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BALNAGOWAN CASTLE
Black Andrew strikes terror…
BALNAGOWAN CASTLE, near Tam, is an ancient seat of the Ross family. They take their title and surname from the County where their forbears held lands even before their Chief brought his men to fight for Alexander II in 1215. and whose idea of showing loyalty was to present the king with the heads of his enemies! The king showed his pleasure at the gift laid before him by creating the Chief of Clan Ross a knight and bestowing on him an Earldom!
Their influence centered round the Ross and Cromarty area and one of their prized possessions was the sacred shirt of St. Duthac who had been horn in Tam. Wearing the shirt, reputed to have magical properties. the Earls of Ross were safe in battle. When Edward I was rampaging his victorious way over Scotland in 1306 one of the places he made for was Kildrummy Castle where Bruce's wife, sisters and daughter were sheltering under the protection of his brother. At the approach of the enemy the ladies escaped and sought sanctuary in St. Duthac's chapel but were betrayed by the Earl of Ross and led away to captivity. No doubt a seven year spell in the Tower of London had made him wary of offending Edward yet again! Eight years later, however, he was leading his men firmly for Bruce at Bannockburn, and after the victory a marriage was arranged between his son Hugh and the king's sister. In spite of wearing his magic shirt Earl Hugh died at Halidon Hill.
In 1372 the chiefship of Clan Ross passed to Hugh Ross of Balnagowan and stayed with that branch of the family for 350 years. The reputation of some of the chiefs was vicious at times. One, Alexander, was notorious for keeping the countryside .in terror and running his version of a protection racket in the area. It was more expedient to hand over rent money to Alexander's men than to pay it to the lawful landlord!
Continual complaints to the Privy Council brought no reaction -- until tax money began to find its way to the same recipient! Then the authorities sat up and took notice. Alexander was declared a rebel, rounded up and imprisoned in Tantallon Castle where he died in 1592. Son George followed his father's example, setting the whole countryside by the ears, kidnapping, murdering, rampaging and aiding outlaws. He too was declared a rebel. The females of the family were no better, for his sister was accused of witchcraft but was acquitted by an intimidated jury!
In the early 18th century when the chiefship passed to Ross of Pitcalnie, Balnagowan was so burdened with debt it had to be sold. The family who bought it were a Lowland family -- also called Ross! A cadet branch of the Balnagowan Rosses who emigrated to America seem to have redeemed their reputation. Colonel George Ross was a noted patriot and friend of George Washington, and tradition maintains it was Colonel George who asked Betsy Ross. his nephew's widow, to make a flag for the new country on a verge of declaring its Independence and the Stars and Stripes was the result.
The ghost who haunts Balnagowan is a malevolent one. He takes delight in clumping about disturbing guests, especially female ones, for he is Black Andrew, who had an evil reputation when he was living in the mid 16th century. Andrew Munro's speciality was tormenting women --and as he was the laird he could demand what he wanted. If he said they were to gather in the harvest stark naked -- then stark naked they had to work.
The Laird of Balnagowan wasn't prepared to put up with this --Black Andrew's reputation would soon be as evil as his own! So the offending Andrew was rounded up, taken to Balnagowan, a rope put round his neck, and flung out the window where he dangled till he died. But Black Andrew has never been cured of his lusting after a pretty face -- as many a lady visitor can testify when they have seen him leering at them in the Red Corridor of the Castle.
BARNBOUGLE CASTLE
The hound of Barnbougle
BARNBOUGLE CASTLE: Just off the busy A90 road from Edinburgh to the Forth Road Bridge. and in the shadow of the Rail Bridge. is Dalmeny.The West Lothian coast-line between Cramond and South Queensferry is a paradise for sea-birds, and the level coast with woodlands coming down almost to the water's edge attracts those who prefer a quiet secluded stroll rather than a rock clamber.
On the shore stands Barnbougle Castle, and with it are connected the stories of two families -- the Mowbrays and the Roseberys. For 300 years the estate has belonged to the Roseberys who now live at Dalmeny House, built by the fourth Earl in 1815. Barnbougle, the original house just a quarter of a mile away, came into the family's possession in the 1660s when Sir Archibald Primrose bought it for his son who was created 1st Earl of Rosebery in 1703.
