The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1903-11-19
'sHUDDER IN SECRET
OF THIS CASTLE
fhe Mystery Of Giamis Known.
Only to Three of the
Strathmores.
TALE OF HUMAN MONSTER

lALE OF HUMAN MCNSIE H
In a Hidden Chamber This Terror Is
Said to Be kept-others Tell OF
the Bones Of Prisoners Who
Starved TO Death.
Glasgow letter: It would be rather
Interesting to know whether Lord and
Lady Strathmore's golden wedding fes-
ttivities, held at CLAIMS castle the other
day, had any shadow cast upon them
by the strange secret" which for $ %
many years has hung like a pail over
this historic Scotch pile. What this
secret is only three-or perhaps four
people in the world know. these being
the lord of CLAIMS himself, his heir and.
the steward of his estate. For this Sc
lcret in real life, like those in the old
tales, is revealed by every earl of
Strathmore to his eldest son when the
latter of age, and he, in turn,
passes it own.
Toward the solution of the mystery
which is famous throughout Scotland
Ian uncommon number Of theories
have been advanced. 1t is known that
the secret, is connected with one Of
the rooms in CLAIMS castle, and SO
most people believe that in this cham
Der, into which coming earls of Strath-
more are taken solemnly on their 21st
birthday-conceals some monster. The
most fantastic n grewsome of the
legends told throughout the country
side has it that, at n time a human
toad" was born to the house of Strath-
'rn0Ta and n1nraOyarE this NOM
~strosity was imbued- with something
like Immortality, for which reason it
has had to be guarded from the sight of
the world all this time, But a saner
legend declares that the secret room
holds the bones ofsa band of prisoners
who, in Scotland's days of strife, were
lncarcerated there n starved to
death.
Is Really a Secret.
There really seems to be no doubt
hat in some room of CLAIMS castle
there is something that the Strath-
mores are unwilling to AVE seen. Some
years ago, so say the Scotch peasants,
a workman was called in by the earl
and set to repairing the castle roof. He
had not been at work long, however.
when he came down actually shaking
with fright evidently as the result of
some terrible sight which had met his
eyeS and, as soon as he had
his nerve to some extent demanded to
see Lord Strathmore. A long inter-
view resulted, n the outcome Of It
was that the workman suddenly found
himself possessed of the desire and
rather more than the means to emigrate
to Australia and to establish himself in
that country.
There is another well vouched for
story of how some guests of the Strath-
mores once attempted to solve the mys-
r. tnruE of tTNl1 mic 20 t1n 70 FHhncn fnllEf0nlS
advantage of the absence Of Lord n
Lady S~trath1nore, who were paying an
afternoon visit away from the castle,
to enter every visible room in the
sion and to hang a towel out of the
window of each. lei they went out
side the castle and got a rather UNI
pleasant thrill when they noticed that,
high up on m of the turrets, there was
a easement from which no towel was
hanging. And though they re-entered
the castle and hunted for the mys-
FERROUS hidden chamber, it was all IN
vain.
The Strathmore family is, of course,
one of the most historic in Scotland,
the earl's ancestors back as far as 1925
having been men Of prominence in the
affairs of their country. The present
owner of CLAIMS is 70 and his son., who.
by the way, is Lord CLAIMS, is now 4S,
so that he must haye been taken into
LIN oSSlSl liz l1oo us
revealed to him in 1876.
Many Places of Mystery.
Naturally, considering the number OF
tamilyseats in GreatBritain which date
back to remote times, there are not a
few ancient names Of this country that,
like CLAIMS castle, have some mystery
surrounding them. For instance, there.
Is Littlecote in Wiltshire, a certain
popularity in connection with which
hoe Yl1u11al ~ nv n hictorfo 49, :. o,1
Of the bedrooms Of Littlecote is a bed
stead with blue drapery, now faded and
widowed owing to the lapse of time
since it was hung. And just at the
bottom Of n Of the bed curtains there
Is a place, where u small piece Of the
cloth has been cut out and then sewn
in again. Why, no one knows, and
though it seems SO small a matter that
mysterious little patch has been the
subject of SEesses by many famous
men, among them Sir Walter Scott and
Lord Macaulay, both of whom con-
fessed that they gave it up"
In Haddon hall, the ancient home of
the Duke Of Rutland, there is ore
strongly barred door which is supposed
to lead to a hidden room. But for what
reason the bars were placed there is a
profound mystery, and one, moreover,
which the Rutlands respect and make
no attempt to solve.
BY the way, one of our American
duchesses must, by this time, have been
initiated into one of these venerable
mysteries, the lady in question being
the Duchess of Manchester. For Kim
bolton castle, the dukes seat which
has SO many memories Of Queen Cath
crime of Arragon, las also it's Secret
which has been handed down through
the generations. This secret, however,
unlike that of CLAIMS castle, is known
to the most important members of the
Manchester family. In.the castle there
Is a magnificent chamber known as
the queens" and in this room, on
every Holy Thursday, the reigning
duke, his duchess and his heir, fore
gather and go through with some cere-
mony. What ceremony, the, outside
world kens not, but it is understood
that a secret panel in the Queens
room" plays an important part therein.
Plenty of Prizes, but.
New York Times: Braggsby-Why do
you call marriage a ~lottery-there are no
blanks; everyone draw a prize?"
Waggsby-Thats so; but most of them
are BOBBY prizes.