A Ghost At High Littleton.
The inhabitants of this sober and well conducted village have been thrown into a state of great perturbation of late in consequence of an alleged being from another world. The ghost would appear to be Nonconformist in its tastes, as it has taken up its quarters in a cottage immediately adjoining the Wesleyan Chapel, where for some nights past about the hour of eleven mysterious sounds have been heard in the bedroom, resembling the report of small fireworks, this being accompanied by the fall of chairs, the removal of the fender from its accustomed position, and tappings on the walls of the room.
Last Sunday night some five or six members of the chapel and others assembled in the room said to be haunted, and after waiting some time in the darkness felt a chair violently move on which they were resting their hands, this being accompanied by sundry rappings and peculiar noises. On Monday night people assembled round the cottage to the number of about 200, and waited for manifestations, and at about ten o’clock the landlord of the house, with a few friends, met in the bedroom, and found that a neighbour, of an inventive turn of mind, had made the most elaborate preparations to catch the ghostly visitant if it presumed to come again. The catching arrangements consisted of what is know locally as a “pig net,” which the man had secured over the opening of the fireplace, feeling persuaded that any ordinary ghost, on attempting to enter by the way of the chimney, would become hopelessly entangled and easy of capture. Hour after hour the catching party waited, but the ghost failed to oblige, and so at last the party silently wended their way home, much disappointed at not succeeding in capturing “a ghost in a pig net.”
Bristol Mercury, 21st August 1889.
The High Littleton Ghost.
An Eccentric Spectre.
Much Local Excitement.
Students of the night side of nature can not do better at the present moment than pay a visit to the small colliery village of High Littleton. Since the celebrated Bath ghost, who “walked” in 1887, no such spectral excitement has been provided for dwellers “‘twixt high and nether Jove” as High Littleton now affords. There has already appeared in the columns of the Bristol Mercury some account of the doings of the present visitant, and as the question remains an open one whether he is of an earthly or unearthly character, the additional particulars which we are enabled to give will prove interesting.
We regret to say that High Littleton is already split up into two hostile camps. One party, which we may term the materialistic section, is inclined to regard the business as a practical joke. To these the ghost is undoubtedly not a spirit of health, and his intents are wicked, not charitable. The other section is rather awe smitten, and inclined to see in the manifestations some “end purpos’d by the mighty gods.” We give the story, and will leave the reader to determine to which body he will ally himself.
As has already been stated, the premises honoured by this ambassador from Pluto are situated next to the Wesleyan Chapel, and an ingenious attempt has been made to build upon this fact a theory as to the likes and dislikes of the visitor. The circumstance, however, would appear to be only a coincidence, significant chiefly in its illustration of the well-worn saw, “The nearer the church,” &c. We are informed by a reliable authority that the first signs of an unusual and uninvited guest appeared on the first day of the present month. The occupants of the house in question had retired to bed in good time, and were seeking their first slumbers, when they heard a strange noise in an old chest of drawers.
It seemed as though a bottle were rolling from one side to the other. They naturally examined the chest with the aid of a light, but nothing was discovered, and the ghost-seekers once more sought their couches. No sooner were they in bed than the spectral noises again became audible, and the only means of obtaining silence was to keep the light burning. The family resolved to take drastic measures. When the morning came they seized the chest of drawers, broke it up, and burnt it as an uncanny thing. Here we get a fact which goes distinctly to support the materialistic view. No further manifestations occurred for a full fortnight. It seems to stand to reason that a spirited visitor, with facilities for passing through keyholes, and otherwise making himself scarce, would not be seriously inconvenienced by the destruction of a chest of drawers. However, for 15 days he remained quiescent, having possibly taken umbrage at proceedings which certainly resembled the destruction of his house and home.
Then, having made other arrangements, he began again. On Thursday in last week, as soon as the family had retired to rest, strange knockings were heard. This time the family felt alarmed, and they called in a neighbour. This gentleman at once went upstairs, and, adopting the language of Mr Winkle on a celebrated occasion, as perhaps he experienced feelings similar to that hero, he said “Come on! I am ready for you!” The challenge seems to have been accepted on the instant, for a chair sprang towards him, and the fender abandoned its native hearth. We do not gather that the neighbour ventured on any further argument with a ghost of so demonstrative a temper. The furniture was readjusted, but no sooner was the light removed than chair and fender again betrayed their apparent independence of a primary physical law.
