The account
The Grey Lady of Glamis is often imagined kneeling at prayer. The Douglas Archives preserves the tradition of a sorrowful figure in the castle chapel, identified with Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis. Knocking sounds become part of the same story, interpreted as an echo of the preparations for her execution. It is an intimate haunting for a grand castle: a woman at an altar, carrying into the room a political violence that happened elsewhere. The apparition’s identity gives the silence a name, even though no contemporary sighting is supplied.
Following the trail
A recorded story, with its history attached
Janet was executed in 1537 during James V’s hostility toward the Douglas family. The archive page also carries a significant correction from an author who consulted the surviving trial records: the popular witchcraft charge is not supported by those records. Alleged plotting to poison the king is the relevant accusation. The page’s older dramatic narrative and its appended correction should not be blended into one confident account.
Why it stays with us
That correction matters to the ghost story. A real person’s fate can be distorted by the very legend that keeps her name familiar. The chapel figure is folklore; the accusation deserves accuracy.
Follow the sources 1
- Lady Janet Douglas of Glamis ↗The Douglas Archives