Colonel Taylor served in the Bedfordshire Regiment.  He was afterwards Professor of Tactics at Sandhurst, and retired in 1894.  Possessed of means, leisure, and intelligence, he chose to make the study of psychic subjects his particular occupation.  He is one of the seven fundamental members who, in 1895, signed the Articles of Association of the London Spiritualist Alliance, holds office in the Society for Psychical Research, and has rendered very valuable services in investigation of various kinds.  Having made the investigation of houses alleged to be haunted his special province, he may be fairly considered to be somewhat of an expert in this matter.  It may, or may not, be regarded as a drawback to his usefulness in this direction, that he is so peculiarly insensitive to subjective impressions, that a man who is colour-blind would be almost as useful a witness as to shades of colour as Colonel Taylor upon hallucinations, local or otherwise; but, as will be seen, he is fertile in expedients, experienced in research, and careful and observant of the phenomena experienced by others.

Lord Bute, who takes some interest in scientific matters, has been accustomed not infrequently to defray the cost of scientific work which he is unable to undertake himself, and he offered to meet the expense of the lease of B——­ if Colonel Taylor would take the house, a proposal which he accepted.

This is what The Times correspondent of June 8, 1897, thought proper to describe in the words, “for reasons which are differently stated in London and in Perth, where the agent for the proprietor is to be found, Lord Bute did not take the house in his own name, but in that of Colonel Taylor.”

It would have been equally true to say of the Coptic texts, published at Lord Bute’s expense by Mr. Budge of the British Museum, that Lord Bute wrote and published these books under the name of Budge.

Had Colonel Taylor been prevented by circumstances from becoming tenant of B——­ House, Sir William Crookes, the present President of the British Association and of the Society for Psychical Research, or Mr. Arthur Smith, Treasurer of the S.P.R., was willing to take the lease.

Having thus agreed to Lord Bute’s proposal, Colonel Taylor at once proceeded to make himself acquainted with the history of B——­ House.  He naturally placed himself in communication with the late tenant, assuming that that gentleman would be willing to assist in investigating the phenomena by which his family and guests had been annoyed.  But the only information which Mr. H——­ seemed disposed to give was an admission that some members of his family had heard noises, and that the house was locally reported to be haunted.

However, other sources of information as to the experiences of the H——­ establishment were fortunately available.