(worst attack of being paid by the inch that I’ve come across)
Supposed Witchcraft at Homington.
A little girl said to have been bewitched.
The 19th century is one in which an allegation that witchcraft can be practised would be scouted by very many as utterly preposterous, but in spite of that fact it would be a great error to imagine that there does not now exist any belief in that mystic art, if art it should be called. Here in South Wilts and only some four miles or so from Salisbury a vast amount of commotion has been occasioned by mysterious and long continued knockings, resulting it is, or was, firmly believed by some, from the exercise of witchcraft, the victim – or rather the principal victim, for it has been a subject of great trouble to her parents – being a little girl, named Lydia Hewlett, residing at Homington. Hearing something of this affair on Saturday last for the first time, having been informed of it by the Rev. J. Harper, the pastor of the Primitive Methodists in this city, the writer of these lines gladly availed himself of an invitation to visit the cottage where the mysterious sounds were heard. Accordingly at about six o’clock the rev. gentleman referred to, that gentleman’s son and this scribe started on the journey, the conversation turning, as my be supposed, very largely on the marvellous state of affairs which had been narrated.
One suggestion made was that the strange sounds were occasioned by rats, but that idea had, it appeared, entered the mind of one of those residing in the place, with the result that it – the idea, and not the rat, for there does not appear to have been one – was knocked on the head. En route we met a Homingtonian, who was well known to the rev. gentleman forming one of our small party, and, after friendly greeting, reference was naturally made to the strange goings-on in the village whence he had started. It happened, moreover, that the father of this Homingtonian had imagined that he saw something remarkably strange – an apparition – but the son came to the conclusion that his paternal parent labored under an error, what caught his sight not being anything so mystical as a ghost, but a flash occasioned during the erection or hauling down of a marquee not very far off.
By and bye we got as far as the house where the father of this Homingtonian lived, and the door of the cottage having put in an appearance, reference was once again made to the topic which created such a commotion in the neighbourhood. “It’s been on all day,” said she, in tones which certainly did not indicate that she belonged to the unbelievers anent witchcraft, and we heard something about a gipsy having passed by the house in which dwelt the child. Witchcraft somehow or other seems very closely associated with members of the nomadic tribe, and in a story which served as an accompaniment to the journey to Homington, a member of the wandering tribe figured prominently as the author of considerable woe, which was, however, eventually banished by adopting a course of action recommended by “a cunning man.” Was it not clear that in this case the child was bewitched by a gipsy?
On we went, and whilst proceeding up the hill to the cottage now made famous we met the Rev. Canon Kingsbury and another clergyman, and a few words of conversation passed on the all absorbing topic. “It’s quieter now,” said the canon, and we soon became aware that the esteemed gentleman was not one of those who would pooh-pooh any and every statement relative to the possibility of what may be called supernatural visits to this sphere, for he himself had, apparently, put a number of questions to the author of the mysterious sounds, and he received answers.
One of the party being desirous of ascertaining the modus operandi requested the rev. gentleman to explain it, and was informed that it was carried out in a reverential spirit, the questions being preceded by the words “In the name of the Lord.” Canon Kingsbury, it was evident, was not inclined to the belief that there was any shamming about the affair, but the gentleman who accompanied him was not, it appeared, a very firm believer in spiritualism. We continued our course and at length came near the cottage, which forms one of two or three situated on the top of the hill, in a very isolated spot, a considerable distance from the main part of the village.
Ere we entered we perceived another specimen of the genus homo making for the same place, and a halt occurred. In most confidential tones we were informed that the cause of the mysterious knockings was known. The girl was betwitched. Our informant, who in his own mind was clearly convinced that the explanation given was “right enough,” suggested that he should lead the way into the cottage. A few seconds afterwards we found ourselves in the building, and the appearance of the room we entered was in itself sufficient to indicate something unusual, being crowded, those present including a constable in uniform. The idea of taking a spirit into custody would be curious, to say the least of it, and no-one would imagine that the officer would be called upon to undertake such a task as that, but there was a question as to whether the gipsy supposed to be the cause of all the trouble might not be apprehended. The little girl saw the gipsy steal some onions belonging to a neighbour some time ago, and it is said that about that time she (the little girl) became ill.
At the beginning of last week a sound as of water dropping through the ceiling was, it is alleged, heard, and subsequently there seemed to be a knocking under the floor and some of the boards were pulled up, but nothing was found to account for the rapping. The noises were heard night after night and it was eventually observed that they were always heard in close proximity to the little girl.
It may be well to here explain the position of the upstair rooms. Immediately at the top of the stairs is a small room, and a few steps to the right along the short landing bring one to another which is separated by a wall from the one already referred to, whilst on the right as one approaches this room there is another. The mysterious noise was, it seems, first heard in the farther of the two rooms separated by the wall spoken of, and it was there that boards were taken up, but subsequently the rapping seemed to take place on the other side of the partition wall when the girl slept there.
