Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol, is a favorite among many people. But how realistic are the ghosts in the story?
Marley’s ghost rattled his chains as he appeared to Scrooge.
“The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.”
-Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”
Ghosts in chains
Today, we rarely hear of a ghost rattling chains. In fact, apparitions are very rare, and most of them are silent. More often, invisible ghosts are the ones that knock, rattle objects (including chains), and whisper or shout.
However, there are exceptions. In the first century CE, Pliny the Younger documented a ghost who was seen and heard by Athenodorus, at a villa in Athens. The ghost wore chains, and pointed to a spot in the garden before vanishing. The next day, Athenodorus had that spot in the garden dug up, and a skeleton in chains was found buried. They re-buried him in a proper cemetery, and the ghost never appeared again.
But ghosts in chains are not entirely in the past. Even today, a tall, evil-looking man appears on back roads and highways in Yorkshire, England, and jumps out to frighten late-night travelers. He’s known as “Jack in Irons.” Most people who’ve seen him comment that the ghost appears wrapped in chains.
Of course, Marley is not the only ghost in Dickens’ famous tale. There are the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
Shadows without consciousness
As Scrooge is led through scenes of his past, his ghostly companion informs him, “These are but shadows of the things that have been…They have no consciousness of us.”
That’s a superb description of paranormal phenomena we call “residual energy hauntings.”
These hauntings are like a hologram or video, played on a continuous loop.
Events from the past appear to be played like a movie, over and over again. Most are probably mere images of people who took part in the events, many years ago.
One of the best examples of residual energy hauntings is the visions of war seen in the United States, at Civil War battlegrounds.
Another might be the ghost of Anne Boleyn and companions, in the Chapel Royal at London’s Tower. Some suggest that her spectre that roams the Tower is residual energy, but when she leads a procession up the center aisle of the chapel, she’s a sentient ghost.
At Christmas, she appears at Hever Castle and – according to first-person descriptions – she appears to be alive and well and very real.
But, the clarity of the images in Dickens’ story – as well as reports of Anne Boleyn’s raise an interesting question: Are these really hauntings, or perhaps time slips… and is there a difference?
More residual energy hauntings
Regardless of what causes them, residual energy hauntings are a ghost hunter’s best opportunity to see a “ghost” that appears in human-like form.
Keep in mind, you’re only likely to see them. Some also report sounds with the imagery, but many don’t.
However, these forms rarely react to or interact with people viewing them. In fact, most ghost hunters believe that these hauntings are just energy imprints on the environment, replaying the events on a repeating and regular schedule.
That fits Dickens’ story, because – though Scrooge feels like he’s in the scene – he’s not able to interact with the people in them.
However, A Christmas Carol, is fiction, even if it matches many genuine ghost encounters.
The question this raises is: Did Dickens make up the story from whole cloth, or had he experienced something similar, himself?
Recent research suggests Dickens was intrigued by ghosts, and perhaps fearful of them. As a member of the Ghost Club, he seemed obsessed with debunking every ghost story and seance he could. That level of preoccupation suggests a greater fear: that ghosts are real, after all.
If you’re looking for a surname with an unusual history – including ghosts, banshees, faeries, and curses – the Duckett family is a good place to start.
Duckett’s Grove in Ireland was featured in a March 2011 episode of Destination: Truth, but it isn’t the only odd story associated with the Duckett family.
A little paragenealogy – genealogical research related to paranormal activity – reveals an interesting history.
The Duckett family’s ancestral homes was Grayrigg Hall, a medieval manor estate in Cumbria, England.
In the 17th century, Grayrigg Hall was owned by Justice Anthony Duckett (1636 – ca. 1692).
That house fell into decay shortly before Justice Duckett’s death. Today’s Grayrigg Hall is an 18th-century house.
Duckett was known for being a persecutor of the Quakers a very new and controversial religion in that era.
One legal case involved Francis Howgill, a Quaker who’d refused to take an oath of allegiance (to King Charles II) and was sent to prison.
