Poltergeist
by mercuriuspoliticus
A Halloween ghost story, from a pamphlet I came across on EEBO a while ago.
The year is 1645. Our protagonist is Paul Fox, a silk-weaver, who lived in Plaistow in the parish of West Ham, about four miles from London. He’s a man of “honest life and conversation”, with a wife, children and servants.
His troubles started when a sword hung in one of his rooms:
came flourishing about the roome, flying up and downe, no hand touching of it, nor any thing but the Sword possibly appearing.
Fox grabbed hold of it and, struggling to keep it in his hand, ran with it into the next room and put it down on a bench. Then he went back into the original room and locked the door, only for the sword to reappear there with no obvious sign of how it had got through the door.
This incident proved the start of a great deal of poltergeist activity. A walking stick hopped from the kitchen up the stairs, and danced around a table on which the sword lay for nearly ten minutes. Another evening, Fox was disturbed by a loud knocking on the door. Asking who it was, a soft hollow voice announced that it was a spirit, who wanted to live in the house. Fox bravely replied that:
He thought it to be an evill Spirit nd that he had nothing to doe there, wishing it to returne to Hell Gates, where hee thought he might have entrance without knocking.
Another day, when Fox, his sons and his servants were hard at work, objects like tiles, brickbats, oyster shells and pieces of bread started whirling round the room breaking all the glass in the windows. A great stone, “of about halfe a hundred weight”, lifted itself up from the yard and tumbled up the stairs. Fox’s wife was disturbed while making porridge: the porridge suddenly forced itself out of the pot and sprayed itself around the room.
Hundreds of people came to watch the strange events in Fox’s house. Some gentry even gave Fox money in return for seeing the strange sights. Fox put the money in a handkerchief, only for the money to fly out into the middle of the room. Only Fox’s collection of godly books escaped unscathed. When the spirit tried to scatter Fox’s book collection, other papers and books fell victim to the poltergeist, but the Bible and Fox’s other religious tracts were left untouched.
Many “Ministers, Gentlemen & great Scholers” were called to try to account for the wondrous events in Fox’s house, but none was able to. As the writer relating Fox’s tale concluded:
That which is manifest appertaineth to us, and our children, but hidden things belong unto God.
But the author also notes in closing other events in Essex: the Assizes which had reslted in many witches being condemned and executed. Were Fox’s misfortunes the result of “wicked persons”, in “confederacy with the Devill”, setting out to “make spoyle and havock of their neighbours goods”? Or is it as the author concludes:
There cannot any solid reason be given from where [these events] exceed.
My illustration is of a child levitating and is a woodcut from the frontispiece of Joseph Glanvill’s Saducismus Triumphatus (1681).
1. Anonymous, Strange and fearfull newes from Plaisto (London, 1645).
Mercurius Politicus 
Ref The Dodleston Messages
Sorry that I put this message here, it’s just I didn’t know really were to put it.
hello, I do hope that you respond to my comment. First off let me assure you that what Dr Laura Wright says, though technical correct this is not the case. Many of us now use English which would appear incorrect even to some-one 20 years ago. With the advent of technology and the use of shortened phrases such as “lol” and “m8″….you see where I’m going with that. It is no suprise therefore that some-one else might use written English slightly differently than everyone else. It is not wrong, just different. Back to the video in question. I’m sorry for you to have to go through that really nasty business of the poltergeist stacking all your furniture like that. I know it must have been a very upsetting thing for you to have gone through. Was there a lot of tension in your house at the time? I suspect so. These things do normally go hand in hand. Which brings me on to the next topic.
Your Computer.
Well, what I will say is that I know your case to be true. Suffice to say I have experience in this field, not with computers but these messages were written down. Mostly in latin, some in French, and some written backwards.
I had to laugh when the investigation team all disappeared. People do get very scared of real things and events happening right before their eyes…..it kind of freaks them out.
Any luck on the book yet?
I must say that 2109’s involvement in this is a tad disturbing. I suspect that the book is a red herring, because i think there is a time-line mistake and 2109 was there to sort it out.
Makes me wonder what other stuff has been “sorted” out as well.
I’ll leave this message on Deb’s messages online as well.
If the book does exist then it will be some-where in the depths of Oxford University. I suspect that it will not contain any reference to your conversation with him. Partly because of the risk of being accused of witch-craft and the fact that 2109 probably would edit it out. (keeping things in order).
It’s great that you communicated with him. Maybe in the future we’ll know the real significance of this.
who knows.
All the very best
Peter