Topic: The Highlander

TheMackensie

Date: 2012-07-18 09:31 EST
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" ~~ Micah 6:8

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

Tis happened agin. Ha'e happened afore an' not ta be surprised o' it, I kin. In me wanderin's I dinna kin where I end up, the where or the why o' it. But I keep th' faith in God that the good Lord ta bring me ta whot He needs me ta do next fer him.

An' so when I come upon the cearcaill na creag an' I had the notion ta be walkin' straight through 'em, and not around, must be whot God intended me ta be thinkin' and doin'. Ev'n tho I kin the stories o' the circle o' stones, they be told ta every lad and lassie at the knee o' their ma in me lands ev'n ta this day. Wit' the warnin' ne'r ta walk through...always go around.

I kin whot I be doin'. Verra weel. Ev'n iffn it seems ta th' contrary to folk. I accepted th' way o' it. Now ta be acceptin' the why o' it. All in good time, ye kin, He be showin' His reasons ta me. Whot I am here ta be doin'. Tis whot I believe.

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Sure it tis I coulda stayed within the woods an' made a life fer meself, I kin weel enuf how ta do it. How ta hunt, how ta fish, how ta stay within the trees an' not be detected. But tis not the way God intends, ye kin" Even wit' what I done. even wit' what anyone done. No matter. So. Tis the time ta mingle.

Walkin' the land give a man a powerful thirst. Walkin' this land give this man some powerful questions. The thing is....ta find a tavern...two birds wit' one stone, ye kin" Satisfy the thirst. Learn a bit o' the land on the sly. An' the lads an' lassies. Sech a place be this one named the Red Dragon Inn.

I ha'e ventured inta the Inn afore. Met a few o' the folks. Had a walk wit' a creature inta th' forest, she be a wonder whot I ne'r seen afore. I kin ta been more than a few places, seen more than a few things, but I dinna kin ta see anythin' th' likes o' her! I ha'e not had a chance ta find her agin, more's th' pity. I shoulda kin ta know more o' her an' her ways. Her name was Rowan.

This night, I kin ta meet a lass whot named Anya McClearie. Aye, she be an Irish lass, but I kin not ta hold that agin her overly much. Besides which, she be a rare fine baker! Sech sweets she made, ne'r ha'e I tasted the likes. I be thinkin', how ta git her ta give me a steady diet o' sech" I got a plan, ye kin! She must ha'e a family ta feed, lass like that. Iffn I offer ta supply her meat fer her obligations, she jest might offer ta supply me her chocolates, her pies, her sweets! Och, it went so much better than I kin. We struck a deal. She ha'e proprietership o' a place called Boar's Nest, be a tavern and a inn near the waterfront, they say here near the docks. She ta give me a room complete wit' bathin' priviledges an' meals each day. An' desserts! All I ha'e ta do is hunt fer her.....two deer, four rabbit, one trout a week an' a boar every other. Piece o' cake!!

Afore th' night did end I met several others. A lass named Katt, she be wearin' a hat the likes o' which I ne'r seen, but whot I took a fancy to, ta be sure! A lass o' quiet ways ta her but gifted wit' a needle an' thread which be why me eye be upon her fer the most part. Tis a thing I ha' no skill wit' an' which I readily admit. She be goin' my way, or more rightly, I be goin' hers, which I dinna kin, but she consented ta show me the way ta th Boar's Nest in dockside where I was ta take me rest. She showed me the marketplace where I once agin felt that strange hand o' the Lord upon me shoulder....so many folks....so many stories o' life. I did gaze about ta wonder whot He ha'e brought me here ta do. But I kin He will be showin' me His ways in His own good time. Twas here I learned the lass's name. Sjira. She said I kin it weel, but I dinna think so. Tis a name I ne'r heard or said afore. We walked on ta come upon th' waterfront an' th' docks. This be another place I felt th' Lord, teamin' with sailors an' ships an' those shopkeeps whot made their livin' off'n sech. Sjira lived ev'n further on an' she made as how ta go on alone, but I dinna kin ta like that at tall. I seen her ta her wee bonny home an' glad I am ta ha'e done it. Fer her safety, och, that be sure, but also ta see her house. Twas like lookin' at the houses o' me homelands an' as I stood there a great wave o' th' feelin' o' home did come ta wash o're me. I shook it off wit' success. I dinna kin Sjira to see it. But it be there, jest the same. Funny thing though. When I made ready ta go back ta the Boar's Nest an' take my leave o' her, Sjira asked me why I dinna kin back ta Scotland, fer dinna I be fond o' my homeland" Twas a time I felt I dinna kin ta speak, yet I managed somehow. Aye, I kin ta go back to bonny Scotland some day. Tis not fer me to say th' way o' that, though. Tis in God's hands.

