The Ghost Scare at Alloa.
The excitement at Alloa regarding the ghost scare continues, and throughout yesterday the Old Cemetery was visited by groups of men and women, who surveyed with curious interest the haunted house nearby. In an interview Mrs Gillies, the tenant of the house, stated that she has more than once heard the sound of moaning and of a man’s voice speaking in an indistinct mumble. She has never seen anything at such times or on any other occasion. Her son had also heard the sounds frequently, which usually come between midnight and two o’clock. The sound of the voices are so queer that no one who hears them in the kitchen has the strength to go into there.
Edinburgh Evening News, 23rd September 1909.
The Alloa “Ghost.”
A local nine-days’ wonder.
Journal Special.
The supposed haunted house.
In its day Alloa has had many claims to fame and notoriety, some of them calculated to make the inhabitants swell their bosoms with pride, and others tending rather to cause them to bow their diminished heads. It is not our purpose to speculate as to whether the latest bid for popular notice is calculated to make the inhabitants smite their chests and sing or else hand round the sackcloth and ashes as far as they will go. Suffice it to say that the desire to be in the forefront has this week brought the town perilously near the confines of the unseen.
To put it bluntly, Alloa has a ghost. Not the turnip-lantern and sheet variety, nor yet of the class which clanks rusted chains and gives forth solemn warnings; it is not even the class which boasted the late lamented “Spring-heeled Jack,” whose agility in scaling walls brought him into even greater prominence than his local confrere of this week. “Spring-heeled Jack” came out in the open like a ghost – and a man- and all he did was open and above-board. Our sneaking friend of this week has subterranean tendencies which although not detracting from his notoriety, raises some doubt as to his bona-fides in the minds of those who pin their fait to the old adage that “seeing is believing.” Notwithstanding this his material value has been estimated this week in figures which many would regard as a fortune. For instance, one gentleman declares that if the ghost could be caught and put into a wire cage he would draw a thousand pounds a night in the Metropolis. Be this as it may, he has been valuable as an excuse for readable “copy” at a time when other visitations of a more ordinary nature leave the jaded scribe in the lurch.
Apparently the visitor from the other world does not desire to encroach further upon the material world than is absolutely necessary. He has left the cemetery, apparently, a feat which has not previously been recorded of any of the other inhabitants of that enclosure; but he has only shifted next door, and to his lasting credit be it said, the half of that door is a window. His (more or less) permanent address is Greenside, and to this quarter all letters, parcels, offers of musichall engagements, etc., must now be addressed; but outside business hours (12 to 3.30 a.m., including Sundays) he may be found occupying the chambers of imagination in the heads of those Alloaonians who have made it their business to learn all they can about him.
The number of people who have been eager and anxious to cultivate his acquaintance has been truly marvellous. Many have expressed the desire to spend the night in the ghost’s private apartment, or at any rate as near to that place as the state of their nerves would permit, and so great has the fascination of this experience been that the fellowship of the “ghost” has become a form of dissipation with certain enthusiastic investigators. As a result the wildest of stories have been given to the world. The following snatch of an “interview” from a contemporary gives a fair sample of the “experiences” of those who say they have been introduced to the mysterious visitant.
“Well, William,” one man was asked, “and what happened?”
“We wis a’ sitting’ quite quate aboot twal o’clock. A heerd a kind o’ rummle, syne the room door opened quite canny-like.”
“Yes. And after that?”
“Michty me! Do ye think I wud wait? Ma bunnet near fell off ma heid, and ma hair stood up. a cam oot dashed quick. A widna gang back for a fiver!”
“What did the others do, William?”
“Ane o’ them lifted a poker an’ run furrit to the door. When he opened it he drapt clean aff in a faint. He declares he saw a full-sized man comin’ richt up through the table. He wis a lowin’ wi’ brimstane or something!”
