GHOSTS AND HIDDEN TREASURES
The presence of troubled phantoms in certain localities has long been
attributed to their being interested in the whereabouts of certain
secreted treasures, the disposal of which to the rightful owner having
been frustrated through death having prematurely summoned them from
their mortal existence. Traditions of the existence of large sums of
hidden money are associated with many of our own country mansions.
Such a legend was long connected with Hulme Castle, formerly a seat
of a branch of the Prestwich family. The hoard was generally supposed
to have been hidden either in the hall itself or in the grounds
adjoining, and was said to be protected by spells and incantations.
Many years ago the hall was pulled down, but, although considerable
care was taken to search every spot, no money was discovered. Secreted
treasure is associated with the apparition of Madame Beswick, who used
to haunt Birchen Tower, Hollinwood;[328] and an eccentric spectre
known as 'Silky,' which used to play all kinds of strange pranks in
the village of Black Heddon, Northumberland, was commonly supposed to
be the troubled phantom of a certain lady who had died before having
an opportunity of disclosing the whereabouts of some hoarded money.
With the discovery of the gold, this unhappy spirit is said to have
disappeared. The story goes that one day, in a house at Black Heddon,
a terrific noise was heard, which caused the servant to exclaim, 'The
deevil's in the house! the deevil's in the house! He's come through the
ceiling!' But on the room being examined where the noise occurred, a
great dog's skin was found on the floor, filled with gold, after which
time 'Silky' was neither seen nor heard.
Equally strange is the legend related of Swinsty Hall, which tells how
its original founder was a poor weaver, who travelled to London at a
time when the plague was raging, and finding many houses desolate and
uninhabited, took possession of the money left without an owner, to
such an extent that he loaded a waggon with the wealth thus acquired,
and, returning to his home, he built Swinsty Hall. But he cannot
cleanse himself from the contamination of the ill-acquired gold, and at
times, it is said, his unquiet spirit has been seen bending over the
Greenwell Spring rubbing away at his ghastly spoil. Mr. Henderson[329]
gives the history of an apparition which, with retributive justice,
once haunted a certain Yorkshire farmer. An old woman of Sexhow, near
Stokesley, appeared after her death to a farmer of the place, and
informed him that beneath a certain tree in his apple orchard he would
find a hoard of gold and silver which she had buried there; the silver
he was to keep for his trouble, but the gold he was to give to a niece
of hers living in great poverty. The farmer went to the spot indicated,
found the money, and kept it all to himself. But from that day his
conscience gave him no rest, and every night, at home or abroad, old
Nanny's ghost dogged his steps. At last one evening the neighbours
heard him returning from Stokesley market very late; his horse was
galloping furiously, and as he passed a neighbour's house, its inmates
heard him screaming out, 'I will, I will, I will!' and looking out they
saw a little old woman in black, with a large straw hat on her head,
clinging to him. The farmer's hat was off, his hair stood on end, as
he fled past them uttering his fearful cry, 'I will, I will, I will!'
But when the horse reached the farm all was still, for the rider was a
corpse.
Tradition asserts that the 'white lady' who long haunted Blenkinsopp
Castle, is the ghost of the wife of Bryan de Blenkinsopp, who
quarrelled with her husband, and in a fit of spite she concealed a
chest of gold that took twelve of the strongest men to carry into the
castle. Filled with remorse for her undutiful conduct, the unhappy
woman cannot rest in her grave, but her spirit is doomed to wander back
to the old castle, and to mourn over the accursed wealth of which its
rightful owner was defrauded.
An old farm, popularly known in the neighbourhood as 'Sykes' Lumb
Farm,' from having been inhabited for many generations by a family of
the name of Sykes, was long haunted by an old wrinkled woman who, one
night, being interrogated by an occupier of the farm as to the cause of
her wandering about, made no reply, but proceeding towards the stump of
an old apple tree in the orchard, pointed significantly to the ground
beneath. On search being made, there was found buried deep in the earth
a jar of money, on the discovery of which the phantom vanished.
