The Paranormal Database

Stagecoach

Location: Annan - A75 between Gretna and Annan
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: March 2004, around 21:30h (stagecoach), 2000s (man in red)
Further Comments: A lone driver performed an emergency stop after a stagecoach pulled by a horse drove across the road in front of her. The witness described the coach 'like a grainy fuzzy picture you'd see on an old black & white TV'. The incident lasted no more than ten seconds. Almost immediately after, the driver received a phone call from her partner, who had feared she had been involved in an accident. A few years later a woman driving from Annan reported hitting a man wearing a red jumper and dark trousers as he stepped out in front of her car. However, the man vanished when she looked for his body. There are said to be several other reports of people hitting the same man in the area. Other ghosts seen along this road include an old man with no eyes and an aging woman in Victorian clothing.

Screaming Hag

Location: Annan - A75 to town from Dumfries
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: April 1962
Further Comments: Two brothers travelling along this road were terrified by strange entities that appeared in front of their car, including phantom animals, an old man and a woman who resembled a traditional witch. Their ordeal ended when they thought they were now about to hit a white van head on - the vehicle vanished into thin air on impact. There have been more, but less dramatic, sightings of entities along this road.

Long Legs

Location: Annan - Cummertrees junction, A75
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Waiting in their car after breaking down, one person watched as a pair of legs taller than their vehicle run past. The witness realised that the legs, which disappeared into nearby woodland, were not attached to a body.

Porteous

Location: Annan - Spedlins Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The poltergeist activity here was attributed to the ghost of a miller named Porteous who starved to death in the dungeon under the castle. The problems followed the owners of the family when they moved out, though the ghost's activities ceased when a bible was placed by the old dungeon door.

Sinister fairies at dusk.

Evil Fairies

Location: Annandale - Burnwark Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A palace concealed within this hill was run by an army of evil fairies - they would kidnap anyone foolish enough to venture close to their land.

Family Curse

Location: Anwoth - Cardoness Castle
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A curse placed on the castle ensured its ultimate ruin - three owners went bankrupt, and a fourth owner and his family were drowned in the nearby loch when the ice cracked whilst they skated in winter.

Stable Lad

Location: Arbigland - Roads in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered to prevent the continuation of an affair of the heart, this young stablehand was then buried at a crossroads to conceal the crime. His ghost is reported to still travel around on horseback.

Footsteps in the Attic

Location: Auchencairn - Old Smuggler's Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Phantom footsteps have been reported in the upper part of the building. As with other public houses, light switches have been known to turn themselves on and off and electrical equipment has activated with no human intervention. A shadowy figure was spotted in a bedroom.

House Destroyer

Location: Auchencairn - Trees (were nicknamed 'ghost trees', likely no longer standing), marking the site of Ringcroft Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: February - 01 May 1695
Further Comments: Farmer Andrew Mackie would find his tied animals let loose overnight, until on morning he discovered one moved and carefully tied to the back of the house. After that, stones rained upon Mackie's farm. Initially light and small, the showers of stones soon became pebble-sized projectiles, bruising several witnesses. One visitor claimed to have seen a teenage boy dressed in grey who disappeared, and another spotted a disembodied white arm. The entity began to set fires within the cottage; eventually part of the wall collapsed, making the site uninhabitable. The haunting ceased.

Haunted No More

Location: Auchencheyne, Thornhill - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nothing is known about the ghost which haunted this bridge, other than it no longer does so.

Vanished

Location: Auchentrown - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nothing is known about the ghost which haunted this bridge, other than it no longer does so.

Walking Lady

Location: Auldgirth - Cairn Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen in a bedroom, this lady terrified a four year old boy. Another entity in the house, this time a man, is said to be a lot less threatening.

The Lady

Location: Beeswing (once known as Lochend) - Loch Arthur
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This small village has been named as a possible location to where the story of the Lady in the Lake occurred.

Haunted No More

Location: Blackstone - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nothing is really known about the ghost which haunted this listed bridge, other than it no longer does so.

Janet Dalrymple

Location: Bladnoch - Baldoon Castle ruins
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 12 September (reoccurring)
Further Comments: On her wedding night, Janet went insane; she stabbed her husband several times and had to be dragged away by servants. Janet's husband survived, though she died shortly after - the date on which her shade returns to the scene of her outburst.

Crying Child

Location: Castle Douglas - Cuckoo Bridge, near the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The waters below are said to hide the body of a murdered infant, whose cries can sometimes be heard. A horrifying white shape has also been reported.

Old Lady

Location: Castle Douglas - Greenlaw Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: This old manor house is reputedly haunted by a grey, older woman.

An old postcard of Threave Castle in Scotland.

Talking

Location: Castle Douglas - Threave Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds of phantom conversation have been reported.

Monkey

Location: Cheuchbrae - Rockhall Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This primate was killed after the death of its master, Sir Robert Grierson, as no one could be found to look after the little critter.

A phantom piper and his hound wander the cave.

Piper

Location: Clanyard Bay - Cave along the coastline
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sound of the phantom pipe music is said to be heard by fishermen off the coast. One story says that, pre-ghostly form, the piper ventured into the cave with his dog not realising that it was home to fairies - the little people retained the piper but let his dog escape, but not before removing every one of the creature's hairs.

Marion Carruthers

Location: Clarencefield - Comlongon Castle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lady, now said to have a green hue, jumped from the tower rather than spend any more time with her husband.

Bleeding Swan

Location: Closeburn - Closeburn Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to death in the Kirkpatrick family
Further Comments: Swans once brought peace and happiness here, until one was killed by a family member. Now, family death is heralded when a swan appears with a red-stained breast.

Headless Piper

Location: Corsock - Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: How this phantom headless piper can pipe without a head has yet to be answered.

The Criffle Diamond

Location: Criffel - Exact location not known
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1890
Further Comments: It was once said that ships coming up the Solway would be able to see the glint of a large diamond coming from Criffel. If the diamond were looked for, it could never be found.

Elizabeth Buchan

Location: Crocketford - Galloway Inn (now Galloway Arms Hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Elizabeth, who founded the fanatical sect of the Buchanites, was said to haunt this old inn.