BLACK PRINCE’S GHOST.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 5 November 1924, Page 8

BLACK PRINCE’S GHOST.

IN OLD KENT MANSION. The spirit of the Black Prince is said to' haunt Hajl Place, the. 14th century mansion at Bexley Heath. Kerit, where Lady Limerick resides. It is stated that the figure has been sfi'en three times iri recent years, always in black armour. Two of its visits were during the war at periods when the national outlook was particularly gririi, and the latest was a few weeks back. Lady Limfirick herself testifies to’ these ghostly apparitions; and she belives the Prince is giving warning of impending danger to Britain. “The last time I saw the ghost was on a Sunday evening,” she told a representative. “The figure was standing by the fireplace in the morning room, and when I went into the room with a. friend it glided away through the window into the garden. On the two previous occasions the ghost appeared in the dusk of evening. : “Sometimes there have been faint sounds of music, as if very sweet oldfashioned instruments were being played.” Lady Limerick has declared that the vision did not frighten her, although it startled her for a moment. In a second it had disappeared. She has long resided in the mansion —"and I have said I would die in it,” she added. It has been suggested that the ghost of the Black Prince has been attracted to the spot because it is associated with his wooing of his cousin Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent. The belief is that his body rested in Hall Place for a night when being taken to Canterbury for burial. Historic links and legends cloister thickly around the house and neighbourhood. Hall Place is owned by Lady Limerick’s son-in-law, Mr. Cox Brady, an American millionaire, whose desire is that the famous building shall be preserved as a national treasure. In the district around grew the yew trees from which the hows of the English archers at Creey were cut.