This is Galloway.  Gather round and let me tell you one of it’s tales.

Abram Fell was a young man who stood to inherit lush and fertile lands on the banks of the River Tweed, but he was lacking the document that proved his status as the rightful heir.  He was left distraught and penniless by the fruitless search for it, and took to wandering in the Pentland Hills.

Cold and exhausted, Abram fell asleep. A woman’s voice came to him in his dreams calling him to Galloway and promising him his heart’s desire if he did. He opened his eyes and lifted himself up from the cold ground where he had slept, and began to walk.  Through the Dalvene pass, where the wind blew night and day, over the muir by Thornhill and Moniave, where the rain did not stop, then Crossmichael,  where the road at last grew easy and finally to Kirkcudbright, that bonny town between the Dee and the Sea.

And in Kirkcudbright, he met a lass by the name of Katie Bell, whose laugh made his heart want to dance. Quickly, he fell in love with her, and she with him. At last, Abram thought, here was the Heart’s Desire the dream voice had promised.

But Katie's father would not allow the young couple to be together.

Then suddenly, Katie vanished.  

Katie’s father was suspicious of Abram, and Abram of Katie’s father, so Abram left Kirkcudbright, looking for traces of his missing beloved.

'I came to Galloway to find my heart's desire and all I find is heartache.' Abram said, and he took once again to wandering, this time with no care for his health or safety. At last, he took refuge in a mountain bothy, sick and broken hearted.

Unknown to Abram, Katie had been spirited away by the Faerie Folk, who had heard her cries of grief over her father’s disapproval and wanted to comfort her. They dressed her in rich silks, put glittering jewellery on her, fed her the finest sweetmeats and danced for her, but her grief would not lift, and she soon took to her bed night and day and began to waste away.

The Faerie Folk did not understand how her grief could make her so ill.  A wise old  Brownie who knew the ways of humans told them. 'Up the slopes of Curlywee in a bothy, you will find the cause of her grief: a young man named Abram Fell. They love each other, but are forbidden to be together.'

Now, the Faerie Kingdom was deep inside the granite heart of Cairnsmore of Fleet (the very hill our distillery overlooks), and it was from here the Faerie Folk set out to bring Abram Fell to Katie, to ease her grief. Abram was afraid at first he was to become a Bogle's supper, but instead the Faerie Folk fed and dressed him.

Now the Faerie Folk led Abram through the many beautiful grottos and caves of the Faerie Kingdom to a Great Hall lit by a thousand floating candles, and sparkling with gem encrusted walls. At the head of the hall was a gilded throne on which the Banrigh, the Faerie Queen, sat.

The Banrigh asked Abram if he knew who she was, to which he replied, ‘Most certainly, Your Majesty’.

She asked him what he thought of her kingdom, to which he replied 'It is a truly wondrous place, Your Majesty. I am humbled to have been brought here.'

The Banrigh was charmed.

She declared that he could stay as long as he liked, to which Abram began to reply, 'Your Majesty is most gracious, but-'

The Banrigh held up a finger to her mouth. 'Before you say more, come with me,' she told him.

She told him she could show him something even more special than her realm,  the Banrigh led Abram along a passage to a sturdy wooden door. She pointed at it and declared. 'Your heart's desire is here.' Abram entered the room alone.

Inside was an ornately carved four poster bed, where a deathly pale young woman lay asleep. Abram knew her instantly, it was his Katie Bell.  Amazed, he woke her gently and hugged her. 'You came for me.' Katie said, overjoyed to see him.

'The Faerie Folk brought me to you. ' Abram told her. They lay a while in each other's arms, until the Banrigh called them to her Great Hall. There, before a crowd of Faerie Folk the Banrigh married them, and gave them gifts.

Katie and Abram stayed some time in the Faerie Kingdom of Cairnsmore, exploring its many caves and grottos, until they found their way to a Grand Library, deep beneath the mountain. They read many beautiful books of stories, spells and histories together there.

Then, one day, Abram spied among illuminated manuscripts and vellum bound books a simple scroll, bound with a silk ribbon. Untying the ribbon, he began to read the scroll, and saw his own name written on it. A moment later, he realised what the document was.

It was the lost document of his inheritance.

Surprised, they went straight to the Banrigh and begged for an audience.

She told them that it had been found by a brownie, who had brought it to her for safe keeping. She had then called to Abram in his dream.

When Abram asked why she had not told him before, she said. ' Something earned under hardship is that much more appreciated than that which comes easily.' Katie and Abram then left the Faerie Kingdom together to live in Abram's land on the River Tweed.