Welsh UFO sightings from 1887. For sightings from other years please click HERE.
PRESS
February 1887
Rossett
The Denbighshire Advertiser of February 5th reported on a very corporeal ghost:
A GHOST CAPTURED! The inhabitants of this village and the adjoining ones of Burton and Lavister have been for the past fortnight scared by a ghost. The ghost in question has appeared during the dark evenings in the lonely parts of the roads and lanes enveloped in a white sheet, and iuttering distinct groans has terrified several persons. The other evening his ghostship was stopped in his career by a dog seizing him by the leg. He turns out to be a resident of the neighbourhood was "short of something better to do."
The Western Mail of February 3rd gave some more detail:
CAPTURE OF A "GHOST." A correspondent at Chester telegraphs:- The inhabitants of the village of Rossett, near Chester, have been greatly alarmed by a "ghost" that has been seen there recently. While a bicyclist was returning home the other night the "ghost" suddenly appeared before him. He fired a pistol at it, but failed to bring it down. Next night the "ghost" approached a man who had a dog with him. The dog seized the "ghost," whereupon there were loud cries for assistance. The "ghost" proved to be a villager not over fond of work, tricked out in white clothes. The country-side has been kept in a state of terror by this man's masqueradings. The Cardigan Observer of February 12th reported:
THE "GHOST" AND THE DOG. The women and children of Rossett, near Chester, have been greatly alarmed recently by an apparition in white in country lanes. Terror also reigned in neighbouring villages where the repute of the ghost's moonlight flittings had become noised abroad. One night the ghost solemnly approached a gentleman returning home. His large dog, which accompanied him, at once bounded forward and seized the apparition, which yelled lustily with pain. The gentleman released the ghost, Who turned out to be a villager, not over fond of work, tricked but in white clothes.
PRESS
April 1887
Mumbles
A well known local resident was revealed to be masquerading as a ghost. The Weekly Mail of April 23rd reported:
A PSEUDO GHOST AT THE MUMBLES. On Sunday night some of the inhabitants of the Mumbles, who have been for a long time puzzled by reports of supernatural appearances in the neighbourhood, set upon a person clothed in white and with a blackened face as he was passing over the Caswell-road towards Newton, and discovered his identity. It appears that the masquerader was a well-known resident, Mr. Warlow, engineer to the Oystermouth Waterworks. He only escaped a ducking in the neighbouring horse-pond by the interference of the vicar (the Rev. Secretan Jones) Warlow stated that he was merely amusing his children.
Most of the Welsh papers covered the story, but the most detailed - and embellished... - write up was in the Cambrian of April 22nd:
THE CASWELL ROAD GHOST. CLEVER CAPTURE. THE GHOST SUCCESSFULLY LAID BY THE VICAR. Angels and ministers of Grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, Be thy interests wicked, or charitable, Thou com'st in such questionable shape. That I will speak to thee.
For some time, especially during the past winter, there has been some talk of a ghostly visitant in the neighbourhood of Caswell Bay, and the road leading thereto. The engineer of the Waterworks Company at Oystermouth, whose duties lead him at all hours of the night to visit the pumping engine house at Caswell Bay, has, more than once, spoken of having seen a figure dressed in white, gliding along the road or flitting over the sands, and suddenly disappearing into the rocks which line the golden shores of that beautiful Bay. He has vowed vengeance on the ghost if he ever comes within striking distance of it, for the many shocks he had brought on by the sudden appearance and disappearance on his lonely rounds of duty, for although, as he said, he was not afraid of the Devil, this unsightly visitant had more than once caused his heart to bound with a quickened throb, his knees to shake, and his hair to stand on end, like "quills on fretful porcupine." Beside all this, he declared that it was a downright shame for any one to play such a trick; oh! miserable, flagrant dilectue, the ghost he said he saw turns out to be himself.
