Dean Castle Scotland | Paranormal Investigation Scotland

Dean Castle

Team Present::-

Jason Sutcliffe East Ayrshire District Council.
Emily Douglas East Ayrshire District Council
John East Ayrshire District Council
Jim East Ayrshire District Council
Ian Mcghee Event Organiser
Jim Hatton EVP Specialist
Ralph Kely Technical Director
Billy Black Spiritualist Medium
Tracey Black Paranormal Investigator
Heather Kelly Paranormal Investigator
Billy Donaldson Paranormal Investigator
Stephen Hodge Paranormal Investigator
Alan Paranormal Investigator
Stevie Douglas Equipment Manager
David Mcdonald Camera operator
Alex Donaldson Team Co- ordinator

Dean Castle is situated in Dean Castle Country Park Kilmarnock and is within easy driving distance of all major Scottish towns and cities. It was built on land given to the Boyd family By Robert The Bruce as a reward for their support during the War of Independence and the Battle of Bannockburn. The Keep dates from around 1350, the Palace from around 1468.

The Investigation.

Paranormal Investigation Scotland arrived at the castle at 15.45pm.

Jason. East Ayrshire Council Manager for Arts and Museums arrived a short time later and officially welcomed us to Dean Castle.

All team members were mustered in the kitchen located in the Palace, where Mr. Sutcliffe talked the whole team through the Health and Safety regulations. Mr. Sutcliffe also read the list of the agreed do's and dont's, after which all team members signed the form indicating the acceptance of the said do's and dont's.

We started our tour of Dean Castle at 18.19pm in the Banquet Hall, where Alex sets up a card experiment. We then moved to the Chamber, located within the Banquet Hall, where Alex set up a cd experiment. This room, was William Boyds private chamber. Mr. Jim Hatton an EVP specialist set up a digital voice recorder.
On entering this room we felt a significant change in room temperature.
This room was far colder than the much larger Banquet Hall. One reason for this could be that there are some cracked windows in this room. Bill said he felt dizzy. Alex felt the same and he described a spiral heat circling a point in the room.
Bill gets the date of 1717, a lady he is picking up on is the wife of a "well connected man" but she is not giving Bill or Alex her name. Bill said she has golden hair.

We now go back to the Banquet room.

Alex is now picking up on the names of James and Edward and Charles and John.
On leaving this room, Alex and Stephen pick up on a strong paraffin type smell.
At the bottom of the stairs, Emily ( council press officer) encounters a "burning" type smell.
On entering the staff kitchen, Alex says the smell he picked up on, is more like deisel or oil. There are numerous containers of cleansing agents in the kitchen so this may account for the smell Alex and Stephen detected.
We now move into the medi-evil kitchen. Mr. Sutcliffe informs the team we will be moving over to the KEEP, and to be very careful of the stairs.

The first place we visit is the KEEP CELLAR.

Bill feels something touch his face. We now move to the main part of the KEEP.
The first room we enter here is the Great hall.
We are now in the Great hall where Alex sets up an experiment This time it is a coin experiment. Stevie picks up a reading of three on one of the EMF meters.(During baseline readings taken here on Friday 25th of February there were EMF readings of one.). At a point in this room Alex feels a cold spot just next to a statue of a horse. Bill now picks up on a name Henry. Henry was murdered in this room. He is in his early 40s or late 30s he was killed by being stabbed in the heart with a dagger
At this point a fully charged battery in Ralph's camcorder goes dead after one and a half minutes of filming.

Bill now gets more information on Henry. There was a battle in this room involving seven people. Henry is begging for his life and the name Alexander now comes to Bill. We now get another emf meter reading of two next to Bill's head. Alexander was killed as well. He took a lady from here. Henry and Alexander both knew each other. Bill is now picking up on Robert De Brus' but nothing else for just now so we move on.

We go up stairs to the Minstrels Gallery.

We set up another cd experiment here.
We then went up to the Solar Room On entering this room Bill feels like he has a "gammy" leg. We have concluded our walk through and now decide to go for a break and discuss our strategy for he rest of the survey.
On the way back to the Palace, Bill, Stephen, Tracey, David and Alex, go to the well in the courtyard. Bill and Alex "feel" drownings here. Two in particular, a woman who was thrown down and killed at the conclusion of a family fued, and a girl who committed suicide her. No dates.

