Highland Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Coinneach Odhar's Stone
Location: Allanfearn - Petty Bay
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 20 February 1799, (and still present?)
Further Comments: This eight-tonne rock is also known as the Abban Stone. It moved almost 240 metres from its original position unaided, leaving a large hole where it had stood. Some people blamed the Devil, while others believed a combination of ice and strong wind carried it to the new position. The stone also appeared in a prophecy issued by the Brahan Seer, who said the stone would advance as far into the sea as it was inland.
Accident
Location: Allanfearn - Small bridge off Ardersier Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unfunny
Further Comments: The bridge was said to be haunted, although the exact details are not known. A local story claimed that a practical joker once placed a sheet over his head and tried to scare a ploughman passing through the area. The joke fell flat when the ploughman struck the 'ghost' with a piece of iron, killing him.
Sputnik?
Location: Ardgay - Moors in the area
Type: Other
Date / Time: October 1962
Further Comments: Three months after a shepherd reported finding strange wreckage, a team from RAF Kinloss visited the site in October and removed debris consisting of a box and some bottles. While some people believe the craft was a Russian satellite, others say it was an American spy balloon.
Potato Thrower
Location: Ardgay - Private house, exact location unknown
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The unsettled spirit here threw potatoes and other vegetables at a minister who came to investigate the disturbance - the entity was finally identified as the shade of a young baby killed by its mother.
Voyeuristic Maid
Location: Auchindarroch - Auchindarroch House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This grey lady is often seen just outside the house, either peeping in through the windows, or drifting over the lawn. Another shade, face covered by a hood, has been observed inside the building, while sometimes a strange and unrecognised perfume fills parts of the house.
Isobel Gowdie
Location: Auldearn - Exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1955
Further Comments: Tried for witchcraft in 1662, Isobel Gowdie claimed she could transform into a hare and had met the queen of the fairies under a hill. Her phantom was spotted by Robin Green, a retired soldier, as he camped in the area.
Annie Fraser
Location: Aultsigh - Aultsigh Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The entity heard moving around the building is named as a young woman murdered by a jealous suitor. He concealed the woman's body under the floorboards of the building.
Granite Stones
Location: Aviemore - Rothiemurchus churchyard
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: A legend says that five cylinder shaped stones mark the spot where the last of the Comyns family is buried. The stones vanish and reappear depending on how the House of Rothiemurchus is fairing, but if moved or taken by a human hand, that person is doomed to die. One story says the stones where stolen by a group of people who were later found dead in a car, the stones discovered standing upright nearby.
Waving Woman
Location: Ballachulish - A82, south of Ballachulish bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 2006, after dark
Further Comments: A worker and their apprentice driving home in dark, wet, snowy conditions passed an older woman standing on the side of a steep embankment waving a white cloth. The driver braked, performed a three-point turn and returned to the spot, but the woman had vanished without trace.
Mrs Boulton
Location: Ballachulish - Ballachulish House
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A woman who visited the house claimed to have been there before, though only in her dreams. To her surprise, the owner of the property agreed, saying that her visitor resembled a ghost that had been seen there several times! Two more traditional ghosts can be found here; seen approaching the house on horseback, a spectral rider dismounts before vanishing on the driveway, while a scruffy little man has been seen near the front gate.
Hovering Light
Location: Ballachulish - Castle Stalker
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to a death of a Stewart chieftain
Further Comments: An orb of brilliant light was said to appear and hover over the castle just before the death of a clan Stewart chieftain.
Men
Location: Ballachulish - Hills above the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Phantom men were seen on the hills, although finer details are lacking.
Black Andrew
Location: Ballchraggan - Balnagowan (or Balnagown) Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Andrew terrorised the neighbourhood, raping and murdering the locals. They decided to act against the laird, storming his castle and hanging him by the neck from the highest window. Now his shade remains within the walls of the building, though he still harasses visiting women. A much gentler shade has been seen here, a young green-eyed girl who smiles fondly at passers-by.
