It was in 1892 that Lord Bute first heard of the matter. It was not,
as stated by _The Times_ correspondent in that journal for June 8,
1897, in or from London, but at Falkland, in Fifeshire, and in the
following manner:--
There is no public chapel at Falkland, and the private chapel in the
house is attended by a variety of priests, who usually come only from
Saturday to Monday. Lord Bute's diary for the second week in August
1892 contains the following entries:--
"_Saturday, August 6th._--Father H----, S.J., came.
"_Sunday, August 7th._--In afternoon with Father H---- and John [Lord
Dumfries] to Palace, and then with him to the Gruoch's Den. He gives
us a long account of the psychical disturbances at B----; noises
between his bed and the ceiling, like continuous explosion of petards,
so that he could not hear himself speak, &c. &c.
"[Mr. Huggins afterwards recommended the use of a phonograph for these
noises, in order to ascertain absolutely whether they are objective or
subjective, and I wrote so to S---- of B----.]
"_Monday, August 8th._--Father H---- went away.
"_Tuesday, August 9th._--Mr. Huggins [now Sir William Huggins],
outgoing President of the British Association, and Mrs. Huggins came.
"_Saturday, August 13th._--Father H---- came.
"_Sunday, August 14th._--In afternoon with the children, &c., to the
Palace, leaving Mr. Huggins as much as possible alone with Father
H---- (both being with us), in order to interrogate him about the
psychical noises he heard recently at B----, when there, to give a
Retreat to some nuns.
"_Monday, August 15th._--Father H---- went away after luncheon."
Lord Bute recalls that Father H---- told him that he had been at B----
for the purpose of giving a Retreat [a series of sermons and
meditations] to some nuns, who were charitably allowed by Mr. S---- to
take a sort of holiday, at a house called B---- Cottage, which had
been originally built and occupied by the late Major S----, when he
first took up his residence at B----, which at the time was let.
Father H---- told Lord Bute that in consequence of the disturbance his
room had been several times changed, and he expressed surprise that
the sounds did not appear to be heard by anybody except himself. He
also said that he had spoken of the matter to Mr. S----, who expressed
an idea that the disturbances might be caused by his uncle, the late
Major S----, who was trying to attract attention in order that prayers
might be offered for the repose of his soul. The sounds occurred
during full daylight, and in a clear open space between his bed and
the ceiling. He did not know to what to compare them, but as he said
they were explosive in sound, Lord Bute suggested that they might be
compared to the sounds made by petards, which are commonly used in
Italy for firing _feux de joie_. Father H---- answered, "Yes perhaps,
if they were continuous enough." He said that the sound which alarmed
him more than any other was as of a large animal throwing itself
violently against the bottom of his door, outside. A third noise which
he had heard was of ordinary raps, of the kind called "spirit-raps."
He mentioned a fourth sound, the nature of which Lord Bute does not
remember with the same certainty as the others, but believes it was a
shriek or scream. Such a sound is described by other witnesses during
the subsequent occupation of the house by the H---- family. The fact
that the sounds appear to have been inaudible to every one except
Father H---- is a strong argument in favour of their subjective, or
hallucinatory, character. It will be found that this was very often
the case with the peculiar sounds recorded at B----, and even when
they were heard by several persons at the same time, there does not
appear to be any ground for refusing to recognise them as collective
hallucinations.
