The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

Home > Scotland > Highland

Highland Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Killer of Dogs

Location: Loch Watton - Waters of the loch
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1923
Further Comments: Witness Colonel Trimble claimed to have watched his dog be eaten by a creature with a long neck.

Barn Builder

Location: Lochaber - Exact area unknown, but once called Lianachan
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A member of the Kennedy family caught a Glaistig and refused to release her until she built a stone house. The Glaistig completed the task overnight, and as she left cursed the Kennedy bloodline so they would grow like rushes but wither like ferns.

Mary's Urisk

Location: Lochaber - Waterfall in Glen Maili
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Pre twentieth century
Further Comments: A voyeuristic Urisk would visit this area and watch a lady named Mary as she worked her spinning wheel. A man who wanted to see the creature for himself donned Mary's clothing but failed to fool the Urisk (that declared 'I see your beard').

Bagpipes

Location: Lochailort - Lochailort Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1994
Further Comments: The sound of bagpipes could occasionally be heard in the inn, and a woman in a blue dress was also said to haunt the site. The inn was rebuilt after a fire in 1994, after which the hauntings fell away.


A loch in Scotland.

Devil's Coach Marks

Location: Lochs in Scotland (various districts) - No exact location given
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Winter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: During the winter months, when the Devil visits Scotland, the wheels on his coach leave visible marks across frozen Lochs.

Bean Nighe

Location: Lochslin - Loch Eye, southern bank
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1742
Further Comments: The ghostly washer woman tending to blood covered clothing was spotted here by one witness a few hours prior to the local abbey roof collapsing, the accident killing thirty six people.

Hidden Stone

Location: Lochussie - Exact location unknown
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A powerful local wise man, executed for being right too many times(!), managed to hide a holed stone somewhere in the area. He stated that it would be discovered by a person born with four thumbs, who would inherit the prophet's powers.

Untrustworthy Kelpie

Location: Luib, Isle of Skye - Bridge (now made of stone) crossing the river Don
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man urgently needed to cross the river here, but the old wooden bridge had been washed away during a storm. A kelpie appeared and offered to ferry the man across. The man accepted the offer, but halfway across the kelpie tried to toss the man from its back and drown him. The man hung on for his life, and after some minutes managed to jump to the opposite bank. Enraged, the kelpie threw a rock after the man, which missed. The stone stood near the bridge for many years, until broken up and used for construction.

Echo

Location: Mallaig - Castle close to Mallaig, possibly Castle Tioram
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: If one called out 'Are you in, maiden?' close to the castle ruins, a voice would then be heard emerging from the building, repeating any phrase shouted by visitors.

Humped Creature

Location: Mallaig - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late 1950s
Further Comments: The crews of two fishing boats were reported to have encountered a humped creature several metres in length moving through the water. A column of spines ran down the monster's back and it possessed a head like a tortoise with a large mouth.

Lady Fanny Sinclair

Location: Mey - Barrogill (or Barrowgill) Castle, aka Castle of Mey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Eloping from home to marry a member of the working classes, Lady Fanny's family tracked her down and brought her home - she was killed jumping out of a tower window while trying to escape again.

Herder

Location: Morvern (aka Morven) - Mountainside known as Garlios
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area became home to a Glaistig which specialised in herding sheep and cattle. The entity took the form of a small but extraordinarily strong woman and lived in a yew tree.

MacCoul Giants

Location: Munlochy - Area around the bay
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These two large warriors once lived in the bay, though now in shadow form only.

The Rag Well

Location: Munlochy - St Boniface's Well
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Rags are tied around the well to transfer ill health and bad luck away from the visitor and into the healing waters.

Blackened Remains

Location: Nairn - Area close to Hardmuir Wood
Type: SHC
Date / Time: 29 July 1852
Further Comments: The charred remains of John Anderson could only be recognised by the horses and cart found by his body. One witness said that John had fallen from his cart while burning, his horses remaining still, and that the fire had been extinguish with buckets of water within fifteen minutes of starting. The doctor who performed the autopsy believed the fire to be 'no ordinary combustion'.

Handless Girl

Location: Nairn - Cawdor Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Caught by a vicious father hugging her lover, the girl had her hands severed on daddy's orders so she could never hug again. Another ghost which is said to haunt the site is that of John Campbell, the first Lord Cawdor.

Marching

Location: Nairn - Country lanes near Boath House, off the A96
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 November 2014, around 23:30h
Further Comments: Three people walking their dogs heard the faint sound of footsteps and talking. As the sounds grew nearer, they realised that the footsteps were marching, and the sounds were accompanied by a drum. The three people walked, and then ran, to escape the sounds, but the sounds followed them. They stopped moving, and the marching passed them. The experience lasted for around two minutes, and no other person was seen during this time.

Peals

Location: Nigg - Nigg Bay
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The gentle peals of a bell are said to emerge from under the bay's waters.

Block of Ice

Location: Ord, Isle of Skye - Exact location not known
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1849
Further Comments: A half tonne block of ice, around six metres in length, fell from an empty sky.

Largest Ice Fall

Location: Ord, Ross-Shire - Farm of Balvullich, Estate of Ord, occupied by Mr Moffat
Type: Other
Date / Time: 13 August 1849
Further Comments: A large block of ice fell from the sky and is thought to be one of the largest ice falls ever. Said to have been almost twenty feet in circumference, the ice had a crystalline appearance, and appeared to be made up of smaller, diamond-shaped parts. Before the object fell from the sky, nearby occupants of the farm heard a massive peal of thunder.

Protected Boats

Location: Port Henderson - Rocks along the coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: Local boat builder Roderick Mackenzie managed to sneak up on a sleeping mermaid and grabbed her by the hair. She requested that he let her go and in return would grant him a wish. Mackenzie wished that any boat he made would never sink, a tradition that was said to hold true throughout his career.

Charles

Location: Portree - Prince Charles's Well, road between Portree and Uig
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 15 April 1746
Further Comments: The day before his defeat at Culloden, the shade of Prince Charles was seen by the well, crying 'defeated'.

Car Lights

Location: Portree - Road between Portree and Sligachan
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lights of an incoming car has been reported along this road, although they suddenly vanish without trace. Some say the lights belong to a car which fell from the ferry (although there may be two different phantom cars).

Creature

Location: Portree, Isle of Skye - Woman's Loch, by Sithean Beinne Bho'idhich
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A water monster has been reported inhabiting the loch.

Fairy Cup

Location: Raasay Island - Exact location not known
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man named Hugh joined a fairy party and stole a glittering cup. Despite being chased, Hugh escaped; the fairy cup ended up with the MacLeods on the island.

Records 176 - 193 of 193

Quick Links
Contribute
Contribute to the Paranormal Database

Northern Ireland
View Northern Ireland records

Republic of Ireland
View Republic of Ireland Records

Wales
View Wales records