Lower Largo

On The Fife coast sits the pretty village of Lower Largo. The village was the Birthplace of Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration behind the story of Robinson Crusoe and a sign in the village points to the Juan Fernandez Islands, some 7,500 miles away where Selkirk was a castaway. The history of the area goes back much much further though to a time before Scotland as we know even existed.

Outside the village sits Largo Law and around a mile to the North, Norrie’s Law, ancient burial mounds that indicate the great antiquity of the occupation of this area.

It was common among the children of the village to play a game that had a connection to Norrie’s Law. One child would stand before the others and recite a verse; “I’ll tell you a story, Aboot Tammie o Norrie, If ye dinna speak in the middle o’ it, Will ye no?” The object of the game was to lure another child into saving “No” at which point all the others would shout, “The spell is broken, ye hae spoken, Yell never hear the story o’ lang Tarn o Norrie.” Like so many other children games this has a story behind it – a story of the ghost of Norrie’s Law.

In a time long past Largo Law was reputed to be haunted by an earthbound spirit; a ghost sentenced to wander the earth until a spell was broken to release it. To break the spell the ghost had to give up his secret; the hiding place of a hoard of treasure, buried somewhere on Largo Law.

On the nearby farm of Balmain there was a fairly unscrupulous shepherd. Having heard the story he had spent many nights wandering the area around the Law in hope of discovering the treasure. Finally one evening as he walked around the Northern shoulder of the hill he was confronted by a shimmering cloud of smoke. Many others had met this apparition but all had fled in terror. Taken aback at first he gathered all his courage to approached it and asked what it was that kept it bound to this realm. The ghost fixed him with a stare and said:”If Auchendowie cock disnae craw, An the herd o Balmain disnae blaw, I’ll tell ye whar the gold is on Largo Law.” The ghost then quickly ran through the small print of his offer which also included the cut off time of 8 o’clock the following evening.

The shepherd was only concerned about getting his hand on the treasure and cared little of who he had to inconvenience to achieve his ends. He thought of the first part of the ghosts request and scurried off the Auchedowie farm. The next morning the farmer and his wife slept in, never awoken by the crowing of the cockerel. When they went off to investigate they found the cockerel strangled and tossed into a heap of straw by the barn. Phase one complete.

Now for the Herdsman of Balmain. The herdsman was called Tammie O’ Norrie and it was safe to say there was little love lost between him and the shepherd. As Tammie set off to take his cows to pasture the shepherd was waiting. He blocked his path and shouted to Tammie ‘Hey you, Tammie O Norrie, I want a word wae ye”. As Tammie approached the shepherd let his coat slip open to reveal a long knife tucked into his belt. “You had better no blaw yer horn to summon in yon cows the nicht or it will be the worse fur ye”. Tammie was confused; “How no! How will I caw the cows in with nae horn?” The shepherd gripped the handle of his knife; “Ye can use the dugs to round them up – now mind what a said or it will be the worse for ye”. At that he glowered at the herdsman and furtively took off.

Part of the Silver Hoard

With all the plans in place the shepherd made his way back to the north slope of the hill, just before 8:00 the spectre appeared again. As the shepherd approached the ghost the sound of Tam’s horn was heard in the distance. The ghost flew into a rage; “Woe to the man that blew that horn, For out of that spot he shall never be borne.” At that he vanished. The shepherd ran for all he was worth, determined to have it out with the herdsman but when he reached the spot he was met with an awful sight. There in the field stood Tam O Norrie, the horn horn still pressed to his lips but he had turned to stone – petrified literally by the wandering spirit.

The shepherd told no one of his involvement in the events and when the local people discovered what had befell Tam they tried to move him – but some sinister force prevented all attempts, finally they gave up and heaped the earth around him creating another small hill; this came to be known as ‘Norries Law’.

The shepherd never got his prize but many years later a hoard of silver (not gold) was unearthed nearby. It is one of the best silver hoards to be discovered in Scotland. a variation in this tale had been that the law was the burial sight of a viking called Norroway who had been buried on his horse in full armour. However investigation of the find discovered that the pieces were of Pictish rather than Norse origin. Sadly some of the hoard never made it to the protection of the museum, some coins and other pieces were reputed to have been sold off and melted down – we may never know just how extensive this treasure find really was.

‘Will we no’.

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One of the most famous of these, and one that gets the crowds going is a walk through Greyfriers Graveyard. Best done as the light has disappeared to get the full effect, in this dark kirkyard it’s not difficult to feel spooked, large faceless angels surround you, skull and cross bones and eerie mausoleums with the tales that someone on the previous tour collapsed through fear. It’s not all about loyal dogs now.

The kirkyard is also the home of plague pits where the bodies of thousands of victims of the Black Death were buried in mass graves.  Also on the grounds is the Covenanter prison, people that died here were buried in the kirkyard; some escaped, some executed.  In the prison they would wait in terrible conditions for many months awaiting trial. Conditions were so inhumane that this prison is often described as the world’s first concentration camp.  There was no shelter and the only food they were allowed was a daily ration of 4oz of bread.

Covenanters Prison

It is no wonder that Greyfriers has the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in Scotland.  Here the dead do not rest.

The highlight of a ghost tour around Greyfriers graveyard comes when you approach an impressive forboding mausoleum.  This is the final resting place of Sir George MacKenzie, chief persecutor and prison guard of the Covenanters.

The Black Mausoleum of Sir George Mackenzie

Sir George Mackenzie

MacKenzie was an infamous, brutal man with the nickname ‘Bluidy MacKenzie’. He was made advocate in August 1677 by King Charles II. From here MacKenzie organised an enthusiastic and bloody prosecution of Covenanters in retaliation for their refusal to replace Scotland’s Presbyterian Church with the Episcopalian Church that had come to dominate England to the south.

In 1679 the Covenanter were defeated at the Battle of Bothwell bridge, 3,000 of them were captured. These men were brought to Greyfriers. Some were beheaded, some hanged, decapitated heads rotted on walls around the city. It was a time of public torture. By just mid November of the same year 1,200 prisoners had died from starvations or exposure. The survivors were packed onto a boat bound for Australia.

MacKenzie is said to have been responsible for around 18,000 death of Covenanters (his fellow countrymen) during a reign of terror known as ‘The Killing Times’.  Now his mausoleum is said to be the point of the ‘the world’s most recorded poltergeist activitiy’.

A chain and padlock holds the door to his mausoleum shut.  An attempt to keep out the living, rather than keep in the dead.  In 1998 a homeless man looking for shelter came across the Black Mausoleum and took refuge inside, at this time it was just a simple lock on the door.  This break in is said to have woken the evil Bluidy MacKenzie from his slumber.

