featuring ...

auld dunrod

granny kempock

captain kidd

Published with

by M ag i c T o rc h Co m i cs

assist ance from H e r it age Lott e ry F u n d Scot lan d - H e r it age G r ant s www . h lf . o rg . u k

No

p art of this book ma y be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher except for the purposes of review . This book is strictl y no t for sale or resale by third p arties in either physical or digit al editions, it has been grant funded by Herit age Lo ttery Fund to be distributed for free. Magic Torch genera te no income from this publica tion.

Printing co-ordinated by New Vision Print, Jamaica Street, Greenock

Edited Digital Edition published October 2013

Artwork An dy Le e Lettering,
typeset and pre press t ru st de s i g n

All stories researched, retold, embellished and scripted by M ag i c T o rc h or directl y adapted from local folkt ales and ballads, except S le n de r m an - written by I nv e rc ly de Ac ade my / M ag i c T o rc h. The S le n de r m an meme and mythos were origina ted online by V i ct o r Su rge.
M ag i c T o rc h are all volunteers, we do this for chuckles and glory and because we believe tha t local herit age has a vit al role to pla y in genuine regenera tion - we ha ve spent the last 15 years trying to prove tha t in all sorts of w a ys, from publishing books and working within schools to directl y camp aigning around community use of local buil t herit age. This comic is p art of the T ales of the Oak project , supported by Herit age Lo ttery Fund . It has also published Wee Nasties a childrens book introducing younger audiences to local folklore.

You can find out more about our work, read more traditional local folkt ales and
visit our online shop a t

www . t ale sof t h e o ak . co . u k

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Lovel y picnic spo t dont you think? Though after d ar k this anc i e nt wood lan d a t the e dge of t h e t ow n w as said to be a h au nt of w it c h e s .

Like I sa y ...nice place for a we e st op and a t h i n k about ...

the folk roundabout werent so keen

about it , and came h u nt i ng

T he

w itc h they hanged here how le d her v e nge ance ,

and as she c ho k e d she sc re am e d The Curse of Crow Mount

M eet

Archibald Weir, a latterday resident of Crow

He

had f ought in the Crimean W ar al ongside SIr SHa w Stew art

Mount fallen on hard times

Injured

bitt e r and h au nt e d by his experiences on the ba ttlefield

in the se i ge at Sev ast apo l, Weir returned home,

D own

on his luck he took to petty crime

So

it w as tha t one da y in the Coffee Rooms, his eyes fell upon the old town drum

A dru m like tha t might fetch a p retty p e n nyin the G lasgow m ar k et s.

T he

town drum was no more lucky than Archibald

In

1513 when the Lords of Greenock assembled the

townsmen to fight with King James against the English

T he

men marched to the beat of this drum, framed

with the wood of the Crow Mount trees...

W hen

the Scots were bea ten on the fields of Flodden,

few men returned to the town

Those

who did brought the drum, in m e m o ry of t h e f alle n

...

n ow

seldom used but for the odd ceremonial occasion

Tha t

night , Archibald returned t ot ake the ancient drum f or

himself

He

rushed home to hide his prize, planning to sell it the

next da y

B ut

an unea sy sleep awaited him of wars and witches ... and all the while,

N ight m are s

the endless beat of a lonely drum

T hump T hump T hump

T he drum would not be

sil enced

Weir

w as found the next morning, hanging from the oldest tree in Crow Mount . A witches curse? The ghost of one of

Floddens f allen?

Or A nd

simply a poor soul driven mad with guil t

those same trees were used to make some of the pews

S hortly

thereafter, the

trees were cleared to make way for the mount church

But it w as a b r av e sou l who would s it on t h e m.

h e e h e e h e e !

Tha t p it i f u l pira te, C apt ai n K i dd , keeps trying to st e al the limelight . You think if he act u ally had any t re asu re he could af f o r d to d re ss bett e r!

But t re asu re h u nt e rs everywhere are alw ay s on the lookout for his loot . . . and will do anyt h i ng when they think theyve f ou n d a c lu e like the one in...

Mr

Murphy has spent his whole life obsessed with pira te

Capt ain Kidd and his treasure. Finall y hes found something in an auction house which might bring him one step closer to those riches

Its a t auction t o m o r row. I w ant y ou to b i d on it. W h at ? Some o ld m i r ro r and a T O r n b i b le?

