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The Nameless Thing Of Berkeley Square

The version I've found in a cheap Scottish Ghosts book I've got doesn't have a source for the story but claims it happened at the turn of the century.

It was at number 17, though the street name isn't given it's place it in a row of terraced house close to the Botanical gardens, now demolished.

Same stpry, horrible thing frightens servant girl. Rumour spreads, no sailors in this version but a student of Edinburgh University, Andrew Muir, elects to spend the night there with a spiritual interest in what's occurring. They give a bell, go to bed, wake up hearing the bell. Andrew Muir dead with look of horror.

Don't know if that helps you at all.

It also gets a mention near the bottom of this page. It's University student Andrew Muir again but tis time it's the turn of the 20th century.

In the area of the Botanic Gardens over a hundred years ago, a strange and solitary man lived at No.17 in a well-respected street. His only caller was a charwoman who would twice weekly come to his home to bring him his provisions. After his death, the charwoman locked the house tight and it lay empty for years, until stories began to circulate of late night parties on the upper floors, overheard by the residents of numbers 16 and 18. But no one was ever seen to enter or leave the house. The talk abated after a while, until it was mostly forgotten. Then, in the early throes of World War I, the house was completely gutted and converted into a guesthouse for an English couple, who then moved in to run the house.

The first signs that something was not right came when two different chambermaids claimed to hear voices from an attic bedroom, but upon entering, found the room empty. The room was generally not used, because of these unnatural occurrences, until the guesthouse came to be overbooked and a young married couple were given the keys for the attic room. On approaching the door, they heard voices and assumed they had been given the wrong room number, so rang the bell for service. An old woman by the name of Mary Brewster responded and entered the room to prove there was nobody in there at all. But as soon as she entered she let out a shattering scream, and it was the last sound she ever made. She was found rigidly clinging to the bedpost, staring straight at the ceiling in terror, and although she lived on, she never spoke another word.

News of this reached some local students and one, Andrew Muir, finding his curiosity overpowered his fears, determined to sit alone in the room one night, with two bells, one small and one large. The small bell was to signal anything unusual happening, while the large bell was to be a call for aid to the owner, who was sitting in the downstairs room. At 10:00 pm Muir entered the room. After only ten minutes, the small bell was rung vigorously, immediately followed by the panicked clanging of the larger bell. The owner flew up the stairs and flung open the door to find Muir literally frightened to death in his chair, staring up at the ceiling.

The owners decided to retire and the house was boarded up again for the rest of its days, before the entire street was eventually demolished, taking with it whatever terror had shown itself to Mary and Andrew.
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Perhaps you've encountered this version before. If so apologies.

mooks out
 
I'm currently at work so have only had a brief opportunity to look through your replies.

Not sure about the Le Fanu story. As you said, deadly rooms are a common motif in ghost stories, and it doesn't have the structure of Rhoda Broughton's story ~ although her close relationship with Le Fanu (I believe he actively encouraged her writing and saw to it that some of her early work was published) suggests that she might have had this story in mind, if only subconsciously, when writing 'The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth'.

The second story, set in Edinburgh, is much more striking in its similarity! Do you know when your book of Scottish ghost stories was published? I've had a quick look but can't find anything about the haunted boarding house before 1868, when Miss Broughton's story was published. If this story did inspire her own, it would have had to be in the public domain before this time. It could have worked the other way around - i.e. the Berkeley Square story inspiring that of the haunted boarding house?

It's still a great story, though, and one that I hadn't come across before. I suppose it would be possible to contact The University of Edinburgh to see if they did have a student called Andrew Muir during WW1 / 1920's, although something tells me that Muir is a fairly popular Scottish surname!

I'll have a proper look when I get home tonight - thanks both for your replies!

Eva
 
Elvendork said:
...It's still a great story, though, and one that I hadn't come across before. I suppose it would be possible to contact The University of Edinburgh to see if they did have a student called Andrew Muir during WW1 / 1920's, although something tells me that Muir is a fairly popular Scottish surname!...
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What you need is a library that possesses the complete run of Blackwood's Magazine in it's various guises...and lots of time. Being an Edinburgh based story, and one which suits some of the preoccupations which that particular Edinburgh based publication was renowned for, I wouldn't be surprised if it was covered somewhere. Although, on reflection, I think maybe Blackwood's was past it's prime by the time this story surfaced.
 
