Post by lozwinter on Jun 15, 2005 16:29:07 GMT
Name and location: Fyvie Castle,
Aberdeenshire
Description: An impressive building that was formerly a royal stronghold, Fyvie features five towers and is possibly one of the finest examples of Scottish Baronial architecture.
Era: A castle has been on this site since 1211 but most of the existing castle was built in the 14th/15th century.
History:
- William the Lion was at Fyvie around 1213 and Alexander II granted a charter at Fyvie in 1222
- English King Edward I stayed at "Fyvin Chastel" in July 1296 during his punitive campaign. Later Robert the Bruce dispensed justice in an open-air court held at Fyvie
- From 1390, following the Battle of Otterburn, five successive families — Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon and Leith — each built one of Fyvie Castle's five towers
- In 1596 the castle was sold to Alexander Seton, later Chancellor of Scotland. He greatly enlarged the castle and added the upper works
- In 1601 Dame Lilias Drummond, Seton's first wife, died. Some believe she was starved to death by her husband because she failed to give him a male heir. Tradition says that she was imprisoned in the Douglas Room. Her family tried to rescue her but apparently they were caught, slaughtered in her presence and their mutilated bodies thrown from the window
- By 1885 the then laird of the castle, Sir Maurice Duff-Gordon, was in financial trouble and Fyvie was put up for sale
- In 1982 Sir Andrew Forbes-Leith sold the castle and its contents to The National Trust for Scotland
Ghost ratings:
- The ghost of Lilias, otherwise known as The Green Lady, has been seen wandering all around the castle. Legend has it that on the wedding night of Alexander and his second wife, heavy sighs and scratching noises were heard from outside their chamber window. In the morning they found the following words carved upside down on the sill, from the outside: D LILIAS DRUMMOND
- The lonely spirit of a man has been seen wandering the library
- A guest who was staying in one of the guest rooms, woke to find a woman standing over her, staring at her
Spooky experiences:
- Recently a terrible loud banging has been heard throughout the building. The staff are never able to figure out where the noise is coming from. When they move to where they think its coming from, the banging then moves to another part of the building
- In the Morning Room the sound of a baby crying has been heard. A skeleton of a baby was found in the fireplace when the Gordon clan lived there
- The Library Corridor is said to induce intense feelings of suffocation and oppression
- In The Charter Room it is always cold and visitors have had to be removed from the room because they feel ill and faint Batteries drain and cameras fail to work properly in this room
- The Gordon Bedroom often emits an inexplicable odour of roses. People will often stand aside as if someone is walking past them — even though there is noone else in the room — while some of the staff refuse to enter this room. They get mysterious feelings of being watched
- The Douglas Bedroom is said to be the room in which Lilias was starved to death. There are numerous reports of cold spots and people often feel overwhelming feelings of sadness and sickness when they enter the room
- In Robert's Flat lights turn themselves on, doors open on their own and taps have turned themselves on
Aberdeenshire
Description: An impressive building that was formerly a royal stronghold, Fyvie features five towers and is possibly one of the finest examples of Scottish Baronial architecture.
Era: A castle has been on this site since 1211 but most of the existing castle was built in the 14th/15th century.
History:
- William the Lion was at Fyvie around 1213 and Alexander II granted a charter at Fyvie in 1222
- English King Edward I stayed at "Fyvin Chastel" in July 1296 during his punitive campaign. Later Robert the Bruce dispensed justice in an open-air court held at Fyvie
- From 1390, following the Battle of Otterburn, five successive families — Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon and Leith — each built one of Fyvie Castle's five towers
- In 1596 the castle was sold to Alexander Seton, later Chancellor of Scotland. He greatly enlarged the castle and added the upper works
- In 1601 Dame Lilias Drummond, Seton's first wife, died. Some believe she was starved to death by her husband because she failed to give him a male heir. Tradition says that she was imprisoned in the Douglas Room. Her family tried to rescue her but apparently they were caught, slaughtered in her presence and their mutilated bodies thrown from the window
- By 1885 the then laird of the castle, Sir Maurice Duff-Gordon, was in financial trouble and Fyvie was put up for sale
- In 1982 Sir Andrew Forbes-Leith sold the castle and its contents to The National Trust for Scotland
Ghost ratings:
- The ghost of Lilias, otherwise known as The Green Lady, has been seen wandering all around the castle. Legend has it that on the wedding night of Alexander and his second wife, heavy sighs and scratching noises were heard from outside their chamber window. In the morning they found the following words carved upside down on the sill, from the outside: D LILIAS DRUMMOND
- The lonely spirit of a man has been seen wandering the library
- A guest who was staying in one of the guest rooms, woke to find a woman standing over her, staring at her
Spooky experiences:
- Recently a terrible loud banging has been heard throughout the building. The staff are never able to figure out where the noise is coming from. When they move to where they think its coming from, the banging then moves to another part of the building
- In the Morning Room the sound of a baby crying has been heard. A skeleton of a baby was found in the fireplace when the Gordon clan lived there
- The Library Corridor is said to induce intense feelings of suffocation and oppression
- In The Charter Room it is always cold and visitors have had to be removed from the room because they feel ill and faint Batteries drain and cameras fail to work properly in this room
- The Gordon Bedroom often emits an inexplicable odour of roses. People will often stand aside as if someone is walking past them — even though there is noone else in the room — while some of the staff refuse to enter this room. They get mysterious feelings of being watched
- The Douglas Bedroom is said to be the room in which Lilias was starved to death. There are numerous reports of cold spots and people often feel overwhelming feelings of sadness and sickness when they enter the room
- In Robert's Flat lights turn themselves on, doors open on their own and taps have turned themselves on