On Sunday night, about 8:30, the quiet hamlet of Newton was the scene of much excitement; a lonely widower sitting disconsolate in his ingle nook, heard a knock at his door, and before he could rise and open it, the door silently opened, and the firelight's fitful gleam fell upon a figure dressed in white, with black face and arms, and in a voice grave and deep enough to have issued from the tomb itself, asked if it could have lodgings for the night. The man stood appalled at the sight before him, his knees smote, his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth; in silent horror he gazed at the apparition, which quietly backed out of the doorway and fled. "For oh! it was a terrible sight, Enough to make his hair turn white, To make him shrink within his skin, At the way that ghastly ghost came in."
The click of the garden gate aroused the horrified man from his stupour of surprise; he started, rubbed his eyes, looked - it was gone. Like a flash, it came upon him that his strange and unearthly visitor must be the Caswell Ghost. In the twinkling of an eye, he was out, and across the road to a neighbour's house, where, in spasmodic jerks, he told what he had seen. Fortified and encouraged by a draught, hastily swallowed, of his neighbour's supper beer, they both went out armed with the first weapons they eould lay hold of. Children screaming, the patter ot feet, and cries of fright, led them on the track his ghostship had taken, and as they went they picked up another brave man and true, who followed on. Turning to the left, up the village of Newton, they overtook an old woman, and speaking to her said — "Aunty Mary, is that you?" "Yes," was the reply. "Did you see anything pass here?" "Yes, I saw something queer." "Which way did it go?" "Why, into Will Owen's house."
The ghost, not knowing that it had been followed, had in the meantime gone to Farmer Owen's house, and, knocking the door, it was opened by a granddaughter who screamed and bolted. A grandson went to the door, and he also saw and fled in dismay. The old farmer himself then went to see the cause of all this, and the ghost asked for lodgings; the brave old man's oaken staff went up, and would have descended with a sounding whack on the head of the ghost, but discretion being the better part of valour, even in a ghost, it silently backed away down the court — as a front garden is locally called and again fled, but alas! right into the group of men talking to Aunt Mary. Here, panic-struck, apparently by the array of arms around it, it stood in silent perplexity, while the men were also speechless from sheer wonderment and awe.
Aunt Mary, however, had her wits about her, and said, "Catch hold of it, and see what it is." This had the desired effect, and one of them cried, "I'll tackle it," and he went for it. With a sidelong jump the ghost shied off and again fled, and rushing down the road plumped into a lot of people, mostly ladies, coming from Church service. Here was confusion worse confounded. Cries, screams, hysterical solos, told the effect the apparition had on the weak nerves of these ladies, startled out of their wits; some fainted, while others stood rooted to the spot spell-bound with fright and terror others ran screaming away, and soon a crowd was collected. Every house in Newton and Nottage poured out its wondering inhabitants. The Vicar walking quietly up the hill, heard all this, and looking up in the gloaming, he, too, saw the flying white figure, and gave chase, his coat flapping like wings, and seeing the men running, he called out to them, "Catch him, catch him," but the Vicar's University training gave him the advantage, and overtaking the ghost first, grasped it like a vice, and shaking it heartily cried, "Speak, who are you?"
One can almost fancy him saying, as did Horatio — I'll cross it, though it blast me; —Stay, illusion!...
"Stay, and speak." (Ghost tries to wriggle out of his clutch.) "Who are you, speak?" said the Vicar. "Here, Smith, just strip his hood off, and let us see who it is." His bonnet, a long one, projecting well over his face, is readily grasped and torn away and all looking, cry: "Oh, my prophetic soul! Will Warlow." The scene that followed is beyond description; and many were ready and willing to take summary vengeance on the practical joker, and but for the restraining hand and words of the Vicar, would have done so. The culprit tried hard to explain why and wherefore he had done so, saying it was to "amuse his children," that he had donned the dress. We are sorry that an otherwise steady and industrious man, civil and respectful in every way, should have so far forgotten himself and his neighbours as to have performed this silly trick."
