The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui from the Firstfoot website.
Scotland's answer to the Himalayan Yeti or the North American "Big Foot", the Big Grey Man is one of Scotland's more recent mysteries.
The fir...The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui from the Firstfoot website.
Scotland's answer to the Himalayan Yeti or the North American "Big Foot", the Big Grey Man is one of Scotland's more recent mysteries.
The first "official" report of a malevolent presence on the mountain was given in 1925 by Norman Collie, an experienced climber with all the credentials of a credible witness in the situation. As a professor of chemistry at the University of London, this was not a man for whom hysteria or fanciful imagination was usual.
Mr Collie claimed that whilst climbing Ben MacDhui unaccompanied in 1891, he had become aware of another presence following him, although he knew there were no other climbers around. He estimated from the sound that his pursuer was taking steps three or four times the length of his own.
Although unable to catch any real sight of it, a sinister impression of being stalked by a huge and menacing creature grew upon Norman, so he did what any sensible person would do in the circumstances and ran like buggery without stopping to look back, careering and tumbling down the slope until he reached safety at the mountain foot. He never went on the mountain alone again.
Since then there have been many further reports of climbers experiencing the presence of a shadowy figure that filled them with terror and pursued them as they fled. Some have reported being drawn as if hypnotically to the edge of dangerous ledges and precipices while others are believed to have been chased to their deaths, in their desperation to excape, over the edge of the cliff known as Lurcher's Crag.
Actual sightings of the Big Grey Man have been rare, but "eye-witness" descriptions of his appearance describe him as being around ten feet tall, covered in hair, with very long arms and legs. A couple of reports claimed that the beast was also wearing a top hat!
Huge footprints in the snow, not made by any human or known animal have been found and photographed. In 1965, prints were discovered measuring 14 inches and with a massive stride that covered around 5 feet, just as Norman Collie had estimated prior to his panic-filled descent down the mountainside in 1891.
Hallucinations? Tricks of the light? Hoax? Who knows. But you sure won't catch me climbing Ben MacDhui.
Here's an interesting article I found.
Is the Curse of Scotland in the cards?
The theories and folklore behind the nine of diamonds and Scotland can fill a small book - but we'll summarize it for you be...Here's an interesting article I found.
Is the Curse of Scotland in the cards?
The theories and folklore behind the nine of diamonds and Scotland can fill a small book - but we'll summarize it for you below...
Published Date: 09 March 2006
By IAIN LUNDY
IT SOUNDS like one of these pieces of useless information that crop up in Scottish trivia quizzes. Which of the 52 cards in a standard set of playing cards is referred to as "The Curse of Scotland"?
The answer - for trivia fans everywhere - is the nine of diamonds. But why should such a non-descript card come to have such a dire meaning? Like most Scottish myths and folklore, there are so many explanations - some plausible, some bizarre - that it becomes a case of sifting through the stories to uncover the truth.
A truly fanciful tale is found in a claim by W Gurney Bentham in his 1931 book Playing Cards: History of the Pack and Explanations of Its Many Secrets. Bentham says the card became the curse because the Scottish crown could afford to have only nine diamonds, not ten like other countries. An example of English humour, methinks!
There are other fairly unlikely suggestions but along the way there are clues. The card was first recorded in print as "The Curse of Scotland" in 1710 - remember the date. Many bridge and poker players swear it relates to a game called Pope Joan, in which the nine of diamonds is the Pope - the anti-Christ to Scots Presbyterians.
Other Scottish historians claim it has nothing to do with card playing and that in the 16th-century reign of Queen Mary nine diamonds were stolen from the crown of Scotland by an Edinburgh freebooter called George Campbell - another clue there. A tax was levied on the people of Scotland to pay for the missing gems. The tax was given the nomenclature "Curse of Scotland", as did the playing card.
