The Coming of the Unicorn (11 page)

Many years ago there lived a small farmer on a hill farm in the West Highlands of Scotland. He and his wife had this wee farm between them. They were very poor off; they didn't have very much to start with. But as years went by he became a rich man, and when he was middle-aged he had a wee son. The mother and father loved this wee boy dearly. And his mother was such a kindly woman, she couldn't see anything going wrong with him; they gave up everything in the world they really needed for the sake of their son. And the son returned it every way possible. He was really good to his mother and father, helped in every way he could. If ever there was a job needing to be done about the place, he would always say, “Daddy, I'll do it.”

His mother would say, “No, son, just dinna hurry yourself. Take your time and just help your daddy whenever possible.”

So, it came a Saturday afternoon. By this time the laddie was about eleven years old. The old woman was sitting in the kitchen and she said, “Can you two men not find a job for yourselves? Because I'm going to bake.”

And the father said, “Come on,” to the laddie, “that's a sign that me and you are no wanted!”

So, they walked out of the house and he said, “Daddy, what are we going to do?”

“Well, son, I'll tell you what we're going to do.” He said, “We've got everything done, hay's all cut, so we'll need to go in and clean up the barn because it's getting kind o' tottery. I'm beginning to fall ower things in the morning when I go in there.”

“All right,” said the wee laddie, “I'll go and get a wheelbarrow, Daddy, and we'll clean out the barn.”

So, the wee laddie got a wheelbarrow, hurled it into the barn. And the man's picking up old bags and all kinds of stuff. He's putting it in the barrow. But, hanging behind the door of the barn inside was a coat and a pair of breeches and a pair of hose. They were covered in cobwebs.

The wee laddie reached up. “Okay, Daddy,” he says, “here's some old clothes.”

“Oh, no, son,” he says, “no, don't touch that!”

“Why, Daddy,” he says, “it's only old rags.”

“No, son,” he says, “it's not rags. While your mother's baking we'll keep out of her way, and we have not much to do in here, we're nearly finished… Sit down there and I'll tell you a wee story.” So, the farmer took a pitchfork and raked up a bunch of hay, he made a seat.

“Now,” he said to the wee boy, “sit down here, son, and I'll tell you about that coat, breeches and the hose…”

“Many years ago, long before you were born, when me and your mother came here, this place was pretty run down and we didn't have very much money. I got it at a very cheap rent. We came up here and we worked away hard, both your mother and me, and tried to make this place into a kind of decent farm. Well, we hadn't been here for over a year and things were really tough.

“And one night late, about the month o' October, your mother and I were sitting down to a wee meal, that we didn't have very much at that time, when a knock came to the door. And your mother said, ‘Go and see who that is at this time of night.'

“So, naturally I went out, and there standing at the door was an old man.”

“What kind o' man, Daddy?” the wee boy said. “What kind o' man was he?”

“Well,” he said, “he was just an ordinary old man, but he
wasn't very big and he had a white beard. But he had the two bluest eyes that ever I saw in my life. So, I asked him what he wanted.

“He said, ‘I'm just an old man and I thought you maybe have some work, or could give me shelter for the night.'

“So your mother shouted to me, ‘Who is it, John?'

“‘It's an old man looking for shelter.'

“'Well,' she said, ‘bring him into the kitchen!'

“So, I said, ‘You better…'

“‘No, no, no,' he said, ‘I can't come into the kitchen.'

“The old man wouldn't come into the kitchen even though your mother came to the door. And she coaxed him, but he wouldn't come, in any way.

“So, with your mother being a kind-hearted soul, she asked him, ‘Are you hungry, old man?'

“‘Oh,' he said, ‘I'm hungry, yes, I'm hungry.'

“‘Would you like something to eat?'

“‘Oh, I would love something to eat. Could you give me a bowl o' porridge and milk?'

“And naturally, that's what me and your mother were having that night – porridge and milk. So, your mother filled a big bowl and I carried it out to him and gave it to him in his two hands.

“And I took him into the barn, I said to him, ‘There, old man, you can find shelter for the night-time.'

