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Wee Hughie

In 1964, Dr A.R.G. Owen, a Fellow of Trinity College, Cam bridge and a director of the Horizons Research Foundation, Toronto, published Can We Explain the Poltergeist? In this he referred to a poltergeist in Sauchie, Scotland, which was well documented and well witnessed. Dr Owen’s analysis and com ments are most pertinent to an understanding of the poltergeist phenomenon.

Sauchie is just north of Alloa on the river Forth. In 1961 Dr Owen was able to stay in the area and interview several people whom he regarded as ‘responsible’ and who had witnessed the phenomenon and ‘observed it critically’. These were the Rev. T. Lund, MA, BD, a minister of the Church of Scotland, Dr W.H. Nisbet, MB, ChB, a physician, Dr W. Logan, MB, ChB, also a physician and who shared a practice with Dr Nisbet, Dr Logan’s wife (herself a physician) Dr S. Logan, MB, ChB, DPH, and Miss M. Stewart, a teacher at Sauchie Primary School. The focus — or what Maurice Grosse refers to as ‘the epicentre’ — of the case was Virginia Campbell, then eleven years old and the youngest child of the family. She attended the Sauchie Primary School.

Virginia was described as ‘extremely shy’ and her teacher, Miss Stewart, found communication with her difficult. Miss Stewart noted, however, that Virginia made friendships easily, was above average intelligence, creative and artistic and fond of dancing. Generally she was regarded as mature and responsible. Virginia was maturing rapidly during the period of time when the poltergeist activity was under way. She had not yet gone through puberty but this was approaching. During the poltergeist activity Virginia seemed to be upset and emotional but in the circumstances this could hardly be regarded as evidence of ill health, as Dr Owen himself pointed out.

Dr Owen visited the family during the period of poltergeist activity and believed them to be normal and happy, with a good family relationship. Virginia had even christened the poltergeist ‘Wee Hughie’ and was interested in, and perhaps even proud of, him. During the course of the poltergeist’s activity there were several events, particularly between November 1960 to January 1961, which were witnessed by responsible people and these are listed in Dr Owen’s account and summarised below: At teatime on 23 November the family were in the living room when they saw a sideboard move out from the wall a distance of some five inches and move back again, apparently unaided. That night knocking noises were heard all around the house and the Rev. T. Lund came to the house at midnight and heard these sounds. He seems to have narrowed the source down to Virginia’s bedhead under conditions that proved it was not being hit by Virginia or any other person. Lund felt the bedhead vibrating whilst the knocking sounds were heard. He watched a large linen-chest rocking and lifting, travelling some eighteen inches over the floor and sliding back again.

The Rev. Lund also watched Virginia’s pillow rotating through 60 degrees although her head was on it — ‘it seemed quite impossible that she could do this herself’. The Rev. again saw the linen-chest moving and heard knocking noises. On this same day, Thursday 24 November, Dr Nisbet also heard sounds and saw a strange movement on the surface of Virginia’s pillow which he again believed was an effect Virginia could not have created herself. On Friday 25 November Virginia was in school in the afternoon and Miss Stewart saw her apparently trying to hold down the lid of her desk which was raising itself. The teacher saw that Virginia was not raising it herself. The desk immediately behind Virginia, temporarily unoccupied, was also seen by the teacher to rise about an inch off the floor and then settle gently down to its original position. Miss Stewart immediately examined it for ‘strings, levers or anything else’ and found nothing. At school again on Monday, 28 November, Virginia was standing next to Miss Stewart’s desk, away from the table. Her hands were behind her back. A blackboard pointer lying on the desk vibrated, moved and then fell off the desk. Miss Stewart could feel the vibration and could see the desk was moving; the right hand end was swinging around.

On Thursday 29 November Drs W. and S. Logan visited Virginia at a relative’s house where she was staying. They heard many rapping noises centred around Virginia. Although previ ously sceptical about the poltergeist claims Mrs Logan came to believe that the sounds from Virginia’s room were not being caused by anyone in it. Dr Logan, later that night, witnessed Virginia in a trance, giving strangely uninhibited replies to unheard questions. In many poltergeist hauntings (see, in particular, the Enfield (Harpers’) poltergeist case and the Bell Witch case) the focus will have periods of extreme profanity and abusiveness, which seem to be hinted at here. After November the poltergeist activity lessened considerably with one attested occurrence in January when a bowl of bulbs in Miss Stewart’s classroom moved across the top of her desk as the pointer had previously done. Other minor phenomena continued until around March after which they ceased.

Dr Owen commented that the case had five witnesses who were convinced by the strange claims being made. While it would be possible for one person to be the victim of fraud or even of a genuine mistake, it seemed unlikely that all five should be so. Apparently the Rev. Lund believed that the poltergeist originated from within Virginia rather than from an outside entity; Dr Logan and Miss Stewart also suggested this interpretation. Italy | New York | Wiltshire | Activity | Activity | Activity | Borley | Brazil | Brazil | Brazil | Burma | Canada | Corney | East Drive | Edinburgh | Finland | France | France | Germany | Ghostly | Lincoinshire | Manchester | Middlesex | Northern ireland | Northern Romania | Nova Scotia | Paraguay | Phenomena | Poltergeist Information | Scotland | South London | Suffolk | Switzerland | USA | Washington State | West Norwood | Whitechapel |