The Hairy Hand of the Ardler Multis

Dundee, Scotland 1970s

“The legend was that there was a hand that travelled up and down the Ardler multi stairways looking for victims and it terrified the younglings who lived in the multis” - Dundee Culture

There’s barely anything written about this tale, it spread rumour-style from mouth to mouth in the 1970s and struck fear into a lot of people.. which I think is how all great folklore comes about.

Dundee is famous for the rise (hehe) of the ‘multies’, multistorey buildings built to house a lot of people, and have been a staple in Dundee culture over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries. The majority of Dundee's multis were constructed in the 1960s and 70s, during a time when society saw overcrowded tenants and poor housing conditions and offered high-rise living as a solution.

The Ardler multis were a complex of six 17-storey tower blocks built between 1964 and 1967 and held a whopping 1,788 flats. Unfortunately, they were demolished between 1995 and 2007… but why am I telling you the history of affordable high-rise living in Dundee?

Because something terrible lurked in the Ardler multis… Something evil… something hairy. Many residents of Dundee, and those who lived in the Ardler multis, recall tales of a disembodied hairy hand that would crawl up and down the hallways of the Ardler multis waiting for its next victim to approach. People claimed to have seen the hand through the windows of the high-rise complexes. The hairy hand traumatised a whole generation of children.

There's been a few reminiscent posts made on social media, the very place that folklore would come about if we recorded it in modern day… Retelling a ghost story in a cold, dreary tavern on a Friday evening in 1643 is no different to someone posting what they’ve experienced on Facebook today.

Dundee Culture posted about the Hairy Hand on their Facebook account, which prompted numerous responses of people remembering that this terrifying tale did exist back in the 1970s.

Some replies said:

“I remember this, couldnt say what year exactly but definitely mid to late 70's, it was the multi up from Ardler Primary. In hind sight it may have been some Pampas grass in a vase at a window but the whole of Ardler and the Fergies were convinced that day it was a giant hand.” - Alan Kelly
“I remember the legend well. I was at Macalpine in the 70's and seemingly some of my class mates even saw it....” - Marcus Kelly
“Ah The Hairy Hand ! True story that. I often wonder where it went after the multis were flattened.” - Bob Lowden

If you resided in Dundee during this time, do you remember stories of the Hairy Hand of the Ardler Multis?