Monthly Archive: January 2011

Rerrick Poltergeist 1695

Not much now remains of the scene where this famous case took place, with just a single skeletal tree marking the location of the Ring Plantation at Ringcroft of Stocking where in 1695 the home of Andrew Mackie in the parish of Rerrick was reputedly haunted by a poltergeist and this caused a stir in Scotland after the case was published in a pamphlet by the local minister.

Mrs Paton’s Prophetic Dream

The Dunfermline artist Sir Joseph Noel Paton (13 December 1821 – 26 December 1901) wrote the following letter reciting a dream to Catherine Crowe on 31st May 1847. It was his mother Catherine McDiarmid Paton who was "deeply interested in tradition, folklore, the supernatural, and the fairy-stories of the Celts" that had had the dream around the year 1830.

Trinity Poltergeist

Trinity is a mansion house district in Edinburgh that developed in the early 1800’s and was named after Trinity House in Leith. There was a suspected case of poltergeist activity in a house in Trinity around 1835 which led to a legal battle between the supposedly haunted Captain Molesworth and his neighbour and landlord, Mr Webster.

Wrichtishousis, Edinburgh

In 1798 the Wrichtishousis (Wrychtishousis or Wrightshouses) mansion was bought and subsequently demolished in 1800 to make way for a hospital and school, the legacy of the merchant James Gillespie (born 1726 – died 1797).

Cannock Crocodile?

The following article entitled Croc Shock in Cannock was published on the BBC website on 19 June 2003.

’Loch Ness has its monster and Bodmin its beast, but is a ferocious reptile set to put a small corner of Staffordshire on the map?

Grayrigg Hall

There is an interesting piece of folklore relating to a curse connected to an early Quaker named Francis Howgill (born 1618 – died 1669) and Grayrigg Hall, ancestral home of the Duckett family.

Llindir Inn, Henllan

The thatched Grade II listed Llindir Inn dates from 1229 and is certainly one of the oldest pubs in Wales. It is reputed to be haunted by a ghost thought to be named Sylvia, the wife of a sailor who strangled her after finding her in the arms of another man whilst on unexpected shore leave.

Stevenson Street, North Shields

The following account first appeared in Catherine Crowe’s The Night Side of Nature, or, Ghosts and Ghost Seers (1848) and was repeated in The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain by John Ingham (1897). The case concerns a residential property being leased by Mrs L in the early 19th century.

USS Arizona

On 7th December 1941 the US Pacific Fleet was attacked in Pearl Harbour by aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy, bringing the United States of America into World War II. The attack lasted 90 minutes and resulted in the loss of 2,386 American lives and wounding a further 1,139.