Certainly Campbell's deed was to live on in playing-card circles. The nine of diamonds, instead of being known as the curse, was sometimes named after unpopular Scots of the day, and Campbell featured prominently. So too did Moll Hepburne, a name for Mary Queen of Scots after her unpopular marriage to the 4th Earl of Bothwell, and the Justice Clerk, after the widely unpopular Lord Justice Clerk Ormiston in the early 1800s.
By now you may have seen a pattern of time emerging - that of the early Jacobite rising in Scotland. Too early for the next explanation, that the Duke of Cumberland, "butcher" to the Scots - scrawled the words "no quarter" on the back of a nine of diamonds to instruct his men that all those who had survived the Battle of Culloden in 1746 were to be killed.
But there was one man living in those lawless times to whom the card applies perfectly. He was seen by many as a curse on the land, responsible for one of the most heinous acts ever committed in Scottish history. He was an aristocrat with the number nine linked with his family. He was very active in Scottish politics in the 17th century and died in 1707, three years before the first written record of the nine of diamonds as the "Curse of Scotland".
Step forward the ever-reviled Sir John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair who, as Scottish Secretary, gave the orders for the infamous Massacre of Glencoe in 1692 in which the Campbells killed 38 members of the Macdonald of Glencoe clan as they slept.
Whether Stair wrote the orders on the back of a playing card is doubtful. What is known is that the Stair coat of arms contains nine "lozenges" and a striking similarity to the nine of diamonds. In those days there was a huge anti-Campbell sentiment in the west Highlands and it would have been natural to link the hapless rogue George Campbell with the card said to curse Scotland.
Ted Cowan, professor of Scottish History at Glasgow University, says, "It is the only really credible explanation I can come up with and the one regarded by most people as having any substance."
So when you next play a game of poker, bridge or blackjack, and a nine of diamonds is dealt your way, quickly discard or fold. You don't want to be cursed!
Trysting Tree
Although not strictly Scottish, there is enough of a connection as to make this a suitable entry here.
Origins of the name
A 'Tryst' is a time and a place for a meeting, especially of lover...Trysting Tree
Although not strictly Scottish, there is enough of a connection as to make this a suitable entry here.
Origins of the name
A 'Tryst' is a time and a place for a meeting, especially of lovers. In Old French the word meant an appointed station in hunting. A Trysting day, is an arranged day of meeting or assembling, as of soldiers, friends, lovers and the like.
History
Many trees have through their isolation, appearance or position been chosen as a popular meeting place for young courting couples, soldiers called to gather at a distinctive venue prior to battle, etc. Many a romantic story features Trysting Trees, none more so than the tales of Robin Hood and his merry men, the epitomy of old England in the days of chivalry and romance. In the 1845 version of the story, Maid Marion and Robin Hood are buried together under their 'Trysting Tree.' Scott's Ivanhoe and the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The White Company' make several references to Trysting Trees.
Surviving and previously recorded Examples
Scotland
A section of a woodland strip that runs along the old road from Muirhouses farm to Middleton cottage in North Ayrshire, Scotland, is marked at 'Cheepy Neuk' on the OS maps of 1966 and 2000. In Scots 'Cheepy' means 'Chirpy' as in bird song or it can mean 'a light kiss', prompting the thought that this may have been a trysting place for courting couples in times past. Courtship (sometimes called dating or going steady) is the process of selecting and attracting a mate for marriage or sexual intercourse. ...
The Covin Trysting Tree, Bemersyde, Melrose, Grid Ref: NT 593 334, is a Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) with a height of 12.6 m, a diameter of 252 cm and is from 500 - 800 years old. The tree has long been a feature of Bemersyde, appearing in many paintings of the house including a sketch by Turner, located in the British Museum, London. The tree is thought to have been planted in the 12th Century by Petrus de Haga, making it 800 years old. The original Melrose is a town in the Scottish Borders a region of Scotland in the United Kingdom.
