Simpson's Jacakanory

"We are also honoured to be joined by Dr. Jacqueline Simpson of The Folklore Society, who will be revisiting the extraordinary events of the night of March, Friday 13th, 1970, when hundreds of youths descended upon Highgate Cemetery in search of an alleged blood-sucking vampire, and exploring the traits in the human psyche which drive us to go ‘monster hunting’ – or indeed, monster creating. We look forward to hearing Jacqueline’s interpretations of the bedlam which ensued at Highgate Cemetery some four decades back, most notably on the night of Friday March 13th 1970 when hundreds of young people descended upon the dilapidated burial ground in search of ‘the King Vampire of the Undead’." - Farrant's Highgate Vampire Symposium publicity

In The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends (2005) Jacqueline Simpson attempts to address the case of the Highgate Vampire from a sociological viewpoint, rehashing the applied concepts of so-called ostension theory suggested by American professor Bill Ellis in his 1993 paper The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo American Connection in Satanic Cult Lore for the journal of The Folklore Society, and expounded upon in his book Raising the Devil (2000).

Simpson is also responsible for the extremely unreliable Wikipedia entry about the Highgate Vampire case for which she holds no qualifications to submit, merely regurgitating the prejudiced and erroneous speculation of her American friend Bill Ellis. She will apparently be speaking about the way individuals and groups, and even in some cases crowds, set out to hunt down an alleged ghost.

The entry on Highgate Cemetery in The Lore of the Land (2005) barely covers three columns on two of its 918 pages. This heavy tome is ostensibly an encyclopedia of folklore written by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson who claim to provide "a guide to England's legends." Highgate Cemetery is dealt with exclusively by Jacqueline Simpson who is a member of the same International Society of Contemporary Legend Research as the American Bill Ellis whose infamously misleading "Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt" chapter in Raising the Devil (2000) first appeared in the Folklore Society's journal in the year that its editor was his friend Jacqueline Simpson.

Quotes from The Lore of the Land found on pages 472-473 follow with rebuttal comments:

"When the apparition was first discussed in the local press in 1970, it was merely called a ghost."

It was called all manner of things when it was first discussed, but had always been described as a vampire from 1965 locally. What Simpson is alluding to are the readers' letters in the Hamsptead & Highgate Express where correspondents spoke of a figure, spectre, ghost and vampire. The British Occult Society, too, often use the term "spectre" as does Seán Manchester in his published account, but this does not contradict its vampiric traits. What Simpson is blurring is the fact that vampires have a spectral aspect. She also seemed oblivious to the fact that many of the readers' letters to the Hamsptead & Highgate Express concerning a ghost were the product of a hoax by David Farrant. 

"The publicity was intitiated by a group of adolescents calling themselves the British Occult Society."

An adolescent is someone aged between childhood and adulthood. Seán Manchester was twenty-six years of age at the time of the initial media interest and television interview in 1970. Most of those actively engaged or having interest in the Highgate Vampire case within the British Occult Society were considerably older. This comment is inaccurate and misleading. The offence is compounded by Simpson's next catastophic blunder.

"... David Farrant, their leader, spent the night there ..." 

David Farrant did not "lead" the British Occult Society. He owed no connection to the British Occult Society which was originally formed as an umbrella organisation circa 1860. Members who were Seán Manchester's colleagues included Dennis Wheatley, Peter Underwood, Devendra Prasad Varma and similar luminaries. Prior to its dissolution on 8 August 1988 it was presided over by Seán Manchester. He featured in a programme on 13 March 1970 (Today, Thames Television) to represent the Society’s investigation into reported happenings in and around Highgate Cemetery that had been accumulating since the mid-1960s. A number of witnesses to an alleged vampire spectre were also interviewed by Sandra Harris. These consisted largely of children and a young man who was captioned "David Farrant." Seán Manchester was captioned "President, British Occult Society." 

"Hardly two informants gave the same story." 

What was notable, apart from the dubious entries that were disingenuous, containing names and addresses belonging to Farrant's collaborators in a hoax at the expense of a local newspaper, was the similarity in the accounts recorded by the media, including the local press. They virtually all spoke of a tall, floating figure with red, staring eyes. Descriptions of a ghost wearing a top hat was almost certainly sightings of David Farrant pretending to be a ghost just inside the cemetery gates.

"... another local youth, Sean Manchester ..."

The Oxford Dictionary defines "youth" as "adolescence" and "inexperienced" etc. Seán Manchester was none of these.

"... a 'King Vampire from Wallachia' ..."

