Account of an apparition that appeared to William Soutar, {145a} inthe Mause, 1730.[This is a copy from that in the handwriting of Bishop Rattray,preserved at Craighall, and which was found at Meikleour a few yearsago, to the proprietor of which, Mr. Mercer, it was probably sent bythe Bishop.--W. W. H., 3rd August, 1846.]"I have sent you an account of an apparition as remarkable, perhaps,as anything you ever heard of, and which, considered in all itscircumstances, leaves, I think, no ground of doubt to any man ofcommon-sense. The person to whom it appeared is one William Soutar, atenant of Balgowan's, who lives in Middle Mause, within about half amile from this place on the other side of the river, and in view fromour windows of Craighall House. He is about thirty-seven years ofage, as he says, and has a wife and bairns."The following is an account from his own mouth; and because there aresome circumstances fit to be taken in as you go along, I have giventhem with reference at the end, {145b} that I may not interrupt thesense of the account, or add anything to it. Therefore, it begins:--"'In the month of December in the year 1728, about sky-setting, I andmy servant, with several others living in the town (farm-steading)heard a scratching (screeching, crying), and I followed the noise,with my servant, a little way from the town (farm-steadingthroughout). We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be afox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it. {146a}"'About a month after, as I was coming from Blair {146b} alone, aboutthe same time of the night, a big dog appeared to me, of a darkgreyish colour, between the Hilltown and Knockhead {146c} of Mause, ona lea rig a little below the road, and in passing by it touched mesonsily (firmly) on the thigh at my haunch-bane (hip-bone), upon whichI pulled my staff from under my arm and let a stroke at it; and I hada notion at the time that I hit it, and my haunch was painful all thatnight. However, I had no great thought of its being anythingparticular or extraordinary, but that it might be a mad dog wandering.About a year after that, to the best of my memory, in December month,about the same time of the night and in the same place, when I wasalone, it appeared to me again as before, and passed by me at somedistance; and then I began to think it might be something more thanordinary."'In the month of December, 1730, as I was coming from Perth, from theClaith (cloth) Market a little before sky-setting, it appeared to meagain, being alone, at the same place, and passed by me just asbefore. I had some suspicion of it then likewise, but I began tothink that a neighbour of mine in the Hilltown having an ox latelydead, it might be a dog that had been at the carrion, by which Iendeavoured to put the suspicion out of my head."'On the second Monday of December, 1730, as I was coming fromWoodhead, a town (farm) in the ground of Drumlochy, it appeared to meagain in the same place just about sky-setting; and after it hadpassed me as it was going out of my sight, it spoke with a low voiceso that I distinctly heard it, these words, "Within eight or ten daysdo or die," and it thereupon disappeared. No more passed at thattime. On the morrow I went to my brother, who dwells in the NetherAird of Drumlochy, and told him of the last and of all the formerappearances, which was the first time I ever spoke of it to anybody.He and I went to see a sister of ours at Glenballow, who was dying,but she was dead before we came. As we were returning home, I desiredmy brother, whose name is James Soutar, to go forward with me till weshould be passed the place where it used to appear to me; and just aswe had come to it, about ten o'clock at night, it appeared to me againjust as formerly; and as it was passing over some ice I pointed to itwith my finger and asked my brother if he saw it, but he said he didnot, nor did his servant, who was with us. It spoke nothing at thattime, but just disappeared as it passed the ice."'On the Saturday after, as I was at my own sheep-cots putting in mysheep, it appeared to me again just after daylight, betwixt day andskylight, and upon saying these words, "Come to the spot of groundwithin half an hour," it just disappeared; whereupon I came home to myown house, and took up a staff and also a sword off the head of thebed, and went straight to the place where it used formerly to appearto me; and after I had been there some minutes and had drawn a circleabout me with my staff, it appeared to me. And I spoke to it saying,"In the name of God and Jesus Christ, what are you that troubles me?"and it answered me, "I am David Soutar, George Soutar's brother.{148a} I killed a man more than five-and-thirty years ago, when youwas new born, at a bush be-east the road, as you go into the Isle."