---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,words surrounded by are italicized4 ,due to the restriction of the latin-#a font1 diacritical marking macron 7straight horizonal line above a letter7 in this text is represented with x4 ,a number of obvious errors have been corrected in this text4 ,for a complete list1 please see the bottom of this document4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,the ,works of ,,fiona ,,macleod ,,uniform ,,edition ,,arranged ,,by ,,mrs4 ,,william ,,sharp ,,volume ,,iv ,the ,gods approve the depth and not the tumult of the soul4 ,it is loveliness ,i seek1 not lovely things4 ,illustration3 ,from the original by ,l4 ,y4 ,cameron ,iona ,cathedral ,,the ,,divine ,,adventure ,,iona ,,studies ,,in ,,spiritual ,,history ,,by ,,fiona ,,macleod 7,,william ,,sharp7 ,,london ,,william ,,heinemann #aiab ,,uniform ,,edition ,first published #aiaj4 ,new ,edition #aiab ,copyright #ahie1 #aiaj4 ,,the ,,wind1 ,,silence1 ,,and ,,love ,,friends ,,who ,,have ,,taught ,,me ,,most3 ,,but ,,since1 ,,long ,,ago1 ,,two ,,who ,,are ,,not ,,forgotten ,,went ,,away ,,upon ,,the ,,one1 ,,and ,,dwell1 ,,themselves ,,remembering1 ,,in ,,the ,,other1 ,i ,,dedicate ,,this ,,book ,,to ,,ealasaidh ,,whose ,,love ,,and ,,spirit ,,live ,,here ,,also ,,contents ,,page ,,the ,,divine ,,adventure #a ,,iona #ia ,,by ,,sundown ,,shores3 ,,by ,,sundown ,,shores #bec ,,the ,,wind1 ,,silence1 ,,and ,,love #bfc ,,barabal3 ,a ,,memory #bfh ,,the ,,white ,,heron #bgf ,,the ,,smoothing ,,of ,,the ,,hand #bib ,,the ,,white ,,fever #bih ,,the ,,sea-,,madness #cjc ,,earth1 ,,fire1 ,,and ,,water #cjh ,,from ,,green ,,fire3 ,,the ,,herdsman #cai ,,fragments #chc ,a ,,dream #dje ,,notes #daa ,,bibliographical ,,note #dcc ,by ,mrs4 ,william ,sharp4 ,,the ,,divine ,,adventure ,let the beginning1 ,i say1 of this little book1 as if it were some lamp1 make it clear that a divine miracle was manifested4 ,st4 ,adamnan1 ,book ,,ii4 c4 ,i4 ,the ,divine ,adventure ,i ,we were three3 the ,body1 the ,will1 and the ,soul4444 ,the ,will1 the ,soul1 which for the first time had gone along outside of our common home1 had to take upon themselves bodily presences likewise4--,the ,divine ,adventure4 ,i remember that it was on ,st4 ,john's ,eve we said we would go away together for a time1 but each independently1 as three good friends4 ,we had never been at one1 though we had shared the same home1 and had enjoyed so much in common2 but to each1 at the same time1 had come the great desire of truth1 than which there is none greater save that of beauty4 ,we had long been somewhat weary4 ,no burden of years1 no serious ills1 no grief grown old in its own shadow1 distressed us4 ,we were young4 ,but we had known the two great ends of life--to love and to suffer4 ,in deep love there is always an inmost dark flame1 as in the flame lit by a taper3 ,i think it is the obscure suffering upon which the ,dancer lives4 ,the ,dancer6--,love1 who is ,joy1 is a leaping flame3 he it is who is the son of that fabled planet1 the ,dancing ,star4 ,on that ,st4 ,john's ,eve we had talked with friends on the old mysteries of this day of pagan festival4 ,at last we withdrew1 not tired or in disagreement1 but because the hidden things of the spirit are the only realities1 and it seemed to us a little idle and foolish to discuss in the legend that which was not fortuitous or imaginary1 since what then held up white hands in the moonlight1 even now1 in the moonlight of the dreaming mind1 beckons to the ,divine ,forges4 ,we left the low-roofed cottage room1 where1 though the window was open1 two candles burned with steadfast flame4 ,the night was listeningly still4 ,beyond the fuchsia bushes a sighing rose1 where a continuous foamless wave felt the silences of the shore4 ,the moonpath1 far out upon the bronze sea1 was like a shadowless white road4 ,in the dusk of the haven glimmered two or three red and green lights1 where the fishing-cobles trailed motionless at anchor4 ,inland were shadowy hills4 ,one of the ,st4 ,john's ,eve fires burned on the nearest of these1 its cone blotting out a thousand eastern stars4 ,the flame rose and sank as though it were a pulse3 perhaps at that great height the sea-wind or a mountain air played upon it4 ,out of a vast darkness in the south swung blacker abysses1 where thunders breathed with a prolonged and terrible sighing2 upon their flanks sheet-lightnings roamed4 ,there was no sound in the little bay4 ,beyond1 a fathom of phosphorescence showed that mackerel were playing in the moonshine4 ,near the trap-ledges1 which ran into deep water sheer from the goat-pastures1 were many luminous moving phantoms3 the medusae1 green1 purple1 pale blue1 wandering shapes filled with ghostly fire4 ,we stood a while in silence1 then one of us spoke3 ,shall we put aside1 for a brief while1 this close fellowship of ours2 and1 since we cannot journey apart1 go together to find if there be any light upon those matters which trouble us1 and perhaps discern things better separately than when trying1 as we ever vainly do1 to see the same thing with the same eyes8 ,the others agreed4 ,it may be ,i shall know1 said one8 ,it may be ,i shall remember1 said the other4 ,then let us go back into the house and rest to-night1 and to-morrow1 after we have slept and eaten well1 we can set out with a light heart4 ,the others did not answer1 for though to one food meant nothing1 and to the other sleep was both a remembering and a forgetting1 each unwittingly felt the keen needs of him whom they despised overmuch1 and feared somewhat1 and yet loved greatly4 ,,ii ,thus it was that on a midsummer morning we set out alone and afoot1 not bent for any one place1 though we said we would go towards the dim blue hills in the west1 the ,hills of ,dream1 as we called them2 but1 rather1 idly troubled by the very uncertainties which beset our going4 ,we began that long stepping westward as pilgrims of old who had the ,holy ,city for their goal1 but knew that midway were perilous lands4 ,we were three1 as ,i have said3 the ,body1 the ,will1 and the ,soul4 ,it was strange for us to be walking there side by side1 each familiar with and yet so ignorant of the other4 ,we had so much in common1 and yet were so incommunicably alien to one another4 ,i think that occurred to each of us1 as1 with brave steps but sidelong eyes1 we passed the fuchsia bushes1 where the wild bees hummed1 and round by the sea pastures1 where white goats nibbled among the yellow flags1 and shaggy kine with their wild hill-eyes browsed the thyme-sweet salted grass4 ,a fisherman met us4 ,it was old ,ian ,macrae1 whom ,i had known for many years4 ,somehow1 till then1 the thought had not come to me that it might seem unusual to those who knew my solitary ways1 that ,i should be going to and fro with strangers4 ,then1 again for the first time1 it flashed across me that they were so like me--or save in the eyes ,i could myself discern no difference--the likeness would be as startling as it would be unaccountable4 ,i stood for a moment1 uncertain4 ,of course1 ,i muttered below my breath1 of course1 the others are invisible2 ,i had not thought of that4 ,i watched them slowly advance1 for they had not halted when ,i did4 ,i saw them incline the head with a grave smile as they passed ,ian4 ,the old man had taken off his bonnet to them1 and had stood aside4 ,strangely disquieted1 ,i moved towards ,macrae4 ,ian1 ,i whispered rather than spoke4 ,ay1 he answered simply1 looking at me with his grave1 far-seeing eyes4 ,ian1 have you seen my friends before8 ,no1 ,i have never seen them before4 ,they have been here for--for--many days4 ,i have not seen them4 ,tell me2 do you recognise them8 ,i have not seen them before4 ,i mean1 do you--do you see any likeness in them to any you know8 ,no1 ,i see no likeness4 ,you are sure1 ,ian8 ,ay1 for sure4 ,and why not8 ,the old fisherman looked at me with questioning eyes4 ,tell me1 ,ian1 do you see any difference in me8 ,no1 for sure1 no4 ,bewildered1 ,i pondered this new mystery4 ,were we really three personalities1 without as well as within8 ,at that moment the ,will turned4 ,i heard his voice fall clearly along the heather-fragrant air-ledges4 ,we1 too1 are bewildered by this mystery1 he said4 ,so he knew my thought4 ,it was our thought4 ,yes1 for now the ,soul turned also2 and ,i heard his sunwarm breath come across the honeysuckles by the roadside4 ,i1 too1 am bewildered by this mystery1 he said4 ,ian1 ,i exclaimed to the old man1 who stared wonderingly at us2 ,ian tell me this3 what like are my companions2 how do they seem to you8 ,the old man glanced at me1 startled1 then rubbed his eyes as though he were half-awakened from a dream4 ,why are you asking that thing8 ,because1 ,ian1 you do not see any likeness in them to myself4 ,i had thought--,i had thought they were so like4 ,macrae put his wavering1 wrinkled hand to his withered mouth4 ,he gave a chuckling laugh4 ,ah1 ,i understand now4 ,it is a joke you are playing on old ,ian4 ,maybe ay1 and maybe no1 ,ian2 but ,i do want to know how they seem to you1 those two yonder4 ,well1 well1 now1 for sure1 that friend of yours there1 that spoke first1 he is just a weary1 tired old man1 like ,i am myself1 and so like me1 now that ,i look at him1 that he might be my wraith4 ,and the other1 he is a fine lad1 a fisher-lad for sure1 though ,i fear ,god's gripped his heart1 for ,i see the old ancient sorrow in his eyes4 ,i stared3 then suddenly ,i understood4 ,good-day1 ,ian1 ,i added hurriedly1 and the blessing of ,himself be upon you and yours1 and upon the nets and the boats4 ,then ,i moved slowly towards my companions1 who awaited me4 ,i understood now4 ,the old fisherman had seen after his own kind4 ,the ,will1 the ,soul1 which for the first time had journeyed outside our common home1 had to take upon themselves bodily presences likewise4 ,but these wavering images were to others only the reflection of whoso looked upon them4 ,old ,ian had seen his own tired self and his lost youth4 ,with a new fear the ,body called to us1 and we to him2 and we were one1 yet three2 and so we went onward together4 ,,iii ,we were silent4 ,it is not easy for three1 so closely knit1 so intimate1 as we had been for so many years1 suddenly to enter upon a new comradeship1 wherein three that had been as one were now several4 ,a new reticence had come to each of us4 ,we walked in silence--conscious of the beauty of the day1 in sea and sky and already purpling moors2 of the white gulls flecking the azure1 and the yellowhammers and stonechats flitting among the gorse and fragrant bog-myrtle--we knew that none was inclined to speak4 ,each had his own thoughts4 ,the three dreamers--for so we were in that lovely hour of dream--walked steadfastly onward4 ,it was not more than an hour after noon that we came to an inlet of the sea1 so narrow that it looked like a stream1 only that a salt air arose between the irises which thickly bordered it1 and that the sunken rock-ledges were fragrant with sea-pink and the stone-convolvulus4 ,the moving tidal water was grass-green1 save where dusked with long1 mauve shadows4 ,let us rest here1 said the ,body4 ,it is so sweet in the sunlight1 here by this cool water4 ,the ,will smiled as he threw himself down upon a mossy slope that reached from an oak's base to the pebbly margins4 ,it is ever so with you1 he said1 still smiling4 ,you love rest1 as the wandering clouds love the waving hand of the sun4 ,what made you think of that8 asked the ,soul abruptly1 who till that moment had been rapt in silent commune with his inmost thoughts4 ,why do you ask8 ,because ,i1 too1 was thinking that just as the waving hand of the sun beckons the white wandering clouds1 as a shepherd calls to his scattered sheep1 so there is a hand waving to us to press forward4 ,far away1 yonder1 a rainbow is being woven of sun and mist4 ,perhaps1 there1 we may come upon that which we have come out to see4 ,but the ,body wishes to rest4 ,and1 truly1 it is sweet here in the sunflood1 and by this moving green water1 which whispers in the reeds and flags1 and sings its own sea-song the while4 ,let us rest1 then4 ,and1 as we lay there1 a great peace came upon us4 ,there were hushed tears in the eyes of the ,soul1 and a dreaming smile upon the face of the ,will1 and1 in the serene gaze of the ,body1 a content that was exceeding sweet4 ,it was so welcome to lie there and dream4 ,we knew a rare happiness in that exquisite quietude4 ,after a time1 the ,body rose1 and moved to the water-edge4 ,it is so lovely1 he said1 ,i must bathe--and with that he threw aside his clothes1 and stood naked among the reeds and yellow flags which bordered the inlet4 ,the sun shone upon his white body1 the colour of pale ivory4 ,a delicate shadow lightly touched him1 now here1 now there1 from the sunlit green sheaths and stems among which he stood4 ,he laughed out of sheer joy and raised his arms1 and made a splashing with his trampling feet4 ,looking backward with a blithe glance1 he cried3 ,after all1 it is good to be alive3 neither to think nor to dream1 but just content to be4 ,receiving no answer1 he laughed merrily1 and1 plunging forward1 swam seaward against the sun-dazzle4 ,his two companions watched him with shining eyes4 ,truly1 he is very fair to look upon1 said the ,soul4 ,yes1 added the ,will1 and perhaps he has chosen the better part elsewhere as here4 ,can it be the better part to prefer the things of the moment of those of ,eternity8 ,what is ,eternity8 ,for a few seconds the ,soul was silent4 ,it was not easy for him to understand that what was a near horizon to him was a vague vista1 possibly a mirage1 to another4 ,he was ever1 in himself1 moving just the hither side of the narrow mortal horizon which ,eternity swims in upon from behind and beyond4 ,the ,will looked at him questioningly1 then spoke again3 ,you speak of the things of ,eternity4 ,what is ,eternity8 ,eternity is the ,breath of ,god4 ,that tells me nothing4 ,it is ,time1 freed from his ,mortality4 ,again1 that tells me little4 ,or1 rather1 ,i am no wiser4 ,what is ,eternity to us8 ,it is our perpetuity4 ,then is it only a warrant against ,death8 ,no1 it is more4 ,time is our sphere3 ,eternity is our home4 ,there is no other lesson for you in the worm1 and in the dust8 ,what do you mean1 brother8 ,does dissolution mean nothing to you8 ,what is dissolution8 ,it was now the ,will who stared with wondering eyes4 ,to him that question was as disquieting as that which he had asked the ,soul4 ,it was a minute before he spoke again4 ,you ask me what is dissolution8 ,do you not understand what death means to me8 ,why to you more than to me1 or to the ,body8 ,what is it to you8 ,a change from a dream of ,beauty1 to ,beauty4 ,and at the worst8 ,freedom3 escape from narrow walls--often dark and foul4 ,in any case nothing but a change1 a swift and absolute change1 from what was to what is8 ,even so4 ,and you have no fear8 ,none4 ,why should ,i8 ,why should you not8 ,again there was a sudden silence between the two4 ,at last the ,soul spoke3 ,why should ,i not8 ,i cannot tell you4 ,but ,i have no fear4 ,i am a ,son of ,god4 ,and we8 ,ah1 yes1 dear brother3 you1 too1 and the ,body4 ,but we perish6 ,there is the resurrection of the ,body4 ,where--when8 ,as it is written4 ,in ,god's hour4 ,is the worm also the ,son of ,god8 ,the soul stared downward into the green water1 but did not answer4 ,a look of strange trouble was in his eyes4 ,is not the ,grave on the hither side of ,eternity8 ,still no answer4 ,does ,god whisper beneath the ,tomb8 ,at this the ,soul rose1 and moved restlessly to and fro4 ,tell me1 resumed the ,will1 what is ,dissolution8 ,it is the returning into dust of that which was dust4 ,and what is dust8 ,the formless3 the inchoate3 the mass out of which the ,potter makes new vessels1 or moulds new shapes4 ,but you do not go into dust8 ,i came from afar3 afar ,i go again4 ,but we--we shall be formless3 inchoate8 ,you shall be upbuilded4 ,how8 ,the ,soul turned1 and again sat by his comrade4 ,i know not1 he said simply4 ,but if the ,body go back to the dust1 and the life that is in him be blown out like a wavering flame2 and if you who came from afar1 again return afar2 what1 then1 for me1 who am neither an immortal spirit nor yet of this frail human clan8 ,god has need of you4 ,when--where8 ,how can ,i tell what ,i cannot even surmise8 ,tell me1 tell me this3 if ,i am so wedded to the ,body that1 if he perish1 ,i perish also1 what resurrection can there be for me8 ,i do not know4 ,is it a resurrection for the ,body if1 after weeks1 or years1 or scores of years1 his decaying dust is absorbed into the earth1 and passes in a chemic change into the living world8 ,no3 that is not a resurrection3 that is a transmutation4 ,yet that is all4 ,there is nothing else possible4 ,dust unto dust4 ,as with the ,body1 so with the mind1 the spirit of life1 that which ,i am1 the ,will4 ,in the ,grave there is no fretfulness any more3 neither any sorrow1 or joy1 or any thought1 or dream1 or fear1 or hope whatsoever4 ,hath not ,god ,himself said it1 through the mouth of ,his prophet8 ,i do not understand1 murmured the ,soul1 troubled4 ,because the ,grave is not your portion4 ,but ,i1 too1 must know ,death6 ,yes1 truly--a change what was it8--a change from a dream of ,beauty1 to ,beauty6 ,god knows ,i would that we could go together--you1 and he yonder1 and ,i2 or1 if that cannot be1 he being wholly mortal1 then at the least you and ,i4 ,but we cannot4 ,at least1 so it seems to us4 ,but ,i--,i too am alive1 ,i too have dreams and visions1 ,i too have joys and hopes1 ,i too have despairs4 ,and for me--nothing4 ,i am1 at the end1 as a blown flame4 ,it may not be so4 ,something has whispered to me at times that you and ,i are to be made one4 ,tell me3 can the immortal wed the mortal8 ,no4 ,then how can we two wed1 for ,i am mortal4 ,my very life depends on the ,body4 ,a falling branch1 a whelming wave1 a sudden ill1 and in a moment that which was is not4 ,he1 the ,body1 is suddenly become inert1 motionless1 cold1 the perquisite of the ,grave1 the sport of the maggot and the worm3 and ,i--,i am a subsided wave1 a vanished spiral of smoke1 a little fugitive wind-eddy abruptly ended4 ,you know not what is the end any more than ,i do4 ,in a moment we are translated4 ,ah1 is it so with you8 ,o ,soul1 ,i thought that you had a profound surety6 ,i know nothing3 ,i believe4 ,then it may be with you as with us8 ,i know little3 ,i believe4 ,when ,i am well ,i believe in new1 full1 rich1 wonderful life--in life in the spiritual as well as the mortal sphere4 ,and the ,body1 when he is ill1 he1 too1 thinks of that which is your heritage4 ,but if you are not sure--if you know nothing--may it not be that you1 too1 have fed upon dreams1 and have dallied with ,will-o'-the-wisp1 and are an idle-blown flame even as ,i am1 and have only a vaster spiritual outlook8 ,may it not be that you1 ,o ,soul1 are but a spiritual nerve in the dark1 confused1 brooding mind of ,humanity8 ,may it not be that you and ,i and the ,body go down unto one end8 ,not so4 ,there is the word of ,god4 ,we read it differently4 ,yet the ,word remains4 ,you believe in the immortal life8--,you believe in ,eternity8 ,yes4 ,then what is ,eternity8 ,already you have asked me that6 ,you believe in ,eternity4 ,what is ,eternity8 ,continuity4 ,and what are the things of ,eternity8 ,immortal desires4 ,then what need for us who are mortal to occupy ourselves with what must be for ever beyond us8 ,thereat1 with a harsh laugh1 the ,will arose1 and throwing his garments from him1 plunged into the sunlit green water1 with sudden cries of joy calling to the ,body1 who was still rejoicefully swimming in the sun-dazzle as he breasted the tide4 ,an hour later we rose1 and1 silent again1 once more resumed our way4 ,,iv ,it was about the middle of the afternoon that we moved inland1 because of a difficult tract of cliff and bouldered shore4 ,we followed the course of a brown torrent1 and were soon under the shadow of the mountain4 ,the ewes and lambs made incessantly that mournful crying1 which in mountain solitudes falls from ledge to ledge as though it were no other than the ancient sorrow of the hills4 ,thence we emerged1 walking among boulders green with moss and grey with lichen1 often isled among bracken and shadowed by the wind-wavering birches1 or the finger-leafed rowans already heavy with clusters of ruddy fruit4 ,sometimes we spoke of things which interested us3 of the play of light and shadow in the swirling brown torrent along whose banks we walked1 and by whose grayling-haunted pools we lingered often1 to look at the beautiful shadowy unrealities of the perhaps not less shadowy reality which they mirrored3 of the solemn dusk of the pines2 of the mauve shadows which slanted across the scanty corn that lay in green patches beyond lonely crofts2 of the travelling purple phantoms of phantom clouds1 to us invisible1 over against the mountain-breasts2 of a solitary seamew1 echoing the wave in that inland stillness4 ,all these things gave us keen pleasure4 ,the ,body often laughed joyously1 and talked of chasing the shadow till it should turn and leap into him1 and he be a wild creature of the woods again1 and be happy1 knowing nothing but the incalculable hour4 ,it is an old belief of the ,gaelic hill-people4 ,if one yet older be true1 said the ,will1 speaking to the ,soul1 you and ,shadow are one and the same4 ,nay1 the mystery of the ,trinity is symbolised here again--as in us three2 for there is an ancient forgotten word of an ancient forgotten people1 which means alike the ,breath1 the ,shadow1 and the ,soul4#a ,as we walked onward we became more silent4 ,it was about the sixth hour from noon that we saw a little coast-town lying amid green pastures1 overhung1 as it seemed1 by the tremulous blue band of the sea-line4 ,the ,body was glad1 for here were friends1 and he wearied for his kind4 ,the ,will and the ,soul1 too1 were pleased1 for now they shared the common lot of mortality1 and knew weariness as well as hunger and thirst4 ,so we moved towards the blue smoke of the homes4 ,the home of a wild dove1 a branch swaying in the wind1 is sweet to it2 and the green bracken under a granite rock is home to a tired hind2 and so we1 who are wayfarers idler than these1 which blindly obey the law1 may well look to yonder village as our home for to-night4 ,so spoke the ,soul4 ,the ,body laughed blithely4 ,yes1 he added1 it is a cheerier home than the green bracken4 ,tell me1 have you ever heard of ,the ,three ,companions of ,night8 ,the ,three ,companions of ,night8 ,i would take them to be ,prayer1 and ,hope1 and ,peace4 ,so says the ,soul--but what do you say1 ,o ,will8 ,i would take them to be ,dream1 and ,rest1 and ,longing4 ,we are ever different1 replied the ,body1 with a sigh1 for the ,three ,companions of whom ,i speak are ,laughter1 and ,wine1 and ,love4 ,perhaps we mean the same thing1 muttered the ,will1 with a smile of bitter irony4 ,we thought much of these words as we passed down a sandy lane hung with honeysuckles1 which were full of little birds who made a sweet chittering4 ,prayer1 and ,hope1 and ,peace2 ,dream1 and ,rest1 and ,longing2 ,laughter1 and ,wine1 and ,love3 were these analogues of the ,heart's ,desire8 ,when we left the lane1 where we saw a glow-worm emitting a pale fire as he moved through the green dusk in the shadow of the hedge1 we came upon a white devious road4 ,a young man stood by a pile of stones4 ,he stopped his labour and looked at us4 ,one of us spoke to him4 ,why is it that a man like yourself1 young and strong1 should be doing this work1 which is for broken men8 ,why are you breathing8 he asked abruptly4 ,we breathe to live1 answered the ,body1 smiling blithely4 ,well1 ,i break stones to live4 ,is it worth it8 ,it's better than death4 ,yes1 said the ,body slowly1 it is better than death4 ,tell me1 asked the ,soul1 why is it better than death8 ,who wants not to want8 ,ah--it is the need to want1 then1 that is strongest6 ,the stone-breaker looked sullenly at the speaker4 ,if you're not anxious to live1 he said1 will you give me what money you have8 ,it is a pity good money should be wasted4 ,i know well where ,i would be spending it this night of the nights1 he added abruptly in ,gaelic4 ,the ,body looked at him with curious eyes4 ,and where would you be spending it8 he asked1 in the same language4 ,this is the night of the marriage of ,john ,macdonald1 the rich man from ,america1 who has come back to his own town1 and is giving a big night of it to all his friends1 and his friends' friends4 ,is that the ,john ,macdonald who is marrying ,elsie ,cameron8 demanded the ,body eagerly4 ,ay1 the same2 though it may be the other daughter of ,alastair ,rua1 the girl ,morag4 ,a flush rose to the face of the ,body4 ,his eyes sparkled4 ,it is ,elsie1 he said to the man4 ,belike1 the stone-breaker muttered indifferently4 ,do you know where ,alastair ,rua and his daughters are8 ,yes1 at ,beann ,marsanta ,macdonald's big house of the ,one-,ash ,farm4 ,can you show me the way8 ,i'm going that way4 ,thereat the ,body turned to his comrades3 ,i love her1 he said simply2 ,i love ,morag ,cameron4 ,she is not for your loving1 answered the ,will sharply2 for she has given troth to old ,archibald ,sinclair4 ,the ,body laughed4 ,love is love1 he said lightly4 ,come1 interrupted the ,soul wearily2 we have loitered long enough4 ,let us go4 ,we stood looking at the stone-breaker1 who was gazing curiously at us4 ,suddenly he laughed4 ,why do you laugh8 asked the ,soul4 ,well1 ,i'm not for knowing that4 ,but ,i'll tell you this3 if you two wish to go into the town1 you have only to follow this road4 ,and if you want to come to ,one-,ash ,farm1 then you must come this other way with me4 ,do not go1 whispered the ,soul4 ,but the ,body1 with an impatient gesture1 drew aside4 ,leave me1 he added3 ,i wish to go with this man4 ,i will meet you to-morrow morning at the first bridge to the westward of the little town yonder1 just where the stream slackens over the pebbles4 ,with reluctant eyes the two companions saw their comrade leave4 ,for a long time the ,will watched him with a bitter smile4 ,redeeming love was in the longing eyes of the ,soul4 ,when the ,body and the stone-breaker were alone1 as they walked towards the distant farm-steading1 where already were lights1 and whence came a lowing of kye in the byres1 for it was the milking hour1 they spoke at intervals4 ,who were those with you8 asked the man4 ,friends4 ,we have come away together4 ,what for8 ,well1 as you would say1 to see the world4 ,to see the world8 ,the man laughed4 ,to see the world6 ,have you money8 ,enough for our needs4 ,then you will see nothing4 ,the world gives to them that already have1 an' more than have4 ,what do you hope for to-night8 ,to be drunk4 ,that is a poor thing to hope for4 ,better to think of the laugh and the joke by the fireside2 and of food and drink1 too1 if you will3 of the pipes1 and dancing1 and pretty girls4 ,do as you like4 ,as for me1 ,i hope to be drunk4 ,why8 ,why8 ,because ,i'll be another man then4 ,i'll have forgotten all that ,i now remember from sunrise to sundown4 ,can you think what it is to break a hope in your heart each time you crack a stone on the roadside8 ,that's what ,i am1 a stone-breaker1 an' ,i crack stones inside as well as outside4 ,it's a stony place my heart1 ,god knows4 ,you are young to speak like that1 and you speak like a man who has known better days4 ,oh1 ,i'm ancient enough1 said the man1 with a short laugh4 ,what meaning does that have8 ,what meaning8 ,well1 it just means this1 that ,i'm as old as the ,bible4 ,for there's mention o' me there4 ,only there ,i'm herding swine1 an' here ,i'm breaking stones4 ,and is your father living8 ,ay1 he curses me o' ,sabbaths4 ,then it's not the same as the old story that is in the ,bible8 ,oh1 nothing's the same an' everything's the same--except when you're drunk1 an' then it's only the same turned outside in4 ,but see1 yonder's the farm4 ,take my advice1 an' drink4 ,it's better than the fireside1 it's better than food1 it's better than kisses1 ay it's better than love1 it's as good as hate1 an' it's the only thing you can drown in except despair4 ,soon after this the ,body entered the house of the ,beann ,marsanta ,macdonald1 and with laughter and delight met ,morag ,cameron1 and others whom his heart leaped to see4 ,at midnight1 the ,will sat in a room in a little inn1 and read out of two books1 now out of one1 now out of the other4 ,the one was the ,gaelic ,bible1 the other was in ,english and was called ,the ,one ,hope4 ,he rose1 as the village clock struck twelve1 and went to the window4 ,a salt breath1 pungent with tide-stranded seaweed1 reached him4 ,in the little harbour1 thin shadowy masts ascended like smoke and melted4 ,a green lantern swung from one4 ,the howling of a dog rose and fell4 ,a faint lapping of water was audible4 ,on a big fishing-coble some men were laughing and cursing4 ,overhead was an oppressive solemnity4 ,the myriad stars were as the incalculable notes of a stilled music1 become visible in silence4 ,it was a relief to look into unlighted deeps4 ,these idle lances of ,god pierce the mind1 slay the spirit1 the ,will murmured1 staring with dull anger at the white multitude4 ,if the ,soul were here1 he added bitterly1 he would look at these glittering mockeries as though they were harbingers of eternal hope4 ,to me they are whited sepulchres4 ,they say we live1 to those who die2 they say ,god endures1 to ,man that perisheth2 they whisper the ,immortal ,hope to ,mortality4 ,turning1 he went back to where he had left the books4 ,he lifted one1 and read3-- ,have we not the word of ,god ,himself that ,time and ,chance happeneth to all3 that soon or late we shall all be caught in a net1 we whom ,chance hath for his idle sport1 and upon whom ,time trampleth with impatient feet8 ,verily1 the rainbow is not more frail1 more fleeting1 than this drear audacity4 ,with a sigh he put the book down1 and lifted the other4 ,having found the page he sought1 he read slowly aloud3-- 444 but ,time and ,chance happeneth to them all4 ,for man also knoweth not his time3 as the fishes that are taken in an evil net1 and as the birds that are caught in the snare1 even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time1 when it falleth suddenly upon them4 ,he went to the window again1 brooding darkly4 ,a slight sound caught his ear4 ,he saw a yellow light run out1 leap across the pavement and pass like a fan of outblown flame4 ,then the door closed1 and we heard a step on the stone flags4 ,he looked down4 ,the ,soul was there4 ,are you restless8 ,can you not sleep8 he asked4 ,no1 dear friend4 ,but my heart is weary because of the ,body4 ,yet before ,i go1 let me bid you read that which follows upon what you have just read4 ,it is not only ,time and ,chance upon which to dwell2 but upon this1 that ,god knows that which ,he does1 and the hour and the way1 and sees the end in the beginning4 ,and while the ,soul moved softly down the little windy street1 the ,will opened the ,book again1 and read as the ,soul had bidden4 ,it may be so1 he muttered1 it may be that the dreamer may yet wake to behold his dream--,as thou knowest not what is the way of the wind1 even so thou knowest not the work of ,god ,who doeth all8 ,with that he sighed wearily1 and then1 afraid to look again at the bitter eloquence of the stars1 lit a candle as he lay down on his bed1 and watched the warm companionable flame till sleep came upon him1 and he dreamed no more of the rue and cypress1 but plucked amaranths in the moonshine4 ,meanwhile the ,soul walked swiftly to the outskirts of the little town1 and out by the grassy links where clusters of white geese huddled in sleep1 and across the windy common where a tethered ass stood1 with drooping head1 his long1 twitching ears now motionless4 ,in the moonlight1 the shadow of the weary animal stretched to fantastic lengths1 and at one point1 when the startled ,soul looked at it1 he beheld the shadow of the ,cross4 ,when he neared ,one-,ash ,farm he heard a loud uproar from within4 ,many couples were still dancing1 and the pipes and a shrill flute added to the tumult4 ,others sang and laughed1 or laughed and shouted1 or cursed hoarsely4 ,through the fumes of smoke and drink rippled women's laughter4 ,he looked in at a window1 with sad eyes4 ,the first glance revealed to him the ,body1 his blue eyes aflame1 his face flushed with wine1 his left arm holding close to his heart a bright winsome lass1 with hair dishevelled1 and wild eyes1 but with a wonderful laughing eagerness of joy4 ,in vain he called4 ,his voice was suddenly grown faint4 ,but what the ear could not hear1 the heart heard4 ,the ,body rose abruptly4 ,i will drink no more1 he said4 ,a loud insensate laugh resounded near him4 ,the stone-breaker lounged heavily from a bench1 upon the servant's table4 ,i am drunk now1 my friend1 the man cried with flaming eyes4 ,i am drunk1 an' now ,i am as reckless as a king1 an' as serene as the ,pope1 an' as heedless as ,god4 ,the ,soul turned his gaze and looked at him4 ,he saw a red flame rising from grey ashes4 ,the ashes were his heart4 ,the flame was his impotent1 perishing life4 ,stricken with sorrow1 the ,soul went to the door1 and entered4 ,he went straight to the stone-breaker1 who was now lying with head and arms prone on the deal table4 ,he whispered in the drunkard's ear4 ,the man lifted his head1 and stared with red1 brutish eyes4 ,what is that8 he cried4 ,your mother was pure and holy4 ,she died to give you her life4 ,what will it be like on the day she asks for it again8 ,the man raised an averting arm4 ,there was a stare of horror in his eyes4 ,i know you1 you devil4 ,your name is ,conscience4 ,the ,soul looked at the ,speaker4 ,i do not know1 he answered simply2 but ,i believe in ,god4 ,in the love of ,god8 ,in the love of ,god4 ,he dwells everywhere8 ,everywhere4 ,then ,i will find ,him1 ,i will find ,his love1 here--and with that the man raised the deathly spirit to his lips again1 and again drank4 ,then1 laughing and cursing1 he threw the remainder at the feet of his unknown friend4 ,farewell6 he shouted hoarsely1 so that those about him stared at him and at the new-comer4 ,the ,soul turned sadly1 and looked for his strayed comrade1 but he was nowhere to be seen4 ,in a room upstairs that friend whom he loved was whispering eager vows of sand and wind2 and the girl ,morag1 clinging close to him1 tempted him as she herself was tempted1 so that both stood in that sand1 and in the intertangled hair of each that wind blew4 ,the ,soul saw1 and understood4 ,none spoke to him1 a stranger1 as he went slowly from the house1 though all were relieved when that silent1 sad-eyed foreigner withdrew4 ,outside1 the cool sea-wind fell freshly upon him4 ,he heard a corncrake calling harshly to his mate1 where the corn was yellowing in a little stone-dyked field2 and a night-jar creeping forward on a juniper1 uttering his whirring love-note2 and he blessed their sweet1 innocent lust4 ,then1 looking upward1 he watched for a while the white procession of the stars4 ,they were to him the symbolic signs of the mystery of ,god4 ,he bowed his head4 ,dust of the world1 he muttered humbly1 dust of the world4 ,moving slowly by the house--so doubly noisy1 so harshly discordant1 against the large1 serene1 nocturnal life--he came against the gable of an open window4 ,on the ledge lay a violin1 doubtless discarded by some reveller4 ,the ,soul lifted it1 and held it up to the night-wind4 ,when it was purified1 and the vibrant wood was as a nerve in that fragrant darkness1 he laid it on his shoulder and played softly4 ,what was it that he played8 ,many heard it1 but none knew what the strain was1 or whence it came4 ,the ,soul remembered1 and played4 ,it is enough4 ,the soft playing stole into the house as though it were the cool sea-wind1 as though it were the flowing dusk4 ,beautiful1 unfamiliar sounds1 and sudden silences passing sweet1 filled the rooms4 ,the last guests left hurriedly1 hushed1 strangely disquieted4 ,the dwellers in the farmstead furtively bade good-night1 and slipt away4 ,for an hour1 till the sinking of the moon1 the ,soul played4 ,he played the ,song of ,dreams1 the ,song of ,peace1 the three ,songs of ,mystery4 ,the evil that was in the house ebbed4 ,everywhere1 at his playing1 the secret obscure life awoke4 ,nimble aerial creatures swung1 invisibly passive1 in the quiet dark4 ,from the brown earth1 from hidden sanctuaries in rocks and trees1 green and grey lives slid1 and stood intent4 ,out of the hillside came those of old4 ,there were many eager voices1 like leaves lapping in a wind4 ,the wild-fox lay down1 with red tongue lolling idly3 the stag rose from the fern1 with dilated nostrils2 the night-jar ceased1 the corncrake ceased1 the moon-wakeful thrushes made no single thrilling note4 ,the silence deepened4 ,sleep came stealing softly out of the obscure1 swimming dusk4 ,there was not a swaying reed1 a moving leaf4 ,the strange company of shadows stood breathless4 ,among the tree-tops the loosened stars shone terribly--lonely fires of silence4 ,the ,soul played4 ,once he thought of the stone-breaker4 ,he played into his heart4 ,the man stirred1 and tears oozed between his heavy lids4 ,it was his mother's voice that he heard1 singing-low a cradle-sweet song1 and putting back her white hair that she might look earthward to her love4 ,grey sweetheart1 grey sweetheart1 he moaned4 ,then his heart lightened1 and a moonlight of peace hallowed that solitary waste place4 ,again1 at the last1 the ,soul thought of his comrade1 heavy with wine in the room overhead1 drunken with desire4 ,and to him he played the imperishable beauty of ,beauty1 the ,immortal ,love1 so that1 afterwards1 he should remember the glory rather than the shame of his poor frailty4 ,what he played to the girl's heart only those women know who hear the whispering words of ,mary the ,mother in sleep1 when a second life breathes beneath each breath4 ,when he ceased1 deep slumber was a balm upon all4 ,he fell upon his knees and prayed4 ,beauty of all ,beauty1 he prayed1 let none perish without thee4 ,it was thus that we three1 who were one1 realised how ,prayer and ,hope and ,peace1 how ,dream and ,rest and ,longing1 how ,laughter and ,wine and ,love1 are in truth but shadowy analogues of the ,heart's ,desire4 ,v ,at dawn we woke4 ,a movement of gladness was in the lovely tides of morning--delicate green1 and blue1 and gold4 ,the spires of the grasses were washed in dew2 the innumerous was as one green flower that had lain all night in the moonshine4 ,we had agreed to meet at the bridge over the stream where it lapsed through gravelly beaches just beyond the little town4 ,there the ,soul and the ,will long awaited the ,body4 ,the sun was an hour risen1 and had guided a moving multitude of gold and azure waters against the long reaches of yellow-poppied sand1 and to the bases of the great cliffs1 whose schist shone like chrysolite1 and whose dreadful bastions of black basalt loomed in purple shadow1 like suspended thunder-clouds on a windless afternoon4 ,the air was filled with the poignant sweetness of the loneroid or bog-myrtle1 meadow-sweet1 and white wild-roses4 ,the green smell of the bracken1 the delicate woodland odour of the mountain-ash1 floated hitherward and thitherward on the idle breath of the wind1 sunwarm when it came across the sea-pinks and thyme-set grass1 cool and fresh when it eddied from the fern-coverts1 or from the heather above the hillside-boulders where the sheep lay1 or from under the pines at the bend of the sea-road where already the cooing of grey doves made an indolent sweetness4 ,the ,soul was silent4 ,he had not slept1 but1 after his playing in the dark1 peace had come to him4 ,before dawn he had gone into the room where the ,will lay1 and had looked long at his comrade4 ,in sleep the ,will more resembled him1 as when awake he the more resembled the ,body4 ,a deep pity had come upon the ,soul for him whom he loved so well1 but knew so little4 ,why was it1 he wondered1 that he felt less alien from the ,body8 ,why was it that this strange1 potent1 inscrutable being1 whom both loved1 should be so foreign to each8 ,the ,body feared him4 ,as for himself1 he1 too1 feared him at times4 ,there were moments when all his marvellous background of the immortal life shrank before the keen gaze of his friend4 ,was it possible that ,mind could have a life apart from mortal substances8 ,was it possible8 ,if so---- ,it was here that the ,will awoke1 and smiled at his friend4 ,he gave no greeting1 but answered his thought4 ,yes1 he said gravely1 and as though continuing an argument1 it is impossible1 if you mean the mortal substance of our brother1 the ,body4 ,but yet not without material substance4 ,may it not be that the ,mind may have an undreamed-of shaping power1 whereby it can instantly create8 ,create what8 ,a new environment for its need8 ,drown it in the deepest gulfs of the sea1 and it will1 at the moment it is freed from the body1 sheathe itself in a like shape1 and habit itself with free spaces of air1 so that it may breathe1 and live1 and emerge into the atmosphere1 there to take on a new shape1 to involve itself in new circumstances1 to live anew8 ,it is possible4 ,but would that sea-change leave the mind the same or another8 ,the ,mind would come forth one and incorruptible4 ,if in truth1 the ,mind be an indivisible essence8 ,yes1 if the mind be one and indivisible4 ,you believe it so8 ,tell me1 are you insubstantial8 ,you1 yourself1 below this accident of mortality8 ,i know not what you mean4 ,you were wondering if1 after all1 it were possible for me to have a life1 a conscious1 individual continuity1 apart from this mortal substance in which you and ,i now share--counterparts of that human home we both love and hate1 that moving tent of the ,illimitable1 which at birth appears a speck on sands of the ,illimitable1 and at death again abruptly disappears4 ,you were wondering this4 ,but1 tell me3 have you yourself never wondered how you can exist1 as yourself1 apart from something of this very actuality1 this form1 this materialism to which you find yourself so alien in the ,body8 ,i am spirit4 ,i am a breath4 ,but you are you8 ,yes1 ,i am ,i4 ,the surpassing egotism is the same1 whether in you1 the ,soul1 who are but a breath2 or in me1 the ,will1 who am but a condition2 or in our brother1 the ,body1 a claimant to ,eternal ,life while perishing in his mortality6 ,i live in ,god4 ,whence ,i came1 thither shall ,i return4 ,a breath8 ,it may be4 ,yet you shall be you8 ,yes2 ,i4 ,then that breath which will be you must have form1 even as the ,body must have form4 ,form is but the human formula for the informulate4 ,nay1 ,form is life4 ,you have ever one wish1 it seems to me1 ,o ,will3 to put upon me the heavy yoke of mortality4 ,not so3 but to lift it from myself4 ,and the ,body8 ,where did you leave him last night8 ,you remember what he said about the ,three ,companions of ,night3 ,laughter1 and ,wine1 and ,love8 ,i left him with these4 ,they are also called ,tears1 and ,weariness1 and the ,grave4 ,he has his portion4 ,perhaps he does well4 ,death intercepts many retributions4 ,he1 too1 has his dream within a dream4 ,yes1 you played to it1 in the silence and the darkness4 ,you heard my playing--you here1 ,i there8 ,i heard4 ,and did you sleep or wake1 comforted8 ,i heard a ,wind4 ,i have heard it often4 ,i heard1 too1 my own voice singing in the dark4 ,what was the song8 ,this3-- ,in the silences of the woods ,i have heard all day and all night ,the moving multitudes ,of the ,wind in flight4 ,he is named ,myriad3 ,and ,i am sad ,often1 and often ,i am glad2 ,but oftener ,i am white ,with fear of the dim broods ,that are his multitudes4 ,and then1 when you had heard that song8 ,there was a rush of wings4 ,my hair streamed behind me4 ,then a sudden stillness1 out of which came moonlight2 and a star fell slowly through the dark1 and as it passed my face ,i felt lips pressed against mine1 and it seemed to me that you kissed me4 ,and when ,i kissed you1 did ,i whisper any word8 ,you whispered3 ',i am the ,following ,love4' ,and you knew then that it was the ,breath of ,god1 and you had deep peace1 and slept8 ,i knew that it was the ,following ,love1--that is the ,breath of ,god1 and ,i had deep peace1 and ,i slept4 ,the ,soul crossed from the window to the bed1 and stooped1 and kissed the ,will4 ,beloved1 he whispered1 the star was but a dewdrop of the ,peace that passeth understanding4 ,and can it be that to you1 to whom the healing dew was vouchsafed1 shall be denied the water-springs8 ,ah1 beautiful dreamer of dreams1 bewilder me no more with your lovely sophistries4 ,see1 it is already late1 and we have to meet the ,body at the shore-bridge over the little stream6 ,it was then that the two1 having had a spare meal of milk and new bread1 left the inn1 and went1 each communing with his own thoughts1 to the appointed place4 ,they heard the ,body before they saw him1 for he was singing as he came4 ,it was a strange1 idle fragment of a song--,the ,little ,children of the ,wind--a song that some one had made1 complete in its incompleteness1 as a wind-blown blossom1 and1 as a blossom discarded by a flying bird1 thrown heedlessly on the wayside by its unknown wandering singer3-- ,i hear the little children of the wind ,crying solitary in lonely places3 ,i have not seen their faces1 ,but ,i have seen the leaves eddying behind1 ,the little tremulous leaves of the wind4 ,the ,soul looked at the ,will4 ,so he1 too1 has heard the ,wind1 he said softly4 ,,vi ,all that day we journeyed westward4 ,sometimes we saw1 far off1 the pale blue films of the ,hills of ,dream1 those elusive mountains towards which our way was set4 ,sometimes they were so startlingly near that1 from gorse upland or inland valley1 we thought we saw the shadow-grass shake in the wind's passage1 or smelled the thyme still wet with dew where it lay under the walls of mountain-boulders4 ,but at noon we were no nearer than when1 at sunrise1 we had left the little sea-town behind us3 and when the throng of bracken-shadows filled the green levels between the fern and the pines--like flocks of sheep following fantastic herdsmen--the ,hills of the ,west were still as near1 and as far1 as the bright raiment of the rainbow which the shepherd sees lying upon his lonely pastures4 ,but long before noon we were glad because of what happened to one of us4 ,the dawn had flushed into a wilderness of rose as we left the bridge by the stream4 ,long shafts of light1 plumed with pale gold1 were flung up out of the east3 everywhere was the tremulous awakening of the new day4 ,a score of yards from the highway a cottage stood1 sparrows stirring in the thatch1 swift fairy-spiders running across the rude white-washed walls1 a redbreast singing in the dew-drenched fuchsia-bush4 ,the blue peat-smoke which rose above it was so faint as to be invisible beyond the rowan which stood sunways4 ,the westward part of the cottage was a byre3 we could hear the lowing of a cow1 the clucking of fowls4 ,in every glen1 on each hillside1 are crofts such as this4 ,there was nothing unusual in what we saw1 save that a collie crouched whimpering beyond a dyke on the farther side of the rowan4 ,all is not well here1 said the ,will4 ,no1 murmured the ,soul1 ,i see the shadowy footsteps of those who serve the ,evil ,one4 ,await me here4 ,with that the ,soul walked swiftly towards the cottage1 and looked in at the little window4 ,his thought was straightway ours1 and we knew that a woman lay within and was about to give birth to a child4 ,we knew1 also1 that those who had dark1 cruel eyes1 and wore each the feather of a hawk1 had no power within1 but were baffled1 and roamed restlessly outside the cottage on the side of shadow4 ,the ,fuath himself was not there1 but when his call came the evil spirits rose like a flock of crows and passed away4 ,then we saw our comrade stand back1 and bow down1 and fall upon his knees4 ,when he rejoined us we were for a moment as one1 and saw seven tall and beautiful spirits1 starred and flame-crested1 hand-clasped and standing circlewise round the cottage4 ,they were ,sons of ,joy1 who sang because in that mortal hour was born an immortal soul who in the white flame and the red of mortal life was to be a spirit of gladness and beauty4 ,for there is no joy in the domain of the ,spirit like that of the birth of a new joy4 ,a long while we walked in silence4 ,in the eyes of the ,soul we saw a divine and beautiful light3 in the eyes of the ,will we saw rainbow-spanned depths3 in the eyes of the ,body we saw gladness4 ,we are one6 ,none knew who spoke4 ,for a moment ,i heard my own voice1 saw my own shadow in the grass2 then1 in the twinkling of an eye1 three stood1 looking at each other with startled gaze4 ,let us go1 said the ,soul2 we have a long way yet to travel4 ,each dreaming his own dream1 we walked onward4 ,suddenly the ,soul turned and looked in the eyes of the ,body4 ,you are thinking of your loneliness1 he said gravely4 ,yes1 answered the ,body4 ,and ,i too1 said the ,will4 ,for a time no word more was said4 ,i am indeed alone4 ,this ,i murmured to myself after a long while1 and in a moment the old supreme wisdom sank1 and we were not one but three4 ,but you1 ,o ,soul1 said the ,will1 how can you be alone when in every hour you have the company of the invisible1 and see the passage of powers and influence1 of demons and angels1 creatures of the triple universe1 souls1 and the pale flight of the unembodied8 ,i do not know loneliness because of what ,i see or do not see1 but because of what ,i feel4 ,when ,i walk here with you side by side it is as though ,i walked along a narrow shore between a fathomless sea and fathomless night4 ,the thought of one was the thought of three4 ,i shivered with that great loneliness4 ,the ,body glanced sidelong at the ,will1 the ,will at the ,soul4 ,it is not good to dwell upon that loneliness1 said the last4 ,to you1 ,o ,body1 and to you1 ,o ,will1 as to me1 it is the signal of ,him whom we have lost4 ,listen1 and in the deepest hollow of loneliness we can hear the voice of the ,shepherd4 ,i hear nothing1 said the ,body4 ,i hear an echo1 said the ,will3 ,i hear an echo2 but so1 too1 ,i can hear the authentic voice of the sea in a hollow shell4 ,authentic6 444 when ,i know well that the murmur is no eternal voice1 no whisper of the wave made one with pearly silence1 but only the sound of my flowing blood heard idly in the curves of ear and shell8 ,ah6 444 cried the ,body1 it is a lie1 that cruel word of science4 ,the shell must ever murmur of the sea2 if not1 at least let us dream that it does4 ,soon1 soon we shall have no dream left4 ,how am ,i to know that all1 that everything1 is not but an idle noise in my ears8 ,how am ,i to know that the ,hope of the ,will1 and the ,voice of the ,soul1 and the message of the ,word1 and the ,whisper of the ,eternal ,spirit1 are not one and all but a mocking echo in that shell which for me is the ,shell of ,life1 but may be only the cold inhabitation of my dreams8 ,yet were it not for these echoes1 the ,soul answered1 life would be intolerable for you1 as for you too1 my friend4 ,the ,will smiled scornfully4 ,dreams are no comfort1 no solace1 no relief from weariness even1 if one knows them to be no more than the spray above the froth of a distempered mind4 ,suddenly one of us began in a low voice a melancholy little song3-- ,i hear the sea-song of the blood in my heart1 ,i hear the sea-song of the blood in my ears2 ,and ,i am far apart1 ,and lost in the years4 ,but when ,i lie and dream of that which was ,before the first man's shadow flitted on the grass-- ,i am stricken dumb ,with sense of that to come4 ,is then this wildering sea-song but a part ,of the old song of the mystery of the years-- ,or only the echo of the tired ,heart ,and of ,tears8 ,but none answered1 and so again we walked onward1 silent4 ,the wind had fallen1 and in the noon-heat we began to grow weary4 ,it was with relief that we saw the gleam of water between the branches of a little wood of birches1 which waded towards it through a tide of bracken4 ,beyond the birks shimmered a rainbow2 a stray cloud had trailed from glen to glen1 and suddenly broken among the tree-tops4 ,there goes ,yesterday6 cried the ,body laughingly--alluding to the saying that the morning rainbow is the ghost of the day that passed at dawn4 ,the next moment he broke into a fragment of song3-- ,brother and ,sister1 wanderers they ,out of the ,golden ,yesterday-- ,thro' the dusty ,now and the dim ,to-morrow ,hand-in-hand go ,joy and ,sorrow4 ,yes1 joy and sorrow1 ,o glad ,body1 exclaimed the ,will--but it is the joy only that is vain as the rainbow1 which has no other message4 ,it should be called the ,bow of ,sorrow4 ,not so1 said the ,soul gently1 or1 if so1 not as you mean1 dear friend3-- ,it is not ,love that gives the clearest sight3 ,for out of bitter tears1 and tears unshed1 ,riseth the ,rainbow of ,sorrow overhead1 ,and 'neath the ,rainbow is the clearest light4 ,the ,will smiled3-- ,i too must have my say1 dear poets3-- ,where rainbows rise through sunset rains ,by shores forlorn of isles forgot1 ,a solitary ,voice complains ',the ,world is here1 the ,world is not4' ,the ,voice may be the wind1 or sea1 ,or spirit of the sundown ,west3 ,or1 mayhap1 some sweet air set free ,from off the ,islands of the ,blest3 ,it may be2 but ,i turn my face ,to that which still ,i hold so dear2 ,and lo1 the voices of the days-- ',the ,world is not1 the ,world is here4' ',tis the same end whichever way ,and either way is soon forgot3 ,the ,world is all in all1 ,to-day3 ',to-morrow all the ,world is not4' ,,vii ,in the noon-heat we lay1 for rest and coolness1 by the pool1 and on the shadow-side of a hazel4 ,the water was of so dark a brown that we knew it was of a great depth1 and1 indeed1 even at the far verge1 a heron1 standing motionless1 wetted her breast-feathers4 ,in the mid-pool1 where the brown lawns sloped into depths of purple-blue1 we could see a single cloud1 invisible otherwise where we lay4 ,nearer us1 the water mirrored a mountain-ash heavy with ruddy clusters4 ,that long1 feathery foliage1 that reddening fruit1 hung in a strange1 unfamiliar air2 the stranger1 that amid the silence of those phantom branches ever and again flitted furtive shadow-birds4 ,we had walked for hours1 and were now glad to rest4 ,with us we had brought oaten bread and milk1 and were well content4 ,it was by a pool such as this1 said one of us1 after a long interval1 that dreamers of old called to ,connla1 and ,connla heard4 ,that was the mortal name of one whose name we know not4 ,call him now1 whispered the ,body eagerly4 ,the ,soul leaned forward1 and stared into the fathomless brown dusk4 ,speak1 ,connla6 ,who art thou8 ,clear as a ,sabbath-bell across windless pastures we heard a voice3 ,i am of those who wait yet a while4 ,i am older than all age1 for my youth is ,wisdom2 and ,i am younger than all youth1 for ,i am named ,to-morrow4 ,we heard no more4 ,in vain1 together1 separately1 we sought to break that silence which divides the mortal moment from hourless time4 ,the ,soul himself could not hear1 or see1 or even remember1 because of that mortal raiment of the flesh which for a time he had voluntarily taken upon himself4 ,i will tell you a dream that is not all a dream1 he said at last1 after we had lain a long while pondering what that voice had uttered1 that voice which showed that the grave held a deeper mystery than silence4 ,the ,will looked curiously at him4 ,is it a dream wherein we have shared8 he asked slowly4 ,that ,i know not3 yet it may well be so4 ,i call my dream ',the ,sons of ,joy4' ,if you or the ,body have also dreamed1 let each relate the dream4 ,yes1 said the ,body1 ,i have dreamed it4 ,but ,i would call it rather ',the ,sons of ,delight4' ,and ,i1 said the ,will1 ,the ,sons of ,silence4 ,tell it1 said the ,soul1 looking towards the ,body4 ,it was night1 answered the ,body at once3 and ,i was alone in a waste place4 ,my feet were entangled among briars and thorns1 and beside me was a quagmire4 ,on the briar grew a great staff1 and beside it a circlet of woven thorn4 ,i could see them1 in a soft1 white light4 ,it must have been moonlight1 for on the other side of the briar ,i saw1 in the moonshine1 a maze of wild roses4 ,they were lovely and fragrant4 ,i would have liked to take the staff1 but it was circled with the thorn-wreath2 so ,i turned to the moonshine and the wild roses4 ,it was then that ,i saw a multitude of tall and lovely figures1 men and women1 all rose-crowned1 and the pale1 beautiful faces of the women with lips like rose-leaves4 ,they were singing4 ,it was the ,song of ,delight4 ,i1 too1 sang4 ,and as ,i sang1 ,i wondered1 for ,i thought that the eyes of those about me were heavy with love and dreams1 as though each had been pierced with a shadowy thorn4 ,but still the song rose1 and ,i knew that the flowers in the grass breathed to it1 and that the vast slow cadence of the stars was its majestic measure4 ,then the dawn broke1 and ,i saw all the company1 winged and crested with the seven colours1 press together1 so that a rainbow was upbuilded4 ,in the middle space below the rainbow1 a bird sang4 ,then ,i knew ,i was that bird2 and as the rainbow vanished1 and the dawn grew grey and chill1 ,i sank to the ground4 ,but it was all bog and swamp4 ,i knew ,i should sing no more4 ,but ,i heard voices saying3 ',o happy1 wonderful bird1 who has seen all delight1 whose song was so rapt1 sing1 sing1 sing6' ,but when ,i could sing no more ,i was stoned1 and lay dead4 ,that was my dream4 ,the ,soul sighed4 ,it was not thus ,i dreamed1 he murmured2 but thus3-- ,i stood1 at night1 on the verge of the sea1 and looked at the maze of stars4 ,and while looking and dreaming1 ,i heard voices1 and1 turning1 beheld a multitude of human beings4 ,all were sorrowful2 many were heavy with weariness and despair2 all suffered from some grievous ill4 ,among them were many who cried continually that they had no thought1 or dream1 no wish1 but to forget all1 and be at rest3 ,i called to them1 asking whither they were bound8 ',we are journeying to the ,grave1' came the sighing answer4 ,then suddenly ,i saw the ,grave4 ,an angel stood at the portals4 ,he was so beautiful that the radiance of the light upon his brow lit that shoreless multitude2 in every heart a little flame arose4 ,the name of that divine one was ,hope4 ,as shadow by shadow slipt silently into the dark road behind the ,grave1 ,i saw the ,angel touch for a moment every pale brow4 ,i knew at last that ,i saw beyond the ,grave4 ,infinite ways traversed the universe1 wherein suns and moons and stars hung like fruit4 ,multitude within multitude was there4 ,then1 again1 suddenly ,i stood where ,i had been1 and saw the ,grave reopen1 and from it troop back a myriad of bright and beautiful beings4 ,i could see that some were souls re-born1 some were lovely thoughts1 dreams1 hopes1 aspirations1 influences1 powers and mighty spirits too4 ,and all sang3 ',we are the ,sons of ,joy4' ,that was my dream4 ,we were still for a few moments4 ,then the ,will spoke4 ,this dream of ours is one thing as the ,body's1 and another as the ,soul's4 ,it is yet another1 as ,i remember it3-- ,on a night of a cold silence1 when the breath of the equinox sprayed the stars into a continuous dazzle1 ,i heard the honk of the wild geese as they cleft their way wedgewise through the gulfs overhead4 ,in the twinkling of an eye ,i was beyond the last shadow of the last wing4 ,before me lay a land solemn with auroral light4 ,for a thousand years1 that were as a moment1 ,i wandered therein4 ,then1 far before me1 ,i saw an immense semi-circle of divine figures1 tall1 wonderful1 clothed with moonfire1 each with uplifted head1 as a forest before a wind4 ,to the right they held the ,east1 and to the left the ,west4 ',who are you8' ,i cried1 as ,i drifted through them like a mist of pale smoke4 ',we are the ,laughing ,gods1' they answered4 ,then after ,i had drifted on beyond the reach of sea or land1 to a frozen solitude of ice1 ,i saw again a vast concourse stretching crescent-wise from east to west3 taller1 more wonderful1 crowned with stars1 and standing upon dead moons white with perished time4 ',who are you8' ,i