i
if
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE:
\^
& JBonthlp
DEVOTED TO THE
LITERATURE, HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, FOLK LORE, TRADITIONS,
AND THE
SOCIAL AND MATERIAL INTERESTS OF THE CELT AT HOME AND ABROAD.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A, SCOT,,
Author of " The History and Genealogies of the Clan Mackenzie" ; " The History of
the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles"; " The History of the Mathesons ";
" The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer" ; " The Historical Tales and
Legends of the Highlands" ; " The History of the Highland
Clearances"; " The IsleofSkye in 1882-83"-, &c>
VOL. VI 1 1.
INVERNESS : A. & W. MACKENZIE, 25 ACADEMY STREET.
1883. All Rights Reserved.
INVERNESS : PRINTED AT THE COURIER OFFICE.
DA
LIBRARY
728815
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
CONTENTS.
PAGE
.The History of the Camerons.— The Editor. 1, 81, 97, 145, 301, 370, 415, 467, and 589 The Inveraray Proclamation
Kogart Educational Association and Speech by Mr John Mackay, Hereford ...
The Gaelic Census ... ... ... ••• 17
Professor Blackie and the Land Laws
The Highland Brigade and the Highland Crofters...
Origin of the Names Douglas and Skene.— H. ... 21
Sheriff Mackintosh and the recent Rogart Eviction Trials ... ... 25
The Irish " Comhluchd Clann na'n Gaoidhil '' ... ... ... ... 28
A Run Through Canada and the States.— Kenneth Macdonald, F.S.A. Scot.
29, 89, 109, 229, 275, 360, 429, 479, and 516 The Sutherland Evictions.— A.M.
Altavona— 2nd Notice ... ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 42
Sculptured Stones of Ross & Cromarty.— Captain Colin Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot. 49
The Late Daniel Mackinlay.— A. M 56
The Highlanders and their Tastes.— Dr Begg
The Glenalmond Highlanders at Wimbledon
Land Nationalisation— Its Necessities and its Aims— Review
Notes and Queries —
The Chief of the Macraes... ... ... ... 67
Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie of Lochcarron
Frater and Fraser ... ... ... ... ... ... 67
Clan Ross ... .. ... ... ... ... ... 177
Memorial to the Late Rev. Alexander Macgregor, M. A. ... ... ... 75
Achaluachrach's Bridal.— M. A. Rose ... ... ... ... ... 76
Death of Lewis ROPS, a Native of Tain, in Canada ... ... ... 80
The Honours of Scotland.— M. A. Rose ... ... ... ... 118 and 202
An Ancient British Hill Fort.— N. M'Neil Brodie ...
Anecdote of " Ali-na-pairc" ... ... ... ... ... ... 126
Mr William Jolly, H.M.I. S. ... ... ... ... 127
Depopulation of the County of Argyll. — A.M. ... ... ... ... 131
General Sir Herbert Macpherson, V.C., K.C.B., K.S.I. By " M.A.R.S." ... 134
First Highland Emigration to Nova Scotia, : Arrival of the Ship " Hector" ...
The Marquis of Bute on Evictions and the Rights of the People .. ... 156
Ethics of Political Economy.— Malcolm Mackenzie. 157, 213, 285, 309, 349, 449, 522, 547
Lia-Fail, or the Scottish Coronation Stone. — H ... ... 168
Our First Celtic Professor ... ... ... ... ... ... 171
On an Ayrshire Custom— Thomas Stratton, M.D. ... ... 177
The Highland Problem and the Government Programme ... ... ... 178
Inverness Gaelic Society — Eleventh Annual Dinner —
Speeches by Sir Kenneth Mackenzie and others ... ... ... 180
Do. Election of Office Bearers ... ... ... ... ... 257
Do. Twelfth Annual Gathering— Patriotic Speech by H. C. Macandrew... 485
The Highland Dress. J. G. Mackay ... ... J97, 245, 320, 381, 445, and 508
The Crofters— Great Meeting in Edinburgh ... ... ... ... 209
Celtic Dyes— H. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 211
Professor Blackie on the Sutherland Clearances ... ... ... ... 228
The Highland Clearances— Press Notices. ... ... ... 241, 347, and 478
Life of John Duncan, Scotck Weaver and Botanist — Review ... ... 242
Carious Superstitions in Tiree. — J. Sands ... ... ... ... 252
Malcolm Mackenzie and the Braes Crofters ... ... ... ... 255
Archbishop Tait in Rannoch. — Rev. John Sinclair ... ... ... 258
The Scotsman, Professor Blackie, and the Highland Crofters ... ... 262
The Perthshire Constitutional sold to Mr Hunter ... ... ... ... 267
A History of Bob Roy by A. H. Millar, F.S.A. Scot. ... ... ... 267
The Royal Commission and the Highland Crofters.— A.M. ... ... 282, 317, and 369
Scottish Myths— Review ... ... ... ... 291
Celtic Mythology.— Alex. Macbain, M.A. ... 293, 341, 389, 437, 491, and 566
The Glendale Crofters' Trial ... ... ... ... ... 307 and 308
The Highland Clearances. -Rev. A. C. Sutherland, B.D. ... ... ... 328
The late Mrs Helen Matheson or Bell 340
iv Contents.
PAGE
Celtic Languages and Literature.— Prize by Professor Blackie ... ... 347
The Glendale Martyrs Liberated ... ... ... ... ... 359
Gaelic Names of Plants — Review ... ... ... ... ... 377
The Celtic Lyre— Review ... ... ... ... ... ... 397
The Long Island. By " Strath-na-sealg " ... ... ... ... 398
The General Assembly of the Free Church and the Highland Crofters ... 407
The Inverness Highland Land Law Reform Association ... ... ... 426
The London Highland Laad Law Reform Association — Speech by Professor Blaokie 427
Remarks by Captain Macleod of Gesto on " Canntaireachd " ... ... 434
A Truly Noble Act— The Earl of Kilmarnock and his Son at Culloden ... 444
The Brave Old Sky e Crofter.— W.M. ... ... ... ... ... 458
Proclamation against Rob Roy Macgregor in 1719 ... ... 476 and 537
A Celtic Department in Mornineside College, Edinburgh ... ... ... 490
Lord President Forbes of Culloden. By H. R. M. ... ... ... 500
" Sin Cnaimh is Cnaim e."— Mary Mackellar ... ... ... ... 507
Cromb's Highlands and Highlanders of Scotland ... ... ... ... 521
" The Isle of Skye in 1882 and 1883" ... ... ... ... 521, 533, and 579
Clarsach-an-Doire — Review ... ... ... ... ... ... 527
The Highlanders of New Zealand and their Dis'ressed Countrymen at Home 531 and 584
The New Canadian Deputy-Minister of the Interior, Mr A. M. Burgess ... 536
The Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, Ex-Premier of Canada, in Inverness ... 538
" Peer-Men " and some of their relations. — George Linn ... 556
Decrees of Removal against Crofters in the Isle of Skye— 1840 to 1883 564
The Kilt after 1745 565
Proposed Civil List to Mary Mackellar ... ... ... ... ... 572
Lower Fishings of the Ness— I.— C. Fraser-Mackintosh, F.S.A. Scot., M.P. ... 573
The Royal Commission and the Scotsman— Letters by Dean of Guild Mackenzie 589
Nether- Locbaber— A Review ... ... ... .. ... ... 582
Droving in 1746 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 586
Completion of our Eighth Annual Volume .. ... ... ... 586
POETRY.
Tne Tartan Avalanche. — Alexander Logan ... ... ... ... 10
My Bonny Rowan Tree.— D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... ... 26
The Greatness of God.— Translated by the Rev. John Sinclair, B.D. ... 58
Lachlan Macdonald of Skeabost.— Professor Blackie ... ... ... 96
Oran Chlann Domhnuill nan Eilean.— Alastair Buidhe Mac lamhair (Alex. Campbell) 107
Mementos of My Father's Grave.— D. Macgregor Crerar . 117
Ex-Voto.— W. A. Sim ... ... ... ... ... 167
A Spray of White Heather. — D. Macgregor Crerar ... 210
Oran na H-oige. — John MacCodrnm ... ... ... 236
Highland Sufferings— Highland Wrongs.— William Allan ... 240
Glenquaich.—D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... 300
Argyll Evictions.— W. C. 0. ... ... 32?
Rob Roy's Death.— Wm. Allan ... ... 343
Plea for being a " Gall."— J. Sands ... 358
An Old Strathnaver Man's Ballad ... ... ... 337
Marbhrann do'n Urramach Alastair MacGhriogair.-Mairi, Nighean'lain Bhain 436
Oran le Iain Mac Mhurchaidh ... ... ... ... 462
Oran do Dh-Iarla Dhunmor.— F. D. MacDhomhnuill 465
To-Morrow. — D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... 563
CORRESPONDENCE.
Origin of the Name Gordon. — William Brockie ... 27 Gaelic Etymologies, and Anecdotes of Sir Allan Cameron of Erracht.— Rev!
Allan Sinclair, M. A. ... ... ... 68
A Celtic Medical College. — " Sgeulaiche" ... ... 71
The Braes Crofters and Lord Macdonald— Correspondence" bet ween Mr Malcolm
Mackenzie, Dean of Guild Mackenzie, and Messrs J. C. Brodie & Sons W S 72
Origin of the Macgillony Camerons.— "Coirre-an-t'Sith" ... ... '.. ' 105
M M — Mary Mackellar 175
Roy's Wif«.- George D. Macnaughtan ... ... 176
Military Ardour of the Highlanders.— A. B. ... 238
History of the Camerons. —Mary Mackellar ... 268 Mr Patrick Sellar and the Sutherland Clearances— Correspondence between
Thomas Sellar and Alex. Mackenzie, editor of the Celtic Maqazine 338
The New French Ambassador to Great Britain.— Captain A. M. Chisholm 505
Proclamation against Rob Roy Macgregor.— A. H. Millar 537
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. No. LXXXV. NOVEMBER 1882. VOL. VIII.
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. By the EDITOR.
I.
INTRODUCTORY.
IN an old Manuscript history of this family printed with " The Memoirs of Locheill" in 1 842, the author says — " The Camerons have a tradition among them that they were originally descended of a younger son of the Royal Family of Denmark, who assisted at the restoration of King Fergus II., anno 404. He was called Cameron from his crooked nose, as that word imports. But it is more probable that they were of the aborigines of the ancient Scots or Caledonians that first planted the country." Skene quotes the family Manuscript in his " Highlanders of Scotland," and agrees with its author that the clan came originally from the ancient inhabitants of the District of Lochaber. He says, " with this last conclusion I am fully disposed to agree, but John Major has placed the matter beyond a doubt, for in mentioning on one occasion the Clan Chattan and the Clan Cameron, he says, * Hae tribus sunt consanguinese.' They therefore formed a part of, the % extensive tribe of Moray, and followed the chief of that race un-
2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
til the tribe became broken up, in consequence of the success of the Mackintoshes in the conflict on the North Inch of Perth in 1396," after which the Camerons separated themselves from the main stem, and assumed a position of independence. Major says that " these two tribes are of the same stock, and followed one head of their race as chief." Gregory, who agrees with these other authorities, says that the Camerons, as far back as he could trace, had their seat in Lochaber, and appeared to have been first con- nected with the Macdonalds of Islay in the reign of Robert Bruce, from whom Agus Og of Isla had a grant of Lochaber. " There is reason to believe," he continues, " that the Clan Chameron and Clan Chattan had a common origin, and for some time followed one chief." They have, however, been separated, according to this author, ever since the middle of the fourteenth century, if not from an earlier date. Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw, in his re- cently published History of the Mackintoshes, makes a sturdy attempt to upset the authorities here quoted, founding his argu- ment mainly on a difference between the original edition of Major, printed at Paris in 1521, and the Edinburgh edition of 1740. We can only say here that the ingenious argument used appears to us to weaken rather than strengthen the position taken up by the author of the Mackintosh History, and in his " Postscript," written in reply to Skene's views as set forth in Vol. Ill, Celtic Scotland, Mr Mackintosh-Shaw modifies what he previously, in the body of his work, contended for. In this Postscript he says : — " I have no wish to deny the possibility that the two clans were connected in their remote origin ; all I say is, that no sufficient evidence of such connection has yet appeared, and therefore that no writer is justified in affirming the connection as a fact." Com- pare this with what he writes at p. 1 29 of the same work, where he says that the original reading of Major, and the considerations sug- gested by it, "afford very strong evidence that the statements of Mr Skene as to the community of stock of Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron. . . are in reality unfounded." Skene has also to some extent modified the opinion published by him, in 1837, in his " Highlanders of Scotland." In that work he maintained that the famous combat on the North Inch of Perth was fought be- tween the Mackintoshes and the Macphersons, whereas in his later work, Celtic Scotland, he comes to the conclusion that the
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 3
combatants were the Mackintoshes and the Camerons. All our leading authorities are thus now at one on this ticklish question. Skene's later conclusions on this subject are important. In his more recent work he informs us that when the Royal forces attacked Alexander, Lord of the Isles, in 1429, and defeated him in Lochaber, the two tribes who deserted him and went over to the Royalists were, according to Bower, the "Clan Katan and Clan Cameron;" while Maurice Buchanan gives them, "more correctly, as the Clan de Guyllequhatan and Clan Cameron." On Palm Sunday, being the 2Oth of March following, the Clan Chat- tan attacked the Clan Cameron when assembled in a church, to which they set fire, " and nearly destroyed the whole Clan." Though it would seem from these statements that all the Cam- erons and Mackintoshes deserted the Lord of Isles on that occasion, it is clear that this was not the case, for, after his restoration to liberty, the Hebridean chief, in 1443, granted a charter to Malcolm Mackintosh of the lands of Keppoch, and, in 1447, conferred upon him the office of Bailie of the Lordship of Lochaber. Ample evidence is forthcoming that the Clan Cameron was by no means totally destroyed as stated by the chroniclers. " It would thus appear," says Skene, " that a part only of these two clans had deserted the Lord of the Isles in 1429, and a part adhered to him ; that the conflict on Palm Sunday was between the former part of these clans, and that the leaders of those who adhered to the Lord of the Isles became afterwards re- cognised as captains of the respective clans. It further appears that there was, within no distant time after the conflict on the North Inch of Perth, a bitter feud between the two clans who had deserted the Lord of the Isles, and there are indications that this was merely the renewal of an older quarrel, for both clans un- doubtedly contested the right to the lands of Glenlui and Lochark- aig in Lochaber, to which William Mackintosh received a charter from the Lord of the Isles in 1336, while they unquestionably after- wards formed a part of the territory possessed by the Camerons. By the later historians one of the clans who fought on the North Inch of Perth, and who were termed by the earlier chroniclers Clan Quhele, are identified with the Clan Chattan, and that this identification is well founded so far as regards that part of the clan which adhered to the Royal cause, while that, on the part of
4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the Clan Cameron who followed the same course, and were nearly entirely destroyed on Palm Sunday, we may recognise their opponents, the Clan Kay, is not without much probability." \Ve consider this highly probable; and the fact that Skene has found it necessary to depart so far from his earlier theory gives it greater weight, and now makes it altogether pretty conclusive.
The Clan Chattan of modern times who followed Mackintosh as Captain of the clan, consisted of sixteen septs, but the original Clan Chattan was formed of the Clan Mhuirich, or Macphersons, the Clan Daibhidh or Davidsons, " who were called the Old Clan Chattan," and six others, who came under the protection of the clan, namely the Macgillivrays, the Macbeans, the Clan MhicGovies, the Clan Tarrel, the Clan Cheann-Duibh, and the Sliochd-Gowchruim or Smiths. The Clan MhicGovies were a branch of the Camerons, while the Smiths were the decendants of the famous Gobha or Smith who took the place of the missing man at Perth in 1396.
On the other hand, the Camerons at that period consisted of four branches or septs, known "as the Clan Gillanfhaigh or Gillonie, or Camerons of Invermalie and Strone ; the Clan Soirlie, or Camerons of Glenevis ; the Clan Mhic Mhartain, or Macmartins of Letterfinlay ; and the Camerons of Lochiel. The latter were the sept whose head became Captain of Clan Cameron and adhered to the Lord of the Isles, while the three former represented the part of the clan who seceded from him in 1429. Besides these there were dependent septs, the chief of which were the Clan Mhic Gilveil or Macmillans, and these were believed to be of the race Ilan Chattan. The connection between the two clans is thus apparent. Now there are preserved genealogies of both clans ic.r earlier forms, written not long after the year 1429 One 1S termed the 'genealogy of the Clan an Toisig, that is the C an Gillechattan,' and it gives it in two separate lines, t represented the Older Mackintoshes. The second His t "! GlUechattan Mor> ^e eponymus of the clan. T T MU1'reaCh' fr°m Wh°m the C1*" Mhuirich ' " ?°\ D°mna11 or Donald, called 'an
8 Th0: ?r aspirrd wouid f°rm the —
The chief seat of this branch of the clan
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 5
can also be ascertained, for Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, confirms a charter granted by William, Earl of Ross, in 1338, of the lands of Dalnafert and Kinrorayth or Kin- rara, under reservation of one acre of ground near the Stychan of the town of Dalnavert, where was situated the manor of the late Seayth, son of Ferchard, and we find a \ Tsead, son of Ferquhar,' in the genealogy at the same period. Moreover, the grandson of this Seayth was Disiab or Shaw, who thus was contemporary with the Shaw who fought in 1396. With regard to the Clan Cameron, the invariable tradition is that the head of the Mac- gillonies or Macgillanaigh led the clan who fought with the Clan Chattan during the long feud between them, and the old genea- ology terms the Camerons Clan Maelanfhaigh, or the race of the servant of the prophet, and deduces them from a common an- cestor, the Clan Maelanfhaigh and the Clan Camshron, and as the epithet ' an Caimgilla,' when aspirated, would become ' Kevil,' so the word * Fhaigh' in its aspirated form would be represented by the ' Hay' of the chroniclers. John Major probably gives the clue to the whole transaction, when he tells us that ' these two clans' — the Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron, which, as we have seen, had a certain connection through their dependent septs ' were of one blood, having but little in lordships, but following one head of their race as principal, with their kinsman and de- pendents.' He is apparently describing their position before these dissensions broke out between them, and his description re- fers us back to the period when the two clans formed one tribe, possessing the district of Lochaber as their Tuath or country, where the lands in dispute — Glenlui and Locharkaig — were pro- bably the official demesne of the 'old Toisech, or head of the tribe.' "* The ancient and common origin of the Mackintoshes and Can\erons in that of the Old Clan Chattan will, we think, be admitted by all whose special theories as to the origin of their own families will not be upset or seriously affected by an admis- sion of the fact.
The original possessions of the Camerons were confined to the portion of Lochaber lying on the east side of the Loch and River of Lochy, held of the Lord of the Isles as superior. The more modern possessions of the clan — Lochiel and Lochark-
* Celtic Scotland, Vol. III., pp. 313-318.
6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ate—lying on the west side of these waters were at an earlier period granted by the Island lord to Macdonald of Clanran- ald, by* whose descendants they were for many generations inhabited. Skene holds that, as the Camerons are one of those clans whose chief bore the somewhat doubtful title of Captain, a strong suspicion exists that the Cameron chiefs were of a different branch from the older family, and had, in common with the other families among whom the title of captain is found, been the oldest cadet, and in that capacity had superseded the elder branch at a period when the latter became reduced in posi- tion and circumstances.
The traditionary origin of the Camerons proper clearly points to the ancient chiefs of the clan, for, continues the same author, "while they are unquestionably of native origin, their tradition derives them from a certain Cambro, a Dane, who is said to have acquired his property with the chiefship of the clan, by marriage with the daughter and heiress of Macmartin of Let- terfinlay. The extraordinary identity of all these traditionary tales, wherever the title of Captain is used, leaves little room to doubt that in this case the Macmartins were the old chiefs of the clan, and the Lochiel family were the oldest cadets, whose after- position at the head of the clan gave them the title of Captain of the Clan Cameron. There is reason to think that, on the acquisi- tion of the Captainship of the Clan Chattan, in 1396, by the Mackintoshes, the Macmartins adhered to the successful faction, while the great body of the Clan, with the Camerons of Lochiel, declared themselves independent, and thus the Lochiel family gained that position which they have ever since retained."* It * supposed that another circumstance—the desertion of the Lord )f the Isles by the Clan at Inverlochy in 1431— helped to raise the leader of the Lochiel Camerons to the chiefship of the whole clan, at a time when the Macmartins, after the victory of the Lord the Isles, were furiously attacked, and their leader driven 2 in Ireland, while his followers had to take refuge in the >re mountainous parts of the Cameron country. The Mac- s were afterwards unable to assume their former position ' head of their house, and Cameron of Lochiel, the oldest family, assumed the chiefship of the whole clan, * Highlanders of Scotland, Vol. II,, pp, 194-195.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 7
with the title of Captain, and was placed at their head. The leader who is said to have first taken up this distinguished position was the renowned Donald Dubh from whom the Came- ron chiefs take their patronymic of "Mac Dhomh'uill Duibh," and of whom at length, in his proper place, hereafter.
