The Ghost of Hartwoodhill House

Dr Struan J T Robertson

1931

When my younger sister Mavis and I were kids there was no end to the pranks that we got up to for entertaining ourselves, living as we did away out in the countryside some two miles from the nearest country village of Shotts, nowadays quite a town. Our house was tied to our fathers post of Assistant Superintendent at Hartwood Asylum which now no longer exists having been closed down and subsequently demolished many years ago.

It was about 1931 and winter time but before the snow had fallen, and Coopers van called once a week around 5pm to deliver provisions to our house. This gave us an idea and we decided to give the driver something to tell his own kids about and to give us a bit of a laugh!

Our house was over a hundred years old and it was well known that it had originally been the country shooting lodge of Lord Justice Deas, The Hanging Judge as he was known on account of his predilection to sentencing to death by hanging all who came before him. The house had all the downstairs windows barred with thick iron bars as he had been afraid of being burgled and possibly murdered by the locals as he was hated throughout the area of Lanarkshire and Glasgow. Even more, he had a large bell hidden outside behind one of the chimneys that could be rung to summon help if the house was broken into! In fact, he was so much hated, reviled and stood in dread of, that it was said of him in those days that on his way to the kirk on the Sabbath, in passing Glasgow Cross, he would hang his hat on the arm of the cross and pick it up again on the way home after the sermon and not a soul would dare to so much as touch it! Of such was the old saying about him but I never myself knew if there really had been an actual cross there in those days or since. It was always referred to simply as The Cross which of course was a crossing place not a monument! ... (continues)