A ‘Haunted’ Village in Scotland is For Sale

The Old Village of Lawers in Perthshire, Scotland, is on sale for $173,000 and it is said to be haunted by the Lady of Lawers, who was known for her creepy prophecies.

The Old Village of Lawers is located on the shores of Loch Tay in Perthshire. The property includes 3.31 acres along with 17th-century ruins, including the House of Lawers, a site of the former home of the Lady of Lawers - who is said to still haunt the village to this day.

According to Goldcrest Land and Forestry Group, just 17 people were reported as living in the area in an 1841 census. By 1891, there were just seven people, and it was abandoned completely by 1926.

The Lady of Lawers was Mary Campbell. She was regarded as a soothsayer in the 1600s. Close to the new church was planted an ash tree. "The tree will grow", said the Lady of Lawers, "and when it reaches the height of the gable the church will split asunder."

The church roof collapsed in 1833 when it was said that the height of the tree reached the gable.

There were two other prophecies concerning the ash tree. "When the tree reaches the ridge of the church the house of Balloch will be without an heir." This happened in 1862 when John Campbell, the Marquess of Breadalbane died without an heir.

She also prophesied that anyone who damaged the tree that she had planted would meet an unpleasant death, saying, "Evil will come to him who harms the ash tree." In 1895, a local farmer named John Campbell chopped down the tree, despite his neighbors warning him to not do it. Shortly afterward, his bull gored him to death, his farmhand went mad and was committed to an asylum, and the horse that dragged away the tree dropped dead!

There are still three prophesies that remain unfulfilled:

"A strange heir will come to Balloch when the Boar's Stone at Fearnan topples over."

"A ship driven by smoke will sink in the loch with great loss of life." (there is no known record of a ship sinking with the loss of life)

"The time will come when Ben Lawers will become so cold that it will chill and waste the land for seven miles." (Ben Lawers is the highest mountain in the southern part of the Scottish Highlands)

J.G. Campbell, in his Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, states that the Lady’s prophecies were collected in the Red Book of Balloch, a book-shaped like a barrel and secured with twelve iron rings or clasps, which was kept in the Charter Room of Taymouth Castle. If this is true, the Red Book of Balloch is nowhere to be found.

There is no record of the date of her death but the Lady of Lawers is thought to be buried near where the ash tree once stood.

So, if you ever venture to this land – word of the wise --- don’t bother the ash trees.