FEATURES
The Achallader Letters
This issue we start a series of short stories about the Scottish hills, the people who inhabited them, historical facts and ghosts by Irvine Butterfield. Irvine starts with the strange and unexplained happening surrounding a mountain rescue incident in 1925:
In the spring of 1925 an accident on Beinn Achaladair attracted widespread interest. This was further heightened by the strange means by which the missing climber eventually came to be located.
A young mountaineer, a Mr Alexander Lawson Henderson, a civil servant employed in Glasgow, disappeared whilst climbing Beinn Achaladair with two companions, Mr Douglas Ewen and Mr Archibald McLay Thomson. The three companions stayed the night at Inveroran Hotel and set out at 5 a.m. on the morning of Sunday 22nd March. One of the party, Thomson, was desirous of qualifying for membership of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, one of the qualifications for membership being the ability to do certain climbs. The climb that day was to be in the nature of a test.
The weather was clear but there was some snow and ice on the higher slopes, which made progress difficult in the gullies above Coire Achaladair. After a brief stop for breakfast the party pushed upwards for the summit. Henderson chose a different line from that of his two companions as he rounded a collection of boulders. This is easily done when climbers do not keep strictly together but this in itself was no cause for alarm. Reaching the top of the ridge Ewen and Thomson waited for their companion to appear. There was no sign of him on the slope and once he failed to put in an appearance they anxiously retraced their steps. There was no sign of their companion and, having failed to illicit any response, they descended the mountain in a state of exhaustion to inform the farmer at Achallader of Henderson's disappearance. They then carried on to the hotel at Tyndrum where they hoped to meet up with their friend, as it had been agreed to spend the night there. Search parties were organised by shepherds and stalkers in the district, who were later joined by mountaineers from Glasgow, Edinburgh and elsewhere.
The search continued without success for several days and in the circumstances it seemed strange that the body could not be located. At times as many as seventy people were in the search party combing various parts of the mountain. On Thursday the 26th March a letter, undated, was received by one of the climbers whose name had appeared as one of the searchers.
It read as follows:-
'This is going to be a difficult letter to write, and, beyond making use of the information which it may give, I would ask you to be so good as to keep it to yourself as far as possible. A friend and myself have, within the last three months, received startling proof of the accuracy of information regarding unknown people, which we have received from a supernatural agency - I cannot go into the details of these now - it would serve no purpose. Yesterday it occurred to us that we might be able to get useful information as to the whereabouts of the lost Mr Henderson, and at twelve noon we approached the usual source of our information and requested that a 'scout' be sent out to get any information possible. In the evening we asked for any news, and the undernoted is verbatim:- ....”
“The answer is slow of coming but our messenger now reports that it is raining, and one, I think his name is Cameron, is heading towards the col, where the man is lying. The snow is deep here, perhaps 20 feet, and it may be that Cameron is not sure of his feet and we cannot influence him sufficiently; it may be say three, some say six, weeks ere he be found. Jim says he is warm yet ...”
Later: Where may he be found? Can no directions be given?
“Such information as I have is scant, but the news is that he is warm and we are not led to think he is asleep. What do you say of death - there is no Death”
Where is he?
.... “He has not yet passed, but his need are worldly. It is a col. Ask one, I think his name is Cameron, where he was at 4 of the clock today. They are still searching and we are trying to help”
“Now we do not know a single member of the search party, but should there be amongst them one of the name Cameron, that would be one point correct, indicating an intelligence of some kind beyond our information. I would say that in all probability the whole of the location of the spot for which you are searching is correct, and that the information should not be treated lightly. Neither my friend nor myself are spiritualists, but interested; investigation of phenomena we do not pretend to understand. In view of the nature of the information we feel conscience bound to pass it on - it can do no harm and may be useful.'
“Anxious to help”
The letter not unnaturally caused a good deal of comment and speculation and greatly added to the interest attached to the search by those taking part in it. One of the searchers was indeed named Cameron and was able to confirm that he had been near the col at the end of Beinn Achaladair at 4 o'clock that afternoon, Tuesday, when the unknown letter writer had contacted his “unknown people”.
The search parties continued to comb the mountain paying particular attention to the area where Henderson had last been seen and where Cameron had been, now “confirmed” by the mysterious letter. Shortly afterwards another letter, dated 2nd April, was received by Mr Stewart the hotelier at the Tyndrum hotel.
In it the message ran as follows:
'Further to my letter of yesterday addressed to “Mr Garrett”, the following together with the rough sketch, is sent from our source of information and for what they may be worth. Neither any friend nor myself is acquainted with the locality, and do not know from which side of the paper the sketch is to be read; but to those on the spot it should be evident if the sketch corresponds to the definite placed named on it - we got two separate sketches drawn and they seem to be similar. They are reputed to have been drawn for us by the “scout” sent to the spot, and the following is his information asked by us for further directions:-
“Leave Loch Tulla and go along the road until you come to Ford, which lies between the castle and the big house, and go up the corrie. You go east and climb up the corrie on your right hand”.
