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IN
our churchyard there is a
tombstone to the memory of Norman Macleod, Chamberlain to
the Earl of Cromartie, who died at Achernack in 1715. This
is a stranger’s grave. Mr Macleod had crossed the firth to
Abernethy to drink goat-milk. The first season he seemed
to benefit much. The next he returned, but it was not to
recruit but to die. Others have been more fortunate. The
late Mr Robert Urquhart, town clerk, Forres, was delicate
in his youth, and threatened with consumption. He came for
two or three summers to Lettoch, and the goat-milk and
bracing air quite restored his health. He grew up to be a
robust, active man of business, and lived to be over 90
years of age. in books referring to the last century, the
virtues of goat-milk is frequently noticed. Thus, in the
Lives of the Haldanes," it is said, It was customary in
those days (1776), as it now is in Switzerland, to resort
to places in the country to drink goat-milk and
goat-whey." Sir Walter Scott has several references of the
same kind. Goats were once very numerous in our parish, in
Glenmore, Tulloch, and the Braes, they were kept in large
flocks, and carefully managed. But the keeping them has
been given up. Except at Achgourish, in Kincardine, they
are now seldom seen save in twos and threes about some of
the outlying houses and crofts. The habits of goats are
peculiar Their independence, their sure-footedness, their
power of foraging for themselves and for their young, and
their hove of the plants and herbs of the hillls, prove
that they were mountain born ; while their horns, which
they can lay back on their shoulders, and their thick
strong fleeces, which somehow never seem to tangle, or get
fast in thorns, as so
often happens to silly sheep, show how they have
come in
the course of the ages to arm
themselves against the difficulties and dangers of their
surroundings.
Goats were
considered very valuable. Their horns and skins were
turned to varied uses. Their grease was held as a cure for
sprains. Their flesh was classed as venison, and that of
kids was regarded as a delicacy. But it
was their milk that was most
valued. It was believed to possess special virtues from
the herbs which the goats fed upon, and it was much
relied upon for the strengthening of weak constitutions,
and for eradicating the tendency to consumption. The
Gaelic proverb classes goatmilk, with garlick and May
butter, as a cure for all diseases—
Is
leigheas air gach tinn, creamh ‘s im a mhaigh,
Ol ‘an fhochair sid, bainne ghobhair bàn."
Another saying is—
Bainne nan gobhar fo
chobhar ‘s e blàth,
‘S e a chuir spionnadh ‘s na daoine a bha."
Goat-milk, foaming
and warm, that was what gave strength to the men that
were." Goat—milk was also used as a cosmetic—
Sail—chuaich ‘s
bainiie ghobhar
Suath ri
d’ aghaidh
‘S cha’n eil mac—righ air domhain,
Nach bi air do dheaghaidh.’’
Wash
thy
face with lotion
Of goat-milk and sweet violets,
And there’s not a king’s son in the world
But will run after thee."
The Latin name
caper,
and its English derivative capricious,
would scent to indicate
that goats were considered wilful and wayward. However
this may have been, they were certainly remarkable for
affection to their young. The kids were hid in the heather
after the way of roe-deer, but they came to he fed.
They were tenderly
cared for, and showed intelligence early, in this being
different from calves and lambs. The Gaelic proverb
says:—" Ma’s dubh, ma’s odhar, ma’s donn is toigh leis
a ghobhair a meann:" "Be it black, or dun, or brown,
the goat loves her kid." The love of their young lasted to
two or three generations. This was shown in the way the
different families ranged themselves in their folds at
night. First at the top was the mother, then came the rest
lying behind in the order of their birth—Am mathair,
the mother ; ‘n nighean, the daughter; an t-ogha,
the grand-child ; am fionnogha, the
great-grandchild ; and an dubh ogha, the
great-grandson’s grandson. Goats used to have names given
them, to which they answered when called at milking time—Sineag,
Jenny; Annag; Annie ; and so forth. Thus
Theocritus makes the shepherd Lacon say, " Ho! Curly-horn
(Idyll .5), ho ! Swift-foot, leave the tree and pasture
eastward where ye Bald-head see." Virgil, in the Third
Georgic, specially refers to goats. He shows how much they
were prized, and how carefully they should be fed and
tended. "I direct that the goats be bountifully supplied
with leafy arbutus, and fresh water from the streams; and
I wish the pens to be turned from the wind to face the
wintry mid-day sun." Then he says, "In the heat of noon
see that they carefully seek a shady dell, where a mighty
oak, Jove’s tree, stretches its huge branches from an
ancient trunk, or where a dark grove of thickly planted
holmoaks casts forward its holy shade. Then once more give
them liquid running water, and again let them feed even to
the setting sun : when the hour comes that the cool
evening freshens the air, and the dewy moon gives the
lawns new life ; when the shores echo to the voice of the
halcyon, and the bushes are alive with the song of the
goldfinch"—(Globe Translation). "Ite domum, saturce,
venit Hesperus, ite Capilla’----"Go ye home, go, my
goats, for you have browsed your fill, and the evening
star is rising ‘‘ ; so says the Goat-herd in the 10th
Eclogue. But even then his care did not end, for Virgil
declares "he who loves milk should with his own hand
bring lucerne and lotus in abundance, and salt herbs
to their cribs."