Inside were coffins of Mackenzie’s  relatives, the homeless man opened one out of morbid curiosity.  Suddenly beneath him the floor gave way and he fell down into a pit.  Many bodies were contained here, they had filled the pit with plague bodies – basically they had so many that bodies were stuffed into anywhere they could find for quick disposal.  Despite their age, the sealing up of these bodies had meant they were still in a state of decomposition.  This scene could have come straight from a horror film, imagine the man’s terror as he tried to claw his way out of the pit, grasping body parts on his way.

From this point people started getting hurt.  It was only a few days later that a woman looking into the mausoleum was  blasted by a cold force.  Then soon after another woman was found unconscious next to the mausoleum, her neck covered in bruises.

Locks can not keep the undead at bay. – Some of the injuries blamed on Buildy MacKenzie from people who have taken The City of Dead Tour

But the vagrant falling through the floor of his tomb wasn’t to be the last desecration to stir up the poltergeist.  In 2003 to add insult to injury a group of 17 year olds out for mischief and trying to be all macabre and impress the local goths were caught playing in the graveyard with what was thought to be a football under one of the boys arms, this turned out to be the severed muffified head of George MacKenzie.  The kids had broken into the tomb and chopped off his head with a penknife.  According to coverage in the Daily Mirror of the trial the teenagers were throwing the head to each other jokingingly pretending it was performing sex acts on them and wearing it as a glove puppet.    The teenager in question was given 200 hours community service and his partner in crime was given two years probation.

The severed head of George Mackenzie

Two years later unknown intruders gained access despite increased security at the churchyard, removed a head and posed it on one of the spikes that top the cemetery’s gates. They left behind a note with the message “The Vampire Lark”.  They have not been traced.

Tours now start with the warning “The Mackenzie Poltergeist can cause genuine physical and mental distress. You join the tour at your own risk!”.  Exorcisms have been carried out twice at the location, first by a spiritualist minister named Colin Grant and a year later by his son. Both were unsuccessful and the attacks continue.

Long before the homeless man fell into the corpse filled pit there is the story of John Haynes, a petty criminal, possibly a highwayman who used the second chamber in the mausoleum as a hideout for six long months.  Eventually the police caught up with him and found him to be completely insane.  Haynes kept insisting that the coffins kept moving around at night.

There are some other explanations for the feelings people have around the tomb.  One suggests it’s the result of high voltage machinery which is housed to the rear of the mausoleum by Edinburgh University’s Artificial Intelligence Unit. These machines can give off electromagnetic energy, a force that some believe could create hallucinations in people that are ‘EM sensitive’ and be the explanation for certain paranormal activity. This, however, does not explain the physical attacks that visitors to the vault have suffered.

Another scientific explanation concerning these phenomenons looks deep underground. Sandstone forms much of the rock underneath the Greyfriars area. Brian Allen of SPI suggests that:

“If the pores of the sandstone were to become saturated with mineral electrolytes, this in effect would create thousands of tiny batteries. Given the right conditions, a micro-tremor perhaps, the stored energy could be discharged, creating an electrical field above the ground affecting a sensitive person by causing a tiny seizure in the temporal lobes of their brain. These seizures appear to run in distinct patterns, with the people affected experiencing the same or similar images”.

What ever you believe – would you dare challenge Bluidy MacKenzie by knocking the door of the Black Mausoleum three times saying” Bluidy Mackingie, come oot if ye daur, lift the sneck and draw the bar!”?

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Crathes Castle

Crathes Castle historic seat of Clan Burnett. Like most Scottish castles Crathes has it’s ghostly tales. The one it’s most known for is the withered spectre of the Green Lady stalks the corridors, putting the frighteners on those she meets. More than that, she is a portent of death.

Whether you are a believer or not in the supernatural, there is a multitude of hauntings in Scottish castles by a green lady; both Thainstone and Fyvie Castle have a resident Green Lady. Perhaps green is the colour of the undead, when their spirit coalesces under the cloak of darkness and its time to raise the pulses of those trying to get a good night’s sleep. That said, there are a number of White Ladies too.

Crathes’ haunting said to arise from a rather nasty poisoning incident that happened after the death of the Laird. His widow, Lady Agnes was an obsessive mother, whose relationship with her son Alexander was all consuming. Alexander’s blossoming romance with a young common girl called Bertha caused no end of emotional ructions.

While her son was away, Lady Agnes poisoned Bertha. Simple as that. A wee drop of deadly nightshade or similar into her evening’s claret and away went the problem. Except Alexander found out, and in death, Bertha had driven mother and son apart. Either of these tormented souls are said to be haunt the castle.

Curiously the Green Lady is thought to be neither Lady Agnes or Bertha, and such is the nature of anecdotal evidence, plus the fact that ghosts rarely participate in a census, the identity of the Green Lady is unknown. Some say she is a servant who disappeared in disgrace after becoming pregnant. But who really knows? We’d go an ask her personally, but given her reputation as a portent of death for a member of the Burnett family it is understandable that the family would like her to maintain a low profile.

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A few years ago I read James Robertson’s excellent book; ‘The Fanatic’. The book tells the story of an Edinburgh tour guide and how he becomes obsessed with the gruesome character he portrays. In one passage of the book the character mentions a place called the ‘Gallow Lee’ an area just beside Leith Walk in Edinburgh where all manner of executions were carried out. I recently came across some more information about this place and its real history was even more ghastly than the fictional account.

Leith Walk is a ribbon of Shops Café’s and bars that runs from the east end of the city centre to the historical port of Leith. The origin of this thoroughfare goes back to the time of Oliver Cromwell and his attempts to capture the city. In order to repel his attacks Sir Alexander Leslie in command of the Scottish Army created a ‘breastwork’; a chest high defensive earthwork wall as part of the city defences. This wall ran northwards from the city centre down to the shore. The defences were incredibly effective and Cromwell was held off till after his victory at Dunbar.

In time buildings began to spring up along the line of these defences, a gravel path was laid down and coaches would ferry people to and from the port. Leith Walk was born!

At around the halfway point, just where the traditional boundary where Edinburgh and Leith meet is an area called Shrubhill. This was a sandy hill on the western side of the road. Being outside the city boundaries this was where the city of Edinburgh disposed of its more troublesome problems!

In 17^th century Edinburgh public executions were a common spectacle. But sometimes there was a problem where a person sentenced to execution was either too high profile or for one reason or another there was concern that the execution may cause unrest.In some cases the manner of execution was too much even by 17^th century standards. Edinburgh chose the Gallow Lee in Shrubhill to deal with its dirty business. A permanent ‘gibbet’ was set up on the hill and on most days a body would be seen swinging from it. Witches were put to death, sometimes mercifully strangled before being burned and as the years progressed the ashes of the dead added to the sandy mound.

