One of Scotland's top ghost events companies has revealed its shock after a spirit on one of their recent hunts called one of their members a "bawbag". The expert team at The Scottish Ghost Company (TSGC) were investigating at a Parish Church in Elvanfoot when they made contact with a spirit using a special piece of equipment.
Event host and investigator Yvonne Hydes, was on the trip with lead medium David McCabe and fellow investigator and photographer, Ronnie Murphy, at the abandoned church – known locally as the Hoarder's Church – when the voice could clearly be heard through a piece of equipment known as a spirit box.
Telling the story to the Daily Record, Yvonne said: "When we switched to our EVP/Spirit box session, we started to hear a lot of swear words. The one that shocked me but made me laugh was 'yer a bawbag', which came through very clearly.
"We still don’t know who this was aimed at, but as it's a very Scottish term for the male anatomy, I’m assuming it was for Ronnie or David. We're still not sure who the spirit was that shouted it but this Scottish term of endearment has been used for decades. We do get called A LOT of swear words through the spirit box but this is a first for us. We found this particular one hilarious."
Read more: Scots ghost hunters witness 'phantom footsteps' and 'figures' on haunted Dundee ship
The trio have a long history of interest in the supernatural, with Yvonne, a former nurse explaining that her time spent working in one of Scotland's notoriously haunted hospitals strengthened her belief in the afterlife after hearing and seeing some strange things on the wards.
With over twenty crew members spread all across Scotland and the north of England, the group has experience in the area of paranormal investigations dating back decades.
Yvonne explained that one of their crew had been at a wedding in Biggar when they passed the church in Elvanfoot, intrigued they put it forward as a location to visit.
She said: "When we aren’t doing public events at the weekend, we tend to go out and do small investigations wherever we can. We tend to visit cemeteries, abandoned buildings and haunted buildings, so this sounded like a good opportunity for us to go out and have a look for ourselves and investigate it."
Using a mixture of modern and traditional ghost hunting techniques to seek out the supernatural, Yvonne said they are always respectful of both the surroundings and the spirits themselves. Usually, they attempt to communicate with any spirits to hear their life stories and to try to understand why they are still here.
Medium David said he found the church to be an unusual place, as from the outside it's a beautiful, well maintained active and functioning cemetery but inside it had become a complete mess.
He said: "It was almost like it had a split personality, one-half church, the other half a very sad home. We communicated with a few spirits in there by various methods.
"In particular, I was sensing the spirit of a male standing to my right but he was giving me no information at all. I asked the spirit box 'who is standing to my right ?' To which it replied 'DEATH', I asked if it was the angel of death to which he replied a clear 'NO!'
"This was shortly followed by 'yer a bawbag !' I’ve been called many things over the years but it's the first time I’ve been called that! I love our phrases in Scotland and find them very funny but I too was shocked."
Yvonne stated that the trio were shocked by the state of the inside of the church, adding that they were unable to find out who had lived there previously or why they had left.
She said: "What was once a beautiful place of worship and thereafter someone's home - was completely trashed. Was so sad.
"Beautiful stained glass windows are broken and smashed. Some of the fantastic frameworks has been completely ripped out and vandalised.
"Whoever lived there had a vast collection of Dolls, (the majority had their heads ripped off!) beds, ornaments, classical records, wee trinkets and lots of toys. Including teddies, bikes and an old silver cross pram. There are newspapers dating back to the early 80s and photo albums containing memories of someone's life."
Photographer Ronnie found the state of the church to be the most upsetting aspect of their trip.
He added: "It was sad to see what had once been a place of worship then a family home become a place where its history was ripped and tipped onto the floor. I'm sure the spirits were obviously from better times in what was a beautiful building. They would no doubt be angry at what had become of the place they knew of, so differently. There seemed nothing sacred about this church any longer. You could literally feel the cold in the air."
The trio hope that someone will be able to rescue this wonderful building and restore it to its former glory.
"It really saddened us to see that the church is in such a sad state of disrepair," Yvonne said. "We really wish that it could be restored or at least maintained. It can’t be very nice at all for these people who are visiting loved ones in the cemetery.
"I'm sure the spirits of Elvanfoot parish church would agree."
As you'd expect this is the busiest time of the year for the group with the TSGC hosting several sold-out events over the coming months. They are heading to Tamfest, Ayrshire's Premier Family Hallowe'en Festival, where they will be investigating the Ayr Jail Cells and the infamously haunted Tam O'Shanter Inn.
They regularly investigate areas around the country using techniques like trigger items (where an object is placed for the spirit to interact) and modern ghost hunting gadgets including parabolic mikes, SLS cameras (Structured Light Sensor) and electromagnetic field readers, with people able to join in on their paranormal hunts.
They will be posting up new dates for next year on their website and Facebook in the coming months.
Don't miss the top culture and heritage stories from around Scotland. Sign up to our twice weekly Scotland Now newsletter here.
Read more:
The Scottish Asian restaurants named the best in the country by top awards
Autumn in Scotland: Where to go to see the colours change
7 cosy Scottish villages and towns that are just wonderful for an autumn wander
P&O Ferries planning to add dog-friendly lounge on Cairnryan-Larne route
