CHAPTER XXXI

PHANTOM SOUNDS

The deceptiveness of sound in olden times was very little understood, and hence originated, in most countries, a host of traditionary tales descriptive of sundry mysterious noises which were generally attributed to supernatural agencies. Hence, it is impossible to say how many a ghost story would long ago have found a satisfactory solution if only attention had been paid to the properties of sound. But by disregarding the laws which regulate the conditions upon which sound is oftentimes more or less audible, the imagination has frequently conjured up the most fantastic reasons for some mysterious rumbling which has suddenly trespassed on the silence of the night. Thus, Dr. Tyndall has proved how the atmosphere is occasionally in an unusual degree more transparent or opaque to sound as well as to light, and supported this theory by referring to the audibility of fog-signals, which vary according to the state of the weather. Facts of this kind are of the utmost importance in accounting, it may be, for some apparently inexplicable sound. It is sometimes forgotten, too, that sounds are far more audible at night time than during the day, and what would fail to attract notice, even if heard during the hours of sunlight, would probably be treated in a different aspect when once the darkness of evening had set in. There is perhaps no superstition so deeply rooted in the popular mind as the belief in what are generally termed 'death-warnings'; the common opinion being that death announces its approach by certain mysterious noises, a powerful illustration of which occurs in 'Macbeth' (Act ii. sc. 3), where Lennox graphically describes how, on the awful night in which Duncan is murdered--

Our chimneys were blown down: and, as they say Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death: And prophesying, with accents terrible, Of dire combustion, and confused events, New hatch'd to the woeful time.

Modern folk-lore holds either that a knocking or rumbling in the floor is an omen of death about to happen, or that dying persons themselves announce their dissolution to their friends in such strange sounds.[341]

In recent years one of the most interesting instances of a phantom voice occurred in connection with the death of Mr. George Smith, the well-known Assyriologist. This eminent scholar died at Aleppo, on August 19, 1876, at about six o'clock in the afternoon. On the same day, and at about the same time, as Dr. Delitzsch--a friend and fellow-worker of Mr. Smith--was passing within a stone's throw of the house in which he had lived when in London, he suddenly heard his own name uttered aloud 'in a most piercing cry,' which a contemporary record of the time said 'thrilled him to the marrow.' The fact impressed Dr. Delitzsch so much that he looked at his watch, made a note of the hour, and recorded the fact in his note-book, this being one of those straightforward and unimpeachable coincidences which, even to an opponent, is difficult to explain.

There can be no doubt that many of the unearthly noises heard near and in lonely houses on the coast were produced by an illicit class of spirits, that is, through the agency of smugglers, 'in order to alarm and drive all others but their accomplices from their haunts.' Thus, in a house at Rottingdean, Sussex, all kinds of strange noises were heard night after night, when suddenly they ceased. Soon afterwards one of a gang of smugglers confessed to their having made a secret passage from the beach close by the house, and that, wishing to induce the occupiers to abandon it, they had rolled at the dead of night tub after tub of spirits up the passage, and so had caused it to be reported that the place was haunted.[342] George Cruikshank tells how, in the wine cellar of a house somewhere near Blackheath, there were sometimes heard strange noises in the evening and at night-time, such as knocking, groaning, footsteps, &c. The master of the house at last determined 'to lay the ghost' if possible, and one evening, when these noises had been heard, went with his servants to the cellar, where they discovered an under-gardener in a drunken state. It seems that he had tunnelled a hole from the tool-house through the wall into the cellar.

In numerous cases, too, there can be no doubt that strange noises heard in the silent hours of the night have been due to some cleverly-devised trick for the purpose, in many cases, of keeping the house uninhabited, and thereby benefiting, it may be, some impecunious care-taker. A story is told of a ghost--which turned out to be the trick of a Franciscan friar--that answered questions by knocking in the Catholic church of Orleans, and demanded the removal of the provost's Lutheran wife, who had been buried there.[343] But one of the most eccentric instances of spiritual antics was the noises said to have been heard at Epworth Parsonage in the time of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, these sounds having consisted of 'knockings' and 'groanings,' of 'footsteps,' and 'rustling of silk trailing along,' 'clattering of the iron casement,' and 'clattering of the warming pan,' and all sorts of frightful noises, which frightened even a big dog, a large mastiff, who used, at first, when he heard the noises, 'to bark, and leap, and snap on one side and the other, and that frequently before anyone in the room heard the noises at all; but after two or three days he used to creep away before the noise began, and by this the family knew it was at hand.' Mr. Wesley at one time thought it was rats, and sent for a horn to blow them away. But this made matters worse, for after the horn was blown the noise came in the daytime as well. Some of the Wesley family believed it to be supernatural hauntings, and explained the cause of it thus: at morning and evening prayers, 'when the Rev. Samuel Wesley commenced prayer for the king, a knocking began all round the room, and a thundering knock attended the _Amen_.' Mr. Wesley observed that his wife did not say '_Amen_' to the prayer for the king, but Mrs. Wesley added she could not, for she did not believe that the Prince of Orange was king.[344] Ewshott House, Hampshire, was disturbed by equally strange sounds, and Glamis Castle, with its secret room, has long been famous for the mysterious noises, knocking, and hammering heard at night-time, which a lady once remarked reminded her of the erection of a scaffold.

