Haunted Battlefields

Subject: Haunted Battlefields Mon 12 Nov 2007, 11:09 pm

There are plenty of stories about battlefield ghosts from all around the world. Sometimes they vary from just the noise of battle and others they are supposedly seen as full blown battlefield appartions, or columns of troop movement. Again I think the sheer scale of these hauntings could lead to some interesting thoughts on what ghosts actually are. Is the whole battlefield or encounter to be seen as one ghost, or is it a crowd of spirits who get together for a re-enactment now and then. I may be very wrong, but I don't think I know of any battlefeld ghosts being experienced recently.

Age : 31 Joined : 12 Oct 2007 Posts : 253

The Civil War battlefields were renown to be quite haunted. Edgehill was the subject a quite a number of "renactments": funny thing Prince Rupert was othen seen among the "ghostly" soldiers while he was still alive and well. I don't think that the traditional "ghost=spirit of the deceased" is an acceptable hypothesis here.
Another celebrated haunted battlefield is Marathon, Greece. As I've already said seeing the ghostly warriors was considered a death portent or, at the very best, a very bad omen.
Ghostly battles are rumoured to have been seen both at Waterloo and Azincourt.
Not strctly a battle but how about the "Lost Legion" mentioned by Archie McKerracher? These Roman soldiers (supposedly either defeated in battle and slaughtered by the Picts or killed off by starvation and illness while attempting to subdue a rebellious tribe) are apparently frequently heard (though never seen) in the Dunblane area.
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Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Tue 13 Nov 2007, 6:23 pm

Marston moor is supposed to be haunted, men in civil war attire are supposed to be seen on the aniversary of the battle. My take on this type of haunting are more of the recorded ghost than anything else. Does Culloden have any ghostly legends attached to it, i know from personal experience that the place "feels" odd.

Age : 31 Joined : 12 Oct 2007 Posts : 253

I think this says it all about Culloden: http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/culloden.html

There have also been a number of sighting of ghost warplanes: a lone Supermarine Spitfire has often been seen in skies near Biggin Hill. Experienced airmen have identified it as either a MkI or a MkIIa, almost identical in appearance. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BoBMF) actually owns a MkIIa and operated from Biggin Hill for a time before moving to RAF Coningsby.
There have also been a number of sightings involving bombers which are much more difficult to explain: the only airworthy WWII bomber in Britain is the BoBMF Avro Lancaster, whose air activities have long been restricted to a few selected events to save precious airframe hours. Moreover it fails to explains all those sightings involving twin engined WWII bombers (mainly Vickers Wellingtons). The last airworthy Wellington was scraped in 1953 and only two complete airframes survive to this day.
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Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Tue 13 Nov 2007, 7:21 pm

Here are two accounts of moving troops. The first I think I mentioned in a topic on Anniversary Ghosts and I think quite a few battlefield ghosts are linked to the anniversary of the battle itself.

A phantom army was witnessed on Souther Fell by a farm hand on Mid-Summers-Eve in the year 1735. The army took the form of mounted troops with infantry marching in a column. One year later on the same date the army was seen again by William Lancaster who was a local farmer. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite uprising the army was witnessed again by over 26 people on the 23rd June. This time the army was sighted with carriages, and covered an area of about half a mile. It would not have been possible to bring carriages on Souther Fell and the story is a complete mystery. An account of the haunting appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine in 1747.

This would be just after the uprising, the last conflict in which surface battles were fought on British soil. Many of the readers of The Gentleman's Magazine had probably served in the war. A ghostly army in Cumbria, the Scottish border. Carlisle Castle was the site of the last UK castle siege during this conflict and region would have suffered. Maybe rumours of a ghostly army were spread to help keep the Scots inline Smile

This account was put together for the website by Dan:
According to a local story (from the Saddleworth area) a patrol of Roman soldiers disappeared while crossing the desolate moors in the area around Bleaklow. They either became lost and died of exposure, or as my informant would have it, were ambushed by the local tribes and buried deep in some moorland bog, waiting to be found armour and all. The story may have some relation to reports of a ghostly legion seen by walkers on the Pennine way.

