Skibo Castle
Skibo Castle is a truly glorious building overlooking Dornoch Firth. The name "Skibo" comes from the Gaelic Schytherbolle which has been translated as "peaceful fairy land" and the place certainly looks the part of a fairy castle.History
The history of Skibo Castle dates back to at least 1275 when records show it was the subject of an ownership dispute. Some people believe that by then the castle was already almost a hundred years old. It was initially the residence of a line of Bishops until 1545 when it was passed by the church into the hands of John Gray.Skibo remained in the Gray family until 1745. It then passed through a series of owners and was unfortunately allowed to decline badly.
Carnegie
The renaissance of Skibo Castle began in 1897 when it was bought by Andrew Carnegie. Although an icon of American wealth, Carnegie was actually a Scot, having been born in Dunfermline, Fife. Carnegie was initially reluctant to buy the run-down castle, but after visiting it was won over. He declared that it was to become his own Faery Glen and set about spending the money necessary to make it so. The costs ran to over two million pounds - and back then a million pounds was real money!Skibo Castle was later purchased by Peter de Savary in the 1990s. De Savary paid some £10 million for the property and spent a further £30 on rennovation. He then reopened it as the private Carnegie Club. This exclusive club has some 650 members worldwide, members paying over £20,000 a year for annual membership plus over £1000 a night to stay at the castle.
In 2000 the Carnegie Club was the venue for the wedding of Madonna and Guy Ritchie.
Does Skibo Have A Ghost?
As with most Scottish castles there is a ghost associated with Skibo, however the story is confused.According to the tale I heard, during one of the many sets of works the castle has undergone a skeleton was discovered. This was said to have been a local girl who was lured to the castle by a servant (possibly the groundskeeper) and was murdered by him. Her ghost was said to be seen occasionally and is known as the White Lady.
However I'm told by an ex-official of the Carnegie Club that this is probably a mixing up of two different stories.
First is the skeleton. A skeleton was indeed discovered when the castle was extended in the 19th century. However the identity of the skeleton was and remains unknown - not even the gender could be determined. The skeleton was reburied at the foot of a wall below the castle and that was an end to the matter.
There have been reports by some guests at Skibo of the ghostly figure of a young girl being seen in the top floor bedrooms, however these reports are unconnected with the skeleton and may well owe more to the club bar than to the supernatural!
