The Vampire of Melrose Abbey


And now, Dear Readers, let me tell you a chilling story from medieval Scotland.  A good vampire tale is just what the season calls for, and believe it or not, there is a strange tale of vampires from Scotland, at an abbey, no less, dating back to the days long before Robert Bruce, in the second half of the 12th century.


There could hardly be a more peculiar twist to such a story than that it concerns an abbey and a priest, the Hundeprest, or Dog Priest, as he came to be known, who must have lived in the days when Melrose Abbey was very new.


Melrose Abbey, vampire, true vampire stories, Scotland, medieval Scotland, Halloween storiesThis priest was chaplain to a nearby lady, but beyond that, was given to many sins and vices.  He was known as the Hundeprest because of his love of hunting, with a pack of howling dogs following his horse.
John Lang, in Stories of the Border Marches, says, "Other things he also loved that made not for sanctity, and when, at last, he died, his death was no more holy that his selfish, sensual life had been.”

After his death, he rose from his grave, stalking the town streets looking for blood, according to some accounts, and visiting, by night, the former lady to whom he was chaplain, according to others.  Some accounts tell of him shrikeing and moaning at the woman.  Whether it was the terrified lady or the townsfolk, the monks of the relatively new Melrose Abbey were asked to help. 

The monks prayed and fasted, but they also took more direct action against the undead.  Four of them, an elder monk , a fellow monk, and two novices, sat up all night by his grave one chilly night with an axe.  I think it's a safe bet in the 1200's , having no silver screen, that they anticipated something more frightening than a sparkling apparition.

When nothing happened, however, three of the monks went back inside, leaving guard duty to one man.  Barely had they left, when the dead priest rose from his grave.  The lone monk hit him with the axe, and the corpse descended back into his grave.  It appeared to swallow him, and then returned to normal, as if nothing had ever disturbed it. 

The three who had left hurried back out and, together, they opened the grave.  There, they found the corpse with an axe wound to the head and 'a great quantity of gore.'  Other sources are rather graphic in describing the grave as swimming in blood.

The body was cremated, and its ashes spread on the wind over the Lammermuir Hills to the north.

Could such a story be true?  William of Newburgh (1136-1198), the English historian, recounts it in his masterpiece, The History of English Affairs.  "William of Newburgh is largely regarded as careful in his writings and sources.  Newburgh was profoundly steadfast, and more than a little pompous, in his determination to record historically accurate events," say Barb Karg, et al in their article about him.  

Author John Gillingham, in The English in the Twelfth Century: Imperialism, National Identity and Political Values, says of him, "by reputation the most thoughtful and judicious of twelfth-century English historians."  He regarded his sources on this and several other vampire stories from Scotland as legitimate enough to include in his History, not so long after the events.



And what of today?  Even now, there are stories of a monk who haunts Melrose, along with claims that Michael Scott, supposedly a wizard who discovered the secret of flying, and an eerie 'presence' that 'slides along the ground' also haunt it. 



I leave it to you, Dear Reader, this Halloween, to decide if you'd like to visit Melrose Abbey at night and see for yourself!



Happy Halloween!

This is not the only vampire story from Scotland.  For more, see the Paranormal Database and The Chronicles of William Newburgh.



To learn more about my books, click on the images below.
If you would like to follow this blog, sign up HERE
If you like an author's posts, please click like and share
It helps us continue to do what we do

If you liked this article, you might also like
Thomas the Rhymer and the Fairy Queen, Selkies
or other posts under the SCOTTISH LEGENDS label

 

Comments

  1. My Facebook is holly wright. Hollybwright atcomcast dot net and I follow GFC holly wright. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great giveaway as always...still have my fingers crossed....LOL
    I'm a follower....I like both your FB and amazon pages....for a total of 3 (my favorite number)
    Have a great Halloween.
    beejee77(at)comcast(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  3. i done this and love it i do have a reader and would love to win it blog on the cover is great
    desitheblonde2msn.com
    twtter re twitt medesitheblonde

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was a great story, I wonder if Bram Stoker had known about it when he wrote Dracula.

    I have two entries:
    I am a FB follower as anme burgess
    And I liked the amazon page of your book as well
    melorabrock {at} gmail {dot} com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I follow on gfc/kaeli hines
    kohines at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I follow your FB/kaeli hines
    kohines at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for the giveaway!
    fb - Jessica Bronder
    gfc - jbronderblogs
    email - jbronderblogs at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the chance to win!
    +2 entries for liking the facebook pages!

    andralynn7@ gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I liked the facebook as Kristen Theriot.

    pinkstarburst08 (at) hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Please enter me in the draw, and thanks for the giveaway!

    darlenesbooknook at gmail dot com
    FB: Darlene's Book Nook

    +1 following on GFC (Darlene)

    +1 LIKE at your Blue Bells amazon page (Darlene's Book Nook)

    +1 for tweeting:
    http://twitter.com/#!/DarleneBookNook/status/128663874709889024

    +1 for sharing on Facebook:
    http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=303614722997930&id=100002541526103

    Happy Halloween!