Lord Bute's diary and recollections have been here quoted, not as
differing from, but only as being antecedent to, the following
account, which has been furnished by Father H---- himself:--
"I went to B---- on Thursday, July 14th, 1892, and I left it on
Saturday, July 23rd. So I slept at B---- for nine nights, or rather
one night, because I was disturbed by very queer and extraordinary
noises every night except the last, which I spent in Mr. S----'s
dressing-room. At first I occupied the room to the extreme right of
the landing [No. 8],[A] then my things were removed to another room
[No. 3] (it seems to me at this distance of time that _this_ room
faced the principal staircase, or was a little to the left of it). In
both these rooms I heard the loud and inexplicable noises every night,
but on two or three nights, in addition to these, another noise
affrighted me--a sound of somebody or something falling against the
door outside. It seemed, at the time, as if a calf or big dog would
make such a noise. Why those particular animals came into my head I
cannot tell. But in attempting to describe these indescribable
phenomena, I notice now I always do say it was like a calf or big dog
falling against the door. Why did I not hear the noises on the ninth
night? Were there none where I was? These are questions the answers to
which are not apparent. It may be there _were_ noises, but I slept too
soundly to hear them. One of the oddest things in my case, in
connection with the house, is that it appeared to me somehow that (1)
Somebody was relieved by my departure; (2) that nothing could induce
me to pass another night there, at all events alone, and in other
respects I do not think I am a coward."
For the benefit of those who are not aware of the fact, it may be as
well to state that the class of people known as spiritualists, hold
that when raps are heard, it is the best thing for the hearer to say
aloud, "If you are intelligent, will you please to rap three times?"
and if this is done, to ask the intelligence to rap three times for
_yes_, once for _no_, and twice for _doubtful_. It is obvious that
considerable conversation can be carried on by such a code, and where
it is inadequate, as, for instance, in obtaining proper names, it is
usual to propose to repeat the alphabet slowly, asking the
intelligence to rap once when the proper letter is reached. This
simple method was entirely unknown to Father H----. He had done
nothing but throw holy water about his rooms, and repeat the prayer
_Visita quæsumus_, which invokes the Divine protection of a house and
its inhabitants against all the snares of the Enemy, and which,
therefore, in no way concerned any person or thing which is not
associated with the powers of darkness. It was natural that no result
should be produced.
Sir W. Huggins told Lord Bute, as the result of his examination of
Father H----, that he felt absolutely certain that what the latter had
experienced was not the outcome of morbid hallucination, but that it
was possible that the sounds themselves might be hallucinatory or
subjective. To ascertain whether this were so, or whether they had any
physical cause, he suggested the use of a phonograph, as this would at
least show whether the sounds were accompanied by atmospheric waves.
Lord Bute happened to know Mr. S---- slightly, having met him
accidentally while travelling abroad. He accordingly wrote to him, and
communicated Sir William Huggins's suggestion. Mr. S----, after a
delay of some days, refused absolutely to allow any scientific
investigation to be made, a refusal remarkably coincident with the
recent refusal of his son, the present proprietor, to allow any
similar investigation with seismographical instruments. It would seem
a legitimate conclusion that neither father nor son doubted that the
sounds are of a psychical character. As regards the present
proprietor, such a conclusion renders it obvious that we must
understand in some peculiar sense the letter published in _The Times_,
dated June 10, 1897, in which he says, "As to the stories contained in
the article [_i.e._ of the anonymous _Times_ correspondent], they are
without foundation." These words must, however, be, in any case,
accepted in a special sense, considering the part taken by members of
his own family, as well as by tenants and agents, in attesting the
stories in question.
Lord Bute states that Father H---- did not, upon the occasion of his
visit to Falkland, say anything as to having seen the brown wooden
crucifix (see pp. 132, 142, 154), but after this apparition had been
seen by two other persons separately, Lord Bute wrote to Father H----
to inquire whether he could remember anything of the sort. His reply
was as follows:--
"When you mention the brown wooden crucifix, you awaken a new memory
in me. I now seem to live some of those hours over again, and I
recollect that between waking and sleeping there appeared before my
eyes--somewhere on the wall--a crucifix, some eighteen inches, I
should say, long, and, _I think_, of _brown_ wood.
"My own crucifix is of black metal, and just the length of this page
(seven inches); and though I usually have it with me in my bag, I
cannot for certain say that it was in my bag at B----."
The following further communication from Father H---- carries the
record further back:--
"In August 1893 it was that I met, quite by accident, a person who
knew something about B---- House and its strange noises.
