account of the manner of its discovery, and by whom; as the Earl sent
down orders immediately to his steward to inform the poor woman who had
been the occasion of its discovery that if she would come and reside in
his family she would be comfortably provided for during her remaining
days; or, if she did not choose to reside constantly with them, if she
would let them know when she wanted assistance, she would be liberally
supplied at his lordship's expense as long as she lived. And Mr Hampson
said it was a known fact in the neighbourhood that she had been supplied
from his lordship's family, from the time the affair was said to have
happened, and continued to be so at the time she gave Mr Hampson this
account. She told him that she was so often solicited by curious people
to relate the story that she was weary of repeating it; but, to oblige
him, she once more related the particulars, wishing now to have done
with it. Mr Hampson said she appeared to be a sensible, intelligent
person, and that he saw no reason to doubt her veracity. I know many
persons in the present day laugh at such stories, and affect very much
to doubt their reality, while others totally deny the possibility of
their existence. However, Scripture and many well-attested relations
seem to favour the idea, and the present story appeared so singular and
so well attested, and I had it so near the fountain-head, that I thought
it might perhaps be worth preserving, and I have therefore taken pains
to record it. Admitting it to be true, it should seem that the
consequence to the family of what the hidden box contained was the
formal cause of the spirit's disquiet, and of its disturbing the house
so much and so long, in order to bring about the discovery; but why the
departed spirit should concern itself in the affairs of this world after
it has left it--or why they should disquiet it so as to cause it to
reappear and make disturbances, in order to discover and have things
righted, as in the preceding case,--or why this should be done in some
cases of apparently less moment, while in other cases much greater
family injuries seem to be suffered, and no spirit appears to interest
itself in the case--are circumstances for which we can by no means
account. A cloud sits deep on futurity; and we are so little acquainted
with the laws of the spiritual world that we are perhaps incapable, in
our present state, of comprehending its nature or of giving any
satisfactory account of these matters.
XX
CROGLIN GRANGE
From ARCHDEACON HARE'S Autobiography[10]
"Fisher," said the Captain, "may sound a very plebeian name, but this
family is of very ancient lineage, and for many hundreds of years they
have possessed a very curious old place in Cumberland, which bears the
weird name of Croglin Grange. The great characteristic of the house is
that never at any period of its very long existence has it been more
than one story high, but it has a terrace from which large grounds sweep
away towards the church in the hollow, and a fine distant view.
"When, in lapse of years, the Fishers outgrew Croglin Grange in family
and fortune, they were wise enough not to destroy the long-standing
characteristic of the place by adding another story to the house, but
they went away to the south, to reside at Thorncombe near Guildford, and
they let Croglin Grange.
"They were extremely fortunate in their tenants, two brothers and a
sister. They heard their praises from all quarters. To their poorer
neighbours they were all that is most kind and beneficent, and their
neighbours of a higher class spoke of them as a welcome addition to the
little society of the neighbourhood. On their part the tenants were
greatly delighted with their new residence. The arrangement of the
house, which would have been a trial to many, was not so to them. In
every respect Croglin Grange was exactly suited to them.
"The winter was spent most happily by the new inmates of Croglin
Grange, who shared in all the little social pleasures of the district,
and made themselves very popular. In the following summer there was one
day which was dreadfully, annihilatingly hot. The brothers lay under the
trees with their books, for it was too hot for any active occupation.
The sister sat in the verandah and worked, or tried to work, for in the
intense sultriness of that summer day work was next to impossible. They
dined early, and after dinner they still sat out in the verandah,
enjoying the cool air which came with evening, and they watched the sun
set, and the moon rise over the belt of trees which separated the
grounds from the churchyard, seeing it mount the heavens till the whole
lawn was bathed in silver light, across which the long shadows from the
shrubbery fell as if embossed, so vivid and distinct were they.
