Leith Hall
Leith Hall
Leith Hall has been named the most haunted building in Aberdeen for a reason. This location is haunted by all manner of spirits and theres alot of them. Poltergeist activity, ghostly children, potentially demonic presence and interactive full body apparitions. It is no wonder Leith Hall has attracted so much attention from the media and famed ghost hunters. Not to mention the public executions on the Hanging Tree within in the grounds and a long bloody and brutal history of murder. Leith Hall has got a hell of alot going on here even when nobody is looking.
Leith Hall,
Huntly,
Aberdeenshire
Ghost Hunt at Leith Hall
Ghost Hunting At Leith Hall
Leith Hall is the most haunted location in Aberdeen and possibly in scotland. With such an extensive list of documented paranormal events, this location is hard to ignore. Leith Hall in its entirety is active both day and night but there are some rooms more active than others.
The Master Bedroom has played host to many recognised names throughout the years. One in particular was Elizabeth Bryed, a famed paranormal writer in her day. She rented out the entire east wing of the building in order to experience the haunting of Leith Hall in its whole. In her time here she slept in the Master Bedroom with her husband and the disturbances she, her husband and countless others witnessed was nothing short of phenomenal.
All Guests would pass this room in particular and get a overwhelming sense of threat and presence, and it is still the same in the modern day with few people entering willingly. For some reason this sense of terror came of the ancient bed in the centre of the room, this bed in particular had been there for a very very long time. Vivid nightmares are a normal occurrences whilst sleeping in this bed. People report of the same nightmare always, a distorted face bending over them then either strangling them with its long white fingers or smothering them with a pillow. After this nightmares, shockingly guests and Elizabeth woke up countless times to discover harsh bruises around there neck.
Whatever is in this room we can be certain its of the lowest kind of spirit. During her time here Elizabeth brought her faithful pooches along but they refused to enter, they would just stand in the doorway growling. There are constant and sudden temperature drops in the master bedroom to the point where you can see your breath in front of your face. Temperature drops are a sign a spirit is about to manifest.
Strangely enough Elizabeth saw two spirits in the Master Bedroom during her stay here, A stump man with a green coat and pants, a grizzly black beard and a dirty bandage wrapped around his head. In reaction Elizabeth screamed ” Go Away, Go Away! ” and surely enough the man walked straight through a dressing table and out the window. Another apparition was that off a young lady in victorian dress. She would wander aimlessly around the room whilst Elizabeth watch with terror from under the sheets. The lady would show up and the room would stink of food or camphor and the sound of clicking crystals could be heard. All of this activity is still frequent and constantly reported today.
The East Wing in itself in very haunted. It would seem the spirits from the bedroom are not just confined to that room. Violent poltergeist activity is continuous here. Large and heavy objects are often lifted from there places and flung across the room to smash off walls, that’s when they aren’t being aimed at the living. But there is also something else here. Children are seen in this part of the building both day and night playing together. “When you cant see them you can hear them” Elizabeth reported and that’s constant today. Light footsteps are heard all over Leith Hall running, there are even reports of people being nudged from the waist upon hearing the footsteps running towards them. There running and laughter however has a warmer feel than that of the master bedroom.
The Hanging Tree, discovered by Most haunted’s Derek Acorah is a new part of Leith Hall where activity is rife. Used for public executions, the rope marks on the branches can still be seen today. That is a strong sign more than one person was killed here. A grey mist is reported to linger around the tree and the main staircase which blocks your path, upon approaching the mist people have been known to suddenly and violently vomit. Which also comes with a sense of absolute fear. Cries of fear and pain still resonate from the tree in the black of night. The hopeless men and women still calling out for any form of hope.
Leith Hall a very rare and special place, with this level of activity. It stands strong as Aberdeen’s most haunted location. Most of the activity reported above is present around the entire hall. And it occurs regularly. We cant be sure what it is here, but nightmares and marks are always a sign for something demonic. Not just angry.
Ghosts of Leith Hall
Ghosts of Leith Hall
. John Leigh III
. Henrietta Leith Hay ?
. Leiths Phantom Children
Leith Hall is residence to a great number of spirits but not all of them can be named at the moment. But that doesn’t make them any less present.
John Leigh III is Leith Hall’s most famous ghost. John was shot in the head in a drunken brawl at Archie Campbell’s Tavern in 1763. However he did not die until christmas day some days later. The spirit that is seen most often is the man with the dirty bandages around his head. His appearance fits perfectly to John Leigh. But is he responsible for the violent attacks and nightmares ? Of Course we can think that he would still be angry about his murder but that would give reason for him to attack strangers. Or perhaps he simply doesn’t like intruders in his ancestral home, but in life he was described as a proud but gentle and controlled man. So again this just doesn’t fit the description.
The events described do seem to add up to demonic activity. As they are well known for manipulated dreams or giving a place a unreasoned sense of internal terror. Demons are attracted by all of the darkest deeds. With the hanging tree just outside and countless deaths taking place there. It seems a logical explanation. Or perhaps there are some more sinister secrets to Leith Hall that the owners do not want the public to know. Whatever happend to attack this thing you can be sure it was not pleasant.
Other known ghosts of Leith Hall are the victorian lady and the spectral children. The victorian lady could be the ghost of Henrietta Leith Hay. But there is not alot of historical records on this lady. All we know is that the time period fits as well as the victorian era dress. The children can not be accounted for unfortunately. Both of which show strong evidence to be only residual hauntings however. Which are just living memories and not intelligent like our friend John. But Darker entities are well known for disguising himself as children to gain the trust of the living, making it easier to latch on. Which ultimately is there goal. So always be wary of the ghost of a child reaching out for help. It could have a drastic outcome.
