Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle in Scotland is haunted by a Lone Piper, a headless drummer and other restless spirits.

Over one million visitors come to see the castle every year. Edinburgh is one of the UK’s most haunted cities. Built high upon a non-active volcano overlooking the city, Edinburgh Castle has a very haunted history.

Edinburgh Castle has a hidden underworld of secret tunnels built beneath it. When these tunnels were first discovered several hundred years ago, a piper was sent to explore. He kept playing so that his progress could be tracked by those above. About half way down the Royal Mile the piping suddenly stopped. When a rescue party was sent, there was no trace of the piper. He had simply vanished.

The lone piper’s ghost still haunts Edinburgh today, walking endlessly along the underground tunnel beneath the Royal Mile. His music can sometimes be heard from within the castle.

Many people have heard the sound of ghostly drums within Edinburgh castle, however few have seen the drummer. The reason for this is that the drummer ghost only appears when the castle is about to be attacked. The ghost drummer was first seen before Cromwell’s attack on the castle in 1650 and is reported to take the form of a headless boy.

Like all good castles, Edinburgh has its dungeons were prisoners were incarcerated, tortured and often perished. Like many castles these dungeons are haunted by the ghosts of their victims. French prisoners from the Seven Years War and colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War were imprisoned here. It is said that you can feel haunted presences in the dungeons.