Ossian Collection > Peat-fire flame

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
the loaf arrived at the spot below which the body would be
found, it ceased to travel, oscillated for a moment or two,
as does the needle of a compass, and then indicated the spot
by a dipping- motion. Mark Twain, in his fascinating books
dealing with life on the Mississippi, alludes to this method
of finding drowned corpses in America.
The Black Steed of Loch Pityoulish.
Reminiscent of the White Horse of Spey is the story of
the black steed of Loch Pityoulish, a picturesque loch
situated between the Spey and the foot-hills of the Cairn-
gorms. Local tradition is insistent that the loch harbours
some dreaded monster, and that no one bathing in its water
should ever allow his head to become submerged. This
tradition may have emanated from the sunken crannog or
lake-dwelling of pre-historic times, the site of which one
may see on a calm, clear day, deep down below the surface
of the loch.
In any case, the inhabitants of Kincardine regarded the
crannog as a submerged castle ; and with it they associated
all sorts of queer and eerie beliefs.
On a day when the heir to the Barony of Kincardine was
playing with his young friends by the shore of Loch
Pityoulish, their attention was drawn to a beautiful steed
grazing near at hand, harnessed with a silver saddle, silver
bridle, and silver reins. In great excitement all the boys
grasped the reins, whereat the black steed galloped off into
the loch, dragging them with him. Only the heir to the
Barony came home to tell the tale, since, as it happened,
he was able to free himself by severing his rein-fast fingers
with a knife he carried. Since that day the folks of
Kincardine have been wary of the water-horse inhabiting
the sunken crannog in Loch Pityoulish.
A Water-horse Disturbed by Boulders.
At the base of one of the mountain passes in the Uig
district of Skye lies a dark lochan that long had been the
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