by M. R. James
THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER CATHEDRAL
This matter began, as far as I am concerned, with the reading of a noticein the obituary section of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for an early yearin the nineteenth century:
On February 26th, at his residence in the Cathedral Close of Barchester, the Venerable John Benwell Haynes, D.D., aged 57, Archdeacon of Sowerbridge and Rector of Pickhill and Candley. He was of ---- College, Cambridge, and where, by talent and assiduity, he commanded the esteem of his seniors; when, at the usual time, he took his first degree, his name stood high in the list of _wranglers_. These academical honours procured for him within a short time a Fellowship of his College. In the year 1783 he received Holy Orders, and was shortly afterwards presented to the perpetual Curacy of Ranxton-sub-Ashe by his friend and patron the late truly venerable Bishop of Lichfield.... His speedy preferments, first to a Prebend, and subsequently to the dignity of Precentor in the Cathedral of Barchester, form an eloquent testimony to the respect in which he was held and to his eminent qualifications. He succeeded to the Archdeaconry upon the sudden decease of Archdeacon Pulteney in 1810. His sermons, ever conformable to the principles of the religion and Church which he adorned, displayed in no ordinary degree, without the least trace of enthusiasm, the refinement of the scholar united with the graces of the Christian. Free from sectarian violence, and informed by the spirit of the truest charity, they will long dwell in the memories of his hearers. [Here a further omission.] The productions of his pen include an able defence of Episcopacy, which, though often perused by the author of this tribute to his memory, affords but one additional instance of the want of liberality and enterprise which is a too common characteristic of the publishers of our generation. His published works are, indeed, confined to a spirited and elegant version of the _Argonautica_ of Valerius Flacus, a volume of _Discourses upon the Several Events in the Life of Joshua_, delivered in his Cathedral, and a number of the charges which he pronounced at various visitations to the clergy of his Archdeaconry. These are distinguished by etc., etc. The urbanity and hospitality of the subject of these lines will not readily be forgotten by those who enjoyed his acquaintance. His interest in the venerable and awful pile under whose hoary vault he was so punctual an attendant, and particularly in the musical portion of its rites, might be termed filial, and formed a strong and delightful contrast to the polite indifference displayed by too many of our Cathedral dignitaries at the present time.
The final paragraph, after informing us that Dr Haynes died a bachelor,says:
It might have been augured that an existence so placid and benevolent would have been terminated in a ripe old age by a dissolution equally gradual and calm. But how unsearchable are the workings of Providence! The peaceful and retired seclusion amid which the honoured evening of Dr Haynes' life was mellowing to its close was destined to be disturbed, nay, shattered, by a tragedy as appalling as it was unexpected. The morning of the 26th of February--
But perhaps I shall do better to keep back the remainder of the narrativeuntil I have told the circumstances which led up to it. These, as far asthey are now accessible, I have derived from another source.
I had read the obituary notice which I have been quoting, quite bychance, along with a great many others of the same period. It had excitedsome little speculation in my mind, but, beyond thinking that, if I everhad an opportunity of examining the local records of the periodindicated, I would try to remember Dr Haynes, I made no effort to pursuehis case.
Quite lately I was cataloguing the manuscripts in the library of thecollege to which he belonged. I had reached the end of the numberedvolumes on the shelves, and I proceeded to ask the librarian whetherthere were any more books which he thought I ought to include in mydescription. 'I don't think there are,' he said, 'but we had better comeand look at the manuscript class and make sure. Have you time to do thatnow?' I had time. We went to the library, checked off the manuscripts,and, at the end of our survey, arrived at a shelf of which I had seennothing. Its contents consisted for the most part of sermons, bundles offragmentary papers, college exercises, _Cyrus_, an epic poem in severalcantos, the product of a country clergyman's leisure, mathematical tractsby a deceased professor, and other similar material of a kind with whichI am only too familiar. I took brief notes of these. Lastly, there was atin box, which was pulled out and dusted. Its label, much faded, was thusinscribed: 'Papers of the Ven. Archdeacon Haynes. Bequeathed in 1834 byhis sister, Miss Letitia Haynes.'
