one was to be found. The time was passing _(bha ’n ùineachd ’ruith_) and search was made outside for her, but she was not found. Then they looked for her from place to place, where it was possible to find her, but without success. The night passed, leaving the feast untouched and the guests cheerless. Next day the search was renewed along the shores and among the hills, and in every direction from day to day, till there was not a spot between Barra Head and the Butt of Lewis where a bird could sleep, that was not searched, but there was no trace of her (_cha d’ fhuaireadh riamh i, cha d’ fhuaireadh idir i_). The father continued to wander about, searching in vain, for many years after all hope of finding her was dead, till at last he was seen to turn every leaf he met with the staff in his hand, and even to look under ragweed (_buaghallan_). He died, and she was not found. The place, Harris, was then 200 years without any one to own it (_thug an t-àite sin dà cheud bliadhna gun duine ann_). MacLeod (_fear Mac Leòid_) then took possession of the country and began to build new houses; the old dwellings had become uninhabitable (_air dol fàs_); the roof had fallen in (_thuit an ceann ’n am broinn_). When clearing out one of these an old chest was found, and on lifting it the lower part remained on the ground, with the skeleton of a woman resting in it, each bone according to its place (_cnàimh a réir cnàimh_), and by its side the wedding-ring, as new as it was on the day it was put on her finger, with the name “Garlatha” engraved on it, and from that the story came. NOTES: [22] The Long Island includes the whole of the land between the Butt of Lewis and Barra Head. STORIES ABOUT THE FAIRIES. THE TRADITION OF A HOUSEWIFE AND HER FAIRY VISITOR. The incidents of this tradition are said to have happened in Lewis, but the readiness with which similar stories are appropriated and localised makes it improbable that the circumstances occurred in any special locality. In this instance the person from whom the story was heard being a native of Lewis will account for the incidents of the story having been said to have taken place in that Island. The story is as follows:--