Chapter II: Part 2

"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...."

The Hon. E---- F---- wrote to Miss Freer on March 4th:--

"... [Major] B---- is now in London, and I have seen him twice. He says (1) the hot-water pipe theory is not his own, but was suggested by an engineer friend. He should not himself have thought that hot-water pipes could make so big a noise. Besides, Colonel A---- described the noise as a banging either against the door itself, or against the door of the wardrobe inside the room.... (2) He, B----, heard the noise himself several times and bolted out into the passage at once, but saw nothing. The noise sounded like a very loud banging at A----'s door.... (3) He confirms the story about A---- being unable to sleep, and says he used to go to sleep on the moor in consequence."

During Colonel Taylor's tenancy similar noises were heard, both when the water was totally cut off and when, from some defect in the apparatus, it never reached a high temperature.

The Colonel A---- referred to, corroborates this account, as follows, in a letter to Major B----:

"MY DEAR B----, You write asking me about B---- House and its spook. Well, I never _saw_ anything, and what I heard was what you heard, a terrific banging at one's bedroom door, generally about from 2 to 3 A.M., about two nights out of three. Of course there were other yarns of things heard, &c., but I personally never heard or experienced anything else than this banging at the door, which I never could account for...."

Before passing from the subject of Colonel A----, it is as well to mention that after leaving B---- he went to stay at another country house, and the butler there spoke to him of the haunting of B----, where he himself was a servant some years before. This butler was asked for further information, but sent only the following reply:--

"Your note to hand regarding B----. I am afraid what I saw or heard would be of little value to your book, therefore I would rather say nothing."

It will be observed that, so far from denying the facts, he admits that he saw and heard certain things, which he refuses to describe; but as this evidence is circumstantial rather than direct, it is inserted here rather than in the place to which, chronologically, it would, if fuller, properly have belonged.

Mr. and Mrs. "G." were also guests at B---- during the occupation of the H----s. Mrs. "G." published an account of her experiences in a magazine article, of course with fictitious names; but she affirms that she has in no sense "written up" the story, which, indeed, is entirely corroborated by other evidence:--

"_October 9th, 1896._--Some friends of mine took the place this year for the shooting, and, relying on the glowing description they had received, took it on trust, and in July last took possession of it without having previously seen it. For a few days all went well; the family established themselves in the old part of the house, leaving a new wing for their guests. The haunted room (for so I may justly call it) was inhabited by two or three persons in succession, who were so alarmed and disturbed by the violent knockings, shrieks, and groans which they heard every night, and which were also heard by many others along the same corridor, that they refused to sleep there after the first few nights. Those who serve under her Majesty's colours are proverbially brave; they will gladly die for their country, with sword in hand and face to the foe. For this reason a distinguished officer [Colonel A----, above quoted] was the next occupant of the haunted chamber, and was told nothing of its antecedents. The morning after his arrival he came down refreshed, and keen for the day's sport. I may here mention, no one is ever disturbed the first night of their stay. During the succeeding nights, however, he was continually roused from his slumbers by the most terrific noises, and want of sleep would cause him to become drowsy when out shooting on the moor, and would tempt him to make a bed of the purple heather and fragrant myrtle.

"A friend of mine, a man of great nerve and courage, next inhabited the room, and went through the same experiences. He took every possible means to discover the cause of the sounds, and failed in accounting for them in any way. He said the blows on the door were so violent he often looked, expecting to see it shattered to atoms. Since he left no one has been put into this room, but the noises continue, and are heard throughout the house. Even the dogs cannot be coaxed into this room, and if forced into it, they crouch with marked signs of fear.

"The disturbances take place between 12 and 4.30, and never at any other time. A young lady, of by no means timid disposition, and possessed of great presence of mind, has often heard the swing-door pushed open and footsteps coming along the corridor, pausing at the door. She has frequently looked out and seen nothing. The footsteps she has also heard in her room, and going round her bed. Many persons have had the same experiences, and many have heard the wild unearthly shriek which has rung through the house in the stillness of the night.

