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196 BYGONE SUSSEX.
is said Mr. Addison imbibed the first idea of writing his play of The Drummer or the Haunted House." This was repeated and amplified by John Timbs, who had been the amanuensis of Phillips, when he published, under the pseudonym of Horace Welby, in 1825, a book since several times reprinted, entitled " Signs after Death." Timbs observes : " Every one has heard of the comedy of The Drummer, or the Haunted House, celebrated enough in its day, but the popularity of which ceased when the affair was no longer a topic of conversation."
This is sufficient in itself to show the baselessness of the theory, for the affair at Tedworth happened in 1661 —1663, and The Drummer was not put upon the stage until 1715. Nor is there the slightest resemblance between the story told by Glanvil and the drama upon which it is said to be based. Glanvil's narrative is that a mendicant drummer, travelling with a forged pass, was detected by Mr. Mompesson of Tedworth in Wiltshire, who had the drum taken from him and ordered the constable to take him before a magistrate. The constable let the vagrant off, but sent the drum to Mompesson's house, which soon after had the reputation of being haunted. |
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