Witchcraft in all its
multifarious forms still has the ability to allure and intrigue. Of all the
witches in the Highlands and Islands, Gormshùil Mhòr na Maighe (Great Gormula
of Moy) from Lochaber is the most famous and consequently has become the
subject of a fair few legendary accounts, especially regarding her alleged
dealings with Cameron chiefs.
A few such anecdotes concerning
this Lochaber witch were recorded and later transcribed by Calum
Maclean on the 16th January, the 18th February
and again on the 11th March from John
MacDonald of Highbridge. The first of which
remains one of the most popular legendary accounts to which she has become
attached:
GORMSHÙIL MHÒR NA MAIGHE
’S e NicFhionghuin a bh’ innte. Thachair i
air Loch Iall. Dh’fharraid i cà ’n a bha e a’ dol:
“Tha mi a’ dol a thachairt ri Diùc Athall
airson nan crìochan a chur ceart eadar Loch Abar agus Siorrachd Pheairt.”
“Chan eil thu falbh leat fhèin?”
"Ach, tha," thuirt e.
“Till,” thuirt ise, “is thoir leat daoine.”
Thill e. Thug e leis còig fhir fichead.
Dh’fhalbh Muireach Mòr à Muir Sìorlaich còmhla ris, duine sgairteil. Dar a
ràinig iad an Coire Odhar, thuirt Loch Iall riutha:
“Falaichidh sibh fhèin cùl nan clachan gu
h-àrd. Ma bhios feum agam-s’ oirbh tionndaidhidh mo sheacaid. Cuiridh mi dhìom
agus tionndaidhidh mi mo sheacaid.
Thachair Loch Iall air Diùc Athall:
“Nì sinn a’ chrìoch ann an seo,” thuirt Loch
Iall.
Thuirt Diùc Athall:
“Air ais, air ais, air ais pios mòr às,”
thuirt e.
Thuirt Loch Iall nach rachadh e air ais.
Thuirt Diùc Athall ris:
“Air ais. Feumaidh tu a dhol air ais.”
“Cha tèid mi air ais,” thuirt Loch Iall.
Thog Diùc Athall a làmh. Thàinig na
h-Athallaich a-staigh am bruthach nan ruith.
Thuirt Loch Iall:
“Gu dè tha sin?” thuirt e.
Thuirt an Diùc:
“Na muilt Athallach tighinn a dh’ithe feur
Loch Abar.”
Chuir Loch Iall an t-seacaid dheth agus
tionndaidh e i. Thàinig na daoine a-staigh am bruthach. Dh’fharraid an Diùc:
“Dè tha sin?” thuirt e.
Thuirt Loch Iall:
“Na coin Abrach a’ tighinn a dh’ithe feòl nam
molt Athallach.”
Sin agad e.
GREAT GORMULA OF MOY
She was a MacKinnon. She met Cameron of
Lochiel and asked him where he was going:
“I’m going to meet the Duke of Atholl in
order to put the borders right between Lochaber and Perthshire.”
“Are you going alone?”
“But yes,” he said.
“Return,” she advised, “and take your men.”
He returned and took twenty-five men with
him. Big Muireach – a strong man – from Muirsearlach set off with him. When
they reached Corour, Lochiel said to them:
“Hide yourselves behind those boulders up
there. If I need you then I’ll turn my jacket. I’ll take it off and turn my
jacket.”
Lochiel met with the Duke of Atholl.
“We’ll set the border here,” said Lochiel.
The Duke of Atholl said:
“Back, back, back a good piece yet,” said he.
Lochiel said he wouldn’t go back.
Atholl said to him:
“Back – you must go back.”
“I’ll not go back,” said Lochiel.
Atholl lifted his hand. The Atholl men came
running along a slope.
Lochiel said:
“What’s that?” he asked.
The Duke replied:
“The Atholl wethers coming to graze the
Lochaber grass.”
Lochiel took his coat off and turned it. His
men came from along the slope. The Duke asked:
“What’s that?” he asked.
