A spooky visit to the Goblin Ha'!
- Norham Life
- Oct 31, 2021
- 2 min read
Tonight is the spookiest night of the year, Halloween. As a teenager I can recall watching the classic 1978 horror movie Halloween by John Carpenter on television and being terrified. By todays standards it's fairly tame! The theme tune is very distinctive—perhaps play the below link in a new window whilst reading this blog?
Earlier in the year I heard about a mysterious castle approximately an hours drive away over the border in Scotland in the Lammermuir Hills region called Yester Castle. The link below to wiki describes in detail the history of this ancient castle and the Goblin Ha' which is a subterranean hall.
After researching the whereabouts of the castle I discovered it was described as one of the most haunted places in Scotland.
Taking the online advice I donned my walking boots and waterproof trousers and drove to the location. On my arrival it was initially like an assault course from the Krypton Factor as diversions were in place due to tree felling.
After about a leisurely forty minutes of walking and away from the noisy machinery and using the GPS coordinates I finally arrived at the castle which was screened by vegetation and it would have been easy to have missed it.
At 9.30 am in the morning no one else was around and there was certainly an eerie feel about the place. I now explored the outside of the upper levels of the castle which were impressive.
The online articles had strongly suggested that torches were required to explore the Goblin Ha' which is directly under the castle. With my head torch now on I entered via the low ceilinged entrance.
Enter the low doorway below at your own risk!
It was rather cool inside and was extremely grateful of the torch. I took this image below which is reminiscent of something out of the Blair Witch Project. I had held the camera still but it came out all blurred.
In the far corner is a staircase which descends even further. I was with my canine companions and they were suitably unimpressed at this point. Perhaps their unique senses could detect something supernatural?
A scary image of a Goblin below and a link to a short audio interview of Miss McGaw recorded in 1972 who claims to have seen the Yester Goblin.
A link below to the myth.
It was now time to return to the daylight. Near the entrance above in near the main castle was a hole in the ground. Perhaps some sort of Ye Olde man trap?
On my return route to the car which for some reason I was walking quicker! there was a tree which seemed to have long hair and arms and a sword, perhaps a guardian of the Goblin Ha'?
My imagination... Or 'Just an illusion...' ?
Glad I took the advice to wear the appropriate clothing as it was exceptionally muddy!
Below is a link to a short YouTube video of someone visiting the castle who narrates it far better than I could.
Whilst researching this blog I discovered that the castle is now sadly closed for the foreseeable future for safety reasons due to the theft of a substantial quantity of stone. See the below link.
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