1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from house 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. Hello, welcome to the podcast, and 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: I'm deplte a chrucate boarding and we've focused a lot 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: on ghost stories this month for our Spooky Halloween Theories 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 1: and all said, though, I think the ghosts have been 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: a pretty diverse crowd, ranging from socialite Madame La Lourie 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: to headless Anne Boleyn to the real life false stuff. 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: But so far, all the ghosts we've talked about have 9 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: just kind of been there. They've been haunting, They've been 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: making their noises, doing things like hovering over babies, creepily, 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: taking headless carriage rides, washing laundry. Kind of aimless. I'd 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: almost say, well, washing laundry isn't exactly aimless, But okay, 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: I get your poor ghost, I get your point right, 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: there's no real agenda. Today's ghost, however, who is the 15 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: cock Lane ghost see to have had a mission, and 16 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: that was revenge, something that, according to Andrew Lang's book 17 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: on Hauntings and Hoaxes, tended to be fairly common in 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century, which was an age where it wasn't 19 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: unusual to believe in ghosts at all. I mean it 20 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: does make sense. After all, a manufactured haunting could be 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: a pretty simple, if creative way to settle your earthly disputes, 22 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: you know, your unpaid loans, your feuds. Laying sums it 23 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: up pretty well with a quote from his book when 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: he writes about William Kent, this podcast unfortunate subject. He says, 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: accused by a ghost, he had no legal remedy. So recently, 26 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: in the Salem witch trials we talked about spectral evidence. 27 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: I think this is kind of the ultimate in spectral evidence. 28 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,919 Speaker 1: Good point. When a ghost said that you murdered somebody. Actually, 29 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: when the ghost says that you murdered it, what are 30 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: you supposed to do? But before we get into all 31 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: of that, we need to go back to the beginning. 32 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: The cock Lane ghost wasn't initially out for blood. Its 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: first appearance was actually pretty pretty harmless. Yeah, this ghost 34 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: wasn't out for blood at least at first. It's initial 35 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: appearance came in seventeen fifty nine at this tiny house 36 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: on cock Lane, a road which the Oxford Dictionary of 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: National Biography describes as quote an obscure turning near St 38 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: Paul's Cathedral in London. So the home belonged to Richard Parsons, 39 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: who was the deputy parish clerk of St Sepulcher's Church 40 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: and also a landlord, an alcoholic, and a man pretty 41 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: deeply in debt. The year before though, he'd taken in 42 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: William Kent of Norfolk as a tenant. And Kent was 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: of an independently wealthy man, but he had a bit 44 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: of a family secret of his own. He was living 45 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: with his dead wife's sister. The arrangement had started pretty 46 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: innocently back in Norfolk, when Fannie Lyons, who was the 47 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: sister in law, moved in to help care for Kent's 48 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: motherless child. His wife had died during childbirth, but after 49 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: the baby died to the couple continued to live together, 50 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: eventually as a husband and wife, even though they weren't 51 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: legally allowed to marry. So finally they moved to London, 52 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: posing as a husband and wife still. But the unconventional 53 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: living arrangement proved to be a bit of a liability, 54 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: especially because Kent tended to make loans to his landlords, 55 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: maybe a bad policy already, but to make things worse, 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: he actually expected that he'd get the money repaid. This, 57 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: of course, gave any sort of vindictive landlord, especially one 58 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: who knew that he was living with his dead wife's sister, 59 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: fodder for eviction and a way out of the loan potentially, 60 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: So it must have seemed lucky when Kent met Parsons 61 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: at St. Sepulchri's church and was offered rooms to rent. 62 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: So Mr and Mrs Kent, as they thought she was anyway, 63 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: gone on well with Parsons, his wife, and his two 64 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: daughters for a little while, But then things started to 65 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: head south when the naive Kent admitted to Parsons that 66 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: he wasn't actually married after all. He also loaned Parsons 67 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: a good bit of money, and then, as you mentioned, 68 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: and as he had done in the past, he started 69 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: to follow up on repayment fell into that same old trap. Still, 70 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: though the ghosts didn't appear until Kent was out in 71 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: the country on business and Fanny asked Richard parsons little 72 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: eleven year old daughter, Elizabeth known as Betty, if she 73 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: wanted to sleep in in her room and in her 74 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: bed while Kent was gone. So that night, where when 75 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: Betty and Fanny were in bed together, they started to 76 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: hear strange noises wrappings, scratches, taps. Mrs Parsons must have 77 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: been pretty rationally. She explained away the noises as the 78 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: nearby cobbler who might have been working late at night. 