The following, which adds somewhat to the above, was contained in a
private letter written in January 1897 from Major B---- to the Hon.
E---- F----:--

"Between two and four in the morning there used to be noises on the
door (of Colonel A----'s room), as if a very strong man were hitting
the panels as hard as ever he could hit, three times in quick
succession--a pause, and then three times again in quick succession,
and perhaps another go. It was so loud that I thought it was on the
door of his dressing-room, but he said he thought it was on his
bedroom door. One theory is, that it was the hot water in the pipes
getting cold, which, I am told, would make a loud throbbing noise. I
tripped out pretty quick the first time I heard it, but could see
nothing. Of course it is broad daylight in Scotland then.

"The same banging was, I believe, heard on one of the bedroom doors
down the passage, in the wing on the ground floor, and on
investigation I found there were hot-water pipes just outside that
door as well. There were yarns innumerable while I was there about
shrieks and footsteps heard, and bedclothes torn off. But I did not
experience these.... I don't think the noises were done by a
practical joker, as there were too many people on the alert...."

The Hon. E---- F---- wrote to Miss Freer on March 4th:--

"... [Major] B---- is now in London, and I have seen him twice. He
says (1) the hot-water pipe theory is not his own, but was suggested
by an engineer friend. He should not himself have thought that
hot-water pipes could make so big a noise. Besides, Colonel A----
described the noise as a banging either against the door itself, or