An excerpt from the Diary of Professor Matthias Jeremiah Braithwaite; a Victorian investigator of the paranormal, on his travels around York, a city most haunted.
Extract from the Journal of Matthias Braithwaite:
Just around the corner in Newgate is my new premises, hidden within the hustle and bustle of the new marketplace nearby. This area now occupies the former location of the old slums and, coupled with its close proximity to the Shambles, I feel it offers a certain mystery which supports my pursuits. I am partial to a cup of sugared mint tea while looking out of my first floor bay window at sunset. I find a nice strong Moroccan blend from a traditional berrad stimulates the enquiring part of my mind, along with a pipe of my special tobacco. Above the Tudor buildings and canopies of the market stalls I can see the tower of St Sampson's Church. For the last few evenings I have been using my lantern to illuminate the area outside my window and have noticed a strange phenomenon — ghostly lights appearing to slowly and gradually come alive around the area, which stay illuminated until sunrise. Tonight I think it is time to investigate fully this unusual phenomenon.
I have erected my clockwork lantern on Silver Street, just across from St Sampson's Church, its purple light bathing the area with an unusual glow and making the golden statue of the church's namesake glitter above. To my right I see a figure shambling towards me and high above its head there seems to be a glow. As it draws nearer it stops for a moment and a second ghostly light appears in the area above, revealing several figures going about their business as though it were a busy market day. Each one is shrouded and seems somehow disconnected to the others in both time period and interaction.
The figure proceeds to head once more in my direction with the light which he seems to have created remaining behind him.
As he draws nearer it occurs to me that he looks like a lamplighter, shrouded in grubby attire. Above his head atop a long thin pole glows a taper with the strangest light I have ever seen and, as he passes, more shrouded figures seem to appear in his wake. As he approaches the end of Silver Street he pauses and slowly and carefully eases his taper upward.
As he does so a street light, not previously there, appears and its light bursts into life with a ghostly glow. In that instant a figure appears below which looks to me to be a Roman Legionary on guard. It would seem that this lamplighter summons these long lost souls with his ghostly lights to once again walk the streets of the city.
There was a tale told by a Miss Agatha Gaunt and her companion Wilhemina, whom I interviewed, of how she was walking along Church Street after a brief stop at the Mail Coach Inn and was suddenly surrounded by a host of Roman soldiers fighting ferociously with barbarians as the battle raged around them. This scene was interrupted by a horse and cart carrying potatoes to the market and, in the blink of an eye, the scene of battle disappeared. I thought at the time that Agatha might have been at the gin as she had a tendency to repeat herself, and decided to enquire about the spiritual powers of her neighbour Mildred who has the "sight". Wilhemina was unable to speak and merely stood and swayed gently like a tree in a breeze, her eyes glazed and gazing into the distance. Perhaps there was some truth in the tale after all and maybe the Romans were in this area guarding something or someone of importance.
Will have to investigate this matter further. Perhaps paying a visit to the Mail Coach Inn would be the perfect starting point.
M.J. Braithwaite
"What devilry is this? My sketches and impressions of these unworldly beings have been enchanted by some form of witchcraft. It seems a ghoulish hand has been at work mimicking my own and changing the very nature of my picture. Viewed using a strange light purchased on my adventures in the Far East, an unnatural glow emanates from the very soul of the spirit I have drawn. It is my belief that this light will let me see into this world of spirits beyond our own — it will require much further study and experimentation."
The enchanted edition of the print is larger than other formats — presented in a black mount with outer dimensions 18×14". When viewed under black light, the ghostly image glows. This special effect has been hand painted and signed by the artist.
Two versions of the enchanted edition are available.
Black lights are readily available from many suppliers.
The diary entry, printed on parchment effect paper, is on the reverse.
Also available in smaller sizes in monochrome and colour editions.
© The Artist