79 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: But when the noises were heard again on a Sunday, 80 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: the family started to wonder what was really going on. Fanny, 81 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: for one, seemed completely convinced that the sounds weren't from 82 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: a cobbler, weren't from any human making noise. They came 83 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: from a ghost, and a specific ghost at that. Yeah, 84 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: she thought that they came from the ghost of her 85 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: dead sister who had come to shame her and warn 86 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: her of her own death. So pretty serious stuff. Richard 87 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: Parsons investigated the house, even stripping the wainscoating off the 88 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: wall to see if something was rattling around behind it, 89 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: but he had no luck. The nightly wrappings just got louder, 90 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: and it sometimes described as the sound of a cat 91 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: scratching a wicker chair, just to give you an idea. 92 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: But it wasn't long before the neighbors started gossiping about 93 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: the ghost that lived there as well and the secret 94 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: history between Mr Kent and his wife, For as they 95 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: previously thought his wife well and that the ghost was 96 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: her dead sister, and so with all this gossip going on, 97 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,280 Speaker 1: the cup bowl did finally move out of the house. 98 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: At that point, the noises stopped, and according to Patrick 99 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: Collins in The Forty Times, this probably would have been 100 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: a good time for Kent to just throw in the towel, 101 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: cut his losses, forgive the twelve guinea debt that he 102 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: had lent to Parsons instead, though he threatened to sue 103 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: and um. At this point, the timeline gets a little hazy, 104 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: and it's understandable a lot of these a lot of 105 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: the stories we talked about in October have some sketchy 106 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: details about them, but depending on the sourci look at, 107 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: either several months go by or up to a year 108 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: and a half goes by until we catch up again 109 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: with the Kent family. At this point, Fanny was heavily pregnant, 110 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: died of smallpox, and the sound started again in the 111 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: house back on cock Lane and and this time they 112 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: seemed to come specifically from Elizabeth parsons bedside, and the 113 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: Little Girl Office started to suffer from fits, and according 114 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: to Charles Wild's Elliott's book, Mysteries or Glimpses of the supernatural. 115 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: Little Betty described even seeing an apparition of a quote 116 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: woman surrounded by a blazing light. So it's not just 117 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: these knocks that could be mistaken for a cobbler anymore. 118 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: It seems something much more. Richard Parsons called a medium 119 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: who interrogated the ghost, asking questions and receiving answers in 120 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: the form of knox one that yes and two men no. 121 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: This is very reminiscent of the Fox sisters story and 122 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: the way that they communicated with the ghosts, or supposedly 123 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: communicated with ghosts, depending on what you believe. But maybe 124 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: we should act this one out the end of I 125 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: think we should. So. One of the first questions the 126 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: that was asked of the ghost was are you the 127 00:07:51,560 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: wife of Mr? Kent? Are you Kent's wife's sister? Did 128 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: you die naturally by poison? Was anyone but Kent responsible 129 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: for the poisoning? Will it ease your mind if the 130 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: man be hanged? Oh? Man, Yeah, that's bad news for Kent. 131 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: There the single knock meaning yes. So the ghost, who 132 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: was now revealed, of course, to be the murdered Fanny 133 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: Lions picked up a nickname Scratching Fanny, which an unfortunate 134 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: another element to the titles of this podcast. But um, 135 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: she started to give even more information, you know. This 136 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: interrogation went on even further and began to provide numerous 137 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,839 Speaker 1: details on her death, the type of poison that had 138 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: been given her it was arsenic, how it was administered 139 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: through a drink called pearl, how many hours it took 140 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: two to three hours, um, All sorts of details. Although