According to the Manuscript of 1450, which begins the genealogy of the MacGillonie Camerons with Ewen, son of Donald Dubh last mentioned, the descent of the early family chiefs ex- tend back from Donald's son in the following order : — " Ewen, son of Donald Dubh, son of Allan Millony, son of Paul, son of Gillepatrick, son of Gillemartan, son of Paul, son of Millony, son of Gilleroth,* from whom descended the Clan Cameron and Clan Millony ; son of Gillemartan Og, son of Gilleniorgan, son of Gillemartan Mor, son of Gilleewen, son of Gillepaul, son of Eacada, son of Gartnaid, son of Digail, son of Poulacin, son of Art, son of Angus Mor, son of Ere, son of Telt."f This genea- logy clearly refers to the " Maelanfhaigh" or Macgillonie stem of the family, though it begins with Ewen, son of Donald Dubh, who died before his father without issue, when he was succeeded by his brother Donald, who represented and carried on the Came- ron line of succession, which we shall now proceed to trace from its original source, so far as we can with the meagre materials within our reach.
The name Cameron in ancient times was variously written in such forms as Cameron, Cambron, Cambrun. The first of which we find any trace is,
i. ANGUS, who married Marion, one of the daughters of Kenneth III. King of Scotland, and sister of Bancho, Thane of Lochaber, a fact which amply proves that Angus was a person of rank and dignity, even at that early period, for Bancho, in addi- tion to his position as a Royal Prince, was governor of one of the largest Provinces in the Kingdom, Lochaber being said to com- prehend, at that time, all the lands between the River Spey and the Western Sea. Angus is alleged to have been instrumental
* Skene says in a foot-note, Vol. III., Celtic Scotland, p. 480, "This is the Gilleroth mentioned by Fordun in 1222 as a follower of Macohecan in his insurrec- tion, along with whom he witnesses a charter as Gilleroth, son of Gillemartan.
t Translated by Skene, and printed with the Gaelic original in Celtic Scotland, Vol. III. p. 480.
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in saving Flcancc the son of Bancho, and his own lady's nephew, from the cruelty of Macbeth, and to have been rewarded and highly esteemed on that account. He is said to have died about 1020, when he was succeeded by his son.
2. GILLESPICK OR ARCHIBALD, who joined the loyalists anc assisted in the restoration of Malcolm Ceanmore in 1057. For this service he was, according to the family historian, raised with many others to the dignity of a « Lord Baron," on the 25th of April in that year ; but such dignities it seems were not heredit- ary in Scotland in those days, but ended with the lives of those on whom they were conferred, though, in many cases, they were renewed to their sons. This does not appear to have happened in the case of the Camerons, and the dignity died with its first possessor. He was succeeded by his eldest son,*
3. JOHN CAMERON, said to have lived in the reign of King David I., but nothing further is known regarding him. He was succeeded by his son, or grandson,
IV. ROBERT CAMERON. In a donation to the Monastery of Cambuskenneth, before 1200, in the reign of William the Lyon, Henry, Archdean of Dunkeld ; Alexander, Sheriff of Stirl- ing ; Henry de Lamberton ; and this Robert Cambron, are found witnesses. He died early in the reign of Alexander II., leaving issue —
1. John, his heir and successor.
2. Robert de Cambron, whose name is mentioned with that of his brother in the Chartulary of Scoon in 1239, and is said by some to have been the progenitor of the Camerons of Strone.
3. Hugo, or Hugh, or Ewen de Cambron, mentioned in the Chartulary of Arbroath in 1219, but of whose posterity nothing is known.
Robert Cameron was succeeded by his eldest son, V. SIR JOHN DE CAMERON, who, as John de Cambrun, is witness to a donation in favour of the religious house at Scoon in 1 234, with Walter, son of Alan, Lord High Steward and Justiciar of Scotland ; Walter Cumin, Earl of Menteith ; Adam de Logan ; John de Haya ; and his own brother, Robert de Cambrun. He
*Hc is said to have had a second son, Angus, who had a son Martin, from whom ihe Macmartins of Lelterfinlay sprang. This is, however, scarcely consistent with what is already stated.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 9
is also mentioned in connection with some marches, in the Diocese of Aberdeen, in 1233 ; and in 1250 he is found designed "Johannes de Cambrun, Miles " &c. He had two sons —
1. Robert his heir and successor.
2. John, mentioned in Pryme's Collections in 1296. He is alleged to have been progenitor of the Camerons of Glen-Nevis. Sir John died in the reign of Alexander II., and was succeeded by his eldest son,
VI. SIR ROBERT DE CAMERON, one of those who made their submission to Edward I. of England, is twice mentioned in Pryme's collections, first as dominus Robertus de Cambrun, Miles, and afterwards, in 1296, Robertus de Cambrun, Chevalier. He was succeeded by his son,
VII. JOHN DE CAMBRUN also known as "John MacOchtery," who made a considerable figure in the reign of Robert I., at which early period this clan is said to have been numerous in Lochaber. He was one of those who signed the famous letter sent to the Pope by the Scottish Nobility in 1320, in which they plead for the King's title to the Scottish Crown, and for the independence of Scotland. He also joined David II. with a considerable body of his followers, whom he commanded in the third Division of the Scots army at the battle of Hallidon Hill, on the i$th of July 1333. He continued in the King's service until the English were expelled from the Kingdom, and the King firmly settled in the government of Scotland. It was in his time that the long continued and deadly feud between the Camerons and the Mackintoshes first began, though it was many years after his death before it was finally brought to a close.*
John was succeeded by his son.
(To be continued.)
* The only Chiefs prior to this period named in the Family MS. are the first two and the last, Angus, Gillespick, and John. The others are given in Wood's edition of Douglas's Baronage, where at this point two Johns are given in succession. The acts ascribed to the two Johns of Douglas's Baronage are ascribed to one John in the Family MS. We have followed the latter. It is, however, quite impossible to secure certainty on a genealogical question so remote in the case of any of our Highland Clans. Referring to these discrepancies, the editor of the " Memoirs" says that he " has been informed by one of the highest authorities on these subjects, that the earlier generations contained in Douglas's Baronage, when not fabulous, were not of the Locheill family, but belonged to the family of Camerons of Balligarnoch in
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE TARTAN AVALANCHE. Dedicated to Sir Archibald Alison.
Charge, ye noble-hearted heroes,
Make the tyrants backward reel ; On as did your dauntless fathers
With their trusty Highland steel ! Where the battle fray was fiercest,
They did death and danger spurn, And their free and fearless spirits
Still within your bosoms burn !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph !
Burst the proud oppressor's chains ! Like your own immortal Wallace,
Noble blood rolls through your veins !
Charge for Scotland's stainless honour !
Round her deathless laurels twine ! Make her'golden page of glory
With unfading lustre shine ! Yours the strath of purple heather,
Yours the mountain and the glen ; Let the despots, by your valour,
Know these nurse but gallant men !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph, &c.
Perthshire, and that the founder of the Locheill branch was Donald Dubh MacAllan, the sixth chief according to the Memoirs. "It ought, however, to be observed," he continues, " that although the author evidently labours under the impression that the first were of the Locheill branch, yet he merely asserts that they were the princi- pal men of the name of Cameron of whom he could find any mention in History." This is a point which, at least for the present, we must leave where we found it. John Cameron is mentioned in a document, dated loth of March 1233, printed by Mr Charles Eraser-Mackintosh, p. 24 of his Invemessiana, and, at p. 44 of the same work, Robert de Chambroun de Balgligernaucht (? Baligarny) is mentioned in a docu- ment, dated the 1 6th of December 1292, by which the King grants him a pension of 50 merks payable by the burgesses of Inverness.
* The Highland Brigade, at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir, witrTpipes play- ing and a wild ringing cheer, rushed in gallant style through the enemy's fire and car- ried the trenches at the point of the bayonet. They had 50 killed and 170 wounded ! Apart from the Highlanders, all the rest of the army had only 13 killed and 165 wounded. Scotland may well be proud of her sons, who still retain the bold martial spirit and dashing valour which distinguished them in bygone times.
THE INVERARAY PROCLAMATION. 11
Hearts more valiant, true, and loyal,
Never'trod a battle-field ; Far amid the wild war-billows
Die they may but never yield ! Swiftly as the dark hill-torrent
Dashes to the vale below So the avalanche of tartan
Rushes on to meet the foe ! Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph, &c.
To the pibroch, proudly sounding,
On they bound with hardy pride ; In the van the claymore flashes,
Foemen fall on every side. Naught can stay old Scotland's heroes,
Frowning forts, nor belching guns ! On Fame's brilliant scroll, in splendour,
Shine the brave deeds of her sons !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph !
Burst the proud oppressor's chains ! Like your own immortal Wallace,
Noble blood rolls_through your veins !
Edinburgh. ALEXANDER LOGAN.
THE INVERARAY PROCLAMATION.— The disciples of Isaac Walton, who find it a difficult task to discover an open water, will relish the proclamation given in the Dunoon book as having been made at the Market Cross of Inveraray in the last century : —
Ta-hoy ! Te t'ither ahoy ! Ta-hoy
Three times ! ! ! an' Ta-hoy— Whisht ! ! !
By command of his Majesty, King George an' her Grace te Duke o' Argyll :
If any body is found fishing aboon te loch,
or below te loch, afore te loch, or ahint te loch,
in te loch, or on te loch, aroun' te loch, or
about te loch,
She's to be persecutit wi' three persecutions :
First, she's to be burnt, syne she's to be
drownt, and then she's to be hangt — an'
if ever she comes back she's to be persecutit
Wi' a faur waur death.
God save the King an' her Grace te Duke o' Argyll !
— Literary Notes in the Daily Mail.
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ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION AND MR JOHN MACKAY, C.E., HEREFORD.
PROFESSOR BLACKIE, in one of his recent " Highland Sketches " in the Scotsman, writes :— The Educational Association of Rogart of whose seventh anniversary, held under the presi- dency of her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland, a short notice appeared in your columns, and at which I had the good fortune to be present — is, I believe, a unique phenomenon in Highland parishes, to the importance of which it seems proper to direct the attention of the public. Rogart is a parish of considerable extent — about 10 miles by 6 — and as such demanding, for the con- venience of children of unripe ages in a raw climate, under the new regulations, four separate schools. Mr John Mackay, of Hereford, an engineer of well-known efficiency in Wales, being a native, and son of a crofter in this parish, and, like all true High- landers, possessed by the noble passion of doing good to his fellow-countrymen, conceived the idea of uniting these schools in a general association for the purposes of common action. This scheme, under his wise direction and the co-operation of the clergy and other influential persons in the district, leaped at a stride into distinct reality, and has already become not the least potent factor in the moral machinery of the district. Its action is threefold — (i) It unites all the four schools of the parish in a general competition for prizes, after the fashion of the Ferguson scholarships, which are open to the students of all the Scottish Universities, giving the most effective spur to a generous rivalry among the competing schools, and creating, at the same time, a feeling of unity, and nursing the habit of common action, in the highest degree beneficial to the best interests of the parish ; (2) It supplies a fund large enough to equip any one of the best scholars of the parish for a University career, where, after a good start, he may be able to fight his own way up into professional usefulness; (3) It maintains a library for parochial uses; and (4) Has a debating society connected with it for improvement in English composition, and the discussion of subjects of human and 1 interest. I feel quite confident, Mr Editor, that you will agree with me in thinking that a local movement of this kind,
ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 13
however small it may bulk among the scenes that are enacted on more prominent and more pretentious platforms, is a movement, not only in itself of great social importance, but in the hope which it holds forth of being the germ of educational action on a similar principle all over the Highlands, and, it may be, over the whole of Scotland.
Mr Mackay, to whom a grateful address was delivered by the parishioners, has appealed, in this movement, to the great principle of self-help — a principle which, whenever it is called into operation, not only achieves the desired result in the prompt- est possible way, but achieves it by rousing into full play all those moral forces by the action of which a man becomes, in the complete sense of the word, a man. Whatever is done for us and not by us, however well done, can never make us strong in the doing of it ; may only leave us dexterous tools, or well- trained puppets, in the hands of those who have done it for us. This is the fundamental principle of all true democracy ; the one root out of which all individual strength and all social dignity proceeds. Some things, no doubt, must be done externally by social compulsion — that is, by the State and by public law ; otherwise, as human nature is constituted, they will either not be done at all, or done in a very inadequate fashion. Nevertheless, it is well that outside of all State arrangement there should be a free field left for voluntary creation ; and one such free field Mr Mackay has appropriated in the Rogart Educational Association. It is an evil inherent in all centralised systems that they tend to apply a rigid rule, in a mechanical way, to all material, however diverse, that comes within the sphere of their operation ; while the local element, which, as the most characteristic, is not seldom the most valuable element in all true culture, under the panoramic view of remote redtapists, becomes unduly subordin- ated or altogether invisible. An example of this necessary peculiarity of centralised optics we find in the systematic omission of the native lauguage and the native music, in the favoured subjects of the Educational Code for the Highlands; though nothing is more certain, on the one hand, that the comparative study of Gaelic and English is the best possible intellectual exercise for young Celts, just as the comparative study of Latin and English is for the young Lowlander ; and, on the other hand,
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that, for the cultivation of the emotions and the moral nature, the national songs and the national music are among the most potent instruments that Nature has put into the hands of the educator. To counteract this onesidedness, Mr Mackay, with the large views of a patriot, and the warm heart of a man, has instituted in Rogart a Gaelic class for young persons and adults, in connection with the Association, giving prizes, as, indeed, he does largely on all occasions, principally out of his own pocket. I have only to add that this Association, in its special action for the encourage- ment of the mother tongue, points out to Highlanders, with a significant index, the only way by which they can hope to have anything worthy of the name of a Highland education in High- land schools. The men who measure out educational red tape in London or Oxford do not seem to have the most remote notion that good Highland education consists in drawing out (educo) the best elements that God and Nature have put into the Highland breast ; their method is to suppose that Highland souls are empty vessels, into which knowledge is to be poured in the quality, and accord- ing to the quantity, that the Metropolitan man, in the plenitude of his codifying and inspectorial wisdom, may weigh out ; a method which will have the infallible result of annihilating the noble race called Highlanders altogether, and turning them all out as the accomplished monkeys and flunkeys and dancing bears of omnipotent John Bull. I crave, in conclusion, a place for a few complimentary lines
TO JOHN MACKAY, ESQ., OF HEREFORD, THE FOUNDER OF THE ROGART SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, SUTHERLAND.
Who love the Highlands ? not with murtherous guns,
Who scour the moor, and chase the flying deer ;
Who lure the speckled troutling from the mere, And hook the strong-nosed salmon, where he runs Cleaving the adverse flood. These love their sport ;
But thou, Mackay, dost love the stout-thewed men,
Whose sweatful toil redeemed the stony glen, And filled wide Europe with the proud report Of their high-daring deeds ; and thou didst stir
In fresh young hearts brave memory of their sires ; And mothers hailed in thee God's minister,
To fan the slumbering flame of patriot fires. Who loveth thus loves well, and, nobly wise, Weds earth to heaven with worth that never dies.
JOHN STUART BLACKIE.
ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 15
At the meeting of the Association, referred to by Professor Blackie, Mr Mackay was presented with the address from the people of Rogart, his native village, " as a token at once of their high admiration of his character and career, and of their very grateful appreciation of his intelligent, liberal, and unwearied endeavours to advance the social and intellectual welfare of the inhabitants of that, his native, parish." After giving him full praises for founding the Rogart Association, the Address pro- ceeded.—
It is creditable to you as well as encouraging and pleasing to us to find this Society already a power for good in the parish, chief among its many fruits being a literary institute, with its debating society, library, and reading-room, as also a sing- ing class. Its excellent results are further seen in the creditable position attained in grammar schools and Universities by some of those aided by this Association. While, no doubt, it is in this parish amongst ourselves that your name and the history of your highly creditable and successful career are and will be treasured with a special pride and affection, it is well known that your fame as a true Highlander and a benefactor of your countrymen is not confined to Rogart, not even to the Highlands. Wherever Highlanders are to be found, in the distant colonies of Australia and New Zealand, among the brave, industrious Gaelic-speaking settlers of Canada, by the Celts that occupy positions of trust and influence on the sunny fields of India, and, nearer home, by the Celtic population of the large towns and cities, and of the far-off hamlets of the Outer Hebrides, the name of John Mackay, of Swansea, the designation by which you are better known, is respected and cherished with a fond regard as an accom- plished Highlander — a true friend of the people and of the ancient Gaelic tongue, an intelligent student of Highland traditions, and a liberal, thoughtful, promoter of the best interests of his Highland countrymen, as tillers of the soil, and in all other spheres of life.
Mr Mackay eloquently replied in feeling and patriotic lan- guage, after which Professor Blackie delivered, as usual, a telling speech. Speaking of the Duchess of Sutherland, who was present, and listened to his eloquent and well-deserved encomiums, he said. —
I am happy to know that she is the right kind of duchess — (Cheers) — she is a duchess that loves her people. (Loud cheers.) That I know; and any one who walks up through Strathpeffer can see that. You will see there white cottages on the hill sides, tenanted by the native population — the place teeming with a thriving High- land peasantry. (Applause.) You will not there see one big house occupied by an Elliot or a Paterson, or some outlandish name of that sort. (Great laughter.) The Highland peasants are still there like the heather upon the hills, or the old Caledonian pines, remaining where they should be. (Cheers.) This is the effect of good manage- ment ; and when her Grace looks upon these people we know her sentiments. "These," she says, " were my father's tenants, and so far as I can, consistent with good man-
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agement, they shall be mine, (Cheers.) They shall not leave that property unless it be for their better, and mine also." (Applause.) I have been accused of being a sonneteer— (Laughter)— and a sentimentalist, but I would be a brute and a craven- hearted beast if I could walk through the Highland glens which I have seen utterly desolate— (Applause)— where we know that thirty or forty years ago there was a happy and prosperous population— the nursery of our best labourers, of our best soldiers— (Cheers)— but instead of whom we now find ten hundred thousand sheep and one big south country farmer— (Laughter and applause)— I say that with that sight before me I weep when I go there. (Applause.) But our duchess loves her people. She knows her position and her relation to them— she knows that that relationship is higher than mere rent -gathering — she is not like your miserable shopkeeper and ordinary rent- collectors. God forbid ! True nobility has higher aims and higher duties than these —(Applause)— it loves, it honours, it reveres the people. (Applause.) If our aristoc- racy look upon the people on merely mercantile principles they will fall into contempt, and deservedly so. (Applause.) Now, I am afraid of becoming eloquent — (Laughter) but I have been called on to speak— the thought rises, and you must take it as it comes. I am sure there is nothing higher or nobler than the position of the owner of a great landed property, if that person looks upon it as an onerous position, and feels called upon to improve the land and advance the well-being of the people — (Applause) —I know nothing like it. There is no profession superior to that of elevating the position of the people — raising them in the physical, intellectual, and moral scale. (Applause.) What can be better than that? Some proprietors send some fellows down to gather as much money as possible out of the people, and after that let them emigrate or starve. Now that is a wretched policy — (Applause) — and a policy with which I know her Grace has no sympathy, for we see in her one of the highest in the land doing the noblest and best acts to her people — preserving them in the country of her fathers and their fathers, encouraging them to improve their possessions and gene- rally promoting their interests. (Loud applause.)
The reader should know that her Grace has large properties of her own in the counties of Ross and Cromarty, and it was to these and not to Sutherland that the Professor referred. Speak- ing of the objects of the Association, the Professor continued- Love is the regular bond of society, which binds class and class, and if anybody says that cash payment is the only and leading principle, to him I say— Maranatha— (Laughter)— a curse upon you ! That man is not a Christian. He is not animated with the spirit of the old landlords— the love which was the old bond in the time of the clans, which some of you with big pockets and small hearts— (Laughter) -call times of barbarism and thieving— (Laughter)— I wish to take the liberty which all >peechmakers, and sometimes many preachers, take of departing from the subject— Daughter)— in saying a single word to express my view of the aims of such an Asso- ion as this. This is one of the things which in these literary days I enjoy. It means two things. In the first place, it means self-dependence, and in the second (Applause.) That is the root of all true national greatness ; and it follows it without it your men become mere puppets— or bonny, well-behaved girls. (Great ter.) You will get that sort of thing in Austria and under the Jesuits, but in have a little manhood the people must be taught to do things for themselves, I the sort of education which they want and which they require. The
THE GAELIC CENSUS. 17
whole of Scotland is deficient in the matter of secondary education — and why ? Be- cause the people up in London don't care a copper for you — they think that your sal- vation must come from London — (Great laughter) — and that your chief function is to let John Bull ride over your necks — to bring out all the Celtic soul that is in you. But my advice to you is to cultivate all your traditions, especially all your Gaelic songs and all your Gaelic legends, and learn the morals which they convey. I do not want to prop up the Gaelic by artificial- means, but while it is a living tongue, use it, and benefit by it — (Applause) — and because your aged mother is sixty years, and you a strapping young dame, don't kick her into the grave— let her tell her story ; for if you despise your mother, others will naturally and deservedly despise you. (Ap- plause.)
Nae treasures or pleasures Could mak' us happy lang ;
The heart's aye the part aye That mak's us richt or wrang.
During the proceedings the Rev. Mr Mackay intimated that hitherto four girls and five boys had been assisted by the Associ- ation at Grammar and Normal Schools. The very first boy the Association took in hand — one who had lost both his parents at an early age — went to the Grammar School at Aberdeen. In his first year there he got a bursary of £iS for two years. After attending the Grammar School for two years he entered the University, where he carried off a bursary of £20 for four years. Last year this same boy obtained another bursary of the value of £10.
THE GAELIC CENSUS,
IN the month of March last year, when the census schedules were issued, bearing the puzzling instruction to enumerators and house- holders about " habitual " speakers of Gaelic, the worthlessness, for any practical purposes, of such a census as was there re- quired was pointed out, and our countrymen were warned that use would be made of this incomplete and altogether fallacious enumeration to institute comparisons as to the relative strength of the English and Gaelic speaking districts of our country, a comparison which would inevitably tell to the disadvantage of the Gaelic speaking people, and which, to those who did not know, or did not choose to pay attention to the circumstances
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of the enumeration, would supply a convenient ground for further official ignoring of the Highland people and their language.