If Im right , the m i r ro r belonged to W i lli am K i dd.

p i r at e.

A v i c i ou s

Le ge n d sa ys he h i d his Friend of yours? t re asu re m ap in a m i r ro r .

Re ally ? You think this is the m i r ro r?

H m mand if theres a m ap in tha t m i r ro r, Ill k e e p it f o r my se lf

Theres onl y one w ay to f i n d out .

next

da y

m itchell

rushed home with his prize

Its h e re ! He w as r i g ht !

so ld !

he

wasted no time in disappointing poor Mr Murphy

Sorry M r M u r p hy . I w as out b i d . I bet it w as a f ak e anyw a y .

L eaving

broken hearted Mr Murphy to his treasure

island dreams, Mitchell got ready to set off on his own adventure T h at s it , the co ast li ne from K i dd s m ap .

F or

days he wandered through dense jungle foliage,

through swarms of insects, waist deep in stinking swampsall the while thinking onl y of Kidds treasure

M itchell

went to the Caribbean coastline, and

took a rowboat out to the island marked on the map

u ntil

finall y ...

He

clambered up to the ca ve mouth and

into the darkness The m ap sa ys its twe nty p ace s f o rw ar d and I s hou ld find a well

Its t h e c av e ! This is where its su p pose d t o be !

I h e ar yer loo k i ng for my t re asu re.

He

tried to run of course, back through the dank depths of the unf amiliar jungle. But there w as no escape

few weeks la ter, Mr Murphy recieved Kidds mirror in the

post . And as he had done many times before, he put it back up for auction

we ha ve w ay s of de ali ng with t h i ev e s M r M it c h e ll

R eady

to help him send another treacherous soul to Tha ts one m i r ro r tha t would bring bett e r luc k if it w as b ro k e n.

Kidds crew of the damned

Im su r p r i se d it isnt c r ac k e d alre ady with K i dd s ug ly m ug looking in it all t h e t i m e.

R at s , s p i de rs , o ld b ro k e n t r ac k s , shortl y these lads will discover theres f ar wo rse than tha t on the ab an done d r ai lw ay li ne theres ...

m e ow r

Come on. I dou b le d are y ou. Well w alk the w ho le t h i ng all the w a y to the ce m et e ry .

regular haunt of children not wise enough to

listen to the warnings of older folk

T he

double darky , an abandoned

railway tunnel that runs under most of the town

My mum said Ian had to get t et anu s j ags after he came down here. R I g ht i n h i s bu m.

Ive been here lo ads of times. Cmon...

... itll be a laug h ...

S h ut u p about him or Im le av i ng !

U n le ss we run into the C at m an ...

Whos the C at m an?

Se r i ou s ly ? Ca tman w as locked up in a p r i son somewhere years ago , no one k now s w h at f o r . . .

Onl y Eventuall y
to hide ... he escaped , k i lle d h i s t o r me nt o rs and broke

they did all sorts of ho r r i b le e x p e r i me nt s on him.

Hes

been living in this tunnel ever since, liv i ng on de ad

out of the prison. He ran for miles looking for somewhere

r at s an d st r ay c at s an d dogs

Tha ts not wha t I heard . Hes not an e sc ap e d c r i m i n al, hes a Ru ss i an s ai lo r.

B efore

his last trip , he

chea ted an old gypsy a t cards and she cursed him

M an ov e rbo ar d . Again !

He

didnt tell his shipma tes, sailors are a su pe rst it i ous lot , but it w asnt long

before there w as trouble aboard. Anyone who spent time with Ca tman e nde d u p de ad

The

crew soon worked out the source of

T hey

put him off a t Greenock, the curse still follows

the problem and tied him up below decks

him, and if anyone gets too close to him, they die

But one time I did find an o ld cof f i n. Must ha ve f allen right through from the ce m et e ry . Nev e r seen anyt h i ng like tha t down here.

No w ay . .!

Did you open it .. ?

it

smelled rotten, the wood was reall y soft ...

H ow

could you pass up a chance like t h at ?

Wouldnt you?

grarr
But no C at m an. Hey , were nearl y a t the d ar k e st bit ...

rrr!

S h h h !

Ysee, I dont call him C at m an, to me hes j u st . . .

d ad !

