Feb. 28, 2025

Haunted History: Ghostly Tales from Stirling with Jack Ziska

Join me for a spine-tingling episode as I welcome Jack Ziska from True North Paranormal. With a background in heritage and conservation, Jack has spent years working in some of Scotland’s most historic—and haunted—locations, including Stirling Castle, Bannockburn House, Doune Castle, and the Battle of Bannockburn site.

Once merely intrigued by the paranormal, his time at Stirling Castle turned him into a true believer. Tune in as Jack shares chilling ghost stories from Stirling’s haunted past, recounts his own spine-chilling encounters, and reveals what it’s like to walk the halls of Stirling’s most restless locations.

My Special Guest Is Jack Ziska

Jack has worked in historic buildings for the majority of his life. Having studied heritage and conservation at university he went straight into work afterwards at a number of historic sites and has worked all over the city of Stirling; Stirling Castle, Bannockburn House, the Battle of Bannockburn, Doune Castle. He is currently working as the operations manager at Bannockburn House, sometimes referred to as Scotland's Most Haunted House. When he first entered the workforce full-time at Stirling Castle he was interested in the paranormal, but working at the Castle made him a fully fledged believer.

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Discover hauntings and unexplained phenomena from Stirling’s historic locations.

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Welcome to Haunted History Chronicles, the podcast where we unravel the mysteries of the past one ghostly tale at a time.

I'm your host, Michelle, and I'm thrilled to be your guide on this Erie journey through the pages of history.

0:37

Picture this, a realm where the supernatural intertwines with the annals of time, where the echoes of the past reverberate through haunted corridors and forgotten landscapes.

That's the realm we invite you to explore with us.

Each episode will unearth stories, long buried secrets, dark folklore, tales of the macabre, and discuss parapsychology topics from ancient legends to more recent enigmas.

1:06

We're delving deep into locations and accounts all around the globe, with guests joining me along the way.

But this podcast is also about building a community of curious minds like you.

Join the podcast on social media, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share your own ghostly encounters, theories, and historical curiosities.

1:30

Feel free to share with friends and family.

The links are conveniently placed in the description for easy access.

So whether you're a history buff with a taste for the supernatural or a paranormal enthusiast with a thirst for knowledge, Haunted History Chronicles is your passport to the other side.

1:51

Get ready for a ride through the corridors of time where history and the supernatural converge.

Because every ghost has a story, and every story has a history.

And now let's introduce today's podcast or guest on this next episode of Haunted History Chronicles.

2:15

We're diving deep into the heart of one of Scotland's most haunted cities, Stirling.

Joining me is Jack from True North Paranormal, who has worked in a number of heritage locations within Stirling and is the Operations Manager of Bannockburn House.

2:32

From the Erie corridors of Sterling Castle to those of Bannockburn House, Jack has seen and experienced things that defy explanation.

He'll share stories of unexplained phenomena and the lingering spirits that may be tied to Sterling's bloody history.

2:50

We'll unravel the haunted echoes and uncover the paranormal pulse that beats beneath Sterling's ancient stones.

If you love haunted history and spine tingling tales, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

3:08

Dim the lights and prepare to step into a world where history and the supernatural collide, where the past comes to life and the spirits never rest.

Hi, Jack.

3:25

Thank you for joining me on tonight's podcast.

Hi, Michelle, thank you so much for having me a long time fan of the podcast and I'm very excited to be on DO.

You want to start by just introducing yourself to the listeners and sharing a little bit about yourself and your background.

3:42

Yeah, of course.

Hello everyone listening.

My name is Jack Siska.

I'm 29 years old and I'm a native of Sterling, which is a city in the Scottish Central Belt.

I've got a work history that's mostly in heritage and conservation.

4:00

So I've, I've worked at a lot of historic sites around the Sterling area and Sterling Castle, the Battle of Bannockburn at Doon Castle and, and at the moment I'm serving as the operations manager at Bannockburn House, which some of you might have heard of from being in the news for being a famously haunted building and from their television show and Spooked Scotland, which featured GAIL Porter.

4:25

That's been quite an eye opening experience for me in regards to the paranormal and it's really changed how I how I look at the paranormal as well.

So I'm excited to tell you about my hometown, about the history, and also about the paranormal instances.

I'm so jealous of the the locations that you've worked at.

4:44

I mean, if I ever kind of have a moment where I sit and I think about places I would love to just be able to be in every single day and just walk the corridors and look out at the views and just take in the scenery and the architecture.

5:02

It it's places like the ones that you've mentioned.

There is something very nostalgic about the castles that we have across Wales and across Scotland and across England.

And then some of these other really marvellous buildings that have just such incredible history and the fact that you get to do precisely what is my dream job.

5:23

I think I'm just a little bit jealous, Jack, if I'm honest.

It certainly has its ups and downs, but you're absolutely right.

It is such a privilege to be able to work in our physical heritage and to stand where all these great stories from history have happened all all these years working in in heritage and conservation.

5:44

I've always wondered what the woes could tell us if they could talk, and to get caught up in the atmosphere and the vibrancy of that place long after these events have happened, it's just incredibly special.

And you touched upon really briefly some of the the things that interested you about the paranormal.

6:04

I don't know if you want to go into that a little bit more in detail, in terms of what it is that draws you to that field itself, what draws you to that aspect of of history in these locations.

Well in regards to the paranormal, I've had an on and off interest with it since I was very young.

6:24

When I was growing up my parents house as a little boy I used to have experiences in my bedroom which was often put down to the imagination of a young child.

But it's one of my earliest memories is this apparition that would open my cupboard door and stare out at me.

6:45

And for the longest time I put it off as night terrors as the more and more I think about it.

But the more I look back on it now compared to other experiences I've had, it kind of connects and has a lot of similarities.

And ever since that I've always been interested in old places.

7:05

I've always since that wanted so desperately to see another apparition and to confirm in my own mind that this was real.

Now, when I started working in historic sites, I was desperate to to have that experience, but I didn't want that to to cloud my judgement of things that could be explained away.

7:28

So when I went into these jobs, often in times when you're working alone or after dark, I put on my skeptic hat and I tried my very best to explain away anything that could be somewhat paranormal in nature.

7:45

And even after applying that process, particularly at Sterling Castle and Bannockburn House, there are just so many things that I cannot explain away.

And what, what I love about the idea of the paranormal is this is this is history interacting with you.

8:02

The, the, this is the people you learn about in the stories that you hear about in the, the legends in the history books and, and in a way you're interacting with them.

And I absolutely love the thought of that.

And I think that was such a perfect way that you phrased that with this is history interacting with you.

8:22

This is, this is that connection, isn't it?

It's a way of enabling us to really connect with who we've been and who we are now.

And, and I, I've said that many times on the podcast before, but I think you, you really brought that message home in, in the way that you phrased that a moment ago.

8:39

It's it's something very connective, I think.

And I think it's part of what draws us to history and partly what draws us to ghosts, law, and these types of stories and sightings that are so enmeshed in our history and our cultural language when it comes to the locations that we have around us and the landscape that we have around us.

9:01

As you do where you are in Sterling.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

And, and Sterling is a, a very uniquely historical space.

I'm not sure if you've ever visited the the city and Sterling's incredibly small for what what we would call a city, but it's so significant in the historical landscape.

9:22

It's been a a battleground for hundreds and hundreds of years.

It is an incredibly strategic position in Scotland, geographically as well as historically, and the things that events that have happened in Sterling echo through Scottish history and to work in these places and to experience that echo yourself through both the history and the paranormal aspect is just really special.