It seems to have been a bad buy, for the 12th century castle was cold, damp and draughty, which put rather a strain on the marital relationships in the 150 years the family occupied it. The 2nd Earl didn't help matters, preferring to squander his money on his profligate ways rather than on his castle home, which naturally deteriorated. His son spent all his married life incognito on the Continent, discovering only at his wife's death that there was good reason for her reluctance to return to Britain --- she had married him bigamously! He didn't survive her very long, leaving his younger brother to succeed to the Earldom.
It was in this period too that the Countess of Rosebery's sister was lured away while she was visiting Barnbougle. Lord Lovat of Fraser determined to make her his second wife. She spurned his advances, only to fall victim to his hoax message purporting to come from her mother. She found herself in Lord Lovat's presence in what he said was 'a house of evil repute', and to save her reputation, she married him -- and lived to regret it.
The third Earl was just as reluctant to spend money on his castle as was his father and as he lived to be an octogenarian it was a very dilapidated inheritance he passed on to his son. The new Countess felt she had suffered the hardships and inconveniences of Barnbougle long enough, and a year later she ran off with another man. Within three years her ex-husband was bringing his new bride to his equally new home -- Dalmeny House.
His grandson who succeeded him became Prime Minister of the Liberal Government in 1894 when Gladstone resigned. By,this time Barnbougle was a dangerous ruin but instead of having it demolished Lord Rosebery had it renovated and used it as a quiet retreat to study and prepare his speeches. Before coming into the possession of the Roseberys Barnbougle had been the ancient seat of the Mowbrays. The family were deeply involved in the Crusades, serving as Knights Templar, and when that Order degenerated, turned their energies to smuggling, Barnbougle being ideally situated for such a pursuit!
Hound Point which juts out as a headland into the Firth, brings the two coast lines of Fife and West Lothian within two miles of each other. It takes its name from the legend of Sir Roger de Mowbray who went off to fight in the Crusades. As he was leaving his faithful hound looked so mournful and wailed its sorrow so loudly that Sir Roger took it along. After sundry adventures the knight fell in battle. On the night he died a hound was heard to bay all night long on the shore near Barnbougle -- and since then just before a Laird of Barnbougle dies, a hound appears ·on the shore and 'a ghostly baying is heard, a legend which is immortalised in an old ballad:
"And ever when Barnbougle's lords
Are parting this scene below
Come hound and ghost to this haunted coast
With death notes winding slow
CORTACHY CASTLE
The drummer of death
Visitors to Kirriemuir in search of the I birthplace of 1. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, will find themselves not only at the gateway to some of the lovely glens of Angus but also in the heart of Ogilvy country.
When Princess Alexandra married the Honourable Angus Ogilvy in 1963 she was allying herself with a family that can trace its ancestry back a thousand years and more to Pictish times. After Scotland became a united country Ogilvy ancestors emerged as the first Earls of Angus. Their name and lands came into the family as a reward from a grateful William the Lion when the then outlawed Earl of Angus came to his aid when the king was attacked while hunting in the area. From then the Ogilvys were always staunch supporters of the monarchy.
During the next three or four centuries advantageous marriages increased their land in the district, but increased power and influence brought equally powerful enemies. Constant feuding created a need for strongholds and in the glens Airlie House was developed into a castle planning permission granted by James I. In the next century Forter Castle was built by an Ogilvy involved in helping Mary Queen of Scots to escape from Lochleven.
It was a time of raids and counter-raids -- the chief enemies being the Lindsays, the Crawfords and the Campbells. Religion made a good excuse for waging fierce attacks, and when James, 7th Lord Ogilvy, rode off in support of his king in the Civil War and was created 1st Earl of Airlie by an appreciative monarch, back home in Scotland staunch Protestants demanded he should sign the National Covenant. His refusal was all the excuse his arch enemy Argyll needed. He rallied his kinsmen. One group was sent to destroy Forter Castle while he himself marched to pillage Airlie.
The legend of his cruel and callous treatment of the ladies of the castle is commemorated in the ballad "The Bonnie Hoose o' Airlie".
