Ossian Collection > Peat-fire flame

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
removed from Inch Cailleach and attached to, or placed
upon, a memorial erected in the shallows near the western
shore of Loch Lomond, opposite Inchtavannach. Later it
disappeared; and its whereabouts to-day no one knows.
Unlike other bells of its kind, it seems to have lacked the
faculty of being able to find its way back to its wonted place.
St. Finnan's Bell.
Between Acharacle and Glen Finnan stretches the
picturesque loch known as Loch Shiel, at the head of which
stands the tall monument erected by Alexander MacDonald
of Glenaladale to commemorate, inter alia, the raising of
the Jacobite Standard at this spot in the autumn of 1745.
In Loch Shiel there are many islets ; and among these islets
is Eilean Fhionain, St. Finnan's Isle (sometimes referred to
as the Green Isle of Loch Shiel), which lies some five miles
up the loch from the Acharacle end. This grassy isle in
ancient times was a sacred retreat; and in times more
modern it continued to be the place of burial of the Clan
Ranald. Upon it stands the ruins of a place of worship.
These ruins, though they exhibit no architectural distinction
such as would justify one in ascribing to them an ancient
origin, are said to occupy the site of the hermit cell believed
to have been built by St. Finnan himself, away back in
the seventh century. St. Finnan, as you are aware, was
contemporaneous with St. Columba.
St. Finnan's Isle is still used as a burial-place. Here
Roman Catholics and Protestants lie interred on opposite
sides of the site of St. Finnan's cell, both factions claiming
alike the protection of St. Finnan.
The altar of the chapel on this isle is still preserved ; and
on this altar for nearly three centuries has rested St.
Finnan's Bell, one of the few ancient, bronze bells still in
existence in Scotland, and called after a saint. The bell
rings of old, half-remembered things; and there is a
tradition firmly established in Moidart and Morar that a
curse will assuredly fall on anyone removing it, and that this
curse will be transmitted through generations of the
descendants of the person so doing.
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