When the light of day appeared Macphie looked, and he had not a single man alive of those who were with him in the cave. He took with him the Hand, and went to the shore to the boat. He went on board and went home to Colonsay, unaccompanied by dog or man. He took the Hand up with him that men might see the horror he had met with, the night he was in the cave. No man in Islay or Colonsay ever at all saw such a hand, nor did they imagine that such existed. There only remained to send a boat to Jura and take home the bodies that were in the cave. That was the end of the Black Dog’s day. * * * * * A short tale, similar to the first part of the above legend, is given in Campbell’s _Tales of the West Highlands_ (ii. 52). A fairy changeling in Gaolin Castle, Kerrera, is detected by a visitor from Ireland as the Fairy sweetheart of a countryman—_Brian Mac Braodh_. On being detected the Elle woman ran into the sea from the point since called _Rutha na Sirich_. The name _Brian Brugh_ of the one tale and _Brian Mac Braodh_ of the other renders it probable the two tales had originally more in common. The expression, “The Black Dog’s day will come yet” (_Thig latha choindui fhathast_), has passed into a proverb to denote that a time will yet come when one now despised will prove of service. The English proverb, “Every dog has its day,” means that everyone has his own time of enjoyment. The Macphies or MacDuffies were Lairds of Colonsay till the middle of the 17th century. In 1623 the celebrated Colkitto was delated for the murder of umquhill Malcolm Macphie of Colonsay; and one of the race lies buried in Iona, with the inscription on his tomb HIC JACET MALCOLUMBUS MACDUFFIE DE COLONSAY. If the same Malcolm is referred to in both cases, these traces of his fame, slight though they be, create some presumption that he may be the person round whom romance has gathered the incidents of the above tale. In 1615 Malcolm Macphie joined Sir James Macdonald of Dunyveg, in Islay, in the last and unsuccessful attempt made by the once powerful Clandonald of Islay and Cantyre to retain their possessions from the Campbells. He was one of the principal leaders of the rebels and a remarkable man. The family was one of the oldest and most esteemed in the West Highlands. The following are other versions of the tale in circulation. They are of interest when compared with each other in showing the growth and character of a popular tale.