A SUGGESTED SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY - Article in Chamber's Journal 1898
THERE are few stories of haunted chambers in ancestral castles better known than that which is connected with Glamis Castle. Several variants of the tale are given; but these all have in common the notable peculiarity that the location of the mysterious chamber is unknown. In this respect the legend differs from the common ghost-story. It is not a bedroom where some crime has been committed, and which the spirit of the wronged person haunts at the midnight hour, causing terror and dismay in the heart of the luckless temporary guest. There are no indelible bloodmarks shown; no clanking fetters are heard; no white lady is ever seen pacing the oaken floor with restless steps, and wailing her griefs upon the startled air. So far as is known, the ghost of Glamis has hardly ever been seen by mortal eye; though sometimes, it is alleged, on stormy nights, when the wild wind whistles around the quaint towers and gables of the ancient structure, the sounds of blasphemous language may be heard above the raging fury of the elements. Hence the mystery of Glamis Castle is more profound than the average ghostly tale; and yet it may be possible to suggest a very simple explanation of it.
In 1791 Sir Walter Scott visited Glamis Castle, and he refers to this event in his famous Quarterly Review article on 'Landscape Gardening,' published in 1828, and also in his Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, issued in 1830. The former deals only with the exterior of the Castle; but in the latter Scott incidentally mentions the secret chamber, and describes his own 'eerie' feelings during the night which he spent at Glamis. Unfortunately Sir Walter did not relate any of the traditions which he heard in connection with Glamis Castle, though these would have been quite within the scope of his work.
The first reference in literature to the ghost of Glamis is to be found in The Picture of Scotland, by Robert Chambers, published by William Tait of Edinburgh in 1826. The passage forms the foundation of all later allusions, and may here be quoted:
'As in all other old Scottish castles, there is a room in Glamis supposed to be haunted, and therefore shut up. But in the intricacies of the Castle it is supposed that there is also one which, if discovered, would be found to present a scene far beyond the simple horrors of a haunted chamber. Alexander, the Earl of Crawford, so notorious in Scottish history for his rebellion against James II., is popularly known in Fife and Angus by the descriptive appellation of Earl Beardie, and is, moreover, invested with all the terrible attributes understood by the term "a wicked laird." Certes he was, according to Bishop Lesley, "a verrey awful and rigorus man to all baronnes and gentlemen of the cuntry, and keist down mony of their houses in Angus quha wald nocht assist him, quhairof sindrey remains yit unbiggit again in this our dayis." It is the tradition of Glamis that he was playing at cards in the Castle, when, being warned to desist, as he was losing, he swore in a transport of fury that he would "play till the day of judgment." On this the devil appeared in the company, and they, room and all, disappeared. It is not known in what part of the house this room is situated, but it is well enough understood that, if ever discovered, Earl Beardie will be found, with all his party, still playing, and to play till the end of time. Some go the length of affirming that, on windy nights, the doomed gamesters are heard stamping their feet at one another, and mingling their impious exclamations with the passing blast.'
There can be no doubt that Robert Chambers obtained this tradition on the spot, and it is certain that the legend is still repeated in the district, and is well known wherever ghostly tales are current. The late Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (then Lord Lindsay) in his Lives of the Lindsays, published in 1836, relates the story almost in the words of Robert Chambers, referring to The Picture of Scotland for his authority. Andrew Jervise, in his Land of the Lindsays, published in 1853, alludes to the legend in the same terms. In the account of Glamis Castle given in A. H. Millar's Historical Castks of Scotland, published in 1890, some additional particulars are noted. The passage runs thus:
'There is a well-known tradition current in Forfarshire to the effect that there is a mysterious chamber in Glamis, the entrance to which is only known to three persons at one time—the Earl, the heir-apparent, and the factor on the estate—and that 'Beardie,' the fourth Earl of Crawford, is confined within its walls, doomed, as the penance for a hasty vow, to play dice till the day of judgment. It is hopeless to convert lovers of legendary lore from their belief by telling them that an authentic record declares that Earl Beardie "tuik the hot fever and died in the year of God ane thousand four hundreth fifty-four years, and wes buried with great triumph in the Grey Friars of Dundee in his forebears' sepulchre;" but it would be wrong for the incredulous scoffer to conclude that the tradition as to a secret chamber is altogether unfounded. We have the best authority for stating that such an apartment exists, and that its entrance is concealed, though the story of Earl Beardie's connection with it is a popular delusion.'
Quite a different version of the Glamis legend is given by J. H. Ingram in Haunted Homes, published in 1884. This writer alludes to 'an ominous chamber, said to be now cut off by a stone wall, and none is supposed to be acquainted with its locality save Lord Strathmore, his heir, and the factor of the estate. This wall is alleged to have been erected some few years ago by order of the late proprietor, in consequence of certain mysterious sights and sounds which he had both seen and heard.' The late Earl of Strathmore succeeded to the title in 1846 and died in 1865, so that the period of this 'alleged' closing of the entrance to the haunted chamber must have occurred between these dates. The cause of this action on Lord Strathmore's part is given by Mr Ingram on the authority of a correspondent of Dr Lee, and is in these terms:
'There is no doubt about the reality of the noises at Glamis Castle. On one occasion, some years ago, the head of the family, with several companions, was determined to investigate the cause. One night, when the disturbance was greater and more violent and alarming than usual—and, it should be premised, strange, weird, and unearthly sounds had often been heard, and by many persons, some quite unacquainted with the ill-repute of the castle—his Lordship went to the haunted room, opened the door with a key, and dropped back in a dead swoon into the arms of his companions; nor could he ever be induced to open his lips on the subject afterwards.'