That such caution was not uncalled for is now evident from the returns by the Registrar-General of the completed census. In his report, without the slightest hint as to the notoriously in- correct and incomplete character of the Gaelic statistics, he goes on to make his calculations of the numerical strength of the Gaelic population. In the first place he calls the Gaelic return an attempt to give "an accurate account of the numbers of the population who in each locality are said to be 'Gaelic-speaking,' or to be in the habit of making colloquial use of the Gaelic lan- guage." Let our readers mark, " an accurate account," or, as he further on says, the percentage of Gaelic speakers "dearly shown." He then goes on to state that the percentage of Gaelic speakers in the various districts stands thus :— The North-Western Division, 71-08 per cent, of the population; the West, Midland, and Northern Divisions contain 18-49 and 16*99 P^ cent, re- spectively. The counties show as follows: — Sutherland, 75-31 per cent; Ross and Cromarty, 71-40; Inverness, 70-80; and Argyle, 6o'8i. In the county of Lanark, including the city of Glasgow, there are 10,513 persons returned as "Gaelic speakers," this number being only ri6 per cent, of the population of that county. It is probable that the percentages quoted above may be fairly accurate so far as they apply to Highland districts and counties, and may be accepted as furnishing an approximation to the numbers of persons colloquially speaking the Gaelic language. But the natural inference that the remaining percentages represent the proportion of English speakers we protest against, because they embrace many of the infants and young children of ex- clusively Gaelic-speaking people (who will in all probability grow up Gaelic speakers) as well as the "unspeakable" children of English speaking parents. Manifestly, therefore, the comparison is quite unfair.
It is simply ridiculous to speak of the return for Lanarkshire as an "accurate" account of the number of Gaelic speakers. Glasgow shows only some 8500. Why, any one who sees the Gaelic congregations of that city dismissing on a Sunday fore- noon may find in Hope Street alone over 3000 Gaelic speakers ssuing from two churches. We venture to say that if the number
PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND LAND LAWS. 19
of Gaelic speakers returned for Glasgow were multiplied by seven it would be much nearer an accurate return.
It may be remarked by some that the census only contem- plated enumerating those who were habitual speakers of Gaelic, and that possibly the returns for Glasgow may be nearly correct. But granting that, what is the value of it? or what dependence can be put on a census that in Lewis returns the whole popula- tion of certain parishes, down to the infants at the breast, as speak- ing Gaelic, while in other places the enumerators carefully ex- cluded all who were able to converse in Gaelic if they did not do so habitually, as was evidentally done in Glasgow ? It is a noto- rious fact that many of the enumerators deliberately ignored their instructions, and made no enquiries about the filling up of the Gaelic column. Even in the town of Inverness we personally know of cases where whole families — some numbering nine persons — scarcely any member of whom can express the commonest idea intelligently in English — who are in every sense Gaelic-speaking people only — were returned by the enumerators' as English- speaking, while they never utter a word of English unless they are obliged to do so to make themselves understood. This sort of thing holds equally true of other places North and South.
On the whole, we have no hesitation in pronouncing the re- turn of so-called Gaelic speakers as very misleading, indeed almost worthless, and would caution Highlanders against any statistical uses that may be made of it.
PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND THE LAND LAWS. — Professor Blackic writes as follows to the Scotsman: — "Sir, — I observe a paragraph in your paper of the 3rd inst., in which my name is mentioned in connection with 'a land agitation in the Highlands,' forthwith to be inaugurated. I write this to state that I gave no authority to any person to make such a use of my name. With regard to our Land Laws generally, not only in the Highlands, but all over the country, long study and observation have convinced me that they are unjust and impolitic in an extreme de- gree ; and it may be that, from certain local causes, they are made to act more harshly and more perniciously in the Highlands than in the low country. So soon as any fundamental changes in these laws shall be put into a practical shape by influential politicians and men of business, the leaders in such a movement may calculate on my warm sympathy and active co-operation, so far as it may be worth anything. But I am a student by profession, and not an agitator, and meddle with questions of legal and social reform only in a subsidiary and secondary way."
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THE HIGHLAND BRIGADE AND THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS.
A VALUED correspondent, referring to a prospective Measure of Relief to the Highland Crofters, writes to us as follows : — I re- joice to think that a measure of relief of this nature is now within easy reach. The gallant charge of the Highland Brigade at Tel-el-Kebir has again placed the Empire under obligations to this contingent of the army, and as the time will soon be at hand for rewarding deserving general officers, the claims of the men could not be acknowledged by the country in a more befitting manner than by conferring freedom and security upon the stock from which they are drawn, so that the Highlands may still be preserved as a nursery for brave men and bonnie lasses.
The most effective demonstration that can be made is to get up a petition of crofters to Parliament setting forth their griev- ances, and praying to be made peasant proprietors with enlarged holdings where the land admits of it. A roll should be sent to every parish, and ministers of both Churches might be enlisted in favour of the step, and be useful in getting it signed. This being done, a deputation of crofters, of about 100 men, or say, a repre- sentative man from every parish, should be sent to London dressed in their usual best garb and Kilmarnock bonnets, with a piper at their head, to deliver their petition to Mr Bright or some English member of weight and talent for presentation. It would be a respectful, a manly, a constitutional, and altogether a unique and telling demonstration. Our difficulty is to command the attention of Englishmen. Our existence must be made known to them, and we ought to show them that we are in earnest.
The money can be easily found. I think £1000 ought to cover all the expenses. I shall be glad to contribute a ten pound note myself, although I am not wealthy, but I have wealthy friends upon whose liberality I may count.
The following table, from the Inverness Courier, gives point to our correspondent's suggestion :
THE HIGHLANDERS AT TEL-EL-KEBiR.—An examination list of the killed and wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, as finally
NAMES OF DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 21
made up by Sir Garnet Wolscley, brings out the melancholy fact that the Highland regiments suffered more than all the other regiments under Wolseley's command put together. The number of regiments returned as having been engaged in the action is 17. Of these five are Highland regiments. The total number of casualties of all ranks is 459. The casualties among the Highlanders alone number 245, thus leaving only 214 to be divided among the other twelve regiments. Nothing tells more eloquently of the heroic part the Highland regiments took in this battle. We tabulate their losses as follows : —
Officers Officers Other Ranks Other Ranks
Killed. Wounded. Killed. Wounded. Missing.
Black Watch 2 6 7 37 4
Gordon Highlanders i i 5 29 4
Cameron Highlanders 3 13 45
Highland Light Infantry... 3 5 14 52 11
Seaforth Highlanders ... i 3
Total 6 15 40 166 19
The other twelve Regiments 3 12 8 187 3
Grand total. 9 27 48 353 22
In other words, five Highland Regiments lost six officers killed, and the other twelve regiments together lost only three officers killed. The Highland Regiments lost forty non-commissioned officers and men killed, and all the others put together lost only eight non-commissioned officers and men killed.
ORIGIN OF THE NAMES DOUGLAS AND SKENE.
IN the last issue of the Celtic Magazine there appeared an account of the origin of the name Gordon from the pen of M. A. Rose, and I thought it would not be amiss to present you this month with a legendary version of the origin of the names Douglas and Skene. The first runs thus : —
Towards the end of the nth century, when Scotland was the scene of much bloodshed, there lived in England a youth of about twenty-two years of age, who, although at that time a hostage at the English Court, was destined to become King of Scotland. He was a natural son of Malcolm Canmorc, but his
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father having been killed at Alnwick, and leaving no children old enough to succeed him except Duncan, who, as I have said, was detained as a hostage in England, the throne had been seized by a brother of the late King, named Donald Bane.
At length, Duncan obtained his freedom, and the first use he made of it was to collect an army and advance to dethrone his uncle. Donald immediately marched to meet him, and in a short time the rival armies were facing each other upon a level plain, which gave neither party any advantage over the other. Donald's army, however, far outnumbered that of his nephew, but, nothing daunted, Duncan ordered his men to advance, and with wild shouts, they threw themselves upon the ranks of the enemy. At first, the foe gave way, but immediately after he rallied, and was bearing Duncan and his brave little army back, when a horseman appeared upon the scene who very quickly changed the aspect of affairs. The new comer was of immense stature, and was mounted upon a magnificent black horse. Both horse and man were defended by massive armour of a dark grey colour, and the rider carried a large two-handed sword, a lance, and a mace, which consisted of a short, stout staff, to one end of which was attached a short chain terminated by a ball of iron studded with sharp spikes.
Shouting to the remnant of Duncan's army to follow him, he rushed upon the enemy, making fearful havoc with the dread- ful mace. Thus encouraged by his brave demeanour, he was followed by most of the survivors of Duncan's army, shouting 11 Dubh-glas, Dubh-glas, follow the Dubh-glas ;" that is, " Dark- grey, Dark-grey, follow the Dark-grey." So unexpected was this sudden attack, and so astounded were the enemy at the extraordinary prowess of the dark-grey horseman, that they broke and fled, and left Duncan victorious in possession of the field.
As soon as the battle was over, Duncan called the unknown
•rseman to him, and inquired his name and lineage, that he
be rewarded for his timely aid. Bowing low, the stranger
Sire, my name is James Macduff, at your Majesty's
•vice, and I am a son of Macduff, Thane of Fife. Hearing of
• advance against Donald Bane, I hastened to offer you my
>or aid, and by dint of hard riding, I managed to arrive at a
most seasonable crisis." Duncan replied, '• I am about to reward
NAMES OF DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 23
your services by conferring upon you the honour of knighthood, but before I do so, are you willing to exchange your name of Macduff for that of Dubh-glas, which will be a lasting memorial of the occasion which gave rise to it ?" The young gentleman signified his willingness to do as Duncan had suggested, and bidding him kneel, the new king touched him lightly on the shoulder with the flat of his sword, saying, " Arise, Sir James Dubh-glas, and accept our best thanks for your brave conduct."
In due course the name, of Dubh-glas drifted into Douglas, and the son of the Thane of Fife became the progenitor of the most powerful family in all Scotland.
Regarding the name of Skene the legend is as follows : — During the reign of James V. a great hunting expedition was organised by the King, which was to consist of some two or three hundred noblemen and gentlemen connected with the Court. The scene of the hunt was to be Stocket Forest, in Athol, then the haunt of wolves, foxes, stags, badgers, hares, rabbits, and other game.
On a fine day in September, the royal party set out for the forest, enlivening the journey with jests and snatches of song. At length the hunting-ground was reached; several hundred beaters were employed to beat the undergrowth and bushes with long poles, and, soon, a magnificent stag royal was started. The king's deer-hounds were let loose, and in a moment the dark, gloomy forest was echoing the deep-toned bay of the hounds, and the clear "Tally-ho" and "Yoicks" of the merry huntsmen. All were in their element, except the unfortunate object of their pursuit, for now the pace at which the noble animal was going began to tell upon his form, and the lolling tongue, wild eye, and unsteady, rocking gait of the poor fellow made it clear to all that he must soon give in. At last, he was driven into a grassy dell, at the bottom of which ran a tiny rivulet of purest water. The hounds were at his heels, but stooping his graceful head, and taking one cool draught, he stood at bay. The foremost hound was received upon his deadly horns, and tossed, gashed and bleeding, high in air. The second and third met a like fate, but then, collecting their energies for a final rush, the whole pack simultaneously sprung upon him, and in a few moments, the keen blade of the huntsman finished what the hounds had begun.
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Placing the body of the stag upon a pack-horse, the cavalcade proceeded, and ere long a gigantic wolf was roused from his lair. Again the hounds gave tongue, and the wolf was chased for many a mile, until furious, he turned savagely upon his howling pursuers. The dogs held back, terrified at his ferocious aspect, but at length one of them mustered up sufficient courage, and sprung at the wolfs throat. Shaking off the hound with a fierce snarl, the brute leaped upon the king's horse, which was foremost, and had it not been for the thick leather hunting-boots which his Majesty wore, and which resisted the attacks of the wolfs teeth, the King would have been seriously wounded. He dealt the animal several blows with his heavy hunting whip, but it would not loose its hold until a gentleman of the party, one of the family of Strowan, drew a short " Sgian " or dirk, which he wore, and attacked the ferocious animal in the rear. Releasing the horse, the wolf sprung upon this gentleman, when there ensued a terrible struggle. The wolf seized him by the right arm, but with the left our hero made repeated stabs at the animal's side. The combatants fell to the ground, rolling over and over, but at last the gentleman arose, fearfully torn, but victorious, and pointing to the gasping wolf, he said, presenting his bloody knife to the King, "Your Majesty, will you be pleased to give the coup de grace" The King took the reeking dirk and cut the animal's throat, and then, placing the weapon carefully in his bosom, he addressed his preserver, " I have to thank you for my life, brave Sir, and I beg that you will allow me to keep the Sgian as a memorial of your courage. Meanwhile, I request you to change your name of Robertson for that of Sgian or Skene as a slight reward for your act, and if ever you wish any favour from me, you have only to refer to the weapon, which I have kept, and I promise, on the word of a Stuart and a King, that it shall be granted you." H.
DONALD MACLEOD'S "GLOOMY MEMORIES OF SUTHERLAND," edited by the
Editor of the Celtic Magazine, with, in addition, a complete history of Evictions in
the Highlands from the Battle of Culloden to the present time, is in the press, and
be published about Christmas or the New- Year by A. & W. Mackenzie, Publishers,
iverness. It will form a neatly printed volume of from 300 to 350 pp., uniform with
Macgregor's « Life of Flora Macdonald," and "The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer."
•Subscribers, 4s.; by post, 4s. 4d. Those wishing to secure copies should
send in their names without delay.
SHERIFF MACKINTOSH AND THE RECENT ROGART EVICTION TRIALS.
THE Glasgow correspondent of the Oban Times of the 7th of October, referring to this trial, says : — " The crofter, Andrew Mackenzie, who was reinstated by his neighbours recently, was tried before the Sheriff at Dornoch on Saturday, and received the heavy sentence of one month's imprisonment, without the option of a fine. Professor Blackie recently referred to this case in the following manner : —
Rogart, however minutely its social condition has been described in that solid and instructive little work, "The Chronicles of Stratheden," had it not been for a recent revolt of certain recalcitrant crofters against certain public officers engaged in the disagreeable duty that occasionally falls to them, might have been to this day a name as unknown to most Scottish readers as the name of any parish in Iceland. In- to the merits of this unfortunate encounter between legal claims and human feelings I have no desire to enter ; my belief is, that in all such cases a little good sense and good feeling on the side of the stronger party will go much farther to prevent undesir- able collisions between the different classes of society than all the law and all the political economy in the libraries.
People who know the case thoroughly wonder why the case was tried before the Sheriff-Principal, and not before the Sheriff-Sub- stitute, who was conversant with the local circumstances. In a Licensing Court no one having a connection with the "trade" is allowed to sit on the bench ; but here we find Sheriff Mackintosh, himself a laird, and, in his capacity of advocate in Edinburgh, senior counsel in the case of Lord Macdonald against the crofters of Ben-Lee, sitting to judge a case which arose out of an attempt to evict Mackenzie from his croft, which he has improved to the extent of £200. In passing sentence, the Sheriff said "it was at the present time especially necessary that the authority of the law should be supported and vindicated;" and so we have his sentence — thirty days' imprisonment, and a fine denied. One can understand how difficult it is for a person to administer law which concerns himself. If procurator-fiscals should not be allowed to act as factors, neither should sheriffs be allowed to act as advocates, when their doing so involves them in a peculiar manner. It is probable that this may be brought before the notice of Parliament by the Federation of Celtic Societies."
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The same authority in the Times of I4th of October states that Sheriff Mackintosh was the guest of the Duke of Sutherland in Dunrobin at the time of the trial. We trust this will immedi- ately receive official contradiction; for, while we are quite satisfied that these social courtesies would not in the least affect the mind of the learned Sheriff, we are equally decided that, in present circumstances, every precaution should be taken to keep our judges above suspicion.
MY BONNIE ROWAN TREE.*
Thrice welcome, sweet green spray,
Cull'd from my Rowan Tree, By lov'd ones far away,
In bonnie Amulree.
In boyhood's days thy root
Was planted by my hand, Just ere I left my dear,
My Scottish fatherland !
Thou but a sapling then,
Though now a shelt'ring tree, While warblers in thy boughs
Sing sweetest melodic.
Oh! handsome Rowan Tree!
I'm growing old and gray; But thou art fresh and green,
Remote from all decay.
One boon for which I pray —
A home in Amulree! Where friends of yore I'd meet
Beneath thee, Rowan Tree!
The Fraochie wimpling by,
In cadence soft and slow — Craig Thullich tow'ring high,
The fragrant woods below.
The old Kirk on the knowe,
The graveyard mossy green ; Thy bosky birks, Lubchuil !
Thy streamlet's silv'ry sheen.
With warm Breadalbane hearts,
'Mong those romantic braes, I happily could spend
The gloaming of my days.
The mem'ries of langsyne—
Bright days of gladsome glee- NX e fondly could revive " Beneath thee, Rowan Tree!
D. MACGREGOR CRERAR.
the w
ORIGIN OF THE NAME GORDON.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — The traditional origin of the name of Gordon, mentioned by Charles Fraser- Mackintosh, M.P., F.S.A., Scot., in his Antiquarian Notes, and referred to by M. A. Rooe in last Celtic Magazine, is one of those punning etymologies that are so common, like Tranent from "Try foment," Rutherford from "Rue their ford," . Selkirk from " Sell the Kirk," Melrose from " a Mallet and a Rose," &c., &c. Gor- don, in Berwickshire, from which the family derives, has evidently got its name from its situation -Goirtin, in Gaelic, "a little field of corn;" standing, as the village does, on what may be called a fertile oasis, in the midst of barren moors and dismal peat mosses. Burke, in his " Peerage and Baronage," says of the Gordons : — "Al- though there are numerous histories of this illustrious family extant, yet the historians do not coincide as to its origin and first settlement in Great Britain. Some bring the Gordons from Greece to Gaul, and thence into Scotland, at least a thousand years ago ; while others convey them from Spain, Flanders, &c. The more probable conjecture, however, is that some of the Gordons came into England with William, Duke of Normandy, and into Scotland with King Malcolm Canmore." He goes on to men- tion the boar tradition, which may be quite true, but, nevertheless, certainly did not give rise to the family name, though it may have given occasion to its bearers assuming three boars' heads for their armorial bearing. In the different lists of the conquerors of England, published by Bromton, Leland, and Duchesne, and quoted by Thierry, we find the names of Gurdon, Gerdoun, Verdon, Verdoun, and Werdoun ; but there is nothing except the resemblance in sound to connect them with the Gordons of that Ilk, the ancestors of the Dukes of Gordon, Earls and Marquises of Huntly, Earls of Aboyne, Earls of Aberdeen, &c. These Gordons are, indeed, by paternal descent, a branch of the Setons, who, again, took their name from a place in Haddingtonshire, so called " by reason that the town thereof is situate hard upon the sea." Their ancestor on the mother's side, an Anglo-Norman, whose proper name is unknown, had the ter- ritory of Gordon granted to him, in the reign either of Malcolm Canmore or of David I., and assumed from it the surname of Gordon. One of his descendants, probably a grandson, named Bertrand de Gurdon, wounded to death King Richard I. of Eng- land, while that lion-hearted monarch was engaged in reducing the Castle of Chaluz, in Aquetaine, in the year 1199 ; and though he was given his liberty by the generous dying King, with a hundred shillings to take him home to Scotland, he was detained, flayed alive, and then hanged, by order of Marchadee, the leader of the Brabantine mercenaries serving in Richard's army. Richard de Gordon gave lands to the Abbey of Kelso in the year 1267. Thomas, his son, was also a benefactor to that religious house ; and his grandson, likewise Thomas, " taking upon him the sign of the Cross, according to the devotion of those times," left his inheritance to his daughter Alicia, who married her kinsman Adam Gordon, to whom she bore a son and heir, Sir Adam Gordon, Knight, who, "being a zealous assertor of the independency and freedom of his native country, stood in such high favour with King Robert Bruce, that the said
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King, in consideration of his good services, gave him the Lordship of Strathbolgy, in Aberdeenshire," to which he changed his residence, in order to overawe and quell the Cumyns. He was killed at the battle of Haledon Hill in 1333. His son and heir, Sir Alexander, lost his life at the battle of Durham in 1346, as his great-grandson, Sir John, did at the battle of Homildon in 1401. This Sir John left issue by Elizabeth his wife, daughter to the Lord Keith, an only daughter of her name, who was her heir ; and she, in the year 1408, marrying Sir Alexander Seton, second son to Sir William Seton of that Ilk, Robert, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, granted this gentle- man a charter, dated 2Oth July, in the same year, of "the lands of the baronies of Gordoun and Huntly, Fogow, Fawnys, and Mellerstaines, in Berwickshire, Strath- bolgy and Beldygordoun in Aberdeenshire ;" and he was thenceforth styled Alex- ander de Seton, Dominus de Gordon. His son, Sir Alexander, resumed the surname of Gordon, and placed the arms of that name in the first quarter of his heraldic shield, where they have ever since been borne. It would be a waste of room to pursue the story further; but I may conclude with the following quotation from Chambers's "Gazetteer of Scotland" : — "It is understood that when this great historical family removed to the North, where for three or four centuries they have possessed more terri- torial influence than any other, they carried along with them, and conferred the desig- nation of Huntly upon a place in their new domains, from which they afterwards took the title of lord, earl, and marquis in succession ; and on being raised to a dukedom in the year 1684, the parish of Gordon was resorted to for a new title [extinct in 1836], though for centuries they had had no seignorial connection with it."
Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland. WILLIAM BROCKIE.
THE IRISH "COMHLUCHD CLAN NA'N GAOIDHIL."— This Society was established in Belfast on the i;th March of the present year to promote the revival of the ancient language of the country, and to encourage the study of Irish history, music, and antiquities. It owes its origin to the patriotic zeal of a number of gentlemen desirous of emulating their countrymen in Dublin and elsewhere, who were making laudable efforts towards the resuscitation of the Gaelic tongue, which was fast dying out in several districts of the country, where until of late days it was universally spoken. The Society already numbers some 150 members, men of every shade of religious and political opinions, working harmoniously together for the com- mon objects of the Association. Classes have been formed, at which a knowledge of telic is imparted by efficient teachers through the medium of the Primers issued by iety for the preservation of the Irish Language, together with Dr Joyce's Irish mar. The meetings take place during the season on each Monday and Thursday vemng, from 8 to 9.30, a portion of the time is devoted to the rehearsal of Irish songs, ncipally Dr M 'Hales* translation of Moore's melodies. There is a Library in con- n with the Society, containing some 200 volumes, chiefly of Celtic Literature, a umber of which have been liberally presented by members and friends, and will d as funds permit. Monthly meetings are convened for the purpose of I lectures delivered and papers read on popular Gaelic subjects. So far the *s proved a success, and we trust it will continue to do so. If Irish Celts >ny to use the Roman character in their works, their brother Scottish Celts > a greater interest in their proceedings, and the task of learning to read their alive tongue would be" much simplified to Irishmen themselves.
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
I.
THE new Canadian province of Manitoba has been so extensively advertised, and so frequently written about of late years, that it has aroused the interest of thousands of the people of what our brethren across the sea call the " old country." The stories told of the depth and fertility of its soil, of the salubrity of its cli- mate, of its extensive lake system, and its rivers navigable for thousands of miles, might lead one to suppose that here an earthly Paradise had been discovered, and that to be truly and completely happy and prosperous one had only to sever the ties which bound him to his home in the Old World and make for himself a home in this particular part of the New. And, unquestionably, strong inducements are offered to our farmers and farm servants, and, indeed, to every one of our people who are willing and able to work, to go to the new province. To the average Scotsman, with his land-hunger, which he cannot in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred gratify at home, the offer of a FREE grant of 160 acres of good arable land, with the option of purchasing 160 acres more on almost nominal terms, is a strong temptation, and thousands of our countrymen, the most energetic and industrious of their race, have already availed themselves of the offer, and are now settled in the North-West Many more are contemplating the same step, and many who do not contemplate it, may, by the force of circumstances, and under the pressure of our present insane and suicidal system of land laws, be compelled to take it on an early day.
I have never advocated emigration, and so long as there is even a distant prospect of our Legislature so amending our present laws affecting land as to afford protection to the cultiv- ator of the soil for his labour and capital, I shall not advocate it. But meantime emigration is &fact. Thousands of our people are leaving our shores every year seeking a home elsewhere ; and while
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emigration need not be advocated, it must be recognised. Then it is unquestionable, that unless a speedy change takes place i our laws, or in the manner of administering them, there will almost of necessity be a pretty extensive depletion by emigration of the already sparse population of the Highlands within a few years.
These considerations, and the fact that Canada is becoming a greater favourite with emigrants than it has hitherto been, led me to resolve upon spending my short vacation this year (1882) in making a visit to the Dominion.
The steamer " Manitoban," of the Allan Line, left the Clyde early on the morning of Saturday, ipth August 1882, and, after an uneventful voyage, landed her passengers at Point Levis, opposite Quebec, on the morning of Wednesday, 3Oth August. I had intended spending a day in the ancient city of Quebec, but my experiences during a short walk through it, decided me to move on. Quebec, if not a dead city, is a decaying one, and the process of decay is all the more melancholy in view of the bustling life and rapid growth of almost every other city in Canada. The town lies on the north bank of the River St Law- rence, and towering above it is the fortress which so long defied the brave Wolfe in 1759, but which capitulated to the British forces almost immediately after the victory, which, at the cost of his own life, the gallant young General achieved on the Heights of Abraham over his French adversaries. Quebec is the natural outlet for the products of Canada coming down the St Lawrence, and the natural centre of distribution of the imports by that river ; but, from whatever cause, Quebec has lost the position among cities which nature gave her, and has allowed Montreal, a city which had not her natural advantages, to take the first place.
When I arrived in Quebec, the Royal Ensign was floating over the Citadel, and, on enquiring the reason, I was told that the Princess Louise was there. In a day or two she was to start with her husband, the Governor, on a six months' tour to British Columbia, by way of Toronto, Niagara, Chicago, and San Fran- cisco. The outward portion of this journey they have since ac- complished, and as I now write they are being feted in the Pacific Province.
On the south bank of the St Lawrence, opposite Quebec,
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 31
stands the town of Point Levis, or Levi, which forms the terminus at this point of the Grand Trunk Railway. Point Levis is now a town of considerable size, but it appears from Mr Macpherson Le Moine's "Chronicles of the St Lawrence" that up to 1850 the eastern portion of the point used every summer to be thickly studded with the bark wigwams of the Micmac Indians or the North Shore Montagnais — the presumed descendants of the warriors who, in 1775 or 1812 (without the privilege of scalping), had helped Old England to keep out the irrepressible Yankees. The precincts of the city of Quebec being closed to these lawless and rum-loving worthies, they each summer paddled their canoes to the historic point of Levi, erected bark huts, awaiting patiently until the English Commissariat handed them their annual pre- sents for services rendered in time of need ; blankets, clothing, beads, trinkets for the Indian princesses ; red cloth, feathers, axes, ammunition for the Indian princes. *
From Point Levis to Montreal the distance by the Grand Trunk Railway is 172 miles, and a great part of the line runs through dreary swamps. It is most unfortunate for Canada that for many years her settlers should, immediately after landing, have been dragged through this God-forgotten looking part of the country, and invited practically to form their opinion of Canada from this sample. Why, the effect on a mere visitor is so depressing as sometimes to make him wish himself well out of such a country. What then must its effect have been on many a poor homeless emigrant, whose courage had been gradually ebbing during a long sea-voyage, which was taking him day by day further from home, and all the associations of childhood and youth upon which memory loves to dwell ? Must not such an unpromising aspect of the country in which he proposed to- rear up a new home have, in many cases, crushed out his little remaining courage and hopefulness, and so increased a thousand- fold the difficulties in the way of his ultimate prosperity? To make the matter worse, the route is not even a short one, the line making a long detour southwards to Richmond, and thence back northwards to Montreal.
Shortly before entering Montreal the Grand Trunk Railway
* " Chronicles of the St Lawrence," by ]. M» Le Moine, p. 1 90.
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passes over the Victoria Bridge, one of the great bridges of the world. The bridge is nearly two miles in length, and was com- pleted in the year 1859 from the designs of British engineers- Robert Stephenson and A. M. Ross. The mere bridging of a river nearly two miles in width was not by any means the most serious difficulty to be overcome by the engineers. At the point where the bridge is built the current runs at the rate of seven miles an hour, and when it is remembered that not only all the water which passes over Niagara Falls, but also all the additional water falling into Lake Ontario from other sources, finds it way out by the St Lawrence to the Atlantic, it will be seen how im- mense is the pressure which the river must exert over a bridge built across it. When to this, however, is added the fact that in each year the river is loaded with immense quantities of ice, which are hurled and piled against the piers of the bridge, it will be seen that the engineers had a task of no ordinary nature in divising a bridge calculated to withstand the pressure of the water and ice of the St Lawrence, and to carry across that river the railway traffic to and from the large and rapidly growing city of Mont- real, the commercial capital of the Dominion of Canada. How successfully the engineers accomplished their task, and solved all the difficulties of the problem submitted to them, is at once seen when the bridge is examined. It consists of twenty-five tubes, supported by twenty-four piers and two terminal abutments; or rather there is a centre tube, and on each side six pairs of double tubes. The centre tube is detached at both ends, and the double tubes are bolted together and to the piers at their inner junction, ^and free at their outer ends, which rest upon rollers. Openings 'are left between each set of double tubes, and in this way ample provision is made for the expansion and contraction caused by the extremes of the Canadian climate. The tubes are of wrought boiler-plate iron, built up with the most careful cal- culation of the varying thicknesses of plate, and stiffened with angles of iron. They are of the uniform breadth of 16 feet, and are arranged for a single track within. Their height varies from 1 8 ft. 6 in. at the terminal tubes to 22 ft. for the centre tube. The centre tube is 60 ft. above the summer level of the river. Besides the openings placed for expansion, windows are placed in the tubes to afford light. The centre span is 330 feet, all the others
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 33
are 242 feet. The dimension of the piers, which are built of lime- stone, are at their foundations 92 feet by 22^ feet, and at the summit 33 feet in the line of the river, and 16 feet in the line of the bridge. They descend to a point 30 feet above summer level, very gradually increasing in size. At this point the masonry is extended horizontally 10 feet on the up-stream side, from whence it descends at an angle of 45 degrees to a point 6 feet below summer level, and thence perpendicularly to the bed of the river. The main increase in the size of the piers is thus upon the up- stream side, although the other sides also slightly increase in size as they descend. The pressure of the ice upon the piers of the bridge in spring and fall is enormous, but the horizontal gain of 10 feet in the up-stream dimensions of the piers prevents the ice from reaching the shaft, and the sharp edges to which the piers are brought upon that side form saddles upon which the ice cannot rest, but must break asunder or glide aside. From this descrip- tion of the bridge, which is an abridgement of one prepared for the use of the members of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science which met at Montreal a few days before I visited the city, it will be seen how admirably adapted this wonder- ful triumph of engineering skill is to fulfil all the conditions neces- sary to its continued existence. It has to carry a heavy traffic, it is therefore built of wrought-iron stiffened and strengthened, and resting on piers of solid masonry of enormous strength ; it is sub- jected to intense heat in summer and intense cold in winter, causing expansion and contraction of the iron — provision is therefore made by having the ends of the tubes detached and resting upon rollers for the necessary movement without shaking the structure ; and lastly, the pressure of water and ice is minimised by having the upper sides of the piers made in cut-water form, so that they ofTer the smallest possible resistance to the water, and afford no rest for the masses of ice which the river projects against them during a considerable portion of every year.
Night was rapidly settling down upon us as our train entered between the parapets of Egyptian-looking masonry which form the entrance to the long tunnel formed by the bridge. I went upon the platform in front of the car in which I had been tra- velling, to get if possible an idea of the appearance of the inside of the tunnel, but I soon found I could see very little, and the
C
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smoke, soot, and live embers, which came flying round my face, soon induced me to retreat to the inside of the car and my seat. As the train went slowly on its way through the darkness, and minute after minute passed, and the horrid din continued, a weird feeling crept over even experienced travellers, who were making this journey for the first time. I was not therefore much sur- prised to find, after a few minutes, a lady, who had crossed the Atlantic without any exhibition of nervousness, hide her face, first, in her hands, and then in the nearest soft place she could find, which happened to be her husband's head or somewhere in that neighbourhood. Her husband, a highly orthodox Presby- terian minister returning to Canada with a second wife, bore this exhibition of weakness with exemplary patience, and when, after about ten minutes of darkness and the horrid clamour of rattling iron, we emerged into the open air and comparative peace, he pro- ceeded to soothe his wife and calm her fears with such effect that by the time we reached Montreal she had quite got over her fright. Arrived at Montreal, I had to part with all the friends made on the voyage across, and notwithstanding the invitations to pay a visit, and the half-made promises to do so, none of us met again. I especially regretted this in the case of my good friend Mr Robert Scott, of Mount Forest, Ontario, whom I was sincerely desirous to see again. We occupied the same cabin crossing the Atlantic, sat together at table, mingled our meals and our lamen- tations during the dreadful period of sea-sickness, and, when we had sufficiently recovered to eat sardines, we emptied my brandy- flask together in moderate potations to keep these fish at rest. The more I knew of Mr Scott the better I liked him, and, although I was not able to avail myself of his invitation to pay him a visit, I trust that was not the last opportunity I shall have of seeing him.
By the time I had taken a bath and a supper it was too late to see much of Montreal, but I saw a little, and on the following day, and during three subsequent visits I paid to the city, I saw enough of it to enable me to say what it looks like, and to express, with the amount of reservation with which a stranger ought always to give an opinion on such a subject, an opinion on the position and prospects of the city. K. M'D.
(To be continued.)
35 THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS.
RECENTLY much interest has been shown in the history of the " Sutherland Clearances," largely in consequence of the pamphlet issued on the subject by the Editor of the Celtic Magazine, Pro- fessor Blackie's " Altavona," and Alfred Russell Wallace's " Land Nationalisation." Many of our readers have expressed a wish to know what has appeared in this now notorious pamphlet, which, with the quotations from it, has so much roused the ire and energy of the present race of Sellars as to induce them to interfere with the sale of the books above named. In response to this wish, we give the following from the pamphlet, this portion of it being abridged from Donald Macleod's "Gloomy Memories," now in the press as part of a complete History of the Highland Clearances to be published on an early day: —
The history of the Sutherland clearances would take a bulky volume. Indeed, a large tome of 354 pages has been written in their defence by him who 'was mainly responsible for them, entitled "An account of the Sutherland Improvements," by James Loch, at that time Commissioner for the Marchioness of Stafford and heiress of Suther- land. It was the first account I ever read of these so-called improvements ; and it was quite enough to convince me, and it will be sufficient to convince any one who knows anything of the country, that the improvement of the people, by driving them, in the most merciless and cruel manner, from the homes of their fathers, was carried out in a huge scale and in the most inconsiderate and heartless manner by those in charge of the Sutherland estates. But when one reads the other side, Macleod's " Gloomy Memories " — now very scarce — General Stewart of Garth's " Sketches ' of the Highlanders, and other contemporary publications, one wonders that such iniquities could ever have been permitted in any Christian country, much less in Great Britain, which has done so much for the amelioration of subject races and the oppressed in every part of the world, while her own brave sons have been per- secuted, oppressed, and banished without compensation by greedy and cold-blooded proprietors, who owed their position and their lands to the ancestors of the very men they were now treating so cruelly.
The motives of the landlords, generally led by southern factors worse than them- selves, were, in most cases, pure self-interest, and they pursued their policy of exter- mination with a recklessness and remorselessness unparelleled in any country where the Gospel of peace and charity was preached — except, perhaps, unhappy Ireland. Gene- rally, law and justice, religion and humanity, were either totally disregarded, or what was worse — in many cases converted into and applied as instruments of oppression* Every conceivable means, short of the musket and the sword, were used to drive the natives from the land they loved, and to force them to exchange their crofts and homes
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-brought originally into cultivation and built by themselves, or by their forefathers— for wretched patches among the barren rocks on the sea shore, and to depend, after losing their cattle and their sheep, and after having their houses burnt about their ears or razed to the ground, on the uncertain produce of the sea for subsistence, and that in the case of a people who, in many instances, and especially in Sutherland - shire, were totally unacquainted with a seafaring life, and quite unfitted to contend with its perils. What was true generally of the Highlands, was in the county of Sutherland, carried to the greatest extreme. That unfortunate county, according to an eye-witness, was made another Moscow. The inhabitants were literally burnt out, and every contrivance and ingenious and unrelenting cruelty was eagerly adopted for extirpating the race. Many lives were sacrificed by famine and other hardships and privations ; hundreds, stripped of their all, emigrated to the Canadas and other parts of -America; great numbers, especially of the young and athletic, sought employment in the Lowlands and in England, where, few of them being skilled workmen, they were obliged— even farmers who had lived in comparative affluence in their own coun- try—to compete with common labourers, in communities where their language and simple manners rendered them objects of derision and ridicule. The aged and infirm, the widows and orphans, with those of their families who could not think of leaving them alone in their helplessness, and a number, whose attachment to the soil which contained the ashes of their ancestors, were induced to accept of the wretched allot- ments offered them on the wild moors and barren rocks. The mild nature and religi- ous training of the Highlanders prevented a resort to that determined resistance and revenge which has repeatedly set bounds to the rapacity of landlords in Ireland. Their ignorance of the English language, and the want of natural leaders, made it im- possible-for them to make their grievances known to the outside world. They were, therefore, maltreated with impunity. The ministers generally sided with the oppress- ing lairds, who had the Church patronage at their disposal for themselves and for their son^ The professed ministers of religion sanctioned the iniquity, " the foulest deeds were glossed over, and all the evil which could not be attributed to the natives themselves, such as severe seasons, famines, and consequent disease, was by these pious gentlemen ascribed to Providence, as a punishment for sin."
The system of turning out the ancient inhabitants from their native soil through- out the Highlands during the first half of the present century has been carried into effect in the county of Sutherland with greater severity and revolting cruelty, than in any other part of the Highlands, and that though the Countess-Marchioness and her husband, the Marquis of Stafford, were by no means devoid of humanity, however atrocious, and devoid of human feeling were the acts carried out in their name by heartless, -underlings, who represented the ancient tenantry to their superiors as lazy and rebellious, though, they maintained, everything was being done for their advant- age and improvement. How this was done will be seen in the sequel. South country- men were introduced and the land given to them for sheep farms over the heads of the native tenantry. These strangers were made justices of the peace and armed with
Jl sorts of authority in the county, and thus enabled to act in the most harsh and tyrannical, fashion, none making them afraid; while the oppressed natives were placed
>mpletdy.at their mercy. They dare not even complain, for were not their op- ssors.also the administrators of the law ? The seventeen parish ministers, with the ^ception of the Rev. Mr Sage, took the side of the powers that were, exhort- ing the people to submit and to stifle their cries of distress, telling them that all their came from the hand of their Heavenly Father as a punishment for their past
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. ff
transgressions. Most of these ministers have since rendered their account, and let us hope they have been forgiven for such cruel and blasphemous conduct. But One can- not help noting, to what horrid uses these men in Sutherlandshire and elsewheYe pro- stituted their sacred office and high calling.
The Sutherland clearances were commenced in a comparatively mild" way 'fit1 1807, by the ejection of ninety families from Farr and Lairg. These were provided for some fifteen or seventeen miles distant with smaller lots, to which they were 'per-' mitted to remove their cattle and plenishing, leaving their crops unprotected, however," in the ground from which they were evicted. They had to pull down1 'their" otd houses, remove the timber, and build new ones, during which period rth'ey 'had in many cases to sleep under the canopy of heaven. In the autumn they carried away, with great difficulty, what remained of their crops, but the fatigue incurred"CosY not a few of them their lives, while others contracted diseases which stuck to them dim-' ing the remainder of their lives, and shortened their days.
In 1809 several hundred were evicted from the parishes of Dornoch, Rogaft; Lbthj Clyne, and Golspie, under circumstances of much greater severity than those already described. Several were driven by various means to leave the country altogether, and to those who could not be induced to do so, patches of moor and bog were offered on Dornoch Moor and Brora Links — quite unfit for cultivation. This process was car^' ried on annually until, in 1811, the land from which the people were ejected was' divided into large farms, and advertised as huge sheep runs. The country was over- run with strangers, who came to look at these extensive tracts. Some of these gentle'-1 men got up a cry that they were afraid of their lives among the evicted tenantry.' '"& trumped-up story was manufactured that one of the interlopers was pursued by 'Some of the natives of Kildonan, and put in bodily fear. The military were sent for from Fort-George. The 2 1st Regiment was marched to Dunrobin Castle, with artillery and cartloads of ammunition. A great farce was performed; the people were 'sent for by the factors to the Castle at a certain hour. They came peaceably, but the -farce1 must be gone through; the Riot Act was read; a few sheepish, innocent Highlanders were made prisoners, but nothing could be laid to their charge, and they were almost" immediately set at liberty, while the soldiers were ordered back to Fort -George,' The demonstration, however, had the desired effect in cowing and frightening the people into the most absolute submission. They became dismayed and broken-hearted, and quietly submitted to their fate. The clergy all this time were assiduous in preaching that all the misfortunes of the people were "fore-ordained of God, and denouncing the vengeance of Heaven and eternal damnation on all those who would presume to make the slightest resistance." At the May term of 1812 large districts of these parishes were cleared in the most peaceable manner, the poor creatures foolishly be- lieving the false teaching of their selfish and dishonest spiritual guides-— save the mark? The Earl of Selkirk, who went personally to the district, allured many of the evicted people to emigrate to his estates on the Red River in British North America, whither a whole ship cargo of them went. After a long and otherwise disastrous passage, they" found themselves deceived and deserted by the Earl, left to their unhappy fate in an inclement wilderness, without any protection from the hordes of Red Indian savages, by whom the district was infested, and who plundered them of their all on their arrival, and finally massacred them, save a small remnant who managed to escape,'and travelled, through immense difficulties, across trackless forests to Upper Canada:
The notorious Mr Sellar was at this time sub-factor, and in the spring of 1814 he took a large portion of the parishes of Farr and Kildonan into his own hands;'' In 'the
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month of March the old tenantry received notices to quit at the ensuing May term, and a few days after the summonses were served the greater portion of the heath pasture was, by his orders, set on fire. By this cruel proceeding the cattle belonging to the old tenantry were left without food during the spring, and it was impossible to dispose of them at a fair price, the price having fallen after the war; for Napoleon was now n prisoner in Elba, and the demand for cattle became temporarily dull, and prices were very much reduced. To make matters worse, fodder was unusually scarce this spring, and the poor people's cattle depended for subsistence solely on the spring grass which sprouts out among the heather, but which this year had been burnt by the factor, who would himself reap the benefit when he came into possession later on.