Asked if nothing could be done, we were told that the only hope was a thaw - for recovery of the body. My friend and I would give our names, but in view of the publicity the accident has occasioned we prefer not to do so. My friend knows you personally, Mr Stewart, and I am therefore addressing this to you as likely to be able to make use of the information should it be worth anything.'
“Anxious to help”
Again the bearer of these strange tidings and the sketch was remarkably accurate as to the knowledge of the ground. This was born out yet again by a second letter received about the same time.
This letter gave the following information :-
'My news is but little, for the “scout” is not yet returned. You ask me many questions, and these I will attempt to answer. The loch mentioned is not so much a loch as a widening of the Water of Tulla, and some miles from Loch Tulla, at Achallader House and the ruins of the old castle of the same name. This is “Ford” (we did not know of a place called Ford hereabouts, and had asked for particulars)” From here, if they follow the valley, some say corrie, to its source, and at altitude 3060, they will get as near as I can tell you at present. Today many have passed fairly near, but only a few are out, and there is no sign of a thaw.'
The writer of the letter added: 'We asked for a sketch of the place, but we were informed that the “scout” was with the searcher, one McLaren. You will know if such a person was out, and accept it, if so, as further proof of a direct intelligence.'
A Captain McLaren was one of the principal climbers in the search. The sketch showed the farmhouse at Achallader, the ruins of the old castle nearby, a ford behind the farmhouse, and the long corrie (The route followed by the Allt Coire Achaladair) which led from the ford right to the place where the body was eventually found. The loch marked on the map would probably have been the wide run of the Water of Tulla just below the farm where wet water meadows are frequently under water in the winter months.
The next letter was dated 3rd April and again the facts stated in it were such that they could only be known to a few concerned in the immediate search. The previous letter referred to in the opening remarks had in fact been opened by McLaren in the absence of his friend Garrett. This new letter read:-
'Further to my letter of yesterday; we have found a definite aid to the climbers. It is in the shape of a tiny box and many ... (an interruption seems to have occurred at this point).
Has our letter to Garrett been received and opened?
“Yes it has been opened by one of the name Mak Lairen” [This is an obvious reference to McLaren one of the searchers] “But to the box, some say tin, well, this they will find not one hundred yards from the spot. But we cannot say will any of the climbers associate the box, some say tin, with the man you mention”.
Can the tin be seen?
“The tin is quite visible though snow is falling”
Where exactly is it?
“It is near the Coire Achallander, and if they quick they will find it. A strange message reaches me, and this I will repeat on verification”.
Later:
“The message is small account; it say (in) the box is empty save for a small bit of linen - the contents of the box is linen and is stiff with batter”.
Asked for further directions:
“The stream of the corrie is starting at Ford. Yes, you follow the corrie, or some say coire, and it goes to the bogland at altitude already mentioned - 3060 feet. Yes, it is a burn, though the word is new to me. I regret my gernadion (this later was verified as the name of the “unknown people” used for their messenger) is no longer here, but from the report delivered the news was on climbing the corrie or, I believe, korrie, I noticed a box I think he called it, and in a cloot (I think it is cloot with a K sound) of linen. This, I am afraid, is the extent of the message, which I will repeat in one particular. The word of the gernadion is in Scots and represents box - “mullie”.
What is mullie?
“The error is mine - I am sorry my Scots is poor - but it is new to me. The Gernadion spoke of the box or tin as a mull-ie, a diminutive of mull - that is a little mull. This is all for the present, but he will return with more news and I fear more Heiland jawbreakers”.
Later:
“There is little more to report, but this may interest you. Tomorrow no search will take place and all trace of the mullie - I use advisedly the word of the messenger - will, I fear, be lost. This tho' I say to climb the corrie is easy - it is commonly used by - help me with this - ghillies - pronounced ghilly, a species of gamekeeper, from (locally known as) the Big House, I believe Achallander House, near ford. This route adhered to will prove the great help. The snow falls increasingly, and I fear that many clues already known to the helpers will be obliterated. One thing remains that it is about altitudes of about 3060 feet that the find will be made when they do, weeks likely from now”.
This is sent with the hope that it may be useful - in any case no harm could be done by trying to verify it - one route is as good as another when looking for something where no clue already exists.'
“Anxious to help”
The odd thing about this letter was that the gernadion, the messenger of the “unknown people”, spoke of Achallander which was the ancient spelling of Achallader. Again the quotes in the letter said to be by the hand of the “unknown people” were remarkably accurate in every detail.
A further letter addressed to Mr Stewart at Tyndrum and dated 6th April, a Monday, was received.
This read as follows:-
'Dear Sir, - I am sorry we have not much to give you since my last, but it may be of interest - especially to the “speculators”!
Saturday 3 p.m:
“I say they have read your letters, and whilst laughing in their faces I should say it is not in their hearts - they say what is this, who is this ? Yet do they say they know something of the affair. Today, but not yesterday, a large force is working and two men are going in the true line of search”.
Who are they?
“That I fear me is all I can say until the return of the gernadion”.
Saturday 9 p.m:
“The gernadion is not yet with us. I regret to say the box, or, as we have said, the mullie, has not been seen, nor can I wonder. My last advice is, Take the corrie at Achallander House, which is to say ford, and at altitude given, and to the north you should encounter your object. There is a dark stone ridge - I forget the technical name - at or near the spot”.