Covenanter executions were a frequent site too and there were a few high profile scandalous murderers who were put to death on the Gallow Lee: There was the ReverentJohn Kelloe for example; a respectable minister from Dunbar who had murdered his wife. Another very notable ‘customer’ was Norman Ross, a footman who had murdered his employer Lady Baillie, sister of the Laird of Wedderburn. For around two years his rotting corpse was left to swing on the gibbet being picked at by crows.

Until halfway into the 18^th century this ghastly landmark stood on the route into Edinburgh. However the draining of the Nor loch and the expansion of the city to the North led to a new period of development. Stone was quarried from nearby Craigleith quarry to build the fashionable ‘New town’ The builders looked for a source of sand to add to the lime mortar and hit upon the Gallow Lee. The owner of the land charged the builders to cart away the sand, containing the ashes and other remainsof thousands of victims. It is said that every penny he earned went straight to the local publicans – so much so that a public house (the halfway house) sprung up nearby!

Soon the sandy mound of the Gallow Lee was gone and all that remained was a hollow. As I write this the site of the Gallow Lee is once more waste ground, formerly occupied as a bus depot now awaiting redevelopment. But how many of those living in the trendy apartments in Edinburgh’s New town realise that the very fabric of their building is bound together with the remains of Witches, covenanters and criminals?

Sleep tight!

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1. Skye: The Trotternish Peninsula.

The Old Man of Storr

The Island of Skye is nearly always on peoples ‘bucket list’ and with good reason. The island is very large with so many different things to see its hard to know where to start. Dominated by the brooding ‘Black Cuillins’ a ragged mountain range that sits in its centre the island fans out to a number of peninsulas. All of them have spectacular views and hidden gems to explore but our favourite is the Trotternish peninsula.

Travelling north beyond Portree; the island’s main town a strange jagged ridge comes into view, this ridge features the Old Man of Storr, a giant rock tower that sits at an impossible angle near the rugged Storr cliffs. Further up the Quiraing extends the ridge line, the remnants of an ancient landslide of epic proportions. Walking through this area is like entering another world, the complexity of the landscape and broad vistas as you reach the ridge tops is quite simply astonishing.

What else is like this: In many ways it reminds me of Hadrian’s Wall (yes I know thats in England). Also the sea stacks of Orkney.

2. Glencoe and Rannoch Moor.

Glencoe

It would be impossible and indeed unforgivable to not include Glencoe in this list but I would extend it a little south to cover Rannoch Moor, an extraordinary landscape of bogland and small lochans that signal your approach to the glen as you venture north. The main road seems to float over the landscape and its hard not to find yourself trying to imagine what it must have felt like in the days before Thomas Telford build the first metalled road here as people picked their way through the moor. It must hold many dark secrets.

Then there is Glencoe. The majestic Buchaille Etive Mor stands guard at the entrance to the glen with her sister peaks lined up beside her, on the other side the Aonach Eagach ridge, the narrowest and most exposed ridge in Britain is a place not for the feint hearted. Handy parking places are scattered along the length of the glen, nearly always packed with tour busses and the odd bagpiper raking in the cash. The real rewards though, come when you take a step or two away from these busy lay byes and out into the glen itself. Despite its fearsome reputation in winter Glencoe has meny less challenging low level walks that get you away from the crowds and give you the space to contemplate life before the ‘quieting of the highlands’ and the tragic events that have been so linked to this place forever more. Caution and a sensible attitude (and footwear) of course goes without staying, this is a wild place that can claim lives in any season.

What else is like this: Scotland has many deep glens like Glencoe though few are so well known. Glenshiel with it towering 5 sisters comes to mind or for a more scaled down version Mennock and Enterkin passes in Dumfriesshire feels like a lowland rural equivalent.

3. The Border Abbeys

Kelso Abbey

The cluster of small border towns that nestle in the south east part of the Scottish borders feature a ring of magnificent ruined abbeys. In their heyday Monks from the Tironesian, Augustinian, Premonstratensian and Cistercian orders occupied these impressive buildings which became centres of learning and sat at the centre of many small communities. Inevitably though, sitting as they do in the heart of the sometimes lawless border region and with neighbouring England a few hours ride away the abbeys were partly destroyed, much of the damage being done during the ‘Rough wooing’ of King Henry VIII of England.

The violence of that time has long gone now and what is left of the abbeys are preserved as they were left all those centuries ago. Each has its own character and are peaceful places where you can sneak away from a busy market day and try to imagine the sounds of morning prayers being offered up in an echoing chapel.

For people of a fitter disposition it is possible to follow a 5 day walking route that takes in these wonderful buildings. The walk is not too challenging and gives you even more opportunity to explore this often missed part of Scotland.

What else is like this: Our own Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh of course, Iona (featuring shortly) and Linlithgow Palace certainly have a similar feel in many ways.

4. Arisaig

Arisiag at Sunset

As you take the route north to venture into the North West Highlands you hit the town of Fort William, spreading near the foot of Ben Nevis this busy town is an inevitable stop off for a quick snack and a stretch of the legs. Most travellers continue to the north towards Skye and Loch ness but just taking a left turn will lead you on a journey that rewards you with fantastic beaches, scenes from Harry Potter and romantic tales of Bonnie Prince Charlie. This road which was once a twisting and perilous single track is much improved, it takes in the Jacobite monument at Glenfinnan and an added bonus of a view from there of the Glenfinnan Viaduct a victorian marvel of railway engineering that will now forever be known as ‘the Harry Potter Bridge’. If you are very lucky you might catch the steam train that regularly travels this way on tourist trips puffing over the viaduct.

This was where the ‘Young Pretender’ (not the young wizard) first landed on the Scottish mainland in 1745, raised his standard and forever changed the covers of shortbread tins and tea towels, just a few minutes drive away loch Nan Uamh is where he set sail back to Europe a year later, his followers scattered in the highlands or buried in the mass graves at Culloden.

At the small village of Arisaig is what could only be described as a camper’s paradise, a collection of campsites sit along this stretch of coast set into grassy areas beside beaches with impossibly white sand. Its hard to compete with the feeling of settling down to a mug of tea or something stronger watching the waves on the shore as the sun sets over the islands of Rhum and Eigg. A sunset in Arisaig is not just a sunset, its gods own theatre, and he knows how to put on a good show!

For those who want to venture further though this route has one last gift to give, the Malliag ferry to Skye. An altogether gentler and more dignified way to reach our first destination on the list. As the ferry pulls out of Malliag harbour its inevitable that you catch yourself humming the Skye Boat Song to yourself.

What else is like this: The west coast and in particular the islands have incredible beaches, Tiree for example or Durness in the far north, The small island of Eriskay has the connection with Bonnie Prince Charlie too as of course does Culloden.