First Vigil Chamber ( Wiliam Boyd's room Palace)

Jim asks spirit to leave a voice on the recording device he has in his hand. Bill picks up on the spirit of a man who will not give a name. Bill sees flashes of light at various points in this room. Tracey reports seeing "sparks" of light, confirmed by Alan. Bill says the spirit he has picked up on killed his wife because she was sleeping around with other men.1514 is the date in Bills mind. Bill then revises the date to 1519.Bill is seeing flashes of light and asks if their is anything in the room which could give off beams of light. John, (council representative) switches the lights on to check, but nothing is found. Bill describes the man as very slim very tall, longish jet black hair and a pronounced sharp pointed nose. Bill asks for spirit to do something so everyone in the room can see he is here. No apparent response.

Bill is joined by the spirit of a lady. Bill asks the lady to show herself to other group members by giving a light. Bill sees a light. Video footage shows nothing.The lady tells Bill her name is Isabella and she is the wife of the gentleman spirit. Bill says the male spirit is standing right at his back. The man is very "aloof". The man is refusing to tell Bill anything further.Both of those spirits are resident here.The spirit tells Bill he was able to do what he liked as no one could touch him.

First Vigil Lady's Bower ( Keep)

Tracey picks up on a female spirit. She has long black hair with a centre parting. Tracey feels this is the spirit of a lady.Tracey sees servants on their knees washing this ladies feet. Tracey also feels a tightness around the body, which feels like she is wearing a very tight corset. Billy picks up on the name Albert. Tracey gets the name Annbolynne.Alex enters the room and picks up the name Black Douglas. Alex feels this is nothing to do with the survey. Black Douglas is related to Emily. Stevie, who is in the solar room wearing his sound device, says someone whispers in his ear. "in the name of our Lord 1644." Ralph feels something touch his head. A photo is taken. On video playback there is the sound of a ladies voice at this point. No explanation for this yet. Alex goes back to the Lords annexe in the solar. Tracey says this woman she is seeing is very small. Ralph "sees"ladies in long flouncey type dresses. The ladies are having a joke about something. Jim asks for spirit to talk into his voice recorders. The spirit is resident.

First Vigil Lord's Bower (Keep)

Alex picks up on the spirit of a man who gives his name as Brian O'Connel. Brian is the proud owner of a horse and cart. He gathers veg of the castle and stately homes in the area. Date 1466. He gathers the vegetables and delivers them in his cart.Alex tells Stevie (who is in the main solar room) he has stepped into the energy of a very tall man. Name Edward. Prince Edward not consort. Brian is telling Alex the "machine"in the corner is changing the air in the room and driving the spirits away. Nobody had explained to spirit what the "machine" was for.(The machine in question is a humidifier/de-humidifier) Stevie smells wine. Alex asks Stevie if he can see the two goblets and the big metal jug full of wine on the table by his left hand side. Stevie cannot see them. Stevie said this spirit "loved" his women. David feels a tingly feeling on the left hand side of his head. Alan once again "sees" green sparks of light. Alex leaves the Chamber and goes to the Lady's bower. Photographs and video and voice recorders have still to go through the proper analysis procedure.

First Dungeon Vigil.(Keep)

Shortly after entering the Dungeon Alex picks up on a little man about 5ft 2ins tall his name is William he was roasted alive.Williams crime was stealing apples.
Alex also picks up on two young children again by the name of Charles and John. They did not pass as kids and have a tendency to move stuff around. Only last week, Charles's said he put a cushion on the floor in the Great Hall.
Alex now gets the name Agnes. who said she was a staff member here (council). She says her favourite place is the Minstrels Gallery.

Alex is now getting the name Jean Louie. He is in hiding down here, he is not a prisoner. He is hiding down here from the English. No one would think about looking in the dungeon for him.
The name William comes up again with the surname Mcgonagil. He has nothing to do with the dungeon or the Castle. He is just visiting here. Alex feels William is from the late Victorian era. We now notice that although this is a small confined space, it is now getting colder which is strange as you would think with three adults down here, the body heat alone should be making it warmer.
Alex now gets told by a spirit lady calling herself Elizabeth, we should be in the Great Hall. Elizabeth is also saying that two cleaners have seen her in the past, at different times.

