After several years since our last visit the team returned to stunning castle for a nigh that definitely didn’t disappoint.

As we were setting the equipment up both team members and guests asked who was through in the little kitchen area in the next room.  No-one was in there but they all said they had seen someone, felt someone was there or had seen shadows.  All this before we had even started set us up for what was going to prove to be a great night.

After a walkround of the castle we started our investigation in the rooms off the main hall on the first floor.  A few of the team and guests reported feeling uncomfortable in this room on the walkround and some reported being touched in the very back room.  It was mainlt the females that felt uncomfortable in that room and both Niki and Kirsty commented that they really didn’t like the small roof off to the side.  At the door to this room there was a clear smell of what is best described as a mixture of ammonia and strong body odour.

Using the dowsing rods we were able to establish the presence of two males in the room.  The Alice Box gave us the name Joe, which we were able to confirm with the dowsing rods, but were unable to get a surname.  We were also able to get the name James Hamilton, a name we had encountered on a previous visit to the Castle too.  It was Joe that was doing the communicating but it was clear that both spirits “liked” the females in the group.  The Alice Box gave us the word “mistress” and the name “Mary”.  On researching was this the spirit of James Hamilton a regent of Mar Queen of Scots, and if so what was his connection to the castle (something we will need to research more).  He clearly wanted the women on their own so we decided to split the group and the women went back through to the large room.  Using the dowsing rods we asked again how many spirits were in the room, and this time got the answer “one”.  We asked to point to where James had gone and the rods pointed out the door through to the large room.  We asked if he had followed the women and got the confirmation that he had.  Unfortunately the other group were unable to get any sort of clear communication with any spirit in the other room, so we moved upstairs.

We headed through to the main bedroom, as again some guests on the walkround had said they didn’t feel comfortable in that room.  On walking through to the room several people reported smelling a burning smell as they went down the stairs (David later confirmed there had been two major fires in the caste over the years, was this from one of them?). As we got to the bottom of the stairs several of the group said they could smell a heavily perfumed smell.

Stuart was immediately aware of a figure standing next to the bed, in an area that some of the team said earlier they didn’t like and felt intimidated in.  A few of the team said they thought the saw the curtains moving on the bed (it was a four poster bed surrounded by curtains) next to where Stuart had seen the figure.

Everyone in the group heard banging coming from the corner of the room.  At this point we could account for everyone’s whereabouts and can verify that it was not one of the group.  It was difficult to identify what the banging could be, but it sounded like it was someone stamping on the wooden floor.

We moved from this area to the small bedroom off the spiral staircase.  This room was clearly colder than all the other rooms we had been in up until this point.  Stuart got the name Jean Stewart as we were asking questions.  We were able to confirm the name Jean using the dowsing rods but were anable to confirm the surname, although again narrowing it down using the rods we believe it began with an F.  Then everyone in the group heard a tapping noise coming from the corner of the room.  We asked for them to repeat it and they did.  We then tapped ourselves and asked for them to copy us.  On more than one occasion they did.

We then moved up to the top floor of the castle.  A few people reported hearing voices and noises in this area and some even saw strange light anomalies and a white figure over to the far window.  Other than that this proved to be a relatively quiet area on the night.

After a short tea break we decided to use the spirit box in the barrel store (or as David had told us probably more likely to have been used as a wine store).  We immediately started to get a result with several spirits coming through.  When asking for a name we clearly got the response McGregor, we asked for it to be repeated several times and each time got the same response.  We asked for them to give us their first names and got clear responses for Robert, David and Alan. David (the castle manager) had told us over the tea break that 4 people had been captured and held in that room before being executed outside the front of the castle – their surname – McGregor, was this who we were talking to and had we just been given three of their names.  We were unable to get a clear enough answer as to how many spirits were trying to communicate with us.  As the spirit box session went on, every time Niki tried to ask a question she was told to “shhh” or “shut up” and every time Niall spoke the spirits went totally quiet, as if they were scared to speak when he spoke.  This was a fascinating spirit box session with several of the answers backed up by responses on the Alice Box.

Brian had earlier also reported feeling ill in this area, but we were unable to establish a reason for that.

We then brought what seemed to be a very quick investigation to an end, the night had just flown by.  This truly is a stunning venue with several fascinating stories to tell.  We have only just scratched the surface of it and will definitely be back next year.

We would like to thank David for his amazing hospitality and stories later on in the night, and for the much needed tea and coffee to heat us up.  Thanks for letting us investigate your stunning castle, and we will see you again very soon.