747. And since we are coming now to cases into which this element of meaningless sound will enter largely, it seems right to begin their discussion with a small group of cases where there is evidence for the definite agency of some dying or deceased person in connection with inarticulate sounds, or I should rather say of the connection of some deceased person with the sounds; since the best explanation may perhaps be that they are sounds of welcome - before or after actual death - corresponding to those apparitions of welcome of which we have already had specimens. I give one of these cases in full in the text, and a second in 747 A. A third has already been cited in the "Peak in Darien" group (718 A). The following is taken from Phantasms of the Living, vol. ii. p. 639.

A gentleman who is a master at Eton College wrote to us, on February 3rd, 1884:-

I enclose a copy of a memorandum made a few days after the event referred to. My memorandum has been copied for me by Miss H., whose name occurs in it. She is my matron - a sensible, middle-aged, active, and experienced woman. None of the people concerned were young, flighty, or fanciful. I have the doctor's letter; his name is G., and he still resides here. Miss H. only wishes to add that it must have occurred from twenty minutes to perhaps thirty after dissolution, and she says that she has never heard anything like the extreme sweetness of the sound. H. E. L.

The memorandum is as follows:-

Eton College, August 6th, 1881. I wish to write down, before there is time for confusion, the following fact, occurring on Thursday morning, July 28th, 1881, when my dear mother died, whom God rest! After all was over, Miss E. I., Eliza W., Dr. G., and myself being in the room, Miss I. heard a sound of "very low, soft music, exceedingly sweet, as if of three girls' voices passing by the house." She described further the sound as if girls were going home singing, only strangely low and sweet; it seemed to come from the street, past the house towards the College buildings (the road ends there in a cul-de-sac), and so passed away. She looked to call my attention, and thought I perceived it. She noticed that the doctor heard it, and that he went to the window to look out. The window faces S.E. Eliza W. being in the room at the same time heard a sound of a very low, sweet singing. She recognised the tune and words of the hymn, "The strife is o'er, the battle done." Miss I. recognised no tune, but felt "that the music sounded, as it were, familiar." As a very accomplished musician, especially remarkable for her quick memory of music, had words or air been those of a well-known hymn, she would almost certainly have remembered it.

These two spoke to each other when alone about what they had heard. Miss I. gives the time at about ten minutes after my dear mother expired. They were then unaware of this additional circumstance. Miss H. had left the room, and had summoned Charlotte C, with whom she had procured something required for laying out the body. As the two returned upstairs they heard a sound of music, and both stopped. Charlotte said to Miss H., "What is this?" After a pause she said, " It must be Miss I. singing to comfort master." They afterwards entered the room, of which the door had been shut all along. Charlotte further described the sound as very sweet and low, seeming to pass by them. She felt as if, had she only been able to listen, she could have distinguished the words. It did not occur to her that her description was most incongruous. She could not listen attentively, but felt "as if rapture were all around her." It was not until afterwards, when she mentioned to Eliza having heard Miss I. singing, and how strangely it sounded, that they found that each had heard the sound. Miss H. described the sound as very peculiar and sweet, seeming to pass by them and pass away, as they both stopped on the stairs.

All the staircase windows give north-west. I heard nothing, and I should have given no weight to a sound heard or described by these women in the room after communicating with each other, or by these women out of the room respectively; but the coincidence of each party hearing it separately and independently without previous communication, as well as the matter-of-fact explanation suggested for it by one of them, seeming to imply that their thoughts were not dwelling on the supernatural, added so much weight to this account that I wrote to the doctor, who answers:- "I quite remember hearing the singing you mention; it was so peculiar that I went to the window and looked out, but although quite light I could see no one, and cannot therefore account for it." The time must have been about 2 a.m. on July 28th, 1881.

Miss I. writes:-

13 Park Street, Windsor, February 22nd, 1884.

I will copy the memorandum which I made in my diary just after the death of my dear friend and connection, Mrs. L.

"July 28th, 1881.

"Just after dear Mrs. L.'s death between two and three a.m., I heard a most sweet and singular strain of singing outside the windows; it died away after passing the house. All in the room heard it, and the medical attendant, who was still with us, went to the window as I did, and looked out, but there was nobody. It was a bright and beautiful night. It was as if several voices were singing in perfect unison a most sweet melody, which died away in the distance. Two persons had gone from the room to fetch something, and were coming upstairs at the back of the house, and heard the singing and stopped, saying, 'What is that singing?' They could not naturally have heard any sound outside the windows in the front of the house from where they were. I cannot think that any explanation can be given to this - as I think - supernatural singing; but it would be very interesting to me to know what is said by those who have made such matters a subject of study. E. I".

Dr. G. writes in 1884:-

Eton, Windsor.

I remember the circumstance perfectly. Poor Mrs. L. died on July 28th, 1881. I was sent for at about midnight, and remained until her death at about 2.30 a.m. As there was no qualified nurse present, I remained and assisted the friends to "lay out" the body. Four or five of us assisted, and at my request the matron of Mr. L.'s house and a servant went to the kitchen department to find a shutter or flat board upon which to place the body. Soon after their departure, and whilst we were waiting for their return, we distinctly heard a few bars of lovely music - not unlike that from an Æolian harp - which seemed to fill the air for a few seconds. I went to the window and looked out, thinking there must be some one outside, but could see no one, although it was quite light and clear. Strangely enough those who went to the kitchen heard the same sounds as they were coming upstairs, quite at the other side of the door. These are the facts, and I think it right to tell you that I have not the slightest belief in the supernatural, spiritualism, etc, etc.

J. W. G.

The fact that Mr. L. did not share the experience is strong evidence that the sounds were not objectively caused by persons singing outside the house; and this is further confirmed by the slight difference which there appears to have been between the impressions received.

I have already discussed (Chapter VI (Sensory Automatism)., 643 and 655) the nature of these phantasmal sounds; - nor is it contrary to our analogies that the person most deeply concerned in the death should in this case fail to hear them. But the point on which I would here lay stress is that phantasmal sounds - even non-articulate sounds - may be as clear a manifestation of personality as phantasmal figures. Among non-articulate noises music is, of course, the most pleasing; but sounds, for instance, which imitate the work of a carpenter's shop, may be equally human and intelligent. In some of the cases of this class we see apparent attempts of various kinds to simulate sounds such as men and women - or manufactured, as opposed to natural, objects - are accustomed to produce To claim this humanity, to indicate this intelligence, seems the only motive of sounds of this kind.1

1 See, however, Mrs. Sidgwick's remarks (Proceedings S.P.R., vol. iii. pp. 79-80), as to the rarity of any indication of intelligence in such sounds, and the possibility of reading more intelligence into them than they really possess. There is now, of course, more evidence as to these sounds than there was at the date of Mrs. Sidgwick's paper (1885).

748. These sounds, in their rudimentary attempt at showing intelligence, are about on a level with the exploits of the "Poltergeist," where coals are thrown about, water spilt, and so forth. Physical phenomena of that type will fall to be dealt with in a later chapter; but it is a curious fact that Poltergeist phenomena should so seldom coincide with the ordinary phenomena of a haunt. We have one remarkable case - to be mentioned later - where Poltergeist phenomena coincide with a death (868 B); and a few cases where they are supposed to follow on a death; but, as a rule, where figures appear there are no movements; and where there are movements no apparition is seen. If alleged Poltergeist phenomena are always fraudulent, there would be nothing to be surprised at here. If, as I suspect, they are sometimes genuine, their dissociation from visual hallucinations may sometimes afford us a hint of value.