Lochiel replied:
“The Lochaber dogs coming to eat the flesh of
the Atholl wethers.”
That’s it.
Undoubtedly the most
famous legend to which she has a strong a connection concerns the sinking of the
Spanish Galleon in Tobermory, Isle of Mull, said to have been a survivor of the
storm-thrashed Spanish Armada:
AN
LONG SPÀINNTEACH AN TOBAR MHOIRE
Nuair a bha an long Spàinnteach a’ tighinn
a-staigh a Thobar Mhoire, bha e gu math ciùin air an t-slighe. Agus bha an
caiptean a bha seo e fhèin gu math annasach agus beagan de thaidhseachd aige.
Agus thàinig crathadh uamhasach sa chrann.
“Thoiribh sùil, ’illean, dè tha siud?”
“O, tha ròcas mhòr dhubh ann.”
“Ma-tà,” thuirt e, “’s e an Doideag Mhuileach
a tha sin.”
Thug i droch chrathadh air. Thàinig an seo
crathadh eile oirre. Thàinig an tè a bha an Ìle agus tè a Tiriodh ann. Agus bha
an long a’ falbh gu math domhain an uair sin agus coltas call ann agus stoirm
a’ tighinn. Ach mu dheireadh thall thàinig crathadh uamhasach trom oirre. Agus
sgàin a h-uile ball a bhuineadh dhan bhàta. Agus dh’fhaighnichd e dè bha sa
chrann. Dh’innis iad dè ’n coltas a bha sa chrann.”
“’S e sin Gormshùil Mhòr na Maighe. Agus tha
sinne deis agus tha sinn caillte.”
Agus ’s ann mar sin a thachair.
Chaidh i fodha. Agus tha i aig Tobar Mhoire
gus an latha an-duigh. Thachair sin anns na 1588. Agus tha i na sìneadh an sin
fhathast aig Tobar Mhoire.
THE
SPANISH GALLEON IN TOBERMORY
When the Spanish galleon was entering
Tobermory it was calm in its wake. The captain himself was quite unusual as he
had some magic powers. And then the mast gave a terrible shudder.
“Take a look, lads, to see what that was?”
“Oh, it’s a big, black crow.”
“Well,” he said, “that’s the Doideag
Mhuileach.”
She shook it some more. And then there was
yet another shake. A witch came from Islay and another from Tiree. The
galleon’s draft was quite deep then and it appears that she was going to sink
with the coming storm. And then, at last, a huge, heavy shudder shook her and
every part of the ship’s ropes split. And he asked what was in the mast. They
described what they saw in the mast.
“That’s Great Gormula of Moy. And we’re done
for and we’re all going to die.”
And that’s what happened.
She sank. And she lies at Tobermory to this
very day. That happened in 1588 and she lies there yet at Tobermory.
Another tradition
recorded about her is the unusual way in which she is said to have met her
death:
MAR
A CHAIDH GORMSHÙIL A BHÀTHADH
Cò nach cuala mu Ghormshùil Mhòr na Maighe
agus Donnshùil a bha as an Fhearsaid. Ach ’s e Gormshùil Mhòr na Maighe an tè
bu chumhachdaiche de na bana-bhuidsichean air a bheil forfhais againn. Agus bha
i daonnan a’ siubhal air ais ’s air adhart nam bruachan, agus cha bu toigh
leithe neach sam bith a chìtheadh i i a bhith a’ tighinn an rathad. Cha robh bò
a chailleadh am bainne na maighdeann a chailleadh a leannan, na bò a rachadh le
creag na rud sam bith a bha a’ tachairt, ’s e Gormshùil Mhòr na Maighe a rinn siud.
Ach bha i fhèin agus bana-chompach a bh’ aice a’ dol a-nunn rathad Achadh an
Caraidh agus:
“O! bradan,” thuirt i.
