Hidden Medieval Door Leading to Smugglers’ Caves Discovered Underneath Scottish Castle
Culzean Castle, a towering fortress overlooking the cliffs of Ayrshire, sits atop a labyrinthine network allegedly used by smugglers, ghosts and fugitives
By Meilan Solly
August 30, 2018
Legend has it that a piper and his dog once ventured into the caves below Scotland’s Culzean Castle, determined to refute locals’ belief that the underground tunnels were haunted. As the pair entered the labyrinthine network, the piper started playing his bagpipes, sending the echo of its shrill wails—occasionally punctuated by the dog’s accompanying barks—from the caves to the castle above. Soon, both bagpipes and barks fell eerily silent. Neither the piper nor his dog were ever seen again—at least not alive. Stop by Culzean (pronounced cull-ane) on a stormy night, particularly one that coincides with when the castle’s one-time clan owners host a wedding, and you may just hear the piper’s doleful last tune, simultaneously celebrating a descendant’s marriage and bemoaning its player’s fate.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hidden-medieval-door-leading-smugglers-caves-discovered-underneath-scottish-castle-180970172/#8P7eTiv08b1GlhQu.99