The ghost also attracted to the place a certain gentleman who is described as being “not inexperienced in investigating the occult,” and whose flowing and mathematically bisected hirsute adornment was the only thing which appeared to keep the memory of his visit alive among the neighbours. He along with a newspaper man (another flimsy messenger of truth) sat in opposite corners of the haunted room hoping that the “voice” might come. How they relieved the tedium of waiting is not revealed, but the spectacle must have been amusing, if not pitiful. Not to be denied, and as if in desperation to get some return for his train fare the “occult expert” ultimately satisfied himself that while he heard nothing unusual he was sensible of a very faint light which resolved itself into the figure of a man.
“The form,” he says, “was very indistinct, yet he had the impression that it was that of a man not very tall.” What must have been the joy of the newspaper man as his spiritualistic companion from out of the depths of the dark chamber rehearsed this experience? We fancy we see the scribe chuckling in that part of his jacket usually associated with the sleeve and encouraging his friend to “speak out” while he filled the yawning pages of a notebook with this tale of supernatural vision. “We did not leave the house until after five o’clock in the morning,” says the scribe. That they came out arm in arm, having said “good-bye” to the ghost, and whistling “so early in the morning,” is not told, and whither they went history deponeth not.
Other investigators who have taken the matter seriously have seized upon certain alleged references by the “ghost” to former happenings in the haunted house, and have forthwith departed to search the ancient records of Alloa for corroboration. It is not to be inferred from this, however, that the whole of Alloa has gone over to the ghost, so to speak. There still remain those who fight manfully against the spreading demoralisation, and who refuse to attach the slightest importance to anything that has been said in support of the theory that the ghost is anything other than the figment of imagination.
One gentleman who has upheld the dignity of the town right manfully for the past sixty years deplores the fact that Alloa has been made the laughing-stock of the country by reason of the present scare, and wonders if nothing can be done to save the reputation of the town even at the eleventh hour. For the consolation of any such we might say that the town can very well afford to join with the rest of the country in the general smile which the affair has occasioned. It is not every town that can boast of a ghost.
We might not inappropriately add in conclusion that what has been invisible to the human eye has been seized upon by the more accurate seeing power of the camera lens with a local photographer at the focusing screen. The manifestation revealed may be seen in his window to-day in the shape of picture postcards.
Alloa Journal, 25th September 1909.
The Haunted House.
Family hear strange noises.
What a spiritualist saw.
Considerable interest and not a little excitment have been caused in a town during the past week by reason of a report that a house in Kirkgate adjoining the Old Cemetery is haunted by ghos and apparitions. As might be expected in such circumstances, rumours of a sensational and alarming nature have been circulated broadcast, and many people possess peculiar and distorted options of what the ghost scare really is. The proximity of the dwelling house to the cemetery suggested a probable reason why apparitions appeared in that house, and in the daily press one read with astonishment of subterranean tunnels under the Church and grounds, which provided suitable avenues for those denizens of the spirit world, whose vagaries extended to the much talked-of apartment nearby. But the age of ghosts is past, and people with common sense at once attribute the theory to an ingenious piece of journalistic jugglery, designed to entertain the readers with spicy copy. The haunted house sensation, however, is not disposed of by the dismissal of the ghost theory, and to understand matters one must come to close quarters.
With the view to getting at the true facts, a representative of the “Advertiser” called at the house and had a talk with Mrs Gillies, a widow, who, with her family, tenants the apartments. She received him courteously, and being of a communicative disposition, laid before him her experiences of the past fortnight or so. “I have never seen any ghosts,” she said “and what the papers said about them is not true. I have never seen anything worse than myself. All that I heard was rappings and low moanings coming from the corner of the room.” Asked when these first appeared, Mrs Gillies indicated that she had first heard them about a fortnight ago, and she then proceeded to say that the sounds usually came between midnight and two or three in the morning.
They appeared to her to be the voices of persons speaking in a foreign language which she did not understand, and as far as she could judge by the parties in question seemed to be “argy-bargeying” about something. All the members of her family had heard the sounds which resembled the subdued moans of a suffering person, but outsiders had heard these noises also, and that showed they had real grounds for complaining about the disturbances.
