Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Sun 25 Jan, 2004 12:05 pm
A couple more ! Mac
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Maclean of Duart ..................................... Maclean of Lochbuie
For many years, in ancient times, the tired bones of a number of royal families were buried at the Reilig Odhrain (St Oran's Shrine) just beside the monastery on Hy (Iona). It is a sign of the ancient sanctity associated with Hy that kings from so far and wide were brought here to be buried. The island is formed of the oldest rock of the earth's crust and was a hallowed place long before the coming of Colum Cille. This same timeless sanctity is echoed in the rune of foretelling preserved in the Carmina Gadelica collection of Gaelic lore:
Seachd bliadhna roimh 'n bhrath,
Thig muir thar Eirinn ri aon trath,
'S thar Ile ghuirm, ghlais,
Ach snamhaidh I Chaluim chleirich.
"Seven years before the Day of Doom,
The sea shall come over Erin in one watch,
And over blue-green Islay,
But float will Iona of Columba the cleric."
http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/odhrain.html