"Though, on my leaving his house, Mr. S---- begged me not 'to give the
house a bad name,' I did not understand by this that, as a point of
honour, I should refrain from ever mentioning the subject. I respected
his request to the extent of not alluding indiscriminately to the
noises that disturbed my nights there. But I did speak to several
people about them, and they had so impatiently and incredulously heard
my statements, that I at last refused to repeat them, even when
pressingly requested to do so. It was, therefore, quite a surprise to
find myself talking about B---- House, or rather, listening with rapt
attention to another talking about the place.
"Miss Y----, I think her name was, kept house for a priest at----. One
evening, while on a visit there, I found her knitting as I passed the
kitchen door, and bidding her the time of day, I discovered from a
remark she made that she had in former days filled more important
posts. She soon settled down when she found me an attentive listener
to a somewhat detailed account of by no means a short life.
"'Had she been in Scotland?' 'Yes, sir; and in a very beautiful part
of Scotland, in P----shire.' 'Indeed!' In short she told me that she
had been, twelve years ago, governess in the S---- family at B----
House. (I need not say that I was now intensely interested.) 'Why did
she leave?' 'Well, sir, so many people complained of queer noises in
the house, that I got alarmed and left.' I asked her had she seen
anything? She said No, and the noises were only heard in certain
rooms, and the servants inhabited quite a different part of the house.
When I closely questioned her she located the queer noises precisely
in the two rooms I had successively occupied. She did not learn from
me that I had ever been there. Pressed for a concrete case of fright
and abrupt leavetaking (I _think_), she told me two military officers
had 'left next morning.'
"In conclusion, as against all the above, my own, and this good
woman's account, I must set it down that, before I left the house, two
young ladies, relatives of the family, occupied the rooms in
question, and certainly, to my surprise, did not seem at breakfast as
if they had spent an unquiet night."
Inquiry shows that Miss Y----'s residence at B---- must have been
about the years 1878-80.
The earliest witnesses in chronological sequence would be the S----
family themselves; but though much information has been contributed by
them to various persons interested in B---- House during the tenancy
both of Mr. H---- and Colonel Taylor, the present Editors are
unwilling to make use of it without permission.
A statement in _The Times_ article, of the character of which the
reader can here judge for himself, elicited the following letter from
Mrs. S----, which is to be found in the issue of that journal for June
18, 1897:--
"May I ask of your courtesy to insert this in the next issue of your
paper. Seeing myself dragged into publicity in _The Times_ of June 8,
as 'having made admissions under pressure of cross-examination,' I beg
to state that I as well as the rest of my family had not the remotest
idea that our home was let to other than ordinary tenants. In my
intercourse with them I spoke as one lady to another, never imagining
that my private conversations were going to be used for purposes
carefully concealed from me--a deceit which I deeply resent."
It will be observed that Mrs. S---- here leaves no doubt as to the
nature of the information with which she was so good as to favour Miss
Freer, but, notwithstanding this fact, and the language which Mrs.
S---- has considered it right to use--or, at least, to sign--with
regard to Miss Freer, Miss Freer prefers to continue to treat Mrs.
S----'s statements as confidential, and blanks will accordingly be
found in the Journal under the dates on which such conversations
occurred. Miss Freer extends the same regard for a privacy, which the
S---- family have themselves violated, to communications made by other
members. There have, however, been several witnesses unconnected with
them, some of whom are referred to in the Journal. Not only the
villagers and persons in the immediate neighbourhood, but many
accidentally met with in visits to show-places and in excursions for
twenty miles round B----, were ready to pour out traditions and
experiences which are not here quoted, as, though often suggestive,
not always evidential.
The Rev. P. H----, already referred to, quotes a witness who testifies
to processions of monks or nuns having been seen by Mr. S---- from a
window, and of a married couple who, "relating the events of the
night, declared they could not hear each other's voices for the noise
overhead between them and the ceiling," which was especially
interesting to him, as corroborative of his own experience.
