1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and it is time 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: for part two of our Ghosts of the British Isles 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: week that we are doing to wrap up Halloween season 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: this year. As we mentioned before, each of these episodes 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: can stand alone, so if you missed part one, you 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,639 Speaker 1: can absolutely listen to today's episode and then go back 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: to part one later if you wish. You're not going 10 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: to be left behind. They are standalone stories of ghosts, 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: and as we mentioned in part one, today's episode is 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: all about one spirit, this time a poltergeist or maybe 13 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: or a trickster. People have been arguing over this one 14 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: since the sixteen sixties, including some very prominent skeptics and supporters, 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: all of which we will talk about. One of the 16 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: oldest poultergeist story in Britain is The Drummer of Tedworth, 17 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: and this is sometimes described not as one of the 18 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: oldest but Britain's first and oldest poltergeist story. It's also 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: one of the oldest recorded poltergeist stories in Europe. In 20 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: the sixteen sixties. John Mompison lived in North Tidworth, which 21 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: is in Wiltshire, England, on the east side of the 22 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: Salisbury Plane. Mompison was an excise officer and a commission 23 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: officer in the militia, and in March of sixteen sixty one, 24 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,639 Speaker 1: as part of his duties, he felt that he needed 25 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: to settle a matter of concern. Yeah, if you're wondering why, 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: it's the drummer of Tedworth, and Tracy mentioned that he 27 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: lived in North Tidworth. Today it is known as Tidworth, 28 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: but at the time it was Tedworth, So that Tidworth 29 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: mention is just so you understand where exactly it sits 30 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: on the map today. And this story is really really 31 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: well known because it was written about extensively by a 32 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: number of chroniclers, including, among other Samuel Peet, who talked 33 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: about it some years after the fact, and more importantly 34 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: John Glanville. So we're actually going to use some of 35 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: Glanville's account, which was published in sixteen sixty eight, to 36 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: set up the entire discussion. Here quote Master John Mompison 37 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: of Tedworth in Wiltshire, being about the middle of March 38 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: in the year sixteen sixty one, at a neighboring town 39 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: called Ludgershaw, heard a drum beat there, and, being concerned 40 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: as a commission officer in the militia, he inquired of 41 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: the bailiff of the town, at whose house he then 42 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: was what it meant. The bailiff told him that they 43 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: had for some days been troubled by that idle drummer, 44 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: who demanded money of the Constable by virtue of a 45 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: pretended pass, which he thought was counterfeit. Upon this information, 46 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: Master Mombison sent for the fellow and asked him by 47 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: what authority he went up and down the country in 48 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: that manner, demanding money and keeping a clutter with his drum. 49 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: The drummer answered he had good authority, and produced his 50 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: pass with a warrant under the hansas Sir William Coley 51 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: and Colonel Aliff of Gretisham. These papers discovered the knavery 52 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: for mister Mompson, knowing those gentlemen's hands, found that his 53 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: pass and warrant were forgeries, and upon the discovery, commanded 54 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: the vagrant to put off his drum, and charged the 55 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: Constable to carry him to the next justice of peace 56 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: to punish him according to the dessert of his insolence 57 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: and roguery. The fellow then confessed the cheat and begged 58 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: earnestly for his drum, but mister Mompson told him that 59 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: if he understood from Colonel Aliff, whose drummer he pretended 60 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: to be, that he had been an honest man, he 61 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: should have it again, but then in the interim he 62 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: would secure it. So he left the drum with the bailiff, 63 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: and the drummer in the Constable's hands, who, it seems, 64 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: after upon entreaty, let him go. So, just to clarify, 65 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: there was a guy drumming loudly as part of a 66 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: public street performance and then demanded that people pay him 67 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: for the entertainment that he had provided. He claimed he 68 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: had been approved to do so by two men, Sir 69 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: William Cowley and Colonel Aliff, But Mombison knew their handwriting, 70 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: and he saw that this permit was a forgery. So 71 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 1: Momison confiscated the drummer's drum told him he could have 72 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: it back if it turned out that the papers were legit. 