UAMH AN OIR: THE CAVE OF GOLD
CHAPTER XVII.
Pipers in Enchanted Caves.
“The Banshee’s wild voice sings the death dirge before me,
The pall of the dead for a mantle hangs o’er me;
But my heart shall not flag and my nerve shall not shiver,
Though devoted I go—to return again never!”
—Scott.
Allied to fairy stories—Venturesome pipers—The Skye cave—The Mull version—The Argyllshire—The Ghostly piper of Dunderave—“Wandering Willie’s Tale”—A Sutherlandshire cave—A Caithness story—Underground passages.
The story of a piper endeavouring to explore a mysterious cave is so closely allied to the class dealt with in last chapter, that all might quite fairly have been included under one heading. The only difference often is that in the one case the piper enters a cave opening out to the sea, whereas in the other he enters a knoll, which may be any distance inland. There are always fairies in the knoll, but in the majority of cases there are none in the cave. Their place is taken by wild beasts, who take the life of the venturesome explorer. The piper generally has a dog with him when he enters the cave, and the dog always returns, though the last that is heard of his master is the sad wail of his pipes playing a lament for his own terrible fate.
“Oh, that I had three hands—two for the pipes and one for the sword,” is recorded as the tune played by a piper who entered a cavern and could not get out again. The incident is located in several places—in Skye, in Mull, and at a cave eight miles up the river Nevis, in Inverness-shire. The Mull cave reached, it was believed, right across the island, and it was inhabited by wolves and other wild animals. The Skye cave was called Uamh an Oir, the Cave of Gold, and was situated about four miles from Dunvegan, the other end opening out at Monkstad on Loch Snizort. It, too, had wild animals for inhabitants. The inside of the cave in most cases consisted of many confusing offshoots leading in different directions, the want of knowledge of which prevented the people of the neighbouring districts from exploring it. However, on one occasion a piper (the Skye version makes him a Mac Crimmon) accompanied by a member of the Clan Mac Leod (also the Skye version) made bold to enter the cave. A crowd gathered outside to wait for the result. The piper, who of course had his pipes, went first, playing his best. After a considerable time had elapsed, the waiting people began to feel anxious as to their safety. But by and by Mac Leod returned. He could give no account of Mac Crimmon except that he had lost him in the labyrinths of the cave. He considered himself extremely fortunate in finding his way out. Their torches had been extinguished by the dim and foul atmosphere. Just when Mac Leod was telling his story the wailing notes of Mac Crimmon’s pipes were heard issuing from the cave. All listened, and as they listened the pipes spoke, and the notes that came out of the darkness represented:—