Of course Alexander Carmichael was not at all averse to picking up amusing little anecdotes as the following story testifies:
Calum Gobha was over
in Bearnary during the storm
of 3 Oct[ober] 1860. The peop[le] were in terror
thinking their last had come.
Ghaoil a Chaluim reach [th]usa suas
& cradh an t uisge coisrigte –
Gheo[bh] [th]u anns a chiste bhig e fhad
sa bhios sin[n]e ga’ail an urnig[h]
The peop[le] were all at their
prayers & Cal[um] went up & in sear[ch]
for the holy wat[er] he found a bot[tle] of whisky
He took a swig out of it & pu[t] to
be sprink[lin]g it over the horr[ified]
peop[le] & cattle This he rep[eated] & the
storm abate[d]. In the morn[in]g bean
Dho[mhn]uil[l] Iain (Macintire) went
to give a dram to Cal[um] her hus[band] & all
the peop[le] aft[er] their fright. The holy
water was there & the whisky was
not. Cal[um] had a sore head & unable
to rise.
One wonders if Calum followed the wisdom of the proverb latha air uisge-beatha, latha air uisge, a day on whisky then a day on water. He may have finished the whisky but there would have been plenty of holy water left in order that he could slake his thirst.
Reference:
CW90, fos. 61v–61r
Images: Glass of Whisky