The Cardiff Times of April 23rd said:
A "GHOST" AT THE MUMBLES. According to a Swansea paper the inhabitants of the Mumbles, and more especially of Caswell, have been rejoicing of late in the visitation of what is described as a ghost. On Sunday night the supposed ghost was captured, between eight and nine o'clock that evening, a figure, clothed in white and with blackened face, was flying along the Caswell-road towards Newton. Near the top of Newton-hill several rushed out, and succeeded in laying hands on the supposed spectre, who, notwithstanding his entreaties and his protestations that it was only a joke, was ruthlessly stripped of his white garments, when, to the astonishment of all present, the well-known form of the chief engineer of the Oystermouth WaterWorks was revealed. Meanwhile a crowd had assembled, including the vicar, the Rev. Secretan Jones, and several well-known ladies and gentlemen or the locality. Warlow, who is a Salvationist, upon being interrogated as to what object he had in playing the role of the departed soul, replied that his only motive was to amuse his children. The vicar said that he acted in a very foolish manner.
PRESS
May 1887
Sketty
The South Wales Daily News of May 26th reported:
A GHOST AT SKETTY. There is said to be much consternation amongst the more nervous inhabitants of Sketty because of the rumoured appearance of a ghost in the village. The ethereal visitor is said to wear a white dress which touches the ground, round the waist is a black band, and the head is enveloped in a black mask, to which horns are fixed. Several unsuccessful attempts to effect a capture have been made.
The South Wales Echo of May 27th printed some comment on this in their 'Man About Town' column:
What, except the insufficiency or the inefficiency of the police, should make the neighbourhood of Swansea the privileged ground of "ghosts" is more than I can understand. The apparition at Sketty, as reported yesterday, is either the third or fourth since the beginning of the year. One was chased and caught only a few weeks ago; I do not know what became of the others, but I could hope that they had been caught and ducked. There is no mystery about these visions in the sunless hours. Every ghost you can be sure you see is either an idiot or a scoundrel, and more often the latter. If he is only a fool, he tricks himself out to frighten people; in the other case he goes into masquerade for a worse purpose. "Several unsuccessful attempts to effect a capture," said the paragraph I saw. Humbug There could not have been a policeman or an athletic man in the neighbourhood.
Swansea
June and July 1887 saw poltergeist activity at the home of the Revd David Phillips, as reported in the Cambrian Daily Leader. By July large numbers of regional and daily papers had picked up the story; here's a typical example from the Sheffield Independent of July 7th:
"A SPIRITUALISTIC MYSTERY. For several days great excitement has prevailed in Swansea among the Calvinistic Methodists of South Wales respecting some extraordinary manifestations alleged to have taken place at the residence of the Rev. David Phillips, Walters Road, Swansea. It is stated that strange noises are heard about the house, that doors open apparently of their own accord, and that chairs move about as though propelled by some unseen agency. Hithero all attempts to discover the cause have been futile."
The Herald of Wales for July 9th gave a little more detail:
ALLEGED MANIFESTATIONS OF SPIRITUALISM AT SWANSEA. THE SPIRITS DISARRANGE HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, OPEN DOORS, &C. THE SPIRITS CHALLENGED.
A correspondent of a morning contemporary [Western Mail, July 5th] writes: - "For several days past great excitement has prevailed among the Calvinistic Methodists of a large portion of South Wales respecting some extraordinary manifestations alleged to have been witnessed daily and nightly at the residence of the Rev. David Phillips (C.M.), Swansea. The Rev. Mr. Phillips is one of the keenest-witted men living, and, therefore, is not likely to be easily imposed upon. It is stated that strange noises are heard about his house; doors open apparently of their own accord, and chairs fly about as if they had wings. Other strange things occur, all of which have baffled the investigations made to discover the cause. The strange manifestations still continue, and no one, it is said, is more puzzled thereat than the rev. gentleman himself."
There is, we understand, some justification for the rumours afloat, but it would be wrong and unfair to make the Rev Mr. Phillips or any member of his household responsible for the same. The phenomena which has manifested itself in Mr Phillip's is akin to that which first attracted the attention of Caroline Fox, the American founder of the cult of Spiritualism, and deserves to be studied calmly and carefully - not treated after the manner of the ghost stories of the past.
