"An intelligent gardener whom I questioned told me that he had kept
watch in the house on two separate occasions, abstaining from sleep
until daylight appeared at seven o'clock, but without hearing a sound.
A caretaker, who had spent months in the house, and who had to keep a
stove alight all night, never heard a sound, probably because there
was no one to make any."
The gardener's evidence on this point will be found on p. 218.
Without admitting, for one moment, the theory that a servant's
evidence may not be of equal value with that of the so-called educated
classes, it was thought desirable, before admitting that of Sanders,
to make some inquiries as to his character, intelligence, and capacity
for observation. His employer spoke well of him, and Colonel Taylor
had the advantage of a personal interview with him, which he thus
describes:--
"_July 18th, 1897._--I went to Coventry yesterday, and saw Sanders the
butler. He is a slight, dark young man, and, as far as I could judge,
quite honest and serious over the B---- affair. He assured me that he
had written the letter to _The Times_ without any advice or
assistance, and that all he wrote was absolutely true. I gathered from
him, indirectly, that before his B---- experience he knew nothing of
ghosts, spiritualism, or any occult matter, and does not now. He was
much astonished when I told him that the feeling which he describes as
like walking into an ice-house was a common one under the
circumstances. He said he omitted in his letter many small personal
matters, such as the following:-- During the manifestation in his
room, when his bed was shifted, and when he felt as if some one was
making 'passes' over him, and breathing in his face, he made the sign
of the Cross, on which the 'influence' receded from him, but
approached again almost at once. After repeating this a few times with
the same result, he crossed his arms over his chest, and holding the
bedclothes close up to his chin, went to sleep. He was at no time
afraid. He said things were more active during the stay of Father 'I.'
than at any other time, and that one of the young H----s had seen a
veiled lady pass through his room."
The following paragraph in the letter of _The Times_ correspondent
called forth the subjoined letter from Mr. H---- himself, the tenant
of B----:--
"The only mystery in the matter seems to be the mode in which a
prosaic and ordinary dwelling was endowed with so evil a reputation. I
was assured in London that it had had this reputation for twenty or
thirty years. The family lawyer in P---- asserted most positively
that there had never been a whisper of such a thing until the house
was let for last year's shooting season to a family, whom I may call
the H----s. I was told the same thing in equally positive terms by
the minister of the parish, a level-headed man from B----shire, who
has lived in the place for twenty years. He told me that some of the
younger members of the H---- family had indulged in practical jokes,
and boasted of them. One of their pranks was to drop or throw a weight
upon the floor, and to draw it back by means of a string. Another
seems to have been to thump on bedroom doors with a boot-heel, the
unmistakable marks of which remain to this day, and were pointed out
to me by our hostess. If there are really any noises not referable to
ordinary domestic causes, it is not improbable that these practical
jokers made a confidant of some one about the estate, who amuses
himself by occasionally--it is only occasionally that the more
remarkable noises are said to be heard--repeating their tricks. The
steward or factor on the estate concurs with the lawyer and the
minister in denying that the house had any reputation for being
haunted before the advent of the H---- family. Yet he is a Highlander,
and not without superstition; for he gave it as his opinion that _if_
there was anything in these noises, they must be due to Black Art.
Asked what Black Art might be, he said he could not tell, but he had
often heard about it, and had been told that when once set going it
would go on without the assistance of its authors. He was quite clear,
however that if there is Black Art, it came in with the H---- family."
Mr. H----'s rejoinder, which appeared in _The Times_, was dated June
10th:--
_To the Editor of "The Times"_
"SIR,--I must ask you to be good enough to publish, on behalf of the
tenant of B----, a few remarks on the article that appeared in your
paper of the 8th inst. with the heading 'On the Trail of a Ghost.' The
writer of that article finds a very easy solution to the mystery by
attacking a private family who happened to be tenants of B---- for a
short time, and making them a 'scapegoat' for his argument. I do not
quite understand if your correspondent pretends to assert that the
place had not the reputation of being haunted previous to my tenancy
for three months last year; probably he does not charge me with
originating such reports, as he mentions a story of the visit of a
Catholic Archbishop to the house to exorcise the ghost. This must have
happened some time ago, and proves that the house was then supposed to
be haunted. What your correspondent does state as a fact is, that the
younger members of my family played practical jokes, which have given
rise to Lord Bute's investigations. My object in writing to you is to
deny most emphatically this statement. The principal proof that is
brought forward to corroborate this slander is, that the doors are
marked by the blows struck to produce the noises heard. Surely no one
could be frightened after the cause and reason of the noises were once
ascertained by the boot-marks! But there were no such marks on the
doors when we left B----. Some of our guests were with us until very
shortly before my family left, and can testify to this, for the good
reason that in the endeavour to localise the extraordinary noises, all
doors and other parts of the house were constantly examined up to the
very last. When I went to B---- at the beginning of August, my family
had already been there a few days, and at once they told me they had
found out the house was supposed to be haunted, and that they had
heard most unaccountable noises. I had the greatest difficulty to
persuade all my people to stay in the place, and after all, we left
Scotland about the end of September, two months earlier than usual. I
personally did not give any importance to the rumours that B---- House
is haunted, and attributed the very remarkable noises heard to the
hot-water pipes and the peculiar way in which the house is built. In
fact, I have to confess I cannot believe in ghosts, and, consequently,
I did my best to persuade everybody that B---- was not haunted, but I
am afraid I was not always successful. I hope you will forgive me for
taking up so much valuable space in your paper, but I had to do so in
self-defence against a false accusation.--Yours faithfully, H----."
