The building of Windhouse and the murder of a builder; the l...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.241
Original Tape ID
Summary
The building of Windhouse and the murder of a builder; the later discovery of a skeleton.
Windhouse was built in 1801 over a period of two years by a set of rough workmen who came from the south on the packet [mail] boats. A local scribe noted twenty of them arriving, but only nineteen leaving. When he mentioned this, he was dismissed as talking rubbish.
The night the men finished up, they got drunk. One was killed in a fight and the others removed a door, lifted the door stone, dug a hole and packed the man into it. In Mr Gordon's time, men repairing the door dug down and removed the skeleton of a large man, who was supposed to have been haunting the house.
Item Notes
The skeleton of a man was discovered in a shallow grave at Windhouse in 1887. A woman's skeleton was also discovered buried under a doorway around the same time.
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Island - Yell
Parish - Yell
Village/Place - Arisdale
Item Location
County - Shetland
Island - Yell
Parish - Yell
Village/Place - Windhouse
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good