1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: On a stormy night on the small island of Guernsey, 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: a young paranormal expert joins a skeptical history teacher to 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: record the first in a series of podcasts based on 4 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: the island's incredible folklore and paranormal history. As the expert 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: regales his horrifying stories, the teacher learns that we all 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: have our own truth, our own story ghosts that haunt us. 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: Starring Olivier nominated actor and former Blue Peter legend Peter Duncan, 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: When Darkness Falls is a spine chilling ghost story that 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,919 Speaker 1: delivers a twisted, terrifying and thrilling tale that the Guardian 10 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: said will leave you cowering in your seat. Catch the 11 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: brand new UK tour of When Darkness Falls from September 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,480 Speaker 1: fifteenth in a town near you. Select nights will also 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: feature myself delivering a live episode of Unexplained. For more 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: details or to book tickets, visit When Darkness Falls dot 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: co dot uk if you dare. This episode contains adult 16 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: themes that some may find disturbing. Parental discretion is advised. 17 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: Southeast Scotland. In sixteen seventy Edinburgh, a dark fairy tale 18 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: of a city sat on a rupture of earth and rock. 19 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: Overlooking the cold steel waters of the Firth of Fourth, 20 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: a medieval castle perched high up on volcanic rock, its 21 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: sandstone walls stained black by rain. Narrow labyrinthine streets fanning 22 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: out like dendrites, each flanked by six and seven story 23 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: high buildings, their gables and dormer windows utting out in 24 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: strange and unnatural ways, teetering as if forever on the 25 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: verge of collapse, while below them the streets run with 26 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 1: human excrement and urine flung out of windows by the bucketful, 27 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: as rats and mice scatter about. One evening in early spring, 28 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: sometime around midnight, all is quiet, save for the occasional 29 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: sound of someone scurrying off into a distant alleyway. As 30 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: two women one the others made make their way home 31 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: from Castle Hill under a moonless sky. Their footsteps echo 32 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: along the road as they turn into the steep, winding 33 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: confines of West Bow, and a light mist rises up 34 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: to meet them. The towering tenements loom high above, crowding 35 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: out the sky as they continued down the bows steep slope, 36 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: the maid pushing back the shadows with the soft, hazy 37 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: light of her lantern, while somewhere off an animal snorts, 38 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: when from out of the darkness they hear a sudden 39 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: whooping and clapping, followed by a high pitched cackle of laughter. 40 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: Looking up, they can just make out three oddly shaped 41 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: silhouettes in the flickering candlelight of an open window, their 42 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: bodies heaving and limbs flailing with each cacination. Turning back 43 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: to the street, the women are stopped suddenly in their 44 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,839 Speaker 1: tracks by the sight of a cloaked figure hunched over 45 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: at the base of a narrow, twisted flight of stairs 46 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: that lead up to the property from where the cackling 47 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: is coming from. Thinking little of it at first, the 48 00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,040 Speaker 1: women staring shock as the figure rose up suddenly to 49 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: its full height, a beguiling ten feet at least, revealing 50 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: a set of unusually spindly limbs. The women stepped back 51 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: into the shadows as the strange giant specter burst out 52 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: in a fit of maniacal laughter, and then shot off 53 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: into the night. With their curiosity aroused, the two women 54 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: attempted to keep pace with the spindly figure, but no 55 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: matter how swiftly their feet carried them, it seemed always 56 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: to be the same distance ahead. At a turn in 57 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: the road. The figure then slipped into a narrow lane 58 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: known locally as Stinking Close, and disappeared. Hurrying after it, 59 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,160 Speaker 1: the women stopped at the lane's entrance and gasped at 60 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: the sight beyond. What was you usually nothing more than 61 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: a narrow alleyway connecting Westbow to Cowgate. The next road 62 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: across was now lit up along its entire length by 63 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: flaming torches, as numerous dark, hooded figures jostled about underneath them. 64 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: Little of their faces could be seen, save for their mouths, 65 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: which were all stretched wide open and emitting the most 66 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: hideous cacophony of hysterical laughter. Terrified, the women hurried on 67 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: to the safety of their home. The following morning, the 68 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: streets now bustling once more with people, horses, and carts, 69 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: The two women retraced their steps from the night before, 70 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: and soon found themselves at the bottom of the narrow, 71 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: rickety stairwell from which the strange, towering figure had emerged. 72 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: The maid grabbed a passing tanner, his foul smelling leather 73 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: apron streaked with blood, then pointed up to the window 74 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,799 Speaker 1: where they'd seen the three figures clapping and laughing together. 