In the haunted Scottish Castle of Glen Cockaleekie, where the title deed to the castle, much like "Brigadoon", is only found once every hundred years, Sir Ebenezer Tare has decided that, as "possession is nine-tenths of the law," he might as well be in possession of the castle until such time as the deed shows up again. Being the type of a Victorian money-grubbing elderly relative, he refuses to let his niece Rosa marry her poor suitor, Columbus Hebblethwaite, who is staying for the night. The Scottish housekeeper, Mrs. MacMotherly, has second sight. She tells a tale of the original wicked Sir Roger Bohun (similarly to Dame Hannah's tale in Gilbert and Sullivan's later "Ruddigore").