This was the climax, the children shrieked with terror, and Mrs. B., falling on her knees, began to pray, whereupon the face at the window vanished, and the herd of pigs, ceasing their disturbance, tore frantically down one of the high roads, and disappeared from view.

Similar phenomena were seen and heard so frequently afterwards, that the B——­s eventually had to leave the farm, and subsequent enquiries led to their learning that the place had long borne the reputation of being haunted, the ghosts being supposed to be the earth-bound spirits of the executed criminals.  Whether this was so or not must, of course, be a matter of conjecture—­the herd of hogs may well have been the phantasms of actual earth-bound pigs—­attracted to the spot by a sort of fellow-feeling for the criminals, whose gross and carnal natures would no doubt appeal to them.

A lane in Hertfordshire was—­and, perhaps, still is—­haunted by the phantasm of a big white sow which had accidentally been run over and killed.  It was occasionally heard grunting, and had the unpleasant knack of approaching one noiselessly from the rear, and of making the most unearthly noise just behind one’s back.

Sheep

Lambs and sheep, possessing finer natures than goats and pigs, would appear to be less earth-bound, and, in all probability, only temporarily haunt the spots that witnessed their usually barbarous ends.

Most slaughter-houses are haunted by them—­as, indeed, by many other animals.  A Scottish moor long bore the reputation for being haunted by a phantom flock of sheep, which were always heard “baaing” plaintively before a big storm.

It was supposed they were the ghosts of a flock that had perished in the memorable severe weather of Christmas, 1880.  Here is a case that may be regarded as typical of hauntings by sheep, presumably the earth-bound spirits of sheep, overwhelmed in some great storm or unexpected catastrophe.

“The Spectre Flock of Sheep in Germany”

“During the seven years’ war in Germany,” writes Mrs. Crowe, in her Night Side of Nature, “a drover lost his life in a drunken squabble on the high road.

“For some time there was a sort of rude tombstone, with a cross on it, to mark the spot where his body was interred, but this has long fallen, and a milestone now fills its place.  Nevertheless, it continues to be commonly asserted by the country people, and also by various travellers, that they have been deluded on that spot by seeing, as they imagine, herds of beasts, which on investigation prove to be merely visionary.  Of course, many people look upon this as a superstition; but a very regular confirmation of the story occurred in the year 1826, when two gentlemen and two ladies were passing the spot in a post-carriage.  One of these was a clergyman, and none of them had ever heard of the phenomenon said to be attached to the place.  They had been discussing the prospects