Colonel John Gordon
Daubed as “The richest commoner in Scotland”, Colonel John Gordon owned estates on mainland Scotland and purchased several Scottish islands
Cockatrice
A mythical heraldic beast hatched from a rooster’s egg hatched by a toad, said to be able to kill with its stare.
Murder Act 1752
An Act of parliament of England and Wales to increase the horror of being executed for murder by expediting the process and denying the right to a decent burial.
Elfshot
Elfshot is a medical condition caused by invisible elves or witches shooting invisible arrows at people or animals.
The Monthly Packet
Monthly magazine aimed at young women between 15 and 25, published from 1851 until 1899.
Juliana Horatia Ewing
English writer of children’s stories, whose 1865 book The Brownies gave Agnes Baden-Powell the idea and the name for the junior level of the Girl Guides.
Redcap
Evil fairies said to live in the peel towers and castles of the Scottish border with England.
Misericord
A wooden ledge on the underside of a folding seat in a church, intended to support a member of the congregation while standing.
Socage
A form of tenure under English feudal property law.
Hickory Dickory Dock
An English nursery rhyme the earliest known version of which appears in 1784, probably a counting rhyme.