9:48

Sterling has so much to offer and it is a city that sometimes to visitors of the country is overlooked.

But if you're coming to Scotland to connect with the history and the culture, there's no better place.

And if you want to connect with history, I can't think of a more personal way than than through a paranormal experience or through a ghost story.

10:10

You know, they're really special and they're really important in understanding our national psyche and our character.

And something that you kind of mentioned now I think really resonates and it's, it's something that I've also touched upon with other guest speakers who are native to Scotland.

10:27

And that is that real kind of sense of unique history that I think Scotland has to share.

And you know, Sterling is no, no different to that.

It's, it's something that has its own unique, significant history.

You know, it's, it's relevant in its own right, but then it also sits across in that broader landscape and understanding of Scottish history as well.

10:51

And as you said, I think there's something in really helping to preserve that because it is very unique and it's very separate to the history of of England and it's also very separate to the history of of Wales.

And yet there are some elements that connect it.

And I think that unique history really does need celebrating in the way that we see across in other cult in other countries and other cultures.

11:15

Because you've got a history that is so plagued with, with bloodshed and turbulence and so many things going on that really can be seen in the landscape and the structures and the buildings and the stories that exist.

11:33

You know, in particular when it comes to ghostly tales and and legends that have remained to this day.

Absolutely, I could not agree more.

The I think what ghost stories in particular do for areas as well as the, they add a social aspect to the, the history, the, the folklore and the ghost stories that people tell in regions across the UK and even across the world really helps define.

12:02

And it helps you understand the, the psyche of the local people and what worries and concerns they have at the time.

The, the ghost story somewhat reflect that in a really interesting way.

I, I think in regards to the, the connection between cultures on the British Isles as well, you're absolutely right.

12:21

And Sterling is a place where all these cultures have met time and time again throughout history, even before what we would call Scotland and England and Wales were, were even thought of.

And these peoples were in this area around Sterling, they were trading and connecting and fighting for, for time out of mind.

12:41

And I can, I can go into more about that later on when we talk about the, the history and the, the causes for reoccurring hauntings.

But you're, you're absolutely right.

I could not agree more.

So how do you think then?

You know Sterling's history from battles like Bannockburn to its medieval structures.

13:01

How do you think it contributes to the to the number of hauntings in the area itself?

Well, when when we talk about Sterling's significance in that regard, we, we have to talk 1st about geography and anyone who at home is interested in this geography, I encourage you to look up Matthew Paris's 1250 map of the British Isles.

13:23

On this map, Sterling appears as a a small square just below a landmass called Scotia Ultramarina, which means Scotland across the sea.

And up until the the mid medieval period, it was quite popular opinion that any of the lands in Scotland north of the River Forth were actually their own separate island because that's how impassable the River Forth was seen.

13:49

So Sterling dominates the the landscape around the narrowest crossing point of the River Forth and for a lot of the medieval period controlled the the only major crossing for traffic, which is at Sterling Bridge.

The the bridge is still there today and and I'd encourage anyone to come along and see it.

14:08

That bridge connects all trade from the Highlands and the Lowlands.

It's basically an artery for the Scottish nation during the medieval period and that makes Sterling a key strategic asset.

And the kings of both Scotland and England are well aware of this fact.

14:25

Sterling Castle, built on the Castle Rock overlooking the River Forth, is a impressive, almost impregnable stronghold that dominates the region around it.

And if you control Sterling Bridge, you you effectively have the key to Scotland.

14:42

An example of that.

And Edward the First of England knew this all too well.

So when he invaded Scotland in the 1296, his his armies made straight for Sterling Castle because he knew absolutely correctly that to control that crossing point is to control Scotland.

15:00

And, and later in the medieval period also, Robert Bruce would learn the hard way that you can liberate all the other castles in Scotland to your heart's content.

But if you do not control Sterling Castle, then you do not control Scotland.

And that that is the the set up for the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, that that's the reason the battle has fought in this area just below the castle.

15:24

In 1297, Andrew de Murray and William Wallace defeat an English army at the Battle of Sterling Bridge.

And and these are the two famous battles that we hear about in Scottish history, but another one that we don't hear about so much.

15:41

And that's rather sad.

As in, during one of Scotland's many boats of civil conflict, the the very unpopular King James the Third is defeated by his opponents, led by his own son.

At the Battle of Sake Burn, just outside the city of Sterling, who are following the battle, the King James the Third is murdered and some say by his own son.

16:06

And although you can't actually prove that it's it's purely hearsay.

But Sterling has this landscape just covered in blood there.

There's been battles fought left, right and center.

There's been political intrigue and murder and conspiracy.

16:24

And it's fascinating and it is prime location for hauntings because there's been so much of this in such a small area.

And it has happened throughout history as well.

The the last siege of Sterling Castle was only in 1746 and it creates this small condensed area that is primed for haunting cause of the tragedy and the loss of life and the the emotional as well as the the physical turmoil all all caught up in this one place.

16:57

And you, you briefly mentioned earlier how having the opportunity to work at Sterling Castle really kind of made you a true believer in shows like Spooked Scotland, for example, that you touched upon, made you interested in this field as well.

When you think about working at Stirling Castle and the experiences that you've had there, are you able to share some of the the memories and the experiences and the stories that you can think of that really helped capture that essence of of what we've been talking about when it comes to the paranormal in association with Stirling Castle?

17:33

Yeah, I'd absolutely love to.

So I was employee at Stirling Castle from 2018 through to 2022.

Sterling Castle has three famous ghosts that that people are aware of and, and I'll start with this story and then I'll tell you some of my own based on these as well.

17:54

So Sterling Castle has what are called the free lady ghosts.

You've got the green lady, the pink lady and the black lady and castles up and down the country have these kind of colourful lady ghosts.

But I find that the the ones in Sterling Castle have some rather interesting stories.

18:12

The the Green Lady and and local folklores fought to be a an omen of of sorrow.

So whenever she's cited it's believed that a tragedy will befall the castle.

Whenever she's seen the the origin story is very interesting and it dates to Mary Queen of Scots, as so many historical Scottish stories do.

18:35

And then in the 1560s, Queen Mary was staying at Sterling Castle with her maids, who would take turns around watching her at night as she slept.

One of these maids was particularly known for having the gift of foresight, and she'd had a bad feeling one evening that a tragedy was going to befall the queen if she wasn't careful.

18:58

And, and so the, the girl insisted that she take the turn to watch the sleeping Queen Mary instead of the one allotted for that position.

So, so bear in mind, this girl's been up all day and there's no offering to sit up all night as well to watch the Queen sleep.

So as Mary rests, this girl sits with the candle and watches the queen.

19:20

But as time goes on and goes on and goes on, she, she starts to feel her eyelids getting heavier and that sense of urgency and alarm starts to, to go away.

And she thinks to herself, you know, I, I could sleep for a couple of minutes.

She'll be fine.

What's the worst that could happen?

19:37

And so the girl falls asleep and drops the candle, which then puts all the bed linen on fire that the Queen's sleeping in.

And when the girl awakes the the bed, the four poster bed is just engulfed in flames.

So the girl very selflessly jumps into the fire and she pulls the queen out, but is in herself endured so much that she unfortunately passes away now.

20:03

The the girl in question always wore a green dress and so people believe that the green lady is her and she's been seen time and time again ever since.

Rumor has it she was seen just before the Jacobite siege of the castle in 1746 and she was seen as armies left and as governors passed away.