cried1 as ,i went past them like a drift of pale smoke4 ',we are the ,gods who laugh not1' they answered4 ,then when ,i had drifted beyond the silence of the ,pole1 and there was nothing but unhabitable air1 and the dancing fires were a flicker in the pale sheen far behind1 ,i saw again a vast concourse stretching crescent-wise from east to west4 ,they were taller still2 they were more wonderful still4 ,they were crowned with flaming suns1 and their feet were white with the dust of ancient constellations4 ',who are you6' ,i cried1 as ,i went past them like a mist of pale smoke4 ',we are the ,gods1' they answered4 ,and while ,i waned into nothingness ,i felt in my nostrils the salt smell of the sea1 and1 listening1 ,i heard the honk of the wild geese wedging southward4 ,that was my dream4 ,when the ,will ceased1 nothing was said4 ,we were too deeply moved by strange thoughts1 one and all4 ,was it always to be thus 444 that we might dream one dream1 confusedly real1 confusedly unreal1 when we three were one2 but that when each dreamed alone1 the dream1 the vision1 was ever to be distinct in form and significance8 ,we lay resting for long4 ,after a time we slept4 ,i cannot remember what then we dreamed1 but ,i know that these three dreams were become one1 and that what the ,soul saw and what the ,will saw and what the ,body saw was a more near and searching revelation in this new and one dream than in any of the three separately4 ,i pondered this1 trying to remember3 but the deepest dreams are always unrememberable1 and leave only a fragrance1 a sound as of a quiet footfall passing into silence1 or a cry1 or a sense of something wonderful1 unimagined1 or of light intolerable3 but ,i could recall only the memory of a moment 444 a moment wherein1 in a flash of lightning1 ,i had seen all1 understood all4 ,i rose 444 there was a dazzle on the water1 a shimmer on every leaf1 a falling away as of walls of air into the great river of the wind 444 and there were three1 not one1 each staring dazed at the other1 in the ears of each the bewilderment of the already faint echo of that lost ,i4 ,,viii ,towards sundown we came upon a hamlet1 set among the hills4 ,our hearts had beat quicker as we drew near1 for with the glory of light gathered above the west the mountains had taken upon them a bloom soft and wonderful1 and we thought that at last we were upon the gates of the hills towards which we had journeyed so eagerly4 ,but when we reached the last pines on the ridge we saw the wild doves flying far westward4 ,beyond us1 under a pale star1 dimly visible in a waste of rose1 were the ,hills of ,dream4 ,the ,soul wished to go to them at once1 for now they seemed so near to us that we might well reach them with the rising of the moon4 ,but the others were tired1 nor did the ,hills seem so near to them4 ,so we sat down by the peat-fire in a shepherd's cottage1 and ate of milk and porridge1 and talked with the man about the ways of that district1 and the hills1 and how best to reach them4 ,if you want work1 he said1 you should go away south1 where the towns are1 an' not to these lonely hills4 ,they are so barren1 that even the goatherds no longer wander their beasts there4 ,it's said they're haunted1 added the ,body1 seeing that the others did not speak4 ,ay1 sure enough4 ,that's well known1 master4 ,an' for the matter o' that1 there's a wood down there to the right where for three nights past ,i have seen figures and the gleaming of fire4 ,but there isn't a soul in that wood--no1 not a wandering tinker4 ,i took my dogs through it to-day1 an' there wasn't the sign even of a last-year's gypsy4 ,as for the low bare hill beyond it1 not a man1 let alone a woman or child1 would go near it in the dark4 ,in the ,gaelic it's called ,maol ,de1 that is to say1 the ,hill of ,god4 ,for a long time we sat talking with the shepherd1 for he told us of many things that were strange1 and some that were beautiful1 and some that were wild and terrible4 ,one of his own brothers1 after an evil life1 had become mad1 and even now lived in caves among the higher hills1 going ever on hands and feet1 and cursing by day and night because he was made as one of the wild swine1 that know only hunger and rage and savage sleep4 ,he himself tended lovingly his old father1 who was too frail to work1 and often could not sleep at nights because of the pleasant but wearying noise the fairies made as they met on the dancing-lawns among the bracken4 ,our friend had not himself heard the simple people1 and in a whisper confided to us that he thought the old man was a bit mazed1 and that what he heard was only the solitary playing of the ,amadan-,dhu1 who1 it was known to all1 roamed the shadows between the two dusks4 ,keep away from the river in the hollow1 he said at another moment1 for it's there1 on a night like this1 just before the full moon got up1 that1 when ,i was a boy1 ,i saw the ,aonaran4 ,an' to this day1 if ,i saw you or any one standing by the water1 it 'ud be all ,i could do not to thrust you into it and drown you3 ay1 ,i'd have to throw myself on my face1 an' bite the grass1 an' pray till my soul shook the murder out at my throat4 ,for that's the ,aonaran's doing4 ,later1 he showed us1 when we noticed it1 a bit of smooth coral that hung by a coarse leathern thong from his neck4 ,is that an amulet8 one of us asked4 ,no3 it's my lassie's4 ,we looked at the man inquiringly4 ,the bairn's dead thirty years agone4 ,in the silence that followed1 one of us rose1 and went with the shepherd into the little room behind4 ,when the man came back it was with a wonderful light in his face4 ,our comrade did not return 444 but when we glanced sidelong1 lo1 the ,soul was there1 as though he had not moved4 ,then1 of a sudden1 we knew what he had done1 what he had said1 and were glad4 ,when we left 7the shepherd wanted us to stay the night1 but we would not71 the stars had come4 ,the night was full of solemn beauty4 ,we went down by the wood of which the shepherd had spoken1 and came upon it as the moon rose4 ,but as a path bordered it1 we followed that little winding white gleam1 somewhat impatient now to reach those far hills where each of us believed he would find his heart's desire1 or1 at the least1 have that vision of absolute ,truth1 of absolute ,beauty1 which we had set out to find4 ,we had not gone a third of the way when the ,body abruptly turned1 waving to us a warning hand4 ,when we stood together silent1 motionless1 we saw that we were upon a secret garden4 ,we were among ilex1 and beyond were tall cypresses1 like dark flames rising out of the earth1 their hither sides lit with wavering moonfire4 ,far away the hill-foxes barked4 ,somewhere near us in the dusk an owl hooted4 ,the nested wild doves were silent4 ,once1 the faint churr of a distant fern-owl sent a vibrant dissonance1 that was yet strangely soothing1 through the darkness and the silence4 ,look6 whispered the ,body4 ,we saw1 on a mossy slope under seven great cypresses1 a man lying on the ground1 asleep4 ,the moonshine reached him as we looked1 and revealed a face of so much beauty and of so great a sorrow that the heart ached4 ,nevertheless1 there was so infinite a peace there1 that1 merely gazing upon it1 our lives stood still4 ,the moonbeam slowly passed from that divine face4 ,i felt my breath rising and falling1 like a feather before the mystery of the wind is come4 ,then1 the further surprised1 we saw that the sleeper was not alone4 ,about him were eleven others1 who also slept2 but of these one sat upright1 as though the watchman of the dark hour1 slumbering at his post4 ,while the ,body stooped1 whispering1 we caught sight of the white face of yet another1 behind the great bole of a tree4 ,this man1 the twelfth of that company which was gathered about the sleeper in its midst1 stared1 with uplifted hand4 ,in his other hand1 and lowered to the ground1 was a torch4 ,he stared upon the ,sleeper4 ,slowly ,i moved forward4 ,but whether in so doing1 or by so doing1 we broke some subtle spell1 which had again made us as one1 ,i know not4 ,suddenly three stood in that solitary place1 with none beside us1 neither sleeping nor watching1 neither quick nor dead4 ,far off the hill-foxes barked4 ,among the cypress boughs an owl hooted1 and was still4 ,have we dreamed8 each asked the other4 ,then the ,body told what he had seen1 and what heard2 and it was much as is written here1 only that the sleepers seemed to him worn and poor men1 ill-clad1 weary1 and that behind the white face of the twelfth1 who hid behind a tree1 was a company of evil men with savage faces1 and fierce eyes1 and drawn swords4 ,i have seen nothing of all this1 said the ,will harshly1 but only a fire drowning in its own ashes1 round which a maze of leaves circled this way and that1 blown by idle winds4 ,the ,soul looked at the speaker4 ,he sighed4 ,though ,god were to sow living fires about you1 ,o ,will1 he said1 you would not believe4 ,the ,will answered dully3 ,i have but one dream1 one hope1 and that is to believe4 ,do not mock me4 ,the ,soul leaned and kissed him lovingly on the brow4 ,look1 he said2 what ,i saw was this3 ,i beheld1 asleep1 the ,divine ,love2 not sleeping1 as mortals sleep1 but in a holy quiet1 brooding upon infinite peace1 and in commune with the ,eternal ,joy4 ,around him were the ,nine ,angels1 the ,crois nan ,aingeal of our prayers1 and two ,seraphs--the ,eleven ,powers and ,dominions of the ,world4 ,and ,one stared upon them1 and upon ,him1 out of the dark wood1 with a face white with despair1 that great and terrible ,lord of ,shadow whom some call ,death1 and some ,evil1 and some ,fear1 and some the ,unknown ,god4 ,behind him was a throng of demons and demoniac creatures3 and all died continually4 ,and the wood itself--it was an infinite forest2 a forest of human souls awaiting ,god4 ,the ,will listened1 with eyes strangely ashine4 ,suddenly he fell upon his knees1 and prayed4 ,we saw tears falling from his eyes4 ,i am blind and deaf1 he whispered in the ear of the ,body1 as he rose2 but1 lest ,i forget1 tell me where ,i am1 in what place we are4 ,it is a garden called ,gethsemane1 answered the other--though ,i know not how he knew--,i--we--as we walked onward in silence through the dusk of moon and star1 and saw the gossamer-webs whiten as they became myriad1 and hang heavy with the pale glister of the dews of dawn4 ,,ix ,the morning twilight wavered1 and it was as though an incalculable host of grey doves fled upward and spread earthward before a wind with pinions of rose3 then the dappled dove-grey vapour faded1 and the rose hung like the reflection of crimson fire1 and dark isles of ruby and straits of amethyst and pale gold and saffron and ,april-green came into being3 and the new day was come4 ,we stood silent4 ,there is a beauty too great4 ,we moved slowly round by the low bare hill beyond the wood4 ,no one was there1 but on the summit stood three crosses2 one1 midway1 so great that it threw a shadow from the brow of the ,east to the feet of the ,west4 ,the ,soul stopped4 ,he seemed as one rapt4 ,we looked upon him with awe1 for his face shone as though from a light within4 ,listen1 he whispered1 ,i hear the singing of the ,sons of ,joy4 ,farewell3 ,i shall come again4 ,we were alone1 we two4 ,silently we walked onward4 ,the sunrays slid through the grass1 birds sang1 the young world that is so old smiled3 but we had no heed for this4 ,in that new solitude each almost hated the other4 ,at noon a new grief1 a new terror1 came to us4 ,we were upon a ridge1 looking westward4 ,there were no hills anywhere4 ,doubtless the ,soul had gone that way which led to them4 ,for us 444 they were no longer there4 ,let us turn and go home1 said the ,body wearily4 ,the ,will stood and thought4 ,let us go home1 he said4 ,with that he turned1 and walked hour after hour4 ,it was by a road unknown to us1 for1 not noting where we went1 we had traversed a path that led us wide of that by which we had come4 ,at least we saw nothing of it4 ,nor1 at dusk1 would the ,will go further1 nor agree even to seek for a path that might lead to the garden called ,gethsemane4 ,we are far from it1 he said1 if indeed there be any such place4 ,it was a dream1 and ,i am weary of all dreams4 ,when we are home again1 ,o ,body1 we will dream no more4 ,the ,body was silent1 then abruptly laughed4 ,his comrade looked at him curiously4 ,why do you laugh8 ,did you not say there would be no more tears8 ,and of that ,i am glad4 ,you did not laugh gladly4 ,but what ,i said was that there shall be no more dreams for us1 that we will dream no more4 ,it is the same thing4 ,we have tears because we dream4 ,if we hope no more1 we dream no more3 if we dream no more1 we weep no more4 ,and ,i laughed because of this3 that if we weep no more we can live as we like1 without thought of an impossible to-morrow1 and with little thought even for to-day4 ,for a time we walked in brooding thought1 but slowly1 because of the gathering dark4 ,neither spoke1 until the ,body suddenly stood still1 throwing up his arms4 ,oh1 what a fool ,i have been6 ,what a fool ,i have been6 ,the ,will made no reply4 ,he stared before him into the darkness4 ,we had meant to rest in the haven of the great oaks1 but a thin rain had begun1 and we shivered with the chill4 ,the thought came to us to turn and find our way back to the house of the shepherd1 hopeless as the quest might prove1 for we were more and more bewildered as to where we were1 or even as to the direction in which we moved1 being without pilot of moon or star1 and having already followed devious ways4 ,but while we were hesitating1 we saw a light4 ,the red flame shone steadily through the rainy gloom1 so we knew that it was no lantern borne by a fellow-wayfarer4 ,in a brief while we came upon it1 and saw that it was from a red lamp burning midway in a forest chapel4 ,we lifted the latch and entered4 ,there was no one visible4 ,nor was any one in the sacristy4 ,we went to the door again1 and looked vainly in all directions for light which might reveal a neighbouring village1 or hamlet1 or even a woodlander's cottage4 ,glad as we were of the shelter1 and of the glow from the lamp1 a thought1 a dream1 a desire1 divided us4 ,we looked at each other sidelong1 each both seeking and avoiding the other's eyes4 ,i cannot stay here1 said the ,body at last2 the place stifles me4 ,i am frightened to stay4 ,the path outside is clear and well trodden2 it must lead somewhere1 and as this chapel is here1 and as the lamp is lit1 a village1 or at least a house1 cannot be far off4 ,the ,will looked at him4 ,do not go1 he said earnestly4 ,why8 ,i do not know4 ,but do not let us part4 ,i dare not leave here4 ,i feel as though this were our one safe haven to-night4 ,the ,body moved to the door and opened it4 ,i am going4 ,and--and--,i am going1 too1 because ,i am tired both of you and the ,soul4 ,there is only one way for me1 ,i see1 and ,i go that way4 ,farewell4 ,the door closed4 ,the ,will was alone4 ,for a few moments he stood1 smiling scornfully4 ,with a sudden despairing gesture he ran to the door1 flung it open1 and peered into the darkness4 ,he could see no one2 could hear no steps4 ,his long beseeching cry was drowned among these solitudes4 ,slowly he re-closed the door2 slowly walked across the stone flags2 and with folded arms stood looking upon the altar1 dyed crimson with the glow from the great lamp which hung midway in the nave4 ,there was a choir-stall to the right4 ,here he sat1 for a time glad merely to be at rest4 ,soon all desire of sleep went from him1 and he began to dream4 ,at this he smiled3 it was so brief a while ago since he had said he would dream no more4 ,away now from his two lifelong comrades1 and yet subtly connected with them1 and living by and through each1 he felt a new loneliness4 ,life could be very terrible4 ,life 444 the word startled him4 ,what life could there be for him if the ,body perished8 ,that was why he had cried out in anguish after his comrade had left1 with that ominous word farewell4 ,true1 now he lived1 breathed1 thought1 as before3 but this1 he knew1 was by some inexplicable miracle of personality1 by which the three who had been one were each enabled to go forth1 fulfilling1 and in all ways ruled and abiding by1 the natural law4 ,if the ,body should die1 would he not then become as a breath in frost8 ,if the ,soul 444 ah6 he wondered what then would happen4 ,when ,i was with the ,body1 he muttered1 ,i was weary of dreams1 or longed only for those dreams which could be fulfilled in action4 ,but now 444 now it is different4 ,i am alone4 ,i must follow my own law4 ,but what 444 how 444 where 444 am ,i to choose8 ,all the world is a wilderness with a heart of living light4 ,the side we see is ,life3 the side we do not see we call ,hope4 ,all ways--a thousand myriad ways--lead to it4 ,which shall ,i choose8 ,how shall ,i go8 ,then ,i began to dream 444 ,i 444 we 444 then the ,will began to dream4 ,slowly the ,forest ,chapel filled with a vast throng1 ever growing more dense as it became more multitudinous1 till it seemed as though the walls fell away and that the aisles reached interminably into the world of shadow1 through the present into the past1 and to dim ages4 ,behind the altar stood a living ,spirit1 most wonderful1 clothed with ,beauty and ,terror4 ,then the ,will saw1 understood1 that this was not the ,christ1 nor yet the ,holy ,spirit1 but a ,dominion4 ,it was the ,spirit of this world1 one of the ,powers and ,dominions whom of old men called the gods4 ,but all in that incalculable throng worshipped this ,spirit as the ,supreme ,god4 ,he saw1 too1 or realised1 that1 to those who worshipped1 this ,spirit appeared differently1 now as a calm and august dreamer1 now as an inspired warrior1 now as a man wearing a crown of thorns against the shadow of a gigantic cross3 as the ,son of ,god1 or the ,prophet of ,god1 or in manifold ways the ,supreme ,one1 from ,jehovah to the savage ,fetich4 ,turning from that ocean of drowned life1 he looked again at the rainbow-plumed and opal-hued ,spirit3 but now he could see no one1 nothing1 but a faint smoke that rose as from a torch held by an invisible hand4 ,the altar stood unserved4 ,nor was the multitude present4 ,the myriad had become a wavering shadow1 and was no more4 ,a child had entered the church4 ,the little boy came slowly along the nave till he stood beneath the red lamp1 so that his white robe was warm with its glow4 ,he sang1 and the ,will thought it was a strange song to hear in that place1 and wondered if the child were not an image of what was in his own heart4 ,when the day darkens1 ,when dusk grows light1 ,when the dew is falling1 ,when ,silence dreams444 ,i hear a wind ,calling1 calling ,by day and by night4 ,what is the wind ,that ,i hear calling ,by day and by night1 ,the crying of wind8 ,when the day darkens1 ,when dusk grows light1 ,when the dew is falling8 ,the ,will rose and moved towards the child4 ,no one was there1 but he saw that a wind-eddy blew about the altar1 for a little cloud of rose-leaves swirled above it4 ,as in a dream he heard a voice1 faint and sweet3-- ,out of the ,palace ,of ,silence and ,dreams ,my voice is falling ,from height to height3 ,i am the ,wind ,calling1 calling ,by day and by night4 ,the red flame waned and was no more4 ,above the altar a white flame1 pure as an opal burning in moonfire1 rose for a moment1 and in a moment was mysteriously gathered into the darkness4 ,startled1 the ,will stood moveless in the obscurity4 ,were these symbols of the end--the red flame and the white 444 the ,body and the ,soul8 ,then he remembered the ancient wisdom of the ,gael1 and went out of the ,forest ,chapel and passed into the woods4 ,he put his lips to the earth1 and lifted a green leaf to his brow1 and held a branch to his ear3 and because he was no longer heavy with the sweet clay of mortality1 though yet of the human clan1 he heard that which we do not hear1 and saw that which we do not see1 and knew that which we do not know4 ,all the green life was his4 ,in that new world he saw the lives of trees1 now pale green1 now of woodsmoke blue1 now of amethyst3 the grey lives of stone3 breaths of the grass and reed3 creatures of the air1 delicate and wild as fawns1 or swift and fierce and terrible1 tigers of that undiscovered wilderness1 with birds almost invisible but for their luminous wings1 their opalescent crests4 ,with these and the familiar natural life1 with every bird and beast kindred and knowing him kin1 he lived till the dawn1 and from the dawn till sunrise1 and from sunrise till noon4 ,at noon he slept4 ,when he woke he saw that he had wandered far1 and was glad when he came to a woodlander's cottage4 ,here a woman gave him milk and bread1 but she was dumb1 and he could learn nothing from her4 ,she showed him a way which he followed2 and by that high upland path1 before sundown1 he came again upon the ,forest ,chapel1 and saw that it stood on a spur of blue hills4 ,were it not for a great and startling weakness that had suddenly come upon him1 he would have gone in search of his lost comrade4 ,while he lay with his back against a tree1 vaguely wondering what ill had come upon him1 he heard a sound of wheels4 ,soon after a rough cart was driven rapidly towards the ,forest ,chapel1 but when the countryman saw him he reined in abruptly1 as though at once recognising one whom he had set out to seek4 ,your friend is dying1 he said2 come at once if you want to see him again4 ,he sent me to look for you4 ,in a moment all lassitude and pain went from the ,will1 and he sprang into the cart1 asking 7while his mind throbbed with a dreadful anxiety7 many questions4 ,but all he could learn from his taciturn companion was that yester eve his comrade had fallen in with a company of roystering and loose folk1 with whom he had drunk heavily over-night and gamed and lived evilly2 that all this day he had lain as in a stupor1 till the afternoon1 when he awoke and straightway fell into a quarrel about a woman1 and1 after fierce words and blows1 had been mortally wounded with a knife4 ,he was now lying1 almost in the grasp of death1 at the ,inn of the ,crossways4 ,in the whirl of anxiety1 dread1 and a new and terrible confusion1 the ,will could not think clearly as to what he was to say or do1 what was to be or could be done for his friend4 ,and while he was still swayed helplessly1 this way and that1 as a herring in a net drifted to and fro by wind and wave1 the ,inn was reached4 ,with stumbling eagerness he mounted the rough stairs1 and entered a small room1 clean1 though almost sordid in its bareness1 yet through its western window filled with the solemn light of sunset4 ,on a white bed lay the ,body1 and the ,will saw at a glance that his comrade had not long to live4 ,the handkerchief the sufferer held on his breast was stained with the bright crimson of the riven lungs2 his white face was whiter than the pillow1 the more so1 as a red splatch lay on each cheek4 ,the dying man opened his eyes as the door opened4 ,he smiled gladly when he saw who had come4 ,i am glad indeed of this1 he whispered4 ,i feared ,i was to die alone1 and in delirium or unconsciousness4 ,now ,i shall not be alone till the end4 ,and then---- ,but here the ,will sank upon his knees by the bedside4 ,for a few minutes his tears fell upon the hand he clasped4 ,the sobs shook in his throat4 ,he had never fully realised what love he bore his comrade1 his second self2 how interwrought with him were all his joys and sorrows1 his interests1 his hopes and fears4 ,suddenly1 with supplicating arms1 he cried1 ,do not die6 ,oh1 do not die6 ,save me1 save me1 save me6 ,how can ,i save you1 how can ,i help you1 dear friend8 asked the ,body in a broken voice2 my sand is all but run out2 my hour is come4 ,but do you not know1 do you not see1 that ,i cannot live without you6--that ,i must die--that if you perish so must ,i also pass with your passing breath6 ,no--no--no6--for1 see1 we are no longer one1 but three4 ,the ,soul is far from us now1 and soon you too will be gone on your own way4 ,it is only ,i who can go no more into the beautiful dear world4 ,o ,will1 if ,i could1 ,i would give all your knowledge and endless quest of wisdom and all your hopes1 and all the dreams and the white faith of the ,soul1 for one little year of sweet human life--for one month even--ah1 what do ,i say1 for a few days even1 for a day1 for a few hours6 ,it is so terrible thus to be stamped out4 ,yesterday ,i saw a dog leaping and barking in delight as it raced about a wagon1 and then in a moment a foot caught and it was entangled1 and the wagon-wheel crushed it into a lifeless mass4 ,there was no dog2 for that poor beast it was the same as though it had never been1 as though the world had never been1 as though nothing more was to be4 ,he was a breath blown unremembering out of nothing into nothing4 ,that is what death is4 ,that is what death is1 ,o ,will6 ,no1 no1 it is too horrible--too cruel--too unjust4 ,yes1 for you4 ,but not for me4 ,your way is not the way of death1 but of life4 ,for me1 ,i am as the beasts are1 their sorry lord1 but akin--oh yes1 akin1 akin4 ,i follow the natural law in all things4 ,and ,i know this now1 dear comrade3 that without you and the ,soul ,i should have been no other than the brutes that know nothing save their innocent lusts and live and die without thought4 ,the ,will slowly rose4 ,it was madness for us to separate and come upon this quest1 he said1 looking longingly at the ,body4 ,not so1 dear friend4 ,we should have had to separate soon or late1 whatsoever we had done4 ,if ,i have feared you at times1 and turned from you often1 ,i have loved you well1 and still more the ,soul4 ,i think you have both lied to me overmuch1 and you mostly4 ,but ,i forgive what ,i know was done in love and hope4 ,and you1 ,o ,will1 forgive me for all ,i have brought1 what ,i now bring1 upon you2 forgive the many thwartings and dull indifference and heavy drag ,i have so often1 oh1 so often been to you4 ,for now death is at hand4 ,but ,i have one thing ,i wish to ask you4 ,speak4 ,before my life was broken1 there was one whom ,i loved4 ,every hope1 every dream1 every joy1 every sorrow that ,i had came from this love4 ,it was her death which broke my life--not only for the piteous loss and all it meant to me1 but because death came with tragic heedlessness--for she was young1 and strong1 and beautiful4 ,and before she died1 she said we should meet again4 ,i was never1 and now am far the less worthy of her2 and yet--and yet--oh1 if only that great1 beautiful love were all ,i had to doubt or fear1 ,i should have no doubt or fear6 ,but no--no--we shall never meet4 ,how can we8 ,before to-morrow ,i shall be like that crushed dog1 and not be3 just as if ,i had never been6 ,the blood rose1 and sobs and tears made further words inaudible4 ,but after a little the ,body spoke again4 ,but you1 ,o ,will1 you and the ,soul both resemble me4 ,we are as flowers of the same colour1 as clay of the same mould4 ,it may be you shall meet her4 ,tell her that my last thought was of her3 take her all my dreams and hopes--and say--and say--say---- ,but here the ,body sat up in the bed1 ash-white1 with parted lips and straining eyes4 ,what8 ,quick1 quick1 dear ,body--say8---- ,say that ,i loved best that in her which ,i loved best in myself--the ,soul4 ,tell her ,i have never wholly despaired4 ,ah1 if only the ,soul were here1 ,i would not even now despair6 ,tell her ,i leave all to the ,soul--and--and--love shall triumph---- ,there was a rush of blood1 a gurgling cry1 and the ,body sank back lifeless4 ,in the very moment of death the eyes lightened with a wonderful radiance--it was as though the evening stars suddenly came through the dark4 ,the ,will looked to see whence it came4 ,the ,soul stood beside him1 white1 wonderful1 radiant4 ,i have come1 he said4 ,for me8 said the ,will1 shaking as with an ague1 yet in bitter irony4 ,yes1 for you1 and for the ,body too4 ,for the ,body8--see1 he is already clay4 ,what word have you to say to that1 to me who likewise am already perishing8 ,this--do you remember what so brief a while ago we three as one wrote--wrote with my spirit1 through your mind1 and the ,body's hand--these words3 ,love is more great than we conceive1 and ,death is the keeper of unknown redemptions8 ,yes--yes--,o ,soul6 ,i remember1 ,i remember4 ,it was true there3 it is true here4 ,have ,i not ever told you that ,love would save8 ,with that the ,soul moved over to the bedside1 and kissed the ,body4 ,farewell1 fallen leaf4 ,but the tree lives--and beyond the tree is the wind1 the breath of the eternal4 ,look1 he added1 our comrade is still asleep1 though now no mortal skill could nourish the hidden spark2 and with that he stooped and kissed again the silent lips and the still brow and the pulseless heart1 and suddenly a breath1 an essence1 came from the body1 in form like itself1 a phantom1 yet endued with a motion of life4 ,as the faintest murmur in a shell we heard him whisper1 ,life6 ,life6 ,life6 ,then1 as a blown vapour1 he was one with us4 ,a singular change came upon the clay which had once been so near and dear to us3 a frozen whiteness that had not been there before1 a stillness as of ancient marble4 ,the ,will stood1 appalled1 with wild eyes4 ,some dreadful invisible power was upon him4 ,lost6 he cried2 and now his voice1 too1 was faint as a murmur in a shell4 ,but the ,soul smiled4 ,then the ,will grew grey as a willow-leaf aslant in the wind2 and as the shadow of a reed wavered in the wind2 and as a reed's shadow is and is not1 so was he suddenly no more4 ,but1 in the miracle of a moment1 the ,soul appeared in the triple mystery of substance1 and mind1 and spirit4 ,in full and joyous life the ,will stood re-born1 and now we three were one again4 ,i looked for the last time on that which had been our home4 ,the lifeless thing lay1 most terribly still and strange2 yet with a dignity that came as a benediction1 for this dead temple of life had yielded to a divine law1 allied not to shadow and decay1 but to the recurrent spring1 to the eternal ebb and flow1 to the infinite processional4 ,it is we of the human clan only who are troubled by the vast waste and refuse of life4 ,there is not any such waste1 neither in the myriad spawn nor the myriad seed3 a ,spirit sows by the law we do not see1 and reaps by a law we do not know4 ,then ,i turned and went to the western window4 ,i saw that the ,inn stood upon the ,hills of ,dream1 yet1 when ,i looked within1 ,i knew that ,i was again in my familiar home4 ,once more1 beyond the fuchsia bushes1 the sea sighed1 as it felt the long shore with a continuous foamless wave4 ,in the little room below1 the lamp was lit2 for the glow fell warmly upon the gravel path1 shell-bordered1 and upon the tufted mignonette1 sea-pinks1 and feathery southernwood4 ,the sound of hushed voices rose4 ,and now the dawn is come1 and ,i have written this record of what we1 who are now indeed one1 but far more truly and intimately than before1 went out to seek4 ,in another hour ,i shall go hence1 a wayfarer again4 ,i have a long road to travel1 but am sustained by joy1 and uplifted by a great hope4 ,when1 tired1 ,i lay down the pen1 and with it the last of mortal uses1 it will be to face the glory of a new day4 ,i have no fear4 ,i shall not leave all ,i have loved1 for ,i have that in me which binds me to this beautiful world1 for another life at least1 it may be for many lives4 ,and that within me which dreamed and hoped shall now more gladly and wonderfully dream1 and hope1 and seek1 and know1 and see ever deeper and further into the mystery of beauty and truth4 ,and that within me which knew1 now knows4 ,in the deepest sense there is no spiritual dream that is not true1 no hope that shall for ever go famished1 no tears that shall not be gathered into the brooding skies of compassion1 to fall again in healing dews4 ,what the ,body could not1 nor ever could see1 and what to the ,will was a darkness1 or at best a bewildering mist1 is now clear4 ,there are mysteries of which ,i cannot write2 not from any occult secret1 but because they are so simple and inevitable1 that1 like the mystery of day and night1 or the change of the seasons1 or life and death1 they must be learned by each1 in his own way1 in his own hour4 ,it is not out of their light that ,i see2 it is by these stars that ,i set forth1 where else ,i should be as a shadow upon a trackless waste4 ,but ,love1 ,i am come to realise1 is the supreme deflecting force4 ,love unloosens sins1 unites failure1 disintegrates the act2 not by an inconceivable conflict with the immutable law of consequence1 but by deflection4 ,for the divine love follows the life1 and turns and meets it at last1 and in that meeting deflects3 so that that which is mortal1 evil1 and what is of the mortal law1 the act1 sinks2 and on the forehead of the divine law that which is alone inevitable survives and moves onward in the rhythm that is life4 ,when we understand the mystery of ,redemption1 we shall understand what ,love is4 ,the expiatory is an unknown attribute in the ,divine4 ,expiation is but the earthly burnt-offering of that in us that is mortal3 ,redemption1 which is the spiritual absorption of the expiation due to others1 and the measureless restitution in love of wrong humbly brought to the soul and consumed there--so that it issues a living force to meet and deflect--is the living witness in that of us which is immortal4 ,those who wrong us do indeed become our saviours4 ,it is their expiation that we make ours3 they must go free of us2 and when they come again and discrown us1 then in love we shall be at one and equal4 ,so far1 words may clothe thought2 but1 beyond1 the soul knows there is no expiation4 ,except you redeem yourself1 there is no ,god4 ,forgiveness is the dream of little children3 beautiful because thus far we see and know1 but no farther4 ,i see now what madness it was1 as so often happened1 to despise the body4 ,but one mystery has become clear to me through this strange quest of ours--though when ,i say ,i1 or our1 ,i know not whether it is the ,body or the ,will or the ,soul that speaks1 till ,i remember that triune marriage at the deathbed1 and know that while each is consciously each--the one with memory1 the other with knowledge and hope1 the third with wisdom and faith--we are yet one1 as are the yellow and the white and the violet in the single flame in this candle beside me4 ,and this mystery is1 that the body was not built of life-warmed clay merely to be the house of the soul4 ,were it so1 were the soul unwed to its mortal comrades1 it would be no more than a moment's uplifted wave on an infinite sea4 ,without memory1 without hope1 it would be no more than a breath of the ,spirit4 ,but before the ,divine ,power moulded us into substance1 we were shaped by it in form4 ,and form is1 in the spiritual law1 what the crystal is in the chemic law4 ,for now ,i see clearly that the chief end of the body is to enable the soul to come into intimate union with the natural law1 so that it may fulfil the divine law of ,form1 and be at one with all created life and yet be for ever itself and individual4 ,by itself the soul would only vainly aspire2 it has to learn to remember1 to become at one with the wind and the grass and with all that lives and moves2 to take its life from the root of the body1 and its green life from the mind1 and its flower and fragrance from what it may of itself obtain1 not only from this world1 but from its own dews1 its own rainbows1 dawn stars and evening stars1 and vast incalculable fans of time and death4 ,and this ,i have learned3 that there is no absolute ,truth1 no absolute ,beauty1 even for the ,soul4 ,it may be that in the ,divine ,forges we shall be so moulded as to have perfect vision4 ,meanwhile only that ,truth is deepest1 that ,beauty highest which is seen1 not by the ,soul only1 or by the ,mind1 or by the ,body1 but all three as one4 ,let each be perfect in kind and perfect in unity4 ,this is the signal meaning of the mystery4 ,it is so inevitable that it has its blind descent to fetich as well as its divine ascension4 ,but the ignoble use does not annul the noble purport1 any more than the blindness of many obscures the dream of one4 ,there could be no life hereafter for the soul were it not for the body1 and what were that life without the mind1 the child of both1 whom the ancient seers knew and named ,mnemosyne8 ,without memory life would be a void breath1 immortality a vacuum4 ,ah1 the glory of the lifting light6 ,the new day is come4 ,farewell4 ,,footnote3 #a ,the ,aztec word ,ehecatl1 which signifies alike the ,wind 7or ,breath71 ,shadow1 and ,soul4 ,,iona ,there are moments when the soul takes wings3 what it has to remember1 it remembers3 what it loves1 it loves still more3 what it longs for1 to that it flies4 ,iona ,a few places in the world are to be held holy1 because of the love which consecrates them and the faith which enshrines them4 ,their names are themselves talismans of spiritual beauty4 ,of these is ,iona4 ,the ,arabs speak of ,mecca as a holy place before the time of the prophet1 saying that ,adam himself lies buried here3 and1 before ,adam1 that the ,sons of ,allah1 who are called ,angels1 worshipped2 and that when ,allah ,himself stood upon perfected ,earth it was on this spot4 ,and here1 they add1 when there is no man left upon earth1 an angel shall gather up the dust of this world1 and say to ,allah1 ,there is nothing left of the whole earth but ,mecca3 and now ,mecca is but the few grains of sand that ,i hold in the hollow of my palm1 ,o ,allah4 ,in spiritual geography ,iona is the ,mecca of the ,gael4 ,it is but a small isle1 fashioned of a little sand1 a few grasses salt with the spray of an ever-restless wave1 a few rocks that wade in heather and upon whose brows the sea-wind weaves the yellow lichen4 ,but since the remotest days sacrosanct men have bowed here in worship4 ,in this little island a lamp was lit whose flame lighted pagan ,europe1 from the ,saxon in his fens to the swarthy folk who came by ,greek waters to trade the ,orient4 ,here ,learning and ,faith had their tranquil home1 when the shadow of the sword lay upon all lands1 from ,syracuse by the ,tyrrhene ,sea to the rainy isles of ,orcc4 ,from age to age1 lowly hearts have never ceased to bring their burthen here4 ,iona herself has given us for remembrance a fount of youth more wonderful than that which lies under her own boulders of ,dun-,i4 ,and here ,hope waits4 ,to tell the story of ,iona is to go back to ,god1 and to end in ,god4 ,but to write of ,iona1 there are many ways of approach4 ,no place that has a spiritual history can be revealed to those who know nothing of it by facts and descriptions4 ,the approach may be through the obscure glens of another's mind and so out by the moonlit way1 as well as by the track that thousands travel4 ,i have nothing to say of ,iona's acreage1 or fisheries1 or pastures3 nothing of how the islanders live4 ,these things are the accidental4 ,there is small difference in simple life anywhere4 ,moreover1 there are many to tell all that need be known4 ,there is one ,iona1 a little island of the west4 ,there is another ,iona1 of which ,i would speak4 ,i do not say that it lies open to all4 ,it is as we come that we find4 ,if we come1 bringing nothing with us1 we go away ill-content1 having seen and heard nothing of what we had vaguely expected to see or hear4 ,it is another ,iona than the ,iona of sacred memories and prophecies3 ,iona the metropolis of dreams4 ,none can understand it who does not see it through its pagan light1 its ,christian light1 its singular blending of paganism and romance and spiritual beauty4 ,there is1 too1 an ,iona that is more than ,gaelic1 that is more than a place rainbow-lit with the seven desires of the world1 the ,iona that1 if we will it so1 is a mirror of your heart and of mine4 ,history may be written in many ways1 but ,i think that in days to come the method of spiritual history will be found more suggestive than the method of statistical history4 ,the one will1 in its own way1 reveal inward life1 and hidden significance1 and palpable destiny3 as the other1 in the good but narrow way of convention1 does with exactitude delineate features1 narrate facts1 and relate events4 ,the true interpreter will as little despise the one as he will claim all for the other4 ,and that is why ,i would speak here of ,iona as befalls my pen1 rather than as perhaps my pen should go3 and choose legend and remembrance1 and my own and other memories and associations1 and knowledge of my own and others1 and hidden meanings1 and beauty and strangeness surviving in dreams and imaginations1 rather than facts and figures1 that others could adduce more deftly and with more will4 ,in the ,felire na ,naomh ,nerennach is a strangely beautiful if fantastic legend of one ,mochaoi1 ,abbot of n'-,aondruim in ,uladh4 ,with some companions he was at the edge of a wood1 and while busy in cutting wattles wherewith to build a church1 he heard a bright bird singing on the blackthorn near him4 ,it was more beautiful than the birds of the world4 ,mochaoi listened entranced4 ,there was more in that voice than in the throat of any bird he had ever heard1 so he stopped his wattle-cutting1 and1 looking at the bird1 courteously asked who was thus delighting him4 ,the bird at once answered1 ,a man of the people of my ,lord 7that is1 an angel74 ,hail1 said ,mochaoi1 and for why that1 ,o bird that is an angel8 ,i am come here by command to encourage you in your good work1 but also1 because of the love in your heart1 to amuse you for a time with my sweet singing4 ,i am glad of that1 said the saint4 ,thereupon the bird sang a single surpassing sweet air1 and then fixed his beak in the feathers of his wing1 and slept4 ,but ,mochaoi heard the beauty and sweetness and infinite range of that song for three hundred years4 ,three hundred years were in that angelic song1 but to ,mochaoi it was less than an hour4 ,for three hundred years he remained listening1 in the spell of beauty3 nor in that enchanted hour did any age come upon him1 or any withering upon the wattles he had gathered2 nor in the wood itself did a single leaf turn to a red or yellow flame before his eyes4 ,where the spider spun her web1 she spun no more3 where the dove leaned her grey breast from the fir1 she leaned still4 ,then suddenly the bird took its beak from its wing-feathers1 and said farewell4 ,when it was gone1 ,mochaoi lifted his wattles1 and went homeward as one in a dream4 ,he stared1 when he looked for the little wattled cells of the ,sons of ,patrick4 ,a great church built of stone stood before his wondering eyes4 ,a man passed him1 and told the stranger that it was the church of ,st4 ,mochaoi4 ,when he spoke to the assembled brothers1 none knew him3 some thought he had been taken away by the people of the ,shee1 and come back at fairy-nightfall1 which is the last hour of the last day of three hundred years4 ,tell us your name and lineage1 they cried4 ,i am ,mochaoi1 ,abbot of n'-,aondruim1 he said1 and then he told his tale1 and they knew him1 and made him abbot again4 ,in the enchanted wood a shrine was built1 and about it a church grew1 and surpassingly white angels often alighted there1 or sang hymns to it from the branches of the forest trees1 or leaned with their foot on tiptoe1 their eyes on the horizon1 their ear on the ground1 their wings flapping1 their bodies trembling1 waiting to send tidings of prayer and repentance with a beat of their wings to the ,king of the ,everlasting4 ,there are many who thought that ,mochaoi was dead1 when he was seen no more of his fellow-monks at the forest monastery of n',aondruim in ,uladh4 ,but his chronicler knew3 a sleep without decay of the body ,mochaoi of ,antrim slept4 ,i am reminded of the story of ,mochaoi when ,i think of ,iona4 ,i think she too1 beautiful isle1 while gathering the help of human longing and tears and hopes1 strewn upon her beaches by wild waves of the world1 stood1 enchanted1 to listen to a ,song of ,beauty4 ,that is a new voice ,i hear in the wave1 we can dream of her saying1 and of the answer3 we are the angelic flocks of the ,shepherd3 we are the ,voices of the ,eternal3 listen a while6 ,it has been a long sleep1 that enchanted swoon4 ,but ,mochaoi awoke1 after three hundred years1 and there was neither time upon his head1 nor age in his body1 nor a single withered leaf of the forest at his feet4 ,and shall not that be possible for the ,isle of ,dreams1 whose sands are the dust of martyrs and noble and beautiful lives1 which was granted to one man by one of the people of my ,lord8 ,when ,i think of ,iona ,i think often1 too1 of a prophecy once connected with ,iona2 though perhaps current no more in a day when prophetical hopes are fallen dumb and blind4 ,it is commonly said that1 if he would be heard1 none should write in advance of his times4 ,that ,i do not believe4 ,only1 it does not matter how few listen4 ,i believe that we are close upon a great and deep spiritual change4 ,i believe a new redemption is even now conceived of the ,divine ,spirit in the human heart1 that is itself as a woman1 broken in dreams1 and yet sustained in faith1 patient1 long-suffering1 looking towards home4 ,i believe that though the ,reign of ,peace may be yet a long way off1 it is drawing near3 and that ,who shall save us anew shall come divinely as a ,woman1 to save as ,christ saved1 but not1 as ,he did1 to bring with ,her a sword4 ,but whether this ,divine ,woman1 this ,mary of so many passionate hopes and dreams1 is to come through mortal birth1 or as an immortal ,breathing upon our souls1 none can yet know4 ,sometimes ,i dream of the old prophecy that ,christ shall come again upon ,iona1 and of that later and obscure prophecy which foretells1 now as the ,bride of ,christ1 now as the ,daughter of ,god1 now as the ,divine ,spirit embodied through mortal birth in a ,woman1 as once through mortal birth in a ,man1 the coming of a new ,presence and ,power3 and dream that this may be upon ,iona1 so that the little ,gaelic island may become as the little ,syrian ,bethlehem4 ,but more wise it is to dream1 not of hallowed ground1 but of the hallowed gardens of the soul wherein ,she shall appear white and radiant4 ,or1 that upon the hills1 where we are wandered1 the ,shepherdess shall call us home4 ,from one man only1 on ,iona itself1 ,i have heard any allusion to the prophecy as to the ,saviour who shall yet come3 and he in part was obscure1 and confused the advent of ,mary into the spiritual world with the possible coming again to earth of ,mary1 as another ,redeemer1 or with a descending of the ,divine ,womanhood upon the human heart as a universal spirit descending upon awaiting souls4 ,but in intimate remembrance ,i recall the words and faith of one or two whom ,i loved well4 ,nor must ,i forget that my old nurse1 ,barabal1 used to sing a strange oran1 to the effect that when ,st4 ,bride came again to ,iona it would be to bind the hair and wash the feet of the ,bride of ,christ4 ,one of those to whom ,i allude was a young ,hebridean priest1 who died in ,venice1 after troubled years1 whose bitterest vicissitude was the clouding of his soul's hope by the wings of a strange multitude of dreams--one of whom and whose end ,i have elsewhere written3 and he told me once how1 as our forefathers and elders believed and still believe1 that ,holy ,spirit shall come again which once was mortally born among us as the ,son of ,god1 but1 then1 shall be the ,daughter of ,god4 ,the ,divine ,spirit shall come again as a ,woman4 ,then for the first time the world will know peace4 ,and when ,i asked him if it were not prophesied that the ,woman is to be born in ,iona1 he said that if this prophecy had been made it was doubtless of an ,iona that was symbolic1 but that this was a matter of no moment1 for ,she would rise suddenly in many hearts1 and have her habitation among dreams and hopes4 ,the other who spoke to me of this ,woman who is to save was an old fisherman of a remote island of the ,hebrides1 and one to whom ,i owe more than to any other spiritual influence in my childhood1 for it was he who opened to me the three gates of ,beauty4 ,once this old man1 ,seumas ,macleod1 took me with him to a lonely haven in the rocks1 and held me on his knee as we sat watching the sun sink and the moon climb out of the eastern wave4 ,i saw no one1 but abruptly he rose and put me from him1 and bowed his grey head as he knelt before one who suddenly was standing in that place4 ,i asked eagerly who it was4 ,he told me that it was an ,angel4 ,later1 ,i learned 7,i remember my disappointment that the beautiful vision was not winged with great white wings7 that the ,angel was one soft flame of pure white1 and that below the soles of his feet were curling scarlet flames4 ,he had come in answer to the old man's prayer4 ,he had come to say that we could not see the ,divine ,one whom we awaited4 ,but you will yet see that ,holy ,beauty1 said the ,angel1 and ,seumas believed1 and ,i too believed1 and believe4 ,he took my hand1 and ,i knelt beside him1 and he bade me repeat the words he said4 ,and that was how ,i first prayed to ,her who shall yet be the ,balm of the ,world4 ,and since then ,i have learned1 and do see1 that not only prophecies and hopes1 and desires unclothed yet in word or thought1 foretell her coming1 but already a multitude of spirits are in the gardens of the soul1 and are sowing seed and calling upon the wind of the south2 and that everywhere are watching eyes and uplifted hands1 and signs which cannot be mistaken1 in many lands1 in many peoples1 in many minds2 and1 in the heaven itself that the soul sees1 the surpassing signature4 ,i recall one whom ,i knew1 a fisherman of the little green island3 and ,i tell this story of ,coll here1 for it is to me more than the story of a dreaming islander4 ,one night1 lying upon the hillock that is called ,cnoc-nan-,aingeal1 because it is here that ,st4 ,colum was wont to hold converse with an angel out of heaven1 he watched the moonlight move like a slow fin through the sea3 and in his heart were desires as infinite as the waves of the sea1 the moving homes of the dead4 ,and while he lay and dreamed1 his thoughts idly adrift as a net in deep waters1 he closed his eyes1 muttering the ,gaelic words of an old line1 ,in the ,isle of ,dreams ,god shall yet fulfil ,himself anew4 ,hearing a footfall1 he stirred4 ,a man stood beside him4 ,he did not know the man1 who was young1 and had eyes dark as hill-tarns1 with hair light and soft as thistledown2 and moved light as a shadow1 delicately treading the grass as the wind treads it4 ,in his hair he had twined the fantastic leaf of the horn-poppy4 ,the islander did not move or speak3 it was as though a spell were upon him4 ,god be with you1 he said at last1 uttering the common salutation4 ,and with you1 ,coll mac ,coll1 answered the stranger4 ,coll looked at him4 ,who was this man1 with the sea-poppy in his hair1 who1 unknown1 knew him by name8 ,he had heard of one whom he did not wish to meet1 the ,green ,harper3 also of a grey man of the sea whom islesmen seldom alluded to by name3 again1 there was the ,amadan ,dhu 444 but at that name ,coll made the sign of the cross1 and remembering what ,father ,allan had told him in ,south ,uist1 muttered a holy exorcism of the ,trinity4 ,the man smiled4 ,you need have no fear1 ,coll mac ,coll1 he said quietly4 ,you that know my name so well are welcome1 but if you in turn would tell me your name ,i should be glad4 ,i have no name that ,i can tell you1 answered the stranger gravely2 but ,i am not of those who are unfriendly4 ,and because you can see me and speak to me1 ,i will help you to whatsoever you may wish4 ,coll laughed4 ,neither you nor any man can do that4 ,for now that ,i have neither father nor mother1 nor brother nor sister1 and my lass too is dead1 ,i wish neither for sheep nor cattle1 nor for new nets and a fine boat1 nor a big house1 nor as much money as ,mac,cailein ,mor has in the bank at ,inveraora4 ,what then do you wish for1 ,coll mac ,coll8 ,i do not wish for what cannot be1 or ,i would wish to see again the dear face of ,morag1 my lass4 ,but ,i wish for all the glory and wonder and power there is in the world1 and to have it all at my feet1 and to know everything that the ,holy ,father himself knows1 and have kings coming to me as the crofters come to ,mac,cailein ,mor's factor4 ,you can have that1 ,coll mac ,coll1 said the ,green ,harper1 and he waved a withe of hazel he had in his hand4 ,what is that for8 said ,coll4 ,it is to open a door that is in the air4 ,and now1 ,coll1 if that is your wish of all wishes1 and you will give up all other wishes for that wish1 you can have the sovereignty of the world4 ,ay1 and more than that3 you shall have the sun like a golden jewel in the hollow of your right hand1 and all the stars as pearls in your left1 and have the moon as a white shining opal above your brows1 with all knowledge behind the sun1 within the moon1 and beyond the stars4 ,coll's face shone4 ,he stood1 waiting4 ,just then he heard a familiar sound in the dusk4 ,the tears came into his eyes4 ,give me instead1 he cried1 give me a warm breast-feather from that grey dove of the woods that is winging home to her young4 ,he looked as one moon-dazed4 ,none stood beside him4 ,he was alone4 ,was it a dream1 he wondered8 ,but a weight was lifted from his heart4 ,peace fell upon him as dew upon grey pastures4 ,slowly he walked homeward4 ,once1 glancing back1 he saw a white figure upon the knoll1 with a face noble and beautiful4 ,was it ,colum himself come again8 he mused3 or that white angel with whom the ,saint was wont to discourse1 and who brought him intimacies of ,god8 or was it but the wave-fire of his dreaming mind1 as lonely and cold and unreal as that which the wind of the south makes upon the wandering hearths of the sea8 ,i tell this story of ,coll here1 for1 as ,i have said1 it is to me more than the story of a dreaming islander4 ,he stands for the soul of a race4 ,it is because1 to me1 he stands for the sorrowful genius of our race1 that ,i have spoken of him here4 ,below all the strife of lesser desires1 below all that he has in common with other men1 he has the livelong unquenchable thirst for the things of the spirit4 ,this is the thirst that makes him turn so often from the near securities and prosperities1 and indeed all beside1 setting his heart aflame with vain1 because illimitable1 desires4 ,for him1 the wisdom before which knowledge is a frosty breath3 the beauty that is beyond what is beautiful4 ,for1 like ,coll1 the world itself has not enough to give him4 ,and at the last1 and above all1 he is like ,coll in this1 that the sun and moon and stars themselves may become as trampled dust1 for only a breast-feather of that ,dove of the ,eternal1 which may have its birth in mortal love1 but has its evening home where are the dews of immortality4 ,the ,dove of the ,eternal4 ,it was from the lips of an old priest of the ,hebrides that ,i first heard these words4 ,i was a child1 and asked him if it was a white dove1 such as ,i had seen fanning the sunglow in ,icolmkill4 ,yes1 he told me1 the ,dove is white1 and it was beloved of ,colum1 and is of you1 little one1 and of me4 ,then it is not dead8 ,it is not dead4 ,i was in a more wild and rocky isle than ,iona then1 and when ,i went into a solitary place close by my home it was to a stony wilderness so desolate that in many moods ,i could not bear it4 ,but that day1 though there were no sheep lying beside boulders as grey and still1 nor whinnying goats 7creatures that have always seemed to me strangely homeless1 so that1 as a child1 it was often my noon-fancy on hot days to play to them on a little reed-flute ,i was skilled in making1 thwarting the hill-wind at the small holes to the fashioning of a rude furtive music1 which ,i believed comforted the goats1 though why ,i did not know1 and probably did not try to know73 and though ,i could hear nothing but the soft1 swift1 slipping feet of the wind among the rocks and grass and a noise of the tide crawling up from a shore hidden behind crags 7beloved of swallows for the small honey-flies which fed upon the thyme73 still1 on that day1 ,i was not ill at ease1 nor in any way disquieted4 ,but before me ,i saw a white rock-dove1 and followed it gladly4 ,it flew circling among the crags1 and once ,i thought it had passed seaward2 but it came again1 and alit on a boulder4 ,i went upon my knees1 and prayed to it1 and1 as nearly as ,i can remember1 in these words3-- ,o ,dove of the ,eternal1 ,i want to love you1 and you to love me3 and if you live on ,iona1 ,i want you to show me1 when ,i go there again1 the place where ,colum the ,holy talked with an angel4 ,and ,i want to live as long as you1 ,dove 7,i remember thinking this might seem disrespectful1 and that ,i added hurriedly and apologetically71 ,dove of the ,eternal4 ,that evening ,i told ,father ,ivor what ,i had done4 ,he did not laugh at me4 ,he took me on his knee1 and stroked my hair1 and for a long time was so silent that ,i thought he was dreaming4 ,he put me gently from him1 and kneeled at the chair1 and made this simple prayer which ,i have never forgotten3 ,o ,dove of the ,eternal1 grant the little one's prayer4 ,that is a long while ago now1 and ,i have sojourned since in ,iona1 and there and elsewhere known the wild doves of thought and dream4 ,but ,i have not1 though ,i have longed1 seen again the ,white ,dove that ,colum so loved4 ,for long ,i thought it must have left ,iona and ,barra too1 when ,father ,ivor died4 ,yet ,i have not forgotten that it is not dead4 ,i want to live as long as you1 was my child's plea3 and the words of the old priest1 knowing and believing were1 ,o ,dove of the ,eternal1 grant the little one's prayer4 ,it was not in ,barra1 but in ,iona1 that1 while yet a child1 ,i set out one evening to find the ,divine ,forges4 ,a ,gaelic sermon1 preached on the shoreside by an earnest man1 who1 going poor and homeless through the west1 had tramped the long roads of ,mull over against us1 and there fed to flame a smouldering fire1 had been my ministrant in these words4 ,the revivalist had spoken of ,god as one who would hammer the evil out of the soul and weld it to good1 as a blacksmith at his anvil3 and suddenly1 with a dramatic gesture1 he cried3 ,this little island of ,iona is this anvil2 ,god is your blacksmith3 but oh1 poor people1 who among you knows the narrow way to the ,divine ,forges8 ,there is a spot on ,iona that has always had a strange enchantment for me4 ,behind the ruined walls of the ,columban church1 the slopes rise1 and the one isolated hill of ,iona is1 there1 a steep and sudden wilderness4 ,it is commonly called ,dun-,i 7,doon-ee71 for at the summit in old days was an island fortress2 but the ,gaelic name of the whole of this uplifted shoulder of the isle is ,slibh ,meanach4 ,hidden under a wave of heath and boulder1 near the broken rocks1 is a little pool4 ,from generation to generation this has been known1 and frequented1 as the ,fountain of ,youth4 ,there1 through boggy pastures1 where the huge-horned shaggy cattle stared at me1 and up through the ling and roitch1 ,i climbed3 for1 if anywhere1 ,i thought that from there ,i might see the ,divine ,forges1 or at least might discover a hidden way1 because of the power of that water1 touched on the eyelids at sunlift1 at sunset1 or at the rising of the moon4 ,from where ,i stood ,i could see the people still gathered upon the dunes by the shore1 and the tall1 ungainly figure of the preacher4 ,in the narrow strait were two boats1 one being rowed across to ,fionnaphort1 and the other1 with a dun sail burning flame-brown1 hanging like a bird's wing against ,glas ,eilean1 on the tideway to the promontory of ,earraid4 ,was the preacher still talking of the ,divine ,forges8 ,i wondered2 or were the men and women in the ferry hurrying across to the ,ross of ,mull to look for them among the inland hills8 ,and the ,earraid men in the fishing-smack3 were they sailing to see if they lay hidden in the wilderness of rocks1 where the muffled barking of the seals made the loneliness more wild and remote8 ,i wetted my eyelids1 as ,i had so often done before 7and not always vainly1 though whether vision came from the water1 or from a more