I knew at once that the name was one which I had somewhere encountered,and could very soon locate it. 'That must be the Archdeacon Haynes whocame to a very odd end at Barchester. I've read his obituary in the_Gentleman's Magazine_. May I take the box home? Do you know if there isanything interesting in it?'
The librarian was very willing that I should take the box and examine itat leisure. 'I never looked inside it myself,' he said, 'but I've alwaysbeen meaning to. I am pretty sure that is the box which our old Masteronce said ought never to have been accepted by the college. He said thatto Martin years ago; and he said also that as long as he had control overthe library it should never be opened. Martin told me about it, and saidthat he wanted terribly to know what was in it; but the Master waslibrarian, and always kept the box in the lodge, so there was no gettingat it in his time, and when he died it was taken away by mistake by hisheirs, and only returned a few years ago. I can't think why I haven'topened it; but, as I have to go away from Cambridge this afternoon, youhad better have first go at it. I think I can trust you not to publishanything undesirable in our catalogue.'
I took the box home and examined its contents, and thereafter consultedthe librarian as to what should be done about publication, and, since Ihave his leave to make a story out of it, provided I disguised theidentity of the people concerned, I will try what can be done.
The materials are, of course, mainly journals and letters. How much Ishall quote and how much epitomize must be determined by considerationsof space. The proper understanding of the situation has necessitated alittle--not very arduous--research, which has been greatly facilitated bythe excellent illustrations and text of the Barchester volume in Bell's_Cathedral Series_.
When you enter the choir of Barchester Cathedral now, you pass through ascreen of metal and coloured marbles, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, andfind yourself in what I must call a very bare and odiously furnishedplace. The stalls are modern, without canopies. The places of thedignitaries and the names of the prebends have fortunately been allowedto survive, and are inscribed on small brass plates affixed to thestalls. The organ is in the triforium, and what is seen of the case isGothic. The reredos and its surroundings are like every other.
Careful engravings of a hundred years ago show a very different state ofthings. The organ is on a massive classical screen. The stalls are alsoclassical and very massive. There is a baldacchino of wood over thealtar, with urns upon its corners. Farther east is a solid altar screen,classical in design, of wood, with a pediment, in which is a trianglesurrounded by rays, enclosing certain Hebrew letters in gold. Cherubscontemplate these. There is a pulpit with a great sounding-board at theeastern end of the stalls on the north side, and there is a black andwhite marble pavement. Two ladies and a gentleman are admiring thegeneral effect. From other sources I gather that the archdeacon's stallthen, as now, was next to the bishop's throne at the south-eastern end ofthe stalls. His house almost faces the west front of the church, and is afine red-brick building of William the Third's time.
Here Dr Haynes, already a mature man, took up his abode with his sisterin the year 1810. The dignity had long been the object of his wishes, buthis predecessor refused to depart until he had attained the age ofninety-two. About a week after he had held a modest festival incelebration of that ninety-second birthday, there came a morning, late inthe year, when Dr Haynes, hurrying cheerfully into his breakfas
t-room,rubbing his hands and humming a tune, was greeted, and checked in hisgenial flow of spirits, by the sight of his sister, seated, indeed, inher usual place behind the tea-urn, but bowed forward and sobbingunrestrainedly into her handkerchief. 'What--what is the matter? What badnews?' he began. 'Oh, Johnny, you've not heard? The poor deararchdeacon!' 'The archdeacon, yes? What is it--ill, is he?' 'No, no; theyfound him on the staircase this morning; it is so shocking.' 'Is itpossible! Dear, dear, poor Pulteney! Had there been any seizure?' 'Theydon't think so, and that is almost the worst thing about it. It seems tohave been all the fault of that stupid maid of theirs, Jane.' Dr Haynespaused. 'I don't quite understand, Letitia. How was the maid at fault?''Why, as far as I can make out, there was a stair-rod missing, and shenever mentioned it, and the poor archdeacon set his foot quite on theedge of the step--you know how slippery that oak is--and it seems he musthave fallen almost the whole flight and broken his neck. It _is_ so sadfor poor Miss Pulteney. Of course, they will get rid of the girl at once.I never liked her.' Miss Haynes's grief resumed its sway, but eventuallyrelaxed so far as to permit of her taking some breakfast. Not so herbrother, who, after standing in silence before the window for someminutes, left the room, and did not appear again that morning.
