Costly Courage.
The house of Mr. Laybourne, farmer, Brierley, near Barnsley, has been of late troubled by a ghost, and strange to say, it has disported itself chiefly in the forenoons in the kitchen, though mysterious sounds were heard in the rooms above. Antics have been especially played with the washing utensils, which have jumped about in an unusually frisky style, while smaller articles have popped about the place as if directed by a magic wand. Mrs Laybourne, and other members of the family, have left the house, but the farmer and his men still remain.
The occurrence created considerable interest in the district, large numbers of persons visiting the house, to the annoyance of the inmates. Of these, four miners determined to show their lack of fear in the presence of the awe-inspiring ghost, and at ten o’clock on Sunday night two of them, the worse for drink, were discovered in the kitchen regaling themselves to the farmer’s supper. The four men were on Monday brought before the magistrates, and the Chairman asked how they explained the occurrence. In reply one of them said, “We had no intention of damaging anything, or doing anything wrong.” The Chairman: You surely knew it was wrong to break into the house and to eat his food. The Defendent: We were prepared to apologise for it, but we had to come here for it.
Another of the defendents referred to the alleged ghost, and stated that the people said they were frightened to stop at the farm until twelve o’clock and see it. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” he remarked, “and I went to stay until twelve o’clock, but instead of the ghost it was a constable who came.” (Laughter.) Defendants were fined 40s. each and costs.
Bolton Evening News, 23rd December 1902.
The Farmhouse “Ghost”.
Mr Laybourne interviewed. An extraordinary story.
The “haunted” farmhouse at Brierley, near Cudworth, was visited yesterday by a “Yorkshire Evening Post” reporter, who had a conversation with Mr Laybourne, the tenant. Mr Laybourne is well-known in the district, having resided in it practically all his life. He went to Violet Farm, his present place, about nine years ago, and even at that time there were some strange, weird happenings at the farm. It was only, however, quite recently that the “ghost” became so aggressive, the first indications of its presence being made known in the wash-house, where the queerest pranks were played with the drying clothes, the “poss-tub,” and other accessories of the place. For instance, one day he found that an article of clothing had been removed from a chair and hung on a hook fixed in the fire front, the while the door was locked. On another occasion, he declared, the tub was emptied of his contents, also while the place was locked up, his first intimation of the occurrence being when he noticed the water running under the door.
Mr Laybourne believed that these and other “manifestations” were due to some unseen agency, and the reporter gathered in the village that there are many in the district who give the story credence. Among those who have visited the farm with a view to putting the matter to a test was a gamekeeper, who related with detail how he witnessed a chair fall over to the floor four times in succession, also how a canister fell off a shelf without, apparently, being touched.
The “ghost” appears to have signalled out Mrs Laybourne for special attention. “The knives sprang off the table at her one day,” said her husband, and as a result the lady and her two children – one of whom suffers from weak health – left the farm last Thursday, and are now staying with a son, who occupies a farm in the neighbourhood.
Mr Laybourne’s chief grievance against the “ghost” is that it has had so little regard either for his person or his property. It seems to have “played skittles” with every conceivable thing to be found in the house. A striking peculiarity of the “spirit” was that, as Mr Laybourne related, it never threw anything at him until his back was turned. The reporter suggested to him that he should walk backwards. “Ah!” he exclaimed, “that is just what I have to do when it drives me out of the room.”
Acting on the advice of a spiritualist, Mr Laybourne has been careful not to “strike back.” The spiritualist had said to him, “Don’t fight it, whatever you do,” and so, sorely tried as he was, he has persistently refrained from retaliating. True, as he said, he thought of shooting it one day, but, he explained, “I dare not; you know, that kind of thing makes such a commotion.”
Once, a little make-up bed, on which his sick child had been lying, was found to have been removed from its corner on to the fender, the moment his wife’s back was turned. On another occasion some cushions were actually thrown into the fire. Naturally the most ingenious conjectures have been made to account for the alleged “manifestations.” One of these is that the farmhouse is in the line of some electric current, and even wireless telegraphy is blamed for the thing. Others seem to think that a possible coal mine – the district contains many pits – under the farm may have something to do with it. It has been suggested also that the basis, at least, of the entire business may lay in the actions of the invalid child, and they point out in support of their theory that nothing has taken place since the family left the house. Meanwhile the villagers give the place a wide berth.
Bolton Evening News, 24th December 1902.
A Christmas “Ghost”. The farm where the dolly-tubs danced.