{148b} And as I was going away, I stood again and said, "David Soutarwas a man, and you appear like a dog," whereupon it spoke to me again,saying, "I killed him with a dog, and therefore I am made to speak outof the mouth of a dog, and tell you you must go and bury these bones".Upon this I went straight to my brother to his house, and told himwhat had happened to me. My brother having told the minister ofBlair, he and I came to the minister on Monday thereafter, as he wasexamining in a neighbour's house in the same town where I live. Andthe minister, with my brother and me and two or three more, went tothe place where the apparition said the bones were buried, whenRychalzie met us accidentally; and the minister told Rychalzie thestory in the presence of all that were there assembled, and desiredthe liberty from him to break up the ground to search for the bones.Rychalzie made some scruples to allow us to break up the ground, butsaid he would go along with us to Glasclune {149a}; and if he advised,he would allow search to be made. Accordingly he went straight alongwith my brother and me and James Chalmers, a neighbour who lives inthe Hilltown of Mause, to Glasclune, and told Glasclune the story asabove narrated; and he advised Rychalzie to allow the search to bemade, whereupon he gave his consent to it."'The day after, being Friday, we convened about thirty or forty menand went to the Isle, and broke up the ground in many places,searching for the bones, but we found nothing."'On Wednesday the 23rd December, about twelve o'clock, when I was inmy bed, I heard a voice but saw nothing; the voice said, "Come away".{149b} Upon this I rose out of my bed, cast on my coat and went to thedoor, but did not see it. And I said, "In the name of God, what doyou demand of me now?" It answered, "Go, take up these bones". Isaid, "How shall I get these bones?" It answered again, "At the sideof a withered bush, {150} and there are but seven or eight of themremaining". I asked, "Was there any more guilty of that action butyou?" It answered, "No". I asked again, "What is the reason youtrouble me?" It answered, "Because you are the youngest". Then saidI to it, "Depart from me, and give me a sign that I may know theparticular spot, and give me time". [Here there is written on themargin in a different hand, "You will find the bones at the side of awithered bush. There are but eight of them, and for a sign you willfind the print of a cross impressed on the ground."] On the morrow,being Thursday, I went alone to the Isle to see if I could find anysign, and immediately I saw both the bush, which was a small bush, thegreatest stick in it being about the thickness of a staff, and it waswithered about half-way down; and also the sign, which was about afoot from the bush. The sign was an exact cross, thus X; each of thetwo lines was about a foot and a half in length and near three inchesbroad, and more than an inch deeper than the rest of the ground, as ifit had been pressed down, for the ground was not cut. On the morrow,being Friday, I went and told my brother of the voice that had spokento me, and that I had gone and seen the bush which it directed me toand the above-mentioned sign at it. The next day, being Saturday, mybrother and I went, together with seven or eight men with us, to theIsle. About sun-rising we all saw the bush and the sign at it; andupon breaking up the ground just at the bush, we found the bones,viz., the chaft-teeth (jaw-teeth-molars) in it, one of the thighbones, one of the shoulder blades, and a small bone which we supposedto be a collar bone, which was more consumed than any of the rest, andtwo other small bones, which we thought to be bones of the sword-arm.By the time we had digged up those bones, there convened about fortymen who also saw them. The minister and Rychalzie came to the placeand saw them."'We immediately sent to the other side of the water, to Claywhat,{151} to a wright that was cutting timber there, whom Claywhat broughtover with him, who immediately made a coffin for the bones, and mywife brought linen to wrap them in, and I wrapped the bones in thelinen myself and put them in the coffin before all these people, andsent for the mort-cloth and buried them in the churchyard of Blairthat evening. There were near an hundred persons at the burial, andit was a little after sunset when they were buried.'""This above account I have written down as dictated to me by WilliamSoutar in the presence of Robert Graham, brother to the Laird ofBalgowan, and of my two sons, James and John Rattray, at Craighall,30th December, 1730."We at Craighall heard nothing of this history till after the searchwas over, but it was told us on the morrow by some of the servants whohad been with the rest at the search; and on Saturday Glasclune's soncame over to Craighall and told us that William Soutar had given avery distinct account of it to his father."On St. Andrew's Day, the 1st of December, this David Soutar (theghost) listed himself a soldier, being very soon after the time theapparition said the murder was committed, and William