Scottish Ghosts (Waverley Scottish Classics)

Product Information

The present structure is an eclectic mix of buildings that cluster around a largely complete 15th century fortified tower house that remembers days of bloodshed and warfare. Wherever people die in large numbers, you’re bound to find a ghost story or two. Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh is no exception. [6] The partially walled-up, claustrophobic alley area below the City Chambers used to be a place where the city’s poor lived and, when the bubonic plague arrived in the 17th century, died. As the city grew, the upper levels of the Close were eventually demolished, leaving only the creepy, narrow basement levels that you can still visit today. Mysterious rooms and dark recesses are set into the tower’s east wall and here a veritable cornucopia of phantoms and presences are known to lurk.

Since his cargoes consisted largely of tea and alcohol, for some reason a clause was inserted into the lease that forbade the house to sell either alcohol or tea. However, while she was still dangling from the window, the Earl drew out his sword and slashed off his daughter’s hands.Edward’s army then swept northwards, inflicting a crushing defeat on Balliol’s army at the battle of Dunbar and capturing the ancient coronation stone, the Stone of Destiny, which was taken from Scone to Westminster Abbey. You’d expect a place with such a bloody and dramatic history to have more than its share of ghosts, and Culloden doesn’t disappoint. [10] Paranormal investigators have reported mysterious cold spots in places where Jacobites fell in large numbers. It is said that a Culloden drinking well called St. Mary’s Well is so haunted that its water is screaming with the voices of the restless dead. Whether Spynie Palace suffered damage at this time is not known, but Alexander Stewart - known to history as the ‘Wolf of Badenoch’ - was later appointed keeper of the Palace by King Robert 111, following the death of the then Bishop in 1397.

But they too refused to remain underwater because of the huge eels that attempted to foul their airlines and wrap themselves around them. They are said to have warned the husband that they had never seen such terrifying creatures and that to dive amongst them was suicide! The dazzling white walls of Traquair House rise majestically from the rolling countryside that surrounds it and to cross its threshold is to find yourself wandering through passages and corridors where time stands still.Although owned by the National Trust for Scotland it possesses the intimate feel of a family home, due largely to the fact that for over three hundred years, from its construction in the mid 17th century to its handing over to the Trust in 1945, it was owned and lived in by successive generations of just one family, the Leiths.

People who live in the stunningly beautiful Glencoe (aka Glen Coe) area generally agree that the spirits of the victims are still lingering, unable to move on because of their unexpected and violent demise. Winter is said to be the best time to glimpse spectral MacDonalds, particularly near the massacre’s anniversary, February 13. Some have reported ghostly figures crouching in the hills, still desperately trying to hide from the soldiers. Others say that they’ve heard the screams and wailing of the MacDonalds being killed all over again. Others still claim that they’ve actually seen the massacre reenacted in ghostly form. Visitors of Dryburgh Abbey Hotel have reported witnessing the woman journeying through the hotel and its grounds, and she has come to be known as “The Grey Lady”.Under Alexander’s rule the Scots had enjoyed twenty years of peace, both at home and abroad, and were basking in a period of prosperity buoyed up by a thriving export trade. Two years later, the Privy Council in Edinburgh issued letters of "Fire and Sword" against the murderers. Another member of the Keppoch family, Ian Lom (Bald John), with the help of the MacDonalds of Sleat sought "ample and summary vengeance" for the murders by killing and decapitating the seven murderers. With over three decades of experience in the paranormal between them, they are keen to share their passion with others at these popular night time events.