Background Info
First of all the Paranormal Discovery team would like to thank Jimmy, the manager and John, the owner of the Drumtochty Tavern for allowing us access to the building and for giving up their valuable time to speak to us.
The Drumtochty Tavern is a quaint, rural pub situated in Harrietfield, Perthshire. The building still retains many of its original features like stone walls, open fireplaces, low doorways etc. Thought to be 200 year old the pub was extended in the 1950/60s when the wall between the adjoining stables was knocked down to make more room. The old stable area has recently been refurbished and the one remaining small square window hints at its former use. The pub is home to numerous pieces of farming memorabilia and most interestingly houses the 100 year old guest book from the former Drumtochty chapel which was situated a stone's throw away and is now a house.
Not much is known about the pub's history and the team's first impression of the building was that it looked more like a typical farm house than an inn. The village of Harrietfield dates from 1822 and was actually one of the last planned villages to have been built in the area for mill workers . If the building is indeed 200 years old then it seems that it actually predated the village. Sir Drummond of Logie owned extensive farmland at this time and renamed various properties after members of his family, giving rise to Harrietfield, Louisafield and Francesfield. Old maps of the vicinity don't include these names until 1850 when Herriotfield makes an appearance (why Herriotfield and not Harrietfield is unknown). Francesfield farm exists to this day.
The Paranormal Discovery team was asked by Jimmy, the manager, if we would be willing to pay the tavern a visit due to some strange activity happening there and the rumours of the place being haunted. A medium had once visited the pub and had said that the building is haunted by 4 spirits. Also, a female spirit had been seen in the bar and thought to have been Maggie Millar, a former owner, who is in a photo above the fireplace. She is in Victorian dress and part of a group photo.
We spoke to a former employee who used to live upstairs and she said that after closing, footsteps, noises and the sense of a presence could be felt in the main bar. Jimmy himself explained to us that since the renovation work the television set that sits in the former stables would change channel of its own accord. This television set had been used upstairs before this and had there had never been a problem with it. An old set of keys which hang on a hook behind the bar are often found on the floor in the morning. Jimmy said that nobody knows what the keys are actually for. One particular room upstairs was not liked by the staff either - the bedroom. Jimmy wouldn't enter this room and only likes to go upstairs if the bedroom door is closed. Interestingly, when the team visited for the first time, a large set of antlers toppled over just as we were leaving the room. They had been in the room for several weeks and had not moved despite people often going in and out of the room during this time period. It was assumed that these had been moved by the vibrations caused by us walking around on the loose floorboards.
During our initial visit the pub was very lively as it was full of customers. Nothing at all was sensed in the old stable area or bar which is where most activity was thought to have taken place. However, a walk round the building reassured us that the inn was indeed active, the pool room being the most obvious. The feelings and impressions gained in here made the trip all the more worthwhile and a date was set to come back with the rest of the team.
Investigation
Moon phase: waxing crescent
Weather: dry, still, below zero
Investigators present: Katrina, Mike, Tori, Steve, Natalie, Gordon, Corey accompanied by Jimmy, John, Michael and Ray
Trigger objects were set up in the bedroom upstairs. During thsi time a large brush toppled over in the centre of the room while Corey and Mike were setting up. The decorating items had been there for a few week's according to the manager and hadn't once moved or fell over in that time even though people had been in and out of the room .
Vigil One - the Pool Room
Due to the small size of the location, it was decided that all those present for the investigation would remain in one group throughout all the vigils rather than splitting into two, mainly to minimise any unwanted noise. This vigil was very quiet in terms of any unexplained sounds and also there was little, if no, visual activity. There were, however, a few different spirits sensed in the room by some of those present.
Tori initially identified two spirits in the room - one near the door and one in the corner by the window, next to Mike. Mike commented that he felt that in the past the Drumtochty had very much been 'a woman's pub'; it should be run by a woman and that at some point soon a woman would be coming to run it or help run it.
Nat sensed a girl standing behind Mike and thought it was as if she was hiding and slso a man standing near Corey at the window. She felt he did not like Mike. At the same time, Katrina remarked that she had seen the rather unpleasant and nasty face of a man in front of the window.
