Haunted History: New Slains Castle in Scotland

On this week's History, Books and Wine podcast, we're having a haunted happy hour! I'm chatting with Lori Ann Bailey about the ghosts that haunt New Slains Castle, as well as Bram Stoker's Dracula which it is said he was inspired upon a visit there. Below are some images I took on a trip to New Slains a few years ago.

Take a listen to find out the creepy and tragic history behind this haunted castle in Scotland.

Here's a snippet to get your started.

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Seeing the World in Blue and White by Sherrie Hansen

Welcome to History Undressed, guest author, Sherrie Hansen! She's written a great post for us today about Scotland! Enjoy!

Seeing the World in Blue and White

by Sherrie Hansen

I’ve been hearing Scottish accents in my head for over a decade, and now, after returning from my second trip to Bonnie Scotland, my mind’s eye is just as steeped in images of the highlands and islands I’ve been writing about.

Our trip was a flurry of wildflowers and walled gardens, castles and keeps, and lochs and legends. My mind is whirling with the characters and construct of a new story, ancient ghosts and curses, and modern day longings and desires set to clash like pitchforks and swords at Culloden.

One of my characters is the “rightful” heir of a castle and as fascinated and enamored of Scotland as I am, the other is there only because she could find no other way to wiggle out of her duties as the legal heir of a castle she cares nothing aboot.

Even more exciting is the sense of déjà vu I feel about the Wildflowers of Scotland books I’ve already written.

As I spotted each of the wildflowers I’ve featured in Thistle Down, Wild Rose, Blue Belle, Shy Violet, and Sweet William, and the castles and kirks that provide a backdrop for each of the stories, the characters have come to life for me all over again.

One of the highlights of the trip was the day I left a copy of Shy Violet with a random staff member at Eilean Donan’s Castle Café, where many scenes in the book take place. A few days later, on our way back from the Isle of Skye, we stopped once more to eat lunch. The recipient pulled me aside, and in her delightful Scottish accent, said “I’ve begun to read yer book, and I’m loving it! Ye’re a very good author, and I thank ye so much.” 

The whole time we were at Eilean Donan Castle, I kept catching glimpse of people who looked like Nathan or Violet. William and Lyndsie, the stars of Sweet William, felt very close to me when we were on Skye - walking around the mysterious Fairy Glen at Uig, watching the cows graze on Claigon Coral Beach near Dunvegan and dipping a toe in the Fairy Pools at Glenbrittle. Because I know what happens to William while he’s on Skye, I had a deep, sense of foreboding until we were on our way home, and I knew everything was okay.

There’s a magical connection between Scotland and me. I’m a Blue Belle, and always will be. (For those of you who don’t know me, I have a B&B and Tea House called the Blue Belle Inn.) Loving the blue and white Saltire of Scotland is a natural extension of my love of blue.

If you’ve yet to fall in love with Scotland, I hope you’ll pick up a copy of one of my Wildflowers of Scotland novels and see if the highlands and islands of Scotland resonate with you like they do me.

Age old castles and blue-watered bays,

White sandy beaches and quaint cottage stays.

A rainbow of colors and chocolates, hand-dipped,

A valley of bluebells and sheep, freshly clipped.

Legends galore, buried treasure, and more…   

In the Wildflowers of Scotland novels, that’s what’s in store.

Twenty-four years ago, Sherrie Hansen Decker rescued a dilapidated Victorian house from the bulldozer’s grips and turned it into a B&B and tea house, the Blue Belle Inn. Sherrie and her husband, Mark, who is a pastor, live in 2 different houses, 85 miles apart. Sherrie writes murder mysteries and novels whenever she’s not working at her B&B – or trying to be a good pastor’s wife. Her contemporary romantic suspense novels include Night and Day, Love Notes, and Thistle Down, Wild Rose, Blue Belle, Shy Violet and Sweet William, her Wildflowers of Scotland novels.

You can see what’s she’s up to at: 

https://www.facebook.com/BlueBelleInn

 http://sherriehansen.wordpress.com/

www.BlueBelleInn.com or www.BlueBelleBooks.com

https://twitter.com/SherrieHansen

https://www.pinterest.com/sherriebluebell/

Sherrie’s new release is Sweet William.

He’s a real sweetheart. She’s a wee bit tart. When Minnesota farm boy, William McKnight, and sassy Scot, Lyndsie Morris, are forced to work together in the kitchen of Rabbit Hill Lodge, the atmosphere is as charged as an episode of Chopped. Will someone get cut, or will they find a recipe that works? Things just start to get spicy when an angry bull butts his way into the picture, and Lyndsie has to decide if she loves William more than everyone and everything she holds dear.

A Castle Unlike Any Other by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Welcome back to History Undressed, our regular 1st Tuesday of the month blogger, Kathleen Bittner Roth! Today she's talking one of my favorite topics! Castles! Enjoy!