Although the original trunk has now died, layers were taken by Earl Haig in the 1950's resulting in several new healthy stems rising from the base. One of the layers, planted about 30 meters from the original, is growing into a fine looking individual. The old rings that can be seen in the branches of the original Covin Tree were once attached to concrete weights which aimed to balance the trunk - in its younger days the tree was twice as high as it is now. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Kelso, in the Scottish Borders has a 'Trysting Tree' which is connected with the annual Common Ridings.
Robert Burns writes of a trysting tree (see below) at the Mill of Mannoch at Coylton in Ayrshire.
The National Burns Collection holds a cross section of thorn wood from a tree which grew at the Mill of Mannoch, Coylton, Ayrshire which was said to be Robert Burns' "trysting thorn", a romantic meeting place. Throughout the 19th century the cult of Robert Burns rose to huge proportions and many "relics" of Burns, and his family, however spurious were treasured and preserved. Ayrshire is a region of south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. ...
One polished surface of the thorn wood reads:
"At length I reached the bonnie glen,
Where early life I sported,
I pass'd the mill and trysting thorn,
Where Nancy aft I courted"
From the Burns's poem "The Soldier's Return".
The Story of Puirt a Beul
Once in the Land Under Wave there lived a king who had a daughter of great beauty. The king was loved by all his people but this was nothing compared to the love they had for ...The Story of Puirt a Beul
Once in the Land Under Wave there lived a king who had a daughter of great beauty. The king was loved by all his people but this was nothing compared to the love they had for the Princess who inspired them so. Her presence made a glow under the sea like the glow of the sun. She had a most beautiful singing voice, far beyond any music that came from any of the musicians' instruments, skilled as they were in that land.
She had many suitors, but none interested her until the Prince of Lochlann arrived, wooed her and won her love. When the day of the wedding was fixed there was both rejoicing and sorrow on the people, for she was going away to leave them.
The Princess was full of joy, and she opened her lips to sing. The tunes she sang had no words to them, they were tunes of the music known as Puirt a Beul - Mouth Music. They woke all the echoes in the Land under Wave and they woke all the courtiers, who began to dance. The fishes began to leap for joy and even the birds above the waves skimmed the surface of the waters, listening to that joyous music. Then they soared high into the sunshine, for they too had heard the magic music of the daughter of the king of the Land Under Wave. The echoes carried her music far, far away, and spread it as the ripples spread on the surface of a still pool into which a pebble has been dropped.
Away in Western Argyll there lived a fierce old giant named Fionn, who that morning was sitting by a loch, washing his feet. The echoes of that joyous sound reached him from the Land under Wave, and he lifted his head to listen. He grunted and growled, but in spite of himself his feet began twitching in the water in time to the music. Then he rose up and his whole body began to dance and sway, and the waves rose high with his swaying and broke on the island shores. Then Fionn, the fierce giant, danced as no-one had ever dreamed he would, and jumped, laughing, until one great leap took him right over the Cuillins of Skye. And still the king's daughter sang.
Next Fionn leapt over the Cuillins of Rhum and landed in "Cuan Siar," the Western sea, in a spot to this day called "the spot where Fionn washed his feet". And still the king's daughter went on singing, and Fionn continued to dance, but now he was beginning to grow tired. Evening fell and he was dancing feebly now, so that by night time the great giant Fionn collapsed, lay down in the sea and was drowned.
And there was great rejoicing all through the isles, for Fionn had harassed them for so long.
And since that time the islanders have kept the memory of the wonderful singing of the daughter of the king of the Land Under Wave.
Rashie Coat
(This is the Scottish version of Cinderella.)
Rashie Coat was a king's daughter, and her father wanted her to be married; but she didna like the man. Her father said she had to tak him; and ...Rashie Coat
(This is the Scottish version of Cinderella.)
