Edinburgh Castle is the Scottish castle most commonly associated with the Grey Lady, the Headless Drummer, and the Lost Piper Boy. Details:
- Headless Drummer: A childlike drummer said to have no head, sighted in the castle precincts around the 17th century, often interpreted as an omen tied to historical conflicts such as Oliver Cromwell’s campaigns.
- Lost Piper Boy: A piper reputed to have vanished in the castle’s tunnels, with echoes of bagpipes reported by visitors and staff.
- Grey Lady: Traditionally linked to the spirit of Lady Janet Douglas, who was executed for witchcraft; her apparition is said to drift through Edinburgh Castle’s corridors, accompanied by sudden cold spots and a somber presence.
Why Edinburgh Castle fits best:
- The legends of a headless drummer, a lost piper, and a grey lady are all repeatedly linked to Edinburgh Castle in folklore, tourism pages, and ghost-story compilations about Scotland’s haunted sites. While other castles host ghost lore, Edinburgh Castle is the locality most consistently described as having all three figures in shared folklore.
If you’d like, I can provide brief summaries of notable corroborating sources for each figure or help compare Edinburgh Castle’s ghost lore to another Scottish castle’s reputed hauntings.
