Ghosts and Phantoms at Ob Mheallaidh
The following account which includes some references to supernatural events at Ob Mheallaidh was originally published in the Transactions of The Gaelic Society of Inverness 1904-1907.
Ghosts and Phantoms
The old track between Shieldaig and Balgy, on Loch Torridon, dips down, as can still be seen, from both directions to the beach at the south-east corner of Ob a' Mheallaidh. At this point a mysterious personage, it is said, met a man going to Shieldaig on the eve of the valuation of the sheep stock when Balgy farm was to be cleared, and said to him, without another word, " I shall be at the valuation tomorrow." On the day of the valuation much drink was consumed. Towards evening a quarrel arose, a general fight broke out, and, though no fatal results ensued, a good deal of blood was spilt.The man from whom we heard "the above story had himself a strange experience at the same spot. He is one, it may be remarked, to whom the writer is under the greatest obligations for information regarding the dialect, the place-names, and old industrial practices, as well as folk-lore of Torridon and more especially of Lochcarron and Kenlochewe.
As to superstition, he is one of those who take a lively interest in it without being influenced by it. At one time, when a friend of his was lying ill at Shieldaig, he went after dark to visit him. When passing the great boulder at the south-east corner of Ob a' Mheallaidh, a feeling of fearful horror suddenly and unaccountably overcame him.
It was such a feeling as one might have who had perceived something dreadful or supernatural, but he was not conscious of having either seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. He put up his hand to readjust his plaid, which he thought had fallen from his shoulder, and his bonnet, which he thought had been raised by his hair standing on end, but both plaid and bonnet were in their proper places.
He felt so weak that he could scarcely move, but he resolutely dragged himself away from the spot, and somehow or other managed to cover the mile and a half to Shieldaig. His friend, seeing him look white and upset, asked what was wrong, and on hearing the story said to him that he would always be heartily welcome there at any time he could come, but charged him never again to attempt to come in the dark.
A Drowning
A very similar experience was described to us years ago by a fellow student from Ross-shire. After studying late one night, and before retiring, he went out for a walk by a deep sluggish stream near his home. At a certain point on the bank, without being conscious of seeing or hearing anything unusual, he was seized by a sudden feeling of horror.
Wondering greatly what could have caused the feeling, or what could be the meaning of it, he, after a brief pause, returned home. In this case, however, a secret that was hid by the night came to light in the morning. A woman had drowned herself in the course of the night at the very spot at which he had been seized by the strange feeling, and the time about which the authorities concluded that the deed had been committed, was a little before he reached the spot.
The track from Shieldaig by Balgy reaches its highest elevation near Ardmore, and then descends towards Annat and Torridon. About the summit, wayfarers at night, it was said, were often met by a mysterious black dog.
The narrator of the occurrences at the angle of Ob a' Mheallaidh, when on his way home from Shieldaig one winter night near this summit, saw what looked like a dark dog make a slight movement against the snow covered ground, and wondered if the much talked of black dog was going to prove to be a reality after all. On his nearer approach, however, the moving object turned out to be a bush of rushes swaying in the wind.
Mysterious Lights
Mysterious lights, that have no apparent association with future events, are said to be seen periodically at certain places. One such light, it is said, appears on the Beacon Rock at the entrance of Loch Toscaig, in Applecross, on Hallowe'en night, and has done so from time immemorial.
Another of those lights frequents Upper Loch Torridon. Sometimes it makes its appearance moving from the Narrows, as the entrance to the Upper Loch is called, to its station at the entrance to Ob a' Mheallaidh. The time of its appearance is sometimes dusk and sometimes later. Whether it usually or always approaches from the Narrows before taking up its regular station at Ob' a Mheallaidh does not appear.
When stationary, and also on most occasions when seen moving, the light is indistinguishable from that of a ship at a little distance. Once the light was seen at dusk, larger and redder than usual, moving with a speed impossible to any vessel from the Narrows. As it reached its usual station, and for some time after, it was watched by a group of seven or eight persons, and may have been seen of course on that occasion by others unknown to us.
The natural supposition that the light is that of some steamer, probably a trawler, does not meet the case. The light has been a familiar object for years to many of the inhabitants of the townships of Inver Alligin and Wester Alligin, on the opposite side of the loch, as well as to others.
Outer Loch Torridon, by the shortest reckoning, is seven miles in length to the Narrows, and its southern shore is dotted with houses or townships. That either a single vessel or a succession of vessels could resort continually for years to a particular spot on the Upper Loch, without the fact being known locally, is manifestly a supposition that does not bear serious consideration.
Last Updated: March 27, 2009