Magic Torch are pleased to present the first in a series of local folklore themed ales, created with the assistance of Krafty Brew.
If you happen to be visiting the Cardwell Garden Centre Craft Fayre this Saturday, you will have the opportunity to get your hands on one of these limited edition promotional brews.
Magic Torch would of course encourage you to drink responsibly. And also to brew responsibly.
Magic Torch brewmeisters, creating the magic, much like Auld Dunrod etc
Rowan Tree Legion - The Skeleton Key, is our new all ages comic, due out next year. Sort of "Dad's Army with witches". It does feature some characters and places from Inverclyde, but also from all across Scotland. We thought we'd share the first few pages as it's the Season of the Witch and all that. The full 48 page epic will be along next year featuring gargoyles, nazis, seamsters and gigantic scary crows...
Artwork is by the smashing Mhairi Robertson, who you should totally follow on Instagram - she's been doing some sterling work for the Inktober 2015 challenge. Mhairi has also produced some exclusive artwork for our new The Wonderful Worlds of Alice project...here's a wee sneaky peak of some of that artwork too....
It's your two week warning for essential folk play preparations!
This year, Inverclyde is actually having a whole Galoshans Festival, with all sorts of weird, wonderful and unusual stuff going on in and around the town. Check out the programme. We'll be along at The Dutch Gable House during the weekend.
And once you've had fun at the festival, be sure to be Going Galoshans and performing your own version of the traditional play which has inspired the festival....
Listen to our popular spooky tale Malkie and The Bogle....
Enjoy an illustrated reading of The Ballad of Auld Dunrod...
And finally, below is a wee sinister glimpse of Andy Lee's reimagining of the traditional play characters for a folk horror comic based on the play, which is in development at the moment...
We've been working on our Tales of the Oak comic for almost a year now, and we're really pleased to say it's finally away to the printers and will be available exclusively at the Dutch Gable House on Doors Open Weekend, 14th and 15th September. 64 fully illustrated pages of local terror featuring shambling tunnel dwellers, cursed hiflats, ghost pirates, zombies and evil cultists. Oh, did we mention that it's FREE.
Tales of the Oak is funded by Heritage Lottery Scotland, like our storytelling project and our childrens book Wee Nasties. We'll also have our last remaining copies of Wee Nasties available on the day, along with an exhibition of some of Mhairi and Andy's original artwork and sketches from the book and comic.
And that's not all you'll be able to enjoy. We've now moved lots of Sir Glen Douglas Rhodes furniture and curios out of storage and into his replica study in the Dutch Gable where you will be able to experience his life and times, the wonderful Newark Products shop will be open, selling a wide range of bespoke and handcrafted gifts, plus there will be folk music in the Back House and films in the Secret Cinema. It's all good.
We'll be along from 10 - 4 on both days, hopefully see you then.
And I don't want to panic ye or anything, but the last time there was a local heritage graphic novel, Identity The Archivist's Treasure, there were 4000 copies and they were all gone in quicksharp time. That's why you can only get it online now. There's only 1000 Tales of the Oak. So get em while they are hot...
Almost 500 copies of Wee Nasties have been distributed this week, thats brilliant. So there should maybe be enough folk to help us with the wee competition above.
The book will still be available from Dutch Gable and your local library this week, so there's still time to nab yourself a copy...
We thought we'd share a few preview panels that Andy Lee has been pencilling for our Tales of the Oak comic, they feature Auld Dunrod introducing a story about Captain Kidd's treasure...
Happy Halloween! As a wee treat, here's a preview of our promotional postcard for the new project, put together by our artist Andy Lee. It's good eh?
Part of our Tales of the Oak project is the production of a comic of scary local stories, due for release next year. We've based the comic format on the classic EC horror comics of the 1950s. Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear showcased "twist in the tale" stories, with over the top artwork. The comics have been copied and parodied many times since.
One of the more popular elements of the series, was that the stories were introduced by 3 different hosts, the Crypt Keeper, the Old Witch and the Vault Keeper, all trying to outdo one another with their tales of terror. We've added an Inverclyde twist to our version, our hosts are Auld Dunrod, Granny Kempock and Captain Kidd.
