The Occult Section

One of my favourite ghost stories relates to an enterprising Scot who immigrated across the pond to the US, finally ending up in Canada. Simon McTavish was a Highlander born around 1750. When he first arrived in the Americas, he spent several years living in New England, before ending his days in Montreal, Canada. In that time, he became a very successful fur trader, owner of the dominant North West Company.

Simon McTavish

By all accounts, McTavish was a colourful character, who kept the citizens of Montreal highly amused by his antics. An acknowledged hard worker, he also liked to enjoy himself. One of his favourite past-times was apparently either falling in love or being in love. He led quite a grand life, throwing large parties and enjoying good food. In 1793, he got the hang of the love game, marrying Marie-Marguerite Chaboillez, a local woman. They had six children, of whom four survived. McTavish promised his wife that he would built her a castle on top of Mount Royal, the grandest house in all of Montreal. But he died during its construction in 1805. His body was buried on the site in a mausoleum.

But McTavish did not rest easily in his tomb, and in fact went on to become the centre of one of Montreal’s biggest local legends. The story became so notorious, that it led to McTavish’s mausoleum being covered over. There are quite a few twists to the tale. Following his death, the grand house McTavish planned for his wife was never finished, and became known as the ‘haunted house on the hill’. People reported hearing the revelries of huge parties emanating from the house. Others said that the man himself could be seen dancing on the rooftop – maybe with or without a few accompanying fairies. Perhaps more unusual, and rather befitting for the ghost of an eccentric ex-pat Scot, his ghost could also be seen sitting upright in his coffin, sledging down the side of Mount Royal.

It goes that the abandoned construction of his castle after his wife left Montreal angered McTavish’s spirit, causing it to get up to such merry japes. His ghost was also said to be somewhat miffed when some grave robbing took place in the new cemetery in Mount Royal in 1870. An anatomy professor had employed some bodysnatchers to sort out a supply problem for his classes. The resurrection men were reportedly accompanied by McTavish sliding down the hill next to them in his coffin. McTavish’s tomb itself was also apparently broken into.

A few years ago, archaeologists began excavating Simon McTavish’s mausoleum. It’s not known if they had any coffin-sledging company from the other side…

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Unfortunately in my last article, detailing some of the best ghostly tales associated with my hometown of Glasgow in Scotland, quite a few stories were left out. As they are too good to pass up on, I’m continuing my haunted round up this month.

Southern Necropolis, The Gorbals

The Southern Necropolis is a sizeable cemetery which opened in 1840 to provide a respectable and affordable burial place for residents of The Gorbals and surrounding areas. The Gorbals is a rather strange name in itself to say the least; apparently it relates to sheaves of something, by virtue of the Latin garbale Scots Gaelic garbal teind. Locally, the cemetery is the source of several spooky legends. It was the site of a vampire hunt staged by local schoolchildren in 1954, which became so infamous, it became international news. Creepier still is the White Lady statue, which is supposed to move. People claim that when visiting the graveyard at night, they have seen the statue’s head move as it apparently watches them move through the graves. The statue is part of a memorial to Magdalene Smith and her housekeeper Mary McNaughton, who died after being hit by a car during the early 1930s. It’s speculated that one of the women haunt the statue. The legend goes that to stop yourself from being turned to stone by the statue’s stare, you must run around it three times whilst shouting, “White Lady! White Lady”. Witnesses have also reported seeing a white female wraith flitting about the cemetery.

Maxwell Park Poltergeist, Pollokshields

This poltergeist case lasted from 1974 to 1975 and concerned a family living in an apartment block in Maxwell Park. The family had two sons, aged 14 and 11, who seemed to be the focus of the activity. The eldest lad was also something of a rebel, whilst the family had an ongoing feud with the tenants of the apartment above theirs. Activity included the usual poltergeist repertoire of causing floods, scratching, loud rapping and thuds, moving furniture and setting off toys, terrifying the family. A range of people from city councillors, police, social workers, workmen and journalists witnessed it. After six months of the carry-on, renowned Scottish ghost hunter, Professor Archie E Roy began to investigate. The late Professor Roy wryly noted that a high ranking policeman told him he had to take officers off the case after reports were submitted along the lines of “the bed was proceeding in a northerly direction.” The phenomena ended following the death of one of the residents with whom the family had fallen out and the older son had spent some time with his grandparents in the countryside.

