The Three Gight Castle Legends

There are so many stories hidden amongst these ruins that I thought the Gight Castle legends would be the first on the Scotland’s Stories Blog.

If you are going to visit here yourself then there is a gentle woodland stroll to the castle and a dedicated car park found here: – https://goo.gl/maps/vGsmoRiBF3NAA3nX9

Aberdeenshire is castle country and Gight Castle is one of the least well known of the lot. It’s as if nature is trying to make us forget and swallow it back up amongst the trees and ivy. From the mysterious stories associated with the castle then that might even be the best thing for it.

Gight Castle Stories

The castle was built by the Gordon family in the 16th century on a hill above the winding River Ythan. The Gordons were already established as Lairds of Gight so this may stand on the foundations of a much older building. The castle was sold by Catherine Gordon (the mother of the famous poet Lord Byron) in 1787 to the Earl of Aberdeen to pay off family debts. The Earl bought it as a home for his son Lord Haddo but unfortunately for Haddo, four years later he fell from his horse and died.

This is where the first of the Gight Castle legends comes in, a prophecy from Thomas Rhymer. The prophecy goes:

“At Gight three men by sudden death shall dee, And after that the land shall lie in lea”

Thomas lived and died in the 13^th century so I doubt that many people associated Haddo’s death to the prophecy 500 years later. That was until his servant died in a very similar manner and suddenly Gight was 2 out of 3 men down. This might explain why the castle  was abandoned from then on, everybody doing their best to avoid being unlucky number 3.

Several years later, the castle was falling to pieces and people joked about Thomas Rhymer’s faulty prediction. While a couple of men were working at a nearby farmhouse, one explained the prophecy to the other and remarked that the third death had never happened. It seems he may have been something of a prophet himself when the next day, a wall collapsed and killed him!

The Devil At Gight Castle

The second Gight Castle legend was that the 7th Laird hid his gold and jewels from marauding Covenanter troops at the bottom of a deep pool in the nearby river. Once the coast was clear, he sent his servant down to collect the treasure again. The servant burst back to the surface in a panic, screaming that the Devil himself was down there guarding it!

The Laird wasn’t a man to be refused and forced his servant back down into the depths. After a short wait, the diver appeared back on the surface of the pool. Unfortunately he appeared chopped into four separate pieces. His ghost is supposed to still wander the grounds. As much as I enjoy a wild swim and searching for treasure, this is one river I think I’ll stay out of.

Gight must be a favourite haunt of the Devil as the third legend features him again. Like many other castles, there is a story of a secret tunnel deep underground. Rumours that the Devil was at the end of the tunnel didn’t scare one man who brought his bagpipes with him to explore. He told his friends that he would play a marching tune as he went to show the coast was clear and they could follow the sound on top of the hill. He joked that if he did happen to see the Devil then he would play a lament instead.

His friends listened to the marching tune of the pipes as they disappeared into the depths of the tunnel. Then all of a sudden, the tune changed. They all look horrified as their friend started to play a lament which was sharply cut off. The entrance to any tunnel is long gone but if you ever visit Gight then keep your ears open for the ghostly sound of pipes from underneath the ground.

Exploring The Castle

Naturally, I had to explore the Gight Castle legends myself. It was all quiet when I visited the castle and while the DANGER sign didn’t put me off, I can’t recommend anybody else goes inside. As always, Molly led the way while we explored the vaulted halls and rubble filled stairways. The castle feels much bigger from the inside but as I carried on walking down one of the hallways, my much wiser companion refused to go any further.

There was one doorway that this dog just wasn’t going through but nothing looked any different to me. Dogs seem to have a sixth sense so that was all the warning I needed to quickly exit back the way we came!

Maybe the DANGER sign had nothing to do with the structure of the building but the spirits left inside.

Why not read about some more of Scotland’s Least Visited Castles?

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