Sgiath E-Book

George Macpherson

• Herausgeber: Luath Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 152

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Long ago in ancient Skye, a queen is born in a storm… From the depths of Scottish folklore emerges Sgiath, an ancient warrior queen of Skye. Also known as Scáthach or Sgathaich, Skye and Dunscaith Castle – her home on the island all those years ago – are said to have been named after her. Follow her incredible journey as she turns from ordinary village girl to leader of a great army of warriors, conquering her opponents and bringing education to all. Magic and myth interweave with history in this epic tale of ancient oral storytelling that is inspirational for our modern times.

Leseprobe

GEORGE W MACPHERSONhas followed the oral traditions handed down through generations of his family and has become one of the best known traditional storytellers in Scotland. George’s storytelling technique is both memorable and distinctive, capable of captivating any audience, young or old, all over the world.

George has published three books with Luath Press: Highland Myths and Legends (2001) and Celtic Sea Stories (2009, new ed. 2016) and The Old Grey Magician (2017), as well as contributing to many magazines and papers. A participant in the Scottish Storytelling Festival for many years, he also organises the annual Skye and Lochalsh Storytelling Festival and opened the Commonwealth Heads of State Convention in Edinburgh with one of his stories. George lives in Glendale on the Isle of Skye.

First published 2019

ISBN:978-1-912387-67-0

The author’s right to be identified as author of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.

The paper used in this book is recyclable. It is made from low chlorine pulps produced in a low energy, low emission manner from renewable forests.

Printed and bound by Bell & Bain Ltd., Glasgow

Typeset in 11 point Sabon and Libra by Lapiz

© George W Macpherson 2019

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

BIBLIOGRAPHY

VOCABULARY

NOTES

PREFACE

WHEN I WAS THREE YEARS old, my grandfather took me on his knee and told me a story. Then I had to tell it back to him. He would say, ‘No, that’s not the way it was’ and he would retell it until he was happy that I was telling it as he told it. From then until the age of ten, I learned stories from my grandfather, father, grand uncles and grand aunt and many other old storytellers from many areas. When I was ten, I was allowed to tell a story outside our own house for the first time and from then on, I was expected to gather and re-tell from the oral tradition, which I still continue to do.

I was intrigued by the way stories of Sgiath, the Amazon Queen appeared and that, although they were told by tellers from many parts of Scotland, they remained the same and were always credited back to Skye even if set in Argyll or other districts. Another thing I noted was that the tellers appeared to give a special reverence to those stories and even in some cases would only tell the stories if their heads were covered. Having heard and learned stories of Sgiath over the past many decades, I felt that the time was right to put them down in print lest they be lost. I also still tell them in different parts of the world and to groups visiting me here in Skye so that the original flavour of the stories can continue to the present times.

Many academics and tradition bearers have argued and discussed the name ‘Sgiath’ and whether the Isle of Skye is named after the Queen or whether the Queen was named after the island. Possibly the first written reference is that of Ptolemy, the cartographer of the island, in 120 AD, where he gives it as Sketis (Old Gaelic, Skeitos; modern Gaelic, Sgiath). However, in The Annals of Ireland in 581 AD, it is given as Sgith and later is given as Scith or Scia. This is applied to both the island and to the Queen. Her name is also spelled Scáthach or Sgathaich in Irish mythology.

Some scholars such as Martin Martin in 1695 have claimed the name Skie or Sgiath means ‘winged isle’. Dean Munro also offers this derivation. Other early researchers translate it as ‘cloudy’ or ‘shadowy’.

No definite answers have been reached and the origin and meaning of the name remains as shadowy as the character and the island itself. The connections between the two remain clear, however. Dunscaith Castle, whose Irish name Dun Scathiag is thought to have been inspired by her, was Sgiath's home on the island. Furthermore, there are mentions of her in the histories of places throughout Skye from Glendale to Tarskavaig.

I hope that this book will bring to interested parties an insight into the life of Sgiath and perhaps give impetus to some to study her times and teachings. I hope that by compiling this book using the oral tradition and checking written mentions for confirmation of dates and subjects taught, I have managed to give to scholars of Celtic tradition a guide to discovering more of a tradition which has been severely suppressed and denigrated by other civilisations yet has still survived in some form – for example, many of the saints and ritual in the Christian church. Possibly part of this suppression was due to the equality of women and the democracy of the Druids which was anathema to many later civilisations.