The miscreant ghosts of wicked people are supposed to make all kinds of unearthly noises, for as they cannot enjoy peace in their graves, they delight in annoying the occupants of their mortal haunts. Lowther Hall, the residence of the 'bad Lord Lonsdale,' was disturbed by such uncanny sounds that neither men nor animals were permitted to rest, and many of the ghost stories told of our old country houses describe the peculiar noises made by their ghostly tenants. The mother of the premier, George Canning, used to tell her experiences of a haunted house in Plymouth, where she stayed during a theatrical engagement. Having learnt from a Mr. Bernard, who was connected with the theatre, that he could obtain comfortable apartments for her at a moderate price, she accepted his offer. 'There is,' said he, 'a house belonging to our carpenter that is reported to be haunted, and nobody will live in it. If you like to have it you may, and for nothing, I believe, for he is so anxious to get a tenant; only you must not let it be known that you do not pay any rent for it.' It turned out as Mr. Bernard had informed her, for night after night she heard all such noises as are wont to proceed from a workshop, although, on examining every part of the house herself, she found nothing to account for this extraordinary series of noises.

Occasionally, it is said, before the perpetration of any dreadful crime, as murder, a supernatural sound is heard. A murder was committed, for instance, at Cottertown, of Auchanasie, near Keith, on January 11, 1797, in connection with which the following facts have been recorded: 'On the day on which the deed was done, two men, strangers to the district, called at a farmhouse about three miles from the house in which lived the old folk that were murdered. Shortly before the tragic act was committed, a sound was heard passing along the road the two men were seen to take, in the direction of the place at which the murder was perpetrated. So loud and extraordinary was the noise that the people left their houses to see what it was that was passing. To the amazement of every one, nothing was to be seen, though it was moonlight, and moonlight so bright that it aroused attention. All believed something dreadful was to happen, and some proposed to follow the sound. About the time this discussion was going on, a blaze of fire arose on the hill of Auchanasie. The foul deed had been accomplished, and the cottage set on fire. By next day all knew of what the mysterious sound had been the forerunner.'[345] At Wheal Vor Mine an unaccountable noise has been generally supposed to be a warning. On Barry Island, near Cardiff, it is said that certain ghostly noises were formerly heard in it--sounds resembling the clanking of chains, hammering of iron, and blowing of bellows, and which were supposed to be made by the fiends whom Merlin had set to work to frame the wall of crags to surround Carmarthen.

The following extract from Lockhart's 'Life of Sir Walter Scott' records a strange noise which was heard while the new house at Abbotsford was being built, the novelist living in an older part, close adjoining: 'Walter Scott to Daniel Terry, April 30, 1818.... The exposed state of my house has led to a mysterious disturbance. The night before last we were awakened by a violent noise, like drawing heavy boards along the new part of the house. I fancied something had fallen, and thought no more about it; this was about _two_ in the morning. Last night, at the same witching hour, the very same noise occurred. Mrs. S., as you know, is rather timbersome, so up I got, with Beardie's broad sword under my arm--

Bolt upright, And ready to fight.

But nothing was out of order, neither can I discover what occasioned the disturbance.' Mr. Lockhart adds: 'On the morning that Mr. Terry received the foregoing letter in London, Mr. William Erskine was breakfasting with him, and the chief subject of their conversation was the sudden death of George Bullock, which had occurred on the same night, and nearly as they could ascertain at the very hour when Scott was aroused from his sleep by the "mysterious disturbance" here described. This coincidence, when Scott received Erskine's minute detail of what had happened in Tenterdon Street (that is, the death of Bullock, who had the charge of furnishing the new rooms at Abbotsford), made a much stronger impression on his mind than might be gathered from the tone of an ensuing communication.' It seems that Bullock had been at Abbotsford, and made himself a great favourite with old and young. Sir Walter Scott, a week or two afterwards, wrote thus to Terry: 'Were you not struck with the fantastical coincidence of our nocturnal disturbances at Abbotsford, with the melancholy event that followed? I protest to you the noise resembled half a dozen men at work, putting up boards and furniture, and nothing can be more certain than that there was nobody on the premises at the time. With a few additional touches, the story would figure in Glanville or Aubrey's collection. In the meantime you may set it down, with poor Dubisson's warnings, as a remarkable coincidence coming under your own observation.'