Ummm. For a recent conference, this location was the subject of my proposed presentation - it's supposed reputation, reality and origin but concentrating on it's reason for existence.
I think I can say I've done a fair bit of research. I was even in the middle of presenting my findings and conclusion to "tout" to the FT for publication.

I admit, I've not found a direct parallel in other legends - then again, I've not actually looked to other cities. However, the Berkley Square Horror story - in it's many guises - comprises of so many elements of folk tale, ghost myth and extrapolation that echoes of it might exist elsewhere. Especially during the high period of Gothic Horror.
 
Still no luck in finding an early source for the Edinburgh story; I have a feeling (given the mention of WW1) that it is derived from the Berkeley Square story rather than it being the other way around, although I won't get a chance to go to the library until this weekened, so have had to rely on googlebooks over the last few days.

Don't know whether I can face a trawl through Blackwood's magazine tomorrow! Already have the rate books and London Directories waiting for me. It would make my life a lot easier if the tax collectors of the late 18th / early 19th century had seen fit to record house numbers! For someone who highly doubts No. 50 Berkeley Square was ever haunted, I have been getting an eerie feeling during the course of my research that the house is trying very hard to keep its remaining secrets.
Stormkhan, you're under no obligation to answer this (sworn enemies now, after all) but have you found any references to a haunted house in Berkeley Square before 1871 in the printed media? The earliest I have is a letter of 1871, with the specific house number not being being given given until 1872 (Lord Lyttelton, responding to a question in Notes & Queries.) All I know is that it had gained the reputation by 1863/64...

You don't have to tell me your source if you have - but it would give me renewed hope that it's out there somewhere ;) To set your mind at rest I wasn't planning on submitting my proposal to Fortean Times, but I thought this message board would be a good place to start the hunt for the inspiration for Miss Broughton's story, as it does comprise a huge chunk of the Berkeley Square legend.

Eva
 
So far, I've found no paranormal references to number 50 pre-1872. One of the most "famous" elements of the story - the three sailors terrified, one jumping to his death, impaled on the railings below - is a real non-starter. I think the morning sight of a Jolly Jack Tar oozing over a Mayfair railing might've come to the notice of even the most jaded copper at the time, let alone the paperboy or the milkman.
 
I was digging around for an online version of MR James A School Story, which I know contains a reference to the Berkeley Square story, when I stumbled across this article on Rosemary Pardoe's excellent Ghosts and Scholars website.

For someone researching the story it probably doesn't reveal anything that they don't already know, but I thought it was worth posting, if only - for those who aren't already familiar with it - as an introduction to a great site.
 
I can't offer insights into any possibly factual origins for the story, but will merely mention that several of William Hope Hodgson's 'Carnacki the Ghost-Finder' tales, mostly published in The Idler in the period 1910-12, are variations on the overall theme, though each has its particular fascinating details.
 
Completely irrelevant, I know, but I've just read, in Ed Glinert's West End Chronicles, that another property on Berkeley Square is supposed to be haunted by two generals who 'died precipitately when they fell through a trapdoor arguing about how the Duke of Marlborough should have fought the Battle of Blenheim', which, for some reason, made me laugh out loud. (Another example of a tragic and futile waste of life - I mean, the Duke of Marlborough won the Battle of Blenheim).

More trivia. Admiral Byng famously executed pour l'encourager les autres, lived at Number 40, and Clive of India died of Laudanum poisoning at 45. Number 53 is supposed to have the ghost of a heartbroken father who peers out of a first floor window pining for his eloped daughter. (Source for that is Peter Bushell's London's Secret History). And Thackery, in Vanity Fair, describes a Berkeley Square 'in which gloomy locality death seems to reign perpetual.'
 
The location of Berkley Square, per se, isn't indicative of death, Fortean or otherwise.
You must remember that this area was of the wealthy - and the military - for decades! Each door can reveal a "noble" passing or a violent end. Even only at first remove.
 
Stormkhan said:
The location of Berkley Square, per se, isn't indicative of death, Fortean or otherwise.
You must remember that this area was of the wealthy - and the military - for decades! Each door can reveal a "noble" passing or a violent end. Even only at first remove.
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Granted, but given that by the 1840's Thackery had plenty of other fashionable locations in the area to choose from if he'd wanted - Hanover and Grosvenor Squares, Bond Street, Piccadilly etc - you might wonder if there wasn't something about the feel of the place that created a particular atmosphere, whether the things that happened there were out of the ordinary, or not.
 