Goats are believed
to eat serpents. It is said they leap upon their heads
with their four feet together as they find them basking in
the sun, and stamp out their life. Then they eat them tail
foremost, with a curious crooning noise. This habit is
referred to in the Gaelic proverb—
Cleas na goibhre ‘g
ith’ na nathrach,
Ga sior itheadh, ‘s a sior-thalach."
Like the goat’s way
with the serpent,
Still eating, and still complaining."
The agility and
sure-footedness of the goat are well known. The following
curious problem on the subject has been proposed for the
solution of mathematicians:-
Supposing a goat,
following a new path, has to take a leap as as to alight
on a pinnacle or narrow crag overhanging some abyss. First
of all he must estimate the distance to he traverse, and
having got it, whether by trigonometry or by some
capricious method of his own, he has next to compute,
to the fraction of all ounce, how much propulsive force is
required to project the body (the exact weight of which he
has to take into account) precisely that distance and not
an inch further. Moreover, he must take into the
calculation whether the spot he wishes to reach is above
or below the starting point and plainly hes brain, when it
sends for motor impulses to the numerous muscles involved,
must reckon and apportion to each its share in the task.
At the same moment he must also estimate the exact
proportionate amount of muscular force which will be
required to each of his limbs on his new and precarious
foothold. Of course, one need scarcely say that the whole
process goes on without reaching the consciousness of the
goat, or anything that could ever by courtesy be called
Ins mind. But, nevertheless, it is obvious that in some
way or other the calculation is made, and is completed in
a time and with an unerring accuracy which completely put
to shame the mathematical triumphs of the human
intellect."
Wild goats seem now
to he recognised as on the same footing as deer. In
Glenmore and in Ardnarff, in Ross-shire, the killing of
wild goats with splendid horns were reported in the
sporting news of 1898. Sometimes droll incidents have
taken place from the ignorance of Sassenachs, and the
confusing of goats and deer. Colonel Thornton tells an
amusing story of this kind. His friend, Mr Whittaker, had
wished to see a roebuck, but had failed to find one. Then,
he says, we got a he-goat, and set it in an out-of-the-way
spot among the rocks, and by talking, excited Mr
Whittaker’s imagination, and when the news was brought
that a fine roe-deer had been seen, lie set out full of
ardour. The stalk was conducted with much caution. Flat on
his face, crawling over the rough stones, drenched in the
wet places, at last the animal was sighted, and Whittaker
"judiciously and precipitately fired." Believing the cheer
to be mortally wounded, he rushed up to seize him, but lie
was roughly repulsed, and called out for help. Then when
help came, great was his mortification and shame to be
told that it was not a deer at all but only a shaven
goat. Colonel Thornton nearly fell off a steep rock in
his convulsion of laughter. There was much chaffing and
joking, but tile gentleman, it is said, took all " with
such pleasantry of temper" that lie disarmed the satirical
remarks of the company. There is a tradition of a similar
mistake in our parish. A certain English sportsman
supposed he had killed a fine stag. He was asked "Had it
horns !" "Yes," he answered, as long
as my arm
!‘‘ But it turned out to be one of
Donald Fyffe’s herd of goats, for which, however, ample
compensation was made.
Goat-milk still
enjoys a high reputation. In Rome, at certain seasons, the
goats are brought down from the hills, and every morning
people come to drink their milk, which is considered as an
excellent blood purifier. In London, at Kensington,
goat-milk is advertised for sale in the shop windows.
Probably if proper arrangements were made in our parish -
say near Nethy-Bridge—for a goat farm, and supply of milk
and whey, is might prove an additional attraction to the
place. Perhaps the greatest honour conferred on goats is
that of being chosen as the pets of the Cambrian
regiments. It is a fine sight to see a shaggy he-goat
marching along with the stately Drum-Major, bearing on his
forehead the proud motto, in Welsh, " Gwell angan na
Chwildd" - Better death than shame." |