"I will now give my own experience. I arrived with my husband and daughter on September 17, having been duly warned by my friends of the nocturnal disturbances. We were put in rooms adjoining, at the end of the new wing. I kept a light in my room, but the first night all was still. Next night, about 2 A.M., a succession of thundering knocks came from the end of our passage, re-echoing through the house, where it was heard by many others. About half-an-hour afterwards my husband heard a piercing shriek; then all was still, save for the hooting of the owls in the neighbouring trees. When the grey dawn stole in it was welcome; so was the cheery sound of the bagpipes, as the kilted piper took his daily round in the early morning. The next night and succeeding ones we heard loud single knocks at different doors along our passage. The last night but one before we left I was roused from sleep by hearing the clock strike one, and immediately it had ceased six violent blows shook our own door on its hinges, and came with frightful rapidity, followed by deep groans. After this sleep was impossible. The next night, our last in Scotland, my husband and others watched in our passage all night, and though the sounds were again heard in different directions, nothing was to be seen. As I write, at the commencement of October, the house on the lonely hillside is deserted; the tenants have gone southwards; an old caretaker (too deaf to hear the weird sounds which nightly awaken the echoes) is the sole occupant. Even she closes up all before dusk, and retires into her quarters below; though she hears not, her sight is unimpaired, and she perhaps dreads to meet the hunchback figure which is said to glide up the stairs, or the shadowy form of a grey lady who paces with noiseless footfall the lonely corridor, and has been seen to pass through the door of one of the rooms. Within the last two months a man with bronzed complexion and bent figure has been seen by two gentlemen, friends of mine. They both describe him as having come through the door and passed through the room in which they were about three in the morning. I have tried to give a faithful and accurate account of these strange events. I leave it to each and all to form their own opinion on the matter."

Some passages in private letters to Miss Freer and Lord Bute written by Mrs. "G.," should be quoted as bearing upon some points in the above:--

"_February 9th._--I am going to ask you if you do go there [B---- House] if you would let me know if you see or hear anything. I am immensely interested in it, as we stayed there in the autumn with some friends who took it, and anything more horribly haunted could not be. I never should have believed it if I had not been there."

After the appearance of _The Times_ correspondent's accusation against the H---- family, Mrs. "G." wrote as follows to Lord Bute:--

"_June 10th._--If the noises complained of by nearly all who have stayed at B---- were the result of practical jokes perpetrated by the H----s, how is it that not only were they heard by guests who stayed there years ago, but are admitted by members of the S---- family to have been heard by themselves? Miss Freer also has told me, that the same noises were heard at all hours day and night by herself and her guests for months after the H---- family and their servants had left Scotland. This so completely exonerates them from the absurd charge, that I should hardly have mentioned it, had not Miss Freer seemed quite under the impression that practical jokes had been played during the tenancy of the H----s; and as a proof of this, she told me that the doors, especially of two of the rooms, were marked with nailed boots, and the panels even split through, and this damage was attributed by her to the younger members of the H---- family. I am happy to say I was able to disabuse her mind of this idea, as we were staying at B---- within a few days of their leaving Scotland, and I had most carefully examined the doors especially of the two rooms specified, one of which was our own room. There was not a scratch, nor the smallest mark or indentation; others can also vouch for this fact. The H----s had all left B---- for good at that time, except the eldest son, and Miss Freer agreed with me that whatever damage was done to the doors, must therefore have been done after the H----s left, and before her party came in.... The hot-water pipe theory revived by the writer of the article in _The Times_ is disproved by Miss Freer, who told me that the hot-water apparatus was not used for some time, and that the disturbances continued just the same.... The stories told in connection with B---- were not circulated or started by the H---- family. They were told _to_ them by persons living around B----."

In a letter to Miss Freer, dated June 12th, Mrs. "G." writes, in reference to the charge of practical joking:--

"They are the most unlikely family to do such a thing; and besides, if further proof were wanted, the young men of the family were away from B---- when we stayed there ten days, and there was only one night when we did not hear the noises."

Miss Freer of course entirely accepts Mrs. "G.'s" statement, and that of Mr. H---- as published in _The Times_. She had been led to her earlier conclusions as to the marks of a boot-heel on the upper panels of the doors by the statements of interested persons.