There is reputed to be a ghost at Brierley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which, like the ghosts in Christmas numbers, has been in full working order lately. The spectre is said to haunt the premises of a farmer named Laybourne, and its particular playground is the washhouse. Mr Laybourne himself tells a remarkable tale of what has happened in the washhouse. For a long time the dollytubs and other washing appliances have been jumping about and playing most remarkable antics, while clothes are said to have leaped about the place, even up the chimney.
On one occasion this is what happened. The wash tub was found overturned, and, after it had again been put back, the house was left and a watch was kept. Again, says Mr Laybourne, the mysterious force overturned the tub. In the house pieces of furniture and various articles leapt about in the most astonishing fashion, while cushions had gone into the fireplace with marvellous suddenness. Actually small articles had travelled up the stair as though directed by some magic wand, and things were strewn all over the place.
So moving were the eccentricities of this occult force that Mrs Laybourne and other members of the family left the house, but Mr Laybourne and his farm servant stood their ground. The fame of the ghost spread throughout the district, and when the village of Brierley was quite convinced the farm was haunted they visited the premises in large numbers, and incidentally did no small damage, Mr Laybourne applied to the police for protection, and though the officers did not succeed in laying the ghost on Sunday night they caught four miners on the premises, two of them, who had apparently been trying to keep their spirits up by pouring spirits down, being comfortably ensconced in the kitchen and engaged in finishing off Mr Laybourne’s supper. The four men – named Turner, Scott, Thompson, and McQueen – were brought before the West Riding Bench at Barnsley yesterday, charged with being found on the enclosed premises of Mr Laybourne. The latter complained of the damage done, and said that two of the defendants ate a couple of chops and a cutlet.
Turner – We had no intention of damaging anything, or doing anything wrong. The Chairman – You surely knew it was wrong to break into the house and to eat his food. Turner – We were prepared to apologise for it, but we had to come here for it. […]
Dundee Evening Telegraph, 24th December 1902.
The Yorkshire “Ghost”. Some of its pranks.
Notwithstanding that the “ghost” at Brierley, in Yorkshire, was on Sunday effectually laid, as was supposed by the police, and its eccentricities exposed in the Barnsley police-court, the victimised farmer, Mr Leybourne, who is of some repute in the West Riding, appears to so thoroughly believe in an unseen agency at work as did Dr Johnson in the Cock-lane ghost. The villagers generally also believe in the ghost, and a sturdy gamekeeper yesterday declared he had seen the kitchen chair topple over four times successively. A couple of tins fell to the floor, and he was perfectly astonished.
The “ghost” has been particularly cruel to the farmer and his wife at the supposed haunted house. It pitched articles at the farmer pell mell, and put the whole place in confusion, and tempted to shoot it, the farmer feared to do so. Clothes and pillows have been dragged from the bed and piled in a heap, and in recounting these and other pranks of the “ghost” the still terrified villagers are whiling away their time as Christmas draws nigh.
Southern Echo, 24th December 1902.
A seasonal tale.
The Psychical Research Society have an excellent opportunity just now of investigating “spirit phenomena” at a farm house at Brierley, near Barnsley, which has the uncanny reputation of being “haunted.” Besides, the farmer is on the lookout for something or somebody to examine the curious “manifestations” which appear in the house, and he would, doubtless, be only too glad to receive an offer of assistance from the Society, either to catch or to exorcise the ghost. He thinks of turning to spiritualists for aid, but as these would probably be biassed persons they might not approach the investigation with an open mind, and would be apt to be too easily convinced. The Psychical Research Society, however, have knowledge and experience to support them, and their opinion as to the cause of the “occurrences” could be looked upon as authoritative, in so far as any opinion can be so with regard to ghostly visitations.
To judge from the proceedings, which have alarmed not only the inmates of the farm steading, but many residents of the neighbourhood, one is led to think that the ghost is either an insane spirit, or that it has a great love of practical jokes of a particularly senseless kind. Want of sense, however, it is to be feared, characterises many jokes of the so-called practical order, for while there may be fun inthem for the perpetrator, the unfortunate object has frequently reason to think otherwise. What sensible, Christian twentieth-century ghost, for instance, could find amusement in upsetting furniture, throwing articles across the rooms, and hurling knives and forks from the tables at the alarmed inmates of the house, who had just gathered to enjoy a meal.
If it would help the farmer and his good wife in their daily duties, one might think, no matter how inexplicable the affair might be, that the ghost had at least some glimmerings of reason. The spirit, however, has annoyed and frightened the inmates so much that the farmer’s wife and children have left their home, and gone to reside elsewhere, leaving only the farmer himself and a manservant to deal with the ghostly presence.