Anthony Duckett was one of the magistrates when Howgill was sentenced to jail.
The Origin of the Duckett Family Curse
During Howgill’s imprisonment, he was released for a couple of days to attend to some business at home. While there, he visited Justice Duckett at Grayrigg Hall.
After the magistrate expressed surprise on seeing the prisoner, Mr. Howgill delivered this curse:
“…I am come with a message from the Lord. Thou hast persecuted the Lord’s people, but His hand is now against thee, and He will send a blast upon all that thou hast, and thy name shall rot out of the earth, and this thy dwelling shall become desolate, and a habitation for owls and jackdaws.”
Shortly after that, the Duckett family began to have problems. All of Anthony Duckett’s male children died without heirs. The estate failed and it was sold, around 1685, to a neighbor and family friend, Sir John Lowther.
The Duckett Family’s Irish Connection
That was around the time Anthony Duckett’s cousins began acquiring land at Duckett’s Grove in Ireland.
Both the Duckett family and Grayrigg Hall itself were equally cursed. In the 1777 book, The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, here’s how Grayrigg Hall was described:
Grayrigg Hall being the ancient manor house, was a strong old building, in a quadrangular form, adapted for defence more than for convenience. It is now totally in ruins, most of the lead and timber thereof having been removed to Lowther.
So, the original (and possibly cursed) Grayrigg Hall is now gone. If you’re looking for its precise location, here are the coordinates: Latitude 54.3711, Longitude -2.6496
Another Grayrigg Hall was built near the church. (Don’t confuse it with the old, reputedly haunted Grayrigg.)
If you’re looking for the remnants of the haunted Grayrigg Hall, visit Lowther Castle. As described in the 1777 book, timber and lead from Grayrigg were used to expand Lowther Castle.
The "lost castle" of Lowther is in this YouTube video at: https://youtu.be/YvMy3kUwZnI
The Duckett Curse Continues… with a Ghost
According to Simon Marsden’s website, Lowther Castle was inherited in 1784 by Sir James Lowther, the 1st Earl of Lonsdale, also known as “Wicked Jimmy.”
By the time of his death in 1802, Lowther’s young wife had died, he had no children, and depression had driven him to madness. His ghost has been reported at Lowther Castle.
Here’s the full text of the Grayrigg Hall story and curse, from The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain, by John Henry Ingram, published in 1884.
GRAYRIGG HALL
In Ducketiana it is stated by Sir G. B. Duckett, that not a vestige remains of those extensive foundations which, a hundred years ago, attested the solidity and importance of the Westmoreland Ducketts’ residence, the Manor House known formerly as Grayrigg Hall.
A strange story is told of the last member of this opulent family, who inhabited this fine old English mansion ere it was dismantled.
The narrative has been detailed with great similarity in various works, such as Ferguson’s Early Cumberland and Westmoreland Friends, and Backhouse’s Life of Howgill, and is popularly known as “The Quaker’s Curse and its Fulfilment.”
Francis Howgill, a noted member of the Society of Friends, resided at Todthorne, near Grayrigg, in Westmoreland, about the middle of the seventeenth century.
At one time he travelled about the south of England preaching, and when he visited Bristol, in company with his compatriot, John Camm, his preaching was made the occasion of great rioting.
In 1663 he returned to his own neighbourhood, whither his reputation had apparently preceded him, for, upon arriving at the market-place of Kendal, he was summoned to appear before the Justices, who were holding a court in a tavern.
They tendered Howgill the oath of allegiance when he came before them, and as he refused to take it they committed him to confinement in Appleby jail.
It may be pointed out, as a matter of history, that in the earliest days of the brotherhood, members of the Society of Friends were often subjected to severe penalties and much persecution for their refusal to conform to the taking of judicial oaths.
At Appleby the judges of Assizes also tendered Howgill the same oath and, on his refusal to swear it, ordered him to be indicted at the next Assizes. Meanwhile they offered to release him from custody if he would give a bond for his good behaviour in the interim, but this he refused to do, and therefore was re-committed to prison.
