Description of Place: Glamis Castle is one of the few fully restored castles in Scotland. It is a considerable stone and brick structure with turrets, battlements, towers and numerous rooms, suites and galleries. It requires a considerable staff of housekeepers and contractors to keep it maintained.

Ghostly Manifestations: It is believed that virtually all of the castles in Scotland have at least one ghost and Glamis Castle is undoubtedly one of them. Known as one of the most haunted castles in Britain, Glamis certainly has more stories and legends attached to it than any other castle in the British Isles, perhaps with the exception of Hermitage Castle in the Scottish Borders and perhaps Stirling Castle to the southwest. According to legend, the castle is haunted because of an ancient curse brought upon the family by Sir John Lyon, who removed an ancestral chalice from their seat at Forteviot where it was supposed to preside into eternity.

Among the popular ghosts of the castle is that of the Grey Lady who prowls the chapel and generally serves as a distraction for visitors. Also said to appear above the clock tower, her visage, or at least her presence, has been seen by a number of visitors spanning three centuries. It is not known if she is the same female ghost who wanders the grounds and looks out forlornly from the barred windows. If this is a separate specter, this ghost might have reached a somewhat tortured end in life. She has appeared to servants and visitors pointing to her mutilated face.

The house staff has also made references at several times of a young black boy sitting in an old stone seat by the door of the Queen’s bedroom, but it is quite obvious that he is more a part of the next world than this one. Stories going back ten generations remark on a young Negro servant who was badly treated two hundred years and still returns to his job fearful of his masters.

Another entertained occupant of the castle is that of old Hamish whose loud steps have been heard reverberating and echoing off the walls for some time. During oft days in the winter months, he can be heard bellyaching and screaming through the castle. Enough to distress any logic-minded individual, Hamish had been seen several times and once photographed in full Scottish regalia. Distant Scottish music is said to signal the appearance of his spectral funeral procession, six dark figures carrying a blackened coffin across the grounds.

The hideous presence in the castle moat might be Watery Angus. First seen in 1843, he likes to float atop the water covered in decaying vegetable matter and try to grab and pull down anyone foolish enough to notice him.

Perhaps the most resounding piece of folklore that crops up is the story of a secret room in the castle harboring a dreadful secret. At one time, a towel is said to have been hung from every window in the castle, but from the outside, a window without a towel was observed and suggested a hidden room in the castle. Rumors are that it was built to conceal the first son of the Eleventh Earl who had been born horribly deformed. The malformed young man was hidden away and kept a secret from a second son who was born normal. The secret of the hidden room was passed down to each heir on his twenty-first birthday until it was forgotten altogether.

Another version is that the room concealed card players and revelers including Earl Beardie, Lord Crawford, from nearby Finavon Castle and members of the Ogilvys hiding from the Lindsay family. Beardie was a cruel and indulgent man and one night after a heavy drinking session with the Earl of Glamis, he began shouting for a partner to play him a game of cards. As it was the Sabbath, no one wanted to playing until a dark figure in black rose up to be his partner. The two retired to a room in the castle, slammed the door shut and starting playing as the castle rocked from their swearing and shouting. A servant trying to sneak a peek through the keyhole was struck blind. Earl Beardie was found the next morning dead, possibly losing his soul in the game, and the room was sealed up to contain the unholy transaction.

A recent legend tells of a workman hired to make renovations to the castle, but he accidentally broke through a wall and revealed a passage to the hidden room. He was paid off royally to keep his silence and leave the country. The wall was sealed and the room once more conveniently forgotten.

Beardie’s ghost is supposed to roam the castle; children often notice him as he leans over their beds. Lady Elphinstone, sister of the Queen Mother, was very frightened as a young girl when she awoke one morning and saw him hovering over her bed.

History: Glamis Castle is the historic seat of the Bowes-Lyons family, the lands presented to them as a gift by Robert the Bruce in 1372. William Shakespeare used the castle as his location in his play of MacBeth; the murder of King Malcolm the Second is supposed to have occurred in one of the rooms. It is highly unlikely as the castle dates from the 14^th Century and the murder from the 11th Century.

The Bowes-Lyon family still owns the castle as the Earls of Strathmore, its members include the Queen Mother, who was born at Glamis and gave birth to the Princess Margaret here. The main keep of the castle dates from the 14th Century, and the majestic towers and turrets were added in recent years.

Identity of Ghosts: For all the ghosts of the castle, only a mild few have actually been connected to historically accurate characters. The Grey Lady has long been believed to be Lady Janet Douglas, burned at the stake as a witch on Castle Hill near Edinburgh in 1537. It has long been presumed the charges were fabricated for political motives. Similarly, Hamish Rue Glamis, the ninth Laird of Glamis, was executed for treason after being betrayed by a member of the Ruthven Family. Hamish might have been turned over that Angus Rue Glamis would replace him as lord, but this cannot be verified and is most likely erroneous. Angus’s spirit has been seen several times in the moat where he died.

A psychic visiting the castle in 1998 was coaxed into identifying some of the unidentified ghosts. In addition to the previously established names, she sensed the spirit of a young man named William Robinson and his mentor, a wily and crafty figure she named as Zachary Smith. Although she felt Smith was related to the Ruthven family, no documentation has ever been found to suggest either personage has ever existed.

Source/Comments: Lost in Space (Episode: “The Astral Traveler”) - Hauntings, history and description patterned and based upon the actual Glamis Castle.