Chapter VI: Part 6

"It was about four o'clock, or may be a little later, but it was
just getting light; there is no blind to the skylight in my
room, and I woke up suddenly and I thought some one had come
into the room, and I called out, 'Is that you, Mrs. Robinson?'
and when she didn't answer I called out 'Hannah,' but no one
spoke, and then I looked up, and at the foot of my bed there was
a woman. She was rather old, and dressed in something dark, and
she had a little shawl on, and her hair short. It was hanging,
but it didn't reach nearly to her shoulders. I was awful
frightened, and put my head down again. I couldn't look any
more."

I asked about the height of the woman, wondering if it were like
the figure seen in the drawing-room, and Carter said, "I didn't
notice, only the top part of her." I said, "Do you mean she had
no legs?" and she said, "I didn't take notice of any." She was
genuinely concerned and alarmed.

This is probably the incident thus described by _The Times_ correspondent. "One of the maidservants described a sort of dull knocking which, according to her, goes on between two and six in the morning, in the lath and plaster partition by the side of her bed, which shuts off the angular space just inside the eaves of the house. She likened it to the noise of gardeners nailing up ivy outside. She seemed honest, but as she had seen the ghost of half a woman sitting on her fellow-servant's bed, one takes her evidence with a grain or two of salt. Any noises she has really heard may be due to the cooling of the hot-water pipes which pass along behind the partition just mentioned to the cistern." The hot-water pipe theory has been already discussed.

Before proceeding, it had better be again mentioned that, owing to the fact that several of the persons interested in B---- were Roman Catholics, and the Rev. P---- H---- having been one of the principal witnesses, as well as having himself appeared phantasmally in the house, it was considered desirable to obtain the assistance of some clergy of that communion. Miss Freer accordingly secured the services of three members of a famous society; one of those was the Rev. P---- H---- himself, one a well-known Oxford man who takes much interest in such questions, and the third a man of great experience at a place where miracles are said to be frequent. However, their Superior refused to allow them to come, and she then applied to a well-known monastery, but was again refused help. Lastly, she turned to the secular clergy, and obtained the assistance of two priests and a bishop. The priests are here designated MacD---- and MacL----. All three were previously well known to her, and she had especial reason to consider them not only worthy of her esteem and confidence, but, moreover, as taking an instructed and intelligent interest in the subject.

_April 29th, Friday._--Rooms for to-night:--

No. 3. Rev. A. MacD----.
" 4. Rev. A. MacL----.
" 8. Myself.

The priests arrived late in the evening. I put them in No. 3 and
4, though I like to give No. 1 to new-comers. However, I had
promised that to Madame Boisseaux, whom we are expecting from
Paris, with the dressing-room for her maid.

_April 30th._--The priests both look very weary. They were not
frightened, but the sounds have kept them awake all night.

Young S---- called to-day; he is going to help me to get up a
dance for the servants. His mother is away at S----.

_May 1st._--I shall have to move the priests. They persist that
they are not frightened, but they are both looking shockingly
ill and worn, and the Rev. MacD---- is not in a state of health
to take liberties with. The Rev. MacL---- seems in the same
mental state as was Mr. P----. He sees nothing, but is
supernormally sensitive, and without any hint from me, declared
that he felt the drawing-room, wing, and No. 7 to be "innocent."

Poor little "Spooks" is the chief sufferer. She sleeps on my bed
now, but even so, wakes in the night growling and shivering, and
she refuses her food, and is in a dreadfully nervous state.
Perhaps I ought not to keep her in No. 8, where we have so often
heard the patterings of dogs' feet, and where Miss Moore was
once pushed as by a dog, in broad daylight.

_May 2nd._--Nothing occurred. We perhaps all slept the sounder
last night, having been kept up till two o'clock waiting for
Madame Boisseaux, who never turned up. She and the M----s and
Mrs. "F." arrived to-day.

Madame Boisseaux arrived, and was put into No. 1.
Her maid " " 2.
Father MacD---- " " 3.
Father MacL---- " " 4.
Mrs. "F." " " 5.
Mr. and Mrs. M---- " " 6 and 7.
Myself " " 8.

_May 3rd._--The general tone of things is disquieting, and new
in our experience. Hitherto, in our first occupation, the
phenomena affected one as melancholy, depressing, and
perplexing, but now all, quite independently, say the same
thing, that the influence is evil and horrible--even poor little
Spooks, who was never terrified before, as she has been since
our return here. The worn faces at breakfast were really a
dismal sight.

In spite of her long journey, Madame Boisseaux could not sleep.
She was so tired, she dropped to sleep at once on going to bed,
but was awoke by the sound of a droning voice as if from No. 3,
and, at intervals, more distant voices in high argument. She
said she dared not go to sleep; she felt as if some
evil-disposed persons were in the room, and it would not be safe
to lose consciousness. But she saw nothing. She looks so ill
that her maid, a very faithful old servant, has been to beg me,
"_pour l'amour de Dieu_," to give Madame another room. So
to-night I will put her in No. 5.

Mrs. "F." who was in No. 5, was disturbed by knocks at her door
(_cf._ Mrs. W----'s experience in the same room), and to-night
is to sleep in my room, No. 8, which last night was also
somewhat noisy, but she will not be alone. The Rev. MacD----
looks so ill from two nights' sleeplessness that the priests are
to go into the wing to-night. They were unwilling to move, and
made no complaints, and now do not say they have seen anything,
merely that the evil influence about them was painful and
disturbing.