Is the ridge covered with snow?
“Well it is as though the snow had covered up the middle part without covering the top or the bottom. It is visible (This last in answer to a question, I forget what) “To the searchers I say, Walk warily for it is deep”
Is there a precipice?
“Yes it is a precipice - I could only think of cliff, and that is not the word. I think Mak Lairen [McLaren] said heugh or kleugh”
Has he been near the spot?
“Yes, and Captain McLaren - several times”
11 p.m:
“The gernadion has returned. Here is his report. Much talk at Inveroran and much talk at Tyndrum. They are speculating as to who the comrades are” (ourselves I suppose) “They say they too have a definite clue, but I do not believe them as they were too far north. Tomorrow, if weather permits, a still greater search will be made. Two of the company believe your good faith - one is called Walker. That concludes my report”.
Will the information about the ridge be any good as a further help?
“No, I cannot say it will help any more than what I have already written”
Have they got the rough map I sent?
“Yes, and they say it is a copy of a map”
Can they make anything of it?
“Yes, it is quite intelligible to the. Ford is well known to them”.
Monday 4pm:
“My sole news is that owing to bad weather the large company did not materialise and no search of the high ground was possible. The letters (our I suppose) have much comment and some heed is now being paid. Stewart says, ' I know no one in Peterhead ' ”
We might only remark that the sketch we sent was not a copy of a map, if such criticism has actually been made. It was sent in good faith by us as we got it and for what it was worth. The only ford we knew was at the far end of Loch Awe, and we could not connect Achallander with that direction - hence the questions and answers regarding it. We have failed to see any news in the “Herald” since Friday of the search, and all our information we have got from the unusual source originally indicated. We may say that a copy of the “Oban Times” came into our hands on Saturday (of the previous week), and we got a number of particulars of which we had been unaware - such as that the missing man had parted from his friends apparently after considerable climb had been made. This would indicate that those on the spot must be aware of the original route taken at the start of the climb - this we were not aware of.'
“Still anxious to help”
It was confirmed by McLaren that “heugh” was a word that he would use and that he had indeed been on the line of search as indicated in the letter. Mr Stewart, mine host at the Tyndrum hotel, had made the remark “I know no one in Peterhead” when the letter had been opened. The postmark later helped trace the sender of the letters. The map had led many of the more sceptical members of the search party to suppose that it was a copy of a map as there was a tracing on the reverse side of the map, as if it had been drawn above a sheet of carbon paper. The climbers in the search party had first of all attempted to read the map from this reverse side and this had caused difficulty in identifying the area depicted. They had failed to notice that the reverse side was a duplicate tracing as they had supposed it to be an independent map.
On Sunday April 12th, three weeks to the day since Henderson had disappeared, his body was found. The position of the body indicated that he had lost his footing and slipped a considerable distance down the steep slope of hard snow, until brought to a halt by protruding rocks, which had either killed him outright, or rendered him unconscious. His arms were held in front of him to protect his face and his toes gripped the snow where his fall had been arrested. He had a deep gash on his forehead and his upper lip was cut through. His rucksack was still on his back and a tin, part of his equipment, battered by the fall, had pierced the cloth and was clearly visible. These facts seem to bear out the reports that the “Gernadion” had made through the medium of the “unknown people”. The spot where the body was located was found to be with 30 feet of the height, 3060 feet, mentioned repeatedly in the messages.
The sender of the letters was eventually discovered to be a Mr Noman McDiarmid of Buchanness Lodge, Boddam, near Peterhead. He was not a medium and at all times when the messages had been received had behaved perfectly normally. His interest was more that of a curious observer of unexplained incidents outwith normal comprehension and it was for this reason that he was reluctant to discuss the Achallader tragedy. A friend was able to confirm that several people had been present when McDairmid had sat down with paper and pencil, when the messages had been received by the process known as “automatic writing”. The pencil wrote backwards and the words appeared in a fashion similar to those which appear on a blotter, after it has been used to apply the blotting paper to the wet ink manuscript. The communications had been deciphered by means of a mirror.
The medium was questioned by McDairmid as to what language the term “Gernadion” came from and was told “Eschadoc”. This word in Greek signifies “beyond the limits of humanity” and a gernadion was used in the sense that it was an inferior messenger sent out by some superior control or influence.
The only conclusion that could be drawn from the events was that McDairmid was able to communicate with a medium who was a Greek, who had interested himself in the case of Henderson. The Greek had a messenger, the gernadion, who could be sent back and forth to the scene of the activity. The gernadion's reports were then conveyed by the Greek medium to McDairmid by means of automatic writing.
All McDairmid's assertions that he was unfamiliar with the area were confirmed beyond doubt. He had previously made several other experiments with the “unknown people” as he called them and there seems no doubt that he was a little afraid of his ability to contact those beyond the human ken.
No rational explanation has ever been given which led to those letters during those fateful three weeks on Beinn Achaladair in the spring of 1935. Men are known to have experienced feelings “that someone has walked with them on the mountain”, and on this particular occasion events may well make this seem less incredible than we sometimes care to believe.