Prince Blücher von Wahlstatt, a descendant of the Prussian field marshal, held the lease of Herm before the First World War, and MacCulloch's book mentions the island in his possession. His farm bailiff, Mr Harding, told this story. It was a still night in January. At four in the morning he was standing under a willow when, with no wind at all, the tree bent right over to the ground, and a sound he could not describe went past him like a gust.
What makes the account interesting is that it is said to repeat. Herm's gardener in the 1800s, Tom Le Pelley, heard the same noise. A later Mr Harding, who lived on Herm for more than fifty years as its bailiff, described a "terrifying roar" on calm, frosty nights. None of the three is reported to have seen anything.
The source chain is a modern summary of an account attributed to La Société Guernesiaise, Guernsey's learned society, and the original transaction has not been traced here. The north of Herm is open common and dunes around the high point of Le Grand Monceau, where the map point is placed, and the location is approximate.
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