A Ghost in Lisburn!
A degree of excitement, which for the present, bids fair to outrival that produced by the famous ghost of Cock-lane, has prevailed, for the last eight or ten days, among the lovers of the marvellous in Lisburn, in consequence of the pranks of some mysterious visitant, which, in the waywardness that usually characterises the proceedings of such gentry, has taken a great fancy to disturb the good folks resident about the neighbourhood of the far-famed Piper Hill; but its most particular attentions are lavished on the house of a poor old woman, the doors and windows of which have suffered very much from its operations.
Numbers of people nightly assemble to witness the proceedings, and stones are seen dashed about with great violence – strange and unearthly noises are heard, and various other indications of supernatural agency seem to be at work; but as yet no one can discover from what quarter the missives are sent, or whence the unearthly sounds proceed.
Of course conjecture, with all its aids and appliances, is not idle – and the most celebrated local astrologers and soothsayers have been consulted, in order to bring unto light the mysterious eld connected with the unknown – while the love most people cherish for the wild and wonderful, has not failed to lend a helping hand, in rendering more graphic the real and imaginative details of the affair.
Some suppose the visitant to be no other than the familiar spirit of the Pope, which, for several weeks past, has been among its friends in Downing street, watching the progress of the Maynooth Bill – and, now that the measure is safe, takes an occasional run over to the Green Isle, to amuse itself at the expense of the denizens of Lisnegarvy. Others again argue, that it is only the Devil himself returning from the Conciliation Hall! – while a still greater number of persons quietly attribute the whole to the ingenuity of a worthy disciple of the latter gentleman – one who lives only a short distance from the scene of his labours.
Be these opinions as they may, certain it is, that some evil spirit of terra firma is busily engaged, to the great annoyance of a poor old widow and her immediate relatives; and it might be well, now that the farce has been repeated so often, for the police to keep a sharp look-out – they will soon detect the real author of this pretty mischief – and perhaps a night or two’s confinement might break the spell of the magician, at least for a little season.
The ghost still continues his pranks, and the public are led to conclude that it is no less a personage than the ghost of Tom Steele the “Head Pacificator,” sent here, by the great mendicant, to divert our good folks attention off Dan, who has made, as on a former occasion, a private arrangement to “steal a march” to Belfast to canvass the electors, but quite incognito. Mr McEvoy dictates this as the most rational course, as he dreads the passage through Lisnegarvy. — Correspondent.
Belfast News-Letter, 20th June 1845.