At the shore and forming part of the boundary between North and South
Morar,[34] on the west coast of Inverness-shire, there is a large rocky
mound (_cnoc mòr creige_), which was long the cause of terror in the
district. At the base of the mound a road can be taken along the shore
when the tide is out. No one, however, taking it alone after nightfall,
lived to tell the tale. His remains were found next day among the large
boulder stones (_eòmach mòr chlach_), of which the shore is full,
mangled, and bearing traces of a ghastly and unnatural death. Persons
who had the second sight looking over the rocks that overhang the shore
said they saw a phantom or “something” haunting the place, having the
shape of a headless human figure. Macdonall or MacCuïl, as he is styled,
of South Morar (_Mac Dhughaill mhòrair_), whose house was not far from
the scene of the Headless Body’s violence, unexpectedly became the means
of expelling it from its haunt. He was one winter evening unexpectedly
visited by a friend. He had no one to send to Bracara across the river,
to invite some more friends to come and join in the entertainment of
his guest but his son and heir, then about 18 years of age. He strictly
enjoined the youth not to return that night unless men came with him,
for fear of the Headless Body. The young man did not find the friends he
was sent for at home, and with the temerity natural to his years came
back alone. The Body met him and killed him, and in the morning were
found traces of a fearful struggle, large stones displaced and clots of
blood, as if the youth had put out his heart’s blood. MacCuïl made a
solemn vow neither to eat nor drink till he avenged his son’s death. All
that evening his friends tried to persuade him to remain at home, but
to no purpose. The Headless Body never appeared but to those who passed
its way alone, and the chief’s friends had to return while he went on
unaccompanied to the haunted rocks. The Body came out and said, “You have
come to take your son’s ransom (_éiric_); take counsel, and go home.” To
this the chief replied by clasping his arms round the hated apparition. A
furious struggle commenced, and to this day the stones may be seen which
were rolled out of their way in the dread encounter. At last the strong
and fearless chief got the Headless Body under, and drew his dirk to stab
it. The Body cried, “Hold your hand, MacCuïl, touch me not with the iron,
and while there is one within the twentieth degree related to you (_air
an fhicheadamh miar_) in Morar, I will not again be seen.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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