A St Andrews researcher, author and ghost tour operator is investigating claims that a “new” ghost is haunting one of the oldest parts of the Auld Grey Toun.
St Andrews Ghost Tour operator Richard Falconer said he has received a dozen reports in just two years – backed by 17 mediums – that the ghost of an eight-year-old girl stands in the Nun’s Walk area of St Leonard’s School.
In all, Richard says St Leonard’s School reputedly has 22 ghosts sweeping through its buildings and grounds with one of the most famous and active being the so-called ‘Veiled Nun of St Leonard’s’.
Richard has received a number of Veiled Nun reports from the Pends area over the years including an encounter with himself and nine students on a tour in July 2017.
However, he says the ghost of the girl now being reported at a site opposite where the nun has been seen is a “new addition” with the majority of 12 reports dating from 2018-19.
“In November 2018 an elderly couple from Glasgow on my ghost tour saw a young girl standing in the Nun’s Walk by the gated entrance to the school,” said Richard, 56, a globally-renowned paranormal historian for over 40 years who has experienced over 1000 aspects of phenomena, many of which are in St Andrews.
“As an experiment I didn’t mention her at all on my subsequent tours as I wanted to see if any others would be able to perceive her and hopefully shed some light on who she is.
“Nobody mentioned anything until April 2019 when a medium at the end of a tour said “a young girl from the Nun’s Walk came with us on the tour. She’s gone back now. She enjoys what you do and likes what you talk about. She’s been on your tours before. She was holding my finger all the way round rather than my hand.’
“I then told her a couple from Glasgow saw her in November 2018.
“Another woman in April said she saw the girl standing on the other side of the path to the nun and believed her name is Bella.
“She said she didn’t belong to the school and doesn’t think it her place to go into the grounds, so she stands by the entrance and watches the children come and go.
“A few days after this I had a large group on a tour and a woman gave out a yelp, did a sidestep jerk, and said the whole of her right side has just gone really cold. She was standing at the same spot where the girl has been seen.
“Then on May 16, 2019, I had 16 Canadian mediums on a tour. They told me there was a young girl by the path at the entrance to the school. She was listening to me.
“She said she was quite happy, and didn’t have the money to go to the school so she watches everyone go by.
“Then in June a woman on a tour at the same place felt something pressing against her right side.
“The same as the woman in April who said her right side had gone cold.
“A man on another tour as part of a large group also in June said something brushed past his hand. He was again standing where the girl stands.”
With St Andrews claiming to have 187 haunted locations and over 400 ghosts, Richard said details about this “new” ghost are still unravelling.
However, with nobody ever mentioning her before November 2018, in all the years he’s been doing ghost tours, he believes something must have “triggered” her recent appearances.
* Richard, the author of Ghosts of St Andrews and More Ghosts of St Andrews, is working on two new non-fiction books and would like to hear from anyone who has had paranormal experiences. He can be contacted via picatrix28@yahoo.co.uk
