Folklore
Recorded 3 years ago
About this recording
Legends of Caithness - Folklore Legends of Caithness is a project that aims to preserve the folklore and myths of the Caithness landscape. As part of this project, Wick Voices led a storytelling workshop on 13th July 2023. A selection of recordings from the Wick Voices collection was used to encourage discussion and the sharing of stories.
Legends of Caithness – Folklore
Jan de Groot
Walter Mowat talks about the legend of Jan de Groot and his connection to John O'Groats. He explains the significance of the supposed eight-sided house and the eight-sided table.
Model of John O'Groats House
Bill Mowat highlighted an article about the model of John O'Groats House and the story is retold by Ian Leith. "After tea, we continued our journey until we came to the last house in the village of Keiss, a small cottage on the left-hand side of the road, and here we called to inspect a model of John O'Groats House, which had been built by a local stonemason, and exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1862. Its skillful builder became insane soon after he had finished it, and shortly afterward died. It was quite a palatial model and much more handsome than its supposed original was ever likely to have been. It had eight doors with eight flights of steps leading up to them, and above were eight towers with watchmen on them, and inside the house was a table with eight sides made from wood said to have been from the original table in the house of Groat and procured from one of his descendants. The model was accompanied by a ground plan and a print of the elevation taken from a photo by a local artist. There was no charge for admission or for looking at the model, but a donation left with the fatherless family was thankfully received."
Meg Watt
Ali Hepburn retells the story of the Witch of Duncansby from the book 'More Legends of the Pentland Firth', retold by Henrietta Munro. Ali also retells the story of the Silkie of Olrig from the book 'Legends of the Pentland Firth', retold by Henrietta Munro.
In Joanne Kaar's recording, she talks about Meg Watt from Duncansby, the seller of wind.
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