Extraordinary Occurrence Near Limvady.
Inhabitants of Magilligan Terrorised through
A Farmer’s Interference with a “Gentle Bush.”
True Story of a Haunted House.
An incident of a most sensational character has recently occurred at the dwelling-house of a respectable farmer named John McLaughlin, who resides in Upperlands, Magilligan. The other occupants of the house were Mr McLaughlin’s sister, a servant man, and a servant girl. It appears that Mr. McLaughlin set about cleaning the chimney of his dwelling. As is the usual custom in country districts, he went out into one of his fields and cut down a holly bush with which to perform the operation. The chimney was thoroughly cleansed by pulling the holly bush up and down it with a rope, and two large tubfuls of soot were taken out and buried in the manure heap.
From that moment things were made lively for the occupants of the house. Soot began to fall in all directions and in every nook and corner of the house. No sooner had the house been swept than dense masses of the soot settled again over everything. Attempts to cook food were absolutely futile, as despite every possible precaution the cooking utensils contained more soot that food. The occupants heroically examined the house in the hope of detecting the cause of this remarkable visitation, but all to no purpose.
As time wore on matters assumed a more alarming aspect: Showers of stones fell in all directions, making a most terrific noise and smashing everything of a breakable nature in the dwelling. Altogether thirty-two panes of glass were broken by the stones, which apparently fell from the roof and then made a hurried exit through the windows. Strange noises were heard at night, and at length the occupants deemed it safer to leave the house, and accordingly they left and went for temporary shelter to a neighbouring farmer’s, named Mr. Begley, who resides a short distance from the scene of the strange visitation.
The Rev. Mr. Rutledge, Episcopalian minister, paid a visit to the house, but could not find any explanation. While in the house the rev. gentleman had a very weird experience. One of a set of drawers shot out, and from it came a large stone, which went with great velocity through the window and returned into the dwelling and fell on the floor.
It is worthy of mention that the house is situate just on the county road, which runs at an elevated position along the mountain side. It is a one-storeyed building, with a thatch roof, but boarded ceiling. It is impossible to detect from whence the stones came, as there is not a perforation in the ceiling. Besides, the hearth-stones, the articles of furniture, and everything of a moveable nature moved about the dwelling in every direction, and the noise was of a very terrifying nature. The very paving in front of the house, not to be out-done, went off on an aerial excursion, regardless of the dangerous results to those mortals who had the courage to approach the building.
In connection with this an incident occurred which would be humourous were it not serious. A Limavady man, in charge of a bread cart, made his usual call at the house when the visitation was at its height. After supplying the inmates with provisions, stones fell around him very threateningly, and made terrible havoc on the windows and doors close by. The breadman naturally took fear, and it was with difficulty that he made his way from the house, not waiting for payment for the goods supplied. He made his way to the nearest spirit store, where a little stimulant braced his nerves to continue his journey.
It is also stated, with what truth I cannot say, that when the occupants of the house were laying up the sweetmilk for a churning the crocks positively refused to receive the milk, and became filled up with stones. It is also rumoured that on Sunday evening the threshing machine in the barn commenced to work of its own accord, and went at a great rate.
A considerable number paid a visit to the scene on Sunday, and everyone testifies to the mysterious havoc wrought on the building. The whole affair is really unprecedented in the history of the locality, and nothing else is talked about with so much interest. Some theorists are of the opinion that the site of the house may the crater of a small volcano. However, that idea must be thrown aside, because it could not account for all the strange things that have occurred. The police are making inquiries into the matter, and everyone anxiously awaits the result of the investigation. All these things occurred in daylight.
Derry Journal, 23rd January 1909.
County Derry Mystery.
Supposed “Spell” On A House.
Uncanny Occurrences.
The reading of the account of an exceptionally weird experience a county Derry farmer and those of his household have had recently, which was described in the last issue of this paper, had created considerable comment in the city and district. Inquiries as to the accuracy of the strange narrative and as to whether there were additional particulars to be procured respecting it were by no means few on Wednesday evening. To satisfy a public curiosity – natural enough in the peculiar circumstances – a representative of this newspaper paid a visit to Magilligan the same evening.
Travelling by rail he alighted at the local station, and a simple inquiry there promptly procured for him sufficient information as to the direction he should take to reach the reported “spell-bound” premises. In truth, the occurrences of last week appear to be at the present time a fertile source of general conversation in the district. A walk of something over a mile brought the inquiring visitor to Beleighery, where he soon found the residence of Mr. John McLaughlin, of which he was in search.
