THE GHOSTLY DRUMMER OF CORTACHY CASTLE, SCOTLAND

[Graveyard Hound]

Ghostly drumming is said to portend the death of a member of the Ogilvy family, the earls of Airlie and owners of Cortachy Castle, Scotland. According to lore that goes back to the middle Ages, it is said that a messenger arrived at the castle with unpleasant news and subsequently was stuffed into his drum and tossed over the castle walls. Just before he died, he cursed all present, their decendents, and vowed to haunt them forever,and for hundreds of years after it was said that whenver"ghostly drumming" was heard, a member of the family died. The drumming apparently stopped in 1900 when the then Earl died in the Boer War and nobody heard any drumming-or admittd that they had heard it anyway. "The Encyclopedia of of the Psychic World"..p 173.

 

[lordalmighty1]

found this on the topic is a interesting tale. thanks
http://celticqueens.blogspot.com/2011/09/ghostly-drummer-of-cortachy-castle.html

reminded me of this following tale which i found @http://www.streenge.com/places/castles/duntrune.html

The ghost of Duntrune Castle is a 17th centry piper, part of a Macdonald army led by Coll Ciotach that attempted to seize the castle in 1644. The Macdonalds, wanted information about the castle and its defences, so they sent their piper along in advance. Pipers then were given great respect and treated a little like ambassadors under a flag of truce. In this case the ambassador's real job was to gather intelligence - plus ca change!​

The Macdonald piper was welcomed at the castle and soon realised that its defences were very strong. Unfortunately he pushed his luck too far. Instead of leaving when he could, he continued to ask questions and eventually aroused the suspicions of his hosts. The piper was locked up as a spy.​

The piper had realised by this time that the attack was doomed to failure and that the Macdonald army would be wiped out. The only way he could think of to warn them was by playing a tune on the bagpipes. The tune he chose was apparently "Cholla mo Run, Seachain a Dun" - "Beloved Coll, avoid the castle". Coll Ciotach got the message and called off the attack.​

The Macdonald army was saved but their piper doomed. As punishment his hands were cut off at the wrists and his was left to die. His ghost has haunted the castle ever since, playing his lament again and again. There have also been reports of poltergeist activity, especially in the tower room where the piper is said to have been kept.​

The tale of the Duntrune Piper was given additional credence when, during renovation, builders found a skeleton without hands.​