Mike then asked if there was a corner in the pub that was known to belong to a regular customer who always sat there - this was confirmed by Jimmy. He said there was a large gentleman who died not long ago, who used to sit in a particular corner. Mike added that he was picking up on 5 spirits in various locations throughout the room. Jimmy felt there was a tall man towering over where he was sitting beside the bar.
Mike said that he sensed there had been children in the building at some point. Katrina, a short time later, became quite nauseated. Mike got the name 'Leanne' and then said that two or three people were involved (or knew of) the murder of the young girl - all were men and the woman who ran the pub at the time was not present. Tori thought the building was a pub at the time of the incident.
Mike saw movement at the far end of the pool table in front of Nat, Katrina and Tori. Nat and Tori at the same time experienced the feeling of cobwebs on their faces and Tori remarked that she felt 'something close'.
Mike came up with the name 'David' or 'Davie' and the surname beginning with S - perhaps Smith, Simpson, or Smart. Nat felt that there was a tall, skinny man at the bar beside Jimmy and Mike added that he felt this man was aged between 50 and 55, and had dark, receding hair. Tori also sensed the same man there as well as a spirit beside the fireplace. Katrina thought she saw movement in front of the fireplace, low down near the floor, as if someone or an animal was crawling there.
Mike added that the murderer had not lived in the building, but was local and that one of the others who was involved did live there. He then went on to say that he had felt his hair getting touched behind his ear.
Nat saw movement by the door and round about this time Katrina had started asking questions aloud in the hope of gaining some sort of response. One question was 'what did you work as' and Mike got the answer 'blacksmith' (There was a blacksmith's in the village in the 1800s).
Tori, by this time, was also reporting feelings of nausea and Mike came up with the name 'Len' or 'Lenny' for a man who had at one time worked in the pub. Tori then saw a brief flash of the girl's face behind Mike. Mike felt that this girl wore a hood or a scarf around her head. As he walked round the room, he felt the girl following him and commented that the girl had been attacked through sudden anger, but that murder had not been the intention. He also believed the floor the be important - it had possibly been covered up to hide something, perhaps a mark that would still be visible but was concealed at the present time. Tori added that she thought there was a clue somewhere in the room and that the girl had died on the floor at the end of the pool table. She had been strangled and hit over the head (These reiterated her comments dueirng our first visit)
Katrina, meanwhile, had been sitting on a stool at the same end of the pool table and had felt like she was being pushed over to one side.
A towel hanging above the bar was noted to be moving as if in a breeze but no draught was found. This movement was then discovered to be due to the heat rising from the heater below.
Tori then sat on the same stool that Katrina had been on and immediately felt dizzy. She then saw a person at the end of the bar, the same man sensed earlier. Mike felt this man was smirking and was a jolly person, but Tori thought he was glowering at everyone. A dark shadow was later seen by Tori beside the middle pocket of the pool table in front of the fireplace. Finally, Mike thought that the pub or area was once famous for a breed of horse.
Vigil one was then concluded and the team moved into the converted stable to commence the next vigil.
Vigil Two - the Stable
As we sat quietly a noise was heard from through in the bar. Nearly everyone present heard it and it was recorded on audio but it isn't posssible to make out exactly what it could be (some of us thought it sounded like a footstep at the time but on recording it sounds more like a tap).
Tori guided everyone present through our chosen protection method at the start of this vigil. Katrina indicated afterwards that she had felt a 'presence' near her throughout as if somebody was standing behind her to her right. Tori then indicated that Charlie her spirit guide had drawn close and was there to look after us.
We agreed to sit in darkness for a while with all equipment switched off. The only lights visible were from the pumps on the bar in the other room. A minute later Tori noticed that an area of the ceiling had appeared to be illuminated to her and she had looked round for a source of the light but could not find any. Another minute or two later, Mike said that he had seen movement through the open doorway in front of the bar which had blocked out the lights from the pumps. Katrina stated that she had also seen it (both Katrina and mike were facing the doorway).
