Glamis Castle
Glamis by Forfar Angus DD8 1RJ Scotland
Tel: +44 (0) 1307 840393
Website : www. glamis-castle. co. uk
Glamis Castle offers a potpourri of paranormal activity and tales. The castle has several ghosts to its legend (including a White Lady and a Gray Lady), a monster, a vampire, and a woman accused of witchcraft who was burned at the stake. The castle has been in the Lyons family since 1372, when the land was presented to the family by Robert of Bruce. Castle construction began around 1400 and continued for centuries as the family added on to the majestic building.
Royalty did not always favor the Lyon family. In the 1537, Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis, was accused of using sorcery to try to kill King James V. She was burned at the stake in Edinburgh and is said to be the "White Lady" who haunts the castle grounds and especially its clock tower.
Another legend of the castle involves the Earl of Crawford and the devil. Apparently, the earl loved to play cards, and one Sunday he could find no one to gamble with him because even the servants were afraid to gamble on the Church's day of rest. In a drunken stupor, the earl allegedly exclaimed that he would play cards with the devil himself. Then a knock came at the door, and a tall man dressed in black walked in to play cards. The door was shut and servants heard shouting and swearing from within the room. One servant was said to put his eye up to the keyhole to try and see what was happening, but was blinded by the fire and light that shot out. The earl came out to reprimand the servant, and when he turned around, the man in black was gone. A few years later, the earl died. The folklore says the room had such an aura of evil that they sealed it off. For many years, the family and staff reported hearing footsteps and shouts coming from inside the room where they believed the devil and the earl were still playing cards.
There is also a "Gray Lady" at Glamis who has been seen wandering the grounds. Though her identity in life is a mystery, she's been spotted walking around outside the castle for many years.
The vampire in the castle's legend is said to be that of a servant woman—when she was discovered, she was sealed in a secret room.
The "monster" of Glamis is a curious bit of folklore that began in 1821 with the first son of the Earl of Strathmore. According to the legends, the boy was born in Glamis but was severely deformed. The boy was said to have no neck, undersized arms and legs, and had the overall appearance of a large egg. He was also said to be covered with hair. The family expected the child to die, so they hid him in a secret chamber within the castle and announced to everyone that the child was stillborn. But the child didn't die. The boy, who was the true heir to the castle, grew up and remained a hidden secret in the castle. As each of the earl's other sons reached the age of 21, they were shown their hideous brother who was still living in the castle. After seeing the deformed man, each son lived an unhappy existence the rest of his days. Supposedly this "monster" lived for a century and died in the 1920s.
The lore is as much a part of Glamis Castle's history as are the real royal figures who have called these grounds home. Today the castle is most renowned as the childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who became Queen Elizabeth and mother of the current queen.