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OF THx:;- 

GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS. I 

VOLUME XII. 

1885-86.

(iicurr. 

i

TRANSACTIONS 

OF THE 

GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS. 

VOLUME XII. 

1885-86.

TRANSACTIONS, ^"-^ i^^^ 

THE GAELIC SOCIETY 

OF INVERNESS. 

1885-86. 

Climn nan 6aiblêal an iwaUlcan a Cljcile. 

rUINTKD FOR THE GAELIC SOCIETY OK INVERNESS, 

BY R. CARRUTHKRS & SONS; 

AND SOLD BY JOHN NOBLE, JAMES H. MACKENZIE, JAMES MELVEN 

WILLIAM MACKAY, AND A. & W. MACKENZIE, 

BOOKSELLERS, INVERNESS 

AND MACLACHLAN & STf:WART, EDINBURGH. 

1886. 

;

coisrTEisrTS 

PAGE, 

Office-bearers for 1885 and 1886 vii 

Constitution , . viii 

Introduction xiii 

Fourteenth Annual Assembly—Speeches by Mr A. R. Mac- 

kenzie, yr. of Kintail, and Rev. Archibald Macdonald . 1 

The Early Celtic Church in Scotland— Provost Macandrew . 15 

The Gaelic Names of Birds—Mr Charles Fergusson . . 28 

Donnachadh Ban Mac-an-t-Saoir—Mr Neil Macleod . . 

Fourteenth Annual Dinner—Speeches by Provost Macandrew, 

Mr James Barron, Mr A. Macbain, Mr Duncan Campbell, 

94 

Mr A. C. Mackenzie, Mr E. H. Macmillan, Dr Aitken, Mr 

Alexander Mackenzie, Mr William Mackay, Mr G. J. 

Campbell, Mr A. Mackenzie (Silverwells) .... 98 

First Impressions of America, a Gaelic Poem—Mr Wm. Eraser, 

Illinois 112 

Old Gaelic Songs—Mr Colin Chisholm 118 

The Isle of Man, its History and Language—Mr Duncan 

Campbell 1G7 

The Heroic and Ossianic Literature—Mr Alexander Macbain . 180 

Unknown Lochaber Bards—Mrs Mary Mackellar . . .211 

Archibald Grant, the Glenmoriston Bard— Îr Alexander Macdonald 

A Famous Minister of Daviot, 1672-1726—Mr Wm. Mackay . 

226 

244 

Smuggling in the Highlands—Mr John Macdonald . . . 256 

The Gael, his Characteristics and Social History— Rev. Mr 

Bisset 287 

Changes in the Ownership of Land in Ross-shire, 1756-1853— 

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Bart 293 

The Parish of Rosskeen—Mr Roderick Maclean . . . 

Etymological Links between Welsh and Gaelic—Canon Thoyts 

324 

340 

The Dialects of Scottish Gaelic— Professor Mackinnon . . 345

Some Unpublished Letters of Simon Lord Lovat to Lochiel of 

the '4r)—Mr Cameron of Locliiel 367 

Granting Diplomas of Gentle Birth, itc, by Scottish Kings : 

Case of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Munro of Obsdale, 

inr.3—Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, M.P 383 

Old Highland Industries—Mr Alexander Ross . 

. . 387 

Gleanings from the Old Ecclesiastical Records of Badenoch— 

Mr Alexander Macpherson 415 

Honorary Chieftains 431 

Life Members 431 

Honorary Members 

' 

. 431 

Ordinary Members 433 

Apprentice Members 438 

Decea-sed Members 438 

List of Books in the Society's Library 439


OFFICE-BEARERS FOR 1885. 

Chief. 

A. R. Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail. 

Chieftains. 

Provost ]\racandrew. 

D. Campbell. 

Councillor W. G. Stuart. 

Hon. Secretary. 

William Mackay, solicitor. 

Secretary. 

Wm. Mackenzie, 3 Union Street. 

Treasurer. 

Duncan Mackintosh, Bank of 

Scotland, Inverness. 

Members of Council. 

Colin Chisholm. 

Alexander Macbain. 

John ^^^lyte. 

John Macdonald. 

Bailie Mackay. 

John \^^lyte. 

Librarian. 

Piper. 

Pipe-Major Maclennan. 

Bard. 

Mrs Mary Mackellar. 

OFFICE-BEARERS FOR 1886. 

Chief. 

R. C. Munro-Ferguson of Novar. 

Chieftains. 

Alexander Mackenzie,Silverwells. 

Provost Macandrew. 

A. Macbain. 

Hon. Secretary. 

William Mackay, solicitor. 

Secretary. 

Wm. Mackenzie, 3 Union Street. 

Treasurer. 

Duncan Mackintosh, Bank of 

Scotland, Inverness. 

Members of Council. 

William Gunn. 

John Macdonald. 

Bailie Mackay. 

Councillor Stuart. 

John Whyte. 

Librarian. 

John Whyte. 

Piper. 

Pipe-Major Maclennan. 

Bard. 

Mrs Mary Mackellar.

COMUNN GAILIG INBHIR-NIS. 

CO-SHUIDHEACHADH. 

1. 'S e ainm a' Chomuinn " Comunn Gailig Inbhir-Nis.' 

2. 'S e tlia an run a' Chomuinn :—Na buill a dheanamli 

iomlan 'sa' Gluiilig ; cinneas Canaine, Bardachd, agus Ciuil na 

Gaidhealtaclul ; Bardachd, Seanachas, Sgeulachd, Leabhraichean 

agus Sgrioblianna 's a' chanain sin a theai-nadh o dhearmad 

Loabhar-hmn a chur suas ann am baile Inbhir-Nis de loabhraichibh 

agus sgriol)liannaibh—ann an canain sam bith—a bhuineas do 

Chaileachd, lonnsachadh, Eachdraidheachd agus Sheanachasaibh 

coir agus cliu nan 

nan Gaidlieal no do thairljhe na Gaidhealtachd ; 

Gaidheal a dhion ; agus na Gaidheil a slioirbheachadh a glina ge 

b'e ait' am bi iad. 

3. 'S iad a bhitheas 'nam buill, cuideachd a tha gabhail suim 

do runtaibh a' Chomuinn ; agus so mar gheibh iad a staigh : — 

Tairgidh aon bhall an t-iarradaii*, daingnichidh ball eilc an tairgse, 

agus, aig an ath choinneimh, ma roghnaicheas a' mhor-chuid le 

crannchur, nithear ball dhith-se no dheth-san cho luath 's a 

phaidhoar an comh-thoirt ; cuirear crainn le ponair dhubh agus 

gheal, acli, gu so ])\n dligheach, feumaidh tri buill dheug an crann 

a chur, Feudaidh an Comunn Urram Cheannardan a thoirt do 

uiTad 'u8 soachd daoinc cliuiteach. 

10 6 

Ball Cumanta 

Foghlainte 

5 

10 

7 7 

4. Paidhidh Ball Urramach, 'sa' bhliadhna . £0 

Agua ni Ball-beatha aon chomh-tlioirt de . 

5. 'S a' cheud-mhios, gach bliadhna, roghnaichear, le crainn, 

Co-chomhairle a riaglihus gnothuichcan a' Chomuinn, 's e sin—aon 

Oheann, tri Tar-chinn, Ch-iroach Urramach, Riniairc, lonmhasair, 

agUH coig ])uill eile — feumaidli iad uilc Gailig a thuigsinn 's a 

bhruidliinn ; 

agus ni coigcar dhiubh coinneamh. 

;


CONSTITUTION. 

1. The Society shall be called the "Gaelic Society of 

Inverness." 

2. The objects of the Society are the perfecting of the Members 

in the use of the Gaelic language ; the cultivation of the 

language, poetry, and music of the Scottish Highlands ; the rescuing 

from oblivion of Gaelic poetry, traditions, legends, books, 

and manuscripts ; the establishing in Inverness of a librai-y, to 

consist of books and manuscripts, in whatever language, bearing 

upon the genius, the literature, the history, the antiquities, and 

the material interests of the Highlands and Highland people ; the 

vindication of the rights and character of the Gaelic people ; and, 

generally, 

abroad. 

the furtherance of their interests whether at home or 

3. The Society shall consist of persons who take a lively interest 

in its objects. Admission to be as follows :—The candidate 

shall be proposed by one member, seconded by another, balloted 

for at the next meeting, and, if he or she have a majority of votes 

and have paid the subscription, be declared a member. The ballot 

shall be taken with black beans and white ; and no election shall 

be valid unless thirteen members vote. The Society has power to 

elect distinguished men as Honorary Chieftains to the number of 

seven. 

4. The Annual Subscription shall be, for 

Honorary Members ..... £0 10 

Ordinary Members ..... 

Apprentices ...... 

A Life Member shall make one payment of 

5. The management of the affairs of the Society shall be entrusted 

to a Coxmcil, chosen annually, by ballot, in the month of 

January, to consist of a Chief, three Chieftains, an Honorary 

Secretary, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and five other Members of the 

Society, all of whom shall understand and speak Gaelic ; five to 

form a (quorum. 

— 

.

X CO-SHUIDHEACHADH. 

6. Cumar coinneamhan a' Chomuinn gach seachduin o thoiseach 

an Doicheamh niios gu deireacUi Mhai)'t, agus gach ceithirla-doug 

o thoisoaoli Gliiblein gu deireadh an Naothamh-mois. 'S 

i a' Gliailig a labhrai gach oiilhche mu'n seacb aig a' cliuid a's 

higha. 

7. Cuiridh a' Clio-chomhairle hi air leth anns an t-Seachdanihniios 

air-son Coinneamh Bhliadluiail aig an cumar Co-dheuchainn 

agns air an toircar duaisean air-son Piobaireachd 'us ciuil Ghaidh- 

anns an flieasgar bithidh co-dheuchainn air Leughadh 

cahicli eile ; 

agus aitliris Bardaehd agus Eosg nuadh agus taghta ; an deigh sin 

cumar Cuirm chuidheaclidail aig am faigh nitlie Gaidheahach roghainn 

'san uirghioll, ach gun roinn a dhiultadh diiaibh-san nach tuig 

Gailig. Giulainear cosdas na co-dheuchainne le trusadh sonraichte 

a dlieannamh agus cuideachadh iarraidh o'n t-shiagh. 

8. Cha deanar atharrachadh sam bith air coinih-dhealbhadh a' 

Chomuinn gun aontachadh dha thrian de na'm bheil de luchdbruidhinn 

Gailig air a' chh\r-ainm. Ma's miann atharrachadh a 

dheatiamh is ciginn sin a chur an ceill do gach ball, mios, aig a' 

chuid a's lugha, roimh'n choinneimh a dh'fjieudas an t-atharrachadh 

a dhoanamh. Feudaidh ball nach bi a lathair roghnachadh le 

lamh-aithne. 

9. Taghaidh an Comunn Bard, Piobaire, agus Fear-leabhar- 

TJllaichear gach Paipear agus Leughadh, agus giulainear gach 

Dcasboireachd le run fosgailte, duineil, durachhdach air-son na 

fiiinn, agus cuircar gach ni air aghaidh ann an spiorad caomh, 

glan, agus a reir riaghailtean dearbhta.

COXSTITUTION. XI 

G. The Society shall hold its meetings weekly from the 

beginning of October to the end of March, and fortnightly from 

the beginning of April to the end of September. The business 

shall be carried on in Gaelic on every alternate night at least. 

7. There shall be an Annual Meeting in the month of July, 

the day to be named by the Committee for the time being, when 

Competitions for Prizes shall take place in Pipe and other Highland 

Music. In the evening there shall be Competitions in Reading 

and Reciting Gaelic Poetry and Prose, both original and select. 

After which tliere will be a Social Meeting, at which Gaelic sub- 

jects shall have the preference, but not to such an extent as 

entirely to preclude participation by persons who do not understand 

Gaelic. The expenses of the competitions shall be defrayed 

out of a special fund, to which the genei'al public shall be invited 

to subscribe. 

8. It is a fundamental rule of the Society that no part of the 

Constitution shall be altered without the assent of two-thirds of 

the Gaelic speaking Members on the roll ; but if any alterations 

be required, due notice of the same must be given to each member, 

at least one month before the meeting takes place at which the 

alteration is proposed to be made. Absent Members may vote by 

mandates. 

9. The Society shall elect a Bard, a Pipei-, and a Librarian. 

All Papei's and Lectures shall be prepared, and all Discussions 

carried on, with an honest, earnest, and manful desire for truth 

and all proceedings shall be conducted in a pure and gentle spirit, 

and according to the usually recognised rules. 

;

INTRODUCTION. 

In presenting the Society with its twelfth Volume, the 

Council has again to announce a larger Volume than any of its 

predecessors ; and it is a further matter of congratulation that, 

while former Volumes were larger by reason of two or more years' 

work being issued together, this Volume contains but the record 

of one Session's work only. Nothing could at once better prove 

the wealth of the Gaelic material with which we deal, the usefulness 

of the Society's work, and the energy and vitality of its mem- 

bei-s. It Avill be found that the papers and lectures in this book 

are not merely interesting in themselves, but also most important 

in their bearing on Highland History, Antiquities, and literature. 

The Volume begins with the Society's July Assembly last year, 

and ends with the winter and spring papers in May, thus contain- 

ing exactly a year's record of work. The last Session has probably, 

in respect of papers, lectures, and discussions, been the most active 

the Society has ever had. 

In taking a general survey over men and work in the Gaelic 

and also in the wider Celtic field, we have first, with son*ow, to 

record the death of the veteran Gaelic scholai', the Rev. Dr 

Thomas Maclauchlan, of Edinburgh. For the last generation Dr 

Maclauchlan was our leading Gaelic scholar; he was practically 

arbiter in matters of Gaelic literature and scholai-ship, a position 

which he filled with honour and good judgment. He was the 

connecting link between the old literary school of Gaelic writers 

and scholars, and the new school of critics and philologists. His 

works have had a most potent effect in bringing Gaelic studies 

into good repute among British scholars, and his editions of the 

Dean of Lismore's Book, and Bishop Carsewell's Prayer Book, 

have done more than anything else to give people a proper idea 

of what the history of the Gaelic language must have been. The

XIV INTRODUCTION. 

translation of the Dean's Book was a most arduous task, and, 

considering the state of Celtic scholarship at the time, a marvel 

of accuracy and learning. His other chief works are "Celtic 

Gleanings," and the "Early Scottish Church," while he also wrote 

the history of Gaelic Literature in Keltie's History of the Highlands, 

a piece of work which is unique in its excellence. He was 

also engaged on the revision of the translation of the Gaelic Bible. 

Dr Maclauchlan was chief of our Gaelic Society in 1880, and. be- 

sides doing his duty as that year's chief, his name appears often 

in our Volumes as the author of papers delivered before the Society 

and printed in our Transactions. 

In Gaelic literature, considerable activity and interest are 

manifested. Mr Lachlan Macbean, a well-known member of our 

body, besides translating into beautiful English verse the poems of 

Dugald Buchanan, has returned to his old love of music, and has 

issued a selection of the most popular Gaelic psalm tunes; while 

Mr Henx'y Whyte is still adding to his " Celtic Lyre." Rev. Mr 

Cameron's first volume of the Scottish Celtic Review has been com- 

pleted by the issue of number four. And while these words are 

being penned, Mrs Mackellar's translation of the Queen's " More 

Leaves " has been handed in to us, fresh from the press. Who 

but the queen of our modern Gaelic poets should translate our 

Queen's book % 

In general Celtic scholarship and literature there are one or 

two events of importance to record. The Revue Celtique, the 

most important of Celtic periodicals, devoted as it is to Celtic 

philology, antiquities, and the editing of texts and MSS., is now 

edited l)y M. D'Arbois de Jubainville, one of our foremost Celtic 

philologists, M. Gaidoz, who started and who so ably conducted 

the Revue for fifteen years, having sought well-earned repose. 

Mr Stokes has published in the last volume of the Philological 

Society's Transactions two treatises of vast importance to Celtic 

Philology. The first work— over one hundred pages in length 

—diHcu.sHcs in a concise form " Celtic Declension." It is undoubtedly 

the most important contribution that has yet been made 

to the sulject since the time of Zeuss. It contains not only Old

INTRODUCTION. XV 

Irish and Old "Welsh Declensions, but also attempts to x'cstore the 

Old Celtic Declension. A concise account is given of the " des- 

mential changes," and also of the Gaulish inscriptions. The other 

paper is upon the Neo-Celtic Verb Substantive, and it contains a 

most important account of vocalic change. Dr Kuno Meyer has 

published valucible editions of the Cath Finntraga and Merugvd 

Uilix. Professor Rhys has been the Hibbert Lecturer for this 

year; his subject was "the Origin and Growth of Religion as 

Illustrated by Celtic Heathendom." He passed in review the 

whole subject of Celtic Religion and Mythology, and advanced 

such interesting and startling theories that his published work 

will be waited for with some eagerness by enthusiastic Celtists. 

The Educational Minute of May of last yeai-, which we de- 

scribed in Vol. XI., has been embodied in the new Scotch Code. 

But unfortunately, though Gaelic is allowed as a specific subject, 

it is, nevertheless, not placed upon the specific schedule: only a 

note at the bottom of the page informs the public that Gaelic may 

be taken as a specific subject, "provided it be taught upon a 

graduated scheme, to be approved by Her Majesty's Inspectors" ! 

The Gaelic to be taught is to be settled for each school by the 

caprices of teachers and inspectors ! Evidently, however, this is 

only a temporary device, and next year we may hope to see Gaelic 

on Schedule Four beside Latin and Greek. A committee of this 

Society drew up a Gaelic Scheme that may be worth reproducing 

in the circumstances : 

— 

1st Stage. Reading of 50 pages of ordinary Gaelic prose. 

Reciting of 50 lines of Gaelic Poetry. General knowledge of 

Gaelic Declension. 

2nd Stage. Reading 100 pages of Gaelic poetry and verse. 

Writing to dictation from the same. Reciting of 100 lines of 

Gaelic Poetry, -svith meanings and allusions. General knowledge 

of Gaelic Grammar. 

3rd Stage. Reading of Gaelic prose and verse. Reciting of 

150 lines of Gaelic poetry. Composition of a theme in Gaelic, 

and some knowledge of the history, construction, and literature 

of the Gaelic language.

XVI INTRODUCTION. 

The above scheme is as difficult as can be allowed with a 

view to any practical good being intended to result from the con- 

cession of Gaelic as a specific subject ; and, as such, we venture to 

think, it is worthy of consideration in official quarters. 

We must not close the introduction to this Volume, the 

iimgnum opus of the Society, without refemng to its editor, our 

secretary, Mr Mackenzie. Mr Mackenzie has been appointed 

Principal Clerk to the Crofter Commission, and, although tliis 

means the loss of his invaluable services to us, we sincerely con- 

gratulate him on a step of advancement so well-deserved for his 

unremitting energy in the Gaelic cause. Our very best wishes 

follow him. His decade of work for the Society will be a proud 

memory for him as it is, in the excellence of its results, an honour 

to us. He has fitly cro^vned his woi'k by the energy of last 

session, leaving to his successor the Gaelic Society in a condition 

which, because flourishing and in good order, will be all the more 

difficult to maintain. 

Inverness, August 1886.

TIJ ANSACTiONS. 

ANNUAL ASSEMBLY. 

The Fourtecntli Annual Assembly of the Society took place 

in (lie Music Hall, luveruess, on the evening of Thursday, 9th 

July 1885. The chair was occupied by Mr Allan R. Mackenzie, 

yr. of Kintai), Chief of the Society. He was supported by Sir 

K. S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart.; Rev. A. Macdonald, Logie- 

Easter; Mr William Eraser, of Elgin, Illinois; Mr A. Macdonald, 

Balranald ; Captain A. M. Chisholm, Glassburn; Mr Alexander 

Macdonald of Treaslane; Bailie Mackay, Bailie Ross, Mr Duncan 

Shaw, W.S., Inverness; Mr "William Mackay, solicitor; Mr G. 

J. Campbell, solicitor ; Mr F. Macdonald, Druidaig ; Mr R. Maclean, 

Ardross ; Mr Colin Chisholm, Namur Cottage ; Mr E. H. 

]\[acniillan, Caledonian Bank; Mr A. Macbain, Raining's School; 

Mr A. Mackenzie, Ballifeary; Mr A. Mackenzie, Silverwells; Mr 

P. H. Smai t, drawing-master ; Mr A. C. Mackenzie, Maryburgh 

Pr F. M. Mackenzie, High Street; Mr AVilliam Mackenzie, 

secretary, &.c. There was a large attendance of the members of 

the Society aiid their friends, as well as the general public and 

strangers from a distance who came to Inverness to take pai-t in 

the Wool Fair. While the company were assembling, the pipers 

of the Rifle Volunteers, under Pipe-Major Ferguson, perambulated 

the principal streets, Pipe-Majors Maclennan, of the 2nd Battalion 

Cameron Highlanders, and Mackenzie, of the 3rd Battalion 

Seaforth Highlanders, at the same time jjlaying a selection of 

Highland au's in the entrance lobby. 

the proceedings commenced by 

Shortly after eight o'clock 

Mr Mackenzie, the Secretai-y, intimating apologies for absence 

from the following gentlemen :—Lord Dunmore, the Earl of Sea- 

field, Lord Archibald Campbell, The Chisholm, Mr D. Camex'on of 

Lochiel, M.P.; Mr Munro-Ferguson of Novar, M.P.; Mr Charles 

Frascr-Mackintofih, 31. P.; INIr Osgood H. ]\Lackenzie of Inverewe; 

Mr K. J. Matluson, yr. of Lochalsh ; Major Rose of Kilravock ; 

Mr J. Douglas Fletcher, yr. of Rosehaugh ; Mr Angus Mack- 

;

2 Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

— 

intosh of Holme ; Sheriti" Blair, Inverness , Rov. A. D. Mackenzie, 

Kiliuorack ; Captain O' Sullivan, Inverness ; Mr Charles 

Innes, solicitor, Inverness ; Mr A. Burgess, banker, Gairloch ; 

Mr P. Burgess, factor, Glennioriston ; Ex-Bailie Macdonakl, 

Aberdeen ; Mr James Barron, Inverness ; Mr L. Macdonald of 

Skeabost, and others. 

Professor Blackie wrote : 

" Broughton, Peeblesshire, 3rd July. 

" Dear Sir,—You are very kind to \vish to keep nie longer as 

a Highlander, but I have done my work in that quarter, and must 

now submit to die as I was born, a Lowlander. Nevertheless, 

liad I been free to wandei- about at this season, I might have done 

myself the pleasure to visit the fair city, whose beauties, I think, 

I once sang in a sonnet ; but, unfortunately, this year I am tied 

down to Tweedside, doing family duty from which only the imperative 

call of public work could withdraw me. With best 

wishes for the success of your gathering on the 9th, believe me, 

sincerely yours, " John S. Blackie." 

The Chief, on rising to speak, was received with loud cheers. 

He said—When travelling in a railway caniage a few months ago, 

I read a report of a meeting of this Society, and saw that 

I had been elected Chief for the year, I thought there must 

have been some mistake, and it was not until I arrived at 

home and found a letter from our worthy Secretary, confirming 

the report, that I fully realised the great honour which 

had been bestowed upon me. (Applause.) Ladies and gentlemen, 

we have met here to-night to celebrate the fourteenth annual 

assembly of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, and holding as I do 

a very strong opinion that, if we, as a Society, ever allow politicid 

questions of any sort, no matter how important, or of how great 

interest they may be to us, to a})pear at our assemblies, from that 

time dissension and strife will spring up amongst us— (Hear, hear) 

—and we will soon drift apart, and tlius do away with the great 

power for good, which I am certain this Society can bring to bear 

on the people in whoso welfare and prosjierity we take, and should 

take, so active an interest. (Ai)plause.) Holding these opinions, I 

do not intend to say one word which can betui-ned by my bitterest 

political opponent into a channel which I never intended, or even 

to nKmtion a subject wjiich is never for long out of our thoughts, 

or our daily conversation. That our Chief at the last annual 

dinner had to do this we are aware, but on that occasion it was

Annual Assembly. 3 

aliuost t'oived upon hiiu, ;md you would all have; been much disappointed 

if he had not chosen the subject he did foi- his speech, 

but I know he is the last man who would wish to establish that as 

a precedent. (Applause.) I have to congratulate the Society 

that since the loss of Cluny, which was so feelingly referred to by 

Lochiel on that occasion, none of our members have been taken 

from us, and on the other hand we have to welcome a great 

number of gentlemen who have since joined us. It is, as I have 

already stated, now fourteen years since this Society was first 

started, and the success which has attended it is remarkable. 

Not only is it still living and flourishing, but it appears destined 

in the future to exercise a still more powerful intiuence over all that 

pertains to Celtic literature and Celtic life than it has even hitherto 

accomplished, and those of lis who have followed the Transactions, as 

they appeared from year to year, must have been struck with the 

mai-vellous amount of research, involving enormous labour, and in 

cill cases a labour of love, on the part of the authors of those 

papers ; and it is not too much to say that it is principally owing 

to the efforts of the members of this Society that a large quantity 

of Celtic poetry, history, and tradition have been rescued from 

oblivion. (Cheers.) The success of the past ought to encourage 

us to harder work in the cultivation of the language, ])oetry, 

anticpiities, and history of the Scottish Highlands, to promote 

which is one of the main objects of the Society. The revival 

of Celtic literature must, I think, produce good results on the 

character and interests of the Gaelic people. When the revival 

took place, as you may i-emember, the language and customs of 

the race were on the eve of disappearing ; the movement for a 

Celtic Chair was brought forward, and mainly owing to the great 

zeal and enthusiasm of one of the honorary chieftains of this 

Society, successfully carried out ; from that time, the interests 

which it is the province of this Society to preserve have prospered, 

and all thii,t is worth preserving is now certain to be saved from 

destruction. (Cheers.) There is one subject which this Society 

has always taken a great intei-est in, and that is the teaching of 

Gaelic in Highland schools Last year, for a I'eason which I need 

not mention, it was my duty, as well as my pleasure, to enter into 

more schools, and to converse with more teachers than often falls 

to the lot of one man— (Laughter)—and I found that the feeling 

was unanimous that it was essential that there should be a special 

gi'ant for the teaching of Gaelic, and I cannot see any reason why 

a boy or a girl should not be taught Gaelic as thoroughly as they 

are taught English. (Cheers.) Necessary as it is for children to

4 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

leuni English, so that they may lie able when they grow up 

to fight the battle of life, I am not at all certain that they 

would not be able to fight this battle better, and with more hopes 

of success, if they could speak not only English but Gaelic as well. 

(Hear, hear.) Personally, I regret that T am not able to s])eak 

Gaelic, and though, perhaps, I am now too old to hope to attain any 

gi'eat result if I were to try and overcome this defect, I can only 

trust that if, in years to come, it should be your wish to confer 

the honour you have paid me on my son, 1 may be one of the 

company who will listen to him making a Gaelic speech in this 

room, even though I may have to get him to translate it afterwards 

for my special benefit. 

much struck—in spite of the 

(Applause.) I have often been 

concessions which were granted by 

the Government in 1875 and 1878, practically teachers, even 

when the children only understand Gaelic, make very little use of 

that language in the schools— at the rapid strides which the 

children make, and which speaks very highly both of the natural 

sharpness and cleverness of Highland children, as well as the 

trouble and jiatience which teachers must exercise to bring this 

about. I remember one teacher in a Highland i)arish telling me 

that though he himself was quite ignorant of Gaelic, he found the 

children who attended his school very soon, by the help of the 

ditterent i)icture majjs on the walls, and with a little patience on 

his part, were able to understand and speak Englisli thoroughly. 

The day for saying that a knowledge of Gaelic was any hindrance 

to success in life is of the past. (Cheers.) Now that it is recognised 

as one of the ancient languages, we shall find that these amongst 

us who are not only able to s})eak, 1)ut read, and what I believe is 

more diificult still, to spell Gaelic— (Laughter)—will be looked up 

to as lieing a great deal superior to those poor unfortunates who 

cannot do any one of them. (Cheers.) I was talking to our 

Secretary the other day, and asked if it was not probable that we 

could devote some of our funds towards forming a 

for the promotion of Gaelic. He told me that at 

bursary 

present 

we were hai'dly in a position to do so, and I wish to impress 

upon you that the remedy for this lies in your own hands. 

Those of you who are not memljtis jf this Society, I hope will 

at once belong to it — (Applause)— and those of you who are 

should try and pnsvail upoiv as many of your friends as you can 

to join it, so that we may ha in a position not only to go on preserving 

and publisliing works beai'ing on Gaelic literature in our 

Transactions, Init that we shall be abk; togivc si>ecial prizes to the 

poorer amongst our children for proficiency in tiiat language.

Annual Assembly. 

(Cheers.) You must romonibfr, if it had not been for this and 

kindred Societies, Highhmd education would never have received 

the attention whicli it now does, and I think therefore it is incumbent 

on us all to do what we can to help and increase their prosperity. 

In conclusion, let me add that though 1 have briefly referred to one 

or two of the main objects which this Society has in view, one of 

the most imjjortant of them—notwithstanding that you will not find 

it in its constitution ; for it is supposed to be so well understood 

and so engrafted in our hearts, that it was unnecessary to put it 

into print—is, that it is desirous above everything to encourage 

kindly feeling among all classes, and to promote the welfare and 

happiness of everyone ; that it is not only our business to see to 

the preservation of the language and customs, but to maintain all 

that is elevating and noble in the character of the Celt at home 

and abroad ; and that we wish to uphold that character for honour 

and right feeling which has always hitherto been characteristic of 

Scotland, and which has enabled her to enroll in the most brilliant 

pages of history so many of the names of her sons— (Cheers)—and 

I earnestly trust that some of the able and influential Gaelic 

speakers who belong to this Society will, even at some self-sacrifice, 

ti'y and instil this important object into the minds of the people, 

and let them understand that our great desire is, not to set class 

against class, but to recruit in our ranks all men, whether they 

be rich, or whether they be poor, so that in time those who may 

be in need of either advice or counsel may come to look upon this 

Society as a sure place to obtain it. (Loud cheers.) 

Rev. Archibald Macdonald, Logie-Easter, delivered the Gaelic 

address. He was received with loud and hearty cheers. He said 

— Fhir na Catlirach, a mhnathan uaisle, agus a dhaoin uaisle, 

— : 

Tha mise an comain Comunn Gaidhlig Inbhirnis, air son gu 'n do 

ghabh iad a leithid de dheagh bharail dhiom 's gun do chuir iad 

romham beagan bhriathran a labhairt 'n 'ur eisdeachd 's an ionad 

so anns a' chanain a tha ro dhluth do chridhe gach fior Ghaidheil 

—canain bliinn, mhilis nam beann. Agus a nis b'fhearr leam gu'n 

robh air a thiodhlacadh orm a h-aon de na teangaibh sgoilte bha 

aig na ciad Chriosduidhean a chum, ma tha feadhainn an so aig 

am bheil cluasan Sasunnach gu 'n cluinneadh iad mise labhairt 

riutha 'nan canain fein. Ach o nach gabh sin deanamh, dh' 

iarrainn air gach aon fa leth misneachd a ghlacadh car beagan 

mhionaidean, agus cuimhneachadh gu faigh foighidinn furtachd 

agus gur searbli a' ghloir nach faodar eisdeachd rithe. 'Nuair a 

sgi-iobh an Run Chleireach thiigamsa ag innse gu 'n robh 'n dleasnas 

tlachdmhor so air a chur romham dh'fheoraich mi dliiom fein, 

^


— 

c'arson a chuir iad ciiireadh ormsa air son oraid Ghailig a thoirt 

seachad? Thubliairt mi rium fein gu faoda


bhaile Gaidhealtaclid na h-Alba ; gu bhcil sibli a' cur romhaibh 

gu 'u cum sibh suas cliu bhur sinusir agus iiacli talaidli ui sani 

bith bhur cridheachan air falbli blio gliradh 'ur duthclia agus 'ur 

canaiu. l^ha la eile ann, Fliir na Cathracli, eadar ceud agus lethcheud 

bliadhua roinili 'n diugli, agus clia nilior nach biodh naire 

air duiue air sou a bhi 'na Ghaidheal. Bha na Goill a' deauauih 

tair air a' h-uile ni Gaidliealach, agus cha b'urrainn dliuit di-moladli 

bu nilio a dlieananih air rud sam bith na radh gu'n robh c "gle 

Hielan'." Bha diioine do nach b'aithne Ghaidhlig a deananih a 

mach nach robh innt' ach sfânn ghoileam gun doigh ; gu'n robh i 

deananih tuilleadh cron no niaith, agus mar bu huiithe gheibheadh 

i bas gur e b'fliearr. A leig mi leas a radh ribhse gu'n d'tliainig 

caochladh cur air clo Chaluim 1 Fhuair ard luchd-foghluim a 

mach gu'n robh a' Ghaidhlig na canain gle aosda agus mar sin 

gu'n robh i 'na meadhon ro fheuinail air son a bhi tilgeil soluis air 

eachdraidh agus gne chanain eil. Thuig na Gaidheil fein gu'n 

robh ionmhasan ro luachmhor foluichte ann an canain, bardachd, 

ceol, beul-aithris, agus cleachdaidhean an duthcha, a bhiodh nan 

call do-labhairt an leigeil air di-chuimhn; agus a bharrachd air a 

sin, gii'n robh coraichean aig na Ghaidlieil fein a dh' fheumadh a 

bhi air an agairt. B'ann uaith sin, Fhir na Cathrach, a dh' flias 

suas na Comuinn Ghaidhealach a tha'n diugh air feadh na righeachd, 

mar tha Comum Oiseineach Oil-Thigh Ghlascho, anns an 

na robh mi fein aon uair na'm Run-Chleireach, agus an t-aon is 

sine tha mi 'm barail de na Comuinn Ghaidhealach ; Comunn 

Gaidhlig Inbhirnis, agus feadhain eile de 'n t-seorsa cheudna ann 

an Glascho, an Duneidin, agus an Lunainn. Anns na Comuinn 

sin tha na Gaidheil a'feuchainn ri bhi seasamh guallainn ri guallainn 

a'cumail greim daingean air canain agus cleachdaidhean an duthcha, 

agus mar sin a bhi coimhlionadh na h-oibre a thug am Freasdal 

dhoibh ri dheanamh mar mheanglan maiseach agus torrach ann an 

craoibh mhoir chinneach na talmhaiim. Ach faodaidh a' cheisd a 

bhi air a faighneachd, Ciod a tha agaibh r'a radh air bhur son fein] 

A blieil bhur n-eachdraidh mar chomunn ag innsc gu bheil sibh 

torrach ann an oibribh. ? Agus 's e mo bharail-sa nach leig 

Comunn Gaidhlig Inbhirnis a leas eagal a ghabhail roimh'n cheisd. 

Cha chreid mi gu'n canar mu bhur timchoill gu'n can sibh moran 

's nach dean sibh ach beagan. Cha'n urrainn donihsa 'nam sheasamh 

am Baile Inbhirnis a bhi diochuimhneachadh batail a bha o 

chionn cheithir bliadhna eadar sibh fein agus ard chomunn riaghlaidh 

na righeachd ann a' Lunnain, 'nuair a dh' fheuch na daoine 

mora a bha 'n ughdarras atharrachadh a thabhairt air tartain nan 

reiseamaidean Gaidhealach. Tha cuimhn' ayam mar a chuir sibhse


bhur cinn agus bhur guallainn I'a cheile—mar a chaidh an cranutara 

mil 'n cuairt bho ghleann gu gleann, blio sgir gu sgir, agus 

bho sliiorramaclid gu siorramaclid, gus mu dheireadli, mar bu dual s 

mar bu ghnath, gu'n d'tlmg sibh striochdadh aii' na Goill. Ghleidh 

sibh do na reiseamaidean Gaidliealach an t-eideadli a bhuineadh 

dlioibh o cliian, auns an deachaidh iad gu iomadh batail agus buaidli, 

le brosnacliadli agus caismeachd na pioba-moire— eideadh anns 'n 

do dhoirt iomadh gaisgeach bho thir nam l)eann, full chraobhach 

a' chuim, a' seasamh suas air son coir agus cliu na righeachd, air 

son coir theallach agus dhacbaidhean a dhuthcha. A.£us is 

cinnteach mi nach biodh so cho furasda dheanamh mur a b'e 

gu'n robh sibli a' faotainn neart o' bhi air 'ur n-aonadh r'a cheilo 

ann an coraunn de'n t-seorsa so. Tha e 'na chomharra maith air 

an deagh obair a tha na Comuinn Ghaidheahich a' deanamh, nach 

robh riamh a leithid de mheas air canain agus litieachas nan Gaidh- 

eal 's a tha 'nar linn fein. Bha cheist air a cur riumsa, 's cha'n 'eil 

fada uaith, Ciod e 'm feum a bhi cumail suas na Gaidhlig— 's cinnteach 

gu faigh i bas co dhiubli, agus nach 'eil e cho maith siubhal a 

leigeil leatha ann an sith 1 B'e so an fhreagairt a thug mi dha, Ciod e 

'm feum dhuitse bhi 'g a d' chumail fein suas le ithe 's le ol, oir 

glieibh thusa mar an ceudna bas la eigin 1 Tha Ghaidhlig 

cosmhuil ris a' h-uUe ni talmhaidh agus aimsireil, tha i cosmhuil 

ris a' Bheurla fein, gheidh i bas ' nuair a thig a ham. Clia'n 'eil 

i 'n deigh galar a' bais a ghabhail fhathast ; tha i beo, slan, fallainn, 

agus c'arson nach faigheadh i 'n ceartas a tha cauiiiue eile 'faotainn 

le bhi g'a labhaii't, g'a sgriobhadh, agus g'a teaga.sg, an aite 

feuchainn air gach laimh a bhi tabhairt dhi a buille bais 1 Cha'n 

'eil againne, dhaoin' uaisle, ach aon fhreagairt do 'n cheist am bu 

choir a' Ghaidhlig a bhi air a cumail suas. Air a chor is lugha 

bhiodh e iomchuidh urram na h-aoise a thabhairt dhi, oir cha'n 

'eil teagamh nach i li-aon de na canainibh is sine tha 'n diugh air 

a labhairt air aghaidh na tahuhainn. Bha leabhar air a sgriobhadh 

le fear a mhuinntir Ghlascho, Lachlan Mac-a-Leathain, no 

" Lachlain nam Mogan " mar a theirte ris, gu bhi dearbhadli gu 

'm b'i Ghaidhlig a' cheud chanain. Cha 'n o mhain gur 

" I labhair Padruig Innisfail nan Righ, 

'S a' faidh naomh sin Calum caomh an I," 

ach, fada cian roimh sin, gur 

" I labhair Adhamh ann am P;i rras fein 

'S gum l)u bhinn a' (Jhaidhlig 

Ni-headh, Fhir na Cathrach, ma 'ii it 

tlia .seanii fliilidli ag iiuise (lliuiiui:—


" Nuair a bha Gaidhligaig na li-coin, 

'S a thuigeadh iad gloir nan dan ; 

Bu trie an comhi-adli 's a' choill, 

Air iomadh pone, ma's fior am bard." 

Ma bha Gaidlilig aig na h-eoin 's mov m' eagal gu 'n do cliaill iad 

i. Co dhiubli chreideas sinn e no nach creid, clia d' fhuair miso 

naighcachd riandi air duine chual eun a' labhaiit Gaidhlig, ach 

aon fhear, agus b'e sin Murchadh nam Port. Air dha tigh'n 

dhachaidh blio chuairt air Tir Mor, bha e gearan nacli cuala o 

focal Gaidhlig fod 's a bha e air falbh, giis an cual e coileach a' 

gairm ann a' Forres. Ach eiod air bith cia mar tha so, co dhiubh 

tha Ghaidhlig aosda no chaochladh, 's fhiach i bhi air a cumail 

suas, agus air a' cleachdadh agus a rannsaehiulh air a sgath fein. 

Nach i so an teanga 's 'n do chuir Oisein an ceill euehdau Fliinn 

agus Chuchullain, 'nuair a thul)hairt e ann am fcasgar a bhreoiteachd 

agus a dhoille, 

" Mar ghath soluis do m' anam fein, 

Tha sgeula na h-aimsir a ilh' fhalbh." 

Nach aim innte sheinn Donncha Ban " Moladh Beinn Dorain " 

agus "Cead Deireannach nam Beann,' agus a chuir Mac ]\Ihaii;h.stir 

Alastair i-'a cheile a' bhardachd chumhachdach sin " Sgiol)air('achd 

Chlann Raonaill," agus a chuir Tormod Mac Leoid a mach an 

" Cuairtear," agus an "Teachdaire Gaidhealach " ann am briatliraibh 

cho milis, ceolmhor, binn, ri sruthaibh seimh na Marbhairu. 

C aite 'm bheil orain is luraiche na tha r' am faotainn ann an "Sar 

Obair nam Bard Gaidhealach," no 's an "Oranaiche" fein, agus 

c'aite 'm faigh tliu leithid de ghliocas, de thuigse, agus de 

dli'abhachdas 's tha r' am faicinn ann a Leabhar 8hean-fhocal an 

t-Siorraim Mhic Neachdainni Ni mo bu clioir dhuinn a bhi 

smaointinn gu bheil linn nam bard air siubhal seachad, gu bheil 

clarsach nam beann air tuiteam ann an tosd bliithbhuan. Tha 

trusgain nan seann fhilidli an deigh teachd a nuas air guaillibli it 

chaitheas iad le urram, agus fhatl 's a bhitheas Mairi Nic 

Ealair, Eoghainn Mac Cola, agus Niall Mac Leoid, agus 

feadhain (die 's 'a cholluinn daonna, cha bhi na Gaidheil gun 

bhaird 'nam measg a chumas suas an cliu agus an onoir. Ach, 

Fhir na Cathrach, bu choir a' Ghaidhlig a chumail suas agus a l)hi 

faotainn ceartais air sgath an t-sluaigh a tha 'ga labhairt—na 

ceudan mile de luchd-aiteachaidh na Gaidhealtachd d' an i 

is cainnt mhathaireil ; agus d' am bheil liheurla mar theanga 

choimhich. (iidheadh 's aithne dliomhsa na sgireachdan 

is Gaidhealaiche ann an Gaidhealtachd na h-Alba, a'Mis an sin tha


maighistearau sgoile a' teagasg, aig iiach 'eil lideadh (iaidlig 'n an 

ceann ; agus eadlion far a blieil inaighstii sgoile Gaidhealach, cha 

chluinn thu l)ho bliliadhn' iir gu Nollaig focal Gaidhlig air a 

leughadli no oran Gaidhlig air a sheinn. Tlia so' nam bharail-sa 

na aobhar naire, ach tha mi nis toilichte fhaicinn gu'm bi misneachd 

air a tabliaii-t seachad le tabhartasan bho 'n Pharlamaid, air son 

a' Gliaidhlig a tbeagasg ann an sgoilean na Gaidhealtachd, agus do'n 

luchd teagaisg is fearr fuireach anns a' Ghaidbealtachd, agus iad 

fein a dheanamh ni's eolaichc air canain an duthcha. Ami a bhi 

tabliairt fainear an t-suidheachaidh anns a bheil litreachas agus 

canain nan Gaidlieal cha'n nrrainn domh a bhi di-chuimhneachadJi 

gu bheil a nis Cathair Ghaidhlig air a suidheachadh ann an Oil- 

Thigh Dhuneidin, agus gu'n robh so air a thabhairt mu'n cuairt le 

saothair agus dealas aon duine— duine bhitheas ainm air chuimhne 

aig na Gaidheil fhad 's a bhitheas bainne aig boin duibh, no fhad 

'sa dh'fhasas fraoch air sliabh. Agus tha Ohathair sin air a 

lionadh le duine tha 'n a smior Gaidheil, 'n a ard sgoilear, agus a tha 

'n deigh e fein a thabhairt suas do'n obair le uile chridhe agus le 

\iile neart. Agus a nis canamaid le durachd ar cridhe; gu ma 

fada beo Blackie gu bhi faicinn saothair a laimhe soirbheachadh, 

agus gu ma fada beo Maclonmhuinn gu bhi teagasg ann an 

Cathair Ghaidhlig Dhuneidin. Buaidh 'us piseach orra ; saoghal 

fada 'n deagh bheatha dhoibh le cheile. Tha mi'n dochas, agus 

tha mi ciunteach, gu'n dean a' Chathair Ghaidhlig feum ann an 

iomadli doigh agus do iomadh aon. Far a bheil doctairean, hichd- 

lagha, luchd-teagaisg, agus ministeirean aig am blieil suil am beatlia 

a chui' seachad anns a' Ghaidcaltachd bu choir dhoibh, air a' char is 

lugha dol aon seisein a dh'iounsachadh gu Professor Maclonmhuinn 

an Duneidin. Bu choir gu h-araidh do'n chleir so a dheanamh. 

'S iomadh ministeir a tha deanamh' droch dhiol air deagh chomhthional 

leis an t-seorsa Gaidhlig anns am bheil iad a searmonachadh 

an t-soisgeil dhoibh. Chuala mi mu aon fhear, agus 'n uair a 

bha e 'g urnuigh air son nam bochdan 's ann a thubiiairt e—"A 

Thighearn, bi cuimhneach air na buic." Bha aon fhear sonruichte 

na mhinisteir aim a' Sgire Dhiurinnis 's an Eilein Sgianach, ris an 

cainte' "Sutar," agus tha ainm gu maith air chuimhne, leis na rainn 

a bha air an deanamh dha le Gilleasbuig Aotrom. Ged a bha 

"Sutar" 'na sgoilear ann an canainilih eile cha robh e ach gle fhad' 

air ais's a' Ghaidhlig. B'ann mar so a thubhairt Gileasbuig ris: 

"'Nuair a theid thu do'n chubaid 

Ni thu urnuigh l)hios gleusda, 

Bidh pairt dli'i 'iia Gaidhlig 

'Us pairt dh'i 'na Beurla; 

—

— 


Bidh pairt dh'i 'na h-Eabhra, 

'Na Fraingis, 's 'na Greugais, 

'S a' chuid nach tuig each dhi 

Bheir i gair' air Fear Gheusto." 

Agus a nis am faod lui uia'u crioclmaicli mi tarruing a tlialihairt 

air ni eile tha na Comuinu Ghaidhealacli air a ghabhail os laimli. 

'Se sin cuis nan croitearan Chan 'eil mise dol a chur mo slieuhi 

ris na rinn na croitearan no leis na blia air a dheanamh 'n an ainm. 

B'fhearr learn nach robh iad air an cuis a Jagachadh le aon ghniomh 

mi-Uighail. Ni mo tha mi dol a shuidhe ann am breitheanas 

agus a dhiteadh nan uachdaran gu h-iomlan. " Clian 'eil gur gun 

ghoirean, 's cha'n 'eil coille gun chrianaich," agus cuiridh beagan 

de dhroch uachdarain droch ainm dhe'n chorr. Ach tha mi 'ga 

i-adh so, 'nam biodh na h-uachdarain Ghaidhealach- -cha'n e an 

fheadhainn a tha ann an duigh, ach an fheadhainn a bha rompa 

— air fuireach ni bu mho am measg an tuatha ; 'nam biodh iad 

air an canain ionnsachadh agus dol a mach 's a steacli 'nam measg 

air la feille 'us Di-domhnaich, an aite bhi cosg an storais le 

struidhealachd agus straic ann an Lunainn ; agus 'nan robh iad 

mar so an deigh greim a chumail air an oighreachdan, cha bhiodh 

an fhicheadamh cuid dhe na h-uilc fo'n lobh iad ag osnaicli air 

teachd air luchd aitichidh na Gaidhealtachd. Bha'n t-uachdaran 

mar bu trice mo 's coltach ris a' chuthaig ; dirfhaodadh e tighinn 

do'n duthaich beagan laithean 's an t-samliradli, ach cha b'fhada 

gu uair am fhalbh. B'e sin aon rud air an robh duine bochd aon 

nair a' gearan 'n uair a thubhairt e 

— 

" Uachdaran nach faic sin, 

Bailidh nach dean ceartas, 

Ministeir nach dean baisteadh 

Dotair nacli toir feairt oirnn, 

Agus sgaoth do dhiabhuil bheag eile de mhaoir 's de clionstabuill, 

's am fear is isle post 's e 's airde focal." Clia'n 'eile duine air 

thalamh leis an docha tir a' bhreith na'n Gaidheal. Co dhiu tha e 

bochd no beairteach, tha e 'na fhior fhaoileig an droch-cladaich, 

ged a dh'fhaodas an gleanu 'san robh e og a bhi lom creagacli 

agus neo-thiorail, ged nach tigeadh as deigh na curaclul ach a 

V)huinteag 's an t^sealbhag cha'n 'eil cearn dhe'n chniinnece clio 

alluinn 'na shuilibh-san. Tha e coltach ris an fliaoileig ann an oniu 

Dhomhuill nan Gran

12 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

" 'S anil air slinnein an aigeich 

A rinn mo mhathair an t-eun dioni, 

'S a dh'aindooin iiidil 'us anraidh, 

Cha tig an la tlieid air di-clmimlm' 

Mo ghaol do'n bhad." 

Fliii" na catliracli, clia'n 'eil mise 'g radh :dr a shon sin gn'm bu 

clioir do dhaoin' oga, laidir, fallain, fuireach an diamhanas aig an 

tigh far am bheil ni 's leoir aig a' cliirc le sgrioban gu'n lion i 

SL,'roban. B'fliearr dhoibh gu mor a bhi bogadh nan gad, agus ged 

nacli biodh aca ach an t-ubh beag le bheannachd, mar a bha aig 

mac na bantraich's a' sgeulachd, dol a shiubhal an t-saoghail 's a 

dh'iarraidh an fhortain. Ach ma dh'flialbhas iad, falbliadh iad 

le'n toil fein, agus na biodh iad air an co-eigneachadh. Cha'n 

nrrainn do dhuine air bith a thoirt a chreidsinn ormsa gu'n do 

rinn na tighearnan Gaidhealach an ceartas 'n uair a dh'fhasaich 

iad bailtean agus sgireachdan, 'n uair a blia iomadh aitreabh agus 

coisir mhuirneach air a sgapadh agus gun air fhagail fiir an robh 

iad ach larach lom gun chloich gun chrann. 'N uair a bha luchd 

shoithichean dhe'n tuath air am fogradh a dheoin no dh'aindeoin 

gu duthchana cein a chum aite reidh a dheanamh do chaoirich 

agus do fheidh. Agus ged a tha mi cinnteach gu'ni bu choir 

cothrom a thabhairt do chuid dhe na croitearan dol far am fearr 

an dean iad beoiaint, bhiodh e chum maith na righeachd gu'm 

biodh aite taimh air fhaotainn dhoibli ann an Alba chivomh nan 

stuc 's nan earn. 'S e na croitearan cnaimh-droma agus feithean 

na Gaidhealtachd agns b'olc a dheanadh an duthaich as an aonais 

anil a' latlia chunnart agus ann an nair na deuchainn 

" Ged a gheibheadh tu caogad 

Mhuilt'us reithichean maola, 

'S beag a thogadh a h-aon diubh 

Claidheamh faobharrach stailinn." 

(Jha'n 'eil e furasda dha na Gaidheil an cruaidhclias troimh 'n 

deach' an hichd-duthcha a dhi-chuimhneachadh. Acli cha'n 

urrainn do Achd Parlamaid peanas a dheanamh air na mairbli no 

furtachd a thabhairt do mhuinntir a tha na ticheadan l>Iiadhna 

fo'n fhod. " Beannaclid leis 'na dh'fhalblias, cha 'n c dh'fhoghnas." 

Ach tha mi'n dochas gu leasaichear cor na nuiinntir a tha beo. 

'H e so seachduin Feill na Cloimhe agus tha mi cluinntinn gu 

bheil cuid dhe no tuathanaich ndiora a bhitheas cruinn an 

Inbhirnis a leigeil seachad pairt dhe'n gal)ha]aicliean. Cha'n 'eil 

iad a' faotainn a mach gur fearr cluan a dh'flKvuran na cuan a 

—


(lirt'lic.uanu. Ma tlia so tior, tlia iiii'n doclias ,i;ii fai-li na cioit- 

caiaii tuillra.Ui fcaiaiiiu. cu dliiubli -lioibli iad' c lo Ac-IhI Ki,i,'li 

amis I'ailamaitl no ;iir dlioigh air bitli eile, ai;iis ,i(u'iii bi an 

suidlu-acliadli anus gacli ait' am blieil iad air adheananih ni's fearr 

ua bha e o chionn fliada. Cha do thogadl' an Roimli an aon la, 

agiis clia'n fhaigli na Gaidheil an ooraichean ann an latlia ; ach is 

cinnteach mi gu'n tig am an soirbheachadh ann a' freasdal De, 

luath no mall ; gu'm bi coir air a cur air steidhe agus eiicoir air a 

smaladli Fhir na cathrach, 's mor m' eagal gu'n do chum mi ro 

fliada sibli, ach ge fada 'n duan ruigear a cheann. Rachaihh air 

aghaibh mar fhior Ghaidlieil gu duineil, misneachdail, treibhdhireach; 

cumaibh suas canain, bardachd, beul-aithris agus cleachdaidhean 

nam beann ; tagraibh cuis 'ur luchd-duthcha a tha 

diblidh agus bochd, agus na cuireadh a h-aon agaibh smal air 

ainm agus cliu a' Ghaidlieil. 'S e deireadh gach comuinn dealachadh. 

Beannachd Dlie leibh. (Loud cheers.) 

An attractive programme of Highlaml music and dances was 

gout; through in admirable style. Some interest was evinced in 

the first public appearance in Inverness of Miss Jessie N. Maclachlan, 

whose musical abilities were so highly spoken of, and 

judging from the hearty reception which she met with on this occasion, 

the expectations formed were more than sustained. Her 

lendei'ing of " Caismeachd Chlann-Chamaroin " and other Gaelic 

as well as English songs, was marked by perfect enunciation and 

genuine feeling. Her voice is clear and ringing, with well balanced 

strength both in the lower as well as in the ui)per registers, and as 

a ballad singer she exhibits a thorough appreciation of her theme. 

An encore was awarded on each appearance. Miss Nora Thomson 

of Aberdeen, gave "Wae's me forPrince Charlie" with much feeling, 

and as an encore sang " Cam' ye by Athole." She subsequently 

gave the " Macgregor's Gathering " with much spirit. ]\[iss 

Hutcheson, whose reappearance showed that her efforts at former 

festivals of the Society were appreciated, sang with her accustomed 

sweetness "Fear a' Bhata," and "Thug mi Gaol," securing a 

hearty encore for her first song. A selection of Highland melodies, 

consisting of okl bagpipe airs, was played in an admirable manner 

by Miss Shaw, Thoriihill, whose arrangements were at once appreciative 

and sympathetic. Mr Paul Fraser in " Mniri Bhoidh- 

each," sang with nuich care, and his rendering of " The Garb of 

Old Gaid " was full of spirit. Mr Ross Campbell, elocutionist, 

gave "The Gowk's Errand" in a style which convulsed the 

audience with laughter, and proved Mr Campbell to be a mimic of 

considerable talent. Pipe-Major R. Mackenzie danced Gille-


Caluai with his customary ability, and ho also took part in the 

Highland tiing with Pipe-Major Ferguson, Mr Mackenzie, jun., 

and others. In an interval of five minutes between the tirst and 

second parts of the programme, Captain Chisholm discoursed 

excellent music on the pipe, and also played a reel in which the 

dancers joined. The pianoforte accompaniments were played with 

much taste by Mr M' Walter, Inverness. At the close of the 

programme, 

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie proposed a vote of thanks to the 

speakers, and to the ladies and gentlemen who had entertained 

them that evening. (Loud applause.) 

The Chairman, on behalf of the performers, as well as on 

lêhalf of Rev. Mr Macdonald and himself, leturned thanks, intimating 

at the same time that at the close of the meeting an 

opportunity would be given to such as desired to join the Societ)'. 

A most successful gathering was then brought to a termination. 

Through the kindness of Messrs Macbean & Sons, Union 

Street, and Councillor Snowie, the platform was decorated with 

tartans and stags' heads. 

The following is a copy of the programme : 

PART I. 

Address—The Chief. 

Oran Gailig— " Caismeaclid Chlann-Chamaroin "— Miss Jessie N. 

Maclachlan. 

Scotch Song— " Wae's me for Prince Charlie "—Miss Nora Thom- 

son. 

Oran Gailig — " Mairi Bhoidheach "—Mr Paul Fraser. 

Sword Dance— " Gill(;-Calum "—Pipe-Major R. Mackenzie. 

Pianofoi-te Selections— " Highland Melodies "— Miss Shaw. 

Oran (lailig— " Fear a' Bhata "— Miss Hutcheson. 

Scotch vSoug — " Dark Lochnagar "—Miss Jessie N. Maclachlan. 

Dance— " Highland Reels "—Oganaich Ghaidhealach. 

— 

Interval of Five Minutes—Bagpipe Music. 

PART II. 

Gaelic Address.—Rev. Archibald Macdonald. 

Scotch Song— " Macgregor's Gathering "— Miss Nora Thomson. 

Oran Gailig— "Thug mi gaol do'n fhear bhh,n"—Miss Hutcheson. 

Oran Gailig— " Muile nam j\lor-bheann "-Miss Jessie N. Mac- 

lachlan.

The Early Celtic Church in Scotland. 15 

Song— "The Garb of Old Gaul"— 3lr Paul Fiusit. 

Humorous Scotch lloading—"A (iowk's En and"—Mr Ross 

Cauipbell, Elocutionist. 

Oran Gailig— 

" Cruinneacliadh nan Gaidlieal "—Miss Jessie K. 

Maclachlan. 

Dance — "Highland 

Ghaidhealach. 

Fling and Reel o' Tulloch " — Oganaich 

Vote of thanks to the speakers and performers— Sir K. S. Mac- 

kenzie. 

8th December 1885. 

A largely attended meeting was held on tl.is date, when 

Pi-ovost IVIacandrew delivered the inaugural address for the 

Session of 1885-6— the subject being "The Early Celtic Church 

in Scotland." Provost Macandrew's paper was as follows: 

THE EARLY CELTIC CHURCH IN SCOTLAND. 

What I have undertaken to do to-night is to give some account 

of the Christian Church as it existed in Scotland in the earliest 

Christian times, and before it fell under the influence and authority 

of the Bishop of Rome. The Christianity of Scotland came from 

Ireland, and at the outset of our enquiry it is necessary to consider 

when and by whom the Irish were converted. The Roman world 

become oflicially Christian about 321, and at that time Britain, up 

at least to the Southern wall, was a Roman province, and presumably 

it became Christian as the rest of the Empire did. We 

know that a Christian Church existed among the provincial 

Britons at the time the Romans took their departure, and continued 

to exist among those Britons who were not subdued by the 

Saxons. But whether the Christianity of the Roman Province 

extended itself among the unsubdued Caledonians to the North, 

or among the inhabitants of Ireland, is a matter as to which we 

have no certain light. Aboxit 397, thirteen years before the linal 

abandonment of the province by the Romans, St Ninian, a bishop 

of the Britons, built a Church at Whithern, in Galloway, and is 

said by Bede to have converted the Southern Picts; and the 

Southern Picts are said by Bede to have been those living 

between the Firths of Foitli and Clyde and the Grampian range. 

Whether Bede is right in this is a matter about which I shall ImAC 

something to say farther on ; but if the Picts to the south of the 

—

16 Gaelic Society of Inueniess. 

Grampians were converted by Ninian, they appear soon to baxe 

lapsed into i)aganism. Again there are evidences of a tradition 

in Trehmd tliat Ninian went to that country and preached 

Christianity, and he is commemorated there under the name of 

Monen—tlie term of endearment " mo " being very frequently 

prefixed to the names of saints—while, at a later period, the 

monastery at Whithern, supposed to have been founded by 

Ninian, was undoubtedly resorted to by Irish ecclesiastics for 

instruction. Bede states that about 430, Palladius was sent by 

(/'destine, the Roman Pontift', to the Scots (that is the Irish) that 

believed, to be their first bishop, and from this it might be inferred 

that Christianity had made some progress in Ireland before that. 

In the 8th century there is no doubt the Irisli believed that they 

had been converted by Saint Patrick : and that a saint of this 

name did go to Ireland about the year 432, and became at least a 

main instrument in tJie conversion of the Irisli, is beyond doubt. 

There remains a confession or account of himself by St Patrick, 

and a letter by him to Coroticus, the British prince then reigning 

at Dumbarton, which those competent to judge accept as genuine. 

From these it appears he was born in the Roman })rovince of 

Britain, that his father was a deacon, and also a decurio or 

" bailie" of a Roman provincial town, that his grandfother was a 

presbyter, that his father lived in " Bannavern of Tabernia," that 

in his youth he was carried as a captive to Ireland and remained 

there for six years, that he then escaped and returned to his 

parents, and that he afterwards went back to Ireland as a mission- 

ary, and in or about his 45th year was ordained a bishop In his 

confession he says that he converted many in Ireland who had 

liitlicrto worshipjjcd unclean idols, that he had ordained many 

cU'iics, and that the sons of the Scoti, and the daughters of 

princes, were seen to be monks and virgins of Christ. All this 

seems to be authentic, but it is singular that Bede, while he 

mentions Palladius, makes no mention uf Patrick, and that, when 

about 100 years after his death, the Irish and Scottish Church 

came in contact witli the Cluirch of Rome, and liad to defend 

tlieir peculiar customs, tliey do not appeal to tlie authority of 

Patrie. Columbanus, in his controversy with the Clergy of (Jaul 

does not mention him, nor does Colman of Lindesfarne, in his 

controversy witli Wilfred, in presence of King Oswy, a))pcal to 

his authority, and Adamnan only once mentions him incid


been the same

— 


ScotbiiuL nortli of the Friths, were divided into two nations, the 

Northern and the Southern Picts, and that tlie mission of St 

(Jolumba was to the Northern Picts. I venture to suggest, however, 

that this is a mistake. The statement rests on the authority 

of Bede, who, as I have mentioned, says that Ninian converted 

the Southern Picts. But in Bede's time King Oswy had 

extended liis dominions up to tlie Grampians, and thus for a time 

created a division between the Picts subject to his aiithority, and 

those beyond the mountains wlio remained independent, and thus 

probably misled Bede. He heard or read that Ninian had conveited 

the Southern Picts, and assumed that they were those 

subject to the Saxons ; but I think it is obvious that the Picts, 

with whom St Ninian came in contact, were those of Galloway, 

and they would naturally, in his time, be designated as Southern 

Picts, as distinguished from the Picts dwelling beyond the 

Northern Wall. The statement in the Saxon Chronicle is as 

follows : 

" A. r)G5. This year Ethelbert succeeded to the Kingdom of 

the Kentish-men, and held it tifty-three years. In his days the 

hfily Pope Gregory sent us baptism, that was in the two and 

thirtieth year of his reign ; and Columba, a mass-priest, came to 

the Picts, and converted them to the faith of Christ ; they are 

dwellers by the northern mountains. And their king gave him 

the Island which is called li [lona] ; therein are live hides of land, 

as men say. There Columba built a monastery, and he was 

abbat there thirty-seven years, and there he died when he was 

seventy-two years old. His successors still have the ])lace. The 

Southern Picts had been baptized long before : Bishop Ninia, who 

had been instructed at Home, had preached baptism to them, 

whose church and his monastery is at Whitherne, consecrated in 

the name of St Martin : there he resteth, with many holy men. 

Now in li there must ever be an abbat, and not a bishop ; and 

all the Scottish bishops ought to be subject to him, because 

Columba was an abbat and not a bishop. 

"A. 5G5. Tins year Columba, the presbyter, came from the 

Scots among the Britons, to instruct the Picts, and he built a 

monastery in the Island of Hii." 

Be this as it may, however, it is (juite clear that the Picts never 

were divided jiolitically into two nations. We have lists of their 

kings, and they never had more than one king at a time, and 

there can l>e no doubt that Brude M'Mailchon, who was converted 

by Saint Columba, reigned over the whole Pictish race north of


the Friths—his seat being at Inverness. His successor appears 

to liave had his capital at Abornetliy, and there is some gi-ound 

for the conjecture that the Pictish kings may liave been chosen 

alternately from two families, the one having its possessions and 

settlements south of the mountains, and the other north of them, 

but so far as I have been able to trace, there is no authority for 

holding tliat there was any political separation except during the 

thirty years that the Saxims held dominion up to the Grampians. 

I think, therefore, that we may safely hold that St Columba's 

mission was to the whole Pictish nation ruled by Brude, as his 

Church undoubtedly was established among them. 

Thje reason of Saint Columba leaving Ireland is by one tradition 

said to have been that he was excommunicated, and sentenced 

to perpetual exile by a Council of the Irish Clergy on account of 

his having been the cause of the bloody Battle of Cuildreanhne. 

But this is contradicted by all the facts of the Saint's life—for he 

repeatedly went from lona to Ireland, and undoubtedly retained 

the rule over all the monasteries which ho had founded in Ireland, 

and a most powerful influence in that country till his death. 

Adamnan mentions, however, that a sentence of excommunication 

was unjustly passed on him, but that it never took effect, or was 

recalled at the Council at which it was pronounced. His removal 

from Ireland, therefore, need not be attributed to any other cause 

than the missionary zeal which had taken possession of him and 

his contemporaries at that time ; but it may have had a partly 

political object, for at that time his kindred, the Scots of Dalriada, 

were being hard pressed by King Brude ; they Avere Christian, 

and he may have feared that they would be destroyed, and resolved 

to make an effort to save them. And it is a fact that from his 

time for very many years there was peace between the Plots and 

the Scots. 

Whatever the impelling cause, in 565 Saint Columba sailed 

from Ireland and landed in lona, and, finding it a suitable place 

for his purpose, he established there a monastery of monks on the 

model of that which he and others had previously established in 

Ireland, having obtained a grant of the island, according to Bede, 

from Brude ; l)ut, according to other accounts, from the King of 

the Scots of Dalriada. From thence he went to the Court of 

King Brude, then at Inverness ; and he appears soon to have 

gained him over to the faith, and to have always retained a great 

influence over him. During the remaining years of his life he 

seems to have laboured mainly among the Picts, and before his 

death he had converted the whole nation and established his

20 Gaelic Society oj Inuerness. 

Church securely among them ; 

and 

— 

so vigorous was it that, within 

less than forty years after Coluniba's ileatli, it undertook the (.H)nversion 

of the Northumbrians, and established a Church among 

them which existed, under the primacy of lona, for thirty years, 

when it retired before the advancing Church of Rome. 

As I have said, the Church which developed itself in Ireland, 

and of which the Scottish Church was long a branch, had certain 

peculiarities which distinguished it from all other Churches. To 

state these distinctions in a word, it may bt; said that the Church was 

a monastictribal Church, not subject to the jurisdiction of Bishops. 

Monasti'-ism was first introduced from the East, but it wag 

well known in the Roman Church before the time of St Patrick, 

and we have seen that he says that through his means the sons of 

the Scoti and the daughters of princes became monks and virgins 

of Christ ; but in the Roman Church monasticism was an order 

within the Church, existing along with a secular clergy, and 

subject to the jurisdiction of the bishops. In the Church which 

developed itself in Ireland, and was introduced into Scotland, on 

the other hand, the whole Church was monastic, and subject to 

the jurisdiction, not o? bishops, but of abbots, who were not necessarily, 

and, in point of fact, seldom were bishojis, and while the Episcopal 

Order and the special functions of the Episcopate in the 

matter of ordination and the celebration of the mass with Pontifical 

rites, was recognised, the bishop was not a prelate, but a functionary 

and official of the Church, living as a monk in the monastery, and 

subject to the abbot. This peculiarity of the Church was for 

long a battle ground between Presbyterians and Episcopalians, 

and founding on a passage in Fordun, it was maintained by the 

advocates of Presbyterianism that the Church of St Columba was 

a Presbyterian Church, in something of the sense in which that 

word is applied to the present Churches in Scotland—but this 

contention is now exploded. In the sense of equality among the 

clergy, either in the matter of power or of functions, the Church 

was entirely different from the Presbyterian Churches. The 

abbot, although he might be only a presbyter, ruled over the 

whole community with absolute power. On the other hand, 

while the bishops had no jurisdiction, they were recognised as a 

distinct and necessary order of clergy, with certain functions 

which the presbyter could not assume, and tlio Church liad thus 

the three orders of clergy, and that regular succession of Bishoi)s, 

which are looked on by some as essential requisites of a Church. 

The respect in which St Columba himself held bishops is shown 

by an anecdote told by Adamnan as follows :


"(y Cromin the Bishop.—At another time a stranger from 

the province of the Munstormen. wlin, in his iuunility, did all he 

could to disguise himself, so that nobody might know that he was a 

bishop, came to the saint ; but his rank could not be hidden from 

the saint. For next I,ord's day, being invited by the saint, as 

the custom was, to consecrate the Body of Christ, he asked the 

saint to join him, that, as two priests, they might break the 

bread of the Loi'd together. The saint went to the altar accordingly, 

and, suddenly looking into the stranger's face, thus 

addressed him:— 'Christ bless thee, brother; do thou break the 

bread alone, according to the Episcopal rite, for I know now that 

thou art a bishop. Why has thou disguised thyself so long, and 

prevented our giving thee the honour we owe to thee? On hearing 

the saint's words, the humble stranger was greatly astonished, 

and adored Chiist in His saint, and the bystanders in amazement 

gave glory to God." 

We tind too that when a mission was sent to a distance, the 

leader was ordained a bishop, so that he might be able to ordain 

local clergy, and in this case the office of abbot and bishop was 

generally combined. The three abbots who ruled at Lindesfarne, 

while the Church there was subject to lona, wei-e ordained bishops 

at lona. 

The tribal organisation of the Church seems to have been a 

counterpart of the tribal organisation of the people among whom it 

arose. There seems to have been no head of the Irish Church. Each 

saint boi"e rule over all the monasteries founded by him, and hia 

disciples, and the abbot of the head monastery succeeded to this 

jurisdiction. Thus the Abbot of lona, which had the premacy 

among the foundations of Columba, ruled over all the monasteries 

founded by him in Ireland and Scotland, and this continued till 

the community at lona was broken up. The monks belonging to 

the foundations of one saint thus formed an ecclesiastical tribe, 

and in the same way the monks in each monastery foimed a subtribe. 

There was, too, a regular law of succession to the headship 

of a monastery. We find mention of lay tribes and monastic 

tribes in the Brehon laws, and elaborate rules are laid down for 

the succession to an Abbacy. Thus the succession was first in the 

tribe of the patron saint, next in the tribe of the land, or to whicli 

the land had belonged, next to one of the tine manach, that is, 

the monastic tribe, or family li\ing in the monastery, next to the 

anoit Church, next to a dalta Church, next to a compairche 

Church, next to neighbouring cill Church, and lastly to a pilgrim. 

That is, if there was a person in the monastery of the tribe of the


patron saint tit to be abbot, he succeeded ; if not, then the succession 

went to one of the tribe from whom the land had been acquired, 

and if there was no such, then it went to all the others in succession, 

the Churches mentioned being connected in various degrees 

with the foundation, the headsliij) of wliich was vacant. According 

to this rule, we find that for more than a hundred years the 

Abbots of loiia were all of the tribe and family from wliich 

Columba himself was descended. 

The peculiarity which, however, appears to have attracted 

most attention from the Roman clergy, when the two Churches 

came in contact in the seventh century, was the time at which the 

Scottish clergy celebrated the festival of Easter, and their form of 

tonsure, and these M'ere for long subjects of contention. The 

difference in the mode of calculating Easter is easily accounted 

for, as the Scottish Church adhered to the method which was 

common to the whole Western Church, previous to 457, when all 

connection between Britain and Ireland and the Continent ceased; 

and during the time of isolation a new method of computation was 

adopted by the Roman Church ; but the mode of tonsure is not so 

easily accounted for. The Columban Monks tonsured the front of 

the head from ear to ear, while in the Roman Church the crown 

of the head was tonsured. The former mode of tonsure was 

that adopted at oue time by the Eastern Church, and it may point 

to some Eastern influence on the Irish Monastic Church at the 

time of its development. 

Such, then, was the Church established by St Côlumba in 

Scotland in its outward aspect and organisation. Of its internal 

economy and of the daily life of its members, as exhibited in tlie 

parent Monastery of lona, we can, by careful reading, obtain 

ii tolerably clear jjicture from Adamiiaii's life of the founder, 

written by an Abbot of lona, about eighty years after St 

Columba's death. And, as lona was the parent uionastery, it 

was no doubt the pattern and example of the others. The monks 

in lona lived together as one family, each having his separate 

house or bothy, but taking tlieir meals in common. Tliey lived in 

strict obedience to the abbot, they w(>re celebate, they had all 

their property in common, and they supported themselves by 

their own labour. There are numei'ous notices of them labouring 

in the fields, bringing home the corn, milking cows, and 

so forth, and they had a mill and a kiln. Their food seems to 

have consisted of milk, bread, fisli, the flesh of seals, and beef 

and mutton. They had numerous services in tlie church, they 

were much gi\-eii to i-eading and repeating the Scriptures, and


particularly the Psaluis, ami they weie diligent scribes. There are 

repeated notices of their labours in writing—the last labour in 

which St Columba was engaged was copying the psalter—and, 

naturally, they became the teachers of the community. They 

were also much given to hospitality, for there are frequent notices 

of the guest chamber, and ol the arrival of guests, and of additions 

made to the meals on account of such arrivals. 

From this monastery, as a home, Columbas mission was 

conducted. As we have seen, he got a gi-ant of the Island of 

lona, either from the King of the Picts or the King of the Scots ; 

and his method seems to have been to go in the tirst instance to 

the King or Chief of the territory in which he arrived, to interest 

him in his mission, then to obtain a grant of a village or rath, or 

dune with surrounding land, and then to (3stablish a monastery, 

under the protection and patronage of the chief : in fact, to 

establish and endow his Church. Of this method we hav(j an 

account in the Book of Deer, the contents of which, philologically, 

were so ably dealt with by Mr Macbain last season. The 

morastery of Deer was, perhaps, the very last of the Columban 

foundations which retained anything of its original character, and 

in this relict of it which has come down to us we have the legend 

of its esâV^lishment, which admirably illustrates St Columba's 

method. 

Columcille, and Drostan, son of Cosgrach, his pupil, came 

from Hi, as God had shown to them, unto Abbordoboir, and Bede, 

the Pict. was Mormaer of Buchan before them, and it was he that 

gave them that town in freedom for ever from Mormaer and 

toisech. They came after that to the otJier town, and it was 

plciising to Columcille because it was full of God's grace, and he 

asked of the Mormaer, to wit, Bede, that he should give it to him, 

and he did not give it, and a son of his took an illness after (or 

in consequence of) refusing the clerics, and he was nearly dead 

(lit. he was dead, but if it were a little). After this the Mormaer 

went to entreat the clerics that they should make a p)'ayer for the 

son, that health should come to him ; and he gave an oti'ering to 

them from Cloch in Tij)rat to Cloch pette meic Garnait. They 

made the prayer, ai.d health came to him. After that Columcille 

gave to Drostan that town, and blessed it, and left as (his) word 

" Whosoever should come against it, let him not be many yeaied 

(or) victorious." Drostan's tears came on parting from Collumcille. 

Said Columcille, "Let Dear be its name henceforward." 

Having thus established a community, they were placed under 

tlie superintendence of a suVjject abbot to prosecute their woik of


bringing the tribe among which they were established to a knowledge 

of tlie truth, and from tlie monastery thus established there 

branched out cill cliurclies, anoit churches, and all the other subordinate 

establishments which I have mentioned, and there went 

forth pilgrims and teacliers, and sometimes colonies of monks, to 

establish other monasteries. Columba's idea of tlie method of 

spreading Christianity seems to have been— fii'st the establishment 

of a separate Christian community in the midst of the people to 

be converted, the leading by the members of this community of a 

pure and self-denying Christian life, practising the precepts which 

they taught, and exhibiting the effect on their own lives of a belief 

in the doctrines which they preached ; and next, the reading 

and teaching of the Scriptui'es, and the preaching of its doctrines. 

That his influence long survived him, and that a pure and holy life 

was long characteristic of the clergy of his Church, is amply testified 

by Bede, who never mentions any of the clergy of the branch 

of the Church of lona, which existed, as I have said, for 30 years in 

Northumberland, wathout— -while deploring their ignorance and perversity 

in not observing Easter at the proper time— praising their 

chaste and self-denying lives. Thus he says of Colman, the last 

of the three abbots and bishops of this Church, who ruled at 

Lindesfarne, and who returned to lona on the King and people 

adopting the Roman time of celebrating Easter : 

"The place which he governed shows how frugal he and his 

predecessor were, for there were very few houses besides the 

church found at their departure; indeed, no more than were 

Ijarely sufficient for their daily residence; they had also no money, 

but cattle ; for if they received any money from rich persons, 

they immediately gave it to the poor ; their being no need to 

gather money, or provide houses for the entertainment of the 

great men of the world ; for sucli never resorted to the church, 

except to pray and hear the Word of God. The King himself, 

when opportunity offered, came only with Ave or six servants, 

and having performed his devotions in the church, departed. 

But if tiiey happened to take a re])ast there, they were satisfied 

with only the ))lain and daily food of the brethren, and required 

no more ; for the whole care of those teachers was to serve God, 

not the world— to feed the soul, and not the belly." 

And again of Aiden, the first of these bishops, he says: 

" I have written thus much concerning tlie i)erson and works 

(if the aforesaid Aidan, in no way connnending or approving what 

lie i?ii perfectly undei-stood in relation to the observance of Easter; 

— 

—


nay, very much detostiug the sainc, as 1 have most manifestly 

proved in the book 1 have writen, "De Temporibus;" but, like 

an impartial historian relating what was done by or with him, 

and commending such things as ar(; praiseworthy in his actions, 

and preserving the memory thereof for the benefit of the readers; 

viz., his love of peace and charity ; his continence and humility; 

his mind superior to anger and avarice, and despising piide and 

vainglory ; his industry in keeping and teaching the heavenly 

commandments ; his diligence in reading and watching ; his 

authority becoming a priest in reproving the haughty and powei-- 

fid, and at the same time his tenderness in comforting the afflicted, 

and relieving or defending the poor. To say all in a few woi'ds, 

as near as I could be informed by those that knew him, he took 

care to omit none of those things which he found in the a])ostolical 

or prophetical writings, but to the utmost of his power endeavoured 

to perform them all." 

As I have said, the Columl)an monks naturally became the 

teachers of the community, and their are numerous notices of 

persons of distinction residing in the monasteries for the purpose 

of being instructed. Oswald, the King of Xorthumbria, when 

driven into exile, ^lived for several years in Tona, and was thei-e 

in.structed. The clergy had a great reputation for learning, and 

Bede tells us that many of the nobles and princes of the English 

resorted to them for instruction. In what their learning consisted 

is an interesting question. That they wrote Latin well is e\'id- 

enced by writings which have come down to us, and we are told 

that when Columbanus, in the year 590, went to Gaul, he was 

able to converse freely in that language. It would also appear 

that he had some knowledge of Greek, for he talks about the 

meaning of his own name in that language. It does not appear, 

however, that, previous to their coming in contact with the outer 

world, they had any knowledge of Roman or Greek literature, or of 

the wntings of any of the fathers of the Roman, Greek, or Eastern 

Ghurches. And Bede more than once, as in the passage I have 

read about Aidan, mentions that they taught only what was 

contained in the Scriptures. The litei-ary remains of the Church 

which have come down to us, consist entirely of the lives of saints, 

with the exception of an account of the holy places, written by 

Adamnan, from information given to him by a bishop of Gaul, who 

was driven to lona by stress of weather, and resided there for a 

winter—some letters of Columbanus to the Pope, and to a Council 

of the clergy of Gaul : and there are some hymns and poems 

attributed to St ('oluniba, but whether any of them are authentic


seems doubtful. That he wrote poetry, .and was a friend and 

patron of l)ards, is beyond all doubt, and Bede mentions that 

writings of his were said to bo in existence in his time. It would 

rather appeal-, therefore, that as the lives of the Columban clergy 

were an effort to translate its teaching into practice, so their 

learning consisted in a knowledge of the Bible, the transcribing 

of which was one of their chief occupations. 

Their architecture was of the simplest and rudest, and if their 

general state of culture were to be jutlged by it, we should pronounce 

it of the lowest. Their churches 

wattle work of branches, covered with clay. 

were constructed of 

We frequently hear 

of the cutting of branches for the building or repair of churches 

and Bede tells us that when Aidan settled at Lindesfarne he built 

a church there, after the manner of his country, of wood thatched 

with reeds. The monks, as has been said, lived in "bothies, " and 

these seem to have been ei-ected by the occuj)ants, and to have 

been of slight construction. In the Irish Life of St Columba, we 

are told of his asking, when he went to a monastery for instruction, 

where he was to set up his bothy, and in another place mention is 

made of a bothy being removed from one side of a river to 

another. But, as we should commit a grievous error if we judged 

of the general intelligence and culture of our own peasantry by 

the houses in which they live, so we should commit a like error if 

we judged of the culture of these monks by their churches and 

dwellings. That they had examples of more substantial and 

elaborate structures we know, and the poorness of their building 

was probably only one mode of expressing the highest thought 

that was in them, that taking for themselves no more of this 

world's goods than was necessary for existence, they should teach 

and illustrate 

and holy lives. 

their religion not by stately edifices, but by pure 

In metals they seem to have been skilful workers. Adamnan 

tells us that, on one occasion, St Columba had blessed a certain 

knife, and said that it would never injure man or beast, and that 

thereu))on the monks had the iron of which it was made melted, 

and a number of other tools in the monastery coated with it. The 

ceard or artificer seems to have been a regular ofiicial in the 

monasteries, and specimens which have come down to us in the 

decoration of shrines, cases for books, bells, itc, show that they 

had acquired a pi'oficiency in art work of this descri[)tion which 

has never been surpassed. 

Another branch of art in wliicli they have never been excelled 

was the ornamentation and illumination of tiicir Bil)l('S and service 

;


lM)oks. The only nuuuiscripts whicli liave come down to us, and 

wiiich can be traced to the hands ot Columban monks in Scothmd, 

arc tlie Tôok of Deer and one of the manuscripts of Adam nan's 

lite of St Columba, and these are not hiyhly ornamented. But 

there are numerous examples in Ireland, some of the more elaborate 

of which can be almost traced to the hands of St Columba, and 

there can be no doubt that the art wliich produced the Irish 

s])ecimens was the common property of both Churches, if, indeed, 

some of the books now existing in Ireland were not actually produced 

in lona. One of these books was seen in Ireland by 

Ceraldus Cambriensis, who accompanied some of the first Norman 

and Wflsli invaders in the twelfth century, .md he thus describes 

it : 

— 

" Among all the miracles in Kildare, none appears to me nioi-e 

wonderful than that marvellous book which they say was written 

in the time of the Virgin [St Brigit] at the dictation of an angel. 

It contains the Four Gospels according to St Jerom, and almost 

I'very Jiage is illustrated by drawings illuminated with a variety of 

l)rilliant coloui's. In one page you see the countenance of the 

Divine Majesty supernaturally pictured ; in another, the mystic 

forms of the evangelists, with either six, four, or two wings ; here 

are depicted the eagle, there the calf; here the face of a man, 

tliere of a lion; with other figures in almost endless variety. If 

you observe them superficially, and in the usual careless manner, 

you would imagine them to be daubs, rather than careful com- 

positions ; expecting to find nothing exquisite, where, in truth, 

there is nothing which is not exquisite. But if you ajjply yourself 

to a more close examination, and are able to penetrate the seci'ets 

ot the art displayed in these pictures, you will find them so 

delicate and exquisite, so finely drawn, and the work of interlacing 

so elaborated, while the colours with which they are illuminated 

are so blended, and still so fresh, that you will be ready to assert 

that all this is the work of angelic, and not human, skill. The 

more often and closely I scrutinise them, the more I am surprised, 

and always find them new, discovering fresh causes for increased 

admiration." 

And art critics of our own day speak of tlie work in terms of equal 

commendation. 

Such was the first Christian Church established among us, 

and such the mode of life and state of culture of its clergy. It 

existed in full vigour among us for about two hundred years, and 

then, partly from external causes, and partly from internal, it 

l)egan to decay; but it was not finally superseded by a system of


diocesan episcopacy under the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, 

until the time of King David thtj First. To trace the process of its 

decay would ])e iuterestiiii;, but this paper has already extended to 

too great a length. 

16th December 1885. 

At tlie meeting on this date the following new members were 

elected, viz.: —Miss Marion Ferguson, 2.3 Grove Road, St John's 

Wood, London, lionorary member; Mr George Black, National 

Museum, Edinburgh ; and Dr Thomas Aitken, Lunatic Asylum, 

Inverness, ordinary members. 

Some routine business having been transacted, the Secretaiy 

read the .second* instalment of the paper on " The Gaelic Names 

of Birds," 

cudbi-ight. 

by Mr Charles Fergusson, Oally, Gatehouse, 

Mr Fergusson's paper was as follows 

Kirk- 

:— 

Latin 

Latin 

— 

— 

— — 

— 

— 

GAELIC NAMES OF BIRDS. 

Part II. 

LONG-EARED OWL. 

Otusvufgm'is. Gaelic Cotnhachag,Cii))ihncJiag-a(/hnrc(iicfi. 

Welsh Dylluan goriiiog. 

SHORT-EARED OWL. 

Otus hrachyotus. Gaelic Cumhachag-chluasach. Welsli 

—Dylluan glustiog. 

BARN OWL. 

Latin Stiix Jlammea. Gaelic Cumhacluig, Caillench-oid/icJie, 

Cailleach-oidhche-bhan, 

wen. 

Cumhachag-bhan. Welsh Dyllnmi 

The hooting of this owl is supposed in the Highlands to fore- 

tell rain, hence the old saying— "Tha 'choinhacliag ri bron, thig 

tuiltean oirnn "—The owl is mourning, rain is coming. 

TAWNY OWL. 

Latin Syrniuim-strodch. Gaelic Gumhachag-dlioim, Cicnihachag-rnadh, 

JSodach-oidhche, Gailleachoidhche. Welsh 

Dylluan frech. 

Tliis owl is very common in the wooded parts of the High- 

lands, and his nielanchol;y hooting at night has been the cause of 

* For the first part of Mr Fermisson'a paper, sec "Transactions," 

Vol. XI., page 240. 

— 

—

— 

The Gaelic Names of Birds. 29 

many a good friglit to people coming from tlie un wooded glens, 

where they are not acquainted with this mournful bird of night, 

and also the origin of many a ghost story. Alluding to this, the 

old phrase says— "Tha mi na's eolaiche air coille na bhi fo eagal 

na caillieh-oidhche''— I am more accustomed to a wood than tube 

afraid of an owl. 

Latin Surnia nyctea. (raelic 

Comhachag-mhor. Welsli 

— 

— 

— 

SNOWY OWL. 

Covihacliay hlian, Cdilleacli-Jihon, 

Dylluan mauer. 

This veiy beautiful bird may be said to be common in parts 

of the Highlands, especially the Hebrides, during the spring gen- 

erally. 

HAWK OWL. 

Latin — Surnia fiinerea. Gaelic — Seobliag-oidhche, Seobhayfheasgnir. 

This is a very rare bird, but I have often seen it on the 

Stiathardle hills, hunting in broad daylight. I remember seeing 

a very tine specimen shot in Glenderly when out grouse shooting 

aljout twenty yeai's ago. The day was clear and sunny, and we 

saw it hunting abroad for its prey a good while before it came 

within shot 

Latin 

LITTLE OWL. 

Noctua passei-iiia. Gaelic Cumhacltay-bJieay. Welsh 

Coeg daylluan. 

This finishes the Raptores, or rapacious birds, and brings us 

to the second ordei'—the Insessors, or tree-perchers. 

Latin 

INSESSORS. 

Group I.— Dentirostres. Family I. — Laniadce. 

GREAT GREY SHRIKE, OR BUTCHER BIRD. 

— 

Lanius excubitor. Gaelic Buidseir, Pioghaid-ghlas (Grey 

Fiet). Welsh Cigydd Mawr. 

The first Gaelic name, which I must say looks suspiciously 

like a mere translation from the English, is that given by Alexander 

Macdonald (Mac Mhaighstir Alastair) in his Gaelic 

Vocabulary, published in IT-tl. The second is the name by which 

the bird is known in Strathardle, where it is often found, and 

where 1 well remember shooting a very fine 

amongst the very first birds ever I shot— with 

male specimen 

an old Hint gun.

— 

— 

— 

•"Ô Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

— 

— 

with which in my boyish days T shot many ;i rare ))ii(l, tliotij^h it 

did sometimes take a very long time putting and tizzing fiom the 

time I pulled the trigger till the shot went oft'. 

Group II.—MuscicapidcB. 

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 

— 

Latin- Muscicnpa grisola. Gaelic 

Breacxasyiobalt, Glac-nan-cuileag. 

Breacan-glas, Bei(ein-

— 

Tlie Gaelic Names of Birds. 31 

MAVIS oil COMMON THRUSH. 

Latin — Tnri/its iJii(de7is. Gaelic Smeorach, ^Sineurach Lh/iidhc. 

Welsh Aderyn Croiifraith. 

Of all singing birds in the Highlands the mavis is the favourite, 

and reckoned the sweetest singer. All our bards, late and 

early, delight in comparing their sweet singers to the mavis, 

whirh is the highest praise they can give, hence the saying— 

"(Jho 

l)inn ri smeorach air geug" — as tuneful as a mavis on a bough. 

It is the tirst bird that begins to sing in the Highlands, often 

beginning, on an occasional fine day, before the storms of winter 

are over. As the old })roverb says— "Cha'n 'eil port a sheinneas 

an smebrach 's an Fhaoilleach, nach, caoin i 

t-Earrach"—For every song the mavis sings in 

mu'n ruith an 

February she'll 

lament ere the spi'ing be over. Another says, "Cha dean aon 

smeorach samhradh"—One mavis makes not summer. One of 

till" most ancient styles of composition in the Gaelic language, 

and a \ev\ favourite one with most Highland bards, is that in 

w iiich they represent themselves as the "smeorach," or mavis of 

their respective clans, to sing the praises of their chiefs and 

c-lans. Of this curious species of composition we have many 

examples, notably "Smeorach Chlann Jlaonuill"—The INlavis of 

Clan Ranald, by Alex. Macdonald (Mac Mhaighistir Alastair): 

— 

"Gur 'a mis an smeorach chreagach, 

An deis leum bharr cuaich mo nidein 

Sholar bidh do m' ianaibh beaga, 

Seinneam ceol air barr gach bidein. 

'S smeorach mise do Chlann Donuill, 

Dream a dhiteadh a 's a leonadh 

'S chaidh mo chur an riochd na smeoraich, 

Gu bhi seinn 's ag cur ri ceol dhaibh. 

'S mise 'n t-ianan beag le m' fheadan 

Am madainn-dhriuchd am barr gach badain, 

Sheinneadh na puirt ghrinn gun sgreadan 

'S ionmhuinn m' fheadag fead gach lagain." 

There are also smeorachs by Mac Cotlrum, Macdougall, INhulach- 

lan, Macleod, and others—all admirable compositions of their 

kind. 

— 

RED-WING. 

Li^tin — Jardua iliacits. Gaelic — Sgiatli-dheargnn, Ean-an-t- 

s7ieachda,* Smeorach -ant- sneachda. Deargan - siieachdn 

Welsh Soccen yr lira, Y dresclen gocli. 

; 

— 

— .

32 Gaelic Society of itweniess. 

L;itii\ 

— 

— 

Jvrdns merida. 

BLACKBIRD. 

Gaelic Lon-dubh, Euu-dubh. Welsh— 

Mwyalch, Aderyn du. 

The blackl)ird has always been I'eckoned a mournful bird in 

the Highlands, partly, perhaps, from its sombi-e colour, and more 

especially because of its sweet plaintive song, the I'apid warbling 

notes of which the Highlanders likened to some of their most 

mournful piobaireachd laments, whilst the mavis' song resembled 

the salute or welcome class of piobaireachd— "An smeorach ri 

failte, 's 'n lon-dubh ri cumha"— " The mavis sings a welcome, and 

the blackbird a lament." Ewan MacColl, the Lochfyne bard, 

expresses this old Highland belief very beautifully in his address 

to a blackbird, some of the verses of which I may quote 

" A. loin-duibh, a loin-duibh. 's fada dh" imich uait surd— 

Ciod e so, 'chuir mulad 'na d' dhan-s? 

Tha 'n samhradh a' tighinn, tha 'choille 'fas domh'il, 

'S gach eun iunt' le sunnd 'cur air failt. 

" A loin-duibh, a loin-duibh, 'n uair tha'n uiseag 's an speur, 

'Cur gean air Righ aobhach an Lo, 

'Nuair tha 'n smeorach 's a leannuan 'comh-shodan ri d' thaobh, 

'M bi thusa 'n ad aonar ri bron 1 

" A loin-duibh, tha do thuireadh a' lotadh mo chri 

'8 ioghnadh learn ciod a chradh tliu co glioirt 

'N e namh 'an riochd caraid a ghoid uait do shith ? 

'N e gu 'n d' mhealladh 'n ad dhoohas thu 'th' ort 1 

"A loin-duibh, a loin-duibh, 'm beil do leanuan riut dui'? 

Cha 'n urrainn do 'n chuis bin gu brath : 

Co ise air thalamh 's an cuireadh tu uidh, 

Nac mealladh 's nach maoth'cheadh do dhan '! 

" A loin-duil)h, a loin-duibh, dearc 'us suthag nam blar, 

Bi'dh deas dhuit gun dail air son bidh : 

Tha 'n clamhan 'san t-seobhag fad', fada o lainih ? 

Nach sguir thu, ma ta, de do chaoidh ] 

" A loin-duibh, a lion-duil^h, tha mi 'cuimhneachadli nis ! 

Bha 'n t-eun'dair an ratliad so 'n de 

leannan thuit leis 

Koin ghrinn, 'se so 'ghuin thu—nach el" 

O an-iochd an trudair ! do 

— 

— 

: 

— 

—


Fond l)l;u'kl)ircl, fond hhu-khird, sad, sad is thy song— 

'J'lii' cause of thy grief I would Icar;; ; 

Bright summer is coming, hear hnw thf woods ring, 

And welcome his kingly return. 

Fond blackbird, fond blackbird, the laik, soaring high, 

Salutes the l)right orb of the day; 

'Hie cuckoo and thrush sing together for joy, 

Why then art (Iloii joyless, O say? 

Fond blackbii-d, thy ])laint makes my Jieart almost bleed; 

Pire, dire must indeed be thy doom ; 

Has the friend of thy l)osom pi-oved false ! or did fade 

Each young ho))e that once promised to bloom "? 

Fond blackbird, fond blackbird, say, lov'st thou in vain, 

Or is thy fair consort unkind 1 

Ah, no— could she listen to that melting strain, 

And leave the sweet warbler to pine 

Fond blackbird, fond blackbird, the berry and sloe 

"Will soon be thy banquet so rare ; 

'J "he buzzard and falcon are far out of view, 

To wail, then, sweet mourner, forbear. 

Fond blackbird, fond blackbird, now, now do I mind 

The fowler yestreen sought the l)rake ; 

'I'hy partner's soft jilumage he strew'd on the wind! 

Nought else could such deep woes awake. 

Very curiously the Gaelic name of the huge and long extinct deer, 

the elk, is the same as that of the blackbird, Lon-dubh, and most 

certainly it is the elk that is referred to, and not the blackbird in 

tlie very ancient saying— " An Lon-dubh, an Lon-dubh spagach ! 

thug mise dha coille fhasgach fheurach, 's thug esan dhonih an 

Mionadh dubh fasach." Sheriff Nicholson translates this—The 

blackbird, the sprawling blackbird ! 

! 

— 

T gave him a shelt(u-ed grassy 

wood, and he gave me the black desolute moor. Mackintosh in 

Ids (laelic Proverbs translates it—The ouzel, the club-footed ouzel, 

ic, (wiiich, of course, is wrontr, as the ouzel has no claim to this 

name), and adds a note— " Some say that this alludes to the 

Roman invasion, and others refer it to the Scandinavian incursions, 

when the Gael left the more sheltered spots and pasture ranges, 

and iJed to the fastnesses of the Grampian hills." I have no 

d(ml)t the propei' translation is—The elk, the bow-legged, or club- 

3


footed elk, kc; for who could possi})ly apply the word, 

" spagach " to the straight, slender, genteel feet of the blackbird 1 

whereas nothing could be so descriptive of the great clumsy clubfeet 

of the elk, whose hoofs are so much and so loosely divided 

that when it puts its weight on them, they spread out so wide 

that when it lifts its foot, the two divisions of the hoof fall together 

with a loud clattering noise, which would he, sure to draw 

the attention of our remote ancestors to them, and what would be 

more likely than that they would in derision liken the hated 

Roman soldiers, with their great broad sandals on their feet, to 

the clumsy lumbering elk; certainly they would be more likely to 

do so than to liken them to the s])rightly blackbird. If che saying 

does refer to the elk, which was extinct in Britain ages before all 

written history, it is another proof added to the many, of how the 

ancient lore of the Celts, though unwritten, was handed down 

through so many generations of the children of the Gael. 

Latin 

— 

— — — 

RING OUZEL. 

Tanlvs torqvatcs. Gaelic— Dvhhchraige, Druid-mhonaiJh 

Druid-dimhh. Welsh Mwyalchen y graiy. 

Group IV.— Sylviadce. 

HEDGE SPARROW. 

Latin —Accentor moJidaris. Gaelic Geallmonii-nam-jjreas, 

iSporag, Dnvnag. Welsh Llvyd y gwrych. 

I have no doubt the common English country name of this 

bird—Dunnock (Rev. J. C. Atkinson)— is simply a corruption of 

the Gaelic name, Donnag—Brownie, or little brown bird. 

ROBIN. 

Latin Erythaca rnbecida. Gaelic Bru-dhearg, Bru-dheargaii, 

Broinn-dhearg, Broinn-dliecn gan, Broinileag, Nigidh, Ruadhag, 

Rohaii-roid. Welsh— Yr Jiobi goch^ Bron-goch. 

Here also one of the English country names given by the 

Rev. J. Atkinson seems to come from the Gaelic— Ruddock, 

Ruadhag, little red bird— and as the English borrow from the 

Gaelic, it is only fair that we should do the same from their language 

(in modern times, of course, as everybody knows most of 

our Gaelic names of birds were in use many centuiies Ijefore the 

Engli.'^h language had an existence). 80, very curiously, one of 

our greatest l)ards, Alexander Macdonald, has done in this case, 

for though in his Gaelic Vocabulary he gives the Gaelic name of 

the robin as Broinn-dheargan, yet in his poems he always calls

— — 

— 


this l)ii(l l)y the names of Richard aiul llobiu. In his '' Sung of 

Summer," " Oran an t' Sambiaidh," lie says 

"Agus Robin 'g a bheusadh 

Air a' gheig os a chionn, 

Gur glan gall-fheadau liidiurd 

A' seinu nan cuisleannau grinn." 

And in " The Sugar Brook," " Allt-an-t Siuoair " 

" Bha Richard 's Robin liru-dliearg 

Ri seinn, 's fear dhiul)h 'n a bhous." 

Macintyre again uses Bru-dhearg. in Coire-Cheathaich. He says : 

" An druid 's an bru-dhearg, le nioran uinich, 

Ri ceileir sunntach bu sliiubhlach i-ann." 

— 

— 

I Iiave never lieard the name Nigidh, for the robin, anywliere in 

rommon use, but it is given in the Highhmd Society's Dictionary. 

The common name in Perthsliive is Roban-roid. Most writers 

on birds have taken notice of tlie many wonderful places in which 

this bird will sometime build its nest. I remember, when a boy, 

l)reserving as a curiosity for several years a robin's nest which 

was actually l)uilt inside the ribs of a dried skeleton of a buzzard 

hawk, which the keepers had nailed to the back wall of a stable 

many years before. The impudent bird reared its young brood in 

that strange nesting place to the astonishment of the natives. 

Had that hawk known the fate that was before it, it might well 

say with Napoleon that there was only one step between the sub- 

linie and the ridiculous. 

Latin 

liLUE-TIIKOATED WARBLER. 

Phcjenicura Suecica. Gaelic 

REDSTART. 

