Submitted by Olivia on
Poltergeist comes from the German words Poltern (to make noises) and Geist (ghost). Poltergeist activity invariably happens when adolescent children are around.
This is explained by the ghost needing a high amount of energy to be able to move things, and the energy released by children going through hormonal changes provides the perfect source. - http://scottish-ancestry.org
The Sauchie poltergeist case has been fully reported by George Owen (Can We Explain The Poltergeist? New York: Garrett Publications, 129-169) and involved unusual events surrounding a young girl, Virginia Campbell, in Scotland during the early 1960s. The investigators at the time were the local minister, Rev. T.W. Lund and the local G.P, Dr W.H. Nisbet. Other reliable witnesses also gave accounts of their experiences including Dr William Logan and his wife, Mrs Sheila Logan, who was also a qualified doctor. Virginia’s teacher, Miss Margaret Stewart, also gave some interesting accounts of her experiences.
Virginia Campbell was 11 years old at the time of the strange experiences, which surrounded her. She was the youngest child of rather elderly parents, James and Annie. She had spent her early life in County Donegal, her father having worked a small farm close to Moville. Her upbringing had been extremely quiet and lonely, her other children having all grown up and left home. The only regular companions that Virginia had at Moville, other than her parents, were her pet dog, Toby and one friend, a little girl, Anna.
In the autumn of 1960, Virginia and her mother went to stay with family members, Thomas and Isabella Campbell at their home in Sauchie, Scotland. They had two children, Margaret (age 9) and Derek (age 6). This was part of a long-term plan to move from Ireland and settle in Scotland. Virginia’s mother managed to get a local job at a well-know school, Dollar Academy. Virginia attended Sauchie Primary School from October 1960. Her teacher, Miss Stewart found it rather difficult to establish communication with her, partly because of her extreme shyness and partly because of her unusual Irish accent. Essentially, Virginia was regarded as a quite normal young girl a little above normal intelligence but outwardly always placid and unemotional. She clearly missed her father very much.
The unusual events surrounding Virginia began towards the end of November 1960. Owen in “Can We Explain The Poltergeist” gives a full account of these episodes? On November 23rd, for example:
“Virginia was kept home from school. At teatime Mr. And Mrs. Campbell were in the living room. Virginia was sitting in an armchair next to the sideboard. They saw the sideboard move out five inches from the wall and then move back again. Virginia was not touching it. That evening when Virginia was in bed but not asleep loud knocks, audible all over the house, were heard by the family and several neighbours and by the Rev. Mr. Lund, who was called in about midnight. He found the knocking to come from the bed head in circumstances that proved it was not being struck or shaken by Virginia or by anyone else. Mr. Lund gripped the bed head and felt it vibrating during the knocking.
Mr. Lund saw a large linen chest (twenty-seven inches long, seventeen inches high and fourteen inches wide, and full of bed linen) rock and raise itself slightly, travel a distance of eighteen inches over the linoleum and then move back.
When at length it was suggested that Margaret go back into the double bed with Virginia there was a burst of violent peremptory knocking”.
Over the course of the next few days, various unusual effects were reported both at the Campbell’s house and at Virginia’s school. Whilst in bed, Virginia’s pillow was found to rotate by up to 90 degrees on its own. This was witnessed by Mr. Lund, Dr Logan and Dr. Nisbet. A strange rippling effect on the surface of the pillow was also seen.
At school, the lid of Virginia’s desk was seen to lift on it’s own, despite attempts by Virginia to keep it shut. The teacher, Miss Stewart, noticed the desk rise from the floor unaided and then settle back down, a little out of its original position. On another occasion when Virginia was standing close to the desk of Miss Stewart, a blackboard pointer lying on top of the desk started to vibrate and moved on top of the desk until it reached the edge and fell off. Miss Stewart put her hand on the desk and felt it vibrating. The desk was then moving. The right-hand end travelled away so that the desk swung round.
On 1 December 1960, Dr Nisbet and Dr Logan set up a movie camera and sound recording equipment in Virginia’s bedroom. She went to bed at 9pm and recordings were initially taken until about 10:30. There were many noises, ranging from barely perceptible tappings to agitated knocks. There was also some occasional rippling of the bedclothes. There was also a considerable amount of hysterical talking by Virginia, in which she showed a lack of inhibition previously only seen during various trance states. At 11pm Rev. Lund, together with three other church ministers, arrived to carry out a service of intercession. There were some knockings during the service.
A variety of noises were recorded between 11:30 and 12:15. Three examples were later re-recorded by the BBC and used in a regional broadcast program called “Scope”, which gave a brief review of the case. These noises, which can be heard by clicking on the relevant link, consisted of a series of loud peremptory knocks, a harsh rasping, sawing noise and a scream from Virginia when the lid of the linen box lifted up on its’ own accord.
From that day onwards, the phenomena appear to have been less pronounced and troublesome. However, it is worth mentioning some of the effects, which have been described:
Virginia placed a bowl of bulbs on Miss Stewart’s desk in the classroom. It moved across the top of the desk in a manner similar to the pointer described earlier.
During a period when Virginia’s father was staying in the house, he reported that an apple had floated out of a fruit bowl and that his shaving brush had flown around the bathroom.
During the first three months of 1961 there were some knockings on the bed at night and once the sound of someone walking across the bedroom floor. The girls often reported being poked on the body or legs while lying in bed. They were also nipped or pinched, and this also happened to a visitor to the house.
George Owen, in his detailed report of this case, regards the witness testimonies as good. The physicians and the church ministers could be regarded as reliable witnesses, so too could Virginia’s teacher, Miss Stewart. Owen goes on to consider the possible “normal” causes for the described events, but finds that there is no satisfactory explanation. It is worth emphasising that the key witnesses regarded the responsible force as emanating from Virginia rather than with the operation of a discarnate entity. Regarding the supply of energy required for the manifestations, it is clear that this is within the physiological capacity of a healthy girl of eleven. However, it is quite conceivable that she provided no appreciable amount of energy – this may have come from the potential energy of some unknown force field in the space around her. Virginia’s contribution may, mechanically speaking, have been to trigger off the operation of this force field at certain points. Owen goes on to make comparisons with other historical cases and it is interesting to see such similar effects, often centring on young girls, in other cases.
Summarising, Owen concludes that the Sauchie case must be regarded as establishing beyond all reasonable doubt the objective reality of some poltergeist phenomena. He further claims that the phenomena are closely linked with the presence of a young girl and that this child is pubescent and going through a period of very rapid physical development. There is however no evidence indicating the existence of a separate discarnate entity. The phenomena are consistent with production by forces emanating from the child or else resident in space and triggered off by some influence emanating from her.
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