Tragic Romances: Re-issue of the Shorter Stories of Fiona Macleod; Rearranged, with Additional TalesSharp, William
General
Tragic Romances: Re-issue of the Shorter Stories of Fiona Macleod; Rearranged, with Additional Tales
Sharp, William
Scotland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
For the moment I was confused, for these names are so common: and I was
thinking of the big isle of Berneray that lies in huge Loch Roag that has
swallowed so great a mouthful of Western Lewis, to the seaward of which
also are the two Pabbays, Pabaidh Mòr and Pabaidh Beag. But when McLean
added, “and other isles of the Caolas Harrish (the Sound of Harris),” I
remembered aright; and indeed I knew both, though the nor’ isles better,
for I had lived near Callernish on the inner waters of Roag.
“Well, Carminish had sheep-runs upon some of these. One summer the gloom
came upon him, and he left Sheumais to take care of the farm, and of
Morag his wife, and of Sheen their daughter; and he went to live upon
Pabbay, near the old castle that is by the Rua Dune on the south-east
of the isle. There he stayed for three months. But on the last night of
each month he heard the sea calling in his sleep; and what he heard was
like ‘_Come away, come away, the sea waits! Follow!_… _Come away, come
away, the sea waits! Follow!_’ And he knew the voice of the ninth wave;
and that it would not be there in the darkness of sleep if it were not
already moving towards him through the dark ways of _An Dàn_ (Destiny).
So, thinking to pass away from a place doomed for him, and that he might
be safe elsewhere, he sailed north to a kinsman’s croft on Aird-Vanish
in the island of Taransay. But at the end of that month he heard in his
sleep the noise of tidal waters, and at the gathering of the ebb he heard
‘_Come away, come away, the sea waits! Follow!_’ Then once more, when
the November heat-spell had come he sailed farther northward still.
He stopped awhile at Eilean Mhealastaidh, which is under the morning
shadow of high Griomabhal on the mainland, and at other places; till he
settled, in the third week, at his cousin Eachainn MacEachainn’s bothy,
near Callernish, where the Great Stones of old stand by the sea, and hear
nothing for ever but the noise of the waves of the North Sea and the cry
of the sea-wind.
“And when the last night of November had come and gone, and he had heard
in his sleep no calling of the ninth wave of the Flowing Tide, he took
heart of grace. All through that next day he went in peace. Eachainn
wondered often with slant eyes when he saw the morose man smile, and
heard his silence give way now and again to a short, mirthless laugh.
“The two were at the porridge, and Eachainn was muttering his _Bui’cheas
dha’n Ti_, the Thanks to the Being, when Carminish suddenly leaped to his
feet, and, with white face, stood shaking like a rope in the wind.
“‘In the name of the Son, what is it, Ivor Mhic Ivor? What is it,
Carminish?’ cried Eachainn.
“But the stricken man could scarce speak. At last, with a long sigh,
he turned and looked at his kinsman, and that look went down into the
shivering heart like the polar wind into a crofter’s hut.
“‘_What will be that?_’ said Carminish, in a hoarse whisper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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