Boiled Alive Traditional Cache
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The cache lies near the site of ninestane rig. An ancient druid circle with lots of bloody history. Follow the walk up hill and along the tree line for half a mile which levels off towards the cache. From there take the style to the megolithic circle. The first 100 meters can be quite steep and slippery with heavy foliage. Recommend walking boots and long trousers.
The Boiling of Bad Lord Soulis
On a circle of stone they placed the pot,
On a circle of stones but barely nine,
They heated it up red and fiery hot,
Till the burnished brass did glimmer and shine.
They rolled him up in a sheet of lead,
A sheet of lead for a funeral pall,
They plunged him in the cauldron red,
and melted him lead bones and all.
by Tom the Rhymer of Ercildoune
The nearby Hermitage Castle tells an interesting tale. Once the home of Lord Soulis, better known for his black magic and torture. Upset at his foul deeds involving the disappearances of local children, the local people petitioned Robert the Bruce to "dispose of him". Robert, already extremely annoyed at the stories he had heard about the happenings at Hermitage, “Boil him if you must" replied Bruce "but let me hear no more of him". Joyfully the locals marched up to the castle, seized the evil lord and dragged him to the spot known as Nine Stanes Rig, clapped in irons. There he was bound in a rope of lead then boiled alive in a giant cauldron. The ghost of "Bad Lord Soulis" has been seen many times accompanied by his trusted servant Robin Redcap and sounds of demonical laughter have been heard at night around the stones. The circle at Ninestanes Rig are also supposed to commemorate the Britons of Strathclyde who, under Aidan, were defeated with great slaughter by Etheifrith, king of Bernicia, at the battle of Degsanstane or Dawstane in A.D. 603.
The area around the stones has a thick and heavy atmosphere and people often experience a strong feeling of being watched. Only the foolish would attempt this cache at night time.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
haqre n cvyr bs fvk fgbarf
Treasures
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