quenchless spring within1 ,i know not71 and looked into the little pool4 ,alas6 ,i could see nothing but the reflection of a star1 too obscured by light as yet for me to see in the sky1 and1 for a moment1 the shadow of a gull's wing as the bird flew by far overhead4 ,i was too young then to be content with the symbols of coincidence1 or ,i might have thought that the shadow of a wing from ,heaven1 and the light of a star out of the ,east1 were enough indication4 ,but1 as it was1 ,i turned1 and walked idly northward1 down the rough side of ,dun ,bhuirg 7at ,cul ,bhuirg1 a furlong westward1 ,i had once seen a phantom1 which ,i believed to be that of the ,culdee1 ,oran1 and so never went that way again after sundown7 to a thyme-covered mound that had for me a most singular fascination4 ,it is a place to this day called ,dun ,mananain4 ,here1 a friend who told me many things1 a ,gaelic farmer named ,macarthur1 had related once a fantastic legend about a god of the sea4 ,manaun was his name1 and he lived in the times when ,iona was part of the kingdom of the ,suderoeer4 ,whenever he willed he was like the sea1 and that is not wonderful1 for he was born of the sea4 ,thus his body was made of a green wave4 ,his hair was of wrack and tangle1 glistening with spray2 his robe was of windy foam2 his feet1 of white sand4 ,that is1 when he was with his own1 or when he willed2 otherwise1 he was as men are4 ,he loved a woman of the south so beautiful that she was named ,dear-sadh-na-,ghrene 7,sunshine74 ,he captured her and brought her to ,iona in ,september1 when it is the month of peace4 ,for one month she was happy3 when the wet gales from the west set in1 she pined for her own land3 yet in the dream-days of ,november1 she smiled so often that ,manaun hoped2 but when ,winter was come1 her lover saw that she could not live4 ,so he changed her into a seal4 ,you shall be a sleeping woman by day1 he said1 and sleep in my dun here on ,iona3 and by night1 when the dews fall1 you shall be a seal1 and shall hear me calling to you from a wave1 and shall come out and meet me4 ,they have mortal offspring also1 it is said4 ,there is a story of a man who went to the mainland1 but could not see to plough1 because the brown fallows became waves that splashed noisily about him4 ,the same man went to ,canada1 and got work in a great warehouse2 but among the bales of merchandise he heard the singular note of the sandpiper1 and every hour the sea-fowl confused him with their crying4 ,probably some thought was in my mind that there1 by ,dun ,mananain1 ,i might find a hidden way4 ,that summer ,i had been thrilled to the inmost life by coming suddenly1 by moonlight1 on a seal moving across the last sand-dune between this place and the bay called ,port ,ban4 ,a strange voice1 too1 ,i heard upon the sea4 ,true1 ,i saw no white arms upthrown1 as the seal plunged into the long wave that swept the shore2 and it was a grey skua that wailed above me1 winging inland2 yet had ,i not had a vision of the miracle8 ,but alas6 that evening there was not even a barking seal4 ,some sheep fed upon the green slope of ,manaun's mound4 ,so1 still seeking a way to the ,divine ,forges1 ,i skirted the shore and crossed the sandy plain of the ,machar1 and mounted the upland district known as ,sliav ,starr 7the ,hill of ,noises71 and walked to a place1 to me sacred4 ,this was a deserted green airidh between great rocks4 ,from here ,i could look across the extreme western part of ,iona1 to where it shelved precipitously around the little ,port-na-,churaich1 the ,haven of the ,coracle1 the spot where ,st4 ,columba landed when he came to the island4 ,i knew every foot of ground here1 as every cave along the wave-worn shore4 ,how often ,i had wandered in these solitudes1 to see the great spout of water rise through the grass from the caverns beneath1 forced upward when tide and wind harried the sea-flocks from the north2 or to look across the ocean to the cliffs of ,antrim1 from the ,carn cul ,ri ,eirinn1 the ,cairn of the ,hermit ,king of ,ireland1 about whom ,i had woven many a romance4 ,i was tired1 and fell asleep4 ,perhaps the ,druid of a neighbouring mound1 or the lonely ,irish ,king1 or ,colum himself 7whose own ,mound of the ,outlook was near71 or one of his angels who ministered to him1 watched1 and shepherded my dreams to the desired fold4 ,at least ,i dreamed1 and thus3-- ,the skies to the west beyond the seas were not built of flushed clouds1 but of transparent flame4 ,these flames rose in solemn stillness above a vast forge1 whose anvil was the shining breast of the sea4 ,three great ,spirits stood by it1 and one lifted a soul out of the deep shadow that was below2 and one with his hands forged the soul of its dross and welded it anew2 and the third breathed upon it1 so that it was winged and beautiful4 ,suddenly the glory-cloud waned1 and ,i saw the multitude of the stars4 ,each star was the gate of a long1 shining road4 ,many--a countless number--travelled these roads4 ,far off ,i saw white walls1 built of the pale gold and ivory of sunrise4 ,there again ,i saw the three ,spirits1 standing and waiting4 ,so these1 ,i thought1 were not the walls of ,heaven1 but the ,divine ,forges4 ,that was my dream4 ,when ,i awaked1 the curlews were crying under the stars4 ,when ,i reached the shadowy glebe1 behind the manse by the sea1 ,i saw the preacher walking there by himself1 and doubtless praying4 ,i told him ,i had seen the ,divine ,forges1 and twice2 and in crude1 childish words told how ,i had seen them4 ,it is not a dream1 he said4 ,i know now what he meant4 ,it would seem to be difficult for most of us to believe that what has perished can be reborn4 ,it is the same whether we look upon the dust of ancient cities1 broken peoples1 nations that stand and wait1 old faiths1 defeated dreams4 ,it is so hard to believe that what has fallen may arise4 ,yet we have perpetual symbols2 the tree1 that the winds of ,autumn ravage and the ,spring restores2 the trodden weed1 that in ,april awakes white and fragrant2 the swallow1 that in the south remembers the north4 ,we forget the ebbing wave that from the sea-depths comes again3 the ,day1 shod with sunrise while his head is crowned with stars4 ,far-seeing was the vision of the old ,gael1 who prophesied that ,iona would never wholly cease to be the lamp of faith1 but would in the end shine forth as gloriously as of yore1 and that1 after dark days1 a new hope would go hence into the world4 ,but before that 7and he prophesied when the island was in its greatness7-- ,man tig so gu crich ,bithidh ,i mar a bha1 ,gun a ghuth mannaich ,findh shalchar ba 444 quaint old-world ,erse words1 which mean-- ,before this happens1 ,iona will be as it was1 ,without the voice of a monk1 ,under the dung of cows4#b ,and truly enough the little island was for long given over to the sea-wind1 whose mournful chant even now fills the ruins where once the monks sang matins and evensong2 for generations1 sheep and long-horned shaggy kine found their silent pastures in the wilderness that of old was this our little seabounded ,garden of ,eden4 ,but now that ,iona has been as it was1 the other and greater change may yet be1 may well have already come4 ,strange1 that to this day none knows with surety the derivation or original significance of the name ,iona4 ,many ingenious guesses have been made1 but of these some are obviously far-fetched1 others are impossible in ,gaelic1 and all but impossible to the mind of any ,gael speaking his ancient tongue4 ,nearly all these guesses concern the ,iona of ,columba3 few attempt the name of the sacred island of the ,druids4 ,another people once lived here with a forgotten faith2 possibly before the ,picts there was yet another1 who worshipped at strange altars and bowed down before ,shadow and ,fear1 the earliest of the gods4 ,the most improbable derivation is one that finds much acceptance4 ,when ,columba and his few followers were sailing northward from the isle of ,oronsay1 in quest1 it is said1 of this sacred island of the ,druids1 suddenly one of the monks cried sud i 78 siod e67 yonder it6 ,with sudden exultation ,columba exclaimed1 ,mar sud bithe ,i1 goir thear ,,ii1 ,be it so1 and let it be called ,i 7,i or ,,ee74 ,we are not the wiser for this obviously monkish invention4 ,it accounts for a syllable only1 and seems like an effort to explain the use of ,i 7,,ii1 ,y1 ,hy1 ,hee7 for island in place of the vernacular ,innis1 ,inch1 ,eilean1 etc4 ,except in connection with ,iona ,i doubt if ,i for island is ever now used in modern ,gaelic4 ,icolmkill is familiar3 the anglicised ,gaelic of the ,isle of ,colum of the ,church4 ,but it is doubtful if any now living has ever heard a ,gael speak of an island as ,i2 ,i doubt if an instance could be adduced4 ,on the other hand1 ,i might well have been1 and doubtless is1 used in written speech as a sign for ,innis1 as 's is the common writing of agus1 and4 ,as for the ancient word ,idh or ,iy ,i do not know that its derivation has been ascertained1 though certain ,gaelic linguists claim that ,idh and ,innis are of the same root4 ,i do not know on what authority1 but an anonymous ,gaelic writer1 in an account of ,iona in #agga1 alludes to the probability that ,christianity was introduced there before ,st4 ,columba's advent1 and that the island was already dedicated to the ,apostle ,st4 ,john1 for it was originally called ,i',eoin1 i4e4 the ,isle of ,john1 whence ,iona4 ,i'eoin certainly is very close in sound1 as a ,gael would pronounce it1 to ,iona1 and there can be little doubt that the island had druids 7whether ,christian monks also with or without7 when ,columba landed4 ,before ,conall1 ,king of ,alba 7as he was called1 though only ,dalriadic ,king of ,argyll71 invited ,colum to ,iona1 to make that island his home and sanctuary1 there were certainly ,christian monks on the island4 ,among them was the half-mythical ,odran or ,oran1 who is chronicled in the ,annals of the ,four ,masters as having been a missionary priest1 and as having died in ,iona fifteen years before ,colum landed4 ,equally certainly there were druids at this late date1 though discredited of the ,pictish king and his people1 for a ,cymric priest of the old faith was at that time ,ard-,druid4 ,this man ,gwendollen1 through his bard or second-druid ,myrddin 7,merlin71 deplored the persecution to which he was subject1 in that now he and his no longer dared to practise the sacred druidical rites in raised circles--adding bitterly1 the grey stones themselves1 even1 they have removed4 ,again1 ,davies in his ,celtic ,researches speaks of ,colum as having on his settlement in ,iona burnt a heap of druidical books4 ,it is at any rate certain that druidical believers 7helots perhaps7 remained to ,colum's time1 even if the last druidic priest had left4 ,in the explicit accounts which survive there is no word of any dispossession of the druidic priests4 ,it is more than likely that the ,pictish king1 who had been converted to ,christianity1 and gave the island to ,columba by special grant1 had either already seen ,irish monks inhabit it1 or at least had withdrawn the lingering priests of the ancient faith of his people4 ,neither ,columba nor ,adamnan nor any other early chronicler speaks of ,iona as held by the ,druids when the little coracle with the cross came into ,port-na-,churaich4 ,others have derived the name from ,aon1 an isthmus1 but the objections to this are that it is not applicable to the island1 and perhaps never was2 and1 again1 the ,gaelic pronunciation4 ,some have thought that the word1 when given as ,i-,eoin1 was intended1 not for the ,isle of ,john1 but the ,isle of ,birds4 ,here1 again1 the objection is that there is no reason why ,iona should be called by a designation equally applicable to every one of the numberless isles of the west4 ,to the mountaineers of ,mull1 however1 the little low-lying seaward isle must have appeared the haunt of the myriad sea-fowl of the ,moyle2 and if the name thus derives1 doubtless a ,mull man gave it4 ,again1 it is said that ,iona is a miswriting of ,ioua1 the avowed ancient name of the island4 ,it is easy to see how the scribes who copied older manuscripts might have made the mistake2 and easy to understand how1 the mistake once become the habit1 fanciful interpretations were adduced to explain ,iona4 ,there is little reasonable doubt that ,ioua was the ancient ,gaelic or ,pictish name of the island4 ,i have frequently seen allusions to its having been called ,innis nan ,dhruidnechean1 or ,dhruidhnean1 the ,isle of the ,druids3 but that is not ancient ,gaelic1 and ,i do not think there is any record of ,iona being so called in any of the early manuscripts4 ,doubtless it was a name given by the ,shenachies or bardic story-tellers of a later date1 though of course it is quite possible that ,iona was of old commonly called the ,isle of the ,druids4 ,in this connection ,i may put on record that a few years ago ,i heard an old man of the western part of the ,long ,island 7,lewis71 speak of the priests and ministers of to-day as druids2 and once1 in either ,coll or ,tiree1 ,i heard a man say1 in ,english1 alluding to the ,established minister1 ,yes1 yes1 that will be the way of it1 for sure1 for ,mr4 ---- is a wise druid4 ,it might well be1 therefore1 that in modern use the ,isle of ,druids signified only the ,isle of ,priests4 ,there is a little island of the ,outer ,hebrides called ,innis ,chailleachan ,dhubh--the isle of the black old women2 and a legend has grown up that witches once dwelt here and brewed storms and evil spells4 ,but the name is not an ancient name1 and was given not so long ago1 because of a small sisterhood of black-cowled nuns who settled there4 ,st4 ,adamnan1 ninth ,abbot of ,iona1 writing at the end of the seventh century1 invariably calls the island ,ioua or the ,iouan ,island4 ,unless the hypothesis of the careless scribes be accepted1 this should be conclusive4 ,for myself ,i do not believe that there has been any slip of n for u4 ,and ,i am confirmed in this opinion by the following circumstance4 ,three years ago ,i was sailing on one of the sea-lochs of ,argyll4 ,my only companion was the boatman1 and incidentally ,i happened to speak of some skerries 7a group of sea-set rocks7 off the ,ross of ,mull1 similarly named to rocks in the narrow kyle we were then passing2 and learned with surprise that my companion knew them well1 and was not only an ,iona man1 but had lived on the island till he was twenty4 ,i asked him about his people1 and when he found that ,i knew them he became more confidential4 ,but he professed a strange ignorance of all concerning ,iona4 ,there was an old ,iona iorram1 or boat-song1 ,i was anxious to have3 he had never heard of it4 ,still more did ,i desire some rendering or even some lines of an ancient chant of whose existence ,i knew1 but had never heard recited1 even fragmentarily4 ,he did not know of it3 he did not know ,gaelic1 that is1 he remembered only a little of it4 ,well1 no1 he added1 perhaps he did remember some1 but only just to talk to fishermen an' the like4 ,suddenly a squall came down out of the hills4 ,the loch blackened4 ,in a moment a froth of angry foam drove in upon us1 but the boat righted1 and we flew before the blast1 as though an arrow shot by the wind4 ,i noticed a startling change in my companion4 ,his blue eyes were wide and luminous2 his lips twitched2 his hands trembled4 ,suddenly he stooped slightly1 laughed1 cried some words ,i did not catch1 and abruptly broke into a fierce and strange sea-chant4 ,it was no other than the old ,iona rann ,i had so vainly sought6 ,some memory had awakened in the man1 perhaps in part from what ,i had said--with the old spell of the sea1 the old cry of the wind4 ,then he ceased abruptly1 he relapsed1 and with a sheepish exclamation and awkward movement shrank beside me4 ,alas1 ,i could recall only a few lines2 and ,i failed in every effort to persuade him to repeat the rann4 ,but ,i had heard enough to excite me1 for again and again he had called or alluded to ,iona by its ancient pre-,columban name of ,ioua1 and once at least ,i was sure1 from the words1 that the chant was also to ,ioua the ,moon4 ,that night1 however1 he promised to tell me on the morrow all he could remember of the old ,ioua chant4 ,on the morrow1 alas1 he had to leave upon an unexpected business that could not be postponed1 and before his return1 three days later1 ,i was gone4 ,i have not seen him again1 but it is to him ,i am indebted for the loan of an ancient manuscript map of ,iona1 a copy of which ,i made and have by me still4 ,it was an heirloom3 by his own account had been in his family1 in ,iona1 for seven generations1 an it's ,himself knows how much more4 ,he had been to the island the summer before1 because of his father's death1 and had brought this coarsely painted and rudely framed map away with him4 ,he told me too1 that night1 how the oldest folk on the island--some three or four o' them1 anyway2 them as has the ,gaelic--had the old ,ioua chant in their minds4 ,as a boy he had heard it at many a winter ceilidh4 ,ay1 ay1 for sure1 ,iona was called ,ioua in them old ancient days4 ,my friend also had a little book of his mother's which contained1 in a neat hand1 copies of ,gaelic songs1 among them some of the old ,islay and ,skye oar-chants of the iorram kind4 ,i recall an iorram that had hardly a word in it1 but was only a series of barbaric cries1 sometimes full of lament 7ho-ro-aroo-arone1 ho-ro1 ah-hone1 ah-hone671 which was the ,iona fisherman's song to entice seals to come near4 ,i remember1 too1 the opening of a maighdean-mhara or mermaid song1 by a little-known namesake of my own1 a sister of ,mary ,macleod1 the sweet singer of the ,hebrides1 because it had as a heading 7perhaps put there by the ,iona scribe7 some lines of ,mary's that ,i liked well4 ,i quote from memory1 but these were to the effect that1 in his home1 what the ,macleod loved1 was playing at chess ,agus fuaim air a chlarsaich ,gus e h'eachdraidh na dheigh sin ,greis air ursgeul na ,feine and the music of the harp1 and the telling of tales of the feats of the ,feinn 7the ,fingalians74 ,there are not many now1 ,i fear1 who could find entertainment thus1 or care to sit before the peat-fires4 ,on one other occasion ,i have heard the name ,ioua used by a fisherman4 ,i was at ,strachnr1 on ,loch ,fyne1 and was speaking to the skipper of a boat's crew of ,macleods from the ,lews1 when ,i was attracted by an old man4 ,he knew my ,uist friend1 then at ,strachur1 who told me more than one strange legend of the ,sliochd-nan-,ron1 the seal-men4 ,i met the old man that night before the peat-glow1 and while he was narrating a story of a ,princess of ,spain who married the ,king of ,ireland's son1 he spoke incidentally of their being wrecked on ,iona1 that was then called ,ioua1 ay1 an' that for one hundred and two hundred and three hundred years and thrice a hundred on the top o' that before it was ,icolmkill4 ,i did not know him1 but a friend told me that the late ,mr4 ,cameron1 the minister of ,brodick1 in ,arran1 had the ,m4,s4 of an old ,iona 7or ,hebridean7 iorram1 in the refrain of which ,ioua was used throughout4 ,neither do ,i think the name the island now bears has anything in common with ,ioua4 ,in a word1 ,i am sure that the derivations of ,iona are commonly fanciful1 and that the word is simply ,gaelic for the ,isle of ,saints1 and was so given it because of ,columba and the abbots and monks who succeeded him and his4 ,in ,gaelic1 the letters sh at the beginning of a word are invariably mute2 so that ,i-shona1 the ,isle of ,saints1 would be pronounced ,iona4 ,i think that any lingering doubt ,i had about the meaning of the name went when ,i got the old map of which ,i have spoken1 and found that in the left corner was written in large rude letters ,,ii-,,shona4 ,how great a man was the ,irish monk ,crimthan1 called ,colum1 the ,dove3 ,columcille1 the ,dove of the ,church4 ,one may read all that has been written of him since the sixth century1 and not reach the depths of his nature4 ,i doubt if any other than a ,gael can understand him aright4 ,more than any ,celt of whom history tells1 he is the epitome of the ,celt4 ,in war1 ,cuchullin himself was not more brave and resourceful4 ,finn1 calling his champions to the pursuit of ,grania1 or ,oisin boasting of the ,fianna before ,patrick1 was not more arrogant1 yet his tenderness could be as his ,master's was1 and he could be as gentle as a young mother with her child1 and had a child's simplicity4 ,he knew the continual restlessness of his race4 ,he was forty-two when he settled in ,iona1 and had led a life of frequent and severe vicissitude1 often a wanderer1 sometimes with blood against him and upon his head1 once in extremity of danger1 an outlaw1 excommunicated4 ,but even in his haven of ,iona he was not content4 ,he journeyed northward through the ,pictish realms1 a more dangerous and obscure adventure then than to cross ,africa to-day4 ,he sailed to the ,ethican island as ,st4 ,adamnan calls ,tiree1 and made of it a sanctuary1 where prayer might rise as a continual smoke from quiet homes4 ,no fear of the savage clans of ,skye--where a woman had once reigned with so great a fame in war that even the foremost champion of ,ireland went to her in his youth to learn arms and battle-wisdom--restrained him from facing the island ,picts4 ,long before ,hakon the ,dane fought the great seafight off ,largs on the mainland1 ,colum had built a church there4 ,in the far ,perthshire wilds1 before ,macbeth slew ,duncan the king1 the strong abbot of ,iona had founded a monastery in that thanedom4 ,at remote ,inbhir ,nis1 the ,inverness of to-day1 he overcame the ,king of the ,picts and his sullen ,druids1 by his daring1 the fierce magnetism of his will1 his dauntless resource4 ,once1 in a savage region1 far north-eastward1 towards the ,scandinavian sea1 he was told that there his ,cross would not long protect either wattled church or monk's cell3 on that spot he built the monastery of ,deir1 that stood for a thousand years1 and whose priceless manuscript is now one of the treasures of ,northumbria4 ,columba was at once a saint1 a warrior1 a soldier of ,christ1 a great abbot1 a dauntless explorer1 and militant ,prince of the ,church2 and a student1 a man of great learning1 a poet1 an artist1 a visionary1 an architect1 administrator1 law-maker1 judge1 arbiter4 ,as a youth this prince1 for he was of royal blood1 was so beautiful that he was likened to an angel4 ,in mature manhood1 there was none to equal him in stature1 manly beauty1 strength1 and with a voice so deep and powerful that it was like a bell and could be heard on occasion a mile away1 and once1 indeed1 at the court of ,king ,bruidh1 literally overbore and drowned a concerted chorus of sullen druids4 ,these had tried to outvoice him and his monks1 little knowing what a mighty force the sixty-fourth ,psalm could be in the throat of this terrible ,culdee1 who to them must have seemed much more befitting his house-name1 ,crimthan 7,wolf71 than the ,dove6 ,this vocal duel was a characteristic device of the ,druids4 ,i recall one notable instance long before ,colum's time1 though the ,leabhar na ,h',uidhre in which it is to be found was not compiled till ,a4,d4 #ajjj4 ,in the story of the love of ,connla1 son of ,conn of the ,hundred ,battles1 for a woman of the other world1 a druid asks her whence she has come1 and when she answers that it is from the lands of those who live a beautiful and deathless life1 he knows that she is a woman of the ,sidhe4 ,so he chants against the fair woman till the spell of her voice is overcome1 and she goes away as a mist that falls on the shore1 as a ,hebridean poet would say4#c ,later1 she comes again1 and now invisible to all save ,connla4 ,conn the king hears her chanting to ,connla that it is no such lofty place he holds amid short-lived mortals awaiting fearful death that he need dread to leave it1 the more as the ever-living ones invite thee to be the ruler over ,tethra 7a ,kingdom of ,joy74 ,so once more the king calls upon the ,ard-,druid to dispel the woman by his incantations4 ,for a moment ,connla wavers1 but the ,fairy ,woman1 with a music of mockery1 sings to him that ,druidism is in ill-favour over yonder1 little loved and little honoured there1 for1 in effect1 the nations of the ,shee do not need that idle dream4 ,connla's longing is more great to him than his kingdom or the fires of home1 and he goes with his leannanshee in a boat1 till those on the strand see him dimly and then no more in that sundown glow1 nor ever again4 ,columba1 a poet and scholar familiar with the old tables of his beloved ,eire1 probably did not forget on occasion to turn this druidic tale against ,druidism itself1 repeating how1 in its own time1 before the little bell of the tonsured folk was heard in ,ireland 7so little a bell to be the tocsin of fallen gods and broken nations71 ,druidism is not loved1 for little has it progressed to honour on the great ,righteous ,strand4 ,for one thing of great ,gaelic import1 ,columba has been given a singular pre-eminence--not for his love of country1 pride of race1 passionate loyalty to his clan1 to every blood-claim and foster-claim1 and friendship-claim1 though in all this he was the very archetype of the clannish ,gael--but because 7so it is averred7 he was the first of our race of whom is recorded the systematic use of the strange gift of spiritual foresight1 second-sight4 ,it has been stated authoritatively that he is the first of whom there is record as having possessed this faculty2 but that could only be averred by one ignorant of ancient ,gaelic literature4 ,even in ,adamnan's chronicle1 within some seventy years after the death of ,columba1 there is record of others having this faculty1 apart from the perhaps more purely spiritual vision of his mother ,aithne1 when an angel raimented her with the beauty of her unborn son1 or of his foster-father1 the priest ,cruithnechan1 who saw the singular light of the soul about his sleeping pupil1 or of the abbot ,brendan who redeemed the saint from excommunication and perhaps death by his vision of him advancing with a pillar of fire before him and an angel on either side4 7,when1 long years afterwards1 ,brendan died in ,ireland1 ,colum in ,iona startled his monks by calling for an immediate celebration of the ,eucharist1 because it had been revealed to him that ,st4 ,brendan had gone to the heavenly fatherland yesternight3 ,angels came to meet his soul3 ,i saw the whole earth illumined with their glory47 ,among others there is the story of ,abbot ,kenneth1 who1 sitting at supper1 rose so suddenly as to leave without his sandals1 and at the altar of his church prayed for ,colum1 at that moment in dire peril upon the sea3 the story of ,ernan1 who1 fishing in the river ,fenda1 saw the death of ,colum in a symbol of flame3 the story of ,lugh mac ,tailchan1 who1 at ,cloinfinchoil1 beheld ,iona 7which he had never visited71 and above it a blaze of angels' wings1 and ,colum's soul4 ,in the most ancient tales there is frequent allusion to what we call second-sight4 ,the writers alluded to could not have heard of the warning of the dread ,mor-,rigan to ,cuchullin before the fatal strife of the ,tain-,bo-,cuailgne2 or ,cuchullin's own pre-vision 7among a score as striking7 of the hostings and gatherings on the fatal plain of ,muirthemne2 or the ,amazonian queen1 ,scathach's1 fore-knowledge of the career and early death of the champion of the ,gaels3 7,at the last7 great peril awaits thee 444 ,alone against a vast herd3 ,thirty years ,i reckon the length of thy years 7literally1 the strength of thy valour72 ,further than this ,i do not add2 or of ,deirdre's second-sight1 when by the white cairn on ,sliav ,fuad she saw the sons of ,usna headless1 and ,illann the ,fair headless too1 but ,buimne the ,ruthless ,red with his head upon his shoulders1 smiling a grim smile--when she saw over ,naois1 her beloved1 a cloud of blood--or that1 alas1 too bitter-true a foreseeing1 when in the ,craebh ,derg1 the ,house of the ,red ,branch1 she cried to her lover and his two brothers that death was at the door and grievous to me is the deed ,o darling friends--and till the world's end ,emain will not be better for a single night than it is to-night4 ,or1 again1 of that pathetic1 simultaneous death-vision of ,baile the ,sweet-,spoken and ,aillinn1 he in the north1 she in the south1 so that each out of a grief unbearable straightway died1 as told in one of the oldest as well as loveliest of ancient ,gaelic tales1 the ,scel ,baili ,binnberlaig4 ,there is something strangely beautiful in most of these second-sight stories of ,columba4 ,the faculty itself is so apt to the spiritual law that one wonders why it is so set apart in doubt4 ,it would1 ,i think1 be far stranger if there were no such faculty4 ,that ,i believe1 it were needless to say1 were it not that these words may be read by many to whom this quickened inward vision is a superstition1 or a fantastic glorification of insight4 ,i believe2 not only because there is nothing too strange for the soul1 whose vision surely ,i will not deny1 while ,i accept what is lesser1 the mind's prescience1 and1 what is least1 the testimony of the eyes4 ,that ,i have cause to believe is perhaps too personal a statement1 and is of little account2 but in that interior wisdom1 which is no longer the flicker of one little green leaf but the light and sound of a forest1 of which the leaf is a part1 ,i know that to be true1 which ,i should as soon doubt as that the tide returns or that the sap rises or that dawn is a ceaseless flashing light beneath the circuit of the stars4 ,spiritual logic demands it4 ,it would ill become me to do otherwise4 ,i would as little1 however1 deny that this inward vision is sometimes imperfect and untrustworthy1 as ,i would assert that it is infallible4 ,there is no common face of good or evil2 and in like fashion the aspect of this so-called mystery is variable as the lives of those in whom it dwells4 ,with some it is a prescience1 more akin to instinct than to reason1 and obtains only among the lesser possibilities1 as when one beholds another where in the body none is2 or a scene not possible1 there1 in that place2 or a face1 a meeting of shadows1 a disclosure of hazard or accident1 a coming into view of happenings not yet fulfilled4 ,with some it is simply a larger sight1 more wide1 more deep2 not habitual1 because there is none of us who is not subject to the law of the body2 and sudden1 because all tense vision is a passion of the moment4 ,it is as the lightning1 whose sustenance is sure for all that it has a second's life4 ,with a few it is a more constant companion1 a dweller by the morning thought1 by the noon reverie1 by the evening dream4 ,it lies upon the pillow for some3 to some it as though the wind disclosed pathways of the air2 a swaying branch1 a dazzle on the wave1 the quick recognition in unfamiliar eyes1 is1 for others1 sufficient signal4 ,not that these accidents of the manner need concern us much4 ,we have the faculty1 or we do not have it4 ,nor must we forget that it can be the portion of the ignoble as well as of those whose souls are clear4 ,when it is in truth a spiritual vision1 then we are in company of what is the essential life1 that which we call divine4 ,it was this that ,columba had1 this serene perspicuity4 ,that it was a conscious possession we know from his own words1 for he gave this answer to one who marvelled3 ,heaven has granted to some to see on occasion in their mind1 clearly and surely1 the whole of earth and sea and sky4 ,it is not unlikely that in the seventy years which elapsed between ,colum's death and the writing of that lovely classic of the ,church1 ,adamnan's ,vita ,st4 ,columbae1 some stories grew around the saint's memory which were rather the tribute of childlike reverence and love than the actual experiences of the holy man himself4 ,what then8 ,a field in ,may is not the less a daughter of ,spring1 because the cowslip-wreaths found there may have been brought from little wayward garths by children who wove them lovingly as they came4 ,many of these strange records are mere coincidences2 others reveal so happy a surety in the simple faith of the teller that we need only smile1 and with no more resentment than at a child who runs to say he has found stars in a wayside pool4 ,others are rather the keen insight of a ceaseless observation than the seeing of an inward sense4 ,but1 and perhaps oftener1 they are not inherently incredible4 ,i do not think our forebears did ill to give haven to these little ones of faith1 rather than to despise1 or to drive them away4 ,i have already spoken of ,columba as another ,st4 ,francis1 because of his tenderness for creatures4 ,i recall now the lovely legend 7for ,i do not think ,colum himself attributed second-sight to an animal7 which tells how the old white pony which daily brought the milk from the cow-shed to the monastery came and put its head in the lap of the aged and feeble abbot1 thus mutely to bid farewell4 ,let ,adamnan tell it3 ,this creature then coming up to the saint1 and knowing that his master would soon depart from him1 and that he would see his face no more1 began to utter plaintive moans1 and1 as if a man1 to shed tears in abundance into the saint's lap1 and so to weep1 frothing greatly4 ,which when the attendant saw1 he began to drive away that weeping mourner4 ,but the saint forbade him1 saying1 ',let him alone8 ,as he loves me so1 let him alone1 that into this my bosom he may pour out the tears of his most bitter lamentation4 ,behold1 thou1 a man1 that hast a soul1 yet in no way hast knowledge of my end save what ,i have myself shown thee2 but to this brute animal the ,master ,himself hath revealed that his master is about to go away from him4' ,and so saying1 he blessed his sorrowing servant the horse4 ,if there be any to whom the aged ,colum comforting the grief of his old white pony is a matter of disdain or derision1 ,i would not have his soul in exchange for the dumb sorrow of that creature4 ,one would fare further with that sorrow1 though soulless1 than with the soul that could not understand that sorrow4 ,if one were to quote from ,adamnan's three ,books of the ,prophecies1 ,miracles1 and ,visions of ,columba1 there would be another book4 ,amid much that is childlike1 and a little that is childish1 what store of spiritual beauty and living symbol in these three books--the ,book of ,prophetic ,revelations1 the ,book of ,miracles of ,power1 the ,book of ,angelic ,visitations4 ,but there1 as elsewhere1 one must bear in remembrance that1 in spiritual sight1 there is symbolic vision as well as actual vision4 ,when ,colum saw his friend ,columbanus 7who1 unknown to any on ,iona1 had set out in his frail coracle from the ,isle of ,rathlin7 tossed in the surges of ,corryvrechan2 or when1 nigh ,glen ,urquhart1 he hurried forward to minister to an old dying ,pict who had lived well by the light of nature1 and whose house1 condition1 and end had been suddenly revealed to him3 then we have actual vision4 ,when ,aithne1 his mother1 dreamed that an angel showed her a garment of so surpassing a loveliness that it was as though woven of flowers and rainbows1 and then threw it on high1 till its folds expanded and covered every mountain-top from the brows of ,connaught to the feet of the ,danish sea1 and so revealed to her what manner of son she bore within her womb2 or when1 in the hour of ,colum's death1 the aged son of ,tailchan beheld the whole expanse of air flooded with the blaze of angels' wings1 which trembled with their songs3 then we have symbolic vision4 ,and sometimes we have that which partakes of each1 as when 7as ,adamnan tells us in his third book7 ,colum saw angels standing upon the rocks on the opposite side of the ,sound which divides ,iona from the ,ross of ,mull1 calling to his soul to cross to them1 yet1 as they assembled and beckoned1 mysteriously and suddenly restrained1 for his hour was not come4 ,and in all actual vision there is gradation2 from what is so common1 premonition1 to what is not common1 prescience1 and to what is rare1 revelation4 ,thus when the labourers on ,iona looked up from the fields and saw the aged abbot whom they so loved1 borne in a wagon to give them benediction at seed-sowing1 many among them knew that they would not see ,colum again1 and ,colum knew it1 and so shared that premonition4 ,and when1 many years before1 he and the abbot ,comgell1 returning from a futile conference of the kings ,aedh and ,aidan1 rested by a spring1 concerning which ,colum said that the day would come when it would be filled with human blood1 because my people1 the ,hy-,neill1 and the ,pictish folk1 thy relations according to the flesh1 will wage war by this fortress of ,cethirn close by1 ,comgell learned1 through ,colum's foreknowledge1 of what did in truth come to pass4 ,again1 when ,colum bade a brother go three days thence to the sea-shore on the west side of ,iona1 and lie in readiness to help a certain guest1 a crane to wit1 beaten by the winds during long and circuitous and aerial flights1 which will arrive after the ninth hour of the day1 very weary and sore distressed1 and bade him to lift it and tend it lovingly for three days and three nights till it should have strength to return to its former sweet home1 and to do this out of love and courtesy because it comes from our fatherland--and when all happens and is done as the saint foretold and commanded1 then we have revelation1 the vision that is absolute1 the knowledge that is the atmosphere of the inevitable4 ,it would take a book indeed to tell all the stories of ,columba's visionary and prophetic powers4 ,that ,i write at this length concerning him1 indeed1 is because he is himself ,iona4 ,columba is ,christian ,iona1 as much as ,iona is ,icolmkill4 ,i have often wondered 7because of a passage in ,adamnan7 if the island be not indeed named after him1 the ,dove3 for as ,adamnan says incidentally1 the name ,columba is identical with the ,hebrew name ,jonah1 also signifying a ,dove1 and by the ,hebrews pronounced ,iona4 ,it is enough now to recall that this man1 so often erring but so human always1 in whose life we see the soul of ,iona as in a glass1 is become the archetype of his race1 as ,iona is the microcosm of the ,gaelic world4 ,that he came into this life heralded by dreams and visions1 that from his youth onward to old age he knew every mystery of dream and vision1 and that before and after his death his soul was revealed to others through dreams and visions1 is but an added hieratic grace3 yet we do well to recall often how these dreams before and these visions after were angelical1 and nobly beautiful3 how there was left of him1 and to his little company1 and to us for remembrance1 that last signal vision of a blaze of angelic wings1 more intolerable than the sun at noon1 the tempestuous multitude trembling with the storm of song4 ,columba and ,oran 444 these are the two great names in ,iona4 ,love and ,faith have made one immortal2 the other lives also1 clothed in legend4 ,i am afraid there is not much definite basis for the popular ,iona legend of ,oran4 ,it is now the wont of guides and others to speak of the ,reilig ,odhrain1 ,oran's burial-place1 as that of ,columba's friend 7and victim71 but it seems likelier that the ,oran who lies here is he who is spoken of in the ,annals of the ,four ,masters as having died in the year #edh1 that is fifteen years before ,colum came to the island4 ,this1 however1 might well be a mistake3 what is more convincing is that ,adamnan never mentions the episode1 nor even the name of ,oran1 nor is there mention of him in that book of ,colum's intimate friend and successor1 ,baithene1 which ,adamnan practically incorporated4 ,on the other hand1 the ,oran legend is certainly very old4 ,the best modern rendering we have of it is that of ,mr4 ,whitley ,stokes in his ,three ,middle-,irish ,homilies1 and readers of ,dr4 ,skene's valuable ,celtic ,scotland recollect the translation there redacted4 ,the episode occurs first in an ancient ,irish life of ,st4 ,columba4 ,the legend1 which has crystallised into a popular saying1 ,uir1 uir1 air suil ,odhrain6 mu'n labhair e tuille comhraidh--,earth1 earth on ,oran's eyes1 lest he further blab--avers that three days after the monk ,oran or ,odran was entombed alive 7some say in the earth1 some in a cavity71 ,colum opened the grave1 to look once more on the face of the dead brother1 when to the amazed fear of the monks and the bitter anger of the abbot himself1 ,oran opened his eyes and exclaimed1 ,there is no such great wonder in death1 nor is ,hell what it has been described4 7,ifrinn1 or ,ifurin--the word used--is the ,gaelic ,hell1 the ,land of ,eternal ,cold47 ,at this1 ,colum straightway cried the now famous ,gaelic words1 and then covered up poor ,oran again lest he should blab further of that uncertain world whither he was supposed to have gone4 ,in the version given by ,mr4 ,whitley ,stokes there is no mention of ,odran's grave having been uncovered after his entombment4 ,but what is strangely suggestive is that both in the oral legend and in that early monkish chronicle alluded to1 ,columba is represented as either suggesting or accepting immolation of a living victim as a sacrifice to consecrate the church he intended to build4 ,one story is that he received a divine intimation to the effect that a monk of his company must be buried alive1 and that ,odran offered himself4 ,in the earliest known rendering ,colum ,cille said to his people3 ',it is well for us that our roots should go underground here'2 and he said to them1 ',it is permitted to you that some one of you go under the earth of this island to consecrate it4' ,odran rose up readily1 and thus he said3 ',if thou wouldst accept me1' he said1 ',i am ready for that4' 444 ,odran then went to heaven4 ,colum ,cille then founded the ,church of ,hii4 ,it would be a dark stain on ,columba if this legend were true4 ,but apart from the fact that ,adamnan does not speak of it or of ,oran1 the probabilities are against its truth4 ,on the other hand1 it is1 perhaps1 quite as improbable that there was no basis for the legend4 ,i imagine the likelier basis to be that a druid suffered death in this fashion under that earlier ,odran of whom there is mention in the ,annals of the ,four ,masters3 possibly1 that ,odran himself was the martyr1 and the ,ard-,druid the person who had the divine intimation4 ,again1 before it be attributed to ,columba1 one would have to find if there is record of such an act having been performed among the ,irish of that day4 ,we have no record of it4 ,it is not improbable that the whole legend is a symbolical survival1 an ancient teaching of some elementary mystery through some real or apparent sacrificial rite4 ,among the people of ,iona to-day there is a very confused idea about ,st4 ,oran4 ,to some he is a saint3 to others an evil-doer3 some think he was a martyr1 some that he was punished for a lapse from virtue4 ,some swear by his grave1 as though it were almost as sacred as the ,black ,stone of ,iona3 to others1 perhaps most1 his is now but an idle name4 ,by the ,black ,stone of ,iona6 ,one may hear that in ,icolmkill or anywhere in the west4 ,it used to be the most binding oath in the ,highlands1 and even now is held as an indisputable warrant of truth4 ,in ,iona itself1 strangely enough1 one would be much more likely to hear a statement affirmed by ,st4 ,martin's ,cross4 ,on this stone--the old ,druidic ,stone of ,destiny1 sacred among the ,gael before ,christ was born--,columba crowned ,aidan ,king of ,argyll4 ,later1 the stone was taken to ,dunstaffnage1 where the ,lords of the ,isles were made princes3 thence to ,scone1 where the last of the ,celtic ,kings of ,scotland was crowned on it4 ,it now lies in ,westminster ,abbey1 a part of the ,coronation ,chair1 and since ,edward ,i4 every ,british monarch has been crowned upon it4 ,if ever the ,stone of ,destiny be moved again1 that writing on the wall will be the signature of a falling dynasty2 but perhaps1 like ,iona in the island saying1 this can be left to the ,gaelic equivalent of ,nevermas1 gus am bi ,mac,cailein na' righ1 till ,argyll be a king4 ,in my childhood ,i well recall meeting in ,iona an old man who had come from the glens of ,antrim1 to me memorable because he was the last ,gaelic minstrel of the old kind ,i have seen4 ,it was a poor land1 ,antrim1 he said1 with no ,gaelic1 a bitter lot o' protestantry1 an' little music4 ,i remember1 too1 his adding in effect3 ,it is in the west you should be if you want music1 an' men and women without coldness or the hard mouth4 ,in ,donegal an' ,mayo an' all down ,connemara-way to the cliffs of ,moher you'll hear the wind an' the voices o' the ,shee with never a man to curse the one or the other4 ,i asked him why he had come to ,iona4 ,it was to see the isle of ,colum1 he said1 ,st4 ,bridget's brother1 ,god bless the pair av' thim4 ,he was on his way to ,oban1 thence to go to a far place in the ,athole country1 where his daughter had married a factor who had returned to his own land from the ,irish west1 and was the more dear to the old man because his only living blood-kin1 and because she had called her little girl by the name of the old harper's long-lost love1 my love an' my wife4 ,the last harper1 though he had not his harp with him4 ,he had come from ,drogheda in a cattle-boat to ,islay 7whence he had sailed in a fishing-smack to ,iona71 and his friend the mate had promised to leave the harp and his other belongings at ,oban in safe keeping4 ,he had with him1 however1 a small instrument that he called his little clar4 ,it was something between a guitar and a cithern1 suggestive of a primitive violin1 and he played on it sometimes with his fingers1 sometimes with a short bit of wood like a child's tipcat2 and1 he said1 could make good music with a hazel-wand or the dry straight rod of a quicken when that's to be had4 ,he said this quaint instrument had come down to him through fifty-one generations3 literally1 eleven and twice twenty sheanairean 7grandfathers1 or elders or forebears71 of whom he could at any moment give the pedigree of ceithir deug air 'fhichead1 four and ten upon twenty--that is1 to translate the ,gaelic method of enumeration1 thirty-four4 ,this was at the house of a minister then lodging in the island1 and it was he who hosted the old harper4 ,he told me1 later1 that he had no doubt this was the old-world cruit1 the ,welsh crwth of to-day1 and the once colloquial ,lowland crowther1 akin to the ,roman canora cythara1 the forebear of the modern ,spanish guitar4 ,to this day1 ,i may add1 ,highlanders 7at least in the west7 call the guitar the ,cruit-,spanteach4 ,there seems to have been four kinds of harp in the old days3 the clar or clarsach1 the kairneen 7ceirnine71 the kreemtheencrooth 7cream-thine-cruit71 and the cionar cruit4 ,the clarsach was the harp proper2 that is1 the small ,celtic harp4 ,the ceirnine was the smaller hand-harp4 ,the creamthine cruit had six strings1 and was probably used chiefly at festivals1 possibly for a strong sonance to accentuate chants2 while the cionar cruit had ten strings1 and was played either by a bow or with a wooden or other instrument4 ,it must have been a cionar-cruit1 ancient or a rude later-day imitation1 that the old harper had4 ,poor old man1 ,i fear he never played on his harp again2 for ,i learned later that he had found his ,athole haven broken up1 and his daughter and her husband about to emigrate to ,canada1 so that he went with them1 and died on the way--perhaps as much from the mountain-longing and home-sickness as from any more tangible ill4 ,i have a double memento of him that ,i value4 ,in ,islay he had bought or been given a little book of ,gaelic songs 7the ,scoto-,gaelic must have puzzled him sorely1 poor old eirionnach71 and this he left behind him1 and my minister friend gave it to me1 with much of the above noted down on its end-pages4 ,the little book had been printed early in the century1 and was called ,ceilleirean ,binn nan ,creagan ,aosda1 literally ,melodious ,little ,warblings from the ,aged ,rocks2 and it has always been dear to me because of one lovely phrase in it about birds1 where the unknown ,gaelic singer calls them clann bheag' nam preas1 the small clan of the bushes1 equivalent in ,english to the children of the bushes4 ,this occurs in a lovely verse-- ,mu'n cuairt do bhruachaibh ard mo glinn1 ,biodh luba gheuga 's orra blath1 's clann bheag' nam preas a' tabhairst seinn ,do chreagaibh aosd oran graidh4 7,along the lofty sides of my glen let there be bending boughs clad in blossom1 and the children of the bushes making the aged rocks re-echo their songs of love7--truly a characteristic ,gaelic wish1 characteristically expressed4 ,and though this that ,i am about to say did not happen on ,iona1 ,i may tell it here1 for it was there and from an islander ,i heard it1 an old man herding among the troubled rocky pastures of ,sguir ,mor and ,cnoc na ,fhiona1 in the south of that western part called ,sliav ,starr--one translation of which might be ,wuthering ,heights1 for the word can be rendered wind-blustery or wind-noisy2 though ,i fancy that starr is1 on ,iona1 commonly taken to mean a strong coarse grass4 7,fhiona here ,i take to be not the genitive of a name1 nor that of wine1 but a mis-spelling of fionna1 grain47 ,when he was a boy he was in the island of ,barra1 he said1 and he had a foster-brother called ,iain ,macneil4 ,iain was born with music in his mind1 for though he was ever a poor creature as a man1 having as a child eaten of the bird's heart1 he could hear a power o' wonder in the wind4#d ,he had never come to any good in a worldly sense1 my old herdsman ,micheil said2 but it was not from want of cleverness only1 but because he had enough with his music4 ,poor man1 he failed in everything he did but that--and1 sure1 that was not against him1 for is ann air an traghadh a rugadh e--wasn't he born when the tide was ebbing8 ,besides1 there was a mystery4 ,iain's father was said to be an ,iona man1 but that was only a politeness and a play upon words 7,the ,holy ,isle of the ,western ,sea could mean either ,iona or the mystic ,hy-,brasil1 or ,tir-na-thonn of the underworld72 for he had no mortal father1 but a man of the ,smiling ,distant ,people was his father4 ,iain's mother had loved her ,leannan-shee1 her fairy sweetheart1 but that love is too strong for a woman to bear1 and she died4 ,before ,iain was born she lay under a bush of whitethorn1 and her ,leannan appeared to her4 ,i can't give you life1 he said1 unless you'll come away with me4 ,but she would not2 for she wished the child to have ,christian baptism4 ,well1 good-bye1 he said1 but you are a weak love4 ,a woman should care more for her lover than her child4 ,but ,i'll do this3 ,i'll give the child the dew1 an' he won't die1 an' we'll take him away when we want him4 ,an' for a gift to him1 you can have either beauty or music4 ,i don't want the dew1 she said1 for ,i'd rather he lay below the grass beside me when his time comes3 an' as for beauty1 it's been my sorrow4 ,but because ,i love the songs you have sung to me an' wooed me with1 an' made me forget to hide my soul from you--an' it fallen as helpless as a broken wave on damp sand--let the child have the binn-beul an' the lamh clarsaireachd 7the melodious mouth an' the harping hand74 ,and truly enough ,iain ,macneil went away4 ,he went back to his own people4 ,it must have been a grief to him not to lie under the grass beside his mother1 but it was not for his helping4 ,for days before he mysteriously disappeared he went about making a ciucharan like a ,november wind1 a singular plaintive moaning4 ,when asked by his foster-brother ,micheil why he was not content1 he answered only ,far am bi mo ghaol1 bidh mo thathaich 7,where my ,love is1 there must my returning be74 ,he had for days1 said ,micheil1 the mournful crying in the ear that is so often a presage of death or sorrow2 and himself had said once ,tha 'n eabh a' m' chenais--the cry is in my ear4 ,when he went away1 that going was the way of the snow4 ,it is no wonder that legends of ,finn and ,oisein1 of ,oscur and ,gaul and ,diarmid1 of ,cuchullin1 and many of the old stories of the ,gaelic chivalry survive in the isles4 ,there1 more than in ,ireland1 ,gaelic has survived as the living speech1 and though now in the ,inner ,hebrides it is dying before an a' ,beurla1 the ,english tongue1 and still more before the degraded ,bheurla leathan or ,glasgow-,english of the lowland west1 the old vernacular still holds an ancient treasure4 ,the last time ,i sailed to ,staffa from ,ulva1 a dead calm set in1 and we took a man from ,gometra to help with an oar--his recommendation being that he was cho laidir ri ,cuchullin1 as strong as ,coohoolin4 ,but neither in ,iona nor in the northward isles nor in ,skye itself1 have ,i found or heard of much concerning the great ,gaelic hero4 ,fionn and ,oisin and ,diarmid are the names oftenest heard1 both in legend and proverbial allusion4 ,an habitual mistake is made by writers who speak of the famous ,cuchullin or ,cuthullin mountains in ,skye as having been named after ,cuchullin2 and though sometimes the local guides to summer tourists may speak of the ,gaelic hero in connection with the mountains north of ,coruisk1 that is only because of hearsay4 ,the ,gaelic name should never be rendered as the ,cuthullin or ,cohoolin mountains1 but as the ,coolins4 ,the most obvious meaning of the name ,cuilfhion 7,kyoolyun or ,coolun71 is the fine corner1 but1 as has been suggested1 the hills may have got their name because of the cuillionn mara or sea-holly1 which is pronounced ,ku' l'-unn or coolin4 ,this is most probably the origin of the name4 ,in fine weather one may see from ,iona the ,coolins standing out in lovely blue against the northern sky-line1 their contours the most beautiful feature in a view of surpassing beauty4 ,how often ,i have watched them1 have often dreamed of what they have seen1 since ,oisin passed that way with ,malvina3 since ,cuchullin learned the feats of war at ,dun ,scaaiah1 from that great queen whose name1 it is said1 the island bears in remembrance of her2 since ,connlaoch1 his son1 set sail to meet so tragic a death in ,ireland4 ,there are two women of ,gaelic antiquity who above all others have always held my imagination as with a spell3 ,scathach or ,sgathaith 7sky-ah71 the sombre ,amazonian queen of the mountain-island 7then perhaps1 as now1 known also as the ,isle of ,mist71 and ,meave1 the great queen of ,connaught1 whose name has its mountain bases in gigantic wars1 and its summits among the wild poetry and romance of the ,shee4 ,my earliest knowledge of the heroic cycle of ,celtic mythology and history came to me1 as a child1 when ,i spent my first summer in ,iona4 ,how well ,i remember a fantastic legend ,i was told3 how that these far blue mountains1 so freaked into a savage beauty1 were due to the sword-play of ,cuchullin4 ,and this happened because the ,queen o' ,skye had put a spear through the two breasts of his love1 so that he went in among her warrior women and slew every one1 and severed the head of ,sgayah herself1 and threw it into ,coruisk1 where to this day it floats as ,eilean ,dubh1 the dark isle4 ,thereafter1 ,cuchullin hewed the mountain-tops into great clefts1 and trampled the hills into a craggy wilderness1 and then rushed into the waves and fought with the sea-hordes till far away the bewildered and terrified stallions of the ocean dashed upon the rocks of ,man and uttermost shores of ,erin4 ,this magnificent mountain range can be seen better still from ,lunga near ,iona1 whence it is a short sail with a southerly wind4 ,in ,lunga there is a hill called ,cnoc ,cruit or ,dun ,cruit1 and thence one may see1 as in a vast illuminated missal whose pages are of deep blue with bindings of azure and pale gold1 innumerable green isles and peaks and hills of the hue of the wild plum4 ,when last ,i was there it was a day of cloudless ,june4 ,there was not a sound but the hum of the wild bee foraging in the long garths of white clover1 and the continual sighing of a wave4 ,listening1 ,i thought ,i heard a harper playing in the hollow of the hill4 ,it may have been the bees heavy with the wine of honey1 but ,i was content with my fancy and fell asleep1 and dreamed that a harper came out of the hill1 at first so small that he seemed like the green stalk of a lily and had hands like daisies1 and then go great that ,i saw his breath darkening the waves far out on the ,hebrid sea4 ,he played1 till ,i saw the stars fall in a ceaseless1 dazzling rain upon ,iona4 ,a wind blew that rain away1 and out of the wave that had been ,iona ,i saw thousands upon thousands of white doves rise from the foam and fly down the four great highways of the wind4 ,when ,i woke1 there was no one near4 ,iona lay like an emerald under the wild-plum bloom of the ,mull mountains4 ,the bees stumbled through the clover2 a heron stood silver-grey upon the grey-blue stone2 the continual wave was1 as before1 as one wave1 and with the same hushed sighing4 ,two or three years ago ,i heard a boatman using a singular phrase1 to the effect that a certain deed was as kindly a thought as that of the piper who played to ,st4 ,micheil in his grave4 ,i had never heard of this before1 or anything like it1 nor have ,i since1 on lip or in book4 ,he told me that he spoke of a wandering piper known as ,piobaire ,raonull ,dall1 ,blind ,piper ,ronald1 who fifty years or so ago used to wander through the isles and ,west ,highlands2 and how he never failed to play a spring on his pipes1 either to please or to console1 or maybe to air a lament for what's lost now and can't come again1 when on any holy day he stood before a figure of the ,virgin 7as he might well do in ,barra or ,south ,uist71 or by old tombs or habitations of saints4 ,my friend's father or one of his people1 once1 in the ,kyles of ,bute1 when sailing past the little ruinous graveyard of ,kilmichael on the ,bute shore1 had come upon ,raonull-,dall1 pacing slowly before the broken stones and the little cell which legend says is both the hermitage and the grave of ,st4 ,micheil4 ,when asked what he was playing and what for1 in that lonely spot1 he said it was an old ancient pibroch1 the ,gathering of the ,clerics1 which he was playing just to cheer the heart of the good man down below4 ,when told that ,st4 ,micheil would be having his fill of good music where he was1 the old man came away in the boat1 and for long sat silent and strangely disheartened4 ,i have more than once since then sailed to that little lonely ancient grave of ,kilmichael in the ,kyles of ,bute1 from ,tignabruaich or further ,cantyre1 and have wished that ,i too could play a spring upon the pipes1 for if so ,i would play to the kind heart of ,piobaire ,raonull ,dall4 ,of all the saints of the west1 from ,st4 ,molios or ,molossius 7,maol-,iosa8 the servant by ,jesus87 who has left his name in the chief township in ,arran1 to ,st4 ,barr1 who has given his to the largest of the ,bishop's ,isles1 as the great ,barra island-chain in the ,south ,hebrides used to be called1 there is none so commonly remembered and so frequently invoked as ,st4 ,micheil4 ,there used to be no festival in the ,western ,isles so popular as that held on #bith ,september1 ,la' ,fheill ,mhicheil1 the ,day of the ,festival of ,michael2 and the ,eve of ,michael's ,day is still in a few places one of the gayest nights in the year1 though no longer is every barn turned into a dancing place or a place of merry-making or1 at least1 a place for lovers to meet and give betrothal gifts4 ,the day itself1 in the ,catholic ,isles1 was begun with a special ,mass1 and from hour to hour was filled with traditional duties and pleasures4 ,the whole of the ,st4 ,micheil ceremonies were of a remote origin1 and some1 as the ancient and almost inexplicable dances1 and their archaic accompaniment of word and gesture far older than the sacrificial slaying of the ,michaelmas ,lamb4 ,it is1 however1 not improbable that this latter rite was a survival of a pagan custom long anterior to the substitution of the ,christian for the ,druidic faith4 ,the ,iollach ,mhicheil--the triumphal song of ,michael--is quite