Farewells said an' back ta waterfront I walked, but I ha'e a sorrowful need ta reminese in th' old ways then. So as I went, I brought forth th' a' ph"ob mh"r ta' play a song ta' keep me company. Twas late an' hopin' I was that I dinna disturb a body about, fer the pipes be loud an' tend ta carry their sound through the air a good distance, but no one came to confront me wit' it. Tis nothin' quite like the sound of the pipes fer easin' the ache o' homesickness fer the bonny lands, ye kin"*

It gave me a peace I dinna kin ta find any other way.

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The song Connor played: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghyOye3MFQY&feature=related

TheMackensie

Date: 2012-07-22 13:35 EST
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." ~~~Bob Dylan*

God the great joker ha'e brought me ta a place fer whot purpose....

Purpose, there it be. Th' verra thin' th'lass had all about her words last night, ye kin" I be startin' ta think o' somethin' an' she pops up ta it, no matter whot I do. Whot is that"

I dinna kin ta be here for that. An' iffn I know o' it, wit'wings ta me feet I beat a path straight back ta yon standin' stones, ta walk straight through. Ev'n God dinna kin ta be takin' sech a stab at whot be left ta me like that.

But why' Me life ha'e been all about....not in th' doin' but in the why's. When I led the lads fer ta raid our neighbors ta keep me own from starvin' an' turned out fer th' opposite, when I brung death instead o' life, twas whot be left....the why.

When I fell hard fer the lass o' light an' give up a way wit' her ta save her kith an' kin, leavin' me name disgraced ta men who dinna kin ta know th' truth o' the plot her da an' me hatched, ta be savin' all twas his....includin' his daughter o' the light....whot be left ta me, but the why"

When findin' a land o' sech beauty an' honor o' her ways as Eldyn ta pledge my life to, an' ev'n there, the ill o' a fallen world won out, whot be remainin' ta ask o' Him, but....why"

I was so much older then, ye kin" In all o' it, th' way seemed so true, aye....be this way, an' not that. Good be whot it is, evil be the opposite, the choice clear. An' swear I did ta make it, th' choice, Ta nae go back ta whot I kin afore. Pennance. Preservation. Promise nae given ta er'e hafta break it. Ever.

Can it come ta' be a time in life whot all that fer the past is paid" Forgiven o' yer sins" Younger than er'r you be afore" When Sjira looks a' me I wish it ta be so. I wish all whot come before this point ta jest fall away from me, An' me be made a new man, standin' afore her. When she talks ta me, I hafta remind meself.... Like she said.... ...o' purpose. Not whot I be wantin' but whot God has laid in store fer me. Twas th' vow I be givin' Him fer the keepin' o' me wits, me life.... His life, now.

See it all afore me, ta my wishes, I kin. But I not be the only one ta consider hereabouts. I be the least. Tis a thing I ha'e learned at great price. Heartache. Sorrow. An' dreams dashed.

I am not my own, but Thine. That...whot be....purpose....for the Mackensie.

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6egCk43qf4

Crimson flames tied through my ears Rollin' high and mighty traps Pounced with fire on flaming roads Using ideas as my maps "We'll meet on edges, soon," said I Proud 'neath heated brow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth "Rip down all hate," I screamed Lies that life is black and white Spoke from my skull, I dreamed Romantic flanks of musketeers Foundation deep, somehow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward paths From phoney jealousy To memorizing politics of ancient history. Flung down by corpse evangelists Unthought of, though, somehow. Ah but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue Too serious to fool, Spouted out that liberty is just equality in school. "Equality," I spoke their word As if a wedding vow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand At the mongrel dogs who teach Fearing not I'd become my enemy In the instant that I preach My pathway led by confusion boats Mutiny from stern to bow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats Too noble to neglect Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect Good and bad, I define these terms Quite clear, no doubt, somehow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

TheMackensie

Date: 2012-07-25 15:34 EST
I canna be too bold. I canna be too fond. Both are equally as dangerous. ~~~ The Mackensie

These lands are as unlike ta Caledonia as e're I seen, an' not much like Eldyn, neither. There is a part whot be so full of sech buildings and streets and these...these...metal wagons whot people sit within and go so verra fast from one place ta t'other, all without horses, ye kin!...o' which I never seen th' like. An' so many folks, they be topplin' all over one ta the other. They call it progress. I dinna kin o' that, so much, but that be me own way o' thinkin.