The newspaper in question did not use that precise term, and Seán Manchester did not say anything of the kind. He had explained in a book that Simpson read long before she wrote her own, and also in correspondence to her concerning serious errors in Bill Ellis' article in the Folklore journal (1993), that the term "King Vampire" was a journalistic embellishment falsely attributed to him.

"... both conducted rituals of exorcism ..."

Seán Manchester has only once carried out an exorcism at Highgate Cemetery. This was in August 1970 with the permission of the private cemetery owners. It was later reconstructed by BBC television two months later for a documentary shown on the 24 Hours programme.

"Manchester challenged Farrant to a 'magical duel' on Parliament Hill on Friday 13th April 1973."

Seán Manchester did not challenge Farrant to a "magical duel" as confirmed by statements made by him at the time and coverage of this occasion in the Hampstead & Highgate Express (articles in April and May 1973) and in From Satan To Christ (1988) where the invitation to exorcise Farrant was incidental to the event itself. Farrant inevitably cried off and failed to appear. The Parliament Hill "Ring of Prayer" on 13 April 1973 had nothing to do with a "magical duel" though some of the tabloid media exploited it as such due to misinformation they were fed by David Farrant. One newspaper was obliged to publish a retraction following a complaint from Seán Manchester. 

"Farrant... was jailed in 1974 for damage to memorials ..."

David Farrant was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment in June 1974 for malicious damage, ie tomb vandalism, at Highgate Cemetery by inscribing black magic symbols on the floor of a mausoleum; offering indignities to remains of the dead, ie desecration via black magic rites in Highgate Cemetery where photographs were taken of a naked female accomplice in a tomb where satanic symbols were marked out on the floor; threatening police witnesses in a separate case where his black magic associate, John Pope, was subsequently found guilty of indecent sexual assault on a minor (on his current website this same associate describes himself as a “master of the black arts”); theft of items from Barnet Hospital where Farrant worked briefly as a porter for a couple of weeks or so in late 1970; possession of a handgun and ammunition kept at Farrant's address which also contained a black magic altar beneath a massive mural of a face of the Devil that had featured in the press, not least full front page coverage of the Hornsey Journal, 28 September 1973.

Simpson, who has never met Seán Manchester or communicated with him for research purposes connected with her entry about Highgate Cemetery, published the above misleading and inaccurate allegations in The Lore of the Land (2005). She placed reliance on her American colleague Bill Ellis whose statements in Raising the Devil (2000) are even more inaccurate. Some of the press cuttings referred to in his book are wrongly attributed and much of what he has to say is seriously flawed. Ellis wrote this response to Seán Manchester when the latter brought these facts to his attention:

"... we agree that the contemporary press handling was often inaccurate, and that most subsequent discussions were even more distorted. ... Mr Farrant, since he brought the matter into the papers and was repeatedly arrested for his activities in and around Highgate, clearly was 'central to events' in this sense. Credible, I don't say: I give his explanations for what they're worth and expect that most readers would also recognize that a judge and jury found them unconvincing."

“Bill [Ellis] has never been part of the mainstream of folklore scholarship,” says Gary Alan Fine, a professor of sociology at Northwestern University; adding: “His work has always been quirky.”

The following was Jacqueline Simpson's response regarding her then pending paperback edition of The Lore of the Land:

"Points 2 & 5. Wording changed to 'young people' and 'young man'.

"Point 3. Name of organisation dropped, Farrant referred to simply as a 'member' of 'a group of young people interested in the paranormal'.

"Point 6. Words 'which the paper called' inserted. (SM told us this 'is completely acceptable').

"Point 8. No reference now to who did the challenging. Instead, neutral phrasing in allusion to press reports: 'rumours spread that a magical duel ...'

"The other points are rejected, and no changes will be made there. - Jacqueline Simpson." 

This is how some “scholars” apparently operate. When the paperback edition finally appeared it contained an incorrect date for a crucial newspaper article about the mysterious death of foxes even though Seán Manchester had cleared that up well in advance. All reference to Seán Manchester's episcopal standing, albeit not entirely accurate in the first edition, was completely expurgated. Factual accuracy suffers when a version like the one Bill Ellis put into circulation is then adopted by other scholars who, despite evidence thrust at them, stick to their agenda. Jacqueline Simpson is entirely responsible for the Wikipedia entry about the Highgate Vampire case. What she has written online reflects the catalogue of error already identified above. Those with an interest in the case often innocently provide a link to her Wikipedia article without realising just how misleading and factually inaccurate it really is. Bill Ellis wrongly "ostension" theory to the Highgate Vampire case, adopted by Jacqueline Simpson, deserves a blog of its own and that will follow.