5. South Uist

Happy Dog on South Uist!

The island of South Uist forms part of the Outer Hebrides (more of them to feature later). The island stretches from north to south linked by causeways to Benbecula and Eriskay. A modest range of low mountain peaks run like a spine down its east side and to the west is the legendary Machair. The Machair is a  low lying coastal plain, formed by millennia of wind blown, calcium rich sand that forms a valuable fertile layer. The habitat is the fragile home to many species of birds and small crofting communities are scattered along the island’s east side.

There is something about the light here that feels like nowhere else on earth. There always seems to be some drama in the sky as another raincloud skids in over the Atlantic to the sound of oystercatchers and gulls.

This is an ancient place too – Settlers have been here since neolithic times and this is the only location in Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. Looking at the ramshackle collection of little crofts you are reminded that now just as then the people who live here have a relationship with the land and pace of life that many of us would envy (in the summer at least).

What else is like this: Orkney and Shetland certainly have that feel of a link with the prehistoric past though the Machair is peculiar to the Outer Hebrides. also Barra and Vatersay just to the south and further on, the islands of Islay and Jura.

6. St Kilda

St Kilda

On 29 August 1930, 36 men women and children boarded a boat to the mainland from the island of St Kilda. Breaking a continuous period of settlement that had stretched back over two thousand years. These people were not evicted by harsh landlords, they had asked to be taken away to start a new life elsewhere. For them life in the most remote part of the British Isles had simply become too difficult.

Remote is too simple a word for St Kilda, just getting here is an adventure, and something of a hit and miss affair as the journey over rough seas is not always possible at all. Arriving at the small bay on Hirta, the main island in this small group is like arriving at the edge of the world, the deafening sounds of Gannets, Fulmars and Skuas fills the air and the island itself seems to rise out of the sea to meet you, one second there, one second disappearing as the boat lurches between the waves. As you step onto the shore you step back in time to the moment those last settlers left the island behind. The village street still stands as if trapped in amber, the remains of centuries of island life lie scattered up the hill side.

If you want to come to Scotland and get the feeling of being totally alone try spending a few days here with just the mice for company (and the army personnel who man a nearby base but thankfully never leave their quarters). There is a peculiar feeling to standing on the shore watching the tiny boat head back out into the open sea wondering if it really will be ‘back on Wednesday’ as promised.

Where else is like this: The Monach Islands off the coast of Uist were also until lately inhabited and North Rona is another remote destination. There are also a number of clearance villages such as Bororaig in skye and near Tongue in Sutherland.

7. The Isle of Lewis. 

Callanish Standing Stones – Lewis

A few years ago I was on a flight back from Iceland on a clear summer evening. The flight path took us over the Butt of Lewis and as first sights of ‘home’ go, its about as good as it gets (also see entry number 10). Lewis has become a popular destination recently thanks to Peter May’s ‘Black House’ trilogy of books, May’s infectious description of the landscape has also inspired an excellent coffee table photography book. A trip to Lewis inevitably begins with the long ferry journey from Ullapool to Stornoway, passing by the Summer Isles, the setting for the classic British horror movie ‘The Wicker Man. Stornoway is a bustling small town that has a bit of a frontier feel about it, its a bit rough round the edges and can be a bit wild of a Saturday night before the ‘sabbath’ calls a halt to all activity. But before you disappear off to explore the island, stop off at MacLeod’s Butchers and stock up on as much Black Pudding as you can sensibly carry.

The stand out feature of Lewis is the standing stones at Callanish. For nearly 5,000 years these remarkable stones have stood here. Academics still argue over their true purpose, partly as a burial site possibly as a calendar no one can really say for certain. Folk tales say that they were a family of giants who refused to convert to Christianity and Saint Kieran turned them to stone as punishment.

Like many parts of the west coast, Lewis has its fair share of incredible coastal landscapes with wide open beaches and stark cliffs. As you travel south from Stornoway towards the mountains of Harris you pass seemingly endless expanses of peat bog, stacks of freshly cut peat stacked up and drying ready for collection. The smell of peat smoke is the air is a reminder once again that this is a place where people work and live not just a toilet stop and cafe.

What else is like this: Again, Orkney springs to mind for its unrivalled collection of ancient artefacts (the only reason Orkney is not on our list is because we have yet to visit there and this is our personal list). Wick and Thurso in Caithness have a similar frontier feel about them that Stornaway does and the wetlands of Caithness and Sutherland are very much like the Interior of Lewis in some ways.

8. Iona

West Coast of Iona

Sometimes the beauty of a place is magnified by the effort it takes to get there. If thats the case then Iona must be one of the most beautiful places on earth! First of all you need to get to the island of Mull, that is either reached via a ferry from Oban or by a couple of smaller ferries and a long drive down towards Ardnamurchan. This is followed by a long drive down the Ross of Mull until you literally ‘run out of island’. From there a small ferry takes mostly foot passengers (theres is not much point in taking the car as theres not really anywhere to drive to) over the short hop to Iona. The famous abbey is immediately visible as you land in the tiny village that sits beside it.

Iona abbey is one of the most famous in Scotland. its by no means the largest and would be dwarfed by the Border abbeys though it is one of the best preserved. St Martins Cross is probably the most photographed and recognisable celtic cross there is and the abbey grounds have more than a few famous interments: Kenneth MacAlpine, Donald II, Malcolm I, Duncan I and Macbeth all lie here, as does the late Labour leader John Smith.

The island is tiny and can be walked round entirely in a day. If you chose to do this there is a good chance you will hardly spot a soul the whole time as pretty much all the tourists flock to the abbey. Their loss is your gain though, the island circuit takes in more sandy beaches on the north shore the rugged west coast with crustal clear waters and small secluded bays, a spouting cave and the remains of an abandoned marble quarry before returning back to the village for a well earned drink while you wait for the ferry back.

What else is like this: Right next to Iona is the small island of Erraid. its tidal so can easily be walked to. There is an incredible campsite at Fidden farm nearby too. Holy isle (in England,,, just) is also very similar and also Inchcolm Abbey in the Forth Estuary.

9. Plockton

Plockton

The tiny village of Plockton sits at around the same line of  latitude as Moscow, yet the little road around the bay is lined with palm trees! These are not made of plastic but thrive here thanks to a phenomena properly known as the Atlantic Conveyor though most of you know it as the Gulf Stream. a current of warmer water that runs North-East from the Gulf of Mexico makes landfall on Scotland’s north west coast leading to a far milder climate than we would expect. Before you pack your bermuda shorts and beach volleyball set though remember this is STILL Scotland.

