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Does the ghost of Major Thomas Weir still walk the Royal Mile in Edinburgh? JOHN AMBROSE MARTIN takes a look at the eerie legend…
Although Ireland is my first psychic love, I have recently returned to my favorite city and in particular to the Old Town of Edinburgh, aptly known as ‘Auld Reekie’.
I spent a few days soaking up the haunted history of the Royal Mile and toured the ancient mile from the towers of Edinburgh Castle to the depths of the infamous Edinburgh vaults. I walked through many a Close and Wynd and ventured into churches, graveyards and pubs… Hey, tourism is thirsty work!
I bring you a story that still resonates in the hearts and minds of the locals around Edinburgh. The story of Major Thomas Weir and his sister Jean, known to her friends as Grizel.
On West Bow Street, in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, locals still report seeing the ghostly figure of a fanatical clergyman who was sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft and wizardry.
Spirit of the Western Bow
Major Thomas Weir was a Scottish soldier and became known locally as a lay preacher and devout man. Because Weir was a Covenanter, he professed a particularly strict form of Presbyterianism. A religious zealot, Weir led many Protestant prayer groups in Edinburgh in the late 17th century, but rumors circulated that something fishy was going on with the clergyman.
He never knelt in church, smelled of sulphur, and also carried a twisted stick that he claimed acted as his servant.
The 17th century was a time of great fear and anxiety in Europe regarding the practice of witchcraft, Scotland was no exception. The widespread hysteria led to witch hunts and the execution of thousands of people.
After his retirement, Weir fell ill in 1670 and began to confess from his sickbed that he had led a secret life of crime and vice. The Lord Provost initially thought the confession unlikely and took no action, but eventually Weir and his spinster sister Grizel were taken to the Edinburgh Tolbooth for questioning.
Major Weir, now in his seventies, continued to expand on his confession and Grizel, who had seemingly completely lost her mind, gave an even more exaggerated history of witchcraft, sorcery and vice.
Weir admitted to his religious followers that he was a warlock. That he and his older sister Grizel secretly practiced witchcraft in the house they shared. Thomas Weir confessed to making a demonic deal with the devil. He confessed to having incestuous relationships with his sister, indulged in sexual practices with other women, and even bestiality.
Apparently, this admission came as a shock to Weir’s followers and some members of his religious group tried to have him examined by a doctor. His followers hoped he was having a nervous breakdown; he may have been mentally disturbed, but doctors diagnosed Weir as sane and as a result he and his sister would be charged with sorcery.
Thomas Weir and his sister sentenced to death
On April 11, 1670, Thomas Weir was sentenced to death and burned at the stake along with his twisted stick. Many claimed that Satan himself came to Edinburgh in a black carriage and escorted him to Hell.
Weir’s sister Grizel was hanged the following day at Grassmarket in Edinburgh. Grizel has not left this earth so quietly. She made quite a spectacle before being executed and stripped off her clothes, shocking the onlookers and adding to the dramatic story that these once “doable” brother and sister, known for their devotion to God, suddenly confessed to such terrible things.
The Weirs’ home became one of the most haunted places in Edinburgh.
It was demolished in 1830, but witnesses have testified that they saw the transparent figure of Thomas Weir on a horse surrounded by flames. Others claim to have heard the tapping of Weir’s twisted stick on the town’s cobbled streets.
The ghost of Thomas Weir has become a famous Scottish legend, known as the Wizard of West Bow.
Have you seen a ghost in or around Edinburgh’s West Bow? Tell us about it in the comments below!
