Warlock Laird o' Skene, The

DESCRIPTION: A magician swears an oath that after "ae nicht's frost ... He would drive o'er the Loch o' Skene." He casts a spell, calls out his coach and horses, and crosses the lake. Since then no fowl or fish is caught in that track.
AUTHOR: Alexander Gordon (1811-1873) (source: Walker)
EARLIEST DATE: 1850 (according to Walker)
KEYWORDS: magic witch
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #65, p. 2, "The Warlock Laird o' Skene" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan2 345, "The Warlock Laird o' Skene" (2 texts)
ADDITIONAL: William Walker, The Bards of Bon-Accord 1375-1860 (Aberdeen, 1887 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 621-622, "Wizard Laird of Skene"
Roud #5874
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Robert Gordon of Gordonston" (motif: wizard rides across a frozen lake)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Laird o Skene
NOTES [53 words]: Greig/Duncan2: .".. a tradition that the wizard was Alexander Skene who died in 1724.... It is still affirmed that every winter the marks of the wheels are clearly visible upon the ice" - BS
Walker's text, apparently the last four verses of Gordon's text, includes three verses not in the Greig/Greig/Duncan2 texts. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD2345

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