| | | Articles by Charles Thomson
Here we publish extracts taken from Charles Thomson’s book ‘Haunted Kincardneshire’.
Each story has been carefully selected from the author’s supernatural files.
Read about:
The Man with Amazing Sixth Sense.
The Phantoms of Hallgreen Castle.
A Farm Servants Haunted Cottage at the Banff hill, Arbuthnott.
The Haunted House in Kirkburn, Bervie.
Although places remain accurate, at people’s own requests to remain anonymous, names have been changed to honour these agreements.
Never the less the stories remain remarkable, each one offering a spine chilling twist from The Haunted North East of Scotland.
We hope that you enjoy reading these stories.
(Yes truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.)
Publishers note: If you decide to visit any of these haunted locations, please respect peoples privacy.
Haunted Banff Hill
Banff hill, situated in Arbuthnott Estate half way between Bervie and Fordoun has had more than its fair share of ghostly activity.
The Duguid family moved into Banff hill October 1969 where Mr. Duguid gained employment as a farm servant on Lord Arbuthnott’s estate.
When Mr. Duguid attended to his duties on the land, and his young son Sam was at Arbuthnott Primary School, Mrs. Duguid was left alone in Banffhill to attend to her own tasks.
Although Banff hill is secluded Mrs. Duguid never felt alone. There was a presence there, watching over her, moving around from room to room with her, until her feelings became so strong that it felt as though the invisible presence actually wanted to help her on her daily chores.
More activity began to occur at Banff hill when a heavy door in the hallway began to open and close of its own accord. On inspection no draughts were found to have caused this. Indeed some force was needed to open and close the door.
Mrs Duguid also noticed that during this activity the hallway was ice cold.
On inspection another weird sensation took over Mrs Duguid, one that felt as though, as she describes. A damp cobweb brushed across my face, and when I neared the door, smelt an instant stench of a rotted corpse.
Months would pass by, with what seemed like quietness, and the Duguid family were able to settle into a routine.
But the Banff hill spirit had other ideas.
One evening whilst Mrs Duguid was preparing tea, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and true to the legend of Banff hill, when she turned around there was no-one there.
In fact the whole house at the time, apart from Mrs Duguid and the Banff hill ghost was empty.
Events took another turn when the Duguid’s son Sam was wakened from his sleep when he felt a presence sitting at the bottom of his bed. Once again there was no physical person there.
More paranormal events were to happen when young Sam was once again woken by what he describes as being like a powerful searchlight that omitted intense white light shone into his bedroom window, but it cast no beam inside his room, whilst the other window remained normal, where he could see the branches of the trees swaying in the moonlight.
The haunting ceased as quickly as it had begun.
The Duguids eventually moved out of Banffhill September 1980.
New tenants moved into Banff hill and all was well, until one night the heavy door in their hallway began to open and close.
Note:(Names have been altered for the persons involved to remain anonymous due to their own wishes. Actual events and happenings remain accurate.)
The Haunting at Kirkburn. Bervie.
Strange happenings were first noticed during renovations at number 15 Kirkburn, Bervie.
Light bulbs would go out and turn black, then suddenly start to work again.
Family pets quickly vacated rooms as the temperature mysteriously dropped to freezing.
Thorough checks were carried out of the premises, including wiring etc but no defects were found that could have caused any of the happenings.
On numerous occasions when the premises were empty, apart from the owner, loud thuds could be heard coming from the upper staircase of the house, as if someone was walking on top of bare floorboards when this part of the house was fully carpeted.
When guests stayed over in the attic, it was claimed that they felt as though someone was sitting at the bottom of the mattress but when they looked up there was no one there.
Once again with the heating full on the room was freezing.
TV’s would suddenly be turned on in the middle of the night by invisible hands, and once again when checked they were found to be sound.
There was a period of quietness when nothing out of the ordinary happened at Kirkburn, but that was soon to change.
The footsteps re occurred, soon developing into thumps that could be heard pacing across the living room ceiling.
On two separate occasions when visitors arrived at Kirkburn, they asked who the little blonde haired girl was looking out of the attic window.
The owner of the property at the time was alone in the house, but decided to inspect the attic anyway just to find it empty.
All seemed normal, apart from the temperature that once again was freezing.
At nights the phantom activity increased, not only with the footsteps, but also with the normally stiff attic door somehow managing to open and close on its own accord.
Once again it was observed that none of the family pets were ever present during this activity.
Things really started to hot up when the owner decided to consult the ouija board. A name kept appearing. Jack of the building.
Jack spelled out that he meant no harm to the owner, along with other personal information. (The owner requested that I do not publish this information.)
Jack also informed the owner that there was a tunnel that led from the Bervie Cemetry directly beneath what is now the living room of 15 Kirkburn.
After inspection this information turned out to be absolutely accurate, and the tunnel was in fact a drainage system.
Jack of the Building continued with his antics right up until the owner moved to another location.
Today the house has had several new owners.
Does Jack of the Building still roam around?