It is a comfortable looking one-storied house such as is found on many moderate sized farms in North-West rural districts. The county road leading from the station passes within a few yards of this abode in which there are five or six good sized apartments. Exteriorily the first peculiarity coming under the notice of the visitor were the broken windows. Before any question was asked it was seen that as far as window smashing was concerned the residence had suffered very substantially.
When our representative called at the house he was met by Mr. McLaughlin, who received him with civility, and talked with freedom on the peculiar visitation of violence from unseen sources to which his house had been subjected some days before. Mr. McLaughlin resides with his sister, and there is also a niece living with him. He employs a servant maid, and has a servant man for farm work. The owner of the house would be past sixty years of age, but he seems the possessor of an alert mind and a cheerful disposition. Interrogated as to the extraordinary occurrences alleged to have happened at his house, Mr. McLaughlin talked fairly, frankly, and without any hesitation. He said in effect that the statements made concerning his place fell under two heads – the queer things that did happen there, and the weird occurrences which were reported, but never took place.
Referring to the latter first, Mr. McLaughlin said it was not true that the hearth stones of the kitchen had moved about, nor was it correct to say that articles of furniture were jerked around with a terrifying noise in every direction through the household. The statement made that the threshing machine in the barn commenced work spontaneously was false. It was further reported in some published accounts that the sweet milk crocks rejected the milk poured into them and became filled up with stones. “This,” said Mr. McLaughlin, “is a ridiculous statement, for such a thing never happened.”
Coming to what the owner agreed had occurred, our representative, nevertheless, found it in quite sufficient to cause considerable comment. Mr. McLaughlin having pointed to the broken windows, the broken delph in the kitchen, and the deep indentations as of stones in the walls, said this damage had certainly taken place mysteriously. It was likewise true that soot swept into the house and settled on the domestic utensils of the kitchen in the most disagreeable manner. About the time of these strange manifestations the windows were broken one after another until the number of smashed panes reached thirty-two. The most remarkable observations made by Mr. McLaughlin were undoubtedly those connected with the mysterious appearance of stones within the house. These stones behaved in a manner totally inexplicable. All the residents in the household tried to find an explanation for the moving stones, but they gave it up in despair.
At this point Mr. McLaughlin, in response to a question, mentioned that the first indication of anything unusual happening at the house was on Wednesday, 9th inst. On that day he decided to have the kitchen chimney swept. For this purpose he adopted a rough and ready method not uncommon in rural districts. He sent his servant man into one of his fields where a holly bush grew. Portion of this the man cut, and attaching thereto a rope the chimney cleansing operation was performed by pulling the bush through the orifice by means of the rope. The “see-saw” movement so followed soon cleared the chimney. The soot collected was carried from the kitchen and buried in the manure heap behind the house. Immediately after the inmates of the house were surprised to find particles of soot beginning to settle thickly upon tables, chairs and domestic utensils. It was at first thought that the soot came down the chimney as a remnant of the sweeping operations, but the surprise became greater when it was observed that the grimy stuff flew in through the open doors in a most unaccountable manner, because the wind was blowing in another direction. This unpleasant manifestation went on to such an extent that the mystified occupants became apprehensive and temporarily retired to a neighbour’s house, where the strange occurrence was discussed.
The experiences of the Thursday and Friday following were, however, yet more odd and uncanny, since it was on these days that the stones commenced to fly into the house and broke the windows as above stated. Curious to say, the sleeping apartments were apparently immune from the disturbance, and it would appear that the whole of the residents must be credited with a great deal of courage in continuing to occupy the house during the nights following the queer manifestations.
Mr. McLaughlin was asked whether he attributed the soot-flying and stone moving to having had the holly bush cut, as some stated this was a “gentle bush” under fairy protection. Mr. McLaughlin replied that he was not inclined to believe this theory. “Why?” asked our representative. “Because,” said the farmer, “I cut branches off the same holly bush on previous occasions and no such visitation followed.”
Continuing the conversation, Mr. McLaughlin’s sister, a lady of advanced years, mentioned that while the Rev. Mr. Rutledge, who paid a visit to the house, was present he saw some of the stones in motion. They were propelled seemingly by an invisible agency with force enough to indent the walls and do other damage. The rev. gentleman expressed himself as greatly astonished, and, like the others, confessed his inability to explain these extraordinary happenings.
It was further gathered from the owner of the house that the “visitation” extended over ten days. The last indication of anything unusual was seen on Sunday, 20th inst., when a ball of soot rolled down the chimney. From that day to the hour of our representative’s visit there was no renewal of the weird disturbances. The occupants earnestly hope that there is an end to the strange affair, so that they may be enabled to reside as hitherto without anxiety and alarm.
