Macduff's Cross â Folklore by drewbhoy
Near Newburgh once stood Macduff's Cross, a 'rude upright stone'. The common legend, recorded by Robert Chambers in 1827, was that Malcolm Canmore endowed Macduff, Thane Of Fife, with three privileges,...
View ArticleMurthly Castle â Folklore by drewbhoy
Near Murthly, north of Perth, there is a standing stone of which the tradition is that a man brave enough to move it would find a chest with a black dog sitting on it, guarding it. it is said that the...
View ArticleLundin Links â Folklore by drewbhoy
At a little distance westward from Largo, in the middle of a park on the north side of the road, is the celebrated curiosity called 'The Standing Stanes O' Lundie.' Three tall straight sharp stones,...
View ArticlePointhouse â Folklore by drewbhoy
The cairn covered the remains of a great hero. He was wont to wear a belt of gold, which, being charmed, protected him on the field of battle. One day, however, as he rode a-hunting accompanied by his...
View ArticleMachrie Moor â Folklore by drewbhoy
In the Moor on the East-side Druin-cruey there is a circle f stones, the Area is about thirty Paces; there is a Stone of same shape and kind about forty Paces to the West of the Circle, the Natives say...
View ArticleKildalloig â Folklore by drewbhoy
A small conical hill at Kildalloig had a circle around the top, most likely the remains of a dun, once upon a time the lair of a huge serpent that devoured sheep and cattle in large quantities. At last...
View ArticleGiants' Graves â Folklore by drewbhoy
Two neighbouring chambered cairns on Whiting Bay on Arran are known as the Giants' Graves (although some sources record only one Giant's Grave). It is possible that the giant or giants concerned have...
View ArticleDun Ghallain â Folklore by drewbhoy
A local chieftain fell in low with a beautiful but low-born maiden. His mother. opposing the match, caused the girl to be transformed by magic into a swan, which the chief, when out hunting, shot (by...
View ArticleLoch Pityoulish â Folklore by drewbhoy
This loch, situated between the River Spey and the foothills of the Cairngorms, has an eerie reputation. It is said to harbour a water-horse, which, in defiance of the "each uisge" tradition, is black...
View ArticleThe Whipping Stone â Folklore by Zeb
Built into the wall surrounding St Peter's Church in Onchan is a stone pillar which is known locally as the "whipping post". However, its origin is more likely to be that it is the sole survivor of a...
View ArticleCraigiehowe â Folklore by Rhiannon
... Craigshowe cave was at length reached. Some recent visitors assured us that the cave had no end, and that they had been told that it took a turn and came out at Loch Lundy on the other side of the...
View ArticleBellever â Folklore by Rhiannon
There is one institution connected with Dartmoor that must not be passed over - Bellever Day. When hare-hunting is over in the low country, then, some week or two after Easter, the packs that surround...
View ArticleDevil's Quoit (Sampson) â Folklore by Rhiannon
Pembrokeshire - in common with several other districts in Great Britain and Ireland - possesses a good phantom coach legend, localised in the southern part of the county, at a place where four roads...
View ArticleDuddo Five Stones â Folklore by Rhiannon
An alternative explanation of the grooves... So far as I can make out, for I have been unable to refer to the original, Hollinshed in his Chronicle came to the conclusion that these stones were erected...
View ArticleTitterstone Clee Hill â Folklore by Rhiannon
The Dog. Mrs Pembro, of Bridgnorth, remembers her mother telling her a story about Titterstone Clee. Her mother was born on Titterstone Clee and one day, when she was a child of about eight or nine,...
View ArticleDun Eibhinn â Folklore by drewbhoy
Dun Eibhinn became a seat of the Dalriadic noblemen from Ireland 1,500 years ago and, in due course, was adopted by the Vikings. It became the centre to which the taxes and wealth of the Suderys...
View ArticleDun Gallain â Folklore by drewbhoy
Dun Gallain is also called Fort of the Strangers. An old folk tale told locally holds that in the Viking period the fort was the residence of a local chief named Grey Somerled, related to the Lords of...
View ArticleDun Cholla â Folklore by drewbhoy
In the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, on the island of Colonsay, lies an ancient site of historical significance: Dùn Cholla. According to tradition, this hill fort was once the stronghold of Colla Uais,...
View ArticleUamh Ur â Folklore by drewbhoy
There are a number of folk tales associated with these particular caves. One story concerns the last of the MacPhee lairds of Colonsay who had been defeated by his enemies, the MacNeills. He took...
View ArticleDun Tealtaig â Folklore by drewbhoy
The Culdees, 8th - 10th century The so-called Culdees were early Christian ascetics who lived in remote communities, the Céli Dé or "Companions of God". The concept originated in Ireland and it is...
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