Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland: Collected Entirely from Oral SourcesCampbell, John Gregorson
History
Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland: Collected Entirely from Oral Sources
Campbell, John Gregorson
Folklore -- Scotland
The Glaistig attached to this house on Loch Faschan-side in Lorn
was known as _Nic-ille-mhicheil_ (_i.e._ a woman of the surname of
Carmichael), and was said to have been a former mistress of the house.
She lived in a ravine, called Eas-ronaich, near the mansion, and when
any misfortune was about to befall the family set up a loud wailing. On
sunny days she was to be seen basking on the top of _Creag Ghrianach_
(the Sunny Rock), also in the neighbourhood. Before the old house was
levelled, and the present mansion was built, she set up an unusually
loud wailing, and then left. Fully a year before the event, she seemed
greatly disturbed; her step up and down stairs, and the noise of chairs
and tables being moved about was frequently heard after people had
gone to bed. At Glen-Iuchair, a man, who was in the evening convoyed
across the glen by a _grey_ sheep, was firmly of opinion his strange
convoy could have been no other than Nic-ille-mhìcheil. No real sheep
could have been so attentive to him. This attachment to particular
individuals was also shown in the case of a poor old woman, named _Mòr_
(_i.e._ Sarah), resident on the farm. When Mor fell sick, the Glaistig
used to come to the window and wail loudly.
One evening at the cattle-fold, after the cows had been milked and
before the herd and dairy-maids had started home with the milk-pails,
a woman, dressed in _green_, was seen coming and trying the udders of
the cows, as if to see whether they had been properly milked. The herd
had his dog with him, and happened at the time to be sitting with it
in his arms. The dog sprang from him and gave chase, and the woman fled
like a bird. This was at a place called _Doire nan Each_, ‘the Wood of
the Horses,’ several miles from the mansion, and the woman was believed
to be Nic-ille-mhìcheil.
AT INVERAWE HOUSE.
This mansion-house has long been haunted by a Glaistig known as the
‘Maiden of Inverawe’ (_Maighdean Inbher-atha_), who was to be heard
(at least till very recently) rustling (_srannail_) through the house.
Stoups full of water, left in the house at night, were found in the
morning upset by her, and chairs, left however neatly arranged, were
turned round. She is said to have been some former mistress of the
house who had proved unfaithful and had been buried alive.
AT DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE.
This castle (_Dùn-sta’innis_), once a seat of the kings of Scotland,
was haunted by a woman known as the _Sianag_ (or Elle-maid) of
Dunstaffnage. She broke into outcries of joy or sorrow (_mulad no
aighear_), according as a happy or unfortunate event was to befall the
inmates. A stranger, who accompanied one of the servants to the castle
and remained there that night, had his bedclothes twice pulled off
by her, and heard her all night walking through the room and in the
adjoining passages. Her footsteps were heavy like those of a man.
IN TIREE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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