Castle Menzies is the ancestral seat of Clan Menzies and the Menzies Baronets, located near Aberfeldy in the Highlands of Perthshire Scotland. The castle had been the seat of the chiefs of the clan for over 500 years and has a rich history. Bonne Prince Charlie, the Stuart pretender to the throne, rested here on his was to the battle of Colloden in 1746. Duleep Singh, the last maharajah of the Sikh Empire, resided in the castle between 1855 and 1858 following his exile from the Punjab. A fire broke out in 1878 which damaged the castle and affected the health of Lady Menzies who died a month later. In 1903 Sir Neil Menzies, 8th Baronet, inherited the estate but died without heirs in 1910. The house was subsequently auctioned. In 1957 the Menzies Clan Society restored the castle. Note: the samples in this spotlight all share the Menzies haplogroup.

Shown here is the marriage stone installed by James Menzies in 1571 to record his marriage to Barbara Stewart, daughter of John Stewart the 3rd Earl of Atholl. The Menzies Clan originated from the town of Mesnieres in Normandy. Sir Robert de Myneries appeared in the court of Alexander II of Scotland and received patronage and land grants for Glen Lyon and Atholl. His son Alexander also acquired the lands of Weem and married Egida, a daughter of James Stewart, the 5th High Steward of Scotland. His son in turn became a companion-in-arms of Robert the Bruce and was awarded further lands including Glen Dochart, Finlarig, Glen Orchy and Durisdeer.

There have been a number of paranormal accounts at the sixteenth century castle. According to a guide who was present during a ghost tour of the castle, an orb mysteriously appeared in front of 40 people and shot down one of the halls. This same event happened a few days later in front of a smaller group. A paranormal investigator who visited the site numerous times claimed that he used EVP devices to get responses from ghosts. He also claims that he asked the names of people in the portraits and the mysterious voice was able to correctly identify every painting. Shown here is one of the paintings hanging in the banquet hall of Sir Neil Menzies, his daughter and a sporting dog (dated 1816).