The account was copied by Richard Bannatyne and has been studied by historians including Charles McKean and Jenny Wormald. Wikipedia notes that it is hostile to the Gordon family. The events are reported as alleged supernatural happenings rather than as a ghost story in the modern sense. The earl's death is clear in records. The reported collapses and sounds could be explained by the stress of the moment, poor air near a body being embalmed, or later embroidery by a hostile writer, and the source itself does not give an explanation.
This is unusual among castle hauntings because the source is contemporary rather than a 20th century ghost-tour tale. References to a leather chamber in retellings likely come from a misreading of the Scots laich and letter for the lower servants' hall, according to Wikipedia.
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