The Thing That Learned to Talk

Janet Campbell was walking to the well to fetch water when she heard someone whistling. The sound seemed to be coming from right beside her ear, but when she looked around, nobody was there.

The whistling kept following her. Eventually, Janet got annoyed and challenged whoever was making the noise to speak instead.

She got an answer, and it sounded exactly like her own voice.

A Beggar Had Threatened the Family

It was 1654, in the Scottish village of Glenluce. Janet lived with her father, Gilbert Campbell, her mother, Grissel Wyllie, and her brothers and sisters.

Gilbert was a weaver who earned his living making cloth. The family had been going about their ordinary lives until a beggar named Alexander Agnew came asking for money or food.

Agnew was unhappy with what he received and reportedly threatened to bring trouble upon the household. Not long afterward, the strange whistling began.

When Janet challenged the sound at the well, the voice threatened to throw her into the water. Another woman who heard it said the voice was so close that it seemed to be right beside her own ear.

The family soon began hearing the same noise both inside and outside the house. Nobody could find the person responsible.

Rocks Came Down the Chimney

By November, the disturbances had become much more frightening. Rocks began flying through the windows and doors, and others came tumbling down the chimney.

They arrived with enough force to frighten everyone in the house, although nobody was seriously injured. At night, something pulled blankets off the beds while the family was trying to sleep. Chests opened by themselves, and clothes were taken out and scattered around the rooms.

Gilbert began finding his weaving threads cut as though someone had been going through them with scissors. Sometimes the damage happened while he was away from his work.

Before long, the family’s clothing was being cut too. Coats, stockings, hats and even shoes were reportedly sliced while people were still wearing them.

This was becoming a serious problem for Gilbert. The damaged thread and cloth were costing him money, and he eventually moved his remaining materials to a neighbour’s house. He could no longer work properly in his own home.

Sending the Children Away Made Things Worse

Some neighbours suggested that the strange activity might be following one particular member of the family. Gilbert decided to send his children to stay with relatives and friends to see what happened.

For several days, the house was relatively quiet. But the local minister, John Scott, advised Gilbert to bring the children home.

Most returned without anything unusual happening. Then Gilbert’s son Thomas came back.

Soon afterward, the house caught fire. Neighbours returning from church helped put it out before the building was destroyed.

A few days later, another fire broke out. Once again, the neighbours managed to save the house.

Gilbert was exhausted and frightened. He asked Scott to let Thomas stay with him for a while, hoping the boy might be safer away from home.

But the trouble continued even after Thomas left. The family still heard banging, found belongings missing and spent nights waiting for the next disturbance.

The Voice Started Holding Conversations

In February 1655, the family began hearing something far stranger than whistling. A voice started speaking from somewhere inside the house. Sometimes it seemed to come from beneath a bed, while at other times nobody could tell where it was coming from.

The Campbells began talking back. They asked questions, argued with it and eventually became so used to the strange visitor that they spoke to it almost as though it were another person living in the house.

When Reverend Scott came to investigate with several guests, the voice greeted them by reciting the opening words of a Latin grammar lesson. It then called out something about a dog. Scott thought the insult was directed at him, but the voice explained that it was referring to an actual dog standing behind the visitors.

Later, it offered to name the witches living around Glenluce. It listed several women, including one whom Gilbert knew had died years earlier. The voice replied that the woman was dead but claimed her spirit was still alive somewhere else.

Something Appeared Beneath the Bed

Scott and the visitors searched beneath the bed, trying to find whoever was speaking. They found nobody.

The voice became angry when someone suggested one of the children might be responsible. It threatened the visitors and told them to stop talking.

Scott began arguing with it, quoting passages from the Bible. To everyone’s surprise, the voice answered with passages of its own.

The exchange went on for some time. Whenever Scott quoted a verse, the unseen speaker seemed ready with another.

Eventually, the minister demanded to know where it had come from. The voice announced that it was an evil spirit from hell and that Satan was its father.

According to the account, a bare hand and part of an arm suddenly appeared near the floor. It began striking the boards so hard that the house shook.

The voice shouted for its father to come up and join them. Gilbert desperately wanted to see the thing that had been frightening his family. When he asked it to show itself, the voice told everyone to put out the candle.

It promised to appear among them like a ball of fire.

The Family Stopped Answering

Scott eventually told the Campbells to stop speaking to their unwanted visitor. Whenever it tried to start a conversation, they were to ignore it and pray.

The voice hated this arrangement. It demanded attention, threatened the children and became increasingly angry when nobody answered.

During one evening gathering, it repeatedly ordered the women to put out a candle. The shouting grew so loud that people covered their ears.

The disturbances continued for months, sometimes becoming quieter before starting again. Gilbert eventually asked the Synod of Galloway, a gathering of church leaders, for advice.

The church organized special prayers for the family. For a time in 1656, the house became peaceful, but the trouble wasn’t finished.

It Started Stealing Their Food

When the activity returned, it had developed a new habit. Food began disappearing from the house.

Sometimes the family found meals hidden beneath beds or tucked into holes near the doors. Other times, the food vanished completely. The problem became so bad that the Campbells were occasionally left with little more than bread and water.

One morning, Grissel was preparing porridge for the children when the wooden plate holding the oatmeal suddenly disappeared. Instead of becoming frightened, she spoke to the unseen visitor and asked it to return what it had taken.

She only asked for the plate.

It came flying back at her, without the oatmeal.