CAVE LORE
dimensions, entered and never came out to give an account
of his progress. It is with the disappearance of a
MacArthur piper, however, that this cave is associated.
The MacArthurs were hereditary pipers to the MacDonalds.
In Barra there is a cave into which, the natives aver, a
fearless piper went, and out of which he never came.^ And
the more superstitious folks dwelling on that fascinating
Isle warn the stranger and the unwary not to go too close
to Uamh nan Oir, the Cave of Gold, lest they also be
pounced upon by the sea-dogs that are believed to have
devoured the unsuspecting piper.
A story almost identical is told of a cave on the western
side of the Isle of Colonsay; and the inhabitants of Islay
say that long, long ago at the mouth of a cave on their island
a wretched dog used to sit when the moon was full, and
howl a " lament " for his master, who had vanished in a
strange manner.
Slain by the Faery Tenant.
There is a Piper's Cave in the neighbourhood of Argyll's
Bowling Green ; and there is also a cavern in Mull where a
piper met his fate. This piper was accompanying a
marriage party. Despite the protestations of his
companions, he insisted on exploring the cavern's darkest
recesses. And they say that, when his comrades realised
that he was not returning, they became anxious ; and, having
entered the cave in search of him, they were all slain by the
faery tenant, upon whose private apartment they had
trespassed unwittingly. This Mull piper is said to have
been one of the MacLaines of Loch Buie.
Somewhere in Kintyre yet another confident piper met a
" leddy in a green goon," and lamented that, since he had
only two hands, he could not embrace her and play his pipes
properly at the same time. This is the incident that may
have given rise to the Gaelic lines, of which the following
is a fair translation :
It's sad that I am without three hands —
Two for the pipes, and one for the claymore.
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