Leith Shellycoat

Cities don’t usually feature in stories of folklore, but at one point Leith was home to a strange and dangerous creature known as the Shellycoat.

This beast got its name from its seashell encrusted coat and was found haunting waterways and bogs. An ominous rattle gave away its prowling presence as those shells swung back and forth. Residents of Leith would be filled with dread if they heard that sound while walking the streets at night.

The Shellycoat that hunted around these dockyards was said to live inside a large, shell coated boulder that lay near the water. Children would be dared to run around the rock three times chanting: "Shellycoat, Shellycoat, gang awa hame, I cry na yer mercy, I fear na yer name."

A visiting soldier called Richard, after too many drams in a Leith pub one night laughed at the superstitious locals. He bet a gallon of wine that he would walk right up to the Shellycoat Stane and challenge it right there and then.

Most people wanted nothing to do with incurring the wrath of the monster, but there were always a few interested in a wager. They took Richard up on the challenge and watched as he marched along the dark streets of Leith alone.

Half an hour passed and the crowd thought Richard was just stalling for dramatic effect. When it stretched to an hour, they started to get worried. The men finished their liquid courage and set out to see what had happened to the man who had been so full of bravado.

They found Richard lying in a heap, covered in bruises, soaking wet and with both legs broken. Weeks passed before the soldier would talk of what had happened that night.

He claimed that the Shellycoat had appeared from behind the stone with a deafening scream. It sounded like every shell in the sea was suddenly crashing on top of him. Then the creature lifted him up like a ragdoll and threw him across to Inchkeith Island in the middle of the Firth of Forth. There, it threw rocks and great clumps of earth at poor, helpless Richard.

Next, he was tossed in the sea before being dragged back to Leith and dropped onto the stone from a great height. The last thing he remembered was the sound of the Shellycoat laughing and the fading sound of the seashells.

Over the years, as the docks improved the enormous stone has disappeared. There’s debate over whether it was destroyed or moved but either way, the Leith Shellycoat hasn't been seen or heard from since.