{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_61730/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_61730","id":"gutenberg_61730","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61730","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Scotland"],"text":"Note: Images of the original pages are available through\n      HathiTrust Digital Library. See\n      https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t6931dp50\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n\n\n\n\nSUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND\n\n\nPublished by\nJames Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow,\nPublishers to the University.\n\n\nMacmillan and Co., London and New York.\n\nLondon,         Simpkin, Hamilton and Co.\nCambridge,      Macmillan and Bowes.\nEdinburgh,      Douglas and Foulis.\n\nMCM.\n\n\n\nSUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND\n\nCollected entirely from Oral Sources\n\nby\n\nJOHN GREGORSON CAMPBELL\n\nMinister of Tiree\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGlasgow\nJames MacLehose and Sons\nPublishers to the University\n1900\n\nGlasgow: Printed at the University Press\nby Robert Maclehose and Co.\n\n\n\n\nEDITOR\u2019S NOTE.\n\n\nThis volume is the result of many years\u2019 labour by the late Rev. John\nGregorson Campbell, while minister of Tiree during the years 1861\u2014to\n1891.\n\nMuch of the material was already collected before Mr. J. F. Campbell\nof Islay published his _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_ in 1860,\nand readers of Lord Archibald Campbell\u2019s volumes on _Waifs and Strays\nof Celtic Tradition_ are already acquainted with the valuable work\ncontributed to that series by the Rev. J. Gregorson Campbell.\n\nIt is hoped that this volume on the _Superstitions of the Scottish\nHighlands_, full as it is of racy stories, may throw fresh light on an\nextremely interesting subject.\n\nThe MS. of a corresponding work by the same author on _Witchcraft and\nSecond-Sight in the West Highlands_, is in the editor\u2019s hands, and in\nthe event of the present work meeting with the reception which the\neditor thinks it deserves, the volume on Witchcraft will be published\nnext year.\n\nMrs. Wallace, Hynish, Tiree, the author\u2019s sister, has kindly read the\nproofs.\n\n _August, 1900._\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe object aimed at in the following pages is to put before the reader\na statement, as complete and accurate as the writer can attain to,\nof the Superstitions and Antiquities of the Scottish Highlands and\nIslands. In other words, the writer has endeavoured to gather full\nmaterials relating to that subject, and to arrange them in a form that\nmay prove of some scientific value.\n\nIn pursuit of this object, it has been deemed advisable to derive\ninformation solely from oral sources. Books have been purposely avoided\nas authorities, and a rule has been laid down, and strictly adhered\nto, not to accept any statement in print regarding a Highland belief,\nunless also found current among the people. In the few books there\nare, having any reference to Gaelic lore, the statements have been\nso frequently found at variance with popular beliefs that this rule\nhas been a necessity. There are a few honourable exceptions, but in\ngeneral what is to be found in print on this subject is not trustworthy.\n\nA want of acquaintance with the Gaelic language or with Highland\nfeelings and modes of thought, is usually the cause of error. The\nwriters think in English, and are not careful to eliminate from their\nstatements thoughts derived from English or classical literature,\nor to keep from confusing with Celtic beliefs ideas derived from\nforeign sources, and from analogous creeds existing elsewhere. This\ngives an unconscious tinge to their statements, and (what is more\nto be regretted) sometimes makes them fill up with extraneous and\nforeign elements what seems to them gaps or blanks in beliefs they but\nimperfectly understand.\n\nThe writer\u2019s information has been derived from widely separated\ndistricts in the North, West, and Central Highlands, and from the\nIslands. Naturally, the bulk of the information was obtained in\nTiree, where the writer had most opportunity of making inquiries, but\ninformation from this or any other source has not been accepted without\ncomparison with the same beliefs in other districts. The writer has\nnot been able personally to visit all parts of the Highlands, but his\ninformants have spent their lives in districts far apart. The reader\nwill fall into a mistake who supposes that the whole information is\nwithin the belief, or even knowledge, of any one individual, or of any\none district.\n\nThe beliefs of one district do not differ essentially from those of\nanother. In one or two cases several versions of a tale are given to\nshow to some extent the nature of the variations of popular tradition.\n\nThe writer has thankfully to acknowledge, and he cannot but remember\nwith pleasure, the readiness and courtesy, and in very many cases the\ngreat intelligence with which his inquiries have been answered. Some of\nhis informants have shown a quickness and retentiveness of memory which\nhe could not but envy, and an appreciation of, and an acquaintance with\nancient lore that seemed to him to indicate in those who were strangers\nto the world of letters powers of mind of a high order.\n\nThe objection to books and print as authorities has also been\nextended to written correspondence. No doubt much that is additional\nand interesting could be obtained through these channels, but if\nthe account given is to serve any purpose higher than that of mere\namusement, strict accuracy is of such importance that all these\nsources of possible error have been avoided; they cannot be sifted\nby cross-examination and further inquiry so readily or thoroughly\nas information obtained by word of mouth. The whole has thus passed\nthrough the writer\u2019s own hands directly from what he has found current\namong the people. Care has been taken that no statement be made\nconveying an idea different in the slightest from what has been heard.\nA popular Gaelic saying can be quoted as applicable to the case: \u201cIf it\nbe a lie as told by me, it was a lie as told to me\u201d (_Ma\u2019s breug bh\u2019uam\ne, is breug dhomh e_). It is as free to another as it has been to the\nwriter, to draw his inferences from the statements given, and it is\nthought no genuine tale or oral tradition will be found to contradict\nthe statements made in the following pages.\n\nIn the translations given of Gaelic, the object aimed at has been to\ngive the corresponding English expression, that is, one conveying the\nsame meaning to the English reader that the Gaelic expression conveys\nto the Gaelic reader. Accuracy has been looked to on this point\nrather than grace of diction. Where there is anything striking in the\nGaelic idiom the literal meaning is also given. In poetry there is\nconsequently a baldness, to which the original is a stranger; but this,\nit may be urged, is a fault inherent in all translations, however\ncarefully executed. The transference of ideas from one language to\nanother weakens the force and beauty of an expression; what is racy\nand witty, or musical and expressive in one, becomes tame and insipid\nin another. This trite observation is made to deprecate unfavourable\nopinions being formed of the genius and force of the Gaelic language\nfrom the translations given.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  _CHAPTER I_\n\n  The Fairies\n                                                PAGE\n  Names Given to Fairies                           3\n\n  The Size of Fairies                              9\n\n  Fairy Dwellings                                 11\n\n  Fairy Dresses                                   14\n\n  The Defects of Fairies                          15\n\n  Their Occupations                               15\n\n  Seasons of Festivity                            16\n\n  Fairy Raids                                     18\n\n  Circumstances under which Fairies are seen      21\n\n  Fairy Food                                      21\n\n  Gifts Bestowed by Fairies                       22\n\n  The Giving and taking of Loans                  24\n\n  Eddy Wind                                       24\n\n  Rain and Sunshine, Wind and Rain                26\n\n  Fairy Arrows                                    26\n\n  Cattle                                          27\n\n  Horses                                          30\n\n  Dogs                                            30\n\n  Elfin Cats                                      32\n\n  Fairy Theft                                     32\n\n  Stealing Women and Children                     36\n\n  Changelings                                     38\n\n  Deformities                                     39\n\n  Nurses                                          40\n\n  The Men of Peace                                40\n\n  The Bean Nighe, or Washing Woman                42\n\n  The Song of the Fairy Woman                     44\n\n  The Glaistig as distinct from the Banshi        44\n\n  Elfin Queen                                     45\n\n  Protection against Fairies                      46\n\n\n  _CHAPTER II_\n\n  Tales Illustrative of Fairy Superstition\n\n  Luran                                           52\n\n  The Cup of the Macleods of Raasa                57\n\n  The Fairies on Finlay\u2019s Sandbank                57\n\n  Pennygown Fairies                               59\n\n  Ben Lomond Fairies                              60\n\n  Callum Clark and his Sore Leg                   60\n\n  The Young Man in the Fairy Knoll                61\n\n  Black William the Piper                         65\n\n  The Harris Woman and her Baking                 66\n\n  Lifted by the Fairies                           68\n\n  Fairies Coming to Houses                        73\n\n  The Lowland Fairies                             76\n\n  Fairies Stealing Women and Children             78\n\n  Ready Wit Repulses the Fairies                  85\n\n  Kindness to a Neglected Child                   86\n\n  The Bridegroom\u2019s Burial                         86\n\n  The Crowing of the Black Cock                   87\n\n  Throwing the Arrow                              88\n\n  The Woman Stolen from France                    90\n\n  Changelings                                     90\n\n  Taking away Cows and Sheep                      92\n\n  The Dwellings of the Fairies                    93\n\n  Fairy Assistance                                96\n\n  The Battle of Trai-Gruinard                    100\n\n  Duine Sith, Man of Peace                       101\n\n  Bean Shith, Elle Woman, or Woman of Peace      102\n\n  Donald Thrashed by the Fairy Woman             105\n\n  Iona Banshi                                    107\n\n  Tiree Banshi                                   108\n\n  Macphie\u2019s Black Dog                            109\n\n  The Carlin of the Spotted Hill                 122\n\n  Donald, Son of Patrick                         123\n\n  The Wife of Ben-y-Ghloe                        125\n\n  Fairy Women and Deer                           126\n\n  O\u2019Cronicert\u2019s Fairy Wife                       127\n\n  The Gruagach Ban                               132\n\n  Deer Killed and conveyed home at Night         133\n\n  Fairies and Goats                              134\n\n  Fairies and Cows                               134\n\n  Fairy Cows                                     135\n\n  The Thirsty Ploughman                          137\n\n  The Fairy Churning                             137\n\n  Milk Spilt by Dairymaids                       138\n\n  Fairy Music                                    138\n\n  MacCrimmon                                     139\n\n  Fairy Dogs (\u2018Cu Sith\u2019)                         141\n\n  What happens to Dogs Chasing Fairies           144\n\n  Fairies and Horses                             146\n\n  Fairies and the Handmill                       149\n\n  Fairies and Oatmeal                            150\n\n  Fairies and Iron                               152\n\n  Name of the Deity                              153\n\n  Fairy Gifts                                    153\n\n  Struck by the Fairy Arrow Spade                154\n\n\n  _CHAPTER III_\n\n  Tutelary Beings\n\n  (I) The Glaistig                               155\n\n      At Glenduror                               162\n\n      At Sron-Charmaig                           162\n\n      At Inverawe House                          164\n\n      At Dunstaffnage Castle                     164\n\n      In Tiree                                   165\n\n      At Sleat, Skye                             165\n\n      In the Island of Coll                      166\n\n      At Dunolly Castle                          166\n\n      At Mernaig Castle                          166\n\n      In Strathglass                             167\n\n      At Lianachan                               168\n\n      In Glenorchy                               171\n\n      M\u2018Millan of Knap stabbing the Glaistig     172\n\n      At Craignish                               173\n\n      On Garlios, Morvern                        173\n\n      At Ardnadrochit, Mull                      175\n\n      On Baugh, Tiree                            176\n\n      On Hianish, Tiree                          177\n\n      At Strontian                               177\n\n      In Ulva                                    178\n\n      In Iona                                    179\n\n      In Ross, Mull                              179\n\n      In Corry-na-Henchor                        180\n\n      Mac-Ian Year                               181\n\n      At Erray, Mull                             183\n\n  (II) The Gruagach                              184\n\n  (III) Brownie                                  186\n\n      Gunna                                      189\n\n      The Old Man of the Barn                    190\n\n\n  _CHAPTER IV_\n\n  The Urisk, The Blue Men, and The Mermaid\n\n  The Urisk                                      195\n\n  The Blue Men                                   199\n\n  The Mermaid                                    201\n\n\n  _CHAPTER V_\n\n  The Water-Horse\n\n  Farmers and Water-Horses                       204\n\n  Mac-Fir Arois                                  205\n\n  The Talking Horse at Cru-Loch                  207\n\n  Island of Coll                                 208\n\n  The Nine Children at Sunart                    208\n\n  Killing the Raasay Water-Horse                 209\n\n  The Water-Horse at Loch Cuaich                 210\n\n  The Water-Horse at Tiree                       211\n\n  Water-Horse and Women                          212\n\n  The Water-Horse at Loch Basibol, Tiree         214\n\n  The Kelpie                                     215\n\n  The Water-Bull                                 216\n\n  The King Otter                                 216\n\n  Biasd na Srogaig                               217\n\n  The Big Beast of Lochawe                       218\n\n\n  _CHAPTER VI_\n\n  Superstitions about Animals\n\n  Lamprey\u2014Sea Serpent\u2014Gigelorum\u2014Lavellan\u2014Bernicle\n  Goose\u2014Eels\u2014Whale\u2014Herring\u2014Flounder\u2014Lobster\u2014Serpents\u2014Rats\n  and Mice\u2014Cormorant\u2014Magpie\u2014Beetles\u2014Emmet\u2014Skip-Jack\n                                             219-228\n\n\n  _CHAPTER  VII_\n\n  Miscellaneous Superstitions\n\n  Gisvagun, Eapagun, Upagun                      229\n\n  The Right-Hand Turn (Deiseal)                  229\n\n  Rising and Dressing                            230\n\n  Clothes                                        231\n\n  Houses and Lands                               231\n\n  Baking                                         232\n\n  Removal Cheese (Mulchag Imrich)                234\n\n  Leg Cake (Bonnach Lurgainn)                    234\n\n  Giving Fire out of the House                   234\n\n  Thunder                                        235\n\n  Theft                                          236\n\n  Salt                                           236\n\n  Combing the Hair                               236\n\n  Bird Nests                                     237\n\n  Hen\u2019s First Egg                                237\n\n  Euphemisms                                     237\n\n  Boat Language                                  239\n\n  Fresh Meat                                     240\n\n  Killing those too long alive                   240\n\n  Funerals                                       241\n\n  The Watch of the Graveyard (Faire Chlaidh)     242\n\n  Cill Challum Chille                            242\n\n  Suicides                                       242\n\n  Murder                                         243\n\n  The Harvest Old Wife (a Chailleach)            243\n\n  La u Bhrochain mh\u00f2r (Big Porridge Day)         244\n\n  Fires on Headlands                             244\n\n  Stances                                        244\n\n  Names                                          245\n\n  Delivery of Cattle and Horses                  245\n\n  Trades                                         246\n\n  Iron                                           246\n\n  Empty Shells                                   247\n\n  Protection against Evil Spirits                247\n\n  Misnaming a Person                             248\n\n  Gaining Straw (Sop Seile)                      248\n\n  Propitious Times                               248\n\n  Unlucky Actions                                249\n\n\n  _CHAPTER VIII_\n\n  Augury\n\n  At Outset of a Journey                         253\n\n  Unlucky to look back                           255\n\n\n  _CHAPTER IX_\n\n  Premonitions and Divination\n\n  Premonitions (Meamna)                          258\n\n  Trial (Deuchainn)                              259\n\n  Divination (Fiosachd)                          262\n\n  Shoulder-blade Reading (Slinneineachd)         263\n\n  Palmistry (Dearnadaireachd)                    266\n\n  Divination by Tea, or Cup-reading (Leughadh\n  Chupaichean)                                   266\n\n\n  _CHAPTER X_\n\n  Dreams and Prophecies\n\n  Dreams (Bruadar)                               268\n\n  Prophecies (F\u00e0isneachd)                        269\n\n  The Lady of Lawers                             274\n\n\n  _CHAPTER XI_\n\n  Imprecations, Spells, and the Black Art\n\n  Imprecation (Guidhe)                           277\n\n  Spells (Geasan no Geasaibh)                    281\n\n  The Black Art                                  285\n\n\n  _CHAPTER XII_\n\n  The Devil\n\n  Card Playing                                   292\n\n  Red Book of Appin                              292\n\n  Coming for the Dying                           295\n\n  Making the Devil your Slave                    296\n\n  Coming Misfortune                              298\n\n  The Ga\u00efck Catastrophe (Mort Gh\u00e0thaig)          300\n\n  The Bundle of Fern                             303\n\n  The Pig in the Indigo Pot                      303\n\n  Among the Tailors                              304\n\n  Taghairm, or \u201cGiving his Supper to the Devil\u201d  304\n\n  Glas Ghairm\u2014Power of Opening Locks             311\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE FAIRIES.[1]\n\n\nIn any account of Gaelic superstition and popular belief, the first\nand most prominent place is to be assigned to the Fairy or Elfin\npeople, or, as they are called both in Irish and Scottish Gaelic,\nthe _s\u00ecth_ people, that is, \u2018the people of peace,\u2019 the \u2018still folk,\u2019\nor \u2018silently-moving\u2019 people. The antiquity of the belief is shown\nby its being found among all branches of the Celtic and Teutonic\nfamilies, and in countries which have not, within historical times,\nhad any communication with each other. If it be not entirely of Celtic\norigin, there can be no doubt that among the Celtic races it acquired\nan importance and influence accorded to it nowhere else. Of all the\nbeings, with which fear or fancy peopled the supernatural, the Fairies\nwere the most intimately associated with men\u2019s daily life. In the\npresent day, when popular poetical ideas are extinguished in the\nuniversal call for \u201cfacts\u201d and by \u201ccold material laws,\u201d it is hard to\nunderstand how firm a hold a belief like this had upon men in a more\nprimitive state of society, and how unwillingly it is surrendered.\n\nThroughout the greater part of the Highlands of Scotland the\nFairies have become things of the past. A common belief is that\nthey existed once, though they are not now seen. There are others\nto whom the elves have still a real existence, and who are careful\nto take precautions against them. The changes, which the Highlands\nare undergoing, have made the traces of the belief fainter in some\ndistricts than in others, and in some there remains but a confused\njumbling of all the superstitions. It would be difficult to find a\nperson who knows the whole Fairy creed, but the tales of one district\nare never contradictory of those of another. They are rather to be\ntaken as supplemental of each other, and it is by comparison and such\nsupplementing that the following statement has been drawn out. It is\nthought that it will not be found at variance with any genuine Highland\nFairy Tale.\n\nThe Fairies, according to the Scoto-Celtic belief, are a race of\nbeings, the counterparts of mankind in person, occupations, and\npleasures, but unsubstantial and unreal, ordinarily invisible,\nnoiseless in their motions, and having their dwellings underground, in\nhills and green mounds of rock or earth. They are addicted to visiting\nthe haunts of men, sometimes to give assistance, but more frequently to\ntake away the benefit of their goods and labours, and sometimes even\ntheir persons. They may be present in any company, though mortals do\nnot see them. Their interference is never productive of good in the\nend, and may prove destructive. Men cannot therefore be sufficiently on\ntheir guard against them.\n\n\nNAMES GIVEN TO FAIRIES.\n\nThe names by which these dwellers underground are known are mostly\nderivative from the word _s\u00ecth_ (pronounced _shee_). As a substantive\n(in which sense it is ordinarily used) _s\u00ecth_ means \u2018peace,\u2019 and, as\nan adjective, is applied solely to objects of the supernatural world,\nparticularly to the Fairies and whatever belongs to them. Sound is\na natural adjunct of the motions of men, and its entire absence is\nunearthly, unnatural, not human. The name _s\u00ecth_ without doubt refers\nto the \u2018peace\u2019 or silence of Fairy motion, as contrasted with the stir\nand noise accompanying the movements and actions of men. The German\n\u2018still folk\u2019 is a name of corresponding import. The Fairies come and go\nwith noiseless steps, and their thefts or abductions are done silently\nand unawares to men. The wayfarer resting beside a stream, on raising\nhis eyes, sees the Fairy woman, unheard in her approach, standing on\nthe opposite bank. Men know the Fairies have visited their houses\nonly by the mysterious disappearance of the substance of their goods,\nor the sudden and unaccountable death of any of the inmates or of\nthe cattle. Sometimes the elves are seen entering the house, gliding\nsilently round the room, and going out again as noiselessly as they\nentered. When driven away they do not go off with tramp and noise, and\nsounds of walking such as men make, or melt into thin air, as spirits\ndo, but fly away noiselessly like birds or hunted deer. They seem to\nglide or float along rather than to walk. Hence the name _s\u00ecthche_ and\nits synonyms are often applied contemptuously to a person who sneaks\nabout or makes his approach without warning. Sometimes indeed the elves\nmake a rustling noise like that of a gust of wind, or a silk gown, or\na sword drawn sharply through the air, and their coming and going has\nbeen even indicated by frightful and unearthly shrieks, a pattering\nas of a flock of sheep, or the louder trampling of a troop of horses.\nGenerally, however, their presence is indicated at most by the cloud\nof dust raised by the eddy wind, or by some other curious natural\nphenomenon, by the illumination of their dwellings, the sound of their\nmusical instruments, songs, or speech.\n\nFor the same reason _s\u00ecth_ is applied not merely to what is Fairy, but\nto whatever is Fairy-like, unearthly, not of this world. Of this laxer\nuse of the term the following may be given as illustrations:\n\n_Breac sh\u00ecth_, \u2018Elfin pox,\u2019 hives, are spots that appear on the skin\nin certain diseases, as hooping-cough, and indicate a highly malignant\nstage of the malady. They are not ascribed to the Fairies, but are\ncalled _s\u00ecth_, because they appear and again disappear as it were\n\u2018silently,\u2019 without obvious cause, and more mysteriously than other\nsymptoms. Cows, said to have been found on the shores of Loscantire in\nHarris, Scorrybrec in Skye, and on the Island of Bernera, were called\n_cro s\u00ecth_, \u2018fairy cows,\u2019 simply because they were of no mortal breed,\nbut of a kind believed to live under the sea on _meillich_, seaweed.\nAnimals in the shape of cats, but in reality witches or demons, were\ncalled _cait sh\u00ecth_, \u2018Elfin cats,\u2019 and the Water Horse, which has no\nconnection whatever with the elves, is sometimes called _each s\u00ecth_,\nunearthly horse. The cuckoo is an _eun s\u00ecth_, a \u2018Fairy bird,\u2019 because,\nas is said, its winter dwelling is underground.\n\nA banner in the possession of the family of Macleod, of Macleod of\nSkye, is called \u2018Macleod\u2019s Fairy Banner\u2019 (_Bratach sh\u00ecth MhicL\u00e8oid_),\non account of the supernatural powers ascribed to it. When unfurled,\nvictory in war (_buaidh chogaidh_) attends it, and it relieves its\nfollowers from imminent danger.[2] Every pregnant woman who sees it is\ntaken in premature labour (a misfortune which happened, it is said, to\nthe English wife of a former chief in consequence of her irrepressible\ncuriosity to see the banner), and every cow casts her calf (_cha bhi\nbean no bo nach tilg a laogh_). Others, however, say the name is owing\nto the magic banner having been got from an Elfin sweetheart.\n\nA light, seen among the Hebrides, a sort of St. Elmo\u2019s light or\nWill-of-the-wisp, is called _teine s\u00ecth_, \u2018Fairy light,\u2019 though no one\never blamed the Fairies as the cause of it. In a semi-satirical song,\nof much merit for its spirit and ease of diction, composed in Tiree to\nthe owner of a crazy skiff that had gone to the Ross of Mull for peats\nand staid too long, the bard, in a spirited description of the owner\u2019s\nadventures and seamanship, says:\u2014\n\n  \u201cOnward past Greenock,\n    Like the deer of the cold high hills,\n  Breasting the rugged ground\n    With the hunter in pursuit;\n  She _sailed with Fairy motion_,[3]\n    Bounding smoothly in her pride,\n    Cleaving the green waves,\n      And passing to windward of the rest.\u201d[4]\n\nThis latitude in the use of the word has led some writers on the\nsubject to confound with the Fairies beings having as little connection\nwith them as with mankind. A similar laxness occurs in the use of the\nEnglish word Fairy. It is made to include kelpies, mermaids, and other\nsupernatural beings, having no connection with the true Fairy, or Elfin\nrace.\n\nThe following are the names by which the \u2018Folk\u2019 are known in Gaelic. It\nis observable that every one of the names, when applied to mortals, is\ncontemptuous and disparaging.\n\n_Sithche_ (pronounced _sheeche_) is the generic and commonest term. It\nis a noun of common gender, and its plural is _sithchean_ (sheechun).\nIn Graham\u2019s _Highlands of Perthshire_, a work more than once quoted by\nSir Walter Scott, but unreliable as an authority, this word is written\n_shi\u2019ich_.\n\n_Sireach_, plur. _sirich_, also _sibhrich_, is a provincial term; _an\nsiriche du_, \u2018the black elf,\u2019 _i.e._ the veriest elf.\n\n_Sithbheire_ (pronounced _sheevere_), a masculine noun, is mostly\napplied to changelings, or the elf substituted for children and animals\ntaken by the Fairies. Applied to men it is very contemptuous.\n\n_Siochaire_ is still more so. Few expressions of scorn are more\ncommonly applied to men than _siochaire grannda_, \u201cugly slink.\u201d\n\n_Duine s\u00ecth_ (plur. _daoine s\u00ecth_), \u2018a man of peace, a noiselessly\nmoving person, a fairy, an elf\u2019; fem. _Bean sh\u00ecth_ (gen. _mna s\u00ecth_,\nplur. _mnathan s\u00ecth_, gen. plur. with the article _nam ban sh\u00ecth_), \u2018a\nwoman of peace, an Elle woman,\u2019 are names that include the whole Fairy\nrace. _Bean sh\u00ecth_ has become naturalized in English under the form\n_Banshi_. The term was introduced from Ireland, but there appears no\nreason to suppose the Irish belief different from that of the Scottish\nHighlands. Any seeming difference has arisen since the introduction of\nthe Banshi to the literary world, and from the too free exercise of\nimagination by book-writers on an imperfectly understood tradition.\n\nThe _leannan s\u00ecth_, \u2018fairy sweetheart, familiar spirit,\u2019 might be of\neither sex. The use of this word by the translators of the Bible into\nGaelic is made a great handle of by the common people, to prove from\nScripture that Fairies actually exist. The Hebrew word so translated\nis rendered \u2018pythons\u2019 by the Vulgate, and \u2018consulters of the spirits\nof the dead\u2019 by modern scholars. Those said to have familiar spirits\nwere probably a class of magicians, who pretended to be media of\ncommunication with the spirit world, their \u2018familiar\u2019 making himself\nknown by sounds muttered from the ground through the instrumentality,\nas the Hebrew name denotes, of a skin bottle.\n\n_Brughadair_, \u2018a person from a brugh, or fairy dwelling,\u2019 applied to\nmen, means one who does a stupid or senseless action.\n\nOther names are _sluagh_, \u2018folk, a multitude\u2019; _sluagh eutrom_, \u2018light\nfolk\u2019; and _daoine beaga_, \u2018little men,\u2019 from the number and small size\nascribed to the elves.\n\n_Daoine C\u00f2ire_, \u2018honest folk,\u2019 had its origin in a desire to give\nno unnecessary offence. The \u2018folk\u2019 might be listening, and were\npleased when people spoke well of them, and angry when spoken of\nslightingly. In this respect they are very jealous. A wise man will not\nunnecessarily expose himself to their attacks, for, \u2018Better is a hen\u2019s\namity than its enmity\u2019 (_S\u2019fhearr s\u00ecth ciree na h-aimhreit_). The same\nfeeling made the Irish Celt call them _daoine matha_, \u2018good people,\u2019\nand the lowland Scot \u2018gude neighbours.\u2019\n\n\nTHE SIZE OF FAIRIES.\n\nThe difference in size ascribed to the race, though one of the most\nremarkable features in the superstition, and lying on its surface, has\nbeen taken little notice of by writers. At one time the elves are small\nenough to creep through key-holes, and a single potato is as much as\none of them can carry; at another they resemble mankind, with whom they\nform alliances, and to whom they hire themselves as servants; while\nsome are even said to be above the size of mortals, gigantic hags, in\nwhose lap mortal women are mere infants. In the Highlands the names\n_sithche_ and _daoine s\u00ecth_ are given to all these different sizes\nalike, little men, elfin youth, elfin dame, and elfin hag, all of whom\nare not mythical beings of different classes or kinds, but one and\nthe same race, having the same characteristics and dress, living on\nthe same food, staying in the same dwellings, associated in the same\nactions, and kept away by the same means. The easiest solution of the\nanomaly is that the fairies had the power of making themselves large or\nsmall at pleasure. There is no popular tale, however, which represents\nthem as exercising such a power, nor is it conformable to the rest of\ntheir characteristics that it should be ascribed to them. The true\nbelief is that the Fairies are a small race, the men \u2018about four feet\nor so\u2019 in height, and the women in many cases not taller than a little\ngirl (_cnapach caileig_). Being called \u2018little,\u2019 the exaggeration,\nwhich popular imagination loves, has diminished them till they appear\nas elves of different kinds. There is hardly a limit to the popular\nexaggeration of personal peculiarities. Og, King of Bashan, was a big\nman, and the Rabbis made his head tower to the regions of perpetual\nsnow, while his feet were parched in the deserts of Arabia. Finmac\nCoul was reputed strong, at least he thrashed the devil, and made him\nhowl. A weaver in Perthshire, known as \u2018the weaver with the nose\u2019\n(_figheadair na er\u00f2ine_), had a big nose, at least he carried his loom\nin it. Similarly the \u2018little men\u2019 came down to the \u2018size of half an\nell,\u2019 and even the height of a quart bottle.\n\nThe same peculiarity exists in the Teutonic belief. At times the elf\nis a dwarfish being that enters through key-holes and window-slits; at\nother times a great tall man. In different localities the Fairies are\nknown as Alfs, Huldra-Folk, Duergar, Trolls, Hill Folk, Little Folk,\nStill Folk, Pixies, etc. A difference of size, as well as of name, has\nled to these being described as separate beings, but they have all so\nmuch in common with the Celtic Fairies that we must conclude they were\noriginally the same.\n\n\nFAIRY DWELLINGS.\n\nThe Gaelic, as might be expected, abounds in words denoting the\ndiversified features of the scenery in a mountainous country. To this\nthe English language itself bears witness, having adopted so many\nGaelic words of the kind, as strath, glen, corrie, ben, knock, dun,\netc. From this copiousness it arises that the round green eminences,\nwhich were said to be the residences of the Fairies, are known in\nGaelic by several names which have no synonym in English.\n\n_S\u00ecthein_ (pron. sh\u00ef-en) is the name of any place in which the Fairies\ntake up their residence. It is known from the surrounding scenery by\nthe peculiarly green appearance and rounded form. Sometimes in these\nrespects it is very striking, being of so nearly conical a form, and\ncovered with such rich verdure, that a second look is required to\nsatisfy the observers it is not artificial. Its external appearance\nhas led to its being also known by various other names.\n\n_Tolman_ is a small green knoll, or hummock, of earth; _bac_, a bank\nof sand or earth; _cnoc_, knock, Scot. \u2018a knowe,\u2019 and its diminutive\n_cnocan_, a little knowe; _d\u00f9n_, a rocky mound or heap, such, for\ninstance, as the Castle rock of Edinburgh or Dumbarton, though\noften neither so steep nor so large; _\u00f2than_, a green elevation in\nwet ground; and _\u00f9igh_, a provincial term of much the same import\nas tolman. Even lofty hills have been represented as tenanted by\nFairies, and the highest point of a hill, having the rounded form,\ncharacteristic of Fairy dwellings is called its sh\u00ef-en (_s\u00ecthein na\nbeinne_). Rocks may be tenanted by the elves, but not caves. The\ndwellings of the race are below the outside or superficies of the\nearth, and tales representing the contrary may be looked upon with\nsuspicion as modern.\n\nThere is one genuine popular story in which the Fairy dwelling is in\nthe middle of a green plain, without any elevation to mark its site\nbeyond a horse-skull, the eye-sockets of which were used as the Fairy\nchimney.\n\nThese dwellings were tenanted sometimes by a single family only, more\nfrequently by a whole community. The elves were said to change their\nresidences as men do, and, when they saw proper themselves, to remove\nto distant parts of the country and more desirable haunts. To them, on\ntheir arrival in their new home, are ascribed the words:\n\n  \u201cThough good the haven we have left,\n  Better be the haven we have found.\u201d[5]\n\nThe Fairy hillock might be passed by the strangers without suspicion\nof its being tenanted, and cattle were pastured on it unmolested by\nthe \u201cgood people.\u201d There is, however, a common story in the Western\nIsles that a person was tethering his horse or cow for the night on\na green _tolman_ when a head appeared out of the ground, and told\nhim to tether the beast somewhere else, as he let rain into \u201ctheir\u201d\nhouse, and had nearly driven the tether-pin into the ear of one of\nthe inmates. Another, who was in the habit of pouring out dirty water\nat the door, was told by the Fairies to pour it elsewhere, as he was\nspoiling their furniture. He shifted the door to the back of the house,\nand prospered ever after. The Fairies were very grateful to any one who\nkept the sh\u00ef-en clean, and swept away cow or horse-droppings falling\non it. Finding a farmer careful of the roof of their dwelling, keeping\nit clean, and not breaking the sward with tether-pin or spade, they\nshowed their thankfulness by driving his horses and cattle to the\nsheltered side of the mound when the night proved stormy. Many believe\nthe Fairies themselves swept the hillock every night, so that in the\nmorning its surface was spotless.\n\n_Brugh_ (br\u016d) denotes the Fairy dwelling viewed as it were from the\ninside\u2014the interiors\u2014but is often used interchangeably with _s\u00ecthein_.\nIt is probably the same word as burgh, borough, or bro\u2019, and its\nreference is to the _number_ of inmates in the Fairy dwelling.[6]\n\n\nFAIRY DRESSES.\n\nThe Fairies, both Celtic and Teutonic, are dressed in green. In\nSkye, however, though Fairy women, as elsewhere, are always dressed\nin that colour, the men wear clothes of any colour like their human\nneighbours. They are frequently called _daoine beaga ruadh_, \u201clittle\nred men,\u201d from their clothes having the appearance of being dyed with\nthe lichen called _crotal_, a common colour of men\u2019s clothes, in\nthe North Hebrides. The coats of Fairy women are shaggy, or ruffled\n(_caiteineach_), and their caps curiously fitted or wrinkled. The men\nare said, but not commonly, to have _blue_ bonnets, and in the song\nto the murdered Elfin lover, the Elf is said to have a hat bearing \u201ca\nsmell of honied apples.\u201d This is perhaps the only Highland instance of\na hat, which is a prominent object in the Teutonic superstition, being\nascribed to the Fairies.\n\n\nTHE DEFECTS OF FAIRIES.\n\nGenerally some personal defect is ascribed to them, by which they\nbecome known to be of no mortal race. In Mull and the neighbourhood\nthey are said to have only one nostril, the other being imperforate\n(_an leth choinnlein aca druid-te_). The Elfin smith who made Finmac\nCoul\u2019s sword, \u201cthe son of Lun that never asked a second stroke\u201d (_Mac\nan Luin, nach d\u2019fh\u00e0g riamh fuigheal bheum_), had but one gloomy eye\nin his forehead. The _Bean shi\u00ech_ was detected by her extraordinary\nvoracity (a cow at a meal), a frightful front tooth, the entire want\nof a nostril, a web foot, praeternaturally long breasts, etc. She is\nalso said to be unable to suckle her own children, and hence the Fairy\ndesire to steal nursing women.\n\n\nTHEIR OCCUPATIONS.\n\nThe Fairies, as has been already said, are counterparts of mankind.\nThere are children and old people among them; they practise all kinds\nof trades and handicrafts; they possess cattle, dogs, arms; they\nrequire food, clothing, sleep; they are liable to disease, and can be\nkilled. So entire is the resemblance that they have even been betrayed\ninto intoxication. People entering their brughs, have found the inmates\nengaged in similar occupations to mankind, the women spinning,\nweaving, grinding meal, baking, cooking, churning, etc., and the men\nsleeping, dancing, and making merry, or sitting round a fire in the\nmiddle of the floor (as a Perthshire informant described it) \u201clike\ntinkers.\u201d Sometimes the inmates were absent on foraging expeditions or\npleasure excursions. The women sing at their work, a common practice in\nformer times with Highland women, and use distaff, spindle, handmills,\nand such like primitive implements. The men have smithies, in which\nthey make the Fairy arrows and other weapons. Some Fairy families or\ncommunities are poorer than others, and borrow meal and other articles\nof domestic use from each other and from their neighbours of mankind.\n\n\nFESTIVITIES.\n\nThere are stated seasons of festivity which are observed with much\nsplendour in the larger dwellings. The brugh is illumined, the tables\nglitter with gold and silver vessels, and the door is thrown open to\nall comers. Any of the human race entering on these occasions are\nhospitably and heartily welcomed; food and drink are offered them, and\ntheir health is pledged. Everything in the dwelling seems magnificent\nbeyond description, and mortals are so enraptured they forget\neverything but the enjoyment of the moment. Joining in the festivities,\nthey lose all thought as to the passage of time. The food is the most\nsumptuous, the clothing the most gorgeous ever seen, the music the\nsweetest ever heard, the dance the sprightliest ever trod. The whole\ndwelling is lustrous with magic splendour.\n\nAll this magnificence, however, and enjoyment are nothing but semblance\nand illusion of the senses. Mankind, with all their cares, and toils,\nand sorrows, have an infinitely more desirable lot, and the man\nis greatly to be pitied whom the Elves get power over, so that he\nexchanges his human lot and labour for their society or pleasures.\nWise people recommend that, in the circumstances, a man should not\nutter a word till he comes out again, nor, on any account, taste Fairy\nfood or drink. If he abstains he is very likely before long dismissed,\nbut if he indulges he straightway loses the will and the power ever\nto return to the society of men. He becomes insensible to the passage\nof time, and may stay, without knowing it, for years, and even ages,\nin the brugh. Many, who thus forgot themselves, are among the Fairies\nto this day. Should they ever again return to the open air, and their\nenchantment be broken, the Fairy grandeur and pleasure prove an empty\nshow, worthless, and fraught with danger. The food becomes disgusting\nrefuse, and the pleasures a shocking waste of time.\n\nThe Elves are great adepts in music and dancing, and a great part of\ntheir time seems to be spent in the practice of these accomplishments.\nThe changeling has often been detected by his fondness for them.\nThough in appearance an ill-conditioned and helpless brat, he has been\nknown, when he thought himself unobserved, to play the pipes with\nsurpassing skill, and dance with superhuman activity. Elfin music is\nmore melodious than human skill and instruments can produce, and there\nare many songs and tunes which are said to have been originally learned\nfrom the Fairies. The only musical instrument of the Elves is the\nbagpipes, and some of the most celebrated pipers in Scotland are said\nto have learned their music from them.\n\n\nFAIRY RAIDS.\n\nThe Gaelic belief recognizes no Fairyland or realm different from\nthe earth\u2019s surface on which men live and move. The dwellings are\nunderground, but it is on the natural face of the earth the Fairies\nfind their sustenance, pasture their cattle, and on which they forage\nand roam.\n\nThe seasons on which their festivities are held are the last night\nof every quarter (_h-uile latha ceann r\u00e0idhe_), particularly the\nnights before Beltane, the first of summer, and Hallowmas, the first\nof winter. On these nights, on Fridays, and on the last night of the\nyear, they are given to leaving home, and taking away whomsoever of\nthe human race they find helpless, or unguarded or unwary. They may\nbe encountered any time, but on these stated occasions men are to be\nparticularly on their guard against them.\n\nOn Fridays they obtrusively enter houses, and have even the impudence,\nit is said, to lift the lid off the pot to see what the family have\non the fire for dinner. Any Fairy story, told on this day, should be\nprefixed by saying, \u2018a blessing attend their departing and travelling!\nthis day is Friday and they will not hear us\u2019 (_Beannachd nan siubhal\n\u2019s nan isneachd! \u2019se \u2019n diugh Di-haoine \u2019s cha chluinn iad sinn_). This\nprevents Fairy ill-will coming upon the narrator for anything he may\nchance to say. No one should call the day by its proper name of Friday\n(_Di-haoine_), but \u2018the day of yonder town\u2019 (_latha bhatl\u2019 ud thall_).\nThe Fairies do not like to hear the day mentioned, and if anyone is so\nunlucky as to use the proper name, their wrath is directed elsewhere\nby the bystander adding \u2018on the cattle of yonder town\u2019 (_air cro a\nbhail\u2019 ud thall_), or \u2018on the farm of So-and-so,\u2019 mentioning anyone\nhe may have a dislike to. The fear of Fairy wrath also prevented the\nsharpening of knives on this day.\n\nThey are said to come always from the west. They are admitted into\nhouses, however well guarded otherwise, by the little hand-made cake,\nthe last of the baking (_bonnach beag boise_), called the _Fallaid_\nbannock, unless there has been a hole put through it with the finger,\nor a piece is broken off it, or a live coal is put on the top of\nit;[7] by the water in which men\u2019s feet have been washed; by the fire,\nunless it be properly \u2018raked\u2019 (_sm\u00e0ladh_), _i.e._ covered up to keep\nit alive for the night; or by the band of the spinning wheel, if left\nstretched on the wheel.\n\nThe reason assigned for taking water into the house at night was that\nthe Fairies would suck the sleeper\u2019s blood if they found no water in\nto quench their thirst. The water in which feet were washed, unless\nthrown out, or a burning peat were put in it, let them in, and was used\nby them to plash about in (_gan loireadh fh\u00e9in ann_) all night. Unless\nthe band was taken off the spinning wheel, particularly on the Saturday\nevenings, they came after the inmates of the house had retired to rest\nand used the wheel. Sounds of busy work were heard, but in the morning\nno work was found done, and possibly the wheel was disarranged.[8]\n\nOn the last night of the year they are kept out by decorating the house\nwith holly; and the last handful of corn reaped should be dressed up as\na Harvest Maiden (_Maighdean Bhuan_), and hung up in the farmer\u2019s house\nto aid in keeping them out till next harvest.\n\n\nWHEN SEEN.\n\nThere seems to be no definite rule as to the circumstances under which\nthe Fairies are to be seen. A person whose eye has been touched with\nFairy water can see them whenever they are present; the seer, possessed\nof second sight, often saw them when others did not; and on nights on\nwhich the _sh\u00ef-en_ is open the chance passer-by sees them rejoicing in\ntheir underground dwellings. A favourite time for their encounters with\nmen seems to be the dusk and wild stormy nights of mist and driving\nrain, when the streams are swollen and \u2018the roar of the torrent is\nheard on the hill.\u2019 They are also apt to appear when spoken of and when\na desire is expressed for their assistance; when proper precautions are\nomitted and those whose weakness and helplessness call for watchfulness\nand care, are neglected; when their power is contemned and when a\nsordid and churlish spirit is entertained. Often, without fault or\neffort, in places the most unexpected, mortals have been startled by\ntheir appearance, cries, or music.\n\n\nFOOD.\n\nFairy food consists principally of things intended for human food, of\nwhich the Elves take the _toradh_, _i.e._ the substance, fruit, or\nbenefit, leaving the semblance or appearance to men themselves. In\nthis manner they take cows, sheep, goats, meal, sowens, the produce\nof the land, etc. Cattle falling over rocks are particularly liable\nto being taken by them, and milk spilt in coming from the dairy is\ntheirs by right. They have, of food peculiar to themselves and not\nacquired from men, the root of silver weed (_brisgein_), the stalks of\nheather (_cuiseagan an fhraoich_), the milk of the red deer hinds and\nof goats, weeds gathered in the fields, and barleymeal. The _brisgein_\nis a root plentifully turned up by the plough in spring, and ranked in\nolden times as the \u2018seventh bread.\u2019 Its inferior quality and its being\nfound underground, are probably the cause of its being assigned to the\nFairies. It is a question whether the stalks of heather are the tops\nor the stems of the plant. Neither contain much sap or nourishment.\nThe Banshi Fairy, or Elle woman, has been seen by hunters milking the\nhinds, just as women milk cows.\n\nThose who partake of Fairy food are as hungry after their repast as\nbefore it. In appearance it is most sumptuous and inviting, but on\ngrace being said turns out to be horse-dung. Some, in their haste to\npartake of the gorgeous viands, were only disenchanted when \u2018returning\nthanks.\u2019\n\n\nGIFTS BESTOWED BY FAIRIES.\n\nThe Fairies can bestow almost any gift upon their favourites\u2014great\nskill in music and in work of all kinds\u2014give them cows and even\nchildren stolen for the purpose from others, leave them good fortune,\nkeep cattle from wandering into their crops at night, assist them in\nspring and harvest work, etc. Sometimes their marvellous skill is\ncommunicated to mortals, sometimes they come in person to assist. If a\nsmith, wright, or other tradesman catches them working with the tools\nof his trade (a thing they are addicted to doing) he can compel them\nto bestow on him the _Ceaird Chomuinn_, or association craft, that is\nto come to his assistance whenever he wants them. Work left near their\nhillocks over night has been found finished in the morning, and they\nhave been forced by men, entering their dwellings for the purpose, to\ntell the cure for diseases defying human skill.\n\nIn every instance, however, the benefit of the gift goes ultimately\nto the Fairies themselves, or (as it is put in the Gaelic expression)\n\u2018the fruit of it goes into their own bodies\u2019 (_Theid an toradh nan\ncuirp fh\u00e9in_). Their gifts have evil influence connected with them,\nand, however inviting at first, are productive of bad luck in the\nend. No wise man will desire either their company or their kindness.\nWhen they come to a house to assist at any work, the sooner they are\ngot rid of the better. If they are hired as servants their wages at\nfirst appear trifling, but will ultimately ruin their employer. It is\nunfortunate even to encounter any of the race, but to consort with them\nis disastrous in the extreme.\n\n\nLOANS.\n\n\u2018The giving and taking of loans,\u2019 according to the proverb, \u2018always\nprevailed in the world\u2019 (_Bha toirt is gabhail an iasad dol riamh feadh\nan t-saoghail_), and the custom is one to which the \u2018good neighbours\u2019\nare no strangers.\n\nThey are universally represented as borrowing meal, from each other\nand from men. In the latter case when they returned a loan, as they\nalways honestly did, the return was in _barleymeal_, two measures for\none of oatmeal; and this, on being kept in a place by itself, proved\ninexhaustible, provided the bottom of the vessel in which it was stored\nwas never made to appear, no question was asked, and no blessing was\npronounced over it. It would then neither vanish nor become horse-dung!\n\nWhen a loan is returned to them, they accept only the fair equivalent\nof what they have lent, neither less nor more. If more is offered they\ntake offence, and never give an opportunity for the same insult again.\n\nWe hear also of their borrowing a kettle or cauldron, and, under the\npower of a rhyme uttered by the lender at the time of giving it,\nsending it back before morning.\n\n\nEDDY WIND.\n\nWhen \u2018the folk\u2019 leave home in companies, they travel in eddies of wind.\nIn this climate these eddies are among the most curious of natural\nphenomena. On calm summer days they go past, whirling about straws and\ndust, and as not another breath of air is moving at the time their\ncause is sufficiently puzzling. In Gaelic the eddy is known as \u2018the\npeople\u2019s puff of wind\u2019 (_oiteag sluaigh_), and its motion \u2018travelling\non tall grass stems\u2019 (_falbh air chuiseagan tre\u00f2rach_). By throwing\none\u2019s left (or _toisgeul_) shoe at it, the Fairies are made to drop\nwhatever they may be taking away\u2014men, women, children, or animals. The\nsame result is attained by throwing one\u2019s bonnet, saying, \u2018this is\nyours, that\u2019s mine\u2019 (_Is leatsa so, is leamsa sin_), or a naked knife,\nor earth from a mole-hill.\n\nIn these eddies, people going on a journey at night have been \u2018lifted,\u2019\nand spent the night careering through the skies. On returning to the\nearth, though they came to the house last left, they were too stupefied\nto recognize either the house or its inmates. Others, through Fairy\ndespite, have wandered about all night on foot, failing to reach\ntheir intended destination though quite near it, and perhaps in the\nmorning finding themselves on the top of a distant hill, or in some\ninaccessible place to which they could never have made their way alone.\nEven in daylight some were carried in the Elfin eddy from one island to\nanother, in great terror lest they should fall into the sea.\n\n\nRAIN AND SUNSHINE, WIND AND RAIN.\n\nWhen there is rain with sunshine, the \u2018little people,\u2019 according to a\npopular rhyme, are at their meat,\n\n  \u201cRain and sun,\n  Little people at their meat.\u201d\n\nWhen wind and rain come from opposite directions (which may for an\ninstant be possible in a sudden shift of wind), by throwing some\nhorse-dung against the wind, the Fairies are brought down in a shower!\n\n\nFAIRY ARROWS, ETC.\n\nNatural objects of a curious appearance, or bearing a fanciful\nresemblance to articles used by men, are also associated with the\nFairies. The reedmace plant is called \u2018the distaff of the Fairy women\u2019\n(_cuigeal nam ban sh\u00ecth_), the foxglove the \u2018thimble of the Fairy\nold women\u2019 (_miaran nan cailleacha s\u00ecth_), though more commonly \u2018the\nthimble of dead old women\u2019 (_m. nan cailleacha marbh_). A substance,\nfound on the shores of the Hebrides, like a stone, red (_ruadh_), and\nhalf dark (_lith dhorcha_), holed, is called \u2018Elf\u2019s blood\u2019 (_fuil\nsiochaire_).[9]\n\nThe Fairy arrow (_Saighead sh\u00ecth_) owes its name to a similar fancy.\nIt is known also as \u2018Fairy flint\u2019 (_spor sh\u00ecth_), and consists of a\ntriangular piece of flint, bearing the appearance of an arrow head.\nIt probably originally formed part of the rude armoury of the savages\nof the stone period. Popular imagination, struck by its curious form,\nand ignorant of its origin, ascribed it to the Fairies. It was said\nto be frequently shot at the hunter, to whom the Elves have a special\naversion, because he kills the hinds, on the milk of which they live.\nThey could not throw it themselves, but compelled some mortal (_duine\nsaoghailte_) who was being carried about in their company to throw it\nfor them. If the person aimed at was a friend, the thrower managed\nto miss his aim, and the Fairy arrow proved innocuous. It was found\nlying beside the object of Fairy wrath, and was kept as a valuable\npreservation in future against similar dangers, and for rubbing to\nwounds (_suathadh ri creuchdun_). The man or beast struck by it became\nparalyzed, and to all appearance died shortly after. In reality they\nwere taken away by the elves, and only their appearance remained. Its\npoint being blunt was an indication that it had done harm.\n\nThe Fairy spade (_caibe s\u00ecth_) is a smooth, slippery, black stone, in\nshape \u2018like the sole of a shoe.\u2019 It was put in water, given to sick\npeople and cattle.\n\n\nCATTLE.\n\nEverywhere in the Highlands, the red-deer are associated with the\nFairies, and in some districts, as Lochaber and Mull, are said to be\ntheir only cattle. This association is sufficiently accounted for by\nthe Fairy-like appearance and habits of the deer. In its native haunts,\nin remote and misty corries, where solitude has her most undisturbed\nabode, its beauty and grace of form, combined with its dislike to the\npresence of man, and even of the animals man has tamed, amply entitle\nit to the name of _s\u00ecth_. Timid and easily startled by every appearance\nand noise, it is said to be unmoved by the presence of the Fairies.\nPopular belief also says that no deer is found dead with age, and that\nits horns, which it sheds every year, are not found, because hid by the\nFairies. In their transformations it was peculiar for the Fairy women\nto assume the shape of the red-deer, and in that guise they were often\nencountered by the hunter. The elves have a particular dislike to those\nwho kill the hinds, and, on finding them in lonely places, delight in\nthrowing elf-bolts at them. When a dead deer is carried home at night\nthe Fairies lay their weight on the bearer\u2019s back, till he feels as if\nhe had a house for a burden. On a penknife, however, being stuck in\nthe deer it becomes very light. There are occasional allusions to the\nFairy women having herds of deer. The Carlin Wife of the Spotted Hill\n(_Cailleach Beinne Bhric hor\u00f2_), who, according to a popular rhyme,\nwas \u2018large and broad and tall,\u2019 had a herd which she would not allow\nto descend to the beach, and which \u2018loved the water-cresses by the\nfountain high in the hills better than the black weeds of the shore.\u2019\nThe old women of Ben-y-Ghloe, in Perthshire, and of Clibrich, in\nSutherlandshire,[10] seem to have been _s\u00ecth_ women of the same sort.\n\u2018I never,\u2019 said an old man (he was upwards of eighty years of age) in\nthe Island of Mull, questioned some years ago on the subject, \u2018heard\nof the Fairies having cows, but I always heard that deer were their\ncattle.\u2019\n\nIn other parts of the Highlands, as in Skye, though the Fairies are\nsaid to keep company with the deer, they have cows like those of men.