Season 6 Episode 21: The Mask that Eats the Face

Starring Olivier nominated actor and former Blue Peter legend Peter Duncan, When Darkness Falls is a spine chilling ghost story that delivers a twisted, terrifying and thrilling tale that the Guardian said will leave you cowering in your seat. Catch the brand new UK tour of When Darkness Falls from September fifteenth in a town near you. Select nights will also feature myself delivering a live episode of Unexplained. For more details or to book tickets, visit When Darkness Falls dot

co dot uk if you dare. This episode contains adult themes that some may find disturbing. Parental discretion is advised. Southeast Scotland. In sixteen seventy Edinburgh, a dark fairy tale of a city sat on a rupture of earth and rock. Overlooking the cold steel waters of the Firth of Fourth, a medieval castle perched high up on volcanic rock, its

sandstone walls stained black by rain. Narrow labyrinthine streets fanning out like dendrites, each flanked by six and seven story high buildings, their gables and dormer windows utting out in strange and unnatural ways, teetering as if forever on the verge of collapse, while below them the streets run with human excrement and urine flung out of windows by the bucketful, as rats and mice scatter about. One evening in early spring, sometime around midnight, all is quiet, save for the occasional

sound of someone scurrying off into a distant alleyway. As two women one the others made make their way home from Castle Hill under a moonless sky. Their footsteps echo along the road as they turn into the steep, winding confines of West Bow, and a light mist rises up

to meet them. The towering tenements loom high above, crowding out the sky as they continued down the bows steep slope, the maid pushing back the shadows with the soft, hazy light of her lantern, while somewhere off an animal snorts, when from out of the darkness they hear a sudden whooping and clapping, followed by a high pitched cackle of laughter. Looking up, they can just make out three oddly shaped silhouettes in the flickering candlelight of an open window, their

bodies heaving and limbs flailing with each cacination. Turning back to the street, the women are stopped suddenly in their tracks by the sight of a cloaked figure hunched over at the base of a narrow, twisted flight of stairs that lead up to the property from where the cackling is coming from. Thinking little of it at first, the women staring shock as the figure rose up suddenly to its full height, a beguiling ten feet at least, revealing

a set of unusually spindly limbs. The women stepped back into the shadows as the strange giant specter burst out in a fit of maniacal laughter, and then shot off into the night. With their curiosity aroused, the two women attempted to keep pace with the spindly figure, but no matter how swiftly their feet carried them, it seemed always to be the same distance ahead. At a turn in the road. The figure then slipped into a narrow lane

known locally as Stinking Close, and disappeared. Hurrying after it, the women stopped at the lane's entrance and gasped at the sight beyond. What was you usually nothing more than a narrow alleyway connecting Westbow to Cowgate. The next road across was now lit up along its entire length by flaming torches, as numerous dark, hooded figures jostled about underneath them. Little of their faces could be seen, save for their mouths, which were all stretched wide open and emitting the most

hideous cacophony of hysterical laughter. Terrified, the women hurried on to the safety of their home. The following morning, the streets now bustling once more with people, horses, and carts, The two women retraced their steps from the night before, and soon found themselves at the bottom of the narrow, rickety stairwell from which the strange, towering figure had emerged.

The maid grabbed a passing tanner, his foul smelling leather apron streaked with blood, then pointed up to the window where they'd seen the three figures clapping and laughing together. Pray tell us whose house is that, she asked, why, replied the Tanner, That is the home of Major Thomas Weir. Of course you're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc lane Smith. Thomas Weir was born sometime around fifteen ninety

nine near Carluke in Lanarkshire, just southeast of Glasgow. By sixteen fifty he'd managed to successfully navigate an extraordinarily complicated tide of events to become the head of the Edinburgh Town Guard, the city's fledgling police force. Twelve years previously, in sixteen thirty eight, a number of the leading powers in Scotland signed the National Covenant, a public declaration opposing King Charles the First's plans to reform the Presbyterian Church

of Scotland. Charles the First, who was an Anglican, was King of Scotland, England and Ireland at the time, and was keen to restructure the fiercely independent and powerful Church of Scotland in such a way that would make it, and by extension, the nation, easier for him to subdue and control. Those who signed the National Covenant or were sympathetic to its aims called themselves Covenanters, and King Charles

naturally hated them. By then, any English and Scottish monarch, although still very much the head of state, was increasingly reliant on supply aught from the lawmakers of Parliament to wield their power. When Charles asked them for military support to force the Church of Scotland to back down, they refused, and so the first of a series of wars were ignited between various forces in England, Scotland and Ireland that would collectively become known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

This complex matrix of belligerents was made especially complicated by the respective ambitions of each division of power. The Scottish Covenanters opposed King Charles the First and his proposals for the Church of Scotland, while English parliamentarians also opposed the king. However, the Covenanters also opposed the parliamentarian's plan to dispense with the king altogether, and all three parties had interests in Ireland.

