The Secret Room
The secret chamber at Glamis has given rise to many a legend
and theory. Probably the most resounding myth at Glamis is the
story of a room in the Castle Crypt that harbors a dark secret.
One of the tales most commonly told is that of Earl Beardie, a Lord
Crawford, and the loss of his soul to the Devil while playing cards.
One Saturday night Earl Beardie was a guest at Glamis Castle. After
a heavy drinking session with Lord Glamis, he was returning to his
room in a drunken rage shouting for a partner to play him at cards.
A servant reminded him of the lateness of the hour and that it was
almost the Sabbath, but he refused to heed the warning. ‘I care
not what day of the week it is,’ he roared, and finally raged
that he would play with the Devil himself. At the stroke of midnight
there was a knock at the door, and a tall man in dark clothes came
into the castle and asked if Earl Beardie still required a partner.
The Earl agreed and the two started to play cards.
The castle shook with swearing and shouting from the room, and when one of the servants peeped through the keyhole to establish the cause of the noise, he saw a bright beam of light, blinding him in one eye. The Earl burst from the room and when he returned, the stranger, who was the Devil, had disappeared along with the Earl's soul, lost in the card game.
THE GREY LADY
No visitor to Glamis Castle can fail to hear the story of the Grey Lady who is said to haunt the Chapel. Who was she?
She was Janet Douglas, wife of the sixth Lord Glamis. Her brother Archibald (1489-1557) Earl of Angus was very pro-English. His wife, Margaret, was the sister of Henry VIII and the widowed mother of the boy king James V. Archibald more or less kept his stepson prisoner in Falkland Palace during his early teenage years. He also made sure that all the high offices at the court were filled by Douglases. So as James grew up he came to hate them all and determined to overthrow them from power. He waited for an opportunity...
When Lord Glamis died James seized his opportunity. A trumped-up charge of witchcraft was brought against Lady Janet and she was burned at the stake on Edinburgh Castle hill. The 'man-like courage' of this beautiful, innocent young woman was greatly admired and 'all heads were bowed in sorrowful sympathy.'
It was Janet's misfortune to be born into a family at odds with the king.
The story goes that her ghost comes into the Chapel, kneels in prayer before the altar and then sits quietly in the back row. Some visitors believe they have been aware of her presence. She is very benign!
