About the end of December, 1661, the drumming was less frequent, but then a noise like the chinking of money was substituted for it, occasioned, as it was thought, in consequence of something Mr. Monpesson’s mother had said the day before to a neighbour, who spoke about fairies leaving money behind them; viz. that she should like it well, if it would leave them some to make them amends for the trouble it had caused them. The following night, a great chinking and jingling of money was heard all over the house. After this it left off its ruder pranks, and amused itself in little apish and less troublesome tricks. On Christmas morning, a little before daylight, one of the little boys was hit, as he was getting out of bed, upon a sore place on his heel, with the latch of the door, the pin of which, that fastened it to the door, was so small, that it was a matter of no little difficulty for any one else to pick it. The night after Christmas, it threw the old gentlewoman’s clothes about the room, and hid her bible in the ashes; with a number of other mischievous tricks of the same kind.
After this, it became very troublesome to one of Mr. Monpesson’s servant men, a stout fellow, and of sober conversation. This man slept in the house during the greater part of the disturbance; and for several nights something would attempt to pull the bedclothes off him, which he often, though not always, prevented by main force; his shoes were frequently thrown at his head, and sometimes he would find himself forcibly held, as it were, hand and feet; but he found that when he could use a sword which he had by him, and struck with it, the spirit let go his hold.
Some short time after these contests, a son of Mr. Thomas Bennet, for whom the drummer had sometimes worked, came to the house, and mentioned some words to Mr. Monpesson that the drummer had spoken, which it seems were not well taken; for they were no sooner in bed, than the drum began to beat in a most violent manner: the gentleman got up and called his man, who was lying with Mr. Monpesson’s servant just mentioned, whose name was John. As soon as Mr. Bennet’s man was gone, John heard a rustling noise in his chamber, as if a person in silks were moving up and down; he immediately put out his hand for his sword, which he felt was withheld by some one, and it was with difficulty and much tugging, that he got it again into his possession, which he had no sooner done, than the spectre left him; and it was always remarked it avoided a sword. About the beginning of January, 1662, they used to hear a singing in the chimney before it descended; and one night, about this time, lights were seen in the house. One of them came into Mr. Monpesson’s chamber, which appeared blue and glimmering, and caused a great stiffness in the eyes of those who beheld it. After the light disappeared, something was heard walking or creeping up stairs, as if without shoes. The light was seen four or five times in the children’s chamber; and the maids confidently affirm, that the doors were at least ten times opened or shut in their presence; and that, when they were opened, they heard a noise as if half a dozen had entered together; some of which were afterwards heard to walk about the room, and one rustled about as if it had been dressed in silk, similar to that Mr. Monpesson himself heard.
While the demon was in one of his knocking moods, and at a time when many were present, a gentleman of the company said, “Satan, if the drummer set thee to work, give three knocks and no more;” which it did very distinctly, and stopped. The same gentleman then knocked to hear if it would answer him as it was accustomed to do. For further proof, he required it, if it actually were the drummer that employed him as the agent of his malice, to give five knocks and no more that night; which it did, and quietly left the house for the remainder of the night. This was done in the presence of Sir Thomas Chamberlaine of Oxfordshire, and many other creditable persons.
On Saturday morning, an hour before daylight, January 10, a drum was heard beating upon the outside of Mr. Monpesson’s chamber, from whence it went to the other end of the house, where some gentlemen strangers lay, and commenced playing at their door four or five different tunes; and at length flew off in the air. The next night, a blacksmith in the village, and Mr. Monpesson’s man John, who was lying with him, heard a noise in the room, as if somebody were shoeing a horse; and something came with something like a pair of pincers, and nipped at the blacksmith’s nose the whole of the night.
Getting up one morning to go a journey, Mr. Monpesson heard a great noise below, where the children lay; and on running down instantly with a pistol in his hand, he heard a voice cry out, a witch! a witch! similar to one they had heard on a former occasion. On his entering the apartment, all became quiet again.