Several noises followed such as creaks from the direction of the television set which were put down to temperature changes within the room or the tv set itself (the televison had not been on all day). Other noises such as the boiler rumbling and mantle clock ticking could also be heard. 18 minutes into the vigil, 3 people present were witness to a 'shape' drifting through the bar and towards the open doorway. Mike and Jimmy both saw a circular shape and Katrina saw a blue mist near the ceiling in the other room floating forwards towards the doorway; all this followed closely by Tori seeing movement over the coffee table in front of her. Shortly after this, Mike stated that he felt that there was a spirit presence between Tori and Steve in the empty space on the couch. A photo was taken and showed an orb in this very spot (coincidence?)
The rest of the vigil was quite uneventful apart from the spirit impressions given by some of those present. Mike suddenly had the names 'Graham', 'Donald' and 'Scott' come to mind but was unsure if they belonged to the same person. He also talked about an older gentleman who sat in the corner of the bar and would tap twice with a stick for attention/service. Tori also sensed a male presence behind Mike and Jimmy, who was sitting to the right of Mike, agreed. She indicated that there was another spirit present in the main bar but that this one was female. Mike felt that the man behind him was an annoyance or a nuisance at which point Tori said her guide had drawn closer again. Jimmy then said that the male spirit felt like the man picked up on before beside him in the pool room, the tall thin gentleman. Natalie explained that she too felt it ws the same gentleman as before.
Vigil 3 - the Bar
Mike sat in the Governor's Corner, on the bar stool near the wall. Natalie sat down on the bench by the window and Mike informed her that this is where he had pictured the old man with the cane. He described him as being elderly, quite large and a dominoes player. He thought that he was of recent times and was wearing dark trousers and a sweatshirt but might be residual rather than an active spirit. He would have had a nickname like Chappin' Charlie and if his name was recorded anywhere on a trophy etc then this nickname would be on it. The name Stevens was also mentioned.
A little while later Tori saw a hand behind Katrina's head which wasn't hers but interestingly in the same spot as the old man sensed by Mike. Jimmy and Nat both sensed the tall, skinny man again this time behind Jimmy. Tori's impression was that this spirit was interested in Jimmy purely due to his job and was following him around the building just out of interest to see if he was doing his job correctly. He had probably worked here himself when alive.
Various other noises were heard such as taps, creaks and even the cat snoring in the stable area which was at first thought to be someone whistling. Only one significant bang was heard which prompted Mike to tap and ask any spirit present to copy the noise he had just made. Nothing was heard at the time but audio playback revealed a very faint tap perhaps in response but more likely to have been caused by someone moving or a wobbly table being leant on.
Trigger objects were set up on the pool table after a short break.
Vigil 4- Upstairs
The group was split into two for the upper level, swapping rooms after a while. Only a short time was spent upstairs due to the cold and although the temperature was reading 7 degrees C it felt a lot colder. Both groups had an uneventful time in this area, although a spirit girl was sensed in the bedroom by Natalie and Tori. Katrina also thought she had been touched under her left arm but nobody had been standing close enough to have accidentally touched her. It was noted during the vigil in the bedroom that the floorboards were very loose. Even shifting weight from one foot to the other caused the items in the room to shake (the furniture and decorating items were in the centre as the room was to be be painted). Tori sensed a ltitle girl in here and a man whom she thought moved around the pub. She said that she didn't much like him and neither did the girl downsatirs. The chest of drawers and the items on it and beside it were seen to wobble and it was found to be due to the loose floorboards. Slight movement of our feet caused items in the room to vibrate.
Video footage from this room shows a flash of light in front of the cupboard in the centre. Katrina was filming but didn't notice it at the time. This would have appeared right in front of her and Steve. Immediately afterwards, Tori is heard on video saying that she had seen a white line in front of Katrina and Steve which looked like the outline of a head and upper body. Neither Katrina or Steve were using a torch or any other equipment to account for the light. The only window was at the opposite side of the room where Natalie was standing (you can see her in the video clip with her hood up). The anomaly is unimpressive(it appears briefly in the centre of the right hand side of the screen) but does coincide with Tori seeing a white shape moving in exactly the same spot at the same time .
Vigil 5 - Divination
The psychic circle was used as well as the glass in the hope that we might encourage physical activity in the room around us as previous sessions have given us good results. The answers given were taken with a pinch of salt, however.
An alleged male spirit was contacted in the stable area but nothing useful was gained from this and nothing of not occurred in the room during this time.