Anecdotes of treasures concealed at the bottom of wells are of frequent
occurrence, and the 'white ladies' who dwell in the lakes, wells, and
seas of so many countries, are owners of vast treasures, which they
occasionally offer to mortals. Tradition says that in a pool known as
Wimbell Pond at Acton, Suffolk, is concealed an iron chest of money,
and if any person approach the pond and throw a stone into the water,
it will ring against the chest--a small white figure having been heard
to cry in accents of distress, 'That's mine.'[330]
Scotland has many such stories. It is popularly believed that for many
ages past a pot of gold has lain at the bottom of a pool beneath a
fall of the rivulet underneath Craufurdland Bridge, about three miles
from Kilmarnock. Many attempts have been made to recover this treasure,
but something unforeseen has always happened to prevent a successful
issue. 'The last effort made, by the Laird of Craufurdland himself,'
writes Mr. Chambers,[331] 'was early in the last century, at the head
of a party of his domestics, who first dammed up the water, then
emptied the pool of its contents, and had heard their instruments clink
on the kettle, when a voice was heard saying:
Pow, pow!
Craufurdland tower's a' in a low!
Whereupon the laird left the scene, followed by his servants, and ran
home to save what he could. Of course, there was no fire in the house,
and when they came back to renew their operations, they found the
water falling over the lin in full force. Being now convinced that a
power above that of mortals was opposed to their researches, the laird
and his people gave up the attempt. Such is the traditionary story,
whether,' adds Mr. Chambers, 'founded on any actual occurrence, or
a mere fiction of the peasants' brain, cannot be ascertained; but it
is curious that a later and well authenticated effort to recover the
treasure was interrupted by a natural occurrence in some respects
similar.'
Vast treasures are said to be concealed beneath the ruins of Hermitage
Castle, but, as they are in the keeping of the Evil One, they are
considered beyond redemption. Venturesome persons have occasionally
made the attempt to dig for them, but a storm of thunder and lightning
has generally deterred the adventurers from proceeding, otherwise,
of course, the money would have long ago been found. It is ever, we
are told, that such supernatural obstacles come in the way of these
interesting discoveries. Mr. Chambers relates how 'an honest man in
Perthshire, named Finlay Robertson, about a hundred years ago, went
with some stout-hearted companions to seek for the treasures which were
supposed to be concealed in the darksome cave of a deceased Highland
robber, but just as they had commenced operations with their mattocks,
the whole party were instantaneously struck, as by an electric shock,
which sent them home with fear and trembling, and they were ever after
remarked as silent, mysterious men, very apt to take offence when
allusion was made to their unsuccessful enterprise.'[332]
In Scotland and the North of England, the Brownie was regarded as a
guardian of hidden treasure, and 'to him did the Borderers commit
their money or goods, when, according to the custom prevalent in wild
insecure countries, they concealed them in the earth.' Some form of
incantation was practised on the occasion, such as the dropping upon
the treasure the blood of a slaughtered animal, or burying the slain
animal with it.[333]
According to the Welsh belief, if a person die while any hoarded
money--or, indeed, metal of any kind, were it nothing more than old
iron--is still secretly hidden, the spirit of that person cannot rest.
Others affirm that it is only ill-gotten treasure which creates this
disturbance of the grave's repose; but it is generally agreed that the
soul's unquiet condition can only be relieved by finding a human hand
to take the hidden metal, and throw it down the stream of a river.
To throw it up a stream is useless. The spirit 'selects a particular
person as the subject of its attentions, and haunts that person till
asked what it wants.' A story is told of a tailor's wife at Llantwit
Major, a stout and jolly dame, who was thus haunted until she was worn
to the semblance of a skeleton, 'for not choosing to take a hoard
honestly to the Ogmore'--the favourite river in Glamorganshire for this
purpose. To quote her own words, 'I at last consented, for the sake
of quiet, to take the treasure to the river, and the spirit wafted
me through the air so high that I saw below me the church loft and
all the houses, as if I had leaned out of a balloon. When I took the
treasure to throw it into the river, in my flurry I flung it up stream
instead of down, and on this the spirit, with a savage look, tossed me
into a whirlwind, and how ever I got back to my home I know not.' The
bell-ringers found her lying insensible in the Church lane, on their
return from church, late in the evening.[334]
No piece of folk-lore is more general in Ireland than that gold or
silver may be found under nearly all the raths, cairns, or old castles
throughout the island. It is always a difficult task to exhume such
buried treasure, for some preternatural guardian or other will be
found on the alert. These buried treasures are usually deposited in
'a crock,' but whenever an attempt is made to lift it, some awful
gorgon, or monster, appears. Sometimes a rushing wind sweeps over the
plain, or from the opening made, with destructive force, carrying away
the gold-seeker's hat or spade, or even, in various instances, the
adventurer himself, who is deposited with broken bones, or a paralysed
frame, at a respectful distance from the object of his quest. 'On
the banks of a northern river, and near a small eminence,' writes a
correspondent of the 'Gentleman's Magazine,'[335] 'is a beautiful green
plot, on which two large, moss-covered stones over six hundred feet
apart are shown. It is said two immense "crocks" of gold lie buried
under these conspicuous landmarks, and that various attempts have been
made to dig round and beneath them. In all those instances when a
persistent effort has been made, a monk appeared in full habit, with a
cross in his hand to warn off sacrilegious offenders.'
