Ep. 46 - A Murder on the Hill of Christie
The Gaelic name for the Cairngorm Mountains of the Scottish Highlands translates to The Red Mountains. The mountains are formed from granite and once had a rosy hue to them before time and the rough conditions battered them into a more grayish coloring. The Cairngorms have always been popular for skiing and hiking and feature high plateaus and rounded summits. In and amongst these mountains was an area once referred to by locals as the Hill of Christie. That hill was the scene of a murder mystery that took place centuries ago and the key to solving that mystery came at the hands of a ghost.
In June of 1750, a young shepherd by the name of Alexander MacPherson, set off to make his rounds upon the Hill of Christie. On this particular day though, he wasn't just out wrangling the flocks. The shepherd had a purpose to his step and a goal in mind. He was seeking something very specific and he found it. This was a bundle that had been tucked away out of sight. He pulled at the bundle and it unfolded, setting free a human skull that had very little flesh and only a few tufts of hair that were still tied back with a long black ribbon. MacPherson did not jump back in surprise. He opened the bundle up further and revealed the rest of the nearly skeletal body still wearing a pair of brown brogues. MacPherson reported his find and when asked why he was not shocked by the discovery, he claimed he had been directed to the bundle. When asked by who, MacPherson answered that a ghost had told him where to find the bundle.
The skeleton belonged to Sergeant Arthur Davies. He was part of a group of eight foot soldiers who had been assigned to a station at Dubrach, which was located on a small upland farmstead. They were part of Lieutenant General Guise's regiment and their job was to patrol the area and enforce that laws that had been established in the wake of the 1745 uprising of the Jacobites. Charles Edward Stuart was known as "The Young Pretender" and this uprising was his attempt to regain the British throne for the House of Stuart. He was supported by Scottish Highlanders. They had an early victory near Edinburgh and pushed on into England, but were met with defeat and they retreated back into Scotland where they engaged in the Battle of Culloden that would finish The Young Pretender's attempt to regain the throne. He managed to escape on a French frigate, but the rest of the Jacobites were hunted down.
Some of the Highlanders did manage to escape, which caused the Crown to decide to install some laws that would prevent future uprisings. The Heritable Jurisdictions Act of 1746 stripped Scottish nobles of their power and the Proscription Act of 1746 outlawed the wearing of any traditional dress, which focused on tartan. Tartan is the national cloth of Scotland and is a symbol of Scottish independence. This is what traditional kilts are made from as well as other types of clothing like scarves and ties and there are 2800 different tartans registered up to the present day. Certain clans and regions have their own specific tartans. Tartan is a key piece of the tradition surrounding Burns Night. This is the night where the life and writings of the greatest Scot to ever live, Robert Burns, are celebrated with the drinking of whiskey and eating of haggis. If you don't know who Burns was, you will at least know one of his poems that is now sung every year more than likely by you, Auld Lang Syne.
As one can see, Scots are proud and independent people, so in order to enable British domination, military forces needed to be stationed everywhere, particularly in the Highlands to prevent more uprisings. Sergeant Davies took his responsibility seriously, but he also took his hunting seriously. He would often go out ahead of his garrison to hunt. This meant he was not always in the protection of the rest of the foot soldiers. On the day that he went missing, he had decided to split off from the group and hunt for a deer on the Hill of Christie. The next morning, Sergeant Davies had still not returned from his expedition and the other foot soldiers became worried. They went out as a search party and retraced the route they assumed he had taken, but found no sign of the man.
A couple days later, a search party from Braemer Castle was formed with more men and still nothing was found to help in figuring out what had happen to Sergeant Davies. After a week, the search was abandoned. Some tried to claim that he had simply deserted, but he had a great military career ahead of him and his wife was certain he had been killed and robbed because he was known to carry money, wear gold rings and line his vest with silver buttons. She managed to convince everyone that Sergeant Davies had been murdered, but no one would know for sure until his body was discovered nine months later by MacPherson. Later, when MacPherson testified, he told a terrifying tale of being visited several times by the ghost of Sergeant Davies. He claimed that the ghost would appear dressed in blue and spoke Gaelic, so that MacPherson would understand what was being said, even though Sergeant Davies had not known Gaelic. He would show MacPherson where his bones were lying some two miles away.
Now some people might find this story a tad fishy, except that MacPherson was backed up by one of the family members who lived at the same shieling where MacPherson was a shepherd. Isobel MacHardie claimed she saw the ghost enter the summer dwelling. He was naked and in a bowing posture. She was so scared she pulled the covers over her head. MacPherson finally followed the ghosts instructions, found the bones and he said that they were no longer troubled by the ghost. The ghost of Sergeant Davies had also revealed the names of his murderers. Those men were Duncan Clerk and Alexander Bain Macdonald. The court didn't just have to rely on the testimony of a ghost via MacPherson. Plenty of circumstancial evidence was available. Clerk had suddenly become rich after the murder and his wife wore one of Sergeant Davies' rings. Some smugglers also gave eyewitness testimony about seeing the murder happen, but claimed they had not reported it because they themselves were involved in criminal activity.