In the course of the next ten years, all would clash in a bloody scramble for supremacy of ideas, which by sixteen fifty had resulted in the defeat and execution of Charles the First and an uneasy alliance between Oliver Cromwell's parliamentarian forces and the Covenanters of the Church of Scotland, as laid out in the sixteen forty three Solemn League

and Covenant Agreement. As the son of a wealthy landed couple, the strict Presbyterian, Thomas Weir was a man of some political status, and as such was one of the signatories of the Solemn League and Covenant Agreement. Having fought in numerous battles alongside the Parliamentarian forces, he'd somehow survived it all, earning himself the title of Major in the process, and settled in Edinburgh to take up his position as the

commander of the town Guard. On first arriving in Edinburgh, Weir and his younger sister, Jean, who accompanied him everywhere, lived in Cowgate, one of the main thoroughfares of the city, at the home of one grizz Old Whitford. By sixteen fifty he and Jean had moved into a house on West Bow, an especially steep section of road which ran in a Z shaped pattern all the way down from Castle Hill at the base of Edinburgh Castle to the grass Market at the bottom, where the city's largest market

space was located. They lived there with their servant, Bessie Waymes. Thomas Weir was tall, with a distinctively large nose and a commanding, brooding presence, who could often be seen stalking the streets of Edinburgh where a long black cloak and clutching a thick ornate staff in his hand. The staff was a curious thing, engraved all along its body with pictures of centaurs and strained symbols, while its top comprised a crooked head of thornwood, all of which only served

to amplify his imposing countenance. His was a life of purity, bound to the good Book and the Word of God, which he was never shy of spreading himself at any given opportunity, and he was good at it too, being a compelling and authoritative public speaker with a ferocious intellect and a prodigious memory when it came to quoting scripture, who never missed an opportunity to stick the boot in

when others fell short of his own puritanical standards. And so it was with some alarm to those who were gathered there when late one evening, he burst angrily into an ale house next to the Nether Bow, the eastern gateway into the city, on the lookout for several guards who deserted their post. Finding them tucked away drinking merrily at a small table in the corner, we Are stormed over to them and demanded they returned to their post immediately.

The men, startled by weird sudden appearance, apologized for their lack of judgment, explaining that they'd merely wanted to join a friend for a drink who was in town for the night. They pointed to the stranger sat among them and introduced him as a mister Burne. Then something strange came over Major Weir, as all his confidence and authority seemed to suddenly drain from him, and the blood rushed

from his face. He stepped back in the grip of some unnatural terror, quietly repeating the name to himself over and over again, Burn Burn Burn, he said. The guards stared on in confusion as were then turned quickly on his heels and fled hastily from the building. It is said that Were was not seen outside his home for a good two weeks after this incident. Not long After his peculiar turn at the Ale House, Major Weir was out walking in the hills with a friend when they

approached a narrow stream. On being informed that it was called Liberton Burn, Weir became suddenly distressed and refused to cross it. It seemed clearly that something in that word brought him immediate distress. By sixteen fifty one, we as time as commander of the Edinburgh Guard had come to an end. Effectively retired, he quickly found his place among

the more powerful acolytes of the local Presbyterian community. Thomas's sister, Jean, meanwhile, developed a reputation of her own for being a formidable spinner of yarn, producing it at a rate seldom seen before. The West Bow, whether we As lived, was known for being home to some of the most pious individuals in the city, among them the many tinsmiths who resided there,

who were known collectively as the Bowhead Saints. Thomas Weir was quick to prove their equal, and, with his passion for prayer, soon found himself being invited to speak at the homes of his neighbors whenever the occasion called for it. He could often be found at the bedside of the old and infirm, dispensing reassuring pearls of biblical wisdom to

aid their suffering. The effect or the more reassuring, due to Weir's confident air, and for being so well known as a man whose own devotion to God and rejection of sin was unquestionable. And soon people were traveling from as far as forty to fifty miles away just to hear him speak. And speak he did, always with that peculiar staff by his side, his magnetic words full of such gravity it was as though they had come from the very mouth of God themselves. Now hear this, he

would say, as he leant heavily on his staff. Galatians, chapter five, verse nineteen. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like of the witch. I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that today which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom

of God. This podcast is supported by Morgan Stanley. What do you get from the Morgan Stanley client experience Listening more than talking, and a personalized plan to guide you through a changing world. To learn more, visit Morgan Stanley dot com, slash y us investing in VOS risk Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney Llc. One morning, a woman arrived at the home of John Knave, a Presbyterian minister, in New Mills,

a village located about fifty miles west of Edinburgh. The woman was clearly in some distress as she wrestled with what it was she wanted to say. After Knave told her forcefully to spit it out, the woman explained finally that she was certain she'd just seen a man in a secluded field having sex with a horse. The man,

