Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond
Location: Dunbar (Lothian) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: July 1939
Further Comments: A father and daughter watched a sea monster playing in the waters just off the coast for 30 minutes.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2004-09-15
Last updated: 2004-09-15
ID: #5438
Location: Dundar (Lothian) - Woods in the area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A witness recounted how friends were terrified by a strange black dog with glowing red eyes which appeared and disappeared around them. The sightings were accompanied by high pitched screeching.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2005-05-10
Last updated: 2005-05-10
ID: #6230
Location: East Linton (Lothian) - Hailes Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: Locals have reported strange banging sounds coming from the castle, as well as the occasional glimpse of a phantom woman in white.
Source:
Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2006-12-12
Last updated: 2006-12-12
ID: #7067
Location: East Saltoun (Lothian) - Saltoun Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shadowy female form reportedly haunts the rooms of this hall - some believe the entity to be a former owner who lost her pearls, and she now spends her time searching for the elusive jewellery.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-06-01
Last updated: 2003-06-01
ID: #4302
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Building along Waterloo Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1997
Further Comments: A heating engineer reported several incidents while working on this site, including hearing footsteps after everyone else had left, keys removed from their hooks, cold spots, and objects which would disappear and reappear.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2013-04-01
Last updated: 2013-04-01
ID: #11326
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Building on Leith Docks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2009
Further Comments: A ghostly security guard is reputed to haunt this site. A painter working alone heard a door opening and footsteps walking through the building - when investigated, no one could be found.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2020-12-10
Last updated: 2020-12-10
ID: #14012
Calton Hill, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Calton Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: According to one story, dating back to the Seventeenth Century, a magical fairy gateway leading to France, Holland, and the fairy kingdom opened on the hill, though only those with second sight could see and use the mythical entrance. A young lad claimed to have access to the gate and would act as a drummer to the many fairies who used the portal. The lad claimed to be needed on a certain date by the little people, and despite all physical efforts to force him to miss the meeting, the lad slipped away from his wardens and was never seen again.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-06-01
Last updated: 2003-06-01
ID: #4314
Canongate, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Canongate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Standing tall, this figure in black was spotted by a witness as they walked towards each other. It vanished when they reached touching distance.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2010-04-18
Last updated: 2010-04-18
ID: #9896
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Canongate area, Queensberry House (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building was said to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy murdered (and partially eaten) at the site.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-10-29
Last updated: 2002-10-29
ID: #2940
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Caroline Park House (also known as Royston)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1976 (babysitter's encounter)
Further Comments: This green tinted ghost is said to rise from the ground somewhere in the garden and drift slowly towards the front door before disappearing. Loud banging is sometimes heard coming from one of the rooms and is thought to be a cannon ball bouncing around - its motivation is unclear. A babysitter working here heard furniture being flung around in the room above her, although the following morning it was discovered that nothing had been moved.
Source:
Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2003-05-25
Last updated: 2020-12-10
ID: #4219
Castle Hill and The Royal Mile, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Castle Hill and Royal Mile
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Brodie is reputed to walk this area, carrying a lantern. A coach pulled by a team of black horses (which sometimes breathe fire) is also said to start its journey here before travelling along the royal mile. The coach is filled with people in black garb. Another phantom, General Dalzell, rides the same route, but this time on a white horse.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2010-04-18
Last updated: 2010-04-18
ID: #9893
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Cathedral
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A woman visiting the cathedral felt three sharp blows to the back of her neck but was unable to see anything which may have caused the strikes. She spoke to a worker at the cathedral who told her that the blows had been reported previously, and that the person had later received bad news. Sure enough, the woman later discovered that her son had died in an accident which had occurred at the same time as the blows had been felt.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2018-04-02
Last updated: 2018-04-02
ID: #12805
Chalmers Close, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Chalmers Close
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 02 March 2006, around 20:30h
Further Comments: An invisible force of energy hit a mother and son in the chest before rushing past them at the top of Chalmers Close - both were shaken by the event. A few seconds prior to this, the pair had seen a red headed girl running towards them - they stopped to let her pass, but she turned off.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2006-07-23
Last updated: 2006-07-23
ID: #6896
Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Charlotte Square
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The tinkling of phantom ivories can sometimes be heard over the noise of traffic. In total, four apparitions have been reported from the Square - a coach, a woman in old fashioned clothing, a scruffy beggar, and a monk.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2003-02-18
Last updated: 2003-02-18
ID: #3873
Chessel Court, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Chessel Court, Canongate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1986
Further Comments: Wearing a black dress, this veiled woman is thought to be the ghost of a suicide which took place many years previous. One former occupant reported hearing heavy breathing just outside their bedroom door, while in 1986 a resident felt something climb over their bed as they lay in it.
