Ghost Stories · Chapter
The Shootings of Achnaleish explained
The narrator, staying at Achnaleish, becomes intrigued by local folklore about black hares after discovering a book on Highland folklore.
What happens
The narrator, staying at Achnaleish, becomes intrigued by local folklore about black hares after discovering a book on Highland folklore. The head keeper's mother dies suddenly, and the narrator observes the villagers gathering brushwood, suspecting they plan to burn down the lodge in retaliation for killing a black hare. He alerts the police, who set up an ambush and catch Maclaren attempting to set the house on fire. A peaceful resolution is reached, and the narrator reflects on how superstition can enter practical life.
Themes in this chapter
Folklore and Superstition
The chapter revolves around the local superstition of black hares and shape-shifting, which drives the villagers' hostile actions.
Isolation and Landscape
The remote setting of Achnaleish, with its steep hills and isolated village, contributes to the eerie and threatening atmosphere.
Fear and Terror
The narrator experiences fear as the villagers' hostility escalates, culminating in the planned arson attack.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator explores the area, reads folklore, observes the villagers' behavior, and alerts the police to the planned attack.
- Jim Stanley
Jim is the narrator's companion; he shoots a black hare and later helps coordinate the police ambush.
- Sandie Ross
Sandie is the second keeper who reports the death of Maclaren's mother and shows fear upon seeing the black hare.
- Maclaren
Maclaren is the head keeper whose mother died; he attempts to burn down the lodge in revenge and is caught by the police.
- Sefton
Sefton is the English-looking keeper who brings the black hare to show Mr. Armytage.
- Mr. Armytage
Mr. Armytage is mentioned as the person Sefton shows the black hare to.
- Buxton
Buxton is one of the beaters during the morning shoot.
- Sergeant Duncan
Sergeant Duncan is the chief constable who leads the police ambush at Achnaleish.
Key passages
“I came upon Elwes’s Folklore of the North West Highlands , and looked out “Hare” in the index. Then I read: “Nor is it only witches that are believed to have the power of changing themselves into animals. … Men and women on whom no suspicion of the sort lies are thought to be able to do this, and to don the bodies of certain animals, notably hares. … Such, according to local superstition, are easily distinguishable by their size and colour, which approaches jet black.””
The narrator finds a book on Highland folklore and reads that people, not just witches, are believed to transform into black hares.
This introduces the central superstition that drives the plot.
“Sandie, who repeated this news to me after breakfast, was just a slow, polite Scotchman, rather shy, rather awkward. Just as he finished—we were standing about outside the backdoor—there came up from the stables the smart, very English-looking Sefton. In one hand he carried the black hare.”
Sandie tells the narrator about the keeper's mother's death, and then Sefton arrives carrying the black hare they shot.
The juxtaposition of the death and the hare links the superstition to real events.
“The street which had been so busy and populous was now completely empty; it might have been the street of some long-deserted place, but that thin smoke curled here and there above the houses. It was as silent, too, as the grave, but, for all that, I knew it was watching.”
The village street becomes eerily empty and silent, but the narrator feels watched by hostile eyes.
This heightens the sense of threat and isolation.
“I told my story to the chief constable as soon as I got there, omitting nothing and, I think, exaggerating nothing. His face got graver and graver as I proceeded. “Yes, sir, you did right to come,” he said. “The folk at Achnaleish are the dourest and the most savage in all Scotland. You’ll have to give up this hare-hunting, though, whatever,” he added.”
The narrator reports his suspicions to the chief constable, who confirms the villagers' dangerous nature and advises against hunting hares.
The police take the threat seriously, validating the narrator's fears.
“The man we closed in on was Maclaren. “They killed my mither with that hell-carriage,” he said, “as she juist sat on the road, puir body, who had niver hurt them.” And that seemed to him an excellent reason for attempting to burn us all to death.”
Maclaren is caught attempting to set the house on fire, claiming the black hare (the 'hell-carriage') killed his mother.
Maclaren's motive reveals how superstition leads to violent retaliation.