— 

Ceileiriche, Orauaiche^ 

Latin -PJicenicnra rvticiUa. Gaelic Ceann-deary, Ceann-dltear- 

(jan, Earr-dhearg^ Ton-dhearfj. AVelsh Rhondl gocli. 

Latin 

— 

— 

STONE-CHAT. 

Scwicola ruhicola. Gaelic Cloichearan, Clacharan (Grey). 

Welsh Clochder y cerrig. 

Sheriff Nicolson gives the following old Lismore saying, 

which, he adds, is suggestive of the devolopment theory : 

" Cloicheirean spagach, ogha na muile-maig."— The waddling stone- 

chat, the f)-og's grand-child.

— 

— 


WIIIX-CIIAT. 

Latin—Saxicola rubetro. Gaelic Gochdan, Gochcan. Welsh 

Clochder yr eithin. 

WHEATEAR. 

— 

I^tin—Saxicola cenanthe. Gaelic Cloichearan, Bru-ghpnL Crifhachan, 

Bogachan. Welsh Tinwyn y cerrig. 

This bird no doubt got its two last Gaelic names from its 

constant habit of shaking or quivering its tail. Grey gives the 

following old Hebridean superstition about this bird:— "There 

is a very curious superstition prevalent in North and South IJist 

regarding the bii-d on its arrival. When seen for the first time 

in the season, the natives are quite unhappy if it should happen 

to be perched on a rock or a stone— such a circumstance, as they 

say, being a sure sign of evil in jirospect ; but should the bird be 

seen perched on a bit of turf, it is looked upon as a happy omen." 

Latin 

— 

— 

SKDGE WARBLER. 

Salicaria phrnfjmitis. Ga,e\ic — Glas-emi, Uiseag-oidhcJie. 

Welsh Hedydd yr hdyg. 

This bird got its Gaelic name— Uiseag-oidhche, Night-lark 

—from its well-known habit of singing all through the night, 

which makes so many people mistake it for the nightingale. 

Latin 

NIGHTINGALE. 

PJiilomela Lttscinin. Gaelic Spideag, Beid-binn, Ros-anceol. 

Welsh Fos. 

The first Gaelic name is that given by Alex. Macdonald in 

his vocabulary, also in the Highland Society's Dictionary, which 

also gives the second name— Beul-binn, sweet mouth ; the third 

is that given by Logan in his Scottish Gael. He says— " The 

Nightingale, which has now forsaken the noithern part of the 

island, is supposed to have once frequented the woods of Scotland. 

Its name in Gaelic is beautifully expressive of the sweetness of its 

song and the character of the lîrd. In Ilos-an-ceol, tlie rose 

music, the melody is put for the melodist, the former being heard 

when the latter is unseen." 

Latin Curruca 

BLACKCAP. 

atricapilla. Gaelic — Cean.n-dubJt. 

Penddu 'r brwyn. 

Welsh 

Latin 

Curruca 

WHITE-THROAT. 

cinerea. Gaelic — Gcakoi-coille. 

gtoddfgwyn. 

W^clsh — Y

Latin 

— 


WILLOW \VHE\. 

Sylvice trochilui-. Gaelic 

— 

— 

GOLDKN CRESTED WREN. 

Crionag-gliiuhhais. 

Latin — Reynlus cristatus. Gaelic — DreatJian-ceami-hhuidhe, 

Crioaag-bliu idhe, Bigein. 

Latin 

Latin 

Latin 

— 

— — 

GREAT TITMOUSE. 

Parus major. Gaelic— Ciwrag-bhain-tij/ieania (the lady's 

nightcap). Welsh — Y Beuloya fwyaf. 

BLUE TITMOUSE. 

Pariis ccerideas. Gaalic — Cailleachag-cheatm-ghonn, An 

Snoileun (Grey). Welsh Y Lleiun. 

COLE, TITMOUSE, OR BLACKCAP. 

Parus ater. Gaelic^Smuiug, Cailleacliag-cheaiLii-duibh, 

Welsh— Y Benloyn lygliw. 

This bird got its name of " Smutag" no doubt from its habit 

of spitting and puffing, like an eni-aged cat, when on its nest, in a 

hole on a wall or tree, if disturbed. 

MARSH TITMOUSE. 

Latin — Parus pahistris. Gaelic — Ceann-duhh. Welsh — Btnloyii 

y cyrs. 

Lntin 

Latin 

Latiu 

— 

— — 

LOXG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 

Parus Condatus. Gaelic Ciochan, Ciochan-fada, Miontan. 

Welsh— }" Benloyn gynffonhir. 

Group I. Family VII. — Motacillidoe. 

PIED WAGTAIL. 

Jfotacilla Yarrellii. Gaelic Breac an, t-sil, Glaisean 

seilich. Welsh Brith y fyches, Tinsigl y gwys. 

GREY WAGTAIL. 

Motacilla hoarida. Gaelic Breacan-han-tighearna (spotted 

lady). Wehh.- Brith y fyches Iwyd. 

YELLOW, OR ray's WAGTAIL. 

Lixtin— Motacilla flava. Gaelic — Breacan-buidhe. Welsh— 

Brith y fyches fellen. 

Latin 

Group 1. Family VIII.—Anthidce. 

TREE PIPIT. 

Anthus a rboreus. Gaelic 

Piabhag-choille.


Latin 

— 

— 

— 

MEADOW PIPIT, OR HEATHER LINTIE. 

Anthns pratensis. Gaelic Snathay, liiabhay-inliondiiUi 

(Grey). Welsli Hedydd y cae. 

The first is the Gaelic name always given in Athole to tliis 

bird, and a story is told in Strathardle of an English gentleman, 

who had asked an old shepherd what were the commonest l)irds on 

his hill, getting for answer— "Needleag, whistleag, heatheraig-lien, 

and rashirag-horn ;" being the best English the old man could 

muster for snathag (heather lintie), feadag (golden })lover), ceai-cfhraoich 

(grouse), and adhai'can-luachrach (green plover). 

Latin 

— 

ROCK PIPIT. 

Anthus petrosns. Gaelic 

eun (Grey). 

Oabhagan, Bigehi, Glas- 

Group II— Conirostres. Family 1.— Alandidoi. 

SKY-LARK, OR LAVEROCK. 

Latin Alaiida rp/estris. Gaelic Ciseag, Riahhag. Welsh 

Hedydd, Uchedydd. 

The Douglas said that he would rather hear the laverock sing 

than the mouse squeak. The old Highlanders expressed the same 

sentiment in their old proverb— " Cha 'n 'eil deatliach 'an tigh na 

h-uiseige"—There is no smoke in the lark's house. Sheriff Nicolson 

says — "The bird of most aspiring and happy song has untainted 

air in its lowly home." As the mavis was honoured aa the prima 

donna of song in the woods and bushy glens, so the lark was 

reckoned the sweetest songster in the open moors and meadows. 

the bard says 

As 

Latin 

"Bidh uiseag air Ion 

Agus smeorach air geig." 

The lark on the meadow 

And the mavis on the tree. 

WOOD LARK. 

Ahinda arborea. Gaelic Uiseag-choille, liuibhoy-v/wU/e 

(Grey). Welsh Iledydd y coed. 

The wood lark is mentioned by Macintyre and amongst his 

other woodland birds in " Coirecheathaich " 

" Bha eoin an t-sleibhe 'nan ealtainn gle-ghlan, 

— 

A* gaVjhail Ijheusan air gheig sa' clioill. 

An uiseag cheutach, 's a luinneag fcin aico, 

Feadan speiseil gu reidh a' seinn : 

—

Latin 

Latin 

— 

— 

— 

Latin 

Latin 

— — 


A chuag, 'sa smeurach, am ban- nan ogan, 

A' g-abhail orain gu cc-olmhor binn : 

'Nuair glioir an cuannal, gu loinneil guanach, 

'Se 's glain a clnialas am fuaim sa' ghleann." 

Group IT. Family II— Emberrizdce 

SNOW BUNTING. 

— Golfan-yr-eira. 

Fleetrop/umes nivalin. Gaelic 

— — 

— 

COMMON BUNTING. 

Eim-an-t-sneachda i. Welsh 

E)7iberi:a 7ni'>ari((. Gaelic Gealaq-hhuaehair, Gealaf'iijehi. 

Welsh By-as y ddriittan, Bras yr yd. 

BLACK-HEADED, OR REED BUNTING. 

Emheriza sckfeniclu.'t. Gaelic Gealag-dnhh-cheannach, 

Gealag-loui. 'Wchh—Gol/an ;/ ryr.s. 

YELLOW HAMMER. 

Emheriza citrinella. Gaelic Buidheag-bhealaidh, Buidheacj- 

UiKarkair, Buidhean. Welsh Llinos felen. 

This beautiful bird is of very evil repute in the Highlands* 

where it is counted a very meritorious deed to harry its nest, from 

the old supei-stition that this bird is badly given to swearing ; also 

that it sang on Calvary during the time of the crucitixion. In 

the lowlands one of its country names is the yellow yeorling, and 

the old rhyme says— 

" The Brock, the Toad, and the Yellow Yeorling 

Get a drap o' the deil's bluid ilka May morning." 

So that, if it imbibes much of that blood, it will account for its 

swearing as well as for the evil re{)utation it has gained. 

Grovp II. Family III.— Frivgillido- 

CHAFFINCH. 

Latin Fringilla Ccelehs. (rAelic^Bricean-beifhe Breacan-heithe. 

"Welsh Asyell avian, W'itic. 

Alex. Macdonald in his Allt-an-t Siucair, says— 

Latin 

" Am-bricein-beithe 's lub air, 

'Se gleusadh luth a theud." 

MOUNTAIN FINCH. 

Frimiilla MotUifritujilla. Gaelic 

Wel.sh 

Bronrliuddyn ?/ mynydd. 

Lu-fun,Breirean-coarainn.


TREE SPARROW. 

Latin— Pas.srr Montnnns. Ga,e\ie—G'ealUionn Gealhhonn-nan-cmohh 

Glnss-mn. Welsh— Golfan y miimjdd. 

Latin 

— 

— — 

Latin 

HOUoE SPARROW. 

— 

Fasser Domesticus. Gaelic— G'edlbhonn, Sponuj. Wel-li— 

Aflerijn y to, (icdfan. 

GREKN FINCH. 

CoccothrausUs Chloiis. Gaelic Glaimm-dn raich 

Welsh— Y Geyid, Llinos werdd. 

HAWFINCH. 

Latin— Coccothranstes Vulgaris. (iaelic — Gobach. Welsh 

Latin 

Latin 

Latin 

— — — — 

— 

Gylsfinhraff. 

(JOLDFINCH. 

. 

— 

Cordnelin elegauf^. Gaelic Lasaii-choille, JUddliean-roilh'. 

Givds y Sierri. 

Welsh 

COMMON LINNET. 

Linota cunnabina. G-AeMc—Gealandin, GeaJan. Welsh 

Lli7ios. 

COMMON REDPOLE. 

Linota linaria. Gaelic Deargan-seilirh, Ceann-dearijan. 

Weliili— Llinos beufjoch leiaf. 

MOU.NTAIN LINNET. 

Latin — Linota Montium. Gaelic — Riabhag-mhonaidh, Riabhag- 

fhraoich, Bigean-bain-figheania (Uist). Welsh 

BULLFINCH. 

— 

IJinos pjnydd. 

\jsX\\\—Pyrrhida mdgaris. Gaelic Corran-coille, Deargan-fhraoich. 

Welsh^y C/uvybanydd, Rhaivn gorh. 

Latin 

PINE GKOSJ-.EAK. 

Pyrrknid caiicleator. Gaelic 

Cutig, Luir jdyli. 

Of this bird Logan says— " The Cnag, or Lair High, a bird 

like a parrot, whicli digs its nest with its beak in the trunks of 

trees, is thought peculiar to the county of Sutherland." 

Latin 

COMMON CROSSBILL. 

Jjorin ('urtiroKtra. Gaelic C


G'rnuj) II. Familif IV.—Sturnidce. 

STARLING. 

Latin— 67«?7i«.


Blacker than the raven his hair, 

Redder than calf's blood his cheek, 

Softer tlian the froth on the stream, 

Whiter than snow the body of Fraoch. 

— 

Though seldom mentioned in the poetry, there is no other bird I 

know of so often mentioned in the proverbs of the Gael, generally 

not to its credit, though all showing an intimate knowledge of the 

nature and habits of the raven. Alluding to the ravages it commits 

amongst lambs, the old nursery rhyme, imitating the croak 

of the raven, says— " Gi'oc, groc', ars am litheach, 'se mo mhac-sa 

chrimeas na h-uain"—Groc, groc, says the raven, it is my son that 

will pick the lambs' bones. From its being a great glutton, whit-li 

often leads it into danger, we have— " Meallaidh am biadh am 

fitheach blio'n cliraoibh"—Food will lure the raven from the tree; 

and from its so quickly finding out any carrion or carcase we have 

" Fios tithicli gu ruic"—The raven's boding of a feast. And also 

" Cruinnichidh na tithich far am bi a chaii-bh"—Where the carcase 

is the ravens will gather. We cannot l)lame it for this, as we have 

it on the high authority of the Bible that the eagle, the king of 

l)irds, does the same— " Wheresoever the carcase is, there will tlie 

eagles be gathered togetlier"—Matthew xxiv. 28. From its wellknown 

habit of always attacking the eyes of an animal first, we 

have— " Am fitheach a dh' eireas moch, 's ann leis a bhios suil a' 

bheothaich a tha 's a' ph6H" —The raven that rises early gets the 

eye of the beast in the bog. So very fond is the raven of the eye 

of an animal that it wont even share that tit-bit with its own 

young, so the old saying is— " Cha toir am fitheach an t-suil dlia 

'isean fhoin"— The raven wont give the eye to his own chicken. 

When a raven liajjpened to perch on a house-top, or on a tree neaia 

house, it was sui)posed to portend death to one of the inmates, 

which explains the old saying— " Fitheach dubh air an tigh, fios 

gu nighean an dathadair"—A black raveji on the roof, a warning 

to the dyer's daugliters. This dyer's daughter was a famous Athole 

witch, who lived to an extreme old age, and when she was dying an 

old i-aven came andi)erched on the t(»pof the house, and croaked tlien; 

till she died, and vv;is suppo.sed to have been the messenger sent to 

claim her by the Evil One, to whom she had sold herself nearly a 

century before. If the old witch and her master were the company 

the raven kept, no wonder though another old Gaelic proverb says-- 

"Ma s olc amfitheach, cha'nfliearrachomunn"—If badbetheraven, 

his company is no lietter. Another common old saying is— "Tlia 

fios fithich agad"— You liave a raven's knowledge. Of this Sheriti'

— 

— 


Nicolson says— " Tliat is, knowledge more than is natural. The 

raven was believed to possess supernatural knowledge, and of 

coming events in particular. This was also the Norse belief. Odin 

was said to have two ravens which connnunicated everything to 

him." There was also an old Highland su})erstition that the 

young ravens killed the old ones, which is the origin of one of the 

Ijitterest wishes or curses in the


Havinc; given so many old sayings unfavourable to the raven, I 

think I must in justice now give other two more favourable ones, 

which say, " Feumaidh na fithich fhein a bhi beo"—The ravens 

themselves must live; and, " Ge dubh am litheach, is geal leis 

'isean"— Black as is the raven, he thinks his chickens white. 

Here, of course, the white raven's chicken is used figuratively, 

but as the old saying holds good that " truth is stranger than 

fiction," so we have even pure white ravens in the flesh, as will be 

seen from the following quotation from Grey's Birds of the West 

of Scotland :— " In Macgillivray's work on British Birds, it is 

stated that as many as two hundred ravens have been known to 

assemble in a flock on the Island of Pabby, in the Sound of Harris, 

a large herd of grampuses which was driven ashore there haîng 

been the means of attracting them. Afraid of their jtrolonged 

stay, and not liking the company of so many birds of evil repute, 

the inhabitants resorted to the extraordinary expedient of capturing 

a few and plucking off all their feathers, except those of the 

wings and tail, in which plight they were set adrift as scare crows. 

The main flock then left in a fright and did not return. In this 

unusual congregation of ravens, an albino (or pure white one) was 

observed, and a pied specimen was noticed some time afterwards 

in Harris by Macgillivray. . . . These pied birds have been 

observed of late years in one or two of the Outer Hebrides." This 

mention of a white and pied raven reminds me of a story common 

in Strathardle, of a farmer who had a sheplierd, who thought the 

only way to gain favour with his master was to say with him in 

everything right or wrong, a practice, I am sorry to say, far too 

common. However, after a time the farmer began to have his 

.suspicions that the constant backing up of his opinions and sayings 

was not genuine, so to try the truth of them, he one day, on his 

return from the hill, said to the shepherd, " Chunna mi fitheach 

geal, am braighe a mhonaidh n' duigh"'— I saw a white raven today 

on the top of the hill. Now, this was a staggei-er, for even 

the obsequiousness of the shepherd, who, afraid to go quite that 

length, yet still true to his nature, answered, " Creididh mi sin, 

oir chunna mi fear bieac n' de ann !"—I can well believe that, for 

1 saw a spreckled one thei-e myself yesterday —an answer which 

soon convinced the farmer liow far his servant could be relied 

upon The raven is the first bird to breed in the Highlands, 

which was noticed and put iiito rhyme by our ancestors, like so 

much else of their knowledge, as being more easily remembered : 

" Nead air Brighde, ubh air Inid, ian air Cliaisg ; 

Mar bi sin aig an fhitheach, bithidh am bas." 

—

— 

The Gaelic Names of Birds. to 

Nest on Ciindlemas, egg at Shrove-tide, bird at Easter ; 

If the raven have them not, death then is liis lot. 

Anotlier old pi'overb about the raven's nest says— " Oiod a b'îll 

loat fliaighinn 'an nead an fhithich ach am fitheach fein f—Wliat 

\vould you ox])ect to find in the raven's nest but tlie raven itself. 

The well-known f-rest of the INIacdonells of Glengarry is a raven 

})erched upon a rock, and the slogan or war-cry of that gallant 

CARRION CROW. 

Latin Covvks rorone. Gaelic — Feannag. Cnaimheach ; 

(jarrac/i—t\ie young. Welsh—Brdn di/ddi/n. 

Garrarj^ 

A good friend of mine in Galloway, when questioned lately 

al)i)ut his religion, defined it— "That he aye tried to do as little 

ill and as muckle guid as he could," but I am afraid the conduct 

of the carrion crow is just the very rererse, as he seems "aye to do 

as muckle ill and as little guid as he can ;" an opinion in which 

Grey agrees with me, as he says, in his Birds of the West of Scotland— 

" On one occasion, when walking along the banks of Loch- 

Eck, in Argyllshire, I observed a small party of carrion crows in 

a rye-grass held, busily engaged in catching moths as they clung 

to the stems of grass. The birds drew up their bodies, md 

appeared as if wading at some disadvantage, the tall grass obliging 

them to jump occasionally off the ground to reach their prey. 

This is the only instance I can recollect in which it can be said 

that their rej)ast Avas not a work of mischief." The only redeeming 

trait in this bird's character is the extreme care it takes of its 

j'oung, and its untiring exertions in feeding them, a fact taken 

notice of and expressed by our ancestors in the old sayings : 

" Is toigh leis an fheannaig a h-isean garrach gorm " — the crow 

likes her greedy blue cliick ; and " Is l)oidheach leis an fheannaig 

a gorm garrach fhein"— the crow thinks her own blue chick a 

beaiity. We have also two other old sayings imitating the cry of 

the crow :— " Fag, fag ! thuirt an flieannaig, 's i mo nighea}! a 

gharrag dhonn " — go, go ! said 

the crow, that brown chick is my 

child ; " ' Gorach, gorach', ars an fheannag, ' 's e mo mhac-s' an 

garrach gorm ' " — gorach, gorach, said the crow, it is my son that 

is the blue chick. Other the old pi'overbs referring to the crow 

are :— " An taobh a theid an fheannag, bheir i 'feaman leatha " 

Wherever the crew goes, she takes her tail with her ; and "Is 

dithis dhuinn sin, mar thuirt an fheannag ri 'casan'—That's a 

pair, as tlie crow said to her feet. 

—

46 Gaelic Society of fnueniess. 

HOODED CROW. 

hatin—Corvus comix. GSieMc-- Feannaij-ffhlas, Garrar/-g/das, Garrachi/oioitj, 

Starracj-young, in Harris. Welsh Bran yr Jwerddon. 

Bad as the character of the carrion crow is, I am afraid that 

t\vi hoodie is worse, as will be seen from the following quotation 

from Cxrey— '-The hoodie has got a terrible name, and his best 

friend could hardly say one good word in his favour, supposing 

he ever had such a thing as a friend, which is improbable. A 

greedy, cowardly, destructive creature, his appearance is ugly, 

and his voice hateful. But though no doiibt ready enough to 

commit any villainy against eggs, young game, chickens, ajui even 

young lambs, yet in these wild districts where there is not much 

game to injure, he subsists almo.st entirely on the bountiful provision 

afforded by the receding tide, and upon this multiplies exceedingly." 

A well-known habit of the hoodie is that, when it 

gets a crab or shell-fish with too strong a shell to break with its 

bill, it carries it high up in the air and lets it f;ill on the rock to 

break it, and, if it does not succeed in the first attempt, it goes 

much higher the second time. There is a very old Gaelic proverb 

common in AthoU—Clia tig olc a teine, ach ubli na glas fheannaig. 

—Nothing evil will come out of the fire but the grey crow's egg. 

Sherift' Nicolson explains— "There is a strange story in Rannoch 

al>out the great wizard, Michael Scott, to account for this saying. 

It is said that, fearing his wife, to whom he had taught the 

Black Art, would excel him in it, he killed her by means of 

hoodie crows' eggs, heated in the fire and put into her arm-))its, 

as the only thing against which no counter charm could i)revail!" 

So commom and ?o destructive weie the hoodies at one time in 

the North that they gave rise to the old Morayshire proverb 

"The Guil, the Gordon, and the Hooded Craw 

Were the three worst things Moray ever saw." 

The gide is well-known weed, even yet too common amongst gi'owing 

crops, but at one time so very abundant that most tenants 

were bound by their leases to eradicate it. The Gordon was the 

famous Lord Lewis Gordon, who so often plundered Moray, and 

whose (xami)le seems to have been followed with a vengeance by 

the hoodie crow. 

liOOK. 

Latin - To/ (v/.s- friniHeiinx. Gaelic — Ronm, Cmimliach, darraq 

(Atiiolc). \\Q\A\-~-Ydfran. 

Clio (raidhealach ris na garragan — as Highlanil as tin- rooks^ 

is a very (.•umiiiou saying in Atliolc, where*, from the wooded 

— 

—


nature of the country, rooks ha\e always been very common, 

though never great favourites, for though such familiar neighbours 

in tlie every day life of the Gael, yet we very seldom tind the rook 

mentioned, either in their proverbs or poetry, excepting when 

some disagreeable noise is likened to their noisy cawing in their 

rookeries—as, for instance, when the bard Mac Codrum, disgusted 

with the bad pipe music of Donald Bane, likens it to the cawing 

of rooks. 

— 

" Ceol tha cho sgreataidh 

Ri sgreadail nan ruciis." 

In m;iny parts of the Higliiands, especially in Easter Ross, rooks 

have become so numerous that measures have been taken to reduce 

their numbers. However, rooks have been long accustomed to 

persecution, and it does not seem to affect their numbers much. 

As early as May 1424, we tind an Act of the Scots Parliament 

against " Ruikes biggan in trees"; and again in March 1457, 

James II. passed the following strict Act against looks and 

"uther foules of riefe":— "Anent ruikes, crawes, and uther foules 

of reife, as eirnes, bisseites, gleddes, mittales, the quhilk destroyis 

baith cornes, and wild foules, sik as pertrickes, plovares, and 

utheris. And as to the ruikes and crawes, biggand in orchards, 

trees and uther i)laces : It is seen speedeful that they that sik 

trees perteinis to, let tliem to big and destroy them Avith all their 

])0wer, and in no waies that their birdes flee awaie. And qiihair 

it is tainted that they big and their birdes flee, fmd the nest be 

iounden in the trees at Beltane: the tree shall be faulted to the 

King: bot gif they be redeemed fra him be them that they 

perteined fir.st, and five shillinges to the King's unlaw\ And that 

the said foules of reife all utterly be destroyed be all maner of 

men, be all ingine of all maner of crafts that may be founden. 

For the slaughter of them sail cause great multitudes of divers 

kinds of wilde foules for man's sustentation." Grey quotes the 

following original plan for catching rooks, from a curious old 

work called the " Gentleman's Recreation," published in 1678 

"How to take rooks when they ])ull up tlie corn by the roots. 

Take some thick brown paper and divide a sheet into eight parts, 

and make them up like sugar loaves ; then lime the inside of the 

paper a very little (let them be limed three or four days before 

you set them); then put some corn in them, and lay three-score of 

them or more up and down the ground ; lay them as near as you 

can under some clod of earth, and early in the morning before 

they come to fted, and tlien stand at a distance and vou will see 

—

— 

— 

is Gaelic Socifty of Inverness. 

most excel Ituit spurt, for as soon as i-ooks, crows, or pigeons come 

to ])ick out any of the corn, it will liang upon its head, and he 

will immediately fly, bolt upright .so high, that lie shall soar 

almost out of sight, and when he is sjjent, come tumbling down 

as if he had been sliot in the air." 

JACKDAWS. 

Latin Corvas f/fadurius. (Gaelic 

fkiach (Alex. Macdonakl), Corrachan (lona and >iull). Wel.'jh 

— 

Cat/iuij, t'tit/i'i

— 


being qiiite perffot, rxrc sometinips likened in our old songs and 

proverbs to magpies. For instance, Duncan Lothian, the Glenlyon 

bard, in his proverbs in verse, likens a young woman who, 

though she had gi-eat Bocks and wealth, was so headstrong that her 

husband had no peace with her, to a magpie 

" Pigheid chaileig air bheag ceill, 

Ged robh feudail aic 'us stor, 

Cha'n fhaod a fear a bhi sona, 

— 

j\Ia bhios i gnogach anns an t-sroin." 

An old IStrathardle saying, not very complimentary to either party, 

used sometimes when an old bachelor from that strath takes a wife 

from the Vale of Athole, goes 

" Cuiribh bonaid air bioran, 

'S gheibh e pioghaid a Adholl." 

Put a bonnet on a stick. 

And it will get a magpie (wife) from Athole. 

One of the old prophecies of Coinnich Odhar, the Brahan Seer, was 

that— '' When a magpie shall have made a nest for three successive 

years in the gable of the church of Ferrintosh, the church will fall 

when full of people." Regarding this, we read in the prophecies 

of the Brahan Seer— " There were circumstances connected with 

tlie church of Ferrintosh in the time of the famous E.ev. Dr Macdonald, 

the Apostle of the North, which seemed to indicate the 

beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy, and which led to very 

alarming consequences. A magpie actually did make her nest in 

the gable of the church, exactly as foretold. This, together with 

a rent between the church wall and the stone stair which led up 

to the gallery, seemed to favour the opinion that the prophecy was 

on the eve of being accomplished, and people felt uneasy when 

they glanced at the ominous nest, the rent in the wall, and the 

crowded congregation, and remembered Coinneach's prophecy, as 

they walked into the church to hear the Doctor. It so happened 

one day that the church was unusually full of people, insomuch 

that it was found necessary to connect the ends of the seats with 

planks in order to accommodate them all. Unfortunately, one of 

tiio.se temporary seats was either too weak or too heavily burdened; 

it snapped in two with a loud report, and startled the audience. 

Coinneach Odhar's prophecy flashed across their minds, and a 

simultaneous rush was made by the panic-struck congregation to 

tlie door. Many fell and were trampled under foot, while others 

fainted, being seriously crushed and bruised." 

4


Latin 

Latin 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Garrulns qlandanus. Gaelic Sgraicheag, Sgraichaq choiUe. 

Welsh Screch y coed. 

Group III.— Scaiisores. FamUy I.— Picida'. 

GREEN WOOD-PECKER. 

Picas viridis. Gaelic Lasair-choile (Lightfoot). Welsh 

CnoceU y coed, Delor y deriv. 

This beautiful bird, now very rare, if not extinct, in the 

Highlands, seems to have been quite common in olden times. 

Pennant mentions it in 1777. Lightfoot gives its Gaelic name in 

1772. It is mentioned as a common bird in Dunkeld parish in 

the Old Statistical Account in 1798, also in Don's Fauna of Forfar- 

shii-e, 1812. This is an example, like the nightingale and several 

others, of how some birds, without any known cause or reason, 

have left Scotland entirely, or else become very rare, within the 

last fifty years, while many others seem to be getting much more 

common. 

Latin 

— 

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 

Piciis Major. Gaelic Smigan-daraich (Grey), Snagan-mor, 

Snag (Alexander Macdf)uald). Welsh Delor fraith. 

WRYNECK. 

Latin YunxtorquiUa. Gaelic Geocair, GUle-nn-cahhaig. Welsh— 

Gwas y gog, Givddfdro 

Very curiously I tind that in most countries tliis bird is 

reckoned the cuckoo's forerunner, or attendant, and so gets that 

name in most languages. 

In English Cuckoo's vuite. Gaelic GiUe-nn-cuhhaig. Welsh — 

Gwas y gog. Swedish Gjol-fi/ta, dr. 

In the Highlands we have the old nursery rhyme — 

Le theanga fad biorach 

Thug Gille-na-cubhaig, smugaid na cubhaig, 

A beul na cubhaig, gu brog-na-cubhaig. 

With his long sharp tongue. 

The cuckoo's attendant carried the cuckoo's spittle 

From the cuckoo's mouth to the cuckoo's shoe. 

The wryneck has an extremely long tongue, which it can ilart out 

to a great length to catch an ant or insect, and it was supposed to 

carry the " cuckoo's spittle," tlie well-known white frothy substance 

so often seen on plants, and to deposit it on the "cuckoo's 

— 

—


shoe," wliich is one of tlie names by which the corn-cockle, the 

cowslip, and tht- wild liyaeinth are known in Gaelic. li'tlu; wryneck 

had anytliinj; at all to do with the cuckoo's spittle, 1 should 

say it would be to dart its long tongue into it for the sake of the 

insect always to be found in it. 

Latin 

Latin 

— 

— 

— — 

— 

Famihf II.— Cert/nache. 

Certhio /(imiliaris. Gaelic Snaicfear, Meanylau, Streajiach. 

Welsh— }' Gt epianog. 

WREN. 

Trogtodytes vulgaris. Gaelic 

Dreollan. Welsh 

DreatJmn, Dreatlum-donn, 

Dryiv. 

The lively little wren— "An dreathan surdail"—with its 

brisk, active, and sweet song, which it pours out even in winter, 

was a great favourite with our ancestors, and is very often mentioned 

in our poetry and ])roverbs. T)i fact, our best Gaelic bards 

s(;emed to think no picture of lural scenery complete unless this 

restless little songster figured in it. Macintyre, in his " Coire- 

Cheathaich," says 

" An dreathan surdail, 's a ribheid chiuil aige, 

A' cur nan smuid dheth gu lughor binn." 

And the lively wren, with his tuneful reed. 

Discourses music so soft and sweet. 

And in his " Oran-an-t-t Samhraidh," or " Song of Hummer " 

" San dreathan a' gleusadh sheannsairean 

Air a' glieig is aird a mhothaicheas e." 

And the wren then tunes his chanter 

And sings on some high bough. 

Alexander Macdonald mentions him in his " Allt-an-t-Suicair ; 

also says in his " Song of Summer " 

•' Bidh an dreathan gu bailceant ; 

Foirmeil, tailcearra, bagant', 

Sior-chur failt' air a' mhadainn, 

Le rifeid mhaisich, bhuig, bhinn." 

And the little wren is ready 

The morning light to greet, 

So cheerfully and gladly, 

AN'itii his re(;d so soft and sweet. 

— 

'

— 


Again in his *' Allt-an-t-Siucair " the same bard says — 

" An dreathan-donn gu surdail, 

'Sa rifeid chiuil 'n bheul." 

And the wren there sings so briskly 

With his musical reed in tune. 

Now let me draw attention to the curious fact that, in those four 

quotations from the masterpieces of our two best modern Gaelic 

bards, the song of the wren is always likened to pipe music or the 

sound of the chanter reed, and certainly there is nothing to which 

I can compare the rapid wai-bling song of this bird so much as to 

the quick running notes in the crunluath of a piobaireachd 

when played on the small chanter. Alexander M 'Donald, 

in his " Failte na Morthir," also mentions the wren by its other 

name 

" Chiteadh Robin 'seinn a's sog air, 

Agus frog air dreollan." 

Though so much admired as a songster, and sj often mentioned in 

our poetry, yet when we turn to our proverbs, we find that they, 

in a good humoured, bantering sort of way, generally make fun oi 

the consequential little wren. For instance, we have— " Is bigid 

e sid, is bigid e sid, mar thuirt an dreathan, an uair a thug e Ian 

a ghuib as a mhuir" — 'Tis the less for that, the less for that, as the 

wren said when it sipped a bill-full out of the sea. Seemingly, the 

wren repented of the damage done to the sea, and hastened to 

repair it. As another proverb says— "Is moid i sid, is moid i sid, 

mu'n dubhairt an dreathan-donn, 'n uair a rinn e dhileag 's a mhuir 

mhoir"— It's the bigger of that, the bigger of that, as the wren 

said when it added a drop to the sea. Small things and smallminded 

men are generally compared to the wren, as when one 

receives a paltry gift he says—Oha d' thainig ubli mor riamh bho 

'n dreathan-donn— Large egg never came from the wren. And 

when a small man tries to make himself very big, the saying is 

applied— Is farsuinn a sgaoileas an dreathan a chasan 'n a thigh 

fh6in—The wren spreads his feet wide in his own house. Sherifl" 

Nicolson says— "There is something felicitous in the idea of a 

wren spreading his legs like a potentate at his own hearth." 

Another old saying has it—Is farsuinn tigh an dreathainn—Wide 

is the wren's house. Alluding to the great number of the wren's 

young, we have—(led 's beag an dreatlian, 's mor a theaghlach - 

Though little is tlie wren, yet big is the family.

— 

— 


HOOPOE. 

\/d['\n r/mjHi e/)oj)s. Gaelic Calmnn-cathaiche (Alex. Macdonald). 

Welsh— F iioppofj. 

Au old saving, which Sheriff Nicolson .says is applied to sick 

children, goes—Gob a' chalmain-chathaidh, hith tu slan mu 'm 

pus thu— B«,'ak of hoopoe, you'll be well before you marry. 

NUT-HATCH. 

Latin— .S'iV/(f Europaa. GsidXic—Sgoltan. Welsh—2)f/o/- y enan. 

This is mentioned as one of the rarer birds in the parish of 

Killin in the New Statistical Account in 1843. It would be 

interesting to know whether it has increased or decreased there 

since then. 

CUCKOO. 

Latin Cvndus canorus. Gaelic Cuthaq, Cuach^ Ciiacha


— 

"Thig a' chuthag sa' mhios Cheitein oirnn." 

And the cuckoo will come iu tlie month of May. 

A very common superstition in the Highlands was, that it was 

very unlucky to hear the cuckoo, for the first time in the season, 

before breakfast or while fasting, whence the old rhyme 

"Chuala mi 'chubhag gun bhiadli 'am blu-oinn. 

Ohunnaic mi'n seaiTach 's a chulaobh riura, 

Chunnaic mi'n t-seilcheag air an lie luim, 

'S dh'aithnich mi uach i-achadh a' bhliadhn'ud leam." 

I heard the cuckoo while fasting, 

I saw the foal with its back to me, 

I saw the snail on the flag-stone bare, 

And I knew the year would be bad for me. 

On the 1st April, All Fools' Day, when any one is sent on a fool's 

errand, it is in Gaelic—A chuir a ruith na cubhaig—sending him 

to chase the cuckoo—because, of course, there are no cuckoos on 

that early date ; and in broad Scotch it is—to hunt the gowk, 

the word gowk being merely a corruption of the Gaelic cubhag, 

the pronunciation of both words being almost identical. And in 

some other languages the name of the cuckoo is even nearer to the 

Scotch word gowk—as in Swedish, gjok ; and in Danish, gouk. 

So that the Scotch gowk, though originally only ajjplicd to the 

1st of April cuckoo-hunting fool, is now applied to any fool during 

any of the other 3G4 days of the year. If we can rely u[)oii 

Pennant, time was when even a fool might hunt up a cuckoo on 

1st April or before, as he says— 

" I have two evidences of their 

being heard as early as February : one was in the latter end of 

that month, 1771, the other on the -Ith February 17G9 : the 

weather in the last Avas unconnnonly warm.'" Truly, these were 

the good old days, especially for the cuckoos. Alex. Macdonald 

generally in his poems calls it the blue-backed cuckoo 

And 

'S goic-mhoit aii- cuthaig chiil-ghuirm, 

'S gug-gug aic' ail- a' gheig. 

Cuthag chul-ghorm cur na'n smuid d' i 

Ann an duslainn challtainn. 

Another Gaelic bard, William Ross, in a well-known song, makes 

a pathetic appeal to the cuckoo to sympathise with him in his 

giief 

—

— 

— 

— — 

— 


••A cliuiuliag nan oraobh nacli truagh leat mo chaoidh 

'8 mi a g' osiiaich ri oidhclie ceodhair." 

O cuckoo oil the tree, won't you lament with me, 

And join in my giief, on a misty eve. 

And in another okl song we have a mountain dairymaid likened to 

the cuckoo of the w-ildeniess 

"A bhanarach dhonn a' chruidh, 

Chaoin a' chruidh, dhonn a chruidli 

Cailin deas, donn a chruidh 

Cuachag an fhasaich." 

Group IV.— Fissirostres. Famiiy I.—Meropidoi. 

Latin 

— 

ROLLKR. 

Caracias i/arrnla. Gaelic 

— — 

Family IL—Halcyonidie. 

KING-FISHER. 

Cuairsgean. 

Latin A Iccdo ispulu. Gaelic Biorra-cruidtin, Biona-an-t-iasgair 

(Alex. Macdonald), Gobhachan-iiisge {Alex. Macdonald). Welsh— 


Latin 

— 

— 

ALPINE SWIFT. 

Cypselus alpimt!^. Gaelic (jobhlan-monaidh, Ainlewj-mhonaidh, 

(rob/ila)i-nan-cre((ff. 

This is a very rare bird. The Rev. J. E. Atkinson, in his 

" British Birds' Eggs and Nests," says— " A bird which is known 

to have visited us (in Britain) on some half-dozen occasions or 

so." However, I am inclined to believe that, in several parts of 

the Highlands, the Alpine Swift is to be found, though mistaken 

for the common swift. I know a very high precipice amongst the 

rocks of Strathardle, about 1400 feet above sea level, in which, in 

a crack or rent in the face of the clifi', the Alpine Swift has bred, 

and never missed a single season, from my earliest remembrance 

u]j till I left the district a few years ago, and I have no doubt 

they breed there still. My uncle has told me that, when he was a 

boy, over fifty years ago, they bred there then, and had been there 

from time immemorial. I do not wish to give the exact locality, 

for if I did, collectors would very likely have them shot this very 

season, and exterminate them, like so many more of our rarer biixls 

and even wild flowei-s, when their few habitats become known to 

the public. The common swift generally lays two eggs, but sometimes 

three or four. How many the Alpine Swdf t lays I do not 

know ; however, it must either lay a large nnmber, or else there 

must have been several pairs nesting together in the crack in the 

rock to which I refer, for T have lain for hours watching them, 

after the young ones had flown, in a flock of twelve or sixteen, 

flying about high in the air, and then all darting down suddenly 

into the crack in the rock, in which they held a chattering, 

screeching conceii; for a minute or so, and then all poui'ing out in 

a ton-ent quicker than the eye could almost follow them, screeching 

very loudly, and, after a while circling about, repeating the 

same performance again and again. I could not be mistaken about 

this being the Alpine Swift, as its white belly at once distinguishes 

it from the common swift. Old and young keep together in a flock 

till they leave the country early in August. I have never seen 

them anywhere else. 

Latin 

NIGHT-JAR OR GOAT-SUCKER. 

Caprimulcius Europaus. Gaelic Sgraichu(/-oidhche, Seobhagoidhche. 

(Grey.) \NQhh—Aderyn'ydroeU. Rhodivr. 

Order III.— Rasores. Family I.— Columbidce.. 

RING-DOVE OR WOOL) PIGEON. 

Latin C >lumbnpalumbus. Gaelic Ciflman-failhaich, Calman-coUle- 

Fearan, Srmidan, Buradan, Guragug. Welsh Ys-guthan. 

— 

—


We lia\e in Ci;iolic, as will be seen l)y several examples T have 

already given, many old nursery rhymes which cleverl}' imitate the 

cry of the different birds. That about the ring-dove closely 

imitates its cooing— Cha 'n ann de mo chuideachd thii, cha 'n ann 

de mo chuideachd thu, ars an caiman—You are not of my flock, 

you arc not of my flock, said the pigeon. 

Latin 

Latin 

— 

Columbn wtuis. Gaelic 

Columba livUia. Gaelic 

— 

— — 

STOCK-DOVE. 

KOCK DOVE. 

Calman-fiadhaich, Cahnnn-gorm. 

Smudan, Suiud, Calman-nan-creag, 

Calman-mara. 

A very common bird in the Hebrides and all along the West 

Coast. Grey says, in his " Birds of the West of Scotland"— " In 

lona alone, though only a small island, we have as many as nine 

or ten caves frequented by pigeons, and in nearly every island of 

the Helirides there is sure to be one called, 2^(^'''>' excellence, Uamh 

nan Caiman—The Pigeons' Cave." 

TUETLE-DOVE. 

Latin Columba tutsur. Gaelic Tnrtur (Alexander Macdonald), 

Gearrcach. Welsh Colommen fair. 

The hist Gaelic name I find given in the vocabujaiy of words 

not in common use given at the end of Kirk's Testament, published 

in 1690. 

Latin 

— 

Family II.— Phasianidos. 

PHEASANT. 

Phasianm Colchicns. Gaelic 

— 

Easag. 

Though not a native British bird, the pheasant has been long 

establi.shed amongst us in the wooded straths of the Highlands. 

Giey says— " The first mention of the pheasant in old Scots Acts 

is in one dated June 8th, 1594, in which year a keen sportsman 

occupied the Scottish throne (James VI.) He might also have 

been called ' James the Protector' of all kinds of game. In the 

aforesaid year he ordained that quhatsumever person or persones 

at ony time hereafter sail happen to slay deir, haits, phesants, 

foulls, 1 artricks, or uther wyld foule quhatsumever, ather with 

gun, croce bow, dagges, halkes, or girnes, or be uther ingine quhatsumever, 

or that he is found schutting with any gun therein/ &c 

shall pay the usual ' hundreth punds,'

— 


— 

Family III.— Tetraonid(je. 

CAPERCAILLIE, OK COCK OF THE WOOD. 

Latin Tetrno urogallus. Gaelic Caper-coille, Ca/inl-coille (Lightfoot), 

Auer-coille (Pennant). Welsh Ceilioij coed. 

The Cock of the Wood, the king of British game birds, is a 

native of the Highlands, and of old was very common there, but 

it became extinct, about 176U until it was introduced again from 

Norway by the late Marquis of Breadalbane, about thirty years 

ago. It is mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis, Boethius, Bisliop 

Lesly, Pennant, and many other old writers. Pennant says— 

" This species is found in no other part of Great Britain than the 

Highlands of Scotland, north of Inverness ; and is very rare even 

in those parts. It is there known by the name of Capercalze. 

Auer-calze, and in the old law books Caperkally. 

I have seen one specimen at Inverness, a male, killed in the woods 

of Mr Chisholme, north of that place." In the Old Statistical 

Account the Rev. John Grant says, in 1794— "The last seen in 

Scotland was in the woods of Strathglass about 32 years ago." 

And in the account of the parish of Kiltarlity we read— "The 

Caperkally, or king of the wood, said to be a species of wild 

turkey, was formerly a native of this parish, and bred in the woods 

of Strathglass ; one of these birds was killed about 50 or 60 years 

ago in the church-yard of Kiltarlity." It is also mentioned in the 

Statistical Accounts of Glen-Urquhart and Glenmoriston. Having 

been reintroduced first into Perthshire, the capercaillie is now 

naturally very common there, and that it was also so in olden 

times will be seen from the following letter of King James VI., 

after he had become James I. of Britain and gone to England, 

where he seems to have "hungered after the llesh-pots "of Egypt" 

in the .shape of capercaillie (though to our modern tastes it would 

be the last game flesh likely to be hungered after, owing to its 

strong flavour of tir, consequent on its living almost entirely on 

the young shoots of that tree), as lie wrote to the Earl of Tullibardine, 

ancestor of the Duke of Athole, in 1617 : 

" James R,— Right trustie and right well-beloved cosen and 

counseller, we greet you well. Albeit our knowledge of your 

dutiful affection to the good of our service and your country's 

credit docth sufficientlie persuade us that you will earnestlie 

endeavour yourself to express the same be all the means in your 

power ; yet there being some things in that behalf requisite, which 

.seem, notwithstanding, of so meane moment, as in that regard 

both you and others might neglect the same if our love and care 

— 

—


of that, our iiativo kingdoui, made us not tlio inoro to trio their 

nature ami necessity, and accordingly to give order for preparation 

of everything that may, in any part, import the honour and credit 

thereof. Which consideration, and the htowti. commoditie yee have 

to provide capercaillies and, termiyantes, have moved us very 

earnestly to request you to employ both your oune pains and the 

travelles of your friendis, for provision of each kind of the saidis 

foules, to be now and then sent to us be way of present, be means 

of our deputy thesuarer, and so as the first sent thereof may meet 

us on the 19th of April at Durham, and the rest as we shall happen 

to meet and rancounter th^^m in other places on our way from 

thence to Berwick. The raritie of these foules will both make 

their estimation the more ))retious, and confirm the good opinion 

conceaved of the good cheare to be had there. For which respectis, 

not doubting but that yee will so much the more earnestlie endeavour 

your.self to give us acceptable service, we bid you farewell. 

At Whitehall, the Uth Marclie, 1617." 

In my native Strathardle, these birds have increased so much that, 

over a dozen years ago, I have seen them do a gi-eat deal of damage 

to Scotch fir and spruce trees by cutting ofi" the previous year's 

leading shoots ; tliough I well remember the first of them that 

came to the district. When T was a boy at school, about 1860, 

there came on, in harve.;t, a tremendous gale from the west ; and 

it being then the holiday season, I was prowling about Kixidrogan 

Rock, a few days after the great storm, when I came upon a great 

black bird sitting ii]jon a tree, which I mistook for an eagle, only 

I was very much puzzled about its being so black. I duly informed 

my friend, the head keeper, about my black eagle, but he pooh- 

poohed me and told me it was only a big raven ; 

it shortly afterwards himself, and at once knew what bird it was, 

and he and the other keepers agreed that it must have been blown 

eastwai'ds by the great gale from the woods of A thole or Breadalbane—an 

opinion with which I now quite agi'ee, as I have often 

seen a capercaillie cock rise to a gi-eat height in the air and circle 

about for a long time like an eagle, when, if a smart gale came 

on, it might go a long distance before alighting. The woods of 

Faskally, a dozen miles to the west, and separated by a high 

range of mountains and bleak, open moors, was the nearest point 

where the capercaillie was then known. However, come as he 

may, he was there and stayed there, and was often seen during 

the winter, but in early spring he disappeared, and it was thought 

he was gone for good. However, he seemed only to have followed 

the example of the patriarchs of old, and gone to his own couu 

however, he saw


try and Iiis own kin for his wives, for, Jacob-like, he returned 

with two of them. When the breeding season came on I knew 

the nests of both hens ; however, owing to an accident, only one 

of them hatched lier brood. Next year I knew of several nests, 

and they soon spread all over the strath, and then eastwards 

through Gleuisla into Forfarshire, thus recapercailling (if I may 

coin the word) Glenisla, where of old they were very common, as 

will be seen from an old song (a version of which is given in Gil- 

lies' collection, page 136) by James Shaw, laird of Crathinard, in 

Glenisla, to his future wife. Miss Machardy, niece to the Earl of 

Mar, and heiress of Crathie. One of the inducements he held 

out to her to leave her native Braes o' Mar and come and settle 

with him in Glenisla was that, though he knew nothing about 

sowing barley, yet he would keep her well supplied with all kinds 

of game, amongst the rest capercaillies 

" Gar am bheil mis eolach mu chur an eorna, 

Gu 'n gleidhinn duit feoil nam mang. 

Fiadh a tireach, is breac a linne, 

'S boc biorach donn nan earn. 

An lachag riabhach, geadh glas nan lar-inns' 

Is eala 's ciataiche snamh. 

Eiin ruadh nan ciar-mhon', mac criosgheal liath-chirc 

Is cabaire riabhach coille." 

BLACK-COCK. 

Latin— Tê^mo tetrix. Gaelic— Coileach-du/jh (male), Liath-chearc 

(female). Welsh Ceiliog du. 

In the song just quoted about the capercaillie it will be noticed 

the l)ard gives the black-cock a very poetical name, " Mac criosgheal 

liatli-chii-c "— white-belted son of the grey-hen. The capercaillie 

is almost always found in woods, and the grouse on the 

open moors, whilst the black cock is the connecting-link, genei*ally 

frequenting moors boi'dering on woods. In the old proverb its 

fondness for the lieather is noted— " Is duilicli an coileach-dubh a 

ghleideadh Ijho'n fhraoch "--it is difficult to keep the black-cock 

from the heather. Whilst in many of our old songs he is repre 

sented as sitting crowing on the trees at daybreak 

— 

'' Bu tu sealgair a' choilich 

— 

'S moch a ghorreadh air craoibh." 

Thou art the slayer of the black-cock 

That crows at dawn on the tree. 

—


The crowing of the black-cock and the reply of the grey-hen are 

beautifully described by many of our best Gaelic bards. Macintyre 

in " Coire Cheathaich " says 

"'S a' nihaduinn chiuin-ghil, an aiii dhonih dusgadh, 

Aig bun na stuice b'e 'n sugradli leani ; 

A' chearc le sgiucan a' gabliail tuchain, 

'S an coileach cuirteil a' durdail croni." 

And Macdonald, in " AUt an t-Siucair," says — 

"An coileach-dubh ri durdan, 

— 

'S a chearc ri tuclian reidh." 

^racintyre also describes the black-cock in his "Song of Summer": 

" Bidh an coileach le thorman tuchanach, 

Air chnocaibh gorm a' durdanaich, 

Puirt fhileanta, cheolmhor, shiubhlacha, 

Le ribheid dluith chur seol oirre ; 

Gob crom nam poncan lughora, 

'S a chneas le dreach air dhublachadli, 

Gu slios-dubh, girt-gheal, ur-bhallach, 

'S da chirc a' sugradh boidheach ris. 

This shows us the handsome black-cock, when full of life and love, 

crowing his amorous chants to his wives (for he is of the Mormon 

creed), and that he is beautiful even in death is ])roved by our 

old Gaelic proverb^'-' Na triviir mharbh a's boidh'che air bith : 

leanamh beag, breac geal, 'us coileach dubh "—The three prettiest 

dead : a little child, a white trout, and a black-cock. One of the 

oldest dancing pipe tunes in the Highlands goes : 

"Ptuidhlidh na coilich-dhubha, 

'S dannsaidh na tunnagan 

Ruidhlidh na coilich-dhubha 

Air an tulaich lamh rium. 

The black-cocks will reel, 

And the wild ducks will dance ; 

The black-cocks will reel, 

On the knowe beside me. 

T hare no doubt the smart black-cock would go through liis part 

of the performance very creditably, but I am afraid the poor chick 

would make but an awkward attempt at tr-ipping it on the light 

fantastic toe. 

; 

— 

—

— 


GUOUSE. 

Latin — Lagopus Scotictcs. Gaelic — Coileach-ricculh, Coileachfruoich, 

Eiin-ftaoich (mas.), Cenrc-riuidli, Cearc-jhraoich (fern.) 

Welsh — Ceiliog Mynydd, Jdr fynydd. 

The grouse is now the bird ^âr excellence of the Highlands, 

so much so indeed that the first inquiry about the value of a 

Highland estate is the number of gi-ouse that can be annually 

shot on it. Owing to the almost total extermination of all hawks, 

hooded crows, foxes, pole-cats, etc., and all such so-called vermin, 

on gi-ouse-moors, thg.t prey uj:)on the grouse or their eggs, and to 

the great care and protection given these birds, they have multi- 

plied to sucli an extent, that in this, as in all other similar cases, 

dire disease has been the result. On this point Grey says— " The 

jealous care with which this beautiful bird is protected appears of 

late years to have materially affected the well-being of the species. 

I cannot withhold expressing a fear that the Red Grouse of Scotland, 

if not soon left to its own resources, may ultimately become 

a victim to over-protection. The great changes that have taken 

place within the last thirty years in the management of moorland 

tracks, and the excessive rents now derived from such properties, 

have induced both land-owners and lessees to clear the ground of 

all animals that would naturally prey upon those birds which are 

not strong enough to protect themselves ; hence, sickly broods of 

grouse perpetuate other broods that year by year degenerate until 

disease ensues, and in some instances almost depopulates an entire 

district. There can be no doubt that this unwarrantable destruction 

of hawks and buzzards atlects adversely the condition of the 

birds with which our Scottish mountains are stocked—the number 

of wounded birds alone which survive the unprecedented annual 

slaughter, through which the Red Grouse is now obliged to pass, 

being an argument sufficient to show that such merciful agents are 

wanted to pi'event the spread of enfeebled life." In olden times 

gi'ouse shoot'ng was a favourite sport, so we thercfoi-e tind the 

grouse very often mentioned in old songs, under many poetical 

names, such as— Eun-ruadh nan ciar-mhon'—red bird of the grey 

hills ; Coileach ruadh an dranndan—the crowing red eock ; An 

coileach is moiche a ghoii'eadh 's a bhruaich— the cock that earliest 

crows on the brae ; Eun ruadh nan sgiath caol— red bird of the 

narrow wing. In a very old song, to a hunter on the hills of 

Athole, we have : 

'S trie a shiubh'l thu mon' Adholl 

Ri la ceathach, fliuch, fuar.

— 

— 

— 


Bu tu soalgiiir an niiroiii 

'S eoin chrin nan sgiath ruadh, 

'S na circeige duiime 

A bheireadh gur as a' bliruaicli. 

Oft hast thou roamed o'er the hills of Athole 

On a cold, wet, misty day, 

And there slain the eagle 

And the small bird of the red wing, 

And the little brown hen 

That lays in the heathei*. 

Latin— Lacjopns 

PTARMIGAN. 

vul-garis. Gaelic— Tarmachan, Tarmonach 

(Lightfoot). Welsh Coriar yr Alban (Scottish Partridge). 

I liave never heard the last Gaelic name in common use, but 

as it is given by Lightfoot, who got all his Gaelic names from Dr 

Stuart of Killin and Luss, we can have no better authority. 

The ptarmigan is a truly Highland bird, only to be found on the 

top of our highest mountains, from which it never descends, even 

in the most severe weather, but burrows and feeds under the snow. 

This gave rise to the old saying " Gus an tig an tarmachan thigh 

nan cearc "— till the ptarmigan comes to the hen-house— applied 

to anything that will never happen. " Cha chuir fuachd no acras 

an tarmachan gu srath "—neither cold nor hunger will send the 

ptarmigan down to the strath. 

PARTRIDGE. 

Latin Perdix cinerea. Gaelic Peirlog (mas., Alex. Macdonald), 

Peurstag, Cearc-thomain (fern.) Welsh Coriar, Peli'isen. 

The common partridge has increased very much in the Highlands 

since the inti'oduction of turnips and the increase of arable 

land. The hill partridge, the Perdix cinera var. montana of Sir 

William Jardine, is also very common on the hills and higher 

glens of the Highlands of Perthshire and Forfarshire. It is a 

much handsomer bird than the common partridge. 

Latin 

— . 

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 

Perdi.r rxfa. Gaelic — Peti,rstag-dhear(j-c]uimc]i, Cearctho 

laain-dhearg-cha sack


Latin 

— 

QUAIL. 

Cotnrnix vulgaris. Gaelic —Gearnulh yort. Welsh 

Sojliar, Rhino. 

The quail is far commoner in the Highlands than it is supposed 

to be, but, from its retired habits, it is seldom seen, and 

even when seen, it is generally mistaken for a partridge by ordinaiy 

obsei-vers. That it visits, and even breeds in, the remotest 

corners of the Highlands will be seen from the following quotation 

from Grey :—•" When in the island of North Uist in tlie beginning 

of August 1870, Mr John Macdonald, Newton, showed me a nest 

of twelve eggs which had been taken near his residence about ten 

days previously. These are in tlie collection of Captain Orde." 

However, it appears amongst us in very small numbers compared 

with what it did amongst the ancient Israelites in the Wilderness, 

or even with what it does to the present day in some countries, 

according to tlie Rev. J. C. Atkinson, who says in his " British 

Birds' Eggs and Nests ":— " In some countries its migi-atory hosts 

are so great than one hundred thousand are said to have been 

taken in a day.' 

Latin 

— 

Cla.ss IV.— Grallatores. Famibj I.— Charadriidte. 

GOLDEN PLOVER. 

Charadrius plnvialis. Gaelic 

C%L'ttijn yr atvr. 

— 

Feadag. Welsh 

This beautiful bird takes its Gaelic name, feadag (whistler), 

from its plaintive, melancholy cry; about which I have lieard the 

following old legend in Strathardle :—Once upon a time the golden 

plover inhabited the low straths and river-sides, and was the 

sweetest songster of all the birds in the Highlands. It nestled and 

reared its young under the shelter of the thick bushes on the sunny 

braes, where it had plenty of food and led a comfortable happy 

life till tliere came on a very hot, scorcliing summer, the like of 

which was never known before or since. The heat began on 

"Yellow May-day" (La buidhe Bealltain), and increased more and 

more ever}' day till midsummer, when every l)east and bird began 

to sufler and comphiin very much of tlie lieat. But amongst them 

all none grumbled so much as the golden plover, and it, at last, 

grew so discontented that it left its old haunts by the river-side 

and wandered upwards in search of cooler quarters. Up and up 

it went, over the banks and l)raes, through the wooils and l)0gs, 

till at last it came to the open hillside, where it met the partridge, 

which then inhabited the highest hills and moors. Frenchmen of 

— 

—


to-day laugh at l?ritons aiul say that the first thiwg they do wlien 

they meet is to tell each other the very best thing thiiy know 

viz., what kind of day it is. Now, however ridicuh)us this habit 

may be, it, at least, has the merit of antiquity, for it was the very 

thing the paitridge and the plover did on this hot, hot day, long, 

long ago, so long ago that the birds could then speak to each other 

in good Gaelic. So, after they had told each other that it was a 

hot day, yes, a very hot day, each recounted its sulltnings. The 

plover said it had been nearly stifled with the heat in the close 

valley below, and if it could only get to the open hill-top to get the 

fresh breeze it would be all right; whilst the partridge said it had 

been nearly roasted alive by the glare of the sun on the open hill- 

side. So the upshot of the matter was that, as treaties were easier 

settled in those days than now, they decided to exchange places 

there and then. So the partridge flew downwards and settled 

under the shelter of the friendly bushes on the low meadows, 

whilst the plover Avinged his way upwards, and only stopped when 

he reached the toj) of the highest stone on the cairn, where he sang 

a sweet song in praise of the cool breeze always to be found at such 

a height. He cared nothing for the heat now, it was quite cool, 

and, with an extended view round about, and as everything had 

the charm of novelty, he led a haj)py life, and sang sweeter than 

ever, all through the sununer and early harvest. But when the 

frosty nights began to creep on in October he did not begin to sing 

so early in the morning, and always stopped when the sun went 

down. When cold November's wintry blasts came on his song 

ceased altogether, and he could only give a long shrill whistle, but 

dark December's wild storms reduced even that to the low plain- 

tive wail with which to this day the golden plover laments his folly 

in making such a hasty bargain. He never sang again, but has 

been mourning and lamenting ever since ; even though the pai-t- 

ridge, taking pity on his woeful condition, and touched by his 

mournful lament, afterwards relaxed the bargain so much as to 

allow the plover to retiu-n in winter to the low groinid, on condition 

that it would kee}) to the sea-f hore, and that the partridge 

would be allowed to go as far up the hills as it liked in summer. 

Such is the story as I got it— " Ma 's briag bh'uam e 's briag h-ugam 

e." From the swift flight of the plover we have the old saying, 

" Cho luath ris na feadagan firich"— as swift as the mountain 

plover. 

Latin 

— 

DOTTEREL. 

Charadrius vioyiiiellus. Gaelic 

\Yehh—nuttcm. 

— 

Amadan- Mointich. 

5 

—


The Gaelic name of this bird— "The Peat-moss Fool"—is 

siuiûlarly appropriate, for, from its exceedingly foolish, simple, 

and unsuspicious habits, it falls an easy prey to all emenies. 

Latin 

Latin 

— 

— 

HINGED PLOVER. 

Charadrius hiaticula. Gaelic —Trileachan-trai(/he, BolJutg. 

Welsh— ^l/6r Uedydd. 

GREY PLOVER. 

Squatarola cinerea. Gaelic Greagay, Trileachan, Feadagghlas 

(Grey). Welsh Cwttyn llwyd. 

LAPWING OR PEEWIT. 

Latin Vanellu)- cristatus. Gaelic Adharcan-luachrach, Adharcaghtachrach, 

Pibhinn (Grey). Welsh Cornchwigl. 

I find that m Galloway and many parts of the south of Scotland 

this bird is universally disliked, ever since the old Covenanting 

days, when it betrayed many a wanderer on the hills to the 

blood-thirsty troopers, by its well-known habit of following anyone 

who may come near its haunts, making a clamorous outcry. 

Captain Burt also, in his letters from the North of Scotland, mentions 

another rather curious reason why the peewit was disliked 

in olden times m Scotland; it is also mentioned by other writers, 

esjjecially by the Rev. James Headrick in his "Agricultural View 

of Forfarshire," published in 1 813. He says:— " The green plover 

or peeseweep appears early in spring and goes otf in autumn. As 

they only come north for the purpose of incubation, and are very 

lean, none of them ai-e liked for food. They return to the fenny 

districts of England, where they get very fat, and are killed in 

great numbers. In consequence of the inveteracy excited by the 

ambitious pretensions of Edward I. to the Scottish crown, an old 

Scottish Parliament passed an Act ordering all the pceseweeps' nests 

to be demolished, and their eggs to be broken; assigning as a reason, 

that these birds might not go south and become a delicious rejMst 

to our unnatural enemies the English^ 

Latin 

Latin 

Latin 

— — 

— 

— 

TURNSIONE OR HEBRIDAL SANDPIPER. 

b'trepsilas interpres. Gaelic (Jobhachan, Ttileachantraighe. 

Welsh Huttan y mdr. 

SANDERLING. 

Calidris arenaria. Gaelic Luadhearan-glas, TrUeachanglas. 

Welsh Llwyd y tywod. 

OYSTER-CATCHER OR SEA-PI ET. 

HcematoptLS ostralegus. Gaelic O'ille-bride Gille-bridein, 

Bridean, Dolid. Welsh Piogen y inor. 

— 

J

— 

— 


Family II.— G'ritidce. 

L;itiii (jirus cinerea. Gaelic 

CRANE. 

Corra-mlionaidh. Welsh Ga^t un. 

This line bird, though now seldom or never seen in the Highlands, 

used to be very common, and to be reckoned equal in value 

to a swan. In the rental-roll of the old Abbey of Coupar- Angus, 

I tind the crane often mentioned in old tacks to tenants of the 

Abbey, who also held the office of fowler. I may give an example 

of one by Abbot Donald Campbell, son of the Duke of 

Argyll—an ecclesiastic who had a keen relish for the good things 

of this life:—Tack to John Sowter, of Mylnhorn, 1541. "Be it 

kend till all men be thir present letres, we Donald, be the permission 

cf God, Abbot of Cowper For the 

gratitudis and thanks done to ws and our said Abbey, be otir 

familiar seruitor Johane Sowter . . . and for vtheris gude 

caussis moving ws to have sett and formale latt, to our welebel- 

ouittis the said Johane Sowter, and to Isabell Pilmour, his spous, 

all and hale the tane half of our corn myln and landis of Milnhorn. 

• 

. the entres thairof to begyn at the fest of Witsunday in 

the zeir if God Im Vc and fourty-ane zeris . . . for three 

})Oundis gude and vsuall money, at Witsunday and Mertymes, 

togetlier with xviii. ca])ones for thair pidtre, and ilk tuay zeris 

arris ane fed bair, guide and sufficient (and every two years one 

fat boar, good and sufficient) vpoun thre monthis' Avarnying. And 

the said Johane sail hunt and vse the craft of fowlarie at all times 

at his power, and quhat fowlis at happynnis to be slain be him, 

or be any vtheris at he is pairtisman with, they sail present the 

saymn to our said place, to cellerar or stewartis thairof for the 

tyme, vpoun the pricis efter following, that is to say—Ilk wild 

guiss, tuay schillingis ; ilk cran and swan, five schillingis ; pluffar, 

dotrale, quhape, duik, reidschank, schotquhaij), and tele, and all 

vther sic small fowlis, ilk pece, four penneis petrik, ilk pece viiid. 

; 

And in cace that the said Johane Sowter failzies in his said craft, 

and diligence for using'of the samen, or at he absent the fowlis 

tane be him and vtheris as said is, it being notirlie knawing or 

sufficientlie preving befor ws, the said Abbot, or that he will 

nocht i)urge himself, inHhat cace the said Johane salbe in ane 

vulaw of xxxs. (thirty [shillings) for ilk fait beand preving or 

vnpurgit as said is." 

Family III.— Ardeida;. 

COMMON HERON. 

La.tm—Ardealci7ierea.'^ Ga,e\ic—Conri-f/hlos, Corra-riabliach, Corrasgriach, 

Corra-ehrithich, Corra-ghriobhach, Corra-ghlas (Deut. xiv. 

18.) Welsh—Cryr glds. 

—


— 

From tlie extreme patience of tlie heron when waiting for 

tish to come its way arose the old saying:— lasgach na corra 

The heron's fishing, a model of patience. 

Latin 

— 

— — 

Anlea alba. Gaelic 

— — 

— 

— 

WHITE HERON. 

Corra-hhan. Welsh 

. — 

Crip- gwijn. 

COMMON BITTERN. 

Latin Botaurus steilaris. Gaelic Corra-ghrain, BuOaire, Graineag, 

Stearnall (Alex. Macdonald). Welsh 

govs. 

Aderyn y bwmi, Bivmp y 

Latin 

Latin 

WHITE STORK. 

Ciconia alba. Gaelic—Corm-bhan (Deut. xiv. 18). 

SPOON-BILL. 

Platalea leacorodia. Gaelic Gob-iathaimi. 

Family IV.— Scolopacidct. 

CURLEW. 

Latin Numenius arquata. Gaelic Guilbneach, Crotach-mhara. 

Welsh— Gylfinliir. 

This bird is so very wary in its habits that it gave rise to the 

old saying—Is sealgair math a mharbhas geadh, 'us corr', 'us 

guilbneach. He is a good sportsman who kills a wild goose, a 

heron, and a curlew. 

WHIMBREL. 

Latin Numenius phceopus. Gaelic — Eiui-Bealltainn, Lethyhuilbneach. 

Welsh Coeg ylfmliii 

The whimbrel, or, as its name means in Gaelic, the May-bird 

or lialf-curlew, is now almost, if not altogether, a migratory bird, 

though once breeding quite connnon with us. Lightfoot says, in 

1772 :— " The whimbrel breeds in the heath of the Highland hills, 

near Invercauld." 

RED-SHANK. 

Gaelic — Cavi-ghlaa, Ridyhuilavach (A. Macdonald), Goblabharrtha 

(A. 

Goengoch. 

Macdonald), Clabhais /each (Grey). Welsh 

COMMON SANDPIPER. 

Latin Totanus hypoleuca. Gaelic IWileachan-traighe, Trileachan-lraighich, 

Farr-ghuimnhicJi, Boag, LruUhrain. Welsh 

Pibydd-y-traeth. 

Latin 

UKEEN8HANK. 

Totanus gluliis. Gaelic Deuch BJdngh (Grey). Welsh 

Coeswerdd. 

—

Latin 

— 

— 


BLACK-WINGED STILT. 

Uimpantopics melnnopterus. Gaelic Fad-chatâch, Luryannch. 

Welsh Cwttyii hirgoes. 

This is a very rare bird now in the HiLchlauds, though not 

so long ago it scêins to have been found in many different districts. 

Don mentions, in his Forfarshire list of birds, that it was found 

on the mountains of Glen-Clova, also on Ben-Lawers in Perthshire. 

It is also mentioned in the New Statistical Account of the parish 

of tJlensheil as being a rare bird in that parish in 183G ; also in 

several other districts. 

Latin 

Limosa rufa. 

— 

BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 

Gaelic Rhoid ghuilbneach (Grey). Welsh 

— Rhostog rhudd. 

RUFF. 

Latin — Machetes inujnax. Gaelic— Gibengan. Welsh — Yr 

ymladdgar. 

WOODCOCK. 

IsAtm—Scolopax ruRticola. Gaelic Coilleach-coille, Grom-nanduilleag, 

Greobha7,Grailbeag, Uddacag (A. Macdonald), 

Uday (Uist). Welsh—Gyffylog. 

T have already had to lament so often that so many of our 

birds have either become extinct altogether, or else extremely rare, 

that it is with great pleasure that I now come to one that seems 

to l)e increasing vastly witli us, and also now staying to breed 

with us regularly. Pennant says in 1772 : — "These birds appear 

in flights on the east coasts of Scotland about the end of October, 

and sometimes sooner ; if sooner, it is a certain sign of the winter 

being early and severe; if later, that the beginning of the winter will 

be mild. Woodcocks make a very short stay on the east coasts 

owing to their being destitute of wood ; but some of them resort 

to the n\oors, and always make their progress from east to west. 

They do not arrive in Breadalbane, a central pai't of the kingdom, 

till the begiianing or middle of November ; and the coasts of 

Northern Lorn or of Ross-shire till December or January; are very 

rare in the more remote Hebrides, or in the Orkneys. A few stragglers 

now and then arrive there. They are equally scarce in Caithness. 

T do not recollect that any have Ijeen discovered to have bred 

in North Britain." As a proof that woodcocks arc not scarce in the 

Isles now, I may mention that Thompson, in his " Birds of Ire- 

land," tells us that in the winter of 184G-47 one thousand w(,odcocks 

were killed on two estates alone in Islay— Ardinniersy and 

—

— 

— 


Islay House. And as for it not breeding in Scotland, whatever it 

did in Pennant's time it certainly breeds there now by the lumdred, 

if not by the thousand, fi-oin Sutherland to Mull of Galloway. 

Grey, in his " Birds of the West of Scotland," says that it has bred 

regularly for the last thirty years at Tai-bat ; also at Beaufort 

Castle, and Captain Cash of Dingwall informed him that it nests 

in the woods of Brahan Castle and Castle Leod. I have known 

it breed at Raigmore. It has also bred in Kindrogan woods in 

Strathardle for at least fifty years, and I now find it breeding 

veiy commonly in Galloway. The Rev. J. C. Atkinson, Grey, and 

many other writers, mention the curious fact that the woodcock 

carries its young between its feet from the coverts to the feeding 

grounds in the neighbouring bogs ; and Mr Stewart, head-keeper 

to H. G. Murray Stewart, Esq. of Broughton and Cally, informs 

me that when he was wHli the Earl of Mansfield in Perthshire he, 

one evening about dusk, shot what he took to be a hawk carrying 

off a bird, but which, when he went to pick it up, turned out to 

be a woodcock carrying one of its young from a thick covert to a 

bog to feed. Alex. Macdonald says, in his "Failte na Morthir": 

" Coillich-choille 's iad ri coilleig 

Anns an doire chranntail." 

Alluding to its migratory habits, coming at the beginning of 

winter, the old Manx proverb says— " Cha jean un ghollan-geaye 

Sourey, ny un chellagh-keylley Geurey"—One swallow makes not 

summer, nor one woodcock winter. 

Latin Scolopax yallinago. Gaelic Crovian-loin, Buta-gochd, 

Meannan-adhair, Gabhar-iulhair, Gabhar-oidhche, Eun-ghnrag 

Eun-ghabhraig, Leondhrag, lanrag, Eiin-arag, Boc-sac, Bocanloin, 

Naosg. Welsh— Y sm ittan, Yfyniar. 

What a formidable list of Gaelic names— there is a different 

name for the snipe in almost every glen in the Highlands. No 

wonder though the old proverb says—The uiread de ainmeannan 

air ris an naosg—He has as maiiy names as the snipe. It takes 

its Gaelic names of Gabhar-adhair (sky-goat or air goat), iNIeannan 

adhair (sky or air kid), from its cry being so very like the bleating 

of a goat. 

JACK SNIPK. 

Latin — Scolopax gidliimda. Gaelic — Crovian-beay, Cahhragbheay. 

Welsh Giach. 

—

— 

— 

— — 

— — 


DUNLIV. 

Latiii—Trine/ a vnriahilis. Gaelic PoUnrnn, PoUairenn (summer), 

Gille-fexdaig (-winter). Welsh Pihydd rhacldyoch. 

The Gaelic name of the Dunlin—Pollaran, small bird of the 

mud holes—describes its habits in a single word, as it is alwaj's to 

be found wading in muddy holes left by the receding tide, in 

search of its food. 

Family V.— Kcdlidoi. 

LAND RAIL. 

Latin Crex prtaensis. Gaelic Treun-ri-treim, Treuhhna, 

Trennna. Welsh — Rhegen yr yd. 

A very curious habit of this bird, which does not seem to be 

generally known, is that if it is quietly approached after dark in 

a hay field where there is a thick cover, when it is " craking " it 

will allow one to come so close as to stand right over it, and still 

continues to utter its harsh cry. I have often followed it so, right 

across a field ; but though I was within a few inches of it I could 

never see it. I have often tried to catch it, when leaning right 

over it, by suddenly dropping down upon it. However, it always 

.'Springs up some yards in front. It glides so very quietly and 

swiftly through the grass, and is so sharp that it can well allow a 

very near approach and still feel safe enough. 

Latin 

WATER-RAIN. 

Rnlliis aquaticus. Gaelic Snagan-cdlt, Duhh-snagan, 

Snagan-duhh. Welsh Cwtiar. 

This is one of the very shiest of British birds. It can slip 

away or hide itself where there is scarcely a particle of cover ; 

and from this comes the old proverb— B'e sin buachailleachd nan 

.snagan-duhh 's an luachair—That were the herding of the waterrail 

among the rushes ; applied to any impossible undertaking. 

WATER HEN. 

Latin— Gallinula chloropus. Gaelic — Cearc-uisge. Welsh - 

Dw/riar. 

Family VI.—Lobipedidce. 

COOT, OR BALD COOT. 

Latin Fulica atra. Gaelic Lacha-bhlar, Eun-snamhtha 

(Alex. Macdonald). Welsh Jar ddwfr foel fwyaf. 

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 

Latin 

— 

Phalaropus byperboreus. Gaelic — Deargan-allt (Grey). 

Welsh Pibydd each llydundroed.

— — 


Latin 

Order V.— NaUdores. Family I.—Anatidce. 

GREY-LEGGED GOOSE, OR GREY-LAG. 

Anser ferus. 

— 

Gaelic 

— 

Geadh-glas. Welsh 

— — — 

Gwydd. 

In tlie old song, already quoted in the article on the 

Capercaillie, we have 

" An lachag riabhach, geadh-glas nan lar-innis', 

Is eala 's ciatfaiche snamh." 

The brown-striped duck, grey goose of the Western Isles, 

And the proudly-swimming swan. 

The grey-lag may well be called the "grey goose of the Western 

Isles," as it is a permanent resid nt there, and is everything but 

a friend to the 

quotation from 

crofters. This will ))e seen from the following 

Grey :— •' The grey-lag is now almost wholly 

confined during the breeding season to some of the bleakest birdnurseries 

of the Outer Hebrides. There it leads a comparatively 

quiet life, being but seldom molested, save at the season when the 

slender crops are being gathered ; and even then the native 

farmers prefer the practice of driving it off by lighting fires to the 

extreme measure of powder and shot. For the last hundred years, 

indeed, the flocks of wild geese that collect about that season—and 

a very important one it is to these isolated husbandmen—have 

been kept at bay by fires alone. As soon as the breeding season 

is over the geese gather into large flocks, and are then vei-y 

destnictive to farm produce of all kinds ; indeed, it requires the 

utmost watchfulness on the i)art of the crofters to keep them in 

check. Several fires are made in the fields, and kept burning 

night and day, and by this means the crops are to a great extent 

saved. But the moment any of the fires are allowed to fail, the 

geese, which are continually shifting about on the wing, suddenly 

pitcli on the unprotected spot, and often do much mischief before 

they are discovered." 

BEAN GOOSE. 

Latin 

Latin 

Anser segetum. Gaelic 

Anser-cdbifrons. Gaelic 

Muir-gheadli. Welsh 

WHITE FRONTED GOOSE. 

wyllt. 

BERNICLE GOOSE. 

Geadh-bhlar. Welsh 

Elcysen. 

Gwydd 

Latin — Anser leiicopsis. Gaelic — Cathav, Cath-ian Leadan. 

Welsh 

Gwyran. 

The Gaelic name of this goose means war-bird, llglitingbird.

— 


or warrior-birtl. Tt is only a winter visitor with us, going to tlie 

Arctic regions to breed. It was its coming to us in such vast 

flocks, and yet never being known to lay eggs or breed, that gave 

rise to the absurd old belief that the Bernicle Goose, instead of 

being bred from an egg like other birds, came from a shell that 

grew on trees in the Hebrides. E\en so late as the time of 

Gerald, the herbalist, we find this ridiculous theory still believed, 

as he tells us " that in the northern parts of Scotland there existed 

certain trees bearing, instead of fruit, small russet coloured shells 

which opened at maturity, and let fall little living things which, 

at the touch of ocean, became bernicles." The worthy botanist 

then proceeds to relate " what his own eyes had seen and his own 

hands had touched on a small island strewed with sea-waifs, in the 

shape of wrecks and the trunks of trees covered with a froth or 

spume. This froth changed into shells containing something like 

lace of silk finely woven, as it were, together, one end being 

attached to the inside of the shell, and the other in a loose mass 

or lump of matter. When this is perfectly formed the shell gapeth 

open, and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or 

string, next come the legs of the bird hanging out, and as it 

gi'oweth greater it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it 

is all come forth, and hangeth only by the bill ; 

in shoi^t space after 

it cometh to full maturity and falleth into the sea, where it 

gathereth feathers, and groweth into a fowl Ingger that a mallard 

and lesser that a goose." Wild as this story is. Chambers says it 

is matched by even a higher authority. Sir Robert Murray, one of 

His Majesty's Council for Scotland, who records, in the Philosophical 

Transactions for 1678, how he plucked several shells from 

a rotten fir tree on the Isle of Uist, and upon opening them found 

each one containing the rudiments of a bird—the little bill like 

that of a goose, the eyes marked, the head, neck, breast, wings, 

tail, and feet formed, the feathers everywhei-e perfectly shaped and 

blackish coloured. So wides}n-ead was this belief, and .so thoroughly 

believed, that the high authorities of the Roman Catholic Church 

decreed that as the bernicles were not engendered of flesh they 

were not to be considered as birds, and might, therefore, be eaten 

by the faithful on fast days. I may add that the shells from which 

the beniicle was supposed to come belongs to a variety of 

mollusks, now know to naturalists as Cirripedia. I suspect the 

word bernicle, as either applied to the bernicle goose or the shell- 

fish, comes from the Gaelic Bairnnach—a limpet or shell-fish 

(Alex. Mivcdonald)—literally, the notched or nicked shell. The 

bernicle goose is often mentioned in our old lore. In Gillies' rare 

work, in an old lorram, page 50, we have :

— 

— 

— 


" Bu tu sealgair a' chathain 

Theid san athar le scaoim," 

and in the same work we have in an old song by Donald Gorra's 

daughter to Lachlan og Mackinnon — 

: 

" Gur sealgair geoidh 's catliain tliu, 

Roin mliaoil re taobh na raara thii, 

Theid miol-choin ann an tabhann leat 

'S bidh abhaic air an lorg." 

BRENT GOOSE. 

Latin — Anser, Greuta. Gaelic Geadh-got, Got-qheadh, Giruenan 

(Grey). Welsh Gtvyran, fanyiv. 

HOOPER, OR WILD SWAN. 

Latin 

— 

Cynqas ferus. Gaelic 

Eala, Eala-fhiadhaich, Eala-hhan. 

Welsh—vl/rt?Y7i, cjivyUt. 

The wild swan—Nighean uchd-gheal nan sruth — " The whitebosomed 

maiden of the streams," as it is poetically called by 

some of our old bards, is perhaps oftener mentioned in the old 

lore of the Highlands than any other bird. Its graceful form, 

purity of colour, and majestic and easy motions on the water, 

made it a theme for the poet and the lover, who compared his 

lady-love to the graceful swan. Macintyre says of Iseabal Og : 

And Macdonald says of Morag : 

'S e coltas na h-ainnir 

An eal 'air an t-snamh. 

As graceful the maiden 

As swan on the lake. 

Maighdeann bhoidheach nam bas caoine, 

'S iad cho maoth ri cloimh na h-eala. 

Beautiful maiden, whose hands are as white 

And as soft as the down of the swan. 

And often when separated by the sea, the ardent lover wished he 

coiUd swim like the swan, and so reach his beloved, as we have it 

in C 'aite 'n caidil an ribhinn : 

'S e dh 'iarrninn riochd na h-eala bhain 

A shnandias thar a' chaolas, 

'Us rachainn feiii troimh thonnaibh breun 

A chuir an geill mo ghaoil dhuit. 

If, like the swan, I now could sail 

Across the trackless ocean ; 

—


Ere break of clay my love I'd hail, 

A nd prove my heart's devotion. 

From its great size, and extremely wary habits, making it so 

ditHcult to capture, the swan was always an object of ambition to 

the sportsman : 

— 

Bu til sealgair na h-eala, 

'S neul a fal' air a taobh. 

As I mentioned before, when at the eagle, no Highlander was reckoned 

a finished sportsman till he had killed an eagle, a swan, and 

a royal stag. The wild swans, with very few exceptions, always 

retire to the Arctic regions in summer to breed, a fact well known 

to our ancestors, for in " Miaiin a' Bhaii-d Aosda"- -" The Aged 

Bard's Wish "—tlie bard tells us that the swan—the beautiful 

maiden of the snow-white breast, that swims so gracefully o'er 

the waves, and rises on a light wing, flies through the clouds to the 

cold regions of the many waves, where never a sail was spread on 

a mast, or the waves cut by an oaken prow of ship ; the swan 

that travelled from the region of waves shall sing her lament for 

lier love to the aged bard : 

— 

' Bithidh nighean aluinn an uchd-bhain 

A' snamh le sgriach air barr nan tonn ; 

'Nuair thogas i sgiath an aird 

A measg nan nial, cha'n fhas i trom. 

'S trie i ag asdar thar a chuan, 

Gu aisridh fhuar nan ioma tonn, 

Anns nach togar lireid ri crann, 

'S nach do reub sron daraich tuinn. 

Bithidh tusa ri dosan nan torn 

Le cumhadli do ghaoil aun ad bheul, 

Eala thrial) o thur nan tonn, 

'S tu seinn dhomh ciuil 'an aird nan speur. 

It is a very ancient belief common to most nations, especially the 

Celts, that the swan sings very sweetly when wounded or before 

it dies. Most naturalists deny this, but the inhabitants of the 

remote wild districts now frequented by the wild swans are just 

as positive that they do sing, and certainly they should know best. 

On this point Mr A. A. (krmichael sent me the following note 

from Uist :— "This exceedingly beautiful and graceful bird used 

to be a constant winter visitor to all those islands. It is not so 

much now. In a severe winter a flock of swans still comes to


Lochbee in South Uist, but nowhere else that I have ascertamed. 

Lochbee is the largest fresh water lake in the Long Island, but 

the water was reduced in it some years ago, and since then th(; 

swans do not seem to have the same favour for it. It does not 

seem a settled point yet whether the swan sings or not. Naturalists 

maintain that it does not, And yet several persons who have 

had opportunity of judging have assui'ed me that it does. I have 

minutely examined persons who live near Lochbee, and all maintain 

that the swan sings. Some of these positively assert that 

they have often stood spell-bound listening to the music of the 

' swan— 'the most beautiful melodist in the ^' ealtaijui." They 

sing in part even at a long distance, a mile or more. This is 

declared by four brothers (Macinnes) at Lochcarnan, South Uist, 

each of which says that he often stood si)ell-bound to listen to the 

singing of the swan in early frosty mornings—when they sing 

best—ere sunrise. Nothing can exceed the sweet music of the 

swan. They come in November, and leave at St Bride. The 

song of the dying swan is often mentioned in our early literature, 

as in ' Dan an Deirg ' we have : 

— 

" Mar bhinn-ghuth eala 'n guin bais. 

No mar cheolan chaich mu 'n cuairt di." 

" Like the sweet voice of the swan, in the agony of death, 

Or like the songs of the others round about her." 

Dr Smith, in his "Sean Dana," in a note on these lines, says: 

"Some naturalists deny the singing of the swan, so often mentioned 

by the Greek and Latin, as well as by the Celtic poets. If 

the singing of the swan is to be reckoned among the vulgar errors, 

it has been a very universal one. Over the west of Scotland, it 

is still frequently affirmed, as a fact, that the swans that frequent 

those parts in winter are heard to sing sonie very melodious notes 

when wounded or about to take their flight. The note of the 

swan is called in Gaelic, Guileag; and a ditty called " Luinneag 

na li-eala," composed in imitation of it, begins thus : 

Latin 

— 

" Guileag i, Guileag o, 

Sgeula mo dhunach 

Guileag i 

; 

Rinn mo 16ireadh, 

Guileag o 

Mo chasan dubh, ttc." 

BEWICK'S SWAN. 

Cj/anMS Bewickii. Ga,elic—Eala-Bheag. 

Lleiaf 

Welsh 

— 

— 

— 

Alrahc,

— 


of this bird, Mr Grey says :—In the Outer Hebrides this, 

the smallest of our IJritisli swans, is well recognised. It frequents 

the same lakes as the Hooper, and is easily distinguished from 

that species, even at a distance. Sometimes a iiock is seen to 

remain together in a compact body, and continue for some time 

feeding on the shallower parts of the loch, thus affording a good 

"family shot" to the watchful sportsman. In the east of Scotland 

it has likewise been noticed from Berwickshire to the Shetlands, 

where it is known as 

s;ime time as the Hooper. 

a regular visitant, appearing at the 

MUTE SWAN. 

Laitin—C!/g7ius olor. Gaelic Eala. Welsh Aiarch. 

— 

COMMON SHIELDRAKE. 

Liitin I'adorna vulpaiinifi: GdcWc—Cradh-yheadh. Welsh 

llwyadyr eithin, Hywad fruith. 

The shieldrake, one of the most beautifid of all our wild fowl, 

is very common all over the Hebrides, so much so in Uist as to 

have given it the name of Ubhaist nan cradh-gheadh— Uist of the 

shieldrakes. Ian Lom, the bard, says: - 

Latin 

"Dol gu uidhe chuain fhiaghaich 

Mar bu chubhaidh leam iarraidh 

Gu Uidhist bheag riabhach nan cradh-gheadh." 

Going to the passage of the ocean wild 

As seemingly as we could desire 

To little brindled Uist of the shieldrakes. 

Anas clypeata. 

SHOVELLER. 

Gaelic — Goh-leathan. 

lydanbig. 

Welsh— Hwyad 

LaXin—Anas strepera. Gaelic 

— 

GADWALL. 

— 

— 

Lach-ghlas. Welsh— T gors hyivad 

Iwyd. 

WILD DUCK. 

Latin Aruis boschas. Gaelic Lack, Lach-a-chinn-uaine Lach-ghlas, 

Lach-ruadh (Uist), Lach-riahlach (mas.), Tunnag fhiadhaich, 

Tunnag-riahlmch (fern.) Welsh— Cors Hwyad, Garan Hivyad, 

Hrjdnwy. 

This being the most common of all the duck tribe, is very 

often mentioned in our old bird lore. Alex. Macdonald says in 

Allt-an-t-Siucair : 

— 

"An coire lachach, dracach.

— — 

— 

78 Gaelic Society of Inuenwss. 

— 

In olden times C.lcnlyon scorns to liave been famed for wild ducks, 

for ill that ancient poem, "Oran na Comhachaig," or "Song of the 

Owl," we have 

Thoir soraidh nam tliun an loch, 

Far am faic mi 'bhos 's tluiU, 

Gu uisge Leamhna nan lach. 

TEAL. 

— — 

Latin Anas orcca. Gaelic Crann-lach, Crion-iach (little duck), 

Siotta (A. Macdonald), Darcan (A. Macdonald). Welsh— Co/- 

Ihvyad, Crack Ilijad. 

WIDGEON. 

Latin Anas Penelope. Gaelic Gias-lach. Welsh Chioiw. 

EIDER DUCK. 

Latin Somateria moilissima. Gaelic Lach-lochlannach, Loch-mhur 

(Harris), Lach-Ckolonsa, Lavh-heisgnr (Uist), Catcach. Welsh— 

Hioyad Jwifthbki,. 

This duck gets its first Gaelic name— Scandinavian duck 

fi'om its being so common in these nortliern regions ; that of 

Lach-mhor— ]»ig duck—from its large size; and its third and fourth 

names from its being so common on the islands of Colonsa and 

Heiskcr. Mr Grey says— "The extraordinary number of Eider 

Ducks found on the island of Colonsa has gained for this bird the 

local name of Lach-Cholonsa over a considerable portion of the 

western districts of Scotland." Colcach seems to be tlie ancient 

name, for Dean Mnnro, who wi-ote his "Description of the 

Hybrides" in 1594, describes it under the name of Oolcach. 

Martin uses the same name in 1716, in his "Description of the 

Western Islands." Of Martin's description of the eider Mr Grey 

says— " Martin also mentions the bird which he describes by the 

name of colk (the Gaelic one still in use) and gives a most glowing 

and exaggerated descri]jtion of its plumage, which he compares to 

that of the peacock ! At the close of his ornithological records, 

however, he makes the following highly curious remark, which 

may, to some extent, account for his m:ignified descri})tion— 'The 

air is here moist and moderately cold, the natives qualifying it 

some times by drinking a glass of Ksquebavi/h. The moisture of 

this i)lace is such that a loaf of sugar is in danger to be dissolved.' 

The precise nature of the humidity is not exi)lained, nor yet the 

cause, though the melting of the sugar is rather suggestive." 

VELVET SCOTER. 

Latin — Oideniia fusca. Gaelic — Lach-dhubh, 7\mna(/ {/Meast. 

Welsh—Ilwyad /elfedog. 

— 

—

Latin 

— 

— 

— 

— 


COMMON SCOTEU. 

Oideviia nifjra. Gaelic Tunmui-dhiihh (Grey) Welsh— Y 

Fdr-llwyad dtlit 

POCHARD, OR DUN BIRD. 

— 

— 

Latin Fidi'mda ferma. Gaelic Lach-vihasach, Lach-dkear^-cheannach, 

TunmiQ-dhearrf-cJieamvxch. Welsh Uioyad bengock. 

Latia 

— 

Futi'jida cristata. Gaelic C urrachay, Cearm molach. 

Welsh Uwyad (joppo(j. 

LONC-TAILED DUCK. 

hunn—Fuligula gladalis. Gaelic Fun-buchuinn, lan-buchain, Lachbhinn. 

Welsh Hivyad (.lynffun (juennoL 

Mr Grey says:— "The cry of this bird is very remarkable, 

.uul has obtained for it the Gaelic name of Lach-lihinn—or 

musical duck—which is most api)ropriate, for when the voices cf 

a number of them are heard iii concert, rising and falling, borne 

along by the bi-eeze between the rollings of the surf, the effect is 

musical, wild, and startling. The united cry of a large flock 

sounds very like bagpipes at a distance; but the note of a single 

bird when heard very near is not so agi'eeable." The long-tailed 

duck is often mentioned as a sweet singer by our old bards. 

iMexander Macdonald says, in Allt an t-Siucair : 

" Bidh guileag eala 'tuchan, 

'S eoin-bhuchuinn am barr thonn, 

Aig ionbhar Alt an t-Siucaii-, 

'Snamh luth chleasach le fonn ; 

Ri seinn gii moiteil cuirteil, 

Le muineil-cliiuil 's iad crom, 

Mar mhala pioba 's lub air 

Ceol aoifidh, ciuin, nach trora." 

He also says, in "Gran Rioghail a' Bhotail : 

Latin 

'S binne na luinneag eoin-bhuchuinn, 

Bhiodh ri tuchan am barr thonn, 

Guileag do mhuineil a's giuig ort 

Cuisle-chiuil a dhuisgeadh fonn. 

GOLDEN EYE. 

Fxdifjxda dangxda. Gaelic Lach-a-chinn-uaine, Lach-bhreac 

\YQ\sh.—Llydad aur. 

;


h\xi\\\~Mcrjus alhclltis. Gaelic SloUaifhe-brtac, iSiuUati-ban, iSioltan-breac. 

Welsh Lleian iven. 

Latin 

— 

— — — 

— 

KED-BUEASTED MERGANSER. 

Mercus serrator. Gaelic — Sioltairhe (Liglitfoot) Siultau, 

SioUa-dhearrj (Grey). Welsh Trochijdd danheddog. 

GOOSANDER. 

Latin— J/t'/v/».s' vicrqansev. Gaelic Larh-fhiarillach. Tnmuig-jhiacillack, 

îoltaiche, Sioitan, iSioUa-bhear/ (Grey). Welsh— l/wijad 

ddanheddoq. 

Family II.— Coli/mbidie. 

LITTLE GREBE, OR DABCIIICK. 

Latin — Podiceps minor. Gaelic — S/>a

— 


Fcmily TIL—Alondce. 

COMMON GUILLEMOT. 

Ldii\\\—Uria (mile. Gaelic Gearradh-hreac, Eim-a-chrubain. Eundubk-a-chruUain, 

Lanfjnch, LaiKjaidh (Barra) Eati-an-S


Latin 

— 

— 

GREAT AUK. 

Alca inipennis. Gaelic Gearbhal, Bu)ina-bhuachaUle, 

Colca, Colcair. Welsh Carsil mawr. 

Tliis large, cuiious, and interesting bird is now extinct, not 

only in Britain, but also in all other known parts of the world, 

though it used to breed in 8t ]vilda, the last one known being 

captured ofl' that island in 1821 by Mr Macleiman, tacksman of 

Sciilpa. The great auk is mentioned by Sir George Mackenzie 

and other early writers, also by Martin, in his "Voyage to St 

Kilda," published in 1098. He says:— "The Sea Fowls are fii-st 

Gairfowl, being the stateliest, as well as the Largest of all the 

Fowls here, and above the size of a Solan Goose, of a Black 

Colour, Bed about the Eyes, a large white spot under each eye, a 

long broad bill ; stands stately, his whole body erected, his Wings 

short ; he Flyeth not at all ; lays his egg upon the 

which if taken away, he lays no more for that Year. 

bare rock, 

He comes 

without regard to any wind, appears about the first of May, and 

goes away about the middle of June." In his "History of St 

Kilda," published in 1764, the Rev. Kenneth Macaulay says: 

" 1 had not an 0])portunity of knowing a very curious fowl some- 

times seen upon this coast, and an absolute stranger, I am apt to 

believe, in every other part of Scotland. The men of Hirta call 

it the Garefowl. This biid is above four feet in length. From 

the bill to the extremities of the feet, its wings are, in proportion 

to its size, very short. The St Kildians do not receive an annual 

visit from this strange bird, as from all the rest in the list, and 

from many more. It keeps at a distance from them, they know 

not where, for a course of years. From what land or ocean it 

makes its uncertain voyages to their isle, is, perhaps, a mystery in 

nature." In "A General View of the Agricultuie of the Hebrides," 

by James Macdonald, published in 1811, that author gives 

a list of the birds of St Kilda, at the head of which comes the 

Auk:— 1. Bunna-bhuachaillc, or Great Auk, is the largest bird 

met with in the neighbourhood of St Kilda. It is larger than a 

common goose, of a black colour, the irides red, having a long 

white spot under each eye ; the bill is long and broad at the base. 

It cannot fly, by reason of the shortness of its wings ; lays only 

one egg, and if rob])ed of it, lays no more that season." The eggs 

of the Great Auk nuist have always been very rare, and now since 

th

— 

The Gaelic Names oj Birds. 83 

1 1 is hard to say what they may rise to yet, as there are only Go 

known specimens in tlie workl, 41 of which are in Britain. Of 

course the Ggîi are liable to destruction, whilst there is no possi- 

bility of any more ever being added to the list. 

George Buchanan, in his '' History of Scotland," published in 

1580, in his account of the Isle of Suilkyr, says:— " In this island 

also there is a rare kind of bird, unknown in other parts, called 

Ooli:a. It is little less than a goose. She comes every year 

thither, and there hatches and feeds her young till they can shift 

for themselves. About that time, her feathers fall off of their 

own accord, and so leaves her naked, then she betakes herself to 

the sea again, and is never seen more till the next spring. Tliis 

also is singular in them, that their feathers have no quills or stalks, 

Ijut do cover their bodies with a gentle down, wherein there is no 

hardness at all." 

— — 

Family IV. —Peleanidce. 

COJIMON CORMORANT. 

Latin Phalacrocora.v carbo. Gaelic Sgarbh,S(jarbh-buill, Syarbha-bhothain, 

Sgarbh-an-uchcl ghil, Ballaire-bothain, Ballaireboan, 

Sgaireag (Young). Welsh Mulfran, Morfran. 

This terrible gluttor., the most voracious of all our birds, 

though certainly no great ftivourite with the Highlanders, has 

escaped in Gaelic lore the extremely bad character w'hich it bears 

in English, caused no doubt, to a great extent, by some of the 

early English poets choosing this bird for an example of all that 

was bad. INIilton even goes the length, in " Paradise Lost," of 

making Satan assume the form of this bird, before he did that of 

the serpent, and entering the Garden of Eden : 

" Thence up he flew, and on the Tree of Life, 

The middle tree, and highest there that grew, 

Sat like a Cormorant." 

As Pennant puts it :— " To survey undelighted the beauties of 

Paradise : and sit devising death on the Tree of Life." The only 

evil habit which I find in our Gaelic lore attributed to the cormorant 

is that its young, along with the jackdaw's, are accused, 

in the old proverb, of tiying to pass themselves off" as something 

better than what they really are by imitating tlie voices of better 

birds :— " Guth na cubhaig am bial na cathaig, 's guth na faoileig 

am bial na sgaireig"— the cuckoo's voice in the jackdaw's mouth, 

and the sea-gull's voice in the young scart's. The cormorant is an 

extremely dirty bird about its nest, which smells abominably. Mr 

—

— 


Grey says:— " When cruisinq; past (their nests), when the wind is 

bloAving oli' shore, it is by no means pleasant to be assailed by the 

otiensive odours which are wafted on board ; the abomination is only 

exceeded when, on a hot day, yon venture within the precincts of 

the nursery itself. Tn such a place one can almost understand the 

aversion with which the bird is regai'ded by many persons who 

liave given it a bad charactei"." My pei^sonal experience of the 

abominations of the cormorant's nursery, a few hours before I 

write this, was even woi-se than what Mr Grey here describes as 

feeling when cruising past on the open sea. I had been hunting 

in vain for some time amongst the cliffs and caves of the most rocky 

part of the eastern shores of Fleet Bay in Kirkcudln-ightshire for 

cormorants' nests, and was i)assing along the top of a high cliff', 

over a large cave, into which the sea ran at high water, when I 

felt such a fearful smell that I thought I must have discovered 

the })reeding place of all the coromants in Galloway. I quickly 

scrambled down the face of the cliff", the smell getting worse every 

stej). On getting into the cave I found to my disgust that there 

were no cormorants breeding there, only a f(;w innocent rock doves' 

nests, and that the cause of all the abomination was the putrifying 

carcases of two large horses and a sheep which the tide had 

washed into the cave. They had died on a neighbouring farm, 

and, to save the trouble of digging graves, the farmer had hurled 

them over the rocks several weeks before, and, as the day was 

very hot and the wind blowing right into the cave, the stench was 

something fearful—enough to make me remember it as long as Mr 

Grey says a friend of his did the bad taste of the cormorant's ffesh. 

