Join me from the 21st September to the 1st of November, Monday to Friday, 8.00 PM to 12.00 AM and Saturday and Sunday, 6.00 PM to 12.00 AM Greenwich time for Halloween beats.
Ghosting Radio Sampler – The Seasonal Playlist; Halloween
Cosmic Messiah Stuff
Ghost Encounters Podcast Post
Podcast Post – Attack Of The Heart
ATTACK OF THE HEART
INFO
Now I’m not sure if it’s called Heart Attack Hill or if we just made it up but the official name is Star Hill and is just off the Beaufort monument and near the woods called Barn Wood where a headless horse is meant to ride in and out of the woods. Also inside Barn Woods they trees and bushes weave in and out in this weird motion which is said to be quite creepy. I’ve walked in those woods with my dog Patch alone and saw something like that and it also scared me and made me run quicker to the safe zone. Star Hill which might also be called Heart Attack Hill is where I started getting heartburn and is where I sprained my ankle walking on the uneven footpath that leads to Barn Woods. It’s just a couple of strides to the hill but it’s quite steep and breathtaking.
Something I didn’t mention but it’s next to an old asylum that is now been converted into flats. The house was built in 1553 by Sir Richard Berkeley. Rebuilt by Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt circa 1760, it eventually became used as a dower house by the dukes of Beaufort at nearby Badminton House. This included Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (the son of Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort) and wife Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort whose daughter’s obelisk can be found to this date on the hill she died on from falling off a horse. The Dower House from the north-east. It was used as part of Stoke Park Hospital, previously Stoke Park Colony, from 1909. The house closed as a hospital wards in November 1986 when the final remaining patients were moved to other wards, though the laundry remained for a period. The building was sold in 1991 to the Sennett and Neate families who planned to redevelop the house into a nursing home, and it was rented to the nearby University of the West of England (UWE) for lectures and seminars in the interim, while the facilities at the Frenchay campus were redeveloped. The Dower House, Stoke Park is a dower house in Bristol, England. It is one of Bristol’s more prominent landmarks, set on Purdown, a hill above the M32 motorway on the main approach into the city, and painted yellow.
Podcast Post – Grab In The Night
GRAB IN THE NIGHT
HISTORY
There are pleasant walks along the steep wooded banks of the River Frome, for example to Oldbury Court. The park was purchased in 1926 by the Corporation of Bristol as “a pleasure walk for citizens of Bristol” and restored in the 1980s by the Fishponds Local History Society. The park’s name originates from one of the millers. His nickname was ‘Snuffy Jack’ because his smock was always covered in snuff. The park includes an old quarry and a stone mill. The old mill within the park was used for cutting and crushing stone from the many quarries along the Frome Valley during the late 19th century. It contains a waterwheel, and an egg-ended boiler in its setting and the remains of a vertical steam engine.
Despite the name, tobacco snuff was never ground in this mill. Today, Snuff Mills is still a popular site for locals and visitors who come to enjoy the tranquillity and natural surroundings. This stretch of the River Frome is also home to some of Bristol’s otters. The Snuff Mill Park was purchased by the Bristol Corporation in 1926 for 1,000 guineas. At that time the portion of the mill building nearest the river Frome was still three storeys high. In the early 1930s, for reasons of public safety, the authorities collapsed the two upper floors of the ancient building into the lower storey and capped off the remains with tarmac and used it as a bandstand for Sunday afternoon concerts. About the same time, the mill house, stable, piggeries, wagon house and sheds’, all standing at right angles to the river Frome, were also demolished making way for the present ranger’s house which was built in 1936. Although the mill building is popularly known as “The Snuff Mill” no evidence has ever come to light to confirm that snuff was ground here. That distinction must surely rest with the mill, upstream “Witherly’s” (see Owen Ward BIAS Journal, 1969, “The Mills on the Bristol Frome”) where snuff was ground from around 1790. The mill was purchased by H.O.Wills in 1805 and ground snuff until 1843. It is from this mill that the legend of “Snuffy Jack” originates, the miller whose smock was always covered with snuff.