"When they separated for the night, all retiring to their rooms on the
ground-floor (for, as I said, there was no upstairs in that house), the
sister felt that the heat was still so great that she could not sleep,
and having fastened her window, she did not close the shutters--in that
very quiet place it was not necessary--and, propped against the pillows,
she still watched the wonderful, the marvellous beauty of that summer
night. Gradually she became aware of two lights, two lights which
flickered in and out in the belt of trees which separated the lawn from
the churchyard; and, as her gaze became fixed upon them, she saw them
emerge, fixed in a dark substance, a definite ghastly _something_, which
seemed every moment to become nearer, increasing in size and substance
as it approached. Every now and then it was lost for a moment in the
long shadows which stretched across the lawn from the trees, and then it
emerged larger than ever, and still coming on--on. As she watched it,
the most uncontrollable horror seized her. She longed to get away, but
the door was close to the window and the door was locked on the inside,
and while she was unlocking it, she must be for an instant nearer to
_it_. She longed to scream, but her voice seemed paralysed, her tongue
glued to the roof of her mouth.
"Suddenly, she never could explain why afterwards, the terrible object
seemed to turn to one side, seemed to be going round the house, not to
be coming to her at all, and immediately she jumped out of bed and
rushed to the door; but as she was unlocking it, she heard scratch,
scratch, scratch upon the window, and saw a hideous brown face with
flaming eyes glaring in at her. She rushed back to the bed, but the
creature continued to scratch, scratch, scratch upon the window. She
felt a sort of mental comfort in the knowledge that the window was
securely fastened on the inside. Suddenly the scratching sound ceased,
and a kind of pecking sound took its place. Then, in her agony, she
became aware that the creature was unpicking the lead! The noise
continued, and a diamond pane of glass fell into the room. Then a long
bony finger of the creature came in and turned the handle of the window,
and the window opened, and the creature came in; and it came across the
room, and her terror was so great that she could not scream, and it came
up to the bed, and it twisted its long, bony fingers into her hair, and
it dragged her head over the side of the bed, and--it bit her violently
in the throat.
"As it bit her, her voice was released, and she screamed with all her
might and main. Her brothers rushed out of their rooms, but the door was
locked on the inside. A moment was lost while they got a poker and broke
it open. Then the creature had already escaped through the window, and
the sister, bleeding violently from a wound in the throat, was lying
unconscious over the side of the bed. One brother pursued the creature,
which fled before him through the moonlight with gigantic strides, and
eventually seemed to disappear over the wall into the churchyard. Then
he rejoined his brother by the sister's bedside. She was dreadfully
hurt, and her wound was a very definite one; but she was of strong
disposition, not either given to romance or superstition, and when she
came to herself she said, 'What has happened is most extraordinary, and
I am very much hurt. It seems inexplicable, but of course there is an
explanation, and we must wait for it. It will turn out that a lunatic
has escaped from some asylum and found his way here.' The wound healed,
and she appeared to get well, but the doctor who was sent for would not
believe that she could bear so terrible a shock so easily, and insisted
that she must have change, mental and physical; so her brothers took her
to Switzerland.
"Being a sensible girl, when she went abroad she threw herself at once
into the interests of the country she was in. She dried plants, she made
sketches, she went up mountains, and, as autumn came on, she was the
person who urged that they should return to Croglin Grange. 'We have
taken it,' she said, 'for seven years, and we have only been there one;
and we shall always find it difficult to let a house which is only one
story high, so we had better return there; lunatics do not escape every
day.' As she urged it, her brothers wished nothing better, and the
family returned to Cumberland. From there being no upstairs to the house
it was impossible to make any great change in their arrangements. The
sister occupied the same room, but it is unnecessary to say she always
closed her shutters, which, however, as in many old houses, always left
one top pane of the window uncovered. The brothers moved, and occupied a
room together, exactly opposite that of their sister, and they always
kept loaded pistols in their room.
"The winter passed most peacefully and happily. In the following March
the sister was suddenly awakened by a sound she remembered only too
well--scratch, scratch, scratch upon the window, and, looking up, she
saw quite clearly in the topmost pane of the window the same hideous
brown shrivelled face, with glaring eyes, looking in at her. This time
she screamed as loud as she could. Her brothers rushed out of their room
with pistols, and out of the front door. The creature was already
scudding away across the lawn. One of the brothers fired and hit it in
the leg, but still with the other leg it continued to make way,
scrambled over the wall into the churchyard, and seemed to disappear
into a vault which belonged to a family long extinct.
