The Paranormal Database

Old Lorry

Location: Edinburgh - A7 towards Stow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-twentieth century to early twenty-first century
Further Comments: A phantom lorry has been blamed for causing a few accidents along this part of the A7. Other sources state phantom cars have also been encountered, including an orange Austin in 2010.

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.

Punch

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Chalmers Close, Edinburgh.

Invisible Energy

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.

Piano

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Chessel Court, Edinburgh.

Veiled Woman

Location: Edinburgh - 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!'.

Crying Infant

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

White Lady with Sword

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Cowgate, Edinburgh.

Criminal

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Lord Francis Jeffrey

Location: Edinburgh - Craigcrook Castle, Blackhall
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1970 (poltergeist), 2013/14 (footsteps)
Further Comments: A poltergeist in the building threw small metal items at staff, including paperclips and screws. Many years later, a member of staff reported hearing footsteps in an empty room above them and the following year two other people witnessed doors opening unaided. One story says that the castle is haunted by Lord Francis Jeffrey.

Breaking Glass

Location: Edinburgh - Cramond Inn, Cramond Glebe Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Like so many other public houses, The Cramond suffers from a poltergeist which is blamed when glasses break for no reason and small items move around.

Lady Mary Douglas

Location: Edinburgh - Dalmahoy House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lady Mary, manifesting in the form of a white lady, is said to wander along the corridors, looking into the original rooms. Her presence is reported to be calming.

Johnny One Arm

Location: Edinburgh - Dalry area, in particular West End Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1979
Further Comments: John Chiesly's ghost haunted the area for 300 years, running around with a bloody stump where his arm should have been, screaming and cackling. When a one armed skeleton was found hidden under the floorboards of a local house and removed for burial in 1965, the entity was thought to have vanished forever; however more sightings were reported between 1976 and 1979, and poltergeist-like occurrences in the mid-1980s.

Deacon Brodie's Tavern, Edinburgh.

Brodie

Location: Edinburgh - Deacon Brodie's Tavern and Brodie's Close
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Deacon William Brodie, respected upstanding citizen by day, sly robber at night, was caught and hanged for his crimes in 1788. The novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was based (loosely) on his life. Brodie's ghost is now said to leave the tavern and quickly cross the road to the close which has also taken his name.

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland.

Viscount Dundee

Location: Edinburgh - Edinburgh Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Viscount Dundee was seen by Lord Balcarres while the lord was held in the castle. He later discovered that the Viscount had died at Killiecrankie around the time of the sighting. Note that Colinburgh Castle also claims this event for itself. A phantom drummer has been reported at the castle, said to forewarn of bad news. This ghost was blamed when the arms of a tunic on display apparently moved as if beating an invisible drum. Early in the twenty-first century, a group of workmen claimed to have photographed a glowing ball of light, though the image looks more like the reflection of the flash in glass.

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Scotland.

The Magician

Location: Edinburgh - Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This tall, dark stranger who lurks in the shadows is thought to be part of a magic act which perished in a fire on the site.

Suicide

Location: Edinburgh - Former council offices, St. Giles Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The offices were once thought haunted by a man who hanged himself on the site.

Fraser Suites, Edinburgh.

Basement Noises

Location: Edinburgh - Fraser Suites
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010
Further Comments: Staff have reported hearing strange bangs in the basement, and a certain area down there has a cold spot which never grows any warmer, no matter the temperature outside.

George Street, Edinburgh.

Jane

Location: Edinburgh - George Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Jane once owned a shop along this street, which she sold on the recommendation of her friends. She regretted it almost immediately, though, and died soon after. She was seen several times post-mortem, heading along the street to her former property.

Old Fashioned Figure

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Lady in White

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Flying Cookware

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

Mary King's Close, Edinburgh.

Plague Victims

Location: Edinburgh - 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.

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.