Mrs. M----, who, it will be remembered, was much disturbed
during her last visit, begged that she might be quiet, and we
gave her No. 7. She is the only person who has had a really good
night, except Mr. M----, who had a fancy to sleep in the
smoking-room, in the hope of a visit from the Major, but nothing
happened. As he had been mountaineering all day, he probably
would have slept well under any conditions.

_May 4th._--I am thankful to say the priests slept well in the
wing. Madame Boisseaux, in No. 5, was disturbed by knocks at her
door, but as she wisely remarked, they had the advantage of
being outside. Mr. M---- had moved into No. 1, and slept fairly
well, but said he felt as before, "not alone," but as he _had_
felt that before, expectation may count for something.

Mrs. "F" slept with me; I was awoke early by my dog crying, and
I saw two black paws resting on the table beside the bed. It
gave me a sickening sensation, and I longed to wake Mrs. "F" to
see if she would see them, but I remembered her bad night of
yesterday, and left her in peace.

The priests spend much time in devotions, and are very decided
in their views as to the malignity of the influence. The bishop
comes to-day, and we hope he will have Mass said in the house.
We shall then have ten Roman Catholics in the household--two
visitors, three clergy, two visitors' maids, and three of our
own servants. That should have an effect upon the Major! Miss
Moore and Scamp arrived.

_May 5th._--The bishop is in No. 1. He arrived to lunch to-day.
Last night all was quiet after bedtime, but sitting in the
drawing-room about five o'clock, having just come in from a
drive, five of us heard the detonating noise, as it were in the
empty room overhead. Madame B----, Mrs. "F," Mrs. M----, the
Rev. MacL----, and myself. Mrs. "F" left this morning.

The priests went with me to the copse. They saw nothing, but
were in too anxious a state to be receptive. I saw Ishbel for
one moment. She looked _agonised_, as never before.

Mr. B. S---- dined with us, and the servants, indoor and out,
danced in the hall in the evening. We had pipers, and some
supper for them in the billiard-room. The gardener and the
butler and cook say there was a great crash in the room just
when the parish minister was saying grace, and that many of the
people from outside noticed it, and "they just looked at each
other." I was myself in the room, but as we had just had a very
physical and commonplace disturbance--the arrival of an
uninvited and intoxicated guest, of which the other people did
not know as I did--I was preoccupied at the moment.

Mass this morning in the drawing-room.

_May 6th._--Madame Boisseaux has had to go suddenly; there has
been terrible news for her of this Paris fire. She came into my
room very early with her telegram (arrived too late for delivery
last night). I did not like to worry her with questions,
overwhelmed as she was, but she said her room "resounded with
knocks."

There was Mass said in the ground-floor sitting-room this
morning, and as I knelt facing the window I saw Ishbel with the
grey woman, nearer the house than ever before. She looked
pensive, but, as compared with last time, much relieved.

This is the last time the figures were seen. The following details are quoted from a letter written by Miss Freer to Lord Bute on this day: "Mass was said this morning in the downstairs room, the altar arranged in front of the window, so that, as we knelt, we faced the garden. Poor Madame Boisseaux was dressed for travelling, and in much agitation. As the carriage which was to take her to the station was expected at any moment, I suggested that she and I should remain upstairs, but she said she should like to be there, if only for a few minutes, the more that the 'intention' was to be partly for those who had suffered in the fire, and for their sorrowing friends. She and I, therefore, knelt close to the door, keeping it slightly ajar, so as to be able to obey a summons at any moment.

"Suddenly she touched my arm, and directed my attention to the window. There I saw a figure standing outside, which--so slow-sighted am I--I took for the moment for Madame's maid, and thought she had come to call our attention through the window--a long 'French' one, opening out on to the lawn--as less likely to disturb the service. I was starting up when I perceived that the figure was 'Ishbel'--the black gown, like that worn by the maid, had misled me for the moment. 'Marget' seemed to hover in the background, but she was much less distinct than the other. A minute later we were called away.

"The room had been selected by the priests themselves, but it is the one I should myself, for obvious reasons, have chosen for the purpose."

When the bustle of Madame's hasty departure was over, and we had
breakfasted, the bishop blessed the house from top to bottom,
and especially visited rooms Nos. 1, 3, and 8, and also the
library. He sprinkled the rooms with holy water, and especially
the doorway leading to the drawing-room, where noises have so
often been heard. He and the priests had hardly gone when there
was a loud bang upon a little table that stands there. It is an
old work-table, a box on tall, slender legs, and the sound could
easily be imitated by lifting the lid and letting it fall
smartly, but I saw no movement--not that I was watching it at
the moment. The bishop and priests returned, and the ceremony
was repeated, after which the bang again occurred, but much more
faintly.

The three clergy left this afternoon. Miss Moore and I are now
alone.

This bang was the last phenomenon of an abnormal kind during this tenancy. Miss Moore and Miss Freer stayed in the house another week without anything further occurring either to themselves, their guests, or the servants.

