Baldoon Castle, Dumfries and Galloway
Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran
Comlongon Castle, Dumfries
Dalmarnock Road Bridge, Glasgow
Dryburgh Abbey Country House Hotel, St Boswells
The Globe Inn, Dumfries
Jedburgh Castle Jail and Museum
The Last Drop Tavern, Edinburgh
Melrose Abbey
The Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow
The Royal Mile, Edinburgh
Spedlin’s Tower, Dumfries and Galloway
The Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Thirlestane Castle, Lauder
And so to the Lowlands and the gentler Scottish landscape – but there is nothing gentle in the history of this part of the country. From the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow and on to Edinburgh where the Devil is said to have walked, the paranormal investigator will be spoiled for choice as far as locations for a ghost hunt are concerned.
The most fascinating locations that I have investigated in this area of the country have been the extensive vaults which lie beneath the Old Town of Edinburgh. All manner of paranormal activity is to be experienced here – and don’t forget that it was in this place that the infamous body snatchers Burke and Hare plied their trade.
Baldoon Castle
Baldoon Castle in Bladnoch, not far from Wigtown, was built in the early sixteenth century. It was owned by the Dunbars of Westfield from 1530 to 1800, but is now a ruin.
In the mid-seventeenth century the castle was owned by Sir David Dunbar. His son and heir was also called David and it was arranged that he would marry Janet, the eldest daughter of Sir James Dalrymple, a local landowner. She was in love with Archibald, third Lord Rutherford, but as he was practically penniless, her parents persuaded her to marry David instead. They were married in the kirk of Old Luce, two miles from Carsecleugh Castle, the home of the Dalrymples.
On the wedding night, however, the servants were alarmed by hideous screaming coming from the bridal chamber. When they finally broke the door down they found the bridegroom lying across the threshold, badly wounded and covered in blood, and Janet, also covered in blood, cowering in a corner. She never recovered her senses and died insane a few weeks later, on 12 September 1669. Her husband survived, but would never talk about what had happened.
There are several theories as to what had taken place. Some people think Janet attacked her bridegroom, while others think that he attacked her and she stabbed him in self-defence. Another theory is that Archibald hid in the room, attacked David and then escaped through the window. According to local legend, the Devil himself did it.
David later married a daughter of the seventh Earl of Eglinton and died in 1682 after falling off his horse. Archibald never married and died in 1685. Sir Walter Scott used the story in his novel The Bride of Lammermuir.
Every year on the anniversary of her death Janet’s ghost wanders the ruins of the castle, still screaming and covered in blood.
Baldoon Castle, Bladnoch, Nr Wigtown, Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway
Brodick Castle
Brodick Castle stands at the foot of Goatfell mountain, two miles north of Brodick, the main port on the Isle of Arran. The name Brodick comes from the Norse for ‘broad bay’. The place on which the castle now stands may have been the site of a Viking fort. Parts of the castle date back to the thirteenth century, though most of the original castle, built by the Stewarts, was destroyed in 1406 by the English. The first Duke of Hamilton was executed by Oliver Cromwell in the mid-seventeenth century and Cromwell placed a garrison of 80 soldiers in the castle. They restored part of it and later, in the nineteenth century, it was extensively renovated.
The older part of the castle is said to be haunted by a Grey Lady. She is said to be the ghost of a Cromwellian servant girl. The captain of the guard had an affair with her and when she was found to be expecting his child, she was dismissed from service at the castle. Her family lived at Corrie, just a few miles from Brodick. When they heard of her plight they disowned their daughter. She drowned herself in the sea at the Wine Port, a red sandstone quay at the entrance to Brodick Castle. Her ghost haunts the lower corridor, kitchen and turnpike stairs which lead to the East Tower and battlements. She has been seen standing over staff scrubbing floors, as if in conversation with them, but the workers never see her.
Another ghost, that of a man, has appeared in the library, and it is said that a white hart is seen in the grounds of the castle whenever the clan chief of the Hamiltons is about to die.
Brodick Castle, Brodick, Isle of Arran KA27 8HY; Tel: (01770) 302202; Fax: (01770) 302312; Website: brodickcastle@nts.org.uk
The castle is open daily April–October. The gardens and country park are open daily all year round. There is a licensed restaurant and souvenir shop and the castle may be hired for weddings and other functions.
