Ardblair Castle

In the Blairgowrie district of Perthshire there grew
a legend of a beautiful lady dressed in green who
haunted Ardblair Castle, the home of the Blair Oliphant family. She was also seen at Newton Castle, the
home of the Macpherson family.

About the time of Robert the Bruce, according to legend, the Blair family and their neighbours the Drummonds who then occupied Newton Castle had some differences of opinion which caused bitter feuding. The feuding of the elders was probably over some question of land ownership and did not appear to extend to the younger members of the two families. One of the younger members of the Blair family fell in love with Lady Jean Drummond of Newton and a secret marriage took place. Immediately after the marriage Lady Jean mysteriously disappeared. The story was put about that she had been taken away by Water Kelpies because she had been wearing a green dress on the day of her marriage, which put her in their power.

The more probable explanation for the disappearance
was that her secret had been discovered and she drowned herself or was murdered and her body hidden in the marshland.

The ghost of the young lady dressed in green has
been seen on summer afternoons sitting on a window
seat in the long gallery at Ardblair. She never frightens
anyone, and either sits at a window or passes through
the corridors and into other rooms without making a
sound. A ghost of the same description is said to haunt
the grounds of Newton Castle.

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