Elvendork said:
My question is, has anyone come across a ghost story similar to the one at Berkeley Square, but set in the countryside, that might have inspired Miss Broughton? The only clue I have so far is that she was born in Denbigh, North Wales, and in 1866/7 paid a visit to her uncle, Sheridan Le Fanu in Dublin.
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I don't know if this will help, but I think there is some vague similarity between the general ideas of Berkeley Square (spending the night in a haunted room that eventually leads to death) and the ancient Greek ghost story of Philinnion, as can be read in THIS EARLIER THREAD. It may be that the various details are all very folk-based in nature, and that there is no particular story it came from.

Also, another interesting place to look for a fictional antecedent would be in the Fantasmagoria book of German ghost tales that inspired Shelley and Polidori. Considering the time period, those may be fictional tales that were winding their way through the populace of the era and may have had some bearing on the Berkeley Square story. It's been too long since I've read a translation to be sure, but I think that some of the stories have a similarity in general to the Nameless thing. Some info at THIS EARLIER THREAD as well.

I certainly hope though that you can find an actual house and an actual event as the predecessor of this story. This tale and the Croglin Grange vampire are two of the creepiest early true and/or story tales that I know of. I always imagines the Nameless Terror to be a multi-tentacled mouth crawling slowly up the steps, with a great maw ready to eat anything in it's wake.
 
No Nightingales

Has anyone read the book "No Nightingales" by Caryl Brahms and SJ Simon about two military ghosts in Berkeley Square? It is a gentle comedy. Sorry if a bit off topic.
 
I don't think she was putting off a "ghost-hunter". On nearly every programme or documentary after listing all the supposed (and discredited) paranormal events in the location, every member of staff has said nothing has happened in their time.
 
For what it's worth I worked for a year at No. 50 Berkeley Square (it was a bank then).
Never experienced anything remotely ghostly. :(
 
Stormkhan said:
One of the most "famous" elements of the story - the three sailors terrified, one jumping to his death, impaled on the railings below - is a real non-starter.
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I believe the source for this one is Elliott O'Donnell and that many years after the putative experience.
 
Let me add that the story of a night spent alone in the haunted room has been radio-dramatized at least twice (although the location isn't mentioned) - on the South African series BEYOND MIDNIGHT (circa 1968) and later on the Canadian series NIGHTFALL (circa 1980). Both can be found free online.
 
OldTimeRadio said:
Stormkhan said:
One of the most "famous" elements of the story - the three sailors terrified, one jumping to his death, impaled on the railings below - is a real non-starter.
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I believe the source for this one is Elliott O'Donnell and that many years after the putative experience.
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I read an Elliot O'Donnell book, and I think he can most be charitably described as a pre-ghostwatch example of a fictionalist using the factual medium as a literary device ;)
 
I was on a ghost tour tonight which stopped off here.

The guide claims she's been in contact with the book-dealers who currently work there, and they have a policy of never leaving one person behind in the building to lock up... it always has to be at least two.

This didn't however come with any contemporary tales of ghosts!
 
sherbetbizarre said:
I was on a ghost tour tonight which stopped off here.

The guide claims she's been in contact with the book-dealers who currently work there, and they have a policy of never leaving one person behind in the building to lock up... it always has to be at least two.

This didn't however come with any contemporary tales of ghosts!
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I used to work at a small retail business where it was standard practice for two people to close up together at night. The thinking was that one person alone would have a better opportunity to steal without being observed, if they were so inclined.
 
Swifty said:
I've just discovered a supernatural comedy film was made about Berkeley Square ..

The Ghosts Of Berkeley Square (1947)

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Excellent Swifty.

Watched the first couple of minutes and knew I would enjoy it.

Mrs DT normally slides off to bed by 11pm, and I shall watch alone in the dark with a few glasses of Jonnie Walker.

Cheers
 
Swifty said:
I've just discovered a supernatural comedy film was made about Berkeley Square ..

The Ghosts Of Berkeley Square (1947)

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It's not a horror film, and has nothing to do with the legend, unfortunately. Or fortunately, if you like to watch Robert Morley being silly.
 
GNC said:
It's not a horror film, and has nothing to do with the legend, unfortunately. Or fortunately, if you like to watch Robert Morley being silly.
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It's also (for these days) extremely un politically correct.
 
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