The Great Castles website gives the pit story as told by Coventry: a man was caught having an affair with the laird's wife, thrown into the prison pit and left to starve, and his spirit remains. It names neither man nor laird. The Castles and Manor Houses ghost list records banging sounds from the castle and the occasional glimpse of a woman in white.
Wikipedia's article on the castle records no ghost story, only its history: a 14th century castle enlarged by Sir Patrick Hepburn in the 15th century, visited by Mary, Queen of Scots and the Earl of Bothwell in 1567, and slighted by Cromwell after Dunbar in 1650. Access to the interior has been restricted since 2020 for safety reasons, though the surrounding lands remain open.
The tale is a local tradition with no date or witness. It is typical of pit prison stories at castles across Scotland.
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