A Ghost At Lampeter.
Mysterious noises at solicitor’s house.
Great excitement has been caused at Lampeter during the past week, owing to the alleged appearance in High-street of a ghost. It has taken up its abode (so the story goes) at the house of Mr Howells, solicitor, from which in the early hours of Sunday morning loud metallic clanks were to be heard.
Mr S.D. Jones, of Werndrew Lodge, and others at once proceeded to investigate, and it was found that a bed in one of the rooms was rocking violently, and in doing so came in contact with the wall, causing the sounds which had been heard. Further investigation failed to reveal the cause of the rocking. The bed was in contact with nothing but the floor, and nothing could be found to indicate in any way that the rocking was caused by anything natural.
It is curious that the phenomenon always takes place at about seven in the morning and at the same hour in the evening. Whether this will give the solution to the mystery remains to be seen.
This is not the first occasion on which mysterious occurrences have taken place, and many are inclined to attribute them to the supernatural. Among the holders of the latter theory is Mr. Frank Lloyd, who is a prominent member of the local Psychological Society. Since Sunday several attempts have been made to solve the mystery, but, up to now, nothing has been deduced from the observations made. One thing that has been observed is that when the wall in the vicinity of the bed is tapped gently a clanking noise occurs an equal number of times.
The street opposite the house has been thronged with people at all hours of the day, and the aid of the police has had to be called to remove the crowd of sightseers.
Evening Express, 9th February 1905.
A musical ghost.
Remarkable story from Wales.
Investigation by the clergy.
From our own correspondent.
Carmarthen, Friday night.
The collegiate town of Lampeter, Cardiganshire, is excited over the story of a ghostly visitation. For a fortnight past the house of Mr Howell, County Court Registrar, is said to have been haunted. I went to Lampeter this morning.
As Mr Howell was resting I saw the Rev. W.J. Evans, curate of St. Peter’s, who told me the following story: “On Sunday morning I was returning from early service, and saw a number of persons standing around Mr Howell’s open door. I went to inquire what was the matter, and was told that the house was haunted. At the same time I heard an extraordinary noise proceeding from the house. The servants came out and urged me to go in.
“As I passed upstairs I heard the noise again. In the bedroom I saw Mr Howell and his second son, Jacky, inseparate beds. Mr Howell told me he had been disturbed all night with strange noises. I looked at the camp bedstead on which Jacky lay, and saw the loose end distinctly move toward the wall and back twice. Mr F. Lloyd, solicitor, told me he had been to the house to test the knocking complained of. He had knocked several times, and had been answered by a responsive weird metallic-like knocking. Each time he noticed that the knocking always took place while the boy was in the room.
“At his suggestion, Jacky knocked. There was no response, and the peculiar thing was that nobody could get a reply for a quarter of an hour afterwards. Jacky is eleven years of age, and there is no suggestion of his playing any tricks.”
I visited the house this afternoon, and saw Mr and Mrs Howell. The latter looked ill from the worry and excitement. Crowds of people surround the house daily, and it is sometimes necessary to seek the aid of the police to regulate the traffic. Mr Howell told me how the beds on which his son Jacky had slept were agitated while the boy lay on them, and how night after night the knocking had gone on. To vary the knocking, Mr Howell tapped the wall to the tune of “Say au revoir,” and immediately he had finished the responsive taps came correct in time and measure. His son afterwards tapped the tune of “Bill Bailey” with the same result. Mrs Howell corroborated her husband in these statements, which were told in all seriousness.
Jacky may be removed for a few days, to see whether that will make any difference. The Bishop Suffragan of Swansea, the Rev. J. Lloyd, and Professor Harris of St. David’s College, will visit the house to-morrow to investigate the mystery.
Daily News (London), 11th February 1905
A Visitor’s Investigations. Goblin tells of money in the chimney.
The Lampeter ghost still continues its pranks with unabated energy, although it has not materially altered its method of procedure. The phenomenon has now been witnessed by dozens of persons who have all seen and heard the same thing.
The rappings and the clanks always take place near where Mr Howell’s second son, “Jacky,” sleeps, and although he has several times changed his bed, and even at times slept on a couch, it has had absolutely no effect on the “ghost.”
Since he has slept on a couch there have been no clanks but only taps and scratching in the wall by the bed, but these still answer to any person that taps the wall. Instead of being solved the mystery grows deeper every day, and the ghost theory has now a greater number of supporters than ever.
It has been suggested that the boy is an unconscious medium, but as yet no attempts have been made to test this. The house continues to be regarded with awe by the passers-by.
The Bishop of Swansea, the Rev. John Lloyd, who is also vicar of Lampeter, and Professor Charles Harris, St. David’s College, visited Bank House on Saturday morning, and the same unaccountable rapping took place.
Sergeant-Major Baldwin has paid close attention to the mystery, and favours the idea that the lad in some way is accountable for the noises, and the “No Jacky no bwei.” [*??]
We understand that during a visit of one gentleman a servant of the house was used as a medium, and in response to her rappings the ghost knocked back to the effect that it wished to have converse with the visitor. This request was complied with, and the visitor in turn communicated with the phantom by means of knockings, and in reply the ghost indicated that there was a considerable amount of money secreted up the chimney. This information was conveyed to the householder, but it was declared that it would be impossible to get at the place indicated up the chimney by the ghost without pulling the house to pieces. The visitor had further communication with the ghost, who, however, indicated that it was tired and could not continue its communications.
South Wales Daily News, 13th February 1905.
The Ghost. Interest in the doings of the “Ghost” at Mr H.W. Howell’s house is still unabated, although people are not allowed to enter the house in dozens as was the case last week. Representatives of London and South Wales papers have visited the town and reports have appeared in all London and other newspapers. A member of the Psychical Research Society from London is also on a visit to the town.