Various surmises have been made with the view of explaining the phenomena. Electricity, curiously enough, plays a part in the conjectures which have been made. We fancy, however, that were a thorough and searching examination conducted, the supernatural agency would prove to be something very material and earthly indeed.
Yorkshire Evening Post, 24th December 1902.
“Laying the Ghost”
Strange Yorkshire Story.
The village of Brierley, in Yorkshire, has been excited by the story of a haunted farmhouse. The tenant at one time was Mr Jas. Leybourne, a farmer, and it was stated that pieces of furniture and other articles had leaped about in all directions. The police kept watch, and on Sunday night two men who were seen to enter the house were secured. Two others were partaking of Mr Leybourne’s unfinished supper in the kitchen. They also were arrested. All the men were on Monday brought before the magistrates at Barnsley charged with having been on enclosed premises. They said they had no intention of damaging anything or doing wrong. One of the defendants referred to the alleged ghost, and stated, that the people said they were frightened to stop at the farm until twelve o’clock and see it. He added, “I don’t believe in ghosts,” and “I went to stay until twelve o’clcok, but instead of the ghost it was a constable who came” (laughter). Defendants were fined 40s each and costs.
Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle, 26th December 1902.
(as part of a report on the court)
Mr Laybourne’s Statement about the “Ghost”.
In the course of a short personal interview which, after the case had been disposed of by the Bench, a reporter had with Mr Laybourne as to whether there was any truth in the ghost story, that gentleman said, “Oh, yes, it’s there right enough, and it’s frightened everybody away except me and my man.”
Have you seen it? – No.
Well, how do you know it is there? – Well, it will hit you with stools and baskets and anything. Things will fly into the fire. Cushions and things like that. The other day my wife put the clothes in the “dolly tub” as usual to wash. She filled the tub, and left them to soak, locking the door. A short while afterwards I saw soap suds running out under the door, and I opened it.
Well, what had happened? – It had turned the “dolly tub” over on to its side. There was a man there, and I showed it to him. We put the clothes back into the tub, locked the door, and I told him to watch. We did so for nearly an hour, and when we went back the tub was actually upside down, with the clothes in it.
Mr Laybourne said this in a manner which left no doubt that, whatever anybody else might think, he himself was thoroughly convinced that some supernatural agent was at work in the house. Things, he said, had been mysteriously transported from one room to another: a Bible had been seen to actually come from its place in the bedroom downstairs; a three-legged stool had been seen to dance round the kitchen, and various small articles had “flown” upstairs.
[…] Another peculiarity – equally awkward – is the liking which the ghost shows for the fire. Some of Mr Laybourne’s farm buildings were burnt down not long ago, and he thingks that very strange in the light of recent revelations. But what he says he is positive about is that the ‘ghost’ has actually dragged clothes and pillows from the bed and piled them up on the fender. He gave several instances of what he alleged and recently occurrred in that direction. One of his children has been in a weak state of health for about two years past, and it was necessary that the child should have a fire continually burning in the room. Owing to the ‘ghost’s’ conduct, said Mr Laybourne, ‘I had to remain up five days and nights for fear it would set the house on fire.’
A series of alleged visible results of these ghostly manifestations were shown our reporter. At the foot of the stairs was a medley of articles, all of which wer ein a more or less battered condition. Two boxes of starch had been burst open, and the contents lay scattered about the stairs. Among it were potatoes, onions, sticks, books, and many other things, including a bread loaf, which looked as though a colony of rats had just vacated its interior. This loaf, it was explained, had received the special attention of the ‘ghost’. The farmer would place it on the table, fix his eye upon it, and, hey presto, there would be a bang int he passage, the loaf had gone and was found in the passage. That loaf had careered all over the place – but never at night, the farmer was careful to explain. Then, there were marks on the cellar door, which had become visible after thundering knocks were heard.
The farmer is now devoutly hoping that his strange visitant has left him for good.
Barnsley Chronicle, 27th December 1902.
Phantom at a farm.
Uncanny happenings continue to thrill the villagers of Brierley, in Yorkshire. The tenant of the “haunted” farm, Mr Leybourne, appears to believe in a supernatural agency as firmly as an eminent literary man once did in the Cock-lane ghost. The Yorkshire phantom has by no means been laid by the capture of the men found supping uninvited at the farm. On the contrary, it is rousing the furniture to renewed activity. A sturdy gamekeeper stated that he had seen a kitchen chair topple over four times in succession, and then fall on the floor – all with no isible external stimulus.