Is ruith i sìos thar an robh sruthan crìon
anns an allt. Agus chaidh greim a dhèanamh oirre ann an sin ach cha bhàthadh e
piseag, an lod anns an deach a bàthadh. Is chan fhaca a bana-chompach bradan na
rud eile san allt. Agus bha an drochaid ann an sin gu bhith aig Achadh na
Caraidh. Agus their iad Drochaid Ghormshùil rithe gus an latha an-diugh. Agus
’s ann an sin a chaidh Gormshùil a bhàthadh agus b’ e sin an deireadh. Agus bha
iad a’ dèanadh dheth gur h-e an t-Àibhstear a bha sa bhradan a chum ’s ann allt
i leis cha bhàthadh e piseag. Agus ’s aithne dhomh-sa an t-allt a bh’ ann. Agus
a’ chiad troip a chunna mi an t-allt sin, ’s anns na h-1894, a chunna mi an
toiseach e. Agus tha mi eòlach gu leòr air. Is chan eil aon duine a tha a’ dol
a-nunn a dh’Achadh na Caraidh nach eil fios aca air Drochaid Ghormshùil.
THE
WAY IN WHICH GORMULA DROWNED
Who has not heard of Great Gormula of Moy and
Donnshuil who stayed in Fersit. Great Gormula of Moy was the most powerful
witch that we know of. She was always roving hither and thither over the hills
and no one liked to see her or to see her making her way over towards them.
There was not a cow that lost her milk, a maiden who lost her sweetheart, or a
cow that fell over a rock or anything like that which happened that was not
blamed upon Great Gormula of Moy. She and her friend were going over to
Achnacarry:
“Oh, a salmon,” she said.
And she ran down to where the burn was
shallow. And she was caught there in a place that would not drown a kitten, the
puddle in which she drowned. And her companion never saw a salmon or anything
else in the burn. And a bridge was going to be built at Achnacarry which is called
Gormula’s Bridge to this very day. That is how Gormula drowned and that was the
end of her life. And they say that the salmon was the Devil which kept her in
the burn that couldn’t even drown a kitten. And I know this burn: the very
first time I saw the burn was in 1894. And I know it well enough. Nobody that
goes over to Achnacarry doesn’t know Gormula’s Bridge.
Elsewhere, other
traditions about Gormula were published in a short article by the Lochaber
bardess, Mary Mackellar. Regarding the MacKinnons of Moy, she had the following
to say:
We find in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vol. XIV, 1889–1890.
Mary Mackellar, the Lochaber bardess saying:―
“These Camerons [a family who had come from
Callart] had Wester Moy, whilst a family of the name of MacKinnon Easter Moy.
The ancestor of these MacKinnons had come from Skye with a lady who married
into the Lochiel family, and when MacKinnon married he got a place called
Ardnois, in the Giubhsach, or great forest at Loch Airceag. Afterwards his
family got Easter Moy; but to this day they are known in Lochabet as ‘Sliochd
Iain Maidh na Giuthsaich.’ These MacKinnons frequently intermarried with the
Camerons of Wester Moy. Among others, young Gormshuil Cameron became the wife
of one of those MacKinnons. She was a strong, brave young am full of sagest
wisdom, and very high-spirited, and she had no objection to being considered uncanny, as it gave her power over her
fellow men. People shook their heads and said, ‘Tha tuille ’s a paidir aig
Gormshuil’, hinting that she knew more than her Paternoster; but she heeded
them not.”
This Gormshuil Cameron. or MacKinnon, was the
famous Lochaber Witch, or Wise Woman, known as Gormshuil Mhor na Maighe (great
Gormshuil of Moy), about whom uncanny stories are told in Lochaber. One old
Highlander said of her, “She had the knowing.” Mary MacKellar says that
Gormshuil was a common name among the Irish and Scottish Celts, and that it was
frequent in Lochaber before the time of Gormshuil Mhor but was dropped after
her time.
Gormshuil Mhor is said to have been
associated with the sinking of the Spanish Armada ship in Tobermory Bay, Isle
of Mull, in 1588, and one version of the story is told by Dr Norman MacLeod, in
Reminiscences of a Highland Parish.