A former servant at B---- has voluntarily related, at great length,
the story of the alleged hauntings, which shows that they have
occurred at intervals during the past twenty years. He is of opinion
that as the earlier hauntings were ascribed to the late Major S----,
so their revival may be referred to the late proprietor; but his
reasons, as well as his narrative, are of a nature which might cause
annoyance to the S---- family, and are therefore withheld.
Dr. Menzies, a correspondent of _The Times_, June 10th, who speaks of
himself as an old friend of Major S----, refers to a still earlier
haunting--a tradition current at the time of the Major's succession in
1844.
* * * * *
In August 1896, B---- House, with the shooting attached, was let by
Captain S----, the present proprietor, for a year to a wealthy family
of Spanish origin. Their experience was of such a nature that they
abandoned the house at the end of seven weeks, thus forfeiting the
greater part of their rent, which had been paid in advance. The
evidence of Mr. H---- himself, of his butler, and of several guests,
will be found in due chronological sequence.
* * * * *
When Colonel Taylor, one of the fundamental members of the London
Spiritualist Alliance, a distinguished member of the S.P.R., whose
name is associated both in this country and in America with the
investigation of haunted houses, offered to take a lease of B----
House, after the lease had been resigned by Mr. H----, the proprietor
made no objection whatever. Indeed, the only allusion made to the
haunting was the expression of a hope on the part of Captain S----'s
agents in Edinburgh, that Colonel Taylor would not make it a subject
of complaint, as had been done by Mr. H----, in reply to which they
were informed that Colonel Taylor was thoroughly well aware of what
had happened during Mr. H----'s tenancy, and would undertake to make
no complaint on the subject. Captain S---- having thus thrown the
house into the open market, and let it to the well-known expert, with
no reference whatever to the subject of haunting, except that it
should not be made a ground of complaint, it is obvious that he
deprived himself of any right to complain as to observations upon the
subject of local hallucination, any more than of observation upon the
habits of squirrels or other local features. Nor had he any more right
to complain upon this ground, as vendor of the lease, than any other
vendor of articles exposed for public sale, such as a hatter, who
after selling a hat to Lord Salisbury, might complain that he had been
induced to provide headgear for a Conservative. At the same time, both
Colonel Taylor and his friends were well aware, from a vexatious
experience, that phenomena of the kind found at B---- are very often
associated with private matters, which the members of a family
concerned might object to see published, just as they might object to
the publication of the results of an examination of some object--say,
old medicine-bottles--found in the house let by them to a strange
tenant.
Acting upon this knowledge, it has been the general rule of the
Society for Psychical Research to publish the cases investigated by it
under avowedly false names, as private cases are published in medical
and other scientific journals. Out of a courteous anxiety that nothing
should occur which could in any way annoy any member of the S----
family, no one was admitted to the house for the purpose of observing
the phenomena, except on the definite understanding that they were to
regard everything as confidential, and it was always intended that any
publication on the subject was to be made with all names and
geographical indications avowedly fictitious.
As certain points of Gaelic orthography were found to be involved, it
was decided to mention the house as standing in a bi-lingual district
upon the borders of Wales, and Lord Bute arranged with Sir William
Lewis to have these linguistic points represented by Welsh instead of
Gaelic.
The affairs of the inquiry, and of any phenomena which might occur,
were thus protected, it was believed, by a confidence even more
absolute than that usually observed in such affairs of a household as
to which honour dictates that a guest should be silent.
The appreciation with which the S---- family responded to this
courteous and careful consideration for their possible feelings, was
made manifest to the world by the tone which they adopted when,
immediately on the appearance of the anonymous article in _The Times_,
they rushed into the newspapers, and published everything concerning
themselves, their family property, predecessors, and tenants, with all
the proper names at full length. After that outburst it has, of
course, been rendered impossible to keep the identity of the place and
people any longer secret.
Out of deference to other members of the family who did not take part
in this, the matter in the present volume remains in as private a form
as the newspaper correspondence now leaves possible.
