More Strange Scotland (Jack's Strange Tales Book 6) by Jack Strange

Author:Jack Strange [Strange, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Reality Plus - A Next Chapter Imprint
Published: 2020-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

The Devil and Lord Reay

Further north from Badenoch, the Devil was headmaster of a school for teaching his evil arts to the chiefs, lords and landlords of Scotland. One of his most accomplished students was Mackay, Lord Reay, who came from the very far north west. As soon as Lord Reay had passed his final exam, he knew he was as evil as the Devil, and proved it by his actions in turning Sutherland and Caithness into a battleground between the various clans.

Even the Devil was shocked by the carnage and suffering, so took Lord Reay aside and told him he’d have to quieten down his devilment. Lord Reay resented his ex-teacher trying to interfere in his domain and challenged him to a fight, a “square go” in later Scottish parlance. Sure of his hellish powers, the Devil agreed and Lord Reay beat him so severely that the Devil promised to leave Lord Reay to his own devices, throwing in a legion of demons to show there were no hard feelings.

That was all well and good, or well and bad, more accurately, but there is a drawback to having a host of demons as slaves. They need to be kept busy, or they get up to all kinds of mischief, as Lord Reay discovered. Any work Reay set them, they accomplished in no time, then demanded more, and more, and more again. Eventually, Lord Reay found a job for them. Sending them to the shore of his domains, he ordered them to make ropes of sand. They are still working.

A similar tale to that of Reay is told of a man called Donald Mackay, known as the Wizard of Reay. Hordes of demons beset him, all demanding work and sent them to the Bay of Tongue to make ropes out of the sand. Donald was a powerful wizard, who only had to wave his hand to summon snow, rain or hail from the sky.

There are other tales about Lord Reay and the Devil. Lord Reay may have been the first Lord Reay, a royalist soldier who took part in the Thirty Years’ War, fighting under Gustavus Adolphus, and then fought in the wars that rocked Scotland, Ireland and England in the 1640s. At some time during his military service in Europe, he met the Devil – which makes sense given the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War.

In this version of the story, the Devil had his school in Padua and invited Lord Reay to become a student. Lord Reay accepted at once and became an eager participant in every class. The Devil had a rule that, when each term ended, the students should scramble to leave, with the Devil claiming the soul of the last out of the great hall. When Lord Reay was last, he pointed to his shadow and said, “Deil tak the hindmost,” whereupon the Devil grabbed the shadow and His Lordship escaped. Incensed at being tricked, the Devil chased Lord Reay from Padua to Sutherland, where they had their fight, and Lord Reay emerged as the victor.

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