Post by Nemesis on Jan 3, 2003 4:56:51 GMT -5
The Ghostly Drummer of Tedworth
In March, 1661 John Mompesson of Tedworth (located in Wiltshire, England) brought a lawsuit against a local drummer whom he accused of collecting money under false pretences. The court found the drummer guilty, confiscated his drum, and gave it to Mompesson. Soon afterwards, Mompesson discovered that an angry, drumming spirit had invaded his house. The spirit drummed loud tunes on the bed of his children, moved objects around in the house, threw shoes, and wrestled with servants.
The case of the ghostly drummer of Tedworth soon became famous throughout England. Its notoriety prompted Joseph Glanvill, a clergyman and member of the Royal Society, to visit the Mompesson household and investigate the spirit. He collected eyewitness accounts of the spirit's activities, recorded hearing noises himself, and eventually became convinced that the spirit was real. He published this conclusion in 1668 in a work titled A Blow at Modern Sadducism ... To which is added, The Relation of the Fam'd Disturbance by the Drummer, in the House of Mr. John Mompesson.
Many witnesses of the ghostly drummer concluded that the human drummer whom Mompesson had tried was somehow responsible (through witchcraft) for the mysterious sounds and spectral disturbance, but when they tried to locate the human drummer they learned that he had been recently deported to the colonies for other crimes. However, the man eventually escaped from his exile and returned to England, whereupon Mr. Mompesson charged him with the crime of employing an evil spirit. The drummer was found guilty and sent to Salisbury Gaol, though eventually he was released on appeal.
Other people, however, believed that there was no ghostly drummer, and that Mr. Mompesson had invented the entire story, either as a way to make some money or to gain some notoriety. These critics pointed out various problem's with Mr. Mompesson's claims. First of all, no one was ever allowed to inspect his cellar. Why not? Was someone hiding down there creating all the sounds and commotion? Second of all, the drumming almost always happened at night and seemed to come from outside the house, not inside of it. In other words, someone could easily have been hiding outside banging on the walls of the house with a hammer. Finally, the King himself sent some gentlemen to investigate the haunting, but when they arrived they found no evidence of spectral activity at all.
Whether Mr. Mompesson was really beset by an angry spirit, or whether the entire event was an elaborate hoax was never determined, and so the ghostly drummer of Tedworth passed into legend.
However, the case has a second American chapter because decades later the spectral timpanist re-emerged on the other side of the Atlantic near Philadelphia.
His reappearance was announced in April, 1730 in a letter that was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The correspondent told the story of two local Reverends who had recently had an encounter with an angry, drum-beating ghost which was described as being "not a whit less obstrepreous, than the Tedsworth Tympanist."
According to this correspondent, the Reverends in question had been attending a meeting of ministerial brethren at a town near Philadelphia. The clergymen, who were sharing a room in an inn, had retired to bed but were kept awake the entire night by a drum-beating spirit. The spirit beat repeatedly on one side of the bed, and then the other. It also drummed out popular tunes such as the 'Scots Travaller' and the 'Grenadiers March.'
The drumming continued all night, but to the surprise of the exhausted clergymen, as they staggered down to breakfast the next morning, no one else in the inn had heard anything.
The next night, the two clergymen again retired to bed, and this time were able to get to sleep. But soon one of them was,
"seized violently and forcibly by the great Toe, ... but that upon the Beating of the Drum, which happen'd at the same Instant, his Toe was released; and that to prevent any future Attacks, they hoisted their Knees up to their very Noses; and the Noise still growing louder, they felt a most prodigious Weight on them, heavier, as he said, than the Night-Mare; that by his voice they presently discovered it to be one of their Brethren, who had come into their Room on purpose to scare them; either believing that they had told him a Fib, or that they were under such potent Influences the Night before, as made them imagine they heard a Drum, when in Reality they did not."
In March, 1661 John Mompesson of Tedworth (located in Wiltshire, England) brought a lawsuit against a local drummer whom he accused of collecting money under false pretences. The court found the drummer guilty, confiscated his drum, and gave it to Mompesson. Soon afterwards, Mompesson discovered that an angry, drumming spirit had invaded his house. The spirit drummed loud tunes on the bed of his children, moved objects around in the house, threw shoes, and wrestled with servants.
The case of the ghostly drummer of Tedworth soon became famous throughout England. Its notoriety prompted Joseph Glanvill, a clergyman and member of the Royal Society, to visit the Mompesson household and investigate the spirit. He collected eyewitness accounts of the spirit's activities, recorded hearing noises himself, and eventually became convinced that the spirit was real. He published this conclusion in 1668 in a work titled A Blow at Modern Sadducism ... To which is added, The Relation of the Fam'd Disturbance by the Drummer, in the House of Mr. John Mompesson.
Many witnesses of the ghostly drummer concluded that the human drummer whom Mompesson had tried was somehow responsible (through witchcraft) for the mysterious sounds and spectral disturbance, but when they tried to locate the human drummer they learned that he had been recently deported to the colonies for other crimes. However, the man eventually escaped from his exile and returned to England, whereupon Mr. Mompesson charged him with the crime of employing an evil spirit. The drummer was found guilty and sent to Salisbury Gaol, though eventually he was released on appeal.
Other people, however, believed that there was no ghostly drummer, and that Mr. Mompesson had invented the entire story, either as a way to make some money or to gain some notoriety. These critics pointed out various problem's with Mr. Mompesson's claims. First of all, no one was ever allowed to inspect his cellar. Why not? Was someone hiding down there creating all the sounds and commotion? Second of all, the drumming almost always happened at night and seemed to come from outside the house, not inside of it. In other words, someone could easily have been hiding outside banging on the walls of the house with a hammer. Finally, the King himself sent some gentlemen to investigate the haunting, but when they arrived they found no evidence of spectral activity at all.
Whether Mr. Mompesson was really beset by an angry spirit, or whether the entire event was an elaborate hoax was never determined, and so the ghostly drummer of Tedworth passed into legend.
However, the case has a second American chapter because decades later the spectral timpanist re-emerged on the other side of the Atlantic near Philadelphia.
His reappearance was announced in April, 1730 in a letter that was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The correspondent told the story of two local Reverends who had recently had an encounter with an angry, drum-beating ghost which was described as being "not a whit less obstrepreous, than the Tedsworth Tympanist."
According to this correspondent, the Reverends in question had been attending a meeting of ministerial brethren at a town near Philadelphia. The clergymen, who were sharing a room in an inn, had retired to bed but were kept awake the entire night by a drum-beating spirit. The spirit beat repeatedly on one side of the bed, and then the other. It also drummed out popular tunes such as the 'Scots Travaller' and the 'Grenadiers March.'
The drumming continued all night, but to the surprise of the exhausted clergymen, as they staggered down to breakfast the next morning, no one else in the inn had heard anything.
The next night, the two clergymen again retired to bed, and this time were able to get to sleep. But soon one of them was,
"seized violently and forcibly by the great Toe, ... but that upon the Beating of the Drum, which happen'd at the same Instant, his Toe was released; and that to prevent any future Attacks, they hoisted their Knees up to their very Noses; and the Noise still growing louder, they felt a most prodigious Weight on them, heavier, as he said, than the Night-Mare; that by his voice they presently discovered it to be one of their Brethren, who had come into their Room on purpose to scare them; either believing that they had told him a Fib, or that they were under such potent Influences the Night before, as made them imagine they heard a Drum, when in Reality they did not."
I didnt write it though 