He says :— " From living exclusively upon ffsh, its flesh, as I have 

been informed by those who have had the courage to taste it, is 

peculiarly rank and unpleasant. An old friend of mine told me 

lately that he had cooked one and eaten pai-t of it about forty 

years ago, and that the terribly ffshy flavour was in his mouth 

still." This gentleman with the long memory certainly never had 

the privilege of deriving his flrst support from an Isle of Skye 

nurse, lor jNIartin, in his description of Skye, says :— " The natives 

observe that the cormorant, if perfectly black, makes no good 

broth, nor is its flesh worth eating ; but a cormorant that has 

any white feathers or down, makes good broth and the flesh of it 

is good food, and the liroth is usually drunk by nurses to increase 

their milk." 

SIIAO, OR GREEN CORMORANT. 

Latin Phalacrocorax crisbantus. Gaelic S)/arbh, Sgarhh-an 

sgumain, Gray (Young). Welsh— Y Fnlfran leiaf. 

—


This is a very waiy bird, and very difficult to approach or 

capture, hence the old proverb :— "Trod nam ban niu'n sgarbh, 's 

an sgarbh a muigh air an loch "—the scolding of the wives above 

the shag, and the shag out on the loch. Quarrelling about it before 

they had captured it. Another old proverb, common in 

Hebrides, is 

the 

:— '• Biodli gach fear a' toirt sgairbh a' creagan dha 

fheiii "— let every man take shags out of rocks for himself. Sheriff 

Nicolson says :— "Alleged to have been said by a St Kilda man to 

his comrade, who was holding the rope above and asked if he had 

secured birds for them both. On hearing the answer above quoted, 

the holder of the rope is said to have replied, ' Let every man 

liold the rope for himself,' and let him go !" These bold cragsmen 

descend the rocks for the " oragan," or young shags, which are 

reckoned good eating there. Mr A. A. Carmichael writes me 

frjm Uist :— " The oragan are so fat and helpless that they frequently 

tumble out of the nest down into the sea, then they 

scramble on shore on ledges of rock as best they can. In Minbiidh 

adventurous bird-catchers go to the rocks at nights and catch these 

asleci). These })irds sleep with their heads under their wings. 

Their enemies place them between their knees and wring their 

necks." 

GANNET, OR SOLAN GOOSE. 

Latin—


kind of thick substance manufactured in tlieir own way, they use 

by way of sauce, or ins'ead of butter, among their porridge and 

flummery. In tlie adjacent ishmds they administer this oily substance 

to their cattle if seized with violent colds or obstinate 

coughs ; and it is the general belief that the appliacation of the 

Giobain, in such cases, has a very good etiect." I have no doube 

the reverend gentleman was quite correct in his surmises of to tht 

beneficial effects of the Giobain on the cattle, for they seem to have 

the same on even the lords of creation, as I find in an old song 

by Archibald Macdonald, the Uist bard, to Dr Macleod, that lie 

ascribes the enoi-mous size and weight of the worthy doctor to 

his being fonder of " Giobainean nan Gugachan" than of milk or 

butter. As the whole song is illustrative of the art of the fowler 

amongst the I'ocks, and of the capture, not only of the solan 

goose—the " Sulair Garbh "— but also of the preceding and following 

birds, I may give the whole, as it is very cleverly written, 

and represents the bulky doctor in a ludicrous light all through 

his adventures, till at last his courage fails him when descending 

a high rock and all the wild fowl fly far beyond his reach when 

they get the scent of his drugs ofi him • 

— 

ORAN CNADAIL DO'n OLLA LEODACH. 

Le Gilleaspuig Donullach, am Bard Uisteach. 

Luinneag.—Thugaibh, thugaibh, bo bo bo, 

An Doctair Leodach 's biodag air, 

Faicill oirbh san taobh sin thall 

Nach toir e'n ceann a thiota dhibh. 

'Nuair a bha thu d'fhleasgach og, 

Bu mhorchuiseach le claidheamh thu, 

Chaidh Ailean Muillear riut a chorag, 

'S leon e le bloidh spealaidh thu. 

Bha thu na do bhasbair corr, 

'S claidheamh mor an tarruing ort, 

An saighidear 's measa th'aig Righ Deors' 

Choraigheadh e Alastair. 

Bhiodh sud ort air do thaobh, 

Claidlieamh caol 'sa ghliosgartaich ; 

Cha'n oil falcag thig o'n traigh, 

Nach cuir thu barr nan itean di. 

Biodag 's an deach an gath seirg 

Air crios seilg an luidoalaich, 

Bha .seachd oirlich oiro a mheirg, 

'S gnr mairg an rachadh bruide dhi.


Bhiotlag 's measa tli'annsan tir, 

'S a beairt-cliiun 's a' ghliogartaicli, 

Chnamh a faobliar leis an t-sutliaicili, 

'S cha gheari- i'n dh'im na dh'itlieadh tu. 

Biodag, agus «!gabard dearg, 

'S cearbach sad air aniadan, 

Gearradh anihaichean nan sgarl)h, 

D'fhaigte marbh gun anail iad. 

'Nuair a theid thu'n chreig gu li'ard 

Cluinnear gair nan iseanan, 

'S mu thig am fulamair a d dhail, 

Smalaidh tu do bhiodag ann. 

'S iomad farspag riun thu niliarbhadh, 

A 's sulair garbh a rug thu air, 

Bhliadhna sin, inu'n deach thu'n arm, 

Chuir uibhean sgarbh cioch slihigain ort. 

Cha deoch bhainne, no mheig, 

'S ciiinteach mi rinn ucsa dhiol ; 

Ach biaiih bu docha leat na'n t-im, 

Giobaincan nan gugachan. 

'Nuair a theid tliu air an rop', 

bu mhor do chudthrom air, 

A Righ ! 

Direadh 's na li-iseanan a d' sgeth. 

Air learn gu'm feum thu cuideacha. 

Bu tu tlieannaicheadh an t-sreang, 

Cha'n eil i fann mur bris thu i, 

Mu thig an cipean as a ghrunnd, 

Cluinntear plumb 'nuair thuiteas tu. 

'Nuair a theid thu'n chreig gu hard, 

Failigidh do mhisneach tliu, 

Cha tig na h-eunlaidh a'd' dhail. 

Le faile do chuid dhrogaichean. 

'Nuair a theid thu'n chreig tha shuas 

Fuadaichidh tu chlisgeadh iad 

Le dearsa do bhutain ruadh, 

'S do bhucaill chruadha'ch 'sa ghliosgartaich. 

Cha ndiarbh thu urrad ri each, 

Ge leathan ladair mogur thu. 

T'airm cha dian a ])heag a sta, 

Mur sgriobar clar no praise leo.


Latin 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Family V.—Larida-. 

COMMON TERN, OR SEA SWALLOW. 

Stertux hirumlo. Gaelic Stearnan. Welsh 

rvemwl fioyaf, Ysci'aean. 

ARCTIC TERN. 

hatin— Stermi arctica. Graelic 

LESSER TERN. 

— 

Stearnal. 

— 

Y For- 

IjOXvo.—Sterna viinnta. Gaelic—Stearnal heag. Welsh— T Fdrivennol 

leiaf. 

Latin 

Latin 

— 

Steima nigra . 

Gaelic 

BLACK TERN. 

Stearnal-dnhh. Welsh 

— 

Ysrraean dd/i. 

LITTLE GULL. 

Lams minntus. Gaelic Crann-jhaoileag, Crion-fhaoileag, 

Faoileag hheag. 

nLACK-nEA.DED GULL. 

Latin Larus ridibmulus. Gaelic Faoileag, Ceann-duhhan, Duhhcheammch, 

Faoileag-dhnhh-cheannach. Welsh— Yr ivylan henddti. 

KITTIWAKE. 

Latin — Lama tridadylns. Gaelic — Seagair, Faireag, Ruideag 

Sgaireag. 

Latin 

COMMON GULL. 

Larîs canus. Gaelic — Faoileann, Fanleag, An t-iasgairdiomhain. 

Welsh G'wylan Iwyd, llnccan. 

This gull gets its name of An t-iasgair-diomhain (Idle Fisher), 

by which it is generally known in Atliolo, from its habit of flying 

along the course of a river or stream, and darting down on any small 

trout it sees near the surface, but as these shallow-water trout are 

very quick of sight they generally see it coming, and either dive 

into deep water, or under a stone, and escajjo, so its fishing exi)loits 

there Ijeing generally a failure it got the name of the Idle Fisher, 

or, more literally, the Unsuccessful Fisher. 

Latin 

Latin 

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 

Lams fuscns. Gaelic Sgaireag, Fari^pach-hheag, Faoileag- 

Itheag (Grey). 

HERRING GULL. 

Lams argentafKit. Gaelic (Jlas-fJinnihag. Welsh 

henwaig. 

(hnjlan

— — — 

— 


GREAT BLACK-RACKED GULL. 

Latin Larusviarinus. Gaelic Farspach, Farspacj Faoileann-mor, 

Sqlinireach, (first year state). vlahh—Gwijlnn f/efn-ddu. 

GLAUCOUS, OR GREAT WHITE GULL. 

Latin Lams gtaucus. Gaelic Faoileaij-mhor, Mnir-mhaighstir. 

This gull gets its last Gaelic name, " Master of the Sea," from 

its being such a tyrant over all the other gulls. In the Birds of tlie 

West of Scotland, Mr Angus writes from Aberdeenshire :— " I 

have never been out in the bay in winter without seeing this bird, 

which is a very conspicious object, being more oceanic in its habits 

than any of its congeners. Along the coast its advent is heralded 

l)y the screaming of the other gulls, whom it torments and tyrannises 

over like the skuas. Even the great black-backed gull must 

give place to the Burgo-master." 

COMMON SKUA. 

Latin Lestris catarractes. Gaelic Fasgadair, Fasgadan, 

Tzdiac (St Kilda). Welsh- —Gwylan frech. 

The skua gets its name of Fasgadair, i.e., "The Squeezer," from 

its habit of not going to fish much itself, but its watching the other 

gulls till they have caught a lot of fish, then it darts on them and 

makes them disgorge their prey, which it seizes before reaching the 

watei', and so may be said to wring or squeeze its food fi'om them. 

The Skuaused to be a terrible pest,not only to theother.sea birds, but 

to the inhabitants as well of the isles where it used to breed, as will 

be seen from the following quotation from the Rev. K. Macaiilay's 

History of St Kilda :— " At Hirta is too frequently seen, and very 

severely felt, a large sea gull, which is detested by every St Kil- 

dian. This mischevious bird destroys every egg that falls in its 

w;iy, and very often the young fowls, and sometimes the weakest 

of the old. It is hardly possible to express the hatred with which 

this otherwise good-natured people pursue these gulls. If one 

happen to mention them, it ihrows their whole blood into a ferment 

; serpents are not at all such detestable objects anywhere 

else. They exert their whole sti'cngth of industry and skill to get 

iiold of this cruel enemy, a task very far from beiirg easy, as they 

are no less vigilant than wicked. If caught they outvie one 

another in torturing this imp of hell to death ; such is the em 

pliatical language in which they express an action so grateful to 

their vindictive spirit. They pluck out his eyes, sew his wings 

together, and send him adrift ; to eat any of its eggs, thougli 

among the largest and l)est their isle aftbrds, would be accounted 

—


a most flagitious action, and worthy of a monster only. Tliey extract 

the meat out of the shell, and leave that quite empty in the 

nest ; the gull sits ui)on it till she pines away. They call it 

Tuliac in St Kilda, but in the other western isles it goes under a 

diflferent name" (Fasgadair). 

Richardson's skua, or arctic gull. 

Lat'm—Lesti-is liichardsoni. Gaelic—Fasr/adair. Welsh—Gwli/cni 

y Gorjledd. 

FULMAR PETREL. 

h^Wn—Procellaria glacialis. Gaelic—Fubnaire, Fahnaire. Welsh 

Gwylan y grau/. 

This is another inhabitant of St Kilda, but a very different 

one from the Skua, and after the very bad character the latter got 

from the rev. historian of St Kilda, it is pleasant to turn to the 

good one he gives the Fulmar :— " Another sea-fowl highly 

esteemed in this island is the Fulmar. 1 was not a little entertained 

with the econiums they bestowed on this bird. 'Can the world,' 

said one of the most sensible men in Hirta to me, 'exhibit a more 

valuable commodity 1 The Fulmar furnishes oil for the lamp, down 

for the bed, the most salubrious food, and the most efficacious 

ointments for healing wounds, besides a thousand other virtues of 

which he is possessed, which I have not time to enumerate. But, 

to say all in one word, deprive us of the Fulmar, and St Kilda is 

no more.' " The following account of the taking of the Fidmar 

in St Kilda is given in sketches of St Kilda, by Lachlan Maclean 

(|)ub. 1S38) :— " The young Fulmar is valued by the natives moi'e 

than all the other tribes of ]>ir(ls taken together ; it may be said 

to be their stati" of life ; they therefore never meddle -with the egg. 

The twelfth of August, if a notable day on the moors, is more so 

on the rocks of St Kilda. A day or two before every rope is 

tested, every oil-dish cleaned, .and every barrel emptied. Some 

of these ropes are older than their owners, and are chiefly made of 

thongs from cow-hide, salted and twisted into a cable. The 

twelfth arrives, the rope is made fast round the waists of the 

lieavier party, whilst the other and lighter party is let down the 

perpendicular rock several liundred feet. Here the work of 

destruction goes on night and day for a given space ; the St Kilda 

man has nothing to do but take the young Fulmar, wring his neck, 

and then suspend him ])y a gii-th he wears I'ound his loins. This 

is the harvest of the peo])le of St Kilda. They are aware it is to 

last only eight days, and therefore sleep itself is banished for tliis 

space. The number killed in this one week may be from eighteen 

—


to twenty thousand. Thoy are from two to three pounds weight, 

about two hundred will


Of the common fowl Penuiint sa\s— "Our common poultry 

came originally from Persia and India. They were early introduced 

into the western ])arts of the world, and have been very long 

naturalised in this country, long before the arrival of the Romans 

in tliis island, Ciesar informing us they were one of the forbidden 

foods of tlie old Britons. These were in all probability imported 

here by the Phaniicians, who traded to Britain about live luindred 

years before Christ. For all other domestic fowls, turkeys, geese, 

and ducks excepted, we seem to be indebted to the Romans. The 

wild fowl were all our own from the period they could be supposed 

to have reached us after the great e\ent of the Hood." 

I need scarcely remind any one who knows anything about 

the Highlands, in the days of our grandfathers, what an institution 

cock-tighting was in every part of the country, especially in the 

parish schools, where certain days were set specially apart for cock- 

tighting, with the old schoolmaster as president, who claimed all 

the slaughtered cocks as a perquisite. 

Gaelic 

— 

Coileach-franqach, CoUeach-turcach, Turcach, Turcaire. 

Cearc-fhrangach, Cearc-tlmrcach 

Hen 

— — — 

Gaelic Peiicag (1st Kings x. 22), Coileach-fheuchaig, Peubhchoileach; 

Pecoc (Alex. Macdonald). Hen—d'arc-fheAicaig, 

Gaelic 

Gaelic 

The old song says : 

GUINEA FOWL. 

Goileach-innseanacJi. 

PIGEON. 

Cahnan, Gura-gug, Duradan. 

Fhuair mi nead a ghura-gug, 

Ann an^cuil na moine, 

Fhuair mi'an toisicli uibhean ann, 

'S fhuair mi ris eoin ann, 

'8 fliuair mi nead a ghura-gug, 

Ann an cuil na moine, itc. 

GOOSE. 

Gaelic—Gander—Canm^M, Sgeigeir. Gooso—Geadh. 

.

— 

— — — 

— 


DUCK. 

Drake, Gaelic Lcich, Hac. 

Duck, Gaelic- Ihtyimty. 

FOREIGN BIRDS. 

1 will now tinisli by giving a few Gaelic names of foreign 

birds, most of which will be found in the Bible (Deut., 14th 

chap.), or in Alexander Macdonald's vocabulary : 

Eagle, Gaelic lolair. 

Gier-eagle, Gaelic lolair-fhionn, lolair-thimchiollac/i 

Vulture, 

Ossifrage, Gaelic Cnaimh-bkruteach. 

Gaelic—Fany, SjrincJiayi-criosach, Precichaii-inyneach. 

Vu Iturine, Gaelic Preachanach. 

Pelican, Gaelic Pelag, Pelicon, Eim-mor-fasaich. 

Ostrich, Gaelic Siruth, Struth-chamhull. 

Parrot, G&aMc — Piorraid, Parracait. 

Canary, Gaelic Canari. 

With this I conclude my list of Gaelic names of birds, having 

given a Gaelic name for about 220 different birds, and as most of 

them have several different names, making a total of about 61:^ 

Gaelic names. Though this is a large number, yet it does not 

nearly include them all, as there are many local names by which 

bii'ds are known in difierent districts of the Highlands, which I 

have not Ijeen able to collect, and I shall therefore be very glad, 

indeed, if any member of the Society, or anybody else, who may 

know any other Gaelic names, anecdotes, proverbs, or poetry connected 

with the bird lore of the Highlands, will kindly communicate 

them, either to myself, or to the obliging secretary of the 

Society, with a view to their perha})s ap})earing in a more complete 

form "some ither day." I know many raemlêrs of the Society 

are deeply vei'sed in Gaelic bird lore, and I hope they, and all other 

lovers of birds, and of the Gaelic language, will, in the words of 

the old Gaelic proverb— " Prove it, prove it," by assisting in collecting 

and preserving our old bird lore, and I think I may now conclude 

by giving the old j^roverb referred to, which, as Sherifl 

Nicolson says, is an imitation of the chirping of birds, but wdth a 

moral meaning— " Tlia da ian bheag 's a' choill ud thall, 's their an 

dara fear ris an fliear eile, ' 'S toigh leam thu, 's toigh leam thu ;' 

's their am fear eile, ' Dearbh sin, dearbh sin.'" There are two 

little birds in yonder wood, and the one says to the other, " I like 

you, I like you;" and the other says, " Prove it, prove it." 

— 

.


23rd December 1885. 

At the meeting on this date the Rev. William I 

homson, 

Fodderty, and Mr D. Davidson, Waverley Hotel, Inverness, were 

elected ordinary members of the Society. 

Thereafter the Secretary read (1), a paper on " Dunnacliadh 

Bim," by Mr Neil INIacleod, the Skye bard ; and (2), a poem entitled 

"Meurachadh Oidhche Coinnlc,'' by the Rev. Thomas Sinton, 

Glengarry. The latter meritorious production was nut intended 

tor publication in these Transactions. Mr Macleod's paper was as 

follows : 

— 

DUNNACHADH BAN MAC-AN-T-SAOIR. 

Tha c air aithris gu trie ann am measg nan Gaidheal gur e 

Dunnacliadh Ban Mac-an t-Saoir bard is fhearr a thog Gaidhealtachd 

Alba bho laithean Oisein ; agus gur e- " INIoladh Beinn 

Dbrain " cuibhrionn de bhardachd is fhearr a cliuir Dunuachadh 

Ban ri cheile. Cha'n 'eil mi ag radh nach fhaod daoine a bhi 

air am mealladh anns an da ni sin. Tha iad na mo bheachd-sa 

gu h-araidh air am mealladh a thaobh an dara ni ; is e sin gur e 

" Moladh Beinn Dorain " cuiblirionn de bhardachd is fhearr a 

chuir Dunnachadh Ban ri cheile. Neach air bitli a leughas "Moladh 

Beinn Dorain" gu faicilleach bho thoiseach gu deireadh, faodaidh 

an neacli sin eulas fhaotainn air na buadhan a bhiodh feumail 

agus fieagarach do dheagh shealgair, air cumadh a' ghunna 'bha 

cleachdte ann an laithean a' bhaird, agus ainmeannan lusan gun 

aii'eamh ; gheibh e na nithe sin air an cur sios ann an cainnt 

bhinn, fhileanta, agus bhlasda, a dh' fhaodas a bhi 'n an lun 

taitneach do 'n chluais, ach nach dean moran ardachaidh no 

beathachaidh air buadhan na h-inntinn. Tha 'm bard a' toirt 

dhuinn tri seallaidhean araidh air Beinn Dorain. Anns a' chiad 

aite tha e 'g a h ainmeachadh na " monadh fada, reidh," ach 's ann 

a tha 'bheinn coltach ris mar gu 'm biodh i ag atharrachadh 

nan crutli fa chomhair suil inntinn a' bhaird mar a bha e 'dol air 

aghaidh leis a' mholadh aice. Agus an aite i bhi 'n a " monadli 

fada, reidh," 's an a tha i tionndadh gu bhi cho corach, carach, 

bideanach, ri sruth Choire Bhreacainn, 'n uair a tha i fas 

" Gu stobanach, stacanach, 

Slocanach, laganacli, 

Cnocanach, cnapanach, 

Caitcanacli, roniacli; 

Pasganat-h, l)adanach, 

BachlaL'ach, buidheach. 

" 

—

Dunnachadh Ban. 95 

Alius ;ui troas sciilladli a tlia 'm bai'd a' tuirt dhuiiiu air Bciiiii 

Durain, tlia o 'ga h-aiuuieachadli 'ii a "inouadli fada, faoiii." Tlia 

sill a' leigeadh fliaiciuu duiuu uacli b' e idir cuinadli agus luaise 

na beiniic 'bu mhoiulia blia anus an audiaic aig a' bhard aiin a 

blii 'seiiui a cliu, aeii a blii a' taghadli briathrau tinoalta ruithteacli 

a rachadli gu snasmhor aim an eagaii a chcile, agus a bha 

fieagarrach aii- fonn a' pliuirt air an do sheiim c am iiioladli, co 

dliiubh a bha 'cliainnt sin seasinhacli ri lagh NiHluir no nach robli. 

Tha aon rami beag amis nach 'eil acli ccitliir srcathan goirid, ami 

am •' Miami a' Bliaird Aosda," air cliii agus iiiaise beinne, anns 

am bheil barrachd brigli agus bardachd na 'tlia ami am " Moladh 

Beinn Dbrain " blio cheann gu ceann. 

" Clii mi Beinn-ard is aillidh tiamh, 

Ceann-feadliua air mhile boann ; 

Bha aisling nan damh 'na ciabh, 

'S i leabaidh nan nial a ceann." 

Tha e air a mheas 'n a mhaise aii- bardachd agus air sgriobhadh 

no comliradh sam bith, mar is momha 'tlicid de chiall agus de 

ghliocas a chur ami an tearc de bhriathran. Ach cha d' thug 

Dunnachadh Ban moran aire do 'n teagasg sin. Agus dia b' e 

'mhain Dunnachadh B;in, ach bha agus tha a' cliuid nilior de na 

baii'd Ghaidhealach agaiiin ciontacli dhe sin. Cho fad 's a gheibh- 

eiidh iad briathi-an a ghabhadh tathadh agus fuaimneachadh ri 

'cheile leanadh iad air snioiidi an orain a mach cho fad 's a ghabhadh 

e deanamh ; co dhiiibh ;i bha beachdan ura 'g am foillseachadh 

fhein ami no nach robh. Mii bha 'ndiiii gann bha iad a' fuine 

'bhonnach a mach cho tana 's a ghabhadh iad sgaoileadh. 

Cha ghabh e aicheadh nach e tior lihaid a bha 'n Dunnachadh 

Ban, ach bard aig an robli buadhaii cainnte pailt air tlioiseach 

ail' a' chumhachd inntinn. Ach ma rinn e bardachd lag rinn e 

bardachd laidir. Ann am moladh " Coiie-cheathaich " tha againn 

dealbhan air an tarrainn cho oirdherc agus cho niaiseach, ann an 

cainnt cho fmoalta, snasmhor, 's a tha ri 'fliaotainn anns a' chanain 

Ghaidhlig —cainnt a tha 'sealltain dhuinii a' bhai'd, agus an toilinntinn 

a bha e 'faotainn ann an co-choinunn ri maise obair 

Naduir. 

" 'Sa' mhaduinn chiiiin-ghil an am dhomh dusgadh, 

Aig bun nan stiic b' e an siigradh leam." 

Anns an rann so tha agaiim inntinn agus spiorad an fliior 

bhaird a' briseadh a mach. Anns a' mhaduinn cheitcin tha 'n 

driuchd a' dealradh air gach febirnein, a' ghrian ag eirigh suas 'n a


gloii-, Ic sgiathan seimh a' sgaoileadb a brat orbhuidh air gacli 

srath agus sliabh. Is e miaun a' bhaird a bhi 'g eirigh gu niocli 

agus a' direadh suas gu bun nan stuc a gliabhail oonipairt le 

eunlaith nan speur ann a bhi 'seinn agus a' deanamh gairdeachais 

ann an gloir agus maise 'chruinne-che. Tha e duilich a chreidsin 

gu'n cuireadh iighdar " Coire Cheathaich" bardachd ri' cheile (ma 

dh' fliaodair bardachd a radh ris) cho leanabail, lag, agus leibideach, 

ri " Ahistair nan stop." Rinn Dunnachadh Ban a ti'i no ceithir a 

dh' orain-ghaoil, ach a mach bho " Mhairi Bhain Oig," cha 'n 'eil 

iad ach fuar, tioram, agus lag. Ann a h-aou de na h-orain-ghaoil 

sin tha'n rann so 

— 

"'S do chul daithte lan-mhaiseach, 

Mu 'n cuaii-t do d' bhraigh' an urdugh, 

Air sniondi uiar theudan clarsaiche 

'N a fliaineachan glan nosar : 

Gu lidh-dhonn, pleatach, sar-chleachdach. 

Gu dosach, fasnihor, donihail, 

Gu lubach, dualach, bachlach, guairsgeach, 

Snasmhor, cuachach, or-bhuidhe." 

Tha 'n t-oran a' toiseachadh leis na facail so— " A Mhairi 

bhan, gur barrail thu." Tha e duilich a dheanandi a uiach ciod e 'n 

seorsa dath a bha air an fhalt aig a' mhaighdinn so, ma bha e 

"ban," "lidhdhonn," agus " br-bliuidhe." Ann ann oran " Mairi 

Bhan Og " tha 'm bard a' bualadh teudan na clarsaich aige le 

diirachd ni 's lilaithe, leis a bheil faircachadh a' ghaoil agus 

spiorad na bardachd a' comhnadh a cheile, agus a' sgeadachadh 

^lairi le trusgan maiseach tinealta nach caill i cho fad 's a bhios 

Gaidhlig ghlan Albannach air a labhairt no air a seinn air feadh 

an t-saoghail. 

Ann an •' Oran an t-Samhraidh " tlui 'n rann a leanas : — 

*' *S fior ionndiuinn mu thrath neuinc, 

Na laoigh oga choir na buaile sin, 

Gu tarra-gheal, ball-bhreac, botainneach, 

Sgiuthach, druim-fhionn, sron-fhionn, guaillinnach, 

Buidh', gris-fhionn, cra-dhearg, suaichionta, 

Seang, slios'ra, direach sar-chumpach, 

Gas, bachlach, barr an suainiche," 

Faodaidh c 'bhith gur c nach 'eil mise 'tuigsinn ciod 'is ciall 

do fhior bharilachd, ach feumaidh mi aideachadh nach 'eil mi 

'faicinn bardachd air bith anns an rann sin, no ann am moran 

rann eilc de'n t-seursa cheudna. Tha cainnt gu leor ann, air a

Donnachadh Ban. 97 

carnadli air muiu 's air muiu a cheile, facail f liAda thioraiu laidir, 

gun bliinneas guu ghrinneas. Agus ami am luoasg a cho-thionail 

bhriatliran sin, bu cho math a bhi 'g iarraidh snathaid aim au 

cniaich-f heoir agus a bhi 'g amharc air son a' blieachd air an robh 

am bard ag iarraidli solus a chur. 

Tha baidaclid agus tuigse aims an oran chiatach sin, "Cead 

deireannacli nam Beanii." Cha'n 'eil am bard a' dcanamli stritli air 

bith gu bhi taghadh facail mhora cliruaidhc thioram. Tha na 

fairichean aige mar a tha iad a' dusgadh suas 'n a chono, a' 

sruthadh a mach ann an cainnt cheolnihor, bhog, bhlath ; cho 

binn seimh ri cronan an uillt. Anns an oran so tha 'm hkrd a' 

toirt dhuinn dealbh taitneach dhe fliein, ach dealbh a tha air a 

udieasgadli le cianalas agus br^n. Tha 'm bard 'n a sheann aois 

ag gabhail a chuairt mu dheireadh, agus an sealladh mu dheireadh 

de Bheinn Dbrain, agus faodaidh sinn a bhi cinnteach mar a blia 

e 'dh-eadh ri uchd an t-sleiblie le anail ghoirid, le ceann Hath, s 

le chiabhan tana, le ceiim mall, 's le cridhe trom, gu'n robh iomadli 

smaointinn thursach mhuladach a' snamh 'n a cliom, ag cuimhneachadh 

all' na laithean a dh' fhalbh, laithean taitneach na h-oige 

nach till air an ais ni's mo. 

"N uair 'slieall mi air gach taobh dhiom, 

Oha'n fliaodainn gun 'bhi smalanach." 

Tha mi creidsinn gur h-ann le cridhe trom a thearnaich 

Dunnachadh Ban gu baile air an fheasgar sin, a' mothachadh aois 

agus a lag-chuis fhein ; agus an uair a cliunnaic e ceo an anmoich 

agus neoil dhorcha na h-oidhche a' sgaoileadh am brat tiamhaidh 

mu ghuaillean Beinn Dbrain nach robh esan gu fhaiciim gu brath 

tuilleadh. 

" Ghabh mi nis mo chead de'n t-saoghal, 

'S de na daoine dh' fhuii-ich ann ; 

Fhuair mi greis gu sunndach aotrom, 

'S i 'n aois a rinn m' fhagail fann. 

Tha mo thalantan air caochladh, 

'S an t-aog air tighinn 's an am, 

'S e m' achauaich air sgath ra' Fhir-shaoi'aidh 

Bhi gu math 's an t-saoghal thall." 

Rinn Dunnachadh Ban beagan aoirean anns am bheil brod 

bardacdd ged nach 'eil iad ri am moladh air dhoigh eile. Ach 

cha 'n eil teagamh nach do thoill " Nighean dubh Raineach " na 

fhuair i 

7


" A chionn gu'n do ghoid i 

'N rud beag blia 'n sa chludau, 

Bh' agam 's a' chiiil 

Nach d' imiis mi chach." 

Agus tha e coltach nach robh " Uisdean Piobaiic " air na daoine 

'bu mhodhaile agus 'bu bheusaiche. Acli tha sean-fliacal ag radh 

gur a " searbh a' gliloir nach fhaodar eisdeachd." Cha'n 'eil e na 

chomharradh laidir air inntinn mhor a bhi 'gabhail gnothaich ris 

gach peasan leibideach a thig 'n a i-athad. Agus cha mhomha a 

bha e ag ardachadh cliu Dhunnachaidh Bhain a bhi cumail connspaid 

ri Uisdean Piobairc, Iain Faochaig, an Taileir, agus " Anna 

nighean Uilleam an Crompa." Ach cha b'e paipeir goirid a 

chaidh a sgriobhadh ann a' cabhaig mar a chaidh am paipeir so a 

bheireadh ceirteas do Dliunnachadh Ban agus d'a chuid bardachd. 

Bha sinn a' toirt cliu dha agus a' faotainn coire dha ; ach tha 

sinn a' creidsinn nach cuir aon choire a gheibh sinn dha tolg no 

dealg 'n a chliu. Tha dbchas againn gu 'm bi a chliu mar bhard 

cho seasmhach buan ri beanntan a dhuthcha. Agus tliaeagal orm 

gu'm bi iomadh latha agus linn mu'n siubhail Gaidheal eile 

firichean Bheinn Dbrain a ni a ieum de 'bheul agus de 'shiiilean, 

agus a chuireas urad de bheatha agus de mhaise ann an cainnt 

agus ann am bardachd ar diithcha 's a chuii' Dunnachadh Ban 

Mac-an-t-Saoii-. 

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL DINNER. 

The Fourteenth Annual Dinner was held in the Caledonian 

Hotel, Inverness, on the evening of Tuesday, 12th January 1886. 

Mr Allan R. Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail, Chief of the Society, 

presided, and he was supported by Provost Macandrew, Bailie 

Alexander Ross, Mr William IMackay, solicitor ; Dr Aitken, ]\Ir 

E. H. Macmillan, Caledonian Bank ; Mr William Mackenzie, 

secretary of the Society ; Ac. Mr Duncan Campbell, Ballifeary, 

and Mr G. J. Campbell, solicitor, acted as croupiers. Among 

those present were Bailie Charles Mackay, ex-Bailie Macbean, 

Treasurer Jonathan Ross, Mr Alexander INIackenzie, Silverweils ; 

Dr Sinclair Macdonald, Inverness ; Mr D. Mackintosh, Bank of 

Scotland ; Mr W. Macdonald, contractor ; Mr James Barron, Ness 

Bank ; Mr Alexander Mackenzie, Ballifeary ; Rev. G. Mackay, 

Beauly ; Mr H\igh Mackintosh, of Mactavisli k Mackintosh, 

Castle Street ; Mr A. Macbain, Raining's School ; Mr P. H. Smart, 

drawing-master; Mr A. Macgregor, solicitor; INIr John Davidson, 

Inglis Street ; Mr T. G. Henderson, High Street ; Mr D. Mac-

Annual Dinner 99 

tavisli, coimnission-ajêut; Mr A. Macfavlaue, Calodonian Hotel; Mr 

W. Macboau, linpeiial Hotel ; Mr J. AVhyte, Free Library ; Mr 

W. Gunii, Castle Street ; Mr Fraser Cain[)bell, High Street ; Mr 

J. Mackenzie. Greig Street; Mr H. R. i\lackenzie, Town-Clerk's 

Otlice ; Mr TJieodore Chishohn, Telford Road ; Mr F. Macdonald, 

Druidag ; Mr D. Ramsay, Gilbert Street ; Mr E. M. Carter, Greig 

Street ; Mr Alexander Fraser, Glasgow ; Mr A. C. Mackenzie, 

Maryburgli ; Mr William Fraser of Illinois ; Mr Macpherson, 

Ballifeary, (fcc. An excellent dinner having been served up. 

The Chairman, who was heartily received, gave the toast of 

"The Queen," and, in doing so, said it was quite on the cards that 

next year her Majesty would, iu honour of her jubilee, knight the 

Provosts of all the county towns. (Hear, hear, and applause.) The 

Chairman then proposed the health of "The Prince and Princess 

of Wales" and the other Menibei-s of the Royal Family ; and thereafter 

gave the toast of the Army, Navy, and Reserve Forces. 

Lieut. -Colonel H. C. Macandrew, whose name was coupled with 

the latter toast, in reply, expressed regret that there were no officers 

of the army or navy present to reply on behalf of these branches 

of the service. He did not think they could have such a large 

gathering in the days of old without having sevei-al officers of 

the army and navy amongst them. (Hear, hear.) But if they 

were not turning out so many officers now, it was a great satisfaction 

to them to know that, notwithstanding all the changes 

that had taken place, and the statement that had been made from 

generation to generation that the service was going to the bad, 

still our soldiers were, when called upon to act, as brave, cool, 

and courageous as ever they were. (Applause.) With regard to 

the volunteers, while they had no such record as that of the 

army, still they felt that they had succeeded to the glorious heritage 

of British freedom. (Hear, hear.) They had taken up arms 

with the earnest determination that while brave and strong men 

can bear arms, that glorious heritage will be handed down unscathed 

to theu' children. (Applause.) 

Mr William Mackenzie, the Secretary, then read the annual 

report, which stated that the membership of the Society was now 

about 300. The income durmg the year, including £79. 10s. 

carried forward from last year, Avas £164. 8s. Id. The sum of 

£89. 2s. 9d. had been paid out, thus leaving a balance of £75. 5s. 

4d. (Applause.) That the last session had been a successful one, 

would, he said, be seen from the handsome volume of Transactions 

which had recently been issued to members. The large size of the 

last two volumes of Transactions had been a considerable drain


upon tlie funds of the Society, and he ajipealed to those present to 

use their eflbrts to increase the membership, so that the Executive 

miglit be enabled, by additional funds, to continue the publication 

of such large and handsome volumes. (Applause.) Mr Macken- 

zie then read apologies for absence from the following gentlemen : 

—Sir K. S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart.; Mr D. Cameron of 

Lochiel ; Mr K. J. Matheson, yr. of Lochalsh ; Mr R. C. Munro- 

Ferguson of Novar ; Mr C. Fraser-]Mackintosh, M.P. ; ]\Ir D. 

Cameron, "NVoodville, Nairn ; Field-Marshal Sir P. Grant, G.C.B., 

Governor of Chelsea Hospital ; Major Kose of Kilravock ; Captain 

A. INI. Chisholm, Glassburn ; Mr D. Davidson of Drummond 

Park ; Mr Alexander Ross, Teaninich ; Canon Thoyts, Tain 

Mr Charles Innes, Inverness ; Dr Thomas Stratton, Devonport 

; IVTr George Black, National Museum, Edinburgh ; Mr Neil 

Kennedy, Kishorn ; Mr J. D. Fletcher of Rosehaugh ; Professor 

Mackinnon, Edinburgh ; Mr Reginald Macleod ; ]\Ir A. Burgess, 

banker, Gairloch ; Colonel Macpherson of Glentruim ; Rev. Alex. 

Bisset, Stratherrick ; Mr Maci'ae, Kirksheaf ; Mr D. R. Ross, 

Glen-Urquhart ; Mr J. Home, Inverness; Sheriff Nicolson, 

Greenock ; Mr John Mackay, Hereford ; Rev, Wm. Thomson, 

Fodderty ; Mr P. Burgess, Glen-Urquhart ; Mr James Eraser, 

Mauld; Mr Charles Fergusson, Kirkcudbright; Mr James Chinas, 

Nairn ; Mr Angus Mackintosh of Holme ; Mr N. ]M. F. Scobic, 

Keoldale ; Mr S. Chisholm, Gairloch ; Mr Thomas Hood, Cork, 

(fee. Mrs Mary Mackellar, the bard of the Society, expressed her 

sentiments in the following Gaelic Duan — 

: 

Beannaicheadh Dia an Comunn Gaidhlig, 

'S biodh a ghras orr' anns an am, 

Bho Mhac-Coinnich a' Ceann-taile 

Gus am bard a rinn an rann. 

Biodh an ciste-mhine Ian, 

An sgadan 's am buntat' neo-ghann, 

'S deuran beag a bhi 's a' buideal, 

Aig ga«h aon neach sgrubadh dram'. 

" A Challuinn, a bhuilg bhuidhe, 'bhoicinn, buail an craicionn ! 

A' Challuinn a' so." (Clieers.) 

The Chief proposed a cordial vote of thanks to the Secretary 

for his services, and the very encouraging report lie had just i-ead 

of last year's proceedings. (Applause.) Mr Mackenzie's health 

was cordially pledged. 

The Chief, who was received with loud and continued applause, 

then proposed tlie toast of the evening, " Success to the 

;

Annual Dinner. 101 

Gaelic Society of Inverness." He said—Once attain I have the 

privilege, as well as the pleasure, of presicling at our annual festive 

gathering, and as with to-night the year of office, which it was 

your will to bestow upon me, comes to an end, I hope you will 

now accept of my best thanks for the invariable kindness which 

I have ro


intention of entering into the political aspect of it here, but I 

should like, with your leave, to say one or two words, so far as I 

think this Society can bring to lêar influence on the general question 

without, I hope and believe, doing itself any harm, but doing, 

I am cei-tain, a very great deal of good to the country at large, 

which, I am convinced, is the earnest wish of all of you. (Hear, 

hear.) I have often of late thought, and my views have been 

strengthened and confirmed by my conversations with different 

members of the Gaelic Society, that a Society like this, embracing 

among its members some of the foremost Celtic students of the 

day, could, if they individually took the matter up, do much in 

helping to dispel some of the erroneous statements which have 

been of late circulated amongst the people, and in the present 

state of the Highlands, where the people seem suddenly to have 

placed their trust in those gentlemen who have gone amongst them 

promising much, and making these promises, too often quite impracticable, 

in that great boon, " the Gaelic tongue " — (Hear, hear) 

and as we all see that there must be legislation for the Highlands, 

I do think that the members of this Society should not be 

content with making speeches full of good advice and kindly 

feeling to their fellow countrymen, but, pushing on one side all 

party feeling, for I maintain that this is no party question, let 

Whig and Tory, aye, and downright Liberal, stand shoulder to 

shoulder, take every opportunity of talking with the people in 

their native language, and try and get them to meet the proposed 

legislation in the spirit in which it will be offered, by whatever 

Government bring-s it forward, be it Liberal or be it Conservative. 

I think this is the more incumbent on this Society, as I noticed 

the other day that a large section of the people in the Highlands 

have agi'eed only to read the papers which they, or, at least, their 

self-elected advisers, chose to call fiwourable to their cause. I 

hope I shall not be misunderstood here, and to be thought that I 

am at all referring to the editors of those papers, for from my 

personal knowledge of one or two of them, I am quite certain that 

they rather like opposition, and would be the last tocibject to both 

sides of the question being placed before those whose cause they 

advocate— (Hear, hear)—and I may also add that they are well 

able to give and receive as hard a blow as most of us. (Applause.) 

It seems to me the duty of every one who desires the happiness of 

his country to prevent such a rebound as will have the effect of 

injuring the Highlands instead of doing the people good. I am 

suro T need not say tliat I am far from desiring that the mem])ers of 

this Society should either individually or collectively commit them 

—

Annual Dinner. 

selves to advocating the interests of any particular class—of that wo 

liavc far too nuioli in these days—but 1 should like to see thwrn 

endeavouring to help forward such a settlement of this vexed 

question, as will give permanent peace to the Highlands, on a 

basis of Justice to all, bringing in its train a future of happiness and 

prosperity, which, I am afraid, has been very much the reverse 

during the past few years. (Applause.) You may have noticed 

that the Government propose to introduce a bill, under the guidance 

of the Duke of Richmond and (lordon, dealing with the 

crofter (juestion in the Highlands. What its terms may be, we 

do not know, but we do know that the bill is in able hands, and I 

am certain will be framed in such a manner as to effect a permanent 

settlement, and bring that state of peace and contentment to 

the Highlands which is so much to be desired. If you and your 

friends, on the other hand, will do your best to induce the people 

to accept of it, whatever be the result, I have no fear that the 

example set by Ireland will be imitated here, but the cry of the 

peojde for legislation on the land question must be listened to, 

and their prayer granted, so far as it is consistent with justice 

and right. (Ajjplause.) I will not detain you longer, as I do 

not think we meet here to make long speeches, so I will simply 

ask you to join with me in drinking a long and useful life and 

continued prosperity to " The Gaelic Society of Inverness." (Loud 

and continued applause.) 

]Mr James Barron, Ness Bank, proposed the health of " The 

members of Parliament for Highland Counties and Burghs." The 

members for the Northern Constituencies, he said, were for the 

most part new to public life; and he was sure every one would wish, 

as they were entering on their duties, that they unght ha\e a satisfactory 

career. (Hear, hear.) Looking over some Parliamentary 

gossip lately, he saw it stated that any one aspiring to political 

life must possess physical stamina. (Hear, hear.) He fancied 

that the true type for a modern member of Parliament, was a 

statesman for whose memory he had a special regard^he meant 

the cool, bright, cheery, and vivacious Lord Palmerston, who, a 

fortnight before his death, at the age of eighty, exercised his 

strength and ability by climbing twice over a high fence opposite 

103 

his front door. (Laughter and applause.) That was th(^ sort of 

legislator they required in these days of late houis, physical strain, 

and mental anxiety. They also hoped that besides the healthy body, 

their northern members would possess the healthy mind. They were 

the representatives of great and populous constituencies, elected 

by a decisive voice, raised to a position in which their names


might become historical, and called upon to deal with queations of 

great difficulty and complexity. (Hear, hear.) He was sure it 

was the general wish that they would act as true patriots, and 

labour to advance the true interests of the Highlands of Scotland. 

(Applause.) 

Mr A. Macbain, Raining's School, proposed " The Language 

and Literature of the Gael." In doing so, he .said this was the third 

time within the past five years that he had been called upon to 

propose this same toast, and he had indeed hoped by this time 

that his two former speeches on the subject ought, owing to their 

excellence, to have entitled him rather to respond to the toast than 

to propose it. (Laughter.) In these circumstances he would 

adopt the method employed by the candidates at the late election. 

When any knotty question was proposed in the course of the 

heckling, the candidates invariably referred his questioner to a 

speech he had delivered in some other place on that very topic. 

(Laughter.) Now, if they were anxious to know his opinions on 

the language and the literature of the Gael, he must first refer 

them to his previous speeches on this subject (Laughter.) 

Of course they all knew that the Gaelic was the oldest language 

in the world— (Hear, hear, and laughter)—at least it could 

not be scientifically proved that it was not the oldest language, 

and that itself was a great consolation— (Laughter)— for 

in reality a language and the race that spoke it were just as old 

as the human race and no older or younger. In regard to the 

Gaelic as a language, personally he had found it, he said, of the 

greatest use in the special field of science which he followed— 

in philology and mythology. There was scarcely a })hilological 

law of the ancient or of the modern world that Gaelic did not 

exemplify. It was of special importance in studying what the 

Germans called "Umlaut"— the action of a terminal small vowel 

on the preceding syllable; it showed, as no other language could, 

how they could get rid of consonants on jirinciple, for vowelflanked 

consonants generally disappear, so that the French people 

and the Strathspey j)eoplc pronounced the word for " mother " 

exactly the same way, get^,ing each rid of the medial letter t ; and, 

lastly, the philological law of analogy, whereby declension and 

conjugation came to be of similar types, was extremely well exemplified 

in Gaelic. In regard to Gaelic literature, the Gaels could 

hold their own any day with any similarly situated })eople on this 

score. The literature was lively, pathetic, satiric, like most folkliteratures, 

and as such it was the best in Europe. (Applause.) 

General literature owed one great feature to the Celtic idea of


fitness and beauty, for it was to the Celts that tliey owed rhyme 

in modern verse. Hebrew poetry had its l)alance of thought, 

chtsaical poetry liad its quantity, Teutonic poetry delighted in 

alliteration, but the Celts had the most beautiful of all—rhyme or 

assonance. (Hear, hear, and applause.) And, not to detain them 

longer, he had lastly to refer to the triumph that Gaelic had lately 

gained in being recognised in the Scotch Code. A cherished object 

of this Society had been thus gained, and he, as a member of it, 

had the honour of presenting the first pupils under the new Code, 

even though the Gaelic schedule was not yet organised. (Cheers.) 

Mr Duncan Campbell, who was called upon to reply, said he 

would have preferred to have proposed the toast, as in that case he 

would have had a better opportunity of referring to Mr Macbain's 

studies in Celtic literature. (Applause.) Mr Macbain was one of 

those gentlemen who really deserved the thanks of the Society, 

and, indeed, of all Celtic Societies, for his valuable and fruitful 

labours in that field. (Applause.) His friend, Mr Mackenzie, 

Ballifeary, whose name was coupled with the toast, and himself, 

were only doing their best to keep modem Gaelic alive, and coining 

it for commercial and every-day use ; 

and also, as his friend Mr 

Whyte suggested, for election purposes. (Laughter and applause.) 

Professor Blackie some years ago published a judicial sentence of 

his own to the efi'ect that Gaelic would never go beyond poetry and 

dialogue; but the Professor would have to retract this sentence— 

whicli, as an enthusiastic Highlander, he would no doubt do very 

frankly, for, during the election, the province of Gaelic—modern 

living Gaelic— had branched out in every form, and endeavoured 

to adapt itself to modern {)olitical thought, and other matters which 

formerly were almost unutterable in Gaelic. (Applause.) It had 

been shown that, like modern Greek, the Gaelic language had 

within itself the power of expressing every idea entering into 

the hearts of men, without, like English, borrowing from every 

available source. (Laughter and applause.) Mr Campbell, in 

conclusion, referred to a pamphlet, published by Dr Mackenzie of 

Eileanach, entitled " The Catechism of the Crofter." The pamphlet, 

Mr Campbell said, was one of the most useful and valuable 

contributions to modern Gaelic literatui'e, because the Dr had 

elevated the importance of industry, and brought to the knowledge 

and understanding of the crofters valuable ideas in political economy. 

(Applause.) He only hoped that some one would follow up Dr 

Mackenzie's contribution with a I'ublication of a similar nature, 

giving useful knowledge regarding gardening, for the benefit of tlie 

Highland people. (Applause.)


Mr Alexander Mackenzie, Ballifeary, whose name was also 

coupled with the toast, contented himself with acknowledging the 

compliment. 

Bailie Alexander Ross proposed " The Agricultural and Commercial 

Interests of the Highlands," and in doing so referred to 

the depression which at present prevailed throughout the country. 

He trusted that there would be a speedy revival of prosperity in 

all branches of industry. 

Mr F. Macdonald, Druidag, in a few pithy Gaelic sentences, 

replied on behalf of the agricultural, and ex-Bailie Macbean on 

behalf of the commercial interests of the North. 

Provost Macandrew, on rising to proi)ose the toast of "Highland 

Education," was heartily received. Highland education was, 

he said, a subject impressed uj)on them in one or two ways. In the 

fix'st place, they could not travel very far over the country without 

observing that, at any rate, education was asserting itself in the 

matter of stone and lime. All the educational buildings which 

had of recent years been reared in the various parishes were very 

much tiner than used to content their anccbLors, or even themselves 

in their youth. As a consequence, education pressed upon many 

of them very seriously in the matter of assessment—especially 

about this time of the year they were all made very sensitive to 

that fact. (Laughter and applause.) Although in this particular 

part of the country they had not so great cause of complaint having 

regard to taxation, in many other parts of the Highlands excessive 

school rates were a great and crying evil. (Hear, hear. ) This was an 

immediate effect of the excessive expenditure which had taken place 

in providing these buildings for elementary education ; and there 

was no doubt that some speedy remedy would require to be found, 

and effectual relief given in many Highland })arishcs. (Loud applause.) 

The question which pressed itself upon his mind in this 

matter of education was. What were they substituting— what 

were the real merits of the equivalent being given—for the 

ancient system of education'? It was necessary and right that the 

people should be taught to read and write not only the English 

language Jnit their own native Gaelic, in order that they might 

be qualitied to enter upon the actual business of life; but, while 

this elementary education was being supi^lied at such an enormous 

cost and pressure upon the ratej)ayer,'^, it was, he was afraid, 

being foi-gotten that a great moans for the education of the people 

had been greatly, and was now almost totally witlulrawn, and 

that was the ancient literature of the country, that used to exist, 

if not in writing, at least in speech, handed down from one 

I


veneration to another. 

could now make such 

(Api)lauso.) 

a collection 

He did not suppose anybody 

of Highland stories as Mr 

Campbell of Islay succeeded in doing. That collection, as they 

were aware, was in many respects imi)ertVct l)ut ; had a Mr 

Campbell of Islay been in the tield throe or four generations before, 

how much more valuable a book of folklore might have been 

compiled 'l They must also remember that these traditional 

stories educated the people in those days; iind when they looked 

back to what their forefathers were, and when they looked at all 

the appliances of modern education, he did not think that they 

liad much reason to be proud. There was one thing that they 

must remember, and that was that they had a valuable means of 

education in the study of their own history, and the more he 

knew of it the more he would recommend its study. Tliere was 

much in it, no doubt, which they had no reason to feel proud of. 

It often told of nobles who were faithless. But all through the 

course of the history of Scotland they felt that among the great body 

of the people there always existed a strong feeling both for the maintenance 

of the independence of the country, and for the maintenance 

of tlie I'oyal line— (Hear, hear)— and this feeling of loyalty and 

independence shone brightly above the faithlessness of the nobles, 

and the weakness as well as the poverty of the country. (Applause.) 

Through the long course of their history, the people 

combined to resist the Romans, the Saxons, and the other in- 

vaders, and maintained Scotch independence, and their own royal 

line, until they were able to unite with England upon equal terms. 

(Hear, hear, and applause.) The fact could not be impressed too 

much upon the people that the more they looked back into the 

history of the country the more would they tind people guided by 

laigh and noljle feeling, by a feeling which soared high above their 

own selfish interests, a feeling of freedom and independence, which 

ought to be maintained at all risks and hazards. (Hear, hear, and 

applause.) It was of the utmost ini2)ortance that this old Scotch 

feeling of freedom and independence should be perpetuated and 

not be lost sight of. A knowledge of reading, writing, and arith- 

metic, and a knowledge of how to acquire money, was all very well, 

but while they imparted such an education as enabled every man 

to take his share in the busy, active part of life, that part of his 

education should not be neglected which taught him to see that 

there were other things far above worldly and selfish interests 

which ought to insijire his heart, and guide him through life. 

(Applause.) Proceeding, the Provost said there could be no doubt 

that there was among the poorer class in the country a great


amount of improvidence and idleness, although it had to be borne 

in mind that they had mucli to contend with in the variable 

nature of the climate. He could conceive no better means of 

educating them out of their present position than by teaching 

them to look back upon the history of their country, which 

would teach them to rely more upon their own exertions and 

their own industry, as well as to look beyond their personal 

anxieties. (Applause.) They had heard a great deal lately 

about free education, but while he was in politics a Liberal, he 

had some old-fashioned ideas, and he must say that, in his opinion, 

to introduce free education would not only reduce it to a thing of 

little value, but would destroy that noble feeling which prompted 

the artisan to pinch himself in order that his son might be well 

educated. (Hear, hear.) Free education would destroy that 

glorious feeling of independence that had ever characterised Scotchmen, 

and should animate them to the last stroke of time. Entertaining 

these feelings, he had great pleasure in taking part in the 

proceedings of the Society. It was devoted to maintaining what 

was good and valuable, and its main object was to conserve all 

that was good and true in Highland life and character, and to 

promote education in the highest and best sense. (Applause.) 

The Society should do its utmost to teach the Highland people 

that what was only valuable and worthy of being contended for 

was that which was obtained through industry and actual exertion 

on their part—that education was only valuable if sought 

for its own sake, and for the sake of the freedom and the knowledge 

which it gave ; and teach them also to look back into the 

history of former times, and learn the valuable lesson that it was 

their duty to look far above individual comfort and individual 

grievances, 

plause.) 

and endeavour to realise a higher ideal. (Loud ap- 

Mr A. C. Mackenzie, Maryburgh, who replied, said he had 

always taken a very great interest in the question of education. 

Speaking of elementary education in the Highlands, he said many 

difficulties had to be contended with. The question of school 

attendance was one of the most serious. This was a matter which 

he thought ought to occupy the attention of members of School 

Boards and others more than it did. (Hear, hear.) Some Boards 

were quite content if they appointed a default officer This 

should not be tin; case. The jtrosecution of parents for neglecting 

to send tlieir children to school was looked upon as harsh ; and lie 

believed more in the persomil influence of those who commanded 

respect in the district for a change for the better, than in any


meusuie of compulsion. (Applause.) With regard to the Provost's 

remark about free education, he might say that he had found that 

those who had paid school fees attended school with more satisfaction 

to themselves, their parents, and their teachers. Notwithstauiling 

this fact, however, his experience led him to think that 

education, if compulsory, should, if not free, be at least cheap. 

(Hear, hear, and applause.) 

Mr E. H. ]\Iacmillan, Caledonian Bank, proposed the toast 

of "Kindred Societies," and in doing so, referred to the good work 

which was being carried on by the various societies. He had expected 

that he would have been able to couple the toast with ihe 

name of Mr Home, of the Geological Survey. (Applause.) He, 

however, had found it impossible to be present. They were glad, 

however, to have Dr Aitken with them, one of the leading members 

of the Field Club. The Secretary of the Gaelic Society had 

alluded to the fact that the eleventh volume of the Transactions 

had been issued during the past year; and he (Mr Macmillan) 

might mention that the Scientilic Society and Field Club had 

issued during the year the first volume of their Transactions. 

(Applause.) 

Dr Aitken, in reply, said he was glad the Field Club should 

have for its President one so distinguished, and one likely to become 

more distinguished than he was. Mr Home had already 

solved a question which had long puzzled men in his own profession—the 

geological problem in the North-West of Sutherland. 

(A-pplause.) In speaking to the toast, he said he understood that 

the societies he was expected to represent were three in number. 

There was the Literary and Debating Society—a very vigorous 

Society—and he knew of no other better field for training young 

men to acquit themselves with credit in life than in that associa- 

tion. (Applause.) The older Society—the Literary Institute 

had thought desirable to connect itself with the Field Club, not 

for want of papers or energy, but owing to so many nights being 

devoted to the various societies, that the members could not 

attend all the meetings, (Applause.) In regard to the Field 

Club, its sphere was to deal with the natural phenomena and 

archaeology of the district. (Applause.) The Gaelic Society sub- 

sisted for preserving the language and folk-lore of the people. 

(Applause.) The one dealt with the physical features of the 

country, and the other with the life of the people. (Applause.) 

It was most important that people should be conversant with the 

history and traditions of their own race, and he was pleased to 

observe that in the last volume of the Gaelic Society the history 

— 

109


of the language of the country occupied a most inipoit.int i)art. 

He know of nothing in that direction more important than that 

contributed by Mr Macbain, Raining's School. If they once 

allowed the language of the country to go down, they might do 

what they pleasetl ; they might legislate and take all i)ussible precautions, 

but they would be lost as a people, and in order to preserve 

it they could not do better than study it. (A})plause.) If 

the two Societies worked together he thought the history and folk- 

lore of this district would be worked up better than any other dis- 

trict in Scotland. (A})i)lause.) 

Mr Alex. Mackenzie, Ballifeary, in a humorous speech, gave 

" The Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of Inverness." 

In doing so he spoke of the important schemes which thiiy had to 

deal with. He mentioned that within the last few years the 

Police Commissioners had expended a sum of £100,000 on gas and 

water. (Applause.) He expressed the hope that the Queen, on 

the occasion of her jubilee, would remember the Provost of the 

Capital of the Highlands, and that when they next met he would 

have the honour to call upon Sir Henry Cockburn Macandrew to 

reply for the toast. (Applause.) 

The Provost said he did not know what her Majesty might 

be pleased to do by-and-bye ; but there was no doubt of this 

that if these honours were to be flying about, the Provost of 

Inverness had as good a title as any one else, and ought not to be 

forgotten. (Hear, hear, and applause.) 

Mr William Mackay, solicitor, proposed the toast of "The Non- 

Resident Members of the Society." He mentioned that of the 300 

members of the Society, 200 were non-resident, so that they were 

a very numerous l:)ody A reference to the syllabus would also 

show that they were an important body, no fewer than 15 of the 

20 pape)-s being by non-resident members. (Applause.) 

Mr F. Macdonald, farmer, Druidag, replied in Gaelic. 

Mr G. J. Campbell, in proposing the toast of " I 

The Clergy of 

all Denominations," said that while the })resent company could not 

be expected to subscribe to all the religious tenets re})resented by 

the subject of this toast, still they could all sympathise with, and 

appreciate the main objects of the clerical profession —(Applause) 

— even though all their clerical friends did not claim a})Ostolic succession. 

(Laughter.) The clergy had in the past taken the deepest 

interest in all that conduced to the well-being of society, and they 

wore doing so still. They were in bygone ages, as they were in 

the present day, in the forefront as pioneers of civilisation, 

going with their lives in their hand into the darkest corners of 

the earth, shedding the light of truth, inculcating the doctrines of 

—

Annual Dinner. Ill 

rectitmle and morality ami good-will among men, and breaking 

up the fallow ground for the advancement of social and commercial 

prosperity. (Hear, hear.) The influence they had on society 

might be traced in many ways, but perhaps in none more conspicuously 

than in the innumerable costly and ornamental, and even 

in their ruins, almost everlasting architectural edifices erected for 

religious purposes. They had also great influence in moulding the 

thought and life of the people by the action and intelligent interest 

they had taken in education and literature. The cause of Gaelic 

literature was laid under deepest obligation to their order, through 

the valuable record of the far oflf centuries handed down to us in 

the Book of Deer. (Applause.) The tendency of the present day 

was to deny to the clergy the privilege of entering into the discussion 

of civil and political reforms, but while he (Mr Campbell) 

could not coincide with that view, he believed it depended 

very much on the judiciousness with which they treated those 

questions whether they could command the sympathies and 

support of their peo])Ie on entering into those secular battlefields. 

(Hear, hear.) The functions of the clergy were more pastoral 

than political, and in their high calling they deserved the highest 

regard of the people. Let us be able to say of each of them, 

when called to give an account of his stewardship 

— 

" His head was silvered o'er with age, 

A nd long experience made him sage ; 

In summer's heat and winter's cold 

He fed his flocks and penned his fold ; 

His wisdom and his honest fame 

Through all the country raised his name." 

The Rev. G. Mackay, Beauly, in reply, said he had always 

taken a deep interest in all matters aftecting the welfare of the 

people of the Highlands, and would always do what he could to 

promote their best and highest interests. (Applause.) 

Treasurer Jonathan Boss, proposed " The Press," and Mr D. 

K. Clark, Inverness Courier, replied. 

Mr Mackenzie, Silverwells, said the toast assigned to him 

was one which he had the greatest possible pleasure in proposing, 

and which he was certain would be received with the cordiality 

and enthusiasm it deserved. (Hear, hear.) It was the " Health 

of their worthy Chairman and Chief," Kintail. (Applause.) Kin- 

tail was always ready to further the interests of all their local 

associations, societies, and institutions. As an agricultui-ist, he 

had set a noble example to tenants and tenant-farmers, and one 

which many of theii- large landed proprietors would do well to

— 

112 Oaelic Society of Inuerness. 

follow. (Hear, hear.) He was heir to priiicely i>ossessious, and 

with the experience thus jâined, it said much for his future as a 

landlord. (Applause.) He might also say that Kintail did not 

do like many of their lairds, after collecting their rents in the 

North, go and live in the great Metropolis. No, he preferred to 

live in the Highlands and among the Highland people, where he 

was both loved and respected (Applause.) He asked them to till 

up their glasses and drink to the health of our Chairman and Chief, 

Kintail, with all the honours. (Applause and Highland honours.) 

The Chairman acknowledged the compliment, and thanked 

the company for their kind expressions of esteem. 

Bailie Charles Mackay proposed the health of "The Crouj)iers," 

which was responded to by ]\lr G. J. Campbell, solicitor. 

The health of "The host," Mr Macfarlane, having been heartily 

pledged, the company separated. During the evening songs were 

given by Dr Sinclair Macdonald, Mr Mowatt, Mr Macpherson, 

Mr G. J. Campbell, Mr Fraser, Illinois; Mr William Mackay, Mr 

Whyte, and others. During dinner and between the toasts Pipe- 

Serjeant Paul INIackillop delighted the company with marches and 

strathspeys, played in excellent style on the pipes. His spirited 

strains roused the feelings of the company, and an excellent reel, 

in which most of those present took part, was engaged in towards 

the close of the proceedings. 

As already stated one of those who entertained the company 

assembled at dinner, Avas Mr William Fraser, of Elgin, Illinois, 

U.S.A. Mr Fiaser had been forty years in America, and the following 

poem of his own composition, vividly describes his tiist impressions 

of the country, and the home-sickness that made him 

sigh there for Highland heather, glens, streams, and the social life 

to which he was accustomed. Better acquaintance with the land 

of his adoption, however, softened his regrets, but never killed the 

Highlander in his nature. The poem which Mr Fraser recited 

was as follows : 

First Fart. 

'Nuair bha na h-uaislean air cinntinn cruaidh oirnn, 

Anns an Taobh Tuath 's an robh sinn an Alb', 

Dh' eirich fuaim oirnn gu dhol thar chuaintibh, 

'S do dh-America ghluais sinn le fonn air falbh ; 

Is ann sua Staitean air tir do chaidh sinn, 

'N ceann iomadli la dhuinn l)hi muigh air fairg', 

'S cha mhor toil-inntinn a gheibh 'san tir so, 

Oir 's iomadli ni a tha ga deanamh searbh.


Air (lol (Ihotli lionl dhuiun ;iig crioch ar seolaidli, 

'>Sa' lihailo lalior ud do 'ii aiiim New York, 

Bhix sluagh gu leoir as iâch taohh 'n Koiiiu Eorp ana 

Dheth na li-uile seorsa 's air iomadh droach. 

Bn chnajjan " nigger " gacli fear a tri dliiubli, 

Mar ri na railtean do Glieangaicli gldas, 

'S ma their mi 'n fhirinn gur mi blia sgitli dheth, 

Ma'n d' fhuair mi m' iiurich a thogail as. 

Gach ceum a shiubhlas sinn feadh na duth'chsa, 

Gur coille dhuth-ghorm i aii- fad, 

Tha ruith gn siorruidh gun cheann no crioch oirr' 

Is beachain tiadhaicli tlia innt' gu pailt'; 

Cha 'n fhaic sinn fraoch ann a' fas air aonach, 

No sruth a caochan ruitli soilleir glan, 

Ach l)uig is geoban, 's na rathadan mora, 

Na'n sluic mhi-chomhnard le stumpan grod. 

'S ge do shaoil sinn gu 'm bu duthaich shaor i, 

Tha sinn fo dhaors' innt' nach robh sinn riamh, 

Le obair chruaidh ann gun suim do dh-uaraibh, 

'S cha ghabhar truas dhinn ged bhiodh sinn sgith ; 

Bithidh glaodh oirnn eirigh mu 'n gann is leir dhuinn, 

'S air Ijall gum feum sinn a dliol ri gniomh, 

'S bho mhoch gu anmoch sinn 'sas mar ainmhidh, 

'S le ca))haig anbarraich ag ith ar bidh. 

Cha bhi na tratlian 's an am am b'abhaist dliuinn, 

Ach air aman daicheal nach do chleaclid sinn riamh; 

'Nuair theid gairm oirua a dhol da 'n ionnsaidh, 

Theid chig no dudach a' sud a thoirm ; 

Theid suidhe ri biadh ann gun bheannachd iarraidh, 

'S gach fear a' lionadh gu grad a bhroinn, 

'S cho grad aig eirigh am feadh tha bheul Ian, 

'S cha ghabh fear eis ri fear tha as a dheigh. 

Gur h-e an Ion 's trie bhitheas air bord aca, 

Na staoigean mor dheth na mhuic-fheoil ghhiis, 

Is ti searbh air nach bi mor tharbhachd, 

Gun an siucar dearg 'chuireadh dhith 'n droch bhlas 

Is "stuth na Toiseachd" air an robh sinn eohich, 

Cha 'n fhaodar ol ann mar bu clileaclid, 

Tha e air a dhiteadh air foadh na tir-sa, 

'S gum bheil a bhinn air a toirt a macli. 

; 

8


Gur bochd ar cararah an so air airidh, 

Is ann na'n raith'dean cha gabh sinn tlachd, 

B'i til- a phianaidh do dhuin' is ainbhidh, 

'S cha 'n 'cil na h-aimsirean mar bu chleachd ; 

Tha teas is fuachd ann a tha ro chruaidh oirnn, 

Bhitlieas cur droch shnuadh oirnn 's toii't dhinn ar dreach, 

'S cha mhor creutair a clii mi fein ann, 

Gach fear is te dhiubh ach bioi-ach glas. 

Ri am an t-samhraidh sinn sgith is fann ann, 

Gu 'm bi ar teangan a mach le teas, 

A bhitheas ga'r sarachadh 's toirt ar cail uainn, 

Is sinn mar sgail ann air leaghadh as 

Bithidh 'm fallas bi'aonach a' rmth na chaochanan, 

Sios bh'ar n-aodann na shruthan cas, 

'S an tiiisg' a glinath gu 'm feum blii lanih rinn, 

'S sinn tioram, paiteach ag eigheachd deoch. 

'S tha geamhradh gruamach a tha cranndaidh fuar ann, 

Le geur ghaoth tuath agiis frasan sneachd, 

Ga chur gu domhal is cathadh mor leis, 

'S gum bith na roidean gu h-uile tachd'. 

'Mur bi botan oirnn is pailteas comhdaich 

Cha bhi doigh air a dhol a mach, 

'S tlia ghaoth cho reodht ann 's gun gearr i 'n t-sron dhinn 

'S gum bi gach Ion ann cho cruaidh ri clach. 

'S e sud am fuachda a dh'fhagas gruamach 

Na h-uile truaghan a bhios an aire, 

Gur leoir a cheird dha bhi cumail blaiths air 

Is connadh gearta gum feum bhi jiailt', 

'S bithidh 'm fuachd air uairean a' faigliinn buaidh oirnn 

Ged h-ann na 'r suain a bhitheadh sinn 'n ar loab', 

Is mur bi teine mor ann an im])is rosdaidh, 

Cha mhor nach reoth sinn 'nar suidhe steach, 

Ach a' mhuinntir straiceil a tha 'san ait so, 

'S e an t-am is fhearr leo 'nuair thig an sneachd ; 

Bithidh iad nan caoiribh a' ruitli air slaoid ann, 

Is cluig 'sa' ghliongarachd ri 'n cuid e:ich. 

Aig dol mu'n cuairt' anns an am a's fuairo, 

'S an sneachd mu'n cluasan ga chur gu pailt', 

A' ruith 'sa' loumachd 's gach taobli an Icir dhuinn. 

'iS an cuij> ag eigneachadh speid nan each. 

; 

; 

i


Air latliii na Sabaid, do dh-aite a' chrabhaibli, 

Cha bhi acli aininig aon neacli air chois, 

Ach aim an carbadaibh dol do'n t searmoin, 

'S a' riiith 'sa stararaich le'n iomadh each; 

Tha iomadh seors ann do bliarail iKonach 

Nacli 'eil a' cordadh air aona bheachd, 

Is fiiid iiii-churamaoli mar na bruidean, 

Is cha'n 'oil iimhhichd do Shabaid ac'. 

Tha cuid do dh-A Ibanaich feadh na duth'ch' so 

(iu tur tliiiir cul ris gach cleachdadli coir 

A lean ri'n sinnsearean air feadh nan linntean, 

Is cha'n 'eil suim ac' ga'n cumail beo. 

Ach mar na Geintilich tha ma'n cuairt orr' 

A' fas gu fuar-chritheach le'n cuid stoir, 

'S cha chan iad Gailig ach 'deanamh tair oirr' 

Ged 's ann innt cha'n arach 'n uair bha iad og. 

'S gur trie mi cuimhneachdainn air na tioman 

Bhitheadh agam fhein ann an Albainn thall, 

'S bithidh mnlad diblidh a' tighinn air m' inntinn 

'S gur iomadh sgriob bhios i toirt a null, 

A' ruith gu eutrom air feadh an aonaich, 

Mar l)ha mi aon uair an tir iiam beann 

A' eluinntinn toirmean nan allt 's nan caochan 

Bhiodh niireach, sgaoilteach ruith feadh nan gleann. 

Aig Nollaig aoibhneach is La Bliadhn' Uir ann, 

Gur sinn bhiodh sunndach, le cluich is ceol, 

Bhiodh surd is danns' ann air feisd is bainnsibh, 

Gmi dad a sgrainge no dh'olc na 'r coir 

Is gum bu ghuanach a bhiodh na gruagaichean 

Bhiodh m'an cuairt dhuinn gu critheil coir, 

Gu cairdeal, eibhneach, gun eagal cleir oirnn 

Do thaobh bheusan bha saor bho ghoid. 

Air bhi air chuairt dhuinn car bheagan bliliadlmaibh 

'N taobh auxle n' iar do Staid New York, 

'S o'n bha m' fearann daor ann 's gun mor mhaoin againn 

Chuir sinn ar n-aodainn ri dhol na b'fliaid', 

Agus sheol sinn thar lochaibh mora 

Do dh-Tllinois nam faichoan glas 

'San fhoarann chomhnard gun choilltean domlial 

Is ghabh sinn comhnuidh air abhainn Fox. 

; 

lir)


Gum b'i so duthaich nam prairie lubach, 

Na 'n sealladh nv ilhuinn 's na h-uile ceam, 

Is feur gu duint' orr' gu ruig ar gluinean, 

Gu dosrach urar 's gu gorm a' fas ; 

Gun chrodh no caoraich ri iomain caoiu ann, 

Ach crith sa ghaoith ann mar thonnaibh fairg, 

'Sa' fas 's a' crionadh o chian nan ciantan 

Is aig gach fiadh-bheathach 'na aite taimh. 

Second Part. 

Tha iomadh seorsa do dh-ainljhidh beo ann, 

Gun dragh no eolas air rathaidliean dliaoin, 

Tha feidh nan crocan a' ruith nan drobhan ann 

Is cearcan boidheach mar bhiodh 'san fhraocli. 

Tha madraidh-alld' agus sionnaich sheolt ann, 

Agus gobharan beaga maol, 

'S tha 'n tunnag spogach a' snamh gach Ion ann 

Is pailteas dhrobhachan do ghlas gheoidh. 

Tha raoran eun ann a bhios ri ceol ann, 

Cho binn ri smeorach am barr nan craobh. 

Tha na h-aibhnichean is iasg gu leor annt' 

Gun aig neacli coir orr', ach iad gu saor. 

'S tha iomadli doigh air bhi deanamh beo-shlaint', 

'S cha'n 'eil an Ion ann no 'm fearann daor, 

'S mur bhith aon do-bheart a bhios g'ar leon ann 

Bhitheadh sinn cho doigheil 'sa shireadh aon. 

Ach tha aon droch bhuaidh ann d'ara beil sinn buailteach 

Bhios ga'r cur tuathal 's ga'r fagail clith 

'S e sin droch eucail, ris an canar ague, 

Is cha mhor creutair nach dean i chlaoidh. 

Gu 'm bi na ceudan air chrith is dreun orr' 

Mar dhuiir air gheig bhiodh air chrith le gaoitli, 

'S cha'n ann gun reusan a bheii' mi beum dhi, 

Oir 's iomadh eiginn 's na chuir i mi. 

'Nuair gheibh suairceag ud lamh an uachdar, 

'S i chuireas gluasad na m' fhuil 's na m' flieoil. 

Mi greannach, gruamach, is tiordhroch shnuadli orm, 

'S bithidh mi cho fuar ann ri stocan reotht'. 

'S m'an gnnn gun gluais mi 's gum falbli am fuachd sin 

Thig teas cho cruaidh orm 's ged bliitliinn roisdt'. 

Mi 'n ghnath ri luasgan gun fhois no suain domh, 

Och, gur mi-shuaimhneach a bhios mo choir. 

— 

I


U'i sin a' bliiin-suiioach a clh'thanas tcann rium, 

'8 a chuireas greanii orui thighinu a'lii choir, 

Ifci ged bhiodh aing orui cha toir i taing dhomh 

Is cha ghabh ceannsachclainn oiir' le deoiu. 

'Nuair a suiuanaicii mi gun d'thiig i fuath dhoudi 

'S gun d'rinn mi fuadacli uam ri'm bheo, 

Thig i gun naire a ris chur failt' onii, 

'8 a dh fhantainn himh rium ge b'oil le m' fheoil. 

Is i a' bhana-Glieangach a tha gun nair i, 

'S ann orm tha 'n tamailt mi faicinn rianih ; 

'N uair dh'eireas team oirr' clia bhi mi reidh rithe ; 

Ach gheibh mi groudhadh uaipe nach bi cli. 

Mo cheann is m'eanchainn bitliidh troimh a cheile, 

Is gach cnaimh nam chreubhag bithidh bruite, sgith, 

Gum b'fhearr dhomh fein blii fo phhiigh na h-Eiphid 

'Nuair throideas breunag na bhi 'san tir. 

Ach, taing dha'n Timhath, gun d'fhuar mi cuibht's i, 

Is iomadh ouingeahichd blia na deigh, 

'S It; tuillidh bruidhne cha bhi ga maoitheadh, 

Ach bitliidh mi chaoidh guidhe dhi siubhal reidh. 

'S a nis cho-dhunain le condiairle dhurachdaich 

Do mo luchd-duthcha 'san tir gu leir 

Gun iad bid diombach no'm misneachd cul riutha 

Ge do bhiodh cuisean dol uairean fiar. 

2UTII January 1>

— 


C.M.G. (of the Afghan Fionticr Commission), OrnockcMioch, 

Gatehouse, Kirkciuli)right, honorary members ; Mr John INIaclennan, 

teacher, Inverasdale, Gairloch ; Mr Alexander INIitchell, 

The Dispensary, Inverness; and Mr Alexander Macdonald, 

master carpenter, 62 Tomnahurich Street, Inverness, ordinary 

members ; and IMr Roderick MacCorquodale, 42 Union Street, 

Inverness, as an apprentice member. 

3rd February 1886. 

At the meeting on this date the following new members were 

elected, viz.: Mr James E. B. Baillie of Doehfour, and Mr 

Edward Herbert Wood of Raasay, both life memljers ; Dr F. F. 

M. Moir, Aberdeen, honorary; and Mr Ralph Erskine Macdonald, 

Corindah, Queensland ; Mr James Cook, commission agent, 

Inverness ; Mr Hugh Macplierson, merchant, Castle Street, Inverness 

; Mr Wm. Eraser of Elgin, Illinoio, U.S.A.; Dr Sinclair Macdonald, 

Inverness ; and Mr William Mackay, Argyle Street, 

Inverness, ordinary members. Some routine business ha\ing been 

transacted, Mr Colin Chisholm, Inverness, read the following 

series of 

UNPUBLISHED OLD GAELIC SONGS 

Our worthy secretary, Mr William Mackenzie, arranged that 

I should read a few old songs for you this evening. 

So far as I am aware, the most of these songs never appeared 

as yet in print, but some of them have been partially published. 

For instance :—There are only thirteen verses of " Oran mor Mhic- 

Leoid," given in Mackenzie's " Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," whereas 

I give twenty-seven verses of it. The same remark may also 

apply to two or three others, which have been printed in part 

only, and which I give as full as I ever heard them sung. Every 

song on my list for tliis evening I used to hear, and could recite 

parts of them before T left Strathglass, over tifty years ago. Last 

Autumn, when I was in Kintail, Captain Alexander Matheson, 

shipowner, Dornie, generously placed his large collection of Gaelic 

songs in manuscript at my disposal. It is through his kindness 

that I was enabled to renew my acquaintance with the most of 

the songs I now give to this Society. If any other person will 

give us better versions of these songs, no one will be more 

pleased than I will. 

The first song I will give you is one composed by Roderick 

Mackenzie, who is said to have been the heir apparent of Apple-

— 

Old Gaelic Songs. 

cross, but who \v;is supplanted by some means whicli 1 never 

heard sufficiently explained. 

Thoir a nail dhuinn am botul. 

Cuir an deoch so mu'n cuairl 

Tha' m inntinn gle dlieonach 

Dhol a shcoladh thar chuan, 

A dh-ionnsuidh an aite 

Gus na bhurc am mor shluagh, 

Gu eilean Naomh Mairi. 

'S cha bhi mal dha thoirt bhuainn. 

Ach, Aonghais Mhic-Amhla, 

Tha mi an geall ort ro mbor, 

Bho 'n a sgriobh thu na briathran 

'S an gniomli le do ndieoir ; 

Gu 'n cuii- thu dha'r n-ionnsuidh 

Long Ghallda nan seol, 

Ruith-chuip air a clair 

" Overhaid and let go." 

So a' bhliadhna tha saraicht' 

Air fear gun aiteach gun simnd ; 

'Nuaii' theid each ann sa ^Nlhart 

Ris an aiteach !e surd ; 

Tha luchd-riaghlaidh an aite 

Dha 'm aicheadh gu dluth, 

'S gur e 'n stiuir thoirt an iar dhi 

Ni is ciataiche dhuinn. 

Ma 's e reitheachan chaorach 

An aite dhaoine bhitheas ann, 

Bidh Albainn an tra sin 

Na fasaich do'n Fhraing ; 

'Nuair a thig Bonapai-te 

Le laimh laidir a nail, 

Bidh na cibeirean truagh dheth, 

'S cha truagh linn an call. 

'Nuair a thig orra 'm bracsaidh 

'S gach galar bhitheas ann, 

A' chloimh cha'n i 's fhasa 

Dha'n tachus gu teann, 

An t-al a bhi diobairt 

'Sa chaoil' anus gach gleann 

An stoc gun bhi lathair 

'S am mal bhi air chall. 

; 

119


Ma ni sinne seoludh 

— 

'S gu'n deonaichear dhuiiiii 

Gu 'n robli Righ nan Grasan 

A ghnath air ar stiuir ; 

Dlia nar glcidheadli's da'r tearnadh 

Bho gacb gabhadh is ciiis, 

Gu taoljh thall na fairge, 

Ma's a craiincliur e diiuinu. 

Bithidh am bradan air linn' ann 

'Sna miltean do dli-fheidh, 

Bithidh gach eun air na craunaibh 

'S ann am bavraibh nan geng ; 

Bithidh an cruithneachd a fas ann 

Bithidh an t-al aig an spreidh, 

'S ann an an) na Feill Padraig 

Bithidh an t-aiteach dha reir. 

Bheir mi dhuibli a nise Luinneag le Donull Mac-Mhathain, 

Fear Atadail. Tha sinn a' faicinn ann san aidheam so mar bu 

mhath leis bean a thaghadh : 

E hu ro bhi hoireann oho, 

E hu ro bhi hoireannan 

E hu ro bhi hoireann eile, 

Mo run fhein gu d' fhaicinn shxn. 

Na'm bitheadh agam bata biorach, 

Sgioba ghillean agus rainih, 

Rachainn a null thar an linne 

'Shealltainn bheil an nighean slan. 

Na'm faighinn caileag bhoidheach, bhousach, 

'Si bhi leum na h-ochd bliadhn' diag, 

Ged do shlanaicheadh i 'n fliichead 

'S docha nach bu mhisd' a ciall. 

'S mor gum b'fhearr learn leabaidh luachrach, 

'San 'Taobh-tuath a muigh au' blar, 

Na ged gheibhinn leaba' n seomar 

'S e seachd storaidhean air aird'. 

'S beag orm an te bhitheas ccil'dheach, 

'S trie a thug i bhreug dhoth 'ti-iall ; 

Te mhugach nach faighnich cairdcan, 

Oha' n i 's fhearr a choisneas miadh. 

;

— 

— 

Old Gaelic Songs. 121 

Clia tliuobli mi bantrach lir idir, 

Na seann te gun duin' aice riaiiih, 

Fo altrum tc oig clia teid mi, 

Bho' n a's flieudar a bhi triall. 

Tliaghainn thu gu boidheach, banail, 

Tliaghainn thu gu fiillain, fial; 

Pailteas spreidh is moran chairdean, 

Ciall is naire 's cail gu gniomli. 

MOllT NA CEAPAICH, NO CUMHA CLANN NA CEAPAICII, LE 

IAN LOM. 

Fifteen verses of this song have been published by Turner 

in his collection of Gaelic Songs in 1813. There are also fifteen 

verses, line for line as in Turner's, printetl in John Mackenzie's 

" Beauties of (.Jaelic Poetry." I used to hear more of this lament 

in Strathglass, and by aid of the Dornie MS., I can now give you 

twenty-three verses of it. About the time " Ian Lorn " composed 

this lament he found his native district too hot for him, in 

consequence of which he sought and received the hospitality and 

protection of " Mac-Coinnich mor Chinntaile," i.e., the Earl of 

Seaforth. By command of the Earl, John was placed in a farm 

called Oragaig, in Gleneilchaig. In this farm he remained until 

some person inimical to " Ian Lom," composed a villainously ugly 

and lying satire of four or five short lines on the men of Kintail. 

" Ian Lom " was accused of being the author of the offensive 

couplet. He denied it with all the power of speech in his versatile 

vocabulary, but all to no effect. He was obliged to leave Kintail. 

It was on that occasion he composed the song in which the following 

lines occur : 

" Dha mo chur a Cinntaile 

Gun fhios de an t-aite do'n teid mi." 

I was passing through Gleneilchaig about fifty-five years ago, along 

with an elderly man who pointed out Oragaig to me as " Ian 

Loni's " old farm; he also stated that it was on Mam-an-tuirc when 

leaving Gleneilchaig the Poet composed the song in which the following 

verse occurs : 

" Dha m'chur a m' fhearann gun aobhar, 

'S nach mi shalaich an t-saobhaidh. 

Mar mhadadh-alluidh 

Sa' chaonnag m'a lorg."

122 Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

Excuse this digression, and pray have patience with me 'vhile I 

recite 

MORT NA CEAPAICH 

'S tearc an diugh mo chuis ghaire, 

Tigh'n na raidean so 'niar ; 

'G amhai'c fonu Inbhir-laire, 

'X deigh a strachdadh le siol 

Ge d' tha Cheapach na fasaich, 

Gun aon aird' oirre 's fhiach : 

Gu'm faice' Dia, bhraithrean, 

Gur trom a bharc oirnn an t-sian. 

'S fad bhios cuimlm' air an Aoine, 

Dh-fhag a chaoidh sinn fo sprochd ; 

Ann an am na Feill-Micheil, 

Cha bu ni chall air phlod 

; ; 

; 

; 

Ach bhi'n diugh na'r cuis-bhuird 

Mar mliial-bhiiii-n air gach loch ; 

Nuair theid gach cinneadh a dh'aon taobh 

Bidh sinne sgaoilte mu' n chnoc. 

'S ann Di-sathurna gearra-bhuam, 

Bhuail an tearachall orm goirt; 

'S mi fos cionn nan corp geala, 

Bha 'sileadh fala fo' n bhrat 

Bha mo lamhansa craobh-dhearg, 

An deigh bhi 'taomadh nan lot 

'Se bhur cur ann sa chiste, 

Turn is miste mo thoii-t. 

B'iad mo ghaol na cuirp chul-bhuidhe, 

Anns 'm bu dluth cuir na'n sgian : 

'S lad na'n sineadh air urlar, 

An seomar ur dha'n cur sios; 

Fo chasan Shiol Dugliaill, 

Luchd a spuilleadh nan cliar: 

Dh'fliag aladh am biodag, 

Mar sgaile ruidil 'ur bian. 

Tha sibh 'n cadal-thigh duinte, 

'Se gun smuid deth, gun cheo ; 

Far an d'fhuair sibh 'n garbh rusgadh, 

Thaobh 'ur cuil a's 'ur beoil

Old Gaelic Songs. \2% 

Ach na'in fjiighoadh sil)h iiine, 

Bho luclul 'ur mi-ruiii bhi beo 

Chca bu bliailo gun surd e, 

Bhiodh aidhir, niuii-n ann a's ccol. 

S fuar caidreamh tigli tabhairt, 

'San robli gairich is cosd ; 

Far nach cluinnear giith clarsaich, 

Ach gaoir galach nam bochd ; 

'So mar thailoasg air aon teud, 

Tha t'fhearann sgaoiltc 'se nochdt' 

'Tilgear urchair na disne, 

'S gur leir dha'n Ti a mheur ghoint. 

'S ann oirnne thainig an diombuaidh, 

'S an t-iomaguin tha gcur ; 

Mar tha claidheamh ar fine, 

Cho minig 'n 'ar deigli 

Pachda Thurcach gun sireadh, 

Bhi a pinneadh bhur cleibh ; 

Bhi n' ur breacain g' ur filleadh, 

'Measg ur cinneadh mor fein. 

A leithid de mhurt cha robh 'n Alba, 

Ged bu bhorbarr' a gleus^ 

'S cha bu laghail an t-sealg e 

Gu cosnadh sealbh righoachd Dhc ; 

Ge b' e 'm fath mu'n robh sgionadh 

Chaoidh cha 'n innis mi 'n sgeul ; 

Cha d' thain' a leithid do mhilleadh, 

Air ceann-cinnidh fo'n ghrein. 

Ghabh sibh roimhe so fath oirnn, 

Dh'fheuch bhur cairdeas ruinn geur 

Ohaidh sibh 'stigh ann san fhasaich 

'Nuair a thar sibh bhi reidh ; 

Chuir sibh cungais a chaise 

'Stigh an aros nan teud, 

'S cuid de'n buailichean ba-chruidh 

Ann an garadh nam jieur. 

C'aite 'n robh e fo'n adhar, 

A sheall n'ur bathais gu geur, 

Nach tugadh dhuibh athadh, 

A luclid 'ur labhairt 's 'ur beus ; 

; 

; 

;

124 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

Mach bho chloiun blirathair 'ur n-athar, 

A mheall an t-aibhistear tx-eun, 

Ged a rinn iad bhur lotsa, 

Gur troni a I'osad dhaibh fein. 

Tha lionn-dubh na chas cruaidh orm 

Tighinn an uaigneas mo chleibh, 

Le uiar dh'fhas e na chuan orm 

B' fhearr learn 'uam e mar cheiid 

Cia mar dh'fhaodas mi direadh 

Gun ite dhileis laa'm sgeith 

'S luchd a dheanamh na sithnc 

Bhi feadh na tire gun delgli. 

'S og a bha sibh do bhliadhna, 

Ghlac a cheutaidh sibh luatli, 

Aig ro-fheothas bhur ciall 

Gu cur 'ur riaghailtean suas. 

Ge b'e ghabhadh rium fiabhrus, 

Bhi dha nur n-iargainn sibh' uam ; 

Bidh m' 'n deigh air bhur riashidh, 

Gus an liath air mo ghruaig. 

Chuir Dia oirnn mac oighre, 

Gu bhi na choinnleir roimh chach, 

Chum gu 'n soillsich a sholus, 

Mar phreas-toraidh fo bhlath, 

'S mi gu'm freagradh a chaismeachd, 

Air fraoch-bhvataich gun chearb, 

Dealbh do bhradan, do dhobhran, 

Do luing, do leomhan 's laimh dhearg. 

Dh'ordaich Dia dhuinn craobh-shiochaint 

Clunnadh dion oirnn le treoir, 

Da 'm bu choir dhuinn bhi striochdadh 

Fluid 's a's cian bhiomaid beo ; 

Mas sinn fhein a chuir dith oirre 

Cha 'n fhearr a' chriocii a thig oirnn, 

Tuitidh tuagh as na Flaitheas 

Leis an sgathar na meoir. 

An glan fhiuran so bh'againn 

'N taobh so Fhlaitheas Mhic Dhe 

Thainig sgiursadli a' bhais ail- 

Chain sinn 'thoirt le strachd geur,

Old Gaelic Songs 125 

An t-aon fliiuran a b' aillidli 

Bh 'anil sa pliairc an robli spcis, 

Mar gu'in Imaineadh sibli Mloan 

Leis an flialadar gheur. 

'S math an toilltinneach sinne, 

Bhi gu iiiinig am pein ; 

Bho' n a ghlac sinn fal-spiorad 

Ann an ionad tiamli Dlio; 

Mai" lorg neo-chinnte air linno, 

Ge'd bu mliinig an sgoiil, 

Ach an t-or nach do bhuaileadh, 

Fhuair e bliuain as a blireig. 

Tha mnlad air m' inntinn, 

Bhi ag innse bhur beus ; 

'S aim a ghabh iad am fatli oirbh, 

'Nnair chaidh 'ur fagail libh fein ; 

'S bochd an sgeul eadar bhraithrean, 

E dhol an lathair Mhic Dlie 

Mar am bat' air an linne 

Ge b'e shireadh na deigh. 

Cha b' e sud bha mi 'g ionndrain 

Ge do phlunndraig iad sibh 

Ach na h-oganaich chul-bhuidhe 

Air an lubadh san lion 

'S e chuir stad air mo shugradh 

'Sa dh'fhag mo slniilean gun dion 

Sibh bhi sinnt' ann sa chruisle 

'S graisg na duthcha gun fhiamh. 

Mar tha' n stoc as an d'fhas sibh, 

A cur bhur bas an neoshuim ; 

Urla riabhach na Pairce, 

'S i gabhail sath fo al-fuinn ; 

Cia mar dh'fhuilingeas tu fein sud, 

Gun t'fhuil a dh'eiridh fo thuinn, 

'S gur tu thog iad na'n oige ; 

'Stigh mu 'd bhord an Dun-tuilm. 

Gu'n sealladli Dia oirnn le ghrasan 

Ge b' e la tliig 'n ar crioch 

Bho 'n is mallaiclit' an t-al sinn 

'S gur mairg a dh-araich 'nar triau

126 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

Gne Thurcach gun bhaigh siim 

Ach nach d' aicheidh sinn Criosd; 

Fagaidh inuir air an traigh sinn 

Mar chulaidh-bhaite gun dion. 

Ach, a Mhorair Chlann Oonuill, 

'S fad' thu chomhnuidh lueasg Ghall 

Dh'fhag thu sinne ann am breislicli 

Nach do fhreasdail tin; 'n t-am ; 

Oha mhodha ghleidh thu na gibhtean 

A chaidh gun fhios dhut air chall 

Tha sinn corrach as t'aogais 

Mar chohxinn sgaoilte gun cheann. 

'S iomadh oganach treubhach 

A shiubhladh reidh is glaic chrom 

Eadar ceann Drochaid Eiridh 

'S Rudlia Shleite nan tonn 

Leis' 'm bu mhiann bhi diol t'ririg 

Na' n robh do chreubhag Ian tholl, 

A thoirt do dhalta a eiginn, 

A dheadh Shir Seuinas nan h^ng. 

A Mhic Mhoire, 'sa Chriosda 

Dh-fliuiling pian nan coig creuclid, 

Faic mar thoill iad an diteadh 

'Gach aon ti bha mu d'eug. 

Ma l)ha toradh san dealas 

Gu cur do rioghachd an leud, 

Gaoir na fola tha dhith orni 

Gu ruige sith Fhithais Dhe. 

This is a song in which the author, Donald Matheson, Esq. 

of Attadale, tenders advice in plain but polite language to all 

woman-kind. The song was published by Eoin Gillies in his col- 

lection of Gaelic Songs, printed at Perth in 178G. I believe this 

book is now scarce. That is not my reason, llowe^•er, for offering 

you the song at present, but because this, my ^•ersion, has a few 

more stanzas than Gillies' copy of it. 

Na'm bu teagasgach mi air an trend 

D' an goirear gu leir na mnai, 

Cha b' aclnnhasan bheirinn gu geur 

'S clia chuirinn droch-bheus os aird. 

; 

;


Bhiodh in' inipidh gu math air an cul 

'S bu leo ino run do ghna ; 

'S mo chomhairl' bliiodli aca gii rcidh 

D'an ciuuail o bheud gach la. 

O'n tlioisich mi 'n teagasg ud duibh 

'S nach b'e blnir claoitlheadli mo mliiann 

O'n a dh' innis mi m' iniitiiin gu saor 

Na rachadh a h-aon san t-sliabh ; 

'S ma their mi ribli ni nach bi binn 

innsibh dhomh fhein mo ghiamh ; 

'S gur toileach learn cronachadh soilleir 

Ge do choisueadh mo choire dhomh 'n t-srian. 

O'n their luchd an iomadaidh eolais, 

" 'Se gach ni ann an ordugh is fearr," 

'Se comhairle thoirt air mnaoi phosda 

Gliabhas mi 'n tos os hiimh ; 

'S o rinneadli thu, bhean, chum na criclie, 

Umhal mur a bi thu dha, 

Bi'dh deireadh aig comunn mo ruin, 

Is measa na thus gu. brach. 

Ma thuit ort a chodhail nach fhearr, 

'Nuair chuir thu do lainih 'sa' chliabh ; 

'S gu'n d' fhuair thu ann duine gun treoir, 

'Se na bhodach air cleocadh sios 

Na tuit gu t'al-mhisneachd gu brach, 

'S na taisbein do chach a ghiamh, 

'S ma 's math leat a spiorad thoir dha, 

Cum trie agus trath ris biadh. 

Ma fhuair thu fear dannara, truagh, 

Nach cuir aims an uaisle suim. 

Fear dreaganta, creaganta, cruaidh, 

A's urrainn thoirt fuath do mhnaoi, 

Cleachd urram is fulangas da, 

'S na lasadh 'ur n-ardan daoi, 

Mur tig e le socair gu buaidh, 

Gu mair e na bhuadhanna chaoidh. 

Ma fhuaradh leat companach bras 

Bha riamh ana-caisrigt' an cuil 

'S gu'n d' eirich dha leantuinn ri fhasau 

A ghabh e mar chleachda o thus ; 

;

128 Gaelic Society of Inverness 

— 

N;i biodli aig luehd-tuailois r'a chantuinn, 

Gur iadach a mhaslaicheas thu, 

Tlinii- foart nach bi t'achinhasan baoth 

Mus caill sibh maraon bliiir cliii. 

Ged dh 'eireadh dhuit focal no dha 

A thuiteam le gaire uait 

Seadh focal no dha am biodh brigh 

'S a chuireadh a ghniomh-san suas, 

Mur maotliaicheadh sud e, cia 'm fath 1 

Cha leasaicheadh cas no cruas, 

Thair learn gu 'n dean faighidinn ceile 

Ni nach clean beum gun bhuaidh. 

Ma fhuaradh leat slaodaire misgeach 

No slaoidire bristeach 'an ceill 

Leigeas dheth chuid as a laiuih 

Am barrachd 's a tliaras e fain ; 

'Nuair theid ort an trustai- a sta, 

'S a sheasas tii ait' am feum 

Ged' chuir thu le strealladh air geilt 

Gu'n gabh sinn do leisgeul gu leir. 

Ach ma bha t' fhortan ni's fearr, 

'S gu'n do chuir ort an t-Ard-righ buaidh, 

'S gu'n d' fhuair thu fear freasdalach, cairdcil, 

Choisneadh do ghradh gach uair, 

O ! 

sealgair a' choilich san fhraoch, 

A choisneadh do ghaol gun ghruaim, 

Bi thusa a'd dhleasdanas da, 

Is guidheam dhuibh slainte bhuan. 

'S a ris, a bhean phosda mo ruin, 

Bi farasda ciuin ri d' fliear, 

Nach cuala tu 'n t-abstol ud Pol, 

Mar thug e na mnai fainear 

Oir thuirt e dhoibh sud gui- a coir 

Striochdadh o og gu sean; 

Ach sguiridh mi nise do chainnt ribh, 

Is eisdeadh a' bhantrach mhear. 

'S, a bhantrach, thoir faicill ort fein 

Ged a thubhairt mi fein riut mear 

; 

; 

— 

Thoii' feirt nach e buairoadh an t-saoghail, 

A thogas a chaoidh' do ghoan ;


Am fivusilal s" gu'n tigcadli do t' iairuidh, 

Suir ich o'n iav no o'u ear, 

D' an toil- tliii gu tairis do gliaol, 

Ged a dhealaicli an t-aog riut t' fhear! 

Ma fliuaradh leat fcaiaun is ni, 

Na Ciinar gur mill teach thu, 

Bi thusa 'n ad cheannas math teaglilaich, 

'S is baiTiintach t' aobhar cliu ; 

Tha nadur nam ft;ara gu leir, 

Cho chrcidmheach air breig gun diu, 

'S gur coir dhuit bhi fiosrach co dlia 

M'an innis thu chach do run. 

Ach aon ni 's eigin domh radh. 

'S tha e teachd a ghna fa m' smaoin, 

Nach cuir thu chaoidh' 'm tiacha dha 

'Nuair a gheibh thu fear cairdeil caoin, 

Nach can thu ris, " Beannachd do m' cliiad fhear 

Choisinn e riamh mo ghaol," 

Is guidheam dhuibh maiieantas buan 

Ail" adhairt nam buadh faraon. 

Ach ma 's a cailleach gun bhrigh thu, 

Air nach toir saoi aon luaidh, 

Cuir t'earbsa 's do mhuinghin 'an Dia, 

Leig tliarad do mhi-chuis thruagh, 

Dean samhl' ann an gliocas do chach, 

Thoir taisbeineadh araidh uait, 

Ge dualchas am bas do gach aon, 

'S ni dearbhte dha 'n aois an uaigh. 