Chester Masters’ map of 1610 labels the mill under discussion as “Whitwood” and shows four other mills along the Stapleton Frome. From the Wessex Water Authority’s drawing, showing the location of the weir structures and their crest levels above Ordnance Datum it is possible to calculate the fall of water level from Frenchay to Lathbury Mill, Eastville Park as 25.46 m. or 823 ft. From Kings Mill to Lathbury the fall is 68 ft. 3 in. As the river is contained within a gorge it has cut for itself, the flow through the Stapleton valley is considerable and this may explain why none of the five mills needed mill ponds, each taking their water directly from the river above weirs. When the Bristol Avon River Authority kept records at Frenchay in 1975, their study showed the water flow varied from 200 cubic feet per second to over 2,000 cubic feet per second, all within a week. No doubt this variation reflects the relatively short length of the Frome, rising in the grounds of Doddington House and flowing to meet the Avon in Bristol some 19 miles away. The “Snuff Mill” or, more properly, Whitwood Mill is not mentioned in Domesday but documentary evidence indicates the presence of a mill on this site since 1297. A structure of this age has probably been rebuilt on many occasions with an “Engine Room” as a later addition. One can certainly find pieces of worn and broken millstones incorporated in existing walls. Over the years the mill has had many occupiers. The Stapleton Muster Roll of 1608, a list of able-bodied men available to the King in time of war, includes “John Whitewood, Miller, aged about 40, tall and a trained soldier. Iaacs Taylor’s map of 1777 refers to the mill as “Bridgemans”, while the Minute Book of the Kingswood Enclosure Commissioners (Stapleton Enclosure Act of 1779) states that one Samuel Punter of Whitchurch, Somerset, claimed “right of common” as owner of a messuage (house) water grist mill and about 11 acres of land, situated at Beach Hill, Stapleton, at that time in the tenure of Benjamin Bridgeman, at a yearly rent of £44. Benjamin’s will was proved in 1784 but his widow Martha and their son Joseph managed to hold on to the property until 1823, when Martha died.
Whitwood was purchased by Charles Hopkins for £1,250, whose milling career was to end in bankruptcy some 18 years later. 1841 saw the mill again advertised for sale, but it was not disposed of, to Thomas Jones, until 1846. Thomas Jones’s tenure was brief indeed for by 21 June 1846 his will was proved. The mill now passed into the hands of Josiah Bell who must have had the necessary qualities to run the mill competently for he was still occupier and eventual owner for some 41 years. A conveyance of 1866 refers to Josiah as a “Carpenter and Builder”. Perhaps he carried on both occupations, working in the building trade when the mill was quiet or the water level too low to turn the wheel. It was during Bell’s tenure that the 12 hp steam engine was installed in the mill to augment the water power. On 30 August 1879, J. Bell, Miller of Stapleton, was granted an outdoor beer licence at the mill house. Ownership of the Mill House Off Licence passed into the hands of the Ashton Gate Brewery Co. with John Dyke the local postman as tenant. By 1896 poor John Dyke had to get his licence transferred to Primrose Cottage, near the Frome bridge, because there were fears that sewage from the Infectious Diseases Hospital, situated on the high ground behind his beer house, would contaminate his well. In 1889 Josiah Bell put Whitwood Mill up for sale. Lot 3 of the auctioneer’s hand bill stated that the premises included “…the Ground Floor and Three Lofts, the upper loft being 52 ft. by 182 ft. There is also a capital Stable, Piggeries, Wagon House and Sheds. The Machinery comprises … a 12 Horse-Power Engine, a 12 Horse-Power Water Wheel, three Pairs of Stones, an Oat, Malt, and Bean Crusher, and a Dressing Mill”. The sale included the house, orchard, valuable building site and quarry comprising a frontage of 170 ft. to Snuff Mill Lane and notes that “…It is believed that valuable Pennant stone lies under Lots 2,4, and 5”. The mill was sold to Maberly Parker for £565, the price probably reflecting the dwindling use of water as a power source, with the steam providing a more convenient and controllable source of industrial power. Maberly Parker quarried Pennant stone from behind the mill building and several sites along the river towards Frenchay.
