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

2 74 WEST HIGHLAND TALES.
his day. Plis father was considered an excellent piper; and his
son Dugald is allowed to be one of the best pipers in the
island
2d. A poor woman had three daughters and a kail-yard, and a
horse used to come every day to eat the kail. The daughters
went, one after the other, to drive him away with the distaff, and
the distaff stuck to the horse and to their hands, and he dragged
them in turn to a castle. (It is not said that the horse became a
man.) The first was the eldest who slept in the castle ; on the
morrow she got a key, and was told to look at all the rooms but
one ; and to milk the "Three Red-brown Hornless Cows." She
looked into the room of course, and sank to her knee in blood ;
and "a great grey cat" came about and asked for a drop milk,
and was refused.
When the " giant" came home he asked to see her foot, and
it was red with blood ; and he smote her with the " AVhite Glave
of Light," and killed her.
The very same thing happened to the second. The youngest
milked the three Red-brown Hornless Cows ; but peeped, and
sank to her knee in blood, and saw her two dead sisters. The
great grey cat asked for milk, and got it and drank it, and be-
came a splendid woman, and told her that she was a king's
daughter under spells ; and she told her to take some of the milk
and to clean her foot with it, and that it would not leave a speck
of the blood on her ; and so she did.
' Now," said the king's daughter, " when he comes in and
sees that thy foot is clean, he will marry thee ; but thou wilt not
be long alive if thou art with him. When he goes to the hunting
hill, thou shalt take with thee am ballan ioc, vessel of balsam
{hallan is a teat), and rub it against the mouth of thy big sister ;
and thou shalt put her into a sack, and gold and silver with her,
and thou shalt stuff the sack with hay ; and when he comes home
tell him that there is a whisp for the cow, and to leave it with
thy mother ; and the next day do the same with thy second
sister ; and on the third day, T will put thyself and the white
glave of light into the sack. When he knows that thou art not
with him, he will go after thee ; and when he is coming in at the
Uoor, "sGAp" the head off him with the sword, and hold the