A suggestive point in this connection is the fact, to which Miss "G." has herself testified, that while Mr. and Mrs. "G." were disturbed to the utmost degree, their daughter, who slept in a room communicating with that of her mother, heard nothing whatever; from which it would appear that the noises heard by them were subjective, and that the alleged evidence of the boot-heel, even were it credible, would be, in fact, irrelevant.

The mention of the hallucinatory nature of such phenomena suggests attention to the intellectual acumen displayed by _The Times_ correspondent in saying that "Lord Bute ought to have employed a couple of intelligent detectives" for the purpose of catching subjective hallucinations. On the same principle, he ought to offer to his learned friend, Sir James Crichton-Browne, well known as an alienist, some advice as to the best mode of securing morbid hallucinations in strait-waistcoats. Is he prepared to propose to take photographs of a dream, to put thoughts under lock and key, or to advocate the supply of hot and cold water on every floor of a castle in the air?

One of the guests at B---- during Colonel Taylor's tenancy wrote after his return to London to Miss Freer as follows:--

"_March 24th._--I went to call the other day on the 'G.'s' who chanced to be still in town.... I begin chronologically, and give you what I was told in all seriousness.... The H----s knew nothing about any stories of haunting when they took the place, and Miss H---- and one of the sons went up, most innocently, to prepare for the arrival of the others. As soon as they entered it the son said to his sister that he couldn't explain why, but he had a conviction that the house was haunted. That night, however, nothing happened. But the second night the bangings began. An old Spanish nurse was in the haunted room, and was greatly disturbed by the noise upon her door, which seemed as if it were going to be burst open. She didn't seem to be alarmed in the least however, and later took steps to secure its remaining shut by stuffing a towel under the chink (why this should secure it I rather fail to see, still that was her view). Apparently the ghost resented this, and one night did actually burst the door open, with such violence that the towel was precipitated into the middle of the room. The longer they stayed in the house, the worse things got. The noises were all over the house more or less, and were by no means confined to bangings. Miss H---- slept in room No. 8, where the ghost limped round her bed. She was so alarmed that she fetched her brother in, and he slept on the sofa. The limping began again, and she asked him if he heard anything, and he at once agreed that somebody was walking round the bed. In his own room--I forget which--he twice _saw_ the ghost, once in the shape of an indeterminate mist, once in the shape of a man, who came in by the door and vanished in the wall. Mrs. 'G.'[B] now appears on the scene, and slept in No. 1 (I _think_). She heard only the bangings, which she declares were indescribably loud. They were mostly at the door of the haunted room. Traps were laid to catch unwary jesters; the door, or the surrounding floor, I forget which, was covered with flour, and wires were stretched across the door; and if I had the proper mind of a ghost-story narrator, I should say that the bangings were as bad as ever, and the flour and the wires were found undisturbed.

"But as a matter of fact she didn't say that, though doubtless she intended to, but jumped on to something else. Mr. "G.," who was there some weeks after his wife, was put down in the wing--I don't know which room--and had visitations. He heard steps approach down the passage, followed by a heavy body flinging itself against his door. He also heard screams, which seemed to him to recede as though the screamer was passing through the walls. (I couldn't quite understand this effect, but that was how he described it.) Their chaplain, who was put into the haunted room, was also greatly worried, and both he and the Spanish nurse and Colonel A---- all had the sensation that their bedclothes were being pulled off, and they had to hold on to them to prevent their departure. The most interesting part of the story is that Mrs. S---- later admitted to Mrs. "G." that it was quite true the house was supposed to be haunted, that she had lived there for twenty years, and at various times there had been outbreaks of this kind of thing of greater or less duration, but that the outbreaks had not been often enough for them to think it worth while mentioning the fact to incoming tenants. It appears also that the story of the bangings on the table in the daylight on the occasion of the last interview between the late Mr. S---- and the land-steward, came from one of the young S----s. It was also said that one of the young S----s used to sleep in the dressing-room between No. 1 and the haunted room, and used to complain that somebody kept pulling his bedclothes off.

"I may add that it is quite clear that the people about the place--some of whom, on my leaving, I vainly tried to draw--have been threatened not to talk about the ghost. There was no mystery about it whatever last year, the station officials being exceedingly loquacious and full of information...."