It is interesting to note that many of the principles for which Sgiath and her Amazons fought still resonate in the modern world in the struggle for both female empowerment and equality for all, regardless of gender, race or creed. It appears on reflection that things change yet remain the same.

Beannachd Leibh George W Macpherson (Seoras)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK many people who have supported me in writing this book and to the many storytellers of my younger days who gave me stories of Sgiath and her teachings – sadly those tellers of some 70 to 80 years ago are now all gone. Perhaps they still tell their stories in some of the Druidic other worlds.

Special thanks should go to my wife Morag for putting up with my burying my head in research and perhaps ignoring what should have been more pressing matters.

CHAPTER ONE

t was a day of days. Thunder rumbled, rolled, roared and reverberated round the rocks in the mountains. Great shards of jagged lightning seared across the sky or flashed in sheets of blinding light showing trees and bushes bending their heads beneath the force of a howling gale which drove the lashing rain horizontally before it. Animals of all types cowered in whatever shelter they could find trembling in fear. Men, women and children clung to each other in dread inside their houses, hoping against hope that they would see another day.

In the midst of all the chaos a woman strained and writhed in the agonies of birth. At the very peak of the storm, there emerged from her womb a baby girl who, even as she entered the world, complained vociferously against her fate. Those in the room were astounded by the vigour and vitality of the child except for the Old Grey Magician who, bending over the babe, said, ‘This is the seed of the God of War who chose the mother of his child to be a mortal woman. This tiny babe shall become the greatest warrior Queen who ever lived. In her shall be combined the skill in arms of her father and the cunning wiles of her mother and I shall give to her the magic powers she shall need and her name will be Sgiath.’

As the Old Grey Magician put his blessing upon the child, the storm was stilled and the sun shone out so that all the people knew that a great one had been born. Yet despite the joy of the people, the Old Grey Magician was downcast in his own mind for he knew this was only a beginning. There was before him and the newborn babe a long and weary road of training, self-sacrifice, and great and terrible decisions before the babe could become the great Queen, which was her destiny.

For now, the infant would suckle at her mother’s breast but, before much time had passed, she must be moved to a different way of life and a different way of thinking. The responsibility for this would be upon the Old Grey Magician and his knowledge of what lay ahead filled him with both dread and joyous anticipation.

Of all these things the baby was not aware, but she grew quickly, not only physically but also mentally, speaking, seeing and knowing in a way that was far beyond her years. Yet her infant years were full of happiness in the company of her mother and the other children, amongst whom she was raised in the commonality of upbringing which was the Celtic way. Still even in those tender years, there shone through the qualities of leadership: she came first in all the games and where she went others followed.

However happy her infancy, it was not long, for the Old Grey Magician appeared on her third birthday and said, ‘Now is the time of prophecy fulfilled and the training begins.’ Without further ado he led her away to start her new life and no one dared to deny or question his authority, least of all the mother of the child.

The Old Grey Magician strode across the moor with Sgiath almost running on her young short legs to keep up with him but he paid her no heed. Even when eventually she pleaded for a break just to catch her breath, he only looked at her and said, ‘You can choose to keep up or die here on the moor and all our hopes die with you.’

Then Sgiath said, ‘I shall keep up and fulfil all you have promised’ and she kept up. Despite the pain that brought out scalding tears.

Now began seven years of ceaseless training in all forms of martial arts and magic. Several other children all older than Sgiath were also under the tuition of the Old Grey Magician but on Sgiath he concentrated all his efforts, to such an extent that she was at times almost overwhelmed.

Within days of her arrival, the Old Grey Magician took her outside and made her stand on a rabbit skin, warning her that she must not step outside the edge of the skin. Then he told the other children to hurl wads of earth and mud at her from all directions. Sgiath did her best to duck and dodge but, despite her best efforts, she was soon spattered with dirt. The Old Grey Magician then told the others to hurl stones at her and now she had to dodge in earnest to avoid the pain of being hit. This she did much better than before, yet the Old Grey Magician was not happy and told her that this would be done to her each day until not a single stone hit her, and then they would move on to other things. Within three days, not one stone hit Sgiath and the Old Grey Magician told her that she could now move on to harder training.

Hard and hard indeed was her training now for the Old Grey Magician now brought in warriors from many different lands who were the most skilled in their own type of arms, whether that was sword, spear, axe or club, bow and arrow, stave or knife. Sgiath had to become better than the best in each and every discipline. Even though she might be bruised and battered or wounded, only death or victory permitted her to stop. Because of her speed in learning and her unyielding spirit, she became master of every form of armed and unarmed combat.

