Buckholm Tower in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, is soaked in the blood of the innocent which has led to paranormal activity, says RICK HALE
Located along the A7 on Scotland’s Borders in Galashiels can be found the crumbling remains of a 16th century farm and tower.
The ruins of Buckholm Tower as they are known far and wide is a place typically avoided by the locals.
They know that the ruins are a haunted place with its very foundation soaked in the blood of the innocent.
A horrible place where the ghost of a wicked laird still haunts and the howls of the hounds of hell hot on his heels tears the night apart.
Buckholm Tower is a place clearly not for the faint of heart and the easily frightened.
History of Buckholm Tower
According to local folklore, the laird James Pringle lived in the tower and farm with his family.
To say that Pringle was a horrible, evil man would be something of an understatement.
Pringle’s wife and young son lived in fear of the man who would often succumb to violent tirades.
When in one of his fits, Pringle would take his rage out on the two people who should matter to him most, his family.
One night after a heavy night of drinking and violence, the laird fell into a drunken stupour.
Seeing that now was her only chance to flee her husband, his wife and son stole away into the night leaving all their possessions behind.
When Pringle recovered he found himself alone in the cold, dark house.
Now one would think that Pringle might change his ways and learn to be more kind after losing his family.
Not so with Pringle. His rage only grew and he proceeded to victimise the women of the village. As well as relentlessly persecuting the members of a movement of Presbyterians known as the Covenanters. These poor souls bore the brunt of his cruelty.
Pringle was a well known supporter of the government and was recruited by the dragoons to hunt down the christian sect and make them pay for disobeying the edicts of the crown.
With Pringle now in a role of leadership, the dragoons planned a raid of a small cell of Covenanter worshippers.
With blood in their eyes, Pringle and the soldiers bursted through the door expecting to find a roomful of those he felt deserved to die. But all they found were two people, an elderly man and his son.
Somehow, the cell was tipped off and they hightailed it into the night.
Pringle, ever the bloodthirsty thug, was about to bring his sword down on the head of the duo when the commanding officer abruptly stopped him.
Rather than executing them, the officer suggested it would be better to hold them captive and torture them for information on the whereabouts of their brethren
The father and son would be incarcerated in the dungeon of Buckholm Tower under Pringle’s watchful eye. Pringle, of course,liked this idea far too much.
Once the soldiers left, Pringle went back to what he did best, drinking and eating.
He was about to pass out when he was disturbed by the screams of the young man in the dungeon.
With his anger inflamed, Pringle went to investigate and discovered the old man had taken ill and his son was begging for mercy.
But mercy was something Pringle had no concept of. Pringle slammed the door and proceeded to severely beat the two men until they became silent.
Moments later, as Pringle went back to his meal, a furious knock sounded at the door.
An anger unlike any other gripped him when he saw who dared to interrupt him, the man’s wife.
The old woman stood in the dark night and demanded to see her husband and son immediately.
Pringle grabbed the woman by her hair and dragged her down to the dank moldy dungeon where her menfolk were.
Pringle threw open the door and the sight that met the old woman’s eyes was nothing short of a nightmare that intruded on the waking world.
Hanging from hooks over deep dark pools of blood were the lifeless bodies of her beloved husband and son.
The horrified widow let out an unearthly scream of anguish that threatened to wake the dead.
Pringle screamed at the woman to shut her mouth and called her a witch.
When the woman came to her senses, she called down the vendence of almighty God on Pringle.
She cursed him and said that the hounds of hell would forever pursue him even after the day he died.
Her words were so powerful that Pringle did believe from that moment on that demon dogs were chasing him wherever he went. And then James Pringle died a violent painful death. A death he deserved.
Some believe those hounds eventually caught up to Pringle and tore his mind, body and soul asunder.
Ghost returns on anniversary of Pringle’s death
On the anniversary of Pringle’s death, said to be in June, the ghostly form of a desperate man is seen running towards Buckholm tower.
As he bangs on the door begging to be let in and begging for mercy, the unmistakable sound of howling dogs can be heard swiftly gaining on him.
The ghostly man is believed to be Pringle making an attempt to flee his hellish tormentors. And just as Pringle denied mercy to those in his life, mercy is not shown him.
The ghost of Pringle lets out a great cry of anguish as the hounds find him and drag his soul back to hell where he belongs.
Years later in the 18th century, Reverend Henry Davidson reportedly exorcised the lost soul and banished the hell hounds back to the fiery pit from whence they came.
It would seem the good reverend’s efforts had failed. People to this day still see the terrified ghost of James Pringle forever fleeing the hounds of hell.
Have you visited Buckholm Tower? Tell us your experience in the comments section below!
I was training with what is now the Healing Trust (was NFSH), joining in sessions at the Borders General Hospital, Melrose. One of our group had attended a client in a cottage nearby Buckholm Tower and it seems had picked up an unpleasant energy from that location which we were able to release them from. With the zeal of the neophyte, I visited the Tower and said a prayer of spiritual elevation and protection, thinking I could help the entity resident there. I remember feeling pressure on my shoulders as I was finishing the prayer, pushing me out. A while later, I attended a spiritualist church in Surrey, and one medium had a very interesting message for me. So I spoke to him afterwards and he was rather critical of my novice efforts at the Tower, and told me that the entity had not been dislodged. On a brighter note, he said my attempts to help the lady who had cursed the laird were successful (a psychic friend had informed me of her situation). She had remained in an abandoned building (The Whin) next to the A7 nearby, and it seems spirit helpers were able to use my physical presence on the ground to release her.