In a paper by Mrs. Edwards, in 'Macmillan's Magazine,' entitled 'The Mystery of Pezazi,' an account is given of constant disturbing sounds of nocturnal tree-felling heard near a bungalow in Ceylon, where examination proved that no trees had been felled. Mrs. Edwards, her husband, and their servants were on several occasions disturbed by these sounds, which were unmistakable and distinct. The Singhalese attribute these noises to a Pezazi, or spirit. A description of precisely the same disturbances occurs, writes Mr. Andrew Lang,[346] in Sahagun's account of the superstitions of the Aztecs, and it seems that the Galapagos Islands, 'suthard of the line,' were haunted by the midnight axe. 'De Quincey,' adds Mr. Lang, 'who certainly had not heard the Ceylon story, and who probably would have mentioned Sahagun's had he known it, describes the effect produced by the midnight axe on the nerves of his brother, Pink: "So it was, and attested by generations of sea-vagabonds, that every night, duly as the sun went down and the twilight began to prevail, a sound arose--audible to other islands, and to every ship lying quietly at anchor in that neighbourhood--of a woodcutter's axe.... The close of the story was that after, I suppose, ten or twelve minutes of hacking and hewing, a horrid crash was heard, announcing that the tree, if tree it were, that never yet was made visible to daylight search, had yielded to the old woodman's persecution.... The woodcutter's axe began to intermit about the earliest approach of dawn, and as light strengthened it ceased entirely, after poor Pink's ghostly panic grew insupportable."'

Among the American Indians all the sounds that issued from caverns were thought to be produced by their spiritual inhabitants. The Sonora Indians say that departed souls dwell among the caves and nooks of their cliffs, and that echoes often heard there are their voices. Similarly, when explosions were heard, caused by the sulphurous gas from the rocks around the head-waters of Lake Ontario, the superstitious Indians attributed them to the breathing of the Manitous.[347] The modern Dayaks, Siamese, and Singhalese agree with the Esths as to noises being caused by spirits. European folk-lore has long ascribed most of the unexplained noises to the agency of spirits, and to this day Franconian damsels go to a tree on St. Thomas's Day, knock three times, and listen for the indwelling spirit to inform them from raps within what kind of husbands they are to have. Hence the night is known as 'Little Knocker's Night.' There is the Poltergeist of the German, a mischievous spirit, who wanders about the house at night making all kinds of strange noises.

FOOTNOTES:

[341] Tylor's _Primitive Culture_, i. p. 145.

[342] Mrs. Latham's 'West Sussex Superstitions,' _Folk-lore Record_, i. p. 21.

[343] See Tylor's _Primitive Culture_, i. p. 146.

[344] See Southey's _Life of Wesley_.

[345] Walter Gregor: _Folk-lore of North-East of Scotland_, pp. 205, 206.

[346] _Nineteenth Century_, vol. xvii. p. 627.

[347] Dorman's _Primitive Superstitions_, p. 302.

INDEX

Abbot, ghost of, in Abbey of Clare, 326 Abbotsford, 434-436 Abipones, superstitions of, 89, 336, 340 Accidents, ghosts appear at scene of, 168 African beliefs, 30, 90-91, 182, 346 Agnes', St., Fast, 385 Alaska belief, 10 Albans, St., Duchess of, 100 Aleutian islanders, 341 Algonquin Indians, 40, 309, 339 Allanbank, ghost at, 312 Allhallow Eve, 118 Althorp, apparition seen at, 319 American Indian beliefs, 6, 23, 37, 89, 143, 217, 343, 414, 438 Ancestor worship, 102 Andaman islanders, 110 Andrew's Eve, St., 388 Angel of death, 273 Angola, belief in, 182 Animal ghosts, 102-126 Arabian belief, 360 Ash-ridlin, 386 Ashley Hall, Cheshire, 326 Assiniboins, belief of, 66 Astwood Castle, 319 Australian beliefs, 21, 33, 45, 67, 165, 340, 343, 360, 395 Awd Nance, ghost so called, 326 Aztec legend of Creation, 36 ---- belief, 90, 437