Cambrian News, 17th February 1905.
Superstitious.
Do I believe in the Lampeter haunted house and in the supernatural visions of Mr Evan Roberts, and in the divine flashes of light in Merionethshire? Not a bit of it. When a ghost raps out the latest comic song I give it up as a ghost.
There is a great deal of superstition in people and they delight in mystery. I never did believe in ghosts, especially in the ghosts of clothes, and as for ghosts that do rapping and table turning and other third rate conjuring tricks, I pay no attention to them. This advent of ghosts and visions and lights and voices is par tof the revival outbreak and means nerves, or rats, or both.
It is astonishing how readily men and women of intelligence allow themselves to believe that they are in the presence of the supernatural and what vulgar manifestations they are satisfied with. People who hear supernatural noises and see supernatural visions ask if they are not to believe their own eyes and ears? The answer still is, if you see a ghost, take a pill, an dif you see two ghosts, take two pills. If you go on seeing ghosts and hearing noises you will very likely have to go into seclusion awhile.
Whatever God is He is not a third-rate conjuror and will not employ Himself in tapping out comic songs in a Lampeter house or in flashing lights about the lands of Merionethshire. Let the people act sanely and decently and with intelligent regard to the religion in which they believe.
A use for it.
There is a very real use for the Lampeter rapping ghost, namely, to show how very little use education is as a bulwark against absolutely primitive superstition. There could be nothin gmore credulous in a native African village. What awful fools people are. No wonder there are so many swindlers in the country. They know that dupes are plentiful. Do I believe in spirits? Yes, but not methylated. O, dear, it does make me sick.
Strange Lights.
How to see strange lights. Get somebody to give you a bang in the eye.
Cambrian News, 17th February 1905.
Bishop and “Ghost.”
His Lordship Investigates Mysterious Rappings.
Tale of Hidden Gold.
The Bishop of Swansea has been engaged in the exciting pastime of “ghost-laying” in the old-world town of Lampeter, where his residence is situated. The supposed ghost is of the bed-rocking and wall-rapping order, and has been disturbing the household of Mr. Howells, the county court registrar, and, incidentally the whole town, for large crowds have, during the last few days, assembled outside the house, necessitating the presence of a force of police. Many Lampeter people, though curious, are sceptical about the “ghost,” and insist that it is a mere earthly creature, with a weakness for practical joking. That, however, remains to be seen.
Before the Bishop appeared on the scene, an independent investigation had been made by the Rev. W.J. Evans, a Lampeter curate, who relates the following strange story:-
“On Sunday morning last I was returning from early service, and saw a large crowd in front of Mr. Howell’s house. I went to inquire what was the matter, and was told the house was haunted. At the same time I heard an extraordinary noise proceeding from the house. The servants came out, and asked me to go in. As I passed upstairs I heard the noise again.
“In one of the bedrooms I saw Mr. Howells and his son ‘Jacky,’ lying in separate beds. Mr. Howells told me he had been disturbed all night by strange noises. I looked at the bed upon which Jacky was lying, and as I looked I saw the bed distinctly move towards the wall and back twice.
“Mr. F. Lloyd, a solicitor, was present, and he told me he had previously been to the house to investigate the knocking complained of. He had knocked several times, and had been answered by a loud and weird, metallic-like knocking. Each time he noticed that the knocking took place when the boy Jacky was in the room.
“At Mr. Lloyd’s suggestion, Jacky knocked. There was no response, and although I waited a quarter of an hour no reply came. Jacky,” Mr. Evans added, “is eleven years old, and there is no suggestion of his playing tricks.”
A journalist who visited the house on Saturday saw Mr. and Mrs. Howells. The latter looked ill from the worry and excitement. Mr. Howells related how the bed on which Jacky slept became agitated, and how, night after night, mysterious knocking was heard.
Attracted by a tune
To vary the knocking, Mr. Howells said he tapped the wall to the tune of “Say, Au revoir,” and immediately he had finished came responsive taps, correct in time and measure. His son afterwards tapped the tune of “Bill Bailey,” and sure enough, the tune was tapped correctly in return.
On Saturday morning the Bishop of Swansea visited the house, in the company of Professor Harris, of St. David’s College, and half-a-dozen other gentlemen. When the company went upstairs Jacky was lying on a box-sofa near the wall, and a younger brother occupied an ordinary size bed in the middle of the room.
Mrs. Howells received the visitors. The spirit was appealed to very appealingly by knocks and oral questioning, but for a long time there was no response. Eventually someone suggested there was a sceptic in the room, and all went out with the exception of a London artist (now visiting Lampeter), Mrs. Howells and the two boys.
There was again no response, but then the London gentleman suggested that the servant might prove a good medium. Jane was accordingly called up, and while she was in the room the tapping commenced. During the course of the “conversation,” the rapping was interpreted to mean that the spirit was prepared to communicate with the Bishop, and his lordship was called up again.
Several questions were asked, and answered, and from the replies, it was gathered that there was money in the garret chimney, and that it would not require much effort to get at it. A young lady who questioned the ghost said she was informed that it would be necessary to pull down the house before the money could be got at, but it was agreed that the lady might have made a mistake in reading the manifestation.
When others of the party joined the Bishop and those in the room, the rapping ceased, except once, when the spirit, asked if it was tired, answered in the affirmative.
Mr. Howells states that his son Jacky has been placed in four different bedrooms, and in each room the rapping has taken place, and beds have been rocked.
Belper News, 17th February 1905.
Extraordinary Ghost Story.
