The Lords Forrester were a principal family in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh. Their main home was Corstorphine Castle, a 14th century stronghold which, by the 18th century, was nothing but ruins, and today nothing of the castle remains but a 16th century dovecot.

Sometime during the 17th century, a James Forrester was laird at Corstorphine Castle. Forrester was a popular man, known for charm and affable nature. However, he was also known for his vices, and loose morals; most notably in regards to women and drink.
One of Forrester’s lovers, and who, incidentally turned out to be his last, was Lady Christian Nimmo. Lady Christian was not only married, but was also the Laird’s niece, so the affair was kept as discreet as possible.

James Forrester would usually meet his lovers at the dovecot on his grounds, and so, like normal, arranged to meet Lady Christian at their secret location. She arrived promptly, only to find no-one else around. The Lady waited for a bit, knowing full well that her lover would be at some local pub, and so sent a servant to find him.

Corstorphine Dovecot

James finally turned up drunk and in a very irritable and rude state. Inevitably a heated argument started. It is said that Forrester called Lady Christian a “whoor”, making her so angry that she quickly pulled her lover’s sword out of its sheath and killed him with it.
Lady Christian Nimmo was arrested, tried, and executed in 1679 for the murder of James Forrester.
At the trial the Lady claimed that the death was an accident and that she took the sword as an act of self defence, however this story was not believed and she was beheaded in Edinburgh.
On the day of the execution Lady Christian wore a snow-white hooded gown, and it is said that she is still seen to this day, wearing the same gown, haunting the dovecot in Corstorphine and forced to carry the blood-stained sword for all eternity.

The victorious French troops

Major Duncan Campbell of Inverawe was fatally wounded at the Battle of Carillon in 1758 during the Seven Years’ War. The night before the battle Campbell had a ghostly encounter with his dead foster-brother, and after that meeting he knew that the battle was going to kill him.

Years before Duncan Campbell was even in the army he was spending a quiet night in his Inverawe home when all of a sudden a frantic man rushed in to the house and ran over to touch the hearth, claiming sanctuary. Slightly perplexed by this sudden burst, Campbell asked the stranger what the problem was. The intruder explained that he had killed a man and needed somewhere to hide out. Duncan decided to give the killer the refuge that he so desperately wanted, and hid him in the upper part of the house. Not long after sending the new guest to the room a group of men turned up looking for the killer. The posse told Duncan, to his devastation, that the murder victim was in fact his own foster-brother. However, not wanting to breach the laws of Highland hospitality, Campbell decided to not give up his now very unwelcome guest to the group outside. But rather than keep the killer in his house, Campbell, in a form of compromise, sent the man off to hide in a cave on the remote Ben Cruachan.
That night, as the story goes, the spirit of Duncan’s foster-brother appeared asking if he would give up his killer to recieve the punishment he deserved. Duncan refused the ghost’s request and opted to keep the murderer’s wherabouts a secret. The next night the ghost appeared again, asking the same question and once again Campbell denied the request. The ghost of the foster-brother returned to Duncan again one last time the following night, but this time he did not ask for the killer to be given up. Instead all he said was goodbye, and that he would see him again at “Ticonderoga”, which, at the time, meant nothing to Duncan.
The next day Duncan went up to the cave to bring some food to the murderer, but of course, he had fled, never to be seen again.

As the years passed Duncan Campbell thought less and less of that final nights visit and eventually completely forgot about it. Duncan went on to join the army, where he did well; rising through the ranks to the position of Major in the 42nd Regiment, the Black Watch. During the Seven Years’ War Duncan’s regiment was sent over to North America to fight the French for control of the colonies.
In the July of 1758 British troops, including the 42nd Regiment, under the command of General James Abercrombie, were sent to attack the heavilly defended French fort at Carillon, or as it was known by the natives, Ticonderoga in the modern-day state of New York.
It was unknown to Campbell what the native name for the fort was, until after a final visit from the spirit of his foster-brother. Not long after seeing the ghost, Campbell promptly inquired about whether the word “Ticonderoga” meant anything to anyone. He was soon told that it was the name the natives gave for the area, and as soon as Duncan heard that he knew that he was soon to die.

The attack on Fort Carillon on the 8th of July, 1758 was a disaster for the British troops. General Abercrombie’s tactics were severely criticised, and he was described as an “imbecile”, a “coward”, and even an “old woman” by contemporary and future writers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Abercrombie had a much larger force leading him to be overly confident, believing that it was going to be quick victory for the British, ignoring all of the strategic options that were open to him. Instead he chose to go for a full on frontal assault, which proved to have been one of the worst choices. The British soldiers flung themselves at the French defence, and were cut down by the score.
Abercrombie had plenty of opportunity to withdraw his men and regroup to change his tactics when he saw that his original plans were blatantly failing. Yet he decided to stick to his initial plans and continued with the assault.
The Black Watch regiment were eventually sent in to attack the French fort, and just like the men before them, they were fighting in vain, and suffered heavy casualties.
Among the fallen was Duncan Campbell of Inverawe. He was severely wounded and, in fulfillment of the fate bestowed upon him by the ghost of his foster-brother, died ten days later from his injuries.
Legend has it that, on the afternoon of the attack, the clouds over Inverary Castle replicated the attack, showing the carnage and British loss.

For the Black Watch in particular this battle was disasterous. They saw the highest individual loss out of all the regiments fighting, with 300 men, including 8 officers killed. In fact, it wouldn’t be until the First World War until the Black Watch would again witness such casualties in battle.

Glamis Castle

Glamis Castle near Forfar in Angus is Scotland’s, and one of Britain’s most haunted castles. However it is trying to distance itself from the paranormal stories that the place is famous for, and instead attempt to rebrand as a family-friendly visitor attraction.

Glamis, a gift from Robert II to Sir John Lyon, is the ancestral home of the Earls of Strathmore. It was also the childhood home of the Queen Mother, and birth place of Princess Margaret, and the home of Macbeth in the Shakespeare play of the same name. It are these royal connections that the marketing chiefs want the castle to be associated and attract people with, rather than focusing on the ghosts.

The castle’s general manager David Adams said, “We don’t encourage ghost-hunters, we don’t encourage ghost-hunting TV programmes and we certainly don’t encourage people who want to come in and do overnight stays to try and locate ghosts.
“We don’t want anything to do with that. If you happen to believe that stuff, that’s fine but we don’t.
“There are various myths and legends surrounding the castle but they are just that.
There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there are any supernatural beings in the castle.”

However professional paranormal investigator Mark Turner of Ghost Finders Scotland was surprised by this stance.
“Glamis’ reputation as the most haunted castle in Scotland is its unique selling point. Publicly announcing that there are no ghosts at Glamis is like people in the Highlands saying there is no monster in Loch Ness.”

There are many fascinating tales about the ghosts that supposedly haunt Glamis Castle. Legend has it that the spirit of Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis, also known as the Grey Lady, walks around the castle’s chapel, whilst the soul of the Earl Beardie is destined to spend eternity in a walled up chamber in the castle gambling the nights away with the devil but always losing.