Folklore of the Isle of Skye.
(Folk-Lore, vol. xxxiii. p. 307 et seqq.)
III.
There are many traditional stories current in Skye which, though neither fairy nor witch, are yet of great age and have been handed down from generation to generation without the aid of the printed book. Among them are the following:
(1) A man in the west of the island was out breaking stones, probably for the building of a dry stone dyke, when, coming to a certain place, he found a valise. There was no owner visible, so he took it home and hid it under his bed. His wife, who seems to have been a woman of great shrewdness, found it while her husband was asleep and opened it. It contained money to the amount of £300. Immediately her greed was aroused and she set to work to scheme how she might keep it. Conjecturing that such a sum of money would be inquired after, she evolved a plan which would conceal the fact that it was in her house. She began to taunt her husband with his want of education and advised him to go to school, such school as was available. He was unwilling, but finally agreed and went. But his age made him conspicuous, and he came home complaining that the children there stuck needles and pins into him. However, he was persuaded to return, but this time came home saying he would not go again as he was swollen with the pin pricks. As his wife's end was served, she ceased to urge him. Shortly after, a gentleman came inquiring after the valise. The man took him to his house and asked his wife what she had done with it. She denied all knowledge of it, and the stranger proceeded to ask when the valise had been found. "It was the day before I went to school," said the man. The stranger, interpreting this as the shrewd woman had intended, looked on the man as a fool and went away. He imagined that the man had gone to school as a child, and that therefore years had elapsed since the finding of the bag. The shrewd rogue of a woman was thus enabled to keep the money.
(2) A certain man, who was a shepherd, invariably came home