This story however is obviously just fiction because there is historical
evidence in Mull regarding the sinking of the galleon, and we shall give some
evidence presently to indicate that Gormshuil was probably not born when the
galleon was sunk.
Gormshuil seem to have lived during part of
the chiefship of Alan, usually styled sixteenth chief of Clan Cameron, who died
about 1647, and during part of the chiefship of Alan’s successor as chief, Sir
Ewen Dubh. In her article on the
MacKinnons of Moy and Gormshuil, Mary MacKellar quotes the words of a waulking
song attributed to Gormshuil in which the chief of Clan Cameron at that time is
mentioned as being Alan. Gormshuil’s death, however, is said to have occurred
when she was walking home at Moy to Achnacarry to plead with Lochiel for her
son following a promise made to her by Lochiel after she had warned him about
going to meet the Earl of Atholl to settle a boundary dispute at a little lochan,
since that time Lochan a’ Chlaidheimh (little loch of the sword), where the
counties of Argyll, Inverness, and Perthshire meet on Rannoch Moor.
If the promise was made to Gormshuil by a
chief who lived at Achnacarry, then that chief was Sir Ewen Dubh because his predecessor, Alan,
never lived at Achnacarry but at the old Cameron home of Tor Castle. It was Sir
Ewen who built a new home at Achnacarry, sometime after 1665, to which he moved
from Tor Castle. If Gormshuil was able to walk from her home in Moy to Achnacarry
sometime after 1665, and if we allow her to have been even eighty years old at
that time, then she was probably not born when the Spanish galleon was sunk in
Tobermory Bay.
From the evidence, Gormshuil seems to have
been born about the end of sixteenth century or the beginning of the
seventeenth century, and she lived until well into the second half of the
seventeenth century. Her death is said to have been caused by drowning in a
stream, or burn called, Allt Coire Choille-ros, sometimes called Allt Gormshuil,
or Allt a’ Bhradain, by local people, which flows into the west side of Loch
Lochy about one mile north of Gairlochy. The burn was in spate, and there would
be no bridge over it at that time, when she was on her way to Achnacarry to
have an important talk with Lochiel about her son.
Tradition says that Gormshuil’s body was
found and buried close to her home. As her home was at Moy and her name, by
marriage, was MacKinnon, surely she would be buried in the old MacKinnon burial
ground behind the present Moy farmhouse. Perhaps this farmhouse is on the site
of her home as it is only about one hundred yards from the burial ground. Close
to the opposite side of the burial ground is the Caledonian Canal, and when the
canal was planned its course in this vicinity was drawn straight for several
miles but this would have necessitated cutting through part of the burial
ground. In order to do so, it was suggested that some of the bodies should be
exhumed and reinterred elsewhere, but the workmen refused to touch the burial
ground, perhaps fearing the wrath of Gormshuil’s ghost, so at this point the
canal was given a bend, as can still be seen, to avoid encroachment on this
little God’s Acre. As mentioned when referring to the burial ground at Strone,
after the MacKinnon burial ground at Moy became full, some of the MacKinnon
descendants were buried in the Strone burial ground.
Mary MacKellar says, “There are several of
Gormshuil’s descendants among the MacKinnons in the Lochaber district, but they
do not like to be reminded of their most famous ancestress.”
If Mary MacKellar’s statement is correct
about Gormshuil having married one of the MacKinnons of Moy, this would
indicate that the MacKinnons settled in Lochaber sometime before or during the
lifetime of Alan, chief of Clan Cameron, who lived from about 1560 until about
1647. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find definite information as to when
the MacKinnons lirst came to Lochaber, but the late Ewen MacKinnon, whom I have
already mentioned in this chapter, told me that according to his family
traditions, when the MacKinnon lady from Skye married into the Lochiel family,
to which we have referred in Mary MacKellar’s account, she was accompanied not
by one MacKinnon clansman, as stated by Mary MacKellar, but by two or three of
her clansmen. According to an old Highland custom, these clansmen were allowed
to remain in Lochaber where they became very useful as they were expert
drystone-dykers. These clansmen, said my friend, were the first MacKinnons to
settle in Lochaber, which really agrees with that part of Mary MacKellar’s
account, but he could not tell me when that settlement took place.