interestingly, 141 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: some information was apparently incorrect, I mean, aside from the 142 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: fact that this lady died of smallpox clearly, but some 143 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: of the details that the real Fannie Lions would have 144 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: known were also incorrect. Parsons, though, was interested in in 145 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: legitimizing this, seen the situation going on in his house, 146 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: the haunting, the haunting, and called in John Moore, who 147 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: was the assistant preacher at St. Suplker's, to get to 148 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: the bottom of things, and and more believed that there 149 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: truly was a spirit present and called on a fellow minister, 150 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: Thomas Broughton, for confirmation. And after these two guys were 151 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: on board with the idea of a haunting, other esteemed 152 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,839 Speaker 1: men started to visit to which lended a lot of 153 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: legitimacy to the the entire premise. The public ledger even 154 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: wrote up the story, and crowds began to form at 155 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: the house every night, So it was something of a spectacle, 156 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: and the public began to truly believe that Kent was 157 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: a murderer. So this guy who they've never heard of before, 158 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: who nobody suspected of murdering his wife up until this 159 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: point his wife quotes, uh, suddenly is being accused of murder, 160 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 1: like pretty seriously. So as interests grew, Parsons could begin 161 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: to charge admittance to these seances that would be conducted 162 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: at his home by his relative Mary Fraser. And the 163 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,719 Speaker 1: best members of society, of course, got bedside views. I mean, 164 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: this was a real attraction. Wasn't just something you'd read 165 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: about in the paper. You'd go out and experienced this yourself. 166 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: But if you were one of the better members of society, 167 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: you would get to pack in right next to little 168 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: Betty's bed and watch and wait while she slept and 169 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: see if the ghost visited. It's all. It adds an 170 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: extra element of disturbing um scenes to this whole story. 171 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: It's just wild to me. I mean, I have to wonder, 172 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: how did she even sleep? Well, these people standing around you. 173 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: You wonder how, Yes, an eleven or twelve year old 174 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: girl got a full night's sleep with all these people 175 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,559 Speaker 1: in her house every day, but the just as an 176 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: example of the kind of people these sciances did attract. 177 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: The Duke of York even attended at one point. Um 178 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: Eliott's book, though, has a really good account of one 179 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: of the sciences. It is from a skeptics perspective, but 180 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: it gives you a sense of what it must have 181 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: been like coming into this tiny house, into this tiny room, 182 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: and watching this kid sleep, hoping a ghost would appear. Yeah. 183 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: Horace Walpole, a master of Gothic horror and author of 184 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: The Castle of a Toronto, visited one night with friends 185 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: after the opera. He wrote of the ghost in seventeen 186 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: sixty two. He said, quote, a drunken parish clerk set 187 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: it on foot out of revenge. The Methodists have adopted it, 188 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: and the whole town of London think of nothing else. 189 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: He then described the house on Cock Lane when we 190 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: opened the chamber, in which were fifty people with no 191 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,079 Speaker 1: light but one Hello candle. At the end, we tumbled 192 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: over the bed of the child, to whom the ghost 193 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: comes and whom they are murdering by inches in such 194 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: insufferable heat and stench, we heard nothing. He stayed until 195 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,959 Speaker 1: one thirty am, but was told that the ghosts might 196 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: not come until seven, when, as Walpole put it, only 197 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 1: prentices and old women would still be about. So he 198 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: was very dismissive. And and this tactic too, seemed to 199 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: be a common one, you know, delaying the ghosts. Oh, 200 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: it's it's not gonna be here until seven, So if 201 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: you want to stick around all night, be my guy. 202 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: He's already paid admittance, or just throwing off the crowd entirely. 203 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: One description of a seance has Frasier putting Betty to 204 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: bed and then about an hour later, running around asking 205 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: Fanny to to emerge, to show herself or make herself heard. Then, 206 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 1: when nothing happened, more than the minister told the crowd 207 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: that they were just too loud. They needed to quiet down, 208 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: They needed to step out for about ten minutes and 209 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: just collect themselves. Of course, when they came back, sure enough, 210 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: scratching Fanny was also there, the ghost making her her 211 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: presence known. So these little tactics of tricking or delaying 212 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: or distracting the crowd that had come to see the ghost. 