Country and County: Ross and Cromarty

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The Fairy And The Bible-Reader

ON a still Sabbath evening in summer, an old man was seated, reading his Bible in the open air, at a quiet spot upon the Ross-shire coast. A beautiful little lady, clad in green, drew near, and addressing him in a silvery voice, sought to know if for such as she Holy Scripture held out any hope of salvation.

Loch Na Fideil

Loch Na Fideil was reputedly the home of a legendary female creature or spirit known as the Fideal after which the body of water is named (Loch of the Fideal). Depending upon which source you read, she attacks either men or women and children, dragging them down under the water in order to devour them.

Loch na Beiste

In his ‘Guide to Gairloch and Loch Maree’ (1886), John H. Dixon gave the following account of a creature that was said to live in Loch na Beiste roughly 50 years early. ‘The existence of water-kelpies in Gairloch, if perhaps not universally credited in the present generation, was accepted as undoubted in the last.

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Tarbh Uisge

The Tarbh Uisge or Water Bull is a creature of Scottish folklore similar to the Each Uisge (Water Horse). Some sources claim they could only be found in isolated pools in the highlands, while others suggest they frequented the coastal regions of Scotland.

Port Henderson Mermaid

There is a mermaid story associated with the small fishing village of Port Henderson which was recounted by John H Dixon in Guide to Gairloch and Loch Maree (1886). According to Dixon ‘Roderick Mackenzie, the elderly and much respected boatbuilder at Port Henderson, when a young man, went one day to a rocky part of the shore there.

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The Brahan Seer

The Brahan Seer is undoubtedly the most famous of all Celtic seers although the reality of the 17th Century Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche or Kenneth Mackenzie is hidden deep in legend. The roots of these legends may have come from a holy man in the 1600’s, about whom legends have grown with the years.

Alness Big Cat Attack (2008)

On 19 December 2008 the BBC News website featured a story entitled ‘Woman injured in ‘big cat’ attack’

An elderly woman has reported being attacked by a large cat in the Highlands.

The Kelpie of Loch Garve

The story of the Kelpie of Loch Garve (so it’s technically an Each Uisge, but we’ll keep it as Kelpie for this story) tells of a Kelpie that lived at the depths of the loch with his wife.  Now the Ke

Tulloch Castle Hotel

This 12th century castle hotel is said to be haunted by an aparition of a Green Lady. Tulloch Castle also has an actual tunnel that runs from it’s basement to Dingwall Castle on the other side of town. Parts of the tunnel have collapsed and it is no longer in use.

Eilean Donan Castle

Situated in Loch Druich, the castle as it stands now is the result of a 20 year restoration and reconstruction project undertaken by Lt.Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap when he purchased the ruin and the island it sits upon, in 1919.