An older story relates to the original building which stood here, which was set on fire to conceal the murder of its beautiful owner. The plan worked, and several buildings were constructed as a replacement. However, when a fire broke out and devoured these newer premises, the murdered woman was seen in the flames, screaming 'Once burnt, twice burnt, the third times I'll scare you all!'.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2010-04-18
Last updated: 2010-04-18
ID: #9897
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Corn Exchange public house, Leith
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Heard by the staff, the spirit of the crying child also creates cold gusts of wind and flickers the lights. It is thought the child spent much of their short life locked away in a cupboard.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-16
Last updated: 2003-01-16
ID: #3590
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Corstorphine Sycamore Tree (only the stump remains)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lady, angry at being (once again) stood up by her secret lover, murdered him with his own sword. She now haunts the scene of the crime.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-02-18
Last updated: 2003-02-18
ID: #3874
Cowgate, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Cowgate area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lurking near the place he was executed, this ghost has the rope burns from the hangman's rope still visible around his neck.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-23
Last updated: 2003-01-23
ID: #3696
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Lochinvar Camp (aka Wardie Playing Fields), Granton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s-2009
Further Comments: The ghostly figure wearing old fashioned clothing was reported to have chased a teenager in the mid-twentieth century and was seen by other people during the 1970s through to the 1990s. Stargazers may have last seen the entity in 2009.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2020-12-10
Last updated: 2020-12-10
ID: #14009
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Lymphoy House, Currie
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This property was said to be haunted by a woman in white, a soldier's wife who died on the steps of his parents' house after they refused to let her in. A ghostly bagpiper is also said to hang around the site, after entering a tunnel beneath the house and never returning.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2017-03-11
Last updated: 2017-03-11
ID: #12349
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Marchmont Hardware (shop), Warrender Park Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: Inventory, including hammers, knives and cookware, has flown off the shelves in this shop. The owners featured in the local press, claiming the entity could be a family member who died in 2018.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2025-11-01
Last updated: 2025-11-01
ID: #16147
Mary King's Close, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Mary King's Close, currently buried under the City Chambers
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1685 - 2020s
Further Comments: A whole host of spectres haunt this area; women, children, old men and even animals have been reported haunting the site over the past 350 years. More recently, there have been reports of a ghostly little girl and an 'impish' young boy. The last occupant of the close was forced to move out in 1898 to make way for the City Chambers extension, which now stands over the area.
Source:
Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-13
Last updated: 2002-06-13
ID: #1211
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Melville Castle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: While the site was being renovated, one witness spotted this phantom walk through a wall.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2010-04-18
Last updated: 2010-04-18
ID: #9921
Mercat Cross, Edinburgh.
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Mercat Cross, High Street
Type: Other
Date / Time: 08 September 1513
Further Comments: The voice of the Devil (or a demon named Plotcock, Platcock or Potcock) could be heard in the area of the cross calling out all the names of men who would die in the Battle of Flodden, which would occur the following day. Richard Lawson, upon hearing his own name, threw a coin against the cross, and appealed against the judgement in the name of God and Jesus - Lawson was the only named person to survive.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2003-02-20
Last updated: 2003-02-20
ID: #3938
Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Mitre Public House, Royal Mile
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Archbishop Spottiswode is reported to haunt the building where he concealed his episcopal chair, even though the haunting takes the form of poltergeist activity.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2010-04-18
Last updated: 2010-04-18
ID: #9894