For some days past the house, Mr. McLaughlin says, has been visited by large numbers of people from Limavady, Coleraine, Castlerock, and intervening districts. Most of these claimed a souvenir of the visit in the form of a particle of moving stones or other momento connected with the alleged “spell.” In this respect the owner was liberal, and allowed most of those who made the request to satisfy their wish.
Our representative having met a man belonging to the neighbourhood on his way to the station asked him his opinion of the Upperlands occurrences. The man answered at once that it was a “divil’s speel.” “Why so?” it was further asked. “I can’t tell you,” said the man, “for Mr. McLaughlin has always been a decent, honest man and civil at all times.”
This brief commentary may be taken as reflecting the country people’s opinion of the affair. In short, while the visit to the farmer’s house has resulted in having the happening under notice shorn of certain dramatic exaggeration, yet there remains enough in the matter to entitle it to be regarded as a strange case of positive effects having no ordinary cause that can be ascertained.
[same paper]
Extraordinary Occurence Near Limavady. To the Editor of the Derry Journal.
Sir – Under the above heading you have supplied your readers with a very racy and interesting tale; but as a report of facts it is somewhat of an aerial excursion into the realms of imagination. May I relieve the minds of an astonished public by stating that hardly any of the marvellous incidents recorded in the tale ever occurred. I certainly never saw “a drawer shoot out and from it come a large stone, which went with great velocity through the window, and then returned into the dwelling and fell on the floor,” nor did anyone see “the furniture move about the house” or hear “terrifying noises” or behold “the paving stones in front of the house” go off on their “aerial excursion”.
All this is appetising sauce, supplied gratis, and poured plentifully over the small dish of facts. I admit that the occurrence offers temptation to a sceptical mind to indulge in romance and to make merry over what seems to overstep accepted experience; but, granting this, it is a little hard on very respectable and intelligent people to be treated in a fashion calculated to make them appear ridiculous and foolish before ascertaining in definite and unadorned form the true facts of the case.
What did occur between Friday night and Sunday evening in Mr. McLaughlin’s house is mysterious enough without being added to:
Soot which had been removed from the house some ten days before was suddenly scattered over the kitchen floor and dresser, and was found in a covered pot on the fire. Thirty panes of glass were broken, besides a picture-glass, a mirror, a lamp chimney and some other china articles. Stones were thrown about the house in an unaccountable manner, and I saw them littered over the floor.
Most of this breaking took place in broad daylight, and in the presence of some of the members of the household. Considerable effort must have been used in the throwing of the stones, and the throwing in most cases must have been done by “a force” inside the house. Very little noise accompanied all this, beyond the necessary noise caused by breaking glass, and no one was struck by any of the stones.
One of the stones was quite 1lb. in weight, and some of them were recognised as stones known to have been outside the room in which they were found. How this happened and by whom the stones were thrown and why remains to be solved. Either a very clever trick has been played, or else some “force” of which we have not cognisance, has been at work.
This is the plain and unvarnished account of what has caused much annoyance to Mr. McLaughlin and his sister, and, however it may be accounted for, they justly claim the sympathy of the public.
Your obedient servant, L.W. Rutledge.
Rectory, Bellarena, 24th January, 1907.
(We thank the rev. gentleman for the courtesy of his letter, and may add that his “unvarnished tale” is in no need of exaggeration. – Ed. D. J.)
Derry Journal, 25th January 1907.
A Weird Business.
Strange Night Noises.
A Limavady (Co. Derry) correspondent furnishes us with a sensational story concerning alleged supernatural manifestations which, he says, has thrown the district of Magilligan, eight miles from Limavady, into a state of intense excitement. The dwelling in which the strange and weird incidents are said to have occurred is situate on the branch road leading from Limavady to Coleraine. It is a one-storey building with a slate roof, and it it live an elderly man and his sister. The whole trouble seems to have originated – or, at all events no better cause is at present assigned for the strange happenings – in the cutting of a “gentle” holly bush for the purpose of cleaning the kitchen chimney about a fortnight ago.
But instead of being free of soot, the chimney seemed to have a greater supply of it than before the cleaning. Cooking operations were rendered almost impossible owing to the fall of soot, and at breakfast time on Saturday it appeared in large caked pieces, and, to use the words of our correspondent, “dashed about the kitchen, making marks on the whitewashed walls, and breaking the delph.” But worse was to happen. As the day wore on stones of various sizes “mysteriously appeared at intervals, and after careering wildly around the kitchen, smashed in all over thirty panes of window glass, shattered a picture, and a plate glass panel in the overmantel in the parlour.”
