A novelist looking for a sensational story might do worse than investigate the ghost that centres about Marischal College, Aberdeen. The apparition is of one Downie, who in the flesh was a sacrist, or janitor, of the college, who incurred the enmity of students owing to the strictness with which he performed his duties. To be revenged, a number of them seized the luckless man one Christmas Eve, and after a mock trial, blindfolded him, and "beheaded" him with a wet towel. Of course it was intended as a practical joke, but the consequences were serious. Poor Downie died of fright; and since his unintentional murderers could not possibly be brought to justice, his wraith celebrates each anniversary of the occurrence by "walking" the college grounds.
