No self-respecting scottish castle would be complete without its ghosts!
Castle Cary is no exception. To best tell the story of the Ghosts of Castle Cary, I have reproduced a passage from the excellent book Scottish Spectres by Dane Love (published by Robert Hale 2001). This excerpt is reproduced here by kind permission of the author and publisher.

I've added a page on "my views on living in a 'haunted' house" - but read Dane's words first...

Between Falkirk and Cumbernauld is the ancient tower house known as Castle Cary. The oldest part is a tower erected in 1485, to which a wing was added in the seventeenth century. Although built by the Livingstons, the Baillie family a owned the castle for some time. A distant cousin, General William Baillie of Letham, was a noted Covenanter. He was a natural child of Sir William Baillie of Lamington. Active in the European wars under Gustavus Adolphus, he later fought against the Royalists at the battles of Alford and Kilsyth in 1645 where the soldiers under the Marquis of Montrose defeated the Covenanters on both occasions. After the defeat at Kilsyth, Baillie rested for a while at Castle Cary, after which the Royalists burned the tower. When Baillie died is not known, but his ghost has been reported at Castle Cary.

It is said that Baillie's spirit return there out of remorse for the troubles he had caused the family and their tower in his life. It has been claimed that he is trying to help put matters right once again. The ghost of General Baillie is said to rather noisy spirit, and most of the strange noises heard in and around the castle are attributed to him. A few folk have seen the ghost of Baillie. Most sightings are made from the garden. Visitors have looked up at the tower and seen his figure looking back at them from an upper window. From the position his head takes at the window it has been surmised that Baillie was a rather short man, and the ghost is often described as 'The Wee Man of Castle Cary' as a result.

Castle Cary is also home to a White Lady. One of the lairds had a daughter known as Elizabeth, or Lizzie. Her father doted on her, and as she was a very beautiful woman he had high hopes of a grand marriage, perhaps to a duke or earl. He introduced a number of suitable suitors to her, but she seemed to dislike all of them. At length her father became rather suspicious, and sent her off to live with some relatives by the side of Loch Lomond.

Lizzie returned to Castle Cary some weeks later. Suddenly she seemed to have and interest in writing letters to her cousins. These were frequent and quickly replied to. Her father became inquisitive of their contents, and intercepted one before his daughter received it. He discovered that she had fallen in love with a young laird from the Lennox. He was the proprietor of just a few acres, and worst still, his surname was Graham. It was the Grahams under Montrose who had been responsible for setting the castle alight during the years of persecution.

Baillie was so angry that he ripped up the letter and sent for his daughter. She did not deny her love for her boyfriend, causing his rage to inflame even more. He forbade her from seeing him again, but the young lovers often found ways around this. Sometimes they met secretly in Castlecary Glen, but in time Lizzie's father found out. He took his daughter up to the uppermost garret in the old tower where he locked her up. Feeding her only on bread and water, he intended keeping her there until such time as she saw sense.

Lizzie was not to be beat, however. She had a faithful servant and she managed to tell her about her lover. A message was sent to Graham and he arrived at Castle Cary one night with friends. He could not make any attempt at breaking into the castle, but he knew in which room his girlfriend was held. After throwing stones at the window to attract her attention, he asked his friends to take a plaid and hold it tight, creating a landing sheet. Lizzie climbed on to the parapet of the castle and jumped over the edge. She fell four storeys down to the sheet where she was safely caught. Lizzie and the Graham then stole away into the night.

Far away from Castle Cary, Lizzie and her man were married. Although they lived happily for a while, word reached her that her father was dead. It turns out that he was so upset with the eloping daughter that he suffered a stroke and died. Although Lizzie had defied her father, she still loved him very much. That he died as a result of her actions caused her to worry so much that she died prematurely. Her spirit returned to Castle Cary where it manifested itself thereafter as a White Lady.

The ghost of Lizzie has been reported in various parts of the castle. Most sightings, however, seem to have taken place on the principal stairway. As one walks down the steps the feeling of someone following you is experienced. It is as if the spirit of Lizzie is wandering through the castle searching for her father.

As a footnote to Dane's account of the Lizzie story, I recently came across some more information about Lizzie and Graham in www.contemplator.com where the following appears as notes to Bonnie Lizzie Baillie. This ballad was printed in Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs (1776). See and hear it by clicking here - Bonnie Lizzie Baillie

"According to one source Lizzie was the daughter of Baillie of Castle Carey, in Stirlingshire. While on a visit to her sister at Gartartan, Perthshire, they traveled to Inchmahome, an island in Loch Menteith. There she met Duncan Graham and against her parents wishes eventually married him."

See also The Rescue by Judy Calheiros for a slightly different take on the Lizzie story!!

There is also a page on Electric Scotland with an extract from William Nimmo's History of Stirlingshire regarding General William Baillie and the Battle of Kilsyth

If you want to find out more about the stories behind the haunted places of scotland, you can buy Scottish Spectres by Dane Love (published by Robert Hale, 2001) from Amazon.co.uk by clicking here. Dane has also writen a number of fascinating and enjoyable books on many other aspects of Scottish history and you can see his other titles by clicking on Dane Love on the Scottish Spectres Amazon page.