Chapter XIII: Haunted Houses (2)

“We were now within three days of the one fixed for our removal. I had been taking a long ride, and, being tired, had fallen asleep the moment I lay down; but, in the middle of the night, I was suddenly awakened—I can not tell by what, for the steps over our heads we had become so used to that it no longer disturbed us. Well, I awoke. I had been lying with my face toward my mother, who was asleep beside me, and, as one usually does on awaking, I turned to the other side, where, the weather being warm, the curtain of the bed was undrawn, as it was, also, at the foot; and I saw standing by a chest of drawers, which were betwixt me and the window, a thin, tall figure, in a loose powdering gown, one arm resting on the drawers, and the face turned toward me. I saw it quite distinctly by the night-light, which burned clearly. It was a long, thin, pale, young face, with, oh, such a melancholy expression as can never be effaced from my memory! I was, certainly, very much frightened; but my great horror was, lest my mother should awake and see the figure. I turned my head gently toward her, and heard her breathing high in a sound sleep. Just then the clock on the stairs struck four. I dare say it was nearly an hour before I ventured to look again, and when I did take courage to turn my eyes toward the drawers, there was nothing; yet I had not heard the slightest sound, though I had been listening with the greatest intensity.

“As you may suppose, I never closed my eyes again; and glad I was when Creswell knocked at the door, as she did every morning, for we always locked it, and it was my business to get out of bed and let her in; but on this occasion, instead of doing so, I called out, ‘Come in; the door is not fastened;’ upon which she answered that it was, and I was obliged to get out of bed and admit her as usual.

“When I told my mother what had happened, she was very grateful to me for not waking her, and commended me much for my resolution; but as she was always my first object, that was not to be wondered at. She however resolved not to risk another night in the house; and we got out of it that very day, after instituting, with the aid of the servants, a thorough search, with a view to ascertain if there was any possible means of getting into the rooms except by the usual modes of ingress; but our search was vain—none could be discovered.

“I think, from the errors in the names, &c., that the publisher of the ‘Accredited Ghost-Stories’ must have obtained his account from the inhabitants of Lille.”

Considering the number of people that were in the house, the fearlessness of the family, and their disinclination to believe in what is called _the supernatural_, together with the great interest the owner of this large and handsome residence must have had in discovering the trick, if there had been one, I think it is difficult to find any other explanation of this strange story, than that the sad and disappointed spirit of this poor, injured, and probably murdered boy, had never been disengaged from its earthly relations, to which regret for its frustrated hopes and violated rights still held it attached.

There is a story told by Pliny the younger, of a house at Athens, in which nobody could live, from its being haunted. At length the philosopher Athenadorus took it; and the first night he was there, he seems to have comported himself very much as the courageous Mrs. Canning did, on a similar occasion, at Plymouth. He sent his servants to bed, and set himself seriously to work with his writing materials, determined that fancy should not be left free to play him false. For some time all was still, and his mind was wholly engaged in his labors, when he heard a sound like the rattling of chains—which was the sound that had frightened everybody out of the house; but Athenadorus closed his ears, kept his thoughts collected, and wrote on, without lifting up his eyes. The noise, however, increased; it approached the door; it entered the room; then he looked round, and beheld the figure of an old man, lean, haggard, and dirty, with dishevelled hair, and a long beard, who held up his finger and beckoned him. Athenadorus made a gesture with his own hand in return, signifying that he should wait, and went on with his writing. Then the figure advanced and shook his chains over the philosopher’s head, who, on looking up, saw him beckoning as before; whereupon he arose and followed him. The apparition walked slowly, as if obstructed by his chains; and having conducted him to a certain spot in the court, which separated the two divisions of an ancient Greek house, he suddenly disappeared. Athenadorus gathered together some grass and leaves, in order to mark the place; and the next day he recommended the authorities to dig there, which they did, and found the skeleton of a human being encircled with chains. It being taken up, and the rights of sepulture duly performed, the house was no longer disturbed.

This was, probably, some poor prisoner also; and in his desire to direct notice to his body, we see the prejudices of his age and country surviving dissolution. Grose, the antiquary, who is, as I have before observed, very facetious on the subject of ghosts, remarks that “Dragging chains is not the custom of English ghosts, chains and black vestments being chiefly the accoutrements of foreign spectres, seen in arbitrary governments.” Now, this is a very striking observation. Grose’s studies had, doubtless, introduced him to many histories of this description; and the different characteristics of these apparitions, under different governments, is a circumstance in remarkable conformity with the views of those who have been led to take a much more serious view of the subject. They appear as they lived, and as they conceive of themselves; and when rapport or receptivity enable them to see, and to render themselves visible to those yet living in the flesh, it is by so appearing that they tell their story, and ask for sympathy and assistance. I say enable them _to see_, because there seem many reasons for concluding that they do not, under ordinary circumstances, see us, any more than we see them. Whether it be rapport with certain inhabitants, or whether the phenomenon be dependent on certain periods, or any other condition, we can not tell; but I have met with several accounts of houses in which an annoyance of this sort has recurred more than once, at different intervals, sometimes at a distance of seven or ten years, the intermediate time being quite free from it.

One of the most melancholy and impressive circumstances of this sort I have met with, occurred to Mrs. L——, a lady with whose family I am acquainted; Mrs. L—— herself having been kind enough to furnish me with the particulars: A few years since, she took a furnished house in Stevenson street, North Shields, and she had been in it but a very few hours before she was perplexed by hearing feet in the passage, though, whenever she opened the door, she could see nobody. She went to the kitchen, and asked the servant if she had not heard the same sound. She said she had not, but that there seemed to be strange noises in the house. When Mrs. L—— went to bed, she could not go to sleep for the noise of a child’s rattle, which seemed to be inside her curtains. It rattled round her head, first on one side, then on the other; then there were sounds of feet, and of a child crying, and a woman sobbing; and, in short, so many strange noises that the servant became frightened and went away. The next girl Mrs. L—— engaged came from Leith, and was a stranger to the place; but she had only passed a night in the house, when she said to her mistress, “This is a troubled house you’ve got into, ma’am;” and she described, among the rest, that she had repeatedly heard her own name called by a voice near her, though she could see nobody.

One night Mrs. L—— heard a voice, like nothing human, close to her, cry, “Weep! weep! weep!” Then there was a sound like some one struggling for breath, and again “Weep! weep! weep!” Then the gasping, and a third time, “Weep! weep! weep!” She stood still, and looked steadfastly on the spot whence the voice proceeded, but could see nothing; and her little boy, who held her hand, kept saying, “What is that, mamma? What is that?” She describes the sound as most frightful. All the noises seemed to suggest the idea of childhood, and of a woman in trouble. One night, when it was crying round her bed, Mrs. L—— took courage and adjured it; upon which the noise ceased, for that time, but there was no answer. Mr. L—— was at sea when she took the house, and when he came home he laughed at the story at first, but soon became so convinced the account she gave was correct, that he wanted to have the boards taken up, because, from the noises seeming to hover much about one spot, he thought perhaps some explanation of the mystery might be found. But Mrs. L—— objected that if anything of a painful nature were discovered she should not be able to continue in the house, and as she must pay the year’s rent, she wished, if possible, to make out the time.

She never saw anything but twice; once, the appearance of a child seemed to fall from the ceiling, close to her, and then disappear; and another time she saw a child run into a closet in a room at the top of the house; and it was most remarkable that a small door in that room, which was used for going out on to the roof, always stood open. However often they shut it, it was opened again immediately by an unseen hand, even before they got out of the room; and this continued the whole time they were in the house; while, night and day, some one in creaking shoes was heard pacing backward and forward in the room over Mr. and Mrs. L——’s heads.

At length the year expired; and to their great relief they quitted the house; but five or six years afterward, a person who had bought it having taken up the floor of that upper room to repair it, there was found, close to the small door above alluded to, the skeleton of a child. It was then remembered that some years before a gentleman of somewhat dissolute habits had resided there, and that he was supposed to have been on very intimate terms with a young woman-servant who lived with him, but there had been no suspicion of anything more criminal.

About six years ago, Mr. C——, a gentleman engaged in business in London, heard of a good country-house in the neighborhood of the metropolis, which was to be had at a low rent. It was rather an old-fashioned place, and was surrounded by a garden and pleasure-ground; and having taken a lease of it for seven years, furnished as it was, his family removed thither, and he joined them once or twice a week, as his business permitted.

They had been some considerable time in the house without the occurrence of anything remarkable, when one evening, toward dusk, Mrs. C——, on going into what was called the oak bed-room, saw a female figure near one of the windows. It was apparently a young woman with dark hair hanging over her shoulders, a silk petticoat, and a short, white robe, and she appeared to be looking eagerly through the window, as if expecting somebody. Mrs. C—— clapped her hand upon her eyes, “as thinking she had seen something she ought not to have seen,” and when she looked again the figure had disappeared.

