A woman is sitting at home alone, one Saturday morning just before midday, when, unexpectedly, a knock comes at the door. On opening the door she finds, much to her surprise, an old friend whom she has not seen for some time. Inviting her friend in, they talk of a number of things, until, over an hour later, her friend must leave. The woman wonders about this visit, wondering also about the condition of her friend who appears to be either ill at ease or unwell. A day or so after this encounter, the woman finds out that her friend had died on Friday, the day before the visit had apparently taken place.
This story was first told in 1705, in pamphlet form, as ‘A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after Her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury the 8th of September, 1705′. The quote above is from Julian Wolfrey’s Victorian Hauntings (p. 3).
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- Bob told me: "My grandfather related a similar story. One day, walking down the street in Toronto he was surprised to meet his brother who was very sick. His brother said “you’d better get home, John” to him and upon returning home he found his brother had died around the same time he “met” him. The apparition he met appears to have been a wraith portending his brother’s death."
- The webmaster wasn't impressed: "1705, eh? So that’s where the cliché comes from."
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