The name Robert De brus' comes up again, but this time it is a young boy who says he is Roberts son. The digital stills camera and digital camcorder we have with us both now turn them self off, which is strange.
Agnes now tells us to check the ace of diamond playing card (this is one of the cards which we set up in the Banquet hall on our walk through). Alex now picks up on a boy called Thomas Owen he was put down here as punishment for driving a car into the stream in 1962. This spirit is resident here. On checking the cards at the end of the investigation it was discovered the Ace of diamonds was one of two cards which had moved. Mr. Sutcliffe, made the point, as it was Alex who set the experiment up and then later said to check the Ace of diamonds, it's possible Alex could have moved the card after they were set up. It is worth noting that all experiments are witnessed and photographed at the outset and Alex was never alone at anytime during the investigation except when he went to the toilet. The time Alex went to the toilet, all of the team, including Mr. Sutcliffe was in the room where the card experiment was.

Second Dungeon Vigil

Shortly after entering the dungeon Bill starts to speak to a short man at about 5ft 2 his surname is Stuart he was sent down here in 1864??. The small man was tortured down here at times. He had a hot poker type object pushed into his left ear.
The man was killed for killing a cow for something to eat. He is being sarcastic to Bill just now saying "I was killed for killing a cow." This is not first time he was in the dungeon he was here before but escaped. He said he was set upon by five men and taken back down here then taken back "up top" where he was tortured and had the bottom part of his right leg broken so he could not run away again.The man responsible for him being down here is John Stewart but he does not say why. All he said is he is down here for someone called Robert's entertainment.

Bill now senses that there is a river or streams nearby, where the prisoners were taken to and were half drowned before being taken back to the dungeons. This small man Stuart, now says he was killed in the end by being hanged. His words were "killed for killing a cow can you believe it." In the dungeon, there is another part under the ground. In this part Bill now senses that there was a man set on fire and left to burn but no other information was picked up on this man. Bill now sees a man whom he describes as a giant, scared of nothing. Bill can't make sense of this as the man tells him he killed himself. He broke of a part of the stone and put it through his left eye Bill gets the date 1526. We now end the vigil and take a break.

Minstrels Gallery (Keep)

Billy picks up on the Sprit of a young boy named Andrew. As he is not getting any further information, Ralph asks Andrew to talk to him. Andrew does not talk to Ralph, but Ralph suddenly feels dizzy and sickAlex asks us to take a photograph, which some team members do. At this point Alex and Bill both pick up on the name Francis.
Francis is a visitor to Dean Castle and says her surname is Auld, "Francis Auld".
"Francis Auld", is here to remember the good times.

We now get the date 1942 (Alex now asks Mr. Sutcliffe if Dean Castle was still in private hands at this time. Mr. Sutcliffe said he thinks the Castle was used as a school and was in private hands.)
We now get a reading from our emf meter. Bill picks up the name Alan. No other information was given at this point.
We now get more information on Francis Auld. She was 19 in 1942 but passed away in 1947 she worked on a farm. At this point something is heard rattling across the floor. When the torches are turned on, we find a small pebble lying on the floor. The pebble seemed to come from the top side of the Hall and landed near the centre of the floor, between Mr. Sutcliffe and Alex. (As things stand just now we have no explanation for this but we are studying video and audio footage and will let you know our findings as soon as possible.)

Bill now goes towards Boyd's private chamber. Near the door, he stops and says he really does not want to enter this room as he feels uncomfortable about it. As soon as we enter the room Bill feels very sick and uneasy. Ian gets a nervous feeling in his stomach.
Bill now picks up on the name Robert again. He is saying to Bill if you want trouble I will give you trouble, just push me and i'll give you trouble. Robert asks Bill what we are doing here. He is not happy we are here and says he is a better person than any of us.. Bill now picks up on the lady he sensed here earlier. She is the wife of the man Bill picked up on but would not give his name. She had a sexual relationship with Robert. Her Husband knew of this and is angry with himself for allowing it to go on.
Her name is Isabella and he killed her for sleeping around, but is still angry with himself for letting it go on for so long. Isabella is refusing to talk with us while her husband is present. In her own words "I am not speaking while that big fat groogle is present" when asked what groogle meant she said someone who "can’t perform" in bed. We all now make our way back to the Banquet hall.

Stevie and Ian stay behind to set up an experiment in the room. A motion detector, which later goes off even though no one is in the room.
All the team are now back in the Banquet hall when Bill sees two small boys with their mother. Her name is Mary. Bill says this is not that long ago but no date was provided.
Bill now sees a group of people outside the castle coming towards it. He said this is a long time ago and the clothes they are wearing remind him of a re-enactment of the Battle of Bannockburn he once saw. Bill now says the Royal Stuart's have something to do with this castle (We will try and get Mr. Sutcliffe to confirm either way if this is true or not) Bill now feels that royalist's may have had control of this castle at one point. He sees Cromwell's men passing by. Bill gives the date 14th century Bill also gets the name Charles the 1st. (Once again we will try to get Mr. Sutcliffe to check this with their records.) We now decide to take a break.