During that time, they received six more guests: Miss C----, Miss "Etienne," with her brother, a lawyer, and three other visitors, with whom Miss Freer had no previous acquaintance, but who received an invitation under the following special conditions, not being, as were other guests, personal friends, or, in one or two instances, accompanying personal friends by whom they were introduced, and at whose request they were invited.

Sir William Huggins had some time before written to Lord Bute to beg him to obtain admission to the house for Sir James Crichton Browne, who is, of course, well known as a physician of great eminence, and in especial as an expert in psychology, and whom Sir William stated to be deeply interested in phenomena such as those observed at B----.

Lord Bute accordingly wrote to Miss Freer, who wrote to Sir James. He did not immediately reply, which surprised her, after so earnest a request, and because admission to the house for the purpose of such observations was a mark of confidence, which as a hostess she was very chary of giving, and which would never have been extended to him, notwithstanding his scientific eminence, had it not been for the intercession of Sir William Huggins and Lord Bute, through whom he had sought it.

He wrote to her after some time, apologising for the delay on the score of illness, begging to know if it were still possible for him to be admitted, and whether he might bring with him a scientific friend. Miss Freer consented, and he then wrote announcing his arrival and that of a nephew, a student at Oxford, interested in science. He then asked, by telegram, whether a third guest could be admitted, to which she also consented, and his two friends, one of whom is believed to have been the anonymous _Times_ correspondent, accordingly came, four days after the phenomena had, as has been stated, apparently ceased. The way in which this hospitality was repaid is a matter of common knowledge. Their hostess knew of no intention to make copy of their visit, with full names, geographical indications, and repetition of private conversations, until the publication of the _Times'_ article of June 8th. They remained from Saturday evening till Monday morning, and, like others, saw and heard nothing; and much time was spent in repeating the already often repeated experiments as to possible sources of the sights and sounds observed at B----. Their observations appeared to be able to penetrate no further than the mark of the shoe which Miss Freer pointed out on the door in the wing, made subsequently to the flight of the H---- family, a passage under the roof, with which the household had long been as familiar as with the hall-door, and the suggestion that a certain stream might run under the house, the which stream runs nowhere near the house at all, as Miss Freer was already well aware, a fact which she demonstrated for their benefit on a map of the estate.

This is perhaps a suitable point at which to add a letter from the head-gardener who has been referred to more than once, more especially as an important witness to the phenomena of the H----s' tenancy.

He writes to Miss Freer in reference to a statement by _The Times_ correspondent:--

"_July 8th, '97._-- ... I might also mention to you, while writing, that 'the intelligent gardener' that was made mention of in _The Times_ was a journeyman, and not myself, as many have supposed. I thought it proper to tell you, madam, because I told you and several others that I was in the house and had heard something."

_The Times_ correspondent's statement is as follows:--

"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."

The under gardener's experience of two nights is as exhaustive of the subject as that of _The Times_ correspondent and his friends, who also remained two nights, but do not allege that they "abstained from sleep."

Mr. "Etienne" was the last guest at B----, and arrived the evening before the house was vacated. He afterwards told Lord Bute that he had brought, without the knowledge of any one in the house, two seismic instruments, but that they recorded nothing, and that during the night he heard a sound as of a gun being fired outside the house. This he attributed to some poacher unknown, an explanation which seems hardly probable, as at this time of year there is nothing to shoot except rabbits. One never hears of a poacher shooting rabbits, and in any case, he would hardly do so in the immediate neighbourhood of an inhabited house, and discharging his gun once only.

Mr. "Etienne's" experiments are the more interesting because that among many suggestions made by Sir J. Crichton Browne, the only one which had not been already considered, was the use of seismic instruments. This--the house being within the seismic area--seemed so reasonable, that Miss Freer at once entered into correspondence with the well-known Professor Milne, with a view to experiment in this direction. The following is from his reply:--

"_May 15th, 1897._--I was much interested in your note of the 13th, and fancy that the sounds with which you have to deal may be of seismic origin. Such sounds I have often heard, and the air waves, if not the earth waves, can be mechanically recorded. What you require to make the records is a seismograph with large but exceeding light indices, or a Perry tromometer.... The reason I think that the sounds are seismic is, first, on account of their character, and secondly, because you are in one of the most unstable parts of Great Britain, where between 1852 and 1890, 465 shocks (many with sounds) were recorded. Lady Moncrieff, when living at Comrie House in 1844, often heard rumblings and moanings, and such sounds, possibly akin to the 'barisal guns'[H] of Eastern England, often occur without a shake. The mechanism of this production may be due to slight movements on a fault face, and they may be heard, especially in rocky districts, in very many countries...."

Miss Freer's reply was an urgent request that machinery and an operator might be at once sent up to B----. Professor Milne replied that delicate instruments, such as he himself employed, could only be used by one other person, but suggested that she should hire from a well-known London firm what are known as "Ewing's-type" seismometers, adding, "I doubt whether these will record anything but movements to which you are sensible."

Miss Freer's designs, however, were frustrated, for on applying for an extension of tenancy for this purpose, Captain S----, the proprietor, peremptorily forbade the continuance of scientific observation--a remarkable parallel to his father's refusal to permit the use of the phonograph when suggested by Sir William Huggins.

