Chapter 8

This resident is the one as to whom the _Times_ correspondent dogmatically stated, that having lived in the place for twenty years he asserted that there had never been a whisper of the haunting of B---- until the tenancy of the H----s.

_March 6th, Saturday_.--Mr. Garford left.

The Colonel is to sleep to-night in No. 3, which has not been occupied since Miss "N." left.

Mr. C---- arrived. He sleeps, by his own choice, in No. 2. He has had a conversation with the butler, whom he had been instrumental in engaging for us, which began by his asking how he liked his situation? He expressed himself satisfied with everything, but added, "But there's something very queer about the house," and then proceeded to tell his wife's experience.

_March 7th, Sunday_.--Mr. C---- has written an account of his experiences last night.

Robinson has this morning told him of his first experience! He was awakened by the noise of a heavy body falling in the middle of the room; he awoke his wife, struck a match, and looked at his watch--it was 3.30; no one else had been disturbed. Mr. C----'s account follows:--

"_March 7th, 1897._--It was arranged that Colonel Taylor should occupy No. 3, and that I should sleep in No. 2. I went to bed about twelve, but did not go to sleep at once.

"I awoke suddenly with the distinct impression that there was some one in the room. I lay still, and tried to realise what was in the room, but could not do so. There was no idea of movement in my mind, but still I felt convinced that some one was there. The impression seemed gradually to fade out of my mind after about seven or ten minutes, and then I got up and looked at my watch--the time was 4.40 A.M.

"I then went back to bed, but did not go to sleep. I heard the clock in the hall strike five.

"Shortly after I thought I heard some one moving about in No. 1, which I knew to be unoccupied. I listened, and it seemed to me that some one was moving round three sides of the room and then coming back. The movement went on for about three or four minutes and then stopped, but after a pause of some minutes it began again. I tried to make out footsteps, but could not do so. The movement was that of a heavy body going round the room, and the floor seemed to shake slightly, after the way of old flooring when a heavy man moves about. After going on for some time the movement stopped, and again, after a pause, began again. The movement, whatever it was, occurred four times, with three pauses in between. The durations of the movement and pauses were irregular. After the noise ceased I got up and lit the candle. The time was 5.25, and I read for twenty-five minutes, when I felt sleepy and blew out the candle. I did not, however, go to sleep, and I heard six strike. The day was dawning. The rooks I first heard about 5.35, when I was reading.

"About ten minutes after the clock struck six I heard a noise like a light-footed person running downstairs, which seemed to adjoin No. 3, where the Colonel was sleeping, and almost immediately after I heard a loud rapping at the door of No. 1. After a short pause this occurred again, and I jumped out of bed. As I opened the door of my room leading into the passage the rapping sounds occurred again, but less loudly. There was no one in the passage, and I went back to bed, not having quite shut my door. No sooner had I done so than there was a knock at my door, which I thought must be the Colonel coming to speak to me about the rapping at No. 1. I called out 'Come in,' but there was no answer, and I accordingly again went to the door, only to find no one.

"I heard the servants begin to move about at 6.30 above me, and as seven struck I heard them going through the house.

"The Colonel did not hear anything.

"There are no stairs coming down to the bedroom storey where I thought I heard footsteps.

"The rapping was not in any way an alarming noise.

"On Saturday night 'Ouija' had said that I was not to be disturbed that night, so I was 'not expecting.' It also stated that Nos. 3 and 8 were the rooms that 'the Major' occupied."

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_March 8th, Monday._--Mr. C---- left early. He has promised to write of any experience last night, as he was gone before we were up. Colonel Taylor is still in No. 3; he has heard nothing, but this is perhaps the less evidential, that, although a frequent visitor to haunted houses, he has never had any experience.

We are still in No. 8, in which we have had a sufficient number of experiences to make us anxious to distribute responsibility by handing it over to another sensitive at the earliest possibility. Miss Langton has hitherto slept in No. 4, in which she was put on her first arrival, except for the three nights she was in No. 2, with companionship in the adjacent rooms. There seems to be no object in the Colonel remaining in No. 3, as he is unlikely to see or hear anything, and as soon as that side of the house is quite emptied she proposes to go into No. 1, as we are anxious to discover whether her experience will corroborate that of Miss Moore, myself, Mrs. B. C----, Mr. Garford, and the maids, as to the sound of voices.

_March 9th, Tuesday._--Mr. C---- writes this morning in regard to Sunday night: "_March 8th._--... Last night I was not so much disturbed, but I awoke at 3.10, and did not sleep after that. I had exactly the same sensation as on the previous night, that whenever I was going to sleep something woke me. At 5.20 I heard three noises very close together, but they were very distant, and sounded from the direction of your room" (No. 8).

