DASG Blog

An t-Each-Uisge (Pàirt 2)

We will be having a look at stories and news about the "each-uisge" this week.

One time there was a bonny girl driving the cattle sitting at the side of a loch and a boy sat beside her, and they started talking. After they started conversing he started to put his head in his lap. People used to do this in those days. It was then that she realised that his hair was covered in sand and mud. She started to take her skirt from her and to leave with her skirt underneath his head. However, as soon as she started to leave the each-uisge with a leap and he yelled many a time “Mas duine ’n seo, is aotrom e,” ["If this is a man, he is light",] and he made for the loch, never to rise. It is because of this that we have the proverb “‘Mas duine ’n seo, is aotrom e’ man duirt an t-each-uisge,” ["'If this is a man, he is light it' said the water-horse"] today.

Many stories about eich-uisge were collected in John Gregorson Campbell's book, "The Gaelic Otherworld", and here is a list of the places where a kelpie has appeared:
 

• Loch Frisa, Muile – There was a grey horse at Loch Frisa, Mull, where he would have seen deceiving people who would climb on his back where he would bring them to their death. He did this with an engaged man and the heir of Aros another time. (p. 110)
• Cru-Loch, Àird a’ Chaoil, Mull – It is said that a saddled horse was grazing at the end of a loch and although someone would be about to appraoch him "lìrean" as noticed on the bottom of his hooves, strong evidence that he was a kelpie. (p.111)
• Loch Annla [Anlaimh], Coll – A group saw a man coming towards them and his head was covered with "ratham", a kind of seaweed. After they left he made for the loch, showing them that he was a water-horse in the guise of a man.
• Creepy calls by the water-horse were heard from the loch other times as well. (p.111)
• Loch na Dùnach, Salen, Ardnamurchan – This is a fitting name for this story [Loch of the disaster]: One Sunday, it is said ten children went to play at Loch na Dùnach and a horse was found. On this day nine of them went on its back except one of the children whom had a bible in the pocket. After he put his finger on horse that horse ran off towards the loch in a rush and the small child had to cut his finger off so he could escape. The nine children were all drowned. (p.112)
• Loch na Mnà, Raasay – This story is particular story with the Great Smith, whom attained the name "Alasdair of the Beast", and the Kelpie to be read in “More West Highland Tales, Volume 2,” by J.F. Campbell. (p.112)
• Loch Quoich, Invergarry – There was a man called Mac a' Phì once, a deserter from the army, a freebooter on the Island in Loch Quoich, called "Eilean Mac a' Phì". One night, he awoke to the knocking on the door and he knew it was a kelpie in the guise of a man. He lifted his deft gun and he fired it twice at the door but it didn't shift him. He asked his wife a silver coin to give him and he fired the gun again. The man fled in a rush to the loch with a great splash. (p.112)
• Loch an Àir, Caolas, Tiree – A farm-servant saw a kelpie sneaking out of Loch an Àir, in Caolas, and he sprinted away although he left his coat. The each-uisge made for the coat and he torn it up leaving it in shreds. The each-uisge made for the farm-servant and after they reached the house the dogs made a lunge at the each-uisge and he ran to the loch (p.113). It is said that it wasn't a kelpie in this story but a water-sprite that said the following to the farm-servant:

“Aig taigh Loch an Àir thogadh iomadh deagh bhàta
Ainmeil bhon làimh chluicheadh tàl agus tuagh;
Am beagan th’ air fhàgail den tobhta tha ’n làthair,
Tha mi chridh’ ann am bàidh rith’ seach àite mun cuairt.”
[“At Loch an Àir were built many fine boats,
Made famous by the hand which would wield adze and axe;
My heart love’s the little that’s left of the ruins,
More than anywhere else in the district around.”] (p. 370).

• Loch Assapol, The Ross of Mull, Mull – It is said that a woman left with a man to the kirk, or after dinner on a Sunday, and in a place of courting she was drowned. (p.114)
• Loch Meadaidh, Durness, MacKay Country – It is said that the woman recognised a bachelor coming towards her with with sand in his hair. She ran off he was seen scraping the earth in a rage that she wouldn't go with him. There is another story that peat wouldn't be harvested and taken home on the boat, the same way of that, if it was taken a the head of Loch Meadaidh they had to leave it to go to waste again. (p.114)
• Loch Basibol, Tiree – It is said that a kelpie was killed by a character ,from Port Vista, The Green, Tiree, called “Calum Mòr Mac a’ Chlèirich”. He killed an each-uisge and a fairy-woman with a horse's rib in a hollow called “an Lèig”.
• (p.32, p.114)
• Ekadale, Loch Fada, Storr, Isle of Skye – An each-uisge was killed at the bottom of Eskadale waterfall (p.115)
• Lochawe – It is said that a twelve-legged beast lives in Lochawe, called the "The Great Beast of Lochawe", whom would break the ice in Winter. It is said that it is a kelpie or an eel huge. (p.117)

I will let you be with kelpie stories. There is a rich treasure of them and although I would not like to stop I don't believe that I can tell every story and find in this blog. Do you recognise any of the stories above? What folklore do you have about the each-uisge? Let us know on facebook, twitter and our website.