Scottish Cursed Grave

In the Scottish churchyard at Rothiemurchus, near Aviemore, is a grave known locally as The Grave with the Curse. The burial ground is celebrated as the last resting place of the local lairds. One such laird was Farquhar Shaw who defeated the Davidsons of Invernahaven in battle in 1396. On his grave are five cylindrical stones of granite, and the local old wives' tale recounts that anyone removing these stones is rewarded by sudden death. Nearby is the tombstone of one who did just that, and paid the price!

In 1856, 22 year old Robert Scroggie, a footman to Elizabeth, Duchess of Bedford, removed one of the stones as a joke. He was drowned whilst bathing in the Spey a few days later!

The local stories do note that the Shaw stones once came from a burial mound a short distance away, a mound guarded by a Brownie, a particularly mischievous spirit of Scottish elf lore. Scottishs Folklore.