{221} In the Tedworth case, as at Epworth, and in the curious Cideville case of 1851, a quarrel with "cunning men" preceded the disturbances.

In Lord St.Vincent's case, which follows, nothing of the kind is reported.

As an almost universal rule children, especially girls of about twelve, are centres of the trouble; in the St.Vincent story, the children alone were exempt from annoyance.
LORD ST.

VINCENT'S GHOST STORY Sir Walter Scott, writing about the disturbances in the house occupied by Mrs.Ricketts, sister of the great admiral, Lord St.Vincent, asks: "Who has seen Lord St.Vincent's letters ?" He adds that the gallant admiral, after all, was a sailor, and implies that "what the sailor said" (if he said anything) "is not evidence".
The fact of unaccountable disturbances which finally drove Mrs.
Ricketts out of Hinton Ampner, is absolutely indisputable, though the cause of the annoyances may remain as mysterious as ever.

The contemporary correspondence (including that of Lord St.Vincent, then Captain Jervis) exists, and has been edited by Mrs.Henley Jervis, grand-daughter of Mrs.Ricketts.