Some Haunted Houses of England & Wales.

GLOSSARY

Elemental. Otherwise known as Poltergeist. There are too many species of this genus of spirit for me to attempt a classification in this work. Broadly defined, an Elemental is a phantasm that has never inhabited any kind of earthly body whether animal or vegetable. It may be sub-human, as in the case of the Clock-ghost of Mulready; sub-animal, as in the case of the Guilsborough apparition; or sub-vegetable, as in the case of the ACTINOMYCES phenomenon near Bath.

It is generally, but not always inimically disposed towards man. One type of it, viz., the gnome, pixie, &c., avoid humanity as much as possible; other types are merely mischievous, delighting to frighten children by visiting their nurseries or pouncing out upon them when at play in some deserted building or lonely by-road; whilst other species are wholly evil, generating bacilli of foul diseases or urging man to the commission of vicious acts and crime. Their origin I reserve for another volume.

Ghost. The general name for phantasms, &c.

Hallucination. Any supposed sensory perception that has no objective counterpart within field of vision, hearing, &c.

Clairvoyance. The faculty or art of perceiving some distant scene as though an actual eye-witness. A clairvoyant is often able to describe (unconsciously) what he is witnessing.

Delusion. Fancy. When one imagines one sees or hears something and it exists ONLY in imagination. Hallucinations are either delusive, when there is nothing to which they correspond in the objective world, or veridical, when they correspond with events taking place somewhere.

Illusion. Misinterpretation of some object actually present to the sight, as, for example, when a cloak hanging on a peg is mistaken for a man, or a ringing in the ears for sounds of bells.

Metetherical World. The world beyond the ether, synonyms—spiritual, superphysical.

Phantasm. A ghost. Any occult phenomenon that is either visual or auditory as distinct from a phantom which is only visual: or, indeed, any superphysical presence that conveys the impression of touch, smell, &c.

Suggestion. Process of impressing upon a person’s intelligence or mind the thoughts and wishes of another intelligence or mind; or ideas engendered by the appearance of certain localities, furniture, &c., or simply by the atmosphere.

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[1] In the March number of the Psychical Research Magazine for 1908, a well-authenticated instance is given of a Poltergeist’s hand being seen on a pillow—“a long hand with knotty joints.”

[2] A solution as to the nature of this type of ghost will appear in a subsequent volume.

[3] All names altered by request.

[4] The different styles of writing in the following are due to certain alterations I have been obliged to make, the English of the original being so involved in places as to be nearly unintelligible.

[5] In a subsequent volume I have attempted to give a satisfactory solution.

[6] A more thorough solution to these hauntings will appear in a subsequent volume.

[7] (Probably 1780.—Ed.)

Transcriber’s note

Footnotes were moved to the end of the book. Small errors in punctuation were corrected without note. Also the following changes were made, on page
32 “or” changed to “for” (Nor was I mistaken, for, on putting)
34 “momentory” changed to “momentary” (in momentary terror of some fresh phenomenon)
47 “stifly” changed to “stiffly” (he said, bowing stiffly)
89 “nighfall” changed to “nightfall” (a very wide berth after nightfall)
94 “give” changed to “gave” (parents who gave him a liberal education)
117 ? changed to ! (they improvised an oven in the earth and ate it!)
146 “stool” changed to “stood” (lane in which the haunted elm stood)
149 “suprising” changed to “surprising” (it is not surprising that they are now).

Otherwise the original was preserved, including inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, etc.

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