Folklore & legend

The Bull Sacrifices of Isle Maree

Isle Maree and Applecross, Wester Ross

1656 and 1678

The Applecross minute of 5 September 1656 describes sacrifices at the Loch of Mourie, visits to ruined chapels, and offerings and libations at wells. A second minute orders searchers to find those who took boats to the island, where there were said to be monuments of idolatry. The ministers also heard of people pouring milk on hills as offerings.

On 6 August 1678 the Presbytery heard that Hector Mackenzie in Mellon, his sons and a grandson were summoned for sacrificing a bull on Isle Maree to recover the health of Hector's wife Cirstane. Dr Arthur Mitchell, writing in 1860, called it the latest well documented bull sacrifice in Scotland and thought the island had been a pre-Christian holy place.

The island is reached by boat on Loch Maree and is a protected site; ask locally before landing.
Evidence
Contemporary written record
Access
No public access
Location
57.694, -5.472 (Sited to the building or field)

Sources: John H. Dixon, Gairloch in North-West Ross-shire (1886), Project Gutenberg [public-domain]; Wikipedia, Isle Maree [other]

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