Rashie Coat was a king's daughter, and her father wanted her to be married; but she didna like the man. Her father said she had to tak him; and she didna ken what to do. Sae she gaed awa' to the hen-wife to speer what she should do. And the hen-wife said: 'Say ye winna tak him unless they gie ye a coat o' the beaten gowd.' Weel, they ga'e her a coat o' the beaten gowd; but she didna want to tak him for a' that. Sae she gaed to the hen-wife again, and the hen-wife said: 'Say ye winna tak him unless they gie ye a coat made o' the feathers o' a' the birds o' the air.' Sae the king sent a man wi' a great heap o' corn; and the man cried to a' the birds o' the air: 'Ilka bird tak up a pea and put down a feather; ilka bird tak up a pea and put down a feather.' Sae ilka bird took up a pea and put down a feather and they took a' the feathers and made a coat o' them, and ga'e it to Rashiecoat; but she didna want to tak him for a’ that. Weel, she gaed to the hen-wife again, and speered what she should do; and the hen-wife said: 'Say ye winna tak him unless they gie ye a coat o' rashes and a pair o' slippers.' Weel, they ga'e her a coat o' rashes and a pair o' slippers; but she didna want to tak him for a' that. Sae she gaed to the hen-wife again, and the hen-wife said she couldna help her ony mair.
Weel, she left her father's hoose, and gaed far, and far, and farer nor I can tell; and she cam to a king's hoose, and she gaed in till't. And they speered at her what she was seeking, and she said she was seeking service; and they ga'e her service and set her into the kitchen to wash the dishes, and tak oot the aise, and a' that. And whan the Sabbath-day cam, they a' gaed to the kirk, and left her at hame to cook the dinner. And there was a fairy cam to her, and telt her to put on her coat o' the beaten gowd, and gang to the kirk. And she said she couldna gang, for she had to cook the dinner; and the fairy telt her to gang, and she would cook the dinner for her. And she said
'Aw peat gar anither peat burn,
Ae spit gar anither spit turn,
Ae pat gar anither pat play,
Let Rashie-coat gang to the kirk the day.'
Sae Rashie'coat put on her coat o' the beaten gowd, and gaed awa' to the kirk. And the king's son fell in love wi' her; but she cam hame afore the kirk scaled, and he couldna find oot wha she was. And whan she cam hame she faund the dinner cookit, and naebody kent she had been oot.
Weel, the niest Sabbath-day, the fairy cam again, and telt her to put on the coat o' feathers o' a' the birds o' the air, an' gang to the kirk, and she would cook the dinner for her. Weel, she put on the coat o' feathers, and gaed to the kirk. And she cam oot afore it scaled; and when the king's son saw her gaun oot, he gaed oot too; but he couldna find oot wha she was. And she got hame, and took aff the coat o' feathers, and faund the dinner cookit, and naebody kent she had been oot.
And the niest Sabbath-day, the fairy cam till her again, and telt her to put on the coat o' rashes and the pair o' slippers, and gang to the kirk again. Aweel, she did it a'; and this time the king's son sat near the door, and when he saw Rashie-coat slippin' oot afore the kirk scaled, he slippit oot too and grippit her. And she got awa' frae him, and ran hame; but she lost ane o' her slippers, and he took it up. And he gared cry through a' the country, that onybody that could get the slipper on, he would marry them. Sae a' the leddies o' the court tried to get the slipper on, and it wadna fit nane o' them. And the auld hen-wife cam and fush her dochter to try and get it on, and she nippit her fit, and clippit her fit, and got it on that way. Sae the king's son was gaun to marry her. And he was takin' her awa' to marry her, ridin' on a horse, an' her ahint him; and they cam to a wood, and there was a bird sittin on a tree, and as they gaed by, the bird said:
'Nippit fit and clippit fit
Ahint the king's son rides
But bonny fit and pretty fit
Ahint the caudron hides.'
And when the king’s son heard this, he flang aff the hen-wife’s dochter, and cam hame again, and lookit ahint the caudron, and there he faund Rashie-coat greetin’ for her slipper. And he tried her fit wi' the slipper, and it gaed on fine. Sae he married her.