I need only add that the careless maid-servant was dismissed forthwith,but that the missing stair-rod was very shortly afterwards found _under_the stair-carpet--an additional proof, if any were needed, of extremestupidity and carelessness on her part.
For a good many years Dr Haynes had been marked out by his ability, whichseems to have been really considerable, as the likely successor ofArchdeacon Pulteney, and no disappointment was in store for him. He wasduly installed, and entered with zeal upon the discharge of thosefunctions which are appropriate to one in his position. A considerablespace in his journals is occupied with exclamations upon the confusion inwhich Archdeacon Pulteney had left the business of his office and thedocuments appertaining to it. Dues upon Wringham and Barnswood have beenuncollected for something like twelve years, and are largelyirrecoverable; no visitation has been held for seven years; four chancelsare almost past mending. The persons deputized by the archdeacon havebeen nearly as incapable as himself. It was almost a matter forthankfulness that this state of things had not been permitted tocontinue, and a letter from a friend confirms this view. '[Greek: hokatechon],' it says (in rather cruel allusion to the Second Epistle tothe Thessalonians), 'is removed at last. My poor friend! Upon what ascene of confusion will you be entering! I give you my word that, on thelast occasion of my crossing his threshold, there was no single paperthat he could lay hands upon, no syllable of mine that he could hear, andno fact in connexion with my business that he could remember. But now,thanks to a negligent maid and a loose stair-carpet, there is someprospect that necessary business will be transacted without a completeloss alike of voice and temper.' This letter was tucked into a pocket inthe cover of one of the diaries.
There can be no doubt of the new archdeacon's zeal and enthusiasm. 'Giveme but time to reduce to some semblance of order the innumerable errorsand complications with which I am confronted, and I shall gladly andsincerely join with the aged Israelite in the canticle which too many, Ifear, pronounce but with their lips.' This reflection I find, not in adiary, but a letter; the doctor's friends seem to have returned hiscorrespondence to his surviving sister. He does not confine himself,however, to reflections. His investigation of the rights and duties ofhis office are very searching and business-like, and there is acalculation in one place that a period of three years will just sufficeto set the business of the Archdeaconry upon a proper footing. Theestimate appears to have been an exact one. For just three years he isoccupied in reforms; but I look in vain at the end of that time for thepromised _Nunc dimittis_. He has now found a new sphere of activity.Hitherto his duties have precluded him from more than an occasionalattendance at the Cathedral services. Now he begins to take an interestin the fabric and the music. Upon his struggles with the organist, an oldgentleman who had been in office since 1786, I have no time to dwell;they were not attended with any marked success. More to the purpose ishis sudden growth of enthusiasm for the Cathedral itself and itsfurniture. There is a draft of a letter to Sylvanus Urban (which I do notthink was ever sent) describing the stalls in the choir. As I have said,these were of fairly late date--of about the year 1700, in fact.