Comlongon Castle
Comlongon Castle dates back to the fifteenth century and stands in over 120 acres of gardens, parkland and woodland just a few minutes from the Scottish–English border. The original tower house is attached to a later mansion, which is now a privately run family hotel renowned as the perfect location for a wedding.
The castle itself dates from the fifteenth century and was built by the Murray family of Cockpool. The tower house is a well-preserved border fortress of pink dressed sandstone. Guests can take a candlelit tour of the medieval keep and Great Hall, which was used as a living and banqueting room. Unusually, the castle has retained its hinged iron gate, or yett, a defensive feature which was placed immediately behind the studded oak door. The borders were a wild place in the past, with endemic feuding, raiding and kidnapping, and in 1606 the Privy Council ordered the destruction of all the yetts there in an effort to bring peace to the area.
Another unusual feature of the castle is the mummified cats which were discovered during a recent excavation of the basement. It is thought that they were sealed up alive when the castle was built in order to protect it from evil spirits. They are now on display in the basement.
The ghost who haunts the castle is said to be Lady Marion Carruthers, who lived in the mid-sixteenth century. She was the daughter of Sir Simon Carruthers Baron of Mouswald Castle, four miles from Comlongon, and on his death she and her sister Janet inherited his estate. Two powerful local families, the Douglases of Drumlanrigh and the Maxwells of Caerlaverock Castle, hoped to get their hands on it, however, and Sir James Douglas had obtained Sir Simon’s consent to marry Marion. In order to stake his claim instead, Lord Maxwell took the castle by force and occupied it. The case was settled in James’s favour by the Privy Council in 1563, but Marion fled to her uncle, Sir William Murray, at Comlongon Castle and gave him half her dowry in an attempt to avoid the marriage. However, James sued for his ‘just inheritance’ and again won the case. At that point, on 25 September 1570, Lady Marion threw herself from the lookout tower of Comlongon Castle. Later it was rumoured that this was not suicide, as was first thought, but murder by some of James’s men, who had thrown her from the battlements so that their master would gain the estate without having to marry such a reluctant bride.
No grass would grow on the spot where Lady Marion fell and since then there have been many strange phenomena at the castle and the ghostly figure of a young lady has been seen wandering about in tears.
Comlongon Castle, Clarencefield, Dumfries DG1 4NA; Tel: (01387) 870283; Fax: (01387) 870266; E-mail: reception@comlongon.co.uk; Website: www.comlongon.co.uk
Dalmarnock Road Bridge
Dalmarnock Road Bridge is one of the eight bridges over the River Clyde in central Glasgow. It is the most easterly of the bridges and joins Dalmarnock on the north side of the river and Rutherglen on the south.
Originally there was a ford at Dalmarnock, then in 1821 a timber pay bridge was built. Another timber bridge replaced it in 1848. Dalmarnock had become a district of Glasgow in 1846. The present bridge was built in 1891 by the engineers Crouch and Hogg and was the first bridge over the Clyde to have a flat road surface. It comprises five elegant spans supported by concrete-filled wrought-iron cylinders. It was refurbished in 1997, but many of the original Gothic parapets were retained.
The bridge is haunted by the ghost of a man who committed suicide there. He has been seen by many reliable witnesses, who all describe the victim as a solid and normal-looking man about 30 years old with short hair, wearing a navy three-quarter length coat and black trousers. As he stands on the bridge, staring into the Clyde, people have mistaken him for a real person who is about to commit suicide. But then he jumps off the bridge and vanishes into thin air … until the next time he decides to give a fright to a passing motorist.
Dryburgh Abbey Country House Hotel
Dryburgh Abbey Country House Hotel is situated in 10 acres of grounds on the banks of the Tweed next to the atmospheric ruins of the twelfth-century Dryburgh Abbey. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century on the site of a previous house.
