The following 'snippets' with permission from “Discovering West Lothian”, written by William Hendrie, published 1986, by John Donald publishers. ISBN 0 85976 162 2
Many people ask why ‘Queensferry’ when it maybe should be ‘South Queensferry’ – According to its inhabitants, The Royal and Ancient Burgh of Queensferry should never be insulted by being prefixed by a direction.
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Many people ask why ‘Queensferry’ when it maybe should be ‘South Queensferry’ – According to its inhabitants, The Royal and Ancient Burgh of Queensferry should never be insulted by being prefixed by a direction.
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During the 11th Century, Queen Margaret, who gave Queensferry it’s name, is credited with the custom of sewing buttons on gentlemens sleeves, to stop them wiping their noses and mouths on the cuffs.
When she married King Malcolm Canmore, she found his
noblemens manners left much to be desired
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When she married King Malcolm Canmore, she found his
noblemens manners left much to be desired
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The Legend Of Hound Point
I have found several versions of the legend of Hound Point. It is up to the reader to decide which is most likely.
With permission from publishers of “Discovering West Lothian”, written by William Hendrie, 1986 -
"Local tradition has it that Barnbougle Castle, on the shore opposite Hound Point Island belonged originally to a noble family called Mowbray whose most famous member, Sir Roger was a member of the Knights of St John. To become a fully fledged member of the order, a knight had to take part in a crusade to the middle east. As Sir Roger made his way down to the rocky promontory, beneath Barnbougle Castle to reach the little sailing ship, his faithful hunting hound rushed after him. Just as the ship cast off it jumped aboard and Sir Roger did not have the heart to put the dog to shore and so it accompanied him all the way to the Holy Land. In Palestine it stood beside his master in many battles until in the end, in one battle, the knight was cut down and slain. What became of the dog is not recorded, but it is said that on dark winter nights, when the wind whips up gales and rages out in the Forth, it’s mournful howls are heard as it hunts for a long-lost master, and so the rocky promontory is known as “Hound Point”. Usually the hound hunts alone but on occasion it is accompanied by a white robed Arab warrior and when he appears it is said to auger ill health for the family which owns Barnbougle, because local legend insists that the Saracen Turk has come to carry off another of it’s members and that following his ghostly visit, one always dies."
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"Local tradition has it that Barnbougle Castle, on the shore opposite Hound Point Island belonged originally to a noble family called Mowbray whose most famous member, Sir Roger was a member of the Knights of St John. To become a fully fledged member of the order, a knight had to take part in a crusade to the middle east. As Sir Roger made his way down to the rocky promontory, beneath Barnbougle Castle to reach the little sailing ship, his faithful hunting hound rushed after him. Just as the ship cast off it jumped aboard and Sir Roger did not have the heart to put the dog to shore and so it accompanied him all the way to the Holy Land. In Palestine it stood beside his master in many battles until in the end, in one battle, the knight was cut down and slain. What became of the dog is not recorded, but it is said that on dark winter nights, when the wind whips up gales and rages out in the Forth, it’s mournful howls are heard as it hunts for a long-lost master, and so the rocky promontory is known as “Hound Point”. Usually the hound hunts alone but on occasion it is accompanied by a white robed Arab warrior and when he appears it is said to auger ill health for the family which owns Barnbougle, because local legend insists that the Saracen Turk has come to carry off another of it’s members and that following his ghostly visit, one always dies."
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'Copper' howling from 'The Fox and the Hound'
toplocalplaces.com/united-kingdom/south-queensferry/landmark/hound-point/332941893462988m-
-The name 'Hound Point' derives from a local legend surrounding the lord of nearby Barnbougle Castle, currently Lord Rosebery. The legend states that one of the first lords set off to fight in the Crusades, leaving his beloved hunting-hound behind. At the moment the man was killed, the hound began howling uncontrollably, eventually dying of its grief. Ever since then, the howling ghost of the hound has appeared on the point whenever the present lord is about to die.
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-The name 'Hound Point' derives from a local legend surrounding the lord of nearby Barnbougle Castle, currently Lord Rosebery. The legend states that one of the first lords set off to fight in the Crusades, leaving his beloved hunting-hound behind. At the moment the man was killed, the hound began howling uncontrollably, eventually dying of its grief. Ever since then, the howling ghost of the hound has appeared on the point whenever the present lord is about to die.
