Pro tip from Badenoch: If you meet a ghost that won’t show its face, turn up one of your coat cuffs. It will be frozen, unable to disappear, and its identity will be made clear to you.
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How to paralyse a ghost
In November 1922, while Clementina Churchill was campaigning in Dundee for her husband, someone released “electric snuff” at a open forum meeting causing a mass sneezing fit. Churchill lost the election.
After patronizing the crowd and accusing them of taking advantage of Mr Churchill’s illness, they *really* turned on her. Woman in crowd: “Play the game, hen. Play the game. Dinna use that sentimental argument about yer man being ill.”
Clementina Churchill left the meeting hall to Irish Republican songs and cheering for De Valera.
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Old Money in Dumbarton
In 1348 a tax was levied to protect Dumbarton from wolves. Paid annually, the “Watchmeal of Kilpatrick” paid for the food for the wolf-hunter’s dogs.
In 1975, the funds were still available to Dumbarton Public Library to buy books. Talk about old money.
You can read more about the wolves of Lomondside here: biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53410734
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CUPAR JUSTICE
n. putting a person on trial after you have drowned them
Story is that a man wouldn’t leave his cell so the folk of Cupar flooded it, accidentally drowning him. Cheated out of a trial, they put his body in the stand anyway.
see also: JEDDART JUSTICE. n. putting a person on trial after you have hanged them
n. the water shrew
In Caithness, it was thought that its breath could kill a cow at 100 paces and it could poison you just by looking at you. The cure was to make a soup from its head.
In 1232, King’s physician Ness Ramsay removed a hairball (trichobezoar) from the stomach of Alexander II.
Legend has it that Ness got X-ray vision by drinking a soup made from a white snake which allowed him to complete the procedure without error.
n. a person ill-prepared for Christmas
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The Strathmore Meteorite
In Dec. 1917, Mary Hill and her parents had a 1.16kg meteorite fragment smash into in their roof in Keithick, Perthshire.
Crashing through the slates, they thought someone had knocked on their door! It is 1 of only 4 confirmed meteorite falls in Scotland.
Read more about the Strathmore meteorite here: https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/natural-world/strathmore-meteorite/
Jura man, Gillouir MacCrain saw 180 Christmasses in his own home.
Was he 180 years old when he died in 1645? Was he just *really* into Christmas?
Most likely, the Diùrachs were playing a trick with the traveler, Martin Martin when he visited in 1705. Gaels celebrated “Big Christmas” (An Nollaig Mhòr) and New Year, “Little Christmas” (An Nollaig Bheag). Gillour was probably 90 or so.
Gillouir’s niece Mary has a headstone near his and was thought to have died at age 128 in 1856. In reality she died in December 22nd 1855, and was *only* 118.
Only ~7% of St Andrew has been to Scotland (bone-wise)
Andrew in Scotland timeline:
732-1559 – 1x tooth, 3x fingers, 1x patella, 1x arm bone
1559-1879 – no Andrew
1879-present – 1x scapula
1969-present – 1x piece of skull