In relation to his experiments at B---- Mr. "Etienne" writes:--

"Lord Bute has asked me to describe a seismographic instrument which I used during my short visit to B----. The instrument consisted of a light wooden frame or platform which rested on three billiard-balls. The balls in their turn rested on a horizontal plate of plate-glass. Through two wire rings in the centre of the platform already mentioned a needle stood perpendicularly, resting on its point on the plate of glass. The centre of the plate of glass (and the area round it and within in the triangle describable with the balls at its angles) was smoked. You will see that the parts of such an instrument are held together by gravitation, and a very little friction, and that a tremor communicated to the plate will not simultaneously affect the platform. The needle-point describes on the smoked surface which it moves across the converse of any movement of the plate which is not simultaneously a movement of the platform, and the error between this and the description of the tremor drawn by an absolutely fixed point--say the earth itself--has been calculated on a replica of this instrument as equal to the error of a pendulum thirty feet long."

It will be noticed that the phenomena began, so far as Miss Freer was concerned, upon the night of her arrival in the house, February 3rd, and ceased (if we except the sound heard by Mr. Etienne), after the service performed by the Bishop on the morning of May 6th. This period comprises ninety-two days, but from these must be subtracted the seventeen days between Miss Freer's leaving B---- on the morning of April 9th, and that of the departure of Mr. Myers's medium, Miss "K.," on the morning of April 26th.

Of the remaining seventy-five days, Miss Freer was absent from the house for four days, from March 16th to March 20th, and for two nights after Miss "K.'s" leaving; during this latter interval, however, Lord Bute was himself on the spot. On the other hand, she remained in the house for eight days after the service performed by the Bishop, during which time no phenomena occurred.

Of the sixty-nine days of which a record is kept in the journal, viz., from February 3rd to May 14th, exclusive of twenty-three days for the reasons already indicated, daytime phenomena occurred upon eighteen days, and night phenomena upon thirty-five nights.

To these must be added the night of April 27th, the occasion of the vision seen by Carter the housemaid during Lord Bute's visit. Thirty-four nights, or almost exactly half the period, were entirely without record of any phenomena whatever. This is without counting the seven nights of the last week, during which there were observers for longer or shorter periods in the house, none of whom recorded any sight or sound of a supernormal kind, unless it were the percussive or detonating noise heard by Mr. "Etienne."

The term "night" is here understood to cover the period between the hour of going to rest at night, to that of leaving one's room next morning, even if the phenomena occurred in the daylight hours of the early morning. The term "day" is used to cover the hours of active, waking life, from breakfast to bedtime.

To sum up the character of the phenomena, it may be well to begin with those that are _visual_.

1. The phantasm of the Rev. P. H----. This was seen once only, and by Miss Langton, on the night of February 17th. Of the identity no doubt can be felt, since Miss Moore and Miss Freer afterwards recognised the accuracy of the description on meeting the Rev. P. H---- for the first time, in a crowded railway station on May 25th. This is the only one of the apparitions which is undoubtedly that of a living person, and like many such apparitions, it occurred at an hour when it is probable that he was asleep. B---- is a place to which Father H----'s thoughts were naturally and disagreeably drawn, and to which his attention had been called anew. On awaking, he would probably have no recollection of the circumstances, or at the utmost would have an impression of having dreamt that he was there.

2. The woman once seen by Miss Freer in the drawing-room. She was older than Sarah N----, who died at the age of twenty-seven, but of whose haunting of B---- there is some tradition, but assisted by the parish register of marriages and births it is not difficult to form a guess at the identity of the phantasm. As there is some uncertainty as to whether the person in question is still living, though it is probable that she is dead, the vision is mentioned here before those as to which there is no reason to doubt that they represent the dead. There is reason to believe that the same apparition has been seen by former occupants of the house, and it is alleged to be that of a member of the S---- family.

3. The phantasm seen by Carter the housemaid, on the night of April 27th, who was described as "rather old," may possibly have been identical with the above.

4. The nun to whom was given the name of "Ishbel." This subject has been already discussed, and the suggestion thrown out that the phantasm was an erroneous mental picture of the late Rev. Mother Frances Helen, evolved from the imagination of a half-educated person who had never seen the lady in question, and knew little about her. This figure was seen many times by Miss Freer and Miss Langton, twice by the Rev. Mr. "Q.," and probably by Madame Boisseaux, who unhappily died suddenly before the editors had an opportunity of asking her for exact information. There were also earlier witnesses. She was never seen elsewhere than in the glen, except once by Miss Langton, and on the one occasion when a Bishop was saying Mass in the house, and Miss Freer saw her outside the window just after the elevation of the chalice. It was stated, however, by two separate witnesses, that a figure, probably the same, had been seen inside the house on at least one occasion, when, some years before Colonel Taylor's tenancy, Mrs. S---- was keeping her room, and a maid who was bringing up a tray met the figure on the stairs, and experienced such a start that she dropped the tray.

5. The lay-woman dressed in grey to whom was given the name of "Marget," and who was sometimes seen in the company of "Ishbel," usually as though upbraiding or reproving her. She was seen by Miss Freer and Miss Langton, and her voice in conversation with "Ishbel" was heard not only by them, but by Mr. C---- and Miss Moore, Mr. "Q." and Miss "Duff" (_cf._ Mrs. G.'s evidence, p. 68).