The names given in full are those mostly very indirectly concerned;
other names, including that of the house, are given under the real
initials, with the exception of a few of the less prominent, when the
real initials would create confusion; and in these latter cases they
are taken from letters of the alphabet not already used, and are
placed in inverted commas; _e.g._ the real initial of a Mr. S---- is
changed, in order to avoid confusion with the name of the S---- family
themselves, the proprietors of B----.
The contents of the book are, except in one respect, arranged upon the
simple chronological system. They commence with a short sketch of the
history of the S---- family, based in its earlier part upon Douglas's
"Baronage of Scotland"; and all information which the writers possess
as to the phenomena which have occurred since the death of Major S----
in 1876, except that supplied by the S---- family, is set forth in
succession.
The family of S---- date from the earlier part of the middle of the
fifteenth century, and were settled upon the river T---- within that
century, while they have possessed B---- at least since the earlier
half of the century following.
A stone, carved with their arms, belonging to the old mansion-house,
is built into the wall, and dated 1579. The present house is modern,
and does not even occupy the site of the older one.
The particular proprietor whose arms are so represented, Patrick
S----, married Elizabeth B----, who survived him and married a second
time. James S----, his son, in 1586, married Mary C----, and after her
death, in 1597, Elizabeth R----.
Robert S----, his son by his first marriage, married Margaret C----.
John S----, son of Robert, was killed by the Cromwellians, leaving no
issue, and was succeeded by his brother, Patrick S----, who married
Elizabeth L----.
It is not obvious when they adopted the principles of the Reformation,
but it is to be remarked that this Patrick stood high in the favour of
James II. (and VII.).
Charles S----, son of the foregoing, married Anne D----, and was
succeeded by his third son, another Charles, who married Grizell
M----, and died in 1764.
Robert S----, his son, married Isabel H----. Charles S----, his eldest
son, died unmarried in 1783.
H---- S----, second son of R---- S----, married Louisa M----, died in
1834, and had issue--Robert, two other sons, and six daughters.
Robert S----, born January 1806, in 1825 entered the military service
of the East India Company, from which he retired with the rank of
Major in 1850, _i.e._ sixteen years after succeeding to the property.
He died in April 1876. His two brothers both died unmarried, and of
his six sisters, three married, and a fourth, Isabella, entered a
nunnery. She there professed under the name of "Frances Helen" in
1850, the year of her brother's return from India, and died February
23, 1880, aged sixty-six.
Major S----, by his will dated June 8, 1853, bequeathed B---- to the
representatives of his married sister Mary, and on his death was
accordingly succeeded by her second (but eldest surviving) son, John,
who on succeeding assumed the name of S----.
Major S---- was a Protestant, but this John was a Roman Catholic, like
his aunt Isabella. His eldest brother died without issue in 1867, but
he had a younger brother, married, with issue, and two sisters, Louisa
and Mary, whom Major S----, by a codicil of December 14, 1868,
carefully excluded from all benefit under his will.
The register of the parish of L----, in which B---- House is situated,
mentions under the date July 14, 1873, the death of Sarah N----,
housekeeper of B---- House (single), aged twenty-seven years, daughter
of John N----, farmer, and Helen R----. (In Scottish legal documents
married women are described by their maiden name.) It is said that her
last illness was very short, lasting only three days. Mrs. S---- had
the great charity to attend her on her deathbed. It is mentioned in
the register, that the official intimation of Sarah N----'s death was
given, not by her parents nor by Major S----, but by her uncle, Neil
N----.
Major S---- seems to have been somewhat eccentric, and was very fond
of dogs, of which he kept a considerable number. He had very strong
views upon psychical subjects. He was a believer in spirit-return, and
many witnesses have attested that he frequently spoke of his own
return after death. Among these psychic beliefs were two relating to
animals; and as they are of a kind not very commonly discussed even
among spiritualists, and enter, to some extent, into the following
narrative, it is convenient here to state them at length. It is very
commonly held that the soul or living personality of man, which will
survive the change called by us "death," is capable of entering living
bodies and making use of their organs. The form in which this belief
is most commonly met with, is that of the alleged inspiration of
trance mediums by the souls of the dead. Such a case is that of Mrs.
