An encounter with a howling banshee in Glenisla.

Original Track ID

SA1979.22.A4; SA1979.22.B

Original Tape ID

SA1979.022

Summary

An encounter with a howling banshee in Glenisla.

Stanley Robertson introduces a story that he calls 'The Cryin Banshee o Glenisla'. Once, when Stanley's grandfather was a young man, he was hawking alone in Glenisla. He was five or six miles from where his wife's family were camped, so he took shelter in a farmservants' bothy on a ruined farm. He put a stone behind the door to keep it shut. [Break to turn tape.] The wind was howling outside. He was wakened by banging at the door and an unearthly noise, and for some reason moved his position. The stone he had put at the door came flying across the room: if he had stayed where he was, it would have killed him. As he fled the building, he heard the howling fading up the glen and saw a spectre on the road. He ran to the Traveller camp. They were also packing up, because there was a crying banshee mourning a lost battle in Glenisla.

Duncan Ibsen had a similar experience in Glenclova. The roof of his van was pelted with rocks. A banshee is a person who dies without kith or kin, as the last of a race.

Recording Location

Item Location

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Story Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good