In olden times, when a prominent Highland
lady married into a district far from her native district, she took with her two
or more of her family followers who were allowed to settle in her adopted district
and remain as a kind of bodyguard, considering themselves always at her
command. I have seen several mentions of this old custom, but the only one I
can recall at present is the one given in Reminiscences
of a Highland Parish, by the Rev. Dr Norman MacLeod, when he tells the tale
about Gormshuil and the Spanish galleon in Tobermory Bay.
It is also
interesting to note that a spaidsearachd
or flyting has been ascribed to two witches, one of whom was Gormula and the
other a witch from Glengarry. This is probably unique. It makes its appearance
in a collection of Gaelic poetry and song collated by Donald Campbell
MacPherson, a native of Bohuntine, who not infrequently wrote under the
pen-name of Abrach:
Luadhadh nam
Bana-Bhuidseach: Gormshùil agus a’ Bhana-Gharannach
Gormshùil
Hì hiù O! siud gun cluinneam,
Hì hiù O! gar am faiceam,
Hì hiù O! gar am bitheam,
Hì hiù O! beò ach seachdain.
Hì hiù O! creach an t-Sìthein,
Hì hiù O! creach an Lagain,
Hì hiù O! creach Chuilidh Rois,
Hì hiù O! ’S Bhaile
Magh Ghlastair.
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, fuaim na
clèithe.
Hì hiù O! mhollachd bò dhubh,
Hì hiù O! no bò ghuailfhionn,
Hì hiù O! eadar Ladaidh,
Hì hiù O! ’s Gairidh Ghualach,
Hì hiù O! nach toir Ailean,
Hì hiù O! donn air ruaig leis.
Hì hiù O! cò chuireadh tu,
Hì hiù O! gan toirt uaithe?
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, fuaim na
clèithe.
A’ Bhan-Gharannach
Hì hiù O! Gheibhteadh siud ann
Hì hiù O! ’n Doch an Fhasaidh,
Hì hiù O! bodaich bheaga,
Hì hiù O! chroma, chairtidh;
Hì hiù O! cuarain laoicinn,
Hì hiù O! stocaidh chraicinn,
Hì hiù O! breacain liathglas,
Hì hiù O! dronnag bhradach.
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, fuaim na
clèithe.
Gormshùil
Hì hiù O! com’ gun
tubhairt,
Hì hiù O! chaile
bhradach,
Hì hiù O! gun robh
Ailean
Hì hiù O! donn gun
chaiseart.
Hì hiù O! cha
ruigeadh i leas e,
Hì hiù O! bha iad
aige;
Hì hiù O! brògan mìn
dubh,
Hì hiù O! ciaraidh,
cairtidh.
Hì hiù O! stocaidh
den t-sròl
Hì hiù O! dhearg mu
chasan.
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, fuaim na
clèithe.
Hì hiù O! ruaig a’
chaorain,
Hì hiù O! leis an
abhainn;
Hì hiù O! ’S a’
ghràin eòrna,
Hì hiù O! ’m beul na
brathann;
Hì hiù O! air na tha
beò
Hì hiù O! chinne t’ athar;
Hì hiù O! eadar
chlann òg,
Hì hiù O! ’s mhnathan
taighe.
Hì hiù O! ’s Eilean
Droighneachain,
Hì hiù O! bhith na
lasair.
Hì hiù O! mur creid thu siud,
Hì hiù O! seall a-mach air.
Hiro, hàro, hòro, èile,
Hiro, hàro, fuaim na clèithe.
Bha siud na bhuidealaich; agus sgàin a’
Bhana-Gharannach air a’ chlèith leis an fheirg
The Witches’ Fulling:
Gormula and the Glengarry Witch
Gormula
Hì hiù O! let it be heard
Hì hiù O! let it be seen
Hì hiù O! let it happen
Hì hiù O! even if alive for a week
Hì hiù O! the raid of Sìthean
Hì hiù O! the raid of Laggan
Hì hiù O! the raid of Culross
Hì hiù O! and
Balmaglastar
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, the sound
of the wattle.