'The archdeacon's stall, situated at the south-east end, west of theepiscopal throne (now so worthily occupied by the truly excellent prelatewho adorns the See of Barchester), is distinguished by some curiousornamentation. In addition to the arms of Dean West, by whose efforts thewhole of the internal furniture of the choir was completed, theprayer-desk is terminated at the eastern extremity by three small butremarkable statuettes in the grotesque manner. One is an exquisitelymodelled figure of a cat, whose crouching posture suggests with admirablespirit the suppleness, vigilance, and craft of the redoubted adversary ofthe genus _Mus_. Opposite to this is a figure seated upon a throne andinvested with the attributes of royalty; but it is no earthly monarchwhom the carver has sought to portray. His feet are studiously concealedby the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the capwhich he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns whichbetray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee, isarmed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness. Between these twofigures stands a shape muffled in a long mantle. This might at firstsight be mistaken for a monk or "friar of orders gray", for the head iscowled and a knotted cord depends from somewhere about the waist. Aslight inspection, however, will lead to a very different conclusion. Theknotted cord is quickly seen to be a halter, held by a hand all butconcealed within the draperies; while the sunken features and, horrid torelate, the rent flesh upon the cheek-bones, proclaim the King ofTerrors. These figures are evidently the production of no unskilledchisel; and should it chance that any of your correspondents are able tothrow light upon their origin and significance, my obligations to yourvaluable miscellany will be largely increased.'
There is more description in the paper, and, seeing that the woodwork inquestion has now disappeared, it has a considerable interest. A paragraphat the end is worth quoting:
'Some late researches among the Chapter accounts have shown me that thecarving of the stalls was not as was very usually reported, the work ofDutch artists, but was executed by a native of this city or districtnamed Austin. The timber was procured from an oak copse in the vicinity,the property of the Dean and Chapter, known as Holywood. Upon a recentvisit to the parish within whose boundaries it is situated, I learnedfrom the aged and truly respectable incumbent that traditions stilllingered amongst the inhabitants of the great size and age of the oaksemployed to furnish the materials of the stately structure which hasbeen, however imperfectly, described in the above lines. Of one inparticular, which stood near the centre of the grove, it is rememberedthat it was known as the Hanging Oak. The propriety of that title isconfirmed by the fact that a quantity of human bones was found in thesoil about its roots, and that at certain times of the year it was thecustom for those who wished to secure a successful issue to theiraffairs, whether of love or the ordinary business of life, to suspendfrom its boughs small images or puppets rudely fashioned of straw, twigs,or the like rustic materials.'
So much for the archdeacon's archaeological investigations. To return tohis career as it is to be gathered from his diaries. Those of his firstthree years of hard and careful work show him throughout in high spirits,and, doubtless, during this time, that reputation for hospitality andurbanity which is mentioned in his obituary notice was well deserved.After that, as time goes on, I see a shadow coming over him--destined todevelop into utter blackness--which I cannot but think must have beenreflected in his outward demeanour. He commits a good deal of his fearsand troubles to his diary; there was no other outlet for them. He wasunmarried and his sister was not always with him. But I am much mistakenif he has told all that he might have told. A series of extr
acts shall begiven:
_Aug. 30th 1816_--The days begin to draw in more perceptibly than ever. Now that the Archdeaconry papers are reduced to order, I must find some further employment for the evening hours of autumn and winter. It is a great blow that Letitia's health will not allow her to stay through these months. Why not go on with my _Defence of Episcopacy_? It may be useful.
_Sept. 15._--Letitia has left me for Brighton.
_Oct. 11._--Candles lit in the choir for the first time at evening prayers. It came as a shock: I find that I absolutely shrink from the dark season.
_Nov. 17_--Much struck by the character of the carving on my desk: I do not know that I had ever carefully noticed it before. My attention was called to it by an accident. During the _Magnificat_ I was, I regret to say, almost overcome with sleep. My hand was resting on the back of the carved figure of a cat which is the nearest to me of the three figures on the end of my stall. I was not aware of this, for I was not looking in that direction, until I was startled by what seemed a softness, a feeling as of rather rough and coarse fur, and a sudden movement, as if the creature were twisting round its head to bite me. I regained complete consciousness in an instant, and I have some idea that I must have uttered a suppressed exclamation, for I noticed that Mr Treasurer turned his head quickly in my direction. The impression of the unpleasant feeling was so strong that I found myself rubbing my hand upon my surplice. This accident led me to examine the figures after prayers more carefully than I had done before, and I realized for the first time with what skill they are executed.