The above are the circumstances which _The Times_ correspondent thus describes:--

"Lord Bute's confidence has been grossly abused by some one. It was represented to him by some one that he was taking the 'most haunted house in Scotland,' a house with an old and established reputation for mysterious if not supernatural disturbances. What he has got is a house with no reputation whatever of that kind, with no history, with nothing germane to his purpose beyond a cloud of baseless rumours produced during the last twelve-month. Who is responsible for the imposture it is not my business to know or to inquire, but that it is an imposture of the most shallow and impudent kind there can be no manner of doubt. I interviewed in P---- a man who has the district at his finger-tips, and was ready to enumerate in order all the shooting properties in the valley. He had never heard until the moment I spoke to him of B---- possessing any reputation, ancient or modern, for being haunted, although he is familiar with the estate, and has slept in the house. It has no local reputation of the kind even now beyond the parish it stands in. The whole thing has been fudged up in London upon the basis of some distorted account of the practical jokes of the H----s."

As the writer in question obtained his admission to the house as a guest by Sir James Crichton-Browne's solicitation through Sir William Huggins and Lord Bute, it might naturally have been supposed that the real facts were known to him, at least so far as they were concerned. It appears, however, that he cherished a voluntary ignorance upon the subject, to judge from the phrase, "it is not my business to know or to inquire." Of such a writer, and of such statements, the reader will now form his own opinion; but that the correspondent in question should continue to cling to his journalistic anonymity, is little to be wondered at.

Colonel Taylor served in the Bedfordshire Regiment. He was afterwards Professor of Tactics at Sandhurst, and retired in 1894. Possessed of means, leisure, and intelligence, he chose to make the study of psychic subjects his particular occupation. He is one of the seven fundamental members who, in 1895, signed the Articles of Association of the London Spiritualist Alliance, holds office in the Society for Psychical Research, and has rendered very valuable services in investigation of various kinds. Having made the investigation of houses alleged to be haunted his special province, he may be fairly considered to be somewhat of an expert in this matter. It may, or may not, be regarded as a drawback to his usefulness in this direction, that he is so peculiarly insensitive to subjective impressions, that a man who is colour-blind would be almost as useful a witness as to shades of colour as Colonel Taylor upon hallucinations, local or otherwise; but, as will be seen, he is fertile in expedients, experienced in research, and careful and observant of the phenomena experienced by others.

Lord Bute, who takes some interest in scientific matters, has been accustomed not infrequently to defray the cost of scientific work which he is unable to undertake himself, and he offered to meet the expense of the lease of B---- if Colonel Taylor would take the house, a proposal which he accepted.

This is what _The Times_ correspondent of June 8, 1897, thought proper to describe in the words, "for reasons which are differently stated in London and in Perth, where the agent for the proprietor is to be found, Lord Bute did not take the house in his own name, but in that of Colonel Taylor."

It would have been equally true to say of the Coptic texts, published at Lord Bute's expense by Mr. Budge of the British Museum, that Lord Bute wrote and published these books under the name of Budge.

Had Colonel Taylor been prevented by circumstances from becoming tenant of B---- House, Sir William Crookes, the present President of the British Association and of the Society for Psychical Research, or Mr. Arthur Smith, Treasurer of the S.P.R., was willing to take the lease.

Having thus agreed to Lord Bute's proposal, Colonel Taylor at once proceeded to make himself acquainted with the history of B---- House. He naturally placed himself in communication with the late tenant, assuming that that gentleman would be willing to assist in investigating the phenomena by which his family and guests had been annoyed. But the only information which Mr. H---- seemed disposed to give was an admission that some members of his family had heard noises, and that the house was locally reported to be haunted.

However, other sources of information as to the experiences of the H---- establishment were fortunately available.

