Behold the grim tale of the Redcap, a baleful goblin of the old borderlands, said to haunt the crumbling towers and keeps of the Anglo-Scottish marches.
Small, iron-shod, and sharp of tooth, he bears a scarlet cap whose vivid colour, so the folk whisper, is kept bright with the blood of unwary travellers.
Many a wanderer who sought shelter in such ruins met a grim welcome of hurled stones and wicked laughter.
Yet the old tales say he may be driven off by the speaking of holy Scripture or the raising of a crucifix, which sends the creature shrieking away in flame.
📷In later years, a strange curiosity was said to have been kept at Hermitage Castle: the mummified remains of “Robin Redcap,” sealed within a glass case.