by Anne Ross
Cattle-raiding was one of the favourite pastimes of the Highlanders, and this led to many a clan battle and bitter feud. Certain characters became famed throughout wide areas for their skill in raiding and evading capture. One of these was Auchry Malcolm of Poltalloch. He was known as Big Auchry and was the best swordsman in the entire countryside. The cattle-raiders were all terrified of him. The MacFies of the Island of Colonsay habitually came to lift cattle from Argyll, and Big Auchry was their sworn enemy. The hero used to wear a helmet and a coat of mail, according to tradition. He made a little bothy or hut for himself on the hill above his home at Baile-ghuirgean; he taught his dog not to bark, but to warn him of approaching strangers by scratching his ear. One day the MacFies surprised and killed the dog. Before he died he managed to bark a warning to his master, who advanced upon the MacFies and killed many of them. In the end, however, their superior numbers prevailed and Big Auchry was slain.
Another story is told as to how the Camerons got their clan slogan. Lochiel and the Duke of Athol had a dispute about the ownership of Aird-Raineach; they frequently met and argued about the possession of this piece of land and often came to blows, but no decision. They agreed to meet alone, without their followers, at Aird-Raineach and fight it out between themselves. It was also agreed that each of them would take his own piper. Lochiel met the famous witch Gormla as he set out on his journey; she warned him that Athol meant treachery and advised him what to do. He took his men and kept them hidden until he should make a certain sign; the Duke had likewise hidden his men, and when they emerged, so did Lochiel; the Camerons (Lochiel’s clan) were victorious. From this encounter the slogan and the Cameron pipe tune are said to have originated:
Come hither, Come hither,
You shall get flesh, you shall get flesh.
Come Sons of hounds, you shall get flesh,
You shall get flesh.
One tradition pertaining to the clan system concerns the lands of Arrochar which were the property of Lord Lennox, who lived at Dumbarton. He owned the lands of Kilmarnock, and the territory from the River Clyde to the region of Kilpatrick, and the lands between Loch Lomond, the Clyde and Loch Long known locally as the ‘Isle’ above Leven; his extensive territory came within sight of Loch Fyne and extended as far north as the northern end of Loch Lomond. In the east, it bordered on the lands of the notorious MacGregors, at Inversnaid. The rich lands of Lennox were much plundered by their cattle-raiding neighbours. There were no proper roads, only footpaths, and whenever he could, Lord Lennox travelled by boat. If freebooters passed through the territory with loot from other clan lands tribute used to be extracted from them (staoigcreiche); the laird of Arrochar had a watchman who used to keep guard from the top of Stronafian; his house was called Tigh á bheachdachain, Watchman’s House, and can still be seen at the roadside at the foot of Stronafian. Legends of Norse raids into the lands of Lennox were current until recent times; one tells of a king of Norway who once invaded Scotland. He allegedly sailed up Loch Long with a fleet and landed at a point close to where Arrochar Castle now stands. He and his followers dragged their ships from Loch Long to Loch Lomond. A battle ensued and the men of Arrochar were defeated. The Norwegians then sailed down Lomond to Luss and many people were slaughtered. The day of the battle was remembered locally as the Black Monday of Arrochar.
Another legend pertaining to Arrochar tells how MacFarlane of Arrochar was once grazing a herd of cattle on Ben Vorlich; the herd was stolen. MacFarlane sent Calum Garbh MacEwen and a band of men in search of the thief and the cattle. They went north of Inverness and one night, in a wood, they heard a drunken man singing:
I took booty from Ben Vorlich,
When the people were sleeping;
I gained much wealth for them:
It is a joy to me to mention it.
Some I spent on crowdie
And some on oat-cake;
I would not complain of my foray
Had not my boots become hard.
The Arrochar men seized the thief and recovered their cattle; treachery, if it was clever, was never rejected by the lawless Gaels and the thief was told that if he handed over the beasts, or the money he had got for them, they would not hang him. When he had complied, they did proceed to hang him, not, as they had promised, for the crime he had committed, but in order to make sure that he could never repeat it! Under the clan system, life cannot have differed much from life in the Iron Age in Britain, when tribe warred against tribe, the fittest and cleverest members of a community survived, and when cattle-raiding and stories telling of the skill and adventures of the raiders were the normal, everyday pursuits.
