The Land of the Hills and the Glens 



spray on the wild shores of Colonsay— a good twenty miles 

 from me — so that all the air around the island was rendered 

 blurred and indistinct by reason of the salt mist that hung 

 about it. There are days of fierce north-easters, at the 

 season of spring tides, when the waters are driven westwards 

 with such force that at low tide great forests of seaweed 

 stand exposed, and wither in the numbing wind. 



In olden days tlie strip of shore lying between the tide- 

 marks was often a refuge to the luckless man or woman 

 who had the ill fortune to have incurred the displeasure 

 of the fairies and to be pursued by these "silent persons." 

 For below high-water mark no fairy, nor indeed any evil 

 spirit, had the power to penetrate, and thus those who fled 

 before them made their way instinctively to the shore. Of 

 the fairies many beliefs held good. These little people, 

 while not actively hostile to man, nevertheless played him 

 many a sorry trick. Curiously enough, the fairies of the 

 Island of Mull were said to have only one nostril. Their 

 dress was usually green, but in Skye they wore clothes 

 dyed a crotal, or warm brown colour, the dye coming from 

 the lichen which covers the rocks on the bleak, wind-swept 

 hillsides. Sometimes they had blue bonnets on their heads. 

 It is said that on one occasion two men on lona were 

 returning of an evening from the fishing, when on their 

 way they passed the door of a fairy dwelling, or "brugh," 

 and saw dancing going on within. One of the men, fas- 

 cinated by the music which came from the "sithein," joined 

 the dancers without even waiting to lay down the string 

 of fish he had in his hand. The other, more cautious, be- 

 fore he entered stuck a fish-hook in the door — for metal 

 was a charm against fairy spells — and so was able to leave 

 when he minded to do so. His unfortunate companion, 

 however, was forced to remain, and was found twelve 

 months later — for not until the end of this period was it 

 possible to release him from the fairy spell — still dancing. 

 When taken outside by his former companion his fish, 



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