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

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
taken the garrison by surprise, slew its Lochlannaich
occupants to a man.
In order to " mak siccar," the old man of Sandray Isle
advised young MacNeil to leave no stone unturned in
endeavouring to dislodge from a castle near Loch Boisdale
the most formidable man among the Lochlannaich rievers,
who at this time infested every creek of the Western Isles.
Therefore they hurried off to South Uist to complete their
task. On arrival there, the old man stealthily approached
the castle held by the Lochlannaich, and deceived its guard
into believing that an enemy was at hand. When the chief
man among them put his head out of one of the peep-holes,
so as to ascertain from which direction the enemy was
coming, the old man of Sandray sent an arrow through his
neck, with the result that he could not withdraw his head
into the castle. In this w^ise perished tlie leader of the
Lochlannaich in South Uist.
The remainder of the garrison was put to the edge of the
sword; and so successful had been the tactics employed by
young MacNeil, with the help of the old man of Sandray and
the Irish seamen, that he was able to return to Ireland
forthwith, taking with him the tidings that the time was
come when his father might resume his occupancy of
Kisimul.
And thus it was that the MacNeils found their way back
to Barra.
MacNeil's Bardess Deceives the Norsemen.
Tradition has it that, a decade or two after the return of
the MacNeils to Kisimul Castle, the Norsemen came again
to the Barra Isles, and sought to reduce their stronghold to
submission. On this visit they brought with them so great
a fleet of birlinns that they were able to ravage the entire
Island of Barra with impunity. Only Kisimul held out
against the besiegers ; and so persistently had they blockaded
the ancient fortress that its surrender seemed a matter of
days. As time dragged on, increasing starvation faced the
garrison; and it was then that the happy idea struck
MacNeil's bardess, Nic Iain Fhinn, of dyeing a cow's hide a
different colour each dav, and hanging it over the battle-
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