The secret commonwealth of elves, fauns & fairiesKirk, Robert
Science
The secret commonwealth of elves, fauns & fairies
Kirk, Robert
Clairvoyance; Fairies; Parapsychology
This is a disgusting story if Mr. H.’s health was ruined by his
presence at the performances. The point, however, is that he did
behave in epileptic fashion while these events were in progress.
It is natural to suppose that, in his “trances,” he may have been
capable, unconsciously, of feats physically and morally impossible to
him in his normal condition. This explanation would not cover all the
alleged occurrences, but would account for many of them.
We now take an ancient instance, similar disturbances at Newberry,
in New England, in 1679, similarly accompanied by the presence of
an epileptic patient.[12] The house of William Morse was “strangely
disquieted by a dæmon.” The inmates were Morse, his wife, and their
grandson, a boy whose age is not given. The trouble began on December
3, with a sound of heavy objects falling on the roof. On December 8,
large stones and bricks “were thrown in at the west end of the house
... the bedstead was lifted up from the floor, and the bed-staff
flung out of the window, and a cat was hurled at the wife. A long
staff danced up and down in the chimney. The man’s wife put the staff
in the fire, but she could not hold it there, inasmuch as it would
forcibly fly out; yet after much ado, with joynt strength, they made
it to burn.... A chair flew about, and at last lighted on the table,
where victuals stood ready to eat, and was likely to spoil all, only
by a nimble catching they saved some of their meat.... A chest was
removed from place to place, no hand touching it. Two keys would
fly about, making a loud noise by knocking against each other.... As
they lay in bed with their little boy between them, a great stone
from the floor of the loft was thrown upon the man’s stomach, and he
turning it down upon the floor, it was once more thrown upon him.”
On January 23, 1680, “his ink-horn was taken away from him while he
was writing” (he was keeping a diary of these events), “and when by
all his seeking he could not find it, at last he saw it drop out of
the air, down by the fire.... February 2, while he and his boy were
eating of cheese, the pieces which he cut were wrested from them....
But as for the boy, he was a great sufferer in these afflictions, for
on the 18th of December he, sitting by his grandfather, was hurried
into great motions. The man made him stand between his legs, but the
chair danced up and down, and was like to have cast both man and boy
into the fire, and the child was tossed about in such a manner as
that they feared his brains would have been beaten out.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account