The Pearce Institute, Govan

The Pearce Institute, known locally as the P.I. is a very interesting haunting practically in my own backyard. Opening in 1906, the P.I. has served as a community hub for Govan ever since. It was built in memory of Sir William Pearce, a local shipbuilder and Member of Parliament, who died in 1885. His widow, Lady Mary Pearce took charge of the project, and it seems she still looks after the building from the afterlife. Staff at the P.I. described her as being a friendly entity. On one occasion, she was spotted standing on the balcony overlooking the MacLeod Hall watching the local Zumba class. Earlier, members of the class had reported feeling as though they were being watched, though nobody was there. Other spirits seem to linger on in the P.I. – Glasgow medium Tom Rannachan, who incidentally grew up in Govan, encountered a ghostly old man staring at him one lunchtime, whilst sitting in the theatre. In another incident, a young boy attending the children’s summer program got something of a comeuppance after being disruptive. He ran into the gym, and very quickly raced back out again, seemingly terrified by something he refused to talk about.  One night, one of the caretakers was in the MacLeod Hall, when the pipe organ began to play. Only thing was, he was the only person in the building, and the organ had been dismantled!

The Western Infirmary, Partick

It’s unclear what is going to happen to the ghost of this hospital in the near future. The local health board is in the process of moving the facilities elsewhere, returning the land to the University of Glasgow, who granted it for the construction of the teaching hospital attached to the medical school.  Perhaps he will join the University’s resident Grey Lady and mysterious poltergeist. At least he would have the surroundings to suit his eminent position. The ghost in question is said to be that of Sir William MacEwen, a pioneering surgeon, who died in 1924. A specialist in brain surgery, Sir MacEwen was approached by a young artist requesting surgery to salve severe headaches. Sir MacEwen refused this request. Shortly afterwards, the young man died after falling downstairs whilst smoking during one of his headaches. It’s thought that Sir William haunts the hospital, wracked with guilt for refusing to operate. Several nurses have reported seeing a ghostly man resembling Sir William walking the hospital corridors. In an unrelated incident in 1975, Nurse Mary MacLellan encountered a silver haired old man in a dressing gown standing in a corridor, before vanishing. Almost immediately, she met a hysterical colleague who had also seen the man and recognised him as a patient who died two days previously.

Queen’s Park, Langside

The area that now forms Queen’s Park was the site of the Battle of Langside, which took place on May 13, 1868. This was a key battle, involving Mary, Queen of Scots and the Regent Moray. The Queen lost the battle, and was imprisoned not long after. However, for centuries after the end of the skirmish, several people in the area reported seeing bloody soldiers trooping about the vicinity of the park. Legend has it that on the anniversary of the battle, it is re-enacted in the sky above the duck pond, last reported in 1996. Tales of the ghostly stories are linked to a legendary De’il’s Kirkyard, where soldiers slain in the battle were laid to rest. Amongst them were Catholic soldiers, who were ineligible for burial in the local Cathcart graveyard due to their religion. They were buried in a mass grave on unconsecrated ground, causing their spirits to walk the earth. As it is, no one is sure just where the graveyard is located. As for Mary, Queen of Scots, she appears to be Scotland’s busiest ghost, rumoured to haunt numerous castles across both England and Scotland!

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Aliens, witch hauntings, mythological creatures, whatever the reason for gathering, one thing is for sure, the paranormal give us an excuse to dress up and celebrate the paranormal mysteries in life. There are a many groups and organizations that host gatherings for these creatures or events annually. Whether these creatures exist or not, time has shown their possible presence inspires people to put on their costumes on for occasions other than Halloween. Here are a few of the most popular in the world today.

