Joyce M Browns Story

Joyce M Browns

1987

Dear BBC Radio Scotland,

I suspect my memorable day will be a bit more out of the ordinary than most!

On a whim I had sent in a poem to Radio Forth, written in broad Scots for a competition they were running to find Mr and Mrs Edinburgh. My (ex) husband was mortified when I told him but when I won, and we discovered part of the prize was an overnight stay and Champagne breakfast in the then newly-built Sheraton Hotel, he began to think maybe it wasnt such a bad idea after all!

Another part of the prize was to experience a tour of the (then not open to the public it was September 1987) Mary Kings Close, which lies under the famous Royal Mile having been closed up and built over in medieval times in an effort to contain the spread of the bubonic plague. We had been invited to ask some of our friends and family to join us so we were a group of 10 plus an official guide.

It was amazing to see all the old original shops, still intact with butchers hooks etc. As we reached the end of this section, and arriving at a solid wooden door, the guide announced we were about to enter the haunted part.

I had no idea there were ghosts there but almost as though his statement was a trigger I suddenly saw, in the shop to my right, a head and shoulders (only) of a really wild-looking man. His hair was long and bushy and matted and his beard was the same. But it was his eyes they were mad and staring and I could feel how angry he was. I felt he resented our intrusion. Taken aback, I grabbed my bother-in-law next to me and said, whos that? but he couldnt see him and as I then went on to see a second tall, very thin and bent over at the shoulders, man, he went in search of the guide. The second man was wearing what looked to me like the undergarments knights wore under their armour. He even had the small hood part up, covering over his head. He slowly shuffled across, carrying a tray, crossing in front of the the mad man but neither seemed aware of each others presence. The guide, by now beside me, asked what Id seen and I gave him the descriptions. He then decided we wouldnt visit the haunted part after all (!) and started to hurriedly lead us back the way wed come. But as I passed another shop this time I saw a young woman with her hair up and wearing a long dress and apron, apparently carrying a plate of cakes. And she had a young helper! As a then child protection social worker I remember thinking this child definitely looks like he should be in care! He was emaciated, around the age of about 8 and had long, matted hair. His clothes were rags and he had bare feet, but he was dutifully helping the woman. Fascinated I actually entered the shop, and was standing right next to them (they were as solid and real-looking as you and I). And then a joyful group of young children came running in, one in a white nightgown, shouting and laughing, before running back out again. Then the long suffering guide appeared and asked What are you doing in there?! So I told him and he came in and hurried me out, back to join our group at the exit. He then got me to recount what Id seen to another two guides and our group.

Now many years later, I realise my people had been ghosts, though I certainly didnt realise it at the time! Quite possibly because Id seen ghosts before, at various points in my childhood, again without realising it.

And all of this was a precursor to what I was to become, because after attending courses with Gordon Smith from Glasgow (The Psychic Barber) and Tony Stockwell from Essex (The Psychic Detective) I discovered that I too am a medium and have been working part-time as such since 2003.

A memorable day?! It was the dawning of a whole new way of life (and death) for me!

(PS Around eight years ago I read that some of the people living in the Royal Mile, centuries ago, had been beheaded but that some had the axe/guillotine fall on their shoulders not their neck. I suspect that happened to the first ghost described here no wonder he was angry!)