Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents, and Strange Events — John Shaqi
Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents, and Strange EventsBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents, and Strange Events
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Legends -- England -- Yorkshire; Yorkshire (England) -- Miscellanea
"In 1869 I went to school at Mr. Metcalfe's, the present incumbent
of the church. For my first year I saw and heard nothing about the
ghost. We used to sit in two pews in the body of the church under
the gallery. In 1870 we changed to a pew in the front of the
gallery and the one behind it. Soon after we changed our seats,
some of us saw the ghost, and the next Sunday we looked for it, and
most of us saw it. The attempt was made known to find out what the
ghost was. In 1871 my curiosity being rather excited by the
frequent appearances of the ghost, I and a boy of the name of
Yewdall determined to find out what it was. The appearance of the
ghost was, as one of your informants describes it, that of a figure
in a surplice, and it always went across the window from left to
right, and returned from right to left. The east window is a
pattern window of a good deal of red and blue glass, and beyond the
window there is a small strip of churchyard and then a wall. Beyond
the wall is the yard of the old parsonage house. On the left hand
side of this yard is the parsonage which is rented to a few poor
families who used to take in lodgers. On the other side are the
offices.
[Illustration:
A East window
B Gallery
C Parsonage
D Wall
E Churchyard
F Ashpit, &c.
G yard formerly garden]
"As we used to teach at the Sunday School which was held in a large
room jutting out from the parsonage towards the church, we often
noticed the women and children of the house going across the yard
to the ashpits; and it struck us that this might be the ghost. So
we went into the church directly the doors were opened and went up
into the gallery while another of us walked across the churchyard
in front of the east window. Curiously enough, at the same time we
saw him going across the window near the bottom, the ghost went
across higher up. This goes a good way to proving my supposition,
as is drawn in the following diagram.
[Illustration]
"I have forgotten to state that the ghost was always seen best in
sunny weather, but it is also to be seen in cloudy weather as well
as bright sunshine. Usually one ghost appeared, but I have often
seen two, and a few times as many as eight children with the two
big ones. This was, I suppose, the husband and wife of one of the
families surrounded by the children. In 1862 (I believe the date is
correct) Mr. Saul was the Incumbent, but upon his death, on
vacation of the living, the parsonage house was uninhabited. During
this time I have been told that the church was delivered from the
ghost, but the very first Sunday the new rector came the ghosts
reappeared as before.--I remain, yours truly,
"----."
The name I have not given, though the letter was signed.
PETER PRIESTLY,
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