As soon as Kilgour turned to look the ice cracked, the devil turned into a raven and flew off and the coach and horses sank to the bottom of the loch. Whether the laird and his coachman escaped depends on which variation of the tale you hear.
Sheena Blackhall, a poet and historian in north-east Scotland, spent part of her childhood in Skene and remembers local children saying that if they ran 100 times round the Wizard Laird's gravestone he would rise from the dead.
Despite his supposed deal with the devil, the laird is buried in the churchyard in the village of Kirkton of Skene. The wizard lived from around 1680 until 1724 but his activities had such an impact on the superstitious local people that, even last century, fires were lit at Halloween to keep him at bay. The author William Somerset Maugham heard the story while recovering from tuberculosis at Glen O'Dee Hospital in Banchory, Kincardineshire, and used it as inspiration for his novel, The Magician, in which evil deeds take place at Skene House.
The Skene family are said to have been a sept of the Clan Robertson. According to tradition one young clan member saved the life of King Malcolm Canmore by killing a wolf with his sgian, or knife. The king then granted him as much land as could be covered by a hawk's flight and the family received a charter in 1318 from Robert the Bruce. The line died out in the 19th century with the 20th laird, who was deaf. The reputedly cursed Skene House is now in a sad state of repair.
If you think stories of warlocks, curses and visitations by the devil are fanciful nonsense then consider the words of Stanley Robertson, a former gypsy traveller who lived in the Skene area and claims to possess psychic powers.
"The travellers say that if there is something demonic about a place, the frisson will rise up your back instead of down. That is why the hackles rise at the back of your head. And that is exactly the feeling I got when I once visited Skene House, my hackles rose and I had the feeling something very evil had taken place there."
Fyvie Castle and the ghostly trumpeter
By Amanda Moffet
Fyvie Castle is haunted by the ghost of a phantom trumpeter who first made his appearance there in the 18th century. The trumpeter was a man called Andrew Lammie and he fell in love with Agnes Smith, the local miller's daughter. Agnes' parents did not approve of Andrew Lammie.
Learning that Andrew and Agnes were meeting in secret the Laird, who himself wanted the girl as his mistress, had Andrew seized and sent in slavery to the West Indies. After several years Andrew managed to escape and return to Scotland to look for his beloved Agnes, only to discover that she had died a short while after he had been forcibly taken abroad. Andrew died of shock but before his death swore that the sound of a trumpet would foretell the death of every laird of Fyvie as a reminder of the terrible injustice he had suffered.
Shortly after Andrew's death the haunting of Fyvie began and for many years afterwards the trumpet would be heard in the dead of night before the death of the laird. On several occasions the shadowy figure of a tall man, dressed in rich tartan, was seen by the castle wall, a figure which always disappeared when approached.
Bluidy Tam and his card game with the devil
By Amanda Moffet
General Thomas Dalyell (1615 – 1685) was also known by the names Dalziell, Dalziel or Dalzell, as well as Bluidy Tam and the Muscovite de'il. He was a Scottish Royalist General in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Born in Linlithgowshire; the son of Thomas Dalyell of the House of the Binns, Linlithgowshire; head of a cadet branch of the family of the Earls of Carnwath, and of Janet, daughter of the 1st Lord Bruce of Kinloss, Master of the Rolls in England.
Legend has it that "Bluidy Tam" enjoyed on occasion a hand of cards with the Devil. During one of these games, the Devil losing threw the card table at the General. The Devil missed and the Table flew threw through the window and ended up in a pond on the grounds of the House of the Binns. This tale was passed down through generations of inhabitants of the Binns. In 1870 following a particularly hard drought, a Marble topped Card table was seen poking through the low waters of the pond. In 1930 the Mother of the present Tam Dalyell asked a local joiner to repair the legs on a table, only to find out that the - about to be retired - tradesman's first job was to retrieve said table from the pond.
