The Paranormal Database

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

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Borders Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Sighing

Location: Peebles - Castle Venlaw Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: The sounds of sighing have been reported from one bedroom here - it is thought to be the sound of a guest who leapt from the window in a suicide bid.

Marion Ritchie

Location: Peebles - Cross Keys Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This ghost could be mistaken for a typical public house poltergeist, though she also likes to talk to guests at the establishment. Room 5 is said to be particularly active.


An old postcard showing a forest in Peebles.

Newly Married

Location: Peebles - Forest
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: One witness watched a man and woman in wedding attire run the forest and then vanish into thin air.


An old postcard showing Neidpath Castle.

White Woman

Location: Peebles - Neidpath Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pale creature flitters around the building, having died of a broken heart.

Isabelle

Location: Peebles - Tibbie Shiel's Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: Determined never to let the business that she started fail, the spirit of Isabelle 'Tibbie' Shiel haunts her inn, sometimes startling guests with her sudden appearances.

Giant's Home

Location: Preston - Edin's Fort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ruins of this once huge fortress were once home to a giant with three heads, known as Red Ettin. He was killed by a lad who managed to answer the giant's unanswerable riddles.


Human sacrifice, River Tweed.

Human Sacrifice

Location: River Tweed - Waters of the river
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Once a year
Further Comments: It is said that once a year the water monster hiding here demanded a single human sacrifice to prevent it from terrorising the local neighbourhood.

Wonder-Working Occupant

Location: Selkirk - Aikwood Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One old book describes the phantom occupant of the Jingler's Room in Aikwood Tower as 'Wonder-Working', although the exact details are not given. The tower also has links to the wizard Michael Scott.

Grey Dog

Location: Selkirk - B7009 between town and Langholm
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom dog, slightly larger than a collie and in dire need of a groom, walks silently along this road at dawn and dusk.

Whispers

Location: Selkirk - Marshland east of the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local story says that the swamp has taken at least three lives and is always on the lookout for more. The dead can be heard talking in hushed tones around the waters.

Murdered Women

Location: Selkirk - Newark Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 13 September (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The castle is said to contain the souls of the women and children murdered by brutal soldiers at the site, who are heard once a year.

Presence

Location: Selkirk - Private residence, Chapel Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1958-1973
Further Comments: A woman living here tolerated a presence which she felt 'observing' her for many years.

Dead Man's Shoes

Location: Selkirk - Shoemakers (no longer standing) and unknown churchyard
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A shoemaker in the town once made a pair of shoes for a stranger donned in a black cape. As the mystery man paid, the shoemaker noticed maggots in the purse, and decided to follow him. The figure walked into the local churchyard and vanished into a grave. The shoemaker returned later with some friends and dug the grave up, discovering a rotting corpse wearing a brand new pair of shoes...

Hidden Treasure

Location: Selkirk - Tamleuchar Cross
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old poem states that 'Atween the wat grund and the dry, the gowd o' Tamleuchar doth lie'.

Evil Presence

Location: Shankend - Manor house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The spirits of First World War German PoWs which died while being held here are said to create a presence so repelling it drives all away.

Tall Man in a Blue Bonnet

Location: Southdean - Hobkirk graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1690s
Further Comments: This male figure with a grim face and a blue bonnet was said to terrify locals with his frequent appearance and sudden vanishing in the church and yard. The reverend Nicol Edgar armed with a Bible and claymore banished the entity.


An old photograph of the ruined Dryburgh Abbey.

Preacher

Location: St Boswells - Dryburgh Abbey Hotel (particularly room 216), and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1900s
Further Comments: Dressed in black clothing, this clergyman was seen several times during the early nineteenth century. He was killed after it was discovered that he and the Lady of the Manor were engaged in a questionable relationship, and it is reported that she took her own life after discovering the preacher's death. She now takes the form of a grey lady seen in the hotel. More recently (?), plainchant has been reported from the former abbey.

Jack's Grave

Location: Tweedsmuir - The Giant's Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: These stones mark the final battle between Jack the giant killer and one of his mortal foes - they managed to kill each other in the fight. The body of either Jack or the giant lies under one of the stones.

Water Cows

Location: Yarrow - St Mary's Loch
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer managed to capture and breed a herd of the mythical water cows found in the loch. His herd returned to the loch when the mother of the cattle called out from the water - the roar caused nearby hills to shake.

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