The Secrets and Hauntings of Glamis Castle

The Glamis Castle, the ancestral home of the Lyon, and later on, of the Bowes-lyon family. It is located in Angus, Scotland near the village of Glamis, 5 miles west of Forfar.

One of the things that it is most famous for is that it was the setting for Shakespear's "Macbeth". Among the oldest and most haunting parts of the castle is Duncan's Hall, which commemorates the slaying of King Duncan by Macbeth. Although the actual killing took place near Elgin, this is the traditional Shakespearean scene of the crime.

At the head are the Earls of Strathmore, who, though ennobled three times before, became Scottish Earls in 1677 and UK Earls only in 1937, when Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Duchess of York, became Queen of England. And later, Queen Elizabeth, best known as the Queen Mother, who's childhood home was Glamis.

Glamis Castle was where Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's daughter was born. In 1034, King Malcolm II, after being seriously wounded in a nearby battle was taken to a Royal Hunting Lodge, which sat at the site of the present Castle, and here, he died. The Castle was visited by Mary Queen of Scots on August 22, 1562. It is also infamous for its secret chamber, which is said to be known only to the Laird and his heir.

The Castle was also said to be full of legends and secrets.

The Secret Chamber

There are many legends and tales surrounding Glamis Castle, one of them is the secret room or chamber that is hidden deep within the castle walls.

The secret chamber is thought to be located deep in the thickness of the crypt walls on the left as you face the two small windows at the end of a hallway (see picture to the left).

It is said that The Lord of Glamis and "Tiger" Earl of Crawford played cards with the Devil himself on Sabbath. So great were the resulting disturbances that the room was permanently sealed up 300 years later.

The second story was about Earl Beardie, who was a guest in Glamis Castle.

One night he was drunk, and he demanded to play cards. However, it was the sabbath so his hosts refused. Lord Beardie was so furious that he claimed that he would play with the Devil himself. A stranger turned up at the castle and inquired if Lord Beardie wanted a partner to play cards with. They began to play in one of the rooms. Later, the servants heard yelling and curses coming from the room. One peeped through the keyhole, and the story goes that a blast of light through that keyhole blinded him. The stranger disappeared, taking the Earl's soul with him.

Later, many have claimed to hear shouting and the sound of dice rolling. It is claimed that the Earl is still playing cards with the Devil and this seems to last for eternity. Due to the disturbances, the room was permanently sealed up later.

It is also said that the chamber contains the bones of Scottish clansmen who sought refuge from enemies. They were admitted by the lord of Glamis, and led to this chamber. The doors and windows were bricked in and the clansmen were left to starve to death.

Another story tells of a stonemason who accidentally went inside the room, the horrors he saw were so great that they caused him to die from shock. The stonemason's wife was given several thousand dollars compensation, and packed off to Australia to prevent any scandal.

The White Lady

There was this story of a prominent Edinburgh lawyer who was driving to Glamis on a visit, he and some friends had been invited to dinner there. As they drove into the castle grounds they saw the shadowy figure of a woman dressed in white. To their astonishment she glided along so swiftly she kept pace with the car-and accompanied them right up to the castle doors. Then she vanished. At first they thought she was one of the maids out for an evening stroll. But they were soon informed that all the maids were indoors that night. However, because of the strange appearance of the woman and the speed and manner with which she had moved, the lawyer admitted that he believed she had been a ghost.

This ghost is believe to be of the Lady of Glamis who became Lady Campbell after her husband's death. A trumped-up charge of witchcraft was bought against her by the cruel and wicked Monarch James V. Although she was a woman of impeccable character and a very beautiful and popular lady, she was imprisoned. After a long imprisonment in a dark dungeon, she came out almost blind. She was burned alive at the stake outside Edinburgh Castle. Even her young son was condemned to death and imprisoned only to be released after the king had died.

Her ghost known as "The White Lady" has haunted Glamis Castle for hundreds of years.

The Gray Lady

Other than the White Lady, there is also another ghost called the Gray Lady, who roams the castle and the grounds. No one knows about her as history does not record anything about her sad past. She is a complete mystery.

The only story given to visitors by castle tour guides states that one seat in the chapel is always reserved for the "Grey Lady". According to the guides, the chapel is still used regularly for family functions, but regardless, no one is allowed to sit in that seat.

This could have been laughing matter, however, more than 100 people present in the castle on one occasion saw her glide past them.

The Small Boy

Another ghost, a small boy servant, is often seen waiting patiently on a stone seat just inside the Queen Mothers Sitting Room.

The Ghost in Armor

A woman guest once saw a Ghost in Armor. One night as she could not sleep, she kept a candle burning, and during the night a chilly blast swept through the room, blowing out the candle. The woman looked around and she saw the huge figure of a man in a suit of mail armor, silhouetted against the glow of a night light, which was burning in her baby's room, and glowed through the open adjoining door. The specter seemed to be seeking some way into the child's room, and on finding the door it went in.

Seconds later, the mother heard her child screaming with terror.

Frantically the mother rushed into the room, but the child was alone, sobbing out something about a giant who had come into the room and leaned over her face.

The Monster of Glamis Castle

The most famous legend connected with the castle is that of the Monster of Glamis, a hideously deformed child born to the family. In the story, the monster was kept in the castle all his life and his suite of rooms bricked up after his death. Another monster is supposed to have dwelt in Loch Calder near the castle.

An alternate 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.

The legend of the monster may have been inspired by the true story of the Ogilvies. Somewhere in the sixteen-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.

Other Poltergeist Phenomena

Another guest saw on a moonlit night as he was gazing out of his bedroom window another window directly opposite. Looking back at him from there was another face. This did not alarm him. He knew there were other guests staying at the castle. Then he took a second look at the face and noticed what he had not observed before. The face was too transparent and misty to be that of a human and as he looked at the sad face of the ghost and wished there was something he could do to help it, it disappeared. Shortly after the face disappeared, he heard a faint, horrifying scream coming across from the window, he thought that it sounded like a man being tortured. He then saw a bent figure of an old woman carrying a heavy bundle across the grounds below. The woman walked a few steps then disappeared.

The late Sir David Bowes-Lyon, while taking a late stroll on the lawn after dinner, 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.

Once again another woman guest awoke at about 4:00am by the sound of loud hammering. The sound continued for some time and kept on going as she fell asleep. She told the hosts about her experience the next morning and was surprised to be told by them that she was not to mention this incident again.

Analysis

Considering the history of the castle, there are reasons why certain spirits tends to reside in the castle. One is the unjustifiable deaths that took place. Second, is due to its antiquity. Base on our experience, houses and castles for that matter, become haunted as it grows old for some unknown reason.

As for the secret chamber theory, we find the lord of Glamis and the devil tale to be too superstitious, same as with the Monster of Glamis story. The Ogilvies story is the most widely accepted story that points to the existence of a secret chamber. We've chosen this story because first of all, it is the most widely accepted one, and second, because it's the story closest to reality. The point of why we should consider factual evidence first is to distinguish which one is normal and which one is paranormal. Of course, since we're living in a physical world, the paranormal should only be a secondary cause.

The White and Grey Lady sounds like spirits other than ghosts. Same as with the other poltergeist phenomena, and they also seem non-malevolent. A good entity since there were no signs of aggression, particularly to the house owner and the visitors. But, it's also a possibility that there are stranded souls in the place since there were people who died in certain spots of this castle. This sometimes causes residual hauntings.