A crippled tailor was able to walk after being chased by a g...
Unknown Person
McDermitt, Barbara, 1934- (5182)Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1979.36
Original Tape ID
Summary
A crippled tailor was able to walk after being chased by a ghost.
A wee tailor, who lived near Inveraray, was paralysed in both legs and sat in a barrow. In the pub one night, he wagered that he could sit in the haunted graveyard all night and sew three pairs of hose, for a pound and a bottle of whisky. He was left there. A body came out of the ground bit by bit, and with each bit a voice asked him if he saw it, without flesh or blood? He said yes, but he would sew in the meantime, and he broke the steek [stitch] with his teeth. In the end the whole skeleton made a lunge at him. He got such a fright that he leapt up and jumped the wall. He was able to walk after that. The skeleton's hand left a mark on the wall. John Stewart has put his hand in the mark.
John is asked about others who tell similar stories, and says that many Travellers have seen ghosts, and also burkers.
Item Notes
Told to an audience of folklorists. In other versions of the story, it is clearer that the mark is of an unusually big hand.
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good