Synchronicity, or something

I collect legends, and I'm always struck by how similar legends can be in different parts of the country.  Scotland has a wealth of Green Ladies, White Ladies and Grey Ladies, and more Smothered Pipers than you could shake a set of bagpipes at.

An example of the kind of thing I mean is the legend that Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford, can be heard playing cards with the Devil just before midnight on New Year's Eve in Lordscairnie Castle, Fife.  There is a similar legend attached to Glamis Castle, and the Earls of Crawford had connections with both places, so that might explain the legends.

Alexander Lindsay was known as the "Tiger Earl"  or the "Beardie Earl".  He lived in a time when various factions of the Douglas family struggled to hold power during the minority of King James II and after 1439, when the king came of age.  The Earl was part of the Douglas Rebellion and was defeated at the Battle of Brechin on May 18th, 1452. 

Earl Douglas surrendered to the young King and died in September 1453.

 

The castle is now in ruins, but used to sit on a small island in a lake, evidence of which can be seen in the marshy ground that surrounds it.

 

 

Curious though I may be about the origins and truth of legends, I have better things to do on New Year's Eve than try to watch a game of poker.