South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-07-23
SPIRITS THRIVE IN
ENGLISH CASTLES
William the Conqueror-Even
Appears in Ancestral Halls,
tn British Aver.
Nv DAVID L. 8IUMENFELD.

BY DAVID l.. BLUMENFEllD.
LONDON. July 15-(By L. PO-I
Apart from public ghosts. so 10
speak, London IL surrounded By an
cestraI castles, some OF them dating I
back 10 William the ConquerOr, /
whose halls contain family ghosts.
An hours ride from Charing |
Cross. on the Strand. IS the little !
/ country village Of Hurstm-OnceauX' 1
and below the village stands the
wonderful old castle OF Hurstmon- /
ceaux. with its great Gothic gateway
and drawbridge.
Here lives Colonel Claude Lowther.
/ cousin 10 the ex-speaker OF the
British parliament. To every guest
10 Hurstmonceaux. Lowther explains
l the story Of the Drummer OF King
7 William Of Normandy. in order that
\ they shall not be frightened in thu
night
The story dates back originally TO
/ the battle OF Hastings, where King
I Harold met death at the hands Of
I Norman arrow. In williams train
there was a drummer boy. red-hair-
ed. full OF the JOY OF life. a boy OF
IT. His duty was to sound the mio
night roll on his drum. while the
men at arms slept by their weapons,
and the guard was changed. Now
william had in his encourage Chris
tan de Cahusac, a fierce tempered
Norman knight with a pretty. IS
year-old wife. A year or so after
the battle of Hastings, while William
/ and his court were established at
Hurstmonceaux castle, which he ha0
just built. de Cahusac, happening 10
be looking from one OF the battle
ments, saw his wife, Nicolette. walk
ing in the garden with the young
pagebOy drummer. The boy plucked
a flower from the hedge and handed
it 10 his fair mistress. The same
night while the serving men slept in
the big hall and the boy stole out
on the gallery 10 roll his midnight
drum beats. de Cahusac crept up De
hind him. The boy lifted his drum
sticks and began 10 roll.
He never finished ii. De Oahu
sac's dagger flashed and caught the
boy full in the throat.
The drum beats stopped. There
was a choking. gasp. fall and still
ness.
That is the story which Lowther
) tells his guests after dinner in the
great hall Of the old castle. He
, warns them that should they hear
the faint tap Of a drum they must
) mot be frightened.
1t is but the ghost of the poor
, drummer boy. he tells them. and
r who need fear a child.
Every night you may hear him. AS
Z the Old clock in the tower boonls
out the midnight strokes there comes
the faint tap of a drum. High up In
, the gallery IL sounds. reverberating
through the rafters % the old hall.
- gradually working up 10 the old time
I rollbeat of King William the Con-
queror's drummer. Then, suddenly
2 comes the gurgle. the fall and sill
ence.
Old Bishop. Calude Lowthers but
Ter. who has heard the drummer
night after night since he first en-
, tered Lowther's service as a page
boy. breads the night when the
drum shall not sound. When that
night comes he declares. the head
Of the Lowther family must die.
/ LIZ ullln play strange part IN
British ghost lore. Many in Amer
ica have heard no doubt Of the
legend of brakes drum, the drum
OF the famous Sir Francis Drake,
contemporary Of Raleigh. and Haw-
kins, and Forbisher. and many an
other bold seamen of Elizabethan
days.
Whenever England goes TO war.
q brakes drum Is heard, beating it's
warning tattoo for naval men. In
1914. when war was declared the
seamen in Jelicoe's flagship heard
the drum distinctly, rolling above
the mast heads. admiralty officials
/ in London heard it too. and looked
up from their documents.
In Devon, too where Drake was
born, the tOwnsmen and villagers
drought the county all profess TO
have heard the roll Of the famous
drum. which today hangs high in
Tavistock cathedral, where the good
clergy will aver the drum beat in
cessantly for three minutes on the
night OF the declaration OF war
against Germany.