The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDui

Dark Histories

Ben Cutmore

History

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

High in the mist-shrouded Cairngorms, where the winter wind bites like a vice, lies the domain of a long-spoken, unsettling presence. For over a hundred years, the climbers of Ben Macdui have told stories of a towering figure pacing just beyond sight and of booming footsteps lost in the fog. Known as the Big Grey Man, few have seen it, several have heard it and even more sensed it, but just about none have ever agreed on what “it” actually is. SOURCES Gray, Affleck (1970) The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui. Impulse Books, Edinburgh, Scotland. Baker, Ernest A. (1973) The British Highlands: With Rope & Rucksack. EP Publishing Ltd, UK. Wood, Wendy (1930) Secret of Spey. Rob Grant & Son, Edinburgh, Scotland. Alexander, Henry (1926) The Ben MacDhui Giant Spectre. The Cairngorm Club Journal, Vol XI, No.64, July 1926. The Cairngorm Club, Scotland. Aberdeen Press & Journal (1925) Cairngorm Club. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Mon 30 Nov 1925, p5. Aberdeen, Scotland. Aberdeen Press & Journal (1925) Letters To Editor. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Tues 1 Dec 1925, p5. Aberdeen, Scotland. Aberdeen Press & Journal (1925) Mountain Climbers & The Ghost of Ben MacDhui. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Thurs 3 Dec 1925, p6. Aberdeen, Scotland. Aberdeen Press & Journal (1925) Dr Kellas & His Spectre. Aberdeen Press & Journal, Sat 5 Dec 1925, p4. Aberdeen, Scotland. The Scotsman (1941) The Grey Man Of Ben MacDhui. The Scotsman, Tues 14 Oct 1941, p7. Scotland. The Scotsman (1941) Mountain Spectres. The Scotsman, Mon 20 Oct 1941, p4. Scotland. The Scotsman (1941) Mountain Spectres. The Scotsman, Thurs 23 Oct 1941, p4. Scotland. ------ For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠darkhistories.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the show by visiting our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://author.to/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dark Histories merch is available here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3GChjk9⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with us on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or find us on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://twitter.com/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or you can contact us directly via email at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠contact@darkhistories.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or join our Discord community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. This is Scott. If you want to learn about the world's oldest civilizations, find out how they were rediscovered. Follow the story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's descendants over 10 generations, or take a deep dive into the Iron Age or the Hellenistic era, then check out the Ancient World Podcast.
0:22.4	Available on all podcasting platforms or go to ancient world podcast.com.
0:28.8	That's the Ancient World Podcast.
0:33.1	Deep in the mistrouted kangorms, where the winter wind bites like a vice, lies the domain of a long-spoken, unsettling presence.
0:42.6	For over a hundred years, the climbers of Ben McDouye have told stories of a towering figure, pacing just beyond sight, and have booming footsteps lost in the fog.
0:54.5	Known as the Big Grey Man, few have seen it.
0:58.4	Several have heard it and even more have sensed it.
1:02.2	But just about none have ever agreed on what it actually is.
1:07.8	This is Dark History's, where the facts are worse than fiction.
1:15.2	Hello and welcome to Dark History, Season 10, Episode 7.
1:19.5	I'm your host, Ben, as always.
1:21.6	And today, I've got a really fun episode.
1:24.3	I really enjoyed these kind of episodes digging into folklore
1:27.1	and tracking back
1:28.5	far as we can go to see their genesis, I guess. So yeah, definitely look forward to that.
1:35.1	Before we quickly start, just one final shout out for if you're interested in being involved
1:40.6	in the upcoming Ask Me Anything episode, bonus episode.
1:48.1	I was meant to actually record it last weekend and then I was not so well last weekend.
1:50.0	So I've put it back till next weekend.
1:55.4	So that does mean we get an extra shout out for if you want to be involved.
1:57.6	Yeah, ask any questions that you might have.
2:02.6	Send them in to probably your best bet is my email address. contact at darkestries.com. And yeah, get involved. It would be great fun. I've already got tons of questions.
	...

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