“Well,” the farmer said, “I put him in the barn, and,” he said, “believe it or not what I'm going to tell you, that old man stayed with me for six months and I never saw a harder worker in my life. I had practically nothing to do round the place. He was up, first thing in the morning he started to work, to the last thing at night he was still working. He had everything about this place prospering like it never prospered before. I never lost an animal of any kind. I had the greatest crops that ever I could ask for and I came in and offered him wages, but he wouldn't have any. Or
he wouldn't come into the house, all he wanted to do was sleep in the barn.

“Well, after working for about six months your mother took pity on him. And one night she sat down special herself and made him a coat because he was ragged. And she made him a pair o' breeches cut down from mine and she knitted him a pair o' hose. And one morning when she came out with his bowl o' porridge, she brought them and placed them beside his bowl. Later in the morning when I came out, the coat, the breeches and the hose were gone. And the bowl was empty – his old breeches and his coat were hung behind the door.

“And there they've been hung, son, for over eleven years. And
remember
: some day this farm will pass on to you but promise me, as long as you own this place, you'll never part with these breeches, or that coat or thae hose!”

“No, Daddy,” he said, “I never will.”

And when the man passed on and the young laddie got the farm, the breeches and the coat and the hose hung behind the door till it passed on to his son.

And that's the last of my wee story.

People were very privileged to be visited by the Broonie. And if he ever visited any place at any particular time, his visit was never forgotten. Word of it always passed down, from generation to generation, and this is where “The Broonie's Farewell” really came from. An old Traveller man told me this story a long time ago when I was very young. He said it really happened, he was supposed to have been at the farm – away back in the highlands of Argyllshire, near Rannoch Moor – I don't know the name of the farmer in the story. But the Broonie didn't care for anybody without a “Mac” in their name. The Broonie was the patron spirit of the MacDonalds.

The breeches the Broonie left in the barn were short, just came below the knee. The hose was pulled up to meet them. They
laced down the side of the leg and were made of corduroy. They hung at the back of that door for years and years, and were never allowed to pass away from that place.

You're not to pay the Broonie, you see. You can thank him, but the minute you pay him, you're finished. He wouldn't take any money, and when she'd left the clothes down beside his bowl he thought: that's your payment – we've nae mair use for you…

He was gone. So, that's why the old man told the laddie to hang on to the coat. He thought maybe the Broonie might come back.

Many, many years ago, long, long before your time and mine when this country was very young there wonst lived a king. But this particular king was a great huntsman, and he lived with his wife in this great castle. The only thing that this king really loved to do was hunt – small animals, big animals – and in these bygone days the land was overrun with animals! The king had his huntsmen and he had a beautiful wife, a beautiful palace and kingdom, and he was very happy. He got pleasure from hunting. But the king only hunted to supply food for his own castle and the villages around his kingdom. He used to go on hunts three-four times a year to give his people enough food.

But one particular day this king gathered all his huntsmen together. They said goodbye to the womenfolk because they’d be gone for a couple of days, maybe more, to bring back all these animals they would salt for the winter. He bade goodbye to his queen as usual and took all his huntsmen. They rode out.

They rode for many days in the forest, because in these bygone days it was mostly all forest. There were not many townships or little villages along the way. The land was desolate but overrun with animals of all description. Then the huntsmen always made sure that the king should get the best shot, anything that would come up before them. It was all bows and arrows in these days, and swords.

So, lo and behold what should stop before the king, what should they corner but a bear, a great brown bear! The huntsmen drew back and let the king have the first shot, because it was a big bear and they knew it carried a lot of weight, would be a lot of
food for the villagers. The king who was a great archer, put his bow and arrow to his shoulder and fired. He fired an arrow and hit the bear; the arrow stuck in the bear’s chest.

And the bear stood up straight when the blood started to fall from its chest. It put its paw to its chest where the arrow had entered, held it there for a few minutes.

And the king was amazed: it stood straight there and took its paw, looked at the blood on its paw and looked at the king. Then it cowpled over, fell down dead.

And the king was so sad at seeing this. He told his huntsmen, “Pick it up and carry it back. We will hunt no more today.”

They carried the bear back to the palace and the king said to his huntsmen, “Take and divide it among the villagers, but bring me its skin.”

So, naturally the huntsmen divided the bear up, passed it around to all the people in the village. And they brought the skin to the king. And the king gave orders for the skin to be dried. Through time the skin was dried, brought into the palace and put upon the floor.