"The next day the brothers summoned all the tenants of Croglin Grange,
and in their presence the vault was opened. A horrible scene revealed
itself. The vault was full of coffins; they had been broken open, and
their contents, horribly mangled and distorted, were scattered over the
floor. One coffin alone remained intact. Of that the lid had been
lifted, but still lay loose upon the coffin. They raised it, and there,
brown, withered, shrivelled, mummified, but quite entire, was the same
hideous figure which had looked in at the windows of Croglin Grange,
with the marks of a recent pistol-shot in the leg; and they did--the
only thing that can lay a vampire--they burnt it."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 10: _The Story of my Life_ (Allen & Unwin).]
XXI
THE GHOST OF MAJOR SYDENHAM
By JOSEPH GLANVIL[11]
Concerning the apparition of the Ghost of Major George Sydenham, (late
of Dulverton in the County of Somerset) to Captain William Dyke, late of
Skilgate in this County also, and now likewise deceased: Be pleased to
take the Relation of it as I have it from the worthy and learned Dr Tho.
Dyke, a near kinsman of the Captain's, thus: Shortly after the Major's
Death, the Doctor was desired to come to the House, to take care of a
Child that was there sick, and in his way thither he called on the
Captain, who was very willing to wait on him to the place, because he
must, as he said, have gone thither that night, though he had not met
with so encouraging an opportunity. After their arrival there at the
House, and the Civility of the People shewn them in that Entertainment,
they were seasonably conducted to their Lodging, which they desired
might be together in the same Bed: Where after they had lain a while,
the Captain knocked, and bids the Servant bring him two of the largest
and biggest Candles lighted that he could get. Whereupon the Doctor
enquires what he meant by this? The Captain answers, You know Cousin
what Disputes my Major and I have had touching the Being of a God, and
the Immortality of the Soul; in which points we could never yet be
resolv'd, though we so much sought for and desired it; and therefore it
was at length fully agreed between us, That he of us that died first,
should the third Night after his Funeral, between the Hours of Twelve
and one, come to the little House that is here in the Garden, and there
give a full account to the Survivor touching these Matters, who should
be sure to be present there at the set time, and so receive a full
satisfaction; and this, says the Captain, is the very Night, and I am
come on purpose to fulfil my promise. The Doctor dissuaded him, minding
him of the danger of following those strange Counsels, for which we
could have no Warrant, and that the Devil might by some cunning Device
make such an advantage of this rash attempt, as might work his utter
Ruin. The Captain replies, That he had solemnly engag'd, and that
nothing should discourage him, and adds, that if the Doctor would wake
awhile with him, he would thank him, if not, he might compose himself to
his rest; but for his own part he was resolv'd to watch, that he might
be sure to be present at the Hour appointed: To that purpose he sets his
watch by him, and as soon as he perceived by it that it was half an Hour
past 11, he rises, and taking a Candle in each Hand, goes out by a
back-door, of which he had before gotten the Key, and walks to the
Garden-house, where he continued two hours and a half, and at his return
declared, that he had neither saw not heard any thing more than what was
usual. But I know, said he, that my Major would surely have come, had he
been able.
About 6 weeks after, the Captain rides to _Eaton_ to place his Son a
Scholar there, when the Doctor went thither with him. They lodged there
at an Inn, the Sign was the _Christopher_, and tarried two or three
Nights, not lying together now as before at _Dulverton_, but in two
several Chambers. The morning before they went thence, the Captain staid
in his Chamber longer than he was wont to do before he called upon the
Doctor. At length he comes into the Doctor's Chamber, but in a Visage
and Form much differing from himself, with his Hair and Eyes staring,
and his whole Body shaking and trembling: Whereupon at the Doctor
wondering, presently demanded: What is the matter Cousin Captain? The
Captain replies, I have seen my Major: At which the Doctor seeming to
smile, the Captain immediately confirms it, saying, If ever I saw him in
my life, I saw him but now: And then he related to the Doctor what had
passed, thus: This morning after it was light, someone comes to my
bedside, and suddenly drawing back the Curtains, calls, _Cap. Cap._
(which was the term of familiarity that the Major used to call the
Captain by). To whom I replied, _What my Major?_ To which he returns, _I
could not come at the time appointed, but I am now come to tell you,
That there is a God, and a very just and terrible one, and if you do not
turn over a new leaf_, (the very Expressions as is by the Doctor
punctually remembered) _you will find it so_. The Captain proceeded: On
the Table by there lay a Sword, which the Major had formerly given me.