213 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: So finally, with the situation that has come out of 214 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: people believing in this ghost so much, I mean, on 215 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: one hand, you have the mob which is spoiling for 216 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,680 Speaker 1: Kent's punishment, and you have the crowds also gathering outside 217 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: the Parsons home, and both of these things together drive 218 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,959 Speaker 1: the Lord Mayor to order a special investigation. Reverend Aldrich 219 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: of St John's Clerk Andwell assembled a company at his 220 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: home where Elizabeth had been moved. At ten, she was 221 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: put to bed by a group of women, and a 222 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 1: bit after eleven, that group, which included Dr Samuel Johnson, 223 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: came to her bedside and waited for the spirit. The 224 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 1: little girl said she could feel the spirit, but no 225 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: noises came, and so Dr Johnson declared that the whole 226 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: thing was a hoax, wrote an account of it, published 227 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: that in the Gentleman's Magazine. And it was really the 228 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: beginning of the end for this idea of of a ghost. 229 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: And poor Betty, of course, wasn't off the hook though. 230 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: Of Elizabeth um she was moved again, put through all 231 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: sorts of tests. She was at one point strung up 232 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: in a hammock with her feet and hands drawn away 233 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: from her body, you know, to prove she wouldn't be 234 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: able to make any sounds. And after scratching Fanny, the 235 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: ghost failed to make an appearance. Several nights in a 236 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: row after these tests, Betty was threatened pretty clearly that 237 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: her father would go to prison if she could not, 238 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: um call up the ghost. And that did the trick. 239 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: I mean, that night the girl was caught smuggling aboard 240 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: under her clothes and trying to make noises with it 241 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: in an attempt to save her family to stop her 242 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: father from going to prison. UM which, after that point 243 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: clearly the ghost hoax was over. Although one interesting note, 244 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: A lot of people who had heard the earlier noises 245 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: said that the ones that Betty had made with the 246 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: board under her clothes, which were clearly manufactured, were entirely different. 247 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: The two sounds were entirely different from each other. UM, 248 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: either suggesting a ghost had been making the first ones 249 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: and poor Betty had just been pressured this final time 250 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: into trying to save her family when the ghost wouldn't 251 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: really show up, or more likely, UM Betty had had 252 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: some other means of manufacturing the sound earlier. She was 253 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: right to be scared though, because her family did end 254 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: up being pretty uh strongly punished for for what had happened. 255 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: Right in July sev sixty two, Richard Parsons, his wife, 256 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: and Mary Fraser were all tried and convicted of conspiracy. 257 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: More the clergyman, as well as a tradesman named James, 258 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 1: who was believed to have assisted in this deception, were 259 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: also convicted, although they got off with reprimands and the 260 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: order to pay kent to settle meant Fraser and Mrs 261 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: Parsons received hard labor and Mr Parson's got two years 262 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: in prison and three appearances in the pillory. So it's 263 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: a testament to how many people still believed in the ghosts, 264 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: though that the crowd at the pillory was unusually quiet 265 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: each time, and the public actually raised a subscription for 266 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: the family. And I was surprised by this because I 267 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: would think that the public, having bought into this idea 268 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: of a ghost so thoroughly, would be maybe embarrassed and 269 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: angry at this guy for tricking them and for trying 270 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: to profit. But the more I thought about it, the 271 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: more I thought, well, if you if you admit that 272 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: you've been fooled by this hoax, then you look like 273 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: a fool. If you consider this guy as a poor, 274 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: unfortunate soul who's being unfairly punished when there really was 275 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: a ghost in his home, then I guess you're something 276 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: else entirely. But you can kind of get yourself off 277 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: the hook that way. The ghosts really did stick around 278 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: in the public's imagination to the Oh. It kind of 279 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 1: like the Mary Toft