75 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:16,119 Speaker 1: Pray tell us whose house is that, she asked, why, 76 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: replied the Tanner, That is the home of Major Thomas Weir. 77 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: Of course you're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc 78 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: lane Smith. Thomas Weir was born sometime around fifteen ninety 79 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 1: nine near Carluke in Lanarkshire, just southeast of Glasgow. By 80 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty he'd managed to successfully navigate an extraordinarily complicated 81 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: tide of events to become the head of the Edinburgh 82 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: Town Guard, the city's fledgling police force. Twelve years previously, 83 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: in sixteen thirty eight, a number of the leading powers 84 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: in Scotland signed the National Covenant, a public declaration opposing 85 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: King Charles the First's plans to reform the Presbyterian Church 86 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: of Scotland. Charles the First, who was an Anglican, was 87 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: King of Scotland, England and Ireland at the time, and 88 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: was keen to restructure the fiercely independent and powerful Church 89 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: of Scotland in such a way that would make it, 90 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: and by extension, the nation, easier for him to subdue 91 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: and control. Those who signed the National Covenant or were 92 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: sympathetic to its aims called themselves Covenanters, and King Charles 93 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: naturally hated them. By then, any English and Scottish monarch, 94 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: although still very much the head of state, was increasingly 95 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: reliant on supply aught from the lawmakers of Parliament to 96 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: wield their power. When Charles asked them for military support 97 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: to force the Church of Scotland to back down, they refused, 98 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: and so the first of a series of wars were 99 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: ignited between various forces in England, Scotland and Ireland that 100 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: would collectively become known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. 101 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: This complex matrix of belligerents was made especially complicated by 102 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: the respective ambitions of each division of power. The Scottish 103 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: Covenanters opposed King Charles the First and his proposals for 104 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: the Church of Scotland, while English parliamentarians also opposed the king. However, 105 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: the Covenanters also opposed the parliamentarian's plan to dispense with 106 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: the king altogether, and all three parties had interests in Ireland. 107 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: In the course of the next ten years, all would 108 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: clash in a bloody scramble for supremacy of ideas, which 109 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 1: by sixteen fifty had resulted in the defeat and execution 110 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: of Charles the First and an uneasy alliance between Oliver 111 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: Cromwell's parliamentarian forces and the Covenanters of the Church of Scotland, 112 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: as laid out in the sixteen forty three Solemn League 113 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: and Covenant Agreement. As the son of a wealthy landed couple, 114 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: the strict Presbyterian, Thomas Weir was a man of some 115 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: political status, and as such was one of the signatories 116 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: of the Solemn League and Covenant Agreement. Having fought in 117 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: numerous battles alongside the Parliamentarian forces, he'd somehow survived it all, 118 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: earning himself the title of Major in the process, and 119 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: settled in Edinburgh to take up his position as the 120 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: commander of the town Guard. On first arriving in Edinburgh, 121 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: Weir and his younger sister, Jean, who accompanied him everywhere, 122 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: lived in Cowgate, one of the main thoroughfares of the city, 123 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: at the home of one grizz Old Whitford. By sixteen 124 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: fifty he and Jean had moved into a house on 125 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: West Bow, an especially steep section of road which ran 126 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: in a Z shaped pattern all the way down from 127 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: Castle Hill at the base of Edinburgh Castle to the 128 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: grass Market at the bottom, where the city's largest market 129 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: space was located. They lived there with their servant, Bessie Waymes. 130 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: Thomas Weir was tall, with a distinctively large nose and 131 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: a commanding, brooding presence, who could often be seen stalking 132 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: the streets of Edinburgh where a long black cloak and 133 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: clutching a thick ornate staff in his hand. The staff 134 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,719 Speaker 1: was a curious thing, engraved all along its body with 135 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: pictures of centaurs and strained symbols, while its top comprised 136 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 1: a crooked head of thornwood, all of which only served 137 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:27,079 Speaker 1: to amplify his imposing countenance. His was a life of purity, 138 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: bound to the good Book and the Word of God, 139 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: which he was never shy of spreading himself at any 140 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: given opportunity, and he was good at it too, being 141 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:43,239 Speaker 1: a compelling and authoritative public speaker with a ferocious intellect 142 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: and a prodigious memory when it came to quoting scripture, 143 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: who never missed an opportunity to stick the boot in 144 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: when others fell short of his own puritanical standards. And 145 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: so it was with some alarm to those who were 146 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: gathered there when late one evening, he burst angrily into 147 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: an ale house next to the Nether Bow, the eastern 148 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: gateway into the city, on the lookout for several guards 149 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 1: who deserted their post. Finding them tucked away drinking merrily 150 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: at a small table in the corner, we Are stormed 151 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: over to them and demanded they returned to their post immediately. 