During his imprisonment a curious incident happened. Howgill was allowed by the magistrates to go home to Grayrigg for a few days on private affairs, and in the course of the time he was at liberty the Quaker felt himself compelled to visit a justice of the name of Duckett, residing at Grayrigg Hall, who was a great persecutor of the Quakers, and was, also, one of the magistrates concerned in committing him to prison.
Francis Howgill, on this occasion, was accompanied by a friend who, over the initials “J. D.” would appear to have left a written report of the interview.
Justice Duckett expressed much surprise at seeing Howgill, and said to him, ” What is your wish now, Francis? I thought you had been in Appleby jail.”
Howgill replied to this effect, “No, I am not, but I am come with a message from the Lord. Thou hast persecuted the Lord’s people, but His hand is now against thee, and He will send a blast upon all that thou hast, and thy name shall rot out of the earth, and this thy dwelling shall become desolate, and a habitation for owls and jackdaws.”
When Howgill had delivered this message, the Justice trembled, and said, “Francis, are you in earnest?” To which Howgill responded, “Yes, I am in earnest, it is the word of the Lord to thee, and there are many now living who will see it.”
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for fresh, undiscovered haunts. Not mild, “well, I suppose that might be a ghost” sites, but locations where ghostly activity is so vivid, it’s almost terrifying.
I’ll tell you a secret.
I use history and legends to find ghosts and haunted places.
Then I’d go a step further: I’d look at the list of other survivors of that voyage, and find where they lived – and died – after that horrific experience.
And that thought led to another:
How often do we limit ourselves, looking only at famous sites where people died or are buried?
What about other, associated locations where horror happened, and where survivors relived it in their minds? At the very least, that would have left an imprint on the site.
The Smithsonian article was a reminder that the past – even the mid-19th century – had brutal elements beyond anything we’d want to think about.
For me, reading about Captain Pollard’s life and tragic voyage, I learned two things:
Intensely “haunted” sites may be found by digging deeper into history, such as the residences of those who sailed on the real-life Pequod.
We may be over-simplifying, or even whitewashing, the related tragic histories. Historical research could help us understand and empathize with the lingering, ghost-like residual energy of haunted sites.
In ghost hunting, there’s always a fresh way to look at our research.
For me, the real-life horror behind the Moby-Dick novel is an intriguing discovery. And it opens doors – perhaps literally – to fresh places to investigate.
If you’d like to test this approach to ghost hunting, here are the basic steps I’d take:
Search online using a phrase like “[location] tragedy [year].” (I’d focus on the 19th century, to start with.)
Then, research the address to see what’s there. (You can use a site like Zillow to find photos.)
Investigate it.
Look for names of people related to that tragedy… victims and villains.
Find out where their graves are, and investigate them.
Research other sites related to those people, especially homes, hotels, and failed businesses.
Investigate them.
Repeat using “[location] legends,” and dig deeply into history to uncover true (or likely true) odd and dramatic events, and so on.
Do you just want to see a ghost? This short video may help.
FIND GHOSTS TONIGHT! Learn how to find the most frightening, haunted graves in a cemetery near you.
IF YOU’RE A BEGINNER, YOU’LL DISCOVER:
– HOW to find a haunted cemetery near you.
– WHAT to look for (AND look out for).
– HOW to organize for the fastest (and scariest) results in ANY haunted cemetery.
– WHEN to arrive at the site, and how to avoid real-life dangers
– WHERE you’ll find the scariest ghosts… and sometimes malicious spirits.
– How long to stay… and WHEN TO LEAVE AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN!.
YOU CAN START TONIGHT. Read this book. It’s short but you’ll learn the basics.
Then go out and find real ghosts!
Available as an eBook at Amazon and other booksellers. (This is the updated edition of “A Beginner’s Guide to Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries.”)
Every Halloween – or whenever ghost hunting is trending – people ask, “Where can I find ghosts?” They’re not just looking for places to find ghosts.