At this stage Mrs Gillies pointed to a young man, one of the “outsiders” referred to, and said he could prove the truth of her statements. The writer then interviewed this man, who was called Watson, and in the latter’s story was that he had been in Gillies’ kitchen playing dominoes with James, Mrs Gillies’ eldest son, when they heard a tap-tapping, and then a series of noises, which they had no persons engaged in conversation. The words appeared to be those of a foreign language, and they could not make out what was said. Mr Watson said he never got such a fright in all his life. The speaking, he said, came in short spells, with an interval between them. He counted the number of times the sounds came, and had counted up to thirty when James told him there was no use counting any further. The “conversation,” Watson added, went on for some time after that.
An interesting circumstance now falls to be recorded. A Glasgow doctor, who is a reputed spiritualist, saw an account of the Alloa mystery in the newspapers, and he made up his mind to come through, feeling sure that he could unravel the cause of the disturbance and banish it out of the house. He came to the town on Wednesday evening, found his way to the house, and was granted permission to conduct his investigations in the room that evening. Before proceeding to make his more particular enquiries the doctor collected as much data as possible from outside sources, and called upon Mr Gow, the sexton, who willingly supplied the information regarding the graveyard and its history.
At an early hour next morning the doctor fearlessly stepped into the haunted room quite alone, and sat down on a chair near the window and faced the corner from which the sounds were supposed to have come. By command of the doctor, the occupants of the kitchen remained quiet while the investigations were proceeding, and in the stillness a short time after they heard the sonorous voice of the doctor exclaim “Come forth! Come forth!” No other sounds were audible to them, but at the conclusion of his enquiry the doctor returned to the kitchen and explained that he had called up the vision of two men. Both came up from the floor simultaneously and carried lighted torches. They appeared to be seafaring men, being clad in deep-sea outfit. The one, he estimated was about thirty-six years of age, having a moustache and of good appearance, and the other, who had a beard, appeared to be about forty-two. As soon as they came up they commenced to wrestle with each other and after an exciting tussle, the younger man succeeded in throwing his neighbour to the floor, and having done this stood over him laughing heartily. Strange to say, no words were spoken, and the doctor was unable to get into communication with them, and thus was unable to connect his vision with the sounds heard by Mrs Gillies and family.
The doctor, however, assured Mrs Gillies that it was his firm conviction that the spirits wouldn’t trouble her again, and he advised her to use the room as much as possible and not to be afraid, because fear, said he, is “the devil.” He said he did not believe they would be further troubled with the noises but if anything unusual did again appear, they were to write him and he would pay another visit to the house. He hoped, however, the message he would get would be “No noise”.
Feeling there was a missing link in the chain of details he had tried to put together, our representative resolved to go down to the house and endeavour to hear those mysterious rappings and moanings. Going down shortly after eleven o’clock on Thursday evening, he got comfortably seated in the kitchen and joined in a round-the-fireside conversation that was proceeding with calm undisturbed serenity. The topic, of course, was the unsolved mystery, and James Gillies recalled all his experiences of the past fortnight, which were promptly corroborated by his mother, who interested herself deeply in what was going on. Light was shed on the mystery from all points, but the problem was no nearer elucidation.
We sat till after midnight, but no sounds came. Then we went into the room and stood over the place where the apparitions appeared but nothing came up before our eager gaze. The only thing of note about the fateful corner was the fact that there was a “boss” part of the flooring which yielded slightly when trod upon by the foot. Feeling that the doctor perhaps was right in his belief that there would be no more noise, the writer for the possibility of another visitation from the sphere of the spirits.
Next morning he called at the house expecting to hear that the disturbances had completely gone, but to his surprise Mrs Gillies informed him that there had been a recurrence of the noise at five o’clock that morning when the family were in the house by themselves. “That knock ower there (St Mungo’s Steeple)” she said, “had jist chapp’t five, when I heard the awfu’est speakin’ , and I thocht the kitchin wis gaun tae come doon. It reeled roon’d and roon’d and I was fair frichitit. I canna stey in this hoose. I’ll hae tae leave.”