Chester Masters’ map of 1610 labels the mill under discussion as “Whitwood” and shows four other mills along the Stapleton Frome. From the Wessex Water Authority’s drawing, showing the location of the weir structures and their crest levels above Ordnance Datum it is possible to calculate the fall of water level from Frenchay to Lathbury Mill, Eastville Park as 25.46 m. or 823 ft. From Kings Mill to Lathbury the fall is 68 ft. 3 in. As the river is contained within a gorge it has cut for itself, the flow through the Stapleton valley is considerable and this may explain why none of the five mills needed mill ponds, each taking their water directly from the river above weirs. When the Bristol Avon River Authority kept records at Frenchay in 1975, their study showed the water flow varied from 200 cubic feet per second to over 2,000 cubic feet per second, all within a week. No doubt this variation reflects the relatively short length of the Frome, rising in the grounds of Doddington House and flowing to meet the Avon in Bristol some 19 miles away. The “Snuff Mill” or, more properly, Whitwood Mill is not mentioned in Domesday but documentary evidence indicates the presence of a mill on this site since 1297. A structure of this age has probably been rebuilt on many occasions with an “Engine Room” as a later addition. One can certainly find pieces of worn and broken millstones incorporated in existing walls. Over the years the mill has had many occupiers. The Stapleton Muster Roll of 1608, a list of able-bodied men available to the King in time of war, includes “John Whitewood, Miller, aged about 40, tall and a trained soldier. Iaacs Taylor’s map of 1777 refers to the mill as “Bridgemans”, while the Minute Book of the Kingswood Enclosure Commissioners (Stapleton Enclosure Act of 1779) states that one Samuel Punter of Whitchurch, Somerset, claimed “right of common” as owner of a messuage (house) water grist mill and about 11 acres of land, situated at Beach Hill, Stapleton, at that time in the tenure of Benjamin Bridgeman, at a yearly rent of £44. Benjamin’s will was proved in 1784 but his widow Martha and their son Joseph managed to hold on to the property until 1823, when Martha died.
Podcast Post – Fur Raiser
FUR RASIER
INFO
Here is where Patch went all weird and her fur stood up and she was staring in mid-air at nothing. We were stood at the gate of the graveyard where we were going to go in and take some pictures me and my friend but Patch started to act all funny so I went in and took some pictures by myself. I felt pretty scared and I felt alone and vulnerable walking in that graveyard but I knew nothing could hurt me apart from thugs but the roads were always pretty quiet on the weekdays so I had nothing to worry about. I was disappointed to not see any orbs come up and so was my friend probably or though I didn’t do it as he doesn’t mess with Juju or witchcraft he’s scared.
The graveyard and church are just off a main high street and weren’t scary until Patch started acting weird and sketchy. I have no idea what she was sensing but whatever it was it wasn’t a good thing and made us both sketch out. I still went into the cemetery to get some exclusive pictures for my website and other projects also at that time I was on Flickr. It’s also exciting going into a dark and lonely place to get some good material for later use I’m always bringing up my own photos and stuff for my projects and that all comes in handy. The church by the graveyard is called St Mary’s Church and is a church that barely gets used I saw one wedding taking place there but no Sunday services I’m not sure.
Podcast Post – Flashing Lights Ahead
FLASHING LIGHTS AHEAD
INFO
It’s scary enough being in the dark on the Cycle Path/the old railway station/the old Dramway let alone seeing a train header light ahead and then disappearing into the night. We were on paths like this and were one straight path that led to the next town or village. It was around 8.30 PM near winter so it gets dark early so I wondered if they saw me with my hood on coming their way and turned around. The light was quite bright and shined bright into the now nighttime or though I would say it was three-quarters dark outside and the light was 0.3 miles away maybe 0.4 and wasn’t that far away basically it would have taken a couple of minutes to walk to where the light was shining.
