The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-02
THE LOST ISLAND.
A Legend Told by a Native of Rousay
Who Has Seen Fairies.
From Chambers Journal.

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From Chambers Journal
Most people have heard of the Standing
Stones of Stennis in Orkney. In silent
circle they stand amid the solitude of the
moor, slvered with the hchens of dead CEN
turtles Tourists come and gaze on them,
picnic bens ath them and speculate vaguely
as to how they came there. Anlqua"eS
| also gaze, and proceed to evolve from their
| inner consciousness some theory to account
for the origin of the stones. But the an
mails of the country side have no legend of
the race which raised them. All over the
islands are the Vostlges Of some busy tribe
who dwelt half underground, and have left
! to the worms and the rats their buried
| dwellings, known now as "Brochs. Yet
the strange fact remains that, while these
peoples are utterly forgotten by their sue
ceSsors, the still earlier tribes, who made
terrible the islands of old, have left their
traces in the popular legends with which the
Orcadian children are kept quiet in the long,
dark winter evenings.
There lies on a moor not very far from
| Stems huge stone which was flung by
| giant in the island of Hoy at his enemy,
Cubby Ruo, n Eousay, fully ten miles off.
| ! hat stone must nave been there for genera
| tionS before those which have outlasteu
mans memory at Stennis, and yet, the very
name Of the man through whose quarrel it
came there is unforgotten. Cubby Ruo was
bit Of an engineer in his way, aud deter
| mined to raise a connecting mound between
| his own island OF Rousav and the snla Ter
isle known as Wyre, or Veira. In the pride
| of his strength he took too great load of
earth and stones in his creel, stumbled and
| fell, and lies to this day under the mound
which he was carrying.
| His island of Rousay seems to have been
favorite haunt of giants. fairies and
supernatural people OF all kinds. 1t is
| separated from the mainland of Orkney
by narrow strait, through which
runs a furious tide. AT certain hours OF
the day two tides meet here, and their
meeting place, known as Enhallow
Roost, is one wild whirl of foam and leap
| ing spray. In the middle of the roost lies
the little green isle of Enhallow. The name
Is commonly held to mean 'holy isle" and
to have been given the island from the fact
! that on it was erected very early Chris
tan chapel or hermitage 1t seems just as
| probable, however, that the name IS derived
| from Hela, the old Morse goddess of
| death. Be that as it may, tradition tells
| that Enhallow was once an invisible island,
only appearing amid the foam of the rooSt
at certain times, and vanishing again before
| it could be reached by mortal foot. 1t
came to be known in Rousav--how, we
have not been able to diScover-that if any
man seeing Enhallow, took iron in his hand
and kept his eye fixed on the island till he
landed upon it, he would reclaim it from the
| sea forever. This was done at last, and En-
hallow has remained visible and tangible
ever since.
But for the adventurous there is hope
| still Somewhere near Enhallow there lies
| another island, unseen of men for more
years than can be reckoned. This is the
story OF its last appearance, as told me by a
| native of Rousay-one who has seen the
fairies and heard the wild, strange music of
| the seafolk:
One day, very many years ago, young
| girl went up to the hill opposite Enhallow
to cut peats. Her days work done, she was
resting ON the heather, when a strange
man came UP to her. After a little talk, he
asked her to go with him, and, though she
refused at first. he gained such power over
her that he made her come. When night
| came and she did not return, her people be-
came alarmed, and set out to seek for her
| High and low the whole island was searched
but no trace found of the missing maiden.
| The wonder passed away, and mat
! ters fell back into their old course
| Some time after this the father and
| brothers of the lost girl went out to fish
| They were somewhat to the west of Enhal-
low, when a thick fog fell on the sea-So
| thick that they could not tell where they
| wei q. Az lttSU OOdJ UOuCu6u lduu anu
on going ashore they found themselves, as
they thought, upon Enhallow Going
| little further, however, they found that
they were on another island, for they saw
| big house before them. On coming up to
this house they found. to their surprise,
none other than their lost daughter and sis
ter in the person of the good wife" She
| took them in and gave them food, and told
them that she was married to seaman
and living with him here. As they were
| sitting, the door opened and "a great brown
wisp" came rolling In and went ben" "a
''wisp" Is huge ball of twisted heather rope,
which is used in Orkney for matching pur
poses.) In a few minutes handsome young
man came 'but." He was introduced as
the husband of the young woman, and wei
coined her friends very kindly. Two more
wisps came i'll while they waited, and from
each of them came forth a seaman, Who had
been out fishing. When the men had to
leave the house, the father asked his
| daughter to return to Rousay with him, but
| she refused. saying she was too happy with
! her husband to leave him. She gave her
| father, however, knife and told him while
| he kept it his fishing would never fail, and
| he would be able to visit her whenever he
| wished. After tender farewell, the Rou-
say men pushed off into the mist, but the
| old man let the knife slip and fall into the
sea. In a moment the boat touched land in
Rousay, but the island and its mistress have
never since been seen.