The World According to Linda

Linda MacDonald-Lewis (A.K.A. The Bard at Large) - A true Scot at heart

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Beltane Night the Story of Nan

As promised here is the beginning of the continued story of Lindella:

Part One:

Lindella sat a bit dumbfounded, waiting for her mum to start.
Her mum got up and poured 3 glasses of wine, handed one to her husband, then walked back to
the place where Lindella sat by the fire and handed a glass to her. She stood with her wine in hand
and took a large, long drink...looked at her daughter and took a deep breathe.

" Long ago when your Nan was not quite as old as you are now, I think she was 18...this long saga
started. You see, ... your Nan had a gift that was given to her at birth, ...she was 'a sensitive' as we called it back then...she had second sight.
Her mum had noticed it when she was only 5 years old, when she cried for an hour
after her mum had a local woman over for tea. She was inconsolable in this weeping that started up as soon
as the neighbor woman had left the house. Try as she may to get her daughter to tell her what was troubling her and causing this upheaval of emotion, Nan just cried on and on.

Suddenly as her mum rocked her in her arms and stroked her hair, Nan sobbed these words,
" I really like Una !'
(for that was the neighbor's name).
"I really like Una too...so why weep over friendship?"
"I'm weeping for the loss of her friendship..." Nan said
"What ever do you mean by that?" her mum asked.
" Una is leaving us tonight, and we'll never see her again..!"
"Oh ....is she to move away? She never mentioned that to me."
'No", Nan said very frustrated because her mum didn't understand and she had to explain it..." she's going to heaven to see her mum and sister."
"What? Don't be silly girl..she's healthy as a horse and we will see her in the morning!" This reaction is of course the normal thing a parent would do given that the child was young. But,thinking that it was nothing, there was a lingering doubt that remained...how did Nan know that Una's mother had already passed away? (After all Una was no more than 29 yrs old herself). Well, maybe she had mentioned it ...but I know she'd never would have mentioned her baby sister dying, ...it was a tragedy in the village and no one ever mentioned it. The child had wandered into the moor and stepped on by a highland cow, at the age of  3. This all happened long before Nan had been born. But, she still tried to shake it off and think maybe the child had heard something somewhere.

The next day her mom found all Nan had said had come to pass, and she started to listen a bit more keenly to what ramblings came out of this child's mouth.

Nan's life continued to be a bit unusual compared to the norm, but most all flashes of insight or premonitions happened within the confines of their own home and fields. Nan became fascinated with wildlife and herb lore, naturals remedies and spells. By the time she was but 18 yrs. old the local residents were relying heavily on the knowledge that your Nan had accumulated and she became quite famous throughout that region of the Highlands as a 'Wise Woman'.

Then came Beltane Night in her 18th year, from that night on Nan's life took a very strange turn indeed.

End Part One