The Cottage
This location is a farm cottage in Angus built in 1884 and has been owned by the farm and used as a workers' bothy for the main part of its existence. The land it is situated on was formerly marsh land untill properly drained to create the nearby resevioirs that supplied Dundee with water for many years. The whole area was at many times a battle ground near Hynd castle so it is thought that battles would have been fought nearby. Also megalithic cist graves of the Beaker people have been uncovered very near by. In recent years the cottage has been rented to many different tenants, none of which have stayed long, though it is thought this is mainly due to the isolation of the location as there are few neighbours and most nights are very dark and misty.
Why We Investigated The Cottage
The owners of the cottage, Victoria and Michael, requested an investigation into their property due to the frequency of 'activity' in the house which they report as increasing in intensity. Strange happenings have been noted since moving into the house last June and much of the negative energy is thought to be directed towards Victoria, who feels that there is the presence of a man in her home who is unhappy for her to be there.
The list of happenings at the cottage is very long but here are several examples of the type of activity witnessed:
Auditory
A note being played on the piano has been heard on 2 separate occasions
The front door being knocked and no-one being there on several occasions
Visual
The dark figure of a tall man has been seen lurking in the doorway and has been seen from outside walking past the front door. The shape of a man has also been seen walking into the bedroom at night.
The spirit of a sad little girl has been seen more than once in the living room sitting on the couch and window sill
The lower limbs of spirit bodies have also been seen, both bare feet belonging to a child/woman and a man's legs in tan coloured trousers
Other
The lady of the house reports having been nudged in the hallway by an unseen presence, having felt a cold hand on the back of her neck, having been slapped while doing the dishes and having had the remote control thrown at the back of her legs.
Items have gone missing in the house only to be found later in the first place that was searched
Investigation
Monday,19th February, 2007
Investigators Present: Mike, Tori, Katrina, Natalie, Bozzie, Laura, Eric
Outside Conditions: wet & foggy, moon: waxing crescent
Due to the reported activity of the piano in the small bedroom, it was decided to leave this room unmanned. The piano was left open and some band equipment that was stored there was used in an experimental way. The microphone was plugged into the amp just to see if anything would be heard. The electric guitar was also left out as bait. The whole area was filmed by locked-off camera.
The team split into two - one male and one all female group. We decided on this arrangement as the homeowner felt that there is a male presence who does not like women. We wondered if this would mean that the female group would experience more activity. The cottage was once a workers' bothy and would have been a male environment.
Vigils
Master Bedroom
Ambient temperature: 16.5C
22.25-23.10: Treen, Nat, Laura, Tori
The room was quite small so 3 of us sat on the bed and Tori sat in the chair in the corner by the bed.
Several orbs were seen via camcorder throughout this vigil.
22.36 Tori sees a flash of light by Laura's feet
22.40 Tori felt a draught on the side ofher face as if someone was breathing close to her and sensed a presence very close. She found this very unpleasant and had to get up out of the chair. Temperature taken and had fallen to 13.5C
22.50 Tori sees a black shape moving across the ceiling by the light fitting followed by a pinprick of light.
22.55 faint thud heard outside room by everyone. Nat and Treen both complain of headache starting at same time. Laura decides to try mirror-scrying as no result from calling out for spirit activity. Treen and Nat both see the image of a young man with bushy eyebrows and Laura herself sees the face of a mischieveous young man rather than her own face.
23.10-23.35 : Mike, Eric, Bozzie
Ambient temperature: 14.4C
Again several orbs were filmed during this time.
23.28 Bozzie was sitting in the chair when he felt as if someone was breathing on his neck. He felt uneasy and had to move from the chair.
Lounge
Ambient temperature: 20.5C
22.25-23.10: Mike, Eric, Bozzie
22.33 Light seen by Bozzie while filming in front of the window.
22.38 a rod-shaped anomaly seen by Bozzie in front of the fireplace
22.43 Eric sees a small white unexplained object floating downwards
22.48 everyone heard scratching sounds coming from the door handle. Upon investigation nothing was seen/heard out in the hall.
22.54 an orb seen by Bozzie by the computer corner by the naked eye
Ambient temperature: 19.5C
23.10-23.35: Nat, Treen, Tori, Laura
23.12 Nat heard a noise out in the hallway like a footstep on a creaky floorboard. Tori checks out in the hall but nothing seen/heard.
23.15 Tori sees a flash of light by the window
23.16 Pinprick of light filmed by Treen almost on top of Laura's head
23.20 Tori thinks she saw a shadow go past the window but nothing filmed on camera
23.25 Several pinpoints of light filmed by Treen by the side of the window. Lights seen one after the other in a random fashion. Immediately followed by a tap from behind/above the tv in the corner. At the same time several fashing 'orbs/lights' seen on camera in front of the tv, all following same path.
23.30 footstep sounds heard by everyone
23.32 More dull bangs heard as if someone bouncing a ball. Tori tries to replicate the sound by banging on the wall.
23.37 Laura thought she saw movement on the floor. Light switched on but nothing witnessed and no-one admitted to moving.
Throughout all of the vigils orbs were filmed and also seen by some with the naked eye.
Dull banging was heard throughout by the girls' team.
Following the vigils half of the team had to leave. Tori, Nat, Treen and Eric remained. Again persistent dull bangs were heard and also a footstep sound was heard by Eric coming from above (the attic?)
Initially on sitting down everyone heard a 'squeak' coming from the corner by Eric. We assumed it was his camera but he was already filming. He had thought it was the hi-fi but that was found to be switched off.
Strangely, exactly the same noise was heard later and recorded by the voice recorder. This time the noise appeared to emanate from between Treen and Nat on the couch. Both turned to look at the empty seat when it was heard. Again it sounded mechanical in origin and camera/camcorders were checked and found to be off.
Review of Findings
Persistent dull thumps were heard throughout the night, especially in the corner of the lounge. This wall was the adjoining wall to next door. We were assured by the owner that she never hears any sounds from next door and even when they were taking down walls next door, she didn't hear a thing.
Both Bozzie and Tori felt similar things when sitting on the bedroom chair. This is noteworthy as Tori felt this first but had not spoken to anyone outside of her 'group' about it and yet Bozzie went on to feel something similar. Similarly, both groups heard noises outside the living room door but saw/heard nothing when the door was opened to check.
The strange mechanical squeaky sound heard in the lounge appeared to move from one place to another. Initially heard in the corner by the bookcase then over on the settee. Tests on the camcorder show that it switches itself off silently if left on accidentally. The camera makes a noise of much longer duration while the lens retracts. I believe neither were the source of the noise which remains unexplained.
Nothing untoward was filmed in the box bedroom and nothing was heard from there. No emf readings were taken during the evening due to the fact that the amp and guitar were switched on and the cottage is so small. Any readings would have been more than likely caused by this equipment.