Gu'n teagaisg mi caileag mo riiin, 

An t-abhall is uire blath, 

Clach-tharuing nam feara gu leir, 

'Si bhan-oglach bheusach mhna ; 

Ge h-aimideach mise ann an ceill 

Cha labhair mi breug 'sa' chas, 

Ach na 'n gabhadh sibh comhairle 'uam, 

Gu'm fiiicht' oirbh Ic buaidh a bhlatli. 

A mhaighdin, thoir faicill ort fein, 

'S gun thu ach a'd chreutair maoth, 

Cha 'n fliuiling thu cruadal no gaillionn, 

'S do bhuaireadh cha mhair thu bhios baoth,


Ma leagas ort fleasgacli a sluiil, 

Na tiiisboiii do run d'a tliaobh, 

Fad as uaitho faiceadh e tliu 

An aon uair is mo do ghaol. 

Mu d' bheusa hi nieachair a ghna, 

Gu li-iriosal, aillidh, ciuin ; 

Na rachadh do tlieanga gu luatlis 

'S na niaslaicli do shluagh ui 's \\w ; 

Bi' umlial do d' ghinteirihli talniliaidh, 

Is faicear neo-fhalbhacli thu ; 

Oir creid 'nuair bliios iomadh a' stritb, 

Gur meanbh an ni chi gach suil. 

Ma's e 'n aoidh a thig cliuin na h-oidliche 

A leagas a dliruim ri lar, 

Ma chi e san teaghlach sin maighdean 

Caillidli se loinn do chach ; 

Oir oirre-s' bi'dh inntinn gu dliith 

'S e ag iarraidh gu sugradli tla ; 

Ach is beag an ni chluinneas a chluas 

Nach leig e san uair os aird. 

Bi'dh iomadh fear suarach an deigh 

Air thusa bhi 'm mi-sta dha 

'Nuair a leigeis tu iarrtannas leis 

'S a chailleas tu freasdal a's fearr 

O ! coisnidh e sin dhuit gu truagh 

Le eachdraidh fuath o chach 

Thoir fcirt air an fhear ud a chaoidh' 

Ma's tig thu le maoim 'na d' dhail. 

Ach ma thig fleasgach nui 'n cuairt, 

A shaoileas tu 's uailse beus, 

Cleachd cridhealas bhritheagach dha 

Mar eireig 'sa barr fo sgeith ; 

Le danadas amhailteach ciuin, 

Is soilleireachd sul gu rîdh, 

'Ma bhios tu gu banail gu bratli 

Gu 'n tarruinn thu cairdeas clieud. 

'S a nise na'n innseadh tu dliuiini, 

Ma thaitinn riut m' impidh thla, 

Gu'n do shoilleiricli mise gu reidh 

Na'n tigeadh ort bcud gu brath ; 

;

— 

Old Gaelic Songs. 131 

Thoir d" acliniliasan .seachad, uia tlioill, 

'8 iii 'u oiiiieam fliciu suiin 'sa' l)lias, 

Ma tlicir tliu gun cliuir mi oit giuaim, 

Biilli mi gu La-luaiu am tliamli. 

Ill the beginning of the winter of 1G20, Murdoch, the son of 

Alexander Macrae of In verinate, wlio was married to Ann Mac- 

kenzie, daugliter of the Laird of Applecross, went, as was his 

wont, on a lumting excursion to some of the upper defiles of 

Gleann-Lic, in Kintail, and was lost in the hills. His friends 

searched for him, and after fifteen days Murdoch's body w;uj 

found at the foot of a rock. It is not known for certain how the 

man came by his death : he may liave slip))ed over the precipice, 

hwt it was said that INInrdoch had, during his ramblings, found a 

man stealing his goats. Having taken him a prisoner, lie was 

bringing him liome when, it is supposed that, as they were passing 

along the Cadha, at the Carraiy, in Gleann-Lic, the man 

pitched Murdoch over the rock at the foot of which his body was 

found. There is a tradition that on his death-bed an old man 

was heard to confess that he was the murderer of Murdoch Macrae, 

and that this confession was overheard by a girl who revealed 

it. The Rev. Alexander Cameron, late of the Quoad Sacra 

Parish of Glengarry, sent to the Secretary of the Gaelic Society 

of Inverness, parts of two plaintive .songs composed on the 

lamented death of Murdoch Macrae. They are printed in Vol. 

VIII. of the Society's Transactions. I am sorry that Mr 

Cameron should have said the supposed murderer wa.s a Strath- 

glass man. By this assertion I am reluctantly compelled to state 

that the tradition in Kintail is (see Dornie MS., pages 16-5 to 

167), that he was a Glenmoriston man, and I have always heard 

the same myself. The elegies alluded to were composed by the 

herdsman of Murdoch's brother, John Macrae, locally known as 

the ''Hard mac Mhurchaidh mhic Iain Ruaidh" who resided in 

Mamag, in Gleneilchaig, Kintail. 

This song was apparently composed while the search for 

Murdoch Macrae was going on 

Och nan ochan 's mi sgith, 

'Falbh nan cnoc so ri sian, 

Giu' neo-shocrach a' sgriob tlia 'san duthaich ; 

Cha b' e d' fhasach gun ni, 

No d' fhearann-aitich chion sil, 

Ach sueul nach binn e ri sheinn 's an duthaich.

l32 Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

Thu bhi, Mlmrchaidh, ;iir cliall 

Gun aon chviinisc, c' e 'ni ball ; 

Slid an urcliair bha cailltc dhiiiime. 

'S cruaidh an cas am beil sinn, 

Thug am braigh so dhinn, 

'S cha chuir cairdean an ire dhuinn e. 

Uch mo chlisgeadh 's mo clias, 

Gun tu 'n ciste chaoil chlair, 

Le fios aig do chairdean ciiiii-t' air. 

Bu chall ceille mo dhaii, 

Mar dhealbh itesm an sas, 

Gun tuigt air mo dhan nach b'fhiu e. 

'S beart nach guidhinn do ni' dheuin, 

Ach na ludhaig Dia oirnn, 

Do chill buidlie bhi choir na h-iirach. 

Och gur miste mo chail, 

Bho 'n bu threudach mi dh' al, 

Gun tuigte air mo dhan nach hu e. 

Slan le treubhantas seoid, 

Slan le gleusdachd duiu' 6ig, 

'Nuair nach d' fliaod thu bhi beo gun chiiram. 

Slan le gliocas, 's le ceill 

'S a bhi measail ort fhein, 

'S nach eil fhios ciod e 'n t-eug a chiiirr thu. 

Slan le binneas nam bard, 

Slan le grinneas nan lamh ; 

Co ni mire ri d' mhnaoi, no siigradh 1 

Slan le grinneas nam meur 

Slan le binneas luchd-theud 

'Nuair a sheinneadh tu beul gun tuchan. 

Slan le liadhach nam beann, 

Slan le iasgach nan allt 

Co chuir iarunn air crann cho cliuiteach ? 

Do luchd-faire* gun fhiamh, 

Bho 'n bha d' air' orra riamh— 

Nochd cha ghearain am fiadh a churam. 

— 

* ReJ dee)-.


'S ait lo binincli * nan allt, 

'Chor 's gu'n cinnicli an clann, 

Gu'n do niliillcadh na bli' ann de dh' nu'idar. 

'Nuaii- a shuidheadh tim, slicoid 

]\rar li buidheann ai,' ol 

Mdv bu (.•liubliaidli l)luodh cenl niu'n turlacli. 

Slau lo iiaislo na's leor 

'S tu blii suairce gun bhron 

Bho'n nach d' fhuaireas tliu, sh(>oid, gu li-iirail. 

Faodaidh an earbag an noclid, 

Eadar niliaoisleacli a's blioc 

Cadal samliach air cnoc gun churam. 

Faodaidh ise bin slan, 

'Siublial iosal a's aird, 

Bho 'n a chailleadli an t arniunn cliuiteach. 

Tliis song was evidently composed after the finding and 

bui-ial of IVIurdoch Macrae's body as stated in the last verses of 

this lament. 

Seinneam marbhrann as ur, 

Mar fliion-sul do Chlann Mhic Rath, 

Air ]\[urchadh donn-gheal mo run, 

Bha loma lau do chliu gun clileith, 

Cheud Aoine do'n gheamhradh fhuar, 

'S daor a pliaidh sinn duais nar sealg. 

An t-og bii chraobhaiche snuadh, 

Na aonar uainn 's fhaotainn niarbh. 

'Se sealg gheamhraidh Ghlinn-lic, 

Dlr'fhag gieann oirnn gu trie is gruaim, 

Mu 'n og nach robh teann 'sa bha glic. 

Bin an teampuU fo lie san uaigh. 

Bha tional na sgire gu leir, 

Ri siubhal sleibh 's ri falbh bheann, 

Fad sgios nan coig-latha-deug, 

'8am fear direach treun air chall. 

'S tursach do chinneadh mor deas, 

Dha d' shii'eadh an ear san iar, 

'San t-og a b' fhi\ighantaich beaclid, 

Ri slios glinne marbli san t-sliabh. 

* Roe deer.


Tha Crathaicli nam biiailtean bo, 

x\ii- an sgaradh ro mhor niu t'eug, 

Do thoirt as a bheatha so oirnn, 

Dlieadh nihic athav nan corn 's nan ceud. 

'S tursach do sheachd braithroan graidh, 

Am pearsan ge ard a leugh'dh, 

Thug e ge tuigseach a cheaird, 

Aona bharr-turs' air cacli gii leir. 

'S tusa an t-ochdamli slat ghraidh, 

Sliliochd nam braithrean doasa, coir, 

'S troni tursach an osna le cacl,. 

Gun do fhroiseadh am blatJi dliiubh og. 

Air thus dhiubh Donnachadh nam pios, 

Gillecriosd is dithis de'n chleir, 

Fearachar agus Ailean donn, 

'S Uisdean a bha trom ad dheigh. 

Tha cliu taghta aig deagh LIhac Dhe, 

Gun easaidh gun eis air ni, 

'S bidh tusa nise an uabliar mor, 

An cathair ghloir aig Righ nan Righ. 

Bhean uasal a thug dhuit gaol, 

Nach bi chaoidh na h-uaigneas slan, 

'S truagh le mo chluasan a gaoir, 

Luaithead 'sa sgaoil an t-aog an snaim. 

'S tursach do gheala bhean ur og, 

'S frasach na deoir le gruaidh, 

'S i spionadh a fuilt le deoin, 

Sior chumha nach beo do shnuadh. 

A dheagh mliic Alasdair uir, 

Dlia 'ii tigeadh na h-airm an tus t'oig, 

'S i do gheala ghhiic san robh 'n cliu. 

Do shljochd Fliearachair nan crun 's nan coii 

'Nuair rachadh na h-iiaislean a stigh, 

Ann san talla am Ijidh am tion, 

Bu leat na dh'iarradh tu lach, 

'S cha bu din leat neach dlia dliiol. 

Bu luthar iistar do clias, 

Fhiurain ghasda bu dreachair dealbli, 

Na'n togtoadh bonndaclid a bhac, 

Nach robh gealtach air chleas airui.


l>h:i tliii foiirail aims gat-li oeuiii, 

'8 bu bliarraiclit' thu a deirceadh 1)Iioc1k1, 

'S math dliut air deas laiinli do Rigli, 

Lughad sa chuir thu 'in piis an t-olc. 

Ail- Nolkiig nan corn 's nan cuach, 

'8 ann sa glileann so sliuas bha' n call, 

An t-og a b-fhiugliantaich snuadh, 

Na shineadh fo shuaindnieas dall. 

Bu til marbhaich' a bhalla-bhric bhain, 

Le mor-ghath caol, 's o fada, gour, 

Lc cuilbheir bhristeadh tu cnaiinh, 

\S bu shilteach fo d' laiuih na feidh. 

Do rasg gun aire fhir chaoimh, 

Fo 'n uihala gun chlaon gun smal, 

Deud gheal dhisucach is beul dearg, 

Sud an dealbh bha air an fhear. 

Bu tu an t-slat eibhinn aluinn ur, 

Bu mhiann sul 's bu leannan nina, 

A ghnuis ann san robh 'in breac-seirc, 

Bha oho deas air thapadh laimh. 

Chuala mise clarsach theud, 

Fiodhall is beus a' co-sheinii, 

Oha chuala 's cha chluinn gu brach, 

Ceol na b'fhearr na do bheul binn. 

Gas fhalt buidhe fainneach reidh, 

Aghaidh shoillear gle ghlan dearg, 

A ghnuis san robh gliocas gun cheilg, 

Air nach d'fhiosraicheadh riamh fearg. 

'S math am fear-rannsachaidh an t-aog, 

'8e 'm maor e a dh'iarras gu niioii, 

Bheir e leis an t-og gun ghiamh, 

'8 fagaidh e 'm fear liath ro shoaii. 

'8 ann Di-li-Aoine dh' fhalbh thu 'uain, 

'8 air Di-h-aoine fhuaireadh thu, rain. 

'8 disathurua bu chruaidii an cas, 

Aig sluagh dha d' cliaradh 'san uir. 

The next song on my list was composed by Mrs Fraser of 

CJuisachan and Culbokie, daughter of INIr Macdonald of Ardnabee, 

Glengarry. This lady liad nine sons. Three of them died at

— 

136 Gaelic Society of Inucrness. 

(Juisachan, two in America two in tlie East Indies (one of those 

in the Bhxck Hole of Calcutta), and two who were otticers in the 

Austrian army died in Germany. Donald, the youngest but one 

of the family, was killed there on the battle-field. Soon after the 

news of liis death arrived in Strathglass, his mother composed a 

plaintive elegy on him, the poetry of which is of a high order. 

She sings thus 

Nollaig mlior do'n gnas bhi fuar, 

Fhuair mi sgeula mo chruaidh-chais ; 

Domhnull donn-gheal mo run, 

Bhi 'n a shineadh an tiugh a' bhlair. 

Thu gun choinneal o 's do chionn. 

No ban-charaid chaomh ri gal ; 

Gun chiste, gun annrt, gun chill, 

Thu'd shineadh, a laoigh, air dail. 

'S tu mo bheadradh, 's tn mo mlmirn, 

'S tu mo phlanntan an tus fais, 

M'og laghach is guirme siiil. 

Mar bhradan fior-ghlan 'us tu marbh. 

'S e bas anabaich uio mhic, 

Dh' fhag mi cho trie fo ghruaim ; 

'S ged nach suidh mi air do lie 

Bi'dh mo bheannachd trie gu d'uaigh. 

'S ann do Ghearraailt mhor nam feachd 

Chnir iad gun mo thoil mo mhac, 

'S ged nach cuala each mo reachd. 

Air mo chridhe dh' fhag e cnoc. 

Ach ma thiodhlaic sibh mo mhac 

'S gu'n d' fhalaich sibh le uir a chorp, 

Leigidh mise mo bheannachd Ic feachd, 

Air an laimh chuir dligh' bhais oi-t. 

Sguiridh mi de tliuireadh dian, 

Ged nach bi mi chaoidh gun bhron ; 

'S mi 'g urnaigh ri aon Mhac Dhe, 

Gu'n robh d' anam a' seinn an gloir. 

GRAN MOR MHIC-LEOID EADAU AN CLARSAIR DALL (rUAIUDII 

MAC-ILLEMHOIlii:) AGUS MAC-TALLA. 

We find a great deal of common senst- and good poetry peivading 

the whole of this song. The author, •' an Clarsair Dall,"


was l)orn in the Island of Lewis in tlio yoar 1G46. Ho liad two 

brothers, Mr Anûs Morrison, the funious wit, wlio was minister at 

Contin, and Mr Malcohn Monison, minister at Poolewe. Tlieir 

father, an Episcopalian clergyman in Lewis, was a descendant of 

the celebi-ated Brit]ipanih Leoyltctudch. Rory, the minstrel was 

deprived of his eyesigiit by smallpox while he was at school in 

Inverness. In consequence of this he followed the bent of his 

inclination as a musician, a profession in which it is said he 

excelled. He was engaged as a family harper by Jolin lireac 

]\lacleod, the Laird of Harris, in whose service he remained until 

John lireac died. After the demise of his worthy patron, changes 

took place. Both the harper and the family piper were dismissed, 

and the echo was heard no more in the Dun. The blind liarper 

imagines lie has discovered his old friend "the Echo" astray in the 

hills, and the following song was composed between them. In 

sori'ow, but in prophetic mood, they expatiated on the extravagance 

of lluairidh Og, successor of the wise John Breac. The song was 

sent as a remonstrance to the young Laird of Harris. Sir A.lex. 

Mackenzie of Gairloch said that every landed proprietor in the 

Highlands ought to study the song. 

Miad a mhulaid tha 'm thaghall 

Dh' fhag treoghaid mo chleibh gu goirt 

Aig na rinn mi ad dheighidh, 

Air m' aghairt 's mo thriall gu port. 

'Sann bha mis' air do thoir, 

— 

'S mi meas gun robh coir agam ort, 

A dheagh mhic athair mo ghraidh 

B tu m' aighear, is m' adh, is m' olc. 

Tha Mac-talla fo ghruaim, 

Anns an talla 'm biodh fuaim a cheoil ; 

'S ionad taghaich nan cliar, 

Gu'n aighear, gu'n mhiagh, gu'n phoit. 

Gu'n mhire, gu'n mhuirn, 

Gu'n iomracha dlu nan corn ; 

Gun chuirm, gu'n phailteas ri daimh, 

Gu'n mhacnas, gun mhanran beoil. 

Chaidh a chuibhle mu'n cuairt, 

Gu'n do thionndaidh gu fuachd am blaths, 

Naile chuna' mi uair. 

Dun flathail nan cuach a thraigh.


— 

Far'in bioclh taghaich nan duan, 

loma' matlias gun chruas, gun chas ; 

Dh' fhalbli an latha sin bhuain, 

'S tha na taighean gu fuaraidh fas. 

Dh' fhalbh Mac-tall' as an Dun, 

'Nam sgarachdainn duinn v'ar triath 

'Sann a thacliair e riuni, 

Air seacharan bheann, san t-sliabh. 

Labhair psan air thus 

" Math mo Ijharail gur tu ma's fior, 

Chunna' mise fo' mhuirn, 

Roi'n uiridli an Dim nan cliar." 

A mhic-talla, nan tur, 

'Se mo bharail gur tusa l)ha, 

Ann an teaghlach an fhion', 

'S tn 'g aithris air gniomh mo lamh, 

" 'S math mo bharail gur mi, 

'S cha b'urasd dhomh bhi mo thamh ; 

'G eisdeachd fathruim gach ceîl 

Ann am fochar Mliic-Leoid an aigh. 

" 'S mi Mac-talla, bha uair 

'G eisdeachd fathrum nan duan gu tiugh ; 

Far bu mhuirneacli am b6us 

'Nam cromadh do'n glirein 'san t-srutli. 

Far am b' fhoirmeil na seoid, 

'S iad gu h-oranach, ceolmhor, cluith 

Ged nach faicte mo ghniiis, 

Chluinnt 'aca sa'n Dun mo ghuth. 

" 'N'am eirigh gu moch 

Ann san teaghlaich, gun sproc, gun ghruaim 

Cliluinnte gleadhraich nan dos, 

'8an ceile na' cois on t-suain, 

'Nuair a ghabhadh i Ian 

; ; 

'Si gu'n cuireadh os n-aird na fhuair 

Le meoir fhileanta bhinn, 

'Siad gu ruith-leuniach, dionacli, luatli. 

" 'Nuair a chuirt i na tamh, 

Le furtachd na fardaich fein ; 

Dhomh-sa b' fhurasda radii 

Gu'm bu churaideach gair nan ti'ud


Le li-ioniairt dlia irmih, 

A cur a binneas do cliacli an c6ill 

'S gu'm bu shiubblach am cliluais, 

A moghunn lughar lo hiasgau inlieur. 

" Ann san flicasgar an tleigli, 

Am teasa na grein tra noin ; 

Fir chneatain ri clair, 

'S mnai' freagaii't a glina cur lou. 

Da chorahairloach glioarr, 

A labhairt's gu'm b' ard an gloir ; 

'S gu'm bu thitlieach an gtiin, 

Air an duine gu'n fhuil, cru'n flieoil. 

" Gheibhte fleasgaich gun ghruaim, 

*Na do thalla gn'n sgraing, gun fhuath ; 

Mnai' fhionna 'n fhuilt rcidli, 

Cuir binneis an ceill Ic fuaini. 

Le ceileireachd beoil, 

Bhiodh gu h-ealanta, Ii-ordail, suairc 

Bliiodh fear-bogha 'nan coir, 

Ri cur meoghair 'a mheoir na'n cluais. 

" Bhiodh a i-ianadair fein 

Cuir an ire gur h-e bhiodh ann ; 

'S e 'g eiridh 'nam measg, 

'S an eibhe gu trie na cheann. 

Ge d 'a b'ard leinn a fuaim 

Cha tuairgneadh e siiin gu teann ; 

Chuireadh tagradh am chluais 

Le h-aidmheil gu luath 's gu mall." 

A Mhic-talla so bha 

Anns a bhaile 'n do thar mi m' iul, 

'S ann a nis dhuinn as leir, 

Gu'm beil mis a'.s tu fein air chul. 

A reir do cliomais air sgeul 

O'n 's fear-comuinn mi-tein a's tu ; 

'M beil do mhuinntearas buan, 

Aig an triath ud da'n dual an Dun 1 

" Bho linn nan linntean bha mi, 

'S mi mar aon duinc tamh 'sa chuirt 

'S theireadh iomodh Macleoid, 

Nach b' uireasaidh eolus dhuinn : 

; 

;


Acli iia fliasacli gun fheuni, 

Chii 'n fliaca lui foiu blio tlms, 

Ri fad mo chuimhue sa riaiuli, 

CJun Toitear no Triath an Dim." 

Ach o' n thainig ort aois, 

Tlia ri chantainn gur baoth do gliloir 

Clia 'n e fasacli a tli' ann, 

Ge d' tlia e san am gun lod ; 

Air Toitear 's beag flieum, 

'8 og Tliigliearna fein na lorg 

'S e ri fliaotainn gun fheall, 

Cur ri baoth ann an ceann luchd chleoc. 

Ach tillidh mi nis gu 'd chainnt, 

Bho 'n a b' fhiosrach mi anus gach sion ; 

Gur trie a chunnacas gille og, 

Bhi gun uireasaidh stoir no ni : 

'S gu m biodh a bheachd aigc foin, 

Nuair clieannadh e feudail saor, 

A dh' aindeoin caithearnachd dha 

Nach cunnard da hiimli nam maor. 

Ach cha b'ionnan a bha.. 

Dha na tir sa tha Mac Leoid, 

Ann an sonas 'sa sith 

Gun uireasaidh ni no loin, 

Ann an daor chuirt nan Gall, 

Ged' bha thoil fuireach ann ri blioo, 

Tighearna Eilg is glan sgire, 

Cha b eagal da dhiobhail stoii". 

Ach 's ionnan sin 's mar a tha, 

'S gur soilleir fhaicinn a bhla air bhuil, 

Bho'n nach leir dhoibh an call, 

Miad an deigh air cuirt CJIiall cha sguir, 

Gus an togair do'n Fhraing, 

A dhol bliadhna an geall na chuir, 

Bidh an niosgaid a' fas, 

Air an iosgaid 'si cnamii na l)un. 

Theid seachd cupaill gun dail. 

Air each cruidhcach as gair inhor srann, 

DioUaid lasdoil fo thoin, 

'8 mor gu'm b fheirde o srian oir na clieann, 

; 

;


Ficliwid guinea 's Ix-ag t'liiacii 

Gun d' tlieid sid a cliur sios an goall, 

Cha teid peighinn dlia fein 

Bonn cha ghleidheir dha 'n deigh a cliall. 

'S tlieid coig coigi an de'n or, 

Gun d' theid sud air son cord da'n aid, 

Urad eile oirre fein, 

Faire faire 's math feuni gu spaid, 

'S grabliataichcan saor, 

Gur punnd Sasunuach e gun stad, 

Air a chnnntadh air clar, 

Dhe'n an iunntas gun dail air fad. 

Cha bhi pheidse ann a lueas, 

Mur bi aodach am fasan chaich, 

Ged cho.sd e guinea an t-shxt, 

Gheibhear sud air son mart 'sa mhal, 

Urrad eile ri chois 

Gun d' theid sud ar.n an a casaig dha, 

'S bi'iogais bheilibheid bhuig mhin, 

Gu bhi ruighinn a sios gu shall. 

Theid luach mairt no nis mo, 

Air paidliir stocaiun de'n t-'seorsa 's fearr, 

'S cha chunntar an corr, 

Ducaid diuc air da bhi'oig bhuinu ard 

Clachan criosdail s math snuadh, 

Ann am bucaill mu'n cuaii't gun snial 

Sud na gartainean suas, 

Paidhir thasdan a 's luach nam barr. 

Cha bhi pheidse ann am pris, 

'Se gun aithe dhi air ach cleoc, 

Grios a chlaimhidh cha b' fhiach, 

'S bu chuis athais ceann iaruinn dha, 

Criosaibh dealbhach o'n bhuth, 

Ceann airgid as bucaill oir, 

'S feudar sud fhaotainn dha, 

'S thig air m' fhearannsa mal nis mo. 

'S theid e stigh anns a bhuth, 

Leis an fhasan a's uire bho'n Fhraing, 

'San t-aodach gasda bha'n de. 

Ma do phearsa le speis nach gaun


Tlieid a thilgeil an cuil, 

A fasaii dona cha'n fhiu c plang 

Air mal Ijaile no dha, 

(Jlacar peana scuir laimh ri b-ainu. 

'San nuair thilleas e risd, 

A dhaniharc a thire fein, 

An deis ma niiltean chiir suas, 

Gun tig sgriob aii' an tuatli mu 'n spreidli. 

Gus an togar na mairt, 

An deigli an ciurradli 'sa reic air feill, 

Bi'dh na fiachan ag at, 

Chnm am faoighneaclid ri niiiuc na dhcigli. 

Tlieid Uilleam Mhartain a macli 

'Se gu sraideil air each a triall, 

Cha lughaid a bheachd, 

Na na h-armuinn a clileachd sud ri.unli, 

Cha 'n 'eil cuimhne air a chrann, 

Cas-chaibe no laimh cha b' fhiach 

'Se cheart oho spaideil ri diuc. 

Ged bha athair I'i ruamhar riabh. 

Thoir an teachdaireachd bhuani 

Le deifir gu Ruairidh eg, 

Agus innis dha fein, 

Cuid de 'chunnard ged 'se ^lac Leoid, 

E bhi 'g amharc na dheigh 

Air an Iain a dh' eug 's nach l:>eo, 

Ge bu shaibhir a chliu, 

Cha'n fhagadh e 'n Dun gu'n cheol. 

A Mhic-talla so biia, 

Anns a' bhaile 'n rol^h gradh nan cliar, 

Sa' n Triach Tighearnail teann, 

Sa'n cridhe gu'n fheall na chliabli, 

Ghabh e tlachd dheth thir fein 

'S cha do chleachd e Duneich-ann rianih 

Dh' fhag e 'm bonnach gun bhoarn, 

'S b fhearr gun aithriseadh each a cliiall. 

The next song I have heard attributed to Donald Matheson, 

Esip of Attadale : — 

Hu-o ho mo chailin lagliach, 

'S tu mo chailin seadhach, ciuin, 

Hu-o ho mo chailin laghach, 

'S tu mo roghaiini, thaghaiim thu.


'S tu 1110 chailiu og, dea.s, cU'all)h;u'li, 

'8 baniil k'aiii iiacli im'aiil)li do cliliu 

Meaiigan iir o'u fliaillcau aiuineil, 

Toradli a preas tarbhach tliii. 

Hu-o ho, etc. 

Suil a's guirnio, gniaidh a's dcirgc, 

Btuil a's cuiinte in' an deud dliliith, 

'S tu nach mealladh mi 'n am earbsa 

Ciod e fatli nacli leanmliuinn thu. 

Hu-o ho, etc. 

'Ghiag shlat iir a's ailte soalhidh, 

— 

INIiar dheth 'n chraoibh a's molaich riisg, 

'Ghiag a dh-fhas gu reidli fo dhuilleach 

'N te do 'ii tug mi gealladh thu. 

Hu-o ho, etc. 

liibhrach bhuadhach o na choille, 

Dliionach. dhuahich, dhiongmhalt, dhliith 

Ghnioinliach, ghuaillneaeli, gun blii corrach, 

Theireadh ceud mo leaunan thii. 

Hu-o ho, etc. 

'S ionmhuinn 'eucag nan rosg mala, 

'Thairg i fein mar sholus dliuinn, 

'S mairg a threigeadh tu dha aindeoin. 

'S eibhinn do' n ti 'mliealas thu. 

Hu-o ho, etc. 

'S binn a' smebrach anns an doire, 

'S binn an eala 'n cois a' loin, 

'S binne na sin guth mo leannain, 

'N uair a theannas i ri ceol. 

Hu-o ho, etc. 

Banarach gu dol na bhuaile, 

Bean uasal gu suidhe mu 'n bhord, 

Meur is gile 's grinne dh' fhuaigheas, 

Troigh chuimir nach cuir cuaig am broig. 

Hu-o lu) etc. 

'N 'oidhche bha sinn anns a Chaiplich, 

Gha]:)h mi tlachd dhiot 's tu mo run, 

Ged a bhiodh each oirnn ag aithris, 

Bhiodh sinn fein gu tairis ciiiin. 

Hu-o ho etc.


Fiuraii iiiisiil uallacli og mi, 

MliraMiaiii doblirau ami an earn, 

Ghlacainn breac air linne niliulain, 

Bheirinn cuireadh dliuit gu pairt, 

Hu-o ho etc. 

Dhianain buachaille gu samhuiun, 

Tht'arbuinn gauihain agus laogh, 

Ghlacainn bradan agus banag, 

Bh eiriun pairt de dha nio ghaol. 

Hu-o ho etc. 

Chunna mi 'n raoir bruadal cadail, 

Ribhinn ghasda thighinn n' am choir. 

'Nuair a dhuisg mi anus a mhaduinn, 

Cha robli again dhi ach sgleo. 

Hu-ho etc. 

'S soilleir daoimein ann am fainne, 

'S soilleir tulach ard air Ion, 

'S soilleir righinn ann a' rioghackd, 

Aig mo nianaig se tha 'n corr. 

Hu-o ho etc. 

'S soilleir long mhor fo 'cuid aodaich, 

'Si cur sgaoileadh fo 'cuid seul, 

'S soilleir an lath 'seach an oidhche, 

'S aig mlio mhaighdinn fhin tha 'n corr. 

Hu-o ho. 

This is a song by Ian Mac Mhurchaidh in which he professes 

to be very sorry wlien his intended, Helen Macrae, ilaughter of 

Donald Macrae, of Torloisich, slighted him and married Coinneach 

og Macleannan. The whole burden of the song is about his real 

or imaginary loss and sorrow at her desertion. However, in the 

concluding verse he advises his friends not to heed all they hear 

about liim ; for lie assures them that there is not one among all the 

daughters of Eve who could disturb his mental equilibrium. 

O, 's mor is misde mi 

Ka thug mi thoirt dhi 

Ge b'e de ni ise, 

Dh' fhag i mise bochd dheth. 

;


Aithnitla-ar uii- mo sluim'radli 

Nach 'eil mi geanacli ; 

Oha thog mi mo shuil 

Ann an aite soillcar. 

'Nuair a chi mi triuir 

A' dol aim an conmun, 

Saoilidh mi gur giim 

A bhios gu mo dliomail. 

O 's mor, kc. 

Gu'm beil mi fo ghruaimean 

'S mi ann am mulad ; 

Cha lugha mo thriias 

Ris a h-uile duine. 

Liughad fear a luaidli i 

'S nach d' rinn a buinnig ; 

'S fortanach ma thamh iad 

Na'n slainte buileacli. 

O 's mor, ikc. 

Thainig am fear liatli sin 

A mhilleadh comuinn ; 

Ged dli' fhanadh e shios 

Gum bu bheag an domail. 

'S dana leam na dh' iarr e 

Chur mil mo choinneamh, 

'S cha ghabhadh e deanamh 

Gun chiad a thogail. 

O 's mor, &c. 

Siu 'nuair thiiirt a mathaii-, 

Cha tugainn i idir 

Do dhuinc dhe cairdean 

— 

Cha b' fiieaird' iad ise ; 

Chreid mi am fear a thainig 

Mi leis an fhios sin 

Gur iad feiii a b' fhearr 

Chumadh ann am meas i. 

O 's mor, &c. 

O biodh i nise 

Mar tha ise togar ; 

Gheibh sibh ann an sud i 

Bho'n is mise a thog i 

; 

10

; ; ; 

U6 Gae/ic Society of Inuerness 

Cha Ini mhasladh oirre 

Gcd bii phairt dc coirc 

Gu'in biodh nio theacaircan 

Dha cur na roghuinn. 

O 's Dior, &c. 

A Choiunicli Mhic-Dhonuil, 

Bu nihor am beud leam 

Do thoachdaire chomhdach 

Le storaidh breigo ; 

Mas a duine beo mi 

Cha blii thu 'n eis dhetli 

Gum faigli tlm i ri phosadh 

Le ordugh Cleire. 

O 's mor, (fee. 

'S misde mi gn brach e 

Ge d' gheil:»liinn saoghal 

Cha leiisaiclieadh each mi 

'8 na thug mi ghaol dhuit 

'S muladach a tlia mi 

Nach d' riun mi d'fliaotainn ; 

'S fortauach a tharladli dhomh 

Bhi tamh mar ri m' dhaoine. 

O 's mor, (fee. 

Thog iad mar bhaoth-sgeul 

Orm air feadh an aite 

Gu'n caillinn mo chiall _ 

Mur faighinn lamh riut 

'S iongatjich leam fein ^ 

Ciod e chuir fos 'n aird sud, 

Mur d' aithnich sibh fein 

Gu'n deach eis air mo mhanran. 

O 's mor, &c. 

Sguiridh mi dlieth 'n oran 

Mu 'n gabli sibh miothhichd, 

Gus am faic mi 'n cord ribh 

Na tha dhcth deanta ; 

Na crcidibh a storaidh 

Air feadh nan criochan, 

Cha 'n 'eil aonan beo 

Chuireadh as mo chiall mi. 

O 's mor, *kc.

Old Gaelic Songs 147 

The next song is a lively one, composed by the jovial and 

lainous Kintail Bard Ian mac INIhuivhaidli. In 1772, Ian Buidhe 

MacL

148 Gaelic Society of Inverness 

Ghleidli mi be.igan dhetb mo thur, 

Gus an d'thainig a pliios iir, 

A thug Caitair as a bhuth, 

'Si chuir rao chnuaic-sa luaineach. 

Cha b' ioghnadh ise bhi grinn, 

Uilleani is Caitair innte sgriobht', 

Liughad fear dha 'n d'thug e dinneir, 

'S dha 'n do shin e 'n t-uachdar. 

So an geamhradh a tha taitneach, 

Gheibhear cuilm an ceann gach seacain, 

Reitichean is posadh aithghearr, 

'S daoiue glau mu'n cuairt dhaibh. 

Bha mi tacan air mo smaointean, 

Cia mai- thaghainn comhdach aodaich, 

'S an dannsainn air a bhanais aotrom, 

Thug laimh sgaoilt Ian Ruaidh dhuinn. 

The following song, to the air of " The Flowers of Edinburgh," is 

one of Iain Mac Mhurchardh's best and most ]Jopular efforts. It was 

written in America, and while he was engaged in the American War 

of Independence. He comi)ares, in splendid vei-se, his wretclied i)Osition 

there, a soldier in the King's army, to his former free and 

happy state in Kintail. The poor bard bitterly regretted with 

good cause, that he had ever left his native country, and his con- 

trast of his experiences in the land of his adoption and in the 

Scottish Highlands, is poweiful, poetical, and patriotic : 

Gur muladach a tha mi, 

'S mi 'n diugh gun aobhar ghaire ; 

Cha b' ionnan 's mar a bha mi 

'S an aite bha thall : 

Far am faighinn manran 

Mire, is ceol-gaire, 

Agus cuideachd mar a b' aill learn 

Aig ailleas mo dhream. 

Nuair 'shuidheamaid mu' bhord ann 

Bhiodli liotul agus stop ann ; 

'S cha h' eagal duinn le comhstri. 

Ged 'dh'olt' na bhiodh ann. 

'S e th' againn anns an aite so, 

Tarruing dhorn is lamh 

Agus cleas nan con 'bhi sas 

Anns gach aite le'n ceann 

—


GuiJheainaid le durachd, 

A h-uile fear 'ua lunaij^li 

Gun tigeadh lagh na duthclia, 

Gu cunntais gun mhaill ; 

Gun tigeadh achd blio'n rigli sin, 

A b' fhunist' dhuinn a dliireadh. 

'S a chleachd bhi aig ar sinsear, 

'S an tim a bha ann ; 

Cha b'e 'm paipear bronach, 

A shracadh na mo pliocaid, 

Bliiodh againn air son storais, 

Ach or gun bhi ineallt ; 

Crodh is eich is feudail, 

Dha 'n cunntadh air an reidhlein, 

Dheth 'm faighte seaHadh eibhinn, 

Air eudann nam beann. 

Mo shoraidh gu Sgui'-urainn, 

'S an coire th' air a culthaobh, 

Gur trie a bha mi dluth ann 

Air chul agh is mhang, 

Ag amharc air mo gbluinean, 

An damh a' dol 's a' bhuirich, 

'S a clieir aige ga dnsgadli, 

Air urhir nan allt ; 

Cha b'e'n duilleag chrianaich, 

A chleachd e bhi ga bhiathadh ; 

Acli biolar agus min-lach, 

Is sliabh gun bhi gann ; 

Nuair rachadh e ga iarraidh, 

Gun tairneadh e troimh fliiaclan, 

An t' uisge cho glan sioladh, 

Ri fion as an Fhraing. 

Mo shoraidh leis an fhiadhach, 

Ge trie a bha mo mhiann ann ; 

Cha mho 'ni mi iasgach, 

Air iochdar nan allt 

Ge b'ait learn bhi ga iarraidh, 

Le dubhan, is le driamlacli, 

'S am fear bu gliile bian diubh, 

Ga shiabadh nni'm cheann ; 

;


(ia tharruing tliun na l)ruaiche, 

Bhiodh cui1)hle 'dol iiiu'ii cuaivt leis, 

Is croinag ami ga bualadh, 

Mu'u tuaims a bhiodli ann ; 

Ach 's e th' again n anns an aite so, 

" Grippin hoe" a's lamhag, 

'S chan fhasa learn a' mliairlin 

'Cuv tairnich na'm cheann. 

Na'm faighte lamli-an-uaclidar, 

Air luchd nan cota ruadha, 

Gun deanainn seasamh cruaidh, 

Ged tha 'n uairs' orm teann ; 

Ged tha iad ga n' ar ruagadh, 

Mar bhric a dol 's na bruachan, 

Gu'm faigh sinn fhathast fuasgladh, 

Bho'n uamhas a th' ann, 

Ma chreideas siblis' an fhirinn, 

Cho ceart 's tha mi ga innse, 

'S cho chinnte lis an disno, 

Gur sibhs' 'bhios an call 

Gur e iiu'r deireadh dibreadh 

Air fhad 's dha 'm cum sibh 'stri ris 

N' as miosa na mar dh' inntrig, 

'S gur cinnteach gur th' ann. 

Sud an rud a dh' eireas, 

Mur dean sibh uile geilleadh, 

'Nuair 'thig a chuid as treine, 

Dheth 'n trend a tha tliall. 

Bithidh crochadh agus reuliadh. 

Is creach air bhur cuid spreidhe, 

Clia'n fhaighear lagh no reusan 

Do reubaltaich ann ; 

Air fhad 's dha 'n gabh sibh fogar 

Bidh ceartas aig Rigli Deorsa, 

Oha bharail dliomh gur spors dhuibh 

An seol 'chaith sibh ann, 

Ach 's culaidh-ghrath is dheisinn 

Sibh fliad 's dha'n cum sibh streup ris, 

'S gur h-aithreach leibh na dheigh so 

An leum 'thug sibh aim. 

DuANAG Altruim.—Le Ian Mac Mhurchaidh dha phaisde ami 

an Carolina-mu-Thuath. Dhaindeoin " Cuothan, is ubhlan, is 

; 

;

smear a 


fas" tha meinu chianalais a' bruclula a raac anna gacb 

[•mm do 'ii diianag so. 

Dean cadalan samhach, 

A chuileau mo ruin ; 

Dean fuireach mar tha thu, 

'S tu an drasd' an ait' ur. 

Bithidli oigfhearan againn, 

Lan beairteis is cliu, 

'S ma bhios tu na d' airidli, 

'S leat fear-eigin dinbh. 

Giir ann an America, 

Tha simi an drasd'; 

Fo dliubhar na coille, 

Nach teirig gu brach. 

'Nuair dh' t'halbhas an dulaclid, 

'Sa thionndaidli's am bias ; 

Bithidh cnomhan bidh ubhlan, 

'S bithidh an siucar a' fas. 

'S ro bheag orm fein, 

Na daoine so th' ann, 

Le' n cotaichean drogaid. 

Ad mhor air an ceann ; 

Le' m briog«annan goirid, 

'S iad sgoilte gu'm bainn, 

Cha 'n fhaicear an t-osan 

— 

'Si bhochdainn a th-ann. 

Tha sinne na'r n-Innseanaich, 

Cinnteach gu leor, 

Fo dhubhar nan craobh, 

Cha bhi h-aon againn beo; 

iVIadaidh allaidh is beistean, 

A g' eibheachd 's gacli frog, 

Gu'm beil sinne 'n ar n-eiginn, 

Bho 'n la threig sinn Righ Deors 

Their mo shoiridh le failte, 

'Chinntaile na 'm bo, 

Far an d' fhuair mi greis m' arach, 

'S mi 'm phaisde beag og.


Bhitheadh fleasgaichean donna, 

Air am bonnaibh ri ceol, 

Agus nionagan dualach, 

'San gruaidh niai' an ros. 

An toiseach an fhoghair, 

Bu cliridheil na'r sunnd, 

Am liadh as an fliireach, 

'S am liradan a grunnd. 

Bhitlieadh luingeas an sgadain, 

A' tighinn fo sheol, 

Bu bhoidheach an sealladh, 

'S fir dhonn aire am bord. 

In 1774 Jolm Macrae, i.e. Ian Mac Mhurchaidh emigrated, 

along with many of his neighbours, from Kintail, Lochcarron, etc., 

and settled in North Carolina. Soon after their arrival the 

American War of Independence broke out, and as might be 

expected they at once Joined and took a prominent part in what 

they considered to be tlie right of Britain. The bard was ultimately 

taken prisoner and confined in a wretched dungeon where 

he soon died. It is said that liis loyal compositions during the 

war greatly inspirited his brother Highlanders, and that the 

Americans Avhen they got him into their hands treated him wîth 

unusual severity. This is (me of the last, probably tlic last, of Ian 

Mac Mhurchaidh's compositions. 

Tha mi sgith 'n fhogar so, 

Tha mi sgith dheth 'n t-strith, 

So an tim dhoruinneach. 

Ged a tha mi fo'n choille, 

Cha 'n 'eil coire ri chomhdach orm. 

Tha mi sgith «fec. 

Ach mi sheasadh gu dileas, 

Leis an High bho' n bha choir aige. 

Mi air fogar bho fhoghar, 

Deanamh thighean gun cheo annta. 

Ann am buthaig bhig bharraich, 

Cha d' thig caraitl dha'ni fheoraich anu. 

Ach na'm bithinn aig a bhaile, 

Gheibhinu cairdean's luchd-eolais ann.


Ach na'n tigeudli Corn wal lis, 

'Sinn a ghluaiseadh gu solasacli. 

'Gu sgrios thoirt air beisdean, 

Thug an t-eideadh san storas uainn 

Thoir mo shoiridh thar linne, 

Dh'ionnsidh ghlinne 'm bii choir dhomli biii. 

Far am minig a bha mi, 

'G eisdeachd gairich laogh og aca. 

Tlioir mo shoiridh le durachd, 

Gn Sgurr-Urain 's math m' eolas ann. 

'S trie a bha mi mu'n cuairt di, 

'G eisdeachd udlaiche croineanaich. 

'S do 'n bheinn ghuirm tha mu 'coinneamh, 

Learn bn shoiliear a neoineanan. 

Thoir mo shoiridh le caoimhneas, 

Gu Torloisich nan smeoraichean. 

Far an trie bha mi mu bhuideal, 

iNIar ri cuideachda sholasaicJi. 

Cha b' e an t-ol bha mi 'g iai-raidh, 

Ach na b'fhiach an cuid oranan. 

Sios 's suas troimh Ghleann-seile, 

'S trie a leag mi damh croic-cheannach. 

I do not know wIk) composed this humorous song. From 

the first time, however, that I heard it, the authorship was attributed 

to the Rev. Ranald Rankin, Catholic Clergyman, who left 

Moidai't, and went as a missionaiy to Australia about thirty 

years ago. 

AN T-EACH lARUINN. 

'Se 'n t-each iaruinn fhuair mo mhiann, 

'Nuair a thriallainn air astar ; 

Is e gun diollaid a's gun srian, 

Siubhal dian leinn do Ghlaschu. 

Se 'n teach, &c. 

'S ann air a bhios an t-sitrich chruaidh, 

'N am dha gluasad o'n Chaisteal ; 

Tothan geala tigh'nn o shroin, 

'S e ro dheonach air astar


Cha'n iarr e fodar na feur, 

'S cha'n eil siol dha mar chleachdadh ; 

Ach an teine chiir r'a tharr, 

'Se sud abhaist mar bhraic-theist. 

Tha fuaim a chuibhleachan am chluais, 

Mar thorann cruaidh tigh'nn o chreachan: 

Mar ghille-mirein dol iii'an cuairt, 

Chi thu coilltean, sluagh, a's clachan. 

Tha riadh de charbadan na dheigh, 

'San ionad fein aig bochd a's beartach ; 

An uair a rachadh e na leum, 

B'fhaoin do mhac a fheidh a leantuinn. 

Sud riut a nis a ghaoth-tuath, 

Dubhlan do'n luatlis tha 'n ad chasan ; 

Feuch riut Eohis na'n speur, 

Ma's tu fein is trein' air astar. 

Tha 'n t-each aluinn, calma, treun, 

Tha e raeamnach, gleusda, reachdnihor ; 

An t-each a bhuidhneas geall gach reis, 

Cha'n 'eil feum a dhol a ghleachd ris. 

S' coma leam coitse nan each mall, 

Cha'n 'eil ann aca culaidh-mhagaidh ; 

Cha'n fhearr leam gige na'n each fann, 

Cha'n 'eil ann ach glige-ghlaige. 

Mar chloich-mhuilinn dol na deann, 

Sios le gleann o bharr leachdainn, 

Tha gach cuibhle a ruith bhios ann, 

Falbh le srann 's an dol seachad. 

M' eudail gobha dubh a ghuail, 

'S e thug buaidh air na h-eachaibh, 

Leis a' ghearran laidir luath, 

Falbh le sluagh eadar bhailtean. 

Linn nan innleachdaii a th'ann, 

Gu sluagh a chur na'n deann air astar ; 

An litir sgiiobhas tu le peann, 

Ma'n dean thu rann bidh i 'n Sasunn


Na'n eireadli iia m,iirl)h o'n uir, 

Dh'fhaicinii gacli ni uir a th'againn, 

Cha chreideadh iad an soalladh shl, 

Nach e druidheachdaii a bh'againn. 

Ni e bodaich bheinne dhusgadh, 

'S daoine-sith blia uiii' na'n cadal ; 

Teichidh iad le geilt 'sna ciiiltean, 

Mu'n teid am niuchadli no'n spadadh. 

Siubhlaidh bat'-na-sniuid air chiian, 

Sgoltadh stuadh, 's ga'n cuir seachd ; 

Seolaidli long o'n Airde Tuath, 

Le gaoth chruaidh 's frasan sneachda. 

Cha'n ionnan sud 's mo ghearran doiin, 

'Nuair dheireadh fonn air gu astar ; 

Cha'n iarr e coircc no moll, 

Ach uisge' na chom 'nuair bhios tart air. 

Na'm faiceadh tu Iain Ruadh is claon air, 

A glaodhaich gu aird a chlaiginn, 

" Mur stad sibli an t-each donn a dhaoine, 

Cha bhi tuilleadh saoghail againn." 

Bi'dh an t-eagal ann, 's cha'n ioghnadh ; 

Fear ri faoineis, 's fear ri magadh ; 

Chluinnidh tu iad air gach taobh dhiot, 

Fhearaibh 'sa ghaoil— " What a Rattle !" 

Gus an rathad a bhi reidh, 

'S nach bi eis air na astar, 

Ni e toll am bun gach sleibh, 

'S bheir e reis 'stigh na achlais. 

A ruith troi' uamha chreagach dhorch, 

'Rinn am fudar gorni a' sgoltadh ; 

Gu'm bheil nibran eagal orm 

Gu'm buin a thoirm uara mo chlaisteachd. 

Chi thu sluagh ann as gach aite, 

A talamli Chanaan as a Sasunn, 

Eadar Peairt 'sam Brumlath, 

Eadar an Spainnt a's Braigh Lochabar. 

The next song was composed by Duncan Macrae, who was 

tacksman at Conchra, Lochalsh. He had a family of sons, one of

156 Gaelic Society of inuerness. 

— 

wlioni was married to a daughter of a tacksman, i.e., Farquhar 

^lacrae of Fadoch. So well was Macrae at Conchra pleased 

with the first marriage that he proposed another son of his should 

many Janet, a younger daughter of Fadoch. Accordingly he 

accomiânied his son, who was a widower, to hear what Miss 

Janet might have to say on the subject. Her would-be father-inlaw 

places the result of his journey, and his interview with 

Seonaid, before us as follows : 

'Nuair thug mi 'n Gleann mu Nollaig orni, 

'S trom a ghabh mi 'n t-aithreachas, 

Gun fhios nach iad na dramaichean. 

Thug oirnn bhi farraid Seonaid. 

'Nuair shuidlieas mi na m' aonaran. 

Gum bi mi trie a smaoineachadh. 

Gun d' fhuair mi 'm bonn nan aonaichean, 

Bean donn an aodainn bhoidheich. 

Bha i maiseach niaoineachail, 

Gun robh i stocail daoineachail. 

Cha n fhaca mi bean t'aogaisg, 

'Dh-aon taobh 'san robh ini eolach. 

Fhuair mi toil do mhathar leat, 

Toil t'athar is do bhraithrean leat, 

'S cha leigeadh Righ nam Papanach, 

A'chaoidh do 'n Aird le dheoin thu. 

Gheibh tliu duine dh'iarrainn duit, 

Tigh geal an aite tiorail. 

Each is gille 's diollaid, 

'S do chur sios gu Gaol na Doirnidh. 

Chuir thu dhiot gun leisgeul mi, 

Cha'n eil mi uair 'na t'eisimeil, 

Ma tlia thu 'g iarraidli teisteanas, 

Cuir ceist air Ijean an drobhair. 

Tha fear* an Gleannstrafairire, 

'S e an comhnuidh tighinn da tharach ort, 

Cha 'n ann do slilioclid nan greannanach, 

Gur ro mhath 'b'aithne dhomhs iad. 

*This was Hugh Fraser, locally known as Fear Dheadhanaidh. 

He was the only brother of the hite Bobert Fraser, laird of 

Aigais.


'Nuair chaidli mi air 'n t'saothair \u\, 

Gun thacliair tir Cliill-FIiaolain riuiii, 

'8 gun d' ol sinu botul taosgach, 

Ged' robh c daor sail Toiseaclid. 

B'iad Slid an comiinn faoiltoacliail, 

Cha d' cliiiir iad suil am priobairijaclid, 

13ha pailteas bidh is diblie aca. 

Deadh fhidhlcir agus orain. 

Dol seachad 'm beul an anrauich dhomh, 

Gun thacliair fearaibh Shalachaidli rium, 

'S ann dhoiiihsa fein a dhearbh iad, 

Nach robh an t-airgiod gaiin na'm pocaid. 

Gun chuir iad sgioba is bata learn, 

Gu m' fhaicinn dJiachaidh sabhailte, 

'S gun d 'ol sinn ' nuair rainig siiin, 

Deoch slaint na bha guu phosadh. 

Janet Macrae, the subject of the above Luinneag was con- 

sidered a great beauty ; but as she proved herself to be so proficient 

in rejecting the hand of some of the finest, handsomest, and 

best situated gentlemen in tlie surrounding districts, a local poet 

apostrophised her as follows: 

Mo nigliean bhuidhe bhoidheach, 

A phosadh a h-uile fear 

Tha coignear dlia d' iarraidh, 

Fad bliadhna dhaoin' urramach, 

Tha triur dhiubh sin posda, 

'S tha Seonaid gun duin' aice. 

Miss Janet, however, did not choose to remain long on the 

spinster list, and when she made her selection, the neighbours used 

to say, after William Ross : 

Ma fhuair thu do roghainn, 

Do dh-fhearaibh an domhain gu leir ; 

Tha fios aig na h-eolaich 

Mar bhuilich thu deonach do speis, (kc. 

— 

This Luinneag is the composition of William Macbean, a 

native of Kingussie. He was one of about three hundred passengers 

on board the "St George", which sailed from Oban in 1838. 

After five months at sea, they arrived safely at their destination 

Sydney, New South Wales. As the most of the passengers were 

from the Highlands, song and story were in requisition. I heard 

;


it said by some that were on board that Macbeaii endeavoured 

to make them feel the long voyage tlie happiest and most charming 

part of theii- lives. 

LUINNEAG. 

Gu ma slan do na fearibh 

Chaidh thairis an cuan, 

(jiu talamh a gheallaidh, 

Far nach fairich iad tuachd. 

Gu ma slan do na mnathan 

Nach cluinnear a gearan ; 

'S ann theid iad gu smeireil 

Gar leantinn thar 'chuan. 

Gu ma slan, tfec, 

Is na nighneagan boidheach, 

A dh'fhalbhas leinn conihladh, 

Gheibli daoine ri 'm posadh, 

A chuireas or nan da chluais. 

Gu ma slan, &c. 

Gheibh sinn aran is im ann, 

Gheibh sinn siucar is ti ann ; 

'S cha blii gainn' oirnn fhin, 

'S an tir 's bheil buaidh. 

Gu ma slan, «fec. 

Nuair dh'fhagas sinn an t-aite so, 

Cha chuir iad mor ndial oirnn ; 

'S cha bhi an Fheill Martainn 

Cur naire ann ur gruaidh. 

Gu ma slan, »fec. 

Gu fag sinne an tu- so, 

Cha chinnich aon ni ami 

Tha 'm buntata air dol a dhith ann, 

'S cha chinn iad le fuachd. 


Gheibh sinne crodh agus caorich ; 

Gheibh sinne cruithneachd air raointean, 

'S cha bhi e clio daor dhuinn 

Ri fraoch an taobii tuatli. 

Gu ma slan, ttc. 

;


'Nuair a tlieid mi do'ii mhoiiadli, 

A niach Ic mo gluinna, 

Cha bhi geamair no duine 

(j}a ma chiir air an ruaig. 

Gu ma slan, &ic. 

(5hoil)li sinne sioda agiis srol ann ; 

(Ilunbh sinne pailtoas do'n cliloinih ann, 

'S ni na mnathan dhuinn clodli dlieth, 

Air seol an taobh tuath. 

Gu ma slan, iliic. 

Cha bhi lad ga'r dnsgadh 

Le clag Chiiin-a-gliiubhsaich ; 

Cha bhi e gu duireas 

Ged' nach duisg sinne cho luath. 


It is said that the following song was composed tor Duncan 

^Macrae, son of Fanûhar Og of Morvich, Kintail, on his being laid 

up after spraining his foot. 

Huil obhan ho guri lio, 

Huil obhan ho ro hi, 

Huil obhan ho guri lio, 

Cadal trom gun deach' dhiom. 

'S dona sud a " Bhothain"* bhochd, 

A nochd gue dubhach a tha, 

Sealgair nan aighean 's na laogli, 

Na lidhaidh sa thaobh ri lar. 

Cha b'e sud 's na chuir thu suil, 

A bhi tarraing a'bhruchd bho'n traigh, 

Ach leaghadh luaidhe an camus cruinn, 

'S tu leagadh na suinn gu lar. 

Beannan beag san robh do mhiann. 

Dha shireadh ri gaoth an iai', 

Lorg-ealadh ri sgur-ljheinn chas, 

Sud am beus a chleachd thu riamh. 

Beiim-a-mheadhain ghlas' n fheoir, 

San sgaoil an ceo mas eirich grian. 

Far a minig a bha mo ghradh. 

Air uileanu air sgath nam tiadh. 

Bothan is said to be the name of the hunter's dog.

IGO Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

Beinn ii Ghiusaichoan ma tliuath, 

'S braigli leachd nam fuar blieann gorm, 

An trie a thug tliu callaidh toll, 

Ann sa bheinn an cluinnte toh-m. 

Creagan sgeodach dubh an fhraoich, 

An darna taobh do Ohona-ghleann cas, 

Far a minig a blia thu gliaoil, 

A feitheamh ri gaoth Mheal-dhamh. 

Dair-dhoire nan damh dearg, 

Sail-cliaorainn nan earb 's nam boc,. 

Far 'ai bu trie thu air do ghlun, 

'S do ghillean air cul nan cnoc. 

'S iomadh beinn is tulaich ard, 

Is talanih garbh ri sneachd 6g, 

A shiubhail do ehalpa treun, 

'S air talamh reidh fhuair thu leon. 

Sona sud a Bhothain bhochd, 

A nochd gur subhach a tha, 

Bho n fhuair cas Dhunnachaidli luatlias, 

Togaidh sinn suas ri Gleann Mhic Phail. 

The following tliree fragmentary stanzas are like the jire 

ceding ones : 

— 

Sud a cheaird dha 'n d' thug mi speis, 

'Nuair a bha mi eutrom og, 

Bhi falbh le gunna fo 'm sgeith, 

Gleidheadh an fheidh au' a lorg. 

'S tfic a rinn mi siubhal fann, 

Air feadh allt is ghlac is fhrog, 

'S fraoeh agus seileach ann, 

Cho ard ri mo eheaun is eorr. 

An te sin a th' agam na 'm uchd, 

'S trie a rinn i full an glaic, 

'Nuair a lasadh i air torn, 

Dh' fhagadh i an dandi donn fo lot. 

In my younger days in Strathglass I used to hear the ft)l lowing, 

but bave not heard it since I left that country. My memory

— 

Old Gaelic Songs. IGl 

may not have sufficiently served mo to enable ine to supply the 

complete song, but I shall be glad to receive any verses 1 may 

have omitted : 

'S trom an luchd tha mi giulan air m' inntinn, 

Dh'fhag sud m' aigneadh air chinnt ann an cas, 

'S mi bhi smaoiutiu bho chionn cor agus l)liadhna, 

Gur a modha tha mi crianadh na fas, 

Righ phriseil nnir a dean tliu orm foirinn, 

Tha mi 'm priosan aig doruinn an sas, 

'S trie m' easlaint a g' innse le deitir, 

Gur fear-binn air mo bheathsa 'm has. 

Am bas ged' a dh' fhaicinn e tigliinn, 

Cha 'n eil e beo fear a chitheadh mo dheoir, 

Bho'n a chaill mi gach solas a bh'agam, 

Sa tha mi gun dad deth mo threoir, 

Chaol bhanaich mo lamhan 's mo chasan, 

'S air m' aisnean cha'n eil dad a dh-fheoil, 

Chaill mi uile mo dhealljh agus m' aogasg. 

'S trie tha m' aodann air chaochladh gach neoil. 

Tha 'n saoglial so caochlaideach uile, 

'S mairg riamh a chuir bun 'as a ni, 

A anabharra saibhreas no spionnaidh, 

Bho 'n as furasda leis bhi gar dith. 

'Nuair a shaoil leam gum bu teoilha mo shandiradh, 

Bhuail dudhlachd a' gheamhraidh orm crxiaidh, 

Ghrad thionndan an saoghal mar fhaoileach, 

'S dh'fhag sud dhomhsa gach caolas mar chuan. 

'S ann a bha mi am muirne le manran, 

Fhad sa bha iad ga m' arach measg Ghall, 

Oha b' annas dhomh jiuit ag ol fiona. 

Mar ri armuinn neo-chrian gun bhi gann, 

Cha robh aou ni dhomh duilich ri f haotainn, 

Air am faodadh mac duine bhi 'n geall, 

'S fhaide an t-sheachdain an diu leam na bhliadhna, 

Slainte 's aidhir air triall bhuam air chall. 

'S ann mar luing ann an doruinn a tha mi, 

'S 1 air bristeadh roimh chlabhraich nan tonn, 

Ann an socair no suidhe cha tamh dhomh, 

Ach mar uibhean ga 'n carandi air di'oll, 

11

1G2 Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

'Nu.iir a shaoil mi tighinn thngam a bhairlinn, 

Bin ga in' thudauadh ghnatli hhav mo bhonn, 

'Righ phriseil mur a gabli tliu fein truas rium, 

Tha do laimh ami sai) iiair' orm gle throm. 

The following sacred poem was composed by the famous 

Juliet of Keppoch, (Sile na Ceapaich). A fragment of it appears 

in Vol. vii. of the Transactions of this Society. The following 

\ersion was transcribed by the late lamented D. C. Macpherson 

of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, from a copy which Iain 

Dan Innse took down from an old servant of Sile. Sile was born 

at Bohuntin, Brae-Lochaber, in 1660, and died in the year 1729. 

Di do bheath', a Mhoire Mhaighdeann, 

'S gnr gile do Mhac na 'ghrian ; 

Rugadh am INIac 'an aois Athar, 

Oighre Fhlathanais ga'r dion. 

B' iosal an ceum thug an Slanair, 

Tighinn a Parras gu talamh ; 

Eugadh e ann an staball, 

Gun tuilleadh aite dha falamh. 

Cha d'iarr Banrainn na h-umhlachd, 

Fuirneiseachd, rum, no seoniar ; 

Cha mho 'dh iarr i mnathan-glaine, 

Ach Righ nan Dul a bhi ga comhnadh. 

Cha d' iarr Miccin na h-uaisle, 

Cuisein, no clusag, no leaba, 

Acli gu'n d' eirich leis a IMhathair, 

Ga' chur sa' mhaingeir na laidhe. 

B' aobhainn an sealladh a fhuair i 

An uair a tliainig e as a collainn ; 

Ga 'shuaineadh 'an anartan bana 

An Slanair a thainig gu'r ceannach, 

Shoillsich reulna anns an athar 

'Rinn rathad do na tri righrean; 

Thainig iad ga shealltaijni le failte, 

'S gaol 'us gradh thoirt da le lirinn. 

Thainig na buachaillean bochda, 

'Ghabhail fradhairc air 's an tim sin 

Misneach do'n lag 's do'n laidir, 

Gu 'bhi cho dana air an ti ud. 

— 

I

Old Gaelic Songs. 1G3 

'N uair chula Herod an ardaiii, 

An targanach a thigh'n gu talanih, 

Cha d' fbag e niicein aig niathair 

Gun a chur gu bas le h-an-iochd. 

Rinn Moire naomh an lagli a chleachdadh— 

Thairg iad an leanabh anns an teampiiU, 

Dh' fbalbh iad a db-oidbche 's a Latba, 

Leis do'n Eipbit 'gliabliail tanibaclid, 

Dh' fbuiriob iad an sin, car tamuil, 

Ga altruni agus ga' aracb 

Ann an gaol, 's 'an gradb, 's 'an uiublachd, 

Le durachd atbar 'lis mathar. 

'Nuair cbnal iad gu'n d'eug Rigb Herod, 

Smaoinicb iad ceum a tboirt dacbaidb, 

Bu mhiannacb leo sealladh de'n cairdean, 

'S 'fliad 's a bha iad gun am faicinn, 

Thug iad cliu do Dbia 's an teampull, 

'S gu Nasaret air dbaibb 'blii tilleadb, 

Suil ga'n d' thug iad tbair an gualainn, 

Dh 'iunntraich iad bhuap am Messia. 

'S iad a blia gu bronach, duilicb, 

Tratb nacb b' fhurasda dbaibb 'fbaotainn ; 

'Sa' mliiad 's a rinn iad ga 'sbireadb, 

Bu dubbacb a bha iad as 'aogais ; 

Ach tim dbaibb dol deiseal a 'n teampull, 

Dh' aithuich iad a chainnt gu beatbail, 

Measg nan ollaichean a' teagasg, 

Bu deas a thigeadh dha labhairt. 

Labhair an sin ris a mbathair 

•' Ciamar a thainig dhut fuireach 1 

'S dubhach a rinn thu ar fagail, 

Na tri laithean bha sinn ga d' sbireadb ;" 

" A mbathair na l)iodh ortsa mulad, 

Ged a dh' fbuirich mi 's an teampull; 

Seirbhis m'athar anns na flaitheas, 

Feumaidh mi feitbeamh 's gach am dbi. 

" A liuthad latha fuachd 'us acras, 

Siubhal seachrain agus imeachd, 

A th' agamsa ri fhulang fhathast, 

Mu'n teid mo ghnothuch gu iinid ; 

;


Fuilgidh mi fhathast mo hhaistoadh, 

Fuilgidli mi traisg anus an fliasach, 

Fuilgidh mi 'n namhaid ga m' bliuaircadh, 

'Us mo bhualadh, 'us mo phagadh. 

" Fuilgidh mi breth agus biiin, 

; ; ; 

'Us mo chur sios le fianais-bhroige 

Seallaidh mi gu h-\imhlaidh, iseal, 

Ged a dhitear mi 's an eucoir. 

Mo chni- bho Philat gu Herod, 

A dh' innseas sgeula mar is aill leo, 

'S bho 'ii nach dian mi mar is math leo, 

Cuirear deis' de 'n anart bhan orm." 

'N uair a dlieasaich iad an t-suipeir 

Dha fhein 's do na bh' aige de mhuiniitir, 

Bheannaich e agus bhlais e, 

Rinn e sin an casan ionnlad. 

'N uair dh' aithnich e 'm bas ga riribh, 

Dh' fhag c dileab aca deonach ; 

Bho 'n nach d' fhaod e aca fuireach, 

Bheannaich e'fhuil agus flieoil dhaiMi. 

Rinn e anns a' gharadh urnaigh, 

Chuir c gu dluth dheth fallus fala ; 

Dh' fhuilig e rithist a sgiursadh, ^ 

'Us crun a chur air de 'n drcathann fl 

; 

Sraugaidean a chur na 'aodann, V 

'S a bhualadli air gach taobh le'n dearnaibh, 

Ghiulain e 'clirois air a ghuailnean, 

'Sa chur suas eadar dha mheirleach. 

Bhlais e'n cupa 's an robh 'n t-searbhag, 

Tiota beag mu'n d' fhalbh an anail 

Thug e matlianas dh'a naimh.lean, 

'S liubliair e do 'n Ard-righ 'anam, 

Leig a sios as a' chrois E, 

Liubhair iad a chorp dh' a mhathair 

I fhein 's na bh 'aice de mhuinntir, 

Rinn iad anns an uir a cliaramli. 

Aig fheothas 's a i-inn thu a ghleidheadh, 

A dh' fhalbh leis a latha 's a dh-oidhche ; 

Aig fheothas 's a rinn thu air feitheamh, 

Di do bheath', a Mhoiro Mliaigluleann ;

Coapaich. 


l.)i do l)lic;itir, a Mhoirc Mluiiylidcaun, 

'S gur gile do mhac na 'gliriaii ; 

Rugadh am mac 'an aois 'Atliar, 

Oighre Fhlathauais g'ar dion. 

1 shall conclude by giving you one more Rami \yy Sile na 

Beir mo shoiridli leis an ti, 

Blia caitheamh na sligh' air a li-aineol 

Ged a dli' fliag iad as an deigii sinn, 

Cha 'n fliios nach ciginn duinn an leanachd, 

Ged fliogair iad sinn as an riglieachd, 

'S suarach an dith air a Pliap e 

Cha ghluais sid an Eaglais dhaingeann 

Dh' fhag mo Righ air carraig laidir. 

Cha dean geataichean ifrinn, 

Na idir cumhachdan dhaoine ; 

Car a chur dhith as a laraich, 

Clachairean cha d' fhag cho faoin i. 

Rinn iad ballaichean de d' cholluinn, 

\S rinn iad uinneagan de d' chreuchdan ; 

'S ann de d' liheul a rinn iad dorus, 

'S do dha shuil na 'n solus gle gheal. 

Rinn iad sgliata de d' chrun-dreathain, 

Agus staidhir de d' chrann-ceiisda ; 

Rinn iad le traisg 'us le urnaigh, 

'Teannachadh gu dluth ri cheile ; 

Bha Moire, Bhaintigliearn' air a h-ui*lar, 

DIl fliuirneisich an da Ostal deug i, 

Aig na fhuair iad rithe 'shaothair ; 

Fad an saoghail gus an d' eug iad. 

Cheangail iad a chreud mu'n cuairt di 

Mu 'm fuasgladli i as a cheile ; 

Bha seachd glasan air a h-ursainn, 

'Sa h-iuchraichean aig luchd-gleuta ; 

Bha seachd glasan air a h-ursainn, 

'S a h-iuchraichean aig luchd-gleuta ; 

Comas a dunadh 's a fosgladh, 

Dh' fhag na h-Ostail sud mar oighreachd. 

; 

;

16G Gaelic Society of Inverness 

Baisteadli, Daingneachadli 'an ordugh 

Corp glorndior Cliriosta, 's Faoisid ; 

Ola-ro-bhas, Ordugh, 's Posadh, 

Gur h-iad sud 'bii choir dhuinu fhaotainii. 

Tha seachd peacannan ri sheachnadh ; 

'S tha seachd subhailcean gu'n claoidh sin, 

Mu'n tig an ceud sheachd gun fbios duinn 

An t-seachd eil 'bhi tiic na'r cuimhne. 

Uabhar, sannt, druis, craos, 

Leisg, farmad, agus fearg ; 

Gur h-iad sud a chur bho'n dorus, 

Mu 'ni faigh sinn cronachadh garg, 

Tha seachd eile na d heigh sin, 

Seachd a tlia feuiaail do 'n anam, 

Biadh, fardacli, agus aothich, 

'Thoirt do dhaoine na 'n airce. 

'N uair a chUiinneas sinn gur bas e, 

Comhnadh gu'm fagail 's a 'chlachan. 

Na ceithir criochan mu dheireadh, 

'N am dealachadli ris an t-saoglial 

Bas, Breitheanas, a's Flathanas, 

— 

'S Ifrinn an rathad nach caomh lein, 

'S bho nach caomh leinn dol g'a f haicinn, 

Biomaid air ar faicill daonnan, 

'S cinnteach mi nach fliaod sinn fuireach, 

'N uair thig sumanadh o'n aog oirnn. 

10th February 1886. i 

On this date, Councillor T. S. Macallister, of the Northern 

Hotel, Inverness, was elected an honorai-y member ; and Mr Alex. 

Maclean, teacher, Culloden, and Mr William Macdonald, clerk, 03 

Church Street, ordinary members. I\Ir Duncan Campbell, editor 

of the Northern Chrotiicle, read a pai)er on 

its Language, History, and People ;" and 

"The Isle of ^lan : 

Mr John Whyte, 

librarian, Inverness, read a paper on "Gaelic Phonetics," which 

was very favouiably reviewed by the members present. 

Mr Campbell's paper was as follows : 

;

The Isle of Man. 167 

THE ISLE OF MAN—ITS HISTORY AND 

LANGUAGE. 

The Isle of Miui lies out iu the Irish Sea, at soinothing like; 

eijual ilistanccs from Scothmd, England, and Ireland. It is without 

insular company except that of its own Calf. The Point of 

Ayre is only 16 mih^s from Burrow Head, and 21 from the Mull 

of Galloway. By means of these two seaward extensions of 

WijL'townshire Scotland claims closer neighbourhood with the Isle 

of Man tlian Ireland, England, or Wales. The distance from 

I'eel to Strongford Lough, in Ireland, is 27 miles. It is jiist the 

same distance Ijetween IMaugiiold Head, in Man, and St Bees 

I lead, in Cumberland. Forty-five miles measure the space between 

the Calf of Man and Holyhead in Wales. The Calf is a bluff 

rocky farm of 800 acres, devoted, I believe, to rabbit breeding. 

It is separated from Man by a channel of three miles, which cannot 

be crossed every day, nor at times for weeks at a stretch. 

The Calf is a striking feature of the picture the island kingdom 

presents to the eyes of those coming by ship or steamer from 

Liverpool or Ireland. Man itself is 33 miles long and 12 miles 

broad, but it tapers at both ends. A bold range of hills, which 

assume the imposing airs of real mountains, occupies the interior 

along the line of length, and sends spurs and bluffs down to the sea. 

The northern part of the island is carse or " magher " land ; but it 

may be noticed in passing, as a peculiarity of the Manx language, 

that in it the separate field becomes the " Magher," and that every 

boundary, whether a fence or an invisible line, is called " cagliagh." 

Man has an area of 150,000 statute acres, more than 90,000 of 

which are cultivated. The population is about 54,000. In " the 

good old times" it fluctuated from 10,000 to 14,000. It was a 

little over 14,000 when the Duke of Athole succeeded his relative, 

the last Earl of Derby of the old line, as " King in Man " iu the 

year 1736. In 1829 the British Government finally acquired all 

the property and rights of the Athole family in the kingdom of 

Man, and at that time the po[)ulation had reached 40,000. Considering 

that regular steamei-s from Liverpool and Barrow-in- 

Furness now make the Isle of Man in general, and Douglas, its 

modern capital, in particular, the favourite watering-place of Yorkshire 

and Lancashire, the increase of the population since 1829 

is not very remarkable, when this further fact is likewise taken 

into account, that the silver, lead, and copper-mining industry 

began by the Muriays has of late been immensely developed.

168 Gaelic Society of Inuerness 

Douglas, a liaiHlsome town at the head of a picturesque bay, may 

be said to live iij)on visitors. So also may Peel —that is to say, 

Port-na-hinsey—the place on the shore which has usuri)eil the 

name of the old rock-islet acropolis. The farming jtopulation is 

just what it ought to be, neither too sparse nor too crowded. The 

farms in general are of fair size and well cultivated. Those thai 

live by the land stick to the land, those th&t live by mining stick 

to mining, and those that live by the sea stick to the sea. The 

Manxmen have a large fleet of superior fishing smacks, which 

covers the Irish Sea from side to side when its fishing is good, 

and goes out far when the shoals are elsewhere. They have capital, 

organisation, and the great advantage of large markets for fish at 

their doors. But most of these hardy, cheerful, industrious Manx 

fishermen go to the ends of the earth as sailors once or oftener in 

their lives. Both the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy profit 

by their services. Fully half the Manx population dwell 

in the towns and large villages. Douglas has 14,500, Castleton, 

or Balla Chastal, 

mis-named Peel—3500, 

3000, Port-na-hinsey or Holmtown 

and Ramsay 400. Port Erin, Port 

Mary, the mining village of Laxey, and other villages depending 

solely on mining, fishing, and lodging-house and shopping business 

contain the remainder of the urban population. The island is 

lovely in summer, and mild, but somewhat wet and foggy in 

winter. Fuschias, myrtles, and other exotics are not killed by 

winter frosts. Douglas, with its fine bay, sea-wall, terraces, concrete 

and moulded houses, tree-like fuschias, and l)eautiful landscape, 

is more like a southern continental than a British town. 

The people, both urban and rural, make a pleasing impression 

upon visitoi-s. They are energetically industrious, orderly, genial 

—with a flash of hastiness —and generally prosperous. The Norsemen 

have scarcely left a trace behind them, except in a few names 

of places and the evil memory of tyrannical institutions. In the 

Manx peoiile of the present day the black-eyed, black-haired, 

round faced, Celtic ty])e is not only predominant, but it almost 

excludes all other types. They are heavier and stronger people 

than the Welsh, yet althougli their language is not British, but 

Gaelic, they are wonderfully like the Welsh in set, features, and 

characteristics. 

Mannan, or INlanninan, is said to have been the first ruler, if 

not the flr.st planter of Man. In tlie old Statute Book of the 

island he is thus described :-— " Maiiiiinan-beg-n)ac-y-Lear, the 

first man who held IMan, was ruler thereof, and after whom the 

land was named, reigned many years, and was a paynini (heathen). 

—


Ho kci)t tlic l.incls uiidor mists by liis necromancy : 

if In- dreaded 

an enemy, lie would of ano 'nan cause, to seem one hundred, and 

tliat by art mati;ie." Tradition furtlier allirms that the mai^dcian 

Mannan and his followers were expelled from the island on tlie 

arrival of St Patrick. But this tradition is inconsistent with a 

custom still obseived at Midsunnncr, on the eve of St John the 

Baptist, when people carry green rushes and meadow grass to the 

top of Barrule, one of the highest njountains in Man, in payment 

of rent to Manninan-beg-mac-y-Lear. The name of this high hill 

is descriptive of its shape, for, in its Manx form— " Baare-ooyl " 

it signifies "the top of an ap})le." In the strange poem gathered 

into his collection by (he Dean of Lismore, which describes how 

Caoilte redeemed Fionn froni King Cormac's prison by bringing 

that monarch a rabble of animals, are mentioned. 

And again 

Da mhuc mhucaibh I\Ihic Lir." 

" Tugas learn each agus lathair 

De irhreidh mhaiseach Mhananain." 

The Dean ascribes the authorship of the poem to Caoilte Mac 

Ronain himself. We may therefore conclude that, in the form in 

which he got it, it must have been floating about at least a hundred 

and fifty years before 1512, when the collection of songs was 

finished. The Dean belonged to a priestly and literary family 

whose continued memory for five generations would have prevented 

him from attributing to a Fingalian hero an ur-sgeul ballad made 

near his own time. But Ewen M'Comic, the Baron of Dail 

Ardconaig, was the Dean's contemporary, and, being sick for a 

long time, the baron made a song, in which he mentioned the 

many wonderful things he would give, if he only had them, to 

[lurchase good health. Among the ransom oft'erings lie mentions 

" Greidh is aidlire Mhananain." 

The herds and flocks of Mananan. 

Mananan's father became Shakcsi)eare's " King Lear." The Manx 

people call their island " Elian Mhannin." Julius Csesar, fifty 

years before the Christian era, heard of it under the name of 

" Mona." Tacitus, on the other hand, writing near the end of 

the first century of the Chi'istian era, calls Angelsea "Mona." 

This Welsh Mona was the great university of Druidic theology 

and learning when the Roman commandei-, Sentonius Paulinus, 

invaded it, a.d. 61, and killed the Druid priests and professors, 

and cut down the sacred groves. But there is reason to believe, 

—


from the traces they have left behind, that the reiiiuaiit of the 

Druids sought shelter in the other Mona after the slauglder, and 

had sacred groves and circles there until the time of St Patrick. 

Man is, in fact, a perfect museum of Druidic, Celtic, and Scandinavian 

antiquities. Before the necromancer's time, and peihajjs 

centuries after him as well, the large, big-horned elk or " Ion" 

browsed in the glens of ]\Ian, and looked out from the heights 

upon the few coracles sailing on the surrounding sea. The Duke 

of Athole, who was the last " King in Man," sent to the Edinburgh 

Royal Museum an almost pei'fect skeleton of the great elk, 

which was found in a bed of marl near Ballaugh, in Man. The 

tailless cat exists to tlie present day, and is not at all in danger of 

being extinguished by imported cats. The tailless cat is supposed 

to have had some friendly connection with the necromancer, and 

to have received a perpetual guarantee of existence within the 

Kingdom of Man. The Romans themselves must have seen it, 

for an altar presei'\'ed at Castleton shows that towards the end of 

their rule in Britain they had a military station in Man. The 

inscription tells that the altar was erected to Jupiter, by Marcus 

Censorius, son of Marcus Flavius Volinius, of the Augustensiau 

Legion, Prefect to the Tungrian cohort of the Province of Narbonne. 

Had Celts, Norwegians, and Danes inscribed their Manx 

monuments in Roman fashion, what a singular tale of changes 

they would have told us. 

Gildas, who was born in 493, and died in 57C, in his gloomy 

treatise " concerning the calamity, ruin, and conquest of Britain " 

by the Saxons, mentions incidentally that in x.D. 395, in the reigns 

of Arcadius and Honorius, a Scot named Brule was Governor of 

Man. It is probable that Brule came to Man from Ireland, as 

the Scots had scarcely begun to plant colonies in Scotland at that 

time. In 517 the island was conquered by Maelgywn, Prince of 

North Wales, and it continued to be ruled by a dynasty of his race 

until Anarawd, the last Welsh King of Man, died in 913. 

Shortly afterwards the Scandina\ian sea-ro\er, Gorree or Orry, 

concjuered the island, and formed the Kingdom of Man and the 

Isles. Gorree is supposed to have instituted the Tynwald Court, 

established the Taxiaxi, now called the House of Keys, and 

divided the island into sheadings. The last king of his dynasty 

di(;d about 1040. He was succeeded by Goddard, son of Sygtrig, 

King of the Danes. This Goddard was, after confusions and 

invasions, succei'ded l)y his .son Fingal. Goddard Crovan or 

Chrouban, son of Harold the Black of Iceland, in 1077 slew 

King Fingal, completely subdued Man, and brought most of


the Scottish ishiiuls uiuU'r his subjection. The hist of Crovan's 

nice who ruled in Man was Magnus. After tlie battle of Largs 

he ri'jectetl the suzerainty of Norway, and did homage to Alexander 

Tir. of Scotland. He died childless in 1265, and the Scottish 

King took possession of the island. Most people have heard 

of the three armed legs which constitute the arms of Man— two legs 

for stjinding and one for kicking—and to which the motto is appended— 

Quocunque jeceris stabit—whichever way you throw it, 

it will stand. Well, it was Alexander of Scotland who gave that 

heraldic symbol to the Manx Kingdom. The island at the death 

of Magnus had been fully three hundred years under stringent 

Norse rule, and yet the Manx people emerged from that long subjection 

as Celtic as they had been in the time of Gildas. Their 

language has adopted many words from English, but it has scarcely 

retained a Scandiiiavian word beyond a few names of places and 

of institutions, such as the Tynwald. Even the strange word 

"Taxiaxi" is said to be Gaelic— meaning guardians or senators 

and to derive itself from "taisg" or "teagasg." 

Man fell under the suzerainty of King Edward Longshanks 

during the war of conquest he carried on with Scotland. It looks 

as if he carried out, or, at least, instigated, the insular revolution 

by countenancing the claims of a pretender with a purely Celtic 

name to the Tynvald Throne. When the great Edward died the 

little Edward, his son, chucked Man back and forward, like a prize 

of little value, among three of his favourites— Piers de Gaveston, 

Gilbert Mac Gascall, and Henry de Beaumont. Bruce descended 

upon Man with ships and warriors from Galloway, Ayr, and 

Argyle in the year 1313. He drove out the English, subdued the 

island, and gave it to his nephew, Randolph, Earl of Moray. 

William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, married Mary, the female 

heiress of the Crovan dynasty, and Edward the Third, allowing her 

claim, aided Salisbury, who took Man from Randolph's heirs in 

1344. He was crowned King of Man with great pomi), but he 

afterwards sold his kingdom to Sir William le Scroop. The buyer 

was attainted for treason, and Man was again chucked from hand 

to hand, until it was granted to Sir John Stanley in 1400. Sir 

John Stanley, the founder of the Derby family, reduced the 

"breast law" of his insular kingdom to writing. He found the 

island, to a great extent, lying waste, and the population small and 

distressed. He encouraged tillage and lishing industry, and 

modified the harsh customs which had come down from the 

Scandinavian conquerors. Upon the whole, the Stanley dynasty 

of Kings in Man, beginning in 1406 and ending in 1736, gave 

—

172 Gaelic Society of hwerness. 

tlie ishinilers peace, prosperity, and justice compared with what 

they used to receive before. But yet they could not be said to be 

popular rulers. The elder branch of the house of Stanley became 

extinct on the death of Earl James in 1736, and while the English 

honours and estates went to the heir male— a very distant kinsman 

indeed of Earl James—the Tsle of Man and the Barony of Stran


preached in any, although the people in their homes throughout 

all the country continue to speak the language of their ancestors. 

Another custom which the Murrays religiously guarded is still 

preserved — " The courts are still fenced in Manx, according to 

ancient traditionary form ; and the island laws are still promulgated 

in jNIanx on the Tynwald Mount." 

The Imperial Government had been using steady pressure for 

more than a century before 18l*9 to get rid of the Kings in ^lan 

and the Manx taritl". As early as 1G70 an enterprising Liverpool 

lirni organised smuggling in Man on a large scale, and made immense 

profit for a time. The English customs and excise duties 

were then comparatively low, but the import duties of Man were 

still so much lower that a good margin of profit was left to the 

smugglers. The situation of the island made it a natural emporium 

for the illicit traders of many lands. The Manx people did 

the distribution work, and in sjiite of ships of war and armed cut- 

tei-s, they glided in their boats with cargoes of brandy, wine, tea, 

and other commodities under cover of night and mists, to the Scotch, 

Irish, English and Welsh coasts. Great pressure was brought upon 

the last Stanley King in Man to sell the island to the Government. 

That pressure, in a stronger degree and in various forms—one 

which was to foment faction and discontent 

was steadily continued during the Murray 

in the 

period. 

island 

When 

nothing else would do, in 1765 the British Government in a 

very high-handed manner constrained the Duke of Athole to sell 

the Manx sovereignty—retaining his proprietary and manorial 

rights, ecclesiastical patronage, &c.—for £70,000. The INIanx 

people were filled with consternation, and many of them hastily 

realised their possessions, and retired from the island. But after 

some yeai-s they recovered confidence, and developed the contraband 

trade to such an extent that a Parliamentary Committee, 

appointed in 1792, estimated the annual loss to the customs of 

Great Britain caused by Manx smuggling at £350,000. It was 

felt that the purchase of the sovereignty was not enough, and that 

till the property and patronage rights were vested in the Crown, 

the neck of the contraband trade could not be broken. So the tithe 

commotion was not officially checked but fostered; and the Duke 

of Athol(;'s position was made so uncomfoi'table that he was at last 

glad to sell out entirely for £416,11-1. 

The ecclesiasical history of Man is to the effect that St 

Patrick converted the heathens of that island, and placed " a holy 

prudent canon of the Lateran, and a disciple of his own named 

Germanus," over them as bishop, that for a long time thereafter tlje 

—

— 


Bishops of ]\Ian rocoivod Irish consecration, tJiat in 838 tlio 

Bishopric of Sodor was constituted by Pope Gregory, and that 

subsequent Bisliops of Man not knowing wlietlier they shouUl 

obey Drontlieini, Yoi-k, or Canterbury, sought confiruiation from 

the Pope. Most of this is true, but I believe St German of Man 

is St German of Auxerre, and that his parish and cathedral on 

the Peel islet confirm views, which, on other gi-ounds, T hold 

regarding the Christianising importance of the work of St Ninian 

and the mission of St Palladius. I believe St German was never 

in Man, except l)y the representation of his friends and (lisci}»los. 

It is a different case with Maughold, the secondary patron saint 

of Man. He was an Irishman, and the chief of a band of rol)bei*s. 

He was (i?L\x^tflagrante delicto or red-handed, brought to St Patrick, 

and converted. But either foi' penance or for punishment he was 

sent to sea in a skin-covered wicker boat, with feet and hands tied. 

Wind and currents drifted him safely to IMaugliold Head in ]\Ian, 

and he became in due time Bishcp of the island. After Maug 

hold tliere was an obscure succession of Irisli, Welsh, and Scotch 

bisliops. About 1130—the Manx date i.s, by evident mistake, 

1113 arose a man who in a curious way connected the Island 

of INIan with our own district, by much trouble, and a fearful 

baptism of blood. In his profession this man thus styled himself 

: Ego Wymunihis snnctae ecclesice de Schid— I, Wymundus, 

of the holy Church of Skye. He someway became one of the 

first monks of the splendid monastery of Furness, on the Cambrian 

shore opposite Man, which was founded in 1124 in the 

midst of a still thoroughly British population, who had been long 

allied with the Albanic nation. Olave, tlie Norwegian King of 

Man and the Isles, granted land at Rushen to Yvo, ablôt of Furness, 

and Abbot Yvo sent over Brother Wymundus and other 

monks to take possession of the affiliated house tliere. Brother 

Wymundus quickly ingratiated himself, not only with the King, 

l)ut with the Celtic people of the isle, who with one acclaim 

elected him for their Bishop, and sent him to Thurstan, Archbishop 

of York, who consecrated him. We may be sure that 

there was not much difference between the Gaelic of Skye and 

the Gaelic of Man in the 12tli century, and it seems the Norwegian 

king as well as the Celtic people of Man were carried 

off their feet liy the eloquence and good looks of Wymundus, wlio 

was tall, handsome, open-faced, and enthusiastic. No .sooner, 

liowever, was Wymundus con.secrated and in.stalled, than he called 

him.self Malcolm M'Heth, the lieir of the Earl or Maormor of 

Moray, who was slajn in 1130, when acting as one of the princi-


pal leaders of the Gaelic insurrection of that year against King 

David and his Anglo-Norman aristocracy and laws. The King of 

Man and Somerled of Argyle, that king's son-in law, believed in 

Malcolm. lie married Somerled's sister, and was soon at the 

hciul of a land and sea force. He was strongly supported in this 

part of the country. I don't believe the man was an impostor, 

although the monkish flatterers of King David and his race branded 

him as such. In a speech to Jving David him.self, Robert de 

Brus, ancestor of the Bruce of Banuockburn, called Malcolm 

M'lleth, the quondani monk and bishop, " heir to a father's hate 

and persecution." 3Ialcolm Î'Heth made descents hei-e, there, 

and everywhere, and disappeared like a sea-bird before the king'g 

forces. He was by degrees shaking King David's throne, and the 

tirst check he received was, strange to say, in Celtic Galloway, 

where the bishop led the array of tlie district, and, to encourage 

the people, threw a small axe at the invader, which chanced 

to strike and fell him. This created a panic among his 

followers, and made them fly. In after years, M'Heth used 

to say boastiiigly, that it was only God through the faith of 

a simple bishop that marred his fortune. After the repulse 

M'Heth suffered in Galloway, King David mustered all his Norman 

cliivalry, and in some place not stated brought M'Heth to 

bay, defeated, and captured him. He sent him as a prisoner to 

Marchmont, or Roxburgh Castle, in 1137; being, as a saintly 

man, afraid to take the life of a foe who had received the tonsure 

and been consecrated a bishop. When King David died in 1153, 

and his grandson, Malcolm the Maiden, succeeded him, M'Heth 

was still a prisoner in Roxburgh Castle. His sons, although mere 

youths, in company with their uncle, Somerled of Argyle, conjured 

up a big storm next year. In 1156, Donald the eldest of 

AI'Heth's sons, was taken prisoner, and sent to join his father in captivity. 

But the war was carried on by Somerled and his other 

nephew with such success that in 1157 young King Malcolm made 

peace with Î'Heth, liberated him, and made him Earl of Ross. 

Malcolm M'Heth gave himself all the airs of a local king in Ross, 

and created for himself enemies among the people and their local 

chiefs, who conspired against him, beset him in a narrow pass, 

captui-ed him, put out his eyes, and turned him out of the county. 

He used to say in after years that if his enemies had left him a 

sparrow's eye he would have been avenged upon them. His 

enemies in Ross put out the eyes of Malcolm M'H^^th about 1161. 

He then retired to the English monastery o? Bylands, where for 

years he livrd, not uncheerfuUy, and whex-e William of Newburgh


becamo acquaintod witli liiin, and in graphic style painted his 

charactor for future ages. M'Heth's sons were associated in all 

his undcM-takings with their great uncle Somerled, until he was 

killed at Jlenfrew in llG-i. They apjmrently settled, married and 

brought uj) heirs to the ancestral hate in Argyleshire, while 

TIarald, Earl of Orkney, put away Afreka, daughter of Duncan, 

Earl of Fife, liis first wife, in order to marry their sister. The 

M'lleths only claimed at the utmost the Earldom of Moray, 

but another claimant appeared on the .scene about 1180, who 

claimed the throne of Scotland. This was Donald Ban, who called 

himself the son of William, son of Duncan, that so-called Jilius 

nothus (bastard son) of Malcolm Ceainimoi'e, who reigned as king 

for a few months. Contemporary authorities never hint King 

Duncan was illegitimate—that was a tiction invented in after times 

l)y monkish chroniclers devoted to the descendants of St Margaret, 

who usurped the rights of the elder liranch of Ceannmore's house. 

Malcolm Ceannmore was undoubtedly married, several years before 

he ever saw the Saxon Margaret, to Ingibiorg, widow of his cousin, 

Earl Thortinn, and there is no good reason for doubting that by 

her he became the father of Duncan, and also of a fair-haired Donald, 

who died in early youth. Duncan at his death left an umloubtedly 

legitimate son, called in Gaelic Uilleam Mac Dhonnacliaidh, and 

in Noi-man William Fitz Duncan. William was a young lad when 

his father died, and was jjrobably then a hostage at the English 

Court. He became, when well advanced in yeai's, the husband of 

Alicia Rumile, the Norman heiress of the strong castle, and great 

lordship of Skipton in Craven. They had one son, the Boy of 

Egremont, who wa.s drowned in the Strid. Craven history tells 

nothing about Willian\ Fitz Duncan before he became Lord of 

Skipton. His father, King Duncan, was killed in 1094, and it was 

not till thirty-six years after that date that William married the 

Norman heiress. 'Jliere is strong reason to believe that he lived 

in his native land, while his uncle, Alexander the Fierce, filled the 

throne of Gaelic Scotland. All things considered, it is very probable 

that William Fitz Duncan had a wife and children before he 

married the Lady of Skipton, when both he and she were no 

longer very young. Be that as it may, after William the Lyon 

had done homage to Ifenry Plantagenet for all liis realm, the 

claimant, Duncan Ban Mac William, was accei)ted by the Gaelic 

people of the North, and of Argyle and the islands, as the true 

heir to the Albanic throne, and he reigned as actual ruler on this 

side of the Grampians for .seven years, before King William, by a 

mighty eilbrt and help from the Normans of England, managed to


ilefwit liiia at Mum Cniibli, or Maiugurvia in Strafehspcy, in the 

year 1187. Donald was slain in the battle, but he left a Clan 

Mac William to cai-ry on the fight. His son, Donald Ban, and 

the descendants of Malcolm M'Heth, gave Alexander the Second 

great trouble as late as 1216, and I am not sure that the circling 

eddies of this long-continued Gaelio revolt against Anglo-Norman 

laws, language, and institutions did not reach down to "Wallace 

and Bruce, and helped largely to secure Scottish independence. 

When I visited the island some years ago, I was told at Douglas 

that INIanx Gaelic was rapidly dying out ; and would altogether 

disappear as a living Linguage with the then generation. The 

vicar of Kirk Braddan and a local Wesleyan preacher were the 

only ministers who preached in Manx, at least in Douglas and its 

neighboui'hood. The new school system had caused Manx to be 

excluded from the public schools. Many of the young people 

were seized with that snobbish spii-it which is so often found to 

prevail in places largely depending on summer visitors, and disowned 

knowledge of Manx, even when their bad English proved 

it to be the only language which they thoroughly understcod. Yet 

it was admitted that when the vicar of Kirk Braddan held Manx 

services in Douglas—the most Anglicised |dace in the island 

he had always crowded audiences. In truth his fidelity to his 

native tongue, his personal character, and his Gaelic eloquence, 

made him a " King of Men !" On looking a little under the surface 

of things, I found that Manx, although veiled, was still strong 

in Douglas, and that with the exception of a part of the Kamsay 

district, which had been invaded toy farmers from the south of 

Scotland, it romained everywhere the household language of the 

Manx people—the language, too, in which love-songs were made, 

and in which Manxmen, meeting in distant parts of the world, 

conversed with one another. I therefore came to the conclusion, 

that although practically banished from pulpit and school, Manx 

Gaelic would live through the period of English summer visitings 

as it had lived through three centuries of Scandinavian and 

Danish rule. The Manx Society founded in 1858, by its many 

valuable publications, has done, and is still doing, much to save 

the Manx language from being obliterated, as the British tongue 

of Cornwall was wiped out in last century, and the Gaelic of Galloway 

was silently killed soon after George Buchanan, about 1580, 

described it in his history as a living language. 

The spelling of Manx Gaelic was always of the phonetic kind, 

but it remained unfixed until the publication of the Manx Bible 

in 1772. Here is the Ix^rd's Prayer, first in Manx, then in the 

12 

—

; 

— 

: 


nearest [)crmissible Gaelic, and lastly as it is ,

As rcn y soilslu-y soilsheuii 

ay lis 11 tlornigliys, as clui ren y 

dorragliys goaill-iish. 

Va clooiimoy er iiy clioyrt 

vcili Joe va enniyssit Ean. 

Jlaiuk oh sholi son foaiiisli, 

(ly yiiiuiyrkoy fcanisli jeiru 

toilslioy, liorisliyu dy vockhigh 

dy chooilley ghooinney credjal. 

CIui nee eh va'n soilshey 

shon, agh v'eh er ny choyrt dy 

yumiyrkey feanish jeh'n toilshoy 

shen. 

8hen va'n soilshey tirrinagh, 

ta soilshean ayns dy chooilley 

ghooinney ta clieet er y theihll. 

V'eh ayns y theihll, as \iiii 

seihll er ny yanno horishyn, as 

y seihll cha dug enney er. 

Haink e gys e vooinjer hone, 

agh cha ren e vooinjer heue 

soiaghoy jeh. 

Agh whilleen as ren soiaghey 

jeh, dauesyn hug eh pooar ay ve 

nyn raec dy Yee, eer daiiesyn ta 

credjal ayns yn ennym echey 

Va er nyn ruggey , cha nee jeh 

fuill, ny jeh aigney ny foalley, ny 

jeh aigney dooinney, agh j(ih Jee. 

As ghow yn Goo er dooghys 

ny foalley, as ren eh baghey nyn 

mast' ain (as hug shin my-ner 

yn ghloyr echey, yn ghloyr myr 

jeh'n ynrycan 3Iac er-ny-ghoddyn 

jeh'n Ayr) lane dy ghrayse 

as dy irrinys. 

(Dymmyrk Ean feanish jeh, 

as deie eh, gi'a, Shoh eh jeh ren 

mish loayrt, T'eshyn ta cheet my 

yei er ny hoiaghey roym ; son 

v'eh roym) 

As jeh'n slanc towse echey ta 

: 


Agus tha 'ii solus a* soillseachadh 

anus an dorchadas, 

agus cha do ghabh an dorchadas 

e. 

Ohuireadh duine o Dliia, d'ain 

b'ainui Eoin. 

Thainig esaii mar fhiaiiuis, 

chum lianuis a tlioiit iiiu'n tsolus, 

chum gu'n creideadh na 

h-uile dhaoine trid-san. 

Cha b'esan an solus sin, ach 

chuireadh e chum gu tugadh e 

tianuis mu'n t-solus. 

B'e so an solus fior a ta soillseachadh 

gach uile dhuine tha 

teachd chum an t-saoghail. 

Bha e anns an t-saoghal, agus 

rinneadh an saoghal leis, agus 

cha d'-aithnich an saoghal e 

Thainig e dh'ionnsuidh a dhuthcha 

fein, agus cha do ghabh a 

)ahuinntir fein ris. 

Ach a mheud as a ghabh ris, 

thug e dhoibh cumhachd a bhi 

'nan cloinn do Dhia, eadhon 

dhoibh-san a ta creidsinn 'na ainm 

A bha air an gineamhuin 

cha'n aim o fliuil, no o thoil na 

feola, 

Dhia. 

no o thoil duine, ach o 

Agus rinneadh am Focal 'na 

fheoil, agus ghabh e comhnuidh 

'nar measg-ne, (agus chunnaic 

sinn a ghloir, mar gliloir aoinghin 

Mliic an Atliar,) 

agus tirinn. 

Ian grais 

(Thug Eoin fianuis uime, agus 

ghlaodh e. ag radh. Is e so an ti 

mu'n do labhair mi. An ti a ta 

teachd a'm' dlieigh, tha toiseach 

aig orm ; oir bha e romham.) 