A piece of bathbrick was seen by eye-witnesses to dash across the kitchen and smash into seven or eight pieces against the window sash. “One stone, weighing two pounds, used as a griddle balance, was also observed to dash about,” smash a window, and tear a curtain. It is also stated that strange noises were heard by the occupants at night.
The house was visited by a correspondent the other evening, and the owner said he and his sister were greatly upset over the occurrences. He could offer no explanation, and so scared was he at first that he thought his life and that of his sister were in danger.
This beats the Newtownstewart “ghost” altogether. It was thought that the last had been heard of it, but it is still going the rounds, although the people are tired out with the nonsense. [the latter being someone in a sheet].
Tyrone Constitution, 25th January 1907.
The Derry Fairy Tale.
Statement by Eye-witnesses.
The mysterious occurrences at the farmhouse near Magilligan (Co. Derry) continue to engage the interest of the people of the district (says our Limavady correspondent). The “seances” ceased on Sunday last, when a large stone whizzed past the head of a Limavady visitor and crashed against the wall, the room being full of visitors at the time.
When interviewed, another Limavady man declared that during his stay in the kitchen two full pails of water mysteriously overturned and spilled the fluid about his feet. He avers also that he saw a stone rolling along the floor, and another rise up in the air and float.
T Coleraine tradesman alleges that when transacting business with the owner of the house he saw the latter struck on the back with a lump of peat “strangely propelled.” His alarm was increased when a similar missile grazed himself. The two men were in the kitchen at the time.
Many persons join in giving testimony regarding their remarkable experiences. The owner of the house, described as a very kindly and inoffensive man, and his neighbours emphatically resent the suggestion that any of them are perpetrating practical jokes or malicious acts.
Several prominent residents in the district have made strict investigation into the alleged weird occurrences, but up to the present no explanation has been forthcoming that would clear up the mystery.
Irish Independent, 24th January 1907.
Jottings.
“The divil’s in Magilligan!” At least so some people are saying; but I don’t believe “his highness” – or perhaps I should say “his lowness” – is any nearer that flat and fertile land than anywhere else. At any rate, Magilligan has had strange and most unlooked-for visitants this week – spooks, or the “gentle” folk, and a whale! It is not asserted, of course, that his satanic majesty has had anythign to do with the arrival of the mammoth denizen of the deep whose ancestor swallowed Jonah, and probably found him an impediment to digestion; but some of us are inclined to associate the presence of the Evil One with such “goings on” as are said to characterise a certain house and its surroundings in a locality which, up to now, has enjoyed a reputation for undisturbed tranquility – if we except the visit of our Urban Councillors to the Point!
Press and tongues have been busy, with the result that the Magilligan ghost must by this time have a world-wide notoriety. Perhaps I would be more correct if I said that the “hullabaloo” has been raised about a “haunted” house more than a ghost; but as a haunted house of any supernatural standing has always had its ghost, we may assume that the one at Magilligan is not going to be behind in this vital particular – more especially as one of the stories of the weird visitation has it that an apparition of a motor-car has been seen near the house. So if Magilligan is haunted, it is with something up-to-date!
It would take too much space to catalogue the various episodes related of the occult visitation, and even if I did so, my readers might laugh and say I believe them – which I don’t.
The whole mischief is said by supernaturalists to have been brought about by the owner of the haunted house cutting a holly bush with which to clean his chimney. Whatever merits the bush may have possessed as a chimney-cleaner it is declared to have brought nothing but disasters and terrors to the users, who will likely pay a sweep the next time the “lum” wants sweeping.
A fellow I know went to the place, and came back with what he said was a bit of this same holly bush. I looked at it and saw nothing harmful about it; but then, of course, I did not attempt to clean a chimney with it.
I have read the “list of casualties” which, as alleged, followed the using of the unlucky bush – plagues of soot all over the place, stones coming through the roof, panes and looking-glasses smashed, a threshing machine starting work on its own account – and on a Sunday, too – draws shooting out, water-cans upsetting, and furniture moving around, and all the rest of it, but I’ll stop recapitulation, as I daresay another part of the paper may contain the “melancholy details,” and there is no use in me encouraging nerves in any of my readers who many have a weakness in that direction.
There seems to be one consolation about the affair – and it may be significant – and that is that nobody has been hurt. All that the “flying missiles” seem to have done was the breaking of glass. Of course it has been written by one of the imaginative correspondents that a Limnavady bread-cart driver, when delivering this necessary article of diet at the house, experienced a shower of stones, which fell around him from some mysterious quarter. Naturally, the rumour says he didn’t stop long – no even long enough to get paid for the bread.