THE MANIFESTATIONS. It appears that these manifestations extend over a considerable period, but that until about two months ago very little attention was given to them. They were explained away as being natural phenomena. Matters becoming worse, and the phenomena stranger and more inexplicable, Mr Phillips and his family became concerned, and attempted to discover what caused these strange occurrences. And, undoutedly, these manifestations are very strange. For instance, the servants makes one of the beds on the morning, but when in the afternoon she has occasion to visit the bedroom, she finds the bedclothes on the floor and the bed all thrown about. Another member of the family wishes to leave the room, and, behold, as in the case of the imprisoned Peter, the door opens before him of its own accord.
Day after day articles of furniture, of no inconsiderable size, such as chests of drawers, &c., have been removed from the places which they generally occupied. But this was not all. Every member of the family and several visitors heard the noise made in, though they never saw, the removal of those articles. Every effort was made by Mr Phillips, and his son, Mr Martin Luther Phillips, B.A., to discover the cause. A strict watch was maintained, and every nook and every corner of the house was carefully searched, but nothing turned up. No man nor spirit could they discover. Still the beds were turned upside down, and the furniture took walks all over the place.
There are some rather important facts to be remembered in connection with this case. Nothing whatever has been damaged, and whatever agency has been at work, it is a very considerate as well as skilful agency. Having failed to account for these manifestations, Mr Philips and his family are not in an enviable frame of mind. They have become so terribly frightened that they have lived but very little in the house for the last two months, and we believe that, although the servants are now back, they do not sleep there except when the master is at home. Mrs Phillips, however, is still away.
The matter was much talked of at the recent meetings of the South Wales Calvinistic Methodist Association at Porth. Hence, it is surmised, the paragraph in this morning's paper, for in Swansea the affair has been kept secret. It was at Porth where the manifestations in the Rev. Mr. Phillips' house in Swansea were first publicly mentioned...
We understand that the Rev. David Phillips and his friends are somewhat annoyed at the paragraphs which have appeared in the papers referring to the hitherto unaccountable phenomena which have taken place at the rev. gentleman's residence. But we would point out that in all probability one of Mr Phillips's ministerial friends is responsible for the statement in our Cardiff contemporary, and that it was not until that statement appeared that we took any cognisance of the many rumours which had previously reached us.
The South Wales Echo of July 18th 1887 reported: I hear a good story from Carnarvon of a "ghost story" which was unravelled at the Assizes there last week. The plaintiff was the Rev Richard Hughes, a Presbyterian minister well known in the Principality, and the defendants were the proprietors of Gwalia, a Welsh Conservative newspaper published at Bangor. The libels took the form of letters, in which the writer affirmed that ghosts had been seen near the plaintiffs house, alleging that they could not rest because he had robbed an old man, who was now deceased." For the plaintift it was contended that the author of the reports was actuated by political motives, being a teacher in the Church schools who had frequently challenged the plaintiff at Disestablishment meetings. The jury assessed the damages at £10, and judgment was entered for that amount, with costs, which, I suppose, is enough for Mr Hughes's purpose, though I should like to have seen a more substantial penalty passed upon the imaginative romancer.
Charles Fort included the tale in his 1931 Lo!: "As told in the Cambria Daily Leader (Swansea, Wales), July 7, 1887, poltergeist phenomena were occurring in the home of the Rev. David Phillips, of Swansea. Sometime I am going to try to find out why so many of these disturbances have occurred in the homes of clergymen. Why have so many supposed spirits of the departed tormented clergymen? Perhaps going to heaven makes people atheists. However, I do not know that poltergeists can be considered spirits. It may be that many of our records -- see phenomena of the winter of 1904-05 -- relate not to occult beings, as independent creatures, but to projected mentalities of living human beings. A woman of Mr. Phillips' household had been transported over a wall, and toward a brook, where she arrived in a "semi-conscious condition." I note that, not in agreement with our notions upon teleportation, it was this woman's belief that an apparition had carried her. Mr. Phillips and his son, a Cambridge graduate, who had probably been brought up to believe in nothing of the kind, asserted that this transportation had occurred."