As I said before there is only one path and the bit it disappeared into doesn’t wind around and you turn a slight corner to another straight path that only cuts off when you get to Mangotsfield Station. It is around a seven-minute walk from the pencils just off the dual carriageway and walking away from a place called Emerson Green. I’ve walked that route many times now and never saw a way to follow the dual carriageway and you had to pass Mangotsfield Station to get back to society which is in a place called Kingswood or really it’s called Soundwell which is heading for more town and urban streets rather than country lanes and a whole lot of cows mooing at you.
Podcast Post – Misty Face
MISTY FACE
HISTORY
The Avon and Gloucestershire Railway also known as The Dramway was an early mineral railway, built to bring coal from pits in the Coalpit Heath area, north-east of Bristol, to the River Avon opposite Keynsham. It was dependent on another line for access to the majority of the pits, and after early success, bad relations and falling traffic potential dogged most of its existence. It was five and a half miles (8.9 km) long, single track, and 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. It opened in part in December 1830 and carried its last traffic in January 1904, having been near-dormant since 1844. It used horses to pull wagons. Part of its route is accessible today as a footpath, and signs of much of the route are still visible. In the latter years of the eighteenth century, coal pits were opened up in what became the northern and eastern parts of the Bristol Coalfield and the Somerset Coalfield. Extracting the coal was only part of the process, and bringing it to market was the necessary next step; before proper roads existed, land transport of heavy bulk materials posed huge challenges, although rivers and canals provided a partial solution. The important industrial city of Bristol generated a massive demand for coal, for domestic and industrial purposes, and the proprietors of pits in the Coalpit Heath area, about nine miles (14 km) north-east of the city, turned their attention to wagonways
and tramways as a solution to their transport problem. Numerous schemes were put forward, but none gained the necessary financial support until the Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway was formed, in October 1827. In this article, the Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway will be abbreviated to B&GlosR. In 1864 the Midland Railway obtained authority in an act of Parliament to build a branch line from Mangotsfield to Bath. At first, a proposal involved acquiring the alignment of part of the A&GR and using it for the new line, but this was not pursued. The revised route ran close to the alignment of the A&GR as far as Oldand Common. Near Siston Common, the route of the A&GR was altered at the expense of the Midland Railway to avoid the need for the new line to cross the A&GR twice. The A&GR alignment was chosen to avoid earthworks, and the Midland Railway was compelled to provide a cutting to accommodate the old line. Oldland Common tunnel was strengthened in the centre portion where the new line crossed it. Williams describes the extension of the Midland Railway to Bitton and Bath over this tunnel, which had to be lined for 90 feet (27 m) at MR expense to strengthen it. The Midland Railway line opened in 1869. The last entry in the A&GR account book had been in January 1867, so it may be that the new alignment never saw traffic. On 1 July 1851, the Kennet and Avon Canal company was taken over by the Great Western Railway.
On 5 July 1865, the GWR obtained an act of Parliament which permitted (among other things) the abandonment of the A&GR line, and the last entry in the A&GR account book was dated January 1867. In 1876 California Colliery at Oldland was re-opened and used part of the line, having repaired it at their own expense. In August 1892 this colliery sent 60 tons of coal a day to the Avon, and the last entry in the K&ACC wharfage book was on 30 January 1904. On 9 July 1906, the GWR traffic committee was informed that all traffic on the line had ceased. Obtaining the necessary land for the line proved difficult, and a further act of Parliament, the Avon and Gloucestershire Railway Act 1831 (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. xii) on 30 July 1831 authorised some deviations, additional capital of £15,000 and yet more branches; these were all short lines to pits close to the A&GR line. Two were actually built: Redfield Lane to Haul Lane (or Hole Lane) pit (6 chains (0.075 mi; 0.12 km)) and Siston Common to Soundwell (43 chains (0.54 mi; 0.87 km)). Two others were authorised but were not built. At a committee meeting at the Backs Office, Bitton, on 27 October 1830, the committee travelled from there to Haul Lane pit in a “pattern wagon”. Presumably, this means a standardised design for independent hauliers to adopt, and the journey was probably rail-borne. It was reported that there were problems with the levels in the Willsbridge Tunnel, requiring it to be deepened and that two bridges were found to have been constructed improperly, requiring remedial works by the contractor.