One late clan story, also concerning Arrochar and the rich lands of Lennox which were such a temptation to raiders, tells of an episode that is alleged to have taken place a short time after the adventures of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. A farmer called James Turner lived in Arrochar about two miles from the head of Loch Long. He was rich both in cattle and in money. Some of his relations lived in Sunart. One of these planned to go with a group of men and rob him. It was in the spring of the year and they reached Turner’s house just before daybreak; the people of the house were already up. Men, known as Sturdy Beggars, used at the time to go from house to house begging for alms. One of these had been telling the farmer and his family stories all night long — a common enough phenomenon in the Highlands, and such itinerant men had a great store of tales and traditions. The farmer’s wife had a big pot of water boiling over the fire. A fight broke out between the raiders and the farmer’s people; the Sturdy Beggar was the best fighter of all, but he fell, and the farmer himself was badly wounded. The Sunart men made a hole in the door and put their gun muzzles through, but the farmer’s wife poured boiling water on them thus rendering the firearms useless. A neighbour ran to the minister. He put on his kilt and armed himself with gun and sword. The fiery cross was sent out through Arrochar and the war-cry ‘Loch Sloy’ called. The men of the countryside were immediately armed and the raiders fled. The men were caught and sentenced to slavery on a man of war, but they managed to escape and fled back to Sunart.
There is a huge repertoire of legend about individual clans, and a large number of tales about famous or notorious characters belonging to some clan or other. One of the best-known of these is the wild Rob Roy MacGregor around whom a huge body of folklore has developed. Before the Rising of 1745, Highland gentlemen used to run schools in order to instruct the youth of their own district in swordsmanship. The boys were given bannocks and cheese, and they had to run up a hill to eat these. Charles, the son of Stuart of Ardshiel, was educated in Aberdeen. After a long period of education, the boy could still neither read nor write. Ardshiel was going to thrash the boy, but he prevented him because he confessed that he had not been learning education, but the arts of war, which greatly pleased the father. When Ardshiel was dead, Charles went to Lanark to seek the hand of the daughter of the laird there. As he and his men were crossing the moor a vicious bull was let loose on them. Charles killed the bull with his sword, and he and his companions continued on their journey. The laird of Lanark refused to give his daughter to young Ardshiel, and the men set off for home via Balquhidder and they stopped at an inn there. Rob Roy MacGregor heard that they were there. He went to see them and they began to drink whisky together. When they were somewhat drunk they began to talk of the battle of Sheriffmuir; Rob began to criticise the men of Appin for their part in it. A furious argument developed and the two men agreed to meet and fight at sunrise next day. The sun was shining in Charles’ eyes; he cut Rob’s ear; Rob was then cut in the throat and the fight ended. Rob stated that Charles was the best swordsman he had ever encountered — high praise from the notorious MacGregor. The laird of Lanark was so pleased to hear that Charles had worsted Rob that he gave him the hand of his daughter after all. Rob entertained them. He died shortly after that and he gave orders before his death that the men of Ardshiel were not to be molested.
Another clan batt
le which belongs to the great body of Gaelic oral lore is the Battle of Clachnaharie in 1454. This fight was between the MacIntoshes and the Munroes. John Munro was returning to the Highlands from Edinburgh with his followers. They rested in a meadow in Strathardle and fell asleep. The owner of the land, resenting their intrusion, had the tails of their horses cut off — a bitter insult. Munro went home, and returned to Strathardle with 350 men and laid waste to it and drove away the cattle. As he was passing Loch Moy in Strathearn he was noticed by MacIntosh of Moy who sent to ask him for the fee that was his due, for it was a custom among the Highlanders that when any spoil of cattle was driven through a gentleman’s land, he should be given a proportion of the spoil. Munro offered what he thought was a fair amount, but it was less than that requested. MacIntosh, annoyed by what he took to be an insult to his emissary, gathered a body of men, pursued the Munroes, and at Clachnaharie near Inverness a fierce battle was fought. Men were slain on either side, including Moy himself. John Munro was lamed and was ever after known as Iain Bacach, ‘Lame John’.
