Aberdare.
The Abernant Ghost.
Abernant has been in a terrible commotion for the last eight or ten days through the antics of an extraordinary ghost. As far as we have been informed it would seem that some time ago a workman living at Abernant had the misfortune to lose his second wife. This dear partner of his existence on her death bed became apprehensive that her children would be ill-used after her decease; so by way of a caution she declared to her spouse that she would haunt him if the children were not properly looked after.
In due course dissolution took place, and the mortal remains were put under the turf, and the peace of teh family was not disturbed for some time; but the injunction of the dying woman appears to have been forgotten, and one day not long ago the husband received a reminder that if he had forgotten the vow somebody or some one else had not. All at once folks in the house were knocked on the head by unseen hands, and the very furniture seemed to tremble for the safety of its owners – glasses, cups, jugs, moved about, and nobody knew how – stones flew into the house from quarters where no human being was visible, and almost invariably some of the inmates received unlucky blows.
The unfortunate widower scarcely knew what to do; but an ex-parish constable hearing of the affair screwed his courage to the sticking point, and went to the house. He solemnly informed the ghost that the majesty of the law was then and there present, and cried – “now yield thee ghost;” but the ghost had no sooner received the communication than it turned on its heel, and in a moment the constable was half stunned from the effects of a blow from a falling stone. He was immediately convinced that the ghost was not amenable to reason or law.
It is said that a young man went to the house to “see what he could see,” and presently he saw two glasses moving away, but not having the courage to stop them he pounced on the third and only remaining one and saved it.
The distracted man of the house at last conceived that the ghost which troubled him would be more susceptible of the influence of a public officer than decorous to a parson, and so he sent for Inspector Matthews, who visited the house and watched, but whether he saw the ghost or not, we cannot say. At any rate he appears to have cautioned the eldest girl of the deceased woman.
It has been stated that the girl’s hands were tied by some people, but the ghost was as active as ever next day; and it is impossible to say how many people may not have to be knocked on the head before the ghost can be laid.
Merthyr Express, 22nd February 1868.
A Haunted House.
A case of rank superstition which has recently occurred in Aberdare shows the necessity for a further dissemination of the enlightening influences of education. A little way beyond Abernant Station, higher up the hill near the incline, are two cottages, which have been the scene of great excitement for several days.
In one of them lived a man named John Robbendy, whose wife died a short time ago, leaving as a legacy to her husband, so say the gossips, the threat that if he was not circumspect in his conduct, or did not take care of his orphan children, she would haunt him. Whether he neglected her salutary caution or not does not appear; but last week a quantity of property, including a clock, a glass, and some china, were unaccountably broken, and this circumstance gave rise to a belief that the dead woman was the cause of all the mischief. In consequence of this the most extravagant reports were circulated.
Strange and supernatural noises were heard, and the poor man living in the house was frightened out of his wits, and was in a state of great excitement. The police were called upon, and on Friday last Inspector Matthews examined the premises, and for some time kept watch.
In the sleeping room was a quantity of fallen plaster, the falling of which was attributed to supernatural effects. But near the roof was seen a hole through the partition that separated the two houses, and from the appearance of the plaster on the floor, a strong suspicion arose that it had been thrown through there. In the next house lives a young girl, under fifteen years of age, and a daughter of Robbendy, and the astute officer thought that “moved by the spirit” (or perhaps, “spirits”), this girl had been the occasion of the alarm.
Knowing that no mischief occurs without a woman being mixed up with it, the inspector deemed it wise to caution the girl, and remarkable to relate, no further annoyance has been experienced. Whether the disembodied spirit received notice to return to its abiding place for fear of being seen by the unhallowed and prying eyes of a policeman, or whether the girl actuated by mischief was the only “ghost” that appeared we leave our readers to determine.
Merthyr Telegraph, and General Advertiser for the Iron Districts of South Wales, 22nd February 1868.
A Welsh Ghost.
Abernant, near Aberdare, is at present in the enjoyment of a ghost, locally certified as the spirit of the deceased wife of a workman who had threatened her husband before her death that she would haunt him if he ill-treated her children, and who seems to have had reason for keeping her word. The spiritual influence is chiefly manifested by jugs, chairs, and tables jumping about in the house; but the ex-parish constable, who was sent for to lay the ghost, was made the subject of a different manifestation. In reply to a solemn request, he received a blow with a stone, and was laid himself instead of laying the ghost. The police were sent for, and they tied the deceased’s daughter’s hands, thinking she was at the bottom of the affair, but the latest accounts say the ghost continues its manifestations.
Durham Chronicle, 6th March 1868.