This spring, we shall see the welcome return of the Haunted Leith Ghost Walk. Having operated several walks throughout the city, I was excited about the prospect of a Leith venture. The event was a runaway success and concluded with a spooktacular Halloween extravaganza. We covered many famous and lesser-known tales of the historic port and thrilling brave ghost walkers throughout the year. I discovered a brand-new nautical tale during a recent visit to the iconic Trinity House. Our story begins at sea.

A strange story is told in connection with the report of the 1880 murder at sea on board the barque Pontiac of Liverpool by Jean Moyatos, a Greek sailor. We do not know whether the particulars we are about to relate came out in the investigation. Still, undoubtedly, they had a strong bearing on the case and made it probable that but for the hallucination of one of the crew - not the Greek sailor - the murder would not have taken place.

Five days after the Pontiac left Callao, Jean Moyatos murdered one of his fellow seamen and stabbed another in such a dangerous manner that his life was despaired. Two nights before the fatal occurrence, the mate of the Pontiac was standing near the man at the helm, no other person being on the quarter-deck at the time, when the latter, in great terror, called out, “What is that near the cabin door?” The mate replied that he saw nothing and looked about to see if anyone was near but failed to discover any person.

The steersman then, terrified, said the figure he saw was that of a strange-looking man, of ghostly appearance, and almost immediately afterwards exclaimed, “There he is again, standing at the cabin window.” Though given the place referred to, the mate saw no figure near it nor at any other part of the quarter-deck, though he looked round and round.

The next day, the report went from one to the other that a ghost was on board, which filled some sailors with alarm while others made a jest of it. A boy stowaway was so dreadfully alarmed in his bunk by something he saw or felt (we do not know which) that he cried so loudly as to waken all the seamen in bed. The boy was sure the ghost seen the previous night had frightened him, and others of more mature years were inclined to think so, too.

Perhaps more than one-half of those onboard believed that something supernatural was in the ship, and calamity would soon occur. A sailor joked with the boy about the ghost and said he would have his knife well-sharpened and ready for the ghost if it appeared the next night. He would give it a stab and “chuck” it overboard.

Another sailor joined in the joke, saying he also would help “to do for the ghost”, and others said they would have letters ready for the ghost to carry to their friends in the other world. Jean Moyatos overheard what was said as to stabbing and throwing over-board, and in consequence of his imperfect knowledge of the English language and having previously supposed there was a conspiracy against him, thought the threats were made against him and therefore resolved to protect himself.

A few hours after the jesting we have briefly explained took place, Moyatos stabbed the two men who principally carried on the jest, with the fatal result known. The murder, as might be expected, filled everyone on board with horror, and the terror of the sailors who believed there was a ghost on board became overwhelming.

They had great dread at night, whether in bed or on watch on deck, which was heightened by reports that the crew heard strange noises from below. Not even at the end of the voyage had the fear been overcome, for after the ship lay moored in the docks of Leith, two of the crew who had agreed to sleep on board became so frightened after their companions were paid off that they refused to remain in the vessel at night. Jean Moyatos, on being brought to trial before the High Court of Justiciary, was found insane. Therefore, the Court ordered him to be confined to a lunatic asylum at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

This frightening tale of nautical nightmares echoes other ghostly stories of the sea. A terrifying encounter appeared in an Edinburgh newspaper in 1868. Three separate crews refused to sail upon the Leith vessel due to the horrific sight of a headless apparition at the rear of the vessel.

Let’s not forget the chilling events on board the Granton trawler ship, The Alma. The terrifying encounter saw a crew member fall overboard only to return on a substantial wave on the opposite side of the boat. The fortunate fisherman claimed that a ghostly apparition bearing the phrase ‘Slange Var’ upon his hand reached out to save him from his descent into the icy waters where he sailed. ■

John Tantalon

Info: Join John on The Haunted Leith ghost walk on Saturday 29th March at 7.30 pm at Tower Place