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

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
them, and luck of game," wrote the ancient Gaehc chronicler.
" And, O King of the Sun, and of the Moon, and of the
bright, effulgent Stars ! it was they who put fear and fright,
and more than enough, on the men and the calves of Clan
Ranald."
The Oracular Tooth of the Faery Dog.
The grandfather of a friend of mine, living in Lewis,
used to observe from time to time that the supply of potatoes
in his barn was diminishing gradually by some strange
agency. The old man concealed himself in the barn many
times in the hope of detecting the thief ; but never a soul
seemed to be coming near the barn. Yet the potatoes
continued to disappear. One morning he discovered what
he took to be the fang of an ordinary dog. It was sticking
in one of the potatoes. On picking it up and examining it
more closely, however, he found that in reality it was one
of those much-coveted charms, a faery-dog tooth. The
tooth of the faery dog, they say, has occult powers. When
placed in drinking-water, for example, it heals ailing cattle
that drink of such water. It also possesses the property of
restoring the substance extracted from milk by witches and
evil spirits.
The faery-dog tooth I mention is being handed down
through my friend's family. It is regarded as a precious
heirloom. At the moment it is in Canada w^ith the widow
of the previous heir to it.
Faery Cows.
Akin to the faery dog are the cro sith, or faery cattle.
These creatures are said to be dun-coloured usually, and
hornless. In the Isle of Skye and in Tiree, however, it is
held that they are oftener red or speckled, and that, moreover,
they are able to swim across the sea. Not on every
earthly pasture will they graze. It is computed that they
have been known to graze on no more than ten spots
throughout the Highlands and Islands.
When the faery cattle were brought home to the byre
from their particular pasturage at Guershader, near Portree,
40