I've always fancied doing some fundraising for charity but wanted to try something a little different from the norm,something that would capture the imagination...enter the Haunted Sleepover!!
On Saturday 13th February 2010,
I will be camping overnight at one of the most haunted venues in Britain, Hermitage Castle and at the same time raising money for the Glasgow Beatson. I chose the Glasgow beatson because I have lost family who were treated there for Cancer, and I thought this might allow me to give a little back.
About the Castle:
Hermitage
Castle broods in desolate
isolation amidst some of the eeriest countryside imaginable. The gentle warmth
of a summer’s day rarely penetrates its sullen bulk. Creepy corridors and cold
stone staircases meander between the moss-clad walls of its ruinous interior the
very fabrics of which seem imbued with a genuine ambience of menacing evil.
Built around
1300, on the disputed borderlands
between England and Scotland, the castle’s ownership would switch regularly
between the two over the next four hundred years, as the frequent conflicts that
swirled around its towering walls led to its being dubbed the “guardhouse to the
bloodiest valley in Britain”.
One of the earliest owners of
Hermitage Castle was Sir William Douglas “the Knight of Liddesdale” who wrested
it from the clutches of its then occupant, the Englishman Sir Ralph de Neville
in 1338. Douglas was much respected in Scotland on account of his victories
against the English. However, when King David 11 made Sir Alexander Ramsay
sheriff of Teviotdale, the ruthless and envious Douglas lured the unfortunate
Ramsay to Hermitage and imprisoned him in a “frightful pit or Dungeon,
apparently airless and devoid of sanitation”. Here he was starved to death, and
his ghostly groans have echoed down the centuries ever since.
But most infamous of all the
Castle’s bygone residents was Sir William de Soulis, who owned it during the
reign of Robert the Bruce (1274-1329). “Bad Lord Soulis” a
thoroughly evil individual was a practitioner of the Black Arts who kidnapped
the children of the neighbourhood to use their blood in his sinister rituals,
during which he would conjure up his demonic familiar, Robin Redcap.
Eventually
the local residents petitioned King Robert, begging to be relieved from the
scourge of their wicked Lord. “Boil him if you must” replied the King “but let
me hear no more of him”. Taking his words literally, the locals stormed the
castle, wrapped de Soulis in lead, and plunged him head first into a boiling
cauldron. His ghost now wanders the castle, a malevolent spectre whose nebulous
meanderings are often accompanied by the heart-rending sobs of children echoing
along the crumbling corridors.
'There is something strangely
indefinable about Hermitage Castle, as though whatever malicious forces are
harboured within its vast, impregnable walls resent your presence'
Haunted-Britain.com
This 13th
century castle boasts 2 spectres. The first is the shade of Sir
Alexander Ramsay, Sheriff of Teviotdale. Sir Alexander incurred the
wrath of a knight and was thrown into a dungeon where he starved to
death. It is said his sad, hungry figure walks the ruins still. The
second ghost to haunt this castle is a nasty piece of work. Lord Soulis
had a ghastly reputation in his time. Rumoured to practise black magic
and responsible for the murders of local children, he met his end ,when
the locals marched on the castle. His final doom was to be boiled alive
in a vat of molten lead.
ukspectre- paranormal database.
Raised so far: £15.00
Donate now
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Hope you weren't too scared! Donation by Elizabeth Box on 21/03/10 |
£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid |
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Goodluck Graham :-) xxx Donation by The Broons! on 11/03/10 |
£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid |
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Great charity idea mate, hope you do well Donation by kenneth matheson on 20/02/10 |
£5.00 + £1.41 Gift Aid |
| * Total raised online: | £15.00 |
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| Offline donations: | £0.00 |
| Mobile donations: | £0.00 |
| Total Raised: | £15.00 |
| Gift Aid plus supplement: | £4.23 |
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Find out
how much it is and what we do for it.