Wake Up Time

The story dwells in the mystic Highlands of Scotland sometime in the late 18th Century. 

Hamish MacGregor, who worked in a cooper shop on the edge of the village, lived in a cottage with  lovely wife Johanna and two young beautiful daughters.

However this day was a mournful one for Hamish. He woke up early on Sunday morning lamenting their firstborn son, who had died exactly one year ago from an unknown illness. 

At the table Hamish was solemn without appetite to eat his breakfast. 

“Johanna I cannot attend church today.. I am sorry” declared Hamish.

“Are you feeling ill?” Johanna asked with concern. 

“I try to be strong but I miss our boy Finley dearly. I wish I could see his handsome face again.” Hamish paused, stood up and continued “I know I may have the wrong attitude but I just cannot walk into the church today. I cannot stay here either. So I will use this day to take my gun to gunsmith Roberts for needed repair and perhaps fish in the loch.”

Johanna embraced Hamish and could hardly hold back the tears. “I need you to remain strong for me! Not a day goes by that I don’t reflect on our lost child and hold back the tears…I have even kept the candle he insisted on holding for his last few days on earth as he told us one day we will know.” (Note this for later in the story)

Johanna turned and stared out the window briefly then looked back at Hamish “I wish you wouldn’t leave me today and prefer you stay home at least… I didn’t want to worry you but a few days ago a blackbird flew into the house and rested on your side of the bed…and just yesterday your picture on the wall just fell to the floor. I fear the dark spirits are after you and I can’t bear to lose you!”

Hamish ran his fingers through his hair and replied “Johanna I am sorry but I cannot stay in this house today. I shall take my gun to Roberts near Loch Laggan.”

“What? Loch Laggan” exclaimed Johanna. “It will take you much time to get there! And don’t forget the road passes by Devil’s Rock where people hear the screams of demons at night and many souls venture there and never return!” 

Hamish new the stories but assured Johanna that it being the daytime and a Sunday it should be safe to travel. After Hamish grabbed his gear and loaded up his mare Callie he hugged and kissed his two small girls promising them some big fish for dinner. 

“Now Johanna, you and the girls go to church and anyone asks of me tell them I have pertinent matters to deal with and leave it at that…Now I shall be fine. Callie here is the most dependable horse I have ever had and she will get me there and back quickly. Not let your superstitions get you worried.”

Johanna still worried but kissed Hamish confiding to him “I pray the Lord forgives you and shows mercy in protecting you today. Here put in your pocket some scripture verses I felt encouraged to write down for you yesterday (as she hands the folded piece of paper to him and note this for later in the story) and return to me you stubborn man!”

Hamish then mounts his horse and rides away but not without a brief moment of second guessing himself. Pretending not to be superstitious he recalled just a few years ago of a peculiar old but well dressed man stopping him on the road. The man gave warning that Hamish was a marked man who the dark spirits wished to overtake one day. The odd man also suggested to Hamish that he keep his armor on before wishing him a good day and walking off into the trees.

After an hour of riding on an overcast day Hamish rides through a patch of fog and as the fog clears a he realizes he is nearing upon passing Devil’s Rock. As soon as he starts to pass he hears the haunting howls of dogs which then turn into yelps. Then suddenly from behind Devil’s Rock leaps out a deer. Not just an average deer but a rare Black stag being the largest he’d ever seen. The stag runs almost effortlessly on the rocky terrain as two black hounds suddenly appear from also behind the rock and in pursuit of the deer.

Hamish looks with wonder as he has always been one up for a good chase. He knows he doesn’t have much time to waste but feels he needs to direct his mind to something of excitement. He quickly directs his horse towards the direction of the magnificent stag and begins pursuit up the rocky hill.

Nearing the top of the hill Hamish lost sight of the deer and hounds as a dense fog quickly materialized and engulfed him. Now he was hesitant to go any further since he could easily run off the edge of a cliff with such poor visibility. But now his mare was spooked and started to squeal and rear with increasing intensity. “Calm Callie! Easy!” insisting to his horse while trying to get oriented. 

Luckily the fog cleared as suddenly as it came and he could see the hounds chase the stag behind a rock up ahead down the slope.  Hamish pursued as he witnessed the hounds run to behind a big craggy rock but never came out. He figured the deer must have been injured and expected to see the hounds surrounding the poor downed stag. But as Hamish rode to the back of the rock he saw no sign of deer nor hound. There were no sounds of dog barking either. 

Now Hamish was himself becoming anxious as he thought mighty peculiar for animals to just disappear. He wasn’t at all familiar with his surroundings and thought he best be riding back to the road. But before he could turn around he heard a rather wicked laughter coming from where the hounds and deer disappeared. Soon the most unholy laughter increased to the sounds of a hundred demonic voices laughing all about him. At that time Callie squealed in terror and Hamish could hardly keep on her. He knew he was tricked and led to this bedeviled piece of rock. “Curses!” he shouted, “You demons shall not have me!”

Once Hamish challenged the dark spirits the bodiless shrieks of laughter transformed into a black cloud which surrounded him like a roaring whirlwind. While within the ring of the wicked black cloud he frightfully saw hundreds of demonic faces grinning at him. The horse was uncontrollable at this point.

