A horse is cut to pieces overnight on the Old Road of Learne...

Original Track ID

SA1979.22.A3

Original Tape ID

SA1979.022

Summary

A horse is cut to pieces overnight on the Old Road of Learney; two men are spooked by a cat after hearing about it.

Stanley Robertson introduces a story that he calls 'The Devil's Road'. When he was a young man, Stanley's father went hunting for rabbits with his brother Bobby. They camped on the Old Road of Learney, often called the Devil's Road because it is haunted. They went to a local couple for milk, and the man told them about something that had happened. He had let his horse loose when he was coming home, as it was restless. He left it out all night, although it made a lot of noise at the bedroom window. In the morning he found it cut up into pieces the size of pennies, and its entrails hung on tree branches.

Back at their camp, the men left the milk jug outside their tent. They heard something outside, then a dreadful yowling. They didn't dare to leave the tent at night to investigate. It turned out to be a cat with its head stuck in the milk jug. This happened about sixty years previously.

Item Subject/Person

Robertson, Willie

Recording Location

Item Location

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Story Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good