Day 15: Glamis Castle
Scotland's most beautiful castle, Glamis has a dark history. Called the most haunted place in the UK, the legends of Glamis include many ghosts, a vampire and even a monster. The residence of the late Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and the birthplace of the late Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, the castle claims as many ghosts as royal visitors, some apparently seen by the Queen Mother herself.
The ghost stories are easy to imagine as fact. Many shady things went on in the castles and stately homes in the past. in Glamis, there was a serving maid who stumbled upon a terrible secret that involved the Earl. When the silly girl threatened to expose the secret, the Earl ordered her tongue cut out so she could never reveal it. Seen in the windows at times, she is often seen wandering the grounds gesturing to her injured face, blood pouring from her mouth. She is known as the Tongueless Woman.
The Grey Lady is believed to be Janet Douglas. who was Lady Glamis in the early 16th Century. Janet was accused of poisoning her first husband, John Lyons, in 1528. However she was cleared of the crime and married again. In July 1537 she was accused of planning to poison King James V of Scotland and communicating with her brothers, who were part of several conspiracies towards the King. Despite there being no evidence she was imprisoned and her family and servants were tortured to 'find the truth'. Janet was convicted and burned as a witch. She now haunts the family chapel and clock tower.
The Hanged Butler is the ghost of a butler who hanged himself. The room in which he committed suicide is The Hangman's Chamber and has not been used since.
The African Servant Boy is believed to be a mistreated servant from the 18th century. He has been seen many times sitting on the stone seat by the door of the Queen Mum's bedroom. The story goes he was often made to sit on a stone seat and think about what he had done whenever he did anything wrong. One cold winter's night, everyone went to bed and no-one dismissed him. He was found still on the seat the next morning, frozen to death. He is mischievous and trips people walking by the room and rips the bed clothes off people who slept in the dressing room. The dressing room has since been converted into a bathroom.
The haunted chamber is a room that at one times was walled up. In 1486 the Ogilvy clan sought shelter from their enemies the Lindsays, unaware the Lindsay family were friends of Lord Glamis. They were imprisoned in the room by Lord Glamis who had the room bricked up and left the to die of starvation. It was reopened when strange noises were heard to be coming from the room and it was opened. Inside were skeletons which lay twisted and contorted form the agony of starvation. It is believed that some had resorted to cannibalism while starving in the room. Even today the room is said to bring unease to some people. There is even a rumour that the room was actually bricked up again and the skeletons are still in there. The chamber we are told is the room they died in is the scene of other crimes of the family.
The most infamous ghost that haunts Glamis is Earl Beardie. The two men he has been identified as are Alexander Lyons. 2nd Earl Glamis and Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford. Most believe Alexander Lindsay is the more likely culprit. The story says that Lord Lindsay was a cruel and twisted alcoholic who did many horrible things. He once had a black servant strip and run through the ground as the Earl, his guests and their hunting dogs, chased the young man until he was caught and torn apart. Some believe this unfortunate young man is a ghost himself who can be seen wandering the corridors.The legend says that when the Earl visited the castle one Sunday he expressed a wish to play cards with someone. As no-one would join him, as it was the Sabbath, he furiously claimed that if none of them would play he would challenge the devil himself. There was a knock at the door and a stranger in black arrived and agreed to play cards with the Earl. They disappered in a room together where much shouting and swearing could be heard. When a servant looked through the keyhole to find out what was going on he was blinded by a bright light. It is said the stranger was the devil who won the earl's soul in a game and as punishment for playing on the sabbath, the Earl is condemned to play cards until Doomsday. The west tower of the castle, the alleged sight of the card game, is plagued by shouting, swearing, stomping feet and banging doors. The most chilling sounds people hear is the rattling of dice as the earl gambles away his soul. There have also been reports of children waking to find a dark figure looming over them, people seeing a bearded man wandering he castle And some even claim to have had physical contact with the condemned Earl.
Alongside the ghosts of Glamis there is also the story of a vampire, a monster and other unlucky and supernatural forces at work.