Most are looking for places guaranteed to be haunted.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees, but some locations are more haunted than others.
The top 10 places to look for ghosts
Of course, you’ll ask local friends if they’ve heard of any place that’s known to be haunted.
That may sound silly, but sometimes people think “everyone knows” about a haunted spot, so they neglect to mention it.
Local newspapers and magazines usually feature noteworthy haunts in their Halloween issues. Check past years for those stories.
If all else fails, here’s where I start when I’m scouting locations for TV shows and movies.
1. Old hotels… and their ghost stories
Every old hotel has witnessed a tragedy – and has a ghost story – even if they don’t admit it.
Ask to stay in their least expensive room (because people avoid it) or their most expensive room (because that’s where some of the greatest dramas were played out).
If neither are available, choose a room on a top floor, preferably with an unattractive view out the window.
In the past, those rooms may have been where the servants and hotel staff lived. Their lives were often tragic, and those rooms may harbor residual energy at the very least.
2. Neglected cemeteries… waiting for investigators!
Well-kept cemeteries may have ghosts, but the older, more neglected cemeteries are usually more haunted.
They may also be the most interesting to investigate.
You can use Google Maps to find those overlooked cemeteries.
When you visit them with a group of friends or your team, follow the same steps you’d use to investigate any haunted cemetery.
If this is your first time, here are a few tips.
First of all, never go to an isolated site alone. In fact, when visiting neglected cemeteries, I recommend a group of friends (or a team) of at least six people.
Park as close as you can to the cemetery entrance, in case you need to make a quick getaway. After all, there’s a reason people stopped visiting – and maintaining – that cemetery.
Start outside the formal entrance to the cemetery… the gate through which hearses pass. See if any spirits got that far and – seeing where they were going – halted. In some cases, they’re still waiting there, refusing to admit that they’re dead, and unwilling to see their own graves.
Then, start at the most popular entrance to the cemetery. Sometimes, that’s not the formal entrance. It might be a shortcut through the cemetery, or closest to the parking lot.
From there, walk to the back left corner of the cemetery (relative to that entrance). From my experience, if the cemetery is haunted, that corner is where you’ll find ghosts.
3. Very old restaurants, or places that used to be restaurants
Between raucous parties that went very wrong, to emotional break-ups that happened over dessert, restaurants can harbor very odd – and ghostly – energy.
Old and haunted restaurant’s “hot spots” tend to be the rest rooms (bathrooms), the kitchen, and outdoors, just outside the kitchen door (often in an alley).
You’re looking for the ghosts of people who died soon after whatever happened there… the kinds of things done and said when a person has too much to drink, and turns morose.
Other ghosts might be former kitchen staff. Often, they weren’t paid well or treated right.
A restaurant with a high rate of staff quitting is a major sign of a haunting. Truly haunted restaurants can have startling poltergeist activity… which the current owners/managers would like to stop. (Either that, or they pretend it doesn’t happen… and look very uneasy when the subject is raised.)
No matter who’s haunting the restaurant (or just outside it), they almost always want to turn back the clock and either say or do something differently. They have the idea that – if they fix things – they can resume their lives and everything will be fine.
4. Racetracks, or places that used to be racetracks
These are among the most overlooked sites for residual energy hauntings.
Racetracks are where emotions consistently run high, whether it’s tension as the crowd watches the race, or the windows where people received their winnings, or the sad walk from the track after losing money the person shouldn’t have bet in the first place.
An audio recording of a past, major race can trigger a residual energy response, or attract an actual ghost who won (or lost) it all at the track.
In Colonial times, before there were funeral parlors, ministers often accepted responsibility for tending the dead.
Those ministers’ literal parlors – today, what we might (ironically) call a living room or a reception room – were where the dead were placed for several days, prior to burial.
There, you’re not necessarily looking for ghosts of the people whose bodies had been on display during the wake and morning period. You’re just as likely to encounter ghostly energy from those who sat near the body, hoping the person was actually catatonic and would wake up.
