The Mystery of Goblin Halls Village
For centuries there have been stories of mans association with the little people in every culture throughout the world.
In Scotland, rich in its tradition of faerie culture, cultural contacts and abductions it seemed that faerie stories did not make it into the era of the x files.
Appearances though have been very deceptive for the ever changing Faeries appear to have kept up with the times – their magical chariots and flying coaches have become flying cars and space ships and their abductions and enchantments are still as real as ever.
It began in the New Town of Edinburgh at a little second hand book store called Patterson Books. Amongst the many wonderful out of print paperbacks on sale were collections of printed artworks, posters and maps and there in a bundle was an old ordnance survey map of Edinburgh and East Lothian.
Having acquired the map for a pound I took it home to open it out for as a keen geographer I was always looking up historical sites to go and visit.
Although it had a fairly crinkled cover the map was in good condition and I scanned the various famous landmarks like Rosslyn Chapel and Crichton Castle, the vast cavern system of Cousland, two villages called Elphinstone and Elvingston and noted that references to the little people were abundant.
Scanning the roads to take in the village names my heart leapt in excitement as I noticed a village called Goblin Halls.
I had never heard of this place, and it being adjacent to the legendary cavern system I grew enthusiastic about my chances of finding an entrance to the hundred or so square miles of mysterious underground dwellings which legend said were in abundance.
Making a note that it was about 4 miles west of Gifford near East Saltoun and about twenty out of Edinburgh I intended to go there to check it out.
For one reason or another, the visit got put off, and as I checked up on the legends of the Lothians it became very obvious that the faerie folk had been instrumental in the creation of some of the most important events in Scottish history such as saving King Lots daughter from execution at Traprain Law by catching her in their flying chariots as she was cast down from the heights for daring to have married an Elf.
They flew her across the sea to give birth to the Scottish Saint who would eventually become St Kentigern in Kirkcaldy.
Kirkcaldy takes its name from the Kirk of the Culdees, the Church of the Servants of Christ.
It was from Kirkcaldy that the quest for Goblin halls village reawakens. I had heard that Stuart and some others had massive amounts of good photographic evidence for extra terrestrial realities. Stuart had been taking two hours of camcorder footage of a huge space ship over two miles long terminating in a drive system with what looked like three large circular headlights directly above Goblin Halls.
This had been shown at a MIMAC film festival at the Rothes Halls in Glenrothes.
He had been filming across the Forth estuary at night and had actually picked up 3 huge ships. The closest was to where Goblin Halls was on my map.
As I watched this incredible film I saw swarms of glowing white pod ships come out of the mother ship and go buzzing down to about over where Goblin Halls village was showing on my map.
This I said, should be world news, but Stuart was reluctant to put this out as he was regularly visited by the little folk and didn’t want the outside world involved to any great extent.
I noted from internet research of the area that just south of Gifford was a collective of people belonging to a Gnostic organisation who were living very close to the land in Pishwanton Woods.
Their brief as an organisation is to commune with the ‘genius locii’ of the local lands, and have been using the ancient standing stones as part of that effort according to an ex-gardener.
Now my curiosity fired up more than ever I went back to Edinburgh determined to make an expedition to Goblin Halls village.
Setting out in my white van one bright midsummers afternoon as I went into the countryside of East Lothian the sky was blue, the air warm and full of the sound of birds.
Judging from my map I was west of Gifford somewhere near Saltoun and I pulled into a layby to look at my map more closely.
I looked out over the fields of barley and watched as a small cloud of flies rose and fell in the afternoon heat.
For some reason three of the big flies came over to my van and settled on the windscreen.
The middle fly sat with his tiny butt pressed against the windscreen and his two companions flew off.
I started the van deciding that I should head down the road and as the van picked up speed the fly on the windshield continued to sit there, facing forward preening itself and rubbing its eyes with its forelegs.
I headed downhill and the hedgerows loomed large on both sides of the narrow road and there between the trees at the foot of the hill was the sign for Goblin Halls village. Just before I came to the sign, the fly leapt off the window travelling forward in the air somehow avoiding getting caught up in the slipstream.
Then I was finally in the village of Goblin Halls.
There were quaint rows of terraced stone cottages, a hotel, a shop and a postoffice with a market cross and a church, the place was picturesque.
In the postoffice I bought an icecream and enquired about the Goblin Hall and was told that it was near here but they didn’t know where.
I did a quick circuit of the village then drove off deciding to return with a more detailed map and history of the area.
I was to move house that year and many of my books and maps were sold on to make room for myself in my new home.
When I decided to start looking for the village of Goblin Halls again I bought another map but was to get a huge surprise for it was not marked on any map either on roadatlases, ordnance survey maps or even the older maps.
Yet I had located and found the village of Goblin Halls with my old map.
This was an incredible mystery as it turns out that the historical cave and castle is in the village of Gifford at Yesterhouse.
There is no mention whatsoever of Goblin Hall on any map, old or new or specialist yet I had been in possession of a map that displayed the name as a village.
It isn’t even marked as an archaeological site on popular maps.
Some beings or force unknown had caused the name Goblin Halls to appear on my map.
I even found an identical old series ‘Landranger’ OS Map but there was no sign of Goblin Halls village.
I no longer have the map – just an amazing story about how I first got to hear about the Goblin Halls of East Lothian,
I had taken it for granted that there was a village called Goblin Halls, the maps say there isn’t – but there again, maybe there is and if you go looking for it – you may well find it.