Old photograph of the Bessy Bell and Mary Gray grave near Almondbank by Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. Bessy Bell and Mary Gray are " twa bonnie lassies ", the subject of one of the Child Ballads. The girls were supplied with food by a lad in love with both of them; the lad caught the plague and gave it to them, and all three sickened and died. Two similar hills near Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, were named after Bessy Bell and Mary Gray by Scottish immigrants who came to Ireland to make their passage to America. Sliabh Troim, mountain of elder, is the original Irish name of Bessy Bell. Also recorded as Sliab Toad. There also exist twin hills in Staunton, Virginia, USA, which were also named after the girls by Scottish immigrants. Two adjacent volcanic cones in the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand, Otara Hill and Green Hill, were referred to by 19th century European settlers as Bessy Bell and Mary Gray. History Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to travel and visit one day.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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