Mangotsfield railway station was a railway station on the Midland Railway route between Bristol and Birmingham, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-east of Bristol Temple Meads and 82 miles (132 km) from Birmingham New Street, serving the village of Mangotsfield in South Gloucestershire, England. The station was opened in 1845 by the Bristol and Gloucester Railway but had very little in the way of passenger amenities. The station was resited in 1869 to serve the new Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line and became an important junction station with extensive facilities and six platforms. Passenger footfall however failed to match the station’s size, though at its peak eight staff were employed. The station closed in 1966 when services to Bath ended as part of the Beeching cuts, and the line through the station closed in 1969. The railway became a cycle path in the 1980s and is a popular resting point on the route as several of the station’s walls and platforms are still in situ. On 9 March 1853, there was a fatal collision between the morning mail train and another locomotive. The mail train from Gloucester – composed of a locomotive, passenger carriage, and mail van – had stopped at the station to allow the driver to adjust a loose pin on the locomotive. In dense fog, another locomotive, travelling from Gloucester to Bristol, crashed into it from behind at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h).
CRASH REPORTS
On 9 March 1853, there was a fatal collision between the morning mail train and another locomotive. The mail train from Gloucester – composed of a locomotive, passenger carriage, and mail van – had stopped at the station to allow the driver to adjust a loose pin on the locomotive. In dense fog, another locomotive, travelling from Gloucester to Bristol, crashed into it from behind at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). The carriages of the mail train were smashed to pieces, with passengers thrown about. Two passengers – Thomas Jones and William Antill were killed, while several others suffered severe injuries. At the inquest, the deaths were attributed to neglect of duty by the mail train’s guard, Abraham Perkins, and the under-guard, William Maycock.
On 16 January 1861, a train derailed near the site of the second Mangotsfield station. A landslide, thought to have been caused by frost, dropped a large boulder to block the line towards Birmingham, causing the entire train — locomotive, luggage van and three carriages — to come off the tracks. There were no significant injuries, and the tracks were cleared within five hours.
On 23 September 1861, another collision occurred at the station. A goods train, which was being shunted into the sidings north of the station to allow a passenger train to pass, broke down while crossing the southbound track. There was no electrical telegraph system at Mangotsfield and, although efforts were made to alert signallers at Yate, an excursion train returning from Liverpool and Manchester crashed into the goods train. Three of the goods train’s wagons were derailed, and twelve passengers aboard the excursion train were injured, including one severely but no one died from the crash.
Another collision occurred on 30 August 1886, at the site of the first station. A goods train from the north had shunted onto the line towards Bath, on the eastern side of the Mangotsfield triangle. An excursion train from Cheltenham and Gloucester, heading for Weston-super-Mare, was arriving from the north and heading west into the station. As it was passing the junction, the goods train began to back out onto the main line. The locomotive and first few carriages of the excursion train, which was heavily laden, passed without incident, however, after this the rear of the goods train fouled the main line. The last goods van grazed the rest of the excursion train’s carriages, smashing the coaches’ steps and damaging the side panels. The guard’s van of the excursion train however had a projecting observatory box, in which the guard, James Quick, was sitting, and this hit the goods train. The observatory box and rear of the guard’s van were ripped off. Quick suffered severe head wounds, while two passengers received minor injuries.
On 18 February 1926, a wagon examiner named Daniel Alway suffered a fatal accident in the sidings at Mangotsfield. Always had been walking along the siding while a train was shunting, in the same direction he was walking, when he lurched towards the train “as though his ankle had given out, or that he had trodden on loose metalling” Alway was hit by the train and run over by it. He was rushed to the Bristol Royal Infirmary, where his lower legs were amputated, however, he became septic and died from heart failure on 26 February.
Another trackside worker lost their life at Mangotsfield in 1934: Albert Henry Noad, a platelayer with 35 years of experience, was clearing weeds from the side of the track when he was hit by a passing train. Coworkers stated Noad needed to be near the rails in order to do his job properly, but did not hear a shouted warning and misjudged the distance to the oncoming train. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. Further members of railway staff were hit and killed by trains in 1941, 1948 and 1949.
