Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...: ABOUT GHOSTS by me, Helen Hollick

Ghost Encounters: The Lingering Spirits of North Devon

now on Amazon (paperback or e-book)

Things That Go Bump In The Night?

Ghosts, well apart from whether you believe in them or not, are quite misunderstood. Ghosts haunt old places at night, don’t they? They’re scary spooks who clank around in chains and moan a lot. Or they chuck things like pots and pans across the room? (One ghost I mention in my book, Ghost Encounters, regularly throws a kitchen clock!)

But actually, er... no, the majority of ghosts are nothing like this at all.

If you don’t believe in ghosts, fair enough, but when you live with several residents from the past, like I do, or you have a daughter who frequently sees ‘dead’ things, well, ‘seeing is believing’ as the saying goes. If you believe, read on, if you don’t, abandon this and read something else...

A ghost is classified as the spirit or soul of something – usually a person – who is factually dead, but seen as a living apparition, either in full form or as a misty, ‘shade’ or shadow. I personally include angels in this category – possibly controversial, for certain religious groups, but Christ himself appeared three days after his death as the Holy Spirit. In other words, a ghost.

The appearance of a ghost can vary between an invisible presence where the surrounding air turns cold, or unexplainable noises are heard, to translucent wispy shapes, or lifelike forms. The intentional attempt to contact a deceased person (a séance) can be initiated by a Medium or Spiritualist making use of tarot cards, a Ouija board, the holding of a personal item or a trance-like state. With a session starting with the clichéd words, ‘Is there anyone there?’ Much of which is cleverly faked, of course! (True Mediums or Spiritualists don't need to ask, and several who are genuinely gifted will not ask for money in return.)

Specific terms for a ‘ghost’ range from spirit, shade, shadow, apparition, phantom, poltergeist, spectre, spook, wraith, demon, or ghoul. So take your pick.

Most ghosts, or whatever you prefer to call them, might be just as unaware of us as most of us are of them. Most, are probably not even actually there. It’s complicated (and again a matter of personal belief). There is no scientific proof that ghosts exist. But then, there is no proof that they don’t.

A belief in an afterlife is as old as human language and ritual superstition where death is concerned. Sparked, of course by the unexplainable and fear of the unknown. According to surveys, something like 40-50% of British people believe in ghosts. So they are either gullible, mad, disillusioned, addicted to drugs or hallucinating. Alternatively, they are right.

Explanations vary. Some toxic or psychoactive plants, or drugs (prescribed or otherwise) can cause illusion, as can degenerative brain conditions such as Dementia. Sleep difficulties, insomnia, or waking from a deep sleep can induce the belief that something, or someone, is present. The brain is very good at playing tricks. Mould, if in excess in poorly ventilated rooms causes illusion.

The widespread belief is that ghosts are hostile, scary and out to cause harm, so are to be feared, a belief which is the result of zealous religious doctrine assuming anything that is not ‘God’ must be from the devil and therefore, evil. The original Celtic pagan rite of Samhain (say it sah-in or so-w-in), which has now turned into an Americanised Hallowe’en, was a ritual festival to prepare for the coming of winter. The dead were welcomed, and it was a time to remember loved ones who had passed on. The inclusion of hag-like witches, demons, ghouls and ghosties, are again, the fault of religious bigotry and blatant misogyny.

There are stories of individual ghosts and ghost armies. Of ghost ships and frightening hauntings. We’ve all heard of the Flying Dutchman, and the Marie Celeste. (And the Black Pearl of course, with her skeleton crew!)

Ghost hunting has become a popular ‘sport’ both here in the UK and the USA, and is classified as a pseudoscience. The use of electronic equipment to trace a ghost has been endorsed by TV docu-dramas programmes like, Help My House Is Haunted. Most of these type of shows are exaggerated nonsense. Almost all of them focus on the frightening – presumably building on an audience liking to be scared out of their wits. Horror, I guess, is popular. I haven’t come across one such programme that explores benign, friendly ghosts. I did email one presenter asking why this was. I never received an answer.

