Research source

I am still near, Watching the smiles I prized on earth, Your converse mild, your blameless mirth.[64

Date of account: Late nineteenth-century compilation
Source: The Ghost World
Reference: The Ghost World · selected passage 213
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

According to Johnson, the 'Old Hummums' was the scene of the 'best accredited ghost story' that he had ever heard, the spirit of a Mr

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

According to Johnson, the 'Old Hummums' was the scene of the 'best accredited ghost story' that he had ever heard, the spirit of a Mr. Ford, said to have been the riotous parson of Hogarth's 'Midnight Conversation,' having appeared to a waiter; and Boswell, alluding to a conversation which took place at Mr. Thrale's house, Streatham, between himself and Dr. Johnson, thus writes: 'A waiter at the Hummums, in which house Ford died, had been absent for some time, and returned, not knowing that Ford was dead. Going down to the cellar, according to the story, he met him; going down again, he met him a second time. When he came up he asked some of the people of the house what Ford could be doing there. They told him Ford was dead. The waiter took a fever, and when he recovered he said he had a message from Ford to deliver to some women, but he was not to tell what, or to whom. He walked out, he was followed, but somewhere about St. Paul's they lost him. He came back, and said he had delivered the message, and the women exclaimed, "Then we are all undone."' There is the so-called 'Mystery of Berkeley Square,' No. 50 having been reputed to be haunted.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

Lattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.

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