The peat-fire flame : folk-tales and traditions of the Highlands & Islands

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
Colonsay. The natives regard him as the warrior who, in
a time far distant, saved their forbears from extinction.
Now, there is in Colonsay a small depression, in which
stands a carnan, or little heap of stones, the site of which
commands a healach, or mountain-pass, some little distance
beyond. The sixteen men of the Clan Bell are said to have
passed by this cairn and through this pass when on their way
to engage the enemy at Deabhaidh. Later in the day a
large contingent of Bells followed them in this airt from
Balnahard. But they were too late for the fight. All was
over ere they reached the scene. Because of this, they were
held up to contempt, and became known thereafter as the
Late Bells. In order to differentiate between them and the
Early Bells, the folks of Colonsay devised that, whenever
any of the former passed through the healach, they had to
keep to the east side of the cairn, whereas the track passing
on the west side was reserved for the families and
descendants of the men who were in time for the fight.
A Folk-Tale of Rothiemurchus.
The last folk-tale of rieving I propose telling you is
located in Rothiemurchus.
Northward from Loch Einich and the northern foot-hills
of the Cairngorms, Glen Einich runs towards Rothiemurchus;
and steeply through this glen falls an impetuous
stream to join the River Druie, which, in turn, joins the
Spey between Inverdruie and Aviemore. In Glen Einich
there are two bothies, which are said to have been
bequeathed to the people of the neighbourhood by a Grant of
Rothiemurchus in remembrance of his mother, who gave
him birth while on a visit to her clanswomen then attending
the summer shielings. One bothy is situated by a track
close to the northern shore of Loch Einich : the other is to be
found a couple of miles or so farther down the glen, and not
far from a lochan known by a Gaelic name signifying the
Loch of the Swift Lad's Son.
The donor of the bothies made it a condition of his
beneficence that they should alwavs contain a certain amount
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