Old houses, pubs and castles are always assumed to have ghosts present because of their age and history. To be fair, this is where my daughter Kathy has seen most of her ghosts – our house dates back to 1769, the village pub was built during late Tudor ... there is the remains of a Norman Motte and Bailey mound adjoining Barnstaple car park here in North Devon. And yes, three Norman soldiers along with it.

Norman Motte & Bailey
Barnstaple, Devon

But why are these places always said to be ‘haunted’ implying a hostile presence?

Go into any old pub and you can bet your next pint or glass of wine, that it has at least one ghost for the landlord to boast about. Most individual landlords are quite happy with their friendly ‘residents’, but it’s the ghost hunting TV docu-drama shows, or money-making tours that insist on ‘hostile hauntings’. I must add, that the ghost tours you come across in various towns (London, York, Bath etc) are usually very good – excellent entertainment and I recommend them as a super way to discover much of the local history, but rarely are there any actual ghosts. (Well, not until after a decent stop at a hostelry where there are other types of spirits!)

Another common misconception. Ghosts only linger where they died or are buried. Er, no. In fact one place where you are most unlikely to see a ghost is in a cometary.

Most ghost presences remain because the departed soul is connected to that location in some way through an emotional tie. Maybe something traumatic, but usually because something memorable happened, or because those spirits were happy there. Our housemaid, Milly-Molly stays with us, we think because she loved this house and sees it as her duty to keep an eye on it. (And us.) I like having her around.

The Exeter Inn, Chittlehamholt

The ghosts within our village pub are nearly all friendly – or have no idea of our modern-day presence. They remain, I think, because something significant ‘recorded’ the energy of whatever it was that happened. A burst of energy caused by an important event. So we have an English Civil War troop, wounded and anxious to find replacement horses in order to get away to safety. We think these are Cavaliers escaping the disaster of nearby Torrington, where gunpowder blew part of the church up, and Cromwell was subsequently victorious. The pub also has a Tudor couple. Richly dressed in velvets, brocades and silks – both bedecked in glittering jewels. They seem happy, and we think they are newly married, on their way from the nearby busy trade ports of Barnstaple or Bideford, our pub being the first practical place to stop to rest or change the horses.

We do also have a grumpy 1950s elderly lady in the pub, a bit like Norah Batty from TVs Last of the Summer Wine. And then there’s Nancy, a girl who can most definitely see today’s customers, although we can’t always see her.

Ghost hunters, whether amateurs exploring old buildings or TV presenters with a remit to entertain (gullible?) viewers seem to rely on technology to locate ghosts.

Treat the technology and the programmes (and the findings of amateur detectorists) with a large dose of salt. A genuine Medium or Spiritualist who can connect with ghosts does not require electronics, or need to ask ‘Is there anyone there?’ A genuine person will simply say ‘hello’.

Electronic gadgets do pick up strange noises but mobile phone and radio signals travel a long way and can penetrate most structures, with the receiving gadget blurring or distorting the sound, resulting in apparently eerie or weird communication. Equipment might also be triggered by other apparatus – the filming camera for instance. Please, please, don’t use these things as they cause harm to wildlife, distorting the ability for bats to fly, for instance. And the only certain thing about anything picked up on this sort of apparatus is that they are NOT locating ghosts!

And why, why why are the majority of these TV shows always conducted in the dark? (Well of course why ... it creates a scarier atmosphere,) but ghosts (if you believe in them,) are not always nocturnal. They’re here beside or around us all the time – night and day. Although I do wonder if perhaps an explanation for haunting during the night shift is compulsory because there’s a Ghost Equity Union which forbids daylight working?

Wouldn’t it be just as interesting for viewers or radio listeners (or book readers) to discover non-hostile, friendly ghosts? My daughter Kathy and I think it would. Which is why we’ve produced Ghost Encounters: The Lingering Spirits of North Devon, concentrating on nice ghosts, not nasty ones.

SO WHAT ARE GHOSTS?

A ‘ghost’ is quite possibly only the remnant of some sort of past energy, something relayed as a hologram-like YouTube-type video that can only be viewed by those who can access the correct wavelength. If you don’t have the right frequency, all you get is nothing. What created this ‘energy’, no one knows, it’s unexplainable, which is why the subject is so controversial. Look how many do not believe in the benefits of vaccinations or even Climate Change, despite the amount of scientific fact. What chance do poor old ghosts have when there is no fact, scientific or otherwise, to support their existence?

