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

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Glasgow Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana


A ghostly tall man.

Partick Poltergeist

Location: Glasgow - 23 Mansfield Street (since demolished)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1959-1961
Further Comments: The family living in this home experienced two years of inexplicable noises and constant coldness. They finally fled the site after watching a piece of coal levitate and drop back into a bucket, and a ghostly tall man standing over the children's bed.

Little Girl

Location: Glasgow - Arches, below Glasgow's Central Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 2009
Further Comments: Reported in a national newspaper, the Alien Wars show is home to a phantom little girl dressed in old style clothing. While actors from the show are said to be afraid of the ghost, the phantom herself is reputedly frightened off by the show's special effects.

Reston Mather

Location: Glasgow - Auchinlea Park - Provan Hall and Blochairn House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reston Mather, one of the last owners of the property, is thought still to haunt Blochairn House. Provan Hall is home to a phantom woman and a young boy, who are said to have been killed in the upper part of the building.

Woman with a Lantern

Location: Glasgow - Barlinnie Prison
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area outside the surgery wing and the bricked up entrance to the old execution block are home to a phantom woman dressed in Victorian clothing, holding a lantern.

Bathtime Murder

Location: Glasgow - Blythswood Square, private house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A family living here reported being witness to a ghostly murder - a beautiful woman drowning a man in the bath. The family moved out soon after.

Sounds of Children

Location: Glasgow - Cathedral House Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds of children have been reported coming from the top floor of this hotel. Other people have claimed to feel something invisible brush against them. In a newspaper interview in 2022, it was stated that Suzi Quatro had reported seeing a ghost here to the manager.

Man with Roman Nose

Location: Glasgow - Cathedral Street, and private house in the area
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-mid-twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghostly figure of a man was said to follow owners or guests out of the house and to the nearby cathedral if they, or a loved one, were going to shortly die.

Opening Doors

Location: Glasgow - Central Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1976-1982
Further Comments: A former worker at the hotel reported that they would walk around during the early hours of the morning closing all the fire doors on the fourth floor, which would then reopen and close themselves a few moments later.

Old Lady

Location: Glasgow - Commercial property, St Vincent Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: A witness who spotted an elderly woman staring at herself in a mirror in the men's toilets found humour in the situation until he told a colleague about the incident. Realising that the woman was wearing old fashioned clothing, that no one of that age worked in the building, and that security would not let anyone off the street in, the witness returned to the toilet and found it empty. Workers nearby had not seen anyone leave.

Auld Wives Lifts

Location: Glasgow - Craigmaddie Muir
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: These three stones are said to have been carried here by a trio of married women who wanted to know who could carry the heaviest weight. They are set out so two of the stones carry the third, and another legend states that if one visits the site and does not climb through the hole, then they will die before having children.

The Gurning Man

Location: Glasgow - Crosshill area
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1976-1979
Further Comments: A story popular on the internet says that over a four year period several women were said to have encountered a strange looking man who made animalistic sounds. The figure appeared in both homes and along streets, quickly vanishing without trace.

Suicide

Location: Glasgow - Dalmarnock Road Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: A man in his 30s wearing black trousers and a blue coat was seen to leap over the bridge by one witness, only to vanish into thin air.

Falling Man

Location: Glasgow - Edinburgh Road, Cranhill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2016
Further Comments: While walking towards a shop, one witness watched a man stumble across the road holding his throat before falling against a fence. As the witness approached, the figure vanished.

Deil's Kirkyard

Location: Glasgow - Former marshland (no longer present, replaced by yachting pond, Camphill Park)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1830
Further Comments: The site where the fallen from the Battle of Langside were buried, a woman staying nearby watched as the dead rose and marched down the nearby road. The woman ran to her minister, who is said to have exorcised the ghosts so they never appeared again.


An old postcard showing George Square in Glasgow.

Two Men Walking

Location: Glasgow - George Street
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen in the early hours of the morning, these two shades out for a walk wore eighteenth century clothing.

Lady in Green

Location: Glasgow - Gothic villa close to Springburn Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown - twentieth century?
Further Comments: A woman wearing a long green dress was once said to wander the property with her dog.

Diana

Location: Glasgow - Govan Old Parish Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa early 2012
Further Comments: A video recorded by Chinese tourists at Govan Old Parish Church appears to show Princess Diana standing by a stained glass window. The jury appears to be out to whether the footage is faked, an optical illusion or something a little spookier.

Taken by Fairies?

Location: Glasgow - Govan Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: 01 January 1966
Further Comments: While out in the early hours of New Year's Day in the company of his two elder brothers, Alex Cleghorn vanished while standing by their sides, and was never seen again. A few of the locals said it was the little folk, as who else could have pulled off such a disappearing act?

Shawled Woman

Location: Glasgow - Grahams Bar (now O'Brien's), Saltmarket
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An elderly woman wearing a shawl covering her head would once make infrequent appearances to staff and visitors alike.

Flashback

Location: Glasgow - High Street, just after The Royal Infirmary and to the Tolbooth Clock
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996-1997
Further Comments: On three occasions between 1996 and 1997, a witness (and on one occasion, their friend) looked out the window of their flat and watched the street below fill Victorian figures, including ladies with long dresses, workmen carrying hods and horses and carriages. Each time the scene lasted for around ten minutes.

Former Wife of a Caretaker

Location: Glasgow - Hutchesons' Hall, Ingram Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s-2005
Further Comments: A former worker at this site said it was haunted by a grey lady, who could have been the wife of a caretaker or a cleaner. The entity would open and close doors and would be seen looking out of a window from the street. Footsteps would also be heard on the site.

Devil on Top

Location: Glasgow - Jack's Mountain (no longer standing)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Circa 1950s
Further Comments: Jack's Mountain was a local name for a massive pile of rubbish and slag which stood, by some accounts, 30 metres tall. A local legend said that the Devil lurked on top.

Man Holding Throat

Location: Glasgow - Langbar, Easterhouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: A tenant in a flat here reported their home as being haunted by a former occupant seen walking around the site holding his throat. A priest was called to perform an exorcism, although the outcome of the ritual is not known.

Three Orange Globes

Location: Glasgow - London Road, Carm
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Circa 1979, 16:40h
Further Comments: An apprentice joiner spotted three bright orange globe-shaped lights in the sky while walking from work. He rushed home and told his parents, who laughed at his tale until a local radio broadcast mentioned several people had reported orange lights over the city.

Septimus Pitt

Location: Glasgow - Mitchell Library
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Although Pitt the phantom is the creation of Scottish poet Brian Whittingham, staff at the library have reported icy chills on the second floor.

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