voice like the voice of the wind from the north isles. Why do you sit on these rocks, weeping? says he. For there is a ship coming , says he, on the wings of the morning, and I have heard tell of it, and we must gather our pots and kettles and our shawls and our young ones, and go with it into a new world across the waters.
But the people were afraid, see? They did not dare. Better to die on the known rocks in the land of their ancestors, so some said. Others said the lands across the seas were bad lands, filled with the terrors and the demons and the beasts of the forest and those being the beasts which would devour a man as soon as look at him. Well , says Piper Gunn, God rot your flabby souls then, for my woman and I will go and rear our daughters and our sons in the far land and make it ours, and you can stay here, then, and the Bitch-Duchess can have chessmen carved from your white bones scattered here on the rocks and she shall play her games with you in your death as she has in your life.
Then Piper Gunn changed his music, and he played the battle music there on the rocks. And he played “All the Blue Bonnets Are Over the Border” and he played “Hey JohnnieCope” and he played “The March of the Cameron Men” and he played “The Gunns’ Salute” which was the music of his own clan. They say it was like the storm winds out of the north, and like the scree and skirl of all the dead pipers who ever lived, returned then to pipe the clans into battle.
Now Piper Gunn had a woman, and a strapping strong woman she was, with the courage of a falcon and the beauty of a deer and the warmth of a home and the faith of saints, and you may know her name. Her name, it was Morag. That was an old name, and that was the name Piper Gunn’s woman went by, and fine long black hair she had, down to her waist, and she stood there beside her man on the rocky coast, and watched that ship come into the harbour in that place. And when the plank was down and the captain hailing the people there, Piper Gunn began to walk towards that ship and his woman Morag with him, and she with child, and he was still playing “The Gunns’ Salute.”
Then what happened? What happened then, to all of them people there homeless on the rocks? They rose and followed! Yes, they rose, then, and they followed, for Piper Gunn’s music could put the heart into them and they would have followed him all the way to hell or to heaven with the sound of the pipes in their ears.
And that was how all of them came to this country, all that bunch, and they ended up at the Red River, and that is another story.
“Best go to bed, Morag,” Prin says. “ He’ll be asleep at the table in a coupla minutes.”
Morag goes upstairs. Her room is really hers, her place. It has always been hers. She likes that it is small, just enough room for the brass bed and the green dresser. She sits on thebed, shivering. The cold is seeping in through the closed window. She does not undress. Prin finds her there, after a while, and scolds.
“Morag, you are a mooner.”
Morag puts on her nightgown then, and climbs into bed. Thinking.
A mooner. That sounds nice. She knows what it means. It isn’t meant nice. It means somebody who moons around, dawdling and thinking. But to her it means something else. Some creature from another place, another planet . Left here accidentally.
She thinks of the scribbler in her top dresser drawer. She will never show it to anyone, never. It is hers, her own business. She will write some in it tomorrow. She tells it in her head.
Morag’s First Tale of Piper Gunn’s Woman
Once long ago there was a beautiful woman name of Morag, and she was Piper Gunn’s wife, and they went to the new land together and Morag was never afraid of anything in this whole wide world. Never. If they came to a forest, would this Morag there be scared? Not on your christly life. She would only laugh and say, Forests cannot hurt me because I have the power and
But the people were afraid, see? They did not dare. Better to die on the known rocks in the land of their ancestors, so some said. Others said the lands across the seas were bad lands, filled with the terrors and the demons and the beasts of the forest and those being the beasts which would devour a man as soon as look at him. Well , says Piper Gunn, God rot your flabby souls then, for my woman and I will go and rear our daughters and our sons in the far land and make it ours, and you can stay here, then, and the Bitch-Duchess can have chessmen carved from your white bones scattered here on the rocks and she shall play her games with you in your death as she has in your life.
Then Piper Gunn changed his music, and he played the battle music there on the rocks. And he played “All the Blue Bonnets Are Over the Border” and he played “Hey JohnnieCope” and he played “The March of the Cameron Men” and he played “The Gunns’ Salute” which was the music of his own clan. They say it was like the storm winds out of the north, and like the scree and skirl of all the dead pipers who ever lived, returned then to pipe the clans into battle.
Now Piper Gunn had a woman, and a strapping strong woman she was, with the courage of a falcon and the beauty of a deer and the warmth of a home and the faith of saints, and you may know her name. Her name, it was Morag. That was an old name, and that was the name Piper Gunn’s woman went by, and fine long black hair she had, down to her waist, and she stood there beside her man on the rocky coast, and watched that ship come into the harbour in that place. And when the plank was down and the captain hailing the people there, Piper Gunn began to walk towards that ship and his woman Morag with him, and she with child, and he was still playing “The Gunns’ Salute.”
Then what happened? What happened then, to all of them people there homeless on the rocks? They rose and followed! Yes, they rose, then, and they followed, for Piper Gunn’s music could put the heart into them and they would have followed him all the way to hell or to heaven with the sound of the pipes in their ears.
And that was how all of them came to this country, all that bunch, and they ended up at the Red River, and that is another story.
“Best go to bed, Morag,” Prin says. “ He’ll be asleep at the table in a coupla minutes.”
Morag goes upstairs. Her room is really hers, her place. It has always been hers. She likes that it is small, just enough room for the brass bed and the green dresser. She sits on thebed, shivering. The cold is seeping in through the closed window. She does not undress. Prin finds her there, after a while, and scolds.
“Morag, you are a mooner.”
Morag puts on her nightgown then, and climbs into bed. Thinking.
A mooner. That sounds nice. She knows what it means. It isn’t meant nice. It means somebody who moons around, dawdling and thinking. But to her it means something else. Some creature from another place, another planet . Left here accidentally.
She thinks of the scribbler in her top dresser drawer. She will never show it to anyone, never. It is hers, her own business. She will write some in it tomorrow. She tells it in her head.
Morag’s First Tale of Piper Gunn’s Woman
Once long ago there was a beautiful woman name of Morag, and she was Piper Gunn’s wife, and they went to the new land together and Morag was never afraid of anything in this whole wide world. Never. If they came to a forest, would this Morag there be scared? Not on your christly life. She would only laugh and say, Forests cannot hurt me because I have the power and
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