Guest Blog & Giveaway with Sue-Ellen Welfonder

I'm excited to have Sue-Ellen Welfonder visiting. Her latest book A Highlander's Temptation was just released. Today she will be talking about...

SPOOKY SCOTLAND

I’m so happy to be here today. And I’m especially pleased that A Highlander’s Temptation (GCP, Oct. 2009) is an October release. Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the changing colors, the brisk days and chilly nights, the scent of wood smoke on the air, and – of course – the season’s association with all things spooky.

I love the paranormal!

Long-time readers know that I always have such threads in my books. If you didn’t know, I’ll say it here: I’m fascinated by the supernatural and love weaving these elements into my stories.

Just don’t expect demons, vamps, and werewolves. My interest is in haunted and atmospheric places, Celtic and Norse magic and lore, and the fascinating beliefs and folklore of Highland tradition.

I’ve done several guest blogs on why I include such things in my Scottish medievals. So I won’t go into detail about those reasons. It’s enough to say that myth, legend, and superstitions were a very large part of life in medieval Scotland. Fabled creatures like selkies, water horses, women who can change themselves into a cat or a hare, sound fantastical to the modern mind. But these things were accepted as real by the ancient Gael.

They also believed in ghosts.

Scotland abounds with haunted places. That was so in medieval times and it’s still that way today. There are haunted castles and country houses, hotels and pubs and restaurants with ghosts. Battlefields and abbey ruins burst with them. And there are also hills, woods, and beaches where many insist the unholy can be found. Private homes aren’t immune and if I weren’t so discreet, I could share some hair-raising tales told to me by Highland friends about their own four walls.

I could also tell you a tale or two of my own eerie encounters in Scotland. But this is the Internet, after all, so I’m not so inclined.

I will mention Asa Long-Legs. She’s a ghost you’ll meet in A Highlander’s Temptation (GCP, Oct. 2009). Asa was once the vivacious young daughter of Norse nobleman. But she met her doom in the person of Rhun MacConacher, a true scoundrel. Rhun was an ancestor of Darroc MacConacher, hero of A Highlander’s Temptation (GCP, Oct. 2009). I don’t like to give spoilers, so I’ll just say that because of what happened between Rhun and Asa, she became a ghost. She haunts the uppermost tower room at Clan MacConacher’s Castle Bane and her plight is touching. At least I thought so when she appeared to me, sharing her fateful tale. I knew then that she needed to be in this book and I enjoyed working with her. Wherever she is now, I hope she’s at peace.

Asa Long-Legs is entirely my creation, of course. But her tale, both the events of her earthly life and her existence as a ghost, could well be true. Medieval history is full of accounts of fair young women who suffered fates such as hers. And many of Scotland’s recorded hauntings tell of heartbroken spirits like Asa.

But gentle, quiet ghosts like her aren’t the only ones said to roam Scotland’s misty hills and dark, mysterious glens. The spectral roll call is long and varied and I’d need an entire book to honor them all.

I’ll leave out the most famous hauntings. Everyone has surely heard of the piper who is always sent into secret tunnels or vaults beneath a castle, never to be seen again. The eerie strains of his pipes can still be heard, of course. And sometimes the piper himself appears. Culloden is a veritable hot-bed of ghosts. Stories range from the notorious Well of the Dead where faces of slain Highlanders peer up from the well’s murky waters, to accounts of full-fledged battle scenes, to Bonnie Prince Charlie himself, often reported to have been seen at Culloden House, a nearby country manor house hotel. And who hasn’t heard of Glamis Castle and its secret room? Not to mention the castle’s reputation for being the most haunted place in all Scotland.

Maybe you can tell from this photo that Glamis has atmosphere. I took this photo on a cold autumn afternoon.

But did you know that Glamis Castle can also lay claim to one of Scotland’s only vampire tales? (I’m mentioning this for vamp-loving readers – you know who you are) A female servant was chanced upon as she sucked blood from her victim. She was immediately seized and locked away in hidden part of the castle. She was left there to die, but as vampires are immortal, many believe she walks still….

Most of Scotland’s haints aren’t as frightening as a true blood-sucking vampire. Many are quite tragic like sweet Asa Long-Legs who stands at her tower room window and pines for what can be no more. These are often ghosts who, like Asa, are tied to a location they knew in life. Quite a few were murdered or took their own lives, frequently as the result of an unhappy love affair.

One of the most common Scottish ghosts is the green lady. She’s a well-known ghost at many castles and is almost always associated with a family. She, too, is said to have become a ghost because of an ill-fated romance. And her appearance is often seen as a warning of impending disaster for the clan she haunts.

Stirling Castle is just one castle with a green lady ghost. Another green lady can be found at Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban. Also known as the Ell-maid of Dunstaffnage, she’s a Campbell ghost and her sightings herald good or bad tidings for that clan. If she is smiling, they can expect something joyous to happen. But if she weeps, the clan must brace themselves for trouble. I used Dunstaffnage’s Ell-maid in my first Allie Mackay Scottish-set paranormal, Highlander In Her Bed, (NAL, Nov. 2006).

One of my favorite Scottish Castles, Crathes Castle near Banchory in Royal Deeside, also has a green lady. You can see Crathes here….

Crathes is a castle I visit almost every time I’m in Scotland. It’s extra-special and also has a lovely walled garden and wonderful woodland trails. The sightings of this green lady most often occur in the Green Lady’s Room where the ghost is seen pacing about the room or holding a baby near the room’s fireplace. Many highly respected people have seen her, including Queen Victoria. I haven’t seen her, sadly. But I have spent much time in the haunted room and can vouch for its chilly, otherworldly feel.