20:25

And her her being seen as fought to be this kind of omen of doom where the some tragedy is going to befall the castle.

And now she was seen not not by me, but during my time at the castle, one of the cleaners saw the green lady allegedly while cleaning the Chapel Royal.

20:46

And she felt this presence.

Now this is a a no nonsense woman.

I'm talking about as working classes.

They come not scared by anything.

And she felt this presence and she said to me not long after it, she's like, Jack, people are going to think I am mad, but I felt her anger before I even saw her.

21:06

And when she turned around, there's this woman standing up at the very top of the up at the entrance doorway, just absolutely caked in this green glow and, and she refused to to clean back there ever again.

She, she continued her employment at the castle.

21:21

But this is a a woman who nothing scared her.

And that, that really shook me up a little bit, to be honest.

Never saw the green lady myself.

We can, we can be thankful, but it's an interesting story.

The The second of these is the Pink Lady and the story goes about her that she was the daughter of a governor of the castle.

21:45

When the castle was being used as a military Garrison, which it was from the mid 1700s up until 1964 and allegedly fell in love with one of the the privates who who worked guarding the gate and on one of their romantic trusts kissing at the sentry box.

22:05

The the private and the governor's daughter were indeed caught.

The soldier was either imprisoned or dismissed, depending on which version of the story you want to believe.

But the unfortunate end result is the same, that the girl took her own life by jumping from the castle walls into the valley below.

22:27

The presence of the Pink Ladies fought to be announced by the smell of a floral perfume and by a an overwhelming feeling of sadness.

And this was a feeling that was reported mostly by female visitors to the castle.

And you'd have the occasional visitor come up to you and tell you about a experience that they had that was a little bit out of the ordinary.

22:49

And they always reported very, very similar things.

Now, you could argue that they've been primed by reading stories online, but I thought it was such a coincidence that so many would come up to you about this.

And the last of the lady ghosts, the black lady is the one that's least known about.

23:08

There's a a small firing gallery as you enter the castle over the drawbridge to the left.

You can see these little down in the Moat, there's little a firing gallery so soldiers could shoot out onto the drawbridge and into the ground below.

23:23

Now this was cut off by Historic Scotland for, for it being structurally unsafe.

But when I I started working there, it was, it was open for a little while.

And this unfortunate American lady who'd been visiting the castle had went down there to have a look just near closing time.

23:43

And the staff hadn't seen her.

And unfortunately they had to close the gate at the very top of the stairs and went about their duties, closing the castle elsewhere.

Which meant unfortunately that this lady was left overnight.

And the way she told the story was that she was banging and screaming at the gate for so long trying to get the attention of the night time security guard and had been unsuccessful unfortunately.

24:08

And when she stopped the the inevitable screaming and panicking and and started to calm down a little bit, she heard crying behind her in the darkness.

And as she turned round she could see a woman draped head to toe in black standing in the corner and slowly moving towards her.

24:26

At which point the the poor lady fainted with fright and and when she was let back out later on when the security guard was doing it's rounds, she was inconsolable.

Quite a sizeable complaint was made to the the castle and the the story took arms and legs and it it found it's way around the local community as well.

24:46

At which point locals started to explain their experiences that had not just in the castle, but around the area of the the top of Sterling near the castle.

So around the two Kirk yards that border the castle and also a a quite isolated walkway that takes you down the Castle Hill on its E sorry on its West side, called the back walk, where this lady's seen every now and again by a a local or a visitor.

25:15

She doesn't have a back story as far as I'm aware.

Nobody knows her origin.

Nobody knows who she could be.

And that makes it almost even more interesting because it gets your mind a wondering.

So as I joined employment at Sterling Castle, the stories like this were somewhat on my mind all the time.

25:36

But as you go about the day job, you forget about them until you start to have little experiences of your own and an experience that will always stay with me.

I was the, you could rent the castle at night time for private events, usually weddings and, and the sort.

25:54

And on this occasion, myself and one of my colleagues were sitting on a duty which is called fire picket where you, you're, you're basically sitting at an evacuation point in the event of an emergency.

So we're sitting inside the the palace building, which is from the 16th century.

26:11

It was the the home to to James the theft and his second wife, Marie de Geese, and it connects to the the Great Hall and by a small link bridge.

So we're sitting in the King's inner chamber, which is connected to the link bridge, and we're just talking away, just the usual trying to pass the time until we start to hear footsteps on the floor above us.

26:33

The ceilings in this room are very high.

And for anyone who has been to the castle, it is where the, the sterling heads that the replicas of those are sitting on the ceiling.

And they're the King's apartments.

And we hear footsteps above us, which isn't all that unusual because up above it is now a staff room.

26:50

But in former times, these were the, the secret real bedrooms of the, the royal family.

The, the rooms that we're sitting in or that you see on the tour are the ones that they would use for functions and hosting dignitaries and the like.

But they're being awfully loud.

27:06

And at the end of the day there, there's some plaster work hanging from the ceiling.

So we're on the radio and we're like, whoever's up there, you know, stop stomping about, you're gonna, you're gonna upset the, the equipment on the ceiling.

To which the radio responds there, there's nobody up there.

27:22

And we look at each other and we're like, no, there, there's definitely somebody up there.

So we play rock, paper, scissors.

I lose and up I go to discover what's causing this.

In order to get to the staff room, you need to enter one door that has a key code up a flight of stairs and into another door that requires a staff fob, both of which I have and any other staff member will have, but nobody else.

27:48

So I go up the stairs and as I start walking up the stairs, I can hear these footsteps walking around.

They're they're not quiet.

They're, they sound as clear as day, honestly.

And I'm thinking, oh, I'm going to walk in here and I'm going to find a, a guest that's managed to find their way in or a staff member hiding on their break or something like that.

28:08

But honestly, Michelle, this was like something from a horror film.

I opened the secondary door, it scanned my fob, the door opened.

And as soon as that door opened, the noise just stopped.

Not a sound to be heard when you enter the staff room.

28:24

The, the, the door that I've just entered with the key, key fob is the only door in and out.

So nobody can come out of this room past you.

And it's a small corridor enters into a big board boardroom basically.

And nobody could have passed me.

28:40

I would have saw them.

The lights were on and it's very narrow.

And at the time I wasn't the slimmest individual myself.

So no, nobody was getting past me.

Walked into the into the boardroom, done a circuit around it there.

There's nowhere in this room somebody could hide.

28:56

But I wanted to double check just to be safe.

Not a soul insight.

Then it shook me up at at the moment and I was like, this is the stuff of horror films.

Where's the jump skater?

But luckily for me, nothing happened.

I I returned to my colleague downstairs and I said to her, nobody's up there.

29:16

And she was like, yeah, I know.

I, I heard your footsteps and I heard them stop.

And we're like, oh, well, that's weird.

It was, it was, it was really creepy because these these were clear as day.

It's not one of those Oh, you think you might have heard it.

This was just the clearest thing ever.

29:34

And about an hour later we're sat in position and they start again.

And I say, turned this time.

I'm, I'm definitely not going back up.

Absolutely not.

That would be a cold day in hell.

You get me back up there.

It's interesting, though, that you know from that, from that account that you just shared, how it's something that could be verified via your colleague in the sense that you went upstairs to check this out and came down and their recollection and their understanding of that matched in the sense that they heard you go and the sounds stop in the same way.

30:13

Well, Mr. confirming what you just said.

So it's fascinating that you know, you both had the same experience, even though that you weren't going and exploring the upstairs together.

