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Answer:
Indeed, various stories
have the cave located anywhere along the Galloway/Ayrshire coast. Sawney Bean
was reputed to be a cannibal born in East Lothian in the reign of James I - he
ran away from the family farm with the woman who became his wife. they lived in
a cave in the west and raised a large family. They made their living by robbing
and killing travellers, then fed on the corpses. They were said to have been
caught at last after having killed thousands and the whole family taken to the
Tollbooth in Edinburgh where they were all put to death. There is no record of
any such capture and execution. The story of Sawney Bean first appeared in
broadsheets in the early C18th.
Although many caves have
been cited as the real one I feel that the best informed sources all point to
the coast between the villages of Lendalfoot and Ballantrae. There are several
caves there but access is difficult due to the steep climb and incoming tides.
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