C2C is proud to partner with the legendary FATE Magazine to provide our readers with a visit to the deep paranormal past via classic pieces from the iconic chronicle of high strangeness.
This week's article is titled "The Guest was a Ghost" by William Ayre and was published by FATE in the October 1962 edition of the magazine (Vol. 15, #10). It is being reprinted with permission from FATE Magazine and all reproductions rights remain with them.
And now, journey back into the FATE Magazine archives and learn about an incredible ghost encounter from the year 1705...
The Guest Was a Ghost
By: William Ayre
FATE Magazine, October 1962 (Vol. 15, #10)
Mrs. Bargrave, a housewife in Canterbury, England, was sewing in her parlor when she heard a knocking. She dropped her work and opened the front door.
Outside stood her friend, Mrs. Veal. Mrs. Veal looked very well and was stylishly dressed in a riding habit. Mrs. Bargrave expressed her surprise at seeing Mrs. Veal.
She would have expressed far more than mere surprise had she known that at that moment the friend who stood before her already had been dead for 24 hours!
The apparition that confronted Mrs. Bargrave is among the most notable supernatural phenomena of all time. Because it was investigated and chronicled by the great author, Daniel Defoe, an accurate report of the occurrence has come down to our time although it took place September 8, 1705.
As a result of Defoe's investigations we know that Mrs. Bargrave and Mrs. Veal had been friends since childhood, for about 30 years. Defoe was well qualified to comment upon the personal relations between the two women since he himself had been acquainted with Mrs. Bargrave for more than 15 years.
The lives of both of these young Englishwomen had been touched with hardship and for a long period they had found comfort in one another's company. They were known to have found solace together reading books on the hereafter, particularly one book.
During their early relationship, Mrs. Veal had financial difficulties and Mrs. Bargrave often extended a helping hand. Mrs. Veal, who lived with a brother, also was described as being subject to fits, probably epilepsy if a modern diagnosis were possible.
Although Mrs. Bargrave apparently enjoyed better financial circumstances, she was said to have had a cross to bear in the person of a "mean" husband.
Mrs. Veal's financial status ultimately much improved when influential friends found a rewarding job for her brother in the Dover custom-house. As her economic position began to improve, Mrs. Veal dropped her old friend. Then Mrs. Bargrave moved to Canterbury, about 10 miles from Dover, and the two childhood friends were truly estranged.
After a separation of more than two years, it is no wonder that Mrs. Bargrave gave a startled cry when she saw her old friend at the door. Mrs. Bargrave is reported to have expressed her surprise at seeing Mrs. Veal. Then, suppressing the vexation she must have felt, she bent forward impulsively to kiss her old friend.
Mrs. Veal instantly "drew her hand before her eyes"—saying she was not very well—and thus avoided physical contact.
As she stood in the doorway, she told Mrs. Bargrave she was "going on a journey" and had an overwhelming desire to see her friend before starting on it.
This news nonplussed Mrs. Bargrave, as she knew how unpredictable and severe were the fits to which her friend was subject. She asked if Mrs. Veal's brother had given her permission to travel alone.
Mrs. Veal replied she had given her brother the "slip" and wanted to see her, before starting on her journey.
She followed Mrs. Bargrave into the room where the latter had been sewing, and sat in the armchair which Mrs. Bargrave had used. She repeated that she really had come to renew their friendship, and to beg her pardon for breaking it so abruptly. Mrs. Bargrave told her in a kindly way she had no hard feelings about it, adding she had thought that the advent of prosperity had affected Mrs. Veal as it did most other people.
The conversation went on in this normal, human fashion for some time. Mrs. Veal reminded her friend of her many kindly acts to her, and of the comfort they both had derived in reading Drelincourt's Book of Death. She also mentioned the titles of some other books on the same subject, but said that she thought Drelincourt's was the best. Learning that Mrs. Bargrave still had the book, she asked that it be brought to her.