6. The appearance of the wooden crucifix seen in No. 3. It was about eighteen inches long, and the figure was of the same wood as the cross. Its earliest appearance is to the Rev. P. H----. It afterwards appeared to the Rev. Mr. "Q.," and lastly to Miss Freer, none of the witnesses knowing anything in detail of the experience of the others. It was also seen in the crystal by Miss Langton--possibly by thought transference from others.

When the Rev. P. H---- saw it he was always drowsy, but when it appeared to Mr. "Q." its appearance was immediately preceded by a sensation of acute chill on his part, and its appearance to Miss Freer by a similar sensation on the part of "Endell." It is perhaps worth while to remark, that we are told that among spiritualists the sensation of cold is supposed to be an unfavourable indication as to the character of the spirits who are present, and that in the cases of both Mr. "Q." and Mr. "Endell" the appearance of the crucifix seemed to put an end to the chill.

7. The dogs. These were much more often heard than seen, the sounds being those of their pattering footsteps, sometimes as of their bounding about in play, and sometimes of their throwing themselves against the lower part of doors. It seemed, however, that they were visible to Miss Freer's living dog at times when they were not visible to her, and indeed the abject terror which the Pomeranian displayed in No. 8 was so distressing, that she changed her room from No. 8 to No. 5 in consequence.

A dog was, moreover, seen by Miss Freer and Miss Langton in the smoking-room on April 8th; Miss Freer and Miss Moore have described more than one occasion when they felt themselves pushed as by a dog; and on the night of May 4th, Miss Freer saw the two forepaws only, of another and larger black dog resting on the edge of a table in No. 8.

Other apparitions seen in the house by former occupants were described to members of Colonel Taylor's party as well as to earlier tenants, but here, as elsewhere, we have refrained from all quotation from the relatives of the present proprietor.

It is interesting to remark that one apparition which was constantly expected during Colonel Taylor's tenancy was expected in vain. This was that of the little old gentleman with stooping form and limping gait mentioned by earlier witnesses. His peculiar step was heard very frequently, and by a great number and variety of witnesses, alone and collectively; and his appearance, naturally enough, was constantly looked for, but it never occurred.

In the same way there was one expected sound which never occurred, though frequent in the experience of earlier witnesses--that of the rustling of a silk dress, suggesting to the mind of the hearer the idea of some one who, either in fact or in thought, had worn such a garment.

_Tactile._ The most important of these were the experiences of Miss "N." on the night of March 3rd, and of Miss "Duff" on the night of March 22nd, both in No. 3; and of a maid, Lizzie, on the night of March 23rd, in the room above No. 3, on the attic storey, who all testified to the sensation of the moving of the bed, or the handling of the bed-clothes. These were the only occasions during Colonel Taylor's tenancy, but the phenomenon is one often testified to by earlier witnesses, both during the H----s' tenancy and that of the family of the late Mr. S----.

It presents a peculiar difficulty in the way of the theory that all the phenomena at B---- were subjective hallucinations, and this is especially the case with regard to the evidence of a witness who has not been brought forward in the preceding pages, but whose account of a similar experience is reported by two first-hand witnesses. On one occasion he had the whole of the upper bed-clothes lifted from off him and thrown upon the floor, while a pile of wearing apparel, which was laid on a chair beside the bed, was thrown in his face.

It is of course conceivable that the whole of these experiences, including the last, were the result of an hallucination; but on the other hand, it would be very unwise, in the present state of our ignorance on the subject, to dogmatise as to the possible action of unseen forces upon what is commonly called matter. It is interesting to note that this senseless and childish trick coincides with what was said by Miss A---- as to the presence of mischievous elementals, and also what she says as to _apports_.[I]

1. The sensation of the movement of the bed itself, whether as being rocked, as in the experience of Miss "Duff" on March 22nd, and of Miss Langton on several occasions, and by guests of the H---- family, or of being lifted up, as in that of the maid Lizzie, is a phenomenon by no means uncommon, and if objective is of the nature of levitation; but we have unfortunately no evidence from a second person observing the phenomenon from outside. Whether it were actually moved it is impossible to say, but the sensation seems to have been more than subjective.

2. The sensation of struggling with something unseen, described by Miss "Duff," March 22nd, and of the sensation of an incumbent weight, as described by Miss "Duff" (same date) and Miss "N." on March 2nd. This coincides with the arrest of his hand experienced by Harold Sanders. These phenomena adapt themselves to the theory of subjectivity more easily than the foregoing, because they more closely resemble those of nightmare (familiar to most persons), although they occurred while the witnesses were awake.

3. The sensation of being pushed by a dog was experienced in two different rooms by Miss Freer and Miss Moore respectively. If Mr. "Endell" were touched by Ishbel on the evening of March 1st, as appeared to Miss Freer to be the case, he had no independent consciousness of the fact that might not have been referred to expectation, so that this cannot be regarded as evidential.

For lack of other classification, we mention under this heading of "tactile" the sensation of chill experienced by Mr. "Endell" and Mr. Q---- in No. 3, and which appears to be the same as that described by Harold Sanders as the sensation of "entering an ice-house."