The haunted cup is a silver cup in the shape of a lion. The cup can hold nearly a whole bottle of wine and visitors were often made to drain the cup in one go before they left. It is supposed to bring bad luck to both the castle and the family but no-one knows where it came from or why it has such a sinister reputation.
The River Dean is a stream that runs through the grounds of Glamis. Locals call it the Dowie Dean, dowie meaning 'doleful' or 'sinister'. While there are no confirmed accounts of anything bad happening there, it has a dark rhyme attached to it.
"The Dowie Dean it runs it's leane (alone), and ilka year it taks eane"
Some say the stream takes a life every year, others say every other year and others say every seven years. It is unclear why, it does not seem to have the water kelpies other Scottish rivers claim. However many people believe that it's best to avoid it, lest the stories are true and you drown.
The vampire legend says that a vampiric child is born to every generation of the family.
The Monster of Glamis
The monster of Glamis is a tale all it's own. Some believe it is an actual monster concealed in the vaults that roams about at night. Some people believe it's just another spook tale connected to Glamis but many these days believe that the monster was actually Thomas Lyon-Bowes.
Thomas was the first born son of the 11th Earl of Glamis. Officially, Thomas was born and died on 21st October 1821. Many believe however, that Thomas did not die but was so hideously deformed that the Earl and his wife decided to conceal him in the castle away from the world and give his birthright to their future son. While this may sound incredibly cruel, many families in those days that had children who were malformed or had learning difficulties, would simply send them to an asylum and forget about them. This actually happened to two of Queen Elizabeth II's cousins. With misunderstanding and prejudice (people with learning difficulties were simply called 'imbeciles') it was best that no-one knew of Thomas' existence. However, it is said that Thomas deformity was merely superficial and he was completely sound of mind. As such, he was educated and treated fairly well. It seems that the family treated Thomas, the monster, better than many families would have treated such a child in those days. He was an embarrassment yes, but he was still their son. It is believed he was concealed in a private room and taken outside for fresh air and exercise at night and allowed out on the parapets of the castle where he would be out of sight. It is believed he was sighted at times and dismissed as a ghost. It is believed a workman witnessed the sight of him in 1865 and on reporting seeing 'something' at the end of a corridor was encouraged to emigrate to Australia, his passage paid for by the Earl. There were people who visited Glamis and came back home with a secret. It is possible Thomas was encountered by people beseeched to keep quiet. It is believed by many that Thomas was the 'monster' of Glamis. He was well brought up and cared for but spent his life concealed in his own rooms where he died at a grand old age. There is a rumour that the room was then bricked up so the secret would never be discovered. There are many stories of concealed and closed off rooms in Glamis and there is an account of towels being placed from every window and some windows being devoid of towels when people looked outside, these windows belonging to concealed rooms. This account has never been verified though and there are varying accounts of where these bare windows were and their number.
The last story of Glamis is the terrible secret. This was a secret told to the heir of Glamis on their 21st birthday. It could have been about Glamis or the family and it will now never be known. Some think the secret was that of Thomas and, as he has died, there is no need for it anymore. There are three stories though, that say the secret itself still exists but the family no longer knows what it is. One story is that the last Earl to know it thought it too terrible to tell his son and therefore he didn't share it and he took it to the grave. Another is that the 14th Earl refused to hear it, did not want to know the terrible secret and his father, respecting his wishes, didn't share it. Another is that it was always passed from the Earl to his oldest son but when the last person to know the secret was killed in the war there was no-one to tell it to his brother. Apparently, the 13th Earl of Glamis, possibly the last person to know th secret said once
" If you could even guess the nature of this castle's secret, you would get down on you knees and thank God it was not yours"
Glamis Castle has more than it's fair share of horror stories. There are ghosts I haven't mentioned as I don't know their backstory, such as the ghostly face at the window, the old woman carrying a bundle, the hammering at night, screams from empty rooms I think there's a green lady as well. By all means look into them yourself, or do what I plan to do; go to Glamis and try to spot one yourself. Even if you don't believe in ghosts it really is a beautiful place and I'm sure it would be quite the conversation starter to say you've been to the most haunted place in Britain.
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