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The story of the Cock Lane ghost attracted mass public attention in eighteenth-century England before being exposed as a hoax.

Cock Lane is a short alleyway adjacent to London's Smithfield market and only a few minutes' walk from St Paul's Cathedral. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Smithfield (also known as West Smithfield) is an area in the north-west part of the City of London, mostly known for its centuries-old meat market and its bloody history St Paul's Cathedral, is the Anglican Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. In the eighteenth century this district housed London's working poor. It was this environment that, in January 1762, gave rise to an extraordinary scandal that fascinated the London public.

Contents

Events

At the centre of the story was William Kent, a young man from Norfolk who became involved with two daughters from the same family. Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. The first, Elizabeth Lynes, he married, but she died in childbirth; a few months later, William eloped to London with his dead wife's sister, Fanny Lynes. Here Kent and his new wife lodged in Cock Lane at the house of a clerk named William Parsons. Kent loaned money to Parsons which the latter refused to repay, leading Kent to sue him. While Kent was away on a business trip, Fanny claimed she heard mysterious scratching in the bedroom she shared with Parsons' daughter, Elizabeth. She believed it was the ghost of her sister warning her of her impending death. The Kents moved to new lodgings where, shortly after, Fanny died of smallpox. Smallpox is an Infectious disease unique to humans caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor.

The mysterious scratchings in Elizabeth Parsons' bedroom increased after Fanny Kent's death. William Parsons began communicating with the "ghost" using yes/no questions and a system of knocking for the answer and thus supposedly determined that they were in contact with the ghost of Fanny Kent, who claimed that she had died not of smallpox, but of arsenic poisoning in a premeditated murder by her husband, William. Arsenic (ˈɑrsənɪk is a Chemical element that has the symbol As and Atomic number of 33 The house in Cock Lane became a popular attraction, with Parsons charging sightseers an entrance fee to "talk" with the ghost. [1]

Investigation and exposure

Eventually William Kent's cause was adopted by a group of prominent people which included Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September They suspected that Parsons was using his daughter Liz to create a hoax ghost. The fraud was uncovered when Liz was caught hiding a wooden clapper under her clothes. William Parsons was convicted of conspiracy, sent to the pillory and imprisoned for two years. [2]

Legend

The Cock Lane ghost was frequently mentioned in contemporary literature. The satirist Charles Churchill mocked Dr. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Charles Churchill (February 1731 - November 4, 1764) was an English Poet and Satirist. Johnson for his willingness to take part in the investigation in his poem The Ghost. The story of the Cock Lane ghost became a national legend that was told to frighten children as well as being a cautionary tale. Charles Dickens alludes to it several times as does Herman Melville and several other Victorian authors. Herman Melville (August 1 1819 &ndash September 28 1891 was an American novelist Short story writer Essayist and poet Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities

William Hogarth represents it in his two engravings, The Times and Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.

References

  1. ^ Lore of the Land pp. 463-464
  2. ^ Lore of the Land p. 464

Bibliography

External links

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