Agus as a lanachd-san thuair 

:


shiu ooilley er ghcddyn ayrn, as siimeuiU', agus giats air son grais. 

grayse er grayse. Oir thugadli an lagli le Maois, 

Son va'n leigh er ny choyrt achthainigangrasagusanfhirinn 

liorish Moses agh liaink grayse le losa Criosd. 

as fi.irinys liorish Yeesey Creest. Cha'n fliaca neach ur bitli Dia 

Cha vel unnane erbee er vakin riamli ; an t aon-ghin Mic, a ta 

Jee ec traa erbee ; yn ynrycan ann an iiclid an Athar, is esau 

Mac v'er-ny-glieddyn, ta iiyns a dh'fhoillsich e. 

oghrish yn Ayr, eshyn t'er hoilshaghey 

eh. 

17th February 1885. 

On this date R. D. M. Chisholm of Chisholm (The Chisholm) 

was elected a life member. Thereafter 3Ir Alexander Macbain, 

M.A., F.S.A., Scot., Inverness, read a paper on the Heroic and 

Ossianic Literature. Mr Macbain's paper was as follows : 

THE HEROIC AND OSSIANIC LITERATURE. 

Ireland and Scotland had practically a common language and 

literature until the fall of the Lordship of the Isles and the time 

of the Reformation, and even after these events, the ebb of Irish 

influence was felt in our earliest printed works and in the style of 

orthography and of language ado})ted. This close conn

The Heroic and Ossianic Literature. 181 

musicians included Scotland in thoir circuit, and took refuge, and 

sought their fortune there. We shall mention one instance as it 

happens to be instructive in another way, that of Aruireadhach 

O'Daly, better known on account of his long stay in Scotland as 

Muireadhach Albanach, or Muireach the Scotchman." This 

Muireach Albanach is believed to have been the ancestor of 

the jMac Vurrichs, hereditary ])ards to Oianranald, and one of 

them tigures in the Ossianic contro\ersy. The literary language 

remained Irish throughout, from the sixth to the sixteenth century, 

and our first printed book is couched in the Irish of its time, 

the sixteenth century. That work is Bishop Carswell's Gaelic 

Prayer-book. And it, as the famous Irish scholar O' Donovan 

said, " is pure Irish, and agrees with the Irish manuscripts 

of the same period in orthography, syntax, and idiom." The 

literature, equally with the language, was common to both 

countries ; the mythic, heroic, and historic tales Avei'e the 

same, practically, in each country. But the end of the fifteenth 

century saw a change begun ; 

a masterful policy was adopted towards 

the Highlands, and the Lordship of the Isles, the great bond 

between Ireland and Scotland, and indeed the great Gaelic headship 

of the country, was broken up. The Gaels of Scotland, 

thrown on their own resources, advanced their own dialect to the 

position of a literary language, and tried to discard the Irish orthography, 

The first efibrt in this line is the Dean of Lismore's 

Book, about 1512. Little, however, was done in the matter of 

writing down literary compositions, so that the next considerable 

MS. is that of Fernaig in 1688. At the same time the religious 

literature still a])])eared in the Irish form, such as Carswell's book, 

Kirke's works, and the Bible. A compromise was efiected last 

century ; the popular dialect became the literary language, as it 

ought, but the Irish orthography was adhered to still. 

Scotland also dealt with the ballad and tale literature in much 

the same way. The purely popular part of the old Irish-Scottish 

literature was retained ; the tales and ballads of Fionn and his 

heroes were almost the only survivors of the mighty literature of 

the middle and early ages. We see the change lieginning in the 

Dean of Lismore's book ; the favourite heroic ballads are those in 

regard to Fionn, but Cuehulinn is not neglected. Nevertheless, 

last century Macpherson could, without a word of protest from 

friend or foe, bring Cuehulinn and Fionn together as contempor- 

aries ; so much was Cuchulinn's real position in the Gaelic literary 

cycles unknown. 

This i)re-Reformation literature, common to both Ireland and


Scotland, may be called not old Gaelic literature, for Gaelic is 

ambiguous, but "Goidelic" literature. It is the literature of the 

Goidelic or Gaelic branch of the Celtic race, as oj)posed to the 

Brythonic brancli—the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. The Goidelic 

literature sutTered sadly at the hands of time ; first the monks gave 

it their peculiar twist in trying to eliminate paganism from it 

then the unhappy history of the country of Ireland, with its continuous 

wars since the advent of the Norse in the eighth century 

onwards, checked the growth of literature, and much of it was 

thereafter lost in the social wars that lasted on to our own times 

for at times it was dangerous even to possess an Irish MS. 

Goidelic literature is divisible into three cycles or gi-oups. 

There is, first, the mythological cycle ; this deals with the history 

and ethnology of Ireland and Scotland ; second, the Ouchullin 

cycle ; and, third, the Fionn or Ossianic cycle. The first cycle 

deals with the mythical history of Ireland ; it was completely 

recast by the monks of the early middle ages. Consequently the 

Irish gods became merely earthly sovereigns, chiefs of an early 

race that seized on and colonised Ireland. Monkish manufacture 

begins Irish history before the flood, when the Lady Cesair took 

the island. But she and her company were tU owned, all except 

Finntan, who survived the flood in a l)ruidic sleep and lived for 

generations to relate the tale. Several post-deluvian "takings" 

of the island then follow ; but the outstanding invasions 

amount to four. These are, the Fir-bolgs, overcome by the Tuatha- 

De-Danann, both of whom were successively annoyed by the Fomorians 

or sea-rovers ; and, lastly, came the Milesian or the real 

Gaelic Irish race. The Fir-bolg, Fomorians, and Tuatha-De- 

Danann fight with each other Jjy means of Druidic arts mostly, 

and it is incontestably established that the Tuatha-De, as indeed 

the name shows, were the higher gods of the Gaels. The 

Fomorians were the gods of misrule and death ; that is also 

clear. The Fir-bolg may have been earth-powers, or they may 

have been the pre-Celtic inhabitants ; it is hard to say. When 

the Milesians arrived they found the Tuatha-De-Danann in possession 

; the Tuatha kept them at Ijay by Druid magic, but at 

last came to terms with the Milesians or Gaels, gave up Ireland 

to them, and themselves retired to the Sids or fairy mounds, and 

to the Land of Piomise, from which places they still watched and 

tended the actions of men. Now these facts, such as they are, 

api»ear in sober chronological order in the Irish annals, with 

minute details and genealogies. The Tuatha-De came to Ireland 

in the year 1900 n.c, and the Milesians in 1700. Such is the 

;


mythological cycle. Now we pass over close on 1700 years, for 

all of which, however, Irish history finds kings and mhiute details 

of genealogies. A few years before our era there was a Queen 

over Connaught named Meave 

husband was Ailill. He was a 

(Medb), whose consort 

weak and foolish man, 

and 

and 

she was a masterful woman, 

good. Some tales make her 

very 

lialf 

beautiful, but not very 

divine — that a fairy or 

Side was her mother. This Ailill was her third husband. 

She had l>een married to Conchobar Mac Nessa, King of 

Ulster, but they mutually divorced each other. The reign 

and rule of Conchobar is the golden age of Irish romance 

it is in fact the "Cuchulinn" cycle. It was in his reign, that 

the third of the Sorrowful Tales of Erin was enacted. The first 

concerned the children of Lir, a prince of the Tuatha-De, whose 

children were enchanted by their stepniothei', and became swans, 

sullering untold woes for ages, until their spells were broken 

under Christian dispensation. The second sorrowful tale had, as 

its theme, the children of Turenn, whom Luga, prince of the Tua- 

tha-De, the sun god, persecuted and nuide to undergo all sorts of 

toils and dangers. The third tale concerns the reign of Conchobar, 

not the age of the gods. The subject of it is the woes of 

Deii-dre, well known in both Scotland and Ireland. Deirdre was 

daughter of the bard Feidlimid, and, shortly before her birth, the 

Druid Cathbad prophesied that slie should be the cause of woes 

mmumbered to Ulster. The warriors were for killing her, but 

Conchobar decided to bring her up to be his own wife, and 

evade the prophecy. She was kept apart in a lis (fortress), 

where she could not see a man until she should wed Conchobar. 

Her tutor and nurse alone saw her. The tutor was one 

day killing a calf in the snow, and a raven came, and was 

drinking the blood of the calf. Deirdre said to her nurse that she 

would like to have the man who would have the " three colours 

yonder on him ; namely, his hair like the raven, his cheek like the 

blood, and his l)ody like the snow." 

person was near enough—Nois, the 

The nurse told her such a 

son Uisnech. There were 

three lirothers of them, Nois, Ai'dan, and Ainle, and they sang so 

sweetly that every human being who heard them were enchanted, 

and the cattle gave two-thii'ds additional milk. They were fleet 

as hounds in the chase, and the three together could defy a 

])rovince. Deirdre managed to meet Nois and boldly proposed to 

him to fly with her. He refused at first, but she prevailed. He, 

his brothers, and their company fled with her. After wandering 

round all Erin, they were forced to come to Alba. They made 

;


friends with the kiiii:? of Alba and took sei-vice under him. But 

the king came to hear of Deirdre's beauty and he must have her. 

The men of Alba gathered against the brothers and they had to 

fly. Their flight was heard of in Erin, and Conchobar was pressed 

to receive them back. Fergus Mac Roich, Conchobar's stepfather, 

and Cormac, Conchobar's son, took the sons of Uisnech under 

their protection, and brought them to Ulster. Conchobar got some 

of his minions to draw Fergus and Cormac away from them, and 

then the sons of Uisnech were attacked, defenceless as they were, 

and were slain. Conchobar took Deirdre as his wife, but a year 

afterwards she killed herself, by striking her head against a rock, 

from gi"ief for Nois and from Conchobar's cruelty. 

The Scotch version of the tale differs from the Irish only in 

the ending. Deirdre and the sons of Uisnech were sailing on 

the sea ; a fog came on and they accidentally put in under the 

walls of Conchobar's town. The three landed and left Deirdre 

on board ; they met Conchobar and he slew them. Then Conchobar 

came down to the sea and invited Deirdre to land. She refused, 

unless he allowed her to go to the bodies of the sons of Uisnech: 

" Gun taibhi'inn mo thri poga meala 

Do na ti'i corpa caomh geala." 

On her way she met a carpenter slicing with a knife. She gave 

him her ring for the knife, went to the bodies, stretched herself 

beside them, and killed herself with the knife. 

Macpherson's poem of Darthula opens with an invocation to 

the moon, and then we are introduced to the sons of Uisnech 

and Darthula, on the sea near Cairbar'sc?im\>, driven there by a 

storm, the night before their death. This brings us in meclias res, 

as all true epics should do, and the foregoing part of the story 

is told in the speeches of Darthula and Nathos, a somewhat confusing 

dialogue, but doubtless "epic." These previous facts are, 

that Darthula is daughter of Colla. Cairbar, who usurped the 

Irish throne on the death of Cuchulinn, regent for young Cormac, 

and put Cormac to death, was in love with Darthula. Cuchulinn 

was uncle to the sons of Uisnech, and Nathos took command on 

his death, but had to fly, for the Irish army deserted him for 

Cairbar. On his way to Scotland he fell in with Darthula, and 

rescued her from Cairl)ar ; they put out for Scotland, but were 

driven back. Cairbar met them and killed them with arrows, 

one of which pierced Darthula. Macplier.son naively says: "The 

poem relates the death of Darthula difl'erently from the connnon 

tradition. This account is the n)ost probable, as suicide seems to


liave been unknown in those e:irly tinios, for no traces of it are 

found in the ohl poetry." Yet Boadicea, queen of the Iceui, 

committed suicide only tifty years hiter, to escape Roman tyranny 

and lust ! The oldest Irish version is in a ^18. written nearly 

700 years ago, and the composition may be much older, yet there 

Deirdre unpoetically knocks out her l)rains, evidently because no 

weapon could be had. The Scotch version ends far more poetically 

than either Macpherson's or the Irish one. 

Fergus Mac Roich and Cormac Conloingeas, son of Conchobar, 

who had taken the sons of Uisnech under their protection, took 

vengeance for the sons of Uisnech, as far as they could, and then 

witlulrew to the court of Queen Meave. Fergus was thex'e her 

chief counsellor and friend. 

Now we come to Cuchulinn, son of Sualtam, " fortissmus 

heros Scotorum," as Tigernach says. Like all mythic and fairy- 

tale heroes, strange tales are told of his birth. Dechtine, sister of 

Conchobar, lost a foster-child of somewhat supernatural descent. 

On coming from the funeral she asked for a drink ; she got it, and 

as she raised it to her lips a small insect sprang into her nunith 

with the drink. That night the god Luga of the Long Arms 

appeared to her and said that she had now conceived by him. As 

a result, she l)ecame pregnant. As she was unmarried, the scandal 

was great, but a weak-minded chief named Sualtam married her. 

She bore a son, and he was called Setanta, and this Setanta latterly 

got the name of Cuchulinn. The way Setanta got the name of 

Cuchulinn was this. Culand the smith invited Conchobar and his 

train to spend a night and a day in his house, and when closing 

the door for the night he asked Conchabar if he expected any more 

of his people to come. He did not. Culand then let loose his 

house dog and shut the door. But the boy Setanta came late and 

was set on by the furious animal. A severe fight took place, but 

Setanta killed the animal The smith demanded eric for the dog 

and Setanta oftered to w atch the house until a pup of that dog 

should grow up. Thishe did, and hencegotthe name of Cu-chulaind, 

the dog of Culann. 

This is evidently a myth founded on a popular etymology of 

Cuchul inn's name, and, though a smith, always a Druidic and 

mythic character, is introduced, it may have no further significance. 

Some of his youthful exploits are told. He prayed his mother to 

let him go to his uncle's court among the other boys ; he goes, 

and appears a stranger among the boys playing hurley or shinty 

before the castle. They all set on him and let fly all their 

" camags" and balls at him ; the balls he caught and the hurleys


he warded oil'. Then his war rage seized him. " He shut one 

eye till it was not wider than the eye of a needle ; he 0])ened the 

other till it was bigger than the mouth of a meal-goblet." He attacked 

the youths and set them flying every way. Conchobar recognised 

him and introduced him to tlie boys. The next thing was 

the choosing of arms when he was fit to bear them. Conchobar 

gave him first ordinary weapons, but he shivered them with a 

shake. Fifteen sets did he so break in ever rising gmde of strength. 

At last Conchobar gave him his own royal weapons. TJiese he 

could not shiver. Fifteen war-chariots did he break by leaping 

into them and shaking them, until he got the king's own chariot, 

which withstood him. He and the charioteer then darted oft', 

reached Meath, cliallenged and slew three champions, and came 

back again to Emania, his uncle's capital, safe and sound. 

A wife had now to be got for him, and Conchobar searched 

all Erin for a suitable jârtner, but in vain. The ladies of Erin 

greatly loved him, as the records say — " for his splendour at the 

feat, for the readiness of his leap, for the excellence of his wisdom, 

for the melodiousness of his eloquence, for the beauty of his face, 

for the lovingness of his countenance. For there were seven pupils 

in his royal eyes, four in the one and three in the other for him ; 

seven fingers on each of his two hands and seven on each of his 

two feet." And another says, after the usual profusion of colour 

and minutiae as to garments— " I should think it was a shower of 

pearls that was flung into his head. Blacker than the side of a 

black cooking-spit each of his two l^rows; retlder than ruby his lips.'' 

The Highland ballad of the Chariot of Cuchulin describes him 

even better and certainly in true Celtic style of successive ei)ithets. 

Cuchulinn himself set out for a wife, and fell in with Emer, 

daughter of Forgill, a " noble farmer " holding extensive lands 

near Dublin. " Emer had these six victories upon her," says the 

tale, " the victory of form, the victory of voice, the victory of 

melodiousness, the victory of emljroidery, the victory of wisdom, 

the victory of chastity." Emer did not immediately accept him, 

though latterly she was violently in love with him. Her father 

would not have him at all ; he did not like professional champions. 

He got him to leave the countiy to complete his military education 

with the celebrated lady Scathach in the Isle of Skye. Cuchulinn 

went to Scathach, whose school was certainly no easy one to enter 

or pass through. Here he learned all those wondei-ful feats— 

cêa.sYt—for which he is so famous in story. His sjtecial cleas 

was tlie (/ae hi>l


liach's school that ho fell in with Fenlia MacDamain, the Fir-lK.l^' 

champion, who was the only man that could match Cuchulinn. 

Thoir friendship was great for one another, and they swore never 

to opjuise one another. 

.Voife or Eva, daughter of Scathach, and also an amazon, 

fell in love with C'uchulinn, and he temporarly married her, but 

like those heroes, he forgot her as soon as he left her. His son 

liy her, Conloeh, wiis not born before he left. When Cuchulinn 

returned to Erin he married Emer, daughter of Forgill, taking her 

bv force from her friends. 

We now come to the great "Tain Bo Chualgne," the ''(|ucen of 

Celtic epics," as Kennedy says. The scene shifts to Meave's palace 

at Cruachan. She and Ailillhave a dispute in bed one night as to 

the amount of property each had. They reckoned cattle, jewels, 

arms, cloaks, chess-boards, war-chariots, slaves, and nevertheless 

found their possessions exactly equal. At last Ailill I'ecollected the 

famous bull Finn-beannach (white-horned), which, after having 

ruled Meave's herds for a while, left them in disgust, as Ijeing the 

property of a woman, and joined the cattle of Ailill. Much 

chagrin was her portion, until she i-ecollected that Dar6 of Fachtna 

in Cualgne possessed a brown bull, Donn Chuailgne, the finest 

beast in all Erin. She sent Fergus Mac Roich, with a company, 

to ask the bull for a year, and he should then be returned with 

fifty heifers and a chariot worth G3 cows. Dar6 consented, and 

and lodged Meave's deputies for the night. But getting uproarious 

in their cuj^s, they boasted that if Dare would not give the bull 

willingly, they would take it by force. This so annoyed Dar6 that 

he sent Meave's embassy back without the bull. The queen was 

enraged, and at once summoned her native forces, including Ferdia 

and his Firbolg, and invited Fergus and Cormac to join her with 

all their followers. This they did, but unwillingly. So the large 

army moved against Ulster, Meave accompanying them in lier 

chariot—a lady of large size, fair face, and yellow hair, a curiously 

carved spear in her hand, and her crimson cloak fastened by a 

golden brooch. 

The people of Ulster, meanwhile, were suffering from a 

periodical fe(!bleness that came upon them for a heinous armw 

committed by them. They were, therefore, in a condition of 

childish helplessness, and they could neither hold shield or throw 

lance. 

But when Meave, at the liead of her exulting trooj.s, approached 

the fords which gave access to the territory of Dare, 

there stood Cuchulinn. He demanded single combat from the


best warriors of her army, laying injunctions on them not to pass 

the ford until he was overcome. The spirit and usages of the 

time put it out of Meave's power to refuse, and there, day after 

day, were severe conflicts waged between the single Ultonian 

champion and the best warriors of Meave, all of whom he 

successively vanquished. Meave even called in the aid of magic 

spells. One warrior was helped by demons of the air, in bird shape, 

but in vain, and the great magician, Cailetin and his twentyseven 

sons, despite their spells, also met their doom. Cuchulinn 

further is })ersecuted by the war goddess, the ISIorrigan, who 

apjjears in all shajies to plague him and to frighten the life of 

valour out of his soul. Cuchulinn is not behind in daimonic 

influence, for with the help of the Tuatha-D6— Manannan especially—he 

does gi-eat havoc among Meave's troops, circling round 

them in his chariot, and dealing death with his sling. jNleave is 

getting impatient ; time is being lost ; the Ultonians will soon 

revive, and Cuchulinn must be got rid off. She calls on 

Ferdia, the only match there exists for Cuchulinn, but he 

refuses to fight with his school days' friend. Nay, he would 

by his vows be forced to defend him against all comei-s. 

The queen plies him in every way with promises, wiles, and 

blandishments ; he will get Fiiidabar, her daughtei-, for wife, and 

lands and riches ; and, alas ! he consents, he binding himself to 

fight Cuchulinn, and she binding herself to fulfil her magnificent 

promises. Fergus goes forward to apprise Cuchulinn of what 

occurred, that his friend and companion, Ferdia, was coming to 

fight with him. " I am here," said Cuchulinn, " detaining and 

delaying the four great provinces of Erin, since Sanihain to the 

beginning of Imbulc (spring), and I have not yielded one foot in 

retreat before any one during that time, nor will I, I trust, before 

him." Cuchulinn's charioteer gets his chariot yoked, with the 

two divine horses—those mystic animals that the gods had sent 

for Cuchulinn, the Liath Macha " Grey of IVIacha," the war-goddess, 

and the Dub-sanglend. " And then," says the tale, " the battlefighting, 

dext(n'ous, battle-winning, red-sworded hero, Cuchulinn, 

son of Sualtam, sprang into his chariot. And there shouted 

around him Bocanachs, and Bananachs, and Geniti Glindi, and 

demons of the air. For the ruatha-De-Danann were used to set 

up shouts around him, so that the hatred smd the fear and the 

abhorrence and the great terror of him should be greater in every 

battle, in every battlefield, in every combat, and in every fight into 

which he went." 

Ferdia's charioteer, who does not wisli his master to fight with


his fiioiul, Cucliulinn, hears Cucliulimi coming tliuiulering to the 

fold, and desoiibes the sound and its meaning to Ferdia in verse, 

following the introductory narrative. And lie was not long 

" until he saw something, the beautiful, llcsh-seeking, four-peaked 

chariot, with speed, with velocity, with full cunning, with a green 

pavilion, with a thin-bodied, dry-bodied, high-weaponed, long- 

speared, warlike creit (body of the chariot); upon two tieet-bounding, 

large-eared, fierce, prancing, whale-bellied, broad-chested, 

lively-hearted, high-tianked, wide-hoofed, slender-legged, broadrumped, 

resolute horses under it. A gray, broad-hipped, fleet, 

bounding, long-maned steed under the one yoke of the chariot. A 

black tufty-maned, ready-going, broad-backed steed under the other 

yoke. Like unto a hawk (swooping) from a cliff on a day of hard 

wind ; or like a sweeping gust of the spring wind on a March 

day, over a smooth plain ; or like the fleetness of a wild stag on 

his being first started by the hounds in his first field, were Cuchu- 

laind's two horses with the chariot, as though they wêre on fiery 

flags ; so that the earth shook and trembled with the velocity of 

their motion." 

The hei-oes met at the ford- -Cucliulinn is always connected 

with ford-fighting. They fought for three days, and on the fourth 

Ouchulinn hard jn-essed 

the fight was terrible and the feats grand ; 

calls for his gae-bolg—a feat which Ferdia was unacquainted with, 

and Cucliulinn slays him. Cucliulinn mourns over his friend's 

body in piteous strains, and weak with grief and wounds he leaves 

his place at the ford, which he had defended so long and well. 

Meave now passed into Ulster, seized the Donn Chualgne, 

and sent it to Connaught ; she ravaged Ulster to the very gates 

of its capital, and then began to retire. But now the spell that 

bound the men of Ulster was broken, they woke and pursued ; a 

great battle was fought in which, as usual, the combatants and arms 

are described minutely ; indeed throughout the Tain we are 

treated to a profusion of colour— of red or yellow hair on the 

warriors' heads, coloured silk leine or blouses, mantles held by rich 

brooches, and finely wrought shields. The Queen was defeated, 

but the Donn Chualgiie reached Connaught nevertheless. This 

wonderful animal finding himself among strange pastures, gave 

vent to his wonder and vexation in a serious of mighty bellows. 

These brought the Finnbeannach on the scene at once ; they 

fought, the Donn overcame and raising his rival on his horns rushed 

homewards, leaving detached parts of the Finnbeannach he)-e and 

there on his way ; such as at Athlone, which signifies the ford of 

the loin. His rage ceased not when he reached Cualgne, but he

190 Gae/ic Society of /nuerness 

went charging against a rock there thinking it was his rival, and 

thus clashed out his own brains. 

Such is the story of tlie epic of the "Bo Ohualgne." This 

does no justice to the spirit and vigour of tlie original, its 

wealth of description of men, arms, and colours, its curious customs, 

its minutiio, its wordlists of descrii)tive epithets, all which 

arc charactci'istic of the Celtic imagination— profuse, minute, and 

boldly original. As a repertory of manners and customs, it is 

invaluable. These are in their general form 

Homeric ; but there are ditlerences—there is 

Jrlomeric, literally 

always the Celtic 

smack in the facts seized on and made prominent, and, in other 

matters, though for instance we have chariots and liorses and 

bronze arms enough, we meet with 

helmet. 

no body armour, not even a 

In Scotland, Tain Bo Chualgne is little known ; the Cucliulinn 

Cycle altogether, indeeil, belongs to the literary rather than 

the popular e[)os. But this Society has l)een lucky enough to get 

almost the only popular account of the Tain 

Highlands. In the Second Volume of our 

that exists in the 

Transactions, Mr 

Carmichael gives an excellent version of it, much degraded though 

it be in the shape of a mere popular tale. Yet it practically repeats 

every feature of the tale we have told. Macpherson, too, got a copy 

the tale, and it appeal's as that inveterate episode, in Book II. of 

Fingal, but sadly shorn of its dignity, and changed to suit liis 

theme. Cuchulinn, after his defeat by Swaraii, attributes his 

ill-luck to his having killed his dearest friend, Ferda, the son of 

Damman. Ferda was a chief of Albion, who was educated with 

Cuchulinn in " Muri's hall " (sic), an academy of arms in Ulster. 

Deugala, spouse of Cairbar, who was " covered with the light 

of Ijeauty, but liei heart was the house of pride," loved Ferda, and 

asked Cairbar to give her half of his herd and let her join her 

lover. Cairbar called in Cuchulinn to divide the herd. " I 

went," he said, " and divided the herd. One bull of snow remained. 

I gave that bull to Cairbar. The wrath of Deugala 

rose." She induced Ferda most unwillingly to challenge Cuchulinn 

to mortal combat. " I will fight my friend, Deugala, but 

may I fall by his sword! Could 1 wander on the hills and behold 

the grave of Cuchulinn?" They fought and Ferda fell. 

The eighteeneth century sentimentality of Macpherson's Ferda 

is very different from the robust grief and practical sense shown 

by Ferdia in his relations with Meave in both the Irish and Highland 

v(!rsion of the tale. Ferdia there consents under the influence 

of wine and female ])landishment, Imt nevertheless takes heavy

he Heroic and Ossianic Literature. 191 

guarantees that Cleave will fulfill her pioniises, especially as to the 

uioiiey and lands. Curiously too, in the Iliad, the Greeks always 

tight I'or Helen and the riches she took with her to Asia. There 

is little sentiment in the matter. But if we argue merely a priori 

as to what sentiments or customs existed in ancient times, we are 

certain to go wrong, as Macphcrson always did. 

The rest of Cuchulinn's life is shortly told, and tliis portion 

of it is also the one that has taken most popular hold, and hence is 

known best here. We have mentioned that he left a son unborn 

in Scathach. This was Couloch. His mother educated him in all 

warlike accomplishments possible, save only the " gae-bolg." She 

then sent him to Ireland under " geasa " not to reveal his name, 

but he was to challenge and slay if need be the champions there. 

She secretly hoped in this way that he would kill his father 

(Juchulinn, and so avenge her wrongs. He landed in Ireland, 

demanded combat, and overcame evei-ybody. He lastly overcame 

and bound Conall Cernach, next to Cuchulinn the best champion 

of Erin. Then Conchobar sent for Cuchulinn; he came—asked 

Couloch his name, but he would not divulge it. Conloch knew 

his father Cuchulinn, and though Cuchidinn pressed him hard, he 

tried to do him no injury. Cuchulinn, dnding the fight go against 

him, called, as in his extremity he always did, for the Gae-Bolg. 

He killed Conloch. Then follows a scene of tender and simple 

pathos, such as not rarely ends these ballads of genuine origin. 

The story is exactly pai-allel to that of Soohrab and Rustem in 

Persia, so beautifully rendered in verse by Matthew Arnold. 

A wild and pathetic story is that of Cuchulinn's death. 

Meave, determined to avenge herself on him for the Tain Bo 

Chualgne, suddenly attacked him with a force that took her years 

to get ready. For instance, the six posthumous children of 

Cailetin, the magician, whom Cuchulinn killed on the Tain, appeared 

against him. The omens were against Cuchulinn's setting out 

the divine horse, the Liath Macha, thrice turned his left side to 

him ; he reproached the steed ; " thereat the Gray of Macha came 

and let his big round tears of blood fall on Cuchulinn's feet." 

He went ; the Tuatha-De evidently and plainly deserted him ; 

the magician children of Cailetin had therefore open field. He 

fell by his own spear, hurled Ijack by the foe. But Conall Cernach 

came to avenge his fall ; and as he came, the foe saw something at 

a distance. " One horseman is here coming to us," said a 

charioteer, " and great are the speed and swiftness with which he 

comes. Thou wouldst deem that the ravens of Erin were above 

him. Thou wouldst deem that flakes of snow were specking the 

;


plain before him." " Unbeloved is tlie horseman tliat comes," 

says liis master, " It is Couall the victorious on the Dewy-Red. 

The birds thou sawest above him are the sods from that horse's 

hoofs. The snow flakes thou sawest specking the ])hiin before 

him are the foam from tliat horse's lips and tlie curbs of the 

bridle." A true piece of Celtic imagination ! Couall routs the 

foe and returns with the heads of the chief men to Emer, 

Cuchulinn's wife, whom the ballads represent as asking whom 

each head belonged to, and Couall tells her in reply. The 

dialogue is consequently in a rude dranuitic form. 

We now come to the Fionn or Ossiauic cycle. The chroniclers, 

as already stated, place this cycle three hundred 3'ears later than 

the Cuchulinn cycle. Whether we accept the dates or not, the 

Ossianic cycle is, in a litei'aiy sense, later than the Cuchulinn 

cycle. The manners and customs are changed in a most marked 

degree. In the Cuchulinn cycle, the individual comes to the 

front ; it is champion against champion, and the jirmies count for 

little. Indeed Cuchulinn is, like Hercules and the demi-gods, 

alone in his feats and labours. But in the Ossianic cycle we have 

a body of heroes ; they are indeed called in the chronicles the Irish 

" Militia.'' Fionn is the head and king, but he by no means too 

much outshines the rest in valour and strength. Some of the 

Feni are indeed braver champions than he. However, he alone 

possesses divine wisdom. And, again, in the Fenian cycle, we no 

longer have chariots and war-horses. Cow-spoils disappear com- 

pletely, and their place is taken up with hunting and the chase. 

On the whole the Fenian cycle has more of a historic air ; that is, 

the history in it can be more easily kept apart from tlie supernatural 

; 

agencies 

though, again, there are more tales of supernatural 

by far in it than in the Cuchulinn cycle—fairy tales 

which have no historical basis. It will be better, therefore, to 

look at Fionn first as a possibly historical character, and then 

consider him as the fairy-tale hero. 

The literary and historical account of Fionn and the Feinc is 

briefly this. The Feinc was the militia or .standing army oi the 

Irish kings in the third century. They fought the l)attles and 

and defended the kingdom from inva.sion. There were seven battalions 

of them. Their privileges were these :— Froiii Samhain 

(Hallowe'en) till 15eltane (May-day) the)' were billeted on the 

inhabitants ; from iieltane till Samhain they lived on the products 

of the chase, for the chase was all their own. Again, no man 

could settle his datightei- in marriage without first asking if one 

of the Feinc wished her as wife. But the qualitications of Fenian

The Heroic and Ossianio Literature. 193 

soldiers were high : ho must, first, givo socurity that no eric, or 

revenge, must l)e required for his death ; second, he nnist be a 

poet—at least compose a war song ; third, he must be a i)crfcct 

mtister of his weapons ; fourth, his running and fighting ([ualities 

must pass test by the band ; fifth, lie must be able to hold out his 

weapon by the smaller end without a tremble ; sixth, in the 

chase througti plain and wood, his hair must continue tied up 

if it fell, he was rejected ; seventh, he must be so light and swift 

as not to break a rotten stick by standing on it ; eighth, he must 

leap a tree as high as his forehead, and get under a tree no higher 

than his knees ; ninth, without stopping, he must be able to draw 

a thorn from his foot ; also, he nmst not refuse a woman without 

a dowry, ofler violence to no woman, be charitable to the poor and 

weak, and he must not refuse to fight nine men of any other nation 

that might set upon him. Cumal, son of Trenraor O'Baisgne, 

was Fionn's father, and he was head of the militia in King Conn 

Ced-cathach's time (122-157, a.d.). Tadhg, or Teague, chief 

Druid of Conn, lived at Almu, or Almhinn (Allen in Kildare), 

and he had a beauty of a daughter named Muirne. She was 

asked in marriage by ever so many princes, and amongst others by 

Cumal. Her father refused her to Cumal, because his magic knowledge 

told him the marriage would force him to leave Almhinn. 

Cumal took Muirno by force and married her. The druid appealed 

to Conn, who sent his forces against Cumal. Cumal was 

killed in battle at Cnucha by Aed, son of Morna, and Aed himself 

was wounded in the eye, whence his name of Goll, or one-eyed. 

This is the celebrated champion and Fenian rival of Fionn—Goll 

Mac Morna. Her father wished to burn Muirne, evidently 

because of his prophetic knowledge of personal disaster, but she 

escaped to Cumal's sister. Here she gave birth to Fionn or Demni, 

as he was first named. He, when he grew up, forced Tadhg to 

give him Almhinn as eric for his father, and he also got eric from 

Goll, with whom he made peace. Another fact, historically 

recognisable, is Fionn's marriage to Grainne, daughter of Cormac, 

son of Art and king of Ireland, She eloped with Diarmad ; 

Fionn pursued them, and after various vicissitudes captured 

them, Init the Feine would not permit him to punish the runaways 

in any way. Their privileges made the Feine troublesome, and 

King Cairbre, son of Cormac, tried to disband them, owing more 

immediately to dynastic troubles, and in any case the Clan Morna, 

headed Ijy Goll, were at daggers drawn with the Clan Baisgne, 

Fionn's family. Cairbre, aided by the Clan Morna, met the Clan 

Baisgne at Gabhra in 284, and a great fight was fought. Oscar 

1


commanded the Clan Baisgnc ; there was great slaughter and 

almost extinction for Oscar's side. Cairbre and he mutually slew 

each other. Ossian and Caoilte were the only survivors of note. 

The historical accounts place Fionn's death in the year liofore this 

battle, though the ballads and popular tradition are distinctly 

against such a view. Fionn was slain, it is said, at Kath-breagha, 

on the Boyue, by a treacherous tisherman named Athlach, who, 

wished to become famous as the slayer of Fionn. Fionn had 

retired there in his old age. 

Both in Scotland and Ireland there are some historical ballads 

that connect Fionn with the invasions of the Norsemen, but these 

can hardly be seriously considered as containing historical truth, 

that is, if we trust the above account, which places the Fein6 in 

the 3rd century. The Norsemen made no invasions into Ireland 

sooner than the 8th century ; that is a historical fact. The period 

of the Norse and Danish invasions are, roughly, from 800 to close 

on 1300. The ballads of Manus and Earragon may have a historical 

basis ; there is little supernatural or impossible in them. 

Manus is a well-known name in both Scotland and Ireland, and, 

without a doubt, the great Magnus Barefoot, who was killed in 

Ireland in 1103, is meant. At the same time, the ballad must be 

rejected as history ; it is a popular tale, where St Patrick, Ossian, 

and Magnus ai)pear as nigh well contemporaries. The ))opular 

hero of the romantic tale is Fionn, and hence anything heroic and 

national that is done, be it in an early age or in a late, is atti'ibuted, 

by the popular imagination, to the popular hero. Manus, 

a historical character, stuck to the popular fancy, because he was 

the last important invader of Ireland. It could not be expected 

that our romantic ballads would not receive })oth additions and 

local colouring in coming through the ages of Norse invasion. 

Fionn and his heroes are lay figures, to which were attached any 

striking or exciting events that the nation may have had to go 

through. 

So much for the Fionn of history. Let us now turn to the hero 

of the romantic and fairy tales. Fionn in history, such as it is, 

is merely a great wjirrior and champion, but in the jjopular 

imagination he belongs to the race of the giants, and has kinship 

with the supernatinal powers. He is in fact a mortal 

champion moving in a fairy atmosphere. Nor is the popular 

notion of Fionn of late growth ; we shall, indeed, find reason to 

suspect that it anteceded the historical concei)tion— that what is 

historical is merely rationalised myth. A charter of the reign of 

Alexand(u- the Second in the early part of the 13th century


speaks of Tubov na Foin, whicli is glossed by " foyiio, of the grett 

or keinjtis men callit rteiiis, is ane well." This, which is only a 

huntlred years later than the oldest Irish M8. account of Fionn, 

is exactly the present day popular notion of the Feine. They 

were giants. About 1500 Hector Boece can thus write of Fyn 

Mak Coul :— " Vinini uti fei'unt imniani statura, septenum enim 

cubitoruin honiinem fuisse narrant, Hcotici sanguinis oninil)US(|ue 

insolita corporis mole formidolosum." Thus, much to the disgust 

f)f Keating, the Irish historian, he makes him a giant some seven 

oul)its high, makes him also a Scotchman, and fixes his date about 

ioO A.D.; and he further tells us that Fyn was renowned in stories, 

such as was told of King Arthur. Bishop Leslie in the same 

century says that Fynmacoul was a " man of huge size and 

sprung, as it were, from the race of the giants." Gavin Douglas, 

about 1500, also speaks of 

" Greit Gow Macmorne and Fyn Mac Cowl, and how 

They suld be goddis in Ireland as they say." 

Dunbar, the contemporary poet, says : 

— 

" My fore grandsyr, hecht Fyn Mac Cowl, 

That dang the deil and gart him yowll, 

The skyis rained when he wald scouU, 

He trublit all the air : 

He got my grandsyr Gog Magog; 

Ay whan he dansit the warld wald schog ; 

Five thousand ollis gaed till his frog, 

Of Hieland pladdis, and mair." 

The world shook when Fionn danced ! 

Martin, in his " Western 

Isles," calls him a "gigantic man." And in Ireland also, as in 

Scotland, Fionn and his heroes are among the people considered 

to be giants, "the great joiant Fann Mac Cuil," as Kennedy calls 

him, after the style of the peasantry who relate tales of Fionn. 

Mr Good, a priest at Limerick in 15GC, speaks of the popular 

" giants Fion Mac Hoyle, and Oshin (read Osgur) Mac Oshni." 

Standish O' Gi-ady, in his lately })ublished History of Ireland, 

places the Fianna back in the dawn of Irish history— gigantic 

figures in the dusky air. " Ireland is their playgiound. They 

set up their goals in the North and South in Titanic hurling 

matches, they dri^•e their balls through the length and breadth of 

it, storming through the provinces." Macpherson found the 

bidlads and stories full of thi.s, and as usual, he stigmatises them 

as Irish and middle-age. He quotes as Irish this verse : 

—


" A chos air Gromleach, druim-ard, 

Chos eile air Crom-meal dubh, 

Thoga Fion le lamh mhoir 

An d' uisge o Liibhair na sruth." 

Witli one foot on lofty Cromlech, and tlie other on bhick Crommeal, 

Fionn could take np the water in his hand from the river 

tlui hills can still be pointed out in Macpherson's 

Lubar ! Yet 

native Badenoch where Fionn did this ; but Macpherson, as 

usual, gives them his own poetic names. Carn Dearg and Scorr 

Gaoithe, at the top of Glen-Feshie, are the hills, and the Fionntag, 

a tributary of the Feshie, is the poetic " Lubhar." He has 

therefore to reduce the Fionn of the popular talcs and ballads, to 

proper epic dimensions—to divorce him, as he says himself, from 

the " giants, enchanted castles, dwarfs, palfreys, witches, and 

magicians," which he thinks were imposed on the Fionn epic in 

the fifteenth century, and continued still 

of Fionn and his heroes. 

to be the popular idea 

The popular imagination accounts for this talluess in a rationalistic 

manner worthy of any euhemerist historian. In Campbell's 

Popular Tales, this is how the Een was set up. An old King of 

Erin, hard pressed by the Lochlinners, consults his seneschal as to 

the best course to pursue. The latter advises him to marry 100 of 

the tallest men in the kingdom to the same number of the tallest 

women ; 

then again to intermarry 1 00 of each sex of the tallest of 

their descendants, and so on to the third generation. This would 

give him a gigantic race able to cope with any foe. The thing was 

done. And in the thii-d generation a gigantic race was the result. 

Their captain and king was Cumal, and he defeated the Lochlinners 

and forced them to terms of peace. 

There are various turns given to the story of Fionn's birth, 

but they all agree that his father was killed before his birth, that 

he was carried off and reared in secret, that he did great youthful 

feats, that his first name was Denuii, and that he was called Fionn 

from liis white head. Most tales also tell how he ate the salmon 

of knowledge. The best form of the whole tale is this. Cumhal 

was going to battle, and in passing a smithy, while his horses 

were being shod, he went in to see the smith's daughter. The 

smith on learning what happened cursed the king, and hoped he 

would not return safe from the fight. Smiths and druids were 

uncanny in those days, and his wisli was gratified; Cumhal fell in 

the battle. The new king lieard of the smith's daughter, and 

ordered her to be imprisoned. If she gave birth to a daughter,


the ilaiightcr niii^ht lie allowed to live, but a son must be put to 

deatli, ibr he woukl be the true heir to the throne. She brouj^ht 

forth a daughter, and all his watch rushed to toll the King ; but, 

1>efore tlie night was through, she also brought a boy into the 

world. The nurse, Luas Lurgann, rolled the child up in the end of 

her gown and rushed oli" to the woods, where she brought him up 

in secret. She exercised him in all kinds of feats—running, 

cleam of all kinds, and arms. 

hurley—shinty— with the boys 

She took him one day to play 

of the King's town. He beat 

everybody and then began to maul and kill right and left. The 

king heard of it and came out ; " Co e an gille Fionn ud," said 

he, " tha mortadli nan daoine 1" (who is that Fair lad killing the 

people 1) The nu)-se clapped her hands for joy and said: 

" Long hast thou wanted to be baptized, but to-day thou art indeed 

baptized, and thou art Fionn son of Cumhal son of Trenmor, and 

rightful king of Erin." With this she rushed away, taking the 

boy on her shoulders. They were hotly pursued ; Luas Lurgann's 

swiftness of old was failing hei*. Fionn jumped down, and 

carried her in turn. He rushed thiough the woods, and when he 

halted in safety he found he had only the two legs of his nurse 

left over his shoulders—the rest of her body had been torn away 

in the wood. After some wanderings he came to Essroy, famous 

for its mythic salmon—the salmon of all knowledge. Here he 

found a fisher fishing for the king, and he asked for a fish to eat. 

The fisher never yet had caught fish though he had fished for years. 

A prophecy said that no fish would be got on it till Fionn came. 

The fisher cast his line in Fionn's name and caught a large salmon 

—it was too large for Fionn, he said, and he put him off each time. 

Fionn got the rod himself and landed a bigger salmon still. The 

fisher, who had recognised who he was, allowed him to have a small 

fish of his lot, but he must roast it \v\t\\ the fire on one side the 

.stream and the fish on the other, nor must he use any wood in the 

process. He set fire to some sawdust, and the wind blew a wave of 

fire over to the fish and burned a spot on it. Fionn put 

his thumb on the black spot ; it burnt him and he put tlie thumb 

in his mouth. Then he knew everything ; the fisher was Black 

xVi-can who slew his father. He seized Arcan's sword, and kilh^d 

him. In this way he got his father's sword, and also the dog 

Bran, both of which the fisher had. And, further, by bruising 

his thumb in his mouth, the past and the present were always 

revealed to him. He then went in secret to his grandfather's 

house—the smith's house. Thereafter he appeared in the 

king's coui-t ; the king gave wrong judgment, and if one of royal 

—


blood did this, Tciura the palace (?) fell ; and if one of royal blood 

gave the right judgment, it rose again. Temra fell ; but on 

Fionn giving the judgment rightly, Temra was restored again. 

He was at once recognised, and again pursued. The king then 

hunted every place in Erin for him, and at last found him as 

steward with the king of Colla. Colla and Fionn rose together 

against Cairbrt;, and slew him, and so 

mony and kingdom. 

Fionn recovered his patri- 

Besides Fionn's powers in knowing 

events, he was also a great medicine man. 

present and past 

He possessed the 

magic cup, a drink from which could heal any wound, unless 

from a poisoned weapon. The Dord Fionn was again a kind of 

wail or music raised when Fionn was in distress. 

ever they heard it, came to his help. 

: 

The leading heroes among the Feine were 

His men, when- 

Fionn himself. 

Gaul Mac Morna, leader of the Clann Morna. He served 

under Fionn, but as Goll had killed Fionn's father, they 

had no great love for each other. Yet Fionn's praise 

of Goll is one of the best of the ballads ; more especially 

as showing us what characteristics pleased best the Feine, 

or rather the Gaelic people. 

Ossian, son of Fionn, the renowned hero-poet. 

Oscar, his son, the bravest of the Feine, 

and kmd-hearted. 

youthful, handsome, 

Diarmad O'Duinn, the handsomest of the Feine, the darling 

of the women, " the Adonis of Fenian mythology, whose 

slaughter by a wild boar is one of the most widely 

heads : 

— 

scattered myths of the Ossianic Cycle." Re had a 

beauty spot— " ball-seirc "—which if any woman saw, 

she fell in love with him at once. 

Caoilte MacRonan, Finn's nephew ; he was the swiftest of 

the Feine. They had ;dways to keep a speiteach (1) on 

his foot, for otlierwise he would go too fast for the rest. 

Fergus Finu-vel, son of Fionn, a poet, warrior, and adviser. 

Conan INlaol, the Thersites or fool of the Feine. He is the 

best narked character of the whole. He was largebodied, 

gluttonous, and most cowardly. Everybody has 

a fling at Conan, and he at them. 

The story of the Feine may be considered under the following 

(1) Foreign Messengers. 

(2) Distressed people, especially women. 

—


(3) Foreign combatants and invaders. 

(4) Enchantments—by far the largest chiss. 

(5) Fights with beasts. 

(G) Battles and internal strifes. 

(7) Ossiau after the Feine. 

Messi'ngcrs from Lochlinn play an important part in the bal- 

lads. They are calleil '' athachs"; there is one eye in the midtlle 

of their forehead, and one hand which conies from the bi'east, 

and they have one foot. It may be noted that the god Odin himself 

a|ij)ears in the Noz'se tales in an almost equally monstrous form. 

The " athach," on one occasion, invited Fionn and his men to 

Lochlinn ; the king's daughter was much in love with Fionn, 

Before they set sail, they provided themselves with daggers, besides 

their other arms. They went ; their arms were piled in an 

outhouse, but their daggers they secretly kept. At the feast, they 

were so arranged that one of Fionn's men was between two Lochlinners. 

Lochlinn'skingbeganaskingtheheroes uncomfortable questions—who 

slew this son and that son of his. Each hero answered 

as the case was. Finally, there was a rush to arms, but the 

Feine with the secret daggers slew their men. The Feine escaped 

safely home, taking " nighean Lochlinn " with them. This story 

is the foundation of the episode of Agandecca in Macphez-son's 

Fingal, Book III. 

The Muileartach is a sort of female counterpart to the 

" athach." She is Manus' foster-mother, and she came to fight the 

Feine ; and they had a tough job conquering her. She seems to 

be a jiersonification of the Atlantic sea. 

An " athach" appears also another day: 

•• Chunncas tighiiui o'n mhagh 

An t-oglach mor is e aii' aon chois, 

Le chochal dubh ciar dubh craicionn, 

Le cheann-bheirt lachduinn is i ruadh-mheirg." 

They asked his name. He told them he was Lun Mac Liobhain, 

smith to the king of Lochlinn, and he put them under geasa to 

follow him to his smithy. 

" Ciod am ball am beil do Oheardach 1 

Na'm fearrda sinne g'a faicsinn ?' 

" Faiceadh sibhse sin ma dh' fhaodas, 

Ach ma dh' fhaodas mise, chan f haic sibh." 

They set after him, and Daorghlas kept pace with him, and when, 

ou reaching the smithy, one of the smiths asked, in reference to 

—


Daorghlas, who this /ear ccwl was, Fionn answered that his name 

was now Caoilte. Here thoy got victorious arms, but they had to 

be temj)ered in human blood. Fionn, by a stratagem, got the 

smith's mother to take the place tliat fell to him by lot, and she 

was unwittingly killed. And Fionn's own sword was tempered in 

the smith'.s own blood. 

" B'e Mac an Luin lann Mhic Cumhail, 

Gum be Drithleannach lann Oscar, 

'S b'i Chruaidh Ohosgarrach lann Chaoilte, 

Gum b'i an Liomharrach lann Dhiannad, 

Agam fein bha Gearr-nan-colann." 

Every hero's sword had a name, as we see from this. 

Distressed people came to the Feine for protection. In Macpherson, 

nearly every other j)oem presents such, but in the ballads, 

there is only one good INIacphersonic case. Tliis is found in 

" Duan na h-Inghinn," or Essroy of the Dean of Lismore. The 

daughter of the King of Under-waves Land flies from the love of 

the son of the King of the Land of Light (Sorcha). She comes in 

a gold " curach" to Fionn. Her lover follows on his steed riding on 

the waves. He fights the heroes and falls. Some ballads 

represent him as killing the Nighean, others that she was with 

Fionn in the Feine a year. This is nearly exactly the same as 

Macpherson's Maid of Oraca and Faine-soluis. It is the only 

poem of his that agrees with the ballads in any satisfactory 

respect. 

same. 

But his language differs widely, though the plot is the 

Foreign invaders are numerous. Sometimes they are singlehanded, 

as in the case of Deai'g, and his son Conn after him. 

Other times there is a regular invasion. The stories of single 

invaders are all of a type ; he comes, challenges the champions 

and lays them low in ones, twos, tens, and liundreds. Then Goll 

or Oscar goes, and after a stifl" fight annihilates him. Their 

wounds are healed by Fionn. The Kings of Lochlinn are the 

chief invaders. Manus we liave already considered. Earragon, 

another Lochlinn king, got his wife stolen by Aide, one of 

Fionn's men, and came to Scotland to fight them over it. The 

ballad is called " Teanntachd JMhor Na Fein6," and forms the 

groundwork of Macpherson's Battle of Lora, or as he says himself, 

calling it Irish of course— 

" It appears to have been founded 

on tlie same story with the * Battle of Lora,' one of the poems of 

the genuine Ossian" ! A most serious invasion of Ireland was 

made by Dare Donn or Darius, King of the World, helped by all

The Heroic and Ossianic Literature. 2ul 

the rest of the world. The scene was Veutry Harbour. The 

battle went on for a year and a day. In some versions, it is a 

Kilkenny cat business, where t!veryl)ody is killed and some 

others besides ; for Fionn and his Feine are represented all as 

falling, though they were helped even by the Tuatha-Dc. Other 

forms of it represent the heroes as finally victorious. The ballad 

in the Dean of Lismore's book is the only Scotch representative 

of this tale. 

Enchantments form the largest class of these poems and 

tales. There are various " Chases," where the Feine, singly or 

altogether, get lost and enchanted. Again, they may be enchanted 

in a house, as ill -'Tigh Bhlair Bhuidhc " and the "Rowan-tree 

Booth." Then some of them may be tricked away, as in the story 

of the "Slothful Fellow"—Aii Gille Deacair. Here they land 

in Tir-fo-Thuiiin, and the Happy Land. These stories display 

the highest degree of imaginative power : they are humourous, 

pathetic, and at times tragic. 

Another class of legends is that relating to the killing of 

driigons and like monsters. There is scarcely a lake iii Ireland 

but there is some legend there about a dragon, or biant, which 

Fioiui, or one of liis heroes, or one of the Saints, destroyed. Fionn 

had some tough tights with these terrible animals, and his 

grandson, Oscar, was like^\•ise often engaged in the same work. 

On one occasion, as an old Lewisman used to tell, Oscar was 

fighting with a huge blast that came open-mouthed towards 

him. He jumped down its throat at once, and cut his way out, 

and thus killed the brute. We have read of Odin being thus swallowed 

by the wolf, but have never heard of his appearing afterwards. 

Internal dissension is seen in the armed neutrality maintained 

between Fionn and Goll. They at times have open strife. But 

the most serious defection is that of Diarmad, who ran a\vay with 

Fionn's wife. Of course he refused her at first, but she laid him 

under geasa to take her. This he did. The pursuit began soon 

after, and they went round Erin. Many feats were performed, 

some of which were of a magic and supernatural nature. They 

were caught at last, but Fionn was forced to spare them, because 

Oscar would not allow him to wreak vengeance at the time. 

Fionn, however, revenged himself at the hunt of the magic boar. 

Diarmad killed the boar, escaping unscathed ; Fionn was disappointed 

at this, so he asked Diarmad to measure the boar ; he 

did. Fionn then asked him to measure it against the bristles. His 

foot, which was the only vulnerable part of his body, was stabbed in


the process by the bristles, and as the beast was a magic and 

poisonous animal—a Tore Nimhe—he was fatally wounded. Nor 

would Fionn cure him though he could. So Diarmad died. 

A sad event happened just before the close of the Feine's 

career. The men went ofl' to hunt, leaving Garaidh at home with 

the women. The prose tales say that he stayed purposel)' to find 

out what the ladies took to eat and drink that always left them 

so x'osy and youthful. In watching for this, he fell asleep, and 

they pinned his long hair to the bench. Then they raised a battle 

shout. He got up in furious haste, but, if he did, he left his scalp 

behind him. Mad with rage, he rushed out, went to the woods 

and brought home i)lenty fuel. He locked the women in, and 

then set tire to the house. The flames weie seen by those that 

were hunting, and they rushed home. If the speireach were oli' 

Caoilte, he might have been in time to save the house. They 

jumped Kyle-rhea on their spears, but one of them, ]\Iac-Reatha, 

fell into the Kyle, and hence the name. Wives and children were 

lost, and the race of great men left alone in the world. Fionn, by 

bruising his tliumb in his mouth, knew it Avas Garaidh that did 

the deed. They found him hid in a cave, but he would not come 

out until he was allowed to choose the manner of his own death. 

They allowed him. He asked to be beheaded by Oscar on Fionn's 

knee. Now Oscar never could stop his sword from going through 

anything he drew the sword upon, and they had to bury Fionn's 

knee under seven feet of earth, and even then it was wounded. 

Fionn then journeyed to Rome to get it healed. 

When Fionn was away. King Cairbre thought he might as 

well get rid of the Feine. He invited Oscar to a feast. There he 

wished to exchange spear-heads with him, which was considered 

an insult in those days : 

They quarrelled ; 

" Ach malairt cinn gun mhalairt crainn, 

Bu eucorach sud iarraidh oimn." 

their troops were got ready and a battle engaged 

in. Both leaders fell by each other's hands. Ossian and Fionn 

just arrived frem Rome to receive Oscar's dying words. The 

loattlc of Gabhra ended the reign of the Feinc. 

Fionn himself was killed by a treacherous person who invited 

him to jump on to an island, in the way he did. Fionn did the 

jiimjj. Then the man jumped the same backways, and challenged 

Fionn to do so. Fionn tried it, but fell up to his head in the 

water. The man, finding him thus immersed, and with his back to 

him, cut ofi' his head.


Ossiaii had, however, before tliib,ruu away with the fairy Niam 

to Tir-naii og, the Liiiid of the Ever-young. Here he remained two 

lumdred years. He returned, a great giant, still youthful, on a 

white steed, iionx which he was cautioned not to dismount, if he 

wished to return again to Tir-nan-og. He found everything 

changed ; instead of the old temples of the gods, now there were 

Christian churches. And the lA'ine wei-e only a memory. He 

saw some puny men raising a heavy Ijlock of stone. They could 

not manage it ; so he put his hand to it and lifted it up on its 

side ; but in so doing he slipped otf his horse, and fell to eaith a 

withered and blind old man. The steed at once rushed oti". 

Ossian was then brought to St Patrick, with whom he lived for 

the rest of his life, ever and anon recounting the tales of the 

Feine to Patrick, the son of Oal])hurn, and disputing with him as 

to whether the Peine were in hea\en or not. 

He tried once by magic means to recover his strength and 

sight. The Gille Ruadh and himself went out to hunt, and he 

brought down three large deer and carried them home. The old 

man had a belt round his stomach with three skewers in it, so as 

that he should not need so much food. The deer were set acooking 

in a large cauldron, and the Gille Ruadh was watching it, 

with strong injunctions not to taste anything of the deer. Rut 

some of the broth spurted out on his hand and he put it to his 

mouth. Ossian ate the deer one after the other, letting out a 

skewer each time ; but his youth did not return, for the spell had 

been broken by the Gille in letting the broth near his mouth. 

Are the actors in these cycles—those of Cuchulinu and Pionn 

—historical personages'? Is it history degenerated into niytli, 

or myth rationalised into history 1 The answer of the native 

historian is always the same ; these legends and tales contain 

real history. And so he proceeds to euhemerise and rationalise 

the mythic incidents—a process which has been going on for the 

last thousand years; mediaeval monk and "ollamh," the seventeenth 

century historians, the nineteenth century antiquarian and })hilologist— 

all believe in the historical character and essential truth of 

these myths. The late Eugene U'Curry considered the existence of 

Pionn as a historical personage;, as assured as that of Julius Caesar. 

Professor Windisch even is led astray by the vraisernblance of these 

stories, and he looks on the mythic incidents of the Pionn Cycle 

as borrowed from the previous Cuchulinn Cycle, and the myths 

of the latter, especialy the birth incidents, he thinks drew upon 

Christian legend. As a consequence, the myths and legends are 

rehned away, when presented as history, to such an extent that


their luytliic character does not mimediately appear. But luckily 

alongside of the literary })resentnient of them and l)efore it, there 

runs the continuous stream of popular tradition, which keeps tht^ 

mythic features, if not in their pristine purity, yet in such a stati' 

of preservation that they can be compared with the similar myths 

of kindred nations, and thus to some extent rehabilitated. This 

comparison of the Gaelic mythic cycles with those of other Indo- 

European nations shows in a startling degree how little of the 

Fionn Cycle, for instance, can be historical fact. 

The incidents in the lives of the mythic and fairy heroes oi" 

the Aryan nations have been analysed and reduced to a tabulated 

formula. Von Hahn examined 14 Aryan stories— 7 Greek, 1 

Roman, 2 Teutonic, 2 Persian, and 2 Hindoo- -and from these 

constructed a formula, called the "Expulsion and Return" formula, 

under 16 heads. And INIr Alfred Nutt examined the Celtic tales 

and brought them under the range of Von Hahn's headings, adding, 

however, at heading 9, two more of his own. Mr Nutt's table 

is as follows : 

— 

I. Hero, born out of wedlock, or posthumously or super- 

naturally. 

II. Mother, princess residing in her own country. [Cf. 

beena marriage.] 

III. Father, god or hero from afar. 

IV. Tokens and warnings of hero's future greatness. 

V. He is in consequence driven forth from home. 

VI. Is suckled by wild beasts. 

VII. Is brought up by a childless (shepherd) couple, or by 

a widow. 

VIII. Is of passionate and violent disposition. 

IX. Seeks service in foreign lands. 

IX. A He attacks and slays monsters. 

IX. B He acquires supernatural knowledge through eating 

a magic fish. 

X. He returns to his own country, retreats, and again 

returns. 

XI. Overcomes his enemies, frees his mother, and seats 

himself on the throne. 

XII. He founds cities. 

XIII. The n)anner of his death is extraordinary. 

XIV. He is accused of incest ; he dies young. 

XV. He injures an inferior, who takes revenge upon him 

or upon his children. 

XVI. He slays his younger brother.


Wo givo tho incidents of the Fionn Cycle in this tubulated form, 

placing side by side the Fionn of history and the Fionn of popular 

fimcy: 

Histoi-y, 

I. In marriage (?), postlmmously. 

1 1. Muirnc, daiightcrof Chief Druid 

III. Cumal, leader of Militia. 

IV. Tadg, Druid, knows he 

be ejected by hero. 

\'. Driven to an aunt's house. 

VI. 

VII. By his mother or aunt (?) 

VIII. 

IX. 

IXa. 

IXn. 

X. 

XI. 

xn. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

will 

Forces Tadg to abandon Almu. 

Gets headship of Fein5. 

Slain by a fisherman for sake 

of fame. 

Trculif'ton. 

Out of marriage, posthumously, and 

one of twins. 

Muirnc (?), daughter of a smith. 

Lives with her father. 

King Cumhal : is passing house. 

Greatness foretold by a prophet, and 

known 

throne. 

to be rightful heir to 

Into the wilderness. 

Nourished by fat and marrow in a 

hole made in a tree. 

By his nurse, Luas Lurgann. 

Drowns the schoolboys, or overcomes 

them at shinty, or both. 

his nurse's death. 

Causes 

Serves as house steward. 

to Fionn, the Druid.] 

[Scholar 

Slays the boar Beo; kills lake monsters 

(biastaj. 

Eats of the magic Salmon. 

Wanders backwards and forwards 

over Erin. 

Kills father's murderer. Overcomes 

Cairbre and gets thiMne. 

Builds forts, dunes, &c.; founds a 

great kingdom. 

Dies, mysteriously slain in jumping 

lake. 

A candid examination of these tabulated results must convince 

one that the historic account is merely the myth in a respectable 

and rationalised form. The historic account of Fionn 

and his men is poor and shadowy. In fact, outside the " birth" 

incidents of Fionn himself, there are only three historical facts, 

such as they are : (1) The Fein6 were an Irish militia (!) in the 

thud century; (2) They were overthrown in the battle of Gabhra, 

where also King (Jairbre, a real personage without a doubt, fell in 

284 ; (3) Fionn himself mai-ried Cormac's daughter, and Cailte 

killed Cairbre's successor, Fothaidh Airgtheach, in 285. Evidently 

some difficulty was found in fitting the heroes of the mythic tales 

into history, a difficulty which also exists in Arthur's case. He, 

like Fionn, is not a king in history— there is no place for him—

20G Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

but ho is a "dux belli" or "militia" leader. Y"et the popular 

imagination is distinctly in favour of the idea that these hei-oes 

were also kings. 

The further question as to the origin and meaning of these 

mythic and heroic tales is. as can be seen, one of Aryan width : 

the Celtic tales are explained when we explain those of the other 

Indo-European nations. Until scientists agree as to the meaning 

of these heroic myths, we may satisfy ourselves with adding our 

stone to the cairn—adding, that is to say, Cuchulinn and Fionn to 

the other national heroes of Aryan mythology. Yet this we may 

say: Fionn son of Cumal (Camulus, the Celtic war-god 1) is 

probably the incarnation of the chief deity of the Gaels—the 

Jupiter spoken of by Ca?sar and the Dagda of Irish myth. His 

qualities are king-like and majestic, not sun-like, as those of 

Cuchulinn. He is surrounded by a band of heroes that make a . 

terrestrial Olympus, composed of counterparts to the chief deities. 

There is the fiery Oscar (ud-scar, utter-cutter ?) a sort of wai'-god ; 

Ossian, the poet and warrior, corresponding to Hercules Ogmius 

Diarmad, of the shining face, a reflection of the sun god ; Caelte, 

the wind-swift runner ; and so on. 

The next question is as to the transmission and formation of 

these mythic tales. Oral tradition is evidently continuous, and is 

tlius unlike literature and history. They are fixed with the times; 

but popular tales and traditions are like a stream moving along, 

and, if we fancy the banks are the centuries and years, with their 

tale of facts and incidents, then naturally enough the stream will 

carry with it remembrances of its previous, more especially of its 

immediately previous, history. Hence it is that though these tales 

are old as the source of time, yet they are new and fresh because 

they get tinged with the life they have just come through. Hence 

we may meet with the old heroes fighting against the Norsemen, 

though the Norsemen appear late in the history of the people. 

The Irish literature takes us back over a thousand years at 

least, and it shows us very clearly how a heroic literature does 

arise. The earliest Irish literatui'o is of this nature. Tlie 

narrative is in prose, but the speeches and sayings of the 

chief characters are put in verse. That is the general outline of 

the literary method. Of course all the speeches are not in verse; 

descriptive speeches are often not. Narrative, too, may appear in 

verse, especially as a snmtnai-y of a foregoing ])rose recital. It is 

a niistak(! to think that the oldest liteiaturo was in verse. Narra- 

tive and veise always go togetiiei' in the oldest forms. P>iit 

as time goes on and contact with dther literatures exists, the 

;


narrative too is changed to verse. Hence our ballads are in their 

narrative part, as a rule, but rhymed prose, done in late times, 

three or four hundred years ago, more or less— proba})ly more. 

Tiiese tales and verses have no authors ; they are all anonymous. 

Poets and singers were numerous as a guild in Ireland and Scotland, 

and were highly honoui-ed ; they were the abstracts and 

chronicles of the time—newspapers, periodicals, and esjxscially 

no\ els, all in one. But they wei-e a guild where the work of the 

individual was not individually claimed. We hear of great bards, 

but we never hear of their works, unless, indeed, they are introduced 

as saying or singing something after a narrative or within 

a prose tale. This literary style remained till \ery late, and it produced 

among other things those remarkable colloquies between 

Ossian and Patrick so well known in later Irish and in Gaelic 

literature. Patrick asks questions and Ossian answers, going on 

to tell a tale in verse. But it was not imagined for a moment 

that Ossian composed the poem ; he only said those verses—the 

poet put them in his mouth, nor did Patrick compose his share 

of the dialogue. The anonymous poet alone is resi)onsible for 

his ])uppets. The Dean of Lismore is the first that attributes the 

authorship of the poetry to those who merely say the jioetry. 

Thus he introduces as authors of the poems Fergus, Caoilte, 

Ossian, and others. In this way Conall Cernach is made responsible 

for "Laoidh nan Ceann" though Emer bears her share of the 

dialogue. The figure of Ossian relating his tales to Patrick took 

hold of the popular imagination, and Macpherson, in an unfortunate 

hour, jumped to the conclusion that here was a great poet 

of antiquity. Immediately the world resounded with the old 

hero's name, though he was no more a poet, nor less so, than any 

others of his heroic companions. It was merely because he happened, 

so the tales said, to survive till Christian times, that he 

was responsible for telling those tales. Curiously enough the 

Gaelic mind, in its earlier literature, always made responsible 

some such survivor from past times, for the history of the.s(i times. 

Thus, Finntan told the history anterior to and after the deluge, 

for he lived on from before the deluge till the sixth century. 

Fergus Mac Roich, Cuchulinn's friend, was raised from the dead 

to repeat the Tain Bo Chualgne in the sixth century. And 

Ossian came back from Tir-nan-Og to tell the Fenian epos to 

Patrick. 

The construction of the verse in these ballads must be noted. 

The true ballad is made uj) of verses of four lines: four is always 

the number of lines m the \erse of the heroic poetry. The second


and fourth linos end in a rhyme word, and there are four feet in 

each line. That is the old heroic measure. At times consecutive 

lines rhyme, and in lyrical passages other measures come in, as, for 

instance, in Fionn's " I'raise of Goll." The feet are now-a-days 

measured by four accented syllables, but it was quite different in old 

Goidelic poetry. The rules there were these:—Every line must 

consist of a certain number of syllables. As a rule the last woixi 

was a rhyme-word corresi)onding to one m the next or in the third 

line. These rhyme-words bound the lines into either couplets or 

quatrains. Eveiy line had a pause or cesura in it, and the words 

befoi'e this cesura might rhyme with each other. Accent or stress 

was disregarded, and this accounts for some of the irregularities 

in our old ballads in regard to rhyme and metre. Thus, some 

make the last or unaccented syllable of a dissyllable rhyme Avith 

an accented monosyllable. On the whole, the ballads have recti- 

fied themselves to suit the modern style of placing the accent or 

stress on the rhymed syllables, and of having a certain number (4) 

of accents in the line. 

A word as to Macpherson's heroic Gaelic poetry. He has at 

times the old heroic quatrain, but as often as not his luaes are mere 

measured prose. The lines are on an average from seven to eight 

syllables in length. Sometimes rhyme binds them together, sometimes 

not. Evidently three things swayed his mind in adopting 

this measure or rather no-measure. It was easy, this measured 

prose ; and hLs English is also measured prose that can be put in 

lines of like length with the Gaelic. Secondly, he had a notion, 

from the researches of Dr Lowth on Hebrew poetry, that primitive 

poetry was measured prose. Hebrew poetry consists of periods, 

divided into two or more corresponding clauses of the same 

structure and of nearly the same length • the second clause contains 

generally a repetition, contrast, or explanation of the sentiment 

expressed by the first. The result of these responses or parallelisms 

is a sententious harmony or measured prose, which also appears 

even in the English Bible. Macpherson was a divinity student 

when he began his Ossianic work, and not merely does the form of 

the English translation and Gaelic original show his study of 

Hebrew poetry, but his poems show distinct imitations—even 

plagiarisms— from the lUble. Notably is this the case in the poem 

Comala. Macpherson, thirdly, had an idea that rhyme was a 

modern invention, probal)ly non-existent in Ossianic times. Unfortunately 

he did not know that rhyme is a Celtic invention, and 

possibly nnich older than the period of Ossian and his compeei-s, 

if they lived in the 3rd century. Had ho known tliis, we might


now possess heroic Gaelic poetry of tlie proper type in quatrains 

and with rhymes ; but. insttvul of tliis, INIacphcrson's (iaelic 

"original" is merely poetic prose — a halt between the Hebrew 

Psjihns and Pope's rliymes. It is an irritjiting compromise, with 

good quatrains stuck mid wastes of prose to remind us of " what 

might have been," and its mere striicture is enough to disprove 

both its antiquity and authenticity. 

The consideration of the heroic literature of the Gael cannot 

be closed without a reference to ]Mac})herson's " Ossian." A mere 

summary of his position in regard to the heroic cycles is all that 

need be given. Macpherson always aimed at the antique, but 

everywhere ended in sham-antique, for, last century, the ideas prevalent 

in regard to the primitive stages of society were highly 

Utopian, poetical, and vague— totally unlike the reality which this 

century has proved such states of society to be. The ultra-natu- 

ralism of his time led IMacpherson to confine his prisoners in caves, 

to make his heroes drink from shells, and to cause them to use the 

bosses of their shields for drums and war-signalling —a piece of 

gross arcluvological nonsense. The whole life of the heroes is 

open-air, with vague refei'ence to halls. Now what did they eat 

or drink, or how were they dressed or housed 1 We know, in the 

real tales, this often in too minute a fashion ; but in Macpherson 

everything is vague and shadowy. And when he does condescend 

on such details, he falls into gross eri'ors. He arms his heroes 

in mail and helmet ; now, the real old tales speak of neither, 

and it is undoubtedly the fact that defensive armour was not 

used by the Gaelic Insular Celts. Bows and arrows fill a prominent 

place in his plots ; yet bows and arrows were not used by 

the ancient Gael, nor, indeed, by the ancient Celt. Again, his 

mythology is unspeakably 

in daylight or night-time ; 

wrong ghosts appear everywhere, 

; 

they are a nuisance in fact. Yet 

ghosts have no place at all in the real ballads and tales. True, 

Cuchulinn's ghost is raised by Patrick, and Fergus MacRoich's 

by some saints later on ; but those ghosts are as substantial 

as when alive, and as gorgeous and glorious. Macpherson's 

heaven is a mixture of classical reminiscences, with some Norse 

mythology, and a vague, windy jjlace in cloudland is faintly pictured. 

And his references to religous rites show that he 

believed Toland's theories as to the Druids and their altars 

and circles. Then, the machinei-y of his i)oetry is all modern : 

fogs and mists, locks flowing on the wind, green meteors, clouds, 

and mountains, storms and ghosts, those eternal ghosts!— maids 

in armour— always love-sick— and always dying on their lovers' 

U


bodies. And tlicic are further his addresses to natural objects, 

such as the sun and moon; and his synij)athy with nature, and 

description of lone mountains and moors, have no counteri)art in 

the real ballads. Descriptions we do have in the ballads, minute 

and painstaking, but they are of pei-sons, dress, houses, arms, or 

of human interests of some kind. Then his similes and metaphors 

are done to excess ; both are rare, indeed full-ljlown similes are 

absent, in the grave directness of the original ballads. 8ome of 

his similes sin against the laws of their use, as comparing things 

to things unknown or imagined, as actions of men illustrated 

by actions of ghosts riding on winds. Then, thinking that he was 

at liberty to play any tricks with the history which these myths 

pretend to hold, and thinking, too, that he had an open field for 

any vagaries in regard to pre-Christian Irish and Scotch history, 

he has manufactured history on every hand. Bringing the Scandinavians 

upon Ireland in the third century is but a small part 

of his sins. The whole of "Temora," save the death of Osca)-, is 

manufactured in history and plot. " Fingal" is founded distantly on 

the ballad of Manus, but its liistory of Ireland is again manufactured, 

and the terrible blunder of bringing Cuchulinn and Fionn 

together, though always separate in the tales by years and customs, 

is enough itself to prove want of authenticity. Most of 

the poems are his own invention pure and simple, while those 

whose kernel of plot he imitated, are changed in their epic dress 

so far as to be scarcely recognisable. In fact, there are scarcely 

a dozen jdaces where the old ballads can at all be compared to his 

work. These are the opening of " Fingal" (slightly), Oichulinn's 

Chariot, Episodes of Ferda Agandecca (slightly), ami Faine-soluis, 

Ossian's Courtship, Fight of Fingal and Swaran (Manus), Death 

of Oscar in Temora, plots of Battle of Lora, Darthula, und Carhon, 

(founded on the Cuchulinn and Conloch story), and these are all 

that can be correlated in the present editions. There is not a line 

of the Gaelic given the same as the Gaelic of the ballads. Indeed, 

Macpherson i-ejected the ballads as " Irish," and Dr Clerk says 

that they cannot be of the same authorship as JNlacpherson's Ossian. 

And he is right. Yet these ballads were the only poetry known 

among the people as Ossian's, and it is to them that the evidence 

taken by the Highland Society always refers as basis for the parts 

the people thought they jecognised of Maci)herson's Ossian. Gallie 

and Ferguson actually quoted them in sujiport of the authenticity, 

and others name or describe them specially. Yet Macjdicrson 

and Clerk reject them ahi non-Ossianic. Macpher- 

son's Gaelic waa written after the English, often long after,

UnhnoLun Lochaber Bards. 211 

for, in one i)l;ice, lie gives Gaelic in his 1763 edition in a note 

(Teiuora, VIII. 383-5) quite; clitlerent from what he gave when he 

came to write the })oem consecutively. The Gaelic is very modern, 

its idiom is tinctured strongly with English, while out of its 

seventeen hundred words, titty at least are borrowed, and some 

forty more are doubtful. The conclusion we come to is simply 

this:—-Macpherson is as truly the author of "Ossian" as Milton 

is of '' Paradise Lost." Milton is to the Bible in even nearer 

relation than Macphei-son is to the Ossianic ballads. Milton 

retîined the essential outlines of Uiblical narrative, but Macpher- 

son did not scruple to change even that. Macpherson's Ossian is 

therefore his own poetry; it is i)seudo-anti

212 Gaelic Society of Inuerness. 

antique gem, "Tlic ilesirc of the aged Bard," which was undoubtedly 

composed near the head of Glen-Nevis; but as it is 

already redeemed from the moth and the rust I will pass it over. 

The lullaby was a great element in Gaelic poetry—the words 

always fraught with love and tenderness, the melodies soothing and 

plaintive. The following onf; must have been composed about the 

year 1520 on a child of the family of Lochiel, and from the genealogy 

of the child, as given in the lullaby, he must have been " Eobhan 

Beag Mac Dho'ill 'ic Eobhain," the father of the great Cameron 

warrior, " Taillear dubh na Tuaighe 'chuir an ruaig air Mac-an- 

Toisich "— " The black tailor of the Battle-axe, who put the Mackintosh 

to flight," -and the grandson of the famous Chief, Ewen 

Allanson. The great great grandfather, referred to in the lullaby, 

must have been " Donald dubh " the Chief who fought at Harlaw 

ill 1411. The lullaby must have been composed by the nurse, who 

was one the clan. Had it been the mother that composed it, she 

would have made loving mention of the child's father, but the 

nurse would ignore him as he died without attaining to the honour 

of being chief, and she could only feel entitled to l)e })roud of her 

nursling as the offspring of a line of chiefs. She was very anxious 

that he would get a charter for his land, and from history we find 

that this was the very time when the first charters 

the house of Lochiel. 

The lullaby runs as following :— 

were given to 

Hi, ha, ho, mo leanabh 

B' fhearr learn gun sgribhteadh dhuit fearann 

Hi, ha, ho, mo leanabh, 

Ogha EolDhain 's iar-ogh' Ailean. 


'S iar-ogh Dhonuill Duibh bho'n darach. 


B' fhearr gun sgriobhtcadh cinnteach d' fhearann. 


Ceann-Lochiall 'us Druim-na-saille. 


'S Coire-bheag ri taobh na mara, 


Acha-da-loagha 'san Anait, 

Hi, ha, ho, mo leanabh, 

'S a Mhaigh luhor 's an t-Sron 'san-t-Earrachd

Unknown Lochaber Bards. 213 

Hi, ha, ho, mo leanabli 

'Muic 'us Caoiiûieh, Craoibh 'us Caillicli, 


'S Murlagan clubh granncla, greannach. 

Hi, ha, ho, mo leanabli 

'S boidheach d' aodann 's caoin loam d' anail, 

Hi, ha no, mo loanabh— 

Socrach ciiiin a ruin do chadal. 

The follo\vang is a quaint conceit, and is said to bo very old. 

Whito-robed Ben-Nevis is described as a bride going to bo married 

to some grey-headed giant ben ot " Morar," and when she would 

go back her white gown the " Lochy " would be swollen, and the 

" Lundy" nmning high in pride, and the " Colonel " would have 

an abundance of brown ale. 

Beinn Nibheis am bliadhna brath dol a phosadh, 

Eite beag o ho ro, Eite beag o, 

Ri fear a' chinn leith a tha thall ann am INIorar, 


Eite beag o ho ro, hi ri am bo ho o ro, 

Eite beag o ho ro, Eite beag o. 

Le 'guntaichean geala 's a ceann-aodach boidheach, 


'Sa neapaigin sioda gu riomhach an ordugh 




'S 'n uair theid i ga nigheadh bidh ligh' ann an Lochaidh, 


'S 'n uair theid i ga h-ionnlaid bidh " Lunndaidh " Ian 

morchuis 




'Us tonn air muin tuinn' bidh leann donn aig a' Ohoirneal 


Ben Nevis is no longer the sacred bride she was then, and 

we wonder what the poet who sang of her so prettily would say


if he saw tlie prosaic nature of the head-gear that in the advance 

of civilisation science has placed upon the locks in which the bod 

of the stag was wont to be, and which the veil of clouds so frequently 

enveloped in mystery and darkness. The Colonel referred 

to must have lived at Torlundy, where—or near where — 

Lord Abingor's house is now, for the waters of the small river 

Lundy running near is brown and mossy when in flood. 

When the Duke of Gordon raised the 92nd Regiment 

— 

then known as the 100th—the beautiful Duchess Jane got many 

young men in Lochabcr to join it, through the sorcery of a kiss 

from her own rosy lips, but such persuasive sweetness was not 

the only power used by the house of Gordon to get men. Parents 

were threatened with the loss of their crofts—or even farms 

unless their sons enlisted under the Marquis of Iluntly, and 

many young married men rather than leave their wives and children 

uncai-ed for, left the crofts to their aged parents and took up 

house for themselves in Fort-William rather than cause the old 

home to be broken up. The following is a fragment of a song 

composed by a sorrowing wife whose young husband seems to 

have been drowned, when the regiment was on its way to Ireland, 

shortly after its being raised. A wave .seems to have swept 

him off the deck and she was left, alas ! to slee]) alone for evermore, 

and she would give her blessing to every other regiment, 

but not to the Duke of Gordon's that forced her beloved one 

away from her and the fair tree of her happiness left witliout sap 

and branchless. It is as follows : 

— 

Gur trbm, trom a tha mi 

Gur trom a dh'fhkg an t-Earrach mi, 

Gur truime 'n diugh na'n de mi, 

Tha cumha an d6igh nam fear orm. 

O 's diullich learn gun ghluais sibh, 

'Nuair bha ghaoth tuath cho gailleanach, 

'Se 'n tonn a rinn do bhualadh, 

'S gur truagh learn gu'n do tliachair e. 

Gur trom, trom, (fee. 

O cha'n 'eil feachd 's an duthaich, 

Nach diirachdain mo bheanuach air 

Ach Reiseamaid Diuc Gordan, 

'O 'n dh' flirtgair i mo leannan uam, 

Gur trom, trom, ttc.


'So 'n turns 'tluij^ i dh-Eirinn, 

A (111 'fhug f(im cheile cadail mi, 

Mo climobh tha 'n dîgli a lusgadli 

Gun snothach iir gun niheangain oirr'. 

Gur troni, tr:)ni, &c. 

I could not trace tlio author of the following song oitlior, 

liut it has a lino swing about it when sung by a chorus of hoarty 

Highlanders, waving their pocket handkerchiefs in the orthodox 

fashion. When the Canierons of Uruini-na-Saille got too numerous 

to remain there with comfort, they hived off to Sunart, and 

the chieftain of the party that removed took up iiis abode at 

Kintrh.. where they became known as Sliochd Iain duibh Cheannti'ii. 

This song must have been composed on a gentleman of that 

family. 

Oh hi, hog i o 

Ho ro no ho ro gheallaidh 

Oh hi, hog i o 

Fhir a dhireiis a' ghuallain 

Giullain uamsa mile beannachd, 

Oh hi, &c. 

Thoir mo shoraidh gu Ceann-tri 

Far bheil faileatlh a' bharraich, 

Oh hi, &c. 

Far am bheil doireachan dliitha 

'Us cnothan a' liibadh gach meangain, 

Ho hi, &c. 

Far am bi a' nihil 's an t-S^mhradh 

'Sileadh bho gach crann do'n darach. 

Ho hi hog i o 

Far am ])i 'n crodh-laoigh 's a' bhairich 

Tighinn gu pairceannan a' bhainne. 

Ho hi &c. 

A dh' ionnsaidh talla nan uaislean 

Ga 'm bu dual bhi 'n Druim-na-Saille 

Ho hi &c. 

Ach Iain oig 'ic Iain 'ic Shoumais 

Thug tlni air na c6udan barrachd, 

Ho hi &c.


— 

Boichoad 'us buidheacl do chuailoan 

'S do dlia f;l)ruaidh mar chaor air mhoangan 

Ho, hi kc. 

'S buidlie 'n id da 'n tug thu luaidh 

Ged Ithuilicheadh i buaile mhart ort. 

Ho hi &c. 

A's god a bhuilichoadh i tri ort 

Air learn fhein nach ni gun fhear e. 

Ho hi itc. 

The next I will mention is my own maternal grandmother, 

Mary Cameron, for whom I am named, who was well-known in 

Sunart and Lochaber as a sweet poetess, and as a gentlewoman of 

great refinement of feeling, and unbounded charity. She was the 

Mary of whom Ailean Dall sang so sweetly 

— 

" Na 'm faighinn gill' airson ceannach 

A bheireadh beannachd gu Mairi.'' 

Ailean Dall was not the lover represented in the song: it was a 

farmer from Sunart district, but Mary, with the usual unwisdom 

of the poet, chose to elope with a much poorer man, in her 19th 

year, I will give the following few sjiecimens of her verses. 

One day when she had, to her great annoyance, to leave her 

spinning wheel, and her household cares to keep some sheep away 

from the corn whilst the shepherd, whose duty it was to tend them, 

was spending the hours in dalliance with his lady-love, who was the 

housekeeper of a bachelor farmer near at hand, and who was wont 

to regale lier wooer with the best she had in lier pantry, my grandmother 

found vent to her feelings in a song of which the 

following is a fragment : 

Oh ho ro 'ille dhuinn. 

'Hie dhuinn bhoidhich, 

Na ho ro 'ille dhuinn 

Gu'm bheil mise fo mhulad 

'S mo chuidheal na h-aonar 

Oh ho ro (fcc. 

Mo leanaban a' caoineadh 

'S nach faod mi bhi 'n coir dhoibh, 

Oh ho ro &c. 

;


'S cha bhi tliusa gun fhuaraig, 

Fluid 's bhios iiachdar aig Floraidh. 

Oh ho ro. ifec. 

'S ma ni aran 's im iir e, 

Cha tig tuchadh na d' sgornan. 

Oh ho ro, &c. 

'S suarach Icatsa an sproigh cliaorach 

'S do gliairdean niu'n og-bliean, 

Oh ho ro, ikc. 

Ach 'n uair thig an Fheill Mirtuinn 

Bi am piighcadh air bord ann, 

Oh ho ro. Arc. 

Lan do dhiiirn de phiiinnd Shasnach 

Agus craiciim gu clo dhut. 

Oh ho ro, &c. 

The next one I will give was composed to a small vessol 

owned by a favourite cousin of her own who belonged to Morven. 

The name of the vessel was the " Katie." In these times wlien 

no light-houses were erected to help the navigation of these channels 

of tlie rocky west, sliipmasters were obliged to lay their 

vessels uj) during the winter. This was evidently the case witli 

the " Katie." 

— 

'Nuair theid " Katie " fo h-aodach 

Bidh i daonnan aig Calum. 

'S trie a choisinn i an t-or dha 

Tha i eblach 's gach cala, 

Ho i o, na ri iu o, &c. 

'S trie a choisinn i an t-or dha 

Tha i eolach 's gach cala 

Eadar Muile 's Ceann-t-saile, 

Eilean Mhartainn 'us Oanaidh. 

Eadar Muile, &c. 

'S air roc ged a bhuail i, 

Cha 'n fhuasgail e 'darach. 

Sair roc, &c. 

'S 'n uair a gheibh i 'n ruidhe dhireach, 

Ni i 'n fhideag a ghearradh. 

'S 'n uair a gheibh i, &c.


Air bharra nan garbli-thonn 

Do 'n Mhorairno Ghieannaich, 

Air liliarra, &c. 

Far an caith iacl an geamhradh 

Ri dannsadh 's ri h-aighear. 

She lost three fine young daughters one after the other, and 

they were buried in " Eilean Fhionain," in Loch-Sheil, where she 

is also buried by their side. Shortly after the death of the last 

of the three, she was herself laid on her death-bed. She then composed 

the song of which the following is a fragment. The air of 

it is the old plaintive one "Tha mo run air a' ghille." She might 

be said to have died swan-like singing, for she composed this on 

the day before her death. 

" Tha mo run air an nighinn, 

Tha mo ghaol air an nighinn, 

Chuir mi taobh ri taobh an triuir 

'S trie snidh' air mo ghruaidhean. 

" 'S og a rinn mi, ruin, duit farair', 

; — 

'N uair a shaoil mi bhi ri d' bhanais, 

Chairich mi thu 'n Cnoc-nan-A ingeal 

Rinn mi leaba bhuan duit. 

" Tha mo run, kc. 

" Tha mise fagail an t-saoghail 

Anns an robh mi cuairt air aoidheachd, 

'S cairidh iad an sud ri 'r taobh mi, 

'S och, a ghaoil, cha'n fhuar leam. 

" Tha mo run, (fee. 

" 'N uair a thig an gnothach dluth ribh, 

Cuiribh fios gu Cnoc-nam-Fluran, 

'S cinnteach mi gun tig an triuir as* 

De na fiurain uasal. 

" Tha mo run, &c. 

" 'S cinnteach mi gun tig gun dail as, 

Tain mo ghaoil agus Archy ; 

'S gum bi Dotair donn nam blath-sliuil 

Laidir fo mo ghuallainn. 

" Tha mo run," Ac. 

* The three sonsof Dniimsallie.


As a sppcimon of how tho ditleront houses or tribes of tlie 

clan Cameron chiinied a nearer kinship witli each other than with 

the other brandies of the clan, T may ,2;ive the following vei*ae. 

.Most of the gentlemen my grandmother spoke of were of the 

" Sliochd Iain duibh " family, but she was angry with herself for 

forgetting one dear friend, even if he was of another l)ranch. 

The gentleman referred to was Mr Alexander Oameiou, tacksman 

at Meoblo, who was of the Macmartins of Lettertinhiy. 

" Cuime dhichuiinhnich mi 'n t-armunn 

Ged tha e shliochd Iain 'ic Mhartuinn 

Fhuair mi e gu caoinihneil, cîrdeil 

Sliochd nan sar dhaoin-uaisle." 

Contemporary with my grandmother was Captain Patrick 

Campbell who served in the 42nd Highlanders, and who afterwards 

made his home in Fort- William, where he built the house 

which he sang of as " An tigh l)an an cois na txiinne," and wliich 

is now known as the Imperial Hotel, occupied by Mr Robert 

Whyte. Captain Campbell let this house to Sheriff Flyter, who was 

married to liis sister, and he built a small house for himself, 

which he, with his housekeeper, Nic Mhuirich, occupied in winter, 

whilst they s})ent the sunnner in Glen Maillie, where Bean-nabainnse—as 

the Captain called his gun— got her powers exercised. 

The Captain at his death left this little house to his old and 

faithful housekeeper, and it is still known by elderly people as 

"Tigh-nic-Mhuirich." It is told of her that when she placed 

venison before a guest she apologised for placing before them anything 

so insipid as a bit of a he-goat they had killed. " Cha 'n 

'eil so ach tioram. Cha 'n eil ann ach mir de 'n bhoc a bh'air 

na gobhrabh."— " This is but dry, just a bit of the he-goat we had," 

was always her saying, but her guests knew how to interpret her 

words. 

Captain Campbell died in Fort-William, and is buried in the 

Craigs burying-ground. The following is jiart of the epitaph : 

Sacred to the memory of 

Captain Patrick Campbell, 

late of the 42 nd Regiment. 

He died on the 13th December 1816. 

A true Highlander, a sincere friend, and the best 

deer-stalker in his day, 

I believe the following song of his has been already in print, Itut 

I give my vei-sion of it notwithstanding, as it may probaljly differ 

— 

; 

—

-20 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

from tho other, or it may contain verses not found in the otlier. 

Glen Maillie was liis favourite resort, where he coukl stalk the 

deer and i)oach the salmon, no man making him afraid. 

A \\o-vh gur tu mo run ; 

Thug mi gaol 's cha b' aithreach learn ; 

Mo cheist nionag a' chuil duinn ; 

'S toigli leam fhin mo INIhairi og. 

Gur e mise thagu tinn, 

An cois na mai'a leam fhin, 

Gun mheagad goibhre no minn 

'S mor an t-ioghnadh mi bhi beo, 

A ho ro, (fcc. 

Gur e mise tlia fo mhulad 

'S an tigh bhan an cois na tuinne ; 

'S mor gu 'm b'fhearr mar bha mi 'n uiridh 

'S a' ghleann mhullaich 'sam bi 'n ceo. 

A ho ro, (fee. 

A bhean-na-baimise* duisg gu luath, 

'S fhada leam a tha thu 'd sliuain. 

Their ort Gleann-a-Mailidh suas 

'S bheir thu fuaim air damh na croic. 

A ho ro, &c. 

Gleann na sithne, glean an fh6idh, 

Gleann nan uaislean 's nam fear trûn 

'S 'n uair theid iad uile do'n bheinn 

Co ni foum ach Para mf>r. 

A ho ro, &c. 

'S e mo laochan fhein an cuiridh, 

Giomanach air cul a' ghunna, 

lasgair a' bhric air a' bhoinne, 

'S gum faigh Nic-Mhuiricht a leoir. 

A ho ro, &c, 

'N uair ruigeas tu gualla' Mhaim 

'S a sheallas tu bhos 'us thall, 

Bheir thu sgriolj do Bhraigh-nan-Allt, 

'S bidh an ckW air Donull og. 

A ho ro, lie. 

'•The Gun. 

t His housekeeper.

UnknoLun Lochaber Bards. 221 

'N Uiiir a dliircas mi 's a' nih.uluinn 

Gu Gl'-ann-na-cauui-garruidli bliarraich 

Bi 1110 ghunna caol iia m' achlais, 

'S bi daiuh nan cabar fo leon, 

A ho ro, &,c. 

'S ged a gheibhinnse le buaidli 

Nighean Impireadh 'n Taobli tuath 

'S inur gu'm b' fhearr 'bhi taobh a' chuaiii 

Sinte suas ri Mairi ug. 

A ho ro, (fee. 

Dh' fhalbh do mhathair 's chaochail d'athair, 

'S cha n eil do bhraithreau aig baile 

'S " gcd tha tlm gun chrodh gun aighean," 

Mo I'iin fhathasd Mairi og. 

A ho ro, &c. 

Cha 'n 'eil duin'-uasal a th' ann 

Eadar Nis 'us Loch-nan-ceall 

Nach bi maoidheadh air mo cheann 

'Chionn bhi 'n geall air Mairi ug. 

A ho ro (kc, 

Cha 'n 'eil uasal no fear fearainn 

Eadar Muideart 'us Loch Carunn 

Nach' eil an deigh air mo leannan 

Suil a' mheallaidh Mairi ug. 

A ho ru, &c. 

Ged a gheibhinnse 'n nigh'n bhan 

Le 'buaile cruidh 'us an cuid ail 

— ; 

'S mor gum b' annsadh bhi le m' gh radii, 

Beul a' mhanrainn, Mairi hg. 

A ho ro, ifec. 

'S an uair a theid mi aii- mo sgriob 

'S coingeis leam muir agus tir, 

'S coma leam co 'bhios 'am dhi, 

Ach mo ribhinn Mairi ug. 

A ho rb,


Tt is of the same beautiful glen he also sung as follows : 

Fagaidli mi' m baile 's an t-samhiadh 

'S tlicicl mi clo'n ghleann againn flidin 

'S tillidh sinn dachaidh 'sa' gheamhradh 

'Chumail nam Frangach bho tliir. 

'S ann againn tha 'n gleannan tha uaigneach, 

Cha'n eil cho neo-luaineach's an tir, 

Cha'n fhaicear duin' ann ach buachaill, 

'Us brogaich a' cuartach na fridh. 

Ni sinn ann cur agus cliatliadh, 

'S cha treabh sinn am bliadhna le crann ; 

Ni sinn 's a' mhaduinn an t-iasgach, 

'S am feasgav a fiadhach nam beann. 

Gheibh sinn ann cnothan 'us caorann 

'Us gheibh sinn ann braonain gu leoir, 

Dearcan-tithich air fraocli ann, 

'S cha teid sinn 'an traigh mhaoraich ri 'r beo. 

Lochiel appears at this time to have forbidden his tenants to keep 

goats, and Captain Campbell seems to have had a dispute with the 

parties in authority on the estate about the matter. The following 

is a fragment of a song composed on that occasion : 

Ged tliug sil)h na gobhair gun taing uainn 

Cha bhi curam oirnn mu annlan 

Fhad 's a mhaireas Bean-na-bainnse * 

'S a bhios mang aig DonuU.t 

Gur trie a bha mise na m' chruban 

Air chul an fhcidh anns a' Ghiubhsaich X 

'S cha bhiodh eagal orm no ciu'am, 

Ach romh slmilean Dhonuill. 

'S ioma gealladh thug thu riamh dliomh 

Ged is beag a chuir thu 'n gniomh dhiu 

Dh' aithnich mi gur beag a b' fhiach thu, 

'S duine tiadhaich DunuU. 

'S olc a chairicli iad mise, 

Eadar Df^nnll 'og 's a chinneadh ; 

Bha mi 'n laimh aig fear-a-ghlinne 

'S bha 'n seanalair seolta. 

* The Gun. + Lochiel 

1 Lochicl's Deer Forest. 

; 

— 

—


Dh cirich Hcotacli beat,' a sgriobliaidh, 

'S dhannsadh c air ioghnan dirciicli, 

Ooltach ri coileach a' chireiii, 

A' sgriobadli an otraich. 

The next I will niontion is Duncan Canicron. gunci'iiUy known 

in Lochaber as Donnacha Ban Bard. He was teacher at Locliy- 

sido about the year 1832 and some years afterwards; and lie 

sailed to Australia with some of the first emigrant:; who went 

there from Lochaber. He wjis quite a yoinig man when he emigrated, 

and for aught I know he may be yet in life in the country 

of his adoption. The following is one of his songs : 

Ho ro mo run gnr cannach thu, 

Ho ro mo rim gur meallach thu 

— 

'S tu 'n og-bhean bhoidheach cliuimir shuairc 

A fhuair mo luaidli 's cha'n aithreach leam. 

'S tu'n tuairneag shuaicheant shar-mliaiseach 

Le d' chuailean cuachach fainncagach, 

Mu chill do chinn na laidhe sliom, 

'S gur math thig cir an caradh ann. 

Ho ro mo riin, &c. 

Mar eala 'snamh nan linneachan, 

Mar uainean ban 's an fhireach thu, 

Do mhuineal min mar chanach sleibh, 

Gu fonnar gle ghlan innealta. 

Ho ro mo rim, kc. 

Mar thorman binn nan alltan thu, 

Mar cheol nan cno-clioill calltainn thu. 

Mar uiseag chiiiin bhinneach nan speur, 

'S mar fliuaim nan tend tha m' annsachd-sa. 

Ho ro mo rim, «fec. 

Mar thorman do bhrat neonain thu, 

]Mar lili ban nam mur bheann thu. 

Mar osag chiiiin thar aghaidh fiiiir 

Tha anail chiibhraidh m' og-bheansa. 

Ho ro mo rim, &c. 

Mar shoills nan reul do thlath-shuilean 

Mar dhaoimean ann an sgathan iad 

A' sealltuinn caomh le 'n Ian do ghaol 

'S gu'm bheil gach aon fo thaire Ico. 

Ho ro mo rim, &c.


When Duncan sailcil from Corpach on board steamer, along 

with many others to join the emigrant ship in the Clyde, the 

following pathetic and sorrowful song was composed by his 

brother Alexander. It sounds like the wail of the coronach of 

the heart-broken mourners for the beloved dead : 

— 

" Bidh mi cuimhneachadh 's gach aimsir, 

Air na dh' aom Dir-daoin o Bhanabhi, 

Dilsesn gaoil a bhi a' falbh uainn, 

'S goii't an tearbadh 'fhuair sinn. 

Bha na h-iglineagan oga, 

'Caoidh nam fear a gheall am posadh, 

Dh' fhaoidt' an an-shocair a chondidach, 

Thaom na deoir bho 'n gruaidhean. 

Parantan 's an arnain briiite, 

'S beag nach d' aom an aois gu iiir iad ; 

Chluinnt' an glaodhaich 's cha be an t-ioghnadh 

'N am bhi tionndadli uapa. 

Bha mi fhein mar fhear a chach ann 

'N iim bhi dealachadh bho 'm bhrathair, 

'S diomhain fliarraid mar a bha mi 

An d6igh do 'n bhata gluasad. 

'S beag an t-ioghnadh mi 'l)hi craiteach 

An deigh dhomh dealachadh bho 'n armunn 

'S mi gun duraichdeadh 'bhi laimh riut 

Ged be'n saile a b' uaigh dhuinn. 

Chaidli fear eile null 's an t-samhnidh 

Ged nach robh mi dluth 's an am dha 

Cha do lughdaich sud mo champar, 

'S dh' fhag e fann mo ghuallainn. 

Na tir ghasda, dhreachmhor, cheo-gheal 

A chaidh arach air Srath-Lochaidh 

Nach bu tair am feachd na cbnspreidli 

Dol an tbir, no cruaidh-chas. 

Fir ga'm math ga 'n thig an t-eideadh 

'S bbidhche sheallas ri la feille 

Breacan ballach nam bas reidhe 

Cruinn an s6ud na guaille.

Unhnoiun Lochaber Bards. 

'8 ioiiui iloasgacli og 'us niaiglitleaii 

Cliaidh a null an am nii faighreacli 

'8 inor an ionndrainn iad o 'n oighreiichd 

Air an Siaoilear Cluanai. 

A' dol tliairis uainn do rioghaclul 

Anns ain b' aineolach ar sinnsir 

Bidh na oaileagan fo nihi-gliean 

Co ni 'n cirean fhuiisgladh ? 

— 

'S ann Dir-daoin a rinn sibh seoladh 

As an til- 's an rol)h sibh eulach 

Righ nan Dul a Ijhi 'g 'ur cunihnadh 

"S biodli 'iir duohtis buan ann. 