Wha t w as t h at ?

O h de ar. Looks like the Hi d ad. I brought some friends over for c at s go t their tongue. You know wha t they sa y about c u r i os ity ...

d i n ne r...

This ones an o ld i e ...

but a good i e . . .

about a right old

b add i e

. . .

Your friend ...

not

mine ...

A uld

Dunrod was a gowstie carl, As ever ye micht see;

And gin he wisna a warlock wicht , There was nane in the haill countrie.

A uld

Dunrod he st ack a pin Bea ts going to t h e s hop s.

A boutrie pin - in the wa , And when he w anted his neighbours milk He just gaed the pin a thraw .

He

milkit the Laird o Kellies kye,

And a the kye o Dunoon; And auld Dunrod ga t f ar mair milk Than w ad mak a gabbert swim.

YknowIm no t sure I re ally ne e d all this m i lk ...

C h e e se anyone?

T he

cheese he made were numerous, And wonerous to descry

F o rt he k y t h t a s gin t he yh a d be en gru l e Or pea ts set up to dry .

This one s r e ally g oo d f or hango vers .

A nd

there was nae cumerauld man

But

the kirk go t word o Dunrods tricks,

Sae

auld Dunrod he muntit his stick -

about Wha cam t o him f or ski l l, Tha t gif he didna dae him guid, He didna dae him ill.

And the Session they t ook him hand; And naething w as left but auld Dunrod Forsoo th maun lea ve the land .

H i sb r o o m s t i c km u n t i th e - And he fl ychtert tw a r three times aboo t , And syne through the air did flee.

A nd Lat e rs lose rs !

he flew to the Rest and be Thankfu St ane - A merry auld carle w as he; He stottit and fluffert as he had

been wud. Or drucken wi the barley bree.

And

he flew a w a by auld Greenock tower,

And by the New ark ha . Ye w adna kent him in his flicht Be a buddock or a craw .

uuh !

B ut

a rountree grew a t the st ane -

A nd

he neer wist o the rountree Till he cam dunt thereon;

It is there unto this da y , And gin ye dinna find it still, Set doun tha t its awa y .

His magic broomstick tint its spell, And he daudit on the stone.

But the St ane w as muil t like a lampet

shell, And sae w as Auld Dunrod; When ye munt a broo mstick t ot ak a f licht , Ye had best t ak anither road .

Not looking forw ard to this i nsu r ance c lai m !

Bet the ferrys c ance lle d ag ai n as well ...

H is

heid w as hard,

and the St ane w as sae, And whan they met ane anither, It w as hard t o sa y wha t w ad be the weird Of either the t ane or the tither.

The neighbours ga ther tt o see the sicht ,

The St anes remains they saw; But as for Auld Dunrod himsel , He w as carriet clean aw a .

I often think things are better when Au ld Du n rod st a ys a t home. His ev i l aftersha ve is re ally overpowering ...

And

monie no yt , as weill they micht ,

A nd

wha t becam o Auld Dunrod

The Rest and be Thankfu St ane; And ilk ane said it had been better f ar, Gin Dunrod had st aid a t hame.

Was doubtfu for to sa y , Some said he wasna there a v a, But flew anither wa y .

heres a t ale about a t all , d ar k and , well, not so h an dso m e gentleman coming to visit . a real...

his tent acles and long fingers steal a w a y the unw ary , never to return. if you see him, it ma y alread y be too la te ...

there

are many legends of the thin stranger. he appears ... a nd today hes come to greenock

throughout the centuries, in f airy t ales & history books, al w a ys just out of focus, in the corner of the eye ...

l ittle

ellie sees him first at the supermarket car park

back in a minute, honey ...

...m ax will look after you.

t here

is no compassion, no quarter meant to get some m i nce ...

given ...