In May the work of ejectment was again commenced, accompanied by cruelties hitherto unknown even in the Highlands. Atrocities were perpetrated which I cannot trust myself to describe in my own words. I shall give what is much more valuable— a description by an eye-witness in his own language. He says:— In former removals the tenants had been allowed to carry away the timber of their old dwellings to erect houses on their new allotments, but now a more summary mode was adopted — by set- ting fire to them. The able-bodied men were by this time away after their cattle, or otherwise engaged at a distance, so that the immediate sufferers by the general house- burning that now commenced were the aged and infirm, the women and children. As the lands were now in the hands of the factor himself, and were to be occupied as sheep farms, and as the people made no resistance, they expected, at least, some in- dulgence in the way of permission to occupy their houses and other buildings till they could gradually remove, and meanwhile look after their growing crops. Their con- sternation was therefore greater, when immediately after the May term-day, a com- mencement was made to pull down and set fire to the houses over their heads. The old people, women and others, then began to preserve the timber which was their own; but the devastators proceeded with the greatest celerity, demolishing all before them, and when they had overthrown all the houses in a large tract of country they set fire to the wreck. Timber, furniture, and every other article that could not be instantly removed was consumed by fire or otherwise utterly destroyed. The proceed- ings were carried on with the greatest rapidity and the most reckless cruelty. The cries of the victims, the confusion, the despair and horror painted on the counten- ances of the one party, and the exulting ferocity of the other, beggar all description. In these scenes Mr Sellar was present, and apparently, as sworn by several witnesses at his subsequent trial, ordering and directing the whole. Many deaths ensued from alarm, from fatigue, and cold, the people having been instantly deprived of shelter, and left to the mercies of the elements. Some old men took to the woods and to the rocks, wandering about in a state approaching to, or of absolute insanity ; and several of them in this situation lived only a few days. Pregnant women were taken in pre- mature labour, and several children did not long survive their sufferings. "To these scenes," says Donald Macleod, "I was an eye-witness, and am ready to substantiate the truth of my statements, not only by my own testimony, but by that of many others who were present at the time. In such a scene of general devastation, it is almost useless to particularise the cases of individuals; the suffering was great and universal, shall, however, notice a very few of the extreme cases of which I was myself an eye- witness. John Mackay's wife, Ravigill, in attempting to pull down her house, in the ibsence of her husband, to preserve the timber, fell through the roof. She was in consequence taken in premature labour, and in that state was exposed to the open air and to the view of all the bystanders. Donald Munro, Garvott, lying in a fever, was
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 39
turned out of his house and exposed to the elements. Donald Macbeath, an infirm and bed-ridden old man, had the house unroofed over him, and was in that state exposed to the wind and rain until death put a period to his sufferings. I was present at the pulling down and burning of the house of William Chisholm, Badinloskin, in which was lying his wife's mother, an old bed-ridden woman of nearly 100 years of age, none of the family being present. I informed the persons about to set fire to the house of this circumstance, and prevailed on them to wait until Mr Sellar came. On his arrival, I told him of the poor old woman being in a condition unfit for removal, when he re- plied, 'Damn her, the old witch, she has lived too long — let her burn.' Fire was immediately set to the house, and the blankets in which she was carried out were ii> flames before she could be got out. She was placed in a little shed, and it wras with great difficulty they were prevented from firing it also. The old woman's daughter arrived while the house was on fire, and assisted the neighbours in removing her mother out of the flames and smoke, presenting a picture of horror which I shall never forget, but cannot attempt to describe." Within five days she was a corpse.
In 1816 Sellar was charged at Inverness, before the Court of Justiciary, with culpable homicide and fire-raising in connection with these proceedings, and, consider- ing all the circumstances, it is not at all surprising that he was "honourably" acquitted of the grave charges made against him. Almost immediately after, however, he ceased to be factor on the Sutherland estates, and Mr Loch came into power. Evictions were carried out from 1814 down to 1819 and 1820, pretty much of the same character as those already described; but the removal of Mr Young, the chief factor, and Mr Sellar from power was hailed with delight by the whole remaining population. Their very names had become a terror. Their appearance in any part of the county caused such alarm as to make women fall into fits. One woman became so terrified that she be- came insane, and whenever she saw any one she did not recognise, she invariably cried out in a state of absolute terror — " 0?i! sin Sclfar" — "Oh! there's Sellar." The people, however, soon discovered that the new factors were not much better. Several leases which were current would not expire until 1819 and 1820, so that the evictions were necessarily only partial from 1814 down to that period. The people were reduced to such a state of poverty that even Mr Loch himself, in his "Sutherland Improvements, page 76," admits that — "Tlieir wretchedness was so great that, after pawning everything they possessed to the fishermen on the coast, such as had no cattle were reduced to come down from the hills in hundreds for the purpose of gathering cockles on the shore. Those who lived in the more remote situations of the county were obliged to subsist upon broth made of nettles, thickened with a little oatmeal. Those who had cattle had recourse to the still more wretched expedient of bleeding them, and mixing the blood with oatmeal, which they afterwards cut into slices and fried. Those who had a little money came down and slept all night upon the beach, in order to watch the boats returning from the fishing, that they might be in time to obtain a part of what had been caught." He, however, omitted to mention the share he and his predecessors had taken in reducing the people to such misery, and the fact that at this very time he had constables stationed at the Little Ferry to prevent the starved tenantry from collecting shellfish in the only place where they could find them.
He prevailed upon the people to sign documents, consenting to remove at the next Whitsunday term, promising at the same time to make good provision for them elsewhere. In about a month after the work of demolition and devastation again com- menced, and parts of the parishes of Golspie, Rogart, Farr, and the whole of Kildonan were in a blaze. Strong parties with faggots and other combustible material were set
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to work; throe hundred houses were given ruthlessly to the flames, and their occupants pushed out in the open air without food or shelter. Macleod, who was present, describes the horrible scene as follows:—
"The consternation and confusion were extreme; little or no time was given for the removal of persons or property; the people striving to remove the sick and the helpless before the fire should reach them; next, struggling to save the most valuable of their effects. The cries of the women and children, the roaring of the affrighted cattle hunted at the same time by the yelling dogs of the shepherds amid the smoke and fire altogether presented a scene that completely baffles description— it required to be seen to be believed.' A dense cloud of smoke enveloped the whole country by day and even extended far out to sea ; at night an awfully grand but terrific scene presented itself— all the houses in an extensive district in flames at once. I myself ascended a height about eleven o'clock in the evening, and counted two hundred and fifty blazing houses, many of the owners of which were my relations, and all of whom I personally knew, but whose present condition — whether in or out of the flames — I could not tell. The conflagration lasted six days, till the whole of the dwellings were reduced to ashes or smoking ruins. During one of these days a boat actually lost her way in the dense smoke as she approached the shore, but at night was enabled to reach a landing-place by the lurid light of the flames."
The whole of the inhabitants of Kildonan, numbering nearly 2000 souls, except three families, were utterly rooted and burnt out, and the whole parish converted into a solitary wilderness. The suffering was intense. Some lost their reason. Over a hundred souls took passage to Caithness in a small sloop, the master humanely agree- ing to take them in the hold, from which he had just unloaded a cargo of quick lime. A head storm came on, and they were nine days at sea in the most miserable condition — men, women, and helpless children huddled up together, with barely any provisions. Several died in consequence, and others became invalids for the rest of their days. One man, Donald Mackay, whose family was suffering from a severe fever, carried two of his children a distance of twenty-five miles to this vessel. Another old man took shelter in a meal mill, where he was kept from starvation by licking the meal refuse scattered among the dust on the floor, and protected from the rats and other vermin by his faithful collie. George Munro, the miller at Farr, who had six of his family down with fever, had to remove them in that state to a damp kiln, while his home was given to the flames. And all this was done in the name of proprietors who certainly were not themselves tyrants in the ordinary sense of the term.
General Stewart of Garth, about a year after the cruelties perpetrated in Suther- land, writes with regret of the unnatural proceedings as " the delusions practised (by his subordinates) on a generous and public-spirited proprietor, which have been so per- severingly applied, that it would appear as if all feeling of former kindness towards the native tenantry had ceased to exist. To them any uncultivated spot of moorland, how- ever small, was considered sufficient for the support of a family ; while the most lavish encouragement has been given to all the new tenants, on whom, with the erection of buildings, the improvement of lands, roads, bridges, &c., upwards of £2 10,000 had been expended since 1808 (in fourteen years). With this proof of unprecedented liberality, it cannot be sufficiently lamented that an estimate of the character of these poor people was taken from the misrepresentation of interested persons, instead of judging from the conduct of the same men when brought into the world, where they obtained a name and character which have secured the esteem and approbation of men high in honour and rank, and, from their talents and experience, perfectly capable of judging with correctness. With such proofs of capability, and with such materials for carrying on the improvements and maintaining the permanent prosperity of the county, when occupied by a hardy, abstemious race, easily led on to a full exertion of their
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 41
faculties by a proper management, there cannot be a question, but that if, instead of placing them, as has been done, in situations bearing too near a resemblance to the potato-gardens of Ireland, they had been permitted to remain as cultivators of the soil, receiving a moderate share of the vast sums lavished on their richer successors, such a humane and considerate regard to the prosperity of a whole people would undoubtedly have answered every good purpose." He then goes on to show that when the valleys and higher grounds were let to the sheep-farmers, the whole native population was driven to the sea shore, where they were crowded on small lots of land to earn subsist- ence by labour and sea-fishing, the latter so little congenial to their former habits and experience. " And these one or two acre lots are represented as improvements!" He then asks how in a country, without regular employment or manufactories, a family is to be supported on one or two acres ? The thing was impossible, and the consequence is that "over the whole of this district, where the sea-shore is accessible, the coast is thickly studded with thatched cottages, crowded with starving inhabitants," while strangers, with capital, usurp the land and dispossess the swain. Ancient respectable tenants, who passed the greater part of their lives in the enjoyment of abundance, and in the exercise of hospitality and charity, possessing stocks of ten, twenty, and thirty breeding cows, with the usual proportion of other stock, are now pining on one or two acres of bad land, with one or two starved cows ; and for this accommodation a calcu- lation is made, that they must support their families, and pay the rents of their lots, not from the produce, but from the sea. When the herring fishery succeeds, they generally satisfy the landlords, whatever privations they may suffer; but when the fishing fails, they fall in arrears, and are sequestrated, and their stocks sold to pay the rents, their lots given to others, and they and their families turned adrift on the world ; but in these trying circumstances, he concludes, "We cannot sufficiently admire their meek and patient spirit, supported by the powerful influence of moral and religious principle."
The beautiful Strathnaver, containing a population equal to Kildonan, has been cleared in the same heartless manner.
In 1828, Donald Macleod, after a considerable absence, returned to his native Kildonan, where he attended divine service in the parish church, which he found attended by a congregation consisting of eight shepherds and their dogs — numbering between twenty and thirty — the minister, and three members of his family. Macleod came in too late for the first psalm, but at the conclusion of the service the fine old tune " Bangor" was given out, "when the four-footed hearers became excited, got up on the seats, and raised a most infernal chorus of howling. Their masters attacked them with their crooks, which only made matters worse; the yelping and howling continued to the end of the service." And Donald Macleod retired to contemplate the painful and shameful scene, and contrast it with what he had previously experienced as a member, for many years, of the large and devout congregation that worshipped formerly in the parish church of his native valley.
The Parish Church of Farr was no longer in existence; the fine population of Strathnaver was rooted and burnt out during the general conflagration, and presented a similar aspect to his own native parish. The church, no longer found necessary, was razed to the ground, and its timbers conveyed to construct one of the Sutherland "improvements" — the Inn at Altnaharra, while the minister's house was converted into a dwelling for a fox-hunter. A woman, well-known in the parish, travelling through the desolated Strath next year after the evictions, was asked on her return home father news, when she replied — "Oh, chan eil ach sgiala bronach ! sgiala bronach!" "Oh, only sad news, sad news! I have seen the timber of our well attended kirk covering the inn at Altnaharra; I have seen the kirk-yard where our friends are mouldering filled with tarry sheep, and Mr Sage's study turned into a kennel for Robert Gunn's dogs, and I have seen a crow's nest in James Gordon's chimney head ;" after which she fell into a paroxysm of grief. A. M.
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ALTAVONA • FACT AND FICTION FROM MY LIFE IN THE HIGH- LANDS. By JOHN STUART BLACKIE, F.R.S.E., Professor of Greek, Edin- burgh. Edinburgh : David Douglas.
[SECOND NOTICE.]
THE more this work is looked into, the more will the reader be astonished at the variety of topics treated ; it is truly a re- pertory of most matters connected with the Highlands, in places, persons, and problems. Nor less will he be delighted with the unusual temperance with which the whole, including difficult burning questions, are treated, and the skill and fairness with which the different opinions on each are presented. As he says himself, and as the world well knows, the Professor has "decided views" on most of the important social problems spoken of, but, as he also rightly claims, he strives always, when he most violently condemns, to appreciate his antagonist's point of view, and to state his case as sympathetically as possible. Then the mixed olla podrida is seasoned with admirable relishes of various kinds, which enhance the piquancy and palatableness of the dish. The amount of quotable phrase and sparkling point is remarkable in regard to most subjects. Errors or slips in style or fact are exceedingly few, as when he follows the vulgar mistake of making the whale feed upon herrings (p. 162). The whole forms a worthy monument of the author on important subjects to which he has devoted his later life; a valuable and speaking presentation of his complex, but attractive, personality, misunderstood by many, and known only to his intimates ; and a contribution to Highland literature of eminent merit. The mere enumeration of the many subjects touched by his facile pen would fill our pages. Some of these, and we can touch only on a few in the wide and fertile field, we can scarcely more than mention, to give an idea of the racy variety of the entertainment, just as they come to hand.
Of scenery, he has numerous picturesque sketches, good speci- mens of word painting, more in the broad, free, dashing style of
ALTAVONA. 43
Sam Bough than in the fine, if not finical, elaborateness of Waller Paton, who paints the sweet vignette in the title page. It is to be hoped that the book will also help our tourists — it will the thoughtful — to a wider and deeper appreciation of Highland scenery than is common, for as the author pleads, sight-seeing and scenery are much more " serious affairs" than they are gene- rally made ; and that it will shew them in high degree how they may become at once both education and enjoyment.
His portraits of the men he represents are unusually realistic and clear, as witness his characterisation of the busy hive of tourists on Oban Pier, but better still those of the greater personages he talks of— such as that " Prince-Apostle" of the Celts, St Columba, " a man of tall, stately, and aristocratic appearance, with powerful, piercing eyes, and grandly resonant voice" ; "in temper, like St Paul, a man of mettle and high spirit, and, like King David, a sacred poet ; and if he had a rope for his belt round his middle, depend upon it there was a sword hanging from it. In Columba I see a really great man — the man of lofty thought, fervid love, daring adventure, and enduring achievement."
The Professor, of course, pleads for a broad humanity in all men " active, intelligent, heroic and fruitful," and utterly con- temns and condemns the systematic stupefaction of manhood in monkery. " We are here to fight the battle of life not to shirk it. To seek for virtue among such men is like swimming in a shallow pool where there is no danger of being drowned ; such swimmers will never breast the Hellispont." The breadth and freedom he asks for, however, might frighten weak nerves, as when he admires the Frenchman who " fell on his knees before all the spectators, and gave public thanks to the Architect of the Universe" in Fingal's Cave, as doing something, "at once so rational, so dramatic, and so devout," which no Scotsman or Englishman would do, " the one being girt about with caution, the other with pride."
He scatters his scorn on so-called Highland games, which aesthetics and humanity unite in condemning as if Highlanders were a poor down-trodden generation who have nothing but legs to show, and he wishes "more brain, and less brawn" cultivated at such gatherings.
He bemoans our prevalent want of taste in buildings under
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the dominion "of the great goddess, Utilitaria, whom all Scotland and the World worships," though he notes growing improvement in this respect, and specially acknowledges that nothing attracts his eye so much as " the graceful architecture of the new schools throughout the Highlands." He also points out one source of the Scotch want of aesthetic culture, in the fact that " Sandy sees God only in the conscience and in the Bible, and not in nature."
He gives long pieces of history sometimes of little known periods and places, as the story of the Macleans, " high re- nowned " in their own little corners ; but also of greater things, notably of lona and its mighty influence over British religion, sketching the outline of an epic with Columba as its greater yEneas. And these chapters of history are wisely attached to real places and scenes when these are visited. In the use of these he gives an admirable lesson as to how national history should be learned in order to be felt and truly realised ; for with Blackie, as he says, and as it should be with all wise men and patriots, " historical places are like roots from which whole centuries _of buried life rise up resuscitated." It is to be feared that his cen- sure of our Scotch obtuseness to the influences of the past, and our " irreverent carelessness " in regard to some of our finest ec- clesiastical ruins until recent years, is quite deserved, when he says that " our regular Presbyterian Scot is, in some respects, a most irreverent animal."
He has some good remarks regarding the Celtic pride of ancestry, though in his incursions into this field, with all his power of throwing interest round the dry, he is likely to stop the common reader by a terrible treatise on Macdonald's genea- logical tree in his first chapter. When " Church" boasts that he " knows nothing about his grandmother," he exclaims, " the more shame to you. The knowledge and esteem of ancestry has [one of the few grammatical slips in the volume] been the fruitful source whence the most brilliant feats of Celtic chivalry have sprung. It is only the modern Celtic form of that instinct of an- cestral reverence which caused the Greeks to raise a temple to Theseus, and the Romans to do the same honour to Romulus" ; though he confesses that this feeling has, no doubt, its degen- erate type with not a few, " nothing better than a shallow senti-
ALTAVONA. 45
mcntalism, the hobby-horse of a ridiculous vanity, or the full- blown bladder of an empty pride."
Of harder matters, the learned and omnivorous Professor gives full taste, but bright, airy, and instructive withal, such as Gaelic philology, which he seeks to put on a scientific basis, as against the unscientific Gaelic enthusiasts for derivations and its uncorrupted priority and superiority to other tongues ; gnarled Geology, as exhibited round Oban, and in Kerrera and Mull, in this case through the pen of that solemn fossil, the scientist " Hilarius," though the Professor trips when he speaks of the limestone of the Garveloch Islands, as " one of the most southerly links of the great limestone vein which crops out grandly at Inchnadamph and uttermost Durness," the Lorn limestone being in a different and much more easterly horizon ; and on Botany, on which he delightedly discourses in Kerrara, at the brilliant pic-nic that figures in his third dialogue, with its superabundent good cheer, the liquid elements of which will, we fear, wreck the temperate Professor's good fame with the T.T.'S and the G.T.'s, as the Times has already more than hinted.
Of lighter subjects, we have ample store — Highland music ; Highland poetry, of which he gives some admirable versions ; ori- ginal lyrics, all sparklingly good of their kind, and not least, that in praise of the Isle of Mist, done in no misty style, by the genial Sheriff of Kirkcudbright ; his peculiar views of the functions of war in national manhood ; his pro-German " blood and iron " sympathies ; his frequent and righteous denunciations of modern fashion and affectation and genteel snobbery, which are " smoth- ering nature and strangling simplicity"; his fears of the time when, "not cousinship and human kindness, but cash payment and politi- cal economy shall have become the only bond that binds the different classes of society together"; and a host of other pleasant and profitable intrusions of glowing lavas into the more regular and detailed series of the book.
Several social subjects are treated more in detail, by our pro- Celtic Professor as bearing strongly on local and national well- being. Of these, Highland education is one on which he has de- cided views, and on which he has frequently spoken. He here again dilates on his opinions in favour of Highland culture for the High- land child, rich or poor, in addition to the subjects taught in com-
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mon with Lowland schools. In the training of the upper classes of the Highlands, he rightly laments that they are "educated, not as Highland lairds, but as young Englishmen," having "deserted the national schools and colleges for Eton and Oxford, to be trained up in Anglified puppyism and would-be scholarly conceit." " They cannot speak a word of Gaelic, and know more of Horace and Homer — though that may be little enough — than of Duncan Ban and Alastair Macdonald." They thus become " Highlanders for the more part only in pride of pedigree, not in tone of sen- timent or in type of culture." He deprecates any severe judg- ment of such individuals, the common type of even our old High- land proprietors' sons, for " they are what they are by the potent influence of birth, education, habit, and tradition."
On the rational use of Gaelic as a valuable instrument in the early education of the Gaelic child, as well as in his after culture, he is as strong and as sensible as ever ; and he quotes in the ap- pendix the Report of our local pro-Celtic inspector, Mr Jolly, for 1879, in favour of its use in our Highland schools, which was re- cently adopted by the Federation of Celtic Societies as their reply to the anti-Celtic opinions of some of his colleagues. The Professor puts the whole subject in a nut-shell when he says, " A man may have many languages, but he can only have one- mother tongue." But on this topic we need not again enter more at length here.