_Dec. 6_--I do indeed miss Letitia's company. The evenings, after I have worked as long as I can at my _Defence_, are very trying. The house is too large for a lonely man, and visitors of any kind are too rare. I get an uncomfortable impression when going to my room that there _is_ company of some kind. The fact is (I may as well formulate it to myself) that I hear voices. This, I am well aware, is a common symptom of incipient decay of the brain--and I believe that I should be less disquieted than I am if I had any suspicion that this was the cause. I have none--none whatever, nor is there anything in my family history to give colour to such an idea. Work, diligent work, and a punctual attention to the duties which fall to me is my best remedy, and I have little doubt that it will prove efficacious.
_Jan. 1_--My trouble is, I must confess it, increasing upon me. Last night, upon my return after midnight from the Deanery, I lit my candle to go upstairs. I was nearly at the top when something whispered to me, 'Let me wish you a happy New Year.' I could not be mistaken: it spoke distinctly and with a peculiar emphasis. Had I dropped my candle, as I all but did, I tremble to think what the consequences must have been. As it was, I managed to get up the last flight, and was quickly in my room with the door locked, and experienced no other disturbance.
_Jan. 15_--I had occasion to come downstairs last night to my workroom for my watch, which I had inadvertently left on my table when I went up to bed. I think I was at the top of the last flight when I had a sudden impression of a sharp whisper in my ear '_Take care_.' I clutched the balusters and naturally looked round at once. Of course, there was nothing. After a moment I went on--it was no good turning back--but I had as nearly as possible fallen: a cat--a large one by the feel of it--slipped between my feet, but again, of course, I saw nothing. It _may_ have been the kitchen cat, but I do not think it was.
_Feb. 27_--A curious thing last night, which I should like to forget. Perhaps if I put it down here I may see it in its true proportion. I worked in the library from about 9 to 10. The hall and staircase seemed to be unusually full of what I can only call movement without sound: by this I mean that there seemed to be continuous going and coming, and that whenever I ceased writing to listen, or looked out into the hall, the stillness was absolutely unbroken. Nor, in going to my room at an earlier hour than usual--about half-past ten--was I conscious of anything that I could call a noise. It so happened that I had told John to come to my room for the letter to the bishop which I wished to have delivered early in the morning at the Palace. He was to sit up, therefore, and come for it when he heard me retire. This I had for the moment forgotten, though I had remembered to carry the letter with me to my room. But when, as I was winding up my watch, I heard a light tap at the door, and a low voice saying, 'May I come in?' (which I most undoubtedly did hear), I recollected the fact, and took up the letter from my dressing-table, saying 'Certainly: come in.' No one, however, answered my summons, and it was now that, as I strongly suspect, I committed an error: for I opened the door and held the letter out. There was certainly no one at that moment in the passage, but, in the instant of my standing there, the door at the end opened and John appeared carrying a candle. I asked him whether he had come to the door earlier; but am satisfied that he had not. I do not like the situation; but although my senses were very much on the alert, and though it was some time before I could sleep, I must allow that I perceived nothing further of an untoward character.
With the return of spring, when his sister came to live with him for somemonths, Dr Haynes's entries become more cheerful, and, indeed, no symptomof depression is discernible until the early part of September when hewas again left alone. And now, indeed, there is evidence that he wasincommoded again, and that more pressingly. To this matter I will returnin a moment, but I digress to put in a document which, rightly orwrongly, I believe to have a bearing on the thread of the story.