Hì hiù O! curse the black cow,
Hì hiù O! and the white-shouldered cow,
Hì hiù O! between Laddie,
Hì hiù O! and Garry Gualach,
Hì hiù O! will not brown-haired
Hì hiù O! Allan be sent on his way,
Hì hiù O! who would you send
Hì hiù O! to prize it from him?
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, the sound
of the wattle.
Glengarry woman
Hì hiù O! You’d get that
Hì hiù O! in Dochanassie,
Hì hiù O! the little old men,
Hì hiù O! bent and tanned;
Hì hiù O! with tawny pampooties,
Hì hiù O! with hide-made stockings,
Hì hiù O! light-blue plaids,
Hì hiù O! hunchbacked thieves.
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, the sound
of the wattle.
Gormula
Hì hiù O! Why would
you say,
Hì hiù O! o thievish
hussy,
Hì hiù O! that Brown-haired
Allan
Hì hiù O! is not
without footwear,
Hì hiù O! as he need
not bother,
Hì hiù O! as he has
them already,
Hì hiù O! smooth
black brogues,
Hì hiù O! dusky and
tanned,
Hì hiù O! stockings
of silk,
Hì hiù O! red about
the calves.
Hiro, hàro, hòro,
èile,
Hiro, hàro, the sound
of the wattle.
Hì hiù O! the ash
will go,
Hì hiù O! with the
current;
Hì hiù O! And the
barley grain,
Hì hiù O! Is in the
quern’s opening;
Hì hiù O! for those
who are alive,
Hì hiù O! your
father’s kin;
Hì hiù O! between the
young children,
Hì hiù O! and the
housewives,
Hì hiù O! and Eilean
Droighneachain,
Hì hiù O! is on fire.
Hì hiù O! and if you don’t believe that,
Hì hiù O! then look out for it.
Hiro, hàro, hòro, èile,
Hiro, hàro, the sound
of the wattle.
And was on fire; and the Glengarry woman let
go of the waulking wattle as she was so angry.
Or as put by Mackellar:
“The Glengarry witch looked out, as she was asked to do, and her home was on
fire. In the blaze of her wrath, she burst on the waulking wattle, and
Gormshuil was triumphant.”
A
useful summary of most of the above traditions was published in An Gaidheal by the redoubtable Alistair
Cameron or as he was better known by his pen-name North-Argyll:
Bha an
t-ainm-baistidh, Gormshuil, cumanta gu leoir am measg Gaidheil na h-Alba agus
Eireann aig aon am. Is e Gormshuil a b’ainm do’n mhnaoi mhì-chneasda a bha aig
Brian Boroimhe, agus is i a thug cuireadh do na ceannardan Lochlannach, Sigurd
agus Brodir, tighinn a chogadh ’na aghaidh. Bha an t-ainm cumanta cuideachd am
measg nan Camshronach gus an do chuir Gormshuil Mhór ’nam beachd dìmeas air.
Tha e air a ràdh gu
robh teaghlach na Maighe, no Camshronaich na Maighe; mar a theireadh cuid, a
mach á seann Taigh Challairt. Fada bhuaithe chaidh bean de’n dream seo le
dithis mhac, Teàrlach agus Gilleasbaig, a dh’ iarraidh dìon bho an naimhdean gu
ruig Loch-Iall do’n Torra-chaisteil. Thug esan dhi a’ chuid ìochdarach de’n
Mhaighe. Is ann bho Theàrlach seo a thàinig teaghlach na Maighe, agus bha e air
a ràdh gu robh an t-ainm, Teàrlach, ri fhaotainn air am feadh air son iomadh
linn.
Bha teaghlach de Chloinn
Mhic Fhionghuin anns a’ Mhaigh Uachdarach a thàinig as an Eilean Sgitheanach. Thàinig
a’ cheud aon dhiubh seo do Airdanois anns a’ Ghiùthsaich taobh Loch Airceig.
