The Lady of Lawers (2)
Last week I was telling you about The
Lady of Lawers. She was living on
Loch Tayside in Perthshire. She had
the second sight. She was alive
perhaps in the Seventeenth Century. She planted a tree beside the
church at Lawers. She said – any
person that fells this tree will have a
terrible death. Well, it appears that a
man did fell the tree. And what
happened to him? He was gored by
his own bull. And he died. A terrible
death, indeed.
The Lady said many things about
the Loch Tay area. She said that a
mill was going to be on every burn.
She said that every lad was going to
have a plough. She said, after that,
that the farms were going to be far
away from each other. Each cockerel
was not going to be able to hear the
next cockerel.
These all came to be. There was
a big population. There were many
mills. The people were heavily
engaged in agriculture. Then the
clearances happened.
There was a big loss of life from drowning on Loch Tay. The people in
the area were sad. But the Lady said
that a worse day was coming. A vessel
was going to sink in the loch. Many
people would be drowned. That
accident hasn’t happened yet. I hope
it doesn’t happen.
And she said another interesting
thing. People were skiing on Ben
Lawers long before the ski facilities
existed in places like Cairn Gorm and
Aonach Mòr. The Scottish Ski Club
built a bothy on Ben Lawers in the
thirties. But, in the past few years, the
snow has not been so good.
I wonder if that will change?
Because the Lady said that a day was
coming when Ben Lawers was going
to be very cold. It would be so cold
that it would make the land for seven
miles around a wasteland. If she is
correct, perhaps it’s not warming that
awaits [is ahead of] us but cooling.
Ban-tighearna Labhair (2)
An t-seachdain sa chaidh bha mi ag
innse dhuibh mu Bhan-tighearna
Labhair, The Lady of Lawers. Bha i a’
fuireach taobh Loch Tatha ann an
Siorrachd Pheairt. Bha an dà-shealladh
aice. Bha i beò ’s dòcha anns an
t-seachdamh linn deug.
Chuir i craobh ri taobh na
h-eaglaise ann an Labhair. Thuirt i –
duine sam bith a leagas a’ chraobh seo
gheibh e bàs uabhasach. Uill, tha e
coltach gun do leag fear a’ chraobh. Is
dè thachair dha? Chaidh a ghaorradh le
a tharbh fhèin. Agus chaochail e. Bàs
uabhasach, gu dearbh.
Thuirt a’ Bhan-tighearna iomadh rud mu sgìre Loch Tatha. Thuirt i
gun robh muileann a’ dol a bhith air
gach allt. Thuirt i gun robh crann-treabhaidh a’ dol a bhith aig gach gille.
Thuirt i, às dèidh sin, gun robh na
bailtean-fearainn gu bhith fad air falbh
bho chèile. Cha robh comas a’ dol a
bhith aig aon choileach an ath
choileach a chluinntinn.
Thàinig iad seo uile gu bith.
Bha sluagh mòr ann. Bha tòrr mhuilnean ann. Bha na daoine a’ dèanamh
àiteachas mòr. An uair sin bha na
fuadaichean ann.
Bha bàthadh mòr air Loch Tatha. Bha na daoine anns an sgìre
brònach. Ach thuirt a’ Bhan-tighearna
gun robh latha nas miosa a’ tighinn.
Bha soitheach a’ dol a dhol fodha anns
an loch. Bhiodh tòrr dhaoine air am
bàthadh. Cha do thachair an tubaist sin
fhathast. Tha mi an dòchas nach
tachair.
Agus thuirt i rud eile inntinneach. Bha daoine a’ sgitheadh air
Beinn Labhair fada mus robh na
goireasan sgithidh ann an àiteachan
mar an Càrn Gorm is an t-Aonach
Mòr. Thog Club Sgithidh na h-Alba
bothan air Beinn Labhair anns na
tritheadan. Ach, anns na beagan
bhliadhnaichean a dh’fhalbh, chan eil
an sneachd air a bhith cho math.
Saoil an atharraich sin? Oir
thuirt a’ Bhan-tighearna gun robh latha
a’ tighinn nuair a bha Beinn Labhair a’
dol a bhith uabhasach fuar. Bhiodh i
cho fuar ’s gum biodh i a’ dèanamh an
fhearainn airson seachd mìle mu a
timcheall na fhàsach. Ma tha i ceart, ’s
dòcha nach e blàthachadh a tha
romhainn ach fuarachadh.
