +young widow. The latter lived alone after her husband's death, and about +three months after the funeral she was startled one night by loud +knocking at the door. On opening the door she was shocked at seeing the +outline of a man dressed in a shroud. In a solemn voice he asked her did +she know who he was: on receiving a reply in the negative, he said that +he was her late husband and that he wanted £10 to get into heaven. The +terrified woman said she had not got the money, but promised to have it +ready if he would call again the next night. The "apparition" agreed, +then withdrew, and the distracted woman went to bed wondering how she was +to raise the money. When morning came she did not take long in telling +her friends of her experience, in the hope that they would be able to +help her. Their advice, however, was that she should tell the police, +and she did so. That night the "apparition" returned at the promised +hour, and asked for his money. The amount was handed to him, and in a low +sepulchral voice he said, "Now I leave this earth and go to heaven." +Unfortunately, as he was leaving, a sergeant and a constable of the +R.I. Constabulary stopped him, questioned him, and hauled him off to the +barracks to spend the remainder of the night in the cell, where no doubt +he decided that the haunting game has its trials.[14] + +[Footnote 14: _Evening Telegraph_ for Dec. 10, 1913.] + +An occurrence of very much the same description took place in County +Clare about three years ago. Again the departed husband returns to his +sorrowing wife, sits by the fire with her, chatting no doubt of old +times, and before he leaves for the other world is regaled with pig's +head and plenty of whisky. The visit is repeated the next night, and a +request made for money to play cards with down below: the wife willingly +gives him the money. Again he comes, and again he borrows on the plea +that he had lost the night before, but hoped to get better luck next +time. On the woman telling a neighbour a watch was kept for the dead +man's return, but he never came near the place again. + +An account of a police-court trial which appeared in the _Irish Times_ of +31st December 1913 emphasizes in a very marked degree the extraordinary +grip that superstition has over some of the country people. A young woman +was on her trial for stealing £300 from the brother of her employer, +Patrick McFaul of Armagh. District Inspector Lowndes, in opening the case +for the Crown, told the bench that the money had been taken out of the +bank by McFaul to buy a holding, for the purchase of which negotiations +were going on. The money was carelessly thrown into a drawer in a +bedroom, and left there till it would be wanted. A short time afterwards +a fire broke out in the room, and a heap of ashes was all that was found +in the drawer, though little else in the room besides a few clothes was +injured. "The McFauls appeared to accept their loss with a complacency, +which could only be accounted for by the idea they entertained that the +money was destroyed through spiritual intervention--that there were +ghosts in the question, and that the destruction of the money was to be +taken as a warning directed against a matrimonial arrangement, into which +Michael McFaul was about to enter." The accused girl was servant to +the McFauls, who discharged her a few days after the fire: but before +this she had been into Derry and spent a night there; during her stay she +tried to change three £20 notes with the help of a friend. But change was +refused, and she had to abandon the attempt. "If some of the money was +burned, some of it was certainly in existence three days later, to the +amount of £60. One thing was manifest, and that was that an incredible +amount of superstition appeared to prevail amongst families in that +neighbourhood when the loss of such a sum as this could be attributed to +anything but larceny, and it could for a moment be suggested that it was +due to spiritual intervention to indicate that a certain course should +be abandoned." + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +The foregoing tales have been inserted, not in order that they may throw +ridicule on the rest of the book, but that they may act as a wholesome +corrective. If _all_ ghost stories could be subjected to such rigid +examination it is probable that the mystery in many of them would be +capable of equally simple solution--yet a remnant would be left. + +And here, though it may seem somewhat belated, we must offer an apology +for the use of the terms "ghost" and "ghost story." The book includes +such different items as hauntings, death-warnings, visions, and +hallucinations, some of which obviously can no more be attributed to +discarnate spirits than can the present writer's power of guiding his pen +along the lines of a page; whether others of these must be laid to the +credit of such unseen influences is just the question. But in truth there +was no other expression than "ghost stories" which we could have used, or +which could have conveyed to our readers, within reasonable verbal +limits, as they glanced at its cover, or at an advertisement of it, a +general idea of the contents of this book. The day will certainly come +when, before the steady advance of scientific investigation, and the +consequent influencing of public opinion, the word "ghost" will be +relegated to limbo, and its place taken by a number of expressions +corresponding to the results obtained from the analysis of phenomena +hitherto grouped under this collective title. That day is approaching. +And so, though we have used the term throughout the pages of this book, +it must not therefore be assumed that we necessarily believe in "ghosts," +or that we are bound to the theory that all, or any, of the unusual +happenings therein recorded are due to the action of visitants from the +Otherworld. + +We may now anticipate one or two possible points of criticism. It might +be alleged that the publication of such a book as this would tend to show +that the Irish nation was enslaved in superstition. Without