indeed , certain of the most authentic historians of those parts , who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre , allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the churchyard , the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head , and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the hollow , like a midnight blast , is owing to his being belated , and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak .