Greig Pow
Latest posts by Greig Pow (see all)
- Greece - January 22, 2016
- A wee jelly grape from sunny Scotland - April 10, 2015
- Yester Castle, Scotland - October 1, 2014
Haunted Scotland.
Approximately 30 miles outside Edinburgh , is a village called Gifford. What lies on the outskirts of the village is said to be the 3rd most haunted location in Scotland, Yester Castle . Before I delve into the reasons of this lets look at the history of the location.
Sir Hugo Giffard was the builder of the original Yester Castle. The castle is mentioned by name in a Yester charter of Adam de Morham, in which he cedes some adjacent land to his neighbor Sir Hugh Giffard. This charter is dated between 1250 and 1267, showing the castle was built and completed before the year 1267.
The locals in the nearby village where rumours were rife about Hugo and the fact that he practiced black magic and he was a necromancer[pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”30%”]Rumours were rife about Hugo and the fact that he practiced black magic and he was a necromancer.[/pullquote]. One of the rumours were around that he made a deal with the devil himself to help build the great hall of the castle with the use of a goblin army ( hence why it’s called the Goblin Ha).
When the castle was destroyed and re-built in the early 14th century, this legendary lower chamber was the only feature retained. The village of Bothans was located on the grounds of the Yester estate in this period. Bothans was razed and moved to the modern site of the nearby village of Gifford in the 17th century. St. Bothans, the church of Yester, was consecrated by Bishop David de Burnham in 1241.
Later on in years the Giffard family moved to Yester house and the castle was sadly left to ruin and to this day lies In a derelict state. Unfortunately all that is left is a very small part of the castle including (allegedly) the great hall or goblin hall.
People have reported in the past of strange goings on in the castle from voices , black masses and full bodied apparitions. When you walk around the area there is a strange eerie feeling to the place and accessing the area is a hike through a golf course and woodland. I have investigated the place with my team on several occasions with mixed results. I have spoken to locals several times about the area and some people will not go near the place as the fear there is a curse ( due to renovations at the castle and several accidents with workers causing the renovations to be ceased).
My own personal experiences have included a black mass standing in front of me and several intelligent responses to questions.
Even today when I visit the place, there is evidence of black magic being practiced there as well as paranormal investigations
Have a look on YouTube , there is some interesting videos about the place.
Greig.