The _audile_ phenomena were so frequent and so various, that a conspectus of them is given in an appendix. Some of them appeared to be human in origin, such as voices, reading or speaking, footsteps, and, according to earlier witnesses, screams and moans. Others might have been caused by dogs, such as pattering footsteps, jumping and pouncing as in play, the wagging of a dog's tail against the door, and the sound as of a dog throwing itself against the lower panels. Other sounds have been differentiated, as the _detonating_ or explosive noise; the _clang_ sound, as of the striking of metal upon wood; the _thud_ or heavy fall without resonance; and the _crash_, which was never better described than as if one of the beasts' heads on the staircase wall had fallen into the hall below. It very often, or almost always, seemed to occur under the glass dome which lighted the body of the house, and the falling object seemed to strike others in its descent, so that it was not ineffectively imitated by rolling a bowl along the stone floor of the hall, and allowing it to strike against the doors or pillars, when the peculiar echoing quality was fairly reproduced by the hollow domed roof and surrounding galleries.

The editors offer no conclusions. This volume has been put together, as the house at B---- was taken, not for the establishment of theories, but for the record of facts.

FOOTNOTES:

[C] They consisted of a small part of the evidence already quoted.

[D] We have since ascertained by experiment that no sound short of beating with a hammer on the wall itself is audible between the two rooms; also, that the upsetting of a metal candlestick on the bare boards in the nearer servants' room (over No. 1) cannot be heard in No. 8.

[E] _Cf._ Mrs. Robinson's account _ante_.

[F] These remarkable disclosures included, among other details, the murder of a Roman Catholic family chaplain, at a period when the S----s were and had long been Presbyterian, the suicide of one of the family who is still living, and the throwing, by persons in mediæval costume, of the corpse of an infant, over a bridge, which is quite new, into a stream which until lately ran underground.

Professor Lodge had not had the same opportunity of acquiring a critical standpoint as to such statements, as those whose knowledge of the place was more intimate.

[G] The words, in uttering which Lord Bute was thus affected, were, "Regem cui omnia vivunt venite adoremus," an invitation in which he meant to include all intelligent beings.

Miss Freer, Miss Langton, and a third guest, chatting one night about 10.30 in this room, were startled by one of the familiar crashes outside. Miss Freer treated the matter lightly, fearing lest the lady in question, by no means a nervous person, however, should be alarmed; and receiving no reply turned to look at her, and observed that her lower jaw was convulsed, and that she was painfully struggling to recover speech.

[H] See Appendix II.

[I] See Appendix I.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX I

A lady, known to readers of _Proceedings S.P.R._ as Miss A----, who is an habitual automatic writer, but whose social position removes her from the temptations and tendencies of the ordinary so-called medium, was good enough on March 10, 1897, to contribute the following automatic script in reply to a request from Lord Bute:--

"I do not much care for the influence of this house; it is most decidedly haunted, but not by any particularly good spirits, the haunting being carried on by mischievous elementals, and as far as I can make out there is some one who lives there through all the changes, who supplies a great deal of force, and who is not aware of the power. I think that a great deal more is added to what really takes place, as the hauntings appear to me to consist of disturbing noises, with now and then a case of apport, for the elementary forces are not sufficient to produce forms unless a great deal of outside force is given.

"The forms that would appear would always be different, as each mediumistic person would supply his own surroundings. The only one I am not sure about is the shadowy figure of an old man whom I have twice seen in rather a dark passage, and from his surrounding light I should say he may often be there.

"I think the noises would stop of themselves, at least the more disturbing part, if a less attentive attitude were taken towards them."

These statements present certain interesting points as coming from one who had never seen the house, and knew nothing of its phenomena. "The shadowy figure of an old man in a dark passage" seems to point to the figure, possibly, of the Major, seen by earlier witnesses in the dark lobby--the only dark corner in the house--outside the door of the downstairs smoking-room, and whose voice was heard there by Miss Freer, Miss Langton, and Mr. T---- during the tenancy of Colonel Taylor.

An occasion upon which the phenomena might be described as those of "mischievous elementals," and also of _apports_, is referred to in the summing up of tactile phenomena, though it did not occur during the tenancy of Colonel Taylor.

On the other hand, the phenomena were often more active when least looked for, and some of those most expected never occurred. As there was not even a servant, nor even a dumb animal, common to the occupation of the S---- family and the tenancy of the H----s or Colonel Taylor, we are at a loss to know who the person can be who lives at B---- through all the changes, and supplies force during the past twenty years.

APPENDIX II

BARISAL GUNS. (_See page 221._)

Readers not acquainted with this phenomenon may be referred to an interesting correspondence in the pages of _Nature_ (Oct. 1895, and _Seq._), opened by Professor G.H. Darwin--

"In the delta of the Ganges," he says, "dull sounds, more or less resembling distant artillery, are often heard. These are called Barisal guns, but I do not know the meaning of the term."

The same sounds have been recorded by M. Rutot of the Geological Survey along the Belgian coast, and are alleged to be pretty common in the North of France. M. van der Broeck, Conservator of the Museum of Natural History of Belgium, says--

"I have constantly noticed these sounds in the plain of Limburg since 1880;--more than ten of my personal acquaintances have observed the fact. The detonations are dull and distant, and are repeated a dozen times or more at irregular intervals. They are usually heard in the daytime, when the sky is clear, and especially towards evening after a very hot day. The noise does not at all resemble artillery, blasting in mines, or the growling of distant thunder."

