26 July 2007

Thirteen Haunted Scottish Castles


1. Borthwick Castle, Lothian - an apparition of Mary Queen of Scots, dressed as a page boy, is said to appear; she escaped from Bortwick Castle in 1567 in a similar disguise.
2. Braemar Castle - said to be haunted by a blonde haired, pretty girl, possibly a newly married bride who committed suicide because she thought her husband had abandoned her. (A sighting of her was reported in 1987). The spirit of John Farquharson of Inverey is also around - he is known as the "Black Colonel".
3. Castle Fraser - a young woman who was murdered in the castle in the 19th century and dragged down the stairs before being buried. Her blood on the stairs could not be removed.
4. Cawdor Castle, Invernesshire - the ghost of a lady in a blue velvet dress has been sighted and so has John Campbell, 1st Lord Cawdor.
5. Corgarff Castle - ghostly screams have been heard in the castle, but nobody has hazarded a guess at who, or what, is making them.
6. Craigievar Castle - the ghost here is of one of the Gordon family who was murdered by being pushed out of one of the windows of the castle.
7. Culzean Castle, Ayrshire - a ghostly piper is heard when a Kennedy is getting married (the castle used to be a Kennedy stronghold). Another ghost seen here include a young woman dressed in a ball gown.
8. Edinburgh Castle - needless to say many ghosts have been reported here, including a headless drummer (seen in 1960), a ghostly piper and one of the dogs buried in the pet's cemetery in the castle.
9. Eilean Donan Castle, Wester Ross - A Spanish soldier, killed in the castle or in a nearby battle is said to haunt the castle. And one of the bedrooms is haunted by a Lady Mary.
10. Kellie Castle - The spirit of Anne Erskine who fell from one of the upstairs windows is said to haunt a spiral staircase in the castle.
11. Skibo Castle - although the present castle was built as recently as the 19th century, it is on the site of much earlier buildings. A ghost of a young girl used to haunt old castle. Bones were later found in the castle walls and once they had been buried, the hauntings were never seen again.
12. Stirling Castle - Mary Queen of Scots appears here again - in the guise of the "Pink Lady". There is also a "Green Lady" who appears as an omen of bad news (green is an unlucky colour in Celtic mythology).
13. Glamis Catle - Haunted by a Grey Lady, said to be the ghost of Lady Janet Douglas; also a woman with no tongue; a young boy; and Earl Beardie.

http://www.rampantscotland.com/features/mythology.htm



Happy Thursday 13!

17 comments:

Special K ~Toni said...

What a great list! I would love to visit just one of those! Happy T13!

Air Force Wife

Crux said...

I'm with Special K Toni: I'd love to visit just one of those castles.

Carolan Ivey said...

I've been to four: Edinburgh, Stirling, Cawdor, and Culzean. Didn't see any ghosts, but they were all spectacular just the same! :)

Joely Sue Burkhart said...

Oh, I love castles. Thanks for sharing!

Sandee said...

Wow, I was spellbound here. Scary but exciting at the same time. What a great post. Have a great TT. :)

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to visit an authentic castle and particularly one with a story of some sort. I always think there must be SOMETHING to the stories...or they wouldn't survive....

Janet said...

I've visited Edinburgh and Stirling castles...just gorgeous!

Tom Critchlow said...

Nice roundup of castles :-)

I love reading about all that kind of stuff - gives the place a special 'feel'

One question - could you possibly update the first link to the official Borthwick Castle site? You can find it here: www.borthwickcastle.com - they have a page on why it's haunted and they give some background on the history :-)

Carolan Ivey said...

Thanks for the link, Tom!

MsSnarkyPants said...

Ohhh I adore ghost stories. I think ghostly screams would probably do me in! I should really learn more about Scotland some of my people hail from there.

N.J.Walters said...

I'd love to visit some of these castles. Fascinating post.

Anonymous said...

Great TT! I would love to do a tour of the castles if I ever make it out of the US. I'm planning several trips for when my kids are older and out of the house.

Anonymous said...

I lived in Dalwhinnie for a year, loved it.

The little bottom in your sidebar needs a tweak!

Carolan Ivey said...

Hi Misslionheart! It's one of my dreams to live in Scotland, maybe not forever, but for at least a year or two.

Lisa Andel said...

Too cool. I love haunted castles. And you got to visit some. How great is that?

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a great tour that would make! Wonder how long it would take to see them all without rushing the trip?

Carolan Ivey said...

Hi Ember! Welcome back. :)

Depending on the castle, I'd say you'd want to spend at least 2 days at each one. Some would require more! Edinburgh Castle is HUGE - I could easily spend a week there.