In November 1863, PC Duncan McGillvray let the North British Daily Mail know that Mrs McCulloch of Kilchoan, Ardnamurchan had had triplet girls. When congratulations started flooding in, her husband sued PC McGillvray for ÂŁ1 in damages She hadn’t given birth.
Pierre de Bocosel de Chastelard (1540-63) was a French poet and creepy stalker of Mary Queen of Scots. On Valentine’s day 1563 he was found under her bed.
Later, he barged in as she was undressing. He was taken to St Andrews and beheaded at the mercat cross.
The “Big Porpoise of Machrihanish” or “Campbeltown’s Grampus” was a false killer whale and local celebrity in 1910 & 1911.”Boisterous” and “inquisitive”, it chased boats around Kintyre. At Bellochantuy, it grabbed a creel out a man’s hands and played with it.
A’ Clach Thogalaich, the “Lifting Stone” was an old rite of passage for men on Colonsay. Chuir e ga oth eadar a’ chlach thogail ‘s an talamh (a breeze between it and the ground) was how to demonstrate your strength. It is purported to weigh 280lbs (~120kg).
Photo is by the late Peter Martin (oldmanofthestones.com) who wrote a book on the old lifting stones of gaeldom.
In the 1880s, “Lifeboat Day” was the biggest fĂȘte of the year in North Berwick. In addition to rescue manoeuvres by the lifeboatmen, there was a greased mast to climb, diving competition and a “tub race” across the harbour, in drag.
I think this headline was about the folk wisdom that miners were wont to commit suicide by drowning. Need to check again, but the headline stuck out…
In March 1931, a “fireball” crashed into the farm of Knock and Maize near Portpatrick destroying a pigsty and chicken coop and set fire to an enginehouse. Five years later, during a December storm, a massive fireball crashed in the sea two miles off the harbour.
The cliffs of Portpatrick (known locally as heughs) have a cave that was said to cure the infirm (esp. kids with rickets). After bathing the child in a nearby stream under a new moon, you had to dry them off in the cave under Dunskey Castle.
Lochee was apparently a lawless place in 1879.
In that year the courts weren’t spending much time on your case…
On the 15th December, you got a decision in 48 seconds or less…
In 1915, to avoid German submarines, 5 proposals for tunnels across the Irish Channel were looked into.
1. Mull of Kintyre -> Torr Head
2. Wierston -> Islandmagee
3. Stranraer -> Larne
4. Portpatrick ->Whitehead
5. Portpatrick ->Donaghadee
Parliament said no.