152 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: The men, startled by weird sudden appearance, apologized for their 153 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: lack of judgment, explaining that they'd merely wanted to join 154 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: a friend for a drink who was in town for 155 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: the night. They pointed to the stranger sat among them 156 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: and introduced him as a mister Burne. Then something strange 157 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: came over Major Weir, as all his confidence and authority 158 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: seemed to suddenly drain from him, and the blood rushed 159 00:12:55,960 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 1: from his face. He stepped back in the grip of 160 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: some unnatural terror, quietly repeating the name to himself over 161 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:16,959 Speaker 1: and over again, Burn Burn Burn, he said. The guards 162 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: stared on in confusion as were then turned quickly on 163 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:26,599 Speaker 1: his heels and fled hastily from the building. It is 164 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: said that Were was not seen outside his home for 165 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: a good two weeks after this incident. Not long After 166 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: his peculiar turn at the Ale House, Major Weir was 167 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: out walking in the hills with a friend when they 168 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: approached a narrow stream. On being informed that it was 169 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: called Liberton Burn, Weir became suddenly distressed and refused to 170 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: cross it. It seemed clearly that something in that word 171 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: brought him immediate distress. By sixteen fifty one, we as 172 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: time as commander of the Edinburgh Guard had come to 173 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: an end. Effectively retired, he quickly found his place among 174 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: the more powerful acolytes of the local Presbyterian community. Thomas's sister, Jean, meanwhile, 175 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,239 Speaker 1: developed a reputation of her own for being a formidable 176 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: spinner of yarn, producing it at a rate seldom seen before. 177 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: The West Bow, whether we As lived, was known for 178 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: being home to some of the most pious individuals in 179 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: the city, among them the many tinsmiths who resided there, 180 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: who were known collectively as the Bowhead Saints. Thomas Weir 181 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: was quick to prove their equal, and, with his passion 182 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: for prayer, soon found himself being invited to speak at 183 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: the homes of his neighbors whenever the occasion called for it. 184 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: He could often be found at the bedside of the 185 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: old and infirm, dispensing reassuring pearls of biblical wisdom to 186 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: aid their suffering. The effect or the more reassuring, due 187 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: to Weir's confident air, and for being so well known 188 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: as a man whose own devotion to God and rejection 189 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: of sin was unquestionable. And soon people were traveling from 190 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: as far as forty to fifty miles away just to 191 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: hear him speak. And speak he did, always with that 192 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: peculiar staff by his side, his magnetic words full of 193 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: such gravity it was as though they had come from 194 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: the very mouth of God themselves. Now hear this, he 195 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: would say, as he leant heavily on his staff. Galatians, 196 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: chapter five, verse nineteen. Now the works of the flesh 197 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: are manifest. Which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, 198 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: and such like of the witch. I tell you before, 199 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: as I have also told you in time past, that 200 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: today which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom 201 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: of God. This podcast is supported by Morgan Stanley. What 202 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: do you get from the Morgan Stanley client experience Listening 203 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: more than talking, and a personalized plan to guide you 204 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: through a changing world. To learn more, visit Morgan Stanley 205 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: dot com, slash y us investing in VOS risk Morgan Stanley, 206 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: Smith Barney Llc. One morning, a woman arrived at the 207 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: home of John Knave, a Presbyterian minister, in New Mills, 208 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: a village located about fifty miles west of Edinburgh. The 209 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: woman was clearly in some distress as she wrestled with 210 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: what it was she wanted to say. After Knave told 211 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 1: her forcefully to spit it out, the woman explained finally 212 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: that she was certain she'd just seen a man in 213 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: a secluded field having sex with a horse. The man, 214 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: she insisted, was Major Thomas Weir. The accusation was, of 215 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: course ludicrous, and, at a time when the fate of 216 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: Scotland and the Covenanters was still very much in the balance, 217 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: an extremely dangerous one too, and so there was only 218 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: one