Medi-evil Kitchen Vigil

Alex asks if there are any spirits present. Bill feels as if he wants to go onto his knees, Both Bill and Alex feel pain in their lower back and on the soles of their feet.
Bill is now picking up the spirit of a young girl. Seventeen years of age. Date 1694. The girl is heavily pregnant and is about to give birth. She says her name is Georgina Simpson. She also says her mother works here. Bill says he sees the girl giving birth. There are complications and the girl passes away through blood loss shortly after giving birth to a baby boy she named George. Bill sees this girl being wrapped up in some sort of white sheet and taken from the Palace. The kitchen staff who witnessed this are horrified. The young girl had another son when she was fourteen years of age Georgina says she is buried in the gardens just outside the castle walls.

Ian, David and Alan, also reported lower back pain during this vigil.
Alex notices two white lights just above the head of Heather. Bill picks up on three women behind Heather. The women were witness to the young girl giving birth and the events which followed and are also sickened by the fact the "Lord of the house" covered the whole episode up.
Heather feels more pain in her arm ( When on a break just before this vigil started, Heather's arm had three long inflamed marks on them, which just appeared from no-where.)
One of the three women Bill picked up on is trying to communicate through Heather. As Heather is not experienced in this, Bill and Alex decide not to allow this to continue.

Heather is now feeling very shaky. Ralph and Alex take her out for some air and a cup of tea.
After she regained her compusure, it was decided her husband Ralph, should take her home. ( Heather is now fine and none the worse for her adventure)
We end the vigil at this point and have a break before going over to the Keep.

Solar Main Vigil.

Alex hears noises from downstairs. It is like someone setting a table. Confirmed by various team members. Bill picks up on a lot of voices coming from downstairs. Bill describes it as "like a rabble." Bill is picking up on a family fued for control of the castle. This involved three people. This place was given to someone and the other two disagreed and said they should have it and it has been given to the wrong person. The fued never died and went on for a lifetime. There was always animosity between of them. It was given to the three brothers, but one decided it was him who would have control of the castle. This caused great animosity and the other two always tried to upset the apple cart. Bill comes forward in time.

The family who were here were sympathisers with Royalty. This is the Boyd family. But by the same token they were not really Royal sympathises.. They just played along to make their own life easier. The family were not playing both sides against the other. Date 1634. 1641 somone died here, a member of the upper classes and it caused problems for the family as it almost came to light they were just playing along at being royalists. They managed to somehow retain their cover. Someone is telling Bill," Robert Boyd is a bad bastard." Robert Boyd had something to do with the death of this upper class person. The person was English, a Lord. In the Lady's Bower, Bill picks up on a lady who wants to pick Alex up and smash his head against the wall. The lady does not see Alex as Alex. The ladies name is Lady Emma. Bill picks up the surmane Fairfield but says this is not the lady's surname.

Stevie feels sick at this point. Alex has the picture of a drunk being sick into the sea in his mind. A rhyme is then dictated to Alex. " i'm standing on the pier o leith. A've lost the key o the arse an i'm shitting through the teeth." We now move back into the main solar room. On the way out of the bower their is a sudden smell of pipe tobacco this is very strong. The smell goes away as fast as it came.

Great Hall Keep.

It is noticed there has been movement on several of the coins. Stephen, Billy and Jim go to the Minstrels Gallery, which overlooks the Great Hall. A movement sensor is set up at the doorway of the Minstrels changing room, facing the inside wall. After a few seconds it goes off. Jim films the inside of the room. There is no-one there. We have no explanation for the sensor going off. In the Great Hall itself, Bill and Alex pick up nothing further. Final photos are taken of all trigger experiments which were set up at the start of the survey. We then end the investigation.

Survey ended 4.15am.

We had possible movement on the following.

Two cards in the Banquet Room in the Palace.
Cd in the Minstrels Gallery in the Keep.
Four coins in the Great Hall in the Keep.
Instruments used during the survey were:-
Digital video cameras.
Digital voice recorders.
Digital stills cameras.
Electronic trip wires.
Electronic movement sensors.
Digital Thermometers'

Report compiled by Ruth

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