What a knightmare: A past life as a Mediaeval warlord
Why did I dream about fighting in a battle?
All around me were the screams of dying men, the snapping of wooden pikes, the dull thud of steel on flesh, as my soldiers fought against enemy knights on chargers.
Then the scene faded. I was back with my friends, playing in the grounds of derelict housing blocks in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire.
Since the age of three, I’d had strange visions of myself commanding men in a Medieval battle.
‘I was the leader of Scotland,’ I’d tell my mum and dad.
They humoured me. But although I was only young, I knew I was right.
Tryingtounderstand
In January 1965, I was 10 years old. I was watching the funeral of the former prime minister Winston Churchill on TV when the commentator mentioned Winston Churchill’s son, Randolph.
‘Randolph’s our family name!’ I told Mum.
‘No, it’s not, love,’ she answered, looking puzzled.
As I got older, I tried to make sense of the Medieval battle scenes that played out in my head.
‘Perhaps I saw them on television,’ I told myself.
But deep down, I knew it was more than that. As the years went by, the visions continued. I saw myself riding a horse. I was wearing a surcoat, and on my chest was a coat of arms of three red diamonds on a white background. In other visions, people bowed to me, called me ‘Lord.’ Interested in Scottish history, I read a book about Scots king Robert the Bruce. The book mentioned his nephew, the knight Thomas Randolph, Visions since childhood describing him as blond.
‘No, he wasn’t, he had black hair,’ I found myself thinking.
But I’d never heard of Thomas Randolph - so how did I know?
Strangeconnection
Not long after this, I was flicking through some history books when I found myself looking at a coat of arms. One, the crest of the Earl of Moray, was the exact same coat of arms I’d often seen myself wearing in my visions. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the first Earl of Moray had been Thomas Randolph. What was going on? One day, I was at work as a photographer for a local newspaper when I was sent to do a feature on a hypnotist