Witchcraft at Framsden.
The greatest excitement has been caused in the usually quiet village of Framsden by a report that has got about among the labouring classes that a young girl of about 15, living on the road from Otley to Framsden, has been bewitched.
From the many contradictory and exaggerated tales in circulation we have been able to gather a few facts. It seems that the girl went as servant to a farmhouse in the neighbourhood, a room in which is said to be haunted. The girl entered the room on one occasion, and ever since has been subject to periodical fits, probably from fright.
The usual time for these visitations appears to be from ten to midnight. Large numbers of people have nightly congregated at the cottage to witness the spiritualistic manifestations which accompany the fits. These are said to consist of violent twitchings of the bed furniture, and supernatural knockings on the wall in answer to people knocking. If these take place, and they are vouched for by many respectable people who are thoroughly imbued with the belief that they are caused by the agency of the Evil One, there is some trickery at work which ought to be exposed at once. Maskelyne and Cooke would be able to scare half Framsden out of their wits if they are so inclined to superstition.
Evening Star, 15th June 1886.
A Framsden Ghost Story. To the Editor.
Sir – Now that the Bramford ghost story is occupying so much attention, it may interest your readers to hear the result of the investigation of a somewhat similar case which occurred in Framsden about 12 months ago, a short notice of which appeared in your columns at the time. It was reported that a young girl was bewitched, and that spirits had taken possession of the house, and were causing most unusual manifestations. Mysterious rappings were heard, and nightly seances were held; as many as 40 labourers and their wives being sometimes congregated there.
The matter at length got to be such a nuisance, that a party of three gentlemen, of which your humble servant was one, and a lady undertook to unravel the mystery if possible. On arriving at the house, which, by the way, was a double dwelling with mud walls, and thatched, the girl was gone to bed, and we were informed by the parents that nothing unusual had happened that night.
The spirits, however, were very complacent, and when we gave three taps on the wall three low raps were heard in answer. Our lady friend then went upstairs to watch the girl, and held her hands, but even then the knockings could be heard, though not with the same regularity as before. We then requested the parents to shift the girl to another bed, and after stripping the one she had left, and carefully examining it (the bedstead was a small iron one), we found that one leg, owing to the unevenness of the floor, had just a little play, and we were able to produce the mysterious rappings by lying on the bedstead and agitating it slightly.
On pointing this out to the parents they confidently asserted that the noises would also be produced from the other bedstead, and sure enough in a short time they recommenced. The lady and one gentleman then went once more to watch the girl, who was now lying on a heavy wooden bedstead, which stood perfectly firm. Presently the lady thought that the rappings were very close to her, and on suddenly placing her hand on the spot from whence they proceeded, she caught hold of the girl’s hand in the very act of tapping on the wooden side underneath the clothes. She now took both the girl’s hands in her own, and, as might be expected, though we waited patiently another hour, and defied the spirits to proceed, no other sound was heard.
We went home fully satisfied with our night’s work, and when the result of our visit got noised abroad, this nine days’ wonder died out much more quickly than it arose, and many of these who were the loudest in their assertions of the extraordinary phenomena they had witnessed, were now foremost in ridiculing the whole affair. Perhaps if some of your readers were to investigate the Bramford mystery they might arrive at a somewhat similar solution.
I am, &c., COMMON SENSE, No.2.
Evening Star, 4th January 1888.
(also in the East Anglian Daily Times, 4th January 1888).
To the Editor.
Sir, – I have read the letters which have appeared on the subject of ghosts and so-called “spiritual appearances” with mingled feelings of interest, amusement, and disgust.
1st – It has been interesting to observe to what lengths of absurdity and tomfoolery the indiscriminate credulity of some persons will take them.
2nd – It has been amusing to observe the sweet inconsistency, and the fine logic of the arguments used in the endeavour to bolster up the so-called “spiritual manifestations.”
3rd – It has been disgusting to observe what the origin of the ghostal phenomena – i.e., the Framsden ghost – has been.
Is it not remarkable, Sir, that of all the highly privileged observers of ghosts from time immemorial, no one has ever been able to satisfy us as to what it was they really saw? And this brings us to the very pith of the subject. The would-be believers in “Spiritual manifestations” so-called, would have us believe that certain sounds, certain sights, and certain movements are the results of the operations of spirits. But where is the proof, and what is the evidence? We are not inclined for a moment to doubt the manifestations, it is the cause or origin of them that is in dispute.
I think it is Herbert Spencer who has said, “So long as you refrain from rendering your terms into ideas, you may reach any conclusion whatever.” In proof of the truth of this remark, we have only to refer to spiritualism, so-called. Take the term spirit – who knows anything about it? What idea does the term convey? What is a spirit? A is not A unless it contains the attributes of A, and until we know what the attributes of A are, we are not in a position to premise anything regarding it, nor are we in a position to judge of the truth or falsehood of the premise. No doubt we shall be called materialistic, sceptical, and all sorts of bad names -as though abuse were argument ; but, Sir, believers can be more sceptical than anybody when it suits their purpose to be so. Are we like sheep, to jump because others jump to any silly, illogical conclusion?
In Framsden certain rappings on the wall and bedstead were heard, and without taking much trouble to find out the real cause, many simple and credulous persons believed, or professed to believe, that the tappings were produced by a spirit. What did they know about a spirit? and what did they care about evidence or truth? And yet, forsooth, we are, in this nineteenth century, expected to swallow all this nonsense as “spiritual manifestation” so-called.
While these manifestations are confined to girls and children in remote villages, while “Spiritualism” so-called, is so dependent upon circumstances – dark rooms, certain postures, and other conditions – the Spiritualists are more than welcome to their much-vaunted superior position. But I, Sir, for one, hope we shall have no more such manifestations as that which your correspondent “Common Sense” so faithfully exposed in your columns the other day, or we may justly merit the appellation of “Silly Suffolk.”
[…] I am, &c., SCRUTATOR.
East Anglian Daily Times, 12th January 1888.