But she still had to learn things of magic and knowledge taught by the Old Grey Magician until there came a day when he said, ‘Knowledge now is yours but you must add to it all your life. Now is the time for your second birth and your choice of the life before you. Before your second birth, you must stay with the Wise Woman for a week so that she may teach you what you need to know of the ways of men and women. You must go through the rites of passage taking you from childhood to womanhood. Then when you have become a woman according to the rites, I shall take you to your second birth a far greater trial and only granted to the few selected ones and even some of them fail the test.’

CHAPTER TWO

fter Sgiath’s time with the Wise Woman was over, the Old Grey Magician said to her, ‘Follow me now for now is the time for you to face the second birth in the womb of Mother Earth.’

Sgiath followed him and, although thoughts of terror and strife plagued her mind, she knew this was her destiny however and whatever it befell.

For mile after mile she followed the Old Grey Magician, until they reached a place unknown to Sgiath where the Old Grey Magician stopped at a small hummock of a hill. He laid his hands upon a large round flat stone in the side of the hummock and it rolled aside to reveal a black hole giving access to a dark passageway leading down into the Earth.

‘Inside the hill,’ said the Old Grey Magician, ‘the tunnel leads to 27 steps plus two and then to a chamber deep below. Halfway down is a resting place and it is the last place you can turn back if you decide you do not want to see your fate. If you go down into the chamber, you will see your future and you will be reborn of Mother Earth. The decision is yours but you must go down naked as you were born, and without weapons or food.’

Sgiath was already sure of what she wanted and immediately stripped off her earrasaid which she had only just qualified to wear after her rites of passage. Without further ado, she stepped forward naked as she was born to the entrance ready to face whatever lay ahead.

At first, there was a dim light inside the passage from the entrance but this soon gave out and the darkness became intense. Feeling her way along, Sgiath reached the top of the stairs and boldly stepped on until she reached the resting place.

She took no rest there but carried on down to the bottom of the steps where, by pacing and feeling, she found herself to be in a beehive-shaped chamber with a floor of solid rock and walls built of stone, the apex of which she could not reach. Now the darkness was so intense it felt as if it was a mass of wool wrapping around her and blotting out her senses. Settling into the chamber, she waited to see what might transpire.

The cold and the dark seeped into her very bones and she entered a state of live dreaming. In this state, she saw what lay ahead of her if she chose the right path. Sitting there with no measure of time or sense of movement, she made her choice and embraced her future.

As soon as her choice was made, she heard a roaring sound and suddenly found herself engulfed by water which picked her up and tossed her like a leaf. She struggled to keep her head above the flood but she was forced up to the coned apex of the chamber and unable to rise further. She felt the water close over her head. Just as she thought she was drowned, the water suddenly receded and she dropped on the floor of the chamber like a rag doll. When enough strength returned to let her crawl up the steps, she made her way back out to the entrance where the Old Grey Magician waited.

‘Three days and nights you have been in the womb of Mother Earth,’ he said, ‘and glad was I to see them pass for I knew you had chosen your path and chosen the right one. So now you are of the two births and your name will be great as will your deeds. You and I must now go on our separate roads but always my magic will go with you. I give you now Gae-Bolg, a spear that never misses and kills whatever it hits. In time, you will pass it on to the one man of your heart when the time is right. But I must place on you a Geisa. In days to come, your sister Aoife will take up arms against you but you yourself must not kill or injure her though you could easily do it.’

Sgiath took the spear and said, ‘I take the spear and with it and my staff, I will face the world and use them well and I accept the Geisa you lay upon me. Now I give my gift to you. That is to lie with you this night so you will be my first man, though I will know many in my life.’

‘Old as I am,’ said the Old Grey Magician, ‘I gladly accept your gift, but the day will come when you will meet a hero who will be your one man.’

So it was that they lay together that night and each enjoyed the other but when Sgiath awoke in the morning the Old Grey Magician was gone. Sgiath put on her earrasaid, picked up her spear and staff and walked on alone to face her life to come.

CHAPTER THREE

s Sgiath walked across the moor, the grey mist swirled around making ghostly shapes that twisted and turned in patterns that none could follow, much like the thoughts in

Sgiath’s mind. All she knew was that somewhere ahead lay her future if she was strong enough to take it.