Haunted castles to visit.. in Scotland!

[UM-Bot]

Image credit: Ville Miettinen

Patrick Bernauw: Glamis Castle: The most famous haunted castle of Spooky Scotland is propably Glamis Castle. Since 1372, the castle has been the family home of the Earls of Strathmore. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was the youngest daughter of the 14th Earl, and princess Margaret was born there (1930). The castle has a gruesome history: in the 11the century, king Malcolm III was murdered here... and so was king Duncan in Shakespeare's cursed play Macbeth. In the 16th century, the widow of a Lord of Glamis, lady Janet Douglas, was burned at the stake as a witch, because she attempted to kill King James V. Count Beardie is playing cards with Satan in a locked room, where once some unknown but terrible secret was hidden. This could have something to do with the monstrous creature that was born around 1816 in Glamis and lived there for more than a hundred years... The Creature is also still hauntingGlamis, but don't let him spoil your meal in the Victorian Kitchen Restaurant, that recently received a Silver Award from Eat Scotland!

Mylady Greensleeves of Huntingtower Castle
Huntingtower Castle, near Perth, was owned by the Earls of Gowrie. In 1582, the Earl got involved in a plot to kidnap King James VI and was executed. The castle was forfeit to the Crown, togetherwith the ghost of the Green Lady Dorothea Ruthven. She was also known as Mylady Greensleeves, because of the well known and centuries old love song Greensleeves, that ends with this line: "Come once again and love me..." - If you are ill, the ghost ofMylady Greensleeves will cure you. And if love hurts real bad, she will comfort you.

A Living Legend: The Black Colonel of Braemar Castle
In 1689, John Grahame of Claverhouse attempted to re-establish the Stuart monarchy against that of the Dutch King William. The coup wasn't very successful and resulted in the occupation of Braemar Castle by government troops. But John Farquharson of Inverey, also known as the Black Colonel, managed to escape, returned to the castle, attacked the garrison and burned down the building. Now, old heroes never die... and the Black Colonel sure became a true living legend, since he was reported somewhere in the 1970's to watchtv together with the owner of the castle. Braemar Castle is also haunted by a pretty blond haired girl, a young bride who committed suicide when her husband abandoned her.

Borthwick Castle's Red Room
Borthwick Castle's Red Room spooked so many visitors that in the 1980's an Edinburgh priest was called by the owners to exorcise the lingering spirits of, among many others, Maria Stuart. The famous Queen of Scots was frequently seen wandering the stony spiral staircases of the castle where she once sought a refuge and she also walked through the walls of the Red Room where she once had slept. Mary was disguised as a boy... or she had the crew cut of a woman who was soon to be beheaded. A young servant girlreturned frequently to the Red Room where she was put to the sword. The girl bore an illegitimate Borthwick son and had to be killed together with her baby, because of potential threats to the title. A Borthwick chancellor used the niches of the Red Room for his safes. When the Borthwicks discovered he was embezzling money from them, they burned him to death.

The Culloden Ghosts
April 16, 1746... The Battle of Culloden is the final clash between the Jacobites - most of them Highland Scots - and the British. The Jacobites supported the claim of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" to the throne. The so-called "Young Pretender" was defeated, left Britain and went to Rome. Theaftermath of the battle was very brutal and the civil penalties also were severe: the Highlanders' clan system was attacked by new laws, and the highland dress was forbidden.

There still are many ghosts at Culloden Moor: anniversary ghosts, for example, who return on the 16 April and make themselves heard by their battle cries or the clash of steel on steel. Bonnie Prince Charlie is still grieving his defeat at nearbyCulloden House. There doesn't grow any heather over the graves of the Jacobites and there are no birds singing at the battlefield since, on the eve of the battle, a huge black bird was seen and heard by the Jacobite Commander Lord George Murray. This Great Scree ofCulloden Moor is reported to bring bad luck. And then there is this tall Highlander ghost with a drawn weary face, who - when you meet him - will quietly whisper: "Defeated..."

The Drummer of Cortachy Castle
The Count of Ogilvy stuffed a drummer boy into his own drum and threw him from the highest turret of Cortachy Castle, because the boy could be having an affair with his wife, the Countess of Airlie. Just before he died, the drummer boy placed a curse on the Ogilvy Clan: from that moment of, the mysterious and haunting sounds of a drum would be heard, prior to adeath in the family.

