The Mysteries of All Nations: Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together with Strange Customs, Fables, and TalesGrant, James (Archaeologist)
History
The Mysteries of All Nations: Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together with Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales
Grant, James (Archaeologist)
Occultism; Superstition; Trials (Witchcraft)
An account is given of a house that was haunted at Bow last century. A
young girl declared one morning that a cold hand had been laid on her
about midnight. This proved to be the hand of death. She sickened, and
before many suns went down she lay in her winding sheet. Then followed
a series of strange annoyances, which gave rise to the report that the
house was haunted. So dreadfully were the inmates frightened, that
though the house contained many apartments upstairs and downstairs,
they took refuge in a small room on the ground floor. Night and day
strange noises were heard, and furniture and other articles were flung
about by unseen hands. A gentleman, a friend of the family, hearing of
what was going on, engaged to solve the mystery. Entering an apartment
upstairs, he observed the furniture moving about the floor, although
no living being could be seen. Stones and bricks were thrown through
the window; a staff danced round the room; dishes were thrown at his
head. He examined every hole and corner, but could not discover any
person or thing by which the articles were made to move. Fearing the
presence of evil spirits, he hastened out, closing the door after him.
It was instantly opened, and chairs, stools, candlesticks, and dishes
were hurled after him. The worst had not come. While all the family
were standing in amazement, a small boiler with hot water moved from
one side of the grate to the other, the poker and tongs stood up and
exchanged places, the pots and pans clattered loudly, and a small
table was lifted into the air. A witch residing in the neighbourhood
being suspected of causing the mischief, a noted wizard undertook to
solve the mystery. He ordered the dancing staff to be burned. When it
was blazing up, a suspected witch entered in great agony. She asked
for a drink of water to quench her burning thirst. Those cognisant of
the facts concluded that the perpetrator of the mischief was
discovered. She was apprehended, tried, and acquitted for want of
sufficient evidence. As she left the court she was heard to mutter, "I
shall be revenged." She kept her word. The following night, the
annoyance, which had ceased during her incarceration, recommenced with
double fury. The inmates of the house, who had previously escaped
without bodily injury, were struck by invisible persons, who, as often
as they dealt their blows, shouted, "Take that;" while at the same
time the furniture was knocked against the walls and broken to pieces.
The inmates fled for their lives, and the house was shut up for many
years, none daring to occupy the haunted house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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