Many accounts claim that ghosts are deceased people bent on revenge against some misdeed committed against them during life, or they are souls imprisoned on earth for foul things they did to others. Or maybe a ghost haunts a certain location because that is where a violent or unnatural death occurred. My personal belief against this last: while there are ghosts lingering near battlefields (I’ve had personal experience) how come there are not hundreds – even thousands – of ghosts sitting around at known battle sites? Waterloo, Agincourt, the Somme... if this theory was right these places would be akin to a London or New York rush hour!

WHERE DOES THE WORD ‘GHOST’ COME FROM?

The word ‘ghost’ comes from Old English gāst meaning breath, spirit, soul, and originates from Germanic gaistaz, linking with Old Saxon gēst (soul, spirit). Then there is Old Dutch gēst (spirit). The Old English word is also connected to the Latin spīritus meaning the Breath of God, and can imply a good or evil spirit – so angels or demons. And then there is the Holy Ghost, halgan gaste, and the Latin spiritus sanctus. ‘Spook’ is a Dutch loanword, related to the Low German spôk coming into the English language through 19th-century American English.

Phantom (of French origin, via Greek) is of fairly late usage, while Poltergeist is German which literally means a noisy ghost. Wraith, although of obscure origin, is Scottish, appearing in Scotland’s romantic literature of the 18th to 19th centuries. Tolkien used the word for his Ringwraiths in The Lord of the Rings, along with the verb ‘writhe’. A Bogey, bogy or bogie, appeared in 1780 in John Mayne's poem, Hallowe’en. It was also a term applied to Napoleon by the British during the Napoleonic Wars.

A revenant is not so commonly used, and denotes a dead person returning to haunt the living. So, ghost, spirit, shade, shadow ... all basically mean the same thing: an unexplained supernatural phenomena. Use whichever one you prefer!

APPEARANCE

Misty shadows, a vague blur, maybe a hovering orb? Perhaps merely a feeling of a sudden ice coldness or a brief breeze across the cheek, even though indoors with no window or door open? A sound, a moan, a wheezed breath; or a sigh or something knocked over when no one was near to knock it. All must, of course, be ghosts.

Dress? Well, a linen shroud. Many female ghosts are described as being a ‘Lady in White’. White ladies seem to appear in rural areas, died tragically, experienced trauma, or tragically lost a child or husband.

Birds were often thought to be returning ghostly spirits, especially the Barn Owl, its white (though sometimes light brown) shape gliding soundlessly as dusk settles. Cats have spiritual connections, again, probably because they are often silent, can appear from nowhere and, apparently, have nine lives.

To many, though, a ghost appears in body form with clear features, including the clothing worn at the time of death. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, shows the deceased in the afterlife as they were before death.

My daughter, Kathy, sees ghosts as clear as living people, often not realising she’s seeing someone who is dead unless she knows they have died, or are dressed in period costume. Anyone walking along our farm lane would not be likely to wear Georgian or Tudor costume! Often, though, she will only see part of a person, which is a bit of a giveaway. Or more frequently, she gets a glimpse only. The moment they realise they have been seen, they disappear. These ghosts, I am convinced, vanish because they are startled to be seeing her. In their eyes, she is the ghost to be frightened of.

Our frequent ‘visitors’ to our house are, however, aware of us and are seen clearly. Occasionally even heard, passing comment or remarks. Our ‘Maid’ (we’re not certain if her name is Milly or Molly) has been known to announce her disapproval of building work within the house (because of the mess, I suspect), or that I chatter a lot. Another visitor, seen from the waist up with three-corner hat, neat-tied cravat and a waistcoat, likes watching our horses. He is, we have discovered, the Georgian equivalent of the modern Amazon Delivery. In his case, bringing goods shipped to the nearby trade ports of Barnstaple or Bideford.

HISTORY

Ghosts are mentioned in several ancient cultures, and the religions of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, and other early Mesopotamian areas. Ghosts were – are – believed to be created at the time of death. They ‘pass’ to another world, where they are assessed, judged or appointed tasks. Some remain in that otherworld, others come back, for various reasons. The surviving living were expected to place food, drink and useful goods within a burial chamber (of whatever sort) in order for the dead person to enjoy. The tomb of Tutankhamun as a good example.

