Dundee and Dragons: The city’s connections with the mythical creature

Dundee has so much in common with Dragons — the mythical fire-breathing creature.

Dundee Culture has chosen a green dragon as its November design as it reflects the city’s connection to dragons. I thought it would be great to pay homage to that connection.

The city seems to have adopted the dragon as its symbol. So much so it is even featured on the city’s coat of arms — but we’ll come to that later.

From a personal point of view also, my zodiac sign is a Dragon as I was born in 2000 — which is the fifth of Chinese zodiac symbols. Each of the Chinese zodiacs land every 12 years, so the next “Year of the Dragon” will be in 2024.

But anyway, back to Dundee’s connections to dragons and I thought it would be cool to showcase the connections of both and how much the city associates itself with the mythical creature.

The story of the Dundee Dragon

The Dundee Dragon is one of the most notable connections between Dundee and dragons and is the presumed reason we have the connection in the first place.

The story goes that there was a farmer who lived on the outskirts of Dundee who sent one of his daughters to fetch water from a well — and she never came back. So he sent another daughter, and she never came back, this kept happening up until he sent his ninth daughter and yet still no sign.

The farmer decided to go to the well and he was met with a gory sight — a dragon, sleeping with the corpses of his nine daughters.

The farmer was said to run back to the village, he ran to Martin, one of the daughters lovers, to help slay the dragon. Martin was furious, so he decided to round up the villagers and they went to slay the dragon.

When confronting the dragon, the villagers shouted “Strike, Martin!” which was said to be the reason by the name “Strathmartine”. Martin managed to slay the dragon and has a rhyme associated with the demise of the dragon:

- Tempted at Pitempton
- Draigled at Baldragon
- Stricken at Strathmartine
- And killed at Martins Stone

Dundee Dragon statue

When you walk through the Murraygate, you might notice a green dragon in the middle of the path.

The statue is inspired from the Dundee Dragon story and it is quite a cool sight. I love the statue and it symbolises the connection dragons have with the city perfectly.

Coat of arms

Have you noticed that Dundee’s coat of arms features two dragons:

The dragon appears each side of one another. The design is also inspired from the Dundee Dragon and also apparently from St. Clements.

Dragons in the City Square

Dundee’s City Chambers building, located within Dundee’s City Square also boasts the coat of arms which features the two dragons:

But you can also see dragons featured in front of the facade of the Caird Hall:

The name ‘Baldragon’

Baldragon is a name associated mostly with the high school. What’s interesting is that when Kirkton High School merged with Rockwell High School, the pupils that would be going to the high school were given the choice of naming the new school and Dundee City Council decided on two names which would be taken to a vote for the pupils:

• Craigowl — named after the nearby hill
• Baldragon — associated with the Dundee Dragon

Baldragon was voted as the name of the school and this provided much more connection to Dundee and dragons.

The top of St. Andrews Church

St Andrew’s Church, located near the Wellgate has a spire. And at the top of the spire, guess what you’ll find.

Yes, you guessed right. A dragon.

At the top of the spire, you might noticed a flying dragon which looks out on the top of the city, protecting the city as it keeps an eye on Dundee skyline.

A city of Discovery, design — and dragons

So Dundee has a much loved connection to dragons. It is something which can sometimes feel unnoticed and like I say, I wanted to pay homage to that connection.

I love that dragons are a symbol of the city and it is cool to have a look at some of dragons of the city.