Now after the Apparition had walked a turn or two about the Chamber, he
took up the Sword, drew it out, and finding it not so clean and bright
as it ought, _Cap. Cap._ says he, _this Sword did not use to be kept
after this manner when it was mine_. After which Words he suddenly
disappeared.
The Captain was not only thoroughly persuaded of what he had thus seen
and heard, but was from that time observed to be very much affected with
it: and the Humour that before in him was brisk and jovial, was then
strangely alter'd; insomuch, as very little Meat would pass down with
him at Dinner, though at the taking leave of their Friends there was a
very handsome Treat provided: Yea it was observed that what the Captain
had thus seen and heard, had a more lasting Influence upon him, and 'tis
judged by those who were well acquainted with his Conversation, that
the remembrance of this Passage stuck close to him, and that those words
of his dead Friend were frequently sounding fresh in his Ears, during
the remainder of his Life, which was about Two Years.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 11: _Sadducismus Triumphatus._]
XXII
THE MIRACULOUS CASE OF JESCH CLAES
From CHRISTMAS' "Phantom World"
In the year 1676, about the 13th or 14th of this Month October, in the
Night, between one and two of the Clock, this _Jesch Claes_, a cripple,
being in bed with her Husband, who was a Boatman, she was three times
pulled by her Arm, with which she awaked and cried out, "O Lord! what
may this be?"
Hereupon she heard an answer in plain words: "Be not afraid, I come in
the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Your malady which hath for
many years been upon you shall cease, and it shall be given you from God
Almighty to walk again. But keep this good news to yourself!" Whereupon
she cried aloud, "O Lord! that I had a light that I might know what this
is." Then had she this answer: "There needs no light, the light shall be
given you from God."
Then came light all over the Room, and she saw a beautiful Youth about
ten Years of Age, with curled yellow Hair, cloathed in white to the
Feet, who went from the Bed's-Head to the Chimney with a light, which a
little after vanished. Hereupon did there did shoot something through
her Leg, like water, from hip to toe, and when she did find life rising
up in her dead limb, she fell to crying out, "Lord give me now again the
feeling, which I have not had in so many years." And farther she
continued crying and praying to the Lord according to her weak measure.
Yet she continued that day, Wednesday, and the next day Thursday, as
before till Evening at six a clock. At which time she sate at the Fire
dressing the Food. Then came as like rushing noise in both her Ears with
which it was said to her, "_Stand_. Your going is given you again."
Then did she immediately stand up, that had so many years crept, and
went to the door. Her Husband meeting her, being exceedingly afraid,
drew back. In the mean time while she cried out, "My dear Husband, I can
go again."
He thinking it was a Spirit, drew back, saying, "You are not my Wife."
His Wife taking hold of him, said, "My dear Husband, I am the self-same
that hath been married these thirty years to you. The Almighty God hath
given me my going again."
But her Husband being amazed, drew back to the side of the Room, till at
last she clasped her Hand about his Neck. And yet he doubted, and said
to his Daughter, "Is this your Mother?"
She answered, "Yes, Father! this we plainly see. I had seen her go also
before you came in."
This befell upon Prince's-Island in Amsterdam, where Jesch Claes lived
with her husband.
XXIII
THE RADIANT BOY OF CORBY CASTLE
Local Records
The haunted room forms part of the old house, with windows looking into
the court. It adjoins a tower built for defence, for Corby was,
properly, more a border tower than a castle of any consideration. There
is a winding staircase in this tower, and the walls are from eight to
ten feet thick.