Captain S----'s agents made no scruple about letting the house to the well-known expert. The Edinburgh agents, Messrs. Speedy, indeed mentioned the haunting, and expressed the hope that Colonel Taylor would not make it the subject of complaint, as had been done by the H---- family, and they received the assurance that this was not a score upon which he would give trouble. In regard to the letters of Messrs. R.H. Moncrieff & Co., dated June 12, 1897, which appeared in _The Times_, it can only be said that the impression which they were likely to convey was, that Colonel Taylor was an imaginary being like John Doe or Richard Roe. Their scepticism must have been of recent origin, since none was manifested on receiving his rent. Their position is in any case unfortunate, since, even if unclouded by doubt as to the Colonel's personality, they appear to wish the public to believe that they seriously thought that one well known as a Spiritualist in England and America, a retired Professor of Military Tactics, with a comfortable house at Cheltenham, a member of the Junior United Service Club in London, a man who neither shoots nor fishes, had been suddenly seized in his mature years with a desire to hire an isolated country house in Perthshire, in the depths of winter, for the purpose of trying his 'prentice hand upon rabbit-shooting on a small scale.

Colonel Taylor, who is a widower without a daughter, was at this time much occupied by the illness and death of a near relative, and was unable for the moment to take up residence at B---- House. Lord Bute accordingly expressed a hope that Miss Freer would undertake to conduct the investigation. Mr. Myers also wrote urgently to her, saying, "If you don't get phenomena, probably no one will." She was abroad at the time, but at considerable personal inconvenience consented to return, and on December 26th she wrote to Lord Bute, stating that she could reach Ballechin on February 2nd, and adding--

"I have been reflecting further on the question of the personality of investigators. I think the names you suggest, and some others which occur to me, divide naturally into three classes (assuming, and I think you agree with me, that it does not follow that every one can discover a ghost because it is there, nor that their failure to discover it is any proof that it is not there). (1) Those who have personal experience of phenomena, and may be expected to be susceptible to psychic influences; (2) those who have no personal powers in that line, but are open-minded and sympathetic; and (3) those who are passively open to conviction. A fourth class, those who come to look for evidence against the phenomena, but will accept none for it, should, I think, be left until we have some demonstrable evidence to show.... Mr. Myers proposes himself for April 14-21.... I should suggest the keeping of a diary, in which every one willing to do so should make entries, negative or affirmative."

The _Times_ Correspondent further criticised the method of inquiry employed at B----.

"Lord Bute's original idea was a good one, but it was never properly carried out. Observing that the S.P.R. had made many investigations in a perfunctory and absurd manner by sending somebody to a haunted house for a couple of nights and then writing an utterly worthless report, he desired in this case a continuous investigation extending over a considerable period. He ought, therefore, to have employed a couple of intelligent detectives for the whole term, and thus secured real continuity. As things are, the only continuity is to be found in the presence--itself not entirely continuous--of the lady just mentioned. But simply because she is a lady, and because she had her duties as hostess to attend to, she is unfit to carry out the actual work of investigating the phenomena in question. Some of her assistants sat up all night, with loaded guns, in a condition of abject fright; others, there is reason to suspect, manufactured phenomena for themselves; and nearly all seem to have begun by assuming supernatural interference, instead of leaving it for the final explanation of whatever might be clearly proved to be otherwise inexplicable."

It is hardly necessary to repudiate such a condition of mind on the part of the guests at B----, but it may be well to remark that the writer of this sapient paragraph seems to be under the impression that every result of certain forces at present imperfectly understood is supernatural. The assertion that any one who was in the house during Colonel Taylor's tenancy believed in the possibility of the existence of anything supernatural is, so far as the present editors are aware, a pure fabrication, having no foundation whatever. In their own belief all things which exist, or can exist, are, _ipso facto_, natural, although their nature may not belong to the plane of being in which we are normally accustomed to move.

In this connection may be usefully quoted the following passages from Miss Freer's article in _The Nineteenth Century_, August 1897:--

"Some of my friends asked me how I proposed to organise a haunted house research, to which I could only reply that I didn't propose to do anything of the sort. It seemed to me that among several things to be avoided was self-consciousness of any kind, that the natural thing to do was to settle down to a country-house life, make it as pleasant as possible, and await events.... The subject of the 'haunting' was never accentuated, and we always tried to prevent talking it over with new-comers.... As to the guests, for the most part they came on no special principle of selection.... Several of our visitors had more or less special interest in the inquiry, but others merely came for a country-house visit or for sport, and some knew nothing whatever till after their arrival of any special interest alleged to attach to the house.... Analysing our list of guests, I find that there were eleven ladies, twenty-one gentlemen, and _The Times_ Correspondent. Of the gentlemen, three were soldiers, three lawyers, two were men of letters, one an artist, two were in business, four were clergy, one a physician, ... and five, men of leisure."