In 1935, two teenage boys were convicted of endangering the lives of railway passengers after they put a fishplate weighing 20 pounds (9.1 kg) on the tracks. The plate was subsequently run over by a train, causing damage to a sleeper and a wall.
Two passenger carriages derailed at Mangotsfield in 1936. The coaches were being shunted just west of the station when they became fouled on a set of points and derailed. Both coaches were empty, and there were no injuries.
Podcast Post – Duch Courage
DUCH COURAGE
HISTORY
Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (née Berkeley; c. 1713 – 9 April 1799) was born in Stoke Gifford in Gloucestershire to John Symes Berkeley and Elizabeth Norborne. Her younger brother was Norborne, Lord Botetourt. The name Elizabeth Somerset came up which is presumably the same as Elizabetha. A stone monument to the memory of her daughter Lady Elizabeth Somerset is located in Stoke Park, Bristol. It is engraved with the Latin inscription;
ELIZABETHA SOMERSET
CAROLI DUCIS BEAUFORT FILIA SECUNDA HIC OBIIT VII
MAII MDCCLX
RESTITUTUM ANNO MMIV
This translates as ‘Elizabeth Somerset, second daughter of Charles Duke of Beaufort, died here 7 May 1760. Restored in the year 2004’. She was killed when her horse shied.
I think that the plaque was put up in 2004 and maybe the monument was rebuilt then for a report Date unknown, but sometime in the past thirty years] says that the Obelisk is reduced to a six-metre stump, and it is devoid of its Ashlar facing and missing the inscription. [Another report says it is the second monument erected on this spot.
Duchess of Beaufort is a title held by the wife of the Duke of Beaufort in the Peerage of England. In 1657 Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester married Mary Capell and in 1682 the dukedom was created by Charles II, making Henry the first Duke and Mary the first Duchess of Beaufort.
The dukedom was named after Henry Somerset’s fifth great-grandfather Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, whose legitimized children held the surname Somerset. The name Beaufort refers to a castle in Champagne, France (now Montmorency-Beaufort) and it is the only current dukedom to take its name from a place outside the British Isles. The family seat is Badminton House near Chipping Sodbury in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. The principal burial place of the Dukes and Duchesses of Beaufort is St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton. Traditionally a widowed peeress puts “Dowager” in her style. If a widowed peeress is also predeceased by the next Duke, any surviving widow of that Duke does not use the style of Dowager until the current dowager has died or remarried. The name Dowager, as in Dowager Duchess means a Widow of the last owner of the estate as opposed to being the wife of the son who now owns the estate after the death of his father, the Duchess’s husband. We still haven’t got a date for when Elizabeth Somerset, Dowager Duchess lived and died but we suspect that she was around in the 1780’s or thereabouts.
Down at the Duchess Lake not so far from the monument where there is a story of a young boy sometimes a little girl who drowned there, Duchess Beaufort had the lake drained after her or his death and has been used on and off ever since mostly nowadays as a fishing spot I see a lot of night fishers out there when the lake isn’t dried up.The Duchess Lake [Also called the Duchess Pond] was filled in in 1968 when the M32 motorway was built through Stoke Park but at some point after this, it was partly dug out again to provide fishing for an Angling club. There is also a long Barrow [Probably Bronze Age, although it could be Saxon as there was a Saxon settlement in the Stoke Park grounds up near the children’s playground by Romney Avenue, Lockleaze The lake is named after the Duchess of Beaufort on account that she used to spend time at this small lake while alive and is said to also haunt around the lake when she’s not riding her horse around. I now also began to wonder if the duchess was actually buried beneath this monument, it was something that had recently occurred to me although we have no proof either way on this matter, it certainly isn’t impossible though but I hope not as I’ve been dancing all around the monument and by that I mean climbing on it and using it as a perch to sit down it would be weird if I found out that she was buried underneath it is a grave monument after all.
