Spooked - Piper from the Past

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

When bagpiper Steve moved to York, England, he joined a local pipe band. Little did he know that he’d have a piper from the past join him from the other side.Thank you, Steve, for sharing your story with Spooked! If you’re ever in York, you can hear Steve’s Piper Tale in the flesh by joining The Original Ghost Walk of York. Want more tunes? Check out performances from Steve’s band: North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Pipe Band.Produced by George McDonagh, original score by Clay Xavier, artwork by Teo Ducot Spooked has a Youtube Channel! Subscribe now for a new scary story each week. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From grandmother's window, peering, little red riding hood waited, scheming, fiending, dreaming dreams, no innocent had ever dared to dream before. While she plotted, softly sighing, there came a wolf from out of hiding, child, he asked, Why are you crying? Let me help you, I implore. Then she lured him to the hunter's spine behind Grandmother's door, and she thought that she had tricked him till she heard his mighty roar.

Then she knew her plan for malice would be spoiled. The wolf? Just for the summer, in Lansing, Michigan. I'd just play Spartan Hall. It's close to my job. And there's a woman living in the building. I don't know her, but I've seen her around.

And wandering down the street, it's a bright sunny day. She's walking toward me. carrying a cloth tote bag full of groceries. When we're right next to each other, a smile. I say hello. How are you? She doesn't say anything at all.

Just keeps on a merry way. All right, cool. If that's how it's going to be, I'm going on about my day, through my stuff. And several hours later, getting back to the apartment building, I look up, and there she is in front of me.

She looks me in my eyes and says, I'm fine. How are you? I'm fine. How are you? She's talking about, and it takes me a couple seconds to realize she's responding to my greeting from the morning. I ask, hey, hey, hey, yeah, I'm good.

I'm good. So you have a big evening plan? She blinks, then walks away. I don't see her till the next day. And her words are very deliberate. She says, I just did some sewing. I have a sewing machine.

Then I went to bed. What other things do you like to do? Then we both walk away from each other. I figured that answers will come in good time. And somehow, we become friends. And I learned that the earliest I can ever get a response is about three hours. Talk to her. I have to remember three hours ago.

And this is hard for me because I'm an impatient jackass sometimes. But eventually we start to speak in blocks to get a few thoughts out. And every conversation is part of the same conversation. I want to know what it's like to be her. To think like she does. And she is very curious about what it's like to be me. How do you experience time? I don't know.

How do you experience time? If I don't see her for a few days, it doesn't matter. Our talk resumes at exactly the spot we left off. Then one day, the door to my place is cracked. I'm chilling on the couch. She doesn't realize I can see her. It's like she's stealing herself, gathering herself, gathering herself, going over her line, shaking, literally shaking, before wrapping on my door, trying so hard to be heard.

Marvel and I'm honest. She hoards so many of her very few words. No one's ever worked so hard to talk to me. I start to sense how exhausting it is for her. So sometimes I go quiet to give her permission if she wants it to be quiet too. Why it's Jeopardy, I don't shout out the answers if I know them. But sometimes she does three hours later. And I tell you all that to tell you this.

Time is different than you think. Time overlaps on itself, runs parallel, backwards, upside down, and if someone cares deeply enough, they can leave echoes in time. For three hours later, yes. But sometimes it practicing makes perfect, right? That's what we're always told. So when bagpipe player, Steve, joins a new band,

he needs all the help he can get. Does Steve get it? Many times over the years when I played the pipes, I close my eyes like a lot of pipers do and you're not present. I'm in a forest or I'm at the side of a lock and all I can see is snow and high-rise mountains. My name is Steve Ruffley.

I am a Great Highland bagpiper. I always had the love of, from a very early age of the bagpipes because of my heritage. My father is Scottish and therefore it was always in the blood, it's always been there. The pipes are a very unique instrument matter where you are in the world and you hear them.

