Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Devil in Wales, ghosts in Scotland, hellhounds in Ireland

Wales: Popular with the Devil and Dragons

The devil has been seen more in Wales than in Scotland or Ireland. It makes up 3% of paranormal sightings there, compared to 0.2% in Ireland and 0.6% in Scotland. And though there are more sightings in England, people having a paranormal experience in England are more likely to get a ghost than the Devil where 2% of sightings are of old Nick.

There are 14 sightings of Satan in Wales over the years.

In the 15th century, there was a legend that Old Nick - the devil himself - meddled in a public infrastructure of the day - stopping construction on Llangar Church in Coren:

"Work on the church was hampered by the Devil stealing the construction materials each night. A wise man told the builders the only way to prevent this from happening was to find a new spot for the church, and that the area would be indicated by a white stag.
Sure enough, after searching the local area, a white stag was found;the church was successfully built on the spot of the sighting with no further interruptions." 

Dragons are most commonly seen in Wales too: there have been 14 sightings there, compared to 0 in Ireland and 6 in Scotland. 

Scotland: More ghosts than anywhere else


The area with the single most reports of hauntings in Scotland is... Lothian.

Edinburgh is in Lothian, and it's home to a fair few ghosts. There are 119 reports of hauntings over the years, as well as 7 poltergeists and 2 curses.


Apparently Mary Queen of Scots still haunts Borthwick Castle:

"Mary Queen of Scots left the castle in 1567 dressed as a boy in order to escape her enemies - her ghost here remains clothed in this way".

Ghosts that interact with people and objects in the environment are known as poltergeists. Cramond Inn in Edinburgh is allegedly home to a glass-breaking poltergeist: 

"Like so many other public houses, The Cramond suffers from a polt which is blamed when glasses break for no reason and small items moved around."

Edinburgh is also home to one of the most well-documented poltegeists in the world, the Mackenzie Poltergeist in Kirkyard Covenanter's Prison.

"While George MacKenzie has been blamed for the phantom attacks on sightseers at this locale, other people say it is the spirits of the prisoners. Either way, many visitors on the local 'ghost walks' have been pinched, pushed, pulled and even cut while at this spooky site."

The poltergeist has also been blamed for fires that have started in properties bordering the Kirkyard.
17% of Scotland's paranormal sightings involve crytozoology - weird creatures. A much higher proportion than in Ireland (9%) or Wales (7%). 

Ireland: Watch out for hell-hounds and the paranormal badger

Shucks are huge black dogs that have been sighted roaming the countryside. There are 7 reports of Shucks in Cork. Cork is the most haunted place in Ireland.

In the 1830s, there was a report of a vicious dog near Killbrittain:

"Three men heading towards Kilbrittain from Clonakilty encountered a large black dog which followed them until they reached a cross in the road, where the hound disappeared.

The group split up at this point, but one man reported that the dog reappeared behind him, snapping at him until he arrived home at Ballinspittle. A priest blessed the area where the creature first appeared, and there were no more reported sightings."

Ireland also has an interesting history of weird creatures - categorised as "cryptozoology". In the 1930s, several local farmers reported seeing a giant badger swimming in Rath Lough in Corofin.  The story made the front page of a local newspaper. 

Source 

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