As part of its Darkest Ayrshire festival, Burns National Heritage Park hosted an historic psychic investigation of the world of Robert Burns and the Paranormal, led by Scotland's leading ghost hunters, the Scottish Society for Psychical Research. The investigation included a specially staged Psychometry experiment, a mediumistic tour of Auld Kirk Alloway and a Hallowe'en all-night vigil in Kirk Alloway, Burns Cottage and Burns Cottage Museum.

In the spirit of Robert Burns' rationalism, the supernatural folk traditions of Alloway were put to the test through a series of investigations. It was hard, however, for investigators to find a rational explanation for Psychometric medium, Francesca's ability to recognise many aspects of Burns life from a blind reading of anonymous Burns artefacts. Questions were also left hanging after the all-night vigil by a group of volunteers, led by trained SSPR investigators. The group (some of whom are pictured above, enjoying a quick tea-beak at 3am in Burns Cottage Museum) consisted of several teams, investigating Kirk Alloway, the traditional site of local supernatural activity, Burns Cottage and Burns Cottage Museum, which is also the subject of supposed ghostly activity. Perhaps surprisingly, it was the very room of Burns' birth where investigators encountered the most inexplicable phenomena, rather than the traditionally haunted Kirk. A full report of the investigation is being prepared by the SSPR and we hope to make it available on the BNHP web-site.