The Hebrew Bible has several ghost references, although most are connected to occult activities. For instance, I Samuel 28:3–19 where King Saul commands the Witch of Endor to summon the ghost of Samuel. Christ returns from the dead as a Holy Spirit. And are angels a religious interpretation of ghosts?

Egyptian ideas of the afterlife evolved constantly through several thousand years of their history. The concept of a bandaged Mummy coming back to life to create havoc is modern. (Thanks Scooby Doo!)

The Odyssey and Iliad feature ghosts, often useful for predicting prophecies, but by the 5th century BCE Greek ghosts had plumped for haunting and frightening the living.

To the Romans, a ghost was useful for revenge against an enemy – scratch a curse on a stone or some pottery, place it on a grave and wait patiently for a satisfying result.

The baths at Chaeronea were haunted by the ghost of a murdered man, according to Plutarch. Fed up with the ghost’s loud groans, the townsfolk eventually sealed up the place. There doesn’t seem to be any follow-up indication that their work stopped the noise. Except, as it was probably caused by faulty drains, disuse of the place may have resulted in success.

Pliny the Younger (c. 50 CE) described the haunting of a house in Athens referring to the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus, who lived in the house at least 100 years before Pliny started writing. Athenodorus deliberately put his writing desk where the ghost was assumed to appear, and wrote until late at night ... he was eventually disturbed by a chain-bound ghost. Following the apparition outside, it pointed to a specific spot where Athenodorus later discovered a shackled skeleton. Giving the remains a proper burial the haunting ceased.

A good story, or was Athenodorus a gifted Medium?

Closer to modern day, though, was a report of Roman ghosts in York, England.

Back in 1953, an apprentice plumber, Harry Martindale, was working in the cellar of the Treasurer's House. He looked up and saw a Roman soldier walking through the wall, followed by several other Roman soldiers and a horse, all were visible from just below the knee upwards, so they were walking on a lower, hidden, level. Martindale gave a good description of their shields, short swords, green tunics and the laces of the (unseen) sandals – the lacing going up the leg to what he could see of below the knee. Several who heard his tale disbelieved him, or put his account down to fantasy as his description did not tally with what was, then, known..

Only at a later excavation was it realised that the Treasurer’s House was, in fact, built above a Roman road, and discoveries at Hadrian's Wall have proved that auxiliary troops in the 4th century carried round shields and laced their sandals up to their knees.

By the Middle Ages, most ghostly spirits were thought of as hostile demons out to torment the living, and condemned to Purgatory for their transgressions. European stories relate how many of these ghosts were wrestled to the ground or captured until a priest could be summoned to obtain a confession or perform an exorcism.

Saffie and Franc, both now gone

ANIMALS

My daughter, Kathy, (and many other ‘ghost-seers’) also encounter animals. Dogs are the most common apparitions, perhaps because dogs have an especial affinity with us humans? For ourselves, we have lost horses in the past, some have been spotted grazing in our fields or waiting by the gate.

Kathy has seen a bear and another beast from the very distant past – she’s not too keen on ever seeing a dinosaur, though, so hopes they stay firmly on the ‘other side’.

IN LITERATURE AND FILM

We’re all aware of Ghostbusters. Good fun, but utter nonsense.

Better films are the more thought-provoking High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider starring Clint Eastwood. Then there’s Hamlet and MacBeth, of course, and A Christmas Carol. My favourites, though, are the recent BBC TV comedy series Ghosts, and that good old movie of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit where Margaret Rutherford plays the wonderful Medium, Madame Arcati. Forget the recent remake. It was awful.

The classic ghost story arrived during the Victorian period, when anything to do with ghosts and spirits was a popular form of evening entertainment – seances (usually conducted by a skilled con-artist) were especially favoured.

Many noted authors penned ghost stories influenced by gothic fiction and traditional folktales, and today ghost stories remain popular – some copying the trend for scary horror, but as many, now, depicting friendly ghosts whose only concern is to be noticed...