The Equinox (Volume I, Number II)

THE EQUINOX There is one local story which stands out from the rest, in that it contains a song by the animal : A band of North Uist men slaughtered a number of seals on the Heisker rocks, and brought them to the main island, They were spread out in a row on the strand. One of the party was left in charge of them over night. To vary the monotony of his vigil he wandered a little distance away from the row of dead seals. When sitting under the shelter of a rock he beheld coming from the sea a woman of surpassing beauty, with her rich yellow tresses falling over her shoulders. She was dressed in an emerald robe, and, proceeding to the spot where the dead seals lay, she identified each as she went along soliloquising as follows : Speg Spaidrig, Spog mo chulein chaoin chaidrich, Spog Fhienngala, Speg me ghille fada fienna—gheala, ’S minig a bheis a’ greim de rudain, A Mhic Unhdainn, ’ic Amhdainn, Speg a ghille mhoir ruaidh ’S olc a rinn an fhaire ’n raeir. Translated : The paw (or hand) of Spaidrig, The paw of my tenderly cherished darling, The paw of Fingalia, The paw of my long-legged, fair-haired lad, Who frequently sucked his finger— Son of CEdan, son of Audan, The paw of the big red-haired lad Who badly kept the watch last night. The watchman surmised that the beautiful woman who now stood before him was a “spirit from the vasty deep,” and 346