It would be unnecessary to quote all the preliminary correspondence; but the following passages from Lord Bute's letters to Miss Freer help to explain the situation, and the relation of those concerned:--

"_December 20th.--_ ... I am afraid I shall encroach even further upon your kindness. Myers has all the papers, but I fancy you would rather know as little as possible, so as not to be influenced by expectation. It is no case of roughing it. B---- House is, I believe, a luxurious country house, ample, though not too large, in a beautiful neighbourhood...."

A letter of December 22nd refers to a suggestion that the phenomena were produced by trickery, a fact which is mentioned to show that the possibility was kept in view from the first.

On January 23rd, "Not a day should be lost in beginning the observation, which ought to be continuous. Such a chance has never occurred before, and may never occur again. Orders have been given to get the house ready for immediate occupation."

Miss Freer, accompanied by her friend Miss Constance Moore (a daughter of the late Rev. Daniel Moore, Prebendary of St. Paul's and Chaplain, to the Queen), arrived at B---- House on February 3, 1897.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Here and in all references to rooms by their numbers, see Frontispiece.

[B] See her own account, p. 64. The account here given, as will be seen, is not quite accurate as to the precise rooms. Mrs. "G." slept in the wing.

JOURNAL KEPT DURING A VISIT TO B---- HOUSE

JOURNAL KEPT DURING A VISIT TO B---- HOUSE

_February 3rd, Wednesday._--Constance Moore and I arrived from
Edinburgh, with Mac., the maid, a little after 10 P.M., having
sent on beforehand the following servants:--Robinson and Mrs.
Robinson, butler and cook; Carter and Hannah, two housemaids.

I had engaged them on behalf of Colonel Taylor in Edinburgh last
evening. They had all good characters, and were well
recommended. We told them nothing, of course, of the reputation
of the house, and were careful to choose persons of mature age,
and not excitable girls.

I had seen no plans nor photographs of the house, and merely
desired that any rooms should be prepared for us that were near
together--_i.e._ bedroom, dressing-room, and maid's room. Mr.
C---- [who met us in Edinburgh, and is a lawyer, mentioned
hereafter], who had seen plans, asked what orders we had given,
and remarked that, as far as he knew, we should secure one quiet
night, as the "haunted" part contained, apparently, no
dressing-rooms.

The house looked very gloomy. It was not cold out of doors,
though thick snow lay on the ground. Inside it felt like a
vault, having been empty for months. None of the stores ordered
had arrived. We had no linen, knives, plate, wine, food, and
very little fuel or oil. Candles and bread and milk and a tin of
meat had been got for us in the village. We ate and went to bed.
The room was so cold that we had to cover our faces, and we had
no bed-linen. We had been very busy all day in Edinburgh, and
soon fell asleep.

_February 4th, Thursday._--I awoke suddenly, just before 3 A.M.
Miss Moore, who had been lying awake over two hours, said, "I
want you to stay awake and listen." Almost immediately I was
startled by a loud clanging sound, which seemed to resound
through the house. The mental image it brought to my mind was as
of a long metal bar, such as I have seen near iron-foundries,
being struck at intervals with a wooden mallet. The noise was
distinctly as of metal struck with wood; it seemed to come
diagonally across the house. It sounded so loud, though distant,
that the idea that any inmate of the house should not hear it
seems ludicrous. It was repeated with varying degrees of
intensity at frequent intervals during the next two hours,
sometimes in single blows, sometimes double, sometimes treble,
latterly continuous. We did not get up, though not alarmed. We
had been very seriously cautioned as to the possibilities of
practical joking; and as we were alone on that floor in a large
house, of which we did not even know the geography, we thought
it wiser to await developments. We knew the servants' staircase
was distant, though not exactly where.

About 4.30 we heard voices, apparently in the maid's room,
undoubtedly on the same floor. We had for some time heard the
housemaids overhead coughing, occasionally speaking, and we
thought they had got up and had come down to her room.