_March 10th, Wednesday._--I awoke about 5.30, and lay awake reading. I had drawn the blinds up, but kept the candle in as long as it was required. At intervals between twenty minutes to six o'clock and ten minutes past I heard the sounds characteristic of No. 8., viz., footsteps of a man, and pattering of a dog. Miss Moore awoke, and heard the later sounds. About 6.10 we both heard the thud, which seems to occur generally beyond the wardrobe nearer the door.

In the afternoon Miss Moore and I called on Mrs. S----.

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_March 11th, Thursday._--Very wet day, no phenomena.

_March 12th, Friday._--Another wet day. I had had a headache all day, and was unable to join the others in a walk when the rain cleared off, but I went out, alone, about 6.30 to the copse. Standing in my usual place, I saw the nun coming over the hill towards the burn; she stood nearly opposite to me, looking down to the water for a few minutes, and then moved away towards the avenue. I followed as quickly as possible, but when I got to the drive she was still a few yards ahead of me, and I failed to catch her up, though I pursued her down to the lodge, about two hundred yards; she then, passing through the gates, turned to the left, and I lost her in the obscurity of the road, which is there darkened by heavy trees. When I returned to the house I was still in so much pain that I took a sedative draught and went to bed, and to sleep at once.

With regard to the above it may be remarked that the way she came led from B---- Cottage, where by the kindness of Mr. S---- some nuns had formerly spent their annual holiday, and the road on which she disappeared was a way which would have led back to it.

_March 13th, Saturday._--At ten o'clock last night Miss Moore woke me to take some food. I was still under the influence of the opiate, and did not really rouse, even when she came to bed half-an-hour later. We did not speak till I was aroused by a loud banging noise, when, in answer to my startled exclamation, Miss Moore suggested that it was probably the servants shutting up downstairs, as we were early, and they had very likely not yet gone to bed. I was much annoyed, as I knew they had been cautioned to keep quiet, and even the maid had not been allowed to enter my room. This morning, when Miss Moore went to see the housekeeper, the butler came in and asked if we had heard any noises last night, about a quarter to eleven o'clock, he thought, after every one had gone up to bed; adding, "It was two bangs like a fist on a door, and I said, 'If that isn't Miss Moore or Miss Langton, I'll believe in the noises they all talk about,'--it's just like what the gentlemen told me."

His wife had also heard the bangs, but had waited for him to speak to her of them, and the maids on the other side of the house had been roused to come to their door and listen.

The footman, who sleeps in the basement, and the Colonel, who was in the smoking-room in the wing till 11.30, heard nothing; but Miss Langton, in No. 4, to whom Miss Moore mentioned the servants' story, had heard noises "between 10.30 and 10.45," but had not been disturbed, thinking, as we had done, that they were probably made by the servants.

On inquiry we found that the cook had gone to bed directly after the servants' supper, the two under maids were up by ten o'clock (Miss Moore heard their voices when she came to my room at ten o'clock), and the upper housemaid had gone up a few minutes after the hall clock struck, following Miss Moore up the stairs. The butler had come up directly after, only waiting to put out the hall lamp, and all were in bed before 10.30. We ourselves noticed the striking of the hall clock _after_ we heard the noise--it had gone wrong, and only struck nine instead of eleven o'clock--so there seems little doubt that we all heard the same sound, and all describe it as coming from below.

In discussing the occurrence with the butler and his wife, Miss Moore learned that they had lately heard a story [from a local resident] which was new to us. A maid of Mrs. S----, who, though married to the butler, still lived in the house, and performed her duties as usual, was one night coming up the back-stairs with a tray for Mrs. S----, when, on reaching the top, by the door of No. 3, she met the figure of a nun, which so frightened her that she dropped the tray and broke all the plates on it. Mrs. S---- explained it away by saying it was "only ----" (they could not remember her name) "come to pray with her." It was Sunday night, but they knew there was no one there who could in the least account for the appearance. The only explanation offered by the narrator of the story was that "there had been a Miss S----, a nun, who had died."

_March 14th, Sunday._--I called on Mrs. S----, and had a long talk with her.

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_March 15th, Monday._--Miss Moore and I, both awake at the time, heard a loud, vibrating noise about a quarter to six. Miss Langton in No. 4 heard it also. The Colonel, who sleeps downstairs, heard it as from the hall, and said he also felt the vibration. Except for about three nights he has always slept in the wing, where, during our tenancy, there have been no phenomena.

_March 16th, Tuesday._--Miss Moore, Miss Langton, the Colonel, and I, left B----. Miss Moore, Miss Langton, and I returning on March 20th.