Another important social subject to which he devotes large space is the religion of the Highlands. On this difficult theme, will be found in these pages as clear, temperate, reverent, and far-reaching a statement of the state of this difficult problem as we remember to have seen; combined with an unusually fresh and philosophical presentation of the Celtic phase of the religious sentiment, such as it has seldom or ever received, for which Pro- fessor Blackie should gain our lasting gratitude, including that of Dr Kennedy, who will not, we are sure, refuse it. While charac- terising our excessive divisiveness in forming sects in Scotland, which it would require " peculiar idiopathic microscopes" to dis- cern the differences between, he sees in this tendency the activity of our national religiousness. He attempts to account for the Disruption on grounds on which there will ever be differences of opinion, but his views deserve to be examined by both parties. He endeavours very successfully to account for the strong anti-
ALTAVONA. 47
patronage and seemingly anti-Establishment attitude of the Highlanders at the religious revolution of '43, and their present pro-Establishment position, in connection with the movement for Disestablishing the church. In doctrine, he not unjustly charac- terises the Highlander as "the most orthodox, most narrow- minded, and the most one-sided of all theologians." But no where have the Highlander's special religious views been pre- sented in such attractive and reasonable philosophic guise than in this book, in regard even to those severer forms of Calvinism that are his own pet doctrines, and the antipathy of others. As to the average intelligent Highlander's ability to give a reason for the faith that is in him, he says to his Oxonian friend, "If you do wish to prove your mettle in a stiff theological argument, depend upon it, my dear Kit, with all your Oxford Greek and all your Aristotelian logic, you will find some Ferintosh evan- gelist, even though not a D.D., an antagonist worthy of your steel" — a not unmerited compliment, though most Lowlanders will doubt its truth,
He strongly and rightly condemns the gloom that haunts our Highland religious life and daily walk, as both " a renuncia- tion of humanity and a declaration of war against all temporal and visible enjoyments — a temper the very reverse of that which was praised and practised by Socrates and other wise Greeks, with whom religion was rather the art of enjoying the present life according to reason." He also states an undoubted fact when he piquantly says that " There is nothing more difficult for the Highland mind to reconcile than gaiety and piety, amusement and religion"; a reconciliation which our northern clergy should set themselves actively to promote, in the interests of religion and morals, and which we hope is now much nearer than it has too long been. As was to be expected from such a lay preacher on secular subjects on Sunday, he condemns " the Pharisaic formal- ism with which our countrymen inculcate Sabbath observance, as, beyond doubt, Jewish rather than Christian in its character, and as giving to the letter of a statutable enactment a value which be- longs only to the laws of eternal and inimitable morality" — a statement of the Sabbath question at once theological and philo- sophical, though making distinctions in the decalogue that some will not relish.
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He highly commends Highland preaching on various grounds. He does not believe that its alleged want of practicality applies more to it than to the general run of sermons " with which pious ears are washed in this country, Sunday after Sunday, with such faithfulness of pious routine." He is strong in praise of its fervid appeal to the emotions, its addressing the heart above the head, even when it offends most against cold pulpit proprieties, for " tameness cannot be the style, nor propriety the law, of any sort of effective discourse. In the English pulpit by systematically cramping nature and damping fervour, you have murdered elo- quence," which he holds to exist more in the Highlands than in other parts of the country. The function of that peculiar High- land religious class, the lay assistant bishops, called "the men," he gives an admirable account of, and reason for, and would like to see it in existence elsewhere. He describes the class very feli- tiously and fairly (p. 333), and holds with truth that they could not have acquired the high influence over their fellows they un- questionably had, unless they had been endowed with talents cap- able of commanding the attention and moulding the minds of an intelligent peasantry.
But we have already been tempted too far for our space into the attractive field of prose and poetry exhibited in Altavona. One other important and pregnant question now daily claiming increased attention and demanding no distant solution, on which he enters very fully, the relation of the landowner to the tenant, we reserve for a future day. Enough has, we hope, been said to show that in this unique work on the Highlands, the intelligent reader— and surely there are many such interested in the problems discussed — cannot but rise from its perusal, to recur once more to the words of its author, " rich in not a few facts and ideas," and with a conviction that the Professor possesses, as he claims, " knowledge enough to correct some of the misty conceptions that float through the mind of the average Englishman," and, he might added, Scotsman, on most subjects connected with the Highlands of Scotland.
TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS.-Several important articles, communications, ri queries arc unavoidably left over, but we hope to give most of them in our next
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. No. LXXXVL DECEMBER 1882. VOL. VIII.
THE SCULPTURED STONES OF ROSS & CROMARTY BY CAPTAIN COLIN MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
X.
THE next stone in order for consideration is the Obelisk at Shandwick. Cordiner seems to have been the first traveller to take any particular notice of it, and thus describes it in his Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland :— " On a bank near the shore, opposite to the ruins of a castellated house, called Sandivick, and about three miles east from Feme, a very splendid Obelisk is erected, surrounded at the base with large, well-cut flag-stones; formed like steps. Both sides of the column are elaborately covered with various enrichments, in well-finished carved work. The one face presents a sumptuous cross, with a figure of St Andreiv on each hand, and some uncouth animals and flowerings underneath. The central division on the reverse, renders it a piece of antiquity well worthy of preservation : there is exhibited in that such a variety of figures, birds, and animals, as seemed what might prove a curious subject of investi- gation; I have therefore given a distinct delineation of them, at
D
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the foot of the column, on a larger scale, that their shapes might be distinctly ascertained, and the more probable conjectures formed of their allusion". This account is contained in a letter from Cordiner to Pennant, dated Dornoch, June 131*1, 1776. The " delineation" is that of the reverse of the stone, and the engraving appears along with the above letterpress in the Antiquities and Scenery. In the Remarkable Ruins, Cordiner sayS:__«The stone is still in great preservation. Within the circle of a few miles in that district, are many similar monuments; but most of the others are either fallen down or broken, however, many curious fragments of them are still to be seen." A drawing of the obverse of the stone also appears in the Remarkable Ruins. Dr Stewart says of this cross: — " This magnificent Obelisk lies near the village of Shandwick, in the Parish of Nigg, about a mile westward from the stone at Hilton, and a quarter of a mile from the sea shore. It was unfortunately blown down within the last ten years [Stewart writes in 1856,] and, in consequence, broken into two pieces." Hugh Miller says, Scenes and Legends: — " The stone of Shandwick is still standing,* and bears on the side which corresponds to the obliterated surface of the other [i.e. the Hilton slab,] the figure of a large cross, composed of circular knobs wrought into an involved and intricate species of fret work, which seems formed by the twisting of myriads of snakes. In the spaces on the sides of the shaft there are two huge, clumsy-looking animals, the one resembling an elephant, and the other a lion ; over each of these a St Andrew seems leaning forward from his cross; and on the reverse of the obelisk the sculpture represents processions, hunting scenes, and combats." Dr Stewart does not fall in with all Messrs Cordiner and Miller's conclusions. He observes: — " It has been supposed that the figures on each side of the cross, immediately beneath the trans- verse bar, are intended to represent St Andrew on his cross, but it may be doubted whether they are not meant to represent angels with displayed wings, like those on the stone at Eassie. The pillar is of freestone. The raised bosses or knobs on the face of the cross appear on many of the Irish monuments, and on
* In a note he remarks, " since, however, blown down in a storm, and broken into three pieces." This is erroneous, as the stone has only been broken in two pieces, as described by Dr Stuart.
SCULPTURED STONES. . 51
St Martin's cross at lona. The same sort of ornament was long continued on the Highland targets."
The account of the Parish of Nigg, drawn up for the New Statistical Account of Scotland by the Rev. Lewis Rose, and re- vised in 1836, has the following : — " [The cross] at Shandwick is called 'Clack a Ckarridhf$\& stone of the bury ing-ground. 'Carridli is the Gaelic word for a burial-place ; and it was a mistake, in the former Statistical Account, to call this stone ' Clach a Charraigl the stone of the rock. It is about 8 feet high, 4 broad, and I thick. It has been often described and admired by the lovers of antique curiosities. The ground around was, for ages, employed as a burying-place, but it has not been used for that purpose within the last fifty years. [Since 1786?]." Mr Denoon remarks of the cross : — "Another stone somewhat similar to the Hilton stone, stands on a hill at the back of Shandwick village, on the estate of Balnagown. It is about 9 feet high, 3 feet broad, and 6 inches thick. It was erected, we are told, over the remains of another son of the King of Denmark, who had been wrecked on Craig Cary (Cary Rock). These rocks were also called the King's sons,v and the stone is called Clach Cary (the Cary stone)." Here we have another proof of many of the uncertainties of tradition. Mr Denoon refers to the " Cary Rock," and calls the cross itself " Clach Cary." Now, this latter name looks very like a repetition of the " Clach a Charraig," the stone of t/ie rock, mentioned above, and which the Rev. Lewis Rose tells us should be read the stone of the burying ground — or has it anything to do with Prince Carius ? The reader may remember that the spot where the Edderton incised stone stands is called " Carry Blair," or the battlefield of Carius, and that it is said to mark the grave of a certain Prince Carius, who, at the head of a body of " invading Norwegian pirates," was defeated and slain there. What a talent our ancestors had for ascribing all their antiquities to a foreign origin ; and the belief has not died out yet. Both the incised obelisks and the beautiful sculptured crosses are ascribed con- temporaneously to the Vikings ! It is high time that truthful history should be written and error dissipated. In other words, that the civilised Pict should be shown to have been the man of culture, not the semi-barbarous Northman.
That the Shandwick stone is the oldest of the crosses of
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Easter Ross, I can scarcely doubt, though the fragmentary state of the Tarbat crosses renders it difficult to assign a particular date to their erection. I shall, however, later on, endeavour to fix an approximate date to the Shandwick cross, but in the meantime I deem it best to lay aside theory, and describe the stone as it actually appears at present I also beg to refer the reader to a note in No. VIII. of these papers, where I pointed out that though Cordiner's pictures in the Antiquities and Scenery were deserving of praise, those in the Remarkable Ruins were by no means reliable. Having now carefully observed and noted the discrepancies between Cordiner's sketch in the latter book, the Sculptured Stones of Scotland, and the Shandwick cross itself, I intend, as I proceed with my description, to point out the errors shown in Cordiner's picture of the obverse, as inserted in the Remarkable Ruins. This latter I do for the three following reasons. First_of Dr Stewart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland, only a limited number of copies were printed for the Spalding Club ; the book is very dear; and it is not generally accessible. Secondly — • It will probably never be reproduced, as a whole, either in its present or in a more popular form ; and but a very scanty num- ber of its plates have been reproduced, often very faultily by means of woodcuts, which must be painfully sought for through the pages of a multitude of writers upon archaeology. Thirdly — That Cordiner's Remarkable Ruins are in the hands of many persons, who are as unable to obtain access to the writers latterly mentioned, as they are to Dr Stewart's . work itself, and who might therefore be led by Cordiner to form erroneous conceptions of the Ross-shire monuments, were no steps taken to point out in what particulars the plates in the Remarkable Ruins are at fault. The first thing to be observed with regard to the obverse of the stone is that it is perfectly square at the top, whereas Cordiner represents it as being rather pointed. A raised rim seems origin- ally to have run all round the stone. What first catches the eye is a large Latin cross, occupying the whole upper half of that face of the obelisk looking seawards, and having semi-circular pieces cut out at the intersection of the arms, a very common Celtic pattern, of which stones at Brodie, Elgin, St Vigeans (No. 2), Kingoldrum, Kirriemuir, &c., might be cited as examples. Cord-, iner on the contrary inserts at the intersections perforated circles,
SCULPTURED STONES. 53
a type perfectly distinct from the other and of which the Cross (No. 3) at Meigle is a good example. But what constitutes the most curious feature of this Shandwick cross is that, instead of being filled in with knot or other work, it is ornamented with a double row of bosses or knobs. There are ten of these upon each of the upper arms, twenty-two upon the lower arm or stem of the cross, and four in the centre. These centre four are the smallest ; four at each of the intersections, that is sixteen bosses, are of medium size ; while the thirty-six, occupying the broader portion of the limbs, are the largest. There are, therefore, fifty-six bosses in all. Some of these bosses are now almost weathered away. From the peculiar shape given by Cordiner to this cross in his drawing, he has been unable to represent either the proper position, size, form, or number of these bosses. Dr Stuart has called attention to this boss ornamentation as resembling that of St Martin's Cross at lona and that of various Irish crosses; but I am glad to find that he does not raise upon this fact any hypothesis as to the Shandwick stone being the work of Irish sculptors. The truth is that the boss work was common to all the Celts. It maybe found on Sarcophagi at Meigle and St Andrews, and on crosses at Dunfallandy, St Madoes, Aberbuno, a fragment at St Vigeans, and more especially scattered over the head of the very fine cross (No. 4) at Meigle. But the most important fact of all is that bosses are used on all the monuments in the immediate neighbourhood of the Shandwick stone. The Cross of Nigg is most profusely decorated with them, both round and oval, and beautifully ornamented ; the border of a fragment of a cross at Tarbat is studded with them ; between the intersections of the arms, and the circular disc which surrounds the cross on one side of the Edderton stone, are four bosses, and also one in the centre ; four bosses appear in the four corners of the square which sur- rounds the Greek cross on one side of the Rosemarkie obelisk ; and there is no reason why the cross which once was engraved upon the Hilton slab should not have been similarly ornamented. No bosses appear upon the rude symbol-inscribed standing stones. Regarding the two spaces above the transverse limbs of the cross, we find that the ornamentation of one is quite obliterated, while the other contains a rude sort of padlock-shaped ornament, as if the padlock were turned upside down ; the handle or catch
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of the padlock being twisted, and the centre filled, with knot work And now I have to call attention to one of Cordmer's most flagrant mistakes, which, had he lived in our own day, I trust he would never have committed. Doubtless owing to the height of the cross, he was unable to make out the state of the spaces above the arms,and so he quietly evolved out of his inner conscious- ness a couple of kneeling angels, who never could have existed. Of these and the two bending priests on the Nigg slab he cooly says, in the Remarkable Ruins:—11 The figures in praying postures on the fragment [at Nigg,] and those [at Shandwick,] seemed to have been similar ones, or angels bending at the cross." He then proceeds to argue that these figures, the cross itself, the two^ St Andrews on crosses (of which more anon), and the dove placing the consecrated wafer on the patten (on the Nigg slab), bear testimony that these stones were decorated with figures, &c., copied from illuminated missals brought from Rome. He says:
« The missionaries from the Church of Rome, bringing their
missals and other books along with them, artists would have access to sec them. By the taste of the times, these books from the Continent were in general illuminated with various paintings. The piety of the new converts adopted these as the chief embel- lishments for their monumental stones." How then about our own primitive Christianity ? How then about St Ninian and St Columba who preached the simple gospel to Scotland, long before Rome sent us priests to drive the country wild over the peculiar form of the tonsure, or the particular day upon which Easter should be celebrated ? How about the Columbian Gospels of Durrow ? The nearest approach to Celtic art, as far as missals are concerned, which I ever saw, was a rude representa- tion in an illuminated copy of the Revelation of St John, then in the Royal Library of Madrid, depicting the Great Dragon sweeping the stars out of heaven with his tail. The form of the old serpent reminded me strongly of some of the more uncouth monsters of the standing stones. But the famous Codex Argenteus, which I have seen in the library of Upsala in Sweden, and which is the oldest Christian manuscript I have ever seen, though written in letters of silver, and older than the Gospels of Durrow, is not illuminated. A certain connection between the embellishment of some of the Saxo-Northumbrian crosses, and early Roman Missals,
SCULPTURED STONES. 55
may be traced, for it was a Roman missionary, St Augustine, who converted the Saxons, but to endeavour to prove that Celtic or- nament can be found in any purely Roman Missal, of even the ninth, or tenth, or eleventh century, is simply to court ignominious failure. Celtic civilization like Celtic art was indigenous, and what Saxon and Gothic barbarism actually wrought upon the for- mer, the Roman missionary (belauded by Cordiner), endeavoured to wreak upon the latter.
Dr Stuart says : — " Mr Westwood reminds us, that of the copies of the Holy Scriptures sent into England by St Gregory, with the mission of St Augustine, two are still preserved, and that they are different in the character of the writing from the Irish, as well as remarkable for their wanting the ornamentation which is so prominent in these." Owen Jones, in his Grammar of Orna- ment, under " Celtic Ornament," remarks — " All the most ancient Italian manuscripts are entirely destitute of ornamental elabora- tion." Does not all this go to prove that the art of illumination took its rise among the Celts, who must at that time have reached a high pitch of civilisation and culture.
Vae Victis. Woe to the conquered. The splendid pageants of the Roman Church were not long in supplanting the simple service of the Culdees. The high mass in the lofty fane blazing with gorgeous vestments, gold, and jewels, and redolent of the reek of incense, as surely appealed to the senses, as the simple service outside the hermit's wattled booth, or rough stone cell, had gone home to the heart. But there is a comforting old proverb, " Threatened men live long." Palestine was conquered long ago, but there are still myriads of Jews. As long as the Celt lives, his art will live with him. Many a Highland dirk and snuff-box boast to-day the patterns which were in vogue a thousand years ago — and who shall say that the Highlanders, who, with resistless bayonets, charged the murderous lines of Tel-el-Kebir, were one whit behind those who died in their blood upon the Muir of Drummossie. Amongst an enlightened and chivalrous race, native art like native courage will never die! (To be continued.)
MEMOIR OF SIR JAMES MATHESON OF THE LEWS, BART.— The portion of "The History of the Mathesons" containing this Memoir is not for sale separately. It was specially printed for Lady Matheson " for private circulation" only,
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. THE LATE DANIEL MACKINLAY.
ONE of the duties which we laid down for ourselves, when this periodical came into existence, was to commemorate the good deeds of Highlanders who have made for themselves a position in Hfc_in the military, literary, or learned professions, or in the commercial world. In the latter Daniel Mackinlay, who, on the 3rd of October last, died at Portobello, aged 72, deserves special notice. He was born in 1810, of respectable parents, his father being Peter Mackinlay, at one time tenant of the farm of Arnish, in the Island of Lews, and his mother Sybella, daughter of Captain Kennedy of Stornoway. His career adds another instance to the many examples among our countrymen which go to show that success does not always depend on the start which one gets to begin the world with. Mackinlay was eminently a self-made man. His father died while Daniel was a mere boy, leaving his little son utterly penniless, and without even the knowledge of the three .R's; but, thanks to our Scottish Parochial School system, then in ex- istence, and the assistance of a good and wise mother, Daniel, naturally a bright intelligent boy, early became a good scholar, and soon obtained a private tutorship in the family of Mr Maciver of Gress. He afterwards occupied a similar position in the family of Mr Stewart, father of the present popular and well- known John Stewart of Ensay, late of Duntulm. Subsequently he secured a situation in the office of Mr Murdo Robertson of the Bill Chamber, Edinburgh ; and from there he got into the office of Mr Thomas Mackenzie, younger of Applecross, M.P., and W. S. in Edinburgh. From here he was, in 1844, sent to Calcutta to take the management of the firm of Gillanders, Arbuthnot, & Co., a position which he obtained solely, in consequence of the able and judicious manner in which he carried through some legal business entrusted to his employer, and in which Mr George Arbuthnot, of Morris Bank, was interested. By careful and pru- dent management he piloted the house, now under his charge, safely over the disastrous failures of 1847-48, when so many others came to grief. He continued his successful commercial career abroad until 1860, when he was able to return home with
THE LATE DANIEL MACKINLAY. 57
a handsome fortune. So much esteemed was he by his brother merchants in Calcutta — who had previously conferred upon him the Presidentship of the Chamber of Commerce — the highest honour at their disposal — that, on his retirement, they had his portrait painted and hung up in their Chamber, while at the same time they presented him with a valuable service of plate, in re- cognition of his services to his brothers in commerce.
One who knew him intimately informs us that '"though Mackinlay was most successful as a merchant, his memory will be cherished more for his heart qualities than for those of the head. Nothing pleased him so much as doing a good turn for young Highlanders. When any one applied for an appointment for any Highland lad, Mackinlay would, with the utmost pleasure, enter heart and soul into the matter, and do all in his power, which was a great deal, generally ending in securing a good appointment for the applicant. During his stay in Calcutta, from 1844 to 1860, he performed many acts of kindness for his countrymen which can never be published, but which remain engraved on the hearts of the grateful recipients of his liberality and aid. If a Lews man landed at that port, and needed anything, Mackinlay was sure to find him out and assist him. He was the first who recognised the merits of the late Kenneth Macleod, of Greshor- nish, and placed him in that position, where, by his own natural ability, he quickly amassed a fortune. Mackinlay was, in a word, the brightest ornament and the greatest benefactor to the Lews, among its own sons, that ever left it. He had always a kindly feeling to his native island and its inhabitants — at one time getting up subscriptions for the widows of its brave fishermen, who had perished at sea; at another, interesting himself in the welfare of its poor crofter inhabitants ; indeed he was always thinking of them."
Mackinlay has provided several open bursaries of ^"15 and £10 each, tenable for three years, for competition among the youth of the Lews, to encourage and help on those of them tak- ing up any of the learned professions. Though he never made the slightest effort to make himself so, he was very popular with all those who really knew him ; and his friends were not of the class who knew him to-day and forgot him to-morrow. They were all, like himself, genuine and true, and those of them who
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assembled at his grave — many of whom came long distances — felt as if, by his death, they had lost a brother.
In 1874 he rented the shootings of Gress in the Lews, where he afterwards resided for a few years during the sporting season, and showed great interest in the position of the poorer inhabitants of the Island. In 1870 some correspondence appeared in the newspapers about the condition of the Lews crofters, and Mr Mackinlay addressed a long letter to Mr Hugh M. Matheson, Commissioner for the Island, under Sir James Matheson, Bart, which he published at the time, with an appendix of 43 pages, and which contains a mass of interesting and valuable information regarding the past history of the Island, its management, and the condition of its inhabitants. Taking him all in all, he was one of those self-made Highlanders of whom not only his own immediate friends, but his countrymen generally, may well feel proud, and whose name well deserves recognition in a periodical like ours.
A. M.
THE GREATNESS OF GOD.