In the fright Hamish closed his eyes and prayed as powerful as he could “Great mighty God in Heaven please deliver me!! Forgive me for straying but I beg you make these demons be gone!”

Wasn’t but a few seconds the faces in the black cloud changed from grimacing to disgust with a bright light descending from the sky. Hamish saw what looked like a small figure in brilliant white holding a candle. As this body slowly descended to a few feet of the ground Hamish couldn’t believe what he saw. It was his young boy Finley who departed this life one year ago. The candle the boy was holding like the one he held at the time of his death lit up brightly and the demons reacted with screaming and began to back off. Hamish almost fainted from being overwhelmed with it all. 

While the black cloud fled to Devil’s Rock the boy pointed up the hill directing his father to immediately go now. Hamish didn’t want to leave after being reunited with his son in a most fantastic way but he knew he must listen and leave if he was to return home safely. Before he directed his horse back up the hill he witnessed four large men in white holding flaming swords  descend and attack the demons upon the rock. The horse speedily raced back up the hill as the atmosphere went from dark to light again. Hamish looked behind his shoulder to view his son one last time but he was no longer there. But he saw the angelic warriors overtake the last of the demons and with a sound of a crack of thunder half of Devil’s Rock toppled over and all supernatural activity vanished.

Hamish now back on the much welcomed road gets off his horse and falls to the ground exhausted but not without thanking the Lord for saving him and for the brief reunion with his son. With a few minutes of hugging the ground and sobbing from all the immense happenings a gentle voice above inquired “Are you okay young man?”

Hamish looked up from the ground and recalled it was the man who years ago warned him of the evil spirits after him and to armor up. “Here let me help you up” said the man with a smile. (The man coincidentally looked and sounded like Sean Connery) 

As Hamish got up on his feet he struggled with speech “You are the seer who warned me a few years ago are you not?” The man broke out a laugh “A seer? Is that what you think of me? Come let us sit on this rock.” As the men sit down the man said with more seriousness “You know when you find yourself in the most dreadful of circumstances God will use that to fulfill his purposes.” The man raises his eyebrows and continues “All you need to do is humble yourself and with the faith as small as a mustard seed the mountains will be moved…and Mr. MacGregor your faith literally shook this mountain. The demons formerly on this rock have been removed and you are the first person God has been able to work through to rid the demons.”

Hamish turns his head and directly looks into the eyes of the man and with a puzzling gaze asks “Who are you??” The man just smiled and looked towards the ground and questioned “That rolled up piece of paper on the ground…is that yours?” “Aye yes it is. It contains some random Holy Scripture which my wife felt compelled to write for me. It must have fallen out of my pocket.”

“Scripture?” The man said with enthusiasm, “Oh I love Scripture but I don’t think the ground is going to read it so perhaps you should pick it up and read outloud what your wife wanted you to read. Perchance you will have some questions answered… I’ll check the shoes on your horse for your journey back while you read.”

Hamish grabs the paper from the ground and sits back on the rock while the man hands him some water to drink before reading:

“To my love. Hold these verses dear.”

Proverbs 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Ephesians 6:11-13  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Psalm 3:7-8 KJV — Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

Hamish pauses as he clears his throat. “Keep reading fine man!” the man encouraged, “You are doing wonderful!” Hamish then continues to read the last of the words..

“Hebrews 13:1-2  Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Hamish waited a few seconds to roll up the paper and put it back in his coat pocket. “I thank you for your help but are you going to be kind enough to tell me who you are?” With no response he looks back over his shoulder and like everything else in the fantastic day the man had disappeared.  Now Hamish had more of an understanding of who this man or heavenly messenger was.

Without hesitation he grabs the reins and tells Callie that it’s time to go home. As he mounts his horse he gazes again at the formerly haunted rock and sees another stag standing on top of the toppled rock. But this stag was not like the other one. This was a grand white stag which Hamish had never seen before as they were a rarity. He also understood the tradition that white stags represented purity.

Hamish spent the next hour riding back home with his mind still distressed after the ordeal. But he was relieved when he finally saw his home from a distance. However he wasn’t quite sure how to even explain his day to Johanna. He knew his experience was too fantastic for anyone to believe and so faced a dilemma. 

As an exhausted Mr. MacGregor came riding in towards the house, the family dogs started barking and ran to greet him. Johanna from inside the house heard the barking and figured someone was approaching. She looked out the door and saw her husband approaching. “Hamish! You’re back” she shouted with great joy. Johanna ran out to meet her husband and gave him a joyful hug. “Where have you been these last three days? You had me worried sick! Neighbors have been searching for you!”

“What?” exclaimed Hamish, “What talk of me missing for three days as I have only been gone since this morning!”

Johanna had no words to respond but just satisfied enough that her beloved was home. The two continued to embrace each other as Hamish with great apology said “Sorry I did not bring any fish home for dinner.” Johanna nodded “No matter as a nice gentleman stopped by earlier and gave me some fish. He suggested I clean them up immediately as he speculated you may be back today with a story to tell.  How would he know?

Hamish firmly grabbed Johanna’s shoulders and replied “I don’t think this was a normal man who visited you Johanna. And Aye, I do have a most fantastic story to tell.

The End

Here is a link to the original published Celtic folktale this is based on. https://www.libraryireland.com/Wonders/Fergus-OMara-1.php