Gaelic-speaking 'ghost' caught on recording

The Scotsman ^ | Fri 17 Jan 2003 | CLAIRE SMITH

[vannrox]

Fri 17 Jan 2003

Gaelic-speaking 'ghost' caught on recording

CLAIRE SMITH

csmith@scotsman.com

NEW evidence of ghosts in Edinburgh’s underground city have been recorded

on tape by a radio producer.

Debbie McPhail claims to have made a recording of a ghoulish voice hissing the words: "Get out" or "Go away" in Gaelic.

Mrs McPhail described herself as "a cynical person by nature" - but said she had no explanation for the ghostly voice.

The otherworldly voice ruined a recording she was making in Edinburgh underground vaults with the former rugby international Norrie Rowan, who owns a section of the underground city.

Mrs McPhail said: "I found the place so creepy, I let the presenter go down to do the interview himself.

"When I was listening back to it, I could hear Norrie Rowan chatting and then I heard another voice.

"It was close by to the microphone because you can tell if voices are far away or not. I knew it wasn’t the presenter or Norrie because the voice had a slightly Irish accent.

"When the presenter came back up I asked him who they had met in the vault and he said nobody. I asked a colleague who spoke Gaelic and she said they could be saying ‘get out’ or ‘go away’."

Gordon Stewart, assistant director at Mercat Tours, which conducts visits around the vaults said the recording could be the first actual evidence of psychic phenomena in the vault.

"It is an unusual story and quite chilling. I think it could be the first time anything like this has been recorded in Edinburgh.

"People who come on our tours have been scratched, had their hands jostled and come into contact with unknown things."

Psychologist Richard Wiseman, who has conducted research into the paranormal goings on beneath Edinburgh’s South Bridge, said a third of the subjects in his study had some sort of experience in the vaults, including having their clothes pulled, hearing their names whispered or feeling tugs on their clothing.

But he said the phenomena could have been psychological effects suggested by the damp dripping walls and the dark dismal atmosphere of the underground city.

Dr Paul Stevens, a research fellow at Edinburgh University’s Koestler Parapsychology unit, said: "The vaults are not mapped in places and you don’t know what walls are backing on to.

"At one time someone there thought they were hearing strange sounds, but the wall actually backed on to a massage parlour and that was where the funny noises were coming from.

"It is very creepy down there, so even water dripping can sound like footsteps."

[vannrox]

Cool...or dare I say COLD?

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[sean_og]

Was it something like "Bug leat! Bug leat!" ?

[VaBthang4]

Life without Jesus.

The Real One.

[Defiant]

I think they got a picture of the ghost at this web site. You have to concentrate very hard on the picture, and focus, and then you can see it. Took me a minute or so, but there it is plain as day.

[vannrox]

LOL

[2banana]

Holy cow - that nearly gave me a heart attack!

[Karsus]

I am not quite sure I follow what you mean.

[Defiant]

Sorry. Ghosts can be so unpredictable.

[Solamente]

I haven't looked into this story, but there is a good deal of evidence by researchers who pick up otherwordly voices in graveyards, prisons, old houses using common cassette recorders. EVP I believe they call it.

[Defiant]

If you're like me, you're now showing it to everyone in the vicinity.

[Jimmyclyde]

Doing CPR on myself.......LOL

[Porterville]

That scared the beejeepers out of me!!

[Defiant]

My wife fell backwards out of the chair when she saw it. I had a bit of an adrenaline rush myself first time I saw it.

[lizma]

I think the History channel did something on this a few years ago. I think this stuff is just plain fun.

We rented a house one summer in York, England. One night I heard a weird scream, but it was pub closing time, figured it was a patron. I heard the exact scream a few more times during our stay, by now figuring it was someones stereo.

At the end of our stay we went on a "ghost walk". The tour concluded at our rental telling a story that this area at one time was an orphanage. The guy in charge would kill the children and still collect money for their stay. The tour guide said that you can still hear the screams. Gotta admit it raised the hair on the back of my neck, but I still think it was somones stereo.

My dream list for vacations: Edinburgh (for the ghost stories), Alaska, Venice.

[VaBthang4]

I dont care.

~Grin~

[Hatteras]

I'll be back... I need to go change my drawers

[lizma]

Took me a minute or so, but there it is plain as day.

LOL, you're mean.

Sent this one out last Halloween. Not all my e-mail recipients were happy about it. (Sorry Mom)

[Nubbin]

"At one time someone there thought they were hearing strange sounds, but the wall actually backed on to a massage parlour and that was where the funny noises were coming from.

LOL!