Closeburn Castle, A Kirkpatrick Family Legend
‘In the family of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn the tradition was, that when a death was about to take place in the family a swan invariably made its appearance on the loch that surrounded the...
Specific Location: Thornhill
Tynron Doon
Tynron Doon is the site of the remains an Iron Age hill fort and if a local story is correct, a supposed haunt for a headless horseman. At a height of 948ft, the site...
Haunted Saddle, Craigdarroch
At the battle of Killiecrankie on 27th July 1689 the Jacobites of ‘Bonny Dundee’ (John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee (who died in the battle), defeated the government’s army. Among the thousands that...
Licht Before Death, Glencairn
There are many folk customs that are said to foretell a death. The following descriptions of a prophetic light in the communities around Glencairn are extracted from [Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western...
Pentoot and Gap’s Mill
The following account was extracted from an article by John Corrie in the ‘The Transactions and Journal of Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, Session 1890 – 1891’. ‘My...
Auchenstroan and Marwhirn
In his ‘Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western District of Scotland’ (1911), J Maxwell Wood, refers a few ‘ghostly vestiges’ in the Parish of Glencairn. According to his text ‘At Auchenstroan and Marwhirn...
Closeburn Castle
Many ancient families are associated with omens and signs that traditionally tell of death or illness in the family line. These omens range from radiant boys, banshees, phantom drummers and various animals. The Kirkpatrick family who inhabited Closeburn Castle have their own specially symbol of misfortune: that of a swan with a bloody breast, relating to an old family story.
Recent Comments