\nWhen one of them appears among a herd of cattle the whole fold of them\ngrows frantic, and follows lowing wildly. The strange animal disappears\nby entering a rock or knoll, and the others, unless intercepted, follow\nand are never more seen. The Fairy cow is dun (_odhar_) and \u2018hummel,\u2019\nor hornless. In Skye, however, Fairy cattle are said to be speckled and\nred (_crodh breac ruadh_), and to be able to cross the sea. It is not\non every place that they graze. There were not above ten such spots\nin all Skye. The field of Annat (_achadh na h-annaid_), in the Braes\nof Portree, is one. When the cattle came home at night from pasture,\nthe following were the words used by the Fairy woman, standing on Dun\nGerra-sheddar (_D\u00f9n Ghearra-seadar_), near Portree, as she counted her\ncharge:\n\n  \u201cCrooked one, dun one,\n  Little wing grizzled,\n  Black cow, white cow,\n  Little bull black-head,\n  My milch kine have come home,\n  O dear! that the herdsman would come!\u201d\n\n\nHORSES.\n\nIn the Highland creed the Fairies but rarely have horses. In Perthshire\nthey have been seen on a market day riding about on white horses; in\nTiree two Fairy ladies were met riding on what seemed to be horses, but\nin reality were ragweeds; and in Skye the elves have galloped the farm\nhorses at full speed and in dangerous places, sitting with their faces\nto the tails.\n\nWhen horses neigh at night it is because they are ridden by the\nFairies, and pressed too hard. The neigh is one of distress, and if\nthe hearer exclaims aloud, \u201cYour saddle and pillion be upon you\u201d (_Do\nshrathair \u2019s do phillein ort_) the Fairies tumble to the ground.\n\n\nDOGS.\n\nThe Fairy dog (_cu s\u00ecth_) is as large as a two-year-old stirk, a dark\ngreen colour, with ears of deep green. It is of a lighter colour\ntowards the feet. In some cases it has a long tail rolled up in a coil\non its back, but others have the tail flat and plaited like the straw\nrug of a pack-saddle. Bran, the famous dog that Finmac Coul had, was of\nElfin breed, and from the description given of it by popular tradition,\ndecidedly parti-coloured:\n\n  \u201cBran had yellow feet,\n    Its two sides black and belly white;\n  Green was the back of the hunting hound,\n    Its two pointed ears blood-red.\u201d\n\nBran had a venomous shoe (_Br\u00f2g nimhe_), with which it killed whatever\nliving creature it struck, and when at full speed, and \u2018like its\nfather\u2019 (_dol ri athair_), was seen as three dogs, intercepting the\ndeer at three passes.\n\nThe Fairy hound was kept tied as a watch dog in the brugh, but at times\naccompanied the women on their expeditions or roamed about alone,\nmaking its lairs in clefts of the rocks. Its motion was silent and\ngliding, and its bark a rude clamour (_blaodh_). It went in a straight\nline, and its bay has been last heard, by those who listened for it,\nfar out at sea. Its immense footmarks, as large as the spread of the\nhuman hand, have been found next day traced in the mud, in the snow,\nor on the sands. Others say it makes a noise like a horse galloping,\nand its bay is like that of another dog, only louder. There is a\nconsiderable interval between each bark, and at the third (it only\nbarks thrice) the terror-struck hearer is overtaken and destroyed,\nunless he has by that time reached a place of safety.\n\nOrdinary dogs have a mortal aversion to the Fairies, and give chase\nwhenever the elves are sighted. On coming back, the hair is found to be\nscraped off their bodies, all except the ears, and they die soon after.\n\n\nCATS.\n\nElfin cats (_cait sh\u00ecth_) are explained to be of a wild, not a\ndomesticated, breed, to be as large as dogs, of a black colour, with a\nwhite spot on the breast, and to have arched backs and erect bristles\n(_crotach agus m\u00f9rlach_). Many maintain these wild cats have no\nconnection with the Fairies, but are witches in disguise.\n\n\nFAIRY THEFT.\n\nThe elves have got a worse name for stealing than they deserve. So far\nas taking things without the knowledge or consent of the owners is\nconcerned, the accusation is well-founded; they neither ask nor obtain\nleave, but there are important respects in which their depredations\ndiffer from the pilferings committed among men by jail-birds and other\ndishonest people.\n\nThe Fairies do not take their booty away bodily; they only take what is\ncalled in Gaelic its _toradh_, _i.e._ its substance, virtue, fruit, or\nbenefit. The outward appearance is left, but the reality is gone. Thus,\nwhen a cow is elf-taken, it appears to its owner only as suddenly\nsmitten by some strange disease (_chaidh am beathach ud a ghonadh_).\nIn reality the cow is gone, and only its semblance remains, animated\nit may be by an Elf, who receives all the attentions paid to the sick\ncow, but gives nothing in return. The seeming cow lies on its side, and\ncannot be made to rise. It consumes the provender laid before it, but\ndoes not yield milk or grow fat. In some cases it gives plenty of milk,\nbut milk that yields no butter. If taken up a hill, and rolled down\nthe incline, it disappears altogether. If it dies, its flesh ought not\nto be eaten\u2014it is not beef, but a stock of alder wood, an aged Elf, or\nsome trashy substitute. Similarly when the _toradh_ of land is taken,\nthere remains the appearance of a crop, but a crop without benefit to\nman or beast\u2014the ears are unfilled, the grain is without weight, the\nfodder without nourishment.\n\nA still more important point of difference is, that the Fairies only\ntake away what men deserve to lose. When mortals make a secret of\n(_cleth_), or grumble (_ceasad_) over, what they have, the Fairies\nget the benefit, and the owner is a poor man, in the midst of his\nabundance. When (to use an illustration the writer has more than once\nheard) a farmer speaks disparagingly of his crop, and, though it be\nheavy, tries to conceal his good fortune, the Fairies take away the\nbenefit of his increase. The advantage goes away mysteriously \u2018in pins\nand needles\u2019 (_na phr\u00ecneachan \u2019s na shn\u00e0dun_), \u2018in alum and madder\u2019\n(_na alm \u2019s na mhadair_), as the saying is, and the farmer gains\nnothing from his crop. Particularly articles of food, the possession of\nwhich men denied with oaths (_air a thiomnadh_), became Fairy property.\n\nThe elves are also blamed for lifting with them articles mislaid. These\nare generally restored as mysteriously and unaccountably as they were\ntaken away. Thus, a woman blamed the elves for taking her thimble. It\nwas placed beside her, and when looked for could not be found. Some\ntime after she was sitting alone on the hillside and found the thimble\nin her lap. This confirmed her belief in its being the Fairies that\ntook it away. In a like mysterious manner a person\u2019s bonnet might be\nwhipped off his head, or the pot for supper be lifted off the fire, and\nleft by invisible hands on the middle of the floor.\n\nThe accusation of taking milk is unjust. It is brought against the\nelves only in books, and never in the popular creed. The Fairies take\ncows, sheep, goats, horses, and it may be the substance or benefit\n(_toradh_) of butter and cheese, but not milk.\n\nMany devices were employed to thwart Fairy inroads. A burning ember\n(_eibhleag_) was put into \u2018sowens\u2019 (_cabhruich_), one of the weakest\nand most unsubstantial articles of human food and very liable to Fairy\nattack. It was left there till the dish was ready for boiling, _i.e._\nabout three days after. A sieve should not be allowed out of the house\nafter dark, and no meal unless it be sprinkled with salt. Otherwise,\nthe Fairies may, by means of them, take the substance out of the whole\nfarm produce. For the same reason a hole should be put with the finger\nin the little cake (_bonnach beag \u2019s toll ann_), made with the remnant\nof the meal after a baking, and when given to children, as it usually\nis, a piece should be broken off it. A nail driven into a cow, killed\nby falling over a precipice, was supposed by the more superstitious to\nkeep the elves away.\n\nOne of the most curious thefts ascribed to them was that of querns,[11]\nor handmills (_Bra_, _Brathuinn_). To keep them away these handy\nand useful implements should be turned _deiseal_, _i.e._ with the\nright hand turn, as sunwise. What is curious in the belief is, that\nthe handmill is said to have been originally got from the Fairies\nthemselves. Its sounds have often been heard by the belated peasant, as\nit was being worked inside some grassy knoll, and songs, sung by the\nFairy women employed at it, have been learned.\n\n\nSTEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN.\n\nMost frequently it was women, not yet risen from childbed, and their\nbabes that the Fairies abducted. On every occasion of a birth,\ntherefore, the utmost anxiety prevailed to guard the mother and child\nfrom their attacks. It is said that the Fairy women are unable to\nsuckle their own children, and hence their desire to secure a human\nwet-nurse. This, however, does not explain why they want the children,\nnor indeed is it universally a part of the creed.\n\nThe first care was not to leave a woman alone during her confinement.\nA house full of women gathered and watched for three days, in some\nplaces for eight. Various additional precautions against the Fairies\nwere taken in various localities. A row of iron nails were driven into\nthe front board of the bed; the smoothing iron or a reaping hook was\nplaced under it and in the window; an old shoe was put in the fire;\nthe door posts were sprinkled with _maistir_, urine kept for washing\npurposes\u2014a liquid extremely offensive to the Fairies; the Bible was\nopened, and the breath blown across it in the face of the woman in\nchildbed; mystic words of threads were placed about the bed; and, when\nleaving at the end of the three days, the midwife left a little cake\nof oatmeal with a hole in it in the front of the bed. The father\u2019s\nshirt wrapped round the new-born babe was esteemed a preservative, and\nif the marriage gown was thrown over the wife she could be recovered\nif, notwithstanding, or from neglect of these precautions, she were\ntaken away. The name of the Deity solemnly pronounced over the child in\nbaptism was an additional protection. If the Fairies were seen, water\nin which an ember was extinguished, or the burning peats themselves,\nthrown at them, drove them away. Even quick wit and readiness of reply\nin the mother has sent them off.[12]\n\nIt is not to be supposed that these precautions were universally known\nor practised. In that case such a thing as an elf-struck child would\nbe unknown. The gathering of women and the placing of iron about\nthe bed seem to have been common, but the burning of old shoes was\nconfined to the Western Isles. If it existed elsewhere, its memory has\nbeen forgotten. That it is an old part of the creed is evident from\nthe dislike of the Fairies to strong smells, being also part of the\nTeutonic creed. The blowing of the breath across the Bible existed in\nSunart, part of the west of Inverness-shire.\n\n\nCHANGELINGS.\n\nWhen they succeeded in their felonious attempts, the elves left\ninstead of the mother, and bearing her semblance, a stock of wood\n(_stoc maide_), and in place of the infant an old mannikin of their\nown race. The child grew up a peevish misshapen brat, ever crying and\ncomplaining. It was known, however, to be a changeling by the skilful\nin such matters, from the large quantities of water it drank\u2014a tubful\nbefore morning, if left beside it\u2014its large teeth, its inordinate\nappetite, its fondness for music and its powers of dancing, its\nunnatural precocity, or from some unguarded remark as to its own age.\nIt is to the aged elf, left in the place of child or beast, that the\nname _sithbheire_ (pron. _sheevere_) is properly given, and as may well\nbe supposed, to say of one who has an ancient manner or look, \u2018he is\nbut a sithbheire,\u2019 or \u2018he is only one that came from a brugh,\u2019 is an\nexpression of considerable contempt. When a person does a senseless\naction, it is said of him, that he has been \u2018taken out of himself\u2019\n(_air a thoirt as_), that is, taken away by the Fairies.\n\nThe changeling was converted into the stock of a tree by saying a\npowerful rhyme over him, or by sticking him with a knife. He could be\ndriven away by running at him with a red-hot ploughshare; by getting\nbetween him and the bed and threatening him with a drawn sword; by\nleaving him out on the hillside, and paying no attention to his\nshrieking and screaming; by putting him sitting on a gridiron, or in a\ncreel, with a fire below; by sprinkling him well out of the _maistir_\ntub; or by dropping him into the river. There can be no doubt these\nmodes of treatment would rid a house of any disagreeable visitor, at\nleast of the human race.\n\nThe story of the changeling, who was detected by means of egg-shells,\nseems in some form or other to be as widespread as the superstition\nitself. Empty egg-shells are ranged round the hearth, and the\nchangeling, when he finds the house quiet and thinks himself\nunobserved, gets up from bed and examines them. Finding them empty, he\nis heard to remark sententiously, as he peers into each, \u201cthis is but\na wind-bag (_chaneil a\u2019 so ach balg f\u00e0s_); I am so many hundred years\nold, and I never saw the like of this.\u201d\n\n\nDEFORMITIES.\n\nMany of the deformities in children are attributed to the Fairies.\nWhen a child is incautiously left alone by its mother, for however\nshort a time, the Fairies may come and give its little legs such a\ntwist as will leave it hopelessly lame ever after. To give them\ntheir due, however, they sometimes took care of children whom they\nfound forgotten, and even of grown up people sleeping incautiously in\ndangerous places.\n\n\nNURSES.\n\nThe elves have children of their own, and require the services of\nmidwives like the human race. \u2018Howdies,\u2019 as they are called, taken in\nthe way of their profession to the Fairy dwelling, found on coming out\nthat the time they had stayed was incredibly longer or shorter than\nthey imagined, and none of them was ever the better ultimately of her\nadventure.\n\n\nTHE MEN OF PEACE.\n\nThe Gaelic _s\u00ecthche_, like the English elf, has two ideas, almost\namounting to two meanings, attached to it. In the plural, _s\u00ecthchean_,\nit conveys the idea of a diminutive race, travelling in eddy winds,\nlifting men from the ground, stealing, and entering houses in\ncompanies; while in the singular, _s\u00ecthche_, the idea conveyed is that\nof one who approaches mankind in dimensions. The \u2018man and woman of\npeace\u2019 hire themselves to the human race for a day\u2019s work or a term of\nservice, and contract marriages with it. The elfin youth (_Gille s\u00ecth_)\nhas enormous strength, that of a dozen men it is said, and the elfin\nwomen (or Banshis) are remarkably handsome. The aged of the race were\ngenerally the reverse, in point of beauty, especially those of them\nsubstituted for Fairy-abducted children and animals.\n\nMortals should have nothing to do with any of the race. No good comes\nout of the unnatural connection. However enchanting at first, the\nend is disaster and death. When, therefore, the _s\u00ecthche_ is first\nmet, it is recommended by the prudent to pass by without noticing;\nor, if obliged or incautious enough to speak, and pressed to make\nan appointment, to give fair words, saying, \u2018If I promise that, I\nwill fulfil it\u2019 (_ma gheallas mi sin, co-gheallaidh mi e_), still\nsufficiently near houses to attract the attention of the dogs. They\nimmediately give chase, and the Fairy flies away.\n\nThe _Gille s\u00ecth_ (or Elfin youth) is very solicitous about his\noffspring when his mortal mistress bears him children, and the love\nthat women have to him as their lover or familiar spirit (_leannan\ns\u00ecth_) is unnaturally passionate. The Elfin mistress is not always so\nsecure of the affections of her human lover. He may get tired of her\nand leave her. On meeting her first he is put under spells to keep\nappointments with her in future every night. If he dares for one night\nto neglect his appointment, she gives him such a sound thrashing the\nfirst time she gets hold of him that he never neglects it again. She\ndisappears at the cock-crowing. While he remains faithful to her, she\nassists him at his trade as farmer, shepherd, etc., makes him presents\nof clothes, tells him when he is to die, and even when he is to leave\nher and get married. She gives _Sian_ a magic belt or other charm, to\nprotect him in danger. If offended, however, her lover is in danger of\nhis life. The children of these alliances are said to be the _urisks_.\n\nThose who have taken Elfin women for wives have found a sad termination\nto their mesalliance. The defect or peculiarity of the fair\nenchantress, which her lover at first had treated as of no consequence,\nproves his ruin. Her voracity thins his herds, he gets tired of her\nor angry with her, and in an unguarded moment reproaches her with her\norigin. She disappears, taking with her the children and the fortune\nshe brought him. The gorgeous palace, fit for the entertainment\nof kings, vanishes, and he finds himself again in his old black\ndilapidated hut, with a pool of rain-drippings from the roof in the\nmiddle of the floor.\n\n\nTHE BEAN NIGHE, OR WASHING WOMAN.\n\nAt times the Fairy woman (_Bean sh\u00ecth_) is seen in lonely places,\nbeside a pool or stream, washing the linen of those soon to die, and\nfolding and beating it with her hands on a stone in the middle of the\nwater. She is then known as the _Bean-nighe_, or washing woman; and her\nbeing seen is a sure sign that death is near.\n\nIn Mull and Tiree she is said to have praeternaturally long breasts,\nwhich are in the way as she stoops at her washing. She throws them\nover her shoulders, and they hang down her back. Whoever sees her\nmust not turn away, but steal up behind and endeavour to approach her\nunawares. When he is near enough he is to catch one of her breasts,\nand, putting it to his mouth, call herself to witness that she is his\nfirst nursing or foster-mother (_muime c\u00ecche_). She answers that he\nhas need of that being the case, and will then communicate whatever\nknowledge he desires. If she says the shirt she is washing is that of\nan enemy he allows the washing to go on, and that man\u2019s death follows;\nif it be that of her captor or any of his friends, she is put a stop to.\n\nIn Skye the Bean-nighe is said to be squat in figure (_tiughiosal_),\nor not unlike a \u2018small pitiful child\u2019 (_paisde beag br\u00f2nach_). If a\nperson caught her she told all that would befall him in after life.\nShe answered all his questions, but he must answer hers. Men did not\nlike to tell what she said. Women dying in childbed were looked upon\nas dying prematurely, and it was believed that unless all the clothes\nleft by them were washed they would have to wash them themselves till\nthe natural period of their death. It was women \u2018dreeing this weird\u2019\nwho were the washing women. If the person hearing them at work beating\ntheir clothes (_slacartaich_) caught them before being observed, he\ncould not be heard by them; but if they saw him first, he lost the\npower of his limbs (_l\u00f9gh_).\n\nIn the highlands of Perthshire the washing woman is represented as\nsmall and round, and dressed in pretty green. She spreads by moonlight\nthe linen winding sheets of those soon to die, and is caught by getting\nbetween her and the stream.\n\nShe can also be caught and mastered and made to communicate her\ninformation at the point of the sword. Oscar, son of the poet Ossian,\nmet her on his way to the Cairbre\u2019s feast, at which the dispute arose\nwhich led to his death. She was encountered by Hugh of the Little Head\non the evening before his last battle, and left him as her parting gift\n(_f\u00e0gail_), that he should become the frightful apparition he did after\ndeath, the most celebrated in the West Highlands.\n\n\nSONG.\n\nThe song of the Fairy woman foreboded great calamity, and men did not\nlike to hear it. Scott calls it\n\n  \u201cThe fatal Banshi\u2019s boding scream,\u201d\n\nbut it was not a scream, only a wailing murmur (_torman mulaid_) of\nunearthly sweetness and melancholy.\n\n\nGLAISTIG.\n\nThe Banshi is sometimes confounded with the Glaistig, the apparition\nof a woman, acting as tutelary guardian of the site to which she is\nattached. Many people use Banshi and Glaistig as convertible terms,\nand the confusion thence arising extends largely to books. The true\nGlaistig is a woman of human race, who has been put under enchantments,\nand to whom a Fairy nature has been given. She wears a _green_ dress,\nlike Fairy women, but her face is wan and grey, whence her name\nGlaistig, from _glas_, grey. She differs also in haunting castles and\nthe folds of the cattle, and confining herself to servant\u2019s work.\n\n\nELFIN QUEEN.\n\nThe Banshi is, without doubt, the original of the Queen of Elfland,\nmentioned in ballads of the South of Scotland. The Elfin Queen met\nThomas of Ercildoune by the Eildon tree, and took him to her enchanted\nrealm, where he was kept for seven years. She gave him the power of\nforetelling the future, \u2018the tongue that never lied.\u2019 At first she was\nthe most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but when he next looked\u2014\n\n  \u201cThe hair that hung upon her head,\n    The half was black, the half was grey,\n  And all the rich clothing was away\n    That he before saw in that stead;\n  Her eyes seemed out that were so grey,\n    And all her body like the lead.\u201d\n\nIn Gaelic tales seven years is a common period of detention among the\nFairies, the _leannan s\u00ecth_ communicates to her lover the knowledge\nof future events, and in the end is looked upon by him with aversion.\nThere is no mention, however, of Fairyland, or of an Elfin King or\nQueen, and but rarely of Fairies riding. True Thomas, who is as well\nknown in Highland lore as he is in the Lowlands, is said to be still\namong the Fairies, and to attend every market on the look-out for\nsuitable horses. When he has made up his complement he will appear\nagain among men, and a great battle will be fought on the Clyde.\n\n\nPROTECTION AGAINST FAIRIES.\n\nThe great protection against the Elfin race (and this is perhaps\nthe most noticeable point in the whole superstition) is _Iron_,\nor preferably steel (_Cruaidh_). The metal in any form\u2014a sword, a\nknife, a pair of scissors, a needle, a nail, a ring, a bar, a piece\nof reaping-hook, a gun-barrel, a fish-hook (and tales will be given\nillustrative of all these)\u2014is all-powerful. On entering a Fairy\ndwelling, a piece of steel, a knife, needle, or fish-hook, stuck in the\ndoor, takes from the Elves the power of closing it till the intruder\ncomes out again. A knife stuck in a deer carried home at night keeps\nthem from laying their weight on the animal. A knife or nail in one\u2019s\npocket prevents his being \u2018lifted\u2019 at night. Nails in the front bench\nof the bed keep Elves from women \u2018in the straw,\u2019 and their babes. As\nadditional safe-guards, the smoothing-iron should be put below the bed,\nand the reaping-hook in the window. A nail in the carcase of a bull\nthat fell over a rock was believed to preserve its flesh from them.\nPlaying the Jew\u2019s harp (_tromb_) kept the Elfin women at a distance\nfrom the hunter, because the tongue of the instrument is of steel. So\nalso a shoemaker\u2019s awl in the door-post of his bothy kept a Glaistig\nfrom entering.\n\n_Fire_ thrown into water in which the feet have been washed takes away\nthe power of the water to admit the Fairies into the house at night;\na burning peat put in sowens to hasten their fermenting (_greasadh\ngortachadh_) kept the substance in them till ready to boil. Martin\n(_West Isl._) says fire was carried round lying-in women, and round\nabout children before they were christened, to keep mother and infant\nfrom the power of evil spirits. When the Fairies were seen coming in at\nthe door burning embers thrown towards them drove them away.\n\nAnother safe-guard is _oatmeal_. When it is sprinkled on one\u2019s clothes\nor carried in the pocket no Fairy will venture near, and it was usual\nwith people going on journeys after nightfall to adopt the precaution\nof taking some with them. In Mull and Tiree the pockets of boys going\nany distance after nightfall were filled with oatmeal by their anxious\nmothers, and old men are remembered who sprinkled themselves with it\nwhen going on a night journey. In Skye, oatmeal was not looked upon\nas proper Fairy food, and it was said if a person wanted to see the\nFairies he should not take oatmeal with him; if he did he would not\nbe able to see them. When \u2018the folk\u2019 take a loan of meal they do not\nappear to have any objections to oatmeal. The meal returned, however,\nwas always barleymeal.\n\nOatmeal, taken out of the house after dark, was sprinkled with salt,\nand unless this was done, the Fairies might through its instrumentality\ntake the substance out of the farmer\u2019s whole grain. To keep them from\ngetting the benefit of meal itself, housewives, when baking oatmeal\nbannocks, made a little thick cake with the last of the meal, between\ntheir palms (not kneading it like the rest of the bannocks), for the\nyoungsters to put a hole through it with the forefinger. This palm\nbannock (_bonnach boise_) is not to be toasted on the gridiron, but\nplaced to the fire leaning against a stone (_leac nam bonnach_),\nwell-known where a \u2018griddle\u2019 is not available. Once the Fairies were\novertaken carrying with them the benefit (_toradh_) of the farm in a\nlarge thick cake, with the handle of the quern (_sgonnan na br\u00e0_) stuck\nthrough it, and forming a pole on which it was carried. This cannot\noccur when the last bannock baked (_Bonnach fallaid_) is a little cake\nwith a hole in it (_Bonnach beag \u2019s toll ann_).[13]\n\n_Maistir_, or stale urine, kept for the scouring of blankets and other\ncloth, when sprinkled on the cattle and on the door-posts and walls of\nthe house, kept the Fairies, and indeed every mischief, at a distance.\nThis sprinkling was done regularly on the last evening of every quarter\nof the year (_h-uile latha ceann r\u00e0idhe_).\n\nPlants of great power were the _M\u00f2than_ (_Sagina procumbens_, trailing\npearlwort) and _Achlasan Challum-chille_ (_Hypericum pulcrum_, St.\nJohn\u2019s wort). The former protected its possessor from fire and the\nattacks of the Fairy women. The latter warded off fevers, and kept the\nFairies from taking people away in their sleep. There are rhymes which\nmust be said when these plants are pulled.\n\nStories representing the Bible as a protection must be of a recent\ndate. It is not so long since a copy of the Bible was not available in\nthe Highlands for that or any other purpose. When the Book did become\naccessible, it is not surprising that, as in other places, a blind\nunmeaning reverence should accumulate round it.\n\nSuch are the main features of the superstition of the _S\u00ecthchean_,\nthe still-folk, the noiseless people, as it existed, and in some\ndegree still exists, in the Highlands, and particularly in the Islands\nof Scotland. There is a clear line of demarcation between it and\nevery other Highland superstition, though the distinction has not\nalways been observed by writers on the subject. The following Fairy\ncharacteristics deserve to be particularly noticed.\n\nIt was peculiar to the Fairy women to assume the shape of _deer_;\nwhile witches became mice, hares, cats, gulls, or black sheep, and the\ndevil a he-goat or gentleman with a horse\u2019s or pig\u2019s foot. A running\nstream could not be crossed by evil spirits, ghosts, and apparitions,\nbut made no difference to the Fairies. If all tales be true, they\ncould give a dip in the passing to those they were carrying away;\nand the stone, on which the \u201cWashing Woman\u201d folded the shirts of\nthe doomed, was in the middle of water. Witches took the milk from\ncows; the Fairies had cattle of their own; and when they attacked\nthe farmer\u2019s dairy, it was to take away the cows themselves, _i.e._\nthe cow in appearance remained, but its benefit (the real cow) was\ngone. The Elves have even the impertinence at times to drive back\nthe cow at night to pasture on the corn of the person from whom they\nhave stolen it. The phrenzy with which Fairy women afflicted men was\nonly a wandering madness (\u03c6\u03bf\u03b9\u03c4\u03b1\u03bb\u03b5\u03b1 \u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03b1), which made them\nroam about restlessly, without knowing what they were doing, or leave\nhome at night to hold appointments with the Elfin women themselves;\nby druidism (_druidheachd_) men were driven from their kindred, and\nmade to imagine themselves undergoing marvellous adventures and\nchanging shape. Dogs crouched, or leapt at their master\u2019s throat, in\nthe presence of evil spirits, but they gave chase to the Fairies.\nNight alone was frequented by the powers of darkness, and they fled\nat the cock-crowing; the Fairies were encountered in the day-time as\nwell. There was no intermarriage between men and the other beings of\nsuperstition, but women were courted and taken away by Fairy men, and\nmen courted Fairy women (or rather were courted by them), married, and\ntook them to their houses. A well-marked characteristic is the tinge\nof the ludicrous that pervades the creed. The Fairy is an object of\ncontempt as well as of fear, and, though the latter be the prevailing\nfeeling, there is observably a desire to make the Elves contemptible\nand ridiculous. A person should not unnecessarily provoke the anger\nof those who cannot retaliate, much less of a race so ready to take\noffence and so sure to retaliate as the Fairies. In revenge for this\nspecies of terror, the imagination loves to depict the Elves in\npositions and doing actions that provoke a smile. The part of the\nbelief which relates to the Banshi is comparatively free from this\nfeeling, but the \u2018little people\u2019 and changelings come in for a full\nshare of it. Perhaps this part of the superstition is not entirely to\nbe explained as the recoil of the mind from the oppression of a belief\nin invisible beings that may be cognizant of men\u2019s affairs and only\nwait for an opportunity to exert an evil influence over them, but its\nexistence is striking.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTALES ILLUSTRATIVE OF FAIRY SUPERSTITION.\n\n\nLURAN.\n\nThis is a tale, diffused in different forms, over the whole West\nHighlands. Versions of it have been heard from Skye, Ardnamurchan,\nLochaber, Craignish, Mull, Tiree, differing but slightly from each\nother.\n\nThe Charmed Hill (_Beinn Shianta_), from its height, greenness, or\npointed summit, forms a conspicuous object on the Ardnamurchan coast,\nat the north entrance of the Sound of Mull. On \u2018the shoulder\u2019 of this\nhill, were two hamlets, Sg\u00ecnid and Corryvulin, the lands attached\nto which, now forming part of a large sheep farm, were at one time\noccupied in common by three tenants, one of whom was named Luran Black\n(_Luran Mac-ille-dhui_). One particular season a cow of Luran\u2019s was\nfound unaccountably dead each morning. Suspicion fell on the tenants\nof the Culver (_an cuilibheir_), a green knoll in Corryvulin, having\nthe reputation of being tenanted by the Fairies. Luran resolved\nto watch his cattle for a night, and ascertain the cause of his\nmysterious losses. Before long he saw the Culver opening, and a host\nof little people pouring out. They surrounded a grey cow (_mart glas_)\nbelonging to him and drove it into the knoll. Not one busied himself\nin doing this more than Luran himself; he was, according to the Gaelic\nexpression, \u2018as one and as two\u2019 (_mar a h-aon \u2019s mar a dh\u00e0_) in his\nexertions. The cow was killed and skinned. An old Elf, a tailor sitting\nin the upper part of the brugh, with a needle in the right lappel of\nhis coat, was forcibly caught hold of, stuffed into the cow\u2019s hide,\nand sewn up. He was then taken to the door and rolled down the slope.\nFestivities commenced, and whoever might be on the floor dancing,\nLuran was sure to be. He was \u2018as one and as two\u2019 at the dance, as he\nhad been at driving the cow. A number of gorgeous cups and dishes were\nput on the table, and Luran, resolving to make up for the loss of the\ngrey cow, watched his opportunity and made off with one of the cups\n(_c\u00f2rn_). The Fairies observed him and started in pursuit. He heard one\nof them remark:\n\n  \u201cNot swift would be Luran\n  If it were not the hardness of his bread.\u201d[14]\n\nHis pursuers were likely to overtake him, when a friendly voice called\nout:\n\n  \u201cLuran, Luran Black,\n  Betake thee to the black stones of the shore.\u201d[15]\n\nBelow high water mark, no Fairy, ghost, or demon can come, and, acting\non the friendly advice, Luran reached the shore, and keeping below\ntide mark made his way home in safety. He heard the outcries of the\nperson who had called out to him (probably a former acquaintance who\nhad been taken by \u2018the people\u2019) being belaboured by the Fairies for\nhis ill-timed officiousness. Next morning, the grey cow was found\nlying dead with its feet in the air, at the foot of the Culver, and\nLuran said that a needle would be found in its right shoulder. On this\nproving to be the case, he allowed none of the flesh to be eaten, and\nthrew it out of the house.\n\nOne of the fields, tilled in common by Luran and two neighbours, was\nevery year, when ripe, reaped by the Fairies in one night, and the\nbenefit of the crop disappeared. An old man was consulted, and he\nundertook to watch the crop. He saw the sh\u00efen of Corryvulin open, and\na troop of people coming out. There was an old man at their head, who\nput the company in order, some to shear, some to bind the sheaves, and\nsome to make stooks. On the word of command being given, the field was\nreaped in a wonderfully short time. The watcher, calling aloud, counted\nthe reapers. The Fairies never troubled the field again.\n\nTheir persecution of Luran did not, however, cease. While on his way to\nInveraray Castle, with his Fairy cup, he was lifted mysteriously with\nhis treasure out of the boat, in which he was taking his passage, and\nwas never seen or heard of after.\n\nAccording to another Ardnamurchan version, Luran was a butler boy in\nMingarry Castle. One night he entered a Fairy dwelling, and found the\ncompany within feasting and making merry. A shining cup, called _an\ncupa cearrarach_, was produced, and whatever liquor the person having\nit in his hand wished for and named, came up within it. Whenever a\ndainty appeared on the table, Luran was asked, \u201cDid you ever see the\nlike of that in Mingarry Castle?\u201d At last, the butler boy wished the\ncup to be full of water, and throwing its contents on the lights, and\nextinguishing them, ran away with it in his hand. The Fairies gave\nchase. Some one among them called out to Luran to make for the shore.\nHe reached the friendly shelter, and made his way below high-water mark\nto the castle, which he entered by a stair leading to the sea. The cup\nremained long in Mingarry Castle, but was at last lost in a boat that\nsank at Mail Point (_Rutha Mh\u00e0il_).\n\nA Tiree version of the tale says that Luran entered an open Fairy\ndwelling (_brugh_), where he found the inmates asleep, and a large\ncauldron, or copper, standing on the floor. He took up the kettle, and\nmade off with it. When going out at the door, the cauldron struck one\nof the door-posts, and made a ringing noise. The Fairies, sixteen men\nin number, started out of sleep, and gave chase. As they pressed on\nLuran, one of them (probably a friend who had at one time been \u2018taken\u2019)\ncalled out, \u201cLuran, Luran, make for the black stones of the shore.\u201d He\ndid so, and made his escape. It was then the Fairies remarked: \u201cLuran\nwould be swift if it were not the hardness of his bread. If Luran had\nwarm milk and soft barley bread, not one among the sixteen of us could\ncatch him.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Lochaber story, the Fairies stole a white cow from a\nfarmer, and every night took it back again to pasture on his corn. He\nchased them with his dog Luran, but they threw bread behind them, which\nthe dog loitered to devour, so that it never overtook the white cow.\nThe Fairies were heard saying among themselves, \u201cSwift would be Luran\nif it were not the hardness of his bread. If Luran got bread singed\nand twice turned, it would catch the white cow.\u201d The field where this\noccurred is known as the Field of the White Cow (_acha na b\u00f2 b\u00e0in_),\nabove Brackletter, in Lochaber.\n\nAccording to a Skye version, the Fairies came to take with them the\nbenefit (_toradh_) of the farmer\u2019s land, but his dog Luran drove them\naway. One night they were overheard saying, \u201cSwift would be Luran if it\nwere not the hardness of his bread. If thin porridge were Luran\u2019s food,\ndeer would not overtake Luran.\u201d Next day thin porridge, or \u2018crowdie,\u2019\nwas given to Luran, and it ate too much, and could not run at all. The\nFairies got away, laughing heartily at the success of their trick.\n\nIn Craignish, Argyllshire, Luran was a dog, old, and unable to devour\nquickly the bread thrown it by the Fairies. There are, no doubt, many\nother versions of the story current, but these are sufficient to show\nthe want of uniformity in popular tales of this kind.\n\n\nTHE CUP OF THE MACLEODS OF RAASA.\n\nIn Raasa, a man, named Hugh, entered a Fairy dwelling where there was\nfeasting going on. The Fairies welcomed him heartily, and pledged his\nhealth. \u201cHere\u2019s to you, Hugh,\u201d \u201cI drink to you, Hugh\u201d (_cleoch ort,\nEoghain_), was to be heard on every side. He was offered drink in\na fine glittering cup. When he got the cup in his hands he ran off\nwith it. The Fairies let loose one of their dogs after him. He made\nhis escape, and heard the Fairies calling back the dog by its name\nof \u201cFarvann\u201d (_Farbhann! Farbhann!_). The cup long remained in the\npossession of the Macleods of Raasa.\n\n\nTHE FAIRIES ON FINLAY\u2019S SANDBANK.\n\nThe sandbank of this name (_Bac Fhionnlaidh_) on the farm of\nBallevulin, in Tiree, was at one time a noted Fairy residence, but has\nsince been blown level with the ground. It caused surprise to many that\nno traces of the Fairies were found in it. Its Fairy tenants were at\none time in the habit of sending every evening to the house of a smith\nin the neighbourhood for the loan of a kettle (_iasad coire_). The\nsmith, when giving it, always said:\n\n  \u201cA smith\u2019s due is coals,\n  And to send cold iron out;\n  A cauldron\u2019s due is a bone,\n  And to come safe back.\u201d[16]\n\nUnder the power of this rhyme the cauldron was restored safely before\nmorning. One evening the smith was from home, and his wife, when the\nFairies came for the usual loan, never thought of saying the rhyme.\nIn consequence the cauldron was not returned. On finding this out the\nsmith scolded savagely, and his wife, irritated by his reproaches,\nrushed away for the kettle. She found the brugh open, went in, and (as\nis recommended in such cases), without saying a word, snatched up the\ncauldron and made off with it. When going out at the door she heard one\nof the Fairies calling out:\n\n  \u201cThou dumb sharp one, thou dumb sharp,\n  That came from the land of the dead,\n  And drove the cauldron from the brugh\u2014\n  Undo the Knot, and lose the Rough.\u201d[17]\n\nShe succeeded in getting home before the Rough, the Fairy dog,\novertook her, and the Fairies never again came for the loan of the\nkettle.\n\nThis story is given, in a slightly different form, by Mr. Campbell, in\nhis _Tales of the West Highlands_ (Vol. ii., p. 44), and the scene is\nlaid in Sanntrai, an island near Barra. The above version was heard in\nTiree by the writer, several years before he saw Mr. Campbell\u2019s book.\nThere is no reason to suppose the story belongs originally either to\nTiree or Barra. It is but an illustration of the tendency of popular\ntales to localize themselves where they are told.\n\n\nPENNYGOWN FAIRIES.\n\nA green mound, near the village of Pennygown (_Peigh\u2019nn-a-ghobhann_),\nin the Parish of Salen, Mull, was at one time occupied by a benevolent\ncompany of Fairies. People had only to leave at night on the hillock\nthe materials for any work they wanted done, as wool to be spun,\nthread for weaving, etc., telling what was wanted, and before morning\nthe work was finished. One night a wag left the wood of a fishing-net\nbuoy, a short, thick piece of wood, with a request to have it made\ninto a ship\u2019s mast. The Fairies were heard toiling all night, and\nsinging, \u201cShort life and ill-luck attend the man who asked us to make\na long ship\u2019s big mast from the wood of a fishing-net buoy.\u201d[18] In\nthe morning the work was not done, and these Fairies never after did\nanything for any one.\n\n\nBEN LOMOND FAIRIES.\n\nA company of Fairies lived near the Green Loch (_Lochan Uaine_), on\nBen Lomond. Whatever was left overnight near the loch\u2014cloth, wool,\nor thread\u2014was dyed by them of any desired colour before morning. A\nspecimen of the desired colour had to be left at the same time. A\nperson left a quantity of undyed thread, and a piece of black and\nwhite twisted thread along with it, to show that he wanted part of the\nhank black and part white. The Fairies thought the pattern was to be\nfollowed, and the work done at one and the same dyeing. Not being able\nto do this, they never dyed any more.\n\n\nCALLUM CLARK AND HIS SORE LEG.\n\nSome six generations ago there lived at Port Vista (_Port Bhissta_),\nin Tiree, a dark, fierce man, known as Big Malcolm Clark (_Callum m\u00f2r\nmac-a-Chleirich_). He was a very strong man, and in his brutal violence\nproduced the death of several people. Tradition also says of him that\nhe killed a water-horse, and fought a Banshi with a horse-rib at the\nlong hollow, covered in winter with water, called the _L\u00e9ig_. In this\nencounter his own little finger was broken. When sharpening knives, old\nwomen in Tiree said, \u201cFriday in Clark\u2019s town\u201d (_Di-haoine am baile\nmhic-a-Chleirich_), with the object of making him and his the objects\nof Fairy wrath. One evening, as he was driving a tether-pin into a\nhillock, a head was popped up out of the ground, and told him to take\nsome other place for securing his beast, as he was letting the rain\ninto \u2018their\u2019 dwelling. Some time after this he had a painfully sore leg\n(_bha i gu d\u00f2ruinneach doirbh_). He went to the sh\u00ef-en, where the head\nhad appeared, and, finding it open, entered in search of a cure for his\nleg. The Fairies told him to put \u2018earth on the earth\u2019 (_Cuir an talamh\nair an talamh_). He applied every kind of earth he could think of to\nthe leg, but without effect. At the end of three months he went again\nto the hillock, and when entering put steel (_cruaidh_) in the door.\nHe was told to go out, but he would not, nor would he withdraw the\nsteel till told the proper remedy. At last he was told to apply the red\nclay of a small loch in the neighbourhood (_criadh ruadh Lochan ni\u2019h\nfhonhairle_). He did so, and the leg was cured.\n\n\nTHE YOUNG MAN IN THE FAIRY KNOLL.\n\nTwo young men, coming home after nightfall on Hallowe\u2019en, each with a\njar of whisky on his back, heard music by the roadside, and, seeing\na dwelling open and illuminated, and dancing and merriment going on\nwithin, entered. One of them joined the dancers, without as much as\nwaiting to lay down the burden he was carrying. The other, suspecting\nthe place and company, stuck a needle in the door as he entered, and\ngot away when he liked. That day twelvemonths he came back for his\ncompanion, and found him still dancing with the jar of whisky on his\nback. Though more than half-dead with fatigue, the enchanted dancer\nbegged to be allowed to finish the reel. When brought to the open-air\nhe was only skin and bone.\n\nThis tale is localized in the Ferintosh district, and at the Slope of\nBig Stones (_Leathad nan Clacha m\u00f2ra_) in Harris. In Argyllshire people\nsay it happened in the north. In the Ferintosh story only one of the\nyoung men entered the brugh, and the door immediately closed. The other\nlay under suspicion of having murdered his companion, but, by advice\nof an old man, went to the same place on the same night the following\nyear, and by putting steel in the door of the Fairy dwelling, which he\nfound open, recovered his companion. In the Harris story, the young men\nwere a bridegroom and his brother-in-law, bringing home whisky for the\nmarriage.\n\nTwo young men in Iona were coming in the evening from fishing on the\nrocks. On their way, when passing, they found the sh\u00ef-en of that island\nopen, and entered. One of them joined the dancers, without waiting\nto lay down the string of fish he had in his hand. The other stuck a\nfish-hook in the door, and when he wished made his escape. He came\nback for his companion that day twelvemonths, and found him still\ndancing with the string of fish in his hand. On taking him to the open\nair the fish dropped from the string, rotten.\n\nDonald, who at one time carried on foot the mails from Tobermory,\nin Mull, to Grass Point Ferry (_Ru-an-fhiarain_), where the mail\nservice crosses to the mainland, was a good deal given to drink, and\nconsequently to loitering by the way. He once lay down to have a quiet\nsleep near a Fairy-haunted rock above Drimfin. He saw the rock open,\nand a flood of light pouring out at the door. A little man came to him\nand said in English, \u201cCome in to the ball, Donald,\u201d but Donald fled,\nand never stopped till he reached the houses at Tobermory, two miles\noff. He said he heard the whizz and rustling of the Fairies after\nhim the whole way. The incident caused a good deal of talk in the\nneighbourhood, and Donald and his fright were made the subject of some\ndoggerel verse, in which the Fairy invitation is thus given:\n\n  \u201cRise, rise, rise, Donald,\n    Rise, Donald, was the call,\n  Rise up now, Donald,\n    Come in, Donald, to the ball.\u201d\n\nIt is well known that Highland Fairies, who speak English, are the most\ndangerous of any.\n\nA young man was sent for the loan of a sieve, and, mistaking his way,\nentered a brugh, which was that evening open. He found there two women\ngrinding at a handmill, two women baking, and a mixed party dancing on\nthe floor. He was invited to sit down, \u201cFarquhar MacNeill, be seated\u201d\n(_Fhearchair \u2019ie Neill, bi \u2019d shuidhe_). He thought he would first\nhave a reel with the dancers. He forgot all about the sieve, and lost\nall desire to leave the company he was in. One night he accompanied\nthe band among whom he had fallen on one of its expeditions, and after\ncareering through the skies, stuck in the roof of a house. Looking down\nthe chimney (_f\u00e0r-leus_), he saw a woman dandling a child, and, struck\nwith the sight, exclaimed, \u201cGod bless you\u201d (_Dia gu d\u2019bheannachadh_).\nWhenever he pronounced the Holy Name he was disenchanted, and tumbled\ndown the chimney! On coming to himself he went in search of his\nrelatives. No one could tell him anything about them. At last he saw,\nthatching a house, an old man, so grey and thin he took him for a patch\nof mist resting on the house-top. He went and made inquiries of him.\nThe old man knew nothing of the parties asked for, but said perhaps\nhis father did. Amazed, the young man asked him if his father was\nalive, and on being told he was, and where to find him, entered the\nhouse. He there found a very venerable man sitting in a chair by the\nfire, twisting a straw-rope for the thatching of the house (_sn\u00ecomh\ns\u00ecomain_). This man also, on being questioned, said he knew nothing\nof the people, but perhaps his father did. The father referred to was\nlying in bed, a little shrunken man, and he in like manner referred to\nhis father. This remote ancestor, being too weak to stand, was found in\na purse (_sporran_) suspended at the end of the bed. On being taken out\nand questioned, the wizened creature said, \u201cI did not know the people\nmyself, but I often heard my father speaking of them.\u201d On hearing this\nthe young man crumbled in pieces, and fell down a bundle of bones\n(_cual chn\u00e0mh_).\n\nThe incident of the very aged people forms part of some versions of\nthe story, \u201cHow the Great Description (a man\u2019s name) was put to Death\u201d\n(_Mar a chaidh an Tuairisgeul m\u00f2r a chur gu b\u00e0s_). Another form is\nthat a stranger came to a house, and at the door found an old man\ncrying, because his father had thrashed him. He went in, and asking the\nfather why he had thrashed his aged son, was told it was because the\ngrandfather had been there the day before, and the fellow had not the\nmanners to put his hand in his bonnet to him!\n\n\nBLACK WILLIAM THE PIPER.\n\nWilliam M\u2018Kenzie was weaver to the Laird of Barcaldine. He and a friend\nwere going home with two gallons of whisky in jars strapped on their\nbacks. They saw a hillock open and illuminated, and entered. William\u2019s\ncompanion stuck a knife in the door when entering. They found inside\nan old man playing the bagpipes, and a company of dancers on the floor.\nWilliam danced one reel, and then another, till his companion got tired\nwaiting, and left. When, after several days, M\u2018Kenzie did not turn up,\nthe other was accused of having murdered him, and was advised, if his\nstory was true, to get spades and dig into the hillock for his missing\nfriend. A year\u2019s delay was given, and when the hillock was entered\nM\u2018Kenzie was found still dancing on the floor. After this adventure he\nbecame the chief weaver in the district; he did more work in a shorter\ntime than any other. At the first throw of the shuttle he said, \u201cI and\nanother one are here\u201d (_mise \u2019s fear eile so!_). He also began to make\npipes, but though a better weaver and piper than he had been before,\nhe never prospered. He became known as \u201cBlack William of the Pipes\u201d\n(_Uilleam du na p\u00ecoba_).\n\nIt is said in Sutherlandshire that a weaver, getting a shuttle from the\nFairies, can go through three times as much work as another man. (Cf.\nTale of M\u2018Crimmon, p. 139.)\n\n\nTHE HARRIS WOMAN AND HER BAKING.\n\nA woman in Harris was passing _Creag Mhanuis_, a rock having on its\nface the appearance of a door, which she saw opening, and a woman\ndressed in green standing before it, who called to her to come in\nto see a sick person. The woman was very unwilling to go, but was\ncompelled, and went in without taking any precaution. She found herself\namong a large company, for whom she was immediately to begin baking\nbread, and was told that when the quantity of meal, not very large,\ngiven her was entirely used, she would be allowed to go away. She began\nto bake, and made all possible haste to finish the work, but the more\nshe strove the less appearance there was of the labour being finished,\nand her courage failed when day after day passed, leaving her where\nshe began. At last, after a long time, the whole company left for the\nouter world, leaving her, as she thought, alone. When the last tramp of\ntheir footsteps could no longer be heard, she was startled by hearing a\ngroan. On looking through an opening which she found in the side of the\ndwelling, she saw a bed-ridden old man, who, on seeing her head in the\nopening, said, \u201cWhat sent you here?\u201d \u201cI did not come by my own will,\u201d\nshe replied. \u201cI was made to come to attend to a sick person.\u201d He then\nasked what work was given her to do. She told him, and how the baking\nwas never likely to be finished. He said she must begin again, and that\nshe was not to put the dusting meal (_an fhallaid_) at any time back\namong the baking. She did as he told her, when she found her stock\nof meal soon exhausted, and she got out and away before the others\nreturned, much to their discomfiture.\n\nA woman in Skye was taken to see a sick person in a _d\u00f9n_, and after\nattending to her patient, she saw a number of women in green dresses\ncoming in and getting a loan of meal. They took the meal from a skin\nbag (_balgan_), which seemed as if it would never be exhausted. The\nwoman asked to be sent home, and was promised to be allowed to go,\non baking the meal left in the bag, and spinning a tuft of wool on a\ndistaff handed to her. She baked away, but could not exhaust the meal\nbag; and spun, but seemed never nearer the end of her task. A woman\ncame in, and advised her to \u201cput the remnant of the meal she baked\ninto the little bag, and to spin the tuft upon the distaff as the\nsheep bites the hillock\u201d[19]\u2014_i.e._, to draw the wool in small tufts,\nlike sheep bites, from the distaff. On doing this, the task was soon\nfinished, the Fairies saying, \u201cA blessing rest on you, but a curse on\nthe mouth that taught you.\u201d[20] On coming out, the woman found she had\nbeen in the _d\u00f9n_ for seven years.\n\n\nLIFTED BY THE FAIRIES.\n\nBlack Donald of the Multitude (_D\u00f2mhnull du an t-sluaigh_), as he was\never afterwards known, was ploughing on the farm of Baile-pheutrais,\nin the island of Tiree, when a heavy shower came on from the west. In\nthese days it required at least two persons to work a plough, one to\nhold it, and one to lead the horses. Donald\u2019s companion took shelter to\nthe lee of the team. When the shower passed, Donald himself was nowhere\nto be found, nor was he seen again till evening. He then came from\nan easterly direction, with his coat on his arm. He said the Fairies\nhad taken him in an Eddy wind to the islands to the north\u2014Coll, Skye,\netc. In proof of this, he told that a person (naming him) was dead in\nColl, and people would be across next day for whiskey for the funeral\nto Kennovay, a village on the other side of Bally-pheutrais, where\nsmuggling was carried on at the time. This turned out to be the case.\nDonald said he had done no harm while away, except that the Fairies\nhad made him throw an arrow at, and kill, a speckled cow in Skye. When\ncrossing the sea he was in great terror lest he should fall.\n\n_Nial Scrob_ (Neil the Scrub), a native of Uist, was on certain days\nlifted by the Fairies and taken to Tiree, and other islands of the\nHebrides, at least so he said himself. Once he came to Sa\u00e4lun, a\nvillage near the north-east end of Tiree, and at the fourth house in\nthe village was made to throw the Fairy arrow. There is an old saying\u2014\n\n  \u201cShut the north window,\n    And quickly close the window to the south;\n  And shut the window facing west,\n    Evil never came from the east.\u201d[21]\n\nAnd the west window was this night left open. The arrow came through\nthe open window, and struck on the shoulder a handsome, strong,\nhealthy woman of the name of M\u2018Lean, who sat singing cheerfully at her\nwork. Her hand fell powerless by her side, and before morning she was\ndead. Neil afterwards told that he was the party whom the Fairies had\ncompelled to do the mischief. In this, and similar stories, it must\nbe understood that, according to popular belief, the woman was taken\naway by the Fairies, and may still be among them; only her semblance\nremained and was buried.\n\nAbout twenty years ago a cooper, employed on board a ship, was landed\nat Martin\u2019s Isle (_Eilein Mh\u00e0rtiunn_), near Coigeach, in Ross-shire, to\ncut brooms. He traversed the islet, and then somehow fell asleep. He\nfelt as if something were pushing him, and, on awakening, found himself\nin the island of Rona, ten miles off. He cut the brooms, and a shower\nof rain coming on, again fell asleep. On awaking he found himself back\nin Martin\u2019s Isle. He could only, it is argued, have been transported\nback and forward by the Fairies.\n\nA seer gifted with the second sight (_taibhseis_), resident at Bousd,\nin the east end of Coll, was frequently lifted by Fairies, that staid\nin a hillock in his neighbourhood. On one occasion they took him to the\nsea-girt rock, called _Eileirig_, and after diverting themselves with\nhim for an hour or two took him home again. So he said himself.\n\nA man who went to fish on Saturday afternoon at a rock in Kinnavara\nhill (_Beinn Chinn-a-Bharra_), the extreme _west_ point of Tiree,\ndid not make his appearance at home until six o\u2019clock the following\nmorning. He said that after leaving the rock the evening before, he\nremembered nothing but passing a number of beaches. The white beaches\nof Tiree, from the surrounding land being a dead level, are at night\nthe most noticeable features in the scenery. On coming to his senses,\nhe found himself on the top of the D\u00f9n at Caolis in the extreme _east_\nend of the island, twelve miles from his starting point.\n\nA few years ago, a man in Lismore, travelling at night with a web\nof cloth on his shoulder, lost his way, walked on all night without\nknowing where he was going, and in the morning was found among rocks,\nwhere he could never have made his way alone. He could give no account\nof himself, and his wanderings were universally ascribed to the Fairies.\n\nRed Donald of the Fairies (_D\u00f2mhnull ruadh nan s\u00ecthehean_), as he was\ncalled (and the name stuck to him all his life), used when a boy to see\nthe Fairies. Being herd at the Spital (_an Spideal_) above Dalnacardoch\nin Perthshire, he was taken by them to his father\u2019s house at Ardl\u00e0raich\nin Rannoch, a distance of a dozen miles, through the night. In the\nmorning he was found sitting at the fireside, and as the door was\nbarred, he must have been let in by the chimney.\n\nAn old man in Achabeg, Morvern, went one night on a gossiping visit\n(_c\u00e9ilidh_) to a neighbour\u2019s house. It was winter time, and a river\nnear the place was in flood, which, in the case of a mountain torrent,\nmeans that it was impassable. The old man did not return home that\nnight, and next morning was found near the sh\u00ef-en of _Luran na\nleaghadh_ in Sasory, some distance across the river. He could give no\naccount of how he got there, only that when on his way home a storm\ncame about him, and on coming to himself he was where they had found\nhim.