I wonder if he forgot to charge it up in his pass-book! He showed a bit of natural thought for himself, however, for it is said he went to the nearest public-house, and braced his nerves with a stimulant. Strange that one class of spirit should dispel the effects of another.
I haven’t seen many theories put forth for all these mysterious happenings; but matter-of-fact individuals, it appears, have hazarded the opinion that the site of the house may be the crater of a small volcano. Well, this might be “worse and worse” for the horror we have experienced in reading of earthquakes in California, Jamaica, and other far-off regions, would be intensified if we thought there was likely to be one at Magilligan. It would certainly be rather near to be pleasant.
Might I hazard another theory – that recent and apparently successful attempts to open up Magilligan, and connect it with the outside world, have raised the ire of the “little folk” we have heard our forbears speak of in our happy childhood’s days? Or has the Rev. Campbell’s “new theology” – which is another thing I know nothing about – raised the evil spirits about Magilligan to show their displeasure at the discovery of yet another means of baffling their fell designs? But, enough of “theorising,” for, to quote an old an peculiar saying, I believe the whole thing will turn out “a ball of wax” – and a good many know what that means.
[…]
A resident in the locality writes that the owner of the “bewitched” house is quite proud of the sensation which has brought him visitors already – including the newspaper men. One of the latter was an interviewer – in other words, an individual who usually succeeds in extracting from another person’s cranial region material which he fails to find in his own. The mental pabulum was not sufficient for all purposes; and “specimens” of smashed glass, stones, etc., came away as well. While mentioning this, I may just record the receipt of a branch of the “gentle” holly bush – the identical shrub used in the chimney. I was strongly advised to get rid of it instanter; but stuck to my eerie prize. Experience since then warrants my certifying that although I have watched it constantly – even at the witching hour of midnight – it has not moved; nor has it given the slightest indication of acquaintance with occult science. Neither stones nor brickbats, pens, ink, nor paper, have indulged in wild careering in its vicinity. Possibly its detachment from the parent stem has broken the charm; ;or it is satisfied that there has been quite enough fuss already.
[…]
Just before leaving the “haunted house” and the whale, I think it only right to record that a young Coleraine photographer has had the temerity to move around pretty close to them both. Of course there was nothing very dangerous in waltzing around the dead monarch of the deep; but after reading of so many awful things happening in the house, Mr. Arthur Mack’s visit with his camera to the interior may deserve mention.
He came forth scathless with several negatives, and as far as I know, he is unable to corroborate from experience any of the yarns about flying stones, smashing glass, or dancing furniture. But perhaps all the damage possible had been done, and the furniture had either been removed or become weary, before his arrival. At any rate, I daresay there will be some people who won’t mind having souvenirs in the shape of the “haunted house” and the eccentric whale that came so far south – two things which have made Magilligan famous for this week at any rate.
Coleraine Chronicle, 26th January 1907.
Mysterious Occurrences at Magilligan.
Magic or “Black Art?”
Sensational accounts of extraordinary occurrences at the farmhouse of Mr John McLaughlin, Upperlands, Magilligan, having appeared in the Belfast and Derry newspapers, a representative of the Constitution on Wednesday visited the scene of these mysterious happenings in the hope tha tby personal examination and enquiry he might be able to expose or confirm them. He went out as a sceptic, believing that the inmates of the house must have been labouring under delusions or the effects of a practical joke; but returned by no means satisfied that the affair was a hoax, confessing indeed that he did not know what to make of it. It was all very weird and strange, but how did it come about – by magic or “black art?” In these days at lease there is no one in or about Magilligan who is know to possess the gifts of producing supernatural effects of any kind, and none perhaps clever enough to send stones flying through a room in broad daylight on two successive days without being detected by the onlookers.
The house is situated on the county road, a little to the north of Benevenagh, and rather less than a mile and a-half from Magilligan railway station. It is a long slated building, a storey and a-half high, the kitchen and pantry occupying one half of the ground space, and the parlour and two bedrooms the other half. The wood flooring of the upper rooms, fixed to stout joists, also serves as roof for those on the ground floor. The house hangs as it were on the hillside, but the situation is not lonely, as a haunted house ought to be, for cottages and farmhouses are dotted along the road all the way from the railway station.
Mr McLaughlin (writes our representative) I found to be a tall, thin, elderly man, with strikingly good features, and an extremely intelligent face. He was superintending the despatch of a pair of horses for the plough, and I soon discovered that his looks did not belie him. He is an esteemed member of Magilligan Parish Church, and has spent all his life in the locality, being, as he remarked, “without an enemy, as far as I know, in the parish.”