AND THEY LIVED HAPPY AND HAPPY,
AND NEVER DRANK OOT O' A DRY CAPPY.
Fastern Eve HandBa
In the Celtic religion the head was considered to hold an individual's essence or soul. Head hunting was an essential by-product of Celtic warfare. Normally, an enemies head was trea...Fastern Eve HandBa
In the Celtic religion the head was considered to hold an individual's essence or soul. Head hunting was an essential by-product of Celtic warfare. Normally, an enemies head was treasured, except in those instances when the enemy was regarded as half human or bestial. Then, the enemies head was given to the children to use as they thought fit, normally resulting in what we would today call a ball game from which football and rugby derive.
This Celtic tradition of head veneration is still to be found in the small Scottish Borders town of Jedburgh, where an image of an Englishman's head is kicked about and fought over in the yearly "Fastern Eve HandBa'" festival.
Jedburgh has maintained its strong sense of identity and with it many traditions which have long since vanished elsewhere.
The "Fastern Eve HandBa'" is played every February in the streets of the town. Popular throughout medieval Scotland, one gruesome explanation of the origin of the game is that, following a particularly bloody battle between the Scots and their Auld Enemy, the victorious Scots used the head of a fallen English general as a ball.
The Jedburgh version acquired its current format in the 1700's. A series of beribboned balls are thrown up at the Mercat Cross and two teams - the "Uppies" and "Doonies" - struggle to "hail" the ball at the Castle and the Jedwater at the Townfoot, respectively.
The boys play for a couple of hours before the men take over and it is usual for hundreds to participate. The traditions involved are complicated and strictly observed and only the players are experts on the rules.
Various kings and Town Councils have tried to stop the HandBa' but the game has only been missed once, when the HandBa' coincided with Queen Victoria's funeral in 1901.
Recently, there has been approaches made both to the Lothian & Borders Police and Scottish Borders Council to outlaw this practice ("Fastern Eve HandBa'") upon the grounds of racial prejudice. It is understood such approaches have not only been ignored but members of the local Jedburgh police have suggested that"more the pity, its not a fresh English head in use".
The Legend of the Brahan Seer
Most of what we know about the Brahan Seer derives from the oral tradition of the Gael. According to one source Kenneth Mackenzie (also known as Coinneach Odhar, dun-colou...The Legend of the Brahan Seer
Most of what we know about the Brahan Seer derives from the oral tradition of the Gael. According to one source Kenneth Mackenzie (also known as Coinneach Odhar, dun-coloured Kenneth) was born in Baile - na - Gille in Uig on the Isle of Lewis about 1650. He lived at Loch Ussie near Dingwall in Ross-shire and worked as a labourer from about 1675 on the Brahan estate, seat of the Seaforth chieftains.
The first literary reference to him comes in Pennant's "A Tour in Scotland" (1769). "Every country has its prophets... and the Highlands their Kenneth Odhar."
The only historical reference so far uncovered exists in the form of two Commissions of Justice, ordering the Ross-shire authorities to prosecute a certain Keanoch Owir for witchcraft (1577).
This reference places him 100 years before the traditional tales (and the time of the third Earl of Seaforth) so cannot be attributed to the same man. This is the first of many mysteries surrounding the Brahan Seer. Of his many predictions handed down by word of mouth, some remain unfulfilled, others doubtfully or partly so. But some have come to pass wholly and convincingly.
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Strathpeffer
The Seer predicted that "Crowds of pleasure and health seekers shall be seen thronging its portals." The popularity of Strathpeffer as a Spa resort reached its height in the Victorian era. In the 1960's the Beatles came to Dingwall, but there was a larger audience for the band playing in the Strathpeffer Pavilion, with people coming from as far as Elgin. The Ross-shire Journal recorded Strathpeffer as being a boom-town with the shops open until 11.00 p.m.!
