Ghost in the Bothy

If you've never heard the word Bothy before, you may be wondering what it is. Bothies are basic shelters that are left unlocked and available for use by anyone who may need shelter or basic accommodations. They're typically found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland and Northern England and are most populous in the Scottish Highlands. Bothys do not have electricity, connection to a water main, and must be at least 100 or more meters from the nearest public road and the nearest habitable building. They also sound terrifying and like fertile grounds for scary stories.

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One of the most haunted bothys of all time is Ben Alder Cottage. Located in the Central Highlands of Scotland it is one of the most remote known bothys. It is nestled on the shore of Loch Ericht and beneath the Ben Alder mountain. It is almost nine miles from the nearest road. From unexplained footsteps, out-of-place (and time) music playing, and even objects flying through the air it seems Ben Alder Cottage has all the hallmarks of a haunting.

Stories have been told of the Ben Alder Cottage since the early 20th century. It's believed to be haunted by its original resident, before it became a bothy. A man called McCook who took his own life by hanging himself on the back of a front door. Luckily, this tale doesn't ring true. One of McCook's relatives came forward and said that while he left the house he did so while alive. He died peacefully at age 85. However, this hasn't slowed down the torrent of strange stories from those who take shelter at Ben Alder Cottage. 

When Chris Knight, a wilderness blogger, visited in 2023 he said he found the bothy creepy but not immediately unsettling. Despite staying through the night, he was awoken throughout the night by scratching and bellowing. However, it wasn't from a ghost...just the stags around the area. 

Another jaunted bothy is the Luibeilt Bothy, near Ben Nevis. Over 50 years ago, in 1973, Phil McNeil and Jimmy Dunn stayed in the foothills of Ben Nevis at the Luibeilt Bothy. Upon first encountering the bothy, the paid knew something was off. There were dirty dishes in the sink and the bothy was locked up tight. This was weird, as people usually were respectful of bothys...and the whole point of bothys is that they are never locked. They believed this indicated that someone else was using the bothy and they didn't want to share. However, when they peeked around the bothy they didn't see any footprints going to or from Luibeilt. They decided to still head off for their day of climbing and come back to the bothy and deal with the person seemingly there later.

By 9pm, the teenagers were exhausted and at 9pm it was completely dark (and freezing) outside. They approached the bothy again but didn't see any lights or signs of a fire within. However, the door was still locked. Needing a place to stay for the night they decided to head in through a boarded window. One of the first surprises they encountered once inside was how cold it was. They claimed it was even colder inside the bothy than outside, despite near freezing temperatures. They also said that there was a strange, tense stillness around the bothy. They believed there was another person here with them, or that something was watching them.

They lit some candles and began to explore the bothy. What they saw shocked them: the table was set for Christmas, complete with crackers laying unpulled at each place setting. It seemed that the previous occupants had left in a hurry and skipped dinner. Despite searching the rest of the bothy, they didn't turn up any other signs of people. The two decided to sleep in the same living room in their sleeping bags. Because the temperature was so harsh, they thought maybe the last folks had packed up and left because it was just too cold. They heard some strange noises above them, but decided to ignore them.

Then, something happened they couldn't ignore: their bags were being ripped apart and items from them were being flung across the room with inexplicable force. Phil lit a candle and the noise died down, but then the candle was pushed out of his hand. Phil got up with ice axe and began to explore the bothy, hoping to catch whoever had done this.

Unable to find any signs of human life but with strangeness encompassing them the two agreed to pack as fast and possible and escape back out the window they had broken into just hours before. They noticed that the curtains of the room which were open were now closed. They confirmed that there was no way anyone was in the bothy and warned their friends as soon as they got back to civilization to never stay in that bothy. 

These are just two of hundreds of bothys, and likely far from the only ones that aren’t completely empty.

Thanks to Liz B for this blogstonishing suggestion!

The header image of this blog is not directly related to this story. It depicts the Glen Pean Bothy This bothy is one of many fine renovations by the Mountain Bothies Association. Directly across the river from here via stepping stones, often too deep to safely use, is the ruin of the cottage where, after the disaster at Culloden on the 16th, Bonnie Prince Charlie came seeking help on the night of the 17th April 1746. The next night Donald Cameron of Glen Pean led him through the very rough glen to Loch Morar and Meoble. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.