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Michael Scott, who
lived during the thirteenth century, was known far and near as a
great scholar, and it is told that he had dealings with the fairies
and other spirits. When he wanted to erect a house or a bridge he
called the "wee folk" to his aid, and they did the work for him in a
single night. He had great skill as a healer of wounds and curer of
diseases, and the people called him a magician.
When Michael was a
young man he set out on a journey to Edinburgh with two companions.
They travelled on foot, and one day, when they were climbing a high
hill, they sat down to rest. No sooner had they done so than they
heard a loud hissing sound. They looked in the direction whence the
sound came, and saw with horror a great white serpent, curved in
wheel shape, rolling towards them at a rapid speed. It was evident
that the monster was going to attack them, and when it began to roll
up the hill-side as swiftly as it had crossed the moor, Michael's
two companions sprang to their feet and ran away, shouting with
terror. Michael was a man who knew no fear, and he made up his mind
to attack the serpent. He stood waiting; for it with his staff
firmly grasped in his right hand.
When the serpent came
close to Michael it uncurved its body and, throwing itself into a
coil, raised its head to strike, its jaws gaping wide and its forked
tongue thrust out like an arrow. Michael at once raised his staff,
and struck the monster so fierce a blow that he cut its body into
three parts. Then he turned away, and called upon his friends to
wait for him. They heard his voice, stopped running, and crazed upon
him with wonder as he walked towards them very calmly and at an easy
pace. It was a great relief to them to learn from Michael that he
had slain the fearsome monster.
They walked on
together, and had not gone far when they carne to a house in which
lived a wise old woman. As the sun was beginning to set and it would
soon be dark, they asked her for a night's lodging, and she invited
them to enter the house. One of the men then told her of their
adventure with the wheeling serpent which Michael had slain.
Said the Wise Woman:
"Are you sure the white serpent is dead?"
"It must be dead,"
Michael answered, "because I cut its body into three parts."
Said the Wise Woman:
"This white serpent is no ordinary serpent. It has power to unite
the severed parts of its body again. Once before it was attacked by
a brave man, who cut it in two. The head part of its body, however,
crawled to a stream. After bathing in the stream it crawled back and
joined itself to the tail part. The serpent then became whole again,
and once more it bathed in the healing waters of the stream. All
serpents do this after attacking a human being. If a man who has
been stung by a serpent should hasten to the stream before the
serpent can reach it, he will be cured and the serpent will die."
"You have great
knowledge of the mysteries," Michael exclaimed with wonder.
Said the Wise Woman:
"You have overcome the white serpent this time, but you may not be
so fortunate when next it comes against you. Be assured of this: the
serpent will, after it has been healed, lie in wait for you to take
vengeance. `'Then next it attacks, you will receive no warning that
it is near."
I shall never cross
the high mountain again," Michael declared.
Said the Wise Woman:
"The serpent will search for you and find you, no matter where you
may be."
"Alas!" Michael
exclaimed, "evil is my fate. What can I do to protect myself against
the serpent?"
Said the Wise Woman:
"Go now to the place where you smote the serpent, and carry away the
middle part of its body. Make haste, lest you be too late."
Michael took her
advice, and asked his companions to go with him; but they were
afraid to do so, and he set out alone.
He walked quickly,
and soon came to the place where he had struck down the monster. He
found the middle part and the tail part of the white serpent's body,
but the head part was nowhere to be seen. He knew then that the
woman had spoken truly, and, as darkness was coming on, he did not
care to search for the stream to which the head part had gone.
Lifting up the middle part of the body, which still quivered, he
hastened back towards the house of the Wise Woman. The sky darkened,
and the stars began to appear. Michael grew uneasy. He felt sure
that something was following him at a distance, so he quickened his
steps and never looked back. At length he reached the house in
safety, and he was glad to find that there were charms above the
door which prevented any evil spirit from entering.
