The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-18
VIRGINIA GHOST STORIES.
WEIRD TALES OF sPOOKs IN THE
OLD DOMINION.
Tragic and Mysterious Murder of the
Pretty Mistress of the "HOuse With
the bloody Handa."

a Virginian- of the old school, lives in
quaint, many-gabled house set in the rich
rolling country along the river net many
miles below Alexandria. The walls of the
old mansion are covered with pictures;
stately portraits Of bygone bellies; Gin
court views of ladies in richly colored
dresses and gentlemen in doublet and
hose.
Now, there" said the Colonel, pointing
to portrait of a lady sitting in a gar
| den. lis a picture with a curious history
1t is that of an ancestress of nine the
Lady Catharine, of the time of Anne. She
married Sir Harry Vance-a penniless no.
bleman-against her parents wishes and
| came to Virginia with him. They built this
house. The Governor of the province fell
in love with Lady Catharine and threw
her husband into prison on some pretext
or other, but when he found his advances
hopeless, he released him. OF course there
was challenge. The place of meeting
was that bit of open ground you see
through the window. AT the time set for
| the duel, Vance was very low with sud
| den heart affection and toss ng in dell
| rum His wife determined TO take his
place. So she rugged herself in Sir Har-
rvs clothes and at the appointed time
was on the ground.
Fought Her Husbands Duel.
I'm the dim light she was not recog-
| nized. There was an exchange of shots
| and both the Governor and the Lady
Catharine were wounded. Unfortunately
| the Governor was not dangerously hurt
| but the lady had received her death war
rant The men about her did not discov-
er the deception until they carried her In
| to the house and heard the delirious means
| of Vance from above stairs
The next morning Lady Catharine died
and they buried her in state, with pomp
| and observance as became her rank.
| When her husband partially recovered
| from his illness and the shock of her death
| he had this picture painted, and through
| all the changes of fortune that the house
| has since endured ii has remained in that
| place. After Vance's death superstition
| gradually grew up about it. On the ladys
| birthday-the 18th of November-it is said
| that she can be seen with her black robes
drawn tight about her and her pistol in
| hand. The negroes stand in mortal fear
of the place. You couldn't induce one of
| them to build fire in the hearth there
! for love or money on the night of the 18th
| of November.
but that is only one of the ghost
| stories we have about here. This neigh
| borhood can boast of many of them, and
1 have often wondered that no one has
| attempted to put them into literary shape.
In locality like this nothing that adds
| interest and variety to life can afford to
| be overlooked. The eternal craving for ro-
| NANCE l suppose leads each succeeding
generation to sit reverently at the feet of
| the fathers and listen to the weird tales
out of the past. In this way a body of
| ghost lore has accumulated, and little by
little it has acquired the sanctity of be-
| lief. To question any item of 1t would be
| heresy of the blackest sort. To the small
boy especially it is sacred.
| Not one youngster in ten would dare
| to pass that old house on the hill yonder
after dark without quickening his steps,"
blouse of the Bloody Hands"
The place the Colonel had referred to
| was a crumbling mansion set on the brow
| of HILL two stories in hight screened
with ivy, and girdled with piazzas A
| rambling line OF barns and outbuldings
| lay at some distance from it, and to one
| side stretched garden wearing a for,orn
| and neglected aspect The bricks were
| black with age. the diamond-shaped panes
| in the windows were curtained with cob
| webs, and the battered shutters were
hanging helplessly by their hinges.
"Old place. isn't it? The shadows in
| those rooms are somber enough, heaven
knows. 1T is strange fact that no mat
| ter how bright the sunshine elsewhere,
| the rooms of that old pile are filled with
! shadows as weird as those you see in the
| pictures of Elihu Vedder We boys used
| to call it the House of the Bloody Hands,
I'm the early fifties young planter lv-
| ing near here fell in love with the mis-
tress of this manor house." continued the
| Colonel. She was pretty little thing of
the wild rose type, all color and perfume
| and sweetness. They were sitting one
evening in that old room. 1t was autumn,
| tradition says. The girl was idly finger
| ing an antiquated harpischord. while the
| evening light was reddening the western
| windows and the fire of the early autumn
was playing on ancestral portraits that
| lined the walls At dusk her lover left
| her and the girl seated herself at the
harpsichord again, playing a love song
| softly to herself. The servants were pass
ing and repassing and the voices of the
| farm hands could be heard in the dis
| lance
THE windows ouen:ng on the porch sud
| denly sid noiselessly up and figure muf-
| fed to the ears-that much at least the
| servants could testify to-stole rapidly
| across the room, and swift, cruel hands
sought the girls throat. Before assist
| ance could reach her she was dead and
her assailant gone. After that the heart
! broken family moved away. Many CT the
neighbors say that at twilight any one
| lettering by the woodside down there can
see the room just as the lover saw it last,
| the yellow harpsichord and the ghostly
| figure bending over the keyboard. The
| story, until few years ago, was relg-
| iously believed in by the negroes, but 1
reckon the decay of the healthy old super
| stitions has touched this story as it has
| touched so many things that used 10
make life interesting and picturesque. The
| rooms are in a fair state of preservation,
! the wainscoating is still dimly visible. and
| the carving has not been entirely obliter-
ated by the ravages of time. You see It
| has not been dismantled altogether" con-
| tinued the Colonel, as he pushed back
| the door, even the 'hobos' seem afraid
| to move one of those tiff-backed chairs.
| This room with the boardedup door is
where the tragedy took place. The col
| ored people of the neighborhood have bar
! ricaded the entrance to keep the liant
| from walking
Cannot Rent the House.
mo attempt is now made TO rent the