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The building of Windhouse and the murder of a builder; the l...

Date 21 September 1970
Track ID 66291
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1970.241

Original Tape ID

SA1970.241

Summary

The building of Windhouse and the murder of a builder; the later discovery of a skeleton.

Windhouse was built in 1801 over a period of two years by a set of rough workmen who came from the south on the packet [mail] boats. A local scribe noted twenty of them arriving, but only nineteen leaving. When he mentioned this, he was dismissed as talking rubbish.

The night the men finished up, they got drunk. One was killed in a fight and the others removed a door, lifted the door stone, dug a hole and packed the man into it. In Mr Gordon's time, men repairing the door dug down and removed the skeleton of a large man, who was supposed to have been haunting the house.

Item Notes

The skeleton of a man was discovered in a shallow grave at Windhouse in 1887. A woman's skeleton was also discovered buried under a doorway around the same time.

Recording Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Yell

Island - Yell

Village/Place - Arisdale

Item Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Yell

Island - Yell

Village/Place - Windhouse

Language

English, Scots

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good