Blair Collection > Popular tales of the West Highlands > Volume 2

XXVII.
CÀILLIACH MHOE CHLIBHEICH.
From W. Ross, stalker.
'T^HIS celebrated witch was accused of having
-*- enchanted the deer of the Eeay forest, so that they
avoided pursuit. Lord Eeay was exceedingly angry,
but at a loss how to remedy the evil. His man
William (the same who braved the -witch and sat
down in her hut) promised to find out if this was the
case. He watched her for a whole night, and by some
counter enchantments managed to be present Avhen in
the early morning she was busy milking the hinds.
They were standing all about the door of the hut till
one of them ate a hank of blue worsted hanging from
a nail in it. The witch struck the animal, and said,
" The spell is off you ; and Lord Eeay's bulL^t Till be
your death to-day. ' William repeated tliis to his
master to confirm the tale of his ha.ving pa: sed tlie
night in the hut of the great hag, which no one would
believe. And the event justified it, for a fine yellow
hind was killed that day, and the hank of blue yarn
was found in its stomach.
This is one of nearly a hundred stories, gathered amongst
the people of Sutherland by a very talented collector, whose
numerous accomplishments unfortunately do not include Gaelic.
This resembles an account of a Lapp camp (see Introduction).
It also bears some affinity to a story published by Grant Stewart,
in which a ghost uses a hei d of deer to carry her furniture.