A remarkable feature of the strange affair was that folks – or at all events some of them – who wished to hear the rapping were not expected to be in the same room as the girl when the noises were heard, and it is not altogether surprising that there existed an opinion that possibly the sounds were caused by the girl herself, but on inquiry being made on Saturday evening when we were there one or two persons testified that knocking was heard when someone besides the girl was in the room. Her father, moreover, stated that one night he slept with her and he on that occasion heard the knocking. He is, it may be stated, a local preacher, and it appears, too, that religious meetings are repeatedly held in the cottage. He was, moreover, so concerned about it that he came to see Mr Harper on the subject, and that gentleman regards him as a person whose word may thoroughly be relied on.
When we entered the room the girl was down stairs, and an earnest consultation took place -as has already been signified – relative to the desirability of apprehending the supposed witch. That it might be rather awkward to apprehend a woman on a charge of witchcraft was realised by some, at any rate, but there was the question whether she could not be tackled for stealing onions. After being in the room a short time the rev. gentleman alluded to and those who accompanied him from Salisbury had an opportunity of hearing mysterious knocking, but ere ascending the stairs Mr Harper had a book given him containing, in writing, questions put to the author of the rapping and also answers given, the first of these questions commencing with the words “In the name of the Lord.”
The little girl is nine years of age. She has large light eyes and light hair, adn there was something strange aobut her appearance as though under some singular influence. Having entered the room at the top of the stairs she laid down on the bed, one side of which was near the partition wall, but the pillow whereon her head reclined was on that side farthest from the wall. The party from Salisbury entered the room on the other side of the wall and very soon the mysterious knocking began as though someone were hammering at the wall with their fists, within a yard or two of them.
With the folks from Salisbury was a young man who had, apparently, been engaged in the afternoon in putting numerous questions, and close by the wall was a small table on which rested a bottle of ink that had presumably been used for the purpose of writing them and the replies. Some of these questions were repeated. One question asked was whether the gipsy who stole the onions was the cause of the trouble in the house and following this was a request to reply by giving so many knocks. The knocks specified were heard and the answer was therefore regarded as being in the affirmative. According to the knocks given in answer to various questions put the gipsy stole nine onions, she is dark, wears her hair in a plait, is married, has seven children, is 4ft. 8in. in height, and is 28 years of age. One question was whether her name was – well, it is not absolutely necessary to say what, but the name began with a C. The reply was in the negative, but when another name, beginning with a different letter, was mentioned the answer was in the affirmative. This woman was, moreover, said to be at Breamore, and it was declared, by means of knocks, that a party (including three policemen) ought to start at three o’clock on Sunday morning to find her out.
The questions on this point were put something after this fashion “Should — policemen go to help find the gipsy woman? If so answer by three (or whatever the number was) knocks.” Afterwards came a similar question with regard to another constable, and subsequently another. The amount of rapping heard on Saturday must have been considerable and if the children of the wicked gipsy are as large as the seven knocks heard were loud, they may without exaggeration be described as fine. When the question as to the woman’s age was put the reply was given in 28 knocks.
The girl and those in the next room returned downstairs and the question of what was best to be done was discussed with earnestness, the father of the girl being in a sad way about the affair. The constable present, who had himself heard a good deal of rapping and manifestly was deeply impressed, wished to do the best he could, but pointed out that he would like a warrant to be obtained ere proceeding to arrest the woman for stealing onions, for, as he truly said, he was not in close pursuit, and eventually he promised to call the next morning.
The Rev. J. Harper suggested that prayer should be offered in the hope of banishing the trouble wherewith the home was afflicted, and not only he himself but others engaged in earnest supplication, besides which there were snatches of hymns sung, one having these words: Angels and men before Thee fall, And devils fear and fly.
After this it was hoped that the knocking would no more be heard and it was decided to see if it had been banished. The girl accordingly again went upstairs and laid down on the bed, there being, it may be stated, a light in the room, and Mr Harper and one of the others from Salisbury proceeded to the room on the other side of the partition wall, this room being at that time in darkness. Mysterious knocking – a kind of double rapping such as might be made with both hands – was very soon heard, whereupon Mr Harper uttered some words with a hope of banishing it, and it must be confessed that the knocking grew fainter, but other folks came on the scene – though not in the same room as the child – and the rapping was engaged in with renewed vigor. The father felt that the girl was getting too much frightened and she left, after which two or three of those who had heard the knocking entered the room and one of them tried by way of experiment whether answers could be evoked to questions – answers by means of knocks – put in the girl’s absence, but no reply came to any of the queries, and the party retired, those from Salisbury soon afterwards leaving for that city.