These are but a few examples of one type of tale told widely in the Highlands long after the lawless and wild clan system had ceased, stories much relished by the people whose immediate ancestors were concerned in the exploits and battles that formed the everyday life of the Gaels down the centuries.
I should perhaps say a word more about the battle of Culloden, which was the single most important event in the disintegration of the clan system. Prince Charles Edward Stuart (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, known also as The Young Pretender), who, with the passionate support of many of the Highland clans, had for some time sought to acquire the crown of the united England and Scotland, was driven back across the Firth of Forth by the Duke of Cumberland, whom he soon had to face on the field of Culloden near Inverness. The outcome of that battle has given rise to countless tales and legends and it brought about great suffering on the part of the Highlanders and other anti-government supporters. Not only did the Highland army suffer enormous losses and terrible wounds on this fateful field; the revenge exacted upon the defeated by the Duke of Cumberland was excessively brutal and earned for him the hateful title of ‘Butcher’ Cumberland. Long after this shameful and ill-advised encounter brought an end to the freedom of the Scottish Highlanders to settle their own affairs and banned them from carrying weapons or wearing their own traditional ancient clan badges, stories of Culloden Moor continued to circulate widely throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Songs were also composed to commemorate the demise of Highland freedom; mournful tunes were created for the piobaireachd and were assured of bringing more than a tear to the eyes of those who listened to them being played. Inevitably a large corpus of folklore and poetry originated from this distressing series of events.
3 Seers and Second Sight
The Highlanders have always been famed for their gift, real or alleged, of the ‘Sight’, and controversy on this subject has been widespread and heated. Martin Martin describes it as a singular faculty of foreseeing events and objects which are invisible to those without this power. The things seen were usually of a doleful or unpleasant nature; the problem was well-known to Charles Churchill, and in his poem, The Ghost, he speaks knowledgeably, if astringently, of this singular gift. He says:
Among the rest, in former years,
Campbell, illustrious name appears,
Great Hero of futurity,
Who blind could everything foresee,
Who dumb could everything foretell,
Who, Fate with equity to sell,
Always dealt out the will of Heaven,
According to what price was given.
Of Scottish race, in Highlands born,
Possess’d with native pride and scorn,
Campbell foretold, just what he would,
And left the stars to make it good;
On whom he had impress’d such awe,
His dictates current pass’d for Law;
Submissive all his Empire own’d;
No Star durst smile, when CAMPBELL frown’d.
Seers were no new phenomenon in Celtic society in Churchill’s day. They were a flourishing and influential element in Julius Caesar’s time, as he and other classical writers on the Celts record. They formed a powerful section of the highly superstitious population in the early Celtic world, and perhaps, like Churchill’s Campbell, charged highly for their services. They were called Vates by the Romans, literally ‘seers’ or ‘prophets’. They had certain religious powers, not perhaps as great as those of the Druids, the erudite Celtic priests and teachers, but ritual certainly formed part of their functions. It took some 20 years to become a Druid, and about 12 years to be a qualified filed (‘seer’). Modern seers have an easier time of it; they use their natural gifts without special training. Most people who have ‘the Sight’ fear it; their neighbours in the townships which stud the Highlands and Islands do not like it either, lest some bad news concerning themselves should be foretold. Some people have the complete gift of Second Sight; others have it in a limited way; for example, they can ‘see’ things that are to happen to some individual in dreams. When such people say they have been ‘dreaming’ about someone, the person concerned would usually prefer not to know the nature of the dream, as it frequently forebodes ill. In the Highlands, the person seeing the vision is known as a taibhsear, the object seen, taibhs, and the act of seeing, taibhsearachd. Second Sight was, and still tends to be, implicitly believed in by the Highlanders and Islanders of Scotland. Martin Martin wrote a special booklet on the phenomenon, and even the sceptical Dr Johnson had belief in it. Boswell tells us of his tour to the Hebrides with Dr Johnson in 1773:
He enquired here (Skye) if there were any remains of the second sight. Mr M’Pherson, Minister of Slate, said, he was resolved not to believe it, because it was founded on no principle.
