A Perth “Ghost.”
Extraordinary Affair.
A remarkable story, savouring strongly of the supernatural, has gained currency in Perth during the week-end. It contains all the elements of a good-going ghost yarn – an apparition, a rattling of dishes by an unseen hand, a fainting woman – and whatever may be the explanation of the strange occurrence, inquiry has proved that the incidents rumoured are founded on fact.
The scene of the “visitation” is a large house in the Goodlyburn district of Perth, and the time last Monday night during the sharp thunderstorm which broke over the town. The house is occupied by a well-known business man, his wife, and a servant, and is situated in a locality where numerous petty burglaries have occurred during the past three months. Consequently every entrance to the house was securely fastened.
Well on in the evening, when the gentleman, his wife, and visitors were seated in one of the public rooms, they were startled by an extraordinary rattling of dishes from the direction of the kitchen. To all indications it appeared that the maid had dropped a trayful of crockery or similar articles, and the lady of the house proceeded to find out the exact cause of the disturbance. On entering the kitchen she was surprised and horrified to find the servant in a deep swoon.
Summoning her husband, steps were at once taken to revive the girl, and in a short time their efforts were successful. The poor woman was, however, in such a state of nerves that she was not at the outset able to give any coherent account of what had happened. The master of the house, being of a practical turn of mind, suspected that the house had been broken into by burglars, and he and his gentlemen visitors, with pokers and taper in hand, proceeded to make a thorough search. Everything was found in order. The doors were locked, and the windows all snibbed with burglar-proof catches, and it was clearly evident that no one had surreptitiously gained entrance.
Returning to the kitchen, they found that the girl had given her mistress some details of the proceedings. She strongly affirmed that she was not near the open pantry, where the dishes were. They suddenly began to rattle in a most extraordinary manner, and turning round she saw the figure of a strange-looking man standing at the closet door. At the sight she fainted. Pressed for further explanation, she stuck firmly to the details of her story, and since then she has been insistent as to its truth. During the week the poor girl has been in a highly nervous state after the strange adventure through which she came.
The occupants of the house are reticent over the matter, but there is not the slightest doubt as to the reliability of the facts related. the servant girl who witnessed the affair is by no means of an impressionable nature, and had previously never exhibited the slightest signs of nervousness or fear. Whether she saw a “ghost” or not is not a matter of doubt, but her narrative is believed by those who know her; and certainly the occurrence is of a most unusual character. No further details have been revealed to throw light on the matter, but it has been suggested that a curious discharge of electric fluid during the thunderstorm may be the explanation of the phenomenon.
Linlithgowshire Gazette, 4th September 1908.