Alien Landing at Roswell

To thousand, even millions, July of 1947 will forever live in infamy as the day an actual alien landing was covered up. Summertime in sunny New Mexico is enough of a reason to gather and socialize on its own but the historical controversy of the possible alien citing has caused many young people to adopt an alien theme to their summer fun. Every first weekend of July the people of Roswell host UFO festival where people can come dressed in their own imagination of what our possible neighbors form above might look like. There are a couple ways to approach this in your costume. You can go with the classic green, round, extended shape head. You can try themes from famous movies depending on the effect you’re going for. For scary I recommend the original Alien look with and extended head. A professional walker’s helmet is actually a really great way to pull this off naturally if you paint it black. Other ideas include the soldier alien looks from Independence Day, the vicious but comical look from Mars Attacks, or the timeless E.T. It’s important to dress in the alien that fits your personality. Wearing regular human clothes with an alien face seems to be gaining more and more popularity as people like to give the impression they are “in disguise”.

Bigfoot

Everyone who has ever walked into the woods knows somebody who has claimed to see a Sasquatch or the famous “Bigfoot”. This larger-than-life creature has been claimed be spotted most abundantly in the Pacific Northwest started out mostly being cosplayed as a giant, black-furred, mountain man. Since then different versions of Bigfoot have been portrayed, most notably the Sasquatch in Jack’s Links commercials. The good thing about this creature is that our culture has taken to naming events after it such as fitness runs in the mountains, motocross races, and other outdoor fitness competitions. All of these events are appropriate for “Bigfoot” attire; the key with these costumes is to not look too much like Chewbacca and not too much like a basic Gorilla. It definitely helps to be tall but I have personally seen shorter men pull it off. The key is the fur; don’t worry too much about a mask. Some face paint or even mud along with patches of fur on the body can be enough strut your inner mountain woods monster.

Nessie

The famous Loch Ness monster has spawned many toys, T-shirts, a few cartoon characters based on the beast, but most of all it plays a huge role in the spirit of Scotland’s annual Roch Ness Festival. Taking place in late June, every year music fans gather around the famous lake and go nuts for a day. Some people like to penetrate the crowd easier by getting a few friends together and putting on a multi-person costume of Nessie. Given the fact that Nessie is said to have enormous size in addition to a neck longer than a giraffe it can be hard to pull off this costume alone. Still, the music festival is known as “its own monster” by the locals because you never know what’s going to happen.

Marie Sumner never grew out of playing dress-up. She writes to share her passion and offer advice to others regarding kids costumes, anime conventions, renaissance fairs, paranormal citing celebrations and other fun dress-up events.

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The mention of ghosts and Scotland probably makes most people think of Edinburgh or mist cloaked castles in the Highlands. To give them their due, those kinds of places do have incredible hauntings, but they tend to eclipse other places in Scotland. Glasgow, my hometown, is a good case in point. It boasts a variety of ghosts that aren’t well known out with the local area.  Here are just a few examples:

Provan Hall and Blochairn House

These two old houses are something of an anachronism in the post war housing estate of Easterhouse. Both are situated in a courtyard in Auchinlea Park, and boast a very colourful history. Provan Hall is the older of the two, dating back to the 1460s. It’s believed to be the proper oldest house in Glasgow, as it was built a few years prior to Provand’s Lordship, the ‘official’ oldest house in the city (incidentally, also said to be haunted). Things get a bit odd like that in this part of the world. King James IV used Provan Hall as his hunting lodge. Blochairn House was built up from an earlier property in the 1700s, and is notable for resembling a Jamaican plantation house, thanks to then owner, Dr James Buchanan, a relative of US President, James Buchanan.

In recent years, both houses have become notorious for ghostly activity and several paranormal groups have investigated. Four ghosts have been noted, although there may be more. In Blochairn House, the friendly spirit of Reston Mather strolls about. He was the last private owner of the house, who died in 1934; his ghost apparently told a visiting medium that he had loved the place where he had lived all his life, which is why he remains there. The ghosts in Provan Hall are of a more tragic nature. A former resident of the Hall, a rather unpleasant man by all accounts, decided to join the army one day whilst visiting his local tavern. He had recently been married, and left his wife behind whilst he served overseas. On his return four years later, he found that his wife was the mother of a two-year-old boy, that wasn’t his. Furious, he took a carving knife up to the master bedroom and slaughtered both. The ghosts of all three linger on, and the master bedroom where the murders occurred is the most haunted room in Provan Hall. The room never heats up, even though a radiator is left on nearly all day. It was certainly cold when I visited. Historical research verified that the murders did indeed occur, about 200 years ago.