...

a nd

screams filling the empty

spaces

NO ! ! ! MY B ABY ! ! !
t h i n k there is still some in the freezer .. ?

o nly

the darkness ...

he

moves slowl y

and

silentl y

through

the mall

t he

guard thinks he sees something ...

but has already forgotten what it was as he is enveloped by the dark ...

h is

tendrils snake slowl y across the sleeping town ...

and

a long shadow f alls ...

he has come !

might not like wha t they find when they go looking for the lost

all those who find loved ones missing from empty beds ...

from the hustle and bustle of the town, to the old largs road and moorland at dusk, he watches

looks like somebod ys come off their bike ...

m i c k !
mick ! get the headlights b ac k on !

better go see if anyones h u rt, ma te.

i an?
ian? ian, w h e re are y e?

t h e. . .

w h at

g as p !

ug h . . . .

a lways

waiting ...

j ust

as the t aken wait ... not knowing whats next ...

hee hee. thank you to i nv e rc ly de ac ade my for t e r r i f y i ng me with these nightmarish p ages.

incase youve been m ade to f o rget, s le n de r m an w as origina ted online by v i ct o r su rge

Who doesnt love the beach? But is one of our most popular beauty spo ts re ally t rou b le d by a f ou l s p i r it . . .

O ur

t ale begins in 1588, when King Phillip of Spain raised an Armada and sailed against England. After a disastrous

defea t a t the ba ttle of the Gra velines, the Armada found itself blown off course and sca ttered along the Northern coast of Brit ain ...

O nly

a few bra ve or foolhardy Capt ains were able to steer their ships through the dark nights and harsh storms

of the North-western coast of Scotland

Among

those few left w as Capt ain

Mordoba, whose ship the Salamanca became the scourge of Ports and villages along the West Coast of Sco tland . The bowels of his ship became stuffed with the gold of the Sco ts

Then

one night , la te in October, a

fierce storm tore the sails from the Salamanca, and threw her into the Firth of the Cl yde. As the wind howled and the rain ba ttered down, Mordoba s men scrambled overboard

B ut

the Capt ain himself

would not be separa ted from his gold. It was to be the dea th of him. And so it w as the Capt ain met his f a te on the rocks of the Gantocks, his ship lost the wa ves

S ome

sa y tha t the Capt ain himself w as laid to rest in

the old cemetery of Inverkip , and to this da y , if you look hard enough among the overgrown stones, you will find a small gra ve marked with a simple skull and cross bones

B ut

wha t of Mordoba s treasure? Well it is said tha t

in the da ys after the storms a young f arm hand named John Carswell came across a black chest while w alking along the beach a t Lunderston Ba y ...

He

thought fortune had smiled on him tha t da y . With Mordoba s gold, Carswell w as a rich man. But never a happy one ...

For

the t ale goes tha t wherever he went , a shadow w as al w a ys a t his back.

He became convinced tha t the Capt ains Ghost had returned for his gold , following him a t every turn, unresting and unyielding in his haunting ...

A nd

so, driven mad by the

spectre, Carswell resol ved to bury wha t little remained of the gold , and lea ve the cursed weal th behind

He

died a penniless and miserable man, and as he went to his gra ve, he still muttered of the Ghostl y Capt ain ...

J ust

a y arn you might sa y . But there is a strange twist to this t ale ... in the 1950s two workmen discovered a cow

horn cont aining sixty coins while digging in Burns Road. The coins were da ted to around 1580 ...

The

last of Mordoba s gold ? Perhaps ...

Or

perhaps it still lies w aiting to be found ...

Cert ainl y there are still those toda y who swear they ha ve seen the h au nt i ng s p e ct re of the G host C apt ai n st alking along the beach a t Lunderston Ba y , se arc h i ng f o r h i s t re asu re.

Its alm ost e noug h to put you off your 99 .

I al w a ys like to keep a c lose ey e on hea venl y objects. But heres some skyw a tching tha ts t oo t e r r i b le f o r wo r ds . . .

the night of the comet

!! m o o oooo

gurrrrgh!

! p r r o l h sc

nearrrgghh!

pfffr

rp

! h g r a a a gna
muuuuhhhhh ...

looks like theyre headed for the t ow n h all... lets hope no-one acc i de nt ally puts them i n c h arge of anyt h i ng...

Yknow this place used to be a c ar p ar k originall y , but it w asnt very well used . G r av ey ar ds are al w a ys popular though ... nev e r go i ng t o st op ne e d i ng t hose ...

Scot lan d s f a vourite g r av e robbe rs Bu r k e an d H are spent a few da ys down our w a y back in the da y , but the good folk of I nv e r k i p hardl y had any bod i e s left in the ground by the time they arrived ...

