The Mystery Of Maggie Duffton’s Ghost
by Jamie Maxwell
She’s been seen floating about the lounge of a north-east hotel wearing a pink wedding dress. But the legend of the ghost of Maggie Duffton at Kemnay could soon be solved once and for all when a wall is knocked down.
The Burnett Arms Hotel In Kemnay
The Burnett Arms Hotel in Kemnay is said to be haunted by the ghost of former owner Maggie. Her coffin is rumoured to lie in a walled-up vault in the hotel cellar. Now hotel boss Malcolm Edwards, is determined to uncover what really lies behind the wall. Within the next few weeks, Malcolm intends to smash through into the vault and reveal the truth.
He said: “We are intending to break down the wall in the near future and villagers are invited to come and watch. It should be an exciting night.”
Malcolm, 28, who took over the bar last October says that whisky and gin might not be the only spirits in the hotel. I do not believe in ghosts. And I have never seen a ghost, not even Maggie and I have been here for a while now,” he said. “But there is certainly a presence here. I have felt something near me when I have been alone – though it is hard to explain.”
The story goes that three coffins were donated after Maggie’s death in 1934. One coffin supposedly lies in Kemnay cemetery, while the other two are buried in the vault below the ladies’ toilet in the hotel. One holds Maggie’s cash, and the other her body. It is claimed her body has never left the pub since her death.
Staff down the years have described a ghostly presence in the hotel. Some regulars have even spotted Maggie passing through the lounge in a pink wedding dress. One former owner, Sandy Elrick, described how his dad had “many conversations” with the ghost of Maggie in the lounge bar.
And Malcolm said one of his staff has seen the apparition. He said: “One of my bar staff was doing some cleaning during the night and suddenly saw someone coming through a locked door. The person asked for someone called Norman but we have no idea who Norman is.”
http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/
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