Episode 57: The Ghosts of Donaldgowerie House

A Ghost Story episode for Christmas from the pen of…. well not the master teller of ghost stories.

In 1911 Elliot O’Donnell released Scottish Ghost Stories. It was reviewed in the Observer alongside MR James’s new work published at about the same time – More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

Of Scottish Ghost Stories the observer reviewer had this to say:

“Beside Dr James’s Mr O’Donnell’s ghost stories are foolish and and feeble things… if any of the bogles whom Mr Donnel has now expounded in five volumes have any basis [in fact] we can only commiserate the ordinary ghost on its tameness, sameness and generally imperfect equipment of horror as compared with the eerie and ingenious spectres of Dr James.”

So of course in this episode I tell Elliot O’Donnell ghost story – which is distinctly Scottish. I hope you enjoy this imperfect equipment of horror nonetheless.

Happy New Year and happy 2026!

Selected Sources

• Scottish Ghost Stories – Elliot O’Donnell – the only source for this completely true tale
• Works by O’Donnell – not really a source but if you have listened and unaccoutably want more O’Donnell here is the place to go.
• The Master Ghost Hunter: A life of Elliot O’Donnell – Richard Whittington-Egan – this work contains a lot of delete taken straight from Elliot’s own autobiographies but is still a very interesting read.