On Sunday some folks proceeded to Breamore, but instead of starting at three they left at six, and having reached that village they found that a gipsy party had been there but had left, going in the direction of the New Forest.
On Friday night the girl did not sleep at her home, but at the house of a neighbour and it is alleged that in that house knocking was heard, but it was not very loud. On Saturday evening it was suggested that the girl should be brought to the Infirmary, but on being spoken to she said that if taken there she would cry her eyes out, though previously she had, it seems, expressed a willingness to be brought. On Monday she was, it appears, brought in, but she did not stay, as she did not like the thought of being separated from her mother.
On Tuesday Supt. Stephens, accompanied by Supt. Mathews (chief constable of Salisbury) and a journalist proceeded to Homington, and on that occasion knocking was heard. The girl entered the room already spoken of, but Mr Stephens stood at the foot of the stairs leading thereto in order to watch her whilst she was on the bed, and he did not see her move whilst the knocking was taking place. He is, indeed, satisfied that the girl does not produce the knocks, and, like so many others, cannot escape the feeling that the affair is extremely mysterious. It appears that on touching the wall – which is not papered – a kind of dust adheres to the skin, and after the strange knocking had been heard the girl’s hands were examined with a microscope, but nothing was found to cast any suspicion on her.
It is, moreover, averred that on Saturday night four people stayed with the girl in the room downstairs (including the father and mother) and that when she was wrapped up in a blanket, and on someone’s knee, knocks on the table were heard. If that be correct it is pretty evident that those knocks were not produced by the girl. The girl has since been admitted into the Infirmary and no mysterious rapping has been heard there.
The Salisbury Times, 5th October 1889.
Who will solve the Homington mystery? That a remarkable state of affairs exists or existed in that cottage where the much-talked-of rappings have been heard cannot be denied.
I was in the house on Saturday night, and the conclusion I have come to is that the rappings I heard – only two or three yards off – must either have been produced by the girl herself or must have been something extremely mysterious.
As to the girl, supposed by many to have been bewitched, she is only nine years of age, though she looks more. When I saw her she seemed to have a strange look about her and to be ill and weary, and it is difficult to believe that she would, by a trick, cause the parents such trouble as they have experienced.
I was present when several prayers were offered in th ehouse. During this time I saw that the father was weeping, and I was subsequently informed that the girl herself cried. Supt. Stephens visited the house on Tuesday, and in his opinion the girl did not produce the rappings. Who or what did? That is the question.
The Salisbury Times, 5th October 1889.
The Daily News publishes an extraordinary story of spirit-rapping in Wiltshire, which would have proved an acquisition to the Spiritualist Congress recently held in Paris. The case of supposed witchcraft occurred at Homington, a village four miles from Salisbury, and the person affected was a little girl, aged nine, whose father is a Primitive Methodist local preacher. According to the correspondent’s account, the girl saw a gipsy steal some onions belonging to a neighbour, and subsequently mysterious knockings were heard in the cottage where she dwelt.
The other occupants of the cottage pulled up some boards of the bedroom, but the rappings were not explained, and it was afterwards noticed that the knockings seemed to follow the little girl. The idea got abroad that the girl was bewitched, and a number of questions were put to the supposed spirit. Twenty eight raps signified that the gipsy who was the cause of the trouble was twenty-eight years of age, and several other particulars were elicited. Professors of the occult science have an enviable facility of translating so-called knocks in a very free manner indeed, but in the palmy days of spiritualism it was commonly understood that the spirit should be disembodied before communication could take place. Why raps should come from the stealer of onions, even although the culprit be a gipsy, is difficult to determine.
While one of the county police who heard the mysterious knocks is confident that they came from an ulterior source, a gentlemen who visited the girl is inclined to the belief that she herself is the cause of them. The girl, who was suffering from nervous prostration, has been admitted to the infirmary at Salisbury, and the strange sounds at Homington have now ceased.
That there should be any so-called spiritual manifestations in the shape of raps even after an occurrence such as the theft of a common garden vegetable is inexplicable. If, however, the girl herself was not the medium of the knocks, it is plainly evident that the stolen vegetables have not agreed with the Wiltshire gipsy’s digestion.
Northern Whig, 9th October 1889.
Alleged Witchcraft at Homington.
Extraordinary “Manifestations”.
Some excitement has been created in the neighbourhood of Salisbury by a case of supposed witchcraft at Homington, a village about four miles from the city. The person said to have been bewitched is a little girl named Lydia Hewlett, aged nine, and her father is a Primitive Methodist local preacher. Some time sicne the girl saw a gipsy steal some onions belonging to a neighbour, and subsequently mysterious knockings were heard in the cottage where she dwelt. Some boards of the bedroom where they seemed to be were pulled up, but the rappings were not explained, and by-and-bye it was noticed that the noises seemed to follow, as it were, the little girl.
