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It’s sad to be travelling the mountains,

Without bow or string, without a dog,

Without as much as an arrow around

And without keen sight in the eye.

(in Menzies 2012, 92-93)

When he reached Taigh nam Fleadh – the House of Feasts, the triumphant party was all but over and most of the guests had gone home.

’S fada leam o sguir mi ’n fhiadhach,

’S gun ann ach an ceò de ’n bhuidheann

Leis am bu bhinn guth nan gadhar,

Gun mheadhair, gun òl, gun bhruidhinn.

It’s wearisome to me since I stopped hunting,

And there’s only the mist of the company

For whom the voice of the hounds was sweet,

No mirth, no drinking, no banter.

(ibid 96-97)

Dòmhnall decided it was time to head for home as well. He turned north down the narrow glen to Fersit – Fearsaid, where he had his winter quarters. While he was nearing Strone - An t-Sròn, possibly Sròn na Garbh-bheinne, he heard an owl hooting, from the nearby woods.

One tradition has it that this was the starting point for the composition of Òran na Comhachaig - Song of the Owl (Rankin 1958 & Menzies 2012). The song was composed in the last quarter of the 16th century and transcribed several times over by different writers. Various versions had become very popular in the Highlands through word of mouth by the middle of the 18th century. It is likely that Donnchadh Bàn Macintyre would have been familiar with Òran na Comhachaig (see ssss1).