Craigievar Castle
Craigievar Castle
Built in the early 17th century, Craigievar Castle has been called ” The epitome of Jacobean Renaissance in Scotland”. William Forbes built the castle next to his families estate to boast of his wealth. But all good things come to an end and the family eventually lost a lot of there money and where forced to sell this luxurious castle. The castle has seen countless deaths and murders since the time of its erection. Some of Craigievar victims however, decided not to leave.
Craigievar,
Alford,
Aberdeen & Grampian
Ghost Hunt at Delgatie Castle
Ghost Hunting At Craigievar Castle
Craigievar Castle was built for the sole purpose of a man to boast his wealth throughout the community, but when the family lost there wealth, it wasn’t long after that there whole world started to collapse. Driving them to the point of insanity, and murder soon followed that.
The Blue Room or better known as The Ghost Room is by far the most active room in the castle, despite the fact the castle in itself is very active. There are reports of frequent disturbances here and staff refuse to enter alone. The Blue room is where a particularly nasty murder take place, and plays host to a particularly nasty poltergeist. Guests have reported hearing an old kind of music coming from within the room and as soon as they enter it suddenly stops. Sudden temperature drops are a common occurrence in this room as well as disembodied footsteps that seem like they are following you on to stairs leading to the room. The poltergeist activity in this room is truly astounding and constant. Objects are sometimes thrown 5ft across the room to shatter of walls and terrify guests, the door opens and then slams shut.
Some guests have reported seeing this phenomenon for 5 minutes non stop with no draft coming from any part of the room of outside of it. Whoever is in here is very angry, tho he doesn’t seem to intend harm on anyways. He is sometimes seen standing by the window where he was thrown from.
The Grounds are also home to alot of reports of apparitions, but one in particular that shows himself constantly and haunts a certain part of the grounds . The Well not to far from the castle is a pleasant enough site, fitting in with the quaint scottish country. But a wandering Fiddler fell down into the wall and never came out. People still hear his music in the dead of night or see him in the plain site sitting on the well looking directly at them. The occasional mans scream has been heard coming from the base of the well also, but even more exciting is that there is another poltergeist haunting Craigievar.
But perhaps the Fiddler is a true poltergeist and just enjoys a bit of fun scaring guests. He constantly flings little stones and bits of earth at passers by and some report to even hear laughter coming from the well whilst they look around trying to find the source of the thrown object. Perhaps not a malicious spirit but defiantly one who doesn’t seem to mind giving us a bit of paranormal evidence.
The Great Hall also has many reports of ghostly going ons. A Man is often seen wandering aimlessly around the hall or seen upon the main staircase looking down as if waiting for someone. And when he is not seen his footsteps are surely heard. We would normally call this off as a residual haunting and not investigate further but things are seen regularly moving along surfaces and being knocked over. One some accounts people have even bumped into someone and when they turn to apologize no one is there. Is this a possible third poltergeist within Craigievar Castle !?
Tho Craigievar Castle looks inviting enough from the outside during the day light. This fairytale castle transforms into an entirely different beast when the sun has vanished from the sky, promising one hell of a night.
Ghosts of Delgatie Castle
Ghosts of Craigievar Castle
. The Fiddler
. Member of the Gordon Clan
Castle Craigievar is no doubt haunted even if all of the spirits cant be named that doesn’t make them any less real. Murder and death shrouds the history of this luxurious castle and the murdered are only to happy to make themselves known
The story of Craigievar Fiddler tells us that he was no more than a wandering musician. And in those times is was well known that these traveling entertainers would often chance knocking of the doors of grand manor houses or castles to see if the lord or lady of the castle required entertainment for the night. So as the fiddler came closer to the castle he simply stopped at the well with the thought of quenching his thirst. But little is known on the circumstance in which he ended up drowning in the bottom of it. Was he pushed or simply a stumble of bad footing. Perhaps we will never know.
But what we do know is that this mischievous musician is still playing his songs around the grounds of Craigievar and enjoys scaring passers by. So the question arises if he simply died by accident why hasn’t he passed on yet ? It would seem alot more likely that a push was involved in this death, that would explain why the spirit decides to remain around the well. There is no doubt that this is an intelligent haunting and intelligent hauntings always have a story behind them.
During the downward spiral of the wealthy Forbes family alot of murders took place. One of the more recognised ones was that of the murder of a member of the rival Gordon Clan, tho a name cant be put to this unfortunate soul. We can be certain that he was flung out of the window of the Blue Room as it was witnessed by many people. Murdered for pure ambition. This is normally a cause for an intelligent haunting. Whoever this man was he is still angry about the circumstance of his death and one night in the Blue Room will convince you of that.
Castle Craigievar plays host to a number of ghosts and a great deal of paranormal activity. But its history is scattered and for the resident ghosts here are to have a name put to them a great deal more investigations is needed.
Craigievar Castle Location
Most Haunted Craigievar Castle
Additional History of Craigievar Castle
It was named after a nearby hill and the original was built sometime in the 14th Century and owned by the Mortimer family. Though this building was never finished and the family was forced to sell it and land to William Forbes of Menie in 1610 due to financial troubles. The building as it appears today commenced in 1610 and in 1626 The Great Tower was built by William Forbes (nicknamed Danzig Willie). From then it had been lived in by the Forbes and Forbes-Sempill family. It was bought by a consortium in 1963 from the Forbes-Sempill family and donated to The National Trust For Scotland in 1963. Touring is timed and organised by guides who take you from each room, describing points of interest about Craigievar Castle history. Some of the stairs are quite narrow and steep.
The Great Hall is the central attraction, with its secret staircase, musician’s gallery and large fireplace with the Stuart Arms. There still survives a collection of family portraits and furniture dating back to the 17th Century. Original painted ceilings remain remarkably preserved. Visitors can travel the secret staircase of the Laird which was used as an escape route from The Hall to the top of the Tower.
At the main staircase you can see the coat of arms which dates back to 1668 and delivers the Forbes family motto: “Doe not vaiken sleeping dogs.” Take note of the only entrance and how narrow it and the staircase are - though many a Forbes family member entered by the door - they all left by a window as it was too narrow a building to carry a coffin out! Though this only entrance did make it easier to defend and Craigievar Castle never fell in battle, even during the fiercest clan attacks.