The Paranormal Database

Grin Iron Wife

Location: Hopeman - Cliffs and rock pools in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old sea-witch named the Grin Iron Wife is said to sit out on the rock pools and cliffs of Hopeman, near the sacrificial caves, and steal young children that stray from the path. She is still spotted today by visitors, or so they say.

Immortal Fly

Location: Kirkmichael - St Michael's Well (no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The well was said to have magical healing powers and was watched over by St Michael, who took the form of a fly which could never die.

A dark dog haunting the roads of Scotland.

Hound

Location: Knockandhu - B9008 road
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Early to mid twentieth century
Further Comments: This dark dog is said to be extremely unlucky for all those who see it, for the creature's temper is reportedly quite heinous.

Lady's Hand

Location: Lossiemouth - Manse used by the RAF
Type: Other
Date / Time: Mid to late twentieth century
Further Comments: A woman who was locked out of this house climbed up to a balcony and froze to death, her hand resting on a pane of glass. Her handprint remained on the glass and could never be cleaned off. When the RAF took over the site, the pane of glass was removed but later replaced, albeit the wrong way around (with the hand facing downwards). One of the finger marks had also disappeared.

Woman

Location: Lossiemouth - Road close to Covesea Lighthouse
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1985
Further Comments: An inexperienced driver spotted a woman walking along the middle of the road, heading west. Cars were passing either side of her, and the driver reported she was looking straight ahead, as if she did not see the vehicles. The driver was convinced that she would be hit, but driving back the same way five minutes later, she had gone.

Tied Figure

Location: Lossiemouth - Unidentified manor house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Likely to be pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A manor house in Lossiemouth was said to be haunted by a woman draped in white with a heavily scarred throat and her hands tied in chains behind her back. The figure was said to appear every night, and because of the stories, the site remained empty for years before being sold at a highly discounted price.

Alexander Gillan

Location: Muir of Stynie - Gillan's Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hanged for the murder of a ten year old girl, Gillan's body was displayed afterwards in a cage until his body had decayed. His trial, however, is regarded as a joke; little evidence was shown, and Gillan was not given the chance to defend himself. This may explain why the man's shade still returns to the location where his flesh rotted away.

The Pot o' Pittenyoul

Location: Newmill, Keith - Stream by the hamlet
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Pot o' Pittenyoul was a small, rocky pool along the stream. A local legend said that one of the worn stones was a seat used by the devil.

Scraping

Location: Ordiequish - Elf House, area within Slorach's Wood
Type: Other
Date / Time: 29 April 2004, daytime
Further Comments: Walking along the track which runs by the stream, this witness heard scraping, splashing, rustling and other strange noises from within a cave. The sounds faded away.

Merman

Location: Portgordon - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 15 August 1814
Further Comments: This figure normally warned of ill fortune at sea - if the crew of a fishing vessel spotted him, they would return to port for the day. Two fishermen spotted two of the creatures in 1814 - one they described as black in colour, with curly hair and long arms, while the other was female with long hair.

Grant

Location: Rothes - Glen Grant House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Grant's ghost was widely believed to have found it difficult letting go of his former residence.

Biawa Makalaga

Location: Rothes - Glenrothes Distillery
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1972
Further Comments: An orphan named Biawa Makalaga was found in Africa by Colonel Grant of Rothes who had fought in the Boer War. Brought back to Scotland, Makalaga worked in the distillery until his death in 1965. After the distillery installed two new stills, Makalaga's ghost started to appear, only leaving the site after it was discovered the stills were misaligned and corrected.

Unknown Horror

Location: Tomintoul - 'Greenmire', an area between Tomintoul and Ballindalloch
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1864
Further Comments: The Greenmire always had an evil reputation, but after a teenage girl travelling home through the area encountered something terrible and died a few days later, people refused to go near the place after dusk. Horses were said to react badly to the area.

Red Capped Man

Location: Tomintoul - Lochan-Nan-Deaan, loch between village and Corgarff (off A909?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This loch was haunted by a small man in a red cap, capable of shaking the nearby hills with his roar, and turning the waters red and making them boil. The entity was known for having a taste for human sacrifice.

Monk

Location: Tomintoul - Scalan Seminary
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 2015
Further Comments: News websites carried the story that a ghostly monk had been photographed looking out of an upstairs window at this site, although the image is most likely pareidolia.

Old woodcut of the devil.

Devil Summoning

Location: Urquhart - Deil's Stanes
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: To run around this stone circle three times at midnight will bring forth the devil.