The Wise Woman
welcomed Michael, and asked him to give her the part of the
serpent's body which he had brought with him. He did so willingly,
and she thanked him, and said "Now I shall prepare a meal for you
and your companions."
The woman at once set
to work and cooked an excellent meal. Michael began to wonder why
she showed him and his friends so much kindness and why she was in
such high spirits. She laughed and talked as merrily as a girl, and
he suspected she had been made happy because he had brought her the
middle part of the white serpent's body. He resolved to watch her
and find out, if possible, what she was going to do with it.
After eating his
supper Michael pretended that he suffered from pain, and went into
the kitchen to sit beside the fire. He told the woman that the heat
took away the pain, and asked her to allow him to sleep in a chair
in front of the fire. She said, "Very well," so he sat down, while
his weary companions went to bed. The woman put a pot on the fire,
and placed in it the middle part of the serpent's body.
Michael took note of
this, but said nothing. He pretended to sleep. The part of the
serpent began to frizzle in the pot, and the woman came from another
room, lifted off the lid, and looked in. Then she touched the cut of
the serpent with her right finger. When she did so a cock crew on
the roof of the house. Michael was startled. He opened his eyes and
looked round.
Said the Wise Woman:
"I thought you were fast asleep."
"I cannot sleep
because of the pain I suffer," Michael told her.
Said the Wise Woman:
"If you cannot sleep, you may be of service to me. I am very weary
and wish to sleep. I am cooking the part of the serpent. Watch the
pot for me, and see that the part does not burn. Call me when it is
properly cooked, but be sure not to touch it before you do so."
"I shall not sleep,"
Michael said, "so I may as well have something to do."
The Wise Woman
smiled, and said: "After you call me, I shall cure your trouble."
Then she went to her bed and lay down to sleep.
Michael sat watching
the pot, and when he found that the portion of the serpent's body
was fully cooked, he lifted the pot off the fire. Before calling the
old woman, he thought he would first do what she had done when she
lifted the lid off the pot. He dipped his finer into the juice of
the serpent's body. The tip of his right finger was badly burned, so
he thrust it into his mouth. The cock on the roof flapped its wings
at once, and crowed so loudly that the old woman woke up in bed and
screamed.
Michael felt that
there must be magic in the juice of the serpent. New light and
knowledge broke in upon him, and he discovered that he had the power
to foretell events, to work magic cures, and to read the minds of
other people.
The old woman came
out of her room. "You did not call me," she said in a sad voice.
Michael knew what she
meant. Had he called her, she would have been the first to taste the
juice of the white serpent and receive from it the great power he
now himself possessed.
"I slew the serpent,"
he said, "and had the first right to taste of its juice."
Said the Wise Woman:
"I dare not scold you now. Nor need I tell you what powers you
possess, for you have become wiser than I am. You can cure diseases,
you can foretell and foresee what is to take place, you have power
to make the fairies obey your commands, and you can obtain greater
knowledge about the hidden mysteries than any other man alive. All
that I ask of you is your friendship."
"I give you my
friendship willingly," Michael said to her. Then the Wise Woman sat
down beside him and asked him many questions about hidden things,
and Michael found himself able to answer each one. They sat together
talking until dawn. Then Michael awoke his companions, and the woman
cooked a breakfast. When Michael bade her good-bye, she said: "Do
not forget me, for you owe much to me."
"I shall never forget
you," he promised her.
Michael and his
companions resumed their journey. They walked until sunset, but did
not reach a house.
"To-night," one of
the men said, "we must sleep on the heather."
Michael smiled.
"To-night," said he, "we shall sleep in Edinburgh."
"It is still a day's
journey from here," the man reminded him.
Michael laid his
staff on the ground and said: "Let us three sit on this staff and
see how we fare."
His companions
laughed, and sat down as he asked them to do. They thought it a
great joke.
"Hold tight!" Michael
advised them. The men, still amused, grasped the staff in their
hands and held it tightly.
"Staff of mine!"
Michael cried, "carry us to Edinburgh."