\n\nWhen Dr. M\u2018Laurin was tenant of Invererragan, near Connal Ferry in\nBenderloch, at the end of last century, \u201c_Calum Clever_,\u201d who derived\nhis name from his skill in singing tunes and expedition in travelling\n(gifts given him by the Fairies), stayed with him whole nights. The\ndoctor sent him to Fort William with a letter, telling him to procure\nthe assistance of \u201chis own people\u201d and be back with an immediate\nanswer. Calum asked as much time as one game at shinty (_aon taghal air\na bhall_) would take, and was back in the evening before the game was\nfinished. He never could have travelled the distance without Fairy aid.\n\n\nFAIRIES COMING TO HOUSES.\n\nEwen, son of Allister Og, was shepherd in the Dell of Banks (_Coira\nBhaeaidh_), at the south end of Loch Ericht (_Loch Eireachd_), and\nstayed alone in a bothy far away from other houses. In the evenings he\nput the porridge for his supper out to cool on the top of the double\nwall (_anainn_) of the hut. On successive evenings he found it pitted\nand pecked all round on the margin, as if by little birds or heavy\nrain-drops. He watched, and saw little people coming and pecking at\nhis porridge. He made little dishes and spoons of wood, and left them\nbeside his own dish. The Fairies, understanding his meaning, took to\nusing these, and let the big dish alone. At last they became quite\nfamiliar with Ewen, entered the hut, and stayed whole evenings with\nhim. One evening a woman came with them. There was no dish for her,\nand she sat on the other side of the house, saying never a word, but\ngrinning and making faces at the shepherd whenever he looked her way.\nEwen at last asked her, \u201cAre you always like that, my lively maid?\u201d[22]\nOwing to the absurdity of the question, or Ewen\u2019s failure to understand\nthat the grinning was a hint for food, the Fairies never came again.\n\nThe Elves came to a house at night, and finding it closed, called upon\n\u2018Feet-water\u2019 (_uisge nan cas_) _i.e._, water in which the feet had been\nwashed, to come and open the door. The water answered from somewhere\nnear, that it could not, as it had been poured out. They called on the\nBand of the Spinning Wheel to open the door, but it answered it could\nnot, as it had been thrown off the wheel. They called upon Little\nCake, but it could not move, as there was a hole through it and a live\ncoal on the top of it. They called upon the \u2018raking\u2019 coal (_sm\u00e0ladh an\nteine_), but the fire had been secured in a proper manner, to keep it\nalive all night. This is a tale not localized anywhere, but universally\nknown.\n\nA man observed a band of people dressed in green coming toward the\nhouse, and recognising them to be Fairies, ran in great terror, shut\nand barred the door, and hid himself below the bed. The Fairies,\nhowever, came through the keyhole, and danced on the floor, singing.\nThe song extended to several verses, to the effect that no kind of\nhouse could keep out the Fairies, not a turf house (_tigh phloc_), nor\na stone house (_tigh cloiche_), etc.\n\nThe Fairies staying in Dunruilg came to assist a farmer in the vicinity\nin weaving and preparing cloth, and, after finishing the work in a\nwonderfully short space of time, called for more work. To get rid of\nhis officious assistants, the farmer called outside the door that\nDunruilg was on fire.[23] The Fairies immediately rushed out in great\nhaste, and never came back. Of this story several versions are given in\nthe _Tales of the West Highlands_ (ii. 52-4). In some form or other it\nis extensively known, and in every locality the scene is laid in its\nown neighbourhood. In Mull the Fairy residence is said to have been the\nbold headland in the south-west of the island known as _Tun Bhuirg_.\nSome say the Elves were brought to the house by two old women, who were\ntired spinning, and incautiously said they wished all the people in\nT\u00f2n Bhuirg were there to assist. According to others, the Elves were\nin the habit of coming to T\u00e0pull House in the Ross of Mull, and their\nexcessive zeal made them very unwelcome. In Skye the event is said to\nhave occurred at D\u00f9n Bhuirbh. There are two places of the name, one in\nLyndale, and one in _Beinn-an-\u00f9ine_, near _Druimuighe_, above Portree.\nThe rhyme they had when they came to Tapull is known as \u201cThe rhyme of\nthe goodman of Tapull\u2019s servants\u201d (_Rann gillean fir Th\u00e0buill_).\n\n  \u201cLet me comb, card, tease, spin,\n  Get a weaving loom quick,\n  Water for fulling on the fire,\n  Work, work, work.\u201d[24]\n\nThe cry they raised when going away, in the Skye version, runs:\n\n  \u201cDunsuirv on fire,\n  Without dog or man,\n  My balls of thread\n  And my bags of meal.\u201d[25]\n\nA man, on the farm of Kennovay in Tiree, saw the Fairies about twelve\no\u2019clock at night enter the house, glide round the room, and go out\nagain. They said and did nothing.\n\n\nTHE LOWLAND FAIRIES.\n\nThe \u2018people\u2019 had several dwellings near the village of Largs[26] (_Na\nLeargun Gallta_, the slopes-near-the-sea of the strangers), on the\ncoast of Ayrshire (see Introduction to Campbell\u2019s _Tales of the West\nHighlands_).\n\nKnock Hill was full of _elves_, and the site of the old Tron Tree, now\nthe centre of the village, was a favourite haunt. A sow, belonging to\nthe man who cut down the Tron Tree, was found dead in the byre next\nmorning. A hawker, with a basket of crockery, was met near the Noddle\nBurn by a Fairy woman. She asked him for a bowl she pointed out in his\nbasket, but he refused to give it. On coming to the top of a brae near\nthe village, his basket tumbled, and all his dishes ran on edge to\nthe foot of the incline. None were broken but the one which had been\nrefused to the Fairy. It was found in fragments. The same day, however,\nthe hawker found a treasure that made up for his loss. That, said the\nperson from whom the story was heard, was the custom of the Fairies;\nthey never took anything without making up for it some other way.\n\nOn market-days they went about stealing here and there a little of the\nwool or yarn exposed for sale. A present of shoes and stockings made\nthem give great assistance at out-door work. A man was taken by them\nto a pump near the Haylee Toll, where he danced all night with them. A\nheadless man was one of the company.\n\nThey often came to people\u2019s houses at night, and were heard washing\ntheir children. If they found no water in the house, they washed them\nin _kit_, or sowen water. They were fond of spinning and weaving, and,\nif chid or thwarted, cut the weaver\u2019s webs at night. They one night\ndropped a child\u2019s cap, a very pretty article, in a weaver\u2019s house, to\nwhich they had come to get the child washed. They, however, took it\naway the following night.\n\nIn another instance, a band of four was heard crossing over the\nbedclothes, two women going first and laughing, and two men following\nand expressing their wonder if the women were far before them.\n\nA man cut a slip from an ash-tree growing near a Fairy dwelling. On his\nway home in the evening he stumbled and fell. He heard the Fairies give\na laugh at his mishap. Through the night he was hoisted away, and could\ntell nothing of what happened till in the morning he found himself in\nthe byre, astride on a cow, and holding on by its horns.\n\nThese are genuine popular tales of the South of Scotland, which the\nwriter fell in with in Largs. He heard them from a servant girl, a\nnative of the place. They are quoted as illustrations of the vitality\nof the creed. They are not stories of the Highlands, but are quite\nanalogous. The student of such mythologies will recognize in them a\nsemblance to the Fairy tales of the North of Ireland.\n\n\nFAIRIES STEALING WOMEN AND CHILDREN.\n\nThe _machair_ (or links) adjoining the hill of Kennavarra, the extreme\nsouth-west point of Tiree, is after sunset one of the most solitary\nand weird places conceivable. The hill on its northern side, facing\nthe Skerryvore lighthouse, twelve miles off, consists of precipices,\ndescending sheer down for upwards of a hundred feet, with frightful\nchasms, where countless sea-birds make their nests, and at the base\nof which the Atlantic rolls with an incessant noise, which becomes\ndeafening in bad weather. The hill juts into the sea, and the coast,\nfrom each side of its inner end, trends away in beaches, which, like\nall the beaches in the island, have, after nightfall, from their\nwhiteness and loneliness, a strange and ghostly look. On the landward\nside, the level country stretches in a low dark line towards the\nhorizon; little is to be seen and the stillness is unbroken, save by\nthe sound of the surf rolling on the beach and thundering in the chasms\nof the hill. It is not, therefore, wonderful that these links should be\nhaunted by the Fairies, or the timid wayfarer there meet the big black\nElfin dog prowling among the sand-banks, hear its unearthly baying in\nthe stormy night-wind, and in the uncertain light and the squattering\nof wildfowl, hear in wintry pools the Banshi washing the garments of\nthose soon to die.\n\nSome seventy or eighty years ago the herdsman who had charge of the\ncattle on this pasture, went to a marriage in the neighbouring village\nof Balephuill (mud-town), leaving his mother and a young child alone\nin the house. The night was wild and stormy; there was heavy rain, and\nevery pool and stream was more than ordinarily swollen. His mother sat\nwaiting his return, and two women, whom she knew to be Fairies, came to\nsteal the child. They stood between the outer and inner doors and were\nso tall their heads appeared above the partition beam. One was taller\nthan the other. They were accompanied by a dog, and stood one on each\nside, having a hold of an ear and scratching it. Some say there was a\ncrowd of \u2018little people\u2019 behind to assist in taking the child away.\nFor security the woman placed it between herself and the fire, but her\nprecautions were not quite successful. From that night the child was\nslightly fatuous, \u2018a half idiot\u2019 (_leth oinseach_). The old woman, it\nis said, had the second sight.\n\nA shepherd, living with his wife in a bothy far away among the hills\nof Mull, had an addition to his family. He was obliged to go for\nassistance to the nearest houses, and his wife asked him, before\nleaving her and her babe alone, to place the table beside the bed, and\na portion of the various kinds of food in the house on it, and also to\nput the smoothing-iron below the front of the bed and the reaping-hook\n(_buanaiche_) in the window. Soon after he had left the wife heard a\nsuppressed muttering on the floor and a voice urging some one to go up\nand steal the child. The other answered that butter from the cow that\nate the pearlwort (_m\u00f2than_) was on the table, that iron was below the\nbed, and the \u2018reaper\u2019 in the window, how could he get the child away?\nAs the reward of his wife\u2019s providence and good sense the shepherd\nfound herself and child safe on his return.\n\nA man in Morvern, known by the nickname of the \u2018Marquis\u2019 (_a\nmor\u2019aire_), left a band of women watching his wife and infant child.\nOn returning at night, he found the fire gone out, and the women fast\nasleep. By the time he had rekindled the fire he saw a Banshi entering\nand making for the bed where his wife and child were. He took a faggot\nfrom the fire and threw it at her. A flame gleamed about his eyes and\nhe saw the Fairy woman no more. His wife declared that she felt at the\ntime like one in a nightmare (_trom-a-lidhe_); she heard voices calling\nupon her to go out, and felt an irresistible inclination to obey.\n\nA woman from Rahoy (_Ra-thuaith_) on Loch Sunartside was taken with\nher babe to Ben Iadain (_Beinn Iadain_), a lofty hill in the parish\nof Morvern, rising to a height of above 2000 feet, and at one time of\ngreat note as an abode of the Fairies. Her husband had laid himself\ndown for a few minutes\u2019 rest in the front of the bed, and fallen\nasleep. When he awoke his wife and child were gone. They were taken,\nthe woman afterwards told, to the \u2018Black Door\u2019 (_a ch\u00f2mhla dhu_), as\nthe spot forming the Fairy entrance into the interior of the mountain\nis called. On entering, they found a large company of men, women, and\nchildren. A fair-haired boy among them came and warned the woman not to\neat any food the Fairies might offer, but to hide it in her clothes. He\nsaid they had got his own mother to eat this food, and in consequence\nhe could not now get her away. Finding the food offered her was\nslighted, the head Fairy sent off a party to bring a certain man\u2019s cow.\nThey came back saying they could not touch the cow as its right knee\nwas resting on the plant _bruchorcan_ (dirk grass). They were sent for\nanother cow, but they came back saying they could not touch it either,\nas the dairymaid, after milking it, had struck it with the shackle\nor cow-spancel (_burach_). That same night the woman appeared to her\nhusband in his dreams, telling him where she was, and that by going for\nher and taking the black silk handkerchief she wore on her marriage\nday, with three knots tied upon it, he might recover her. He tied the\nknots, took the handkerchief and a friend with him, entered the hill at\nthe Black Door, and recovered his wife and child. The white-headed boy\naccompanied them for some distance from the Black Door, but returned to\nthe hill, and is there still in all probability.\n\nAnother wife was taken from the neighbourhood of Castle _Lionnaig_,\nnear Loch Aline (_Loch Aluinn_, the pretty loch), in the same parish,\nto the same hill. She was placed in the lap of a gigantic hag, who told\nher it was useless to attempt escaping; her arms would close round her\n\n  \u201cAs the ivy to the rock,\n    And as the honeysuckle to the tree;\n    As the flesh round the bone,\n    And as the bone round the marrow.\u201d[27]\n\nThe woman answered that she wished it was an armful of dirt the Fairy\nheld. In saying so, she made use of a very coarse, unseemly word, and,\nas no such language is tolerated among the Fairies, the big woman\ncalled to take the vile wretch away, and leave her in the hollow in\nwhich she had been found, (_an lag san d\u2019 fhuaradh i_) which was done.\n\nA man in Balemartin, on the south side of Tiree (_air an leige deas_),\nwhose wife had died in childbed, was sitting one night soon after with\na bunch of keys in his hands. He saw his wife passing and repassing\nhim several times. The following night she came to him in his dreams,\nand reproached him for not having thrown the bunch of keys at her, or\nbetween her and the door, to keep the Fairies from taking her back with\nthem. He asked her to come another night, but she said she could not,\nas the company she was with was removing that night to another brugh\nfar away.\n\nAnother, somewhere on the mainland of Argyllshire, suspecting his wife\nhad been stolen by Fairies, hauled her by the legs from bed, through\nthe fire, and out at the door. She there became a log of wood, and\nserves as the threshold of a barn in the place to this day.\n\nA woman, taken by the Fairies, was seen by a man, who looked in at the\ndoor of a brugh, spinning and singing at her work.\n\nA wife, taken in childbed, came to her husband in his sleep, and told\nhim that, by drawing a furrow thrice round a certain hillock sunwise\n(_deiseal_) with the plough, he might recover her. He consulted his\nneighbours, and in the end it was deemed as well not to attend to a\ndream of one\u2019s sleep (_bruadar cadail_). He consequently did not draw\nthe furrow, and never recovered his wife.\n\nA child was taken by the Fairies from Killichrenan\n(_Cill-a-Chreunain_), near Loch Awe, to the sh\u00ef-en in Nant Wood\n(_Coill\u2019 an Eannd_). It was got back by the father drawing a furrow\nround the hillock with the plough. He had not gone far when he heard a\ncry behind him, and on looking back found his child lying in the furrow.\n\nA trampling as of a troop of horses came round a house, in which a\nwoman lay in childbed, and she and the child were taken away. At the\nend of seven years her sister came upon an open Fairy hillock, and\nthoughtlessly entered. She saw there her lost sister, with a child in\nher arms, and was warned by her, in the lullaby song to the child, to\nslip away out again.\n\n  \u201cLittle sister, little loving sister,\n  Rememberest thou the night of the horses?\n  Seven years since I was taken,\n  And one like me was never seen.\n        Ialai horro, horro,\n        Ialai horro h\u00ec.\u201d[28]\n\n\nREADY WIT REPULSES THE FAIRIES.\n\nA Fairy woman came to take away a child, and said to its mother, \u201cGrey\nis your child.\u201d \u201cGrey is the grass, and it grows,\u201d was the ready\nanswer. \u201cHeavy is your child,\u201d said the Banshi. \u201cHeavy is each fruitful\nthing,\u201d the mother replied. \u201cLight is your child,\u201d said the Banshi.\n\u201cLight is each happy worldly one,\u201d said the mother, bursting into\nsinging and saying\u2014\n\n  \u201cGrey is the foliage, grey the flowers,\n  And grey the axe that has a handle,\n  And nought comes through the earth,\n  But has some greyness in its nature.\u201d[29]\n\nOn finding herself outwitted the Banshi left.\n\nA boy, a mere child, was left alone for a few minutes, in the islet of\nSoa, near Tiree. The mother was making kelp there at the time, and in\nher absence the Fairies came and gave the child\u2019s legs such a twist\nthat it was lame (_li\u00f9gach_) ever after.\n\n\nKINDNESS TO A NEGLECTED CHILD.\n\nThe Elves sometimes took care of neglected children. The herd who\ntendered the Baile-phuill cattle on Heynist Hill sat down one day on\na green eminence (_cnoc_) in the hill, which had the reputation of\nbeing tenanted by the Fairies. His son, a young child, was along with\nhim. He fell asleep, and when he awoke the child was away. He roused\nhimself, and vowed aloud, that unless his boy was restored he would not\nleave a stone or clod of the hillock together. A voice from underground\nanswered that the child was safe at home with its mother, and they (the\n\u2018people\u2019) had taken it lest it should come to harm with the cold.\n\n\nTHE BRIDEGROOM\u2019S BURIAL.\n\nA young woman in Islay was promised in marriage to a rich neighbour,\nand the marriage day was fixed. She had a sweetheart who, on hearing\nthis, said to a brother older than himself that if he had means to keep\na wedding feast he would run away with the bride. His brother promised\nhim all he had, being thirty-five gallons of whisky. On getting this,\nthe young man took the bride away, and gave a nuptial feast himself\nthat lasted a month. At the end of that time, when he was taking a walk\nwith his wife, an eddy wind was seen coming. As it passed the young man\nwas seized with sickness, which in a short time ended in his death.\nBefore his death his wife said to him, \u201cIf the dead have feeling, I\nordain that you be not a night absent from your bed.\u201d[30] The night\nafter the funeral he came back, to the consternation of his wife. He\ntold her not to be alarmed, that he was still sound and healthy (_sl\u00e0n\nfallain_), that he had only been taken in the eddy by the Lady of the\nGreen Island (_Baintighearna \u2019n Eilein Uaiue_), and that by throwing a\ndirk at the eddy wind, when next she encountered it, she would get him\nback again. The wife threw a dirk at the next eddy wind she saw, and\nher husband dropped at her feet. He told he had been with the light\npeople (_sluagh eutrom_), and in the tomb in which they supposed him\nburied would be found only a log of alder wood (_maide fearna_). His\nwife\u2019s relatives were sent for, and they came, thinking the young widow\nhad lost her wits through grief. The grave was opened, and an alder\nstick found in the coffin instead of the body proved the husband\u2019s\naccount of his disappearance.\n\n\nTHE CROWING OF THE BLACK COCK.\n\nA woman in Islay (the story was heard in Tiree) was taken by the\nFairies, leaving an infant who was baptised by the name of Julia\n(_S\u00ecle_). To appearance the mother died and was buried. Every night,\nhowever, she came back, and was heard singing to her child. Her husband\nwatched one night and caught her. She told that by going to a hillock,\nwhich she named, on a certain night he might recover her. He went,\ntaking with him, according to her instructions, a black cock born in\nthe busy time of year (_coileach du m\u00e0rt_)[31] and a piece of steel\n(_cruaidh_). He found the door of the brugh open, put steel in one of\nthe posts, entered, having the cock in his arms, and hid himself in\na corner. Towards morning the cock crew. The head or principal Fairy\ncaused a search to be made, and \u2018Big Martin without clemency or mercy\u2019\n(_Martuinn M\u00f2r gun iochd gun tr\u00f2cair_) was found in the brugh. On\nwithdrawing the steel he was allowed to go home, and his wife along\nwith him.\n\n\nTHROWING THE ARROW.\n\nA weaver at the Bridge of Awe (_Drochaid Atha_) was left a widower with\nthree or four children. He laboured at his trade all day, and when the\nevening came, being a hard-working, industrious man, did odd jobs about\nthe house to maintain his helpless family. One clear moonlight, when\nthatching his house with fern (_ranach_), he heard the rushing sound of\na high wind, and a multitude of little people settled on the housetop\nand on the ground, like a flock of black starlings. He was told he\nmust go along with them to Glen Cannel in Mull, where they were going\nfor a woman. He refused to go unless he got whatever was foraged on\nthe expedition to himself. On arriving at Glen Cannel, the arrow was\ngiven him to throw. Pretending to aim at the woman he threw it through\nthe window and killed a pet lamb. The animal at once came out through\nthe window, but he was told this would not do, he must throw again. He\ndid so, and the woman was taken away and a log of alder wood (_stoc\nfearna_) was left in her place. The weaver claimed his agreement,\nand the Fairies left the woman with him at the Bridge of Awe, saying\nthey would never again make the same paction with any man. She lived\nhappily with him and he had three children by her. A beggar came the\nway and staid with him that night. The whole evening the beggar stared\nat the wife in a manner that made his host at last ask him what he\nmeant. He said he had at one time been a farmer in Glen Cannel in\nMull, comfortable and well-to-do, but his wife having died, he had\nsince fallen into poverty, till he was now a beggar, and that the\nweaver\u2019s wife could be no other than the wife he had lost. Explanations\nwere entered into, and the beggar got his choice of the wife or the\nchildren. He chose the former,[32] and again became prosperous in the\nworld.\n\n\nTHE WOMAN STOLEN FROM FRANCE.\n\n\u201cMacCallum of the Humming Noise\u201d (_Mac Challum a Chr\u00f2nain_), who\nresided in Glen Etive subsequent to the \u201845, was the last to observe\nthe habits of the Fairies and ancient hunters. He ate three days\u2019\nallowance of food before setting out on his hunting expeditions, and\nwhen he got hungry merely tightened his belt another hole. The Indians\nof Labrador are said to do the same at the present day. These hunters\ncan go for nine days without food, merely tightening their belts\nas they get thin. In MacCallum\u2019s time, a woman was for seven years\nobserved among the deer of Ben Cruachan, as swift of foot and action\nas the herd with which she consorted. A gathering was made to catch\nher. The herd was surrounded by men and dogs, and on her being caught,\nshe was taken to Balinoe, where MacCallum resided. There were rings on\nher fingers, from which it was ascertained that she came from France.\nInquiries were made, and she was sent home by a ship from Greenock. She\nhad been taken away in childbed doubtless by the Fairies. This story\nwas believed by the person from whom it was heard. He had heard it from\ngood authority, he said.\n\n\nCHANGELINGS.\n\nA young lad was sent for the loan of a corn sieve to a neighbour\u2019s\nhouse. He was a changeling, and in the house to which he went there was\nanother like himself. He found no one in but his fellow-elf. A woman,\nin a closet close by, overheard the conversation of the two. The first\nasked for the sieve, and the other replied, \u201cAsk it in an honest way\n(that is, in Fairy language) seeing I am alone.\u201d[33] The first then\nsaid (and his words have as much sense in English as in Gaelic):\n\n  \u201cThe muggle maggle\n  Wants the loan of the black luggle laggle,\n  To take the maggle from the grain.\u201d[34]\n\nThe words are a ludicrous imitation of the sound made by the fan in\nwinnowing corn, and several versions of them exist.\n\nA child, in Skye, ate such a quantity of food, people suspected it\ncould not be \u2018canny.\u2019 A man of skill was sent for, and on his saying a\nrhyme over it, the changeling became an old man.\n\nA changeling in Hianish (some say Sanndaig), Tiree, was driven away by\na man of skill who came, and, standing in the door, said:\n\n  \u201cRed pig, red pig,\n  Red one-eared pig,\n  That Fin killed with the son of Luin,\n  And took on his back to Druim-derg.\u201d[35]\n\nDrim-derg, or the Red Ridge, is a common in the neighbourhood of\nHianish. Fin\u2019s sword, \u2018the son of Luin,\u2019 was of such superior metal\nthat it cut through six feet of whatever substance was struck by it,\nand an inch beyond. Its peculiar virtue was \u201cnever to leave a remnant\nfrom its blow.\u201d When the changeling heard the bare mention of it, with\nthe aversion of his race to steel, he jumped, like a fish out of the\nwater (_thug e iasg-leum as_), rushed out of the house and was never\nseen again. The real child was found outside the house.\n\nA woman was told by her neighbours that her child, which was not\nthriving, was a changeling, and that she ought to throw it in the\nriver. The imp, frightened by the counsel, advised the contrary in an\nexpression, which is now proverbial, \u201cWhether it be fat or lean, every\nman should rear a calf for himself\u201d (_Air dha bhi reamhar na caol, is\nmairg nach beathaicheadh laogh dha fh\u00e9in_).\n\n\nTAKING AWAY COWS AND SHEEP.\n\nA farmer had two good cows that were seized one spring with some\nunaccountable malady. They ate any amount of food given them, but\nneither grew fat nor yielded milk. They lay on their sides and could\nnot be made to rise. An old man in the neighbourhood advised that they\nshould be hauled up the hill, and rolled down its steepest and longest\nincline. The brutes, he said, were not the farmer\u2019s cows at all, but\ntwo old men (_bodaich_) the Fairies had substituted for them. The\nfarmer acted on this advice, and at the bottom of the descent, down\nwhich the cows were sent rolling, nothing was found, neither cow nor\nman, either dead or alive.\n\nThere are old people still living in Iona who remember a man driving a\nnail into a bull that had fallen over a rock, to keep away the Fairies.\n\nA man in Ruaig, Tiree, possessed of the second sight, saw a wether\nsheep (_molt_) belonging to himself whirled through the sky, and was so\nsatisfied the Fairies had taken it in their eddy wind, that he did not,\nwhen the animal was killed, eat any of its mutton.\n\n\nDWELLINGS.\n\nAn old man kept a green hillock, near his house, on which he frequently\nreclined in summer, very clean, sweeping away any filth or cow or horse\ndroppings he might find on it. One evening, as he sat on the hillock,\na little man, a stranger to him, came and thanked him for his care of\nthe hillock, and added, that if at any time the village cattle should\nleave their enclosure during the night, he and his friends would show\ntheir gratitude by keeping them from the old man\u2019s crops. The village\nin these days was in common, ridge about, and the Fairy promise, being\ntested, was found good.\n\nOf hills having the reputation of being tenanted by Fairies may\nbe mentioned Schiehallion (_Sith-chaillionn_), in Perthshire, and\nBen-y-ghloe (_Beinn a Ghlotha_); and in Argyllshire, _S\u00ecthein na\nRapaich_, \u2018the Fairy dwelling of tempestuous weather,\u2019 in Morvern\nand Dunniquoich (_D\u00f9n Cuaich_, the Bowl-shaped hill) D\u00f9n-deacainn\nand Shien-sloy (_s\u00ecthein sluaigh_, the multitude\u2019s residence), near\nInverary. The three latter hills are in sight of each other, and the\npreference of the Fairies for the last is mentioned in a popular rhyme:\n\n  D\u00f9n-deacainn is D\u00f9n-cuaich\n    S\u00ecthein sluaigh is Airde-slios;\n  Nam faighinnsa mo roghainn de \u2019n tri\u00f9ir\n    B\u2019e mo r\u00f9n a bhi san t-slios.\n\nAt the head of Glen-Erochty (_Gleann-Eireochd-aidh_, the Shapely\nglen), in Athol, in Perthshire, there is a mound known as _C\u00e0rn na\nSleabhach_, which at one time was of much repute as a Fairy haunt.\nAlasdair Challum, a poor harmless person, who went about the country\nmaking divinations for his entertainers by means of a small four-sided\nspinning top (_d\u00f2duman_), was asked by a widow where her late\nhusband now was. Alasdair spun round his teetotum and, examining it\nattentively, said, \u201cHe is a baggage horse to the Fairies in Slevach\nCairn, with a twisted willow withe in his mouth.\u201d[36]\n\nA native of the Island of Coll went to pull some wild-briar plants\n(_fearra-dhris_). He tried to pull one growing in the face of a rock.\nThe first tug he gave he heard some one calling to him from the inside\nof the rock, and he ran away without ever looking behind. To this day\nhe says no one need try to persuade him there are no Fairies, for he\nheard them himself.\n\nA shepherd at Lochaweside, coming home with a wedder sheep on his back,\nsaw an open cave in the face of a rock where he had never noticed a\ncave before. He laid down his burden, and stepping over to the entrance\nof the cave, stuck his knife into a fissure of the rock forming a side\nof the entrance. He then leisurely looked in, and saw the cave full of\nguns and arms and chests studded with brass nails, but no appearance of\ntenants. Happening to turn his head for a moment to look at the sheep,\nand seeing it about to move off, he allowed the knife to move from its\nplace. On looking again at the rock, he only saw water trickling from\nthe fissure from which the knife had been withdrawn.\n\nA person who had a green knoll in front of his house and was in the\nhabit of throwing out dirty water at the door, was told by the Fairies\nto remove the door to the other side of the house, as the water was\nspoiling their furniture and utensils. He did this, and he and the\nFairies lived on good terms ever after.\n\nIn the evening a man was tethering his horse on a grassy mound. A\nhead appeared out of the ground, and told him to drive his tether pin\nsomewhere else, as he was letting the rain into their house, and had\nnearly killed one of the inmates by driving the peg into his ear.\n\nBeinn Feall is one of the most prominent hills in the Island of Coll.\nIt is highly esteemed for the excellence of its pasture, and was of old\nmuch frequented by the Fairies. A fisherman going to his occupation\nat night saw it covered with green silk, spread out to dry, and heard\nall night the sound of a quern at work in the interior. On another\noccasion, similar sounds were heard in the same hill, and voices\nsinging:\n\n  \u201cThough good the haven we left,\n  Seven times better the haven we found.\u201d[37]\n\nA man who avoided tethering horse or cow on a Fairy hillock near his\nhouse, or in any way breaking the green sward that covered it, was\nrewarded by the Fairies driving his horse and cow to the lee of the\nhillock in stormy nights.\n\n\nFAIRY ASSISTANCE.\n\nA man in Flodigarry, an islet near Skye, expressed a wish his corn were\nreaped, though it should be by Fairy assistance. The Fairies came and\nreaped the field in two nights. They were seen at work, seven score and\nfifteen, or other large number. After reaping the field they called for\nmore work, and the man set them to empty the sea.\n\nOne of the chiefs of Dowart was hurried with his harvest, and likely\nto lose his crop for want of shearers. He sent word through all Mull\nfor assistance. A little old man came and offered himself. He asked as\nwages only the full of a straw-rope he had with him of corn when the\nwork was over. M\u2018Lean formed no high opinion of the little man, but\nas the work was urgent and the remuneration trifling, he engaged his\nservices. He placed him along with another old man and an old woman on\na ridge by themselves, and told them never to heed though they should\nbe behind the rest, to take matters easy and not fatigue themselves.\nThe little man, however, soon made his assistants leave the way, and\nset them to make sheaf-bands. He finished shearing that ridge before\nthe rest of the shearers were half-way with theirs, and no fault could\nbe found with the manner in which the work was done. M\u2018Lean would not\npart with the little reaper till the end of harvest. Fuller payment\nwas offered for his excellent services, but he refused to take more\nthan had been bargained for. He began putting the corn in the rope, and\nput in all that was in the field, then all that was in the stackyard,\nand finally all that was in the barn. He said this would do just now,\ntightened the rope, and lifted the burden on his back. He was setting\noff with it, when M\u2018Lean, in despair, cried out, \u201cTuesday I ploughed,\nTuesday I sowed, Tuesday I reaped; Thou who did\u2019st ordain the three\nTuesdays, suffer not all that is in the rope to leave me.\u201d \u201cThe hand of\nyour father and grandfather be upon you!\u201d said the little man, \u201cit is\nwell that you spoke.\u201d[38]\n\nAnother version of the tale was current in Morvern. A servant,\nengaged in spring by a man who lived at _Aodienn M\u00f2r_ (\u2018Big Face\u2019) in\nLiddesdale, when told to begin ploughing, merely thrust a walking-stick\ninto the ground, and, holding it to his nose, said the earth was not\nyet ready (_cha robh an talamh air d\u00e0ir fathast_). This went on till\nthe neighbours were more than half-finished with their spring work. His\nmaster then peremptorily ordered the work to be done. By next morning\nthe whole Big Face was ploughed, sown, and harrowed. The shearing of\nthe crop was done in the same mysterious and expeditious manner. The\nservant had the Association-craft, which secured the assistance of the\nFairies. When getting his wages he was like to take away the whole\ncrop, and was got rid of as in the previous version.\n\nAn old man in C\u00f2rnaig, Tiree, went to sow his croft, or piece of land.\nHe was scarce of seed oats, but putting the little he had in a circular\ndish made of plaited straw, called _pl\u00e0dar_, suspended from his\nshoulder by a strap (_iris_), commenced operations. His son followed,\nharrowing the seed. The old man went on sowing long after the son\nexpected the seed corn was exhausted. He made some remark expressive of\nhis wonder, and the old man said, \u201cEvil befall you, why did you speak?\nI might have finished the field if you had held your tongue, but now I\ncannot go further,\u201d and he stopped. The piece sown would properly take\nfour times as much seed as had been used.\n\nA man in the Ross of Mull, about to sow his land, filled a sheet with\nseed oats, and commenced. He went on sowing, but the sheet remained\nfull. At last a neighbour took notice of the strange phenomenon, and\nsaid, \u201cThe face of your evil and iniquity be upon you, is the sheet\nnever to be empty?\u201d When this was said a little brown bird leapt out\nof the sheet, and the supply of corn ceased. The bird was called _Torc\nSona_, _i.e._ \u2018Happy Hog,\u2019 and when any of the man\u2019s descendants fall\nin with any luck they are asked if the _Torc Sona_ still follows the\nfamily.\n\nA man in the Braes of Portree, in Skye, with a large but weak family,\nhad his spring and harvest work done by the Fairies. No one could tell\nhow it was done, but somehow it was finished as soon as that of any of\nhis neighbours. All his family, however, grew up \u2018peculiar in their\nminds.\u2019\n\n\nTHE BATTLE OF TRAI-GRUINARD.\n\nOn 5th August, 1598, one of the bloodiest battles in the annals of\nclan feuds was fought at the head of Loch Gruinard, in Islay, between\nSir Lachlan Mor M\u2018Lean, of Dowart, and Sir James Macdonald, of Islay,\nfor possession of lands forfeited by the latter\u2019s uncle, of which the\nformer had received a grant. Of the M\u2018Leans, Sir Lachlan and 80 of his\nnear kinsmen and 200 clansmen were killed; and of the Macdonalds, 30\nwere killed, and 60 wounded.[39] According to tradition, a trifling\nlooking little man came to Sir Lachlan, and offered his services for\nthe battle. The chief, who was himself of giant frame and strength,\nanswered contemptuously, he did not care which side the little man\nmight be on. The Elf then offered himself to Macdonald, who said he\nwould be glad of the assistance of a hundred like him. All day Sir\nLachlan, who was clothed from head to foot in armour of steel, was\nfollowed by the little man, and on his once lifting the vizor of his\nhelmet an arrow struck him in the forehead at the division of the hair,\nand came out at the back of his head. It proved to be one of those\narrows known as Elf-bolts. Macdonald was sorry for the death of his\nrival, and after the battle made enquiry as to who had killed him.\n\u201cIt was I\u201d said the little man, \u201cwho killed your enemy; and unless\nI had done so he would have killed you.\u201d \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d asked\nMacdonald. \u201cI am called\u201d he said, \u201c_Du-s\u00ecth_\u201d (_i.e._ Black Elf),[40]\n\u201cand you were better to have me with you than against you.\u201d\n\n\nDUINE S\u00ccTH, MAN OF PEACE.\n\nA wright in the island of Mull, on his way home in the evening from\nwork, got enveloped in a mist. He heard some one coming towards him\nwhistling. He entered into talk with the stranger, and was told, a\nlegacy would be left him, and would continue in the line of his direct\ndescendants to the third generation. His grandson is unmarried, and\nwell advanced in years; to the credit of the whistler\u2019s prophecy.\n\nDavie, a south country ploughman, or grieve, was brought to Tiree,\nabout the beginning of the present century, by the then Chamberlain\nor \u2018Baillie\u2019 of the Island. Ploughing one day on Crossapol farm, he\nsaw before him in the furrow a very little man. Not understanding that\nthe diminutive creature was a Fairy, Davie cried out in broken Gaelic,\n\u201cWhat little man are you? Get out of that.\u201d\n\nA former gardener in T\u00ecr Mhine (Meal Land) in Glenorchy, a good deal\ngiven to drinking, was crossing Loch Awe one night in a boat alone. He\nsaw a little man sitting in the stern of the boat, and spoke to him\nseveral times but received no answer. He at last struck at the little\nman, and himself tumbled overboard. Now, asked the old woman, who told\nthis story, what could the little man be, but a _brughadair_ (_i.e._\none that came from the Fairy dwelling, an Elf)? To the reader the case\nwill appear one of simple hallucination produced by ardent spirits, but\nit is of interest as shewing the interpretation put upon it under a\nbelief in the Fairies.\n\n\nBEAN SHITH, ELLE WOMAN, OR WOMAN OF PEACE.\n\nWhile supper was being prepared in a farmer\u2019s house in Morvern, a very\nlittle woman, a stranger to the inmates, entered. She was invited to\nshare the supper with the family, but would take none of the food of\nwhich the meal consisted, or of any other the inmates had to offer. She\nsaid her people lived on the tops of heather, and in the loch called\n_Lochan Fasta Litheag_. There does not seem to be any loch of the name\nin Morvern. The name is difficult to translate, but indicates a lakelet\ncovered with weeds or green scum. The little woman left the house as\nshe came, and fear kept every one from following her, or questioning\nher further.\n\nA woman at Kinloch Teagus (_Ceann Loch T\u00e9acais_), in the same parish,\nwas sitting on a summer day in front of the house, preparing green dye,\nby boiling heather tops and alum together. This preparation is called\n_ailmeid_. A young woman, whom she had never seen before, came to her,\nand asked for something to eat. The stranger was dressed in green,\nand wore a cap bearing the appearance of the king\u2019s hood of a sheep\n(_currachd an righ caorach_). The housewife said the family were at the\nshielings with the cattle, and there was no food in the house; there\nwas not even a drink of milk. The visitor then asked to be allowed to\nmake brose of the dye, and received permission to do what she liked\nwith it. She was asked where she stayed, and she said, \u201cin this same\nneighbourhood.\u201d She drank off the compost, rushed away, throwing three\nsomersaults, and disappeared.\n\nA young man, named Callum, when crossing the rugged hills of\n_Ard-meadhonach_ (Middle Height), in Mull, fell in with some St. John\u2019s\nwort (_Achlusan Challum-chille_), a plant of magic powers, if found\nwhen neither sought nor wanted. He took some of it with him. He had\n_d\u00f9cun_ (small swellings below the toes) on his feet, and on coming\nto a stream sat down and bathed them in the water. Looking up, he saw\nan ugly little woman, having no nostrils, on the other side of the\nstream, with her feet resting against his own. She asked him for the\nplant he had in his hand, but he refused to give it. She asked him to\nmake snuff of it then and give her some. He answered, \u201cWhat could she\nwant with snuff, when she had no nostril to put it in?\u201d He left her and\nwent further on. As he did not come home that night his friends and\nneighbours next day went in search of him through the hills. He was\nfound by his father asleep on the side of a _cnoc_, a small hillock,\nand when awakened, he thought, from the position of the sun, he had\nonly slept a few minutes. He had, in fact, slept for twenty-four hours.\nHis dog lay sleeping in the hollow between his two shoulders, and had\n\u2018neither hair nor fur\u2019 on. It is supposed it had lost the hair in\nchasing away the Fairies, and protecting its master.\n\nIn what seems to be only another version of this story, a herd-boy was\nsitting in the evening by a stream bathing his feet. A beautiful woman\nappeared on the other side of the stream, and asked him to pull a plant\nshe pointed out, and make snuff of it for her. He refused, asking what\nneed had she of snuff, when she had no nostrils? She asked him to cross\nthe stream, but he again refused. When he went home his step-mother\ngave him his food and milk as usual. He gave the whole of it to his\ndog, and the dog died from the effects.\n\nA herdsman at Baile-phuill, in the west end of Tiree, fell asleep on\n_Cnoc Ghrianal_, at the eastern base of Heynish Hill, on a fine summer\nafternoon. He was awakened by a violent slap on the ear. On rubbing his\neyes, and looking up, he saw a woman, the most beautiful he had ever\nseen, in a green dress, with a brooch fastening it at the neck, walking\naway from him. She went westward and he followed her for some distance,\nbut she vanished, he could not tell how.\n\nA person in Mull reported that he saw several Fairy women together\nwashing at a stream. He went near enough to see that they had only one\nnostril each.\n\nThe places in Tiree where _cailleacha s\u00ecth_ (Fairy hags) were seen were\nat streams and pools of water on _Druim-buidhe_ (the Yellow Back), the\nlinks of Kennavara, and the bend of the hill (_l\u00f9badh na beinne_) at\nBaile-phendrais. They have long since disappeared, the islanders having\nbecome too busy to attend to them.\n\nA Skyeman was told by one of these weird women never to put the burning\nend of a peat outside when making up the fire for the night.\n\n\nDONALD THRASHED BY THE FAIRY WOMAN.\n\nA man in Mull, watching in the harvest field at night, saw a woman\nstanding in the middle of a stream that ran past the field. He ran\nafter her, and seemed sometimes to be close upon her, and again to be\nas far from her as ever. Losing temper he swore himself to the devil\nthat he would follow till he caught her. When he said the words the\nobject of his pursuit allowed herself to be overtaken, and showed her\ntrue character by giving him a sound thrashing. Every night after he\nhad to meet her. He was like to fall into a decline through fear of\nher, and becoming thoroughly tired of the affair, he consulted an old\nwoman of the neighbourhood, who advised him to take with him to the\nplace of appointment the ploughshare and his brother John. This would\nkeep the Fairy woman from coming near him. The Fairy, however, said\nto him in a mumbling voice, \u201cYou have taken the ploughshare with you\nto-night, Donald, and big, pock-marked, dirty John your brother,\u201d and\ncatching him she administered a severer thrashing than ever. He went\nagain to the old woman, and this time she made for his protection a\nthread, which he was to wear about his neck. He put it on, and, instead\nof going to the place of meeting, remained at the fireside. The Fairy\ncame, and, taking him out of the house, gave him a still severer\nthrashing. Upon this, the wise woman said she would make a chain to\nprotect him against all the powers of darkness, though they came. He\nput this chain about his neck, and remained by the fireside. He heard\na voice calling down the chimney, \u201cI cannot come near you to-night,\nDonald, when the pretty smooth-white is about your neck.\u201d\n\n\nIONA BANSHI.\n\nA man in Iona, thinking daylight was come, rose and went to a rock\nto fish. After catching some fish, he observed he had been misled by\nthe clearness of the moonlight, and set off home. On the way, as the\nnight was so fine, he sat down to rest himself on a hillock. He fell\nasleep, and was awakened by the pulling of the fishing rod, which he\nhad in his hand. He found the rod was being pulled in one direction\nand the fish in another. He secured both, and was making off, when he\nheard sounds behind him as of a woman weeping. On his turning round to\nher, she said, \u201cAsk news, and you will get news.\u201d He answered, \u201cI put\nGod between us.\u201d When he said this, she caught him and thrashed him\nsoundly. Every night after he was compelled to meet her, and on her\nrepeating the same words and his giving the same answer, was similarly\ndrubbed. To escape from her persecutions he went to the Lowlands. When\nengaged there cutting drains, he saw a raven on the bank above him.\nThis proved to be his tormentor, and he was compelled to meet her\nagain at night, and, as usual, she thrashed him. He resolved to go to\nAmerica. On the eve of his departure, his Fairy mistress met him and\nsaid, \u201cYou are going away to escape from me. If you see a hooded crow\nwhen you land, I am that crow.\u201d On landing in America he saw a crow\nsitting on a tree, and knew it to be his old enemy. In the end the\nFairy dame killed him.\n\n\nTIREE BANSHI.\n\nAt the time of the American War of Independence, a native of Tiree,\nsimilarly afflicted and wishing to escape from his Fairy love, enlisted\nand was drafted off to the States. On landing he thanked God he was now\nwhere the hag could not reach him. Soon after, however, she met him.\n\u201cYou have given thanks,\u201d she said, \u201cfor getting rid of me, but it is\nas easy for me to make my appearance here as in your own country.\u201d She\nthen told him what fortunes were to befall him, that he would survive\nthe war and return home, and that she would not then trouble him any\nmore. \u201cYou will marry there and settle. You will have two daughters,\none of whom will marry and settle in Croy-Gortan (_Cruaidh-ghortain_,\nstone-field), the other will marry and remain in your own house. The\none away will ask you to stay with herself, as her sister will not be\nkind to you. Your death will occur when you are crossing the _Le\u00edge_\u201d\n(a winter stream falling into Loch Vasipol). All this in due course\nhappened.\n\nAbout four generations ago, a native of Cornaig in Tiree was out\nshooting on the Reef plain, and returning home in the evening, at the\nstreamlet, which falls into Balefetrish Bay, near Kennovay, was met by\na Fairy dame. He did not at first observe anything in her appearance\ndifferent from other women, but, on her putting over her head and\nkissing him, he saw she had but one nostril. On reaching home he was\nunable to articulate one word. By the advice of an old man he composed,\nin his mind, a love song to the Fairy. On doing this, his speech came\nback.\n\n\nMACPHIE\u2019S BLACK DOG.\n\n[This tale was taken down in Gaelic from the dictation of Donald\nCameron, Ruaig, Tiree, in 1863, and is here given in his words as\nclosely as a translation will allow. It is a very good specimen of a\nclass of tales found in the Highlands, and illustrates many remarkable\ntraits of the belief regarding the Fairy women, their enmity to the\nhunter, their beauty and powers of enchanting men at first, their\nchanging their shape to that of deer, and the aversion dogs have to\nthem; also the size and character of the Fairy hound.]\n\nMac-vic-Allan of Arasaig, lord of Moidart, went out hunting in his own\nforest when young and unmarried. He saw a royal stag before him, as\nbeautiful an animal as he had ever seen. He levelled his gun at it, and\nit became a woman as beautiful as he had ever seen at all. He lowered\nhis gun, and it became a royal stag as before. Every time he raised\nthe gun to his eye, the figure was that of a woman, and every time he\nlet it down to the ground, it was a royal stag. Upon this he raised the\ngun to his eye and walked up till he was close to the woman\u2019s breast.\nHe then sprang and caught her in his arms. \u201cYou will not be separated\nfrom me at all,\u201d he said, \u201cI will never marry any but you.\u201d \u201cDo not do\nthat, Mac-vic-Allan,\u201d she said, \u201cyou have no business with me, I will\nnot suit you. There will never be a day, while you have me with you,\nbut you will need to kill a cow for me.\u201d \u201cYou will get that,\u201d said the\nlord of Moidart, \u201cthough you should ask two a day.\u201d\n\nBut Mac-vic-Allan\u2019s herd began to grow thin. He tried to send her\naway, but he could not. He then went to an old man, who lived in the\ntownland, and was his counsellor. He said he would be a broken man, and\nhe did not know what plan to take to get rid of her. The honest old man\ntold him, that unless Macphie of Colonsay could send her away, there\nwas not another living who could. A letter was instantly sent off to\nMacphie. He answered the letter, and came to Arasaig.\n\n\u201cWhat business is this you have with me,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cMac-vic-Allan?\u201d\n\nMac-vic-Allan told him how the woman had come upon him, and how he\ncould not send her away.\n\n\u201cGo you,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cand kill a cow for her to-day as usual; send\nher dinner to the room as usual; and give me my dinner on the other\nside of the room.\u201d\n\nMac-vic-Allan did as he was asked. She commenced her dinner, and\nMacphie commenced his. When Macphie got his dinner past, he looked over\nat her.\n\n  \u201cWhat is your news, Elle-maid?\u201d said he.\n  \u201cWhat is that to you, Brian Brugh,\u201d said she.\n  \u201cI saw you, Elle-maid,\u201d said he,\n  \u201cWhen you consorted with the Fingalians,\n  When you went with Dermid o Duvne\n  And accompanied him from covert to covert.\u201d\n  \u201cI saw you, Brian Brugh,\u201d she said,\n  \u201cWhen you rode on an old black horse,\n  The lover of the slim Fairy woman,\n  Ever chasing her from brugh to brugh.\u201d\n\n\u201cDogs and men after the wretch,\u201d cried Macphie, \u201clong have I known her.\u201d\n\nEvery dog and man in Arasaig was called and sent after her. She fled\naway out to the point of Arasaig, and they did not get a second sight\nof her.\n\nUpon this Macphie went home to his own Colonsay. One day he was out\nhunting, and night came on before he got home. He saw a light and made\nstraight for it. He saw a number of men sitting in there, and an old\ngrey-headed man in the midst. The old man spoke and said, \u201cMacphie,\ncome forward.\u201d Macphie went forward, and what should come in his way\nbut a bitch, as beautiful an animal as he had ever seen, and a litter\nof pups with it. He saw one pup in particular, black in colour, and he\nhad never seen a pup so black or so beautiful as it.\n\n\u201cThis dog will be my own,\u201d said Macphie.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the man, \u201cyou will get your choice of the pups, but you will\nnot get that one.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not take one,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cbut this one.\u201d\n\n\u201cSince you are resolved to have it,\u201d said the old man, \u201cit will not do\nyou but one day\u2019s service, and it will do that well. Come back on such\na night and you will get it.\u201d\n\nMacphie reached the place on the night he promised to come. They gave\nhim the dog, \u201cand take care of it well,\u201d said the old man, \u201cfor it will\nnever do service for you but the one day.\u201d\n\nThe Black Dog began to turn out so handsome a whelp that no one ever\nsaw a dog so large or so beautiful as it. When Macphie went out hunting\nhe called the Black Dog, and the Black Dog came to the door and then\nturned back and lay where it was before. The gentlemen who visited at\nMacphie\u2019s house used to tell him to kill the Black Dog, it was not\nworth its food. Macphie would tell them to let the dog alone, that the\nBlack Dog\u2019s day would come yet.\n\nAt one time a number of gentlemen came across from Islay to visit\nMacphie and ask him to go with them to Jura to hunt. At that time Jura\nwas a desert, without anyone staying on it, and without its equal\nanywhere as hunting ground for deer and roe. There was a place there\nwhere those who went for sport used to stay, called the Big Cave. A\nboat was made ready to cross the sound that same day. Macphie rose to\ngo, and the sixteen young gentlemen along with him. Each of them called\nthe Black Dog, and it reached the door, then turned and lay down where\nit was before. \u201cShoot it,\u201d cried the young gentlemen. \u201cNo,\u201d said he,\n\u201cthe Black Dog\u2019s day is not come yet\u201d They reached the shore, but the\nwind rose and they did not get across that day.\n\nNext day they made ready to go; the Black Dog was called and reached\nthe door, but returned where it was before. \u201cKill it,\u201d said the\ngentlemen, \u201cand don\u2019t be feeding it any longer.\u201d \u201cI will not kill\nit,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cthe Black Dog\u2019s day will come yet.\u201d They failed\nto get across this day also from the violence of the weather and\nreturned. \u201cThe dog has foreknowledge,\u201d said the gentlemen. \u201cIt has\nforeknowledge,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cthat its own day will come yet.\u201d\n\nOn the third day the weather was beautiful. They took their way to the\nharbour, and did not say a syllable this day to the Black Dog. They\nlaunched the boat to go away. One of the gentlemen looked and said the\nBlack Dog was coming, and he never saw a creature like it, because of\nits fierce look. It sprang, and was the first creature in the boat.\n\u201cThe Black Dog\u2019s day is drawing near us,\u201d said Macphie.\n\nThey took with them meat, and provisions, and bedclothes, and went\nashore in Jura. They passed that night in the Big Cave, and next\nday went to hunt the deer. Late in the evening they came home. They\nprepared supper. They had a fine fire in the cave and light. There was\na big hole in the very roof of the cave through which a man could pass.\nWhen they had taken their supper the young gentlemen lay down, Macphie\nrose, and stood warming the back of his legs to the fire. Each of the\nyoung men said he wished his own sweetheart was there that night.\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cI prefer that my wife should be in her own\nhouse; it is enough for me to be here myself to-night.\u201d\n\nMacphie gave a look from him and saw sixteen women entering the door\nof the cave. The light went out and there was no light except what the\nfire gave. The women went over to where the gentlemen were. Macphie\ncould see nothing from the darkness that came over the cave. He was\nnot hearing a sound from the men. The women stood up and one of them\nlooked at Macphie. She stood opposite to him as though she were going\nto attack him. The Black Dog rose and put on a fierce bristling look\nand made a spring at her. The women took to the door, and the Black Dog\nfollowed them to the mouth of the cave. When they went away the Black\nDog returned and lay at Macphie\u2019s feet.\n\nIn a little while Macphie heard a horrid noise overhead in the top of\nthe cave, so that he thought the cave would fall in about his head. He\nlooked up and saw a man\u2019s hand coming down through the hole, and making\nas if to catch himself and take him out through the hole in the roof\nof the cave. The Black Dog gave one spring, and between the shoulder\nand the elbow caught the Hand, and lay upon it with all its might. Now\nbegan the play between the Hand and the Black Dog. Before the Black\nDog let go its hold, it chewed the arm through till it fell on the\nfloor. The Thing that was on the top of the cave went away, and Macphie\nthought the cave would fall in about his head. The Black Dog rushed out\nafter the Thing that was outside. This was not the time when Macphie\nfelt himself most at ease, when the Black Dog left him. When the day\ndawned, behold the Black Dog had returned. It lay down at Macphie\u2019s\nfeet, and in a few minutes was dead.