The Dark Hedges is an avenue of beech trees on Bregagh Road. In about 1775 James Stuart built Gracehill House, named after his wife Grace Lynd, and over 150 beech trees were planted along the entrance road to impress visitors.
According to legend, a ghost called the Grey Lady travels the road and flits across it from tree to tree. She is said to be the spirit of Stuart's daughter, called Cross Peggy, or a maid from the house who died mysteriously, or a spirit from an abandoned graveyard beneath the fields, who on Halloween is joined by other spirits from the graveyard. She is seen at dusk, gliding silently and vanishing at the final tree.
In October 2014 a local man, Gordon Watson, reported a wispy grey shape in a photograph he took at the avenue, and a professional photographer is said to have judged it unaltered. The Game of Thrones link and the heavy tourism since are not part of the original legend and are worth keeping apart from it.
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