_]
THE PHANTOM VOICE.
"He heerde a sunde but noughte he zee.
No touche upon his fleshe ther came;
Bot a swedderin witide smote heavilee,
And heavilee brenn'd the fleckerin' flame."
_--Old Ballad_.
The following tradition, like some of the preceding legends, has been
found, under various modifications and disguises, connected with local
scenery, and attaching itself in the mind of the hearer to well-known
places and situations with which he may have been familiar.
Southport, a bathing-place of great resort on the Lancashire coast, has
been pointed out as the scene of the following tragedy, which probably
occurred long before its salubrity and convenience for sea-bathing had
rendered this barren tract of sand the site of a populous and thriving
hamlet. From the mildness and congeniality of the air to persons of weak
and relaxed habits, it has been not inaptly termed, "The Montpelier of
England."
"But the coast is probably as dangerous for shipping as any round the
kingdom. The sandbanks extend in a north-westerly direction for at least
six miles, so as to render the navigation extremely difficult even to
the natives, and impracticable for strangers.
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