\n\nWhen the light of day appeared Macphie looked, and he had not a single\nman alive of those who were with him in the cave. He took with him the\nHand, and went to the shore to the boat. He went on board and went home\nto Colonsay, unaccompanied by dog or man. He took the Hand up with him\nthat men might see the horror he had met with, the night he was in the\ncave. No man in Islay or Colonsay ever at all saw such a hand, nor did\nthey imagine that such existed.\n\nThere only remained to send a boat to Jura and take home the bodies\nthat were in the cave. That was the end of the Black Dog\u2019s day.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA short tale, similar to the first part of the above legend, is\ngiven in Campbell\u2019s _Tales of the West Highlands_ (ii. 52). A fairy\nchangeling in Gaolin Castle, Kerrera, is detected by a visitor from\nIreland as the Fairy sweetheart of a countryman\u2014_Brian Mac Braodh_. On\nbeing detected the Elle woman ran into the sea from the point since\ncalled _Rutha na Sirich_. The name _Brian Brugh_ of the one tale and\n_Brian Mac Braodh_ of the other renders it probable the two tales had\noriginally more in common.\n\nThe expression, \u201cThe Black Dog\u2019s day will come yet\u201d (_Thig latha\nchoindui fhathast_), has passed into a proverb to denote that a time\nwill yet come when one now despised will prove of service. The English\nproverb, \u201cEvery dog has its day,\u201d means that everyone has his own time\nof enjoyment.\n\nThe Macphies or MacDuffies were Lairds of Colonsay till the middle of\nthe 17th century. In 1623 the celebrated Colkitto was delated for the\nmurder of umquhill Malcolm Macphie of Colonsay; and one of the race\nlies buried in Iona, with the inscription on his tomb\n\n\n  HIC JACET MALCOLUMBUS MACDUFFIE DE COLONSAY.\n\nIf the same Malcolm is referred to in both cases, these traces of his\nfame, slight though they be, create some presumption that he may be\nthe person round whom romance has gathered the incidents of the above\ntale. In 1615 Malcolm Macphie joined Sir James Macdonald of Dunyveg, in\nIslay, in the last and unsuccessful attempt made by the once powerful\nClandonald of Islay and Cantyre to retain their possessions from the\nCampbells. He was one of the principal leaders of the rebels and a\nremarkable man. The family was one of the oldest and most esteemed in\nthe West Highlands.\n\nThe following are other versions of the tale in circulation. They are\nof interest when compared with each other in showing the growth and\ncharacter of a popular tale.\n\nMacphie of Colonsay was kept captive by a mermaid in a cave by the\nshore. She supplied him with whatever he needed or desired, but he was\nnot happy, and took advantage of her absence to make his escape. She\nmissed him on her return and went in pursuit. He had with him a large\nblack dog, which he had kept in spite of everyone\u2019s remonstrances. When\nthe mermaid overtook him he threw it into the water and it fought the\nmermaid. The end of the battle was that the dog killed the mermaid and\nthe mermaid killed the dog.\n\nThis version is the one which supplied the ground work of Leyden\u2019s\nbeautiful ballad \u201cThe Mermaid.\u201d Considerable changes must have been\nmade by him upon the legend as it came to his hand. The dog, which in\nall the versions is the principal character, is left out; Macphie\u2019s\nname is changed to Macphail; a magic ring (a thing unknown in Highland\nlore) is introduced, etc. Leyden fell in with the version, of which he\nmade use, in his travels in the Highlands in 1801.\n\nMacphie of Colonsay was in an island hunting, and in the course of\nhis ramblings came to a hut, which he entered. He found no one in,\nand threw himself on a bed for a little rest. He was accompanied by\na dog as large as a year old calf. A dark object (_d\u00f9thra_) came to\nthe door and the dog attacked it. The Thing made a hideous screaming.\nWhen Macphie saw the dog\u2019s hair beginning to smoke, he made his escape\nto the boat that had come with him to the island. Before long the dog\ncame rushing after him, like a mad beast, with a green flame issuing\nfrom its jaws. Macphie had prepared himself for this by loading his\ndouble-barrelled gun[41] with two crooked sixpences. He fired the\ntwo shots at the dog, as it rushed to attack him, and killed it. The\nBanshi, it had fought with, was left cruelly mauled, and she crawled\nor dragged herself to the shore, throwing rocks and stones out of\nher way. Her track is still known as the Carlin\u2019s Furrow (_Sgr\u00ecob na\nCaillich_). The boat left the shore before she reached it. She tried\nto bring it back by throwing a ball of thread after it, but without\nsuccess. This was in Islay.\n\nMacphie of Colonsay, when he went hunting, was met in a particular glen\nby a man who accompanied him during the rest of the excursion. His\ncompanion had a brindled bitch (_galla riabhach_), to which Macphie\ntook a fancy. He asked the man to sell it. \u201cI will not,\u201d said the man,\n\u201csell it to you or any one else, but as you have rested your eye upon\nit, I will give it to you for a while. It will have two pups, one like\nitself and one black. The brindled one you can keep, but the black one\nmust be returned along with its mother. You will meet me at this same\nspot on such a day.\u201d Macphie took the brindled bitch home, and in due\ntime the animal had two pups, both very pretty. When the time came,\nMacphie went back, according to promise, to the place appointed, but\ninstead of taking the black pup, took the brindled one. The man said\nto him, \u201cYou have not brought the Black Dog; it would have been better\nfor you if you had; but keep it. It will give you but one night\u2019s\nservice; you will not gain much by the Black Dog.\u201d After this the\nBlack Dog began to wither; it grew large and tall but lank and lean.\nThe servants thrashed and kicked it about, as if it never was likely\nto come to any good. Macphie himself seemed to have an unaccountable\nregard for it, and was very angry when he saw it abused. Two gentlemen\ncame to see him, with the intention of taking him with them to hunt in\nsome neighbouring islet. On the morning of their intended expedition\nthey rose early, and were getting the guns ready, when the Black Dog\nrose and whined and fawned upon Macphie. On reaching the boat the Black\nDog was the first to spring on board. The night became stormy, and the\nparty were not able to get home that night. They passed the night in\na cave. A noise as of walking was heard overhead, and a Hand appeared\nthrough the roof as if to grasp one of Macphie\u2019s friends. All the dogs\nfled into the corners of the cave. Macphie himself had a Jew\u2019s harp\n(which is said to be the holiest kind of musical instrument), and when\nhe played fast upon it the Hand drew back; when he played slow the Hand\ncame nearer. At last he was almost exhausted. He called upon the Black\nDog, and the Black Dog rose. \u201cMy Black Dog,\u201d said Macphie, \u201cif you\ncannot do it now, I am undone.\u201d The Dog attacked the Hand, and made it\ndisappear. It then rushed out and gave chase. It came back, spotted and\nspeckled, with its hair stripped off. When the hunters got home on the\nfollowing night the Dog disappeared.\n\nMacphie from Colonsay was cast ashore at Ormsaig, in the district of\nBrolas in Mull, clinging to a log of wood. He stayed for some time\nat Ormsaig, and was in the habit of going to the hill with his gun. A\nFairy woman met him there, and from her he received the present of a\nyoung dog, which she said would yet be of service to him, but only for\none day. He had seventeen foster brothers, and, on his return home,\nthey came and asked him to go with them to shoot cormorants at the Paps\nof Jura. The Dog, which had by this time grown very large, and had\nnever before given any indication of being useful, this day eagerly\naccompanied the hunters. Macphie\u2019s wife had often urged him to kill\nthe dog, but he had insisted on keeping it. When Jura was reached, a\nservant was left in charge of the boats, and the company passed the\nnight in a cave. As they reclined round the cave, each expressed a\nwish, that his sweetheart were there. Macphie, who was standing by the\nfire, said he had no such wish, it was better for his mistress to be at\nhome. Before long, seventeen women in green dresses entered the cave,\nand went over to the beds of heather where Macphie\u2019s foster brothers\nwere, and Macphie heard the crackling sound of breaking bones. The\nseventeen women then came up, as if to attack himself. Afraid of their\nnumber, he called to the Black Dog, \u201cIf you assist me not now, I am a\nlost man.\u201d The dog attacked the women, drove them out of the cave, and\nwent off in pursuit. Macphie fled to the boat, and he and the servant\nleft in charge quitted the shore with all haste. When they were well\nout to sea, the servant said there was a fiery star coming after them.\nMacphie said it was the Black Dog, and its heart had taken fire. He\nmade ready, and when the dog overtook them, cut off its head.\n\n\nTHE CARLIN OF THE SPOTTED HILL (_Cailleach Beinne Bhric_).\n\nThe Fairy wife, who owned the deer of Ben Breck, is well known in the\nHighlands.\n\nIt is told of her that on one occasion, as she milked a hind, the\nanimal became restive and gave her a kick. In return she struck the\nhind with her open palm and expressed a wish that the arrow of Donald,\nthe son of John (a noted hunter in his day), might come upon it. That\nvery day the restive hind fell to D\u00f2\u2019il MacJain\u2019s arrow.[42]\n\nIt is also told of this Elfin wife that while three hunters were\npassing the night in a bothy on Ben Breck, the Carlin wife came to the\ndoor and sought admittance. A dog that accompanied the hunters sprang\nup to attack her. She retreated and asked one of the men to tie up his\ndog. He refused. She asked him again, and a second time he refused. She\nasked a third time, and he replied he had nothing to tie it with. She\npulled a hair out of her head and told him to tie his dog with that, it\nwas strong enough to hold a four-masted ship at anchor. He pretended to\nconsent, and the hag, on trying again to enter, found the dog was not\nsecured. She then went away, saying it was well for the hunter the dog\nhad not been tied, and threatening to come again. It does not appear,\nhowever, that she ever came back.\n\nShe was last seen about twenty years ago in Lochaber. Age had told\nseverely upon her. Instead of being \u2018broad and tall,\u2019 she had become no\nbigger than a teapot! She wore a little grey plaid or shawl about her\nshoulders.\n\n\nDONALD, SON OF PATRICK.\n\nDonald, the son of Patrick (_D\u00f2mhnull Mac Ph\u00e0ruig_), or, as others say,\nthe son of Lachlan, was a _brocair_, that is, a foxhunter or destroyer\nof ground vermin, in Lorn. Persons following this profession were\nemployed by the hill farmers, and had generally long tracts of country\nto travel over. Their companions were their gun, a pack of terriers,\nand perhaps a wiry deer-hound. With these they led as lonely a life as\nanyone who had at all to descend to the strath and men\u2019s houses could\ndo. Many a lonely night they watched by the fox\u2019s cairn in some remote\ncorrie for an opportunity \u2018to put a hole in the red rogue\u2019s hide,\u2019\nand they often passed the night in bothies and shielings far from the\nhaunts of men. One day Donald, the son of Patrick, killed a roe, and\ntook it to a bothy in the hills. He kindled a fire with the flint of\nhis gun, and having cut up the roe, roasted pieces of the flesh by a\nlarge fire. As he helped himself, he threw now and then a piece to his\ndogs. Before long he observed, the night being moonlit, a large dark\nshadow coming about the door, and then a woman snatching at the pieces\nof flesh he threw to the dogs. She had one tooth as big as a distaff\nprojecting from her upper gum. The dogs prevented her entering the hut,\nso that she got but little of the food. She asked Donald to leash up\nhis dogs, and on his refusing, cried out, \u201cThis is poor hospitality for\nthe night, Donald, son of Patrick.\u201d Donald answered, \u201cIt will be no\nbetter and no worse than that.\u201d \u201cYou proved expert at raising a fire,\u201d\nshe said. \u201cHow do you know?\u201d he asked. \u201cI was,\u201d she said, \u201con the top\nof the Cruach of Rannoch (a hill far away) the first click you gave to\nthe flint, and this is poor hospitality for the night, Donald, son of\nPatrick.\u201d \u201cIt will,\u201d he said, \u201cbe no better and no worse than that.\u201d\nIn a while again she said, \u201cThis is poor hospitality for the night,\nDonald, son of Patrick.\u201d \u201cTake,\u201d he said, \u201cas you are able to win.\u201d She\nremained all night, and repeatedly asked him to leash up his dogs,\nwhich he refused to do. The dogs kept her at bay till she left.\n\nAnother version says that the foxhunter\u2019s name was _Iain Mac Ph\u00e0ruig_,\nthat he was accompanied by sixteen dogs, that his strange visitant\ndisappeared at the cock-crowing, and that she then told she was \u2018the\nwife of Fe-chiarain\u2019 (_Cailleach Fe-chiarain_). Some identify her with\nthe Carlin of Ben Breck.\n\n\nTHE WIFE OF BEN-Y-GHLOE.\n\nDonald and Big John (_D\u00f2mhnull \u2019s Iain m\u00f2r_) were out deer-hunting on\nthe lofty mountain of Ben-y-ghloe, in Athol in Perthshire, when a heavy\nsnowstorm came on, and they lost their way. They came to a hut in a\nhollow and entered. The only one in was an old woman, the like of whom\nthey said they had never seen. Her two arms were bare, of great length,\nand grizzled and sallow to look at. She neither asked them to come in\nnor go out, and being much in need of shelter, they went in and sat at\nthe fire. There was a look in her eye that might \u2018terrify a coward,\u2019\nand she hummed a surly song, the words of which were unintelligible\nto them. They asked for meat, and she set before them a fresh salmon\ntrout, saying, \u201cLittle you thought I would give you your dinner\nto-day.\u201d She also said she could do more, that it was she who clothed\nthe hill with mist to make them come to her house. They stayed with her\nall night. She was very kind and hospitable. She told her name to them\nwhen leaving, that she was \u2018the wife of Ben-y-Ghloe.\u2019 They could not\nsay whether she was _s\u00ecth_ or _saoghalta_ (Elfin or human), but they\nnever visited her again.\n\n\nFAIRY WOMEN AND DEER.\n\nOn the lands of Scalasdal in Mull, a deer was killed, which turned out\nafterwards to be a woman.\n\nIt is perhaps this belief in the metamorphosis of Fairy women and deer\nthat was the origin of the tradition that Oisian\u2019s mother was a deer.\nIn Skye it is said that after the poet\u2019s birth his mother could touch\nhim but once with her tongue on the temple. On that corner (_air an\nOisinn sin_) a tuft of fur like that of a deer grew, hence the poet\u2019s\nname. An informant in the centre of Argyllshire said he did not hear\nOisian\u2019s mother was a deer, but he had heard the poet was nurtured by a\ndeer. In the Northern Hebrides, a song is sometimes heard which Oisian\nis said to have composed to the deer.[43]\n\n\nO\u2019CRONICERT\u2019S FAIRY WIFE.[44]\n\nThere was a man in Ireland, whose name was O\u2019Cronicert, and his\ndwelling place was Corr-water, and he spent all he had on the great\nnobles of Ireland, bringing them for days\u2019 entertainment and for\nnights\u2019 entertainment, till he had nothing left but an old tumble-down\nblack house, and an old wife, and an old lame white horse. The\nthought that came into his head was, to go to the King of Ireland for\nassistance, to see what he would give. He cut a cudgel of grey oak in\nthe outskirt of the wood, and sat on the back of the old lame white\nhorse, and set off at speed through wood, and through moss, and through\nrugged ground, till he reached the King\u2019s house. The custom was, that a\nman should be a year and a day in the King\u2019s house before being asked\nthe object of his journey. After being there a year and a day, the King\nsaid, \u201cO\u2019Cronicert, it is not without a cause for your journey you have\ncome here.\u201d \u201cIt is not,\u201d said O\u2019Cronicert, \u201cit is for assistance I have\ncome here. You know it was for yourself and your great nobles I spent\nmy property entirely.\u201d \u201cYou will wait,\u201d said the King, \u201ctill I bring\nin the children\u201d; and they were there as men called them Murdoch Mac\nBrian, and Duncan Mac Brian, and Torgill Mac Brian, and Brian Borr Mac\nCimi, and his sixteen foster brothers with every one of them.\n\n\u201cI will give,\u201d said Murdoch Mac Brian, \u201ca hundred milch cows to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give,\u201d said Duncan Mac Brian, \u201ca hundred farrow cows to him, in\ncase they should be in calf all in one year.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give him,\u201d said Torgill Mac Brian, \u201ca hundred brood mares.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give him,\u201d said Brian Borr Mac Cimi, \u201ca hundred sheep.\u201d\n\nAfter O\u2019Cronicert got this, he was not going away. The King told him\nto go away, that it was difficult to keep his herd separate from the\nKing\u2019s own, and to take it away. He said to the King that he had one\nthing in view, and if he got it from the King, he would prefer it to\nall he had already got.\n\n\u201cIt is certain,\u201d said the King, \u201cit must be some bad thing or other;\nyou had better tell it, that I may let you away.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is,\u201d he said, \u201cthe lap-dog, that is out and in after the Queen,\nthat I wish for\u201d; and the King gave him permission to take it with him.\n\nHe took the lap-dog, leapt on the back of the old lame white horse,\nand went off at speed, without one look at the herd, through wood,\nand through moss, and through rugged ground. After he had gone some\ndistance through the wood, a roe-buck leapt out of the wood, and the\nlap-dog went after it, and in an instant they were out of sight.\n\nClose upon the evening, he saw the lap-dog coming, and a royal stag\nbefore it, and the deer started up as a woman behind O\u2019Cronicert, the\nhandsomest that eye had ever seen from the beginning of the universe\ntill the end of eternity. O\u2019Cronicert caught her, and she asked him to\nlet her go, and he said there would be no separation in life between\nthem.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said she, \u201cbefore I go with you, you must come under three\nconditions to me\u201d; and he promised to come under the conditions.\n\n\u201cThe first condition is, that you will not go to ask the King of\nIreland or his great nobles for a day\u2019s or a night\u2019s entertainment\nwithout telling me. The next condition is, that you will not go to a\nchange-house without putting it in my option; and the third thing,\nthat you will never cast up to me that you found me an unwise animal\n(_beathach mi-ch\u00e9illidh_) in the wood.\u201d\n\nThey reached the old tumble-down black house, and the wife he had left\nthere was a faggot-bundle of bones in a pool of rain-drip in the middle\nof the floor. They cut grass in clefts and ledges of the rocks, and\nmade a bed, and laid down.\n\nO\u2019Cronicert\u2019s wakening from sleep was the lowing of cattle, and the\nbleating of sheep, and the neighing of mares, while he himself was in\na bed of gold on wheels of silver, going from end to end of the Tower\nof Castle Town, the finest eye had ever seen from the beginning of the\nuniverse till the end of eternity.\n\n\u201cIt is no wonder,\u201d he said, \u201cthe like of this should happen to me, when\nI found you an unwise animal in the wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs well as you broke that condition you will break the rest; rise, and\ndrive the cattle away to pasture.\u201d\n\nWhen he went out, there was no number to the multitude of his flock,\nand on a day of the days after that, while looking at the flock, he\nthought he would go to ask the King of Ireland for a day and night\u2019s\nentertainment. He sat on the back of the old lame white horse, and went\nthrough wood, and moss, and rugged ground, till he reached the King\u2019s\nhouse.\n\nThe King said to him, \u201cDo you at all intend, O\u2019Cronicert, to take your\nflock with you? They are to-day so numerous that the herdsmen do not\nknow them from my own.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I have no need of them. I have a larger stock than yourself, and\nwhat has brought me is to ask yourself and nobles for a day and night\u2019s\nentertainment.\u201d\n\nThe King said to him, \u201cWe are ready, my good fellow, to go\u201d; and there\nwere there, as men called them, Murdoch Mac Brian, and Duncan Mac\nBrian, and Torgill Mac Brian, and Brian Borr Mac Cimi, and his sixteen\nfoster-brothers with every one of them. It was when they were near the\nhouse O\u2019Cronicert remembered he had left without telling her. He told\nthem to make their way slowly, and he himself would go before to tell\nthey were coming.\n\n\u201cYou did not need, I knew very well that you went; let them come on,\neverything is ready.\u201d\n\nWhen the King thought he had been seven days and seven nights drinking\nthere, he said to Murdoch, his son, that it was time for them to be\ngoing. She then said to the King that it was high time for him\u2014\u201cYou\nhave been seven days and seven years in this place.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I am,\u201d said he, \u201cI need not go back; there is not a man or living\ncreature awaiting me.\u201d\n\nMurdoch had a foster-brother, whose name was Keyn, the son of Loy\n(_Kian Mac an Luaimh_), and he fell in love with O\u2019Cronicert\u2019s wife. He\npretended to be ill and remained behind the rest. She made a drink for\nhim and went with it to him, but instead of taking the drink he laid\nhold of herself. She suddenly became a filly, and gave him a kick and\nbroke his leg. She took with her the tower of Castle Town as an armful\non her shoulder and a light burden on her back, and left him in the old\ntumble-down black house, in a pool of rain-drip, in the middle of the\nfloor.\n\nIn the parting O\u2019Cronicert went to the change-house to bid the party\ngood-bye, and it was then Murdoch Mac Brian remembered he had left his\nown foster-brother, Keyn, the son of Loy, behind, and said there would\nbe no separation in life between them, and he would go back for him.\nHe found Keyn in the old tumble-down black house, in the middle of the\nfloor, in a pool of rain-water, with his leg broken; and he said the\nearth would make a nest in his sole, and the sky a nest in his head, if\nhe did not find a man who would cure Keyn\u2019s leg.\n\nThe rest of the tale consists principally of _true_ tales, necessary to\nbe told, before Keyn will consent to stretch his leg for a salve to be\napplied to it. The King of Lochlin, or, according to others, the King\nof Ireland, who is bound not to allow any one to remain in distress,\nwhen he can relieve, tells a series of marvellous adventures that\nbefell himself, all jointing into one another, before Keyn stretches\nhis foot. The composition is of a kindred character with the _Arabian\nNights\u2019 Entertainment_.\n\nThe reader will observe that in this tale, as in that of \u201cMacphie\u2019s\nBlack Dog,\u201d the Fairy wife is first encountered in the shape of a deer,\nthat (as is alleged of her race in other tales) she dislikes being\nreproached with not being of mortal race, and calls up in one night a\npalace of enchanting magnificence, in which time passes unobserved, and\nin the end disappears, leaving matters worse than at the beginning.\n\n\nTHE GRUAGACH BAN.\n\nIn Campbell\u2019s _West Highland Tales_ (ii. 410) will be found a tale\nalso highly illustrative of this part of the superstition. The hero\nof the tale, the Fair Long-haired One, son of the King of Ireland,\nencounters a woman with a narrow green kirtle (the Fairy dress), and\nafter playing cards with her, is placed under the following spell:\u2014\u201cI\nplace thee under enchantments and crosses, under the nine shackles of\nthe roaming, wandering Fairy dame, that the most stunted and weakliest\nlittle calf take off your head, and your ears, and your livelihood, if\nyou rest night or day, where you take your breakfast, that you will not\ntake your dinner, and where you take your dinner, you will not take\nyour supper, till you find out the place I am in, under the four red\ndivisions of the world.\u201d[45]\n\nThere is also in the tale an Elfin old woman, the Carlin of the Red\nStream, who is of the same class with the old wife of Ben Breck. She\nhas a wonderful deer, which she can restore to life if she can get any\nof its flesh as juice to taste, and her yells split the iron hoops\nthe prudent Fin had put round his men\u2019s heads in anticipation of her\noutcries.\n\n\nDEER KILLED AT NIGHT.\n\nBig Hugh, of Ardchyle (_E\u00f2ghan m\u00f2r \u00e0ird-a-chaoil_), in the east of\nthe island of Mull, a noted deer-hunter in his day, killed a deer at\nTorness (_Torr-an-Eas_, the eminence by the ravine), some seven miles\naway in Glenmore, and conveyed it home at night. He was accompanied\nby a man of the name of Sinclair. Sinclair asked him if the deer was\nheavy, and Big Hugh said he felt as if he had a house on his back.\nSinclair then stuck his pen-knife in the deer, and asked again if the\nburden felt heavy. Big Hugh said it was now so light he could hardly\nbelieve he had a burden on his back at all. The weight had been laid on\nby the Fairies.\n\n\nFAIRIES AND GOATS.\n\nIn Breadalbane and the Highlands of Perthshire it is said the Fairies\nlive on goat\u2019s milk. A goat was taken home by a man in Strathfillan,\nin Perthshire, to be killed. In the evening a stranger, dressed in\ngreen, came to the door. He was asked to enter and rest himself. He\nsaid he could not, as he was in a hurry, and on his way to Dunbuck (a\ncelebrated Fairy haunt near Dunbarton), an urgent message having come\nfor him. He said that many a day that goat had kept him in milk. He\nthen disappeared. He could be nothing but a Fairy.\n\n\nFAIRIES AND COWS.\n\nA strong-minded headstrong woman in Kianish, Tiree, had a cow, the\nmilk of which strangely failed. Suspecting that the cow was being\nmilked by someone during the night, she sat up and watched. She saw\na woman dressed in green coming noiselessly and milking the cow. She\ncame behind and caught her. In explanation the Fairy woman said she\nhad a child lying in the smallpox, and as a favour asked to be allowed\nto milk the cow for one month, till the child got better. This was\nallowed, and when the month was out, the cow\u2019s milk became as plentiful\nas ever.\n\nThat the Fairies took away cows at night in order to milk them, and\nsent them back in the morning, was a belief in Craignish, Morvern,\nTiree, Lochaber, and probably in the whole Highlands. When milk lost\nits virtue, and yielded neither cream, nor butter, nor cheese, the\nwork was that of witches and such like diabolical agencies. When the\nmischief was done by the Fairies the whole milk disappeared.\n\n\nFAIRY COWS.\n\nA strong man named Dugald Campbell was one night, about the end of last\ncentury, watching the cattle on the farm of Baile-phuill, in the west\nof Tiree. A little red cow came among the herd and was attacked by the\nother cows. It fled and they followed. Dugald also set off in pursuit.\nSometimes the little red cow seemed near, sometimes far away. At last\nit entered the face of a rock, and one of the other cows followed and\nwas never again seen. The whole herd would have followed had not Dugald\nintercepted them.\n\nA poor person\u2019s cow, in Skye, was by some act of oppression taken from\nhim. That night the Fairies brought him another cow, remarkable only in\nhaving green water weeds upon it. This cow throve.\n\nSome four generations ago cows came ashore on Nisibost beach, on the\nfarm of Loscantire (_Losg-an-t\u00ecr_), in Harris. The people got between\nthem and the shore, with such weapons as they could get, and kept them\nfrom returning to the sea again. Even handfuls of sand thrown between\nthe cows and the shore kept them back. These sea-cows were in all\nrespects like ordinary highland cattle but were supposed to live under\nthe sea on the sea-weed called _meillich_. They were called Fairy cows\n(_Cro s\u00ecth_), and the superiority of the Loscantire cattle was said to\nhave originated from them. It is more probable the superiority of the\nstock was the origin of the Fairy cattle.\n\nCows of the same kind were also said to have come ashore in Bernera,\nin Uist, and at MacNicol\u2019s Big Rock (_Creag mh\u00f2r mhic Neacail_), on\nthe farm of Scorrybreck, in Skye. In the latter place they were kept\nfrom returning by tossing earth between them and the sea. Earth from a\nburying-ground was thought to be the most effective in such cases. On\nthe evening of the day on which the cows came ashore a voice was heard\nfrom the sea calling them by name. From the rhyme in which this was\ndone we learn the cows were of different colours, one black, another\nbrown, brindled, red, white-faced, etc.:\n\n  Sisgein, Brisgein,\n  Meangan, Meodhran,\n  Bo dhu, bo dhonn\n  Bo chrom riabhach\n  Sliochd na h-aona bh\u00e0 maoile ruaidhe,\n  Nach d\u2019 fh\u00e0g buaile riasnh na h-aonar;\n  Bo chionnan Thonn,\n  \u00c8 bhl\u00e0rag.\n\n\nTHE THIRSTY PLOUGHMAN.\n\nA ploughman while engaged at his work heard, or fancied he heard,\na sound of churning, and said he wished his thirst \u201cwas on the\ndairymaid.\u201d In a short time after a woman appeared and offered him a\ndrink of buttermilk. Her green dress and sudden appearance made him\nrefuse the offer, and she said that next year he would not need the\ndrink. When the twelve months were nearly out the man died.[46]\n\n\nTHE FAIRY CHURNING.\n\nA woman, near Portree, in Skye, was coming home in the evening with\nher milk pails from the cattle fold, accompanied by a dog, which went\ntrotting along before her. Suddenly the dog was observed to run to a\ngreen hillock, fall down on its knees, and hold its ear to the ground.\nThe woman went up to see what the matter was, and on listening heard\na woman inside the hillock churning milk, and singing at her work. At\nthe end of every verse there was a chorus or exclamation of _h\u016d_.\nThe song was learnt by the listener, and became known as the \u201cSong of\nthe Hillock\u201d (_\u00d2ran a chnuic_). The writer has not been able to fall in\nwith a copy of it. The incident occurred three generations ago.\n\n\nMILK SPILT.\n\nThere was a Fairy hillock near Dowart, in Mull, close to the road which\nled from the cattle fold to the village. If any milk was spilt by the\ndairymaids on their way home with the milk pails, it was a common\nsaying that the Fairies would get its benefit.\n\n\nFAIRY MUSIC.\n\nTwo children, a brother and sister, went on a moonlight winter\u2019s night\nto Kennavarra Hill, to look after a snare they had set for little\nbirds in a hollow near a stream. The ground was covered with snow, and\nwhen the two had descended into the hollow, they heard most beautiful\nmusic coming from under ground, close to where they were standing. In\nthe extremity of terror both fled. The boy went fastest, and never\nlooked behind him. The girl was at first encumbered by her father\u2019s\nbig shoes, which she had put on for the occasion, but, throwing them\noff, she reached home with a panting heart, not long after her brother.\nThe story was told by her when an old woman. She had never forgot the\nfright the Fairy music gave her in childhood.\n\nIn the Braes of Portree there is a hillock called \u201cThe Fairy Dwelling\nof the Pretty Hill\u201d (_S\u00ecthein Beinne B\u00f2idhich_). A man passing near it\nin the evening heard from underground the most delightful music ever\nheard. He could not, however, tell the exact spot from which the sound\nemanated.\n\nSounds of exquisite music, as if played by a piper marching at the\nhead of a procession, used to be heard going underground from the Harp\nHillock to the top of the D\u00f9n of Caolis, in the east end of Tiree.\nMany tunes, of little poetical, whatever be their musical merit, said\nto have been learned from the Fairies, are to be heard. One of these,\nwhich the writer heard, seemed to consist entirely of variations upon\nthe word \u2018do-leedl\u2019em.\u2019\n\n\nMACCRIMMON.\n\nThe MacCrimmons were pipers to Macleod, of Macleod, and the most\ncelebrated musicians among the Scottish Ga\u00ebl. The founder of the family\nis said to have been an Italian harper from Cremona, who came with\nMacleod to Dunvegan, and took the surname from his native town. There\nare several versions of the story, which ascribes the excellence of the\nMacCrimmons in music to the Fairies. The following two will suffice.\n\nThe first of the MacCrimmons, when a young lad, was sent to a music\nmaster to learn bagpipe playing. There was to be a competition of\npipers at a wedding in the neighbourhood, and MacCrimmon asked from\nhis master permission to attend, but was refused. He resolved to go\nnotwithstanding, and set off alone, taking a short cut across the\nhills. On the way he fell in with a Fairy dwelling, which he entered.\nHe found no person in but an old woman, who spoke kindly to him,\nsaying she knew the object of his journey, and, on his promising to go\nhalf loss and gain with her, gave him a black chanter, which, placed\nin his pipes, would enable him to excel his master, and every other\nperformer. She added that she and her people were about to remove from\ntheir present dwelling, but, if he came on a certain night (naming\none near at hand), they would have time to give him some lessons. To\nthis one night\u2019s instruction, and the magic chanter, which remained\nin the family as an heirloom, the MacCrimmons were indebted for their\nacknowledged superiority as pipers. Their fame will last \u201cwhile wind is\nblown into sheepskin.\u201d\n\n\u2018The Blind Piper\u2019 (_am Piobaire dall_) was the first of the MacCrimmons\nwho acquired fame as a piper. Two Banshis found him sleeping in the\nopen air, and one of them blinded one of his eyes. The second Banshi\nasked that the other eye might be spared. It, however, was blinded\nalso. The benevolent Fairy then suggested that some gift should be\ngiven that would enable the poor man to earn his living. On this the\nFairy Carlin gave MacCrimmon a brindled chanter, which, placed in the\nbagpipes, enabled the player to outrival all pipers. When the Laird of\nDungallon obtained the brindled chanter for his own piper Macintyre,\nthe MacCrimmons never did well after. The chanter was last known to be\nat Callart.\n\nMac-an-sgialaiche, pipers at Taymouth Castle, were also said to have\ngot their pipes from the Fairies.\n\n\nFAIRY DOGS (\u2018CU SITH\u2019).\n\nA large black dog, passing by with a noiseless and gliding motion,\nwas a common object of terror in the Hebrides on winter nights. The\ncoil in the animal\u2019s tail was alone sufficiently alarming. Much of its\nshape depended, no doubt, on how his own hair hung over the eyes of the\nfrightened spectator.\n\nA man, coming across the links near Kennavara Hill in Tiree, came upon\na large black dog, resting on the side of a sandbank. On observing it,\nhe turned aside, and took another road home. Next day he recovered\ncourage, and went to examine the spot. He found on the sand the marks\nof a dog\u2019s paw, as large as the spread of his palm. He followed these\nhuge footmarks till he lost them on the plain. The dog had taken no\nnotice of him, and he felt assured, from its size, it could be no\nearthly hound.\n\nOn the north shore of Tiree there is a beach of more than a mile in\nlength, called _Cladach a Chr\u00f2gain_, well calculated to be the scene\nof strange terrors. The extensive plain (about 1500 acres in extent),\nof which it forms the northern fringe, is almost a dead level, and in\ninstances of very high flood-tides, with north-west gales of wind,\nthe sea has been known to overflow it, and join the sea on the south\nside, three miles away, dividing Tiree into two islands. The upper part\nof the beach consists of loose round stones, a little larger than a\ngoose\u2019s egg, which make, when the tide is in, and under the influence\nof the restless surf, a hoarse rumbling sound, sufficiently calculated,\nwith the accompaniment of strange scenery, to awaken the imagination.\nAn old woman, half-a-century ago, asserted that, when a young girl, she\nhad heard on this beach the bark of the Fairy hound. Her father\u2019s house\nwas at a place called Fidden, of which no trace now remains beyond the\nname of the Fidden Gate (_Cachla nam Fidean_), given to a spot where\nthere is no gate. It was after night-fall, and she was playing out\nabout the doors, when she was suddenly startled by a loud sound, like\nthe baying of a dog, only much louder, from the other end of the shore.\nShe remembered her father having come and taken hold of her hand, and\nrunning with her to the house, for if the dog was heard to bark thrice,\nit would overtake them. It made a noise like a horse galloping.\n\nAt the foot of Heynish Hill, in the extreme south-west of Tiree,\nthere is one of those small forts to be found in great numbers in the\nHebrides (and said to have been intended, by fires lighted upon them,\nto give warning of the approach of the Danes), called Shiadar Fort.\nIn former days a family resided, or was out at the summer shielings,\nnear this fort. The byre, in which the milch cows were kept, was\nsome distance from the dwelling-house, and two boys of the family\nslept there to take care of the cows. One night a voice came to the\nmother of the family that the two best calves in the byre were at the\npoint of death, and as a proof of the warning, she would find the big\nyellow cow dead at the end of the house. This proved to be the case,\nand on reaching the byre the anxious woman found her two boys nearly\nfrightened to death. They said they heard Fairy dogs trampling and\nbaying on the top of the house.\n\nThere is a natural recess in the rocks of the shore at Baluaig in\nTiree, to which tradition has given the name of the Bed of the Fairy\nDog. It is not far from Crogan beach, already mentioned as a place\nwhere the Fairy dog was heard, and opposite the _Gr\u00e0dor_, a low-water\nrock over which the sea breaks with terrible violence in stormy\nweather. The loneliness and wildness of the spot might well cause it to\nbe associated with tales of superstition.\n\nA shepherd in Lorn came to the top of a rock, and in a nest or lair\nbelow him he saw two pups about two months old with green backs and\nsides. They were larger and longer than his own dogs. He got afraid\nand fled before the old hound made her appearance. His dogs also were\nafraid. So the tradition says.\n\n\nDOGS CHASING FAIRIES.\n\nTwo men from Mull were engaged building a march dyke across the hills\nin Kintail. To be near their work, they took up their residence by\nthemselves in a hut among the hills. One night, before retiring to\nrest, they heard a horrible screaming coming in the direction of the\nhut. They went out with sticks of firewood in their hands. Though they\ncould see nothing, they knew something was approaching. The shrieks\ncame nearer and nearer, and at last a large dark object passed. A\nlittle dog, \u2018Dun-foot\u2019 by name, which accompanied the men, gave chase.\nWhen it returned there was no hair on any part of it but on its ears,\nand no hair ever grew after but a sort of down.\n\nA number of young men were out at night on the moorlands of Cornaigbeg\nfarm in Tiree watching the cattle, to keep them from wandering into\nthe crop lands. They went to the moss about a mile away for peats,\nwhich at the time (some sixty years ago) were plentiful in Tiree,\nbut becoming in some way alarmed they turned back on the road. When\nreturning they heard strange noises coming towards them, and a dog that\naccompanied them began to course round and round between them and the\nnoise. At last the noise passed, with sounds like the trampling of a\nherd of sheep, and the dog went off in pursuit. On its return its hair\nwas found scraped off, as if by long sharp nails, and the whole skin\nwas left bare and white, except where here and there it was torn and\nbloody. It died in a short time after.\n\nA man in Mull was sent on a journey after nightfall, and about\nmidnight, when crossing the hills from Loch Tuath (the North Loch) and\nLoch Cu\u00e4n (_Loch Cumhan_, the narrow loch), saw a light in the face of\na hillock. He was accompanied by his dog, and before long he heard the\nnoise of dogs fighting, mixed with sounds of lovely music. He made off\nas fast as he could, and, on arriving at the house to which he had been\nsent, was offered supper. He was unable to take any. Before bed-time\nhis dog came with every hair on its body pulled off. It smelt its\nmaster\u2019s clothes all over, lay down at his feet, and was dead in a few\nminutes.\n\nA gentleman of the name of Evan Cameron (it does not appear where)\non his way home across the hills was overtaken by nightfall and lost\nhis way. He was accompanied by a greyhound and three terriers. He\nsaw a light in a bothy or hut, used in summer, when the cattle were\nat pasture among the hills, but deserted during the greater part of\nthe year. He made towards it, and on looking in at the door, saw a\nwoman sitting by the fire, all wet, and combing her hair. She looked\ntowards him, and said, \u201cWill you not come after your eye, Evan?\u201d (_Nach\nd\u2019thig thu \u2019n d\u00e9igh do sh\u00f9il, Eoghain_). \u201cNot just now\u201d (_Cha d\u2019thig an\ndr\u00e0sd_), he replied. After some further conversation he was obliged to\nallow his dogs to attack the strange creature. He himself held on his\nway, and in a few hours reached home. The greyhound found its way home,\nbut without any hair upon its body. None of the terriers was ever heard\nof more.[47]\n\n\nFAIRIES AND HORSES.\n\nAt Ruig, at the foot of the Storr Rock, in Skye, at the time it was\noccupied by small farmers (sixteen in number), all the horses on the\nfarm, numbering as many as a hundred, were seen ridden by the Fairies,\nsitting with their faces to the tail, on Hallowmas night. The shore\nline of the farm consists of frightful precipices, and the horses, as\nif very madness (_an cuthach dearg_) had taken possession of them, went\noff at their utmost speed towards the shore. Every one thought they\nwould be lost, but no harm arose after all from the stampede.\n\nNear Killin in Perthshire, a man entered a Fairy Knowe, and found\ninside a woman making porridge. The dish boiled so fiercely that a\nspark from the porridge flew and struck him in the eye. He saw the\nFairies ever after with that eye. At the St. Fillan market (_Feill\nFhaolain_) at Killin, he saw them in great numbers riding about the\nmarket on white horses. Meeting one, whom he recognized, he remarked,\n\u201cWhat a number of you are here to-day.\u201d The Fairy asked which eye he\nsaw \u2018the folk\u2019 with, and on being told put it out.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA young wife had not, as was customary at that time, learned to spin\nand weave. She tried in every way to learn, but try as she might she\nmade no progress, till one noon-day she wished some one would come\nto help her. She then saw a woman standing in the door, who said she\nwould help her on condition that she would give her her first child\nwhen born, but if she could tell the _shi_ woman\u2019s name when she came\nto take away the child she would be free from her promise. The young\nwoman rashly agreed to this, and in a short time could make _cl\u00f2_\n(cloth) better than any one around her. After some time, however, she\nbegan to be afraid her visitor would return, and she went about eagerly\nlistening to hear the name, when suddenly one day she saw an opening\nin a grassy hillock beside her, and on looking in saw the same woman\nstanding inside, and heard another one calling to her. She went home\njoyously repeating the name all the way, and told her husband how she\nheard it. When the _Bean shi_ came again, the mother of the child\ncalled out to her by the name she had heard, and invited her to come\nin, but she only said, \u201cA blessing on the name, but banning on the\nmouth that taught you,\u201d and she never afterwards darkened the door.\n\nOn another day the husband was with his wife in the fields working and\nlooking about, when they saw a great company of riders on white horses\ncoming where they were, and as they came near one of the riders caught\nhold of her and took her away. Her husband did not know what to do. He\nwent wandering about looking for her, but never finding her, till one\nday, to his great wonderment, he saw a glimmer of light on the side of\nthe hill. He reached it, and saw an opening. He put a pin in the side\nand went in, and saw a great company feasting and dancing, with his\nlost wife in the middle of the dancers. She saw him also, and began to\nsing loudly:\n\n  \u201cTake no food here Ialai o horro horro,\n  Ask no drink here Ialai o horro hee.\u201d\n\nNo one took any notice of him. He got near her, and putting his arm\naround her, whisked her out of the circle of dancers. He took her\nhome, but she became discontented, and was never the same being as she\nhad been before. At last it happened when they were again out together\nthat the riders on white horses came their way. On parting with him\nthis time she said, \u201cIf at any time he wished her to come back, he was\nto throw her marriage dress, which had _craobh uaine_, _i.e._ green\ntracery on the right shoulder, after her when he saw her passing in the\ncompany, and she would return home.\u201d Thinking she did not belong to\nthis world, he did nothing, and she passed and never returned to him.\n\n\nFAIRIES AND THE HANDMILL.\n\nThe invention of the handmill or quern, in the infancy of the arts,\nmust have formed an era in the history of human progress. Whoever first\nfound out a handy way of reducing the solid grain into meal bestowed an\ninestimable blessing on the human race. The instrument is still to be\noccasionally met with in the Hebrides, in houses not convenient to mill\nor market. It is usually worked by two women, like the mills in use in\nthe East.\n\n  \u201cA pair of thick-set hussies\n  Winding round a quern.\u201d[48]\n\nIt is a common practice with women to sing at their work, as indeed\nthey did in the Highlands in olden times at most of their labours, such\nas reaping, sowing, milking.\n\nOld Archibald, for half a century servant to the ministers of Tiree,\nwould insist to his dying day that, coming home at night with a cart\nfrom the parish mill, he heard the handmill at work inside the Red\nKnolls (_na Cnocana ruadha_) near the road. He could put his foot on\nthe very spot where he heard the noise. To ask him if he was naturally\ntroubled with singing in the ears, or show any other symptom of\nunbelief, was resented as an affront, and neither minister nor elder,\nnor a whole synod, would persuade him there were no Fairies. He had\nheard them himself \u201cwith his own ears.\u201d\n\nThe man who first got the loan of a quern from the Fairies never sent\nit home. In revenge, the elves took away all substance from his crop\nthat year, and he derived no benefit from grain or fodder. His is the\nfate of many inventors. The benefit is not immediate. It seems the\nelves had no power but over the year\u2019s crop.\n\n\nFAIRIES AND OATMEAL.\n\nA man in Islay got a loan of oatmeal from the Fairies, and when\nreturning it, he, out of gratitude, left at the hole, which led to the\nFairy residence, and where he had been in the habit of getting and\nleaving such loans, more meal than he had borrowed. The Fairies are a\njust race; they take no more than their exact due; they were offended\nby more being offered, and never after gave that man a loan of meal.\n\nA kind-hearted woman, the wife of a well-to-do farmer in the rugged\ndistrict of Kingairloch, was one day visited by a young woman, a\nstranger to her, who asked for, and got a loan of meal. In answer to\nthe housewife\u2019s inquiries, the visitor said she came from the hillock\nabove the house, on which a rowan-tree, or mountain ash, was growing.\nShe wore an upper dress like a grey tippet. This event took place\nshortly before Beltane, when ploughing and other farm operations were\nbeing proceeded with. In a week after Grey Tippet came back with the\nmeal, _but it was barley-meal_, and told the good-wife to bless this\nevery time she took any of it. This direction was carefully attended\nto, and the meal never got less. One day a scatter-brain member of the\nfamily asked if that cursed barley-meal was never to be done. The next\ntime the mistress went to the chest there was no more barley-meal.\n\nThe house of one M\u2018Millan, at the foot of Ben Iadain in Morvern, a\nhigh hill already mentioned for its reputation as a Fairy residence,\nwas visited by a stranger, a woman, who asked for a loan of meal. She\nsaid she stayed in that same neigbourhood, that the men were away just\nnow in Lismore, and that the meal would be sent back on their return.\nThis was done in due course, as promised, and M\u2018Millan\u2019s wife was told\nnever to allow any one but herself to bend over the chest, in which\nthe meal was kept, and the meal would prove inexhaustible. At last,\nhowever, when Mrs. M\u2018Millan was ill, another opened the chest, and the\nmeal disappeared.\n\nHector, son of Ferchar, in the Ross of Mull, was an easy-going,\nkind-hearted man, a weaver by trade, who would give away the last\nof his goods to any one he saw in distress. So weak was he in this\nrespect, that his wife did not care to trust him with anything\u2014he was\nsure to give it away to the first poor man that came his way. Having\noccasion to go to the summer pastures in the hill, and leave Hector\nalone in charge of the house, she measured out enough meal to last him\nfor the fifteen days she expected to be away, and gave it to him in\na skin bag. When returning, she met a beggar, who said he had got a\nhandful of meal from her husband, and Hector himself, when questioned,\nsaid he had given away sixteen such handfuls. Yet the bag was found to\nbe quite full.\n\n\nFAIRIES AND IRON.\n\nIn Mull, a person, encountered by a _Bean sh\u00ecth_, was told by her that\nshe was kept from doing him harm by the iron he had about him. The only\niron he had was a ring round the point of his walking stick.\n\nIn the North of Ireland, an iron poker, laid across the cradle, kept\naway the Fairies till the child was baptized.\n\nThe writer remembers well that, when a school-boy, great confidence was\nput in a knife, of which he was the envied possessor, and in a nail,\nwhich another boy had, to protect us from a Fairy (_s\u00ecthche_), which\nwas said to have made its appearance at a spot near which the road to\nschool passed the Hawthorn Bush between the Black Nose and the Pass\nof the Dead (_An Cr\u00f2gan Sgithich eadar an t-Sr\u00f2n du \u2019s Bealach nam\nMarbh_). This was in Appin, Argyllshire.\n\nThe efficacy of iron, in warding off Fairy attacks, has already been\nillustrated.\n\n\nNAME OF THE DEITY.\n\nThe Fairies were building a bridge across Loch Rannoch, between\nCamaghouran and Innis-droighinn, when a passer-by wished them\nGod-speed. Instantly the work stopped, and was never resumed. (Cf. page\n64.)\n\n\nFAIRY GIFTS.\n\nA smith, the poorest workman in his trade, from his inferior\nskill, only got coarse work to do, and was known as the \u201cSmith of\nPloughshares\u201d (_Gobhainn nan Soc_). He was, besides, the ugliest man,\nand the rudest speaker. One day he fell asleep on a hillock, and three\nFairy women, coming that way, left him each a parting gift (_f\u00e0gail_).\nAfter that he became the best workman, the best looking man, and the\nbest speaker in the place, and became known as the \u201cSmith of Tales\u201d\n(_Gobhainn nan sgial_).\n\nA man, out hunting, fell asleep in a dangerous place, near the brink\nof a precipice. When he awoke a Fairy woman was sitting at his head,\nsinging gently.\n\n\nSTRUCK BY THE FAIRY ARROW SPADE.\n\nDonald, who lived in Gortan du in Lorn, was working in a drain with\na pointed spade. One evening, having left the spade standing in the\ndrain, he was startled by something striking it with a loud knock. He\nfound the noise was made by the blow of a smooth, polished, flint-like\nstone. He put this in his pocket and took it home. Some evenings after,\n\u201cCallum Clever,\u201d already mentioned as frequently carried about by the\nFairies, was shown the stone. He declared that it had been thrown by\nhimself at the instigation of the Fairies, who wanted to take Donald\nhimself. Donald of Gortan du was a cooper, and was wanted to make a\nbarrel for a cow the elves had just killed. (Cf. page 26.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTUTELARY BEINGS.\n\n\nI. THE GLAISTIG.\n\nThe Glaistig was a tutelary being in the shape of a thin grey (_tana\nglas_) little woman, with long yellow hair reaching to her heels,\ndressed in green, haunting certain sites or farms, and watching in some\ncases over the house, in others over the cattle. She is called \u2018the\nGreen Glaistig\u2019 (_a Ghlaistig uaine_) from her wan looks and dress of\ngreen, the characteristic Fairy colour. She is said to have been at\nfirst a woman of honourable position, a former mistress of the house,\nwho had been put under enchantments and now had a Fairy nature given\nher. She disliked dogs, and took fools and people of weak intellect\nunder her particular charge. She was solitary in her habits, not more\nthan one, unless when accompanied by her own young one, being found\nin the same haunt. Her strength was very great, much greater than\nthat of any Fairy, and one yell of hers was sufficient to waken the\nechoes of distant hills. Strong men were said to have mastered her,\nbut ordinarily people were afraid of meeting her. She might do them\na mischief and leave them a token, by which they would have cause to\nremember the encounter. She made herself generally useful, but in many\ncases was only mischievous and troublesome.\n\nShe seems in all cases to have had a special interest in the cows\nand the dairy, and to have resented any want of recognition of her\nservices. A portion of milk was set apart for her every evening, in\na hole for the purpose in some convenient stone, and unless this was\ndone, something was found amiss in the dairy next morning. Others left\nmilk for her only when leaving the summer pastures for the season.\n\nShe was seldom seen, oftenest when anything was to happen to the house\nshe followed. She might then be seen, making her way in the evening up\nthe slope to the castle, herding the cattle on the pastures, sunning\nherself on the top of a distant rock, or coming to the fold at dusk for\nher allowance of milk. Her cries, and the noise she made, arranging\nthe furniture, shouting after the cattle, or at the approach of joy or\nsorrow, were frequently heard.\n\nIn the south Highlands, the Glaistig was represented as a little wan\nwoman, stout and not tall, but very strong. In Skye, where most of her\nduties were assigned to a male deity, the _Gruagach_, she was said to\nbe very tall, \u2018a lath of a body\u2019 like a white reflection or shade.\n\nHer name is derived from _glas_, grey, wan, or pale-green, and\n_st\u00ecg_, a sneaking or crouching object, probably in allusion to her\ninvisibility, noiseless motions, or small size. In the _Highland\nSociety\u2019s Dictionary_, she is called \u201ca she-devil, or hag, in the\nshape of a goat,\u201d and the definition is accepted by M\u2018Leod and Dewar.\nThis, however, is a mistake. The shape of a goat, in the Highlands as\nelsewhere, has been assigned to the devil only, and there was nothing\ndiabolical, or of the nature of an evil spirit, seeking the perdition\nof mankind, ascribed to the poor Glaistig. She occupied a middle\nposition between the Fairies and mankind; she was not a Fairy woman\n(_Bean sh\u00ecth_) but one of human race, who had a Fairy nature given to\nher. The Fairies themselves are much nearer in character to the race of\nman than to that of devils. Of course all unearthly beings are to be\navoided, but of all the beings, with which fear or fancy has peopled\nthe unseen world, the Glaistig and her near relation the Brownie are\namong the most harmless.\n\nThe house or castle-haunting Glaistig was also known by the names of\n_Maighdean she\u00f2mbair_, _i.e._ chamber-maid, _Gruagach_, young woman,\nlit. long-haired one, and _Gruagach she\u00f2mbair_, \u2018fille de chambre,\u2019\nand her attachment was not to the family but to the site or stance\n(_l\u00e0rach_). It was always the abodes of the affluent in which she\nresided, and she continued her occupancy after a change of tenants,\nand even after the building was deserted and had become a nesting\nplace for wild birds. In olden times there was a perpetuity of tenure\nenjoyed by large tenants, and it is not surprising that writers have\nfallen into the mistake of supposing the tutelary guardian of the house\nto be that of its tenants. The Glaistig had sympathy with the tenant\nso far, that she broke out into loud expressions of joy or sorrow, or\nmade her appearance more frequently when happiness or misfortune were\nto come upon the family; but her real attachment was to the building\nor site. Indeed, none of these beings of superstition were tutelary\nto the human race, or had anything about them of the character of the\nGenius or \u03b4\u03b1\u03b9\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd. When the house was to be levelled, even\nthough the family remained on the land, and a new house (on another\nsite) was built, the Glaistig made a lamentable outcry, left, and was\nnever afterwards seen or heard. Her usual occupation consisted in\n\u201cputting things in order\u201d at night, sweeping the floor, drawing chairs\nand tables about, and arranging the furniture. After the household had\nretired to rest, she was heard at work in apartments that were locked,\nand in which no human being could be. It was then known there would\nshortly be an arrival of strangers. In the morning the furniture was\nfound in most cases untouched or disarranged. In other cases the house\nwas found tidied up, and work which had been left for the Glaistig,\nsuch as washing, was found finished. She was fond of working with the\nspinning wheel, and, according to some, it was to prevent her coming to\nthe house, and working with it on Sundays that old women were careful\nto take off the band every Saturday night. She had a similar fondness\nfor working with tradesmen\u2019s tools, and artizans were often much\nannoyed at hearing her working at night, and finding in the morning\ntheir tools spoiled or mislaid. When the servants neglected their work\nor spoke disrespectfully of herself, or did anything to her favourites,\nshe played pranks to punish them. She knocked down the water-stoups,\ndisarranged the bedclothes, put dust in the meat, led the objects of\nher resentment a fool\u2019s chase about the house, or in the dark gave them\na slap to be remembered on the side of the head. When happiness or\nmisfortune, a marriage or a death, was to occur in the household, she\nwas heard rejoicing or wailing long before the event occurred.