Ardvreck Castle, Inchnadamph
Ardvreck Castle is a ruined castle dating from the 16th century. It is thought to have been constructed around 1590 by the Clan MacLeod. Clan MacKenzie attacked and captured Ardvreck Castle in 1672. A fire destroyed the house in 1737.
It was once occupied by a venerable dowager with an ungodly reputation, known for causing trouble in the local community. A young married couple lived peacefully nearby, but on following the birth of their first child, they received the unwanted attentions of the old woman. She spread the rumour that the young mother had been unfaithful, and that the child was the result of her impropriety. Instead of simply ignoring the spiteful tittle-tattle, the young husband allowed doubt to creep in and threatened to kill the baby. In a state of despair, the mother wrote to her brothers asking for help, and within a few days they arrived to add their support. They suggested confronting the old woman of Ardvreck and settle the matter. The following day, the couple and the two brothers ventured to the castle. They were greeted gracefully by the old woman, who frankly answered their questions but did nothing to recant her malicious story. One of the brothers then asked if he could call upon a mutual acquaintance to settle the argument. When the old woman agreed, he bent down on the stone floor of the castle hall and wrote upon it with his finger, muttering something in a strange language. As he did so, the nearby Loch Assynt waters became tempestuous and a fog arose blotting out the sun. With that, an apparition appeared from out of nowhere inside the hall.
The brother instructed the suspicious husband to put his questions to the ghost. Nervously, the man questioned the spectre regarding his wife’s fidelity, and received the confirmation that she was faithful. With those words, a storm battered the castle the waters of the loch shattered the windows. The brother then warned the old woman that the apparition would require a soul for payment, and invited her to oblige. She opened a door in the hall and offered up an orphan servant girl, but the apparition refused. The brother told the apparition to take the old woman, but it refused stating that she was already his, and would take one that his sister would miss more. And with those puzzling words, the figure vanished, the waters receded and the storm subsided. The young couple and the brothers left the castle and returned home, but upon arrival found that the baby had died at the moment the figure dissipated. For years afterwards, the grain that grew in the area was black and withered, and no fish lived in Loch Assynt. Then an unexplainable fire destroyed the castle, taking the old woman with it. Then nature reclaimed the land and abundant life returned to the crops and loch.
The castle is reputedly haunted by the apparition of a sobbing woman in white. The young woman was said to have committed suicide when she realised that her father had made a pact with the Devil - if he had a new castle, he would let the Devil wed his daughter. She threw herself from the battlements and now walks the castle ruins.
It was once occupied by a venerable dowager with an ungodly reputation, known for causing trouble in the local community. A young married couple lived peacefully nearby, but on following the birth of their first child, they received the unwanted attentions of the old woman. She spread the rumour that the young mother had been unfaithful, and that the child was the result of her impropriety. Instead of simply ignoring the spiteful tittle-tattle, the young husband allowed doubt to creep in and threatened to kill the baby. In a state of despair, the mother wrote to her brothers asking for help, and within a few days they arrived to add their support. They suggested confronting the old woman of Ardvreck and settle the matter. The following day, the couple and the two brothers ventured to the castle. They were greeted gracefully by the old woman, who frankly answered their questions but did nothing to recant her malicious story. One of the brothers then asked if he could call upon a mutual acquaintance to settle the argument. When the old woman agreed, he bent down on the stone floor of the castle hall and wrote upon it with his finger, muttering something in a strange language. As he did so, the nearby Loch Assynt waters became tempestuous and a fog arose blotting out the sun. With that, an apparition appeared from out of nowhere inside the hall.
The brother instructed the suspicious husband to put his questions to the ghost. Nervously, the man questioned the spectre regarding his wife’s fidelity, and received the confirmation that she was faithful. With those words, a storm battered the castle the waters of the loch shattered the windows. The brother then warned the old woman that the apparition would require a soul for payment, and invited her to oblige. She opened a door in the hall and offered up an orphan servant girl, but the apparition refused. The brother told the apparition to take the old woman, but it refused stating that she was already his, and would take one that his sister would miss more. And with those puzzling words, the figure vanished, the waters receded and the storm subsided. The young couple and the brothers left the castle and returned home, but upon arrival found that the baby had died at the moment the figure dissipated. For years afterwards, the grain that grew in the area was black and withered, and no fish lived in Loch Assynt. Then an unexplainable fire destroyed the castle, taking the old woman with it. Then nature reclaimed the land and abundant life returned to the crops and loch.
The castle is reputedly haunted by the apparition of a sobbing woman in white. The young woman was said to have committed suicide when she realised that her father had made a pact with the Devil - if he had a new castle, he would let the Devil wed his daughter. She threw herself from the battlements and now walks the castle ruins.