73 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: Here's how the rest of the story played out, according 74 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: to the accounts of Joseph Glanville and others. Mombison's own 75 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: letters reflect the same story. It becomes apparent that Glanville 76 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: really closely followed these letters in rewriting it. And to 77 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: reiterate the fact, Mombison did include this idea that the 78 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: drummer begged to have his drum back again. He writes 79 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: in his version, which he'll see is very close to 80 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: the one we just read. Quote the fellow then confessed 81 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: that he had gotten it the counterfeit permit to be made, 82 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: and begged of me for his drum. And then he 83 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: relays the same thing about Colonel Alif that if he 84 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: was honest, he could have the drum again, and then 85 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: finish his quote. But whereas he pretended to have been 86 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,160 Speaker 1: a soldier for the king, I could give no credit 87 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: to a man taken in forgery. I just want all 88 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: of the listening audience to have the delight of the 89 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: way confessed is spelled in this passage, which is confest. 90 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: I love it. As we've discussed many times, spelling standards 91 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: are all made up. So yeah, I mean it left 92 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: no margin of error of what he meant. We understood. 93 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: The drummer, William Jurry, was arrested and for some reason 94 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: that is a little bit unclear, he was not initially 95 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: held until his trial the way it was expected that 96 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: he would be. We know from newspaper accounts of the 97 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: day that he was from Ufcot in broad Hinton. We 98 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: do not know a lot about him beyond that. Yeah, 99 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: we'll talk about some supposition in behind the scenes on 100 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: Friday because it involves some gross racism. In April, that drum, 101 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: which was still in possession of the bailiff, was sent 102 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,039 Speaker 1: to Mombison's house and at that time he was about 103 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: to leave for London on business and he did take 104 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: that trip, but when he returned, his wife described some 105 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: frightening things that had been happening in his absence. She 106 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: told him that the house had been broken into by 107 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: what seemed to be thieves one night. Didn't seem like 108 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: they took anything, but they did destroy the house. Mombison 109 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: was of course disturbed by this, and then a couple 110 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: of days after he had been home, he too heard 111 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: a rucus in the house. In the middle of the night. 112 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: There was a loud knocking noise at the door, and 113 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: also what sounded like a pounding all around the exterior 114 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: walls of the house. Mombison grabbed a pistol, threw open 115 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: the door and saw nothing. He walked the perimeter of 116 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: the house, still hearing the knocking noises, but could not 117 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: find anyone outside, so he locked up and he went 118 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: back to bed, but the noise continued, and it started 119 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: to sound as though somebody was drumming on the roof 120 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: of the house. The knocking and drumming sounds continued on 121 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: subsequent nights. Then there would sometimes be gaps of days 122 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: or even weeks when there were no noises, and then 123 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: suddenly they would return. It was described as usually lasting 124 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: about two hours in the middle of the night, which 125 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: sounds frankly awful, although according to the Glanville account, the 126 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: spirit or whatever it was, and that account refers to 127 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: it as an it or a demon, was apparently in 128 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: some ways considerate. When Mompison's wife was in bed for 129 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: several weeks following childbirth, this being did not visit whatever 130 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: was making the noise, although when it returned after she 131 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: was up and about again, it was more aggressive than before. 