Old Grey Magician by George MacPherson sampler
Fionn Cycle: A loose collection of tales originating in Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man which surround hunter-warrior leader Fionn, his band of men and his poet son, Ossian. Old Grey Magician: A mystical, morally ambivalent figure who appears throughout Celtic mythology; in Ireland he is the Dark Druid, and often he appears as a seabird. The shapeshifting sorcerer is a thorn in Fionn’s side, solving impossible problems but always asking too much in return. George W Macpherson has been telling the traditional tales of Fionn and the Fianna for years, artfully drawing in audiences with his storytelling talent. Gathered from sources all over the country and occasionally beyond, and collected here for the first time, the Old Grey Magician’s exploits offer a fascinating insight into the traditions of Scotland and the development of oral storytelling. Introduced and situated in physical and literary history by Donald Smith, this collection reminds us of the importance of retaining the stories that shaped us.
Fionn Cycle: A loose collection of tales originating in Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man which surround hunter-warrior leader Fionn, his band of men and his poet son, Ossian.
Old Grey Magician: A mystical, morally ambivalent figure who appears throughout Celtic mythology; in Ireland he is the Dark Druid, and often he appears as a seabird. The shapeshifting sorcerer is a thorn in Fionn’s side, solving impossible problems but always asking too much in return.
George W Macpherson has been telling the traditional tales of Fionn and the Fianna for years, artfully drawing in audiences with his storytelling talent. Gathered from sources all over the country and occasionally beyond, and collected here for the first time, the Old Grey Magician’s exploits offer a fascinating insight into the traditions of Scotland and the development of oral storytelling. Introduced and situated in physical and literary history by Donald Smith, this collection reminds us of the importance of retaining the stories that shaped us.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
the old grey magician<br />
to fly as a bird to the court of Manannan, god of<br />
the sea, and get from him the use of his Mantle of<br />
Invisibility and Forgetfulness but to do this he had<br />
to do a task for Manannan.<br />
Fionn also sent Comhnal Beul Airgod (Conval<br />
of the silver Mouth or Tongue) to negotiate with<br />
the Lochlannaich for time to carry out the rescue<br />
and he tricked the Lochlannaich so all that they<br />
got was the land between high and low water<br />
round the point of Ardnamurchan, so they lived on<br />
that land like Mermaids and Mermen.<br />
Auntie Flora, who had put in bits and pieces,<br />
said, ‘That is why, they aren’t really Mermaids,<br />
they are descendants of the Lochlannaich with all<br />
their evil ways.’<br />
This was in 1940 or 41 and I liked the story<br />
and tried to get more detail of how it all happened<br />
and where the <strong>Old</strong> <strong>Grey</strong> <strong>Magician</strong> went to and<br />
what powers he used, but my uncle seemed to be<br />
unwilling to go into detail and died not long after<br />
telling what he wanted of the story. My aunt was<br />
not for telling more, yet I felt there was more to<br />
be told.<br />
I tried indirectly to get more about the<br />
Mermaids from one or two other storytellers in<br />
Ardnamurchan but got no more information. Then<br />
10
Change language