Author and illustrator writes book based on folk tale of Flannel Foot

Mandy Elizabeth Rush, originally from Plean but now living in the Highlands, has written and illustrated a book about Flannel Foot, based on a legend from the village where she grew up.

A legend from a Forth Valley village amongst other places is the inspiration behind a new children’s book.

Author and illustrator Mandy Elizabeth Rush, from Plean, has released ‘Flannel Foot, a Scottish Bogeyman’ following the tales she heard as a child growing up in the village.

Born in the village, Mandy had heard all the stories about Flannel Foot – the burglar from the 1960s who terrorised the eastern villages – and how he sneaked into houses in the middle of the day without anyone hearing and how even those with large dogs couldn’t deter the robber from stealing food, coins and other precious items.

And now in her latest book she takes a fresh look at Flannel Foot and “how the folk fae the Plean turned terror into love”.

Mandy, 55, said: "I always knew about Flannel Foot as he is/was real. My mum spoke of him often and how he terrorised the village when she was a young teenager.

“But it was only recently someone posted on a local Plean History Facebook page. They asked the question ‘do you remember Flannel Foot?’ There was a massive outpouring of stories.

"Apparently a lot of kids were playfully threatened with ‘if you don’t go to bed Flannel Foot will get you’. I had never thought of him as a bogeyman before but this got me thinking. And then when I recorded my story I got lots of people telling me it wasn’t just Plean, he was known in Cowie, Bannockburn and Stirling.

“I asked mum again about Flannel Foot after the question was initially posed on Facebook and she told me all she knew. She has a fantastic memory.

“What I especially loved writing about Flannel Foot is the fact that I wrote it in Scots. All my other books may have some Scottish words or places, but this is 100 per cent Scottish – the words we used growing up in the village, the places we know and even the local cobbler, policeman and shopkeeper. All long gone now.”

Mandy, a self employed graphic designer with a passion for writing and illustrating, now lives in Nairn, but her connections to Plean remain strong.

She was born and bred in the village, as were her mum and grandmother. She went to East Plean Primary and Bannockburn High before attending Stirling University.

Although living up north, Mandy’s mum still lives in the village, in the house of Mandy’s great grandfather Peter Gordon, foreman of Plean Pit.

Mandy began writing and illustrating books around five years ago now, and Flannel Foot is her eighth book.

She added: “The book writing started at a writing retreat organised by a group called Women in the Highlands. It aimed to reduce social isolation for women in the Highlands giving them opportunities they would normally not have access to. Who knew it would lead to this amazing passion and eight books.”

Flannel Foot a Scottish Bogeyman by Mandy Elizabeth Rush is now available to buy online on Amazon.