Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 8, 1897.djvu/275

Rh seen more recently than that described as having a resemblance to a child's nightdress:

"Shortly before sleeping time I was standing in the door. Passing between me and Lachlan's house I saw that white radiance above the road like a whitish-mottled dog on fire, with his head and fore legs stretched before him and his long ragged tail full of stars and sparks of fire, and his two other legs after him. It was not very high, but it was going straight towards the churchyard, but with no great speed."

"Tiotadh beag re am cadail bha mi am sheasaibh sa 'n dorus. Seachad eadar mi agus tigh Lachlain, chunnaic mi an dealradh geal sin o's cionn an rodhid coltach ri cu breac-gheal na theine (on fire) agus bhidhidh air a shionidh, a cheann 'us dha spoig-cinn sinnte t'roieadh (before him) agus earbal fada luideach lan runnagean agus thradagan teine, 's a 'dha chois eile na dheigh. Cha ro e fir (very) ard, bha e falbh direach air a chlaogh agus cha robh force (astar) mor sam bith roimhe."

Information from Harris is to the effect that the dreag is frequently seen, and that its appearance in the morning indicates that the death predicted will take place in a short time, but if at night it will be after a longer interval. It travels by way of the house in which the death is to take place towards the family burying ground.

In Islay, "Mr. says that when an uncle of his was on his deathbed in the year 1862, he and his father were going home one night and saw a dreag. His father said: 'Let us hurry home, he'll not get better,' referring to his sick uncle. This proved to be the case, for his death came soon after." The height from the ground does not appear, but the delay was short in this case, and the dreag was seen at night.

On the authority of Mr. MacBain (Inverness), a corpse-candle if seen rather near the ground shows that the funeral will be soon, if it is rather high in the air the funeral will not happen immediately.