Crathes Castle
Crathes
Castle
Near
Banchory, Grampian Region
This
early 17th century castle was built for the Burnet Family
and it took nearly 40 years before it was finally ready to
be lived in. It is haunted by the ghost of a Green Lady, who
particularly haunts the room known as the Green Lady's Room.
It
is thought that the Green Lady could be the ghost of one of
the Burnet Family's daughters, who in the early 1700's brought
disgrace upon the family by giving birth to an illegitimate
child, the father of whom was the local gillie. He was dismissed
from his job and ordered away from the local area but there
is more of a mystery surrounding the girl and her child because
they simply vanished from the face of the earth, conveniently
to protect the "good" name of the family.
In
the middle of the 19th century, whilst modernisation work
was being carried out at the castle, the skeleton of a woman
and a young baby were found together under a hearthstone and
this added weight to the feeling that mother and child had
been murdered by their own family. It is known that in the
18th century the Burnet Family were absolutely terrified of
ghosts, especially, one is forced to assume, when the ghosts
were created by their own actions.
In
the meantime the Green Lady is still a regular visitor to
the castle although in these days she is heard more than she
is seen. When she is seen she is normally observed holding
her baby in her arms, mainly in the Green Lady Room, but also
near the old fireplace where their pitiful remains were to
be discovered 150 years after their disappearance. She is
normally seen immediately prior to the death of a member of
the Burnet Family or when there are grave troubles imminent.
