FOLK TALES.
THE TWO BROTHERS.A Tale of Enchantment.
In early times, long ago, (’an toiseach an t-saoghail, o chionn nan cian), it is said that the island of Mull was uninhabited except by a few families who were living, on the south side at Carsaig, in that part of the island known as the Ross of Mull. These families lived isolated from the rest of the world; none of them had ever seen any one from anywhere else there, and none of themselves had ever left the place. They had no boats, and they said the other islets and land that they were seeing opposite were other worlds. One day, then, they saw coming on the sea before them (mu’n comhair) from the mainland a speck (dùradan), and when it came near they compared it to a horse with a tree standing on its back, but when it came to the shore it was a boat made of wicker-work covered with hides, with one man in it, who had some drink with him, and a quantity of hazel nuts for food. On account of his boat being covered with hides[23], they named him “The cowhide man, (am boicionnach). On landing, he told them how he had left home, out of curiosity to see other places, and that was the first place he was able to reach. He is said to have come from Ardencaple in the district of Lorn on the mainland (Ard-nan-capull, ’an Lathurna.) He stayed a long time with them, as they treated him kindly, being much pleased with him. He taught them new ways that were useful to them in their every-day life, and by his skill and knowledge promoted their welfare in many ways. On seeing that they were not utilizing the milkof their cows and goats by making cheese from it, he asked them the reason of this. They told him that they did not know what cheese was, as they had never heard of it nor seen it, and would like well to know how it was made. They had the art of making butter among them previous to his coming. He took inLus-buidhe-bealltainn, (marsh marigold) and putting its stalks in the milk turned it to curds and whey. This is said to be the first cheese that was made in Mull. Some time, nearly a year after this, another boat, or, as they described it, a horse with a tree in its back, was seen coming in the same way. This one came ashore at Lochspelvie, further eastward, and had one man in it also, whom they named “The one in the skin coverings” (an craicionnach). He was brother to the one who came before, and had come in search of him. The two strangers and the natives were agreeing well together, and the brothers began to build a boat when they found wood abundant in Mull. When the boat was finished they named it “the six-oared boat” (iùrach nan sia ràmh), and when it was fitted up and made ready for sailing, the two brothers took a crew with them and set off in it, to go to one or other of the worlds (na saoghalan eile) that they were seeing before them, and reached Jura (Diùra), but the natives of the island would not let them land, as they had never seen a boat before. They stoned them away from the shore. They then went to Colonsay, but the Colonsay men (na Colosaich) were equally hard-hearted (doirbh). They attacked them, and tried to blind them by throwing sand about their eyes. It was then that they went on to the green (lit., blue) island (an t-eilean gorm), the name by which Islay was then known, where they arrived at a more favourable time, no one being before them at the shore. They drew the boat up on the land, and went on to see if there were people to be found on the island or if they would meet with anyone who could direct them to a house. The first person they met was an old man who was watching cattle (aig aire sreud). Hethought they belonged to the island, as no one was known to have ever come to or gone away from it. The first of the brothers who came, asked the old man to give him information about the place. The old man remarked, “How curious your speech is, if you were born in this island.” He said, “No, I am not a native of this island.” The old man said, “And if not, what has brought you here?” “The reason of my coming is, to ask what you can give, and give what I may.” The old man then, as it was nightfall, kindled a fire, and they sat with him till daylight, when men and houses were to be seen. The Islay men were hospitable to the strangers, who remained a full year and built seven boats for them. The elder brother married a woman of the country, and after some time he thought of returning to Mull again. Having prepared his boat he set off, taking his wife and the others with him, and set his course northwards (aghaidh a bhàta, tuath). They had not gone far when a thick mist came on which darkened their world, and as they had no compass and could see no land, they drifted till the boat went in to a shore. This was the first appearance of land they saw since leaving theEilean Gorm. A big man came down where they were—they never saw his equal for size—and he caught the fore part of the boat and drew it up above high water mark, with them all in it. He invited them to go to his house. They went with him and were made welcome. The daughter of the house, on being asked by the elder of the two brothers for a drink, brought a a two-hooped wooden dish full of milk, set it on the floor beside them and went away. One of the strangers rose to lift the dish and he could not. Then three of them rose, but it defied them to lift it. She came back, and finding the dish as she left it, said, “If you have quenched your thirst it is not awanting from the measure (air a’ mheasair)”. The cowhide one replied, “We have not been accustomed to stoop like cattle (cromadh mar bhà) when we take a drink, and we could not lift the dish.” Atthat she caught the wooden dish by the ear, in her left hand, and held the drink to them all. “Where have you come from,” she said, “or where are you going?” “We came from the dark-blue sea-isle,” he said, “and are going to the hilly isle (do ’n eilean bheannach).” “That is Mull,” she said, “Mull of my love, Mull of little men (Muile mo ghràidh, Muile nam fear beaga).” They passed that night cheerfully together, and went to put off to sea next day; but when they tried to move the boat and get it afloat, they might as well attempt to move the Rhinns of Islay (an Roinn Ileach) they could not move it. The young wife who came with them from Islay said then, “I know where we are; we are in the green isle that is under spells (fo gheasaibh), but I have a gift that will let us leave it,” and she told those with her how her mother had at parting given her a cap, saying, “If you are ever in a strait, put it on, and you must at the same time bend your head to the ground as low as your feet seven times (seachd uairean do shròn a bhualadh ri òrdaig do choise).” She had the cap in her belt (’n a cneas), and she told them to sit in the boat and take the oars. She then stood in their midst, touched the cap, bent her head, and it went up to her breast (an cneas); the next time it went up to her neck (am muineal); the third time, to her chin, (an smigead); then, as she bent her head, at the fourth time, it went up past her mouth to her nose; the next time, it reached her eyes, then her forehead, at last the top of her head, and the boat was off. The mist was still there. They asked the eldest brother in which direction they were to set their course. He told them to follow the flight of birds, as they went shorewards in the evening and would guide them to land. There is a saying about the home-coming of birds and fish, that “Birds of the universe go westward, and fish of the deep eastward (Eòin an domhain, siar, ’s iasg an domhain, sear).” During the night, the younger brother, the one of skins, called out that there was a mound before them (gu ’n robh tòrr rompa). His brotherwho was in the afterpart of the boat said, “Is it a tòrr without grass,” and it has got the name of Torrens to the present day (’se na tòrrain a theirear riu gus an là ’n diugh). They reached Mull shore when it was day, and they ran-in the boat at a narrow strait that was like an opening in a dyke (cachaileith ghàraidh), and before they got them from the tholepins, the oars were broken. The place is still known as the narrow strait of broken oars (Caolas-a’-bhristidh-ràmh). They got on shore, and went home and told where they had been and what had happened to them.
The person, now above 70 years of age, from whom the above story was taken down almost word for word by the writer, said that he heard the story when he was a young man, and that the following story (that of the two sisters), was a continuation of it; the incidents of the story occurred during the absence of the two brothers from the place, and were told to them by the natives, in return for the story of their own adventures. The name Torquil, which occurs in this story, and the belief in witchcraft and occult power indicated, suggests that the colony in Mull came originally from Lochlin, or that the story belongs to a later period of history than that that of “The two brothers.” The story is as follows:—