Similar legends are found in different parts of the world. 'The Isle of
Yellow Sands,' says Mr. Dorman,[336] 'derives its chief interest from
the traditions and fanciful tales which the Indians relate concerning
its mineral treasures and their supernatural guardians. They pretend
that its shores are covered with a heavy, shining, yellow sand, which
they are persuaded is gold, but that the guardian spirit of the island
will not permit any to be carried away. To enforce his commands, he has
drawn together upon it myriads of eagles, hawks, and other birds of
prey, who, by their cries warn him of any intrusions upon the domain,
and assist with their claws and beaks to expel the enemy. He has also
called from the depths of the lake, large serpents of the most hideous
forms, who lie thickly coiled upon the golden sands, and hiss defiance
to the steps of the intruder. A great many years ago, they say, some
people driven by stress of weather upon the island, put a large
quantity of the glittering treasure in their canoes and attempted to
carry it off; but a gigantic spirit strode into the water and in a tone
of thunder commanded them to bring it back'--
Listen, white man, go not there!
Unseen spirits stalk the air;
Ravenous birds their influence lend,
Snakes defy, and kites defend....
Touch not, then, the guarded lands,
Of the Isle of Yellow Sands.
The 'Ceylon Times' records a remarkable instance of superstition among
the Tamul population employed as labourers on a coffee estate. 'It is
the belief of all Orientals,' says the writer, 'that hidden treasures
are under the guardianship of supernatural beings. The Singhalese,
however, divide the charge between demons and cobra da capellos.
Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures,
the demons requiring a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most
important, but, as far as it is known, the Cappowas have hitherto
confined themselves to the sacrifice of a white cock, combining its
blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot.'
Many curious stories are on record of persons having been informed by
ghosts of the whereabouts of hidden money, and of their having been
directed to the spot where the hoarded treasure has lain for years
secreted in its undetected recess.
In the 'Antiquarian Repertory' is a singular narrative of a man named
Richard Clarke, a farm-labourer at Hamington, Northamptonshire, who was
haunted by the ghost of a man who declared that he had been murdered
near his own house 267 years, 9 months, and 2 days ago, and buried
in an orchard. He added that his wife and children, who had lived in
Southwark, never knew what became of him; that he had some treasures
and papers buried in the cellar of a house near London, and that he
(Clarke) must seek for it, and that he (the ghost) would meet him in
the cellar, to assist him in the search. The ghost added that as soon
as the money and the writings were found, and duly delivered to certain
relatives of his in Southwark, at such an address, removed from him in
the fourth generation, he would cease to visit him, and would leave him
in peace. Clarke went to town, and on London Bridge the ghost passed
him, and conducted him to the house, where his wife had lived four
generations before. Clarke found everything answering the description
which the ghost had given him; the money and the documents were
discovered, the writings on vellum found, but those on paper decayed.
Clarke divided the money, and acted as the ghost of the murdered man
directed him to do; and the latter 'lookt chearfully upon him, and gave
him thankes, and said now he should be at rest, and spoke to those
other persons which were of his generation, relations, but they had not
courage to answer, but Clarke talkt for them.'
FOOTNOTES:
[328] See Ingram's _Haunted Homes_, 2nd S. pp. 24, 25.
[329] _Folk-lore of Northern Counties_, p. 322.
[330] _Notes and Queries_, 1st S. v. p. 195.
[331] _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, pp. 241-242.
[332] _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 240.
[333] Henderson's _Folk-lore of Northern Counties_, pp. 247-248.
[334] Wirt Sikes: _British Goblins_, pp. 151-152.
[335] 1865, pt. ii. pp. 706-707.
[336] _Primitive Superstitions_, p. 310.