Piper, said to have been animated by the soul of Dr. Phinuit and other
personalities now disincarnated. It has naturally been argued that if
it is possible for the disembodied spirit to occupy and animate the
body of a human being, it would, _a fortiori_, be easy for it to do
the same with the body of a beast, where the resistance of will would
presumably be less.
This idea, coupled with the belief that the soul can be separated from
the body during life, so producing a kind of temporary death, while
leaving the body in such a state that it is capable of being again
inhabited and animated, lies at the bottom of the numerous statements
as to sorcerers and sorceresses changing themselves into hares,
wolves, or cats, which are to be found in the records of witch trials.
That this was possible, at least after death, was evidently a strong
belief upon the part of Major S----. We are informed that he
frequently intimated his intention of entering the body of a
particular black spaniel which he possessed, and so strong a belief
was attached to his words, that after his death all his dogs,
including the spaniel in question, were shot, apparently in order to
render impossible any such action upon his part. The policy of the
measure adopted was short-sighted. If the Major had thoroughly
succeeded in animating the body of the living spaniel, the physical
resources at his disposal would have been too limited to have enabled
him to give much trouble. As it is, a series of witnesses attest
apparitions of this spaniel, and of at least one other dog, which may
naturally be regarded as much more disturbing.
The second point is possibly the same as the last, but it appears to
be more probably based upon the belief held by Major S----, in common
with a large number of those who have made a serious study of
apparitions--and certainly a large number of the members of the
S.P.R.--that such apparitions are really hallucinations or false
impressions upon the senses, created, so far as originated by any
external cause, by other minds either in the body or out of the body,
which are themselves invisible in the ordinary and physical sense of
the term, and really acting through some means at present very
imperfectly known. Such an opinion of course reserves the question of
the possible action of unseen forces upon what is commonly called
matter involved in 'spirit'-photography, materialisation, levitation,
the passage of matter through matter, and other forms of _apport_,
although such a distinction, if logically carried out, becomes
somewhat tenuous in face of the generally accepted fact that all
mental processes are accompanied by physical processes in the brain.
In the following pages will be found instances of the phenomenon of
the apparent removal of bed-clothing, which raise a question as to the
propriety of regarding as exhaustive an explanation based solely upon
the hypothesis of subjective hallucination which otherwise would
appear to be generally applicable. It would stand to reason that if
such an intelligence can produce an hallucination of the appearance of
the human figure, it would be at least equally easy for it to produce
an hallucination of the appearance of a beast. A belief to this effect
seems to be the explanation of the fact mentioned in a letter to _The
Times_ of June 10, 1897, by Dr. Menzies, who refers to Major S---- as
"an old and dear friend." He writes, "I have no doubt that he created
much scandal by saying to his gardener that he had better take care to
keep up the garden properly, for when he was gone his soul would go
into a mole and haunt the garden and him too."
This theory of the possibility of producing by mental force the
hallucination audible or visual of a beast, may also be the
explanation, not only of the apparition of the large dog which has
been seen, as well as that of a spaniel, but also of the phenomenon,
attested by several witnesses, of their having heard the sound as of a
large dog throwing itself from the outside against the lower part of
their doors.
Major S---- died, as already stated, in 1876, and was buried beside
Sarah N---- and, it is said, an old Indian manservant. The grave is in
the middle of the parish churchyard. No monument marks their
resting-place, but a high enclosure, which surrounds it, is a
prominent object. The whole of his dogs, fourteen in number, including
the spaniel already mentioned, were killed after his death.
