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258 occasion to come to Sidmouth shortly after the death of his friend Mr. Oxenham, who resided in an old mansion, not now standing, he questioned the old gardener, who had the care of the house, as to who attended his master when he died, as Mr. O. had gone there alone, meaning only to remain for a day or two. ’I and my wife, sir,' was the reply. 'Were you in the room when he expired?' 'Yes, both of us.' 'Did anything in particular take place at that time?' 'No, sir, nothing.' But then, after a moment's pause, 'There was indeed something which I and my wife could almost swear we saw, which was a white bird fly in at the door, dart across the bed, and go into one of the drawers; and as it appeared in the same, way to both of us, we opened all the drawers to find it, but where it went to we could never discover.' If I recollect rightly, the man on being questioned had not heard of the tradition respecting such appearances."

Unfortunately Mr. Mogridge does not name the writer of this letter. But it matters little—the story comes third hand. The "much-respected baronet" had a bad memory. He thought Howell called the apparition a "white bird," and that he related that it crossed the bed after the body was dead. Accordingly the gardener sees things after the erroneous fashion of the story remembered so badly by the "much-respected baronet." Who this Mr. Oxenham was, when he died, and where he is buried is unknown.

In Glimpses of the Supernatural, published in 1875, is a communication of the Rev. Henry Nutcombe Oxenham, and a still more detailed account from his pen is in Mr. Cotton's article on "The Oxenham Omen" in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association for 1882.

"Shortly before the death of my late uncle, G. N. Oxenham, Esq., of 17 Earl's Terrace, Kensington, who