David Duguid (February 10, 1832 – March 14, 1907) was a Scottish spiritualist

medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

and Glasgow

cabinet-maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a Bathroom cabinet, medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically mad ...

by trade.

Career

Duguid was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

. He worked as a cabinet-maker as a young man. He began his interest in spiritualism in 1866 by attending

table-turning Table-turning (also known as table-tapping, table-tipping or table-tilting) is a type of séance in which participants sit around a Table (furniture), table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. The table was purportedly made to serve ...

experiments. He later took up mediumship and

spirit photography Spirit(s) commonly refers to: * Liquor, a distilled alcoholic drink * Spirit (animating force), the non-corporeal essence of living things * Spirit (supernatural entity), an incorporeal or immaterial being Spirit(s) may also refer to: Liquid ...

. He was also known for his automatic drawings and paintings, which impressed the psychical researcher Edward Trusted Bennett. However, in 1878,

Frank Podmore Frank Podmore (5 February 1856 – 14 August 1910) was an English author and founding member of the Fabian Society as well as an influential member of the Society for Psychical Research. He is known for his interest in spiritualism, which he eve ...

attended a séance of Duguid and strongly suspected that he had cheated by using a card that had already been painted. In 1892, Duguid was tested in Glasgow and London by John Traill Taylor, editor of the '' British Journal of Photography''. Extra figures appeared on the camera

plates Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

. Taylor noted that the figures were "vile" looking but offered no explanation for their origin. His spirit photography was exposed when it was revealed he had used paper with chemically bleached-out images on them, and during his

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...

s would secretly press the paper against a blotter dampened with a developing solution.

Harry Price Harry Price (17 January 1881 – 29 March 1948) was a British Parapsychologist, psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent Spiritualism (movement), spiritu ...

wrote that Duguid "was caught cheating over and over again. One of his 'extras', a 'Cyprian priestess', was found to be a facsimile of a German picture." In 1905, Duguid was exposed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

when he was searched and small

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

s were found in his trousers.Tabori, Paul. (1966). ''Harry Price: The Biography of a Ghost-Hunter''. Living Books. p. 27

Publications

''Hafed, Prince of Persia: His Experiences in Earth-Life and Spirit-Life''
(1876) ith Hay Nisbetbr>''Hermes, a Disciple of Jesus: His Life and Missionary Work''
(1888)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duguid, David 1832 births 1907 deaths People from Dunfermline Scottish fraudsters Scottish spiritual mediums Drawing mediums 19th-century Scottish businesspeople

Career

Publications

See also

References