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Still (Islay) Waters Run Deep

A while back I started with the first story on this blog written by Dougie MacDougall. The second story was about the Islay fishermen in the old days and the third one was about his years as a boatman on the Sound of Islay. Dougie MacDougall was Christine Logan's father and she was very happy that he was remembered in such a nice way. Also her mother Lily MacDougall was very happy with the stories and a few weeks ago Christine sent me another one of his lovely books called Still Waters Run Deep. Unfortunately this booklet is not for sale and Christine agreed with the publication of some stories on the Islay Weblog. The first story is called Unexplained Mystery but I will start with the introduction first:

Dougie MacDougall: I have been kindly advised by people who have read my book 'As Long as Water Flows', to write a second edition regarding the customs and manner of living in the old days around the districts of Kilmeny, Port Askaig and beyond. I shall endeavour to piece together subjects of interest, of happenings about people known to me, also of stories handed down from the past that have lived in my memory. My main idea is to have all or most of what was going one in those years put down in writing before everything sinks into oblivion! Continue reading.....

Unexplained Mystery: My late father, who at the time was Lighthouse Boatman for Rhuvaal and McArthur's Head, was this morning awaiting two of a crew at Port Askaig with the intention of making a trip to McArthur's Head on their arrival. In those days they depended on sail and oars, so at that rate they had to set off in the early morning with a suitable tide.

This morning, my father arrived at Port Askaig at four-thirty but the crew had not arrived. It was unusual for them to be late for they were supposed to get underway at five. He was pacing up and down when all of a sudden he heard quite a loud hammering over at some buildings behind the shop. He thought himself that it was the crew, so right away he walked round the back to investigate, but there was no more sound and not a soul in sight. This was very strange, and why all that noise at such a time in the morning? It was very disturbing to hear on such a quiet morning with no answer as to what was its cause. The crew arrived from the direction of the pier, boarded the boat at five o'clock and set off with the tide for McArthur's Head. When they got well underway, my father asked them which direction they had come from? They replied that they had called at the boatshed at Freeport, then had come along the shore, so they could not have been the cause of the unnatural noises which he had heard around five o'clock in Port Askaig.

When they arrived back after landing mails and cargo, the first thing they heard was that the hotel owner had died at five o'clock that morning. Was there a spiritual connection between this man's death and the hammering that was heard at the outhouses behind the shop? There are some unanswered questions in this world still to be explained.

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