— Johnson:
There are many things then, which we are sure are true, that you will not believe. What principle is there, why a loadstone attracts iron? why an egg produces a chicken by heat? why a tree grows upwards, when the natural tendency of all things is downwards? Sir, it depends upon the degree of evidence that you have.
Young Mr M’Kinnon mentioned one M’Kenzie, who is still alive, who had often fainted in his presence, and when he recovered, mentioned visions which had been presented to him. He told Mr M’Kinnon that at such a place he should meet a funeral, and that such and such people would be the bearers, naming four; and three weeks afterwards he saw what M’Kenzie had predicted. The naming the very spot in a country where a funeral comes a long way, and the very people as bearers, when there are so many out of whom a choice may be made, seems extraordinary. We should have sent for M’Kenzie, had we not been informed that he could speak no English. Besides, the facts were not related with sufficient accuracy. Mrs M’Kinnon, who is a daughter of old Kingsburgh, told us that her father was one day riding in Sky, and some women who were at work in a field on the side of the road, said to him, they had heard two taiscks (that is, two voices of persons about to die) and what was remarkable, one of them was an English taisck which they never heard before. When he returned, he at that very place met two funerals, and one of them was that of a woman who had come from the main land, and could speak only English. This, she remarked, made a great impression upon her father.
The most famous seer in the last few centuries was the so-called Brahan Seer, Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche, ‘Sombre Kenneth of the Prophecies’, Kenneth MacKenzie, who lived, according to tradition, in the seventeenth century. He was born at Uig in the Island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The story of how he got the magical stone which enabled him to determine the future is as follows. His mother was at the shieling (hill-grazing) and was keeping her eye on the cattle one night, round about midnight, on a hill overlooking an ancient burial-ground. She suddenly saw that all the graves were opening in it and their occupants emerging from them and going off in all directions. After about an ho
ur they returned and re-entered their tombs, and the graves closed over them again. The woman noticed that one grave alone remained open. With great courage she went to the grave and placed her distaff over it, because it was believed that, being of rowan wood, the spirit could not enter the grave while it was there. Soon she saw a beautiful woman who rushed at her and demanded that she should remove her stick from the grave. The mother refused to do this until the occupant of the grave told her why she came back so much later than the others. The spirit told her why she came back so late; she was a daughter of a king of Norway who had been drowned near the island and her body recovered from the nearby beach. While she was released from the grave she had gone back to Norway to look at her old home. As a result of the woman’s courage, the spirit gave her instructions on where to find a small, round, blue stone which would empower her son to foresee future events. This she must give to the boy.
As soon as he received the stone, Kenneth began to make prophecies, and he soon became famous in the west. He had been born on Seaforth territory and so was closely connected with the MacKenzies of Seaforth. When the family moved to Loch Ussie on the Brahan estate in Ross-shire he went with them. There are various other traditions as to how Kenneth obtained the magic stone of knowledge. Some versions of the legend maintain that the stone was white, others hold that it was blue; in some traditions, it had a hole in the centre and this is in keeping with the widespread belief that magic stones were holed. Some of the Brahan Seer’s prophecies became widely famed in the Highlands and it is maintained that all, except one, have come true to date, and that the last will eventually be fulfilled. It is one of his prophecies, which was made 150 years before the Caledonian Canal was constructed, that ships would sail round the back of Tomnahurich Hill (the Hill of the Yew-trees) at Inverness. This is of course remarkable, and it seemed to be completely impossible at the time. Apparently, when an Inverness man, who was recording Kenneth’s prophecies from oral tradition, heard this one, he thought it so ridiculous that he destroyed his manuscript believing the whole thing to be a fraud.
