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

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
the sea, if possible, the natives got between them and the
shore, and drove them inland with the assistance of such
weapons as lay ready to hand. It was discovered that even
handfiils of sand thrown between these sea-cows and the
shore checked their return to the sea. In many respects
these particular animals resembled ordinary Highland cattle,
although they were known to dwell under the sea, and to
feed on the sea-weed called mcillich in the Gaelic. Some of
them broke back to the sea : others settled down at Lusken-
tvre.
Faery Cattle in the Isle of Skye.
Very similar were the faery cows that once came ashore
at the Great Rock of MacNicol, on the farm of Scorribreac,
in Skye. On this occasion the entire herd was intercepted
in its attempt to return to the sea, by the scattering of earth
on the strip of land separating it from the water. In the
Highlands and Western Isles it was held that a sprinkling of
earth taken from a burying-ground was most efficacious in
such circumstances.
Toward the evening of the day on which the faery cattle
came ashore at Scorribreac, a voice from the sea was heard
calling them back by name. And the names by which they
were called were taken down at the time. These names, of
course, were in the Gaelic ; and the Gaelic rhyme bv which
they are remembered is still known among those interested
in these matters. The rhyme illustrates, moreover, that these
faery cows varied considerably in colour. One was brown
and another was black. There was a red one, and a
brindled one, and so on. In response to the voice from the
sea, the whole herd ultimately returned to its waterv element.
Red-eared Sea-Cattle.
Dr. Alexander Carmichael tells us in his notes to Carmhia
Gadclica that several sea-cows once came ashore at " the
Sruth," or Stream, at Obbe, in South Harris. A sea-maiden
tending these sea-cows herded them back to the sea. and
away down the Sound of Harris; and. as she herded them,
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