Mar sin, is e a theireadh muinntir Lochabair riutha “Sliochd Iain Maigh na Giùthsaich.”
Is e a h-aon diubh seo a phòs Gormshuil. A reir innseadh sgeòil, is e boireannach
làidir gramail a bha an Gormshuil—geur-shuileach agus geur-thuigseach—seadh, cho
tuigseach agus cho fad-léirsinneach is gun canadh cuid gu robh “tuilleadh ’s am
Paidir aig Gormshuil.”
Bha am beachd seo ’na
fàbhar. Cha rachadh sealgair do’n fhrìth no iasgair gu linne nach tigeadh a
chur ceist am biodh soirbheachadh orra agus a dh’fhaotainn a beannachd. Is iomadh
deagh dhinneir sìdhinn agus gad math éisg a fhuair i air a thàillibh.
Tha naidheachd ann
mar a theasairg a fad-léirsinn Loch-Iall, an uair a chaidh e a ghleidheadh
coinneamh ri Diùc Adhaill mu thimcheall ionaltradh na Beinne-brice, ri fhaotainn ann an leabhraichean
Beurla (mar a tha “Lochaber in War and
Peace”, le Kilgour), agus leis a sin chan aithris mi an sgeul sin an seo.
Their cuid gur ann aig a’ choinneamh seo a chluich pìobaire Loch-Iall am port, “Thigibh
an seo, chlanna nan con, is gheibh sibh feoil,” agus gur e Sir Eóghann ceann-feadhna
nan Camshronach aig an ám. Co-dhiubh tha e fìor mu’n phort ’s nach ’eil, chan
’eil mise dol a ràdh, ach cha chreid mi gur e Sir Eóghann a bha ann. Bho’n bha
Gormshuil beò aig ám an Armada, tha e na’s coltaiche gur e seanair Shir Eóghainn,
Ailean Mac Iain Duibh, a bha ann.
Ged bha Gormshuil fad-léirsinneach
air ciod a bha ri teachd, cha do shàbhail sin a beatha bho bhàs ceann-adhairt.
Is e a bàthadh an Allt Choille Rois, agus i a’ feuchainn ri bradan a ghlacadh,
a bu deireadh dhi. Seo agaibh an naidheachd mar a bha i aig Màiri Nic Ealair.
An uair a bha Loch-Iall a’ tilleadh
dhachaigh bho’n turus a dh’ainmich mi, thadhail e air Gormshuil a thoirt taing
dhi is a ghealltainn fàbhar sam bith a dh’iarradh i air uair sam bith.
Thubhairt i ris, ged bha e a’ toirt a’ gheallaidh sin, gun crochadh e fhathast
mac leatha. Fhreagair esan nach tachradh sin idir, a chionn, ged bhiodh e a’
dol a dheanamh a leithid, nach robh aice ach dol far an robh esan is an
gealladh a chur ’na chuimhne, agus ciod sam bith cho airidh is a bhiodh a mac
air a chrochadh, cha rachadh a dheanamh.
Bliadhnachan as déidh seo bha mac do
Ghormshuil, gille eile, agus aon mhac bantraich, a mach anns a’ mhonadh. Throid
mac na bantraich agus an gille eile. Thug mac na bantraich buille do’n ghille
seo a mharbh e. Bha a’ bhantrach bhochd ann an droch staid. Chuimhnich
Gormshuil air a’ ghealladh a thug Loch-Iall dhi, agus dh’aontaich i gun
toireadh a mac suas e féin air son a’ mharbhaidh. Is ann mar seo a bha. Chuir
Loch-Iall e anns a’ phrìosan anns a’ chaisteal aige. Air son a bheatha a
shaoradh thog Gormshuil oirre a dh’fhaicinn Loch Iall ach an uair a ràinig i Allt
Choille an Rois chunnaic i bradan ann an linne bheag. Chaidh i g’a ghlacadh,
ach mun d’fhuair i seo a dheanamh, thàinig beum sléibhe a staigh an gleann a
dh’at an t-allt a tiota. Ghlac an tuil Gormshuil agus chaidh a bàthadh. Chaidh
a mac a chrochadh, a chionn cha robh fios aig Loch-Iall gur e mac dhi a bha ann
gus an déidh-làimhe.
