Ghost of Huntly Castle
The castle began as a motte and bailey, built around 1190 by the Fifes of Strathbogie, to guard the river crossing. The Fifes of Strathbogie lost the castle in 1314 after siding with the English at Bannockburn. Robert the Bruce then granted Strathbogie to Sir Adam Gordon of Huntly, a loyal supporter.
After acquiring the castle, the Gordon family made it their seat of power from the 1300s and renamed it Huntly Castle in 1506. Construction of the palace began around 1450, a few years after Alexander Gordon became Earl of Huntly.
In 1599, the 6th Earl became the 1st Marquis of Huntly. He celebrated by adding double-height oriel windows, a great round tower, a rectangular turret, and an inscription along the roofline to declare Gordon's ownership.
Today, Huntly Castle is a romantic ruin cloaked in lingering shadows, where tales of wandering spirits echo through the years, its haunting presence said to still remain within the castle walls.
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly, was a powerful Catholic noble and supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots. During a football game in October 1576, he collapsed, was carried inside, vomited black bile, foamed at the mouth, and died soon after. Some say stroke, others, poison.
His body was placed in an upper chamber, embalmed by a surgeon, and later moved to the castle's chapel for burial. Soon, those in nearby rooms complained of an unnatural, bone-chilling cold, and some trembled violently before collapsing, as if gripped by a dark force, fueling whispers of a curse or restless spirits stalking the halls.
After the body was moved to the Chapel, the Earl's brother, Patrick, and others were tormented by eerie, unexplained voices, groaning, rumbling, and scraping that haunted the now-abandoned chamber, deepening fears of ghostly presences.
When a group investigated by candlelight, they found nothing inside the room, but the noises resumed as soon as they approached the doorway, and the candles flickered wildly, as if something did not want them to cross the threshold.