As for the little girl who appeared at the attic window. That one still remains a mystery.
Muchalls Castle
Muchalls Castle lies approximately 5 miles north of Stonehaven. And even though it lies about 1 mile inland, it commands great views over the North Sea.
The Castle is classed as one of the baronial antiquities of Scotland.
The castle built in 1619, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a girl dressed in green, although some reports have clearly stated that she has been seen wearing yellow. Whatever the colour of her attire one thing is certain; she has frequently visited the castle and has been seen over the years right up to modern times.
The story of the haunting concerns an underground passageway that leads from the castle to the sea. In olden days smugglers used the passageway and the daughter of the house had a boyfriend on one of the ships that ventured to and from the Continent in pursuit of their illegal activities. One day, having sighted her boyfriends vessel out to sea, she rushed to the underground passageway to be there to meet him when he rowed into the sea-cave. However, she fell into the water and was washed out to sea by the strong tide and her body was discovered the following day.
A weekend guest at Muchalls Castle in 1906 was passing one of the bedrooms when he saw through the open door the figure of a young girl dressed in a yellowish frock, touching up her hair in front of a mirror. Assuming that she was a fellow guest at the castle he said that he thought she would be down for dinner in a few minutes, only to be told that he was the only visitor. Another visitor, standing in front of a mirror, adding the final touches to her hairstyle, saw the same girl again in the 1970’s. Almost certainly she was re-enacting her last preparations before rushing down to the underground passageway to meet her returning boyfriend on that fateful day so many years ago.
Crathes Castle.
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 Ladys Room.
It is thought that the Green Lady could be the ghost of one of the Burnet Familys daughters, who in the early 1700s 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.
Hallgreen Castle
Overlooking Bervie Bay, Hallgreen Castle stands proud.
When I arrived the rain was lashing against my face, and felt like pin pricks pushing hard into my skin.
Great rolls of thunder echoed above my head as I was invited into Hallgreen’s inner walls.
This was actually the second visit to Hallgreen. The first being some years earlier when the place was a ruin and over run with weeds. The only guests being birds who had flown into its roofless shell.
Now restored to its former glory Hallgreen has given up some of her secrets. One being a secret passage and staircase that leads from the dungeon to the great hall said to be haunted by a cloaked figure dubbed ‘The Watcher.’
There was certainly a cold feeling here that made me feel as though I was being watched by cold staring eyes.
Outside the thunder exploded and made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Something or someone brushed past me in the now freezing atmosphere.
Was it The Watcher making his presence felt? Who-ever or whatever left me in no doubt that it was a bad spirit that left me with bad heavy feelings.
It is also said that the remains of a child lies at the bottom of one of the old wells. On still nights a child’s sobbing has been heard on several occasions by separate people. One resident of Bervie who was walking his dog told me that he also heard the sobbing of a child and noticed that his dog acted weird during this particular occurrence.
If this is not enough there are also stories that Hallgreen is also haunted by two ghostly servant girls who regularly appear in the castle’s small vaulted 14th century kitchen.
Even the experts on ghostly phenomena have been baffled by Hallgreen’s hauntings.
It is certainly at the top of my list of haunted places, and remains there to this day.
The Man with Amazing Sixth Sense.
Whilst working for the local council, one of my jobs was to cut grass at among others, The Kirk of Saint Ternan, Arbuthnott and the romantic old Kinneff Church.
It was on such an occasion that the following story was told to me.
Tea break 2.00 pm. Tuesday.
Douglas Salmon had been working for the local council for some ten years and had a remarkable knowledge of the history of the various kirks on his route.
Douglas also possessed, rare in this present day, a heart of gold. He would spread rose petals around graves that he had dug, and before the mourners arrived he would already have the grave surrounded with bouquets of flowers.
Douglas along with two workmates was sent to dig a grave at Portlethen Cemetery. No mean feat in itself, as the ground is so hard a pneumatic drill would find its place appreciated.
After a day of heavy digging, the grave was finally made ready for the funeral.
That night Douglas went to bed, exhausted after his day’s labours.
At 2am Douglas had a dream of dreams when he was visited by an old woman with white hair who told him that it was indeed her grave that he and his workmates had dug, further informing him that it was dug in the wrong location.
Even more, she told him exactly where she should be laid to rest.
At first light Douglas awoke his wife and told her of his dream detail by detail.
Douglas decided not to tell his workmates of his fantastic dream, but to check out the plan of the cemetery again, and to his amazement found that the old woman in his dream had in fact been accurate in every detail and the mistake was quickly rectified.
Another dream, as Douglas refers to them was when yet another woman appeared to him and explained that after her husbands passing she intended to carry out his final wishes of cremation, but with a twist all of her own, for the strange woman had decided to place her husbands ashes inside an egg timer.
One can only imagine Douglas’s reaction when approximately three months after his dream, there right in front of his eyes in an newspaper was an article concerning an English woman who had her husbands ashes placed inside an egg timer.
Douglas has had more experiences, but for the moment our tea break had long since expired.
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