The demon having one night played some little pranks at the foot of Mr. Monpesson’s bed, it went into another bed, where one of his daughters lay, and passed from one side to the other, lifting her up as it passed under her. At that time there were three kinds of noises in the bed. They attempted to thrust at it with a sword, but it continually evaded them. The following night it came panting like a dog out of breath, when some one present took a bedpost to strike at it, when it was immediately snatched out of her hand; and company coming up stairs at the same time, the room was filled with a nauseous stench, and very hot, although there was no fire on, and during a very sharp winter’s night. It continued panting an hour and a half, panting and scratching; and afterwards went into the adjoining chamber, where it began to knock a little, and seemed to rattle a chair; thus it continued for two or three nights in succession. The old lady’s bible after this was found again among the ashes, with the leaves downwards. It was taken up by Mr. Monpesson, who observed that it lay open at the third chapter of St. Mark, where mention is made of the unclean spirits falling down before our Saviour, and of his giving power to the twelve Apostles to cast out devils, and of the Scribes’ opinion, and that he cast them out through Beelzebub.
The following morning ashes were scattered over the chamber floor, to see what impressions would be left upon it; in the morning, in one place they found the resemblance of a great claw in another that of a smaller one, some letters in another, which could not be decyphered, besides a number of circles and scratches in the ashes, which no one understood except the demon itself.
About this time, the author of the narration went to the house to enquire after the truth of the circumstances which made so much noise in that part of the country. The demon had left off drumming, and the terrible noises it was in the habit of making before he arrived; but most of the remarkable facts already related, were confirmed to him there by several of the neighbours, on whose veracity he could depend, who had witnessed them. It now used to haunt the children after they were gone to bed. On the night he was there, the children went to bed about 8 o’clock; a maid servant immediately came down and informed us that the spirit was come. The neighbours then present went away, as well as two ministers who had previously been some time in the house, but Mr. Monpesson the author, and another gentleman who came with him, went up to the room where the children were in bed. A scratching was heard as they went up stairs, and just as they got into the room, it was perceived just behind the bolster of the bed in which the children lay, and appeared to be lying against the tick. The noise it made was like that made with long nails upon the bolster. There were two little girls, about seven or eight years of age, in the bed. Their hands were outside the bedclothes, so that it was perfectly visible the noise was not made by them which was behind their heads: they had been so used to it of late, and always with some present in the chamber, that they seemed to take very little notice of it. The narrator, who was standing at the head of the bed, thrust his hand behind the bolster from whence the noise proceeded, when it was immediately heard in another part of the bed; but as soon as his hand was taken away, it returned to the same place as before. On being told that it would imitate noises, he made trial by scratching several times upon the sheet, as five, seven, and ten times: it exactly replied to them by equal numbers. He looked under and behind the bed, grasped the bolster, sounded the wall, and made every possible search to find out any trick, contrivance, or other cause, as well as his friend, but could discover nothing. So that in truth he concluded, that the noise was made by some spirit or demon. After it had scratched about for half an hour or more, it got into the middle of the bed under the children, where it lay panting loudly, like a dog out of breath. The author then put his hand upon the place, and plainly felt the bed bearing up against it, as if it contained something within thrusting it up. He grasped the feather to feel if he could distinguish any thing alive; then looked every where about to see if there were any dog or cat, or other creature, in the room; every one present followed his example, but still they discovered nothing. The motion it caused by its panting was so violent, that it had a visible effect on the room and windows. In this manner it continued for half an hour, the time the author was present. During this panting, something was seen in a linen bag that was hung up against another bed, that was taken for a mouse or rat, but upon the closest examination of it, nothing was found in it of any description.
The author and his friend afterwards slept in the very identical chamber where the principal disturbance had been first made. He was awakened by a terrible noise made on the outside of the chamber door. He awoke his friend, and asked three distinct times who was there, but received no answer. At last he exclaimed, “in the name of God who is it, and what would you have? To which a voice answered, nothing with you. Thinking it was some of the servants of the house, they went to sleep again. Mentioning, however, the circumstance the next morning to Mr. Monpesson, he declared that no one of the house lay that way, or had any business thereabouts, and that none of his servants had got up until they were called by him some time after daylight. This the servants confirmed, and protested that the noise was not made by them. Previous to this, Mr. Monpesson had told us, that it would go away in the middle of the night, and return at different times about four o’clock, which was supposed to be about the hour it was heard by the author and his friend.