The Green Lady of Crathes Castle

Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

A green-clad woman carrying a child walks through the top floor of Crathes Castle at night. Beneath the hearthstone in the tower room, two skeletons were found.

Crathes Castle, built by the Burnett family in the 16th century, stands in the Dee valley below Banchory. It is one of the best-preserved Scottish tower houses and retains much of its original painted ceiling decoration from the late 16th century. The Green Lady haunts the upper rooms — specifically the tower room with the painted ceiling. She is seen carrying a child, dressed in green, walking between the hearth and the corner of the room. Her expression is described consistently as expressionless — not distressed, not appealing for help, simply repeating a movement. In the early 20th century, during renovation work, workmen broke up the hearthstone in the tower room and found beneath it two skeletons: an adult and a child. No documentation was found identifying them. They were reinterred in the castle grounds. The sightings did not stop after the discovery — if anything, they became more frequent. The Green Lady continued her walk between the same points, seemingly unaffected by the removal of the remains beneath the floor. The castle is now administered by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public. Staff members working late have reported her on multiple occasions. The painted ceilings she walks past — showing Biblical scenes and Classical allegories — are considered among the finest in Scotland and show no awareness of their resident.