Saturday, 16 August 2008

Dragsholm Slot, Denmark

This is a tale from a famous castle in Denmark, called Dragsholm Slot (slot=castle in Danish). It is in Hørve in Sealand, Denmark and was built in 12th century by the Roskilde bishop. When the building of the castle was completed, it became the residence for both kings and several noble families. Now it is owned by the Bøttger (since 1939) family who has converted the castle into a hotel. However, as many other castles from that age, it has its own story to tell. Actually, the castle has three ghosts: A gray lady, A white lady and the ghost of the Earl of Bothwell. The gray lady is said to be a woman who once worked there as a maiden. Unfortunately, she got she got a serious toothache which caused her great pain. She was cured though, and the story goes that after her death she returns to the castle every night to see if everything is in the right order, as a thanks for her cure. But the gray lady is almost never seen, and less known than the two following ghosts: The white lady is said to be the daughter of one of the many owners of the castle. When she was young , she fell in love with common man who worked in the castle. And they had a relationship that went on for some time. Since the father was a rich and noble man, they kept their love secret, but one day the father caught them and was furious. He was so angry that he actually made the servants of the castle imprison his daughter inside a thick wall of the castle! It is said that because of the tragic event, she every night returns to the castle and walks around the corridors. In the 1930s new tiolets were being built in the castle. In order to do this they tore the old walls down. When doing this, the workers actually found a little hole in the wall with a skeleton with a white dress in it! The castle also has old cellars for prisoners. In the 1500s the famous Earl of Bothwell was captured there. He was captured there about 5 years and died in 1578 in the cellar. Some say that he was mad his last years-it's pretty understandable! He is one of the castles three ghosts-every night he comes riding in the court yard of the castle with his horse carriage.

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