Ewen was married to a daughter of MacDougall of Lorne, a greedy, ambitious woman. Not satisfied with fine lands in Morvern and parts of Mull generously gifted by Ewen’s father, she nagged Ewen to ask for more and still more, until the old chief decided that enough was enough. Soon afterwards, when going to fish the Lussa with my family, and accompanied by Mr David Guthrie James, of Torosay Estate, we had little difficulty in finding the lost cairn, exactly as described. It lies beside the path where the descent begins to the footbridge over the river, a short distance above the Falls. I keep adding a stone or two every time I pass and now it is quite easy to locate. Spynie Palace is one of Scotland’s eeriest and most haunted buildings, yet it possesses an atmosphere that both captivates and engrosses. Read it over two days. It’s an excellent collection of tales of hauntings and other weird phenomena reported over many centuries in Scotland- Highlands and Lowlands, from cities and countryside, castles and crofts, involving the famous and the ordinary folk.

Ardrossan is a small town in North Ayrshire, from which CalMac Ferries travel to Arran and Campbeltown. Located just around the bay from this busy port on a high ascent are the ruins of Ardrossan Castle.

Robert the Bruce and the Spider 

The tragedy appears to have left an indelible stain on the psychic fabric of Leith Hall and his ghost has been both sensed and seen at several locations. When the Earl stumbled upon his daughter and her forbidden lover in their secret hiding place, he was so infuriated by her perceived betrayal that he pursued his daughter through the castle until she had no place left to run. In a desperate attempt to escape, she climbed out of a castle window and began to lower herself to the ground below. Be sure not to forget the history that lies under your feet as you walk though. In 1692 the brutal Glencoe Massacre took place and is known as one of the bloodiest events in Scottish history. It is said that Clan Campbell troops slaughtered their Clan MacDonald hosts as they lay sleeping, killing 38 men, women and children. Skye is one of Scotland's most popular destinations, visits by thousands of touristsfrom near and far every month. This beautiful island has a wealth of history and heritage. Again, his steed used to be heard galloping furiously round the old keep of Moy when death or misfortune was about to afflict the house of Maclaine. The keep has long been unoccupied and is now ruinous, and the lands of Lochbuie are in the hands of strangers.

But they were ill equipped for their flight and found themselves at the savage mercy of the elements. Many were overcome by the bitter winter temperatures, or else floundered in the deep snows where they perished miserably on the unrelenting slopes. A member of staff, who one winters day was cleaning the castle armour, stepped aside to let a lady in a flowing dress pass by, and was astonished when she suddenly vanished.

That story maybe didn’t give you a shiver, but her next story was far more chilling. This time the event had happened just a few years previously and it involved a good friend of hers who was a Policeman. They had been driving along a road on Skye when the policeman friend suddenly slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car. The lady was confused about what was happening and assumed that they must have hit an animal. The friend returned to the car ashen faced and explained that he'd stopped the car as he thought he had just seen someone with serious injuries stood beside the road, however, there was no one there. Being a level headed policeman, he shrugged it off and carried on driving, but a few days later he attended a fatal road accident at the very same spot! In the heyday of the clan system (which was anything but a bad system, if you read it up), such a clan dispute was fought out, rather like duel, in a gentlemanly way, and at an agreed time and place. Ambushes and raids were a part of more generalised fighting. Some have claimed that the chapel’s original crypt, which has been sealed off for many years, is, in fact, home to the Holy Grail. That claim may be a bit more believable had the crypt also not been rumoured to store the first crown jewels of Scotland or the mummified head of Jesus Christ.

Plundering the bodies of their vanquished enemies, the victorious Scots came across that of the hated English Treasurer, Hugh Cressingham. They promptly flayed the skin from his corpse and fashioned it into a belt for Wallace’s sword. Ewen’s home lay on the tiny island in Loch Sguabain, in the heart of Glen More. It was a naturally-defensive position with a perimeter wall now barely traceable at the edge of the water, just a few miles through the hill pass from the family castle of Mow at the edge of the sea at Loch Buie. There is confusion as what happened next. Either John challenged his detractor to a duel or else his accuser simply shot him in cold blood. Fans of paranormal television may recall the Edinburgh Vaults from “Most Haunted”, and the BBC special “Joe Swash Believes in Ghosts” ( which was horrifying for all the wrong reasons). There’s also a visit from the American TV show Ghost Adventures. Whether Spynie Palace suffered damage at this time is not known, but Alexander Stewart - known to history as the ‘Wolf of Badenoch’ - was later appointed keeper of the Palace by King Robert 111, following the death of the then Bishop in 1397.Visitors of Dryburgh Abbey Hotel have reported witnessing the woman journeying through the hotel and its grounds, and she has come to be known as “The Grey Lady”.

Trudging up to the next floor and traipsing along the narrow stone corridor some people have been overcome by a nauseous feeling accompanied by a headache. The whole valley echoed to the anguished screams of the injured and dying. As the first rays of dawn illuminated the grisly scene, the snow was red with Macdonald blood, and thirty-eight members of the clan lay butchered. But history remains mute about his activities until in 1305, betrayed by one of his own countrymen, he was captured and taken to London. On the morning of 12th September 1297, the English cavalry began to file across the narrow, wooden bridge that spanned the River Forth. Gaelic folklore, meanwhile, identifies it as Each Uisge, one of the terrifying water- horses that are said to haunt many of the Highland Lochs.Edward’s army then swept northwards, inflicting a crushing defeat on Balliol’s army at the battle of Dunbar and capturing the ancient coronation stone, the Stone of Destiny, which was taken from Scone to Westminster Abbey. It stands close to the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard in 1745, an act that signalled the start of the Jacobite uprising. When the great seal of Scotland, that most precious emblem of Scottish Sovereignty, was presented to Edward, he cast it contemptuously aside, observing facetiously that "a man does good business when he rids himself of a turd." It was here that a dramatic manifestation occurred in the late 1990’s, when a lady who had brought her two young sons on a visit, was startled by the sudden appearance of a knight in armour whom, she claimed, chased her angrily from the tower. Also found in Stirling Castle is the infamous Green Lady, who is believed to have been a servant to Mary, Queen of Scots. According to some sources, she met her end while trying to save her master from a fire that broke out in her bedroom.