But every time the king looked at the skin he got sadder and sadder. The sadder he got the less he thought about hunting. Now the next hunt was coming up the king did not want to go. He went into his chamber. The bugle was sounding, they called on their king! But lo and behold, the king would not go. And from that day on to the next months and the next months following, no more did the king join the hunt. His charger was waiting, his beautiful horses were in the stable, his bows and arrows sharpened; but the king never went. The king was downhearted, broken. The queen was upset.

“Why,” she said, “what happened to Our Majesty the King? What is the trouble?”

The huntsmen told her, “He has the bearskin.”

She removed the bearskin from the floor of the palace but it
made no difference. The king had his meals, he had his lunch. He talked to the queen, talked to everybody, but he had seemingly lost all interest in life. He was a great sportsman and swordsman, but now he did not want to do anything. The queen was very upset. She could see her king fading away. He just wanted to sit in his parlour and be by himself.

So one day she could stand it no more. She called the three palace magicians, told them the story I’m telling you.

“Look, you must do something for the king. He doesn’t cuddle me, make love to me, just sits there completely lost. You must do something to excite him, bring him back to his own way, make him a king once more! His people are
worried
; he has never put in an appearance before his people. He doesn’t join the huntsmen – he is in another world – what has happened to our king?”

So the three wise men, the magicians of the palace, put their heads together and said, “We know his trouble. It was the bear, seeing the blood from the bear made him so sad he does not want to hunt any more. But if we could between us construct something that would excite him – make him be a king again – then everything would be all right.”

So, the three court magicians put their heads together: “Well,” they said, “what could we do to excite him?”

One said, “If we could construct an animal, a special animal, who would be swifter than the wind, fiercer than the lion and fiercer than a boar that everyone was afraid of – and we would beg the king to help us – then maybe we could bring him back from his doldrums and make him a king once more.”

The three magicians were very wise men, very clever; they worked in magic in the king’s court. They put their heads together and one said, “Well, I could use my power to give it the body of a pony who will ride and fly swifter than the wind.”

And the second one said, “I could give it the fierceness and
the tusk of a boar.”

And the third one said, “I could give it the power and the tail of a lion.”

So, lo and behold the three magicians constructed an animal between them: they gave it the beautiful slender body of the swiftest pony that ever rode on the earth. They gave it the tusk of a boar – but instead of putting it on its mouth they put it on his forehead. They gave it the determination of a lion and the power of the lion, but instead of giving it the lion’s body they put the lion’s tail on it.

“And what,” did they say, “are we going to call it?”

“Well,” one said, “we universt between us to construct it… we will call it a
unicorn
.”

And there lo and behold became the birth of the unicorn – the most beautiful, the most wonderful – the swiftest and fiercest animal of all. These three wise men set it free to roam the kingdom, to interrupt every huntsman that ever went on their way.

So, naturally the huntsmen, who had got tired waiting for the king and tired waiting for food, knew that there was no way they could coax the king to go with them, went on the hunt without the king! But whenever they went to hunt up jumped before them this beautiful animal – white as white could be, a beautiful pony, the tail of a lion and the tusk of a boar straight from its forehead. And it ran before them. They hunted and they searched for it, but it was fiercest and attacked them, it threw them off their horses. But no way in the world could they hurt it, no way in the world could they catch it. So, after hunting for weeks and months, they finally rode back to the palace bedraggled and tired with not one single thing because of the interest to catch this animal.

When one of the old court magicians walked out and said to them, “What is your problem, men? Why have you come home
from the hunt so empty handed?”

And they said, “We have come home empty handed because we could not catch anything. Because an animal we have never seen in our life – with a horn in its forehead, with the swiftness of a pony, with the fierceness of a lion and the tail of a lion – has come before us at every turn. And we tried to fight it but it was impossible.”

“We must tell the king,” said the court magician, “we must tell the king about this animal! Maybe it will get him out of his doldrums.”

So they walked up, they told the king and they begged, “Master, Master, Master, dearest Huntsman, dearest King, Our Majesty, we have failed in our hunt and the people in the village are dying with hunger because we have no food for them.”