A woman living in the former house in the sixteenth century fell in love with a monk from the abbey – or some say it was a clergyman – and they started an affair. For a while they managed to keep it secret, but then the abbot learned of it and had the monk sentenced to death for breaking his vows. He was hanged in full view of the house. Grief-stricken, the woman threw herself over the bridge into the Tweed and drowned. Her ghost is said to appear on the bridge and sometimes in the hotel as well, especially when renovations are being carried out. She is known as the Grey Lady.
The abbey ruins are reputed to be haunted by many monks, and the sound of plainchant has been heard there on several occasions. The stairs, down which the monks stumbled in the early hours of the morning, survive in the south transept, and lead even today to the monks’ dormitory, where allegedly the footsteps of phantom monks can still be heard. Sir Walter Scott and Field Marshal Haig are buried at Dryburgh Abbey.
Dryburgh Abbey Country House Hotel, St Boswells, Melrose TD6 0RQ; Tel: (01835) 822261; Fax: (01835) 823945; E-mail: enquiries@dryburgh.co.uk; Website: www.dryburgh.co.uk
The Globe Inn
The Globe Inn in Dumfries was established in 1610 and is known for its association with Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland. The first Burns Supper was held there in 1819. Burns called the inn a place where he enjoyed ‘many a merry squeeze’, and some of these were with a barmaid, Anna Park. She gave birth to a daughter called Elizabeth, but died soon afterwards. Burns never denied that he was the father and he and his wife raised the child as their own. Burns’ favourite seat is still in the inn and the poetry that he etched on his bedroom windows with a diamond can still be seen.
Some say that Anna Park can still be seen too. The inn is definitely haunted by an eighteenth-century barmaid, though it is not certain that she is Anna. However, she is very friendly and appears whenever there are changes at the inn or when the bar is full of laughter. She has a sense of mischief and is said to move things around just for fun and to tug at people’s sleeves to get their attention.
There have also been sightings of a White Lady in the pub, especially at Burns Suppers.
In addition to the ghosts of Anna Park and the White Lady there have been other strange goings-on at the pub, including lights going on and off, the unexplained movement of objects, whispers, mysterious footsteps and people being pulled by an unseen force.
The Globe Inn,56 High Street, Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway DG1 2JA; Tel: (01387) 252335; Website: www.globeinndumfries.co.uk
Jedburgh Castle Jail and Museum
Jedburgh Castle Jail was built as a Howard reform prison in 1823 on the site of Jethart Castle, which was demolished in 1409 to keep it out of the hands of the English. It is the only one of its kind left in Scotland. Men, women and children were held there, but it was mainly used for debtors. It was notorious for its cruelty and terrible conditions and was finally closed in 1886 after larger prisons were built in Edinburgh and Glasgow and all the prisoners were transferred. The women’s and children’s cell blocks are now open to the public and part of the building has been converted into a museum of social history featuring exhibitions of nineteenth-century prison life.
Several visitors to the jail have felt that unseen people were there with them. Some have heard footsteps and cell doors banging and seen unusual lights. A team of paranormal investigators from the Glamorgan Paranormal Society investigated the property recently and recorded orbs of light, flashing lights, smoke, people whistling, doors creaking and the sound of something brushing against the cell walls. Most of them heard ghostly footsteps slowly walking along a corridor.
Jedburgh Castle Jail and Museum, Castlegate, Jedburgh TD8 6QD; Tel: (01835) 86254; Fax: (01835) 864750; E-mail: museums@scotborders.gov.uk; Website: www.scotborders.gov.uk/outabout/museums/3249. html.Open 21 March–31 October.
The Last Drop Tavern
The Last Drop Tavern is a traditional pub in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, where the city’s public hangings used to take place. The name refers both to the last hanging there, in the eighteenth century, and to the drop through which the prisoner fell. The place where the gallows stood, just opposite the pub, is now marked by a St Andrew’s Cross in rose-coloured cobblestones and a plaque with the inscription: ‘For the Protestant faith, on this spot many martyrs and covenanters died.’
Originally two tenement buildings stood on the site of the present-day pub, but they were demolished and rebuilt in 1929–30, using the original stone. The door-piece is dated 1634. The use of the old materials may explain the presence of the ghost who haunts the pub – a little girl in medieval clothing. She has often been seen in the cellar and the bar and likes to play tricks on the staff, calling their names when they are alone in the pub.
