A Ghost at Parkstone.
Some of the fair ladies of this pretty village have been recently alarmed by the report that “a ghost” had taken up his position in the village, and at one of the houses after dark he, the said ghost, is said to have visited, causing the bells to ring, the crockery to shake, and other mysterious noises.
Sentinels were placed to keep watch, but the spirit of some departed friend or foe was not seen, though the strange sounds continued. The watchers at last became frightened, and no one could be found to keep a look-out but a gentleman in blue, who considered the matter over, and advised the mistress of the “haunted house” to lock a certain domestic’s door for one night; this was done, and strange to say the “ghost” that night did not appear, though upon the following night, when the door was once more opened, he, or rather she, again “did walk.”
The sequel of all this is that the “ghost” was discovered and desired in a very unceremonious way to vanish, which order, after the packing of boxes, was duly performed, and since that time no more has been heard of the “Ghost of Parkstone,” so we presume it must have “shrunk away in haste.”
Dorset County Chronicle, 3rd December 1863.