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mowbray.homestead.com/Barnbougle.htm -
Hound Point, on which the castle stands, juts out as a headland into the Firth, and joins together the two coast lines of Fife and West Lothian. Hound Point takes its name from the legend of Sir Roger de Mowbray who went off to fight in the Crusades. As he was leaving, his faithful hound looked so mournful and wailed its sorrow so loudly that Sir Roger took it along. After sundry adventures the knight fell in battle. On the night he died, a hound was heard to bay all night long on the shore near Barnbougle. Since then, just before a Laird of Barnbougle dies, a hound appears on the shore and “a ghostly baying is heard,” according to legend.
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Hound Point, on which the castle stands, juts out as a headland into the Firth, and joins together the two coast lines of Fife and West Lothian. Hound Point takes its name from the legend of Sir Roger de Mowbray who went off to fight in the Crusades. As he was leaving, his faithful hound looked so mournful and wailed its sorrow so loudly that Sir Roger took it along. After sundry adventures the knight fell in battle. On the night he died, a hound was heard to bay all night long on the shore near Barnbougle. Since then, just before a Laird of Barnbougle dies, a hound appears on the shore and “a ghostly baying is heard,” according to legend.
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Image by Mary Bloom
And Lastly - Haunted Scotland investigates - http://haunted-scotland.co.uk/barnbougle-castle/ Paranormal Phenomena : Connected with Hound Point is the legend that whenever the death of any of its lords is about to occur, the apparition of a black man, accompanied by a hound, appears upon the point, and winds from his bugle the death-note of the baron.
In William Wallace Fyfe’s, Summer Life on Land and Water at South Queensferry (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd: 1851), pp.156-158. the Legend of the Hound Point of Barnbougle is documented (abridged).
In William Wallace Fyfe’s, Summer Life on Land and Water at South Queensferry (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd: 1851), pp.156-158. the Legend of the Hound Point of Barnbougle is documented (abridged).
Long, long, had the mail-clad Templar fought,
Beneath the blood-red cross,
Where many a knight was slain in fight,
With none to mourn his loss.
At length through the keep, by the waters deep,
There thrilled a bugle sound--
A death-wail pass’d on the midnight blast,
Where Sir Roger met the hound.
And a darksome Paynim form appear’d,
Winding that solemn wail--
In the ebbing tide, a hound by his side,
But neither shallop nor sail.
And ever when Barnbougle’s Lords
Are parting this scene below,
Come hound and ghost to that haunted coast,
And death-notes winding slow.
Beneath the blood-red cross,
Where many a knight was slain in fight,
With none to mourn his loss.
At length through the keep, by the waters deep,
There thrilled a bugle sound--
A death-wail pass’d on the midnight blast,
Where Sir Roger met the hound.
And a darksome Paynim form appear’d,
Winding that solemn wail--
In the ebbing tide, a hound by his side,
But neither shallop nor sail.
And ever when Barnbougle’s Lords
Are parting this scene below,
Come hound and ghost to that haunted coast,
And death-notes winding slow.
It seems the question is - Did the hound go with him or was it left behind?
Image: Barnbougle Castle. Flickr Commons Sharing
About Hound Point Terminal
The offshore Hound Point oil installation in the River Forth is where North Sea oil starts its journey to refineries round the world. It is operated by BP Amoco and can accept vessels up to 300,000 tonnes deadweight.
Pipes run to the terminal from a storage facility two miles to the south west, near the village of Dalmeny. Degassed crude oil is pumped from the Kinneil gas Terminal at Grangemouth to Dalmeny Tank Farm and from there to the tankers at Hound Point.
The offshore Hound Point oil installation in the River Forth is where North Sea oil starts its journey to refineries round the world. It is operated by BP Amoco and can accept vessels up to 300,000 tonnes deadweight.
Pipes run to the terminal from a storage facility two miles to the south west, near the village of Dalmeny. Degassed crude oil is pumped from the Kinneil gas Terminal at Grangemouth to Dalmeny Tank Farm and from there to the tankers at Hound Point.
Hound Point Oil Terminal. Image: Wikimedia Commons
© Queensferry History Group 2016
