Drummer of Cortachy

Accounts vary in origin across sources. One version describes the spirit as the drummer for the Carlisle family who was allegedly stuffed into his drum and killed after incurring the jealousy of the lord (some versions say thrown from a window of the high tower). Other variants identify him as a messenger for a hated chieftain or as a drummer who deliberately failed to warn the castle of an impending attack; all versions agree he was stuffed into his drum before his death. These conflicting narratives are recorded in nineteenth- and later sources and are presented as alternative explanations rather than a single authoritative origin.

Reports emphasize a martial, humanoid apparition associated with a drum. One source states he is 'said to be nine foot tall' and he is occasionally accompanied by ghostly pipes. The drummer is described primarily by his instrument and his imposing height in those accounts that include visual detail.

The entity chiefly manifests as audible phenomena: a rhythmic tattoo on a drum (and sometimes accompanying pipes) heard within or near Cortachy Castle. This drumming is interpreted as an omen foretelling the death of a member of the Ogilvy family or the castle's owners. Some accounts describe occasional visual appearances in the form of a very large drummer, but most emphasis in the tradition is on the portentous sound rather than active physical harm.