    ReplyDelete
  11. FB: Nikki Marie +1

    GFC: Dominique +1

    Tweet: +1

    http://twitter.com/#!/laylees/status/128682143726575616

    Total= 3

    couponcookie at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for the giveaway!
    FB: June Manning +1

    Extras:
    GFC: June M.
    Liked Amazon: June Manning
    Tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/JuneAnnM/status/128718043986673664
    FB share: https://www.facebook.com/june.manning74/posts/276163969090731

    Total=5
    manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello, and how exciting!!
    i like you on FB as MONICA POWELL
    FB shared
    GFC following!

    3 entries!
    smallstarshines@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. GFC - Gloria
    FB - Gloria Sell Schumann
    Amazon like - Gloria Schumann
    Thanks for the giveaway!

    geschumann at live dot com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great giveaway!
    GFC- Krysta Banco
    Like on FB- Krysta Banco
    Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/YearofTiger86/status/129002785155977216

    Morganlafey86(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for the giveaway!
    GFC-SweepingTheUSA
    Like on Facebook-SweepingTheUSA
    Like on Amazon
    Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/SweepingTheUSA/status/129009362223112194

    sweepingtheusa at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for giveaway.

    GFC follower-judy
    Liked your Amazon page-judy c
    liked your fan page-judy c

    Judy
    magnolia_1[at]msn[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  18. GFC: Leigh Ann
    liked on Amazon
    FB: Leigh Ann G.
    insanityisnormal(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks for the contest. OK, here goes.

    GFC - lastnerve
    I liked on Amazon
    I liked on Facebook
    Total = 3

    Happy Halloween.
    Val
    lastnerve2000 at gmail dot come

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for the giveaway.
    like Facebook page - Sherry Strode
    GFC follower - Sherry S.
    like on Amazon - Sherry Strode

    sstrode at scrtc dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for participating in the blog hop.
    I'm a follower on GFC-Lisa Richards
    Like on Facebook-Lisa Ann Richards
    Like on Amazon
    Tweeted-http://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/129760400731406336

    (\___/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
    http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  22. 1. I followed you on Google Friends Connect (Pauline T…pls use this email address to contact me- emscout9 at Hotmail dot com instead of Gmail)

    ReplyDelete
  23. 2. I liked you on Facebook (Paul T….emscout9 at Hotmail dot com)

    ReplyDelete
  24. 3. I tweeted about this giveaway @emscout9 (emscout9 at Hotmail dot com)… http://twitter.com/#!/emscout9/status/129763015972233216

    ReplyDelete
  25. 4. I shared this giveaway on Facebook (Paul T….emscout9 at Hotmail dot com)… https://www.facebook.com/emscout9/posts/131889650248524

    ReplyDelete
  26. thank you for this great giveaway ^^

    GFC: Yto
    Facebook: Elena Vogel
    Tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/Yto77/status/130333188919787520
    Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/Yto77/posts/297602320267889

    witchvela at web dot de

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for the giveaway!!
    +1 GFC follower

    germaine.dulac(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  28. I like you on FB and Amazon
    follow on gfc as Helen
    https://www.facebook.com/#!/hbush0725/posts/167214046706542 shared on fb
    http://twitter.com/#!/helldog3/status/130829964877639681 my tweet
    Total= 5
    helldog3 at aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thanks for the giveaway!

    GFC The Romanceaholic
    Liked on Amazon


    Jess
    romanceaholic at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  30. What a treat for trick or treat. Thank you for participating in the fun!
    Follower - GFC, FB Denise Zaky
    Twitter - ZDz59001 I tweeted
    Shared to FB
    Liked on Amazon (book and author page)
    Total 5

    dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thanks for the generous giveaway and for participating in this blog hop! I'm already a FB fan (Laura Henderson).

    +1 GFC - MamaHendo3
    +1 Liked Blue Bells Amazon page (Laura Henderson).
    +1 Tweeted giveaway: https://twitter.com/#!/MamaHendo3/status/131196917785956353
    +1 Posted giveaway on FB: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=309308302418680&id=1336711064
    TOTAL - 5

    BornajhawkATaolDOTcom

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts