Ghostly tales in the Tolbooth

One of the many tales about Stirling’s historic Tolbooth being haunted appeared in the Observer of late 1961.

The building was constructed between 1703 and 1705 and for a time was a seat of local government, a jail and a courthouse.

Prisoners held in the tower were hanged outside the building and it is this grim history which fuels rumours of strange beings stalking its corridors.

It was against this background that pals David Park (17) of Cowane Street and Allan Rodgers (16) of Haig Avenue, both Stirling, paid a visit to the Tolbooth in November 1961.

They were members of Stirling Judo Club, which occupied one of the building’s former robing rooms, used by judges, and the teenagers were there to tidy away rubbish.

It was dark when they arrived and they entered by a side entrance, locking the heavily-studded door behind them. They climbed an unlit spiral staircase having decided to burn the rubbish in the fireplace of one of the old cells on an upper floor.

Allan told the paper:“the spiral staircase was in complete darkness because there was no electricity in the upper floors but we soon had a bright fire lit ... although the flicker of the flames made it very eerie.”

David added:“everything was fine until suddenly we heard footsteps coming up the stairs. We froze with fright but then laughed when we remembered we were expecting another club member and decided to give him a scare.

“Allan jumped into the shadows behind the door while I stood in the middle of the room. I was holding a burning torch.

“I held my breath as the distinct sound of feet came up to the door and stopped. The heavy chain on the lock rattled and the door swung open. We waited for our friend to come in but nothing happened. Suddenly I felt scared.”

The pair ran downstairs and found the outside door locked while all other rooms were empty. They found no-one of the second floor where they had been tidying and the condemned cell on the top floor was also deserted.

The only other way into the building was from a passage leading to the former courtroom but the three doors in that part of the building were barred and locked.

‘To the boys it was a frightening and inexplicable experience,’ said the Observer.

Allan added:“it is not the first time I have heard footsteps but on other occasions I was in the building alone and put it down to my imagination.”

Following the incident, several members of the judo club spoke of hearing strange noises on the premises.

One of them, David Jarvis (20) of Hazel Crescent, Denny, claimed to have heard late at night“sad violin music”coming from a darkened hall within the Tolbooth.

It was an eventful few days in the Tolbooth for Allan and David who were also upgraded at a judo examination.

Allan, sporting his newly-acquired orange belt, joked:“it’s one thing to give a yellow belt a ‘haria-goshi’(judo throw) – and another to try it on a ghost.”