The small village was a fishing community that sprung up in the 19th and 20th centuries in an attempt to slow down emigration from the highlands. The end result is possibly the most picturesque small village in Scotland.  Just like Iona above, getting here is half the fun. There is the long drive skirting within touching distance of the Skye bridge and up the road to the ironically named ‘Stromferry (no ferry)’ , or you can take a more indirect route via Lochcarron, or you can treat yourself to one of the worlds greatest train journeys, travelling north to Inverness and then west via the tiny settlement of Achnasheen through some of the grandest majesty that the highlands can serve up, it might be a long journey but I really wouldn’t bother with a book unless its dark

For those who like an element of terror on their days out then its not too far from Plockton to the small town of Applecross. The last half hour of your trip will be memorable as you wind up the notorious Bealach na Ba (the pass of the cattle) a single track road that twists steeply up an impossible looking slope before sliding down the other side. On the way back you can reward yourself with an early tea at the excellent seafood cafe at Kishorn, where the seafood is so fresh it answers you back.

What else is like this: Rothsay on the Isle of Bute is also known for its palm trees though its a much larger and busier town. The East Neuk of Fife also has a string of quaint fishing villages and Tobermory on Mull is also very picturesque.

10. Edinburgh

Salisbury Crags, Edinburgh

This comes as no surprise to anyone who knows us, after all its where we live. what can you say about Edinburgh that not already been said. Known as the Athens of the North the city has some of the most impressive architecture in the world covering the Middle ages, and Neo Classical eras in particular. Arriving in Edinburgh by train is one of the great tourist experiences of all time: As the train slips through the outskirts it could be anywhere in Britain, then the train dives into a long tunnel, for a moment you emerge to catch a glimpse of the castle rock and gardens before ducking under the art galleries on the mound and arriving in the station. If you have never been before (or even if its been a while) Then walk up the sloping  roadway to emerge on Waverly Bridge. Ahead of you stands the impressive if rather rocket like structure of the Scott Monument, the Classical pillars of the National Gallery and Royal Scottish Academy and behind that Castle rock with the iconic Edinburgh Castle crowning the top. It really is one of the most impressive cityscapes in Europe if not the world.

Edinburgh is bursting to the point of overflowing with history and culture, the compact city centre makes most sites easily walkable (for those who can easily walk), you can take in an art gallery, loose yourself in a museum or scare yourself witless on one of the many ghost tours that run from the high street.

And if all that bustle is too much then in 15 minutes or so on foot you can find yourself at the bottom of the Royal Mile past Holyrood palace and into Holyrood park, Here you can leave the city behind and feel like you are back in the highland wildernesses that I’ve eulogised about above (in fact parts of Arthurs Seat in Holyrood park have been used to represent the wild highlands in film shoots). After half an hour or so of puffing you might find yourself on top of Arthurs seat or nearby Salisbury Crags giving you a reward of an incredible view over the city and down the east coast on one side and up to the Forth bridges on the other.

What else is like this: Glasgow’s west end is for Victorian architecture what Edinburgh is for Georgian. Stirling has its castle too and is handy for Wallace Monument and Bannockburn, Inverness too is worth visiting if only for the beautiful Ness islands and Leakeys bookshop.

Well thats our personal top ten list for now. I’ve set a date in the Calendar to revisit this list same time next year and see what new places we have discovered by then…

Rodger and Amanda Moffet – Scotclans

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The original tower keep of the castle, which still remains at the centre of the building, was built in the 14th century. The additional wings, towers and turrets were added over the centuries to make the castle into the majestic building it is today, a place with more in common with a French Chateau than a medieval fortress.

It also has a rather sinister reputation as one of the most haunted places in Scotland, if not the British Isles, which is what we will be exploring in this weeks Friday Facts…

One of the most notorious characters in the castle’s history was Earl Beardie, the most famous tale of him involves cards, the Devil, and a soul damned to hell.

One Sunday, Earl Beardie was guesting at the castle. After a heavy drinking session with the Earl of Glamis, on his way back to his room the Earl was said to have been shouting and screaming for a partner to play him at cards and wager some coin. Being the Sabbath no one was willing to play with the Earl, let alone gamble. The Earl raged on, going so far as to say he would play the Devil himself. Inevitably there came a knock at the door, and stood in the entrance was a tall man, dressed head to toe in the finest black clothes. The man claimed to have heard the Earls shouts for a partner on his way passed the castle, and enquired as to whether he still required a partner. The drunken Earl was blind to the sinister nature of this stranger and agreed to a game. The two men retired to a room in the castle, slamming the door shut and locking the castle staff and anyone else out.

All was quiet for a spell, not a sound coming from the room, when out of nowhere the door swung open and out strode the Earl. Screaming and swearing the Earl made his way back to his room, complaining at his luck and the loss in the game. Of the dark man there was no sign, he had seemingly vanished from the castle.

What went on in the room nobody will ever know, but it is believed the dark man was the Devil himself and he offered Earl Beardie an interesting wager that he could not refuse. A bag of the finest rubies was offered up if the Earl should win, but if he should lose it was his eternal soul that must be given over.

The ghost of Earl Beardie is said to now haunt the castle and has been heard on numerous occasions, stamping has feet and swearing at “something” in the room in which he is said to have gambled at Glamis.

The ghost of a woman with no tongue is said to roam the castle grounds, gesturing wildly towards her mutilated face. Unfortunately there is no information that might lead to finding out who this woman was and what her story might be.

Another famous story about the castle that has intrigued many is that of the monster of Glamis. Legend has it that in 1821 Thomas, a son and heir to the Bowes-Lyon family name and fortune, was born in Glamis. However he was so horribly deformed that the family announced that the baby had been lost. Still loving the child that had come to them but fearing what people may think of the ‘monster’, they hid him away from the world in a secret chamber somewhere within the castle.

It is claimed only a select few of the most trusted servants were made aware of this secret so the monster could be taken care of. The creature was said to be taken out late in the night to be given some form of exercise in the form of a walk along the battlements, earning a section the name ‘Mad Earls Walk’, and that he was fed through a grill in his door by these trusted servants.

The monster is believed to have lived much longer than any normal person, living on until the early 1920′s and meaning the family ‘secret’ had to be kept secret for several generations. The tale goes that the truth about the creature is revealed to the next heir of the Bowes-Lyon family when they come of age at 21. Observations of the 13th Earl of Strathmore are supposed to support this theory. He was said to be a kind, conscientious man of a generally sunny disposition, but this all changed with the passing of his brother. Without an heir he became the next in line and the secret would have been revealed to him. From then on he was noted to have become a very serious man, who always seemed to have a great sadness hanging over him. Although this could have been from the burden of the secret it is far more likely to have been due to the loss of his brother and the hardships of becoming the head of the family.

An alternative version of the legend is that to every generation of the family a vampire child is born and is walled up in that room.

