Mr. T. J. Westropp contributes a tale of a ghost of an unusual type,
i.e. one which actually did communicate matters of importance to his
family. "A lady who related many ghost stories to me, also told me how,
after her father's death, the family could not find some papers or
receipts of value. One night she awoke, and heard a sound which she at
once recognized as the footsteps of her father, who was lame. The door
creaked, and she prayed that she might be able to see him. Her prayer
was granted: she saw him distinctly holding a yellow parchment book tied
with tape. 'F--, child,' said he, 'this is the book your mother is
looking for. It is in the third drawer of the cabinet near the
cross-door; tell your mother to be more careful in future about
business papers.' Incontinently he vanished, and she at once awoke her
mother, in whose room she was sleeping, who was very angry and ridiculed
the story, but the girl's earnestness at length impressed her. She got
up, went to the old cabinet, and at once found the missing book in the
third drawer."
Here is another tale of an equally useful and obliging ghost. "A
gentleman, a relative of my own," writes a lady, "often received
warnings from his dead father of things that were about to happen.
Besides the farm on which he lived, he had another some miles away which
adjoined a large demesne. Once in a great storm a fir-tree was blown
down in the demesne, and fell into his field. The woodranger came to him
and told him he might as well cut up the tree, and take it away.
Accordingly one day he set out for this purpose, taking with him two men
and a cart. He got into the fields by a stile, while his men went on to
a gate. As he approached a gap between two fields he saw his father
standing in it, as plainly as he ever saw him in life, and beckoning him
back warningly. Unable to understand this, he still advanced, whereupon
his father looked very angry, and his gestures became imperious. This
induced him to turn away, so he sent his men home, and left the tree
uncut. He subsequently discovered that a plot had been laid by the
woodranger, who coveted his farm, and who hoped to have him dispossessed
by accusing him of stealing the tree."
A clergyman in the diocese of Clogher gave a personal experience of
table-turning to the present Dean of St. Patrick's, who kindly sent the
same to the writer. He said: "When I was a young man, I met some
friends one evening, and we decided to amuse ourselves with
table-turning. The local dispensary was vacant at the time, so we said
that if the table would work we should ask who would be appointed as
medical officer. As we sat round it touching it with our hands it began
to knock. We said:
"'Who are you?'
"The table spelt out the name of a bishop of the Church of Ireland. We
asked, thinking that the answer was absurd, as we knew him to be alive
and well:
"'Are you dead?'
"The table answered 'Yes.'
"We laughed at this and asked:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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