Three new poltergeist tales.
The three following stories have all, I may say, come to me at first hand in the form in which they were written down by the eye-witnesses who describe the part they themselves played in the manifestations. The stories are none of them of very recent date, and they are to that extent open to the objection that there may have been room for the operation of what Mr Podmore calls “exaggerative memory”. Still, I have myself been responsible for part of the delay in publication, mainly because I hoped for an opportunity of searching for confirmation in contemporary newsprints. Unfortunately, however, the pressure of other work has prevented this, and as I have every reason to trust the perfect good faith of the narrators – whose names and addresses are known to me, and whose character is vouched for by friends, I publish the stories now for fear they should grow still more out of date, and be in the end entirely forgotten […]
III
As well as I can remember I was about nine or ten years of age at the time this story begins, in 1872 or 1873. We lived at St Thomas’s Mount, a military station (for Artillery), a few miles from Madras, with my mother, who brought us down to attend school. The family consisted of my eldest brother Tom, aged about thirteen years, Herbert eleven, and myself nine and a half, Bertie seven and a half, Mercy five, and Dan.
My grandfather – Thomas Cronan, retired – lived some distance from us. The Cronans had at the time two sons, Fred and George, aged about twelve and sixteen. We went across as usual to see our grandparents with our mother, and while we boys were playing together, sailing boats in a rather large-sized tub, a pebble fell in the centre of the tub, making an unusual noise for so small a stone. We began to accuse one another as to who did it – each one in turn, of course, denying – when a larger stone fell into the tub. This rather startled us, and in a short time a few more fell. So we ran away to our parents, who were sitting out in the garden. While we were trying to explain what had happened, another stone fell in our midst. This broke up the gathering and, as it was dusk, we went home.
Nothing happened for a few days, but on our next visit to our grandparents the stones fell again, this time larger and at shorter intervals. Nothing further occurred that night, but the next evening we stayed in, and the stones started falling around us inside the house. Each day they got worse, larger and more frequent, but for some time no damage was done. The officer commanding the station at that time came over and placed a guard round the house, and even put men on the roof – the stones fell around them. When the doors were closed, stones, then a brick, fell, as though coming from the roof, but no one saw the brick fall nor from whence it came, and as it fell it remained in the same place. The more the house was guarded with troops, the worse the trouble became, so the Colonel withdrew his men.
One morning we found everything from the dressing table, lamps, ornaments, etc., laid on the ground, in the same way as they had previously been arranged on the table; this went on for some days. After this stopped, many things used to disappear from the house for a day or two, and then again be replaced. So far, no damage had been done, until one day th eglass stopper flew out of a scent bottle, fell on the ground and broke. Then everything went, one thing after another; for instance, the table would be laid, but as we sat down to our meals, the plates would disappear, and a crash would be heard in the next room where the plates were found in pieces.
At this stage my uncles, Thomas and James Cronan, visited us; when the younger, Thomas, seeing all these things happen, took down a large crucifix from the wall, placed it on a chest of drawers and said: “I defy anything to touch this cross.” But as he was leaving the room he was struck on the back by the same cross, which fell behind him on the ground. This convinced Thomas Cronan that nothing could be done. Both brothers, however, concluded that my eldest brother Tom was not looking well, and decided to take him with them to Madras. On the way a marble paper-weight which was in our house fell into the carriage, which at once settled the matter that Tom was the victim or medium, as from the time he left the house at St Thomas’s Mount, nothing happened there. The third day after he arrived in Madras, on awakening in the morning, all the doors were found removed from their hinges and laid against the wall.
The next day Tom got a severe fit – to be followed by many which invariably came on at midnight.The day previous to these paroxysms Tom would be unusually quiet, keeping absolutely to himself, at night he would retire early; when the fit was coming on he would sigh very heavily in his sleep, then stretch himself and open his eyes. During these periods, one could hardly recognise him as the same boy, every limb appeared to grow larger and his face was distorted and ugly. He would answer any question, and foretell every event that would take place before the next fit came on. The duration of the fit was from one and a half to two hours, and when it was leaving him he would fall asleep for a minute or two, and then make a desperate plunge with the object of destroying himself. Every precaution had to be taken to prevent him from taking his life. He would then fall into a swoon for a few minutes, and, when he came to, would ask what we were all doing around his bed, and why we were not asleep. For the next few days he would be very limp. It was when in this condition that he made known why my father was “spelled” and the name of the man who did it.
