Ballechin House was a Georgian estate home near Grandtully, Perthshire, Scotland. It was built in 1806, [1] on the site of an old manor house which had been owned by the Steuart family since the 15th century. [2] This house, which stands in Ballechin Wood, is the subject for a popular local ghostlore story.
In 1834 Major Robert Steuart (1806-1876) [3] inherited the house and rented it to tenants whilst he served in the Indian Army. [2]
During his time in India, Steuart came to believe in reincarnation and transmigration. [4] He returned to the house in 1850 and lived there with numerous dogs: he is reported to have stated that he would return in the form of a dog. [3] [4] Major Steuart was unmarried, but local gossip linked his name with that of his much younger housekeeper who died there in 1873. [3] [4] After the Major's death, the house was inherited by his nephew John Skinner who assumed the name Steuart. [5] Fearing that his uncle would reincarnate in the form of one of his dogs, the new owner reportedly shot them all. [4] From this story came the legend that Robert Steuart was forced to haunt the house as a disembodied spirit. [2] The first reported haunting at the house took place in 1876; the witness was a maid in the house. [2] [6]
In 1897 an investigation of the house was organized by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, with the assistance of paranormal researchers from the Society for Psychical Research. [2] [6] Ballechin House was known as "The Most Haunted House in Scotland", [6] [7] with several similarities to the Borley Rectory haunting, including the alleged apparition of a ghostly nun. [2] The team of investigators from the Society for Psychical Research included Colonel Lemesurier Taylor and the notorious Ada Goodrich Freer. [8] [9] In 1899, The Alleged Haunting of B---- House by Crichton-Stuart and Freer was published, and serialised in The Times , containing a journal of the phenomena kept by Freer. [2]
J. Callender Ross who had stayed at the house stated in The Times that there was no evidence for any supernatural disturbances and considered the whole investigation to be fraudulent. [10] The SPR later removed material from a volume of their Proceedings on the investigation and denounced Freer. Psychical researcher Frederic W. H. Myers who was originally supportive of the investigation wrote in a letter to The Times he "greatly doubt[ed] whether there was anything supernormal" at the house. [11]
Trevor H. Hall revealed that Freer was an unreliable investigator, had deceived the SPR, plagiarised material and lied about her own life. [11] [12]
Ballechin House was uninhabited by 1932, and most of the house was demolished in 1963, after a fire, leaving only the former servants quarters and outbuildings. [1] [2] Also lost was art work and furniture which had been collected by generations of the Steuart family, including many pieces from the far east, reflecting successive lairds' involvement in the British East India Company and the Scottish Indian company Jardine Skinner, owned by John Skinner Steuart and the Jardine family.[ citation needed ]
In ghostlore, a poltergeist is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of poltergeists show them as being capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people. They are also depicted as capable of the movement or levitation of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors. Foul smells are also associated with poltergeist occurrences, as well as spontaneous fires and different electrical issues such as flickering lights.
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to conduct organised scholarly research into human experiences that challenge contemporary scientific models." It does not, however, since its inception in 1882, hold any corporate opinions: SPR members assert a variety of beliefs with regard to the nature of the phenomena studied.
Frederic William Henry Myers was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" were influential in his time, but have not been accepted by the scientific community. However, in 2007 a team of cognitive scientists at University of Virginia School of Medicine, led by Edward F. Kelly published a major empirical-theoretical work, Irreducible Mind, citing various empirical evidence that they think broadly corroborates Myer's conception of human self and its survival of bodily death.
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, was a Scottish landed aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist, and architectural patron.
Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price. Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944.
Harry Price was a British psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for his well-publicised investigation of the purportedly haunted Borley Rectory in Essex, England.
The Enfield poltergeist was a claim of supernatural activity at 284 Green Street, a council house in Brimsdown, Enfield, London, England, United Kingdom, between 1977 and 1979. The alleged poltergeist activity centred on sisters Janet (11) and Margaret Hodgson (13).
Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity.
Truth or Scare is an American television series on the Discovery Kids network. The show aired from October 25, 2001, to January 1, 2003. It was hosted by Michelle Trachtenberg in a style similar to Maila Nurmi as horror host "Vampira" and Cassandra Peterson as horror host "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark." The series first aired on Discovery Kids as a part of the network's Scary Saturday Night Sleepover lineup. After the series ended, reruns of the show aired on The Hub until October 29, 2012.
Peter Underwood was an English author, broadcaster and parapsychologist. Underwood was born in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. Described as "an indefatigable ghost hunter", he wrote many books which surveyed alleged hauntings within the United Kingdom - beginning the trend of comprehensive regional 'guides' to (purportedly) haunted places. One of his well-known investigations concerned Borley Rectory, which he also wrote about.
The Ghost Club is a paranormal investigation and research organization, founded in London in 1862. It is believed to be the oldest such organization in the world, though its history has not been continuous. The club still investigates mainly ghosts and hauntings.
Clan Stewart (Gaelic: Stiùbhart) is a Scottish Highland and Lowland clan. The clan is recognised by Court of the Lord Lyon; however, it does not have a Clan Chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Because the clan has no chief it can be considered an armigerous clan; however, the Earls of Galloway are now considered to be the principal branch of this clan, and the crest and motto of The Earls of Galloway's arms are used in the Clan Stewart crest badge. The Court of the Lord Lyon recognises two other Stewart/Stuart clans, Clan Stuart of Bute and Clan Stewart of Appin. Clan Stuart of Bute is the only one of the three clans at present which has a recognised chief.
Guy Lyon Playfair was a British writer, best known for his books about parapsychology and his investigation of the Enfield poltergeist.
Elliott O'Donnell was an English author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figure covered with spots, when he was five years old. He also claimed to have been strangled by a mysterious phantom in Dublin.
Anthony Donald Cornell was a British parapsychologist and prominent figure in the investigations of ghosts and other paranormal activity across the United Kingdom during the later part of the twentieth century. He appeared in numerous TV documentaries and television debates, and was often the subject of magazine and news articles concerning ghosts and paranormal investigations.
Ada Goodrich Freer, was a medium, clairvoyant, psychical researcher and author. Much of her work was published under the pseudonym Miss X. Freer was investigated by the Society for Psychical Research and, under strong suspicion of fraud, she was disowned from the Society. She was later caught cheating at a séance and subsequently emigrated to Jerusalem and, later, the United States.
Borderland was a magazine founded and edited by William Thomas Stead from 1893 to 1897. The focus of the publication was on spiritualism and psychical research, mainly from a supportive point of view.
William Crichton or Creighton was a Scottish Jesuit who became head of the Scots seminary in Flanders.
Robert Weir Schultz, later Robert Weir Schultz Weir and known as R. W. S. Weir, was a Scottish Arts and Crafts architect, artist, landscape designer and furniture designer. He did much work on the Isle of Bute. Almost all of his buildings are now category A listed buildings, reflecting the high quality of his work.
The Cheltenham Ghost was an apparition said to haunt a house in Cheltenham in western England. The building in Pittville Circus Road was the home of the Despard family who saw the ghost of a veiled woman on several occasions in the 1880s.