... and, on a happier note....

There must be thousands of Scottish ghosts who have been unhappy in love.  Brides who, fearing themselves abandoned, threw themselves to their deaths from a high place, unwilling brides, betrayed servants impregnated by the son or master of the house, women whose lovers rode off to war never to return. The misery and desperation of their legends echo down the ages at us.

The Grey Lady of the Inn at Lathones sets a different tone, however. Her story was told to me by Nick White, the Inn's owner, many years ago.  The Inn at Lathones is a four centuries old coaching inn approximately a mile from Largoward in Fife.  The oldest part of the Inn is the bar, which used to be the stables.  The front part of the house was built in the late seventeenth century and its fireplace has a wedding stone placed above it as its lintel.

Iona Kirk married Ewan Lindsay in front of the fireplace in 1718 and the couple ran the Inn together until Iona's death in 1732.  It's said that such was the love between them that the wedding stone cracked when Iona died and that Ewan died shortly afterwards.

Noises have been heard in the bar and the Grey Lady has been seen and her horse heard there.  Nick has often wondered if this is Iona settling her horse in its stall.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term "wedding stone", the picture above is an example of one that can be seen in Newburgh, Fife. They usually incorporate the year of the mariage, the initials (or in this case the full names) of the married couple and some symbol of the husband's profession.

Falkland Palace lies at the foot of the Lomond Hills in Fife.  It was originally used as a Royal Hunting Lodge in the 12th Century, having originally belonged to the MacDuff Family.  The surrounding area had plentiful amounts of deer and wild boar.  The wild boar have long gone, but deer can still be seen in the area.
In the 16th century the Palace was extended and embellished until it became the beautiful example of Renaissance architecture we can see today.

The Tapestry Gallery in the Palace is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a lady surrounded by a grey glow.  It is said that her lover was a soldier who bade her farewell then rode off to battle and never returned, and she is doomed to pace the Tapestry Gallery until he is reunited with her.

Diagonally across the road from the Palace is what used to be the Covenanter Hotel, so named, presumably, because the Covenantors who opposed the Episcopalian Church held secret meetings in the Lomond Hills behind the hotel.  Now known as Luigino's, the Covenanter Hotel was reputed to be haunted by the spirit of a young woman who would drift through the bedrooms.  Nobody knows who she was, but it has been suggested that she may be the ghost of Mary, Queen of Scots who was a regular visitor to Falkland Palace.

A few miles from Falkland, Fernie Castle stands in its own wooded grounds.  Again, the original castle which stood here belonged to the MacDuff family in the 13th century.

The tower to the west of the existing castle is said to be haunted by the ghost of a Green Lady.  She is supposed to be associated with lights turning themselves on and off and has appeared in front of startled guests and staff with a sad look upon her face.  Legend has it that her father disapproved of the man she loved, and so she ran away with him to Fernie Castle. 

Her father gathered troops and followed the pair of lovers, and when the Green Lady looked out of the west tower and saw them approach, she fell to her death.

The Lovers' Festival

It won't be long until St Valentine's Day which, for those of you with no romance in your souls, falls on February 14th.  Although Valentine is  a well-known name, not much is known about the saint himself.  There were three Valentines who were Christian martyrs.  One was martyred with some companions in Africa and all that is known about him is his name.  The other two were St Valentine of Terni and St Valentine of Rome.  Both of them were martyred and buried on the Via Flaminia.

The legend of Valentine is that he was a priest who lived in Rome around 270 AD.  Rome at that time was under threat from various neighbouring states and it was imperative that the Empire should have a strong army.  To this end, the EmperorClaudius II made a decree that young people should not be allowed to marry because he believed that a married man's loyalties would always be divided between the State and his wife and family.

Valentine, on the other hand, believed it was his duty under God to marry young lovers who wished to be united and he conducted marriage ceremonies in secret.  Nothing is ever truly a secret if more than one person knows it, however, and it was inevitable that Claudius II would find out what Valentine was doing.  Incensed, the emperor had the young priest captured and thrown into jail.

Valentine's jailer  had a daughter who was blind.  He had heard that the young priest had healing powers and he begged Valentine to try to heal his daughter.  Valentine duly obliged, the girl's sight was restored and a strong friendship was formed between the young couple.

Eventually Claudius II visited Valentine in his jail and was impressed by the way he had clung to his beliefs despite the floggings and beatings he had endured.  He was less impressed, however, by the young priest's attempts to convert him to Christianity and sentenced Valentine to death by beheading.

On the eve of his execution Valentine is said to have written a letter to his jailer's daughter and signed it "from your Valentine".  Some say the tradition of sending Valentine's cards originates from this story.

There are various superstitions linked to St Valentine's Day.  It is traditionally supposed to be the day when birds choose their mates and it is said that the first man that an unmarried girl sees on Valentine's Day will either become her husband or will resemble the man that she will eventually marry.  It is (of course) considered lucky to be woken with a kiss on Valentine's Day.

Although red roses are sent as a token of love on Valentine's Day, violets are said to have grown outside the window of his jail cell, and this is the flower most associated with him.  The violet also represents faithfulness.

Over the next few posts I'll tell the story of some ghostly lovers in Fife.