PRESS
September 1887
Rhondda
A miner saw a ghost which tapped him on the shoulder. When he and his colleagues ran away, the 'being' chased after them. The South Wales Echo of September 24th reported:
A GHOST IN THE RHONDDA. A number of night hauliers employed at the Ocean Collieries, Cwmpark, were on their way to work late one night this week, when suddenly, so runs the story, an ethereal being, clad in the garb of a female, appeared unto one of them, who was lagging behind his companions, and with audacious impudence, tapped him gently on the back. Experieucing an unwonted sensation, our friend shrugged his shoulders, and turned his bead in order to ascertain the cause. Then, to his inconceivable horror, he beheld an awe-inspiring figure, evidently not belonging to the sublunary sphere, and which suddenly vanished into "thin ethereal air." In an agony of fear, the poor man cried out piteously, and thus arrested the attention of his fellows.
In a more or less incoherent manner — rather more than less — he detailed to them what he had seen. This done, the whole company took to their heels and sped over the ground with the fleet-footedness of deers. The mysterious visitant, however, was not to be so summarily aud easily shaken off. It reappeared, gave chase, succeeded in overtaking the affrighted hauliers, and, in regular old-man-of-the-sea fashion, clambered on the shoulders of one of the flying squadron, much to that unhappy Sindbad of consternation and terror. Having thus proved to demonstration the superiority of its fleetness to that of the poor human bipeds, "the stranger from way beyond" again mysteriously disappeared, to the immense relief of the company. It is not told whether our worthy haulier frieudu had been imbibing too freely of the liquid which stingeth like an adder, but certain it is that their extraordinary experience has created quite a sensation among, the busy population of the Rhondda.
PRESS
September 1887
Rhyl
Police apprehended some boys who were intending to frighten people as 'ghosts'. The Rhyl Advertiser of September 24th reported:
HOW THE POLICEMAN SCARED THE GHOST AT RHYL. The favourite hour for ghosts and hobgoblins, and other terrifying spirits, to wander about, is the quiet hour of midnight; and the favour- ite resort the neighbourhood of Church-yards and cemeteries. But the ghosts in Rhyl are too respectable to keep late hours, and they eschew the uncanny association of gravestones, on account of timidity probably. At the same time,they want a lonesome, but not a gruesome, locality to flutter about in their immaterialism. Church-street is credited with being the proud possessor of the first spiritual visitant to Rhyl for a long time. His Ghostliness made his presence known on Monday night, and appeared to have located itself in a tree at Tyn-y-coed.
Passers-by were startled by the mysterious shaking of the boughs of the trees, and the fluttering of the inevitable something white." Rumours travel fast, and the redoubtable Taffy (who is not a Welshman) was quickly on the scent. He is proof against ghostly terror, and at the unearthly hour of half past eight in the evening on Wednesday, he posted himself to watch for the ghost, which had, it was stated, made his second visit on that evening. The goblin catcher took full possession of the street —would not allow an ordinary mortal to walk up and down, reserving the whole for the anticipated encounter between himself and the slippery one wanted." He paced about in mysterious silence, and was watched by a terri- fied crowd which was perfectly awestricken by the bravery displayed by the dashing Hibernian. His coolness seemed to affect the ghost too. It would not break cover in the presence of the majesty of the law, as represented by the invulnerable P.C. He had evidently scared the ghost, but took up two boys on suspicion of having planned and carried out the ghostly visitation, but they were let offby leaving their names and addresses behind them.
The Llangollen Advertiser of September 30th reported:
A GHOST IN CHURCH STREET Finding that recently considerable excitement had been caused in the localities of Seacombe and Queen's-square, Liverpool, by the appearance of "ghosts," it entered into the minds of some of the young bloods in Rhyl that a similar sensation might be interesting in this town, especially now at the gay end of the season. Consequently operations were taken in hand, and a woody lawn in Church-street was fixed upon as their locale. This, it is said, was chosen not only because it was convenient for the seclusion of the wire-pullers, but because there was a ghost tale attached to the ground since last year. On the former occasion the ghost consisted of sheets of newspapers attached to a string. This was drawn across high branches of the trees, and the papers which covered a stone acting as ballast drawn up and down. This year the ghost took the form of a couple of lights, or dark lanterns.
