Highland Ghostbusters! Chasing Spirits at Castle Menzies

BY day, Castle Menzies is nothing short of idyllic. Tucked away by a steep hillside, with golden fields stretching before it, the castle is a delightful stop-off for anyone passing through the picturesque town of Aberfeldy.

But once dusk falls, ghost hunters gather at this medieval site of horror and tragedy. They remind us that this was not always a place for happy visitors to pass the day, enjoying beautiful views and learning fascinating titbits.

Once, it was the beating heart of Clan Menzies, their stronghold in the turbulent Highlands – and some believe their spirits haunt the castle to this day.

The traditional Scottish pronunciation of Menzies is "Ming-iss", rhyming with "sing", thanks to the old Scottish letter yogh which is now written as a z.

Highland Ghostbusters!

I’d never considered myself a likely ghost hunter, as I am admittedly a bit of a scaredy-cat, but I do adore a castle.

With History and Horror Tours’s promise of a genuine spooky experience – and, crucially, no “jumper-ooters” – I couldn’t resist heading to the Highlands with my fiancé, James, to explore Castle Menzies as darkness began to creep in.

When we arrived, we were greeted by our delightfully welcoming guides, Gary and Lynne. They were reassuring and straightforward as they thoroughly briefed the group on what was in store for us.

Genuine paranormal activity

The couple shared that they'd had supernatural experiences of their own, and had seen many groups face moments they couldn’t explain.

But they stressed one thing – they wouldn’t fake it. If the spirits weren’t rowdy in the castle tonight, we’d have to be OK with that.

Lynne began the experience by using a mindfulness technique to help us feel safe and grounded. We all closed our eyes and imagined a bubble surrounding us in a place we felt happy and safe.

If at any point the tour became too much, we could always return to our bubbles. This put me more at ease.

Sensing disturbed spirits

Next, we were kitted out with electromagnetic field (EMF) readers and instructed to put our phones on airplane mode to avoid interference.

The EMF readers displayed a steady green light as default, but if they were disrupted by a spirit, they could rapidly start flashing amber or even red.

With my bubble in my mind, my EMF reader in my hand and my heart in my mouth, the tour began.  

First, we headed to a low, arch-roofed room off the kitchen. Gary began narrating a disturbing tale. Three government soldiers once brutally attacked the clan chief’s daughter.

Gruesome clan legends

They were captured by the chief’s men, tortured and slowly put to death. To dispose of the evidence, their bodies were chopped into pieces and fed to the hunting dogs.

These spirits are furious, apparently, at their fate, and take it out on women to this day. In this very room, they’re felt playing with women’s hair or tugging at their dresses.

On one tour, we’re told a young lady felt icy cold arms go round her middle, and another time stones were thrown at a woman.

Our EMF reader started to go wild, lighting up the darkened room with its menacing red glow. Subtly, I handed it to James, in a futile attempt to distract the ghosts with a man.

To no-one’s surprise this plan failed, as any potential spirits would not be put off by who was holding the reader. Gary and Lynne decided to do a "call out" to see if any spirits wanted to make themselves known.

Calling out to ghosts

The group stood perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe, as the questions echoed against the walls.

“If you’re here, can you make this young man’s reader red again?”

Much to my relief, it stayed green. But the questions weren’t over yet.

“Can you give us a sign that you’re in the room with us?”

After a couple of seconds of agonising silence, there was a series of distinct banging noises, seemingly against the wall! We started in fear, and my heart thumped painfully.

A harrowing response

“If that was your sign, can you do it again, please?” Gary asked with composure.

Three. Distinct. Bangs.

I was ready to run out of the castle, apologising to the spirits for not believing in them before, but Lynne paused for a moment, considering.

“There are a lot of people in here tonight,” she pointed out. “We can’t be sure.”

And just like that, we moved on to the next room.

“You keep hold of the EMF reader,” I whispered to James. I had to admit, I was spooked.

We explored a labyrinth of grand rooms. Another highlight was the bedroom of the clan chief.

We were warned of some exceedingly clever architecture – the bottom step into the room was much deeper than the others, so any would-be assassins would stumble in with a clatter loud enough to rouse the chief and his bodyguards.

Medieval defence systems

Even pre-warned, each person on the tour stepped loudly in, and I marvelled at the ingenuity of historic design.

One woman spoke up suddenly, reporting quiet women’s voices from the top of the stairs. Lynne confirmed that had been heard before.

Lynne took James and I to a small room near the top of the castle. We ducked through the tiny doorframe, and I felt my balance shift a little.

Lynne revealed that many people report a feeling of the floor moving below them. When she was pregnant, she could hardly stand in the room. Once, a man told Lynne he felt terrible in there, and he shared with her, unprompted, that he was a retired midwife.

Powerful emotions through the ages

“It’s strange that he’d say that,” Lynne said, “because this was the castle’s birthing room.”

It’s experienced a lot of strong energy – a lot of happiness, but a lot of sadness, too, with the historic risks of childbirth. The powerful waves of emotion are said to ripple through the ages.

