Hauntings

The Broken Windows of Mr Quayle's House

Also known as: The Maughold window-breaking, 1847

A house in Maughold parish

1847

In 1847 a Manx newspaper carried a strange report from Maughold. At the house of a Mr Quayle, pane after pane of window glass was being broken, and nobody could see who was doing it. The family set strong young men to watch, and brought in fierce dogs. The breaking went on. The dogs, instead of going for the culprit, cowered. Doors were left open and the place searched, and nobody was ever found.

The neighbours had no doubt about the cause. Mr Quayle had recently ploughed up a piece of ground that had never been broken, and in doing so had turned up bones from an old burial ground. The fairies, or the dead, or both, were taking it out on his windows.

Moore does not say how it ended. It is recorded here as a single newspaper report.

The house is not identified; the map point is Maughold churchtown.
Evidence
Single witness account
Access
Access unrecorded
Location
54.299, -4.318 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: A.W. Moore, "The Folk-Lore of the Isle of Man" (1891), ch. III Fairies and Familiar Spirits (Manx Note Book transcription) [public-domain]

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