Soutar declareshe had no remembrance of him till that apparition named him as brotherto George Soutar; then, he said, he began to recollect that when hewas about ten years of age he had seen him once at his father's in asoldier's habit, after which he went abroad and was never more heardof; neither did William ever before hear of his having listed as asoldier, neither did William ever before hear of his having killed aman, nor, indeed, was there ever anything heard of it in the country,and it is not yet known who the person was that was killed, and whosebones are now found."My son John and I went within a few days after to visit Glasclune,and had the account from him as William had told him over. Fromthence we went to Middle Mause to hear it from himself; but he beingfrom home, his father, who also lives in that town, gave us the sameaccount of it which Glasclune had done, and the poor man could notrefrain from shedding tears as he told it, as Glasclune told us hisson was under very great concern when he spoke of it to him. We allthought this a very odd story, and were under suspense about itbecause the bones had not been found upon the search."(Another account that also seems to have been written by the bishopmentions that the murderer on committing the deed went home, and onlooking in at the window he saw William Soutar lying in a cradle--hence it was the ghaist always came to him, and not to any of theother relations.)"Mr. Hay Newton, of Newton Hall, a man of great antiquarian tastes inthe last generation, wrote the following notes on the matter:--"Widow M'Laren, aged seventy-nine, a native of Braemar, but who hasresided on the Craighall estate for sixty years, says that thetradition is that the man was murdered for his money; that he was aHighland drover on his return journey from the south; that he arrivedlate at night at the Mains of Mause and wished to get to Rychalzie;that he stayed at the Mains of Mause all night, but left it early nextmorning, when David Soutar with his dog accompanied him to show himthe road; but that with the assistance of the dog he murdered thedrover and took his money at the place mentioned; that there was atailor at work in his father's house that morning when he returnedafter committing the murder (according to the custom at that date bywhich tailors went out to make up customers' own cloth at their ownhouses), and that his mother being surprised at his strangeappearance, asked him what he had been about, to which inquiry he madeno reply; that he did not remain long in the country afterwards, butwent to England and never returned. The last time he was seen he wentdown by the Brae of Cockridge. A man of the name of Irons, afisherman in Blairgowrie, says that his father, who died a very oldman some years ago, was present at the getting of the bones. Mr.Small, Finzyhan, when bringing his daughter home from school inEdinburgh, saw a coffin at the door of a public house near Rychalziewhere he generally stopped, but he did not go in as usual, thinkingthat there was a death in the family. The innkeeper came out andasked him why he was passing the door, and told him the coffincontained the bones of the murdered man which had been collected, uponwhich he went into the house."The Soutars disliked much to be questioned on the subject of the Dogof Mause. Thomas Soutar, who was tenant in Easter Mause, formerlynamed Knowhead of Mause, and died last year upwards of eighty years ofage, said that the Soutars came originally from Annandale, and thattheir name was Johnston; that there were three brothers who fled fromthat part of the country on account of their having killed a man; thatthey came by Soutar's Hill, and having asked the name of the hill,were told 'Soutar,' upon which they said, 'Soutar be it then,' andtook that name. One of the brothers went south and the others camenorth." {155a}The appearance of human ghosts in the form of beasts is common enough;in Shropshire they usually "come" as bulls. (See Miss Burne'sShropshire Folklore.) They do not usually speak, like the Dog o'Mause. M. d'Assier, a French Darwinian, explains that ghosts revert"atavistically" to lower forms of animal life! {155b}We now, in accordance with a promise already made, give an example ofthe ghosts of beasts! Here an explanation by the theory that theconsciousness of the beast survives death and affects with ahallucination the minds of living men and animals, will hardly passcurrent. But if such cases were as common and told on evidence asrespectable as that which vouches for appearances of the dead,believers in these would either have to shift their ground, or togrant thatAdmitted to that equal sky,Our faithful dog may bear us company.We omit such things as the dripping death wraith of a drowned cat whoappeared to a lady, or the illused monkey who died in a Chinese house,after which he haunted it by rapping, secreting objects, and, inshort, in the usual way. {155c} We adduce