Our comic isn't going to be as controversial as the EC classics, but there are some good scares in there already - we've got cursed treasure, evil trolls, Catman in the railway tunnels, poisonous oaks, serpent worship cults and moorland ghosts. We'll share a few sketches next month and maybe even a few pages before Christmas.
If you are interested in the history of the Tales from the Crypt series, this documentary is excellent, and also shares a few of the stories. (so be warned...horror ahead...)
Today is Tell A Story Day. Be sure to do your bit.
Here's one from me. This is sort of a cheat, on account of the fact that it's a poem telling a story, so if that's not yer thing, there's quite a few wee stories you can hear FREE on Auld Dunrod's soundcloud.
Today we are launching a new competition for all Inverclyde Primary Schools.
We believe passionately in the use of local heritage to
create a sense of civic pride, and we know schools in our area work hard to
promote citizenship and an understanding of local history. We hope this competition will provide an opportunity to build on that good work.
What we would like is for local school pupils in P6 or P7 to tell us a story set in our home town, using some of the spooky history of the
area. It’s something you could do as a Halloween activity, or as part of Tell A
Story Day on October 24th.
The story can be told in any form, poetry, comic strip, fairytale, whatever suits the story best. It should take up no more than 2 sides of A4 paper including illustrations.
The winning entry from each school will be included in a special digital “scary story book” which will be online later in the year. The school which sends us the best selection of scary stories will win £50 to spend on new books for the school. The writer of the best scary story will win a £20 book token and their story will also be adapted into a comic strip. Every school that enters will receive a copy of our original book of local folktales “Tales of the Oak”.
We have already written out to all local schools to invite them to get involved, suggesting a few areas they may like to use for inspiration, we've included them below. But you don't have to choose those, there are many more stories on this blog or that you may have heard elsewhere to use for inspiration...
The closing date for the competition is Friday 16 November, if you have any questions at all, you can contact us on aulddunrod@gmail.com. We look forward to
being terrified by your stories.
Malkie and the Bogle - A Port Glasgow tale....
The Ballad of Auld Dunrod - Concerning the Warlock of Inverkip who terrorised the area
It wouldn't be Halloween time without a look at Inverclyde's favourite Warlock; landed gentry turned evil witchlord..Alexander Lindsay of Dunrod. It was rumoured that Dunrod became involved with witches living on his lands in Inverkip, gathering with them at Dunrod’s Seat, located on the slope of Dunrod Hill. Further rumours suggested that he entertained the Devil himself at his castle. It is worth noting the possibility that Dunrod had inherited his connections to the practice of witchcraft from the Lindsays; it is now thought in some circles that members of the nobility at that time were involved in a highly organised cult which they used for their own means. Some would argue they still are.
The image of Dunrod as a dark and powerful Warlock is a far cry from the man he was at the end of his life; he was a penniless hermit, his lands having been seized by the Kirk in recompense for his evil deeds, selling charms and potions at the Greenock riverside to any who would entertain him. Dunrod died soon after in a barn on his former lands in East Kilbride.
As recently as a century ago, parents enforced children’s bedtimes with the chilling promise that ‘Auld Dunrod’ would get them. Thus, this larger than life character has become woven irrevocably into the folklore of the area, celebrated in numerous tales passed from generation to generation, and most famously in two anonymous poems commemorating his dark deeds.
“The Ballad of Auld Dunrod” is thought not to have been written down until more than a century after Dunrod’s death, and was probably composed while Dunrod was extant. Presented in its fullest original form, the poem chronicles his black deeds, and ends rather cryptically with Dunrod flying on his broomstick to the Bogle Stone; this, in turn, gave rise to a second poem, “Auld Dunrod’s Vision at The Bogle Stane”. The second piece was composed a good many years later than its companion, and gives an account of a mystical vision Dunrod experienced at the Bogle Stone, concerning Inverclyde’s past, present and future. At this point he may have been "drucken on the barley bree".
You can still see our short experimental film featuring a recording of the poem by our old english teacher on youtube. And Dunrod randomly makes 21st Century appearances via his evil facebook page and haunted twitter account. This recording of "The Balld of Auld Dunrod" was made for our Downriver project. It features Jim Lang and some appropriate spooky noises.