These knockings were, it seems generally heard near the girl, and when no one but the latter was in the room, but it has been alleged that when someone else has been with her the rapping has been heard. Someone conceived the idea that the child was bewitched, and a number of questions were put to the supposed spirit. According to the replies (given by means of knocks) the gipsy was the cause of all the trouble. She (the gipsy) had dark hair, was 4ft. 8in. in height, was married, had seven children, and was 28 years of age (the number of years being indicated by 28 raps). The questions were preceded by the words “In the name of the Lord.”
Canon Kingsbury heard the knocks, and believed that the girl herself did not cause them, but another clergyman with him was more sceptical. The Rev. J. Harper, a Primitive Methodist minister, also heard the knocking, and did not believe there was any shamming on the part of the girl. A doctor who visited her believed that she herself did it. Superintendent Stephens, of the county police, went to the cottage with the determination of finding out if there was any deception, and he stood at the foot of the stairs and watched the girl whilst listening to the knocking, but saw nothing suspicious, and believes that she herself did not do it.
One night, when two men were staying in the same room as the girl, mysterious knocking was heard. The girl, who looked ill and weary, has been admitted to the Infirmary at Salisbury, and the strange sounds at Homington have now ceased, whilst she herself is very much better than at the time of her admission.
Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 10th October 1889.
Spirit Rapping in Wiltshire.
From a Special Correspondent.
About three miles from the sleep old cathedral city of Salibury, across autumn tinted fields, and broad gorse covered downs, is the little Wiltshire village of Hornington. It is an old world place, surrounded by farms and downs. It never raises itself beyond the routine of village life, and rarely finds anything to disturb the even tenour of its way. But to-day its listless pulse beats with unwonted excitement. It is the centre of attraction to all the countryside. From far and near people flock to the spot, and through the livelong day crowd a little cottage which nestles in a large well kept garden at the feet of the down. Old men and women stand in groups in the village street, and with anxious head shakings whisper that something dire is about to occur; maidens and their love-lorn swains are fearful to venture abroad; the tongue of the village gossip is stayed for the while, and, in short, everything seems to have suddenly become disjointed in the prosaic little community.
The cause of all this upheaval is a young girl – a wan, sickly little mite of nine summers – and the extraordinary beings who are supposed to be at league with her. A few days ago she was one of the liveliest little creatures in the whole village, a regular “Tom-boy,” jovial, happy, and always in mischief. Suddenly she was stricken with a mysterious illness, and to-day she lies on her bed, never moving never smiling, never speaking, apparently at death’s door, and yet still breathing and gazing about with vacant, glassy eyes.
How was it all brought about? In the parlance of the locality, “The girl’s bewitched.” It is altogether a remarkable affair, and reads as a page from some musty record of that eccentric age when witchcraft was supposed to flourish in the land.
Lydia Hewlett is the nine year old daughter of a labouring man. The latter is a quiet, industrious plodding fellow, generally regarded as of a religious frame of mind, and looked upon as exceptionally respectable. About three weeks ago Lydia, while playing in the garden observed a gipsy – or to be correct one of those itinerant vendors of domestic and culinary articles which one so frequently meets in the country – quietly appropriating several onions growing in the garden of a neighbour’s house. The gipsy, so the story runs, made no observatino, but quickly disappeared. The neighbour was informed of the theft, and the matter was forgotten.
But a few days later Hewlett and his family was sitting at supper when their attention was attracted by a strange noise in the bedroom occupied by Lydia. It sounded like the steady driping of water through the roof on to the floor, but as the night was bright and clear and there was no rain, such could not be the case. One after another the members of the family searched the room. Nothing could be found, but still the steady drip, drip, drip, drip, went on. For an hour it continued, and then its sound changed into one similar to that caused by tapping an empty beer barrel.
Meanwhile Lydia who was asleep when the noise was first heard, was awakened, and immediately the raps became more distinct and apparently nearer the girl. Again a search was organised, and again, with blanched faces, the searchers were bound to confess there was nothing in the room that could account for the mysterious movement. Throughout the night the bewildered family – more bewildered, one may presume, than the spirit-stricken Wesley family – sat in the lower rooms, the steady rapping going on with restless energy the while.
When morning came Lydia was seriously ill, and Dr Kelland, of Salisbury, was summoned. The child having been examined, was put to bed, the mysterious knockings never ceasing even though the medical man was present. He organised a careful search, watched the movements of the girl, and carefully examined every limb, but he too was baffled.
At length the neighbours settled the matter. The knocks must come from the “spirits.” The girl must have been bewitched by the gipsy whose thieving propensities she discovered. But how could the matter be tested? What should be done to approach the mysterious author of the raps? A village council was called. Several of the locals met together firmly convinced in the presence of the spirits, and with all the superstition which is so marked a characteristic in the Wiltshire folk, decided that the mysterious being could only be approached through and by the frequent use of the name of the Almighty.