Today, many of those old homes are restaurants or other places of business, and some may welcome ghost hunters during their off-hours. A local historical society may be a good resource to identify them.
6. Crossroads
Though in history and legend, crossroads are often associated with death, the “between worlds” and the afterlife, there’s another reason to investigate crossroads.
Simply, it’s a natural crossing of ley lines.
I’ve talked about ley lines before, especially in Salem, Massachusetts. If you extend the “Judges’ Line” in either direction, you’ll find even more haunted places.
However, there’s a lingering question: Which came first, the ley line or the roads (and energy) that flow along it?
When two ancient, busy roads cross, that’s a place to investigate. Old maps can be most helpful. Try OldMapsOnline.org.
7. Desanctified churches, redundant churches, and closed churches
Over the centuries, as populations shifted, many church sites – and adjoining churchyards (burial places) – were desanctified. (They may also be described as “redundant” or “closed churches.”
Those sites can be very haunted, and sometimes dangerously so. After all, when they were desanctified, they ceased being protected by their previous sacred status.
At those locations, the ghosts and ghostly energy you’ll most likely encounter is related to two or three kinds of spiritual energy.
First, there are the ghosts of people who died with a guilty conscience. Some of them are still trying to get into their local (but now desanctified) church to ask forgiveness.
Then there’s the burial yard. Many churches make sure the graves are either protected for the future, or moved to another location.
The cost of that – either maintenance or removals – may be beyond the budget of the church that’s had to close its doors.
So, those neglected graves may harbor some ghosts.
I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a minister next door to Salem, Massachusetts’ “Witch House.”
He explained that when the Witch House was moved, it was placed on land that had been part of the church’s cemetery.
At the time, the church’s staff tried to be certain all the graves had been moved, but it was long before ground-penetrating radar, and the churchyard records weren’t complete.
Add the possibility of unmarked graves, and there are good reasons for that site to be haunted: Graves may still be there, and at least partially under Witch House. That’s probably not an association some of the deceased aspired to.
Finally, there may be residual energy at the site of the closed/desanctified church. After all, people attended that church for joyous reasons and tragic ones, through good times and bad.
Realtors may be helpful in identifying those locations. Newspapers – including USAToday – sometimes write about them, as well.
8. The “creepy old house”
In or near almost every community, you’ll hear about a “creepy old house.” It’s the place kids whisper about, saying it’s haunted. Often, it’s an abandoned site, so I can’t recommend it for ghost hunting. Not without permission, at the very least.
Don’t expect much. The eeriness of the house may be due to its disrepair, or even amateur carpentry when it was originally built.
(From my experience, 90% of “haunted stairways” seem troubling because they were badly built.)
However, by exploring the history of that house and what used to be in that part of town, you may stumble upon a neglected cemetery or other sites that are truly haunted.
That’s the main reason I recommend asking teens and pre-teens about rumored ghosts and nearby haunts. If they even hint at a “the creepy house,” that may point to the most haunted part of town… even if the actual house isn’t the focal point of ghosts.
9. Where the factory workers lived
In the late 19th century, most communities had factories or mills, big or small.
The people who worked at there, also lived nearby, often in multi-family homes or other communal housing. (These may be “outsider” haunts.)
Today, many of them are apartments or condos, or even single-family homes, and almost 100% of those residences are haunted.
I lived in one in the 1990s, and I’m living in one (a different one) as I write this.
In those kinds of locations, when I mention the ghosts in our home, the neighbors look at me and say, “Of course.”
It’s as if I’d just said “the sky is blue,” or “rain is wet.”
And then they tell me about the ghosts in their homes. The topic seems so mundane to them, they’re amused that anyone is interested.
Realtors may avoid the topic, but – quietly – they’re among your most likely resources, at least in terms of general areas where several homes or businesses may be haunted.
If there was a factory or mill in the area, and mill workers lived there, you’ll find haunted residences. Some of their owners or tenants may be thrilled to tell their stories, or even invite you to investigate their haunted home.
