I meet with numerous extraordinary records of a preternatural ringing of all the bells in a house; sometimes occurring periodically for a considerable time, and continuing after precautions have been taken which precluded the possibility of trick or deception, the wires being cut, and vigilant eyes watching them; and yet they rung on, by day or night, just the same.
It is certainly very difficult to conceive, but at the same time it is not impossible, that such strange phenomena as that of the Stockwell ghost, and many similar ones, may be the manifestations of some extraordinary electrical influence; but there are other cases of poltergeist which it is impossible to attribute to the same cause, since they are accompanied by evident manifestations of will and intelligence. Such was the instance related in Southey’s Life of Wesley, which occurred in the year 1716, beginning with a groaning, and subsequently proceeding to all manner of noises, lifting of latches, clattering of windows, knockings of a most mysterious kind, &c., &c. The family were not generally frightened, but the young children, when asleep, showed symptoms of great terror. This annoyance lasted, I think, two or three months, and then ceased. As in most of these cases, the dog was extremely frightened, and hid himself when the visitations commenced.
In the year 1838, a circumstance of the same kind occurred in Paris, in the Rue St. Honoré; and not very long ago there was one in Caithness, in which most unaccountable circumstances transpired. Among the rest, stones were flung, which never hit people, but fell at their feet, in rooms perfectly closed on all sides. A gentleman who witnessed these extraordinary phenomena, related the whole story to an advocate of my acquaintance, who assured me that, however impossible he found it to credit such things, he should certainly place entire reliance on that gentleman’s word in any other case.
Then there is the famous story of the drummer of Tedworth;[[6]] and the persecution of Professor Schuppart, at Giessen, in Upper Hesse, which continued, with occasional intermission, for six years. This affair began with a violent knocking at the door one night; next day stones were sent whizzing through closed rooms in all directions, so that, although no one was struck, the windows were all broken; and no sooner were new panes put in, than they were broken again. He was persecuted with slaps on the face, by day and by night, so that he could get no rest; and when two persons were appointed by the authorities to sit by his bed to watch him, they got the slaps also. When he was reading at his desk, his lamp would suddenly rise up and remove to the other end of the room—not as if thrown, but evidently carried. His books were torn to pieces and flung at his feet; and when he was lecturing, this mischievous sprite would tear out the leaf he was reading; and it is very remarkable, that the only thing that seemed available as a protection, was a drawn sword brandished over his head by himself or others, which was one of the singularities attending the case of the drummer of Tedworth. Schuppart narrated all these circumstances in his public lectures, and nobody ever disputed the facts.
A remarkable case of this sort occurred in the year 1670, at Keppock, near Glasgow. There, also, stones were thrown which hit nobody, but the annoyance only continued eight days; and there are several more to be found recorded in works of that period. The disturbance that happened in the house of Gilbert Cambell, at Glenluce, excited considerable notice. Here, as elsewhere, stones were thrown; but, as in most similar instances I meet with, no human being was damaged—the license of these spirits, or goblins, or whatever they be, seeming to extend no further than worrying and tormenting their victims. In this case, however, the spirit spoke to them, though he was never seen. The annoyance commenced in November, of the year 1654, I think, and continued till April, when there was some intermission till July, when it recommenced. The loss of the family from the things destroyed was ruining; for their household goods and chattels were rendered useless, their food was polluted and spoiled, and their very clothes cut to pieces while on their backs, by invisible hands; and it was in vain that all the ministers about the country assembled to exorcise this troublesome spirit, for whoever was there the thing continued exactly the same.
At length poor Cambell applied to the synod of presbyters for advice; and a meeting was convened in October, 1655, and a solemn day of humiliation was imposed through the whole bounds of the presbytery, for the sake of the afflicted family. Whether it was owing to this or not, there ensued an alleviation from that time till April, and from April till August they were entirely free, and hoped all was over; but then it began again worse than ever, and they were dreadfully tormented through the autumn; after which the disturbance ceased, and although the family lived in the house many years afterward, nothing of the sort ever happened again.
There was another famous case, which occurred at a place called Ring-Croft, in Kirkcudbright, in the year 1695. The afflicted family bore the name of Mackie. In this instance, the stones did sometimes hit them, and they were beaten as if by staves; they, as well as strangers who came to the house, were lifted off the ground by their clothes; their bed-coverings were taken off their beds; things were visibly carried about the house by invisible hands; several people were hurt, even to the effusion of blood, by stones and blows; there were fire-balls seen about the house, which were several times ignited; people, both of the family and others, felt themselves grasped as if by a hand; then there was groaning, crying, whistling, and a voice that frequently spoke to them. Crowds of people went to the house; but the thing continued just the same whether there were many or few, and sometimes the whole building shook as if it were coming down.
A day of humiliation was appointed in this case also, but without the least effect. The disturbance commenced in February, and ended on the 1st of May. Numberless people witnessed the phenomenon, and the account of it is attested by fourteen ministers and gentlemen.
The same sort of thing occurred in the year 1659, in a place inhabited by an evangelical bishop, called Schlotterbeck. It began in the same manner, by throwing of stones and other things, many of which came through the roof, insomuch that they believed at first that some animal was concealed there. However, nothing could be found, and the invisible guest soon proceeded to other annoyances similar to those abovementioned; and though they could not see him, his footsteps were for ever heard about the house. At length, wearied out, the bishop applied to the government for aid; and they sent him a company of soldiers to guard the house by day and night, out of which he and his family retired. But the goblin cared no more for the soldiers than it had done for the city watch; the thing continued without intermission, whoever was there, till it ceased of its own accord. There was a house at Aix-la-Chapelle that was for several years quite uninhabitable from a similar cause.
I could mention many other cases, and, as I have said before, they occur in all countries; but these will suffice as specimens of the class. It is in vain for people who were not on the spot to laugh, and assert that these were the mischievous tricks of servants or others, when those who were there, and who had such a deep interest in unravelling the mystery, and such abundance of time and opportunity for doing it, could find no solution whatever. In many of the above cases, the cattle were unloosed, the horses were turned out of their stables, and uniformly all the animals in the way exhibited great terror, sweating and trembling, while the visitation continued.