Shortly after this, a young girl who filled the situation of under nursery-maid, came to her in great agitation, saying that she had had a terrible fright, from seeing a very ugly old woman looking in upon her as she passed the window in the lobby. The girl was trembling violently, and almost crying, so that Mrs. C—— entertained no doubts of the reality of her alarm. She, however, thought it advisable to laugh her out of her fear, and went with her to the window, which looked into a closed court, but there was no one there, neither had any of the other servants seen such a person. Soon after this, the family began to find themselves disturbed with strange, and frequently very loud, noises during the night. Among the rest, there was something like the beating of a crow-bar upon the pump in the abovementioned court; but, search as they would, they could discover no cause for the sound. One day, when Mr. C—— had brought a friend from London to stay the night with him, Mrs. C—— thought proper to go up to the oak bed-room, where the stranger was to sleep, for the purpose of inspecting the arrangements for his comfort, when, to her great surprise, some one seemed to follow her up to the fireplace, though, on turning round, there was nobody to be seen. She said nothing about it, however, and returned below, where her husband and the stranger were sitting. Presently, one of the servants (not the one mentioned above) tapped at the door and requested to speak with her, and Mrs. C—— going out, she told her, in great agitation, that in going up stairs to the visiter’s room, a footstep had followed her all the way to the fireplace, although she could see nobody. Mrs. C—— said something soothing, and that matter passed, she, herself, being a good deal puzzled, but still unwilling to admit the idea that there was anything extra-natural in these occurrences. Repeatedly, after this, these footsteps were heard in different parts of the house, when nobody was to be seen; and often, while she was lying in bed, she heard them distinctly approach her door, when, being a very courageous woman, she would start out with a loaded pistol in her hand, but there was never any one to be seen. At length it was impossible to conceal from herself and her servants that these occurrences were of an extraordinary nature, and the latter, as may be supposed, felt very uncomfortable. Among other unpleasant things, while sitting all together in the kitchen, they used to see the latch lifted and the door open, though no one came in that they could see; and when Mr. C—— himself watched for these events, although they took place, and he was quite on the alert, he altogether failed in detecting any visible agent.

One night, the same servant who had heard the footsteps following her to the bed-room fireplace, happening to be asleep in Mrs. C——’s chamber, she became much disturbed, and was heard to murmur, “Wake me! wake me!” as if in great mental anguish. Being aroused, she told her mistress a dream she had had, which seemed to throw some light upon these mysteries. She thought she was in the oak bed-room, and at one end of it she saw a young female in an old-fashioned dress, with long dark hair, while in another part of the room was a very ugly old woman, also in old-fashioned attire. The latter addressing the former said, “What have you done with the child, Emily? What have you done with the child?” To which the younger figure answered, “Oh, I did not kill it. He was preserved, and grew up, and joined the —— regiment, and went to India.” Then addressing the sleeper, the young lady continued, “I have never spoken to mortal before; but I will tell you all. My name is Miss Black; and this old woman is Nurse Black. Black is not her name, but we call her so because she has been so long in the family.” Here the old woman interrupted the speaker by coming up and laying her hand on the dreaming girl’s shoulder, while she said something; but she could not remember what, for, feeling excruciating pain from the touch, she had been so far aroused as to be sensible she was asleep, and to beg to be wholly awakened.

As the old woman seemed to resemble the figure that one of the other servants had seen looking into the window, and the young one resembled that she had herself seen in the oak chamber, Mrs. C—— naturally concluded that there was something extraordinary about this dream, and she consequently took an early opportunity of inquiring in the neighborhood what was known as to the names or circumstances of the former inhabitants of this house; and, after much investigation, she learned that, about seventy or eighty years before, it had been in the possession of a Mrs. Ravenhall, who had a niece, named Miss Black, living with her. This niece Mrs. C—— supposed might be the younger of the two persons who was seen. Subsequently, she saw her again in the same room, wringing her hands, and looking with a mournful significance to one corner. They had the boards taken up on that spot, but nothing was found.

One of the most curious incidents, connected with this story, remains to be told. After occupying the house three years, they were preparing to quit it—not on account of its being haunted, but for other reasons—when on awaking one morning, a short time before their departure, Mrs. C—— saw, standing at the foot of her bed, a dark-complexioned man, in a working dress, a fustian jacket, and red comforter round his neck—who, however, suddenly disappeared. Mr. C—— was lying beside her at the time, but asleep. This was the last apparition seen. But the strange thing is, that a few days after this, it being necessary to order in a small quantity of coals to serve till their removal, Mr. C—— undertook to perform the commission on his way to London. Accordingly, the next day, she mentioned to him that the coals had arrived; which he said was very fortunate, since he had entirely forgotten to order them. Wondering whence they had come, Mrs. C—— hereupon inquired of the servants, who none of them knew anything about the matter; but on interrogating a person in the village, by whom they had frequently been provided with this article, he answered that they had been ordered by a dark man, in a fustian jacket and red comfort, who had called for the purpose.

After this last event, Mr. and Mrs. C—— quitted the house; but I have heard that its subsequent tenants encountered some similar annoyances, although I have no means of ascertaining the particulars.

But perhaps one of the most remarkable cases of haunting in modern times, is that of Willington, near Newcastle, in my account of which, however, I find myself anticipated by Mr. Howitt; and as he has had the advantage of visiting the place, which I have not, I shall take the liberty of borrowing his description of it, prefacing the account with the following letter from Mr. Proctor, the owner of the house, who it will be seen vouches for the general authenticity of the narrative. The letter was written in answer to one from me, requesting some more precise information than I had been able to obtain:—

“Josh. Proctor hopes C. Crowe will excuse her note having remained two weeks unanswered, during which time J. P. has been from home, or particularly engaged. Feeling averse to add to the publicity the circumstances occurring in his house, at Willington, have already obtained, J. P. would rather not furnish additional particulars; but if C. C. is not in possession of the number of ‘Howitt’s Journal,’ which contains a variety of details on the subject, he will be glad to forward her one. He would, at the same time, assure C. Crowe of the strict accuracy of that portion of W. Howitt’s narrative which is extracted from ‘Richardson’s Table Book.’ W. Howitt’s statements, derived from his recollection of verbal communications with branches of J. Proctor’s family, are likewise essentially correct, though, as might be expected in some degree, erroneous circumstantially.

