Witchcraft and superstitious record in the south-western district of ScotlandWood, J. Maxwell (John Maxwell)
History
Witchcraft and superstitious record in the south-western district of Scotland
Wood, J. Maxwell (John Maxwell)
Folklore -- Scotland; Witchcraft -- Scotland
At Cardrain, in the same locality, there is another tradition of an
apparition on horseback which time and again rode up to the house, made
fast the horse to a rope hanging from the thatch, then wandered all
through the place.
In the neighbourhood of Tirally the shade of a departed medical man was
believed to frequent and wander along the sea-shore. There is an authentic
account of the house he occupied being of necessity given up by the tenant
who succeeded him after his death, on account of the strange persistent
and disturbing noises heard in it.
Passing from the Rhinns of Galloway to the Machars, through the district
of Glenluce, the surprising story of the Devil of Glenluce should
naturally find a place. It will, however, be included in the Appendix, in
all its quaintness, as it occurs in _Satan's Invisible World_, published
in 1685.
In the history of the town of Wigtown no character stands out in stronger
relief than Provost Coltran, proprietor of Drummorall. In 1683, along with
David Graham, brother of Claverhouse, and Sir Godfrey M'Culloch, he was
appointed to administer the test to the people of Galloway, and was Chief
Magistrate at the drowning of the Martyrs on Wigtown Sands (May 11th,
1685). His private character does not seem to have been beyond reproach,
and it was commonly said that in his life time he had sold himself to the
Devil.
The story still lingers that at his death the windows of his house looked
as if they were in a blaze of fire, clearly indicating to the popular mind
that the Devil was getting his own, and for long afterwards his ghost, a
terrifying figure snorting fire from his nostrils, walked the earth. Even
the house where he lived and died was for many years avoided after
night-fall.
Not far from the village of Bladnoch, on the farm of Kirkwaugh, is a spot
known as the Packman's Grave, round which a grim story lingers:--
"Tradition has it that an enterprising packman lived in or near Wigtown
long ago. He had a consignment of cloth on board a vessel which put into a
local port. The ship was plague-stricken, and the people in the district,
fearing that the infection might spread by means of the packman and his
cloth, seized both the merchant and his wares, and taking them to
Kirkwaugh dug a deep grave, in which they were deposited--the packman
alive. Even until lately people imagined they saw lights and heard knocks
at the spot, which gets the name of the Packman's Grave to this day."(80)
Near Sorbie is the farm of Claunch, concerning which there is an old-world
memory of a spectral carriage and pair of horses. The origin of the
tradition is unknown, but the following is an authentic account of its
appearance furnished by a correspondent:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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