An Gobha Ruadh agus Dòmhnall an Òir (2)
I was telling you a story from the manuscript, The Wardlaw Manuscript.
Donald MacAllister – a servant of the red-haired blacksmith – had found
a pot full of gold. But the smith stole the pot. He hid it.
The clan chief, Fraser of Lovat, heard about the matter. He asked
Donald to appear in front of him. Donald told him what had happened.
The chief of the Frasers asked the red-haired smith to appear in front
of him.
‘Do you know what happened to the pot and the gold?’ the clan chief
asked.
‘I don’t know about the gold,’said the smith, ‘except that my daughter
got a ring from Donald MacAllister.’ He gave the landlord the ring as a
present.
The clan chief was pleased about the ring. But he was of the opinion
that the smith was telling lies. The smith was sent to prison. And
Donald got a new nickname – Donald of the Gold.
The red-haired smith did not admit his guilt. He had six daughters. One
of them married a man called Young Farquhar. Farquhar got hold of the
gold. He forced the smith to not admit anything about it. And the
red-haired smith died in prison.
Young Farquhar and his wife went to Letterewe in Wester Ross. English
people were working there in a new iron [smelting] industry. Farquhar
thought he would get a good price for the gold there. But he didn’t. He
sold the gold for a low price.
And where did the gold come from in the first place? There was an
opinion that it was a collection that a wife of the clan chief had had,
a generation or two before. A maidservant stole it. She put it in a
clay pot under the ground.
The woman was prosecuted for the crime. As a punishment, she was going to
be drowned in a pool they called the Park Pool. With her hands, she
indicated the place where the gold was. But she was drowned before anybody
found it. That was until Donald of the Gold found it years later.
An Gobha Ruadh agus Dòmhnall an òir (2)
Bha mi ag innse eachdraidh dhuibh à làmh-sgrìobhainn, The Wardlaw Manuscript. Bha Dòmhnall MacAlasdair – sgalag aig a’
Ghobha Ruadh – air poit làn òir a lorg. Ach ghoid an gobha a’ phoit. Chuir
e am falach i.
Chuala an ceann-cinnidh, Mac Shimidh, mun ghnothach. Dh’iarr e air Dòmhnall
nochdadh air a bheulaibh. Dh’inns Dòmhnall dha mar a thachair.
Dh’iarr Mac Shimidh air a’ Ghobha Ruadh nochdadh air a bheulaibh.
‘A bheil fios agad dè thachair don phoit agus don òr?’ dh’fhaighnich an
ceann-cinnidh.
‘Chan eil fios agam mun òr,’ thuirt an gobha, ‘ach gun d’ fhuair an nighean
agam fàinne o Dhòmhnall MacAlasdair.’ Thug e an fhàinne seachad mar
thiodhlac don uachdaran.
Bha an ceann-cinnidh toilichte mun fhàinne. Ach bha e dhen bheachd gun robh
an gobha ag innse bhreugan. Chaidh an gobha a chur don phrìosan. Agus
fhuair Dòmhnall far-ainm ùr – Dòmhnall an Òir.
Cha do dh’aidich an Gobha Ruadh a chiont. Bha sianar nighean aige. Phòs tè
dhiubh fear air an robh Fearchar Òg mar ainm. Fhuair Fearchar grèim air an
òr. Thug e air a’ ghobha gun a bhith ag aideachadh càil mu dheidhinn. Agus
chaochail an Gobha Ruadh anns a’ phrìosan.
Chaidh Fearchar Òg agus a bhean a Leitir Iù ann an Ros an Iar. Bha
Sasannaich ag obair an sin ann an gnìomhachas iarainn ùr. Bha Fearchar dhen
bheachd gum faigheadh e deagh phrìs air an òr an sin. Ach cha d’ fhuair.
Reic e an t-òr air prìs ìosal.
Agus cò às a thàinig an t-òr anns a’ chiad àite? Bha beachd ann gur e
stòras a bha ann aig bean Mhic Shimidh, ginealach no dhà roimhe. Ghoid
bana-shearbhant e. Chuir i ann am poit chrèadha e fon talamh.
Bha am boireannach air a dìteadh dhen eucoir. Mar pheanas, bha i gu bhith
air a bàthadh ann am poll ris an canadh iad Poll na Pàirc. Le a làmhan,
chomharraich i an t-àite san robh an t-òr. Ach chaidh a bàthadh mus do lorg
duine e. Bha sin gus an do lorg Dòmhnall an Òir e bliadhnaichean an dèidh
làimhe.