After this in Madras the priest, Father Lee, was asked to bless the house, and Tom, I believe, was taken to the church, placed before the altar, and endeavours made to drive away the evil spirit, but with no result. Several things happened when he was in my uncle’s house similar to those that had taken place in ours, but after a month he returned to St. Thomas’s Mount.
In Madras Father Lee, as just mentioned, was called to bless the house. When he was doing so he was pulled by his vestments, and when he put his Rituale down after the blessing, it was immediately taken up to a corner of the roof, the cover sticking to the roof and the pages fluttering as though a great wind was fanning the leaves. Again, when Father Ford blessed the house in St Thomas’s Mount, the same thing happened there; also an egg stood up on the small end, and when he tried to remove it he could not do so, but after he removed his hand from the egg, it just turned over in its normal position. Father Ford, of course, was an eye-witness of all, or the most, of the things which happened in St Thomas’s Mount and which are here described.
In the meantime, we had moved near to our grandfather’s house. For some time after Tom’s return nothing happened till we awoke one morning to find that none of the doors could be opened. On calling for assistance from the passers-by, we were told that large boulders of rock which could not be carried by any man were carefully stacked against the doors; grandfather was sent for and men were engaged to remove these. The police were informed, but nothing could be done. The trouble started again. The chairs, small articles of furniture, crockery, etc., were all broken in the way already explained.
My father, who was an engineer, and was at the time building the Palar Bridge, residing near his work, wrote to my mother, and told her to come up to him. there was then no railway, and we had to travel by bullock carts. We were left in peace for about two months, till one morning, about 4.30 or 5.0 a.m., the time of my father used to rise, the hand-bell was discovered on the roof of the house ringing for all it was worth, while father could not find his boots, which were also suspended from the roof. My dear old mother said: “Oh, Paddy, the trouble has started here. I hope you will now believe when you see and hear for yourself.” This was said because my father would not believe anything we told him. After this there were extraordinary happenings each day. Things got so bad that while the food was being cooked filth was at times thrown in by some unseen hand. Tom also got two more fits which were witnessed by my father and two assistant engineers.
It was at this stage a man of the Lubbay caste came to my father and told him he would remove the spell from my brother, but stipulated for a fabulous remuneration. Tom, in his last fit, had said he would get one more when he would be slapped and would bleed to death. This man declared that he could and would prevent it if my father agreed to his terms. He explained that he would have to make three midnight sacrifices, when he would offer to the spirits who had possession of the boy double the amount of sacrifices offered by the man who had imposed the spell. All was agreed to, and a week later the first orgy was held; it began about 10 p.m.
A large circle was drawn in the centre of the room, around which were placed bottles of liquor corked and sealed as purchased, boiled rice, slaughtered sheep, fowls and game of all kinds, the blood of these poor creatures was mixed with the rice. Tom was seated in the centre before a large fire. The family were permitted to sit about three feet outside of the circle with instructions not to come within or even touch the line once the ceremony began, the penalty being death; neither were any questions to be asked. The man, having first had a bath and being stripped except for a loin cloth, entered the ring, and began by calling on the different spirits by name. Answer was made in tones which were terrifying and blood-curdling. Tom was the whole time in a stupor – not recollecting anything of the affair when it was over. It came to an end just before midnight when all the liquor bottles would be found empty, the gradual disappearance of the liquor as the night advanced being distinctly noticeable. There were also other rites including the piercing of a wax image with a nail.
This ceremony was performed three times, after which Tom was given a gold ring with instructions that he was never to remove that ring from the second finger of the left hand; if he did, he was warned he would get one more fit when the promised slap would be given, but if he survived, there would be no further trouble. After some months we were sent to school, and Tom did very well, till one day we noticed that the ring was missing. We asked him what had become of it and were told he had put it in his chest of drawers – a search was made but the ring was never found. That night he got a fit and a severe slap; he bled profusely through the nonse, but there was no other evil result.
At the first sacrifice the man showed my father a mirror, whereon he saw clearly reflected the face of a man who was once his contractor and who “spelled” my father because he thrashed him for walking into the bedroom without permission. After the contractor had succeeded in getting clear to a safe distance he stopped and said: “I will give you cause to remember this.” Finding the spell did not work he transferred it to his eldest son, who at that time, was living with my father. This is as much as I can remember of the whole unfortunate affair. (signed) E.K.
I must leave these stories to speak for themselves, only remarking that the details given in the third case, extravagant and incredible as they may appear, have points of resemblance with other narratives of poltergeist disturbances alleged to be due to Oriental maleficent magic. See, for example, the case of Mr Thangapragasam Pillay recounted in The Month for September and October, 1929.
Herbert Thurston.
The Month, March 1936.