Bad Lord Lonsdale, 311, 432 Bagley House, 318 Bahrgeist, 114 Balcarres, Lord, 372 Banshee, 221, 271-283, 305, 383 Barguest, 114 Barton Hall, haunted, 312 Basutos, belief of, 3 Baxter, R., story told by, 250 Bean-geese, 120 Bear, soul as, 111 Beckington Castle, 333 Bees, soul in form of, 161 Bell, passing, 15 Bells, legends of, 420 ---- phantom, 420 ---- tolling of, 227 Belludo, Spanish ghost, 147 Benedictine nun, ghost of, 219 Benjie Gear, ghost so called, 195 Ben Jonson, 372 Benshee, 273 Bergmönch, spectre so called, 269 Berkeley Square, mystery of, 317-318 Berry Pomeroy Castle, 318 Bertha of Rosenberg, 228 Beswick, Madame, ghost of, 131, 399 Bible in ghost laying, 192, 197 Biddick Hall, South, 327 Bilocation, or double personality, 367 Birchen Tower, Hollinwood, 398 Bird near sick-room, 97 Birds as soul bearers, 96 ---- phantom, 85-101 ---- singed, souls as, 96 ---- the way of, 96 Birkbeck ghost, 372-373 Birraark, 165-166 Birth, superstitions relating to, 97 Black dog, spectral, 107-108 ---- friar, ghost of, 221, 308 ---- Heddon, Northumberland, 398 Bleeding nun, ghost of, 44 Blenkinsopp Castle, 326, 400 Bloodstains, indelible, 146 Bloody hand, spectre of, 220 Bluecap, 264 ---- lights, 390 Bodach au Dun, 220 ---- Glas, 220 Bodacher Garlin, 221 Boggan, 114 Boggart, at Clegg Hall, 199 Boguest, 114 Bohemian belief, 86, 160, 183, 211, 228, 336, 339 Boleyn, Lady Ann, 147 Bolivia, Yuricares of, 37 Bolles pit, 203 Bolotu, 28 Bones of dead preserved, 36-37 Booty's ghost, 241-244 Borneo, Dayaks of, 18, 438 Bothwell, Lady, ghost of, 74, 308 Bottle imps, 185 Bottreaux, bells of, 421 Brandenburg, Elector of, 229 Brazil, Indians of, 33, 41, 45, 90, 359, 393 Brides, ghosts of, 61 Bridge End House, 327 Brocken, spectre of, 352 Brougham, Lord, 245 Brownies, 313, 404 Brown lady at Rainham, 312 Bulgarian belief, 80, 160, 189 Bull, ghost as a, 104 Burial-grounds, haunted, 343 Burma, 359 Burton Agnes Hall, 326 Butterflies, phantom, 156-162 Byron, Lord, 210, 221 ---- Sir John, the Little, 313

Caistor Hall, ghost at, 150 Calabar superstition, 336 Californian beliefs, 15, 35, 90 Candles in ghost laying, 190 ---- snuff of, taken for ghost laying, 362 ---- spectral, 139 Canning, George, 432 Capelthwaite, 114 Cassowary, 111 Castle, sunken, 348 Cedar room at Ashley Hall, 326 Chappie, ghost so called, 306 Chartley Park, 224 Chasse Macabee, 125 Checks against ghosts, 354-362 Chevalier de Saxe, 171 Chiancungi, fortune-tellers, 173 Chibchas, 184 Chinese belief, 6, 19, 33, 53, 55, 62, 65, 66, 72, 195, 211, 292, 339, 358 Choctaw belief, 29, 37 Chough, King Arthur in form of, 94 Christmastide, ghosts at, 302-303 Church ghosts, 330-331 ---- lamb, 126 ---- porch, 332-333, 387 ---- yard spectres, 69 Churton Hall, 321 Clegg Hall boggart, 199, 322 Clock superstition, 227 Cloud, soul as white, 4 Cobal, ghost so called, 270 Cock-crow, 354-356 Cocks' feathers hinder exit of soul, 12 Cold lad, 313 Colt, ghost as a, 103 Combermere Abbey, 322 Compacts between living and dead, 245-256 Copeland, lady of, 133 Corby Castle, ghost at, 311 Cornish beliefs, 103, 108, 120, 128, 201, 207, 208, 262, 294, 300, 421 ---- legend of King Arthur, 94 Cornwolf, 396 Corpse candle, 139-140 Cortachy Castle haunted, 311, 417 Courting a ghost, 384 Coved saloon at Combermere Abbey, 322 Cows, ghosts in form of, 109 Craighouse, 325 Creslow Manor House, 313 Criminals, ghosts of, 69 Crook Hall haunted, 327 Cross, check against evil spirits, 358, 361 Cross-roads, ghosts at, 61, 383 Cruikshank, George, 429 Cullaby Castle, 320 Cumberland, 76, 78, 266, 366 Cumnor Hall, 77, 320 Cutty Soams, 264 Cwn y Wybe, 118 Cyprus, 183

