Ardblair Castle Green Lady: The Drummond Who Drowned

Reviewed by Josh N · Updated September 1, 2026 · How we verify

Feuding families, a beheading and a drowning in a bog: the Ardblair Castle green lady story carries all of it. The castle itself sits about 0.75 miles west of Blairgowrie in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, an L-plan tower house of 16th-century date with a later wing, and it is still lived in by the family that has held it for generations. That last detail matters more than the ghost when you are planning a trip.

Quick orientation: an L-plan castle with an added wing, category A listed, private, and one of the few Scottish castles that still has its courtyard.

From a Grant by David II to the Blair Oliphants

The property came to the Blairs of Balthavock in 1399, by a grant by David II. The family’s tenure was not quiet. Patrick Blair of Ardblair was beheaded for the murder of George Drummond of Ledcrieff and his son, cousins of the Earl of Atholl, following a trial in 1554. That killing, a matter of court record rather than legend, is the historical spine on which the castle’s ghost story is hung.

Through marriage the estate passed to the Oliphants of Gask in 1792, and the house remains the property of the Blair Oliphant family. During the 20th century many Jacobite relics were brought here from Gask. Lady Nairne, the songwriter, was a frequent visitor to the castle.

An L-Plan Tower That Kept Its Courtyard

It is thought the original castle was built by the Blairs during the Norman period, on the site of a fort, with the tower at the north west raised on the foundation of part of that earlier building. The original L-plan tower house had three storeys and an attic. In the re-entrant angle there is a stair-turret, corbelled out to above the first storey and capped with a conical roof. Above the entrance sits an ornate panel space, though it carries no inscription.

The later additions form the courtyard, with the north side a wall pierced by a central arched gateway dated 1668. At the centre of the courtyard stands a sundial dated 1623, cut with 25 dials. The basement, probably the old kitchen, is vaulted and has a wide fireplace, and its massive chimney-stack is a notable feature of the main building’s south side. The tower’s first-floor Hall is now the panelled dining-room, dating from the 18th century, as does most of the interior.

The Loch That Is No Longer There

The castle was once almost surrounded by a loch, now largely drained. This is worth holding in mind when you read the ghost story, because the water in the legend is not decorative scenery. The setting the tale describes, marshy ground close to the walls, is a real feature of the site’s earlier landscape rather than an invention.

Jean Drummond, Green Silk and a Marsh

The castle, like a good many others in Scotland, is said to be haunted by a green lady, dressed in green silk, who searches the chambers. Tradition identifies her as Lady Jean Drummond of Newton, who is supposed to have died of a broken heart after falling in love with one of the Blairs despite the feuds between the two families, and who drowned in a local marsh.

None of that is documented in the way the 1554 trial is. The Drummond and Blair enmity is historical; the woman in green silk is folklore, and the identification of her with Jean Drummond is a supposition passed down rather than a proven link. Reported activity is limited and consistent: a figure in green moving from room to room, apparently looking for something or someone. There is no catalogue of poltergeist incidents here, no visitor logbook of encounters, no commercial ghost tour building on the tale.

Getting a Look at Ardblair Castle

Ardblair is a family home and remains the property of the Blair Oliphant family, so it is not a turn-up-and-wander site. It is a category A listed building, the highest grade of protection in Scotland, which tells you something about the quality of the surviving fabric but grants no right of access. Treat it as a place to view from the public road, respect the boundaries, and enjoy Blairgowrie, less than a mile to the east, as your base.

Address: Ardblair Castle, near Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland

Sources

• GeoHack – Ardblair Castle
• Wikipedia: Ardblair Castle