have that ground, be they
'live or dead." As time wore on, however, he appeared more gracious to
Kraster and Dorothy, and actually invited them to a great Christmas
banquet given to the neighbours. It was a dear feast for them, for
Myles Phillipson pretended they had stolen a silver cup, and, sure
enough, it was found in Kraster's house--a "plant," of course. Such an
offence was then capital, and, as Phillipson was the magistrate,
Kraster and Dorothy were sentenced to death. Thereupon, Dorothy arose
in the court-room and addressed Phillipson in words that rang through
the building and impressed all for their awful earnestness:

"Guard thyself, Myles Phillipson! Thou thinkest thou hast managed
grandly, but that tiny lump of land is the dearest a Phillipson has
ever bought or stolen, for you will never prosper, neither your breed.
Whatever scheme you undertake will wither in your hand; the side you
take will always lose; the time shall come when no Phillipson shall
own an inch of land; and while Calgarth walls shall stand we'll haunt
it night and day. Never will ye be rid of us!"

Henceforth, the Phillipsons had for their guests two skulls. They were
found at Christmas at the head of a staircase. They were buried in a
distant region, but they turned up in the old house again. Again and
again were the two skulls burned; they were brazed to dust and cast to
the winds, and for several years they were cast in the lake, but the
Phillipsons could never get rid of them. In the meantime, Dorothy's
weird went steadily on to its fulfilment, until the family sank into
poverty, and at length disappeared.[8]

As a more rational explanation of the matter, it is told by some local
historians "that there formerly lived in the house a famous doctress,
who had two skeletons by her for the usual purposes of her profession,
and these skulls, happening to meet with better preservation than the
rest of the bones, they were accidentally honoured" with this singular
tradition.[9]

Wardley Hall, Lancashire, has its skull, which is supposed to be the
witness of some tragedy committed in the past, and to have belonged to
Roger Downes, the last male representative of his family, and who was
one of the most abandoned courtiers of Charles II. Roby, in one of his
"Traditions," entitled "The Skull House," has represented him as
rushing forth "hot from the stews," drawing his sword as he staggered
along, and swearing that he would kill the first man