The Last Drop offers a fine selection of malt whisky as well as traditional food and drink. Rumour has it that the phrase ‘one for the road’ comes from tradition of giving condemned prisoners their last meal in a pub on the road to the gallows.
Inside this traditional pub, with its hidden corners, low ceiling and sinister theme, there is even a drink called the ‘Executioner Cocktail’, which is a potent mix of strong cider and strong ale and strictly for those with the strongest stomachs (and heads).
The Last Drop Tavern,74–78 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2JR; Tel:0131 225 4851
Melrose Abbey
Melrose Abbey was founded around 1136 by David I and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was a Cistercian abbey and became one of the richest in Scotland, with the largest flock of sheep of any of the religious houses in the country – about 15,000 by 1370. The wool was sold as far away as Italy. The abbey was also a centre of learning and politics. It was almost completely demolished by the English in 1385 but was subsequently rebuilt. In the following years, however, it was sacked four times and in 1545 the Earl of Hertford bombarded it with cannon. After that it never regained its previous glory. After the Reformation the monks were not allowed to recruit new members and the community died out in the early 1590s. From 1618 to the nineteenth century part of the nave was used as parish church, but the rest of the abbey was used as a source of building material for the town and cattle and sheep grazed among the ruins.
The heart of Robert the Bruce is buried in the abbey grounds in a leaden casket. He had sponsored the rebuilding of the abbey after an attack by the English in 1322. On 24 June 1998, the anniversary of Bruce’s victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314, the Scottish Secretary of State, Donald Dewar, unveiled a plinth over the place where the heart is now buried.
Melrose Abbey is said to be haunted by several ghosts, including a group of monks. Michael Scott, a man who is supposed to have practised the black arts, is said to haunt his own grave. A strange figure has also been seen sliding along the ground.
Melrose Abbey, Melrose TD6 9LG; Tel: (01896) 822562. Open daily.
DEREK’S TIP
Spirits cannot harm the living. There is nothing to be frightened of. As an experienced medium, when I allow a spirit entity to draw close to my aura I am channelling that person’s personality and emotions. I am not possessed. Some spirits may not enter the atmosphere if they sense that you are scared, as they will have no wish to frighten you.
The Pavilion Theatre
Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre of Varieties opened on 29 February 1904 and is still providing variety today. It seats 1,800 in grand style, with a domed ceiling, rococo plasterwork, Louis XV style decoration, mahogany woodwork and a marble mosaic floor.
All the most famous stars of the music hall played at the Pavilion and it is said that some are still there. The comedian Tommy Morgan was a big hit in the mid-twentieth century and when he died in 1961 his ashes were scattered on the roof of the theatre. His ghost is said to wander the upper floor and backstage areas.
A ghostly woman has also been sighted in one of the boxes in the auditorium and a phantom pianist occasionally plays on stage. There may also be a few spectral stagehands about, as most of the theatre staff have had the disconcerting experience of finding items of equipment moved around or even having them disappear from right under their noses!
The Pavilion Theatre, 121 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3AX; Tel: 0141 332 1846 (box office); Website: www.paviliontheatre.co.uk
The Royal Mile, Edinburgh
Edinburgh’s Royal Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle to the gates of Holyrood House and is one of the oldest parts of the city. Daniel Defoe called the it ‘Largest, Longest and Finest Street in the World’, though it actually consists of several connected streets: Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate and Abbey Street.
At one end of the Royal Mile the ancient Edinburgh Castle stands proudly on the site of a former volcano, while at the other end Scotland’s new parliament building is situated in front of the spectacular Holyrood Park and Salisbury Crags. In between there are numerous historic buildings of interest, including the Free Church of Scotland College and Assembly Halls and St Giles church. Holyrood House itself was built in the early sixteenth century by James IV and is now Queen Elizabeth II’s official residence in Scotland.
Legend has it that the Royal Mile is haunted by a death coach. The death coach, cóiste bodhar, coach-a-baur or hellwain appears in many traditions, especially those of Ireland and the Isle of Man. It may simply come to claim the souls of people who have just died, or it may race through towns and villages at dead of night, picking up unwary souls and carrying them away to hell.
