Lair sought for Badenoch ‘Wolf’
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For decades a team in Kingussie have harboured the dream of erecting Badenoch’s own memorial to Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan.
The infamous Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – July 1394) was the third son of King Robert II of Scotland and as Justiciar of Scotia held large territories in the north of Scotland.
He is remembered for his destruction of the royal burgh of Elgin and its cathedral but even moreso for his notorious cruelty and rapacity.
He was buried in Dunkeld Cathedral but here in the strath the story has remained for centuries that he died in a duel with the Devil in the hall of Ruthven Barracks – playing chess.
Kingussie businessman Bobby Nield long dreamed of harnessing the man’s awesome reputation to promote Badenoch’s heritage and boost its tourism.
He worked tirelessly to get the project established but never lived to see it realised. He died in March 2020.
“Bob had the idea decades ago after attending a modern dance event in the Victoria Hall, where life-size wolf statues made by the internationally renowned sculptor Helen Denerley were on display,” explained his widow, Shirley.
“He said, ‘One day I want to get one of those for Kingussie to tell the story of the Wolf of Badenoch’, to tell locals and visitors as well as to to attract people to the town.
“Bob was about to start doing something about it when the Victoria Hall burnt down and then he became involved in the project to get the Badenoch Centre built, which took years.”
A committee has been working on it in the years since and hopes to go to submit a formal planning application soon.The committee aiming to commemorate the Wolf of Badenoch hope to site a sculpture outside Talla nan Ros in King Street, with an information display to tell his story.
It would be phase one of a plan to put together a Wolf Trail to other places in the area which have connections to him. Over £2,000 was raised in donations at Mr Nield’s funeral towards the project.
“We hope to go to planning soon,” said Mrs Nield. “But comments are being invited from the community now.”
Everyone can email their views to Wolfsculpturekingussie@gmail.com
In line to sculpt the memorial is Helen Denerley, who is reported to be very much on board to make the sculpture.
Helen works on a remote hillside in North East Scotland.
In 2016 she completed a 6m giraffe for a private client in Hong Kong.
Her portfolio of work can be seen at https://helendenerley.co.uk/
Information boards about the project are now on show at Caberfeidh Horizons book shop on Kingussie High Street.