course of action. The following day, the woman was 219 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: paraded through the town and flogged mercilessly by the local 220 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 1: hangman for her false accusation. In sixteen sixty, after ten 221 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: years without a king, the monarchy was restored across Scotland, 222 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: England and Ireland, with Charles the First son Charles the 223 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: Second taking the throne. The Church of Scotland succeeded in 224 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: retaining its power and independence, however, only after it was 225 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: agreed to abolish the reforms made by the Covenanters. As 226 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: a result, many Covenanters were persecuted as they sought to 227 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: maintain their influence in the country. Strangely, Thomas Weir avoided 228 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: any such complications and for the next ten years continued 229 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: to be widely celebrated for his powers of prayer. But 230 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: as the years passed and age up with him, we 231 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: began to slow down somewhat, and by sixteen seventy, as 232 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 1: he approached his seventieth birthday, he seemed to have become 233 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: gripped by a heavy melancholy that left him weary and 234 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: lacking his usual enthusiasm for praying. Then, early in the 235 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: spring of sixteen seventy were invited four of the most 236 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: eminent men from his circle of Presbyterian friends to gather 237 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: at his home, including among them mister John Sinclair, a 238 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: local Presbyterian minister. With darkness already falling, the men made 239 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: their way to West Bow and up the rickety staircase, 240 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: passing through the courtyard beyond, as the sound of Gene 241 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: Weir's spinning wheel could be heard echoing throughout. Then on 242 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: into the house they went, where they were greeting by 243 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: a fragile looking Thomas, leaning heavily on his staff under 244 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: the gentle flicker of candle light. He bid them welcome 245 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: as he sat wearily on a chair and gestured for 246 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: them to do the same. The men looked about, unsure 247 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: as to why exactly they had been summoned. Then Weir 248 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,919 Speaker 1: finally spoke. It was no use, he said, it was 249 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 1: time to come clean. What Major Thomas Weir told the 250 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: men that night has never precisely been ascertained, only that 251 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: had apparently included a confession to a series of unspeakable 252 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: acts that he'd committed throughout his life, and that for 253 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,959 Speaker 1: over twenty years he'd been a servant of the devil. 254 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: That night, the stunned men left the Weir's home. They 255 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,160 Speaker 1: made a pact never to reveal anything of what they'd 256 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: just heard, in fear that they might be tainted by 257 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: their association with the Major. However, mister John Sinclair was 258 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: so disturbed by it all he felt obligated to inform 259 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: Sir Andrew Ramsey, who, as Lord provesed, was the city's 260 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 1: administrative head. Believing the crimes that Weir had confessed to 261 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: too inhumane and horrid for any human to have been 262 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,920 Speaker 1: capable of, Ramsey promptly sent to physicians to Weir's house 263 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: to assess his mental health. Perhaps he thought the man 264 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,919 Speaker 1: was merely going senile in his old age, but to 265 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: his horror, the doctors found nothing wrong with Weir's cerebral faculties. 266 00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: The man, they said, was perfectly sane. The following night, 267 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: two Baileys tasked with the resting Major Weir and his 268 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: sister Jean, whom he'd also implicated in his confession, burst 269 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: into their home. As they grabbed the then sixty year 270 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: old Jean, she cried out to them to first confiscate 271 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: the Major's staff before he used it to drive them 272 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,679 Speaker 1: out of the house that she said was where he 273 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: derived his power. Sure Enough, the staff was secured, and 274 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: the Major, who was found shortly afterwards, offered no resistance 275 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: to his arrest. The Baileys then asked if there was 276 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: any money kept in the house, and were directed to 277 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,199 Speaker 1: a series of cloth bundles full of coins that were 278 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: dotted about the place. After locking the Weir siblings up 279 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: in the Old Tollbooth prison, the Baileys retired to a 280 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: local inn to get a drink by the fire and 281 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 1: count the money they'd taken. After pulling it all together, 282 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 1: they threw the cloths into the fire and were amazed 283 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: to see them whip and dance about strangely in the flames, 284 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 1: before finally burning In one of the bundles. They were 285 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,399 Speaker 1: also said to have found a strange root of some sort, 286 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: which they too tossed onto the fire. The moment it landed, 287 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: it sparked and crackled like gunpowder, then emitted a huge 288 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: cannon like bang and shot up into the chimney like 289 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: a firework. Meanwhile, up in the Old Tollbooth, Maister Sinclair 290 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: paid a visit to Major Weir and begged him to repent, 291 