Dandy dogs, 118, 120, 121 Danish superstitions, 8, 48, 61, 88, 97, 126, 183, 215, 289, 361, 385, 416 Dead, mutilation of, 359-360 ---- unburied, 43-49 ---- worship of, 63 Death bell, 413 ---- birds presage of, 97-98 ---- warnings, 12, 13, 219, 232, 427 Delitzsch, Dr., 428 Demon, soul as, 62 Denis, St., 145 Denton Hall, 326 Departed, Bay of the, 206 Derwentwater, Lady, 321 Desert, water of, 352 Devil, compact with Lord Soulis, 323 ---- powerless at cock-crow, 355 ---- tries to seize soul at death, 14 Devonshire beliefs, 97, 98, 376 Diedrick of Bern, 125 Dishonesty in life causes soul to wander, 51 Doe, White, of Rylstone, 108 Dogs of hell, 122 ---- spectral, 105-106 ---- the sky, 122 Donart's Castle, St., 76 Doors unfastened at death, 6 Dorcas, ghost so called, 267 Dorchester, Lord, 380 Dorsetshire, 149 Doves in ghost-lore, 94, 98 Doyle, Bishop, death of, 100 Dreams, proof of soul's existence, 17, 18 Dress, phantom, 303-309 Drowned, ghosts of, 206-213 Drummer, mysterious, 311 ---- of Tedworth, 317 Duck, soul as, 87 Durham, 151 Dutch belief, 8-9 Dyterbjernat, 125

Eagle, 94, 96 Easterton ghost, the, 329 Ebb of tide, death at, 15-16 Edge Hill, strange phenomenon at, 351 Edgewell oak, 222 Edgeworth, Maria, 372 Effigy, burial in, 49 Elixir of life, 175 Elizabeth, Queen, and her fetch, 364 Elymas, the sorcerer, 164 Epworth Parsonage haunted, 328, 430 Eskimo belief, 6, 111, 143, 359 Essex, 111 Ewshott House haunted, 318, 431 Exorcism, 88, 166 Eye, soul in the, 3, 4

Fairy music, 413 Fata Morgana, 352 Feathers, game, hinder exit of soul, 11-12 Female fairy, 273 Fetches, 363-364 Fiddler, the indefatigable, 416 Fijian beliefs, 19, 23, 27-28, 182, 217, 309, 339 Finland, custom in, 336 Fire, check against ghosts, 358 Fish animated by souls, 111 Flame, soul in, 137 Flax-seed, charm against ghosts, 362 Flies, souls as, 161 Flying Dutchman, 286, 293 Foot of the Fawn, 99 Foote, Samuel, 424 Foundation sacrifices, 30 French beliefs, 5, 109, 125, 133, 231, 270, 289, 291 Furious host, 136 Fye, or wraith, 369

Gabriel hounds, 117, 136 ---- Ratchets, 118-119 Galicia, belief in, 37 Game feathers hinder exit of soul, 11-12 German beliefs, 5, 6, 8, 9, 56, 86, 97, 99, 123, 135-136, 155, 183, 212, 227, 260, 338, 341, 348, 360, 388, 391, 396 Ghosts and hidden treasures, 397-410 ---- checks against, 354-362 ---- different classes of, 41 ---- headless, 33, 53, 69, 144-158, 306, 383 ---- times of appearing, 382-390 ---- why they wander, 50-63 Ghost laying, 104, 179-205 ---- of the Hill, 220 ---- raising, 163-178 ---- seers, 214-218 Glamis Castle haunted, 313, 431 Gnat, soul as, 161 Goblin friar, 313 Golden mountain, 146 Gould, Madame, 98 Grass-wolf, 396 Grave-sow, 126 Graves, haunted, 341 ---- treading on, 345 Gray sow, 126 Greece, beliefs in, 25, 183, 394 Greenland, beliefs in, 23, 29, 339 Grief causes soul to wander, 61 Gunpowder and ghosts, 360-361 Gurlinbeg, family of, 221

Hackwood House haunted, 32 Hairy left hand, girl with, 221 Hallow Eve, 388 Hamilton, Lady, of Bothwellhaugh, 74 Hanged, ghosts of, 53 Hare, ghost as, 103, 271 Harlequin, 125 Haunted houses, 310-334 ---- localities, 335-353 Headless ghosts, 33, 53, 60, 144-158, 306, 383 Heart, seat of soul, 2, 3 Hell Hole, 423 Henequin, 125 Herburt family, 94 Hermitage Castle, 322, 403 Herring piece, 93 ---- spear, 93 Hidden treasures and ghosts, 397-410 Hilton Castle, 313 Hindu beliefs, 339 ---- dirge, 11 Hinton Ampner Manor House, 312 Hoby, Lady, 321 Holland House, 145, 314 Holly and ghost laying, 188 ---- charm against evil spirits, 358 Holt Castle, 319 Hooper of Sennen Cove, 300 Horse, spectre as, 125 ---- shoe, 361 Hottentot customs at death, 336, 339 Hound, ghost as, 105 House-fire put out at death, 359 Houses, haunted, 310-334 Howard, Lady, ghost of, 104 Hugh Capet, 125 Hulme Castle, treasures at, 397 Hungary, belief in, 61 Hunt, spectral, 124-125 Huntsman, wild, 125 Hurons of America, belief of, 67 Hyssington Church, ghost at, 104