The account-books of Dr Haynes, preserved along with his other papers,show, from a date but little later than that of his institution asarchdeacon, a quarterly payment of L25 to J. L. Nothing could have beenmade of this, had it stood by itself. But I connect with it a very dirtyand ill-written letter, which, like another that I have quoted, was in apocket in the cover of a diary. Of date or postmark there is no vestige,and the decipherment was not easy. It appears to run:
Dr Sr.
I have bin expctin to her off you theis last wicks, and not Haveing done so must supose you have not got mine witch was saying how me and my man had met in with bad times this season all seems to go cross with us on the farm and which way to look for the rent we have no knowledge of it this been the sad case with us if you would have the great [liberality _probably, but the exact spelling defies reproduction_] to send fourty pounds otherwise steps will have to be took which I should not wish. Has you was the Means of me losing my place with Dr Pulteney I think it is only just what I am asking and you know best what I could say if I was Put to it but I do not wish anything of that unpleasant Nature being one that always wish to have everything Pleasant about me.
Your obedt Servt,
Jane Lee.
About the time at which I suppose this letter to have been written thereis, in fact, a payment of L40 to J.L.
We return to the diary:
_Oct. 22_--At evening prayers, during the Psalms, I had that same experience which I recollect from last year. I was resting my hand on one of the carved figures, as before (I usually avoid that of the cat now), and--I was going to have said--a change came over it, but that seems attributing too much importance to what must, after all, be due to some physical affection in myself: at any rate, the wood seemed to become chilly and soft as if made of wet linen. I can assign the moment at which I became sensible of this. The choir were singing the words (_Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him and let Satan stand at his right hand_.)
The whispering in my house was more persistent tonight. I seemed not to be rid of it in my room. I have not noticed this before. A nervous man, which I am not, and hope I am not becoming, would have been much annoyed, if not alarmed, by it. The cat was on the stairs tonight. I think it sits there always. There _is_ no
kitchen cat.
_Nov. 15_--Here again I must note a matter I do not understand. I am much troubled in sleep. No definite image presented itself, but I was pursued by the very vivid impression that wet lips were whispering into my ear with great rapidity and emphasis for some time together. After this, I suppose, I fell asleep, but was awakened with a start by a feeling as if a hand were laid on my shoulder. To my intense alarm I found myself standing at the top of the lowest flight of the first staircase. The moon was shining brightly enough through the large window to let me see that there was a large cat on the second or third step. I can make no comment. I crept up to bed again, I do not know how. Yes, mine is a heavy burden. [Then follows a line or two which has been scratched out. I fancy I read something like 'acted for the best'.]
Not long after this it is evident to me that the archdeacon's firmnessbegan to give way under the pressure of these phenomena. I omit asunnecessarily painful and distressing the ejaculations and prayers which,in the months of December and January, appear for the first time andbecome increasingly frequent. Throughout this time, however, he isobstinate in clinging to his post. Why he did not plead ill-health andtake refuge at Bath or Brighton I cannot tell; my impression is that itwould have done him no good; that he was a man who, if he had confessedhimself beaten by the annoyances, would have succumbed at once, and thathe was conscious of this. He did seek to palliate them by invitingvisitors to his house. The result he has noted in this fashion:
_Jan. 7_--I have prevailed on my cousin Allen to give me a few days, and he is to occupy the chamber next to mine.
_Jan. 8_--A still night. Allen slept well, but complained of the wind. My own experiences were as before: still whispering and whispering: what is it that he wants to say?
_Jan. 9_--Allen thinks this a very noisy house. He thinks, too, that my cat is an unusually large and fine specimen, but very wild.
_Jan. 10_--Allen and I in the library until 11. He left me twice to see what the maids were doing in the hall: returning the second time he told me he had seen one of them passing through the door at the end of the passage, and said if his wife were here she would soon get them into better order. I asked him what coloured dress the maid wore; he said grey or white. I supposed it would be so.