It's something that they picked up on too, based on the sounds themselves still continuing until it stopped, just as you kind of had observed and told in the in the account that you just gave.

30:34

It's interesting that it matches up.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I, I was so glad in a sense that it did because I think sometimes if you experience it on your own, you, you wonder if you're maybe going slightly mad.

And so it was nice to have a, a colleague verify that the experience I'd had and that I wasn't just, you know, making things up to myself or, or having some kind of episode.

30:58

It's it's always nice to get that confirmation.

How frequently would instances like this happen to you and to others?

I mean, the castle itself has such a reputation as being one of the most haunted places in the world, but that's something that everybody touts, isn't it?

31:13

Whenever you look at a location that claims to have paranormal activity, you know, this is the most haunted pub, this is the most haunted castle.

You see it all the time.

What would you say for someone who who listens to this and thinks, yeah, of course, you know how?

31:31

How frequently were sightings and reports shared amongst staff and shared amongst visitors to kind of live up to that claim if you like?

Understandable.

Absolutely.

And and I will say before, before I go on as well that there's no agenda here and I, I get nothing from telling anyone this, but the, there would be, there'd be stories and reports on an almost weekly basis.

31:57

Sometimes, you know, there there'd be bigger gaps and other times there'd be fewer.

And a a lot of the, the stories would feature around the same building, which is the, the palace complex built by James the 5th and finished in 1542.

32:13

The the upper floor that I mentioned in my story there is where most of these would happen.

And most of these stories revolved around phantom children.

The there would be often heard rather than seen.

And they, they had a particular liking for one of my colleagues and an older gentleman and former police officer and a little part time job guiding in his retirement.

32:39

And again, as a former policeman.

This is a a no nonsense individual.

He's, he's lived it and he's seen it all.

But as he was opening in the mornings, he would go up to what's now called the Sterling Heads Gallery, which any of you, when you're at the castle, please go and visit.

32:57

It's especially creepy.

He would hear the the footsteps almost running towards him on the regular and he described it in such a specific way that he could tell that they were bare feet rather than feet wearing shoes simply by the way that they hit the wood and it it would shake him up.

33:18

He he would go and do it every morning nonetheless, but more often than not, he would be having this experience almost on a a weekly bi weekly basis.

Visitors.

It depends.

A a lot of visitors, I think wouldn't, wouldn't actually tell you about their experiences too much because regardless of being a staff member, you are a stranger to them.

33:41

And quite often they were afraid, I think, of feeling judged or ostracized, which they wouldn't have been.

But you know, you can never tell these things during, during the, the pandemic, there was this quite vast increase in activity when the castle was open, it was open to more limited numbers.

34:04

The castle was quieter.

You're looking at about free visitors to every staff member.

So, so not so much.

And people suddenly had this confidence to tell you about things that were happening that they they normally wouldn't.

34:20

And, and I'm not sure if that's with it being quieter, activity was getting noticed more, perhaps.

I don't know if other places have had similar sort of upsurges in activity during the pandemic period.

But the, the way we operated the castle changed and, and we'd have a staff member assigned to each area of the castle.

34:43

And I was often assigned to the, the kitchens, which are, are subterranean.

They, they sit, they sit underneath a, a level of ground and they, they are quite eerie.

They're they're full of mannequins which like creep me the hell out at the best of times and almost on a daily occurrence.

35:01

And it would always be a lady would always say, you know, I felt somebody's hand on my shoulder guiding me along.

They, they weren't describing being pushed.

They, they were describing the, the feeling of a hand on their shoulder, almost like gently guiding them.

35:19

And it kept happening like once or twice a week or that I'd be getting told this story by different, different ladies and, and it all came to a head.

One time there was a, an elderly Scottish couple leaving the the kitchens.

35:35

And she was like, if you do that again, you're getting a slap.

And he was like, I didn't even do anything.

And I was like, I just asked him, are, are are you OK?

Like, has something happened that I should know about?

And the, the wife was like, oh, don't worry, my, my husband's just playing tricks on me and pushing me and grabbing my shoulder.

35:53

And he was absolutely insistent that he had not done this.

And you know that the, the castle would have activity like this almost on a weekly basis.

The, the, the castle is super active.

And that's not something that the, the operator of the castle historic environment Scotland likes to talk about.

36:13

And they don't like to promote that aspect, which is what I think makes it more interesting when these these things happen because there's not people aren't usually being built up to have these experiences.

36:30

They're usually coming to the castle for the history rather than for the ghosts.

Whereas you might go to to Castle Mingus, for example, for the ghosts, Sterling Castle doesn't often have that draw for people.

So when you get the paranormal experiences, that's really something.

36:47

And something very compelling in that if it's not something known, like you mentioned the the account of the the black lady ghost, if that's not particularly well known and yet you have people having similar and shared experiences, there's something very confirming about that.

37:04

And again, also if there's hotspots of activity for which you regularly get reports about things that again, aren't particularly well known and put out there, again, very confirming, which makes it rather compelling I think.

37:21

Yeah, exactly.

I I couldn't agree more.

And looking up ghost stories about Sterling Castle, if if you do this online, you'll, you'll find the the pink Lady and the green lady more so.

And you'll hear another story about a phantom soldier of which there is a a famous picture taken back in the 1930s.

37:41

But all these other ones are not well reported and you don't see much about them online.

So anyone who's interested in the paranormal or who's, who's looking to have an experience like that isn't going to have these these ideas in their head.

37:59

So when they do have the experience, it seems a lot more genuine.

As the days grow shorter and the wind tonight draw near, the chill in the air invites us to gather closer to the fire, where the flickering flames dance like spectres in the dark.

38:21

It's during these colder months that our spectral journey deepens, revealing even more chilling tales and unsolved enigmas.

But as we step into January and February, we'll also feel the warmth of love in the air.

They, perhaps with a few ghosts still lingering nearby.

38:39

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39:03

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39:21

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39:41

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40:03

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40:26

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41:16

Every contribution fuels our pursuit of unearthly truths.

So, dear listeners, as the fire crackles and the wind howls outside, let us return to the mysteries that beckon from beyond the veil.

What spectres await, What secrets lie dormant, waiting to be unearthed.

41:38

Let us venture forth, for the journey into the unknown has only just begun.

And something that always really interests me is that, you know, we we have sites like Sterling Castle, which obviously has this very rich history of which there are certain historical events, certain historical figures for whom their stories have endured their their history and their legacy has endured.

42:09

And we can see that quite clearly in some of the ghost law that surrounds that location.

But then this plethora of other activity that could be linked to that or could be completely separate in its own right.

And you know, something that always intrigues me is what that paranormal source of activity where it stems from, you know, is this a case of, is this a case of maybe energy attracting other energy?

42:37

Is it a case of our expectation encouraging that type of activity and that experience?

It opens up so many questions that I find really quite intriguing when it comes to locations like this that does seem to have such an array of different type of experiences and reports that make it really rather compelling when you start to analyse and tease apart the details and the the differences in the experiences themselves.

43:05

Yeah, you're, you're absolutely spot on.

And what what I like about Sterling Castles Go Slower is that it's rather unique from the rest of Scotland and that it's quite possibly the only Scottish castle that is not either haunted by Mary Queen of Scots or or by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

43:25

These two seem to be very, very busy ghosts and they seem to haunt every historic building up and down the country.

So when, when we talk about events shaping ghost lore and our expectations, Sterling Castle takes these and froze them to the side.

43:43

When, when we're speaking about the paranormal and instead gives you these new stories that are, that are unique to that area and that building, which I think give us some interest in the, the small everyday stories of the, the more regular people that made this castle work and made it what it absolutely what it became.

