Almost every town in Scotland has a story or two to tell about their famous ghostly residents, and Oban is no exception. The most enduring of all Oban’s ghost stories revolves around McCaig’s Tower, an unfinished Colosseum-like structure that overlooks the town and the surrounding bay. The tower was commissioned in the late 19th century by a wealthy local philanthropist, John Stuart McCaig, as a way to provide jobs for local stonemasons during the winter months. Raised in memory of his family, it intended to house a museum and art gallery. Unfortunately, McCaig passed away before the structure could be completed, leaving the tower as it stands today – an imposing, atmospheric, unfinished monument high on the Battery Hill, open to the elements and the local imagination. Amid this dramatic setting brews the ghostly tale of a lone piper, heard playing mournful melodies within the structure at night. The local legend tells of McCaig’s personal piper, who, distraught at his master’s death, threw himself from the tower’s high walls. His phantom piper is now heard playing in the dead of night, the sorrowful tunes echoing through the quiet town. The tale thrives on the authenticity that only locals can provide, with many claiming to have heard the haunting melodies on dark, quiet evenings. Whether one believes in the spectral piper or not, there’s no arguing that the mysterious sounds of the wind whistling through McCaig’s Tower could easily stir the imagination, spinning ghostly yarns fit for a chilling evening of storytelling.

Almost every town in Scotland has a story or two to tell about their famous ghostly residents, and Oban is no exception. The most enduring of all Oban’s ghost stories revolves around McCaig’s Tower, an unfinished Colosseum-like structure that overlooks the town and the surrounding bay. The tower was commissioned in the late 19th century by a wealthy local philanthropist, John Stuart McCaig, as a way to provide jobs for local stonemasons during the winter months. Raised in memory of his family, it intended to house a museum and art gallery. Unfortunately, McCaig passed away before the structure could be completed, leaving the tower as it stands today – an imposing, atmospheric, unfinished monument high on the Battery Hill, open to the elements and the local imagination. Amid this dramatic setting brews the ghostly tale of a lone piper, heard playing mournful melodies within the structure at night. The local legend tells of McCaig’s personal piper, who, distraught at his master’s death, threw himself from the tower’s high walls. His phantom piper is now heard playing in the dead of night, the sorrowful tunes echoing through the quiet town. The tale thrives on the authenticity that only locals can provide, with many claiming to have heard the haunting melodies on dark, quiet evenings. Whether one believes in the spectral piper or not, there’s no arguing that the mysterious sounds of the wind whistling through McCaig’s Tower could easily stir the imagination, spinning ghostly yarns fit for a chilling evening of storytelling.