It is believed that, in consequence of this letter, Mr. H---- was
threatened with legal proceedings, which, however, have not yet been
initiated.
The following is the account given of the same period by Miss "B.," a
lady of some position in the literary world:--
"... We arrived there on Wednesday the 25th August, the house being
then tenanted by Mr. J.R. H---- of K---- Court, C----, G----shire. The
household consisted of Mr. and Mrs. H----, three sons, Miss H----, my
sister and I, and two other guests, Colonel A---- and Major B----.
"We had rooms in the wing on the ground floor of the house, opening
off the main hall, divided from the rest of the house by a long
passage, and shut off by a swing-door. Our rooms opened off each
other, and the inner room opened off a little sitting-room, which had
a door with glass panels leading into the passage. The only other
person who slept in that wing of the house was Mr. Willie H----, whose
room was exactly opposite the door of our room.
"We heard a great deal of discussion about the 'ghost' when we
arrived, and so that night my sister made me sleep in the inner room
with her. We heard nothing that night. The next night I slept in the
outer room, and neither of us heard anything. The third night, my
sister being still a little nervous, I slept in the inner room with
her. The door of the outer room was locked, the door between the rooms
was locked, and there was a wardrobe placed against the door leading
into the sitting-room. We both, having taken these precautions, fell
sound asleep.
"I wakened suddenly in the middle of the night, and noticed how quiet
the house was. Then I heard the clock strike two, and a few minutes
later there came a crashing, _vibrating_ batter against the door of
the outer room. My sister was sleeping very soundly, but she started
up in a moment at the noise, wide awake.
"'Some one must have done that,' she said; 'such a noise could never
have been made by a ghost!'
"But neither of us had the courage to go out into the passage! The
noise lasted, I should say, for only two or three _seconds_, and
ceased as suddenly as it had begun. We lay awake till the light came
in, but the house was quite quiet. I may mention, as against the
'supernatural' origin of the sound, that it came against the outer
door, did not pass in to the inner one, and avoided the glass-panelled
door of the sitting-room, which would certainly have been shivered by
the application of force sufficient to produce such noise. Another
very curious thing was, that on the nights when it came to our door
(_we_ only heard it once, but other visitors heard it often) Willie
H---- heard nothing; whereas on the nights when he was disturbed, we
heard nothing, yet the rooms were close together.
"The following night my sister and Miss H---- and two of her brothers
sat up all night in the morning-room, which opened off the main hall.
We sat with the door open and in the dark, but neither heard or saw
anything; the house was absolutely still.
"The next night my sister and I stayed in Miss H----'s room, watching
with her. It was on the third storey of the house, and on a line with
the specially haunted room, then occupied by Colonel A----. Two of the
men sat up downstairs.
"After 2.30 Mr. Eustace H---- came and told his sister we need not sit
up later, as everything was so quiet, and the noises seldom came after
that hour. He went to his room then, but his door was scarcely closed
when we all heard a loud knocking at Colonel A----'s door. We ran out,
without waiting a moment, into the passage, where the lamps were still
burning brightly, but it was absolutely empty and quiet. We heard it
several times that night in distant parts of the house, and once we
heard a scream, which seemed to come from overhead. We stayed six days
in the house after this, but heard nothing more ourselves, though
every one else in the house was disturbed nightly."
The Major B---- mentioned in the above statement has been good enough
to furnish the following note as to his personal impressions:--
"On 22nd August 1896 I arrived at B----, and remained there until the
2nd September. During this period I slept in the room on the first
floor, which is at the end of a short corridor running from the top of
the back stairs to my room [No. 1].
"Colonel A---- occupied the room next to me [No. 3]. It was a double
room, connected by a door, and was situated just at the top of the
back stair.
"August 24th, about 3.30 A.M., I heard very loud knocking, apparently
on Colonel A----'s door, about nine raps in all--three raps quickly,
one after the other, then three more the same, and three more the
same. It was as if some one was hitting the door with his fist as hard
as he could hit. I left my room at once, but could find nothing to
account for the noise. It was broad daylight at the time. I heard the
same noises on the 28th and 30th August at about the same hour, viz.
between 3 and 4 A.M."
The following, which adds somewhat to the above, was contained in a
private letter written in January 1897 from Major B---- to the Hon.
E---- F----:--
"Between two and four in the morning there used to be noises on the
door (of Colonel A----'s room), as if a very strong man were hitting
the panels as hard as ever he could hit, three times in quick
succession--a pause, and then three times again in quick succession,
and perhaps another go. It was so loud that I thought it was on the
door of his dressing-room, but he said he thought it was on his
bedroom door. One theory is, that it was the hot water in the pipes
getting cold, which, I am told, would make a loud throbbing noise. I
tripped out pretty quick the first time I heard it, but could see
nothing. Of course it is broad daylight in Scotland then.
"The same banging was, I believe, heard on one of the bedroom doors
down the passage, in the wing on the ground floor, and on
investigation I found there were hot-water pipes just outside that
door as well. There were yarns innumerable while I was there about
shrieks and footsteps heard, and bedclothes torn off. But I did not
experience these.... I don't think the noises were done by a
practical joker, as there were too many people on the alert...."