The area was certainly well used by the Roman legions. A Roman fort stands at Castleshaw and Roman road and routes can be seen such as Doctors Gate which ran from Navio Fort in Hope Valley to Melandria near Glossop.

Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Tue 13 Nov 2007, 7:24 pm

Joined : 05 Sep 2007 Posts : 101 Location : West Scotland

Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Wed 14 Nov 2007, 12:08 am

There is the account of one woman in Letham (Angus) witnessing the ghostly re-enactment of the battle of Nechtansmere. Only problem is that I don't think it was quite in the correct location. I'd have to look into this more though.
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Age : 31 Joined : 12 Oct 2007 Posts : 253

Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Wed 14 Nov 2007, 1:08 pm

Just a quick thought on ghostly aircraft. As inanimate objects I think we can rule them out as being spirits and as for the stone tape recording theory, well, what substance would have recorded them and do they have a set range from said substance?

Age : 31 Joined : 12 Oct 2007 Posts : 253

Thomas Charles Lethbridge put forward a theory according to which the "recording media" is supposed to be in some way related to water. He came up with the idea after two personal experiences (one involving a proper "ghost" sighting") made him look for "explanations he couldn't find".
I don't know about the warplanes, but the Edgehill ghost battle definetely shows that the ghosts of the deceased are not involved: Prince Rupert was clearly recognized among his troops by more than one Cavalier while he was known to be alive and well.
Could it be a case of "psychic recording"? And if water (or stone) is the recording media what are the writer and reader?
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Fas: Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum.

Joined : 05 Sep 2007 Posts : 101 Location : West Scotland

Thanks for the book pointer Mauro, here are a few more Haunted battlefields: Killiecrankie is reputed to be haunted http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/perthshire/killiecrankie.html I have heard of the Nectansmere sighting but I can’t at the moment trace my source.
Other sites include Glencoe; a witness is reputed to have seen a replay of the aftermath of the slaughter.
A phantom army is said to appear on the shores of Loch Ashie near Inverness, on the site of a battle with an invading Norwegian army around the 1st May.
A WWII Spitfire is said to be heard near Biggin Hill Airfield on Jan 19th.
A ghostly army in the Cuillins on the Isle of Sky (Jacobite). Otterburn in Northumberland phantom army sighted in 1960, there was a battle on the site in 1388.
Newsteads, sounds of marching soldiers have been heard, the area was a Roman encampment.
Stockton on the Forest, a spectral army was seen in the sky in 1812.
Marston Moor has several witness sightings of Civil War ghosts. However Marston Moor is often a site for re-enactments and I have talked to quite a few re-enactors over the years, and some have a wicked sense of humour. One Civil War re-enactor swore he used to get pissed while on weekend camps, creep to the roadside in the night in full costume and ‘pop up’ when he heard a car going past. Quite possibly an explanation for some (if not all) ghostly cavaliers.

Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Thu 15 Nov 2007, 7:16 pm

Dan, ive come across a website that mentions a sighting by 2 motorists in 1932. You can read it here http://www.lilylane.co.uk/mm.htm

Not very detailed of course but their source of info was Haunted Yorkshire but that link ends in a 404 error. The Andrew Green link just mentions a sighting in 1968 and then one more 5 years later.

Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Thu 15 Nov 2007, 9:50 pm

Dan, your re-enactor has reminded me of two mistaken idenities. One white lady sighting in a castle grounds I am investigating turned out to coinside with a bridal shoot that was taking place. Another sighting at another cumbrian castle was a figure in medieval garb exiting a room. The room where the re-enactors for the castles event were changing Smile

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It does illustrate the need to pinpoint the date any ghostly sighting took place and find out who else was there and doing what exactly.

Subject: Re: Haunted Battlefields Mon 04 Aug 2008, 10:16 am

On the anniversary of the Battle of Cheriton (29 March 1644) you are supposed to be able to hear the battle again and the ghost of a Cavalier has been seen in the lane which runs along one side of the battle site.