Strange tales are told of weird signs and doings at Bank House, Lampeter, the residence of Mr H W Howell, the local registrar of the County Court. Bank House is said to be one of the oldest houses in Lampeter. It was, as its name implies, once occupied as a bank, and before that as an inn. Tradition lends an air of romance and uncanniness to the old place, and the people are now professing to call to mind a story of a murder supposed to have been committed within its walls as an outcome of money-greed.
Mr Howells was recently interviewed by a “Western Mail” man, and told him that he used to regard all ghost stories and spirit rapping as childish rubbish. “Now,” he said, “my whole ideas on the subject have been altered, because I have seen and heard it myself. I am glad that there are 30 or 40 outsiders who have been upstairs and had the same experience as myself, so that they can verify what I am going to tell you. My son Jack is eleven years old. My wife has for a long period persisted in repeating that she has heard the tramping of feet and other sounds in the garret, and now the servant girl won’t sleep there for the world. I pooh-poohed the whole thing, but about a fortnight ago I was sitting up late when, about midnight, I heard Jane, the servant, shouting. She was sitting up with Jack, in his bedroom, because he had influenza. I called out ‘What the deuce is the matter with you, Jane?’ and she replied, ‘Oh, master, there is something very funny knocking in this old wall.’
“I went up and I thought I heard a knock like this (rapping the wall with his knuckles). ‘There are rats there very likely,’ I said, ‘and you need not be afraid because this is an old house, and there are rats scampering right throughout.’ Having returned I sat down for about a quarter of an hour, when I heard another knock or two, and then followed the astounding part of it. I rapped to the wall and said ‘Come out, old chap, let’s have a look at you.’ This was said in a sarcastic way, and in derision, and before I came to the last word I heard a terrific noise near the water-closet. It was exactly as if they had got into a rage and resented my remark, and as if they would break the door. The noise was tremendous. I was frightened, of course, but ran straight up, but the noise ceased pretty nearly before I got to the top of the stairs.
“Well, I returned and took up my paper to read, not caring whether I went to bed at all, and between four and five o’clock there was another alarm. I went upstairs again with a rush, and saw Jane coming out of the room crying like a child. I said, ‘Jane, what is the matter?’ and she replied, ‘Oh, master, master, there is something in this old house that I can’t make out. Indeed I cannot stop here.’ I then went with Jane into my wife’s room and told her of the occurrence and we three proceeded to Jack’s room, where Hughie, my eldest boy, joined us, and sure enough, the rapping commenced again. It was exactly as if there were two rappers.
“I was simply flabbergasted. We stayed there for about half-an-hour and the same old thing was going on the whole time. This was during the recent cold snap so I said I would wait no longer, and my wife and I went to bed. The next morning Jane told me that the noise had continued until daylight. My wife decided to take Jack to sleep in the nursery on the following night, but the noise followed him there, and my wife and I had to get up. There was Jane in the middle of the bed with a light, staring with terror in her eyes, and Jack was lying down in a pitiable state and little Dicky on the other side. Just after we got into the nursery I said, ‘Let me see whether it will answer me now,’ and I knocked once, to which there was an instant response. I tried it again and again, up to 20, 30, and 40, and I will take my solemn oath it answered each time without a single mistake. It was not the echo, because it did not start rapping until I had finished.
“I then said, ‘That is counting enough for me. Hang it all, I’ll try it with a song,’ so I rapped ‘Say Au Revoir on the wall!” Mr Howell showed us how he kept time and measure with his knuckles, and then continued, “What do you think? The moment I had finished it went through the whole tune quite correctly. The children were enjoying this as long as I was there with them, and Hughie said ‘I’ll give it ‘Bill Bailey.’ and Jack told me that the answer was all right.”
The ghost is fast becoming a local institution, and the streets round Mr Howell’s house are commonly thronged with anxious crowds. The Bishop of Swansea had a “conversation” (so the papers put it) with the ghost on Saturday. The Bishop went to the house with Professor Harris, of St David’s College, and half a dozen other gentlemen. The spirit was coaxed with raps and questions, but it was coy and made no answer. It was suggested that the presence of a sceptic in the room was the cause of the silence, and the party left, with the exception of Mrs Howells, her two young sons, and a London artist.
But it was not until a servant, who, it was thought, might be a good medium, was brought into the room that the ghost designed to speak – or, rather, rap. It expressed a desire to chat with the Bishop, and when he returned it told him that money was concealed in an attic chimney, and that it could be reached without much trouble. A young lady who questioned the ghost interpreted its message that the house would have to be pulled down before the money could be found, but this is generally believed to be a misunderstanding. When the rest of the original party joined the Bishop and others in the room the spirit lapsed into silence, which it only broke to rap out an emphatic “Yes” when it was asked if it was tired.
A local curate who was passing the house after early service lately heard an extraordinary noise. “In one of the bedrooms,” says the curate, “I saw Mr Howells and his son Jacky lying in separate beds. Mr Howells told me that he had been disturbed all night by the strange noises, and while I was looking at Jacky’s bed I distinctly saw it move towards the wall and back again twice.”
Mr Howells is finding the knocking very monotonous. A solicitor who has heard the knocks says that they always occur when Jacky is in the room. Mr Howells says that Jacky has been put to sleep in four different rooms, and in each the raps have been heard and the bed has rocked. It is stated, however, that Jacky is only eleven, and there is no suggestion of his playing tricks.
Mr R Peel Price, the Carmarthenshire county treasurer, says that two of his aunts lived at Bank House, Lampeter, for about 30 years, and never heard any unusual noises there. He himself had occupied the particular room (now said to be haunted) for three months at a stretch.
