Skaill House was built in 1620 by Bishop George Graham, and its south wing sits partly over a burial ground thought to be Pictish. The house is Category A listed and is now open to visitors.
The legend of Ubby says he spent his days rowing to one spot in Skaill Loch and tipping stones overboard until they broke the surface as an island. He is said to have died on it. Ghost writers link his presence to the house through footsteps and the odd feeling of being touched.
The one named witness in the sources is Major Malcolm Macrae, who became Laird of Breckness in 1991. He reported hearing footsteps in the courtyard corridors at night, and his dog growled and barked before running off. Only afterwards, on hearing the Ubby story, did he connect the two. That order of events is worth noting: the experience came before the explanation.
This is a modern ghost story attached to an older local tale. No older source for Ubby has been found, so treat the island-building part as local tradition and the footsteps as a single named report.
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