she insisted, was Major Thomas Weir. The accusation was, of course ludicrous, and, at a time when the fate of Scotland and the Covenanters was still very much in the balance, an extremely dangerous one too, and so there was only one course of action. The following day, the woman was paraded through the town and flogged mercilessly by the local

hangman for her false accusation. In sixteen sixty, after ten years without a king, the monarchy was restored across Scotland, England and Ireland, with Charles the First son Charles the Second taking the throne. The Church of Scotland succeeded in retaining its power and independence, however, only after it was agreed to abolish the reforms made by the Covenanters. As a result, many Covenanters were persecuted as they sought to

maintain their influence in the country. Strangely, Thomas Weir avoided any such complications and for the next ten years continued to be widely celebrated for his powers of prayer. But as the years passed and age up with him, we began to slow down somewhat, and by sixteen seventy, as he approached his seventieth birthday, he seemed to have become gripped by a heavy melancholy that left him weary and

lacking his usual enthusiasm for praying. Then, early in the spring of sixteen seventy were invited four of the most eminent men from his circle of Presbyterian friends to gather at his home, including among them mister John Sinclair, a local Presbyterian minister. With darkness already falling, the men made their way to West Bow and up the rickety staircase, passing through the courtyard beyond, as the sound of Gene

Weir's spinning wheel could be heard echoing throughout. Then on into the house they went, where they were greeting by a fragile looking Thomas, leaning heavily on his staff under the gentle flicker of candle light. He bid them welcome as he sat wearily on a chair and gestured for them to do the same. The men looked about, unsure as to why exactly they had been summoned. Then Weir finally spoke. It was no use, he said, it was

time to come clean. What Major Thomas Weir told the men that night has never precisely been ascertained, only that had apparently included a confession to a series of unspeakable acts that he'd committed throughout his life, and that for over twenty years he'd been a servant of the devil. That night, the stunned men left the Weir's home. They made a pact never to reveal anything of what they'd just heard, in fear that they might be tainted by

their association with the Major. However, mister John Sinclair was so disturbed by it all he felt obligated to inform Sir Andrew Ramsey, who, as Lord provesed, was the city's administrative head. Believing the crimes that Weir had confessed to too inhumane and horrid for any human to have been capable of, Ramsey promptly sent to physicians to Weir's house

to assess his mental health. Perhaps he thought the man was merely going senile in his old age, but to his horror, the doctors found nothing wrong with Weir's cerebral faculties. The man, they said, was perfectly sane. The following night, two Baileys tasked with the resting Major Weir and his sister Jean, whom he'd also implicated in his confession, burst

into their home. As they grabbed the then sixty year old Jean, she cried out to them to first confiscate the Major's staff before he used it to drive them out of the house that she said was where he derived his power. Sure Enough, the staff was secured, and the Major, who was found shortly afterwards, offered no resistance to his arrest. The Baileys then asked if there was any money kept in the house, and were directed to a series of cloth bundles full of coins that were

dotted about the place. After locking the Weir siblings up in the Old Tollbooth prison, the Baileys retired to a local inn to get a drink by the fire and count the money they'd taken. After pulling it all together, they threw the cloths into the fire and were amazed to see them whip and dance about strangely in the flames, before finally burning In one of the bundles. They were also said to have found a strange root of some sort,

which they too tossed onto the fire. The moment it landed, it sparked and crackled like gunpowder, then emitted a huge cannon like bang and shot up into the chimney like

a firework. Meanwhile, up in the Old Tollbooth, Maister Sinclair paid a visit to Major Weir and begged him to repent, but we Are refused, telling Sinclair to leave him alone and that there was no saving him, and so Sinclair turned his attention to his sister Jean, Still not quite able to believe all that Weir had confessed to Sinclair needed answers, but first Jeanne denied it all until finally she confessed too. It was all true, she said, and

this was how it began. It was sometime one night in August sixteen forty eight, in the early hours, when there was a knock at the door at Thomas and Jean's home in Westbow. Having been woken up by the knocking, Jean was then told by Thomas to join him in the street, where, to her amazement, six black horses and a large stagecoach that appeared to be almost entirely on

fire was waiting for them. Nervously, Jean followed her brother into the burning coach and together they were whisked away to dal Keith, a small town just south of Edinburgh, where she claimed Thomas had a meeting with an unknown man who she understood later was the Devil. Thomas returned from the meeting clutching the Strange staff for which he was so well known. Weir was said to have made a pact with the devil, who told him that from that point on he could do whatever he wished, and

that only a burn could stop him. He was also gifted strange magical powers, which he appeared to draw directly from the peculiar staff, as if to prove this to himself. The following day, he was said to have told anyone that would listen that King Charles's army had been beaten in the Battle of Preston, something which he couldn't possibly have known at that time. Soon after, Jeanne too had a run in with the devil when she was visited by a strange, tall lady who appeared at her door

