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Drummond-Hay, Sir John - Dreams of his son's illness
Identifier
016213
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
The following report was submitted to the SPR by the Right Honourable Sir John Drummond Hay KCB, GCMG,who was for many years Her Majesty’s Minister Morocco and lived in Tangiers. The report was at the time also signed by J H Drummond Hay; Annette Drummond Hay; Euphemia Drummond Hay and Alice Drummond Hay, all of whom were involved in the incident
A description of the experience
Extract from the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research volume v
[from Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death – F W H Myers]
In the year 1879 my son Robert Drummond Hay resided at Mogodor with is family, where he was at that time Consul. It was in the month of February. I had lately received good accounts of my son and his family; I was also in perfect health.
About 1 am – I forget the exact day in February – whilst sleeping soundly at Tangier, I was woken by hearing distinctly the voice of my daughter-in-law, who was with her husband at Mogodor, saying in a clear, but distressed tone of voice ‘Oh I wish papa only knew that Robert is ill’.
There was a night lamp in the room. I sat up and listened, looking round the room, but there was no one except my wife, sleeping quietly in bed. I listened for some seconds, expecting to hear footsteps outside, but complete stillness prevailed, so I lay down again, thanking God that the voice which woke me was an hallucination.
I had hardly closed my eyes when I heard the same voice and words, upon which I woke Lady Drummond Hay and told her what had occurred, and got up and went into my study, adjoining the bedroom, and noted it in my diary. Next morning I related what had happened to my daughter, saying that, though I did not believe in dreams, I felt anxious for tidings from Mogodor. That port, as you will see on the map, is about 300 miles south of Tangier.
A few days after this incident a letter arrived from my daughter in law, Mrs R Drummond Hay, telling us that my son was seriously ill with typhoid fever and mentioning the night during which he had been delirious. Much struck by the coincidence that it was the same night I had heard her voice , I wrote to tell her what had happened. She replied, the following post, that in her distress at seeing her husband so dangerously ill, and from being alone in a distant land, she had made use of the precise words which had startled me from sleep, and had repeated them.