Glamis Castle: A Legacy of Royals, Ghosts, and Legends
Overview
Known for its thick fortress walls since 1372 and a storied lineage of the Lyon family, Glamis Castle is famed as the birthplace of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and for its haunting tales, including the Monster of Glamis and the Grey Lady, making it one of Scotland's most iconic and spirited estates.
History
Glamis Castle has had a long, spooky history. By 1372, a castle had been built on the site, around a tower whose walls are 16 feet thick in places, and that year the house was granted by Robert II to his son-in-law Sir John Lyon, Thane of Glamis. The estate has been in the Lyon family ever since, and members of the family were variously ennobled – as Lord Glamis in 1445, as Earls of Kinghorne in 1606, and Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1677. Mary Queen of Scots visit Glamis in 1562, and in 1606, Patrick Lyon, 1st Earl of Kinghorne began major works at Glamis. When his grandson returned to Glamis in 1670, allowing army occupation of the castle, he found it inhabitable, and over an 18-year period he restored the castle, and built its Baroque garden. The Lyon family became the Bowes-Lyon family in 1769 when John Lyon, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne married County Durham coal-mining heiress Mary Bowes, with whose money he set about improving Glamis, pulling down the west wing and building new kitchens and a billiard room. In 1900, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, one of Glamis’ most famous daughters was born. In 1923, she married the Duke of York, and following the abdication of his older brother Edward VIII, in 1937 she became Queen Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother after her husband George VI’s death. Hr younger daughter Princess Margaret was born at Glamis in 1930. Glamis is said by some to be Scotland’s most haunted castle. One of the most famous legends connected with the house is that of the Monster of Glamis, a deformed child born into the family, and kept in the castle, the room in which he lived being bricked up after his death. Meanwhile Glamis’ most famous ghost, the Grey Lady, haunts the chapel – in life, she was Janet Douglas, wife of John Lyon, 6th Lord Glamis, who died in 1528. Victimised by James V who falsely accused her of witchcraft and her sons of treason, she was burnt at the stake on Castle Hill in Edinburgh in 1537. Her spirit returned to Glamis. Today, Glamis is owned by Simon Bowes-Lyon, 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
Best known for
For being the fictional home of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth – though not of the actual Scottish king Macbeth, who died in 1057
Future-planning
Agriculture on the Strathmore estate has long focussed on supporting biodiversity, and in recent years these efforts have been expanded to include sowing using no-till techniques, mob grazing cattle, and reducing artificial inputs where impossible
Don’t go home without seeing
The Macbeth Trail, a series o seven sculptures carved from trees grown on the estate
Drop by…
The Gin Bothy Experience, a few minutes from the castle for gin tastings
Need another local heritage fix?
A 40-minute drive towards Perth to find you at Scone Palace, the crowning place of Scottish kings
Our favourite line
‘If you could even guess the nature of this castle's secret, you would get down on your knees and thank God it was not yours’ – Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore
