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Listen to this
story here
Morag was a wee lassie that
lived in the Highlands of Scotland. She lived with her mum and dad in a
cottage near the edge of the woods. Morag’s granny lived at the other
side. If Morag wanted to visit her, she had to go through the woods.
Either her mum or dad went with her and never allowed her to go by
herself. There were creatures in the woods, foxes, wolves, and the most
dangerous of all, the haggis. Though Morag and her mum and dad had never
seen a haggis, they’d heard stories, and at night, as they lay safe in
their beds, they heard it’s frightening moans.
Morag’s dad had to go into
town. "I’ll be gone all day," he told them and then left.
Morag’s mum was busy in the
kitchen, baking rhubarb pies and making some treacle toffee. On the
counter was a huge salmon that Morag’s dad had caught early that morning
before she’d even got out of bed. "Can we go and see Granny today?" she
asked her mum.
"We can’t, hen. I’ve got to
finish these pies and toffee and then I have to fix the salmon, and make
some hot scones for supper tonight. We can go tomorrow," she said.
"But Mum, Granny isn’t
feeling well and I’m worried about her. Can I please take a basket to her?
I will fill it with shortbread, oatcakes, sausage rolls, a few bannocks,
and the leftover grouse from last night," Morag pleased.
"Oh no, hen, you can’t go
alone. I’ll not let you walk through the woods alone. It’s not safe. I
heard the haggis last night. It’s moans were low and very scary, Morag."
"Mum, I’m a big girl now.
I’ll run as fast as I can. Please let me go and see Granny," she whined.
Her mum thought about it
for a while and said, "Och, all right, lassie, but you run as fast as you
can and don’t stop until you’re at your granny’s house. Fill the basket
and be off with you then."
Morag was excited. This was
her first trip to Granny’s house by herself. She wasn’t afraid of the
haggis. She put four pieces of shortbread into the basket and then added
six sausage rolls, a dozen oatcakes, three bannocks, and the grouse. She
put a tartan cloth on top and shut the basket. "I’m ready, Mum."
Her mum was a bit hesitant
to let her go, but decided that she was old enough to do it. "Hurry,
Morag. No stopping to pet the rabbits or play with the birds! Gi’ us a hug
then, lassie."
Morag wrapped her arms
around her mum’s waist. "I’ll be careful," she assured her. She put on her
wooly tartan cape, pulling the hood up over her dark brown hair. "Cheerio,
Mum," she said and hurried into the woods. She hadn’t gone far when she
heard a lark singing. She looked around for it and saw it high up on a
branch of a birch tree. She stopped and listened to it for a few minutes,
trying to imitate its warbles. Remembering her mum’s instructions to not
stop, she hurried on. After a few minutes, a large pale brown hare hopped
across her path. It’s ears were long, its tail fluffy and round, and it’s
whiskers wiggled back and forth as it leapt behind a currant bush. Morag
was going to chase it, but then remembered what her mum had said. She
hurried on her way. She wasn’t too far from the end of the woods when she
heard a loud moaning sound. She stopped and listened. "What’s that noise?"
she whispered. She heard it again. "It must be the haggis," she said,
frightened. She held tightly onto the basket and ran as fast as she could
to her granny’s house, not even turning to look back now and then.
She ran up to her granny’s
front door and knocked. "Let me in, Granny," she cried. "The haggis is
chasing me. It’s going to eat me. Please hurry, Granny."
Her granny was sitting in
her rocking chair in front of the fire. "Goodness me, lassie, hold on. I’m
old and can’t move quickly anymore," she said as she walked slowly to the
door. She pulled it open and saw Morag, standing in her tartan cape and
carrying a basket. "Come in, lass."
Morag went inside and put
the basket down on the kitchen table. She started taking things out of it
so Granny could see. "Granny, here are some goodies for you." She stopped
talking and went to look out the window.
"What are you looking at?"
Granny asked.
"The haggis. It was in the
woods," she replied.
Granny walked over and
stood next to Morag, gazing out the window. "In all my years I’ve never
seen the haggis. Not once. I hear its moans, but never seen it. I wonder
if there is such a thing."
Morag looked at her. "If
it’s not a haggis, what is moaning?"
"I don’t know, but you’d
think someone would have seen it by now. All I’ve ever seen is a wolf, a
few foxes, hedgehogs, and hares. Never seen a haggis. In fact, I don’t
even know what a haggis looks like."
"Mum told me once that it
was fat and round, with a snout like a pig, and it has sharp teeth, and
long claws on his feet," Morag said, walking over to the couch and sitting
down.
Granny sat in her chair.