"The Lady looked ower her window sae hie,
An' 0, but she grat sairly,
To see Argyll an' a' his men
Come to plunder the bonnie hoose o' Airlie"
With their strongholds of Airlie, Forter and Craig in ruins, Cortachy Castle, bought about 1623, now became Ogilvy's chief seat. Airlie had his revenge a few years later when he joined forces with Montrose and opportunity came to destroy Argyll's Castle Gloom.
It was to Cortachy a defeated Charles II fled after Dunbar hoping to find support mustered by Airlie. The castle was deserted but a weary King stayed overnight in a room still referred to as the "King's Room". A prized possession of the family is the Prayer Book he left behind. Ogilvy fortunes ebbed and flowed with the Stuarts. After the restoration Cortachy was enlarged, but support of the losing side in both the '15 and '45 ended in the Ogilvy of the day being exiled and honours and title attainted.
Eventually pardon was granted and twenty-two years later the family returned to Cortachy, although the title wasn't restored until 1826. Airlie Castle was rebuilt and is used by the Dowager Countess of Airle while Cortachy is the principal seat of the Earl. Airlie Castle is open by appointment and both Airlie and Cortachy are open under the Scotland's Gardens Scheme.
Cortachy Castle is said to be haunted by a drummer who beats out his summons whenever a member of the Ogilvy family nears death. The drummer met his death by being flung from a window in the castle tower
-- a punishment, some say, for philandering with the Earl's wife. Others claim he intrigued with an attacking enemy and allowed them to approach without beating out his warning to the inmates of the castle.
CRATHES CASTLE
Haunted by killer -- or victim ?
CRATHES CASTLE: One of the most popular castles in the care of the National Trust for Scotland is Crathes in the Grampian Region. Built in the second half 8f the sixteenth century by the Burnetts of Leys its grounds are equally as famous, being more a series of gardens divided by yew hedges planted about 1702.
The ancient Barony of Leys was granted to Alexander de Burnard by Robert the Bruce in 1323 as a token of appreciation of his support, and with it came the post of King's forester. But the king had committed one of these 'faux pas' which could lead to one party being highly offended, for the post was also given to the Irvines of Drum nearby! The matter was settled amicably enough however, for while the Irvines continued to display the official arms of the King's forester -- a silver shield with three holly leaves, the Burnetts, as they came to be known, have incorporated in their Arms a horn. The actual jewelled ivory horn they received from the king is perhaps the most famous of the family heirlooms and has pride of place over the fireplace in the Great Hall.
Their first home was built on an island in the loch of Leys and legend associates the building of Crathes with a tragedy that occurred in their original stronghold. The old laird had died, leaving a wife and an heir, Alexander, who was still a child. The widow Lady Agnes, was a managing domineering woman who had ambitious plans, as the years went past, for her son's marriage with one of the noble families of Scotland.
She wasn't at all pleased when romance blossomed between young Alexander and a relative, a pretty girl called Bertha, who had been left in her care for a few months. Her chance came when Alexander was called away on business that took him some time. As the days and weeks passed the servants noticed his beloved Bertha was pining away. Alexander returned home too late -- his sweetheart had died that day.
All solicitous his mother came to comfort him as he stood by the bier. Alexander stretched out his hand to a nearby goblet of wine. As quick as lightning his mother snatched it from his hand and flung it out of the window, into the loch below. Alexander never said a word -- but, horrified, he knew his mother had poisoned his beloved. The months went past until one day Bertha's father arrived to claim the daughter he had left in their care. As they tried to explain her death a chill came overthe room. Lady Agnes shrieked and pointed, screaming "She comes, she comes" . . . then fell to the floor, dead.
The unhappy memories made Alexander set in motion plans to build a new castle and Crathes was the outcome. But once a year, so they say, on the anniversary of Bertha's death a ghostly figure crosses the country from the site of the old castle of Leys to Crathes. Opinions differ however, as to whether it is the murdered Bertha or her murderer Lady Agnes.
The painted ceilings in three of the bedrooms are famous. The chamber of the Nine Nobles depicts Hector, Alexander and Julius Caesar; Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus; King Arthur, Charlemange and Godfrey de Bouillon each supported by a rhyme or proverb and ending with
"Gude redar tell me or you pass
Whilk of these myn maist valiant was?"