There is an old story that guests staying at Glamis once hung towels from the windows of every room in a bid to find the bricked-up suite of the monster. When they looked at it from outside, several windows were apparently towel-less, leading people to believe there was more than one secret room within the castle.

The legend of the monster may have been inspired by the true story of the Ogilvies. Somewhere in the 16-foot-thick walls is the famous room of skulls, where the Ogilvie family, who sought protection from their enemies the Lindsays, were walled up to die of starvation.

Another legend has it that the late Sir David Bowes-Lyon, uncle of Queen Elizabeth II, took a late stroll on the lawn after dinner, and reportedly saw a girl gripping the bars of a castle window and staring distractedly into the night. He was about to speak to her when she abruptly disappeared, as if someone had torn her away from the window.

The family chapel is said to be haunted by the Grey Lady, believed to have been Lady Janet Douglas, burned at the stake on charges of witchcraft and plotting to poison the King.

King James V had Janet accused of witchcraft against him, although it was clear that the accusations were false. She was imprisoned with her husband (who escaped but was later killed) in a dungeon of Edinburgh Castle. It was easy for James to imprison Janet, but actually convicting her was more difficult. Her character was impeccable, without blemish, and she was very much respected by everyone who knew her. In order to get the testimony he needed to convict her, the King resorted to torture. Her clansmen and servants were put on the rack and stretched to the point of agony. They finally gave false evidence against her. Janet was convicted and burned at the stake on 17 July 1537 on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, which her young son was forced to watch alongside a silent and morose crowd, very likely aware of the innocent women being burned before them.

Sightings have been made in recent times within the chapel and above the clock tower.

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The Old Grey Dog, a Faithful Friend

There is an old Clan MacDonald legend which dates back to the early 1800s telling of a large dog with a rough grey coat and an unearthly wailing bark that appears to descendants from the Morar MacDonalds at the point of death.

The tale begins with a young Highlander called Dugald MacDonald, the young man owned a deerhound which he loved very much.  Like other young men at this time Dugald was called off to war.  He was away from his home and his faithful dog for several years. When finally he returned home his neighbours told him that his beloved dog had left home and was living wild on an island in the middle of a small loch, high among the hills.  Also in the time he had been away his deerhound had  given birth to four pups. The pups were now almost fully grown. Dugald was warned that due to heir lack of human contact they were so savage that it was unsafe to go anywhere near them.

Dugald ignored the warning and set of  to visit the hill-loch, the only way to get to the island was to swim. Dugald desperate to be reunited with his dog swam over to the island. When he arrived on the island he managed to locate  the dogs lair in the heather. The deerhound was away and her pups, on hearing him approach, emerged and tore him to pieces. When the deerhound returned and saw what had happened to her master, her howls of agony brought the folk of the glen to the scene. The pups were speedily hunted out and killed and Dugald’s body was laid to rest in the little burial-ground at the mouth of the Meoble River.

Legend has it the deerhound began a lonely and pathetic vigil, frequently waking the neighbourhood with her mournful howling as she watched over her master’s grave, until one day she was discovered lying stretched out dead beside it.

For long afterwards the story of her watch over the grave was talked about through the district, but gradually, with the passage of time, it was largely forgotten, until one of Dugald’s brothers became seriously ill at Rifern, a small crofting township lying across the river from the grave-yard. One night the ghost of the deerhound appeared at his bedside. It looked at him for several minutes, then gave a terrible cry and disappeared. A little later the man died. The spectre of the Grey Dog had made its first appearance.

Another account of the ghostly deerhound appearing happens to an old Highland lady who lived in Glasgow in the early 1900s and whose family were closely related to the MacDonalds of Meoble.  The old woman lived alone, confined to her room for many years and a friend who lived across the street was in the habit of calling each day to attend to her needs. On one occasion as the friend was leaving the flat, a large dog, of a type she had never seen before, passed her on the stairs. She thought no more about it until the following day when, much to her surprise, she saw it again, this time lying on the old lady’s doorstep. With difficulty she pushed it aside and went in. In the course of the conversation, she happened to mention the dog. Her friend sat up in bed her eyes alight.  When asked to describe the dog she replied:

“it was very large, around the size of a Shetland pony, it was grey with a long curly tail.”

‘”Ah!” exclaimed the old lady with a smile of contentment on her lips. “The faithful friend – she came at last.” And with that she sank back on her pillow and passed away.

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The spirit that stalks the kirkyard of Greyfriars, known as the ‘MacKenzie poltergeist’ is believed to have been one Sir George MacKenzie, known to the Scots as ‘Bluidy MacKenzie‘. The summer of 1679 saw defeat for the Covenanter’s at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge and 1,200 men were captured. It was MacKenzie who organised an enthusiastic and bloody persecution of these unlucky men. MacKenzie brought them to Greyfriar’s and they were held within a small courtyard to the back of the kirkyard, now referred to as the Covenanter’s Prison, in horrible conditions open to the elements. MacKenzie had some of the men hanged, others beheaded, their rotting skulls displayed around the city. The more unfortunate were publicly tortured. Many died due to this harsh treatment and those that didn’t were executed or sold to slavery. Their only way out was to swear an allegiance to the King, which they refused to do. Those that died in Greyfriars remain there to this day and ironically share their final resting place with Bloody George Mackenzie.

MacKenzie Tomb

Although stories of unusual occurrences within the kirkyard had been told for years, it seemed to intensify greatly after one incident 1998. A homeless man looking to get out of the Scottish weather, made the unfortunate decision that the MacKenzie tomb looked like a cosy and safe place. For reasons known only to himself, the man began to break into the coffin that lay within, whilst doing so he slipped dragging the coffin down with him and ending up sprawled on the floor with the remains of Bloody MacKenzie across him. He understandably fled the area, but it seems the disturbance he caused awoke something in the tomb.

Covenanters Prison

By early 1999 reports of strange goings on in the kirkyard had significantly risen, but not by the MacKenzie tomb but around the corner in the Covenanter’s prison, so much so that the council made the decision to close the area off from the public. Luckily for those looking for a thrill or keen on the paranormal a tour company was granted access to the prison, to guide small groups through the area in controlled visits. Those on these tours have reported many strange phenomena including being scratched, attacked, feeling nauseous, discovering large marks and bruises on their bodies the following day and drastic changes in temperature. There are even those that have been knocked unconscious! In 2000, an exorcist, Colin Grant was summoned to the graveyard to perform an exorcism ceremony; he was said to have picked up “evil forces” and claimed that the forces were too overpowering and feared that they could kill him. A few weeks later, he died suddenly of a heart attack.