* * * * *
The S.P.R. some years ago published a census of hallucinations based
upon the interrogation of seventeen thousand persons, who were not
only taken casually, but from whom those were excluded whose replies
were foreseen. From the analysis of these statistics, it appears that
the great majority of these phantasms are figures of people who were
living and continue to live, although research seems to point to the
fact that their bodies are either always, or very often, in a state of
apparent unconsciousness at the moment of the phenomenon. Among the
minority, _i.e._ of apparitions of the dead, the frequency seems to be
in inverse proportion to the time which has elapsed since death. Those
which appear at the moment of death are very frequent, whereas, on the
other hand, those of persons who have been very long dead are almost
unknown; _e.g._ the apparition seen by Lady Galway a few years ago at
Rufford Abbey, where the form represented a person who must have been
dead for about three hundred years, belongs to a class of which
examples are very few.
A haunted house (or any other locality) is merely a place where
experience shows that hallucinations are more or less localised, and
the only especially interesting question about it is, why the
hallucinations should be localised at a particular place, and what
causes them there.
Such Phantasms of the Living have been discussed in the monumental
work of Mr. Myers and the late Mr. E. Gurney. They need be no further
remarked upon here, than to observe that the following pages contain
at least one example, viz. that of the apparition of the Rev. P.
H----. (See p. 119.)
It is very difficult to judge of the forces which may act in the
conditions of what we are accustomed to call "another world," but a
plausible explanation might be found in the Divine Word, "Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also." The thoughts and
affections appear to dwell for a time where they have been already
fixed during life, but changes here, including the gradual reunion on
the other side, of all those who are loved with those who love them,
the advancing dissociation of the mind with things here, and, no
doubt, the evolution of a different life under different conditions,
seem gradually to efface the ties of earthly memory, connecting the
feelings with particular spots on earth.
Such thoughts not infrequently include repentance, a desire for the
remedy of acts of injustice, and an eagerness for the compassion and
sympathetic prayers of those whom we call the living.
It is natural, therefore, to suppose that haunting, such as that met
with at B----, would be connected with persons who had died within
some such period as a century at the outside. Now the number of the
members of the S---- family and others, whose thoughts, memories,
feelings, and affections may presumably have dwelt largely at B----,
and who have died within the last hundred years, is very considerable;
but--saving the tradition referred to by Dr. Menzies (see p. 22), only
to be dismissed--there seems to have been no idea of the place being
haunted before the deaths of Sarah N---- and of Major S----, whereas
since that time the peculiar phenomena have been constantly attested.
John S----, his successor, was, as stated, the second son of Major
S----'s sister Mary, and assumed the name of S---- upon succeeding to
the property. He was a Roman Catholic; he was married, and had several
children, of whom the eldest son is the present proprietor. One of the
younger sons is a Jesuit, but not yet a priest.
In January 1895 Mr. S---- went to London on family business, and was
there killed by being run over by a cab in the street. It was stated
on the authority of three persons, not counting members of his own
family, that on the morning on which he left B---- for the last time,
while he was talking to the agent in his business-room, there were
raps so violent as to interfere with conversation. The earliest
written notice of this circumstance, so far as can be discovered, is
the following entry in Lord Bute's journal for January 17, 1896:--
"I hear that the morning the late S---- of B---- left home for the
last time, spirits came and rapped to him in his room--doubtless to
warn him--so that his death was really owing to the cruel superstition
which had prevented him allowing them to be communicated with."
Lord Bute's informant appears to have been the Rev. Sir David Hunter
Blair, as the journal mentions his arrival at Falkland on that day,
and none of the other guests in the house were people who were likely
to have heard anything about it.
Mr. S---- was succeeded by his eldest son, Captain S----, who showed
no hesitation in throwing the house into the public market, with its
4400 acres of shooting. The alleged haunting was not mentioned
beforehand to the first tenant, as it afterwards was to Colonel
Taylor.
This tenant was Mr. J.R. H---- of K---- Court, C----, in G----shire,
and the following is the account of experiences during his visit, as
given by his butler:--