Awesome Or Off-Putting: The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui
The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, or Am Fear Liath Mòr as he seems to be known in his native Scotland, is a ten-foot-tall creature that ‘haunts’ a very high peek in the Cairngorms. He’s been described as both a physical creature and a ghost of sorts, and many a mountain climber has a story including him.
Whether the Fear Liath is a physical creature or not, those that have encountered him have said they were absolutely overcome with fear - sometimes enough so to cause them to stumble through five miles of mountainous fog just to escape his presence.
The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, as we said, is a ten-foot-tall creature that has been described a few different ways. Some say he’s got a barren skin, while others insist he’s covered in a short brown hair. The Encyclopedia Mythica describes him thusly:
“Fear Liath More, or the Grey Man, is a creature said to have inhabited the vicinity of the summit cairn of Ben MacDhui, one of the six great peaks of the Scottish Cairngorm Mountains, for generations. The Grey Man is identified as a presence encountered both physically and psychically. In its physical form, the Grey Man is most often described as quite large and broad shouldered, standing fully erect and being in excess of 10 feet in height, with long waving arms.
“He is also reportedly olive complected or, alternatively, covered with short brown hair. Because of this, some tend to associate him with the Bigfoot or Sasquatch of North American fame, or the Yeti of the Himalayas. Footprints found on the summit of Ben MacDhui do closely resemble the “typical” Bigfoot imprint. However, this association is misleading, as the Grey Man has far more interesting identifying characteristics than his physical description alone.”
From what we’ve gathered, the chief difference between the Grey man and Bigfoot is that a Bigfoot is generally (we said generally) encountered with your eyes. When you run into the Grey Man you usually don’t see him - but you’re suddenly terrified by him. Encyclopedia Mythica also gives a description of a typical encounter:
“More frequently, the Grey Man is encountered in physical sensation, but without a true physical form. Sensations of this type include vast, dark blurs which obscure the sky, strange crunching noises, echoing footsteps which pursue the listener, an icy feeling in the surrounding atmosphere, as well as a physical feeling of a cold grip on, or brush against, the observer’s flesh. There is also a high pitched humming sound, or the Singing as it is sometimes called, which is associated with Ben MacDhui and the Grey Man.”
The singing sounds pretty spooky. It gets worse - a specific encounter is given on Wikipedia:
“In 1925, the noted climber John Norman Collie recounted a terrifying experience he had endured while alone near the summit of Ben MacDhui some 35 years before. “I began to think I heard something else than merely the noise of my own footsteps. For every few steps I took I heard a crunch, and then another crunch as if someone was walking after me but taking steps three or four times the length of my own.” Collie was unable to make out the source of the noises because of mist, and continued “… [as] the eerie crunch, crunch, sounded behind me, I was seized with terror and took to my heels, staggering blindly among the boulders for four or five miles.””
Here’s another encounter - this one includes gun shots, and was found on Ghostclub.org.uk:
“In 1943 the most sensational account of the Big Grey Man appeared penned by a mountaineer Alexander Tewnion: he claimed he had actually shot at it with a revolver! He described how he had been climbing Ben MacDhui when a thick mist descended so he descended by the Coire Etchachan path. He was disturbed to hear menacing footsteps and recalling Professor Collie’s experience he peered into the mist. A strange shape loomed up in the mist, receded and then came charging towards him. Pulling out his gun he fired three times and then turned and ran reaching Glen Derry in a time I have never bettered since.”
So the Grey Man seems to be physical enough to get shot at, but generally appears as more of a terrified feeling than a face to face meet & greet. Although the beast has never been sighted off-mountain, there are a few other places in this big wonderful world where similar entities are believed to exist - spooking you out as you walk alone through the middle of nowhere.
Wheever they are, we are more than content to just give them their space.
hecklerspray.com/awesome-or-off-putting-the-big-grey-man-of-ben-macdhui/200816114.php
