entrance from that quarter. Presumably the medieval access was under or near the present northern face of the Lodging. Heavy external buttresses, conspicuous there today, were erected against this front by the first Lord Balgrummo, late in the seventeenth century. The old approach may lie buried, presumably impossible to excavate without extensive demolition of the Lodging, beneath those works.
Some clue might be gained by tracing the lines of the old monastic drains which still run beneath the Lodging-they having been constructed when pilgrimages to the Priory of Saint Nectan and its Purgatory were not infrequent, before 1500. The place of worship and the place of slime, one may conjecture, lay cheek by jowl. Such monastic sewers often were elaborately constructed and large enough to permit passage of men, if with some difficulty. Some old plans which I have found in this house, however, seem to suggest that the medieval drains are permanently filled with water from the adjacent Moss, accounting for the dampness of large portions of the Lodging.
Thus I am unable to encourage you, my dear sir and employer, in your ambition to find a way into the Purgatory. Not only is it doubtful whether an entrance could be opened at all, but after the elapse of centuries the whole souterrain may be filled with water or fatal to enter because of firedamp.
Such are the physical impediments and hazards. It seems to me also that there might be other dangers consequent upon disturbing a place formerly put to certain ceremonial uses. You understand such matters better than I do, but you cannot be unaware of “psychic risks.” Quieta non movere.
2. Particulars of the last Lord Balgrummo. Alexander Fillan Inchburn, tenth and last Baron Balgrummo, found dead in the Lodging three years past, undoubtedly was proficient in the occult arts. As remarked above, I happen to be the last person alive who had some small share in his rituals. Although he possessed several other large houses, Balgrummo made the Lodging his principal residence, even before he was confined here. His slaying of two principal members of the cult of which he was patron appears not to have been premeditated, and yet not altogether the act of a madman, as it was represented in the press at the time. Unquestionably he was influenced in his occult studies by the example of his distant ancestor the Third Laird. It is believed by his surviving niece and by the family solicitor, both canny people, that Lord Balgrummo’s presence curiously pervaded the whole house during his lifetime and may not have wholly vanished from the Lodging upon his death.
With respect to a related inquiry, it is true that a picture thief was found dead in the Lodging at the time when the last Lord Balgrummo’s body was discovered. The cause of the former’s death could not be ascertained. There exist rumors of two or three other mysterious deaths within the Lodging or its policies, during the last half-century of Lord Balgrummo’s life; but these are not substantiated by evidence which a court of law would accept.
The weapon that Lord Balgrummo employed in the killing of two members of his cult never has been discovered. Nor do the fragmentary jottings or notes which Balgrummo made during his five decades of confinement to this house contain any recognizable reference to that notorious slaying nor to the reputed deaths of other persons, later, in or near the Lodging. I regret being unable to give you satisfaction on these two points which you particularly emphasized.
3. Local tradition and folklore. Unhappily no systematic compilation of popular tales concerning the Lodging and the earlier structures upon this site was made while such a collection might have been possible. The Inchburn family may have discouraged any such undertaking. We retain only fragments, in private collections of papers, touching on several centuries of local belief. These fragments reflect a confused mass of narrations,
Some clue might be gained by tracing the lines of the old monastic drains which still run beneath the Lodging-they having been constructed when pilgrimages to the Priory of Saint Nectan and its Purgatory were not infrequent, before 1500. The place of worship and the place of slime, one may conjecture, lay cheek by jowl. Such monastic sewers often were elaborately constructed and large enough to permit passage of men, if with some difficulty. Some old plans which I have found in this house, however, seem to suggest that the medieval drains are permanently filled with water from the adjacent Moss, accounting for the dampness of large portions of the Lodging.
Thus I am unable to encourage you, my dear sir and employer, in your ambition to find a way into the Purgatory. Not only is it doubtful whether an entrance could be opened at all, but after the elapse of centuries the whole souterrain may be filled with water or fatal to enter because of firedamp.
Such are the physical impediments and hazards. It seems to me also that there might be other dangers consequent upon disturbing a place formerly put to certain ceremonial uses. You understand such matters better than I do, but you cannot be unaware of “psychic risks.” Quieta non movere.
2. Particulars of the last Lord Balgrummo. Alexander Fillan Inchburn, tenth and last Baron Balgrummo, found dead in the Lodging three years past, undoubtedly was proficient in the occult arts. As remarked above, I happen to be the last person alive who had some small share in his rituals. Although he possessed several other large houses, Balgrummo made the Lodging his principal residence, even before he was confined here. His slaying of two principal members of the cult of which he was patron appears not to have been premeditated, and yet not altogether the act of a madman, as it was represented in the press at the time. Unquestionably he was influenced in his occult studies by the example of his distant ancestor the Third Laird. It is believed by his surviving niece and by the family solicitor, both canny people, that Lord Balgrummo’s presence curiously pervaded the whole house during his lifetime and may not have wholly vanished from the Lodging upon his death.
With respect to a related inquiry, it is true that a picture thief was found dead in the Lodging at the time when the last Lord Balgrummo’s body was discovered. The cause of the former’s death could not be ascertained. There exist rumors of two or three other mysterious deaths within the Lodging or its policies, during the last half-century of Lord Balgrummo’s life; but these are not substantiated by evidence which a court of law would accept.
The weapon that Lord Balgrummo employed in the killing of two members of his cult never has been discovered. Nor do the fragmentary jottings or notes which Balgrummo made during his five decades of confinement to this house contain any recognizable reference to that notorious slaying nor to the reputed deaths of other persons, later, in or near the Lodging. I regret being unable to give you satisfaction on these two points which you particularly emphasized.
3. Local tradition and folklore. Unhappily no systematic compilation of popular tales concerning the Lodging and the earlier structures upon this site was made while such a collection might have been possible. The Inchburn family may have discouraged any such undertaking. We retain only fragments, in private collections of papers, touching on several centuries of local belief. These fragments reflect a confused mass of narrations,
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