Betty Corrigall's grave
Betty Corrigall's grave

Betty Corrigall (fl.c. 1770) was a Scot whose body was found 150 years after her suicide and burial in an unmarked grave. Her grave is now a popular tourist site on Orkney, and she was the inspiration behind the 2012 album Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North by The Magnetic North.[1]

Life

Corrigall lived in Greengairs Cottage near Rysa on Hoy on Orkney in the 1770s. [2] At the age of 27, she had a short romance and became pregnant. [3] Her boyfriend, a whaler by trade, abandoned her and returned to the sea. Betty had little in the way of support. She attempted suicide, but was rescued by local residents. A few days later, a second suicide attempt by hanging was successful.

Due to the laws at the time, the Lairds of Hoy and Melsetter would not allow her to be buried on their property. [4] She was laid to rest outside their boundary in an unmarked grave.

Grave from a distance

Exhumation and headstone

Her body was discovered in either 1933 or 1936 by peat diggers who came across her wooden coffin.[4][5] Her remains were well preserved in the peat. The procurator fiscal requested that she be buried in the same spot. In 1941, a group of soldiers dug up her body and referred to her as the Lady of Hoy. After this, she was regularly dug up and quickly began to decompose. A concrete slab was therefore placed over the grave.[6]

In 1949, the American minister Reverend Kenwood Bryant visited Hoy and was so moved that he asked Mr. Harry Berry, a customs officer, to create a proper headstone. This eventually happened 27 years later, after Mr. Berry's retirement. However, due to the boggy ground, a stone headstone was unsuitable, and a fibreglass one was erected instead. It reads, "Here lies Betty Corrigall."[7][8]

Betty's grave is now a popular tourist site.

In 2013, The Magnetic North released their debut album, Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North. Founder member Erland Cooper stated that the inspiration for the making of the album was a dream he had, wherein Corrigall insisted he wrote an album about his home.[9]

The Scottish band The Knowe O'Deil (of which Ivan Drever was a member) released an album called Orkney Anthem, which includes the track "Betty Corrigall".[10]

English folk singer-songwriter Reg Meuross wrote a song about Betty Corrigall called "The Dreamed and the Drowned", which is the title track of his 2011 album.

References

  1. ↑ "The Quietus | News | LIVE REPORT: The Magnetic North". The Quietus. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "betty_corrigall". www.cantickhead.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Geograph:: Hoy: the grave of Betty Corrigall (C) Chris Downer". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Betty Corrigall's grave - unconsecrated burials in Britain". www.thegranthams.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Sad Tale of Betty Corrigall - The Wronged Lady of Hoy". www.scapaflow.co. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Orkneyjar - Betty Corrigall's Grave". www.orkneyjar.com. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Betty Corrigall's Grave - Hoy Orkney". Hoy Orkney. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Betty Corrigall | People of note | Culture and tradition | Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme". www.scapaflow.co. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Fulton, Rick (19 July 2013). "Simon Tong reveals how Orkney's rugged landscape inspired his new band to create haunting debut album". dailyrecord. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "Betty Corrigall, by The Knowe O'Deil". Ivan Drever. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
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