Since the papers had got wind of the affair, crowds, he said, had been visiting the house almost daily. “Why not make a charge for admission?” I suggested. “I am afraid it’s too late – the rush is over,” laughingly observed the old man.
The household consists of himself, his sister, and a servant-girl. Being invited into the house, I noticed that the front windows were covered with sacking, &c. It was evident that some malign force, human or supernatural, had been at work. The sister and servant-girl were busy with their domestic duties, and a large pot of turnips was hanging over the glowing peat fire. “Are you superstitious?” I enquired. “I don’t think you will find any man less superstitious than I am. You ask me what I think was the cause of what has occurred here – the lashing of soot against the wall and dresser, the flying of stones across the kitchen and into the parlour, and all these broken windows? Well, I can form no opinion; the whole thing is shrouded in mystery.”
He then began to tell the story of what had really occurred. A fortnight previous to my visit the kitchen chimney had been swept by drawing holly branches up and down the flue. The holly had been cut off a bush by his farm servant. “After sweeping,” he continued, “soot fell down the chimney for three days in succession, causing, as you may suppose, a good deal of annoyance and some surprise, as it lasted so much longer than usual. Then it quit till Friday last, when the soot which came down the chimney was not drawn towards the door, as might be expected, but towards the other side of the kitchen. Balls of soot came down and struck the dresser and the adjoining wall; there, you see, are some of the marks still.
When I came in about eight o’clock in the evening I saw there was something remarkable about the way the soot was getting on. At this time there was no indication of where the pieces of soot were coming from. My man, who lives near in one of the Union cottages, went away soon after, but we sat on till about 11 o’clock, when we went to bed. I had left a bedroom drawer open, and I had not been long in bed when I heard two or three sharp crashes, apparently in the direction of the drawer. When I got up there was nothing to be seen.
Next morning when we were at breakfast the soot began again to lash against the dresser. After that one of these back window panes was broken, then another. A small peat clod came through the window when my man was here and fell on the floor. “And your sister and this girl were here all the time?” “Oh yes, they were here as well, and they can stand over what I am telling you. Small gravel came first, followed by stones. It was impossible to tell where the stones came from. This went on during the greater part of Saturday. We stood watching and could not see a single thing until the stones were falling on the floor or on the soles of the windows [windowsills] after they were broken. They did not appear to come with great force, but I noticed that wherever they struck they fell. A round stone in the pantry which weighed a pound and a half and was at one time used for weighing butter went round two corners into the room – through the closed door, I think, but am not certain – and smashed several panes in the room window, tearing the muslin blind. I had it in my hand after it fell. While my man and I were at dinner I heard something fall lightly on the floor above, and then a small stone fell through on the kitchen floor, but there was no hole to show how it had got through.”
“Are you sure there was nobody in the room above or at the back of the house?” “Yes, we were round the house several times. These, you see, are pieces of a bath-brick. That bath-brick was put in the dresser by the servant-girl, or, as my sister thinks, on the stand in front of it; anyway, the brick flew across the kitchen and smashed itself on the sash of the front window. Here’s a large oval stone that fell on the floor. While this was going on in daylight – yes, broad daylight – on Saturday, James Tait, a neighbour who had been ploughing over there, came in, and after seeing what had happened suggested to me that I should send for the clergy. I was at first averse to this, but the car was brought out, and I got ready to go for the Rev. Mr. Rutledge. While I was getting on the car I heard a sound of falling glass, and on coming into the kitchen we found that the half of the glass in that large picture frame which you see hanging there was broken. Mr. Rutledge cycled back with me, and he examined the house, but nothing occurred while he was here.
“Douglas’s breadcart man from Limavady called early in the afternoon and saw stones striking the windows. We had to remove the side dishes from the dresser, as several of them had been broken. A mug I set on the dresser was smashed. as far as I could notice all the stones appeared to strike the windows from the inside, forcing many of the fragments outwards. When several persons were in the house on Saturday night, a stone struck that coat hanging on the wall there and fell into a dish; it was a piece of limestone.”
While I was in the house the Limavady breadman, George Averil, above referred to, called in the course of his rounds, and related to me what he saw on the previous Saturday. He had no doubt at all that he saw stones strike the windows, but could not ascertain where they came from. George, a strictly temperate young man, was very indignant because a Derry paper had stated that he was terrified by the “supernatural manifestations,” and had to fortify himself at a spirit store.
