Since today is Halloween,
I thought I'd share a spooky experience of my own. During our first trip to
Scotland, we toured Edinburgh Castle, which has the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in
Scotland.
Edinburgh has a hidden underworld strongly
connected to the castle, a series of secret tunnels leading from Edinburgh
castle down the Royal Mile. One of these is thought to lead to Holyrood. When the tunnels were first discovered several hundred
years ago, a piper was sent to explore. As he navigated the tunnels he played
his bagpipes so that his progress could be tracked by those above. About half
way down the Royal Mile the piping suddenly stopped. When a rescue party was
sent, there was no trace of the piper. He had simply vanished. Several search
parties went into the tunnels, but no trace of the piper was ever found. The
piper's ghost still haunts Edinburgh today, walking along the underground
tunnel beneath the Royal Mile. His music can sometimes be heard from within the
castle and on the streets above the tunnels.
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Many people have heard the sound of ghostly drums within
Edinburgh castle, but few have seen the drummer. The reason for this is the
drummer ghost only appears when the castle is about to be attacked, which
hasn't happened for some time. The ghost drummer was first witnessed before
Cromwell's attack on the castle in 1650 and is reported to take the form of a
headless boy. Who the boy was and why he now haunts Edinburgh castle is not
known.
In the 16th century Janet Douglas, Lady of Glamis, was
imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, accused of witchcraft and conspiracy to murder
King James V. Evidence was obtained against her by the torturing of her
servants. She was burned at the stake on July 17, 1537, and her young son
Gillespie was brought out and forced to watch from the battlements. Lady
Janet's restless spirit is said to still haunt parts of the castle. Hollow
knocking sounds are sometimes heard at night these are said to be the workmen
building the platform on which she was burned.
What makes the Edinburgh castle dungeons unique is that
the presence of ghosts or the presence of something has been scientifically
proven. In 2001 Dr Richard Wiseman ran a research project studying the
reactions of people to various parts of the dungeons and surrounding areas.
These visitors who had no previous knowledge of the castle felt something far
more often in the areas with a reputation for being haunted than anywhere else
in the castle.
Edinburgh like most castles has dungeons where prisoners
were often tortured and often perished. The dungeons
have frequent paranormal sightings and are haunted by ghosts of former
prisoners. One desperate
prisoner hid in a dung barrow, hoping to be carried out of the castle down the
Royal Mile and escape to freedom. The unfortunate man died when the barrow was
emptied down the rocky slopes of the castle, sending him to his death. Visitors
say his ghost tries to shove them from the battlements and is accompanied by a
strong and unpleasant smell of dung.
Colored orbs are constantly photographed by visitors,
which apparently is what happened to me. After touring the dungeon, and before leaving
that area, I noticed an iron gate blocking some steps leading somewhere
below. I stuck my camera between the bars and snapped a photo down the steps. I checked the
photo on my camera, and found a strange object hovering near my left hand. It was flesh colored and somewhat round. I was so
frightened I quickly ran outside. Before doing this post, I tried, without luck,
to locate that photo. I did show it to several people, and no one seemed to know
what it might be.
I hope you enjoyed reading
about my ghostly encounter! Happy Halloween!
Gwyn