132 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: Not only did it continue to cause banging on the 133 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: roof and walls, it also started to violently shake the 134 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: children's beds so hard that at least one of them 135 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: fell completely apart. It also reportedly lifted the children while 136 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: they were sleeping, and they were sometimes marked with scratches 137 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: after such encounters. This entity also started following the kids 138 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: as they moved through the house, trying to get away 139 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: from it. One of the more eerie descriptions of events 140 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: in the home comes from a letter written by momson 141 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: too a friend quote, sometimes the candles will not burn 142 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: in the room where it is, And though it come 143 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: never so loud, and on a sudden yet no dog 144 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: will bark. It hath often been so loud that it 145 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: hath been heard into the fields and has wakened my 146 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: neighbors in town. One of the house staff, while watching 147 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: over the children as they slept, saw two boards moving 148 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: in their room and called out to this entity to 149 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: give those boards to him. And then the man wrestled 150 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: with whatever it was over those boards for several minutes 151 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: of long description of them pulling and pushing back and forth, 152 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: trying to each of them get possession. There was reportedly 153 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: also a smell of sulfur in the house after that night. 154 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: The next step was to have a minister lead a 155 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,199 Speaker 1: prayer circle at the house, which was conducted by mister Craigie. 156 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: As they prayed around the children, the noise receded into 157 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: the highest point in the house, near the roof, and 158 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: then returned, getting louder and louder. Once the prayer stopped, 159 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: the people who had gathered at the house all witnessed 160 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: a great deal of commotion per Glandfill quote in the 161 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: sight and presence of the company. The chairs walked about 162 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: the room, the children's shoes were thrown over their heads, 163 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: and every loose thing moved about the chamber. Also, a 164 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: bedstaff was thrown at the minister, which hit him on 165 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: the leg, but so favorably that a lock of wool 166 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: could not have fallen more softly. The youngest children were 167 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: moved from the house after that, and they stayed for 168 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:03,959 Speaker 1: a while with a neighbor. The oldest child, a daughter 169 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: of ten, moved into her parents' room, but once she 170 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: was there, the banging began again. After a few weeks, 171 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: the younger kids returned home and they were set up 172 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: with beds in the parlor, and that was because that 173 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: was one of the only rooms that had never had 174 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: any sort of a problem. But the mysterious entity did 175 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: appear there, although it seemed less aggressive and only tugged 176 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: at the children's hair and clothes. The household staff was 177 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: the next target of more assertive activity, although it was 178 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: not violent. There were incidents of people being lifted from 179 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: their beds, but also placed gently back down. They also 180 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: reported feeling as though something was lying on their feet. 181 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: We will talk about the ways this alleged demon continued 182 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: to make itself known. After we paused for a sponsor 183 00:10:52,640 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: break in January of sixteen sixty two, the family started 184 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: seeing a blue and glimmering light that moved through the house. 185 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: Doors started to open and shut repeatedly throughout the night, 186 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: and there was sometimes the sound of rustling silk. And 187 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: there started to be a belief that somehow the drummer 188 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: William Drury, had set all of this in motion by 189 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: perhaps conjuring a demon or some other kind of witchcraft. 190 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: At one point, according to Glanville quote, during the time 191 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: of the knocking, when many were present, a gentleman of 192 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,199 Speaker 1: the company said, Satan, if the drummer set the a work, 193 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: give three knocks and no more, which it did very 194 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: distinctly and stopped. Then the gentleman knocked to see if 195 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: it would answer him. As it was wont but it 196 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: remained quiet. He further tried it the same way, bidding 197 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: it for confirmation if it were the drummer, to give 198 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: five knocks and no more that night, which it did accord, 199 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: and was silent all the night after. This was done 200 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: in the presence of Sir Thomas, Chamberlain of Oxfordshire and 201 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: several others. This went on throughout sixteen sixty two, and 202 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: at the end of the year in December, a new 203 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,319 Speaker 1: noise was heard that sounded like coins jingling. Throughout the 204 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 1: Christmas holiday, it played many tricks, including pulling a latch 205 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: from a door and throwing it at the keel of 206 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: one of the children, and throwing Missus Mompesson's clothes around 207 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: and tossing her bible into the fire. One of John 208 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: Mompesson's personal attendants became the next target. This section, as 209 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: