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Phantasms of the Living volume ii

[from Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death – F W H Myers]

Submitted by Major Mathew Bigge of 70th Regiment

This is an account of a circumstance, which occurred to me when quartered at Templemore, County Tipperary on 20th February 1847.

This afternoon about 3 o’clock I was walking from my quarters towards the mess room, when I distinctly saw Lt Col Reed walking from the buildings occupied by the officers toward the mess room door; and I saw him go into the passage.  He was dressed in a brown shooting jacket, with grey summer regulation tweed trousers, and had a fishing rod and a landing net in his hand.  Although at the time I saw him he was about 15 or 20 yards from me, and although anxious to speak to him at the moment, I did not do so, but followed him into the passage and turned into the ante-room on the left hand side, where I expected to find him.  On opening the door, to my great surprise, he was not there.  The only person in the room was Quartermaster Nolan, who said he had not seen the colonel.

[Major Bigge then looked all over the building, but to his surprise the colonel could not be found].

I walked into the barrack yard and joined Lt Caulfield who was walking there; and I told the story to him, particularly describing the  dress in which I had seen the colonel.  We walked up and down the barrack yard talking about it for ten minutes, when to my great surprise I saw the colonel walk into the barracks through the gate which is in the opposite direction.  He was in precisely the same dress in which I had seen him, and had a fishing rod and landing net in his hand.  He was accompanied by Ensign Willington.

Lt Caulfield and I immediately walked to them, and we were joined by Lt Col Goldie and Captain Harbertford, and I asked Col Reed if he had not gone into the mess room about ten minutes before.  He replied he certainly had not, for he had been out fishing for more than two hours at some ponds about a mile from the barracks, and he had not been near the mess room at all since the morning.

At the time I saw Col Reed going into the mess room, I was not aware that he had gone out fishing – a very unusual thing to do at this time of the year – that I did see him I shall continue to believe until the last day of my existence.