Delgatie Castle is a castle near

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is derived f ...

, in Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. A castle has stood on the site of Delgatie Castle since the year 1030 AD, although the earliest parts of the castle standing today were built between 1570 and 1579. Additional wings and a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

were added in 1743. The castle was stripped from the disgraced

Henry de Beaumont Henry de Beaumont (before 1280 – 10 March 1340), '' jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Buchan and ''suo jure'' 1st Baron Beaumont, was a key figure in the Anglo-Scots wars of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, known as the Wars of Scottish Ind ...

Earl of Buchan The Mormaer () or Earl of Buchan () was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male li ...

, after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and given to

Clan Hay Clan Hay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Garadh or MacGaradh'') is a Scottish clan of the Grampian region of Scotland that has played an important part in the history and politics of the country. Members of the clan are to be found in most parts of Scotland ...

(later to become the

Earls of Erroll Earl of Erroll () is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay. The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are ''Lord Hay'' (created 1449) and ''Lord Slains'' (1452), both in the Peerage of Scotland. ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

, was a guest at the castle in 1562 after the

Battle of Corrichie The Battle of Corrichie, also known as the Battle of Corrichy was a battle fought near Meikle Tap, near Aberdeen, Scotland, on 28 October 1562. It was fought between the forces of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, chief of Clan Gordon, agains ...

. Like many castles, Delgatie is rumoured to be haunted. A number of reports of a ghostly red-haired figure, supposedly one Alexander Hay, were made by soldiers posted there during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The castle's information boards, mostly written by Captain Hay who restored the house in the 1950s, recount that the ghost was first seen when a body was found bricked up in a priest hole. Architecturally, the castle consists of a keep, adjoining house and two later wings. Notable features include a very wide

turnpike stair Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

and painted ceilings dating from the 16th century in two of the rooms, one dating from 1592, and the other from 1597.Michael Bath, ''Renaissance Decorative Painting in Scotland'', NMS (2003), 221-22 In many places may be seen the Hay family arms including the three cattle yokes which recall a farmer and his two sons who were instrumental in the defeat of a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

raiding party at

Cruden Bay Cruden Bay is a small village in Scotland, on the north coast of the Bay of Cruden in Aberdeenshire, north of Aberdeen. Just west of Slains Castle, Cruden Bay is said to have been the site of a battle in which the Scots under King Malcolm II d ...

. (See

for more detail.) Today, the castle and its gardens are owned by the Delgatie Castle Trust. The castle, grounds and café are open to the public throughout the summer months and suites within the castle itself and a number of cottages on the estate are available to rent. There is also a popular fishing site on the river passing through.

Gallery

File:Delgatie Castle 2017-05-26.jpg, Delgatie Castle in 2017 File:Delegate Castle painted ceiling detail.jpg, Painted ceiling in Delgatie Castle

External links

Delgatie Castle website

References

{{coord, 57.5443, -2.4120, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castles in Aberdeenshire Category A listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Listed castles in Scotland Historic house museums in Aberdeenshire Reportedly haunted locations in Scotland Clan Hay