Mr McLaughlin then conducted me over the house, pointin gout the small holes in the wallplaster of the kitchen where the stones had struck. All the twelve panes in the front window of the kitchen were broken, while in a similar window in the parlour only three panes had been left whole. Panes were also smashed in the back kitchen window and front pantry window. Altogether I counted thirty panes broken. Mr McLaughlin, in looking round the house on Sunday morning, found that an overmantel in the parlour consisting of one centre mirror and six small side mirrors had one of the small mirrors smashed. The glass was quarter-inch thick, and curiously enough the stone which had broken it was found lying on the shelf close to the glass. None of the stones, as he observed, seemed to rebound after they struck. The parlour table on Saturday night was seen to be covered with soot.
“The trouble,” added the relator of these strange doings, “began with soot and ended with soot. Two or three times on Sunday balls of soot and pieces of peat would fall on the kitchen floor. A small stone whizzed past the ear of one of the visitors. On Sunday night, when several friends were chatting with us around the fire, a ball of soot, with bits of holly leaves in it, fell at our feet. That was the last of it; there has been nothing since.”
I called his attention to an account in a Derry paper in which it was stated that “the paving stones rose from the front of the house,” that “the crocks positively refused to receive the milk and became filled with stones,” and that “the threshing machine in the barn commenced to work of its accord, and went at a great rate.” He laughed heartily, and said there was not a word of truth in all that. “There is no need in this case,” he observed,”to draw on the imagination.” Nor is there.
But how are the doings he relates, and which are vouched for by others, to be accounted for? I pause for a reply.
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Our Limavady correspondent writes – On Monday night I paid a visit to the house and was cordially recieved. Mr McLaughlin did not hesitate to give any information he could. He described in a very clear and intelligent way the whole proceedings from the cutting of the holly bush up to that night, and fully substantiated the reports of damage done, and stated that his sister and himself were greatly upset. He could offer absolutely no explanation. He thought at first that their lives were endangered. The people of the district are also in a quandary over the matter, and many of them fear to talk on the subject. One old woman point blank refused to give an opinion, except stating, “Watch yoursel’, wean dear, for the wee folk maun be comin’ back.”
All classes and creeds at all events agree that Mr McLaughlin is one of the most popular men in Magilligan. Out of curiosity, and in spite of repeated warnings from people in the locality, the Press representative present requested to see the holly bush. A friend of Mr McLaughlin very kindly pointed it out. There is nothing remarkable about the evergreen, and each cut off a spring, and also treated themselves to a small piece from the portion that cleaned the chimney. A number of clergymen and ladies and gentlemen have visited the place, but no explanation of the strange performance is forthcoming.
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A Clergyman’s Description.
The Rev. L.W. Rutledge, the Rectory, Bellarena, writes: –
Soot which had been removed from the house some ten days before was suddenly scattered over the kitchen floor and dresser, and was found in a covered pot on the fire. Thirty panes of glass were broken, besides a picture-glass, a rmirro, a lamp chimney, and some other china articles. Stones were thrown about the house in an unaccountable manner, and I saw them littered over the floor. Most of this breaking took place in broad daylight, and in the presence of some of the members of the household. Considerable effort must have been used in the throwing of the stoens, and the throwing in most cases must have been done by “a force” inside the house.
Very little noise accompanied all this, beyond the necessary noise caused by breaking glass, and no one was struck by any of the stones. One of the stones was quite 1lb. in weight, and some of them were recognised as stones known to have been outside the room in which they were found. How this happened and by whom the stones were thrown and why remains to be solved. Either a very clever trick has been played, or else some “force” of which we have not cognizance, has been at work. This is the plain and unvarnished account of what has caused much annoyance to Mr McLaughlin and his sister, and, however it may be accounted for, they justly claim the sympathy of the public.
Northern Constitution, 26th January 1907.
Limavady and District Notes. (From our Correspondent).
A Magilligan Mystery.
The district of Magilligan has been in a state of intense excitement for some days past regarding certain alleged supernatural manifestations at a farmhouse where an aged brother and sister, named John and Sophia McLaughlin, reside. The dwelling is a one-storey structure, with a slate roof, nestling on the hill-side, commanding a magnificent prospect of country, lough, and ocean. It is situate in the townland of Ballyleighery, and is about eight miles distant from Limavady, on a branch road leading to Coleraine. It appears that McLaughlin adopted the not unusual practice in country districts of using a bush for sweeping the chimney, and for this purpose cut a “gentle” holly bush about a fortnight ago. After the kitchen chimney had been swept with this, the resulting soot was buried near the dwelling. To the cutting of this “gentle” (or fairies’) holly bush the whole trouble is ascribed by the superstitious members of the community, this action of McLaughlin’s evoking the displeasure of the “wee folk.”
