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Killiecrankie, Scotland

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Viscount Dundee Bonnie Dundee

Two stories have been told about the death of John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee or 'Bonnie Dundee', the persecutor of the Covenanters who was killed at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, a landmark battle in Scottish history. The night before the battle, it is said, as Graham slept, he was disturbed by two things.

First, he saw a strange red glow in the darkness, which could not be explained by human activity. This same glow has reportedly been seen by visitors to the site on the anniversary of the battle in years since. Ghostly lights are quite a common phenomenon, as has already been mentioned, both as signs of approaching death (death candles) and as spectral 'markers' of places where bloodshed and death have occurred.

The second thing to trouble Graham happened towards the hours of dawn, we are told. He saw a vision of a man by his bed, blood dripping from a head wound. The terrible figure pointed at Graham and cried, 'Remember Brown of Priesthill!' Brown of Priesthill was a man called John Brown, a Covenanter who was killed for his beliefs.

It is said that when the men in the firing squad saw Brown's steadfast courage and unfailing religious conviction in the face of imminent execution, they faltered, and Viscount Dundee himself fired the fatal shot. Graham was greatly disturbed by the spectre of Brown of Priesthill.

Thinking (hoping) that what he had seen had not been a ghost but instead some devious trick by his enemies, he got up and inquired of the sentry whether there had been intruders in the camp. The guard outside, however, said that all had been quiet and that nobody had approached Graham's tent. The figure that Bonnie Dundee had seen had been a sign - its appearance, along with the eerie red glow, foretold his death in battle the next day.

Another person, many miles away, had a vision to tell him of John Graham's death. He was Lord Balcarres of Colinsburgh, unable to join his acquaintance in battle because he was under arrest on the orders of Parliament.

On the night after the battle, he was roused from sleep by a sound next to his bed. He looked up and saw his comrade, Viscount Dundee, standing by the bed. He rose to greet him but the figure turned away and then disappeared. It was only later that Lord Balcarres found out that Viscount Dundee had been killed in battle that very day. Driffield, Yorkshire | Aberdeen, Scotland | Arbroath, Scotland | Basildon, Essex | Blairgowrie | Cerro del vale | Edinburgh | Fife, Scotland | Ghost in Dumfries | Ghost in Perhshire | Harrises | Hereford, England | Hertfordshire, England | Littlecote, Wiltshire | London, England | South Lanarkshire | York |