A second attempt was made in the Pool room and this time a female spirit was allegedly communicating with us who gave us the names 'Mog' and 'Frank' (research of the name shoes that Mog is, in fact, a shortened form of Margaret which none of the team present had known). Other 'information' given was that this female was 13 years old at time of death and had been strangled, had lived in Methven, went to church but not to Drumtochty Kirk. Contradictory answers (which we always expect) were also given, for example, the question "Did you live in this building?" was given both a 'yes' and later a 'no' answer. No unusual sounds were heard during this session either and nothing of note was filmed or photographed.
Tori's Spirit Impressions
The pool room
I picked up on the spirit of a young girl, she was petite and fair haired, and she was in her early teens. She showed me that she had died by being strangled and had taken a blow to the back left side of her head. She had worked in the pub which was more of a coaching inn then with guest rooms. The pool room had a function perhaps kitchen/laundry type area. There were some problems with her and I feel that she was in trouble of some sort. Her death was simply treated as if she had just run off and this was not completely unexpected. The reason for her death was that either there was an unwanted pregnancy or she had engaged in sexual relations out of wedlock. This was a crime of passion to a certain extent certainly not premeditated, but carried out in the heat of the moment. The man who murdered her was quite a bit older than her, late 30’s early 40’s, dark hair, quite rough looking and unkempt, facial hair to a certain extent, like he is scruffy and unshaven and has bad teeth. She was buried in a shallow grave a couple of miles away. There are birch trees there where her remains lie....
The bar
There is quite a lot of residual activity there male especially. Also spirits in visitation; a female spirit passes through this area a lot.
The stable
Again a lot of spirits passing through in visitation.
Upstairs
The upstairs had a very heavy atmosphere. In the room I picked up that there were spirits who moved into that area in visitation and a couple that moved throughout the top floor. In the smaller bedroom again the same heavy atmosphere was noted. I picked up on a female child between 6 and 10 years old. She had long, brown hair. Illness was connected to her. I felt that she mainly stayed in that room but also a female spirit came into the area a lot possibly to look after or to see the girl. Also on this level I sensed a male spirit who moved throughout the location.
Spirits
1. Murdered girl – petite, blonde, 12 – 17 in age, maid or worker of some sort. Strangled and blow to left rear of head.
2. Male murderer – late 30’s early 40’s, dark wavy hair unkempt, rough and unshaven with bad teeth.
3. Jimmy’s male – there is a male spirit who follows Jimmy round the bottom floor watching him work. Looking after his pub by keeping an eye on the manager.
4. Little girl – 6 – 10 years old, long mousy brown hair, illness of some sort, feel a pressure on the chest area hinting at some sort of respiratory problem.
5. Woman – long brown hair pinned up and long skirt in a yellow oche/ light browny colour. She runs the place she feels it’s hers.
6. There was also an entity that I picked up upon on my initial visit. My initial impression of this was that it was a manifestation of energy due to the murder that took place, but I feel that it does have a consciousness of its own. I do not feel it is a human spirit as I feel it has never lived on the physical plane.
Conclusion
Trigger objects - none of these had moved. A logical reason was found for the items that had toppled over when investigators had been in the bedroom - the wobbly, loose floorboards.
Temperature - there were no unexplained fluctuations in temperature
Audio - no EVPs were recorded and although some taps were recorded natural causes cannot be ruled out
Video - some orbs were photographed but these can usually be attributed to airborne particles. The orb captured in front of Tori when a presence was felt in exactly the same area is interesting. Similarly, the rather insignificant flash of light filmed in the bedroom is also noteworthy due to it manifesting at the same time and in the same spot as Tori saw a white shape moving towards Katrina and Steve.
The Drumtochty Tavern is an atmospheric little pub. Although the investigtion was quiet, it was worthwhile and still interesting. A true picture of a location cannot be gained by spending a few hours there and we are sure that the pub has a lot more to offer. The team are keen to return at some point especially to try to get more information on the girl sensed in the pool room who just wants her story told and for someone to know what actually happened to her. Our psychic hopes to go back in daylight to see if the spot where she has been lain to rest can be discovered (by Birch trees).