Someone, or so m et h i ng had alread y been very busy .

Your heart will su re ly b re ak when you read ...

T his

is Doctor Bry ant , a promising young practitioner with

some st r ange ideas about how to use e le ct r i c al e ne rgy in t e r m i n al c ase s ...

H is... unort hodox ...

experiments ha ve led to shame and

disgrace, and he has decided to return to his home town to drown his sorrows...

le av e !

...

o nly

to find a soul even sorrier than himself

J ohn

Mc Ghee of Chrisswell, who has been a trifle

unlucky in love ...

I just cant believe shes de ad...

Wha ts w rong my friend ?

Youve lost a lad y friend I t ake it?

I ts

onl y been a few da ys

and already I feel as though i cant go on. I would do anything to ha ve her back...

anyt h i ng . . . ?

My

poor Mary . We w anted to wed, but

her f a ther wouldnt ha ve it . So we decided to run aw a y together. We sailed back from Bute to Inverkip but were caught in a storm and the boa t capsized

B ut

while Bryant does not care whose final resting

place he disturbs ...

F re s h as a daisy !

B ryant

is an old hand

a t assembling the raw ma terials for his work, and the grief stricken McGhee is easil y convinced to assist ...

M cGhee

is onl y interested in his former lady love

Dont wo r ry my friend , you w i ll be back t oget h e r ag ai n soon.

F or

days, Bryant toils, ri pp i ng , saw i ng , bre ak i ng , st itch i ng ... always needing more bodies to fuel his savage

experiment ...

...

w hich

poor McGhee is compelled to suppl y , hoping against hope it will bring his Mary back

until

finall y ...

Ive done it !

aliv e !

Shes

A live?

Perhaps, but cert ainl y not the girl she once w as ...

M ary !
M ary ? Wha t ha ve you done to her?

w ait ... My e x p e r i m e nt !

Somehow ,

she knows where to go , wha t has gone wrong and

how to fix it ...

J ohn

has found a different way for them both to be

together ...

The It

river t akes her f or a second time, but on this occasion ...

is said the two are still seen wandering from the

river up to Chrisswell, finall y together and at peace

Poor Mary , she seemed m o rt i f i e d about her new look. Weve all had b ad h ai r d ay s. Still, love conquers all eh?

. . .So rt of

sir

Gabriel Woods Mariners Home, Greenock, 1883

We made a m i st ak e, a t e r r i b le m i st ak e. If wed known the t ru e cost...

Cant you hear it R hode s? The how li ng inside empty shells? The m ou r n f u l sighs of the d row ne d as they w ander the harbours?

This explains it all. Ha ve m e rcy. I hope onl y tha t you ma y so m e how be able to s i le nce

Greenock.

Toda y ...

S ir

Glen Douglas Rhodes, folklorist , antiquarian and adventurer.

His long out of print books explore the myths, legends and folktales of Greenock and the surrounding area ...

S ir

Glen did not simpl y write about monst e rs however,

he claims to ha ve met them

H ere
Gravey ard skirmishes with long de ad w itches ...

are battles with gobli ns ...

G host ly A ll

leg ions on long forgotten roads ...

sorts

of bi z arre monkey business

a nd

all of it happening in t h is town ...

His

classic work the C lan n Ab h ai n n

C lu ai d h is a manuscript , carefull y encoding his investiga tions into a local serpent worship cul t , the Cluthee

He

believed they were secretl y running the town through

arc ane r it u al, using v i le m ag i c to ensure prosperity for the area and for themsel ves ...

D uring

the course of my own investigations, a copy of the manuscript found its way into my hands ...

Rhodes

traced the Cluthees lineage across the centuries ...

was looking into several mysterious disappearances

in the area, and after reading Rhodes research, i came to believe that the Cluthee were still practicing their dark arts, summoning strange, and unnatural spirits to do their bidding.

The first sacrifices da te ba ck t o the iron a ge, ritu a l burnings on the sl ope s
of the riverside between Inverkip and Largs... the so called Serpent Mound

F urther

along the river, offerings were made to the

kempock Stone t o ensure go o df i sh ing an d go o df o r t une on the river

B ut

not for long ...

