A MacPhee Hunting Trip Which Bore Fruit
By Marg Greenwood
The surname MacPhee is very common in Colonsay and Lochaber.
MacPhee, the chief of Colonsay (Scottish Gaelic: Colbhasa), an enormous man with renowned strength, went to hunt in Lochaber - it's a mystery why he went all that way to practise his skills.
One evening, he found a bothy near Fort William (Scottish Gaelic: An Gearasdan) and walked in without knocking. An old lady, whom I shall call Granny, appeared and said, 'There's no shelter here, go away!'
MacPhee replied, 'I am a chief, I WILL stay the night in your bothy.'
Granny said, 'Just you wait until my daughter Mòr comes back. She will be a match for you.'
So they waited until Mòr came home. A huge young woman with plenty of muscle, she picked up MacPhee by the scruff of his neck and placed him outside the bothy door. Whereupon MacPhee swept Mòr up and heaved her back to the fireside. Mòr was impressed, and said, 'You're the first person to have ever done this to me!'
And she invited him to stay the night.
MacPhee left the bothy the next day and returned to Colonsay. After nine months, Mòr gave birth to a son who grew up with Granny and Mòr. Granny planted a tree in front of the bothy to celebrate the baby’s birth. Every seven years the boy was asked to pull out the tree to test his strength. At 7 and 14, he couldn't. At 21 he pulled out the tree with his bare hands. Mòr decided to tell the young man who his father was.
'You can go to Colonsay if you like, and tell your father who you are!'
The young man followed his mother's advice, went to Colonsay, and told the MacPhee chief that he was his son. He was welcomed with great joy. It's not explained how he proved that he was his son, but I would guess that he performed a gargantuan feat of strength.
The young man must have eventually returned to his mother, because legend has it that's how the first MacPhee got a foothold in Lochaber.