Our Ghosts
the Drovers inn is rumoured to be one of the most haunted hotels in Britain…
A spooky history
We have had many tales of ghouls and ghosts coming to visit people at the Drovers inn.
In the late 18th century, in the winter of 1792, the year which later became known as ‘The Year of the Sheep’. A young crofting family were forcibly removed from where they lived; their landlords having decided that the land would turn more of a profit, if it was used for sheep farming.
With nowhere to live, and little money or means to support their young child, the family had no option other than to head south in the hope of creating a new life in the Scottish lowlands, or maybe even emigrate to one of the new worlds.
On their long journey south in the winter months, one night they got caught in a heavy snowstorm. They had been trying to reach shelter and safety at the Drovers inn. However, with the visibility very poor, and the family being exhausted from their journey, they took a wrong path somewhere on the way. Their journey ends in tragedy, with the family freezing to death while wandering the land, desperately trying to get back on the track that leads to the Drovers inn.
Over the years, there have been many accounts of people witnessing the young family wandering the land in the winter months, trying to find shelter. On more than one occasion, they have even appeared to have arrived at their destination that fateful night.
One account goes, that a couple who were staying recently in the Drovers inn, in room 2, woke during the night with a cold shiver. Only to find that the young family were standing shivering at the foot of their bed, their breath visible in the now freezing air. The young boy waving up to the couple, as if he was happy to have finally found what they were searching for.
Ghostly reports from room 6
“On the night of Friday the 21st October my girlfriend and I made a stop off at the Drovers inn on our way up to the Isle of Mull. I have stayed at the Drovers many times but it was a first for my girlfriend. (She loved the place by the way). We stayed in room 6. After having a bite to eat in the bar we retired to our room for the night.
At some stage in the middle of the night my girlfriend woke me up and asked if I could see the flickering lights moving around the room ? Still half asleep I told her she must be looking at the flashing light on the smoke detector. She asked me to look again, which I did. To my surprise there were numerous tiny white points of light dancing around in mid air. At any one time I would estimate that we could see between 10 and 20 of the lights. Although very small, the white lights were very intense. They seemed to move randomly, appearing and then disappearing. The room was pitch black with no other light source which could have been reflecting to cause what we saw.
We both watched the lights for a long time, unable to explain what was causing them. The best I could come up with was that they were some type of tiny firefly, this was discounted when I later asked the hotel staff if such creatures inhabited the area. The answer to this question was “No!!” A week and a half on we still cannot give a rational explanation for what we witnessed. Currently the only explanation we have is that we witnessed a number of “Orbes”, often seen in photographs and believed to be some kind of spiritual manifestation. I can’t wait to return to 6 , I’ll bring a decent video camera next time!!”
Feeling brave?
Book your stay now at the Drovers inn and experience the haunted history for yourself
Even more ghostly guests..
Read our other spooky stories – the couple with mysterious pictures on their camera, the ghostly party guest and the fateful story of a girl and her doll…
Behind the lens
After a long day, a couple visited the Drovers inn for the night – staying in room 115. The following morning while packing up to get on their way, they noticed that their digital camera had been moved slightly from where it was sitting next to the bed. While inspecting the camera, they found that there had been a number of photographs taken throughout the night.
On looking through the photographs, they all appeared to be of the couple sound asleep, with what looked like an eerie light emanating from above the four poster bed they lay on. Confused by this discovery, they at first though it could have been the work of one of their travelling companions, trying to play a prank on the couple for retiring early the night before. However, this explanation was soon discarded when they realised that their room door was still locked from the inside, as they had left it the previous night. On checking out of the Inn later on, the staff at reception also confirmed that there hadn’t been any staff that could have had access to the room either. With the couple’s friends also denying any knowledge of the incident, it remains a mystery to this day who or what took the photographs.
The ghostly child
A lady recently stayed at the Drovers inn one Thursday night with her daughter and friends for a birthday treat. A few days later she emailed wondering if we could tell them who the little girl in the pink dress was in the photograph they’d taken on the stairs.
She said she was not with their party and they didn’t recall seeing any children in the hotel that night. Her daughter, who took the photograph, swears the little girl was not there when she took the photo of the staircase with her mobile phone. They were totally spooked out by the photograph but felt sure we’d be able to give them an explanation – unfortunately not though, there were no children staying at the hotel that evening, nor any children visiting. Spooky!!!
The girl who drowned
In the early century, there was a young girl that stayed nearby. She had been playing with her beloved doll, Anabel in the normally shallow and placid waters of the River Falloch, which runs just behind the Drovers inn.
On this fateful day, earlier, there had been a lot of rainfall, so the river had swelled, and had stronger undercurrents. Anabel fell into the swollen rive and tragically, the young girl got swept away and by the time that anyone noticed she was gone, she had perished in the icy waters.
A search party made up of her family, local farmers, and cattle drovers eventually found her just downstream, but it was too late to save her. They carried her lifeless body to the Drovers inn, and laid her on the bed of room 6. There she stayed while her family grieved, and prepared the burial ground in the nearby graveyard.
It is said that in the years that have passed since that tragic occurrence, many guests that have slept in room 6, have been woken through the night having felt a small icy cold and wet body next to them in bed. There have also been sightings of Anabel, who has been searching for her owner, who she was sadly never reunited with.
Ancient Cattle Drover
Over three hundred years ago, when cattle drovers regularly stopped off at the inn, on their way south to the cattle markets. One particular young drover called ‘Angus’ was resting his cattle for the night.
After a long and tiresome trek from the highlands, he was glad for some rest, and enjoyed the hospitality offered to him. It could be said that he over indulged, because the following day, he woke later than planned. Only to find that rival clan members, upon seeing the night before, young Angus sampling the many ales and malts on offer, had made off with his cattle in the middle of the night.
With no cattle, or bag of crowns and shillings in their place, young Angus had no option but to go back to the highland chieftain that he was delivering the cattle for and explain his loss. The highland chieftain was known to be ruthless and unforgiving, and on hearing this news, made a point of slaughtering poor Angus’s family and young sweetheart. Then banishing Angus from the clan in dishonour.
With nowhere for Angus to go he roamed the highlands for months planning on how he could exact his revenge on the rival clan members that had stolen his cattle on that fateful night. Eventually his rage led Angus back to the Drovers inn, where the original crime had taken place.
On seeing members from the rival clan, he hid in waiting, for his moment to take his revenge. However, a member of the rival clan had spotted him earlier, and forewarned his fellow thieves of Angus’s hiding place.
In the cold of the night, they soon set about Angus, and murdered him in cold blood by hanging him from the old tree behind the Inn, and bleeding him, like the cattle, they had stolen before.
Over the years, many people have reported seeing and hearing Angus wandering the Drovers inn late at night, screaming in pain, searching for the thieves to have his revenge.