(From the Gaelic of Dugald Buchanan, 1716-1768.)
O, what is God or what the name of God ?
The highest angel cannot comprehend ; Nor eye nor thought can reach His dread abode
Concealed in dazzling brightness without end.
Himself the fountain whence His Being flows,
His every attribute is increate ; In His own nature on He ever goes,
His self-perfection bearing up His State.
Youth and old age come not within the sphere Wherein He moves the same from aye to aye ;
Nor sun nor moon shall measure His career, For these compared with Him soon pass away.
Immortal day proceeds out from His eye, When He reveals His glory or His grace ;
And forthwith all the hosts of heaven high Attempt, each with his wings, to veil his face.
THE GREATNESS OF GOD. 59
And if in wrath His countenance He shews,
Terror shall suddenly the skies o'erspread ; At His rebuke the ocean backward flows,
And earth itself is moved with conscious dread.
The works of Nature flourish and decay ;
From change to change they ever onward go ; But all His actions unity display ;
And in His Being there's neither ebb nor flow.
Angels and men to nothing both are nigh,
The womb whence all have sprung which God hath made ; But, being eternal, His perfections high
Shall, from their very nature, never fade.
When Nothing heard the voice of His command
The vast creation rose in Majesty ; The earth that teems with life by sea and land ;
The heavens with all the heavenly host on high.
Then He looked down and viewed creation all,
And blessed each creature in its several place ; Nor needed change in any, great or small,
Among His works —so good in every case.
Upon His palm revolves the firmament,
With every star that twinkles in the skies ; In hollow of His hand creation's pent,
And for support on His strong arm relies.'
O, God ! who can Thy Being compass round,
Whose depths all reason tries to sound in vain ? Angels and men attempting this are found
Like mussel-shells that try to grasp the main.
Thou art a King from all eternity
To whom this world's but yesterday begun ; Oh ! small's the histoiy we've heard of Thee ;
Nor great of Thine all works beneath the sun.
Although the sun to nothing should decay,
With all the planets that on Him attend, As little would Thy works miss them away
As ocean would a drop on finger-end.
Creation cannot with its glory all
Reveal to us in full God our strong tower ; In total of His works both great and small
We but perceive an earnest of His power.
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How vain for us with shallow thought endowed
To search an ocean that is infinite ; The smallest letter of the Name of God
For our poor reason is too great a weight.
For there is nought that can with Thee compare
'Mongst all the mighty works which Thou hast clone And 'mongst all men no language can declare Thy Name aright, but Thine Own Word alone.
JOHN SINCLAIR, B.D., Minister of Rannoch. Manse of Kinloch- Rannoch.
THE HIGHLANDERS AND THEIR TASTES.-It has become a favourite pretence on the part of some that music and the fine arts are the great means of refin- ing and elevating society. Now, music and the fine arts are good in their own place, but experience proves that, apart from other elements, they have no tendency what- ever to promote a high-toned morality. It may be said, for example, that no class of men abhor the introduction of instrumental music into worship more, or care less for the fine arts, than the Highlanders ; whilst Italy is the land of ecclesiastical splendour, sculpture, and enchanting music. Yet it is of that land that the poet says—
" In florid beauty groves and fields appear ; Man is the only growth that dwindles here. Though grave, yet trifling, zealous, yet untrue, And even in penance planning sins anew.
My soul, turn from them, turn thee to survey Where rougher climes a nobler race display."
Ruskin, speaking of the Indian Mutiny, suppressed by the Highlanders, says— "Out of the peat cottage come forth courage, self-sacrifice, purity, and piety, and whatever else is fruitful in the work of heaven ; out of the ivory palaces come treachery, cruelty, cowardice, idolatry, bestiality, or whatever else is fruitful in the work of hell." All our military commanders, including the most recent, turn to the noble Highlanders, wedded to their simple forms of devotion, as men true as steel in the discharge of duty. — Speech by Dr Begg.
THE GLENALMOND HIGHLANDERS AT WIMBLEDON.— The repre- sentative of Glenalmond has been again successful in winning the Spencer Cup at Wimbledon for the best individual shot in all the Public Schools. The winner this year was Lance-Corporal Scott. On the prize day, in the words of the Times, " Lance-Corporal Scott, in the Highland uniform of Glenalmond, was loudly cheered as he went for the Spencer Cup," and the annual reception of the Glenalmond team at Wimbledon shows that "nowhere beats the heart more kindly," not only "than beneath the tartan plaid," but than in Scotch breasts in the South at the sight of it.
6r
LAND NATIONALISATION— ITS NECESSITIES AND ITS AIMS.*
THAT a man like Alfred Russel Wallace, so enthusiastic and successful in the pursuit of natural science in its higher rela- tions, should withdraw his attention from such studies to write a book on the nationalisation of the land is in itself a fact of the utmost significance. Those who imagine that the land tenure of this country is to continue like the earth itself for ever, should ponder, we will not say the conclusions of the work before us, but the fact that such a book, and by such a man, should come to be written at all. Our author is not a man who is unaccustomed to reasoning in the closest possible manner, but not after the manner of the school-men, who build portentuous theories on the narrow basis of a few first principles which have never been tested by experience. On the contrary, it is his habit to compare, analyse, test, and combine facts, revealed in actual life, and from these to draw out the theory which give them unity and intelligibility. This power is so conspicuous in his many charming works on the phenomena of sea and land, as to make him a rival — some would even place him higher — of Darwin himself. But keen as was the pleasure which Mr Wallace found in tracing the methods which nature pursued in the past in order to find an explanation of the present earth and all that it contains, he nevertheless has been for a long time a sympathising observer of the social condition of these islands of ours. One striking peculiarity of the state of this country impressed itself on the mind and heart of Mr Wallace so much that all his power of thinking was set earnestly to work to find its explanation and its remedy — for remedy it needs as much, nay more, than fever or small-pox. The fact re- ferred to is the appalling one that the vast increase of the wealth of this country has not diminished its poverty and wretchedness. Nay, it seems certain that thousands of our people are sunk in a lower hell than they were when millionaires were unknown. The sad truth that misery is the lot of multitudes who help to produce
* By Alfred Russel Wallace, author of " The Malay Archilpelago, " "Island Life," etc. London : Trithner & Co.
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the splendid fortunes in which they have no share sufficient t9 cover their nakedness, or warm their blood, or fill their stomachs, finds its explanation, according to our author, in the absolute ownership in land conferred by law on private individuals. Now, according to him, if wealth is not only to shed a lustre over a select portion of society, but if it is to put reasonable animal comfort, and the decencies and refinements of moral and intellec- tual life,' within the reach of those whose lot it is to toil with their hands, then this private individual and absolute ownership in land must cease and determine. This is no hurried and impulsive conclusion on the part of our author under the pressure of feeling called into play by the dark contrast between the extremes of splendour and squalor, of the baronial hall, and the hut at once a byre and a dwelling-house, so frequently seen in our country. For eighteen years our author has been meditating on this mo- mentous subject— a subject which the hard facts of existence will not suffer to go to sleep until some solution of it is accomplished. Mr Wallace may have argued himself into conclusions which are impracticable, a favourite phrase of the indolent, the faithless, and the timid in all ages, but supported, as they are, with so many deplorable facts, and with so much lucid and unimpassioned reasoning — for passion is suppressed in this book as firmly as if it were a study in quaternions — no wise man will dismiss them without earnest study.
It is not easy to present in small space Mr Wallace's theory of the Nationalisation of the Land. We refer the reader to the book itself, which, like the work of every great writer is intensely interesting in virtue of its facts, its illustrations, and general spirit, apart from the particular theory which it upholds. The chapter, for example on landlordism in Scotland will bring a tear to the eye of many whose ancestors were dealt with, as if they were so much scrub on the land — aye, and of many who have themselves been so used ; perhaps too it will prick some consciences imperv- ious to the arrows of our native — and therefore it is supposed prejudiced writers — our Millers, Macleods, and Mackenzies.
But let us try to give the reader a general idea of Mr Wallace's solution of the Land Problem, and first let us quote what he holds to be the necessary requirements of a right solution.
i. It is clear that landlordism must be replaced by occupying
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ownership. No less radical reform will get rid of tlrc widespread evils of our present system.
2. Arrangements must be made by which the tenure of the holders of land must be secure and permanent, and nothing must be permitted to interfere with the free use of the land, or his certainty of reaping all the fruits of any labour or outlay he may bestow upon it.
3. Arrangements must be made by which every British subject may secure a portion of land for personal occupation at its fair agricultural value.
4. All suitable tracts of unenclosed and waste lands must, under certain limitations be open to cultivation by occupying owners.
5. The free sale and transfer of every holder's interest in his land must be secured.
6. In order that these conditions be rendered permanent, sub-letting must be absolutely prohibited, and mortgages strictly limited.
But how is it possible to give effect to these conditions, how can a tenant become an occupying owner without being a landlord under another name, and, therefore, a new source of all the evils which flow from our present system of landlordism ?
Mr Wallace answers — The State must become the real owner, or ground landlord. The tenant is to be a perpetual holder of the land, not its absolute owner — the absolute owner being the State. This in effect is the feudal theory which makes the land belong to the king and all proprietors to be but holders of the land from him. It must be borne in mind that Mr Wallace would not transfer to the State all that now belongs to the pro- prietors of lands. We must make a distinction between the estate and what the landlord in his own person or that of his predeces- sors, has put upon or into the estate. Nature is responsible for the one, cultivation in some form or other for the latter. Mr Wallace would have the State take possession of the estate as it is, mere land apart from what labour has added to it. Land has a natural and inherent value depending in part on the condition and position of the soil, in part on such circumstances as popula- tion and the necessities which, in the shape of towns, ports, rail- roads, etc., and an abundant population create. This value the
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landlord has, as a whole, no power either of creating or destroy- ing When the land is nationalised it will become, in this respect, and only in this respect, the absolute property of the State. But a cultivated estate has a value which is due to actual improvement, apart from its natural value. This consists in houses, fences, timber, drains, and roads not made at the public expense. In the new scheme the State is not allowed to take possession of this portion of the value of land. The characteristic which dis- tinguishes this element of the value of land from the inherent value, is that as it was created by human energy, so it may be destroyed by neglect and wantonness. It is therefore of vital im- portance that all that belongs to the land as distinct from the land itself, all that is involved in tenant right should become the property of the tenant, so that he may if he choose dispose of it, in part or whole, in open market, at a profit if he has added to its value, at a loss if he allows it to deteriorate.
But how is he to get possession of it without injury to the landlord or the State ? The answer is, that the State will deter- mine the value of the land which it takes into its own hand apart from what is called the tenant right. For the loss of this the State will compensate the landlord by an annuity of equal annual value, only terminable on certain conditions. The landlord can- not bequeath these annuities to an heir further removed in blood than a second cousin, as such can have no just expectation of inheriting the property of a relation so far off. In all cases for a similar reason the annuities will terminate with the third genera- tion.
Now, in the first place, tenants, after the passing of the Act, who wish to become occupying owners, must pay the value of this annuity to the State in the form of rent ; and, secondly, they must purchase the tenant right from the landlord, \vho will be obliged to sell. They may arrange the matter privately ; but failing that, a land court will decide the value of the tenant right. When the tenant pays his annual rent to the State, and the value of the tenant right to the landlord, he becomes a holder of the land in perpetuity under the State. This holder may buy as much as he can, or sell what he has. He may divide and sub- divide his holding, and sell the various parts separately. This freedom, however, is to be limited by two stringent restrictions.
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Sub-letting is to be absolutely forbidden ; in other words, no man is to occupy more land than he can occupy personally; for sub-letting would be private landlordism under another name. The next restriction is that heavy mortgages on the land must not be allowed.
Such is a general view of the theory which Mr Wallace has elaborated after years of laborious study. In his book he dis- cusses rival solutions of this vast question, and finds them want- ing. Besides, he reviews with great clearness those objections founded on ethical and political grounds which have been raised against the position claimed for the State in relation to the land. Further, our author deals, in the frankest way, with the bearing of this scheme on the future position of our aristocracy, on our towns, our commons, our mines, our taxation, etc. Mr Wallace does not hesitate to follow his argument whither it leads him, and it has led him to the conviction that he has found a means of transferring to the State the ownership of the land without doing injury to any existing landlord or expectant heir ; that he has hit upon a plan of land tenure which shall combine all the advantages of " safe possession and transmissible ownership ;" and that shall guard us from the untold evils of the present system, and that shall render the land an inexhaustible source of national income. If all this be true, may the good time coming put swifter feathers in its wing!
We shall not attempt a criticism of Mr Wallace's theory. Gradually society may reach his ideal, but that idea is divided from our present circumstances by a gulf so wide that it might be dangerous to try to jump it at a bound. If ever realised it must be in the way that his own favourite evolution attains its end, here a little and there a little in the way of change, though let us hope with less waste, and more economy in the matter of time. Whatever may be our convictions as to the soundness of Mr Wallace's conclusions, most unprejudiced minds will allow that he has conclusively shewn that our present system of land tenure is productive of results, condemned by philosopher, econo- mist, and Christian. The root of the mischief lies in the assump- tion made by the landlords that the land is theirs in a manner so absolute that they may turn it into a desert. Our fields are ours — who is Lord over us ? This power must in some way be as-
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sailed, persistently assailed, until it is razed to the ground, until it shall be impossible that facts, brutal facts, like those described by Mr Wallace in his chapter on landlordism in Scotland, can ever again happen to sully a page of our future history. It is not re- volutionary now to argue thus, for the law has taken away from the proprietors of 600,000 tenants of this realm the power to in- crease their rents at pleasure, or to remove them from their hold- ings. Had such a law been in force eighty years ago, Sellar's name would not be the reproach it now is, and will be for genera- tions unhappy victim of a vicious system. Had we such a law
now in Scotland, Clyth would have been spared those acts of rapacity which are fitted to awaken in the minds of her peaceful sons thoughts and feelings whose fruit, if unchecked, can be no- thing but evil. We can understand and appreciate the views of men who say boldly that, in spite of all the misery which the present system of landlordism has let loose on individuals, it is wrong, absolutely wrong, and unjust, for the law to curtail the rights of the landlord over his land, and so over the human beings who dwell upon it. That is a view which can explain itself, and give reasons for the hope that is in it. But we cannot understand the position of those who hold that it was right to give the tenants of Ireland a Land Law which makes them the most independent tenants in the world, and yet hold at the same time that a similar Act for Scotland is not to be thought of. If by right they mean expedient, then they in effect say — You, the sons of Erin, because you stalk landlords, as landlords stalk deer, and with success, shall have a Land Act, but you, sons of the Highlands, because you respect the Decalogue, must be left, without one, to the sum- mum jus— i.e., in the vernacular, to the tender mercy (often cruel enough) of your Whig and Tory lords ! ! This is putting a pre- mium on assassination.
The fixed stars and the lairds never change, said the old saw. Astronomy shews that the fixed stars do change, and justice is at work, and will compel the lairds to change in more ways than one. In the meantime those who are interested in the welfare of our Highland peasantry should not waste their energies, as they will not, striving for the realisation of an ideally perfect system e that of Mr Wallace, but should give the legislature no rest until the power to evict our peasantry, and to charge them rent
LAND NATIONALISATION. 6;
on the labour of their own weary hands, shall be taken out of the hands of the proprietor, and shall be given to some impartial tribunal appointed by the State. We have nothing to say about our great sheep lords — they are able to look after themselves, they occupy the chief places of the land. Possiby the deer hunting millionaire may do to them as they did to the crofter. " Thy sword has made woman childless, therefore thy mother shall be childless." We hope not however. We believe that the vulgar display of our Winans will make the modern deer himself vulgar, and send our gentlemen back to the old school of sporting — if they will gratify the instinct, to learn the best rules and traditions of their favourite amusement. Meanwhile what remains of our peasantry must be saved — shorn as they now are of the best land, and of the vast moorland pastures so much more valuable to them than their arable land. Our good lairds who do not need any law to keep them from doing harm, though they too need better laws to help them to do good more abundantly, will not be angry at us — and if they do we cannot help it — for striving to get a law whose arm shall restrain the action of grasping, unsympathetic, indolent, pleasure-loving and needy landlords.
To all who take an interest in the land question we recom- mend a careful study of Mr Wallace's book. Apart from its special theory, it is intensely interesting, suggestive of thought, and instructive in many ways.
A. C. SUTHERLAND.
Q U E R I E S.
THE CHIEF OF THE MACRAES. — Could you or any of your readers kindly in- form me who is the present chief of the Clan Macrae ? Nellie Cadoo, Amulty, Coorg, India. FEAR-A-MHUINNTIR CINNTAILE.
REV. LACHLAN MACKENZIE OF LOCHCARRON. — Will any one kindly tell me anything of the Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, a famed Highland preacher, and which branch of the Mackenzie's he belonged to ?
Kegworth. M. B.
Is THE NAME FRATER THE SAME AS FRASER ? — Can any of your readers tell me whether " Frater " is a corruption of " Fraser ?" I have made enquiries through the medium of English papers, but can gather no information on the subject. I shall be glad to know whether the name, if changed from " Fraser," was done on account of some political trouble ?
Lome Street, Chester. GEORGE FRATER.
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GAELIC ETYMOLOGIES, AND INTERESTING ANECDOTES ABOUT GENERAL SIR ALLAN CAMERON OF ERRACHT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
DEAR SIR,— In a little volume of mine on local history and traditions, published not long ago, I appended a page or two of Gaelic etymologies— among others, the etymology of Kenmore— which name occurs in Scotland, as well as in Ireland. Kenmore— an Ceannamhor— is usually understood to be compounded of ceann, a head or end, and mor big— the big end of Loch-Tay. But as the east end of Loch-Tay, where Kenmore stands, does not seem to be much, if at all, the bigger end of the loch, I bethought me of an etymology more descriptive of the locality, and found it, as it seems to me, in ceann, and muir — simply the end of the lake ; and the same as Ceann- loch. The common objection to this is, that muir means salt water exclusively ; and cannot apply to a fresh water lake. But the fact is that muir and fairge do not signify salt water exclusively. They are — if I may so call them — generic words, and may signify, as the case may be, either salt or fresh water. For example, the trans- lators of the Scriptures into Gaelic, render " Sea of Galilee" — a fresh water lake — " Mftir Ghalile" So they also render Sea of Chinnereth, another name for " Sea of Galilee" — not loch Chineret, \w\. fairge Chineret — Num. xxxiv. II. So also in I Kings vii. 23, the laver which contained fresh water for priestly ablutions, they translate mtiir leaghta; and the sea of glass, in Rev. xv. 2, they render fairge ghloine — and the Dead Sea, being a salt water lake, ton. fhairgt shalainn, or salt sea.* So did the Hebrews use the word yam, sea, as our Gaelic translators of Scripture use m&ir and fairge, in a generic sense, to signify fresh or salt water ; and, as in Isaiah xviii. 2, to signify a river. When, however, the ocean is meant, yam has usually the article before it, as in Gen. xxxii. 12. So also the Greeks use the word thalassa, a sea. In Matt. iv. 18, it refers to fresh water, and in Acts x. 6, to salt water. The Gaelic word loch may also signify either fresh or salt water. Loch-Tay, Loch-Ness, Loch-Lomond are fresh water lochs ; and Loch-Long, Loch-Etive, and Loch-Duich are salt water lochs.
While on etymological subjects, I may mention what I observed this autumn when sojourning for a few days at Strathpeffer, inhaling its fresh, sweet, salubrious air, and enjoying its bright scenery— namely, the many names of places that seem to contain the word f ait e— watching— as Fairadie or Fodderty, the place of watching ; Cnocfaireil, the hill of watching ; Fairburn, Fairabruin, or Fairebeinn, the mountain of watching ; and Fyrish, from faire and innis, the place of watching. Probably Torres or Farrais is from the same root ; as also Farr, of which there are several in our Scotch topography. These, and many more that might be mentioned, may have •een the Mispehs, or watch towers, of former times ; and before the days of modern
* Probably fairge— water is the root of Fairigag— the name of a river ; and also, fairigeadh, bathing— a word, by the way, which several of our Gaelic lexicographers >eem to have overlooked. Muir, short, means water ; and muir, long, a stronghold. Hence Dochafuir, Trinafuir, Pitfuir, Beinafuir, and Glenfuir.
GAELIC ETYMOLOGIES. 69
telegraphy they must have served important defensive purposes. From the top of Knockfarrel, the watchman had a far-reaching view eastwards, along the Firth of Cromarty ; and no hostile fleet could approach without timely warning. Also, from its summit, as well as from the heights of Fyrish, and the Fairburn Hills, there could be seen by night the beacon fire, lighted on the heights of Ruidhe-soluis — a most suitable, as well as necessary, defensive device against sudden invasions and surprises in lawless and unsettled times.
I have just been re-reading the interesting biography of Sir Allan Cameron — Ailean nan Earrachd — in the first volume of the Celtic Magazine. Let me give one or two additional anecdotes of him, as I had them from my friend the late Rev. Alex. Macinnes, of Tummel-Bridge and Eannoch — himself a Lochaber man, and full of entertaining reminiscences of his native district. After his fatal and unhappy duel with Cameron of Morshiarlich, as his biographer tells us, Sir Allan fled southwards in haste to avoid serious consequences. Whether it so happened that he was insufficiently shod, or that in the hurry of his flight he marred his foot gear, I do not recollect. Anyhow, seeing a shoemaker's shop by the way, he entered, and asked him if he thought he had a pair of shoes ready to fit him ? The shoemaker replied he thought he had; and, looking round the walls of his workshop, he spied a pair, which he took down, and asked the stranger to try them on. They fitted admirably, and the stranger asked the price of them. But finding that, in the hurry of flight that morning, he had forgotten his purse, he said to his friend, the shoemaker, that he must meantime give him credit for the amount. This the disciple of St Crispin positively declined, alleg- ing that they were strangers to each other, and that he must have payment on delivery. Whereupon — for at times necessity has no law — Sir Allan ran for it, with the shoes in his possession, and the shoemaker hard in pursuit after him, but to no purpose, for the fugitive speedily out-distanced him, an 1 was soon beyond his reach. Many years thereafter, a tall handsome man, in full military costume, entered the very same shoe-shop, and saluted the shoemaker —
" Cia mar tha thu 'n diugh a Dhdmhail?"
