The ‘Sandeman’ Apparition and a Poltergeist

When Billy Taylor was a young boy in the early sixties he took his dog out for a walk from his home in the Collon. It was a lovely morning in late spring and though it was forbidden to go into the grounds of a nearby private estate the dog ran towards the ‘planting’ (the wooded area). Billy followed, coming close to a large fallen tree. The dog was barking and whimpering at something on the tree. When Billy came nearer a tall man, dressed in a cloak and a black flat hat, (Billy described the figure as resembling the Sandeman Port Man) rose in the air to about seven feet high. He could see no features on the face of the strange and frightening figure. The dog ran away with Billy following. When he reached his granny’s house in New Street she did not seem surprised. She sat him down and gave him a bowl of hot sweet tea, simply remarking that the figure he saw was the ‘oul’ Captain’, a previous owner.

Billy’s father was reared over the Collon Lane for a while. There was a yellow stone house there owned by a man called Gallagher. Few people stayed long in the house including the Taylor family because there was a poltergeist in residence in the form of a big redheaded, bearded man. Crockery, chairs and many other things were thrown. There seemed to be no pattern in these explosions of activity but it was terrifying for those who lived there. The Taylor family moved out as soon as they found somewhere else to live.