The Welshman, 17th February 1905.
Lampeter Ghost. Solicitor’s Remarkable Story.
(By our special correspondent).
The go-ahead little town of Lampeter has been widely known as a centre of learning ever since Bishop Burgess established St David’s College there, and it has now become notorious as the abiding-place of one of the most lively, tantalising spooks that ever failed to rest contented with its lot.
Bank House is said to be one of the oldest houses in Lampeter. It was, as its name implies, once occupied as a bank, and before that as an inn. Mr H W Howell, the present occupant, is a solicitor, registrar of the Lampeter County-court, clerk of the Teify Fishery Board, &c.; is of county stock, and is held in the highest esteem and respect by all his fellow-townsmen, without exception. Mrs Howell, four sons, and the servants complete the household.
I met Mr Howell, and he very kindly agreed to relate his experiences if I joined him after eleven p.m. in his “doggery,” as he calls his smoking room. Accompanied by a solicitor friend, I kept the appointment punctually, and the reader shall have Mr Howell’s narrative in almost his own words. Mr Howell remarked, as a prelude, that he used to be an absolute sceptic about ghosts, table-rapping, and “all such nonsense and rubbish.” “But,” he added, “now that this thing has come into my house, my whole ideas on the subject have been altered, because I have seen and heard it myself.”
[article then follows the one above until ‘Jack told me that the answer was all right’.]
“The noises then stopped for about a week, and I removed Jack into a camp bedstead in my dressing-room. One night I was just falling off to sleep when he called out, ‘Daddy, there’s the noise.’ I struck a light and sat up in my bed, which was within arm’s reach of Jack’s camp bed. He then cried ‘Oh, daddy, the bed is beginning to move.’ I said, ‘Don’t talk nonsense’. ‘Well, look yourself,’ he said, and as I stood watching the movable top part of his little bed kept moving and banging against the wall behind. This was a bit too thick, but I watched, and, after a short time, I noticed the viabration increasing, until at last it was going like lightning. The noise was fearful. This was Sunday morning, when all the neighbours heard it from the street and from the house opposite the road.
“At last I got into a rage, and shouted, ‘Hang the thing; confound the thing,’ and at the same time took hold of it. As soon as I let go it went worse than eve.r I was strong enough to hold it quiet; it could not get the better of me, but I could feel the force squirming to get loose. In a little while afterwards I noticed the lower end of the bed beginning to quiver, and it all went on until daylight. About twenty people came up that Sunday morning to see it. They coolly walked into my bedroom, if you please!
“On another occasion I took Phil, my clerk, up, when Jack was in bed, and we then heard the rapping in response to ours.” “Could you hear knocks when Jack was not in the room?” “They have knocked when Jack was not in the room, but the sound was not so perfect. Jack has been shifted four times, and the rapping has followed him.”
The ghost is not only becoming notorious, it is also beginning to claim most highly respectable people amongst its acquaintances, the latest addition being the Bishop of Swansea, who visited Mr Howell’s house at seven a.m. on Saturday, in company with Professor Harris, of St David’s College, and half-a-dozen others.
We were asked into the dining-room, and here the conversation elicited the interesting information that on the previous morning Miss Lloyd had been most successful in “drawing the spirit” – if such a phrase is allowable – and obtaining accurate replies to questions as to her age, the number of names she bore, and so on. Presently another lady and gentleman were ushered into the room, namely, Miss Mair, of the Lampeter Girls’ Intermediate School, and Mr Eastman, a London artist, who was on a visit to the collegiate town. The conversation became animated, for the two latest arrivals were able to speak most enthusiastically of previous experiences of spiritualistic manifestations.
Further deliberation was cut short by the appearance of Jane, who announced that everything was in readiness upstairs. We were seven – mysticists say there are latent potentialities in the number Seven, as there are in the word Abracadabra, and so the company had every reason to be elated with premonitions of success. Jane led the van, and, at the top of the first flight of stairs, in the bedroom to the left we were received by Mrs Howell. Mr Howell was abed in his own room, having, as is his wont, only gone to court sleep an hour or so before our arrival. The blinds were drawn, and the grey darkness was dismissed with the aid of a lamp.
In the middle of the room was an ordinary-sized iron bedstead, occupied by one of Mrs Howell’s four boys – Dicky, I presumed – whilst in a corner, close up to the two walls, was the box-sofa referred to by Mr Howell on the previous evening, and on this was JAck, the eleven year old medium, covered with bedclothes, head only in view. Standing in the room was Hughie, the fourteen-year-old eldest son, and stalking about the floor was the family cat, seemingly oblivious of anything uncanny. The bishop, who is well known to Jacky as the Vicar of Lampeter, wished him “Good morning,” and the little lad, as wide-awake as Punch, returned the salutation readily, but in a way which showed that he has, unfortunately, an impediment in his speech.
Mrs Howell informed us that the spirit had rapped two or three times that morning, and we waited developments. Presently Jack was asked to tap the wall near his couch, and he uncovered his right hand in order to do so, but there was no response. Patience was not a strained virtue, and we waited silently. Mrs Howell assured us that the spirit would be sure to come, and Jack rapped again. Miss Lloyd rapped the wall on the identical spot where she said the replies came from on the previous morning ; Mr Pritchard hit the hollow-sounding box-sofa, where he said he had had a response during a previous visit – all in vain. At last, Mr Eastman ventured the suggestion that there might be a sceptic in the room, or that there might be too many in the room. It was the experience of some spiritualists, he said, that the spirit would not respond under such circumstances. There was, therefore, nothing for it but to try coaxing measures, and the visitors all returned downstairs, Mrs Howell promising to call us up again if the manifestations appeared.
