Close your eyes and think of ‘the gothic’. What – or where – do you envision? Author Louise Davidson explores some of Scotland’s spookiest castles through the lens of literature
Possibly, you see a crumbling castle looming above a small Romanian village, or a series of Italian mountain ranges; maybe even the fog-filled labyrinthine streets of London. But what if I told you the settings of gothic literature were much closer to home than you would think? The gothic can also be found firmly steeped in the countryside and interiors of some of Scotland’s spookiest castles.
With great literary names like Walter Scott, James Hogg and Robert Louis Stevenson counted amongst the classics of gothic literature, it is hardly surprising that Scotland has a long history with the dark, the supernatural and the transgressive.
Often considered a remote, untamed and untameable place by its southern neighbours, the Scottish Highlands offer much to satisfy the needs of the gothic. Some folklore is complete with monsters, fae and creatures and overall boast a rich history that blends the religious and the superstitious.
Is it any wonder then that Scotland has been used so often as a setting or filming location for Gothic literature and film?
From the Wicker Man’s use of the Gatehouse of Fleet to Tantallon Castle for 2013’s Under The Skin and, despite its setting being stated as London, there is no denying Edinburgh’s influence on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde.
In fact, Stevenson’s Mr Hyde was believed to be heavily inspired by the infamous Deacon Brodie, a respected Edinburgh cabinet maker who used his good reputation and livelihood to gain access to people’s homes and rob them.
For those curious, the Writers Museum in Edinburgh even has a cabinet made by Brodie and owned by Stevenson himself.
Indeed, homes play an influential role in other gothic fiction – and this is reflected not just in Scotland’s literature but in its architecture. From Mount Stuart to Abbotsford; Inverarary Castle to Culzean Castle; the Scottish baronial style of architecture, popularised in the 19th century, has given rise to countless gothic estates across Scotland, complete with turrets, battlements and conical roofs.
Abbotsford was even the residence of Sir Walter Scott until 1825, and comparisons have been made between this beautiful gothic home and the dark, unsettling castles of Scott’s novels.
But it is not just the castles that form such a key part of Scotland’s literary tradition but also the land around them. Characterised by breathtaking views and areas of outstanding natural beauty, it might give a reader pause to consider these places frightening. But it only takes for the day to turn to twilight for peaceful space to become isolation; for the beauty of nature to suddenly seem like untamed wildlands and tranquillity to turn to eerie silence.
In fact, it could be argued that the Scottish countryside is the perfect place to experience the uncanny.
A key element of gothic literature, ‘the uncanny’ renders the familiar and safe suddenly unfamiliar and threatening, like a childhood bedroom once the lights have been turned off and the adults have retreated downstairs.
A visitor only has to journey a little way out of the main Scottish cities before they are confronted by a world that is shaped by a different language, landscape, mythology and way of living.
It is this tension, between the wild and the civilised, the comfortable and the discomforting, that so characterises Scottish gothic.
As Ian Duncan said in his chapter on Scottish Gothic in the Cambridge Companion to Scottish Literature, “Scottish Gothic represents the uncanny recursion of an ancestral identity alienated from modern life.”
Where better to see this tension than the beautiful stately homes and surrounding gardens that Scotland has to offer?
About gothic writer Louise Davidson
Louise Davidson is a Northern Irish gothic writer and teaches in English Literature and Drama in London. The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond is her first novel.
Set in 1890, The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond tells the story of Julia Pearlie, a young woman in need of a job – any job. When she is employed as an etiquette coach for Miss Olivia Richmond at Mistcoate House in Norfolk, Julia thinks her luck has changed but all is not as it seems. The house is old and eerie, haunted by unsettling sounds and ghostly inhabitants.
Olivia is convinced she can read tarot cards and speak to the dead, although her father says this is an affectation. As Julia sets out to prove to Olivia that her powers are imagined, things take a dark turn and Julia starts to wonder if Olivia’s powers are real after all…
Louise Davidson’s debut novel The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond is published in paperback just in time for Halloween. Available from all good bookshops for £8.99.
The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond is available at Waterstones | Follow Louise Davidson on Instagram
Gleneagles at 100: New book to celebrate landmark anniversary of the ‘Glorious Playground’