“J. P. takes leave to express his conviction that the unbelief of the educated classes in apparitions of the deceased and kindred phenomena is not grounded on a fair philosophic examination of the facts, which have induced the popular belief of all ages and countries; and that it will be found by succeeding ages to have been nothing better than unreasoning and unreasonable prejudice.

“_Willington, near Newcastle-on-Tyne_,
_7th mo. 22, 1847_.”

“VISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES.

“BY WILLIAM HOWITT.

“THE HAUNTED HOUSE AT WILLINGTON, NEAR NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.

“We have of late years settled it as an established fact that ghosts and haunted houses were the empty creation of ignorant times. We have comfortably persuaded ourselves that such fancies only hovered in the twilight of superstition, and that in these enlightened days they had vanished for ever. How often has it been triumphantly referred to, as a proof that all such things were the offspring of ignorance, that nothing of the kind is heard of now? What shall we say, then, to the following facts? Here we have ghosts and a haunted house still. We have them in the face of our vaunted noonday light—in the midst of a busy and a populous neighborhood—in the neighborhood of a large and most intelligent town—and in a family neither ignorant nor in any other respect superstitious. For years have these ghosts and hauntings disturbed the quiet of a highly respectable family, and continue to haunt and disturb, spite of the incredulity of the wise, the investigations of the curious, and the anxious vigilance of the suffering family itself.

“Between the railway running from Newcastle-on-Tyne to North Shields, and the river Tyne, there lie in a hollow some few cottages, a parsonage, a mill, and a miller’s house: these constitute the hamlet of Willington. Just above these the railway is carried across the valley on lofty arches, and from it you look down on the mill and cottages, lying at a considerable depth below. The mill is a large steam flour-mill, like a factory, and the miller’s house stands near it, but not adjoining it. None of the cottages which lie between these premises and the railway, either, are in contact with them. The house stands on a sort of little promontory, round which runs the channel of a water-course, which appears to fill and empty with the tides. On one side of the mill and house, slopes away upward a field to a considerable distance, where it is terminated by other enclosures; on the other stands a considerable extent of ballast-hill—_i. e._, one of the numerous hills on the banks of the Tyne made by the deposite of ballast from the vessels trading thither. At a distance, the top of the mill seems about level with the country around it. The place lies about half-way between Newcastle and North Shields.

“This mill is, I believe, the property of, and is worked by, Messrs. Unthank and Procter. Mr. Joseph Procter resides on the spot in the house just by the mill, as already stated. He is a member of the society of friends—a gentleman in the very prime of life—and his wife, an intelligent lady, is of a family of friends in Carlisle. They have several young children. This very respectable and well-informed family, belonging to a sect which of all others is most accustomed to control, to regulate, and to put down even the imagination—the last people in the world, as it would appear, in fact, to be affected by any mere imaginary terrors or impressions—have for years been persecuted by the most extraordinary noises and apparitions.

“The house is not an old house, as will appear; it was built about the year 1800. It has no particularly spectral look about it. Seeing it in passing, or within, ignorant of its real character, one should by no means say that it was a place likely to have the reputation of being haunted. Yet looking down from the railway, and seeing it and the mill lying in a deep hole, one might imagine various strange noises likely to be heard in such a place in the night, from vessels on the river—from winds sweeping and howling down the gulley in which it stands—from engines in the neighborhood connected with coal-mines, one of which, I could not tell where, was making at the time I was there a wild sighing noise, as I stood on the hill above. There is not any passage, however, known of under the house, by which subterranean noises could be heard; nor are they merely noises that are heard,—distinct apparitions are declared to be seen.

“Spite of the unwillingness of Mr. Procter, that these mysterious circumstances should become quite public, and averse as he is to make known himself these strange visitations, they were of such a nature that they soon became rumored over the whole neighborhood. Numbers of people hurried to the place to inquire into the truth of them, and at length a remarkable occurrence brought them into print. What this occurrence was, the pamphlet which appeared, and which was afterward reprinted in ‘The Local Historian’s Table-Book,’ published by Mr. M. A. Richardson, of Newcastle, and which I here copy, will explain. It will be seen that the writer of this article has the fullest faith in the reality of what he relates, as, indeed, vast numbers of the best informed inhabitants of the neighborhood have.

“AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO THE HAUNTED HOUSE
AT WILLINGTON.

