The rambler in Worcestershire Volume 1; or, Stray notes on churches and congregations - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1848 Excerpt: ...cast a mythic obscurity, the old tower and the cellar (both of which I can say, after ocular demonstration, are well occupied) are occasionally revisited by the troubled spirits of the invisible world; and ' If thou sleep'st alone at Holt, Perchance in midnight gloom Thou'lt hear behind the wainscot Of the old haunted room A fleshless hand that knocketh, A wail that cries on thee;" and there, amidst the dust of garrets that stretch along the roof, "When men are locked in slumber, The rustling sounds are heard Of dainty ladies' dresses, Of laugh and whispered word, Of waving wind of feathers, And steps of dancing feet, In the garrets of Holt Castle, When the winds of winter beat." It was religiously believed by the servants at the castle, not only that a mysterious lady in black occasionally promenaded "at dead of night" a certain passage near to the attics, but that the cellar had likewise been occupied by some unearthly and illfavoured bird, resembling a raven, who, when the fit seized him, would pounce upon any unlucky wight who had adventured below for the purpose of filling his can, and having extinguished the candle with a horrid flapping of wings, would leave the affrighted wretch with scarcely strength to take back his shaking limbs. To give a probable solution to this part of the legend I need only observe that a communication in the shape of a spiral staircase formerly led from the men servants' sleeping apartments to the cellar, and that by this ruse they intended to keep the ale and cider depot exclusively to their own management. The staircase has been stopped up for many years. Having experienced all the generous hospitality for which the present occupier of Holt Castle (J. Pickernell, Esq.) is proverbial, I took my lea...