as much pagan as ,christian4 ,we have here1 indeed1 one of the most interesting and convincing instances of the transmutation of a personal symbol4 ,st4 ,michael is on the surface a saint of extraordinary powers and the patron of the shores and the shore-folk3 deeper1 he is an angel1 who is upon the sea what the angelical saint1 ,st4 ,george1 is upon the land3 deeper1 he is a blending of the ,roman ,neptune and the ,greek ,poseidon3 deeper1 he is himself an ancient ,celtic god3 deeper1 he is no other than ,manannan1 the god of ocean and all waters1 in the ,gaelic ,pantheon3 as1 once more1 ,manannan himself is dimly revealed to us as still more ancient1 more primitive1 and even as supreme in remote godhead1 the ,father of an immortal ,clan4 ,to this day ,micheil is sometimes alluded to as the god ,micheil1 and ,i have seen some very strange ,gaelic lines which run in effect3-- ,it was well thou hadst the horse of the god ,micheil ,who goes without a bit in his mouth1 ,so that thou couldst ride him through the fields of the air1 ,and with him leap over the knowledge of ,nature-- presumably not very ancient as they stand1 because of the use of steud for horse1 and naduir for nature1 obvious adaptations from ,english and ,latin4 ,certainly ,st4 ,michael has left his name in many places1 from the shores of the ,hebrides to the famous ,mont ,st4 ,michel of ,brittany1 and ,i doubt not that everywhere an earlier folk1 at the same places1 called him ,manannan4 ,in a most unlikely place to find a record of old hymns and folk-songs1 one of the volumes of ,reports of the ,highlands and ,islands ,commission1 ,mr4 ,carmichael many years ago contributed some of his unequalled store of ,hebridean reminiscence and knowledge4 ,among these old things saved1 there is none that is better worth saving than the beautiful ,catholic hymn or invocation sung at the time of the midsummer migration to the hill-pastures4 ,in this shealing-hymn the three powers who are invoked are ,st4 ,micheil 7for he is a patron saint of horses and travel1 as well as of the sea and seafarers71 ,st4 ,columba1 guardian of ,cattle1 and the ,virgin ,mary1 ,mathair ,uain ghil1 ,mother of the ,white ,lamb1 as the tender ,gaelic has it1 who is so beautifully called the golden-haired ,virgin ,shepherdess4 ,it is pleasant to think of ,columba1 who loved animals1 and whose care for his shepherd-people was always so great1 as having become the patron saint of cattle4 ,it is thus that the gods are shaped out of a little mortal clay1 the great desire of the heart1 and immortal dreams4 ,i may give the whole hymn in ,english1 as rendered by ,mr4 ,carmichael3 ,i ,thou gentle ,michael of the white steed1 ,who subdued the ,dragon of blood1 ,for love of ,god and the ,son of ,mary1 ,spread over us thy wing1 shield us all6 ,spread over us thy wing1 shield us all6 ,,ii ,mary beloved6 ,mother of the ,white ,lamb1 ,protect us1 thou ,virgin of nobleness1 ,queen of beauty6 ,shepherdess of the flocks6 ,keep our cattle1 surround us together1 ,keep our cattle1 surround us together4 ,,iii ,thou ,columba1 the friendly1 the kind1 ,in name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit1 ,through the ,three-in-,one1 through the ,three1 ,encompass us1 guard our procession1 ,encompass us1 guard our procession4 ,,iv ,thou ,father6 ,thou ,son6 ,thou ,holy ,spirit6 ,be the ,three-,one with us day and night1 ,on the machair plain1 on the mountain ridge1 ,the ,three-one is with us1 with ,his arm around our head1 ,the ,three-,one is with us1 with his arm around our head4 ,i have heard a paraphrase of this hymn1 both in ,gaelic and ,english1 on ,iona2 and once1 off ,soa1 a little island to the south of ,icolmkill1 took down a verse which ,i thought was local1 but which ,i afterwards found 7with very slight variance7 in ,mr4 ,carmichael's ,governmental ,uist-,record4 ,it was sung by ,barra fishermen1 and ran in effect ,o ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost6 ,o ,holy ,trinity1 be with us day and night4 ,on the crested wave as on the mountain-side6 ,our ,mother1 ,holy ,mary ,mother1 has her arm under our head2 our pillow is the arm of ,mary1 ,mary the ,holy ,mother4 ,it is perhaps the saddest commentary that could be made on what we have lost that the children of those who were wont to go to rest1 or upon any adventure1 or to stand in the shadow of death1 with some such words as ,my soul is with the ,light on the mountains1 ,archangel ,micheil shield my soul6 now go or stand in a scornful or heedless silence1 or without remembrance1 as others did who forgot to trim their lamps4 ,who now would go up to the hill-pastures singing the ,beannachadh ,buachailleag1 the ,herding ,blessing8 ,with the passing of the old language the old solemnity goes1 and the old beauty1 and the old patient1 loving wonder4 ,i do not like to think of what songs are likely to replace the ,herding ,blessing1 whose first verse runs thus3 ,i place this flock before me ,as ordained by the ,king of the ,world1 ,mary ,virgin to keep them1 to wait them1 to watch them4 ,on hill and glen and plain1 ,on hill1 in glen1 on plain4 ,in the maelstrom of the cities the old race perishes1 drowns4 ,how common the foolish utterance of narrow lives1 that all these old ways of thought are superstitious4 ,to have a superstition is1 for these1 a worse ill than to have a shrunken soul4 ,i do not believe in spells and charms and foolish incantations1 but ,i think that ancient wisdom out of the simple and primitive heart of an older time is not an ill heritage2 and if to believe in the power of the spirit is to be superstitious1 ,i am well content to be of the company that is now forsaken4 ,but even in what may more fairly be called superstitious1 have we surety that we have done well in our exchange8 ,a short while ago ,i was on the hillside above one of the much-frequented lochs in eastern ,argyll4 ,something brought to my mind1 as ,i went farther up into the clean solitudes1 one of the verses of the ,herding ,blessing3 ,from rocks1 from snow-wreaths1 from streams1 ,from crooked ways1 from destructive pits1 ,from the arrows of the slim fairy women1 ,from the heart of envy1 the eye of evil1 ,keep us1 ,holy ,st4 ,bride4 ,from the arrows of the slim fairy women4 ,and ,i--do ,i believe in that8 ,at least it will be admitted that it is worth a belief2 it is a pleasant dream2 it is a gate into a lovely world2 it is a secret garden1 where are old sweet echoes2 it has the rainbow-light of poetry4 ,is it not poetry8 ,and ,i--oh yes1 ,i believe it1 that superstition3 a thousand-fold more real is it1 more believable1 than that coarse-tongued1 ill-mannered1 boorish people1 desperate in slovenly pleasure4 ,for that will stay1 and they will go4 ,and if ,i am wrong1 then ,i will rather go with it than stay with them4 ,and yet--surely1 surely the day will come when this sordidness of life as it is so often revealed to us will sink into deep waters1 and the stream become purified1 and again by its banks be seen the slim fairy women of health and beauty and all noble and dignified things4 ,this is a far cry from ,iona6 ,and ,i had meant to write only of how ,i heard so recently as three or four summers ago a verse of the ,uist ,herding ,chant4 ,it was recited to me1 over against ,dun-,i1 by a friend who is a crofter in that part of ,iona4 ,it was not quite as ,mr4 ,carmichael translates it1 but near enough4 ,the ,rann ,buachhailleag is1 ,i should add1 addressed to the cattle4 ,the protection of ,god and ,columba ,encompass your going and coming1 ,and about you be the milkmaid of the smooth white palms1 ,briget of the clustering hair1 golden brown4 ,on ,iona1 however1 there is1 so far as ,i remember1 no special spot sacred to ,st4 ,micheil3 but there is a legend that on the night ,columba died ,micheil came over the waves on a rippling flood of light1 which was a cloud of angelic wings1 and that he sang a hymn to the soul of the saint before it took flight for its heavenly fatherland4 ,no one heard that hymn save ,colum1 but ,i think that he who first spoke of it remembered a more ancient legend of how ,manannan came to ,cuchullin when he was in the country of the ,shee1 when ,liban laughed4 ,i spoke of ,port-na-,churaich1 the ,haven of the ,coracle1 a little ago4 ,how strange a history is that of ,iona since the coming of the ,irish priest1 ,crimthan1 or ,crimmon as we call the name1 surnamed ,colum ,cille1 the ,dove of the ,church4 ,perhaps its unwritten history is not less strange4 ,god was revered on ,iona by priests of a forgotten faith before the ,cross was raised4 ,the sun-priest and the moon-worshipper had their revelation here4 ,i do not think their offerings were despised4 ,colum1 who loved the ,trinity so well that on one occasion he subsisted for three days on the mystery of the mere word1 did not forego the luxury of human sacrifice1 though he abhorred the blood-stained altar4 ,for1 to him1 an obstinate pagan slain was to the glory of ,god4 ,the moon-worshipper did no worse when he led the chosen victim to the dolmen4 ,but the moon-worshipper was a ,pict without the marvel of the written word2 so he remained a heathen1 and the ,christian named himself saint or martyr4 ,none knows with surety who dwelled on this mysterious island before the famous son of ,feilim of ,clan ,domnhuil1 great-grandson of ,niall of the ,nine ,hostages1 came with his fellow-monks and raised the ,cross among the wondering ,picts4 ,but the furthest record tells of worship4 ,legend itself is more ancient here than elsewhere4 ,once a woman was worshipped4 ,some say she was the moon1 but this was before the dim day of the moon-worshippers4 7,in ,gaelic too1 as with all the ,celtic peoples1 it is not the moon but the sun that is feminine47 ,she may have been an ancestral ,brighde1 or that mysterious ,anait whose ,scythian name survives elsewhere in the ,gaelic west1 and nothing else of all her ancient glory but that shadowy word4 ,perhaps1 here1 the ,celts remembered one whom they had heard of in ,asian valleys or by the waters of ,nilus1 and called upon ,isis under a new name4 ,the ,haven of the ,coracle6 ,it was not ,colum and his white-robe company who first made the isle sacred4 ,i have heard that when ,mary ,macleod 7our best-loved ,hebridean poet7 was asked what she thought of ,iona1 she replied that she thought it was the one bit of ,eden that had not been destroyed1 and that it was none other than the central isle in the ,garden untouched of ,eve or ,adam1 where the angels waited4 ,many others have dreamed by that lonely cairn of the ,irish king1 before ,colum1 and1 doubtless1 many since the child who sought the ,divine forges4 ,years afterwards ,i wrote1 in the same place1 after an absence wherein ,iona had become as a dream to me1 the story of ,st4 ,briget1 in the ,hebrides called ,bride1 under the love-name commonly given her1 ,muime ,chriosd--,christ's ,foster-,mother4 ,may ,i quote again1 here1 as so apposite to what ,i have written1 to what indirectly ,i am trying to convey of the spiritual history of ,iona1 some portion of it8 ,in my legendary story ,i tell of how one called ,dughall1 of a kingly line1 sailing from ,ireland1 came to be cast upon the ocean-shore of ,iona1 then called ,innis-nan-,dhruidhneach1 the ,isle of the ,druids--for this was before the cry of the ,sacred ,wolf was heard1 as an old-time island-poet has it1 playing upon ,colum's house-name1 ,crimthan1 signifying a wolf4 ,the frail coracle in which he and others had crossed the ,moyle had been driven before a tempest1 and cast at sunrise like a spent fish upon the rocks of the little haven that is now called ,port-na-,churaich4 ,all had found death in the wave except himself and the little girl-child he had brought with him from ,ireland1 the child of so much tragic mystery4 ,when1 warmed by the sun1 they rose1 they found themselves in a waste place4 ,dughall was ill in his mind because of the portents1 and now to his fear and amaze the child ,briget knelt on the stones1 and1 with claspt hands1 frail and pink as the sea-shells round about her1 sang a song of words which were unknown to him4 ,this was the more marvellous1 as she was yet but an infant1 and could say few words even of ,erse1 the only tongue she had heard4 ,at this portent1 he knew that ,aodh the ,arch-,druid had spoken seeingly4 ,truly this child was not of human parentage4 ,so he1 too1 kneeled2 and1 bowing before her1 asked if she were of the race of the ,tuatha de ,danann1 or of the older gods1 and what her will was1 that he might be her servant4 ,then it was that the kneeling child looked at him1 and sang in a low sweet voice in ,erse3 ,i am but a little child1 ,dughall1 son of ,hugh1 son of ,art1 ,but my garment shall be laid ,on the lord of the world1 ,yea1 surely it shall be that ,he1 ,the ,king of ,elements ,himself1 ,shall lean against my bosom1 ,and ,i will give him peace1 ,and peace will ,i give to all who ask ,because of this mighty ,prince1 ,and because of his ,mother that is the ,daughter of ,peace4 ,and while ,dughall ,donn was still marvelling at this thing1 the ,arch-,druid of ,iona approached1 with his white-robed priests4 ,a grave welcome was given to the stranger4 ,while the youngest of the servants of ,god was entrusted with the child1 the ,arch-,druid took ,dughall aside and questioned him4 ,it was not till the third day that the old man gave his decision4 ,dughall ,don was to abide on ,iona if he so willed2 but the child was to stay4 ,his life would be spared1 nor would he be a bondager of any kind1 and a little land to till would be given him1 and all that he might need4 ,but of his past he was to say no word4 ,his name was to become as nought1 and he was to be known simply as ,duvach4 ,the child1 too1 was to be named ,bride1 for that was the way the name ,briget is called in the ,erse of the ,isles4 ,to the question of ,dughall1 that was thenceforth ,duvach1 as to why he laid so great stress on the child1 who was a girl1 and the reputed offspring of shame at that1 ,cathal the ,arch-,druid replied thus3 ,my kinsman ,aodh of the golden hair1 who sent you here1 was wiser than ,hugh the king1 and all the ,druids of ,aoimag4 ,truly1 this child is an ,immortal4 ,there is an ancient prophecy concerning her3 surely of her who is now here1 and no other4 ,there shall be1 it says1 a spotless maid born of a virgin of the ancient divine race in ,innisfail4 ,and when for the seventh time the sacred year has come1 she will hold ,eternity in her lap as a white flower4 ,her maiden breasts shall swell with milk for the ,prince of the ,world4 ,she shall give suck to the ,king of the ,elements4 ,so ,i say unto you1 ,duvach1 go in peace4 ,take unto yourself a wife1 and live upon the place ,i will allot on the east side of ,ioua4 ,treat ,bride as though she were your soul1 and leave her much alone1 and let her learn of the sun and the wind4 ,in the fulness of time the prophecy shall be fulfilled4 ,so was it1 from that day of the days4 ,duvach took a wife unto himself1 who weaned the little ,bride1 who grew in beauty and grace1 so that all men marvelled4 ,year by year for seven years the wife of ,duvach bore him a son1 and these grew apace in strength1 so that by the beginning of the third year of the seventh circle of ,bride's life there were three stalwart youths to brother her1 and three comely and strong lads1 and one young boy fair to see4 ,nor did any one1 not even ,bride herself1 saving ,cathal the ,arch-,druid1 know that ,duvach the herdsman was ,dughall ,donn1 of a princely race in ,innisfail4 ,in the end1 too1 ,duvach came to think that he had dreamed1 or at the least that ,cathal had not interpreted the prophecy aright4 ,for though ,bride was of exceeding beauty1 and of a holiness that made the young druids bow before her as though she were a bandia1 yet the world went on as before1 and the days brought no change4 ,often1 while she was still a child1 he had questioned her about the words she had said as a babe1 but she had no memory of them4 ,once1 in her ninth year1 he came upon her on the hillside of ,dun-,i singing these self-same words4 ,her eyes dreamed far away4 ,he bowed his head1 and1 praying to the ,giver of ,light1 hurried to ,cathal4 ,the old man bade him speak no more to the child concerning the mysteries4 ,bride lived the hours of her days upon the slopes of ,dun-,i1 herding the sheep1 or in following the kye upon the green hillocks and grassy dunes of what then1 as now1 was called the ,machar4 ,the beauty of the world was her daily food4 ,the spirit within her was like sunlight behind a white flower4 ,the birdeens in the green bushes sang for joy when they saw her blue eyes4 ,the tender prayers that were in her heart were often seen flying above her head in the form of white doves of sunshine4 ,but when the middle of the year came that was 7though ,duvach had forgotten it7 the year of the prophecy1 his eldest son1 ,conn1 who was now a man1 murmured against the virginity of ,bride1 because of her beauty and because a chieftain of the mainland was eager to wed her4 ,i shall wed ,bride or raid ,ioua1 was the message he had sent4 ,so one day1 before the ,great ,fire of the ,summer ,festival1 ,conn and his brothers reproached ,bride4 ,idle are these pure eyes1 ,o ,bride1 not to be as lamps at thy marriage-bed4 ,truly1 it is not by the eyes that we live1 replied the maiden gently1 while to their fear and amazement she passed her hand before her face and let them see that the sockets were empty4 ,trembling with awe at this portent1 ,duvach intervened3 ,by the sun ,i swear it1 ,o ,bride1 that thou shalt marry whomsoever thou wilt and none other1 and when thou wilt1 or not at all1 if such be thy will4 ,and when he had spoken1 ,bride smiled1 and passed her hand before her face again1 and all there were abashed because of the blue light as of morning that was in her shining eyes4 ,it was while the dew was yet wet on the grass that on the morrow ,bride came out of her father's house1 and went up the steep slope of ,dun-,i4 ,the crying of the ewes and lambs at the pastures came plaintively against the dawn4 ,the lowing of the kye arose from the sandy hollows by the shore1 or from the meadows on the lower slopes4 ,through the whole island went a rapid1 trickling sound1 most sweet to hear3 the myriad voices of twittering birds1 from the dotterel in the seaweed1 to the larks climbing the blue slopes of heaven4 ,this was the festival of her birth1 and she was clad in white4 ,about her waist was a girdle of the sacred rowan1 the feathery green leaves flickering dusky shadows upon her robe as she moved4 ,the light upon her yellow hair was as when morning wakes1 laughing in wind amid the tall corn4 ,as she went she sang to herself1 softly as the crooning of a dove4 ,if any had been there to hear he would have been abashed1 for the words were not in ,erse1 and the eyes of the beautiful girl were as those of one in a vision4 ,when1 at last1 a brief while before sunrise1 she reached the summit of the ,scuir1 that is so small a hill and yet seems so big in ,iona1 where it is the sole peak1 she found three young druids there1 ready to tend the sacred fire the moment the sunrays should kindle it4 ,each was clad in a white robe1 with fillets of oak leaves2 and each had a golden armlet4 ,they made a quiet obeisance as she approached4 ,one stepped forward1 with a flush in his face because of her beauty1 that was as a sea-wave for grace and a flower for purity1 as sunlight for joy and moonlight for peace4 ,thou mayst draw near if thou wilt1 ,bride1 daughter of ,duvach1 he said1 with something of reverence as well as of grave courtesy in his voice2 for the holy ,cathal hath said that the breath of the ,source of ,all is upon thee4 ,it is not lawful for women to be here at this moment1 but thou hast the law shining upon thy face and in thine eyes4 ,hast thou come to pray8 ,but at that moment a cry came from one of his companions4 ,he turned1 and rejoined his fellows4 ,then all three sank upon their knees1 and with outstretched arms hailed the rising of ,god4 ,as the sun rose1 a solemn chant swelled from their lips1 ascending as incense through the silent air4 ,the glory of the new day came soundlessly4 ,peace was in the blue heaven1 on the blue-green sea1 and on the green land4 ,there was no wind1 even where the currents of the deep moved in shadowy purple4 ,the sea itself was silent1 making no more than a sighing slumber-breath round the white sands of the isle1 or a dull whisper where the tide lifted the long weed that clung to the rocks4 ,in what strange1 mysterious way1 ,bride did not see2 but as the three druids held their hands before the sacred fire there was a faint crackling1 then three thin spirals of blue smoke rose1 and soon dusky red and wan yellow tongues of flame moved to and fro4 ,the sacrifice of ,god was made4 ,out of the immeasurable heaven ,he had come1 in ,his golden chariot4 ,now1 in the wonder and mystery of ,his love1 ,he was re-born upon the world1 re-born a little fugitive flame upon a low hill in a remote isle4 ,great must be ,his love that ,he could die thus daily in a thousand places3 so great ,his love that he could give up ,his own body to daily death1 and suffer the holy flame that was in the embers ,he illumined to be lighted and revered and then scattered to the four quarters of the world4 ,bride could bear no longer the mystery of this great love4 ,it moved her to an ecstasy4 ,what tenderness of divine love that could thus redeem the world daily3 what long-suffering for all the evil and cruelty done hourly upon the weeping earth3 what patience with the bitterness of the blind fates6 ,the beauty of the worship of ,be'al was upon her as a golden glory4 ,her heart leaped to a song that could not be sung4 ,bowing her head1 so that the tears fell upon her hands1 she rose and moved away4 ,elsewhere ,i have told how a good man of ,iona sailed along the coast one ,sabbath afternoon with the ,holy ,book1 and put the ,word upon the seals of ,soa3 and1 in another tale1 how a lonely man fought with a sea-woman that was a seal2 as1 again1 how two fishermen strove with the sea-witch of ,earraid3 and1 in ,the ,dan-nan-,ron1 of a man who went mad with the sea-madness1 because of the seal-blood that was in his veins1 he being a ,mac,odrum of ,uist1 and one of the ,sliochd nan ,ron1 the ,tribe of the ,seal4 ,and those who have read the tale1 twice printed1 once as ,the ,annir ,choille1 and again as ,cathal of the ,woods1 will remember how1 at the end1 the good hermit ,molios1 when near death in his sea-cave of ,arran1 called the seals to come out of the wave and listen to him1 so that he might tell them the white story of ,christ2 and how in the moonshine1 with the flowing tide stealing from his feet to his knees1 the old saint preached the gospel of love1 while the seals crouched upon the rocks1 with their brown eyes filled with glad tears3 and how1 before his death at dawn1 he was comforted by hearing them splashing to and fro in the moon-dazzle1 and calling one to the other1 ,we1 too1 are of the sons of ,god4 ,what has so often been written about is a reflection of what is in the mind3 and though stories of the seals may be heard from the ,rhinns of ,islay to the ,seven ,hunters 7and ,i first heard that of the ,mac,odrums1 the seal-folk1 from a ,uist man71 ,i think that it was because of what ,i heard of the sea-people on ,iona1 when ,i was a child1 that they have been so much with me in remembrance4 ,in the short tale of the ,moon-child1 ,i told how two seals that had been wronged by a curse which had been put upon them by ,columba1 forgave the saint1 and gave him a sore-won peace4 ,i recall another 7unpublished7 tale1 where a seal called ,domnhuil ,dhu--a name of evil omen--was heard laughing one ,hallowe'en on the rocks below the ruined abbey1 and calling to the creatures of the sea that ,god was dead3 and how the man who heard him laughed1 and was therewith stricken with paralysis1 and so fell sidelong from the rocks into the deep wave1 and was afterwards found beaten as with hammers and shredded as with sharp fangs4 ,but1 as most characteristic1 ,i would rather tell here the story of ,black ,angus1 though the longer tale of which it forms a part has been printed before4 ,one night1 a dark rainy night it was1 with an uplift wind battering as with the palms of savage hands the heavy clouds that hid the moon1 ,i went to the cottage near ,spanish ,port1 where my friend ,ivor ,maclean lived with his old deaf mother4 ,he had reluctantly promised to tell me the legend of ,black ,angus1 a request he had ignored in a sullen silence when he and ,padruic ,macrae and ,i were on the ,sound that day4 ,no tales of the kind should be told upon the water4 ,when ,i entered1 he was sitting before the flaming coal-fire2 for on ,iona now1 by decree of ,mac,cailein ,mor1 there is no more peat burned4 ,you will tell me now1 ,ivor8 was all ,i said4 ,yes2 ,i will be telling you now4 ,and the reason why ,i never told you before was because it is not a wise or a good thing to tell ancient stories about the sea while still on the running wave4 ,macrae should not have done that thing4 ,it may be we shall suffer for it when next we go out with the nets4 ,we were to go to-night2 but1 no1 not ,i1 no1 no1 for sure1 not for all the herring in the ,sound4 ,is it an ancient sgeul1 ,ivor8 ,ay4 ,i am not for knowing the age of these things4 ,it may be as old as the days of the ,feinn1 for all ,i know4 ,it has come down to us4 ,alasdair ,mac,alasdair of ,tiree1 him that used to boast of having all the stories of ,colum and ,brigdhe1 it was he told it to the mother of my mother1 and she to me4 ,what is it called8 ,well1 this and that2 but there is no harm in saying it is called the ,dark ,nameless ,one4 ,the ,dark ,nameless ,one6 ,it is this way4 ,but will you ever have heard of the ,mac,odrums of ,uist8 ,ay2 the ,sliochd-nan-ron4 ,that is so4 ,god knows4 ,the ,sliochd-nan-ron 444 the progeny of the ,seal4444 ,well1 well1 no man knows what moves in the shadow of life4 ,and now ,i will be telling you that old ancient tale1 as it was given to me by the mother of my mother4 ,on a day of the days1 ,colum was walking alone by the sea-shore4 ,the monks were at the hoe or the spade1 and some milking the kye1 and some at the fishing4 ,they say it was on the first day of the ,faoilleach ,geamhraidh1 the day that is called ,am ,fheill ,brighde1 and that they call ,candlemas over yonder4 ,the holy man had wandered on to where the rocks are1 opposite to ,soa4 ,he was praying and praying2 and it is said that whenever he prayed aloud1 the barren egg in the nest would quicken1 and the blighted bud unfold1 and the butterfly break its shroud4 ,of a sudden he came upon a great black seal1 lying silent on the rocks1 with wicked eyes4 ,my blessing upon you1 ,o ,ron1 he said1 with the good kind courteousness that was his4 ,droch spadadh ort1 answered the seal1 ,a bad end to you1 ,colum of the ,gown4 ,sure now1 said ,colum angrily1 ,i am knowing by that curse that you are no friend of ,christ1 but of the evil pagan faith out of the north4 ,for here ,i am known ever as ,colum the ,white1 or as ,colum the ,saint2 and it is only the ,picts and the wanton ,normen who deride me because of the holy white robe ,i wear4 ,well1 well1 replied the seal1 speaking the good ,gaelic as though it were the tongue of the deep sea1 as ,god knows it may be for all you1 ,i1 or the blind wind can say2 well1 well1 let that thing be3 it's a wave-way here or a wave-way there4 ,but now1 if it is a druid you are1 whether of fire or of ,christ1 be telling me where my woman is1 and where my little daughter4 ,at this1 ,colum looked at him for a long while4 ,then he knew4 ,it is a man you were once1 ,o ,ron8 ,maybe ay and maybe no4 ,and with that thick ,gaelic that you have1 it will be out of the north isles you come8 ,that is a true thing4 ,now ,i am for knowing at last who and what you are4 ,you are one of the race of ,odrum the ,pagan8 ,well1 ,i am not denying it1 ,colum4 ,and what is more1 ,i am ,angus ,mac,odrum1 ,aonghas mac ,torcall mhic ,odrum1 and the name ,i am known by is ,black ,angus4 ,a fitting name too1 said ,colum the ,holy1 because of the black sin in your heart1 and the black end ,god has in store for you4 ,at that ,black ,angus laughed4 ,why is the laughter upon you1 ,man-,seal8 ,well1 it is because of the good company ,i'll be having4 ,but1 now1 give me the word3 ,are you for having seen or heard of a woman called ,kirsteen ,m',vurich8 ,kirsteen--,kirsteen--that is the good name of a nun it is1 and no sea-wanton6 ,o1 a name here or a name there is soft sand4 ,and so you cannot be for telling me where my woman is8 ,no4 ,then a stake for your belly1 and nails through your hands1 thirst on your tongue1 and the corbies at your eyne6 ,and1 with that1 ,black ,angus louped into the green water1 and the hoarse wild laugh of him sprang into the air and fell dead upon the shore like a wind-spent mew4 ,colum went slowly back to the brethren1 brooding deep4 ,god is good1 he said in a low voice1 again and again2 and each time that he spoke there came a daisy into the grass1 or a bird rose1 with song to it for the first time1 wonderful and sweet to hear4 ,as he drew near to the ,house of ,god he met ,murtagh1 an old monk of the ancient race of the isles4 ,who is ,kirsteen ,m',vurich1 ,murtagh8 he asked4 ,she was a good servant of ,christ1 she was1 in the south isles1 ,o ,colum1 till ,black ,angus won her to the sea4 ,and when was that8 ,nigh upon a thousand years ago4 ,but can mortal sin live as long as that8 ,ay1 it endureth4 ,long1 long ago1 before ,oisin sang1 before ,fionn1 before ,cuchullin1 was a glorious great prince1 and in the days when the ,tuatha-de-,danann were sole lords in all green ,banba1 ,black ,angus made the woman ,kirsteen ,m',vurich leave the place of prayer and go down to the sea-shore1 and there he leaped upon her and made her his prey1 and she followed him into the sea4 ,and is death above her now8 ,no4 ,she is the woman that weaves the sea-spells at the wild place out yonder that is known as ,earraid3 she that is called the sea-witch4 ,then why was ,black ,angus for the seeking her here and the seeking her there8 ,it is the ,doom4 ,it is ,adam's first wife she is1 that sea-witch over there1 where the foam is ever in the sharp fangs of the rocks4 ,and who will he be8 ,his body is the body of ,angus1 the son of ,torcall of the race of ,odrum1 for all that a seal he is to the seeming2 but the soul of him is ,judas4 ,black ,judas1 ,murtagh8 ,ay1 ,black ,judas1 ,colum4 ,but with that1 ,ivor ,macrae rose abruptly from before the fire1 saying that he would speak no more that night4 ,and truly enough there was a wild1 lone1 desolate cry in the wind1 and a slapping of the waves one upon the other with an eerie laughing sound1 and the screaming of a seamew that was like a human thing4 ,so ,i touched the shawl of his mother1 who looked up with startled eyes and said1 ,god be with us2 and then ,i opened the door1 and the salt smell of the wrack was in my nostrils1 and the great drowning blackness of the night4 ,when ,i was a child ,i used to throw offerings--small coins1 flowers1 shells1 even a newly caught trout1 once a treasured flint arrow-head--into the sea-loch by which we lived4 ,my ,hebridean nurse had often told me of ,shony1 a mysterious sea-god1 and ,i know ,i spent much time in wasted adoration3 a fearful worship1 not unmixed with disappointment and some anger4 ,not once did ,i see him4 ,i was frighted time after time1 but the sudden cry of a heron1 or the snort of a pollack chasing the mackerel1 or the abrupt uplifting of a seal's head1 became over-familiar1 and ,i desired terror1 and could not find it by the shore4 ,inland1 after dusk1 there was always the mysterious multitude of shadow4 ,there too1 ,i could hear the wind leaping and growling4 ,but by the shore ,i never knew any dread1 even in the darkest night4 ,the sound and company of the sea washed away all fears4 ,i was amused not long ago to hear a little girl singing1 as she ran wading through the foam of a troubled sunlit sea1 as it broke on those wonderful white sands of ,iona-- ,shanny1 ,shanny1 ,shanny1 ,catch my feet and tickle my toes6 ,and if you can1 ,shanny1 ,shanny1 ,shanny1 ,i'll go with you where no one knows6 ,i have no doubt this daintier ,shanny was my old friend ,shony1 whose more terrifying way was to clutch boats by the keel and drown the sailors1 and make a death-necklace of their teeth4 ,an evil ,shony2 for once he netted a young girl who was swimming in a loch1 and when she would not give him her love he tied her to a rock1 and to this day her long brown hair may be seen floating in the shallow green wave at the ebb of the tide4 ,one need not name the place6 ,the ,shanny song recalls to me an old ,gaelic alphabet rhyme1 wherein a ,maigh-deann-,m'hara1 or ,mermaid1 stood for ,m1 and a ,suire 7also a mermaid7 stood for ,s2 and my long perplexities as to whether ,i would know a shuera from a midianmara when ,i saw either4 ,it also recalls to me that it was from a young schoolmaster priest1 who had come back from ,ireland to die at home1 that ,i first heard of the ,beth-,luis-,nuin1 the ,gaelic equivalent of the ,a ,b ,c4 ,every letter in the ,gaelic alphabet is represented by a tree1 and ,beithe and ,luis and ,nuin are the ,birch1 the ,rowan1 and the ,ash4 ,the reason why the alphabet is called the ,beth-,luis-,nuin is that ,b1 ,l1 ,n1 and not ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 are its first three letters4 ,it consists of eighteen letters--and in ancient ,gaelic seventeen1 for ,h 7the ,uath1 or ,whitethorn7 does not exist there1 ,i believe3 and these run1 ,b1 ,l1 ,n1 ,f1 ,s 7,h71 ,d1 ,t1 ,c1 ,m1 ,g1 ,p1 ,r1 ,a1 ,o1 ,u1 ,e1 ,i--each letter represented by the name of a tree1 ,birch1 ,rowan1 ,ash1 etc4 ,properly1 there is no ,c in ,gaelic1 for though the letter ,c is common1 it has always the sound of ,k4 ,since this page first appeared ,i have had so many letters about the ,gaelic alphabet of to-day that ,i take the opportunity to add a few lines4 ,to-day as of old all the letters of the ,gaelic alphabet are called after trees1 from the oak to the shrub-like elder1 with the exception of ,g1 ,t1 and ,u1 which stand for ,ivy1 ,furze and ,heather4 ,it no longer runs ,b1 ,l1 ,n1 etc41 but in sequence follows the familiar and among western peoples1 universal ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 etc4 ,it is1 however1 short of our ,roman alphabet by eight letters ,j1 ,k1 ,q1 ,v1 ,w1 ,x1 ,y and ,z4 ,on the other hand1 each of these is represented1 either by some other letter having a like value or by a combination3 thus ,k is identical with ,c1 which does not exist in ,gaelic as a soft sound any more than it does in ,greek1 but only as the ,c in ,english words such as cat or cart1 or in combination with h as a gutteral as in loch--while v as common a sound in ,gaelic as the hiss of s in ,english exists in almost every second or third word as bh or mh4 ,the ,gaelic ,a1 ,b1 ,c of to-day1 then1 runs as follows3 ,ailm1 ,beite1 ,coll1 ,durr1 ,eagh1 ,fearn1 ,gath1 ,huath1 ,togh1 ,luis1 ,muin1 ,nuin1 ,oir1 ,peith1 ,ruis1 ,suil1 ,teine1 ,ur--which again is equivalent to saying ,elm1 ,birch1 ,hazel1 ,oak1 ,aspen1 ,alder1 ,ivy1 ,whitethorn1 ,yew1 ,rowan or ,quicken1 ,vine1 ,ash1 ,spindle-tree1 ,pine1 ,elder1 ,willow1 ,furze1 ,heath4 ,the little girl who knew so much about ,shanny knew nothing about her own ,a ,b ,c4 ,but ,i owe her a debt1 since through her ,i came upon my good friend ,gunainm4 ,from her ,i heard first1 there on ,iona1 on a chance visit of a few summer days1 of two of the most beautiful of the ancient ,gaelic hymns1 the ,fiacc ,hymn and the ,hymn of ,broccan4 ,my friend had delineated them as missals1 with a strangely beautiful design to each4 ,how often ,i have thought of one1 illustrative of a line in the ,fiacc ,hymn3 ,there was pagan darkness in ,eire in those days3 the people adored ,faerie4 ,in the ,broccan ,hymn 7composed by one ,broccan in the time of ,lugaid1 son of ,loegaire1 ,a4,d4 #ejj7 is one particularly lovely line3 ,victorious ,bride 7,briget7 loved not this vain world3 here1 ever1 she sat the seat of a bird on a cliff4 ,in a dream ,i dream frequently1 that of being the wind1 and drifting over fragrant hedgerows and pastures1 ,i have often1 through unconscious remembrance of that image of ,st4 ,bride sitting the seat of a bird on the edge of the cliff that is this world1 felt myself1 when not lifted on sudden warm fans of dusk1 propelled as on a swift wing from the edge of a precipice4 ,i would that we had these winds of dream to command4 ,i would1 now that ,i am far from it1 that this night at least ,i might pass over ,iona1 and hear the sea-doves by the ruins making their sweet mournful croon of peace1 and lift1 as a shadow gathering phantom flowers1 the pale orchis by the lapwing's nest4 ,one day1 walking by a reedy lochan on the ,ross of ,mull1 not far inland from ,fionnaphort1 where is the ferry for ,baile-,mor of ,iona1 ,i met an old man who seemed in sorrow4 ,when he spoke ,i was puzzled by some words which were not native there1 and then ,i learned that he had long lived in ,edinburgh and later in ,dunfermline1 and in his work had associated with ,hollanders and others of the east seas4 ,he had come back1 in his old age1 to see the place of his two loves--the hamlet in ,earraid1 where his old mother had blessed him forty year back1 and the little farm where ,jean ,cameron had kissed him and promised to be true4 ,he had gone away as a soldier1 and news reached them of his death2 and when he came out of the ,indies1 and went up ,leith ,walk to the great post-house in ,edinburgh1 it was to learn that the ,earraid cottage was empty1 and that ,jean was no longer ,jean ,cameron4 ,there was not a touch of bitterness in the old man's words4 ,it was my name1 for one thing1 he said simply3 you see1 there's many a ',j4 ,macdonald' in the ,highland regiments2 and the mistake got about that way4 ,no1 no--the dear lass wasna to blame4 ,and ,i never lost her love4 ,when ,i found out where she was ,i went to see her once more1 an' to tell her ,i understood1 an' loved her all the same4 ,it was hard1 in a way1 when ,i found she had made a loveless marriage1 but human nature's human nature1 an' ,i could not but be proud and glad that she had nane but puir ,jamie ,macdonald in her heart4 ,i told her ,i would be true to her1 and since she was poor1 would help her1 an' wi' ,god's kindness true ,i was1 an' helped her too4 ,for her man did an awfu' business one day1 and was sentenced for life4 ,she had three bairns4 ,well1 ,i keepit her an' them--though ,i ne'er saw them but once in the year1 for she had come back to the west1 her heart brast with the towns4 ,first one bairn died1 then another4 ,then ,jean died4 ,the old man resumed suddenly3 ,i had put all my savings into the ,grand ,north ,bank4 ,when that failed ,i had nothing1 for with the little that was got back ,i bought a good 'prenticeship for ,jean's eldest4 ,since then ,i've lived by odd jobs4 ,but ,i'm old now1 an' broke4 ,every day an' every night ,i think o' them two1 my mother an' ,jean4 ,she must have been a leal fine woman1 ,i said1 but in ,gaelic4 ,with a flash he looked at me1 and then said slowly1 as if remembering1 ,eudail de mhnathan an domhain1 ,treasure of all the women in the world4 ,i have often thought of old ,jamie ,macdonald since4 ,how wonderful his deep love6 ,this man was loyal to his love in long absence1 and was not less loyal when he found that she was the wife of another2 and gave up thought of home and comfort and companionship1 so that he might make life more easy for her and the children that were not his4 ,he had no outer reward for this1 nor looked for any4 ,we crossed to ,baile-,mor together1 and when ,i came upon him next day by the ,reilig ,odhrain1 ,i asked him what he thought of ,iona4 ,he looked at the grey worn stones1 the stairway of the kings1 the tombs1 the carved crosses1 the grey ruins of the wind-harried cathedral1 and with a wave of his hand1 said simply1 ,comunn mo ghaoil1 ',tis a companionship after my heart4 ,i do not doubt that the old man went on his way comforted by the grey silence and grey beauty of this ancient place1 and that he found in ,iona what would be near him for the rest of his days4 ,as a child ,i had some wise as well as foolish instruction concerning the nations of ,faerie4 ,if1 in common with nearly all happy children1 ,i was brought up in intimate1 even in circumstantial1 knowledge of the fairies--being charitably taught1 for one thing1 so that ,i have often left a little bowl of milk1 a saucerful of oatcake and honey1 and the like1 under a wooden seat1 where they would be sure to see it--,i was told also of the ,sidhe1 often so rashly and ignorantly alluded to as the fairies in the sense of a pretty1 diminutive1 harmless1 natural folk2 and by my nurse ,barabal instructed in some of the ways1 spells1 influences1 and even appearances of these powerful and mysterious clans4 ,i do not think1 unless as a very young child1 ,i ever confused them4 ,i recollect well my pleasure at a sign of gratitude4 ,i was fond of making little reed or bulrush or ash flutes1 but once ,i was in a place where these were difficult to get1 and ,i lost the only one ,i had4 ,that night ,i put aside a small portion of my supper of bread and milk and honey1 and remember also the sacrifice of a gooseberry of noble proportions1 relinquished1 not without a sigh1 in favour of any wandering fairy lad4 ,next morning when ,i ran out--three of us then had a wild morning performance we called some fantastic1 forgotten name1 and ourselves the ,sun-dancers--,i saw by the emptied saucer my little reed-flute6 ,here was proof positive6 ,i was so grateful for that fairy's gratitude1 that when dusk came again ,i not only left a larger supper-dole than usual1 but1 decked with white fox-glove bells 7in which ,i had unbounded faith71 sat drenched in the dew and played my little reed4 ,any moment 7,i was sure7 a small green fellow would appear1 and with wild indignation ,i found myself snatched from the grass1 and my ears dinned now with reproaches about the dew1 now with remonstrances against that frightfu' reed-screeching that scared awa' the varry hens4 ,ah1 there are souls that know nothing of fairies1 or music6 ,but the ,sidhe are a very different people from the small clans of the earth's delight4 ,however 7though ,i could write of both a great volume71 ,i have little to say of either just now1 except in one connection4 ,it is commonly said that the ,people of the ,sidhe dwell within the hills1 or in the underworld4 ,in some of the isles their home1 now1 is spoken of as ,tir-na-thonn1 the ,land of the ,wave1 or ,tir-fo-,tuinn1 the ,land under the ,sea4 ,but from a friend1 an ,islander of ,iona1 ,i have learned many things1 and among them1 that the ,shee no longer dwell within the inland hills1 and that though many of them inhabit the lonelier isles of the west1 and in particular ,the ,seven ,hunters1 their ,kingdom is in the ,north4 ,some say it is among the pathless mountains of ,iceland4 ,but my friend spoke to an ,iceland man1 and he said he had never seen them4 ,there were ,secret ,people there1 but not the ,gaelic ,sidhe4 ,their ,kingdom is in the ,north1 under the ,fir-,chlisneach1 the ,dancing ,men1 as the ,hebrideans call the polar aurora4 ,they are always young there4 ,their bodies are white as the wild swan1 their hair yellow as honey1 their eyes blue as ice4 ,their feet leave no mark on the snow4 ,the women are white as milk1 with eyes like sloes1 and lips like red rowans4 ,they fight with shadows1 and are glad2 but the shadows are not shadows to them4 ,the ,shee slay great numbers at the full moon1 but never hunt on moonless nights1 or at the rising of the moon1 or when the dew is falling4 ,their lances are made of reeds that glitter like shafts of ice1 and it is ill for a mortal to find one of these lances1 for it is tipped with the salt of a wave that no living thing has touched1 neither the wailing mew nor the finned sgadan nor his tribe1 nor the narwhal4 ,there are no men of the human clans there1 and no shores1 and the tides are forbidden4 ,long ago one of the monks of ,columba sailed there4 ,he sailed for thrice seven days till he lost the rocks of the north2 and for thrice thirty days1 till ,iceland in the south was like a small bluebell in a great grey plain2 and for thrice three years among bergs4 ,for the first three years the finned things of the sea brought him food2 for the second three years he knew the kindness of the creatures of the air2 in the last three years angels fed him4 ,he lived among the ,sidhe for three hundred years4 ,when he came back to ,iona1 he was asked where he had been all that long night since evensong to matins4 ,the monks had sought him everywhere1 and at dawn had found him lying in the hollow of the long wave that washes ,iona on the north4 ,he laughed at that1 and said he had been on the tops of the billows for nine years and three months and twenty-one days1 and for three hundred years had lived among a deathless people4 ,he had drunk sweet ale every day1 and every day had known love among flowers and green bushes1 and at dusk had sung old beautiful forgotten songs1 and with star-flame had lit strange fires1 and at the full of the moon had gone forth laughing to slay4 ,it was heaven1 there1 under the ,lights of the ,north4 ,when he was asked how that people might be known1 he said that away from there they had a cold1 cold hand1 a cold1 still voice1 and cold ice-blue eyes4 ,they had four cities at the four ends of the green diamond that is the world4 ,that in the north was made of earth2 that in the east1 of air2 that in the south1 of fire2 that in the west1 of water4 ,in the middle of the green diamond that is the world is the ,glen of ,precious ,stones4 ,it is in the shape of a heart1 and glows like a ruby1 though all stones and gems are there4 ,it is there the ,sidhe go to refresh their deathless life4 ,the holy monks said that this kingdom was certainly ,ifurin1 the ,gaelic ,hell4 ,so they put their comrade alive in a grave in the sand1 and stamped the sand down upon his head1 and sang hymns so that mayhap even yet his soul might be saved1 or1 at least1 that when he went back to that place he might remember other songs than those sung by the milk-white women with eyes like sloes and lips red as rowans4 ,tell that honey-mouthed cruel people they are in ,hell1 said the abbot1 and give them my ban and my curse unless they will cease laughing and loving sinfully and slaying with bright lances1 and will come out of their secret places and be baptized4 ,they have not yet come4 ,this adventurer of the dreaming mind is another ,oran1 that fabulous ,oran of whom the later ,columban legends tell4 ,i think that other ,orans go out1 even yet1 to the ,country of the ,sidhe4 ,but few come again4 ,it must be hard to find that glen at the heart of the green diamond that is the world2 but1 when found1 harder to return by the way one came4 ,once when ,i was sailing to ,tiree1 ,i stopped at ,iona1 and went to see an old woman named ,giorsal4 ,she was of my own people1 and1 not being ,iona-born1 the islanders called her the foreigner4 ,she had a daughter named ,ealasaidh1 or ,elsie as it is generally given in ,english1 and ,i wanted to see her even more than the old woman4 ,where is ,elsie8 ,i asked1 after our greetings were done4 ,giorsal looked at me sidelong1 and then shifted the kettle1 and busied herself with the teapot4 ,i repeated the question4 ,she is gone1 the old woman said1 without looking at me4 ,gone8 ,where has she gone to8 ,i might as well ask you to tell me that4 ,is she married 444 had she a lover 444 or 444 or 444 do you mean that she 444 that you 444 have lost her8 ,she's gone4 ,that's all ,i know4 ,but she isn't married1 so far as ,i know3 an' ,i never knew any man she fancied3 an' neither ,i nor any other on ,iona has seen her dead body2 an' by ,st4 ,martin's ,cross1 neither ,i nor any other saw her leave the island4 ,and that was more than a year ago4 ,but1 ,giorsal1 she must have left ,iona and gone to ,mull1 or maybe gone away in a steamer1 or---- ,it was in midwinter1 an' when a heavy gale was tearing through the ,sound4 ,there was no steamer an' no boat that day4 ,there isn't a boat of ,iona that could have taken the sea that day4 ,and no--,elsie wasna drowned4 ,i see that's what's in your mind4 ,she just went out o' the house again cryin'4 ,i asked her what was wrong wi' her4 ,she turned an' smiled1 an' because o' that terrifying smile ,i couldna say a word4 ,she went up behind the ,ruins1 an' no one saw her after that but ,ian ,donn4 ,he saw her among the bulrushes in the swamp over by ,staonaig4 ,she was laughing an' talking to the reeds1 or to the wind in the reeds4 ,so ,ian ,donn says4 ,and what do you say1 ,giorsal8 ,the old woman went to the door1 looked out1 and closed it4 ,when she returned1 she put another bit on the fire1 and kept her gaze on the red glow4 ,do you know much about them old ,iona monks8 she asked abruptly4 ,what old monks8 ,them as they call the ,culdees4 ,you used to be askin' lots o' questions about them4 ,ay8 well 444 they aye hated folk from the ,north1 an' women-folk above all4 ,i waited1 silent4 ,and ,elsie1 poor lass1 she hated them in turn4 ,she was all for the wild clansmen out o' ,skye and the ,long ,island4 ,she said she wished the ,siol ,leoid had come to ,iona before ,colum built the big church4 ,and for why8 ,well1 there's this1 for one thing3 ,for months a monk had come to her o' nights in her sleep1 an' said he would kill her1 because she was a heathen4 ,she went to the minister at last1 an' said her say4 ,he told her she was a foolish wench1 an' was sore angry with her4 ,so then she went to old ,mary ,gillespie1 out by the lochan beyond ,fionnaphort on the ,ross yonder--her that has the sight an' a power o' the old wisdom4 ,after that she took to meeting friends in the moonshine4 ,friends8 ,ay4 ,there's no call to name names4 ,one day she told me that she had been bidden to go over to them4 ,if she didn't1 the monks would kill her1 they said4 ,the monks are still the strongest here1 they told her1 or she me1 ,i forget which4 ,that is1 except over by ,staonaig4 ,up between ,sgeur ,iolaire and ,cnoc ,druidean there's a path that no monk can go4 ,there1 in the old days1 they burned a woman4 ,she was not a woman1 but they thought she was4 ,she was one o' the ,sorrows of the ,sheen1 that they put out to suffer for them1 an' get the mortal ill4 ,that's the plague to them4 ,it's ill to any that brings harm on them4 ,that's why the monks arena strong over by ,staonaig way4 ,but ,i told my girl not to mind4 ,she was safe wi' me1 ,i said4 ,she said that was true4 ,for weeks ,i heard no more o' that monk4 ,one night ,elsie came in smiling an' pluckin' wild roses4 ',breisleach6' ,i cried1 'what's the meanin' o' roses in ,january8' ,she looked at me1 frighted1 an' said nothin'1 but threw the things on the fire4 ,it was next day she went away4 ,and---- ,an' that's all4 ,here's the tea4 ,ay1 an' for sure here's my good man4 ,whist1 now6 ,rob1 do you see who's here8 ,nothing is more strange than the confused survival of legends and pagan faiths and early ,christian beliefs1 such as may be found still in some of the isles4 ,a ,tiree man1 whom ,i met some time ago on the boat that was taking us both to the west1 told me there's a story that ,mary ,magdalene lies in a cave in ,iona4 ,she roamed the world with a blind man who loved her1 but they had no sin4 ,one day they came to ,knoidart in ,argyll4 ,mary ,magdalene's first husband had tracked her there1 and she knew that he would kill the blind man4 ,so she bade him lie down among some swine1 and she herself herded them4 ,but her husband came and laughed at her4 ,that is a fine boar you have there1 he said4 ,then he put a spear through the blind man4 ,now ,i will take your beautiful hair1 he said4 ,he did this and went away4 ,she wept till she died4 ,one of ,colum's monks found her1 and took her to ,iona1 and she was buried in a cave4 ,no one but ,colum knew who she was4 ,colum sent away the man1 because he was always mooning and lamenting4 ,she had a great wonderful beauty to her4 ,it is characteristic enough1 even to the quaint confusion that could make ,mary ,magdalene and ,st4 ,columba contemporary4 ,but as for the story1 what is it but the universal ,gaelic legend of ,diarmid and ,grania8 ,they too wandered far to escape the avenger4 ,it does not matter that their beds are shown in rock and moor1 from ,glenmoriston to ,loch ,awe1 from ,lora ,water to ,west ,loch ,tarbert1 with an authenticity as absolute as that which discovers them almost anywhere between ,donegal and ,clare2 nor that the death-place has many sites betwixt ,argyll and ,connemara4 ,in ,gaelic ,scotland every one knows that ,diarmid was wounded to the death on the rocky ground between ,tarbert of ,loch ,fyne and the ,west ,loch4 ,every one knows the part the boar played1 and the part ,finn played4 ,doubtless the story came by way of the ,shannon to the ,loch of ,shadows1 or from ,cuchullin's land to ,dun ,sobhairce on the ,antrim coast1 and thence to the ,scottish mainland4 ,in wandering to the isles1 it lost something both of ,eire and ,alba4 ,the ,campbells1 too1 claimed ,diarmid2 and so the ,hebrideans would as soon forget him4 ,so1 there1 by one byplay of the mind or another1 it survived in changing raiment4 ,perhaps an islesman had heard a strange legend about ,mary ,magdalene1 and so named ,grania anew4 ,perhaps a story-teller consciously wove it the new way4 ,perhaps an ,iona man1 hearing the tale in distant ,barra or ,uist1 in ,coll or ,tiree1 buried ,mary in a cave of ,icolmkill4 ,the notable thing is1 not that a primitive legend should love fantastic raiment1 but that it should be so much alike1 where the ,syrian wanders from waste to waste1 by the camp-fires of the ,basque muleteers1 and in the rainy lands of the ,gael4 ,in ,mingulay1 one of the south isles of the ,hebrides1 in ,south ,uist1 and in ,iona1 ,i have heard a practically identical tale told with striking variations4 ,it is a tale so wide-spread that it has given rise to a pathetic proverb1 ,is mairg a loisgeadh a chlarsach dut1 ,pity on him who would burn the harp for you4 ,in ,mingulay1 the harper who broke his harp for a woman's love was a young man1 a fiddler4 ,for three years he wandered out of the west into the east1 and when he had made enough money to buy a good share in a fishing-boat1 or even a boat itself1 he came back to ,mingulay4 ,when he reached his ,mary's cottage1 at dusk1 he played her favourite air1 an oran leannanachd1 but when she came out it was with a silver ring on her left hand and a baby in her arms4 ,thus poor ,padruig ,macneill knew ,mary had broken her troth and married another man1 and so he went down to the shore and played a marbh-rann1 and then broke his fiddle on the rocks2 and when they came upon them in the morning he had the strings of it round his neck4 ,in ,uist1 the instrument is more vaguely called a tiompan1 and here1 on a bitter cold night in a famine time1 the musician breaks it so as to feed the fire to warm his wife--a sacrifice ill repaid by the elopement of the hard woman that night4 ,in ,iona1 the tale is of an ,irish piper who came over to ,icolmkill on a pilgrimage1 and to lay his peeb-h'yanna#e on the holy stones2 but1 when there1 he got word that his young wife was ill1 so he made a loan of his clar1 and with the money returned to ,derry1 only to find that his dear had gone away with a soldier for the ,americas4 ,the legendary history of ,iona would be as much ,pagan as ,christian4 ,to-day1 at many a ceilidh by the warm hearths in winter1 one may hear allusions to the ,scandinavian pirates1 or to their more ancient and obscure kin1 the ,fomor4444 ,the ,fomor or ,fomorians were a people that lived before the ,gael1 and had their habitations on the isles3 fierce prowlers of the sea1 who loved darkness and cold and storm1 and drove herds of wolves across the deeps4 ,in other words1 they were elemental forces4 ,but the name is sometimes used for the ,norse pirates who ravaged the west1 from the ,lews to the town of the ,hurdle-ford4 ,in poetic narration the men of ,lochlin occurs oftener3 sometimes the ,summer-sailors1 as the ,vikings called themselves2 sometimes1 perhaps oftenest1 the ,danes4 ,the ,vikings have left numerous personal names among the islanders1 notably the general term summer-sailors1 somerledi1 which survives as ,somerled4 ,many ,macleods and ,macdonalds are called ,somerled1 ,torquil 7also ,torcall1 ,thorkill71 and ,manus 7,magnus71 and in the ,hebrides surnames such as ,odrum betray a ,norse origin4 ,a glance at any good map will reveal how largely the capes and promontories and headlands1 and small bays and havens of the west1 remember the lords of the ,suderoeer4 ,the fascination of this legendary history is in its contrast of the barbaric and the spiritual4 ,since ,i was a child ,i have been held spellbound by this singular union4 ,to see the ,virgin ,mary in the sombre and terrible figure of the ,washer of the ,ford1 or spiritual destiny in that of the ,woman with the ,net1 was natural3 as to believe that the same ,columba could be as tender as ,st4 ,bride or gentle as ,st4 ,francis1 and yet could thrust the living ,oran back into his grave1 or prophesy1 as though himself a believer in the druidic wisdom1 by the barking of a favourite hound that had a white spot on his forehead--,donnalaich chon chinain4 ,of this characteristic blending of pagan and ,christian thought and legend ,i have tried elsewhere to convey some sense--oftener1 perhaps1 have instinctively expressed3 and here1 as they are apposite to ,iona1 ,i would like to select some pages as representative of three phases--namely1 of the barbaric history of ,iona1 of the primitive spiritual history which is so childlike in its simplicity1 and of that direct grafting of ,christian thought and imagery upon pagan thought and imagery which at one time1 and doubtless for many generations 7for it still survives71 was a normal unconscious method4 ,some five years ago ,i wrote three short ,columban stories1 collectively called ,the ,three ,marvels of ,iona1 one named ,the ,festival of the ,birds1 another ,the ,sabbath of the ,fishes and the ,flies1 and the third ,the ,moon-,child4 ,it is the second of these that1 somewhat altered to its present use by running into it part of another ,columban tale1 ,i add now4 ,before dawn1 on the morning of the hundredth ,sabbath after ,colum the ,white had made glory to ,god in ,hy1 that was theretofore called ,ioua1 or the ,druid ,isle1 and is now ,iona1 the saint beheld his own sleep in a vision4 ,much fasting and long pondering over the missals1 with their golden and azure and sea-green initials and earth-brown branching letters1 had made ,colum weary4 ,he had brooded much of late upon the mystery of the living world that was not man's world4 ,on the eve of that hundredth ,sabbath1 which was to be a holy festival in ,iona1 he had talked long with an ancient greybeard out of a remote isle in the north1 the wild ,isle of the ,mountains1 where ,scathach the queen hanged the men of ,lochlin by their yellow hair4 ,this man's name was ,ardan1 and he was of the ancient people4 ,he had come to ,iona because of two things4 ,maolmor1 the king of the northern ,picts1 had sent him to learn of ,colum what was this god-teaching he had brought out of ,eire3 and for himself he had come when old age was upon him1 to see what manner of man this ,colum was1 who had made ,ioua1 that was ,innis-nan-,dhruidhnean--the ,isle of the ,druids--into a place of new worship4 ,for three hours ,ardan and ,colum had walked by the sea-shore4 ,each learned of the other4 ,ardan bowed his head before the wisdom4 ,colum knew in his heart that the ,druid saw mysteries4 ,in the first hour they talked of ,god4 ,ay1 sure3 and now1 said the saint1 ,o ,ardan the wise1 is my ,god thy ,god8 ,at that ,ardan turned his eyes to the west4 ,with his right hand he pointed to the sun that was like a great golden flower4 ,truly1 ,he is thy ,god and my ,god4 ,colum was silent4 ,then he said3 ,thee and thine1 ,o ,ardan1 from ,maolmor the ,pictish king to the least of his slaves1 shall have a long weariness in ,hell4 ,that fiery globe yonder is but the ,lamp of the ,world3 and sad is the case of the man who knows not the torch from the torch-bearer4 ,in the second hour they talked of ,man4 ,while ,ardan spoke1 ,colum smiled in his deep1 grey eyes4 ,it is for laughter that1 he said1 when ,ardan ceased4 ,and why will that be1 ,o ,colum ,cille8 ,ardan asked4 ,then the smile went out of ,colum's grey eyes1 and he turned and looked about him4 ,he saw near1 a crow1 a horse1 and a hound4 ,these are thy brethren1 he said scornfully4 ,but ,ardan answered quietly1 ,even so4 ,the third hour they talked about the beasts of the earth and the fowls of the air4 ,at the last ,ardan said3 ,the ancient wisdom hath it that these are the souls of men and women that have been1 or are to be4 ,whereat ,colum answered3 ,the new wisdom1 that is old as eternity1 declareth that ,god created all things in love4 ,therefore are we at one1 ,o ,ardan1 though we sail to the ,isle of ,truth from the west and the east4 ,let there be peace between us4 ,peace1 said ,ardan4 ,that eve1 ,ardan of the ,picts sat with the monks of ,iona4 ,colum blessed him and said a saying4 ,cathal of the ,songs sang a hymn of beauty4 ,ardan rose1 and put the wine of guests to his lips1 and chanted this rann3 ,o ,colum and monks of ,christ1 ,it is peace we are having this night3 ,sure1 peace is a good thing1 ,and ,i am glad with the gladness4 ,we worship one ,god1 ,though ye call him ,dia-- ,and ,i say not1 ,o ,de6 ,but cry ,bea'uil ,bel6 ,for it is one faith for man1 ,and one for the living world1 ,and no man is wiser than another-- ,and none knoweth much4 ,none knoweth a better thing than this3 ,the ,sword1 ,love1 ,song1 ,honour1 ,sleep4 ,none knoweth a surer thing than this3 ,birth1 ,sorrow1 ,pain1 ,weariness1 ,death4 ,sure1 peace is a good thing2 ,let us be glad of peace3 ,we are not men of the ,sword1 ,but of the ,rune and the ,wisdom4 ,i have learned a truth of ,colum1 ,and he hath learned of me3 ,all ye on the morrow shall see ,a wonder of the wonders4 ,ardan would say no more after that1 though all besought him4 ,many pondered long that night4 ,cathal made a song of mystery4 ,colum brooded through the dark2 but before dawn he fell asleep upon the fern that strewed his cell4 ,at dawn1 with waking eyes1 and weary1 he saw his ,sleep in a vision4 ,it stood grey and wan beside him4 ,what art thou1 ,o ,spirit8 he said4 ,i am thy ,sleep1 ,colum4 ,and is it peace8 ,it is peace4 ,what wouldst thou8 ,i have wisdom4 ,thy mind and thy soul were closed4 ,i could not give what ,i brought4 ,i brought wisdom4 ,give it4 ,behold6 ,and ,colum1 sitting upon the strewed fern that was his bed1 rubbed his eyes that were heavy with weariness and fasting and long prayer4 ,he could not see his ,sleep now4 ,it was gone as smoke that is licked up by the wind4444 ,for three days thereafter ,colum fasted1 save for a handful of meal at dawn1 a piece of rye-bread at noon1 and a mouthful of dulse and spring-water at sun-down4 ,on the night of the third day1 ,oran and ,keir came to him in his cell4 ,colum was on his knees lost in prayer4 ,no sound was there1 save the faint whispered muttering of his lips and on the plastered wall the weary buzzing of a fly4 ,holy ,one6 said ,oran in a low voice1 soft with pity and awe2 ,holy ,one6 ,but ,colum took no notice4 ,his lips still moved1 and the tangled hairs below his nether lip shivered with his failing breath4 ,father6 said ,keir1 tender as a woman2 ,father6 ,colum did not turn his eyes from the wall4 ,the fly droned his drowsy hum upon the rough plaster4 ,it crawled wearily for a space1 then stopped4 ,the slow hot drone filled the cell4 ,father1 said ,oran1 it is the will of the brethren that thou shouldst break thy fast4 ,thou art old1 and ,god has thy glory4 ,give us peace4 ,father1 urged ,keir1 seeing that ,colum kneeled unnoticingly1 his lips still moving above his grey beard1 with the white hair of him falling about his head like a snowdrift slipping from a boulder4 ,father1 be pitiful6 ,we hunger and thirst for thy presence4 ,we can fast no longer1 yet we have no heart to break our fast if thou art not with us4 ,come1 holy one1 and be of our company1 and eat of the good broiled fish that awaiteth us4 ,we perish for the benediction of thine eyes4 ,then it was that ,colum rose1 and walked slowly towards the wall4 ,little black beast1 he said to the fly that droned its drowsy hum and moved not at all2 little black beast1 sure it is well ,i am knowing what you are4 ,you are thinking you are going to get my blessing1 you that have come out of hell for the soul of me6 ,at that the fly flew heavily from the wall1 and slowly circled round and round the head of ,colum the ,white4 ,what think ye of that1 brother ,oran1 brother ,keir8 he asked in a low voice1 hoarse because of his long fast and the weariness that was upon him4 ,it is a fiend1 said ,oran4 ,it is an angel1 said ,keir4 ,thereupon the fly settled upon the wall again1 and again droned his drowsy hot hum4 ,little black beast1 said ,colum1 with the frown coming down into his eyes1 is it for peace you are here1 or for sin8 ,answer1 ,i conjure you in the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost6 ,an ainn an ,athar1 's an ,mhic1 's an ,spioraid ,naoimh1 repeated ,oran below his breath4 ,an ainn an ,athar1 's an ,mhic1 's an ,spioraid ,naoimh1 repeated ,keir below his breath4 ,then the fly that was upon the wall flew up to the roof and circled to and fro4 ,and it sang a beautiful song1 and its song was this3 ,praise be to ,god1 and a blessing too at that1 and a blessing6 ,for ,colum the ,white1 ,colum the ,dove1 hath worshipped2 ,yea1 he hath worshipped and made of a desert a garden1 ,and out of the dung of men's souls have made a sweet savour of burning4 ,a savour of burning1 most sweet1 a fire for the altar1 ,this he hath made in the desert2 the hell-saved all gladden4 ,sure he hath put his benison1 too1 on milch-cow and bullock1 ,on the fowls of the air1 and the man-eyed seals1 and the otter4 ,but high in ,his ,dun in the great blue mainland of heaven1 ,god the ,all-,father broodeth1 where the harpers are harping ,his glory3 ,there where ,he sitteth1 where a river of ale poureth ever1 ,his great sword broken1 ,his spear in the dust1 ,he broodeth4 ,and this is the thought that moves in his brain1 as a cloud filled with thunder ,moves through the vast hollow sky filled with the dust of the stars-- ,what boots it the glory of ,colum1 when he maketh a ,sabbath to bless me1 ,and hath no thought of my sons in the deeps of the air and the sea8 ,and with that the fly passed from their vision4 ,in the cell was a most wondrous sweet song1 like the sound of far-off pipes over water4 ,oran said in a low voice of awe1 ,o ,god1 our ,god6 ,keir whispered1 white with fear1 ,o ,god1 my ,god6 ,but ,colum rose1 and took a scourge from where it hung on the wall4 ,it shall be for peace1 ,oran1 he said1 with a grim smile flitting like a bird above the nest of his grey beard2 it shall be for peace1 ,keir6 ,and with that he laid the scourge heavily upon the bent backs of ,keir and ,oran1 nor stayed his hand1 nor let his three days' fast weaken the deep piety that was in the might of his arm1 and because of the glory of ,god4 ,then1 when he was weary1 peace came into his heart1 and he sighed ,amen6 ,amen6 said ,oran the monk4 ,amen6 said ,keir the monk4 ,and this thing has been done1 said ,colum1 because of your evil wish and the brethren1 that ,i should break my fast1 and eat of fish1 till ,god will it4 ,and lo1 ,i have learned a mystery4 ,ye shall all witness to it on the morrow1 which is the ,sabbath4 ,that night the monks wondered much4 ,only ,oran and ,keir cursed the fishes in the deeps of the sea and the flies in the deeps of the air4 ,on the morrow1 when the sun was yellow on the brown seaweed1 and there was peace on the isle and upon the waters1 ,colum and the brotherhood went slowly towards the sea4 ,at the meadows that are close to the sea1 the saint stood still4 ,all bowed their heads4 ,o winged things of the air1 cried ,colum1 draw near6 ,with that the air was full of the hum of innumerous flies1 midges1 bees1 wasps1 moths1 and all winged insects4 ,these settled upon the monks1 who moved not1 but praised ,god in silence4 ,glory and praise to ,god1 cried ,colum1 behold the ,sabbath of the children of ,god that inhabit the deeps of the air6 ,blessing and peace be upon them4 ,peace6 ,peace6 cried the monks1 with one voice4 ,in the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost6 cried ,colum the ,white1 glad because of the glory to ,god4 ,an ainn an ,athar1 's an ,mhic1 's an ,spioraid ,naoimh1 cried the monks1 bowing reverently1 and ,oran and ,keir deepest of all1 because they saw the fly that was of ,colum's cell leading the whole host1 as though it were its captain1 and singing to them a marvellous sweet song4 ,oran and ,keir testified to this thing1 and all were full of awe and wonder1 and ,colum praised ,god4 ,then the saints and the brotherhood moved onward and went upon the rocks4 ,when all stood ankle-deep in the seaweed that was swaying in the tide1 ,colum cried3 ,o finny creatures of the deep1 draw near6 ,and with that the whole sea shimmered as with silver and gold4 ,all the fishes of the sea1 and the great eels1 and the lobsters and the crabs1 came in a swift and terrible procession4 ,great was the glory4 ,then ,colum cried1 ,o fishes of the deep1 who is your king8 ,whereupon the herring1 the mackerel1 and the dogfish swam forward1 and each claimed to be king4 ,but the echo that ran from wave to wave said1 ,the ,herring is ,king6 ,then ,colum said to the mackerel1 ,sing the song that is upon you4 ,and the mackerel sang the song of the wild rovers of the sea1 and the lust of pleasure4 ,then ,colum said1 ,but for ,god's mercy1 ,i would curse you1 ,o false fish4 ,then he spoke likewise to the dogfish1 and the dogfish sang of slaughter and the chase1 and the joy of blood4 ,and ,colum said1 ,hell shall be your portion4 ,then there was peace4 ,and the herring said3 ,in the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost4 ,whereat all that mighty multitude1 before they sank into the deep1 waved their fins and their claws1 each after its kind1 and repeated as with one voice3 ,an ain ann ,athar1 's an ,mhic1 's an ,spioraid ,naoimh6 ,and the glory that was upon the ,sound of ,iona was as though ,god trailed a starry net upon the waters1 with a shining star in every little hollow1 and a flowing moon of gold on every wave4 ,then ,colum the ,white put out both his arms1 and blessed the children of ,god that are in the deeps of the sea and that are in the deeps of the air4 ,that is how ,sabbath came upon all living things upon ,ioua that is called ,iona1 and within the air above ,ioua1 and within the sea that is around ,ioua4 ,and the glory is ,colum's4 ,to illustrate the history of the island ,i select the following episode from ,barbaric ,tales4 ,it deals with ,the ,flight of the ,culdees4 ,the name culdee is somewhat loosely used both by mediaeval and modern writers1 for it does not appear to have been given to the ,brotherhood of the ,columban ,church till two hundred years after ,columba's death4 ,the word may be taken to mean the ,cleric of ,god2 perhaps1 later1 it was the equivalent of anchorite4 ,this episode is1 in date1 about ,a4,d4 #hjj or soon after4 ,on the wane of the moon1 on the day following the ruin of ,bail'-tiorail1 sails were seen far east of ,stromness4 ,olaus the ,white called his men together4 ,the boats coming before the wind were doubtless his own galleys which he had lost when the south-gale had blown them against ,skye2 but no man can know when and how the gods may smile grimly1 and let the swords that whirl be broken1 or the spears that are flat become a hedge of death4 ,an hour later1 a startled word went from viking to viking4 ,the galleys in the offing were the fleet of ,sweno the ,hammerer4 ,why had he come so far southward1 and why were oars so swift and the stained sails distended before the wind8 ,they were soon to know4 ,sweno himself was the first to land4 ,a great man he was1 broad and burly1 with a sword-slash across his face that brought his brows in a perpetual frown above his savage blood-shot eyes4 ,in few words he told how he had met a galley1 with only half its crew1 and of these many who were wounded4 ,it was the last of the fleet of ,haco the ,laugher4 ,a fleet of fifteen war-birlinns had set out from the ,long ,island1 and had given battle4 ,haco had gone into the strife1 laughing loud as was his wont1 and he and all his men had the berserk rage1 and fought with joy and foam at the mouth4 ,never had the ,sword sung a sweeter song4 ,well1 said ,olaus the ,white grimly1 well1 how did the ,raven fly8 ,when ,haco laughed for the last time1 his sword waving out of the death-tide where he sank1 there was only one galley left4 ,no more than nine vikings lived thereafter to tell the tale4 ,these nine we took out of their boat1 which was below waves soon4 ,haco and his men are all fighting the sea-shadows by now4 ,a loud snarling went from man to man4 ,this became a cry of rage4 ,then savage shouts filled the air4 ,swords were lifted up against the sky2 and the fierce glitter of blue eyes and the bristling of tawny beards were fair to see1 thought the captive women1 though their hearts beat in their breasts like eaglets behind the bars of a cage4 ,sweno the ,hammerer frowned a deep frown when he heard that ,olaus was there with only the ,svart-,alf out of the galleys which had gone the southward way4 ,if the islanders come upon us now with their birlinns we shall have to make a running fight1 he said4 ,olaus laughed4 ,ay1 but the running shall be after the birlinns1 ,sweno4 ,i hear there are fifty and nine men of these ,culdees yonder under the sword-priest1 ,maoliosa8 ,it is a true word4 ,but to-night1 after the moon is up1 there shall be none4 ,at that1 all who heard laughed1 and were less heavy in their hearts because of the slaying and drowning of ,haco the ,laugher and all his crew4 ,where is the woman ,brenda that you took8 ,olaus asked1 as he stared at ,sweno's boat and saw no woman there4 ,she is in the sea4 ,olaus the ,white looked4 ,it was his eyes that asked4 ,i flung her into the sea because she laughed when she heard of how the birlinns that were under ,somhairle the ,renegade drove in upon our ships1 and how ,haco laughed no more1 and the sea was red with viking blood4 ,she was a woman1 ,sweno--and none more fair in the isles1 after ,morna that is mine4 ,woman or no woman1 ,i flung her into the sea4 ,the ,gael call us ,gall3 then ,i will let no ,gael laugh at the ,gall4 ,it is enough4 ,she is drowned4 ,there are always women3 one here1 one there--it is but a wave blown this way or that4 ,at this moment a viking came running across the ruined town with tidings4 ,maoliosa and his culdees were crowding into a great birlinn4 ,perhaps they were coming to give battle3 perhaps they were for sailing away from that place4 ,olaus and ,sweno stared across the fjord4 ,at first they knew not what to do4 ,if ,maoliosa thought of battle he would hardly choose that hour and place4 ,or was it that he knew the ,gael were coming in force1 and that the vikings were caught in a trap8 ,at last it was clear4 ,sweno gave a great laugh4 ,by the blood of ,odin1 he cried1 they come to sue for peace6 ,filled with white-robed culdees1 the birlinn drew slowly across the loch4 ,a tall1 old man stood at the prow1 with streaming hair and beard1 white as sea-foam4 ,in his right hand he grasped a great ,cross1 whereon ,christ was crucified4 ,the vikings drew close to one another4 ,hail them in their own tongue1 ,sweno1 said ,olaus4 ,the ,hammerer moved to the water-edge1 as the birlinn stopped1 a short arrow-flight away4 ,ho1 there1 priests of the ,christ-faith6 ,what would you1 viking8 ,it was ,maoliosa himself that spoke4 ,why do you come here among us1 you that are ,maoliosa8 ,to win you and yours to ,god1 ,pagan4 ,is it madness that is upon you1 old man8 ,we have swords and spears here1 if we lack hymns and prayers4 ,all this time ,olaus kept a wary watch inland and seaward1 for he feared that ,maoliosa came because of an ambush4 ,truly the old monk was mad4 ,he had told his culdees that ,god would prevail1 and that the pagans would melt away before the ,cross4 ,the ebb-tide was running swift4 ,even while ,sweno spoke1 the birlinn touched a low sea-hidden ledge of rock4 ,a cry of consternation went up from the white-robes4 ,loud laughter came from the vikings4 ,arrows6 cried ,olaus4 ,with that threescore men took their bows4 ,a hail of death-shafts fell4 ,many pierced the water1 but some pierced the necks and hearts of the culdees4 ,maoliosa himself1 stood in death transfixed to the mast4 ,with a scream the monks swept their oars backward4 ,then they leaped to their feet1 and changed their place1 and rowed for life4 ,the summer-sailors sprang into their galley4 ,sweno the ,hammerer was at the bow4 ,the foam curled and hissed4 ,the birlinn of the culdees grided upon the opposite shore at the moment when ,sweno brought down his battle-axe upon the monk who steered4 ,the man was cleft to the shoulder4 ,sweno swayed with the blow1 stumbled1 and fell headlong into the sea4 ,a culdee thrust at him with an oar1 and pinned him among the sea-tangle4 ,thus died ,sweno the ,hammerer4 ,like a flock of sheep the white-robes leaped upon the shore4 ,yet ,olaus was quicker than they4 ,with a score of vikings he raced to the ,church of the ,cells1 and gained the sanctuary4 ,the monks uttered a cry of despair1 and1 turning1 fled across the sands4 ,olaus counted them4 ,there were now forty in all4 ,let forty men follow1 he cried4 ,the monks fled this way and that4 ,olaus1 and those who watched1 laughed to see how they stumbled1 because of their robes4 ,one by one fell1 sword-cleft or spear-thrust4 ,the sand-dunes were red4 ,soon there were fewer than a score--then twelve only--ten6 ,bring them back6 ,olaus shouted4 ,when the ten fugitives were captured and brought back1 ,olaus took the crucifix that ,maoliosa had raised1 and held it before each in turn4 ,smite6 he said to the first monk4 ,but the man would not4 ,smite6 he said to the second2 but he would not4 ,and so it was to the tenth4 ,good6 said ,olaus the ,white2 they shall witness to their ,god4 ,with that he bade his vikings break up the birlinn1 and drive the planks into the ground and shore them up with logs4 ,when this was done he crucified each culdee4 ,with nails and with ropes he did unto each what their ,god had suffered4 ,then all were left there by the water-side4 ,that night1 when ,olaus the ,white and the laughing ,morna left the great bonfire where the vikings sang and drank horn after horn of strong ale1 they stood and looked across the strait4 ,in the moonlight1 upon the dim verge of the island shore1 they could see ten crosses4 ,on each was a motionless white splatch4 ,once more1 for an instance of the grafting of ,christian thought and imagery on pagan thought and imagery1 ,i take a few pages of the introductory part to the story of ,the ,woman with the ,net1 in a later volume4#f ,they tell of a young monk who1 inspired by ,colum's holy example1 went out of ,iona as a missionary to the ,pictish heathen of the north4 ,when ,artan had kissed the brow of every white-robed brother on ,iona1 and had been thrice kissed by the aged ,colum1 his heart was filled with gladness4 ,it was late summer1 and in the afternoon-light peace lay on the green waters of the ,sound1 on the green grass of the dunes1 on the domed wicker-woven cells of the culdees over whom the holy ,colum ruled1 and on the little rock-strewn hill which rose above where stood ,colum's wattled church of sun-baked mud4 ,the abbot walked slowly by the side of the young man4 ,colum was tall1 with hair long and heavy but white as the canna1 and with a beard that hung low on his breast1 grey as the moss on old firs4 ,his blue eyes were tender4 ,the youth--for though he was a grown man he seemed a youth beside ,colum--had beauty4 ,he was tall and comely1 with yellow curling hair1 and dark-blue eyes1 and a skin so white that it troubled some of the monks who dreamed old dreams and washed them away in tears and scourgings4 ,you have the bitter fever of youth upon you1 ,artan1 said ,colum1 as they crossed the dunes beyond ,dun-,i2 but you have no fear1 and you will be a flame among these ,pictish idolaters1 and you will be a lamp to show them the way4 ,and when ,i come again1 there will be clappings of hands1 and hymns1 and many rejoicings8 ,i do not think you will come again1 said ,colum4 ,the wild people of these northlands will burn you1 or crucify you1 or put you upon the crahslat1 or give you thirst and hunger till you die4 ,it will be a great joy for you to die like that1 ,artan1 my son8 ,ay1 a great joy1 answered the young monk1 but with his eyes dreaming away from his words4 ,silence was between them as they neared the cove where a large coracle lay1 with three men in it4 ,will ,god be coming to ,iona when ,i am away8 asked ,artan4 ,colum stared at him4 ,is it likely that ,god would come here in a coracle8 he asked1 with scornful eyes4 ,the young man looked abashed4 ,for sure1 ,god would not come in a coracle1 just as he himself might come4 ,he knew by that how ,colum had reproved him4 ,he would come in a cloud of fire1 and would be seen from far and near4 ,artan wondered if the place he was going to was too far north for him to see that greatness2 but he feared to ask4 ,give me a new name1 he asked2 give me a new name1 my father4 ,what name will you have8 ,servant of ,mary4 ,so be it1 ,artan ,gille-,mhoire4 ,with that ,colum kissed him and bade farewell1 and ,artan sat down in the coracle1 and covered his head with his mantle1 and wept and prayed4 ,the last word he heard was1 ,peace6 ,that is a good word1 and a good thing1 he said to himself2 and because ,i am the ,servant of ,mary1 and the ,brother of ,jesu the ,son1 ,i will take peace to the ,cruitne1 who know nothing of that blessing of the blessings4 ,when he unfolded his mantle1 he saw that the coracle was already far from ,iona4 ,the south wind blew1 and the tides swept northward1 and the boat moved swiftly across the water4 ,the sea was ashine with froth and small waves leaping like lambs4 ,in the boat were ,thorkeld1 a helot of ,iona1 and two dark wild-eyed men of the north4 ,they were ,picts1 but could speak the tongue of the ,gael4 ,myrdu1 the ,pictish king of ,skye1 had sent them to ,iona1 to bring back from ,colum a culdee who could show wonders4 ,and tell the chief ,druid of the ,godmen1 ,myrdu had said1 that if his culdee does not show me good wonders1 and so make me believe in his two gods and the woman1 ,i will put an ash-shaft through his body from the hips and out at his mouth1 and send him back on the north tide to the ,isle of the ,white-,robes4 ,the sun was already among the outer isles when the coracle passed near the ,isle of ,columns4 ,a great noise was in the air3 the noise of the waves in the caverns1 and the noise of the tide1 like sea-wolves growling1 and like bulls bellowing in a narrow pass of the hills4 ,a sudden current caught the boat1 and it began to drift towards great reefs white with ceaseless torn streams4 ,thorkeld leaned from the helm1 and shouted to the two ,picts4 ,they did not stir1 but sat staring1 idle with fear4 ,artan knew now that it was as ,colum had said4 ,god would give him glory soon4 ,so he took the little clarsach he had for hymns1 for he was the best harper on ,iona1 and struck the strings1 and sang4 ,but the ,latin words tangled in his throat1 and he knew too that the men in the boat would not understand what he sang2 also that the older gods still came far south1 and in the caves of the ,isle of ,columns were demons4 ,there was only one tongue common to all2 and since ,god has wisdom beyond that of ,colum himself1 ,he would know the song in ,gaelic as well as though sung in ,latin4 ,so ,artan let the wind take his broken hymn1 and he made a song of his own1 and sang3 ,o ,heavenly ,mary1 ,queen of the ,elements1 ,and you1 ,brigit the fair with the little harp1 ,and all the saints1 and all the old gods 7,and it is not one of them ,i'd be disowning71 ,speak to the ,father1 that he may save us from drowning4 ,then seeing that the boat drifted closer1 he sang again3 ,save us from the rocks and the sea1 ,queen of ,heaven6 ,and remember that ,i am a ,culdee of ,iona1 ,and that ,colum has sent me to the ,cruitne ,to sing them the song of peace lest they be damned for ever6 ,thorkeld laughed at that4 ,can the woman put swimming upon you8 he said roughly4 ,i would rather have the good fin of a great fish now than any woman in the skies4 ,you will burn in hell for that1 said ,artan1 the holy zeal warm at his heart4 ,but ,thorkeld answered nothing4 ,his hand was on the helm1 his eyes on the foaming rocks4 ,besides1 what had he to do with the culdee's hell or heaven8 ,when he died1 he1 who was a man of ,lochlann1 would go to his own place4 ,one of the dark men stood1 holding the mast4 ,his eyes shone4 ,thick words swung from his lips like seaweed thrown out of a hollow by an ebbing wave4 ,the coracle swerved1 and the four men were wet with the heavy spray4 ,thorkeld put his oar in the water1 and the swaying craft righted4 ,glory to ,god1 said ,artan4 ,there is no glory to your god in this1 said ,thorkeld scornfully4 ,did you not hear what ,necta sang8 ,he sang to the woman in there that drags men into the caves1 and throws their bones on the next tide4 ,he put an incantation upon her1 and she shrank1 and the boat slid away from the rocks4 ,that is a true thing1 thought ,artan4 ,he wondered if it was because he had not sung his hymn in the holy ,latin4 ,when the last flame died out of the west1 and the stars came like sheep gathering at the call of the shepherd1 ,artan remembered that he had not said his prayers and sang the vesper hymn4 ,he lay back and listened4 ,there were no bells calling across the water4 ,he looked into the depths4 ,it was ,manann's kingdom1 and he had never heard that ,god was there2 but he looked4 ,then he stared into the dark-blue star-strewn sky4 ,suddenly he touched ,thorkeld4 ,tell me1 he said1 how far north has the ,cross of ,christ come8 ,by the sea way it has not come here yet4 ,murdoch the ,freckled came with it this way1 but he was pulled into the sea1 and he died4 ,who pulled him into the sea8 ,thorkeld stared into the running wave4 ,he had no words4 ,artan lay still for a long while4 ,it will go ill with me1 he thought1 if ,mary cannot see me so far away from ,iona1 and if ,god will not listen to me4 ,colum should have known that1 and given me a holy leaf with the fair branching letters on it1 and the ,latin words that are the words of ,god4 ,then he spoke to the man who had sung4 ,do you know of ,mary1 and ,god1 and the ,son1 and the ,spirit8 ,you have too many ,gods1 ,culdee1 answered the ,pict sullenly3 for of these one is your god's son1 and the other is the woman his mother1 and the third is the ghost of an ancestor4 ,artan frowned4 ,the curse of the ,god of ,peace upon you for that1 he said angrily2 do you know that you have hell for your dwelling-place if you speak evil of ,god the ,father1 and the ,son1 and the ,mother of ,god8 ,how long have they been in ,iona1 ,white-,robe8 ,the man spoke scornfully4 ,artan knew they had not been there many years4 ,he had no words4 ,my father worshipped the ,sun on the ,holy ,isle before ever your great ,druid that is called ,colum crossed the ,moyle4 ,were your three gods in the coracle with ,colum8 ,they were not on the ,holy ,isle when he came4 ,they were coming there1 answered ,artan confusedly4 ,it is a long1 long way from--from--from the place they were sailing from4 ,necta listened sullenly4 ,let them stay on ,iona1 he said3 gods though they be1 it would fare ill with them if they came upon the ,woman with the ,net4 ,then he turned on his side1 and lay by the man ,darach1 who was staring at the moon and muttering words that neither ,artan nor ,thorkeld knew4 ,a white calm fell4 ,the boat lay like a leaf on a silent pool4 ,there was nothing between that dim wilderness and the vast sweeping blackness filled with quivering stars1 but the coracle1 that a wave could crush4 ,at times1 ,i doubt not1 there must have been weaker brethren among these simple and devoted ,culdees of ,iona1 though in ,colum's own day there was probably none 7unless it were ,oran7 who was not the visible outward shrine of a pure flame4 ,thinking of such an one1 and not without furtive pagan sympathy1 ,i wrote the other day these lines1 which ,i may also add here as a further side-light upon that half-,pagan1 half-,christian basis upon which the ,columban ,church of ,iona stood4 ,balva the old monk ,i am called3 when ,i was young1 ,balva ,honeymouth4 ,that was before ,colum the ,white came to ,iona in the ,west4 ,she whom ,i loved was a woman whom ,i won out of the ,south4 ,and ,i had a good heaven with my lips on hers and with breast to breast4 ,balva the old monk ,i am called3 were it not for the fear ,that the soul of ,colum the ,white would meet my soul in the ,narrows ,that sever the living and dead1 ,i would rise up from here1 ,and go back to where men pray with spears and arrows4 ,balva the old monk ,i am called3 ugh6 ugh6 the cold bell of the matins--'tis dawn6 ,sure it's a dream ,i have had that ,i was in a warm wood with the sun ashine1 ,and that against me in the pleasant greenness was a soft fawn1 ,and a voice that whispered ,balva ,honeymouth1 drink1 ,i am thy wine6 ,as ,i write1#g here on the hill-slope of ,dun-,i1 the sound of the furtive wave is as the sighing in a shell4 ,i am alone between sea and sky1 for there is no other on this bouldered height1 nothing visible but a single blue shadow that slowly sails the hillside4 ,the bleating of lambs and ewes1 the lowing of kine1 these come up from the ,machar that lies between the west slopes and the shoreless sea to the west2 these ascend as the very smoke of sound4 ,all round the island there is a continuous breathing2 deeper and more prolonged on the west1 where the open sea is2 but audible everywhere4 ,the seals on ,soa are even now putting their breasts against the running tide2 for ,i see a flashing of fins here and there in patches at the north end of the ,sound1 and already from the ruddy granite shores of the ,ross there is a congregation of seafowl--gannets and guillemots1 skuas and herring-gulls1 the long-necked northern diver1 the tern1 the cormorant4 ,in the sunblaze1 the waters of the ,sound dance their blue bodies and swirl their flashing white hair o' foam2 and1 as ,i look1 they seem to me like children of the wind and the sunshine1 leaping and running in these flowing pastures1 with a laughter as sweet against the ears as the voices of children at play4 ,the joy of life vibrates everywhere4 ,yet the ,weaver does not sleep1 but only dreams4 ,he loves the sun-drowned shadows4 ,they are invisible thus1 but they are there1 in the sunlight itself4 ,sure1 they may be heard3 as1 an hour ago1 when on my way hither by the ,stairway of the ,kings--for so sometimes they call here the ancient stones of the mouldered princes of long ago--,i heard a mother moaning because of the son that had had to go over-sea and leave her in her old age2 and heard also a child sobbing1 because of the sorrow of childhood--that sorrow so unfathomable1 so incommunicable4 ,and yet not a stone's-throw from where ,i lie1 half hidden beneath an overhanging rock1 is the ,pool of ,healing4 ,to this small1 black-brown tarn1 pilgrims of every generation1 for hundreds of years1 have come4 ,solitary1 these2 not only because the pilgrim to the ,fount of ,eternal ,youth must fare hither alone1 and at dawn1 so as to touch the healing water the moment the first sunray quickens it--but solitary1 also1 because those who go in quest of this ,fount of ,youth are the dreamers and the ,children of ,dream1 and these are not many1 and few come now to this lonely place4 ,yet1 an ,isle of ,dream ,iona is1 indeed4 ,here the last sun-worshippers bowed before the ,rising of ,god2 here ,columba and his hymning priests laboured and brooded2 and here ,oran or his kin dreamed beneath the monkish cowl that pagan dream of his4 ,here1 too1 the eyes of ,fionn and ,oisin1 and of many another of the heroic men and women of the ,fianna1 may have lingered2 here the ,pict and the ,celt bowed beneath the yoke of the ,norse pirate1 who1 too1 left his dreams1 or rather his strangely beautiful soul-rainbows1 as a heritage to the stricken2 here1 for century after century1 the ,gael has lived1 suffered1 joyed1 dreamed his impossible1 beautiful dream2 as here1 now1 he still lives1 still suffers patiently1 still dreams1 and through all and over all1 broods upon the incalculable mysteries4 ,he is an elemental1 among the elemental forces4 ,he knows the voices of wind and sea3 and it is because the ,fount of ,youth upon ,dun-,i of ,iona is not the only wellspring of peace1 that the ,gael can front destiny as he does1 and can endure4 ,who knows where its tributaries are8 ,they may be in your heart1 or in mine1 and in a myriad others4 ,i would that the birds of ,angus ,og might1 for once1 be changed1 not1 as fabled1 into the kisses of love1 but into doves of peace1 that they might fly into the green world1 and nest there in many hearts1 in many minds1 crooning their incommunicable song of joy and hope4 ,a doomed and passing race4 ,i have been taken to task for these words4 ,but they are true1 in the deep reality where they obtain4 ,yes1 but true only in one sense1 however vital that is4 ,the ,breton's eyes are slowly turning from the enchanted ,west1 and slowly his ears are forgetting the whisper of the wind around menhir and dolmen4 ,the ,manxman has ever been the mere yeoman of the ,celtic chivalry2 but even his rude dialect perishes year by year4 ,in ,wales1 a great tradition survives2 in ,ireland1 a supreme tradition fades through sunset-hued horizons2 in ,celtic ,scotland1 a passionate regret1 a despairing love and longing1 narrows yearly before a dull and incredibly selfish alienism4 ,the ,celt has at last reached his horizon4 ,there is no shore beyond4 ,he knows it4 ,this has been the burden of his song since ,malvina led the blind ,oisin to his grave by the sea3 ,even the ,children of ,light must go down into darkness4 ,but this apparition of a passing race is no more than the fulfilment of a glorious resurrection before our very eyes4 ,for the genius of the ,celtic race stands out now with averted torch1 and the light of it is a glory before the eyes1 and the flame of it is blown into the hearts of the stronger people4 ,the ,celt fades1 but his spirit rises in the heart and the mind of the ,anglo-,celtic peoples1 with whom are the destinies of generations to come4 ,i stop1 and look seaward from this hillslope of ,dun-,i4 ,yes1 even in this ,isle of ,joy1 as it seems in this dazzle of golden light and splashing wave1 there is the like mortal gloom and immortal mystery which moved the minds of the old seers and bards4 ,yonder1 where that thin spray quivers against the thyme-set cliff1 is the ,spouting ,cave1 where to this day the ,mar-,tarbh1 dread creature of the sea1 swims at the full of the tide4 ,beyond1 out of sight behind these craggy steeps1 is ,port-na-,churaich1 where1 a thousand years ago1 ,columba landed in his coracle4 ,here1 eastward1 is the landing-place1 for the dead of old1 brought hence out of ,christendom for sacred burial in the ,isle of the ,saints4 ,all the story of the ,gael is here4 ,iona is the microcosm of the ,gaelic world4 ,last night1 about the hour of the sun's going1 ,i lay upon the heights near the ,cave1 overlooking the ,machar--the sandy1 rock-frontiered plain of duneland on the west side of ,iona1 exposed to the ,atlantic4 ,there was neither bird nor beast1 no living thing to see1 save one solitary human creature4 ,the man toiled at kelp-burning4 ,i watched the smoke till it merged into the sea-mist that came creeping swiftly out of the north1 and down from ,dun-,i eastward4 ,at last nothing was visible4 ,the mist shrouded everything4 ,i could hear the dull1 rhythmic beat of the waves4 ,that was all4 ,no sound1 nothing visible4 ,it was1 or seemed1 a long while before a rapid thud-thud trampled the heavy air4 ,then ,i heard the rush1 the stamping and neighing1 of some young mares1 pasturing there1 as they raced to and fro1 bewildered or perchance in play4 ,a glimpse ,i caught of three1 with flying manes and tails2 the others were blurred shadows only4 ,a swirl1 and the mist disclosed them2 a swirl1 and the mist enfolded them again4 ,then1 silence once more4 ,abruptly1 though not for a long time thereafter1 the mist rose and drifted seaward4 ,all was as before4 ,the kelp-burner still stood1 straking the smouldering seaweed4 ,above him a column ascended1 bluely spiral1 dusked with shadow4 ,the kelp-burner3 who was he but the ,gael of the ,isles8 ,who but the ,gael in his old-world sorrow8 ,the mist falls and the mist rises4 ,he is there all the same1 behind it1 part of it2 and the column of smoke is the incense out of his longing heart that desires ,heaven and ,earth1 and is dowered only with poverty and pain1 hunger and weariness1 a little isle of the seas1 a great hope1 and the love of love4 ,but 444 to the island-story once more6 ,some day1 surely1 the historian of ,iona will appear4 ,how many history-books there are like dead leaves4 ,the simile is a travesty4 ,there is no little russet leaf of the forest that could not carry more real1 more intimate knowledge4 ,there is no leaf that could not reveal mystery of form1 mystery of colour1 wonder of structure1 secret of growth1 the law of harmony2 that could not testify to birth1 and change1 and decay1 and death2 and what history tells us more8--that could not1 to the inward ear1 bring the sound of the south wind making a greenness in the woods of ,spring1 the west wind calling his brown and red flocks to the fold4 ,what a book it will be6 ,it will reveal to us the secret of what ,oisin sang1 what ,merlin knew1 what ,columba dreamed1 what ,adamnan hoped3 what this little lamp of ,christ was to pagan ,europe2 what incense of testimony it flung upon the winds2 what saints and heroes went out of it2 how the dust of kings and princes were brought there to mingle with its sands2 how the noble and the ignoble came to it across long seas and perilous countries4 ,it will tell1 too1 how the ,danes ravaged the isles of the west1 and left not only their seed for the strengthening of an older race1 but imageries and words1 words and imageries so alive to-day that the listener in the mind may hear the cries of the viking above the voice of the ,gael and the more ancient tongue of the ,pict4 ,it will tell1 too1 how the nettle came to shed her snow above kings' heads1 and the thistle to wave where bishops' mitres stood2 how a simple people out of the hills and moors1 remembering ancient wisdom or blindly cherishing forgotten symbols1 sought here the fount of youth2 and how1 slowly1 a long sleep fell upon the island1 and only the grasses shaken in the wind1 and the wind itself1 and the broken shadows of dreams in the minds of the old1 held the secret of ,iona4 ,and1 at the last--with what lift1 with what joy--it will tell how once more the doves of hope and peace have passed over its white sands1 this little holy land6 ,this little holy land6 ,ah1 white doves1 come again6 ,a thousand thousand wait4 ,,footnotes3 #b ,a more polished later version1 though attributed to ,columba1 runs3-- ,an ,i mo chridhe1 ,i mo ghraidh ,an aite guth mhanach bidh geum ba2 ,ach mu'n tig an saoghal gu crich1 ,bithidh ,i mar a bha4 7,in effect3 ,in ,iona that is my heart's desire1 ,iona that is my love1 the lowing of cows shall yet replace the voices of monks3 but before the end is come ,iona shall again be as it was47 #c ,in a beautiful old ,scoto-,gaelic ballad1 the ,bas ,fhraoich1 occurs the line1 ,thuit i air an traigh na neul1 she fell on the shore as a mist1 though here finely used for a swoon only4 #d ,an allusion to the ,hebridean proverb1 ,ma dh' itheas tu cridh an eoin1 bidh do chridhe air chrith ri d' bheo 7,if you eat the bird's heart1 your heart will palpitate for ever47 #e ,the ,irish pipes are called ,piob-theannaich to distinguish them from the ,piob or ,piob-,mhor of the ,highlands4 #f ,the ,dominion of ,dreams1 #ast ,ed4 #g ,see ,notes1 p4 #dbi4 ,,by ,,sundown ,,shores ,cette ame qui se lamente ,en cette plaine dormante ,c'est la notre n'est-ce pas8 ,la mienne1 dis1 et la tienne1 ,dont s'exhale l'humble antienne ,par ce tiede soir1 tout1 bas8 ,by ,sundown ,shores ',n hano ann ,tad1 ar ,mab hac ar ,spered-,zantel1 ,homan' zo'r ganaouenn zavet en ,breiz-,izel6 ,zavet gant eur paour-kez1 en ,ar-goat1 en ,ar-vor1 ,kanet anez-hi1 pewienn1 hac ho pezo digor4 ,in the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit ,this song of mine was raised in my ,breton ,fatherland1 ,in ,argoat forest-clad1 in ,arvor of the grey wave3 ,sing it1 wayfarers1 and all gates will open before you4 ,i do not know the name of the obscure minstrel who sang this song1 as he passed from village to village1 by the coasts1 along the heath-lands of ,brittany4 ,but there are poets who have no name and no country1 because they are named by the secret name of the longing of many minds1 and mysteriously come from and pass to the ,land of ,heart's ,desire1 which is their own land4 ,this wandering ,breton minstrel is of that company4 ,his sone is familiar4 ,i have heard it where ,connemara breaks in grey rock and sudden pastures to the sea3 where only the wind and the heather people the solitudes of ,argyll3 where the silent ,isles shelve to perpetual foam4 ,he speaks for all his brotherhood of ,armorica3 he speaks also for the greater brotherhood of his race1 the broken peoples who now stand upon the sundown shores1 from wild ,ushant to the cliffs of ,achil1 from ,st4 ,bride's ,bay to solitary ,st4 ,kilda4 ,he is not only the genius of ,arvor1 daughter of dreams1 but the genius of a race whose farewell is in a tragic lighting of torches of beauty around its grave4 ,for it is the soul of the ,celt who wanders homeless to-day1 with his pathetic burthen that his sone was made by ancestral woods1 by the unchanging sea2 dreaming the enchanted air will open all doors4 ,alas6 few doors open3 the wayfarer must not tarry4 ,memories and echoes he may leave1 but he must turn his face4 ,grey dolmen and grey menhir already stand there1 by the last shores1 memorials of his destiny4 ,the ancient ,gaels believed that in the western ocean there was an island called ,hy ,brasil1 where all that was beautiful and mysterious lived beyond the pillars of the rainbow4 ,the legendary romances of the ,celtic races may be described as the ,hy ,brasil of literature4 ,in the ,celtic commune there are many legendary tales which1 but for the accident of names and local circumstances1 are identical4 ,the familiar ,highland legend of the children who1 bathing in a mountain loch1 were carried off by a water-horse1 has its counterpart in ,connemara1 in ,merioneth1 and in ,finistere1 though in the ,welsh recital the children are the victims of a dragon1 and in the ,breton legend the monster is a boar4 ,for that matter1 this elemental tale has its roots in the east1 and ,macedonia and the ,himalaya retain the memory of what ,aryan wagoners told by the camp-fires during their centuries-long immigration into ,europe4 ,whether1 however1 a tale be universal or strictly ,celtic1 generally it has a parallel in one or all of the racial dialects4 ,true1 there are legendary cycles which are local4 ,the ,arzur of ,brittany is a mere echo in the ,hebrides1 and the name of ,cuculain or the fame of the ,red ,branch has not reached the dunes of ,armorica4 ,nevertheless1 even in the mythopoeic tales there is a kindred character4 ,nomenoe may have been a ,breton ,fionn1 though he had no ,oisin to wed his deeds to a deathless music2 and ,diarmid and ,grainne have loved beneath the oaks of ,broceliande or the beech-groves of ,llanidris1 as well as among the hills of ,erin1 or in the rocky fastnesses of ,morven4 ,it is characteristic1 too1 how ,celtland has given to ,celtland4 ,scotland gave ,ireland ,st4 ,patrick2 ,ireland gave ,scotland ,st4 ,columba2 the chief bard of ,armorica came from ,wales2 and ,cornwall has the ,arthurian fame which is the meed of ,kymric ,caledonia4 ,to this day no man can say whether ,oisin1 old and blind1 wandered at the last to ,drumadoon in ,arran1 or if indeed he followed out of ,erin the sweet voice from ,tirnan-,og1 and was seen or heard of by none1 till three centuries later the bells of the clerics and the admonitions of ,patrick made his days a burden not to be borne4 ,did not the greatest of ,irish kings die in tributary lands by the banks of the ,loire1 and who has seen the moss of that lost grave in ,broceliande where ,merlin of the ,north lay down to a long sleep8 ,even where there seems no probability of a common origin1 there is often a striking similarity in the matter and the manner of folk-tales1 particularly those which narrate the strange experiences of the saints4 ,thus1 for example1 in one of the most beautiful of the legendary stories given in ,the ,shadow of ,arvor#h there is an account of how ,gradlon1 the honoured chief of ,kerne1 the monarch who built ,ys1 and on whose brow were united the crowns of ,armorica1 having voluntarily become a wandering beggar1 arrived at last in the heart of an ancient forest3 towering moss-clad pillars bearing a heavy roof of foliage1 full of the mystery of a cathedral aisle by night4 ,here the king vowed to build a great temple1 but before he could fulfil his vow he died4 ,gwennole the monk had missed ,gradlon1 and had followed him to the forest1 to find him there on the morrow1 lying on a bed of moss which the fallen leaves had flecked with gold4 ,near him crouched a human figure4 ,this was ,primel the anchorite4 ,note how the king speaks to the ,christian monk ,gwennole concerning this ancient hermit4 ,have mercy on this poor old man beside me3 the length of three men's lives has been his1 and he has known the deeps of sorrow4 ,the sorrows which have come upon me are nothing to his2 for while ,i have wept over the fate of my royal city1 and while for ,ahez my heart has been broken1 this man has lost his gods4 ,there is no sorrow that is so great a sorrow4 ,he is a ,druid lamenting a dead faith4 ,show him tenderness4 ,therewith ,gradlon dies4 ,over the dead king ,gwennole murmured a ,latin chant2 the druid in a tremulous voice intoned a refrain in an unknown tongue2 and ,gradlon1 ruler of the sea1 slept in that glade watched over by the priest of ,christ and by the last surviving servant of ,teutates4444 ,there1 amid the majestic solitudes of the forest1 the two religions of the ancient race joined hands and were at one before the mystery of death4 ,later1 the druid bids ,gwennole build a ,christian sanctuary on the spot where the belated ministrant of a fallen faith died beside ,gradlon ,maur1 the ,great ,king4 ,one strange touch of bitterness occurs4 ,but1 exclaims ,gwennole1 if the sanctuary be reared here1 we shall invade thy last refuge4 ,as for me 4446 replies the old man2 then1 after a silence he adds1 with a gesture of infinite weariness1 it is my gods who should protect me4 ,let them save me if they can4 ,the dying druid turns away to seek his long rest under the sacred oaks3 ,gwennole1 his heart full of a tender love and pity which he could not understand1 moved slowly towards the sea4 ,a fitting close to a book full of interest1 charm1 and spiritual beauty4 ,in the third book of ,st4 ,adamnan's ,life of ,st4 ,columba1 there is an episode entitled ,of a manifestation of angels meeting the soul of one ,emchath4 ,columba1 making his way beyond the ,ridge of ,britain 7,drum-,alban71 near the lake of the river ,nisa 7,loch ,ness71 being suddenly inspired by the ,holy ,spirit1 says to the brethren who are journeying with him at that time3 ',let us make haste to meet the holy angels who1 that they may carry away the soul of a certain heathen man1 who is keeping the moral law of nature even to extreme old age1 have been sent out from the highest regions of heaven1 and are waiting until we come thither1 that we may baptize him in time before he dies4' ,thereafter the aged saint made as much haste as he could to go in advance of his companions1 until he came to the district which is named ,airchartdan 7,glen ,urquhart74 ,there he found the holy heathen man1 ,emchath by name4 ,here1 then1 is an instance of a ,celtic priest in ,armorica and of a ,celtic priest in ,scotland acting identically towards an upright heathen4 ,a large book would be necessary to relate the correspondence between the folk-tales1 the traditional romances1 and the ,christian legends of the four great branches of the ,celtic race4 ,on the seventh day1 when ,god rested1 says a poet of the ,gael1 ,he dreamed of the lands and nations he had made1 and out of that dreaming were born ,ireland and ,brittany4 ,truly1 within ,christian days1 there were more saints1 there were more lamps of the spirit lit in that grey peninsula1 in that green land1 in the little sand-cinctured isle ,iona1 than anywhere betwixt the ,syrian deserts and the meads of ,glastonbury4 ,it takes nothing from1 it adds much to these lands where spiritual ecstasy has longest dreamed1 that the old gods have not perished but merge into the brotherhood of ,christ's company2 that the old faiths1 and the ancient spirit1 and the pagan soul were not given to the wave for foam1 to the pastures for idle sand4 ,ireland and ,brittany6 ,behind the sorrowful songs of longing and regret1 behind the faint chime of bells which some day linger as an echo in the towers of ,ys where she lies under the wave1 are the cries of the tympan and the forgotten music of druidic harps4 ,what song the oaks knew in ,broceliande1 what song ,taliesin heard1 what chant ,merlin the ,wild raised among dim woods in ,caledon3 these may be lost to us for ever1 or live only through our songs and dreams as shadows live in the hollows of the sunrain3 but ,broceliande and ,gethsemane are in symbol akin1 ,taliesin is but another name of him who ate the wild honey and listened to the wind1 and ,merlin1 with the nuts of wisdom in his hand1 stands hearkening to the same deep murmur of the eternal life which was heard upon the ,mount of ,olives4 ,it has occurred to me often of late1 from what ,i have seen1 and read1 and heard from others1 that the ,celtic mythopoeic faculty is still concerning itself largely with an interweaving of ,pagan and ,christian thought1 of ,pagan and ,christian symbol1 of the old ,pagan tales of a day and of mortal beauty with the ,christian symbolic legends that are of no day and are of immortal beauty4 ,a fisherman told me the story of ,diarmid and ,grainne1 in the guise of a legend of the ,virgin ,mary and her ,gaelic husband4 ,three years ago1 in ,appin1 an old woman1 ,jessie ,stewart1 told me that when ,christ was crucified ,he came back to us as ,oisin of the ,songs4 ,from a ferryman on ,loch ,linnhe1 near the falls of ,lora1 a friend heard a confused story of ,oisin 7confused because the narrator at one moment spoke of ,oisin1 and at another of ,goll71 how on the day that ,christ was crucified ,oisin slew his own son1 and knew madness1 crying that he was but a shadow1 and his son a shadow1 and that what he had done was but the shadow of what was being done in that hour to the black sorrow of time and the universe 7domhain74 ,in this connection1 ,celtic students will recall the story of ,concobar mac ,nessa1 the ,high ,king of ,ulster3 how on that day he rose suddenly and fled into the woods and hewed down the branches of trees1 crying that he slew the multitudes of those who at that moment were doing to death the innocent son of a king4 ,out of this confusion may arise a new interpretation of certain great symbolic persons and incidents in the old mythology4 ,as this legendary lore is being swiftly forgotten1 it is well that it should be saved to new meanings and new beauty1 by that mythopoeic faculty which1 in the ,celtic imagination1 is as a wing continually uplifting fallen dreams to the imaging wind of the ,spirit4 ,,footnote3 #h ,vide ,notes1 p4 #dca4 ,,the ,,wind1 ,,silence1 ,,and ,,love ,i know one who1 asked by a friend desiring more intimate knowledge as to what influences above all other influences had shaped her inward life1 answered at once1 with that sudden vision of insight which reveals more than the vision of thought1 ,the ,wind1 ,silence1 and ,love4 ,the answer was characteristic1 for1 with her who made it1 the influences that shape have always seemed more significant than the things that are shapen4 ,none can know for another the mysteries of spiritual companionship4 ,what is an abstraction to one is a reality to another3 what to one has the proved familiar face1 to another is illusion4 ,i can well understand the one of whom ,i write4 ,with most of us the shaping influences are the common sweet influences of motherhood and fatherhood1 the airs of home1 the place and manner of childhood4 ,but these are not for all1 and may be adverse1 and in some degree absent4 ,even when a child is fortunate in love and home1 it may be spiritually alien from these3 it may dimly discern love rather as a mystery dwelling in sunlight and moonlight1 or in the light that lies on quiet meadows1 woods1 quiet shores3 may find a more intimate sound of home in the wind whispering in the grass1 or when a sighing travels through the wilderness of leaves1 or when an unseen wave moans in the pine4 ,when we consider1 could any influences be deeper than these three elemental powers1 for ever young1 yet older than age1 beautiful immortalities that whisper continually against our mortal ear4 ,the ,wind1 ,silence1 and ,love3 yes1 ,i think of them as good comrades1 nobly ministrant1 priests of the hidden way4 ,to go into solitary places1 or among trees which await dusk and storm1 or by a dark shore2 to be a nerve there1 to listen to1 inwardly to hear1 to be at one with1 to be as grass filled with1 as reeds shaken by1 as a wave lifted before1 the wind3 this is to know what cannot otherwise be known2 to hear the intimate1 dread voice2 to listen to what long1 long ago went away1 and to what now is going and coming1 coming and going1 and to what august airs of sorrow and beauty prevail in that dim empire of shadow where the falling leaf rests unfallen1 where ,sound1 of all else forgotten and forgetting1 lives in the pale hyacinth1 the moon-white pansy1 the cloudy amaranth that gathers dew4 ,and1 in the wood2 by the grey stone on the hill2 where the heron waits2 where the plover wails3 on the pillow2 in the room filled with flame-warmed twilight2 is there any comrade that is as ,silence is8 ,can she not whisper the white secrecies which words discolour8 ,can she not say1 when we would forget1 forget2 when we would remember1 remember8 ,is it not she also who says1 ,come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest8 ,is it not she who has a lute into which all loveliness of sound has passed1 so that when she breathes upon it life is audible8 ,is it not she who will close many doors1 and shut away cries and tumults1 and will lead you to a green garden and a fountain in it1 and say1 ,this is your heart1 and that is your soul2 listen4 ,that third one1 is he a ,spirit1 alone1 uncompanioned8 ,i think sometimes that these three are one1 and that ,silence is his inward voice and the ,wind the sound of his unwearying feet4 ,does he not come in wind1 whether his footfall be on the wild rose1 or on the bitter wave1 or in the tempest shaken with noises and rains that are cries and tears1 sighs and prayers and tears8 ,he has many ways1 many hopes1 many faces4 ,he bends above those who meet in twilight1 above the cradle1 above dwellers by the hearth1 above the sorrowful1 above the joyous children of the sun1 above the grave4 ,must he not be divine1 who is worshipped of all men8 ,does not the wild-dove take the rainbow upon its breast because of him1 and the salmon leave the sea for inland pools1 and the creeping thing become winged and radiant8 ,the ,wind1 ,silence1 and ,love3 if one cannot learn of these1 is there any comradeship that can tell us more1 that can more comfort us1 that can so inhabit with living light what is waste and barren8 ,and1 in the hidden hour1 one will stoop1 and kiss us on the brow1 when our sudden stillness will1 for others1 already be memory4 ,and another will be as an open road1 with morning breaking4 ,and the third will meet us1 with a light of joy in his eyes2 but we shall not see him at first because of the sunblaze1 or hear his words because in that summer air the birds will be multitude4 ,meanwhile they are near and intimate4 ,their life uplifts us4 ,we cannot forget wholly1 nor cease to dream1 nor be left unhoping1 nor be without rest1 nor go darkly without torches and songs1 if these accompany us2 or we them1 for they go one way4 ,,barabal ,a ,,memory ,i have spoken in ,iona and elsewhere of the old ,highland woman who was my nurse4 ,she was not really old1 but to me seemed so1 and ,i have always so thought of her4 ,she was one of the most beautiful and benignant natures ,i have known4 ,i owe her a great debt4 ,in a moment1 now1 ,i can see her again1 with her pale face and great dark eyes1 stooping over my bed1 singing ,wae's me for ,prince ,charlie1 or an old ,gaelic ,lament1 or that sad1 forgotten1 beautiful and mournful air that was played at ,fotheringay when the ,queen of ,scots was done to death1 lest her cries should be heard4 ,or1 later1 ,i can hear her telling me old tales before the fire2 or1 later still1 before the glowing peats in her little island-cottage1 speaking of men and women1 and strange legends1 and stranger dreams and visions4 ,to her1 and to an old islander1 ,seumas ,macleod1 of whom ,i have elsewhere spoken in this volume1 ,i owe more than to any other influences in my childhood4 ,perhaps it is from her that in part ,i have my great dislike of towns4 ,there is no smoke in the lark's house1 to use one of her frequent sayings--one common throughout the west4 ,i never knew any one whose speech1 whose thought1 was so coloured with the old wisdom and old sayings and old poetry of her race4 ,to me she stands for the ,gaelic woman1 strong1 steadfast1 true to her own1 her people1 her clan1 her love1 herself4 ,when you come to love1 she said to me once1 keep always to the one you love a mouth of silk and a heart of hemp4 ,her mind was a storehouse of proverbial lore4 ,had ,i been older and wiser1 ,i might have learned less fugitively4 ,i cannot attempt to reach adequately even the most characteristic of these proverbial sayings2 it would take overlong4 ,most of them1 of course1 would be familiar to our proverb-loving people4 ,but1 among others of which ,i have kept note1 ,i have not anywhere seen the following in print4 ,you could always tell where his thoughts would be 444 pointing one way like the hounds of ,finn 7i4e4 the two stars of the north1 the ,pointers72 ,it's a comfort to know there's nothing missing1 as the wren said when she counted the stars2 ,the dog's howl is the stag's laugh2 and again1 ,i would rather cry with the plover than laugh with the dog 7both meaning that the imprisoned comfort of the towns is not to be compared with the life of the hills1 for all its wildness72 ,true love is like a mountain-tarn2 it may not be deep1 but that's deep enough that can hold the sun1 moon1 and stars2 ,it isn't silence where the lark's song ceases2 ,st4 ,bride's ,flower1 ,st4 ,bride's ,bird1 and ,st4 ,bride's ,gift make a fine spring and a good year4 7,am ,bearnan ,bhrigde1 'us ,gille-,bhrigde1 'us ,lunn-,bata ,bhrigde1 etc4--the dandelion1 the oyster-catcher1 and the cradle#i--;because the dandelion comes with the first south winds and in a sunny spring is seen everywhere1 and because in a fine season the oyster-catcher's early breeding-note fortells prosperity with the nets1 and because a birth in spring is good luck for child and mother47 ,it's easier for most folk to say ,lus ,bealtainn than ,la' ,bealtainn3 i4e4 people can see the small things that concern themselves better than the great things that concern the world2 literally1 ,it's easier to say marigold than may-day--in ,gaelic1 a close play upon words2 ,cuir do lamh leinn1 ,lend us a hand1 as the fox in the ditch said to the duckling on the roadside2 ,gu'm a slan gu'n till thu1 ,may you return in health1 as the young man said when his conscience left him2 ,it's only a hand's-turn from eunadair to eunadan 7from the bird-snarer to the cage72 ,saying eud is next door to saying eudail1 as the girl laughed back to her sweetheart 7eud is jealousy and eudail my ,treasure72 ,the lark doesn't need broggan 7shoes7 to climb the stairs of the sky4 ,among those which will not be new to some readers1 ,i have note of a rhyme about the stars of the four seasons1 and a saying about the three kinds of love1 and the four stars of destiny4 ,wind comes from the spring star1 runs the first2 heat from the summer star1 water from the autumn star1 and frost from the winter star4 ,barabal's variant was wind 7air7 from the spring star in the east2 fire 7heat7 from the summer star in the south2 water from the autumn star in the west2 wisdom1 silence and death from the star in the north4 ,both this season-rhyme and that of the three kinds of love are well known4 ,the latter runs3-- ,gaol nam fear-diolain1 mar shruth-lionaidh na mara2 ,gaol nam fear-fuadain1 mar ghaoith tuath 'thig o'n charraig2 ,gaol nam fear-posda1 mar luing a' seoladh gu cala4 ,lawless love is as the wild tides of the sea2 ,and the roamer's love cruel as the north wind blowing from barren rocks2 ,but wedded love is like the ship coming safe home to haven4 ,i have found these two and many others of ,barabal's sayings and rhymes1 except those ,i have first given1 in collections of proverbs and folklore1 but do not remember having noted another1 though doubtless ,the ,four ,stars of ,destiny 7or ,fate7 will be recalled by some4 ,it ran somewhat as follows3-- ,reul ,near 7,star of the ,east71 ,give us kindly birth2 ,reul ,deas 7,star of the ,south71 ,give us great love2 ,reul ,niar 7,star of the ,west71 ,give us quiet age2 ,reul ,tuath 7,star of the ,north71 ,give us ,death4 ,it was from her ,i first heard of the familiar legend of the waiting of ,fionn and the ,feinn 7popularly now ,fingal and the ,fingalians71 fo-gheasaibh1 spellbound1 till the day of their return to the living world4 ,in effect the several legends are the same4 ,that which ,barabal told was as an isleswoman would more naturally tell it4 ,a man so pure that he could give a woman love and yet let angels fan the flame in his heart1 and so innocent that his thoughts were white as a child's thoughts1 and so brave that none could withstand him1 climbed once to the highest mountain in the ,isles1 where there is a great cave that no one has ever entered4 ,a huge white hound slept at the entrance to the cave4 ,he stepped over it1 and it did not wake4 ,he entered1 and passed four tall demons1 with bowed heads and folded arms1 one with great wings of red1 another with wings of white1 another with wings of green1 and another with wings of black4 ,they did not uplift their dreadful eyes4 ,then he saw ,fionn and the ,feinn sitting in a circle4 ,their long hair trailed on the ground2 their eyebrows fell to their beards2 their beards lay upon their feet1 so that nothing of their bodies was seen but hands like scarped rocks that clasped gigantic swords4 ,behind them hung an elk-horn with a mouth of gold4 ,he blew this horn1 but nothing happened1 except that the huge white hound came in1 and went to the hollow place round which the ,feinn sat1 and in silence ate greedily of treasures of precious stones4 ,he blew the horn again1 and ,fionn and all the ,feinn opened their great1 cold1 grey1 lifeless eyes1 and stared upon him2 and for him it was as though he stood at a grave and the dead man in the grave put up strong hands and held his feet1 and as though his soul saw ,fear4 ,but with a mighty effort he blew the horn a third time4 ,the ,feinn leaned on their elbows1 and ,fionn said1 ,is the end come8 ,but the man could wait no more1 and turned and fled1 leaving that ancient mighty company leaning upon its elbow1 spellbound thus1 waiting for the end4 ,so they shall be found4 ,the four demons fled into the air1 and tumultuous winds swung him from that place4 ,he heard the baying of the white hound1 and the mountain vanished4 ,he was found lying dead in a pasture in the little island that was his home4 ,i recall this here because the legend was plainly in ,barabal's mind when her last ill came upon her4 ,in her delirium she cried suddenly1 ,the ,feinn6 ,the ,feinn6 they are coming down the hill6 ,i hear the bells of the ewes1 she said abruptly1 just before the end3 so by that we knew she was already upon far pastures1 and heard the ,shepherd calling upon the sheep to come into the fold4 ,,footnote3 #i ,it is probably in the isles only that the pretty word ,lunn-,bata is used for cra-all 7creathall71 a cradle4 ,it might best be rendered as boat-on-a-billow1 lunn being a heaving billow4 ,,the ,,white ,,heron ,it was in summer1 when there is no night among these ,northern ,isles4 ,the slow1 hot days waned through a long after-glow of rose and violet2 and when the stars came1 it was only to reveal purple depths within depths4 ,mary ,macleod walked1 barefoot1 through the dewy grass1 on the long western slope of ,innisron1 looking idly at the phantom flake of the moon as it hung like a blown moth above the rose-flush of the ,west4 ,below it1 beyond her1 the ocean4 ,it was pale1 opalescent2 here shimmering with the hues of the moonbow2 here dusked with violet shadow1 but1 for the most part1 pale1 opalescent4 ,no wind moved1 but a breath arose from the momentary lips of the sea4 ,the cool sigh floated inland1 and made a continual faint tremor amid the salt grasses4 ,the skuas and guillemots stirred1 and at long intervals screamed4 ,the girl stopped1 staring seaward4 ,the illimitable1 pale1 unlifted wave2 the hinted dusk of the quiet underwaters2 the unfathomable violet gulfs overhead2--these silent comrades were not alien to her4 ,their kin1 she was but a moving shadow on an isle2 to her1 they were the veils of wonder beyond which the soul knows no death1 but looks upon the face of ,beauty1 and upon the eyes of ,love1 and upon the heart of ,peace4 ,amid these silent spaces two dark objects caught the girl's gaze4 ,flying eastward1 a solander trailed a dusky wing across the sky4 ,so high its flight that the first glance saw it as though motionless2 yet1 even while ,mary looked1 the skyfarer waned suddenly1 and that which had been was not4 ,the other object had wings too1 but was not a bird4 ,a fishing-smack lay idly becalmed1 her red-brown sail now a patch of warm dusk4 ,mary knew what boat it was--the ,nighean ,donn1 out of ,fionnaphort in ,ithona1 the westernmost of the ,iarraidh ,isles4 ,there was no one visible on board the ,nighean ,donn1 but a boy's voice sang a monotonous ,gaelic cadence1 indescribably sweet as it came1 remote and wild as an air out of a dim forgotten world1 across the still waters4 ,mary ,macleod knew the song1 a strange iorram or boat-song made by ,pol the ,freckled1 and by him given to his friend ,angus ,macleod of ,ithona4 ,she muttered the words over and over1 as the lilt of the boyish voice rose and fell-- ,it is not only when the sea is dark and chill and desolate ,i hear the singing of the queen who lives beneath the ocean3 ,oft have ,i heard her chanting voice when moon o'erfloods his golden gate1 ,or when the moonshine fills the wave with snow-white mazy motion4 ,and some day will it hap to me1 when the black waves are leaping1 ,or when within the breathless green ,i see her shell-strewn door1 ,that singing voice will lure me where my sea-drown'd love lies sleeping ,beneath the slow white hands of her who rules the sunken shore4 ,for in my heart ,i hear the bells that ring their fatal beauty4 ,the wild1 remote1 uncertain bells that chant their lonely sorrow3 ,the lonely bells of sorrow1 the bells of fatal beauty1 ,oft in my heart ,i hear the bells1 who soon shall know no morrow4 ,the slow splashing of oars in the great hollow cavern underneath her feet sent a flush to her face4 ,she knew who was there--that it was the little boat of the ,nighean ,donn1 and that ,angus ,macleod was in it4 ,she stood among the seeding grasses1 intent4 ,the cluster of white moon-daisies that reached to her knees was not more pale than her white face2 for a white silence was upon ,mary ,macleod in her dreaming girlhood1 as in her later years4 ,she shivered once as she listened to ,angus's echoing song1 while he secured his boat1 and began to climb from ledge to ledge4 ,he too had heard the lad ,uille ,ban singing as he lay upon a coil of rope1 while the smack lay idly on the unmoving waters2 and hearing1 had himself taken up the song-- ,for in my heart ,i hear the bells that ring their fatal beauty1 ,the wild1 remote1 uncertain bells that chant their lonely sorrow3 ,the lonely bells of sorrow1 the bells of fatal beauty1 ,oft in my heart ,i hear the bells1 who soon shall know no morrow4 ,mary shivered with the vague fear that had come upon her4 ,had she not dreamed1 in the bygone night1 that she heard some one in the sea singing that very song--some one with slow1 white hands which waved idly above a dead man8 ,a moment ago she had listened to the same song sung by the lad ,uille ,ban2 and now1 for the third time1 she heard ,angus idly chanting it as he rose invisibly from ledge to ledge of the great cavern below4 ,three idle songs yet she remembered that death was but the broken refrain of an idle song4 ,when ,angus leaped onto the slope and came towards her1 she felt her pulse quicken4 ,tall and fair1 he looked fairer and taller than she had ever seen him4 ,the light that was still in the west lingered in his hair1 which1 yellow as it was1 now glistened as with the sheen of bronze4 ,he had left his cap in the boat2 and as he crossed swiftly towards her1 she realized anew that he deserved the ,gaelic name given him by ,pol the poet--,angus the yellow-haired son of ,youth4 ,they had never spoken of their love1 and now both realized in a flash that no words were needed4 ,at midsummer noon no one says the sun shines4 ,angus came forward with outreaching hands4 ,dear1 dear love6 he whispered4 ,mhairi mo run1 muirnean1 mochree6 ,she put her hands in his2 she put her lips to his2 she put her head to his breast1 and listened1 all her life throbbing in response to the leaping pulse of the heart that loved her4 ,dear1 dear love6 he whispered again4 ,angus6 she murmured4 ,they said no more1 but moved slowly onward1 hand in hand4 ,the night had their secret4 ,for sure1 it was in the low sighing of the deep when the tide put its whispering lips against the sleeping sea2 it was in the spellbound silences of the isle2 it was in the phantasmal light of the stars--the stars of dream1 in a sky of dream1 in a world of dream4 ,when1 an hour--or was it an eternity1 or a minute8--later1 they turned1 she to her home near the clachan of ,innisron1 he to his boat1 a light air had come up on the forehead of the tide4 ,the sail of the ,nighean ,donn flapped1 a dusky wing in the darkness4 ,the penetrating smell of sea-mist was in the air4 ,mary had only one regret as she turned her face inland1 when once the invisibly gathering mist hid from her even the blurred semblance of the smack--that she had not asked ,angus to sing no more that song of ,pol the ,freckled1 which vaguely she feared1 and even hated4 ,she had stood listening to the splashing of the oars1 and1 later1 to the voices of ,angus and ,uille ,ban2 and now1 coming faintly and to her weirdly through the gloom1 she heard her lover's voice chanting the words again4 ,what made him sing that song1 in that hour1 on this day of all days8 ,for in my heart ,i hear the bells that ring their fatal beauty1 ,the wild1 remote1 uncertain bells that chant their lonely sorrow3 ,the lonely bells of sorrow1 the bells of fatal beauty1 ,oft in my heart ,i hear the bells1 who soon shall know no morrow4 ,but long before she was back at the peat-fire again she forgot that sad1 haunting cadence1 and remembered only his words--the dear words of him whom she loved1 as he came towards her1 across the dewy grass1 with outstretched hands-- ,dear1 dear love6--,mhairi mo run1 muirnean1 mochree6 ,she saw them in the leaping shadows in the little room2 in the red glow that flickered along the fringes of the peats2 in the darkness which1 like a sea1 drowned the lonely croft4 ,she heard them in the bubble of the meal1 as slowly with wooden spurtle she stirred the porridge2 she heard them in the rising wind that had come in with the tide2 she heard them in the long resurge and multitudinous shingly inrush as the hands of the ,atlantic tore at the beaches of ,innisron4 ,after the smooring of the peats1 and when the two old people1 the father of her father and his white-haired wife1 were asleep1 she sat for a long time in the warm darkness4 ,from a cranny in the peat ash a smouldering flame looked out comfortingly4 ,in the girl's heart a great peace was come as well as a great joy4 ,she had dwelled so long with silence that she knew its eloquent secrets2 and it was sweet to sit there in the dusk1 and listen1 and commune with silence1 and dream4 ,above the long1 deliberate rush of the tidal waters round the piled beaches she could hear a dull1 rhythmic beat4 ,it was the screw of some great steamer1 churning its way through the darkness2 a stranger1 surely1 for she knew the times and seasons of every vessel that came near these lonely isles4 ,sometimes it happened that the ,uist or ,tiree steamers passed that way2 doubtless it was the ,tiree boat1 or possibly the big steamer that once or twice in the summer fared northward to far-off ,st4 ,kilda4 ,she must have slept1 and the sound have passed into her ears as an echo into a shell2 for when1 with a start1 she arose1 she still heard the thud-thud of the screw1 although the boat had long since passed away4 ,it was the cry of a sea-bird which had startled her4 ,once--twice--the scream had whirled about the house4 ,mary listened1 intent4 ,once more it came1 and at the same moment she saw a drift of white press up against the window4 ,she sprang to her feet1 startled4 ,it is the cry of a heron1 she muttered1 with dry lips2 but who has heard tell of a white heron8--and the bird there is white as a snow-wreath4 ,some uncontrollable impulse made her hesitate4 ,she moved to go to the window1 to see if the bird were wounded1 but she could not4 ,sobbing with inexplicable fear1 she turned and fled1 and a moment later was in her own little room4 ,there all her fear passed4 ,yet she could not sleep for long4 ,if only she could get the sound of that beating screw out of her ears1 she thought4 ,but she could not1 neither waking nor sleeping2 nor the following day2 nor any day thereafter2 and when she died1 doubtless she heard the thud-thud of a screw as it churned the dark waters in a night of shrouding mist4 ,for on the morrow she learned that the ,nighean ,donn had been run down in the mist1 a mile south of ,ithona1 by an unknown steamer4 ,the great vessel came out of the darkness1 unheeding2 unheeding she passed into the darkness again4 ,perhaps the officer in command thought that his vessel had run into some floating wreckage2 for there was no cry heard1 and no lights had been seen4 ,later1 only one body was found--that of the boy ,uille ,ban4 ,when heartbreaking sorrow comes1 there is no room for words4 ,mary ,macleod said little2 what1 indeed1 was there to say8 ,the islanders gave what kindly comfort they could4 ,the old minister1 when next he came to ,innisron1 spoke of the will of ,god and the ,life ,eternal4 ,mary bowed her head4 ,what had been1 was not3 could any words1 could any solace1 better that8 ,you are young1 ,mary1 said ,mr4 ,macdonald1 when he had prayed with her4 ,god will not leave you desolate4 ,she turned upon him her white face1 with her great1 brooding1 dusky eyes3 ,will ,he give me back ,angus8 she said1 in her low1 still voice1 that had the hush in it of lonely places4 ,he could not tell her so4 ,it was to be1 she said1 breaking the long silence that had fallen between them4 ,ay1 the minister answered4 ,she looked at him1 and then took his hand4 ,i am thanking you1 ,mr4 ,macdonald1 for the good words you have put upon my sorrow4 ,but ,i am not wishing that any more be said to me4 ,i must go now1 for ,i have to see to the milking1 an' ,i hear the poor beasts lowing on the hillside4 ,the old folk too are weary1 and ,i must be getting them their porridge4 ,after that no one ever heard ,mary ,macleod speak of ,angus4 ,she was a good lass1 all agreed1 and made no moan2 and there was no croft tidier than ,scaur-a-van1 and because of her it was2 and she made butter better than any on ,innisron2 and in the isles there was no cheese like the ,scaur-a-van cheese4 ,had there been any kith or kin of ,angus1 she would have made them hers4 ,she took the consumptive mother of ,uille ,ban from ,ithona1 and kept her safe-havened at ,scaur-a-van1 till the woman sat up one night in her bed1 and cried in a loud voice that ,uille ,ban was standing by her side and playing a wild air on the strings of her heart1 which he had in his hands1 and the strings were breaking1 she cried4 ,they broke1 and ,mary envied her1 and the whispering joy she would be having with ,uille ,ban4 ,but ,angus had no near kin4 ,perhaps1 she thought1 he would miss her the more where he had gone4 ,he had a friend1 whom she had never seen4 ,he was a man of ,iona1 and was named ,eachain ,mac,eachain ,maclean4 ,he and ,angus had been boys in the same boat1 and sailed thrice to ,iceland together1 and once to ,peterhead1 that maybe was as far or further1 or perhaps upon the coast-lands further east4 ,mary knew little geography1 though she could steer by the stars4 ,to this friend she wrote1 through the minister1 to say that if ever he was in trouble he was to come to her4 ,it was on the third night after the sinking of the ,nighean ,donn that ,mary walked alone1 beyond the shingle beaches1 and where the ledges of trap run darkly into deep water4 ,it was a still night and clear4 ,the lambs and ewes were restless in the moonshine2 their bleating filled the upper solitudes4 ,a shoal of mackerel made a spluttering splashing sound beyond the skerries outside the haven4 ,the ebb1 sucking at the weedy extremes of the ledges1 caused a continuous bubbling sound4 ,there was no stir of air1 only a breath upon the sea2 but1 immeasurably remote1 frayed clouds1 like trailed nets in yellow gulfs of moonlight1 shot flame-shaped tongues into the dark1 and seemed to lick the stars as these shook in the wind4 ,no mist to-night1 ,mary muttered2 then1 startled by her own words1 repeated1 and again repeated1 ,there will be no mist to-night4 ,then she stood as though become stone4 ,before her1 on a solitary rock1 a great bird sat4 ,it was a heron4 ,in the moonshine its plumage glistened white as foam of the sea2 white as one of her lambs it was4 ,she had never seen1 never heard of1 a white heron4 ,there was some old ,gaelic song--what was it8--no1 she could not remember--something about the souls of the dead4 ,the words would not come4 ,slowly she advanced4 ,the heron did not stir4 ,suddenly she fell upon her knees1 and reached out her arms1 and her hair fell about her shoulders1 and her heart beat against her throat1 and the grave gave up its sorrow1 and she cried-- ,oh1 ,angus1 ,angus1 my beloved6 ,angus1 ,angus1 my dear1 dear love6 ,she heard nothing1 saw nothing1 felt nothing1 knew nothing1 till1 numbed and weak1 she stirred with a cry1 for some creeping thing of the sea had crossed her hand4 ,she rose and stared about her4 ,there was nothing to give her fear4 ,the moon rays danced on a glimmering sea-pasture far out upon the water2 their lances and javelins flashed and glinted merrily4 ,a dog barked as she crossed the flag-stones at ,scaur-a-van1 then suddenly began a strange furtive baying4 ,she called1 ,luath6 ,luath6 ,the dog was silent a moment1 then threw its head back and howled1 abruptly breaking again into a sustained baying4 ,the echo swept from croft to croft1 and wakened every dog upon the isle4 ,mary looked back4 ,slowly circling behind her she saw the white heron4 ,with a cry1 she fled into the house4 ,for three nights thereafter she saw the white heron4 ,on the third she had no fear4 ,she followed the foam-white bird2 and when she could not see it1 then she followed its wild1 plaintive cry4 ,at dawn she was still at ,ardfeulan1 on the western side of ,innisron2 but her arms were round the drowned heart whose pulse she had heard leap so swift in joy1 and her lips put a vain warmth against the dear face that was wan as spent foam1 and as chill as that4 ,three years after that day ,mary saw again the white heron4 ,she was alone now1 and she was glad1 for she thought ,angus had come1 and she was ready4 ,yet neither death nor sorrow happened4 ,thrice1 night after night1 she saw the white gleam of nocturnal wings1 heard the strange bewildering cry4 ,it was on the fourth day1 when a fierce gale covered the isle with a mist of driving spray4 ,no ,innisron boat was outside the haven2 for that1 all were glad4 ,but in the late afternoon a cry went from mouth to mouth4 ,there was a fishing-coble on the skerries6 ,that meant death for all on board1 for nothing could be done4 ,the moment came soon4 ,a vast drowning billow leaped forward1 and when the cloud of spray had scattered1 there was no coble to be seen4 ,only one man was washed ashore1 nigh dead1 upon the spar he clung to4 ,his name was ,eachain ,mac,eachain1 son of a ,maclean of ,iona4 ,and that was how ,mary ,macleod met the friend of ,angus1 and he a ruined man1 and how she put her life to his1 and they were made one4 ,her man 444 yes1 he was her man1 to whom she was loyal and true1 and whom she loved right well for many years4 ,but she knew1 and he too knew well1 that she had wedded one man in her heart1 and that no other could take his place there1 then or for ever4 ,she had one husband only1 but it was not he to whom she was wed1 but ,angus1 the son of ,alasdair--him whom she loved with the deep love that surpasseth all wisdom of the world that ever was1 or is1 or shall be4 ,and ,eachain her man lived out his years with her1 and was content1 though he knew that in her silent heart his wife1 who loved him well1 had only one lover1 one dream1 one hope1 one passion1 one remembrance1 one husband4 ,,the ,,smoothing ,,of ,,the ,,hand ,glad am ,i that wherever and whenever ,i listen intently ,i can hear the looms of ,nature weaving ,beauty and ,music4 ,but some of the most beautiful things are learned otherwise--by hazard1 in the ,way of ,pain1 or at the ,gate of ,sorrow4 ,i learned two things on the day when ,i saw ,seumas ,mc,ian dead upon the heather4 ,he of whom ,i speak was the son of ,ian ,mc,ian ,alltnalee1 but was known throughout the home straths and the countries beyond as ,seumas ,dhu1 ,black ,james1 or1 to render the subtler meaning implied in this instance1 ,james the ,dark ,one4 ,i had wondered occasionally at the designation1 because ,seumas1 if not exactly fair1 was not dark4 ,but the name was given to him1 as ,i learned later1 because1 as commonly rumoured1 he knew that which he should not have known4 ,i had been spending some weeks with ,alasdair ,mc,ian and his wife ,silis 7who was my foster-sister71 at their farm of ,ardoch1 high in a remote hill country4 ,one night we were sitting before the peats1 listening to the wind crying amid the corries1 though1 ominously as it seemed to us1 there was not a breath in the rowan-tree that grew in the sun's way by the house4 ,silis had been singing1 but silence had come upon us4 ,in the warm glow from the fire we saw each other's faces4 ,there the silence lay1 strangely still and beautiful1 as snow in moonlight4 ,silis's song was one of the ,dana ,spioradail1 known in ,gaelic as the ,hymn of the ,looms4 ,i cannot recall it1 nor have ,i ever heard or in any way encountered it again4 ,it had a lovely refrain1 ,i know not whether its own or added by ,silis4 ,i have heard her chant it to other runes and songs4 ,now1 when too late1 my regret is deep that ,i did not take from her lips more of those sorrowful1 strange songs or chants1 with their ancient ,celtic melodies1 so full of haunting sweet melancholy1 which she loved so well4 ,it was with this refrain that1 after a long stillness1 she startled us that ,october night4 ,i remember the sudden light in the eyes of ,alasdair ,mc,ian1 and the beat at my heart1 when1 like rain in a wood1 her voice fell unawares upon us out of the silence3 ,oh6 oh6 ohrone1 arone6 ,oh6 oh6 mo ghraidh1 mo chridhe6 ,oh6 oh6 mo ghraidh1 mo chridhe6#aj ,the wail1 and the sudden break in the second line1 had always upon me an effect of inexpressible pathos4 ,often that sad wind-song has been in my ears1 when ,i have been thinking of many things that are passed and are passing4 ,i know not what made ,silis so abruptly begin to sing1 and with that wailing couplet only1 or why she lapsed at once into silence again4 ,indeed1 my remembrance of the incident at all is due to the circumstance that shortly after ,silis had turned her face to the peats again1 a knock came to the door1 and then ,seumas ,dhu entered4 ,why do you sing that lament1 ,silis1 sister of my father8 he asked1 after he had seated himself beside me1 and spread his thin hands against the peat glow1 so that the flame seemed to enter within the flesh4 ,silis turned to her nephew1 and looked at him1 as ,i thought1 questioningly4 ,but she did not speak4 ,he1 too1 said nothing more1 either forgetful of his question1 or content with what he had learned or failed to learn through her silence4 ,the wind had come down from the corries before ,seumas rose to go4 ,he said he was not returning to ,alltnalee1 but was going upon the hill1 for a big herd of deer had come over the ridge of ,mel ,mor4 ,seumas1 though skilled in all hill and forest craft1 was not a sure shot1 as was his kinsman and my host1 ,alasdair ,mc,ian4 ,you will need help1 ,i remember ,alasdair ,ardoch saying mockingly1 adding1 ,co dhiubh is fhearr let mise thoir sealladh na faileadh dhiubh8--that is to say1 ,whether would you rather me to deprive them of sight or smell8 ,this is a familiar saying among the old sportsmen in my country1 where it is believed that a few favoured individuals have the power to deprive deer of either sight or smell1 as the occasion suggests4 ,dhuit ciar nan carn6--,the gloom of the rocks be upon you6 replied ,seumas1 sullenly3 mayhap the hour is come when the red stag will sniff at my nostrils4 ,with that dark saying he went4 ,none of us saw him again alive4 ,was it a forewarning8 ,i have often wondered4 ,or had he sight of the shadow8 ,it was three days after this1 and shortly after sunrise1 that1 on crossing the south slope of ,mel ,mor with ,alasdair ,ardoch1 we came suddenly upon the body of ,seumas1 half submerged in a purple billow of heather4 ,it did not1 at the moment1 occur to me that he was dead4 ,i had not known that his prolonged absence had been noted1 or that he had been searched for4 ,as a matter of fact1 he must have died immediately before our approach1 for his limbs were still loose1 and he lay as a sleeper lies4 ,alasdair kneeled and raised his kinsman's head4 ,when it lay upon the purple tussock1 the warmth and glow from the sunlit ling gave a fugitive deceptive light to the pale face4 ,i know not whether the sun can have any chemic action upon the dead4 ,but it seemed to me that a dream rose to the face of ,seumas1 like one of those submarine flowers that are said to rise at times and be visible for a moment in the hollow of a wave4 ,the dream1 the light1 waned2 and there was a great stillness and white peace where the trouble had been4 ,it is the ,smoothing of the ,hand1 said ,alasdair ,mc,ian1 in a hushed voice4 ,often ,i had heard this lovely phrase in the ,western ,isles1 but always as applied to sleep4 ,when a fretful child suddenly falls into quietude and deep slumber1 an isleswoman will say that it is because of the ,smoothing of the ,hand4 ,it is always a profound sleep1 and there are some who hold it almost as a sacred thing1 and never to be disturbed4 ,so1 thinking only of this1 ,i whispered to my friend to come away2 that ,seumas was dead weary with hunting upon the hills2 that he would awake in due time4 ,mc,ian looked at me1 hesitated1 and said nothing4 ,i saw him glance around4 ,a few yards away1 beside a great boulder in the heather1 a small rowan stood1 flickering its feather-like shadows across the white wool of a ewe resting underneath4 ,he moved thitherward1 slowly1 plucked a branch heavy with scarlet berries1 and then1 having returned1 laid it across the breast of his kinsman4 ,i knew now what was that passing of the trouble in the face of ,seumas ,dhu1 what that sudden light was1 that calming of the sea1 that ineffable quietude4 ,it was the ,smoothing of the ,hand4 ,,footnote3 #aj ,pronounce mogh-ray1 mogh-ree 7my heart's delight--lit4 my dear one1 my heart74 ,,the ,,white ,,fever ,one night1 before the peats1 ,i was told this thing by old ,cairstine ,macdonald1 in the isle of ,benbecula4 ,it is in her words that ,i give it3 ,in the spring of the year that my boy ,tormaid died1 the moon-daisies were as thick as a woven shroud over the place where ,giorsal1 the daughter of ,ian1 the son of ,ian ,mac,leod of ,baille 'n ,bad-a-sgailich1 slept night and day4#aa ,all that ,march the cormorants screamed1 famished4 ,there were few fish in the sea1 and no kelp-weed was washed up by the high tides4 ,in the island and in the near isles1 ay1 and far north through the mainland1 the blight lay4 ,many sickened4 ,i knew young mothers who had no milk4 ,there are green mounds in ,carnan kirkyard that will be telling you of what this meant4 ,here and there are little green mounds1 each so small that you might cuddle it in your arm under your plaid4 ,tormaid sickened4 ,a bad day was that for him when he came home1 weary with the sea1 and drenched to the skin1 because of a gale that caught him and his mates off ,barra ,head4 ,when the ,march winds tore down the ,minch1 and leaped out from over the ,cuchullins1 and came west1 and lay against our homes1 where the peats were sodden and there was little food1 the minister told me that my lad would be in the quiet havens before long4 ,this was because of the white fever4 ,it was of that same that ,giorsal waned1 and went out like a thin flame in sunlight4 ,the son of my man 7years ago weary no more7 said little ever4 ,he ate nothing almost1 even of the next to nothing we had4 ,at nights he couldna sleep because of his cough4 ,the coming of ,may lifted him awhile4 ,i hoped he would see the autumn2 and that if he did1 and the herring came1 and the harvest was had1 and what wi' this and what wi' that1 he would forget his ,giorsal that lay i' the mools in the quiet place yonder4 ,maybe then1 ,i thought1 the sorrow would go1 and take its shadow with it4 ,one gloaming he came in with all the whiteness of his wasted body in his face4 ,his heart was out of its shell2 and mine1 too1 at the sight of him4#ab ,this was the season of the hanging of the dog's mouth4 ,what is it1 ,tormaid-a-ghaolach8 ,i asked1 with the sob that was in my throat4 ,thraisg mo chridhe1 he muttered 7,my heart is parched74 ,then1 feeling the asking in my eyes1 he said1 ,i have seen her4 ,i knew he meant ,giorsal4 ,my heart sank4 ,but ,i wore my nails into the palms of my hands4 ,then ,i said this thing1 that is an old saying in the isles3 ,those who are in the quiet havens hear neither the wind nor the sea4 ,he was so weak he could not lie down in the bed4 ,he was in the big chair before the peats1 with his feet on a claar4 ,when the wind was still ,i read him the ,word4 ,a little warm milk was all he would take4 ,i could hear the blood in his lungs sobbing like the ebb-tide in the sea-weed4 ,this was the thing that he said to me3 ,she came to me1 like a grey mist1 beyond the dyke of the green place1 near the road4 ,the face of her was grey as a grey dawn1 but the voice was hers1 though ,i heard it under a wave1 so dull and far was it4 ,and these are her words to me1 and mine to her--and the first speaking was mine1 for the silence wore me3 ,am bheil thu' falbh1 ,o mo ghraidh8 ,b'idh mi falbh1 ,muirnean6 ,c'uin a thilleas tu1 ,o mo ghraidh8 ,cha till mi an rathad so2 ,tha an't ait e cumhann-- ,o ,muirnean1 ,muirnean6 ,b'idh mi falbh an drugh ,am tigh ,pharais1 ,muirnean6 ,seol dhomh an rathad1 ,mo ghraidh6 ,thig an so1 ,muirnean-mo1 ,thig an so6 ,are you going1 ,my dear one8 ,yea1 now ,i am going1 ,dearest4 ,when will you come again1 ,my dear one8 ,i will not return this way2 ,the place is narrow-- ,o my ,darling6 ,i will be going to ,paradise1 ,dear1 my dear one6 ,show me the way1 ,heart of my heart6 ,come hither1 dearest1 come hither1 ,come with me6 ,and then ,i saw that it was a mist1 and that ,i was alone4 ,but now this night it is that ,i feel the breath on the soles of my feet4 ,and with that ,i knew there was no hope4 ,ma tha sin an dan6 444 if that be ordained1 was all that rose to my lips4 ,it was that night he died4 ,i fell asleep in the second hour4 ,when ,i woke in the grey dawn1 his face was greyer than that1 and more cold4 ,,footnotes3 #aa ,baille 'n ,bad-a-sgailich3 the ,farm of the ,shadowy ,clump of ,trees4 ,cairstine1 or ,cairistine1 is the ,gaelic for ,christina 7for ,christian71 as ,tormaid is for ,norman1 and ,giorsal for ,grace4 ,the quiet havens is the beautiful island phrase for graves4 ,here1 also1 a swift and fatal consumption that falls upon the doomed is called ,the ,white ,fever4 ,by the mainland1 ,harris and the ,lewis are meant4 #ab ,a cockall a' chridhe3 his heart out of its shell--a phrase often used to express sudden derangement from any shock4 ,the ensuing phrase means the month from the #aeth of ,july to the #aeth of ,august1 ,mios crochaidh nan con1 so called as it is supposed to be the hottest1 if not the most waterless1 month in the isles4 ,the word claar1 used below1 is the name given a small wooden tub1 into which the potatoes are turned when boiled4 ,,the ,,sea-,,madness ,i know a man who keeps a little store in a village by one of the lochs of ,argyll4 ,he is about fifty1 is insignificant1 commonplace1 in his interests parochial1 and on ,sundays painful to see in his sleek respectability4 ,he lives within sight of the green and grey waters1 above which grey mountains stand2 across the kyle is a fair wilderness2 but to my knowledge he never for pleasure goes upon the hills1 nor stands by the shore1 unless it be of a ,saturday night to watch the herring-boats come in1 or on a ,sabbath afternoon when he has word with a friend4 ,yet this man is one of the strangest men ,i have met or am like to meet4 ,from himself ,i have never heard word but the commonest1 and that in a manner somewhat servile4 ,i know his one intimate friend1 however4 ,at intervals 7sometimes of two or three years1 latterly each year for three years in succession7 this village chandler forgets1 and is suddenly become what he was1 or what some ancestor was1 in unremembered days4 ,for a day or two he is listless1 in a still sadness2 speaking1 when he has to speak1 in a low voice2 and often looking about him with sidelong eyes4 ,then one day he will leave his counter and go to the shed behind his shop1 and stand for a time frowning and whispering1 or perhaps staring idly1 and then go bareheaded up the hillside1 and along tangled ways of bog and heather1 and be seen no more for weeks4 ,he goes down through the ,wilderness locally called ,the ,broken ,rocks4 ,when he is there1 he is a strong man1 leaping like a goat--swift and furtive4 ,at times he strips himself bare1 and sits on a rock staring at the sun4 ,oftenest he walks along the shore1 or goes stumbling among weedy boulders1 calling loudly upon the sea4 ,his friend1 of whom ,i have spoken1 told me that he had again and again seen ,anndra stoop and lift handfuls out of the running wave and throw the water above his head while he screamed or shouted strange ,gaelic words1 some incoherent1 some old as the grey rocks4 ,once he was seen striding into the sea1 batting it with his hands1 smiting the tide-swell1 and defying it and deriding it1 with stifled laughters that gave way to cries and sobs of broken hate and love4 ,he sang songs to it4 ,he threw bracken1 and branches1 and stones at it1 cursing3 then falling on his knees would pray1 and lift the water to his lips1 and put it on his head4 ,he loved the sea as a man loves a woman4 ,it was his light o' love3 his love3 his ,god4 ,than that desire of his ,i have not heard of any more terrible4 ,to love the wind and the salt wave1 and be for ever mocked of the one and baffled of the other2 to lift a heart of flame1 and have the bleak air quench it2 to stoop1 whispering1 and kiss the wave1 and have its saltness sting the lips and blind the eyes3 this indeed is to know that bitter thing of which so many have died after tears1 broken hearts1 and madness4 ,his friend1 whom ,i will call ,neil1 once came upon him when he was in dread4 ,neil was in a boat1 and had sailed close inshore on the flow4 ,anndra saw him1 and screamed4 ,i know who you are6 ,keep away6 he cried4 ,fear faire na h'aon sula--,i know you for the ,one-,eyed ,watcher6 ,then1 said ,neil1 the salt wave went out of his eyes and he knew me1 and fell on his knees1 and wept1 and said he was dying of an old broken love4 ,and with that he ran down to the shore1 and lifted a palmful of water to his lips1 so that for a moment foam hung upon his tangled beard1 and called out to his love1 and was sore bitter upon her1 and then up and laughed and scrambled out of sight1 though ,i heard him crying among the rocks4 ,i asked ,neil who the ,one-,eyed ,watcher was4 ,he said he was a man who had never died and never lived4 ,he had only one eye1 but that could see through anything except grey granite1 the grey crow's egg1 and the grey wave that swims at the bottom4 ,he could see the dead in the water1 and watched for them3 he could see those on the land who came down near the sea1 if they had death on them4 ,on these he had no pity4 ,but he was unseen except at dusk and in the grey dawn4 ,he came out of a grave4 ,he was not a man1 but he lived upon the deaths of men4 ,it was worse to be alive1 and see him1 than to be dead and at his feet4 ,when the man ,anndra's madness went away from him--sometimes in a week or two weeks1 sometimes not for three weeks or more--he would come back across the hill4 ,in the dark he would slip down through the bracken and bog-myrtle1 and wait a while among the ragged fuchsias at the dyke of his potato-patch4 ,then he would creep in at the window of his room1 or perhaps lift the door-latch and go quietly to his bed4 ,once ,neil was there when he returned4 ,neil was speaking to ,anndra's sister1 who kept house for the poor man4 ,they heard a noise1 and the sudden flurried clucking of hens4 ,it's ,anndra1 said the woman1 with a catch in her throat2 and they sat in silence1 till the door opened4 ,he had been away five weeks1 and hair and beard were matted1 and his face was death-white2 but he had already slipped into his habitual clothes1 and looked the quiet respectable man he was4 ,the two who were waiting for him did not speak4 ,it's a fine night1 he said2 it's a fine night1 an' no wind4--,marget1 it's time we had in mair o' thae round cheeses fra ,inverary4 ,,earth1 ,,fire1 ,,and ,,water ,in ,the ,sea-,madness ,i have told of a man--a quiet dull man1 a chandler of a little ,argyll loch-town--who1 at times1 left his counter1 and small canny ways1 and went out into a rocky wilderness1 and became mad with the sea4 ,i have heard of many afflicted in some such wise1 and have known one or two4 ,in a tale written a few years ago1 ,the ,ninth ,wave1 ,i wrote of one whom ,i knew1 one ,ivor ,mac,neill1 or ,carminish1 so called because of his farm between the hills ,strondeval and ,rondeval1 near the ,obb of ,harris in the ,outer ,hebrides4 ,this man heard the secret calling of the ninth wave4 ,none may hear that1 when there is no wave on the sea1 or when perhaps he is inland1 and not follow4 ,that following is always to the ending of all following4 ,for a long while ,carminish put his fate from him4 ,he went to other isles3 wherever he went he heard the call of the sea4 ,come1 it cried1 come1 come away6 ,he passed at last to a kinsman's croft on ,aird-,vanish in the island of ,taransay4 ,he was not free there4 ,he stopped at a place where he had no kin1 and no memories1 and at a hidden1 quiet farm4 ,this was at ,eilean ,mhealastaidh1 which is under the morning shadow of ,griomabhal on the mainland4 ,his nights there were a sleepless dread4 ,he went to other places4 ,the sea called4 ,he went at last to his cousin ,eachainn ,mac,eachainn's bothy1 near ,callernish in the ,lews1 where the ,druid ,stones stand by the shore and hear nothing for ever but the noise of the waves and the cry of the sea-wind4 ,there1 weary in hope1 he found peace at last4 ,he slept1 and none called upon him4 ,he began to smile1 and to hope4 ,one night the two were at the porridge1 and ,eachainn was muttering his ,bui 'cheas dha 'n ,ti1 the ,thanks to the ,being1 when ,carminish leaped to his feet1 and with a white face stood shaking like a rope in the wind4 ,in the grey dawn they found his body1 stiff and salt with the ooze4 ,i did not know1 but ,i have heard of another who had a light tragic end4 ,some say he was witless4 ,others1 that he had the ,friday-,fate upon him4 ,i do not know what evil he had done1 but some one had met him and said to him ,bidh ruith na h',aoin' ort am ,feasda1 ,the ,friday-,fate will follow you for ever4 ,so it was said4 ,but ,i was told this of him3 that he had been well and strong and happy1 and did not know he had a terrible gift1 that some have who are born by the sea4 ,it is not well to be born on a ,friday night1 within sound of the sea2 or on certain days4 ,this gift is the ,eolas na h',aoine1 the ,friday-,spell4 ,he who has this gift must not look upon any other while bathing3 if he does1 that swimmer must drown4 ,this man1 whom ,i will call ,finlay1 had this eolas4 ,three times the evil happened4 ,but the third time he knew what he did3 the man who swam in the sunlight loved the same woman as ,finlay loved2 so he stood on the shore1 and looked1 and laughed4 ,when the body was brought home1 the woman struck ,finlay in the face4 ,he grew strange after a time1 and at last witless4 ,a year later it was a cold ,february4 ,finlay went to and fro singing an old ,february rhyme beginning3 ,feadag1 ,feadag1 mathair ,faoillich fhuair6 7,plover1 plover1 ,mother of the bleak ,month74 ,he was watching a man ploughing4 ,suddenly he threw down his cromak4 ,he leaped over a dyke1 and ran to the shore1 calling1 ,i'm coming6 ,i'm coming6 ,don't pull me--,i'm coming6 ,he fell upon the rocks1 which had a blue bloom on them like fruit1 for they were covered with mussels2 and he was torn1 so that his hands and face were streaming red4 ,i am your red1 red love1 he cried1 sweetheart1 my love2 and with that he threw himself into the sea4 ,more often the sea-call is not a madness1 but an inward voice4 ,i have been told of a man who was a farmer in ,carrick of ,ayr4 ,he left wife and home because of the calling of the sea4 ,but when he was again in the far isles1 where he had lived formerly1 he was well once more4 ,another man heard the sobbing of the tide among seaweed whenever he dug in his garden3 and gave up all1 and even the woman he loved1 and left4 ,she won him back1 by her love2 but on the night before their marriage1 in that inland place where her farm was1 he slipt away and was not seen again4 ,again1 there was the man of whom ,i have spoken in ,iona1 who went to the mainland1 but could not see to plough because the brown fallows became waves that splashed noisily about him3 and how he went to ,canada and got work in a great warehouse1 but among the bales of merchandise heard continually the singular note of the sandpiper1 while every hour the sea-fowl confused him with their crying4 ,i have myself in lesser degree1 known this irresistible longing4 ,i am not fond of towns1 but some years ago ,i had to spend a winter in a great city4 ,it was all-important to me not to leave during ,january2 and in one way ,i was not ill-pleased1 for it was a wild winter4 ,but one night ,i woke1 hearing a rushing sound in the street--the sound of water4 ,i would have thought no more of it1 had ,i not recognised the troubled noise of the tide1 and the sucking and lapsing of the flow in weedy hollows4 ,i rose and looked out4 ,it was moonlight1 and there was no water4 ,when1 after sleepless hours1 ,i rose in the grey morning ,i heard the splash of waves4 ,all that day and the next ,i heard the continual noise of waves4 ,i could not write or read2 at last ,i could not rest4 ,on the afternoon of the third day the waves dashed up against the house4 ,i said what ,i could to my friends1 and left by the night train4 ,in the morning we 7for a kinswoman was with me7 stood on ,greenock ,pier waiting for the ,hebridean steamer1 the ,clansman1 and before long were landed on an island1 almost the nearest we could reach1 and one that ,i loved well4 ,we had to be landed some miles from the place ,i wanted to go to1 and it was a long and cold journey4 ,the innumerable little waterfalls hung in icicles among the mosses1 ferns1 and white birches on the roadsides4 ,before we reached our destination1 we saw a wonderful sight4 ,from three great mountains1 their flanks flushed with faint rose1 their peaks1 white and solemn1 vast columns of white smoke ascended4 ,it was as though volcanic fires had once again broken their long stillness4 ,then we saw what it was3 the north wind 7unheard1 unfelt1 where we stood7 blew a hurricane against the other side of the peaks1 and1 striking upon the leagues of hard snow1 drove it upward like smoke1 till the columns rose gigantic and hung between the silence of the white peaks and the silence of the stars4 ,that night1 with the sea breaking less than a score yards from where ,i lay1 ,i slept1 though for three nights ,i had not been able to sleep4 ,when ,i woke1 my trouble was gone4 ,it was but a reminder to me4 ,but to others it was more than that4 ,i remember that winter for another thing1 which ,i may write of here4 ,from the fisherman's wife with whom ,i lodged ,i learned that her daughter had recently borne a son1 but was now up and about again1 though for the first time1 that morning4 ,we went to her1 about noon4 ,she was not in the house4 ,a small cabbage-garden lay behind1 and beyond it the mossy edge of a wood of rowans and birches broke steeply in bracken and loneroid4 ,the girl was there1 and had taken the child from her breast1 and kneeling1 was touching the earth with the small lint-white head4 ,i asked her what she was doing4 ,she said it was the right thing to do2 that as soon as possible after the child was born1 the mother should take it--and best1 at noon1 and facing the sun--and touch its brow to the earth4 ,my friends 7like many islanders of the ,inner ,hebrides1 they had no ,gaelic7 used an unfamiliar phrase2 ,it's the old ,mothering4 ,it was1 in truth1 the sacrament of ,our ,mother1 but in a far ancient sense4 ,i do not doubt the rite is among the most primitive of those practised by the ,celtic peoples4 ,i have not seen it elsewhere1 though ,i have heard of it4 ,probably it is often practised yet in remote places4 ,even where we were1 the women were somewhat fearful lest the minister heard of what the young mother had done4 ,they do not love these beautiful symbolic actions1 these ministers1 to whom they are superstitions4 ,this old1 pagan1 sacramental earth-rite is1 certainly1 beautiful4 ,how could one better be blessed1 on coming into life1 than to have the kiss of that ancient ,mother of whom we are all children8 ,there must be wisdom in that first touch4 ,i do not doubt that behind the symbol lies1 at times1 the old miraculous communication4 ,for1 even in this late day1 some of us are born with remembrance1 with dumb worship1 with intimate and uplifting kinship to that ,mother4 ,since then ,i have asked often1 in many parts of the ,highlands and ,islands1 for what is known of this rite1 when and where practised1 and what meanings it bears2 and some day ,i hope to put these notes on record4 ,i am convinced that the ,earth-,blessing is more ancient than the westward migration of the ,celtic peoples4 ,i have both read and heard of another custom1 though ,i have not known of it at first-hand4 ,the last time ,i was told of it was of a crofter and his wife in ,north ,uist4 ,the once general custom is remembered in a familiar ,gaelic saying1 the ,english of which is1 ,he got a turn through the smoke4 ,after baptism1 a child was taken from the breast1 and handed by its mother 7sometimes the child was placed in a basket7 to the father1 across the fire4 ,i do not think1 but am not sure1 if any signal meaning lie in the mother handing the child to the father4 ,when the rite is spoken of1 as often as not it is only the parents that the speaker alludes to4 ,the rite is universally recognised as a spell against the dominion1 or agency1 of evil spirits4 ,in ,coll and ,tiree1 it is to keep the ,hidden ,people from touching or singing to the child4 ,i think it is an ancient propitiatory rite1 akin to that which made our ancestors touch the new-born to earth2 as that which makes some islanders still baptize a child with a little spray from the running wave1 or a fingerful of water from the tide at the flow2 as that which made an old woman lift me as a little child and hold me up to the south wind1 to make me strong and fair and always young1 and to keep back death and sorrow1 and to keep me safe from other winds and evil spirits4 ,old ,barabal has gone where the south wind blows1 in blossom and flowers and green leaves1 across the pastures of ,death2 and ,i 444 alas1 ,i can but wish that ,one stronger than she1 for all her love1 will lift me1 as a child again1 to the ,wind1 and pass me across the ,fire1 and set me down again upon a new ,earth4 ,,from ,,green ,,fire ,be not troubled in the inward ,hope4 ,it lives in beauty1 and the hand of ,god slowly wakens it year by year1 and through the many ways of ,sorrow4 ,it is an ,immortal1 and its name is ,joy4 ,f4 ,m4 ,the ,herdsman ,on the night when ,alan ,carmichael with his old servant and friend1 ,ian ,m',ian1 arrived in ,balnaree 7,baile'-na-,righ71 the little village wherein was all that ,borosay had to boast of in the way of civic life1 he could not disguise from himself that he was regarded askance4 ,rightly or wrongly1 he took this to be resentment because of his having wed 7alas1 he recalled1 wed and lost7 the daughter of the man who had killed ,ailean ,carmichael in a duel4 ,so possessed was he by this idea1 that he did not remember how little likely the islanders were to know anything of him or his beyond the fact that ,ailean ,mac,alasdair ,rhona had died abroad4 ,the trouble became more than an imaginary one when1 on the morrow1 he tried to find a boat for the passage to ,rona4 ,but for the ,frozen ,hand1 as the triple-peaked hill to the south of ,balnaree was called1 ,rona would have been visible2 nor was it1 with a fair wind1 more than an hour's sail distant4 ,nevertheless1 he could detect in every one to whom he spoke a strange reluctance4 ,at last he asked an old man of his own surname why there was so much difficulty4 ,in the island way1 ,seumas ,carmichael replied that the people on ,elleray1 the island adjacent to ,rona1 were unfriendly4 ,but unfriendly at what8 ,well1 at this and at that4 ,but for one thing1 they are not having any dealings with the ,carmichaels4 ,they are all ,macneills there1 ,macneills of ,barra4 ,there is a feud1 ,i am thinking2 though ,i know nothing of it2 no1 not ,i4 ,but ,seumas mac ,eachainn1 you know well yourself that there are almost no ,carmichaels to have a feud with6 ,there are you and your brother1 and there is your cousin over at ,sgorr-,bhan on the other side of ,borosay4 ,who else is there8 ,to this the man could say nothing4 ,distressed1 ,alan sought ,ian and bade him find out what he could4 ,he also was puzzled and uneasy4 ,that some evil was at work could not be doubted1 and that it was secret boded ill4 ,ian was a stranger in ,borosay because of his absence since boyhood2 but1 after all1 ,ian mac ,iain mhic ,dhonuill was to the islanders one of themselves2 and though he came there with a man under a shadow 7though this phrase was not used in ,ian's hearing71 that was not his fault4 ,and when he reminded them that for these many years he had not seen the old woman1 his sister ,giorsal2 and spoke of her1 and of their long separation1 and of his wish to see her again before he died1 there was no more hesitation1 but only kindly willingness to help4 ,within an hour a boat was ready to take the homefarers to the ,isle of ,caves1 as ,rona is sometimes called4 ,before the hour was gone1 they1 with the stores of food and other things1 were slipping seaward out of ,borosay ,haven4 ,the moment the headland was rounded1 the heights of ,rona came into view4 ,great gaunt cliffs they are1 precipices of black basalt2 though on the south side they fall away in grassy declivities which hang a greenness over the wandering wave for ever sobbing round that desolate shore4 ,but it was not till the ,sgorr-,dhu1 a conical black rock at the south-east end of the island1 was reached1 that the stone keep1 known as ,caisteal-,rhona1 came in sight4 ,it stands at the landward extreme of a rocky ledge1 on the margin of a green airidh4 ,westward is a small dark-blue sea loch1 no more than a narrow haven4 ,to the north-west rise precipitous cliffs2 northward1 above the green pasture and a stretch of heather1 is a woodland belt of some three or four hundred pine-trees4 ,it well deserves its poetic name of ,i-monair1 as ,aodh the ,islander sang of it2 for it echoes ceaselessly with wind and wave4 ,if the waves dash against it from the south or east1 a loud crying is upon the faces of the rocks2 if from the north or north-east1 there are unexpected inland silences1 but amid the pines a continual voice4 ,it is when the wind blows from the south-west1 or the huge ,atlantic billows surge out of the west1 that ,rona is given over to an indescribable tumult4 ,through the whole island goes the myriad echo of a continuous booming2 and within this a sound as though waters were pouring through vast hidden conduits in the heart of every precipice1 every rock1 every boulder4 ,this is because of the sea-arcades of which it consists1 for from the westward the island has been honeycombed by the waves4 ,no living man has ever traversed all those mysterious1 winding sea-galleries4 ,many have perished in the attempt4 ,in the olden days the ,uisteans and ,barrovians sought refuge there from the marauding ,danes and other pirates out of ,lochlin2 and in the time when the last ,scottish king took shelter in the west1 many of his island followers found safety among these perilous arcades4 ,some of them reach an immense height4 ,these are filled with a pale green gloom which in fine weather1 and at noon or toward sundown1 becomes almost radiant4 ,but most have only a dusky green obscurity1 and some are at all times dark with a darkness that has seen neither sun nor moon nor star for unknown ages4 ,sometimes1 there1 a phosphorescent wave will spill a livid or a cold blue flame1 and for a moment a vast gulf of dripping basalt be revealed2 but day and night1 night and day1 from year to year1 from age to age1 that awful wave-clamant darkness is unbroken4 ,to the few who know some of the secrets of the passages1 it is possible1 except when a gale blows from any quarter but the north1 to thread these dim arcades in a narrow boat1 and so to pass from the ,hebrid ,seas to the outer ,atlantic4 ,but for the unwary there might well be no return2 for in that maze of winding galleries and sea-washed1 shadowy arcades1 confusion is but another name for death4 ,once bewildered1 there is no hope2 and the lost adventurer will remain there idly drifting from barren passage to passage1 till he perish of hunger and thirst1 or1 maddened by the strange and appalling gloom and the unbroken silence--for there the muffled voice of the sea is no more than a whisper--leap into the green waters which for ever slide stealthily from ledge to ledge4 ,now1 as ,alan approached his remote home1 he thought of these death-haunted corridors1 avenues of the grave1 as they are called in the ,cumha ,fhir-,mearanach ,aonghas mhic ,dhonuill--the ,lament of mad ,angus ,macdonald4 ,when at last the unwieldy brown coble sailed into the little haven1 it was to create unwonted excitement among the few fishermen who put in there frequently for bait4 ,a group of eight or ten was upon the rocky ledge beyond ,caisteal-,rhona1 among them the elderly woman who was sister to ,ian mac ,iain4 ,at ,alan's request1 ,ian went ashore in advance in a small punt4 ,he was to wave his hand if all were well1 for ,alan could not but feel apprehensive on account of the strange ill-will that had shown itself at ,borosay4 ,it was with relief that he saw the signal when1 after ,ian had embraced his sister1 and shaken hands with all the fishermen1 he had explained that the son of ,ailean ,carmichael was come out of the south1 and had come to live a while at ,caisteal-,rhona4 ,all there uncovered and waved their hats4 ,then a shout of welcome went up1 and ,alan's heart was glad4 ,but the moment he had set foot on land he saw a startled look come into the eyes of the fishermen--a look that deepened swiftly into one of aversion1 almost of fear4 ,one by one the men moved away1 awkward in their embarrassment4 ,not one came forward with outstretched hand1 or said a word of welcome4 ,at first amazed1 then indignant1 ,ian reproached them4 ,they received his words in shamed silence4 ,even when with a bitter tongue he taunted them1 they answered nothing4 ,giorsal1 said ,ian1 turning in despair to his sister1 is it madness that you have8 ,but even she was no longer the same4 ,her eyes were fixed upon ,alan with a look of dread1 and indeed of horror4 ,it was unmistakable1 and ,alan himself was conscious of it with a strange sinking of the heart4 ,speak1 woman6 he demanded4 ,what is the meaning of this thing8 ,why do you and these men look at me askance8 ,god forbid6 answered ,giorsal ,macdonald with white lips2 ,god forbid that we look at the son of ,ailean ,carmichael askance4 ,but---- ,but what8 ,with that the woman put her apron over her head and moved away1 muttering strange words4 ,ian1 what is this mystery8 ,how am ,i for knowing1 ,alan mac ,ailean8 ,it is all a darkness to me also4 ,but ,i will be finding that out soon4 ,that1 however1 was easier for ,ian to say than to do4 ,meanwhile1 the brown coble tacked back to ,borosay1 and the fisherman sailed away to the ,barra coasts1 and ,alan and ,ian were left solitary in their wild and remote home4 ,but in that very solitude ,alan found healing4 ,from what ,giorsal hinted1 he came to believe that the fishermen had experienced one of those strange dream-waves which1 in remote isles1 occur at times1 when whole communities will be wrought by the self-same fantasy4 ,when day by day went past1 and no one came near1 he at first was puzzled1 and even resentful2 but this passed1 and soon he was glad to be alone4 ,ian1 however1 knew that there was another cause for the inexplicable aversion that had been shown4 ,but he was silent1 and kept a patient watch for the hour that the future held in its shroud4 ,as for ,giorsal1 she was dumb2 but no more looked at ,alan askance4 ,and so the weeks went4 ,occasionally a fishing smack came with the provisions1 for the weekly despatch of which ,alan had arranged at ,loch ,boisdale1 and sometimes the ,barra men put in at the haven1 though they would never stay long1 and always avoided ,alan as much as was possible4 ,in that time ,alan and ,ian came to know and love their strangely beautiful island home4 ,hours and hours at a time they spent exploring the dim1 green1 winding sea-galleries1 till at last they knew the chief arcades thoroughly4 ,they had even ventured into some of the narrow1 snake-like inner passages1 but never for long1 because of the awe and dread these held1 silent estuaries of the grave4 ,week after week passed1 and to ,alan