Folk-Lore and Legends | Page 2

Lucken Hare. At the foot of this eminence,
which is almost as famous for witch-meetings as the neighbouring
windmill of Kippilaw, Dick was somewhat startled to observe that his
conductor entered the hillside by a passage or cavern, of which he
himself, though well acquainted with the spot, had never seen nor
heard.
"You may still return," said his guide, looking ominously back upon
him; but Dick scorned to show the white feather, and on they went.
They entered a very long range of stables; in every stall stood a
coal-black horse; by every horse lay a knight in coal-black armour,
with a drawn sword in his hand; but all were as silent, hoof and limb, as
if they had been cut out of marble. A great number of torches lent a
gloomy lustre to the hall, which, like those of the Caliph Vathek, was
of large dimensions. At the upper end, however, they at length arrived,
where a sword and horn lay on an antique table.
"He that shall sound that horn and draw that sword," said the stranger,
who now intimated that he was the famous Thomas of Ercildoun, "shall,
if his heart fail him not, be king over all broad Britain. So speaks the
tongue that cannot lie. But all depends on courage, and much on your
taking the sword or horn first."
Dick was much disposed to take the sword, but his bold spirit was
quailed by the supernatural terrors of the hall, and he thought to
unsheathe the sword first might be construed into defiance, and give
offence to the powers of the mountain. He took the bugle with a
trembling hand, and blew a feeble note, but loud enough to produce a
terrible answer. Thunder rolled in stunning peals through the immense
hall; horses and men started to life; the steeds snorted, stamped, ground
their bits, and tossed their heads; the warriors sprang to their feet,
clashed their armour, and brandished their swords. Dick's terror was
extreme at seeing the whole army, which had been so lately silent as

the grave, in uproar, and about to rush on him. He dropped the horn,
and made a feeble attempt to seize the enchanted sword; but at the same
moment a voice pronounced aloud the mysterious words--
"Woe to the coward, that ever he was born, Who did not draw the
sword before he blew the horn!"
At the same time a whirlwind of irresistible fury howled through the
long hall, bore the unfortunate horse-jockey clear out of the mouth of
the cavern, and precipitated him over a steep bank of loose stones,
where the shepherds found him the next morning, with just breath
sufficient to tell his fearful tale, after concluding which he expired.

COINNACH OER.
Coinnach Oer, which means Dun Kenneth, was a celebrated man in his
generation. He has been called the Isaiah of the North. The prophecies
of this man are very frequently alluded to and quoted in various parts of
the Highlands; although little is known of the man himself, except in
Ross-shire. He was a small farmer in Strathpeffer, near Dingwall, and
for many years of his life neither exhibited any talents, nor claimed any
intelligence above his fellows. The manner in which he obtained the
prophetic gift was told by himself in the following manner:--
As he was one day at work in the hill casting (digging) peats, he heard
a voice which seemed to call to him out of the air. It commanded him
to dig under a little green knoll which was near, and to gather up the
small white stones which he would discover beneath the turf. The voice
informed him, at the same time, that while he kept these stones in his
possession, he should be endued with the power of supernatural
foreknowledge.
Kenneth, though greatly alarmed at this aerial conversation, followed
the directions of his invisible instructor, and turning up the turf on the
hillock, in a little time discovered the talismans. From that day forward,
the mind of Kenneth was illuminated by gleams of unearthly light; and

he made many predictions, of which the credulity of the people, and the
coincidence of accident, often supplied confirmation; and he certainly
became the most notable of the Highland prophets. The most
remarkable and well known of his vaticinations is the
following:--"Whenever a M'Lean with long hands, a Fraser with a
black spot on his face, a M'Gregor with a black knee, and a club-footed
M'Leod of Raga, shall have existed; whenever there shall have been
successively three M'Donalds of the name of John, and three
M'Kinnons of the same Christian name,--oppressors will appear in the
country, and the people will change their own land for a strange one."
All these personages have appeared since; and it