\n\nIt was, however, to the being of this class, that haunted the folds of\nthe cattle, that the name of _Glaistig_ is most commonly given. Her\noccupation consisted in a general superintendence of the sheep, cows,\nand horses of the farm. When the family was at dinner, or the herdsman\nhad fallen asleep and neglected his charge, she kept the cattle out of\nmischief; and, though not seen, was heard shouting after them, and\ndriving them to their proper pastures. In this respect, she behaved\nlike an old and careful herdsman. If the cows were not clean milked,\nshe punished the dairy-maid by some unchancy prank. At night she kept\nthe calves from the cows (a needful and useful occupation before the\ndays of enclosures and plentiful farm accommodation), and its substance\nin the milk. In summer she accompanied the cattle to the hill pastures,\nand there had her portion of milk duly poured out for her in the\nevening in a stone near the fold. Unless this was done the calves were\nfound next morning with the cows, the cream not risen from the milk,\na cow was found dead, or some other mischance occurred. She was not\nsupposed ever to enter a house, but to stay in some ravine (_eas_) near\na Fairy residence. She disliked dogs very much, and if a present of\nshoes or clothes were made to her, she was offended and left. She is\nnot generally spoken of as appearing in any shape but her own, but in\nsome localities and tales, is said to assume the shape of a horse as\n\u2018old grey mare,\u2019 and even of a dog.\n\nThe Glaistig resembled the Fairies in being invisible, and in having a\nnoiseless gliding motion; in her dislike of dogs; in affecting green\nin her dress; in being addicted to meddling at night with the spinning\nwheel and tradesmen\u2019s tools; in her outcries being a premonition of\ncoming events; in being kept away by steel, and in her ability to give\nskill in handicrafts to her favourites. The Fairies bestowed this\nskill on those who had the _Ceaird-Chomuinn_, or association craft,\n_i.e._ the assistance of the Folk. The Glaistig gave the choice of\n\u2018ingenuity without advantage\u2019 (_ealdhain gun rath_) or \u2018advantage\nwithout ingenuity\u2019 (_rath gun ealdhain_). Those who chose the former\nproved clever workmen but never prospered; and those who chose the\nlatter turned out stupid fellows who made fortunes.\n\nShe differed in being more akin to ordinary women than the true\nFairy wife (_Bean sh\u00ecth_); she was stronger, and as it were more\nsubstantial; it was true woman\u2019s work which, as chamber-maid or\ndairy-maid, she performed. Though her \u2018bed\u2019 was near a Fairy dwelling,\nand she could command the services of the Elves, she did not engage\nin Fairy employments or recreations. The Fairies punished people of a\ndiscontented, grumbling disposition, by taking away the substance of\ntheir goods. The Glaistig was also offended at littleness and meanness\nof mind, but meanness of a different kind. Those who looked down on\nfools and people of weak intellect, or ill-treated them, she paid off\nby putting dust or soot in their meat. Akin to this was her punishment\nof neglect in servants.\n\nIn some parts of the Highlands the Glaistig is called _Glaisrig_.\nThe name of her young one is _M\u00e9illeachan_, a name probably derived\nfrom its bleating or whimpering after the old one. It is also called\n_Isein_, a chicken, and _Gocan_, a little plug.\n\n\nTHE GLAISTIG AT GLENDUROR.\n\nThe being which attached herself to the farm-house of Achindarroch\n(_Acha-nan-darach, field of oaks_) in Glenduror, Appin, Argyleshire,\nwas variously known as the _Glaistig_ and as the _Gruagach_ of\nGlenduror. She attended to the cattle, and took particular charge of\nkeeping the calves from the cows at night. She followed the house (not\nthe family), and was alive not many years ago. A portion of milk was\npoured out for her every evening on a stone called _Clach na Glaistig_\n(the Glaistig stone), and once this was neglected by a new tenant, the\ncalves were found next morning with the cows. Her face was described\nby those who professed to have seen her, as being like a grey stone\novergrown with lichens. A servant girl, going on a dark evening to\ndraw water from a stream flowing past the house, was asked by her\nfellow-servants if she was not afraid of the Glaistig. In her reply\nshe spoke contemptuously of that being, and on her way to the stream\nreceived a slap on the cheek that twisted her head to one side. The\nfollowing evening, going on the same errand, she got a slap on the\nother cheek that put her head right.[49]\n\n\nTHE GLAISTIG AT SRON-CHARMAIG.\n\nThe Glaistig attached to this house on Loch Faschan-side in Lorn\nwas known as _Nic-ille-mhicheil_ (_i.e._ a woman of the surname of\nCarmichael), and was said to have been a former mistress of the house.\nShe lived in a ravine, called Eas-ronaich, near the mansion, and when\nany misfortune was about to befall the family set up a loud wailing. On\nsunny days she was to be seen basking on the top of _Creag Ghrianach_\n(the Sunny Rock), also in the neighbourhood. Before the old house was\nlevelled, and the present mansion was built, she set up an unusually\nloud wailing, and then left. Fully a year before the event, she seemed\ngreatly disturbed; her step up and down stairs, and the noise of chairs\nand tables being moved about was frequently heard after people had\ngone to bed. At Glen-Iuchair, a man, who was in the evening convoyed\nacross the glen by a _grey_ sheep, was firmly of opinion his strange\nconvoy could have been no other than Nic-ille-mh\u00eccheil. No real sheep\ncould have been so attentive to him. This attachment to particular\nindividuals was also shown in the case of a poor old woman, named _M\u00f2r_\n(_i.e._ Sarah), resident on the farm. When Mor fell sick, the Glaistig\nused to come to the window and wail loudly.\n\nOne evening at the cattle-fold, after the cows had been milked and\nbefore the herd and dairy-maids had started home with the milk-pails,\na woman, dressed in _green_, was seen coming and trying the udders of\nthe cows, as if to see whether they had been properly milked. The herd\nhad his dog with him, and happened at the time to be sitting with it\nin his arms. The dog sprang from him and gave chase, and the woman fled\nlike a bird. This was at a place called _Doire nan Each_, \u2018the Wood of\nthe Horses,\u2019 several miles from the mansion, and the woman was believed\nto be Nic-ille-mh\u00eccheil.\n\n\nAT INVERAWE HOUSE.\n\nThis mansion-house has long been haunted by a Glaistig known as the\n\u2018Maiden of Inverawe\u2019 (_Maighdean Inbher-atha_), who was to be heard\n(at least till very recently) rustling (_srannail_) through the house.\nStoups full of water, left in the house at night, were found in the\nmorning upset by her, and chairs, left however neatly arranged, were\nturned round. She is said to have been some former mistress of the\nhouse who had proved unfaithful and had been buried alive.\n\n\nAT DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE.\n\nThis castle (_D\u00f9n-sta\u2019innis_), once a seat of the kings of Scotland,\nwas haunted by a woman known as the _Sianag_ (or Elle-maid) of\nDunstaffnage. She broke into outcries of joy or sorrow (_mulad no\naighear_), according as a happy or unfortunate event was to befall the\ninmates. A stranger, who accompanied one of the servants to the castle\nand remained there that night, had his bedclothes twice pulled off\nby her, and heard her all night walking through the room and in the\nadjoining passages. Her footsteps were heavy like those of a man.\n\n\nIN TIREE.\n\nA Gruagach haunted the \u2018Island House\u2019 (_Tigh an Eilein_, so called from\nbeing at first surrounded with water), the principal residence in the\nisland, from time immemorial till within the present century. She was\nnever called Glaistig, but Gruagach and Gruagach mhara (sea-maid) by\nthe islanders. Tradition represents her as a little woman with long\nyellow hair, but a sight of her was rarely obtained. She staid in the\nattics, and the doors of the rooms in which she was heard working were\nlocked at the time. She was heard putting the house in order when\nstrangers were to come, however unexpected otherwise their arrival\nmight be. She pounded the servants when they neglected their work.\n\n\nAT SLEAT, SKYE.\n\nThe Glaistig of the old Castle of Sleat (_Sl\u00e9ibhte_, mountain\npastures), once the residence of the Lords of the Isles, was often seen\nat dusk standing near the _Gruagach_ stone, where her allowance of milk\nwas placed. Her appearance was that of a young woman with long hair.\n\n\nIN THE ISLAND OF COLL.\n\nThe Glaistig that haunted old Breacacha Castle, the family seat of\nthe MacLeans of Coll, was in size \u2018like a lump of a lassie\u2019 (_cnapach\ncaileig_), and had white hair like a tuft of flax (_gibeag l\u00ecn_), as\nlong as herself. She put the house in order when strangers were to\ncome, and guests getting up through the night were led astray by her,\nso that they could not find their way back to bed again. Indeed, she\nis even accused of maltreating strangers, while she let those she knew\nalone.\n\n\nAT DUNOLLY CASTLE.\n\nThe Glaistig of this castle made herself very useful. The family\nwashing had only to be left for her at night and it was done before\nmorning. Glimpses of her were seen in the evening on her way up to the\ncastle. During the night she tidied up the house and swept the floors.\nThe fool (_amadan_) attached to the castle was taken under her special\nprotection, and he often had his meat clean when others had it full of\n\u2018stour.\u2019\n\n\nAT MEARNAIG CASTLE.\n\nThis ancient ruin is on the summit of a conical rock, above a hundred\nfeet high, close to the shore, in Glen Sanda, on the Kingerloch coast.\nAbout three or four hundred feet from it there is a beautiful and\ncurious echo. A call of eight or nine syllables is distinctly repeated\nfrom the castle after the speaker has ceased. The only reminiscence of\nthe castle\u2019s former tenants is the call usually given, when rousing the\necho, \u201cAre you in, maiden?\u201d (_Am bheil thu stigh a mhaighdean?_) The\nmaiden is the tutelary Glaistig that haunted all such buildings.\n\n\nIN STRATHGLASS.\n\nThe Gruagach or Glaistig that haunted the house of _Mac \u2019ic Alasdair_\n(the patronymic of the chiefs of Glengarry), in Strathglass, was never\nseen, but was commonly heard at night putting dishes in order. She was\ngiven, like many of her sort in the old hospitable Highland days, to\nleading strangers astray through the house. A shepherd from Morvern\ncame some forty years ago to the neighbourhood, and the Glaistig took a\ngreat fancy to staying with him. He suffered a great deal of annoyance\nfrom her, though no ultimate loss. If he left his jacket on the paling\n(_staing_) to dry, it might be away the first time he went to look for\nit, but the next time he might, and ultimately would, find it all safe.\nAt times cheese disappeared for a while from the \u2018amry.\u2019 At night the\nshepherd felt the coverlet being hauled off, and heard the Glaistig\ngiggling, with a short sort of laugh, h\u012d, h\u012d, h\u012d.\n\nHe might leave their calves all night with the two cows he owned, the\nGlaistig kept them from sucking. Before being reconciled to her he\ntried to keep her away by putting the New Testament above the door\nand round the walls, but without effect. A party of young men came one\nevening to hear the mysterious noises. They saw and heard nothing till\nthey were going away. The pot was then lifted off the fire without any\nvisible agency and left on the floor; while they themselves had their\neyes nearly knocked out at the door with tough clods from the marsh\n(_pluic ruighinn r\u00e9isg_).\n\n\nAT LIANACHAN.\n\nA strong man of the name of Kennedy or MacCuaric,[50] residing at\nLianachan in Lochaber, was coming home in the evening from setting a\nsalmon net in the river when a Glaistig met him on the bank of the\nstream. He locked his arms round her (_ghlas e lamhun_), took her\nwith him to the house, and would not let her go till she built for\nhim a large barn of six couples (_sia suidheachun_). This she did in\none night. As her parting gift she left a blessing and a curse to the\nMacCuarics, that they should grow like rushes but wither like ferns.\nThis proved to be the case\u2014the man\u2019s family grew up tall, and straight,\nand handsome, but when they attained their full strength and growth\nthey wasted prematurely away.\n\nThe following is a close translation of a much fuller and slightly\ndifferent version of the legend (see volume of Gaelic poems called _An\nDuanaire_, p. 123). The Gaelic is not given as the volume is easily\naccessible. It is a pity that the author of the piece, if known to the\ncollector, is not given.\n\n\u201cOne night the big black lad MacCuaric was going home from the smithy;\nthe Glaistig met him as he was crossing _Curr_ at the ford of Croisg:\n\n  \u201cHail to thee, Big Black Lad, said she,\n  Would you be the better of a rider behind?\n  Yes, and a rider before, said he;\n  And he gave her a little big lift\n  From the bare beach,\n  And tied her before him,\n  Safely and surely,\n  On the back of the mettlesome horse,\n  With the wizard belt of Fillan;\n  And he swore and asseverated\n  Vehemently and stubbornly,\n  He would not let her whole from his grasp,\n  Till he showed her before men.\n    Let me go, said she, and I will give\n  For loss and damage,\n  A fold full of speckled cattle,\n  White-bellied, black, white-headed,\n  Success on hill and in company\n  To yourself and your sort after you.\n    That is mine in spite of you, said he,\n  And it suffices not to set you free.\n    Let me go, and I will leave your land,\n  Where in the knoll I stayed;\n  And I will build thee to-night.\n  On yonder field,\n  A big, strong, dike house,\n  A house fire will not pierce,\n  Water, nor arrow, nor iron,\n  And will keep thee dry and comfortable,\n  Without dread, or fear, and charmed\n  Against poison, caterans, and fairies.\n    Fulfil your words, said he,\n  And from me get your leave.\n    She gave a shriek with wailing,\n  That was heard over seven hills!\n  It seemed as if the Horn of Worth,\n  Owned by Fionn, had whistled.\n  Every Fairy dwelling and beetling cliff\n  Wakened and echoed,\n  And \u2018they\u2019 gathered round the meadow,\n  Waiting her orders.\n    She set them to work speedily,\n  Calmly, orderly,\n  And they brought flags and stones\n  From the shore of Clianaig waterfall,\n  Reaching them from hand to hand;\n  From the Knoll of Shore Islet\n  Were cut beams and rafters;\n  And supports long,\n  Straight, and thick, in the Rowan wood;\n  While she herself unceasing said\n    One stone above two stones,\n  And two stones above one stone,\n  Fetch stake, clod, thatching pin,\n  Every timber in the wood\n  But mulberry;\n  Alas for him, who gets not as he sows,\n  And sows not as he gets!\n    And at the grey dawning\n  There was divot on the roof,\n  And smoke from it!\n    He kept the coulter in the fire,\n  To keep him from mischance,\n  Since he knew the pranks\n  And enchantments of the Fairies.\n    When the house was now finished\n  And she had made up each loss,\n  He loosened the maid\n  And suffered no harm.\n    Going past the window in front\n  She stretched him her crooked palm\n  To bid him farewell,\u2014\n  But (truly) to take him to the sh\u00efen.\n  The skin of her palm stuck to it (the coulter);\n  She sprang then on a grey stone\n  Of the Field, to pronounce his doom.\n    She brought the curse of the people on him,\n  And the curse of the goblins,\n  And if we may believe as we hear,\n  She obtained her request.\n    \u2018Grow like rushes.\n    Wither like fern,\n    Turn grey in childhood,\n    Change in height of your strength;\n  I ask not a son may not succeed.\n    I am the sorrowing Glaistig\n  That staid in the land of the Meadow,\n  I built a big house on the Field,\n  Which caused a sore pain in my side;\n  I will put out my heart\u2019s blood,\n  High on the peak of Finisgeig,\n  Which will be red for evermore.\u2019\n    And she leapt in a green flame,\n  Over the shoulder of the peak.\u201d[51]\n\n\nIN GLENORCHY.\n\nThe Glaistig, living at the waterfall (_eas_) of Bochaoil in Glenorchy,\ncame behind a man of the name of Campbell, riding home in the evening\nto the adjoining farm-house, and jumping up behind him, urged the horse\nto greater speed by crying now and then, \u201cHoosh! for a horse with two\u201d\n(_Huis! air each le dithis_). Campbell put back his hands and caught\nher. He was going to take her home, but she managed to get away, and\nleft as her parting gift, that no Campbell should ever be born alive\n(_nach gineadh \u2019s nach goireadh Cairnbeulach_) above Bo-chaoil.\n\nThe water before breaking over the fall is curiously split by an unseen\npinnacle of the rock, and the Glaistig is said to cause the appearance\nwith her foot.\n\n\nM\u2018MILLAN OF KNAP.\n\nThe _Cnap_ (that is, the Lump) is opposite Shuna Island in Appin, and\nthe name still remains in _Tigh a Chnaip_ (the house of the Lump), the\nGaelic name of Balachulish hotel on the road to Glencoe, well-known to\ntourists. It was regarding the ownership of Knap by the M\u2018Millans that\nthe oral charter ran:\n\n  \u201cM\u2018Millan\u2019s right to Knap\n  While wave strikes rock.\u201d[52]\n\nA Glaistig once came behind a kilted chief of this sept and caught him,\nso that he could not struggle or escape. She asked him if he had ever\nbeen in greater straits (_Mhic Mhaoil a Chnaip, an robh thu riamh an\nairc is m\u00f2?_). He said he had; she asked when; and he said, \u201cBetween\nplenty and penury\u201d (_Eadar f\u00e9ill is aimbeairt_). On this she let go her\nhold. He said, \u201cI give my word I will not be weighed on the same scales\nagain,\u201d[53] and stabbing her with his dirk killed her.\n\n\nTHE GLAISTIG AT CRAIGNISH.\n\nA weaver, going home in the evening with a web (_c\u00f2rn_) of cloth on\nhis shoulder, was met by a Glaistig at a stream. She caught hold of\nhim and pummelled him (_l\u00e0d i e_) all night in the stream with his own\nweb of cloth, saying to all his remonstrances, \u201cWeaving weaver, you\nare the better of being washed\u201d (_Figheadair fighe, \u2019s fhearrd\u2019 thu do\nnigheadh_).\n\n\nON GARLIOS, MORVERN.\n\nThe lonely and rugged mountain tract, known as the Garlios\n(_Garbh-shlios_, the rough country side), extending along the coast of\nMorvern, from the Sound of Mull to Kingairloch, a distance of about\nseven miles, was at one time haunted by a Glaistig, whose special\nemployment was the herding (_buachailleachd_) of the sheep and cattle\nthat roamed over its desert pastures. Tradition represents her as a\nsmall, but very strong woman, taking refuge at night in a particular\nyew tree (_craobh iuthair_), which used to be pointed out, to protect\nherself from wild animals that prowled over the ground. In a cave in\nthe same locality lived a man, known as \u2018Yellow Dougall of the Cave\u2019\n(_D\u00f9ghaill Buidh\u00e8 na h-Uamh_), who supported himself and wife by taking\na sheep or goat, when he required it, from the neighbouring flocks.[54]\nOne day when about to row himself across to the opposite island of\nLismore, in his coracle (_curachan_), a woman came and asked for a\npassage. She took the bow oar, and before long cried out, \u201cA hearty\npull, Dougall\u201d (_H\u00f9g orra, D\u00f9ghaill._) \u201cAnother hearty pull then,\nhonest woman\u201d (_H\u00f9gan so eil\u2019 orra, bhean ch\u00f2ir_), cried Dougall. Every\nnow and then she repeated the same cry, and Dougall answered in the\nsame way. He thought himself a good rower, and was ashamed to be beat\nby a woman. He never rowed so hard in his life. When the boat touched\nthe Lismore shore, he for the first time turned round his head, and no\nwoman was anywhere to be seen. She who was so strong and disappeared so\nmysteriously could only be the Glaistig.\n\nOther accounts say that the boatman was Selvach Mac Selvach (_Sealbhach\nMac Shealbhaich_), a native of Lismore, and the woman against whom he\npulled for the three miles from Kingairloch to Lismore, a Glaistig\nthat stayed in the ravine of _Alltaogain_ in the latter place. Her cry\nwas, \u201cPull away, Selvach\u201d (_H\u00f9g orra, Shealbhaich_), and his answer,\n\u201cPull away, my lass\u201d (_H\u00f9g orra, ghalad._)\n\n\nAT ARDNADROCHIT, MULL.\n\nThe Glaistig that followed the house of Lamont at Ardnadrochit (the\nheight of the bridge), in Craignure parish, Mull, was commonly seen\nin the shape of a dog, and was said to carry a pup at the back of her\nhead. A band came across from Lorn, the opposite mainland, to \u2018lift\u2019\nLamont\u2019s cattle. The Glaistig, whose charge they were, drove them\nup the hill out of the way to a place called _Meall na L\u00ecre_. Here,\nin a dell called \u2018the Heroes\u2019 Hollow\u2019 (_Glaic nan Gaisgeach_), the\nfreebooters were like to overtake her. On seeing this, she struck the\ncows, and converted them into grey stones, which are to be seen to this\nday. On coming up, the plunderers stood at these stones, and one of\nthem, tapping with his broadsword the stone near him, said he felt sure\nthis was the bed of the white cow (_Bo bh\u00e0n_). On his saying this, the\ntap of his sword split the stone in two. The Glaistig broke her heart,\nand was afterwards taken by Lamont and buried in a small plot of ground\nnear the Sound of Mull, where in those days the bodies of unbaptized\nchildren were put.\n\n\nON BAUGH, TIREE.\n\nThe tenants of this farm once got the benefit of seven years\u2019\nsuperintendence of their cattle from a Glaistig. There is a place on\nthe farm, still called the Glaistig\u2019s Bed, where she died by falling\nin the gap of a dyke. She was seldom seen, but was often heard. When\ndriving the horses to pasture, she called out, \u201cGet along, get along,\nthou son of a mare! Betake thee to yonder white bank!\u201d and when the\nherd-boy was at his dinner, she was heard shouting to the cattle,\n\u201cHoro va ho whish! Did ever any one hear of cattle without a herdsman\nbut these?\u201d She prepared food for herself by dragging a bunch of eels\n(of which there is an over-abundance in the small lochs on the farm)\nthrough the fire-place of a kiln used for preparing corn for the\nhand-mill. One night, when engaged at this work along with _Goean_\n(_i.e._ a perky little fellow), her son as is supposed, some one came\nbehind and gave her a rap on the head with a stick. She and her son\nfled, and as they were going away, Goean was overheard saying to his\nmother, \u201cYour old grey pate has been rapped, but see that you have the\nbunch of eels.\u201d\n\nIn appearance, this Glaistig is said to have been a thin sallow-looking\nlittle object, with ringletted yellow hair that reached down to her\nheels. She had short legs, and in person was not unlike a dwarf.\n\n\nAT STRONTIAN.\n\nAn incident similar to that of the bunch of eels is told of a Glaistig\nthat came at nights and worked in the smithy at Strontian. The smith\nwas very much annoyed at the noises in the smithy at night, and at\nfinding in the morning tools mislaid and the smithy in confusion. He\nresolved to stay up and find out the cause. He stood in the dark,\nbehind the door, with the hammer on his shoulder ready to strike\nwhatever should enter. The Glaistig came to the door, accompanied by\nher bantling, or _Isein_ (_i.e._ a young chicken). The chicken thought\nhe heard a noise, and said, \u201cSomething moving, little woman.\u201d \u201cHold\nyour tongue, wretch,\u201d she said, \u201cit is only the mice.\u201d At this point\nthe smith struck the old one on the head with his hammer, and caught\nhold of the little one. On this, the _Isein_ reproached his mother by\nsaying, \u201cYour old grey pate has got a punching; see now if it be the\nmice.\u201d Before the smith let his captive go, the Glaistig left a parting\ngift\u2014that the son should succeed the father as smith in the place till\nthe third generation. This proved to be the case, and the last was\nsmith in Strontian some forty years ago.\n\n\nON HIANISH, TIREE.\n\nAbout a hundred years ago one of the tenants of this farm, which\nadjoins Baugh, wondering what made his cows leave the fank (or\nenclosure) every night, resolved to watch. He built a small turf\nhut near the fold to pass the night in, and sat mending his _curain_\n(shoes or mocassins of untanned hides), when a woman came to the door.\nSuspicious of her being an earthly visitant, he stuck his awl in the\ndoor-post to keep her out. She asked him to withdraw the awl and let\nher in, but he refused. He asked her questions which much troubled him\nat the time. He was afraid of a conscription, which was then impending,\nand he asked if he would have to go to the army. The Glaistig said\nhe would; that though he made a hole in the rock with his awl and\nhide himself in it, he would be found out and taken away, but if he\nsucceeded in mounting a certain black horse before his pursuers came,\nhe might bid them defiance; and he was to tell the wife who owned the\nwhite-faced yellow cow to let the produce of the cows home to their\nmaster. The man was caught when jumping on the back of the black horse\nto run away from the conscription, and after service abroad, came back\nto tell the tale.\n\n\nIN ULVA.\n\nThe Glaistig of Ardnacallich, the residence of the Macquarries of Ulva,\nused to be heard crying \u201cHo-h\u00f2! ho-h\u00f2! Macquarries\u2019 cattle are in the\nstanding corn near the cave! The bald girl has slept! the bald girl has\nslept! ho-h\u00f2, ho-h\u00f2.\u201d The \u2018bald girl\u2019 was no doubt a reference to her\nown plentiful crop of hair.\n\n\nIN IONA.\n\nThe common of this Island is called _Staonnaig_, and in former times\nthe cattle of the east and west end people of the place came to it in\nsummer for fourteen days alternately. In those days a Glaistig stayed\nin a hole of the rocks in Staonnaig, and the people, when at the summer\npastures (_\u00e0iridh_) poured milk every night in a stone for her. She\nonce entered on a very rainy day a house where there was a woman of the\nname of Livingstone alone and at dinner. She dried herself at the fire,\nholding her clothes spread out, and turning round from side to side.\nHer clothes took fire, and she left as her parting gift, that no fire\ncan be kindled at dinner-time by a woman of the name of Livingstone.\n\n\nIN ROSS, MULL.\n\nA herd in this district, whenever he moved the cattle at night, heard a\nvoice shouting after him, \u201cSon of big black John, there is a cow behind\nyou\u201d (_Mhic Iain du Mhoir, tha b\u00f2 \u00e1d dheighinn_). He shouted in reply,\n\u201cIf there is one behind there are a hundred before\u201d (_Ma tha h-aon am\ndh\u00e9igh, tha ceud romham_).\n\nNeil, who lived in _Saor-bheinn_, went to fish on the rocks. Coming\nhome in the dusk of the evening, a voice (that of the Glaistig)\nfollowed him begging for a fish. \u201cGive me a cuddy fish, Neil\u201d (_Thoir\ndhomh cudainn, a N\u00e9il_). This occurred every evening, and if he gave a\nfish the Glaistig became more and more importunate, and one by one, to\nget rid of her solicitations, the fish were given away, the last at the\ndoor. In this way, Neil often returned empty-handed from the fishing.\n\nHector, son of Ferchar, lived at Hoodie-crow Hillock (_Cnoc na\nFeannaig_), and as was common in olden times, the door of his house was\nmade of bunches of heather, tied together, and made more wind-tight by\nstraw stuffed between them. One cold frosty night he heard a scraping\nat the door, as if some animal were trying to pull out the straw. He\nrose and went out, and drove away an old white horse he found nibbling\nat the straw. In a while he was disturbed again by the same noise. He\nwent out, and, taking up a big stick, chased away the old white mare.\nWhen he almost overtook her, the mare became a woman, and, laughing at\nHector, said, \u201cI have played a trick upon you, Hector, son of Ferchar.\u201d\n\n\nIN CORRY-NA-HENCHOR.\n\nThe Glaistig of _Coire-na-sheanchrach_, a valley on the Mull coast,\nhalf way up the sound between that island and the mainland, met a poor\nfisherman of the neighbourhood every evening, when he came ashore from\nthe fishing and always got a fish for herself. One evening he caught\nnothing but lithe, and when the Glaistig came and looked at them, she\nsaid, \u201cThey are all lithe to-night, Murdoch.\u201d Whatever offence was\ntaken by her in consequence she never came any more.\n\n\nMAC-IAN YEAR.\n\nThis man (_Mac Iain Ghiarr_), whose name is proverbial in the West\nHighlands for that of a master thief, was one of the Mac Ians of\nArdnamurchan, a persecuted race. He had a boat for going on his\nthieving expeditions painted black on one side and white on the other,\nso that those who saw it passing would not recognize it on its return.\nHence the proverb:\n\n  \u201cOne side black and one side grey,\n  Like Mac Ian Year\u2019s boat.\u201d\n\nMany tales are told of his skill in thieving, and the accomplishment is\nsaid to have been bestowed upon him by a Glaistig.\n\nHe and his brother Ronald (his own name was Archibald) were out\nhunting, and having killed a roe, took it to a bothy and prepared it\nfor supper. He threw himself on a bed of heather, and Ronald sat by the\nfire, roasting pieces of the roe on his dirk. A woman entered the hut,\nand made an effort now and then to snatch from him some of the roasted\nflesh. Ronald threatened, unless she kept over her paw (_sall_), he\nwould cut it off with his knife. She appealed to Archibald, \u201cHo,\nArchibald, will you not put a stop to Ronald?\u201d \u201cI will put a stop to\nhim, poor creature,\u201d he said. He told Ronald to allow the poor woman,\nthat they had plenty, and perhaps she was hungry. When leaving, the\nGlaistig asked him to the door, and it is supposed then bestowed upon\nhim his wonderful gift of theft. He built a large byre when he had not\na single \u2018hoof\u2019 to put in it, and before long it was amply stocked. He\nhired the Glaistig to herd for him, and she was to be heard at night on\nthe tops of the cliffs crying \u201cHo h\u014f, ho h\u014f,\u201d to keep the cattle from\nwandering too near the verge. Her wages were to be a pair of brogues of\nuntanned leather, and when she got these, like the rest of her kind,\nshe disappeared. She seems, however, only to have returned to her\nformer haunts, which extended all over Ardnamurchan, from the Point to\nLoch Sunart. When her former master died, she gave a shriek that roused\nthe echoes of Ben Resipol (_R\u00e9iscapol_). The same night she was seen\nin the Coolin hills in Skye, and after that neither her shadow nor her\ncolour (_a du no dath_) were anywhere seen.\n\nDuring her period of service with Mac Ian Year, she made her appearance\nwhenever he raised his standard, however far away she might be.\nRonald\u2019s dog had a great aversion to her, and chased her whenever she\ncame near. She was then to be heard calling out, \u201cHo, Archibald, will\nyou not call off the dog?\u201d (_Ho, Laspuig, nach caisg thu \u2019n c\u00f9?_),\u2014a\ncommon phrase in Ardnamurchan and the small isles to this day.\n\nIt is related of her, that to escape from her attentions, Mac Ian Year\nand his brother resolved to remove to the Outer Hebrides. They had\nbarely kindled a fire in their new dwelling, when the Glaistig called\ndown the chimney they had forgot the old harrow, but she had brought\nit, and that she was only on the top of the Coolin Hills when the first\nclink (_snag_) was given to the flint to kindle the fire. There was\nnothing for it but to return to Ardnamurchan.[55]\n\n\nAT ERRAY, MULL.\n\nAt Erray (_an Eirbhe_, the outlying part of a farm[56]), near\nTobermory, there was a Glaistig that paid attention principally to\nthe barn. The herd slept in the byre, and he often heard trampling\n(_tartaraich_) in the adjoining barn. Whatever had been left there at\nnight was found in the morning all in confusion, topsy-turvy (_turrach\nair tharrach_), one leg over the other (_cas mu seach_). All this was\nthe Glaistig\u2019s work.\n\nThe Glaistig of Fernach on Loch Awe side conveyed persons of the name\nof M\u2018Intyre across a dangerous stream in the neighbourhood. She assumed\nthe shape of a foal.\n\n\nII. THE GRUAGACH.\n\nGruagach, _i.e._ long-haired one, from _gruag_, a wig, is a common\nGaelic name for a maiden, a young woman. In old tales and poems,\nparticularly those relating to the times of Murchard Mac Brian, who\nwas king of Ireland _circ._ A.D. 1100, the term means a chief or some\nperson of consequence, probably a young chief. Thus, in a conversation\nbetween that king and a young woman, whose nine silk-clad brothers he\nhad killed in battle, she says:\n\n  \u201cI am daughter of the heir of Dublin,\n  I would not hide it, lord of swords,\n  And to the _Gruagach_ of the Isle of Birds,\n  I, in truth, bore my children.\u201d[57]\n\nThe name evidently refers to the length of the hair, which it seems\nto have been a custom in ancient times for men of rank and freemen to\nallow to grow long.\n\nIn Argyllshire, and commonly in Gaelic, the name Gruagach, applied\nto the tutelary being haunting farms and castles, means the same as\n_Glaistig_, and the idea attached to it is that of a long-haired\nfemale, well-dressed like a gentlewoman, looking after the servants,\nand particularly after the cattle. In parts of Skye, however, the\nfold-frequenting Gruagach is a tall young man, with long yellow hair,\nin the attire of a gentleman of a bygone period, having a little\nswitch (_slatag_) in his hand, and with a white breast, as if he wore\na frilled shirt. One of the writer\u2019s authorities described him as in\nappearance like a young man fashionably dressed in a long coat and knee\nbreeches, with a white breast like that of a frilled shirt, and having\na cane in his hand. He had even heard that the Gruagach wore a beaver\nhat\u2014a head-dress which in the Highlands was at one time believed to\nindicate a gentleman.\n\nThis Gruagach was attentive to the herds and kept them from the rocks.\nHe frequented certain places in the fields where the cattle were. A\nGruagach was to be found in every gentleman\u2019s fold (_buaile_), and,\nlike the Glaistig, milk had to be set apart for him every evening in a\nhollow in some particular stone, called the Gruagach stone (_Clach na\nGruagaich_), kept in the byres. Unless this was done no milk was got at\nnext milking, or the cream would not rise to the surface of the milk.\nSome say milk was placed in the Gruagach stone only when going to and\nreturning from the summer pastures and when passing with milk.\n\nThe Gruagach amused himself by loosing the cattle in the byre at\nnight, and making people get out of bed several times to tie them up.\nThe cattle loosened did not fright or gore one another, as they did\nwhen they broke loose themselves or were untied by another person.\nOn entering the byre, the Gruagach was heard laughing and tittering\nin corners. Beyond this diversion he seems to have been ordinarily\nharmless. He sometimes walked alongside of people, but was never known\nto speak.\n\nA woman was driving calves into the byre at Tota Roam in Scorrybreck.\nThe Gruagach amused himself inside by keeping them out. The woman, in\na great rage, hastily cursed him. He gave her a slap on the cheek and\nkilled her. All that night, however, he kept the fire alive for the\nwoman that sat up watching the body.\n\nDr. Johnson mentions a \u2018Greogaca\u2019 in Troda, an islet off the east coast\nof Skye. This Gruagach seems long since to have disappeared, but old\npeople say the place is a very likely one for a being of the class to\nbe in. At Holm, East-side, and Scorrybreck, near Portree, the stones,\nwhere the libations were poured out, may still be seen.\n\nIn Braes, the Gruagach that followed the herds was a young woman with\nlong hair; she was also known as the Glaistig, and the rock, in which\nher portion of milk was poured, is in Macqueen\u2019s Big Rock (_Creagan na\nGlaistig an creag mhor Mhic Cuinn_).\n\n\nIII. BROWNIE.\n\nThe term _Br\u00f9naidh_, signifying a supernatural being, haunting the\nabodes of the affluent and doing work for the servants, seems to\nhave made its way into the Highlands only in recent times and along\nwith south country ideas. It is generally applied only to a big,\ncorpulent, clumsy man, \u2018a fine fat fodgel wight,\u2019 and in many districts\nhas no other reference. Its derivation is Teutonic and not Celtic,\nand Brownies are mostly heard of in places to which, as in the south\nof Argyllshire, southern ideas have penetrated, or where, as in the\nOrkneys and Shetland, a Teutonic race is settled.\n\nIn the islet of C\u00e0ra, on the west of Cantyre, the old house, once\nbelonging to the Macdonalds, was haunted by a Brownie that drank milk,\nmade a terrific outcry when hurt, and disliked the Campbell race. In\nthe old castle of Largie, on the opposite coast of Cantyre, which\nbelonged to the same Macdonalds, there was also a Brownie, supposed to\nbe the same as the C\u00e0ra one. Since the modern house was built Brownie\nhas not been seen or heard. In C\u00e0ra he is still occasionally heard.\nIt is not known exactly what he is like, no one having ever seen more\nthan a glimpse of him. Before the arrival of strangers he put the\nhouse in order. He disliked anything dirty being left in the house for\nthe night. Dirty bed-clothes were put out by him before morning. Dogs\nhad to be put outside at night, as he often killed those left in the\nhouse. He was much addicted to giving slaps in the dark to those who\nsoiled the house; and there are some still alive who can testify to\nreceiving a slap that left their faces black. He tumbled on the floor\nwater-stoups left full over-night. A man was lifted out of bed by him,\nand found himself \u2018bare naked,\u2019 on awakening, at the fire. A woman,\ngoing late in the evening for her cows, found Brownie had been before\nher, and tied them securely in the barn.\n\nIn one of the castles in the centre of Argyllshire, Brownie came to\nthe bedside of a servant woman who had retired for the night, arranged\nthe clothes, and, pulling them above her, said: \u201cTake your sleep, poor\ncreature\u201d (_dean cadal, a chreutair_). He then went away.\n\nIn character Brownie was harmless, but he made mischief unless every\nplace was left open at night. He was fed with warm milk by the\ndairy-maid.\n\nA native of the Shetland Isles writes me that Brownie was well known\nin that locality. He worked about the barn, and at night ground with\nthe handmill for those to whom he was attached. He could grind a bag\nor two of grain in a night. He was once rewarded for his labours by a\ncloak and hood left for him at the mill. The articles were away in the\nmorning, and Brownie never came back. Hence the bye-word, such a man is\nlike Brownie,\n\n  \u201cWhen he got his cloak and hood,\n  He did no more good.\u201d\n\nThe same story is told of the \u2018Cauld Lad of Hilton,\u2019 in the valley of\nthe Wear in England (Keightley\u2019s _Fairy Myth_, p. 296), of Brownies in\nthe Scottish Lowlands (p. 358), and of one in Strathspey (p. 395), who\nsaid, when he went away\u2014\n\n  \u201cBrownie has got a coat and cap,\n  Brownie will do no more work.\u201d\n\nIt also made its way to Tiree, and was there told as follows:\n\n\nGUNNA.\n\nIn olden times the tillage in Tiree was in common, the crop was raised\nhere and there throughout the farm, and the herding was in consequence\nvery difficult to do. In Baugh, or some farm in the west of the island\n(tradition is not uniform as to the locality), the cows were left in\nthe pastures at night, and were kept from the crops by some invisible\nherdsman. No one ever saw him, or knew whence he came, nor, when he\nwent away, whither he went. A _taibhseir_ or seer (_i.e._ one who had\nthe second-sight or sight of seeing ghosts) remained up to see how the\ncattle were kept. He saw a man without clothes after them, and taking\npity upon him made him a pair of trews (_triubhas_[58]) and a pair of\nshoes. When the ghostly herdsman put the trews on, he said (and his\nname then, for the first time, became known):\n\n  \u201cTrews upon Gunna,\n    Because Gunna does the herding,\n  But may Gunna never enjoy his trews,\n    If he tends cattle any more.\u201d[59]\n\nWhen he said this he went away and was never more heard of.\n\nBeings of this class seem to have had a great objection to presents of\nclothes. A pair of shoes made the Glaistig at Unimore leave; a cap,\ncoat, and breeches the Phynnodderee in the Isle of Man (Keightley,\n_Fairy Myth_, p. 203); in the Black Forest of Germany, a new coat drove\naway a nix, one of the little water-people, with green teeth, that came\nand worked with the people all day (_ibid._, p. 261); and Brownie, as\nalready mentioned, in several places.\n\n\nTHE OLD MAN OF THE BARN.\n\nIn the Highlands of Perthshire, previous to the \u201845, each farm or\nvillage had its own _bodachan sabhaill_, \u2018the little old man of the\nbarn,\u2019 who helped to thresh the corn, made up the straw into bundles,\nand saw that everything was kept in order. These Brownies had the\nappearance of old men and were very wise. They worked always at night,\nand were never mischievous, but highly useful.\n\nThe _Glaisein_ (lit. grey-headed man) of the Isle of Man bears a strong\nresemblance to them. He was very strong, frequented farms, threshed\ncorn, and went to the sheep-folds (Campbell\u2019s _West Highland Tales_,\nIntrod. liii.).\n\nThese house-spirits have many relations, the Nis of Scandinavia, Kobold\nof Germany, Ni\u00e4gruisar of the Faroe Islands, and it is said the English\nHobgoblin. The Hinzelman that haunted Hudemuhlen Castle in L\u00fcneberg had\n\u2018curled yellow hair,\u2019 also a characteristic of the Glaistig; and the\ndifference between one household tutelary being and another is only\nsuch as might be expected from differences of country and society.\n\nThe oldest member of the family is the _Lar Familiaris_ of the Romans.\nThere is a noticeable resemblance between _lar_, the Roman household\ndeity, and _l\u00e0rach_ (from _l\u00e0r_, the ground), the Gaelic for the\nstance or site of a building, to which, and not to the tenants, the\nCeltic household apparition attached itself. The _lares_ of the Romans\nwere the departed spirits of ancestors, which were believed to watch\nover their dependents. The Glaistig was held to have been a woman of\nhonourable position, a former mistress of the house, the interests\nof the tenants of which she now attended to. Small waxen images of\nthe _lares_, clothed with the skin of a dog, were placed in the hall.\nThe Glaistig had the Fairy aversion to dogs (an aversion which was\nreciprocal), but many of the actions ascribed to her savour strongly of\nher being in some way identical with the herdsman\u2019s dogs. This would\nvery well explain the pouring of milk for her in the evening in the\nhollow of a stone. The Glaistig of Ardnadrochit had the shape of a dog\n(see p. 175).\n\nA satisfactory explanation of the origin of the superstition does not\nreadily suggest itself. In days when men did not know what to believe\nin regarding the spirit world, and were ready to believe anything, a\nfancy may have arisen, that it secures the welfare of a house, and adds\nto its dignity, to have a supernatural being attached to it and looking\nafter its interests. It had its origin after the tribes, among whom\nit is to be found, ceased to be roving and unsettled barbarians. In a\nlarge establishment a being of the kind was very useful. The master\nwould not discredit its existence, as it helped to frighten idle and\nstupid servants into attending to their work and into clean and tidy\nhabits. Shrewd servants would say as little against it when it served\nso well to screen their own knavery or faults, and to impose on a\ncredulous and facile, or careless master. Unless it was sometimes seen\nor heard, or some work was mysteriously done, the delusion, either of\nmaster or servant, could not be long continued; and, when men have\nlittle else to do, there are many who take a pleasure in imposing on\ntheir more simple-minded fellows, and are quite ready, as much from\nsport as interest, to carry on a delusion of the kind. Besides, when\nthe mind is nervously anxious, engrossed with the fear of a coming\nmisfortune or the hope of a coming joy, it is apt to listen to the\nwhispers of fancy and the confidently-told tales of others. When it\nbroods alone, during the sleepless night, over the future it is not\nsurprising if the imagination converts the weird sounds of night\u2014the\nmelancholy moaning of the wind, its fitful gusts in the woods and round\nthe house, the roar of the waterfall, the sound of the surf-beaten\nshore, and many noises, of which the origin is at the time unknown and\nunsought\u2014into the omens of that which makes itself sleepless, or hears\nin them the song of the house-spirit, prescient of the coming event.\nIt must also be remembered that there are people who will see and\nhear anything if their story is believingly listened to, and they are\nthemselves at the time objects of interest.\n\nPennant (_Tour_, p. 330) says Brownie was stout and blooming, had fine\nlong flowing hair, and went about with a switch in his hand. He cleaned\nthe house, helped to churn, threshed the corn, and belaboured those who\npretended to make a jest of him. He says (p. 331) the _Gruagach_ was\nin form like the Brownie, and was worshipped by libations of milk; and\n\u201cmilkmaids still retain the custom of pouring some on certain stones,\nthat bear his name.\u201d He is thought, it is added, to be an emblem of\nApollo and identical with \u03c7\u03c1\u03c5\u03c3\u03bf\u03ba\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2.\n\nMr. Campbell (_Tales of the West Highlands_, 1. xciii.) supposes the\nGruagach of superstition to be a Druid fallen from his high estate, and\nliving on milk left for him by those whose priest he had once been. In\nanother place (ii. 101) he supposes him to be a half-tamed savage,\nhanging about the house, with his long hair and skin clothing.\n\nThese explanations are not satisfactory. The character, dress, and\nactions ascribed to the Gruagach and his congeners are incongruous to\nthe idea of Druid, heathen deity, or savage wild or reclaimed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE URISK, THE BLUE MEN, AND THE MERMAID.\n\n\nTHE URISK.\n\nThe Urisk was a large lubberly supernatural, of solitary habits and\nharmless character, that haunted lonely and mountainous places. Some\nidentify him with Brownie, but he differs from the fraternity of\ntutelary beings in having his dwelling, not in the houses or haunts of\nmen, but in solitudes and remote localities. There were male and female\nUrisks, and the race was said to be the offspring of unions between\nmortals and fairies, that is, of the _leannan s\u00ecth_.\n\nThe Urisk was usually seen in the evening, big and grey (_m\u00f2r glas_),\nsitting on the top of a rock and peering at the intruders on its\nsolitude. The wayfarer whose path led along the mountain side, whose\nshattered rocks are loosely sprinkled, or along some desert moor, and\nwho hurried for the fast approaching nightfall, saw the Urisk sitting\nmotionless on the top of a rock and gazing at him, or slowly moving\nout of his way. It spoke to some people, and is even said to have\nthrashed them, but usually it did not meddle with the passer-by. On the\ncontrary, it at times gave a safe convoy to those who were belated.\n\nIn the Highlands of Breadalbane the Urisk was said, in summer time, to\nstay in remote corries and on the highest part of certain hills. In\nwinter time it came down to the strath, and entered certain houses at\nnight to warm itself. It was then it did work for the farmer, grinding,\nthrashing, etc. Its presence was a sign of prosperity; it was said to\nleave comfort behind it. Like Brownie, it liked milk and good food, and\na present of clothes drove it away.\n\nAn Urisk, haunting _Beinn Doohrain_ (a hill beloved of the Celtic\nmuse) on the confines of Argyllshire and Perthshire, stayed in summer\ntime near the top of the hill, and in winter came down to the straths.\nA waterfall near the village of Clifton at Tyndrum, where it stayed\non these occasions, is still called _Eas na h-\u00f9ruisg_, the Urisk\u2019s\ncascade. It was encountered by St. Fillan, who had his abode in a\nneighbouring strath, and banished to Rome.\n\nThe Urisk of Ben Loy (_Beinn Laoigh_, the Calf\u2019s hill), also on the\nconfines of these counties, came down in winter from his lofty haunts\nto the farm of Sococh, in Glen Orchy, which lies at the base of the\nmountain. It entered the house at night by the chimney, and it is\nrelated that on one occasion the bar, from which the chimney chain was\nsuspended, and on which the Urisk laid its weight in descending, being\ntaken away, and not meeting its foot as usual, the poor supernatural\ngot a bad fall. It was fond of staying in a cleft at Moraig water-fall,\nand its labours, in keeping the waters from falling too fast over the\nrock, might be seen by any one. A stone, on which it sat with its\nfeet dangling over the fall, is called \u2018the Urisk stone\u2019 (_Clach na\nh-\u00f9ruisg_). It sometimes watched the herds of Sococh farm.\n\nA man passing through Strath _Duuisg_, near Loch Sloy, at the head of\nLoch Lomond, on a keen frosty night, heard an Urisk on one side of the\nglen calling out, \u201cFrost, frost, frost\u201d (_reoth, reoth, reoth_). This\nwas answered by another Urisk calling from the other side of the glen,\n\u201cKick-frost, kick-frost, kick-frost\u201d (_ceige-reoth_, etc.). The man,\non hearing this, said, \u201cWhether I wait or not for frost, I will never\nwhile I live wait for kick-frost\u201d; and he ran at his utmost speed till\nhe was out of the glen.\n\nThe Urisk of the \u2018Yellow Water-fall\u2019 in Glen M\u00e0ili, in the south of\nInverness-shire, used to come late every evening to a woman of the name\nof Mary, and sat watching her plying her distaff without saying a word.\nA man, who wished to get a sight of the Urisk, put on Mary\u2019s clothes,\nand sat in her place, twirling the distaff, as best he could. The\nUrisk came to the door but would not enter. It said:\n\n  \u201cI see your eye, I see your nose,\n    I see your great broad beard,\n  And though you will work the distaff,\n    I know you are a man.\u201d\n\nGraham (_Highlands of Perthshire_, p. 19, quoted by Sir Walter Scott in\nhis Notes to _The Lady of the Lake_) says the Urisk \u201ccould be gained\nover by kind attentions to perform the drudgery of the farm, and it\nwas believed that many families in the Highlands had one of the order\nattached to it.\u201d He adds that the famous _Coire nan \u00f9ruisgean_ derives\nits name from the solemn stated meetings of all the Urisks in Scotland\nbeing held there.\n\nThe Urisk, like the Brownie of England, had great simplicity of\ncharacter, and many tricks were played upon it in consequence. A farmer\nin Strathglass got it to undergo a painful operation that it might\nbecome fat and sleek like the farmer\u2019s own geldings. The weather at the\ntime being frosty, it made a considerable outcry for some time after.\n\nFrom its haunting lonely places, other appearances must often have\nbeen confounded with it. In Strathfillan (commonly called simply the\nStraths, _Strathaibh_), in the Highlands of Perthshire, not many years\nago a number of boys saw what was popularly said to be an Urisk. In\nthe hill, when the sun was setting, something like a human being was\nseen sitting on the top of a large boulder-stone, and growing bigger\nand bigger till they fled. There is no difficulty in connecting the\nappearance with the circumstance that some sheep disappeared that year\nunaccountably from the hill, and a quantity of grain from the barn of\nthe farm.\n\nIn the Hebrides there is very little mention of the Urisk at all. In\nTiree the only trace of it is in the name of a hollow, _Slochd an\nAoirisg_, through which the public road passes near the south shore.\nThe belief that it assisted the farmer was not common anywhere, and all\nover the Highlands the word ordinarily conveys no other idea than that\nwhich has been well-defined as \u201ca being supposed to haunt lonely and\nsequestered places, as mountain rivers and waterfalls.\u201d\n\n\nTHE BLUE MEN (_Na Fir Ghorm_).\n\nThe fallen angels were driven out of Paradise in three divisions, one\nbecame the Fairies on the land, one the Blue Men in the sea, and one\nthe Nimble Men (_Fir Chlis_), _i.e._ the Northern Streamers, or Merry\nDancers, in the sky.\n\nThis explanation belongs to the North Hebrides, and was heard by the\nwriter in Skye. In Argyllshire the Blue Men are unknown, and there\nis no mention of the Merry Dancers being congeners of the Fairies.\nThe person from whom the information was got was very positive he had\nhimself seen one of the Blue Men. A blue-coloured man, with a long\ngrey face (_aodunn fada glas_), and floating from the waist out of\nthe water, followed the boat in which he was for a long time, and was\noccasionally so near that the observer might have put his hand upon him.\n\nThe channel between Lewis and the Shant Isles (_Na h-Eileinean siant_,\nthe charmed islands) is called \u2018the Stream of the Blue Men\u2019 (_Sruth nam\nFear Gorm_). A ship, passing through it, came upon a blue-coloured man\nsleeping on the waters. He was taken on board, and being thought of\nmortal race, strong twine was coiled round and round him from his feet\nto his shoulders, till it seemed impossible for him to struggle, or\nmove foot or arm. The ship had not gone far when two men were observed\ncoming after it on the waters. One of them was heard to say, \u201cDuncan\nwill be one man,\u201d to which the other replied, \u201cFarquhar will be two.\u201d\nOn hearing this, the man, who had been so securely tied, sprang to his\nfeet, broke his bonds like spider threads, jumped overboard, and made\noff with the two friends, who had been coming to his rescue.\n\n_The Streamers._ When the Streamers (_Na Fir Chlis_, lit. the active\nor quickly moving men) have \u2018a battle royal,\u2019 as they often have, the\nblood of their wounded falling to the earth, and becoming congealed,\nforms the coloured stones called \u2018blood stones,\u2019 known in the Hebrides\nalso by the name of _fuil siochaire_, Elf\u2019s blood.\n\n\nTHE MERMAID.\n\nThe Mermaid (_Muir-\u00f2igh_, _maighdean mhara_) of the Scottish Highlands\nwas the same as in the rest of the kingdom, a sea-creature, half fish\nhalf woman, with long dishevelled hair, which she sits on the rocks by\nthe shore to comb at night. She has been known to put off the fishy\ncovering of her lower limbs. Any one who finds it can by hiding it\ndetain her from ever returning to the sea again. There is a common\nstory in the Highlands, as also in Ireland, that a person so detained\nher for years, married her, and had a family by her. One of the family\nfell in with the covering, and telling his mother of the pretty thing\nhe had found, she recovered possession of it and escaped to the sea.\nShe pursues ships and is dangerous. Sailors throw empty barrels\noverboard, and while she spends her time examining these they make\ntheir escape.\n\nA man in Skye (_Mac-Mhannain_) caught a Mermaid and kept her for a\nyear. She gave him much curious information. When parting he asked her\nwhat virtue or evil there was in egg-water (_i.e._ water in which eggs\nhad been boiled). She said, \u201cIf I tell you that, you will have a tale\nto tell,\u201d and disappeared.\n\nA native of _Eilein Anabuich_ (the Unripe Island), a village in North\nHarris, caught a Mermaid on a rock, and to procure her release, she\ngranted him his three wishes. He became a skilful herb-doctor, who\ncould cure the king\u2019s evil and other diseases ordinarily incurable,\na prophet, who could foretell, particularly to women, whatever was to\nbefall them, and he obtained a remarkably fine voice. This latter gift\nhe had only in his own estimation; when he sang, others did not think\nhis voice fine or even tolerable.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE WATER-HORSE (_Each Uisge_).\n\n\nThe belief in the existence of the Water-horse is now in the Highlands\ngenerally a thing of the past, but in olden times almost every lonely\nfreshwater lake was tenanted by one, sometimes by several, of these\nanimals. In shape and colour it resembled an ordinary horse, and was\noften mistaken for one. It was seen passing from one lake to another,\nmixing with the farmers\u2019 horses in the adjoining pastures, and waylaid\nbelated travellers who passed near its haunts. It was highly dangerous\nto touch or mount it. Those whom it decoyed into doing so were taken\naway to the loch in which it had its haunt, and there devoured. It was\nsaid to make its approaches also in other guises\u2014as a young man, a boy,\na ring, and even a tuft of wool (_ribeag cl\u00f2imhe_); and any woman upon\nwhom it set its mark was certain at last to become its victim. The\ncow-shackle round its neck, or a cap on its head, completely subdued\nit, and as long as either of these was kept on it, it could be as\nsafely employed in farm labour as any other horse.