Folklore of Angus (or Forfarshire) in Scotland
Folkore, legends, history from one corner of Scotland. See http://angusfolklore.blogspot.co.uk/.
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Melgund Castle
Melgund Castle Melgund Castle, near Aberlemno, was for a long time a roofless ruin, but was happily restored in the latter part of the 20th century...
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- 1490 reads
Phantom Drummer of the Ogilvys
One of the most famous hauntings recorded in Angus also involved one of the most ancient families of the area, the Ogilvys who inhabited the castles...
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The Battle of Nechtansmere, 685 A.D.
One of the most famous battles in Angus was not recognised as taking place in Angus until George Chalmers published his book Caledonia in the early...
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The Forfar Witches
The most famous Angus trials were those women put to trial in Forfar in the early 1660s. The trials may have been prompted by an argument between a...
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Witches of Brechin
While the records of 17th century witchcraft in Forfar have become the most famous records of a dark period in local history (and have been...
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Captain Kidd, Accidental Pirate? Dundonian?
It was the fate of Captain William Kidd (1645-1701) to be mis-remembered after his dishonourable death and slandered in the centuries since as a...
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The Slippery World of Superstition
Superstitions are distorting, fluid things, whose meaning cannot often be grasped in the decades after they may have been recorded. Unlike the folk...
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The Man With The White Sandshoes
This character is a kind of urban legend, whose supposed activity stretched over many decades in the mid to late 20th century. In summary, he was a...
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Do Shining Streams Dream of Radiant Ladies?
The Paphrie Burn in the north of Angus is no-one's idea of a roaring river or an awesome body of water, but someone once thought it was amazing,...
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- 955 reads
Tales of the Whales (Part One)
One of the most extraordinary recent news items featured the finding of a Dundee whaling vessel near Disko Island in Greenland . The story in the...
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The Battle of Dún Nechtain, A Rearguard Action in Defence of Dunnichen
The battle somewhere in Pictland, during which the Picts supposedly threw off the yoke of the over-reaching of the Northumbrians, is a puzzle on...
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The Battle of Stracathro and A Chilling Extinction
Stracathro is a quiet place which does not deserve notoriety. Its claim to fame, historically, is the humiliating resignation of King John Balliol...
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King Arthur of Angus (and Gowrie)? Constantine, King and Saint
Firstly, I must make it clear that I don't think that King Arthur (whoever he was) personally ruled Angus, or whatever the area was called before it...
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Pitalpin - An Actual Battle or A Dundee Myth?
This article details a battle which, very likely, is a fiction. The place-name Pitalpin is now subsumed within the western part of Lochee, itself now...
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- 700 reads
The Earliest Legends of Glamis and Glamis Castle
Mention the name Glamis to followers of Scottish ghost stories or folklore and they will probably conjure up memories of the 'Monster of Glamis', the...
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St Drostan the Wanderer
Saints should possibly still be honoured, even in an irreligious age; kept in mind in a different way. There is no patron saint of Angus,but if we...
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The King's Cadger Road - A Fishy Tale
Forfar as a set of the peripatetic Scottish court in the Middle Ages has definitely been under investigated. Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret have...
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Plague and Pestilence Down the Centuries
Early Records One of the most iconic moments in the folk memory of Dundee is the image of the Protestant preacher George Wishart preaching in 1544...
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Peter Goldman - Poet, Doctor, Plague Survivor
Peter Goldman, a 17th century citizen of Dundee, is l;ittle known today, though he should be for two reasons: the prominence of his own life and...
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A Mystery for Sherlock? Conan Doyle's Father and 'Sunnyside'
For those who do not know, Sunnyside is a name which perhaps conjures up a happy, warm place, basking in a content and peaceful location. In fact,...
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Sir John Kirk and the End of Slavery in Zanzibar
There were few places as strange to the intrepid foreigner in the mid 19th century as Zanzibar , even in an age when the whole continent of Africa...
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Up, up and Away! The First British Balloonist
For a pioneer in both flying and literature, James Tytler is sadly neglected figure, but one whose life was sadly inconsistent for all his...
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General Monck's Massacre
Conventional folk memory (if there is such a thing) in Dundee recalls the sack and occupation of the town by General Monck in the middle of the 17th...
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The Dwindling and Extinction of Gaelic in Angus
The date at which Gaelic ceased to be a living, spoken language in Angus possibly presents more of an enigma than when it started to be spoken in the...
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The Murder of Lord Strathmore
The Strathmore family’s affiliation with the deposed House of Stuart brought them great sorrow in the 18 th century and though they avoided the...
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The Dargie Kirk - First Christian Site North of the Tay?
The history of St Peter's Church - the Dargie Kirk - is intimately associated with the subject of a future post, the Goors (or Gows or Ewes ) of...
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Did Defeat in 1922 in Scotland Turn Churchill Tory Again?
It may seem unfair to start an article with a question that the author has no intention of answering, but that's exactly what I'm going to do. The...
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The Laird of Balmachie's Wife - A Fairy Story and Other Fairy Traditions
Fairy tales set in Angus are unfortunately quite rare, but I came across the following one recently. This was printed in Folk-Lore and Legends,...
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Inchbraoch, Holy Island of Montrose
Among the demonstrable early Christian sites in Angus there are some which are more prominent than others, which is not to say that this was always...
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The Amazing Dr Kinloch: Saved by A Black Cat!
One of the most fascinating characters of the reign of James VI in Angus was Dr David Kinloch, a native of Dundee. Despite his prominence he receives...
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The Goors o' Gowrie - Devil's Work or Ancient Tribal Meeting Place?
At Invergowrie, west of Dundee, there were two stones sitting in the shallows of Invergowrie Bay known as the Goors or Gows of Invergowrie. Some say...
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- 552 reads
Earl Beardie at Glamis (A Legend)
He sits in a narrow chamber forever, throwing dice with the Devil, wearily feigning outrage at Auld Hornie's underhand tactics. The dice rattle like...
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