relayed by Glanville, becomes more comical. It seems almost like 210 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,319 Speaker 1: he might be embellishing and taking a few more liberties 211 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: with the actual facts of the case. But in any case, 212 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: according to his account, this servant was adamant that he 213 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: wanted to help protect the family, and he was moved 214 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: to a room next to mister Mompesson's where he slept 215 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: at night with his sword, ready to battle whatever might appear, 216 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,319 Speaker 1: and it seems that the spirit, according to accounts, kind 217 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,679 Speaker 1: of played with him by doing things like slapping him 218 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: with shoes. This went on for a while. The entity 219 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:14,959 Speaker 1: and this attendant did nightly battles on the regular, although 220 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: there was never any significant harm done to the man, 221 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: various attacks continued. At one point, John Mompison convinced that 222 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: the entity was moving around wood in the fireplace discharged 223 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: a gun into it. Not the first time somebody's shot 224 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: at a specter in this two parter. Yeah, don't shoot 225 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: a gun into a fireplace, I mean, yeah, just don't 226 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: a lot of reasons not to just do that at all, Yeah, 227 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,559 Speaker 1: he claimed. Drops of blood were found on the hearth 228 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 1: and there was no more banging or other unusual activity 229 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: for several days. There are so many other notes of 230 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: things that the spirit allegedly did, like climbing into beds 231 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: and purring like a cat, dumping chamber bots onto the beds, 232 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: which gross and turning the money of guests black in 233 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: their pockets. Numerous visitors came to the house to see 234 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: what was happening, including Sir Christopher Wren, who heard the drumming. 235 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second even sent an emissary that was 236 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: Charles Berkeley to see what was going on and to 237 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: report back. Some people said that they heard and saw nothing, 238 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: but all told, hundreds of people corroborated the accounts of Mompison. 239 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: Mompison eventually claimed he was getting tired of people showing 240 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: up all the time because their already disrupted lives became 241 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: even more so with this steady stream of traffic into 242 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: the house. At some point, and the Glanville account mentions 243 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: no particular date, the drummer, William Drury, was arrested and 244 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: tried on another charge, which was for stealing pigs that 245 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: was at the assize at Salisbury, and he was found 246 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: guilty and condemned to the islands, so a penal colony. 247 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: But he jumped overboard from the prison transport ship and 248 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: made his way back to the Tedworth area, and the 249 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: house is apparently quiet while he was away. It's unclear 250 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: when all of this stopped, but it went on until 251 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: at least sixteen sixty three, and a letter believed to 252 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: have been written in November of that year, Mompison states 253 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: that the house had quote been very quiet since the 254 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: time the drummer had been banished. The banishment he refers 255 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: to is William Drury's second sentence. In August sixteen sixty three, 256 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: Drury was once again in front of a judge, this 257 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: time for having escaped his first sentence, and he was 258 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: once again sent away, after which time he does not 259 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: seem to have returned. However, during the time between Drury's 260 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: first sentence and his second, he was actually tried for witchcraft. 261 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: This was because when Mompison found out about his escape, 262 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: he decided to invoke a sixteen oh four witchcraft law 263 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: and accused Drury quote with ciss suspision, of practicing witchcrafts 264 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: and so causing the troubles that had been in his 265 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: house for above these twelve months. A Wiltshire judge named 266 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: Isaac Burgess heard the case, which included testimony from both 267 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: Drury and Mompison. Drury was acquitted, but he did still 268 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: have to face that escape charge, so he was not released. 