Then they met in solemn conclave in the bewitched house and for a space of more than an hour, carried on a remarkable conversation with the unknown. So frequently has this been indulged in since, that it is quite stereotyped now. But I was permitted to be at one of the mysterious seances – forgive the description, for I can think of no other to adequately convey an idea of the episode – and the event I think will be impressed on my mind for all time.
The room in which the girl lies is very small, but clean and comfortable. The roof slopes to the eaves, and the head of the bed lies immediately beneath the lower portion. Lydia Hewlett must have once been a sweetly pretty child, but her eyes shine with unnatural lustre, and her long brown hair drops carelessly over the pillow, her thin white hands clutched convulsively at the coverlet, and there is an almost indescribable gleam of terror in her face. A party of six, of whom I was one, arranged themselves around the bed a few evenings ago for the purpose of interrogating the mysterious visitant. The questions were asked by a young fellow named Moody, whose voice trembled with fear, but who, nevertheless, quietly put question after question. They were very ridiculous, the majority of them, but they forcibly illustrate the remarkable simiplicity of the village folk.
“In the name of the Lord,” Moody exclaimed slowly, “please tell us is it because the little girl saw the woman steal the onions that these knocks are given. If so, please tell us in three knocks?” There was a pause, and then very distinctly came three knocks. “In the name of the Lord,” Moody egan again, “please tell us how many onions this woman took.” Nine raps. “Is the woman a bad woman? If so knock four times.” Four raps. “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, please tell us must we find this woman? If so, knock four times.” Four raps. “in the name of the Lord please tell us how many miles she is away?” Six raps. “Please tell us is the woman in Salisbury? if so, knock once.” There is no answer, and thus it was presumed the woman is not in the neighbouring city. “Please tell us is she at Breamore? If so, knock five times.” Five very distinct knocks follow.
Thus the examination was carried on. By this process it was elicited a few days ago that the woman who had caused this remarkable phenomenon was married, and was the mother of seven children. It was commanded that the Coombe, Charlton, and Breamore policemen, accompanied by Moody, Jim Hewlett (the girl’s brother), George Former, a neighbour, and Sidney Moore, also a neighbour, should set out at three on the succeeding Sabbath morning, proceed by way of Charlton, and walk to Breamore, where the woman would be found. It was long past three when this party left Hornington, and strange to say, when they arrived at the gipsy encampment in the New Forest they learnt that a gipsy answering the description they had gathered at Hornington had left the camp some hours before and gone into the Forest. She, too, was married and had seven children, who were then in the camp.
The non-success of the journey is attributed to the fact that the party did not start at the hour indicated, and it is said that when they had left Lydia Hewlett exclaimed that she was sure they would not catch the woman that day. Thus at present the case stands. The local police superintendent, Mr Stephens, who is regarded as an exceptionally shrewd officer, Supt. Matthews, of the Salisbury borough police, Canon Kingsbury, the rector of the parish, the Rev J. Harper, superintendent of the Salisbury Primitive Methodist Circuit, have all examined the girl’s hands with a microscope with the object of detecting whitewash, which would come from the wall if knocked.
But everybody is at fault. The interrogatories are put day after day, and answered while most careful examinations of the house are being made. The mystery seems inexplicable, and while, of course, few visitors give credence to the spirit theory, the villagers are literally panic stricken, and have held numberless prayer meetings, praying for the removal of the strange spell.
Bristol Mercury, 12th October 1889.
Superstition in Wiltshire.
A girl named Hewlett, the daughter of a labourer, of Homington, was last week admitted in the Salisbury Infirmary suffering from a form of catalepsy. She was brought to the Infirmary in consequence of allegations that she had been “bewitched” by a gipsy, who was stated to have stolen some onions from the garden belonging to the girl’s parents. The case gave rise to great excitement in the village of Homington, where for more than a week strange noises were heard, described as “spirit-rapping,” in the bedroom occupied by the girl, who was in a semi-conscious state during the whole period.
Canon Kingsbury, Colonel Pepper, and many other visitors went to the cottage, and heard the “manifestations,” but were unable to clear up the mystery. Supt. Stephens and Supt. Matthews on Tuesday used their detective powers in the same direction without success, the former officer coming away fully impressed with the reality of the knocks which he distinctly heard on the walls of the room while the child was lying quite still in bed. On the following day the girl was removed to the Salisbury Infirmary, where she is rapidly regaining her usual state of health.