it was as the going of the grey owl's wing1 swift and silent4 ,then it was that1 on a day of the days1 he was suddenly stricken with a new and startling dread4 ,,ii ,in the hour that this terror came upon him ,alan was alone upon the high slopes of ,rona1 where the grass fails and the lichen yellows at close on a thousand feet above the sea4 ,the day had been cloudless since sunrise4 ,the sea was as the single vast petal of an azure flower1 all of one unbroken blue save for the shadows of the scattered isles and the slow-drifting mauve or purple of floating weed4 ,countless birds congregated from every quarter4 ,guillemots and puffins1 cormorants and northern divers1 everywhere darted1 swam1 or slept upon the listless ocean1 whose deep breathing no more than lifted a league-long calm here and there1 to lapse breathlike as it rose4 ,through the not less silent quietudes of air the grey skuas swept with curving flight1 and the narrow-winged terns made a constant white shimmer4 ,at remote altitudes the gannet motionlessly drifted4 ,oceanward the great widths of calm were rent now and again by the shoulders of the porpoises which followed the herring trail1 their huge1 black1 revolving bodies looming large above the silent wave4 ,not a boat was visible anywhere2 not even upon the most distant horizons did a brown sail fleck itself duskily against the skyward wall of steely blue4 ,in the great stillness which prevailed1 the noise of the surf beating around the promontory of ,aonaig was audible as a whisper2 though even in that windless hour the confused rumour of the sea1 moving through the arcades of the island1 filled the hollow of the air overhead4 ,ever since the early morning ,alan had moved under a strange gloom4 ,out of that golden glory of midsummer a breath of joyous life should have reached his heart1 but it was not so4 ,for sure1 there is sometimes in the quiet beauty of summer an air of menace1 a premonition of suspended force--a force antagonistic and terrible4 ,all who have lived in these lonely isles know the peculiar intensity of this summer melancholy4 ,no noise of wind1 no prolonged season of untimely rains1 no long baffling of mists in all the drear inclemencies of that remote region1 can produce the same ominous and even paralysing gloom sometimes born of ineffable peace and beauty4 ,is it that in the human soul there is a mysterious kinship with the outer soul which we call ,nature2 and that in these few supreme hours which come at the full of the year1 we are1 sometimes1 suddenly aware of the tremendous forces beneath and behind us1 momently quiescent8 ,determined to shake off this dejection1 ,alan wandered high among the upland solitudes4 ,there a cool air moved always1 even in the noons of ,august2 and there1 indeed1 often had come upon him a deep peace4 ,but whatsoever the reason1 only a deeper despondency possessed him4 ,an incident1 significant in that mood1 at that time1 happened then4 ,a few hundred yards away from where he stood1 half hidden in a little glen where a fall of water tossed its spray among the shadows of rowan and birch1 was the bothie of a woman1 the wife of ,neil ,mac,neill1 a fisherman of ,aoinaig4 ,she was there1 he knew1 for the summer pasturing2 and even as he recollected this1 he heard the sound of her voice as she sang somewhere by the burnside4 ,moving slowly toward the corrie1 he stopped at a mountain ash which over hung a pool4 ,looking down1 he saw the woman1 ,morag ,mac,neill1 washing and peeling potatoes in the clear brown water4 ,and as she washed and peeled1 she sang an old-time shealing hymn of the ,virgin-,shepherdess1 of ,michael the ,white1 and of ,columan the ,dove4 ,it was a song that1 years ago1 far away in ,brittany1 he had heard from his mother's lips4 ,he listened now to every word of the doubly familiar ,gaelic2 and when ,morag ended1 the tears were in his eyes1 and he stood for a while as one under a spell4#ac ,a ,mhicheil mhin6 nan steud geala1 ,a choisin cios air ,dragon fala1 ,air ghaol ,dia 'us ,mhic ,muire1 ,sgaoil do sgiath oirnn dian sinn uile1 ,sgaoil do sgiath oirnn dian sinn uile4 ,a ,mhoire ghradhach6 ,mathair ,uain-ghil1 ,cobhair oirnne1 ,oigh na h-uaisle2 ,a rioghainn uai'reach6 a bhuachaille nan treud6 ,cum ar cuallach cuartaich sinn le cheil1 ,cum ar cuallach cuartaich sinn le cheil4 ,a ,chalum-,chille3 chairdeil1 chaoimh1 ,an ainm ,athar1 ,mic1 'us ,spioraid ,naoimh1 ,trid na ,trithinn6 trid na ,triath6 ,comraig sinne1 gleidh ar trial1 ,comraig sinne1 gleidh ar trial4 ,athair6 ,a ,mhic6 ,a ,spioraid ,naoimh6 ,bi'eadh an ,tri-,aon leinn1 a la's a dh-oidhche6 ',s air chul nan tonn1 no air thaobh nan beann1 ,bi'dh ar ,mathair leinn1 's bith a lamh fo'r ceann1 ,bi'dh ar ,mathair leinn1 's bith a lamh fo'r ceann4 ,thou gentle ,michael of the white steed1 ,who subdued the ,dragon of blood1 ,for love of ,god and the ,son of ,mary1 ,spread over us thy wing1 shield us all6 ,spread over us thy wing1 shield us all6 ,mary beloved6 ,mother of the ,white ,lamb1 ,protect us1 thou ,virgin of nobleness1 ,queen of beauty6 ,shepherdess of the flocks6 ,keep our cattle1 surround us together1 ,keep our cattle1 surround us together4 ,thou ,columba1 the friendly1 the kind1 ,in name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,spirit ,holy1 ,through the ,three-in-,one1 through the ,three1 ,encompass us1 guard our procession1 ,encompass us1 guard our procession4 ,thou ,father6 thou ,son6 thou ,spirit ,holy6 ,be the ,three-in-,one with us day and night4 ,and on the crested wave1 or on the mountain side4 ,our ,mother is there1 and her arm is under our head1 ,our ,mother is there1 and her arm is under our head4 ,alan found himself repeating whisperingly1 and again and again-- ,bi 'eadh an ,tri-,aon leinn1 a la's a dh-oidhche6 ',s air chul nan tonn1 no air thaobh nam beann4 ,suddenly the woman glanced upward1 perhaps because of the shadow that moved against the green bracken below4 ,with a startled gesture she sprang to her feet4 ,alan looked at her kindly1 saying1 with a smile1 ,sure1 ,morag nic ,tormod1 it is not fear you need be having of one who is your friend4 ,then1 seeing that the woman stared at him with something of terror as well as surprise1 he spoke to her again4 ,sure1 ,morag1 ,i am no stranger that you should be looking at me with those foreign eyes4 ,he laughed as he spoke1 and made as though he were about to descend to the burnside4 ,unmistakably1 however1 the woman did not desire his company4 ,he saw this1 with the pain and bewilderment which had come upon him whenever the like happened1 as so often it had happened since he had come to ,rona4 ,tell me1 ,morag ,mac,neill1 what is the meaning of this strangeness that is upon you8 ,why do you not speak8 ,why do you turn away your head8 ,suddenly the woman flashed her black eyes upon him4 ,have you ever heard of am ,buachaill ,ban--am ,buachaill ,buidhe8 ,he looked at her in amaze4 ,am ,buachaill ,ban6 444 ,the fair-haired ,herdsman1 the yellow-haired ,herdsman6 ,what could she mean8 ,in days gone by1 he knew1 the islanders1 in the evil time after ,culloden1 had so named the fugitive ,prince who had sought shelter in the ,hebrides2 and in some of the runes of an older day still the ,saviour of the ,world was sometimes so called1 just as ,mary was called ,bhuachaile nan treud--,shepherdess of the ,flock4 ,but it could be no allusion to either of these that was intended4 ,who is the ,herdsman of whom you speak1 ,morag8 ,is it no knowledge you have of him at all1 ,alan ,mac,ailean8 ,none4 ,i know nothing of the man1 nothing of what is in your mind4 ,who is the ,herdsman8 ,you will not be putting evil upon me because that you saw me here by the pool before ,i saw you8 ,why should ,i1 woman8 ,why do you think that ,i have the power of the evil eye8 ,sure1 ,i have done no harm to you or yours1 and wish none4 ,but if it is for peace to you to know it1 it is no evil ,i wish you1 but only good4 ,the ,blessing of ,himself be upon you and yours and upon your house6 ,the woman looked relieved1 but still cast her furtive gaze upon ,alan1 who no longer attempted to join her4 ,i cannot be speaking the thing that is in my mind1 ,alan ,mac,ailean4 ,it is not for me to be saying that thing4 ,but if you have no knowledge of the ,herdsman1 sure it is only another wonder of the wonders1 and ,god has the sun on that shadow1 to the ,stones be it said4 ,but tell me1 ,morag1 who is the ,herdsman of whom you speak8 ,for a minute or more the woman stood regarding him intently4 ,then slowly1 and with obvious reluctance1 she spoke-- ,why have you appeared to the people upon the isles1 sometimes by moonlight1 sometimes by day or in the dusk1 and have foretold upon one and all who dwell here black gloom and the red flame of sorrow8 ,why have you1 who are an outcast because of what lies between you and another1 pretended to be a messenger of the ,son--ay1 for sure1 even1 ,god forgive you1 to be the ,son ,himself8 ,alan stared at the woman4 ,for a time he could utter no word4 ,had some extraordinary delusion spread among the islanders1 and was there in the insane accusation of this woman the secret of that which had so troubled him8 ,this is all an empty darkness to me1 ,morag4 ,speak more plainly1 woman4 ,what is all this madness that you say8 ,when have ,i spoken of having any mission1 or of being other than ,i am8 ,when have ,i foretold evil upon you or yours1 or upon the isles beyond8 ,what man has ever dared to say that ,alan ,mac,ailean of ,rona is an outcast8 ,and what sin is it that lies between me and another of which you know8 ,it was impossible for ,morag ,mac,neill to doubt the sincerity of the man who spoke to her4 ,she crossed herself1 and muttered the words of a seun for the protection of the soul against the demon powers4 ,still1 even while she believed in ,alan's sincerity1 she could not reconcile it with that terrible and strange mystery with which rumour had filled her ears4 ,so1 having nothing to say in reply to his eager questions1 she cast down her eyes and kept silence4 ,speak1 ,morag1 for ,heaven's sake6 ,speak if you are a true woman2 you that see a man in sore pain1 in pain1 too1 for that of which he knows nothing1 and of the ill of which he is guiltless6 ,but1 keeping her face averted1 the woman muttered simply1 ,i have no more to say4 ,with that she turned and moved slowly along the pathway which led from the pool to her hillside bothie4 ,with a sigh1 ,alan walked slowly away4 ,what wonder1 he thought1 that deep gloom had been upon him that day8 ,here1 in the woman's mysterious words1 was the shadow of that shadow4 ,slowly1 brooding deep over what he had heard1 he crossed the ,monadh-nan-,con1 as the hill-tract there was called1 till he came to the rocky wilderness known as the ,slope of the ,caverns4 ,there for a time he leaned against a high boulder1 idly watching a few sheep nibbling the short grass which grew about some of the many caves which opened in slits or wide hollows4 ,below and beyond he saw the pale blue silence of the sea meet the pale blue silence of the sky2 south-westward1 the grey film of the coast of ,ulster2 westward1 again the illimitable vast of sea and sky1 infinitudes of calm1 as though the blue silence of heaven breathed in that one motionless wave1 as though that wave sighed and drew the horizons to its heart4 ,from where he stood he could hear the murmur of the surge whispering all round the isle2 the surge that1 even on days of profound stillness1 makes a murmurous rumour among the rocks and shingle of the island shores4 ,not upon the moor-side1 but in the blank hollows of the caves around him1 he heard1 as in gigantic shells1 the moving of a strange and solemn rhythm3 wave-haunted shells indeed1 for the echo that was bruited from one to the other came from beneath1 from out of those labyrinthine passages and dim1 shadowy sea-arcades1 where among the melancholy green glooms the ,atlantic waters lose themselves in a vain wandering4 ,for long he leaned there1 revolving in his mind the mystery of ,morag ,mac,neill's words4 ,then1 abruptly1 the stillness was broken by the sound of a dislodged stone4 ,so little did he expect the foot of fellow-man1 that he did not turn at what he thought to be the slip of a sheep4 ,but when upon the slope of the grass1 a little way beyond where he stood1 a dusky blue shadow wavered fantastically1 he swung round with a sudden instinct of dread4 ,and this was the dread which1 after these long weeks since he had come to ,rona1 was upon ,alan ,carmichael4 ,for there1 standing quietly by another boulder1 at the mouth of another cave1 was a man in all appearance identical with himself4 ,looking at this apparition1 he beheld one of the same height as himself1 with hair of the same hue1 with eyes the same and features the same1 with the same carriage1 the same smile1 the same expression4 ,no1 there1 and there alone1 was any difference4 ,sick at heart1 ,alan wondered if he looked upon his own wraith4 ,familiar with the legends of his people1 it would have been no strange thing to him that there1 upon the hillside1 should appear the wraith of himself4 ,had not old ,ian ,mc,iain--and that1 too1 though far away in a strange land--seen the death of his mother moving upward from her feet to her knees1 from her knees to her waist1 from her waist to her neck1 and1 just before the end1 how the shroud darkened along the face until it hid the eyes8 ,had he not often heard from her1 from ,ian1 of the second self which so often appears beside the living when already the shadow of doom is upon him whose hours are numbered8 ,was this1 then1 the reason of what had been his inexplicable gloom8 ,was he indeed at the extreme of life8 ,was his soul amid shallows1 already a rock upon a blank1 inhospitable shore8 ,if not1 who or what was this second self which leaned there negligently1 looking at him with scornful smiling lips1 but with intent1 unsmiling eyes4 ,slowly there came into his mind this thought3 ,how could a phantom1 that was itself intangible1 throw a shadow upon the grass1 as though it were a living body8 ,sure1 a shadow there was indeed4 ,it lay between the apparition and himself4 ,a legend heard in boyhood came back to him2 instinctively he stooped and lifted a stone and flung it midway into the shadow4 ,go back into the darkness1 he cried1 if out of the darkness you came2 but if you be a living thing1 put out your hands6 ,the shadow remained motionless4 ,when ,alan looked again at his second self1 he saw that the scorn which had been upon the lips was now in the eyes also4 ,ay1 for sure1 scornful silent laughter it was that lay in those cold wells of light4 ,no phantom that2 a man he1 even as ,alan himself4 ,his heart pulsed like that of a trapped bird1 but with the spoken word his courage came back to him4 ,who are you8 he asked1 in a voice strange even in his own ears4 ,am ,buachaill1 replied the man in a voice as low and strange4 ,i am the ,herdsman4 ,a new tide of fear surged in upon ,alan4 ,that voice1 was it not his own8 that tone1 was it not familiar in his ears8 ,when the man spoke1 he heard himself speak2 sure1 if he were ,am ,buachaill ,ban1 ,alan1 too1 was the ,herdsman1 though what fantastic destiny might be his was all unknown to him4 ,come near1 said the man1 and now the mocking light in his eyes was wild as cloud-fire--come near1 oh ,buachaill ,ban6 ,with a swift movement1 ,alan sprang forward2 but as he leaped1 his foot caught in a spray of heather1 and he stumbled and fell4 ,when he rose1 he looked in vain for the man who had called him4 ,there was not a sign1 not a trace of any living being4 ,for the first few moments he believed it had all been a delusion4 ,mortal being did not appear and vanish in that ghostly way4 ,still1 surely he could not have mistaken the blank of that place for a speaking voice1 or out of nothingness have fashioned the living phantom of himself8 ,or could he8 ,with that1 he strode forward and peered into the wide arch of the cavern by which the man had stood4 ,he could not see far into it2 but so far as it was possible to see1 he discerned neither man nor shadow of man1 nor anything that stirred2 no1 not even the gossamer bloom of a bearnan-bride1 that grew on a patch of grass a yard or two within the darkness1 had lost one of its delicate filmy spires4 ,he drew back1 dismayed4 ,then1 suddenly1 his heart leaped again1 for beyond all question1 all possible doubt1 there1 in the bent thyme1 just where the man had stood1 was the imprint of his feet4 ,even now the green sprays were moving forward4 ,,iii ,an hour passed1 and ,alan ,carmichael had not moved from the entrance to the cave4 ,so still was he that a ewe1 listlessly wandering in search of cooler grass1 lay down after a while1 drowsily regarding him with her amber-coloured eyes4 ,all his thought was upon the mystery of what he had seen4 ,no delusion this1 he was sure4 ,that was a man whom he had seen4 ,but who could he be8 ,on so small an island1 inhabited by less than a score of crofters1 it was scarcely possible for one to live for many weeks and not know the name and face of every soul4 ,still1 a stranger might have come4 ,only1 if this were so1 why should he call himself the ,herdsman8 ,there was but one herdsman on ,rona and he ,angus ,mac,cormic1 who lived at ,einaval on the north side4 ,in these outer isles1 the shepherd and the herdsman are appointed by the community1 and no man is allowed to be one or the other at will1 any more than to be a maor4 ,then1 too1 if this man were indeed herdsman1 where was his iomair-ionailtair1 his browsing tract8 ,looking round him1 ,alan could perceive nowhere any fitting pasture4 ,surely no herdsman would be content with such an iomair a bhuachaill--rig of the herdsman--as that rocky wilderness where the soft green grass grew in patches under this or that boulder1 on the sun side of this or that rocky ledge4 ,again1 he had given no name1 but called himself simply ,am ,buachaill4 ,this was how the woman ,morag had spoken2 did she indeed mean this very man8 and if so1 what lay in her words8 ,but far beyond all other bewilderment for him was that strange1 that indeed terrifying likeness to himself--a likeness so absolute1 so convincing1 that he knew he might himself easily have been deceived1 had he beheld the apparition in any place where it was possible that a reflection could have misled him4 ,brooding thus1 eye and ear were both alert for the faintest sight or sound4 ,but from the interior of the cavern not a breath came4 ,once1 from among the jagged rocks high on the west slope of ,ben ,einaval1 he fancied he heard an unwonted sound--that of human laughter1 but laughter so wild1 so remote1 so unmirthful1 that fear was in his heart4 ,it could not be other than imagination1 he said to himself2 for in that lonely place there was none to wander idly at that season1 and none who1 wandering1 would laugh there solitary4 ,it was with an effort that ,alan at last determined to probe the mystery4 ,stooping1 he moved cautiously into the cavern1 and groped his way along the narrow passage which led1 as he thought1 into another larger cave4 ,but this proved to be one of the innumerable blind ways which intersect the honeycombed slopes of the ,isle of ,caves4 ,to wander far in these lightless passages would be to track death4 ,long ago the piper whom the ,prionnsa-,ban1 the ,fair ,prince1 loved to hear in his exile--he that was called ,rory ,m',vurich--penetrated one of the larger hollows to seek there for a child that had idly wandered into the dark4 ,some of the clansmen1 with the father and mother of the little one1 waited at the entrance to the cave4 ,for a time there was silence2 then1 as agreed upon1 the sound of the pipes was heard1 to which a man named ,lachlan ,m',lachlan replied from the outer air4 ,the skirl of the pipes within grew fainter and fainter4 ,louder and louder ,lachlan played upon his chanter2 deeper and deeper grew the wild moaning of the drone2 but for all that1 fainter and fainter waned the sound of the pipes of ,rory ,m',vurich4 ,generations have come and gone upon the isle1 and still no man has heard the returning air which ,rory was to play4 ,he may have found the little child1 but he never found his backward path1 and in the gloom of that honeycombed hill he and the child and the music of the pipes lapsed into the same stillness4 ,remembering this legend1 familiar to him since his boyhood1 ,alan did not dare to venture further4 ,at any moment1 too1 he knew he might fall into one of the crevices which opened into the sea-corridors hundreds of feet below4 ,ancient rumour had it that there were mysterious passages from the upper heights of ,ben ,einaval which led into the heart of this perilous maze4 ,but for a time he lay still1 straining every sense4 ,convinced at last that the man whom he sought had evaded all possible quest1 he turned to regain the light4 ,brief way as he had gone1 this was no easy thing to do4 ,for a few moments1 indeed1 ,alan lost his self-possession when he found a uniform dusk about him1 and could not discern which of the several branching narrow corridors was that by which he had come4 ,but following the greener light1 he reached the cave1 and soon1 with a sigh of relief1 was upon the sun-sweet warm earth again4 ,how more than ever beautiful the world seemed6 how sweet to the eyes were upland and cliff1 the wide stretch of ocean1 the flying birds1 the sheep grazing on the scanty pastures1 and1 above all1 the homely blue smoke curling faintly upward from the fisher crofts on the headland east of ,aonaig6 ,purposely he retraced his steps by the way of the glen3 he would see the woman ,morag ,mac,neill again1 and insist on some more explicit word4 ,but when he reached the burnside once more1 the woman was not there4 ,possibly she had seen him coming1 and guessed his purpose2 half he surmised this1 for the peats in the hearth were brightly aglow1 and on the hob beside them the boiling water hissed in a great iron pot wherein were potatoes4 ,in vain he sought1 in vain called4 ,impatient1 he walked around the bothie and into the little byre beyond4 ,the place was deserted4 ,this1 small matter as it was1 added to his disquietude4 ,resolved to sift the mystery1 he walked swiftly down the slope4 ,by the old shealing of ,cnoc-na-,monie1 now forsaken1 his heart leaped at sight of ,ian coming to meet him4 ,when they met1 ,alan put his hands lovingly on the old man's shoulders1 and looked at him with questioning eyes4 ,he found rest and hope in those deep pools of quiet light1 whence the faithful love rose comfortingly to meet his own yearning gaze4 ,what is it1 ,alan-mo-ghray2 what is the trouble that is upon you8 ,it is a trouble1 ,ian1 but one of which ,i can speak little1 for it is little ,i know4 ,now1 now1 for sure you must tell me what it is4 ,i have seen a man here upon ,rona whom ,i have not seen or met before1 and it is one whose face is known to me1 and whose voice too1 and one whom ,i would not meet again4 ,did he give you no name8 ,none4 ,where did he come from8 ,where did he go to8 ,he came out of the shadow1 and into the shadow he went4 ,ian looked steadfastly at ,alan1 his wistful gaze searching deep into his unquiet eyes1 and thence from feature to feature of the face which had become strangely worn of late4 ,but he questioned no further4 ,i1 too1 ,alan ,mac,ailean1 have heard a strange thing to-day4 ,you know old ,marsail ,macrae8 ,she is ill now with a slow fever1 and she thinks that the shadow which she saw lying upon her hearth last ,sabbath1 when nothing was there to cause any shadow1 was her own death1 come for her1 and now waiting there4 ,i spoke to the old woman1 but she would not have peace1 and her eyes looked at me4 ',what will it be now1 ,marsail8' ,i asked4 ',ay1 ay1 for sure1' she said1 'it was ,i who saw you first4' ',saw me first1 ,marsail8' ',ay1 you and ,alan ,mac,ailean4' ',when and where was this sight upon you8' ',it was one month before you and he came to ,rona4' ,i asked the poor old woman to be telling me her meaning4 ,at first ,i could make little of what was said1 for she muttered low1 and moved her head this way and that1 and moaned like a stricken ewe4 ,but on my taking her hand1 she looked at me again1 and then told me this thing-- ',on the seventh day of the month before you came--and by the same token it was on the seventh day of the month following that you and ,alan ,mc,ailean came to ,caisteal-,rhona--,i was upon the shore at ,aonaig1 listening to the crying of the wind against the great cliff of ,biola-creag4 ,with me were ,ruaridh ,macrae and ,neil ,mac,neill1 ,morag ,mac,neill1 and her sister ,elsa2 and we were singing the hymn for those who were out on the wild sea that was roaring white against the cliffs of ,berneray1 for some of our people were there1 and we feared for them4 ,sometimes one sang1 and sometimes another4 ,and sure1 it is remembering ,i am1 how1 when ,i had called out with my old wailing voice-- ',bi 'eadh an ,tri-aon leinn1 a la's a dh-oidche2 ',s air chul nan tonn1 ,a ,mhoire ghradhach6 7,be the ,three-in-,one with us day and night2 ,and on the crested wave1 ,o ,mary ,beloved67 ',now when ,i had just sung this1 and we were all listening to the sound of it caught by the wind and blown up against the black face of ,biola-creag1 ,i saw a boat come sailing into the haven4 ,i called out to those about me1 but they looked at me with white faces1 for no boat was there1 and it was a rough1 wild sea it was in that haven4 ',and in that boat ,i saw three people sitting2 and one was you1 ,ian ,mac,iain1 and one was a man who had his face in shadow1 and his eyes looked into the shadow at his feet4 ,i saw you clear1 and told those about me what ,i saw4' ,and ,seumas ,mac,neill1 him that is dead now1 and brother to ,neil here at ,aonaig1 he said to me1 ',who was that whom you saw walking in the dusk the night before last8'--',ailean ,mac,alasdair ,carmichael1' answered one at that4 ,seumas muttered1 looking at those1 about him1 ',mark what ,i say1 for it is a true thing--that ,ailean ,carmichael of ,rona is dead now1 because ,marsail saw him walking in the dusk when he was not upon the island2 and now1 you ,neil1 and you ,rory1 and all of you1 will be for thinking with me that one of the men in the boat whom ,marsail sees now will be the son of him who has changed4' ,well1 well1 it is a true thing that we each of us thought that thought1 but when the days went and nothing more came of it1 the memory of the seeing went too4 ,then there came the day when the coble of ,aulay ,mac,aulay came out of ,borosay into ,caisteal-,rhona haven4 ,glad we were to see your face again1 ,ian ,mc,iain1 and to hear the sob of joy coming out of the heart of ,giorsal your sister2 but when you and ,alan ,mac,ailean came on shore1 it was my voice that then went from mouth to mouth1 for ,i whispered to ,morag ,mac,neill who was next me that you were the men ,i had seen in the boat4' ,well1 after that1 ,ian added1 with a grave smile1 ,i spoke gently to old ,marsail1 and told her that there was no evil in that seeing1 and that for sure it was nothing at all1 at all1 to see two people in a boat1 and nothing coming of that1 save happiness for those two1 and glad content to be here4 ,marsail looked at me with big eyes4 ,but when ,i asked her what she meant by that1 she would say no more4 ,no asking of mine would bring the word to her lips1 only she shook her head and kept her gaze from my face4 ,then1 seeing that it was useless1 ,i said to her-- ',marsail1 tell me this3 ,was this sight of yours the sole thing that made the people here on ,rona look askance at ,alan ,mac,ailean8' ,for a time she stared at me with dim eyes1 then suddenly she spoke-- ',it is not all4' ',then what more is there1 ,marsail ,macrae8' ',that is not for the saying4 ,i have no more to say4 ,let you1 or ,alan ,mac,ailean1 go elsewhere4 ,that which is to be1 will be4 ,to each his own end4' ',then be telling me this now at least1' ,i asked3 'is there danger for him or me in this island8' ,but the poor old woman would say no more1 and then ,i saw a swoon was on her4 ,after this1 ,alan and ,ian walked slowly home together1 both silent1 and each revolving in his mind as in a dim dusk that mystery which1 vague and unreal at first1 had now become a living presence1 and haunted them by day and night4 ,,iv ,in the shadow of pain1 one may hear the footsteps of joy4 ,so runs a proverb of old4 ,it was a true saying for ,alan4 ,that night he lay down in pain1 his heart heavy with the weight of a mysterious burden4 ,on the morrow he woke blithely to a new day--a day of absolute beauty4 ,the whole wide wilderness of ocean was of living azure1 aflame with gold and silver4 ,around the promontories of the isles the brown-sailed fishing-boats of ,barra and ,berneray1 of ,borosay and ,seila1 moved blithely hither and thither4 ,everywhere the rhythm of life pulsed swift and strong4 ,the first sound which had awakened ,alan was of a loud singing of fishermen who were putting out from ,aonaig4 ,the coming of a great shoal of mackerel had been signalled1 and every man and woman of the near isles was alert for the take4 ,the watchers had known it by the swift congregation of birds1 particularly the gannets and skuas4 ,and as the men pulled at the oars1 or hoisted the brown sails1 they sang a snatch of an old-world tune1 still chanted at the first coming of the birds when spring-tide is on the flow again-- ,bui' cheas dha 'n ,ti thaine na ,gugachan ,thaine's na h-,eoin-,mhora cuideriu1 ,cailin dugh ciaru bo's a chro6 ,bo dhonn6 bo dhonn6 bo dhonn bheadarrach6 ,bo dhonn a ruin a bhlitheadh am baine dhuit ,ho ro6 mo gheallag6 ni gu rodagach6 ,cailin dugh ciaru bo's a chro-- ,na h-eoin air tighinn6 cluinneam an ceol6 7,thanks to the ,being1 the ,gannets have come1 ,yes6 and the ,great ,auks along with them4 ,dark-haired girl6--a cow in the fold6 ,brown cow6 brown cow6 brown cow1 beloved ho6 ,brown cow6 my love6 the milker of milk to thee6 ,ho ro6 my fair-skinned girl--a cow1 in the fold1 ,and the birds have come6--glad sight1 ,i see67 ,eager to be of help1 ,ian put off in his boat1 and was soon among the fishermen1 who in their new excitement were forgetful of all else than that the mackerel were come1 and that every moment was precious4 ,for the first time ,ian found himself no unwelcome comrade4 ,was it1 he wondered1 because that1 there upon the sea1 whatever of shadow dwelled about him1 or rather about ,alan ,mac,ailean1 on the land1 was no longer visible4 ,all through that golden noon he and the others worked hard4 ,from isle to isle went the chorus of the splashing oars and splashing nets2 of the splashing of the fish and the splashing of gannets and gulls2 of the splashing of the tide leaping blithely against the sun-dazzle1 and the illimitable rippling splash moving out of the west2--all this blent with the loud1 joyous cries1 the laughter1 and the hoarse shouts of the men of ,barra and the adjacent islands4 ,it was close upon dusk before the ,rona boats put into the haven of ,aonaig again2 and by that time none was blither than ,ian ,mac,iain1 who in that day of happy toil had lost all the gloom and apprehension of the day before1 and now returned to ,caisteal-,rhona with lighter heart than he had known for long4 ,when1 however1 he got there1 there was no sign of ,alan4 ,he had gone1 said ,giorsal1 he had gone out in the smaller boat midway in the afternoon1 and had sailed around to ,aoidhu1 the great scaur which ran out beyond the precipices at the south-west of ,rona4 ,this ,alan often did1 and of late more and more often4 ,ever since he had come to the ,hebrid ,isles his love of the sea had deepened and had grown into a passion for its mystery and beauty4 ,of late1 too1 something impelled to a more frequent isolation1 a deep longing to be where no eye could see and no ear hearken4 ,so at first ,ian was in no way alarmed4 ,but when the sun had set1 and over the faint blue film of the ,isle of ,tiree the moon had risen1 and still no sign of ,alan1 he became restless and uneasy4 ,giorsal begged him in vain to eat of the supper she had prepared4 ,idly he moved to and fro along the rocky ledge1 or down by the pebbly shore1 or across the green airidh1 eager for a glimpse of him whom he loved so well4 ,at last1 unable longer to endure a growing anxiety1 he put out in his boat1 and sailed swiftly before the slight easterly breeze which had prevailed since moonrise4 ,so far as ,aoidhu1 all the way from ,aonaig1 there was not a haven anywhere1 nor even one of the sea caverns which honeycombed the isle beyond the headland4 ,a glance1 therefore1 showed him that ,alan had not yet come back that way4 ,it was possible1 though unlikely1 that he had sailed right round ,rona2 unlikely1 because in the narrow straits to the north1 between ,rona and the scattered islets known as the ,innsemhara1 strong currents prevailed1 and particularly at the full of the tide1 when they swept north-eastward dark and swift as a mill-race4 ,once the headland was passed and the sheer precipitous westward cliffs loomed black out of the sea1 he became more and more uneasy4 ,as yet1 there was no danger2 but he saw that a swell was moving out of the west2 and whenever the wind blew that way1 the sea-arcades were filled with a lifting1 perilous wave4 ,later1 escape might be difficult1 and often impossible4 ,out of the score or more great passages which opened between ,aoidhu and ,ardgorm1 it was difficult to know into which to chance the search of ,alan4 ,together they had examined all of them4 ,some twisted but slightly2 others wound sinuously till the green1 serpentine alleys1 flanked by basalt walls hundreds of feet high1 lost themselves in an indistinguishable maze4 ,but that which was safest1 and wherein a boat could most easily make its way against wind or tide1 was the huge1 cavernous passage known locally as the ,uaimh-nan-roin1 the ,cave of the ,seals4 ,for this opening ,ian steered his boat4 ,soon he was within the wide corridor4 ,like the great cave at ,staffa1 it was wrought as an aisle in some natural cathedral2 the rocks1 too1 were columnar1 and rose in flawless symmetry1 as though graven by the hand of man4 ,at the far end of this gigantic aisle1 there diverges a long1 narrow arcade1 filled by day with the green shine of the water1 and by night1 when the moon is up1 with a pale froth of light4 ,it is one of the few where there are open gateways for the sea and the wandering light1 and by its spherical shape almost the only safe passage in a season of heavy wind4 ,half-way along this arched arcade a corridor leads to a round cup-like cavern1 midway in which stands a huge mass of black basalt1 in shape suggestive of a titanic altar4 ,thus it must have impressed the imagination of the islanders of old2 for by them1 even in a remote day1 it was called ,teampull-,mara1 the ,temple of the ,sea4 ,owing to the narrowness of the passage1 and to the smooth1 unbroken walls which rise sheer from the green depths into an invisible darkness1 the ,strait of the ,temple is not one wherein to linger long1 save in a time of calm4 ,instinctively1 however1 ,ian quietly headed his boat along this narrow way4 ,when1 silently1 he emerged from the arcade1 he could just discern the mass of basalt at the far end of the cavern4 ,but there1 seated in his boat1 was ,alan1 apparently idly adrift1 for one oar floated in the water alongside1 and the other swung listlessly from the tholes4 ,his heart had a suffocating grip as he saw him whom he had come to seek4 ,why that absolute stillness1 that strange1 listless indifference8 ,for a dreadful moment he feared death had indeed come to him in that lonely place where1 as an ancient legend had it1 a woman of old time had perished1 and ever since had wrought death upon any who came thither solitary and unhappy4 ,but at the striking of the shaft of his oar against a ledge1 ,alan moved1 and looked at him with startled eyes4 ,half rising from where he crouched in the stern1 he called to him in a voice that had in it something strangely unfamiliar4 ,i will not hear6 he cried4 ,i will not hear6 ,leave me6 ,leave me6 ,fearing that the desolation of the place had wrought upon his mind1 ,ian swiftly moved toward him1 and the next moment his boat glided alongside4 ,stepping from the one to the other1 he kneeled beside him4 ,ailean mo caraid1 ,ailean-aghray1 what is it8 ,what gives you dread8 ,there is no harm here4 ,all is well4 ,look6 ,see1 it is ,i1 ,ian--old ,ian ,mac,iain6 ,listen1 mo ghaoil2 do you not know me--do you not know who ,i am8 ,it is ,i1 ,ian2 ,ian who loves you6 ,even in that obscure light he could clearly discern the pale face1 and his heart smote him as he saw ,alan's eyes turn upon him with a glance wild and mournful4 ,had he indeed succumbed to the sea madness which ever and again strikes into a terrible melancholy one here and there among those who dwell in the remote isles8 ,but even as he looked1 he noted another expression come into the wild strained eyes2 and almost before he realised what had happened1 ,alan was on his feet and pointing with rigid arm4 ,for there1 in that nigh unreachable and for ever unvisited solitude1 was the figure of a man4 ,he stood on the summit of the huge basalt altar1 and appeared to have sprung from out the rock1 or1 himself a shadowy presence1 to have grown out of the obscure unrealities of the darkness4 ,ian stared1 fascinated1 speechless4 ,then with a spring he was on the ledge4 ,swift and sure as a wild cat1 he scaled the huge mass of the altar4 ,nothing2 no one6 ,there was not a trace of any human being4 ,not a bird1 not a bat2 nothing4 ,moreover1 even in that slowly blackening darkness1 he could see that there was no direct connection between the summit or side with the blank1 precipitous wall of basalt beyond4 ,overhead there was1 so far as he could discern1 a vault4 ,no human being could have descended through that perilous gulf4 ,was the island haunted8 he wondered1 as slowly he made his way back to the boat4 ,or had he been startled by some wild fantasy1 and imagined a likeness where none had been8 ,perhaps even he had not really seen any one4 ,he had heard of such things4 ,the nerves can soon chase the mind into the shadow wherein it loses itself4 ,or was ,alan the vain dreamer8 ,that1 indeed1 might well be4 ,mayhap he had heard some fantastic tale from ,morag ,mac,neill1 or from old ,marsail ,macrae2 the islanders had sgeul after sgeul of a wild strangeness4 ,in silence he guided the boats back into the outer arcade1 where a faint sheen of moonlight glistened on the water4 ,thence1 in a few minutes1 he oared that wherein he and ,alan sat1 with the other fastened astern1 into the open4 ,when the moonshine lay full on ,alan's face1 ,ian saw that he was thinking neither of himself nor of where he was4 ,his eyes were heavy with dream4 ,what wind there was blew against their course1 so ,ian rowed unceasingly4 ,in silence they passed once again the headland of ,aoidhu2 in silence they drifted past a single light gleaming in a croft near ,aonaig--a red eye staring out into the shadow of the sea1 from the room where the woman ,marsail lay dying2 and in silence their keels grided on the patch of shingle in ,caisteal-,rhona haven4 ,for days thereafter ,alan haunted that rocky1 cavernous wilderness where he had seen the ,herdsman4 ,it was in vain he had sought everywhere for some tidings of this mysterious dweller in those upland solitudes4 ,at times he believed that there was indeed some one upon the island of whom1 for inexplicable reasons1 none there would speak2 but at last he came to the conviction that what he had seen was an apparition1 projected by the fantasy of overwrought nerves4 ,even from the woman ,morag ,mac,neill1 to whom he had gone with a frank appeal that won its way to her heart1 he learned no more than that an old legend1 of which she did not care to speak1 was in some way associated with his own coming to ,rona4 ,ian1 too1 never once alluded to the mysterious incident of the green arcades which had so deeply impressed them both3 never after ,alan had told him that he had seen a vision4 ,but as the days passed1 and as no word came to either of any unknown person who was on the island1 and as ,alan1 for all his patient wandering and furtive quest1 both among the upland caves and in the green arcades1 found absolutely no traces of him whom he sought1 the belief that he had been duped by his imagination deepened almost to conviction4 ,as for ,ian1 he1 unlike ,alan1 became more and more convinced that what he had seen was indeed no apparition4 ,whatever lingering doubt he had was dissipated on the eve of the night when old ,marsail ,macrae died4 ,it was dusk when word came to ,caisteal-,rhona that ,marsail felt the cold wind on the soles of her feet4 ,ian went to her at once1 and it was in the dark hour which followed that he heard once more1 and more fully1 the strange story which1 like a poisonous weed1 had taken root in the minds of the islanders4 ,already from ,marsail he had heard of the ,prophet1 though1 strangely enough1 he had never breathed word of this to ,alan1 not even when1 after the startling episode of the apparition in the ,teampull-,mara1 he had1 as he believed1 seen the ,prophet himself4 ,but there in the darkness of the low1 turfed cottage1 with no light in the room save the dull red gloom from the heart of the smoored peats1 ,marsail1 in the attenuated1 remote voice of those who have already entered into the vale of the shadow1 told him this thing1 in the homelier ,gaelic-- ,yes1 ,ian mac ,iain-,ban1 ,i will be telling you this thing before ,i change4 ,you are for knowing1 sure1 that long ago ,uilleam1 brother of him who was father to the lad up at the castle yonder1 had a son8 ,yes1 you know that1 you say1 and also that he was called ,donnacha ,ban8 ,no1 mo-caraid1 that is not a true thing that you have heard1 that ,donnacha ,ban went under the waves years ago4 ,he was the seventh son1 an' was born under the full moon2 'tis ,himself will be knowing whether that was for or against him4 ,of these seven none lived beyond childhood except the two youngest1 ,kenneth an' ,donnacha4 ,kenneth was always frail as a ,february flower1 but he lived to be a man4 ,he an' his brother never spoke1 for a feud was between them1 not only because that each was unlike the other1 an' the younger hated the older because through him he was the penniless one1 but most because both loved the same woman4 ,i am not for telling you the whole story now1 for the breath in my body will soon blow out in the draught that is coming upon me2 but this ,i will say to you3 darker and darker grew the gloom between these brothers4 ,when ,giorsal ,macdonald gave her love to ,kenneth1 ,donnacha disappeared for a time4 ,then1 one day1 he came back to ,borosay1 an' smiled quietly with his cold eyes when they wondered at his coming again4 ,now1 too1 it was noticed that he no longer had an ill-will upon his brother1 but spoke smoothly with him an' loved to be in his company4 ,but to this day no one knows for sure what happened4 ,for there was a gloaming when ,donnacha ,ban came back alone in his sailing-boat4 ,he an' ,kenneth had sailed forth1 he said1 to shoot seals in the sea-arcades to the west of ,rona1 but in these dark and lonely passages they had missed each other4 ,at last he had heard ,kenneth's voice calling for help1 but when he had got to the place it was too late1 for his brother had been seized with the cramps1 an' had sunk deep into the fathomless water4 ,there is no getting a body again that sinks in these sea-galleries4 ,the crabs know that4 ,well1 this and much more was what ,donnacha ,ban told to his people4 ,none believed him2 but what could any do8 ,there was no proof2 none had ever seen them enter the sea-caves together4 ,not that ,donnacha ,ban sought in any way to keep back those who would fain know more4 ,not so2 he strove to help to find the body4 ,nevertheless1 none believed2 an' ,giorsal nic ,dugall ,mor least of all4 ,the blight of that sorrow went to her heart4 ,she had death soon1 poor thing6 but before the cold greyness was upon her she told her father1 an' the minister that was there1 that she knew ,donnacha ,ban had murdered his brother4 ,one might be saying these were the wild words of a woman2 but1 for sure1 no one said that thing upon ,borosay or ,rona1 or any of these isles4 ,when all was done1 the minister told what he knew1 an' what he thought1 to the ,lord of the ,south ,isles1 and asked what was to be put upon ,donnacha ,ban4 ',exile for ever1' said the chief1 'or if he stays here1 the doom of silence4 ,let no man or woman speak to him or give him food or drink1 or give him shelter1 or let his shadow cross his or hers4' ,when this thing was told to ,donnacha ,ban ,carmichael1 he laughed at first2 but as day after day slid over the rocks where all days fall1 he laughed no more4 ,soon he saw that the chief's word was no empty word2 an' yet would not go away from his own place4 ,he could not stay upon ,borosay1 for his father cursed him2 an' no man can stay upon the island where a father's curse moves this way an' that1 for ever seeing him4 ,then1 some say a madness came upon him1 and others that he took wildness to be his way1 and others that ,god put upon him the shadow of loneliness1 so that he might meet sorrow there and repent4 ,howsoever that may be1 ,donnacha ,ban came to ,rona1 an' by the same token1 it was the year of the great blight1 when the potatoes and the corn came to naught1 an' when the fish in the sea swam away from the isles4 ,in the autumn of that year there was not a soul left on ,rona except ,giorsal an' the old man ,ian1 her father1 who had guard of ,caisteal-,rhona for him who was absent4 ,when1 once more1 years after1 smoke rose from the crofts1 the saying spread that ,donnacha ,ban1 the murderer1 had made his home among the caves of the upper part of the isle4 ,none knew how this saying rose1 for he was seen of none4 ,the last man who saw him--an' that was a year later--was old ,padruig ,m',vurich the shepherd4 ,padruig said that1 as he was driving his ewes across the north slope of ,ben ,einaval in the gloaming1 he came upon a silent figure seated upon a rock1 with his chin in his hands1 an' his elbows on his knees--with the great1 sad eyes of him staring at the moon that was lifting itself out of the sea4 ,padruig did not know who the man was4 ,the shepherd had few wits1 poor man6 and he had known1 or remembered1 little about the story of ,donnacha ,ban ,carmichael2 so when he spoke to the man1 it was as to a stranger4 ,the man looked at him and said-- ',you are ,padruig ,m',vurich1 the shepherd4' ,at that a trembling was upon old ,padruig1 who had the wonder that this stranger should know who and what he was4 ',and who will you be1 and forgive the saying8' he asked4 ',am ,faidh--the ,prophet1' the man said4 ',and what prophet will you be1 and what is your prophecy8' asked ,padruig4 ',i am here because ,i wait for what is to be1 and that will be the coming of the ,woman who is the ,daughter of ,god4' ,and with that the man said no more1 an' the old shepherd went down through the gloaming1 an'1 heavy with the thoughts that troubled him1 followed his ewes down into ,aonaig4 ,but after that neither he nor any other saw or heard tell of the shadowy stranger2 so that all upon ,rona felt sure that ,padruig had beheld no more than a vision4 ,there were some who thought that he had seen the ghost of the outlaw ,donnacha ,ban2 an' mayhap one or two who wondered if the stranger that had said he was a prophet was not ,donnacha ,ban himself1 with a madness come upon him2 but at last these sayings went out to sea upon the wind1 an' men forgot4 ,but1 an' it was months and months afterwards1 an' three days before his own death1 old ,padruig ,m',vurich was sitting in the sunset on the rocky ledge in front of his brother's croft1 where then he was staying1 when he heard a strange crying of seals4 ,he thought little of that2 only1 when he looked closer1 he saw1 in the hollow of the wave hard by that ledge1 a drifting body4 ',am ,faidh--,am ,faidh6' he cried2 'the ,prophet1 the ,prophet6' ,at that his brother an' his brother's wife ran to see2 but it was nothing that they saw4 ',it would be a seal1' said ,pol ,m',vurich2 but at that ,padruig had shook his head1 an' said no for sure1 he had seen the face of the dead man1 an' it was of him whom he had met on the hillside1 an' that had said he was the ,prophet who was waiting there for the second coming of ,god4 ,and that is how there came about the echo of the thought that ,donnacha ,ban had at last1 after his madness1 gone under the green wave and was dead4 ,for all that1 in the months which followed1 more than one man said he had seen a figure high up on the hill4 ,the old wisdom says that when ,god comes again1 or the prophet who will come before1 it will be as a herdsman on a lonely isle4 ,more than one of the old people on ,rona and ,borosay remembered that sgeul out of the ,seanachas that the tale-tellers knew4 ,there were some who said that ,donnacha ,ban had never been drowned at all1 an' that he was this ,prophet1 this ,herdsman4 ,others would not have that saying at all1 but believed that the wraith was indeed ,am ,buachaill ,ban1 the ,fair-haired ,shepherd1 who had come again to redeem the people out of their sorrow4 ,there were even those who said that the ,herdsman who haunted ,rona was no other than ,kenneth ,carmichael himself1 who had not died but had had the mind-dark there in the sea-caves where he had been lost1 an' there had come to the knowledge of secret things1 and so was at last ,am ,faidh ,chriosd4 ,a great weakness came upon the old woman when she had spoken thus far4 ,ian feared that she would have breath for no further word2 but after a thin gasping1 and a listless fluttering of weak hands upon the coverlet1 whereon her trembling fingers plucked aimlessly at the invisible blossoms of death1 she opened her eyes once more1 and stared in a dim questioning at him who sat by her bedside4 ,tell me1 whispered ,ian1 tell me ,marsail1 what thought it is that is in your own mind8 ,but already the old woman had begun to wander4 ,for sure1 for sure1 she muttered1 ,am ,faidh 444 ,am ,faidh 444 an' a child will be born 444 the ,queen of ,heaven1 an' 444 that will be the voice of ,domhuill1 my husband1 ,i am hearing 444 an' dark it is1 an' the tide comin' in 444 an'---- ,then1 sure1 the tide came in1 and if in that darkness old ,marsail ,macrae heard any voice at all1 it was that of ,domhuill who years agone had sunk into the wild seas off the head of ,barra4 ,an hour later ,alan walked slowly under the cloudy night4 ,all he had heard from ,ian came back to him with a strange familiarity4 ,something of this1 at least1 he had known before4 ,some hints of this mysterious ,herdsman had reached his ears4 ,in some inexplicable way his real or imaginary presence there upon ,rona seemed a pre-ordained thing for him4 ,he knew that the wild imaginings of the islanders had woven the legend of the ,prophet1 or of his mysterious message1 out of the loom of the deep longing whereon is woven that larger tapestry1 the shadow-thridden life of the island ,gael4 ,laughter and tears1 ordinary hopes and pleasures1 and even joy itself1 and bright gaiety1 and the swift1 spontaneous imaginations of susceptible natures--all this1 of course1 is to be found with the island ,gael as with his fellows elsewhere4 ,but every here and there are some who have in their minds the inheritance from the dim past of their race1 and are oppressed as no other people are oppressed by the gloom of a strife between spiritual emotion and material facts4 ,it is the brains of dreamers such as these which clear the mental life of the community2 and it is in these brains are the mysterious looms which weave the tragic and sorrowful tapestries of ,celtic thought4 ,it were a madness to suppose that life in the isles consists of nothing but sadness and melancholy4 ,it is not so1 or need not be so1 for the ,gael is a creature of shadow and shine4 ,but whatever the people is1 the brain of the ,gael hears a music that is sadder than any music there is1 and has for its cloudy sky a gloom that shall not go2 for the end is near1 and upon the westernmost shores of these remote isles the voice of ,celtic sorrow may be heard crying1 ,cha till1 cha till1 cha till mi tuille3 ,i will return1 ,i will return1 ,i will return no more4 ,alan knew all this well2 and yet he too dreamed his dream--that1 even yet1 there might be redemption for the people4 ,he did not share the wild hope which some of the older islanders held1 that ,christ ,himself shall come again to redeem an oppressed race2 but might not another saviour arise1 another redeeming spirit come into the world8 ,and if so1 might not that child of joy be born out of suffering and sorrow and crime2 and if so1 might not the ,herdsman be indeed a prophet1 the ,prophet of the ,woman in whom ,god should come anew as foretold8 ,with startled eyes he crossed the thyme-set ledge whereon stood ,caisteal-,rhona4 ,was it1 after all1 a message he had received1 and was that which had appeared to him in that lonely cavern of the sea but a phantom of his own destiny8 ,was he himself1 ,alan ,carmichael1 indeed ,am ,faidh1 the predestined ,prophet of the isles8 ,v ,ever since the night of ,marsail's death1 ,ian had noticed that ,alan no longer doubted1 but that in some way a special message had come to him1 a special revelation4 ,on the other hand1 he had himself swung further into his conviction that the vision he had seen in the cavern was1 in truth1 that of a living man4 ,on ,borosay1 he knew1 the fishermen believed that the aonaran nan creag1 the recluse of the rocks1 as commonly they spoke of him1 was no other than ,donnacha ,ban ,carmichael1 survived there through these many years1 and long since mad with his loneliness and because of the burden of his crime4 ,but by this time the islanders had come to see that ,alan ,mac,ailean was certainly not ,donnacha ,ban4 ,even the startling likeness no longer betrayed them in this way4 ,the ministers and the priests on ,berneray and ,barra scoffed at the whole story1 and everywhere discouraged the idea that ,donnacha ,ban could still be among the living4 ,but for the common belief that to encounter the ,herdsman1 whether the lost soul of ,donnacha ,ban or indeed the strange phantom of the hills of which the old legends spoke1 was to meet inevitable disaster1 the islanders might have been persuaded to make such a search among the caves of ,rona as would almost certainly have revealed the presence of any who dwelt therein4 ,but as summer lapsed into autumn1 and autumn itself through its golden silences waned into the shadow of the equinox1 a strange1 brooding serenity came upon ,alan4 ,ian himself now doubted his own vision of the mysterious ,herdsman--if he indeed existed at all except in the imaginations of those who spoke of him either as the ,buachaill ,ban1 or as the aonaran nan creag4 ,if a real man1 ,ian believed that at last he had passed away4 ,none saw the ,herdsman now2 and even ,morag ,mac,neill1 who had often on moonlight nights been startled by the sound of a voice chanting among the upper solitudes1 admitted that she now heard nothing unusual4 ,st4 ,martin's summer came at last1 and with it all that wonderful1 dreamlike beauty which bathes the isles in a flood of golden light1 and draws over sea and land a veil of deeper mystery4 ,one late afternoon1 ,ian1 returning to ,caisteal-,rhona after an unexplained absence of several hours1 found ,alan sitting at a table4 ,spread before him were the sheets of one of the strange old ,gaelic tales which he had ardently begun to translate4 ,alan lifted and slowly read the page or paraphrase which he had just laid down4 ,it was after the homelier ,gaelic of the ,eachdaireachd ,challum mhic ,cruimein4 ,and when that king had come to the island1 he lived there in the shadow of men's eyes2 for none saw him by day or by night1 and none knew whence he came or whither he fared2 for his feet were shod with silence1 and his way with dusk4 ,but men knew that he was there1 and all feared him4 ,months1 even years1 tramped one on the heels of the other1 and perhaps the king gave no sign1 but one day he would give a sign2 and that sign was a laughing that was heard somewhere1 upon the lonely hills1 or on the lonely wave1 or in the heart of him who heard4 ,and whenever the king laughed1 he who heard would fare ere long from his fellows to join that king in the shadow4 ,but sometimes the king laughed only because of vain hopes and wild imaginings1 for upon these he lives as well as upon the strange savours of mortality4 ,that night ,alan awakened ,ian suddenly1 and taking him by the hand made him promise to go with him on the morrow to the ,teampull-,mara4 ,in vain ,ian questioned him as to why he asked this thing4 ,all ,alan would say was that he must go there once again1 and with him1 for he believed that a spirit out of heaven had come to reveal to him a wonder4 ,distressed by what he knew to be a madness1 and fearful that it might prove to be no passing fantasy1 ,ian would fain have persuaded him against this intention4 ,even as he spoke1 however1 he realised that it might be better to accede to his wishes1 and1 above all1 to be there with him1 so that it might not be one only who heard or saw the expected revelation4 ,and it was a strange faring indeed1 that which occurred on the morrow4 ,at noon1 when the tide was an hour turned in the ebb1 they sailed westward from ,caisteal-,rhona4 ,it was in silence they made that strange journey together2 for1 while ,ian steered1 ,alan lay down in the hollow of the boat1 with his head against the old man's knees1 and slept1 or at least lay still with his eyes closed4 ,when at last they passed the headland and entered the first of the sea-arcades1 ,alan rose and sat beside him4 ,hauling down the now useless sail1 ,ian took an oar and1 standing at the prow1 urged the boat inward along the narrow corridor which led to the huge sea-cave of the ,altar4 ,in the deep gloom--for even on that day of golden light and beauty the green air of the sea-cave was heavy with shadow--there was a deathly chill4 ,what dull light there was came from the sheen of the green water which lay motionless along the black basaltic ledges4 ,when at last the base of the ,altar was reached1 ,ian secured the boat by a rope passed around a projecting spur1 and then seated himself in the stern beside ,alan4 ,tell me1 ,alan-a-ghaoil1 what is this thing that you are thinking you will hear or see8 ,alan looked at him strangely for a while1 but1 though his lips moved1 he said nothing4 ,tell me1 my heart1 ,ian urged again1 who is it you expect to see or hear8 ,am ,buachaill ,ban1 ,alan answered1 the ,herdsman4 ,for a moment ,ian hesitated4 ,then1 taking ,alan's hand in his and raising it to his lips1 he whispered in his ear-- ,there is no ,herdsman upon ,rona4 ,if a man was there who lived solitary1 the aonaran nan creag is dead long since4 ,what you have seen and heard has been a preying upon you of wild thoughts4 ,be thinking no more now of this vision4 ,this man1 ,alan answered quietly1 is not ,donnacha ,ban1 but the ,prophet of whom the people speak4 ,he himself has told me this thing4 ,yesterday ,i was here1 and he bade me come again4 ,he spoke out of the shadow that is about the ,altar1 though ,i saw him not4 ,i asked him if he were ,donnacha ,ban1 and he said ',no4' ,i asked him if he were ,am ,faidh1 and he said ',yes4' ,i asked him if he were indeed an immortal spirit and herald of that which was to be1 and he said ',even so4' ,for a long while after this no word was spoken4 ,the chill of that remote place began to affect ,alan1 and he shivered slightly at times4 ,but more he shivered because of the silence1 and because that he who had promised to be there gave no sign4 ,sure1 he thought1 it could not be all a dream2 sure1 the ,herdsman would come again4 ,then at last1 turning to ,ian1 he said1 ,we must come on the morrow1 for to-day he is not here4 ,i will do what you ask1 ,alan-mo-ghaol4 ,but of a sudden ,alan stepped on the black ledges at the base of the ,altar1 and slowly mounted the precipitous rock4 ,ian watched him till he became a shadow in that darkness4 ,his heart leaped when suddenly he heard a cry fall out of the gloom4 ,alan1 ,alan6 he cried1 and a great fear