Podcast Post – Dog Possession
DOG POSSESSION
INFO
The dog was called Max and was a Golden Retriever like the photo on the left-hand side of this text. It was such a nice dog and always came up to you to get smoothed and loved the attention. It’s a shame they don’t live as long as we humans but he lived a happy and healthy life. There is no scientific proof that animals in particular dogs can see supernatural things but I do believe they can smell the dead and can sense dead things as their nose is a powerful thing and is around 10 times stronger then a human nose so trust me a dog would know if you stink or not but I’m sure you are a clean person lol.
Light as a feather, stiff as a board is a game played by children at slumber parties. The phrase has also become established in popular culture as a reference to a levitation trick and has been referred to in various media accounts. In performing magic this effect is known as abnormal lift. One participant lies flat on the floor, facing upwards. The others space themselves around that person, each placing one or two fingertips underneath the participant’s limbs. The person closest to the head commonly begins by saying something like “She’s looking ill”, which is repeated several times, and followed by, “She’s looking worse”, which is also repeated several times. The general direction of the call-and-repeat describes how the person is looking worse and worse, followed by saying “She is dying”, and, finally, “She is dead” Variations of the spoken part of the game occur. In a common, modern version, the person being lifted is told a story about their death and asked to imagine it happening to them. This is intended to unsettle the participants and to convince them that something may have changed making it easier to lift the person than before. All versions of the game end with the phrase “light as a feather, stiff as a board” chanted by those standing around the “dead” player as they attempt to lift their companion’s body using only their fingertips. Some versions omit the story entirely and only the “light as a feather…” chant is used. After these repetitions, the person being lifted is described by the group as having become lighter or even entirely weightless.
Another variation of the game takes place with one person seated in a chair. Four volunteers agree to stand around the sitter, two on the sitter’s left side and the other two on their right. Each of the four places two fingers under each corner of the chair’s seat and the four together will attempt to lift the chair and sitter, which generally fails. The volunteers will then perform some small ritual, usually involving rubbing their hands together or circling the chair in various direction (counter-clockwise, walking backwards, etc.) After this ritual, the volunteers hold their hands over the sitter’s head to “transfer” energy into the sitter, which will presumably make them weightless. The lifters then retry lifting the sitter the same way as before. Also, it can be that the lifters lift the person sitting in the chair; doing the rest of the ritual as so, but holding at the four main points of the body (under the knees on each side and under the shoulders). The key to the trick is timing: each of the lifters must apply the lifting force at the same moment. When this is done, the weight of the subject is divided equally between each lifter, requiring each person to contribute only 12–20 kilograms (26–44 lb) of lift, to raise a 50–80-kilogram (110–176 lb) person. If the trick is performed without synchronising the lift, it will fail: as participants attempt to lift at slightly different times, they are instead performing a series of lifts by smaller groups, resulting in a much heavier weight per person. This fact may be used as a deliberate form of misdirection from the person explaining the trick, first asking the group to “go ahead, try to lift” to show that it cannot be done, and then asking them to try again on the count of three, where it succeeds.
The oldest known account of levitation play comes from the diary of Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), a British naval administrator. Pepys’s account of levitation play comes from a conversation with a friend of his, Mr Brisband, who claimed to have seen four little girls playing light as a feather, stiff as a board in Bordeaux, France. Pepys’s account of Mr. Brisband’s experience reads:
He saw four little girls, very young ones, all kneeling, each of them, upon one knee; and one began the first line, whispering in the ear of the next, and the second to the third, and the third to the fourth, and she to the first. Then the first begun the second line, and so round quite through, and putting each one finger only to a boy that lay flat upon his back on the ground as if he was dead; at the end of the words, they did with their four fingers raise this boy high as they could reach, and he [Mr. Brisband] being there, and wondering at it, as also being afeared to see it, for they would have had him to have bore a part in saying the words, in the roome of one of the little girles that were so young that they could hardly make her learn to repeat the words, did, for fear, there might be some sleight used in it by the boy, or that the boy might be light, call the cook of the house, a very lusty fellow, as Sir G. Carteret’s cook, who is very big, and they did raise him in just the same manner.
