Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-24

I
- Mompesson at his wits
end. Well might he bel
Apart from the injury done
to his family and belongings his house thronged
night and day by nquisitive visitors from all sections
of the country. He was denounced on the one hand
as tr1ckster, and on the other who must be
guilty of terrible secret sin, else he would not
thus be vexed. Sermons were preached with him as
the text. Factions were formed angrily affirming
and denying the supernatural character of the dis
turbances. News of the affair travelled to the
of the King, who despatched an investigating COM
mission to Mompesson House, where, greatly to the
delight of the unbelieving, nothing untoward
CURED during the commissioners visit. But there
after as if to make up for lost time, the most
tional phenomena of the haunting produced
Thus matters continued for many months, until it
dawned on Mompesson and his friends that possibly
the not one of ghosts but of witchcraft
This suspicion rose from the singular circumstance
that voices in the childrens room began for hun
dred times together" to cry "a witch! A WITCH"
Resolved to put matters to test, of the boldest
of company of spectators suddenly demanded
knocks and more!" To which three knocks
distinctly heard, and afterward by way of
confirmation, five knocks as requested by another
onlooker.
Now began an eager hunt for the once despised
drummer, who presently found in Jail at Glouces-
ter accused of theft And with this discovery word
was brought to Mompesson that the drummer had
openly boosted of having bewitched him. This
was enough for the outraged Squire. There was in
existence act of King James 1. holding it felony
to feed, employ, or reward any evil spirit" and
under its provisions he speedily had his alleged per-
secutor indicted as wizard
Wizard Attempts a Compromise
A MID great excitement the aged veteran was
1 4 brought from Gloucester to Salisbury to stand
trial. But his spirit remained unbroken. Instead of
confessing, humbly begging mercy, and promising
amends, he undertook to bargain with Mompesson
promising that if the latter secured his liberty and
gave him employment a farm hand, he would rid
him of the haunting. Perhaps because he feared
treachery perhaps because, as he said he felt sure
the drummer could do him good in any honest
way" Mompesson rejected this Ingenious proposal
So the drummer was left to his fate, which, for
those days, was most unexpected. packed and
attentive court room listened to the tale of the
mishaps and misadventures that had made Nom
pesson House national center of interest; it was
proved that the accused had been intimate with an
old vagabond who pretended to possess supernatural
powers; and emphasis laid the alleged fact
that he had boosted of having revenged himself on
Mompesson for the confscation of his drum. Luckily
for him, Mompesson not the power in Salisbury
that he was in Tedworth, and his eloquent defense
moved the jury to acqut him and to send him on his
way rejoicing. Thereafter he never again heard
of in Wiltshire in the pages of history and with
his disappearance end to the knockings the
corpse candles, and all the other uncanny phenom-
ena that had made life ceaseless nightmare for
the Mompessons
Such is the astonishing story of the drummer of
Tedworth still cited by the supersttous capital
example of the intermeddling of superhurnan
agencies in human affairs, and still mentioned by,
the skeptical of the most amusing and most
successful hoaXes record.
To of the twentieth century its chief significance
lies in the striking resemblance between the trbula
lions of the MompesSon family and the so called