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Legend of the Dornoch Dragon

Legend of the Dornoch Dragon

Date Added: 16 July 2013 Year: 1933 Institution Name: dnhhl Cat No: | 2013_078 | Picture No: 11727

Typewritten copy of a letter from D. Murray Rose to The Scotsman dated 28th. December 1933, recounting the legend of the Dornoch Dragon. The letter was published in The Scotsman on 1st. January 1934.

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Miss Charlotte Dempster (1835-1913) tells a slightly different version of this folk tale at pp 156-157 of the Folk Lore Journal, Vol 6. She says she got her version from "Alexander the Coppersmith". It can be read online at the "Electric Scotland" website. In summary, it says that the dragon came to Loch-an-Treel and roared "Pity of you, Dornoch", whereupon Gilbert came out to meet it with a bow and five sharp arrows, and shot it through the heart with his first arrow. The saintly Gilbert is not portrayed as skulking around in a succession of holes in this version; however, in her next tale in the journal she refers back to this story and adds:
"[The dragon] lived in fire, and its breath burnt all the forests of the Highlands: only a man who should see it before it saw him had power to slay it. St. Gilbert dug a hole and hid himself in it, so as to get the first sight of it."
Coincidentally, I recently learned from a scholarly source that the writer of the tongue-in-cheek letter to the Scotsman, David Murray Rose (1868-1936), had strong local connections. He was brought up in Rogart and his parents were both from the parish of Dornoch - his father was from Cuthill and his mother from Hilton, Embo Street. Searching for "D Murray Rose" in Google reveals that he was a prolific writer about Scottish History.

Comment left on 08 October 2013 at 23:22 by David MacLean Many thanks for your fascinating comment adding more light on the 'legend' Administrator
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