“After 2.30 Mr. Eustace H——­ came and told his sister we need not sit up later, as everything was so quiet, and the noises seldom came after that hour.  He went to his room then, but his door was scarcely closed when we all heard a loud knocking at Colonel A——­’s door.  We ran out, without waiting a moment, into the passage, where the lamps were still burning brightly, but it was absolutely empty and quiet.  We heard it several times that night in distant parts of the house, and once we heard a scream, which seemed to come from overhead.  We stayed six days in the house after this, but heard nothing more ourselves, though every one else in the house was disturbed nightly.”

The Major B——­ mentioned in the above statement has been good enough to furnish the following note as to his personal impressions:—­

“On 22nd August 1896 I arrived at B——­, and remained there until the 2nd September.  During this period I slept in the room on the first floor, which is at the end of a short corridor running from the top of the back stairs to my room [No. 1].

“Colonel A——­ occupied the room next to me [No. 3].  It was a double room, connected by a door, and was situated just at the top of the back stair.

“August 24th, about 3.30 A.M., I heard very loud knocking, apparently on Colonel A——­’s door, about nine raps in all—­three raps quickly, one after the other, then three more the same, and three more the same.  It was as if some one was hitting the door with his fist as hard as he could hit.  I left my room at once, but could find nothing to account for the noise.  It was broad daylight at the time.  I heard the same noises on the 28th and 30th August at about the same hour, viz. between 3 and 4 A.M.”

The following, which adds somewhat to the above, was contained in a private letter written in January 1897 from Major B——­ to the Hon. E——­ F——­:—­

“Between two and four in the morning there used to be noises on the door (of Colonel A——­’s room), as if a very strong man were hitting the panels as hard as ever he could hit, three times in quick succession—­a pause, and then three times again in quick succession, and perhaps another go.  It was so loud that I thought it was on the door of his dressing-room, but he said he thought it was on his bedroom door.  One theory is, that it was the hot water in the pipes getting cold, which, I am told, would make a loud throbbing noise.  I tripped out pretty quick the first time I heard it, but could see nothing.  Of course it is broad daylight in Scotland then.

“The same banging was, I believe, heard on one of the bedroom doors down the passage, in the wing on the ground floor, and on investigation I found there were hot-water pipes just outside that door as well.  There were yarns innumerable while I was there about shrieks and footsteps heard, and bedclothes torn off.  But I did not experience these....  I don’t think the noises were done by a practical joker, as there were too many people on the alert....”