Craigievar Castle

Alford, about twenty five miles west of Aberdeen, in Aberdeenshire. Classic example of a Scottish Baronial castle, seven storeys high and virtually unaltered, with fairy-tale turrets, crow-stepped gables, conical roofs, pink walls and magnificent moulded plaster-work ceilings. Built 1610-26 for Forbes family. Door of musicians' gallery bears arms and initials of first owner; prosperous merchant William Forbes.

The Blue Room in the tower is reputedly haunted by a member of the Gordon clan who fell from the window there. He was forced to his death at sword-point by ‘Red’ Sir John Forbes, a man of some notoriety People have heard the footsteps of the unfortunate Gordon climbing the steps to the Blue Room, as if re-enacting the
moments before his death. One of the other ghosts at Craigievar is said to be very selective in his appearances. It is thought that he is the ghost of a musician, a fiddler who fell into the well at the castle and drowned. He is said to appear only to those who bear the name of Forbes.

If you would like to visit this area as part of a highly personalized small group tour of my native Scotland please e-mail me:

Return to Scottish Castles