Patrick Hamilton, the ghost of St Andrews University
Patrick Hamilton was a 16th century student and teacher at St Andrews University whose spirit, it is claimed, still maintains power over the institution to this day.
As a protestant reformer, Hamilton was charged with heresy and endured a particularly excruciating death. His sentence was carried out on a cold winter’s day in February 1528.
He was burned at the stake outside the front entrance to St Salvator’s Chapel - but it wasn’t as quick as the accused would have hoped.
The 21-year-old burned from noon till 6pm as his executioners struggled to get the fires going.
At one point, gunpowder was placed under Hamilton’s arms, causing severe injury to his hands and face, but still the flames refused to rise.
Hamilton’s final words before he perished were “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. He is regarded as Scotland’s first martyr of the reformation.
A scorched likeness of his face is said to have been burned into the stone of the tower he was facing while being burned alive. Visitors are told to look up at his ghostly image..
Patrick Hamilton’s initials mark the spot where he was executed. Students at the university are warned not to step on the monogram for fear that curse will be placed on them and they will fail their exams. Students must partake in the annual May dip, which involves running into the North Sea at 5am, in order to wash away the bad omens. Another way is to strip naked and run - backwards - three times around St Salvator’s quad between classes.
Some students say they have experienced the sound of crackling and the smell of burning flesh near Hamilton’s execution site.