And, of course, many actual mill buildings are haunted, but they can be dangerous (or illegal) to explore.
If you’re not sure what kinds of mills to look for in your area, see this British article about mills in Cumbria. (Often, it’s easy to overlook what may have been a thriving mill, centuries ago.)
Once you’ve identified the kinds of mills that may have been near your current location, you can use old city directories and maps to spot where they were, and where the mill workers lived. Historical societies and museums can be helpful, too.
10. Places of battles, feuds, and duels
Famous battle sites are well-known for their ghosts. However, I believe the ghostly energy may be so diluted by the energy of hundreds (or thousands) of ghost hunters trekking through the site, it’s just not that interesting any more.
On the other hand, some locations witnessed skirmishes or feuds that people have almost forgotten about. They can still provide powerful residual energy for an investigation, and perhaps a few ghosts.
And then there are the isolated parks and other locations where, at dawn, a few people would gather for a duel “to the death.”
Those are among the most overlooked and obscure haunts, but they can also have dramatic ghostly energy. After all, the duelists in Disney’s Haunted Mansion are there for a reason: They represent long-forgotten ghosts. You may have some near your home and not realize it.
For example, you may find clues to these dueling locations and sites of feuds mentioned at a local public library, historical society, or family history (genealogy) library.
And finally… Your childhood home or neighborhood
Almost everyone I’ve ever met with an interest in ghosts… that interest goes back to childhood.
And most of them have a ghost story to share with me, related to their own home or a friend’s house.
If that’s you, find out who lives in that house now. Or chat with childhood friends about your shared “haunted house” memories, and see if they’re interested in ghost hunting now.
By sharing your experiences and memories, you may recall haunted places close to home.
As you can see, there may be an abundance of haunted places near you. You may need to think creatively and use historical maps and records, but it’s likely you’ll find a genuinely haunted site close to where you are right now.
Even better, you and your team may be among the first to explore it and encounter its ghosts.
Can you suggest more classic haunts, or share tips for finding them no matter where the person is? (I’m thinking about haunted bridges, abandoned castles, eerie museums, etc.)
If so, I hope you’ll leave a comment to share with others. (All comments are moderated, but I try to approve them as quickly as possible.)
What is a banshee, and should you be afraid if you hear or see one? Here’s what you need to know, and whether to worry about this legendary spirit.
Banshees are unique in paranormal research.
When someone mentions a ghost, most of us think of cemeteries, haunted houses, and transparent figures draped in sheets.
Likewise, the word “faerie” is usually linked with cute little figures with wings, and merry mischief… like Tinkerbell.
However, mention a Banshee, and people squirm.
That spirit, like a ghost, can represent someone who lived in the past, but that is not her actual role.
She can appear transparent, usually the size of a living person. Nevertheless, like her fae counterparts, she is associated with a more magical Otherworld.
She reminds us that the Otherworld is a vast place, inhabited by many kinds of beings, including faeries and ghosts.
The Banshee – in Irish, the Bean Sidhe (pronounced “bann-SHEE”) – means “spirit woman” or sometimes a spirit (perhaps a faerie) dressed in white. She is usually described as a single being, although there are many of them.
Your Irish Family’s Banshee
According to legend, one Banshee guards each Milesian Irish family. These are the families descended from the “Sons of Mil” who emigrated to Ireland long ago. Often, those families’ surnames start with O’ or Mac, and sometimes Fitz. Remember, many of those prefixes have been dropped, particularly by American families.
In other words, if your ancestors lived in Ireland for a couple of generations, your family — and perhaps your household — probably has its own Banshee.
There is a Banshee for each branch of these families, and the family Banshee can follow the descendants to America, Australia, or wherever the Irish family travels or emigrates.
The Banshee protects the family as best she can, perhaps as a forerunner of the “Guardian Angel” in Christian traditions. However, we are most aware of her before a tragedy that she cannot prevent.
