Sgeulachd : A' Chaointeach
from Folk Tales and Fairy Lore in Gaelic and English
collected from oral tradition by Rev. James MacDougall (1910)
p. 214
A' CHAOINTEACH
Sgeul mu Bhean-ShìtheIs e Bean-Shìthe a bha anns a' Chaointich. Bha i a' leantainn Chlann Mhic Aoidh agus fhineachan eile 'san Roinn Ilich. An uair a bhitheadh bàs a' dol a thachairt an aon de na fineachan ( Read more... )
collected from oral tradition by Rev. James MacDougall (1910)
p. 214
A' CHAOINTEACH
Sgeul mu Bhean-ShìtheIs e Bean-Shìthe a bha anns a' Chaointich. Bha i a' leantainn Chlann Mhic Aoidh agus fhineachan eile 'san Roinn Ilich. An uair a bhitheadh bàs a' dol a thachairt an aon de na fineachan ( Read more... )
A Banshee Story
The Caointeach was a Banshee. She followed the Clan MacKay and other clans in the Rhinns of Islay. When a death was going to happen in one of these clans, she would come to the sick man's house with a green shawl about her shoulders, and give his family warning by raising a sad wail outside the door. As soon as the sick man's friends heard her voice, they lost all hope of his getting better. They had heard the Caointeach lamenting, and that was proof enough to them that his end was at hand.
The Caointeach has ceased to give warning to the people of the Rhinns. She was last heard at a house in that district many years ago.
A sick man was then on his death-bed,a nd his friends attending him. It was winter, and the night was wet and cold, with rain and wind. She stood at the wind-ward door of the house; and there she raised a low, melacholy wail. The family heard her mourning; and one of them so pitied her that he went out at the leeward door, and left her an old plaid on a seat at the side of the door. He then returned within, and cried to her: "Come to the sheltered side, poor woman; and cover yourself with a piece of my plaid." In an instant the lamenting ceased; and from that time to this the Caointeach has not been seen or heard in the Rhinns.
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