Taibhsean agus rudan os-nàdurra. 'S e cuspair a thogadh inntinn daoine 's dòcha cho fad 's a tha sinn air a bhith air an talamh. Chan eil mi cinnteach a bheil seann taigh, àite eachdraidheil no làrach cliùiteach air nach bi naidheachd no dhà orra.

Chuala mi beachd tarruingeach aig roinn de dhaoine - gun do dh' fhalbh na taibhsean 's na daoine sìth 'nuair a thàinig an dealan do 'n àite. 'S dòcha gur e na solasan 'san oidhch' a thog orra falbh no rudeigin eile... ma bheir sibh creidsinn annta co dhiùbh.

Cluinnear iomraidhean fhathast orra ged tha, gum bi iad a' tathaich air àiteachan cliùiteach mar a' Cholaisde Ghàidhlig, an Clachan Ghàidhealach, an Dùn Louisburg agus eile. A' bharrachd air a' sin, cò an duine aig nach eil naidheachd air rudeigin neònach, air nach gabhas ciall a chuir, a thachair ris no a chual' e?

Dh' fhaodainn, mar a dh' fhaodadh cha mhór a h-uile duine tha mi creidsinn, naidheachdan innse air rudan a dh' fhàirich mi no a chuala mi, no air na chuala mi aig daoine eile. Seo na th' agam ri ràdh air a' chuspair an dràsda!

Bho chionn beagan bhliadhnaichean fhuair mi faidhle-fuaime bho rannsaichearan de ghnothaichean os-nàdurra air an tìr mhór ann an Alba Nuaidh. Bha iad an déidh clàradh a dheanamh ann an àite far an deach soitheach fodha 'san ochdamh linn deug. Bha guth boireannaich air a' chlàradh. Bha eilthirich air a' bhàta agus bha amharus aca nach e Beurla a bh' ann ach cànan eile, 's dòcha a' Ghàidhlig. Cha robh am faidhl' ach glé ghoirid.

Chuala mi ( air neo smaoinich mi gun cuala mi ) "anns a' " aig an toiseach ach cha b' urrainn dhomh an dà lide eile aithneachadh. Bha mi cluinntinn fuaim na litreach "t" agus chuir sin air seachran mi. 'Nuair a dh' éisd mo mhac ris an fhaidhle - agus chan eil Gàidhlig aige - chual' esan "g" far an cuala mise "t". B' e sin fuasgladh na ceiste!

Bha e cho soilleir an uair sin ri guth a chuala mi riamh. 'S e na faclan "anns an fheasgar" a bha mi cluinntinn. Chan eil dad a dh' fhios 'am a bheil ciall sònraichte anns na faclan sin no carson a chanadh duine sin seach rud sam bith eile, ach 's e faireachdainn gu math uaigealta a bh' orm... 's mi a' smaoinntinn 's dòcha gu robh mi a 'g éisdeachd ri guth bhoireannaich a dh' eug corr 'is dà cheud bliadhna bhuaithe seo!

Chan eil mi airson a ghràdh gu bheil taibhsean ann no nach eil. 'S e rud nach gabhas dearbhadh a tha sin, agus creididh daoine na chreideas 'ad co dhiùbh!

****************

Ghosts?

Ghosts and unnatural thingies. It's a subject that has interested people perhaps as long as we've been on earth. I'm not sure if there's an old house, historic place or famous site that doesn't have a story or two about them.

I heard an interesting opinion from a number of people - that the ghosts and the fairy folk left when electricity came to the place. Perhaps it was the lights in the night that made them leave, or something else... if you believe in them at all.

Reports of them are still heard though, that they frequent well known places such as the Gaelic College, the Highland Village, Fortress Louisburg, and others. Besides that, who doesn't have a story about something strange that can't be explained, that happened to them or that they heard?

I could tell stories about things I've felt or heard or seen or have heard from other people, as could most people I think. This is what I have to say about this subject right now.

A few years ago I got a sound file from some paranormal researchers on the mainland of Nova Scotia. They had made a recording in a place where a ship had sunk in the eighteenth century. There was a woman's voice on the recording. There were immigrants on the boat and they suspected that it wasn't English they were speaking, but another language, perhaps Gaelic. It was only a very short file.

I heard (or thought I heard) "anns a'" at the start but I wasn't able to make out the next two syllables. I was hearing the sound of the letter "t" and that put me off course. When my son listened to the file - and he doesn't speak Gaelic - he heard a "g" where I'd heard a "t". That was the answer to the question!

It was as clear then as any voice I'd ever heard. It was the words "in the afternoon/evening" that I was hearing. I have no clue if there is a significant meaning to those words or why someone would say them instead of anything else, but it was quite an eerie feeling, thinking that I was perhaps listening to the voice of a woman who died more than two hundred years ago!

I don't want to say that there are ghosts or that there aren't. It is something that can't be proven, and people will believe what they believe anyway!