A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The Wilkie’s Knolls extract identifies two burial mounds near Pier-o-wall on Westray, one reportedly containing an urn. It says local people cannot explain who Wilkie was, but recounts a tradition of milk being poured into a hole at the centre of one mound. Refusal or neglect was associated with theft of exposed clothes and other objects, sickness affecting people or cattle, and haunting of the house. The passage describes feared consequences; it supplies no visible form, confirmed human identity or encounter in which Wilkie is directly seen.

The cited writer says milk offerings were no longer being made but that fear of Wilkie remained. His name was still used to frighten children into silence. Black and Thomas attribute the extract to J. Paterson’s manuscript letter on Orkney antiquities, dated 1833 and held in the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland’s library. The surviving mound reference and report of an urn are different kinds of evidence from the supernatural attribution. They do not prove that a being named Wilkie caused illness or theft, nor that he was the occupant of either burial.

Knoll associationMilk-offering traditionThreatened theft and hauntingName used in household warnings
01

Origins & earliest records

The 1903 compilation prints the Westray extract at p. 47, citing J. Paterson’s 1833 manuscript letter. That manuscript is not independently collated here.

02

Records & interpretation

The visually inspected 1903 printed extract preserves its cited earlier witness. The earlier manuscript or publication has not been independently collated, and narrated actions are not externally verified events.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    County Folk-Lore III: Examples of Printed Folk-Lore concerning the Orkney & Shetland Islands

    Collected by George Fraser Black; edited by Northcote W. Thomas · 1903

    p. 47, Westray: Wilkie’s Knolls. Cites J. Paterson’s manuscript letter on Orkney antiquities, 1833, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland library.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary printed compilationBlack and Thomas 1903, printed pp. 46–47Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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