bunny birth hooks that we talked 280 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: about on an earlier podcast, and which was about a 281 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: generation or so before this became real shorthand for gullibility, uh, 282 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,880 Speaker 1: just falling for things too easily. And um, I guess 283 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: while we're talking about Mary Mary tofton you mentioned the 284 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: Sister's Fox earlier. It does. It's so reminiscent of the 285 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: Sister's Fox story with the tappings and the wrappings and 286 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: the girls playing tricks on people. Um, but I kind 287 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: of think of it more in the spirit of the 288 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: Merry Tought bunny births because the Sister's Fox one is 289 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: so it's the beginning of that spiritualist movement of the 290 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. It's kind of a different era than this. 291 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: This is really in the hoax generation on the um 292 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: and and like I said, you know, with the public 293 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: being interested in it, people found opportunities to benefit from 294 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: it as well, in a satirical sort of way. Charles 295 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 1: Churchill wrote a satire local poem about it called The Ghost. 296 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: William Hogarth, who was a famous illustrator, engrave the scene 297 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: of a seance at Elizabeth's bedside so people could indulge 298 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: in something like this, indulge in a hopes knowing that 299 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,640 Speaker 1: it wasn't true. That was part of the fun, being 300 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: able to say, how could anybody fall for this? I 301 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,120 Speaker 1: sure didn't. One of the other things that's very reminiscent 302 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: of the Sister's Fox story is that it's still unclear 303 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: exactly what was making these knocking or rapping sounds. Uh. 304 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: Some suggest that it was ventriloquism, And of course later 305 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: there was the board that was introduced, so maybe that 306 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: played a part in it. I guess. Probably the only 307 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: one who knows for sure, at least about the board 308 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: part of it is Elizabeth Parsons, but little is known 309 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 1: about her later life. She probably got married twice, the 310 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: second time to a gardener, but we don't know much 311 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,679 Speaker 1: of the detail. I mean, what a ridiculous childhood. She right, 312 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: I'm imagining maybe she'd be eager to put that behind 313 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: after so much, after the crowd, the Duke of York 314 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: at your bedside when you're eleven, trying to wait for 315 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: ghosts to appear, that she probably got a lot better sleep. 316 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,120 Speaker 1: She probably spent most of her later life catching up 317 00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:17,679 Speaker 1: on sleep. We can we can think of it that way. 318 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,199 Speaker 1: One thing I came across while while looking into this story, 319 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: it sounds like it might be sort of the Madame 320 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: Lo Loori equivalent in London. So you know, we talked 321 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: about that being the quintessential ghost story you hear if 322 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: you go on like a ghost tour of New Orleans. 323 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: So I'd really like to hear from our London listeners 324 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: or anybody who's even just visited and taking a ghost tour. 325 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: Is this something that is still a big deal there? 326 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: Because I hadn't heard of this ghost until pretty recently. Neither. 327 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,640 Speaker 1: It's it's an interesting one and one that does tie 328 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,719 Speaker 1: in pretty clearly to a lot of our other shows though, 329 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: and Scratching Fanny. I think Scratching Fanny makes a fun 330 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: addition to this little family of ghosts that we've collected 331 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: this month. So far, it sounds like it would be 332 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: a good um like humorous band or something. What would 333 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 1: you call it, like a parody parody musician or something. 334 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,719 Speaker 1: Maybe I also really like accused by a ghost. If 335 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about band name, I think accused 336 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: by a ghost you could do all novelty Halloween music. 337 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: Maybe that's what we'll be doing next year, to novelty 338 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: Halloween music, Halloween music all month long, promising. Alright, so 339 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 1: what do we have for listener mail this week? Sarah? 340 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: We have turn up themed mail. I'm sure that's intriguing 341 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: to you because you don't know what I'm talking about. No, 342 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: I haven't no idea what you're talking about. That is true. 343 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: So Kristen and I, as you know, did an episode 344 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: on the history of trick or treating and probably my 345 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: favorite fact from that episode was that before people carved 346 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: pumpkin into jack lantern, they carved turn up and we 347 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: yes and difficult to carve. We speculated over that being difficult, 348 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: and sure enough we did hear from a few listeners 349 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: confirming our suspicion. The first one is Derek in Dublin, Ireland. 