Story of the origin of the name Lumphanan; encounter with a...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1979.131.A2
Original Tape ID
Summary
Story of the origin of the name Lumphanan; encounter with a ghost on the Old Road.
Lumphanan was named by the gaberlunzie [beggarman] king, James [the Fifth], who told a woman there, "Yer lum [chimney]'s fannin, Annie." Macbeth was killed there at the Battle of Lumphanan, hence its association with witchcraft.
A Stewart Traveller woman was walking back to her camp on the Old Road of Lumphanan one summer's evening, diddling. [Stanley Robertson diddles.] She saw a well-dressed woman come out of the side gate of the cemetery ahead of her. She thought she would have company for the walk. Taking a stranger's privilege, she called out to the woman twice, asking the time, but got no answer. Travellers are superstitious about asking a question three times, so she said she wouldn't in case Old Hornie himself turned round. The woman screamed like a banshee. When she turned round, she was revealed as a skeleton, and disappeared back into the cemetery. The Traveller woman dropped her basket and ran back to camp. Her husband went to get the basket and was attacked by an unseen assailant. The Traveller woman found out later that the well-dressed woman was the ghost of a young woman who had been jilted and committed suicide.
Item Subject/Person
James V
Recording Location
County - Aberdeenshire
Parish - Aberdeen
Village/Place - Aberdeen
Item Location
County - Aberdeenshire
Parish - Lumphanan
Village/Place - Old Road of Lumphanan
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good