We had hardly reached the dining-room when Hughie ran down beaming with the intelligence that “it had come.” There was an eager procession of seven upstairs again, and Mrs Howell informed us that the rapping had commenced. “Let me take the light out, mamma; perhaps it will stay,” said Hughie, and taking the light out of the room, he placed it on the landing outside. It was almost too good to be true, and everyone was on the tiptoe of feverish expectation. But disappointment had again tracked our steps, and never a rap greeted our ears. “Try it now, Jack,” said Mrs Howell, and Jack tapped, but it was a useless effort. “Perhaps it can’t hear you there; try at the back behind your head,” the mother asked, and Jack did so, with the same blank result. This was, indeed, disappointing, and Mr Eastman again suggested that, as the resort of reducing the number of onlookers had been once successful, it might again be tried, and we (the visitors) again filed out of the room, with the exception of Mr Eastman himself, who remained standing over Jack. In order to save myself the trouble of running upstairs again when those left inside were able to report progress, I remained by myself on the landing outside, the bishop and others disappearing downstairs.
After a spell of quietness Mr Eastman commenced to entreat the spirit to assert itself – his words were plainly audible to me. “Good spirit, have you anything to tell us?” he asked, adding, “IF so, knock twelve times.” Silence followed, and then came the sound of twelve distinct raps. This was success! I almost prevailed upon myself to return into the room at all hazards, but fearing lest my presnce would break the connecting link, I contented myself with listening to a most interesting and astounding “conversation.”
“Now ask,” I heard Mr Eastman say to the boy, “Does it make any difference to you, good spirit, if there are a lot of people in the room? If so, knock ten times; if not, knock fifteen times.” With the utmost promptitude ten distinct rappings followed one another. Several other questions of a general character followed, and each time rappings ensued to the number indicated by the questioner. This was very interesting and mystical, and my desire to enter the room and participate in the ghostly acquaintanceship increased, but prudence prevailed, and the spell was allowed to remain unbroken.
Then came a question from Mr Eastman which opened up great possibilities. “Would you like to talk to the bishop? If so, knock seventeen times.” Immediately there sounded the correct number of raps, and there was a general movement in the room, Mr Eastman saying to Hughie, “Run down to the bishop. Tell him to come up alone.” Out came Hughie. He rushed downstairs and returned with his lordship into the bedroom. Mr Eastman then resumed his questions. “Is there any secret about this house? If so, knock seven times; if not, three times.” There was an instant response of seven raps. Seven is, after all, a charmed number! “Is the secret about money? If so, knock twelve times; if not, eight times.” Twelve raps of the wall followed. “Now knock the number of people you would like to be present when the money is found,” continued Mr Eastman, and four raps came in response.
“That is just the number it gave yesterday,” Mrs Howell was heard to remark. Mr Eastman: “If any of the four are in this room knock three times.” Response: Three knocks. “Is the bishop one?” – Yes (according to the number of raps asked for). “Is Jane to be there” – No. “Is Mr Howell?” – Yes. “And Mrs Howell?” – Yes. “And Jack?” – Yes. “Then the four are to be the bishop, Mr and Mrs Howell, and Jack?” said Mr Eastman to his company, and then continued questioning.
“Is it in the roof?” – No response. “Is it in the chimney?” – Yes. “It was in the chimney yesterday, too,” said Mrs Howell. Mr Eastman: “Will it make any difference if there is a mason present with the four to take the chimney down?” – Yes. “Will this money have to be found by the four people alone?” – Yes.
After this revelation the responses were feeble, and at times there was no rapping at all. About this time Miss Lloyd and others came up the stairs, and I went into the bedroom with them. The bishop and Mr Eastman were sitting close to JAck’s couch, waiting eagerly for further answers. It was very annoying to find that all manifestations ceased when one got into the room. Mrs Howell said that perhaps the spirit was tired. “Are you very tired?” asked Mr Eastman, and three knocks to signify “Yes” were heard. This was the first rapping which took place while I was in the room, and good fortune seemed to smile on my mission again.
“Did the knocking you did yesterday tire you very much?” Mr Eastman asked again, and “Yes” was rapped back. “Is there anyone else in the room you would like to speak to?” – The reply to this was a decided “No,” followed by Mr Eastman’s question to the lad. “Your hand was not there then, was it?” “Oh, no, no, indeed,” said Jack. This was the only expression of doubt which Mr Eastman let fall throughout the whole time.
There were no further rappings – the spirit could not be coaxed, so that there was no opportunity afforded me to be near the couch when the sounds were to be heard. We were assured that the spirit had gone, and we separated, Professor Harris having gone previously. The bishop maintained a discreet silence when approached for his views on the phenomena – he would not commit himself to any opinion.
The shaking of beds and chairs, and the noisy bombardment of the walls we were not privileged to see or hear, and we could not wait any longer. It is a peculiar coincidence that JAck must be near before anything will take place. As Mrs Howell remarked, “Little Jack is such a good medium,” and the powers possessed by him must be a source of delight to the lad.
Perhaps the mystery would cease if the lad were placed in the ordinary bed with his brother in the middle of the room. It is peculiar that the rapping is always most pronounced when he is lying under the clothes by himself. At any rate, the morning’s experience was highly interesting, and if a poor mortal may be pardoned for venturing to prophecy in connection with such an occult subject, it is my firm belief that the Bank House spirit will before long get so tired that it will not trouble to worry the [cuts short].
Weekly Mail, 18th February 1905.
The Lampeter Ghost.
A visitor’s investigations.
Goblin tells of money in the chimney.
