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There lived on fair Loch Rannoch-side, In slated cottage neat and bright, A woman famous far and wide, For gift of second-sight.

’S ann mar sin a tha dàn a’ tòiseachadh. Tha e a’ dèanamh tuairisgeul de bhoireannach. Bha i a’ fuireach ann an Cille Chonain air cladach Loch Raineach. Bha an dà shealladh aice. 

B’ e ùghdar an dàin an t-Urramach Iain Mac na Ceàrdaich. Bha e na mhinistear ann an Ceann Loch Raineach. Dh’fhoillsich e an dàn anns an leabhar Schiehallion ann an naoi ceud deug ’s a còig (1905).

Tha am ministear a’ mìneachadh a’ ghnothaich ann an ro-ràdh fon tiotal ‘The Second Sight: A Rannoch Mystery’.’S e ‘Sarah’ a ghabh e air an t-seann bhoireannach. Ach tha mi a’ tuigsinn gum b’ e a fìor ainm ‘Raghnaid Chamshron’.

Sgaoil a cliù fad is farsaing. Ghabh Marcas Bhòid ùidh innte. Bha esan an sàs anns an Psychical Research Society. Chaidh coimiseanair aig a’ bhuidhinn a Raineach airson agallamh a dhèanamh le Sarah ann an ochd ceud deug, naochad ’s a còig (1895). 

Bha am ministear anns an èisteachd. An dèidh làimhe, rinn e nàdar de chlàr air na thuirt Sarah ann an riochd bàrdachd Beurla. Bha i pòsta agus bha teaghlach mòr aice. 

Tha cladh ann an Cille Chonain. Gu tric, bhiodh Sarah a’ faicinn taibhs anns a’ chladh. Bhiodh i a’ faicinn daoine – ann an riochd thaibhsean – air an tiodhlacadh. Agus bhiodh i a’ cluinntinn fuaimean piocaid no spaid ga h-obrachadh anns a’ chladh. 

Chan ann a-mhàin ann an sgìre Raineach a bha a tàlantan feumail. Chaidh fear a bhàthadh ann an Loch Obha ann an Earra-Ghàidheal. Tha sin pìos mòr air falbh bho Raineach. Dh’fheuch sguad de dhaoine ri a chorp a lorg. Dh’fhàilnich orra.

Aig a’ cheann thall, chuir iad litir gu Sarah mun chùis. Air an dearbh latha a fhuair i an litir, rinn i sgeidse de Loch Obha. Chomharraich i an t-àite far an robh corp an duine. Nuair a chaidh feadhainn ann, bha a chorp dìreach far an tuirt a’ bhan-fhàidh a bhitheadh e.

‘There lived on fair Loch Rannoch-side, In slated cottage neat and bright, A woman famous far an wide, For gift of second-sight.’

That’s how a poem begins. It is giving an account of a woman. She was living in Killichonan on the shore of Loch Rannoch. She had the second sight.

The poem’s author was the Rev. John Sinclair. He was a minister at Kinloch Rannoch. He published the poem in the book Schiehallion in 1905.

The minister explains the matter in a foreword under the title The Second Sight: A Rannoch Mystery’. It’s ‘Sarah’ that he called old woman. But I understand that her real name was Rachel Cameron.

Her reputation spread far and wide. The Marquis of Bute took an interest in her. He was involved in the Psychical Research Society. A commissioner of the group went to Rannoch to conduct an interview with Sarah in 1895.

The minister was listening in. Afterwards, he made a sort of recording of what Sarah said in the form of English poetry. She was married and had a large family.

There is a cemetery in Killichonan. Often, Sarah would be seeing a ghost in the cemetery. She would be seeing people getting buried. And she would be hearing the sounds of a pick or spade being used in the cemetery.

It’s not only in Rannoch that her talents were useful. A man was drowned in Loch Awe in Argyll. That’s a good way from Rannoch. A squad of people tried to find his body. They failed.

Finally, they sent a letter to Sarah about the matter. On the same day she got the letter, she made a sketch of Loch Awe. She marked the place where the man’s body was. When some folk went there, his body was exactly where the [female] seer said it would be.