“Were we to draw an inference from the number of cases of reported visitations from the invisible world that have been made public of late, we might be led to imagine that the days of supernatural agency were about to recommence, and that ghosts and hobgoblins were about to resume their sway over the fears of mankind. Did we, however, indulge in such an apprehension, a glance at the current tone of the literature and philosophy of the day, when treating of these subjects, would show a measure of unbelief regarding them as scornful and uncompromising as the veriest atheist or materialist could desire. Notwithstanding the prevalence of this feeling among the educated classes, there is a curiosity and interest manifested in every occurrence of this nature, that indicate a lurking faith at bottom, which an affected skepticism fails entirely to conceal. We feel, therefore, that we need not apologise to our readers for introducing the following particulars of a _visit_ to a house in this immediate neighborhood, which had become notorious for some years previous, as being ‘haunted;’ and several of the reputed deeds, or misdeeds, of its supernatural visitant had been published far and wide by rumor’s thousand tongues. We deem it as worthy to be chronicled as the doings of its contemporary _genii_ at Windsor, Dublin, Liverpool, Carlisle, and Sunderland, and which have all likewise hitherto failed, after public investigation, to receive a solution consistent with a rejection of spiritual agency.

“We have visited the house in question, which is well known to many of our readers, as being near a large steam corn-mill, in full view of Willington viaduct, on the Newcastle and Shields railway; and it may not be irrelevant to mention that it is quite detached from the mill, or any other premises, and has no cellaring under it. The proprietor of the house, who lives in it, declines to make public the particulars of the disturbance to which he has been subjected, and it must be understood that the account of the visit we are about to lay before our readers is derived from a friend to whom Dr. Drury presented a copy of his correspondence on the subject, with power to make such use of it as he thought proper. We learned that the house had been reputed, at least one room in it, to have been haunted forty years ago, and had afterward been undisturbed for a long period, during some years of which quietude the present occupant lived in it unmolested. We are also informed that about the time that the premises were building, viz., in 1800 or 1801, there were reports of some deed of darkness having been committed by some one employed about them. We should extend this account beyond the limits we have set to ourselves, did we now enter upon a full account of the strange things which have been seen and heard about the place by several of the neighbors, as well as those which are reported to have been seen, heard, and felt, by the inmates, whose servants have been changed, on that account, many times. We proceed, therefore, to give the following letters which have been passed between individuals of undoubted veracity, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions on the subject.”

“(COPY, NO. 1.)
“_17th June, 1840._

“TO MR. PROCTER:

“SIR: Having heard from indisputable authority, viz., that of my
excellent friend, Mr. Davison, of Low Willington, farmer, that
you and your family are disturbed by most unaccountable noises
at night, I beg leave to tell you that I have read attentively
Wesley’s account of such things, but with, I must confess, no
great belief; but an account of this report coming from one of
your sect, which I admire for candor and simplicity, my
curiosity is excited to a high pitch, which I would fain
satisfy. My desire is to remain alone in the house all night
with no companion but my own watch-dog, in which, as far as
courage and fidelity are concerned, I place much more reliance
than upon any three young gentlemen I know of. And it is also my
hope that, if I have a fair trial, I shall be able to unravel
this mystery. Mr. Davison will give you every satisfaction if
you take the trouble to inquire of him concerning me.

“I am, sir, yours most respectfully,

“EDWARD DRURY.
“At C. C. Embleton’s, Surgeon,
“_No. 10 Church street, Sunderland_.”
“(COPY, NO. 2.)

“Joseph Procter’s respects to Edward Drury, whose note he
received a few days ago, expressing a wish to pass a night in
his house at Willington. As the family is going from home on the
23d instant, and one of Unthank and Procter’s men will sleep in
the house, if Edward Drury feel inclined to come on or after the
24th, to spend a night in it, he is at liberty so to do, with or
without his faithful dog, which, by-the-by, can be of no
possible use, except as company. At the same time, Joseph
Procter thinks it best to inform him that particular
disturbances are far from frequent at present, being only
occasional, and quite uncertain, and therefore the satisfaction
of Edward Drury’s curiosity must be considered as problematical.
The best chance will be afforded by sitting up alone in the
third story, till it be fairly daylight, say two or three A. M.

“_Willington, 6th mo. 21st, 1840.”_

“Joseph Procter will leave word with T. Maun, foreman, to admit
Edward Drury.

“Mr. Procter left home with his family on the 23d of June, and
got an old servant, who was then out of place in consequence of
ill-health, to take charge of the house during their absence.
Mr. Procter returned alone, on account of business, on the 3d of
July, on the evening of which day Mr. Drury and his companion
also unexpectedly arrived. After the house had been locked up,
every corner of it was minutely examined. The room out of which
the apparition issued is too shallow to contain any person. Mr.
Drury and his friend had lights by them, and were satisfied that
there was no one in the house besides Mr. Procter, the servant,
and themselves.”

“(COPY, NO. 3.)
“MONDAY MORNING, _July 6th, 1840_.

