I liked Maple's post of 31.05, echoing Shakespeare's Hamlet "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
A mate of mine told me just a few days ago that he'd read Beowulf when he was out bothying. He said he ended up peeing in bottles as he was scared to go outside after dark and had real problems convincing himself to close his eyes at night. He isn't someone I'd describe as being easily frightened.
Just you hope that Grendel or, perish the thought... his mother :yikes:, never come for you when you're lying alone in your bivvy one night!
On a more sombre note, as has already been said by others, sensations of fear for no apparent reason are the occasions that stay with you, and you don't need to have been reading a scary story to perceive a change in the ambience. Very many of the remote places I camp or bothy were inhabited for thousands of years. People were born there, fell in love, had children, laughed and sang, had happy, peaceful lives or lived out tragedies. They had beliefs which, whether ranked as superstition by us, were very real to them. I choose to believe they've left something of their trace on the landscape.
I recently had a beneficial few days and nights in a bothy which was once the home of James Hogg, The Ettrick Shepherd's grandfather, William Laidlaw, or Will o' the Phawp, the last man in Ettrickdale known to have conversed with the fairies.
Will and I got along just grand!
I know a hill-man who pours derision on such fancies, but he's already admitted to me that he has never stayed in a bothy or gone camping in the woods alone, and that speaks volumes!
Cheers,
Pango.