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The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui - Am Fear Liath Mòr
Oct 11
Myths and Legends Day
Ferla Mor
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Whatever you make of it, I do not know, but there is something very queer about the top of Ben MacDhui and I will not go back there again by myself I know.”
~ Professor J. Norman Collie, 1925, at the 27th Annual General Meeting of the Cairngorm Club in Aberdeen
High in the Cairngorms, amid the mist, wind and lonely slopes of Ben MacDhui, one of Scotland’s most enduring mountain legends still keeps company with unwary climbers.
Known in Gaelic as Am Fear Liath Mòr—the Big Grey Man—the mysterious figure has sometimes been described as Scotland’s answer to Bigfoot. Those who claim to have encountered the Grey Man do not always report actually seeing him. More often, they describe an overwhelming sense of dread and panic, accompanied by the unsettling crunch of heavy footsteps following behind them when no one else is there.
Stories have long clustered around the high slopes of Ben MacDhui and the nearby Lairig Ghru, the great mountain pass cutting through the Cairngorms. In mist and rapidly changing weather, it is not difficult to imagine how the landscape acquired its reputation for strange encounters.
There may, of course, be rather less supernatural explanations. Infrasound—very low-frequency sound produced under certain wind and landscape conditions—has been suggested as one possible cause of feelings of unease. Another is the spectacular Brocken spectre, an optical phenomenon in which a climber’s own shadow can appear enormously magnified upon cloud or mist, sometimes surrounded by a halo of light.
But explanations have never quite managed to chase the Grey Man from Ben MacDhui.
So, climbers—and dancers—take heed! During this 32-bar John Drewry reel, perhaps resist the temptation to glance over a shoulder when those footsteps seem to be getting closer.
Then again, perhaps the Grey Man has been misunderstood all along. Chances are, he just wants to dance. 🕺 💃 🖤 🖤 🖤 👻 🤪 👣 ⛰️
Ferla Mor
In Scottish folklore, Am Fear Liath Mòr, the Big Grey Man, the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, or simply the Greyman, is the name of a presence or creature which is said to haunt the summit and passes of Ben Macdui, the highest peak of the Cairngorms.
Those who have seen it describe it as an extremely tall figure covered with short hair, or as an unseen presence that causes uneasy feelings in people who climb the mountain. Other eyewitnesses describe it as a large humanoid standing over ten feet tall and having olive toned skin with long arms and broad shoulders. Nearly all reports of Am Fear Liath Mòr include the sound of footsteps crunching in the gravel just out of sight.
Illusions, hallucinations or misinterpretation of natural stimulus have all been proposed by psychologists as explanations. Infrasound, which can be generated by wind, can cause feelings of uneasiness and anxiety in some people and is frequently connected to paranormal sightings.
Additionally, an optical illusion known as the Brocken spectre is a plausible explanation for some visual elements of the Big Grey Man legend. This phenomenon can occur in certain atmospheric conditions when the sun is at a particular angle. The subject's shadow can be cast onto a cloud bank around them, creating the illusion of a large shadowy humanoid figure.
For real life accounts and history of Greyman sightings, click the photograph of a Brocken Spectre!
See below for the dance performed by the Skagit Scottish Country Dancers, 2011.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