\n\nIn Skye it was said to have a sharp bill (_gob biorach_), or, as others\ndescribe it, a narrow brown slippery snout. Accounts are uniform that\nit had a long flowing tail and mane. In colour it was sometimes grey,\nsometimes black, and sometimes black with a white spot on its forehead.\nThis variation arose, some say, from the water horse being of any\ncolour like other horses, and others say from its having the power of\nchanging its colour as well as its shape. When it came in the shape of\na man, it was detected by its horse-hoofs and by the green water weeds\nor sand in its hair. It was then very amorous, but the end of those who\nwere unfortunate enough to encounter it was to be taken to the loch and\ndevoured. However much benefit the farmer might at first derive from\nsecuring one with the cap or cow-shackle he was ultimately involved by\nit in ruinous loss.\n\nThe following tales will illustrate the character of the superstition\nbetter than a lengthened dissertation:\n\n\nFARMERS AND WATER-HORSES.\n\nStories to the following effect are common in Mull and the\nneighbourhood:\n\nA strange horse, which cannot be driven away, is seen all winter among\nthe rest of the farm horses. In olden times horses were little housed\nduring winter; the stable door was left open, and the horses, after\neating the little straw allowed them, went out to pick up what they\ncould. When spring work comes on the strange horse is caught like the\nrest and made to work. Perhaps for greater security the cow-shackle\nis put round its neck. It proves as docile and easily managed as any\nhorse could be. It is the best horse the farmer has, and is fat and\nsleek when the rest are lean and ragged. It works thus all spring, and\nin summer is employed to take home peats from the moor. It is placed\nforemost in a string of three or seven horses, which have creels on\ntheir backs, in ancient fashion, and are tied each to the tail of the\nhorse before it. The farmer rides the foremost of the team. On the\nway it becomes restive and unmanageable, and sets off at full speed,\nfollowed by the rest, towards the loch. Observing that the shackle has\nslipped off, the man, in passing through a narrow gateway, plants a\nfoot against each pillar and throws himself off its back, or he tumbles\non the sands of the shore, and jumping up, cuts the halter of the\nhindmost horse. Those that remain tied are dragged into the loch, and\nnext day their entrails or livers come ashore.\n\nThe most celebrated tale of this class was that of the son of the\ntenant of Aros, in Mull.\n\n\nMAC-FIR AROIS.\n\nThe heir of Aros, a young man of great personal activity, and, it is\nsaid, of dissolute manners, having an opinion of himself that there\nwas no horse he could not ride, was taken by a Water-horse into Loch\nFrisa, a small lake about a mile in length in the north-west of Mull\nand devoured. This occurred between his espousal and marriage, and the\nLament composed by his intended bride is still and deservedly a popular\nsong in Mull. There seems to be this much truth in the story, that the\nyoung man was dragged into Loch Frisa by a mare which he was attempting\nto subdue and drowned. It would appear from the song that his body was\nrecovered. The popular details of the incident vary considerably, and\nare of interest as illustrative of the growth of tales of superstition.\n\nOne account has it that a remarkably handsome grey mare came among\nhorses belonging to the tenant of Aros pasturing on the rushes at the\nend of Loch Frisa. One day his son haltered and mounted it. The grey\nstood quite quietly till it got the young man on its back. It then\nrushed into the loch.\n\nAnother account says the young man found a mare in the hills, which he\ntook to be one of those belonging to his father. He caught it with the\nintention of riding home, but the mare took out to Loch Frisa, and he\nwas there devoured by Water-horses.\n\nA third account says the Water-horse was kept all winter, with the\ncow-shackle about its neck, and remained so quiet and steady, that at\nlast the shackle was neglected. The son of the tenant rode it one day\nto the peat-moss, three other horses following behind in usual form,\nwhen it suddenly rushed away to the lake, and nothing was ever seen of\nthe youth or the horses but the livers.\n\nA fourth account says, in spring a band of men went to the hill to\ncatch a young horse wanted for harrowing or to send to market. They\nwere unable to catch it, and next day Aros\u2019s son himself went with\nthem. He caught what he supposed to be the horse wanted and jumped on\nits back. The horse rushed at full speed towards the loch, and the\nyoung man found he could not throw himself off. The horse\u2019s liver came\nashore next day, the animal, it is supposed, having been killed by the\nother Water-horses tenanting the lake, when they felt the smell of a\nman off it.\n\nThere is still another account, that Mac-fir Arois was twice taken\naway by the Water-horse. The first time, he managed to put a foot on\neach side of a gate, in passing through, and allowed the horse to pass\non. The second time, a cap which hitherto had kept the horse, was\nforgotten. In the terrible career of the steed to the loch, the young\nman clasped his arms round its neck, and could not unclasp them. His\nlungs came ashore next day.\n\n\nTHE TALKING HORSE AT CRU-LOCH.\n\nThis is a lonely little lake above Ardachyle (_Aird-a-chaoil_, the\nheight of the sound) in the north-east of Mull. A person passing\nit late at night, on his way home, saw a horse with a saddle on,\nquietly feeding at the loch side. He went towards it with the\nintention of riding it home, but in time he observed green-water herbs\n(_liaranaich_) about its feet and refrained from touching it. He walked\non and before long was overtaken by a stranger, who said that unless\nhe (the Water-horse, who was also the speaker) had been friendly\nand a well-wisher, he would have taken him to the loch. Among other\nsupernatural information it told the man the day of his death.\n\n\nISLAND OF COLL.\n\nAt noontide, while the cattle were standing in the loch, the herdsman\nnear Loch Annla was visited by a person in whose head he observed\n_rathum_, that is, water weeds. When going away the stranger jumped\ninto the loch and disappeared without doing any harm. People used\nto hear strange noises about that loch, no doubt caused by the\nWater-horse, which was the herdsman\u2019s visitor.\n\n\nTHE NINE CHILDREN AT SUNART.\n\nA number of children went on a Sunday to amuse themselves in the\nneighbourhood of the \u2018Loch of Disaster\u2019 (_Loch na Dunach_) in\nthis district. They fell in with a horse, caught it, and in their\nthoughtless sport mounted it. Its back got longer till they were all\nmounted, except one, who had a Bible in his pocket. He touched the\nhorse with his finger, and had to cut it off to save himself. The horse\nrushed into the lake, and the children, nine in number, were never more\nseen. The liver of one of them came ashore next day.\n\nThis tale is widely spread, and is obviously a pious fraud to keep\nchildren from wandering on Sundays to play in lonely places, and from\nmeddling with any horse they may find.\n\n\nKILLING THE RAASAY WATER-HORSE.\n\n\u2018The Woman\u2019s Loch\u2019 (_Loch na Mna_) near D\u00f9n Can, the highest hill\nin this island, derives its name from having been the scene of the\nabduction of a woman by the Water-horse that haunted it. The big Smith\n(_An Gobha M\u00f2r_), who lived in the neighbourhood, resolved to kill the\nhorse, and by his success he earned himself the title of \u2018Alastair\nna B\u00e9isde\u2019 (Alexander of the monster). He built a hut close by, with\nan opening like the syver of a drain, leading towards the loch. When\nhe got the wind favourable, he killed and roasted a wether-sheep in\nthe hut. The wind blew the savoury smell towards the loch, and the\nWater-horse, attracted by it, made its way into the hut by the entrance\nleft for it. The smith had his irons ready in the fire, and rushing\nwith them at the Water-horse killed it. On examination the monster\nproved to be merely grey turves (_pluic ghlas_), or, as others say, a\nsoft mass (_sgling_) like jelly-fish (_Muir-tiachd_).\n\n\nTHE WATER-HORSE AT LOCH CUAICH.\n\nSome thirty years ago, a small islet in this lake, of about an half\nan acre in extent, was tenanted by a strange specimen of the Highland\nfreebooter, named Macphie. He was a deserter from the army, who at\nfirst took refuge in a cave in the neighbourhood. He took away by force\na girl of twelve years of age, and, coming next day to her parents,\nsaid if it would give any satisfaction he would marry her, but refusing\nto part with her. A sort of ceremony of marriage was gone through, but\nMacphie seems for several years to have looked upon the girl merely as\nhis daughter. Her first child was born when she was eighteen years of\nage, and she had several more of a family. After his marriage Macphie\nremoved to the islet mentioned, and remained there undisturbed for\nmany years. He supported himself by fishing, hunting, and taking now\nand then a sheep or goat from the lands surrounding the loch. Such was\nhis terror of being surprised by soldiers that he always carried arms\nabout him, and slept with a bayonet and loaded gun beside his bed. The\ncountry people were afraid of him and he was commonly reported to be\nnot \u2018canny.\u2019 He was at last evicted by a south country farmer, when he\nremoved with his family to Fort William.\n\nIn his time a Water-horse was quite commonly seen in Loch Cuaich,\nfloating on its side, or as it is called, \u2018making a film\u2019 (_deanadh\nsgle\u00f2_) and \u2018making a salmon of itself\u2019 (_deanadh bradain dheth\nfhein_), disporting itself and then disappearing. One stormy night\nMacphie, by his own account, was roused by a loud rattling noise at the\ndoor, as if some one were trying to enter. It stood in the door and\nMacphie knew it to be the Water-horse in the shape of a man. He fired\ntwice at it, but it did not move. He called to his wife to bring a\nsilver coin, and when he put this in the gun and fired, the figure went\naway and was heard plunging into the loch. The people round the loch\nheard three shots from the islet that night, for whatever cause they\nmay have been fired.\n\n\nTHE WATER-HORSE AT TIREE.\n\nA man working in the fields in Caolas, in the east end of the island,\nsaw a Water-horse coming from _Loch an Air_, a small marshy lake,\nfull of reeds. He ran off in terror, and left his coat behind. The\nWater-horse tore the coat into shreds and then made after the man. The\ndogs came out when it came near the house and drove it away.\n\nA son of one of the chamberlains of the island, last century, found\na horse on the moors, and being struck with its excellence mounted\nit. The horse tore away at full gallop and could not be stopped. It\ngalloped all round the country, till at last one side of the reins\nbroke, and the horse rushed out on Loch Basibol, carrying its ill-fated\nrider with it.\n\n\nWATER-HORSE AND WOMEN.\n\nA young woman herding cattle drove her charge to a sequestered part of\nthe hill, and while there a young man came her way, and reclining his\nhead on her lap fell asleep. On his stretching himself she observed\nthat he had horse-hoofs, and lulling him gently managed to get his head\nrested on the ground. She then cut out with her scissors the part of\nher clothes below his head and made her escape. When the Water-horse\nawoke and missed her it made a dreadful outcry.\n\nThis tale, with unimportant variations, is known over the whole\nHighlands. Sometimes the young woman is sitting on the turf wall\n(_tota_) forming the end of the house when the Water-horse, in the\nshape of a handsome young man, comes her way; sometimes she is one of\na band of women, assembled at the summer shieling\u2014the rest are killed\nand she makes her escape. She detects the character of the youth by the\nwater weeds or the sand in his hair. Many of the stories add that the\nyoung man (or Water-horse) came for her on a subsequent Sunday after\ndinner, or to church, to which (as in the story of the Water-horse of\nLoch Assapol in the Ross of Mull) she went for security rather than\nkeep an appointment previously made with him, and took her to the loch.\nIn Sutherlandshire the scene of the incident is laid at _Loch Meudaidh_\nin Durness, and the descendants of the woman to whom it occurred are\nstill pointed out. She detected the young man by the sand in his hair,\nand on looking back, after she had got to some distance, she saw him\ntearing up the earth in his fury.[60]\n\nA Water-horse in man\u2019s shape came to a house in which there was a woman\nalone; at the time she was boiling water in a clay vessel (_croggan_),\nsuch as was in use before iron became common. The Water-horse, after\nlooking on for some time, drew himself nearer to her, and said in a\nsnuffling voice, \u201cIt is time to begin courting, Sarah, daughter of\nJohn, son of Finlay.\u201d \u201cIt is time, it is time,\u201d she replied, \u201cwhen the\nlittle pitcher boils.\u201d In a while it repeated the same words and drew\nitself nearer. She gave the same answer drawing out the time as best\nshe could, till the water was boiling hot. As the snuffling youth was\ncoming too near she threw the scalding water between his legs, and he\nran out of the house roaring and yelling with pain.\n\n\nTHE WATER-HORSE AT LOCH BASIBOL, TIREE.\n\nOn the north side of this loch, which has been already mentioned as a\nhaunt of the Water-horse, there was a farm, where there are now only\nblowing sand-banks, called the Town of the Clumsy Ones (_Baile nan\nCr\u00e0ganach_) from five men, who resided there, having each six fingers\non every hand. They were brothers, and it was said the Water-horse came\nevery night, in the shape of a young man, to see a sister, who staid\nwith them.\n\nWith the tendency of popular tales to attach themselves to known\npersons, this incident is related of Calum Mor Clarke and his family.\nCalum had three sons, Big Fair John (_Iain B\u00e0n M\u00f2r_), Young Fair John\n(_Iain B\u00e0n Og_), and Middle Fair John (_Iain B\u00e0n Meadhonach_). The four\nconspired to beguile the young man from the loch, who came to see the\ndaughter, into the house, and got him to sit between two of them on the\nfront of the bed. On a given signal these two clasped their hands round\nhim and laid him on his back in the bed. The other two rushed to their\nassistance; the young man assumed his proper shape of a Water-horse and\na fearful struggle ensued. The conspirators cut the horse in pieces\nwith their dirks, and put it out of the house dead.[61]\n\nNot far from the south end of the same loch there is a place called\n_Fhaire na h-aon oidhch\u2019_, \u2018the one night\u2019s watch,\u2019 said to derive its\nname from an incident of which the Water-horse was the hero, similar to\nthat told of the Urisk of Glen M\u00e0ili (see page 197).\n\n\nTHE KELPIE.\n\nThe Kelpie that swells torrents and devours women and children has no\nrepresentative in Gaelic superstition. Some writers speak as if the\nWater-horse were to be identified with it, but the two animals are\ndistinctly separate. The Water-horse haunts lochs, the Kelpie streams\nand torrents. The former is never accused of swelling torrents any\nmore than of causing any other natural phenomenon, nor of taking away\nchildren, unless perhaps when wanted to silence a refractory child. A\nShetland friend writes: \u201cKelpies, I cannot remember of ever hearing\nwhat shape they were of. They generally did their mischief in a quiet\nway, such as being seen splashing the water about the burns, and taking\nhold of the water-wheel of mills, and holding them still. I have heard\na man declare, that his mill was stopped one night for half an hour and\nthe full power of water on the wheel, and he was frightened himself to\ngo out and see what was wrong. And he not only said but maintained that\nit was a Kelpie or something of that kind that did it.\u201d\n\n\nTHE WATER-BULL (_Tarbh Uirge_).\n\nThis animal, unlike the Water-horse, was of harmless character, and\ndid no mischief to those who came near its haunts. It staid in little\nlonely moorland lochs, whence it issued only at night. It was then\nheard lowing near the loch, and came among the farmers\u2019 cattle, but was\nseldom seen. Calves having short ears, as if the upper part had been\ncut off with a knife, or, as it is termed in Gaelic, _Carc-chluasach_\n(_i.e._ knife-eared), were said to be its offspring. It had no ears\nitself and hence its calves had only half ears.[62]\n\nIn the district of Lorn, a dairy-maid and herd, before leaving in the\nevening the fold, in which the cows had been gathered to be milked and\nleft for the night, saw a small ugly very black animal, bull-shaped,\nsoft and slippery, coming among the herd. It had an unnatural bellow,\nsomething like the crowing of a cock. The man and woman fled in terror,\nbut, on coming back in the morning, found the cattle lying in the fold\nas though nothing had occurred.\n\n\nTHE KING OTTER.\n\nThe Water Dog (_Dobhar-Ch\u00f9_), called also the King Otter (_Righ nan\nD\u00f2bhran_), is a formidable animal, seldom seen, having a skin of magic\npower, worth as many guineas as are required to cover it. It goes at\nthe head of every band of seven, some say nine, otters, and is never\nkilled without the death of a man, woman, or dog. It has a white spot\nbelow the chin, on which alone it is vulnerable. A piece of its skin\nkeeps misfortune away from the house in which it is kept, renders the\nsoldier invulnerable in battle by arrow or sword or bullet, and placed\nin the banner makes the enemy turn and fly. \u201cAn inch of it placed on\nthe soldier\u2019s eye,\u201d as a Lochaber informant said, \u201ckept him from harm\nor hurt or wound though bullets flew about him like hailstones, and\nnaked swords clashed at his breast. When a direct aim was taken, the\ngun refused fire.\u201d\n\nOthers say the vulnerable white spot was under the King Otter\u2019s arm,\nand of no larger size than a sixpence. When the hunter took aim he\nrequired to hit this precise spot, or he fell a prey to the animal\u2019s\ndreadful jaws. In Raasa and the opposite mainland the magic power\nwas said to be in a jewel in its head, which made its possessor\ninvulnerable and secured him good fortune; but in other respects the\nbelief regarding the King Otter is the same as elsewhere.\n\nThe word _dobhar_ (pronounced dooar, dour), signifying water, is\nobsolete in Gaelic except in the name of this animal.\n\n\nBIASD NA SROGAIG.\n\nThis mythical animal, \u2018the beast of the lowering horn,\u2019 seems to have\nbeen peculiar to Skye. It had but one horn on its forehead, and, like\nthe Water-bull, staid in lochs. It was a large animal with long legs,\nof a clumsy and inelegant make, not heavy and thick, but tall and\nawkward. Its principal use seems to have been to keep children quiet,\nand it is little to be wondered at if, in the majority of cases, the\nterrors of childhood became a creed in maturer years. _Scrogag_, from\nwhich it derives its name, is a ludicrous name given to a snuff horn\nand refers to the solitary horn on its forehead.\n\n\nTHE BIG BEAST OF LOCHAWE.\n\nThis animal (_Beathach m\u00f2r Loch Odha_) had twelve legs and was to be\nheard in winter time breaking the ice. Some say it was like a horse,\nothers, like a large eel.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nSUPERSTITIONS ABOUT ANIMALS.\n\n\n_Buarach-bhaoi, lamprey._\u2014The _Buarach-bhaoi_ (lit. wild or wizard\nshackle), called also _Buarach na Baoi_ (the shackle of the furious\none), was believed to be a leech or eel-like animal to be found at\ncertain fords and in dark waters, that twisted itself like a shackle\nround the feet of passing horses, so that they fell and were drowned.\nIt then sucked their blood. It had nine eyes or holes in its head\nand back, at which the blood it sucked came out. Hence it was called\n_Buarach-bhaoi nan s\u00f9ilean claon_ (the furious shackle of the squinting\neyes). In Skye, it was believed the animal was to be found in Badenoch.\nIt was said to haunt the dark waters of Loch Tummel (_Tethuil_, hot\nflood, from the impetuosity of the river), in Perthshire, and was\nalso known on the west coast of Argyllshire. The word is translated\n\u2018lamprey\u2019 in dictionaries, but the description suggests the tradition\nof some species of gymnotus or electric eel.\n\n_Cirein Cr\u00f2in, Sea Serpent._\u2014This was the largest animal in the world,\nas may be inferred from a popular Caithness rhyme:\n\n  \u201cSeven herring are a salmon\u2019s fill,\n  Seven salmon are a seal\u2019s fill,\n  Seven seals are a whale\u2019s fill,\n  And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Cr\u00f2in.\u201d\n\nTo this is sometimes added, \u201cseven Cirein Cr\u00f2in are the fill of the\nbig devil himself.\u201d This immense sea-animal is also called _Mial mh\u00f2r\na chuain_, the great beast of the ocean, _cuartag mh\u00f2r a chuain_, the\ngreat whirlpool of the ocean, and _uile-bh\u00e9isd a chuain_, the monster\nof the ocean. It was originally a whirlpool, or the sea-snake of the\nEdda, that encircled the whole world.\n\n_Gigelorum._\u2014The _Giolcam-daoram_, or Gigelorum, is the smallest of all\nanimals. It makes its nest in the mite\u2019s ear and that is all that is\nknown about it.\n\n_Lavellan._\u2014This animal is peculiar to the north, where it is said\nto be able to hurt cattle from a distance of forty yards: \u201cLavellan,\nanimal in Cathanesia frequens, in aquis degit, capite mustelae\nsylvestri simile, ejusdemque coloris, bestia est. Halitu Bestiis nocet.\nRemedium autem est, si de aqua bibant in qu\u00e2 ejus caput coctum est.\u201d\n(Sibbald\u2019s _Scot. Ill._, lib. 3, fol. 11.) Pennant, when at Ausdale,\nLangwell, Caithness-shire, says: \u201cI inquired here after the Lavellan,\nwhich, from description, I suspect to be the water shrew mouse.\nThe country people have a notion that it is noxious to cattle; they\npreserve the skin, and, as a cure for their sick beasts, give them the\nwater in which it has been dipt. I believe it to be the same animal\nwhich, in Sutherland, is called the water mole.\u201d It is also mentioned\nby Rob Donn, the Sutherland bard, in his satirical song on \u201cMac Rorie\u2019s\nBreeches\u201d: \u201cLet him not go away from the houses, to moss or wood, lest\nthe Lavellan come and smite him.\u201d\n\n_Bernicle Goose, Cadhan._\u2014In the Hebrides, as in England, the Bernicle\nGoose was believed to grow from the thoracic worm, attaching itself to\nfloating wood that has been some time in the water, often so closely as\nto hide the surface of the log. _Calum na Cr\u00f2ige_, a native of Croig in\nMull, who went about the country some thirty or forty years ago, the\ndelight of youngsters by his extraordinary tales of personal adventures\nand of wonders he had seen, and the energy with which, sitting astride\non a stool, he raised with their assistance the anchor, hoisted sail,\nand performed other nautical feats, told that in the Indian seas,\nhe and a comrade jumped overboard to swim to land. They swam for a\nweek before reaching shore, but the water was so warm they felt no\ninconvenience. The loveliest music Calum ever heard was that made by\nBernicle Geese as they emerged from barnacles that grew on the soles of\nhis feet!\n\n_Eels (Easgunn)._\u2014It is still a very common belief in the Highlands\nthat eels grow from horse hairs. In a village of advanced opinions in\nArgyllshire, the following story was heard from a person who evidently\nbelieved it:\n\n\u201cIn the island of Harris, in a time of scarcity, a person went out for\nfish, and succeeded only in getting eels. These animals are not eaten\nin the Highlands and his wife would not taste them. The man himself ate\nseveral. By and by he went mad, and his wife had to go for succour to\na party of Englishmen, who had a shooting lodge near. On arriving with\nloaded guns, the sportsmen found the eel-eater in the fields fighting\na horse. He was so violent that they had to shoot him. On inquiry it\nturned out that the cause of his madness and fighting the horse was\nthat the eels he had eaten had grown from horse hairs!\u201d\n\n_Whale._\u2014The round-headed porpoises, or caaing whales (_mucun\nbearraich_, lit. dog-fish pigs), derive their Gaelic name from being\nsupposed to grow from dog-fish. An overgrown dog-fish, still retaining\nits own shape, is called _Burraghlas_.\n\n_Herring._\u2014The food of the Herring is said to consist of crustacea and\nsmall fishes, but there is ordinarily so little appearance of food in\ntheir stomach that an easier explanation has been found in saying,\nthey live on the foam they make with their own tails! A door-keeper\nat Dowart Castle is said to have successfully warned a M\u2018Kinnon from\nSkye of the dangers awaiting him at the banquet to which he had been\ninvited, by asking him if they were getting any herring in the north\nat present, and then praising the herring as a royal fish (_iasg righ_)\nthat never was caught by its mouthful of food or drink (_air a bhalgum\nno air a ghreim_). On hearing this remark M\u2018Kinnon turned on his heel\nand made his escape.\n\n_Flounder._\u2014According to Sutherland tradition, the wry mouth of the\nflounders (_Le\u00f2bag_, as it is called in the north) arose from its\nmaking faces at the rock-cod. A judgment (which children, who make\nfaces, are liable to) came upon it, and its mouth remains as it then\ntwisted it. In Tiree and Iona the distortion is said to have been\ncaused by St. Columba. Colum-Kil met a shoal of flounders and asked:\n\n\u201cIs this a removal, flounder?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes it is, Colum-Kil crooked legs,\u201d said the flounder.\n\n\u201cIf I have crooked legs,\u201d said St. Columba, \u201cmay you have a crooked\nmouth,\u201d and so the flounder has a wry mouth to this day.\n\n_Lobster._\u2014The three animals that dart quickest and farthest in\nthe sea, according to a popular and perhaps truthful rhyme, are\nthe lobster, mackerel, and seal. \u201cThe dart of lobster, the dart of\nmackerel, and the dart of seal; and though far the lobster\u2019s dart,\nfarther is the mackerel\u2019s dart, and though far the mackerel\u2019s dart,\nfarther is the seal\u2019s dart.\u201d\n\n_Serpents._\u2014A serpent, whenever encountered, ought to be killed.\nOtherwise, the encounter will prove an omen of evil. The head should\nbe completely smashed (_air a spleatradh_), and removed to a distance\nfrom the rest of the body. Unless this is done, the serpent will again\ncome alive. The tail, unless deprived of animation, will join the body,\nand the head becomes a _beithis_, the largest and most deadly kind of\nserpent.[63] A person stung by one should rush to the nearest water.\nUnless he reaches it before the serpent, which also makes straight for\nit, he will die from the wound.\n\nAnother cure for the sting is water in which the head of another\nserpent has been put. There was a man in Applecross who cured epilepsy\nby water in which he kept a living serpent. The patient was not to see\nthe water. Farquhar, the physician, obtained his skill in the healing\nart from being the first to taste the juice of a white serpent. He was\na native of Tongue, in Sutherlandshire, and on one occasion was met by\na stranger, who asked him where he got the walking-stick he held in his\nhand. The stranger further got him to go to the root of the tree from\nwhich the stick had been cut, take a white serpent from a hole at its\nfoot and boil it. He was to give the juice without touching it to the\nstranger. Farquhar happened to touch the mess with his finger, and it\nbeing very hot, he thrust his finger in his mouth. From that moment he\nacquired his unrivalled skill as a physician, and the juice lost its\nvirtue.\n\nA week previous to St. Bridget\u2019s Day (1st February, O.S.) the serpents\nare obliged to leave their holes under ground, and if the ground is\nthen covered with snow they perish. In the popular rhyme relating to\nthe subject the serpent in Argyllshire and Perthshire is called the\n\u2018daughter of Edward,\u2019 but in Skye _an r\u00ecbhinn_, the damsel. In both\ncases the name is probably a mere euphemism suggested by the rhyme to\navoid giving unnecessary offence to the venomous creature.\n\n_Rats and Mice._\u2014When a place is infested to a troublesome extent with\nrats or mice, and all other means of getting rid of the pests have\nfailed, the object can be accomplished by composing a song, advising\nthem to go away, telling them where to go, and what road to take, the\ndanger awaiting them where they are, and the plenty awaiting them in\ntheir new quarters. This song is called the Rat (or Mouse) Satire, and\nif well composed the vermin forthwith take their departure.\n\nWhen the islet of Calv (_an Calbh_, the inner door), which lies across\nthe mouth of Tobermory harbour, was let in small holdings, the rats\nat one time became so numerous that the tenants subscribed sixpence\na-piece, and sent for _Iain Pholchrain_ to Morven, to come and\nsatirize the rats away. He came and made a long ode, in which he told\nthe rats to go away peaceably, and take care not to lose themselves\nin the wood. He told them what houses to call at, and what houses\n(those of the bard\u2019s own friends) to avoid, and the plenty and welcome\nstores\u2014butter and cheese, and meal\u2014to be got at their destination. It\nis said that after this there was an observable decrease in the number\nof rats in the island!\n\nAn Ardnamurchan man, pestered with mice, in strong language tried to\nget them away, and all who have had experience of the annoyance, will\nheartily join him in his wishes. The poet, with whips and switches,\ngathers the mice in a meadow near a stream, and sends a number of the\ndrollest characters in the district to herd them, and \u2018old men, strong\nmen, striplings, and honest matronly women, with potato beetles,\u2019 to\nchase them. At last he gets them on board a boat at _Eabar an r\u00f2in_,\nand sends them to sea.\n\n  \u201cThe sea roaring boisterously,\n  The ocean heaving and weltering,\n  The tearing sound of sails splitting,\n  The creaking of the keel breaking,\n  The bilge water through the hull splashing\n  Like an old horse neighing.\u201d\n\nAnd leaving them in this evil plight, the song ceases.\n\n_Cormorant._\u2014This bird passes through three stages of existence; it is\n\u201cseven years a scart (_pelecanus cristatus_), seven years a speckled\nloon (_colymbus arcticus_), and seven years a cormorant (_pelecanus\ncarbo_)\u201d (_Seachd bliadhna na sgarbh, seachd bliadhna na learg, \u2019s\nseachd bliadhna na bhallaire bodhain_).\n\n_Magpie._\u2014The pyet (_piaghaid_) is called \u2018the messenger of the\nCampbells\u2019 (_Gille ruith nan Caimbeulach_), a name also given (for what\nreason the writer has not been able to ascertain) to a person who is\n\u2018garrulous, lying, interfering with everbody\u2019 (_gobach, briagach, \u2019g\nobair air na h-uile duine_). It is said of a meddling chatterbox, \u201cWhat\na messenger of the Campbells you have become!\u201d It is \u2018little happiness\u2019\n(_beagan sonais_) for any one to kill a magpie.\n\n_Beetles._\u2014The _Ceardalan_ or dung-beetle is spared by boys when met\nwith, but the _daolag_ or clock is mercilessly killed. The reason\nassigned is, that when the former met those who came to seize the\nperson of our Saviour, and was asked how long since he had passed, it\nsaid, \u201ctwenty days ago yesterday\u201d (_fhichead latha gus an d\u00e9, chaidh\nMac Dh\u00e9 seachad_), but the latter said, \u201cit was only yesterday\u201d (_an\nd\u00e9, an d\u00e9 chaidh Mac Dh\u00e9 seachad_). Hence, when boys hammer the life\nout of a \u2018clock,\u2019 they keep repeating with savage unction, \u201cThe day\nbefore yesterday, wretch\u201d (_air a bh\u00f2 \u2019n d\u00e9, bhradag_), or a rhyme:\n\n  \u201cRemember yesterday, yesterday,\n    Remember yesterday, wretch,\n  Remember yesterday, yesterday,\n    That let not the Son of God pass.\u201d\n\n_Emmet (Caora-Ch\u00f2sag)._\u2014This animal is shaken between the palms of the\nhand and laid upon the table. It is believed by boys to indicate the\nweather of the following day, by lighting on its back or belly and the\nalacrity with which it moves away.\n\n_Skip-Jack._\u2014This insect (_Gobhachan_, _i.e._ little smith or _Buail\na Chnag_, give a knock), when laid on its back emits a loud crack in\nspringing to its proper position. It is a favourite amusement of boys\nwhen they get hold of one to make it go through this performance. In\nSkye, when watching it preparing to skip, they say,\n\n  \u201cStrike with your hammer, little smith.\n  Or I will strike your head.\u201d[64]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n\n_Gisvagun, Eapagun, Upagun._\u2014Of the same class with magical charms and\nincantations, that is, of no avail to produce the results with which\nthey are credited, were various minor observances and practices, to\nwhich importance was attached as lucky or unlucky, and ominous of, if\nnot conducive to, future good or ill. In some cases these observances\nbecame mere customs, followed without heed to their significance or\nefficacy; and many were known to, and believed in only by, the very\nsuperstitious. So far as causing or leading to the result ascribed to\nthem was concerned, they were, \u2018like the Sunday plant,\u2019 without good\nor harm, but a mind swayed by trifling erroneous beliefs of the kind\nis like a room filled with cobwebs. Superstition shuts out the light,\nmakes the mind unhealthy, and fills it with groundless anxieties.\n\n_The Right-Hand Turn (Deiseal)._\u2014This was the most important of all\nthe observances. The rule is \u201c_Deiseal_ (_i.e._ the right-hand turn)\nfor everything,\u201d and consists in doing all things with a motion\ncorresponding to the course of the sun, or from left to right. This is\nthe manner in which screw-nails are driven, and is common with many\nfor no reason but its convenience. Old men in the Highlands were very\nparticular about it. The coffin was taken _deiseal_ about the grave,\nwhen about to be lowered; boats were turned to sea according to it,\nand drams are given to the present day to a company. When putting a\nstraw rope on a house or corn-stack, if the assistant went _tuaitheal_\n(_i.e._ against the course of the sun), the old man was ready to come\ndown and thrash him. On coming to a house the visitor should go round\nit _deiseal_ to secure luck in the object of his visit. After milking a\ncow the dairy-maid should strike it _deiseal_ with the shackle, saying\n\u201cout and home\u201d (_mach \u2019us dachaigh_). This secures its safe return. The\nword is from _deas_, right-hand, and _iul_, direction, and of itself\ncontains no allusion to the sun.\n\n_Rising and Dressing._\u2014It is unfortunate to rise out of bed on one\u2019s\nleft side. It is a common saying when evil befalls a person, who seems\nto himself to have rushed to meet it, \u201cI did not rise on my right hand\nto-day.\u201d[65]\n\nWater in which eggs have been boiled or washed should not be used for\nwashing the hands or face. It is also a common saying when mischance\nbefalls a person through his own stupidity, \u201cI believe egg-water was\nput over me.\u201d\n\nWhen done washing himself a person should spit in the water, otherwise\nif the same water should be used by another for a like purpose, there\nwill be danger of quarrelling with him before long.\n\n_Clothes._\u2014When a person puts on a new suit it is customary to wish\nhim luck of it: \u201cMay you enjoy and wear it.\u201d A man should be always\nthe first to do this, the tailor, if he has the good sense. It is\nunlucky if a woman be the first to say it, and prudent women delay\ntheir congratulations and good wishes till they are satisfied some male\nfriend has spoken first. It is less unfortunate if the woman has had a\nmale child.\n\nIf a person wearing a dress dyed with _crotal_, a species of lichen,\nbe drowned, his body will never be found. This belief prevails in\nthe north, and there the home-made dress indicated, which is of a\nreddish-brown colour, is frequently seen.\n\n_Houses and Lands._\u2014There should be placed below the foundation of\nevery house a cat\u2019s claws, a man\u2019s nails, and a cow\u2019s hoofs, and silver\nunder the door-post. These will prove omens of the luck to attend the\nhouse. If an outgoing tenant leaves the two former below the door it is\nunfortunate for the incoming tenant, as his cattle will die.\n\nAn expectant occupier, or claimant, will secure to himself possession\nof land by burning upon it a little straw. This straw was called \u2018a\npossession wisp\u2019 (_Sop seilbhe_). If, for instance, there were two\nclaimants to land and one of them burnt a \u2018possession wisp\u2019 on it,\nhe might go about his business with his mind easy as to the result of\nthe lawsuit. Or, if a tenant ran in debt and had to leave his farm,\nanother, who had a promise of the holding, came and burnt a \u2018possession\nwisp,\u2019 no evil or debt of those formerly attaching to it would then\nfollow the holding.\n\n\n_Baking._\u2014In baking oatmeal cakes there is a little meal left on the\ntable after the last cake is sprinkled previous to being fired. This\nremnant should not be thrown away or returned to the meal chest, but\nbe kneaded between the palms into a little cake, to be given to one of\nthe children. This little bannock was the _Bonnach Fallaid_, called\nalso _Siantachan a chl\u00e0ir_ (the charmer of the board), to which in\nolden times housewives attached so much importance. Unless it was made\nthe meal lost its substance, and the bread of that baking would not be\nlasting (_baan_). On putting a hole through it with the forefinger, as\nalready explained, it was given to children, and placed beside women\nin childbed, to keep the Fairies away. It mightily pleased little\nchildren, and was given to them as a reward for making themselves\nuseful.\n\n  \u201cA little cake to Finlay,\n  For going to the well.\u201d\n\nIts origin is said to have been as follows:\n\nA man fell in with a skull in a graveyard and took it to a tailor\u2019s\nhouse, where bread was being baked. The tailor gave it a kick, saying,\n\u201cThere was one period of the world when your gabful of dough was not\nsmall, and if I had you on a New-Year\u2019s day, I would give you your\nfill.\u201d When the New Year came round, a stranger came to the tailor\u2019s\nhouse asking for a mouthful of dough. The tailor set his wife to bake,\nand whatever she baked the stranger ate, and then asked for more. The\ntailor\u2019s stock of meal, and that of his neighbours, was devoured, and\nstill the stranger asked for more. An old man of the neighbourhood\nwas consulted, and he advised that the remnants, or dry meal used for\nsprinkling the cakes, should also be baked for the voracious guest. On\nthis _Fallaid_ cake being given the stranger declared himself satisfied\nand went away.\n\nIf bread, when being baked, breaks frequently a hungry stranger will\ncome to eat it. Many cakes breaking are a sign of misfortune, by which\nthe housewife is warned that \u201csomething is making for her.\u201d\n\nIf the cake for breakfast falls backwards, the person for whom it is\nintended should not be allowed to go on a journey that day; his journey\nwill not be prosperous. The evil can, however, be remedied by giving\nplenty of butter, \u2018without asking,\u2019 with the cake. To avert this omen,\ncakes should not be placed to harden at the fire on their points, but\non either of the two sides or on their round edge. An old woman in\nIslay got into a great rage at a wake on seeing the cakes (that is,\nquarters of a _farl_ or large round bannock) placed on their points.\n\nIt is not good to count the cakes when done baking. They will not in\nthat case last any time.\n\n_Removal Cheese (Mulchag Imrich)._\u2014When leaving the summer pastures in\nthe hills, on Lammas day, and returning with the cattle to the strath,\na small cheese made of curds was made from that day\u2019s milk, to be\ngiven to the children and all who were at the _\u00e0iridh_, for luck and\ngood-will. The cows were milked early in the morning, curds were made\nand put in the cheese vat (_fioghan_), and this hastily-prepared cheese\nwas the _mulchag imrich_, and was taken with the rest of the furniture\nhome for the purpose mentioned.\n\n_Leg Cake (Bonnach Lurgainn)._\u2014This was a cake given to the herd when\nhe came with news that a mare had foaled, or to the dairy-maid when she\nbrought word that a cow had calved.\n\n_Giving Fire out of the House._\u2014On the first day of every quarter of\nthe year\u2014New-Year day, St Bride\u2019s day, Beltane, and Lammas\u2014no fire\nshould be given out of the house. On the two last days especially it\nshould not be given, even to a neighbour whose fire had gone out. It\nwould give him the means of taking the substance or benefit (_toradh_)\nfrom the cows. If given, after the person who had come for it left, a\npiece of burning peat (_ceann f\u00f2id_) should be thrown into a tub of\nwater, to keep him from doing harm. It will also prevent his coming\nagain. On New-Year\u2019s day fire should not be given out of the house on\nany consideration to a doubtful person. If he is evil-disposed, not a\nbeast will be alive next New Year. A suspected witch came on this day\nto a neighbour\u2019s house for fire, her own having gone out, and got it.\nWhen she went away a burning peat was thrown into a tub of water. She\ncame a second time and the precaution was again taken. The mistress of\nthe house came in, and on looking in the tub found it full of butter.\n\n_Thunder._\u2014In a storm of thunder and lightning iron, for instance\nthe poker and tongs, put in the fire, averts all danger from the\nhouse. This curious belief seems to have been widespread at one\ntime throughout the Western Highlands, though now its memory barely\nsurvives. Its _rationale_ seems to have been in some way to propitiate\nthe fire, of which lightning is the most powerful exhibition. A woman\nin Cnoydart (a Roman Catholic district), alarmed by the peals of a\nthunder-storm, threw holy water on herself, put the tongs in the fire,\nand on being asked the reason, said, \u201cThe cross of Christ be upon us!\nthe fire will not harm us.\u201d Perhaps the practice had some connection\nwith the belief that the _Beither_, or thunder-bolt, was of iron, a\nsharp-pointed mass. It seems one of the most irrational practices\npossible, but was probably of remote origin. In Kent and Herefordshire,\na _cold iron bar_ was put on the barrels, to keep the beer from being\nsoured by thunder.\n\n_Theft._\u2014The stealing of salt, seed of plants, and lint make the thief\nliable to judgment without mercy. He may escape punishment from men but\nhe will never attain to rest, as the rhyme says:\n\n  \u201cThe stealer of salt, and the stealer of seeds,\n  Two thieves that get no rest;\n  Whoever may or may not escape,\n  The stealer of grey lint will not.\u201d[66]\n\nAnother version of the rhyme is:\n\n  \u201cThief of salt and thief of seeds,\n  Two thefts from which the soul gets no repose;\n  Till the fish comes on land\n  The thief of lint gets never rest.\u201d\n\n_Salt._\u2014In addition to the testimony this rhyme bears to the value of\nsalt, there was a saying, that a loan of salt should be returned as\nsoon as possible; if the borrower dies in the meantime and without\nrestitution being made his ghost will revisit the earth. No fish should\nbe given out of the house without being first sprinkled with salt.\nMeal taken out of the house in the evening was sprinkled with salt to\nprevent the Fairies getting its benefit.\n\n_Combing the Hair._\u2014A person should not comb his hair at night, or if\nhe does, every hair that comes out should be put in the fire. Otherwise\nthey will meet his feet in the dark and make him stumble. No sister\nshould comb her hair at night if she have a brother at sea.\n\nIf the hair is allowed to go with the wind and it passes over an empty\nnest, or a bird takes it to its nest, the head from which it came will\nache.\n\nNo person should cut his own hair, as he will by doing so become an\nunlucky person to meet.\n\nIf the hair, when thrown on the fire, will not burn, it is a sign the\nperson will be drowned.\n\n_Bird Nests._\u2014On falling in with a nest for the first time that year,\nif there be only one egg in it, or if there be an odd egg in it, that\negg should be broken.\n\nAny one finding a cuckoo\u2019s nest will live to be widowed.\n\n_Hen\u2019s First Egg._\u2014A young hen\u2019s first egg should be tapped on the\nhearth, saying, \u201cone, two, three,\u201d etc., and as many numbers as were\nrepeated before the egg broke, or the youngster, who was persuaded to\ntry the experiment, got tired, so many eggs would that hen lay.\n\n_Euphemisms._\u2014By giving diseases and other evils a good name, when\nspeaking of them, the danger of bringing them upon oneself by his words\nis turned away. It will be remembered that for a similar reason the\nancients called the Fairies Eumenides, and the Celt called the Fairies\n\u2018good people.\u2019 The smallpox was called \u2018the good woman.\u2019 Epilepsy \u2018the\noutside disease.\u2019\n\nIn telling a tale of any one being taken away by the Fairies, the\nill-will of the \u2018people\u2019 was averted by prefixing the narrative with\nthe words, \u201cA blessing on their journeying and travelling! this is\nFriday and they will not hear us.\u201d\n\nWhen a person sneezes it is customary for the bystander to say \u201cThank\nyou,\u201d to which is sometimes added, \u201cWe will not take his name in vain.\u201d\nSome say, \u201cGod be with you,\u201d others, \u201cGod and Mary be with you,\u201d\nand others, \u201cSt. Columba be with you.\u201d By saying, \u201cThe hand of your\nfather and grandfather be over you,\u201d the Fairies are kept away. Any\nwords would seem to have been deemed availing, and some of the phrases\nused were not choice. If the bystander should say, \u201cYour brains the\nnext time!\u201d the person sneezing should answer, \u201cThe bowl of your head\nintercept them!\u201d\n\nWhen a child yawns, the nurse should say, \u201cYour weariness and heaviness\nbe on yonder grey stone!\u201d\n\nWhen the story of a house having taken fire is told, the narrative\nshould be prefixed by saying, \u201cSt Mary\u2019s well be in the top of every\nhouse! the cross of Christ be upon us!\u201d This averts a similar calamity\nfrom the house in which the tale is told.\n\nIn some places old people are to be found who, when a person comes\nin with any tale of misfortune, of the death of one of the cattle, a\nneighbour\u2019s house taking fire, etc., pull threads from their clothes\nand throw them in the fire, saying, \u201cOut with the evil tale!\u201d or, \u201cTo\ntell it to themselves.\u201d\n\nIn speaking of the dead, it is proper to speak of them only in\ncommendatory terms\u2014_de mortuis nihil nisi bonum_. Hence _moladh mairbh_\n(Praise of the Dead) denotes faint praise, not always deserved. In\nspeaking of the dead, old people always added, \u201cHis share of paradise\nbe his\u201d (_chuid a fhlaitheanas da_), or \u201cHis portion of mercy be his\u201d\n(_chuid a thr\u00f2cair da_). If their tale was not to the credit of the\ndeceased or they were obliged to make any statement unfavourable to\nhim, they said, \u201cIt is not to send it after him.\u201d\n\n_Boat Language._\u2014When in a boat at sea, sailing or fishing, it was\nforbidden to call things by the names by which they were known on\nland. The boat-hook should not be called _croman_, but _a chliob_; a\nknife, not _sgian_, but _a ghiar_ (the sharp one); the baling dish,\nnot _taoman_, but _sp\u00f9idseir_; a seal, not _r\u00f2n_, but _b\u00e9isd mhaol_\n(the bald beast); a fox, not _sionnach_, but _madadh ruadh_ (the red\ndog); the stone for anchoring the boat was not _clach_, but _cruaidh_\n(hardness). This practice prevails much more on the east coast than on\nthe west, where it may be said to be generally extinct. It is said to\nbe carefully observed among the fishermen about the Cromarty Firth. It\nwas deemed unlucky by east coast fishermen coming to Tiree (as several\nboats used to do annually to prosecute the cod and ling fishing),\nto speak in a boat of a minister or a rat. Everywhere it was deemed\nunlucky among seafaring men to whistle in case a storm should arise.\nIn Tiree, Heynish Hill (the highest in the island) was known at sea as\n_a Bhraonach_; _Hogh_ Hill (the next highest) as _Bheinn Bhearnach no\nSgoillte_ (the Notched or Cloven Hill), and a species of whale as _cas\nna poite_ (the leg of a pot). It should not be said \u201cHe was drowned\u201d\n(_bh\u00e0thadh e_) but \u201che journeyed\u201d (_shiubhail e_); not \u201ctie a rope\u201d\n(_ceangail r\u00f2p_), but \u201cmake it\u201d (_dean e_). In the north it was held\nthat an otter, while in its den, should not be called _b\u00e9isd du_ (the\nblack beast, its common name), but _Carnag_. It would otherwise be\nimpossible for the terriers to drive it from its refuge.\n\n_Fresh Meat._\u2014When fresh meat of the year\u2019s growth is tasted for the\nfirst time, a person should say,\n\n  \u201cA death-shroud on the grey, better grey, old woman,\n  Who said she would not taste the fresh meat,\n  I will taste the fresh meat,\n  And will be alive for it next year.\u201d\n\nThis ensures another year\u2019s lease of life.\n\n_Killing those too long alive._\u2014If a person is thought to be too long\nalive, and it becomes desirable to get rid of him, his death can be\nensured by bawling to him thrice through the key-hole of the room in\nwhich he is bedrid,\n\n  \u201cWill you come, or will you go?\n  Or will you eat the flesh of cranes?\u201d\n\n_Funerals._\u2014It was customary to place a plate of salt, the smoothing\niron, or a clod of green grass on the breast of a corpse, while laid\nout previous to being coffined. This, it was believed, kept it from\nswelling. A candle was left burning beside it all night. When it was\nplaced in the coffin and taken away on the day of the funeral, the\nboards on which it had been lying were left for the night as they were,\nwith a drink of water on them, in case the dead should return and be\nthirsty. Some put the drink of water or of milk outside the door, and,\nas in Mull and Tiree, put a sprig of pearlswort above the lintel to\nprevent the dead from entering the house.\n\nWhen coffining the corpse every string in the shroud was cut with\nthe scissors; and in defence of the practice there was a story that,\nafter burial, a woman\u2019s shade came to her friends, to say that all the\nstrings in her shroud had not been cut. Her grave was opened, and this\nwas found to be the case.\n\nThe only instance the writer has heard of Cere-cloth, that is, cloth\ndipped in wax in which dead bodies were wrapped, being used in\nthe Highlands, is, that the Nicholsons of Scorrybreck, in Skye (a\nfamily said to be of Russian descent through _Neacal m\u00f2r_ who was in\nMungastadt), had a wax shirt (_Leine Ch\u00e9ir_) which, from the friendship\nbetween themselves and the chief of the Macleods, was sent for from\nDunvegan on every occasion of a death.\n\n_The Watch of the Graveyard (Faire Chlaidh)._\u2014The person last buried\nhad to keep watch over the graveyard till the next funeral came. This\nwas called _Faire Chlaidh_, the graveyard watch, kept by the spirits of\nthe departed.\n\nAt Kiel (_Cill Challum Chille_), in Morvern, the body of the Spanish\nPrincess said to have been on board one of the Armada blown up in\nTobermory Bay was buried. Two young men of the district made a paction,\nthat whoever died first the other would watch the churchyard for him.\nThe survivor, when keeping the promised watch, had the sight of his\ndead friend as well as his own. He saw both the material world and\nspirits. Each night he saw ghosts leaving the churchyard and returning\nbefore morning. He observed that one of the ghosts was always behind\nthe rest when returning. He spoke to it, and ascertained it to be the\nghost of the Spanish Princess. Her body had been removed to Spain, but\none of her little fingers had been left behind, and she had to come\nback to where it was.\n\nWhen two funeral parties met at the churchyard, a fight frequently\nensued to determine who should get their friend first buried.\n\n_Suicides._\u2014The bodies of suicides were not taken out of the house, for\nburial, by the doors, but through an opening made between the wall and\nthe thatch. They were buried, along with unbaptized children, outside\nthe common churchyard.\n\nIt was believed in the north, as in Skye and about Applecross (_a\nChomrach_) in Ross-shire, no herring would be caught in any part of the\nsea which could be seen from the grave of a suicide.\n\n_Murder._\u2014It was believed in Sutherlandshire that a murdered body\nremained undecayed till touched.\n\n_The Harvest Old Wife (a Chailleach)._\u2014In harvest, there was a struggle\nto escape being the last done with the shearing, and when tillage in\ncommon existed, instances were known of a ridge being left unshorn\n(no person would claim it) because of it being behind the rest. The\nfear entertained was that of having the \u2018famine of the farm\u2019 (_gort\na bhaile_), in the shape of an imaginary old woman (_cailleach_), to\nfeed till next harvest. Much emulation and amusement arose from the\nfear of this old woman; and from it arose the expression, \u201cBetter is a\nmercy-leap in harvest than a sheaf additional\u201d (_\u2019As fearr leum-iochd\na\u2019s t\u2019 fhogaradh na sguab a bharrachd_). The _cum-iochd_,[67] or\nmercy-leap, is where a rocky mound or a soft spot, where no corn grows,\noccurs in a ridge. Its occurrence was a great help to the shearing\nbeing done.\n\nThe first done made a doll of some blades of corn, which was called\nthe \u2018old wife,\u2019 and sent it to his nearest neighbour. He in turn, when\nready, passed it to another still less expeditious, and the person it\nlast remained with had the \u2018old woman\u2019 to keep for that year. The old\nwife was known in Skye as the Cripple Goat (_a Ghobhar Bhacach_).\n\nThe fear of the Cailleach in harvest made a man in _Saor-bheinn_, in\nthe Ross of Mull, who farmed his land in common with another, rise\nand shear his corn by moonlight. In the morning he found it was his\nneighbour\u2019s corn he had cut.\n\n_Big Porridge Day (La u Bhrochain mh\u00f2r)._\u2014In the Western Islands, in\nolden times (for the practice does not now exist anywhere), when there\nwas a winter during which little sea-ware came ashore, and full time\nfor spring work had come without relief, a large dish of porridge,\nmade with butter and other good ingredients, was poured into the sea\non every headland where wrack used to come. Next day the harbours were\nfull.\n\nThis device was to be resorted to only late in the spring\u2014the Iona\npeople say the Thursday before Easter\u2014and in stormy weather. The\nmeaning of the ceremony seems to have been that, by sending the fruit\nof the land into the sea, the fruit of the sea would come to land.\n\n_Fires on Headlands._\u2014In Skye, fires were lighted on headlands at the\nbeginning of winter to bring in herrings.\n\n_Stances._\u2014Particular stances, or sites of buildings, were accounted\nunlucky, such for instance as the site of a byre in which the death\nof several cattle had occurred; and it was recommended, to prevent the\nrecurrence of such misfortunes, that the site should be altered.\n\n_Names._\u2014So with regard to names. If the children of a family were\ndying in infancy, one after the other, it was thought that, by\nchanging the name, the evil would be counteracted. The new name was\ncalled a \u2018Road name\u2019 (_Ainm Rathaid_), being that of the first person\nencountered on the road when going with the child to be baptized. It\nwas given \u2018upon the luck\u2019 (_air sealbhaich_) of the person met.\n\nThe Mac-Rories, a sept of the Mac-Larens, in Perthshire, were\ndescendants of one who thus received his name. His parents, having\nlost a previous child before its baptism, were advised to change\nthe name. They were on their way through the Pass, called _La\u00ecrig\nIsle_, between Loch Erne and Glen-dochart, to have their second child\nbaptized, when they were met by one Rory Mac Pherson. He was an entire\nstranger to them, but turned back with them, as a stranger ought to\ndo to avoid being unlucky, and the child was called after him. _Clann\n\u2019ic-Shimigeir_, a sept of the Mac Neills, have also a road name.\n\n_Delivery of Cattle and Horses._\u2014Before delivering a cow to the buyer\nat a market, the seller should pass the end of the rope, by which she\nis led, three times round his body. When taking delivery of a horse,\nfrom one of whom you are not sure, you should come _deiseal_ between\nhim and the horse, and take hold of the halter inside his hand, that\nis, between him and the horse. Otherwise, the seller\u2019s eye will be\nafter the beast.\n\n_Trades._\u2014Masons were said to be able to raise the devil, or, as the\nGaelic expression more forcibly describes it, \u201cto take the son of\ncursing from his roots\u201d (_macmollachd thoirt as a fhriamhaichean_).\n\nSmiths, being people who work among iron, were deemed of more virtue\nagainst the powers of evil than any other tradesmen.\n\nTailors were looked upon with a feeling akin to that entertained in the\nsouth, where \u201cnine tailors made a man.\u201d The reason probably was that in\nolden times every man fit to bear arms thought it beneath him to follow\na peaceful occupation, and only the lame and cripple were brought up as\ntailors.\n\nTinkers are known as _Luckd-Ceaird_, that is literally \u2018tradesmen,\u2019\nand the name is a memory of days when they held the first rank as\nhand-craftsmen.\n\n_Saor_, a joiner, means literally \u2018a free-man,\u2019 whence it would appear\nthat from the earliest times the trade was highly esteemed.\n\n_Iron._\u2014An oath on _cold iron_ was deemed the most binding oath of\nany; when people swore on their dirks it was only because it was at\nthe time the cold iron readiest to hand. A man who secreted iron, and\ndied without telling where, could not rest in his grave. At Meigh, in\nLochaber, a ghost for a long time met people who were out late. An old\nman, having taken with him a Bible and made a circle round himself on\nthe road with a dirk, encountered it, and, in reply to his inquiries,\nthe ghost confessed to having stolen a ploughshare (_soc a chroinn_),\nand told where the secreted iron was to be found. After this the ghost\ndiscontinued its visits to the earth.