From the archives of 'Huanted Scotland' magazine.
Each week in Highlander Web Magazine, Haunted Scotland brings you stories of Ghosts, UFO's, Castles, Sightings and Strange Phenomina reported throughout Scotland....

THE PIPERS GRAVE.
By Paul Grantham.

Today there is the basic assumption that our final inevitable heavenward journey will commence at the local cemetery from within neatly manicured rows of pristinely similar monuments. Indeed since 1828 this has more or less been the norm, health and environmental issues effectively stymieing alternative options.

However, prior to this date, there was no compulsion to follow any particular convention when disposing of cadavers and the phrase “buried at will” is frequently encountered by those studying parish records.

Sadly the relentless march of progress has exacted its toll on such sites and today few remain as reminders of the unlucky, the unfortunate, the eccentric or the plain bizarre.

It is to these remaining sites that my researches extend. To date I have identified some 100 unconsecrated graves, having the stories behind roughly half of them. They can be found on roadsides, in fields, in gardens and even in a pub where imbibers sit around a stone headstone set in the middle of the lounge floor (The Old Ferry Boat at Holywell in Cambridgeshire.)

One such grave- The Pipers Grave- lies alongside the B709 midway between Innerleithen and Heriot. Tradition tells us that this is the last resting place of an itinerant piper who eked out his meagre living some time early in the 18th century. He was known to frequent the local hostelries taking wagers that he could play any tune that a customer could care to name.

One evening after a bout of particulary riotous jollification, he chanced to remark that he could play non stop all the way between Traquair House and Edinburgh Castle, a distance of some thirty miles, without repeating a tune. This was obviously too credulous for those present to believe and, sensing easy money, virtually everyone took up his offer of a bet.

So, late that night, the motley throng set off, high on ale and expectation. Almost immediately some lost heart as the magnitude of their challenge hit them, immediately returning home to the safety of their turf fires. Others however, of sterner composition were determined to follow the piper even into the wilds of the Moorfoot Hills.

It was only as the night grew wilder and the terrain more inhospitable that doubt started to creep in. The piper, obviously at home in this sort of terrain, showed no signs of flagging and, of course, he had no need eventually to retrace his steps back to the start.

The whole situation was now becoming serious and subterfuge was necessary. Seizing one of the pipers unguarded moments one of the group made a hole in the windbag of his pipes.

The extra effort now required to play, combined with the steep climb past Dewar, quickly drained the pipers stamina. On reaching the top of the pass he sat down exhausted, never to rise again.

Here he was buried along with his pipes. And here he remains to this day. You will find his clearly marked grave on the Western verge of the road close to the county boundary. It is marked by a small black stone upon which is painted a white cross bearing the simple legend....’The Pipers Grave’...But no date is suggested.

If you are aware of, or come across any other such unconsecrated graves, I would be delighted to hear about them....especially if you start me off about the story behind them. Please contact me. Paul Grantham, at 38 Saxondale, Anlaby Common, Hull HU4 7SH. Or telephone (01482) 502895.

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