Fiends, Ghosts, and Sprites Part 17

[40] Thorpe's Yule-Tide Stories. Bohn, p. 248. And Table of Contents, p.

XIII.

[41] "The Fall of the Nibelungers," &c.; a Translation of the Nibelunge Not, or Nibelungenlied, by W. N. Lettsom, p. 59, St. 346, 347; p. 167, St. 983.

[42] Thorpe. Op. cit. Table of Contents, p. IX.

[43] "The marvellous stories, the frightful tales, the threats, which were so long the apanage of infancy, would dispose the naturally impressionable mind to receive all the fantastic creations of the period. Now, it is said, the system is completely changed, and they are taught to ridicule these ancient beliefs. This argument would be unanswerable if they spoke of colleges and boarding schools; but they forget the servants to whom are confided the early years of infants; thus is the nursery always reviving fooleries, terrors, and frightful stories, in the middle of which the infant grows. I will content me with one example, that of one of the celebrated poets of England, Robert Burns. 'I owed much in my infancy,' says this writer, 'to an old woman who lived with us, and who was extremely ignorant, and remarkably credulous and superst.i.tious. No one in the country had a larger collection of tales and songs respecting devils, fairies, ghosts, sorcerers, magicians, jack-o'-lanterns, hobgoblins, phantoms, apparitions, charms, giants, dragons, &c.

"'Not only did these tales cultivate in me the germs of poesy, but they had such an effect upon my imagination, that, even now, in my night journeys, I have often, in spite of myself, the eye upon certain suspicious places; and although no one can be more sceptical in such matters, an effort of the reason is occasionally necessary to chase away these vain terrors.'

"'Darkness, obscurity, the silence of night, solitariness, contribute strongly to develop the feeling of terror so wrongly cast in the minds of infants. Their eye readily perceives frightful figures which regard them in a menacing manner; their chamber is peopled with a.s.sa.s.sins, robbers, devils, and monsters of all kinds."--_A. Brierre de Boismont.

"Des Hallucinations; ou Histoire Raisonnee des Apparitions,"_ &c. Ed.

II, 1852, p. 362.

[44] This idea has been beautifully expressed by Longfellow in the "Voices of the Night."

"When the hours of day are numbered, And the voices of the night Wake the better soul, that slumbered, To a holy calm delight,

Ere the evening lamps are lighted, And like phantoms grim and tall, Shadows from the fitful firelight Dance upon the parlour wall;

Then the forms of the departed Enter at the open door; The beloved, the true-hearted, Come to visit us once more." &c.

See also Was.h.i.+ngton Irving's Bracebridge Hall. St. Martin's Eve.

[45]

"I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came and made My heart as dry as dust."

Coleridge. "Ancient Mariner."

[46] Brewster. Natural Magic, p. 15.

[47] A few hundred feet from the place where this occurred, is a lane (Oldfield Lane, Wortley, near Leeds) which was noted, many years ago, as the beat of one of those somewhat rare spectres, a headless ghost. Some are living even now who have _known_ those who had seen this phantom.

When last seen, it appeared as a comfortable-looking man, dressed in a drab-coat, and carried the head under the arm. As a Yorks.h.i.+re version of a very ancient and wide-spread superst.i.tion, its memory is worth preserving. The belief in headless ghosts is found in many parts of England, Ireland (the _Dullahan_ or _Dulachan_), Wales, Scotland, Spain, France, and Germany.

[48] Chambers' Miscellany. Art. "Spectral Apparitions," &c.

[49] Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft. 2nd Ed., p. 3.

[50] "Phantoms of the Far East." Chambers' Edinburgh Journal. Vol. XVII, p. 315.

[51] Busby's Lucretius, B. IV.

[52] Temora.

[53] Notes and Queries, Vol. VIII, p. 7.

[54] Letters on Natural Magic. 5th Ed., p. 166.

[55] D. Jardine, "Notes and Queries," Vol. VIII, p. 512, Nov. 26, 1853.

[56] Hudibras. Can. III.

[57] Athenaeum. July 2, 1853, p. 801, and Appendix.

[58] Muller. "Manuel de Physiologie." Traduit par A. J. L. Jourdan. 2nd ed., 1851, par E. Littre, T. II., p. 388. See also -- A. B. C. E. F., Sect. V, "Phenomenes Subjectifs de Vision," p. 386.

[59] Muller. Op. cit., T. II, p. 549.

[60] Boismont. Op. cit., p. 74.

[61] "Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, &c., in their Relations to the Vital Force," by Karl von Reichenbach, Pts. I & II.

[62] "The Night Side of Nature," by Mrs. Crowe. Ed. 1853, p. 362.

[63]

"I waste the matin lamp in sighs for thee, Thy image steals between my G.o.d and me; Thy voice I seem in every hymn to hear, With every bead I drop too soft a tear."

_Eloise and Abelard._ Pope.

[64] Notes and Narrative of a Six Years' Mission princ.i.p.ally among the Dens of London. By R. W. Vanderkiste, p. 182.

[65] Boismont. Op. cit., p. 110.

[66] "Theory of Pneumatology." By Dr. J. H. Jung-Stilling: translated by Saml. Jackson; p. 197, Lond., 1834.

[67] Op. cit., p. 200.

[68] The apparition of the "_White Lady_" was very irregular and uncertain, for many members of the family died without her spectre having been seen.

[69] "Demonology and Witchcraft." 2nd Ed., p. 350, note.

[70] "Household Words." Conducted by Charles d.i.c.kens, March, 1853, p. 6.

[71] Op. cit., p. 142.

[72] "Notes and Queries." Vol. VIII., p. 287.

[73] Ed. 1829, Vol. IV., p. 271.

[74] Op. cit., p. 182.

[75] Op. cit., p. 470.

[76] De. Divinatione et de Fato.

[77] Op. cit. p. 243.