The Alleged Haunting of B---- House, - [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗

the cost of scientific work which he is unable to undertake himself, and he offered to meet the expense of the lease of B—— if Colonel Taylor would take the house, a proposal which he accepted.

This is what The Times correspondent of June 8, 1897, thought proper to describe in the words, "for reasons which are differently stated in London and in Perth, where the agent for the proprietor is to be found, Lord Bute did not take the house in his own name, but in that of Colonel Taylor."

It would have been equally true to say of the Coptic texts, published at Lord Bute's expense by Mr. Budge of the British Museum, that Lord Bute wrote and published these books under the name of Budge.

Had Colonel Taylor been prevented by circumstances from becoming tenant of B—— House, Sir William Crookes, the present President of the British Association and of the Society for Psychical Research, or Mr. Arthur Smith, Treasurer of the S.P.R., was willing to take the lease.

Having thus agreed to Lord Bute's proposal, Colonel Taylor at once proceeded to make himself acquainted with the history of B—— House. He naturally placed himself in communication with the late tenant, assuming that that gentleman would be willing to assist in investigating the phenomena by which his family and guests had been annoyed. But the only information which Mr. H—— seemed disposed to give was an admission that some members of his family had heard noises, and that the house was locally reported to be haunted.

However, other sources of information as to the experiences of the H—— establishment were fortunately available.

Captain S——'s agents made no scruple about letting the house to the well-known expert. The Edinburgh agents, Messrs. Speedy, indeed mentioned the haunting, and expressed the hope that Colonel Taylor would not make it the subject of complaint, as had been done by the H—— family, and they received the assurance that this was not a score upon which he would give trouble. In regard to the letters of Messrs. R.H. Moncrieff & Co., dated June 12, 1897, which appeared in The Times, it can only be said that the impression which they were likely to convey was, that Colonel Taylor was an imaginary being like John Doe or Richard Roe. Their scepticism must have been of recent origin, since none was manifested on receiving his rent. Their position is in any case unfortunate, since, even if unclouded by doubt as to the Colonel's personality, they appear to wish the public to believe that they seriously thought that one well known as a Spiritualist in England and America, a retired Professor of Military Tactics, with a comfortable house at Cheltenham, a member of the Junior United Service Club in London, a man who neither shoots nor fishes, had been suddenly seized in his mature years with a desire to hire an isolated country house in Perthshire, in the depths of winter, for the purpose of trying his 'prentice hand upon rabbit-shooting on a small scale.

Colonel Taylor, who is a widower without a daughter, was at this time much occupied by the illness and death of a near relative, and was unable for the moment to take up residence at B—— House. Lord Bute accordingly expressed a hope that Miss Freer would undertake to conduct the investigation. Mr. Myers also wrote urgently to her, saying, "If you don't get phenomena, probably no one will." She was abroad at the time, but at considerable personal inconvenience consented to return, and on December 26th she wrote to Lord Bute, stating that she could reach Ballechin on February 2nd, and adding—

"I have been reflecting further on the question of the personality of investigators. I think the names you suggest, and some others which occur to me, divide naturally into three classes (assuming, and I think you agree with me, that it does not follow that every one can discover a ghost because it is there, nor that their failure to discover it is any proof that it is not there). (1) Those who have personal experience of phenomena, and may be expected to be susceptible to psychic influences; (2) those who have no personal powers in that line, but are open-minded and sympathetic; and (3) those who are passively open to conviction. A fourth class, those who come to look for evidence against the phenomena, but will accept none for it, should, I think, be left until we have some demonstrable evidence to show.... Mr. Myers proposes himself for April 14-21.... I should suggest the keeping of a diary, in which every one willing to do so should make entries, negative or affirmative."

The Times Correspondent further criticised the method of inquiry employed at B——.

"Lord Bute's original idea was a good one, but it was never properly carried out. Observing that the S.P.R. had made many investigations in a perfunctory and absurd manner by sending somebody to a haunted house for a couple of nights and then writing an utterly worthless report, he desired in this case a continuous investigation extending over a considerable period. He ought, therefore, to have employed a couple of intelligent detectives for the whole term, and thus secured real continuity. As things are, the only continuity is to be found in the presence—itself not entirely continuous—of the lady just mentioned. But simply because she is a lady, and because she had her duties as hostess to attend to, she is unfit to carry out the actual work of investigating the phenomena in question. Some of her assistants sat up all night, with loaded guns, in a condition of abject fright; others, there is reason to suspect, manufactured phenomena for themselves; and nearly all seem to have begun by assuming supernatural interference, instead of leaving it for the final explanation of whatever might be clearly proved to be otherwise inexplicable."

It is hardly necessary to repudiate such a condition of mind on the part of the guests at B——, but it may be well to remark that the writer of this sapient paragraph seems to be under the impression that every result of certain forces at present imperfectly understood is supernatural. The assertion that any one who was in the house during Colonel Taylor's tenancy believed in the possibility of the existence of anything supernatural is, so far as the present editors are aware, a pure fabrication, having no foundation whatever. In their own belief all things which exist, or can exist, are, ipso facto, natural, although their nature may not belong to the plane of being in which we are normally accustomed to move.

In this connection may be usefully quoted the following passages from Miss Freer's article in The Nineteenth Century, August 1897:—

"Some of my friends asked me how I proposed to organise a haunted house research, to which I could only reply that I didn't propose to do anything of the sort. It seemed to me that among several things to be avoided was self-consciousness of any kind, that the natural thing to do was to settle down to a country-house life, make it as pleasant as possible, and await events.... The subject of the 'haunting' was never accentuated, and we always tried to prevent talking it over with new-comers.... As to the guests, for the most part they came on no special principle of selection.... Several of our visitors had more or less special interest in the inquiry, but others merely came for a country-house visit or for sport, and some knew nothing whatever till after their arrival of any special interest alleged to attach to the house.... Analysing our list of guests, I find that there were eleven ladies, twenty-one gentlemen, and The Times Correspondent. Of the gentlemen, three were soldiers, three lawyers, two were men of letters, one an artist, two were in business, four were clergy, one a physician, ... and five, men of leisure."

It would be unnecessary to quote all the preliminary correspondence; but the following passages from Lord Bute's letters to Miss Freer help to explain the situation, and the relation of those concerned:—

"December 20th.— ... I am afraid I shall encroach even further upon your kindness. Myers has all the papers, but I fancy you would rather know as little as possible, so as not to be influenced by expectation. It is no case of roughing it. B—— House is, I believe, a luxurious country house, ample, though not too large, in a beautiful neighbourhood...."

A letter of December 22nd refers to a suggestion that the phenomena were produced by trickery, a fact which is mentioned to show that the possibility was kept in view from the first.

On January 23rd, "Not a day should be lost in beginning the observation, which ought to be continuous. Such a chance has never occurred before, and may never occur again. Orders have been given to get the house ready for immediate occupation."

Miss Freer, accompanied by her friend Miss Constance Moore (a daughter of the late Rev. Daniel Moore, Prebendary of St. Paul's and Chaplain, to the Queen), arrived at B—— House on February 3, 1897.