Essay 40 The Drummer Boy

Essay 40

THE DRUMMER BOY

In 1962 I attended a small astronomical meeting at Herstmonceux Castle, in Sussex, England. At that time I was deep in the business of modeling the sun, and was beginning to understand some things about stellar evolution--as were those at the meeting. It was an exciting time, with about a dozen astronomers present from various parts of the world.

The castle at Herstmonceux is the seat of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, once they moved from Greenwich. It is a l5th century castle, much restored, and eventually became somebody's manor house. When it became "home" to Britain's astronomers (government) the Astronomer Royal lived in it, but there was room for many visiting firemen to be accommodated in the back part of the castle. The castle had a library (formerly the chapel), a moat, ballroom, places to pour boiling oil, etc. Just super.

High up along the back, third floor, above the ballroom, was a series of small rooms, one of which was mine. The window faced to the north, looking out upon the formal garden. Hills nearly surrounded the castle, but mostly to the east through the north to the west.

Early one morning, maybe 4AM, the sun was just up, there was not a breath of air, and you could hear the bells on the sheep as they grazed in the distance. I was awake, lying perfectly still, listening to the birds and bells, and reflecting upon the beauty of an English summer morning. The morning was glorious, and I was glad to be alive.

On the table at the west side of the room, I had laid my pants out as I had gone to bed, with the pant legs over the table's edge, to help protect the crease. Lying there, I happened to be looking directly at the pants when to my amazement they were suddenly "jerked" to the floor. Now normally when something like that falls, there is a gradual creeping toward the edge, an acceleration of motion, then the slipping becomes more and more rapid. But this was not really what I seemed to see. First of all, the pants had been there for hours. Secondly, while the window was open, as it had been all night, I had detected no breeze. Thirdly, I saw no gradual motion, but a sudden jerk. I was quite impressed for the event did not fit into what I felt should have happened.


Later that day I happened to mention, casually, to the maintenance superintendent about my observation. "That would be the Drummer Boy", he responded with hesitation. "He's always playing tricks like that” The Drummer Boy inhabited the back of the castle, while the Gray Lady ghosted the front part, where the Astronomer Royal lived. People kept seeing her, for example when they suddenly turned into a hallway or a corridor. This being my first encounter with famed British ghosts, I was of course fascinated, and returned home with the story.

Some weeks after my return, various family members started hearing, while they were in the upstairs rooms, someone walk up the stairs and down the hall. The noise was not squeaks, but footfalls. Of course, when you got up to see who was there, as Chipper, Tiki the dog and I all did one time, there was no one there. Wenda and Nancy have had this experience too, being appropriately terrified, and so has Wayne. One time my sister Donice, while visiting us and after warning her daughter not to go upstairs, heard somebody coming, leaped out to scold the culprit, and was amazed to find no one. She had never heard that we had such things happen and didn't mention it until later, when she heard us talking about the Drummer Boy. In more recent years I have twice encountered the Drummer Boy in the upstairs hallway. Once he walked down to the bathroom when I was standing at the sink. I waited, expectantly, for Addie Leah to appear, but she had stopped just out of sight, and just stood there. Of course when I could stand it no longer, and looked out--nobody! But a checked on Addie Leah, and a couple of minutes later I found her in bed sound asleep. Another time, late at night, I met Addie Leah in the hall, suddenly realized she had never seen me and that we were going to collide, so I jerked to one side to avoid being hit--and there was no one there. Once again, it turned out that Addie Leah was asleep for I checked immediately! I was under the impression that we were home by ourselves, but apparently not. After hearing our stories, Addie Leah's sister, Wanda, also reported that she had encountered the ghost every time she had stayed with us!

I have never believed in ghosts, and still don’t!! But on the other hand what about these events that I experienced? Who knows about these things? The family had concluded that the Drummer Boy must have come home with me from Herstmonceux, so that’s what we called him and that seems as good a conclusion to make as any. Addie Leah is the only family member who had not met him, and she always said that if she did, there was a new house in it for her! But I note that the Drummer Boy stayed clear of the Lady in the front of the castle, so I'm sure that’s why Addie Leah was always left alone.


As the years have passed, for our house in Loveland there has not been a Drummer Boy. I wanted to tell the people who bought our house in Los Alamos about him, but Addie Leah said NO. Is it possible that they still have him? Should we inquire?