Buildings
Location: Balnakeil - Balnakeil Beach
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: August 1980
Further Comments: A woman taking a polaroid photograph of the beach was amazed to see two buildings and a shadowy post on the developed image - no buildings were in the frame as she pressed the camera shutter. An analysis of the image suggested that it was an under exposed image of a farm.
Devil's Hand
Location: Beauly - St John's Priory ruins
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A stone doorway is said to display the handprint of Satan. Another version of the story says a skeletal ghost left the mark after trying to grab a tailor who stayed the night in the church as a wager.
Young Girl
Location: Ben Alder - Below the mountain, en route for Loch Ossian
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: April / May 2011
Further Comments: Having traversed old drover track on western shoulder of Ben Alder, a walker was looking for a suitable spot to cross a stream. The walker noticed the image of a smiling young girl, dressed in blue/green watery outfit, sitting on a slab of rock amidst the fast moving water. She was pointing to the water, enticing the walker to cross. The walker panicked and moved further downstream, crossing at a point where the water was calmer.
Grey Figure
Location: Ben Hope - On mountain
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: While approaching the cloud line, a climber noticed a grey figure 20 yards (18 metres) in front of him. The figure was walking steadily, wearing old hiking gear. The climber tried to catch him up., but no matter how fast he went he could not close the gap between himself and the figure. The climber followed him to the top of the mountain, where he disappeared.
Dyeing Fairies
Location: Ben Lomond - Green Loch (An Lochan Uaine)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The fairies would be happy to dye wool or cloth left by the side of the loch. Unfortunately, one person left unclear instructions on what colour to dye some thread, resulting in the fairies permanently ceasing their work.
Music
Location: Ben MacDhui ((aka Ben MacDhui, Mac Dhui)) - General area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1926
Further Comments: Debates in the media ensured after reports of ghostly music were published. While some favoured the supernatural, others claimed the sounds were created by wind blowing through rocky funnels caused by water erosion.
Four Legged Man
Location: Ben MacDhui ((aka Ben MacDhui, Mac Dhui)) - Rothiemurchus Forest
Type: Other
Date / Time: First entity in the twentieth century, the latter reoccurring to mark tragedies
Further Comments: Several people report having been chased by an invisible entity that 'felt' semi-human but could be heard pounding along on hooves. All the witnesses reported feeling extreme terror. An entity known as the Bod-an-Dun also haunts the area, appearing to mark a tragedy in the Grant family that once owned the land.
Fear Liath Mor
Location: Ben MacDhui (aka Ben MacDhui, Mac Dhui) - High on Mountain
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Popularly referred to as Britain's yeti relation, the Fear Liath Mor has been heard, seen, and felt by dozens of mountaineers over the past 150 years. The sound of snow being compacted by large feet has made climbers scarper back down the slopes; those who have seen the creature say it is more man than ape, but still covered in grey or brown hair, with long arms and a large head, and standing around twenty foot in height. During the Weird Weekend 2009, researcher Andy Roberts presented a compelling argument that the Fear Liath Mor is more a feeling of dread than a biological entity.
Cursed Stone
Location: Boat of Garten - River Spey
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: When the waters are low, an inscribed stone can be seen in the river - it is believed cursed, and anyone who meddles with it is doomed. Adding to the treachery of the waters, a white horse is said to patrol the river, looking for people to drown.
The Cook
Location: Boat of Garten - The Boat Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This brave man was murdered while trying to save a fellow worker from an assault. He now periodically appears in the hotel.
Future Train
Location: Bonar Bridge - Site of railway line
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Two men walking through the area watched a train pass them by. This was, however, years before railway tracks had been laid through the area.
Herbivore Heist
Location: Brackletter - Field of the White Cow
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fairies stole a white cow but returned to the farmer's field every night to let it graze. The farmer and his dog would give chase, but the fairies would escape by throwing bread that the dog would stop to eat.
Records 1 - 25 of 256
Quick Links
Contribute
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Wales