After five o'clock the noises seemed to have ceased, and Miss
Moore fell asleep. About 5.30 I heard them again, apparently
more distant. I continued awake, but heard no more.

About 8 A.M. the maid brought us some tea. She said she had
slept very badly, had worried over our apparent restlessness, as
she had heard voices and footsteps and the sound of things
dragged about, but that the maids had not been downstairs. We
had never risen, and had spoken seldom, and in low tones, and an
empty room (the dressing-room) intervened between Mac.'s room
and ours.

In order, as we supposed, to follow up the noises we, later, in
the day moved our rooms to the other side of the house,
especially choosing those from which the sounds seemed to
proceed--Nos. 6 and 7--leaving Mac., the maid, in No. 3.

The whole day has been occupied with exploring the house,
sending for food and supplies, trying to thaw the rooms, moving
furniture to make things homelike, and trying to arrive at a
little comfort.

The house will soon be very pleasant, and only needs living in,
but it feels like a vault. It is very roomy and very light.
Nothing less like the conventional "haunted" house could be
conceived. The main body of the house was built in 1806, the
wing about 1883, with the apparent object of providing the
children of the family with rooms outside the "haunted" area. It
is cheerful, sunny, convenient, healthy, and built on a very
simple plan, which admits of no dark corners or mysteries of any
kind. A pleasanter house to live in I would not desire, but it
is constructed for summer rather than for winter use. It has
been added to at least twice, and there is much waste space. The
original mansion, which was, I understand, upon a different
site, was dated 1579; the new wing was built about fourteen
years ago, and consists of four rooms and offices, adapted for
schoolroom or nursery use. But the older walls are of great
thickness.

After dusk we sat down to rest, and for the first time read the
papers relating to the house,[C] breaking open the envelope in
which Mr. Myers had given them to me. I had done this for my own
satisfaction, as I wanted, if only for a few hours, to have as
unprejudiced a presentation of the place as was possible under
the circumstances. Miss Moore had heard some of the rumours
about the house in Edinburgh from Mr. MacP---- and Mr. C----,
but I had avoided all information as far as I could.

We now learnt, to our chagrin, that we had done the wrong thing,
and had left rooms alleged to be haunted, and taken two
apparently innocent. We, however, consoled ourselves by the
reflection that we can offer the others to our guests, and that
we are at all events _next_ to No. 8, which has an evil
reputation.

It is the room in which Sarah N---- died, and in which Miss H---- heard the limping footsteps walking round her bed.

As we had been told that the avenue is shunned by the whole
neighbourhood after dark, we went out for a stroll up and down
about six o'clock. We saw nothing, but our dog Scamp growled at
the fir plantation beside the road.

Mr. L. F---- [eminent as an electrical engineer], arrived about
10 P.M. We thought it polite to give him a quiet night after so
long a journey, and he is sleeping in No. 5.

_February 5th, Friday._--Miss Moore and I slept well. We were
both desperately tired.

Mr. L. F---- awoke suddenly at 2.30. No phenomena. He has an
excellent little apparatus, an electric flashlight, which he is
able to keep under his pillow and turn on at a second's notice,
very convenient for "ghost" hunting--no delay, and no
possibility of blowing it out.

The maids tell mine that they heard the sounds below them of
continuous speaking or reading, and "supposed the young ladies
were reading to one another."

This is the first occasion on which there has been mention of the sound of continuous reading aloud, which afterwards became extremely familiar. The sound was always that well known to Roman Catholics as that of a priest "saying his office." It may be as well to remind the reader that Clerks in Holy Orders of that Church are, like those of the Anglican, strictly bound to read through the whole of the Daily Service every day, and it is not permitted to do this merely by the eye, the lips must utter the words. In practice some are accustomed to move the lips with hardly any sound, and such, we have ascertained, is the custom of the Rev. P---- H----; others read it absolutely aloud, and will retire to their own rooms or other places, where they may be alone for the purpose. This, we heard, was the invariable practice of the Rev. Mr. "I.," the chaplain of Mr. and Mrs. "G."

As a matter of fact, we were sleeping on the other side of the
house, and the rooms under the maids' rooms were empty.... In
the evening, about six o'clock, we strolled down the avenue
again, and Scamp, who never does bark except under strong
excitement, again barked and growled at the copse.