Outlaws on Pabay and The deal With The Devil
By Amanda Moffet
Pabay is a small island just off Skye. On Pabay are the ruins of a small chapel, built originally by St. Columba's monks. After the chapel fell into disuse and the monks left, it became a refuge for outlaws 'broken men' and robbers. They caused much trouble on the main island of Skye. Legend has it this bunch of criminals met their end in a very unusual way. They had, of course many enemies and their chief decided to rid himself of them all with the help of the Devil. The band made up a huge fire and roasted three cats alive chanting the appropriate spells, an infallible way of raising the Evil One if you get the spells right. It was told that several minor demons appeared, but the robber chief insisted that he would only deal with the Devil himself.
Eventually Satan rose from the earth and asked their will. The robber chief told the Devil to kill two men whom the chief feared. The Devil responded "The price of two lives is two souls". This worried the gang and an argument began. Now, the chief had been known to boast that if he could only get swords that would not melt, he would be able to conquer Hell and capture Satan himself. The Devil reminded him of this and accepted his challenge, offering to kill all his enemies if he won the battle. The Devil was to fight the band for their souls 'here on the shore where swords do not melt.' The robber chief was so arrogant that he agreed. A fearful battle ensued, the Devil and his legions overcoming all the bandits who were armed with claymores or broadswords but failed to harm the chief, whose sword had a cross hilt. Suddenly a great black cat jumped from nowhere onto the chief's sword arm, causing him to drop his blade. He was never seen again.
The blackened stones where the evil fire was lit, on the beach near Ardnish can still be seen, proof to the truth of this tale.
Tales From The Cuillins; The Beginning
By Amanda Moffet
The Cuillins or The Black Cuillins to be more specific are as dark as their name, a mass of pinnacles and sharp rock ridges violently indented against the sky. It is of no surprise that they play host to many legends. This one concerns how these mountains came to be formed in the first place.
Way back at the beginning lived Cailleach Bhur ( The Hag of the Ridges ), this was also another name for Winter. She lived on Ben Wyvis and came west to boil her linen in her washing pot, the dangerous whirlpool of Corryvreckan. She was a fearsome and powerful person who had made Scotland by dropping into the sea a creel of peat and rock which she had brought with her from the north. After her linen had boiled well she would spread them to bleach on Storr. It was said that while the hag was on Skye no good weather was to be got at all. Now 'Spring' came here because the hag held the maiden he loved prisoner. The Hag would only release the maiden when she washed a brown fleece white.
There was a great battle between Spring and the Hag, he fought with her, but she was stronger. He appealed to the Sun to help him and the Sun flung a spear at The Hag as she walked on the moor; it was so fiery and hot it scorched the earth where it struck, a great blister, six miles long and six miles wide, grew and grew until it burst and flung forth the Cuillins as a glowing, molten mass. It stood there for many, many months glowing and smoking. The Hag ran away and hid beneath the roots of a holly and dared not return.
Even now, her snow is useless against the fiery hills.
Merlin in Drumelzier
By Donald Cuthill
It is said, according Scottish myth, that Merlin, the wizard from Arthurian legend, is buried in the Borders town of Drumelzier.
However, there are many different versions of what actually happened to Merlin, ranging from his own prophecy of a "triple death" to slightly more supernatural accounts of him being imprisoned in a tree and left to die by Morgan le Fay, another Arthurian legend, or being entranced by spiders and fairies who bound him in their threads until he completely vanished from human sight.
The account which seems to be most prevalent, and perhaps most realistic, is the story of Merlin predicting his own death.