But the “ghost’s” behaviour towards the farmer and his wife is most deserving of reprobation. It pelted Mr Leybourne with articles, dragged clothes and pillows from the beds and piled them in a heap, and put the whole house in confusion. The farmer is said to have been exasperated into levelling his gun at the visitant, visible on one occasion, but he refrained from firing. Meanwhile, tables and chairs still move about the premises, and from the noises heard daily one might suppose that the lineal descendants of the mysterious disturbers of the Wesley’s house was in possession.
New Ross Standard, 2nd January 1903. (County Wexford, Ireland)
The Brierley “Ghost”. Terrified family regains courage. Awaiting Developments.
Since the prosecution of four Grimethorpe miners for illegally being on the premises of Mr James Laybourne, farmer, of Brierley, last Monday week, nothing more has been heard of the strange proceedings which were reported to have taken place at Mr Laybourne’s house, nor has the “ghost” of which the four unfortunate miners were in search when they came across the stalwart form of he village policeman yet been seen. At the same time, it would be anything but correct to say that interest in the affair has subsided. The villagers of Brierley and the surrounding district are unmistakable sceptics, and, like the Thomas of old, are anxious to see for themselves the actual operations of this mysterious power, which, according to the story told by the unfortuante farmer, has overturned dolly-tubs, set the stool dancing round the kitchen, hurled missiles at occupants of his house, caused a Bible to walk downstairs, and, most wonderful of all, given such life to the domestic rolling-pin as to enable it to twirl on end, and strike the unsuspecting materfamilias a gentle tap on the cranium.
These people, in Mr Laybourne’s opinion, hard of heart and dull of comprehension, prefer to take the proverbial grain of salt with the stories they hear, yet such is human nature, that, when a ‘Telegraph’ reporter visited Laybourne’s premises yesterday, in order to acquaint himself with the latest doings of this supernatural agent, he found several people standing in the road opposite the house, watching everything with a keenness that would have done credit to a full-fledged detective.
The house occupied by Mr Laybourne stands about a hundred yards from the Brierley end of Grimethorpe lane, and is situate about three miles from Cudworth station. It looks like the residence of an average tenant farmer, has its orchard on one side, its kitchen garden on the other, and a plot of several hundred yards of grass land in front. It is quite detached, and, regarded along with the story told of it, makes a very good haunted house scene. Beyond the few fowls straying at random over the premises, our reporter noticed no signs of life on approaching the premises. There did not appear to be a soul about, though in a minute or two the sound of shovelling attracted attention to an outhouse, where Mr Laybourne was engaged filling a few bucketsful of coal.
“When he saw me,” our reporter writes, “he came out, and with a look enquired my business. I told him, whereupon, after half angrily filling another bucketful, he exclaimed, “you’ll only call me a liar if I tell you anything. I shall tell you naught,” adding a few words which suggested a dislike for the scepticism of his neighbours. Then he took his buckets to the house door, did not enter, and going to a spot from which he had a view of the highway, began to look out. In a few seconds he explained that since his wife and family left the house a fortnight ago from Thursday, there had not been any repetition of the strange goings on of which he had complained. “But they’re coming back to-day,” he added, “and we shall see then. It’s only at my wife and the little girl that these things are thrown. They’ve never come at me, so we shall see if thye start again.”
He had absolutely no explanation to give of the strange goings on, though he added that lots of people had been to try and find out. “Four of them Spiritualists came down the other day,” he said, “and asked to be allowed to look round. I didn’t want people bothering about, as I was very busy, but they looked very respectable people, and as they had come a long way – one of them came from Huddersfield – I didn’t like to send them off. So I told them they could go inside if they liked, but I should not go with them. They went in, and when they came out I asked them if they had found out anything. They said they had discovered everything they wanted to find, and all they could find until my wife and daughter were present.”
After that [..] again alluded to the remarkable theory that he […] the lightning conductor, arguing a similarity between that and a telegraph wire. His line of argument seemed to be that because a telegraph wire could carry messages from one place to another in some mysterious way, so could his lightning conductor do other things in a similarly mysterious way. The subject was not pursued to its innermost depths, for Laybourne went off the next moment, and the conversation was not renewed.
It seems that Mrs Laybourne, her son and her daughter have been living all this time at a farmhouse nearer Grimethorpe, and that Laybourne himself has been occupying one of his outhouses with the solitary farm had who was not frightened away by the ministrations of subtle magic, but as Laybourne said, his wife came back yesterday. Our reporter had just got nicely on the road when he saw a cab drive up, and the three fugitives get out. So that after all there are possibilities even yet.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 3rd January 1903.