Christmas, 1844... Miss Dalrymple is a guest at Cortachy Castle. While dressing for dinner, she hears the drumming. Six months later, Lady Airlie commits suicide. Five years later, an Englisman hears the drumming as well. Lord Ogilvy isn't at home, because he had to attend the 9th Eearl of Airlie, who had become very ill... The Earl passes away the next day...

The Phantom Piper of Culzean Castle
On stormy nights a ghostly bagpipe can be heard near Culzean Castle. The Phantom Piper likes to blend his haunting music with the wind and the waves that are shattered on the cliffs. Some say it is the spirit of a piper who vanished while he was exploring the caves below the castle. Listen here to some Meditative Music for Zombies.

Bad Lord Soulis in Hermitage Castle
Bad Lord Soulis was a black magic practitioner. Together with his assistant Robin Redcap, he was responsible for the disappearance of many children. According to Robin Redcap, Bad Lord Soulis could not be harmed by forged steel or bound by rope. Nevertheless, when the peasants rebelled against him, they took him up to a stone circle on a nearby hill, wrapped him in lead and boiled him in a cauldron. Robin Redcap still guards the treasures of Bad Lord Soulis somewhere in or around Hermitage Castle, where the cries of his victims still can be heard. Visitors are complaining also of being pushed by unseen forces while near a pool by the chapel...

Original article with more photographs and videos.
Copyright by Patrick Bernauw, The Lost Dutchman Historical Mysteries / A Haunted World.

[HollyDolly]

Thanks Patrick for the rundown on those Scottish Castles. I had read some of these stories before.And Even have on tape a show on some of these places.

It's called Castle Ghosts of Englad, Ireland and Scotland, taped it several years ago.

In regard to Glamis Castle, when someone asked the Earl of Strathmore about the secret of Glamis, he replied That you should thank God

that you do not know it, or words to that effect. Also, one day some guests in trying to ferret out the secret, went around hanging sheets or towels from the windows and started counting them. It is said they discovered a couple of windows with nothing hanging from them. It's said the Earl got angry with them

for doing so. The castle also has the ghost of a young black page or servant, and a lady who is sometimes seen running, with blood dripping from her mouth, like her tongue was cut out. It's said that one of the servants one day may have discovered the secret room, or the horror within, and

her tongue was cut out so she couldn't tell anyone.

The Piper of Culzean I heard was a piper who worked for one of the clans.He got a job there.Well,one night, he piped a tune to the clan he worked for, as a warning I believe.Anyhow, the folks at Culzean killed the piper.

[Still Waters]

Image credit: Ville Miettinen

Patrick Bernauw

The Culloden Ghosts

April 16, 1746... The Battle of Culloden is the final clash between the Jacobites - most of them Highland Scots - and the British. The Jacobites supported the claim of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" to the throne. The so-called "Young Pretender" was defeated, left Britain and went to Rome. Theaftermath of the battle was very brutal and the civil penalties also were severe: the Highlanders' clan system was attacked by new laws, and the highland dress was forbidden.

There still are many ghosts at Culloden Moor: anniversary ghosts, for example, who return on the 16 April and make themselves heard by their battle cries or the clash of steel on steel. Bonnie Prince Charlie is still grieving his defeat at nearbyCulloden House. There doesn't grow any heather over the graves of the Jacobites and there are no birds singing at the battlefield since, on the eve of the battle, a huge black bird was seen and heard by the Jacobite Commander Lord George Murray. This Great Scree ofCulloden Moor is reported to bring bad luck. And then there is this tall Highlander ghost with a drawn weary face, who - when you meet him - will quietly whisper: "Defeated..."

I've been to Culloden Moor and have walked round the battle fields. The National Trust for Scotland have spoilt it a bit though, as it used to be all woodland which to my mind gave it more atmosphere, but for many years now the woodland has been cut down and now it's all open ground....still a very interesting place to visit though

http://www.nts.org.uk/Culloden/PPF/CullodenToday/

[Still Waters]

I'm too late to edit my post.... I meant to say the woodland was cut down to restore Culloden Moor back to it's original state. The way it would have looked at the time the battle took place.

[lismore]

I used to work in a haunted Scottish Library!