Only a short walk from Greyfriar’s can be found the Edinburgh or South Bridge Vault’s, but only by venturing under the streets of Edinburgh. The vaults are a distinct series of chambers formed in the 19 arches of the South Bridge, built to span the Cowgate gorge between High Street and the growing University of Edinburgh on the Southside, which was completed in 1788. These vaults where walled in on either side due to the building of tenements leaving spaces ranging from 2m square to 40m square.

From taverns and tradesmen’s workshops, a red light district and even, a rumoured hunting ground for serial killers Burk and Hare – each vault has its place in history and a story to tell. They were also home to an infamous distillery that once labelled the area ‘Whisky Row’ and, at some point they served as stables to the Royal Families’ bodyguards, the French Cavalry. As the conditions in the vaults deteriorated, mainly because of damp and poor air quality, the businesses left and the very poorest of Edinburgh’s citizens moved in, though by around 1820, even they are believed to have left too. That people had lived there was only discovered in 1985 during an excavation, when middens were found containing toys, medicine bottles, plates, and other signs of human habitation. The vaults on the southside where converted into several very unique venues, the most well known being the Caves, the vaults on the northside however are used for ghost tours and are known to house several unique and characterful spirits…

The most famous of the spirits that roam the vaults is known to the guides as Mr Boots, an apparition that earned its nickname from the many unexplained reports of heavy footsteps heard since the vaults opened nearly 20 years ago. Mr Boots is regularly spotted within the vaults and has been described as being attired in a long blue frock, tri-corner hat and large leather boots. He seems to have an issue with the visitors that regularly explore the area and has been reported blocking doorways, shoving and breathing whisky fumes on the guests and has even been known to throw stones at those he deems unwelcome.

Another apparition, on who little is known, is a wee bit friendlier. Little Jack as he is known, is believed to be the spirit of a small boy who was murdered within the vaults. He is reported to take the hand of guests in the hopes they will lead him out of the dark and foreboding vaults. An unsettling event you might say, but with innocent intentions.

As with areas such as these other phenomena have been reported such as sudden drops in temperature, whispers heard in the distance and even fire doors opening of their own accord(these can only be opened from one side, and never is a figure seen on the side with a handle). Even stranger is events that go unnoticed until mentioned by the guide. One room in particular was believed to have been a men only drinking establishment, and guides advise the patrons that the feeling of segregation of the sexes pervades the room to this day. Invariably the guests then notice that the group has separated on it’s own accord, men on one side of the room, women on the other.

Another short walk away, a little up Edinburgh’s world famous Royal Mile, you will find another of Edinburgh’s most haunted areas, Mary King’s Close.

Mary King’s Close, possibly named after the daughter of Alexander King a wealthy property owner ran from High Street all the way down to Market Street, before Cockburn Street was built. In 1645 the inhabitants of the buildings served by Mary King’s Close were stricken with the plague. It had probably come from rats arriving in Edinburgh through Leith docks. In order to quarantine them and prevent the spread of the disease throughout Edinburgh, Mary King’s Close was sealed, possibly according to legend with some people still alive and suffering inside. Due to housing shortages becoming a worry, the people of Edinburgh wanted to open up Mary King’s Close and shortly after it was opened and the houses reoccupied due to overcrowding.

The new inhabitants of Mary King’s Close found the buildings to be haunted and various reports were made of apparitions including a dog, headless animals, a young girl and several severed limbs and body parts such as heads.

The inhabitants were then evicted in 1753 to make way for a new building project. The upper stories of the buildings around Mary King’s Close and its immediate neighbours were demolished and The Royal Exchange, now the City Chambers was built on top of them. The lower eight stories of beneath the City Chambers, dropping down to Cockburn Street were sealed up, including Mary King’s Close.

Sealed for two hundred and fifty years, Mary King’s Close has now been re-opened for tour groups and you can go down beneath the City Chambers to the lane and buildings that still exist, hidden away. Visitor’s still report to this day strange goings on and apparitions…

The most famous ghost to haunt Mary King’s Close is that of a little girl known as Annie. Her tale starts in 1992 when she scared the daylights out of a Japanese psychic. This lady had been unimpressed by the tour until she arrived at one of the many small rooms. There she was suddenly struck by an overwhelming feeling of sickness, hunger and cold and, when she tried to leave felt the ghastly tug of a ghostly hand on her leg. In order to placate the spirit the women left a small doll within the room, and was released and allowed to leave.

Annie’s story has been fleshed out since then, and it is now believed that she had been left to die in the close by her family during the plague outbreak, although there is very little evidence to back this up. A tradition has built up from the ‘gift’ the psychic left, and now many tourists leave a toy for Annie, and the room in which she was found has turned into something of a shrine…

Dr Caroline Watt of Edinburgh University’s Koestler Unit had her own experience when conducting experiments into the paranormal activity within the close…

“I was in a part of the close where no one else was supposed to be,” she says. “I heard footsteps and the sound of rustling clothing. From a professional point of view I was annoyed because I thought it was someone intruding on our experiment, but when I asked the tour guides I found out there was no one there.”

Another short walk, and almost taking us full circle through the Old Town, leads to Edinburgh’s biggest and most famous tourist attraction, Edinburgh Castle. With a history hundreds of years old it’s not surprising that the Castle has it’s own share of ghost stories.

Edinburgh’s hidden underworld is said to be strongly connected to the castle due to a series of secret tunnels leading from Edinburgh castle down the Royal Mile. One of these is even rumoured to lead all the way to Holyrood House, at the very bottom of the Royal Mile. When the tunnels were first discovered several hundred years ago, a piper was sent to explore. As he navigated the tunnels, he played his bagpipes, so that his progress could be tracked by those above. About half way down the Royal Mile the piping suddenly stopped. When a rescue party was sent, there was no trace of the piper. He had simply vanished. Several search parties went into the tunnel system but no trace of the piper was ever found. It is said that the Piper’s ghost still roams the tunnels to this day, and those on the Mile on a quiet evening can hear the sounds of the pipes drifting up from below the streets.

Another apparition commonly reported at the castle is that of a drummer on the battlements. One account, reported in 1960, told of a sentry who whilst patrolling the battlements heard the faint sound of the drums. On closer investigation the sentry witnessed a figure standing on the battlements and as he drew closer he found the figure was missing his head. As he watched, it turned to face him, then vanished completely. Who this drummer is and why he haunts the castle is something that still remains a mystery.

The next ghostly presence from Edinburgh castle is believed to be that of a rather desperate prisoner. In a rather unsanitary bid for freedom the man hid himself in the castles dung cart, ready to be carried out and down the Royal Mile where he could make a run for it. Unfortunately the men in charge of the dung cart were not willing to heave the smelly load quite so far and instead emptied it over the side of Castle Rock and the prisoner plummeted to his death. Visitors have claimed that this man attempts to push people from the battlements and is always accompanied by the strong and unpleasant stench of dung.

