it was heard by many others. About half-an-hour afterwards my husband
heard a piercing shriek; then all was still, save for the hooting of
the owls in the neighbouring trees. When the grey dawn stole in it was
welcome; so was the cheery sound of the bagpipes, as the kilted piper
took his daily round in the early morning. The next night and
succeeding ones we heard loud single knocks at different doors along
our passage. The last night but one before we left I was roused from
sleep by hearing the clock strike one, and immediately it had ceased
six violent blows shook our own door on its hinges, and came with
frightful rapidity, followed by deep groans. After this sleep was
impossible. The next night, our last in Scotland, my husband and
others watched in our passage all night, and though the sounds were
again heard in different directions, nothing was to be seen. As I
write, at the commencement of October, the house on the lonely
hillside is deserted; the tenants have gone southwards; an old
caretaker (too deaf to hear the weird sounds which nightly awaken the
echoes) is the sole occupant. Even she closes up all before dusk, and
retires into her quarters below; though she hears not, her sight is
unimpaired, and she perhaps dreads to meet the hunchback figure which
is said to glide up the stairs, or the shadowy form of a grey lady who
paces with noiseless footfall the lonely corridor, and has been seen
to pass through the door of one of the rooms. Within the last two
months a man with bronzed complexion and bent figure has been seen by
two gentlemen, friends of mine. They both describe him as having come
through the door and passed through the room in which they were about
three in the morning. I have tried to give a faithful and accurate
account of these strange events. I leave it to each and all to form
their own opinion on the matter."

Some passages in private letters to Miss Freer and Lord Bute written