“_To Mr. Procter_:

“DEAR SIR: I am sorry I was not at home to receive you
yesterday, when you kindly called to inquire for me. I am happy
to state, that I am really surprised that I have been so little
affected as I am, after that horrid and most awful affair. The
only bad effect that I feel is a heavy dullness in one of my
ears, the right one. I call it heavy dullness because I not only
do not hear distinctly, but feel in it a constant noise. This I
never was affected with before; but I doubt not it will go off.
I am persuaded that no one went to your house at any time more
_disbelieving in respect to seeing anything peculiar_; and now
no one can be more satisfied than myself. I will, in the course
of a few days, send you a full detail of all I saw and heard.
Mr. Spence and two other gentlemen came down to my house in the
afternoon to hear my detail; but, sir, could I account for these
noises from natural causes, yet so firmly am I persuaded of the
horrid apparition, that I would affirm that what I saw with my
eyes was a punishment to me for my scoffing and unbelief; that I
am assured that, as far as the horror is concerned, they are
happy that believe and have not seen. Let me trouble you, sir,
to give me the address of your sister, from Cumberland, who was
alarmed, and also of your brother. I would feel a satisfaction
in having a line from them; and, above all things, it will be a
great cause of joy to me, if you never allow your young family
to be in that horrid house again. Hoping you will write a few
lines at your leisure,

“I remain, dear sir, yours very truly,
“EDWARD DRURY.”
“(COPY, NO. 4.)
“WILLINGTON, _7th mo. 9, 1840_.

“RESPECTED FRIEND, E. DRURY: Having been at Sunderland, I did
not receive thine of the 6th till yesterday morning. I am glad
to hear thou art getting well over the effects of thy
unlooked-for visitation. I hold in respect thy bold and manly
assertion of the truth, in the face of that ridicule and
ignorant conceit with which that which is called the
supernatural, in the present day, is usually assailed.

“I shall be glad to receive thy detail, in which it will be
needful to be very particular in showing that thou couldst not
be asleep or attacked by nightmare, or mistake a reflection of
the candle, as some sagaciously suppose.

“I remain, respectfully, thy friend,
“JOSH. PROCTER.

“P. S.—I have about thirty witnesses to various things which
can not be satisfactorily accounted for on any other principle
than that of spiritual agency.”

“(COPY, NO. 5.)
“SUNDERLAND, _July 13, 1840_.

“DEAR SIR: I hereby, according to promise in my last letter,
forward you a true account of what I heard and saw at your
house, in which I was led to pass the night from various rumors
circulated by most respectable parties—particularly from an
account by my esteemed friend Mr. Davison, whose name I
mentioned to you in a former letter. Having received your
sanction to visit your mysterious dwelling, I went on the 3d of
July, accompanied by a friend of mine, T. Hudson. This was not
according to promise, nor in accordance with my first intent, as
I wrote to you I would come alone; but I felt gratified at your
kindness in not alluding to the liberty I had taken, as it
ultimately proved for the best. I must here mention that, not
expecting you at home, I had in my pocket a brace of pistols,
determining in my mind to let one of them drop before the
miller, as if by accident, for fear he should presume to play
tricks upon me; but, after my interview with you, I felt there
was no occasion for weapons, and did not load them, after you
had allowed us to inspect as minutely as we pleased every
portion of the house. I sat down on the third story landing,
fully expecting to account for any noises that I might hear, in
a philosophical manner. This was about eleven o’clock P. M.
About ten minutes to twelve, we both heard a noise, as if a
number of people were pattering with their bare feet upon the
floor; and yet so singular was the noise, that I could not
minutely determine whence it proceeded. A few minutes afterward
we heard a noise, as if some one was knocking with his knuckles
among our feet; this was followed by a hollow cough from the
very room from which the apparition proceeded. The only noise
after this, was as if a person was rustling against the wall in
coming up stairs. At a quarter to one, I told my friend that,
feeling a little cold, I would like to go to bed, as we might
hear the noise equally well there; he replied that he would not
go to bed till daylight. I took up a note which I had
accidentally dropped, and began to read it, after which I took
out my watch to ascertain the time, and found that it wanted ten
minutes to one. In taking my eyes from the watch, they became
riveted upon a closet-door, which I distinctly saw open, and saw
also the figure of a female attired in grayish garments, with
the head inclining downward, and one hand pressed upon the chest
as if in pain, and the other, viz., the right hand, extended
toward the floor, with the index finger pointing downward. It
advanced with an apparently cautious step across the floor
toward me; immediately as it approached my friend, who was
slumbering, its right hand was extended toward him: I then
rushed at it, giving, as Mr. Procter states, a most awful yell;
but, instead of grasping it, I fell upon my friend, and I
recollected nothing distinctly for nearly three hours afterward.
I have since learned that I was carried down stairs in an agony
of fear and terror.

“I hereby certify that the above account is strictly true and
correct in every respect.

