The farm of Turniemoon was said to be the place where, every 28 days, the Calder witches met to turn the moon by hand, fearing that the switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 had confused the moon and that it might disappear from the night sky.
The name of the farm, near West Calder, is actually derived from Torr na Moine, Gaelic for “hill of the peat bog”, but I always prefer folk etymologies!
In 1720, the Baron of Calder’s son convinced everyone he’d been possessed, claiming he could pee ink, fly around the room, teleport to Torryburn, and could sleep through being horsewhipped (folk tested). 5 women rounded up- all got off with a mild rebuke.
After drinking from ditches, Robert Dixon, of Markle, E. Lothian complained of “sour belchings” and “obstinate bowels”. For 2 years he coughed up “fetid slimy matter”. In June 1828 a doctor gave him bicarb and he vomited up a great grey slug, 4 inches long!
He kept it as pet for 5 days. It was “quite lively and vigorous when voided”.
The account is from William Rhind’s 1829 book on intestinal worms. He was clear it was “limax major” (a big slug) rather than one of the more typical invertebrates found in the human gut.
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…
In 1964, miners from the Valleyfield coalfields in Fife and from the Bo’ness fields broke through a rock face and met eachother 500m underground. This was the first time anyone could walk directly to Fife from the Lothians “across” the River Forth.
