Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 14 on 2/5/2004.

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Visiting those old haunts...

Roddy Martine, author of the book supernatural Scotland, picks Scotland's ten most haunted places

Through the violence of its history, and the contrasts of its landscape, Scotland ideally lends itself to haunting.

Haunting is universal. Every story has its stories of phantoms and psychic phenomena, but Scotland is somehow special.

It may have something to do with the weather, the rain, the mist and the wind.

It certainly has a lot to do with the light of the landscape. Ghosts are not usually associated with sunlight. Multifarious shades of grey offset by browns and greens and purples, the sudden shaft of silver on the surface of remote lochans, the sense of isolation that pervades much of the countryside, the ink black nights and the long winters.

Then there is the architecture, from the rubbled remains of Highland shielings and fortified keeps and castles to the cobbled streets and more recent modernist pretensions of our inner cities. Souls in limbo do not like to be disturbed.

In such a small country densely allocated with historic sites, the ghosts of the past are more often than not laughably dismissed or taken for granted.

Make fun of it if you must, but there are more things in heaven and earth than mankind can possibly begin to understand.

THE ABBOT HOUSE, DUNFERMLINE, FIFE
The Abbot House in the Maygate sits beside Dunfermline Abbey which dates from the 12th century. Ten years ago it was lovingly restored, and it has since become a heritage centre. While the repairs were taking place, however, strange things occurred. An architect working on site claimed.....

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By Roddy Martine

Section : Exploring Scotland

Page number : 22