This morning I felt a bit overwhelmed by my writing to-do list, and the pressures from those expectations have started to get to me. So I grabbed Luna’s leash and said “let’s go on an adventure!” I looked at the OS map for a potential wooded walk and saw a castle ruin marked in a forest. It was a great find - Badiebath Wood/Gight Wood is a lovely area for a walk ❤️
Gight Castle is a medieval ruin of the Gordons and was the childhood home of the renowned poet Lord Byron in the late 1700s. The stories associated with the castle are heavy. The Gordons were known to be wild and there’s a pattern of early deaths in the family through the centuries. The last owner before it fell to ruin died in a riding accident in the 1780s.
The most well know story involves the water nearby called Hagberry Pot. In 1644, Covenanters lay siege to the castle and the laird is said to have thrown his gold into the water to save it. He later had a diver search for it, but the diver only found the Devil in Hagberry Pot. But the laird tortured the diver to force him to look again. The diver said he would rather face the devil than the laird of Gight and went down again. The story goes that this time he body returned to the surface in pieces. So who knows - perhaps there’s treasure there still...
The ruin is in rough shape, being reclaimed by nature. A sign is posted that it is a dangerous structure, and advising that entry is at your own risk. For this reason I didn’t hang about inside for long. But a quick peak up to the ceiling inside the main entrance was rewarded as I noticed an unexpected heart and knot work detail in the stonework, and nails can still be found in the stone walls.
As any respectable castle ruin would, Gight has its own ghost - legend has it that a piper became lost exploring an underground passage and never returned. I didn’t meet him today (probably because Luna was on sentry duty.)
Another great afternoon outside in Aberdeenshire ❤️
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