Ignes Fatui, ghost as, 50-51 Incantations against ghosts, 164 Inchcape Bell, 422-423 India, beliefs in, 12, 62, 67, 96, 99, 109, 110, 340, 343, 346, 357, 393, 395, 412, 414 Insect life, 102 Irish superstitions, 11, 94, 137, 146, 153, 156-157, 226, 274-275, 344, 350, 370, 377, 383, 405, 413 Iroquois of North America, beliefs of, 44, 347, 393 Italian belief, 358 ---- burial custom, 339

Jackals, ghosts as, 9 Japanese ghost story, 72 ---- mode of raising ghost, 166 Jeffrey, Lady, ghost of, 187 Jemmy Lowther, 311 Juniper, spirit-haunted tree, 395

Kaffir beliefs, 2, 336 Kaneka superstition, 230-231 Karens, beliefs of, 45, 67, 160, 309 Kendal, Duchess of, 100 Kilncote church porch, 332 Kinchardines, 220 Kirk-grim, 125 Knauff-Kriegen, 270 Knockers, 262

Lady of Copeland, 133 ---- of Death, 273 ---- of the Golden Casket, 129 ---- of the Lantern, 128 ---- Winter's walk, 156 Lamb buried under altar, 126 ---- church, 126 Lambton, Madame, 327 Lancashire, 4-5, 14, 74-75, 91-92, 112, 198, 214, 376 Lavington, East, parsonage, 329 Lightfoot, Lady, 77 Lights, phantom, 127-143 Lily, soul as, 391-392 Lincolnshire, 129 Lion, 226 Little Knocker's Night, 438 Lledrith, 370 Locks unfastened at death, 5, 7 Lowther Hall haunted, 432 Ly-erg, 220 Lyttelton, Lord, 100

Madagascar, beliefs in, 23, 346 Madge Figg's chair, 129 Madness causes soul to wander, 61 Magic circle, 167 Malay belief, 3 Malevolent spirits, 70 Manes worship, 63 Manx fishermen, 93 Maori belief, 336 Mark's, St., Eve, 332, 386 Martyrs, ghosts of, 86 Mary Way, spectre so called, 152 Mauthe Doog, 116-117, 311 May Moulach, 221 Mazarin, Duchess of, 254 Mermaid, 415 Mexican belief, 89 Midsummer Eve, 387 Milky-way, the, 96 Miners' ghosts, 257-272, 370-371 Mines, ghosts in, 108, 262-263 Mirage, 352 Mohun, Lord, 372 Money hidden by ghosts, 400-409 Monkey, soul as, 110 Mountain, abode of spirits, 348 Mourning customs, 340 Mouse, soul as, 110 Mouth, escape of soul from, 2-5 Murder discovered through ghost, 81-84 ---- preceded by supernatural sounds, 433-434 Murdered, ghosts of, 33, 64-84 Murderers, ghosts of, 52-53, 54, 360 Music, phantom, 411-425 ---- at sea, 413

Necromancy, 165 Netherby Hall, 327 Newstead Abbey, 313 New Zealanders, beliefs of, 3, 35, 182 Nix, river spirit, 202 Norfolk, 112, 148, 149, 208, 423 Northamptonshire, 383-384, 409-410 Northumberland, 150, 398 Norwegian beliefs, 68, 76, 360 Nostrils, exit of soul through, 3 Nun, bleeding, 44 ---- of Walton, spectre so called, 154 Nymph of air, 273

Oak, holes in, 395 Obrick's colt, 103 Ojibway, beliefs in, 30, 162, 184, 185, 217, 291, 336, 339, 347 Old Barbery, ghost so called, 326-327 ---- Hummums, 316 Orleans, Catholic church of, 430 Ottawas, beliefs of, 45, 68 Oulton House, Suffolk, 322 Ouse, river, 225 Owls and Arundel of Wardour, 99, 222 ---- as souls, 94-95 Oxenham family, death-omen of, 98

