The Ballechin House is located near Ballinluig, Highland Perthshire in Scotland. It was inherited by Major Robert Stewart after his father’s death. When Stewart was stationed in India, he rented the mansion out to tenants and moved in when he returned to Scotland and the tenants moved out. It is considered to be the most haunted house in Scotland.
Very little is known about Stewart and his except that he
owned many
dogs and that he believed in reincarnation. His wish was that when he died,
he would come back and occupy the body of his favorite black spaniel. When
Stewart died, his eldest nephew, John Skinner. He shot all of the dogs because
he feared his uncle would reincarnate into one of their bodies. As such,
Stewart was forced to haunt the house as a disembodied spirit.
A maid at the house made the first report of a haunting in
1876. Paranormal activity became commom after this. There were reports of a booming
bell-like sound that filled the house. Occasionally, people reported ghost
sightings, including a nun, which makes sense since nuns were allowed to use
the property. The mysterious sounds of footsteps were heard throughout the
mansion.
Because of the paranormal activity, governesses and servants
would not stay for long out of fear of the activity. Ballechin was rented in
1896, but the tenants fled due to paranormal experiences they had that
terrified them.
Lord Butte invited 35 guests to the house to investigate the
paranormal activity. Some of the guests were members of the Society for
Psychical Research. Aside from the paranormal activity reported in the past,
these guests experienced other eerie events. They spotted a hunchback, saw a
hand holding a crucifix, felt invisible dogs rubbing against the guests, and heard
a weeping woman.
A book, “The Alleged Haunting of B-House,” was written in
1899. The family members who owned the property were so appalled at the book
that their real names were removed and the hauntings were labeled as “alleged.”
The house became uninhabited by 1932 and
was demolished after a mysterious fire in 1963.
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