Lampeter folk are still much perplexed, if not alarmed, by the mysterious doing of the “ghost” at Bank House, High-street, the residence of Mr Hugh W. Howell, registrar of the local County Court. To this old building, where licensed victuallers used to do a thriving trade as keepers of “The Ship,” and where subsequently D. Jones and Co. had a bank until about 30 years ago, rats ran riot for a long while, and consequently when complaints of uncanny doings were made Mr Howell laughed, and expressed the opinion that all strange sounds and “sights” would disappear when he had carried out his resolve to exterminate the rodents. He, however, did not quell the disturbance, and when he saw how neighbours in their hundreds neglected the revival meetings to go a ghost-hunting, for they congregated nightly in the vicinity of Bank House, he began to think that something serious, if not supernatural, was happening around him.
Strange to relate his children apparently regarded the ghostly visitant’s escapading as a real good joke, and were not at all afraid of the antics which startled and mystified their elders. The matter had been kept as quiet as possible by the family for a long while, but at last the worry became intolderable, and so on Sunday morning week a next door neighbour, Mr S D Jones, of Werndriw Lodge, was called in to see if he could make anything out of the inexplicable situation.
A neighbour’s testimony.
Mr Jones went to Bank House about 7.45 a.m. In relating what he saw and heard Mr Jones said:- Mr Howell asked me to go up to the room where the noise was heard. Immediately on entering I heard some knocking which had been going on before I go there. Those in the room were Mr Howell, the lady’s companion (Miss Peters), Jane, the servant, and three children of Mr Howell. Two of the children, Howell and Robin, were dressed. The third, Jacky, about whom so much has been heard, was lying in a folding crib, the front or head part of which was going backwards and forwards violently against the wall. Mr Howell asked me to put out my hand to try and stop the rocking. I complied with his request. When I put my hand on the crib it still went to and fro, but when I put pressure upon it the motion stopped at once.
Then we heard a tapping at the wall. I asked Mr Howell to state a cause. Neither of us could find one. The tapping at the wall still went on, when Mr Howell asked me to respond to it. At his request I knocked 12 times, and a few seconds after my tapping had ceased there came in reply 12 distinct knocks. I went on again knocking 25 times, and the same number of knocks were given in reply. I then left.
On getting ouside I saw the Rev. W.J. Evans, curate, coming from an early service which had been held at the parish church. I beckoned him to cross the road, and told him what I had seen. I asked him to go upstairs. He did so. I followed him, and we saw the very same happenings.
When I went to the street again I was accosted by the neighbours, who said, “What is all that clanking and noise? We can hear it from here?” This was a distance of quite 80 yards. I told them I could not fathom the cause. It was a complete mystery to me. As a matter of fact I was rather frightened a week or a fortnight before that. Mr Howell told me that it was said that the house was haunted. He pooh-poohed it at the time, but I was compelled not to pooh-pooh it myself after what I saw on Sunday week.
I visited the house again at 7.30 on the following Monday morning, heard the clanking, and saw the bed going to and fro as violently as it did on the previous occasion. The noises in the wall were exactly similar, and the responses were made whenever they were needed. I heard the noises quite distinctly when I was in my own house, and so did my wife and family, who say that they heard the noises again this morning (although I did not hear them) at 4 o’clock. The little boy Jacky was not there. He had been removed to the servant’s mother’s house, which is from 200 to 300 yards distant.”
Bishop of Swansea’s Story
The Right Rev. Dr. Lloyd, Lord Bishop of Swansea, was good enough to likewise grant our West Wales reporter an interview, making it quite clear in doing so that he never liked to be made prominent at any time in print, but that there was no harm in bearing testimony to what he saw. I went to Bank House (said his Lordship) by agreement with Professor Harris, of St David’s College, Lampeter, so that we might be present when the manifestations took place in the room. With us were my daughter and a lady and gentleman artist from London.
We appealed to the spirit to manifest itself by taps. Nothing took place for 20 minutes or half an hour. Then we went downstairs and sat there for some time. Meanwhile the London artist remained in the room and endeavoured to draw the ghost. He seemingly succeeded, and a message was brought whilst staying in a lower room that I might be present, but no-one else. I went upstairs, when this London artist began asking various questions, more particularly with regard to the murder which was supposed to have been committed there. He got reply (taps) to his knocks, the only weak point about it being that the answer was to be given by a given number of taps. For instance, three taps would imply “Yes” and one tap “No.” From that point of view it was unsatisfactory, but the answers, so to speak, were pointed out, although I don’t know what other form could have been chosen.
In each case when the answer was given the sound proceeded from an ottoman on which the lad Jack was lying. He was lying perfectly still with his hands in sight for the most part. Sometimes when no answer came – and this is a strong point – Jack was asked to put the question himself, and for that purpose he would get up on his elbow, draw his body up, turn his face to the wall, and speak in question form to the spirit that was supposed to be in the wall, and in several instances – indeed in nearly every instance – he got an answer. Seemingly that would prove there was no collusion between the boy, and the tapping, for the movement of the boy would take him away from any opportunity of producing the taps himself.
Our reporter asked “What is your idea about it all, my Lord?” His Lordship answered, “My mind is open. I could not account for the taps. The box was seemingly empty and sounded hollow. There could not have been any person inside it. One does not like even to suggest that there was any collusion, because one has no ground for it. When I put my hand on the box from which the sound proceeded I felt a tremor in the box. Whether that is an argument for or against the spirit world I cannot say, but I know there was a little vibration each time.”