Dr Lee's informant supplies the only record of a spectral appearance at Glamis. The story is as follows:
'On one occasion a lady and her child were staying for a few days at the Castle. The child was asleep in an adjoining dressing-room, and the lady, having gone to bed, lay awake for a while. Suddenly a cold blast stole into the room, extinguishing the night-light by her bedside, but not affecting the one in the dressing-room beyond, in which her child had its cot. By that light she saw a tall mailed figure pass into the dressing-room from that in which she was lying. Immediately thereafter there was a shriek from the child. Her maternal instinct was aroused. She rushed into the dressing-room, and found the child in an agony of fear. It described what it had seen as a giant, who came and leant over its face.'
Here are the details of the usual ghost-story, with the customary lack of corroboration. No other instance is known of the appearance of a figure, mailed or otherwise, at Glamis. It is important to notice that the only point in which all these stories agree is as to the existence of a secret chamber. One of the writers quoted above refers to this statement as being 'on the best authority.' The following incident, bearing upon this point, was related about thirty years ago by an aged, superannuated servant, who had long been in the service of the Strathmore family. On one occasion, early in the present century, when the Strathmore family was from home, some of the inquisitive domestics set themselves to discover the locality of the secret chamber. The plan they took was effectual. They went through every room in the castle, and placed towels outside of every window. There was one window which had no towel, and of course it was concluded that it belonged to the mystic room. It was said that when Lord Strathmore returned and found that the secret had been so far discovered, he dismissed the ringleaders in the conspiracy, and bound the others over to perpetual secrecy. To this day the exact position of this mysterious room is known only to three persons at one time.
An examination of the evidence shows that the oral tradition was in existence about a century ago, and that the earliest printed record dates back for over seventy years. Earl Beardie was dead three centuries and a half before the former time, yet his name may have survived as a nursery bugbear, just as that of the Black Douglas was used to terrify children in Sir Walter Scott's early days, as testified by the rhyme:
Hush ye, hush ye, do not fret ye,
The Black Douglas shall not get ye!
The evil reputation of Earl Beardie was a local Forfarshire superstition long after he had gone to receive the reward of his misdeeds. A story, therefore, which had any mystery connected with it would naturally be associated with his name. Hence the secret chamber at Glamis need not have been constructed previous to 1454—the date of Earl Beardie's death—so as to link his name with it. Indeed, it is far more likely to be an erection of a much later date, when the name of the 'Tiger Earl' had been canonised in an evil sense. It may here be explained that many structural curiosities at Glamis Castle have been only recently discovered. A splendid fireplace in the drawing-room, which was not known to exist, was accidentally found a few years ago; and a secret staircase, which appears to have been built about 1670, had been closed up, and was discovered in 1849, when some alterations were in progress. The principal renovator of the ancient Castle of Glamis was Patrick, first Earl of Strathmore, who was born in 1642 and died in 1695. In the Book of Record, written by this Lord Strathmore, and published by the Scottish History Society in 1890, he gives very full details of the work done by him at Glamis Castle. For instance, the construction of this back staircase, so long forgotten, is distinctly described; and from his references to certain leaden statues which he had erected in the grounds these works of art were recovered from their undignified seclusion in some of the cellars, and have been restored to their original positions.
When confronted with a mystery like that of the secret chamber, one naturally turns to the Book of Record to see if it contains any allusion to this apartment. The diligent student of that remarkable book will find two curious entries that seem to have some bearing on this subject. Writing on 24th June 1684, Lord Strathmore records the following transaction:
'Agried with the four masones in Glammiss for digging down from the floor of the litil pantry off the Lobbis a closet designed within the charterhouse there, for wch I am to give them 50 lib. scotts and four bolls meall.'
The work of constructing this closet or small chamber was more serious than the Earl had contemplated. Judging from similar chambers which he caused to be made at his other residence of Castle Lyon (now Castle Huntly) in the Carse of Gowrie, this closet was probably dug out of the thickness of the wall. On 25th July there is another reference to this closet, which shows that its construction was an arduous undertaking:
'I did add to the work before mentioned of a closet in my charter-house severall things of a considerable trouble, as the digging thorrow passages from the new work to the old, and thorrow that closet againe so that as now I have access off on flour [one floor] from the east quarter of the house of Glammis to the west syde of the house thorrow the low hall, and am to pay the masones, because of the uncertainty y'of dayes wages, and just so to the wright and plasterer.'
From these precise entries it is plain that in 1684 the first Earl of Strathmore caused a secret chamber or closet to be constructed, with an entrance from the charter-room. This was by no means an unusual thing, for many noble Scottish families have had frequent occasion to conceal documents that would have compromised them in times of war, and even a charter-room might not have been secure against the searches by enemies. The first Lord Strathmore himself, for instance, was deeply implicated in a Jacobite plot with the Earls of Southesk and Callander in 1689; and though he afterwards became reconciled to William III., it would be useful for him to have a secure hiding-place for treasonable papers. Several of his descendants were concerned in the risings of 1715 and 1745, and a chamber of this kind would be useful either to secrete documents or to afford shelter to a fugitive. The third Earl of Strathmore died of wounds he received at Sheriffmuir in 1715. By that time the masons who had constructed the secret chamber thirty years before would have passed away, and the lingering rumours of its existence would be linked in the popular mind with the mysterious Earl Beardie. For obvious reasons the successive Earls of Strathmore would not seek to dispel this superstition, and thus the simple 'closet designed within the charter-room' has been elevated to the dignity of a haunted chamber. At least this suggestion is a reasonable one. Certainly the secret of this mysterious closet has been faithfully kept alike by the Earls of Strathmore and their factors. In the middle of last century this secrecy was of vital importance. It has since become habitual and traditional.
No comments:
Post a Comment