An Old Colwyn Ghost.
By our own special spook hunter.
Old Colwyn is specially favoured these days. It enjoys the exalted privilege of being the local habitation of a ghost. But the ghost belongs to a peculiar species of spiritual beings. It does not come at midnight, nor does it haunt a ruined monastery or an ancient family mansion. It is altogether a queer kind of ghost. However it has caused tremendous commotion in the neighbourhood of Old Colwy, and a thousand and one theories are suggested to explain the mystery.
It appears that one Charles Jones, a worthy man living in Colwyn Bay, carries on farming operations somewhere near Old Colwyn. A part of his work, of course, is to milk his cows, and for some time he has been puzzled by the splashing into his milk pails of stones, flung by unseen hands souse into the white and churning milk. This was more annoying than injurious at first, and he took little trouble to find out the cause; but as the mysterious stone throwing continued, he got a few of his friends to watch with him for a time while he milked his kine. They watched and he watched, and yet at the moment of their most vigilant attention, splash, splash, splash, came the stones into the milk pails, up flew the milk into the air, and yet not a soul could be seen.
The matter clearly demanded a keener scrutiny and looking into, and later on a posse of about 40 sturdy men, to whom the moral support of one policeman was vouchsafed, kept watch and ward over the milking operations of our friend. This time, however (and very properly in my opinion), the spook lay low, and the great big men, many of whom were Englishmen, were disappointed. Of course they said, “Aha, aha, you see! now that we are on the watch, there is no stone throwing: it is clearly the work of a human being who knows he would be found out if he carried on his antics while we were on the look out.” The conceited duffers!
But what’s the use of talking? Men like these, who do not believe in ghosts, will believe any absurd theory to account for the most mysterious phenomena. How could any human being do what has been done here and not be seen? Answer me that, if you can, my English sceptics! Why, can’t you see that no decent spook would care to demean himself to be a mere spectacle to forty men, one of whom was an ordinary policeman! Not likely!
I must try and find time some of these days, before the spook goes away, to run down, and make my own enquiries on the spot. I have never yet been disappointed when I have done this, and I have good grounds for hoping that when I can do this I shall be in a position to give my readers some interesting and thrilling information.
Old Colwyn is by no means devoid of natural attractions, but this season they have not done much to bring visitors to the place. A judicious advertisement of this supernatural attraction ought to fill the empty houses, even of Old Colwyn, and I, for one, would not blame the Colwynites if they did utilize it in this way.
The North Wales Express, 11th August 1893.