Ardrossan Castle - Satan's hoof print
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Ardrossan Castle - Satan's hoof print by Leslie Barrie as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Ardrossan Castle - Satan's hoof print
Image: © Leslie Barrie Taken: 9 Feb 2009
Several tales and legends are associated with the castle, one of which involves Sir Fergus Barclay. Known as the 'De'il o' Ardrossan' he owed his great horsemanship to his possession of a magical bridle, acquired from the Devil in exchange for his soul. Through trickery, Barclay was successful in getting back his soul. Angered and enraged, the Devil attacked the castle and left behind one of his hoof prints. Another tale has Sir Fergus setting the Devil the impossible task of making ropes from sand. In his frustration at being unable to do so, the Devil is said to have kicked the castle in disgust, leaving behind his hoof print. Believed to be a Petrosomatoglyph - an image of parts of a human or animal body incised in rock.
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Image Location
Latitude
55.642107
Longitude
-4.809828