Hermitage Castle

Hermitage Castle Redcap Sly, the familiar spirit of the evil Lord Soulis, is said to haunt the ruins of this 13thcentury castle near Newcastleton, Roxburgshire, Scotland. Here Mary, Queen of Scots nearly died of fever.

Redcap (red is the color of witches) is described as a horrible old man with long fangs. He allegedly told his master, Lord Soulis, owner of the castle, that he could be bound only by a three-stranded rope of sand.

Soulis is alleged to have practiced black magic. He kidnapped young farm children, imprisoned them in the castle’s dungeon, and sacrificed them in his dark rites. There are different versions of the lord’s demise. According to one story, the enraged parents of the murdered children stormed the castle and attacked Soulis. He was bound in IRON chains and a blanket of lead, and boiled to death. According to another story, he abducted the Laird of Branxholm, a crime for which he was bound in a sheet of lead and boiled to death.

Ghostly sounds of the young murder victims reportedly are heard coming from within the castle.

FURTHER READING:

• Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. London: Reader’s Digest Assoc., 1977.
• Green, Andrew. Our Haunted Kingdom. London: Wolfe Publishing Limited, 1973.

Taken from : The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – September 1, 2007

Hermitage Castle is a ruined castle near Newcastleton in Roxburgshire, Scotland, reputed to be haunted because of malign black Magic and witchcraft practiced by Lord Soulis, its owner and occupant in the 13th century.

Soulis is alleged to have practiced black magic. He kidnapped young farm children, imprisoned them in the castle’s dungeon and sacrificed them in dark rites. He had a Familiar redcap Sly (see redCAp), who appeared in the form of a horrible old man with vampire-like fangs. redcap Sly told his master that he could be bound only by a three-stranded rope of sand. Soulis magically made redcap impervious to weapons. The familiar became so troublesome to him, however, that Soulis resorted to destroying him by boiling him in oil in a brazen pot.

There are different versions of the lord’s demise, which sound like variations on the fate of redcap Sly. According to one story, the enraged parents of the murdered children stormed the castle and attacked Soulis. He was bound in iron chains and a blanket of lead and boiled to death. According to another story, he abducted the Laird of Branxholm, a crime for which he was bound in a sheet of lead and boiled to death.

Ghostly sounds of the young murder victims reportedly are heard coming from within the castle.

FURTHER READING:

• Briggs, Katherine. An Encyclopedia of Fairies. New York: Pantheon, 1976.
• Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. London: reader’s Digest Assoc., 1977.
• Green, Andrew. Our Haunted Kingdom. London: Wolfe Publishing Limited, 1973.

SOURCE:

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca – written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – Copyright © 1989, 1999, 2008 by Visionary Living, Inc.