OCHD LATHA
Air Hiort ann am meadhan na naoidheamh linn deug
Thàinig galair cho cràiteach 's nach urainnear inns' -
Ceithir às gach còig dhe ar naoidhein, ùr-bhreith
A' faighinn na plàigh seo gun dòigh air a cleith.
Chan eil fios dè an t-adhbhar tha seo gabhail àit:
Chanadh feadhainn, gur e breitheanas Dhè tha gar cràdh,
Tha na buillean a' tighinn mar chloich bho gach taobh,
Ar clann - 's iad ri caochladh ro ochd latha dh'aois.
Thàinig piuthar an uachdarain le cùram dhan àit'
A' tighinn le banaltram uasal is pàight',
Ach cha ghabhadh an t-eilean ri strainnsear às ùr
A dh'aindeoin an gealladh gun robh freagart dhan chùis
Gun chobhair 's gun dhòchas an dèidh leth-cheud bliadhn'
Ceithir fichead 's a ceithir air caochladh am pian,
Bha an t-Urramach Fiddes a-nis 's e le cinnt
Cur na coire air an ola bha iad a' cleachdadh bho linn.
Nuair a thrèig iad na dòighean 's na cleachdaidhean borb',
Thàinig crìoch air na bàsan, thog na sgàilean bha dorch,
Ach a dh'aindeoin an fhaochaidh a thàinig cho teann
'S iomadh bliadhn' a dheigheadh seachad a' caoidh 'son an cloinn.
Salm CIII.16
Oir gabhaidh thairis osag ghaoith',
'S cha bhi e idir ann;
'S cha-n fhaicear e san ionad ud
's an robh e fàs gu teann
EIGHT DAYS
On St Kilda in the middle of the 19th Century
Came a plague so deadly it can hardly be told
Four out of five of all children newly born
Caught this disease with no known cure
No one can understand why this is happening
Some say it could be God's judgement
The blows they are coming like stones from all sides
Our children are dying before eight days of age.
The sister of the landowner came with concern to the island
Bringing a qualified nurse, fully paid
But the islanders would not take to this stranger
Despite her assurance that there was a cure for their plight
Without a cure or hope after fifty years
With eighty four children dying in pain
The Rev Fiddes was now convinced that
The fault lay with the oil they had used for years
When they stopped this un-hygenic practice
The deaths came to an end and the clouds, they lifted
But despite the relief, which came from the cure
Many years would pass as they mourned for their children
Psalm 103 16:
For over it the wind doth pass,
and it away is gone;
And of the place where once it was
It shall no more be known.