Rev Walter Gregor of Pitsligo

Rev Walter Gregor was a Church of Scotland minister from Pitsligo near Banff. Whilst his ministry was a success and he was greatly respected by his congregation, he pursued other interests at the same time. Indeed, he served as curator of Banff museum for a while. Subsequently, Gregor achieved a degree of fame as a folklorist and ethnologist. He wrote an account of Banffshire dialect, which highlighted some curiosities of the Scots language of the region. Many of these were terms pertaining to plants and animals, and in translating these, Gregor demonstrated that he was well acquainted with scientific Latin terminology.

However, his most accomplished work was possibly the research he carried out into the folklore of North East Scotland. Certainly his work was unmarred by hypocritical puritanism: as his morbid tales of kelpies and the ghoulish 'yaird swine' show. Perhaps even more surprising than his ability to write about dark myths was his ability to write down some of the earthier folk-traditions, such as cats emitting semen if they jump over food. Many of the more puritanical members of his flock must have been somewhat taken aback by his unembarassed recordings of such things.