Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-11-23
AN CESTI r GHOSTS.

AN GESDTTRR & HOSTS.
Said to Haunt the Towers and Cor
+. riders Of English Castles.
& There has been some little astonish-
entamongthe gossip shere{ eaysaL London
don correspondents Of the New York Tri-
bune1 that the fire at Cortachy CASTLE has
not caused more attention to be given to
ghosts proper to that spot, or rather, to
its noble owners, the Ogiliries, al the
head of whom is Lord Airlie, now in In
dia. tits strange how anything of this
kind arot1ses the superstition latent
among English people of thehigher class.
I am not profoundly acquainted with
American superstitious vagar,es, which
/ take to be Of a theosophic Or spiritual
istic kind, but I am every day more as
tonished at the credence given here to
thoroughly we'll established ghosts "of
quality" A vulgar goblin or queer nois-
es in cheap villa tenanted by trades
man are dismissed with contempt, but
none Of this ofhandedness is shown
toward ghosts connected with the peer
age. Thus, when the late Lord Airlie
died, as foreshadowed by the appear
ance Of the spectre drummer
boy there was tremen-
dous hubbub in country houses, and twi-
light was made terrible by the recital Of
well-authenticated ghost stories without
number. So frequent is the family
COST, or banshee, that one grows to
think it one OF those things without
which no gentleman's house is complete.
er man who has recently bought an es-
ularly proud of weil-established local
back of the fine old Tudor house.
hands with delight without extrs
charge; not like those confounded War
dour Street ancestors
There were strange circumstances con-
nected with the last appearance of the
Airlie ghost. The late peer was in the
far West, I think at Denver, in Colorado.
when the drummer boy was heard at
Cortachy. Great CONSERVATION was felt
at the castle, but it was agreed by all the
elder members of the family that death
was not signlfed under less than two
visitations Of the spectre, who would in
that case reappear on the eighth day.
Precisely on that day the drumming was
distinctly heard, aid the next telegram
from Denver announced the death of
Lord Airlie. The question now arises,
evil the phantom survive the fire."
Another celebrated ghost who makes
bis. presence heard, not seen, is the coach
driving goblin. I know of three places
haunted by this phantom. One is DON
nington, the second is LittIecote, the
third [ have excellent reasons for not
Mentioning The ghost makes himself
heard at all three in manner peculi-
arly startling and ghost|y. AS the
host, his family, and friends are seated
1T dinner, they-I say distinctly they,
not one dreamy, solitary person-hear
the wheels of q coach grating harshly on
the gravel OF the drive up to the main
entrance Of the building, and are soon
wondering who the be)ated and unbid-
den guest can be, when the carriage
stops sharply at the door. When the
servant opens it he can see no coach,
and hear no sound, and returns greatly
terrified. The guests are amazed. but
the family know that a death is at hand
among their kinsfolk. At times the
coach arrives later in the evening. At
Littlecote on the last occasion it was the
men assembled in the billiard-rootn,
after dinner, who we're startled by the
unearthly vehicle. Littlecote, asevery-
body in that part of the country is
aware, is one Of the finest old houses in
England, and was the scene Of the
arrangement for James lis flight from
England, and a hundred years before,
of the terrible drama of Wild Will Oar
rell, an English version Of the "Man.
fred" story. There is still to be seen the
fireplace into which the child WAS
thrown, and the place is pointed out
where the ghost Of Darrelps sister ap-
peared to him, and a child in ball of
fire rolled in front of his horse till the
animal fell, and in falling broke his mas
ter's neck. What is certain, is that the
great Darrell property in Wiltshire, now
worth forty thousand sterling per an
mum, passed into the hands Of Judge
Popham, who had been attorney-gen-
eral at the time when Darrell should
have been tried for murder. The Pop
hams still hold the estate, to which, ii
is averred, the heir never succeeds
that is, the direct heir. And death and
misfortune are heralded by the sound Of
the spectre coach-wheels.
Precisely the same sounds were
heard at the Scottish shooting house I
refrain from more particularly specify.
ing. At the latter the company was al
dinner, the hour for the bennington
ghost, but at Littlecote it was while al
the men were engaged at the unroman'
tic game of ''pool'' that the carriage
rolled up to the door. The persons who
were present Of course believe their
ears, and support each other. AS for
myself, I have no theory or explanation
to offer concerning ghosts. have heard
Of plenty Of them from persons whom I
am bound to believe, but as an older
ACKNOWLEDGMENT observed, 'Verily,
[ have not seen them"
the mystery Of the CLAIMS is over, we
shall have one subject the less for dis
cussion in country-houses. Although
not Endorsed by the Lyon family, the
story is generally accepted that the OBJ
iect secretei in the central tower of the
old part of Macbeth's castlew al elder
son of the house Of Lyon, who was born
of monstrous shape, and grew to mon
strous size. The unhappy creature, who
is said to have been an idiot, and eight
feet in height, died after nearly attain
ing the honor, if it I've one, Of "centen-
arianism,'' as 1t is absurdty called. It, I
mean the monster, was concealed, it is
whispered, for the exec llent reason that
he was rightfui heir to the Strathmore
estates, and that if he had got loose, or
his existance had been verified. the con-
troll Of the property would have been
taken away from those who have enjoyed
it, and, like the late lord, made "ducks
and brakes of it during the present CEN
fury. / do not vouch for this story, but
apprehend that it is substantially true,
inasmuch as it explains the otherwise
inexplicab]e secrecy so rigidly MAIN
tanned by the only three initiated per-
sons, the Earl ofStrathmore at the time,
the next heir. if of age, and the father
of Glamis. Of course, the Lyons who
originally immured the unhappy mon