Unclassified

Betty Corrigall's Grave, the Lady of Hoy

Betty Corrigall's grave, near the Waters of Hoy, between Lyness and Rackwick

Death 1770s; found 1930s; moved 1941

Betty Corrigall was 27 and pregnant when the whaler she had been involved with went back to sea. She tried to drown herself and then hanged herself in a barn. Because of the suicide she could not be buried in consecrated ground, and the lairds refused her land, so she was put on the boundary of the parish by the Waters of Hoy.

In 1933 or 1936 peat cutters found her wooden coffin, with the body well preserved by the peat. In 1941 soldiers or road builders exhumed her and the remains deteriorated. A fibreglass headstone was erected later, and her story has inspired songs and an album.

You will see her described as one of Orkney's famous ghost stories. In the sources I could check, no ghost, apparition or haunting is actually reported at the grave. This record is included as a recognised site of local lore, and no supernatural claim is made. Please treat the grave with respect. The pin is placed approximately along the Lyness to Rackwick road.

Evidence
Contemporary written record
Access
Open ground
Location
58.879, -3.249 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Wikipedia, "Betty Corrigall" [other]; Paul Grantham, "Betty Corrigall's grave - unconsecrated burials in Britain" [other]

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