In Edinburgh, the death coach travels along the Royal Mile from Holyrood House to the castle, drawn by a team of black horses. Some say they are headless, while others say they have flashing eyes and breathe fire. According to Edinburgh tradition, if the death coach is sighted, there will be a disaster in the city.
DEREK’S TIP
Don’t forget that residual energy does not exist only in the fabric of a building, but does so in the ground upon which that building has been erected. Therefore do not dismiss as rubbish a story of spirit activity with no relevance to the present building’s past. The spirits who visit may well belong to an earlier age and a previous construction.
Spedlin’s Tower
Spedlin’s Tower stands by the River Annan, four miles north-west of Lockerbie. It was built around 1500 and was a stronghold of the Jardines of Applegarth. In the nineteenth century they built a new mansion, Jardine Hall, nearby and the tower fell into decay. It was restored first in the 1960s and then again in 1988–9.
In the 1650s Sir Alexander Jardine imprisoned a miller, Dunty Porteus, for making bad bread, then left shortly afterwards for Edinburgh with the dungeon keys in his pocket. It was some months before anyone remembered the prisoner was there and in the meantime he had died of starvation. When he was found it was discovered that in a desperate attempt to reach the door he had literally torn his hands from the manacles which bound him to the wall – or had possibly even eaten them away. For years afterwards his ghost could be heard screaming with hunger and pain. Finally, in an effort to lay it to rest, the family had a Bible built into the wall of the dungeon. This gradually started to decay and in 1710 was sent to Edinburgh to be rebound. Immediately the screaming broke out again and a series of catastrophes befell the family. Once the Bible was put back into the dungeon, peace was restored.
Some say the ghost moved with the Jardine family to their new mansion in the nineteenth century. Others, however, have heard strange moans in the tower and felt that a mysterious presence was watching them. Some claim to have actually seen a tall white-haired apparition around the site of the dungeon. He looks distraught and has no hands.
According to local tradition, if you poke a stick into the dungeon of Spedlin’s Tower it will come back half-chewed.
Spedlin’s Tower, Templand, Dumfries and Galloway
The Theatre Royal, Glasgow
The Theatre Royal, Glasgow, first opened in 1867, but two fires swept the building and it had to close while restoration work was carried out. It reopened in September 1895 and since that time has presented a wide variety of drama, dance, comedy, opera and musical theatre. At one time it was used by Scottish Television to record The One O’Clock Gang and it is now home to the Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet companies and is also available for conferences, meetings and seminars.
The theatre is said to be haunted by at least two ghosts. One is Nora, a cleaner who aspired to be an actress but wasn’t taken seriously. In despair she threw herself off the upper circle. Now her ghost can be heard moaning and slamming doors.
The second ghost appears in the sub-basement. Tradition has it that he is a fireman who drowned there while on duty in the 1960s. He has also been seen in the orchestra pit.
The Theatre Royal,282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA; Tel:0141 240 1133 (box office); Website: www.theatreroyalglasgow.com.
There is a fully-licensed restaurant and café. Function rooms are available for corporate events.
Thirlestane Castle
Thirlestane Castle, at Lauder, in the Border hills, is one of the oldest castles in Scotland. It was originally a thirteenth-century defensive fort and was rebuilt by the Maitland family in the sixteenth century. At the time of the Civil War they supported King Charles I and the second Earl of Lauderdale was imprisoned for nine years in the Tower of London as a result. On the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, he became Secretary of State for Scotland and effectively ruled Scotland as a member of King Charles II’s Cabal Cabinet (the ‘l’of ‘cabal’ stood for Lauderdale). His ghost is said to haunt the castle and grounds.
Recently it has also been claimed that there is a haunted corridor in the castle. It is said that people who walk down it never return.
Thirlestane Castle, Lauder, Berwickshire TD2 6RU; Tel: (01578) 722430; Fax: (01578) 722761; E-mail: admin@thirlestanecastle.co.uk; Website: www.thirlestanecastle.co.uk.Open Easter–October.
The castle is situated just off the A68 going into Lauder. There is a tea room, gift shop, picnic area and children’s adventure playground and several woodland walks.