Quote:In early 1887, the Large family, living on a remote Cooyal property near the central west NSW town of Mudgee, was terrorised by an inexplicable nightly rain of luminous stones falling, and sometimes floating, inside their house. At first, some of the Large’s 15 children were suspected of larking around, but it soon became apparent that the strange rain of stones was not the result of a practical joke perpetrated by any of the Large brood.
“A farmer named Large has reported to the police that, for several nights, himself and family have been terrified, in consequence of stones, some weighing one pound, continually dropping inside the house, apparently dropping through the roof,” reported the Kilmore Free Press on 3 March 1887
News soon spread throughout the district
Believers and sceptics alike witnessed the phenomena
Queensland’s Warwick Argus, on 22 March, also reported on the experiences of the many curious visitors to the house.
“The constables and the visitors made every effort to discover where the stones came from, but without avail. They watched both inside and outside of the building, but failed to detect the presence of the stone thrower.
When it all began
The Ballarat Free Press and Mining Journal recounted the evening when the strange happenings first began.
“On the first evening of this strange manifestation, Mr Large was returning home with a bag of flour on a pack horse, and on approaching the house the animal stood still, apparently afraid to move towards the dwelling. After no little persuasion, with much pulling, the terrified steed was got to the door. With difficulty he was unpacked, and an altogether unusual thing for the beast to do, he bolted as though maddened, careering in every direction except near the house.
“This set the family wondering
“Hundreds of people have visited the place, and affirm the fact of the stones falling, but where they come from is a mystery that remains unsolved.”
The ghost girl in the tree
With the Large family vowing to remove themselves from the house as the peculiar activity remained unsolved, another case of apparent supernatural manifestations began spooking the residents of Mudgee according to the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal of 15 March 1887.
“Mudgee and its vicinity seem likely, if rumour is to be credited, to become a chosen playground for disembodied spirits. The appearance of the unrecognisable and inarticulate Cooyal ghost has been followed by that of a young female who became — so the story says— disembodied some twelve years ago under peculiarly distressing circumstances.
“This interesting person is said to exhibit herself at uncertain times, among the branches of an old half-dead tree not far from the intersection of Lawson and Gladstone streets.
“No one seems to quite know why this interesting female should have allowed her remains to rest quietly under the fowl house, where they are supposed to lie, for twelve years, and should have now became so violently anxious to do something startling in order to wake up the survivors to a consciousness of their duty towards her
Seems she was murdered and hidden beneath a chook shed. Twelve years later, her ghost began making itself known
Full story and newspaper clipping at
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