C hristianity

dampened

the spirits of such pagan notions for a short time

M ore

blood, more bodies, as all the time our town

grew larger and the beast onl y hungrier. What price prosperity? Is our progress worth centuries of murder? This has to stop ...

will make it stop ... this beast they worship must sink

beneath the waves ... f orever !

H A !

blam

bl

am

d am n ab le c lut h e e !

u thw

J ust

as magic raised the beast , so now it would keep it a t ba y . Three sigils, hidden across the town in places they

will SUrel y be safe. The map hidden in case any should ha ve need of it in future. The BEast will remain benea th the w a ves

My

work is f ar from over though. The Cluthee ha ve sca ttered ,

but t h ey h av e not d i s ap p e are d ...

A lso, theres a ruddy great monster somewhere in the river, and I m GAme f or a hu nt ...

W as

the dark m ag ic of the Cluthee reall y responsible for the towns earl y prosperity?

It

would seem there are those who cert ainl y believe

T he

signs would onl y be obvious to those who k new

that , and would once again aim to raise the beast ...

w h at t o look f o r ...

F inding

onl y destroyed buildings from a bygone age, now

onl y remembered in street names ... all too late ...

resol ved therefore to check Rhodes secret map for the

loca tions of his sigils, to check they were still in place ...

kY
We
can hope onl y tha t Sir Glens final sigil holds, on the mythic site of the f abled Green Oak tree

! ! ! e e e e e e e e A AAAAA
...

j ust

as it is too la te for me,

my investiga tions were discovered with ease. The beast is already w akened, though weak. The Cluthee ha ve risen again

F or

if it is ever moved ... or broken ...

we are all surely doomed to hear the c all of C lut h a

Ask Granny...
Your folk queries remedied...
Dear Granny, I cant sleep at night for fear of what may lurk beneath the streets. Is there really a Catman?
Stories of the Catman seem to start around the period of industrial decline in the area, so lots of stories of a strange gentleman living in the concrete pipes in Scotts Lane leading into the east end of the town start around the seventies. However he was still being spotted in this century, making him a ripe old age. Some local wags apparently shot some footage of him eating a rat. Not very nice, but nice enough for The Sun newspaper which ran a big story on our local bogeyman - photos included. Sleep tight.

Did Captain Kidd really have cursed items at auction?

rum. In July 2012, several items including a mirror and a bible purporting to belong to Kidd turned up at an auction down south. Quite why he would have a bible I dont know, its not the sort of thing he usually reads. A few saps from Greenock tried to buy the items but were hilariously outbid. Maybe that was just as well...

He sells stuff all the time to fund his premium

Rhodes stories actually true?

Granny, are any of Sir Glen Douglas

Truth is such a relative concept, who is to say
what is real and unreal? Oh, I see, you want an actual answer...yes, theyre all true. For example, there are two sites with potential links to ritual sacrifice, at either end of the river - Langbank and Skelmorlie. In Skelmorlie, excavations at the Serpent Mound at the turn of the last century uncovered burned bones. Clutha was what our original settlers called the Clyde.

Granny - whats with the comet zombies?

I believe thats called artistic license dear... as far as we know, zombies did not take over the council that year. However, The Great Comet did indeed pass over the country in 1811, visible for over 260 days. The impressive Comet gave the Port Glasgow steamship being constructed by John Wood and Co a name.
I believe I recognise a few unfortunate zombie faces from the ever popular Old Greenock Characters book, the most delightful collection of miscreants and neer do wells you will find outside political party membership.

As for Rhodes tussles with Bogles, Romans and Undead Monks (all detailed elsewhere), well again, the hills behind Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm have all manner of strange tales associated with them - most recently of course, the Big Black Cat which apparently roams freely across the moors. All of our stories have at the very least, a grain of local truth or history about them. Maybe you should do some research yourself and start making your own mind up instead of pestering old ladies.

you people telling the stories are?

Dear Granny, am I supposed to know who

Indeed. We certainly know who you are. And where you live. But for the uninitiated, Dunrod is a former landowner and warlock from 16th Century Inverkip, Kidd is a failed pirate, hanged for murder and treason. Folklore suggests he was from Greenock, history has rather different ideas on the matter. And Im the personification of a standing stone in Gourock associated with local witchcraft and serpent worship. You should never be rude to your elders and betters.

that Captain Kidd and Auld Dunrod both have ballads sung about them while all you have is a bit of old stone.