When the times became more peaceable, our ancestors enlarged the
arrow-slit windows, and added to that part of the building which looks
towards the river Eden; the view of which, with its beautiful banks, we
now enjoy. But many additions and alterations have been made since that.
To return to the room in question: I must observe that it is by no means
remote or solitary, being surrounded on all sides by chambers that are
constantly inhabited. It is accessible by a passage cut through a wall
eight feet in thickness, and its dimensions are twenty-one by eighteen.
One side of the wainscotting is covered with tapestry, the remainder is
decorated with old family pictures, and some ancient pieces of
embroidery, probably the handiwork of nuns. Over a press, which has
doors of Venetian glass, is an ancient oaken figure, with a battle-axe
in his hand, which was one of those formerly placed on the walls of the
City of Carlisle, to represent guards. There used to be also an
old-fashioned bed and some dark furniture in this room; but so many were
the complaints of those who slept there, that I was induced to replace
some of these articles of furniture by more modern ones, in the hope of
removing a certain air of gloom, which I thought might have given rise
to the unaccountable reports of apparitions and extraordinary noises
which were constantly reaching us. But I regret to say, I did not
succeed in banishing the nocturnal visitor, which still continues to
disturb our friends.
I shall pass over numerous instances, and select one as being especially
remarkable, from the circumstance of the apparition having been seen by
a clergyman well known and highly respected in this county, who, not six
weeks ago, repeated the circumstances to a company of twenty persons,
amongst whom were some who had previously been entire disbelievers in
such appearances.
The best way of giving you these particulars will be by subjoining an
extract from my journal, entered at the time the event occurred.
_Sept. 8, 1803._--Amongst other guests invited to Corby Castle came the
Rev. Henry A., of Redburgh, and rector of Greystoke, with Mrs A., his
wife, who was a Miss S., of Ulverstone. According to previous
arrangements, they were to have remained with us some days; but their
visit was cut short in a very unexpected manner. On the morning after
their arrival we were all assembled at breakfast, when a chaise and four
dashed up to the door in such haste that it knocked down part of the
fence of my flower garden. Our curiosity was, of course, awakened to
know who could be arriving at so early an hour; when, happening to turn
my eyes towards Mr A., I observed that he appeared extremely agitated.
"It is our carriage," said he; "I am very sorry, but we must absolutely
leave you this morning."
We naturally felt and expressed considerable surprise, as well as
regret, at this unexpected departure, representing that we had invited
Colonel and Mrs S., some friends whom Mr A. particularly desired to
meet, to dine with us on that day. Our expostulations, however, were
vain; the breakfast was no sooner over than they departed, leaving us in
consternation to conjecture what could possibly have occasioned so
sudden an alteration in their arrangements. I really felt quite uneasy
lest anything should have given them offence; and we reviewed all the
occurrences of the preceding evening in order to discover, if offence
there was, whence it had arisen. But our pains were vain; and after
talking a great deal about it for some days, other circumstances
banished the matter from our minds.
It was not till we some time afterwards visited the part of the county
in which Mr A. resides that we learnt the real cause of his sudden
departure from Corby. The relation of the fact, as it here follows, is
in his own words:--
"Soon after we went to bed, we fell asleep; it might be between one and
two in the morning when I awoke. I observed that the fire was totally
extinguished; but, although that was the case, and we had no light, I
saw a glimmer in the centre of the room, which suddenly increased to a
bright flame. I looked out, apprehending that something had caught fire,
when, to my amazement, I beheld a beautiful boy, clothed in white, with
bright locks resembling gold, standing by my bedside, in which position
he remained some minutes, fixing his eyes upon me with a mild and
benevolent expression. He then glided gently towards the side of the
chimney, where it is obvious there is no possible egress, and entirely
disappeared. I found myself again in total darkness, and all remained
quiet until the usual hour of rising. I declare this to be a true
account of what I saw at Corby Castle, upon my word as a clergyman."