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: but we Are refused, telling Sinclair to leave him alone 292 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: and that there was no saving him, and so Sinclair 293 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: turned his attention to his sister Jean, Still not quite 294 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: able to believe all that Weir had confessed to Sinclair 295 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 1: needed answers, but first Jeanne denied it all until finally 296 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: she confessed too. It was all true, she said, and 297 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: this was how it began. It was sometime one night 298 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 1: in August sixteen forty eight, in the early hours, when 299 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:35,879 Speaker 1: there was a knock at the door at Thomas and 300 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,120 Speaker 1: Jean's home in Westbow. Having been woken up by the knocking, 301 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 1: Jean was then told by Thomas to join him in 302 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,439 Speaker 1: the street, where, to her amazement, six black horses and 303 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: a large stagecoach that appeared to be almost entirely on 304 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: fire was waiting for them. Nervously, Jean followed her brother 305 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: into the burning coach and together they were whisked away 306 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,920 Speaker 1: to dal Keith, a small town just south of Edinburgh, 307 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,120 Speaker 1: where she claimed Thomas had a meeting with an unknown 308 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: man who she understood later was the Devil. Thomas returned 309 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: from the meeting clutching the Strange staff for which he 310 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: was so well known. Weir was said to have made 311 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 1: a pact with the devil, who told him that from 312 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: that point on he could do whatever he wished, and 313 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: that only a burn could stop him. He was also 314 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: gifted strange magical powers, which he appeared to draw directly 315 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,640 Speaker 1: from the peculiar staff, as if to prove this to himself. 316 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: The following day, he was said to have told anyone 317 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: that would listen that King Charles's army had been beaten 318 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: in the Battle of Preston, something which he couldn't possibly 319 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: have known at that time. Soon after, Jeanne too had 320 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: a run in with the devil when she was visited 321 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: by a strange, tall lady who appeared at her door 322 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,919 Speaker 1: with three children strapped to her body. The woman urged 323 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 1: jean to do battle with the Queen of the Fairies 324 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,640 Speaker 1: and take her place as the Devil's wife. She then 325 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 1: asked Jeanne to give her all the silver she possessed, 326 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: which she did. Ever since that day, Jeanne found she 327 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: could produce more yarn on her spinning wheel than she 328 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: ever thought possible, as though she too had been given 329 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: a magical gift. Another time, she was visited by an 330 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: unusually short woman who gave her a strange route, telling 331 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: her that as long as she kept it safe, she 332 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: would have the power to do whatever she chose. The 333 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,679 Speaker 1: woman then threw down a cloth on the floor of 334 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: her house and told Jean to stand on it, while saying, 335 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 1: all crosses and cares go out of this house now, 336 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: and Jean obliged. Mister John Sinclair listened on aghast, recognizing 337 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: immediately another pact with the devil. Jean then explained that 338 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: her and Thomas's mother had been a witch who bore 339 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: the devil's mark, just like her brother did. Here, said Jean, 340 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: as she pulled up the headdress that she was wearing. 341 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 1: I have the devil's mark too. The god fearing Sinclair 342 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: refused to see it at first, but his curiosity eventually 343 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: got the better of him. Jean pulled off the head 344 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: dress and furrowed her brow, where a small horseshoe shape 345 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: emerged in her skin, another clear indication, thought Sinclair, that 346 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: she too, had sold her soul to the devil. The 347 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: minister shuddered at the sight of it. The Weir's trial 348 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,159 Speaker 1: took place on April ninth, sixteen seventy, during which the 349 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: full extent of Major Thomas Weir's confession was revealed. The Major, 350 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: as it turned out, had been raping his sister Jean 351 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:32,360 Speaker 1: for the best part of fifty years, having once been married. 352 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:37,000 Speaker 1: Shortly after the death of his wife Weir also impregnated 353 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: his step daughter, most likely as the result of rape, too, 354 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: but had managed to have her married off to a 355 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: man in England before anyone found out. He was also 356 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: found guilty of multiple counts of fornication, having sex with 357 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: married women as well as his maid. The degree to 358 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: which these acts were consensual is unclear. Weir was also 359 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: found guilty, having finally admitted to it, of numerous counts 360 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: of bestiality with dogs, cows, and a horse, vindicating the 361 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: woman who had been whipped so mercilessly for accusing him 362 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: of the exact same thing. Weir was eventually convicted of 363 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:29,400 Speaker 1: perpetrating incest and adultery and sentenced to death. Unlike her brother, Jean, 364 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: was not only accused of incest but also sorcery and witchcraft. However, 365 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: it was only for the crime of incest, for which 366 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: she was deemed to have been an equal party two, 367 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 1: that she was convicted. She too, was sentenced to death. 