Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 8, 1897.djvu/421

 Miscellanea. 385

tig Cabilteag-bhan " (White Caoilteag). " Ho ! gu'n tig Don- nach-mhor-a'-bhainne bhruich" (Big Donnach of the cooked milk). O may " Sitheag " come, &c.

The sea-cattle ran down to the sea. When she saw them coming she exclaimed : " Tha mo chrodhsa'n so 'tighinn ; ach ged thi'n crodh na thi'm buachaill." (" My cattle are here coming, but, though the cattle are coming let the herdman not come.") The herdman ran after them and caught the last of them by the tail as it plunged into the sea, but could not keep it. When the mermaid observed how the herd had behaved, she said :

" Nach bu luath 16m Luram, (Mur be cruas arrainn,) 'Nam' be lite us bainne biadh Lurain, Cha bhiodh laogh na bo an diugh gun chumail."

(Were it not for the dryness of bread. ) Had Luran's food been porridge and milk No calf or cow would have escaped to-day."
 * ' How swift and nimble is Luran !

The legend says it was then that the people of that district began to use porridge as food.

VII — Another legend of the Mermaid.

The crew of a Lewis boat were coming across the minch from Lochbroom. In mid-ocean they saw the mermaid rising at the helm. " Thubhairt fear de'n sgiopadh co luath s'a chunnaic i seun fala o'n a bheist," one of the crew said as soon as he saw her " blood-charm " from the monster. She went at once out of sight, but shortly thereafter rose again to the surface at the helm. " 'Us' thubhairt i ris an stiureadair ; le do churgair dubh air do lath-chrann cia do leth-rann," she said to the helmsman. (" With your little black hood on the side of your head, what is your half-stanza?") He repHed : "Long a thig 'us a theid gu aithghearr, as e sin mo leth-rann " ("A ship which is in keen touch with the helm " : lit. a ship that goes and comes nimbly). " Is maith a chur sin ruit " ars ise, agus chaidh i fodha 'us chan fhac iad tuilledh i. (" It is well for you that you have so replied ", said she, and disappeared, and they saw her no more). It was observed that when the mermaid was seen, under such circum- stances as described above, it was a sure omen that drownings

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