M. van der Broeck elsewhere refers to "similar noises heard on Dartmoor, and in some parts of Scotland." Readers of Blackmore's story of "Lorna Doone" will remember, among other valuable observations of out-door life, his accounts of "the hollow moaning sound" during the intense cold of the winter, of which he gives so graphic an account. It was "ever present in the air, morning, noon, and night time, and especially at night, whether any wind was stirring or whether it were a perfect calm" (Chap. xlvi.).

Another correspondent in _Nature_ refers to remarkable noises among the hills of Cheshire: "When the wind is easterly, and nearly calm on the flats, a hollow moaning sound is heard, popularly termed the Soughing of the Wind, which Sir Walter Scott, in his glossary to 'Guy Mannering,' interprets as a hollow blast or whisper."

Another writer quotes experiences in East Anglia, tending to show that such sounds may be reports arising from the process of "faulting" going on, on a small scale, at a great depth, and not of sufficient intensity to produce a perceptible vibration at the earth's surface.

It would seem that in districts such as Comrie in Perthshire, East Hadden in Connecticut, Pignerol in Piedmont, Meleda in the Adriatic, &c., sounds without shocks are common during intervals, which may last for several years. Remarkable sounds, not apparently accounted for, are reported to proceed from Lough Neagh in Ireland.

See _Nature_, Oct. 1895, and following numbers; articles by M. van der Broeck in _Ciel et Terre_ (Belgium), Dec. 1, 1895, and following numbers, also _Geol. Mag._, vol. ix. 1892, pp. 208-18.

CONSPECTUS OF AUDILE PHENOMENA AT B---- HOUSE RECORDED IN JOURNAL

---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+
Recorded |Heard in Room.| Witness. | Description of Sound. |
under | | | |
Date. | | | |
---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+
Feb. 4 | No. I. |{ Miss Freer |{ Loud clanging sound, as of |
| |{ Miss Moore |{ metal struck with wood |
| | |{ Voices in conversation |
| | | |
| No. III. | "Mac," the maid |{ Voices, footsteps, things |
| | |{ dragged about |
| | | |
" 5 | Attics | Two housemaids | Continuous reading |
| | | |
" 7 | No. VII. | Miss Moore |{ Reverberating bang close to |
| | |{ bed |
| | | |
|Drawing-room | Mac | Noises and footsteps |
| | | |
| Hall | Miss Moore | Clanging sound upstairs |
| | | |
" 8 | "Butler's | | |
| room" | Mac | Footsteps and sounds on door |
| | | |
| No. VII. | Miss Moore | Reverberating bang |
| | Miss Moore }| Noises percussive |
| | Miss Freer }| or explosive |
| | | |
| The Glen |{ Miss Freer }| |
| |{ Mr. C---- }| Voices in conversation |
| | | |
" 9 | No. VII. |{ Miss Moore }| Noises percussive |
| |{ Miss Freer }| or explosive |
| | | |
" 10 | No. I. | Miss Moore |{ Clangs. Voices in |
| | |{ conversation |
| | | |
| No. V. | Mr. W---- | Knockings. |
| | | |
| No. VIII. | Colonel Taylor | Footsteps overhead |
| | | |
" 13 | No. I. | Miss Moore | Clanging noise |
| | Miss Moore }| |
| | Miss Freer }| Crash |
| | | |
| No. V. | Mrs. W---- | Knockings |
| | | |
" 15 | No. IV. | Miss Langton | A loud crash |
| | | |
| |{ Miss Langton }| |
" 16 | The Glen |{ Miss Freer }| |
| |{ Miss Moore }| Voices in conversation |
| | | |
| |{ Mrs. W---- }| |
| |{ Miss Langton }| |
" 17 | Drawing-room |{ Miss Moore }| Footsteps overhead in disused |
| |{ Miss Freer }| room |
| | | |
| |{ Col. Taylor }| |
| Drawing-room |{ Mrs. W---- }| Clanging noise, four times |
| |{ Miss Langton }| repeated |
| |{ Miss Moore }| |
| |{ Miss Freer }| |
| | | |
" 18 | No. VIII. | Miss Freer | Banging sounds |
---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+