“Do you know of anybody else who has paid a visit to Bank House?” “My two daughters interviewed the ghost on the previous day, and during an hour and a quarter they got a great number of answers to incessant questioning on points on which nobody in Lampeter could have any information. By the way, a guest of ours was with them, and this lady guest had spent most of her life abroad, and had never before been in Lampeter. She had brothers and sisters scattered in different parts of the world – America, Australia, and India. In fact, they had always lived abroad, and the lady guest received information about her relatives which could not possibly have been possessed by anybody in Lampeter, so far as we are aware of or can judge.”
“Well, it is very funny, to say the least of it, isn’t it?” “Very funny. And the tappings during their visit were in the wall and in the box; and there were not only tappings, but flesh-creeping scrapings and scratchings.”
“Ah, by the way, how were those peculiar signs connected?” “They were answers relative to the finding of £2,000 in the house. A question was put by my daughter, ‘Is there more than one of you?’ and the answer came ‘Two.’ ‘Are you husband and wife?’ The reply was ‘Yes.’ ‘Were you murdered?’ ‘Yes, in this house; and our money was taken. That is here still.’ There were other questions as to where it was to be found, and the replies were that it was concealed in some masonry in the garret. That was somewhat inconsistent with the answer which I got. I was told it was in the chimney, but, of course, the masonry and the chimney may be part and parcel of the same thing. It may be the masonry in the chimney. The question, ‘Is it a hundred pounds?’ was put, and the answer ‘Yes’ came promptly back. ‘Will you say how many hundred?’ and 20 taps followed. When I was present on Saturday and asked whether the spirit would wish any assistance in finding the money, it said ‘yes,’ and it also stated that Mr Howell and Jack and Mrs Howell were to assist in the search, but not Jane, the servant, there being a decided ‘no’ when the spirit was asked if Jane might join.”
“Well, really, it is funny. What do you think about it, my Lord?” “So far as I am concerned my mind is open, but are we not taught from the Bible that there are spirits, and that they are somewhere? But as to whether they are allowed to hold communication with us is another question. There is nothing in the Bible to show that they are not allowed. The presumption may be the other way.”
Hairdresser and the Spirit.
Our representative, desiring other facts from eyewitnesses of the eerie affair, hunted up Mr E.W. Richards, hairdresser, Harford-square, who said:- “On Friday morning, between 10 and 11 o’clock, I was in the room in which the ghost makes its appearance known and felt. The room, the landing, and the stairway were packed with people, all of whom could distinctly hear the “Tap, tap, tap,” which many believed came from the spirit world. Presently the crowd melted away, and in the room with me were T. Jones, postman; S. Jenkins, saddler; and Mrs Howell and her family. With Mrs Howell’s permission I ventured to talk to the ghost. Three knocks replied to three of mine. I asked the postman to put his hand on the bed whilst the knocking was being heard, and under the bedclothes he could feel a vibration. The boy was lying on the bed. I put my hand on his shoulder and head to see whether any skylarking was going on.
“As I was doing this a female in the room explained that three knocks from the spirit meant ‘Yes’ and one knock meant ‘No.’ Some ladies were there that morning, she added, proceeding in that way. So I followed that course. I knocked five times and back came five distinct taps. Hearing the knocks the people flocked in again, and then I had quite a conversation with the spirit on the lines indicated by the female. I began with an intimation to the spirit that if it or she meant ‘yes’ three knocks were to be given, my statement being “Knock on the wall the number of times you mean for ‘yes,’ ” and the spirit replied with three knocks. “Now knock how many times you mean for ‘No,'” and the spirit answered with one knock. I then gave a sharp double knock and got a sharp double knock back in reply.
“I then said “Will you answer any questions I put to you?” The spirit mentioned in form mentioned “Yes.” Then followed the conversation:- “Is anything the matter with this house.” “Yes.” “Is there anything the matter with the family?” “No.” “Were you here before the family came here?” “Yes.” “Have you any grudge against or illwill towards this family?” “No.” “What is the matter with this house? Is there anything in the way here or buried?” “Yes.” “In what form is it? Is it in money?” “Yes.” “Is it in this room?” “No.” “On the landing?” “No.” “In the front bedroom?” (we were in the back), “No.” “In the kitchen?” “No.” “In the garret?” “Yes.” “Under the floor?” “No.” “In the wall?” “No.” “In the chimney?” “Yes.” “Is it hard to find?” The reply was two scrapes on the floor by the bed. “Who must go to find this money? Master Jack?” “Yes.” “Mr Howell?” “Yes.” “Mrs Howell?” “Yes.” “The servant?” “No.” “The curate?” “No.” “Shall I go?” “No” (with great emphasis, which was indicated by a great thump). “The estate agent?” “No.” “The vicar?” (the Bishop of Swansea.) “Yes.”
A negative reply came in regard to a dozen other people who were with us in this bedroom. I was feeling the boy all the time, and could not feel him moving in the least. Therefore that dissipated the idea that he might be up to his tricks. I said to the spirit, “Knock on the wall the number of people you want to go to this garret,” and I got four knocks back quite loud. I then said – “You want Jack, Mrs Howell, Mr Howell, and the vicar to go there?” “Yes.” “Are you fond of Jack?” “Yes.”
As soon as I did that, Jack, who had been lying on his back with his arms folded on his breast, half rose in a sitting posture, and with one knuckle gave two knocks on the wall, the pine-end of the house, and quickly got back in reply two sharp knocks. Just then Sergeant Major Baldwin came in. I knocked, and had replies, but when the sergeant-major went over to the lad the medium [sic] stopped. The crowd once more dispersed, and I soon afterwards also left with a promise that I might repeat my visit.