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The Eagle Stone
Through the centuries this stone has gathered a host of legends. It was said to have been put up by the Munros after a battle with the Mackenzies and is inscribed with their crest, the Eagle, in memory of the slain. It is now thought to be of far greater antiquity, inscribed with Pictish symbols similar to the stone that stands in the St Clement's churchyard in Dingwall.
The Seer said that if the stone fell down three times Loch Ussie would flood the valley below so that ships could sail to Strathpeffer. It has already fallen twice, and is now concreted to ensure stability.
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Loch Ussie
Legend has it that the Brahan Seer lived near Loch Ussie; where he was apprehended. Before being taken to Fortrose on the Black Isle to be tried for witchcraft, he threw his oracle stone into the loch and said it would one day be found in the belly of a fish. So far as is known it has not yet turned up.
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Brahan Castle
The Brahan estate, where the Seer worked as a labourer for the Third Earl of Seaforth is central to his final and most famous prophecies about the extinction of the Seaforth line.
The gardens at Brahan are open to the public in June when the rhododendrons and azaleas are at their best. Brahan Castle itself was demolished in 1951 but the foundations can be clearly seen in front of the present Brahan House. The Seer predicted that "No future chief of the Mackenzies shall bear rule at Brahan or Kintail." The 14 000 acre estate of Kintail is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
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Kilcoy Castle
Kilcoy Castle belonged to the Mackenzies for nearly 300 years until 1813. The Seer predicted that "The stern castle of Kilcoy shall stand cold and empty"; which it did for more than 100 years until its restoration. The gardens are open to the public in summer.
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Fairburn Tower
Fairburn Tower stands high on a ridge between the Orrin and Conon river valleys and dates from the 16th century. The Seer prophesied remarkable things about the Mackenzies of Fairburn and the Tower. "The day will come when the Mackenzies of Fairburn shall lose their entire possessions; their castle will become uninhabited and a cow shall give birth to a calf in the uppermost chamber of the tower."
The castle eventually became a ruin and in 1851, when a cow calved in the garret, it was being used by a farmer to store hay. The prophecy was so well known that people came via railway to Strathpeffer or Muir-of-Ord and then by coach to see the cow. She had gone up the tower following a trail of hay, had a good feed at the top and became stuck. She gave birth to a fine calf and both were taken down some five days later, allowing enough time for the incredulous to come and see the prophecy fulfilled for themselves.
Such an odd thing for the Brahan Seer to have predicted, sceptics say that he could have second guessed the Caledonian Canal but surely not this.
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The Mackenzie Monument
One mile west of Brahan House by the Dingwall - Ullapool road (A835) is the monument to Lady Caroline Mackenzie. It represents the final prediction relating to the fall of the Seaforths. After foretelling the end of the male line (the last Lord Seaforth died after his four sons) the estates went to his eldest daughter. She had married Admiral Hood and spent many years stationed in the East Indies. When the Admiral died, Lady Mary Hood, (Later to become Lady Stewart-Mackenzie) returned wearing the traditional Indian white Coife of mourning. In 1823 Lady Hood was in control of a pony carriage near Brahan accompanied by her sister, Lady Caroline Mackenzie. The ponies bolted and the carriage overturned. Lady Caroline Mackenzie was thrown out and died of her injuries. In the 17th century the Brahan Seer's final comment on the house of Seaforth had been that Lord Seaforth's possessions would be "Inherited by a white-coiffed lassie from the east and she is to kill her sister."
The Latin inscription on the monument translates as follows:-
"At this point, according to the prophecy, Caroline Mackenzie, daughter of Francis, Lord Seaforth, was snatched from life: her sister who shared the same hazard was the last surviving hope of restoration of his house. 1823."
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The Execution
When Isabella, wife of the third Earl of Seaforth asked the Brahan Seer for news of her husband who was away in Paris, he envisaged the man's infidelities with a Frenchwoman. He assured the Countess her husband was well but she demanded more detail until, exasperated beyond measure, the Seer informed her of what he saw.