Traditionally, the Banshee appears shortly before a death in “her” family.
The Banshee is almost always female and appears filmy in a white, hooded gown. (The exception is in Donegal, Ireland, where she may wear a green robe, or in County Mayo where she usually wears black.)
However, if she is washing a shroud when you see her, she may merely signal a major life-changing event in your future. The way to determine this is to go home and burn a beeswax candle after seeing her. According to folklore, if it burns in the shape of a shroud, her appearance does foretell death.
The Banshee’s Wail
The night before the death, the Banshee wails piteously in frustration and rage. Her family will always hear her. Many others in the area will, too. For example, Sir Walter Scott referred to “the fatal banshi’s boding scream.”
One of the largest reports of this wailing was in 1938 when the Giants’ Grave in County Limerick, Ireland, was excavated and the bones were moved to a nearby castle.
The crying was heard throughout central Ireland. People said it sounded as if every Banshee in Ireland was keening.
That collective Banshee wail was unusual but not unique. When a group of Banshees are seen, they usually forecast the dramatic illness — and perhaps death — of a major religious or political figure.
In Irish mythological history, the Banshee tradition may be linked to the fierce Morrighan as the “Washer at the Ford,” a legend of Cuchulain. In that story, the Morrighan appeared as a young woman who prepared for an upcoming battle by washing the clothing — or perhaps the shrouds — of those who would fight and lose.
Does the Banshee Cause Death?
Despite her grim reputation, seeing or hearing a Banshee doesn’t cause death. Traditionally, the Banshee is a very kind woman. As poet and historian W. B. Yeats commented, “You will with the banshee chat, and will find her good at heart.”
Perhaps her appearance and wailing before a death are efforts to protect her family from death. or other tragedy that she foresees.
This is the clearest link to what are popularly called “ghosts.” In many stories, the spirit appears to warn the living about danger, illness, or death. Many gothic novels feature a ghost whose appearance forecasts death.
Likewise, in the Sherlock Holmes story, the Hound of the Baskervilles howled before a family death.
In real life, my maternal grandmother and her siblings were individually visited by the spectre of their mother, to warn them of her imminent death in a hospital many miles away, and to say goodbye.
This level of concern for the living is consistent with many ghosts, as well as the Banshee.
Whether the Banshee is a “ghost” or a “faerie” may never be resolved. However, the Banshee provides clear evidence that the lines separating ghosts, spirits, and faeries are vague at best.
The rest of our return tour of the Edinburgh underground was troubling, so much that I did not keep notes at the time.
These are my current recollections of the site:
We walked through more rooms and then we were in a long corridor. At the end of it, I “saw” a crowd of people rushing back and forth, reminding me of subway platforms during the busy commuting hours. However, the people I “saw” were wearing clothing from a variety of eras, including modern-day.
I commented to one of the tour guides (I don’t think it was Ms. Mann), “Look at all the people down there!” The guide said that the area I was pointing at had been opened for Edinburgh foot traffic in recent years. She said it had been used frequently, and that would account for people in modern clothing in my impression.
Often, when I’m giving an important reading, I’m “given” situations that establish my credibility. I was certain that this was why I was prompted to mention the people in modern dress. I had no way to know about that tunnel, and it let the tour guides know that I wasn’t making things up.
Was that residual energy? A series of overlays, each from a different time, or “time-slip”? I’m not sure.
The ghosts in the storage room
We continued to two rooms that seemed like storage areas. I recall that the last one seemed to have a silly man behind the door. He was sort of folded up and on the floor. He didn’t understand that he was dead, and he was waiting for someone. He was truly preposterous; common sense should have told him that he was dead.
In retrospect, I now wonder if he was still alive in his own time. Perhaps I was just “seeing” – and communicating with – a person from another century. Or a person in a parallel reality.
This was a concept I first discussed in the late 1990s at Gilson Road Cemetery.
As of 2020, more people are considering this somewhat quantum theory, and using the phrase “time-slip” in ghost hunting.