Leith Hall is so incredibly haunted that paranormally activity of all kinds have been recorded for 100’s of years and are still being recorded today. This location is one of the few that without a doubt earns a 5* rating.
Leigh Hall Location
Leith Hall Ghosts
Most Haunted Leith Castle
The Death of Leith Hall
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| Leith Hall, Rhynie, the home of the Leith-Hays |
The Laird of Leith-Hall near Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, John Leith was enjoying himself after been in town to pay his bills at the Martinmas term, but his journey home again would be his last. The ballad featuring the murder of this landowner was collected by folklorist, Peter Buchan in 1829 for his collection of British folk song, “from a respectable tradesman’s wife who recollects the circumstance”.
Basically, the worthies from the shire were having a booze-up in the local tavern, the New Inn, which is now the Archibald Simpson bar, reconstructed from the Clydesdale Bank which Archie Simpson designed, and things got out of hand:
“but how the quarrel did begin/So what happened to Leith-Hall? Lairds, like farmers were often known by the name of their estate, as was the murderer, James Abernethy of Mayen who shot the fatal pistol ball into John Leith’s head outside on the Plainstanes of Aberdeen’s Castlegate. 21 December, 1763.
there’s no-one there to know/
but a dowie quarrel for Leith-Hall/
It proved his overthrow!”
Our protagonists were men in their thirties with young families, you’d think they knew better? It was clearly a case of the good Scots phrase “Fan drink’s in, wit’s oot!”
John Leith, the third of that name was married to Harriet Stuart; his sons, John and Alexander were 6 and 5 at the time of their father’s death, their brother James was still in his mother’s pregnant belly.
Mayen, also a family man to James, Jane, Isobel, Helen and Anne was married to Jane Duff. His mother was part of the Moirs of Stoneywood in Dyce, a venerable family. His uncle was equally distinguished as the heir of the Byres of Coates family in Edinburgh. Patrick Byres, though born in Ireland, had inherited his Scots cousins’ estate in the early eighteenth century. He was married to the sister of James Abernethy’s mother, Jean.
It would seem that Patrick played a greater part in the drama than the balladier knew; that would come out at the abortive murder trial of May 1764. Byres was a 50-year old Jacobite who had fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden and escaped to France to avoid arrest. He was able to return and avoid his estate being forfeited by taking advantage of the English authorities. His friends said, no, no, this is Peter Byres, he’s not a Jacobite, you’ve got him wrong. Using the English form of his name, Patrick snuck back to Edinburgh and thence to Aberdeenshire to rejoin his wife and family. On the night of the murder, he was one of the “four and twenty gentlemen” that the balladier tells us was “birling at the wine.”
Archibald Campbell was the licencee of the New Inn at the time where the quarrel broke out between Leith-Hall and Mayen. This tavern had been founded in 1755 by local freemasons who felt a replacement was needed for Skipper Scott’s tavern which had stood in what was now Peacock’s Close. Patrick Byres was a boy of two back in Dublin, when this other old Jacobite, Alexander Scott had invited the exiled Prince James to dine with him during the Fifteen Rebellion. But though the Leiths and Abernethys may have supported that cause, Mayen’s loud mouth ensured that petty jealousy would destroy any future relationship between the families.
Joseph Robertson, author of the first Book of Bon Accord, a history of Aberdeen, states that the reason for the quarrel had been forgotten in the stir following, as does the ballad, but the folk of Leith Hall state that Mayen had accused Leith-Hall of adulterating the grain sold from his barns, providing a cheaper product for the same money. Naturally John leapt to his own defence. Mayen stormed outside, and one of the men left in the inn warned Leith-Hall he had better take care for his own safety that night.
In the Castlegate, the ballad tells us “Cruel Mayen followed him /And shot him through the brow/ He left him lying in his wounds/ the blood was gushing down”. John Leith was found bleeding from a wound in his forehead by his servants and friends; he was transported home to Rhynie to a sorrowful reception by his wife and children according to the ballad. Mrs Leith would have been distraught knowing if John died, his six year old son would become a minority laird, causing uncertainty to the whole estate. Sadly he did not recover and reputedly died on Christmas Day.
Mayen meanwhile had skipped the country with Patrick Byres’ help. The editor of the 1840 Black Kalendar of Aberdeen – the record of court cases in the city – noted that “the quarrel between Leith-Hall and Mayen might have been settled but for the interference of Patrick Byres of Tonley who urged Mayen to the deed and even loaded his pistol, it is certain he left the country along with Mayen.”
- Mayen never returned to Scotland, his son who inherited died young with no family
- John Leith’s son, John died of TB in 1776, his brother Alexander succeeded, and inherited the estate of the Hay family, thus became the first laird of Leith Hall know as Sandy Leith-Hay, lived to the age of 75
- Patrick lived on and still caused trouble; years after the murder, he had a sword-duel with Alexander Leith of Freefield a cousin of John Leith’s, at the Bridge of Alford, they argued over a new road; their friends broke it up
- One of the pistol balls that Mayen fired was said to have stuck in a lamppost for many years after the incident
- John’s spirit was seen right up into the mid-twentieth century wandering around Leith Hall, with his head covered in a dirty bandage, wearing green trousers and dark-blue shirt, his face contorted with pain
Just vengeance fall from Heaven’s high/ And light on Mayen’s head.The moral of the story is, don’t go drinking with people who might actually wish you bodily harm!