This earned the oracle the traditional reward for the bearer of bad tidings - execution by being pitched alive into a barrel of boiling tar at Chanonry Point. Before the inevitable he threw his stone into Loch Ussie and foretold of the extinction of the Seaforth line.
Right, The inscription reads:-
"This stone commemorates the legend of Coinneach Odhar better known as the BRAHAN SEER - Many of his prophecies were fulfilled and tradition holds that his untimely death by burning in tar followed his final prophecy of the doom of the House of Seaforth.
Lady Seaforth declared that "Having had so much unhallowed intercourse with unseen world", he would never go to heaven. The Seer replied that he would, but that Isabella would not. He prophesied that upon his death a flying raven and dove will meet mid-air above his ashes and instantly alight. "If the raven be foremost, you have spoken truly; but if the dove, then my hope is well founded."
To the wonder of all beholders of this final prediction, a dove, closely followed by a raven, was the first to alight on the dust of the departed Coinneach Odhar.
Although there are many uncertainties to the life, times and prophecies of Kenneth Mackenzie, Coinneach Odhar, it is without doubt he has come down to us as the Brahan Seer blazing with legend.
THOM AND WILLIE.
THOM and Willie, two young fisher-mates of Lunna, in Shetland, were rivals for the hand of the fair Osla, daughter of Jarm. Now it so happened that, one October afternoon, they took th...THOM AND WILLIE.
THOM and Willie, two young fisher-mates of Lunna, in Shetland, were rivals for the hand of the fair Osla, daughter of Jarm. Now it so happened that, one October afternoon, they took their hand-lines and went out fishing together in their boat. Towards dusk the wind rose, and it soon blew so hard as to compel the young men to run for the nearest shelter--a haven in the islet of Linga in Whalsay Sound, which they happily reached in safety. The islet was uninhabited, and the fishermen had with them neither food nor the means of kindling a fire. They had, however, a roof over their heads; for there was a hut, or lodge, on the island,--used by fishermen in the fair weather season, but deserted since the close of that period. For two days the storm raged without ceasing, and at last the situation of the castaways began to grow very serious. However, on the morning of the third day, a little before daybreak, Willie, who was awake before his companion, discovered that the weather had faired, and that the wind blew in a favouring direction. Upon this, without rousing Thom, he proceeded to the boat, which lay safely hauled up upon the shore, and by dint of great exertion managed to launch her single-handed. Meantime Thom had awoke; and, at last, as Willie did not come back, he followed him to the noust, or place where boats are drawn up. And here a sight met his view which filled him with dismay. The yawl had disappeared from her place; but, raising his eyes, he beheld her already far out at sea and speeding before the breeze in the direction of Lunna. At this sight poor Thom gave way to despair. He realised that his comrade had basely and heartlessly deserted him; he knew that it was not likely that the islet would be visited until the fishing-season should have come round again; and he had small hopes of help from any exertions on his behalf which might be made by his friends, seeing that they would be in ignorance where to look for him. Amid melancholy thoughts and forebodings the day passed slowly, and at nightfall he betook himself to his shake-down of straw within the lodge. Darkness closed in, and he slept. But, towards the small hours of the morning, he was suddenly awakened; when great was his astonishment to see that the hut was lighted up with a strange illumination, whilst a queer inhuman hum and chatter, accompanied by the patter of many pairs of little feet and the jingle of gold and silver vessels, smote upon his ear. A fairy banquet was, in fact, in course of preparation in the lodge. Thom raised himself noiselessly upon his elbow, and watched the proceedings. With infinite bustle and clatter, the table was at last laid. Then there entered a party of trows, who bore between them in a chair, or litter, a female fairy, to whom all appeared to pay honour. The company took seats, and the banquet was on the point of commencing, when in a moment the scene of festivity was changed to one of wild alarm and confusion. A moment more, and Thom learnt to his cost the cause of the sudden change. The presence of a human being had been detected, and at a word from their queen the "grey people," swarming together, were about to rush upon the intruder. But in this trying juncture Thom did not lose his presence of mind. His loaded fowling-piece lay by his side, and, as the fairies rushed upon him, he raised it to his shoulder and fired. In an instant the light was extinguished, and all was darkness, silence, and solitude.