stopping to +review the question as to what should, or should not, be classed as +"superstition," we would rejoin by gleefully pointing to a leading +article in the _Irish Times_ of Jan. 27, 1914, which gives a short +account of a lecture by Mr. Lovett on the folklore of London. Folklore in +London! in the metropolis of the stolid Englishman! The fact is that the +Irish people are not one whit more superstitious than their cross-channel +neighbours, while they are surely on a far higher level in this respect +than many of the Continental nations. They _seem_ to be more +superstitious because (we speak without wishing to give any offence) the +_popular_ religion of the majority has incorporated certain elements +which may be traced back to pre-Christian times; but that they _are_ +actually more superstitious we beg leave to doubt. + +Another and more important series of objections is stated by one of our +correspondents as follows. "I must confess that I can never reconcile +with my conception of an All-Wise Creator the type of 'ghost' you are at +present interested in; it seems to me incredible that the spirits of the +departed should be permitted to return and indulge in the ghostly +repertoire of jangling chains, gurgling, etc., apparently for the sole +purpose of scaring housemaids and other timid or hysterical people." The +first and most obvious remark on this is, that our correspondent has +never read or heard a ghost story, save of the Christmas magazine type, +else he would be aware that the above theatrical display is _not_ an +integral part of the "ghostly repertoire"; and also that persons, who are +_not_ housemaids, and who can _not_ be classed as timid or hysterical, +but who, on the other hand, are exceedingly sober-minded, courageous, and +level-headed, have had experiences (and been frightened by them too!) +which cannot be explained on ordinary grounds. But on the main point our +correspondent is begging the question, or at least assuming as fully +proved a conclusion which is very far from being so. Is he quite sure +that the only explanation of these strange sights and weird noises +is that they are brought about by the action of departed spirits (we +naturally exclude cases of deliberate fraud, which in reality are very +unusual)? And if so, what meaning would he put upon the word "spirits"? +And even if it be granted that the phenomena are caused by the +inhabitants of another world, why should it be impossible to accept such +a theory, because of its _apparent_ incompatibility with any conception +of an All-Wise Creator, of whose workings we are so profoundly ignorant? +Are there not many things in the material world which _to the limited +human mind_ of our correspondent must seem puzzling, meaningless, +useless, and even harmful? He does not therefore condemn these offhand; +he is content to suspend judgment, is he not? Why cannot he adopt the +same attitude with respect to psychic phenomena? Our correspondent might +here make the obvious retort that it is _we_ who are begging the +question, not he, because such happenings as are described in this book +have no existence apart from the imaginative or inventive faculties of +certain persons. This would be equivalent to saying bluntly that a +considerable number of people in Ireland are either liars or fools, or +both. This point we shall deal with later on. Our correspondent belongs +to a type which knows nothing at all about psychical research, and is not +aware that some of the cleverest scientists and deepest thinkers of the +day have interested themselves in such problems. They have not found the +answer to many of them--goodness knows if they ever will this side of the +grave--but at least they have helped to broaden and deepen our knowledge +of ourselves, our surroundings, and our God. They have revealed to us +profundities in human personality hitherto unsuspected, they have +suggested means of communication between mind and mind almost incredible, +and (in the writer's opinion at least) these points have a very important +bearing on our conceptions of the final state of mankind in the world to +come, and so they are preparing the way for that finer and more ethical +conception of God and His Creation which will be the heritage of +generations yet unborn. The materialist's day is far spent, and its sun +nears the horizon. + +Another objection to the study of the subjects dealt with in this book +is that we are designedly left in ignorance of the unseen world by a +Wise Creator, and therefore that it is grossly presumptuous, not to say +impious, on the part of man to make any attempt to probe into questions +which he has not been intended to study. Which is equivalent to saying +that it is impious to ride a bicycle, because man was obviously created +a pedestrian. This might be true if we were confined within a +self-contained world which had, and could have, no connection with +anything external to itself. But the very essence of our existence here +is that the material and spiritual worlds interpenetrate, or rather that +our little planet forms part of a boundless universe teeming with life +and intelligence, yet lying in the hollow of God's hand. He alone is +"Supernatural," and therefore Transcendent and Unknowable; all things in +the universe are "natural," though very often they are beyond our normal +experience, and as such are legitimate objects for man's research. Surely +the potential energy in the human intellect will not allow it to remain +at its present stage, but will continually urge it onwards and upwards. +What limits God in His Providence has seen fit to put upon us we cannot +tell, for every moment the horizon is receding, and our outlook becoming +larger, though some still find it difficult to bring their eyesight to +the focus consequently required. The marvellous of to-day is the +commonplace of to-morrow: "our notion of what is natural grows with our +greater knowledge." + +Throughout the pages of this book we have, in general, avoided offering +explanations of, or theories to account for, the different stories. Here +something may be said on this point. As we have already pointed out, the +expression "ghost stories" covers a multitude of different phenomena. +Many of these may be explained as "hallucinations," which does not imply +that they are simply the effect of imagination and nothing more. "The +mind receives the hallucination as if it came through the channels of +sense, and accordingly externalises the impression, seeking its source in +the world outside itself, whereas in all hallucinations the source is +within the mind, and is not derived from an impression received through +the recognised organ of sense.