44:04

And I I find that incredibly fascinating.

And you obviously mentioned earlier that you also work at Bannockburn House, that, you know, you're the current operations manager there, which again, is often called Scotland's most haunted house.

44:20

What are some of the most noticeable paranormal experiences that you've witnessed or heard about there?

I'll go on a little bit of a tangent here about Bannockburn House.

I think a lot of people might not have heard of Bannockburn House outside of the the the Scottish people who are interested in the paranormal.

44:41

Bannockburn House is a 17th century Mansion House located in Bannockburn, which is just a a mile South of of Stirling.

The the grounds that this house sits on were part of the the battlefields of both the Battle of Bannock Burn in 1314 and the Salki Burn in 1488.

45:01

So long before this house was built.

There's already this bloody aura about the place.

You know, it's, it's already set up to be haunted before the house is even built.

But the house is built by the 1st Baronet of Bannockburn.

45:19

Hugh Patterson and the Pattersons of Bannockburn are very interesting people.

They are staunch Royalists and later in history staunch Jacobites.

And because of this, in 1745 and in 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite army spend time at Bannockburn House and in September of 45 they spend one night there on their way towards Edinburgh where they'll fight the Battle of Preston Pans.

45:51

And in 1746 on their retreat N Charlie stays at the house for several weeks.

And this is important when we're talking about the paranormal later because the the house is used as a military headquarters and a military hospital as the the Jacobite Army wins its very last victory at Falkirk Muir on January the 17th.

46:13

Following that, the the house goes between multiple different families, the the Wilsons and the Maitlands and and last but not least, the Drakes.

And a lot of these families have very sad stories and a lot of people pass away in the house.

46:32

And in 2017 the the Community by Bannockburn House, it's the biggest community buyout in UK history at the time.

The community raises £850,000 to buy the house.

And almost from the beginning I was a volunteer at the house.

46:51

We're doing work to to make the house watertight, to understand its history, to promote it and to do tours.

And from day one the people start reporting just strange goings on within the house.

47:07

And Bannockburn House is not one at the time that is well known to the people of Sterling.

A few people know it exists but most people have no idea because it's not signposted.

It's hidden away, which is now at the the junction of a a motorway slip road.

47:26

And as a result of that, there's no major folklore around it from the local area.

And, and that makes it very interesting because as the community are working to bring the house back up to speed and, and get it watertight and have visitors in, we, we start to have a lot of very, very strange experiences and, and still do up until this very day.

47:54

Now that I'm the operations manager, I, I'm a key holder for the house.

I often open the house in the mornings for volunteer days or to have contractors in and the like.

And I'm not gonna lie, every morning I do that, I'm looking over my shoulder and and watching out.

48:13

Because you hear noise and you hear activity in this house all the time.

You hear footstep, you hear conversations, albeit destined, you still hear them.

You, you hear banging and rattling, doors opening and shutting, all these classic haunting activities.

48:33

Bannockburn House does them.

I think the, the, the most notable event I can recall was we, we were doing a, a paranormal night.

It had, we had a group over from down South somewhere doing an investigation and we're standing in the, the kitchen block now.

48:53

As you look out the door from the kitchen block, there is a a hallway and there's some stairs going up and the landing of these stairs are one of these glow in the dark fire evacuation panels.

The ones that glow in the dark and they kind of met like a a creepy green glow to them.

49:13

So I was standing at the door and I was just looking at it.

All the other lights were out.

It was the the only vaguely interesting thing to look at.

It had been a a slow night activity wise.

The the group weren't having much luck.

And all of a sudden something stood in the way of this panel.

49:33

Now it was dark, pitch black.

I couldn't see what what this thing was, but the panel just all of a sudden wasn't there.

I turned to the group and I said to them, look, there's someone standing on that landing there.

Can somebody shine their torch?

49:50

And when they do shine the torch, there's nothing there.

The the panel is there.

The panel's still glowing the way it normally does, but there there's absolutely nothing standing in front of the panel.

And that that chills me.

50:05

I've got the chills just now just thinking about it because I've never felt that way before.

That was that was really something like the way that a presence could affect your mind and body all at once was just just staggering.

50:22

And the households, this immense energy, and I think because it's not busy, because it's not a tourist hotspot, that energy lingers undisturbed and is more powerful at Bannockburn House than it is anywhere else in the area.

50:39

And just kind of thinking back to the details that you were able to bring when it comes to Sterling Castle in terms of identifying some of the key locations where a lot of the activity seemed to happen and figures that were associated with Sterling Castle.

When you think about Bannockburn House, does it similarly have areas, hotspots that are particularly more active than others and entities or spirits that again make themselves presents their presence known in certain areas over others?

51:12

Yeah, absolutely.

I can regale you with many stories here on the ground floor of the house E facing there's a a room that when we took over the house was labeled as the morning room.

Beautiful, beautiful room with this gorgeous sash window that when, when you open the shutters, looks out onto the gardens and you, you can see the local hills in the distance.

51:36

It's absolutely beautiful.

But there is there's always a feeling of not being alone in this room.

And when we first took over the house, we, we had a volunteer who in his youth, an elderly man now, but in in his youth worked in the gardens at Bannockburn House during one of the last owner's tenure, a lady Anne Mitchell, who was known locally simply as Missus Mitchell.

52:02

And he told us that she she would like to sit in the sash window and watch the watch the gardeners at work.

And when they came to receive their pay at the end of the day, she'd refused to let them in because they'd they'd drag mud across her carpet.

52:18

So she'd hand the money out the window.

And he'd come to one of the other volunteers one day saying, oh, I I didn't realize that Miss Mitchell was still alive.

I thought she'd passed away years ago.

To which they said, well, yeah, she has.

And he was like, well, I saw her waving at me from the window when I was out in the gardens.

52:37

It reminded me of old times.

And ever since then, when, when you go into that room, you, you do feel this, it's not not a negative energy, but you, you feel like you're not alone.

You, you occasionally feel movement beside you or you'll hear a footstep.

52:54

And a lot of people have got into the habit of just saying, oh, good morning, Missus Mitchell or good evening, Missus Mitchell and just trying to stay on her good side.

And it, it seems to keep the peace also on on the, the ground floor as you get to the kitchen side of the house.

53:10

It normally only happens in the morning from what I've experienced, but you'll hear footsteps and it echoes through the house coming out of the kitchen and up the stairs to towards what would have been the one of the principal bedrooms in the house.

And almost at every morning that somebody will hear something, a footstep, some tapping in that area.

53:32

And it would have been a very common area for servants to go from the kitchen, for example, to take the the Lord and lady of the house breakfast or to serve them in some other way.

And the the the volunteers affectionately call this spirit Mabel.

53:48

As far as I'm aware, there's no reason for this name.

It's just the a fitting name for a, a kitchen maid or a servant.

But Mabel's heard all the time.

And I'll, I'll send you a picture and I'll, I'll put it on Instagram as well.

One, one of one of the volunteers captured an image just this once of a figure standing almost in the doorway of the kitchen.

54:14

And if if you look closely at this picture that you can see the outline of what what appears to be a kitchen maid's uniform, which adds credence to, to the the myth that that's who this spirit is.

As you go upstairs, the the route Mabel takes that takes you onto the 1st floor where you've got the creatively named Bonnie Prince Charlie Room.

54:37

And in 1746, this is where Bonnie Prince Charlie allegedly slept while staying at the house for a few weeks during that January of 1746.