When the book was brought, she made no motion to examine it but spoke in lofty tones about the hereafter, saying that if the eyes of faith were as open as are human eyes for material things, legions of angels could be seen guarding the afflicted. With much emotion she clasped her knees—assuring Mrs. Bargrave that she, too, would ultimately be relieved of the things which had been afflicting her.
As the talk continued then Mrs. Veal referred to a religious work, and also to a book of poems. Being told by Mrs. Bargrave that she had copied the poems, Friendship in Perfection, she asked for them and when offered the script asked her friend to read them to her.
Abruptly, she asked, "Do you think I am greatly changed by my fits?"
Mrs. Bargrave answered that she had never seen her looking better. More than an hour passed in this manner. An inquisitive neighbor later testified to the time.
Mrs. Veal then asked Mrs. Bargrave to write a letter to her brother stating that she wanted him to give some of her rings to several persons, and that there was a purse of gold in her cabinet from which she would like him to give "two broad gold pieces" to her cousin—a Captain Watson who lived in Canterbury.
Mrs. Bargrave said it would be better for her to write the letter herself, but Mrs. Veal answered that she couldn't do it herself—for reasons Mrs. Bargrave would soon learn. She became so excited at this moment that Mrs. Bargrave thought her friend was going to have a fit. However, nothing happened, and Mrs. Veal continued to insist her friend write as asked and moreover, record in detail their conversation.
At this, partly to quiet her friend, Mrs. Bargrave took hold of her skirt and praised its quality. Mrs. Veal said the garment was of scoured silk and newly made up.
After another moment or two Mrs. Bargrave got up to find a pen and ink, but Mrs. Veal told her not to write then, but later, after she had left.
Mrs. Veal inquired about Mrs. Bargrave's daughter. Mrs. Bargrave said she was with a neighbor and offered to go and get her. Mrs. Veal agreed she would be happy to see her.
When Mrs. Bargrave returned Mrs. Veal was out of the house. Mrs. Bargrave asked her why she was in such a hurry to go, whereupon Mrs. Veal said she must be on her way, but might not start her journey until Monday, adding that she might be able to meet her friend at her cousin Watson's house. Then she slowly walked off, and was lost to view by a turn in the street.
The following day, Mrs. Bargrave was ill, and did not leave the house. On Monday morning she sent her maid to the house of Captain Watson to learn if Mrs. Veal was there. Word came back she was not there nor expected. Amazed at this news, she dressed and went in person to the house.
Captain Watson was not there but Mrs. Watson said she wondered at Mrs. Bargrave's questions, for they had no idea Mrs. Veal was in Canterbury. When Mrs. Bargrave said Mrs. Veal had been with her for nearly two hours on Saturday, everybody in the Watson household was astounded at the news. At this moment Captain Watson came in from a trip, evidently from Dover, and announced that Mrs. Veal had died at noon September 7, one day before her spirit was seen by Mrs. Bargrave.
When Mrs. Bargrave described the dress of scoured silk, Mrs. Watson exclaimed: "You must have seen her, for none but Mrs. Veal and myself knew that the silk was scoured."
Other details proved that Mrs. Bargrave had been conversing with the spirit of her friend for more than an hour.
Further facts came to Mrs. Bargrave's mind, as she repeated the story to interested listeners, such as Mrs. Veal saying her sister and bother-in-law were coming from London to see her. And they had come, just as she was dying in Dover. At one time Mrs. Bargrave offered her friend tea, but as she got up to make it Mrs. Veal said not to bother. She also told Mrs. Bargrave that a Mr. Bretton had been allowing her 10 pounds annually, which was not known to Mrs. Bargrave to that moment.
Although Mr. Veal strongly protested the possibility that his sister had appeared in spirit form to Mrs. Bargrave, he later confessed that the concealed purse of gold was found, although not in the cabinet but in a comb case.
This account deserves an honored place in the annals of psychic research because it ranks among the very first reports made by persons of known good health and upstanding integrity. It was intensely investigated by the best-qualified investigators the times could offer.