“EDWARD DRURY.
“_North Shields.”_

“The following more recent case of an apparition seen in the
window of the same house from the outside, by four credible
witnesses, who had the opportunity of scrutinizing it for more
than ten minutes, is given on most unquestionable authority. One
of these witnesses is a young lady, a near connection of the
family, who, for obvious reasons, did not sleep in the house;
another, a respectable man, who has been many years employed in,
and is foreman of, the manufactory; his daughter, aged about
seventeen; and his wife, who first saw the object and called out
the others to view it. The appearance presented was that of a
bareheaded man, in a flowing robe like a surplice, who glided
backward and forward about three feet from the floor, or level
with the bottom of the second story window, seeming to enter the
wall on each side, and thus present a side view in passing. It
then stood still in the window, and a part of the body came
through both the blind, which was close down, and the window, as
its luminous body intercepted the view of the framework of the
window. It was semi-transparent, and as bright as a star,
diffusing a radiance all around. As it grew more dim, it assumed
a blue tinge, and gradually faded away from the head downward.
The foreman passed twice close to the house under the window,
and also went to inform the family, but found the house locked
up. There was no moonlight, nor a ray of light visible anywhere
about, and no person near. Had any magic lantern been used, it
could not possibly have escaped detection; and it is obvious
nothing of that kind could have been employed on the inside, as
in that case the light could only have been thrown upon the
blind, and not so as to intercept the view both of the blind and
of the window from without. The owner of the house slept in that
room, and must have entered it shortly after this figure had
disappeared.

“It may well be supposed what a sensation the report of the
visit of Mr. Drury and its result must have created. It flew far
and wide, and when it appeared in print, still wider; and, what
was not a little singular, Mr. Procter received, in consequence,
a great number of letters from individuals of different ranks
and circumstances, including many of much property, informing
him that their residences were, and had been for years, subject
to annoyances of precisely a similar character.

“So, the ghosts and the hauntings are not gone, after all! We
have turned our backs on them, and, in the pride of our
philosophy, have refused to believe in them; but they have
persisted in remaining, notwithstanding!

“These singular circumstances being at various times related by
parties acquainted with the family at Willington, I was curious,
on a tour northward some time ago, to pay this haunted house a
visit, and to solicit a night’s lodging there. Unfortunately the
family was absent, on a visit to Mrs. Procter’s relatives in
Carlisle, so that my principal purpose was defeated; but I found
the foreman and his wife, mentioned in the foregoing narrative,
living just by. They spoke of the facts above detailed with the
simple earnestness of people who had no doubts whatever on the
subject. The noises and apparitions in and about this house
seemed just like any other facts connected with it—as matters
too palpable and positive to be questioned, any more than that
the house actually stood, and the mill ground. They mentioned to
me the circumstance of the young lady, as above stated, who took
up her lodging in their house, because she would no longer
encounter the annoyances of the haunted house—and what trouble
it had occasioned the family in procuring and retaining
servants.

“The wife accompanied me into the house, which I found in charge
of a recently-married servant and her husband, during the
absence of the family. This young woman—who had, previous to
her marriage, lived some time in the house—had never seen
anything, and therefore had no fear. I was shown over the house,
and especially into the room on the third story, the main haunt
of the unwelcome visiters, and where Dr. Drury had received such
an alarm. This room, as stated, was and had been for some time
abandoned as a bed-room, from its bad character, and was
occupied as a lumber-room.

“At Carlisle, I again missed Mr. Procter: he had returned to
Willington, so that I lost the opportunity of hearing from him
or Mrs. Procter any account of these singular matters. I saw,
however, various members of his wife’s family, most intelligent
people, of the highest character for sound and practical sense,
and they were unanimous in their confirmation of the particulars
I had heard, and which are here related.

“One of Mrs. Procter’s brothers—a gentleman in middle life, and
of a peculiarly sensible, sedate, and candid disposition, a
person apparently most unlikely to be imposed on by fictitious
alarms or tricks—assured me that he had himself, on a visit
there, been disturbed by the strangest noises; that he had
resolved, before going, that if any such noises occurred, he
would speak, and demand of the invisible actor who he was, and
why he came thither: but the occasion came, and he found himself
unable to fulfil his intention. As he lay in bed one night, he
heard a heavy step ascend the stairs toward his room, and some
one striking, as it were, with a thick stick on the banisters,
as he went along. It came to his door, and he essayed to call,
but his voice died in his throat. He then sprang from his bed,
and, opening the door, found no one there—but now heard the
same heavy steps deliberately descending, though invisible, the
steps before his face, and accompanying the descent with the
same loud blows on the banisters.

“My informant now proceeded to the room-door of Mr. Procter, who
he found had also heard the sounds, and who now also arose, and
with a light they made a speedy descent below, and a thorough
search there, but without discovering anything that could
account for the occurrence.

