New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-19
HAUNTED PALACES.
DISTINGUISHED sPECTREs IN ENGLAND
AND ON THE CONTINENT-sTRANGE
OCCURRENCES IN STOCKHOLM
LAST YEAR

OCCURRENCES IN STOCkHOLM
LAST YEAR.
=. o. a,n3cult to realiAe that here. at the close
-, The nineteenth century, there should sui be
educated people who believe in the existence oi
.ho~6s One might have thought that the
.c.nticism which constitutes so characteristic
feature of the present age. as well as 'he
growing taste for psychcal research ana ma
t.rialism, would be sufficient to counteract any
such superstitions of medieval times. But
such is not the case. The belief in the super
natural seems not to diminish In Europe Out
to increase with the growth of logic science
and enlightenment, and 1t Is noteworthy 'ha'
It is not among the relatively ignorant MASSES
of the people that superstition Is n"os'
strongly developed but among those who have
received instruction of the highest oroer ana
who. either by popular will or what u euphoni-
ously described as "Dvne Right" have been
set up TO direct guide and govern their Fellow
creatures.
II has frequently occurred to me that the be-
lief in the supernatural might be assumed by
these great ones Of the earth for the purpose OF
endowing themselves and their surroundings
with a responsibility otherwise lacK!hs' lhere
is something so eminently respectable IN owning
a haunted house palace. 1t partaKes Oh 'he
nature of ancestry and blue olood III
that II cannot be acquired by purchase, but must
be inherited, evidence OF TINS pecuharl'y
being furnished by the Significant 1act
that none of the English purchasers OF
the castles and country seats OF the
old country families of Ireland has ever
10 my knowledge been honored with any visi-
taton bv the family Banshee of the original
proprietor. But the scepticism which this cir
cumstance created in my mind with regard to
hac
disturbed by the apparently authentic evidence
afforded during the last few months of the
presence of spectres in the royal English palace
of Hampton Court and at the Royal Palace Of
Stockholm.
That Hampton Court Palace is supposed to
be haunted is nothing new. 1t has long en-
joyed that reputation. Indeed, the Corporation
of the City of London is on record as having
ordered 900 masses to be said for the repose
of the soul of Queen Jane Seymour. one of the
many wives of King Henry VIII, with the OBJ
ject of laying her ghost which. even In the
reign of King James ii, was wont, according
10 popular belief to wander about the CORR
dor near the room where Queen Anne Boeyn
caught her sitting the Kings knee I'm
fortunately, these masses do not seem to have
been efficacious; for Queen James spectre con-
tinues, assured. to haunt the palace
TO this DAY. F11teen years ago the lnndDltdHts
of the palace were alarmed by the sound of the
whrring of a spinning-wheel at night. and. in
Difference to their urgent entreates the Gov
eminent Office of Works instituted an nvesti-
CATION which resulted in the discovery Of
bricked-up. and until then unsupported cham
Der, containing an ancient spinning wheel
showing marks of recent use. Reference to the
old records of the palace showed this room to
hay form IF he
Queen Jane. Both the late Lady Eastlake and
Mrs Cavendish Boyle residents in the palace.
have vouched for the appearance a few years
ago of a white apparition, believed to have
been that Of Queen Catherine Howard, near
the Queens great staircase, and have graph
icay described the CHASTITY look of despair on
her face and the bood-curdling sounds of her
screams. And now we hear not only Of
wholesale exodus of the servants employed at
the palace but even of its deserton by wild
owed ladies of rank who. in recognition of
services rendered by their husbands have been
accorded by the Queen free apartments there
for life, owing to the antics of yet a third
ghost who u.s. for some reason or other, be-
lieved to be that of Queen Anne Boleyn II
is all very well TO laugh at this But servants
do not give up good places. nor do titled ladies
of limited means relinquish great and highly
palace for the sake of mere fancy or i'm
sgnation
Windsor Castle constitutes an exception to
the general rule of royal and imperial abodes
in that it is absolutely free from ghcstly
pants The spectre of Herne the Hunter is.
however. believed by superstitious people to
under the oaks of the Home Park
at certain times of the year Bucking
ham Palace is far too modern build
ing to have Banshee of its own while
If Marlborough House were possessed of any
spectral inhabitant it could only be the spirit
of that inperious spouse Of the first Duke of
Marlborough. who is on record az having bulied
TO tears and into utter submission the good
Queen Anne of glorious and pious memory l
have heard of any supernatural appar-
tons at either Kensington Palace at St
Jamess although the tragedies which have oc-
CURED within the walls Of the latter royal
abode notab, the mysterious murder of the
Duke of Cumberlands confidential valet Senlis
in the early part of this century. ought to be
sufficient to people 1t from cellar to garnet with
spectres At Hollywood the gnost of the muir
dered RizZio. the troubadour admirer Of Mary
Queen Of Scots, is supposed to promenade the
gloomy old galleries after dark, and it Is note
worthy that whenever any member Of the
Queens family is forced to spend night in the
capital of Scotland a hotel Is preferred to the
royal palace.
The Little Red Man, who used to haunt the
TMleiies before II destroyed by fire at the
time of the Commune. and his twin brother.
who still appears from time to time pre-
cursor Of death at the Grand Ducal palace Of
Darmstadt. are too well known to need more
than passing reference here; and the same may
be said Of the White Lady of the imperial
Burg palace at Vienna. and of her similarly
at:ired sister who makes periodical visits TO
the old royal palace of Berlin. Much has been
written about this White Lady Of the Hohen-
zollerns. concerning the authenticity Of whose
appearances the late Emperor Frederick col
lected a wonderful array OF records OF the most
convincing nature. There IL in particular a
sworn statement in the imperial archives. both
at St. Petersburg and at Berlin. with regard
to the apparition Of the White Lady to Prince