How to use the archive
Just keep scrolling down to see the most recent posts, and click previous at the bottom of the page to see more – be warned there are over 130 stories here! If you’re looking for something specific, use the search bar (there’s one in the footer on every page if you keep scrolling down, you’ll find it!) or click on any category (like crime and death, or wars and battles – the ones with the coloured backgrounds below each post) or one of the words in the tag cloud below to see all posts in a specific theme.
We hope you enjoy reading all the stories about Dundee’s dark history we’ve put together for you, but if you’re looking for things to do in Dundee why not take one of our walking tours!
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George Wishart was born in 1513 and became one of the earliest Scottish religious reformers. Wishart is widely recognised as a martyr for his Protestant beliefs and was burned at the stake because of them in St Andrews on the orders of Cardinal David Beaton under accusations of heresy in 1546. George Wishart is best […]
The Grey Lady of Glamis haunts the family chapel and the Clock Tower of the world-famous Glamis Castle. Steeped in centuries of tale and legend, the castle has been standing since the late 1300’s, and has seen its fair share of goings-on. The Grey Lady of Glamis is believed to be Lady Janet Douglas, burned […]
William Bury presented an alarming story concerning the death of his wife to local police in Dundee on 10th February 1889, but was he the infamous Jack the Ripper?
In the latter part of 1882 and into the first few months of 1883, Dundee had a somewhat alarming visitor “…described as being rather tall, and is generally seen dressed in a long dark cloak, although occasionally he sometimes assumes a luminous appearance, supposed to be due to the inside of the cloak being lined […]
Nearly everywhere seems to have a story about a White Lady, so let’s have a wee look at some of our own local legends concerning mysterious ladies in white… The White Lady of the Coffin Mill Now, we all know the media likes a headline, but by and far, this is one of the best. […]
Whilst not actually in Dundee, per se, we couldn’t let a wee treasure like Glamis Castle fly under the radar. Steeped in centuries of dark, blood-soaked history and with more legends attached to it than almost any other castle in Scotland, Glamis Castle was too hard to resist. The Castle was presented to Sir John […]
One of the most famous legends associated with Glamis Castle is that of the ‘Monster of Glamis’; a child born to the family and so hideously disfigured he was isolated in secret chambers within the castle walls, which were sealed upon his death. Legend has its beginnings in 1821 when the first son of the […]
Long before the city of Dundee arose, the land around the Tay estuary was the site of many a battle and skirmish. There is evidence showing the Law being used as a fort back to the Iron Age, and remains from Roman times can also be found…but evidence of any long-ago fought battles is lost […]
Dundee was certainly a pivotal city in the life of William Wallace, he was certainly educated here and did reclaim the city from the English during the wars of independence. But did he in fact, strike his first blow in the war that was to shape his life, here in Dundee? The story starts in […]
Grissell Jaffray is undoubtedly the most famous witch of Dundee, having been the last witch to be executed in Dundee, but Dundee’s superstitious side was still alive and well in the 19th century, when Janet Kindy, or ‘Hurkle Jean’, was believed to be responsible for a number of afflictions that allegedly beset the town. Sickness […]