“Why,” said the king, “you are huntsmen aren’t you? Haven’t I taught you to hunt?”

“But, Majesty,” they said, “it’s an animal, this being, this thing that we’ve never seen in our lives. The swiftness of a pony and the horn on its head of a boar and the tail of a lion, who is as swift and so completely swift that drives before us, that we just can’t catch it.”

“There never was such a thing,” said the king, “not in my kingdom!”

“Yes, Our Majesty,” they said, “there is such a thing. He interrupts us and he interferes with our hunt, and every minute he disappears and then he’s gone; we just can’t go on with the hunt. And our people are dying with hunger. You must help us!”

But then said the king, “Is it true? Tell me, please, is there something that I’ve never seen in my kingdom?”

“Yes, Our Majesty,” he said, “there is something you have never seen. This animal is bewitched!”

And at that the king woke up. He rubbed his eyes and the thought of the bear was gone from him for evermore.

He said, “If there is something that interrupts my people and interrupts my huntsmen, then I must find the truth!”

So the king calls for his horse, he calls for his bows and he calls for his arrows. He blows the bugle and calls for his huntsmen, “Ride with me,” he says, “to the forest and show me this wonderful animal that upsets you all. It won’t upset me!” And the king was back once more. And the people are happy, they blow their bugles; everyone gathered in the court to see the king off once more after a year. They rode out on the great hunt.

“Lead me,” says the king, “to where you saw this animal last!”

So, they led him to the forest and the old wise men were sure that it was there. And
there
before him stood this magnificent animal, taller than any horse the king had ever rode, with a horn on its forehead and the tail of a lion, the swiftness of the wind.

And the king said, “Leave it to me!” It stood there and looked at them. The king said, “Leave it to me!” And the king had a great charger. He rode after it for many, many miles and the farther the king rode the farther it went. And the faster the king rode the faster it went, till it disappeared in the distance and then the king was lost. It was gone. Sadly and tiredly he returned to the sound of his trumpets of his huntsmen. But the king had never even got close enough to fire an arrow at it. For days and weeks and months to pass by the king hunted and the king searched for this beautiful animal, but it always disappeared in the distance. It always rose before him, but he could never catch it.

The king became obsessed with this animal – he only had one thing in his mind, that he must catch this animal. He called his great wise men and his court together. What kind of animal was roaming his kingdom? His huntsmen tried to explain.

“Master,” said one of the great court magicians, “it is a
unicorn
!”

“A unicorn?” said the king, “how many unicorns are there on my land?”

And they said, “Only one, Our Master, and it’s up to you to catch it.”

But the king wasted his time. He searched for weeks, for months and took his huntsmen. The people were dying for food. But the king could never ever catch the unicorn. And then, when the king became so sad and broken-hearted he called his great men together.

He says, “Look, this is a magic animal. I know in my heart that I am a great huntsman. But I’ve done something that I should never have done, deprived all my people of food because we depend on the hunt. I have not killed a deer or killed a wolf or anything for months. But,” he told his huntsmen, “you go out and hunt for food for the villagers, spread it among the people while I talk to my sculptors and my masons.”

To them he said, “I know that I can never catch the animal they call a unicorn. But there is nothing in the world I could love more than just to have a statue of him at my door where I could walk and see him.”

And they asked him, “Master, we don’t know – what do you want?”

“Well,” he said, “I will tell you and I want you to make it for me.” So he explained to the sculptors and the masons, “It was like a pony with a tail of a lion and a horn on his forehead and the swiftness of the wind.”

So, they carved him out of some stone. They carved from stone two things like the king had told them to be, and put them straight in front of the king’s castle. So that every morning when the king walked down, there stood before him the thing that he hunted for many, many months, which he had never captured – the unicorn. The king loved to put his hand on his statues, two of them, one on each side of the door of his palace like a beautiful pony with a horn on his forehead and the tail of a lion. And he walked around them.

From that day on he hunted with his friends and distributed all the food that he ever found – deer, bears, foxes, wolves – he hunted the lot. But from that day the sculptors built the unicorns in front of his door he never saw his
unicorn
again.

But when the king passed on, for many years still remained what the sculptors had made in front of his palace. And that’s where your unicorn came from today.

That is a true story and that is also the end of my tale.