HIGHLAND MYSTICISM.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17117, 12 April 1921, Page 5

HIGHLAND MYSTICISM.

SECOND-SIGHT AND THE OCCULT. (By M. E, M. Donaldson, in the "Weekly Scotsman." Apropos of the present craze for "spiritualism," ifc is 0 f interest to contrast it with the second sight, taibhseadaireachd, of the Highlands, and the phenomena associated with-it. Those with no very intimate acquaintance with either, the one or the other, are possibly disposed to thing that there is considerable affinity between them, whereas, in reality, they have radically nothing in common—except their initials 1 The root difference between second sight and "spiritualism" is that taibhseadaireachd, being innate in the person possessing it, comes unsought and, therefore, is always unconsciously exercised, whereas "spiritualism" is a deliberate attempt to wrest information from the unseen world, often by an elaborate paraphernalia of "mediums" and other properties. Dr." Samuel Johnson not inaptly defines second sight as a "mode of iseeing, super-added to that which Nature generally bestows," consisting of "an impression made either by the mind upon the eye, or by the eye Upon the mind, by which things distant or future are perceived and seen as if they were present." Second" sight is usually popularly associated with the seventh son of a second son, but to the writer's personal knowledge it is not invariably thus restricted, nor even to the one sex, though indeed rarely, in the same experience, found in women. The Brahan Seer's Prophecy. The most famous of all those who have^been, gifted with second sight is Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche, Kenneth Mackenzie, better known as the Brahan Seer, who flourished in the seventeenth century, and some of the most interesting of his prophecies that the writer has personally come across in tramping the Western Highlands will now be related. The famous minister, Dr. Norman MacLeod visited Dunvegan Castle, Skye, in 1799, and he vouched for it that a prophecy of the Brahan Seer, at least 100 years old, concerning Dunvegan, was largely fulfilled when lie was there.- Many of the things prophesied were sufficiently*unusual to make their fulfilment very remarkable, as the reader will agree. The Brahan Seer had foretold that "when Norman the third Norman," "the son of a hardboned English lady," would perish by an accidental death: when "Macleod's Maidens" (some rocks at sea) became the property of a Campbell; when a fox had cubs in one of the turrets of the castle; and, particularly, when the famous Bratach Smith (the Fairy Banner) should'be'exhibited for the last time, then.the glory of the Macleod family should depart; a great part of the estate should' be sold, so that a curach or corracle would carry all the gentlemen of Macleod over Loch Dunvegan ; but the time would come when a second lain Breas (the first celebrated chief of Macleod) should arise and raise the power and fortunes of the house to a higher pinnacle than ever. ■ . Dr. Macleod then proceeds to relate how he was present when a smith.pris" ed open the iron chest in which the Fairy Flag was kept, but how this circumstance could be construed into its "exhibition for the last time" Dr Macleod does not explain. But he proceeds to .state that "on this occasion" the news of the death of the heir, "Norman the third Norman," reached the castle, H.M.S. Queen Charlotte, on which he was a lieutenant, having been blown up at sea. In the course of the same week "Macleod's. Maidens" were sold to a Campbell, and a fox in the. possession of a Lieutenant Maclean, occupying a room "in the "west turret, had cubs there. These Dr. Macleod himself handled, and he" claims, therefore, that so far the Brahan Seer's prophecy was fulfilled. The Big Man of Ballachullish. There used to appear in BaDachulish from time tp time a strange impersonal apparition known as an Duine Mor (the big man), whose appearance, generally foretold disaster to someone. of the landed gentlepebple of the district. Tha writer was told by a native that his father was very anxious to see an Duine Mor, and one day when out with a friend expressed this- desire. They had not walked very far, when the apparition did appeal 1 , to the great terror of the friend; but his companion, not in the least perturbed, cut across the road obliquely to stop the ghost, not addressing him, however, as the initiative in this respect* belongs to the .spirit. The narrator said his father' was sft lOin in height, but the "big man" was a great deal taller., and wore chain armour, which was described with great exactness by the father, viho had never seen any such thing,'and/which the son recognised from bis father's description when, for the first time, he saw suits of armour in the. Tower of London. Stress was laid on tfie fact that in disappearing an Duine Mor vanished slowly like the mist. _ _ , , Opposite Ballachuhsh, in Loch Leven, is'Eilean Munde, popularly known as the "Macdonald's Burial Isle." which was.once for a short time haunted by an unquiet spirit. A young Cameron had fallen in love with a Macdonaid girl, but though he swore to be true to her "as long as his head was upon his shoulders," he proved false. Dying of a fever not long after his new attachment, he was buried upon Eilean Muride, the peace of. which was thenceforth broken by piercing shrieks; These continued day after day, until one man, bolder than his.fellows, landed on the island to discover the origin of the disturbance. To his astonishment, when he reached the.grave of. the young man of the fickle affections it was to find him buried indeed, but with his head above ground, r The unquiet spirit of | the fickle Cameron besought bis visitor to draw his sword and behead him that, he might thus have rest, and. the request being granted, peace was once more restored to the spirit and the island. Ghost of Donald Gorm. One of the most celebrated of the chiefs of Clan Donald was Donald Gorm, and after his death hra< ghost, together with thyse of two companions, appeared on the road leading to the Macdonaid stronghold, Duntulm Castle, in Skye. Whenever they were accosted, they all passed mysteriously into the castle, in some invisible manner. A wise man was consulted in the matter and he counselled the preparation of seven staves of pine—according te others, of seven spindles of oak — "with fire at their points," and, thus guarded, they might enter the room into which the ghosts daily disappeared. The old man's advice wag followed, and the/, phantoms were discovered drinking. **t)n seeing the intruders, the ghost of Donald <3orm thus addressed them:— * "I was in Edinburgh last night; r am in my own mansion to-night; And worth a mote in the sunbeam I have not in me of strength." After telling the intruders where they would find a lost- document which was one of the greatest importance to his nephew and successor, Donald Gorm . Og, the phantom disappeared; ;-saying: "If it were not for the slender lance of pine, This would be to thy hurt, young Donald Gorm!" " Within recent years, the present Chief/of Sleat commissioned a clansman to paint the ruins of the old castle. .As. the artist sat at work upon the headland he heard, quite distinctly, the restless, steady tramp of feet as though in vaults beneath -tthere he sat. So continuous and insistent was this noise ; t that\:on his return .to his. hostess be ■asked-hex if there' were any vaults be-

neath tie ruins of the castle. She told him that, there were, but that they were all now so "filled in aa to moke it impossible for anyone to set foot within them.' The artists had never previously heard the tradition that the restless wraith of Donald Gorm had -succeeded, by his haunting, in driving away his successors from the ancient castle. Many of these stories may seem somewhat pointless, but this very respect is obviously a strong point in favour of their truth, and is certainly a marked characteristic of many West Highland tales. ' '