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

THE RROWNIE
that there was no cheese on the table. Scarcely had her
mistress mentioned the fact than two large kebbucks came
rolling to her feet, and a voice was heard to enquire
' Anything else ? "
An authority on these matters has identified this Brownie
as one of two of the species serving successive households
at Tullochgorm. Her male counterpart was sometimes
referred to as Brownie Clod, because of his habit of flinging
clods at persons whom he disliked, or who failed to observe
such domestic regulations and formalities as were conducive
to tidiness.
The Brownie of Rothiemurchus.
And now to the Doune of Rothiemurchus, the ancient
home of the Grants of Rothiemurchus. The Doune did not
always occupy its present site, overlooking fine meadowlands
studded with venerable trees, and facing the hill
known as the Ord Ban. It stood on a mound some little
distance away. When the family deserted the old home for
the new, one member of the household is said to have
remained behind. This member was none other than the
Brownie, invisible protector of the fortunes of the Grants
of Rothiemurchus. At day the Brownie assisted the maids
with their domestic duties : at night he sallied forth to
tinker the pots and pans, tidy up the fire-places, scald the
coggies, and remove soot from the chimneys of the old
home. In return for his long and faithful services, he
asked for no more than a daily supply of cream—for " a
cream-bowl duly set." Long after the household had
retired for the night, a clinking and a clonging could be
heard in the kitchen. And one night, when the laird of
Rothiemurchus had been wakened from his sleep by the
Brownie's metallic activities, he groped his way to the stairhead,
and yelled in peevish tone to the Brownie " : Stop that
"
infernal din, and let decent folk sleep !
At sound of the laird's wrath, there fell a tense silence
on the kitchen. When the maids rose to their duties in the
morning, they found that the Brownie had left his work but
half done. Pots and pans, half mended, were strewn about
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