Padfoot, 113 Papuans of New Guinea, belief of, 110 Parsonages, haunted, 328-329 Passing bell, 15 Pawcorance, small bird, 95 Pearlin, Jean, 305 Peel Castle haunted, 116-117, 311 Peg O'Nell, ghost so called, 200, 327 Percy, Sir Joceline, 150 Personality, double, 367 Peruvian beliefs, 36, 257, 387 Pezazi, mystery of, 436-437 Phantom bells, 420-421 ---- birds, 85-101 ---- butterflies, 159-162 ---- dress, 303-309 ---- lights, 127-143 ---- music, 411-425 ---- sounds, 426-438 Philosopher's stone, 175 Pig, ghost as, 125 Pigeon feathers hinder exit of soul, 11-12 ---- ghost as a, 86 Pigott, Madame, 197 Pileck family, 94 Pirate wrecker, 294 Polish legend, 94 Poltergeist, a spectre in Germany, 438 Polynesian belief, 45 Pomerania, belief in, 183 Porter, Anna Maria, 373 Potawatomis, 184 Powis Castle, 320 Prophecy at death, 13-14 Pysling, form of ghost, 70

Rabbit, 271 Radiant boy, 129, 311 Rainham, story Marquis of Townshend, 312 Ramhurst Manor House, 312 Ravens as ghosts of the murdered, 48, 88 ---- omens of death, 100 Red Sea, ghosts laid in, 201, 203-204 Redwing, noise caused by, 93 Rich, Lady Diana, 366 Robin redbreast, 100-101 Robsart, Amy, 77, 202, 320 Roof, hole made in for exit of soul, 6 Rose, white, soul as, 392 Roslin Chapel, 141 Rothiemurcus, 220 Roumenian legend, 31 Rufus, William, fetch of, 34 Russia, Catharine of, 369 Russian beliefs, 2, 12, 32, 137, 159, 161, 338, 349, 358 Rustling lady, the, 327

Sacrifices, foundation, 30 ---- to souls of departed, 62 Samlesbury Hall, 322 Sampford Peverell ghost, 322 Sandwich Islanders, 340 Scotch beliefs, 6, 7, 11, 61, 73, 125, 129, 169, 180, 194, 230, 239, 258, 265, 312, 359, 369, 370, 401-402 Scott, Sir Walter, 434-435 Seals, spectral, 106 Sea-phantoms, 284-302 Seaton Delaval Castle, 321 Second sight, 22, 233-244 Seminoles of Florida, 4, 336 Serpent comes out of mouth, 109 Servian belief, 160 Seven whistlers, 91 Sexhow, ghost at, 399 Shadow sight, 233 ---- soul as, 29-32 Sheep, ghosts as, 109 Shelley and his wraith, 365 Shell fire, 137 Shrieking woman, the, 71 Shropshire, 55, 61, 103-104, 151-153, 181-187, 190 Shuck's Lane, 112 Siamese superstitions, 67, 212, 339-438 Siberian belief, 358 Silky, name of a ghost, 130, 305, 321, 327, 398 Silky's bridge, 131 Simon Magus, 164 Singed birds, souls as, 96 Singhalese superstitions, 408, 437-438 Skipsea Castle, 326 Skull at Agnes Burton Hall, 326 Smellie, W., 252 Smith, George, the Assyriologist, 428 Smoke, soul as, 2 Smugglers, 429 Snakes, ghosts in form of, 62-109 Sneezing, explanation of, 22 Soul-bringer, 97 Soul, appearance of, 40-41 ---- bringing back of, 19 ---- destination of, 348 ---- duplex nature of, 27 ---- existence of depends on manner of death, 33-35 ---- exit of, 1-16 ---- materiality of, 24-27 ---- nature of, 24-42 ---- temporary exit of, 17-23, 338 ---- voice of, 39-40 ---- weight of, 38-39 Souldern Rectory, 328 Souter, or Soutra, Fell, 351 Spanish beliefs, 5, 360 Spectral child, 321 ---- dogs, 111 ---- hunt, 124-5 ---- ships, 288-9, 294 Spells against ghosts, 354-362 Spirit of air, 273 Staffordshire rhyme, 51 Steam, soul as, 3 Stichios, a kind of spectre, 394 Storks, 95, 97 Stradling, Lady, 76 Strand varsler, 48 Striker, 112 Sturgeon, death omen, 222 Suffolk belief, 149, 184-198 Suicides, ghosts of, 53 Sunday children, 215 Sunken towns, 348 Sunrise, ghosts disappear at, 390 Sussex beliefs, 11, 37, 150, 429 Swallow, ghost as, 86 Swan, soul in form of, 88 Swarth or fetch, 366 Swedish beliefs, 88, 125, 135, 229, 289, 356, 384-395 Swinsty Hall, 398 Switzerland, 161 Sykes Lumb Farm, 400-401