269 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: Now we have to give some context on Glanville, since 270 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: he visited the house in sixteen sixty three said that 271 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: he heard scratching noises there and took statements from Mombison 272 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: the rest of the household and the neighbors. His account, 273 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: which comes from those statements as well as information obtained 274 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: from Mombison's own letters, is one of the main sources 275 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: we have for information regarding the Mombison spirit. Joseph Glanville, 276 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: who was born in sixteen thirty six, was a Puritan, 277 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: and he was all in on the idea of the 278 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: supernatural and that witches were real and witchcraft was being 279 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: practiced everywhere. His account of the events in Tedworth are 280 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: laid out in the form of two letters to William 281 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: Lord Brereton and philosopher Henry Moore, and introducing the story, 282 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: Glanville notes to his reader quote, now though you, my lord, 283 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: are in no danger of that cold and desperate disease 284 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: the disbelief of spirits and apparitions. So there is obviously 285 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,919 Speaker 1: plenty of bias in Glanville's account. His writing on witchcraft 286 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: is even said to have been an inspiration for Cotton Mather. 287 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: The drummer of Tedworth's story is also something that was 288 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: questioned during the time it was happening. Mombison himself, in 289 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,120 Speaker 1: correspondence shared his initial thought that he was the victim 290 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: of a prank Glanville even mentions the popular arguments against 291 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: the validity of Mombison's story in the beginning of his 292 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: letter to More. The big criticism and rumors were that 293 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: one Mompesson was renting the house and was trying to 294 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: make it look haunted so he could negotiate paying a 295 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: lower rent. Glanville assures More that Mobison actually owns the house, 296 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: and two that Mapisen is trying to start a little 297 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,479 Speaker 1: cottage industry where he charges people to visit his haunted house. 298 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: To this, Glanville countered that Mopison is a gentleman and 299 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: one of means and would never do that. It does 300 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: not appear that he ever profited from any of this. 301 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: There was also a lot of speculation among skeptics about 302 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,159 Speaker 1: the actual nature of the noises and other happenings, so 303 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: they took into account the logistics of the house layout 304 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: and the likelihood that someone could be managing a really 305 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,040 Speaker 1: epic bit of trickery. There are a lot of explanations 306 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: derived from this whole thing, but Glanville pretty flatly refuses 307 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: to give much credence to those criticisms, and he cites 308 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: the account itself as proof that those criticisms are unfounded. 309 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: This case inspired a sixteen sixty three ballad with the 310 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 1: following exceedingly long title, A wonder of wonders, being a 311 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: true relation of the strange and invisible beating of a 312 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: drum at the house of John Mompison, Esquire, at Tidcombe, 313 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: in the County of Wiltshire, being about eight of the 314 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: clock at night, and continuing till four in the morning, 315 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: several days, one after another, to the great admiration of 316 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: many persons of honor, gentlemen of quality, and many hundreds 317 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 1: who have gone from several parts to hear this miraculous 318 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 1: wonder since the first time it began to beat. Roundheads 319 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: and cuckolds, Come dig, Come dig. Also the burning of 320 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: a drum that was taken from a drummer. Likewise, the 321 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: manner how the stools and shared danced about the rooms. 322 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: The drummer is sent to Gloucester jail. Likewise a conflict 323 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: betwixt the evil spirit and Anthony, a lusty country fellow, 324 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: to the tune of Brigandary, I just, I mean, that's 325 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: the title of a top ten hit right there, for sure. 326 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: This ballad, which was penned by Abraham Miles, tells a 327 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: simplified form of the story. In verse, We're just gonna 328 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: read the two concluding stanzas of it. Quote both rooms, 329 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: stables and orchard ground. A drum was heard to beat, 330 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: and sometimes in the chimney sound by night, make cattle sweat, 331 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: both chairs and stools about, would jig, and oftentimes would 332 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: dance a lig Oh wonders, notable wonders, You never the 333 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 1: like did here? So powerful were these motions all by Satan, 334 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 1: sure appointed The chamber floor would rise and fall, and 335 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: never a board disjointed. Then they heard a show from 336 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: high three times a witch, a witch did cry, Oh, wonders, 337 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: notable wonders, you never the like did here. We will 338 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: pause here to hear from our sponsors, and when we retire, 339 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about some of the writing about the 340 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: Drummer of Tedworth and the years following the events at 341 00:20:52,160 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: the Mopson Home. Although Joseph Glanville very clearly felt he 342 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: had addressed all possible questions regarding the case, many other 343 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: people did not, and the matter was debated for years. 