225 

Tliere were many other l)ards in Lochaber that time would 

fail me to speak of. DonuU i>an Bard—the grandfather of the 

famous Ewen Maclachlan — composed an elegy on Sir Ewen 

Cameron of Lochiel, which is full of historic interest, and of the 

most intelligent appreciation of the high and noble qualities of 

that distinguished chief. It was a Macinnes from Fort-William 

that composed that sea-son'g " Leis an Lurgainn o hi." He had 

a smack called the " Lurgainn,"' and he composed the song after 

a stormy voyage they had coming from Ireland. Donald Cameron, 

of Kenlochiel— the great-grandfather of the late J. A. Cameron, 

of the Standard—composed a very beautiful song known as 

" Ho gum bheil mo riin ort a Mhairi laghach, 

Ged chuir thu do chill rium gur tu mo roghainn." 

His bi'ide was carried off to Sleat where they tried to force her 

into a marriage with another, and Donald was made to believe 

that she had eloped with his rival. She stood tirm, however, and 

was after a few days rescued by Mr Cameron and a number of 

friends, and she immediately thereafter became his wife. 

The cultivation of the gift of poesy is not so common now in 

Lochaber as it was in the days of my girlhood, when almost every 

one seemed to be ambitious for either couj posing a few verses or impro\ising. 

One neighbour in Corrybeg asked another whose name 

was Cameron to ferry him to Ardgour, a request with wliich 

he most readily complied, and the result was a few vei'ses composed 

in praise of himself and his boat as follows : 

Ho mo bhata laghach 's tu mo bhata grinn 

Hu ho ho mo bhata 's tn mo bhata grinn, 

Ho mo bhata laghach 's tu mo bhata grinn, 

Am bata boidheach lurach cha chuir muir ort strith. 

— 

15


Gu ma fada bata aig an armunn filial, 

A thug dhonih an t-aiseag niu'n ro-phailt a dh'iair 

Cha l)u leisg a shaothair 'n aghaidh gaoithe 'n iar, 

'S chuir e mi gu sabhailt anus an ait 'm bu niluann. 

Ho mo bliata, kc. 

'S trie a dh' fhalbh tliu leatha air do tharsuinn siar, 

A' bnannachd an astair a mach a' Lochiall 

'S tu air bord a fuaraidh air 'm bu shuarach triall. 

A ghearradh nan cuaintean cho luath ris an fhiadli, 

Ho mo bhata, kc. 

'S Camshronach do shloinneadh, cha cheillinn sin uat, 

Do shliochd Iain 'ic IVIhartuinn, bho 'n Bhraighe ud shuas. 

'S ann a. Doch-an-fhasaidh a thainig a chuain, 

'S bu niliath air chul bat iad 'n am sgailceadh nan cnuachd, 

Ho mo bhata, &c. 

Every little occasion called forth a few verses either in p)-aise, 

or with the more dangerous power of satire. These verses might 

not be heard of beyond tlie township in which they were composed. 

And they were a pure and simple pleasure, and an 

innocent pastime. Now the songs are frowned upon, and gossipry 

take their place. 

—the newspaper, 

Prosaic influences are penetrating the glens 

the English sportsman, the Cockney tourist, 

the daily steamer, and looming in the distance, the railway 

declare that the spirit of poesy has all but fled from Lochaber, 

and ere she takes her departure let us kiss the hem of her 

shining garments, and bless her for the riches she had so freely 

lavished to gladden the hearts of the children of our people 

through all the days of the years that are gone, and let us prove 

our gi-atitude in redeeming from the moth and the rust the 

precious gifts she had bestowed, and which are about to be lost 

for ever. 

— 

Mr Alexander Macdonald thereafter read his paper, which 

was as follows : 

ARCHIBALD GRANT THE GLENMORISTON BARD. 

Perhaps there is not a small glen in Inverness-shire— perhaps 

not even in any part of the Highlands of Scotland— that has produced 

so many singers as tliat little, narrow one that lies in a 

south-westerly direction between the western shores of Loch-Ness, 

and the borders of Kintail, namely, Glenmoriston. To account 

; 

—

The Glenmoriston Bard. '121 

for this would be uiuloul)te(lly .Klillicult iiiatU;i-, and would he considerably 

foreign to the object of this pa[)er ; but the fact remains 

none the less true, and at tliis time there are few families in that 

(J leu who cannot trace themselves directly or indirectly back to 

local poets as their anccstoi's. In referring to those, T do not 

certainly mean to insinuate that they wore composers of the (irst 

magnitude, but merely sweet, homely warblers, who gave expression 

to their inwaid feelings and their impnsssions from without, 

in strains peculiarly captivating to those among whom they moved 

and had their being. For there are jjoets for each stage of culture. 

Some of them we find addressing themselves to poets and novelists 

particularly ; others to thinkers and scholars ; and a third class to 

the common, more or less uneducated, members of the human 

family. 

It is to this last chiss of poets that Archibald Grant, the 

suliject of this paper, belongs ; and it would be doing him and 

his works a most serious injustice to advocate for him a place 

even among the leading poets of Celtic Scotland. His station is 

with another class—that class that do not grasp the history and 

national traditions of the country of the Gael sufficiently to demand 

any other than a limited hearing. The productions of all 

those are to be considered as l)eing more locally interesting than 

otherwise so ; and it is as such that they are at all times to be 

judged. Grant's poems are particularly addressed to the inhabitants 

of Glenmoriston, and to the people of some of the neighbouring 

districts, upon the minds of whom only the Bai'd desired to 

impress his sentiments, and to whom, accordingly, he exclusively 

expressed his ideas. His mission was to those, and consequently 

many portions of it must be essentially unintelligible to outsid"rs. 

I pur})0se to deal with the life of Ai'chibald Grant in a twofold 

asjject : firstly, his life as an ordinary individual ; and 

secondly, his life as a poet. To understand to any extent my 

treatment of him as a poet, it appears to me absolutely necessary 

that I should give you as many facts relative to his life as I 

have been able to collect, and as will serve to be an index to his 

poetical nature and character. 

Archibald Grant, the Glenmoriston Bard, was born in 

1785 at Aonach, Glenmoriston, in a small country cottage, the 

ruins of which can still be pointed out. He was undoubtedly 

descended from noble and distinguished families. He was in 

direct relationship with the Grants of Glenmoriston. who are 

themselves from the same stock as the well-known Grants of 

Strathspey. The celebrated Archibald Grant of Glenmoriston was

— 

— 


our poet's f^reat grandfather, while it caii be certainly proved 

that strong ties of kinship existed between himself and the famous 

family of Glengarry, his grandfather, also called Arcliibald Grant, 

having been married to one of the daughtei-s of Ardabiodh, a 

sister to Julia Macranald, the poetess of Ke))poch, wlio was 

directly connected with the Glengarry family. Thus, it is clear 

that nobility and the elements of poetry were combined in the 

stock from which our Bard sprung. 

Grant's grandfather was a man of no ordinary distinction in 

his day. He resided at a place known by the name of Tombealluidh, 

where he occupied a holding of considerable extent. In 

accordance with a custom then indulged in extensively by Highland 

proprietors, Glengarry placed his first born son, Aonghas Og, 

under the care of Grant during a certain period of his minority, in 

order that Grant should bring up the young gentleman, and give 

him the instruction then required. Grant felt proud cf having 

such honour as this conferred upon him by Glengarry, and from 

the feelings of intense admiration that he entertained towards that 

gentleman and all that was his, he loved Aonghas Og most dearly, 

and never took him up in his arms without composing some lines 

in his honour. From the fragments of those come down to our- 

selves we can observe that Grant himself possessed the poetic 

faculty in no small degree ; but I am not aware that he ever composed 

except when ins])ired by the enthusiasm of his affection 

towards his portege. Now we fancy that we almost hear the good 

old Highlander breathing his strauis anxiously and earnestly into 

the ears of the boy and saying 

Bobadh 'us m'annsachd, 

Gaol beag agus m'annsachd ; 

Bobadh 'us m'annsachd 

Moch an diugh, ho ! 

Bheir Aonghas a' Ghlinne 

Air a chinneadh comannda, 

Bobadh 'us m' annsachd 


Bheir sinn greis a's Tombealluidh 

Air aran 'us amhlan, 

Bobadh 'us m' annsachd 


And again, how afFectionately interested in the child the 

old man was, when he said :

The Glenmoriston Bard. 229 

Ho fearan, hi fearaii, 

ITo tVaran, 's tu 'tirann ; 

Aontflias o

— 


which Grant partorl with as a last demonstration of his aflpction for 

the young man. Memories of Gi-ant's generosity continued to ex- 

ist in the Glengarry family for generations after. On one occasion 

when the last chief that graced the halls of Caisteal-an-Fhithich 

was passing through Glenmoriston, Archibald Grant, the Bard, 

was pointed out to him. He frankly and warmly shook the Bard's 

hand, promising him some favours in recognition of the kindness 

which the Bard's grandfather showed long before to one of his pre- 

decessoi-s. Angus Og was killed after the battle of Falkirk (1745), 

by the accidental discharge of a gun. 

Archibald Grant's father, in more respects than one, deserves 

a passing notice. His name was John Grant. He passed a considerable 

portion of his life in the army, having been present in 

the capacity of serjeant at the memorable siege of GilDraltar, in 

which action he greatly distinguished himself liy his bravery and 

courage. John Grant was a bard of no ordinary power. Many 

of his productions have been lost and cannot now be recovered ; 

but some of his pieces that are yet to be found in the memories 

of the oldest pei-sons in the Glen, are highly meritorious. In 

one of these he refers to his son Archie, the future bard, in a 

manner from which it can be understood that Archie's sarcastic 

effusions, addi-essed to his father when backsliding about the 

change-house, were taking some eftect. Probably the father 

occasionally forgot to go home at the pioj)er time, rendering it 

necessary by such coiiduct to have a visit from his wife and 

Archie, while enjoying himself with his cronies. This is what he 

says on the subject 

Iseabail 's Archie 'n drasda bruidhinn rium 

'S fheudar dhomh 'radha gur saighte 'n dithis iad, 

Iseabail 's Archie 'n drasda bruidhinn rium. 

Ma theid mi 'n tigh-osd 's gun glac mi ann stop, 

Mu'n dean mi 'leth ol bithidh 'n toir a' tighinn orin. 

Iseabail 's Archie 'n drasda bruidhinn rium. 

But by far the best song that John Grant ever comp-osed was 

when the big sheep were introduced to Glenmoriston—an innovation 

in land management, to which he evidently was averse. On 

this occasion he said, apparently referring in the opening lines to 

one of the Grants of Glenmoriston, then deceased : 

— 

Deoch slainte 'Choirneil nach maireann, 

'Se 'chumadh seol air a ghabhail 

Na'm biodh esim os ur cionn 

Cha bhiodh na cruinn air na sparran. 

;

The Glenmon'ston Bard. 231 

Bliindli an tuatli air an giullachd, 

'8 cha bhiodh i^luasad air duino ; 

'S cha bhiodh ardan gun uaisle 

'Faotuinn buaidh air a chumand'. 

Tha gacli uaclidaran fearainn 

'S an Taobh-Tuath s' air a' nihcaUadh, 

'Bhi 'cur cul ri 'n cuid daoin' 

Airson caoraich na tearra. 

Bha sinn uair a blia sinn miobhail, 

'Nuair bha Frangach cho lionnihor, 

Ach ged a thigeadh e 'n raoir, 

Cha do thoill sibh 'dliol sios loibh. 

Ach na'm biodh aon rud ri thavruinn, 

Bhiodh mo dhuil ri 'dhol thairis ; 

O'n dh' fhalbh niuinntir mo dhnthch' 

'S boag nio shunnd ris a' ghabhail. 

Bidh mi 'falbh 's cha teid stad orm, 

'S bidli mi 'triusadh mo bhagaist'; 

'S bidli mi comhhx ri each 

Nach dean m' fhagail air chxdach. 

Ach a Righ air a' chathair, 

'Tha 'nad bhuachaill 's 'nad' Athair 

Bi do gheard air an trend 

'Chaidh air reubadh na mara. 

'S ach a Chriosd anns na Flaitheas, 

Glac a stiuir 'na do lamhan ; 

Agus reitich an cuan 

Gus a sluagh leigeil thairis. 

John Grant, however, did not emigrate as many others then 

did, tliough he seems to have fostered a lingering desire to leave 

tlie Glen at that time, seeing that the management of landed pro- 

perty was anything but promising to men in his station. He reconciled 

himself to the altered circumstances as best he could. A 

hymn composed l)y him on his death-bed, is to be found at page 

If) 9 of Archil)ald Grant's collection of songs. Its matter as a 

spiritual song is excellent. 

Besides Archibald, John Grant had by his wife, Isabella 

Ferguson, one son and two daughters ; but none of them is known 

to liave possessed tlie least development of tlie poetical faculty, 

except tlie one. In liim was concentrated the whole of that 

;


peculiar characteristic which the family inherited. His mother 

was quite an ordinary woman, though, as a rule, we find remarkable 

men having irioro or less remarkable mothers. There are 

several of her relations still in the Glen. 

From the date of his birth till he attained to manhood, 

Archibald Grant passed his time in Glennioriston, but not at 

school getting his mind informed ; for in that benighted age the 

education of the young was little or nothing better in the Highlands 

of Scotland than many centuries previously. In his early 

manhood, (Jrant, entei taining a fond desire to become a soldier, 

joined the Glengarry Fenci})les, at that time a body of quasi-volun- 

teers raised by Macdonell, the then chief of Glengarry. The enthusiasm 

with which Grant entered into the exercises of this regiment 

was extraordinary. Doubtless his mind was early and 

forcibly impressed with the glowing tales of war and renowned 

achievements then current in the Highlands. These, along with 

the vivid descriptions of continental battles, which he would have 

listened to from the lips of his father, and the numerous songs 

sung from mouth to mouth in honour of heroes who flourished in 

the clan feuds of past times, displayed a tempting imagery of war 

and its glories, transcendentally attractive to one, apparently 

naturally of a romantic and adventurous disposition. Nothing 

was so enjoyable to our Bard as the memory and occasional rejtroduction 

of the military manceuvres through which he was led in 

Glengarry ; and after the dis))ersion of the Fencibles, Grant frequently 

recreated him.self by initiating the young men of his 

acquaintance in Glenmoriston, on his return thither, in the 

mysteries of discij^line, causing no small merriment at times by 

his rather unpolished use of martial language. 

Grant's stay in Glengarry was but shoi-t. His connection 

with the Fencibles having terminated, he returned to his native 

country, where he betook himself to tailoring for a means of subsistence. 

We can hardly conceive that he could have selected any 

occupation that would be more unpropitious to the exercise and 

development of poetical talent, than that of which he made a choice; 

and perhaps the barrenness of his poetry, so far as observations 

on natural scenery are concerned, can, in no small degree, he 

attributed to the comparative confinement which his work ne- 

cessitated, though cei'tain it is that at that time tailors were entirely 

different from what they are now in the Highlands. Their 

system of work then was to go from house to house, attending 

here and there, as theii- customers required their services. We 

believe our Bard never became a very good tailor. His know-


ledge of the then existing fashions did not extend much beyond 

the making of trousers, and even in that he was rather deficient 

as an artist. But when supplied with soft, broad home-made 

cloth, and connnon stocking-worsted, he could perform his duty 

more or less to tlie satisfaction of his customers. There were two 

reasons on account of which he was employed, when others in his 

line were j.erhaps overlooked— first, that in that age people were 

not so refined in regard to dress as tliey now are ; second. Grant, 

on account of the delights experienced from his inexhaustible store 

of Highland legends, folk-lore, and tnulitional tales, would have 

had a double claim upon the patronage of tlie people. In his 

days that institution, which has in the past done so much towards 

the moulding of Highland character, and towards the growth of 

Highland aspirations— the Ceilidh—^was in full swing, and Grant's 

society was doubtle.^s extensively courted by all lovers of Highland 

manners and Highland history. Yet, with all these advantages, 

he does not appear to have hoped for much profit from 

the tailoring, and, to ensure a more substantial means of eai-ning 

a livelihood, he commenced to deal a little in the selling and buying 

of cattle. He frequently refers in his songs to some of his 

experiences of the markets. From his speculations in this line he 

might have derived much gain, for, as a rule, he never spent mon(>y 

on tlie " keep " of his cattle. His policy in regard to this was to 

leave with the tenants all over the Glen sheep and other animals 

to feed for him, and I am not aware that they ever questioned his 

self-created right. 

Thus, from market to market, and from liouse to house, Grant 

passed year after year of his life. His home was at Aonach where 

his sister, Catherine, kept house for him, he having never been 

married. While there his pastime probably was composing lines 

of poetry on all such subjects as eveiy day's experience brought 

under his consideration. It is much to be regretted that many of 

those songs have been entirely lost, but a few fragments, not 

among his published works, are still heard sung by the older 

natives of the Glen. If at all able to rise and move about (4rant 

ne\er was known to ho absent on the day of collecting the rents. 

Though he might not have any important business to transact at 

those meetings, yet he always liked to be present, as he says him- 

self 

— 

— 

A chionn 's gn faighinn fhaotainn 

Seasamh 'n taobh an I'um ac' 

'S toil le trinbhais bhi measg aodaicli 

'S cha 'n e gaol na druthaig 

; 

—


— 

Ach (lilihearsau agus sgialaclul, 

'O 'n is inianiiach learn e 

'S (Iheanainn coir dhe 'n lach a dhiolaclli 

Gar a liacliainn sugh dhi. 

Another motive from which he attended those gatherings 

was his desire at all times to see and converse with the justly 

beloved Maephadiuig,* whom Grant loved and adoi-ed as the incarnation 

of all that was to him good and beautiful. More than 

one-half of his poems were composed to the name of this gentleman, 

who, in return, faithfully reciprocated the feelings entertained 

towai-ds him l)y his family chronicler and bard. It may 

now, indeed, be said that Grant's passion for the esteemed proprietor 

of Glenmoriston ajnounted to a considerable weakness ; 

but for this several extenuating excuses could be brought forward. 

Upon a time, when the rents were being collected at Torgoil, 

our Bard came the way, and finding that Macphadruig had 

left for Invermoriston, he exchanged a few words with the fiictor, 

who, seemingly did not show the same indulgence towards the 

Bard as he was wont to get. The followiui; sarcastic lines in re- 

taliation were extemporaneously produced : 

Ni mi cleas amadan ^Mhicleoid 

— 

Cha teid mi gu mod gu brath ; 

Gun Mhacphadruig a bin romham, 

Cha b'e ceann mo ghnothach each : 

'S ann aii* a bha beannachadh Dliia, 

'S cha b'ann air an riabhach 'bha 'na aite 

Chuir esan 'n teaghlach dhe'n rian 

Mu'n robli e sios air Culnancarn. 

These \erses roused the ire of the factor, and the Bard, in 

alarm, apologised in verses to be found at page 120 of his Songs. 

Towards the latter end of his life. Grant was attacked by 

rhcnimatic pains in his legs, and his sister having died, and he 

being left alone, removed from Glenmoriston to Strathorrick, 

where he resided in the house of a niece of his. His departure 

from his own beloved Glen, to a place in which he was necessarily 

a comparative stranger, must liave cost him many a deep sigh. 

Glenmoriston was tlii; cradle of his youth, and the world of his 

maturity ; and can we doubt that sweet menories of his ex- 

istence there entwined themseh es around his aged soul as the ivy- 

* Mac-Pliadruig is tlie name l>y wliicli every Cliicf of the (i rants of 

Glenmoriston is locally known. 

:


bniiiclics around a troo 1 But at that time (ilcnnioiiston, mucli as 

he loved it, was; partially losing its interest to him. TIk" henevo- 

lent and kind-hearted Macphadruig had left it some time previously, 

and an advancing wave of wliat we now call civilisation was 

converting the people somewliat from what they used to be in 

their relation to poets and poetry. 

Tn Stratherrick Grant lived for some years after his removal 

there. During that time he composed several .songs, hut they ai-e 

all lost. Two years before the time of his own death he heard of 

the decease of Grant of Glenmoriston at Inverness, it is well 

known that the Bard composed a lament for liis dead patron, 

which was never even heard in Glenmoriston. Soon thercâfter 

Gi-ant l)ccame subject to great confusion of mind. His powers of 

memory became perfectly useless to him, and, altogethei'^ he was 

rapidly dissolving. He died in July of 1870, in his eighty-fifth 

year. When tidings of his death I'eached GUnrnoriston all weir 

struck with grief, as if they had lost a near and dear friend. Tn 

due time his remains were brought from Stratherrick and interred 

in the grave-yard of Clachan-Meircheard, Glenmoriston, wlnn-e 

not so much as a stone marks his resting-j^lace. 

An trom shuaimhneas 

Fo fhailean uaine, 

Tha corp an uasail 

Gun uaill an tamh ; 

A cheann gun smuaintean, 

'S a bheul gun fhuaim ann ; 

A chridhe gun ghluasad, 

'S gun bhuaidh na' lamh. 

With reference to Grant's death, the Inverness Courier of 

21st July 1870, says:— "Last week the mortal remains of Archibald 

Grant, the Glenmoriston bard, commonly called Archie 

Taillear, were consigned to the grave. He was nearly a century 

old. The Bard, though totally uneducated, was full of traditional 

story, could compose very spirited verses of poetry; and his wit, 

humour, and fun were the delight of his countrymen at all meetings, 

such as weddings, funerals, christening banquets, and rent 

gatherings. He was a particular favourite of the late lamented 

J. M. Grant of Glenmoriston and Moy; and was so well liked in 

the Glen that lie was allowed to gi-aze so many sheep grnt'is on 

every farm. There is a general tuiieadh for old Archie 

' Ach thriall e a chadal gu brath 

Gu talla nam bard nach beo.' " 

—


Grant was not a big man ; 

but was known far and wide for 

his activity. At athletic sports hold in ditierent districts aroinid 

in his time, he was known to have invariably carried otV the first 

prizes for the long and high jumps. When young and agile, he 

could at any time jump his own height. His person was altogether 

ordinarily well formed. His head was proverbially 

small, but high, somewhat pyramidal in shape. His features 

were good. He was rather eccentric with regard to his dress. 

He, as a rule, wore tartan suits, with a large white collar extending 

down to his shoulders, almost the size of our present 

cloth tippets. He was exceedingly fond of cleanliness, and 

possessed a very high estimation of himself; though far from 

being in the least ignorantly conceited. Though he was never 

at school, he learned somehow to write his own name. He never 

ceased deploring the total want of education from which he 

surtered. His memory wâs extraordinarily capable, and his acquaintance 

with old traditions and general folk-lore embraced 

the most of the leading families in the Highlands. He knew 

the local histoiy of every district and village around for many 

generations back. 

At home, Grant was usually cheerful, evincing a tendency 

towards a harmless display of homely wit. This is evidenced by the 

following linos, wliieh he composed at a time when his sister and 

a neighbouring old maid were discussing the advisability of their 

attending a ball that was to take place in the vicinity, it having 

been in those days rather customary with elderly persons to appear 

at such entertainments. He, overhearing their remarks, said : 

Tha cailleachan Hath a' bhaile so 

A' sior ruith gu ballachan ; 

Tha cailleachan liath a' lihaile so. 

A' stri ri fearaibh oga. 

'Nuair 'bhios each 's na rumaichean, 

Ag ol air fion nan tunnaichean, 

'S ann bhios mo chuidsa chruinneagan 

Gun fhuran ann 'sa' chlosaid. 

'Nuair 'bhios each gu surdail 

A' stracail feadh nan urlar, 

'Sann 'bhios mo chuidsa 's sgug ori-a 

'Nan suidhe 'n cuil na moine. 

At another tinip while at home Grant was called upon by a 

—

— 


young man who required him to tailor a i)aii- of trouBors. His request 

was stated as foHows : 

Gu ma fada maireann beo thu 

'Dhuine choir agus a thaillear, 

'Sann a thainig nu do d' ionnsiudh 

'S n)i le m' thriusair air dhroch cai'ailh ; 

'Chuid di air a bheil na cludau 

'N deiefh rusgadh air mo ndiasau ; 

Oha 'neil math dhuit m' fhaicinn rui.sgte; 

'S bheir mi ionnsuidh air do phaigheadli. 

To this the poetical tailor replied : 

— — 

Tha thu thein 'do ghille tapaidh 

'S tha mi 'faicinn gur a bard^thu, 

'S ma bhios mi na's fhearr de'n chnatan 

Ni mi a' gearradh a raaireach. 

In society Grant was a commonly pleasant individual ; but 

not, T understand, so liberal with his purse as poets are known 

everywhere to be. When treated well by others the only duty 

that he considered incumbent upon him to perform in return was 

the com})osition of some lines in praise of them, and in recognition 

of their kindness. He was at all times, it must be confessed, 

grateful for the slightest favour shown to him ; and almost anything 

was sufficient to form the subject of a song for him. At a 

time when he was passing along from the Glen to Invermoriston 

he fell in with a wood contractor, INIr Elder by name, with whom 

and his workmen he spent some time rather jollily. These gentlemen 

must have made a favourable impression upon the iiard, for 

we find him say of them : 

Daoine nach bu bheag oirnn, 

'Siorramh Dubh 's a Masonach, 

Nam biodh coinneamh eil' againn 

Air coille Mhaighstir Eildear. 

But he apparently had a word of remonstrance given him l)y 

some old women, and his retort was : 

Bha na cailleachan a bha lamh rium 

Lan creidimh agus crabhaidh ; 

Ach dh' fhaoduinns' a bhi ami am Parras 

'Cheart cho sabhailte ri te dhiubh. 

It was probably about the same time that he composed the 

following lines to the wood-cutters in the Glen, who were making 

a most unusual noise as he was taking the road : 

—


'Dol sios no 'dol suas dlioinh 

'Sann a bhobliar iad mo cliluasun ; 

'Mar bha 'n airce dlia 'bualadh 

'Sann tha'n fliuaim tha'n Craig Bhlairi. 

Tha na h-eicli air am pianadh 

"'S paighidh 'feamain am iiaradi ;" 

'Chiiid nacli marbhar le giiiomli dhiubli 

Ni Eas-Iarruraidh am batliadli. 

A verse is amissing here, in which the Bard intioduces a 

goblin, whom he supposes to have got so terribly frightened at 

the great noise as to have made up his mind to remove to another 

purt of the country, where he would be entirely free from its 

influence 

— 

— 

Ach thubhairt am bochdan 's e 'tionndadh 

Gheibh mi ceartas 'san duthaich ; 

Tha fear Phortlar air mo chulthaobh 

'N duine duthchasach gradhach. 

His readiness in repartee and brilliancy in con\ersation 

were of a very high order. He chanced one day to fall into a discussion 

with the Rev. Mr Macbean, of Fort-Augustus, concerning 

Highland weddings. Grant upheld that dancing and music were 

absolute necessities for the general success of a wedding, quoting 

in support of his contention from Scripture that there was a 

wedding in Cana of Galilee, at which the Redeemer of mankind 

" Cha 

was present. To this, however, the preacher objected : 

'n (ul an Scriobtar a radha gu'n robh ceol agus danns' air a' bliainis 

a bha 'sin gu ta," to which the Bard quickly replied : 

'radha nadi robh." 

"Cha'n eil e 

At another time, on a certain Sunday morning, he happened 

to meet a Glenmoriston "character" known by the name of 

" Padruig Taillear." Padruig was just then making his way home 

l)ut being 

from the public-house, considerably the worse of drink ; 

ready-witted, and a child of the muse in a small way, he saluted 

Grant with the following lines : 

Failt us furan ort 'Tlleasl)uig, 

'S duine cleasail thu co dhiu ; 

Ach na'm biodh tu air seisean 

'S mi gu'n seasadh air do chul." 

Tliese words took well with Grant api)arently, for the reply shows 

decided good humour. It runs


"Moraii taing dliuit a Pliadruig, 

'8 duinc gradliacli tliu codliiu ; 

Acli a uiheud 's a chum tliu an t-Sabaid, 

Ghabh thu sacraniaid do'ii lionii." 

Another of his sayings deserves notice. He was one day coming 

down the road between the (i\cn and Invermoriston when he saw 

a man on horseback riding towards him. For some reason or 

another he crossed from one side of the road to tlie other just as 

the man was passing liim. Somewhat displeased at the Bard's 

conduct, the man asked liim why did he not walk along the side of 

the road on which he was at tiist, to which tht; Bard quickly 

retorted— " Saoil nach fhaod misc 'n rathad a ghabhail air a tharsuinn, 

agus thusa do 'ghabhail air fhad." 

I now come to his poetical work. A special characteristic of 

his works is that the most of his songs were inspired by the individual 

character and actions of men whom he himself admired. 

We can trace this feature in many more of our bards than one 

and must look upon it as having liad its beginning with the family 

chroniclers of ancient times. Our poets could be divided into a 

few classes ; 

among which would be numbered pre-eminentl}' that 

class, from times immemorial, employed as family historians to our 

and 

chiefs. 

A perusal of Grant's works prcjves that his forte was in 

praising and describing the vii-tues and deeds of such men and 

women as appeared to him 'great and worthy of his notice. We 

must not, however, suppose that the virtues of individuals were 

understood by him as by a Shakespeare or a Pope. A poem 

revealing the peculiar traits of the human mind, or one even 

moralising upon the uncertainties of life and the destiny of mankind 

on earth, would have no audience in the Highlands of Scotland 

some years ago ; whereas a production tracing a man back 

ancestrally for generations, linking him with a GoU, a Cuchullin, 

or a Diarraad, and extolling him for the part that liis ancestors 

and he playetl on the stage of war, would have met with a most 

cordial reception from all. This was the criterion by Avhicli poetry 

was judged by our forefathers ; 

a poet, to meet the require- 

ments and taste of his age, would have to understand his surroundings, 

and reconcile himself thereto. Grant naturally composed 

in the strain which his place and age called forth. Were he 

living now, probably his book would contain very different 

matter from what is now to be found within its covers. His 

book, however, is both entertaining and instructive. No minor 

;

— 


bard can be lueutioned whose works show such a thorough 

knowledge of general Highland histoi-y as Grant's. From the 

mythologies of the Feinn to the legendary and traditional tales of 

recent dates, he knew almost all, adding thereto a considerable 

sj)rinkling of actual Scottish history. 

His descriptive faculty is comparatively high, Ijut to a certain 

extent mi.sapplied. Had he produced a greater number of poems 

and songs upon the subjects generally embraced in what is classically 

known as pastoral poetry, I make Iwld to say that he would 

have been astonishingly successful. From the efforts that he did 

make in this direction it is easy to obserre that natural scenery, 

with its many beautiful and glorious manifestations, breathed and 

spoke to him in that peculiar, heaven-born language only to be 

interpreted by the gifted poet. Let the following lines, in which 

the Bard adtlresses his beloved, and iliscourses on the magnificence 

of the hills, woods, and glens of his native country, speak for 

themselves : 

'Sa ghleanuan uaine sluagh gu'n chas. 

An t-uisge dlutli a' sputadh blath ; 

'Sam barr ga bhuain cho luaith air fas 

Cho nadurrach 's bu choir dha. 

'S an crodh air airidh-sandiradh reidh 

— 

'S na laoigh 'sa' chro fo sgeod nan geug ; 

Gach maduinn driuchd a' bruchdadh feur, 

Roimh shleibhtichean nam Mor-eas. 

A' bhanachaig og is coire fiamh 

'Sa fait mu cluais le guaillean sios ; 

Gu lubach fainneach, bharr air sniomh 

'S gach ciabh ail- dhreach an oir dheth. 

Na h-eoin a' leum bho mhiar gu miar, 

'Sa ribheid fhein a'm beul gach ian ; 

'San doire gheugach spreidh ga'n dian 

Is sian cha d' thig na'n coir ann. 

Culjhag dhubh-ghoi-m feadli nan glean 

'Seinn gugug air stuc nam beann ; 

'Sa niha-n le muirn gu lub nan allt 

'S gu abhnaichean nam INlor-eas.

— 


'S ni 'n coiloach turriiniich mocli 'sa' Mliart 

'Sa l)uiTacli(lail air i,'acli tonnaii anl ; 

'San liatli-ohoarc 's i na tiainli da 'gheard 

Air fairidheau nam Mor eas. 

Siiuulau 's n turs 'sa' clioill 

— 

'Saiin 'shaoil le each gu'n d' fhas o tinn ; 

'Sa smcorach 's i ri ceol d' a cliaoidh, 

'Si 'ii duil luich beir i beo air. 

'S chit aig aiiamoichead nan tmth 

Grian a hoisgeadh thair gacli mam ; 

'S na minn 's na h-uain air spuaic nan earn 

"Sa garleas mu'n nam i\Ioi'-eas. 

Yet, oven in these verses, it will plainly be seen that more 

attention is given to animate than to inanimate nature. But this 

must not be considi'red a great fault, for a poem toucliing upon 

the beauties of the earth, like a landscape painting, is never com- 

plete without the introduction of animation into its details. 

The love element of Grant's poetry is particularly interesting. 

He must have been, in common with other poets, extremely susceptible 

to the influence of feminine beauty; and I have reason to 

biilieve that no earthly sight could affect his inmost soul more than 

a beautiful, fascinating woman. 

confession 

She appeared to him on his own 

Mar a' ghrian a bhiodh air sleibhtean, 

'Niiair bhiodh na speuran gun smal orr' 

Beagan uni'n d'thig an oidhche, 

'Us i 'toir boisgeadh air gach bealach. 

Numerous quotations could be added, each interesting as throwing 

light upon the Bard's manner of passing time in the society of the 

fair sex. The}' are still living in Glenmoriston whose names are 

ivssociated with some of the Bard's love adventures. 

There remains one conspicuous feature of his poetry still to be 

referred to, namely, sarcasm. Sarcasm, of itself, is no part ol'true 

poetry. Yet, in the mouth of a poet, sarcasm lias often been 

found to prove a powerful weapon for the suppression of corruption 

and crime. Grant, happily, had no cause to exercise his sarcastic 

wit particidarly for this object, but he always thought it his duty 

to treat any incident of local interest with that saturation of 

sarcasm that never fails to take effect where the whole matter 

is to bo understood. From a number of songs composed 

16


from this impulse, I quote a few verses to show his success 

in tliis respect. The composition from which they are reproduced 

concerned an accident wliich befell three men of his own 

acquaintiince on their return from Falkirk, whei'e they liad been 

attending a cattle market. The accident with which they met was 

that they lost the steamer in Glasgow, which was to take them 

home, and this, of course, inconvenienced them much in those davs 

of limited ti'avelling facilities. When the tidings came to the ears 

of Grant, he was in no way disposed to sympathise with the unlucky 

trio. He r.ither took occasion co make tln' whole country laugli 

at them, when he said : 

— 

'S ghal)h sibh gu port an Glaschu 

'Chumail coinneamh ri luchd chasag ; 

'ûair nach d' rug sibh air a' Phacaid 

Bha sibh airsnealach gu leor. 

'S truagh a dh' eirich do na chaiptean 

'Bh' air a " (Jhlen-Albinn" nach fhac iad ; 

'S gun deanadh iad a dh-or a sgajiadh 

Na dheanadh beairteach e ri 'bheo. 

Rachadh iad timchioll na Maoile, 

Sud am beachd a bh' aig na daoine, 

Gus a faiceadh iad gach ioghnadh 

A bha'n taobhsa dhe'n Boinn-Eorp'. 

Bha iad a g' inns' ann an tighean 

Gu'm bu chloinn iad do Dhiuchd Athol, 

'S gun robh iad 'sa' h-uile rathad 

'Gabhail aighear agus s])ors. 

'S thainig iad do dh' Inbhiraora, 

'S chur ]\Iac Cailean orra faoilte 

Gun robh carpatan d'a sgaoileadli 

Agus aodach air gach bord. 

Ach labhair a waiter gu h-iargalt' 

" 'Sann agaibh tha na coin chriona; 

Gar iongantach nach e mial-choin 

'Th'aig cloinn iarlaichean air rop." 

'S flireagair iadsa gu l)riagha, 

" Gur n th' againne coin ianaich 

Thainig a talmhainnean liadhaich, 

'S cha'n fhac' thu h-aon riabh dhe'n t-seor.s." 

; 

—

— 


Ach gur waiter bu ghlico 

— 

'S labhair o re each gun fhios doihli 

" Cha chreiJ mi iiacli fliaca mis 'iad 

Anns an Eaglais Bhric le drobh." 

Tliainig naigheaclid 'an taobli tuath so 

Lo cho fad 'sa' l)lia iad iiatha 

(iu'n canadh gach neacli a cliual' e 

Nach robh na daoine uaisle beo. 

It would bo unnocessary for me to expatiate further upon tlie 

several other elements constituting Grant's poetry. His patriotism 

pervades all his works so fully that a pa])er could be written 

upon that alone. T now feel that T have said quite enough regarding 

himself and his songs. Perliaps I should state, however, 

before concluding, that some useless repetitions and ci-ipple verses 

apparent in his book are traceable to his utter want of education. 

His songs were published under great disadvantages. Among 

other things, an extraordinary feeling of religious belief was taking 

liold in Glenmoriston just as they were being collected, which 

proved directly against the success of the undertaking. The book, 

undoubtedly, contains many grammatical mistakes and printer's 

errors which could have been avoided. But if we were not 

possessed of the songs of Archibald Grant, as they are, it is most 

probable that we should be without them altogether. 

3rd March 1886. 

On this date I\Ir Angus Fraser Macrae, 172 St Vincent Street, 

Glasgow, was elected an ordinary membei\ Thereafter Mr P. H. 

Smart, Art Master, Invei'ness, read the first part of a paperon" Celtic 

Art." As Mr Smart is to take up the subject on a future date, 

we do not give the introductory part in this volume. 

10th March 1886. 

On this date Mr "William Maccord, Collector of Customs, 

Inverness, was elected an ordinary member, while Mr Colin 

Chisholm, factor's office, Highland Railway, was elected an apprentice 

member. 

Thereafter JNIr William Mackay, solicitor, Inverness, read a 

paper entitled


A FAMOUS MINISTER OF DAVTOT, 1G72-172G. 

In Roman Catholic times the parishes of Daviot and Dunlichity, 

which were united in 1618, wore separate charges, Daviot 

being what was called h common or mensal church, and Dun- 

lichity a parsonage. After the Reformation the parishes were for 

a time served by readers, lint in 1579 Hiigh Gregory was parson 

of Dunlichity, and since his time the parislies have not, except 

for an occasional short period at the death or removal of a minister, 

been without an ordained clergyman. 

The Strathnairn lairds early ranged themselves on the side of 

Protestantism, and the people followed the lairds ; but notwithstanding 

this, old customs died hard, and for a long time darkness 

and superstition prevailed. Even as late as •23rd November 

1643, it was reported to the Presbytery of Inverness "that there 

was in the Paroch of Dunlichitie ane Idolatrous Image called St 

Finane, keepit in a private house obscurely," and the brethren of 

the Presbytery appointed Mr Alexander Thomson, minister of the 

parish ; Mr Lauchlan Grant, minister of INIoy ; and Mr Patrick 

Dunbar, minister of Dores, "to try iff possible to bring the said 

Image the next Presbitiie day." These gentlemen were successful 

in their search, and on 7tli December Mr Thomson "presentit the 

Idolatrous Image to the Presbitrie, and it was delyverit to the 

ministers of Inverness with ordinance that it should be burnt at 

their merkat corse, the next Tuysday, after sermone." It is not 

clear from this minute, whether Tuesday was a day ordinarily 

set apart for preaching, or whether the " sermone '" was specially 

ordained to be i)reached in connection with the discovery and 

destruction of the image ; but in any case poor St Finane was 

doomed, and at a meeting of Presbytery held in Inverness on 21st 

December "the ministers of Inverness declairit that according to 

the ordinance of the Presbitrie the last day, they caused bimie 

the Idolatrous linage at the Merkat Corse, after sermone, upon 

Tuysday immediately following the last Presbitrie day." How 

unfortunate it is that it was not pi'eseiwed for a place of honour 

in one of our museums ! 

Mr Thomson, who was the means of the removal of St Finane 

from his obscure temple, was himself deposed three years later. 

He was succeeded by the Rev. Alexander Rose, who was succeeded 

by the Rev. Alexander Fraser, who in his turn gave place, in the 

year 1672, to the Rev. Michael Fi-aser, the subject of this paper. 

For years previous to Mr Fraser's induction. Episcopacy was

A Famous Minister of Dauiot, 1672-1726. :i45 

the crocd i>v law c'stal)lislu'(l. 'I'lio [icoplc of DavioL aiul l)unlichity 

were strongly attached to it, l»iit their minister, Mr Alex. 

Fraser, who was never an adniirer of bislioj)s, latterly ojtenly 

.ulvocated Presbyterianism, with the result that he {:(ot into trouble 

with the ecclesiastical authorities, and lost his influence over his 

rough parishioners, among whom he found it difficult to exercise 

the somewhat strict Church discipline of the time. John Mackintosh, 

a brother of the Laird of Aberarder, was especially a sore 

thorn in the minister's licsli. Mackintosh, having incurred the 

censure of the Chuich, Mr Alexander was in the year 1G71 ordained 

by the Presbytery to give him three public admonitions from the 

pulpit, and the first admonition was administered with such good 

will that—to quote the minister's own words— "immediately after 

tlivyn worshipe ye said John Mcintoshe in presence of ye whole 

congregatione cam and said to him at ye church dore, you base 

raskall I how durst yee bee so ])ert as to abuse me yis day? Yee 

wi's too bold to doe it. Yee might have used your own equalls so, 

and not me." The minister took the g(!ntlemen present to witness; 

liut Mackintosh's Highland pride had been sorely wounded, and 

instead of apologising, he again addressed the parson— 

" You base 

raskall ! Think you will I eat ray words'? Were not for little to 

uiee I wold bruiss your bones !" For these insnlts and threats the 

ofl'ender 

minister. 

was subsequently fined ; but no peace came to the 

His objections to Episcopacy weighed moi'e and more 

heavily on his conscience, and in May 1672 he resolved to (juit his 

charge. The Presbytery took him in hand, and dealt tenderly 

with him ; but he refused to serve under a bishop, and by September 

his church was declared vacant. Next month, on 20th October, 

a letter from the Bishop was read bi^fore the Presbytery, proposing 

Mr Michael Fraser as minister of the united parish. Mr Michael 

had not at the time gone through the " trials" which were necessai-y 

before he could be ordained, but the Bishop desired the 

Presbytery to accelerate these— " that is to say, that Mr ]\Iichael 

have his common head Wednesday innnediate after his addition, 

and his populare sermon and the tryell of the languages, 

his questiouarie tryalls, the Presbyterie meeting yreafter. 

with 

Mr 

Michael is appointed to have his theses in readiness against the 

next day, the subject of his commone head being De peccnto 

(rriijinnliy 

The young divine speedily passed through these trials to the 

satisfaction of the Presbytery, and in December Mr Roderick 

Mackenzie, minister of Moy, was appointed to preach him into the 

united parishes of Daviot and Dunlichity.

— 

jlfi Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

But the Bishop, in i)rosonting him to the incumbency, encroached 

on the rights of Sir Hugh Camplx^ll of GaAvdor, ancestor 

of tlie present Earl of Cawdor, and on 2Gth Februaiy 1073, that 

gentleman appeared personally Ijefore the Presbytery at Inverness, 

and " produced three several charters each of them containing his 

right of patronage to the Parochin of Dunlechitie, and in respect 

the saids kirks of Dunlechitie and Daviot are united in ane 

parochin, alledged this to be his vice of the })atronage, and right 

to j)reFent a minister to tiiese united parishes now vacand Ihrough 

the depositione of Mr Alexr. Fraser, late minister yrof, who was 

presented by the Bishope of INIoiTay, and protested against the 

admissione, collatione, and institution of Mr Michael flraser to the 

saidis united kirks or cure." Campbell offered to present the Rev. 

Donald Macpherson, minister of Cawdor, to the vacant charge ; 

but the moderator declared that ]\Ir Michael would be admitted 

minister of the parish on 4th March 1G73, and accordingly on that 

date he was so admitted in presence of a considerablt^ number of 

the brethren, who were ordered to attend " to bear witness to his 

admissione." 

The Thane of Cawdor, however, was not prepared to submit 

to these high-handed proceedings ; and in the end the Bishop 

yielded, and on 4th June the following 

ing of the Presbytery : 

letter was read at a meet- 

" Reverend Breyrn, 

" Elgine, 25th April 1673. 

" If I hade seen the Laird of Calders right sooner to the 

patronage of Dunlechitie, it might possiblie have preNcnted sonic 

of our difl'ers anent the planting of that kirk. But now having 

seen the Laird of Calder's forsd right (and out of oui- desyre to 

settle things amicablie), I thought fitt to show you that I have 

resolved and promised to remove Mr Michael Fraser, btitwixt and 

the fifteenth day of October next, that the Laird of Calder may 

present ane other the next vice to the united kirks of Dunlechitie 

and Daviot, and this is not to derogate from Mr Michael, or to 

inferr any blame on him, who is found to be sulticientlie qualified. 

—Your aftectionat broyr in Christ, 

MURDO, Bp. of Morray. 

But Mr Michael acted his part so well that before October 

he made a ]>lace for himself in tlir aflection of the people, and 

Cawdor, having gained liis point, presented him anew to the charge. 

The Presbytery visited Daviot on 9th September, when the gentle

A Famous Minister of Dauiot, 1672-1726. -IXI 

men and oKlci'.s of tlu- parish ri,'i)ort(Hl of liiiii tliat tlioy wi-rc vi'i-y 

well .satisfied witli hiin in cloctiinc, cUsciplino, life, ami conversation, 

Mr Michael leturneil the compliment to the elders, and "they 

were exhorted to continue in well-doing, in hopes to receive the 

crown of righteousness." These notices reveal pleasant relations 

between the clergyman and his people, and these relations continued 

during his long and troubled incumbency of tifty-four 

years. 

No sooner was Fraser safely settled than he left the ])arish 

on a visit to his brother Robert, who was an Advocate in Edinburgh, 

and so long did he remain away that he was called before 

the Bishop and sub-Synod at Elgin in November 1G74, and 

ordered to be publicly rebuked before his congregation on 27th 

December. But the congregation was not so exacting as congregations 

are now-a-days, and the rebuke had very little effect. The 

minister left them very much to the freedom of their own will 

frequently absenting himself from the parish, and devoting his 

time more to his favourite study of painting than to the teaching 

of his flock. E\il rumours reached the Presbytery of the sad state 

of the ])arish, and a visitation was ordered to be made on 11th 

May 1675 ; but the })arishioners were perfectly satisfied with the 

freedom which they were enjoying, and when the Brethren met at 

Daviot " ther cam no elders or people present from neither of 

the paroches except Donald INIacbain, of Faily." This slight was 

reported to the Bishop, by whose order the Presbytery again visited 

the parish on 9th November. But this trip was not more successful 

than the last, for the only parishioners present were Angus 

Mackintosh of Daviot. Lachlan Mackintosh of Aberarder, Duncan 

Macphail of Inverarnie, and the faithful Donald Macbain of Failie. 

These gentlemen " declared that the visitatione was intimated be 

their minister two severale Lord's Days, but in respect of the 

shortness of the day, and this day being the terme day of Martimes, 

that they could get none of the people to keep this diet, and so 

intreated the Presbytrie to prorogate their visitation to summer, 

when the day is at the lenth, and that all the people will be most 

willing to keep any diet then, and especially if 

parish of Dunlechitie." 

they meet in the 

" The brethren taking this slighting of their meeting to consideration," 

ordered such of their number as were to attend the 

ensuing meeting of the Synod on 24th November, to report the 

matter. This they did, and it being suspected that the minister's 

love of art was in some way accountable for the sad state of 

affairs in the parish, he was enjoined by the Synod, in time coming 

—


to "abstainc t'l'oiii all liniuini,' and painting,', (juliicli liitliiTto has 

diverted him from his ministerial employments." It is to be 

hoped, however, that the parson did not obey this injunction too 

implicitly, and that, without ViCglecting his ministerial duties, he 

found time to limn such pictures as were a source of plcasui'c to 

himself and his parishioners. 

In January 167G Mr INIicIiael informed the Presbytery that 

the Bishop had left it to the Ijrethien to decide when to attempt 

another visitation of the parish. The brethren, however, had 

had too much experienc(j to again appoint a day without consulting 

the people, and on 21st June the Moderator war, instructed 

" to wryt to the heretors of Daviott and Dunlechety to know what 

tyme tliey may conveniently keep the a])poynted visitation at 

Dunlecliety, and to return tlier answer to the next Presbytery, 

lest the brethren as formerly travell there in vayne.". The reply, 

which was read at the next meeting — 19th July— is striking : 

" Seeing they are necessitat to abyd in the glens to shelter and 

keep ther bestiall and goods tfrom the Lochaber and Glencoa 

robbers, yt it is impossible for either the gentlemen, elders, or 

people to keip the said visitation untill att least yr harvest be 

done, and then they will inianimous meit at Dunlechety any dyett 

the Presbytery appoynts, and in the mean tyme before the said 

visitation meitt, yt the heritoi'S are willing to meitt with a select 

number from ye Presbytery, that a forsable way niay be taken 

for a manse to ther minister qreby hee may bee incourraged to 

reside still amongst them." 

The manse question was an urgent one, for there was no 

place of rest for the minister in the parish. At a previous meet- 

ing, the Presbytery ordered him "to reside in his parish of 

Daviot, and to build a chamber for himselfe to that effiset ;" but 

the order was not obeyed. The Presbytery now, as suggested by 

the heritors, appointed a committee, consisting of the Rev. James 

Fraser, Kirkhill (tlie author of the Wardlaw Manuscript), and 

.several others to meet the heritors at Gask, and confer with them 

as to the immediate erection of a manse; but the heritors would 

not appoint a day, alleging that they were " busie about ther 

harvest," and at last the Presbytery themselves a])pointed the 

first Tuesday in October. This meeting, howevei-, does not 

appear to have been held ; but on 7th Noveml)er the long delayed 

visitation took place jit Dunlichity. A somewhat sad state of 

matters was di.sclosed. 'I'he minister had not celebrated the 

Lord's Supper since his entry to the parish, and he did not I'eside 

in the parish for the reason that " he had not a manse to lodge 

—

A Famous Minister of Dauiot, 1672-1726. lill) 

in. The iK'ritoi's, Iiowcvit, iutiiiwiU'd tluit tlu'y li;ul ri'solvt'd to 

liuikl a manse at Daviot, ami "that they are content to stent 

theu)selves for huilding of a sufficient manse in the sowme of tliree 

hundred merks [about .£JG. Gs. sterling] in hand befor the work 

he begun, as also to furnish upon their own expenses men and 

horses to lead all tlie timber to Daviot from Strathspey or Inverness, 

beside the heweii work yt is recjuisit to be in the house. 

This condescendence satisfied the minister, who was to l)uild the 

'iianse himselff upon the recept of the money," and "the bretheren 

exhorts both minister and heritors to fullill their engagements, 

herein that the minister may dwell and reside among his people." 

Whether the heritors contributed the three hundred merks, or 

whether tlie minister received the money and found some other 

use for it, I am unable to say ; but in any case the arrangement 

was not carried into etlect, and, as we shall see, the manse was 

not erected till 1G81, when the 

selves in the usual manner. 

Presbytery went about it them- 

In the year 1678 Mr jNIichael got into trouble with the Bishop, 

who sus))ended him tor a time, but he was restored to his parish, 

and on 10th May 1C81, the Presbytery met at Daviot, for the 

purpose of " appretiating " a manse. As it may interest some of 

you to know how this was gone about in the olden time I shall 

(juote the minute. " Having met with such heretorsas wei'e there 

present, [the brethren] all \vent to the parish church of Daviot, 

qr after invocation of ye Lord's name, the Moderator enquired the 

minister of the place if he had given timeous intimation and advertisement 

to the parishioners of the said meeting ; answered aftir- 

inative ; as also the heritors, elders, and deacons present confirmed 

the same. The Moderator encjuired further if he had brought 

with him massons, carpenter,s, smiths, glasiers, and oyr workmen 

usually called for apretiatioii of manses ; answered affirmatively ; 

the which workmen being all present were deeply sworne one by 

one with uplifted hands to deale uprightlie and honestlie in ye said 

appretiation according to theii- skill and knowledge, all this btdng 

ilone with consent of the herietors present nemine contradicente. 

The Moderater tooke instrument in Hector Fraser Notar Publick's 

hand, and ye said workmen were immediately thereafter directed 

to the said manse with the said notar as clerk, to a])pretiat the 

Siimen." And the workmen having thus estimated the cost of the 

manse, the amount was allocated on the heritors, and the work 

proceeded with. 

Early in 1682 the Bishoi) started on a tour of inspection 

through his extensive diocese, and on 16th May he and the


bretliren of the Presbytery of Inêrness visited Daviot. The Hst 

of the ottice-beai-ers of the united parishes, as given up to liis lord- 

ship, is interesting. The elders were—Lachlan Mackintosh of 

Aberarder ; Fergus Mckillvray of Dounmaglash ; Alexr. Mckiutoshie 

of Fnrr; Eun Mckpherson of Flichity; Robert Shaw of 

Toi'darroch ; John Mckintosh in Elrig; Angus Mckphail in Tnveramy; 

"William ]\Ickilvray in Lergs ; Donald Mckbean of Falzie; 

Donald Mckbean, younger of Falzie; and six others; while the 

deacons numbered six, including an Alexandei- Mackay. The 

result of the Bisliop's enquiries as to the state of the parish was 

not satisfactory. The minister had still an itch for wandering 

away from the parish ; the church was ruinous " wanting thack in 

some ])laces, the windows not glassed ;" there were no " necessaries 

for the Lord's supper ;" there was no schoolmaster " because there 

was no incurragement for one, nor no mediat centricale place qr 

they could fix a schoole to the satisfaction of all concerned ;" and 

the only really hopeful feature in the report is that the church 

officers "caried soberly and Christianly as they ought, and faithful 

in their duty." 

As soon as the Bishop depai'ted, Mr Micliael thought he 

would take another holiday, and on this occasion he travelled 

into England, where he remained for a considerable time. After 

his return he apparently remained quiet until the troublous 

times which immediately preceded the Revolution of 1688. 

Mr Angus Macbean, one of the niiniste)-s of Inverness, and son 

of Macbean of Kinchyle in our vicinity, began in the year 

1687 to have some doubts as to the scriptural authority of 

Episcopacy ; and after he had absented himself from several 

meetings of Presbytery it is minuted on 3id August that he 

" did disown the Government of the Church of Scotland as it is 

now established by law, by Archbishops, Bishops, and Pivsbytei-s." 

The Rev. Mr Marshall, Inverness, and Mr Michael were appointed 

to confer with Mr Macbean, and endeavour to make him leturn to 

but Mr Macbean was obdurate, and, 

his Episcopalian ways ; 

accused of beginning a schism in Inverness, which is described as 

" one of the most loyall, orderly, and regular cities in the nation," 

proceedings were taken against him under the special direction of 

Mr Michael, who was sent to Edinburgh in February 1688 to lay 

the matter before the Archbishop of St Andrews. At a Presbytery 

meeting on 7th March a letter is read from Fraser " showing 

him to be actively going alwut the ailair entrusted to him," 

and on the 27th of the same month, another letter from him 

is submitted enclosing an Act dejjosing Mr Macbean as a minister

A Famous Minister of Dauiot, 1672-1726. :3ol 

ofthc Ciospel. Tlic Act, which i« given ;it U'ugth in Uk; Presbytery 

Records, is a very interesting document, but it is l)eyond 

the scope of my paper to enter into it. Mr Michael worked 

zealously for his church, but its fall was near. The bust meeting 

of the Inverness Presbytery of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, 

as by law established, was held on 19th September 1G88, 

when our minister preached a sermon on the tc^xt " Therefore, 

brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction 

and distress, by your faith." But the comfort was shortlived. 

In a few weeks the Prince of Orange landed in England, and 

before the end of December established Episcopacy in Scotland, 

and the ancient Stuart dynasty came to a common end. 

Immediately after the Revolution, Presbyterianism was reestablished, 

and Mr Alexander Fraser, the old minister of Daviot, 

claimed the incumbency. Mr Michael, however, tirmly refused 

to remove. In 1091 the jiarish was declared vacant by the Committee 

of Assembly; but Mr Michael cared little for such declara- 

tions, and he adhered to his people, who, in their turn, loyally 

stood by him ; and in spite of all opposition he continued the de 

facto minister of the united parishes till his death in 1726. A 

strong Jacobite and a keen Episcopalian, he never ceased to hope 

for the return of tlie old kings, and the restoration of his beloved 

Church. In 1715 it appeared as if his dreams were to be realised. 

Early in September of that year the Earl of Mar had his famous 

hunting, at which James, son of the now deceased King James 

the Second, was proclaimed King ; and in a few weeks the Earl 

had a considerable army ready to fight for the old line. Among 

the first to rise were the Mackintoshes, who, under their Chief, and 

the famous Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum, seized Inverness on 

the 13th September, and took possession of such public money and 

arms as they could find. Next day The INIackintosh, who claimed 

the services of the tenants on the estate of Culloden, wrote to Mrs 

Forbes of Culloden in the following terms :— " You cannot be a 

stranger to the circum.stances I have put myself in at the tyme, 

and the great need I have of my own men and followers whereever 

they may be found, wherefor I thought fitt, seeing Culloden 

is not att home, by this line to entreat you to put no stopp in the 

way of these men that are, and have been, my followers upon your 

ground. Madame, your compliance in this will very much oblige 

your most humble servant, L. Mackintosh." And then, he significantly 

adds, by way of postscript—" If what I demand will not be 

granted, [ hope I'll be excused to be in my duty." But such threats 

had no efiect on the lady of Culloden, and she refused The Mack


intosliH deinand, ;iiul on the 17tli he and his forces appeared before 

her house and laid siege to it. They were here joined by Mr 

Michael Fraser, who, though sixty- five or seventy yeai-s of age, 

could not sit by his fire-side while such good work was being done 

for the cause which he had so much at heart. I cannot tell you 

of the part he took in the struggle better than by quoting the 

account contained in the records of Presbytery meetings held after 

the war came to an end. 

On 13th November 1716 "several ministers of the Presbytery 

re])resented that they were informed by good hands that Mr 

Michael Fraser, incumbent at Daviot, not only was openly dis- 

affected to his Majesty King Georg

A Famous Minister of Dauiot, 1672-1726. 253 

and summoned before them at next meotiii,sl)vtcry X'esolved to admit their evidence, wlicrcunon Mr 

Krasei- left the meeting. The evidence of the witnesses vvas, how- 

ever, taken. William Forbes, cousin german to the l.iaird of (.'ul- 

loden, after being " sworn and purged of malice and partial council, 

deponed that he saw the said Mr Michael Fraser coming 

fi'om Mackintosh to the gates of CuUodi^n upon the seventeen 

day of September 1715, in company with young Caloichie 

(Kyllachy), and that knocking at the gate, he demandeil 

access, which was denied him by the deponent and others ; 

upon which he desired to speak with my lady, who being informed, 

came accordingly to the gate ; and the deponent declares 

that the said INIr Michael spoak to the lady through one of the 

gun holes, in manner following, to wit, that he was sent by Mackintosh 

to desire her ladyship to send out of the house these that 

were of Mackintosh clan, with tifty stand of arms and tw(;nty 

bolls of meal, and that she should send out immediately a barr(4 

of ale, and bread conform, to supi)ly Mackintosh men who were 

standing before the house in arms—all which the lady absolut(ily 

refused." 

This evidence was eorroliorated by other witnesses, one Logic 

Cumming deponing that he heard Mr Michael say " that the Lainl 

of Mackintosh insisted on three demands, namely, four men out of 

each Daugh (Davoch) of the Lands of OuUoden, conform to use and 

wont ; and having notictd that there was a great many arms in the 

Castell of CuUoden, desired fifty guns ; and being likewise informed 

that there was abundance of victuall in the said house, demanded 

some meal to be provision for his men for some days" — 

thus showing not only that The Mackintosh claimed the .services of 

his clansmen, according to clan customs, no matter on whose lands 

they resided, but also that, as superior of the lands of CuUoden, he 

in terms of the ancient feudal law of military tenure, insisted on 

the services of a certain number of men for a certain measure of 

Umd. 

Mr Michael evidently saw that the decision of the Presbytery 

was to be against him, and he therefore thought it expedient 

to make a show of suljmission ; and he promised to resign on the 

condition " that when the Presbytery should be in readiness to


settle the said jiarish with a man agreeable to the Presbytery, he 

sliould give way without trouble or disturbance." With tliis the 

Presbytery was satisfied, and the proceedings came to an end. He 

was apparently left unmolested until February 1721, when certain 

complaints were made against him, and against the ministers of 

Dores and Glen-Urquhart, who were also Episcopalians. Again 

the matter was brought up on .'5th September 1721, when it was 

resolved to make a Presbytei-ial visitation of Daviot on 3rd October— 

Mr James Leslie, minister, of Moy, being appointed to 

preach at Daviot on 17tli September, and intimate the visitation ; 

and Mr Farcjuhar Beaton, Croy, to perform the same duties at 

Dunlichity on 1st October. These gentlemen met with a warm re- 

cei)tion. Mr Leslie reports : 

— 

" Upon the 17th of September 1721, I came to the church of 

Daviot prepared to preach there, according to appointment, at the 

ordinary time. I began worship, having but a very few hearers, 

the body of the congregation sitting at a hill-side near the church. 

As I proceeded in worship I was interinxpted, and the heai-ei-s 

disturbed, by the throwing of stones in at the door, windows, and 

through the open roof of the church. Whereupon, being obliged 

for oui safety to remove, I continued the rest of the di\ine worship 

in a corner of the church-yard, with no small disturliance and 

hazax'd, both to myself and hearers." 

"Upon the first day of October," reports Mr Beaton, "I repaired 

to the Church of Dunlichity, prepared to preach there 

according to appointment ; and considering what maltreatment 

Mr Leslie met with at Daviot, and suspecting that few of the 

parishioners of Dunlichity would attend worship, some of my own 

parishioners followed me to that place. With some ditliculty I 

gott access to the church, and had no sooner begun worshipe than 

by stones thrown in, the pulpit was broke about me, and some of 

my parishioners wounded. Being obliged to remove for our safety, 

we were assaulted by a multitude of men and women, with swords, 

staves, and stones, some of our number wounded, and others barbarously 

beaten." 

This was something to daunt the bravest spirit ; but the 

members of Presbytery still \ entured within the bounds of the 

'^\•^\ October, where 

troublesome parish, and met at Da\ iot on 

they were met by the heritors, wadsettei's, and otlier j)arishioners, 

including the Laird of Mackintosh, William Mackintosh of Aber- 

ardei', Farquhar Macgillivray of Dunmagla.ss, Angus Shaw of 

Tordarroch, Donald Macbean of Faillie, Angus Macintosh of Culclachie, 

the Laird of Flichity (whose name is not given), and

A Famous Minister of Dauiot, 1672-1726. 255 

" great numbers of the parishioners." The Presbytery explained 

to the pe()})le that tliey had come "to confer witli them anent the 

ex|)eiUtious and comfortable settlement of a gospel minister in 

these united parishes, which they must look upon as legally 

vacant ;" and referred to the act of the Committee of Assembly in 

1 (594, and Mr Michael's demission in 171 7. Dunmaglass, on behalf 

of the parishioners, answered that Mr Michael had l)een their 

minister " without having aught to say against him since 

his incumbency," and craved that he should be left with them ; 

and the minister himself gave in a paper arguing that the 

parish had never been pro])erly declared \acant, and that 

he was no intruder. The Presbytery, looking to the treatment 

which Messrs Leslie and Beaton had received, and probably 

dreading violence themselves, adjourned to meet next day at Inver- 

ness ; 

and at this second meeting JNIr Michael presented a petition, 

in which, after a discussion of the questions at issue, he " in treats 

the reverend brethern to take his age and great family and mean 

circumstances in the world, and the law troubles lie met with from 

Provost Clarke and as yet by his rejjresentatives, so to heart as to 

give him some time in his foresaid ciiarge, which, by the coui"se of 

nature, c:uinot be long." 

The meeting, after long deliberation, appointed the ministers 

of Inverness to lay the whole circumstances before Mr Duncan 

Forbes, advocate, (afterwards the well-known Lord President), 

who was then at Culloden, and to obtain his opinion and advice, 

and for that purpose to lay before him an extract of the Com- 

mittee's Act of 1694, which found Daviot vacant. But the fates 

were evidently on the side of the poor old minister. The 

Moderator wrote to Edinburgh for an extract of the Act of 1694, 

but the reply received was that no such extract could be given, as 

the minutes of the Committee were destroyed by fire in 1701. 

At meeting after meeting, the case was brought up without any progress 

being made ; while on 6th February 1722 a letter was read 

from The INIackintosh and sundry other gentlemen of the parish, 

" earnestly intreating the Presbyteries forbearance with JNlaister 

^lichael Fraser, and obliging themselves to an active concurrence 

with the Presbytery in the event of his death, which, now in the 

course of nature, cannot be long." The Presbytery resolved to 

report the matter to the next Synod " and in the meantime they 

appoint Mr Macbean and Mr Shaw in name of the Presbytery to 

write to the Laird of Mackintosh a return to the said lettei-, 

and remonstrate to him the usuage and rude treatment " given 

the minister in the previous harvest. 

to

25G Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

This is tlio last referonco I find to tlic case in the records of 

the Presbytery. Tlie poor old minister stuck to his charge till 

April 17 20, when, after a stormy career of tifty-four years in the 

parish, death gave the svinimons against which there is no ai>peal. 

Let us hoj»e that the last four years of his life, during which the 

records are quiet regarding him, were really a period of peace and 

comfort to him. His death, however, did not bring about the 

anticipated peace in the parish ; for, when the Rev. Lachlan Shaw 

of Cawdor (the historian of the Province of Moray), went to declare 

the church vacant on 22nd May 1726, he had to report to the 

Presbytery " that he found great numbers, some in the churchyard, 

others in the open tields, with the kirk door locked, the key 

carried ofl', and could not be found ; while the people liehaved so 

rudely that he could not worship in the churchyard without being 

disturbed by them ; and so returned home." Long after his death 

the memory of kind INIr Michael remained green in the parish ; and 

it is only by his enthusiasm in the cause of Episcopacy, and his 

gi-eat influence over his people, that we can account foi- the fact 

that, contrary to the rule in other j)arts of the Highlands, from 

his time until now Strathnairn has not been without a consider- 

able number of native Gaelic-speaking Episcopalians within its 

bounds 

Mr Eraser not only " limned and painted," but he also made 

a small venture in literature, by publishing a sermon on " Christ's 

Kingdom." Of his six sons and five daughters, one son— Robert 

— took to the sea, and on l)oard the war ship " Pearle " fought 

for that King for whom his father refused to pray. 

17TII March 1886. 

On this date Dr Ogilvie Crant, Inverness, was elected an ordinary 

member of the Society ; and after transacting some routine 

business, Mr John Macdonald, supervisoi-, Dingwall, read the following 

pajtf-r on 

SMUG(4LTNG IN THE HIGHLANDS. 

The oi'igin of distillation is surrounded by doubt and unceitainty, 

like the origin of many other imjiortant inventions and 

tliscoveries. Tradition ascrib(!s it to Osiris, the great god, and, 

])eili;ips, the first King of Egypt, who is snid to have reclaimed 

the l'^gy})tians fi-om barbarism, and to have tauglit tlie?ii agriculture 

itnil vaiious arts and sciences. Wiiether tiie tradition be true or

Smuggling in the Highlands 267 

not, all will admit the boaiity and litness of the conception which 

ascribed to the ij;ods the ,i,'l(>ry of ha\ing first revealed to poor 

humanity the secret of distilling the M'ater of life, as aqua vitce or 

uisge-beatha, whose viitiies, as a source of solace, of comfoi-t, of 

cheer, and of courage, have been so universally recognised and 

appreciated. Truly, such a gift was worthy of the gods. 

But however beautiful the tradition of Osiris, and however 

much in accord with tlie eternal fitness of things the idea that 

the gods first taught man the art of distillation, a rival claim has 

been set up for the origin of the invention. It does not require 

a very lively imagination to pictiire some of the gods disrelishing 

their mild nectar, seeking moi-c ardent and stimulating drink, 

visiting the haunts of men after the golden barley had been garnered, 

and engaging in a little smuggling on their own account. But 

even this reasonable view will not be accepted without challenge. 

The Britannica Encyclopedia, in its article on alcohol—not 

written by Professor Robertson Smith — states that the art 

of sepaj'ating alcohol from fermented liquors, which appears to 

have been known in the far East, from the most remote antiquity, 

is supposed to have been first known to and practised by the 

Chinese, whence the knowledge of the ai't travelled westward. 

Thus we find the merit of the invention disputed between the gods 

and the Chinese. I am myself half inclined in favour of the 

" Heathen Chinee." That ingenious people who, in the hoariest 

antiquity, invented the manufacture of silk and porcelain, the 

mariner's compass, the art of block-printing and the composition 

of gunpowder, may well be allowed the merit of having invented 

the art of distilling alcohol. Osiris was intimately connected with 

the agriculture of Egypt, and among the Chinese, agriculture has 

been honoured and encouraged beyond every other species of industry. 

So that if the Egyptian grew his barley, the Chinaman 

gi-ew his rice, from which the Japanese at the {n-esent day distil 

their sake. Instead of being an inestimable blessing bestowed by 

the gods, it is just possible that the art of distilling alcohol, like 

the invention of gunpowder, may be traced to the heathen Chinese, 

and may be regarded as one of the greatest curses ever inflicted 

on mankind. Where doctors differ, it would be vain to dogmatise, 

and on such a point every one must be fully persuaded in his own 

mind. Whether we can agree as to alcohol being a blessing or a 

curse, we can agree that the origui of distillation is at least 

doulitful, and that, perhaps, no record of it exists. 

Early mention is made in the Bible of strong drink as distingiushed 

from wine. Aaron was prohibited from drinking wine 

17

'2^8 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

or strong drink when going into the Tabernacle. David complains 

that he was the song of the drinkers of strong drink. Lemuel's 

mother warns her son against the use of strong drink, and advises 

him to "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to jierish, and 

wine unto him that is heavy of heart. Let him drink and foi-gct 

his poverty, and remember his misery no more" -words whiili, 

with characteristic tact and unerring good taste, our own National 

Bard used as motto for " Scotch Urink," and paraphrased so ex- 

quisitely : 

— 

" Gie him strong drink until he wink, 

That's sinking in despair ; 

An' liquor guid to fire his bluid, 

That's prest wi' grief an' care 

There let him bouse and deep carouse, 

W'i' bumpers flowing o'er, 

Till he forgets his luves and debts, 

An' minds his griefs no more " 

But the strong drink of the Bible was not obtained by distillation. 

The Hebrew word " Yayin " means the wine of the grape, and is invariably 

rendered " wine," which was generally diluted before use. 

The word "Sbechar," which is rendered "sti'ong drink," is used to 

denote date wine and barley wine, which were fermented liquors 

sufficiently potent to cause intoxication, and wex-e made by the 

Egyptians from the earliest times. The early Hebrews were 

evidently unacquainted with the art of distillation. 

Muspratt states that there is no evidence of the ancients 

having been acquainted with alcohol or ardent spirits, that, in fact, 

there is every reason to believe the contrary, and that distillation 

was unknown to them. He quotes the case of Dioscorides, a 

physician of the time of Nero (a.d., 54-68) who in extracting 

quicksilver from cinnabar, luted a close cover of stoneware to the 

top of his pot, thus showing that he was unacquainted with the 

method of attaching a receiver. Muspratt further states that 

neither poets, historians, naturalists, nor medical men make the 

slightest allusion to ardent spirits. This is more significant as the 

earliest poets and historians make constant references to wine 

and ale, dilate on their virtues, and describe the mode of their 

manufacture. 

The Egyptians, however, are said to have practised the art of 

distillation in the time of Dioclesian (.v.n. 1^01-305), and are supposed 

to have communicated it to the Babylonians and Hebrews, 

who transmitted it westward to the Thracians, and Celtae of 

;

Smuggling in the Highlands. 259 

Spain and Gaul ; but it was unknown to the ancient Greeks and 

Romans. Tlie distillation of aromatic waters is said to have been 

known from very remote times to the Arabians. The word 

" iilcoliol" is Arabic, meaning originally " tine powder," and becoun'ng 

gradually to mean " essence," " pure spirit," the "very 

heart's blood/' as I>urns >iays of John l.arleycorn. You remember 

the exclamation of i)Oor Cassio when he sobered down after his 

drunken row— " O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no 

name to be known by, let us call thee devil !" We have now got 

a name for the intoxicating element of fermented liquors, and call 

it alcohol, which may go some way to prove that the Arabians 

were early accpiainted with the art of distillation. A rude kind 

of still, which is yet employed, has been used for distilling spii'its 

in Ceylon from time immemorial, and Captain Cook found among 

the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands a knowledge of the art of 

distilling spirits from alcoholic infusions. 

It is said the art was first introduced into Europe by the 

I\roors of Spain about 1150. Abucasis, who lived about that 

time, is spoken of as the first western philosopher who taught the 

art of distillation, as applied to the preparation of spirits. In the 

following century Arnoldus de Villa Nova, a chemist and physician, 

describes distilled spirit, and states that it was called by some the 

" water of life ;" and about the same time Raymond Lully, a 

chemist, noticed a mode of producing intoxicating spirit by distillation. 

But for my purpose the most interesting fact is that 

shortly after the invasion of Ireland by Henry II. in 1170, the 

English found the Irish in the habit of making and drinking aqua 

vitce. Whether the Ii'ish Celts claim to have brought the knowledge 

of the art from their original scat in the far East, or to have 

more recently received it from Spain I do not know, but, without 

having access to purely Irish sources of information, this is the 

earliest recoi'd I find of distilled spirits having been manufactured 

or used in the British Islands. Whether Highlanders will allow 

the Irish claim to Ossian or not, I fear it must be allowed they 

have a prior claim to the use of whisky.* Uisye-beatluo is no doubt a 

literal translation of the Latin aqua vitce (water of life), supposed to 

be a corruption of acqua vite (water of the vine). "The monastei-ies 

being the archives of science, and the original dispensaries of medi- 

cine, it is a natural surmise that the term acqua vitevfus there corrupted 

into the Latin and universal appellation, aqua vitce (water of 

* My attention has been called to the fact that in Mr Skene's " Four 

Ancient Books of Wales," the Gael are hi some of tiie 6ih or 7th century 

poeins called "distillers," "furnace distillers," "kiln-distillers."

— 


life) from its salutary and beneticial ellects as a medicine ; and 

from the Latin tongue being tlie general conveyancer of scientific discovery, 

as well as of familiar correspondence, the term aq?ui vitoi 

may have crept into common use to signify an indefinite distilled 

spirit, in contradistinction to ncqxa vite, the mere extract of the 

grape." (Muspratt.) Whisky is simply a corruption of the Gaelic 

uisge or liisge-beatha. The virtues of Irish whisky, and directions 

for making it, both sim}»le and compound, are fully recorded in the 

Red Book of Ossory, compiled about 500 years ago. Uisge-beatha 

was first used in Ireland as medicine, and was considered a panacea 

for all disorders. The physicians recommended it to patients in- 

discriminately, for preserving health, dissipating humours, strengthening 

the heart, curing colic, dropsy, palsy, &,c., and even for prolonging 

existence itself beyond the common limit. It appears to 

have been used at one time to inspire heroism, as opium has been 

used among the Turks. An Iiish knight, named Savage, about 

1350, previously to engaging in battle ordered to each soldier a 

large draught of aqua-vitie. Four hundred years later we find 

Burns claiming a similar virtue for Highland whisky : 

" But bring a Scotsman frae his hill, 

Clap in his cheek a Highland gill, 

Say, such is royal George's will. 

An there's the foe, 

He has nae thought but how to kill 

Twa at a blow." 

And again in that "tale of truth," "Tarn o' Shanter " 

" Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil 

Wi' usquebae we'll face the devil." 

A similar idea is expressed in Strath-mathaisidh's Gaelic 

Song, " Comunn an Uisge-bheatha :" 

— 

" Bidh iad Ian misnich 'us cruadail, 

Gu h-aigiontach brisg gu tuasaid, 

Chuireadh aon fhichead 'san uair sin 

Teailach Ruadh fo'n chriin duinn." 

By this time you are wondering what has Ijcconie of the 

smugglers and Highland whisky. Although I did not expect to 

find that Adam, who, of cour.se, spoke Gaelic and was no doul)t a 

thorough Highlander, had engaged in smuggling outside the walls 

of Eden, or that the plucky Maclean, who sailed a boat of his own 

at the Flood, had an anchor of good old Highland whisky on 

; 

— 

—


board, yet, when I innocently undertook to write this paper, I 

nnist admit that T was under the impression that tliero was some 

notice of Hii^liland wliisky long l)efore tht^ 12tli century. T had 

in view Ossian, sometime in the third or fourth century, spreading 

the feast and sending round the " shell of joy " brimming with real 

Highland uisge-beatha, "yellowed with peat reek and mellowed 

with age." After some investigation, I am forced to tlie conclusion 

that the Fingalians regaled tiiemselves with (i/e or metul, not with 

whisky. There is nothing to show that they had whisky. The 

"shell of joy" went round in stormy Lochlin as well as in 

streamy Morven, and we know that ale was the favourite drink 

of the Scandinavians before and after death. " In the halls 

of our fatlier. Balder, we shall be drinking ale out of the 

hollow skulls of our enemies," sang fierce Lodbrog. The scallop- 

shell may seem small for mighty draughts of ale, but our ancestors 

knew how to brew their ale strong and, as to the size of 

the shell, we learn from Juvenal that in his time shells were used 

by the Romans for drinking wine. Egyptian ale was nearly 

equal to wine in strength and fla\our, and the Spaniards manufactured 

ale of such strength and quality that it would keep for a 

considerable time. However anxious to believe the contrary, I 

am of opinion that Ossian's shell was never filled with real uisgeheatha. 

But surely, I thought, Lady Macbeth must have given an 

extra glass or two of strong whisky to Duncan's grooms at Inver- 

ness, when they slept so soundly on the night of that tei-rible 

murder. I find that she only "drugged their possets," which 

were composed of hot milk poured on ale or sack, and mixed 

with honey, eggs, and other ingredients. At dinner the day after 

the mui-der Macbeth calls for wine,— "give me some wine, fill 

full :" so that wine, not whisky, was drunk at dinner in Inverness 

800 years ago. There is no mention of whisky in Macbeth, or for 

centuries after, but we may safely conclude that a knowledge of 

the process of distillation must have been obtained very early from 

Ireland, 

century. 

where whisky was distilled and drunk in the twelfth 

At a very remote period Highlanders made incisions in birch 

trees in spring, and collected the juice, which fermented and became 

a gentle stimulant. Most of us, when boys, have had our favourite 

birch tree, and enjoyed the_^'on. The Highlanders also prepared 

a liquor from the mountain heath. Lightfoot, in his Flora Scotica, 

(1777) says— " Formerly the young tops of the heather are said to 

have been used alone to brew a kind of ale, and even now 

I was informed that the inhabitants of Islay and Jura still continue


to bi*ew a very poteble liquor by mixing two thirds of the tops of 

heather to one-third of malt. It is a matter of history that Britjiiu 

was once celebrated for honey, and it is quite probable that, when 

in full bloom and laden with honey, a fermentable infusion could be 

obtained from heather tops. Alcohol cannot, however, be obtained 

except from a saccharine basis, and I fear that any beverage 

which could have been extracted from heather itself must have 

been of a very teetotal character. Mixed wath malt something 

might be got out of it. Now heather is only used by smugglera 

in the bottom of their mash-tun for draining purposes. I liave 

often wondered whether Nature intended that our extensive heaths 

should be next to useless. The earliest mention of the drinking 

and manufacture of whisky in the Highlands is found in the 

famous " Statutes of Icolm-Kill " which were agreed to by the 

Island Chiefs in 1 609. The Statutes, as summarised in Gregory's 

Western Uighlamls and Islands, are quoted in Mackenzie's History 

of the Macdonalds. "The fifth Statute proceeded upon the narrative, 

that one of the chief causes of the great poverty of the 

Isles, and of the cruelty and inhuman barbarity practised in 

their feuds, was their inordinate love of strong mnes and aquavitae, 

which they purchased partly from dealers among themselves, 

partly from merchants belonging to the mainland. Power was, 

therefore, given to any person whatever to seize, without payment, 

any wine or aqua-vitse imported for sale by a native 

merchant ; and if any Islander should buy any of the prohibited 

articles from a mainland trader, he was to incur the penalty of 

forty pounds for the tirst oftence, one hundred for the second, 

and for the third the loss of his whole possessions and moveable 

goods. It was, however, declared to be lawful for an individual 

to brew as much aqua-vitse as his own family might require ; and 

the barons and wealthy gentlemen were permitted to purchase in 

the Lowlands the wine and other liquors required for their private 

consumption." 

For some time after this, claret appears to ha\'e been the 

favourite drink. The author of Scotland SocAal and Domestic, 

states that not^vithstanding the prohibition of 1 609 against the 

importation and consumption of wine, the consumption of claret 

continued, and the Privy Council in 1616 passed an " Act agans 

the drinking of Wynes in the Yllis," as follows : 

" Forsamekle as the grite and extraordinar excesse in drink- 

ing of wyne commonlie vsit amangis the commonis and tenentis of 

the yllis is not onlie ane occasioun of the lieastlie and barbarous 

cruelties and inhumaniteis that fallis oute amongis thame to the 

—

Smuggling in tfie Highlands. 263 

otiens and clisplosour of God and contempt of law and justice, hot 

with that it drawis nvniberis of thame to miserable necessite and 

powertie sua that they ar constraynit quhen they want of thair 

nichtboiiris. J^'or remeid quhairof the Lords of Secret Counsell 

statvtis and ordains, that nane of the tenentis and commonis of 

the Yllis sail at ouy tyme heireftor buy or drink ony wynes in the 

Yllis or continent nixt adiacent, vnder the pane of twenty poundis 

to be incurrit be every contravenare toties quoties. The ane 

half of tlie said pane to the King's Maiestie and the vther half 

to their maisteris and landislordis and chiftanes. Commanding 

heirl)y the maisteris landislordis and chiftanes to the sadis tenentis 

and commonis euery ane of thame within tliair awine boundis 

to sie thir present act preceislie and inviolablie kept, and the 

contravcnaris to be aceordiiiglie pvnist and to vplift the panis of 

the contravenaries to mak rekning and payment of the ane halff 

of the said panes in Maiesteis exchequir yierlie and to apply the 

vther halff of the saidis panes to thair awne vse." 

In 1622 a more stringent measure was passed, termed an " Act 

that nane send wynes to the His," as follows : 

" Forsamckle as it is vnderstand to the Lordis of secreit counsell 

that one of the cheiff caussis whilk procuris the continewance 

of the inhabitants of the His in their barbarous and inciuile form 

of leeving is the grite quantitie of wynes yeirlie caryed to the His 

with the vnsatiable desire quhair of the saidis inhabitants are so 

far possesst, that quhen their arryvis ony ship or other veshell thair 

with wynes they spend bothe dayis and nightis in thair excesse of 

drinking, and seldomedo they leave thaii" drinking so lang a", thair 

is ony of the wyne rest and sua that being overcome with drink 

thair fallis out money inconvenientis amangis thame to the l)rek of 

his Maiesteis peace. And quihairas the cheftanes and principallis of 

the clannis in the yllis ar actit to take suche ordour with thair 

tenentis as nane of thame be sufferit to drink wynes, yitt 

so long as thair is ony wynes caryed to the His thay will 

hardlie be withdrane from thair evil custome of drinking, 

bot will follow the same and continew thairin whensoeuir thay may 

find the occasioun. For remeid quhairof in tyrae comeing the 

Lordis of secreit Counsell ordanis lettres to be direct to command 

charge and inhibite all and sindrie marsheantis, skipparis and 

awnaris of shippis and veshells, be op})in proclamation at all 

places ncidful, that nane of them presoume nor tak vpon hand 

to carye and transporte :)ny wynes to the His, nor to sell the 

same to the inhabitantis of the His, except se mekle as is allowed 

to the jt»-incipall chiftanes and gentlemen of the His, vnder the 

—


pane of confiscatioun of the whole wynes so to be caiyed and 

sauld in the His aganis the tenour of this proclamatioun. or els 

of the availl and pryceis of the same to his Maiesties vse." 

" These repressive measures," the author continues, " deprived 

the Hebrideans of the wines of Bordeaux, but did not render 

them more temperate. They had recourse to more potent beverages. 

Their ancestors extracted a spiiit from the mountain heath 

they now distilled usque-beatha or whisky. Whisky became a 

greater favourite than claret, and was drunk copiously, not only 

in the Hebiides, but throughout the Highlands. It did not become 

common in the Lowlands until the latter part of the last 

century. The Lowland baron or yeoman who relished a liqour 

more powerful than claret formerly used rum or brandy." 

Whisky was little used among the better classes for upwards 

of a hundred years after this. " Till 1780," says the same author, 

" claret was imported free of duty, and was much used among the 

middle and upper classes, the price being about fivepence the bottle. 

Noblemen stored hogsheads of claret in their halls, making them 

patent to all visitors, guests received a cup of wine when they 

entered, and another on their departure. The potations of those 

who frequented dinner-parties Avere enormous persons who could 

; 

not drink remained at home. A landlord was considered inhospitable 

who permitted any of his guests to retire without their requiring 

the assistance of his servants. Those who tarried for the night, 

found in their bedrooms a copious supply of ale, wine, and brandy 

to allay the thirst superinduced by their pi-evious potations. Those 

who insisted on returning home were rendered still more incapable 

of prosecuting their journeys by being compelled, according to the 

inexorable usage, to swallow a deoch-an-doruis, or stirrup-cup, 

which was commonly a vessel of very formidable dimensions." 

That claret was the favourite drink among the better classes 

to the end of last century is remarkably corroborated by Burns's 

song of " The Whistle "— 

" The dinner being over the claret they ply. 

And every new cork is a new spring of joy." 

The competitors having drunk six bottles of claret each. Glen- 

riddle, "a high-ruling elder, left the foul business to folks less 

divine." Maxwelton and Craigdarroch continued the contest and 

drank one or two bottles more, Craigdarroch winning the whistle. 

Burns is said to have drank a bottle of rum and one of braiuly 

during the contest. There is a Highland story which would make 

a good companion to the foregoing Lowland picture. The time ia 

;


much later, perhaps sixty years ajô, and the beverafjt* wliisky. 

The laird of Mihiaii:, near Ahicss, visited his nei,i,dibour the laird 

of Nonikiln. Time wore on, and the visit was pi-olonged until 

late at night. At last the sugar got done, and toddy is not very 

palatable without sugar. In those days no shop was neai-er than 

Tain or Dingwall, and ic was too late to send anywhere for a sup- 

ply. Convivialities were threatened with an abrupt tei'niination, 

when a happy thought found its way into Nonikiln's befogged 

brain. He had bee-hives in the garden, and honey was an excellent 

substitute for sugar. A skep was fetched in, the bees were 

robbed, and the toddy bowl was replenished. The operation was repeated 

until the bees, revived by the warmth of the room, showed 

signs of activity, and stung their spoileis into sobriety. 

(^reich, I understand, relates this story with great gusto. 

Dr Aird, 

There can be no doubt that till the latter jjart of last century, 

wine, ale, rum, and brandy were more used than whisky. Tan 

Lom, who died about 1710, in his song " Moch 's mi 'g eiridh 'sa 

Mhaduinn " mentions " gucagan fion," but makes no reference to 

whisky. Lord Lovat having occasion to entertain 24 guests at 

Beaufort in 1739, writes— "I have ordered John Forbes to send 

in horses for all Lachlan Macintosh's wine, and for six dozen of the 

Spanish wine."— (Transactions, Vol. XII). Colonel Stewart of 

Garth writing about 1820, says— 

"Till within the last 30 years, 

whisky was less used in the Highlands than rum and brandy, which 

were smuggled from the West Coast. It was not till the beginning, 

or rather towards the middle of last century that spirits of any kind 

were so much drank as ale, which was then the universal beverage. 

Every account and tradition go to prove that ale was the principal 

drink among the country people, and Fi-ench wines and brandy 

among the gentry. Mr Stewart of Crossmount, who lived till his 

104th year, informed me that in his youth strong frothing ale from 

the cask was the common beverage. It was drunk from a circular 

shallow cup with two handles. Those of the gentry were of silver, 

and those used by the common people were of variegated woods. 

Small cups were used for spirits. Whisky house is a term unknown 

in Gaelic. A public-house is called Tigh-Leinne, i.e., ale 

house. In addition to the authority of Mr Stewart, I have that 

of men of perfect veracity and great intelligence regarding everything 

connected with theii- native country. In the early part of 

their recollections, and in the time of their fathers, the whisky 

drank in the Highlands of Perthshire was brought principally 

from the Lowlands. A ballad composed on an ancestor of mine 

in the reign of Chai'les I., describes the laird's jovial and hospit-


— 

able manner, and along with other feats, his drinking a brewing of 

ale at one sitting. In this song whisky is never mentioned, nor 

is it in any case, except in the modern ballads and songs." 

Here is a verse of it : 

Fear Druim-a'-charaidh, 

Gur toigh leis an leann ; 

'S dh'oladh e 'n togail 

M' an togadh e 'cheann. 

All the evidence that can be gathered goes to show that the 

manufacture and use of whisky must have been very limited until the 

latter part of last century. This is clearly shown by the small 

quantities charged with Excise duty. On Christmas day IGGO, 

Excise duty was first laid on whisky in this country, the duty in 

in Scotland being •2d., 3d., and 4d., per gallon according to the 

materials from which the spirits were made. No record exists of 

the amount of duty paid until 1707, when it amounted only to 

£1810 15s. lid., representing about 100,000 gallons, the population 

being 990,000. No record of the quantity charged exists 

until 1724, when duty was 3d. and Gd. In that year 145, G02 

gallons were charged, the duty amounting to £3504. 12s. lOd., 

the population being little over one million. Last year the 

population was 3,866,521, the gallons of whisky charged G,629,30G, 

and the duty £3,314,680. 10s." Since 1724, 160 years ago, the 

population of Scotland has increased nearly four times, the quantity 

of spirits charged for home consumption forty-five times, and the 

amount of duty over nine hundred and forty-seven times. In proportion 

to poi)ulation, the people of Scotland are now drinking 

eleven times as much whisky as they did IGO years ago, so that 

our forefathers must have been mucli more temperate than we are, 

must have drunk more foreign wines and spirits or ale, or must 

have very extensively evaded the Excise duty. 

Although much of the whisky manufactured at this time 

must have been distilled on a small scale within the homes in 

which it was consumed, there is early mention of public distilleries. 

In 1G90 reference is made to tlu; " Ancient Brewary 

of Aquavity," on the land of Ferintosh, and there is no reason 

to doubt that Ferintosh wiis the seat of a distillery before the 

levying of the Excise duty in 16G0. The yearly Excise of the 

lands of Fca-intosh was farmed to Forbes of Culloden in 1690, for 

400 merk.s, about £22, and tlu^ history of the ])rivil('ge is interesting. 

As in later times, Forbes of Culloden sided with tlii^ Kevolution 

party, and was of considerable service in the struggle which led to

— 


the deposition of Jainos II., hn was consequently unpopular with 

the " Highland Rebels," as the Jacobites were toruied l)y the 

loyalists, and during his absence in Holland, his estate of Ferin- 

tosh, with its " Ancient Brewary of xVquavity " was laid wastes, 

in October 1G89, by a body of 700 or 800 men, sent by the Earl 

of Buchan and General Cannon, whereby he and his tenants 

sutVered much loss. In compensation for- the losses thus sustained, 

an A.ct of Parliament farming to him and his successors the yearly 

Excise of the lands of Ferintosh, was passed as follows : 

At Edinburgh, 22nd July 1090. 

Our Sovereign Lord and Ladye, the King and Queen's 

Majesties and the three H^states of Parliament :—Considering that 

the lands of Ferintosh were an Ancient Brewary of Aqnavity ; and 

were still in use to pay a considerable Excise to the Thesaury, 

while of late that they were laid waste of the King's enemies ; and 

it being just to give such as have suffered all possible encouragement, 

and also necessary to use all lawful endeavours for upholding 

of the King's Revenue ; Therefore their Majesties and the 

Estates of Parliament for encouragement to the possessors of the 

said Lands to set up again and prosecute their former Trade of 

Brewing and pay a duty of Excyse as formerly ; Do hereby 

Ferm for the time to come the Yearly Excyse of the said lands of 

Ferintosh to tlie present Heritor Duncan Forbes of Culloden, and 

his successors Heritors of same for the sum of 400 merks Scots, 

which sum is declared to be the yearly proportion of that annuity 

of £-40,000 sterling payable for the Excyse to his Majestie's Exchequer. 

The brewing to commence at the term of Lambas next 

to come, and payment to be made to the ordinary Collector of Ex- 

cyse for the Shyre of Inverness." Another Act was passed in 

1695 continuing and confirming the privilege, after the Excyse was 

" raised off of the Liquor and not of the Boin" 

The arable lands of Ferintosh extended to about 1 800 acres, 

and calculating 5 bolls of barley to the acre, and a profit of £2 ])er 

boll, tlie gain nuist have been considerable. Mr Arnot states 

that more whisky was distilled in Ferintosh than in all the rest of 

Scotland, and estimates the annual profit at about £18,000. 

Such a distinguished mark of favour, and so valuable a privilege 

were sure to raise envy against a man wlio was already un- 

popular, and we find the Master of Tarbat cojnplaining to Parliament, 

inter alia : 

"That Culloden's tack of Excyse wrongs tlie Queen's Revenue 

in 3000 merks per annum. 

—


! — 

" That his tack of Excyse wrongs his neighbours, in so far as 

he can undersell them, and monopolise the brewing ti'ade. 

"That his loss w;is not above a year's rent." 

Tn answer Culloden states :— 

" That ho understands the meaning of the Act to be for what 

grows on his own lands. 

" That whatever gi-ain shall be carried from any place into 

his land (except it be to eat or sow), shall be lyable to Excyse. 

"That the amount of the loss sustained by liimself and 

tenants was £54,000 Scotch, as ascertained by regular proof." 

After the establishment of a Board of Excise in 1707, frequent 

representations were made to the Treasury to buy this 

right, in consideration of the great dissatisfaction it created 

among the distillers, who did not complain without cause, as in 

1782 the duty paid was £22, while according to the cui-rent rate 

of duty £20,000 should have been paid. {Owens.) These representations 

prevailed, and the Act 26, G. III., cap. 73, sec. 75, 

provided for the purchase as follows ;— 

" Whei-eas Arthur Forbes of Culloden, Esq., in the county of 

Inverness, is possessed of an exemption from the duties of Excise, 

within the lands of Ferintosh under a certain lease allowed by 

.several Acts of Parliament of Scotland, whicli exemption has been 

found detrimental to the Revenue and prejudicial to the distillery 

in other parts of Scotland, enacted That the Treasury 

shall agree with the said Arthur Forbes upon a compensation to 

be made to him in lieu of the exemption, and if they shall not 

agree, the barons of Exchequer may settle the compensation by 

a jury, and after payment thereof, the said exem])tion shall cease." 

In 1784 the Government paid £21,000 to Culloden, and the 

exemption ceased after having been enjoyed by the family for 

nearly a century. Burns thus refers to the tran.saction in "Scotch 

Drink," which was written in the following year 

"Thou Ferintosh! O sadly lost! 

Scotland laments frae coast to coast 

Now colic grips and barking hoast 

May kill us a'; 

For loyal Forbes' chartered boast 

Is ta'en awa !" 

The miiiister of Dingwall, in his account of the parish, written 

a few years after the abolition of the exemption, tells that 

during the continuance of the privilege, quarrels and breaches of


the pe;ice were abiiiidant among the iuliabitants, yieklinjj; a good 

liarvcst of business to the procurators of Dingwall. When the 

exemption ceased, the peoi)le became more peaceal)le, and the 

prosperity of attorneyism in Dingwall received a marked abatement. 

(Dom. An. of Scot., Vol. III.) 

Colonel Warrand, who kindly permitted me to peruse the 

Culloden Acts, stated that the sites of four distilleries can be still 

traced in Feriiitosh. An oiler of £3000 recently made for permission 

to erect a distillery in the locality was refused by Culloden, 

who feared that such a manufactory might be detrimental to the 

best interests of the people. Although there is no distillery, nor, 

so far as I am aware, even a smuggler in the locality, an enterprising 

London s])irit-dealer still supplies real " Ferintosh," at 

least he has a notice in his window to that etfect. This alone is 

sufficient to show how highly prized Ferintosh whisky must have 

been, and we have further proof in Uilleam Ross' " Moladh 

an Uisge-Bheatha" (1762-90) :— 

"Stuth glan na Toiseachd gun truailleadh, 

Gur ioc-shlaint choir am beil buaidh e; 

' S tu thogadh m' inntinn gu suairceas, 

'S cha b'e druaip na Frainge." 

And again in his " Mac-na-Bracha " 

— 

Stuth glan na Toiseachd gun truailleadh. 

An ioc-shlaint is uaisle t'ann ; 

'S fearr do leigheas na gach lighich, 

Bha no bhitheas a measg Ghall. 

'Stoigh leinn drama, lion a' ghlaine, 

Cuir an t-searrag sin a nail, 

Mac-na-brach' an gille gasda, 

Cha bu rapairean a chlann. 

The duty had been 3d. and 6d. per gallon from 1709 to 1742. 

It had been raised gradually until in 1784, when the Ferintosh exemption 

ceased, it was 3s. ll{d. and 15 per cent., the gallons 

charged in that year being 239,350, and the duty paid £65,497. 15s. 

4d.,the population being 1,441,808. Owing to the difficulty and cost 

of collection in the thinly pojjulated portions of Scotland, the duties, 

while low, had been farmed out for periods not exceeding three 

years. Mr Campbell of Islay fiirmed the Excise Revenue of that 

island for a small sum as late as 1795, and even .so late as 1804 

the Commissioners were wont to receive lists of the names of persons 

recommended by the heritors of the Highland parishes, from


which they elected two persons for each parish, to su])ply the 

pai'ochial consumption from spirits distilled from corn grown 

in the vicinity, liut prior to these dates the general farming of 

the duties had ceased, the Commissioners took the management 

in their own hands, and, as the duty was gradually increased, it 

was levied and collected by their own officers, much to the inconvenience 

and discontent of the people. A graphic picture of the 

state of matters caused by the high dutit^s and stringent regulations 

is given by Burns, in his " Earnest Cry and Prayer," written in 

1785, a year after " Forbes' chartered boast was taen awa" 

" Tell them wha hae the chief direction, 

Scotland an' me's in great affliction, 

E'pr sin' they laid that curst restriction 

On Aqua-vita?, 

An' rouse them up to strong conviction, 

An' move their pity. 

" Paint Scotland greeting owre her thissle ; 

Her mutchkin stoup as toora's a whistle, 

An' Excisemen in a Imssle, 

Seizin' a still. 

Triumphant crushin't like a mussle 

Or lampit shell. 

" Then on the tither hand })resent her, 

A blackguard Siimggler* right behint her, 

An' cheek-for-chow, a chuffie Vintner, 

Colleagung join, 

Picking her pouch as bare as winter 

Of a' kind coin. 

" Tell yon guid bluid o' auld Boconnock's, 

I'll be his debt twa mashlum bannocks. 

An' drink his health in auld Nause Tinnock's 

Nine times a week. 

If he some scheme like tea and winnocks, 

Wad kindly seek." 

No doubt the poet's strong appeal helped the agitation, and 

before the end of the year the duty was reduced to 2s. 7^d., at 

which it remained for two years. Matters, however, were still 

• " Smuggler " is here used in its proper sense—one who clandestinely 

introduces prolnl)itcd goods, or wlio illicitly introduces goods which have 

evaded the lenal duties. Althoiuh lopularly used, the term "Smuggler 

it not correctly applicable to an illicit distiller. 

—


unsatisfactory as regards the Revenue. The provisions of the; law 

were not only inadequate, but tlu; enactments were so imperfectly 

carried out that the duty was evaded to a considerable; extent. 