\n\nCold iron, _e.g._ the keys passed round the body of a cow, after her\nreturn from the bull, keeps her from _ath-d\u00e0ir_, that is, seeking to go\non the same journey again.\n\n_Empty Shells._\u2014Empty whelk shells (_Faochagun failmhe_) should not be\nallowed to remain in the house for the night. Something is sure to come\nafter them.\n\nSimilarly, water in which feet have been washed (_i.e._ out of which\nthe use or benefit has been taken) should not be left in the house for\nfear the noiseless people come and plunge about in it all night.\n\n_Protection against Evil Spirits._\u2014On every occasion of danger and\nanxiety, the Highlander of former days commended himself to the\nprotection of the Cross. In a storm of thunder he blessed himself\nsaying, \u201cthe Cross of Christ be upon us.\u201d When he encountered a ghost\nor evil spirit at night, he drew a circle round himself on the road\nwith the point of his dirk, or a sapling in the name of Christ, \u201cthe\nCross of Christ be upon me,\u201d and while he remained in the circle no\nevil could come near him.\n\nA person was also safe while below high-water mark. Fairies and evil\nspirits had no power below the roll of sea-weed.\n\nWhen walking the high road at night, it is recommended to keep to the\nside paths in case of meeting the wraiths of funerals. The ghostly\ntrain may throw a person down, or compel him to carry the bier to the\nchurchyard.\n\n_Misnaming a Person._\u2014If a person be accidentally misnamed, as _e.g._\nbeing called John when his name is Donald, he who made the mistake, on\nobserving it, instantly exclaimed, \u201cThe Cross of Christ be upon us.\u201d\n\n_Gaining Straw (Sop Seile)._\u2014At certain seasons of the year,\nprincipally at Beltane and Lammas, a wisp of straw, called _Sop-seile_\n(literally a spittle wisp), was taken to sprinkle the door-posts and\nhouses all round sunwise (_deiseal_), to preserve them from harm. When\na new cow came home it was also sprinkled to preserve it from the evil\neye. The liquid used was menstruum.\n\nIn spring the horses, harness, plough, etc., were similarly sprinkled\nbefore beginning to plough.\n\n_Propitious Times._\u2014A great number of the observances of superstition\nwere regulated by days of the week or year. There were certain days on\nwhich alone certain works could be commenced under favourable auspices\nand with any chance of being successfully done.\n\n_Unlucky Actions._\u2014It is unlucky to wind black thread at night. A\nvicious wish made to one another by women quarrelling, in olden times,\nwas, \u201cThe disease of women who wind black thread at night be upon you!\u201d\nSome say the reason of the evil omen is, that black thread is apt to\ndisappear at night, or be taken by the Fairies, and be found through\nthe house next morning. Superstition probably assigned some more occult\nreason.\n\nIt is \u2018little happiness\u2019 for anyone to kill a magpie or a bat.\n\nIt is unlucky for a person on a journey to return the way he went. This\nbelief had its origin in the instructions given to the \u2018man of God,\u2019\nwho rebuked the idolatry of Jeroboam. \u201cEat no bread, nor drink water,\nnor turn again by the same way that thou camest\u201d (I Kings xiii. 9).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nAUGURY.[68]\n\n\nThe anxiety of men to know the future, the issue of their labours,\nand the destinies awaiting them, makes them ready listeners to the\nsuggestions of fancy, and an easy prey to deception. The mind eagerly\nlays hold on anything that professes to throw light on the subject of\nits anxiety, and men are willing victims to their own hopes and fears.\nWhere all is dark and inscrutable, deception and delusion are easy, and\nhence augury of all kinds, omens, premonitions, divinations, have ever\nexercised a noticeable power over the human mind.\n\nThe ordinary manner which superstition takes to forecast the future is\nto look upon chance natural appearances under certain circumstances as\nindications of the character, favourable or unfavourable, of the event\nabout which the mind is anxious. Any appearance in nature, animate or\ninanimate, can thus be made an omen of, and an inference be drawn from\nit of impending good or bad fortune. If it be gloomy, forbidding,\nawkward, or unpleasant, it is an unlucky omen, and the subsequent\nevent, with which the mind associates it, will be unfavourable, but\nif pleasant, then it is a good omen, and prognosticates pleasant\noccurrences.\n\nOmens which proceed upon a similarity of character between the\nprognostic and its fulfilment are easy of interpretation. There\nare other omens which have no connection, natural, possible, or\nconceivable, with the impending event, and of which consequently\nthe meaning is occult, known only to people of skill instructed in\ntheir interpretation. These probably had their origin in one or two\naccidental coincidences. For instance, if the appearance of a fox is\nto be taken as an omen, it will naturally be taken as a bad sign,\nthe stinking brute can indicate nothing favourable; but no amount of\nsagacity will teach a person that an itching in the point of his nose\nprognosticates the receipt of important news, or the cuckoo calling\non the house-top the death of one of the inmates within the year. His\nutmost acuteness will fail to find in a shoulder-blade any indication\nof destiny, or any prophetic meaning in the sediment of a cup of tea.\nThe meaning of these is a mystery to the uninitiated, and it is easy\nto see how they might be reduced to a system and lead to the wildest\ndelusions of fortune-telling.\n\nEverything a Highlander of the old school set about, from the most\ntrifling to the most important, was under the influence of omens. When\nhe went to fish, to catch his horse in the hill, to sell or buy at the\nmarket, to ask a loan from his neighbour, or whatever else he left home\nto do, he looked about for a sign of the success of his undertaking,\nand, if the omen were unpropitious, returned home. He knew his journey\nwould be of no avail. He consulted mystagogues as to his fate, and at\nthe proper seasons looked anxiously for the signs of his luck. Like\nthe rest of mankind, he was, by means of these, pleased or depressed\nin anticipation of events that were never to occur. Hence the saying,\n\u201cTake a good omen as your omen, and you will be happy.\u201d\n\nProbably the Greek \u03bc\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, prediction by an oracle, is\ncognate to the Gaelic _manadh_, a foretoken, anything from which a\nprediction can be drawn. Both among Greeks and Celts a great number of\nomens were taken from birds.\n\nAs already mentioned, it is a bad sign of a person\u2019s luck during the\nday that he should rise from bed on his left hand, wash himself with\nwater in which eggs have been boiled, or the cakes for his breakfast\nshould frequently break in the baking, or fall backwards. The coming\nevil can be averted in the latter case by giving plenty of \u2018butter\nwithout asking\u2019 (_Im gun iarraidh_) with the cakes. Indeed, \u2018butter\nunasked for\u2019 is of sovereign value as an omen of luck. A cake spread\nwith it, given to fishermen, secures a good day\u2019s fishing. It is\nreckoned good in diseases, particularly measles, and a most excellent\nomen for people going on a journey. Its not being given to Hugh of the\nLittle Head, on the morning of his last battle, was followed by his\nlosing the battle and his life.\n\nOmens are particularly to be looked for at the outset of a journey. If\nthe first animal seen by the traveller have its back towards him, or\nhe meet a sheep or a pig, or any unclean animal, or hear the shrill\ncry of the curlew, or see a heron, or he himself fall backward, or his\nwalking-stick fall on the road, or he have to turn back for anything he\nhas forgot, he may as well stay at home that day; his journey will not\nprosper. A serpent, a rat, or a mouse is unlucky unless killed, but if\nkilled becomes a good omen. If the face of the animal be towards one,\neven in the case of unlucky animals, the omen becomes less inauspicious.\n\nIt is of great importance what person is first met. Women are unlucky,\nand some men are the most unfortunate omen that can be encountered.\nThese are called _droch c\u00f2mhalaichean_, _i.e._ bad people to meet,\nand it was told of a man in Skye, that to avoid the mischance of\nencountering one of them when setting out on a journey, he sent\none of his own family to meet him. If he met any other he returned\nhome. In a village in Ayrshire there are three persons noted for\nbeing inauspicious to meet, and fishermen (upon whom as a class this\nsuperstition has a strong hold) are much dissatisfied at meeting any\nof them. One of them is not so bad if he puts his hand to his face in\na manner peculiar to him. It is inauspicious to meet a person from the\nsame village as oneself, or a man with his head bare, or a man going\nto pay rent. Old people going to pay rent, therefore, took care to go\naway unobserved. A plain-soled person is unlucky, but the evil omen in\nhis case is averted by rolling up the tongue against the roof of the\nmouth. The Stewarts were said to have insteps; water flowed below their\nfoot; it was, therefore, fortunate to meet any of them. All risk of a\nstranger proving a bad _c\u00f2mhalaiche_ is avoided by his returning a few\nsteps with the traveller.\n\nA hare crossing one\u2019s path is unlucky, and old people, when they saw\none before them, made considerable detours to avoid such a calamity.\nThe disfavour with which this harmless animal and the pig were regarded\nno doubt arose from their being unclean under the Levitical Law. The\nhare chews the cud, but divides not the hoof; the pig divides the hoof,\nbut does not chew the cud.\n\nThe fox is unlucky to meet, a superstition that prevails also in East\nAfrica. The King of Karague told Captain Speke that \u201cif a fox barked\nwhen he was leading an army to battle, he would retire at once, knowing\nthat this prognosticated evil\u201d (_Journal_, p. 241).\n\nIt is unlucky to look back after setting out. Old people, if they\nhad to turn to a person coming after them, covered their face. This\nsuperstition probably had its origin in the story of Lot\u2019s wife. Fin\nMacCoul, according to a popular tale, never looked back after setting\nout on a journey. When he went on the expedition that terminated in\nhis being \u201cin the house of the Yellow Forehead without liberty to sit\ndown or power to stand up,\u201d he laid spells on his companions, that\nno man born in Ireland should follow him. Fergus, who was born in\nScotland, followed, and Fin, hearing footsteps behind him, called out\nwithout turning his head, in a phrase now obsolete, _Co sid a propadh\nmo cheaplaich_? _i.e._, it is supposed, \u201cWho is that following my\nfootsteps?\u201d\n\nTo be called after is a sure omen that a person will not get what he\nis going in search of. This belief gave great powers of annoyance to\npeople of a waggish humour. When everything prognosticated success, and\nthe fishing boat had left the shore, or the old man, staff in hand,\nhad set out on his journey, some onlooker cried out, \u201cThere is the fox\nbefore you and after you\u201d; or, \u201cHave you got the fish-hooks?\u201d or, \u201cHave\nyou taken the Bait-stone?\u201d[69] Immediately a damp was thrown on the\nexpedition, a return home was made for that day, and the wag might be\nglad if the party called after did not make him rue his impertinence.\n\nOf omens referring to other events in the life of man than the success\nof particular expeditions may be mentioned the following:\n\nA golden plover (_Feadag_, Charadrius pluvialis), heard at night,\nportends the near approach of death or other evil. The cry of the bird\nis a melancholy wailing note.\n\nA pied wagtail (_Breac an t-s\u00ecl_, motaeilla alba), seen between them\nand the house, was a sign of being turned out of the house that year\nand \u2018losing the site\u2019 (_call na l\u00e0raich_).\n\nThe mole burrowing below a house is a sign the tenants will not stay\nlong on that site.\n\nIf the cuckoo calls on the house-top, or on the chimney (_luidheir_),\ndeath will occur in the house that year.\n\nIn spring and early summer the omens of happiness and prosperity, or\nmisery and adversity for the year, are particularly looked for. It is\nmost unfortunate if the first foal or lamb seen that season have its\ntail toward the beholder, or the first snail (some say stone-chat) be\nseen on the road or on a bare stone, and a most unmistakable sign of\nmisfortune to hear the cuckoo for the first time before tasting food in\nthe morning, \u2018on the first appetite\u2019 (_air a chiad lomaidh_), as it is\ncalled. In the latter case, the cuckoo is said \u2018to soil upon a person\u2019\n(_chac a chuthag air_), and, to avoid such an indignity, people have\nbeen known, at the time of the cuckoo\u2019s visit, to put a piece of bread\nbelow their pillow to be eaten the first thing in the morning.\n\nCock-crowing before midnight is an indication of coming news. Old\npeople said the bird had \u2018a tale\u2019 to tell; and, when they heard it,\nwent to see if its legs were cold or not. If cold, the tale will be one\nof death; if hot, a good tale. The direction in which the bird\u2019s head\nis turned indicates the direction in which the tale is to come.\n\nIn visiting the sick, it is a sign of the termination of the illness\nwhether it be the right or the left foot that touches the threshold\nfirst.\n\nWomen pretended to know when they laid their hand on a sick person\nwhether he would recover.\n\nIt is a good sign if the face of the chimney-crook (_aghaidh na\nslabhraidh_) be toward the visitor, but an evil omen if its back be\ntoward him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nPREMONITIONS AND DIVINATION.\n\n\nPREMONITIONS.\n\nThese are bodily sensations by which future events may be foreknown.\nAn itching in the nose foretells that a letter is coming, and this in\nolden times was a matter of no small consequence. There is an itching\nof the mouth that indicates a kiss, and another indicating a dram. A\nsinging or tingling in the ears denotes death, a friend at the moment\nof its occurrence has expired and news of his death will be heard\nbefore long; an itching of the cheek or eyes, weeping; itching of the\nleft hand, money; of the right, that one is soon to meet a stranger\nwith whom he will shake hands; of the elbow, that he will soon change\nbeds or sleep with a stranger; of the brow, that some person will make\nyou angry before long.\n\nHot ears denote that some person is speaking about your character. If\nthe heat be in the right ear, he is supporting or praising you; if in\nthe left, he is speaking ill of you (_Chluas dheas gam thoirt a nuas;\n\u2019s a chluas chli gam sh\u00ecor-ch\u00e0ineadh_). In the latter case persons of a\nvindictive nature repeated the following words:\n\n  \u201cHe who speaks of me,\n  If it be not to my advantage,\n  May he be tossed\n  On sharp grey knives,\n  May he sleep in an ant-hill,\n  And may it be no healthy sleep to him,\n  But a furious woman between him and the door,\n  And I between him and his property and sleep.\u201d[70]\n\nThe evil wish went on, that \u201can iron harrow might scrape his guts,\u201d and\nsomething about \u201ca dead old woman\u201d that my informant could not remember.\n\n_Trial (Deuchainn)._\u2014The _deuchainn_ al. _diachuinn_, sometimes called\n_fr\u00ecdh_, omen, was a \u2018cast\u2019 or trial made by lots or other appeal to\nchance to find out the issue of undertakings\u2014whether an absent friend\nwas on his way home or would arrive safe; whether a sick man will\nrecover; whether good or bad fortune awaits one during the year; what\nthe future husband or wife is to be; the road stolen goods have taken,\netc. This cast may be either for oneself or for another, \u201cfor him and\nfor his luck\u201d (_air a shon \u2019s air a shealbhaich_). On New-Year day\npeople are more disposed to wonder and speculate as to their fortunes\nduring the year upon which they have entered than to reflect upon the\noccurrences of the past. Hence these \u2018casts\u2019 were most frequently made\non that day. Another favourite time was Hallowmas night. Most of them\nmight be made at any time of the year, and the difficulty was not in\nmaking them but in interpreting them.\n\nIn making a \u2018cast\u2019 for one\u2019s future partner, the approved plan is for\nhim to go at night to the top of a cairn or other eminence where no\nfour-footed beast can go, and whatever animal is thence seen or met\non the way home is an omen of the future husband or wife. It requires\ngreat shrewdness to read the omen aright.\n\nAnother way is to shut the eyes, make one\u2019s way to the end of the\nhouse, and then, and not till then, open the eyes and look around.\nWhatever is then seen is an indication of fortune during the year. It\nis unlucky to see a woman, particularly an old woman bent with age and\nhobbling past. A man is lucky, particularly a young man riding gaily\non a mettlesome horse. A man delving or turning up the earth forebodes\ndeath; he is making your grave, and you may as well prepare. A duck or\na hen with its head below its wing is just as bad, and the more that\nare seen in that attitude the speedier or more certain the death. A\nman who had the second sight once made a \u2018trial\u2019 for a sick person at\nthe request of an anxious friend. He went out next morning to the end\nof the house in the approved manner. He saw six ducks with their heads\nunder their wings, and the sick man was dead in less than two days.\n\nOther seers, who made \u2018trials\u2019 for reward, made the person who\nconsulted them burn straw in front of a sieve and then look through to\nsee \u2018what they should see.\u2019 From the objects seen the seer foretold\nwhat was to befall.\n\nWhen a trial was made to ascertain whether an absent friend would\nreturn, if on going out to the end of the house a man is seen coming,\nor a duck running towards the seer, his safe arrival will soon be;\nbut if the object be moving away, the indication is unfavourable. By\nthis trial it may also be known whether the absent one will return\nempty-handed or not.\n\nAnother mode of _deuchainn_, for the same purpose, is to take a chance\nstick and measure it in thumb-breadths, beginning at its thick or lower\nend, and saying, when the thumb is laid on the stick, no or yes as the\nopinion of the person consulting the oracle may incline, and repeating\nyes, no, alternately till the other end is reached. According to the\nposition of the last thumb will the answer be affirmative or negative\nor doubtful.\n\nWhen a young woman wants to ascertain whether a young man in whom she\nfeels an interest loves her, let her look between her fingers at him\nand say the following charm. If his first motion is to raise his right\narm she is secure of his affections.\n\n  \u201cI have a trial upon you,\n  I have a looking at you,\n  Between the five ribs of Christ\u2019s body;\n  If it be fated or permitted you\n  To make use of me,\n  Lift your right hand,\n  And let it not quickly down.\u201d[71]\n\nIn the detection of theft the diviner\u2019s utmost skill could only\ndetermine the direction the stolen goods had taken.\n\n\nDIVINATION.\n\n_Divination (Fiosachd)._\u2014The same causes which in other countries\nled to oracles, astrology, necromancy, card-reading, and other forms\nof divination, in the Scottish Highlands led to the reading of\nshoulder-blades and tea-cups, palmistry, and the artless spinning of\ntee-totums (_d\u00f2duman_). In a simple state of society mummeries and\nceremonies, dark caves, darkened rooms, and other aids to mystification\nare not required to bring custom to the soothsayer. The desire of\nmankind, particularly the young, to have pleasant anticipations of the\nfuture, supply all deficiencies in his artifices. One or two shrewd\nguesses establish a reputation, and ordinarily there is no scepticism\nor inquiry as to the sources of information. It is noticeable that the\nchief articles from which the Highland soothsayer drew his predictions,\nsupplied him with a luxury.\n\n_Shoulder-blade Reading (Slinneineachd)._\u2014This mode of divination was\npractised, like the augury of the ancients, as a profession or trade.\nIt consisted in foretelling important events in the life of the owner\nof a slaughtered animal from the marks on the shoulder-blade, speal\nor blade-bone. Professors of this difficult art deemed the right\nspeal-bone of a black sheep or a black pig the best for this purpose.\nThis was to be boiled thoroughly, so that the flesh might be stripped\nclean from it, untouched by nail or knife or tooth. The slightest\nscratch destroyed its value. The bone being duly prepared was divided\ninto upper and lower parts, corresponding to the natural features of\nthe district in which the divination was made. Certain marks indicated\na crowd of people, met, according to the skill of the diviner, at a\nfuneral, fight, sale, etc. The largest hole or indentation was the\ngrave of the beast\u2019s owner (_\u00faaigh an t-sealbhaduir_), and from its\nposition his living or dying that year was prognosticated. When to the\nside of the bone, it presaged death; when in its centre, much worldly\nprosperity (_gum biodh an saoghal aige_).\n\n_Mac-a-Chreachaire_, a native of Barra, was a celebrated shoulder-blade\nreader in his day. According to popular tradition he was present at\nthe festivities held on the occasion of the castle at _B\u00e0gh Chi\u00f2samul_\n(the seat of the MacNeills, then chiefs of the island) being finished.\nA shoulder-blade was handed to him, and he was pressed again and again\nto divine from it the fate of the castle. He was very reluctant, but\nat last, on being promised that no harm would be done him, he said\nthe castle would become a cairn for thrushes (_c\u00e0rn dhruideachun_),\nand this would happen when the Rattle stone (_Clach-a-Ghlagain_) was\nfound, when people worked at sea-weed in _Baile na Creige_ (Rock-town,\na village far from the sea), and when deer swam across from Uist, and\nwere to be found on every dung-hill in Barra. All this has happened,\nand the castle is now in ruins. Others say the omens were the arrival\nof a ship with blue wool, a blind man coming ashore unaided, and that\nwhen a ground officer with big fingers (_maor na miar m\u00f2ra_) came,\nBarra would be measured with an iron string. A ship laden with blue\ncloth was wrecked on the island, and a blind man miraculously escaped;\nevery finger of the ground officer proved to be as big as a bottle (!),\nand Barra was surveyed and sold.\n\nWhen Murdoch the Short (_Murchadh Gearr_), heir to the Lordship of\nLochbuy in the Island of Mull, circ. A.D. 1400, was sent in his\nchildhood for protection from the ambitious designs of his uncle, the\nLaird of Dowart, to Ireland, he remained there till eighteen years of\nage. In the meantime his sister (or half-sister) became widowed, and,\ndependant on the charity and hospitality of others, wandered about\nthe Ross of Mull from house to house with her family. It was always\n\u201cin the prophecy\u201d (_san tairgneachd_) that Murdoch would return. One\nevening, in a house to which his sister came, a wedder sheep was\nkilled. After the meal was over, her oldest boy asked the farmer for\nthe shoulder-blade. He examined it intently for some time in silence,\nand then, exclaiming that Murdoch was on the soil of Mull (_air grunnd\nMhuile_), rushed out of the house and made for Lochbuy, to find his\nuncle in possession of his rightful inheritance.\n\nOn the night of the massacre of Glencoe, a party of the ill-fated\nclansmen were poring over the shoulder-blade of an animal slain for the\nhospitable entertainment of the soldiers. One of them said, \u201cThere is a\nshedding of blood in the glen\u201d (_tha d\u00f2rtadh fuil sa ghleann_). Another\nsaid there was only the stream at the end of the house between them and\nit. The whole party rushed to the door, and were among the few that\nescaped the butchery of that dreadful night.\n\nIt is a common story that a shoulder-blade seer once saved the lives of\na company, of whom he himself was one, who had \u2018lifted\u2019 a cattle spoil\n(_creach_), by divining that there was only the stream at the end of\nthe house between them and their pursuers.\n\nA shoulder-blade sage in Tiree sat dawn to a substantial feast, to\nwhich he had been specially invited, that he might divine whether\na certain friend was on his way home or not. He examined the\nshoulder-bone of the wedder killed on the occasion critically, unable\nto make up his mind. \u201cPerhaps,\u201d he said, \u201che will come, perhaps he will\nnot.\u201d A boy, who had hid himself on the top of a bed in the room, that\nhe might see the fun, could not help exclaiming, \u201cThey cannot find you\nuntrue.\u201d The bed broke, and the diviner and his companions, thinking\nthe voice came from the skies, fled. When the boy recovered he got the\ndinner all to himself.\n\n_Palmistry (Dearnadaireachd)._\u2014Of this mode of divination, as practised\nin the Highlands, nothing seems now to be known beyond the name.\nProbably from the first the knowledge of it was confined to gipsies and\nsuch like stray characters.\n\n_Divination by Tea, or Cup-reading (Leughadh chu-paichean)._\u2014When tea\nwas a luxury, dear and difficult to get, the \u2018spaeing\u2019 of fortunes from\ntea-cups was in great repute. Even yet young women resort in numbers to\nfortune-tellers of the class, who for the reward of the tea spell out\nto them most excellent matches.\n\nAfter drinking the tea, the person for whom the cup is to be read,\nturning the cup _deiseal_, or with the right-hand turn, is to make\na small drop, left in it, wash its sides all round, and then pour it\nout. The fortune is then read from the arrangement of the sediments\nor tea-leaves left in the cup. A large quantity of black tea grounds\n(_sm\u00f9rach du_) denotes substance and worldly gear. The person\nconsulting the oracle is a stray leaf standing to the one side of it.\nIf the face of the leaf is towards the grounds, that person is to come\nto a great fortune; if very positively its back, then farewell even\nto the hope \u201cthat keeps alive despair.\u201d A small speck by itself is a\nletter, and other specks are envious people struggling to get to the\ntop, followers, etc. Good diviners can even tell to their youthful and\nconfiding friends when the letter is likely to arrive, what trade their\nadmirer follows, the colour of his hair, etc.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nDREAMS AND PROPHECIES.\n\n\nDreams (_Bruadar_) have everywhere been laid hold of by superstition as\nindications of what is passing at a distance or of what is to occur,\nand, considering the vast numbers of dreams there are, it would be\nmatter of surprise, if a sufficient number did not prove so like some\nremote or subsequent event, interesting to the dreamer, as to keep the\nbelief alive. On a low calculation, a fourth of the population dream\nevery night, and in the course of a year, the number of dreams in a\ndistrict must be incredible. They are generally about things that have\nbeen, or are, causes of anxiety, or otherwise occupied men\u2019s waking\nthoughts. \u201cA dream cometh through the multitude of business,\u201d Solomon\nsays, and a Gaelic proverb says with equal truth \u201cAn old wife\u2019s dream\nis according to her inclination\u201d (_Aisling caillich mas a d\u00f9rachd_).\nIts character can sometimes be traced directly to the health or\nposition of the body, but in other cases, it seems to depend on the\nuncontrolled association of ideas. Out of the numberless phantasies\nthat arise there must surely be many that the imagination can without\nviolence convert into forebodings and premonitions.\n\nTo dream of raw meat indicates impending trouble; eggs mean gossip and\nscandal; herring, snow; meal, earth; a grey horse, the sea. To dream of\nwomen is unlucky; and of the dead, that they are not at rest. In the\nHebrides, a horse is supposed to have reference to the Clan Mac Leod.\nThe surname of horses is Mac Leod, as the Coll bard said to the Skye\nbard:\n\n  \u201cOften rode I with my bridle,\n  The race you and your wife belong to.\u201d[72]\n\nIn some districts horses meant the Macgnanean, and a white horse, a\nletter.\n\n_Prophecies (F\u00e0isneachd)._\u2014In Argyllshire and Perthshire, the\ncelebrated Thomas the Rhymer (_T\u00f2mas Reuvair, T. R\u00e9im_) is as well\nknown as in the Lowlands of Scotland. He is commonly called \u201cthe son of\nthe dead woman\u201d (_mac na mna mairbh_), but the accounts vary as to the\ncause of this name. One account says, he was, like Julius Caesar, taken\nout through his mother\u2019s side, immediately after her death; another,\nthat the cry of the child was heard in the mother\u2019s tomb after her\nburial, and on the grave being opened Thomas was found in the coffin.\nA third account says, that a woman, whose husband had been cut in\nfour pieces, engaged a tailor, at the price of the surrender of her\nperson, to sew the pieces together again. He did so in two hours time.\nSome time after the woman died and was buried. Subsequently, she met\nthe tailor at night, and leading him to her tomb, the child was found\nthere. Both the Highland and Lowland accounts agree that Thomas\u2019s gift\nof prophecy was given him by a Fairy sweetheart, that he is at present\namong the Fairies, and will yet come back.\n\nThe Highland tradition is, that Thomas is in Dunbuck hill (_D\u00f9n buic_)\nnear Dunbarton. The last person that entered that hill found him\nresting on his elbow, with his hand below his head. He asked, \u201cIs it\ntime?\u201d and the man fled. In the outer Hebrides he is said to be in\nTom-na-heurich hill,[73] near Inverness. Hence MacCodrum, the Uist\nbard, says:\n\n  \u201cWhen the hosts of Tomnaheurich come,\n  Who should rise first but Thomas?\u201d[74]\n\nHe attends every market on the look-out for suitable horses, as the\nFairies in the north of Ireland attend to steal linen and other goods,\nexposed for sale. It is only horses with certain characteristics that\nhe will take. At present he wants but two, some say only one, a yellow\nfoal with a white forehead (_searrach bl\u00e0r buidhe_). The other is to be\na white horse that has got \u201cthree March, three May, and three August\nmonths of its mother\u2019s milk\u201d (_tr\u00ec M\u00e0irt, tr\u00ec M\u00e0igh, agus tr\u00ec Iuchara\n\u2019bhainne mh\u00e0thar_); and in Mull they say, one of the horses is to be\nfrom the meadow of Kengharair in that island. When his complement is\nmade up he will become visible, and a great battle will be fought on\nthe Clyde.\n\n  \u201cWhen Thomas comes with his horses,\n  The day of spoils will be on the Clyde.\n  Nine thousand good men will be slain,\n  And a new king will be set on the throne.\u201d[75]\n\nYou may walk across the Clyde, the prophecy goes on to relate, on men\u2019s\nbodies, and the miller of Partick Mill (_Muilionn Phearaig_), who is\nto be a man with seven fingers, will grind for two hours with blood\ninstead of water. After that, sixteen ladies will follow after one\nlame tailor,[76] a prophecy copied from Isaiah iv. 1. A stone in the\nClyde was pointed out as one, on which a bird (_bigein_) would perch\nand drink its full of blood, without bending its head, but the River\nTrustees have blasted it out of the way that the prophecy may not come\ntrue. The same prophecy, with slight variation, has been transferred\nto Blair Athole in Perthshire. \u201cWhen the white cows come to Blair,\nthe wheel of Blair Mill will turn round seven times with people\u2019s\nblood.\u201d[77] The writer was told that the Duke of Athole brought white\ncattle to Blair more than fifteen years ago, but nothing extraordinary\nhappened.\n\nOther prophecies, ascribed to the Rhymer, are, \u201cthe sheep\u2019s skull will\nmake the plough useless,\u201d \u201cthe south sea will come upon the north sea,\u201d\nand \u201cScotland will be in white bands, and a lump of gold will be at\nthe bottom of every glen.\u201d[78] The former has received its fulfilment\nin the desolation caused by the extension of sheep farms, the second\nin the making of the Caledonian canal, and the last in the increase of\nhighroads and houses.\n\nIn the North Highlands, prophecies of this kind are ascribed to\n_Coineach Odhar_ (_i.e._ Dun Kenneth), a native of Ross-shire, whose\nname is hardly known in Argyllshire. He acquired his prophetic gift\nfrom the possession of a stone, which he found in a raven\u2019s nest. He\nfirst found a raven\u2019s nest with eggs in it. These he took home and\nboiled. He then took them back to the nest, with a view to finding out\nhow long the bird would sit before it despaired of hatching them. He\nfound a stone in the nest before him, and its possession was the secret\nof his oracular gifts. When this became known an attempt was made to\ntake the stone from him, but he threw it out in a loch, where it still\nlies.\n\nHe prophesied that \u201cthe raven will drink its fill of men\u2019s blood from\noff the ground, on the top of the High Stone in Uig,\u201d[79] a place in\nSkye. The High Stone is on a mountain\u2019s brow, and it is ominous of the\nfulfilment of the prophecy, that it has fallen on its side. Of the Well\nof Ta, at _Cill-a-chr\u00f2_ in Strath, in the same island, he said:\n\n  \u201cThou well of Ta, and well of Ta,\n  Well where battle shall be fought,\n  And the bones of growing men,\n    Will strew the white beach of Laoras;\n  And Lachlan of the three Lachlans be slain\n  Early, early,\n    At the well of Ta.\u201d[80]\n\nIn Harris a cock will crow on the very day on which it is hatched, and\na white calf, without a single black hair, will be born, both which\nremarkable events have, it is said, occurred. A certain large stone\nwill roll up the hill, turning over three times, and the marks of it\nhaving done so, and the proof of the prophecy, are still to be seen. On\nthe top of a high stone in Scaristavor parks,[81] the raven will drink\nits fill of men\u2019s blood, and the tide of battle will be turned back by\nNorman of the three Normans (_Tormod nan tr\u00ec Tormoidean_) at the Steps\nof Tarbert (_C\u00e0thaichean an Tairbeart_).[82]\n\n_The Lady of Lawers._\u2014Of similar fame for her prophetic gifts was the\nLady of Lawers (_Bantighearna Lathuir_), one of the Breadalbane family,\nmarried to Campbell of Lawers. Her prophecies relate to the house and\nlands of Breadalbane, and are written, it is believed, in a book shaped\nlike a barrel, and secured with twelve iron hoops or clasps in the\ncharter room of Taymouth Castle. This book is called \u2018The Red Book of\nBalloch.\u2019\n\nAn old white horse will yet take the lineal heirs of Taymouth (or,\naccording to another version, the last Breadalbane Campbells) across\nTyndrum Cairn. When she said this there were thirty sons in the\nfamily, but soon after twenty-five of them were slain in the battle at\n_Sron-a-chlachair_ near Killin (_Cill-Fhinn_).\n\nIf the top stone were ever put on Lawers Church no word uttered by\nher would ever come true, and when the red cairn on Ben Lawers fell\nthe church would split. In the same year that the cairn, built by the\nsappers and miners on Ben Lawers, fell, the Disruption in the Church of\nScotland took place.\n\n  \u201cA mill will be on every streamlet,\n  A plough in every boy\u2019s hand,\n  The two sides of Loch Tay in kail gardens;\n  The sheep\u2019s skull will make the plough useless,\n  And the goose\u2019s feathers drive their memories from men.\u201d[83]\n\nThis was to happen in the time of \u201cJohn of the three Johns, the worst\nJohn that ever was, and there will be no good till Duncan comes.\u201d\n\nA stone called the \u2018Boar Stone\u2019 (_Clach an Tuirc_), a boulder of some\ntwo or three hundred tons in a meadow near Loch Tay, will topple over\nwhen a strange heir comes to Taymouth, and the house will be at its\nheight of honour when the face of a certain rock is concealed by wood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nIMPRECATIONS, SPELLS, AND THE BLACK ART.\n\n\nIMPRECATION (_Guidhe_).\n\nThe imprecations, which form so important a part of the vocabulary of\nthoughtless and profane swearing, are in Gaelic corruptions of English\nexpressions. Thus, one of the commonest\u2014_diabhul Mac-eadhar_ is a\ncorruption of \u2018devil may care,\u2019 and though no language has a monopoly\nof oaths and curses, and English is not always to blame, it is some\nsatisfaction that needless profanity is not entirely of native growth.\n\nMost Gaelic imprecations are mere exclamations, condemnatory not so\nmuch of the person himself as of what he is saying or doing. Of these\nthe following are of common use:\n\n  A bad meeting to you! (_Droch c\u00f2mh \u2019l ort!_).\n  A bad growth to you! (_Droch f\u00e0s ort!_).\n  Bad understanding to you! (_Droch ciall ort!_).\n  Bad accident to you! (_Droch sgiorram ort!_).\n  Bad \u2014\u2014 ? to you! (_Gum bu droch dr\u00f9ileach!_\n                      or _dr\u00f9thalach dhuit!_).\n\n  Black water upon you! (_B\u00f9rn du ort!_).[84]\n  A down mouth be yours! (_Beul s\u00ecos ort!_).[85]\n  A wry mouth be yours! (_Beul seachad ort!_).\n  Go to your grandfather\u2019s house! (_Tigh do sheamar dhuit!_).\n  The mischief be in your side! (_An dunaigh ad chliathaich!_).\n  The burning of your heart to you! (_Losgadh do chridhe ort!_).\n  Little increase to you! (_Beagan piseach ort!_).\n  Little prosperity to you! (_Beagan \u00e0idh ort!_).\n  The spell of your death-stroke be yours! (_Sian do ghonaidh ort!_).\n  Death without a priest to you! (_B\u00e0s gun sagart ort!_).\n  Wind without rising be yours! (_Gaoth gun d\u00ecreadh ort!_), _i.e._ a\n    wind that will throw you on your beam-ends, and not allow\n    you to right.\n  Your black certain death-stroke to you! (_S\u00e0r du do ghonaidh\n    ort!_).\n  The place of the dead be yours! (_Marasg, i.e. marbh-thasg,\n    ort!_).\n  The number of Friday be yours! \u201cThe curse of Friday be\n    yours!\u201d \u201cThe end of the seven Saturdays to you!\u201d\n  May you be late! (_Gu ma h-anamoch dhuit!_).\n  The direction in which you turn the back of your head, may\n    you never turn your face! (_An toabh bheir thusa c\u00f9l do\n    chinn, gar an d\u2019 thig an t-aon latha bheir thu t\u2019 aghaidh!_),\n    etc., etc.\n\nWhen a curse proceeds from rage or malevolence, it is at the same time\na confession of impotence. The party uttering it is unable at the\nmoment to indulge his rancour in any other way. If he had the power he\nwould bring all the woes he threatens or imprecates there and then on\nhis enemy\u2019s devoted head. Patience is no element of wrath and rarely\nenters the house of malevolence, and if the man who curses his enemy\nhad the artillery of heaven at command, he would at that moment devote\nhis enemy to unspeakable misery. This impotence of rage is the reason\nwhy curses are so frequently ascribed to angry old women.\n\nThose who have seen old women, of the Madge Wildfire school, cursing\nand banning, say their manner is well calculated to inspire terror.\nSome fifteen or twenty years ago, a party of tinkers quarrelled and\nfought, first among themselves, and then with some Tiree villagers.\nIn the excitement a tinker wife threw off her cap and allowed her\nhair to fall over her shoulders in wild disorder. She then bared her\nknees, and falling on them to the ground, in a praying attitude, poured\nforth a torrent of wishes that struck awe into all who heard her. She\nimprecated \u201cDrowning by sea and conflagration by land; may you never\nsee a son to follow your body to the graveyard, or a daughter to mourn\nyour death. I have made my wish before this, and I will make it now,\nand there was not yet a day I did not see my wish fulfilled,\u201d etc.,\netc. \u201cOnce,\u201d says one who is now an old man, \u201cwhen a boy I roused the\nanger of an old woman by calling her names. She went on her knees and\ncursed me, and I thought I was going to die suddenly every day for a\nweek after.\u201d\n\nThe curse causeless will not come, but a curse deserved is the\nforeshadowing of the ultimate issue of events. The curse of the\noppressed, who have no man to deliver them, is at times but the presage\nof the retribution which the operation of the laws of the moral world\nwill some day bring about. Hence we find such expressions as, \u201cShe\ncursed him and obtained her wish.\u201d The curse came upon the oppressor,\nnot because of the malediction, but because what was asked for was\npart of the natural sequence of events in the moral government of the\nworld. For this reason, the curse of the poor is undesirable. There is\nsomething wrong in the relation between superior and inferior when it\nis uttered; authority has been misused, and wisdom and patience have\nbeen awanting, selfishness has overstepped its due limit, and the just\ninfluence of the superior has degenerated into wantonness of power. In\nthe expatriations from the Highlands, there was much in this respect to\nbe reprobated, and it is most creditable to Highlanders, and is greatly\nto be ascribed to the influence of religion over them, that in the\nsongs made at the time of the Clearances, there are no curses against\nthe oppressor.\n\nA common expression in the imprecations used by old women was, \u201cMay no\nbenefit be in your cheese, and no cheese in your milk.\u201d[86]\n\nThere is said to be a curse on an estate in Argyllshire, that a lineal\ndescendant will never succeed to it, and on one of the principal\ncastles in Perthshire, that no legitimate heir (_oighre dligheach_)\nwill own it till the third generation (_gus an treasa linn_). This\nlatter curse was paused by the haughtiness of an old woman, a former\nmistress of the castle, who lived entirely on marrow.\n\nAll evil wishes can be counteracted by the bystander saying, after each\ncurse, \u201cThe fruit of your wish be on your own body\u201d (_Toradh do ghuidhe\nfar_, etc.). On the occasion above referred to, of the banning by the\ntinker wife, her frightful tirade became ludicrous from the earnestness\nwith which this was done by one of the native women who was listening.\n\n\nSPELLS (_Geasan no Geasaibh_).\n\nA person under spells is believed to become powerless over his own\nvolition, is alive and awake, but moves and acts as if asleep. He\nis like St. John\u2019s father, not able or not allowed to speak. He is\ncompelled to go to certain places at certain hours or seasons, is sent\nwandering or is driven from his kindred and changed to other shapes.\n\nIn nursery and winter evening tales (_sgialachdun \u2019us ur-sgeulun_)\nthe machinery of spells is largely made use of. In the former class\nof tales they are usually imposed on king\u2019s children by an old woman\ndwelling near the palace, called \u201cTrouble-the-house\u201d (_Eachrais\n\u00f9rlair_, lit. confusion of the floor). Her house is the favourite place\nfor the king\u2019s children to meet their lovers. She has a divining rod\n(_slacan druidheachd_), by a blow from which she can convert people\ninto rocks, seals, swans, wolves, etc., and this shape they must keep\ntill they are freed by the same rod. Nothing else can deliver them from\nthe spell.\n\nThe story usually runs that the king is married a second time. His\ndaughter by the first marriage is very handsome, and has a smooth\ncomb (_c\u00ecr mh\u00ecn_) which makes her hair, when combed by it, shed gold\nand precious gems. The daughters by the second marriage are ugly and\nill-natured. When they comb their hair there is a shower of fleas and\nfrogs. Their mother bribes Trouble-the-house to lay spells on the\ndaughter of the first marriage. Unless the princess enters the house\nthe old woman is powerless to do this. One day the beautiful princess\npasses near the house, and is kindly and civilly asked to enter. \u201cCome\nyou in,\u201d says the designing hag, \u201coften did I lick the platters and\npick the bones in your father\u2019s house.\u201d[87] Misled by this artful talk,\nthe princess enters, is struck with the magic rod, and converted into\na swan.\n\nIt is a popular saying that seals and swans are \u201cking\u2019s children under\nenchantments\u201d (_clann sigh fo gheasaibh_). On lonely mountain meres,\nwhere the presence of man is seldom seen, swans have been observed\nputting off their coverings (_cochull_) and assuming their proper shape\nof beautiful princesses in their endeavours to free themselves from the\nspells. This, however, is impossible till the magician, who imposed\nthem, takes them away, and the princesses are obliged to resume their\ncoverings again.\n\nThe expressive countenance and great intelligence of the seal, the\nreadiness with which it can be domesticated, and the attachment which,\nas a pet, it shows to man, have not unnaturally led to stories of its\nbeing a form assumed by, or assigned to, some higher intelligence from\nchoice or by compulsion. In Caithness, seals are deemed to be the\nfallen angels, and the Celtic belief that they are \u201cking\u2019s children\nunder spells\u201d is paralleled in the Shetland tales of the Norway Finns.\nThese are persons, a native of these northern islands writes (in a\nprivate letter), who come across from Norway to Shetland in the shape\nof large seals. A Shetlander on his way to the fishing, early in the\nmorning, came across a large seal lying asleep on a rock. Creeping\nquietly up he managed to stab it with his knife. The animal was only\nslightly wounded and floundered into the water, taking the knife along\nwith it. Sometime afterwards the fisherman went, with others, to Norway\nto buy wood. In the first house he entered he saw his own big knife\nstuck up under a beam. He gave himself up for lost, but the Norwegian\ntook down the knife and gave it back to him, telling him never again to\ndisturb a poor sea-animal taking its rest.\n\nThere is a sept in North Uist known as \u201cthe MacCodrums of the seals\u201d\n(_Clann \u2019ic Codrum nan r\u00f2m_), from being said to be descendants of\nthese enchanted seals. The progenitor of the family, being down about\nthe shore, saw the seals putting off their coverings and washing\nthemselves. He fled home with one of the skins and hid it above the\nlintel of the door, \u2018_arabocan_\u2019 as it is called in that part of the\ncountry. The owner of the covering followed him. He clad her with human\ngarments, married her, and had a family by her. She managed ultimately\nto regain possession of her lost covering and disappeared.\n\nWest of Uist there is a rock called _Connsmun_, to which the\nneighbouring islanders are in the habit of going yearly to kill seals.\nOn one of these expeditions a young man, named Egan, son of Egan,\nkilled a large seal in the usual manner by a knock on the head, and\nput a withe through its paw to secure it, while he himself went to\nattend to other matters. When he came back, however, the seal was gone.\nSometime after he was driven away in a storm, and landed in a district\nhe did not recognize. He made his way to one of the houses, and was\nvery hospitably entertained. His host, who had been surveying him\nintently, when the meal was over asked his name. He told, and his host\nsaid, \u201cEgan, son of Egan, though I have given you meat, and cheese, and\neggs, upon your two hands be it, Egan, son of Egan, you put the withe\nthrough my fist.\u201d[88]\n\n\nTHE BLACK ART.\n\nNothing was known in the Highlands of the dark science beyond what is\nconveyed in the name given to it, \u2018Satan\u2019s black school\u2019 (_Sgoil du\nShatain_), and a few anecdotes of its more illustrious students. All\naccounts agree that Michael Scott was an advanced scholar. He, by his\nskill in it, made a brazen man, whom he compelled to do all his work\nfor him. By means of him he brought the Flanders Moss (_Mh\u00f2inteach\nFhlansrach_), in the Carse of Stirling, across from the continent on\nbearers (_lunnun_). The moss is twenty-three miles long, and lies\nnorth of Stirling, where, unfortunately, the bearers broke. The Mull\ndoctor (_an t-ollamh Muileach_)[89] and the Islay doctor (_an t-ollamh\nIleach_) also attended the school, and adventures are assigned to them\nas to the other scholars.\n\nCameron of Locheil (_Mac Dh\u00f2\u2019uill dui_, the son of Black Donald, is\nthe Highland patronymic of the chiefs of this house), Macdonald of\nKeppoch (_Mac-ic-Rao\u2019uill_), and Mackenzie of Brahan were at the school\ntogether, and when their education was finished the devil was to get as\nhis fee whoever of them was hindmost. The three young men made a plan\nto chase each other round and round in a circle so that none of them\nshould be hindmost. At last the devil was for clutching some one, but\nthe young man pointed to his shadow which was behind. The devil in his\nhurry caught at it, and the young man never had a shadow from that day.\n\nLocheil hired a servant maid to attend to a set of valuable china\ndishes of which he was the possessor. Her post was onerous, and she\nhad another waiting-maid under her. Her life was to be the forfeit of\nany of the dishes being broken. One night when ascending the stairs\nwith the dishes on a tray, the under-servant leading the way with a\nlight, she noticed that the sugar bowl was in two and began to weep. A\ngentleman, whom she had not till then observed, was walking backwards\nand forwards on the stair-head. He asked her why she wept, and she\ntold. He asked what she would give to have the bowl made whole as it\nwas before? Would she give herself? She thoughtlessly said she would\ngive anything. The bargain was struck, and on drying her tears and\nlooking up the maid found the bowl whole. She told all this to her\nmaster, and when the devil came that same night to claim her, Locheil\ngave his former teacher a hospitable reception. When it waxed late, the\ndevil, afraid of the cock-crowing, was preparing to go away. Cameron\ncoaxed him to remain till the inch still remaining of the candle on the\ntable should burn down. Whenever he gave his consent Cameron blew out\nthe candle and gave it to the servant, telling her her life depended\non its safe custody. In this manner the devil was cheated by his own\nscholar.\n\nA drover bought a flock of goats from Macdonald of Keppoch, who himself\naccompanied the drove to Locheil-side. Here, in crossing a ford, the\ngoats were taken away by the stream, and went past the drover as red\nstalks of fern (_nan cuiseagun ruadha rainich_), all except one dun\nhornless goat (_gobhar mhaol odhar_). The drover returned in search\nof Macdonald and found him lying on the heather, seemingly asleep. He\npulled his hand to awaken him, but the hand came away with him. In the\nend, however, the hand was put right, and the goats were restored to\nthe astonished drover.\n\nAnother time Keppoch and his dairy-maid had a trial of skill in\nsorcery. While she was milking a cow in the cattle-fold, Macdonald, who\nwas looking on, by his charms prevented the cow from yielding her milk.\nThe dairy-maid removed to the other side of the cow and defeated his\nconjurations. He then removed the hoop on the milk-pail. This also she\ncounteracted.\n\nMacdonald is said to have put a stop in his own country to the women\nwinding black thread at night, but how or why does not appear.\n\nThe mighty magician, Michael Scott, had a narrow escape from becoming\nthe prey of the arch-fiend. On his death-bed he told his friends to\nplace his body on a hillock. Three ravens and three doves would be seen\nflying towards it; if the ravens were first the body was to be burned,\nbut if the doves were first it was to receive Christian burial. The\nravens were foremost, but in their hurry flew beyond their mark. So the\ndevil, who had long been preparing a bed for Michael, was disappointed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nTHE DEVIL.\n\n\nSuperstition, in assigning to the devil a bodily shape and presence,\nendeavoured to make him horrible, and instead made him ridiculous.\nFor this no doubt the monkish ceremonies of the middle ages are, as\nis commonly alleged, much to blame. The fiend was introduced into\nshows and dramatic representations with horns, tail, and the hoof of\none of the lower animals; the representation was seized upon by the\npopular fancy, and exaggerated till it became a caricature. The human\nmind takes pleasure in mixing the ludicrous with the terrible, and in\nseeing that of which it is afraid made contemptible. There is, as is\nwell known, but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and, in\nbeing reduced to a bug-bear, the impersonation of evil has only come\nunder the operation of a common law. One bad effect to be traced to\nthe travesty is, that men\u2019s attention is diverted from the power of\nevil as the spirit that now worketh strife, lying, dishonesty, and the\ncountless forms of vice, and the foul fiend is become a sort of goblin,\nto frighten children and lonely travellers.\n\nIn Gaelic the exaggeration is not carried to the same lengths as in\nEnglish. There is nothing said about the fiend\u2019s having horns or tail.\nHe has made his appearance in shape of a he-goat, but his horns have\nnot attracted so much attention, or inspired such terror, as his voice,\nwhich bears a horrible resemblance to the bleating of a goat. A native\nof the Island of Coll is said to have got a good view of him in a\nhollow, and was positive that he was crop-eared (_corc-chluasach_).[90]\nHe has often a chain clanking after him. In Celtic, as in German\nsuperstition, he has usually a _horse\u2019s hoof_, but also sometimes a\n_pig\u2019s foot_. This latter peculiarity, which evidently had its origin\nin the incident of the Gadarean swine, and in the pig being unclean\nunder the ceremonial law, explains the cloven hoof always ascribed to\nhim in English popular tales. In Scripture, the goat, as pointed out\nby Sir Thomas More, formed the sin offering, and is an emblem of bad\nmen. The reason why a _horse\u2019s hoof_ has been assigned to him is not\nso apparent. In the Book of Job, Satan is described as \u201cgoing to and\nfro in the earth\u201d; and the red horses, speckled and white, which the\nprophet Zechariah (i. 8) saw among the myrtle trees, were explained\nto him to be those whom \u201cthe Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through\nthe earth.\u201d The similarity of description may be casual, but it is on\ngrounds, equally incidental and slight, that many of the inferences of\nsuperstition are based.\n\nIn addition to his Scripture names, the arch-fiend is known in Gaelic\nby the following titles:\n\n  The worthless one (_am fear nach fhiach_).\n  The one whom I will not mention (_am fear nach abair mi_).\n  Yon one (_am fear ud_).\n  The one big one (_an aon fhear m\u00f2r_).\n  The one from the abyss (_an t-aibhisteir_) from _aibheis_, an abyss, a\n  depth.\n  The mean mischievous one (_an Rosad_).\n  The big sorrow (_an d\u00f2las m\u00f2r_).\n  The son of cursing (_Mac-mollachd_).\n  The big grizzled one (_an Riabhach m\u00f2r_).\n  The bad one (_an donas_).\n  The bad spirit (_ain-spiorad_, _droch-spiorad_).\n  Black Donald (_D\u00f2mhnull Du_).\n\nIn the North Highlands he is also known as _Bidein_, _Dithean_,\n_Bradaidh_. It is said that _Connan_ was a name given to him, and that\n_aisling connain_, a libidinous dream, means literally \u2018a devil\u2019s\ndream.\u2019 The name must have been very local. There is a fable about\nConnan and his twelve sons pulling a plant in the peat moss, in which\nthe name denoted the wren, and there was a St. Connan, whose memory\nis preserved in _Cill-Chonnain_, a burying-ground in Rannoch, and\n_Feill-Connain_, the autumn market at Dalmally in Glenorchy.\n\nThe occasions on which the devil has appeared in a bodily shape, have\nbeen at meetings of witches; at card-playing, which is the reading of\nhis books; when he comes to claim his prey; and when summoned by masons\nor magicians. He is apt to appear to persons ready to abandon their\nintegrity, and to haunt premises which are soon to be the scene of\nsignal calamities. He sometimes comes in unaccountable shapes and in\nlonely places for no conceivable purpose but to frighten people.\n\nThe following tales will illustrate the character of his appearances\nand the notions popularly entertained regarding him.\n\n\nCARD-PLAYING.\n\nA party of young people were playing cards; a stranger joined them and\ntook a hand. A card fell below the table, and the youth, who stooped to\nlift it, observed the stranger to have a horse\u2019s hoof. The devil, on\nbeing thus detected, went up the chimney in smoke.\n\nThis story is universal over the Highlands. Cards are notoriously known\nas the devil\u2019s books. When boys play them, the fiend has been known\nto come down the chimney feet foremost, the horse\u2019s or pig\u2019s foot\nappearing first. When going away, he disappears in smoke, and neighs\nhorribly in the chimney.\n\n\nRED BOOK OF APPIN.\n\nThis celebrated book contained charms for the cure of cattle, and was\nso powerful that its owner had to place an iron hoop about his head\nevery time he opened it. All accounts agree that it was got from the\ndevil, but they differ as to how this was done. Very likely the book\nwas a treatise on the treatment and diseases of cattle, and the origin\nof the stories of its magic virtue lay in the fact that the Stewarts,\nwho owned it, had a magnificent fold of Highland cattle.\n\nThe first, who got the book, rode an entire horse (an animal that no\nevil power can touch) to a meeting of witches. The devil wrote in a red\nbook the names of the assembled company. The man, instead of letting\nthe devil write his name, asked to be allowed to do so himself. On\ngetting the book for that purpose he made off with it.