“The two young ladies, who, on a visit there, had also been
annoyed by this invisible agent, gave me this account of it: The
first night, as they were sleeping in the same bed, they felt
the bed lifted up beneath them. Of course, they were much
alarmed. They feared lest some one had concealed himself there
for the purpose of robbery. They gave an alarm, search was made,
but nothing was found. On another night, their bed was violently
shaken, and the curtains suddenly hoisted up[3] all round to the
very tester, as if pulled by cords, and as rapidly let down
again, several times! Search again produced no evidence of the
cause. The next, they had the curtains totally removed from the
bed, resolving to sleep without them, as they felt as though
evil eyes were lurking behind them. The consequences of this,
however, were still more striking and terrific. The following
night, as they happened to awake, and the chamber was light
enough (for it was summer) to see everything in it, they both
saw a female figure, of a misty substance, and bluish-gray hue,
come out of the wall at the bed’s head, and through the
head-board, in a horizontal position, and lean over them. They
saw it most distinctly—they saw it as a female figure come out
of, and again pass into, the wall. Their terror became intense,
and one of the sisters from that night refused to sleep any more
in the house, but took refuge in the house of the foreman during
her stay; the other shifting her quarters to another part of the
house. It was the young lady who slept at the foreman’s who saw,
as above related, the singular apparition of the luminous figure
in the window, along with the foreman and his wife.

“It would be too long to relate all the forms in which this
nocturnal disturbance is said by the family to present itself.
When a figure appears, it is sometimes that of a man, as already
described, which is often very luminous, and passes through the
walls as though they were nothing. This male figure is well
known to the neighbors by the name of “Old Jeffrey!” At other
times, it is the figure of a lady, also in gray costume, and as
described by Mr. Drury. She is sometimes seen sitting wrapped in
a sort of mantle, with her head depressed, and her hands crossed
on her lap. The most terrible fact is, that she is without eyes.

“To hear such sober and superior people gravely relate to you
such things, gives you a very odd feeling. They say that the
noise made is often like that of a pavior with his rammer
thumping on the floor. At other times it is coming down stairs,
making a similar loud sound. At others it coughs, sighs, and
groans, like a person in distress; and, again, there is the
sound of a number of little feet pattering on the floor of the
upper chamber, where the apparition has more particularly
exhibited itself, and which, for that reason, is solely used as
a lumber-room. Here these little footsteps may be often heard as
if careering a child’s carriage about, which in bad weather is
kept up there. Sometimes, again, it makes the most horrible
laughs. Nor does it always confine itself to the night. On one
occasion, a young lady, as she assured me herself, opened the
door in answer to a knock, the housemaid being absent, and a
lady in fawn-colored silk entered, and proceeded up stairs. As
the young lady, of course, supposed it a neighbor come to make a
morning call on Mrs. Procter, she followed her up to the
drawing-room, where, however, to her astonishment, she did not
find her, nor was anything more seen of her.

“Such are a few of the ‘questionable shapes’ in which this
troublesome guest comes. As may be expected, terror of it is
felt by the neighboring cottagers, though it seems to confine
its malicious disturbance almost solely to the occupants of this
one house. There is a well, however, near to which no one
ventures after it is dark, because it has been seen near it.

“It is useless to attempt to give any opinion respecting the
real causes of these strange sounds and sights. How far they may
be real or imaginary, how far they may be explicable by natural
causes or not—the only thing which we have here to record is,
the very singular fact of a most respectable and intelligent
family having for many years been continually annoyed by them,
as well as their visiters. They express themselves as most
anxious to obtain any clew to the true cause, as may be seen by
Mr. Procter’s ready acquiescence in the experiment of Mr. Drury.
So great a trouble is it to them, that they have contemplated
the necessity of quitting the house altogether, though it would
create great inconvenience as regarded business. And it only
remains to be added that we have not heard very recently whether
these visitations are still continued, though we have a letter
of Mr. Procter’s to a friend of ours, dated September, 1844, in
which he says: ‘Disturbances have for a length of time been only
very unfrequent, which is a comfort, as the elder children are
getting old enough (about nine or ten years) to be more
injuriously affected by anything of the sort.’

“Over these facts let the philosophers ponder, and if any of
them be powerful enough to exorcise ‘Old Jeffrey,’ or the
bluish-gray and misty lady, we are sure that Mr. Joseph Procter
will hold himself deeply indebted to them. We have lately heard
that Mr. Procter has discovered an old book, which makes it
appear that the very same ‘hauntings’ took place in an old
house, on the very same spot, at least two hundred years ago.”

To the above information, furnished by Mr. Howitt, I have to subjoin that the family of Mr. Procter are now quitting the house, which he intends to divide into small tenements for the work-people. A friend of mine who lately visited Willington, and who went over the house with Mr. Procter, assures me that the annoyances still continue, though less frequent than formerly. Mr. Procter informed her that the female figure generally appeared in a shroud, and that it had been seen in that guise by one of the family only a few days before. A wish being expressed by a gentleman visiting Mr. Procter that some natural explanation of these perplexing circumstances might be discovered, the latter declared his entire conviction, founded on an experience of fifteen years, that no such elucidation was possible.

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[3] It is remarkable that this hoisting of the bed-curtains is similar to an incident recorded in the account of the visit of Lord Tyrone’s ghost to Lady Beresford.