In 1821, James Weir was the most famous baby in Scotland. Because of his extreme size, his parents brought him through to Edinburgh to be exhibited. A happy active child, he sadly died at 17 months. His grave can be seen in Cambusnethan Old Churchyard in Wishaw.
In the 1670s Gallovidian, Jock Mulldroch of Craigwaggie was understood to “cackle as he laid eggs, bigger than a goose’s, on a truff laft amang a wheen breckans”. The eggs were black-speckled yellow. He was known as “Craigwaggie’s meikle chuckie”.
I definitely need to say more on this later, it’s such a bizarre folk tale.So many other bizarre details. Eggs took a fortnight to lay. His sons hatched from his eggs that were placed under his wife’s actual chicken.
I haven’t even found where Craigwaggie was, if it was a real place at all.
Locharbriggs, north of Dumfries was traditionally the trysting place for all witches and warlocks in the area. The meetings were so terrifying and memorable for the locals they were used to tell folks’ age (I’m older than Tibbie Fleucher’s Hallowmass tryst).
In 1421, 5 nobles murdered the Sheriff of Glenbervie by shoving him in boiling water “til he wis sodden an suppit in bree”.
They “supped” the “bree” with horn spoons (it’s unclear why). A vat and human skull were found SE of Laurencekirk in 1875 near Garvock.
Before the 19th Century, Lanark was so poor the butcher wouldn’t kill a beast until every cut of meat was bought ahead of time. The town crier of Lanark, known there as the Skellyman would advertise when a beast was up for sale.
Here is one of their advertisements:
I love the predilection the OldWeirdScotland had for “monster” vegetables. Burns’ Night at Major Cumming’s!
Nechtan, King of Picts asked a saint to build Dargie Kirk at Invergowrie. The devil (in Fife) threw 2 sheeplike boulders at the site, but hit the Tay river instead. This was the basis of Thomas the Rhymer’s prophecy on the Yowes o Gowrie.
Dundonians argue that the devil lives in Fife, but Fifers take a different stance.
The Kirknewton Gala once had a race where women chased a pig around the fields. The prize was the pig. In 1922, after the pigs were too small to chase, organizers “solemnly agreed to forgo the Pig Race” and swapped in a normal foot race for future galas.
Kirknewton Gala also held an event called “Cutting the Goose” which men played across West and East Lothian, It did not involve a goose and the rules are yet unclear to me, but this is how R. Ross won in 1896…
Between 1862 and 1866 pitch black heavy rains fell on Slains parish 7 times. Two showers were accompanied by large rafts of pumice stones on the sea (8-10in diam. and >1lb in weight). Attributed to Etna and Vesuvius eruptions, it fell nowhere else in Scotland*.
*Carluke, Lanark got one black rain at the same time (no pumice) but that’s some pinpoint accuracy for volcanic meteorological phenomena. The true cause was hotly debated in the papers but never settled Needless to say, parishioners in Slains lost their shit.
An ancient plough that took twelve full-grown oxen to pull.
This was one of the last “twal owsen ploos” used (by Mr. Stephen, tenant at Millden, Belhelvie). Look at the scale bar and you can see why it took twelve oxen to pull!