How are you to-day, Donald ?
Donald looked up somewhat bewildered at the sudden appearance of this hand- some apparition in military uniform, and timorously exclaimed —
" Ma tk le bhur cead, cha 'n eil mise ga 'r n-aithneachadh."
With your leave, sir, I do not recognise you.
" Nach eil cuimhn' agad a Dhomhail, air an fhear a thainig le cabhaig 'o cliioun a leithid so do bhliadhnaichean — a dh' fhiach air, paidhir de do chuid brog; agus a thug a chasan as leo, gun do phaigheadh. Nach eil cuimhn' agad air sin, agus cho astarach 'sa chaidh thu air a th6ir?"
Do you not remember, Donald, the man that many years ago came in haste to this very shop, tried on a pair of your shoes, ran off without paying you for them? Do you not remember that, and how vigorously you pursued him?
" Ma ta gu dearbh," arsa D6mhal, " 's maith sin 'tha cuimhn' agam air; agus 's mi a dh'fhaodadh, oir thug mi builg air buinn mo chasan an latha sin, nach do leighis gu ceann mios as a dheighe."
Indeed I do very well, replied Donald; and well I may, for that day I so blistered the soles of my feet that they did not recover it for a month after.
It appears Sir Allan was at the time this visit took place in that district recruiting for his regiment. Aware of this, it began to dawn upon the poor shoemaker who his frank and friendly visitor might possibly be, and looking up at him enquiringly, but
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respectfully, he said— "An e sibhse Ailean nan Earrachd?" "Are you Allan of Earrachd ?"— the name by which he was familiarly known among the common people. To which Sir Allan replied— " Ma ta tha mi 'n duil, gu 'r e sin is trice their iad rium aim an Lochaber co dhiu."
I rather think that is the name by which I am best known in Lochaber, anyhow. The price of the shoes was paid down with interest, which Sir Allan insisted, on pain of displeasure, the reluctant shoemaker should accept ; and more than this, the shoemaker himself was enlisted into his regiment— eventually became regimental shoe- maker, and as such, we believe, lived to realise a handsome competency.
As his biographer narrates, Sir Allan fell deeply in love with Miss Philip — his future wife — and hopeless of getting her father's consent to their marriage, eloped with her. It appears his first acquaintance with her began in the house of a mutual friend; and Mr Philip, having from the first discountenanced the proposed union, saw but little of Sir Allan in those earlier years ; and after the lapse of time he seems to have lost all recollection of what his appearance was. It is only on this supposition that we can explain the incident we are about to narrate. So it was that he and his father- in-law sat side by side on this occasion at the same festive board — Mr Philip quite un- conscious that the handsome officer next him was his own son-in-law. The conversation naturally enough took a military turn, and Sir Allan was as entertaining and charming socially as he was brave on the battlefield. Mr Philip was quite taken with him, and dinner over, he took occasion to ask the name of the entertaining officer who sat on his left — complimenting him on his fine physique, his gentlemanly manners, and powers of conversation. It so happened the question was addressed to a Highland officer who knew them both — as well as the past estrangement between Philip and his friend of Earracht. "Yes!" he replied jocularly, in allusion thereto, "you see, Mr Philip, there are gentlemen as well as soldiers among us Scotch Highlanders, although you don't seem to think so ; and I opine, that of such a Highlander as you had by you this evening, you have no cause to be ashamed were he your son-in-law." " Nor would I," was the reply, " had I such a son-in-law." " Well," responded the other, "that is your son-in-law you have been now conversing with— one of the most dis- tinguished officers in the British army." The effect of this reply our readers may fancy. Suffice it to say, that in due time Sir Allan was received into favour, and ever after the two were knit together as father and son.
Can you inform me whether Mrs Grant of Carron's song of " Roy's wife" was originally composed in English or Gaelic? There is a Perthshire local tradition that the Roy of this song was village innkeeper at Aldevalloch, near Kenmore; and that his wife having disappointed a northern lover— a drover by profession— this drover com- posed in Gaelic the song which suggested Mrs Grant's English lyric. I am aware that Chambers, in his "Songs of Scotland before Burns," says the incident which occa- sioned it happened in the Highlands of Aberdeenshire. But a Perthshire correspondent, with whom I communicated, says- "I distinctly remember, when a boy, my father and grandmother talk of the old song of ' Roy's wife,' as referring to a John Roy about Taymouth, whose very handsome wife had jilted the author of the song." The following are some verses of the Gaelic version of this song, and I leave you to judge whether they bear any resemblance to Mrs Grant's performance:—
Bha mi latha tighin' mu thuath,
N deigh buair a reic 'sa Cheannach,
Sud an latha 'rinn mu Ie6n—
N uair Ihcaruinn mi an c6ir Bhraigh-Bhealaich,
THE CELTIC MEDICAL COLLEGE. 71
Bean Iain Ruaidh bha 'n Alt-a-bhealaich,
Bean Iain Ruaidh bha 'n Alt-a-bhealaich,
'N cualadh sibh mar mheall i mi —
'N uair thearuinn mi mu thir Bhraigh-Bhealaich.
Thug i geallaidhean gu leor,
Gu'r mise m' 6nar bh'aic mar leannan.
Ach dar thionndaidh mi mo chul,
'S ann thug i suil air Iain a Bhealaich.
Bha 'gruaidh mar r6s 'sa mhaduinn Mhaigh, 'Sa slios cho gheal ri c!6imh a chanaich. Gnuis bhanail, mhklda, bhoidheach, re"idh, O sud an t6 a rinn mo mhealladh.
Bidh' mi muladach ri m' bhed, 'S mi air mo lednadh leis an ainnir. Ach mo bheannachd tha gu brath Do 'n nighean bhan a bha 'm Braigh-Bhealaich. " Bean Iain Ruaidh, &c., &c.
October 1882. ALLAN SINCLAIR.
THE CELTIC MEDICAL COLLEGE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — It is a well-known fact that in the palmy days of the Lord of the Isles, the art of medicine was highly cultivated in the College of the Ollamhs of Skye, and practised on scientific principles, when at the other seats of learning and capitals of Europe it was left to superstitious charlatans and barbers. It is to be regretted that their learned treatises are now, it is to be feared, irrecoverably lost. My object in writing is to bring under your notice a Gaelic MS., belonging to the Skye College of Physicians, at one time belonging to the Macleods of Skye, now in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh. It is a Gaelic translation of six books of the classic Latin writ- ings of one of the ancient Fathers of Medicine, Celsus Celsus de Medicina. I am aware that Gaelic medical terms are lost to the philologist. Neither in any of the Gaelic dictionaries, nor in any other printed work, are they to be found. It is strange that the Gaelic names and anatomy of the body is better known among women than to men. Now that there is in Edinburgh a Celtic Chair, and Doctors of medi- cine in Edinburgh anxious to show their knowledge of the tongue used —
" When Adam delved and Eve span."
Could they do better than give the world these books, with a treatise in Gaelic bring- ing the subjects treated of up to the present state of knowledge? — Yours, &c.,
SGEULAICHE,
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE BRAES CROFTERS AND LORD MACDONALD. A MUNIFICENT OFFER.
THE following correspondence needs no comment, but we think it worthy of preserva- tion in these pages. On the 28th of October the Editor of the Celtic Magazine received the subjoined telegram :—
" To Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild of Inverness, from
Malcolm Mackenzie, Vue du Lac, Guernsey.
"Tender by telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent due by Braes crofters, and to stay proceedings. I write by post and send securities for one thou- sand pounds on Monday."
These instructions were carried out, and the following reply was received in due course : —
"5 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, 3Oth Oct. 1882.
" Sir,— We have received your telegram of to-day stating that you are authorised by a Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guernsey, to tender payment of the last two years' arrears of rent due to Lord Macdonald by the Braes crofters, on condition that all proceedings against them are stopped, and that you will be prepared to deposit securities for one thousand pounds to-morrow.
"Although we know nothing of the gentleman you mention, we will communi- cate your telegram to Lord Macdonald. At the same time, we must observe,' that you seem to be labouring under a misapprehension as to the matter at issue between his lordship and the crofters, the proceedings against whom were raised for the pur- pose of preventing trespass, and not for recovering arrears of rent. — We are, &c.,
(Signed) " JOHN C. BRODIE & SONS.
" To Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness."
To the above letter the Editor replied as follows :—
" Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness, November I, 1882.
"Sirs, — I am in receipt of your favour of Monday acknowledging my telegram on behalf of Malcolm Mackenzie, Esq., Guernsey, offering to pay arrears of Braes crofters on terms stated therein.
" I was fully aware of the nature of the proceedings against the crofters, though possibly Mr Mackenzie was not, and I simply carried out my instructions. I, how- ever, think if Lord Macdonald desires to settle amicably with the people that this proposal, if it does nothing else, will give him an opportunity of doing so without any sacrifice of his position beyond showing a willingness to discuss the matter with the view to settle it in a way that will extricate all parties from a difficult position.
1 Mr Mackenzie has now, through me, deposited securities amounting to over £1000 in the bank here, and I shall be glad to hear from you when you shall have heard from his lordship.— I am, Sirs, your obedient servant,
" A. MACKENZIE. Messrs John C. Brodie & Sons, W.S."
THE BRAES CROFTERS. 73
The Editor, on seeing Messrs Brodie's letter to him in the Inverness Courier of 2nd November, wrote another letter to the Messrs Brodie, in the course of which he said : — " Referring to the second paragraph of my letter of yesterday, permit me to express my opinion that a favourable opportunity has now arrived to compromise the question in dispute advantageously to both parties, and if I can in any way aid in that object, nothing will give me greater satisfaction. I have had no communication either direct or indirect with the Braes people since the recent trial, except the telegram which has appeared in the papers ; but if a desire is expressed for an amicable arrange- ment, I shall be glad to visit them and do what I can to bring such about. I believe if a proposal were made to appoint an independent valuator connected with the West, and one in whom the people might fairly place confidence as to his knowledge of the country and the climate, the question might be settled in a few days. This valuator should value the crofts and Ben-Lee together, and name one sum for the whole. Though I have no authority for making this proposal, I believe it could be carried out to the satisfaction of all concerned, and it would extricate the authorities and Lord Macdonald from a most unenviable position."
To these letters no reply has been received.
Mr Malcolm Mackenzie followed up his telegram of 28th October with the fol- lowing letter, addressed to the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. It was at once pub- lished in almost every newspaper in Scotland :—
"A. Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness.
"Dear Sir,— On reading in the Inverness Courier an account of the proceedings of Tuesday last against the Braes crofters, I thought that something might be done to take everybody out of a difficulty, and wired you the following message : — ' Tender by telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent due by Braes crofters, and to stay proceedings. I write by post, and send securities for one thousand pounds on Monday.'
' ' It appears to me to have now become the duty of every loyal Highlander to contribute towards the preservation of order. A fund for that piirpose should be opened, and you will please put me down for ten pounds. As you may not be in funds, I send the thousand pounds on the security of being indemnified by High- landers, trusting entirely to their own sense of duty.
" I trust that Lord Macdonald will be advised to accept payment of arrears, and to leave the people -of the Braes in peace until the Government of the country can overtake measures to judge between him and them. It will be a heavy responsibility and a disgrace to call soldiers to Skye at the present time. Her Majesty has more important work to do with her soldiers than to place them at the service of the Court of Session in vindication of an unconstitutional law which is not based on principles of justice, and which has, by the progress of events and the evolution of time, become inoperative.
" The Court of Session looks for precedents. Where are there precedents for the reign of Queen Victoria? You can telegraph for a cargo of refrigerated meat to the Antipodes, and obtain it by steam.
" The prairies of America are brought into competition with Ben-Lee. The Courts, and even the human mind, have been under the domination of the dismal theories of Malthus and Ricardo. Why did they not give heed to the sound teach- ings of Dr Smith and Dr Chalmers, the great apostles of freedom ?
" Our dual system is no longer possible. Lord Macdonald does not know what
74 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to do. Nobody knows what to do. There is an absence of law and justice. Lord Macdonald may be a just and benevolent man— at least I hope he is ; his factor may be a just and benevolent man ; and from the conduct of the ground-officer, he appears to be a judicious man.
" In Scotland the administrator of justice is the robber who deprives the people of their natural and indefeasible right to the soil and of the labour which they have incorporated with it. Is that not a terrible contingency for any country to be in ? It is peculiarly disgraceful that it should be so in respect of the Highland race, who suc- cessfully defended their country, their lands, and liberties, against Romans and Nor- mans. What have we come to ? Are they going to send for the Highland Brigade from Egypt to slaughter the people of Skye ?
"We call for Mr Gladstone. What can poor Mr Gladstone do, with time against him, society in a state of revolt, a demoralised House of Commons, a recal- citrant House of Lords, and the Court of Session at its wit's ends ? Let us pray that he may be able to act as a governor on this rickety steam-engine of society which, under high pressure, and by reason of great friction, is in danger of tearing itself to pieces. In the meantime, and until the machine is put in some sort of order, by Rules of Procedure and alteration of the law, it is every man's duty to keep her Majesty's peace and prevent bloodshed ; and as you appear to me, sir, to be doing yours, like a good Seaforth Highlander, or Ross-shire Buff, allow me to subscribe myself, very faithfully and loyally yours,
(Signed) " MAL. MACKENZIE.
" Guernsey, 24th October 1882."
The following letters explain themselves : —
TO THE EDITOR OF THE INVERNESS COURIER. Celtic Magazine Office, 2 Ness Bank, Inverness, 8th Nov. 1882.
Sir,— I have just received the enclosed letter from Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guernsey. Please publish it in the Courier, as you have already published the reply to my telegram from Lord Macdonald's agents.
Permit me, at the same time, to state that the sum of ;£iooo, in actual cash, has now been placed by Mr Mackenzie at my disposal in the Caledonian Bank, and, in the event of his offer being entertained by Lord Macdonald, that I shall be ready at any moment to implement Mr Mackenzie's offer. — I am, &c.,
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
"Guernsey, 4th November, 1882. "Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness.
1 Dear Sir,— I am in receipt of your letter of the 1st, enclosing the reply of Lord Macdonald's solicitors to your telegram tendering them payment of two years' rent due by the Braes crofters.
" From Lord Macdonald's dignified position, he might be thought entitled to ask
for an introduction before accepting any assistance on behalf of his tenants ; but
ting as I was, on the spur of the moment, to prevent bloodshed, and possibly to avert
* civil war, I did not think that in these hard-money days his solicitors would
use any objections on the ground of my being unknown to them, especially as I made
Dean of Guild of Inverness the medium of my communication
J days of chivalry are gone, and as clan ties and feelings of patriotism and
THE BRAES CROFTERS. 75
humanity are no longer of binding obligation, I could not imagine that a firm of soli- citors would stand on so much ceremony.
" Whatever misapprehension Lord Macdonald's advisers are labouring under, I can assure them that I am labouring under none as to the real issues between him and his crofters. It would, doubtless, suit them to have the case tried on a false issue of trespass before a Court which must be bound by former deci- sions and prevailing canons as to the rights of Highland landlords. The plea of the poor people is that Lord Macdonald is the trespasser, in depriving them of their mountain grazings, without consent or compensation, and thereby reducing them to abject poverty. What can they do ? It would raise the whole question of consti- tutional right, and, as I have said, the Court is bound by former decisions that the landlord has the right to resume possession, and to evict and banish the peasantry after having first reduced them to the last nettle of subsistence. A sentence of ban- ishment used to be regarded as a punishment only next to death, but in the phraseo- logy of landlords it is now an ' improvement.'
"In the days of 'bloody' George of our own ilk, the Court of Session knew better how to apply the ' boot' and the thumb screw than constitutional law. Even later, such ruffians as old Braxfield recognised no right in the people, and ac- cording to their dog Latin they found that the landlord was the only person who had a persona standi. It might, indeed, be an interesting question for more en- lightened and better men to discuss whether the Crown of Scotland conferred on the chieftains by their charters the right of wholesale clearances and forcible banishment of the people from their native country ; and when their military service was commuted into rent charges if it extended to the landlord the right to make it so oppressive that they could not live without appealing to the public bounty for charity. But I fear it is now too late to expect the High Court of Scotland to remedy the evil, and that we must look to some other Court for redress.
" It is in the hope that such a Court of equity may be established for Scotland as regards land and the well-being of the people that I ventured to offer my assistance, and I thought that Lord Macdonald and his advisers would be glad to make it the means of getting out of a difficulty, and quashing a case that has become a public scandal, instead of standing on ceremony. — I am, sir, faithfully yours,
(Signed) "MAL. MACKENZIE."
MEMORIAL TO THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER MACGREGOR, M.A. — We are glad that a movement has been set on foot to erect a memorial to the Rev. Alex. Macgregor, so well known to the readers of this magazine ; and we trust that the proposal will prove as successful as it deserves. No better Highlander ever existed than Mr Macgregor, and we feel sure that our readers will not forget what all Highlanders owe to his memory. The Committee state that " the memorial is to take, in the first instance, the form of a mural tablet to be erected in the West Church, and the surplus funds, if any, will be devoted to some permanent public object to be deter- mined upon by the Committee and the subscribers." Subscriptions may be intimated to Colonel Stuart, Millburn, Inverness, or to us.
;6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL.
IT was the betrothal night of the tacksman of Achaluachrach ; the ceremony was over, the party dispersed, he and his young bride were taking a moonlight stroll, talking of the happy future which lay before them. Achaluachrach was in high spirits, bul his gentle companion was quiet, subdued, almost sad. Her lover rallied her on the depression she evidently laboured under, and laughingly asked if she already repented of her bargain.
" No," replied the young girl, as she raised her tearful eyes to her lover's face, and clung closer to his side, " No, I do not re- pent ; but I fear much our marriage will never take place. I have had fearful dreams lately, ; this evening when we were con- tracted, I seemed to see a white cloud coming between us, and as I looked, it took the shape of a shroud, and since we came out, twice have I heard the croak of the raven. Ah ! listen, there it is again !" she cried, trembling violently, as the ill omened bird flew past them.
Achaluachrach did his best to drive these gloomy fancies from the mind of his beloved, laughed at her fears, calling her a silly, nervous lassie, and continued, " you must cheer up, and get rid of these foolish fancies, for I shall not be able to see you for the next day or two, as I start at daybreak to-morrow with a few chosen lads, to make a raid on old Rose of Kilravock, in Nairnshire, whose fine fat cattle will furnish a grand marriage feast for us."
" Oh ! Duncan," ejaculated the young girl earnestly, " don't go. There will be plenty for our marriage without you running this risk. My mind sadly misgives me ; you will either be killed or wounded. For my sake give up this scheme, and stay at home."
But all her entreaties were in vain; her lover was not to be lightly turned from his purpose. He told her not to fear, for there was no danger. Kilravock was old, frail, and lame, and would not be likely to follow them.
The lovers took an affectionate farewell of each other,
ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL. 77
as they were in sight of the bride's home, which lay on the other side of a burn, spanned by a simple rude bridge, formed of felled trees thrown across. She had just reached the middle of this rustic structure when Achaluachrach turned back, and sprang lightly on the bridge to catch another embrace, and whisper a last loving word. He was gone again before his bride had time to speak ; but when she recollected where she was standing, she wrung her hands, and cried aloud, " Alas ! alas ! ! my fears will be too true, for ' those who part on a brig will never meet again,' oh why did he turn back," said the sobbing girl as she hurried home in deep distress.
The next day Achaluachrach and his friends made the pro- mised raid on Kilravock, secured a rich creach> and started home- ward in triumph. They reached Strathdearn without molesta- tion, and rested for the night at a place called Bro'-clach, where there was good pasturage for the tired cattle. The reivers, feel- ing quite secure, determined to enjoy themselves, so, taking pos- session of a bothy, they killed one of the primest bullocks, and made a grand feast. So confident were they, that they neglected to take the usual precautions against a surprise, and merely placed a young lad to watch outside, and to keep the cattle from straying, while all the rest ate, drank, and sang inside the bothy. They, however, " reckoned without their host," for Kilravock, al- though both old and lame, was too high-spirited to be thus har- ried with impunity, so, hastily gathering his men, he followed in pursuit. On his way he was joined by men from the districts through which he passed, so that by the time he caught sight of his stolen property, he found himself at the head of a numerous and determined band, among whom was a noted character, John Macandrew of Dalnahaitnich, celebrated for his skill with the bow and arrow. He was a very small man, not more than five feet high, and, as he had no beard, looked more like a boy than a man of mature years. He was, however, very strong, courageous, and quick-witted, and much liked by his neighbours, who called him Ian Beag Macanndra.
The lad who had to watch the cattle was tired with his long day's travelling, and was soon sound asleep. Thus, Kilravock and his party were able, favoured by the darkness, to creep up and surround the bothy, a shower of arrows being the first inti-
78 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
mation the reivers had of their being pursued. Their first im- pulse was to rush to the door; but as soon as one showed him- self he was struck down. Seeing they could not