Let us now return to the perfidious Willie. Reaching Lunna in safety, he related a tragic tale (which he had invented on the voyage), to account for the absence of his comrade; and, finding that his story was believed, he began anew, without much loss of time, to urge his suit with the fair Osla. Her father, Jarm, regarded him with favour; but the maiden herself turned a deaf ear to all his entreaties. She felt that she could not love him; and, besides, she was haunted by a suspicion that Thom, in whose welfare she felt a tender interest,, had been the victim of foul play. Pressure was, however, put upon her, and in spite of her objections, an early day was fixed for the wedding. The poor girl was in great distress. However, one night, when she had cried herself to sleep, she dreamed a dream, the result of which was that next morning she proceeded to the house of Thom's parents, and begged them to join her in a search for their missing son. This, notwithstanding their love for him, they were somewhat reluctant to do; arguing that, even supposing him to have been abandoned, as she divined, upon one of the rocky islets of the coast, he must ere now have perished from exposure and starvation. But the girl persisted in her entreaties, which at last prevailed. A boat was manned, and by Osla's direction was steered towards Linga, upon approaching which, sure enough, as the girl had predicted, it was discovered that the islet had a human tenant. Thom met his friends on the beach, and when the first eager greetings had passed, surprise was expressed at the freshness and robustness of his appearance. But this surprise increased tenfold when, in recounting his adventures, he explained that, during the latter days of his isolation, he had supported life upon the remains of the scarcely-tasted fairy banquet, adding that never in his life before had he fared so delicately. On their return to Lunna, the party were received with rejoicings; and it is scarcely necessary to add that Thom and Osla were soon made man and wife. From that time forward Willie prospered no more. The loss of his health and fortune followed that of his good name, and he sank ere long into an early and unregretted grave.
And now for something completely different...
Hellish Nell from the Firstfoot.com website
HELEN DUNCAN
"Hellish Nell" (1897 - 1956)
There was a lot of Helen Duncan. Tipping the scales at over 22 stones, ...And now for something completely different...
Hellish Nell from the Firstfoot.com website
HELEN DUNCAN
"Hellish Nell" (1897 - 1956)
There was a lot of Helen Duncan. Tipping the scales at over 22 stones, this Callendar born lass would have made an ideal Weight Watchers customer.
But it isn't for her weight that Hellish Nell will be remembered but as the last person to be tried under the 1735 Witchcraft Act.
Helen Duncan was a throwback to vaudeville. She was a "medium" who put on a great show at seances which were popular the length and breadth of Britain.
Usually, if they got on the wrong side of the law, folk like Helen were tried under fraud legislation. So, why was Hellish Nell so special ?
It's all down to World War Two and the misnomer that was the "Intelligence Service".
In December 1941 the British battleship HMS Barnham was sunk. This fact was kept secret until January 1942.
At a seance shortly after the sinking but before it was publicly announced, Hellish Nell materialised a vision of a drowned sailor, with the HMS Barnham ribbon on his hat.
The woman was obviously a danger to national security.
In 1944 in of the most sensational episodes in wartime Britain, Hellish Nell was tried and convicted at the Old Bailey for summoning spirits. She was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.
Why was there a three year gap between the offence and the trial ?
Enter the "Intelligence Services".
In 1944 preparations for D-Day were far advanced. Anything that compromised security and secrecy was dangerous. And so were charlatans like Helen Duncan. So, into chokey she went.
It was a notorious trial and caught the attention of Winston Churchill who thought it a bloody nonsense but was overruled by the Secret Service.
The harassment of Helen Duncan continued right up to her death in Nottingham in 1956. Something to do with the British spirit of fair play ?
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