Skibo Castle

Castle Street
Dornoch
Highland IV25 3

History

Records from Skibo Castle date back to as far as 1275 when an ownership dispute took place but it is believed that the castle itself dates back a further 100 years. The castle is now operated as the Carnegie Club, which is a member’s only hotel and country club.

Paranormal Activity

Ghost reports vary at Skibo Castle with a confusion of legends. The general story is that a local girl, who once visited the castle, was murdered by the Castle’s keeper or groundskeeper for whatever reason and was buried in the grounds of the Castle and it is said her ghost now walks the castle. Recent renovations led to the discovery of a skeleton behind a castle wall but the identity was never determined. The ghost, known as the White Lady, has been spotted by visitors in the top floor bedrooms with one such witness being that of Rosewell Miller III, the grandson of the American millionaire Andrew Carnegie who bought the ruined estate and rebuilt it to the standard we see today. Rosewell is said to have seen the ‘white lady’ drifting along a corridor and turning into a bedroom. When he followed her into the room she had disappeared.

Inveraray Jail

Church Square
Inveraray
Argyll
PA32 8TX
Scotland

History

This courthouse and prison dates back to over 200 years ago and was the main county court for the surrounding area. Criminals who were sentenced to prison or transportation would have spent time in this jail where children as young as seven could be detained for minor crimes and subjected to whippings or pointless manual labour.

Paranormal Activity

This court house and prison is recognised as one of Scotland’s most spookiest of places with reports of uneasy feelings, strange noises and even, in some cases, photographs that show unexplained images.

Manager of the jail, Gavin Dick reports; “The place in the prison that most people react to is cell 10. It doesn’t tend to be something people see so much as a feeling they get there. During the height of the X Files days we used to call it Cell X for obvious reasons. In the kitchen, which is in many ways the most unremarkable room, we have had people sense that there’s someone cowering behind the door. There are various areas that cause reactions and not just on ghost hunts.”

One visitor to the jail complained of having sensed an ‘unsettling presence’ in the prison and was surprised to discover a blurred image in one of her photographs which she didn’t notice when the picture was taken. In a letter the visitor later wrote to the jail, she reports; “We found the jail very interesting but for myself very scary. I felt really ill in the old jail. As soon as I walked in my chest tightened and I felt very sick and dizzy. I felt as if someone was with us all the way round and was watching us. I couldn’t wait to get out. When we got back to our guesthouse we looked at our photos and to our amazement there is a misty figure standing between the airing cells [in the court yard]. We cannot explain things but we felt very strange. There is definitely something there. If we were uneasy in the daytime what must it be like at night in the pitch black?”

A recent paranormal event at the jail uncovered what they believe to be good examples of Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP). A works manager from Glasgow, who took part in a recent ghost hunt at the jail, is convinced he caught a voice on tape. He reports; “People were talking about a ghost which had been running about in the corridor poking people in the back. When I asked if there was anyone there, and if they had hit someone, we could clearly hear a voice say ‘yes, I have’ when the tape was played back.”

Poosie Nansie’s Hostelry

Mauchline
East Ayreshire
Scotland

History

Local Robert Burns once frequented this old tavern.

Paranormal Activity

Glasses are said to fly off the shelves in this old tavern. Children have been heard crying in the corridor to the kitchen when no one has been there.

The Hostelry’s owner reports; “I was working in my office at 3am when someone came into the room. I felt someone was definitely there, but no one was to be seen. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I have since moved my office upstairs. I have been here 13 years and have always known the place was haunted. The previous owner and the one before said the same thing.”

A cook working at the tavern also reports; “A few months ago one of the young waitresses came running into the kitchen asking if there were any young children in the dining room. There weren’t but she said that she clearly heard a young girl weeping. She was quite shaken.”

Staff have also reported a ‘presence’ in the pub; “I have felt that there was a man standing next to me or behind me, tapping me on the shoulder, and no-one has been there. On a number of occasions glasses have fallen by themselves and the spirit optics have emptied by themselves. But apart from breaking a few glasses and nicking some whiskey, whatever kind of ghost it is doesn’t seem to be harmful.”

Psychic groups have so far identified six spirits within the building.