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

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
every night washed and dried the dishes, and arranged theui
in their proper places. About a hundred years ago there
came to Strathglas from Morven a shepherd, for whom the
Glaistig took a great Hking, and with whom she insisted on
residing. At times the shepherd found his unsoHcited mate
very aggravating. She would pull the coverlet off his bed
in the small hours, and giggle superciliously in so doing.
When, for instance, he placed his jacket on a dyke while
working in the open, he would return to the spot to find
the jacket gone. But, if he returned a second time, the
jacket lay on the dyke, just as he had left it. Milk and
cheese on occasions used to disappear from the dairy of
Mac 'ic Alasdair, but never for long at a time. And it was
believed that this was one of the Glaistig's ways of annoying
the family. So, the household resorted to all manner of
devices to counteract her influences. Sometimes they nailed
a sprig of holly above the door of the dairy : sometimes they
deposited a Bible on the lintel. But often these precautions
were of no avail.
The doings of this Glaistig, who always remained
invisible, were so well recognised that occasionally groups
of people used to visit the house of Mac 'ic Alasdair in
Strathglas to witness her performances, and to listen to the
strange noises that emanated from all sorts of queer corners
when she went rampaging through the house in churlish
mood. One night, as a number of men from a neighbouring
farm came in, the pot suddenly left the swee, and dropped
down on the kitchen floor, before their very eyes !
In later years the Glaistig and the household became
reconciled. Thereafter she devoted herself to assisting
with its everyday duties, and in coming to its succour when
adversity befell.
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