After leaving B---- Colonel Taylor wrote as follows to Lord Bute:--

_March 19th, 1897._--"I arrived in London yesterday, after having spent five weeks at B---- very pleasantly. I feel sure that there _is_ a ghostly influence pervading the house, but I am a little disappointed at the way in which it manifests itself, for, up to the time I left, the nature of the manifestations was such that, though it is satisfactory to me, it would not be so, I think, to those who do not look at such things from so favourable a position as I do.

"I hope a change may yet come, and things take place which one might think would justify people in evacuating and forfeiting their money as the H----s did; certainly nothing of this sort happened while I was there.

"It is very interesting to note Miss Freer's experiences, but in regard to those of others who have something to relate, it is perhaps difficult to determine how much these statements should be discounted for error of observation and self-suggestion. I heard many noises in the night during my stay at B----, but they were of much the same sort I have been accustomed to hear at a similar time in other houses. I think that some of our witnesses may have given them undue prominence, under the influence of their own expectancy. The clairvoyant visions of 'Ishbel' in the grounds are not of great evidential value for the scientific world in general, and I think that any amount of 'voices' could be read into the noises of the running stream, near where she is seen, by those who 'wished to hear.' Still, there are some objective noises which cannot be easily accounted for in an ordinary way, and the three almost independent visions of the brown cross are important.

"I hope things will improve; in any case, you will have added considerably to psychical research when all has been recorded...."

It is difficult perhaps to see why Colonel Taylor should regard the independent visions of the crucifix as of more value than the equally independent and far more numerous hallucinations, audible and visual, of "Ishbel." We have the statements of the failure of several persons who "wished to hear" voices in the sounds of the burn, which was, moreover, frozen and silent when the voices were heard by the first two non-expectant and quite independent witnesses.

_March 19th._--A passage in Miss Langton's private journal under this date is as follows:--

"_St. Andrews, March 19th._--I looked into a water-bottle to-night to see if I could see anything of what was happening at B----. I distinctly saw room No. 3, and gradually a figure came into view between the two doors (_i.e._ near the foot of the bed), the figure of a tall woman, dressed in a long clinging robe of grey, and who seemed to be holding something in her hand, against the wall at the foot of the bed. This became more distinct, and I saw that it was a cross of dark brown wood, some 12 inches long (I should say). The figure did not appear to move. I seemed to be standing at the door of No. 3, which opens on to the landing" (_cf._ pp. 17, 132, 142).

For the information of those not accustomed to the phenomena of crystal-gazing, it may be as well to remark that it is quite possible that the image had been subconsciously seen by Miss Langton when sleeping in No. 3, as deferred impressions are often externalised for the first time in the crystal. She may equally have received the impression by thought-transference from others. Certainly she had not been informed of earlier experiences.

_March 20th, Saturday._--Miss Langton, Miss Moore, and I returned to B---- house. Four guests arrived in time for dinner.

Rooms for to-night:--

1. Miss Moore and I. 2. Miss Langton. 3. Miss "Duff," a lady whose name is familiar to readers of recent records of crystal-gazing and other students of the literature of the Psychical Research Society. 4. Mr. MacP----. 5. Mr. W----. 8. Colonel C----.

_March 21st, Sunday._--Last night, about 11.15, after Miss Moore and I were in bed in No. 1, we heard a loud sound from the left-hand side of the fireplace (south-west corner). It might be imitated by the "giving" of a large tin box (_cf._ pp. 173, 179). There was nothing but a footstool and a draped dressing-table there. We called out to Miss Langton, whom we could hear still moving about. She said she had heard the noise, but had made none herself.

Her account is as follows:--

"Last night (Sunday, March 21st) we retired to bed early, as Miss Moore was leaving by an early train next morning, and I was going to get up in order to see her off. It was certainly not later than 10.45, when I went to my room, having gone to No. 1 to say good-night to Miss Freer and Miss Moore, who were sleeping that night in that room. Miss 'Duff' was in No. 3, and I was occupying No. 2. I am not at all nervous, and certainly I was not expecting to see anything, as No. 2 is always supposed to be a 'quiet' room. I was some time getting to bed, but I put out my candle at twelve o'clock, and, after noticing that the moon was shining brightly, I got into bed. Contrary to my usual custom I did not fall asleep for some time, and I felt that the room was, in some inexplicable way, not as usual. At last I fell asleep, but not comfortably. I kept waking, and for some time after each awakening I could not get to sleep again. I put this down, however, to the fact that I wanted to waken early the next morning, and was restless in consequence. At last I really fell asleep, but at 4.30 I suddenly awakened with the feeling that I was not alone in the room. I looked round; the room was quite dark; the moon was not shining, but between the bed and the wardrobe there was a figure standing. At first it was very indistinct and misty, but gradually it formed itself into the figure of a woman--a slight, tall woman, with a pale face. She was dressed in long robes, but the upper part was the only part I could see clearly. Round her face and head was a white band, like that worn by a nun, and over her head was what might have been a black hood or small shawl, but in the darkness it was very difficult to distinguish. I could not see what her features were like, but she looked as if she were in trouble, and entreating some one to help her. She stood for some few moments at the foot of my bed looking towards me, and then she made a movement towards the door, but before she reached it she had vanished. I was not at all frightened, as there was nothing at all alarming in her appearance. I cannot write a better description of her, as the vision was so short. The figure was the same as that I had seen at the burn, only very much clearer."