A few flashes on Monday and Tuesday evenings were observed by several passers by, and a ghost story was at once established. On Wednesday it obtained an extensive circulation, inasmuch that before darkness had fairly set in there was a crowd of boys, and not a few grown-up persons - strange to say — congregated an the spot, patiently awaiting the spectral visitation. The crowd did not comport itself with that decorum which should characterize the conduct of those expecting a visit from "another world," and the yells of the juvenile portion of it caused an intolerable nuisance to those residing in the neighbouring houses. The police got wind of the affair and arrived on the spot. Considerable difficulty was, however, experienced in dispersing the crowd, some of the grown-up people being as stupidly obstinate as the lads were troublesome in darting about and shouting. Two lads were so demonstrative that they were marched off to the police-station, where they were shortly afterwards released on promise to be of good behaviour. Quietness was ultimately secured, and the Church-street ghost may be said to have been laid.
The South Wales Echo of October 22nd reported on another fake ghost:
LAYING A WELSH GHOST. The Wrexham police were able on Thursday night to by a ghost, which for several night had been playing pranks in the cemetery. Large crowds have beeu attracted to the neighbourhood after dark by the appearance of the traditionary ghost, all in white, with raised arms and gliding motiop, and which vanished immediately an effort was made to approach it. On Thursday night the usual crowd assembled, aud had the gratification of seeing the ghost laid by the police and the cemetery superintendent, who caught his ghostship while going through his nightly performances. The cause of the commotion turns out to be a young man named Mathias Davis, who was brought before the magistrates yesterday charged with trespassing and assaulting Mr Harris, cemetery superintendent. To add to the ghostly character of his visitation, prisoner had placed a number of lighted candles under the shrubbery. The prisoner was fined 16s, or 14 days.
The Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser of the same day also reported on the story:
A REAL GHOST STORY. Ou Thursday a report was current in the town that there was a ghost seen in the Borough Cemetery on the previous night, and that the vision had attracted the attention of a number of people. The report spread rapidly, aud was the cause of a crowd assembling outside the cemetery from nine to ten o'clock on Thursday night. The police were communicated with, and Sergeant Wynne and P.C. Rowland were soon on the spot and endeavoured to disperse the crowd, and also assisted the custodian to discover, if possible, the cause of the excitement. The ghostly character of the entertainment was produced, it appears, by the lighting of matches, and thereby bringing some of the statues and monuments into prominent relief.
This amusement could only be carried on by human ageney, and as no one was allowed to be on the premises after dark - the gates being locked at half-past five, the natural conclusion of the nervous and superstitious was that the agency was supernatural, and therefore a ghost. There appears to have been several operators on Thursday night, some of whom were recognised and will be summoned, while one was pounced upon in the act of striking a match, and while being collared by Mr Morris, the custodian, kicked him violently. The police present, however, were called and soon took him into custody, when he was locked up for the night, and brought before Messrs T. C. Jones and G. Bradley on Friday morning, when the facts of the case were deposed to by Mr Morris the custodian, P.C. Rowland, and a young man named Richard McDermot, and the prisoner, whose name is Mathias Davies, was fined 10s 6d and costs, or fourteen days in default. Other summonses are to be issued, and we opine that the ghost will be effectually laid.
PRESS
Gwaenysgor
A ghost in the form of a dog was reported by the Rhyl Advertiser of December 3rd:
A GHOST AT GWAENYSGOR. The residents of the quiet little village of Gwaenysgor have been thrown into a state of great excitement over the report that a ghost has made its appearance in one of the farm-houses near the village. Rumour says that this supernatural being made its headquarters at Ty Isa Farm, occupied by Mr Robert Jones, and of course makes its appearance at the ghostly hour of midnight. The ghost, it is said, comes in the form of a dog, and lies quietly on the floor, but the moment any one attempts to touch it, it vanishes in a most mysterious fash- ion, and its departure is accompanied by a ringing of bells, and other things necessary to make the story complete. Several, it is stated, have seen the ghost, and the excitement caused by its visit still continues.
The Llangollen Advertiser of December 9th reported:
The Glyndyfrdwy "ghost" has now ceased to trouble the neighbourhood. The cause of the present happy state f things was a threat made to the farmer's boy that if the stone-throwing continued he would be imprisoned. The "ghost" then took his leave.
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