During that time there is a myth that there is an attempt to assassinate him through by gunshot through the window which failed in its objective.

54:57

But the the mythos around that room is never really left and there's a male presence in the room who likes to from experience usher others out and in particularly dislikes women.

55:14

From the stories I've been told, some, some say he's the the bodyguard of the Prince killed during one of the battles fought nearby either the, the siege at Sterling Castle or the battle on Falkirk Muir.

But I, I think in a sense that's people trying to add a, a big historical figure to, to add some folklore to the house.

55:36

This, this male entity could be anyone from a generation upon generation of Bannockburn baronets and their male attendants.

This, this could be absolutely anybody.

But what, what we do know is that it manifests itself through pushing, shoving, and particularly women tend to feel pressure or soreness around their neck in this room.

56:03

I, I honestly can't explain it at all.

We, we, we had so many groups and, and I'm not even just talking about ghost hunting groups.

Like we'd have history tours in the room and there'd be ladies saying, no, you know, my, my neck's really sore all of a sudden.

I can feel quite a lot of pressure on my neck and you'd tell them all, you know, to try stepping out into the hallway or coming outside or just getting them out the room.

56:28

And almost the minute they they cross the threshold out of the room that the paint stops.

It was, it was incredibly strange, but the most the most terrifying one that I can think of.

I could go on for hours.

So I'll make this my last one for now.

But opposite that room, there's a small, a small ante room, which we, we don't actually know the room's original purpose at the, the time of the house being built.

56:55

It's got a small fireplace in it, but that, that doesn't really give away its purpose.

But we had a group in one time doing a night of mediumship and one of the get, they were using this room as a kit room like that.

They had no interest in it whatsoever.

57:13

And one of the guys went in to get his kit and right in front of him, clear as day, this man saw an elderly man standing at the fireplace as if he was warming his hands at some unseen fire.

And this man was furious to see the the the ghost hunter come in and, and allegedly walked straight towards him and threw him.

57:36

And this man left the house straight away, a veteran of God knows how many ghost hunts.

And this man refused to come back to the house.

And this is somebody who's objective is is to have a paranormal experience.

That's how much it scared this man.

57:53

And following that, more and more experiences started happening in this room, always with this angry old man.

And it came to a head in November of 2023.

A group of a group, another paranormal research group were in and they left their audio equipment running in this room.

58:14

They, they locked the room up.

Well, let's say I locked the room up at their request.

Myself and my colleague had the only keys to the room and we're with them the full time.

Their their idea is to try and capture some audio phenomenon.

A few days after the event, the, the gentleman running the group phoned me and he said, you're not going to believe this, but we got some really good Evps and, and I'm, I'm always skeptical when I hear the word EVP, you're going to hear like some static or a crackle or something.

58:46

But the file he sent me, it blew me away.

Honest, honestly, this was almost a full minute of somebody screaming, get out, leave, get out, just screaming full force and into this this device and it stays with me.

59:04

And whenever I open the house in the morning or or close it at night, that's always at the back of my mind.

I honestly for the life of me cannot shake it.

You know, location has to be really good when the piece, the person that you're speaking to says, oh, I could tell you stories for hours about this location.

59:24

It's clearly a place, though, that lives up to some of that reputation of being a really haunted location.

When you have this, again, this plethora of experiences.

And as you mentioned, many of these experiences aren't out there in the public domain.

59:40

But yet you as someone who worked there are able to make this connection of someone's experience linked to others who are using that room who would have no connection to each other.

But again, reporting similar things, having similar experiences like you mentioned with women who enter this room where they have this feeling around their neck, where they're having this pressure applied to their neck.

1:00:06

That's something very unique and verifiable in the sense that you've got an account that others are experiencing for whom there are no connection as to being able to come up with that story together.

And, you know, it certainly adds that credibility to that experience when you have it happening more than once in the same location with the same kind of feelings attached to that.

1:00:31

And then the way that it ends in, in the way that you mentioned, with it almost stopping immediately when those women left that space, It's, it's fascinating.

Yeah, absolutely is.

And I, I think what's interesting about experiences like that is almost it, it can somewhat reveal an agenda on the part of the, the spirit or the, the entity that's causing these, these hauntings.

1:00:58

Why, why does it end when they leave the room?

Is, is the objective to get them out?

And quite possibly, and I think in a way, and in my head, a spirit like that is maybe an attendant to a former owner of the house who still finds it inappropriate for a lady to be entering his lordship space or something like that.

1:01:22

And it's it's nice to think of a an, an everyday story and a very popular British ghost story template as that of the faithful retainer holding on to their work long after they've passed.

And I think it it makes the place feel familiar in a really strange way.

1:01:41

And just kind of thinking further afield from the the two locations that we've talked about in terms of the wider general area of Sterling.

I mean, we talked earlier about the the rich history and the connection with some really rather quite brutal conflicts and unique conflicts that maybe aren't as well known compared to others.

1:02:03

Do you have any particular stories or encounters that kind of reflect that presence that still lingers as a result of of those experiences in terms of hauntings across the wider area of Sterling or even maybe Sterling Castle and Bannockburn houses themselves?

1:02:21

There are a lot of stories regarding Sterling Castle in particular that I think make their way out of the castle almost and and into the the streets of the Old Town as well.

And what one that I was always told growing up relates to a rather dark event at Sterling Castle in which James the Second very brutally murders the Earl of Douglas and his retainers when they when they visit the castle and when their bodies leave the castle, they're they're dragged behind horses through through the streets as that they're they're sent back to to their their followers who are staying inside the city on Broad Street in the city center.

1:03:13

That's one of the the many streets cobbled that leads up to the castle.

And locals at night often report here in the the clip clop of the the horses feet coming down the the street and the sound of a a somewhat shuffling sound of of something being dragged.

1:03:32

And as the story spells out of the castle and and into the streets of the city.

And as generations go on, the the story tends to disappear until all of a sudden it will reappear with a visitor to the city.

1:03:49

A tourist, for example, will will experience it and a lot of people like to go up to the the castle Esplanade at night time because the castles lit up and that primes them to have these experiences almost as well because it's the at night time, it's the only time the city is quiet.

1:04:08

So all of a sudden you're hearing and noticing things that might stillwell be happening during the day, but because of the noise pollution and the busyness, you're not, you're not noticing them.

And I find that fascinating one that I saw on a blog recently that I've I've tried to get in touch with the person about was a, a very, very unknown event that happened in, in 1648 in the city during the wars of the three Kingdoms.

1:04:41

And royalist soldiers entered the through the the city walls on the the western side through a a small doorway and fought their way up towards a building just below the castle called Mars work, which is this really imposing ruined townhouse that that sits just below the castle and, and adjacent to the, the graveyards that that attaches itself to the castle.

1:05:10

So this very small battle of Stirling was a, a skirmish that would have lasted about half a day.

And we, we, we don't know how many casualties it it would have resulted in, but they, they would have been minimal.

Some somewhere around the 50 mark would be a, a good guess.

1:05:27

Very, very few people know about this this event.

As someone who grew up in the city and is fascinated by history and I I didn't even learn about it until just a few years ago.

And this, this American gentleman put on the blog that as he was walking past the the Highland Hotel, which is adjacent to where the the former gate used to be, he smelled gunpowder and all of a sudden heard bangs and shouts as if he was himself stuck in the middle of this this gun battle.

1:06:06

And there it's very unlikely this man would have had any prior knowledge to this whatsoever.