Sergeant-Major Baldwin’s views and those of others are held over. It may, however, be noted that the ghostly visitations were continued on Sunday and Monday in the absence of the boy Jack. Thus it is shown that the suspicion that he had something to do with the knocking is unfounded. The servant states that at about 3.30 on Sunday morning she heard three reports as if a pistol had been fired. These reports were also heard by Mr D Jones, who lives next door but one to the bank-house.
Cardiff Times, 18th February 1905.
Ghosts and Gunshot.
The supposed ghost mystery at Lampeter, which the Bishop of Swansea endeavoured to solve, has deepened. It is now stated that gunshots are heard in the silence of the night at the house of Mr. Howells, the County Court Registrar. The lad Jacky, whose bed was observed to move violently, has been sleeping away from the house for three days. During his absence the mysterious rappings were heard but slightly, but on his return to the house the sound increased in intensity. Representatives of the Psychical Society are investigating the matter.
Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, 22nd February 1905.
Bygone – There is, says Mr. Richard John Roberts, of Aberystwyth, an entry in an old diary which his late father kept when Police Sergeant at this place which may be of some interest now that stories of ghost and rats are in the air. The entry, which is dated over thirty years ago, is to the effect that much commotion was created in the neighbourhood of Bank House one evening by the news that a servant girl in a neighbouring house had thrown herself out from the window of the upper storey. It was surmised that the poor girl had attempted to commit suicide. Another version explained the conduct of the girl by stating she had been frightened out of her wits by a ghost; while the most probable explanation was that she had been frightened by rats, which, it was found on examination infested the house.
Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser, 2nd March 1905.
Lively “Ghost”.
On St David’s Day the rapping “ghost” which has for some time made manifestations in the neighbourhood of the eleven-year-old son of Mr Registrar Howell, of Lampeter, became vigorous, and knocked the kitchen chairs about until, as is gravely reported, it completely exhausted itself.
Lampeter Ghost: “Lady in Black.”
The Lampeter ghost has now assumed, or rather is credited, with a dual personality. It is stated that the restless spirits are those of a man and wife. Latest testimony from Lampeter is to the effect that as late as Wednesday morning ghostly footsteps were heard ascending and descending the stairs.
The boy Jack has declared that he saw a lady in black enter his bedroom and leave it, noiselessly closing it [the door?]. The servant Jane has heard mysterious “calls” from one of the troubled “spooks” in the corridor, the sound partaking of a curious humming noise, as though the spirit had some message to communicate, but was unable to.
Mrs Howell, be it stated, is a woman whom no one for a moment suspects as being of the stamp to regale her friends with fictitious narrations, and there is an old woman now in the neighbourhood who declares that years ago when in service with another family in the same house she heard similar manifestations, so that the whole affair is a thoroughly weird and uncanny one.
As if in celebration of St. David’s Day, the ghosts kept banging kitchen chairs about until the inhabitants left the room in terror.
The Cambrian, 3rd March 1905.
“Jacky” and the Ghost.
Chimney to be searched at Lampeter.
An old house at Lampeter, the residence of Mr Howells, the county-court registrar, was believed, it will be remembered, to harbour a ghost. Mysterious rappings were heard, and some connection was traced between the noises and the presence of Jacky, an eleven-year-old son of Mr Howells.
The ghost, a correspondent writes, is again busy, and, though Jacky has been moved from room to room, he is persistently followed by the noises.
Passers-by in the street have several times stopped to inquire the reason of the strange noises proceeding from the house.
By means of table-rappings and other means of communication, it is believed that the ghost intends to convey the information that if the large old-fashioned chimney at the top of the house is opened something will be found there. The tenant has, therefore, applied to the landlord for permission to do this.
Weekly Mail, 22st April 1905.
Lampeter’s Ghost.
“Jacky’s” Bed Rocks Violently.
The Lampeter ghost has been at work again, and, as before, it is “Jacky,” Mr. Howell’s little boy, who is its victim. The child firmly believes that he has seen the ghost.
His father is now obliged to sleep in the same room with him, as the bed in which he sleeps is sometimes seen to rock violently.
Following the supposed instructions of the ghost, the floor of one of the attics has been removed, and a cap has been found, stiff with something, though what the substance is it is impossible to tell at this distance of time. A few other remains of human clothing have been found.
The necessary permission has not yet been obtained from the landlord to open the large chimney at the top of the house, which would necessitate the pulling down of part of the roof, but the tenant hopes to obtain this permit.
Evening Express, 19th April 1905.
Rappings by a “Ghost”.
The Lampeter “ghost”, which gave such trouble some months ago, is again busy at the residence of Mr Howells, the county court registrar. The mysterious rappings have been resumed with increased vigour, and as before they follow the whereabouts of Mr Howell’s son Jackey. So insistent and loud are the noises that people passing the house have had their attention attracted. There is no explanation of the mysterious sounds.
Shepton Mallet Journal, 21st April 1905.
Lampeter’s Haunted Child.
The Lampeter ghost has been at work again, and, as before, it is “Jacky,” Mr Howell’s little boy, who is its victim. The child firmly believes that he has seen the ghost. His father is now obliged to sleep in the same room with him, as the bed in which he sleeps is sometimes seen to rock violently.
Following the supposed instructions of the ghost, the floor of one of the attics has been removed, and a cap has been found, stiff with something, though what the substance is it is impossible to tell at this distance of time. A few other remains of human clothing have been found.
The necessary permission has not yet been obtained from the landlord to open the large chimney at the top of the house, which would necessitate the pulling down of part of the roof, but the tenant hopes to obtain this.
Penny Illustrated Paper, 29th April 1905.
Friendly Enquiries.
How is the Lampeter ghost getting on? What about the Merionethshire miraculous lights, and what has become of the Holywell miracles? These things must be attended to.
The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard, 16th June 1905.