Search

Ban-bhuidseach Chille Chomhghain agus am bodach Barrach.

Date 1959
Track ID 42113
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1959.51.B1_53.B1

Original Tape ID

SA1959.051

Summary

The Kilchoan witch and the Barra man.

A Barra man and his eldest son Iain went to Bonawe for wood to build a new house. On the way back, they were driven ashore by a storm which arose between Mull and Ardnamurchan, and were eventually given shelter by an old woman and her pretty daughter. The men tried to get away the next day, but the wind was against them and they were driven back again. They returned to the old woman's house and spent the night there.

The next day, the old woman told him that the weather was still unfavourable. The Barra man went out and he eventually met a shepherd, who told him that the old woman was a witch and was keeping them back. The shepherd sent him to another woman, who could counter the witch's power. This woman told him to get special whisky from the inn, to give to the women. This would make them sleep, enabling him to set off. She gave him a 'gartan ratha' with three knots. The first two could be opened for greater speed, but the third was not to be opened under any circumstances.

The plan was successful, and the men were in Barra by nightfall. When he felt safe, the old man decided to untie the third knot. A great storm arose, the boat was damaged, and the boy's head was injured. They got ashore and the father bound his son's wound with the gartan ratha. The next day he remembered the woman had told him to burn the gartan ratha as soon as he was home. The wound on the boy's head began bleeding again. He replaced the gartan with a spider's web, and the bleeding stopped.

The boy recovered and his father built the house, but the following year and every subsequent year, the boy's wound opened again. When the old man died, his son took over, but not successfully. He finally sold up and went to Nova Scotia. He lived into his 80s.

Item Notes

The contributor heard this story from his father.

Item Subject/Person

Bana-bhuidseach Chille Chomhghain

Recording Location

County - Inverness-shire

Parish - South Uist

Item Location

County - Inverness-shire

Language

Gaelic

Genre

Story

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good