A CASTLE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

by Kathleen Bittner Roth

Wandering throughout castles has always been a favorite pastime of mine, from the grand baroque castles of Germany to Empress Elizabeth’s smaller summer palace in Hungary (her favorite). Then there is the beautiful castle in the Scottish Highlands where I was married, complete with bagpipes and handsome kilted Scots. 

Of the many castles I have toured in several countries, I find one particular stronghold in Slovenia most intriguing. Not only is the structure unique, but so is its history.

Predjama Castle (pronounced pred yom a) is an impregnable fortress extending beyond the visible structure and far into a huge cave on a rocky vertical cliff. The structure was built around the 1200’s by the Lueggs, a noble family who were also known as the Knights of Adelsburg.

Around the fifteenth century, along came Knight Erazem Luegger, a rascally robber baron and son of the Imperial Governor of Trieste, Italy (Trieste is only about thirty miles from the castle). After ticking off not only the Hapsburgs for killing one of their leaders, Erazem had the Holy Roman Emperor after him. Deciding his life might be in jeopardy, Erazem hightailed it to Predjama, aligned himself with the Hungarian king and began sacking any Hapsburg estates he lay hands on. 

Now the Austrians were hopping mad and placed a bounty on him. Erazem and the castle came under siege, but he and his small army only laughed because the fortress was impregnable. They would taunt their would-be attackers by pelting them with cherries. If the invaders wandered too close, they’d receive a rain of hot oil. 

Erazem spent a year and a day sequestered there. He used a secret passage that led to the back and top of the cliff where he’d slip into a small village and gather supplies. 

As bad luck would have it, there was only one place in the entire castle which was not impregnable and where he could become a target—his privy. It hung outward from the castle walls. A servant, having been bribed, lit a candle in a lower floor window signaling that the knight was indeed on his potty throne. The liege of men below, squinting up at that round hole at the bottom of the privy, aimed at the lily-white behind, and with a single cannon-shot sent the robber baron knight to kingdom come.

If you ever travel as far as lovely Slovenia, you won’t want to miss this intriguing landmark. To get there, you’ll enter a verdant, seemingly timeless valley that is at once peaceful. Along the foot path leading to Predjama Castle you’ll find a small but delightful restaurant serving delicious local food. The deck alone is worth the stop for its breathtaking views of the imposing castle and surrounding rolling, green hills.

And only twenty-three miles from Predjama Castle you’ll find the Lipica Stud Farm, cradle for the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Viennese classical riding school since the 1500's. But that’s another story for another time. 

Kathleen Bittner Roth thrives on creating passionate stories featuring characters who are forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. However, she still keeps one boot firmly in Texas and the other in her home state of Minnesota. A member of Romance Writers of America®, she was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart® contest. Find Kathleen on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest and www.kathleenbittnerroth.com.

 

Check out Kathleen's list of books on Amazon!

Solid as Stone by Kathleen Bittner-Roth

I would like to welcome back to History Undressed, by dear friend, Kathleen Bittner-Roth! She has written yet another fascinating post for us. Enjoy!

SOLID AS STONE

by Kathleen Bittner-Roth

Whether reading a historical romance or writing one, those resplendent stone manor houses (and castles) serve not only as a backdrop for the players, but the stone buildings often become characters unto themselves. A mood can instantly be conjured by the description of a dwelling.

Imagine your wounded hero riding up the long, tree-lined drive to his boyhood home, returning after years in absentia. As the stark grey fortress looms ahead, its cold stone walls filled with dark secrets, his past rises up to haunt him.

Or what of a heroine, contracted at birth to marry a brooding duke she detests. Sick with anguish, she arrives in the ducal carriage he’s provided, only to spy a stone manor house that, despite its grand size, bears warmth and invitation, its stone walls a soft, welcoming honey tone flanked by beds of colorful spring flowers. Who is this man to have created such a place, she wonders?

The history of building with stone in England is a story unto itself. The tradition goes back a thousand years. When the Normans conquered Britain in 1066, they constructed castles, monasteries and royal houses out of stone. Stone had not the fire risk of the old pier and beam buildings, and it could be carved to create artful ornamentation, the more  intricate and extensive the carvings, the greater the standing. Soon, stone became a symbol of high status.

The grandest of stones was imported from France or carted across the countryside from quarries established as the finest in England.  The way the stone was laid and the quality of the work was just as important as the stone itself and was directly related to the status of the owner.

After a time, stone homes became common as quarries sprang up in many towns and villages. A tour through a few stone quarries gave me a different slant when writing historical romance. I learned that in the Costwolds, for instance, it’s the rich, honey tones that prevail. I learned those gray stone manor houses were usually Barnack stone, dug from quarries in Northamptonshire. Yet another honey-toned stone is the Chilmark, found in Wiltshire.

Stone is still favored today in England, with Limestone, granite and sandstone being the three chief building stones. Did you know stone is found under about twenty-one feet of clay!

I doubt I could write a story without including some kind of a dwelling that fleshes out my characters in one way or another. What about you? Do you find the homes your heroes and heroines live play an integral part in the story you are writing or reading? I’d love to hear from you.