344 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: In sixteen seventy two, Mompison wrote a letter to Glanville 345 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: to address one of the many questions that had persisted 346 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: in the intervening years, writing quote, I have been very 347 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: often of late asked the question whether I have not 348 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: confessed to his majesty or any other a cheat discovered 349 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: about that affair to which I gave, and shout to 350 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: my dying day give the same answer that I must 351 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,920 Speaker 1: belie myself and perjure myself also to acknowledge a cheat 352 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: in a thing where I am sure there was nor 353 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: could be any phil A lot of people thought the 354 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: whole thing was an elaborate trick, so much so that 355 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: Glanville reiterated in writing that when he visited the home 356 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: and heard scratchings seeming to come from under a bed, 357 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: he had performed a thorough search of the area and 358 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: felt confident there could not have been any trickery in play. 359 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: In a two thousand and five article titled new Light 360 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: on the Drummer of Tedworth Conflicting Narratives of Witchcraft in Restoration, England, 361 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: which was published in the journal Historical Research, Michael Hunter 362 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: notes that the relationship between Mompesson and Glanville and their 363 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: back and forth letters about the case may have resulted 364 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,919 Speaker 1: in a reinforcement and refinement of Mompison's account of the matter. 365 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: Hunter notes quote having started as a symptom of the anxious, 366 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: perplexed world of the early Restoration, it then acquired a 367 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 1: new dimension due to the input of the tropes of 368 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: demonology and of fairy beliefs, as Mompson was offered a 369 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: strategy and an explanatory framework that helped him to approach 370 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: the phenomena with greater confidence. This was then itself transmuted 371 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: into the confident rhetorical assertion of an orthodox agenda in 372 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: the hands of Glanville, with an appeal to matters of 373 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,959 Speaker 1: fact being just bosposed with a comfortably ironic tone in 374 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: relation to the reality of the devil and his works. 375 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,879 Speaker 1: In sixteen seventy seven, John Webster, a minister who was 376 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: very skeptical regarding witchcraft claims, published displaying of supposed witchcraft, 377 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: and he included his opinion that the Tedworth case was 378 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: in no way paranormal, writing quote, miracles being long since ceased, 379 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: it must needs follow that devils do nothing but only 380 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: draw the minds of men and women into sin and wickedness, 381 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: and thereby they become deceivers, cheats, and notorious impostures. So 382 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,959 Speaker 1: that we may rationally conclude that all other strange feats 383 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: and delusions must, of necessity be no better or of 384 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: any other kind than these we must have recited, except 385 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: they can show that they are brought to pass by 386 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: natural means. Must not all persons that are of sound 387 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: understanding judge and believe that all those strange tricks related 388 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: by mister Glanville of his drummer at mister Mombison's house, 389 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: who he calls the demon of Tedworth, were abominable cheats 390 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: and impostures, as I am informed from persons of good 391 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: quality that they were discovered to be for I am 392 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: sure mister Glanville can show no agents in nature that 393 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: the demon applying them to fit patients could produce any 394 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: such effects by and therefore we must conclude all such 395 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: to be impostures. I kind of love that setup. That 396 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: It's like, oh, the devil's real, but he's not doing 397 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: stuff stuff. He's kind of convincing humans to do things now. 398 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: But there were also, we should say, prominent men who 399 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: spoke in support of Mompison over the centuries. The theologian 400 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: John Wesley wrote about Tedworth and other apparitions in his 401 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: journal in May seventeen sixty eight. He first ruminates on 402 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: the shift in English thinking away from believing in the supernatural, 403 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: writing quote, it is true likewise that the English in general, 404 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: and indeed most of the men of learning in Europe, 405 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 1: have given up all accounts of witches and apparitions as 406 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: mere old wives fables. I am sorry for it, and 407 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,200 Speaker 1: I willingly take this opportunity of entering my solemn protest 408 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: against this violent compliment which so many that believe the 409 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,200 Speaker 1: Bible pay. To those who do not believe it, I 410 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: owe them no such service. Then Wesley lays out his 411 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: argument quote. One of the capital objections to all these 412 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,160 Speaker 1: accounts which I have known urged over and over as this, 413 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:41,679 Speaker 1: did you ever see an apparition yourself? No? Nor did 414 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 1: I ever see a murder? Yet I believe there is 415 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: such a thing, yea, and that in one place or 416 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: another murder is committed every day. Therefore, I cannot, as 417 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: a reasonable man, deny the fact, although I never saw it, 418 00:25:55,359 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: and perhaps never may. The testimony of unexceptionable witnesses fully 419 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: convinces me both of the one and the other. But 420 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: to set this aside, it has been confidently alleged that 421 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: many of these have seen their error and have been 422 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: clearly convinced that the supposed preternatural operation was the mere 423 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: contrivance of artful men. The famous instance of this, which 424 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,480 Speaker 1: has been spread far and wide, was the drumming in 425 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: mister Mompesson's house at Tedworth, who, it was said, acknowledged 426 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,959 Speaker 1: it was all a trick, and that he had found 427 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:38,239 Speaker 1: out the whole contrivance. Not so. My oldest brother, then 428 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: at christ Church, Oxford, inquired of mister Mombison, his fellow collegian, 429 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,640 Speaker 1: whether his father had acknowledged this or not. He answered, 430 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: the resort of gentlemen to my father's house was so 431 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: great he could not bear the expense. He therefore took 432 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: no pains to confute the report that he had found 433 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: out the cheat, although so he and I and all 434 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: the family knew the account which was published to be 435 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: punctually true. So, according to Wesley, at some point the 436 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: Mapison family refuted their claims just so they could get 437 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: some peace from all the people showing up at the house. Yeah, 438 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 1: for clarity, it's probably pretty clear, but the mister Mompison 439 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: that Wesley's relative is talking to is a son of 440 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: the Mompison that is the main person in this story. 441 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: Throughout the time since this alleged poltergeist, the case has 442 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: been taken up again and again at various times when 443 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,959 Speaker 1: interest in the supernatural has grown. A very similar story 444 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 1: was even printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette in the seventeen thirties, 445 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: as though it had happened outside Philadelphia. In the eighteen hundreds, 446 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: as spiritualism gained popularity, the Tedworth case was often revisited, 447 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: and in nineteen hundred the Society for Psychical Research was 448 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: home to a heated debate of the case among A. R. Wallace, 449 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: Frank Podmore, and Andrew Lang. That debate played out in 450 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 1: the pages of the organization's periodical. But the growth of 451 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: interest in the ways psychology plays a part in such 452 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: situations has also led to a lot of study. In 453 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty two, Charles McKay published Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular 454 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, and he includes the 455 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: Tedworth drummer as one of his case studies. He opens 456 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:32,159 Speaker 1: by clearly calling it out as a prank of some kind. Quote, 457 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: quite as extraordinary and as cleverly managed was the trick 458 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: played off at Tedworth in sixteen sixty one. At the 459 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 1: house of mister Mompson, and which is so circumstantially narrated 460 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: by the Reverend Joseph Glanville under the title The Demon 461 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: of Tedworth and appended, among other proofs of witchcraft to 462 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: his noted work called Seducismus Triumphatus. McKay mentions the frame 463 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: of the story, drawing people to judge the matter with 464 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: their owning existing bias. Quote, the rumor of these wonderful 465 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: occurrences soon spread all over the country, and people from 466 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 1: far and near flocked to the haunted House of Tedworth 467 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: to believe or doubt as their natures led them, but 468 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 1: all filled with intense curiosity. McKay also relays a story 469 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: that William Drury confessed while imprisoned to another visitor, saying 470 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: that he staged this whole thing as revenge for Mampison 471 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:30,640 Speaker 1: taking his drum. The conclusion that McKay comes to is 472 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: that none of these events involved a poltergeist or witchcraft, 473 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 1: and while many people thought Mompson was in on it, 474 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: it was more likely that Drury and his friends were 475 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: just very tenacious and that quote mister Mompson was as 476 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: much alarmed and bewildered as his credulous neighbors whose excited 477 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:53,200 Speaker 1: imaginations conjured up no small portion of these stories. A 478 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: lot of people have come to the conclusion that, whether 479 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: the culprit was Drury Mompison himself, or, as some seem 480 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: to think, the Mamason children who were enacting a very 481 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: elaborate prank, the community and many other parties are taken 482 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,239 Speaker 1: in by it is kind of a mass delusion. The 483 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: Tedworth Drummer was also mentioned in Amos Nortoncraft's eighteen eighty 484 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: one book Epidemic Delusions, containing an expose of the superstitions 485 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: and frauds which underlie some ancient and modern delusions, including 486 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: a special reference to modern spiritualism, and that book lays 487 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: out the reasons that delusions happen this way. So I 488 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: wanted to end on this because he makes a really 489 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: lovely statement that applies all the time. Quote. The principal 490 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: sources of delusions are superstition, fraud, and dissatisfaction with previous 491 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: customs and beliefs, inspired by the passions restless under restraint, 492 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: or the imagination impatient with the limited horizon of human knowledge. 493 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: All of these causes have been at work in every 494 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: age of the world, and I would say, still are done, 495 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: done done. So I hope everybody enjoys a little ghost 496 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: story for the holiday. Like I said, we have some 497 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: stuff to talk about on Friday, I have a listener 498 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: mail from our listener Rebecca, which kind of is almost 499 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: like a ghost story, except it involves real world things 500 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: but found in an interesting manner. Rebecca writes, Hi, Holly 501 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: and Tracy. I've always been a fan of history, in 502 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: being able to see history from the point of view 503 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: of the people for whom it was a current event. Today, 504 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: my son brought home some sections of an old newspaper 505 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: that he found while doing a renovation with his uncle 506 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 1: on an older house in Troy, New York. I eagerly 507 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: read through the ripped snippets and found an article about 508 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: Vidcan Quizzling's failed appeal. As you can see from this picture, 509 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: the press did not have any sympathy for him. From 510 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: what we can tell, the newspaper clippings were published somewhere 511 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 1: between October fourteenth and sixteenth, and we believe the name 512 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: of the paper was the Troy Times Record. We have 513 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: six for babies, all of them cats. Sadly, we are 514 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,880 Speaker 1: currently making Rory, one of our eleven year old black 515 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: cats comfortable in her final days. I am including her 516 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 1: picture is a pet tax laying in her favorite spot 517 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 1: on our dining room table. On a more cheerful note, 518 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: I am also including a picture of my children's kittens, 519 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: Tuck Gray and Nora Brownish, five month old siblings. I 520 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: love that Rory is getting her golden year's treatments. I 521 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: think all cats should be spoiled to pieces in their 522 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: final years and final days. So thank you for spoiling Rory. 523 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: I know she appreciates it. I also just love this 524 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,640 Speaker 1: idea of like one. I love that your son was like, hey, 525 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: I found all newspapers in a building. I should bring 526 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 1: them to my mom because that's cool and it really 527 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: does give an interesting perspective on what was going on 528 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: at the time, and it's an interesting place. Her subject 529 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,120 Speaker 1: line was insulating with quizzling, so apparently that is how 530 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: these newspapers were used, which I think is super fascinating. 531 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: Of course, all of these babies are beautiful. Who doesn't 532 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: love kitties. I love all the creatures. Those kittens are like, 533 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: that's weaponized cute. That's like nuclear grade cuteness kittens. We 534 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: want them all. Thank you so much for sending us 535 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: this email. If you would like to send us email 536 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: about any newspapers you find in your walls, or your kitties, 537 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: or anything else, you can do so at History Podcast 538 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to the 539 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: show on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you listen to 540 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class is 541 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 542 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,480 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast Asks, or wherever you listen 543 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.