The Maiden’s Leap

Originally known as the Place of Ruthven, Huntingtower Castle is a strange looking building. It was once two separate towers, built side by side around 3 metres apart. Today they are connected by a short section with a sloping roof, but long ago the buildings were connected by a simple wooden bridge.

Legend says that the first Earl of Gowrie had a daughter who had fallen in love with one of the family’s servants. Most nights, Dorothea would sneak across the bridge into the servant’s tower to meet with her lover, returning to her own bed by morning. Inevitably, her mother found out and decided to catch them in the act.

When Dorothea heard her mother walking across the bridge and begin to climb the staircase, she had nowhere to run but up. High on the battlements of the tower, she had to make a choice. Either risk the 3-metre gap between or face her mother's wrath. She jumped from one tower to the next and safely made it back to bed before her mother returned.

Dorothea and her lover eloped the next day and the gap has been known as the Maiden’s Leap ever since. Even with the happy ending, Dorothea’s ghost is said to haunt the castle. Known as Lady Greensleeves, she is often seen in broad daylight and believed to be a terrible omen for any who set eyes on her.