Tahiti beliefs, 3, 182 Talking dog, 311 Tasks, or wraiths, 370 Tasmanian belief, 340 Tears hinder exit of soul, 8-11 Tedworth, drummer of, 418 Thomas's Day, St., 438 Thuringia, Duke Louis of, sign of his death, 99 Tibetan belief, 339 Tide, life goes out with, 15-16 Tipperahs of Chittagong, 181 Tongan belief, 29 Tower of London haunted, 314-315 Trash, spectre dog so called, 112 Treasures and ghosts, 397-410 ---- guarded by evil spirits, 257-258 Trees, spirit-haunted, 391-396 Trevelyan, seat of, haunted, 321 Trinity Church, York, ghost at, 330 Tulloch Gorms, 221 Tyrolese superstitions, 4

Unbaptized, souls of, 136

Valentine's Eve, St., 386 Vampires, 189 Vapour, soul as, 3 Vingoes, death token of, 221 Violets spring from graves, 393

Waddow Hall, 327 Waff, or fetch, 366 Wallow Crag, ghost laid under, 312 Walton Abbey, 306, 322 Warwickshire, 263 Water, relation of ghosts to, 181-182 Weasel, soul as, 110 Wells, haunted, 348 Welsh superstitions, 53, 116, 122, 140, 185, 189, 260-261, 404-405, 417 Wheal Vor, mine haunted at, 260, 434 Whistlers, the seven, 91 Whistling, voice of souls, 40 Whitby Abbey, 420 White-breasted bird, 97, 223 White Doe of Rylstone, 108 ---- lady, 98, 227-229, 305, 326-327 ---- ---- of Skipsea, 306 ---- ---- of Sorrow, 273 Wicked priest, 321 Willington Mill, 306, 327 Willow tree, anecdote connected with, 223 Wimbell Pond haunted, 401 Wisk hounds, 118 Witchcraft, 7, 106 Woman of peace, 273 Worcestershire, 62, 100, 156, 192, 200, 226 Wraith-seeing, 363-381 Wren, superstition connected with, 93 Wyecoller Hall, 312

Yellow Sand, Isle of, 407 Yesk hounds, 118 Yeth hounds, 118-119 Yorkshire, 12, 91, 108, 129-130, 150, 154, 159, 215, 366

Zambesi superstition, 341 Zulus, beliefs of, 30, 40, 109

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Transcriber's note:

A table of contents was missing from the original and has been added.

Footnotes were renumbered and gathered at the end of the chapter to which they belong.

Errors in punctuation, capitalisation, and missing letters and footnote numbers have been corrected without note. If necessary for the placement of quotation marks or the footnote number, the source of some quotations was verified on Internet Archive.

The following corrections were made, on page

89 "ledy" changed to "lady" (The lady in earth by her lord lay) 91 "Brazials" changed to "Brazilians" (The Brazilians imagined that the souls of the bad) 257 2nd "to" removed (a belief to which Falstaff alludes in) 320 "Ann" changed to "Amy" (the supposed scene of the murder of Lady Amy Bobsart) 369 "ninty-ninth" changed to "ninety-ninth" (when in the ninety-ninth year of her age) 439 "Becklington" changed to "Beckington" (Beckington Castle, 333) 439 "Bergmouch" changed to "Bergmönch" (Bergmönch, spectre so called, 269) 440 "Bodach Gartin" changed to "Bodacher, Garlin" (Bodacher Garlin, 221) and the word order changed 440 "Cassioway" changed to "Cassowary" (Cassowary, 111) 440 "Chibehas" changed to "Chibchas" (Chibchas, 184) 442 "Gurlinheg" changed to "Gurlinbeg" (Gurlinbeg, family of, 221) 444 "Lledwith" changed to "Lledrith" (Lledrith, 370) 444 "Wray" changed to "Way" (Mary Way, spectre so called, 152) 444 "Mazarine" changed to "Mazarin" (Mazarin, Duchess of, 254) 444 "Mohin" changed to "Mohun" (Mohun, Lord, 372) 445 "460-469" changed to "400-409" (Money hidden by ghosts, 400-409) 445 "Padfoit" changed to "Padfooit" (Padfooit, 113) 445 "Padfoot" added (Padfoot, 113) 445 "Josceline" changed to "Joceline" (Percy, Sir Joceline, 150) 445 "Potawatomies" changed to "Potawatomis" (Potawatomis, 184) 445 "Peverel" changed to "Peverell" (Sampford Peverell ghost, 322) 447 "Waddon" changed to "Waddow" (Waddow Hall, 327) and in footnote 101: 2 words exchanged between lines, "Indo-" and "1872" (_Folk-lore_, 1872 p. 243; Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, i. p. 289. See Kelly's _Indo-European Folk-lore_).

Otherwise the original was preserved, including unusual, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation.

Additional: "Vanna Levou" in the quote on page 26 should probably be "Vanua Levu" also known as "Sandelwood Island", Fuji.