The Cortachy Castle in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland is the family seat of the Ogilvy Clan, the Earls of Arlie. The castle is believed to have been built in the late 1100s or early 1200s. During the next several centuries, the clan prospered and gained power, making enemies of those who were jealous of their wealth and prestige. Hostile opponents destroyed all of their strongholds except for Cortachy Castle.
Legends and Fact
During Medieval Times, a drummer was thrown from the highest turret of the tower. Because no one knew the reasons or exactly how the drummer was killed, legends cropped up to as to the why and how.
Four different reasons were offered. Some believe he was having an affair with Countess of Airlie, the Earl’s wife. Others believe he helped the enemy enter the castle or didn’t drum a warning sign for the approaching enemy. Still others say he was a messenger from a detested chieftain who arrived at the castle with horrid news.
Some say he was tossed with his drum; others, the drummer was stuffed into his drum before being thrown.
As the drummer was dying, he put a death curse on the Ogilvy Clan, vowing to haunt them forever.
For many years after the drummer’s death the eerie sounds of drumming was heard by many witnesses foretelling the deaths of Ogilvy Clan members.
Paranormal Drumming
In 1844, during Christmas time, Miss Dalrymple was a guest at Cortachy Castle. While she dressed for dinner, she heard music that changed to drumming. She asked the maid about it, but the woman knew nothing. During dinner, she asked her host about the drumming. Lord and Lady Airlie were shaken and very upset. They told her about the drummer of Cortachy. The last time the drummer was heard, the Lord’s first wife died a few days later. The next morning Miss Dalrymple heard the drumming again and decided not to stay at the castle. Within six months, Lady Airlie committed suicide because she believed the drummer was her death omen. She left a note stating this. There are those who believe her panic and fear about the curse brought about her demise, a self fulfilling prophecy.
An Englishman, on August 19, 1849, was visiting Lord Ogilvy, heir to the Earldom of Arlie at the Castle Cortachy. While he was traveling across the moors on his way to the shooting box, he heard music accompanied by drumming. His Highlander guide didn’t hear anything. As the Englishman was going into the shooting box, a servant told him Lord Ogilvy had left Cortachy unexpectedly because his father, the 9th Earl of Airlie, very sick in London. The 9th Earl died the next day.
The Drummer of Cortachy’s death omen stopped in 1900 when the, then, Earl of Airlie died in the Boer War. No one heard the drumming since then or, if someone heard it, didn’t admit it.
Could it be that the drummer’s curse lasted long enough for the revenge he sought?
Related articles:
The Hapsburg Dynasty’s Harbingers of Death
Glamis Castle: Legend, Lore and Phenomena
Poltergeist: Drummer of Tedworth
Source:
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1992)
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