With the view of facilitating and improving collection, Scotland 

was divided in 1787 into Lowland and Highland districts, and 

duty charged according to tlie capacity of the still instead of on the 

gallon. When we are again about to divide Scotland for legisla- 

tive purposes into Lowland and Highland disti'icts, it is interesting 

to trace the old boundary line which was defined by the Act 37, 

G. III., cap. 102, sec. 6, as follows :— 

" A certain line or boundary beginning at the east point of 

Loch-Orinan, and proceeding from thence to Loch-Gilpin ; from 

thence along the great road on the west side of Lochtine, to 

Tnverary and to the head of Lochhne ; from thence along the 

high road to Arrochar, in county of Dumbarton, and from thence 

to Tarbet ; from Tarbet in a suj)posed straight line eastward on 

the north side of the mountain called Ben-Lomond, to the village 

of Callendar of Monteith, in the county of Perth ; from thcmce 

north-eastward to Crieft' ; from thence northward along the road 

by Ambleree, and Inver to Dunkeld ; from thence along the foot 

and south side of the Gran'])ian Hills to Fettercairn, in the county 

of Kincardine ; and from thence northward along the road to 

Cutties Hillock, Kincardine O'Neil, Clatt, Huntly and Keith to 

Fochabers ; and from thence westward by Elgin and Forres, to 

the boat on the River Findhorn, and from thence down the said 

river to the sea at Findhorn, and any place in or part of the 

county of Elgin, which lies southward of the said line from 

Fochabers to the sea at Findhorn." 

Within this district a duty of £1. 4rS. per annum was imposed 

upon each gallon of the still's content. It was assumed 

that a still at work would yield a certain annual produce for each 

gallon of its capacity. It was calculated that so much time would 

be required to work oti' a charge, and the officers took no further 

trouble than to visit the distilleries occasionally, to observe if any 

other stills were in operation, or if larger ones were substituted 

for those which had been already gauged. The distillers soon 

outwitted the Excise authorities by making improvements in 

the construction of their stills, so that instead of taking a 

WL'ek to work otf a charge, it could be worked off in twentyfour 

hours, afterwards in a few liours, and latterly in eight 

minutes. These improvements were carried so far that a still of 

80 gallons capacity could be worked otf, emptied, and ready for


another operation in three and a-half niinntes, sometimes in three 

minutes. A still of -iO gallons could be drawn off in 2^ minutes, 

until the amount of fuel consumed and consequent wear and tear, 

left it a matter of doubt whether the distiller was a gainer (Afiis- 

pratt.) To meet those sharp practices on the })art of distillers, the 

duty was increased year after year until in 1814 it amounted to £1. 

16s. 0;^d. per gallon of the still's content and Gs. 7id., two-thirds 

additional on eveiy gallon made. This mode of charging duty 

made it so nuich the interest of the distiller tj increase the quan- 

tity of spirits by every means possible, that the quality was en- 

tirely disregarded, the effect being a large increase of illicit dis- 

tillation consequent upon the better flavour and quality of the 

spirits produced by the illicit distiller. In sheer desperation the 

Government in 1814 (54, G. TIL, cap. 1 73, sec. 7), prohibited the u.se 

of stills of less capacity than 500 gallons, a restriction which increased 

the evil of illicit distillation. Colonel Stewart of Garth 

clearly shows how the Act operated. 

" By Act of Parliament, the Highland district was marked 

out by a definite line, extending along the southern base of the 

Grampians, within which all distillation of spirits was prohibited 

from stills of less than 500 gallons. It is evident that this law 

was a complete interdict, as a still of this magnitude would consume 

more than the disposable grain in the most extensive county 

within this newly drawn boundary ; nor could fuel be obtained 

for such an establishment without an expense which the commodity 

could not possibly bear. The sale, too, of the spirits produced 

was cii'cumscribed within the same line, and thus the market 

which alone could have supported the manufacture was 

entirely cut off. Although the quantity of grain raised in many 

disti-icts, in consequence of recent agricultural improvements, 

gi'eatly exceeds the consumption, the inferior quality of this 

grain, and the great expense of carrying it to the Lowland dis- 

tillers, who by a ready market, and the command of fuel, 

can more easily accommotlate themselves to this law, renders 

it impracticable foi- the farmers to dispose of their grain in 

any manner adecpiate to pay rents equal to the real value 

of their farms, subject as they are to the many drawbacks of uncertain 

climate, uneven surface, distance from market, and scarcity 

of fuel. Thus hardly any alternative remained but that of having 

recourse to illicit distillation, or resignation of their farms and 

breach of their eiigagtuneuts with their landlords. These are 

difficulties of which the Highlanders complain heavily, asserting 

—

Smuggling in tfia Higlilancls. 273 

that nature aiid the distillery laws jn-eseut unsurmouiitable obstacles 

to the carrying on of a legal tratlic. The surplus produce 

of their agricultural labour will therefore remain on their hands, 

unless they incur an expense beyond what the article will bear, in 

conveying to the Lowland nuiikot so bulky a commodity as the 

raw material, and by the drawback of pric(,'S on their inferior grain. 

In this manner, their produce must be disposed of at a great lo.^s, 

as it cannot be legally manufactured in the country. Hence they 

resort to smuggling as their only resource. If it be indeed true 

that this illegal traffic has made such deplorable breaches in the" 

honesty and morals of the peojjle, the revenue drawn from the 

large distilleries, to which the Highlanders have been made the 

sacritice, has been procured at too high a price for the country." 

Matters became so grave, that in 1814 and 1815 meetings of 

the county authorities were held in the Highlands, and representations 

made to the Government pointing out the evil effects of the 

high duties on spirits, and the injudicious regulations and restrictions 

imposed. Among other things it was pointed out that the 

Excise restrictions were highly prejudicial to the agricultural 

interests of the Highlands. In face of so many difficulties the 

Government gave way, and in 1815 the distinction between Highlands 

and Lowlands, and the still duty were discontinued, but the 

high duty of Os. 4id. per gallon was imposed. In 1816 stills of 

not less than 40 gallons were allowed to be used with the view of 

encouraging small distillers, and next year the duty had to be 

reduced to 6s. 2d., but illicit distillation was carried on to such 

extent, that it was considered necessary, as the only effective means 

of its suppi-ession, to further reduce the duty to 2s. 4d. in 1823. 

In that year there were 14.000 prosecutions in Scotland for illicit 

distillation and malting ; the military had to be employed for its 

suppression, and revenue cutters had to be used on the West 

Coast. Later on, riding officers were appointed. 

It is difficxdt to conceive the terrible amount of lawlessness, 

of turbulence, of loss and injuiy connected with such a state of 

matters, and cases are known where not only individuals but 

communities never recovered temporal prosperity after successful 

raids l)y the military, cutters and gangers. But nuitters had fortunately 

reached their worst, and illicit distillation has since 

gradually decreased until very recently. The reduction of the 

spirit duty, the permission to use smaller stills, and the improvement 

in the Excise laws and regulations removed the principal 

causes which led to illicit di.stillation. The high duty operated as 

a bounty to the illicit distiller, and its reduction reduced his 

18


profits. Tlie perniission to use siiiallor stills encouraged farmers 

and others witli limited capital, who could not erect large distilleries, 

to engage in a legitimate trade on a small scale, which 

afforded a ready market for barley of local growth, and provided 

whisky for local consumption. The relaxation of the Excise 

regulations led to an improvement in the quality of the whisky 

made by the licensed distiller, and the quality was further improved 

by the permission in 1824 to warehouse duty free, which 

allowed the whisky to mature prior to being sent into consumption. 

These and ujinor changes led to the decrease in smuggling 

in the Highlands shown in the following list of detections : 

In 1823 the 

—

Smuggling in the Highlands. 'JTo 

have now," replied the Free Kirk minister. This is unfortunately 

true as the following story will prove. Alasdair Hutclieson, of Kiltarlity, 

was worthily regarded as one of the J/en of the Nortli. He 

was iu)t only a pious, godly man, but was meek in spirit and sweet in 

temper—characteristics not possessed by all men claiming godliness. 

He had objections to general smuggling, jjut argued that he was quite 

justilied in converting the barley grown by himself into whisky to 

help him to pay the rent of his croft. This he did year after year, making 

the operation a subject of prayer that he might be protected from 

the gaugers. One time he sold the whisky to the landlord of the 

Star Inn, down near the wooden bridge, and arranged to deliver 

the spirits on a certain night. The innkeeper for some reason informed 

the local officer, who watched at Clachnaharry until Alasdair 

arrived about midnight with the whisky carefully concealed 

in a cart load of peats. " This is mine," said the officer, seizing the 

the horse's head. " Thighearna ! bhrath thu vii mu clheireadh," 

ejaculated poor Alasdair, in such an impressive tone that the 

officer, who was struck by his manner, entered into conversation 

with him. Alasdair told the simple, honest truth. " Go," said the 

officer, " deliver the whisky as if nothing had happened, get 

your money, and quit the house at once." No sooner had Alasdair 

left tlie Inn than the officer entered, and seized the whisky, 

before being removed to the cellar. I would recommend this story 

to the officers of the present day. While they ought not to let the 

smuggler escape, they should make sure of the purchaser and 

the whisky. There can be no doubt that "good, pious" men 

engaged in smuggling, and there is less doubt that equally good, 

pious men— mini.sters and priests—were grateful recipients of a 

I large share of the smuggler's produce. I have heard that the 

; 

Sabbath work in connection with malting and fermenting weighed 

heavily upon the consciences of these men. A remarkable instance 

j 

! of straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel. 

i John 

Dearg was a man of different type, without any pre- 

tension to piety, and fairly repi'esents the clever, unscrupulous 

I 

.class of smugglers who frequently succeeded in outwitting the 

1 gangers. John was very successful, being one of the few known 

;to have really acquired wealth by smuggling. He acted as a sort 

of spirit dealer, buying from other smugglers, as well as distilling 

himself. Once he had a large quantity of spirits in his house 

! ready for conveyance to Invergordon to be shipped. Word came 

that the officers were searching in the locality, and John knew 

'his premises would receive marked attention. A tailor who 

was in the habit of working from house to house happened


to be working with John at the time. Full of I'esource 

as usual, John said to the tailor, " I will give you a boll of malt 

if you will allow us to lay you out as a corpse on the table." 

"Agreed," said the plucky tailor, who was stretched on the table, 

his head tied with a napkin, a snow-white linen sheet carefully 

laid over him, and a plate containing salt laid on his stomach. 

The women began a coronacli, and John, seizing tlie big Bible, 

was reading an appropriate Psalm, when a knock was heard at the 

door. " I will call out," said the stretched tailor, " unless you 

will give me two bolls," and John Dearer was done, perliaps, for 

the first time in his life. John went to the door with ^he Bible 

and a long face. " Come in, come in," he said to the otHcers, 

" this is a house of mourning—my only brother stretched on the 

board !" The officers apologised for their untimely visit, and 

hurried away. " When did John Dearg's brother dieT' enquired 

the officer at the next house he called at. " John Dearg's brother. 

Why, John Dearg had no brother living," was the reply. Suspecting 

that he had been outwitted, the officer hurried back, to 

find the tailor at work, and all the whisky removed and carefully \ 

concealed. i 

A good story is told of an Abriachan woman who was 

carrying a jar of smuggled whisky into Inverness. The officer - 

, 

met her near the town and relieved her of her burden. " Oh, I am 

nearly fainting" groaned the poor woman, "give me just onei 

mouthful out of the jar." The unsuspecting officer allowed ber, 

the desired mouthful, which she cleverly squirted into his eyes, and 

she escaped with the jar before the officer i-ecovered his sight and 

presence of mind. 

The following story told me by the late Rev. John Fraser.j 

Kiltarlity, shows the persistence which characterised the smugglers,' 

and the leniency with which illicit distillation was regarded by thi j 

better classes. While tlie "Rev. Mr Fraser was stationed at Erch 

less shortly before tlic Disruption, a London artist, named Maclain \ 

came North to take sketches for illustrating a history of the High: 

lands then in preparation. lie was very anxious to see a suiugj 

gling bothy at work, and applied to Mr Robertson, foctor forTli'i 

Cliisholm, " If Sandy M'Gruar is out of jail," said the factor, " w ' 

shall have no difficulty in seeing a bothy." Enquiries were iii' 

Sandy was at largo, and, as usual, bu.sy smuggling. A day ' 

fixed for visiting the bothy, and Maclain, accompanied by ^' 

Robertson, the factor, and Dr Fraser of Kcrrow, both Justices < 

the Peace, and by the Rev. John Fraser, was admitted into Sand) 

sanctuary. The sketch having been finished, the factor salt 

; ! ; 

i

Smuggling in tlie Higlilands. 277 

l"N'ach eil dad agad Alasdairl" Sandy having removed some 

' heather produced a small keg. As the four worthies were (luutfing 

I the real mountain dew, the llev. j\Ir Fraser remarked. "This would 

j claimed, 

' be 

I was 

, round 

I but 

a line liaul for the gangers— the sooner we go the lietter." It 

the same Sandy who, on seeing a body of Excise officers detile 

the shoulder of a hill, began counting them aon, dha, tri, 

on counting seven his patience became exhausted, and he ex- 

" A Tigliearna, cuir sgrios


An incident of a less agreeable nature ended fatally at Bogroy 

Inn. The officers made a raid on the upper end of Strathglass, 

where they discovered a large quantity of malt concealed in a 

barn, which the smugglers were determined to defend. They 

crowded behind the door, which was of wicker-work dorxiscaoil— 

to prevent its being forced open by the gangers. Unable 

to foi'ce the door, one of the officers ran his cutlass through the 

wicker work, and stabbed one of the smugglers, John Chisholni, 

afterwards called Ian Mor na Garvaig, in the chest. Fearing that 

serious injury had been done, the officers hastened away, but, in 

the hurry, one of the men fell over a bank, and was so severely 

trampled upon and kicked by the smugglers, that he had to be 

conveyed to Bogroy Inn, where he died next day. Ian Mor, who 

only died a few months ago, showed me the scar of the wound on 

his chest. He was another man who had gained nothing by smug- 

gling. 

Time would fail to tell how .spii-its, not bodies, have l)een 

cai-ried past officers in coffins and hearses, and even in bee hives. 

How bothies have been built undergroiind, and the smoke sent up 

the house lum, or how an ordinary pot has been placed in the ori- 

fice of an underground bothy, so as to make it appear that the fire 

and smoke were aye for washing ])urposes. At the Falls of the 

Orrin the bothy smoke was made to blend judiciously with the 

spray of the Falls so as to escape notice. Some good tricks were 

played upon my predecessors on the West Coast. The Melvaig 

smugglers openly diverted from a burn a small stream of water 

right over the face of a high cliff underneath which there was a 

cave inaccessible by land, and very seldom accessible by water. 

This was done to mislead the officers, the cave being sea-washed, 

and unsuitable for distillation. While the officers were breaking 

their heai'ts, and nearly their necks, to get into this cave, the 

smugglers were quietly at work at a considerable distance. On 

another occasion the Loch-Druing and Camustrolvaig smugglers 

were at work in a cave near the latter place, when word reached 

them that the officers were coming. Taking advantage of the 

notoriety of the Melvaig smugglers, a man was sent immediately 

in front of the officers, running at his hardest, without coat or 

bonnet in the direction of Melvaig. The ruse took, and the 

officers were decoyed past the bothy towards Melvaig, the 

smugglers meanwhile finishing off and removing their goods and 

utensils into safe hiding. 

After dinner, Tom Sheridan said in a confidential undertone 

to his guests, " Now let us undei'stand each other : are we to drink 

—

Smuggling in the Highlands 279 

like

280 Gaelic Society of fnuerness. 

of the laws of God. The law which made distillation illegal 

came to them in a foreign garb. Highlamlcrs had no great love 

or respect for the English Government. If the Scottish Parliament 

could pass an Act to destroy all pewits' eggs, because the 

birds migrated South, where they arrived plump and fat, and 

afforded sport and food for the English, it need not cause surprise 

if Highlanders liad not forgotten Glencoe, Culloden, Butcher 

Cumberland, the tyrannical laws to suppress the clans, and the 

" outlandish race that filled the Stuart's throne." 

While a highly sentimental people, like the Highlanders, 

were in some degree influenced by these and similar considerations, 

the extent of illicit distillation depended in a great measure on 

the amount of duty, and the nature of the Excise i-egulations. 

The smuggler's gain was in direct proportion to the amount of the 

spirit duty ; the higher the duty the greater the gain and the 

sti'onger the temptation. We have seen how the authorities of 

the time, regardless of the feelings and the habits of the people, 

and of the nature and capabilities of the Highlands, imposed restrictions 

which were injudicious, vexatious, and injurious ; which 

not only rendered it imjiracticable for the legal distiller to engage 

profitably in honest l)usiness, but actually encouraged the illicit 

distiller. We have seen how particularly under the operation of 

the still licence, the legal distiller, in his endeavours to increase production, 

sacrificed the quality of his spirits, until the illicit distiller 

commanded the market by supplying whisky superior in quality 

and flavour. To this fact, more than to anything else, is due the 

popular prejudice which has existed, and still exists in some 

quarters, in favour of smuggled whisky. There can be no doubt 

that while the still licence was in force from 1787 to 1814, and perhaps 

for some years later, the smugglers whisky was superior in 

(piality and flavour to that produced by the licensed distiller. 

lUit this holds true no longer ; indeed, the circumstances are 

actually reversed. The Highland distiller has now the best 

appliances, uses the best materials, employs skill and e.xpcnience. 

exercises the greatest possil)le care, and further, matures 

his spirit in bond—whisky being highly deleterious unless it 

is matured by age. On the other hand the smuggler uses 

rude imperfect utensils, very often inferior materials, works by 

rule of thumb, under every disadvantage and inconvenience, 

and is always in a state of terror and hurry which is incompatible 

with good woi-k and the best results. He begins by 

purchasing inferior barley, wliich, as a rule, is imperfectly malted. 

He brews without more idea of projjcr heats than dipi)ing his


finger or seeing his face in the water, and the quantity of water 

used is reguhxted by the size and niiinbcr of his vessels. His setting 

heat is ilecided ])y another tlip of the tinger, and supposing he has 

yeast of good quality, and may by accident add tlie proper 

quantity, tlie fermentation uf his worts depends on the weather, 

as he cannot regulate the temperature in his temporaiy bothy 

although he often uses sacks and blanket'^, and may during the 

night kindle a fire. But the most fatal defect in the snuiggler's 

appliances is the construction of his still. Ordinary stills have 

head elevation from 12 to 18 feet, which serves for pur])oses of 

rectification, as the fusel oil and otlier essential oils and acids fi\ll 

back into the still while the alcoholic vapour, which is more 

volatile, passes over to the worm, where it becomes condensed. 

The smuggler's still has no head elevation, the still head being 

as fiat as an old blue bonnet, and consequently the essential 

oils and acids pass over with the alcohol into the worm, however 

carefully distillation may be carried on. These essential oils and 

acids can only be eliminated, neutralised, or destroyed by storing 

the spirits some time in wood, but the smuggler, as a rule, sends 

his spirits out new in jars and bottles, so that smuggled whisky, if 

taken in considerable quantities, is actually poisonous. Ask any 

one who has had a good spree on new smuggled whisky, how he 

felt next morning. Again ordinary stills have rousers to prevent 

the wash sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. The 

smuggler has no such a])))liance in connection with his still, the 

consequence being that his spiiits frequently have a singed, 

smoky fiavour. The evils of a defective construction are increased 

a hundred-fold, when, as is frequently the case, the still is made 

of tin, and the worm of tin or lead. When spirits and acids come 

in contact with such surfaces, a portion of the metal is dissolved, 

and pai&onous metallic salts are produced, which Tiust be injurious 

to the drinker. Parafiin casks are frequently used in brewing, 

and it will be readily understood that however carefully cleaned, 

their use cannot improve the quality of our much-praised smuggled 

whisky. Again the rule of thumb is applied to the jjurity and 

strength of smuggled spirits. At ordinary distillex'ies there are 

scientific appliances for testing these, but the smuggler must guess 

the former, and must rely for the latter on the blebs or bubbles 

caused by shaking the whisky. On this unsatisfuctoxy test, plus 

the honesty of the smuggler, which is generally an unknown 

quantity, the purchaser also must rely. This is certainly a happygo-lucky 

state of matters which it wôuld be a pity to disturb by 

proclaiming the truth. Very recently an order came from the


South to Inverness for two gallons of smuggled whisky. The 

order being urgent, and no immediate prospect of securing the 

genuine article, a dozen bottles of new raw grain spirit were sent 

to a well-known smuggling locality, and weie thence despatched 

'>outh as real mountain dew. No better proof could be given of 

the coarseness and absolute inferiority of smuggled whisky. 

But the physical injury caused by drinking an impure, immature 

whisky, and the pecuniary loss sustained by purchasing 

a whisky of inferior quality and unknown strength at the price of 

good honest, spirit, are nothing compared to the moral aspect of 

the case. Let me quote again from Stewart of Garth (1821), "I 

must now advert to a cause which contributes to demoralise the 

Highlanders in a manner equally rapid and lamentable. Smuggling 

has grown to an alarming e.vtent, and if not checked will 

undermine the best principles of the people. Let a man be 

habituated to falsehood and fi-aud in one line of life, and he will 

soon learn to extend it to all his actions. This traffic operates 

like a secret poison on all their moral feelings. They are the 

more rapidly betrayed into it, as, though acute and ingenious in 

regard to all that comes within the scope of their observation, 

they do not comprehend the nature or purpose of imports 

levied on the produce of the soil, nor have they any distinct idea 

of the practice of snniggling being attended with disgrace or tur- 

pitude. The open defiance of the laws, the progress of chicanery, 

pei'jury, hati-ed, and mutual recrimination, with a constant dread 

and suspicion of informers—men not being sure of nor confident 

in their next neighbours—which results from smuggling, and the 

habits which it engenders, are subjects highly important, and regarded 

with tJje most serious consideration and the deepest regret 

by all who value the permanent welfare of their country, whicli 

depends so materially upon the preservation of the morals of the 

people."* This is a, terrible picture, but I am in a position to 

vouch that it is only too true. The degradation, recklessness, and 

destitution which, as a rule, follow in the wake of illicit distillation 

are notorious to all. I know of three brothers on the West 

•Dealing with the sul'ject of smuggling, Buckle in his "History of Civilisation," 

says:— "The economic il evils, g eat as they were, havebet-n farsnrpass.-.< 

ly the moml evils which this sy.stem produced These men, ilpsperate 

from the fe.r of puiiishnient, ant accustonie ! to the commission of ev.-ry 

Clime, contaminated tlie suirounding populati m, introdined into peaceful 

vidages vices formerlv unknown, causoil the ruin of entire familits, spread, 

whertverthey came drunkenness, theft, and dissoluteness, and famdiaiiscd 

their associates with those coarse and swinish debaucheries which were the 

n-itnral hil>its of so vayrînt and a- lawless a life."

Smuggling in the Higlilands. 283 

Coast. Two of them settled down on crofts, became respectable 

members of the comnxunity, and with care and thrift and hard 

work even acquired some little means. The third took to 

smuggling, and has never done anything else ; has been several 

times in prison, has latterly lost all his smuggling utensils, and 

is now an old broken-down man, without a farthing, withoiit 

sympathy, without friends, one of the most wretched objects in 

the whole parish. Not one in a hundred has gained anything by 

smuggling in the end. I know most of the smugglers in my own 

district personally. With a few exceptions they are the poorest 

among the people. How can they be otherwise 1 Their's is the 

work of darkness, and they must sleep through the day. Their 

crofts are not half tilled or manured ; their houses are never 

repaired ; their very children are neglected, dii'ty, and ragged. 

They cannot bear the strain of regular steady work even if they 

feel disposed. Their moral and physical stamina have become 

impaired, and they can do nothing except under the unhealthy 

influence of excitement and stimulants. Gradually their manhood 

becomes undermined, their %ense of honour becomes deadened, and 

they become violent law-breakers and shameless cheats This is 

invariably the latter end of the smuggler, and generally his sons 

follow his footsteps in the downward path, or he finds disciples 

among his neighbours' lads, so that the evil is spread and perpetuated. 

Smuggling is, in short, a curse to the individual, and 

to the community. 

I admit that some are driven to engage in smuggling by dire 

poverty. Necessity has no law, and constant grinding poverty 

leads a man to many things of which he cannot approve. " My 

poverty, and not my will, consents," was the apology of the 

poor apothecary of Mantua when he sold the poison to Romeo. 

" These movin' things ca'd wives and weans 

Wad move the very heart of stanes," 

pleaded Burns when forced to allow " clarty barm to stain 

his laurels." Agur prayed to be delivered from poverty, "lest 

I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." 

The hardships and teu)ptations of the abject poor are terrible, 

and God forbid we should at any time become so inhuman 

in our dealings with them as to sliut up the bowels of our compassion, 

or forget to temper justice with mercy. I tell you frankly 

that the highest sense oi duty would hardly sustain me in suppressing 

the smugglers of the West Coast, unless I liad also a strong 

and deep conviction that if I could dissuade or prevent them from


engaging in smuggling, I would be doing them the greatest possible 

service. When arguing with one of these smugglers, as 

to the evil and dishonesty of his ways, he re2:)lied, " The \illage 

mercluuit has kept my family and self alive for the last twelve 

months, and would you blame me if I made an effort to pay 

him something? There is no fishing and no work, and what am I 

to do 1" Here was an ajjpeal to the common feeling of manJiood 

which no fellow could answer. This year another smuggler whose 

wife is physically and mentally weaK, and whose children are 

ijuite young, said to me in touching tones, " If we are to be hunted 

like this, either get something for me to do or cuir an gnnmi riuia 

—shoot me." This was bad enough, but I can tell you something 

that affected me even more. The officers were passing by a certain 

township just as a brewing was in operation. They noticed 

movements which aroused their susjiicions, but as the evening 

was growing dark they made no search for the bothy, and walkeil 

on as if they had observed nothing. On passing by an old woman 

with a creel, sitting on a stone, they heard sounds, half sighs, 

half groans, which were doubtless inarticulate expressions of grati- 

tude and thankfulness that the gangers had not observed the bothy. 

Poor, old, deluded woman ! Little did she know that the gangers 

had quietly taken their bearings and laid their plans. Having 

given the smugglers time to get into full working order, they returned 

and destroyed the bothy with its full compliment of brewing 

utensils and materials. These things grieve me much. However 

deluded and wrong a man may be, we cannot help res;.ectin^ 

a determined effort to make the best of things, if they cannot 

be altered ; and the circumstances of the poor people on the 

West Coast are not easily changed for the better. Their abject 

poveity, their enforced idleness during a long inclement winter, 

the wildness and remoteness of the localities where they reside 

ate all temptations to engage in anything that may be profitable 

and exciting. There can be no doubt that smuggling, when suc- 

cessful, is profitable in a pecuniary sense. Barley can be this 

year bought for :23s. a quarter, from which can be obtained some 

l-t or 16 gallons of whisky, which can be sold at 18s. or 20.s. a 

gallon. Allowing for all contingencies, jjayment of carriage, liberal 

consumption during manufacture, and generous treating of 

friends and neighbours, some £S or .£10 can be netted from 

an outlay of 23s. This is no doubt a great temi)tation. In addition 

to the very pooi', two other classes engage in smuggling, 

with whom there can be no sympathy whatever. 

The ne'er-do-well professional smuggler who is entirely re

Smuggling in tlie Highlands. 285 

gardless as to the right or wrong of tlie illegal traffic, and well-todo 

peojjle, who engage in the tratlic through sheer wantonness, just 

for the romance of the thing, on the principle that " stolen waters 

are sweet." I know a few of both classes. Their conduct is highly 

reprehensible, and their example most pernicious to their poorer 

neighbours. 

With the smuggler I class the purchaser of the wretcheil 

stuff. He aids and abets, becomes a partner in guilt, ar.d is 

e([ua]ly tainted. Without a ready market the smuggler's occupation 

would be gone, and no small share of the dishonesty attaches 

to the purchaser. Whoever buys for gain, or to gratify a debased 

sentiment, is encouraging the smuggler in his lawless ways at the 

risk of loss and penalty. David would not drink the water 

brought from the Well of Bethlehem at the risk of his three 

mighty men's lives, but the drinkers of smuggled whisky are actually 

draining the moral and physical life-blood of the poor smuggler. 

Both the legitimate trader and the Revenue suffer by this illegal 

traffic. The trader has no remedy, but the taxpayer must make 

u}) every penny of which the Revenue is defrauded. If the general 

comn.imity would engage in frauds of this kind, the whole? country 

would become demoralised. Integrity and honesty, the very foundation 

of society would be sapped, and the whole would collapse into 

chaos. Something like this on a small scale actually occurs in 

some of the townships on the West Coast. A few successful runs 

cause envy and jealousy, and whenever a detection is made some 

one is blamed for giving information. Mutual confidence and 

friendliness disappear, and every one distrusts and suspects his 

neighbour until the little township becomes a sort of pandemonium. 

Even families are victims of dissensions. I know a case 

where father and mother are opi)Osed to a son who engages in 

smuggling, and two cases where wives disapprove of their husbands 

engaging in smuggling, but entreaties and wârnings are disregarded. 

Some six years ago we were hoping such a deplorable state 

of things was fast passing away, but since the abolition of the 

Malt Tax in 1880, there has been a marked revival of smuggling 

in the Highlands. Prior to 1880 the manufacture of malt, which 

occupied fi-om 1 4 to 20 days, was illegal except by licensed traders, 

and during the manufacture the smuggler was liable to detection. 

Malt can now be made openly, or be bought from brewers, dis- 

tillers, or malt dealers, so that the illicit distiller is liable to 

detection only during the four, five, or six days he is engaged in 

brewing and distilling. This very much facilitates illicit distilla-

286 Gaelic Society of Inverness 

tion, and increases the difficulty of making detections and arrests. 

Thishasdoubtlesslybeen the direct and principal cause of the revival, 

but it has been indirectly helped by the injudicious and indisciiminate 

reduction of the Preventive Force in the Highlands immediately 

prior to 1 880. During some years previously few detections had 

been made, and, for economical reasons, the staff was reduced, so 

that in 1880, on the abolition of the Malt Tax, those who engaged 

in smuggling had it pretty much their own way. The reduction 

of the Preventive Staff was not only a short-sighted policy, but a 

serious blunder. The old smugglers were fast dying out, and if 

the Preventive Force had been kept uji, neither they nor younger 

men would have attempted illicit distillation again. Since 1880 

a fresh generation of smugglers has been trained, and time, hard 

work, and money will be required to suppress the evil. Indeed, 

in some places it will only die out with the men. The fear of 

being removed from their holdings has had much influence in 

limiting illicit distillation, and I very much di'ead a reaction when 

security of tenure is obtained under the Crofters' Bill. I feel so 

strongly on this point that, with all my objection to landlord restrictions, 

I would gladly see a stringent prohibition against smuggling 

embodied in the iJill. We need not look for complete cessation 

until the material condition of the people is improved. It is to be 

hoped the day of deliverance is now near at hand. But much can 

be done in various ways. The hollowness and falsity of the mischievous 

sentiment which has been fostered round about smuggled 

whisky, can be exposed. Its necessarily inferior, if not deleterious 

character, can be pointed out. All interested in the material, 

physical, and moral elevation of the Highland people should 

seriously consider that the habitual evasion of law, whether statute 

or moral, has an influence so demoralising, so destructive to the 

best and highest feelings of a man's nature, that snuiggling must be 

utterly ruinous to the character of those who engage in it or connive 

at it. Teachers, clergymen, and indeed all can do much to present 

illicit practices in their true light, and render them unpopular 

and distasteful. Much can be done by educating the young and giving 

their thoughts a turn and taste for honest work, and when 

chance offers, providing them with situations. We could almost 

afford to let the old smugglers die in their sin, but the influence 

of their example on the young is simply awful. I very much re- 

gi-et having to state that the Highland clergy, with one exception, 

are guilty of the grossest neglect and indifi'erence in this matter. 

Like Gallio, they care for none of those things. I understand 

that smugglers are formally debarred from the Communion Table

The Gael—His Characteristics and Social History. 287 

ill one Hi£;hland parish, but tlii.s is the extent of clerical interference, 

and the clergy cannot be luld guiltless as regards smuggling. 

Highlanders have many things laid to their charge which require 

to be explained and justitied. This Society has among its objects 

the vindication of the character of the Gaelic peo})]e, and the 

furtherance of their interests, and I make no apology for appealing 

to you individually and collectively to use your influence and 

efforts to free the Highland people fi-om the stigma of lawlessness 

and dishonesty, and from the ini^vitable demoralisation which are 

24th March 1886. 

On this date the following were elected ordinary members of 

the Society—Dr Duncan Mackay, Inverness ; Mr J. J. Carter, 

Inland Revenue Collector, do.; Mr Arthur Medlock, jeweller, do.; 

and Mr Macdonald, Attova, Pensylvannia. 

Thereafter the Picv. Alex. Bisset, Stratherrick, read a second 

paper on " The Gael—His Characteristics and Social History." 

Mr Bisset's paper was as follows : 

THE GAEL—HIS CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL 

HISTORY. 

Part I I. * 

When I had the honour and the great pleasure of addressing 

you last, the subject I took was " The Gael." Having on 

that occasion examined the origin of the Gael and the settlement 

of the same in Caledonia, T propose this evening to cull out 

some of the leading features in his character as these strike us, as 

being more particularly illustrated in the history of this most in- 

teresting people. Now, the first point which occurs to me in 

looking into the character of the Gael is his deep sense of 

religion. When we remember that man was created by God to 

know, love, and serve Him, it is assuredly highly creditable to the 

Gael to find in him, throughout the whole course of his history, a 

lively and keen appreciation of the homage and duty he owes 

his Creator. 

From the earliest traces we have of the Gael we find him 

deeply imbued with religious sentiment, and from the exhaustive 

treatment of the subject of Celtic Mythology by Mr Macbain, in 

his articles in the " Celtic Magazine," we see how widespread and 

— 

* For Pari I. vide Transactions, vol. xi., p. 288.


lasting, however much distorted and mistaken, was the idea of 

rendering homage to the Supernatural. When the light of 

Christir.nity dawned upon the Celts, we find tlie labours of the 

early missionaries blessed with extraordinary fruits, notwithstanding 

the seltisli and inter(;stcd opposition of the Druidical Priesthood. 

The career of St Columba, the apostle of the Scottish Gael, 

is indeed wonderful ; and the rapid spread of Christianity even in 

his own life-time is attested by the number of churches dedicated 

to God under his patronage. A compiler of a history of the 

Catholic Church in Scotland, specifies no fewer than twenty-four 

churches dedicated to St Columba in former ages, besides many 

more in modern times, dedicated to his memory, both by Catholics 

and Protestants. 

The veneration in which St Patrick is held by the Irish Celt, 

wherever he is found, strongly indicates the deep religious instinct 

of the Celtic race : whilst the numerous churches, the noble 

abbeys, and the majestic cathedrals which once tilled and adorned 

this country throughout its length and breadth, and which even 

in their ruins are pointed out with pride, testify to the zeal, 

generosity, and religious enthusiasm of our forefathers. 

And in passing, I cannot but express the intense feelings of 

regret which all lovers of whatever is great, and beautiful in art, 

niust feel when they read in the dark pages of the history of our 

country, the blind fanaticism and reckless fury, which, under the 

cloak of religion, brought about the ruthless spoliation and the 

shameful demolition of these national monuments. 

Coming to later times, we find amid all the vicissitudes of 

fortune which have checkered the cai-eer of the Gael, amidst broils 

and dissensions, domestic and civil, amidst strifes and rivalries, 

religious as well as political, that the religious character of the 

Gael never disappears. But never, perhaps, before was the deep 

religious feeling of the Gael more prominently and more loudly 

asserted than it has been in our own day, when the almost unanimous 

voice of the people is raised to insist on the maintenance of a 

national recognition of religion, nor must we overlook the laud- 

able elforts that are being put forth to remove those causes of 

religious differences and dissensions which are unhajipily so rifi' 

among.st us, and so opposed alike to the spirit and tlie letter of 

the Christian Religion. As, when united, the Gaels have proved 

themselves victorious on every battle-field, and have made their 

very name a tei-ror to their enemies, so it is a healthy sign and a 

source of consolation to lind them uniting and stirring them 

selves to oppose th(! lurking foe that seeks to sap tlie very

The Gael— His Characteristics and Social History. 289 

foundations of revealed roliifion. Next to his sense of duty 

to God, deference to authority forms tlie most striking feature 

in tlie ilii'racter of the Oaol, whether we consider that authority 

as vested in the head of a family, in the person of a 

chief, or in that of the Sovereign. The traits of filial attachment, 

of self-sacritice and generosity on the part of children 

towards their ])arents and their family cannot be over estimated. 

'I'lie warm home, liowever humble, is never forgotten, and the 

tilial reverence due to parental authority far from waning with 

the advancing years of the parents only becomes stronger. The 

pecuniary assistance to their parents atlbrded by devoted sons and 

(laughters out of their small and hard earned wages to supplement 

the scanty n^turns from the croft, or the meagre sui)i)ort drawn 

from a handicraft has been a subject of admiration and a theme 

of praise to many. Colonel Stewart, in his military annals, makes 

frequent allusions to the disinterestedness and generosity of Highland 

soldiers in saving out of their small pay considerable sums 

to be remitted to their homes. Nor was the generosity of the 

Highlander confined to the parental home: the chief likewise was 

nobly and dutifully supported with all the pecuniary assistance at 

the disposal of his devoted followers. And here we have the 

second, and ])erhaps the greatest object of the staunch fidelity of 

the Gael, viz., his Chief. 

Fidelity/ to Chief.—Strong as was the tie which united the 

Scottish Highlander to his family, it is doubtful if it equalled 

with him in sacredness and constancy, that which bound him to 

hi3 chief. His attachment to his fan:iily sprang from the natural 

afiection inherent in human nature, common to us all, which binds 

parents to their children, and children to their parents, but to his 

chief he adhei'ed with a chivalrous, manly, inviolable fidelity which 

braved in his cause every difficulty, and made light of every 

sacrifice, even of life itself; rather than endanger the lionour or 

be wanting in that fealty and devotcdness which he owed to the 

head and leader of his family. That particular individuality by 

which he was distinguished from any other of his neighbouring 

clans, and made of that clan to which he happened to belong a 

distinct and independent state, as it were, in the mid.st of a host 

of other petty states whose aims and interests seldom harmonised 

—all this sense of self-importance and family distinction lie derived 

from his Chief. He (the chief) was the revered scion and lineal 

representative of that ancient stock to which each separate clan 

traces its origin ; whilst he was regarded at the same time as the 

loving father and faithful guardian of his clan ; whose every 

ly

— 


interest lie made his own, to recoive in turn from each member, 

young and old, a subjection and obedience of the most devoted 

kind. Wo need only glance at the history of the clans to see how 

faithfully and heroically they served their chiefs in every crisis 

and emergency, whilst there are not wanting examples of Highlanders, 

providing at the sacrifice of their own lives, for the safety 

of their chiefs. How sad it is to think how little had been done 

on the part of many of those same chiefs to repay such devoted 

fidelity. With regret must it be said that many of them from 

selfish and sordid motives sacrificed that position of trust and 

severed those ties of aflection which mutually bound the body to 

the head, the children to the father, the clansman to his chief. 

Fidelity to the Soveteign.—As the natural outcome of loyal 

devotion to home and chief, we have the most attached loyalty on 

the part of the Gael to his Sovereign. The undying attachment 

of the Scottish Gael to the Stuart Dynasty, while there remained 

a ray of hope of the restoration of that family, has emjihasised 

the loyalty of the Gael, and has stored it in records of imperishable 

fame. Tn the ballads and songs relating to the Jacobite 

rising, we meet the outpourings of sentiments of the most loyal 

and loving attachment of the subject to his Sovereign ever perhaps 

expressed. Future generations will point to these ejiisodes as the 

period in liis history which mai'ks out most prominently the char- 

acteristic fidelity of the Gael. In a doleful eft'usion of the time, 

we read 

'Thearlaich oig, a mhic Righ Seumas, 

Chunna mi 'n toir mhor an de ort 

ladsa sughach 's mise deurach 

Le uisge mo chinn tighinn teann gum' leursainn. 

Mharbh iad m' athair, mharbh iad mo bhrathair, 

Mhill iad mo chinneadh, a's sgrios iad mo ehairdean, 

Loisg iad mo dhuthaich, a's ruisg iad mo mhathair, 

Ach cha chluinnte mo ghearan na'n tigeadh tu 'Theaidaich. 

And our present much-lovad Sovereign has no more devoted 

and lovingly loyal subjects than the Highlanders of Scotland. 

Although at the present day there may be an appearance of a 

want of submission to constituted authority in some parts of the 

Highlands, and esj)ecially in Skye, the respect shown to her 

Majesty's Marines during their recent stay in that I sland proves 

that the opposition arises from an impi*ession on the part of the 

])eoplo that the Police Force is employed exclusively in the interest 

of landlords to enforce what is in these hard times felt to be oppres- 

;

The Gael—His Characteristics and Social History. 291 

sivo exactions. We may, however, couiidcutly expect a speedy 

Rolutiou of tliis difficulty from the legishitive enactments about to 

be passeil in Parliament, where so mucl-. intei'est is excited in tlu; 

subject of the laiul question. 

Uonoxir. —Next to the noble fidelity of the Gael I will place 

Ids hiij^h sense of honour. This distinguishing and beautiful trait 

of character in the Gael we sometimes hear stigmatised as Highland 

pride. A sense of pleasure derived from tlie remembrance 

and rehearsal of deeds of bravery, of examples of genc^rosity and 

of noble actions, may indeed bo termed laud;ible pride, and in this 

sense of the term we may take honour and Highland pride to be 

synonymous. As the honour of parents reflects on tlieir children, 

so in the wider sense the honour belonging to the clan, whether 

tlerived from its chief or from the noble deeds of its individual 

members, reflects on the whole l>ody. Here we have strong 

motives to urge individuals to perserve in tact, and liand down 

unsullied the good name and character of their family, whether in 

its limited or in its wider sense. Here, also, we find the reason 

of what appears to our southern neighbours to be the silly family 

connection, and the long line of ancestry in which the Celt takes 

so nuich pride. From this source likewise springs that stimulus 

to individual eftbrt on the part of each member of the clan to 

emulate the good deeds of his ancestors, and to e.schew in his own 

person whatever might tend to bring disgrace on his family name. 

Female honour and virtue were held as specially sacred, and the 

utter sense of degradation of shame and isolation of the unfortunate 

and unha])py female who had lost her virtue is strongly 

painteJ in the pitiful wail of her who said 

Bithidh mi tuilleadh gu tiiirseach deurach. 

Mar eala bhan 's i an deigh 'reubadh, 

Guileag bais aic' air lochan feurach, 

A's each gn leur 's iad an deigh 'treigsinn. 

Hospitality.— Highland hospitality is pi-overbial, and among 

our ancestors it must have appeared in the light of a sacred duty. 

Whether this duty is any other than that which is imposed by our 

duties as Christians, and rendered stronger by the necessities of 

circumstances may be a question, but certain it is that to a genuine 

Gael the pleasure of dispensing his hospitality, equals, if it does 

not surpass, tliat of the recipient of his favours. So imperative 

was the duty of hospitality that feuds and bitter dissensions were 

frequently su})pressed in order to discharge with becoming honour 

and dignity the paramount duty of host. 

—


Love of Country.—The attachment of the Celt to his native 

land is indeed a stroni,' pf)int in his character, and the Scottish 

Gael in this respect vies with his brother Celts, and dearly loves 

" The land of biown heath and shaggy wood— the land of the 

mountain and the flood." The author of " Six months in Italy," 

remarks that among all the nationalities he met with in the College 

of Proi)aganda, and students are found in it fi'om every clime, 

he found the love of home strongest among the youths from 

Switzerland, the Mountains of Lebanon, and from Scotland, thus 

showing the love of home strongest amongst the inhabitants of 

mountainous districts. It is sad to think how many pangs, and 

how much real grief have resulted from this tender attachment of 

the Gael to his native land. 

Military Prowess.—Perhaps the widest reputation the Highlander 

enjoys, is that which he has made for himself by his Millitary 

prowess, and undaunted courage. Flow much this vast 

Empire is inde])ted for its power abroad, and its stability at home 

to these two qualities of the Gael the military annals of our 

country bear ample testimony. This subject needs only to be 

mentioned, for wherever the name of the Gael is heard his qualities 

as a patriot and soldier are well known. 

Many other interesting qualities in the character of the Gael 

suggest themselves, but those I have ventured to mention are 

certainly conspicuous. It may be said that this picture of the Gael 

is purely imaginary, and that at least in these days no such type 

of character exists. The more is the pity. It must be owned 

that in the process of becoming Saxonised, the Gael has lost many 

of the noble and distinct qualities which distinguished his forefathers. 

It must not, liowever, be forgotten that gifted with a 

knowledge of the language, not of the Saxon as such, but of that 

commercial lif(^ and entei'prise which his own native gifts and 

talents have helped so much to extend and develop in this kingdom, 

and throughout the whole British Empire, the Gael is to be 

found in the very foremost ranks of success, honour, and distinc- 

tion. How many (xaels could be mentioned who have distinguished 

themselves in every walk in life! I have dwelt, perhaps, too 

long on the chai-acteristics of the Gael, but I will not detain you 

with his social history further than to say that, as this subject 

has been so ably and comprehensively treated before by Mr John 

Macdonald,* I do not feel justified in trespassing any further on 

your time and patience. 

* Sec Transactions, vols. x. and xi.

Changes in the Ownership of Land in Ross-shire. 293 

31sT Maucii 188G. 

On tins date R.iilio Chas. ^lackay, Inverness, read an intioductoiy 

paper on " Stratherrick—its People and Traditions." Bailie 

Mackay havini; agreed to resume the subject next session, the publication 

of the fii'st part is postponed, in order that the paper may 

appear in the next volume in its comj)leted form. On the same 

date the Secretary, on behalf of Sir ivenneth S. Mackenzie of Cair- 

loch, Bart., read a paj)er on changes in the ownership of land in 

Ro.ss-shire between 1756 and 1853, Sir Kenneth's paper was as 

follows : 

— 

CHANGES IN THE OjJrt^NERSHIP OF LAND IN 

ROSS-SHIRE— 175G-1853. 

The history of land-tenure in the Highlands is a subject on 

whicli there seems to be very material disagreement. Mr Cham- 

berlain, speaking at Inverness in September 1 885, said that until 

comparatively recent times the chief held the land in trust for 

his clan, and "the arbitrary claim to absolute possession and dis- 

})Osition of the soil has only s})rung up within the last hundred 

years." On the other hand, Novar, in a lecture which he lately 

gave in Edinburgh, said that all available evidence went to show 

that private property in land was very generally established 

before the tribal system was l^roken up and the clans had been 

called into existence ; and he indicated that a chief's power as the 

head of a 

necessarily 

clan, and his rights as a lord of the soil, were not 

co-extensive—instancing the case where Eraser of 

Fraserdale's tenantry deserted him at Perth to join their chief, 

Lovat, at In\eraess, and that of IMaclean of Coll who retained his 

power as chief after losing his lands. Lately, wiien looking over 

the rental of the Lordship of Huntly (a.d. 1600-1607), whicli is 

printed in the fourth volume of the Spalding Miscellany, my 

attention was attracted by an entry where Lochiel (Allane Cameroiie 

M'Ouildouy) is set down as a rentaller of the Gordons 

paying eighty merks for the forty-merk land of Mamore, to 

which entry this curious note is ajjpended : " Memorand, Thair ar 

fyve merk land moii' nor the fourtie merk land in Mamoir for the 

quhilk Allane lies p;»yit notliinge, thairfoir to be tryitt." 

That the possession of his land by the Chief of the Camerons 

was somewhat precarious is a conclusion difficult to avoid. From 

the same rental we learn that ]\Iackintosh in 1607 accepted fi-om 

Huntly a set of the " the Coigs," at the head of Strathdearn, for


three years. Here again the limitation of the term of set implies 

that there was no perpetuity of tenure at a fixed rent. Nor is 

INIackintosh's a solitary case of the sort. A John ^lackintosh of 

the same date got a three years' set of Dunachton, and other 

instances of sets for limited periods will be found in this rental in 

the parish of Kingussie. It is almost superfluous to remark that 

if thei-e were sub-tenants on these lands, their tenure could not 

have been better than that of those from whom tlieii* right was 

derived. Huntly's own right and that of his sub-feudatories 

may, if you please, be held to have been usurped, but if so the 

usurpation takes us back to the fifteenth century. The similar 

right of the Earl of Ross takes us back to the twelfth century. 

A friend has lent me a memorandum on the early tenure of 

land in Ross-shire, from which I take the following extract : 

" Estates in Ross-shire may be classed with reference to the 

origin of the feudal title into two divisions, viz., those which have 

been derived from the Farls and from the Bishops of Ross respec- 

tively. 

" The Earldom of Ross was one of the earliest territorial Earldoms 

of Scotland. In its limits it was practically co-extensive 

with the present Sheritlclom. 

"The Earls, whose family name was Ross, were of Celtic 

origin, and were probably chiefs of leading authority in the dis- 

trict prior to the creation of the feudal Earldom in the middle of 

the twelfth century. After that creation, in accordance with the 

plan of the feudal system, the Earl held the whole disti-ict of the 

Crown for service of ward and relief, the subordinate chiefs of the 

clans, Mackenzies, Munroes, and others, holding in their turn of 

the Earl for military service to him. That these rights were 

made and transferred by Charters and Sasines in ordinary feudal 

form is instructed by various old Charters preserved among 

the munimei]ts of the older Ross-shire families. 

"The Earldom of i'oss was resigned by John, Lord of the 

Isles, into the hand of the Crown, ad perpetunni remnnentiam in 

the year 147G. The mid-superiors being thus removed, the subordinate 

chiefs came to hold their lands directly from the Crown. 

The more important of them afterwards had their Estates erected 

into Baronies, and in their turn gave out lands to vassals. The 

lands which had belonged in property to the Earls of Ross, were 

put under the charge of a Crown Chamljerlain, who periodically 

settled accounts of his intromissions in Exchequer. 

" Various property-lands of the Earldom of Ross were feued 

—

Changes in the Ownership of Land in Ross-shire. "^95 

out by King Jiiincs tlic VI. to Sir Williiiiii Kcitli, Mii.stcr of IiIr 

Waicli'obe, and cioated in his favour into a Barony of Dclny, about 

tlie ycai- 1588. William Keith, perhaps in virtue of an understanding 

to that effect, appears to liave sub feued the lands to the 

old tenants, as occnj)iers, for the annual payment to him, or to tlie 

Crown in his relief, of just the same feu-duties for which he was himself 

bound. The Barony of Delny, consisting of the reserved mid 

superiorities, passed from Keith to the family of Inncs, and from 

them to the Mackenzies of Tarbat. 

" TJie Bishoprick of Rons was founded or restored by King 

David I. in the early part of the twelth century, and was richly endowed 

with lands and teinds in eveiy part of the county. Following 

the universal })ractice of the old clergy at the time of the Reformation, 

John Leslie, last Roman Catholic Bishop of Ross 

(15GG-9G) feued out nearly all the landed property of the See. 

Some of these grants may have been given from favour —the 

majority, more probably, were extorted by the influence of local 

landowners. There is not as a rule the same preference for the 

old occupier as in the case of the Crown or Delny feus. 

" In the Exchequer Rolls, now being published, there is a 

good deal of information to be derived as to the nature of the 

rents received by the Crown for the property-lands of the Earldom 

of Ross after 1476. The feu-duties payable to the Crown under the 

Charters of the Barony of Delny are very similar to the old rental 

duties. 

" In the same way, by comparing the feu-duties in the 

Charters granted by the Crown as coming in place of the Bishop, 

with the rental of the Bishoprick of Ross given up at the Reformation, 

1561, it is seen that these duties are pi-actically the same 

as the rents paid by the old tenants of the Bishops of Ross. If, 

therefore, there were crofters settled on any of these lands, they 

must have held their ci'ofts under the tenants or rentallers of the 

Crown and the Bishop." 

I have given this extract at greater length than to some may 

seem necessary, because for those unacquainted with the subject it 

conveys a succinct account of the early land-tenure of Ross-shire. 

It can hardly be questioned, that if the vassals and tenants of 

the Earls of Ross held the land in trust for anyone, it was for their 

feudal lord and not for their sub-feudatories or sub-tenants. It is, 

however, sometimes said that the ancient charters from which we 

construct history were mere paper rights receiving little practical recognition 

in the everyday life of the [jeojde, and it may be admitted 

that in some cases it was so. When Dean Munro speaks, in 1549, of


Raasay "perteining to M'Gyllychallam of Raarsay be the sword and 

to the bishope of the iles be heritage " we feel that he may be 

covertly intimating that in this particuhir case the Bishop found 

some difficulty in getting his dues fi-om his vassal ; and we have more 

solid authority than this to go upon. In 1597 an Act was passed 

by the Scots Parliament, evidently directed against the vassals 

and rentallers of the annexed Earldom of Ross, calling on the 

inhabitants of the Isles and Highlands to show their titles. The 

preamble is in these terms ;— " Considdering that the inhabitantes 

of the Hielandes and lies of this Realme quhilkes ar for the 

maist parte of his Hiencsse annexed propertie, lies nocht onelie 

frustrate his Majestie of the zeirb'e payment of his proper rentes 

and dew service properlie addebted be them to his Majestie, 

foorth of the said Landes : Bot that they have likewise through 

their barbarous inhumanitie maid, and presentlie maiks the saidis 

Hielandes and lies (quhilkis ar maist commodious in themselves, 

alsweill bee th^ fertilitie of the grounde as be ricli tishinges bee sea) 

altoquidder unprofitable baith to themselves and to all utheris his 

Hienesse Lieges within this Realme:" kc. His Highness of coiii-se 

knew well enough of the deficiency of his rents, and the barbarous 

inhumanity of some of the Islanders had in the previous year been 

brought under his notice in a petition presented to him by Kenneth 

Mackenzie of Kintail against Torquil Dow of the Lews. Torquil 

Dow appears besides to have been one of those who had "frustrate" 

his Majesty of his rents, and who omitted to show his titles in conformity 

with the new Act, and in 1598 his lands were confiscated and 

granted to a company since known as that of the "Fife Adventurers." 

It is in everyone's knowledge that this comjjany could not make 

good the possession conferred on it by Royal Charter, though subsequently 

Mackenzie of Kintail, to whom they assigned it, did so. 

Non-observance of the law was therefore in this case abnormal 

and temporary, for in the end, the law asserted itself, and it 

is reasonable to supi)osc that as it was in this case so must it always 

have been. Failure to recognise rights which the law conferred, 

could only have been exceptional even in those tumultuous times. 

Family traditions in the Highlands, as the members of the Gaelic 

Society of Inverness must be well aware, lay constant stress on tlie 

possession of titles, " coraicheayi," as they are called, a word which 

does not mean equitable rights but written Charters, those very 

paper-titles which we hear sneered at by persons who do not know 

the important place they occupy in Highland legend. In the history 

of my own clan, written by tlje editoi' of the Celtic Mngazine 

from the gathered-up traditions of he past, one instance at least will


be found where tlicse titles occupy a prominent place. Very event- 

ful scenes are described as liavinrf had theii origin in tlie acci


were in absolute possession. In many cases it is true they were 

only life-renters ; and we find not uncommonly that dower-lands 

were given to widows in place of jointure. Such lands sometimes 

fell back to the original estate, and sometimes became the portion 

of a younger child; but, in any case, they wei-e for the time under 

separate maaagement, and thus tended to restrict monopoly in 

the soil. 

The earliest Valuation Koll of Ross-shire, of which there is 

any record, is that of 1G44, a copy of which has been preserved 

for us by Mr Fraser-Mackintosh in his volume oi Antiquarian 

Notes. I happen to ])Ossess copies of the Rolls of 1 756, of 1 793, and 

of 1853. Lately I had an opportunity of inspecting also the roll 

of the Collector of Land-Tax for Ross-shire, in which the changes 

in the ownership of land had been corrected down to 1883. These 

rolls relat*^ to the County of Ross, exclusive of the parts of 

Cromarty and Nairn locally situated within it. Let me say a few 

words on their nature and origin. 

The object with which they were made up was to form a 

basis for the direct taxation of land. In early times such taxation 

was rarely resorted to, being treated as an extraordinary 

source of income to which recourse was to be had only in great 

emergencies. Down to the middle of the seventeenth century 

such taxes as were levied on land in Scotland were assessed on 

what was known as " the old extent,"— a valuation believed to have 

been made by Alexander III. about 1280, in view of a general aid 

towards his daughter's dowry. The Church lands, however, were 

not included in this valuation, and they contributed on another 

basis. But in 1643 the Convention of Estates in voting a supply 

of 1,200,000 raerks Scottish money for the support of the army in 

Ireland, deemed it expedient to levy the money, " not as the 

taxations have been, or by the division of temporalities and 

spiritualities," but " conform to a particular roll made and set 

down thereanent, and subscribed in presence of the said Estates 

by the Lord Chancellor, to remain on record of the books of col- 

lection and convention." Under this Act, which is dated the 

15th August 1643, Conuuissioners are appointed for each county, 

" with powei' to such Commissioners to use all legal ways to inform 

themseb'es of the just and true worth of ev(iry person 

or persons their present year's rent of this crop, 1643, to landward, 

as well as of lands and teinds as of any other thing whereby 

yearly profit or commodity ariseth, and that the worth of any 

person or persons their lands, teinds, and other commodities where 

gressums and iuterosses have been payed, be valued and set down


not only as tlu-y pay to tlu^ lu'ritors, liforentors, and other their 

masters, but as the same are worth and may pay presently witliout 

respect of gressums or entresses, and to divide the said rolls on 

particular parishes by making a roll for every sexerall pai-ish 

within the said shyre. Which roll shall contain every particular 

person's name, surname, and designation with the said year's rent 

and commodity within the said parish, whether in victual, money, 

or other connnodities, and the said victual and commodities to be 

converted into money by the said Commissioners," (tc, &c. 

The roll {)rinted by Mr Fraser-Mackintosh is said to be that 

of the year following the ])assing of this Act, and a note at the 

close of the roll refers to the ])roportioning of the cess among the 

difl'erent counties and burghs detailed in the Act, as having been 

agreed upon at a meeting of the shires in the month preceding its 

think, assume that the prepara- 

enactment. We may, therefore, ' 

tion of the Valuation Roll, ]»rinted in the " Antiquarian Notes," 

followed on the passing of the Act of 1643, and that it contains 

the actual rent or annual value of the land of that year in terms 

of the Act. 

Revised valuations are said to have been made in 1649, 1655 

or 1656, and again in 1660, but the Acts which authorised them 

have not come down to us ; and after the restoration of Charles 

II. the Acts of the Convention of 1643 were annulled, and the 

valuation of that year of course fell with them. 

In 1667 the Convention of Estates enacted the first of that 

series of statutes under which the present Land tax became 

established in Scotland. The amount of supply was fixed at a 

cess of £72,000 Scots a month, and from this time forward supply 

is granted at first intermittencly, but towards the close of the 

century more or less regularly in terms of so many month's cess. 

The average annual amount of supply shortly befoi-e the Union 

was six months' cess. At the Union it was fixed at a sum which 

was practically eight months' cess, and at that amount it has since 

remained in so far as it has not been redeemed. 

The Act of 1667, which, as I have said, may be looked on as 

the first of the regular Su))ply-Acts under which the Land-Tax 

became established, granted to his Majesty twelve months' cess, 

which was " ordered to be raised and payed by the several shires 

and burghs of this kingdom, according to the valuation in the year 

of God, one thousand six hundred and sixty, and at the proportions 

under-written," thi-se pi-oportions being detailed in the Act. 

The roll actually made up in 1660 has not been preserved, but 

the amount of cess proportioned according to it among the


different counties and burghs is frequently entered in the Acts of 

supply. There were some corrections made on these i)roportions up 

to 1095, but they were so trilling in amount that they do not call for 

notice. Practically our apportionment of to-day is that of 16G7,and 

our valued rent-roll is recognised as that of 1660 in accordance with 

which the proportions were originally allocated. On that valuation 

not only the land-tax but all local assessments without exception were 

levied down to the passing of the Poor-Law Act of 1845; and some 

ecclesiastical assessnunits are still regulated Ijy it. Though the 

amount of the valuation in each parish remains unchanged, its 

allocation among the heritors has been revised from time to time 

by the Commissioners of Supply as properties changed hands; and 

the valued rent-rolls thus become a simple means of tracing the 

passage of property from one owner to another. Had we a complete 

set we could without difficulty follow all the changes in landownership 

that have taken place. As it is I am able with the 

help of the roll of 1793 to assign to their respective owners in 1756 

the Ross-shire Estates that appear in the roll of 1853, excepting 

only those in the Parish of Roseniarkie where there are a large 

number of small proi)rietors and where a division of the teinds 

has altered the valuation of each separate jârcel of land. I have 

not, however, been able to trace back the changes to 1644, because 

there is no correspondence between the valuations of 1644 and 

1660, neither are the designations of the several estates siifficiently 

particularised in the older roll to admit of the identitication of 

their extent. When I speak of the Valuation Roll made uj) between 

the years 1660 and 1855, it must be understood that I refer 

not to the real rent but to the valued rent as fixed in 1660. The 

Valuation Rolls issued from time to time between these years vary 

from one another only in their detail of the distribution of property. 

TJie total value is always the same. On comparing the valuations 

of 1644 and 1660, however, this striking fact appears, that at the 

later date the values had greatly fallen. In Ross-shire the valuation 

of 1644, exclusive of the Lews, amounted to £102,025; in 1660 

it was only £66,793, showing a depreciation of nearly 35 per cent. 

One is at first tempted to conclude that the valuations had 

been made on different bascjs, but yet the Scottish Parliament 

having reverted in 1643 from the old extent to the actual annual 

value, it does not seem probable that that equitable basis of taxation 

should have been departed from in the subsequent revisals down 

to the year 1660. On the other hand, if we consider that the intervening 

sixteen years luul been years of great political excitement 

—having witnessed the beheading of Charles I., the setting-up of


a republic, aiul the restoration of the inonarcliy— it will not soein 

unrcasoiialile to suppose that tiu- prospciity oi' the country may 

have been alleeted l)y the general turmoil, and the security of property 

have been so shaken that some fall in rents might naturally 

luive been anticipated. Tt is tiu^ extent of the fall which is at first 

sight surprising. The cause for surprise diminishes, however, 

when we reflect that in this year (188G) rents are suffering a similar 

reduction consequent on a fall in prices. I have had no opportun- 

ity of consulting books of reference in regard to rents or prices 

during the time of the Connnon wealth, but a friend has referred 

me to an extract from the audit-books of Eton College, published 

in David Macpherson's Annals of Connnerco (18()5), where the 

price paid at Windsor for wheat and malt of the first quality is 

given for a great part of the seventeenth century. Unfortunately, 

the quotations for the years lG4:2-4() inclusive, are missing, and T 

have not succeeded in finding other sources of information. In 

IGI:7 tlie average price of the quarter of wheat (which at Windsor 

contained 9 bushels) was 73s. 8d.; in 16i8 it was 85s., from which 

point it fell steadily to 26s. in 1 654, when it began to rise again. 

In 1660 the average price was 56s. 6d. In Windsor market, 

therefore, the value of wheat in the six years succeeding 1648 was 

depreciated to the extraordinary extent of nearly 70 per cent. 

and, notwithstanding the rise which tlien took place, its price in 

1660 was about 33 per cent, below that of 1648. Assuming that 

the high prices of 1647-48 were to some extent current as early as 

1644, and that the range of prices in Scotland and Kngland did 

not materially differ, the fall from the rent of 1644 which we find 

in the valuation of 1660, would be sufficiently accounted for by 

the variations in the price of agricultural produce, of which wheat 

may be taken as an indicator. I have little doubt, therefore, that 

the valuation of 1660, equally 

actual value of the time. 

with that of 1644, represents the 

I here give a statement of the valuations of 1643 and 1660 

side by side for each of the parishes in Ross-shire, premising however 

that I have a doubt whether in all cases the parish areas are 

identical in the two valuations. The adjoining {parishes of Gair- 

loch and Lochbroom for instance, taken together, show a fall of 

about 25 per cent., but while the fall in one had been 45 per cent., 

tlie other had an actual increase of 8 per cent. Where there is 

no reason to suspect discrepancies in the parochial areas, it will 

be noticed that the greatest reductions on the old valuations 

generally occur in the low-lying arable parishes; whence we may 

conclude that there had been a greater depreciation in the price 

of corn than in the price of cattle. Here is the statement : 

— 

;


Parishes,

Changes in the Ownership 0/ Land in Ross-shire. 303 

N


those of the subsequent Valuation Rolls, the extent to wliich property 

has ehaiifêcl hands since 1G43 cannot be ascertained from 

the face of tlipse documents; Ijiit T have taken the roll of 175G 

and compared it with that of 1853, and I append a statement 

showing the valued rent of the dilierent estates in Ross-shire in 

the latter year, and the way in which they were apportioned and 

held in the earlier one. It mi


Amount of valued Amount of valued 

Ucnt held in Rent which has 

Parishes I.N RoiJri-siiiRE. 18S3 in direct sue- changed hands Total. 

cession since between 1756 and 

1750. 1883. 

Brought forward £14 280 14 7 £48,247 12 9 £62,528 7 4 

Uiquhart 1,124 687 5 1,811 5 

Urray 764 6 1.689 12 2,453 18 

£16,169 7 £50,624 9 9 £66,793 10 4 

The Lews 5,250 5,250 

£16,169 7 £55,874 9 9 £72,043 10 4 

Of the total valued rent, amounting with the Lews to 

£72,043, land representing £55,874: (not far siiort of 80 per cent.) 

had passed through the market in those 127 years, and much of it 

had been sold more than once. 

The appended statement showing how the Ross-shire estates 

of 1853 were distributed 97 years earlier, will, I hope, be found of 

interest in the study though it can hardly be made so at a meeting. 

T would ])articularly call attention to the fact that in 1756 the 

landowners are described as possessing a large proportion of their 

lands in vice of a previous possessor, and most frequently even that 

previous possessor does not appear in the roll of 1643. 

In conclusion I gather from these Valuation Eolls evidence 

that property in land in Ross-shire has been constantly changing 

hands, and to an extent very much greater than is popularly supposed 

; that families who were great landowners little more than a 

century ago have disappeared, and others have risen in their place, 

and that the great estates of to-day are made up of many smaller 

estates or part of estates ; that up to the middle of this century 

property in land was getting into fewer and fewer hands, but that 

during the last thirty years the tendency has been to a wider distribution 

of ownership. That at all events since 1643 rents have 

fluctuated in Hoss-shire, just as in other places, in accordance with 

l)rices and other circumstances which determined the demand at 

the time for the hire of land, and have not been tixed at a customary 

amount, established by usage as is sometimes assumed ; and 

that the Valuation Roll of 1643, made up at a time when the clan 

system was still in full force, bears witness to a distribution of the 

owaiership of land in Ross-shire under which the tenantry of the 

different Chiefs can have formed but a small proportion of the 

population, and shows, therefore, that the clau-forces must have 

been largely if not mainly drawn from lands in respect of which 

the Chief had neither the rights nor the liabilities of ownership. 

The following is the statement prepared by me, to which I 

have been referrinjj: 

— 

20


Statement Showing the Valued Rents of the different Estates in the 

County of Ross (exclusive of the parts of the Counties of Cromarty 

and Nairn locally situated therein) in the Year 1853, and the way 

in which those Estates were apportioned and held in 1 756. 

ROSS-SHIRE VALUED RENT ROLL, 

Showing the Changes betwixt 1756 and 1853. 

Alness Parish. 

1853. 1756. 

H. A. J. Munro, George Munro of Novar 

Esq. ofNovar £2077 5 for Novar ... ... £200 

Do. in vice of Assent... 190 

Do. do. of Swordall. 195 

Do. do. of Fowlis.... 16 10 

Do. do. of Culcraigie 

for Achachean 14 10 

£616 

The Heirs of Mr Duncan 

Munro for Contlich.... 565 

Do. for Teachirn 128 

Do, in vice Leimlair... 25 

Do. for Culcraigie 83 

Do. for Fyrish 

John Munro of Culcairn 

70 10 

in place of M'Killigan 

Mr George Mackenzie of 

92 10 

Inchculter for Assent. 

Hugh Munro, part of 

Teaninich (£449 since 

380 

split) 

Mr Albert Munro, in rice 

110 

of Culcraigie (part of 

£29 10s since split).... 7 5 

General Munro Hugh Munn. for his lands 

of Teaninich 783 15 of Teaninich (the remainder 

of £449 split 

as above) £339 

Duncan Simson,in vice of 

Davochcairn 185 10 

Mr Albert Munro for 

Coull 225 

Do. i n vice of Culcraigie 

(part of £29 10s as 

above) 22 5 

Mr James Munro in vice 

of Culcraigie 12 

£2077 5 

783 15 

A. Mathcson, Esq. n n. n 

of Ardross, M. P. 30 Munro of Lcaldie 30 

£2891 Sum of the Parish of Alness £2891 

Number of Heritors 3. 

Number of Heritors 9.

Changes in the Ownership of Land in Ross-shire. 

1853. 

Thus. Mackenzie, 

Ewi. of Applecrosd 

£154t) 

Applecross Parish. 

1756. 

Applecross £1546 

McBarnet of Torridon 

381 Mackenzie of Torridone 

£1927 


N.B.— Diabej^ in this parish, 

of which the valued rent is £82 

3s 9d, is entered in Gairloch in 

cumulo with Sir Kenneth Mackenzie's 

other lands there. 

1853. 

Sir J. J. R. Mackenzie 

of Scatwell, 

Bart £1756 8 9 

\. Mackenzie, 

Ksi[. of Avoch. 

•Sir James Mathcson, 

Bart., vice 

Bennetstield .... 

631 6 4 

143 11 

£2531 6 


1853. 

Sir Alex. Mackenzie 

of Coul, 

Bart £1076 11 

::arry forward ... £1076 11 3 

307 

Sum of the Parish of Applecross £1927 


N.B.—These entries appear under the head of 

Lochcarron, with which Parish Applecross seems 

then to have been conjoined. 

Avoch Parish. 

1756. 

Sir Lewis Mackenzie of 

Scatwell £1013 

Do. in vice of Seafort. . 

45 

£1058 

Ballmaduthie 250 

Lady Dowager of Ballamaduthie 

in his vice... 379 

John Matheson of Banadgefield 

(part of £213 

since split) 69 8 9 

£1756 8 

John Mackenzie for Avoch £274 17 2 

Do. for Knockmurie... 49 19 2 

Rosehaugh 306 10 

631 6 4 

John Matheson of Banadgefield (part 

of £213 since split as above) 143 11 3 

Sum of the Parish of Avoch £2531 6 4 


Parish of Contin. 

1756. 

Sir Alexander Mackenzie 

ofCouU £1075 

Deduct Wester Corrievouillie, 

now Ord's 19 14 10 

£1055 5 2 

Thomas Mackenzie of 

Ord, in vice of Seaforth, 

£61 6s 8d (of which 

nowCoul's) 21 6 1 

£1076 11 3 

Carryforward ....£1076 11 3


1863. 

Brought forward. 

J. M. Balfour, Esq 

of Strathconan 

Sir Evan Mackenzie 

of Kilcoy, 

Bart 

Sir J. J. R. Mackenzie 

of Scatwell, 

Bart 

Duncan Davidson 

of Tulloch 

Parish of Contin—CotiiimLed. 

1756. 

£1076 11 3 Brought forward £1076 11 

Seaforth £668 

807 Colin Mackenzie of Hil- 

town, in vice of Delnies 

for Cashachau 39 

Colin Mackenzie of Hiltown 

100 

Kilcoy for his part of 

Auchnasheen, in vice 

537 14 4 of Davochmaluag and 

Banadgefield (part of 

£200 since split) £100 

Alexander Mackenzie of 

Davochmaluag, for his 

part of Auchnasheen, 

£100 (less £8 2s 2d 

since transferred to 

Gairloch) 91 17 10 


Highfield, for Meickle 

Scatwelljin vice of Torridone 

and Lentron, 

£440 (of which Strathcroinbell 

is) 75 16 6 

Colin Mackenzie of Hilltown, 

in vice of Seaforth 

270 

Scalwell £216 (less, Glascharn,423 

4s7d) £192 15 5 

637 7 2 William Mackenzie of 

Strathgarve, in vice of 

Culcoy (partof £400).. 224 8 3 


Highfield for Meickle 

Scatwell, in vice of Torridone 

and Lentron 

(part of £440) 220 3 6 

Lady Kinciaig, in vice of 

136 3 II Tulloch £75 

Balmaduthie. 35 

Wm. Mackenzie of Strathgarve, 

in vice of Culcoy 

(for half of Garreran 

part of cumulo valuation 

of £400) 26 3 11 

Carry forward ....£3194 16 8 Carry forward 

807 

* 

537 14 

637 7 

136 3 

£3194 18


Parish of Contin—Continued. 

1853. 1756. 

Brought forward. t'3194 16 8 Brought forwar.l £3194 16 8 

Mrs Douglas of Thomas Mackenzie of 

Scatwell 167 4 7 Highfield, for Meickle 

Scat well, in vice of Tor • 

ridone and Lentron, 

£440 (of which effeira 

to Meikle Scatwell 

proper) £144 

Scatwell, £216 (of which 

Glascham) 23 4 7 

167 4 7 

.\Iacbarnet of Al- Kilco^ê, for his part of Auchnasheen, 

ladale 100 in vice of Davochmaluag and Banadgefield, 

£200 (of which for half of 

Loancorriechrubie) 100 

Sir Kenneth Mac- Alex. Mackenzie of Davoclimaluag, 

kenzie of Gair- for his part of Auchnasheen, £100 (ot 

loch, Bart 8 2 2 which for Glacknasquier) 8 2 2 

Thos. Mackenzie Thos. Mackenzie of Ord £100 

of Ord 309 3 3 Do.,in viceof Seaforth, 

£61 6s 8d (of which 

£21 6s Id transferred 

to Coul) 40 7 

Sir Alex. Mackenzie of 

Coull £1075 (of which 

effeirs to Wester Corrievoillie) 

19 14 10 

William Mackenzie of 

Strathgarve, in vice of 

Culcoy, £400 (of which 

eflfeirs to Ord's portion) 149 7 10 

£37 9 6 8 Sum of the Parish of Contin 

Number of Heritors 9 


Tulloch 

Dingwall Parish. 

1853. 1756. 

£799 19 The Laird of Tulloch for 

Tulloch £384 19 

Do. for the Lady Chisholm's 

jointui-e lands.. 250 

The Lady Kincraig in 

Tulloch's vice 165 

£799 1< 


309 3 3 

£3779 6 8 

£799 19 

Sum of the Parish of Dingwall £799 19 



1853. 

Sir Charles Ross 

of Balnagown, 

Bart £1105 

Alex. Matheson, 

Esq. of Ardross, 

M.P 

R. B. Macleod, 

Esq. of CadboU 

350 

•3 10 

£1528 10 


1853. 

Macleod of CadboU 

£1511 

Edderton Parish. 

1756. 

The Laird of Balnago-svn 

for hLs lands there £ 

Da^^d Ross of Priesthill, 

for Muckle Daan 

Easterfearn's Creditors


Fearn Fariah—Contimml. 

1853. I7r)6. 

HrouRht forwanl. £1511 7 7 Brought forward £1511 7 7 

W. H. Murray of CJcorge Ross of Pitkerry 

Ueanies 336 2 for Northtield .... £45 (i 2 

Inverhassly for Pitkerry, 

inviccofJolin Davidson 44 10 

Do.fortlie half Diivoich 

lands of MeikleReny 35 16 2 

Do. for Donoon's quarter 

of Meikle Reny.. 22 5 2 

BaInago-\TO for the Abbey 

of Fearn, £376 158 (of 

which now transferred 

toGeanies) 188 4 6 

Rose of Rheiny . . . 266 

18 6 Rodk. M'CullochofGlastuUicIi 

for Turridone 

and Little Milnetown . 100 

Do. for Little Reny ... 133 11 10 

Do. for the South quarter 

of Little Reny .. . 33 

6 8 

336 2 

Major Rose of 

266 18 6 

Morangie 175 17 6 Robt. Ro^sof AcnhacloichforBalintore 175 17 6 

Ross of Aldie 64 9 William Ross of Aldie for 

his quarter of Pitkerry 

Do. for Stronach's ox- 

15 9 

gate of Little Allan. 49 

64 9 

balnagown 543 19 10 Balnagown for the Abbey 

of Fearn, £376 ISs (less 

the half transferred as 

above to Geanies) 188 10 6 

Do. for Balgore 

Simon Mackenzieof Scots- 

144 

burn for LittleAllan.. 

The Heirs of Baillie Donald 

Ross for his part of 

the Drums of Fearu, in 

183 13 4 

vice of James Ross .... 20 

Other lands transferred 

from Cadboll as above 7 16 

543 19 10 

lunro of Allan. 

.325 8 G David Munro for Duffs 

part of Meikle Allan... 

Easter Fearn's Creditors 

£118 

for Fowlar's part of 

Meikle Allan 

Do. for Monroe's wester 

114 10 4 

quarter thereof 92 18 2 

325 8 6 

lobertson of John Urquhart of Mount-Eagle for 

Monteagle 155 1 Easter Little Allan 155 1 

£3379 3 11 Sum of the Parish of Fearn £3379 3 11 

Number of Heritors 8. Number of Heritors 14.

312 Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

Fodderty Parish. 

1853. 1756. 

D. Davidson, Esq. Davoc)im;tluag (part of a 

ofTulloch £796 4 valuation of £310 

Gairloch, in vice of Da- 

£197 8 

vochcairn 99 10 

Do. for Davochpollo. . . . 157 10 

The Laiid ofTulloch for 

his land in Fottcrty.... 175 10 

Inchcoulter for Davochcarty 

166 13 4 

Seaforth 423 Seafort for his lands there 

(part of £415) £165 

Do. in ^^ce of the Mrs 

of Ardoch 100 

Baillie Alexander Mackenzie 

of Dingwall, in 

vice of Lord Seafort... 125 

Rod. Dingwall of U.ssie.. 33 

£796 4 C 

423 ( 

J. M.Balfour, Esq. Seafort for his lands there (remainder 

of Strathconon. 250 of £415) 250 ( 

Coul 112 19 4 Davochmaluag (remainder of £310 as 

above) 112 19 ' 

Kilcoy 97 10 Kilcoy for Cullin and Achnalt 97 10 ( 

£1679 13 4 Sum of the Parish of Fodderty £1679 13 ' 

Number of Heritors 5. Number of Heritors 8. 

Gairloch Parish, 

1853. 1756. 

Sir Kenneth Mac- The Laird of Gairloch for 

kenzie of Gair- himself £1549 

loch, Bart £2559 ti-B.—This is in cumnlo 

with Diabaig in Applecross, 

£82 3s 9d. 

Do. in vice of Coal... 710 

Roderick Mackenzie of 

Cam Sairie 100 

The Laird of Gairloch (for 

Mellon, with half the 

Water of the Island of 

Ewe) 75 

Do., more for his other 

lands (the other half of 

the Water of the Island 

ofEwe) 75 

N.B.—The two last 

items are taken from 

Lochbroom in the roll of 

which Parish they were 

erroneously entered in 

1766. 

£2559 

Carry forward. ... £2559 Carryforward £2559 { 

I


Qairloch Parish —(Continued. 

1853. 1756. 

Brought forwar.1. £2559 Brought forward £2559 

Meyrick Bankes, Murdoch Mackenzie of 

E^q. of Letter- Lctterewe 390 

ewe, Ac 741 Mackenzie of Gruiiiveard 351 

— 741 

Coul 100 Sir Alex. Mackenzie of CouU 100 

N. B.—This entry in Lochbroom in 

the Roll of 1756. 

£3400 Sum of the Parish of Gairloch £3400 

Number of Heritors 3. Num' er of Heritors 5. 

1853. 

Seaforth £833 3 7 

J.E. Baillie, Esq 587 11 

A. Mathiaon, Esq. 

of Ardross 595 4 

£2015 U 

Number of fleritors 3. 

1853. 

Colonel Baillie of 

Redcastle £1133 

Sir Evan Mackenzie 

of Kilcoy, 

But 

Glenshiel Parish. 1756. 

i'afortli (part of his cumulo valuation, 

of £3360 lor the Parisli of Kintad, 

with which Glenshiel was then combined 

£2015 18 

7 Sums of the Parish of Glenshiel £2015 18 7 


Killearnan Parish. 

1756. 

The Laird of Redcastle 

2 11 (Mackenzie) £822 15 

Do. for proportion of 

£669, his valuation in 

Kilmuir Wester before 

the incorporation of 

that parish and Suddie 

into Knockbayne 310 7 

The Laird of Kilcoy £225 

Do in vice of Allan- 

9 8 grange 70 

The Heirs of Captain 

Hugh Eraser, in vice 

of Reii castle for Wester 

Kcssock, &c., Haiil 

thereof (in Kilmuir 

Wester) 208 13 

The Laird of Kilcoy (in 

Suddie, £510 5s 8d, of 

which there efFeirs to 

the present Pariah of 

Killearnan) 236 16 

£1133 2 11 

740 9 8 

£1873 12 7 Sum of the Parish of Killearnan £1873 12 




1853. 

Sir Charles Hoss 

of Balaagown, 

Bart £851 

Major Charles 

Robertson of 

Kindeace 396 

Cadboll 250 

J. Ogilvie, Esq. 

of New more. ... 175 

Kincraig 81 

Parish of Kilmuir Easter, 

1756. 

BaluagownforBalnagowu £679 

David Ross of Priesthill 

10 for Rives 150 

Do. for Parkhill and 

Badibea 92 

Simon Mackenzie of Scotsburn 

for Dalnaclaach.. 30 10 

Mr Wm. Baillie for Kenrive 

and Torralea, in 

10 vice of Culrain £196 

John Martin, for Inchfurie 

143 10 

Do. for Cabrichie ... 57 

851 10 

396 10 

Alex. Bayne of Delny, for the lands of 

Delny 250 

The heirs of John Munroof Newmore, 

for Ballintraid 175 

JolinMackenzieof Kiucraig.forBroomhill 

81 

£1754 Sum of the Parish of Kilmuir Easter £1754 


1853. 

Sir Chas. Munro 

of Fowlis, Bart. £2027 

John Munro of 

Swordalc 

Carryforward..,. £2139 

Parish of Kiltearn. 1756. 

Sir Harry Munro of Fowlis 

; in vice of his father.... £420 

Do. his old valuation... 435 2 

Do. for Balcladich 20 

Do. for Drummond .... 150 

Mr Duncan Munro's 

Heirs for Lemlair 324 

Do. for Ardulie 60 

Do. for Wester Fowlis 336 7 6 

Do. for Pollock 82 10 

Wm. Munro for Teanaird 34 

David Bethune for Culniskee 

33 10 

Alex. Munro for Kiltearn 84 12 

Do. in vice of Swordale 47 8 

£2027 

John Munro for the lands 

12 ofMilltown £78 

Do. in vice of Swordale 34 

112 

Carryforward £2139 

9 6


1853. 

Parish of Kilte&rn--Contimied.


Parish of Kintail. 

1853. 1756. 

TheChisholm £322 10 Scafo.th, f3366 ; including 

£2015 188 Id in 

Seaforth 5 13 5 

(Ueiishiel, which leaves 

here 

Do. in vice of Domie . . 

£1350 

141 

1 11 

Do. ,, of Macrae 

ofConchra 100 

Alex. Matheson, Do. in vice of Inveiinat 175 

Esq. of Ardross 1587 18 6 Do. ,, ofCamslunie 150 

£1916 1 11 

£1916 111 Sum of the Parish of Kintail £1916 111 


Parish of Knockbayne (formerly Suddie and Kilmuir Wester). 

1853. 1756. 

J. F. Mackenzie, George Mackenzie of 

Esq. of Allan- Allangnmge £300 

grange £752 10 Do. (entered in Killeariianin 

1756) 452 10 

£752 10 

Kilcoy 746 3 2 The Laird of Kilcoy 

(£510 5s 8d in Sud.lie, 

less £236 16s 4d nowentered 

in KillearnRn). £273 9 4 

Belmaduthie (in Suddie). 162 

Mackenzie of Mureton 

(in Suddie) 213 6 10 

John Mackenzie of Kilcoy 

in vice of Highfield 

(Kilmuir Wester) 97 7 

746 3 2 

Mr tiraham of George Graham of Dry- 

Drynie 608 3 4 nie for Drynie, &c £269 8 4 

Mackenzie of Pitlunaig, 

for Pitlunaig, &c 90 

The Heirs of Captain 

Hugh Fraser, in vice of 

Mr Wm. Duff for Kilmuire 

248 15 

608 3 4 

Colonel Baillie of Reidcastle (£669 in Kilmuir Wester of 

Redcastle 358 12 1 which sum £310 7s lid now entered 

in Killearnan) 358 12 1 

Scatwell 460 Mackenzie of Suddie £278 10 

J ohn M atheson of Beuagefield 

181 10 

460 

£2925 8 7 Sum of the Parish of Knockbayne £2925 8 7 

Number of Heritors 5. Number of Heritors 10.


Parish of Lochalsh. 

1853. 1756. 

Alexander Mathc- Lord Seaforth £2675 

8on, Esq. of Do. for Murchison of Auchtertyre 225 

Ardross, M.P.. £2900 

£2900 Sum of the Parish of Lochalsh... £2900 

One Heritor. One Heritor. 

Parish of Lochcarron. 

1853. 1756. 

Thos. Mackenzie, John Mackenzie of Del- 

Esq. of Apple vine, in vice of Lord 

cross £1804 10 Seaforth £1253 

Mr .'Eneas Macaulay, 

minister of the Gospel 

at Applecross, for Seaforth 

(Sanachan) 50 

Jolm Mackenzie of Delvine, 

ill vice of Culcovie, 

in the room of 

the Earle of Marr 50110 

Macbarnet, vice Davochmaluag £56 

Mathesonof At- Matheson of Famach, in 

tadale 300 vice of Davochmaluag. 244 

1804 10 

£2104 10 


Sum of the Parish of Lochcarron £2104 


Parish of Lochbroom. 

10 

1853. 

Hugh Mackenzie, 

1756. 

Mackenzie of Dundonald 

Esq. of Dun- in vice of Fairbum 

donnell £990 9 9 (Isle of Gruinard, part 

of £225) 

Do. in vice of Keppoih 

£40 13 3 

(for Keppoch) 

The Heirs of James Mackenzie 

of Keppoch (for 

50 

Kildonan, &c.) 83 6 8 

Kenneth Mackenzie of 

Dundonald for Derimuick 

139 

Do. in vice of Redcastle 

(Achtadonell) ... 350 

Do. in vice of Simon 

Mackenzie of Loggie... 

Mackenzie of Ballon for 

162 

Larich - in - Teavour, 

(Strathnasealg part of 

£81) 

Alex. Mackenzie of Sand, 

23 16 6 

in vice of Keppoch 

Do. in vice of Dundonald 

come in vice of Fairburn{ 

Monkcastle, Glen 

66 13 4 

- 

arigolach.&Rhidorch). 75 

300 

£990 9 9 

Carry for^vard. £990 9 9 Carryforward £990 9 9


1853. 

Brought forward. 

Bankes of Letter- 

Davidson of Tulloch 

1035 13 4 

M ackenzie of Coul 

Seaforth 

Letterewe 

Parish of Lochbroom- -Continued. 

1756. 

£990 9 9 

Brought forward 

Mackenzie of Dmulonald 

241 10 3 in vice of Fairburn 

(Fishertield part of 

£225 as above) 


£184 6 9 

Larich - in - Teavour, 

(Strath-na-Sealg part 

of £81 as above) 57 3 6 

516 

100 

40 

£2923 13 


Sir 

1853. 

Charles Ross 

of Balnagown, 

Bart 

£1132 15 

Mackenzie of Ballon £566 13 4 

Mackenzie of Achilty 

(half of Achlunachan). 85 


the other half of Achlunachan 

85 

Mackenzie of Achilty in 

vice of Leckmelm 100 

Do. in vice of Dundonald 

and Leckmelm 100 

Mackenzie of Dundonald 

in vice of Kilcovie, 

(Auchindrean) 99 

Sir Alex. Mackenzie of Coul for his 

lands (Inverlael, &c.) 

Kilcovie for feu-duties of Lochbroom. 

Murdoch Mackenzie of Letterewe in 

vice of Seaforth 

£990 9 9 

241 10 .-? 

1035 13 4 

516 

100 

Sum of the Parish of Lochbroom £2923 13 4 


Parish of Liogie Easter. 1756. 

Balnagown for Loggie £166 

Do. for Pitmaduthy ... 26C 

Simon Mackenzieof Scotsburn 

for AUadale 

Thos. Ross for the lands 

of Calrosie 

Do. for Druniedatt in 

vice of Cambuscurry... 

Rodk. M'CuUoch for his 

lands of (ilastuUich. ,. 

Do. for Balloan in vice 

of Mr Robert Ross 

Shandwick. 127 Inverehassly for Drumigillie 

Do. in vice of Mr Robt. 

Ross's heirs 

£1259 15 


207 

75 17 6 

75 17 6 

191 

157 

£100 

27 

40 

£1132 15 

127 

Sum of the Parish of Logic Easter £1259 15 


Changes in the Ownership of Land in Ross-shire. 

1853. 

Boss of Shand 

wick £1791 

Sir Charles Ross 

of Balnagown, 

Bart 676 

Humphrey, Esq.. 404 

G. W. H. Ross, 

Esq. of Cromarty 

401 5 

Ross of Pitcalnie. 

Murray of Westfield 

R. B. M. Macleod 

of CadboU 

317 10 

496 16 

119 

£4205 11 


1853. 

L. M. Mackenzie, 

Esq. of Findon. 

R. Urquhart, Esq. 

J. S. Mackenzie, 

Esq. of Newhall 

C. Lyon • Mackenzie, 

Esq. 

St. Martins 

of 

£100 

100 

193 3 

55 3 

£448 e 


Parish of Nigg. 

1756. 

Invcrchassly for Ankerville 

Do. for Shandwiik 

Hugh Rose of Kilravock, 

for the lands of Culliss 

and Rarichees 

James Ross of Culliss, m 

vice of Mr John Balfour 

for his part of sds. 

lands 

Do. in vice of his father 

for his part of the sds. 

lands 

£527 

100 

896 

144 11 4 

123 3 

The Laird of Balnagown 

for In verhassley's 

wadset £431 

Do. in place of Mr James 

Mackenzie 245 

Duncan Ross for his lands of Meikle 

Kindeace 

George Ross of Pitkerry, 

for Culnauld and Dunskeath 

356 5 

Do. for Aimat 45 

Alex. Ross of Pitcalnie, for his lands.. 

Thomas Gair of Damm, 

for his part of Nigg. . £162 

16 

Cadboll, for Urquhart's 

quarter of Nigg 87 

Mr James Eraser, for 

Pitcallion 215 

Da\nd Reoch, for his part 

of Pitcallion 32 

Cadboll, for the Milns of Kindeace 

and Pitcallion 

£1791 

676 

404 

401 5 

317 10 

496 16 

119 

Sum of the Parish of Nigg £4205 11 


Parish of Resolis. 

1756. 

Scatwell for Wester Culbo £100 

Kinbeachie 

Sir John Gordon, for St. 

100 

Martina £93 3 6 

Do. for Easter Balblair. 100 e 

Mr William DufiF, for Drumcudden. 

193 

55 

Sum of the Parish of Resolis £448 


319 

3


1853.

1 M.F 

Changes in the Ownership of Land in Ross-shire. M21 

1853. 

R. B. JE. Macleod, 

Esq. of 

CadboU £1180 U 

A. Matheson, Esq. 

of A r d r o s s, 

i-2\: 17 ;} 

Major Rose of 

Morangie 213 1 

G. W. H. Ross, 

Esq. of Cromarty 

289 

F. M. Gillanders, 

Esq. of Newmore 

572 6 .3 

Rod. Mackenzie, 

Eaq.of Kincraig 234 10 

Major Robertson 

of Kiudeace 5 

£3711 15 


Parish of Rosskeen. 

175G. 

Sir Jolin Gordon, for Invergordon 

f81G 

Uo , for Rosskeen and 

Achintoull 3G4 

John Mackenzie of Ardross, 

for Ardross 

George Miuiro of Culrain, 

£670 10 

for Nonakiln (part of 

t'84 lOs) 

The heirs of John Munro, 

12 18 

for Newmore (part &f 

£450) 

James Cuthbert of Milncraig 

in vice of Achna- 

31 19 3 

cloich 

The Heirs of Mr Duncan 

300 

Muur", for Culkenzie.. 112 10 

James Oithbei't of Mihicraig, 

for Tollie and 

Strathrusdale 

George Munro of Ciilr 

lin, for Calcairn(part 

90 — 1217 

of £295 15s) 

Do. for Non.ikiln (part 

£141 9 G 

of £84 10s as above) ... 71 12 

The Heirs of Duncan ISIunro, for 

Obsdale 

Tlie Heirs of John Munro, 

for Newmore (remainder 

of £450 as above).. £418 9 

Geoi'ge Munro of Culram, 

for Culcairii (remainder 

of £295 15s as above)... 154 5 6 

John Mackenzie of Kincraig, for Kintraig 

William Baillie of Rosehall in vice of 

Culrain 

£1180 

i: 

213 1 6 

289 

572 6 3 

234 10 

Sum of the Parish of Rosskeen £3711 15 


5 

21


1853. 

G. M. Ross, Esq. 

of Aldie £600 10 

R. B. .E. Macleod, 

Es(j. of 

Caclboll 

Major Rose of 

Morangie 

235 

824 

£1659 10 


1853. 

W. H. Murray, 

Esq. of Ueanies £1832 

And. Mnnro, Esq. 

of Rock field .. 

Aldie 

Cadboll 

. 

234 

188 

134 

£2388 17 6 

Niunber of Heritois 4, 

Parish of Tain. 

1756. 

Wm. Ross of Aldie, for 

Aldie £65 10 

Do., for Balnagall 370 

Do., for Pithoggartie... 165 

Cadboll, for Balquith £175 

Easter Fearn's en ditors, 

for Kirkskeath 60 

The heirs of Roderick 

Ding\vall,for Over Cambuscurry 

£110 

Cadboll, for Nether Cambuscurry 

ISO 

Inverhassly, for Tarlogic 330 

Do., for Morangie 120 

Thomas Ross of Calrossie, 

for Pituylies. ... 84 

Slim of the Parish of Tain 


Parish of Tarbat. 1756. 

The heirs of Coll Urquhart, 

for Easter ArboU 

.£575 

Alexander Ross of Pitcalnie, 

for Wester Arboll 

225 

H ugh Macleod of Genzies, 

for Genzies 546 7 6 

Duncan Eraser of Auchnagairii, 

for Seafield... 486 

Thomas Mackenzie of Highfield, for 

Little Tai rell 

Wm. Ross of Aldie, for the wester 

half Davoch of Wester Genzies 

Heirs of Dingwall of Cambuscurry, 

for Hiltown £84 

The Laird of Cadboll, in 

vice of David Ross 50 

Sum of the I'arisJi of Tarbat 


600 10 

235 

824 

£1659 10 

1832 7 6 

234 

188 10 

134 

£2388 17 6


1853 

L. M. Mackenzie, 

Esij. of Fiiulou. £10;U 

Gaiiloclj 

. 

£1811 , 


1853. 

Seaforth £966 1 

J. F. Gillanders, 

Esq. of High- 

' 

1 field 

Thos. Mackenzie, 

Esq. of Ord 

Parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester, 

402 

275 10 

Carry forward .. €1644 4 8 

17")6. 

Sir Lewis Mackenzie of Scatwell tl034. 

(Sir Lewis is aLo entered in vice of 

the Lady Dowager fori.179, which 

was afterwards taken out, as the 

£1034 aheidy includes it.) 

The Laird of Gairloch, for 

Bishopkinkell £90 

Lady Kiiicraig, in vice of 

Gairloch 580 

Kilcoy, for LoggieRiech, 

in vice of John Tuach. 107 

Sum of the United Parishes fl811 


Parish of Urray. 

1756. 

Seafort (part of £554 

13s 4d for Braiian) 4391 

Do. in vice of the Mrs 

of Ardoch 69 

Do. in vice of Mr 

Mason 50 

Fairbum (part of £633 

9s8d) 411 11 7 

Alexander Mackenzie of 

Lentrou's heirs, for the 

half of Arcan 44 10 

Highfield for Kincliilidrum 

200 

More for do 100 

Fairbum (part of £633 

9s 8. 1 for Bal vraid ) 82 3 1 

Thomas Mackenzie, for 

Ord (part of £100 for 

Torinuichk) 20 4 

Thomas Mackenzie, for 

Ord (£100 less Tormuichk 

as alwve) 79 16 

Do. in vice of Seafort 

for the Mills 140 

Gerlochin vice of Davochcairn 

56 

£966 1 7 

402 7 1 

275 16 

Carryforward €1644 4 8


1853. 

Brought f..iward. £1644 4 8 

Scatwell.forAultderg 

Strathconan, for 

Inverchaoron... 

D o c h f o u r, for 

Tarradale 

Muirton, for Wr. 

Fairbuni 

Meikle Scat î ell. 

for Achfinagie.. 

The Chishohii's, 

for Rhindown.. 

Monar 

Coul, for Little 

Moy 

Parish of '[Jrra.y—Continued. 

3 9 

163 13 4 

223 18 

150 

59 9 9 

97 17 

77 4 6 

34 10 

1756. 

Brought forward £1644 4 8 

Fairburn (part of cumulo rental of 

£633 9sSd) 3 9 

Seafort (remainder of £554 13s 4d as 

above) 163 13 4 

Mackenzie of Lentriin's heirs in vice of 

Applecross (part of £321 15s) 223 IS 

Kilcoy, for Westor Fairburn in vice 

of Davochmaluag 150 

Fairburn (pai-t of cumulo rental of 

£633 9s 8d as above) 59 9 9 

Mackenzie of Lentran's heirs (£321 15s 

less Tarradale as above) 97 17 

Fairburn (remainder of (•uniulo rental 

of £6.33 9s 8d) 77 4 6 

Sir Alex Mackenzie of Coull, for Little 

Moy 34 10 

£2453 18 Sum of the Parish of Urmy £2453 lb 

Number of Heritors 11. Number of Heritors 8 

1853. 

Sir James Mathe- 

8on, Bart. M.P. £5250 

£5250 

One Heritor. 

Lewis. 

1756. 

Seaforth for tlic whole. 

7th April 1886. 

One Heritor 

£5250 

£5250 

On this date Mr Roderick Maclean, factor, Ardross, road a 

paper on " The Parisli of Rosskeen." It was as follows : 

THE PARISH OF ROSSKEEN. 

The Parish of Rosskeen is situated on the northern shoi-e of 

the Cromarty Firth, along which it extends a distance of five 

miles from the east end of Saltburn to the River Alness. It is 

wedge-shaped, 18 miles long from south-east to north-west, and 

about 5 miles broad near the east end. It comprises an area of 

54 square miles, of which about 15 square miles are arable. The 

lower ])art of the parish is partially fiat and partially undulating. 

The soil is of average richness in the lower portions, but poor 

in some of the liighei- portions, e.specially where the cultivation 

extends to from GOO feet to 1000 feet aboê the sea level. The 

—

The Parish of Rossheen. 325 

inland portions are hilly, some of the eminences reaching heights of 

2300 feet. A valley stretches along the south-west side a length 

of 15 miles, the first seven miles from the sea called the valley of 

the Alness, the next 4 miles Strathrusdale, and the remaining \ 

miles Glackshellach. Nearly parallel to the valley of the Alness 

along the north side of the parish is the valley of the Achnacloich 

water, extending to about 6 miles. 

In the beginning of the present century the area of arable 

land was comparatively small. In the possession of new proprietors 

and industrious tenants, however, rapid changes have tâken place, 

es[)ecially within the last forty years, since Sir Alexander Matheson 

became the principal heritor. Miles which were then covered 

with boulders, scrub, and bog are now clothed with verdure, and 

numerous hill-sides are covered with flourishing woods. 

