Did you know that the real headless horseman was a Maclean?

Ewen of the Little Head, was a MacLean of Lochbuie and a warrior. He was noted for his bravery, and he was considered wise and tender hearted.

He was married to a daughter of MacDougall of Lorn, an ill-tempered woman. On the night before the battle he was approached by a spirit banshee who warned him about the battle next day. She told him that he would lose the battle, and that he would be slain.

He replied, "Nonsense! I have never been defeated, and I will defeat my enemies tomorrow as usual."

The Bannshee said, "If your wife gets up early in the morning, and without you asking puts food on your plate for breakfast, you will win. But if she does not, and you must get your own food for breakfast, then you will be slain." The spirit then disappeared.

Ewen returned home, and arose early the next morning. While putting on his armor, he kept looking toward the bed where his wife was pretending to be asleep.

He kept hinting, and at last he threw a shoe at her, but she did not move. "If you want food," she said, "you will find curds in a dish there." Ewen did not eat the curds, and he left without breakfast.

Ewen died in the battle when his head was cut off by a claymore. His horse kept galloping with his headless body for a while, then finally stopped. He was eventually buried on Iona, where you can still visit his grave.

Since then he has always wandered about riding on his horse, and the sounds of his horse's hoofs, or the crack of his whip, is often heard by Lochbuie MacLeans who have had a death in their family. He is often present when any of them are in distress. He wears his old cloak about him winter and summer, with his trusty sword by his side. The cause of the continued restlessness of this headless horseman is that he died without eating that day.