_Jan. 11_--Allen left me today. I must be firm.
These words, _I must be firm_, occur again and again on subsequent days;sometimes they are the only entry. In these cases they are in anunusually large hand, and dug into the paper in a way which must havebroken the pen that wrote them.
Apparently the archdeacon's friends did not remark any change in hisbehaviour, and this gives me a high idea of his courage anddetermination. The diary tells us nothing more than I have indicated ofthe last days of his life. The end of it all must be told in the polishedlanguage of the obituary notice:
The morning of the 26th of February was cold and tempestuous. At an early hour the servants had occasion to go into the front hall of the residence occupied by the lamented subject of these lines. What was their horror upon observing the form of their beloved and respected master lying upon the landing of the principal staircase in an attitude which inspired the gravest fears. Assistance was procured, and an universal consternation was experienced upon the discovery that he had been the object of a brutal and a murderous attack. The vertebral column was fractured in more than one place. This might have been the result of a fall: it appeared that the stair-carpet was loosened at one point. But, in addition to this, there were injuries inflicted upon the eyes, nose and mouth, as if by the agency of some savage animal, which, dreadful to relate, rendered those features unrecognizable. The vital spark was, it is needless to add, completely extinct, and had been so, upon the testimony of respectable medical authorities, for several hours. The author or authors of this mysterious outrage are alike buried in mystery, and the most active conjecture has hitherto failed to suggest a solution of the melancholy problem afforded by this appalling occurrence.
The writer goes on to reflect upon the probability that the writings ofMr Shelley, Lord Byron, and M. Voltaire may have been instrumental inbringing about the disaster, and concludes by hoping, somewhat vaguely,that this event may 'operate as an example to the rising generation'; butthis portion of his remarks need not be quoted in full.
I had already formed the conclusion that Dr Haynes was responsible forthe death of Dr Pulteney. But the incident connected with the carvedfigure of death upon the archdeacon's stall was a very perplexingfeature. The conjecture that it had been cut out of the wood of theHanging Oak was not difficult, but seemed impossible to substantiate.However, I paid a visit to Barchester, partly with the view of findingout whether there were any relics of the woodwork to be heard of. I wasintroduced by one of the canons to the curator of the local museum, whowas, my friend said, more likely to be able to give me information on thepoint than anyone else. I told this gentleman of the description ofcertain carved figures and arms formerly on the stalls, and asked whetherany had survived. He was able to show me the arms of Dean West and someother fragments. These, he said, had been got from an old resident, whohad also once owned a figure--perhaps one of those which I was inquiringfor. There was a very odd thing about that figure, he said. 'The old manwho had it told me that he picked it up in a woodyard, whence he hadobtained the still extant pieces, and had taken it home for his children.On the way home he was fiddling about with it and it came in two in hishands, and a bit of paper dropped out. This he picked up and, justnoticing that there was writing on it, put it into his pocket, andsubsequently into a vase on his mantelpiece. I was at his house not verylong ago, and happened to pick up the vase and turn it over to seewhether there were any marks on it, and the paper fell into my hand. Theold man, on my handing it to him, told me the story I have told you, andsaid I might keep the paper. It was crumpled and rather torn, so I havemounted it on a card, which I have here. If you can tell me what it meansI shall be very glad, and also, I may say, a good deal surprised.'
He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an oldhand, and this is what was on it:
When I grew in the Wood I was water'd w'th Blood Now in the Church I stand Who that touches me with his Hand If a Bloody hand he bear I councell him to be ware Lest he be fetcht away Whether by night or day, But chiefly when the wind blows high In a night of February.This I drempt, 26 Febr. Anno 1699. JOHN AUSTIN.
'I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something ofthat kind?' said the curator.
'Yes,' I said, 'I suppose one might. What became of the figure in whichit was concealed?'
'Oh, I forgot,' said he. 'The old man told me it was so ugly andfrightened his children so much that he burnt it.'