Rannoch Moor Mystery
Railway Workers’ Experience
Furniture that moved.
Reference was made, in a lecture in London last week by the assistant maintenance engineer of the southern area of the L. and N.E. Railway, to an application of a little over a year ago by a worker engaged on repairing the track over Rannoch moor. He asked to be transferred because of strange disturbances in the cottage on the moor in which he and others stayed. There were noises of furniture moving about at night in the room occupied by him and his mate, a man from Skye. The disturbances were such that they could not sleep, and there seemed to be no explanation of them. The worker in question, Mr Joseph Mullen, invited inquiry, and he was eventually transferred to another area. He is now a porter at one of the Company’s suburban stations in Glasgow.
Having ascertained where Mullen is now to be found (writes an Edinburgh correspondent), and being interested in this kind of experience, previous instances of which I have had narrated to me at first hand, I went to Glasgow on Saturday, and had a talk with Mullen. He is a well-developed, alert, and intelligent young man of 22, with a certain amount of caution and reticence, but clear and explicit in his statements. The cottage, one of the rooms of which he shared with another worker who came from Skye, is in a lonely position at Luibnachlach, on the line to Fort-William.
The two young men were disturbed, in the month of November 1934, by the sounds of furniture moving about the room. They thought of various explanations, including the possible intrusion of rats or other animals, but none seemed quite to meet the case. These sounds occurred, roughly, on one night out of two. They made every effort to solve the mystery, without success. The disquieting effect was greatly increased when, owing to the disturbances one night, they got up and lighted the room.
As they watched, a chair moved across the floor a distance of about four feet in front of their eyes. They were naturally startled at this experience. They searched for any possible explanation. There were men sleeping in the adjoining apartment, but Mullen was quite confident none of them were responsible. “The only person who could have had anything to do with it,” said Mullen, “was my mate, and he was as badly scared as I was, and he, too, was glad to get away.”
The movement, Mullen explained, was not such as might have been explained by a chair being pulled along by a string. He described it as a kind of hopping movement. This eccentric behaviour seemed to be confined to the chair, which usually they left in a position at the end of the table. During the wakefulness which the movement rendered inevitable Mullen stated that they occasionally heard
sounds outside the cottage as of footsteps approaching the window of the room in which they slept.
This experience is in line with many instances of the same kind in this country and abroad, which are well known to psychic researchers. The late Professor Richet, who for a period of 40 years investigated matters of this kind, gave the name to this classification of occurrence of “telekinesis.” Two volumes of similar “movements without contact” were written by the late Dr Crawford, following several months’ investigations in Belfast. One of the classical instances of movement without contact occurred in a French town, where the mayor and other officials witnessed aricles of the kitchen, including the fire-irons, moving about in all directions, without any apparent explanation.
Professor Richet and others, who are not prepared to concede any “spirit” explanation, suggest that there may be an extension of the human faculties of which individuals are not aware, under certain unascertained circumstances. Some invisible force may be projected from the individual who is responsible for it. In most of the instances, however, the difficulty of apparent intelligent direction comes in.
The Moor of Rannoch has a reputation as a desolate and at one time dangerous tract of Scotland. Many people have been known to disappear on the moor, wayfarers and others, their remains lying undiscovered possibly for years. It may be suggested, of course, that this environment would naturally give rise a disposition to “hallucination”. There are so many parallel instances of similar happenings, however, that this theory must be ruled out.
It is usually found that instances of telekinesis occur only in the presence of a particular individual, usually someone with mediumistic powers, of which he or she may not be aware. It is possible that later occupants of the room in question would not perceive anything out of the ordinary. It may be noted that the Highlands and islands of Scotland have been very prolific of instances of clairvoyance and other mediumistic power, and the presence of a Highlander from Skye in this instance may be the explanation.
The Scotsman, 20th January 1936.
Rannoch Moor “Ghost”
Cause of a Townsman’s Transfer from Lonely Spot
“Ghostly” manifestations, which obtained a railwayman’s transfer from his station at a lonely spot on the West Highland Railway at Rannoch Moor were mentioned by Mr J.C. L. Train [really?], assistant maintenance engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway (southern Area), in an address on Monday night to the Institute of Transport in London.
Mr Train said that the man, a one time city dweller on the engineering staff, wrote the following letter, dated October 17, 1934, in all seriousness: – “Sir, – With reference to my application of the 15th instant, I would respectfully point out to you that my grounds for applying for a transfer are that I am unable to stay any longer here, as the house that I am in shows visible signs of it being haunted.
“The extraordinary moving of furniture at night, and other signs, leaves no room for doubt. I am unable to sleep at night with the strain. This has occurred for some time now, and I appeal to you to investigate the matter. My workmate and bedmate confirms my statement. – I am, Sir, your obedient servant. (Signed)… Length-man.”
This appeal led ultimately to the man’s transfer back to “civilisation.”
Falkirk Herald, 15th January 1936.
“Haunted” House on Rannoch Moor
Furniture moved during the night
Tenant Got Transfer; So Did the Ghost
What is the mystery of Aluidnaclach? Three months ago a railworker left this house on Rannoch moor saying that it was haunted. According to the official story, he was troubled by “ghosts” moving the furniture about during the night. So serious did the matter become that he applied for and secured a transfer to a less “spooky” spot. But according to inquiries a “Courier and Advertiser” reporter made yesterday, the ghosts are no longer there.
At present the cottage of Aluidnaclach is occupied by Mr W. McKenzie, a railway surfaceman, who, state railway officials, has no complaints to make about unwanted visitors. The furniture stays “put,” there are no nocturnal moanings or movings – in short, the house behaves normally, considering the fact that it is seven miles or so from Rannoch Station.
The former tenant claimed that his work mate could substantiate his claims about the house’s “spookiness,” but the worker’s transfer seems to have also affected a transfer of the “ghost.”
Dundee Courier, 15th January 1936.