I had enuf o' people fer a while an' was time ta be checkin' me traps anyway. Tis a wonderous bit o' land hereabouts most call the Southern Glen. Fair enuf it gives me reminders o' the Highlands, fer sure. Tis quite a goodly forest nearby, stocked wit' all manner o' game, plentiful an' rich. Tis where I do me huntin' fer the deer, rabbit an' boar promised ta me landlord fer me room an' meals an' where I set me traps, way outta the way o' where folks might be walkin' and sech. A nice mornin' I had o' it wit' a bit o' luck, snares had rabbits in 'em, an' a pair o' deer come ta the water hole afterwards. That left all I ta be owin' Anya a trout or two from yon stream, so's inta the midst o' it I did wade.

Imagine me surprise when upstream I see wadin' inta the same stream th' lass whot ha'e befriended me, Sjira! I walked toward her still in the stream's waters, they not be so hard fer me to move through. An' I give her quite the fishin' lesson, ye kin" Leastwise, she seemed ta enjoy it, on how ta catch a fish without a hook or a pole, or ev'n without seeing whot ye be doin' at tall. We both be laughin' an' sech, when on her last try, her fish plopped up side me head! We had enuf fer a goodly supper, but she allowed as how she dinna kin ta stay fer th' eatin' o' our fish hereabouts. Admittedly, I be disappointed, not ta ha'e her company anymore, but twas her decision.

So quiet it be, once she be gone, I took jest a moment ta stand there by the stream wit' the waters rushin' all around an' give thanks ta' the Lord. He give me sech a wee bonny friend....an' bring me ta sech a wee bonny spot o' the resemblance o' home. I stripped down ta me birthday suit an' spread out me kilt an' shirt upon yon low-lyin' brambles an' started a wee fire fer the cookin' of th' trout I kept. I had an inklin' ta pack everythin' up ta make me way back ta the Inn, where Sjira asked iffn I be later in the eve. Would nae be fer any reason other than to see the lass, though. Others, I dinna kin now but soon enuf I be makin' their acquaintence. Tis th' thought o' spendin' more time ta learn the ways o' the wee lass whot be drawin' me. An' I dinna kin iffn that be a proper thin' or no. I jest dinna kin.

Twas a fair enuf moon ta shine this night, makin' the whole place seem a bit more like Scotland an' was easy ta lay there an' think it twas. I dinna kin ta lose that feelin'. An' so I took out me pipes ta play an' sing a wee bit o' music I kin about me clan, about me own grandda, ta be sure, Sgt. Mackensie. I dinna see another about, ye kin, an' so I figured there be no disturbin'.

After that, it seems jest natural ta stretch out an' roll up in me plaid beside th' dyin' embers o' whot be left o' th' fire. I fell asleep an' stayed there til mornin. The decision ta go to the Inn an' see Sjira there, or no, taken outta my hands wit' th' wooin' o' the peace an' quiet in th' glen. Maybee come a time when she be wantin' ta stay fer supper. But as ta whot else, I dinna kin. I jest dinna kin.



The song played and sung by Connor: Sgt. Mackenzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch"v=do_o5CCXE9Y

ORIGINAL SCOTTISH VERSION

Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun

When they come a wull staun ma groon Staun ma groon al nae be afraid

Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Ains a year say a prayer faur me Close yir een an remember me

Nair mair shall a see the sun For a fell tae a Germans gun

Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun

Lay me doon in the caul caul groon Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun

Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone

When they come I will stand my ground Stand my ground I'll not be afraid

Thoughts of home take away my fear Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears

Once a year say a prayer for me Close your eyes and remember me

Never more shall I see the sun For I fell to a Germans gun

Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone Lay me down in the cold cold ground Where before many more have gone

Where before many more have gone