"Oh Morag, there’s no such thing as that. It’s all nonsense. Tell me,
would you like to spend the night here with your granny? I’ll call your
mum and ask her if it’s all right?
"Oh yes, Granny. I’d love
to stay here."
Granny called and asked
Morag’s mum and she said it was fine. She and Morag spent the day
together, having fun. That night Morag slept in the same bed with her
Granny. As they lay there, they heard a noise outside. It sounded like
someone getting into the trash. "What’s that noise, Granny?" Morag asked,
snuggling closer to her.
Granny got up and looked
out the window. She could see the moon glowing and the stars shining. She
saw a shadow. Something was moving in back of the house. Morag peeked
through the curtains. "It’s the haggis, Granny. I’m scared," she cried
out, running into the bedroom and pulling the blankets up over her head.
Granny looked again. There
was a shadow. Maybe it was just a fox, or perhaps a cat. It looked to big
for either of those though. After a while she didn’t see the shadow any
longer so she went upstairs and crawled into bed with Morag. "Whatever it
was, its gone now," she said, hugging Morag tightly.
When the sun rose behind
the hills and the mist disappeared, Granny and Morag got up. Granny stoked
the fire with chunks of peat and cooked a big pot of porridge. While Morag
ate, Granny had an idea. She was going to find out once and for all if
there was a haggis hiding in the woods and if it was mean and dangerous.
She left Morag at the table, "I’ll be back in a little while, Morag. Stay
here and eat, then read a book by the fire."
Off she went into the
woods. She saw a few ravens and owls, high in the trees. Occasionally a
fox would trot by in the distance. She had just passed a rowan tree
covered with red berries when she heard a moaning sound. She stopped.
"There it is," she whispered, listening carefully. Again the moans came,
moving through the forest in loud echoing noises. She went in the
direction of the moan. Slowly she crept. Just then something bumped into
the back of her. She screamed, thinking it was the haggis about to eat
her. She turned around and it was Morag. "Morag, what are you doing here?
I told you to stay in the cottage."
"I was scared, Granny. I
wanted to be with you," Morag explained.
"All right, lass. But be
quiet. I think its up ahead."
They stepped over fallen
branches, around large green ferns and oak tree trunks. Another moan was
heard, sending chills up Granny’s spine. "Sit right here, Morag," she
ordered. Granny parted a bush of gorse. There, sitting at a fire was an
old man. He was dressed in tattered clothes and had no shoes on. He wore a
cap, like an elf would wear, and had a long beard, gray and dirty.
Suddenly he turned around and looked right at Granny. She gasped.
"Come out," he muttered.
Granny took Morag by the hand and the two of them headed towards the fire.
"Well, what have we here? A wee lass and her granny? What are you doing in
my woods?"
"My name’s Morag and this
is my Granny. Are you a haggis?" she asked.
The man started laughing.
"A haggis? Why on earth are you asking that lass?"
"My mum and dad, and all
the other folks in the village, say there’s a haggis that lives in the
forest and it eats people. We can hear it groaning all the time," she
answered.
The old man laughed and
laughed. "That’s not a haggis, lass. That’s me. My name’s Robbie MacRufus
by the way. And you are?" he asked.
"I’m Morag, and this is my
granny," she answered, reaching her hand to shake his.
"Well, Morag, you’re a
bonnie wee lass. Never mind all this talk of monsters and moans. You see,
I suffer from some rheumatism and I moan a lot. I’ve got a rather loud
voice. Besides that, a haggis isn’t a monster, its something you eat."
Granny, feeling foolish,
started laughing along with him. Morag joined in. They spent the day with
Robbie. Before they left, Morag asked, "Robbie, why do you live out here
all by yourself? Wouldn’t you rather live in the village with the rest of
us?"
"No, lass, I like it out
here. At night I see the stars, and it’s so quiet I can hear them
whispering to each other. Me and the animals, well, we get along just
fine. Don’t worry about me, lass."
Morag had a thought.
"Robbie, can granny and I come and visit you every day?" She smiled at
him.
Robbie replied, "Why sure,
lass. You and your granny are welcome here anytime, but don’t bring too
many people with you. I like my quiet."
"Oh, all right. Granny and
I will keep it a secret, won’t we granny?" Her granny nodded.
Every day Granny and Morag
went to visit Robbie in the woods. Sometimes they took him shortbread,
sometimes they took him bannocks, and sometimes he cooked porridge, or
mince and tatties for them.
From then on whenever
Morag’s mum and dad, or any of the villagers, heard the groans and warned
her of the haggis, she laughed, but she never told anyone. Robbie was
their secret. |
