The Paranormal Database

Glowing Face

Location: A92 - Road approaching Arbrouth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A driver and her son encountered a strange woman standing on the roadside. The area was completely unlit, but the woman's head was illuminated as if it was a lantern.

An old postcard showing Arbroath Abbey.

Chanting

Location: Arbroath - Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ghostly plainsong occasionally drifts down from the ruined abbey, and stories of ghostly robed figures are shared by folk.

An old postcard showing the Deil's Head.

Rock Stack

Location: Arbroath - Coastline, including Deil's Head
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Several rocks along this stretch are named after the Devil, who was probably blamed for making the coast so dangerous.

Lost Piper

Location: Arbroath - Dickmountlaw Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Emanating from deep underneath the farmhouse, piping can be heard - a musician named Tam once hid in a nearby cave complex, found himself lost, and is still looking for a way out.

Grey Man

Location: Arbroath - Letham grange
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: During the war, several WRENS had a dormitory in an old ballroom. They reported waking during the night to see the silvery grey figure of a man with a sunken face, deep set eyes, and wearing a wide-brimmed hat and high collar. He faded away at the waist. The owners were asked about the haunting, and said no one was in danger but advised against sleeping in the ballroom. The use of the room was eventually changed. The grange was also thought to be haunted by a woman in green who walked in the gardens.

Water Kelpie

Location: Arbroath - St Vigeans' church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This water spirit was caught by a holy man and forced to build a church over its former home, a very deep loch. For a good many years, locals refused to enter the building, fearing it would collapse into the hidden waters under the foundations.

Bigfoot

Location: Arbroath - Woodland in the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Local press reported that Charmaine Frase joined the British Bigfoot Research team having, as a child, twice encountered a tall figure in woodland. The creature was said to be seven foot (2.13 metres) with wide shoulders and no neck.

Coach and Six

Location: Brechin - Kinnaird Castle and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: James Carnegie, a former laird at the hall, was well versed in the black arts - this has resulted in his soul being doomed to travel in a black coach pulled by dark horses for the rest of eternity.

Jock Barefut

Location: Careston - Castle and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hanged for stealing a branch from the laird's favourite tree, Jock's swinging shade is sometimes seen dangling from trees in the neighbourhood, when not running through the castle.

Little People

Location: Carmyllie - Carmylie Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once a popular place for pixies to frequent and dance, they have not been seen in recent years. They are said to be protecting a concealed hoard of gold. A large rock in the area was said to feature a tiny footprint.

Large Black Figure

Location: Carmyllie - Close to a disused sandstone quarry (area now redeveloped)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Early 1980s
Further Comments: A woman walking her dog encountered a seven foot (2.13 metre) tall black figure with wide shoulders and no neck. The dog became excited; the witness screamed and fled.

Footsteps

Location: Colliston - Farmhouse in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2001
Further Comments: A ghost was blamed at this property for creating disembodied footsteps, unsettling the animals and smashing lightbulbs.

Hairy Man

Location: Dundee - A92, approaching Tay Road Bridge
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: A driver reported in the local press that he had encountered a tall (around 2.7 metres) dark figure in woodland as he drove past.

Scream

Location: Dundee - Balgay Hill
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 28 May 2016, between 14:00h - 17:00h (scream), 1940s onwards (runner)
Further Comments: Two brothers walking through Balgay Hill, close to the bridge, heard a woman's piercing scream, although no one could be seen. Later that day, their mother passed away. Unrelated, a local myth says that a phantom runner in white plimsolls would chase children around the hill and other local areas.

Wailing

Location: Dundee - Bell Street Car Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The car park was built on the site of an old cemetery - one suspects that it may be the cause of the wails and sobs that are occasionally heard here.

Floating Head

Location: Dundee - Benrachett Inn (?), near the Perth Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A couple spending a night here encountered a gruesome bodiless head with matted red hair which drifted across their room. They both leapt from their bed and ran out the room, with the head giving chase, though it finally disappeared through the floor.

Lady Waving Handkerchief

Location: Dundee - Claypotts Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 29 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Appearing upset, this white woman frantically waves from a high window once every year - it is rumoured she was having an affair with the Cardinal Beaton.

The Girl

Location: Dundee - Coffin Mill (currently private flats)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A connecting bridge which spans two sections of the former mill is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a girl who crosses it every night. One story says that she was thrown off the bridge after she informed her manager that she was pregnant.

Mob Rule

Location: Dundee - Dalkeith Road (and adjacent areas)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1927
Further Comments: Five thousand people turned up to look for a ghost which was said to have been seen riding a white pony. They failed to find their quarry.

Footsteps

Location: Dundee - HMS Unicorn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Even though the ship never witnessed battle, there are stories of phantom footsteps heard on board. The Paranormal Discovery team also reported small objects have been thrown at investigators by unseen hands.

Awful Figure

Location: Dundee - Murraygate, High Street, Reform Street and Howff, Hilltown
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1869
Further Comments: Police officers were said to have encountered a floating entity in this area, described as having an awful face. A witness watched it vanish in a blue flash at Howff cemetery.

Old Lady in Blue

Location: Dundee - Small flat along Morgan Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This aged figure was seen and heard walking along a corridor in the flat - a few days later the occupiers were scared away by another (?) entity, as it tried to tear down a wall within the building.

Little Girl

Location: Dundee - St Mary's Church, Nethergate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1918
Further Comments: On separate occasions, a police officer and an ex soldier spotted a young girl carrying a wax doll leave the church and skip along a few streets before vanishing into a house. There was a rumour that the house from which she disappeared was once her home, and that her stepmother had been responsible for her death.

Charles Bonner

Location: Dundee - The Discovery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Bonner fell to his death from the crow's nest when the ship was sailing on the other side of the world, though his presence is still felt on the deck where his body landed.

Footsteps

Location: Dundee - Unidentified cinema
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: February 1951
Further Comments: A projectionist heard footsteps walking around the cinema, even though he was alone in the locked building. The projectionist mentioned the event to the building's manager a week later, who said that they had also previously heard the sounds.