Dramatic, evocative and steeped in history – Comlongon Castle is the ideal location for a ghostly tale or two… Adding to the intrigue, a young woman’s suspicious death and numerous independent reports of unexplained activity, and you can see why Comlongon’s eerie reputation captures interest from across the globe.
On September 25th, Dumfries-based tour creators – Mostly Ghostly Investigations – launched the Comlongon Ghost Tour with two sell-out events. The date itself marked the anniversary of Lady Marion Carruthers’ mysterious demise and ever since, questions have been raised as to what really happened in her final fraught moments. With another tour planned for Halloween night, the team are wondering if the spookiest date in the calendar will yield any new results.
From the very first tour, a serious of strange happenings have taken place…
Erin Hickey, a fan of all things spooky who travelled from Edinburgh to visit the Castle, said:
“There was a very spooky feeling in the Great Hall, like cold air across the skin of my hand… I suddenly felt light-headed, even though I felt fine five minutes earlier. It was a very unsettling feeling, unlike anything I had experienced before. I’ve also never picked up light anomalies on my phone before…”
Another gentleman felt uncomfortable in the same room. After the tour finished, guests spent time exploring – he preferred not to join them… Holly Thomson, meanwhile, was having a look round the dungeon. Describing what happened, Holly, who attended the Preview said:
“While in the dungeon, I suddenly became hot and started to sweat. This is unusual for me as I normally feel quite cold. It’s hard to describe, there was a bad vibe, something not right.”
For others, the impact doesn’t hit you till afterwards: *David recalled a strong sense of unease:
“On the night I thought I was okay until I started driving home and realised my nerves were a bit shot.”
Giving her views, Team Founder, Kathleen Cronie said:
“These are hugely exciting developments: we could never have anticipated so many personal experiences in such a short space of time. Without further research, we cannot say what’s behind this spate of encounters, however given the castle’s history and famous ghost, there may be otherworldly influences at work. As always, we aim to explore rational, everyday explanations before reaching a ‘currently unexplained’ conclusion.”
Children are also known to make their presence felt and just recently, Mark Miller from Dumfries reported a child’s cough in The Great Hall, coming from an area of the castle where ghostly children have been witnessed. And imagine glancing up towards one of the rooms to spot a wee girl dressed in white – nothing strange in a hotel, but when you consider no young people were staying there, it becomes a little more unnerving.
Rosemary Kirkpatrick, a paranormal enthusiast from Dumfries had several thought-provoking experiences: initially, she sensed a lady roaming around heartbroken and picked up great distress in a certain area of the castle.
“I felt awful: I had a pounding head and felt sick, I just wanted to get out of the room.”
Later, she discovered this same site had connections with Lady Marion’s death. In a different area, Rosemary became aware of two men standing by the fire: one walked past her and she felt the cold draught.
In addition to this; sweet smells have appeared out of nowhere along with cigarette smoke and the scent of apples, the latter is often linked to Lady Marion.
Summing up, Kathleen said:
“It’s been wonderful guiding people around this intriguing historic treasure, transporting them to different periods in history and revealing the stranger side to Comlongon. We’re delighted to work with the Castle team and are thrilled at the thought of welcoming guests on Halloween night!
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