The Hon. E. F----, a fellow-member of an S.P.R. committee,
arrives to-night. Hospitality constrains us to put him in No. 4,
which is "not haunted."

I asked after the success of the new kitchenmaid, a local
importation, who arrived yesterday. I was told she had already
gone. The cook told me "she talked all sorts of nonsense about
the house, and the things that had happened in it, and had been
seen in it, all day; and then at night refused to sleep here,
and the butler had to walk home with her at eleven o'clock."

The Factor [_anglicé_: bailiff] came this morning, and I fancied
a special intention in his manner. He was much annoyed about the
kitchenmaid, said such talk was "all havers" [_anglicé_:
"drivel"], begged me not to employ her again, and undertook to
get another, lending me a girl in his own service meanwhile.

I went with him into the wing to get him to see to things there.
We have been too busy in getting the rest of the house into
order to look after it yet; but I find the pipes are out of
order, the cisterns frozen, and the "set-basins" in the three
bedrooms and bath-room out of working order. He promised
attention, but discouraged the use of the wing. "Had we not room
enough without?" and so on. I suggested that, any way, for the
sake of the rest of the house it must be aired and thawed, and
he insisted that the kitchen fire below did that sufficiently.

I cannot help remembering that this is the scene of the
phenomena recorded by Miss "B----," as Duncan R----, the factor,
is well aware. Also, he was persistent about "keeping out the
natives," and their chatter, if I wanted to keep the servants,
but did not specify the nature of the chatter, and I asked no
questions.

_February 6th, Saturday._--No phenomena last night. The house
perfectly still.

During Colonel Taylor's tenancy a good many experiments of different kinds were made in hypnotism, crystal gazing, and automatic writing. These, however, belong to a class of matter quite different from that of spontaneous phenomena, and are therefore not referred to, with the exception of a single instance of crystal gazing, which, though relating to B----, was made elsewhere, and one or two occasions of automatic writing. This latter method of inquiry displayed all the weakness to which it is usually, and apparently, inherently liable, and is only mentioned here as explaining other matters. Its chief interest was that it supplied a name marked by a certain peculiarity which afterwards became familiar, and that it led to a hypothesis as to at least one of the personalities by whom certain phenomena were professedly caused.

In the afternoon an experiment was made with the apparatus known as a _Ouija_ board, and this, as is very often the case, resolved itself, after a time, into automatic writing. There is in the library a portrait of a very handsome woman, to which no name is attached, but which shows the costume of the last century. Her name was asked, and the word _Ishbel_ was given several times. It is not certain whether this word was meant as an answer to the question, or whether, as often happens in such cases, it was intended merely as an announcement of the name of the informant supposed to communicate.

The word, as given, possesses the following peculiarity. In the Gaelic language the vowels _e_ and _i_ have the effect of aspirating an _s_ immediately preceding them, in the same way in which they effect the _c_ in Italian, or the _g_ in Spanish, so that, as in Italian _ce_ and _ci_ are pronounced _chay_ and _chee_, so in Gaelic _se_ and _si_ are pronounced _shay_ and _shee_. The name Isabel is written in Gaelic _Iseabal_, but the _e_ is absorbed in its effect upon the _s_ (like the _i_ in the Italian _cìo_) and the first _a_ is so slurred as to be almost inaudible, so that the word is pronounced "Ish-bel."

It was obvious, therefore, that the intelligence from which the writing proceeded (if such existed) could write in English, and was familiar with the colloquial Gaelic pronunciation of the name, but was unacquainted with the Gaelic orthography. On this occasion also the name "Margaret" was given in its Gaelic form of Marghearad (somewhat similarly misspelt as _Marget_), without any special connection either with the questions asked, or, so far as could be discovered, with anything in the mind of any present, none of whom had interested themselves at that time in the S---- ancestry.

In reply to questions as to what could be done that was of use or interest, the writers were told to go at dusk, and in silence, to the glen in the avenue, and this, rightly or wrongly, some of those present identified with what had been called Scamp's Copse. They were, however, perplexed by being told to go "up by the burn," for though Miss Freer and Miss Moore had twice explored the spot, they had not observed the presence of water. The journal continues--