There's got a distinct sound from the drones and the drones go something like like that and then you've got the chant there what gives it that distinct high-pitched sound. I moved to York in July

1996 to be with my family. I was 34. It's a Roman medieval walled city in the north of England. It's full of pubs and full of churches. I think one time they said there was 365

pubs and 52 churches within the city wells. It's just a very vibrant and busy city is York. I immediately then seek out to join a local pipe band and I found out

there was one very, very close to me and I joined North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service pipe band. We're a full pipe band with a dozen pipers in the band and we all get to there as a marching band and do venues up and down. Yorkshire.

Games shows, flower shows, St. Patrick's Day parades, usually big audiences. I'm the quartermaster in the band, which I'm in charge of all the uniforms and making sure everybody looks absolutely spot on. When it's all on, it does look absolutely what we call the dogs and hatches you know

it was like two or three years after I came to York I got up and running with another piper called Josh he was 13 at the time and started to practice upstairs in this very old building this St. Lawrence's Club

what you would call a social club the building was built in 17 or 18th century a very large stone Georgian-type building. We ended up going upstairs into this very large room

with big heavy curtains, big old radiators where there was a big full-sized snooker table. So we've been practicing up in St. Lawrence's in this room and we've been there for weeks on end. And this particular evening we came into the room the room was really cold

and just getting dark so I had to put the light on we started to play and just as we started to march around the room as we always did this light bulb just completely exploded we both dropped to the floor

we were near to the light as well about four feet away there was just glass everywhere because it was a large old light bulb. We were quite alarmed and quite shocked, and then we started to laugh, both of us, through nerves or whatever, I don't know. The very next time we were in that room,

two, three days after the light bulb exploded, and we were marching round. We were in there for quite some time, 20 minutes, 25 minutes. It was very warm in the club, but in that room it became, very cold. And I felt as if I was being watched. You know, it was like walking into an electric field. I started to see in the corner of my eye the heavy light above the snooker table was moving very slowly.

And it's on heavy chains. So this thing takes a lot of energy to move this thing. It was swinging from left to right, left to right, left to right. left to right, and it got stronger to the point where I thought the thing was going to come off the wall. All my hair on the back stood up. All my hair on my hands stood up. Josh looked at me, it shook his head and he went, is this really happening? One of them looks. And I thought, we need to get out of it. We went downstairs and we were like shocked. Josh wouldn't go up back up to the room

and then he said he didn't want to practice in that rib no more because he was frightened. So we decided that we were not going to play that night and again. We didn't tell anybody about that. We kept that one to ourselves because how can you explain to somebody this like fitting was violently going from left to right when you think the thing's going to come off the ceiling

and thinking, really wouldn't believe me. About seven days after the light fitting on the 16th of April 2005, I'd finished work. I walked with Josh. He lived on the same street as me. We'd walked together with our pipes and our pipe bags. It's laughing, joking, very joyful,

and we came into the room again to do practice. We didn't feel anything untowards at all when we went in the room again and we assemble our pipes together and I tuned Josh up and I tuned my own up and we're of happy and joybillant as we do

and started playing Scotland in the Brave quite a well-known tune to all pipe bands and to the military it's a very significant powerful tune for glory as in battle I think every pipe band in the world plays it

when we started to march round, we then got to the corner and we both stopped. We'd gone through the tune once and we were going back into it. Da, da, da, da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da. And as we're doing that about within 15, within 15, 20 seconds of us striking up

I felt as if somebody was stood to me left or to me right. And it was like there was another piper playing with me and Josh, but there was another. but there was nobody there. All my hair, on my hands, and my back all stood up as if I was being electrified. But what the hell is going on? What am I hearing?

And he played with me for about 30, 40 seconds, in perfect unison as well. I was stood stationary, and Josh was looking at me directly at me, and he was like, with his jaw open and his eyes were like saucers, and he just threw his pipes onto the table and stood at the door as if to say, get out of that room now. I then dropped my pipes and left. He said to me, Stevie, did you not hear that?

