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Glamis
Castle
Located
just over five miles south of the town of Forfar in Angus, Glamis
Castle was originally a 14th century keep which has been extended
extensively over the years. Macbeth was Thane of Glamis but
did not own the castle. King Malcolm II is reputed to have been
murdered in the castle (with blood stains on the floor of "King
Malcolm's Room" to prove the claim).
In the 15th
century the lands were held by Sir John Lyon, Chancellor of
Scotland who married the daughter of King Robert II. The castle
is still held by the Lyon family, now elevated to the Earls
of Strathmore and Kinghorne. The 9th Earl became a Bowe-Lyon
when he married a Yorkshire heiress. It is the childhood home
of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the birthplace
of Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret and the legendary
setting of Shakespeare's play "Macbeth". Though the
Castle is open to visitors it remains a family home.
The castle
has the reputation of being the most haunted in Britain, including
"Earl Beardie", the 4th Earl of Crawford who is said
to have played cards with the Devil in a walled-up room. There
is a large park, nature trail and garden and statues of Kings
James VI and Charles I still survive. In addition to the castle,
there are exhibition rooms, four shops and a restaurant. Nearby,
the Angus Folk Museum a less opulent but nevertheless an interesting
attraction. There is a Pictish cross-slab in Glamis village
manse called "King Malcolm's Stone".
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