Our representative expressed regret that the troublesome sounds had again been heard, and advised Mrs Gillies to write at once to the Glasgow doctor and give him another chance to unearth the mystery.
Alloa Advertiser, 25th September 1909.
The Kirkgate Ghost.
It is such a long number of years since the town was favoured with a visit by a representative from the supernatural world that the announcement of a ghost being at work in a Kirkgate house has caused quite a sensation in that part of the community. It seems that for some nights past the occupants of a house in close proximity to Greenside Cemetery have heard noises and rappings emanating from one of the rooms, and one young man actually declares that he distinctly observed the author of those uncanny sounds posing on the top of a table, and when approached vanishing into space and nothing ness.
It is not suggested that the unearthly visitant has any connection with the silent land adjoining, although such a theory might not be altogether inconsistent with the recurrence of the nocturnal apparition, but it is claimed that the spectre is a living reality, and is no mere figment of the imagination or a delusion of a distempered mind. It is satisfactory to know, however, that the visits of Mr Ghost have been reported to the police, and no doubt in due course of time the mystery will be solved.
Alloa Advertiser, 25th September 1909.
Ghost Scare in Alloa.
An extraordinary ghost scare is causing consternation in that part of the town of Alloa which is situated near the old cemetery, and crowds gather round the cemetery gate to look for the spectre. The ghost is said to haunt an old house close to the cemetery, the occupant of which declares that nightly she hears noises and rappings coming from the room, the window of which looks into the cemetery. She and others occupying the house will not sleep in that room; in fact, they will not enter it after dark.
One young man, interviewed on the matter, said he distinctly saw the ghost get upon the table, and before he could fell the alarming intruder it disappeared, and he got outside too. The grave-digger is so annoyed by the crowds hanging round the gates till the early hours of the morning that he has been forced to call in the aid of the police. The grave-digger maintains that if there was a ghost about the place he should surely have the first call, and up till now that questionable pleasure has been denied him. The occupants of the house, however, will not be convinced, and continue to hold the idea that there is a ghost about.
Nairnshire Telegraph and General Advertiser for the Northern Counties, 28th September 1909.
The Alloa Ghost Fiasco.
Futile investigation.
An Alloa correspondent writes: – In the beginning of last week the inmates of a house in Greenside Street, Alloa, heard strange noises proceeding from the corner of a room which overlooks the old cemetery. The sounds resembled rappings and subdued voices, and were only perceptible after midnight. The assistance of neighbours was invited to unravel the mysterious happenings, and those who were courageous enough to undertake a prolonged vigil in the haunted room had no difficulty in corroborating and confirming the belief of the inmates of the house that the weird noises were clearly supernatural. One excitable youth who passed a restless hour in the attempt to solve the mystery declared that he had observed an apparition of a human form, and that on his approach the spectre incontinently vanished into space. Quick as wildfire the report that a ghost had been seen in the haunted room spread through the town, and for the next few nights the house and its surroundings were visited by all the curious-minded and superstitious members of the community.
A special commissioner was detailed off by a Glasgow newspaper to visit the ghost chamber, and endeavour to get a glimpse of the supernatural apparition, but although closeted for several hours in the isolated apartment, the pressman confessed he neither heard nor saw anything. From Glasgow also came a doctor of medicine, who, claiming to be a learned exponent of spiritualism, presumed to be able to solve the mystery of the rappings and the physical apparition. He likewise shut himself up in the haunted room for several hours, but beyond the spirits of two sailors, which he was able to summon up from the silent land adjoining, he reported that he saw no supernatural spectre, nor heard sounds or noises of any description. The inmates of the house, however, continue to believe that the room is “possessed,” and hotly resent the suggestion that the cause of all the mysterious noises may be traceable to the nocturnal operations of rats. The laest development in the still unsolved mystery is a post-card reproduction of a weird apparition, which is claimed to be the Alloa ghost, and which is being sold as a memento of the haunted house fiasco.
Bridge of Allan Gazette, 2nd October 1909.