Ghost of "The White Lady" of Strathaven Castle

Many Scottish castles are reputed to be haunted. Some are remote and set in brooding landscapes, adding to that sense of something sinister lurking within their walls. However, stories of ghosts are often linked to the old buildings of all types found in Scotland's town and cities. Many old castles, often in ruins, can also be found in the heart of these urban communities. One such place is Strathaven Castle, where the ghost of "The White Lady" is said to haunt. White Lady ghost legends are found in many places. A common theme to the story of such spectres is an accidental death, murder, betrayal, suicide and other tragedies. The same is also true in the case of the ghost of Strathaven Castle.

The remains of the Castle stand in the historic market town of Strathaven, South Lanarkshire (Scottish Gaelic: Strath Aibhne, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) about around 6 miles (10 km) from the larger town of Hamilton (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Hamaltan). The remains of the present structure, built around 1458, sit on a rocky outcrop on the banks of the Powmillon Burn.  It is constructed on the site of earlier castles and has a long, turbulent and often dark history. Once  it was held by the Douglases, and then by the Stewarts and then the Hamiltons. It finally fell into ruin in the 18th century. 

For many hundreds of years there has been sightings of a ghostly figure roaming the castle and its surrounds. Known as the "White Lady of Strathaven Castle" the spirit is still said to haunt the building. Local legend told of a wife of a past laird who having upset her husband was walled up in a small niche and left to starve. This story was passed down through the generations with tales that this lady was the ghost who haunted the castle. Many doubted the whole legend of the woman entombed in the walls of Strathaven Castle and dismissed the accounts of those that had seen the ghost as nonsense. Or at least that was the case, until during the 19th century, part of a wall fell down and human bones were discovered within.

Images:Strathaven Castle.