Featured image of Glamis Castle Ghost

Glamis Castle Ghost

The inception of Glamis Castle was in 1016 as a house of royals beside the village of Glamis, Scotland. It has been the home of the Lyon family, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Marget, Simon Bowes-Lyon, and many other famous Royals. Now, it is preserved as a category ‘A’ listed building by the Government and is now open for visitors.

The Glamis Castle is more than 1000 years old, which means a lot of tales are associated with it. And multiple of them revolve around Glamis Castle Ghost. Many call this Castle ‘Mystery of Mysteries’ because of a hidden room, solemn Initiations, scandals, a secret passage, and then constantly noticing shadowy figures glimpses at night by the visitors. Rumours are that Glamis Castle is the most haunted place in Scotland.

Glamis Castle Ghost Stories

The Tongueless Woman

Many visitors have noticed Tongueless woman’s Glamis Castle Ghost wandering around the ground floor. The chilling ghost points towards her badly wounded face with blood spilling from her mouth. Also, the ghost has been seen looking outside the barred window of Glamis Castle.

Based on the story, she was a serving maid of the castle and stumbled because of listening to a terrible secret of the Earl. She started threatening Earl to expose the secret, which is why Earl gave the order to guards to cut off her tongue and then kill her. The miserable death leads to her spirit wandering the castle.

The Monster of Glamis

Many visitors have noticed the ghost of Thomas Bowes-Lyon, the oldest son of 11th Earl of Strathmore, in the castle, who is known as ‘The Monster of Glamis’. On October 21, 1821, he was born with a badly deformed body and died the same day. However, there is a belief that he never died and was kept in the secret room throughout his life because he was not considered presentable. Also, some sources mentioned that he was only allowed to come out of that secret room at night and was seen walking on the roof, parapets, and grounds.

Thomas Bowes-Lyon was thought to haunt the Glamis castle, and even a section of the parapet was called ‘The Mad Earl’s Walk’ by the people. There are rumours that he died in the 1920s, and his rooms were walled off after his death. Now, you will notice that you can access two windows less from inside as you might count from the castle’s outside. As per Claude Bowse-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore, the castle was full of secrets, and no one would like to live here. No one knows if this Glamis Castle Ghost really exists or it was just Thomas, but many people have reported seeing him.

The Hanged Butler

The Hangman Chamber of the Castle is also believed to be haunted by the Ghost of Butler. He hanged himself there in the Hangman Chamber, and since then, many people have noticed his ghost. The chamber is not used these days, but you can get its glimpse during the Glamis Castle Ghost tour. 

The Grey Lady

Another haunted story related to Glamis Castle is that many villagers and visitors have noticed a ghost of a grey lady in the family chapel and the clock tower. It is believed that it is the ghost of Lady Glamis, Janet Douglas, who was burned at stake in 1537 for being a supposed witch and practising witchcraft against her first husband, King John V of Scotland, in 1528. Later, she planned to kill John V of Scotland by poisoning him; that’s when the family decided to burn her alive. The grey lady Glamis Castle ghost has never harmed anyone, but many people have been spooked by seeing it.

Earl Beardie

Earl Beardie Glamis Castle ghost doesn’t limit himself from haunting one part of the castle; rather, his spirit is reportedly seen in many castle’s rooms. This ghost is believed to be Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford, famous as a drunk, cruel, and twisted man. He used to force many servants to entertain him.  

The story revolves around his extinction- One night, he was playing cards, and his friend and the servants tried to stop him. Earl Beardie said that he will keep on playing even if it is a game with Devil himself. At midnight, the Devil appeared covered up, played a game with him, won the game, and took half of his soul. After that, the other half of his soul is believed to be present in the ghost castle and is heard yelling, swearing, and rattling dice behind a closed door.


There are many Glamis Castle Ghost stories, and this is just the beginning. The other stories of the deadly stream, haunted chamber, haunted cup, and the African servant boy are also associated with this ghost castle. However, not every visitor has a complaint about noticing spooky spirits. Even the castle owners haven’t mentioned anything in favour of such incidents and continue to invite the visitors. Some researchers reported that the Glamis Castle Ghost stories are just the built-ups. To know whether the Glamis Castle ghost actually exists or not, you should visit the castle yourself.

If you liked reading about the Glamis Castle ghost, you should also read about Fyvie Castle Ghost & Chillingham Castle Ghost!

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