---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+
Recorded |Heard in Room.| Witness. | Description of Sound. |
under | | | |
Date. | | | |
---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+
| | |{ Sounds as of an animal's |
Feb. 18 | No. VIII. |{ Miss Moore |{ movements in the room in |
| |{ Miss Freer |{ daylight |
| | | |
| The Glen |{ Miss Langton }| Voices in conversation |
| |{ Miss Freer }| |
| | | |
| The Glen |{ Miss Langton }| Voices in conversation |
| |{ (later) }| |
| | | |
" 19 | The Glen | Miss Langton |{ Voices in conversation and |
| | |{ footsteps |
| | | |
" 20 | No. VIII. |{ Miss Moore }| Sounds of active movement of |
| |{ Miss Freer }| an animal in the room |
| | | |
" 21 | No. VIII. | Miss Moore |{ Footsteps of an old man |
| | | shuffling in slippers |
| | | |
| | Miss Moore }| |
| | Miss Freer }| Movements of animal |
| | Dog }| |
| | | |
| | Miss Moore }| |
| | Miss Freer }| Bang on wall near No VII. |
| | | |
" 25 | Wing | Mr. "Endell" |{ Clang noise "like a pavior's |
| | |{ hammer dropped" |
| | | |
| No. I. | Mr. Garford |{ Violent banging on door of |
| | | Nos. I. and II. |
| | | |
| | |{ Groans; "a greatly magnified |
| No. III. | Mr. "Q." |{ edition of sounds I have |
| | |{ several times heard in the |
| | |{ drawing-room" |
| | | |
| | |{ Detonating or percussive |
" 26 | No. I. | Mr. Garford |{ noise like "a wheel-barrow |
| | |{ on a hard road" |
| | | |
March 1 | No. IV. | Mr. MacP---- |{ Loud clanging sound in the |
| | | room |
| | | |
" 2 | No. VIII. |{ Miss Freer }|{ Movements of animal in the |
| |{ Miss Moore }|{ room |
| | | |
| | Miss Freer }| Heavy fall |
| | Miss Moore }| |
| | | |
| No. III. | Miss "N." | Thud, sounding from below |
| | | |
" 5 | No. VIII. | Miss Moore |{ Movements of animal in the |
| | |{ room |
| | | |
| Attics | Two maids | Monotonous reading |
| | | |
| | |{ Monotonous reading (also |
| No. I. | Mrs. B.C. |{ mentioned by Mr. Garford as |
| | |{ occurring in No. I.) |
| | | |
| | Mrs. B.C. | Bang on door of room |
| | | |
| Attics |{ Mrs. Robinson |{ Voices in conversation |
| |{ (cook) |{ Bangs on the wall of room |
| | | |
" 7 | Attics | Robinson |{ Heavy body falling in the |
| | (butler) | room |
| | | |
| | |{ Movements of heavy body in |
| | |{ the room |
| No. II. | Mr. C---- |{ Footsteps as if descending |
| | |{ stairs |
| | |{ Loud rapping on doors of |
| | |{ Nos. I. and II. |
---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+

---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+
Recorded |Heard in Room.| Witness. | Description of Sound. |
under | | | |
Date. | | | |
---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+
March 8 | No. II. | Mr. C---- | Noises in No. I. (empty room) |
| | | |
" 10 | No. VIII. |{ Miss Moore | Animal moving in the room |
| |{ Miss Freer | Heavy fall |
| | | |
" 13 | No. VIII. |{ Miss Moore }| Loud bangs |
| |{ Miss Freer }| |
| | | |
| |{ Robinson, }| |
| Attics |{ and Mrs. }| Loud bangs |
| |{ Robinson }| |
| | | |
| No. IV. | Miss Langton | Loud bangs |
| | | |
" 15 | No. VIII. |{ Miss Moore }| Vibrating bang |
| |{ Miss Freer }| |
| | | |
| No. IV. | Miss Langton | Vibrating bang |
| | | |
| Wing | Colonel Taylor | Vibrating bang |
| | | |
[Miss Freer was absent for four nights, and no Journal was kept.] |
| | | |
| |{ Miss Moore |{ Metallic sound in room "like |
" 20 | No. I. |{ Miss Freer | the 'giving' of a large |
| |{ Miss Langton | tin box" |
| | | |
" 22 | No. IV. | Mr. MacP---- | Heavy footsteps overhead |
| | | |
| No. III. | Miss "Duff" |{ Resounding crash at door |
| | |{ Resounding crash in room |
| | | |
| | |{ Monotonous reading (also |
" 23 | Drawing-room | Miss "Duff" |{ mentioned as occurring in |
| | |{ No. III.) |
| | | |
" 24 | No. V. | Miss Freer |{ Crash of something falling |
| | |{ under dome |
| | | |
| No. VIII. | Colonel C---- | Loud thump on door of room |
| | | |
| | |{ Explosive noises |
| No. I. | Mr. W---- |{ Crash of something falling |
| | |{ under dome |
| | | |
| |{ Two housemaids}| |
| Attics |{ and }| Loud knockings |
| |{ kitchen-maid }| |
| | | |
| Butler's room|} Mrs. Robinson |{ Footsteps and knocking on |
| on ground |} |{ door of No. III. |
| floor |} | |
| | | |
| No. III. | Miss "Duff" |{ Shuffling foot steps |
| | |{ outside room |
| | | |
| No. II. |{ Miss "Duff" }| Fall against door of No. I. |
| |{ Miss Langton }| |
| | | |
" 25 | No. II. | Miss Langton |{ Loud thump on door between |
| | |{ I. and II. |
| | | |
| |{ Carter }| |
| |{ (housemaid) }| |
" 27 | Attics |{ Under- }| Monotonous reading |
| |{ housemaid }| |
| |{ Kitchen-maid }| |
| | | |
" 29 | Library |{ Miss Freer }|{ Footsteps in locked-up |
| |{ Miss Langton }|{ room overhead |
| | | |
" 30 | Library |{ Miss Freer }|{ Footsteps in locked-up |
| |{ Miss Langton }|{ room overhead |
| | | |
| |{ Mr. and Mrs. }| |
| Corridor |{ M---- }| Rappings in No. II. (empty). |
| |{ Miss Langton }| (See Mr. M----'s account) |
| |{ Miss Freer }| |
---------+--------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+