On April 6th 2001, a 10 day study scientific investigation into the paranormal events at Edinburgh castle took place. Dr. Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from Hertfordshire University enlisted the help of 240 volunteers to explore allegedly haunted sites. Chosen from visitors from around the world, each was carefully screened to ensure only those that knew nothing about Edinburgh’s hauntings were selected to participate.

The volunteers were not told of any areas previously reported as haunted and were led in groups through locations with a reputation for strange activity as well as ‘red herring’ sites that had no history of activity at all. Interestingly the volunteers only reported paranormal experiences in the areas with a history for it, and not one of the 240 volunteers reported activity in the ‘red herring’ areas.

Some of the activity recorded include seeing shadowy figures, and unseen presence touching the face, sudden drops in temperature and a feeling of being watched.

Wiseman, a sceptic who has in the past attempted to expose the myths of several British hauntings, admitted his surprise at the results. “The events that have been taking place over the last 10 days are much more extreme than we expected,” he said.

So although there is no solid proof, there is evidence to suggest that something odd is definitely going on at Edinburgh castle and the surrounding old town. But is it ghosts or something else? Let us know what you think in the comments…

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Card, note and newspaper cutting from Mrs Jill Sharp

Today a lovely pink envelope dropped through our letter box at the ScotClans office, always like pink envelopes – bills don’t tend to be in them. Inside was a thank you card, a newspaper cutting and a note all from Mrs Jill Sharp.

A while back Jills Pen-Pal had contacted us telling us Jill’s story and asking if we could send some MacNaughton tartan for Jill to put on a boys grave. We were happy to oblige, the story was so heart warming I thought I’d share it with you.

Pensioners Gordon and Jill Sharp had been visiting the graveyard at Tyringham Parish Church, which they often did.

“We often go to the churchyard and always sit on a particular bench that looks out over the fields watching the wildlife. It is one of our favourite places,” said 72-year old Jill. The bench is next to a hedge surrounded by dumped rubbish and overgrown with stinging nettles.

“One day we noticed this big stinging nettle kept giving out tiny puffs of smoke. People didn’t believe us when we told them, but my daughter came with us to check and she saw it too,” said Jill.

When the Sharps got close to the puffing nettle, they noticed part of an old headstone poking out of the overgrowth. They promptly cleared the weeds and removed years’ worth of debris to discover the grave of a 16-year-old boy. Stuart Balfour McNaughton killed himself in 1919 with his father’s shotgun.

Jill and Gordon researched old records and press reports to discover the lad had lived in nearby Filgrave rectory and was upset because his former Eton pupil father had been bullying him.

Said Jill: “In those days people who committed suicide were buried away from other graves. It could have been hidden for years and years.’

She and Gordon cleaned up the stone surrounded and planted the plot with flowers. This month Gordon took a photo of Jill sitting proudly by the transformed grave. But when it was developed, the couple could not believe their eyes.

Orb above Stuart’s grave

“There’s this big glowing orb of light right next to my head. We think it’s Stuart saying thank you to us,” said Jill.

She and Gordon are convinced the smoke-puffing nettle represented the smoking gun that lead them to the grave.
“It’s probably one of those things that can never be explained. But we’re glad it happened and that Stuart’s grave is being looked after,” said Jill.

Now Stuart’s grave will have some MacNaughton tartan on.

Thank you Jill for telling us your story.

Note from Ms Jill Sharp

Newspaper Article

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Lordscairnie Castle

Lordscairnie Castle – situated on the outskirts of Fife near Moonzie – was built between 1493 and 1498 by Sir Alexander Lindsay, seventh Earl of Crawford. The forlorn ruins are being sold for around £200,000, with selling agent Smiths Gore hoping to find an ‘emotional purchaser’ ready to take on the castle’s challenges.

At the time the castle was built, Sir Lindsay was one of the most powerful noblemen in Scotland, with the castle acting as an important centre for Clan Lindsay’s operations and aspirations in central Scotland. Its colourful history includes castle raids, house arrests, conflicts with the Bishop of St Andrews and a visit by James V of Scotland just before his death in 1542.

The castle was abandoned in the mid 17th Century and was utilised by the local congregation as a church until the end of the 17th Century. Unoccupied since then, ownership was transferred to the Earl of Glasgow in the 1840s, then by a succession of local farmers before it became the property of the existing owner.

According to local lore, treasure was hidden in the castle, but to date nothing of significant value has come to light. The ghost of Sir Lindsay is also said to haunt the castle on New Years Eve. His ghost can be seen playing cards with the devil at midnight on December 31, though anyone watching it will travel to hell with them at the end of the match.

The B listed castle sits in 30 acres of open countryside at the foot of Colluthie Valley. The grounds also include a large pond, said to be home to about 50 different species of birds. The castle walls are 6 feet thick in many places and when restored the castle could be up to five stories tall, rising to a level of 65 feet. Smiths Gore has estimated that restoration would cost £600,000 to £1 million on top of the purchase price.

Lordscairnie Castle Property Listing

Cavers Castle

A slightly more ambitious restoration project is also available for purchase near the Borders. Cavers Castle, once a 64-room 100,000 acre residence, was the seat of Clan Douglas for more than 300 years. Today much of the land has been sold  – 11 acres remain – and all that remains of the castle is the east wing, but only as an empty shell.

The castle was constructed around 1200 and first inhabited by the Balliols. Clan Douglas, instrumental in banishing the Balliols from Scotland, were granted the lands by David II of Scotland in 1352. Sir Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas was responsible for the construction of Cavers Tower, a traditional fortified Scottish tower, on the site of the original castle after he succeeded to the earldom when James Douglas fell at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.

In 1542 Cavers was burnt by Dacre with the help of Sir Walter Scott of Branxholm, and in 1545 it figures in a list of places “brent, raced, and cast doune” during the War of Rough Wooing. Cavers House was inhabited by a branch of the black Douglas family until the twentieth descendent, James Douglas died in 1878 leaving no male heir. The property passed to his niece Mary Malcolm who married Captain Edward Palmer in 1879 and the property was substantially re-modelled as Cavers House between 1881 and 1887.

Cavers House in better days, circa 1887

The house eventually became disused and was made available to the army for use in a demolition by explosives exercise in 1953. The army were partially successful in destroying the Victorian section but made little impact on the thick 11-feet thick walls of the older medieval section.

Cavers Castle Property Listing

Cavers Castle on Google Maps – You can see the castle in the woods near Cavers Auld Kirk.

Cavers Tower Flickr Set - Contains fascinating photographs of the castle as it was in 2009. Also contains an interesting story about a witch who cursed the 17th Century Douglases.

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