Old photograph of Fyvie Castle in the village of Fyvie, near Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The earliest parts of Fyvie Castle date from the 13th century, some sources claim it was built in 1211 by William the Lion. Fyvie was the site of an open air court held by Robert the Bruce, and King Charles I lived there as a child. Following the Battle of Otterburn in 1390, it ceased to be a royal stronghold and instead fell into the possession of five successive families, Preston, Meldrum, Seton, Gordon and Leith, each of whom added a new tower to the castle. Manus O'Cahan and Montrose fought a successful minor battle against the Covenant Army at Fyvie Castle on 28 October 1644. Following Victorian trends, the grounds and adjoining Loch Fyvie were landscaped in the 19th century. The Scottish industrialist Alexander Leith, later Baron Leith of Fyvie, bought the castle in 1885. A story is told that in 1920 during renovation work the skeleton of a woman was discovered behind a bedroom wall. On the day the remains were laid to rest in Fyvie cemetery, the castle residents started to be plagued by strange noises and unexplained happenings. Fearing he had offended the dead woman, the Laird of the castle had the skeleton exhumed and replaced behind the bedroom wall, at which point the haunting ceased. It is said that there is a secret room in the south west corner of the castle that must remain sealed, lest anyone entering meet with disaster. It is unclear if this is the same room in which the skeleton was found. There is also an indelible blood stain, two ghosts and two curses associated with this place. One of the curses has been attributed to the prophetic laird, Thomas the Rhymer. The curse is said to have been part of the mysterious three weeping stones. Only one weeping stone is known to exist and is kept at the castle. The other two have never been found. Fyvie Castle has featured in a number of British television programmes, such as Living TV's Most Haunted season 6.and stv's Castles of Scotland. The castle also played host of the setting of a children's gameshow on CBBC called Spook Squad in 2004. 2009 saw the publication of the children's fantasy novel, The Time Tailor and the Fyvie Castle Witch Trials, written by Deborah Leslie. The castle was also featured in BBC documentary, Castle Ghosts of Scotland, narrated by Robert Hardy.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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