The mystery house is coming down.
A start has been made on the demolition of Pitmilly, near Boarhills, ancient home of the Monypennys, and famous in psychic history as the only house for which an insurance company paid compensation for a fire, believed to have been caused by a ghost. The fire occurred on an afternoon in 1938. Twenty rooms were set on fire halfway up the walls and damage was assessed at £400. An insurance company carried out an investigation, and they became convinced that the fire had not been caused accidentally, but they were satisfied there was no one in the house to whom they could attribute the fires. They had to accept the theory that the fire had been caused by a poltergeist, and the claim was met.
The owner of the house at that time was the late Captain J. W. Jeffrey, who had previously complained about the activities of a poltergeist. On many occasions furniture was found in a heap in the middle of a room, sometimes articles which could not have been moved by one person. Every portrait of the owner of the house was smashed. The moment a bedroom was vacant, any ewers of water were emptied over the bed. Guests to the house told stories of fire irons and ornaments moving from one part of a room to another.
The Jeffrey family left the old mansion, and the ghost does not seem to have troubled subsequent owners. It was used during the last war as a hospital for Royal Naval Air personnel, and after the war it became a hotel. It was sold this year to Mr J. Steven, farmer, Stravithie, and he is having the mansion demolished, and the land attached to the house will be absorbed into Hillhead Farm.
For seven centuries from 1211 to the beginning of this century, it was the home of the Monypenny family. They are said to have received their name, when the Scottish King, Malcolm, was fleeing from his enemies. He asked for a penny from a man, who loyally assured him he would lend him “mony pennies.” When Malcolm won back the throne, he rewarded the man and his family who became known as “Monypenny.”
Dundee Courier, 4th December 1967.