The mystery surrounding the case is still unsolved, but it seems clear that the removal of the child from her home has taken away the cause of terror which appears to have been the origin of her illness. What that cause actually was it is impossible to say, though if the girl’s story is to be believed there can be no doubt that she was frightened by a gipsy woman, who, it is alleged, told her that if she informed any one of the theft of some onions she would suffer for it. There is no actual corroborative evidence that the gipsy woman said anything of the kind, but that is the child’s statement. That she had been ailing for some time before there can be no doubt, as Mr Kelland, of Salisbury, had attended her. He was also called in on the girl becoming worse. Mr Kelland describes the symptoms as those of an ordinary attack of catalepsy, which is not altogether uncommon in girls and young women, who, under the effect of nervous excitement seem to exert an unconscious force which produces noises, such as the rapping which he himself heard whilst he was medically treating the patient. He was not positive that the girl by any physical action made the occasional sounds which occurred on the walls of the bedroom, and he advanced two other theories to account for the phenomena – either that the cruel hoax was being practised by some unknown person, or that rats were in the cottage. for the purpose of ascertaining whether there were any rats in the place the flooring was taken up, but without result. The idea of confederacy is entirely unsupported.
The most remarkable part of the whole affair is that the parents of the child and many of the neighbours and others fully believed that the girl was bewitched. Both her father and mother are nonconromists of a pronounced type, and acting on the belief that their child was “possessed of a devil,” they had recourse to prayer and scriptural devotion to get rid of the “evil spirit” if possible. In these efforts they were unsuccessful, and the strange rappings continued at intervals until the child was removed to the Infirmary. Since that time no unusual sounds have been heard. Curious stories, founded on fact, are told of the means devised to exorcise the “devil,” which it was believed had taken possession of the girl.
The Primitive Methodist minister (the Rev. J. Harper) was called in, and in the presence of several other persons a categorical inquiry was made of the supposed spirit as to the nature of the child’s illness. It is significant, however, that during these interrogatories the parties were not in the same room as that occupied by the girl, but in one adjoining, against the dividing wall of which the rappings were heard.
The questions and answers were written down by a young man named Ernest Moody, and a list of these was afterwards given to Supt. Stephens, who has the curious document in his possession. All the questions were put “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The unseen one was asked if it was a gipsy woman that was causing this trouble. One knock was requested for an affirmative reply, and this intimation accordingly came. Three raps were demanded in reply to the question as to whether the child’s illness was due to her having seen the woman steal some onions. A distinct knock, thrice repeated, came in response. Nine raps came in reply to the question how many onions the gipsy woman took away. Attempts were then made to find out through the same uncanny agency where the woman was to be found. First having been told by four knocks that the gipsy was “a bad woman,” the interlocutors proceeded to ascertain how many miles she was from Homington. Six knocks, indicating as many miles, was the answer. Salisbury, put as a query, elicited no reply; but on Breamore being mentioned, five loud raps, in confirmation of the suggestion, were given.
A great number of other suggestions were put to the “spirit,” which by means of a certain number of raps were answered, leading to a record which conveyed a very extraordinary conclusion to the investigators. They were supposed to have been told that the gipsy woman’s name was Smith, that she was a “witch,” and had “power from the devil.” They were also instructed to send the policemen of Coombe, Charlton, and Breamore in search of the gipsy woman. Others were mentioned, including a brother of the girl, who were to take part in the exploration of the neighbourhood. The conditions of their journey were that they should start at three o’clock on Sunday morning, and go to Breamore by way of Charlton. These, however, were not strictly observed, as the expedition was entered upon at a later hour, adn the route prescribed was not adhered to. Consequently the non-success which followed was attributed to that lack of exactitude on the part of the searchers. They went through Woodgreen, and near Godshill found an encampment of gipsies, numbering nearly a hundred, who informed the police that a woman named Smith, resembling the description given, and having, singularly enough seven children, the number of Smith’s family, as the “spirit” also dividned, had left the camp a few hours before and disappeared into the New Forest. The hunt was not continued.
During the child’s illness, and the continuance of the strange noises in the house the parents could obtain scarcely any rest. On Saturday night two of the neighbours offered to nurse the child downstairs. While they were quietly dozing in their chairs – the child being wrapped in blankets and reposing on the knees of one of the men – a loud knocking was heard upon the table in the middle of the room, several feet from where they were sitting. The rappings became so violent that the two men feared every moment the lamp upon the table would be upset. The father of the child determined, if possible, to find out whether it was through the girl’s action that the sounds were produced. He therefore occupied the same bed as she did, with the result that while the girl by his side was perfectly still, loud knockings came against the wall at the head of the bed. He became annoyed, and “answered back” as he described it, by knocking the wall with his fist. The more he struck the wall the louder the strokes, apparently from outside, became, until at last it sounded as if someone was thrashing the wall violently with the full length of a heavy stick.