The Green Lady's room is the haunt of another ghost. She is most frequently seen crossing the room carrying a baby, only to disappear at the fireplace. She first made her appearance early in the eighteenth century and legend states she was a young girl living at the castle in the care of the laird. She became pregnant by one of the servants who was ultimately dismissed. The girl and her baby disappeared and rumour said she had eloped with the servant. Then the hauntings began . . . and when workmen were engaged on alterations in the room skeletons were found under the hearthstone . .
DUNROBIN CASTLE
The curse of an earl
DUNROBIN CASTLE: The fairy-tale-like castle facing the North Sea a mile or so north of Golspie in Sutherland is Dunrobin Castle. The Sutherland family can trace their ancestry back to Freskin of Moravia, and one of his descendants, Hugh, migrated to Sutherland in the days of William the Lion, with the 1st Earl of Sutherland being created in 1235.
The oldest part of the castle dates from about 1275 but it was from the strong additions made at the end of the fourteenth century by Robert the 6th Earl that the castle takes its name. He had married the daughter of the infamous Wolf of Bedenoch in 1389 and had to have a fitting and impressive home to offer her.
The ninth Earl inherited a mental weakness and was considered not capable of fulfilling his duties, so was placed in the care of his sister, Lady Elizabeth, until he died. There followed a wrangle over who should
inherit -- his sister or Alexander, a half-bother. Lady Elizabeth won --but it wasn't a desision Alexander was prepared to accept. Local skirmishes took place all over Sutherland until Alexander was killed in one of them and his head borne back on a spear to be displayed on a turret at Dunrobin!
Lady Elizabeth had married a Gordon and insisted on keeping her married name so for the next few generations the Sutherland Earls were Gordons! Some of the would-be competitors for the Earldom who had resented a woman succeeding weren't content to let matters rest, however. When her grandson succeeded Lady Elizabeth, the 'Good Earl John', as he was called, was in exile for taking part in Huntly's Rebellion, but returned to his home in 1567. With his wife and young son he accepted an invitation to dine at Helmsdale Castle. Young Alexander went out hunting and returned to Helmsdale to find his mother dead and his father dying. With his last breath Earl John warned his son not to drink the wine that Lady Isobel Sinclair was offering. At one fell swoop she had planned to be rid of all who stood between the earldom and her son -- but her son, who had also been Out hunting, returned and helped himself to a glass of the poisoned wine!
The Sutherlands were always strong supporters of the Government in the Uprisings. Dunrobin was captured by Bonnie Prince Charlie's supporters in 1746 but the Earl escaped to turn the tables on them and recapture the castle. To Dunrobin belongs the distinction of being the last castle to be taken in war.
Again the Earldom passed to a female, perhaps the best known Sutherland of all, for the Countess Elizabeth was only a year old when she inherited. Again there was the inevitable dispute, but the House of Lords decided in her favour. Most of her early life was spent out of Scotland, her husband being appointed as Ambassador to France. One of the tales told of her recounts her exploits smuggling in clothes to Marie Antoinette in prison.
She and her husband, who was ultimately created 'Duke of Sutherland' were the instigators, with the best of intentions as is now acknowledged, of what became known as the infamous Sutherland Clearances.
In its time the castle has been used as a Naval Hospital during the First World Wax, then later as a boys' boarding school.
The ghost who haunts Dunrobin was a daughter of the fourteenth Earl. In the 1600's Margaret fell in love with someone considered not at all suitable, and strongly resisted her father's attempts to marry her off to the favoured suitor. Foiled in an attempt to elope, Margaret was locked up in the attic. Her maid was allowed to tend her however, and she offered to act as a go-between. On a set night she arranged for Margaret's lover to be at the foot of the wall with horses at the ready, while she smuggled in a rope for the get-away. But the Earl had always suspected that his daughter might try something like this and had set his
own servant to spy.
Just as Margaret was climbing out the window her father burst into the room. Terrified, Margaret lost her grip and plunged to her death. Her lover put a curse on the Earl and Margaret still haunts the upper corridors of the castle, sobbing and wailing for her lost love and her life' brought to such an untimely end.
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