Soon after the inmates, it is stated, began to experience a plague of soot, which made cooking operations almost impossible. On the evening of the 18th inst. Sophia McLaughlin had, she alleges, to change the kettle water seven times, and also found it impossible to prepare porridge for the same cause. At breakfast time on the 19th inst. soot appeared in large caked pieces, although the doors and windows were all closed, and dashed about the kitchen, making marks on the whitewashed walls, and breaking the delf.
As the day wore on, stones of varying sizes mysteriously appeared at intervals, and after careering wildly about the kitchen, smashed in all over thirty panes of window glass, shattered a picture, and also a plate-glass panel in the overmantel in the parlour. All the missiles struck the windows from the inside, forcing fragments outwards. A piece of bathbrick in a closed cupboard was, several people maintain, seen by them to hurl itself across the kitchen, and smash into seven or eight pieces against the window sash. A stone weighing two pounds, used as a griddle balance, was also observed to dash about, and after negotiating two successive corners, passed through the closed door into the parlour, where it smashed the window and tore a hole in the curtain. Curious noises were heard at night, but all the damage was done by daylight.
We visited the scene on Monday night, and interviewed John McLaughlin, who fully substantiated the report of the damage done, many of the uncanny occurrences being witnessed by him. He said that he and his sister were greatly upset, and could offer absolutely no explanation. They thought at first that their lives were endangered. Mr McLaughlin stated to us that the soot which had collected in the house was removed outside, and re-interred in the manure heap, but again made its appearance within the kitchen, and at presence not a vestige of soot remains where it was buried the second time. On examining these hard lumps of soot we found holly leaves embedded in some of them.
Stones were heard to crash through the roof of the house and a wood-sheeted ceiling of the kitchen without making any perforations, and were found resting on the kitchen floor. Some of the stones were removed outside, but returned inside of their own volition. It has been stated that the milk vessels in the pantry refused to receive their usual contents, and filled up with the energetic and ubiquitous stones. Some persons say the threshing machine in the barn began to work of its own accord on Sunday, while others testify to the presence of a ghostly motor-car which circuited the haunted premises by night – pointing to the presence of an up-to-date spook!
During the aerial evolutions of the stones one of them shattered a lamp chimney and extinguished the light. Of the numerous stones which are stated to have struck or smashed the kitchen and parlour windows, only three are known to have gone through the windows. The others were found reposing on the sill or on the floor. the “seances” ceased on Sunday, one of the last “manifestations” being the propulsion of a large stone across the kitchen on that afternoon, the object narrowly missing the head of a Limavady visitor. Another Limavady man, interviewed, stated to us that during his stay in the kitchen two full pails of water mysteriously overturned and spilled the fluid about his feet. he asserts that he saw a stone rolling along the floor, and another one rising in the air.
A Coleraine man when transacting some business with Mr McLaughlin saw the latter struck on the shoulder with a large piece of peat, and was further alarmed when a similar missile grazed himself. The two men were alone in the kitchen at the time. A bread-server arrived at the house on Saturday during the height of the havoc, and was so intensely alarmed that he would not enter the house. He declares that he saw a peculiar shape emerging from the chimney with the smoke. He was so terrified that he fled incontinently. Many other persons join in giving testimony regarding their, and Mr McLaughlin’s, weird experience.
Mr McLaughlin is described as a kindly and inoffensive neighbour, and is highly esteemed by all who know him. His neighbours sympathise with him, and greatly resent the least suggestion that any of them are perpetrating practical jokes or malicious acts. Since the remarkable occurrences were made public the scene has been visited by crowdds of sightseers, many of them travelling long distances. Several prominent residents in the district have made strict investigation into the matter, but up to the present no explanation has been forthcoming to clear up the mystery.
A rumour was current in town on Wednesday that the “ghost” had been “laid,” but on inquiry we found there was no foundation for this statement.
Ballymoney Free Press and Northern Counties Advertiser, 31st January 1907.
Haunted House in an Irish Village.
A ghost story comes from Magilligan, in County Londonderry. The superstitious people of the neighbourhood declare that the “divil’s speel” has been cast over the home of Mr McLaughlin. Stones, propelled by some unseen force, have been flying through roof, doors, and windows, breaking glass and denting the walls, and soot has been pouring into the house in a regular shower. The number of window panes broken down to the present time is reported to be 32. The stone-throwing and furniture-moving are as yet unexplained, and the “haunted house” is attracting many visitors from the villages around.
Yorkshire Evening Post, 8th February 1907.