was upon him when no answer came2 but at last he heard him clambering slowly down the perilous slope of that obscure place4 ,when he reached the ledge ,alan stood still regarding him4 ,why do you not come into the boat8 ,ian asked1 terrified because of what he saw in ,alan's eyes4 ,alan looked at him with parted lips1 his breath coming and going like that of a caged bird4 ,what is it8 ,ian whispered4 ,ian1 when ,i reached the top of the ,altar1 and in the dim light that was there1 ,i saw the dead body of a man lying upon the rock4 ,his head was lain back so that the gleam from a crevice in the cliff overhead fell upon it4 ,the man had been dead many hours4 ,he is a man whose hair has been greyed by years and sorrow1 but the man is he who is of my blood2 he whom ,i resemble so closely2 he that the fishermen call the hermit of the rocks2 he that is the ,herdsman4 ,ian stared1 with moving lips3 then in a whisper he spoke-- ,would you be for following a herdsman who could lead you to no fold8 ,this man is dead1 ,alan mac ,alasdair2 and it is well that you brought me here to-day4 ,that is a good thing1 and for sure ,god has willed it4 ,it is not a man that is dead4 ,it is my soul that lies there4 ,it is dead4 ,god called me to be ,his ,prophet1 and ,i hid in dreams4 ,it is the end4 ,and with that1 and death staring out of his eyes1 he entered the boat and sat down beside ,ian4 ,let us go1 he said1 and that was all4 ,slowly ,ian oared the boat across the shadowy gulf of the cave1 along the narrow passage1 and into the pale green gloom of the outer cavern1 wherein the sound of the sea made a forlorn requiem in his ears4 ,but the short ,november day was already passing to its end4 ,all the sea westward was aflame with gold and crimson light1 and in the great dome of the sky a wonderful radiance lifted above the paleness of the clouds1 whose pinnacled and bastioned heights towered in the south-west4 ,a faint wind blew eastwardly4 ,raising the sail1 ,ian made it fast and then sat down beside ,alan4 ,but he1 rising1 moved along the boat to the mast1 and leaned there with his face against the setting sun4 ,idly they drifted onward4 ,deep silence lay between them2 deep silence was all about them1 save for the ceaseless1 inarticulate murmur of the sea1 the splash of low waves against the rocks of ,rona1 and the sigh of the surf at the base of the basalt precipices4 ,and this was their homeward sailing on that day of revelation3 ,alan1 with his back against the mast1 and his lifeless face irradiated by the light of the setting sun2 ,ian1 steering1 with his face in shadow4 ,love in ,shadow has two sacred ministers1 ,oblivion and ,faith1 one to heal1 the other to renovate and upbuild4--,f4 ,m4 ,,footnote3 #ac ,this hymn was taken down in the ,gaelic and translated by ,mr4 ,alexander ,carmichael of ,south ,uist4 ,,fragments ,,from ,,green ,,fire ,,the ,,birds ,,of ,,angus ,,og ,then1 in the violet forest all a-bourgeon1 ,eucharis1 said to me3 ,it is ,spring4--,,arthur ,,rimbaud4 ,after the dim purple bloom of a suspended ,spring1 a green rhythm ran from larch to thorn1 from lime to sycamore3 spread from meadow to meadow1 from copse to copse1 from hedgerow to hedgerow4 ,the blackthorn had already snowed upon the nettle-garths4 ,in the obvious nests1 among the bare boughs of ash and beech1 the eggs of the blackbird were blue-green as the sky that ,march had bequeathed to ,april4 ,for days past1 when the breath of the ,equinox had surged out of the west1 the missel-thrushes had bugled from the wind-swayed topmost branches of the tallest elms4 ,everywhere the green rhythm ran4 ,in every leaf that had uncurled there was a delicate bloom1 that which is upon all things in the first hours of life4 ,the spires of the grass were washed in a green1 dewy light4 ,out of the brown earth a myriad living things thrust tiny green shafts1 arrow-heads1 bulbs1 spheres1 clusters4 ,along the pregnant soil keener ears than ours would have heard the stir of new life1 the innumerous whisper of the bursting seed3 and1 in the wind itself1 shepherding the shadow-chased sunbeams1 the voice of that vernal gladness which has been man's clarion since ,time began4 ,day by day the wind-wings lifted a more multitudinous whisper from the woodlands4 ,the deep hyperborean note1 from the invisible ocean of air1 was still audible3 within the concourse of bare boughs which wrought against it1 that surging voice could not but have an echo of its wintry roar4 ,in the sun-havens1 however1 along the southerly copses1 in daisied garths of orchard-trees1 amid the flowering currant and guelder and lilac bushes1 in quiet places where the hives were all a-murmur1 the wind already sang its lilt of ,spring4 ,from dawn till noon1 from an hour before sundown till the breaking foam along the wild-cherry flushed fugitively because of the crimson glow out of the west1 there was a ceaseless chittering of birds4 ,the starlings and the sparrows enjoyed the commune of the homestead2 the larks and fieldfares and green and yellow linnets congregated in the meadows1 where1 too1 the wild bee already roved4 ,among the brown ridgy fallows there was a constant flutter of black1 white-gleaming1 and silver-grey wings1 where the stalking rooks1 the jerking peewits1 and the wary1 uncertain gulls from the neighbouring sea feasted tirelessly from the teeming earth4 ,often1 too1 the wind-hover1 that harbinger of the season of the young broods1 quivered his curved wings in his arrested flight1 while his lance-like gaze penetrated the whins beneath which a new-born rabbit crawled1 or discerned in the tangle of a grassy tuft the brown watchful eyes of a nesting quail4 ,in the remoter woodlands the three foresters of ,april could be heard2 the woodpecker tapping on the gnarled boles of the oaks1 the wild dove calling in low crooning monotones to his silent mate1 the cuckoo tolling his infrequent peals from skiey belfries built of sun and mist4 ,in the fields1 where the thorns were green as rivulets of melted snow and the grass had the bloom of emerald1 and the leaves of docken1 clover1 cinquefoil1 sorrel1 and a thousand plants and flowers1 were wave-green1 the ewes lay1 idly watching with their luminous amber eyes the frisking and leaping of the close-curled1 tuft-tailed1 woolly-legged lambs4 ,in corners of the hedgerows1 and in hollows in the rolling meadows1 the primrose1 the celandine1 the buttercup1 the dandelion1 and the daffodil spilled little eddies of the sunflood which overbrimmed them with light4 ,all day long the rapture of the larks filled the blue air with vanishing spirals of music1 swift and passionate in the ascent1 repetitive and less piercing in the narrowing downward gyres4 ,from every whin the poignant monotonous note of the yellow hammer re-echoed4 ,each pastoral hedge was alive with robins1 chaffinches1 and the dusky shadows of the wild mice darting here and there among the greening boughs4 ,whenever this green fire is come upon the earth1 the swift contagion spreads to the human heart4 ,what the seedlings feel in the trees1 what the blood feels in the brown mould1 what the sap feels in every creature from the newt in the pool to the nesting bird1 so feels the strange remembering ichor that runs its red tides through human hearts and brains4 ,spring has its subtler magic for us1 because of the dim mysteries of unremembering remembrance and of the vague radiances of hope4 ,something in us sings an ascendant song1 and we expect we know not what3 something in us sings a decrescent song1 and we realise vaguely the stirring of immemorial memories4 ,there is none who will admit that ,spring is fairer elsewhere than in his own land4 ,but there are regions where the season is so hauntingly beautiful that it would seem as though ,angus ,og knew them for his chosen resting-places in his green journey4 ,angus ,og1 ,angus ,mac,greigne1 ,angus the ,ever ,youthful1 the ,son of the ,sun1 a fair god he indeed1 golden-haired and wonderful as ,apollo ,chrusokumos4 ,some say that he is ,love3 some1 that he is ,spring3 some1 even1 that in him ,thanatos1 the ,hellenic ,celt that was his far-off kin1 is reincarnate4 ,but why seek riddles in flowing water8 ,it may well be that ,angus ,og is ,love1 and ,spring1 and ,death4 ,the elemental gods are ever triune3 and in the human heart1 in whose lost ,eden an ancient tree of knowledge grows1 wherefrom the mind has not yet gathered more than a few windfalls1 it is surely sooth that ,death and ,love are oftentimes one and the same1 and that they love to come to us in the apparel of ,spring4 ,sure1 indeed1 ,angus ,og is a name above all sweet to lovers1 for is he not the god--the fair ,youth of the ,tuatha-de-,danann1 the ,ancient ,people1 with us still1 though for ages seen of us no more--from the meeting of whose lips are born white birds1 which fly abroad and nest in lovers' hearts till the moment come when1 on the yearning lips of love1 their invisible wings shall become kisses again8 ,then1 too1 there is the old legend that ,angus goes to and fro upon the world1 a weaver of rainbows4 ,he follows the ,spring1 or is its herald4 ,often his rainbows are seen in the heavens3 often in the rapt gaze of love4 ,we have all perceived them in the eyes of children1 and some of us have discerned them in the hearts of sorrowful women1 and in the dim brains of the old4 ,ah1 for sure1 if ,angus ,og be the lovely ,weaver of ,hope1 he is deathless comrade of the ,spring1 and we may well pray to him to let his green fire move in our veins2 whether he be but the ,eternal ,youth of the ,world1 or be also ,love1 whose soul is youth2 or even though he be likewise ,death himself1 ,death to whom ,love was wedded long1 long ago4 ,,ii ,alan was a poet1 and to dream was his birthright4444 ,he was ever occupied by that wonderful past of his race which was to him a living reality4 ,it was perhaps because he so keenly perceived the romance of the present--the romance of the general hour1 of the individual moment--that he turned so insatiably to the past with its deathless charm1 its haunting appeal4444 ,his mind was as irresistibly drawn to the ,celtic world of the past as the swallow to the sun-way4 ,in a word he was not only a poet but a ,celtic poet2 and not only a ,celtic poet but a dreamer of the ,celtic dream4 ,perhaps this was because of the double strain in his veins4 ,doubtless1 too1 it was continuously enhanced by his intimate knowledge of two of the ,celtic languages1 that of the ,breton and that of the ,gael4 ,it is language that is the surest stimulus to the remembering nerves4 ,we have a memory within memory as layers of skin underlie the epidermis4 ,with most of us this anterior remembrance remains dormant throughout life3 but to some are given swift ancestral recollections4 ,alan was of these4 ,with this double key ,alan unlocked many doors4 ,in his brain ran ever that ,ossianic tide which has borne so many marvellous argosies through the troubled waters of the modern mind4 ,old ballad of his nature isles1 with their haunting ,gaelic rhythm of idioms1 their frequent reminiscence of ,norse viking and the ,danish summer-sailor were often in his ears4 ,he had lived with his hero ,cuchullin from the days when the boy shewed his royal blood at ,emain-,macha till that sad hour when his madness came upon him and he died4 ,he had fared forth with many a ,lifting of the ,sunbeam1 and had followed ,oisin step by step on that last melancholy journey when ,malvina led the blind old man along the lonely shores of ,arran4 ,he had watched the crann-tara flare from glen to glen1 and at the bidding of that fiery cross he had seen the whirling of the swords1 the dusky flight of arrow-rain1 and from the isles1 the leaping forth of the war birlinns to meet the ,viking galleys4 ,how often1 too1 he had followed trial of ,niall of the nine ,hostages and had seen the ,irish ,charlemagne ride victor through ,saxon ,london1 or across the ,norman plains or with onward sword direct his army against the white walls of the ,alps6444 ,it was all this marvellous life of old which wrought upon ,alan's life as by a spell4 ,often he recalled the words of a ,gaelic ,sean he had heard ,yann croon in his soft monotonous voice1--words which made a light shoreward eddy of the present and were solemn with the deep-sea sound of the past1 that is with us even as we speak4444 ,truly his soul must have lived a thousand years ago4 ,in him1 at least1 the old ,celtic brain was reborn with a vivid intensity which none guessed1 for ,alan himself only vaguely surmised the extent and depth of this obsession4 ,in heart and brain that old world lived anew4 ,himself a poet1 all that was fair and tragically beautiful was for ever undergoing in his mind a marvellous transformation--a magical resurrection rather1 wherein what was remote and bygone1 and crowned with oblivious dust1 became alive again with intense and beautiful life4444 ,deep passion instinctively moves towards the shadow rather than towards the golden noons of light4 ,passion hears what love at most dreams of2 passion sees what love mayhap dimly discerns in a glass darkly4 ,a million of our fellows are in love at any or every moment3 and for these the shadowy way is intolerable4 ,but for the few1 in whom love is1 the eyes are circumspect against the dark hour which comes when heart and brain and blood are aflame with the paramount ecstasy of love4444 ,oh1 flame that burns where fires of home are lit6 and oh1 flame that burns in the heart to whom life has not said1 ,awake6 and oh1 flame that smoulders from death to life1 and from life to death1 in the dumb lives of those to whom the primrose way is closed6 ,everywhere the burning of the burning1 the flame of the flame1 pain and the shadow of pain1 joy and the rapt breath of joy1 flame of the flame that1 burning1 destroyeth not1 till the flame is no more6444 ,it is said of an ancient poet of the ,druid days that he had the power to see the lines of the living1 and these as though they were phantoms1 separate from the body4 ,was there not a young king of ,albainn who1 in a perilous hour1 discovered the secret of old time1 and knew how a life may be hidden away from the body so that none may know of it1 save the wind that whispers all things1 and the tides of day and night that bear all things upon their dark flood8444 ,the fragrance of the forest intoxicated him4 ,spring was come indeed4 ,the wild storm had ruined nothing1 for at its fiercest it had swept overhead4 ,everywhere the green fire of ,spring would be litten anew4 ,a green flame would pass from meadow to hedgerow1 from hedgerow to the tangled thickets of bramble and dog-rose1 from the underwoods to the inmost forest glades4 ,everywhere song would be to the birds1 everywhere young life would pulse1 everywhere the rhythm of a new rapture would run rejoicing4 ,the ,miracle of ,spring would be accomplished in the sight of all men1 of all birds and beasts1 of all green life4 ,each1 in its kind would have a swifter throb in the red blood of the vivid sap4444 ,she was his ,magic4 ,the light of their love was upon everything4 ,deeply as he loved beauty he had learned to love it far more keenly and understandingly because of her4 ,he saw now through the accidental and everywhere discerned the ,eternal ,beauty1 the echoes of whose wandering are in every heart and brain though few discern the white vision or hear the haunting voice4444 ,thus it was she had for him this immutable attraction which a few women have for a few men2 an appeal1 a charm1 that atmosphere of romance1 that air of ideal beauty1 wherein lies the secret of all passionate art4 ,the world without wonder1 the world without mystery6 ,that indeed is the rainbow without colours1 the sunrise without living gold1 the noon void of light4444 ,in deep love there is no height nor depth between two hearts1 no height nor depth nor length nor breadth4 ,there is simply love4 ,what if both at times were wrought too deeply by this beautiful dream8 ,what if the inner life triumphed now and then1 and each forgot the deepest instinct of life that here the body is overlord1 and the soul but a divine consort8 ,there are three races of man4 ,there is the myriad race which loses all through 7not bestiality1 for the brute world is clean and sane7 perverted animalism2 and there is the myriad race which denounces humanity1 and pins all its faith and joy to a life the very conditions of whose existence are incompatible with the law to which we are subject--the sole law1 the law of nature4 ,then there is that small untoward clan1 which knows the divine call of the spirit through the brain1 and the secret whisper of the soul in the heart1 and for ever perceives the veils of mystery and the rainbows of hope upon our human horizons1 which hears and sees1 and yet turns wisely1 meanwhile1 to the life of the green earth1 of which we are part1 to the common kindred of living things with which we are at one--is content1 in a word1 to live because of the dream that makes living so mysteriously sweet and poignant2 and to dream because of the commanding immediacy of life4444 ,what are dreams but the dust of wayfaring thoughts8 ,or whence are they1 and what air is upon their shadowy wings8 ,do they come out of the twilight of man's mind3 are they ghosts of exiles from vanished palaces of the brain3 or are they heralds with proclamations of hidden tidings for the soul that dreams8 ,,iii ,,the ,,beauty ,,of ,,the ,,world ,the ,souls of the ,living are the ,beauty of the ,world4--,,bacon4 ,for out of his thoughts about ,annaik and ,ynys arose a fuller1 a deeper conception of womanhood4 ,how well he remembered a legend that ,ynys had once told him3 a legend of a fair spirit which goes to and fro upon the world1 the ,weaver of ,tears4 ,he loves the pathways of sorrow4 ,his voice is low and sweet1 with a sound like the bubbling of waters in that fount whence the rainbows rise4 ,his eyes are in quiet places1 and in the dumb pain of animals as in the agony of the human brain3 but most he is found1 oftenest are the dewy traces of his feet1 in the heart of woman4 ,tears1 tears3 they are not the saltest tears which are on the lids of those who weep4 ,fierce tears there are1 hot founts of pain in the mind of many a man1 that are never shed1 but slowly crystallise in furrows on brow and face1 and in deep weariness in the eyes3 fierce tears1 unquenchable1 in the heart of many a woman1 whose brave eyes look fearlessly at life1 whose dauntless courage goes forth daily to die but never to be vanquished4 ,in truth the ,weaver of ,tears abides in the heart of woman4 ,o ,mother of ,pity1 of ,love1 of deep ,compassion3 with thee it is to yearn for ever for the ideal human1 to bring the spiritual love into fashion with human desire1 endlessly to strive1 endlessly to fail1 always to hope in spite of disillusion1 to love unswervingly against all baffling and misunderstanding1 and even forgetfulness6 ,o ,woman1 whose eyes are always stretched out to her erring children1 whose heart is big enough to cover all the little children in the world1 and suffer with their sufferings1 and joy with their joys3 ,woman1 whose other divine names are ,strength and ,patience1 who is no girl1 no virgin1 because she has drunk too deeply of the fount of ,life to be very young or very joyful4 ,upon her lips is the shadowy kiss of death3 in her eyes is the shadow of birth4 ,she is the veiled interpreter of the two mysteries4 ,yet what joyousness like hers1 when she wills3 because of her unwavering hope1 her inexhaustible fount of love8 ,so it was that just as ,alan had long recognised as a deep truth1 how the spiritual nature of man has been revealed to humanity in many divine incarnations1 so he had come to believe that the spiritual nature of woman has been revealed in the many ,marys1 sisters of the ,beloved1 who have had the keys of the soul and the heart in their unconscious keeping4 ,in this exquisite truth he knew a fresh and vivid hope4444 ,a ,woman-,saviour1 who would come near to all of us1 because in her heart would be the blind tears of the child1 the bitter tears of the man1 and the patient tears of the woman3 who would be the ,compassionate ,one1 with no end or aim but compassion--with no doctrine to teach1 no way to show1 but only deep1 wonderful1 beautiful1 inalienable1 unquenchable compassion4 ,for in truth there is the divine eternal feminine counterpart to the divine eternal male1 and both are needed to explain the mystery of the dual spirit within us--the mystery of the two in one1 so infinitely stranger and more wonderful than that triune life which the blind teachers of the blind have made a rock of stumbling and offence out of a truth clear and obvious as noon4 ,we speak of ,mother ,nature1 but we do not discern the living truth behind our words4 ,how few of us have the vision of this great brooding ,mother1 whose garment is the earth and sea1 whose head is pillowed among the stars3 she1 who1 with death and sleep as her familiar shapes1 soothes and rests all the weariness of the world1 from the waning leaf to the beating pulse1 from the brief span of a human heart to the furrowing of granite brows by the uninterrupted sun1 the hounds of rain and wind1 and the untrammelled airs of heaven4 ,not cruel1 relentless1 impotently anarchic1 chaotically potent1 this ,mater ,genetrix4 ,we see her thus1 who are flying threads in the loom she weaves4 ,but she is patient1 abiding1 certain1 inviolate1 and silent ever4 ,it is only when we come to this vision of her whom we call ,isis1 or ,hera1 or ,orchil1 or one of a hundred other names1 our unknown ,earth-,mother1 that men and women will know each other aright1 and go hand in hand along the road of life without striving to crush1 to subdue1 to usurp1 to retaliate1 to separate4 ,ah1 fair vision of humanity to come3 man and woman side by side1 sweet1 serene1 true1 simple1 natural1 fulfilling earth's and heaven's behests1 unashamed1 unsophisticated1 unaffected1 each to each and for each1 children of one mother1 inheritors of a like destiny1 and1 at the last1 artificers of an equal fate4 ,pondering thus1 ,alan rose1 and looked out1 into the night4 ,in that great stillness1 wherein the moonlight lay like the visible fragrance of the earth1 he gazed long and intently4 ,how shadow1 now1 were those lives that had so lately palpitated in this very place3 how strange their silence1 their incommunicable knowledge1 their fathomless peace6 ,was it all lost 444 the long endurance of pain1 the pangs of sorrow8 ,if so1 what was the lesson of life8 ,surely to live with sweet serenity and gladness1 content against the inevitable hour4 ,there is solace of a kind in the idea of a common end1 of that terrible processional march of life wherein the myriad is momentary1 and the immeasurable is but a passing shadow4 ,but1 alas1 it is only solace of a kind3 for what heart that has beat to the pulse of love can relinquish the sweet dream of life1 and what coronal can philosophy put upon the brows of youth in place of eternity4 ,no1 no3 of this he felt sure4 ,in the ,beauty of the ,world lies the ultimate redemption of our mortality4 ,when we shall become at one with nature in a sense profounder even than the poetic imaginings of most of us1 we shall understand what now we fail to discern4 ,the arrogance of those who would have the stars as candles for our night1 and the universe as a pleasance for our thought1 will be as impossible as their blind fatuity who say we are of dust1 briefly vitalised1 that shall be dust again1 with no fragrance saved from the rude bankruptcy of life1 no beauty raised up against the sun to bloom anew4 ,it is no idle dream1 this3 no idle dream that we are a perishing clan among the sons of ,god1 because of this slow waning of our joy1 of our passionate delight1 in the ,beauty of the ,world4 ,we have been unable to look out upon the shining of our star1 for the vision overcomes us2 and we have used veils which we call scenery1 picturesqueness1 and the like--poor1 barren words that are so voiceless and remote before the rustle of leaves and the lap of water1 before the ancient music of the wind1 and all the sovran eloquence of the tides of light4 ,but a day may come--nay1 shall surely come--when indeed the poor and the humble shall inherit the earth3 they who have not made a league with temporal evils and out of whose heart shall arise the deep longing1 that shall become universal1 of the renewal of youth4 444 ,often1 too1 alone in his observatory1 where he was wont to spend much of his time1 ,alan knew that strange nostalgia of the mind for impossible things4 ,then1 wrought for a while from his vision of green life1 and flamed by another green fire than that born of the earth1 he dreamed his dream4 ,with him1 the peopled solitude of night was a concourse of confirming voices4 ,he did not dread the silence of the stars1 the cold remoteness of the stellar fire4 ,in that other watch-tower in ,paris1 where he had spent the best hours of his youth1 he had loved that nightly watch on the constellations4 ,now1 as then1 in the pulse of the planets he found assurances which faith had not given him4 ,in the vast majestic order of that nocturnal march1 that diurnal retreat1 he had learned the law of the whirling leaf and the falling star1 of the slow aeon-delayed comet and of the slower wane of solar fires4 ,looking with visionary eyes into that congregation of stars1 he realised1 not the littleness of the human dream1 but its divine impulsion4 ,it was only when1 after long vigils into the quietudes of night1 he turned his gaze from the palaces of the unknown1 and thought of the baffled fretful swarming in the cities of men1 that his soul rose in revolt against the sublime ineptitude of man's spiritual leaguer against destiny4 ,destiny--,an ,dan--it was a word familiar to him since childhood1 when first he had heard it on the lips of old ,ian ,macdonald4 ,and once1 on the eve of the ,feast of ,paschal1 when ,alan had asked ,daniel ,dare what was the word which the stars spelled from zenith to nadir1 the ,astronomer had turned and answered simply1 ,c'est le ,destin4 ,but ,alan was of the few to whom this talismanic word opens lofty perspectives1 even while it obscures those paltry vistas which we deem unending and dignify with vain hopes and void immortalities4 ,to live in ,beauty is to sum up in four words all the spiritual aspiration of the soul of man4--,f4 ,m4 ,a ,,dream ,to ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,mead ,our thought1 our consciousness1 is but the scintillation of a wave3 below us is a moving shadow1 our brief forecast and receding way2 beneath the shadow are depths sinking into depths1 and then the unfathomable unknown4--,f4 ,m4 ,a ,dream ,i was on a vast1 an illimitable plain1 where the dark blue horizons were sharp as the edges of hills4 ,it was the world1 but there was nothing in the world4 ,there was not a blade of grass nor the hum of an insect1 nor the shadow of a bird's wing4 ,the mountains had sunk like waves in the sea when there is no wind2 the barren hills had become dust4 ,forests had become the fallen leaf2 and the leaf had passed4 ,i was aware of one who stood beside me1 though that knowledge was of the spirit only2 and my eyes were filled with the same nothingness as ,i beheld above and beneath and beyond4 ,i would have thought ,i was in the last empty glens of ,death1 were it not for a strange and terrible sound that ,i took to be the voice of the wind coming out of nothing1 travelling over nothingness and moving onward into nothing4 ,there is only the wind1 ,i said to myself in a whisper4 ,then the voice of the dark ,power beside me1 whom in my heart ,i knew to be ,dalua1 the ,master of ,illusions1 said3 ,verily1 this is your last illusion4 ,i answered3 ,it is the wind4 ,and the voice answered3 ,that is not the wind that you hear1 for the wind is dead4 ,it is the empty1 hollow echo of my laughter4 ,then1 suddenly1 he who was beside me lifted up a small stone1 smooth as a pebble of the sea4 ,it was grey and flat1 and yet to me had a terrible beauty because it was the last vestige of the life of the world4 ,the ,presence beside me lifted up the stone and said3 ,it is the end4 ,and the horizons of the world came in upon me like a rippling shadow4 ,and ,i leaned over darkness and saw whirling stars4 ,these were gathered up like leaves blown from a tree1 and in a moment their lights were quenched1 and they were further from me than grains of sand blown on a whirlwind of a thousand years4 ,then he1 that terrible one1 ,master of ,illusions1 let fall the stone1 and it sank into the abyss and fell immeasurably into the infinite4 ,and under my feet the world was as a falling wave1 and was not4 ,and ,i fell1 though without sound1 without motion4 ,and for years and years ,i fell below the dim waning of light2 and for years and years ,i fell through universes of dusk2 and for years and years and years ,i fell through the enclosing deeps of darkness4 ,it was to me as though ,i fell for centuries1 for aeons1 for unimaginable time4 ,i knew ,i had fallen beyond time1 and that ,i inhabited eternity1 where were neither height1 nor depth1 nor width1 nor space4 ,but1 suddenly1 without sound1 without motion1 ,i stood steadfast upon a vast ledge4 ,before me1 on that ledge of darkness become rock1 ,i saw this stone which had been lifted from the world of which ,i was a shadow1 after shadow itself had died away4 ,and as ,i looked1 this stone became fire and rose in flame4 ,then the flame was not4 ,and when ,i looked the stone was water2 it was as a pool that did not overflow1 a wave that did not rise or fall1 a shaken mirror wherein nothing was troubled4 ,then1 as dew is gathered in silence1 the water was without form or colour or motion4 ,and the stone seemed to me like a handful of earth held idly in the poise of unseen worlds4 ,what ,i thought was a green flame rose from it1 and ,i saw that it had the greenness of grass1 and had the mystery of life4 ,the green herb passed as green grass in a drought2 and ,i saw the waving of wings4 ,and ,i saw shape upon shape1 and image upon image1 and symbol upon symbol4 ,then ,i saw a man1 and he1 too1 passed2 and ,i saw a woman1 and she1 too1 passed2 and ,i saw a child1 and the child passed4 ,then the stone was a ,spirit4 ,and it shone there like a lamp4 ,and ,i fell backward through deeps of darkness1 through unimaginable time4 ,and when ,i stood upon the world again it was like a glory4 ,and ,i saw the stone lying at my feet4 ,and ,one said3 ,do you not know me1 brother8 ,and ,i said3 ,speak1 ,lord4 ,and ,christ stooped and kissed me upon the brow4 ,,notes ,unity does not lie in the emotional life of expression which we call ,art1 which discerns it2 it does not lie in nature1 but in the ,soul of man4--,f4 ,m4 ,notes to ,first ,edition ,,the ,,divine ,,adventure ,when ,the ,divine ,adventure appeared in the ,fortnightly ,review in ,november and ,december last1 ,i received many comments and letters4 ,from these ,i infer that my present readers will also be of two sections1 those who understand at once why1 in this symbolical presentment1 ,i ignore the allegorical method--and those who1 accustomed to the artificial method of allegory1 would rather see this story of a soul told in that method1 without actuality1 or as an ordinary essay stript of narrative4 ,but each can have only his own way of travelling towards a desired goal4 ,i chose my way1 because in no other1 as it seemed to me1 could ,i convey what ,i wanted to convey4 ,is it so great an effort of the imagination to conceive of the ,mind and ,soul actual as the ,body is actual8 ,and is there any tragic issue so momentous1 among all the tragic issues of life1 as the problem of the ,spirit1 the ,mind--the ,will as ,i call it2 that problem as to whether it has to share the assured destiny of the ,body1 or the desired and possible destiny of the ,soul8 ,there is no spiritual tragedy so poignant as this uncertainty of the ,will1 the ,spirit1 what we call the thinking part of us1 before the occult word of the ,soul1 inhabiting here but as an impatient exile1 and the inevitable end of that ,body to which it is so intimately allied1 with which are its immediate1 and in a sense its most vital interests1 and in whose mortality it would seem to have a dreadful share4 ,the symbolist1 unlike the allegorist1 cannot disregard the actual1 the reality as it seems3 he must1 indeed1 be supremely heedful of this reality as it seems4 ,the symbolist or the mystic 7properly they are one7 abhors the vague1 what is called the mystical3 he is supremely a realist1 but his realism is of the spirit and the imagination1 and not of externals1 or rather not of these merely1 for there1 too1 he will not disregard actuality1 but make it his base1 as the lark touches the solid earth before it rises where it can see both ,earth and ,heaven and sing a song that partakes of each and belongs to both4 ,in the kingdom of the imagination the ideal must ever be faithful to the general laws of nature1 wrote one of the wisest of mystics4 ,art is pellucid mystery1 and the only spiritually logical interpretation of life2 and her inevitable language is ,symbol--by which 7whether in colour1 or form1 or sound1 or word1 or however the symbol be translated7 a spiritual image illumines a reality that the material fact narrows or obscures4 ,for the rest1 ,the ,divine ,adventure is an effort to solve1 or obtain light upon1 the profoundest human problem4 ,it is by looking inward that we shall find the way outward4 ,the gods--and what we mean by the gods--the gods seeking ,god have ever penetrated the soul by two roads1 that of nature and that of art4 ,edward ,calvert put it supremely well when he said ,i go inward to ,god3 outward to the gods4 ,it was ,calvert also who wrote3-- ,to charm the truthfulness of eternal law into a guise which it has not had before1 and clothe the invention with expression1 this is the magic with which the poet would lead the listener into a world of his own1 and make him sit down in the charmed circle of his own gods4 ,page #if4 ,the ,felire na ,naomh ,nerennach 7so spelt1 more phonetically than correctly7 is an invaluable early ,chronicle of ,irish ,saints4 ,uladh--or ,ulla--is the ,gaelic for ,ulster1 though the ancient boundaries were not the same as those of the modern province2 and at periods ,uladh stood for all ,north ,ireland4 ,tara in the south was first the capital of a kingdom1 and later the federal capital4 ,thus1 at the beginning of the ,christian era1 ,concobar mac ,nessa was both ,king of the ,ultonians 7the clans of ,uladh7 and ,ard-,righ or ,high-,king of ,ireland1 a nominal suzerainty4 ,the name of ,mochaoi's abbacy1 n' ,aondruim1 was in time anglicised to ,antrim4 ,the characteristic ,gaelic passage quoted in ,english at p4 #ih is not from the ,felire na ,naomh ,nerennach1 but from a ,hebridean source3 excerpted from one of the many treasures-troves rescued from extant or recently extant ,gaelic lore by ,mr4 ,alexander ,carmichael1 all soon to be published 7the outcome of a long life of unselfish devotion7 under the title ,or agus ,ob1 though we may be sure that there will be little dross and much gold4 ,page #aja4 ,the allusion is to the story or sketch called ,the ,book of the ,opal in ,the ,dominion of ,dreams3 a sketch true in essentials1 but having at its close an arbitrary interpolation of external symbolism which ,i now regret as superfluous4 ,i have since realised that the only living and convincing symbol is that which is conceived of the spirit and not imagined by the mind4 ,my friend's life1 and end1 were strange enough--and significant enough--without the effort to bring home to other minds by an arbitrary formula what should have been implicit4 ,page #ajb4 ,i have again and again1 directly or indirectly1 since my first book ,pharais to the repeated record in this book1 alluded to ,seumas ,macleod2 and as ,i have shown in ,barabal1 here1 and in the dedication to this book1 it is to the old islander and to my ,hebridean nurse1 ,barabal1 that ,i owe more than to any other early influences4 ,for those who do not understand the character of the ,island-,gael1 or do not realise that all ,scotland is not ,presbyterian1 it may be as well to add that many of the islesmen are of the ,catholic faith 7broadly1 the ,southern ,hebrides are wholly ,catholic71 and that therefore the brooding imagination of an old islander--who spoke ,gaelic only1 and had never visited the mainland--might the more readily dwell upon ,mary the ,mother3 ,mary of the ,lamb1 ,mary the ,shepherdess1 as she is lovingly called4 ,i do not1 for private reasons1 name the island where he lived3 but ,i have written of him1 or of what he said1 nothing but what was so1 or was thus said4 ,he had suffered much1 and was lonely3 but was1 ,i think1 the happiest1 and1 ,i am sure1 the wisest human being ,i have known4 ,what ,i cannot now recall is whether his belief in ,mary's ,advent was based on an old prophecy1 or upon a faith of his own dreams and visions1 coloured by the visions and dreams of a like mind and longing3 perhaps1 and likeliest1 upon both4 ,i was not more than seven years old when that happened of which ,i have written on p4 #ajb1 and so recall with surety only that which ,i saw and heard4 ,i am glad to know that another is hardly less indebted to old ,seumas ,macleod4 ,i am not permitted to mention his name1 but a friend and kinsman allows me to tell this3 that when he was about sixteen he was on the remote island where ,seumas lived1 and on the morrow of his visit came at sunrise upon the old man1 standing looking seaward with his bonnet removed from his long white locks2 and upon his speaking to ,seumas 7when he saw he was not at his prayers7 was answered1 in ,gaelic of course1 ,every morning like this ,i take off my hat to the beauty of the world4 ,the untaught islander who could say this had learned an ancient wisdom1 of more account than wise books1 than many philosophies4 ,let me tell one other story of him1 which ,i have meant often to tell1 but have as often forgotten4 ,he had gone once to the ,long ,island1 with three fishermen1 in their herring-coble4 ,the fish had been sold1 and the boat had sailed southward to a ,lews haven where ,seumas had a relative4 ,the younger men had hanselled their good bargain overwell1 and were laughing and talking freely1 as they walked up the white road from the haven4 ,something was said that displeased ,seumas greatly1 and he might have spoken swiftly in reproof2 but just then a little naked child ran laughing from a cottage1 chased by his smiling mother4 ,seumas caught up the child1 who was but an infant1 and set him in their midst1 and then kneeled and said the few words of a ,hebridean hymn beginning3-- ,even as a little child ,most holy1 pure4444 ,no more was said1 but the young men understood2 and he who long afterward told me of this episode added that though he had often since acted weakly and spoken foolishly1 he had never1 since that day1 uttered foul words4 ,another like characteristic anecdote of ,seumas 7as the skipper who made his men cease mocking a fool7 ,i have told in the tale called ,the ,amadan in the ,the ,dominion of ,dreams4 ,i could write much of this revered friend--so shrewd and genial and worldly-wise1 for all his lonely life2 so blithe in spirit and swiftly humorous2 himself a poet1 and remembering countless songs and tales of old2 strong and daring1 on occasion2 good with the pipes1 as with the nets2 seldom angered1 but then with a fierce anger1 barbaric in its vehemence2 a loyal clansman2 in all things1 good and not so good1 a ,gael of the ,isles4 ,but since ,i have not done so1 not gathered into one place1 ,i add this note4 ,page #aac4 ,the kingdom of the ,suderoeer 7i4e4 ,southern ,isles7 was the ,norse name for the realm of the ,hebrides and ,inner ,hebrides when the ,isles were under ,scandinavian dominion4 ,page #aah4 ,the ignorance or supineness which characterises so many ,english writers on ,celtic history is to be found even among ,highland and ,irish clerics and others who have not taken the trouble to study or even become acquainted with their own ancient literature1 but fallen into the foolish and discreditable conventionalism which maintains that before ,columban or in pre-,christian days the ,celtic race consisted of wholly uncivilised and broken tribes1 rivals only in savagery4 ,how little true that is2 as wide of truth as the statements that the far influences of ,iona ceased with the death of ,columba4 ,not only was the island for two centuries thereafter 7in the words of an eminent historian7 the nursery of bishops1 the centre of education1 the asylum of religious knowledge1 the place of union1 the capital and necropolis of the ,celtic race1 but the spiritual colonies of ,iona had everywhere leavened western ,europe4 ,charlemagne knew and reverenced this little people of ,iona1 who from a remote island in the wild seas beyond the almost as remote countries of ,scotland and ,england had spread the ,gospel everywhere4 ,not only were many monasteries founded by monks from ,iona in the narrower ,france of that day1 but also in ,lorraine1 ,alsatia1 in ,switzerland1 and in the ,german states2 in distant ,bavaria even1 no fewer than sixteen were thus founded4 ,in the very year the ,danes made their first descent on the doomed island1 a monk of ,iona was ,bishop of ,tarento in ,italy4 ,in a word1 in that day1 ,iona was the brightest gem in the spiritual crown of ,rome4 ,page #abh4 ,the little-known namesake of my own alluded to is ,fiona1 or ,fionaghal ,macleod1 known 7in common with her more famous sister ,mary7 by the appellation ,nighean ,alasdair ,ruadh1 ,daughter of ,alasdair the ,red1 was born circa #aege4 ,page #acj4 ,columba1 whose house-name was ,crimthan1 ,wolf--surviving in our ,scoto-,gaelic ,mac,crimmon--who was of royal ,irish blood and1 through his mother of royal ,scottish 7,pictish7 blood also1 came to ,iona in ,a4,d4 #efc1 when he was in his forty-second year4 ,at that date1 ,st4 ,augustine1 the ,english ,columba1 had not yet landed in ,kent--that more famous event occurring thirty-four years later4 ,in this year of #efc1 the ,east had not yet awakened to its wonderful dream that to-day has in number more dreamers than the ,cross of ,christ2 for it was not till six years later1 when ,columba was on a perilous mission of conversion among the ,picts1 that ,mahomet was born4 ,in #efc1 when ,colum landed on ,iona1 the young ,italian priest who was afterwards to be called the ,architect of the ,church and to become famous as ,pope ,gregory the ,great1 was dreaming his ambitious dreams2 and farther ,east1 in ,constantinople1 then the capital of the ,western ,world1 the great ,roman ,emperor ,justinian was laying the foundation of modern law4 ,with the advent of ,charlemagne1 two hundred years later1 the old world passed4 ,when the ninth century opened1 the great ,gregory's dearest hopes were in the dust where his bones lay2 ,justinian's metropolis was fallen from her pride2 and1 on ,iona1 the heathen ,danes drank to ,odin4 ,page #acf4 ,the ,mor-,rigan4 ,this euphemerised ,celtic queen is called by many names3 even those resembling that just given vary much--,morrigu1 ,mor ,reega1 ,morrigan1 ,morgane1 ,mur-ree 7,mor ,ree71 etc4 ,the old word ,mor-,rigan means the great queen4 ,she is the mother of the ,gaelic ,gods1 as ,bona ,dea of the ,romans4 ,anu is her name1 says an ancient writer4 ,anu suckled the elder gods4 ,her name survives in ,tuatha-,de-,danann1 in ,danu1 ,ana1 and perhaps in that mysterious ,scoto-,gaelic name1 ,teampull ,anait--the temple of ,anait--whom some writers collate with an ancient ,asiatic goddess1 ,anait 7see p4 #aga74 ,it has been suggested that the ,celts gave ,bona ,dea to the ,romans1 for these considered her ,hyperborean4 ,a less likely derivation of the popular ,morrigu is that ,mor ,reega is ,mor ,reagh 7wealth74 ,keating1 it may be added1 speaks of ,monagan1 ,badha1 and ,macha as the three chief goddesses of the ,divine ,race of ,ana 7the ,tuatha ,de ,danann74 ,students of ,celtic mythology and legend1 and of the ,tain-bo-,cuailgne in particular1 will remember that her white bull ,find-,bennach was antagonist to the famous brown bull of ,cuailgne4 ,the ,mor ,rigan has been identified with ,cybele--as the ,goddess of ,prosperity3 but only speculatively4 ,another name of the ,mother of all ,gods is ,aine 7,anu874 ,prof4 ,rhys says ,ri or ,roi was the ,mother of the gods of the non-,celtic races4 ,it is suggestive that ,ana is a ,phoenician word3 that people had a 7virgin87 goddess named ,ana-,perema4 ,page #aef4 ,finn--,oisin--,oscur--,gaul--,diarmid-- ,cuchullin4 ,these names as they stand exhibit the uncertainty of ,gaelic name-spelling4 ,in the case of the first named there is constant variation4 ,the oldest writing is ,find 7also ,fend71 or ,fin4 ,some ,gaelic writers prefer1 in modern use1 ,fionn4 ,through a misapprehension1 ,macpherson popularised the name in ,scotland as ,fingal1 and the ,fein and ,fianna 7for they are not the same1 as commonly supposed1 the former being the ,clan or ,people of ,finn1 and the latter a kind of militia raised for the defence of ,uladh71 as the ,fingalians4 ,some ,irish critics have been severe upon ,macpherson's impossible nomenclature2 but ,fingal is not impossible1 though it is certainly not old ,gaelic for ,finn--for the word can quite well stand for ,fair ,stranger1 and might well have been a name given to a ,norse 7or for that matter a ,gaelic7 champion4 ,fin ,mac,cumhal 7,fin ,mac,cooal or ,mac,cool7 is now commonly rendered as ,finn or ,fionn4 ,the latter is good ,gaelic and the finer word1 but the other is older4 ,fionn obtains more in ,gaelic ,scotland4 ,fingal and the ,fingalians are modern1 and due solely to the great vogue given by ,macpherson--though many writers and even ,gaelic speakers have adopted them4 ,fionn's famous son1 again1 is almost universally 7outside ,gaelic ,scotland and ,ireland7 known as ,ossian1 because of ,macpherson's spelling of the name4 ,neither the ,highland nor ,irish ,gaels pronounce it so--but ,oshshen1 and the like--best represented by the ,gaelic ,oisin or ,oisein4 ,personally ,i prefer ,oisin to any other spelling2 but perhaps it would be best if the word were uniformly spelt in the manner in which it is universally familiar4 ,obviously1 too1 ,ossianic is the only suitable use of the name in adjective form4 ,oscur is probably merely a ,gaelic spelling of the ,norse ,oscar2 though ,i recollect a student of ancient ,gaelic names telling me that the name was ,gaelic and only resembled the familiar ,scandinavian word4 ,gaul is commonly so spelt2 but ,goll is probably more correct4 ,diarmid has many variations1 from ,diarmuid to ,dermid2 but ,diarmid is the best ,english equivalent both in sound and correctness4 ,it is still a moot point as to whether in narration1 ,gaelic names should be given as they are1 or be anglicised--or ,gaelic exclamations to phrases in their original spelling1 or more phonetically to an ,english ear4 ,i think it should depend on circumstances1 and within the writer's tact4 ,i have myself been taken to task again and again1 by critics eager with the eagerness of little knowledge1 for partial anglicisation of names and presumed mistakes in ,gaelic spelling1 when1 surely1 the intention was obvious that a compromise was being attempted4 ,let me give an example4 ,how would the ,english reader like a story of1 say1 a ,donald ,macintyre and a ,grace ,maclean and an ,ivor ,mackay if these names were given in their ,gaelic form1 as ,domnhuil ,mac-an-t-,saoir and ,giorsal nic ,illeathain and ,imhir ,mac ,aodh--or even if simple names1 like1 say1 ,meave and ,malvina1 were given as ,medb or ,malmhin8 ,it is a pity there is not one recognised way of spelling the legendary name of ,setanta1 the chief hero of the ,gaelic chivalry4 ,probably the best rendering is ,cuchulain4 ,the old form is ,cuculaind4 ,but colloquially the name in ,gaelic is called ,coohoolin or ,coohullun2 and so ,cuculaind would mislead the ordinary reader4 ,the ,scottish version is generally ,cuchullin--the ch soft3 a more correct rendering of the ,macphersonian ,cuthullin1 a misnomer responsible no doubt for the common mistake that the ,coolin 7,cuthullin7 mountains in ,skye have any connection with the great ,gaelic hero 7see p4 #aee74 ,setanta1 a prince of ,uladh1 was taught for a time in the art of weaponry by one ,culain or ,culaind1 and after a certain famous act of prowess became known as ,the ,hound of ,culain--,cu being a hound1 whence ,cuculain1 or with the sign of the genitive1 ,cuchulain4 ,every variation of the name1 and all the legends of the ,cuchullin cycle1 will be found in ,miss ,eleanor ,hull's excellent redaction1 published by ,mr4 ,nutt4 ,the interested reader should see also the classical work of ,o',curry3 the vivid and romantic chronicle of ,mr4 ,standish ,o',grady2 and the fascinating and scholarly edition of ,the ,feast of ,bricrin1 recently published as the second volume of the ,irish ,texts ,society1 by ,dr4 ,george ,henderson1 the most scholarly of ,highland specialists4 ,page #afb seq4 ,no one has collected so much material on the subject of ,st4 ,michael as ,mr4 ,alexander ,carmichael has done4 ,some of his lore1 in sheiling-hymns and fishing-hymns1 he has already made widely known1 directly and indirectly3 but in his forthcoming ,or agus ,ob1 already alluded to1 there will be found a long and invaluable section devoted to ,st4 ,micheil1 as also1 ,i understand1 one of like length and interest on ,st4 ,bride or ,briget1 the most beloved of ,hebridean saints1 and herself probably a ,christian successor of a much more ancient ,brighde1 a ,celtic deity1 it is said1 of ,song and ,beauty4 ,page #aha4 ,be'al4 ,i do not think there is any evidence to prove that the ,be'al or ,bel often spelt ,baal--whose name and worship survive to this day in ,bealltainn 7,beltane71 ,may-day--of ,gaelic mythology1 is identical with the ,phoenician god ,baal1 though probably of a like significance4 ,the ,gaelic name1 which may be anglicised into ,be'al1 signifies ,source of ,all4 ,i am inclined to believe that the ,be'al or ,bel of the ,gaels has his analogue in the ,gaulish mythology in ,hesus 7also ,esua1 ,aesus1 and ,heus71 a mysterious 7supreme87 god of ancient ,gaul1 surviving still in ,armorican legend4 ,if so1 ,hesus or ,aesus may be identical with the lost ,gaelic god ,aesar or ,aes4 ,aesar means fire-kindler1 whence the ,creator4 7,in this connection ,i would ask if ,aed1 an ancient ,gaelic god of fire1 also of death1 be identical with 7as averred7 a still more ancient ,greek name of ,fire1 or ,god of ,fire ,aed874 ,be'al1 the ,source of ,all1 may take us back to the ,phoenician ,baal3 but the ,gaelic ,aes and the ,gaulish ,aesus 7,hesus7 take us1 with the ,scandinavian ,aesir1 further still3 to the ,persian ,aser1 the ,hindoo ,aeswar1 the ,egyptian ,asi 7the ,sun-bull71 and the ,etruscan ,aesar4 ,the ,bhagavat-,gita says of ,aeswar that he resides in every mortal4 ,pages #aii-bjc4 ,this section1 slightly adapted1 is from an unpublished book1 in gradual preparation1 entitled ,the ,chronicles of the ,sidhe4 ,page #bbe4 ,the ,culdees4 ,though ,i have alluded in the text to the probable meaning of a word that has perplexed many people1 ,i add this note as ,i have just come upon another theoretical statement about the ,culdees as though they were an oriental race or sect4 ,the writer evidently thinks they are the same as ,chaldaeans1 and builds a startlingly unscientific theory on that assumption4 ,in all probability the word is simply ,cille-,de1 i4e41 the man of the ,cell of ,god--,cille being ,cell1 a ,church--and so a ,cille-,de man would be man of ,god1 a monk1 a cleric4 ,a much more puzzling problem obtains in the apparent traces of ,buddha-worship in the ,hebrides4 ,it may or may not be of much account that the author of ,lewisiana admits reluctantly that we must accept the possibility of a ,buddhist race passing north of ,ireland4 ,i have not seen ,lewisiana for some years1 and cannot recall on what grounds the author arrives at his conclusion4 ,but from my notes on the subject ,i see that ,m4 ,coquebert-,montbret1 in the ,soc4 des ,antiquaires de ,france1 argues at great length that the ,asiatic ,buddhist missionaries who penetrated to ,western ,europe1 reached ,ireland and ,scotland4 ,he asks if the ancient ,gaelic ,deity named ,budd or ,budwas be not ,buddh 7,buddha74 ,another ,french antiquary avers that the ,druids were an order of ,eastern priests adoring ,buddwas4 ,some light on the problem is thrown by the fact that the ,gaulo-,celtic museum in ,st4 ,germain is an ancient ,celtic god--the fourth in kind that has been found--with its legs crossed after the manner of the ,indian ,buddha4 ,it is more interesting still to note that in the ,hebrides spirits are sometimes called ,boduchas or ,buddachs1 and that the same word is 7or used to be7 applied to heads of families1 as the ,master4 ,pages #bdb1 #bdh4 ,these two sections1 rearranged1 and in part rewritten1 are excerpted from what ,i wrote in ,iona1 some five years ago1 for a preface to ,the ,sin-,eater4 ,page #bef4 ,in its original form this was written about a book of great interest and beauty1 ,the ,shadow of ,arvor3 ,legendary ,romances of ,brittany4 ,translated and retold by ,edith ,wingate ,rinder4 ,arvor 7or ,armor7 is one of the bardic equivalents of ,armorica1 as ,brittany is called in many old tales4 ,the name means the ,sea-,washed ,land1 ,vor or ,mor being ,breton for sea1 as in the famous region ,morbihan the ,little ,sea4 ,neither the ,bretons for their ,cymric kindred1 however1 call ,brittany ,arvor1 or the ,latinised ,armorica4 ,arvor is the poetic name of a portion of ,basse ,bretagne only4 ,bretons call ,brittany ,breiz1 and their language ,brezoned1 and themselves ,breiziaded 7singular ,breiziad7--as they keep to the ,french differentiation of ,bretagne and ,grande ,bretagne in ,bro-,zaos1 the ,saxon-,land1 as they speak of ,france 7beyond ,brittany71 as ,bro-chall1 the ,land of ,gaul4 ,in ,gaelic ,i think ,brittany is always spoken of as ,breatunn-,beag1 ,little ,britain4 ,the ,welsh call the country1 its people1 and language1 ,llydaw1 ,llydawiaid1 ,llydawaeg4 ,f4 ,m4 ,,bibliographical ,,note ,by ,mrs4 ,william ,sharp ,the first edition of ,the ,divine ,adventure3 ,iona3 ,by ,sundown ,shores was published in #aijj by ,messrs4 ,chapman and ,hall4 ,the ,titular ,essay 7since revised7 appeared first in ,the ,fortnightly ,review for ,november and ,december1 #ahii4 ,a large portion of ,iona 7though in different sequence7 appeared also in ,the ,fortnightly1 ,march and ,april1 #aijj4 ,both spiritual histories were published separately in book form in ,america by ,mr4 ,t4 ,mosher2 ,iona1 curtailed and rearranged under the title of ,the ,isle of ,dreams1 in #aije4 ,the ,essay ,celtic in its original form1 first printed in ,the ,contemporary ,review1 will now be found1 revised and materially added to1 in ,the ,winged ,destiny4 ,in this ,uniform ,edition of the writings of ,fiona ,macleod 7,william ,sharp7 the following stories1 etc41 have been transferred to the present volume3 ,the ,white ,fever and ,the ,smoothing of the ,hand from ,the ,sin-,eater2 ,the ,white ,heron which relates to the earlier story of ,mary ,maclean in ,pharais1 is from ,the ,dominion of ,dreams1 and in its earliest version appeared with illustrations in the ,christmas number of ,harper in #ahih4 ,a ,dream appeared first in the ,theosophical ,review of ,september1 #aijd4 ,finally ,i have added to this volume the latter portion and some detached fragments from ,green ,fire1 a ,romance by ,fiona ,macleod dealing with ,brittany and the ,hebrid ,isles and published in #ahif by ,messrs4 ,a4 ,constable1 and in ,america by ,messrs4 ,harper ,bros4 ,but ,william ,sharp considered that the book suffered from grave defects of design and construction and decided that1 when out of print1 it should not be republished4 ,the ,herdsman1 however1 is--as he stated in a note to the first ,edition of ,the ,dominion of ,dreams1 a re-written and materially altered version of the ,hebridean part of ,green ,fire of which book it is all ,i care to preserve4 ,nevertheless1 in accordance with the wishes of several friends1 ,i have very willingly put together a series of detached fragments from the book and placed them beside ,the ,herdsman as1 in our opinion equally worthy of preservation1 since the author's prohibition precludes the possibility of reprinting the book in its entirety4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,woods ,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,,printers1 ,,london1 ,n4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,uniform ,,with ,,this ,,volume ,,the ,,collected ,,works ,,of ,,fiona ,,macleod 7,,william ,,sharp7 ,in ,seven ,volumes4 ,crown #hvo4 ,price #es4 net4 ,with ,photogravure ,frontispieces from ,photographs and ,drawings by ,d4 ,y4 ,cameron1 ,a4,r4,s4,a4 ,i4 ,,pharais3 ,,the ,,mountain ,,lovers ,,ii4 ,,the ,,sin ,,eater2 ,,the ,,washer ,,of ,,the ,,ford ,,and ,,other ,,legendary ,,moralities ,,iii4 ,,the ,,dominion ,,of ,,dreams3 ,,under ,,the ,,dark ,,star ,,iv4 ,,the ,,divine ,,adventure3 ,,iona3 ,,studies ,,in ,,spiritual ,,history ,v4 ,,the ,,winged ,,destiny3 ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,spiritual ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,gael ,,vi4 ,,the ,,silence ,,of ,,amor3 ,,where ,,the ,,forest ,,murmurs ,,vii4 ,,poems ,,and ,,dramas ,,also ,,uniform ,,with ,,the ,,above ,,selected ,,writings ,,of ,,william ,,sharp ,in ,five ,volumes ,i4 ,,poems ,,ii4 ,,studies ,,and ,,appreciations ,,iii4 ,,papers ,,critical ,,and ,,reminiscent ,,iv4 ,,literary ,,geography ,,and ,,travel ,,sketches ,v4 ,,vistas3 ,,gipsy ,,christ ,,and ,,other ,,prose ,,imaginings ,,and ,,memoirs ,,of ,,william ,,sharp 7,,fiona ,,macleod7 ,compiled by ,,mrs4 ,,william ,,sharp 7,in two volumes7 ,,london3 ,,william ,,heinemann ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,obvious punctuation errors repaired4 ,printer errors corrected4 ,these include3 - ,page #cd1 word creening corrected to be creeping 7night-jar creeping forward7 - ,page #dj1 word it's corrected to be its 7for its need7 - ,page #id1 word lighed corrected to be lighted 7whose flame lighted7 - ,page #ahi1 word do corrected to be no 7speak no more7 - ,page #aif1 word bu corrected to be but 7had nane but7 - ,page #bbd1 word ,colnm corrected to be ,colum 7,colum the ,white7 - ,page #cad1 word lonroid corrected to be loneroid 7bracken and loneroid7 - ,page #cdd1 word thonght corrected to be thought 7as he thought7 - ,page #cdg1 word npon corrected to be upon 7here upon ,rona7 - ,page #cgg1 word sale corrected to be sail 7useless sail7 - ,page #cgh1 word ,allen corrected to be ,alan 7to affect ,alan7 - ,page #chd1 word commume corrected to be commune 7enjoyed the commune7 - ,page #cij1 word mavellous corrected to be marvellous 7so many marvellous7 - ,page #djb1 word hs corrected to be he 7he dreamed his7 - ,page #daf1 word treasures-trove corrected to be treasure-troves 7many treasure-troves rescued7 ,the author's variable spelling 7both in ,english and ,gaelic7 has been kept4 ,this includes3 - ,both airidh and airidh - ,both ,amadan-,dhu and ,amadan ,dhu - ,both ,angus ,og and ,og - ,both ,beite and ,beithe - ,both ,buachaill ,ban and ,ban - ,both bhuachaile and bhuachaille - ,both chlarsach and chlarsaich - ,both ,coolins and ,coolin mountain - ,both ,eachainn and ,eachain ,mac,eachainn - ,both ,feinn and ,feinn - ,both fore-knowledge and foreknowledge - ,both foretell and fortell - ,both hill-slope and hillslope - ,both maighdean-mhara and ,maigh-deann-,m'hara - ,both mo ghraidh and ghraidh - ,both mythopoeic and mythopoeic - ,both n',aondruim and n'-,aondruim - ,both ,oisin and ,oisin - ,both re-born and reborn - ,both re-written and rewritten - ,both ,reilig and ,reilig ,odhrain - ,both sea-fowl and seafowl - ,both sea-weed and seaweed - ,both sheiling-hymn and shealing-hymn - ,sliochd-nan-,ron1 ,sliochd nan ,ron1 and ,sliochd-nan-ron - ,both ,sidhe and ,sidhe - ,both sun-down and sundown - ,both ,uain-ghil and ,uain ghil ,some advertisements for other books published by ,william ,heinemann were moved from the start 7before the title7 to the end of the text7after the ,bibliographical ,note74 ---------------------------------------- --------------------------