\n\nBy another account (and the person from whom it was heard was positive\nas to its being the only correct account) it was got by a young lad\nunder the following circumstances. The youth was apprenticed to the\nmiller at Bearachan on Lochawe-side. His master was unkind, and made\nhim work more than he was fit for. One night he was up late finishing a\npiece of work. About midnight a gentleman, whom he did not recognize,\nentered the mill and accosted him kindly. Turning the conversation\nthat ensued on the harsh conduct of the miller, the stranger promised\nto better the unhappy prentice\u2019s condition if they met at the Crooked\nPool (_Cama-linn_) in the Middle Mountain (_Monadh Meadhonach_) on a\ncertain night. An assignation to that effect was made, but after the\nstrange gentleman went away the lad got frightened, and next day told\nabout the visitor he had. A conclave of sixteen ministers was called,\nand the matter was deliberated upon. As the youth had given his promise\nit was deemed necessary he should keep it, but he was advised to take a\nwand with him and at the place appointed trace a circle with it round\nhimself, out of which he was not to move whatever temptation or terrors\nthe stranger might bring to bear upon him. A committee of the clergy\nwent to watch on a neighbouring eminence the result of the interview.\nThe strange gentleman came at the appointed hour, and before giving\nthe money promised, civilly asked the lad to write his name in a book.\nFor this purpose the book was not handed but thrown to the youth, and\nhe, on getting it into his possession, refused to give it up again.\nThe strange gentleman now showed himself in his true colours. Finding\nremonstrances and coaxing of no avail to get the book or the lad out\nof the circle he got wild, and tried the effects of terror. First he\nbecame a grizzled greyhound (_mial-chu riabhach_), and came wildly\ndashing against the circle; then a roaring bull; then a flock of crows\n(_sgaoth r\u00f2cais_) sweeping above the youth, so near that the wind\ncaused by their wings would have carried him out of the circle if he\nhad not clung to the heather. When cock-crowing time came the devil\nabandoned his attempts and disappeared. The book became the Red Book\nof Appin, and was last in possession of the Stewarts of Invernahyle\n(_Inbher-na h-aoile_).\n\n\nCOMING FOR THE DYING.\n\nA native of the neighbourhood of Oban, on his way home from Loch\nAwe-side, after crossing the hills and coming in above Kilmore, was\njoined by three strangers. He spoke to them, but received no answer.\nAt a small public-house on the roadside he asked them in for a\nrefreshment. They then told him they had business to attend to, and\nthat after entering the house he was not on any account to come out or\nattempt to go home that night. On parting, the strangers turned off\nthe high road by a private road leading to a neighbouring gentleman\u2019s\nhouse. The night proved unusually stormy, and the man did not move from\nthe inn till morning. He then heard that the gentleman, towards whose\nhouse the three mysterious strangers had gone, had died the previous\nevening just about the time they would have arrived there. No person in\nthe house or neighbourhood saw anything of them.\n\nIt has been already mentioned that the devil, or his emissaries, in\nthe shape of three ravens, waited to catch the soul of Michael Scott\nas soon as it left the body. A freebooter of former days, who made a\nhouse underground for his wife in Loch Con, in Lower Rannoch (_Bun\nRaineach_), that he and his men might swear he had no wife above\nground, and then married another, was at his death carried away by\ntwelve ravens.\n\n\nMAKING THE DEVIL YOUR SLAVE.\n\nThose who had the courage to perform the awful _taghairm_,[91] called\nup the devil to grant any worldly wish they might prefer; the disciples\nof the black art made him their obedient servant. Michael Scott,\nwhose reputation as a magician is as great in the Highlands as in the\nLowlands, made him his slave. He could call him up at any time.\n\nIn Michael\u2019s time the people of Scotland were much confused as to\nthe day on which Shrovetide was to be kept. One year it was early\nand another it was late, and they had to send every year to Rome to\nascertain the time (_dh\u2019 fhaotainn fios na h-Inid_). It was determined\nto send Michael Scott to get \u201cword without a second telling\u201d (_fios gun\nath-fhios_). Michael called up the devil, converted him into a black\nambling horse (_f\u00e0laire dhu_), and rode away on the journey. The devil\nwas reluctant to go on such an expedition, and was tired by the long\ndistance. He asked Michael what the women in Scotland said when they\nput their children to sleep or \u2018raked\u2019 the fire (_sm\u00e0ladh an teine_)\nfor the night. He wanted the other to mention the name of the Deity,\nwhen the charm that made himself an unwilling horse would be broken.\nMichael told him to ride on\u2014\u201cRide you before you, you worthless wretch\n(_marcaich thusa, bhiasd, romhad_), and never mind what the women\nsaid.\u201d They went at such a height that there was snow on Michael\u2019s hat\nwhen he disturbed the Pope in the early morning. In the hurry the Pope\ncame in with a lady\u2019s slipper on his left foot. \u201cYou rode high last\nnight, Michael,\u201d said the Pope. Michael\u2019s reply called attention to the\nPope\u2019s left foot. \u201cConceal my secret and I will conceal yours,\u201d[92]\nsaid the Pope, and to avoid the chance of being again caught in a\nsimilar intrigue he gave Michael \u201cthe knowledge of Shrovetide,\u201d viz.,\nthat it is always \u201cthe first Tuesday of the spring light,\u201d _i.e._, of\nthe new moon in spring.\n\nIn Skye this adventure is ascribed to \u2018Parson Sir Andro of Ruig\u2019 in\nthat island. He is said to have started on his terrible journey from\nthe top of the Storr Rock, a scene the wildness of which is singularly\nappropriate to the legend. The Storr is a hill upwards of 2000 feet\nhigh, and on its eastern side, from which the parson must have set out\nfor Rome, is precipitous, as if the hill were half eaten away, and\nthe weird appearance of the scene is much increased by the isolated\nand lofty pillars from which the hill derives its name,[93] standing\nin front. Not unfrequently banks of mist come rolling up against the\nface of the cliffs, concealing the lower grounds, and giving a person\nstanding at the top of the precipices one of the most magnificent views\nit is possible to conceive. He seems to look down into bottomless\nspace, and where the mist in its motions becomes thin and the ground\nappears dark through it, there is the appearance of a profounder depth,\na more awful abyss. The scene gives a wildly poetical character to the\nlegend of the redoubtable parson and his unearthly steed.\n\n\nCOMING MISFORTUNE.\n\nA part of the parish of the Ross of Mull is known ecclesiastically as\nKilviceuen (_Cill-mhic-E\u00f2ghain_, the burying-place of the son of Hugh).\nIts ancient church was of unhewn stone, and its last minister, previous\nto its being united to Kilfinichen, was named Kennedy, a native of\nCantyre, an Episcopalian, in the reign of Charles II. Tradition records\nthat he came to his death in the following manner.\n\nHis parishioners, about the end of spring, were taking a new millstone\nfrom _Port Bheathain_ on Squrraside to the mill, by means of a pole\nrun through its eye. The parson threw off his cassock, and assisted\nthem. The cassock was left where it was thrown off. In the evening his\nwife sent a servant-maid for it. The maid found, lying on the cassock,\na large black dog, which would not allow her to touch the garment.\nShe came home without it, and refused to return. The wife herself and\nanother servant then went, were bitten by the dog, and ultimately\ntwelve persons, including the minister, died of hydrophobia.\n\nSo shocking an event could not take place without superstition busying\nitself about it. On Beltane night shortly before the event, the\nminister\u2019s servant-man had gone early to bed, while it was yet day.\nThere was \u201ca large blazing fire of green oak\u201d (_be\u00f2lach mh\u00f2r dhearg\nde glas darach_) on the floor of the room, and he closed and locked\nthe door before going to bed. Through the night he heard a noise as\nof some one feeling for the lock and trying to open the door. He\nremained quiet, thinking the noise was made by young men, who came\ncourting and had mistaken the door. Soon, however, the door opened,\nand a person whom he did not recognize entered. The stranger, without\nsaying a word, went and stood at the fire. When he turned his back the\nservant observed that his feet were horse\u2019s feet (_sp\u00f2gun eich_). In\na short time the apparition went away, locking the door after it. The\nman rose and went to an old man in great estimation for his piety, who\nlived alone at _Creag nan Con_ (the Dog Rock). The old man\u2019s hut was\na poor one, its door being made of wicker work and of the form called\n_sgiathalan_. No remonstrances could induce him to stay another night\nin the minister\u2019s house, and it was arranged that he should sleep at\nthe hut, and in the day time go to his work at the manse. He told the\nsight he had seen, and the good man inferred from the time of night\nat which the devil had been seen that evil was near the house. It was\nshortly after this that the dog went mad, and the frightened servant\nwas the only one of the minister\u2019s household that escaped.\n\n\nTHE GA\u00cfCK CATASTROPHE (_Mort Gh\u00e0thaig_).\n\nOn the last night of last century[94] a disastrous casualty, in which\nsix persons lost their lives, occurred in the deer forest of Ga\u00efck in\nBadenoch. The wild tract of mountain land, to which the name is given,\nwas not formally made into a deer forest till 1814, but its loneliness\nmade it a favourite haunt of wild game at all times. There was not a\nhouse in the large extent of near thirty square miles beyond a hut for\nthe shelter of hunters. Captain MacPherson of Ballychro\u00e4n, an officer\nin the army, with some friends and gillies were passing the night of\nthe 31st December, 1800, in this hut, when an avalanche, or whirlwind,\nor some unusual and destructive agency came upon them, and swept before\nit the building and all its inmates. When people came to look for the\nmissing hunters they found the hut levelled to the ground, and its\nfragments scattered far and wide. The men\u2019s bodies were scattered over\ndistances of half a mile from the hut; the barrels of their guns were\ntwisted, and over all there was a deep covering of snow, with here and\nthere a man\u2019s hand protruding through it. The whole Highlands rang\nwith the catastrophe, and it is still to be heard of in the Hebrides\nas well as in the district in which it occurred. Popular superstition\nconstructed upon it a wild tale of diabolical agency.\n\nCaptain MacPherson was popularly known as \u201cThe Black Officer of\nBallychro\u00e4n\u201d (_Ofhichier du Bailechrodhain_). He is accused of being\na \u201cdark savage\u201d man (_dorcha doirbh_), who had forsaken his wife and\nchildren, and had rooms below his house, whence the cries of people\nbeing tortured were heard by those who passed the neighbourhood at\nnight. About the end of 1800 he was out among the Ga\u00efck hills with a\nparty of hunters, and passed the night in the hut mentioned. Late at\nnight strange noises were heard about the house, and the roof was like\nto be knocked in about the ears of the inmates. First came an unearthly\nslashing sound, and then a noise as if the roof were being violently\nstruck with a fishing rod. The dogs cowered in terror about the\nmen\u2019s feet. The captain rose and went out, and one of his attendants\noverheard him speaking to something, or some one, that answered with\nthe voice of a he-goat. This being reproached him with the fewness of\nthe men he had brought with him, and the Black Officer promised to\ncome next time with a greater number.\n\nOf the party who went on the next hunting expedition not one returned\nalive. The servant who said he had heard his master speaking to the\ndevil refused positively to be one of the party, neither threats nor\npromises moved him, and others followed his example. Only one of the\nprevious party, a Macfarlane from Rannoch, a good and pious man it\nis said, went. It was observed that this day the officer left his\nwatch and keys at home, a thing he had never been known to do before.\nMacfarlane\u2019s body was not found on the same day with the rest. It was\ncarried further from the hut than the searchers thought of looking, and\na person who had found before the body of one lost among the hills,\nwas got to look for his remains. There is a saying that if a person\nfinds a body once he is more apt to find another. When the melancholy\nprocession with the dead bodies was on the way from the forest, even\nthe elements were not at peace, but indicated the agency that had been\nat work. The day became exceedingly boisterous with wind and rain, so\nmuch so, when the Black Officer\u2019s body was foremost, that the party was\nunable to move on, and the order had to be changed.\n\nTwo songs at least were composed on the occasion. One, strong in its\npraises of Captain MacPherson, will be found in _Duanaire_, p. 13; the\nother, among other things, says of him\u2014\n\n  \u201cThe Black Officer of Ballychro\u00e4n it was,\n  He turned his back on wife and children;\n  Had he fallen in the wars in France,\n    The loss was not so lamentable.\u201d[95]\n\n\nTHE BUNDLE OF FERN.\n\nA shepherd in Benderloch saw a large bundle of ferns rolling down the\nhillside, and, in addition to the downward motion given by the incline,\nit seemed to have a motion of its own. It disappeared down a waterfall.\nOf course this was Black Donald; what else could it be?\n\n\nTHE PIG IN THE INDIGO POT.\n\nA former tenant of the farm of Holm, in Skye, and his wife had gone\nto bed, leaving a large pot full of indigo dye on the floor. The pig\ncame in and fell into the pot. The wife got up to see what the noise\nwas, and on looking into the pot saw the green snout of a pig jerking\nout of the troubled water. She roared out that the devil was in the\npot. Her husband shouted in return to put on the lid, and jumping in\ngreat excitement out of bed, he threw his weight on the lid to keep\nit down till the devil was drowned. His wife was remarkable for always\ncommending what her husband did, and kept repeating, \u201cMany a person you\nwill confer a favour on this night, Murdoch\u201d (_Is iomadh duine d\u2019an\ndean thusa feum a nochd, a Mhurchiadh_). At last the noise in the pot\nsubsided, and Murdoch nearly called up the party he had sought to drown\non finding it was his own pig he had been so zealously destroying.\n\n\nAMONG THE TAILORS.\n\nIt is a saying that the only trade that the devil has been unable\nto learn is that of tailoring. The reason is that when he went to\ntry, every tailor left the room, and having no one to instruct him,\nhe omitted to put a knot on the thread he began to sew with. In\nconsequence the thread always came away with him, and he gave up the\ntrade in despair. It is presumed that he wanted to learn the trade to\nmake clothes for himself, as no one would undertake the making of them.\n\n\nTAGHAIRM, OR \u201cGIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE DEVIL.\u201d\n\nThe awful ceremony to which this name was given was also known among\nold men as \u201cgiving his supper to the devil.\u201d It consisted in roasting\ncats alive on spits till the arch-fiend himself appeared in bodily\nshape. He was compelled then to grant whatever wish the persons who\nhad the courage to perform the ceremony preferred, or, if that was the\nobject of the magic rite, to explain and answer whatever question was\nput to him.\n\nTradition in the West Highlands makes mention of three instances of\nits performance, and it is a sort of tribute to the fearless character\nof the actors that such a rite should be ascribed to them. It was\nperformed by Allan the Cattle-lifter (_Ailein nan creach_)[96] at\n_Dail-a-chait_ (the Cats\u2019 Field), as it has since been called, in\nLochaber, and by Dun Lachlan (_Lachunn odhar_) in the big barn at\nPennygown (_sabhal m\u00f2r Peighinn-a-ghobhann_), in Mull. The details of\nthese two ceremonies are so exactly the same that there is reason to\nthink they must both be versions of an older legend. Nothing appears to\ncreate a suspicion that the one account was borrowed from the other.\nThe third instance of its performance was by some of the \u201cchildren of\nQuithen\u201d (_Clann \u2019ic Cuithen_), a small sept in Skye, now absorbed, as\nso many minor septs have been, into the great family of the Macdonalds.\nThe scene was a natural cavity called the \u201cMake-believe Cave\u201d (_an\nEaglais Bhr\u00e9ige_), on East Side, Skye. There is the appearance of\nan altar beside this church, and the locality accords well with the\nalleged rite. The following is the Mull legend.\n\nLachlan O\u00e4r and a companion, Allan, the son of Hector (_Ailein Mac\nEachuinn_)\u2014some say he had two companions\u2014shut themselves up in the\nbarn at Pennygown, on the Sound of Mull, and putting cats on spits\nroasted them alive at a blazing fire. By-and-bye other cats came in and\njoined in the horrible howling of those being roasted, till at last\nthe beams (_sparrun an tighe_) were crowded with cats, and a concert\nof caterwauling filled the house. The infernal noise almost daunted\nLachlan O\u00e4r, especially when the biggest of the cats said, \u201cWhen my\nbrother the Ear of Melting comes\u2014\u201d Allan the son of Hector did not\nallow the sentence to be finished. \u201cAway cat,\u201d he cried, and then added\nto his companion, in an expression which has become proverbial in the\nHighlands when telling a person to attend to the work he has in hand,\nand never mind what discouragements or temptations may come in his\nway, \u201cWhatever you see or hear, keep the cat turning\u201d (_De sam bith a\nch\u00ec no chluinneas tu, cum an cat mun cuairt_). Dun Lachlan, recovering\ncourage, said, \u201cI will wait for him yet, and his son too.\u201d At last the\nEar of Melting came among the other cats on the beams, and said, while\nall the other cats kept silence, \u201cDun Lachlan, son of Donald, son of\nNeil, that is bad treatment of a cat\u201d (_Lachuinn uidhir \u2019ic Dh\u00f2\u2019uill ic\nN\u00e9ill, \u2019s olc an c\u00e0ramh cait sin_). Allan to this called out as before,\n\u201cWhatever you see or hear, keep the cat turning,\u201d and the fearful rite\nwas proceeded with. At last the Ear of Melting sprang to the floor\nand said, \u201cWhomsoever the Ear of Melting makes water upon will not\nsee the face of the Trinity\u201d (_Ge b\u2019e co air a m\u00f9in Cluas a Leoghaidh\ncha \u2019n fhaic e gn\u00f9is na Trianaid_). \u201cThe cross of the sword in your\nhead, wretch; your water is sweat\u201d (_Crois a chlaidheamh a\u2019d cheann, a\nbhiasd; \u2019s tu m\u00f9n fallais_), answered Dun Lachlan, and he struck the\ncat on the head with the hilt of his two-handed sword. Immediately the\ndevil, under the potent spell, assumed his proper shape, and asked\nhis wild summoners what they wanted with him? One asked _Conach \u2019us\nclann_ (\u201cProsperity and children\u201d), and Dun Lachlan asked \u201cProperty\nand prosperity, and a long life to enjoy it\u201d (_Cuid \u2019us conach, \u2019us\nsaoghal fada na cheann_). The devil rushed out through the door crying,\n\u201cProsperity! Prosperity! Prosperity!\u201d (_Conach! Conach! Conach!_)\n\nThe two men obtained their desires, but were obliged (some say) to\nrepeat the _taghairm_ every year to keep the devil to the mark.\n\nWhen Dun Lachlan was on his deathbed his nephew came to see him, and in\nthe hope of frightening the old fellow into repentance, went through\na stream near the house and came in with his shoes full of water. \u201cMy\nsister\u2019s son,\u201d said Lachlan, \u201cwhy is there water in your shoe?\u201d (_a\nmhic mo pheathar, c\u2019 arson tha bogan a\u2019a bhr\u00f3ig?_) The nephew then\ntold that the _two_ companions who had been along with Lachlan in\nthe performance of the _taghairm_, and who were both by this time\nlong dead, had met him near the house, and to escape from them he had\nseveral times to cross the running stream: that they told him their\nposition was now in the bad place, and that they were waiting for his\nuncle, who, if he did not repent, would have to go along with them. The\nold man, on hearing this melancholy message, said, \u201cIf I and my two\ncompanions were there, and we had three short swords that would neither\nbend nor break, there is not a devil in the place but we would make a\nprisoner of.\u201d[97] After this the nephew gave up all hopes of leading\nhim to repentance.\n\nA native of the island of Coll and his wife came to see him. Lachlan\nasked them what brought them? \u201cTo ask,\u201d said the Coll man, \u201ca yoke of\nhorses you yourself got from the devil\u201d (_dh\u2019 iarraidh seirreach each\nfhuair thu fhein o\u2019n douus_). Lachlan refused this and sent the man\naway, but he sent a person to overhear what remarks the man and his\nwife might make after leaving. The wife said, \u201cWhat a wild eye the man\nhad?\u201d (_Nach b\u2019 fhiadhaich an t-s\u00f9il bh\u2019aig an duin \u2019ud?_) Her husband\nreplied, \u201cDo you suppose it would be an eye of softness and not a\nsoldier\u2019s eye, as should be?\u201d (_Saoil am bi suil an t-slauchdain, ach\ns\u00f9il an t-saighdeir mar bu ch\u00f2ir?_) On this being reported to Lachlan,\nhe called the Coll man back and gave him what he wanted.\n\nMartin, in his _Description of the Western Islands_, p. 110, quoted\nby Scott (_Lady of the Lake_, note 2 T), after describing a mode of\n_Taghairm_ by taking a man by the feet and arms to a boundary stream\nand bumping him against the bank till little creatures came from the\nsea to answer the question of which the solution was sought, says:\u2014\u201cI\nhad an account from the most intelligent and judicious men in the Isle\nof Skie, that about sixty-two years ago the oracle was thus consulted\nonly once, and that was in the parish of Kilmartin, on the east side,\nby a wicked and mischievous set of people, who are now extinguished,\nboth root and branch.\u201d The _Taghairm_ here referred to seems to be\nthat above-mentioned as having been performed by the M\u2018Quithens in the\nMake-believe or False Cave on East Side, Skye. The race have not borne\na good reputation, if any value is to be attached to a rhyme concerning\nthem and other minor septs in Skye:\u2014\n\n  \u201cThe M\u2018Cuthan, expert in lies,\n  The M\u2018Quithens, expert in base flattery,\n  The M\u2018Vannins, expert as thieves,\n  Though no bigger than a dagger handle.\u201d[98]\n\nAnother method of _Taghairm_, described by Martin, was by wrapping a\nperson in a cow-hide, all but his head, and leaving him all night in\na remote and lonely spot. Before morning his \u201cinvisible friends\u201d gave\nhim a proper answer to the question in hand, or, as Scott explains it,\n\u201cwhatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination, passed\nfor the inspiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt the desolate\nrecesses.\u201d This method of divination cannot have been common; at least\nthe writer has been able to find no trace of it.\n\nAs a third mode of _Taghairm_, Martin briefly describes that above\ndetailed, viz., the roasting of a live cat on a spit till at last a\nvery large cat, attended by a number of lesser cats, comes and answers\nthe question put to him.\n\nBoth Martin and Scott fall into the error of supposing that the object\nof the _Taghairm_ was solely divination, to ascertain the future, the\nissue of battles, the fate of families, etc. The mode by roasting live\ncats was too fearful a ceremony to be resorted to except for adequate\nreasons, and the obtaining of worldly prosperity, which was the object\nof the Mull _Taghairm_, is a more likely reason than curiosity or\nanxiety as to a future event.\n\nThe naming of the word _Taghairm_ is not at first sight obvious. There\nis no doubt about the last syllable being _gairm_, a call. _Ta_ is\nprobably the same root that appears in so many words, as _tannasg_,\n_taibhse_, etc., denoting spectres, spirits, wraiths, etc., and\n_Taghairm_ means nothing else than the \u2018spirit-call,\u2019 in fact, \u201cthe\ncalling of spirits from the vasty deep.\u201d\n\n\nGLAS GHAIRM\u2014POWER OF OPENING LOCKS.\n\nThis was a rhyme or incantation by which the person possessing the\nknowledge of it could shut the mouths of dogs and open locks. It was\nreckoned a very useful gift for young men who went a-wooing. Archibald,\nson of Murdoch, or, as he was also popularly known, Archibald the\nLight-headed (_Gileasbuig Mhurchaidh, G. Eutrom_), who was about twenty\nyears ago a well-known character in Skye and its neighbourhood, knew\nthe charm, but when he repeated it he spoke so fast that no one was\nable to learn it from him, and as to his teaching of it to any one,\nthat was out of the question. Poor Archibald was mad, and when roused\nwas furiously so. He went about the country attending markets and\nwherever there was a gathering of people, and found everywhere open\nquarters throughout that hospitable island. Indeed, it was not wise\nto contradict him. He had a keen and ready wit, as numerous sayings\nascribed to him testify, and composed several songs of considerable\nmerit. The fear which dogs had of him, and which made them crouch into\ncorners on seeing him, was commonly ascribed to his having the _Glas\nGhairm_, but no doubt was owing to the latent madness which his eyes\nbetrayed, and of which dogs have an instinctive and quicker perception\nthan men. On their offering the slightest sign of hostility, Archibald\nwould knock out their brains without as much as looking at their\nmasters.\n\nThe _Glas Ghairm_ was supposed to be in some way connected with the\nsafety of Israel on the night before the Exodus, \u201cagainst any of the\nchildren of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or\nbeast\u201d (Ex. xi. 7).\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] The words Elfin and Fairy are, in these pages, used indifferently\nas equivalents of the Gaelic names, s\u00ecth (or shi) people, etc.\n\n[2] These virtues it is to have only thrice, and it has been already\nunfurled twice. Many of the common people wanted it brought out at the\ntime of the potato failure.\n\n[3] Fairy motion, _i.e._ not rising and falling on the waves, but\ngliding smoothly along.\n\n[4]\n\n  \u201cSeachad air Grianaig,\n    Mar fhiadh nam beann fuara,\n  Direadh ri uchd garbhlaich,\n    \u2019S an sealgair ga ruagadh,\n  Ise is siubhal, s\u00ecth aice,\n    S\u00ecnteagan uallach,\n    Sgoltadh nan tonn uaine\n      \u2019S a fuaradh air ch\u00e0ch.\u201d\n              Long aig Callum MacSh\u00ecomain.\n\n[5]\n\n  \u201cGed is math an cala dh\u2019 fh\u00e0g sinn,\n  Gum bu fearr an cala fhuair sinn.\u201d\n\n[6] Few villages in the Highlands of Scotland are without a _sh\u00ef-en_ in\ntheir neighbourhood, and often a number are found close to each other.\nStrontian, well known to geologists from the mineral which bears its\nname, is _Sr\u00f2n an t-s\u00ecthein_, \u201cthe nose of the Fairy hillock.\u201d\n\n[7] _Bonnach beag boise, gun bhloigh gun bhearn, Eirich \u2019s big sinne a\nstigh_, _i.e._ Little cake, without gap or fissure, rise and let us in,\nis the Elfin call.\n\n[8] In the north of Ireland the band was taken off the spinning wheel\nto prevent the Fairies spoiling the linen.\n\n[9] Similarly, in Dorsetshire fossil belemnites are called colepexies\u2019\nfingers, and in Northumberland a fungous excrescence, growing about the\nroots of old trees, is called Fairy butter. So in Ireland, the round\ntowers are ascribed to them.\n\n[10] Campbell\u2019s _West Highland Tales_, ii. 46.\n\n[11] The use of some kind of mill, generally a hand mill, is as\nuniversal as the growth of grain, and the necessity for reducing the\nsolid grain into the more palatable form of meal no doubt led to its\nearly invention. The Gaelic _meil_ (or _beil_), to grind, the English\n_mill_, the Latin _mola_, and the Greek \u03bc\u03c5\u03bb\u03b7, show that it was\nknown to the Aryan tribes at a period long anterior to history. The\nhandmill mentioned in Scripture, worked by two women, seems the same\nwith that still to be found in obscure corners in the West Highlands.\n\nAn instrument so useful to man in the less advanced stages of his\ncivilization could not fail to be looked upon with much respect and\ngood feeling. In the Hebrides it was rubbed every Saturday evening\nwith a wisp of straw \u2018for payment\u2019 of its benevolent labours (_sop ga\nshuathadh ris a bhr\u00e0 ga p\u00e0igheadh_). Meal ground in it is coarser than\nordinary meal, and is known as _gairbhein_.\n\n[12] Other charms used on the occasion were the taking of the woman to\nbe delivered several times across the byre-drain (_inne_), the opening\nof every lock in the house, and ceremonies by means of\n\n  \u201cA grey hank of flax and a cockscomb,\n  Two things against the commandments.\u201d\n\nThese practices seem to have been known only to the very superstitious,\nand to have been local. The first belonged to Ross-shire, the second to\nthe north-west mainland of Argyllshire, and the last to Tiree.\n\n[13] Carleton (_Tales and Stories_, p. 74) mentions an Irish belief\nof a kindred character connected with oatmeal. When one crossed _fair\ngurtha_, or hungry grass (Scot., _feur gorta_, famine grass), a spot\non which the Fairies had left one of their curses, he was struck with\nweakness and hunger, but, \u201cif the person afflicted but tasted as\nmuch meal or flour as would lie on the point of a penknife, he will\ninstantaneously break the spell of the Fairies, and recover his former\nstrength.\u201d\n\n[14]\n\n  Cha bu luath Luran\n  Mar a bhi cruas arain.\n\n[15]\n\n  Lurain, Lurain Mhic-ille-dhui\n  Thoir ort clacha du a chladaich.\n\n[16]\n\n  \u201cDlighe gobhainn gual\n  Is iarrunn fuar a chuir amach\n  \u2019S dlighe coire cn\u00e0imh\n  \u2019Se thighinn sl\u00e0n gu tigh.\u201d\n\n[17]\n\n  \u201cA Gheur bhalbh ud, \u2019s a Gheur bhalbh,\n  Th\u00e0inig oirnnn a t\u00ecr na marbh,\n  Dh\u2019 fhuadaich an coire o\u2019n bhrugh,\u2014\n  Fuasgail an dul is leig an Garbh.\u201d\n\n[18] D\u00ecomaich is mi-bhuaidh air an fhear a dh\u2019iarr oirnn crann m\u00f2r\nluinge fada dheanadh de mhaide bhola li\u00f2n.\n\n[19] Cuir an fhallaid anns\u2019 a bhalgan, agus sn\u00ecomh an toban mara\nchriomas a chaora an tom.\n\n[20] Beannachd dhuit-sa ach mollachd do bheul t\u2019 ionnsachaidh.\n\n[21]\n\n  \u201cD\u00f9in an uinneaga tuath,\n    \u2019S gu luath an uinneaga deas;\n  \u2019S d\u00f9in uinneag na h-\u00e0irde \u2019n iar,\n    Cha d\u2019thainig ole riamh o\u2019n \u00e0irde \u2019n ear.\u201d\n\n[22] Am bi thu mar sin daonnan, a bhuineagag?\n\n[23] The man in Flodigarry got rid of his Fairy assistants by telling\nthem to bale out the sea.\n\n[24]\n\n  C\u00ecream, c\u00e0rdam, tl\u00e0mam, cuigealam,\n  Beairt fhighe gu luath,\n  \u2019S b\u00f9rn luadh air teine,\n  Obair, obair, obair.\n\n[25]\n\n  D\u00f9n-Bhuirbh ri theine\n  Gun ch\u00f9, gun duine,\n  Mo chearslagan sn\u00e0th\n  \u2019S mo phocanan mine.\n\n[26] The natives preserve the true name of the place when they call it\n\u201cThe Lairgs.\u201d\n\n[27]\n\n  \u201cMar an eidheann ris a chreig\n    \u2019S mar an iadh-shlat ris an fhiodh,\n  Mar an fhe\u00f2il mun chn\u00e0imh\n    \u2019S mar an cn\u00e0imh mun smior.\u201d\n\n[28]\n\n  \u201cA phiuthrag, \u2019s a phiuthrag chaidreach,\n  An cuimhne leat oidhche nan capull?\n  Seachd bliadhn\u2019 on thugadh as mi,\n  \u2019S bean mo choltais riamh cha-n fhacas,\n        Ialai horro, horro,\n        Ialai horro h\u00ec.\u201d\n\n[29] \u201cIs glas do leanamh.\u201d \u201cIs glas am fiar \u2019s f\u00e0saidh e.\u201d \u201cIs trom do\nleanamh.\u201d \u201cIs trom gach torrach.\u201d \u201cIs eutrom do leanamh.\u201d \u201cIs eutrom\ngach saoghaltach sona.\u201d\n\n  \u201cIs glas an duilleach \u2019s glas am feur,\n    \u2019S glas an tuadh am bheil a chas,\n  \u2019S chaneil ni thig roimh thalamh,\n    Nach eil gn\u00e8 ghlaise na aoraibh.\u201d\n\nThe first two lines of this quatrain occur also in a song on the\ndeceitfulness of women, by a young man, whose first love had forsaken\nhim. She \u201ckilled him with a stony stare,\u201d and merely asked, \u201cwhence\ncomes the sallow stripling?\u201d (\u201c_Co ar tha\u2019n corra-ghille glas?_\u201d)\n\n[30] Ma tha t\u00f9r aig marbh, nach bi thu oidhche dh\u00ecth do leabaidh.\n\n[31] My informant could not say whether this was seed-time (_m\u00e0rt\ncur an t-s\u00ecl_) or harvest (_m\u00e0rt buain_); probably the former (cf.\nCampbell\u2019s _West Highland Tales_, ii., p. 98).\n\n[32] It may interest the reader that the man (a shrewd enough person in\nordinary life) from whom this story was heard, adduced it as proof of\nthe existence of Fairies, of which he said there could be no doubt; he\nhad heard the story from his father, who knew the weaver.\n\n[33] Iarr air cho\u00ecr e, \u2019s gun agam ach mi fh\u00ecn.\n\n[34]\n\n  Dh\u2019iarr a mhugaill a mhagaill\n  Iased an du-lugaill lagaill\n    Thoirt a mhagaill as an t-si\u00f2l.\n\n[35]\n\n  \u201cMuc dhearg, muc dhearg,\n  Muc leth-chluasach dhearg,\n  Mharbh Fionn le Mac-a-Luin,\n  \u2019S a thug e air a mhuin gu Druim-dearg.\u201d\n\n[36] Tha e na each bagais aig na s\u00ecthchean an c\u00e0rn na Sleabhach, agus\ngad seillich na bhialthaobh.\n\nAlasdair used to say the men of the present day were very small\ncompared to their ancestors, and to prophecy with his teetotum, they\nwould continue growing smaller and smaller, till at last it would take\nsix of them to pull a wisp of hay.\n\n[37]\n\n  \u201cGed bu mhath an cala dh\u2019fh\u00e0g sinn,\n  Seachd fearr an cala fhuais sinn.\u201d\n\n[38] \u201cM\u00e0rt a threabh mi, m\u00e0rt a chuir mi, m\u00e0rt a bhuain mi; Fhir a\ndh\u2019\u00f2rduich na tr\u00ec m\u00e0irt, na leig na bheil san r\u00f2p\u2019 uamsa.\u201d \u201cL\u00e0mh\nt\u2019athar \u2019s do sheanar ort, bha feum agad labhairt.\u201d\n\n[39] Gregory\u2019s _West Highlands and Islands_, p. 285.\n\n[40] Tradition is pretty uniform that Sir Lachlan was killed by the\narrow of a little man, and the above is probably only a superstitious\nversion of the real circumstances. The story of powerful warriors,\nhowever, struck in the forehead by the arrows of little men, like the\nstories of Tell and the apple, and Alfred and the cakes, is told of too\nmany persons to be above the suspicion of being a popular myth.\n\nThe natives of one of the villages in Tiree are known by the nickname\nof \u201cClann Du-shith\u201d and \u201cS\u00ecthbheirean.\u201d The assertion that Du-s\u00ecth was\nthe ancient name of Duncan is incorrect, as one of those from whom the\nvillage nickname was derived was called Donnchadh m\u00f2r mac Dhu-sh\u00ecth.\nThe little man, who killed Lachunn Mor is also known as an _t-ochdarann\nbodaich_, the eighth part measure of a carle.\n\n[41] It is often observable in popular tales that articles of\nmodern use are ascribed to those who lived before their invention.\nAnachronisms are not heeded in popular lore.\n\n[42] This _D\u00f2\u2019il MacJain_ is probably the _D\u00f2\u2019il du beag Innse-ruithe_,\na celebrated bowman and follower of Cameron of Locheil, and, as his\nname denotes, a person of small stature, who, according to tradition,\nshot the arrow that nailed the hand of Big Angus Macian (Aonghas M\u00f2r\nMac\u2019ic E\u00f2in) of Ardnamurchan, one of the most stalwart men of his day,\nto his forehead, in Coir Ospuinn, in Morvern, circ. A.D. 1596. Others\nsay _Jain du beag_ (little black John) was the hunter whose arrow\nstruck the hind. Another (perhaps the same) celebrated Lochaber archer\nwas _Jain beag a bhuilg bh\u00e0in_ (little John of the white bag) from\nCoiruanain.\n\n[43] Several versions of the song will be found in Campbell\u2019s _Leabhar\nna Feinne_, p. 198. According to the Skye tradition, the secret of\nOisian\u2019s birth was not known till notice was taken of his never eating\nvenison like the rest of the host. On being questioned, he said, \u201cWhen\neveryone picks his mother\u2019s shank bone, I will pick my own mother\u2019s\nslender shank bone.\u201d\n\n[44] This version was originally taken down in Gaelic from the\nrecitation of Malcolm Sinclair, Balefuill, Tiree. The tale was known\nin Ireland, and the reputation of it still survives very extensively\nthroughout the Highlands.\n\n[45] This rendering of the popular incantation differs somewhat from\nthat given by Mr. Campbell himself. The Gaelic version is the best the\nwriter has been able to fall in with. Var. _An laogh maol carrach is\nmiosa na ainm_, \u201cthe polled-scabbed calf, that is worse than its name,\ntake off your head,\u201d etc.\n\n[46] This version of the story is from Skye. A version from Uist\nis given in Campbell\u2019s _Tales of the West Highlands_, ii. 68. It\nvaries merely in representing the thirsty man as a traveller, who,\nin consequence of refusing from the Fairy the drink for which he had\nwished, was drowned at the next ferry.\n\n[47] This creature, haunting the pastures of the cattle, partakes\nmore strongly of the character of the _Glaistig_, afterwards to be\ndescribed, than of the Fairy women.\n\n[48]\n\n  \u201cPaidhir de na cailean guagach\n  Cuir mu\u2019n cuairt na brathuinn-oran.\u201d\n\n[49] The same incident is related of the Sron-Charmaig Glaistig.\n\n[50] Both names have the same meaning, being derived from a kind of\nhead-dress (_ceann-eididh, cuaraig_) peculiar to the clan.\n\n[51] The last two lines suggest this to be a modern composition, and\nnot a popular tradition. Supernatural beings do not go away in flames\nin Highland superstition.\n\n[52]\n\n  \u201cCoir Mhic-Mhaoilein air a Chnap,\n  Fhads\u2019 a bhuaileas tonn air creig.\u201d\n\n[53] Bheir mise mo bhriathrun, nach d\u2019 th\u00e9id mis\u2019 air na sg\u00e0lun ciadna\nrithis.\n\n[54] It was said of Dougall, that when he wanted a sheep he drove a\nwhole flock through a particular gap in the rocks, while his wife stood\nin waiting to catch the animal fixed upon. Once she allowed this sheep\nto pass, and Dougall asked her what she meant. \u201cHow,\u201d she said, \u201ccould\nI take the sheep of my own godfather?\u201d (goistidh). Dougall replied,\n\u201cThe man might be your godfather, but the sheep was not your godfather.\u201d\n\n[55] This story of Glaistig officiousness is an appropriation of a\nfloating tale that had its origin long previous to Mac Ian Year\u2019s time.\n\n[56] In olden times a wall (of turf) was commonly built to separate\nthe crop land from the hill ground, and was known as _G\u00e0radh br\u00e0gh\u2019d_,\nor Upper Wall. The ground above the _G\u00e0radh br\u00e0gh\u2019d_ was known as the\n_Eirbhe_.\n\n[57]\n\n  \u201cInghean oighre Bhaile-cliath\n  Cha cheilinn a thriath nan lann,\n  \u2019S do Ghruagach Eilein nan eun,\n  \u2019S ann a rug mi f\u00e9in mo chlann.\u201d\n\n[58] The trews went into the shoe, close-fitted to the legs, and was\nfastened with a buckle at the waist.\n\n[59]\n\n  \u201cTriuthas air Gunna\n    \u2019S Gunna ris a bhuachailleachd,\n  \u2019S na na mheal Gunna \u2019n triuthar\n    Ma ni e tuille cuallaich.\u201d\n\n[60] Such was the terror inspired a few years ago by a report that\nthe Water-horse of Loch Meudaidh had made its re-appearance that the\nnatives would not take home peats that they had cut at the end of the\nloch by boat (the only way open to them), and the fuel was allowed to\ngo waste.\n\n[61] A Water-horse was killed in Skye, where the stream from Eisgeadal\nfalls into Loch Fada, at the foot of Storr, by sticking a knife into\nit. It had previously killed a man.\n\n[62] _Corc-chluasach_ is also applied to calves the ears of which are\nin any way naturally marked, as if with a knife, slit in the points,\nserrated in the upper part, or with a piece out of the back.\n\n[63] The big beast of Scanlastle in Islay was one of this kind. It\ndevoured seven horses on its way to Loch-in-daal. A ship was lying\nat anchor in the loch at the time, and a line of barrels filled with\ndeadly spikes, and with pieces of flesh laid upon them, was placed from\nthe shore to the ship. Tempted by the flesh, the \u2018loathly worm\u2019 made\nits way out on the barrels and was killed by the spikes and cannon.\n\n[64]\n\n  \u201cBuail an t-\u00f2rd, a ghobachain,\n  No buailidh mi sa cheann thu.\u201d\n\n[65] \u201cIs mise nach d\u2019\u00e9irich air mo l\u00e0imh dheis an duigh.\u201d\n\n[66]\n\n  \u201cMeirleach salainn \u2019s m\u00e9irleach frois,\n  Da mheirleach nach fhaigh fois;\n  Ge b\u2019e co thig no nach d\u2019thig a nios,\n  Cha d\u2019thig meirleach an l\u00ecn ghlais.\u201d\n\n[67] _Leagadh-iochd_ is the remission of arrears of rent, lit. a\nmerciful letting down.\n\n[68] _Manadaireachd._\n\n[69] The Bait-stone (_Clach shuill_) was a stone on which to break\nshell-fish, potatoes, etc., to be thrown into the water to attract\nfish. The broken bait was called _soll_, _faoire_.\n\n[70]\n\n  \u201cA neach tha gam iomradh,\n  Mar h-ann air mo leas e,\n  Esan bhi ga iomluain\n  Air sgeanabh geura glasa,\n  Cadal an tom seangain da,\n  \u2019S na na cadal fallain da;\n  Ach baobh eadar e \u2019s an dorus,\n  \u2019S mis\u2019 eadar e \u2019s a chuid \u2019s a chadal.\n  Cliath-chliat iarruinn a sgr\u00ecobadh a mhionaich,\n  ... Cailleach nharbh....\u201d\n\n[71]\n\n  \u201cTha deuchainn agam dhuit,\n  Tha sealltuinn agam ort,\n  Eadar c\u00f2ig aisnean cl\u00e9ibh Chriosd;\n  Ma tha \u2019n d\u00e0n no \u2019n ceadachadh dhuit,\n  Feum dheanadh dhiom,\n  Tog do l\u00e0mh dheas a suas,\n  \u2019S na luaith i n\u00ecos.\u201d\n\n[72]\n\n  \u201cIs tric a mharcaich mi le \u2019m shr\u00e9in\n  An dream gam bheil the fh\u00e9in \u2019s do bhean.\u201d\n\n[73] _Tom-na-h-iubhraich_, the Boat Mound, probably derives its name\nfrom its resemblance to a boat, bottom upwards. Another popular account\nmakes it the abode of the Feinn\u00e9, or Fin Mac Coul and his men. There\nis a huge chain suspended from the roof, and if any mortal has the\ncourage to strike it three times with his fist, the heroes will rise\nagain. A person struck it twice, and was so terrified by the howling of\nthe big dogs (_donnal na con m\u00f2ra_) that he fled. A voice called after\nhim, \u201cWretched mischief-making man, that worse hast left than found\u201d\n(_Dhuine dhon a dh\u00f2laich, \u2019s miosa dh\u2019fh\u00e0g na fhuair_).\n\n[74]\n\n  \u201cDar thigedh sluagh Tom na h-iubhraich,\n  Co dh\u2019 eireadh air t\u00f9s ach T\u00f2mas?\u201d\n\n[75]\n\n  \u201cNuair thig T\u00f2mas le chuid each,\n  Bi latha nan creach air Cluaidh,\n  Millear naoi m\u00ecle fear maith,\n  \u2019S theid righ \u00f2g air a chr\u00f9n.\u201d\n\n[76] \u201cBi sia baintighearnun diag as deigh an aon t\u00e0illeir chr\u00f9baich.\u201d\n\n[77] \u201cMeair thig an cro b\u00e0n do Bhl\u00e0r, cuirear seachd cuir de chuibhle\nmhuilinn Bhl\u00e0ir le fuil sluaigh.\u201d\n\n[78] \u201cCuiridh claigionn na caorach an crann \u2019s fheum, no an crann\naraidh air an fharadh;\n\n  Thig a mhuir deas air a mhuir tuath;\n  Bi Albainn na criosun geala,\n  \u2019S meall \u00f2ir ann am bun gach glinne.\u201d\n\n[79] \u201cOlaidh am fitheach a sh\u00e0th, bhar an l\u00e0ir, air mullach clach \u00e0rd\nan Uig.\u201d\n\n[80]\n\n  \u201cTobar T\u00e0th sin, \u2019s tobar T\u00e0th,\n  Tobar aig an cuirear bl\u00e0r,\n  \u2019S bi cnaimhean nam fear f\u00e0s\n        Air tr\u00e0igh bh\u00e0n Laorais\n  \u2019S marbhar Lachunn nan tr\u00ec Lachunn\n  Gu moch, moch, aig tobar T\u00e0th.\n  Al. Torcuil nan tr\u00ec Torcuil.\u201d\n\n[81] This stone is about ten ft. high, and is one of the three\nfragments into which a larger stone, used by an old woman of former\ndays as a hammer to knock limpets off the rocks (_\u00f2rd bh\u00e0irneach_),\nwas broken. Of the other two, one is in _Uigh an du tuath_, and one in\nTarnsa Islet. At a spot from which these three fragments can be seen,\nthere is hidden an urn of silver and an urn of gold (_croggan \u00f2ir \u2019s\ncr. airgid_). It is easy to find a place whence one can see two, but\nwhen about to see the third, one of the first two disappears. Five or\nsix yards make all the difference. A herdsman once found the spot, but\nwhen digging for the treasure he happened to see a heifer that had\nfallen on its back in a stream. He ran to its rescue, and never could\nfind the place again.\n\n[82] _C\u00e0th_, prob. a step path in a rock.\n\n[83]\n\n  \u201cBi muilionn air gach sruthan,\n  Crann an la\u00ecmh gach giullain,\n  Da thaobh Loch Tatha na gh\u00e0racha-c\u00e0il,\n  Cuiridh claigionn na caorach an crann o fheum,\n  \u2019S cuiridh ite g\u00e8oidh an cuimhn\u2019 a duine.\u201d\n\n[84] Does this refer to excommunication? A candle was then extinguished\nin water.\n\n[85] Perhaps this means burial with the face downwards. The mother of\nan illegitimate child, which died in infancy, and the paternity of\nwhich was denied, declared if she had known that would be the case, she\nwould have buried the child with its face downward. This was said to\nbe in Tiree, but all the writer\u2019s inquiries failed to find any one who\nhad ever heard of such a thing being done. It is a saying \u201ca down mouth\nto women if they are not to be found everywhere\u201d (_Beul s\u00ecos air na\nmnathan, mar faighear \u2019s gach \u00e0it iad_).\n\n[86] \u201cNach faicear toradh ad \u00ecm, no \u00ecm ann ad bhainne.\u201d\n\n[87] \u201cIs tric a bha mise \u2019g imlich na mias agus a\u2019 lomadh nan cn\u00e0mh an\ntigh t\u2019 athar.\u201d\n\n[88] \u201cGed thug mi biadh \u2019us c\u00e0ise \u2019s uibhean duit, air do dh\u00e0 l\u00e0imh,\nIogain \u2019ic Iogain, chuir thu \u2019n gad roi mo dh\u00f2rn.\u201d\n\n[89] The Mull doctor passed a house from which loud sounds of talking\nproceeded. He remarked that in that house were either twenty men or\nthree women.\n\n[90] This was _Nial na Buaile_, who lived in a house alone several\nmiles from any other house. The hollow is called _Sloc-an-t\u00e0ilisg_.\n\n[91] See page 304.\n\n[92] \u2019S \u00e0rd mharcaich thu \u2019n raoir a Mh\u00eccheil. Seall air do chois chl\u00ec.\nCeil orm \u2019s ceilidh mi ort.\n\n[93] _Fiacaill stor\u00e0ch_ means a buck tooth.\n\n[94]\n\n  \u201cA nollaig mu dheire de\u2019n cheud\n  Cha chuir mi e\u2019n aireamh na mias.\u201d\n\n[95]\n\n  \u201cOfhichier du Bhaile-chrodhain a bh\u2019ann,\n  Thr\u00e9ig e a bhean \u2019s a chlann\n  Nan do thuit e\u2019n cath na Fraing,\n    Cha bhiodh an call co farranach.\u201d\n\n[96] Allan was a native of Lochaber, the most notorious district in the\nHighlands for cattle-lifters, and derived his name from having lifted a\ncreach \u201cfor every year of his life, and one for every quarter he was in\nhis mother\u2019s womb.\u201d He died at the age of 34.\n\n[97] Nam bithinn fh\u00ecn\u2019s mo dh\u00e0 chompanach ann, \u2019s tr\u00ecgroilleinean\nagainn nach l\u00f9badh\u2019s nach briseadh, cha bhiodh deamhan a stigh nach\ncuireamaidan l\u00e0imh.\n\n[98] There is a venom and an emphasis in the original impossible to\nconvey in a translation.\n\n  \u201cClann \u2019ic Cuthain chuir nam briag,\n  Clann \u2019ic Cuithein chur an t-sodail,\n  Clann \u2019ic Mhannain chuir na braide\n  Ged nach b\u2019fhaid aid na cas biodaig.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n(_The figures refer to the page._)\n\n  A\n\n  _Ailmeid_ (explained), 103\n\n  Alasdair Challum, tale of, 94\n\n  Alfs, 11\n\n  Annat, 29\n\n  Apollo, 193\n\n  _Arabian Nights\u2019 Entertainment_, 132\n\n  Arasaig, 109, ff.\n\n  Ardnamurchan, 52, 55, 122, note; 183, 226\n\n  Arrows (fairy), 26, 154\n\n  Association-craft (assistance of the Folk), 98, 161\n\n  Augury, 250-257\n    omens, 251, 256, 257\n    outset of a journey, 253\n    unlucky animals, 254\n    unlucky to look back, 255\n\n\n  B\n\n  Bagpipes, 18\n\n  Bait-stone, 255, note\n\n  Baking, 232, 233\n\n  Banshee, 8, 22, 40, 44, 45, 51, 85, 107, 108, 118, 141\n\n  Barra, 59, 264\n\n  Bean-nighe (washing-woman), 42, 43\n\n  Beanshith, 8, 42, 102-105, 152, 157, 161\n\n  Beetles, 227\n\n  Beinn Feall, 96\n\n  Beltane (first night of summer), 18, 151, 234, 249\n\n  Ben Lawers, 275\n\n  Ben Lomond fairies, 60\n\n  Ben-y-Ghloe, 29, 94;\n    the wife of, 125, f.\n\n  Bernicle Goose, 221\n\n  Biasd na Grogaig, 217\n\n  Bible (a protection against fairies), 49, 168\n\n  Black Art, 285-288\n    Dog (_see_ Macphie of Colonsay)\n    Donald, tale of, 68, 69\n    William the Piper, 65\n\n  Blue Men, 199, f.\n\n  Boat Language, 239\n\n  Breadalbane, 274\n\n  Bridge of Awe, tale from, 88, 89\n\n  Brownie, 157, 186-193, 195, 196, 198\n\n\n  C\n\n  Cailleach, 243, 244\n\n  Caithness, 220\n\n  Callum, tale, 103\n\n  Callum Clark, tale, 60, 61\n\n  \u201cCalum Clever,\u201d tale, 72\n\n  Cameron of Locheil, 122, note; 286, 287\n\n  Campbells, 177, 187, 227\n\n  Campbell\u2019s _West Highland Tales_, 29, note; 59, 75, 116, 132, 190, 193\n    _Leabhar na Feinne_, 126, note\n\n  Cantyre, 117, 187\n\n  Carleton\u2019s _Tales and Stories_, 48, note\n\n  Carlin of the Spotted Hill, 122, 123\n\n  Carlin Wife, 28\n\n  Cats (fairy), 32\n\n  \u201cCauld Lad of Hilton,\u201d 188\n\n  Cere-cloth, 241\n\n  Chailleach, 243\n\n  Changelings, 38, 39, 90-92\n\n  Childbed (customs), 36, 37, 80\n\n  Children (deformities attributed to fairies), 39, 85\n\n  Clandonald, 117\n\n  Colkitto, 116\n\n  Coll, 69, 95, 96, 166, 208\n\n  Colonsay, 110, ff.\n\n  _Connan_, 291\n\n  Cows (and fairies), 134, 135, 137\n\n  Craignish, 52, 57\n\n  Cremona, 139\n\n\n  D\n\n  Deer, 109, 126, 132, ff.\n\n  Deiseal (right-hand turn), 35, 229, f.; 266\n\n  Devil, the, 289-312\n\n  Divination, 262-267\n\n  Dobhar (water), 217\n\n  Dogs (fairy), 30, 31, 109, 141, 144\n    (ordinary), 144-146, 191\n\n  Donald, son of John, 122, note\n    son of Patrick, 123, 124, 132\n\n  Dowart, 97\n\n  Dreams, 268\n\n  Druid, 193, 194\n\n  Duergar, 11\n\n  Duine sith (man of peace), 7, 101, note\n\n  Dundeacainn, 94\n\n  Dun Keneth, 272\n\n  Dunniquoich, 94\n\n  Du-sith (Black Elf) 101, note\n\n\n  E\n\n  Edda, 220\n\n  Eddy wind, 24, 25\n\n  Eels, 221\n\n  Elfin (_see_ Fairies), and 1, note\n    Queen, 45\n\n  Elle Woman (_see_ Bean shith)\n\n  Elves (_see_ Fairies)\n\n  Emmet, 228\n\n  Euphemisms, 237\n\n  Ewen, tale of, 73\n\n\n  F\n\n  F\u00e0gail (parting gift), 44, 154\n\n  Fairies\n    assistance from, 96-100\n    belief in, 1, 2\n    characteristics, 50, 51\n    churning, 137, 138\n    coming to houses, 73-76\n    defects, 15\n    dresses, 14, 15\n    dwellings, 11-14, note; 93-96\n    fallen angels, 199\n    festivities, 16, 18\n    food, 21\n    gifts, 22, 23, 153, 154\n    lifting by, 69-72\n    loan to, 58\n    Lowland, 76-78\n    metamorphosis, 109, 126, note 132, 133\n    music, 138, 139\n    names given to, 3-9\n    occupations, 15, 16, 161\n    Pennygown, 59\n    protection against, 46, 49\n    raids, 92, 93\n    seen when, 21\n    size of, 9, 11\n    stealing women and children, 78, ff.\n    thefts by, 32, ff.\n\n  _Fallaid_ cake, 48, 232, 233\n\n  Fallen angels, 199, 283\n\n  Familiar spirit, 8, 41\n\n  Faroe Islands, 191\n\n  Ferintosh, 62\n\n  Finlay\u2019s Sandbank, tale of, 57, ff.\n\n  Flounder, 223\n\n  Folk, _see_ fairies\u2019 names and, 11\n\n  Funerals, customs at, 241, f.\n\n\n  G\n\n  Ga\u00ebl, 139\n\n  Ga\u00efch catastrophe, 300, ff.\n\n  Gigelorum, 220\n\n  Glaisein, 190\n\n  Glaisrig (_see_ Glaistig)\n\n  Glaistig, 44, 45, 146, note; 155, ff.; 184, 190, 191\n    at Ardnadrochit, 175\n    at Baugh, 176\n    in Coll, 166\n    in Craignish, 173\n    at Dunolly, 166\n      Dunstaffnage C., 164\n      Garlios, 173, f.\n      Glenduror, 162\n      Glenorchy, 171\n      Hianish, 177\n      Inverawe House, 164\n    at Iona, 179\n    at Mearnig C., 166\n    in Mull, 179, 180, 183\n    at Sleat, 165\n    at Sron-Charmaig, 162, f.\n    in Strathglass, 167\n    at Strontian, 177, f.\n    at Ulva, 178\n\n  Glas Ghairm, 311\n\n  Glencoe, 265\n\n  Graham\u2019s _Highlands of Perthshire_, 7, 198\n\n  Greenock, 6\n\n  Greogach (Gruagach)\n\n  Gruagach, 156, 157, 165, 184, ff.; 193\n\n\n  H\n\n  Hallowe\u2019en, 61\n\n  Hallowmass, 18, 260\n\n  Hand mills (_see_ Querns)\n\n  \u201cHappy Hog\u201d, 99\n\n  Harris (district), 62, 136, 201, 222\n    Woman of, 66, f.\n\n  Harvest Maiden, 20\n\n  Hebrides, 6, 149, 199, 269\n    North, 14, 126, 199\n\n  Herring, 222\n\n  _Highland Society\u2019s Dictionary_, 157\n\n  Hinzelman, 191\n\n  Hobgoblin, 191\n\n  Horses, 30, 146-149\n\n\n  I\n\n  Imprecations, 277-281\n\n  Inveraray Castle, 54\n\n  Inverness-shire, 197\n\n  Iona, 62, 93, 107\n\n  Ireland, 127\n    King of, 132, 133, 184\n\n  Iron (and fairies), 152, f.\n\n  Islay, tales from, 86, 87, 100, 112, 117, 119\n\n  Isle of Man, 190\n\n\n  J\n\n  Johnson, Dr., 186\n\n  Jura, 112, 114, 121\n\n\n  K\n\n  Keightley\u2019s _Fairy Myth_, 188, 190\n\n  Kelpie, the, 215\n\n  Kennavarra, haunted by fairies, 78, 138, 141\n\n  Kennedy, tale of, 298, f.\n\n  King Otter (water-dog), 216\n\n  Knap (_see_ M\u2018Millan)\n\n  Kobold, 191\n\n\n  L\n\n  Labrador Indians, 90\n\n  Lachlan O\u00e4r, a tale of _taghairm_, 306, ff.\n\n  Lady of Lawers, her prophecies, 274, f.\n\n  Lammas day, 234, 249\n\n  Lamprey, 219\n\n  _Lar Familiaris_, 191\n\n  _Lares_, 191\n\n  Largs, 76, 78\n\n  Lavallan, 220\n\n  _Leannan sith_ (fairy sweetheart), 8, 41, 45, 195\n\n  Leg cake, 234\n\n  Leyden, 117, 118\n\n  Lobster, 223\n\n  Lochaber, 28, 52, 56, 122, note; 123, 135\n\n  Loch Gruinard, tale of battle of, 100\n\n  Lorn, 123, 144, 162\n\n  Luran Black, tale of, 52-57\n\n\n  M\n\n  MacCallum, the hunter, 90\n\n  MacCodrums of the seals, 284\n\n  MacCrimmon, piper, 66, 138-141\n\n  MacCuaric (Kennedy), tale of, 168, 171\n\n  Macdonalds, 100\n    of Keppoch, 286\n\n  MacDuffies (Macphies), 116\n\n  Mac-fir Arois, tale of, 205, ff.\n\n  Mac-Ian Year (Mac Iain Ghiarr), tale of, 181, ff.\n\n  Mackenzie of Brahan, 286\n\n  M\u2018Lear, tale of, 97, 98\n    Sir Lachlan Moir, 100, 101, note\n\n  Macleod (Clan), 269\n\n  Macleod\u2019s Fairy Banner, 5\n\n  Macleod of Macleod, 139\n\n  Macleods of Raasa, 57\n    of Skye, 5, 241\n\n  M\u2018Millan of Knap, tale of, 172\n\n  MacNeill, Farquahar, 64\n\n  MacNeills, 264\n\n  Macphail (Macphie), 118\n\n  MacPherson, Captain (_see_ Ga\u00efch catastrophe)\n\n  Macphie of Colonsay, 109-122, 132\n\n  Magpie, 227\n\n  Maistir, 36, 49\n\n  Manadaireachid (_see_ Augury)\n\n  Martin\u2019s _Description of the Western Islands_, 309\n\n  Men of Peace (_see_ _Sithche_)\n\n  Mermaid, the, 201\n    Leyden\u2019s ballad, 117, 118\n\n  Merry Dancers (_see_ Northern Streamers)\n\n  Moidart, 109\n\n  Morvern, 72, 80, 81, 98, 102, 103, 122, note; 135, 151, 173, 242\n\n  Mull, 15, 28, 42, 52, 59, 75, 80, 89, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, 120, 126,\n      133, 138, 145, 152, 179, 180, 183, 208, 241, 264, 306\n\n  Murchard Mac Brian, 184\n\n  Murdoch, the Short, 264, f.\n\n\n  N\n\n  Names, 245\n\n  New-Year day, 234, f.; 260\n\n  Ni\u00e4gruisar, 191\n\n  Nial Scrob, 69, 70\n\n  Nis, 191\n\n  Nix, 190\n\n  Norman, 274\n\n  Northern Streamers (Merry Dancers), 199, f.\n\n\n  O\n\n  Oatmeal, 150, ff.\n\n  O\u2019Cronicert\u2019s Fairy Wife, 127, 133\n\n  Oisian, 44, 126, note\n\n  Oscar, 44\n\n  Ossian (_see_ Oisian)\n\n\n  P\n\n  Palmistry, 266\n\n  Pearl work, 49, 80, 241\n\n  Pennant\u2019s _Tour_, 193, 220\n\n  Pennygown fairies, 59\n\n  Perthshire, 30, 44, 74, 196, 198\n\n  Phynnodderee, 190\n\n  Pixies 11\n\n  Pope, the, and Michael Scott, 297\n\n  Portree, 29, 30, 75, 99, 137, 139, 186\n\n  Premonitions, 258, ff.\n\n  Prophecies, 269-276\n\n  Protection against evil spirits, 247, 248\n    against fairies, 46-49\n\n\n  Q\n\n  Querns (hand mills), 35, note, 149, 150\n\n\n  R\n\n  Raasay Water-Horse, 209\n\n  Rannoch, 71\n\n  Rats, 225\n\n  _Red Book of Balloch_ (_see_ Lady of Lawers)\n\n  Red Book of Appin, 292-295\n\n  Red-deer, 27, ff.\n\n  Red Donald, 71\n\n  Right-Hand-Turn (_see_ Deiseal)\n\n  Road name, 245\n\n\n  S\n\n  Salt, 236\n\n  Schiehallion, 94\n\n  Scott, Sir Walter, 198\n    Michael, 285, 288, 295, 296\n\n  Seals, 283\n\n  Sea-serpent, 220\n\n  Serpents, 223, f.\n\n  Shetland Isles, 188, 283\n\n  Shien-sloy, 94\n\n  Shoulder-blade Reading, 263-266\n\n  Shrovetide, 297\n\n  _Siochaire_, 7\n\n  _Sireach_, 7\n\n  _Sith_ (peace), 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 28, 29, 40, 41, 126\n\n  _Sithbheire_, 7\n\n  _Sithche_, 7, 40, 153\n\n  _Sithchear_, 7, 49\n\n  _Sithein_ (fairies\u2019 dwelling) 11, 14, note; 94\n\n  Skip Jack, 228\n\n  Skye, 29, 30, 43, 52, 56, 67, 69, 75, 91, 96, 99, 126, 136, 137, 156,\n      165, 182, 184, 199, 201, 217, 244, 297, 303, 305\n\n  Speke, Captain, 254\n\n  Spells, 281-285\n\n  St. Bridget\u2019s Day, 225\n\n  St. Columba, 223\n\n  St. Elmo\u2019s light, 6\n\n  St. Fillan, 196\n\n  St. John\u2019s wort, 49, 103\n\n  Stirling, the Carse, 285\n\n  Suicides, 242\n\n  Superstitions about animals, 219-228\n    miscellaneous, 229-249\n\n  Sutherlandshire, 66\n\n\n  T\n\n  Taghairm (\u201cspirit call\u201d), 304-312\n\n  _Tales of the West Highlands_ (_see_ Campbell)\n\n  Tapull House, 75\n\n  Tea, divination by, 266\n\n  Theft, 236\n\n  Thomas of Ercildoune (the Rhymer), 45, 269-272\n\n  Thunder, 235\n\n  Tiree, 6, 30, 42, 52, 55, 57, 69, 71, 76, 78, 83, 85, 87, 91, 93,\n      101, 105, 108, 109, 134, 135, 139, 141, 142, 150, 165, 189,\n      199, 239, 240, 241, 266\n\n  Tobermory, 63, 183\n\n  _Toradh_ (benefit), 21, 32, 33, 48\n\n  _Trial_ (Deuchainn, fridh), 259, 261\n\n  Trolls, 11\n\n  \u201cTrouble-the House\u201d (Eachrais \u00f9rlair), 282\n\n  Tutelary beings, 155-194\n    origin of the belief in, 192, 193\n\n\n  U\n\n  Uist, 136, 137, note\n    North, 284\n\n  Unimore, 190\n\n  Urisk, the, 195-199, 215\n    of Ben Loy, 196\n    Yellow-Waterfall, 197\n\n\n  W\n\n  Washing-woman (_see_ Bean-nighe)\n\n  Water-Bull, 216\n\n  Water-Dog (_see_ King Otter)\n\n  Water-Horse, 203-215\n    at Loch Cuaich, 210\n    at Tiree, 211, 214\n\n  Whale, 222\n\n\n[Illustration: 1900]\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\nThe spelling, hyphenation, punctuation and accentuation are as the\noriginal, except for apparent typographical errors which have been\ncorrected.\n\nThe cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the\npublic domain.","title":"Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland: Collected Entirely from Oral Sources","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":79487}