Sometime during the 570s, the Battle of Arderyth (or Ardderyd) saw Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio take on King Riderch Hael of Strathclyde in a bloody skirmish. The specific location of the battle is unknown, with some believing that it was fought in modern day Peebles, whilst others have claimed that it took place near Airdrie, or even down in Cumbria, in the north-west of England. However, it was said to have been a particularly bloody and violent fight that saw the annihilation of Gwenddoleu's army. Merlin was the bard to Gwenddoleu and fought on the losing side. Legend has it that Merlin, witnessing such carnage, was driven into a state of insanity and fled to the depths of the Caledonian Forest. It was in the forest where he apparently met Saint Mungo (also known as St. Kentigern). St. Mungo, an apostle from the late sixth century, was born in the Fife coastal village of Culross and was the founder and patron saint of Glasgow. Merlin and Mungo spent a long time talking, and it was during this meeting where it is said that Merlin was converted from Paganism to Christianity. It was not long after his meeting with St. Mungo, Merlin had a sense of foreboding. He felt that something was not quite right and then suddenly he had a premonition of his own murder; what he described as a "triple death" where he would be cudgeled, drowned and stabbed.
Later that day Merlin was on his own in the forest when out of nowhere a group of men he recognised as being enemies appeared and set upon him. Merlin was beaten then pushed, causing him to fall into a nearby river, where he was finally run through with a stake whilst helpless in the water. This beating, drowning, and fatal impaling was the "triple death" that Merlin foresaw only hours earlier.
Reference to Merlin's final resting place in Drumelzier has been made since as early as the 13th century. Thomas the Rhymer, famous laird, poet and supposed prophet, was said to have foreseen the 1603 Union of Crowns when he predicted that when the Tweed floods into Merlin's grave Scotland and England will have one king. And such a flooding from the Tweed occurred, no doubt coincidentally, on the very day Scotland's James VI was crowned King of England.
The place in Drumelzier where Merlin is said to be buried is marked modestly by a thorn tree, near where a burn joins onto the River Tweed. The town has placed a plaque at the bottom of the tree acknowledging "the wizard Merlin's grave", and where it also states that the present tree is not the original one, which was swept away in a flood sometime in the late 1920s.
Symbolic Scotland
There are many symbols which can embody the character of a nation. Scotland is no different in that respect; The saltire, this thistle and the lion rampant are all significant symbols of our nation. Furthermore there are symbols held dear by the many of the Scottish Clans, Some obvious in their representation on clan crests others less well known in clan artifacts.
The Story of The Saltire
By Rodger Moffet
Take a walk through Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness or any other Scottish town and city and you will see countless saltire flags. They adorn the flagpoles of buildings, appear on t-shirts, key rings, mugs - anything that can accommodate one. But how many know the story behind Scotland's national flag - prepare to be enlightened!
First of all lets start with a very remarkable fact; The saltire is believe it or not the oldest continuously used sovereign flag in the world. Legend has it that in 832 AD, a Pictish army under King Angus MacFergus, High King of Alba, along with a force of Scots under Eochaidh, King of Dalriada (and grandfather of Kenneth MacAlpin), came up against a Northumbrian force under King Aethelstan of East Anglia in Lothian. The Pictish army were surrounded by superior numbers and prayed for assistance. That night Saint Andrew who was martyred on a saltire shaped cross appeared to Angus and assured him of victory.
As both armies prepared for battle the following morning an image appeared in the sky of a white cross. The image encouraged the Picts and frightened the Northumbrian army who fled in panic. The site of the battle is known as Athelstanford after the Northumbrian leader who was killed in the battle. From then onwards the Saltire has been used as Scotland's national flag. Traditionally the saltire is blue (some say to represent the sky in the vision) but some versions have existed which have the white cross on a black background (due to the shortage of vegetable dyes that could reproduce the colour) and even green or red.
The Saltire is also referred to as St Andrew's cross and as you will certainly know he is the patron saint of Scotland. what you may not know (unless you come from these countries) is that he also happens to be patron saint of Romania and Russia. St Andrew was a fisherman from Galilee and brother of Simon (Peter). One of the first disciples of Christ, Andrew is thought to have went on to be a missionary in Asia and Greece. He was finally crucified by the Romans at Patras in 69 AD. The legend of St Andrews cross came from the fact that feeling unworthy of a crucifixion similar to Christ he demanded to be crucified on an X shaped cross.