He's just someday here on a day trip from Edinburgh, you know, he he wants to see the Battle of Bannockburn and Sterling Bridge and all all the things that Sterling's famous for.

I find it hard to imagine he's thinking about a small skirmish in 1648.

1:06:26

And it's just fascinating the, the Sterling seems to do this time and time again.

Is it?

It reveals the smaller stories rather than focusing on these huge names, you know?

And I love how that comes full circle.

Yeah, it's, it's amazing when it happens though, isn't it?

1:06:45

Because it's, it's like stumbling across that little nugget that you just that just raises the hair on the back of your neck.

Because like you said here, you've got a lesser known location, a lesser known element of history that someone is, is sharing an experience of that does raise that question.

1:07:06

How on earth could they possibly kind of bring that to the fore in terms of, of having that knowledge when it's, it's not particularly well known across Sterling itself?

It's, again, it's that compelling aspect to it that makes it really rather interesting.

1:07:21

And, and the fact that it sits alongside some of the, the famous, the famous hauntings and experiences that, you know, most people would be more familiar with.

Again, just shows that rich variety of experiences and paranormal reports and history and all the things that we've been talking about that Sterling really does have to offer.

1:07:44

Yeah, absolutely right.

And it makes me wonder if perhaps going in unexpecting and theoretically going in blind maybe makes you more susceptible to to these kind of activities because you're not priming yourself and you're not hyper focusing and looking for certain activity.

1:08:07

I wonder sometimes if that opens people up actually to having more experiences.

Absolutely.

I think that's a really valid point.

And again, something I've thought about myself, it's that it's the mindset that you have going in that I think so often times either generates or doesn't generate anything at all, depending on how you approach the situation.

1:08:29

And I think if you're going into into an area into the kind of the history and exploring the kind of history that that Sterling has, it's that openness.

I think that again, potentially draws in the type of experiences that we're that we're talking about.

1:08:49

And one that if you're not hyper focused on certain things like you, that like you just touched upon, it opens you up to all the possibilities as opposed to that very narrow perspective that you might be looking for.

And I think when you have that narrow perspective, you could be missing certain things.

1:09:08

I mean, I think as human beings, we are pretty terrible sometimes as as observers, as listeners to what's happening around us.

And so I think if we can shut ourselves off from the noise and the expectations of what we think should be happening or what we want to experience, then suddenly the whole world opens up.

1:09:29

And you might very well catch something that ordinarily you would have missed because you were so focused on something else or waiting for something else to happen, or that expectation of something very specific about to happen.

And of course, when you don't have that, like I said, the world's open to anything, any possibility really coming through.

1:09:51

Yeah, you, you put that so well.

I think the anticipation and the expectation of a, a very specific thing, I think can sometimes switch us off to everything else going on around us.

And I, I always find that when people come to these places, whether it's Bannockburn House or Sterling Castle or anywhere else for that matter, if you come with the, the expectation, Oh well, that this is the story of this paranormal activity, That's what I'm going to look for.

1:10:23

You're, you're missing out on all these, these other events and activities.

So when you go to Sterling Castle and you've read the stories about the, the green lady, for example's sake, and you're looking for that, that green glow and the feeling of abject dread.

1:10:40

You're maybe switching yourself off to the, the footsteps or that little nudge on your shoulder.

And maybe we can, we can all learn a little bit from that and go in with a, a greater openness when we're looking for interactions on a, a paranormal level.

1:10:57

And besides the the two locations that we've talked about that you've had the privilege of working at in the past and currently working at, you've also worked at Doone Castle.

Do you want to share maybe a little bit about what makes that site unique in terms of its paranormal history?

1:11:14

Doone Castle was was one that I didn't spend a whole lot of time at and it has an absolutely 0 reputation as a haunted location whatsoever.

It was built in the the 14th century by the the Stuart Dukes of Mentif and Albany and it was originally going to be this this grand house for some relatives of the the Stuart dynasty, but later on became basically a hunting lodge for the the Royal house.

1:11:46

It's history isn't very well documented.

It's been occupied by several armies throughout the many bloody conflict Scotland's experienced through multiple Jacobite rebellions, civil wars, but as far as we know it's never been fought over there.

1:12:06

There's no record to suggest that, which is what makes it an interesting haunted location.

I was working there 1 summer it was.

I was the only staff member in the building at the time.

There was 2 visitors and that was it.

1:12:23

There was my colleague was on break sitting at a cottage which is just separate from the castle building.

And it was this lovely couple from New Zealand who had been in, they were exploring on their own.

I was just standing at the gate.

So if they needed anything they could come and speak to me.

1:12:40

And the, the woman on the way out looked quite shaken up and I just asked her are you OK?

Because she was, she was white as she honestly, and she was like, I, I didn't like the way that, that your colleague was looking at me.

1:12:57

And I thought, oh, well, that's strange because I'm the only one that's immediately here.

I'll go have a look in case somebody's come back from break.

And I've just not noticed them.

But, but similarly to earlier as as you enter Dune Castle through the gate, it's, it's the only way in and out.

1:13:14

So I thought, how have I missed my colleague?

And what more importantly, like what have they done?

So I'd done a route of the castle, not a soul to be seen.

And I said to her, I was like, listen, I'm not trying to, to gaslight you here, but I'm the only staff member here and you 2 are the only visitors.

1:13:34

So can you tell me what's happened?

To which she said they they were in, in one of the, the dining rooms.

And above this room, there's a, a small doorway which looks onto a flight of stairs.

1:13:50

Well, only just temporarily, like a, a very small field of vision.

But she insisted clear as day.

She saw a man standing there looking down at them and it made her feel very uncomfortable.

And when she she called out to him to greet him, he didn't move.

1:14:09

And he, he just kept looking at them.

And when I asked what she was wearing, what sorry what he was wearing, and she she couldn't answer me because in in her own words, she was so transfixed by his face staring at them that that she couldn't have told me what he was actually wearing.

1:14:30

Oh, she could say for definite was that he was wearing dark clothes, which is strange because the the staff uniforms a white shirt with this hideous blue tart and tie it it could not have been a staff member.

There was no other visitors, but that this woman was insistent.

1:14:46

I, I like to think I can tell when people are being honest.

She was incredibly shaken up and incredibly upset.

And it was, it was just a strange experience because in, in my head up until that point, you know, Doon Castle isn't a haunted location.

1:15:01

There's no stories.

There's no, there's no nothing.

It's, it's not known as a paranormal location.

It's known more as a film location.

You know, people have seen it in Outlander and Game of Thrones and the like.

But when you hear Duncastle, your first thought is not ghosts.

1:15:19

And I thought a lot about that experience at my time working there.

And near the end of my service, I'd, I'd had no experiences myself whatsoever until close one evening And me and another colleague were, we're walking around together and I, I heard the this kind of stomping noise on the ground.

1:15:42

And I turned to her because it was that time when, if you remember when creepers were popular, the kind of platform shoes that more alternative girls like to wear.

And I was like, you're going to stop stomping your feet.

It's really annoying.

And she's like, I'm not stomping my feet.

I said to you absolutely are.

1:15:59

We're about to have an argument right there.

I was like, don't cast like me.

And she was like, I swear I didn't.

And I was like, yeah, OK, whatever.

Go and go and lock the door and I'll meet you back downstairs.

So now where she went disappeared out of view.

1:16:15

I'm like closing the windows in the shutters.

And I hear it again and I turn around to berate this poor girl and she's not there.

I, I radio for her and I'm like, where are you?

She says, I'm down at the entrance waiting for you.

I look out the window and there she is right enough.