368 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: On Monday, April eleventh, Major Thomas Weir, too old and 369 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: infirmed to walk himself, was dragged on a sled to 370 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: Greenside in Leith, a town just north of Edinburgh. There, 371 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: he was tied against a post and had a rope 372 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: placed around his neck, which was gradually tightened by the executioner. 373 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: As the rope bit into his throat, Weir's bodies squirmed 374 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: underneath as his face went purple, Saliva foamed at his mouth, 375 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: and he evacuated his boughs. When he was finally stilled, 376 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: Weir and the post he was tied to was set 377 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: on fire. Then the staff was tossed onto the flames. 378 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: The crowd shrieked at the sight of it, as it 379 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: seemed to writhe and twist in the fire, as though 380 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: something alive inside it were trying to escape. All of 381 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: a sudden, screams rang out from within the flames. Thomas 382 00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: Weir was still alive, and then all went quiet, save 383 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: for the spit and crackle of burning flesh. When Jean 384 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: Weir was informed of her brother's death, she at first 385 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: refused to believe it. When she was finally convinced that 386 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: both he and his staff had been destroyed, she is 387 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: said to have become enraged, shouting, I know he is 388 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: with the devils, for with them he lived. For her 389 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: own execution, which took place on April twelfth, sixteen seventy 390 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 1: jean was led down to the grass market, barely a 391 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: stone's throw from her home, where she was greeted by 392 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 1: a large and vicious crowd, eager to see her hang 393 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,719 Speaker 1: for her so called crimes. As she made her way 394 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 1: up the ladder to the gallows, she stopped suddenly and 395 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 1: began hurriedly to take off her clothes, much to the 396 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 1: shot of all who had gathered there. At once. The 397 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: executioner was ordered by the law men to put her 398 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: clothes back on, angered by what they saw as the 399 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 1: indecency of her naked body, but Jeanne pushed the executioner away, 400 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: punching him hard in the face before he was finally 401 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,479 Speaker 1: able to subdue her and put her clothes back on, 402 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: after which she was hauled onto a stool and had 403 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:33,959 Speaker 1: the noose placed around her neck. It was a final 404 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: act of defiance, perhaps from someone who, after a lifetime 405 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: of abuse and being made to feel ashamed of her 406 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: own body, wanted to display it finally without shame and 407 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 1: on her own terms. And then the stool was kicked 408 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: from under her feet. It is said that so fearful 409 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: were people of what had transpired inside the weirs that 410 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: it lay empty for over a hundred years, all the while, 411 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 1: strange shapes could be seen flitting about behind its broken 412 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: window panes, and the ghostly sound of Gene Weir's spinning 413 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: wheel creaking and whirring could be heard echoing through the 414 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: courtyard below it. In eighteen seventy eight, the house was 415 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: demolished entirely, as the upper part of West Bow was 416 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 1: effectively removed and the rest of the road joined on 417 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: to what is now Victoria Street. Some say, if you 418 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: ever find yourself walking through West Bow in the early 419 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: hours just before dawn, the thundering of hoofs can sometimes 420 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,959 Speaker 1: be heard, followed by the appearance of a fiery coach 421 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: pulled by six black horses, and if you are brave 422 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: enough to look, you might just catch a glimpse of 423 00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: the gurning face of Major Thomas Weir behind its flaming windows. 424 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,280 Speaker 1: If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, 425 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access 426 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,920 Speaker 1: to add free episodes, just go to patron dot com 427 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,800 Speaker 1: forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained. The book 428 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,359 Speaker 1: and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been 429 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,799 Speaker 1: covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. 430 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, 431 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:36,280 Speaker 1: among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, 432 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 433 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,880 Speaker 1: rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel 434 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,240 Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 435 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 436 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,400 Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 437 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,399 Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 438 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 1: or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, 439 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: Slash Unexplained Podcast m