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—
The Gaelic Names of Birds. 49
being qiiite perffot, rxrc sometinips likened in our old songs and
proverbs to magpies. For instance, Duncan Lothian, the Glenlyon
bard, in his proverbs in verse, likens a young woman who,
though she had gi-eat Bocks and wealth, was so headstrong that her
husband had no peace with her, to a magpie
" Pigheid chaileig air bheag ceill,
Ged robh feudail aic 'us stor,
Cha'n fhaod a fear a bhi sona,
—
j\Ia bhios i gnogach anns an t-sroin."
An old IStrathardle saying, not very complimentary to either party,
used sometimes when an old bachelor from that strath takes a wife
from the Vale of Athole, goes
" Cuiribh bonaid air bioran,
'S gheibh e pioghaid a Adholl."
Put a bonnet on a stick.
And it will get a magpie (wife) from Athole.
One of the old prophecies of Coinnich Odhar, the Brahan Seer, was
that— '' When a magpie shall have made a nest for three successive
years in the gable of the church of Ferrintosh, the church will fall
when full of people." Regarding this, we read in the prophecies
of the Brahan Seer— " There were circumstances connected with
tlie church of Ferrintosh in the time of the famous E.ev. Dr Macdonald,
the Apostle of the North, which seemed to indicate the
beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy, and which led to very
alarming consequences. A magpie actually did make her nest in
the gable of the church, exactly as foretold. This, together with
a rent between the church wall and the stone stair which led up
to the gallery, seemed to favour the opinion that the prophecy was
on the eve of being accomplished, and people felt uneasy when
they glanced at the ominous nest, the rent in the wall, and the
crowded congregation, and remembered Coinneach's prophecy, as
they walked into the church to hear the Doctor. It so happened
one day that the church was unusually full of people, insomuch
that it was found necessary to connect the ends of the seats with
planks in order to accommodate them all. Unfortunately, one of
tiio.se temporary seats was either too weak or too heavily burdened;
it snapped in two with a loud report, and startled the audience.
Coinneach Odhar's prophecy flashed across their minds, and a
simultaneous rush was made by the panic-struck congregation to
tlie door. Many fell and were trampled under foot, while others
fainted, being seriously crushed and bruised."
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