Well, my goode friends, this tale is absolutely TRUE. It was told to me by a close friend of my Clan Buidhe Theamhdaigh, a fellow Jacobite, viz.--Diarmuid MacDonald, of Clan MacDonald. Here it is:

Back in ye olde days in Alba (also is known to some as Scot-Land) there was a castle (much like this) overlooking a loch (Gan Ainm) that was the residence of a part of the Clan MacDonald. In their service was a piper (Great Hieland, mind ye) who was the official piper of the Castle. He was oft to be found atop the castle, upon the battlement, playing his pipes all alone.

One night, in the pitch blackness, the murderous Clan Campbell (shudder) came up the loch in their boats, landed, and stormed the castle. With much bluidshed on each side, the Campbells managed to take the castle and force the MacDonalds out. The remaining MacDonalds escaped in their own boats--all but one--the piper upon the battlements. He stood there, alone, playing his pipes, which was the last thing the MacDonalds heard as their boats pulled out, swearing to return for their castle.

Well, the Campbells found the piper, and imprisoned him on the battlement, and instructed him not to play his pipes, or he would be subjected to torture. Meanwhile, the Campbell soldiers, instead of moving on to their next attack, they garrisoned the castle with many troops in secret, counting on the MacDonalds to return, so they might wipe them all out.

One day, the piper, from his high vantage point, saw the MacDonald boats coming through the fog to retake their own. The piper knew of the hidden troops, so he disobeyed the Campbells and started to play a air of retreat upon his pipes. His clansmen understood, and turned back, thus avoiding the Campbell ambush prepared for them. However, the Campbells heard him, and for his crime, cut both of his hands off with an axe, to make sure he would never play again...

In that place, since that time, people have claimed to have heard the sound of a solo bagpiper coming down the wind off the loch, when there was no sign of a piper anywhere.

In the 1960's, during a renovation of the castle, the workers came upon a crude grave. Inside was the skeleton of a man with no hands--and cut off cleanly at the wrists. The man was exhumed, and give a proper Christian burial. But still the ghost was heard, playing his lonely tunes...

It was a later realization that the clergyman who performed the funeral service was Presbyterian (as modern Scots go, so I've heard) and of course the Clan MacDonald, as well as Theamhdaigh, were staunchly Catholic. A new Catholic funeral was performed by a priest, and from that day on, the ghost piper has never been heard again...

--Mbo Rua