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From the Storytelling Weekend at the Arthur Grant
Centre, near Monymusk, Aberdeenshire -
Poetry & Recipes (Main Page)
Click the link to see how we were
inspired!
Pictures
Click the pics below to see them in their
full-size glory!!
| The
snowy Garioch lands! - by Maggie Fraser |
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The Maiden Stone (two pics below), though a
Pictish Symbol Stone (Class II variety), also has a story... of
a girl called Mary who lost a bet with the Devil and was turned to
stone so her lover Sandy could not have her.
There are several versions of this story too, but
in this one from the Traveller tradition, Mary takes up the bet to
bake 101 scones before Aul Hornie can build a road up to the top of
the Mither Tap. Her real man, Sandy, has been at sea working hard so
he can save for their wedding. Mary is about to win the bet, when he
returns after three years. She is distracted and Aul Hornie appears
behind her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her to stone!
Two of the gifts that the Devil gave Mary while in
disguise as a handsome, tall, dark stranger, were a ring and a
bracelet. The Traveller legend states that when she turned to stone,
the ring turned back to being a worm and burrowed back down into the
earth, the bracelet turned back to a snake and slithered off through
the grass. This was a sign that Mary had been under Aul Hornie's
spell all along and was doomed long before her bet! The pagan
symbols on the stone may account for this part of the
legend
The story can also be found in Stanley's book
Exodus to Alford (available second
hand)
| Maiden Stone - rear elevation |
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| The
Maiden Stone near Bennachie - by Maggie
Fraser |
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| Persephone - the Saracen Maid |
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| Hidden in the trees across from the Maiden
Stone! |
Persephone is also associated with the Green Lady
of Templars Park, Deeside. She was a Saracen who saved the
life of a Scottish crusader knight who was a member of the Knights
of the Temple of St. John, i.e. the Knights Templar.
Persephone fell in love with the knight, and he promised he would
send for her once he had returned, and marry her. However,
when he left, she found herself expecting his child. Templar
knights were to be celibate according to their laws as
warrior-monks, so when she turned up at the temple near Maryculter,
her lover slew her and her child to avoid disgrace. He hid her
body as far as he could from the Deeside temple, which happened to
be the Garioch lands. The statue appeared as if from nowhere
many years later as a memorial to the wronged woman and her
child.
This is the Travellers' version of the legend,
a bit different from the one about the Green Lady, but an accepted
part of their lore. The statue is about a century old, her
creator remains unknown. If anyone does know, please tell
us!
I have been recently informed of another site , designed
by Taexalia
which has pics of the Maiden Stone and Persephone,
who was only carved in 1961 apparently!
Thine eyes and
mine will never entwine
Our wills will
never be broken
We will never be
thine ...
A charm against negativity
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