THE URISK, THE BLUE MEN, AND THE MERMAID.
THE URISK.
The Urisk was a large lubberly supernatural, of solitary habits and
harmless character, that haunted lonely and mountainous places. Some
identify him with Brownie, but he differs from the fraternity of
tutelary beings in having his dwelling, not in the houses or haunts of
men, but in solitudes and remote localities. There were male and female
Urisks, and the race was said to be the offspring of unions between
mortals and fairies, that is, of the _leannan sìth_.
The Urisk was usually seen in the evening, big and grey (_mòr glas_),
sitting on the top of a rock and peering at the intruders on its
solitude. The wayfarer whose path led along the mountain side, whose
shattered rocks are loosely sprinkled, or along some desert moor, and
who hurried for the fast approaching nightfall, saw the Urisk sitting
motionless on the top of a rock and gazing at him, or slowly moving
out of his way. It spoke to some people, and is even said to have
thrashed them, but usually it did not meddle with the passer-by. On the
contrary, it at times gave a safe convoy to those who were belated.
In the Highlands of Breadalbane the Urisk was said, in summer time, to
stay in remote corries and on the highest part of certain hills. In
winter time it came down to the strath, and entered certain houses at
night to warm itself. It was then it did work for the farmer, grinding,
thrashing, etc. Its presence was a sign of prosperity; it was said to
leave comfort behind it. Like Brownie, it liked milk and good food, and
a present of clothes drove it away.
An Urisk, haunting _Beinn Doohrain_ (a hill beloved of the Celtic
muse) on the confines of Argyllshire and Perthshire, stayed in summer
time near the top of the hill, and in winter came down to the straths.
A waterfall near the village of Clifton at Tyndrum, where it stayed
on these occasions, is still called _Eas na h-ùruisg_, the Urisk’s
cascade. It was encountered by St. Fillan, who had his abode in a
neighbouring strath, and banished to Rome.
The Urisk of Ben Loy (_Beinn Laoigh_, the Calf’s hill), also on the
confines of these counties, came down in winter from his lofty haunts
to the farm of Sococh, in Glen Orchy, which lies at the base of the
mountain. It entered the house at night by the chimney, and it is
related that on one occasion the bar, from which the chimney chain was
suspended, and on which the Urisk laid its weight in descending, being
taken away, and not meeting its foot as usual, the poor supernatural
got a bad fall. It was fond of staying in a cleft at Moraig water-fall,
and its labours, in keeping the waters from falling too fast over the
rock, might be seen by any one. A stone, on which it sat with its
feet dangling over the fall, is called ‘the Urisk stone’ (_Clach na
h-ùruisg_). It sometimes watched the herds of Sococh farm.
A man passing through Strath _Duuisg_, near Loch Sloy, at the head of
Loch Lomond, on a keen frosty night, heard an Urisk on one side of the
glen calling out, “Frost, frost, frost” (_reoth, reoth, reoth_). This
was answered by another Urisk calling from the other side of the glen,
“Kick-frost, kick-frost, kick-frost” (_ceige-reoth_, etc.). The man,
on hearing this, said, “Whether I wait or not for frost, I will never
while I live wait for kick-frost”; and he ran at his utmost speed till
he was out of the glen.
The Urisk of the ‘Yellow Water-fall’ in Glen Màili, in the south of
Inverness-shire, used to come late every evening to a woman of the name
of Mary, and sat watching her plying her distaff without saying a word.
A man, who wished to get a sight of the Urisk, put on Mary’s clothes,
and sat in her place, twirling the distaff, as best he could. The
Urisk came to the door but would not enter. It said:
“I see your eye, I see your nose,
I see your great broad beard,
And though you will work the distaff,
I know you are a man.”
Graham (_Highlands of Perthshire_, p. 19, quoted by Sir Walter Scott in
his Notes to _The Lady of the Lake_) says the Urisk “could be gained
over by kind attentions to perform the drudgery of the farm, and it
was believed that many families in the Highlands had one of the order
attached to it.” He adds that the famous _Coire nan ùruisgean_ derives
its name from the solemn stated meetings of all the Urisks in Scotland
being held there.
The Urisk, like the Brownie of England, had great simplicity of
character, and many tricks were played upon it in consequence. A farmer
in Strathglass got it to undergo a painful operation that it might
become fat and sleek like the farmer’s own geldings. The weather at the
time being frosty, it made a considerable outcry for some time after.