I’m sure the Crathes green lady is there. She’s also a green lady whose tale has substance because a very young child’s skeleton was discovered hidden in a recess beneath the room’s hearth stone during renovations. The tragic find lends credence to the tales that Crathes’ green lady is the ghost of young servant girl who became pregnant by an important man-of-the-castle.

There are many other types of female Scottish ghosts. I used the gruagach in my second book, Knight In My Bed, (GCP, April 2002). These ghosts also have a tinge of tragedy as they are believed to be spirits of women who died in childbirth. They can also have lost their life through some kind of enchantment. Either way, they tend to be bound to an area rather than a particular family. They are largely benevolent and enjoy looking after crops, cows, and sheep. They expect offerings of fresh milk in return and can become angered and cause havoc if this gesture is forgotten.

A glaistig is very similar because she, too, is believed to be the spirit of a woman who once lived in a locality and has returned to look after area crops and cattle. Like the gruagach, she expects milk as a reward. But unlike her sister-ghost, the glaistig appears in the form of a half-woman, half-goat.

The banshee is better known and sometimes called the Washer Woman because she is seen washing shrouds or the shirts of those who are about to die. Her wails are keening, sharp, and soul-rending. If a warrior sees her, he will know he’s about to fall in battle.

Many Scottish ghost tales involve the devil. One of my favorite castle ruins has a devil-related haunting. The ruin is Ardvreck Castle which commands a wonderful view of Loch Assynt in Scotland’s far north. This castle is very remote and being there definitely gives you a sense of the supernatural.

This photo shows the ruin from a distance.

The devil-related haunting at Ardvreck is typical. A MacLeod chief gambled his daughter’s hand in exchange for riches. When the ‘bridegroom’ arrived to claim his bride and his true identity was revealed, the poor young girl is said to have jumped from the battlements to avoid her terrible fate. Some say her cries of despair still echo at Ardvreck. Others claim to have seen her walking there.

Below is closer view. And, yes, it’s possible to slip through those arches. Once inside them, you’re surrounded by cold, earthy-smelling dankness and whatever of the past still dwells there

The pitiful young girl isn’t the only ghost at Ardvreck. Nor are they all female. A gray man haunts there, too. He’s said to be a boisterous soul and he speaks Gaelic. It is said that he’ll converse with you if you dare to answer when he confronts you.

There are many other kinds of ghosts waiting to greet you in Scotland. Spectral dogs are known to roam the high moors of Sutherland. Like their counterparts in England, these beasts are most often black with glowing red eyes. They sometimes have a human-like face and to see them always means your death. There are also tales of ghostly horses. Of course, stories abound about phantom monks and nuns. There are also a few haunted theatres such as the Theatre Royal in Glasgow or Aberdeen’s His Majesty’s Theatre.

This photo of Deer Abbey, a Cistercian abbey built on the remains of an even earlier monastery, shows how easy it is to believe in ghostly monks. The day I took this photo, I kept feeling the urge to glance over my shoulder….

As noted at the beginning of this essay, I won’t detail my own personal experiences. I will say that I have had them. Some of those experiences have sparked books. Such as something I saw during a picnic at Skye’s cliff-top castle ruin, Duntulm. I was there alone, enjoying the solitude and exploring. What I saw that day inspired my Allie Mackay Scottish-set paranormal, Highlander In Her Dreams, (NAL, Nov. 2007). During that book’s deadline, I also saw some something very strange during a walk along a deserted North Sea beach near Aberdeen. Readers can see photos relating to these incidents at my Allie Mackay website. Just click on ‘see the inspiration’ next to the book cover for Highlander In Her Dreams, (NAL, Nov. 2007).

So, yes, I do believe in ghosts.

My Highland friends in Scotland do as well. And they certainly should know, living there. Several good friends there run B&Bs and have ghostly residents. Other friends have taken me to haunted pubs where they’ve had experiences. And some work for Historic Scotland or the National Trust for Scotland and have shared many behind-the-scenes tales with me.

So even if you are visiting such a site and ask the guide if the castle (or battlefield) is haunted and they smile indulgently and say, “No, of course, not,” well, I’m here to tell you that they likely sing a different tune when they are off duty and speaking to a trusted friend.

One such National Trust for Scotland site that shall remain unnamed and where an old friend once guided, is apparently so wickedly haunted that staff cringe at the idea of being there alone after hours. Weird noises and voices then echo from the castle’s great hall and booming footsteps are heard in the stair towers. Yet when this chaos erupts, there is no one present except the one or two NTS guides or manager. No one of this world, that is.

I could keep on, but time and space is limiting. I will promise that, if you enjoy ghosts and a touch of the otherworldly, you will always find such threads in my books. As for real life, I know what I have personally seen and heard in Scotland. And I have absolute faith in the integrity of my Highland friends who have shared their own eerie experiences with me.

So what about you?

Do you believe in ghosts and things that go bump in the night? Or are you a skeptic? Maybe even a dyed-in-the-wool nonbeliever? Either way, I’d love to know. And if you have an experience to share, please do.

Visit my website to learn more about A Highlander’s Temptation, (GCP, Oct. 2009) and to see setting photos of Asa Long-Leg’s world: http://www.welfonder.com

Sue-Ellen Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your wonderful pictures, insight and stories of Spooky Scotland!!

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Giveaway:

To celebrate her latest release Sue-Ellen is giving away 5 signed copies of A Highlander's Temptation and 1 signed copy of the anthology Tails of Love. To enter leave a comment with your email address. Open to everyone. Winners will be announced on October 9th.