poltergeist over scotland

Poltergeist Over Scotland is the first publication ever to delve into the history of specifically Scottish poltergeists. It details around 140 shocking cases dating from around 1635 to the modern day. Many of the instances recorded come from the Scottish Society for Psychical Research’s (SSPR) own case files, so we can be sure that they were investigated thoroughly.

The occurrences are organised in chronological order and each case is split into five sections: Phenomena, Sources, Context and Interpretation. As-well as being a great front to back read, this also makes the book a great reference manual.

There are so many interesting poltergeist stories in this book that it is difficult to pick out any individual cases, however one happening that really caught my eye deals with the often over-looked connection between poltergeists and spontaneous combustion. It was reported in Sterling during 1659. A lady by the name of Margaret Gourlay experienced some very strange phenomena indeed.

For a period of around two weeks deadly fires were started wherever the poor woman went. Her bed caught fire on two consecutive days, after a third instance of seemingly spontaneous combustion three more separate fires broke out in her neighbors house. Two days later the strangeness seems to have come to its climax when five fires started up in a barn whilst Mrs Gourlay, who was winding wool at the time, ignored a fire flickering at her feet! She was tried by the local magistrate and convicted of witchcraft, but some other details of this case have led researchers to believe that a fire-bug poltergeist may have been to blame.

Geoff Holder has written around 30 non-fiction books on the paranormal, his other titles include: the Gothic and the gruesome, from “The Jacobites and the Supernatural” and “101 Things to Do with a Stone Circle” to “Scottish Bodysnatchers” and nine titles in “The Guide to the Mysterious…” series, covering everywhere from the Lake District and Loch Ness to Glasgow and Aberdeen. Plus, there are books on hauntings, and similar topics. He is a Welshman with an English accent who lives in Scotland with his French wife. When not writing about poltergeists, demonology or murders, he can be found walking the dog in the peaceful Perthshire countryside.

This book really is worth a read. Holder always sights his sources and although many of the cases come from the SSPR’s files, many of the other instances come from books, newspaper articles and even the national archives. So it would be easy for someone interested in a particular happening to find the original reports and research further for themselves.