I said, aye. I heard it as well, Josh. Josh was very frightened. He said, Steve, we need to get down to the bottom of this. I then spoke to my wife, bloody hell I said you won't believe what's happened in the club tonight and she goes oh what's happened now

I described like what happened she goes wow this needs to be told she had a friend who was a medium and had done a lot of work here in Northern England and we got older her within days of it happening and she said right we need to go back to the club

and she met me the next day This was about 6 o'clock at night. Only me and the psychic medium was in the room. We went into the room where it happened. She was all in black, and she had long black air, and she wore like a talisman round her neck, and she lit all these candles around me and did the incense. And then told me to stand in the centre of the room,

not say anything, and strike my pipes up and play. Within, what, five, ten seconds of me, playing, she said, stop. He's entered the room. He's here. And she had candles lit all around me in a circle. And she said, he's stood right beside you, Steve.

He's behind you. Oh, I've got goosebumps even telling him about this. Described him from head to foot. He's a big highlander. Young lad, early 20s. She said, He has his pipes in his hand. Full tartan, played,

killed, beard. He's got this big bonnet on his head with a white thing at the side. And I went, bloody hell, I know what that is. That's the Jacobite rose. It's the symbol of what they wore in the bonnet during the 45, 1745 rebellion.

She said he's smiling his head off. And he wants to connect with this, Stephen. I thought, bloody hell, I've got a jack-a-bike-piper trying to communicate with me, right, get my head round this, Steve. So I thought, who the hell is he? And then she said, I've got a name, I've got a name, she said, R-E-A-D, his name was Reid. When she told me that, I went, oh, my God, oh my God.

I had a good idea it could be. When I joined the pipe band, I was told about the piper called piper James Reed executed for playing the pipes in York since 1746. When he was condemned to death, they said the instrument of war is the bagpipes.

All the other pipers were pardoned and transported to Canada and America. But James Reed was made as an escapegoat, political scapegoat. And he was the only piper, as we know of, in the world to be hungedrawn and coertered. I knew straight away then. It was him trying to communicate with me.

I was so blown away. I cried. Me and Josh, we continued to go to the club at St. Lawrence's and we practising for many years after and we didn't have any encounters, but we always felt we were being watched. Many years later, I approached Mark Graham, who's in charge of the original ghost walk of York.

The ghost walk they meet here in York and Mark takes them around the historical city, different encounters of local ghost stories. At various special occasions, I would come along and play a tune, dressed as James Reed himself. They've got the whole thing made. So it's like a grey-blue green tartan

and the jacobite bonnet with a Stuart emblem on the side. as well. So it was about October 2012. Mark said, I want you to go to the mansion house. The Lord Mayor's residence, you've got quite a large audience, do a bit of piping,

and I'll tell the story of what happened to James Reed. I said, yes, of course. In any event, I always go early to make sure the pipes are properly in tune, and I'm relaxed. So I went along and I met the caretaker, Richard Pollitt, his name is... I've got about 10 minutes spare.

I go up one flight of stairs and I'm into like a Victorian dining room and everything's set out in prestige, crystals, chandeliers and stuff. And on the wall there's a massive oil painting. And I said to Richard Pollitt, is he the only picture in the whole place of the Lord Mayor of York? He says, believe it or not, Steve. Why? I said because he was the third person who condemned James Reed to death. I was dressed as James Reed in the Lord Mayor of York Mansion House, and I'm looking at the man who condemned him to death. And I said to Richard, this is payback time. People started to arrive and they're all upstairs in the banquet hall at the top of Mansion House.

