The Paranormal Database

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

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Outer Hebrides Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Screaming Monster

Location: Loch Duvat, Eriskay - North side of the loch
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1893
Further Comments: While out looking for a horse that escaped his farm in the mist, a farmer saw what he thought was his missing beast in the loch. As he approached, he realised he was looking at a water monster; the creature gave an unearthly yell, sending the farmer running home and disturbing all the wildlife around the water.


Werewolf on the beach.

Werewolves

Location: Loch Langavat, Isle of Lewis - Exact area unknown
Type: Werewolf
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The island was once home to a colony of wolfmen - even though they are extinct, disturbing their graves is reported to release their spirits.

Lamb Eater

Location: Loch Suainaval, Isle of Lewis - Waters of the loch
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 1856
Further Comments: It has been reported that lambs were thrown into this loch to feed the creature which lived within.

Faery Dog

Location: Luskentyre - Area of beach
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This hound has been known to leave oversized paw prints on the damp sand which vanish suddenly halfway across the beach.

Cro Sith

Location: Luskentyre, Harris - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Cro sith were fairy cattle that lived under the sea, occasionally coming ashore. When they did reach land, local farmers would try and catch them to add them to their own herds.


An Each-uisge.

Battling Bull

Location: Monach Isles - Loch Nan Buadh
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small village close to Loch Nan Buadh was terrified by an Each-uisge that lived there. Eventually the villagers unleashed a specially bred bull upon the Each-uisge - after an epic struggle, both animals disappeared below the waters.

Aurora?

Location: Ness - Skies over the area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Mid-1990s
Further Comments: The strange doughnut-shaped exhaust trail left across the sky is said by some to have been created by the top secret US hypersonic Aurora spy plane.

Rain Summoning

Location: North Uist - Cross shaped stone near St Mary's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was once believed that by raising this stone, rain would fall, which would then cease when lowered again.

Mermaid's Grave

Location: Nunton, Benbecula - Exact location not known
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The area reportedly contains the grave of a mermaid killed in the early nineteenth century. The mer-creature had been seen for a couple of days, before a teenage boy threw a rock at it, killing the entity. Accounts stated that the upper part of the creature was the size of an infant, while the bottom resembled a salmon.

Bean Nighe

Location: Shawbost, Isle of Lewis - The Black Pool of the Hill
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local fisherman John Smith encountered the legendary washerwoman while she scrubbed the clothing of a boat crew who were due soon to die. The bean nighe granted Smith the gift of wealth before leaving, never to return.

Each Uisge

Location: Shawbost, Isle of Lewis - Valley in the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two cousins, Dark Mary and Fair Mary, spent the night in a shieling in a valley near to Shawbost. One night an each-uisge (a water spirit) appeared in the guise of little old lady and tricked the cousins into letting her spend the night with them - Fair Mary was murdered by the each-uisge, and it escaped into the night.

Apports

Location: Shiant Isles - General area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The island is renowned for its mischievous fairies, who take objects or mysteriously place other objects in strange places.

Fairy Fort

Location: South Harris - Dun Borbe
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This old hill fort once belonged to the fairies, although by stabbing the hill with a knife, one can hear the little people speak.

Cu Sith

Location: South Uist - Road alongside Lochnan Eilean?
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: September 1949
Further Comments: A woman walking with two friends in the pitch dark watched as a self-illuminating dog, the size of a collie but with a small head and no eyes, ran towards her. The creature vanished as it bounded past, but the two men with her saw nothing at all. Once she reached home and described what had happened to her aunt, the older woman told her it was a Cu Sith, a fairy dog.

Tarbh-uisge

Location: St Kilda - Small loch
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This mythical water bull was said to live in a lochan on St Kilda until it was killed by the islanders. It was said that any calf born with small or deformed ears was thought to be from a union between a Tarbh-uisge and a cow.


The Great Auk. Obviously a witch.

Great Auk

Location: St Kilda - Stac-an-armin
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1840s
Further Comments: The last known Great Auk sighting in the UK took place on the little island of Stac-an-Armin. The unfortunate bird was beaten to death by three men who mistook the creature for a witch that had summoned a storm.

Black-Browed Albatross

Location: Sula Sgeir - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: Named Albert, the Black-Browed Albatross spotted on the island was considered lost, as he was several thousand miles from his normal habitat.


The Minch, Outer Hebrides.

Storm Kelpies

Location: The Minch - Waters of the sea
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These blue entities patrol the waters between Lewis and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink.

Witch

Location: Vallay Island - Pit, exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A witch who was buried up to her neck in the pit was crushed to death by a herd of cattle. Her ghost is said to linger.

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