From its haunting lonely places, other appearances must often have
been confounded with it. In Strathfillan (commonly called simply the
Straths, _Strathaibh_), in the Highlands of Perthshire, not many years
ago a number of boys saw what was popularly said to be an Urisk. In
the hill, when the sun was setting, something like a human being was
seen sitting on the top of a large boulder-stone, and growing bigger
and bigger till they fled. There is no difficulty in connecting the
appearance with the circumstance that some sheep disappeared that year
unaccountably from the hill, and a quantity of grain from the barn of
the farm.
In the Hebrides there is very little mention of the Urisk at all. In
Tiree the only trace of it is in the name of a hollow, _Slochd an
Aoirisg_, through which the public road passes near the south shore.
The belief that it assisted the farmer was not common anywhere, and all
over the Highlands the word ordinarily conveys no other idea than that
which has been well-defined as “a being supposed to haunt lonely and
sequestered places, as mountain rivers and waterfalls.”
THE BLUE MEN (_Na Fir Ghorm_).
The fallen angels were driven out of Paradise in three divisions, one
became the Fairies on the land, one the Blue Men in the sea, and one
the Nimble Men (_Fir Chlis_), _i.e._ the Northern Streamers, or Merry
Dancers, in the sky.
This explanation belongs to the North Hebrides, and was heard by the
writer in Skye. In Argyllshire the Blue Men are unknown, and there
is no mention of the Merry Dancers being congeners of the Fairies.
The person from whom the information was got was very positive he had
himself seen one of the Blue Men. A blue-coloured man, with a long
grey face (_aodunn fada glas_), and floating from the waist out of
the water, followed the boat in which he was for a long time, and was
occasionally so near that the observer might have put his hand upon him.
The channel between Lewis and the Shant Isles (_Na h-Eileinean siant_,
the charmed islands) is called ‘the Stream of the Blue Men’ (_Sruth nam
Fear Gorm_). A ship, passing through it, came upon a blue-coloured man
sleeping on the waters. He was taken on board, and being thought of
mortal race, strong twine was coiled round and round him from his feet
to his shoulders, till it seemed impossible for him to struggle, or
move foot or arm. The ship had not gone far when two men were observed
coming after it on the waters. One of them was heard to say, “Duncan
will be one man,” to which the other replied, “Farquhar will be two.”
On hearing this, the man, who had been so securely tied, sprang to his
feet, broke his bonds like spider threads, jumped overboard, and made
off with the two friends, who had been coming to his rescue.
_The Streamers._ When the Streamers (_Na Fir Chlis_, lit. the active
or quickly moving men) have ‘a battle royal,’ as they often have, the
blood of their wounded falling to the earth, and becoming congealed,
forms the coloured stones called ‘blood stones,’ known in the Hebrides
also by the name of _fuil siochaire_, Elf’s blood.
THE MERMAID.
The Mermaid (_Muir-òigh_, _maighdean mhara_) of the Scottish Highlands
was the same as in the rest of the kingdom, a sea-creature, half fish
half woman, with long dishevelled hair, which she sits on the rocks by
the shore to comb at night. She has been known to put off the fishy
covering of her lower limbs. Any one who finds it can by hiding it
detain her from ever returning to the sea again. There is a common
story in the Highlands, as also in Ireland, that a person so detained
her for years, married her, and had a family by her. One of the family
fell in with the covering, and telling his mother of the pretty thing
he had found, she recovered possession of it and escaped to the sea.
She pursues ships and is dangerous. Sailors throw empty barrels
overboard, and while she spends her time examining these they make
their escape.
A man in Skye (_Mac-Mhannain_) caught a Mermaid and kept her for a
year. She gave him much curious information. When parting he asked her
what virtue or evil there was in egg-water (_i.e._ water in which eggs
had been boiled). She said, “If I tell you that, you will have a tale
to tell,” and disappeared.
A native of _Eilein Anabuich_ (the Unripe Island), a village in North
Harris, caught a Mermaid on a rock, and to procure her release, she
granted him his three wishes. He became a skilful herb-doctor, who
could cure the king’s evil and other diseases ordinarily incurable,
a prophet, who could foretell, particularly to women, whatever was to
befall them, and he obtained a remarkably fine voice. This latter gift
he had only in his own estimation; when he sang, others did not think
his voice fine or even tolerable.