PHANTOM COACH

Grey River Argus, 10 December 1938, Page 5

PHANTOM COACH

IN ENGLAND. The phantom coach, according to the beliefs of countryfolk in many districts, is still driving through English lanes. ■ and thle Folklore Society is trying to make a map of its appearances Three months ago;' Mr H coote Lake, honorary secretary of the society issued notices to its members Requesting them to investigate the phenomenon in their districts, with the result that a mass of imports about it has reached the London headquarters “The interesting thing about the phantom coach,” Mr Coote Lake told a News Chronicle reporter, “is the wide-spread nature of its appearances. , “It occurs throughout the country though not so commonly in North Lancashire f know of its occurrence in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.” The coach is usually a four-m--hand, he explained. It drives from town'to town, or along the avenues leading to large houses until it reaches the door, when it stops and disappears. Sometimes the wheels make a crunching noise and again they . are completely silent. Headlessness is nearly always a feature. Sometimes the coachman has no head, sometimes it is the horses or passengers. “The phantom is usually associated with a wicked squire or owner, who died as a result of his evil wa Vs. Sometimes the appearance foretells death,” said Mr Coote Lake. ' “These folk beliefs are a kind'or psychological test of population, said Mr Coote Lake, “supplementing the test by measurement of skullsand noting of colour of hair and eyes. ' “The phantom coach differs from other ghosts in being distributed in all parts of the country. Other apparitions are confined to certain regions. .North and West having quite different types from those South and East.” ~ '