with three children strapped to her body. The woman urged jean to do battle with the Queen of the Fairies and take her place as the Devil's wife. She then asked Jeanne to give her all the silver she possessed, which she did. Ever since that day, Jeanne found she could produce more yarn on her spinning wheel than she ever thought possible, as though she too had been given

a magical gift. Another time, she was visited by an unusually short woman who gave her a strange route, telling her that as long as she kept it safe, she would have the power to do whatever she chose. The woman then threw down a cloth on the floor of her house and told Jean to stand on it, while saying, all crosses and cares go out of this house now, and Jean obliged. Mister John Sinclair listened on aghast, recognizing

immediately another pact with the devil. Jean then explained that her and Thomas's mother had been a witch who bore the devil's mark, just like her brother did. Here, said Jean, as she pulled up the headdress that she was wearing. I have the devil's mark too. The god fearing Sinclair refused to see it at first, but his curiosity eventually

got the better of him. Jean pulled off the head dress and furrowed her brow, where a small horseshoe shape emerged in her skin, another clear indication, thought Sinclair, that she too, had sold her soul to the devil. The minister shuddered at the sight of it. The Weir's trial took place on April ninth, sixteen seventy, during which the

full extent of Major Thomas Weir's confession was revealed. The Major, as it turned out, had been raping his sister Jean for the best part of fifty years, having once been married. Shortly after the death of his wife Weir also impregnated his step daughter, most likely as the result of rape, too, but had managed to have her married off to a man in England before anyone found out. He was also found guilty of multiple counts of fornication, having sex with

married women as well as his maid. The degree to which these acts were consensual is unclear. Weir was also found guilty, having finally admitted to it, of numerous counts of bestiality with dogs, cows, and a horse, vindicating the woman who had been whipped so mercilessly for accusing him of the exact same thing. Weir was eventually convicted of perpetrating incest and adultery and sentenced to death. Unlike her brother, Jean,

was not only accused of incest but also sorcery and witchcraft. However, it was only for the crime of incest, for which she was deemed to have been an equal party two, that she was convicted. She too, was sentenced to death. On Monday, April eleventh, Major Thomas Weir, too old and infirmed to walk himself, was dragged on a sled to

Greenside in Leith, a town just north of Edinburgh. There, he was tied against a post and had a rope placed around his neck, which was gradually tightened by the executioner. As the rope bit into his throat, Weir's bodies squirmed underneath as his face went purple, Saliva foamed at his mouth, and he evacuated his boughs. When he was finally stilled, Weir and the post he was tied to was set on fire. Then the staff was tossed onto the flames.

The crowd shrieked at the sight of it, as it seemed to writhe and twist in the fire, as though something alive inside it were trying to escape. All of a sudden, screams rang out from within the flames. Thomas Weir was still alive, and then all went quiet, save for the spit and crackle of burning flesh. When Jean Weir was informed of her brother's death, she at first

refused to believe it. When she was finally convinced that both he and his staff had been destroyed, she is said to have become enraged, shouting, I know he is with the devils, for with them he lived. For her own execution, which took place on April twelfth, sixteen seventy jean was led down to the grass market, barely a stone's throw from her home, where she was greeted by a large and vicious crowd, eager to see her hang

for her so called crimes. As she made her way up the ladder to the gallows, she stopped suddenly and began hurriedly to take off her clothes, much to the

shot of all who had gathered there. At once. The executioner was ordered by the law men to put her clothes back on, angered by what they saw as the indecency of her naked body, but Jeanne pushed the executioner away, punching him hard in the face before he was finally able to subdue her and put her clothes back on, after which she was hauled onto a stool and had

the noose placed around her neck. It was a final act of defiance, perhaps from someone who, after a lifetime of abuse and being made to feel ashamed of her own body, wanted to display it finally without shame and on her own terms. And then the stool was kicked

from under her feet. It is said that so fearful were people of what had transpired inside the weirs that it lay empty for over a hundred years, all the while, strange shapes could be seen flitting about behind its broken window panes, and the ghostly sound of Gene Weir's spinning wheel creaking and whirring could be heard echoing through the

courtyard below it. In eighteen seventy eight, the house was demolished entirely, as the upper part of West Bow was effectively removed and the rest of the road joined on

to what is now Victoria Street. Some say, if you ever find yourself walking through West Bow in the early hours just before dawn, the thundering of hoofs can sometimes be heard, followed by the appearance of a fiery coach pulled by six black horses, and if you are brave enough to look, you might just catch a glimpse of the gurning face of Major Thomas Weir behind its flaming windows. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us,

you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add free episodes, just go to patron dot com forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained. The book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music,

are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Slash Unexplained Podcast m