By this time this uncanny seance had been noised abroad, and on Friday night another neibhrou, an avowed partisan of the materialistic school, who actually did not believe in the ghost at all, agreed to watch in the haunted chamber. He waited a quarter of an hour, and then came a knock at the fireplace, followed immediately by the familiar manoeuvres of the furniture. A second manifestation occurred when the fender, chair, &c., had been replaced. This time a thorough examination of the premices was made, but it threw no light on the strange occurrences. It was decided to try again, when a third manifestation succeeded to the removal of the light. Nothing more happened that night, and on no occasion has the ghost manifested himself more than three times on one night. In this respect it will be observed that the visitor conforms to the orthodox practice of ghosts of all flags.
By Saturday morning the village was considerably perturbed. Popular feeling was assuming an acute form. A dozen persons formed themselves into a committee of inquiry, and at night some six took up their stations in the apartment. They were regaled with the usual entertainment. It shows the pitch to which the public mind had been wrought, that on this occasion one of the beforementioned six laid his hand upon the chair, prepared to see whether the demon could wrest it from his grasp. The demon could: No sooner was the protecting light removed than the chair jumped away from the restraining hand, while the fender kept it company in this devil’s dance. Three times did the ghostly artist “do his turn,” refusing persistently, as on previous occasions to respond to the pressing encore,
The leisure of Sunday was taken advantage of in the village to discuss a matter which had taken possession of all thoughts, and was therefore the theme of all tongues. Many regarded the manifestations as a “token”; others said they were all bewitched. Conjecture ran rife. Was some spirit troubled, it was asked, because of some crime done in the days of the flesh, and not compounded for on earth? This was certainly a solution of the mystery, but allowing it to be true, why should the troubled spirit bang the furniture? It was decided to confront the “thing” again.
Another meeting took place in the haunted room on Sunday evening. In that fine martyr spirit which shines out every now and then through the darkest pages of our history, five members of the Wesleyan congregation worshipping in the adjoining chapel held a prayer meeting on the bewitched spot and resolved that if the demon showed himself, one of their number should ask him why he was troubling them. Our informant himself joined this party and was an eyewitness of perhaps the strangest scenes which have occurred in the whole of these wird transactions. The usual preparatory knock was heard from the vicinity of the old fire-place, but this time the floor seemed all alive. It creaked violently beneath the feet of the watches, so much so, indeed, that at one moment the party, who were seated on a bedstead, actually thought that the bedstead and they with it were all going down – down – down. Hardly had they been reassured on this point, when the one nearest the chair called out that that illused article was “all in a tremble”. Before their astonished eyes the chair became violently shaken, and then seemed to be flung down with much force upon the floor. The fender, until then a peaceful spectator, now came out into the middle of the room.
There was no sign of any agent; the demon still kept himself aloof; but one of the party, in accordance with the preconcerted plan, now demanded In The Name of the Lord why “he” troubled them. No answer was returned, and a light was produced. It was then seen that the chair had received such violent illtreatment as to furnish incontestible evidence of the reality of the occurrences. Twice more the seance was enacted, the third occasion being remarkable for this, that the chair did not move at all, while the fender was only gently rolled over. A further adjuration to the fiend or conjurer, as the case might be, received no reply, and the party, after watching for a long time, left the premises.
The noises were heard by more than fifty persons stationed outside the house. On Monday, as we have already stated, the house was surrounded by some 300 of the inhabitants, and a net was stretched in front of the fireplace. There was no manifestation on that occasion, nor has there been since. Either the performances are over “for the season,” or the net has proved effectual, fro the demon is apparently exorcised. It is to be hoped that he will appear again, for then he may be caught, and if he escapes the summary vengeance which the villagers are desirous of wreaking upon him, he may be dealt with by the county magistrates. Our modern ghosts are usually amenable to our criminal code, and have been known to undergo hard labour in our gaols.
Bristol Mercury, Friday 23rd August 1889 (p8 of 8).