There's about 200 people. And I'm at the bottom of the stage. and the lights were very dim. The caretakers were the top of the room were the lantern and everybody was seated in the boardroom, the lights and everything so they didn't see this and Richard said

come up the stairs as slowly as possible Steve and strike up the bottom of the stairs so I did I was going upstairs playing which is quite hard to do but I did I came up one step at a time I was playing the Green Hills of Tyrol

It's basically the soldiers' song It goes Da-da-de-dam da-da-di-dam da-da-di-dom da-da-da-de-da-da-da-de-da-da-da-da-dum So it's a very hearty tune And there's about 150 steps And I was concentrating on playing and I'm watching my feet the same time. I could see Richard Pollitt at the top of the stairs with a lantern on

and everybody's inside with the doors closed. And I get to the top of the stairs and his face was like as if there's something going on. He opens up the doors, the light full lights and everybody's waiting for me to come in. And I tells my story about James Reed. after I told the story I felt good and I felt really happy about the whole thing and as soon as I came to the door

Richard came running over to me and said you must know this I must tell you something something has happened coming up them stairs I cannot explain there was a light blue aura

completely around you and it did not go away until them doors opened and I said, what you're on about, I like blue, are he? He said it was completely surrounded you from your feet all the way around your body

and I can't explain it. I was totally oblivious as the word that something supernatural was going on and it was if James Reed was with me that evening many years after that incident around about September 2014 two days after the Scottish referendum

when they had the vote for independence in Scotland. I was doing the original Ghost Walk of York with Mark Green with a ghost walk. I would usually do it about three or four times a year. I was just about to leave at the back of the York Castle Museum where we do it. It's about it after 8 o'clock, 20 hundred hours

and there's a lot of activity going on catering wagons outside, lights on, there was something going on. The fire exit doors opened and light came upon me. And I thought I was going to be told off because I was making a lot of noise of playing the bagpipe. And this well-dressed gentleman in a full dinner suit stands smiling his head off at me. And he said, Piper, would you like to come inside and play for the audience? I said, what you're talking about?

Come and play for the audience. I said, you can't just say come in here. I said, I need paying. You know, that's what Piper's do. And he goes, you'd be paid well. Piper, you'd be paid well. So I goes, okay, so I follows him. I said, I've got 40 minutes.

So I walks down this passageway, and inside is the Castle Museum, which is your prison. And they've done it up with the Cobble Street. as it was, from Victorian York. And inside the street was like a full banquet, people with kilts on, people in dinner suits, ladies with ball gowns.

I was quite completely taken back because of the amount of people were there. The Lord Mayor of York was there in his full regalia, the High Sheriff was there of York, the town crier was there in his full regalia. I thought, wow, what the hell's going on here? and it was the York Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, which is held in significant places up and down the country,

the town crier, and he gave me a full introduction as well, going, oh, yay, oh, yeah, this is Piper Steve roughly, to be asked to pipe at this event, just very off the cuff very quickly, I just thought, well, what am I going to play? So I just struck up, and I was going to play Green Hills battles, or like I always do.

So I struck the pipes up and I was going to play a tune. And then I immediately felt something had came into me and started playing Cocker the North. The tune that I don't know, it's like any musician. You play a tune, you've got to know it well, but I didn't know it well enough to play it in front of all dignitaries and stuff. And I thought, why am I playing a tune that I don't really know when I'm playing it? My subconscious was telling me stop and change.

But this voice came into me. It was a Scottish voice in my head saying, carry on, we man, you'll be fine. Carry on, we man, you'll be fine. There was like a war in my head. My voice was saying to the other voice, what's going on? Stop.

When he was saying, no, carry on, we, man, you'll be fine. Piper James Reed, he effectively took over. my whole body playing. He was moving my fingers in time as it should have been. And I could see what was going on because everybody was like ecstatic. The people were banging on the tables

with glasses on the knives and forks. They were enjoying it so much. I didn't feel him leaving until I was coming out of the room and then I felt something leaving me. I felt mentally drained. I immediately left. They gave me this money as I was leaving,

and everybody was banging on tables as I was leaving. They wanted me to come back, shouting more, more, more. And the Lord Mayor of York actually come up to me and said, that was absolutely amazing what you've just done there. And I just laughed because I was in a rush to get back to see Mark at the pub. I walk into the pub and the wife's there with Mark. And I just said, you won't believe what's happened, Mark. And I told him, he said,

said, I don't believe you, that's a bit far-fetched to me. So I said, well, where do I get all this money from? And I poured all this money on top of this table in the pub. And he just started to laugh. And my wife said, why would he tell lies? These things happen to Stephen. The very next day, I started to realise, I thought, let's see if I can play this tune.

