The Haunted House.
The narrative of the haunted house near Cardross is curious. It recalls to recollection a similar story affecting a farm house named Larkhall, situated on the English side of the Border, in the parish of Alwinton. The event took place about the beginning of the present century. The house was occupied by two families, who were divided by a partition. In the one end, occupied by persons of the name of Turnbull, were heard the strangest noises and knockings. The plates left the shelves, bottles and glasses flew into the middle of the room, sometimes striking the inmates; the tables and chairs danced, to the terror of every onlooker. A poor tailor was assailed with a pot of water, followed up with a blow from a rolling pin.
The Rev. Mr. Lander, the minister from Harbottle, a neighbouring village, who came to lay the ghost and administer consolation, was astonished to perceive the Bible jump from the window into the middle of the room. The strange affair excited all the country round. A reward of twenty guineas was offered for the detection of the trick, if there was any such.The premises were examined carefully by intelligent men, but no light could be thrown upon the matter. Two professors of legerdemain were brought to the spot, but they could discover no clue towards an earthly explanation of the phenomena. The mystery was never cleared up; but time and suspicion afterwards pointed to a clever fellow in the neighbourhood as having some hand in it. – Glasgow Daily Mail.
Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 25th November 1858.
A query having appeared in the Courant of Feb. 6th, signed X.Y., respecting the Burradon Ghost, we give the following account, taken from Mackenzie and Dent’s “History of Northumberland,” vol.ii., page 190.
Lark Hall.
“In January, 1800, an invisible and mischievous apparition played many wonderful pranks at a place called Lark Hall, near Borrowton, in the parish of Alwinton. The trick (and we may venture to call it such) was conducted with such surprising address as even to puzzle the sceptic and set conjecture at defiance. Lark Hall is a small farm, belonging to Wm. Walby of Borrowton, and was then rented by Mr Turnbull, a butcher, in Rothbury, who kept his father and mother, two decent folk, at the farm, with a hind and his family, whose characters were more dubious. The two families were divided by a partition, formed by close beds, leaving a narrow dark passage between. The garrets above were kept locked by old Turnbull.
At the time mentioned above knockings and noises were heard in Turnbull’s house. The plates, glasses, and teaware left the shelves and were borken; the chairs and tables danced about the room in the most fantastic manner; scissors, bottles, wooden dishes, &c., flew in all directions, and sometimes wounded the confused and terrified spectators; a poor tailor was assailed with a tin pot full of water, yet he still had the temerity to stand to his post till a large rolling pin descended from the laths and hit him a blow on the shoulders.
But one of the most curious tricks was played in the presence of the Rev Mr Lauder, lately a Dissenting minister at Harbottle, and who came to administer some spiritual comfort and consolation. He had been but a short time in the house when a Bible moved from the window in a circular manner into the middle of the room, and fell at his feet.
These singular and incredible facts, with many more which we have not room to mention, are certainly true, as they were attested by a host of respectable witnesses. Twenty guineas were offered for the detection of the fraud, but without success. Two professors of legerdemain, besides many intelligent gentlemen, examined the premises with accuracy, but nothing was discovered that could lead to detection. Mr W. W–, having a reputation for skill in the sciences, was suspected. His visits to Lark Hall were frequent, but some of the most wonderful phenomena took place when he was certainly absent.
Some suspicious circumstances were however, discovered. Nothing was injured in the garret; the hind’s bottles and earthenware were respected; a small iron rod was found in the passage which fitted a hole made in the back of his bed; and the ghost left the premises shortly after the communication between the families had been nailed up. The affair still continues the wonder to the credulous in almost all parts of the country.”
Lark Hall, which now stands unoccupied, has for many years been known as Burradon Bank.
Newcastle Courant, 20th February 1885.
The Lark Hall Sprite.
Astonishing Manifestations.
From the “Monthly Chronicle.”
January 1800, was the date when a mischievous sprite, whose pleasure it was to remain invisible, played such fantastic tricks at a place called Lark Hall, near Burrowdon, in the parish of Alwinton, as not only to astonish the somewhat simple-minded natives, but to puzzle the wisest heads among those learned Thebans who came to penetrate the mystery.
Lark Hall is a small farm, which belonged at the beginning of last century to Mr William Walby, of Burradon, and was rented by Mr Turnbull, a butcher in Rothbury, who kept his father and mother, two decent old people, at the place. There was also a hind and his family, who were separated from the Turnbulls by a partition only, formed by a couple of those old-fashioned close beds which were once so common in Northumbrian cottages, and which left a narrow dark passage between, the two apartments constituting a “but” and a “ben.”
The garrets above were kept locked by old Turnbull, who had them filled with all sorts of stored-up trumpery. The only access to “ben the hoose” was through the outer room, and the occupants of the two halves were unfortunately not on the most friendly terms, it being almost impossible, under such circumstances of continual close contact, for even the kindliest and best-disposed people to avoid annoyance and bickerings.
It was suspected that the house was haunted. Knockings and noises were heard every now and then in Turnbull’s apartment. The plates, bowls, basins, glasses, tea cups and other crockery, which the old lady took a pride in arranging showily on the dresser, with peacock’s feathers stuck in for ornament, jumped off the shelves and were broken. The chairs and tables danced about the room in the most fantastic manner. Scissors, knives and forks, horn spoons, wooden dishes, bottles, etc., flew in all directions, and the confused and terrified spectators were sometimes actually wounded by these uncanny missiles. A poor tailor had a tin pot full of water dashed in his face, and had the hardihood to stand to his post notwithstanding, when to punish him for his temerity, a large rolling-pin descended from overhead, and hit him a smart blow on the shoulders that made him beat a retreat.
One of the most curious tricks was played in the presence of the Rev. Mr Lauder, the Presbyterian minister at Harbottle, who came to administer some spiritual consolation and comfort to the afflicted inmates, but who went away almost, if not quite, convinced that the arch-deceiver Satan had a finger in the pie, while he was not gifted with the power of exercising and laying him, as John Wesley had done the Building Hill ghost at Sunderland some years before.
Mr Lauder had been but a short time in the house, and had scarcely got his preliminary inquiries over, when a large family Bible, which had been lying in its accustomed place in the window recess, made a sudden series of gyrations through the air into the middle of the room, and fell down at his feet – a marvel enough to shake the nerves of a doctor of divinity, or even a moderator of the general assembly, let alone a poor village presbyter.
All these wonders were verified by creditable witnesses. Two professors of legerdemain, besides many intelligent gentlemen, examined the premises with critical eyes, but failed to discover anything that could lead to an explanation. Suspicious, indeed, attached to a certain humorous individual, reported to be versed in the black art, and a frequent visitor to Lark Hall; but some of the most astonishing manifestations having taken place when he was certainly absent, these suspicions were set aside as groundless.
Twenty guineas were offered for the detection of the fraud, if fraud it should turn out to be, but without success, for nobody ever came forward to claim the money. Nor was the mystery, so far as our knowledge of the records go, ever clearly explained.
Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 20th June 1922.