“We’ve decided that time is linear, but it might not be,” Gary said. It was an interesting perspective.

Somehow, we left Castle Menzies with more questions than answers.

Do we believe in ghosts? Not more than before. But the energy of the past is a powerful thing, and this tour did get us wondering.

One thing’s for sure – my curiosity isn’t quite sated yet…

Fancy giving ghost hunting a shot yourself? Book with History and Horror Tours for a night you won't forget – or sleep much after.

Working in a haunted castle

Curious to know what it’s like to work in a place like this, we caught up with castle manager Scott McMaster, who knows the building’s supernatural side all too well.

“Our staff have all experienced stuff as well," Scott said with a shrug. "You kind of get immune to it.

Reality or imagination?

"Sometimes you're 50-50 – you’ll think, well, that door slammed, but we know it’s really windy. Or we heard singing up there, but was that an echo from something else?

"But other times you think, no, that's definitely something, I heard that.

Scott has had several unsettling experiences himself.

“I've experienced quite a lot of stuff. Footsteps were probably the worst," he said. "I was in the castle on my own, at the top stairs. It was 10.30 at night, and I was just doing some work up there.

Ghostly footsteps in the night

“I was walking across, and I heard footsteps down below me, as if they were walking in one direction.

"Then I stopped, and I thought, no, that can't be what I think. Just as I thought that, it walked the other way.

“I contacted one of our volunteers who loves the paranormal, and she said it once happened during an investigation.

“She sent the footage, and it was very similar – the same room, roundabout the same time. That's the strangest one I've had.

“Other times you hear singing, other members of staff have heard voices.

The case of the missing polish

"Once a member of staff put a bottle of polish down when she was cleaning, and then she turned around and it was gone. We still haven't found it.

“I've had an EMF reader on occasionally and it's kicked off. And you're thinking, what on earth is that?

"You just switch it off. I don't particularly want to be involved in it too much because it's part of my day-to-day life. You get used to it."

Call of the Clans

While the castle is renowned as a ghostly hotspot by night, it's equally busy during the day thanks to Clan Menzies.

The seat of Clan Menzies

“Castle Menzies was a family home for 500 years until the clan chief passed away in 1910. Then, sadly, the entire estate, including the castle, was put up for auction," Scott said.

"It was stripped apart and sold off – even the contents were sold.

"It had various owners and played various roles, including being occupied by the Polish Army during World War II.

“In the 1950s, it was due for demolition, and the Clan Menzies Society managed to buy it for 300 pounds.

"Then they realised… what are we going to do with it? They started fundraising to restore the castle as best they could."

Saved by the Clan Menzies Society

“It's an ongoing process, although they restored the castle largely in the 1990s, and it's been open as an attraction since," Scott said.

“It's a labour of love, basically. It's a constant development all the time.

“One good thing is that the castle is owned by clan and society, and no-one claims ‘it's mine!’. You know, there's about 800 of them, but they all contribute to it in a way. Financially, it keeps itself going hand to mouth.

A castle without a chief

“When the money comes in, it goes straight to conservation and straight out again. There's no clan chief with a bottle of whisky, going ‘thanks very much!’”

Menzies clan gathering

Most people might think the age of clans has been long forgotten, but Clan Menzies are showing what it means to embrace the traditions of family ties and heritage in the 21st century.

The annual clan gathering is the biggest event of the year, requiring all hands on deck for Scott and his small team. This year's event was held in August.

“Various people come across from North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and England," Scott said. "Basically, they all get together, and they celebrate being part of a clan society and what they do to protect the castle and continue its conservation work.

The clan as family

“There was a meet and greet, where we had a little buffet, and we went on the ghost tour. The second night was a formal dinner along with whisky tasting.

“On Saturday they had a clan march, they attended the Games, there was a golf tournament and various other things going on, like Scottish country dancing within the castle.

"There was a ceilidh on the Saturday night, and on the Sunday there was a little brunch.

“It's attended by about 150 people from different parts of the world," Scott said. "We have regular people who come out every year, and then we have different folk who've never been here before, but they want to experience what being part of a clan is.

"The clan's family, so it is like getting together with your family.

“We'll have contract caterers coming in, Jura’s whisky will come in and do whisky tasting. There are aspects of fundraising and various things like that."

Finding your clan

Clan Menzies accepts membership applications from anyone with the surname Menzies or any of their approved septs.

Curious to know if you have links to a Scottish clan of your own?

With genealogical services thriving, it's easier than ever to learn about where your ancestors came from.

FindMyPast helps you build your own family tree. Why not investigate? Maybe next year, you'll be making your way to the Highlands to take part in your first annual clan gathering.

📸 History and Horrors Tours, Castle Menzies, Clan Menzies, DC Thomson and Shutterstock.

Scots Snippet

Word of the Week

"Guising"

(v.) - trick-or-treating.

The Scottish equivalent to trick-or-treating traditionally involves children doing a small performance for their treat, such as telling a joke or singing.

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