In the end, the murderers were acquitted and ironically it was for the reason that seemed to have brought the whole case to light: the testimony of a ghost. The council found the whole ghost story laughable. Not because it had come from a ghost, but because apparently this ghost had managed to learn Gaelic. That is what they found impossible to believe. Had the ghost of Sergeant Davies really appeared to bring his killers to justice? That is for you to decide!
In June of 1750, a young shepherd by the name of Alexander MacPherson, set off to make his rounds upon the Hill of Christie. On this particular day though, he wasn't just out wrangling the flocks. The shepherd had a purpose to his step and a goal in mind. He was seeking something very specific and he found it. This was a bundle that had been tucked away out of sight. He pulled at the bundle and it unfolded, setting free a human skull that had very little flesh and only a few tufts of hair that were still tied back with a long black ribbon. MacPherson did not jump back in surprise. He opened the bundle up further and revealed the rest of the nearly skeletal body still wearing a pair of brown brogues. MacPherson reported his find and when asked why he was not shocked by the discovery, he claimed he had been directed to the bundle. When asked by who, MacPherson answered that a ghost had told him where to find the bundle.
The skeleton belonged to Sergeant Arthur Davies. He was part of a group of eight foot soldiers who had been assigned to a station at Dubrach, which was located on a small upland farmstead. They were part of Lieutenant General Guise's regiment and their job was to patrol the area and enforce that laws that had been established in the wake of the 1745 uprising of the Jacobites. Charles Edward Stuart was known as "The Young Pretender" and this uprising was his attempt to regain the British throne for the House of Stuart. He was supported by Scottish Highlanders. They had an early victory near Edinburgh and pushed on into England, but were met with defeat and they retreated back into Scotland where they engaged in the Battle of Culloden that would finish The Young Pretender's attempt to regain the throne. He managed to escape on a French frigate, but the rest of the Jacobites were hunted down.
Some of the Highlanders did manage to escape, which caused the Crown to decide to install some laws that would prevent future uprisings. The Heritable Jurisdictions Act of 1746 stripped Scottish nobles of their power and the Proscription Act of 1746 outlawed the wearing of any traditional dress, which focused on tartan. Tartan is the national cloth of Scotland and is a symbol of Scottish independence. This is what traditional kilts are made from as well as other types of clothing like scarves and ties and there are 2800 different tartans registered up to the present day. Certain clans and regions have their own specific tartans. Tartan is a key piece of the tradition surrounding Burns Night. This is the night where the life and writings of the greatest Scot to ever live, Robert Burns, are celebrated with the drinking of whiskey and eating of haggis. If you don't know who Burns was, you will at least know one of his poems that is now sung every year more than likely by you, Auld Lang Syne.
As one can see, Scots are proud and independent people, so in order to enable British domination, military forces needed to be stationed everywhere, particularly in the Highlands to prevent more uprisings. Sergeant Davies took his responsibility seriously, but he also took his hunting seriously. He would often go out ahead of his garrison to hunt. This meant he was not always in the protection of the rest of the foot soldiers. On the day that he went missing, he had decided to split off from the group and hunt for a deer on the Hill of Christie. The next morning, Sergeant Davies had still not returned from his expedition and the other foot soldiers became worried. They went out as a search party and retraced the route they assumed he had taken, but found no sign of the man.
A couple days later, a search party from Braemer Castle was formed with more men and still nothing was found to help in figuring out what had happen to Sergeant Davies. After a week, the search was abandoned. Some tried to claim that he had simply deserted, but he had a great military career ahead of him and his wife was certain he had been killed and robbed because he was known to carry money, wear gold rings and line his vest with silver buttons. She managed to convince everyone that Sergeant Davies had been murdered, but no one would know for sure until his body was discovered nine months later by MacPherson. Later, when MacPherson testified, he told a terrifying tale of being visited several times by the ghost of Sergeant Davies. He claimed that the ghost would appear dressed in blue and spoke Gaelic, so that MacPherson would understand what was being said, even though Sergeant Davies had not known Gaelic. He would show MacPherson where his bones were lying some two miles away.
Now some people might find this story a tad fishy, except that MacPherson was backed up by one of the family members who lived at the same shieling where MacPherson was a shepherd. Isobel MacHardie claimed she saw the ghost enter the summer dwelling. He was naked and in a bowing posture. She was so scared she pulled the covers over her head. MacPherson finally followed the ghosts instructions, found the bones and he said that they were no longer troubled by the ghost. The ghost of Sergeant Davies had also revealed the names of his murderers. Those men were Duncan Clerk and Alexander Bain Macdonald. The court didn't just have to rely on the testimony of a ghost via MacPherson. Plenty of circumstancial evidence was available. Clerk had suddenly become rich after the murder and his wife wore one of Sergeant Davies' rings. Some smugglers also gave eyewitness testimony about seeing the murder happen, but claimed they had not reported it because they themselves were involved in criminal activity.
In the end, the murderers were acquitted and ironically it was for the reason that seemed to have brought the whole case to light: the testimony of a ghost. The council found the whole ghost story laughable. Not because it had come from a ghost, but because apparently this ghost had managed to learn Gaelic. That is what they found impossible to believe. Had the ghost of Sergeant Davies really appeared to bring his killers to justice? That is for you to decide!
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