As it’s Halloween, we present two suitably scary archives from our collection; a full, particular and authentic account of the dreadful ghost which haunted the neighbourhood of Stretford and an account of a strange and marvellous funeral, seen between Dunblane and Stirling that suddenly vanished.

First up, we have a report of how Stretford was ‘eventually thrown into much alarm and confusion’ during 1806.

“A man has of late nightly obferved running to and fro’, at the fame time uttering dreadful yellings and howlings of diftrefs: when any perfon has [had] the temerity to approach the spot, the perturbed fpirit (for it is generally believed to have been no other than a GHOST’, immediately immerged itfelf in the water, and difappeared”.

A Strange and Marvellous Funeral is a report ‘altogether without precedent in the history of the country’.

“All at once the room became lighted up…