The University of Glasgow

The University, of which I’m a former student, dates back to 1450. It started life in the East End of the city, before upping sticks to its current site on Gilmorehill in the upmarket West End in 1868. Some buildings on the campus are not so pretty 1960s throwbacks, but the main buildings, dating from 1868 are gorgeous. They also have some associated ghosts. The best known is perhaps the mysterious grey lady, who has been reported several times over the years by security staff patrolling at night. Descriptions of her vary. She is often mistaken for someone who is lost, or a student playing a prank. No one knows how she got to be a ghost. She is often encountered in the cloisters, or walking down the short corridor linked to the Lion and Unicorn staircase. Personally, I see her as something of a good luck charm, given that I sat the first of my Finals in a hall just off that corridor; it was also the only paper in which I scored an A!

The Pearce Lodge sits next to the main buildings. This once stood on the original site of the University and was moved to its current location brick by brick when the institution relocated. It has some strange stories attached. Years ago, one student was challenged by his friends to pass the night locked in the upstairs room of the Pearce Lodge, which was rumoured to be haunted. Security wasn’t willing to go along, but was finally persuaded, and the student was duly locked in. He didn’t last, and had to be freed after the guards heard his hysterical screams for help. Apparently, some books were launched from their shelves by an unseen hand. That was enough to make the student gladly lose a bet. On another occasion, a security guard walking by the building at about 2 AM saw a figure peering out at him from the window of the turret. He called for backup and checked. Nobody was there.

Dalmarnock Road Bridge

This tale is probably the best known in Glasgow. Dalmarnock Road Bridge crosses the River Clyde not far from the city boundary with the Burgh of Rutherglen. For decades, people walking across the bridge have been startled to see a young man with cropped hair, dressed in dark trousers and short jacket, scale the parapet of the bridge and jump into the river below. However, on rushing to check, witnesses find no trace of the man. A notable occurrence happened in the early 1970s and was documented by late ghost hunter Andrew Green. The story behind the ghost is vague. Some say he is the spirit of a young man who took his life jumping from the bridge after his love life took a turn for the worse.

The Subway

Glasgow has one of the oldest subway systems in the world, dating back to 1896. It’s probably also one of the smallest, running in a circle of just over six miles, with 15 stations along its route. Still, it has some intriguing tales. During its construction, the tunnels cut through a former plague pit at the intersection between Shields Road and West Street Stations. Workers found some rather unpleasant things in the soil. Not long after, they began reporting an unpleasant haunting they called The Clatter because of the noise it made. It began as a small ball of light emanating from the tunnel wall, growing in size until it engulfed the entire area. Anyone caught up would hear a loud racket, described as being like several cookery pots crashing to the floor. They would also see hideously anguished faces float before them. This was attributed to the souls of the plague pit whose bodies were disturbed. The bizarre phenomena stopped once construction was complete.

The ghost of a young woman clad in the best of 1930s fashion has often been reported at Hillhead Station. She is meant to be a happy ghost, heard singing at times by maintenance workers fixing the line after the Station shuts at night. A not so happy spirit is The Grey Lady at West Street. In 1922, a young woman was on the platform of this station with a baby, when she seemingly jumped in front on the train making a stop. The woman died, although the Station Master managed to save the baby. Ever since then, the spirit of the sad young woman has been seen around the station. Finally, a one off incident occurred in Kelvinbridge Station just after closing time. A cleaner heard a disembodied voice, cursing and swearing. The police were called, and the two attending officers were treated to the same performance, but could find no culprits

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Sandwood Bay, and its famed sea stack Am Buachaille, is situated a few miles from Cape Wrath, Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands. To reach it, you have to walk four miles along a track from the Blairmore car park, the nearest you will get a car. Lying at the end of the path is one of the cleanest beaches in the British Isles, facing onto the Atlantic Ocean. Just behind the dunes, you will find Loch Sandwood and the ruined Sandwood Cottage.

