Case file · Haunting
The Drummer of Tedworth
In 1661 landowner John Mompesson of Tedworth, Wiltshire, had a vagrant drummer's drum confiscated, after which his house was plagued by nightly drumming.
1661 CE · 51.24, -1.66 · status: claim
The account
The drummer, William Drury, was accused of causing it by witchcraft. Joseph Glanvill recorded the case in his 1681 book Saducismus Triumphatus, which argued for the reality of witches and spirits.
The sceptical view
The surviving account was published to support an argument for witchcraft, which makes it a partisan source; trickery cannot be ruled out.
Connections in the atlas
- The Drummer of Tedworth
- The Cock Lane ghost
- Poltergeist
- The Bell Witch