Patrick Stewart, second Earl of Orkney, built Scalloway Castle between 1600 and 1607 during his time as the de facto ruler of Shetland. The work was done by unpaid labourers called up from the parishes. He was tried and executed for treason in 1615.
He is remembered in Shetland as Black Patie, and NorthLink Ferries calls him one of the most wicked villains in the islands' history while adding that many of the stories about him are veiled in speculation.
One of those stories is that the walls contain the hair and blood of local people, mixed into the mortar. Another version adds eggs. The claim is part of local folklore, and the sources note that organic material and shells were commonly used in mortar in that period, so the legend may be an echo of a real practice, with the people's suffering written onto it.
Some websites also report a ghost on the castle wall, seen during a production of Macbeth. I could not trace that to a source I could check and have left it out.
Comments