Witnessing the Big Grey Man on the Scottish Peaks: Interpretations and Engagement with the Environment of the Mountain Summits

Abstract

The Cairngorms are a mountainous area in the north-east of Scotland, with some of the highest peaks in Great Britain. The summits of these mountains are inhospitable to humans due to low temperature, intense winds, and other adverse weather conditions, but nevertheless they have been a common destination for mountaineers for more than a century. While on the summits of the Cairngorms, especially on the highest peak Ben MacDhui, some mountaineers have experienced uncanny and frightening sightings and sounds of a ghost-like human-like entity called the Big Grey Man.

How have mountaineers interpreted their alleged encounters with the Big Grey Man? What role does the environment of mountain summits have in the explanations and interpretations of th ese sightings? The present work addresses these questions, relying on archival materials about alleged encounters with the Big Grey Man and the author’s ethnographic research and interviews.