Tonight's Spooky Scottish Bestiary: Cards with The Devil at the House of Binns!
In Linlithgow lies the House of The Binns, which was in the 1600s home to General Tam Dalyell (same pronunciation as Dalziel) also known as "Bluidy Tam" for the many brutal acts he carried out all over the UK and even as far as Russia. To get an idea of how much of a baddie this lad was, he is credited with introducing the Thumbscrew torture device to the UK.
True to his grim reputation, it was reported that he was known to play cards with The Devil in The House of The Binns. Even the cruelest, most scheming mortals are surely no match for the prince of lies himself, and Tam could not best his dark opponent. This was until he managed to fool the Devil into sitting in front of a mirror, whereby he could see his hand.
Upon discovering this, the Devil flew into a rage and kicked the marble table they were playing from out the window and into the ponds of the house grounds. Many years later the marble table was in fact recovered from the pond, still with a black singed hoofmark on its surface, which can still be found in the house to this day.
We must ask ourselves, however, is it possible to fool the Devil, or was Auld Nick merely toying with Tam's tortured soul before he claimed it for his own?
Don't forget to like and share if you just done a wee fearty pump x
pixelskylines
izzy806
baratheonpilled
origamiaround
germansingergirl
2087