350 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: He wrote, uh, He wrote in an email and said, 351 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: greetings from Ireland. I'm a big fan of the podcast 352 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: after discovering it over the summer and raiding the massive 353 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: archives to keep me awake on long drives. I was 354 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: also delighted when you covered the history of Halloween on 355 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: a recent episode, not least because you looked at the 356 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: tradition of using turnips as jack lantern. A couple of 357 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 1: years ago, my father in law decided to revive this tradition, 358 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: much to his family's amusement. There are a few pros 359 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: and cons he learned to using a turnip. First of all, 360 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: it takes a lot more effort to carve a face 361 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: into the turnip he was whittling away for at least 362 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 1: a couple hours. Also, over the course of the night, 363 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: it actually cooked from the heat of the candle. That 364 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: was really funny too. On the plus side, this made 365 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: it look genuinely scary in the window. By midnight it 366 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: looked rather like a head hunter trophy with a little 367 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: bit of smoke for extra creepiness. I asked him for 368 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: any advice to pass on to your listeners. He said 369 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: would be turn up. Listeners should get a big round 370 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: E one quote and be prepared for some tough carving, 371 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,440 Speaker 1: so that was good practical information. We also got a 372 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: note though from David. This was actually a Facebook comment. 373 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: I thought it would be fun to throw one of 374 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: those in. He was also writing in on turn ups 375 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,920 Speaker 1: and he said you mentioned that in the past people 376 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: holid out turn ups instead of pumpkins and speculated that 377 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,159 Speaker 1: it must have been tough. I can confirm that they 378 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: are incredibly difficult to hollow out. Growing up in England 379 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies, pumpkins were exotic and expensive items, 380 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: so most children hollowed out turn ups. There were lots 381 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: of injured hands from the knife flipping on the incredibly 382 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: tough flesh of the turnip. It took hours to hollow 383 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: out and craft good turnip head. Oh my gosh. Many 384 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: years later, when I hollowed out my first pumpkin, I 385 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: couldn't believe how easy it was. It was like a 386 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: light went on thing. Now this is how it's supposed 387 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: to be Nowadays in England, children hollow up pumpkins for Halloween. 388 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: They don't know how lucky they are. So I thought 389 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: that both of these messages from Derek and from David 390 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: were pretty hilarious. Makes you appreciate pumpkins a lot. I 391 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: know it makes me appreciate my life of carving pumpkins 392 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: and working with gourds instead of tough root vegetables. Yeah, 393 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 1: especially if you're like me and you have a lot 394 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 1: of mess ups or you end up forgetting and wait 395 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: too long to carve your pumpkin and then you have 396 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: to come up with a lot of pumpkin recipes. Sounds 397 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: better to me than having to come up with a 398 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 1: lot of turn up recipes. I like turn up, I 399 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: like them, but I definitely prefer pumpkins if I'm going 400 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: to go all out. Turn ups are good when they 401 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: are small. And I'm guessing, as the advice that we 402 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: got from Derek's father in law, that would not make 403 00:23:58,119 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: a good carving turn up. So if you just for 404 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: to carve your turnips one year tough black well, if 405 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,360 Speaker 1: you have any more helpful advice for us on how 406 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: to use our fall vegetables or you know Halloween traditions 407 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: in your area of the world, please write us where 408 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,640 Speaker 1: at History podcast at Discovery dot com, or you can 409 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: look us up on Facebook and we're also on Twitter 410 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: at this in History. Also, if you want to learn 411 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: a little bit more about ghosts or ghostbusters. I think 412 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: Didlina almost cracked up a few times because I said 413 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: lines that sounded a little bit like they could be 414 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: out of Ghostbusters. We do have articles on boat. We do. 415 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: We have how ghost work and how Ghostbusters work, and 416 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,719 Speaker 1: you can look them up by visit your homepage at www. 417 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: Dot how stuff works dot com for more on this 418 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works 419 00:24:46,880 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: dot Com didn't take