The Dream- Makers & The Song Of Dream Angus

This is the story of the Dream Makers.

It's a story from the Isle of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland.

And it's a story that I'm very fond of.

I've got this story from David Campbell of Edinburgh.

A wonderful man who is like Carl,

A magical well of stories.

And I know that David likes to introduce this story with a song.

And it's a song that I'm also very fond of.

Not least because I remember my mother singing this song when I was a child.

And she can still be convinced on occasion to sing it now.

Danyanuh as yer weeping,

All the wee lambs are sleeping,

The birdies are nestling,

Nestling together,

Dream Angus is her plan or lie though,

Dreams taste sell,

Fine dreams taste sell,

Angus is here,

Wee dreams taste sell,

Hush bonnie bear nay and sleep without fear,

Dream Angus has brought you a dream my dear.

Long ago,

When the world was still young and people still believed in the old ways,

A group of young women were gathering blabberies in the lower slopes of the Coolan Mountains in the Isle of Skye.

And they laughed and joked and chattered together as they as he gathered blabberies on that crisp autumn day.

One of the young women,

The loveliest and the fleetest of fruit and the most gallous and adventurous,

Strayed higher and ever higher onto the slopes,

In her search for the most perfect,

Sweet,

Sharp blabbery.

And in her search for this dream of perfection,

She became lost in her thoughts until the air grew cold around her and she looked up and she realised she'd become separated from her friends.

And a great mist descended on the mountain and she shivered and she could see neither down nor up,

Nor left,

Nor right,

All she could see was the outline,

The craggy pinnacles,

The Coolan ridge above her and below her,

The dizzying depths of deep quarries with the mist,

Eddian and those quarries.

She became very anxious and she clung to the rock,

Fearful to move in any direction.

And then she saw moving towards her indistinct shapes and her blood ran cold because she knew the stories of the giants of the Coolan Mountains.

And then a keen gust of wind blew and cleared the mist momentarily and she breathed a great sigh of relief and she laughed at her foolishness because the shapes that were moving towards her were deer,

A herd of deer,

Mostly hinds with little fawns traipsing along at their heels.

And they seemed unafraid and they walked towards the young woman and passed her.

And she saw how sure-footed they were on the hill and she thought she would follow them and that they might lead her to safety.

So she followed them round a narrow deer path round the mountain.

But they didn't venture back down towards the sea.

No,

They kept going ever deeper into the mountains.

But she followed them because they were so sure-footed and they led her high into the mountain,

To the mouth of a cave.

And inside that cave was an old woman and an old man and they both gazed into a dark rock pool carved out of the floor of the cave.

Now,

When the old woman heard the deer approaching,

She took her milking pail and she went to the deer and then she saw the young woman and she asked her who she was and what her business was in that place.

The young girl explained that she had become lost and separated from her companions and now she was hopelessly lost in the mountain.

And she gave her basket of blabberies to the old woman and she said,

Please,

Could you shelter me for this night?

And the old woman looked at her and said,

For one night?

And she went and she spoke with the old man in a tongue that the young woman didn't recognise.

And then she came back and she said,

For one night?

No.

For a year and one night we will shelter you.

But I am old now and I need your help to tend to my dear heart.

Now,

The young woman had no choice other than to accept.

She was lost and she needed shelter.

So she agreed.

And time passed and she helped the old woman with her deer herd.

And the old woman taught her how to find and gather the wild herbs of the mountain.

She showed her where to find the thyme on the rocky slopes and the asphodel and bog myrtle in the peaty places and the wild mint by the mountain burns.

And the old woman used to take those herbs and dry them and sprinkle them on the peat fire,

Where she would make a crowdie,

A kind of soft cheese.

And the making of the crowdie was the old woman's life.

And the old man would sit,

Gazing into the rock pool,

Which mirrored all the events of the world.

And when the crowdie was made,

The old man would form it into the shapes and forms that he saw in the rock pool.

And this was the old man's life.

For the old man and his wife were the makers of dreams.

And when the crowdie was formed,

The old man would take it to the mouth of the cave.

And as the sun was setting on the sea far below,

The old man would hold these newly made dreams up to the setting sun so that they may be imbued with colour.

And in his right hand,

He held all the light and airy and beautiful dreams,

Dreams full of encouragement and promise.

And out of the blue heavens would come birds of good omen,

The sea eagles and the falcons and the larks and even the tiny wrens.

And he would gather up those light,

Airy,

Beautiful dreams.

And he would take them to all the dreamers of the world.

But in his left hand,

He held all the dark,

Oppressive,

Nightmarish visions,

The dark dreams and all the birds of ill omen,

The rooks and the ravens and the hooded crows,

Birds who had the stench of carrying on them.

And they would snatch away the dark dreams and carry them off throughout the world and sneak them under the eyelids of dreamers.

Now,

When the year of service was up,

The old lady called the young woman to her and said,

You have served well,

You have eased my burden.

And then she turned to a hind that was grey with age and she whispered into the ear of that hind in the language that the young girl did not understand.

And then she bid the young woman to follow the hind.

She told her,

This hind will lead you with her herd to safety down to the water's edge where you will find your reward.

So the young woman followed the hind at the head of the deer herd and the hind led her on easy paths all the way down the rocky man's side to the grassy lower slopes and on to the water's edge,

Up to a place that the young woman did not recognise.

And when she tried to move left or right along the beach to find somewhere familiar,

The deer herd would crowd in around her and stop her moving.

And they would gaze out onto the morning bright water.

And the young woman followed their gaze.

And out of the sunrise came a coracle,

A small boat of skins.

And in that coracle there was a fair youth and around his neck he had a torque of fine gold.

And that showed him to be the son of a king.

Now this prince brought his boat ashore and he held his hands out to the young woman and said,

Fair maiden of my dreams,

Many long nights I have dreamt of you in my father's halls until I had to search for you.

And if you will have me,

I would ask that you be my bride and return with me to my father's kingdom.

The young woman looked upon him and she saw that he was fair.

And she loved him and she travelled with him to his father's kingdom where they were married.

And she taught the people of that land the meaning of their dreams until they became wise.

But much is forgotten.

List to the kaldu crying,

Faintly the echoes dying.

Even the bardies and the beasties are sleeping.

But my bony pen lies weeping,

Weeping.