The Buggane
9:40 p.m.
The concert was at 5:00 p.m., the programme consisted of Mozart, Schumann and Brahms (the latter being a 40-minute work), and by the time it was over we were absolutely starved, so we adjourned to the adjacent town of N�rth Hatley (whereat parts of Secret Wind�w were filmed) and had a delightful repast in a new Italian restaurant that has just opened up there recently. That was fun.
I got sucked into the chatroom again today, but at least it was constructive in that we got to telling stories. darkomen told this wonderful tale called �The Buggane�, which I will include here in his own words.
Just after the coming of St. Patrick, some monks came to the Isle of Man. They decided they would build a church to St. Trinian and, finding a good place under a mountain, they began to build. All was going well and the church was built, though the roof had yet to be put on. Now on the mountain above the church there lived a giant creature called Buggane, and Buggane looked down on their church and thought, �I�ll have no peace with their ringing bells!� So it decided to stop them from building.
The night after the roof was put on the church, the Buggane came down from the mountain and tore the roof off the church, leaving it torn up on the ground. In the morning, the townspeople, knowing about the creature, worried that it must have been the Buggane�s work. Nevertheless, the monks decided to try again. Once again, after the roof was put on, the Buggane came down and destroyed it. Convinced it was the Buggane, the people were all terribly afraid.
But a young tailor named Timothy made a bet with the monks. He bet that he would stay all night in the church once the roof was replaced and even sew a pair of breeches while he was there. The monks, thinking that his being there might deter the Buggane, agreed to the bet. So the night after the roof was replaced, Timothy went to the church, bolted the door behind him, lit a few long candles and settled down in the pulpit to begin his sewing.
All was silent in the church besides the blowing of the wind and the branches of trees against the windows. Timothy worked on until the dead of night, and then he heard a deep thumping sound from the ground beneath him. The sound grew louder and louder until the ground gave way into a pit, and from the pit emerged the head of the great Buggane, covered in black fur, with long tusks glistening in the candelight.
�Thou rascal!� it boomed, in a terrible voice. �What business hast thou here?� Timothy, not answering, continued his work as fast as he could. �Art thou not afraid?� asked the Buggane. �Canst thou not see my terrible form?�
�I see it, I see it,� said Timothy, sewing as fast as he could.
Annoyed that he was not afraid, the Buggane drew itself up higher from the pit. �And canst thou not see my sharp claws?� asked the Buggane, waving them around the young tailor.
�I see them, I see them,� he replied.
Angry now, the buggane asked, �And canst thou not see my sharp tusks and mighty jaws?�
�I see them, I see them,� again he said, almost finishing his work.
Furious, the Buggane made to grab Timothy, but having made the last stitch, he jumped out of a window and ran away from the church. Behind him he heard an almighty crash and, looking back, saw that the Buggane had torn the roof away once more. With the Buggane chasing him, Timothy ran all the way to a stream and crossed it, knowing the Buggane, being of magical nature, could not cross water.
On seeing that the tailor had escaped, the Buggane grew so angry that it tore off its own head and threw it across the river at him. The head landed at his feet and exploded, but he was not harmed. He ran the rest of the way to the town and told everyone what had happened. The monks, on hearing about the Buggane, decided to abandon building the church but held that Timothy had won his bet, and paid him accordingly. People say though that the Buggane is still not dead, that it has grown new eyes and ears and its neck is now a great gaping mouth.
The end.
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