The Paranormal Database

Old Man

Location: Edinburgh - Area of Muirhouse Gardens
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century?
Further Comments: A local paper reported that this area was haunted by an evil looking old man, with wild looking eyes and long matted hair.

White Woman

Location: Edinburgh - Area where sycamore tree once stood, Dovecote Road, Corstorphine
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This white lady stabbed her lover to death by the tree, while fending off his attack. She was executed for the crime, but her ghost holding a sword would return to the tree where the crime was committed. Another version of the story says that she was murdered here.

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.

Resting Giant

Location: Edinburgh - Arthur's Seat
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The rocky outcrop known as Arthur's Seat was once used as a resting place for a passing giant. In 1836 a group of schoolboys discovered seventeen tiny coffins hidden in the area, each containing a small carved figure inside. Their purpose is unknown.

Burning Light

Location: Edinburgh - Baberton House (aka Kilbaberton house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: One former occupant of the house reported that the Green Room was haunted, as lights would always be lit by something unseen. Another occupant, aged four at the time, had to be moved from their bedroom after they complained about the girl at the bottom of the bed.

Cold Spot

Location: Edinburgh - Bank of Scotland, George Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa January 1994
Further Comments: Two cleaners working alone in this building left the site after encountering disembodied footsteps, the sound of doors opening and closing, and an unnaturally cold room that enabled one witness to see their breath. A door that only the cleaners could access to had been deadbolted, even though none of the crew had touched it. One of the cleaners would later talk to a member of staff who said strange things happen on the site at night.

The Banshee bar, Edinburgh.

Rosie

Location: Edinburgh - Banshee public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Rosie was a prostitute who walked in the vaults beneath this pub and is now said to scratch and mark male members of staff. Another phantom, 'Six Finger Bill', sits under tables and grabs customer's ankles.

Hound?

Location: Edinburgh - Beehive Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 16 July 2012, around 16:00h
Further Comments: Someone drinking at the pub felt a firm nudge on their left leg, as if a dog had pushed against them, although no canine was present.

Bell's Wynd, Edinburgh.

Mrs Guthrie

Location: Edinburgh - Bell's Wynd - building no longer stands
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth Century
Further Comments: The body of Mrs Guthrie lay undiscovered in a room along this wynd for 21 years. Her ghost manifested itself to a locksmith who broke in, curious to know why the flat was not being used. Guthrie's ghost appeared along the Wynd for many years after her body was removed.

Woman Holding Baby

Location: Edinburgh - Bruntsfield Links, private house (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Reported by a servant who finally quit after seeing the apparition too many times, this phantom lady holding a young child had no head.

Footsteps

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Elizabeth Dundas

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Mercat Cross, Edinburgh.

Death List

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Spottiswode

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh.

Laughter

Location: Edinburgh - Museum of Childhood, 42 High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Laughing, crying and whispering are all said to have been heard coming from empty rooms within the building, and phantom footsteps walk on the upper floors.

Chimney Sweep

Location: Edinburgh - Nicol Edwards public house, Niddry Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This young lad managed to trap himself behind the old chimney stacks in the area and suffocated. He has been reported by members of the public not aware of the story or history.

Fighting

Location: Edinburgh - Old Fish Inn (no longer standing), Murrayfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1945-1957
Further Comments: This building was said to be the haunt of a gang of bandits, one figure was seen in the bar, while the sound of fighting could occasionally be heard in the evening.

The Edinburgh Playhouse.

Albert

Location: Edinburgh - Playhouse, Greenside Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in a grey great coat when seen, Albert prefers to make his presence known by creating cold spots. He is thought to have been either a stagehand who died in an accident or a night watchman who killed himself.

St John's church, Edinburgh.

Crying Girl

Location: Edinburgh - Princes Street and St John's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987?
Further Comments: The crying girl haunts both the church and Princes Street. The little girl sobs into her hands, slowly fading away until completely gone. The gardens of Princes Street were once the 'Nor Loch' - when drained hundreds of bodies were found when the water was drained.

Shadowy Figures

Location: Edinburgh - Private flat in Bruntsfield Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Several entities reportedly haunt this building, including cats, a dog, and possibly several people who were mistaken as 'real' by one witness.

Footsteps

Location: Edinburgh - Private flat, Bruntsfield area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003-2008
Further Comments: Disembodied footsteps were heard by members of the family at night and in the early hours of the morning.

Lurking Man

Location: Edinburgh - Private residence along Glenlee Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A member of the family living in this house reported, on more than one occasion, seeing a man lurking in the kitchen doorway. On the day the family moved out, they were told that a former owner hanged himself from a wooden beam in the cellar, directly under the kitchen door.

Crockery Smasher

Location: Edinburgh - Private residence in The Inch
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: A poltergeist started to throw crockery around the kitchen, breaking all of it. The replaced crockery was also smashed, so the residents bought plastic utensils, but other kitchen items were still damaged by the entity. A priest tried to exorcise the spirit but failed.

Vanishing Children

Location: Edinburgh - Private residence, Comely Bank
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2017
Further Comments: A couple standing outside of their home had a conversation with a young boy and girl who vanished before their eyes.

Bearded Man

Location: Edinburgh - Private residence, Leith
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2007-2008
Further Comments: After one of the occupants spotted a large, bearded man in an overcoat standing by the kitchen door, the flat experienced a period of poltergeist disturbances that included running footsteps, bangs, rustling bags and finding family photographs placed face down in the kitchen. Guests to the property reported feeling as if they were being watched.

Dread

Location: Edinburgh - Private residence, Restalrig Crescent
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1988-1996
Further Comments: Eight years of cold spots, taps turning off and items being moved unaided, and a feeling of perpetual dread resulted in the family moving out of their home on Boxing Day.