Miss "Duff" writes under this date March 21st:--"On my arrival yesterday I was shown to my room (No. 3), which I had selected, with Miss Freer's permission, as one said to have an evil reputation. Perhaps it was natural that a feeling 'as if I were not alone' should come over me, and needless to say there was no _apparent_ cause for this!

"As a rule I am a very sound sleeper, nothing ever disturbs me; but last night I was suddenly wide awake, as if roused by something unusual. I sat up quickly in bed, but suddenly remembering where I was, I waited expectantly. Nothing occurred, although I did not get to sleep again for about two hours."

_March 22nd, Monday._--Mr. MacP---- was awakened between four and five by heavy footsteps overhead. We made many experiments to account for it, and of course made inquiries among the servants, but could find no cause. We are the more interested that hitherto nothing has been heard by our party in his room, No. 4, though there is a tradition of earlier disturbances there.

Mr. MacP---- has furnished the following account of his experience:--

"As usual I went to bed about 12 P.M. I had no desire to be disturbed, and so my room was still No. 4, which I had originally selected as being reputed innocuous, and which, save in one slight instance, I had hitherto found to deserve its reputation. My repeated visits had eliminated any expectancy which may at first have, perhaps, existed.

"My bed was alongside the south wall of my room, and parallel to the corridor or passage, my head towards No. 5, and my feet towards No. 3.

"As often happened at B----, I awoke from a sound slumber, not by degrees, but in a moment. There was no transition--no half-awakening, but full and complete consciousness all at once. I struck a light, looked at my watch, found it was 4.30, and went to sleep again immediately. I then wakened slowly and gradually, hearing more and more clearly a noise which appeared to me to be the cause of my awakening. The noise was the kind of sound which is produced by a person walking rapidly with one foot longer than the other--_i.e._, it was a succession of beats in rapid sequence, each alternate beat being louder than the one immediately before it.

"It appeared to me (1) to be produced outside my room; (2) to be on a higher level; and (3) to be moving in the direction of my bed--_i.e._, going as from No. 5 past No. 4, in which I was, towards No. 3. I at once jumped out of bed, opened my door and looked out. I saw nothing, and the noise stopped. I then struck a light, and found that it was only 4.45. I lay awake till I heard the servants obviously moving about, and then went to sleep again. At breakfast I asked, 'Has anybody ever heard this kind of noise?' reproducing it as well as I could by a series of thumps on the table. 'Oh yes,' was the answer, 'that is what we call the 'limping' or 'scuttering' noise. Of course I had heard the phrases used, but thought they referred to two separate noises. I had also formed quite distinct ideas as to the kind of noises these epithets were intended to describe--both entirely different from the kind of noise I had heard--and I showed what I meant. 'Oh no,' said Miss Freer, 'what you heard is what we have been calling indiscriminately the _limping_ or _scuttering_ noise, and we have not heard the kinds of noise these words suggested to you.' I emphasise this as showing clearly that I cannot have been expecting to hear the particular noise in question.

"The next thing was to account for the noise, if possible, and we spent some time experimenting. First of all the servants were interrogated as to whether any of them had been moving about at 4.45. Answer, 'No.' Next we asked who got up first. This was a maid who slept in X, and went into Y to call the kitchenmaid, who slept there. To do so she had, of course, to go through the narrow room which was over part of my bedroom.

"This, she said, was a good bit later than 4.45. But we thought it well to make her go from X to Y while I lay down on my bed and listened. We made her walk backwards and forwards, both with her slippers on and also in her stocking soles. I and some of the others who came into my room heard her quite distinctly. But (1) the noise of her steps was in a different place--near my window, and exactly in the line of her progress; (2) it was an entirely different kind of noise. She walked now fast, and now slowly, but both footsteps seemed always of the same weight; and (3), and this, to my mind, was most important, we heard her quite distinctly going from X to Y, and back again from Y to X and could tell in which direction she was moving. Now, the noise which I had heard only went in the one direction, _i.e._, parallel to the maid's outward progress. I did not hear anything going in the other direction. I was entirely wakened by the noise which I had heard, and, as I have said, I continued to listen intently for some considerable time, and yet I heard nothing.