The Grey Lady and the White Hart

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Scotland is justifiably famous for its castles and countryside. It is also fabulously haunted with a wealth of apparitions – both friends and decidedly unfriendly.

Situated off the coast, in the Western Isles of Scotland lies the Isle of Arran where Brodick Castle has stood since Viking times. The present structure is newer, dating from the fourteenth century. Oliver Cromwell garrisoned his New Model Army here in 1648 during the Civil War. He killed the first Duke and the second Duke died in battle three years later.

The castle takes its name from the village of Brodick nearby and from Brodick Bay, (situated below Goat Fell) on which the castle sits. The castle was a former residence of the Dukes of Hamilton. They earned the title Duke of Arran when it was bestowed in them by James IV of Scotland who also gave them the castle in 1503. It probably did not hurt that the then Duke of Hamilton was James IV’s cousin.

In 1844, the castle was doubled in size by major alterations ordered by the 10^th Duke and his wife, Princess Marie of Baden. Finally, in 1957 its then owner, Mary Duchess of Montrose bequeathed it to the National Trust for Scotland following her death.

As for the ghosts - they are varied, but a Grey Lady, said to date from Cromwellian times, wanders the corridors. She is believed to have been a servant who fell in love with the captain of the Guard and became pregnant. As a result she was instantly dismissed from service. She turned to her family for help, but found no solace there. They disowned her. Abandoned by her lover, shunned by her family, penniless, homeless and alone, she drowned herself in the Wine Port Quay, by the entrance to the castle.

Now she walks the servants’ areas – kitchen, lower corridor and also the turnpike stairs which lead to the East Tower and the battlements, no doubt still hoping to reconcile with her faithless lover. Visitors have reported seeing her apparently shadowing staff working at the castle. She seems to be trying to talk to them but the staff affected are completely unaware of her presence.

There is another version of the Grey Lady story that states she was locked in the dungeons with two other women and left to die of starvation because all three were plague victims.

A male ghost of unknown identity appears to haunt the library. He wears a green jacket and sits quietly reading. Another man is sometimes seen in the long corridor. He is evidently shy as he disappears as soon as he is spotted.

There are conflicting legends surrounding the White Hart. One states that it only appears in the grounds of the castle when the Clan Chef of the Hamiltons is about to die. In total contrast, there is another tradition that states great good fortune will come to those who see it. Whichever is correct (and let's hope it is the latter), you can see a beautiful sculpture commemorating the mythical creature as this has been added to the extensive gardens. Created by artist Sally Matthews, it is lifesize and crafted out of local whitebeam and bracken.

Today, the castle has been extensively restored and you can visit it. Click here for details. With so many ghosts in residence, it looks like you are never really alone at Brodick Castle.

The Ghosts of Glamis - with Shehanne Moore

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One of my favourite fellow Etopia Press stablemates is Scottish Historical Fiction writer, Shehanne Moore, who shares my love of dark history, creepy castles and scary palaces. She's also partial to wild, untamed countryside, mountains and ... ghosts. 

She is my guest today, so join us as Shehanne explores a castle with major royal connections and enough dramatic history to stimulate even the most jaded palate.

 

This Castle Has a Pleasant Air

The Old Steeple

You know, with the exception of Berwick-On-Tweed, few Scottish cities fell to the English as often as my hometown, Dundee. General Monk razed it to the ground during the English Civil War, after the townspeople holed up against him for days, demanding his surrender, with typical Dundee chutzpah. You’d really think that given the terrible battle that was fought when man, woman and child, finally retreated to the Old Steeple, where they were massacred, a ghost or two would have the decency to waft itself about for the benefit of the tourists. Especially when any road or building works in the vicinity, still turns up skeletons. That I wouldn’t have to trail all the way up the road to Glamis to find a few spectres. But I suppose it’s worth the trek, since it boasts so many you can more or less take your pick.

Lady Mary Bowes

Glamis is the historic seat of the Bowes-Lyon family, ancestors of the Queen. The Unhappy Countess, Mary Bowes, whose fortune helped restore it, an 18^th century heiress upon whom Thackeray based his book, Barry Lyndon, and who was rescued by her servants, in a sensational divorce and kidnap case that shook society, surprisingly isn’t one of them. 

Neither is King Duncan, nor Macbeth, although it is interesting Shakespeare chose that venue for Macbeth-a play of witchcraft and dark forces- to murder Duncan in.

Glamis is obviously very choosy. So, what ghosts can we expect, as we walk through its foreboding doors into its chilly halls?  (Making us sound a bit like ghosts there.)

Well, the beautiful Lady Douglas, the Grey Lady of Glamis haunts the chapel.

Lady Douglas

Lady or not, she was burnt at the stake as a witch in 1537. The charges were fabricated and her young son made to watch. There’s also a young woman with no tongue, who haunts the grounds. Then there’s the little black page boy who allegedly froze to death on the step. Best of all, there’s Earl Beardie.

Earl Beardie got in a bit of a tiff with Lord Glamis over a card game, on the Sabbath, a shocking thing. Then he got thrown down the stairs. This didn’t deter him, from coming back up them again shouting, that if no-one would play with him, he would play with the devil himself. Guess what? That’s what he’s been doing since. In Glamis. 

Oh, yes there are some rooms you do not venture into.

Talking of which one there’s that little business of the extra window on the outside of Glamis. The locked room. The monster of Glamis. The mystery of mysteries.  “—an enigma that involved a hidden room, a secret passage, solemn initiations, scandal, and shadowy figures glimpsed by night on castle battlements, and two generations of high society.”

No. I can’t tell you it. because I don’t know it, whether the ‘monster’ was the rightful heir or not.

What I can say it that when it comes to haunted Scotland, you won’t get better goosebumps than in Glamis Castle.

 

You can connect with Shehanne here:

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I loved Shehanne's latest novel, His Judas Bride. Here's some information to whet your appetite:

To love, honor, and betray…

To get back her son, she will stop at nothing…

For five years Kara McGurkie has preferred to forget she’s a woman. So it’s no problem for her to swear to love and honor, to help destroy a clan, when it means getting back the son she lost. But when dire circumstances force her to seduce her fiancé’s brother on the eve of the wedding, will the dark secrets she holds and her greatest desire be enough to save her from his powerful allure?

To save his people, neither will he…

Callm McDunnagh, the Black Wolf of Lochalpin, ruthlessly guards heart and glen from dangerous intruders. But from the moment he first sees Kara he knows he must possess her, even though surrendering to his passion may prove the most dangerous risk of all.

She has nothing left to fear except love itself…

Now only Kara can decide what passion can save or destroy, and who will finally learn the truth of the words… Till death do us part.

Buy His Judas Bride here:

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