1:16:32

She's she's not telling me a lie.

But these loud footsteps that that were just echoing through the room were, were as real as you or I are.

It was, it was honestly really something.

And in this regard, there's nothing to Primus.

1:16:50

There are no ghost stories.

There's no oh, this historic figure, this tragic event.

Doon Castle doesn't have these.

And which, similar to stories earlier, leaves you open to some interpretation and to think about the the stories of what must be the everyday because there's no major events associated to to 'cause that haunting in and of itself.

1:17:17

It was, it was really, it was a really bizarre experience.

So having had the the privilege of working at some of these incredible locations, what advice would you give to someone or what would you say to someone who, who maybe is of this the skeptical mindset?

1:17:37

You know, what would you say to them about the experiences that you've had in terms of maybe trying to give that other perspective and see see it from the experiences that you've had yourself and and have had reported to you?

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion and it's always good to, to look at these things with a skeptic mind.

1:18:01

But it's very easy to tear apart someone else's stories without knowing the the details or without experiencing it yourself.

And what I would say to, to people who are feeling a bit more skeptical about this is to, it's to understand that myself and a lot of my colleagues present in these stories were also skeptical that were not people who are, they're, they're not people who are natural believers and they're people who don't want to be embarrassed or get ridiculed, which you often do when, when you tell a, a, a story about a paranormal experience.

1:18:44

I, I, I can't always speak for them, but I, I can speak for myself when I say that whenever something happens to me, I will look up and down for a way to explain it.

They've had loads of events, loads of experiences where yes, I, I can find out a natural explanation to these and I'm always looking for them.

1:19:03

And I believe fully that those of us who are believers are also looking for that.

We're always looking to find the natural scientific explanation for this, and quite often we do.

But in these stories I've told, these are the times where I could not do that.

1:19:23

And I tried my best.

And my colleagues in these stories have all tried their best.

And we cannot think of anything that would cause these.

Things I cannot think of what would cause the the sensation of having your shoulder grabbed or or having yourself feel like you're being pushed along.

1:19:42

You can say yes, maybe that's one person's a little bit not well or you know, they're a sandwich short of a picnic.

But when it happens to so many people independently and there's no priming for these things, for example, like the activity at the the castle kitchens, there's.

1:20:04

No stories to to prime them for these events.

How do you explain to all these people who have had the same experience that it's not real?

You know that there is something there.

And as it stands, science cannot explain this.

1:20:21

Maybe one day it can, but at the moment it absolutely cannot.

And I would encourage people who are more skeptical just to, to go in with an open mind.

A lot of people who tell these stories risk ridicule and being discredited by those around them.

1:20:38

And I think it, in some cases, it can be quite brave to, to come forward about these.

And you know, I'm, I'm not trying to convince anyone to believe or to, to change how they view the paranormal, but I would say go in with an open mind and hear people out.

1:20:55

And, you know, I always say that, you know, it's kind of walking that line between the two, isn't it?

You have to be open to the possibility, but also open to the, the very real things that could be behind some of the experiences.

You know, as you mentioned, you look up, you look down, you look left, you look right for what it could be as well.

1:21:15

And I, and I think if you can walk that middle line and just be open.

And that applies to if you're a skeptic, if you're a believer, whatever viewpoint you have, if you can be open minded and at least be open minded to hearing what other people think and believe, then I think that's a positive start, to be honest.

1:21:34

That's always a good place to begin.

Yeah, absolutely.

You can never go wrong with an open mind and you lose nothing from it because an open mind doesn't mean you have to take people's word, it doesn't mean you have to change your own beliefs.

1:21:50

It is just being open to the possibility and, and not shutting yourself off in the same way sometimes believers can, can shut themselves off against evidence on occasion.

You know, it's, it's a meet in the middle sort of incident and we we could all benefit from that.

1:22:10

So Jack, just kind of coming full circle and and coming back to you and, and your plans.

Do you have anything that you're looking forward to coming up?

Any plans, any future plans for For True For True North Paranormal that you want to share with people listening?

1:22:29

Well, True North Paranormal is a it's a project that I started with my wife about a couple of months ago and are looking to develop it too, will take the form of a podcast of which we've recorded, but but not quite finished a couple of episodes on the the first of which will will cover Bannockburn house.

1:22:50

So if anyone's interested to keep up with what we're going to do there, you can find us on Instagram at true dot N dot paranormal.

And we're what we want in in the long run is to to share some more of these obscure stories that you and I have been talking about on this podcast.

1:23:10

And to take away from the, the major ones that everybody already knows and try and shed some light on the smaller ones and what they tell us about local culture and history and how they all tie in.

So that that's our next big project for, for my daily work life as well.

1:23:31

Bannockburn House at the moment is going through a, a period of closure.

We've received some quite severe water ingress and as as we've had to close to the public, unfortunately the the money that the house has is, is wearing Finn and there's only one paid staff member and that is me.

1:23:51

And and I'm I'm paid for grant funding.

So everything else is volunteer driven and volunteer pushed.

And at this moment Bannockburn House is under severe threat through water damage and could potentially not open again for several years if the the work to to fix this isn't complete.

1:24:16

If anyone was interested in the stories I've told about Bannockburn House or wants to learn more, they can contact me on my e-mail address which is Admin at Bannockburn house dot Scott.

That's Scott with just one T.

I'll repeat that.

Admin at Bannockburn house dot Scott.

1:24:33

You can feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you want to know anything more.

I can tell you more about the house and if anyone is feeling even the tiniest little bit generous and would like to donate to the house, you can find that on our website as well in order to save the roof and to keep the house going and keep the ghost stories flowing for the the next forever.

1:24:56

I'm so grateful that you shared that because I was going to ask precisely that if there's any way that if people are, you know, if they're so way inclined, having listened to the stories that you shared to be able to help in any way.

So I will make sure to also include those links that you've just mentioned for Bannock Burn House, as well as part of the podcast description notes and, and, and do my best to get that out there as well as obviously signposting people to your Instagram page, etcetera, that you just referenced.

1:25:27

So I will make sure to include as much of those details as I can so that people can find some of the locations that you've mentioned and of course, yourself, because you know, it's been such a pleasure to chat to you.

I'm, I'm very much looking forward to the podcast adventure that you're going on because I think you're a natural Jack.

1:25:48

So I'm, I'm looking forward to more stories that I'll get to listen to to about the locations that you you're planning on talking about.

It sounds really exciting.

Thank you so much and thank you for saying those kind things.

It means a lot coming from yourself.

1:26:05

I've been a long time fan of the podcast.

I've been a listener from almost the very beginning.

And, and to, to be on this is a great honour.

And, and yeah, I, I look forward to this podcast journey too.

I'm going to take a lot of notes from yourself on, on how it's done.

1:26:21

And hopefully we can do something with it.

And on the side, hopefully we can, we can save Bannock burn house as well and keep it as a community asset for the rest of time.

And I encourage anyone to, even if if you're not interested in True North or in Bannockburn House, if you want any more information, any more ghost stories or any elaboration on on anything I've talked about on the podcast, feel free to contact me either on the e-mail address or or on Instagram at True North Paranormal and I'll get back to you because these stories are so important and it is my passion to be sharing them with you.

1:27:02

Honestly, Jack, it's been such a pleasure and like I said, you are a real natural.

So I I look forward to hearing more from you.

And honestly, thank you so much for your time and I'll say goodbye to everybody listening.

Bye everybody.

Thank you for joining us on this journey into the unknown.

1:27:24

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