Then, towards the back of that same room, I encountered some grisly energy/images. I saw that there had been leather stored in the room.
Bodies had also been stored there, short term, after they’d been murdered.
The murderer had access to the room, and knew that the smell of the leather would disguise any odor from the bodies.
The ghost of the murderer
The murderer looked like the cartoons of (American) Boss Tweed: morbidly obese with a too-small vest that gaped too wide to be buttoned. His skin was greasy. He had stubble on his face. He was almost overwhelmingly repulsive. He dressed in dark clothing, except for a white, blousy shirt. He was gruff and aggressive, and seemed bitterly angry with life in general. He had lost faith in everything and tyrannized others with his greed and rage.
Only intense experiences seemed to help fill the bottomless well of emptiness inside him.
The little girl’s ghost
Another energy with him was a frail little girl, about five years old in appearance. Her health was so poor, and she was so skinny that she might have been older and simply looked small.
She had been murdered by the obese man and was shattered by the event. I remember that her stick-straight hair was almost white, it was so blonde. She was pale and lovely, but too thin and dressed in a shabby blue or brown shift.
My painting of the ghostly girl.
I know that she had lost her parents early in life, but had a vague memory of them. And, she had kept a doll from when her parents were alive, and she’d lost it around the time that she had been murdered.
She wanted her dolly back. She didn’t mind the poverty, the hunger, or her life on the streets. Mostly, she wanted her dolly back, as if that would make the rest of it bearable.
At that point, I was overtaken by her grief and started to cry inconsolably. As I communicated empathically with and for the little girl, I didn’t understand why this man killed small children.
He seemed relentlessly evil and cruel. He killed abandoned children on the streets of Edinburgh and perhaps workers in what we’d call “sweatshops,” but this was probably well before the Industrial Era.
I do not know why he killed, and I’m not even certain if this crime spree was reported in the newspaper of the time. It was as if these children’s brief lives meant nothing.
All that I can say is, it was awful.
Then, the tour ended quickly
The “tour” ended then, quite abruptly. I’d opened myself too much to the available energy, and the grief I’d received from this little girl was too much for me. Distraught and embarrassed, I left the underground location with the group, apologizing for the sour conclusion of the evening.
We left Scotland the next day and continued our tour of the U.K. and Ireland.
A month later, in Ireland, I met one of the tourists who’d been with the group on that return tour. She wanted to know if I’d been able to figure out the identity of Child #3, or anything else I’d witnessed.
I hadn’t, but I felt much better about how the evening had ended when she said that my collapse into tears had not spoiled the experience but, in fact, made it more “spooky” for her.
Returning for more
I’d love to go back and visit the underground areas again, though I expect that the modern-day energy of tourists who’ve been through will mute many of the impressions that had been crystal-clear in 1996.
I’d like to see other haunted areas in Edinburgh and explore their stories, too. I have a strong feeling that I’m supposed to do this if that makes sense.
I also hope to find time to review Edinburgh’s history and make sense of the lives that I “saw.”
If you have additional information about these ghosts, Edinburgh’s haunted vaults, or Mary King’s Close, please add it in the comments at the foot of this page. Thank you!
Other articles in this series about Edinburgh’s vaults:
But ghosts in chains are not entirely in the past. Even today, a tall, evil-looking man appears on back roads and highways in Yorkshire, England, and jumps out to frighten late-night travelers. He’s known as “Jack in Irons.” Most people who’ve seen him comment that the ghost appears wrapped in chains.
Shadows without consciousness
Regardless of what causes them, residual energy hauntings are a ghost hunter’s best opportunity to see a “ghost” that appears in human-like form.
Well-kept cemeteries may have ghosts, but the older, more neglected cemeteries are usually more haunted.
Over the centuries, as populations shifted, many church sites – and adjoining churchyards (burial places) – were desanctified. (They may also be described as “redundant” or “closed churches.”
The rest of our return tour of the Edinburgh underground was troubling, so much that I did not keep notes at the time.