The place has a sad history. Prior to the construction of the Cape Wrath Lighthouse in 1828, several ships were wrecked on the rocks of the bay during bad weather, resulting in a huge loss of life. Today, the remains of the shipwrecks are believed to lie beneath the sand of the beach. Unsurprisingly, this has also given rise to a number of ghost stories associated with the area. These are primarily centred on an unearthly sailor roaming the dunes. The description of the sailor varies from each tale, and there are so many tales of origin, it seems plausible that if ghostly sailors walk here, there is more than one.

Sandwood Cottage features in the best known of these tales. The legend is that on stormy nights, the ghost of a sailor would knock on the cottage windows. This bears out in the tale of one old fisherman who spent the night in the cottage after spending a day helping in the gathering of a friend’s sheep from the bay. Prior to it becoming a wreck, the cottage was frequently used as a bothy for men working in the area. The fisherman was awoken at midnight by the sound of his dog barking. He heard the sound of footsteps approaching the cottage followed by a knock at the window. Looking up, he saw the bearded visage of an old sea salt peering in. The fisherman went to the door to see who it was and what they wanted. Only, upon opening the door, the mysterious figure had vanished. The last straw for the fisherman happened not long after during another stay at the cottage, when he woke up to feel an ominous presence in the room with him.

A shepherd passing the night in the cottage after a hard day’s work was perplexed when he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps in the room below just after he had gone to bed. He got up, dressed and went downstairs to see whom it was; puzzled as he had been convinced he was alone. However, a full investigation revealed there was no one there. Campers taking shelter in the ruined cottage in later years have reported subsequent experiences. Two were kept awake all night by the sound of stampeding horses. Some of these hauntings have been linked to the spirit of an old Australian who had fallen in love with the cottage after spending a fishing holiday there. Following this, he returned as often as he could, taking his final trip a short time before his death in Australia. Locals believed that his deep love of the cottage caused his spirit to return after he died. The Australian had a predilection for wearing sailing clothing and clomping around in heavy boots, which was used to explain the heavy footsteps heard by the shepherd after he went to bed.

In 1967, two English tourists were looking at Sandwood Bay through their binoculars, when they saw a tall man standing just outside the cottage. The two women started walking towards him, but by time they got there, the figure had vanished. Curiously enough, Andrew Green described the ghost as being an impressively tall six feet six inches tall in one of his guides to haunted Britain – just a little taller than the average Scotsman is!

Other stories explaining the appearances of a ghostly sailor range from it being the spirit of a Polish sailor who died in a shipwreck, to a Spanish sailor from an Armada wreck. This certainly fits in with the varying descriptions of what the apparitions wear. Some have seen a man in a tricorn hat, others, a man in a reefer jacket. It all makes Sandwood Bay seem a little like an ethereal sailors’ retirement home. There are many reports of the apparitions being encountered away from the cottage. Several decades ago, a fishing party from Kinlochbervie, nearby town, were sailing in the bay when they saw a large figure standing on the dunes of the beach. A ghillie went to investigate, thinking it was a poacher, but found the area empty, with no signs of footprints nor any other evidence that someone had been there.

Perhaps the most eerie experience occurred when a father and son ventured further than usual with their trusty old mare to collect firewood for their croft, and spent a day gathering up driftwood in Sandwood Bay. It was getting dark, so the pair were about to head for home when they noticed their normally placid horse was incredibly unsettled. Out of nowhere, a large sailor, resplendent in a beard, appeared on the beach beside them. Both men were agape as the irate sailor ordered them to take their hands off what didn’t belong to them and leave his property. The men dropped everything and ran.

Therefore, if you ever find yourself in Sandwood Bay, it may be wise to heed the ghost’s wishes and treat the place with the respect it deserves.

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