A’ Chuthag ann an Hiort
I was speaking last week about the cuckoo. She comes to Scotland every
year. But, in olden times, she wasn’t going to St Kilda too often, at
least according to the Skyeman, Martin Martin. He has an account of the
cuckoo on St Kilda in his book
A Late Voyage to St Kilda . He was there more than three hundred years ago.
‘The cuckoo is rarely seen here,’ wrote Martin. ‘And that upon
extraordinary occasions, such as the death of the proprietor MacLeod
[of MacLeod], or the arrival of some notable stranger.’ Martin laughed
when he heard that oral tradition. He told the local people it was
without reason. But the island’s steward confirmed that their
information was correct. In his own day and his father’s, he said, the
people of the island saw the cuckoo after the death of the two last
landlords, and shortly before a stranger arrived in St Kilda.
You’ll have a question, I’m sure. Did the cuckoo appear in St Kilda
shortly before Martin himself appeared there?! Well, yes, according to
the local people. The St Kildans were certain that Martin himself was
responsible for it. There was a minister with him, but he was in St
Kilda before. Thus, he was not a stranger.
There is oral tradition on Skye that adds to this story. It was said, when there was a population on St Kilda, that something strange was happening every time a MacLeod clan chief died. If it happened in summer, all of the cuckoos around Dunvegan Castle were fleeing. They were going to St Kilda.
They went there to tell the people of St Kilda that their landlord was
dead. It is said, one particular year, that a boat went from Dunvegan to St
Kilda to tell the people that their clan chief was dead. But, when the
Skyemen reached the island, the St Kildans were already lamenting his
death. They knew about it. The cuckoos had told them!
The Cuckoo in St Kilda
Bha mi a’ bruidhinn an t-seachdain sa chaidh mun chuthaig. Bidh i a’
tighinn a dh’Alba gach bliadhna. Ach, anns an t-seann aimsir, cha robh i a’
dol gu Hiort ro thric, co-dhiù a rèir an Sgitheanaich, Màrtainn
MacIlleMhàrtainn. Tha cunntas aige dhen chuthaig ann an Hiort anns an
leabhar aige A Late Voyage to St Kilda. Bha e ann o chionn còrr is
trì cheud bliadhna.
‘ʼS ann ainneamh a bhios a’ chuthag ri a faicinn an seo,’ sgrìobh
MacIlleMhàrtainn. ‘Agus sin ann an co-cheangal ri tachartasan àraidh, mar
eisimpleir bàs an uachdarain, MacLeòid [Dhùn Bheagain], no nuair a nochdas
coigreach cliùmhor.’ Rinn MacIlleMhàrtainn gàire nuair a chuala e am
beul-aithris sin. Thuirt e ri muinntir an àite gun robh e gun reusan. Ach
dhearbh bàillidh an eilein gun robh am fiosrachadh aca ceart. Ri a linn
fhèin agus ri linn athar, thuirt e, chunnaic muinntir an eilein a’ chuthag
an dèidh bàs na dithis uachdaran mu dheireadh, agus goirid mus do nochd
coigrich ann an Hiort.
Bidh ceist agaibh, tha fhios. An do nochd a’ chuthag ann an Hiort goirid
mus do nochd MacIlleMhàrtainn fhèin ann?! Uill, nochd, a rèir muinntir an
àite. Bha na Hiortaich deimhinne gur e Màrtainn fhèin a bu choireach ris.
Bha ministear còmhla ris, ach bha esan ann an Hiort roimhe. Mar sin, chan e
coigreach a bha ann.
Tha beul-aithris anns an Eilean Sgitheanach a tha a’ cur ris an sgeul seo.
Bhathar ag ràdh, nuair a bha sluagh ann an Hiort, gun robh rudeigin
annasach a’ tachairt gach turas a bha ceann-cinnidh nan Leòdach a’ faighinn
bàs. Nan tachradh e as t-samhradh, bhiodh na cuthagan gu lèir timcheall
Caisteal Dhùn Bheagain a’ teicheadh. Bha iad a’ falbh a Hiort.
Chaidh iad ann airson innse do mhuinntir Hiort gun robh an uachdaran marbh.
Thathar ag ràdh, bliadhna a bha seo, gun deach bàta à Dùn Bheagain a Hiort
airson innse do na daoine gun robh an ceann-cinnidh marbh. Ach, nuair a
ràinig na Sgitheanaich an t-eilean, bha na Hiortaich a’ caoidh a bhàis
mu-thràth. Bha fios aca mu dheidhinn. Bha na cuthagan air innse dhaibh!
