Halloween hidden secrets

Black cat!

Black cats have long been associated with Halloween but one dark feline, named Alfonso, was a friendly family pet at Brodie Castle in the early years of the 20th century. A black and white photographic print from the collection at Brodie Castle, dating to around 1909, shows a young David Brodie (aged around four years old) with Alfonso.

‘The cat would have belonged to David’s mother, Violet May Hope, who was a big animal lover. She had lots of cats throughout her life and was particularly fond of cats and dogs,’ says Jamie Barron, Visitor Experience Supervisor at Brodie Castle. ‘We have copies of the albums that Violet kept of her photographs, of which this is one. The albums are on display for visitors to flick through in the castle. It's rather sad because within a couple of years of the photograph being taken, David died of diphtheria.’

On tours of the castle, visitors are taken into a bedroom where Violet, who married the 24th laird Ian Brodie, kept a collection of toads. Visitors hear all about Violet and her pets, and the walls are adorned with photographs of Brodie pets from over the years.

Ghostly sightings

To protect the original floor tiles in the strongroom at Culross Palace, it is cordoned off to visitors, who instead stand behind a rope to see into the place where George Bruce, the richest man in the area, kept his papers and valuables. Dating back to 1597, the narrow room has 3ft thick stone walls and had two heavy iron doors that could be bolted from the inside. It was also designed with a clever slanted entranceway to deter intruders and stop them from pulling out a sword. Not surprisingly, it was supposedly cannonball- and fire-proof.

Visitors might have to stand at the doorway, but that hasn’t stopped some unusual ghostly goings-on being reported in the room over the years. Staff at the property remember a five-year-old girl who went under the rope, stood at the desk and was laughing and joking – with no one. ‘A guide came in and asked her who she was speaking to. She said, “The man with the hairy face and the funny white thing around his neck.” She was taken to the portrait of George Bruce, and she started waving at him and smiling,’ says Linda Whiteford, Visitor Services Supervisor at Culross.

‘One of our guides went into the strong room to set up battery-operated candles, and the quills in a pewter pot on the desk were whirling round and round. She thought it was the draught from her jacket, so went out and came in again. It didn’t make any difference.’

Discover the many ghosts of the Trust and their stories!

Hebridean Halloween

Through film and photography, the Halloween traditions of South Uist were documented by Margaret Fay Shaw in the 1930s. Contained in the archive at Canna House, Shaw’s images form a rare record of guisers in sheepskin garb with haystack wigs and rope scarves.

It wasn’t just at Halloween when islanders believed there were spirits afoot. For hundreds of years a legend swirled around Canna about Coroghon Castle, also known as Coroghon Prison. ‘A painting of the castle by Richard Doyle featured in the book Canna: The Story of a Hebridean Island by Shaw’s husband, the renowned Gaelic folklorist John Lorne Campbell. Doyle visited Canna in 1875 on the Viscount Sherbrooke’s yacht,’ says Fiona Mackenzie, Canna House archivist and manager.

‘The story goes that Marion Macleod, the wife of Donald Macdonald of Clanranald, known as Dòmhnall Dubh na Cuthaige (Black Donald of the Cuckoo), had an affair. Macdonald was born in about 1625 and fought in Montrose’s army in the Civil War. He married Marion in 1666.

‘When Macdonald found out about the affair, he locked his wife up in the castle for the rest of her life. Supposedly, on a calm moonlit night, you can still hear her wailing and crying to be released. Personally, I think that might be the sound of the seals.’

Read more about the unique island traditions: A Hebridean Halloween

Gruesome growings in our gardens

At Castle Fraser in Aberdeenshire, you’ll find a deathly pale thistle, spookily known as Miss Willmott’s Ghost (Eryngium giganteum) after the English horticulturist Ellen Ann Willmott (1858–1934) who scattered seeds in gardens she visited, resulting in all sorts of unexpected surprises shooting up.

Look out for the full moon maple (Acer japonicum aconitifolium) at Broughton House and the devil’s walking stick (Aralia spinosa) at Culzean Castle, but avert your eyes from the scary doll’s eye or whitebane (Actaea pachypoda) at Geilston Garden.

Branklyn Garden boasts a particularly unpleasant fungus known as dead man’s fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) which looks exactly like a withered hand reaching up through the ground, while ghost bramble (Rubus thibetanus) and witch hazel (Hamamelis) can be found at Castle Fraser.

Last but not least, purple toothwort (Lathraea clandestina) is a parasitic plant that draws all its nutrition from the roots of its host and can be found under a willow (Salix) in Threave Garden.

By supporting ROOTS, you are helping to support all sorts of wild, weird and wonderful plants in the care of the National Trust for Scotland – thank you!