Tales of Dunlichity - The Stories of Willie MacQueen Copyright © 1997, William MacQueen, Charles F. Larimer To see pictures of Willie MacQueen visit my web site at http://pages.prodigy.net/clarimer/ The Horse and the River Findhorn Now, I'll tell you another story - a true story. They're all true stories I'm telling you. I know I never made any up at all. But, on the River Findhorn from Coignafearn to Cawdor, a distance of maybe, I don't know... maybe 50 miles. there was only one bridge and when people wanted to cross that river, there were special places for crossing, on horseback you see. And, down my grandfather's way, there was a horse. And, if a traveler came who wanted to get across to the other side of the river, or peddlers, or packmen as they called them in those days. They were selling different goods. And, the farmer would give the peddler his horse and the horse would carry the peddler across the river, and he would jump off a horse's back and turn it around and chase it back and it would come back in through the river. But, this particular day, a packman came, a stranger to the farmer and - who apparently wasn't acquainted with the horse and hadn't been on a horse's back at all, and the river was fairly wide. Well, I don't know, but it but 80 or 100 yards wide at the best part. And, the packman was near the middle of the river and the horse started going around in circles. And, the packman didn't know what to do and he must've been a Roman Catholic because he started calling to the Virgin Mary to save him. And, the crofter was standing on the bank that he had left. And he shouted to the packman, "Never mind the Virgin Mary! Pull the other rein, man!" So, he finally got across the river, but the story lasted a long, long, long time. ========= Charlie Fraser Larimer clarimer@prodigy.net