Ghost hunting in Linlithgow Palace

Published on Thursday 4 November 2010 17:28

IT'S a bitterly cold October evening a few weeks shy of Halloween in Linlithgow.

A cold wind nips the finger tips while children's screams fill the air as a full moon lights up the ruins of the town's notoriously spooky Palace.

I'm here on a ghost walk which is run jointly by Historic Scotland and the Alba Adventure Company.

The event is theatrical and firmly family-orientated.

Anticipate ghostly tales and the odd scare but don't expect to find people taking the whole thing too seriously.

The Palace is a pretty impressive place to visit at night and has a historic aura about it.

Mary Queen of Scots was born here while Bonnie Prince Charlie also visited in 1745 prior to his defeat at Culloden to the Duke of Cumberland's forces.

The Duke and his troops took over the palace following the victory.

When they departed a fire was also left burning which inadvertently spread through the whole of the building leaving it a a roofless shell.

A few ghosts are also rumoured to frequent the innards of the palace.

A 'Blue Lady' is said to linger at the entrance of the Palace while the wife of James V, Mary of Guise, is also said to roam.

We were led into a room off the courtyard and told how the even would progress.

The night involved a tour of the Palace's winding staircases and darkened rooms interspersed with grisly tales from the past.

We were informed how its high walls and defences didn't just serve to block invading armies, they also came in handy to keep plague sufferers out during the Black Death of 1349.

Scotland's parliament and court sheltered in Linlithgow after the disease wiped out close to a third of the Edinburgh population.

Victims of the plague, we were told, were instructed to wear a bell round their neck to serve as a warning to others.

A black figure wearing a bell appeared in the distance.

We were also regaled with tales of witches who had perished in Linlithgow Loch which sits below the Palace.

• Linlithgow Loch with the Palace on the left

During witch trials it was customary to throw one suspected of the dark arts into the water. If they floated they were a witch if they sunk to the bottom they weren't

To be fair they were pretty stumped either way.

We also heard about the Linlithgow blacksmith who chopped off his own head while trying to put down a horse.

His head has never been found and his ghost is still said to roam these parts today.

The tale of Ayrshire miner Mathew Clydesdale was also told.

The coal worker was sentenced to death for murder and his body donated to medical science.

During a lecture in front of medical students at Glasgow University when electricity was piped into his body.

Clydesdale's eyes and mouth then opened and he briefly came back to life.

All in all the evening was thoroughly entertaining and ideal for those with young children.

The actors bring the place to life and be prepared to be spooked by the odd special effect thrown in along the way.