As a baptismal name
Gormula was once common enough among the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland. It was
the name of Brian Buro’s despicable wife who invited the Scandinavian leaders,
Sigurd and Brodir to come over to fight him. It was a common name among the
Camerons until Great Gormula made them look upon it with disfavour.
It is said that the
family of Moy, or the Camerons of Moy, as some say, came from the stock of the
old House of Callart. A long time ago a woman of that race went with two sons,
Charles and Archibald, to seek protection from enemies to Lochiel at Torcastle.
He gave to her the lower part of Moy. It was from Charles that the family of
Moy came from, and it is said that the name Charles was to found among them for
several generations.
There was a family of
MacKinnons who had come from the Isle of Skye in Upper Moy. The first one of
them came to Airdanois in Giuthsaich besides Loch Arkaig. There the Lochaber
folk referred to them as Sliochd Iain
Maigh na Giùthsaich [The Progeny of John of Giuthsaich Moy]. It was one of
them who married Gormula. According to the tale, Gormsula was a powerful and
brawny woman―keenly observant and highly intelligent―indeed, she was so clever
and so perceptive that some would say that she know more than her Paternoster.
This view benefited
her. No hunter would go to the hill and no angler would go to the loch that
wouldn’t ask how successful they’d be and to get her blessing. And because of
that she has many a good dinner of venison as well as a switch full of good
fish.
There is a story of
how her perceptive ability managed to save Lochiel, when he went to meet with
the Duke of Atholl about the grazings of Ben Breck, which can be found in
English books (such as Lochaber in War
and Peace by Kilgour) and so I will not bother telling that story here.
According to some folk it was at this very meeting that Lochiel’s piper played
the tune “Thigibh an
seo, chlanna nan con, is gheibh sibh feoil,” [Come hither, children of the
hounds, and you’ll get flesh] and that Sir Ewen Dubh was the chief of the
Camerons at that time. Whether that is true about the tune or not I cannot say,
but I don’t believe it could have been Sir Ewen. Gormshula was alive at the
time of the Armada, and so it’s more likely to have been Sir Ewen’s
grandfather, Ailean Mac Iain Duibh [Allan Cameron].
Although Gormula had the ability to
tell future events this did not save her from her own death. She was drowned in
Allt Choille Rois as she tried to catch a salmon. That was her end. Here’s the
story as related by Mary Mackellar.
When Lochiel was returning home from
his journey which I mentioned earlier, he visited Gormula to offer his thanks
and to grant her any favour that she wished for at any time. She said to him
that although he gave his word, that he would yet hang her son. He replied that
this would never happen for although he could do such a thing that she only
needed to remind him of the promise he had made, and even though her son might
deserve to be hanged, it would not be carried out.
Many years after this, Gormula’s
son, another lad and a widow’s son were out on the hill. The widow’s son and
the other one argued. The widow’s son struck the other lad and killed him. The
poor widow was in a terrible state. Gormula recalled the promise that Lochiel
had made to here, and so she’d put her give up her son son for the murder.
That’s how things turned out. Lochiel had him put in prison in his castle. So
that she could save his life Gormusla went to see Lochiel but when she got as
far as Allt Choille Rois she caught sight of a salmon in a shallow pool. She went
to catch it, but before this could be done, a landslide fell into the glen and
the burn flooded. Gormula was caught by the flood and was drowned. And so her
son was hanged because Locheil did not know that it was her son until it was
too late.
If
there is any truth to the last anecdote then it was a double tragedy, although
thankfully Gormula did not live to learn of her son’s execution.
References:
NB
SSS 1, pp. 15–16
NB
SSS 4, p. 365
NB
SSS 10, pp. 919–920
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Image:
The
Spanish Armada