The High Littleton ghost story is full of surprises as well as mystery, and the last startling feature of the uncanny affair is the suggestion that it is a manifestation of spiritualism, and that a perturbed spirit is being influenced by some “medium” in the neighbourhood. This suggestion comes in a letter to the editor of the Mercury from the editor of the Medium and Daybreak, a journal devoted to “the phenomena, philosophy, and teachings of Spiritualism.” He says:- “I have seen your report of the ‘ghost’ at High Littleton. I enclose our paper containing the report of a similar disturbance at Greenwich, and the method adopted to hold communication. This has been adopted in many instances, and the disturbance has been stopped. When proper steps are taken, it is found that spirits are the cause, and that some “medium” is in the locality, through whose power the spirits are able to manifest.” In the Greenwich case referred to there were “raps” till some one came along and asked some very pertinent questions as to a woman troubling the house about some crime, of course, as usual, committed many years ago. Three raps were given to each question, and these raps being taken, for some reason or other, to be the spirit language for “yes,” the inhabitants left the house; a belief, however, was expressed that the spirit “having been spoken to would not trouble anyone till next year.” The people of High Littleton will doubtless be obliged to the editor of the Medium and Daybreak, but we fear he has thrown very little light on the fender frolicking in Somerset – fancy a rude fender rapping out the thoughts of the crime-haunted beings of the world of shadows!
Bristol Mercury, 28th August 1889.
The High Littleton Ghost.
Ample evidence is forthcoming that the excitement in the little colliery village of High Littleton, consequent upon the occurrences of which a full account appeared in Friday week’s Mercury, is by no means declining. There has been no repetition of the chair and fender business. The house next door to the Wesleyan Chapel has not, since Sunday week, been visited by any evil-disposed spectre or spectres; nor, so far as we can learn, has any other messuage or tenement suffered from elfish maraudings. Public opinion in High Littleton, however, insists upon its ghost. The strike in the local coalfields has been dispossessed of its position as the prevailing subject of gossip. Unless a man has had something to say upon the latest aspect of the demoniacal visitation, High Littleton has been deaf to him. We may well belive that the commonest incidents of life have been invested by timid souls with a supernatural flavour. The most extravagant of hair-raising stories have found, if not downright credence, certainly respectful listeners.
The “haunted house” has been visited over and over again by searchers after the marvellous .The next door neighbour has had his French beans spoiled during the excitement, and the damage, which dates from Friday, Aug. 16th, is attributed in some quarters to the uncanny guest; though what a ghost could want with these innocent culinary delicacies is not that apparent. The latest intelligence is to the effect that, imitating the migratory propensities of demons mentioned in Scripture, the High Littleton demon has seized upon a young man. There can be no doubt that this is commonly belived in the village, silly as it sounds. The facts are these:
A young fellow about twenty years old on Friday evening behaved in a most unaccountable manner. He had been with some friends in the afternoon- “foregatherin” – but any number of witnesses are prepared to testify to his sobriety. There had indeed been a certain amount of ale and cider consumed – three pints of the last among four – but we need not enter into the philosophical questions presented. At any rate, after a period of insensibility, for three mortal hours this young man rolled and tumbled about as though struggling with an invisible enemy, now trying to bury his face in the ground, now tearing everything within his reach, and bidding something or other to “get off his back.” Neighbours who interfered found that a policy of non-intervention paid best. The man knew nothing when he recovered, but he was a mass of sores and bruises. The case is, doubtless, explicable enough, but it fairly transcends the experiences of High Littleton, with the result that the village is once more in a condition of great excitement, the idea of demoniacal possession being, we are informed, generally entertained. Everybody says the young man was perfectly sober, and even the village constabulary have no “thoery” on the subejct.
On Saturday the village was visited by many in the hope of seeing something supernatural, but the powers of darkness were “not i’ the vein.” There have, of course, been half a hundred methods of exorcising the demon suggested, and one of them, which we are told is regarded as being far more likely to prove efficacious than the pig net round the fireplace, will serve as a sample. It requires, to begin with, a firm faith in the fact that the community generally is being bewitched. A female neighbour of the young fellow said to be “possessed” has started a theory that if the folks would chop all around them with knives, the person who was bewitching them would be seen the next day with the marks of cuts about him. With the view of enforcing her precepts, this lady presently seized a hook, and began slashing the summer breezes in all directions. A man, hard by, took to crossing his back with a knife, and another armed with a like primitive weapon, went into the haunted chamber and made determined lunges in the direction of the fireplace, convinced that if the manifestations with the chair and fender took place while he was so engaged, the witch or wizard would be seriously injured. In spite of these honest but unscientific efforts, the mystery is still unexplained. The matter is getting to be a nuisance, as it keeps the village mind in a ferment, and frightens children of all ages.
Bristol Mercury, Saturday 31st August 1889.