It having been surmised that the parents might have some object in keeping up the delusion for purposes of gain, inquiries were made as to whether they had been given any money by visitors. The reply was that they had not received a farthing from anyone. It was also pointed out that the father and mother could, humanly speaking, have nothing to do with conniving at a misrepresentation which involved the dangerous illness of their child. That the girl was under some occult influence was evident from the fact that as soon as she was removed to the Infirmary she recovered from the effects of the terror, whether imaginary or otherwise, which was gradually undermining her health and rendering her an object of distress and so much curiosity. The girl is quite an ordinary looking child, though her fright and illness gave her a pale and emaciated look before she was taken to the Infirmary. She now eats well and sleeps well, and in every respect has quite recovered from her cataleptic condition.
Warminster and Westbury Journal, and Wilts County Advertiser. 12th October 1889.
Wiltshire.
The “rappings” at Homington.
The girl named Howlett, of Homington, who is still an inmate of the Salisbury Infirmary, has recovered from her illness and is to be sent to the Herbert Convalescent Home. The alleged “spirit rappings” which were the cause of the child’s removal from her home, have not been heard since, either at the cottage occupied by the parents at Homington or at the Infirmary.
Southern Times and Dorset County Herald, 19th October 1889.
also
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ImX_21SScc8C&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=homington+poltergeist&source=bl&ots=6HJ1qHQ0Oh&sig=ACfU3U3iYA50G-nbpAGz6a_xRfjB-t5kMw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4paWrirXsAhXLVBUIHTUoAMcQ6AEwCnoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=homington%20poltergeist&f=false
… Poor Lydia Hewlett, living in a lonely cottage near those great black yews, is bad health, and exhausted by a long daily tramp to Coombe school was just the person to make a good “medium,” or a good anything else which required weak nerves as the essential element of success. Several persons have written to me to this effect, “When you say that the child is hysterical, or has had cataleptic attacks you do not explain the phenomena.” I say that that is a sufficient explanation. All medical men, and a great many who are not medical men, have seen what strange things hysterical children will do. I do not call them imposters, but one peculiarity is common to all, they will not play to empty benches. Interest and sympathy must be expressed, cold scepticism stops the performance. In the present case this has been clearly shown. I refrain from saying anything more about it lest I should hurt the feelings of certain persons whose conduct in this matter has not been marked by a great amount of common sense.
– I am, yours, &c., James Kelland. Salisbury, Oct 16th, 1889.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 19th October 1889.
Extracts from Comic Papers.
Lydia Hewlett, of Homington, Wiltshire, has been bewitched, and is accompanied all over the place by mysterious knockings, which are vouched for as authentic by canons, ministers, and police inspectors. The only conclusion we can arrive at is that they have all been knocked silly.
Lancashire Evening Post, 22nd October 1889.
To the Editor of the Salisbury and Winchester Journal.
Sir, – Allow me to correct some misconceptions on the part of Dr. Kelland. The Society for Psychical Research is in no sense a society of spiritualists. This is sufficiently shown by the well-known scientists in this and other countries who belong to it. I need not name them, as your readers can easily obtain the society’s prospectus, and judge for themselves. The title of the society was selected by its founders as most descriptive of its object, which is simply the investigation on scientific lines of that part of mind which lies outside consciousness. So far from asking the public to believe in the spiritualistic theory in particular, we always endeavour in the first instance to explain any abnormal mental phenomenon by the action of the minds of living persons on the supposition that the sphere of their action may be more extensive than has hitherto been thought. Similarly, the sub-committee of the London Dialectical Society, which I referred to, were none of them spiritualists, nor did they put that interpretation upon the results they obtained.
The recent congress of Physiological Psychology in Paris was chiefly one of medical men, and had no connection with the recent spiritualist congress held there. The remark which Dr Kelland quotes as having been made by the Chairman of the former was really made by the Chairman of the latter body, M. Sermius, according to the Standard of Sept. 15th: “He looked upon mediums generally as persons in poor health.” It is certainly not always the case, for many abnormal effects such as automatic writing, thought-transference, vision in crystals, and other externalisations of the person’s unconscious mind occur with those who are apparently in normal health.
It is quite true that the “communications” so obtained show usually as much or as little sense as the person’s ordinary conversation, but they may none the less be objects of study.
If those who witnessed the knocks and movements of furniture at Homington are correct in saying that it was beyond the muscular ability of the child to produce them, the fact of her presenting some of the symptoms of catalepsy would appear to be an associated fact rather than an explanation.
It is inaccurate to say that such phenomena do not occur except in the presence of other persons (see, e.g., the case described by Professor Barrett, p. 31), although like ordinary mental externalisations they naturally occur most markedly in the presence of those who are sympathetic. Scepticism, which is not actually hostile, is no deterrent; but the silent exercise of a strongly adverse will can sometimes “exorcise” the “spirit.”
Since the various explanations which have been put forward of this occurrence have been the outcome of the explainer’s general knowledge and experience, my object in writing was to suggest to your readers that their common sense would be more likely to lead them to a just judgment in the matter if it included a knowleedge of what has been done by others during the past decade.