No sooner did he
speak than the staff rose high in the air. The men were
terror-stricken as the staff flew towards the clouds and then went
forward with the speed of lightning. They shivered with fear and
with cold. Snow-flakes fell on them as the staff flew across the
sky, for they were higher up than the peak of Ben Nevis. When night
was falling and the stars came out one by one, the staff began to
descend. Happy were Michael's companions when they came down safely
on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
They walked into the
town in silence, and the first man they met stood and gazed with
wonder upon them in the lamplight.
"Why do you stare at
strangers?" Michael asked.
Said the man: "There
is snow on your caps and your shoulders."
Having spoken thus, a
sudden fear overcame him, and he turned and fled, believing that the
three strangers were either wizards or fairies.
Michael shook the
snow off his cap and shoulders, and his companions did the same.
They then sought out a lodging, and having eaten their suppers, went
to bed.
Next morning Michael
found that his companions had risen early and ;one away. He knew
that they were afraid of him, so he smiled and said to himself: "I
bear them no ill-will. I prefer now to be alone."
Michael soon became
famous as a builder. When he was asked to build a house, he called
the fairies to his aid, and they did the work in the night-time for
him.
Once he was
travelling towards Inverness, and came to a river which was in
flood. The ford could not be crossed, and several men stood beside
it looking across the deep turbid waters. "It is a pity," one said
to Michael, "there is no bridge here."
Said Michael: "I have
come to build a bridge, and my workers will begin to erect it
to-night."
Those who heard him
laughed and turned away, but great was their surprise next morning
to find that a bridge had been built. They crossed over it with
their horses and cattle, and as they went on their way they spread
the fame of Michael far and wide.
As time went on
Michael found that his fairy workers wished to do more than he
required of them. They began to visit him every evening, crying out:
"Work! work! work!"
So Michael thought
one day that he would set them to perform a task beyond their
powers, and when next they came to him crying out: "Work! work!
work!" he told them to close up the Inverness firth and cut it off
from the sea. The fairies at once hastened away to obey his command.
Michael thought of
the swift tides and of the great volume of water flowing down from
the rivers by night and by day, and was certain that the fairies
would not be able to close the firth.
Next morning,
however, he found that the river Ness was rising rapidly, and
threatening to flood the town of Inverness. He climbed a hill and
looked seaward. Then he found that the fairies had very nearly
finished the work he had set them to do. They had made two long
promontories which jutted across the firth, and there remained only
a narrow space through which the water surged. The incoming tide
kept back the waters flowing from the river, and that was why the
Ness was rising in flood. Not until after the tide turned did the
waters of the river begin to fall.
Michael summoned his
fairy workers that evening, and ordered them to open up the firth
again. They hastened away to obey him, and after darkness came on
they began to destroy the promontories. The moon rose as they went
on with their work. A holy man walking along the shore saw the
fairies, and prayed for protection against them. When he did so the
fairies fled away, and were unable again to visit the promontories,
and so these still lie jutting across the firth like crab's toes.
The one has been named Chanonry Point, and on the peninsula opposite
it there now stands Fort George, which was placed there to prevent
enemy ships from sailing up to Inverness.
When the fairies
found they were unable to complete their task they returned to
Michael, crying out again: "Work! work! work!"
Michael then thought
of an impossible task which would keep them busy. He said: "Go and
make rope-ladders that will reach to the back of the moon. They must
be made of sea sand and white foam."
The fairies hastened
away to obey his command. They could not, however, make the ropes
for Michael, try as they might.
Some say that
Michael's workers are still attempting to carry out the work he last
set them to do, and that is why wreaths of foam and ropes of twisted
sand are sometimes found on the seashore till this day.
It is told that one
weak-minded and clumsy old fairy man used to spend night after night
trying to make ropes of sand and foam on the shore of Kirkcaldy Bay.
When he grew weary he lay down to rest himself, and on cold nights
he could be heard moaning: "My toes are cold, my toes are cold." |