Dear Granny, it must really annoy you

Not at all. Stone endures after all. Ill be here long after all the rest of you have sunk into the rapidly rising waters of the Clyde. And of course while you await the inevitable, if you want to read anymore stories, hear recordings of tales, or heaven forbid, listen to songs about Kidd and Dunrod, pop along to
www.talesoftheoak.co.uk

A Nip In The Air

Gothic Tales of Inverclyde Terror by Magic Torch
Available NOW on Amazon for Kindle...only 99p All profits reinvested in local heritage projects

is this definitely the library they were talking about, jenna? i knew we should have done that homework sooner...

seriously ... i dont think ive ever seen this place before... thats cos you dont read, john!

no.... i would remember BEing here ...is that a dead roman...? lets just get on with it before it gets any darker.

right... history of st johns school. lets get looking!

it feels weird in here...

good evening... welcome to the archive.

rc Jo hiv To b d ist re esc me rip I mb tio se kee er n: ... Th rving p si Th ey t -me x ho an eir aug n... nes t an d W nam ht an d H hy es a me a - R d Wh ow a nd re W all I ud o nd Whe ha kne yar t w; Wh n dK er e ip ling .
eh... hullo... you the one in charge here?

Th e

were trying to sort out some homework.

homework? im the king of homework! hmmm... actually ... forget that... that sounds rubbish... doesnt it? the entire history of your town is here! what would you like to discover?

over the centuries weve really had all sorts arriving on our shores. being on a river, becomes a passing place. that shapes your community .

the romans were definitely among the first to visit. they were largely here to subjugate the damonni tribe at langbank.

but in later years, they established two outposts in order to protect the antonine wall, one over at skelmorlie and the other on lurg moor.

only last year some roman coins were discovered during some landscaping work in port glasgow and the work had to be stopped for a few days...

...turned out that they were fakes right enough. no-one is quite sure how they got there...

eh... ive missed a bit... who were the dominoes at langbank?

damonni... the first iron age tribe to settle here. they owed alliegiance to welsh chieftains.

the whole strathclyde area was a welsh kingdom, in the fifth century , and at that time we would all have spoken old welsh. the seat of the kingdom of strathclyde was dumbarton rock... and its king was ryhdderch hael.

he did! although a celtic king, he renounced paganism, and turned to the church. its said that merlin himself was at the court of king rydderch, but later replaced by saint kentigern... who ended up quite popular in glasgow.

he looks like he means business!

many more celtic missionaries passed through the area... st blaine, st fillian, st columba... all still remembered in the names of streets, churches and villages.

and all the while, our little port was growing and growing. fishing was very popular, and so important to the town, that a whole series of superstitions grew up around it. ...dont go trying to push stones into the river... thats my advice to you

and the thing is... when you have a big harbour, and a river, lots of different people start passing through the town. some dont stay long. some stay forever. and thats when it starts to get really interesting... thats when we start to see the roots of the community that we are here today .

in 1635, charles i granted sir john shaw of greenock a barony , the first step towards greenock becoming a town. and by 1714 we had a custom house. the extension of the harbour followed soon after.

over the next few hundred years we had highlanders, germans, italians, french, jewish... all sorts of people from all walks of life came here to work and live. and this archive has something to represent and tell the stories of all those people, and how they shaped our town...

Read More online The Archivist Treasure, available in multiple formats FREE from Graphicly... Part of the Heritage Lottery Fund project Identity

Also available FREE from graphicly Theres all sorts of Wee Nasties hiding around Inverclyde, a bogle with smelly feet, a grumpy old wizard casting cheeky spells, and even a (mostly) friendly monster in the river. This book is produced by Magic Torch and supported by Heritage Lottery Fund to introduce younger audiences to our local folklore.

Magic Torch presents a t e rr i fy i ng selection of stories adapted from and inspired by Invercl yde folklore and legends. Within, are cu rse d t re asu re m aps , se rpe nt worsh i pp i ng cu lt ists , t rolls , ghosts , unde ad p i rat es and grav e robbe rs in t ales told by some of our most i nf amous horrors - Capt ai n K i dd , Granny K e mpock and Au ld Dunrod . Dare you shine a flickering candle on the dark e r corne rs of our local folklore?

www .t alesof t heoak .co .u k