When the Norsemen came, and their visits were
frequent and numerous, to this country and these islands, to lay claim to
and take possession of the land, the fame they gathered for themselves through
their indulgence in every manner of cruel spoliation, and slaughter of the
people wherever they landed, was that they were a bold, courageous, hardy,
rough ("The Norsemen a rough band"), peremptory and unscrupulous race, and
more than that, it was attributed to them that they practiced witchcraft,
charms, and enchantments, and had much of other unhallowed learning among
them.
The Norse King's eldest daughter was particularly
noted for her knowledge of the "Black Art." There was no accident or mischance
that befell friends, or destruction that overtook enemies, or any luck or
good fortune that attended either friend or foe, but it was said that she
was the cause of it, or had some hand in it. She was famed at home and abroad,
far and wide, for her skill among cows and cattle, she was said to possess
every variety of dairy knowledge in her father's kingdom. There was no charm
or evil eye that fell on any living creature in the fold but she could dispel
and avert, nor hurt nor injury they got but she could heal, nor dizziness
nor fits into which they fell, from which she could not restore them, until
it was said of her that the lowing of cattle, the incoherent cry of calves,
and the rough cry of yearlings was to her the sweetest and most soothing music,
and that she would answer the call of cattle, though she might be lost in
the midst of the northern woods, and the cry from the nethermost part of the
farthest off quarter of the universe. She knew the herb that had the property
of taking its qualities from milk, as well as she was acquainted with the
spells by which its virtues could be restored, and every charm and invocation
that was practiced or then esteemed. The flowers of the meadows and woods
were as familiar to her as the ridges of corn or a grain on straw, and there
was not a leaf on tree, bush, or shrub, with whose properties she was not
acquainted. Her father's kingdom was clothed with pine wood, and was then
as now famous for the fine quality of the wood from which most of the wealth
of the kingdom was obtained.
One of those times when the Norsemen came to
Scotland to take possession of and sub-divide the land thus taken, they observed
that the pine wood of Lochaber was growing so fast, and extending so far,
that in time it might supersede the Black Forests of Sweden. But on this occasion
the northern forces were driven back. On reaching home they reported the matter
to the king, and their opinion, that the increase of the wood must be checked,
otherwise his northern woods would be of little esteem.
It occurred to the King to consult his daughter
on the matter, since she was learned, and to get knowledge from her of the
best method of thinning and destroying the Scottish wood. She gave him the
desired information, but said that she must be the bearer of the method and
must necessarily go to Scotland herself. She obtained the King's permission
and made preparations for the journey.
From the gifts she possessed, neither sea nor
land, air nor earth could hinder her progress until she accomplished her purpose.
When she reached Lochaber the method she adopted was to kindle a fire in the
selvage of her dress, and she then began to go through the woods, and as she
could travel in the clouds as well as on the ground, when she ascended and
whirled in the air, the sparks of fire that flew from her dress were blown
hither and thither by the wind and set the woods on fire, until the whole
country was almost in a blaze, and so darkened by the smoke, that one could
hardly see before them; and, from being blackened more than any tree in the
forest, by the smoke and soot of the fiery furnace which surrounded her, she
was known and spoken of by the name of "Dark, or Pitch Pine."
The people gathered to watch her, but from the
rapidity of her ascent and the swiftness with which she descended, they could
not grasp her any more than they could prevent her, and were at a loss what
to do. At last, they sought instruction from a learned man in the place. He
advised them to collect a herd of cattle in a fold, wherever she would stand
still, and whenever she heard the lowing of the cattle she would descend,
and when she was within gun-shot they were to fire at her with a silver bullet,
when she would become a faggot of bones. They followed this advice and began
to gather cattle and follow after her until the pinfold large and small was
full set in the "Centre of Kintail." Whenever she heard the cry of the herd
she descended and they aimed at her with the silver bullet, as the wise man
told them to do, and she fell gently among them. Men lifted the remains and
carried them to Lochaber, and to make sure that dead or alive she would do
no more injury to them, they buried her in Achnacarry; and the person from
whom the story was first heard nine years ago [1880] said that he could put
his foot on the place where she was buried.
The Norse King was amazed at his daughter not
returning, and at his not receiving any account from her. He sent abroad to
get tidings of her. When the news of the disaster that happened to her was
brought to him, he sent a boat and crew to bring her home, but the Lochaber
women by their incantations destroyed those whom he sent. The boat was wrecked,
and the men lost, at the entrance to Locheil. The next ships that came were
not more successful. The third time the King sent out his most powerful fleet.
What they did then was to send and try through spells to dry up the wells
of the Fairy Hill of Iona. The virtue of these wells was that wind could be
obtained from any desired quarter by emptying them in the direction of the
wind wished for. When the ships were seen approaching, the wells began to
be emptied, and before the last handful was flung out, the storm was so violent,
and the ships so near, that the whole fleet was driven on the beach under
the Fairy Hill, and the power and might of the Norsemen was broken and so
much weakened that they did not return again to infest the land.
Source:
"Clan Traditions and Popular Tales of the Western Highlands and Islands",
Collected from oral sources by Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, Minister of Tiree.
Selected from the author's MS. remains, and edited by Jessie Wallace and Duncan
MacIsaac, with introduction by Alfred Nutt. London: David Nutt, 1895, pp.
101-104.