Ghosts · Edinburgh

Mrs Griffith's Dream

Edinburgh Castle, and the Firth of Forth off Leith

Family-friendly

In the summer of 1734, Major Griffith and his wife were living in Edinburgh Castle. Staying with them was their nephew, Joseph D'Acre of Kirklinton in Cumberland, a young man who had come to Edinburgh to study at the college, and who had been put especially into their care.

One afternoon Joseph told them that next day he was going out with some friends on a fishing trip to Inchkeith. Nobody objected.

But in the night, Mrs Griffith woke with a start, crying out in terror: “The boat is sinking! Oh, save them!” Her husband told her it was only her nerves. But she said she hadn't been worrying about the fishing trip at all, and had hardly thought of it. She lay down and went back to sleep.

Then she dreamed it again. And then a third time, and this time she saw the boat lost and the whole party drowned.

That was enough. She threw on her dressing gown and, without waiting for morning, went straight to her nephew's room. It took some persuading, but at last Joseph agreed to give up the trip, and sent his servant down to Leith with his apologies.

The morning was fine, and the fishing party set off without him. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, a sudden squall blew up from the south-west. The boat overturned and sank. Only one man was saved, picked up after five hours in the water, almost dead with exhaustion.

No plate yet. We are still looking for an old picture of this place.

What people said

  • “Entirely authentic.” Dr Abercrombie told the story in his book on the powers of the mind, without names, and vouched for it as “entirely authentic”.
  • From the family. Joseph D'Acre's daughter, Lady Clerk of Penicuik, wrote to Blackwood's Magazine in 1826: “I related one, of which, as it happened to my own father, I can answer for the perfect truth.”

Other tellings

  • Abercrombie's version leaves out the names. Lady Clerk's printed letter gives only initials. Robert Dale Owen found the full names in a manuscript account by Lady Clerk, and found the date of the accident in a newspaper of the time, the Caledonian Mercury. Ingram gives Owen's version. [TODO: link Owen's book and Lady Clerk's letter]

What the history says

The drowning really happened. The Caledonian Mercury for 12 August 1734 reported that the boat had gone down on 7 August, as Owen found. The party was Mr Patrick Cumming, a merchant, Colin Campbell, a ship's mate, a boy named Cleland who was Campbell's nephew, and two sailors. Only Campbell survived. [TODO: check the Caledonian Mercury report directly]

Go and See

Where
Edinburgh Castle, in the Old Town of Edinburgh.
Access
Open daily from 9.30am. Tickets often sell out, especially in summer, so book online in advance. [TODO: closing times and prices from edinburghcastle.scot]
Allow
Two to three hours for the castle.
Families
Told gently. It's a story of a warning that saved a life, though the other men in the boat were lost.

Visiting details checked 25 October 2026 with Edinburgh Castle, edinburghcastle.scot. Always check before you travel.

55.9487° N, 3.2004° W · Open in OpenStreetMap

Make a day of it

From our sister sites

Acorn & InkPrint a day-out prep sheetGet children ready for a day at a real castle.Haunted Hotels UKDark Secrets of the Old TownFor grown-ups: an evening ghost walk through the closes and wynds of the Old Town.

Sources

  1. John H. Ingram, The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain (1884; illustrated edition 1897), “Edinburgh Castle”, giving Robert Dale Owen's account, which uses Lady Clerk's letter to Blackwood's Magazine (1 May 1826) and the Caledonian Mercury (12 August 1734). Our main source. Internet Archive.
  2. Dr Abercrombie, Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, as quoted by Ingram.
  3. Visiting: Edinburgh Castle, edinburghcastle.scot, checked 25 October 2026.

This is a legend, told as people told it. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.