Yours faithfully, A member of the Society for Psychical Research. Oct. 24th, 1889.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 26th October 1889.
The little Homington girl whom some supposed to have been bewitched by a gipsy has stated to her friends who have visited her at the Infirmary that knocking has there been heard, but on the other hand Mr Luckham, the house surgeon, has asserted that no rapping has been heard there. There may, possibly, have been knocking without his hearing it, but it is quite conceivable that the supposed rapping was “a false creation proceeding from the heat oppressed brain.” That there really was knocking at Homington, however, I and a good many others are perfectly sure, and what I should like to get at is how that knocking is caused.
The Salisbury Times, 26th October 1889.
The “Rappings” at Homington.
To the Editor of the Salisbury and Winchester Journal.
Sir, – I do not wish to enter into the reality of the “Spirit rappings” at Hominton, but should wish the public to know that the reports that rappings have been heard at the Infirmary are entirely false, no “manifestations” of any sort having taken place.- Yours truly, L.S. Luckham. Salisbury Infirmary, November 1st, 1889.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 2nd November 1889.
The other day I paid a visit to the house at Homington where resides the little girl Lydia Hewlett, who has become famous on account of rappings which have occasioned so much interest, and I found that the child’s parents as well as an elderly lady who is, I believe, her grandmother, were highly indignant at doubts which have been cast on the statements as to the knocking, of which there has been a repetition since her return from the Salisbury Infirmary.
When I was there some five weeks previously with the Rev. J. Harper and his son, I heard a great deal of it, but on this occasion none.
The knocking was, it appears, generally heard when the little girl was in a place by herself, and she was not so situated during my stay, nor did I ask for her to be. She is said to be much better, and on Saturday spent some time in a neighbour’s house, but whilst I was in the dwelling she repeatedly seemed to go into a semi-fainting condition, as though suffering from hysteria, and I was informed that in the morning she fell downstairs and injured her back. I wonder whether the mystery of the rapping will ever be satisfactorily solved.
The Salisbury Times, 9th November 1889.
Jottings
Some months ago a great deal was said about a little girl at Homington who was supposed to be bewitched. I paid one or two visits to the cottage and saw her, and the first time I heard a great deal of the strange rapping. One day this week I met a gentleman who was greatly interested in the case and I happened to allude to the subject. To my astonishment I found that quite recently there had been a repetition of the mysterious sounds, but was also informed that the parents did not care to say much about it. I thought, however, you would like to know, therefore I have mentioned it.
The Salisbury Times, 24th May 1890.
Witchcraft.
It is, says a correspondent, now just a year since the village of Homington, near Salisbury, attracted to itself an extraordinary amount of attention in consequence o certain “rappings” which occurred at a lonely cottage on the hill above the village. Of the people who a year ago made excursions to the spot, and wrote letters to the papers, some have probably forgotten all about “the phenomena,” while the rest have accepted the theory that the whole thing was the work of an hysterical child. Far different, however, is it with the villagers in the neighbourhood. You may argue with them as much as you like, or ridicule the affair to your heart’s content, but you will not shake their belief in the supernatural origin of the knockings. Of course country people know nothing about “spiritualism” and have probably never heard of table-turning, and dark seances. Witchcraft, in some form or another, is what they understand, and strange as it may at first seem, the most religiously disposed people are the firmest believers in witchcraft. There can be no doubt that in the 16th and 17th centuries all respectable people believed more or less in witchcraft. The evidence adduced against the unfortunate witches were generally of a kind which we should now consider no evidence at all; it always ran very much on the same lines, and the points to be looked for were probably handed down from generation to generation, and as the Homington case shows, are still discussed in quiet country places. […]
The Salisbury Times, 20th September 1890.
I remember that when I was about twelve the “Western Gazette” and the “Western Chronicle” devoted columns for a good many weeks to what was known as the “Coombe Mystery.” The supernatural phenomena were in that case also associated with a young girl. All sorts of unnatural things occurred. The family belonged to the Methodist Society in the village and the minister – a man widely known for both saintliness and sanity, and who died only a few years ago in a coast town quite near to Yarmouth, carried on a sort of conversation with the “spirit.” The replies to his questions were given by knocks of agreed number and strength. Hundreds of people from as far south as Bournemouth visited the village to get first-hand knowledge of things that were the talk of three counties.
In January, 1915, I visited the village to speak at a meeting, and took the opportunity to ask the people who were entertaining me during my short stay, if they remembered the matter, and whether the newspaper reports were true. The husband and wife looked at each other and then explained that the sick girl was actually the sister of my hostess. They assured me that the newspapers had not even exaggerated, and the facts were far more startling and mysterious than any reports than had been allowed to be published.
Yarmouth Independent, 29th December 1917.