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THE OLD SPEDLING CASTLE'S GHOST'S DANCE
(J4 x 64)
Jim Rae
This dance has a basic 3 couple in 4 couple set, 8 x 32 format with 4M joining in,
as the ghost, in the odd repeats and 2L in the even repeats. In the following
instructions, this set of 32 bars shows the 3 couple basic dance without ghosts.
1- 4
1s cross RH & cast off
5- 8
1s cross LH & cast left (Lady up, Man down)
9-14
2M+1L+2L, 3M+1M+3L reels of 3 across, 1s giving RSh to 1
st
corners to
start
15-16
1s ½ turn LH into ….
17-22
2M+1M+2L, 3M+1L+3L reels of 3 across, 1s giving RSh to 3
rd
corners to
start
23-24
1s pass RSh to face 1
st
corners
25-32
1s turn corner, partner, corner, partner finishing in 2
nd
place
In the following instructions, this set of 64 bars shows the complete 4 couple
version, including the ghosts, explicitly.
1- 4
1s cross RH & cast off
5- 8
1s cross LH & cast left (Lady up, Man down) with 4M ghosting 1M
9-14
2M+1L+2L, 3M+(1M&4M)+3L reels of 3 across, 1s giving RSh to
1
st
corners to start
15-16
1s+4M LH across ½way, finishing with 4M ghosting 1L
17-22
2M+1M+2L, 3M+(1L&4M)+3L reels of 3 across, 1s giving RSh to
3
rd
corners to start
23-24
1s pass RSh to face 1
st
corners, whilst 4M changes to ghost 1M
25-26
1L+1
st
corner(2M) turn RH whilst 1M+4M+1
st
corner(3L) dance RH
across
27-28
1s turn LH to face 2
nd
corners, whilst 4M dances clockwise around
them to finish in front of 1M facing 2L
29-30
1L+2
nd
corner(3M) turn RH whilst 4M+2
nd
corner(2L)+1M dance RH
across
31-32
1s turn LH to 2
nd
place, whilst 4M dances back to place
33-36
1s cross RH & cast off
37-40
1s cross LH & cast left (Lady up, Man down) with 2L ghosting 1L
41-46
3M+(1L&2L)+3L, 4M+1M+4L reels of 3 across, 1s giving RSh to
1
st
corners to start
47-48
1s+2L LH across ½way, finishing with 2L ghosting 1M
49-54
3M+(1M&2L)+3L, 4M+1L+4M reels of 3 across, 1s giving RSh to
3
rd
corners to start
55-56
1s pass RSh to face 1
st
corners, whilst 2L changes to ghost 1L
57-58
1M+1
st
corner(4L) turn RH whilst 1L+2L+1
st
corner(3M) dance RH
across
59-60
1s turn LH to face 2
nd
corners, whilst 2L dances clockwise around
them to finish in front of 1L facing 4M
61-62
1M+2
nd
corner(3L) turn RH whilst 2L+2
nd
corner(4M)+1L dance RH
across
63-64
1s turn LH to 4
th
place, whilst 2L dances back to place (at top) to
finish 2 3 4 1
James Porteous, Fiddler & Composer, Applegarth, Dumfriesshire (c1762-1847) spent a year in Edinburgh, learning
the violin. He was friendly with Niel Gow (Snr.) and Nathaniel Gow gave him lessons. After his return to
Dumfriesshire, he earned the title of “The Musical Miller” of Annandale, where he had settled and worked as
miller and farmer at Knockhill Mill, Hoddam. He was, by nature, kindly and sociable and became a popular
entertainer and published “A Collection of Strathspeys, Reels & Jigs …” Edinburgh 1820 (40pp), all his own tunes
except one which was composed by his son when aged 9. Mysteriously, a second edition, published a year after
the first, contains the same music but with an almost complete set of new titles, for which no explanation has so
far been suggested. James Porteous made a speciality of writing silly, happy, little tunes about ghoulish subjects.
He commemorated one Porteous who met a melodramatic end in “The Spedling Castle's Ghost's Dance” and also
wrote the tune “The Porteous Mob” commemorating Captain John Porteous, who was the notoriously brutal
commander of the Edinburgh Town Guard in 1736 and was lynched at the "Porteous Riot".
Spedling’s Castle (Spedlins Tower), on the south bank of the River Annan in the county of
Dumfriesshire (now called Dumfries and Galloway), had been a seat of the Jardines of
Applegarth, since the late 12
th
C. The original stronghold, a 15
th
C keep, served as the
principal residence of the Jardines until they moved across the River Annan to their newly
built mansion, Jardine Hall, because the ghost of a miller was haunting them. The Tower
fell into disrepair and was in a ruinous state until the 1960s when it was restored and re-
occupied. When Jardine Hall was vacated sometime in the 20
th
C, it also fell into a state
of disrepair and was demolished in 1964.
James “Dunty” Porteous (1650-75)
James Porteous was the miller for the village of Milhousebridge and delivered bread to the Baronet, Sir Alexander
Jardine (reputed to have been James' real father, by rape), at Spedlins Tower. James was well known for his
quarrelsome nature and this earned him the nickname, Dunty (originally meaning 'argument' in Old English but
later came to mean 'one who knocks'). At one point, Dunty and Sir Alexander Jardine ended up fighting for some
unknown reason - some say it was because Dunty had burned down his mill while baking bread. Sir Jardine
confined Dunty in a deep dungeon in the depths of Spedlins Tower. A short time later, Jardine was called away to
Edinburgh on some pressing and unexpected business and, in his haste to get going, he forgot that he had the
keys to the dungeon in his pocket.
Meanwhile, in the dungeon, Dunty was getting very hungry. Hours passed and then the unhappy miller began to
realise that he had been forgotten, whether on purpose or not, he didn't know. He began to cry out for help and
for food.
Sir Jardine reached Edinburgh a few days later and realized that he had the keys to the dungeon in his pocket. He
quickly hired a courier to hurry back to the Tower to release the prisoner. Unfortunately, he was too late. Dunty
had died of starvation but not until he had chewed on one of his hands first.
From that moment on, Jardine and his family were tormented day and night by the ghost of Dunty. Dunty's cry of
"Let me out - I'm deen' o' hunger!" rang constantly through the Tower. Jardine called in the chaplain to perform an
exorcism. Using a big, black Bible, Dunty's ghost was sent back to the dungeon. He no longer could roam the
Tower's halls. Soon after, the Jardine family moved from Spedlins Tower to Jardine Hall across the river. The Bible
was deposited in a stone niche in the staircase wall. As long as the Bible was there, the ghost stayed quiet.
At some point, the Bible was sent to Edinburgh to be rebound. The moment it left the Tower, the spirit of Dunty
became active once more. The ghost started haunting the family in their new home, Jardine Hall. The ghost
made such a disturbance, crying out his lament, hauling the Baronet and his wife out of bed, and other
annoyances that the Bible was immediately recalled and placed once more in its nook in Spedlins Tower and
Dunty's ghost became quiet again.
Spedlins Tower fell into ruin but was restored in the 1960's. It now has new owners. Dunty's ghost is still there but
is not as violent as he was during the days that the Sir Alexander Jardine lived there. It is said that if you put a
stick into the dungeon window, it will come out chewed.
The story released by an elder Jardine matriarch is that a Porteous lass was working for the Laird of the Jardines;
the Laird raped the Porteous gal and "Dunty" was the result. In September 1998 the Jardine Clan hired a Solicitor
to formally recognize the Porteous Family as being related to the Jardine Family. They planted a tree at the
Spedlin Tower site and recited Psalm 47.