So I've got my practice chant there. And I started to play this tune. It was all out of tune. It wasn't right. It was a mess. It took me many weeks later to get the churn right. I then went back to the York Castle Museum, as it was York Prison, because I was that convinced.

I needed to know more. I spoke to the manageress at the time. I told her briefly about the Jacobites, being imprisoned there, and James Reed being part of that, and I would walk around in a circle, but they were all chained up together to get some exercise. And so I said, which room would that be? She said, this room.

I went, oh my God, don't tell me anymore. And I started to cry. I got very emotional. I said, this is the room where I played on Saturday night. He stepped into my body and he played. I said, well, his energy would be still here today, wouldn't they? And she said, of course there would be. After many years of historical research, I have found out every situation where I had encounters was directly linked to James Reed himself.

The first one being St. Lawrence's was so close to the city walls where his head would have been placed. The second would have been the Lord Mansion House because he was one of the judges who condemned James Reed to death. The last one was York Prison where James Reed was imprisoned for six months before he was executed at Tyburn and when we found out he was in Lord Old Gavir Regiment when I looked at the Mostorau the same surname as myself

and then I found out they're my direct ancestors in the same regiment as James Reed I still feel his presence today at times when I'm playing the pipes as if he stood right beside me. I was very, very privileged and ordered that James Reed came through to me

and did what he did, and he's at peace. I know he's at peace, because he knows the love of the pipes between me and him. He was using me as to bring peace to him through me and I'm doing what while I can't in order of James Reed. Thank you to Steve for sharing this story if you are ever in York. You can hear Steve's Piper Tail

in the flesh by joining the original Ghost Walk of York. Performances from Steve's band, North Yorkshire Fire, and Rescue Pipe Band can be found on the Facebooker. That piece was scored by Clay Xavier. It was produced

by George McDonough. Season of the wolf, running the shadow dance until all hallows Eve. Now often we delight in speaking to people with a connection to those who once walked these streets and have since crossed into the void. People who often see what I don't see, people who hear what I can't hear.

And I love them for taking us on their journey. And now I'm looking for a slightly different type of sight, because there are those that speak of connections to entities that have never walked the mortal plane. Some claim great power, others great wisdom, a few are deeply interested in our carings on and others care not at all for us. They are as native to the shadow as we are to the light. And if you have a bond with such an entity, please, please, please, please tell me about it.

Spoot at snapjudgment.org the world needs to know. Spook at snapjudgment.org. Spook is brought to you by the team that might turn. turn their head and laugh, but they would never rub it in. Except for Mark Ristich, he will rub it in. There's David Kim, Zoe Ferreigno, Eric Yanez, Teo DeKot, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart, Elliot Lightfoot,

Paulina Creeky, Juan Diego Beltran, Sasha Wilson, and Dan Yosinski. The Spook Theme Song is by Pat McSeeley Miller. My name's going to why. And sometimes I like to pretend that I'm in control of things. Make plans, mark stuff and calendars, that this shall be done by then. It gives a nice feeling of order, purpose. The problem occurs when I forget that I'm pretending.

When I imagine that my little intentions are anything but beacons for higher forces to make sport of me. You think I've learned long ago Not the clue of a man on what I'm up to Plans Oh, you've got plans to you Well, take that and that So put your little plans now So I've had a new thought lately

I started writing down false plans Keep them off my trail I tell them I'm not going to write a book next year No I'm going to burn one Exercise in every day That would only get me in shape. Who wants that? Instead, I'm going to make donuts at home.

That I'll teach me. So when the powers foil my plans, the joke will be on them. But they've had far too many jokes on me. One final thing, I don't know that I want to live in darkness, even though I know full well. that I will never, ever, never, ever, never, ever, never, never, ever.