Muchalls Castle

Stonehaven, Grampian Region

Muchalls Castle, built in 1619, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a girl dressed in green, although some reports have clearly stated that she has been seen wearing yellow. Whatever the colour of her attire one thing is certain, she has frequently visited the castle and has been seen over the years right up to modern times.

The story of the haunting concerns an underground passageway that leads from the castle to the sea. In olden days the passageway was used by smugglers and the daughter of the house had a boyfriend on one of the ships that ventured to and from the Continent in pursuit of their illegal activities. One day, having sighted her boyfriend's vessel out to sea, she rushed to the underground passageway to be there to meet him when he rowed into the sea-cave. However, she fell into the water and was washed out to sea by the strong tide and her body was discovered the following day.

A weekend guest at Muchalls Castle in 1906 was passing one of the bedrooms when he saw through the open door the figure of a young girl dressed in a yellowish frock, touching up her hair in front of a mirror. Assuming that she was a fellow guest at the castle he said that he thought she would be down for dinner in a few minutes, only to be told that he was the only visitor. The same girl was seen again in the 1970's by another visitor, standing in front of a mirror, adding the final touches to her hairstyle. Almost certainly she was re-enacting her last preparations before rushing down to the underground passageway to meet her returning boyfriend on that fateful day so many years ago.

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