Fyvie Castle
Fyvie Castle is a stunning building dating back to the 1200’s and set in the beautiful backdrop of Fyvie estate and gardens. Eight hundred years of history has certainly left this Scottish Baronial fortress with a fair share of folklore and ghostly tales.
Throughout its occupation Fyvie Castle has seen five significant family names pass through its doors; the Prestons, Meldrums, Seatons, Gordons and Forbes-Leiths. Looking at Fyvie now it is easy to see the five separate towers built by each family during their reign, transforming what was once a formidable fortress into a grand and eloquent family home. It has also bared witness to such visitors and occupants as William the Lion, Charles I and Edward I of England.
Many unusual legends surround Fyvie Castle including those of two curses within its walls. The first one of these is recorded to of been placed upon Fyvie by a poet and prophet, Thomas of Erceldoune, or as legend knows him “Thamas the Rhymer” in the 1200s. It is said that on awaiting his visit the gates of Fyvie were kept open, tradition says seven years and a day. When he finally did arrive he bought with him a tremendous storm that seemed to affect everything in his path but avoided Thomas himself. During this it is said that he uttered a curse:
“Fyvyn’s riggs and towers, Hapless shall your mesdames be, When ye shall hae within your methes, Frae harryit kirks lands, stanes three; Ane in the oldest tower Ane in my ladie’s bower, And ane below the water-yett, And it ye shall never get.”
The meaning of the curse stands that there are three stones within Fyvies boundaries and until these three stones are found and expelled from the land a mysterious doom would hang over Fyvie. The meaning of this mysterious doom has been interpreted in many ways over the years the most famous of which seems to be that there will not be a direct succession to the lairdship of Fyvie (or father to son). A theory which seems to have been supported looking back at the misfortune which overcame many of the families who lived there. The stones, one of which is visible to this day in the Charter Room at Fyvie, are known as the “weeping stones” showing the odd behaviour of often emitting water when they should be dry. It is said that the final stone, still unfound, was built into the foundations of the Preston building by Sir Henry Preston, forever encasing the curse into Fyvie’s walls.
The second curse is said to of been bought about by Sir Henry Preston’s son-in-law Alexander Meldrum. To this day a chamber exists at the bottom of the Meldrum Tower, windowless and inaccessible, it remains sealed. It is this chamber which is believed to contain a curse that if opened will lead to the laird’s death and his wife to go blind.
‘The Laird of that day would surely die, and his leddy would go blind of her e’e.’
Myth has it that when the room has been opened in the past the lairds have surely died and their wives have suffered from blindness or irritation to the eyes. The reason behind this curse is unknown.
Other than legends of curses the castle also contains many stories of ghostly apparitions and unusual paranormal occurrences. Probably the most famous of which are the regular sightings of the Green Lady believed to be that of Lilias Drummond, first wife of Alexander Seaton. This is reported especially prominent in the month of October, the month in which her husband remarried to his second wife after Lilias’ death in 1601. Sightings of the Green Lady have been reported for over 250 years and are often accompanied by a cool breeze and a floral rose smell. In the model room, where Alexander Seaton spent his wedding night with his second wife, the name Lilias Drummond can be seen etched into the windowsill, upside down on the outside. The story is told that during their wedding night he and his new wife could hear deep sighing and scratching all night long. When they awoke in the morning the name had been carved into the windowsill. It is said that now Lilias wanders the spiral staircase and down towards the model room, visiting once again a home she loved.
A rather ominous room at Fyvie is known as the Murder Room and is located at the top of the spiral staircase built by Alexander Seaton. The myths of this room are often entangled in the story of Lilias Drummond, although it is believed that the gruesome events passed on from the Murder Room would have not been connected with Lilias. It is believed that in this room one of the Ladies of Dunfermline was kept, the reason remains unknown. Any person who tried to rescue her was barbarically murdered and it is said that she eventually turned mad due to the horrors of her confinement and what she had witnessed. She was later taken to another room and died of starvation.
In almost all the public rooms there is a story of some form of paranormal encounter, from sightings of a ghost cat to hearing the sound of a child crying in the Morning Room. Many people have reported rooms feeling unusually cold or containing a strange atmosphere, others have reported seeing physical objects move or feeling an unseen “presence” near them.