IN THE HIGHLANDS 53 



to my annoyed ears quite clearly. The sweet songsters 

 of the hill were benighted poachers making for Uaimh 

 Bhraodaig, and as we were alone and preferred having no 

 bed-fellows, I handled my rifle and went outside. I 

 distinctly heard very ugly language regarding the quality 

 of the road over which they were scrambling and 

 stumbling much more than they liked in their iron-shod 

 shoes; so, making my voice sound as unearthly as 

 possible, I groaned out loudly in Gaelic, ' Who is there ? 

 Wait till I get you." There was instant silence, and then 

 such a scrimmage and capering about on the big stones 

 as sent me back to my bundle of heather delighted to 

 be left with no comrades but the ptarmigan till daylight. 

 Years after I learnt that two lovers of venison more 

 than of law had been out on a private stalk, and had 

 a miraculous escape from Satan, who nearly got them 

 on the hill at night V 



I myself was told as a boy a terrible story connected 

 with Uaimh Bhraodaig, and I give it here as told to me. 

 A hrocair (fox-hunter), being benighted on the hill 

 somewhere near the upper end of Beinn an Eoin, thought 

 the only thing to do was to pass the night in Uaimh 

 Bhraodaig. Some time during the night a terrible 

 apparition appeared to him, and he fled before it, 

 accompanied by his two lethchoin (lurchers), and ran as 

 never man ran before. Across his path was the Garab- 

 haig River, which flows into Loch Maree. He took a 

 flying leap across one of its chasms, which was quite 

 beyond the powers of any ordinary human being, and 

 landed on the other side, but both his dogs, which 

 attempted to follow him, fell into the river and were 



