Cock Lane and Common-Sense

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

—

Title

Cock Lane and Common-Sense

Language

en

Book source

Global Grey

Description max 80 words

Andrew Lang offers a skeptical, common-sense tour of Victorian ghost lore, spiritualism, and psychical research. Linking folklore, haunted houses, and crystal-gazing with sharp logic, the book challenges the scientific community's dismissal of contemporary witness testimony while exploring the psychology of hallucinations and the origins of spiritual beliefs.

Summary up to 500 words

In 'Cock Lane and Common-Sense,' Andrew Lang mounts a rigorous defense of contemporary accounts of the supernatural against the prevailing Victorian scientific consensus. Lang argues that anthropology and folklore have unfairly dismissed credible, modern reports of ghosts and psychical phenomena as mere 'survivals' of primitive belief or physical tricks. He contends that major institutions, such as the Folklore Society and the Society for Psychical Research, operate with inconsistent standards: the former ignores historical and traditional evidence while dismissing honest, educated witnesses, whereas the latter often neglects the broader context of human tradition. Lang systematically categorizes apparitions, distinguishing between genuine hallucinations caused by physical illness, intoxication, or grief, and those reported by sane individuals under normal conditions. He analyzes famous cases, including the disturbances at Epworth and the experiences of the Proctor family, demonstrating that even rigorous scientific minds often fall prey to bias that invalidates valid testimony. The text explores the mechanics of hallucination, explaining how the brain can generate perceptions without external stimuli, yet insists that dismissing all such reports ignores the reality of human experience. Lang urges a more open-minded approach to the 'abnormal' that respects the complexity of human psychology and the potential for phenomena that defy easy physical explanation. Through a blend of historical analysis, logical deduction, and personal observation, he invites readers to reconsider the boundary between the natural and the supernatural, asserting that the 'abnormal' experiences vouched for by countless living persons of honour and sanity are an integral part of the human province that science must study rather than dismiss.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/ebooks/andrew-lang_cock-lane-and-common-sense.epub

Local file path

data/epubs/url-c7497662c8624707.epub

Removed after upload

Downloaded at

2026-07-02 07:31 UTC

Categories

• Mystery
• Horror