[15]" + +[Footnote 15: Prof. Sir W. Barren, _Psychical Research_, p. 111.] + +Many of these hallucinations are termed "_veridical_", or truth-telling, +because they coincide with real events occurring to another person. +Illustrations of this will be found in Chapter VI, from which it would +appear that a dying person (though the power is not necessarily confined +to such) occasionally has the faculty of telepathically communicating +with another; the latter receives the impression, and externalises it, +and so "sees a ghost," to use the popular expression. Some hallucinations +are _auditory i.e._ sounds are heard which apparently do not correspond +to any objective reality. Incomprehensible though it may appear, it may +be possible for sounds, and very loud ones too, to be heard by one or +more persons, the said sounds being purely hallucinatory, and not causing +any disturbance in the atmosphere. + +Some of the incidents may be explained as due to telepathy, that +mysterious power by which mind can communicate with mind, though what +telepathy is, or through what medium it is propagated, no one can tell as +yet. Belief in this force is increasing, because, as Professor Sir W. +Barrett remarks: "Hostility to a new idea arises largely from its being +unrelated to existing knowledge," and, as telepathy seems to the ordinary +person to be analogous to wireless telegraphy, it is therefore accepted, +or at least not laughed at, though how far the analogy really holds good +is not at all certain. + +Again there is the question of haunted houses and places, to accounts of +which the first five chapters of this book are devoted. The actual +evidence for many of these may not come up to the rigorous standard set +by the S.P.R., but it is beyond all doubt that persons who are neither +fools, liars, nor drunkards firmly believe that they have seen and heard +the things related in these chapters (not to speak of Chapters VI-VIII), +or that they have been told such by those in whose statements they place +implicit confidence; while so certain are they that they are telling the +truth that they have not only written down the stories for the compilers, +but have given their names and addresses as well, though not always for +publication. Can we contemptuously fling aside such a weight of evidence +as unworthy of even a cursory examination? This would hardly be a +rational attitude to adopt. Various theories to account for these strange +hauntings have been formulated, which may be found on pp. 199-200 of Sir +William Barrett's _Psychical Research_, and so need not be given here. + +Yet, when all is said and done, the very formulating of theories, so far +from solving problems, only raises further and more complex ones, perhaps +the greatest of which is, Have the spirits of the departed anything to +do with the matter? As we have shown, we hope with success, in the +preceding paragraphs, many "ghosts" have no necessary connection with the +denizens of the unseen world, but may be explained as being due to laws +of nature which at present are very obscure. Does this hold good of all +"ghosts," or are some of them to be placed to the credit of those who +have passed beyond the veil, or perhaps to spirits, good or evil, which +have never been incarnate? That is the problem for the future, for in +the present state of our knowledge it would be premature to give a direct +answer, either positive or negative. + +This book was written with a twofold purpose: first, that of entertaining +our readers, in which we trust we have been successful; secondly, to +stimulate thought. For, strange though it may seem, authenticated "ghost +stories" have a certain educative value. Taking them at their lowest they +suggest inquiry into the strange workings of the human mind: at their +highest how many strange lines of inquiry do they not suggest? For it is +obvious that we have now arrived at one of those interesting periods in +the history of human thought which might be described as the return of +the pendulum. We are in the process of emerging from a very materialistic +age, when men either refused to believe anything that was contrary to +their normal experience, or else leavened their spiritual doctrines and +beliefs with the leaven of materialism. The pendulum has swung to its +highest point in this respect, and is now commencing to return, so +perhaps the intellectual danger of the future will be that men, instead +of believing too little, will believe too much. Now is the time for +laying a careful foundation. Psychical research, spiritualism, and the +like, are not ends in themselves, they are only means to an end. At the +present state of thought, the transition from the old to the new, from +the lower to the higher, it is inevitable that there must be confusion +and doubt, and the earnest thinker must be prepared to suspend judgment +on many points; but at a later stage, when all absurdity, error, and +fraud, now so closely connected with psychical research in its various +branches, will have been swept away, Truth will emerge and lift the human +race to a purer and loftier conception of God and His universe. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's True Irish Ghost Stories, by St John D Seymour + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 14099.txt or 14099.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/0/9/14099/ + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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