From remains found in mosses, there are e\idences of extensive 

forests having existed in the valleyj centuries ago. 

In one place in particular, called " a' Chrannich," the wooded 

place, on the Estate of Ardross, large logs of bog oak are turned uj) 

in peat-cutting, a piece of which, sent to the Forestry Exhibition in 

Edinburgh in 1884, was awarded a certificate. 

The topography is principally descriptive and historical. I re- 

frain from giving the derivation of Rosskeen, as I am not quite sure 

of it. A few of the names of the places may be interesting. Commencing 

at the lower end of the parish, and following successively 

inward, we have to begin with Saltburn. " AUtan-an-t-Saluinn," a 

small stream at whose mouth smugglers used to dispose of salt to 

the inhabitants when it was taxed : hence the name. 

Invergordon, named after the first of the Goi-dons who were 

proprietors of the place. The Gaelic name is " Ruthanach- 

breachie," the little speckled point. In the end of the last 

century, where Invergordon now stands there were only three 

houses, occupied by the ferryman and two crofters. The neighbouring 

farm is called Inverbreakie, the speckled Inver. The 

hand of the improver has so changed the face of the coimtry here 

that the " Inver " cannot be certified, but is supposed to have 

been north of Invergordon Castle, where a small stream entered a 

swamp, now all arable. 

KiNCRAiG.— " Ceann-na-Creige," the end of the rock. This 

name must have been translated, as there is no conspicuous rock 

at the place. 

Newmoke.— " An-fheith-mhor," the big bog, which still 

exists at the south side of this estate, and from which the estate 

derives its name. •


Obsdale.— " Ob-an-dail," the Iwy in the flat. The bay and 

the flat are still there, but the name is now changed to Dalniore, 

the large flat, and the village to Bridge-End of Alness. 

Alnkss, of old spelled " Anes." The name of this river in the 

charter granted by James VI. to Sir Robert Munro of Fowlis in 

1608 is "Afl'ron," a corruption of " M'ath bhron," my next sorrow. 

The tradition is that a woman crossing the river in a flooded state 

on a temporary foot-bridge (put up for their own convenience by 

the masons wlio were erecting the flrst stone bridge there) with a 

child in her bosom and leading another child by the hand, let slip 

the child she was leading ; calling out " Och mo bhron," och my 

sorrow, and in her attempt to save the child that was being carried 

away, let the other fall into the water, calling out " Och m'ath 

bhron"— Och my next sorrow. Both children were drowned, and 

from this circumstance the river got the name. I have read several 

derivations of " Alness,'" but none of them is correct. I feel convinced 

the following is the correct derivation : 

The river in the last 600 or 700 yards of its course divided itself 

into several branches, somewhat in the form of a delta, forming 

one or more islands. The old district road, of which there still remains 

a portion, passed below Teaninich House, and there being no 

bridge, the river had to be forded. Thus we have the " Ath," 

ford, and " Innis " the Island, naturally changing to Athnish, 

cori'upted to " Anes," and furthur corrupted into Alness. 

NoNAKlLN. — " Nini-cil. " The church dedicated 

Ninian. 

to St 

MiLLCHAiG (of old and in the Crown charter " Culkenzie") 

" Cuil-Choinnich." The origin of this name is worth noticing. 

Malcolm Oeann-mor in his war with Macbeth solicited the assistance 

of a chief, Donald, from the foot of the River Roe in Ulster (hence 

Donald Munro), and for his services received a grant of the lands 

from the Pert'ery at Dingwall to the Alness river, extending northwards 

to beyond Wyvis, still called Ferrindonald, but having too 

little land to sui)ply all his followers, he fened a portion on the east 

side of the River Alness. He then got them all supplied but one 

— " Coinneach Ard," tall ICenneth. Kenneth of course could not 

be left landless, and in consulting his assistants in dividing the 

land, he said " C'ait am faigh sinn cuil do Choinneach," where shall 

we get a nook for Kenneth? A suitable nook was found. The 

name " Cuil Choinnich" still sticks to the corner, and Kenneth is 

honoured by the Estate being named after his corner. 

There are a good many peo]ile in tlui district of the name of 

Aird, who are said to be descendants of Kenneth. 

— 

—


Knocknavie.— "Cnocanfheitli bhuidhe," tlieliill of the yellow 

bog. The bog is now dniiiuHl, Init yellow fog still grows there. 

AcnNACLOiCH, named after a large granite boulder. There 

is a loch here in which, when low, the remains of a Crannaig or 

lake dwelling can be seen, and about 200 yai'ds east of the loch 

the Cfxstle of the lairds of Achnacloich stood, now all removed 

except a portion of the dungeon. Hugh Ross of Achmicloich got 

a Charter of the lands of Tollie from Charles I. in 1635. Ardross 

Castle now stands on the site of Tollie House— " Cnoc an doire 

leathain," " The hill of the broad oak clump." This name indicates 

that oak trees grew here, and at an elevation of over 1 200 

feet. On the south-east face of the same hill there can be traced 

the remains of a croft at the elevation of over 1100 feet. Old 

men told me that 80 years ago the rigs could be traced. Now, 

except in good seasons, we cannot get corn to come to maturity at 

600 feet, so much has the climate changed, and so much for the 

physical knowledge of a few of our legislators and (though perhaps 

well meaning) blind leaders of the blind. 

Preas-a'-miiadaidii, the wolf's bush. The name of a clump of 

hazel and birch bushes which was removed about thirty-four years 

ago. It was situated about three-quarters of a mile north-eastofArd- 

ross Castle. The last wolf in Scotland was killed here. When I 

was a young lad I got the information of the killing of this wolf with 

that degree of freshness which convinced me of the circumstance 

not having been far back. The story is that an old maid at foiu- 

o'clock on a New-Year's morning going to a neighbour's house for 

tiie loan of a girdle to cook a bannock for herself, took a path 

through this clump. At a sharp curve in the path, for some 

natural cause she stooped. On her return by the same path she 

suddenly espied the wolf scraping the ground where she stooped, 

and in her desperation struck him with the edge of the girdle in 

the small of the back, and bolted to the house she came from. 

The alarm was raised, and all who could wield bludgeons or other 

weapons of destruction hastened to the place, when they found 

the brute spiawling, trying to escape. He was soon dispatched, 

and thus " the last of his race " in Scotland ignominiously fell 

under the hands of an old woman. As far as I could trace, this 

occiuTed about the beginning of the last century. She was the 

sister of a man whose great-great-grandson is now employed as a 

carpenter at Ardross. A hill about four miles noilli-west of this 

place is called " Cnoc-a'-mhadaidh," where the wolf had his den. 

Glaicksiiellach, the sauchy glen. Not a tree or bush exists 

here now, and even the heather is stinted. There ai-e several


interesting reminiscences connected with this glen. On the ridge 

soutli of this glen, which forms the march between the parishes 

of Rosskeen and Alness, there is a conspicuous piece of Schist rock 

in situ crojiping up, called " Clach-nam-ban," the stone of the 

women. The tradition is, that before the Reformation, four 

women were in the depth of winter proceeding from Glencalvie, 

in the parish of Kincardine, to the Roman Catholic Chapel at 

Kildermorie, in the i)arish of Alness, and carrying with them 

bundles of hemp. "When near this rock they were overtaken by a 

severe stcrm of snow and drift. They took shelter in a cleft of 

the rock and perished there Their bodies were not found till the 

snow melted several weeks after. The party in search of them 

were led to the spot by seeing one of the bundles of hemp suspended 

from a stick which the women found there, and erected as 

a guide to their friends, who, they knew, would search for their 

remains. 

At the foot of the same hill, north-east of this rock, is to be 

seen a small green patch called " Achadh-a'-bhad-dhuibh," the field 

of the black clump, w^hich, about 90 years ago was a little croft, 

occupied by an old woman, the solitary resident in the glen. At 

the time above stated, in the month of July, a man passing 

through the glen observed something like a bundle of clothes in 

the potato plot. Curiosity led him to see what it was, and there 

he found the old ^voman dead. It would appear that she had no 

food, and went to try if she could find a few tubers to the potato 

shaws to appease her hunger. A sort of a coffin and a rude bier 

were made, and a fev.- peo})le collected to bury her, but going 

along the hill-side to the place of burial at Kildermorie, the in- 

sufficiency of both coffin and bier shewed itself by the body falling 

through to the ground. My informant, who was there, told 

me that they turned the coffin upside down and put the body in 

again, adding " people were not so proud then as they are now; 

they carried stumps of nails in their pockets, and as many nails 

were found among the party as made the box secure." 

On the side of the glen, opposite to this croft, is to be seen a 

portion of the hut, which was occupied by a herd employed by the 

Ai'dross tenants when they had this glen as common pastui'e 

ground. This man was a notable character, and a careful herd, 

for he always retui-ned from the grazing the same number of cattle 

as he got to it. Somehow a few of them would have changed 

colour, but animals of the same changed colour would be missing 

in other quarters, perhaj)s 20 miles or moi'c away. I heard a 

great many anecdotes about this man, but I refrain from mention-

The Parish of Rosskeen. 329 

in-; iiKHv tliiui two or tlirce, lest T should oHeml, ;in(l tliest' only to 

show that thu man had natural abilitic^s, which, it is to regretted, 

ho had not the opportunity of applying for good: 

The harvest of 1817 was late, and the crops a failure. The 

following year many felt the scarcity of food. Money was scarce 

also among the poor. Our friend, the herd, was among the 

sufferers, and having heard that a well-to-do farmer, residing a few 

miles off, had meal to dispose of, he went to ask the farmer for a 

boll till he would be able to pay. " I have meal to dispose of," 

said the farmer, " but should I give you, you will never pay me." 

" I will," said the herd, " the first money T can lay my hands upon 

will be yours." "Well," said the farmer (who was noted for 

cuteness), " if you tell me the cleverest piece of handiwork you 

committed, I'll trust you." " Good," said the herd, " the smartest 

turn I ever did was to relieve yourself of a stot, and sell him to 

you." " Never," said the fiirmer ; but said the herd, " don't you 

remember a black stot belonging to you having gone amissingi" 

" Yes." " And you remember of me selling to you thereafter a 

speckled stot?" " Yes." " Well, it was the same animal." " I'll 

give you the meal for nothing if you tell me how you did the trick." 

" Done," said the herd. " The stot happened to come to my byre. 

I took a few bunches of salt herrings out of the brine and bound 

them to the animal's body. In a few days the black hair under 

the herrings rotted out, and on their removal white hair grew 

instead." The herd was not asked to pay for the meal. 

Our friend on one occasion passed through the East Coast of 

Sutherlandshire, and on his way home took a fancy to a fine 

Highland cow with a docked tail. He managed to conceal himself 

and the cow for a day or two, till, as he supposed, the search 

would be over, and then took the road to the Meikle Ferry, but 

before doing so cut a tail from a diied hide he fell in with somewhere, 

and neatly bound it to the stump of the living cow. He 

entered the ferryboat with the cow, and just as the boat was to 

start, a man sprung in who closely scrutinised the cow and said, 

" I lost a cow three days ago, and were it not that that cow has a 

tail (mine had only a stump), I would say she is mine." " But the 

cow is mine," said the herd. The man approached the cow and 

again said, " were it not she has a tail I woiild swear she is mine." 

The herd saw that matters were getting rather too hot for him, 

and just as the man was about laying his hand on the tail, the 

herd took out his knife, whipped off the tail above the joining, 

and threw it into the sea. " There she is now a bleeding tailless 

cow, and swear is she yours." Of course the man could not, for 

the evidence was gone. 

—


On unulher occasion, when hard up, on his way to the Muir 

of Oril Market, he took under his care a tine colt he found grazing 

on the Novar parks. The animal was soon sold at a fair price 

and paid. To oblige the buyer he agreed to see it stabled and 

fed ; but while the buyer was regaling himself in the company of 

his friends, he slipped away with the colt to Inverness and sold it 

again. He managed to get the animal again under his care, and 

by daylight next morning it was quietly grazing on the park from 

which it was taken, without any one noticing its absence. 

Our hero died in 1855 at the great ago of 101. I saw him a 

few yeai-s before he died—of middle height, straight and active, 

considering the many wintery storms he had stood. 

Further west in Glackshellach, on the border of the road 

made there recently, is an enormous granite boidder, so shaped at 

one end that it has been taken advantage of to form the wall and 

roof of one side of a shelter stable. About the middle of last 

century a man named Alexander Campbell, better known as " An 

t-Iomharach mor," big Maciver, while going through the glen on 

his way to Glencalvie, where he resided all his life time, was overtaken 

by a severe storm of drifted snow. Fearing that he might 

lose his way, he sat beside this boulder for twenty-four hours, till 

the storm abated—his dress being the kilt and his covering a i)laid. 

This man was born in 1699. The year of his death is not accurately 

known, but is sup})0sed to have been 1822 or 1823, in the 

month of ]\Iay. In 1819 Lord Ashburton, who rented the shootings 

of Rosehall, in Sutherlandshire, heard about him and invited 

him to Rosehall. He proudly accepted of the invitation, and 

arrived at the shooting lodge between six and seven o'clock in the 

morning, after having walked over ten miles across the hills. His 

Lordship was so much taken with Campbell that he gave him a 

present of 120 newly coined shillings —a shilling for every year of 

his age. Campbiill was greatly elated both by the present and the 

attention paid to hint. He carefully stored the shillings to meet 

the expense of his funeral. He could easily walk forty miles a 

day, after passing his huudi'edth year, without much fatigue. I saw 

his grandson, who died at the age of ninety-two, and his greatgrandson 

is an Ardross crofter. 

Archeology.—From its Archaeological remains the parish 

appears to have been early peopled. Large sepulchral cairns were 

numerous, many have been wholly removed, but of a few there 

are still preserved the outer rings and principal centre stones. 

Dalmohk Caiun. — Commencing at Dalmore we have in a 

field there the cist measuring about 3^ by 2A by 2 feet of one which


was removed about 1810. It was about GO feet diauieter, and 15 

feet high. What remains of it is now enclosed by a stone wall. 

MiLLCUAiG Caikn.— Tile ne.xt we come to is on the farcu of 

Millcraig, about a mile north of l>ridge-End of Alness. Four large 

central stones—one measuring 9 fe(.'t by G feet, the outer circle 

and a considerable quantity of small stones remain. The 

diameter is 76 feet. No living person saw it entire, so that its 

height is not known. 

KxocKNAViE Cairn.—A mile further up on the west shoulder 

of Knocknavie ai"e the remains of wjiat was once a large cairn. From 

the existing stones it would a})pear that there were two cists, each 

measuring about 9 feet long by 2^ feet broad. The diameter was 

74 feet, and the height about 20 feet. This cairn was removed in 

1826 to build a neighbouring march dyke between the estates of 

Millcraig and Culcairn. To come to an amusing incident connected 

with the removal of this cairn we must go back a couple of 

centuries, and introduce an historical fact. In August 1633, Sii- 

Robert Gordon, uncle of the then Earl of Sutherland, was acting 

as referee adjusting the march between the estates of Hugh Ross, 

the laird of Achnacloich, and of the laird of Newmore, when a 

party of Ai-gyllshire marauders, wdio were under the leadership of 

one Ewen Aird, were seized for depredations committed by them. 

Brown, in his " History of the Highlands," Vol. I., 306, states 

" In their retreat they destroyed some of the houses in the 

high parts of Sutherland, and on entering Ross, they laid 

waste some lands belonging to Hutcheon Ross of Achnacloich. 

These outrages occasioned an immediate assemblage of the inhabitants 

of that part of the country, v/ho pursued these marauders 

and took ten of them prisoners. The prisoners were brought to 

Achnacloich, where Sir Robert Gordon was at the time deciding 

a dispute about the marches between Achinloich and Neamore. 

After some consultation about what was to be done with the 

prisoners, it was resolved that they should be sent to tlie Earl of 

Sutherland who was in pursuit of them. On the prisoners being 

sent to him, the Earl assembled the pi-incipal gentlemen of Ross 

and Sutherland at Dornoch, where Ewen Aird and his accomj)lices 

wei-e tried before a juiy, convicted and executed at Dornoch, 

with the exception of two young boys who were dismissed. The 

Privy Council not only approved of what the Earl of Sutherland 

had done, but thoy also sent a commission to him and the Earl of 

Seaforth, and to Hutcheon Ross of Achnacloich." 

To what extent the Laird of Achnacloich exercised his power 

as commissioner is not recorded, but one traditional case is not- 

—


able. He occupied a large portion of Glacksliellach as a sheiling. 

About two years after he got his commission, two wayfarers 

entered the hut which belonged to him in the glen, and l)eing 

hungry asked of the dairymaid a little food for which they ortered 

payment. She refused, whereon one of the men took possession 

of a cheese, lea\n.ng as much money as he considered it worth. 

The dairymaid despatched a messenger to the laird to give information 

of what she called the robbery. The men were pursued, 

overtaken at Contullich, in tlie parish of Alness, brought to Achnacloich, 

summarily tried, hanged on the top of Knocknavie, and 

buried in the Cairn above referred to. We now pass on to 1826, 

when the caini was being removed. A youth of about 20 years, 

employed at the removal of the cairn, on pulling out a stone from 

the face, let down a large fall, when out rolled a grinning skull. 

The youth was horrified, and leaving his horse ran oil' to his 

father, who was emptying a load about 200 yards away from the 

cairn. The father, who was a plucky fellow, castigated the son for 

his cowardice in running away from a bone, but on the two of 

them returning to the cairn, the father received no less a shock 

than the son, for there was the skull with its upturned empty eye 

sockets in a state of vibration, put in motion by a field mouse 

that got jammed among the nasal bones. Information was given 

to the managers of the neighbouring estates, who came the follow 

ing day, and had all the bones removed and buried close by the cairn. 

These were the bones of the two men who were hanged by the 

Laird of Achnacloich, the finding of which verifies the tradition. 

The man who got the first fright is still alive, and is my informant. 

An incident in connection with the settling of the march between 

Achnacloich and Newmore is worth mentioning. A large 

boulder, conveniently situated, was fixed upon as one of the 

march stones (it is to be seen on the margin of the road from 

Achnacloich to Tain), and is still the march stone. Both ])arties 

had a host of old and young men accompanying them to point out 

the old marches and to bear in remembrance the new. On the 

side of the laird of Achnacloich was a smart boy, to whom the 

laird .said, "Will you remember this to be the march stone 1 " The 

boy said he would. " Put your hand flat ujion it," said the laird. 

The boy did so, and, before he was aware, the laird drew his sword, 

and cut ofl" the boy's fingers, saying, "You will remember it now," 

and he did remember it, and told it to others who told it to succeeding 

generations; and the stone is called " Clach ceann na 

meoir," the stone of the finger ends, to this day, 

Dalnavie.—The next we mention, though not a cairn, was


an interesting place of sepulture. Whilst trenching waste land 

on the farm of Dalnavie in 1847, the workmen came upon a number 

of urns at a uniform depth of about sixteen inches. They were 

surrounded by a low circular turf fence about eighteen yards 

diameter. In the centre was a large one, whicli would contain 

about a gallon, and a beautifully formed stone axe was found be- 

side it. The central urn was surrounded by fifteen other urns, 

which would contain about half-a-gallou each. Through carelessness 

the urns were all destroyed. I understand the axe was sent 

to the Antiquarian INIuseum in Edinburgh. 

Stittenham.—About half-a-mile north of Dalnavie a large 

cairn was removed in 1847-48. It was 108 feet diameter, and 

20 feet high. In September 1880 a search was made for the cist, 

when a very interesting discovery was made. Having been engaged 

in the search, I am in a position to give a correct description of it. 

A grave was dug in hard boulder clay 12 feet long, 7 feet 9 

inches wide, and 8 feet deep, rounded at the corners. The whole 

of the bottom was coverecl with a layer of flags, on which was 

formed a cist of thick flags, 8 feet long, 2^ feet broad, and 2 

feet deep. The covers were large—one weighing about half a ton. 

Around and above the cist was filled with stones to a height of about 

5 feet from the bottom. From the stones to the natural surface 

of the ground was filled with a portion, the clay turned out. Over 

this, and extending about 6 feet beyond the cutting all round, was 

a layer of tenaceous blue clay in the form of a low mound, 2 feet 

thick in the centre, and over the blue clay a layer of black earth 

18 inches thick. From the form of the cist it is clear that the body 

was laid at full length in it. The body was wholly decomposed; 

only a small quantity of carbonate of lime and black animal 

matter remained adhering to the bottom flags. A few crumbs 

of decayed oak having been found at the head and foot of the 

cist suggests that the body was encased in a coffin. The only 

relics found were three beautifully formed arrow-heads, and a 

thin circular jiiece of shale about two inches diameter, apparently 

a pei-sonal ornament. About 150 yards south-west of 

this cairn, the workmen employed at trenching the moor in 1847 

found what was evidently a smelting furnace, and among the 

debris turned out two beautifully formed sets of moulds for casting 

bronze spear-heads. They are preserved in a cabinet in Ardross 

Castle. The material is steatite, of which a vein exists in the 

banks of a burn flowing by the Ardross Estates Office. 

Knockfionn.—On the face of the hill, called Knockfionn, 

above Easter-Ardross, there is a large cairn, which has not been 

—


opened, and on the summit of this are the remains of what appeared 

to be a small fortitication of stone, said to have been one of Fingal's 

strongholds. 

Mains of Ardhoss.—In 1848, a large cairn, "Carn Fionntairneaoh," 

on the farm of Ardross, similar to the one at Millcraig, 

was wholly removed. As well as the central cist, there were 

several others in the body of the cairn, proving after burials. A 

number of bones in good preservation were found, and a few flint 

arrow heads. 

On the same f;xrm there is an interesting grave preserved. 

It is IG feet long and 4 feet broad, enclosed by six large flag stones 

—two at each side, and one at each end. At the request of an 

oflicer of the Royal Engineers in 187G, it was carefully opened by 

digging a longtitudinal trench, when it w;xs discovei'ed that two 

bodies were buried, the one at the foot of the other, in graves each 

about 7 feet long, by 2 feet broad, and only about 2 feet deep from 

the surface to the bottom. There are side walls about a foot high, 

and a division of a foot between the two bodies. The bodies were 

probably covered with flags, as disintegrated clayey slates were 

turned out in digging. The only remams found were a few teeth 

where the heads lay, and a thin layer of bituminous like matter, 

the whole length of the graves. A few hundred yards to the west 

of this grave thei-e existed about 200 small cairns, said to have 

been raised over men who fell in a battle fought there long lor.g 

ago, each being buried where he died. They have been all removed 

in improving the land. 

The cists without cairns discovered in the district are 

numerous, notably those at Dalmore described by Mr Jolly in the 

" Transactions of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, 1878." A 

group at the site of Achnacloich Castle, which contained jjottery, 

a group north of Achnacloich loch, which have not been properly 

searched, as the tenant of the farm protested against such sacrilege, 

especially because the man who discovered them in trencliing the 

moor immediat(;ly ran home, and kept to his bed for a couple of 

months. At Baldoon, on an eminence north of the source of the 

Achnacloich burn, are the remains of a cairn which, I think, lias 

been a small stronghold. The name " Baile-'n-duin" suggests this. 

The cairn was oval, 52 feet by 42 feet. Neai- the centre is an 

elongated oval often standing .stones. It measiu-es IG feet long 

by 8 feet broad, divided into two compartments of 8 feet each, by 

two standing stones, having a space of two feet between them, 

evidently a door. No living person saw or heard of this cairn 

being other than it now is, so that what has been renio\ed of it

The Parish of Rosskeen. 33^ 

must have been done long ago. I propose to search the flooi-, 

when, perhaps, something may be found to lead to the object of its 

erection. 

C'LAcn-A'-MHRiRLicri.—About a mile and a half west of Tnvergordon, 

in a field north of the County road, is a standing stone 

called " Clach-a'-mheirlich," the thief s stone. There is an archaic 

device upon it said to resemble a portion of Bramah's foot. 

Though a few hundred yards beyond the march of the parish 

of Rosskeen, there are two interesting cairns I would not wish to 

overlook. They are situated in the valley extending from Achnacloich 

to Scotsburn, at Kenrive, in the upper part of the parish 

of Kilmuir. A ti-adition is common among the old people of the 

district that in a hostile incursion of the Danes in the ninth or 

tenth century, the Danes, who were put to flight by the natives, 

made their final stand here, where they were all slain, hence the 

name '' Cearn-an-ruidhe," the end of the chase. One of the cairns, 

the most interesting of them, is now nearly removed, but a descrij)tion 

can be given of what it was. About thirty years ago the 

crofter on whose land the cairn stood had his attention attracted 

towards it by his dog chasing a rablnt thither. The dog's persistent 

barking at a bole near the top of the cairn induced the man 

to go to the dog's assistance, and after removing a few stones witli 

the intention of getting hold of the rabbit, he discovered a vault, 

but superstitious awe prevented him from prosecuting his search 

alone. He got the assistance of a canny neighbour who joined in 

a private exploration, expecting a lucky find which would keep 

them in comfort during the remainder of their lives. They removed 

the stones from above the vault, and at the dei)th of a few 

feet, came upon a flag stone; which, on being removed, made an 

opening large enough for them to get down. Their find was only 

a layer of black earth. A man who frequently visited the vault 

gave me a description of it. It was about nine or ten feet long, 

over five feet wide, had side walls of large flagstones, five feet 

high, the roof formed of flagstones corbelling inwards and finishing 

with large flags closing in both sides at a height of about eight 

feet from the flDor. 

Such a discovery as this was not, in the opinion of the two 

worthies (now both dead), a thing that ought to be divulged, and 

for a space of eight years it was found to be a very convenient 

malt deposit and whisky warehouse, and might have been so still 

had not Preventive Officer Munro, and his assistants, discovered 

the "bothy" in a naturally formed cairn in the face of tlio hill, 

north of the farm offices of Inchandown.


Sixteen years ago a portion of the cairn was I'emoved to 

build the dyke in the march between the estates of Newmore and 

Kindeace. The vault was exposed to the public about twelve 

years ago, when stones were removed to build a new house for 

the tenant who now occupies tlie land. When I visited the place 

a month ago, the weather was so frosty that I could not search 

the floor for remains, which I believe are still there, for I understand 

no search was m;ide. In the remaining portion of this cairn 

there is apparantly another similar vault with the roof fallen in. 

Two other cists measuring about 4 feet by 3 feet, and 2 feet deep, 

formed in the ordinary way of single flags, are exposed, oue at the 

north side of the removed vault, and the other at the east end of 

the unopened vault. The diameter of the cairn was 80 feet, and 

the height about 15 feet. Some of the remaining stones are of 

large size, one in an upright position of mica schist measures 

7 feet 6 inches by 5 feet and 2 feet thick, and another, which 

apparently formed part of the roof of the unopened vault, of 

granite, measures 7 feet by 5 feet, and one foot thick. 

The other cairn is situated about loO yards east of the one 

described above, and is supposed to cover the remains of the common 

soldiers who fell in the battle. No portion of it has been 

removed. It is oblong, measuring 70 yards long, 22 yards broad 

at the east end, 14 yards broad at the west end, and about an 

average of 8 feet high. 

Smuggling.—Many humorous stories are told of the smugglers 

in the upland parts of the parish. I give two as examples. 

About seventy years ago two worthies, John Holm and 

Sandy Ross (Uaine), who resided a short distance east of the 

Strathrusdale river, went to enjoy a day with a friend who had his 

bothy in full work at the west side of the river. After having partaken 

of their friend's good cheer as much as made them tellingly 

affectionate towards each other, they left for home. On coming 

to the river, which was slightly flooded, John said to Sandy, 

" Sandy, as I am the youngest and strongest, stand you on that 

stone, and come on my back, that I may carry you over dry." 

Sandy obeyed, but John took only three steps when he fell into 

the water, and before they recovered their footing, both were wet 

to the skin. " I am sorry I fell," said John, " but come you to 

the stone again, and got on my back, that I may take you over 

dry." Sandy went to the stone and mounted again, but they 

proceeded half-a-dozen yards only when the mishap was repeated. 

John again expressed regret, and insisted on the attempt Ixiing 

made the third time, which, fortunately, proved successful, and 

—


John, in tliiowinj:; Saiuly tVom oil" his l)ack, saitl, " I am glad, 

Sandy, after all our nusha])S, that I took you over tlry!" 

My other story is an occurence of fifty-ti\'e years back. The 

bnnuggler was Donald Ross (Mac Eachain),whodiedin Strathrusdale 

about twelve years ago. He liad his bothy at the base of a rock 

on the north side of Kilderinorie loch. Two young gcntlenu.-n 

one of wlioni went for the first time to see a bothy at work— paid 

Donald a visit. As they were approacliing the bothy, Donald, 

always on the alert when at work, espied them, and sus2)ecting 

them to be questionable chai-acters, moved out cautiously to i-econnoitre. 

Recognising one, he rushed out, with his bonnet under 

his arm, welcoming and praising them in tlie most flattering terms, 

finishing with, "Such two pretty young gentlemen I never saw; 

come down from your horses till I see who is the prettiest." 

They oljeyed, and then Donald gave the finishing touch by saying, 

" You are both so pretty, I cannot say who is the prettiest." 

During tlie few hours spent by the party in the bothy, Donald 

felt himself so elated that he drank so much of the warm stream 

flowdng from the worm as to make him top heavy. To get him 

cannily to his house, it was proposed that he should be mounted 

behind one of the young gentlemen. This done, and Donald left 

without side supports, he lost his l)alance and fell. He W4,s .ut 

up again with the same result, but in his second fall his head came 

against a rock, which brought him a little to his senses. 

Cautiously coming to his feet, and looking u]) to the rider, he 

said, " May all good attend us ; truly, Mr Munro, we ought to be 

thankful that the ground is soft." 

Ecclesiastical.—Before the Reformation there were three 

places of worship, and three priests officiating in the parish. One 

at I'osskeen, one at Nonakiln, and one at Ardross. After the Reformation 

the three w«re made into one charge, the minister being 

a}ipointed to officiate two consecutive Sundays at Rosskeen, one 

at Nonakiln, and once a month as might be convenient for him at 

Ardross. The cha])el at Rosskeen was condemned in 1829, and 

A new church was in 1S32 built. Underneath the back wing of 

this chapel, the CadboU family built their burial vault, which has 

been renovated and beautified by the present proprietor two years 

ago. Before the suppression of smuggling in the parish, this vault 

was frequently the abode of spirits as well as of the dead. The 

beadle, who had charge of the key, was sworn to secrecy, and the 

vault converted to a warehouse. The church-yard is near the .sea, 

a stream passes by it, into which, at high water, the tide flows 

deep enough to float an ordinary boat. Sales were made, the 

22 

—

— 


warehouse oiiipticcl during night, and the cargo delivered along 

the coast before daylight. 

The chapel at Nonakiln ceased to be used as a place of worship 

in 1713. An incident in connection with the last service held in 

it is illustrative of the tenacity with which superstition still sticks 

to a few of us. 

The story is that the farm manager at Invergordon Castle 

was frequently annoyed by a bull, belonging to a neighbouring 

farmer, being found frequently trespassing on the In\ergordou 

lands. At last the manager tlireatened that the next time the 

animal would be found straying there he would be shot. On a 

Sunday in December 1713, the manager on his way to the Chapel 

at Nonakiln, saw the bull on the forbidden ground. He returned 

to his house, loaded his gun, and shot the animal. He then proceeded 

to the cliuixh. Before he arrived the service commenced, 

and as he was lifting the latch of the church door, part of the roof 

gave way, but did not fall in. The worshippers were all alarmed, 

and a few of them hurt in their exit. One of my informants, 

who is still living, wound uj) the tale with this expression, savouring 

of superstition— " Cha leigeadh an Eaglais a steach e airson 

gnn do mharbh e tarbh aii- la na Sabaid." (''The church would 

not allow him to enter because he killed a bull on the Sabbath 

day.") His idea is that the sacred edifice would not sanction the 

man's presence because he broke the Sabbath. The roof fell in 

the following year. The west gable and a portion of the side walls 

are still remaining. 

The chapel at Ardross must, to an archaeologist, be the most 

interesting of the three. It was situated on the farm now called 

Achandunie, and known by the name of " Seapal-dail-a'-mhic." 

It has been wholly removed, except a portion of the foundation. 

From what remains the ground area is found to measure 42 feet 

by 24 feet. The interest connected with it is, that it is placed in 

the centre of a Druidical place of worship, measuring 112 feet by 

66 feet. Only two of the stones remain standing. They are of 

sandstone split out of one block, and measuring 5 feet 6 inches 

high, 3 feet 8 inches broad, and 1 foot thick. A few large stones 

are lying covered by the debris of the ruins, the rest have been 

removed. This fact confirms the account of the early Culdee 

Missionaries, having been in the habit of meeting the people at 

Druidical places of worship, who, after they were converted to 

Christianity, built churches in wliich to worship at the Druidical 

standing stones ; and this is the reason why so many of our 

churches in the Highlands are to this day known as "An clachan," 

from the standing stones.


There are only two other Druitlictil circles now in the parish, 

one at Stittenhani House, and tlie other at tlie west end of Sti atlirusdale. 

In each the three concentric circles can be traced, but 

only a few of the stones remain. 

The [)eoi)le were very wild and lawless in those times. I 

have collected many anecdotes about them, but as my paper is 

already too long I will finish with a few sentences about the Episcopal 

Minister of the Parish. His name was John Mackenzie, 

Ix'tter known as " Iain Breac," brother of the first Mackenzie of 

Ardross, who was son of the laird of Kildun near Dingwall. l\Ir 

John Mackenzie was appointed curate in 10(34 or 1775. He 

conformed in 1GS9 after the Kevolution, and lived till January or 

February 1714, a month or two after the chapel of Nonakiln was deserted. 

The religious instruction of his flock gave him little concern. 

Aftei the dismissal of the congregation almost every Sunday at 

Nonakiln, a fair was held for the disposal of cattle, harness, implements 

of tillage, tkc. The curate mingled with the peoj^le at 

these fairs, and occasionally entered into their games. The most 

noteworthy record about him is that he was so strong as to lift a 

tirlot measure full of barley (1-| bushels) on his loof. His successor, 

]\Ir Daniel Beaton, who was translated from Ai'dersier to the 

parish in ]\Iarch 1717, was in every respect a contrast. He was 

so small in stature that he is generally spoken of as " Am Beutanach 

beag," but he was a sincere Christian, an industrious worker, and a 

gospel preacher ; and before many years of his incumbency passed, 

the Parish was to a large extent civUized. His memory is still 

fragrant among pious old people. 

IGth April 1886. 

On this date R. B. Finlay, Q.C., M.P., was ehicted a life mem- 

lêr of the Society; while Miss Mary Fraser, 1 Ness Walk, Inv(!rness. 

Miss Catherine Fraser, 28 Academy Street, and Rodk. Fraser, contractor, 

Argyle Street, Inverness, were elected ordinary mendjers. 

Thereafter the Secretary read (1) a paper on "Etymological Links 

between Welsh and Gaelic " by Canon Thoyts, Tain ; and (2) a 

paper on " The Dialects of Scottish Gaelic," by Donald Mackinnon, 

M. A., Professor of the Celtic Languages and Literature in 

the University of Edinburgh. 

Canon Thoyt's paper was as follows : 

—


ON ETYMOLOGICAL LINKS BETWEEN WELSH 

AND GAELIC. 

On being requested to write a paper on some Celtic subject, 

to be read before the Gaelic Society of Inverness, my first impulse 

was to plead my utter incompetency to undertake such a 

work ; and, in now endeavouring to comply with that request, I 

must at once state that I do so with the greatest dittidence. So 

far from aspiring to be, in any sense, an authority on Celtic matters, 

I am mei'ely a humble student of the Gaelic language ; and 

that only so far as concerns my pastoral work, and the services of 

the Church. Hence I venture to beg for myself a large share of 

indulgence from those who may either hear or read this paper. 

In what I shall say, I am fully aware that I shall be merely, 

as it were, touching the fringe of a very wide subject ; and my 

object is rather to start some discussion on a matter which is most 

interesting and instructive (in my opinion), and on which I myself 

want to learn very much more, than to lay down my opinions 

with a confidence (not to say impertinence) which would be, in my 

case, unseemly in the extreme. 

No doubt there must be etymological links of connection between 

all Celtic languages, since they all spring from a common 

source ; the connection between the Irish and the Scottish Gaelic 

is, of course, so very close as to constitute them practically one 

and the same language—each being merely a ditferent dialect of 

that language ; the difference being no greater than, even if as 

great as, that which exists between the various provincial dialects 

of English, in counties so widely apart as (for instance) Yorkshire 

and Somersetshire, or Cumberland and Hampshire. I know nothing 

of the Manx language ; but from the fact of places in the 

Isle of Man having distinctly Gaelic names (as I have been informed), 

I should gather that it is very closely akin to either the 

Irish or the Scottish forms of the Celtic tongue. The connection 

between our own Gaelic and the Welsh is not, at first sight (to 

ordinary i)eople at least), so very plain and obvious. In some 

nu.'asure, no doubt, this arises from the spelling ; which, on both 

sides, tends to obscure the derivation of words. I imagine; that 

to an ordinary student of Gaelic, the extraordinary combinations 

of letters in many words of the Welsh language must utterly 

mystify him, when he attempts to pronounce them intelligibly; and 

probably Gaelic would present the same difficulty to a Welshman 

—as it certainly docs, possibly in a much greater degree, to a

Etymological Links between Welsh and Gaelic. 311 

Lowlamlor or an Englisliniau. I suppose one of the most iini\crsal 

words in Celtic langua-ges is the word " Eaglais" ; we find it 

in the Welsh " Eglwys," in the Cornish " Eglos," in the Freneli 

" Eglise," in tlie Latin ' Ecclesia," which is itself, of course, bimply 

the Greek " eKKX-rjaia." 

Dut to confine myself to the Welsh. T propose to give a few 

parallels between it and the Gaelic, which T have come across 

casually, in the


can trace the Litin verb " OfTero," which exactly describes the 

office of the priest (sagart), whose chief duty is to " offer " (I use 

tlie woi'd in its technical and theological sense) the Holy Sacrifice 

in the Eucharist. I fear that I may seem here to be touching on 

controversies of doctrine ; but I wish merely to explain \sdiat 

seemed to me to be the connection of ideas between the two words 

in question. 

This instance, at any rate, leads us on to another most interesting 

branch of this subject ; which is to trace,* generally, the 

derivation of words in both Gaelic and Welsh from the Latin, 

or even, in some cases, from the Greek. Thus (to confine ourselves 

to a few instances from the short list of words already given), nef 

(Welsh) and neamh (Gaelic) are evidently each derived from cfâXr; 

(and its cognate Latin word Nebula); Drindod and Trionaid in 

like manner come from Trinitas ; Pechodau and Peacadh from 

Peccatum ; Bobl and Pobull from Populus. Esgob and Easbuig 

from Episcopus are, perhaps, not quite evident at first sight; on the 

other hand Diaconiaid and Deaconan are specially clear, as derivatives 

of 5i.aKovo%. Gras (which is identically the same word in both 

languages, though pronounced with more stress and length of 

quantity in the Gaelic than in the Welsh) is simply the Latin gratia, 

" writ short." Yspryd and spiorad come from spiritus; marwol and 

mairbhteach (possibly) from mortalis ; credaf and creideam from 

credo ; creawdwr and cruthadair from creator ; uffern and ifrinn 

from infernus ; cymmun and comh-chomunn from communio. 

It need hardly be remarked that in tracing the etymological 

connection between Gaelic and Welsh, or between each of them and 

Latin, the letters P, K,and T,aro interchangeable with their cognate 

letters B, G, and D, or with their aspirates Ph ( = F), Ch, and Th: 

thus Drindod—Trionaid; Bobul—Pobull; and in the case of Esgob 

—Easbuig there is actually a transposition yet in each case the 

; 

etymology and the derivation are clear. In like manner we can 

trace the connection between nef and neamh with nebula. 

There are, here and there, traces of Celtic to be found even 

in the heart of England. When I was south, in October last, I 

hapi)ened to come across a parish Directory of Warwickshire ; 

and in it I looked up a parish in which I was interested, called 

" Tysoe." I remembered having heard long ago, that this most 

un-English name was of British derivation ; but 1 certainly was 

not prepared to find it given in a book of that kind, in pure 

Gaelic, as " Tigh-soluis." In the same parish is the historical 

"Edge Hill," the highest part of which is called "The Sun-rising;" so 

the tradition of the " Rouse of Light" would seem to have been 

—

Etymological Links between Welsfi and Oaelic 343 

handed down, in some measure, in the talk of the natives, many 

long centuries after their parish first got its name. I may mention, 

in passing, that there is a portion of the fine parish churcli in that 

place, which in the opinion of the late Sir- Gilbert Scott (no mean 

authority in archreological matters) is at least 1000 years old. 

It would l)e interesting to know whether in the names of such 

places as Ccvent-i-y, Davent-ry, Oswest-ry (the last of these being 

close on the Welsh border), the " ry " is equivalent to " righ;" and 

if so, what is the derivation of the other part of each of these 

names 1 No doubt if light could be thrown on the obscurities of 

modern spoiling, we might find much that was deeply interesting 

in the unearthing of old Celtic names. I was told lately (and my 

informant was a Gaelic speaking priest of our church in Lochaber) 

that the famous " Rotten Row " in London is simply a corruption 

of " ]\atliad-an-Righ ;" whether this is so or not, is of course mat- 

ter of opinion, but it is at least an interesting, if a novel, interpre- 

tation. A much more direct derivation seems to show itself in 

the case of " Clun," a parish in the county of Shropshire, bordering 

on Montgomeryshire ; we can trace in it the word " cluain " (pas- 

ture-land), which exactly describes the character of that locality. 

Passing a little further south, into Hereford slure, we come upon 

another little parish (or rather hamlet)—Dinmore, which is situated 

on the top of a high hill; here again its name gives its description— 

" Dim-mor," little as the Sassenachs who now inhabit 

the place may be aware that it is a description ! It is not a very 

" far cry " from the borders of ^yales into Lancashire, and on the 

line between Liverpool and Manchester is a station called 

" Eccles ;" we have no diificulty here in recognising, in its English 

form, our old friend "Eaglais" or " Eglwys." It may, perhaps, be 

objected that these are not, strictly speaking, instances of " etymological 

links between Gaelic and Welsh ;" but, rather, isolated 

instances of Gaelic words in England. But, at any rate, they are 

genericalhj Celtic ; and as for the most part, they occur either close 

to the Welsh border, or at no great distance from it, one cannot 

help thinking that they are survivals of a period in the remote 

past, when the ancient Welsh, or British tongue resembled our 

Scottish Gaelic miich more closely than it appears to do now ; and 

that when, at the Saxon invasion of Britain, the Celts were driven 

into different corners of the country, some into Wales and 

others into Cornwall, and so cut off from each other, and from 

their Celtic fellow-countrymen in the north, the variety between 

the diflercnt dialects of their langiiage became gradually more 

and more divergent—though even yet, as I have already tried to


show in my quotations from the Welsh and Gaelic Prayer- Books, 

there is a strong etymological connection between them—clearly 

manifesting their common soui-ce. 

.Some few Celtic worils seem also to have survived in a connection 

where we should least of all expect to find them ; and that 

is amongst (what are commonly termed) " slang" words in onlinary 

conversation. Let me give one or two examples. We may imagine 

a school-boy having something explained to him by one of his fellows, 

which he cannot see the meaning of ; and he will likely 

enough answer— " I don't twig that at all"—but, vulgar and unclassical 

as the word "twig" may seem at first sight, it does not 

need much ingenuity to trace the Gaelic word " tuig," or to sub- 

stitute for the above sentence " clia'n eil mi a' tuigsinn," as its 

Gaelic equivalent. Again, another very common expression, which 

is certainly more or less "slang," is to " rmisack" a drawer, or a 

cupboard, for the purpose of finding something that had been lost 

here, again, may we not at once discern, under its English spelling, 

the Gaelic word "rannsach"1 Similarly the word "grab," which 

is commonly regarded as English slang, is in reality a Gaelic verb ; 

in this case there may be a slight difference of meaning—apparently, 

at any rate; the slang word means "to seize," the Gaelic 

word " to obstruct," or hinder:— yet, when a thing is seized or 

grabbed, it is to the hindrance or obstruction of the wishes of the 

person from whom it is taken. I cannot think that these are fanci- 

ful resemblances ; in two cases the similarity of form is very close, 

in the third case it is identical. iJut it is, to say the least, what 

one would hai'dly expect to find in our slang vocabulary, words 

evidently belonging to that grand old Gaelic language which we 

venerate so much. Several other words occur to my mind, as being 

derived either directly, or indirectly, from the Gaelic ; but I think 

my meaning is sufficiently illustrated by the words already quoted, 

as well as by the names of places previously submitted for your 

consideration. 

I cannot pretend to have done more than " skim the sur- 

face," as it were, of this deeply interesting subject ; others, far 

more competent than myself in philological research, will, I hope, 

give us ere long the benefit of their observations on these matters 

and if my own few remarks shall lead to further pa])ers, more 

interesting and more exhaustive, my object in bringing them 

before you will have been attained. I tliink that there is a 

special interest (not to sny /ascinatio7i), in discovering, or trying to 

discover, all the links of connection, in language or ideas, that 

unite us in some measure with the ancient Celtic race in any of 

; ;

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic 345 

or that show the unity and niif^lit of that great stem, 

its branches ; 

from which the branches sprang, in tracing to a common origin 

the ?toi«-clivergent forms of their (doubtless), once identical language. 

For while Saxons, and Danes, and Normans, and Dutch, 

and Germans, are strangers and aliens on British soil (though all 

combine in forming that individual of most complex nationality — 

an Englishman !), the Celts can in the truest sense of all look on 

Great Britain as their fatherland ; and their magnilicent language 

(now stigmatised by Lowlanders and Englishmen as barbarona)^ 

was formerly universal throughout the land. 

Pi'ofessor Mackinnon's paper was as follows: 

ON THE DIALECTS OF SCOTTISH GAELIC. 

Some thirty years ago the question used to be often asked 

Where was the best Gaelic spoken ? whether at Inveraray or at 

Inverness 1 My home was in Argyle, and I need hardly say what 

the answer would be in that quarter. A large majority of the members 

of the Gaelic Society of Inverness render linguistic allegiance 

to the Northern Capital, and will perhaps wonder how such a question 

could ever have been asked. One's judgment is, however, subject 

to moditication even upon such a delicate matter as this by 

increasing knowledge and reflection. It was my good fortune, 

early in life, to become intimately acquainted with a dialect of 

Scottish Gaelic far reinoved from my own ; and three years ago 

I had the rare privilege of hearing, over the length and breadth 

of the Highlands, old men who knew no language but Gaelic 

speak of the ordinary afiairs of their daily life and occupation in 

the dialects of their re.spective districts. After such experience, 

if I were to answer briefly the question which I used to hear in 

the days of my boyhood, I should be disposed to say that there is 

less Gaelic spoken both in Inverness and in Inveraray than I 

should have wished, and that the quality as well as the quantity 

of the dialect spoken in both places might, with advantage, be 

improved. 

The object of the present paper is not, however, to discuss 

the relative merits and demerits of the Northern and Southern 

Dialects. My purpose takes a wider range. I desire to urge 

the immense importance, philological and literary, of a knowledge 

of all the dialects of Gaelic. My aim is to try to prove that the 

subject is deserving of scientific study, and to endeavour to per- 

—

— 


suade such of my countrymen as have opportunity and an interest 

in these matters to make a systematic investigation of it. It is 

not, happily, so necessary now as it was even twenty years ago to 

warn Highbinders against being carried away with the childish 

idea that such an inquiry as this vvill be barren of result because 

the facts are to be gathered about our own doors. Neither in 

Nature nor in Science, only to our imperfect vision, is the Gaelic 

proverb true— " 'S gorm na cnuic tha fada bhuainn." The laws 

of language are the same all the world over : the vocal chords of 

the Celt are affected by the same conditions as those of other men. 

Philological science as well as patriotic sentiment might dictate 

the message which Ossian charged Blackie to deliver to the Highland 

people 

; ; 

And say to my people, Love chiefly the beauty 

That buds by thy cradle and blooms at thy door 

Nor deem it a pleasure, and praise it a duty, 

To prink thee with foreign and far-gathered lore. 

On the bank where it grows the meek primrose is fairest. 

No bloom like the heather empurples the brae 

And the thought that most deep in thy bosom thou l)earost 

In the voice of thy fathers leaps forth to the day. 

Be true to the speech of the mother that bore thee, 

Thy manhood grow strong from the blood of the boy ; 

Be true to the tongue with which brave men before thee 

Took the sting from their grief and gave wings to their joy. 

It is difficult to say where dialect ends, and where language 

begins. We all know in a rough and ready way what is meant 

by the words. Minute shades of difierence in accent, perhaps 

even in diction, are sometimes observed among members of the 

same family. In separate parishes and towns such differences become 

quite marked. When they reach a certain point, which 

cannot, perhaps, in any particular case be very clearly defined, we 

call them a difference of dialect. When dialects diverge to such 

an exteiit as to become mutually unintelligible, we call them 

different languages. But in actual fact, the words are \ised in a 

more or less loose way. For example, the Dane understands 

the Swede and vice versa, yet we treat Danish and Swedish as 

se))aratc languages. The Romance Languages are, in a sense, all 

dialects, being descendants, of Latin. Some of them, such as 

Portuguese and Spanish, are mutually intelligible, and yet we regard 

Spanish and Poi-tuguese as difierent languages. To come 

nearer home. The Goidelic branch of Celtic is to all intents and pur-

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic. 3i: 

posos a diU'ercnt language from tlic Brythonic l)ranch. No amount 

of natural intelligence will enable a Jliglilander to understand a 

Welshman, or an Irishman to read a book in the Armoric dialect. 

But on the other hand, are the three divisions of which the 

Goidelic branch of Celtic is composed—are Gaelic, Irish, and 

Manx three languages, or three dialects of one speech 1 few 

among us could understand two Irishmen or two Manxmen 

discussing, with all the fervour of the Celt, a knotty point in 

politics or theology; and yet if any of us were alone on a desert 

islanil with an Irishman or a Manxman, we would contrive, by 

means of our common Goidelic speech, ti> understand each other. 

And if you take a passage from the Gaelic, Irish, and Manx 

Testaments, you will find it intelligible in them all, and will at once 

say that these three are but three varieties of one language ; 

Gaelic, 

gniomhara n'ax abstol. 

XXVII. 

39. Agus an iiair a hha'n 

l;\air teachd,ch:i d'aithnich 

iail am fi arann : 

ach thug iad an aire do 

h'lil) hraidh aig an robh 

tiai-Ii, anns an robh 

mhiaiui orra, nam b'urrainn 

iad, pn long a 

chur gu tir. 

Irish, 

oxiomhartha xa 

NEASBAL. 

XXVII. XXVII. 

— 

Manx, 

janxoo ny iiostyllvn. 

id. Agus ar ndirghe don 39. As tra va'n laa er 

16, ni raibh fios na tire jeot rish, clia bione daiie 

sin aca : achd tugadar 

caladhairigliedha naire 

ann a raibli tnligh, ami 

ar dontnigheadar an 

lung do shathadh, d^ 

madh didir rlu. 

40. Agus air togail nan 40. Agusardt6gl)hail na 40. As tra v'ad cr droirg^d 

atjraichcau doibh, leig nancaireadh dhoibh, do ny akeryu, lliig ad ee 

iad ris an fliairtje i, leigeadar an lumj i&a I'-sli ycheayn.asfeaysley 

agus an uair a dh'fhuasgail 

iad ceringlaichean 

na stiiiire, agus a thog 

iad am piiomb-sheol ris 

a' gliaoith, sheul iad 

chum na trhighe. 

bhfairrge, agus ar 

sg.'ioileadh cheaiighiigh 

tlieadh na sdiuire 

dhoibli mar an gcdudna, 

do thogbhadar an 

priomhsedl ris an 

ngdoith, agus do thrlalladar 

chum na tnlgha. 

; 

yn cheer : agh chronnee 

ad ooig dy row lesh traie, 

raad v'ad kiarit, my 

oddagli eh ve, yn Ihong 

y roie stiagh. 

' 

coyrdyn y stiurey, hug 

ad seose yn shiaull-nic.in 

fiys y gheay, as roii a


Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Scottish Highlands, are 

separated from each other by a broad belt of sea. Were it otherwise, 

it would be difficult, if not impossible, to follow the boundary 

between Irish, INIanx, and Gaelic. Over large tracts of coun- 

try where ditierent languages prevail, we find the border dialects 

partaking largely of the character of the adjacent tongues. French, 

Sjânish, and Italian, though closely related, are different languages, 

each with its own dialects distinctly marked. Along the 

border line between France and Italy the patois of the people is 

neither a French nor an Italian dialect, but a mixture of both 

a dialect which again is haidly 

France or in the south of Italy. 

intelligible cither in the west of 

A similar state of matters exists 

on the frontier between France and Spain. And even among 

ourselves, though the sea separates us from Ireland, an Islayman 

would probably find a native of the glens of Antrim more intelligible 

than a native of Assynt or Tongue. 

Within the narrow precincts of the Isle of Man, Dr Kelly, 

the grammarian and lexicographer, observes that on the north side 

the language was considered most pure, and Dr Sachavercll, once 

governor of the little " kingdom," wrote that in the northern part 

of the island they spoke a deeper Manx, as they called it, than in 

the south. In the Irish language the existence of dialects has 

been acknowledged from the very earliest times. Fenius Farsaidh 

who, according to the legend, was king of Scythia and schoolmaster 

of Senaar, ordered, we are told, his Lieutenant and 

Inspector-General, Gaedhal,to divide the language into five dialects. 

Without going quite s:) far back as this, we find Irish scholars for 

the last two or three hundred years recognising four dialects, one 

for each province, which they have characterised thus : 

Ta bias gan cheart ag an Muimhneach ; 

Ta ceart gan bhlas ag an Ulltach ; 

Ni fhuil ceart na bias ag an Laighneach 

Ta ceart agus bias ag an g-Connachtach. 

That is to say—In Munster there is correct accent, but not correct 

idiom ; in Ulster there is the idiom without the accent ; in Leinster 

there is neither the one nor the other ; while in Connaught 

there is both. These main dialects again split up into sub- 

dialects, so that, as in English and Lowland Scotch, each district 

in Ireland has its .special linguistic peculiarities. 

The same state of matters exists among ourselves. In the 

Highlands not only has each county its distinctive characteristics 

in sound, diction, and idiom, but every parish has its shibboleth. 

; 

— 

—

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic 349 

[n my own Isluiul home the people pronounce sin and uis as if 

the proper spelling were sean and neis : seem thu ueis being tlie 

local phrase for " there you are now." Their neighbours in Mull 

and Islay twit the natives of Colonsay for their vulgarism 

in this particular, but it so happens that sin is spelled in the 

" Book of Deer " sain and sen — a very gratifying discovery 

to nie, who can in consequence make a jilausible claim to being a 

countryman of the author of the Gaelic entries on the margin of 

that Aenerable dociiment. In the Scottish Highlands, the geographical 

configuration of the country and the tribal organisation 

that prevailed would help to accentuate the difl'erentiating tendency 

inlierent in all languages. The country was but thiidy 

peopled. It was Avithout roads, and frequent communication 

between different districts, especially on the mainland, was impos- 

sible. Between difierent tribes friendly intercourse was possible 

only when they were at peace, which, in the case of neighbouring 

clans, did not always happen. Perhaps amid the storms of the 

far past, more than one sub-dialect may have sunk in northern 

waters ; but the wonder is how our Gaelic language in the Highlands 

has escaped the fate of so many languages in similar circumstances 

elsewhere— of being broken up into several widely -divergent 

dialects, and finally disappearing altogether. Paradoxical as it 

may appear, jierhaps the very system of clanship which in ordinary 

circumstances weuld tend to disintegration, helped, as it 

existed in the Highlands, to preserve the unity of the language. 

We had few readers and fewer books ; but there was a considerable 

mass of traditional literature \i\ prose and verse which was 

the common property of the Goidelic race, and which, there is 

reason to believe, was extensively known among the people. The 

clan, whether large or small, formed a society in itself. It contained 

all the elements, civil and social, which make up a community. 

It had its chief or ruler, its upper and lower classes 

with their distinctive rights and privileges, but bound together 

by ties of blood and common interest. It had its bard and 

historian, men who received more or less of a literary training, 

and whose duty it was to know the traditional literature of 

the race, as well as to preserve the history and sing the praises 

of the clan. There wouhl undoubtedly be rivalry between the 

bards, as well as between the chiefs, of neighbouring clans. The 

unity of the language was preserved l)y this literary caste or 

guild. The constant intercourse between the various members of 

the clan, rendered necessary by their small numbers and common 

interests, was a literary education of no small value. In the pre-


face to his editiou of KoIj Donn's poems, the hite Rev. Dr Mackintosh 

Mackay quotes a most interesting letter from Mrs Mackay 

Scobie of Kcoldale, which shows that the admirable custom of 

maintaining friendly intercourse between various classes of society 

survived the fall of the clan system in the far north. The lady 

writes — "I perfectly remember my maternal grandfather, who 

held the wadset lands of Skerray, every post-day evening go into 

the kitchen, where his servants and small tenants were assembled, 

and read the newspapers aloud to them ; and it is incredible now 

the propriety and acuteness with which they made remarks and 

drew conclusions fi-om the politics of the day." Mrs Scobie in 

this way accounts for the remarkable knowledge of public events 

which the Reay country bard undoubtedly possessed and, indeed, 

; 

it is hardly credible to us now that two men so well informed as 

Rob Donn and Duncan Ban Macintyre were unable to read a 

word in any language. 

The Gaelic dialect; are usually divided into three. The late 

Rev. John Forbes, minister of Sleat, in the preface to his grammar, 

recognises, for example, a Northern, an Interior, and a 

Southern dialect. This division is accepted and reproduced by 

Dr Murray in an interesting paper on the " Present Limits of the 

Celtic Language in Scotland," contributed to the Revue Cellique 

some twelve years ago. {Revue Celiique, volume II., page 17S.) 

I am satisfied that the threefold division cannot, without considerable 

confusion, be maintained. Mr Forljes himself admits 

that one of the characteristic marks of his Northern dialect is 

found in the Southern division—the substitution of o for a. Ccdl, 

he says, is pronounced coll in the north, but so is gabh pronounced 

go in Perth. A still more remarkable case, of which Forbes does 

not seem to have been aware, is that the letter c in mac, (fcc, is 

pronounced exactly in the same way in Sutherland as in Kintyre 

and Arran (mak), while the liquid sound of ji in duine which pre- 

vails in the far north, is also heard in the Southern Isles. I 

do not myself attach much importance to the number of dialects 

into which our Scottish Gaelic could l)e divided. It would perhaps 

be as easy to distinguish thirteen dialects as three. Arran and 

Kintyre, for example, break away from the rest of the southern 

division drawn by Forbes in the case of two prominent sounds. 

One of these I have mentioned, the pronunciation of c after a 

broad vowel, which in Kintyre and Arran is sounded like k, in the 

rest of Argylc likec//A;: mac is mak and machk, sac is sakuwAsachk. 

In the same district the tenuis c in initial c// sinks to the medial 

: g mo 

chas is mo ghas in Kintyre. The sound of ao, to which, as

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic. ••^r)l 

pronounced in Argyll and Perth, tliure is no oorrcspondini,' sound 

in English, is in Arrau that of a in "Mayor" iiuior uniX saor 

are maer and saer. These words wore written maer, saei; in 

Middle Irish, the spelling of the Zeussian MSS., and of the older 

Irish inscriptions being ai, oi, oe. As we proceed North this 

sound becomes attenuated to aoi. INIacrae in 1688 wrote sdoyhal, 

sivill, a form which fairly represents the pronunciation of Lewis 

to-day. In some parts of Ireland and iii the Isle of Man tlie 

sound is not unlike that heard in the North Higldands. O'JJonovan 

(Gram. p. IG) re])resents it by uee as in queen for Connaught, 

and by ueM for Ulster and Meath. 

To the philologist a knowledge of the dialects is essential, 

and this is now universally admitted. The method of the science 

is the comparative method ; and while for the so-called dead languages 

we are content to take the warrant of grammars and dic- 

tionaries for lost words and vanished forms, the final a})peal for 

the meaning of a word, and especially for its sound, must be, in 

the case of a living tongue, to the lips of the people. Dialects 

are accordingly studied of recent years with a genuine scientitic 

purpose. On the Continent not a language but has had its most 

ol)Scure sub-dialects investigated by competent men. At home 

good work has also been done. The North-eastern Scottish dialects 

have been examined by Mr Gregor {The Dialects oi Banffshire, 


differences in pronunciation, diction, and idiom which prevail 

within the resjêctive bounds of these two divisions are very 

marked, thougli in particular localities they shade into each other. 

The boundary between the two is a waving line, but, i-oughly 

speaking, it may be described as ))assing up the Firth of Lorn to 

LodIi Leven, then across country from Ballachulish to the Grampians, 

thereafter the line of the Grampians l^he country covered 

by the Northern dialect was of old the country of the Northern 

Picts. The portion of Argyleshire south of the Ijoundary line, 

with Bute and Arran, formed the Kingdom of Dalriada. The 

Gaelic district south of the Grampians belonged to the Southern 

Picts. This two-fold division has very prol)ably an historical basis, 

as well as a very distinct geographical boundary. It owes its 

origin to the settlement of the Dalriadic Colony in South Argyll ; 

and its continuance to the gi-eater influence of Irish literature 

within the Southern district. 

By the aid of a few examples, for in a single paper one can 

only glance over such a wide field, I shall endeavour to show how 

a study of the sounds, forms, words, and idioms preserved in our 

dialects can be turned to profitable use in throwing some light on 

the past history of our people; in supplying additional and reliable 

material to the science of Celtic Philology ; and in providing valu- 

able assistance to the student who desires to master Scottish Gaelic. 

I. Sounds—Turn for a moment to our sounds. Irish scholars 

are placed under a great disadvantage in studying the sounds of 

their language in the far past, because their magnificent literature 

has been written now for well nigh a thousand years upon a pretty 

uniform orthographical system, which, unfortunately, is very far 

from being phonetic. The great mass of Gaelic Manuscrij)ts, and 

almost all our printed literature, are written more or less uniformly 

in the Irish orthography. But hajijjily there have been preserved 

two MSS. of considerable size, written phonetically. One of these 

was written in the Northern dialect by Duncan Macrae in 1G8S- 

1G93* ; the other and nmch larger and better known is the Dean 

of Lismore's MS., which was written in the Southern dialect in 

1512-153C. We have thus a reliable record of Gaelic pronunciation 

for 370 years. By the aid of some deviations from orthodox 

Irish oithograpliy observed in the Book of Deer, and some words 

and names borrowed into the Icelandic literature, we get a glimpse 

at the pronunciation of our ancestors 700 years ago. 

Tiic most marked distinction in sound between the Northern 

* .See "The Fcrnaig Manusciiijt " in the Traiisautioiis of tlic (Jaeliu 

Society of luveruess, vohune xi.

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic. 353 

and Soiitlu-ni dialects is a groator tendency in tlie former to what 

Professor Rhys calls dipthongization, and which is attributed to a 

more ilelicate sensitiveness to musical sounds. The test sound 

l)i>tween the two dialects is the prevalence in the North of an ia 

sound, where the South is content with the original long e. In some 

words tile diphthong {


sertatious in the Corpus Poeticum Boreale, seems almost to prove 

the colonization of Iceland by Noi-.semen from the North-west 

Highlands, by an examination of the subject matter of the old 

Icelandic literature. 

As further examples of the greater tendency to dii)hthongisation 

among the Northern Highlanders may be noticed the 

dissyllabic sound in trom (troum), mall {maull),fion {fian). Even 

so the Irishman says foine, and the Englishman nou (for no), 

paiper (for paper), giving the long vowel a diphthongal sound. 

Through the same principle, o long has become in Irish and 

Gaelic ^la ; hora, uair ; glossa, gluas ; slogh, which we still use 

occasionally, has become sluagh ; os, the preposition, appears as 

toa in siias, nuas, uasal ; the tirst syllable in Boadicea is biuiidh ; 

the Glota of Ptolemy is now Glitaidh. A feature common to all 

languages is loss of sound. The nations strive after ease of utterance. 

The ultimate law in phonology is the law of least effort 

the very prevalent law of laziness. In the Celtic tongues we 

have reduced the original pilar to athair, that is to say, of three 

consonants we have killed and buried one, and maimed, all but 

strangled, a second. A Celtic throat has within historic times 

transformed patrem to pere on the soil of France. We first 

aspirate our consonants ; we then vocalize them. As between the 

two dialects of Scottish Gaelic vocalization proceeds if anything at 

a more rapid pace in the North Highlands than in the South. 

Take for exam])le m in medial sound. It first becomes 7iih ; and 

if the flanking vowels are short the aspirated consonant soon becomes 

vocalised, as e. g. in domhan, ciimhann, where mli serves now 

merely to divide the syllables. But where the preceding vowel is 

long (and in some cases even where it is short), the rah is sounded in 

the South. In the North Highlands mh becomes u. The greater 

part of Ireland and the Isle of Man join the North Highlands in 

this instance. Samhradh (summer) is, for example, pronounced 

savradh in South Argyll and Arran. Over the whole of the rest 

of the Highlands and in Ireland the pronunciation is sa-v-radh ; 

and in the Manx dictionary the word ap[)ears as sourey. 

Sometimes, it must be confessed, we are bewildered rather 

than edified by the apparent caprice and lawle.ssness which pre- 

vail. The Latin word peccdtiim appears in Gaelic orthograjjliy as 

peacadh. As always happens in the case of borrowed words, the 

fiexional syllable is dropped. The tenuis t, flanked by vowels, 

sinks into the medial, and is aspirated, dh ; the double consonant 

cc secures that c appears in Gaelic unas[)irated ; the aocent is 

shifted forward so that the long accented syllable at appears as 

;

— 


the short, toneless, aspirated adit. TTow is tlie woi-d pronounced ? 

Written plionetically it would appear in Arran and Kintyre as 

pekuv, in Knapdale as pechduv, in Sutherland as jêku, and in the 

North of Ireland as ju'chdii. Tn the Isle of Man the final syllable 

is hardly audible— the word is spelled peccdh; in Perth it entirely 

disappears pechd. On the other hand, in North Ai'gyll and 

Inverness the word is pronounced pretty full as spelled pechdMh ; 

wiiile in Kintail the aspirated dii hardens into a — g pecliduy. Here 

we have the sound of dh final going through almost all possible 

gradations, from the unaspirated, soft guttural in Kintail to the 

extremest limit of attenuated vocalization in the Isle of Man, and 

disappearing altogether in Perth. 

II. FoKMS.—I proceed to notice some grammatical forms 

which our Gaelic dialects have preserved. Like its Indo-European 

sisters, the Celtic language was once highly inllected ; and, 

like all inflected languages, its sounds and forms are slowly 

" weathering away,'' to borrow a favourite metaphor of the late 

great philologist, Georg Curtius of Leipzig. Sometimes a grammatical 

form is preserved in the literature long after it has disappeared 

from the spoken tongue ; sometimes it lies imbedded in 

stereotyped phrases or in obscure dialects, never having been 

admitted into the standard literature, or long ago discarded from 

it \ sometimes as if possessed of the powder of transmigration, a 

doctrine, by the way, which Pythagoras is said to have borrowed 

from the Celts, the form remains to animate a neighbouring word 

long after it took its departure from that of which it once formed 

the soul. Our language furnishes copious instances of all these 

(1) Take that most venerable form—the dative plural in ihh 

—a living representative of an old Indo-European form, and having 

its co-relatives in the Latin ihus and the Greek pM(n). In 

the Gaelic Manuscripts written or transcribed under the influence 

of the Irish school, this form is almost invariably used, in the case 

of substantives and adjectives used substantively. Through the 

same influence it found a firm footing in our translation of the 

Scriptures. It is given as the regular, almost the only, form in 

all our Gaelic grammars. What has been its position, meanwhile, 

in the speech of the people 1 In the Southern district the 

form is now confined (1) to set phrases, where it is heard not 

merely in the dative, but in the nominative and vocative 

— -fhearaibh, mar fhiachaibh, an caraibh a cheile, &c., &c.; 

jilural 

(2) in 

rhetorical and jjoetical phraseology Anns na h-drduibh ; 

" 'S ioma car a dli fJuiodas tiffltn air na/ecn'aibh." 

— 

—


An Argyllshire man, unless when " orating," makes the dat. pi. 

like the nom. pi. I never heard cnsaibh, or cluasaihJi, or siiilibh, 

or srunaibil, in the common speech of the people. I heard casan, 

and chiaân, and snilean, and sronan. But in the South, where 

the form has been preserved, it is pronounced. In the North 

the sound of ihh has disai)])eared even more absolutely than in the 

South, it has become \oca\\7.od—fhearaibh, mar fhiachaibh is 

fJiearn, mar fhiachn. But, as it were in compensation, the vocalized 

sound is preserved in the North in cases where the fiilk r form 

has entirely vanished in the South, e.cj., daoinin, for the Southern 

daoine, a living witness, maimed though it be, of this primeval 

form. 

Such is the state of matters to-day. Nor has it been different 

for centixries back. This form has entirely disappeared fi'om the 

Manx dialect— the dat. pi. of nouns is like the nom. pi. in the 

Manx grammar. In 1815 Mr Lynch, author of an Irish Grammar, 

wrote that an Irishman wlio would .say do na caiplibh instead of 

do na capaill would be laughed at. But in the case of some 

monosyllables the same competent authority states that the ihh 

form was used in the nom. and in the dat. pi.— the people said 

na fearaibh and do na fearcdbh. Nay more, O'Donovan (Gram. 

p. 84) finds that "even in the best Manuscripts the dat. pi. is frequently 

formed by adding a or u to the nom. sing, la naemlin erenn 

(with the saints of Ireland); /vis na righu (to the kings)," the 

very idiom of Sutherland to-day. 

Tiie Ossianic portion of the Dean of Lismore's MS., and the 

political ballads of Macrae's MS.— that is, the poi)ular literature 

of the people, bear precisely the same testimony. In both ]\ISS. 

the prepositional pronoun j-reserves the bh— dhoibh and duihh are 

spelled zi'.ive and duive. In the Dean's INIS. the form ibh is represented, 

in noinis, by ow or ew, and is given occasionally for the 

nominative, as well as for the dative, plural ; er feanow (air Fiann- 

aibhj, eg mathew (aig maithibh) : feanow (Fiannaibh) api)ears 

also in the nominative case. In Macrae's MS. n stands for the 

Dean's ow and ew ; do chedn (do chendaibh); lea lamithu (/e lannaibh) 

; err vahru {air bharraihh). Macrae gives in cons(^cutive 

lines the full form ibh and the vocalized form u : 

" Le mhiltii/t de shloghraidh 

'S a shruilte ri crannw." 

Elsewhere milfibh appears in the nominative, and eachaibh in the 

gejiitive! In a Lochaber song, written not later than tiie first 

lialf of last century, and jirintcd in the Proceedings of the Society 

—

— 


of Antiquaries (iii. p. 367), tlicro are four instances of dative 

plural. They are written thus: er mo hnlin {air mo sinlilean) ; 

I'm cliluhfâyi (/


the nominative. Braighe appeai-s in the Dean of Lismore's MS. 

in the aspirated form vrai, and in the form hrae it has entered 

English. Tlio word is now indeclinable, but traces of the old flexion 

still survive. Iain Lorn, and the popular poets almost down to our 

own day, use brttyluul occasionally for "throat," "neck," "breast." 

"Thig an sop a m' bhraghad." 

Losgadh-hrclghad, "heartburn"— literally, "the burning of the 

tliroat;" and ramh-fjrd,ghad, "the bow oar," preserve the old caseending 

of the genitive. Brnighid is the hames of a horse's harness 

(in some districts the collar), and in a transferred sense a captive, 

i.e., he who wears the Waighid, with Waigluleanas (captivity). 

The d of this word is preserved in Braid-Alba ; and if I mistake 

not, in the Braid IHLs, near Edinburgh, i.e., "The Uplands." 

Teine (fire) a

— 


tion ill Irelantl us Ma'daijui—the flcxional stage of classical Latin 

and Greek. The genitive of the Latin noun modus is iiioifi Now 

in Gaelic )nodi would be i)ronounced moji. Wiuni the tenniiial 

syllable i was droitpinl the sound would be inoj : this^could b(^ represented 

to the eye only as moid. So bardi would be iarji ; and, 

when in process of flexional decay, the word was abbreviated int(» 

barj, the monosyllable could only be represented to the eye as 

baird. 

Sometimes the cast otl' syllable drifted on to the adjacent word, 

and its ghost still meets you at the landing-place. It is the neighbour 

that feels the touch of the \anislied form ; the echo of the sound 

that is still is heard— next door. In the Celtic languages when two 

words are placed in certain grannnatical ivlations, they become, so 

to speak, temporarily welded into one. They are placed under 

the bond of a common accent, and are treated phonetically as one 

word. The phonetic laws which obtain within a single word rule 

within this group or grammatical unit, as it has been called. For 

example, it is a law in Celtic phonology that a single consonant 

flanked by vowels aspirates. In the word tndthair, 

vowel on either side, has become th—mater, mathair. 

t having a 

If we take 

the possessive pronoun 7no (my) and place it and mdthair in 

grammatical relation, the two words become a unit, and i)lionetically 

one word. In the new combination, mo + mdthair, 

the 7/1 of mathair appears as a consonant flanked 

and is aspii'ated mo mhathair—the m becoming 

by 

77ih 

vowels, 

in this 

temporary combination, precisely as t became th in the individual 

word, and for the same reason. 

in English " mother," but " my vother." 

It is as if you said 

We thus explain the 

peculiar feature in Celtic grammar known as initial aspiration. 

In modern Gaelic initial aspii'ation has become in great part, 

through the force of analogy, a matter of grannnatical rule rather 

than one of phiuietic law ; but still, when wc find a preposition 

like gun, or an adjective like ceiid causing the aspiration of the 

following word (e.c/. gun mhaith, ceud ghin), we feel justified in 

saying that these and similar words once ended in a vowel, and 

that the law of vocalic auslaut is still in force, although the vowel 

disappeared many centuries ago. 

A more remarkable instance of the initial nuitation of consonants, 

and one more germane to our subject, is due to the disturbing 

influence of the nasal n. Within the word, in inlaut, n 

in Gaelic assimilates d— benedictio, benedacht, bendacht, hennachd 

before s, n disappears 

— 

mensis, mios, viensa, mias ; before c and t 

it disappears, converting the c and t in the process into the corre- 

;


spending mediai— quinûe is cuiy, and lin^ûo is lei^ ; argenium 

becomes airgioc/, and parliament parlamai

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic. 3G1 

now universally acknowledged. But the study of tlie Gaelic 

dialects is important on literary grounds as well. In the case of 

of a literature like the English literature, whose stores are inexhaustible, 

the most exacting aspirant to literary distinction ought 

to be satisfied with the wealth of diction and idiom wliich a long 

roll of illustrious men have i)laccd at his disposal. The young 

Highlander who is ambitious to distinguish him.self as a Gaelic 

speaker or writer is in a difierent position. Gaelic literature, 

excellent in its way, is limited in quantity and narrow in range. 

The translation of the Scriptures, by far the noblest monument of 

the resources of the language, is a great woi k, the work of great men. 

Of it and of them we Highland people have just cause to be proud. 

But this great undertaking was executed under considerable disadvantages. 

The amount of standard Gaelic literature published in 

the last century was very limited. We have no Shakespeare, and 

if our Homer existed at the time in Gaelic, it was known to the 

world in the other languages of Europe only.* The translators of 

the Scriptures into Gaelic belonged to the same district of country 

— Killin, Glenoi'chy, and Athole. A thorough knowledge of the 

dialects was unattainable, and, according to the ideas of the time, 

the idioms of the people were considered vulgar. Writing under 

such conditions, these excellent scholars failed to use many forms, 

words, and idioms characteristic of Scottish Gaelic, while they 

adopted others from the Irish translation which, whether native to 

the Irish idiom or not, were foreign to ours. 

An example or two will illustrate what I mean. The passage 

from the New Testament which I quoted above consists of only three 

verses, but it contains two words, one of which can hardly be said 

to be a Gaelic word, the other a very good one, but wrongly used. 

The sailors of the vessel in which St Paul was wrecked are said to 

have hoisted the priomh-shedlto the wind. The Greek word dpr^fiuv 

thus peculiarly rendered into Gaelic, is rarely met with and the 

precise meaning is perhaps doubtful. In the authorised English 

version the word is translated mainsail. The late Mr Smith 

of Jordanhill, author of " The Voyage and Shipwreck of St 

Paul," rendered the word by foresail, and the English revisers 

have adopted this translation. We could say in Gaelic seol-meadhoin 

with the authorised English version, or seol-toisich with the 

revised version, both words being perfectly familiar to every High- 

» The translation of the Bible into Gaelic was completed in 1801. By 

that date Ossian was published, in whole or in part, in Latin, English, 

French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Greek. 

It was printed in Gaelic in 1807.


land fisheiMiian. But priomh-shedl, the word used, is known to 

nobody. It is a compound made up of priomh, the Latin primus, 

meaning first, whether in time, place, or rank ; and seu/, like the 

corresponding English word sail, both noun and verb. I am not 

awai'e that the uncouth hybrid has ever been used in Gaelic 

except in this passage, nor do I think that it was worth the while 

of Irish scholars to manufacture the word or of our translators to 

borrow it, though it had been more needed and better suited for 

its purpose than it is. The jNIanx translation is seol-meadhoin. 

Again, we are told that after the fore part of the ship stuck 

fast, the stern was being broken up by the vio/eiice of the waves. 

The Greek word îa rendered violence in English, is translated 

ainneart in Gaelic. This is again a compound word made up of 

the j)refix (in, and |he substantive nenrt. Now neart is one of 

our oldest and best words. The root appears in Greek in a.vT)p, a 

man, and in Latin in the proper name Nero. An is an Indo- 

European prefix. It appears in Greek as an and a ; in Latin as 

in, and in English as un—th'e general meaning being privative or 

negative. In Gaelic the pretix is used chiefly in a privative sense 

— moch, " early ;" tiiwioch, " unearly ;" i.e., " " 

late; " abaich," ripe ; 

anabaich, "unripe." Occasionally it intensifies the meaning of 

the root syllable : teas is heat, but ainteas is excessive heat. Very 

frequently it turns the meaning in malem partem like English mis, 

and Gaelic mi : cainnt, e.g., is speech, but anacainnt is not silence, 

it is speech put to a bad use, railing. Such is the force of the 

prefix in ainneart. In Scottish Gaelic ainneart is not neart 

negatived, nor neart intensified, it is neart misdirected or misapplied 

; it is not violence but oppression. Accordingly, the word 

can only be applied to the doings of an intelligent agent, and is 

as much out of place in describing the action of the waves of the 

sea as it would be in characterising the attack of a wild animal. 

Here, again, the Manx translation has simply neart. 

No one who has read the Gaelic Bible from its literary side, 

but must have felt that the picturesque jjhraseology of the people 

might have been often used to improve the translation as well as 

to enliven the style. In that solemn passage, e.g., where our 

Saviour rebuked the winds and the sea, we ax'e told thei-e was a 

great calm—yaXrjvrj /xeydX-n is the beautiful phrase used. Now, in 

the mouth of a West Highlander 

— 

-yaK-qu-q, {,e., the stillness of the 

sea is expressed not by the general term ciuine, the word used in 

Matthew, but by the specific term feath (Jiath), the word given in 

the corresponding passage in Mark and Luke. And when the 

•wind is hushed, and the waves have gone to sleep ; when sky and

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic 3G:^ 

hill are reproduced in the crystal depths in all their infinite 

diversity of form and colour ; when not even the shadow of a 

breath dims the face of the faultless mirror ; the Highland fisherman 

resorts to the language of figure in order to picture the scene. 

He does not nixy fcdth inor as you find in Mark, l)ut Jenth geal— 

the very metaphor which Homer puts into the mouth of Ulysses 

in order to account for the perfect stillness that reigned within 

the harbour of Lamos (Od., x. 94)— 

" For there was a white calm around." 

Again, in the Epistle of Jude, Enoch is described as the seventh 

from Adam i.e. tiie se^•enth in descent ; but the English, like the 

Gi-eek, is quite intelligible in the elliptical form. Not so the 

Gaelic. Our translators supply the lacuna thus, " An seachdamh 

pearsa o Adhamh "—a phrase which means whatever you may 

mean by it. But when Lachlan ^lacvurrich gave his pedigree to 

the Committee inquiring regarding the authenticity of Ossian's 

poems he used different phraseology. He described himself as 

" an t-ochdamh glun deug o Mliuireach a bha leanamhain teaghlach 

Mhic 'Ic Ailein," this metaphor being our idiom to express 

descent in line. It was only by a slavish adherence to the Ii'ish 

translation that Highland gentlemen, whose forefathers lived in 

tribes, and who could trace their own pedigrees back almost to 

Enoch and Adam, could ever have fallen into snch a blunder as 

this. 

If we turn from words to phrases we find the same state of 

matters in considerable profusion— native idioms rejected in favour 

of foreign idioms. One of the most elementary rules of Gaelic syntax 

is, that when one noun governs another in the genitive case, the 

article can attach itself only to the latter an long mhor, but long 

vihor nan tri chrann. Yetwe haveto thisday "a'cuimhjieachat/h nan 

cuig aran nan ciiig mile. . . . nonanseachd arannanseachdmile," 

offending the taste of the Gaelic reader. In the classical tongues, 

nouns in apposition agree in case. It is not so in Gaelic—the 

specifying noun is put in the nominative case, fearann Sheumais 

do rnhac, not do mhic. But in Sciipture the invariable idiom is 

Litir an Absloil Phdil (instead of Pul) a chum nan Romanach, 

«fec. Let me take one final illustration from the construction of 

agus—a word which is far more fiexil^lc in Gaelic than and is in 

English. Like the Latin ac and atque, agus expres.ses "equality" 

and " comparison" 

— 

cho fhada '& cho fhada (so long and so long) is 

equally long \ /had' 's is bed mi (as long and I live) is " as long as 

—

— 


I live. The particle even expresses "separation"—//at«ir mi reidh 

's e is " I have got quit of (and) him." Its most frequent construction 

is, of course, as an ordinary copulative conjunction. But 

when two conceptions ai*e linked together very closely in time, or 

place, or even as cause and eftect, and expressed in the other languages 

by the present participle, or the participle with the absolute 

case, or a dependent sentence, the ideas are connected in Gaelic 

idiom by agns. In the Scriptures the absolute case is the favourite 

construction nir teachd a nuas d'n bheinn dha, lean cuideachd 

mhor e; air dol do'n luing dha, cJiaidh t thar an uisge. Here unquestionably 

the Gaelic idiom would prefer ayus. You do not 

say air dhomh eirigh chuir mi orm m' aodacli, nor air dha freagairt, 

thtibhairt e ; but dh'eirich mi 's chuir mi orm m' aodach : thubhairt 

e 's e freagairt. The same idiom is found in Scotch, and, 

not unlikely, borrowed from Gaelic— 

" Let me alane and me nae 

weel " is an exact translation of leig learn 's gun mi gu maith. 

is paralleled by Bui-ns : 

— 

'* Tha mi sgith 's mi learn fhin" 

" How can ye chant, ye little birds, 

An' 1 sae weary, fu' of care T 

The pious and judicious Dr Alexander Stewart when commenting 

on the exclusion of some forms and idioms from the Scriptures 

accounted for the omission by the " scrupulous chasteness of the 

style." The style that embraces forms and idioms whi(?li the 

jieople do not use and rejects those which they do use, is a phase of 

chastity, the issue of which is annihilation, and not a pui'e and 

healthy life. 

Let me not, however, be misunderstood. I consider that the 

late Dr Ross of Lochbroom and the northern clergy had reason to 

be dissatisfied with the scanty recognition which their dialect 

received in the Gaelic Scriptures. Personally I have always had 

great sympathy with an excellent lay preacher who lived in Assynt 

some forty years ago, and who, when reading to the people, used 

the English Bible and translated into the local idiom as he Avent 

along. Our translators went to Ireland rather than to Ross-shire 

for their diction and idiom, and in my judgment these distinguished 

men made a great mistake. But he would be a bold man 

who would advocate a change now in our Gaelic translation in all 

cases wliere improvement is possible. Feelings and associations 

cluster around the sacred volume, which even cold science must 

acknowledge and respect. But my argument is this— if this book

On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic. 3G.5 

which in its human aspect, of whicli iilonc I would presume to 

speak, contains the reconl of as grand a literature as the world has 

ever seen, which has been translated by our best scholars and 

ablest men, which is and always will remain our standard work in 

Gaelic—if this book could in numberless instances, as I have tried 

by an example or two to show, be improved in its diction and 

idiom by borrowing from the speech of the people, it follows that 

the study of the language as it has been preserved in the various 

dialects is an absolute necessity to the student wlio desires to 

master Scottish Gaelic. 

Besides, be the ultimate law of the universe what it may, 

Becoming, not Being, is the ultimate law of language. Sounds 

are dropped, forms are, disused, words are discai-ded in all languages 

—the loss being made up by new combinations of home growth, 

and by foreign loans. In languages with a flourishing literature 

the vanishing forms are stereotyped, and every new acquisition 

registered. In the case of Gaelic wo have the loss, but not the 

compensation. The language has never been fully utilised in the 

published literature, and we have neither newspapers nor periodicals 

through which one district can communicate to another its characteristic 

words as well as its special views and needs. The common 

word can, to say or sin^f, forms no part of the diction of South 

Argyle. Gabh oran is the phrase used when you invite a friend to 

sing a song. I once heard a countryman of my own, painfully helpless 

in English, ask a Saxon brother very pressingly to take a 

song. The admirable northern word ciis (overmuch) is not even 

in Armstrong's Dictionary, nor another to fill its place. If you 

take up Rob Donn's Poems, or Mackenzie's " Beauties," or, better 

still, Campbell's Tales, though these works by no means exhaust 

the resources of the dialects, you will be amazed to find the number 

of beautiful and expressive words in common local use which 

are not only strange to you, but which are not to be found in any- 

Gaelic Dictionary. You will also unfortunately find the local 

author frequently borrowing uncouth expressions from English, 

in ignorance of the fact that admirable words to suit his pui-pose 

are in free circulation across the nearest ferry or over the neighbouring 

moor. Rob Donn, e g., gives bctghan and hunndaist and 

prac to the south, if the south would only accept them ; but surely 

he ought to accept in return searmonachadh and foirfeach and 

mile, and leave such strainnsearan as preisgeadh and eilldeir, not 

to sjjeak of susdan, in their native land. 

Finally, in addition to the want of a rich standard literatux'e, 

and of free literary intei'-communication in the Highlands, it is the


fact that the old economy, and by consequence the old language 

which it cherished, are, for good or for evil, passing away. Probably 

for good and evil ; but let us hope that here also the evil 

will be overcome by the good. It would be interesting to trace 

the effect of the Reformation upon our Gaelic diction. The Catholics 

have preserved, among other words, aifrionn, a loan from the 

Latin, to designate the mass. I played my first games at shinty 

in Glak-nan-aifriomt^ in a purely Gaelic speaking parish where 

probably not a single individual knows the meaning of the woi'd. 

Cain in early times meant law. The old Irish laws were called 

Chin Pcitmic, and we have still the saying, J.' chain a hha nig 

Pdrnig air Eirinn, which is explained to mean the body of laws 

which the Saint gave to his adopted country. The word afterwards 

came to mean a charge upon land. It was often applied to a 

portion of the rent paid in kind ; and kain hens is a well-known 

term in Lowland Scotch. Cain means now in some districts 

a iax, in others a fine. In my native parish the word is restricted 

to the blacksmith's dues, which are paid in kind. So 

in South Argyle ioinneamh is the miller's share of the meal 

for grinding it ; and hunndaist — literally pouiuIa.ge — is applied 

by Rob Donn to designate the weaver's portion. The 

growing of flax and the manufacture of linen have dissappeared in 

Colonsay within my own recollection. The simidean is on the way 

to the museum, but the seiceil can again be turned to practical 

use in giving the final dressing to tlie tangled heads of candidates 

for Parliament. The spinning of wool is decreasing, and the 

weaving and dressing of woollen cloth is being rapidly transferred 

to the mills. Here is an interesting section of our lyric poetry 

the waulking songs—being hushed for ever, and the whole vocabulary 

of a native industry in process of translation to the region 

of metaphor— the calanas of the good-wife, with her cuiyeal and 

fearsaid, her clreadh and tlamadh and cladadh, her eacliau and 

crois, crann-deilhli : and the weaver with his heairt and slinn and 

coiinhead and spell and iteachun and fudhagan and goyan-treiscin 

and diuth and inneach and eige, and a hundred more of useful articles 

and good Gaelic words. That most fascinating phase of Highland 

rural life—the airidh—which lias produced so many beautiful lyrics, 

and especially those of the joyous and merry class, of which Gaelic 

possesses too few, is to most of us only a memory, if even so much. 

About the end of last century the airidh formed an essential part 

of the rural economy of the tenantry in the heart of Inverness- 

shire. Mrs Grant of Laggan describes it, and was equally captivated 

by the poetry and the profits of the shieliiv^s. This phase 

—

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12th Lord Louat. 3G7 

of life has hardly passed away as yet in the outer isles, and the 

literary, one might say the ceremonial, beauty of it, as well as its 

social charms, are happily described and illusti-ated by Mr Carmichael 

in an interesting paper entitled "Grazing and Agrestic 

Customs in the Outer Hebrides" which he furnished to the 

Crofters' Commissioners, and which is printed in the A])pendixto 

their Report 

The argument might be pursued and pressed on other grounds, 

on patriotic as well as on linguistic grounds, but for the [)r(;sent I 

have, perhaps, said enough. A thorough and systematic investigation 

of our Gaelic dialects is of the highest importance. Many 

members of the Gaelic Society of Inverness are, from early train- 

ing, special 02)portunity, and interest in the subject, peculiarly 

fitted to deal with it. I beg most earnestly to recommend it to 

their attention. 

21sT April 1886. 

On this date the Secretary (Mr William INIackenzie) read 

(1) a paper entitled "Some Unpublished Letters of Simon, 12th 

Lord Lovat," contributed by Donald Cameron of Lochicl ; and (2) a 

paper on " Granting Diplomas of Gentle Birth, ike, by Scottish 

Kings—Case of Lieut. -Colonel Monro of Obsdale, 1663," by Mr 

Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, M.P. 

Lochiel's paper was as follows : 

SOME UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF SIMON 12th 

LORD LOVAT TO LOCHIEL OF THE '45. 

The interest which attaches to all that concerns the history, 

or illustrates the character of the celebrated Simon Lord Lovat 

renders it unnecessary to offer to the members of the Gaelic 

Society of Inverness any apology for the following cont'-ibutions 

to a study of the public and private life of tliat extraordinary 

man. The following extracts are t-aken from a packet of letters 

given some years ago to the writer of this paper through the 

coTu-tesy of the representative of a family allied to his own as well 

as to that of the author of the letters. By far the greater number 

of documents contained in the packet consist of letters addressed 

by Lord Lovat to the Lochiel of '-to, and are almost all 

of a private nature, reference to to[)ics connected with current 

political events being few and far between. It is, indeed, probable 

that in the stormy period immediately succeeding the date of most 

— 

—

— 


of the letters (1743-44) all those which might in any degree compromise 

those adherents of the Stuart cause who had escaped the 

vengeance of the Government were destroyed. It seems unlikely, 

except on this hypothesis, that so confidential a correspondence 

should have been maintained between two Highland chiefs whose 

intia:acy was so close, and yet that all those topics which, to a 

large extent, occupied the thoughts of men at that time should be 

studiously avoided. 

There are, however, a few other letters addressed to Macleod 

of Macleod, the commencement to which is somewhat quaint. 

Lovat seems always to have begun his letters to that chief thus 

" My dear mother's chief," his mother being Sibylla, fourth 

daughter of John Macleod of Macleod. In reference to this, it is 

curious to observe the extreme punctilioiisness which a hundred 

and fifty years ago marked the style of correspondence even 

between the most intimate friends. The following extract may be 

given as an example of the courtesies of correspondence then pre- 

valent, but hardly ever brought to such perfection as in the present 

instance. Every letter in the collection begins in this way, 

or something very like it :— " My very dear Cusin," or, " My dear 

Laird of Lochiell " or " Lochziell "— " I received the honour of 

your letter, dated the 7th of this month, and I am exceedingly 

overjoyed to know that you keep your health ; biit I am very 

sorry that my dear Cusin your worthy lady is still tender and has 

a cough. I i)ray that Heaven may recover her health, for your 

comfort, and the good of your children, and for the satisfaction of 

her friends and relations. I am very sure she has no friend or relation 

in the world that wishes Her Ladyship better than I do, and I 

I beg leave to assure you and her, and all the lovely Beams, 

of my most humble duty and affectionate respects." 

Subjoined is a specimen of the conclusion of one of the letters, 

and it may indeed be said that in many cases the complimentary 

portion of the letter often occupies as large a space as half the rest 

of its contents : 

" I was ovei-joyed by my cousine Gortuleg that you and my 

very dear cousine, the Lady Lochiel, and your lovely Bairns were 

in health. Gortuleg makes panegericks on your friendship and 

good advices. You will always find him a very honest man, 

and much your faithful servant. I beg leave to assure you and 

my dear cousine, the Lady Lochcil, and the dear young ones, of 

my most aflectionate humble duty and best respects and good 

wishes. My Jenyie joins with me in these dutiful respects and 

good wishes. And I am much more than I can express, with most 

—

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12tli Lord Louat. 3G9 

unfeigned attachment and unalterable respect, my dear Laird of 

Lochiel, your most affectionate cousine and most obedient and respectful 

humble servant, 

" Lovat." 

That Lovat was accustomed to administer compliments in 

strong doses is corroborated by the compiler of the "History of 

the Chiefs of the Grants," who says (vol. 1, p. xxi.)— "Too much 

importance will not be attached to the letters of Simon Lord 

Lovat by those who are acquainted with his peculiar style. It 

was his wont to indulge in expressions of admiration, and even 

adulation, towards such of his friends as he particuliarly fancied." 

The letters were, however, not all couched in the affectionate 

terms of the above extract. When any incident occurred to 

arouse the anger or jealousy of the Northern Chief, he would 

adopt a much cooler, not to say freezing tone, and he was in the 

habit of exaggerating his grievances equally with his assurances 

of afiection when so disposed. Thus, in 173G, he begins his letter— 

" My dear sir" (in place of " my dear cousin " or "my dear 

Laird of Lochiel "). The grievance complained of in this letter 

is apparently the usual one between Highland chiefs, at that time 

—a raid or foray in which the members of one clan suffered from 

the depredations of neighbours who were supposed to be on terms 

of friendsliip or alliance. After referring to certain friendly 

overtures which Lovat made, he goes on to say : 

" You cannot but be convinced of the great and singular 

love and regard I have for your person and family, and of my 

extraordinary patience in suffering so long such a terrible and 

manifest insult without endeavouring to resent it. But now, my 

dear cousin, I must freely and frankly tell you that my patience 

is worn out, and that I cannot longer forbear endeavouring to do 

myself and my kindred justice. But before I begin such a disagreeable 

undertaking, I send two principal gentlemen of my 

name that are my Baillies and Chamberlains, and are well known 

to you, Alexander Fraser of Bellnain, and William Fraser of 

Belloan, to get your final and positive answer of peace or war 

which will determine me. The proposition that John Fraser was 

so silly as to make to me to send money to those Ruffians to 

ransom the cattle, and bring them back, in my humble opinion is 

as great an insult as the first. However, I liave bore, patiently 

all those aflVonts till now, in hopes that the Laird of Lochiel, my 

nearest relation and my good friend, would give me redress, and 

that the Clan of the Camerons would not willingly and wilfully 

make war against the Clan of the Fiasers, their old friends and 

allies who fought their battles against the Macdonalds and the 

—


Mackintoshes. I am very sure that your father and grandfather 

would be very averse to such a war with a kindred that they loved 

as much as any in the Highlands. I will not insist on the many 

occasions that I showed myself a friend to your person and family. 

But this I can say frankly, that no chief or gentleman in Scotland 

has given greater proofs of being a true and zealous Cameron than 

I have done, and if I have met with grateful returns I know best 

myself. However, I am such a generous enemy as that I will let 

you know freely what way I am to proceed to get satisfaction of 

those Bandity who robed and plundered my country in a most 

inhumane manner. 

" I will first address myself to my freind the Earl of Hay as 

Minister of State, and to Genii. Wade as Commander in Chief in 

Scotland, if they get me redi-ess I will go no furder, but if they do 

not T will apply myself to the King and Privy Council, who I truly 

think would Ije glad of any handle to suppress a Highland Clan. I 

doubt not in the least, but I'll have sulHcient redress given me, 

either by the Earl of Hay and General "Wade, or by the King and 

the Privy Council ; and I shall be mighty sorry to be obliged to 

apply to King or Council upon such an extraoi'dinary occasion, 

since it cannot but hurt your country and kindred in ane eminent 

manner, and I take God to witness that it will be much against 

my grain and against my inclinations to carry on a war against 

you and your kindred, whom, till now, I thought the greatest support 

I had in the Highlands. But I truly rather dy in the field 

with my sword in my hand than not get redress of this insult, and 

if the Government and the legall authoiity does not do me justice, 

which I am persuaded they will in a very conspicuous manner, then 

nature must dictate what I must do afterwards." 

There is also a very curious letter illustrative of the times, 

which relates to the abduction of a young woman. After congratulations 

on Lochiel's safe arrival at Achnacarry, after a somewhat 

arduous journey from Edinburgh, and a reference to a dispute 

with Glengarry, Lovat proceeds to give an account of the 

affair as follows:— "A young lad, a merchant in Inverness, a 

gentleman's son of Foyers' Family, having made proposalls of marriage 

to the only daughter of the deceased B;iillie AVilliam Eraser, 

who is provided to a considerable portion, he got such encouragement 

and hopes of success from the girl, the mother and her 

brotlicr, that he made the thing known to his friends as a concluded 

match. But soon thereafter, upon some private reasons, all 

the three struck out from the Bargain, and would not hear of it. 

Upon this the lad applied to his friends, and particularly to Gor-

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12ti] Lord Louat. 371 

tuleg, to solicite for him, who engaged me to do the same by 

htters. But all we would do in the nffaiv was to no purpose. At 

last the mad lad having persuaded his friends in Strathorrick that 

he had engaged the girl's affections, and that it was only owing to 

her mother and brother that she did not declare for him, he prevailed, 

with all the gentlemen of F'oyers' Family, to undertake the 

carrying her off from her mother's house, and which, accordingly, 

he and they execute about 8 o'clock on Saturday night in a forcible 

and desperate way, against the girl's own will, and carry'd her to 

Stratherrick, where, in spite of all that can be done, they still detain 

her, in oi-der to force her to marry this fellow. Upon my having 

notice of it from Inverness on Sunday night, and that it was done 

so barbarously, against the girl's consent, I sent my Chamberlain 

to .Inverness on IMonday morning with letters to some of the 

Magistrates and my friends in town to have their advice what I 

would do in the matter, but before he reached Inverness I had a 

most clamorous letter fiom the Magistrates, who have taken this 

as a most terrible insult upon them and their Borrough, informing 

me of the whole affair, and begging a warrand and orders to 

rescue the girl from the hands of these People. This request I 

immediately granted, and sent my Secretary by three o'clock to 

Inverness Tuesday morning to wait on the Magistrates, and show 

them my written orders and warrand to Balnain and Belloan for 

sending l)ack the girl to Inverness, which he accordingly did, and 

then delivered the same to Belloan who svas at Inverness, and 

went straight to Stratherrick to put it in execution. I at same 

(time) sent a double of this order by express to Gortuleg, who is 

in Badenoch, and dispatched a trusty Domestick to Stratherrick 

with a general order to all the gentlemen of the County to 

concur and exert themselves in bringing back the girl to Inver- 

ness, and have last night sent the same secret C?) oi'ders again to 

them for this purpose. But all this had no efl'ect, so mad and infatuate 

are all those that have dypt in this cursed afiair that I am 

just now informed by express that they have carry'd the girl to 

Fort-Agustus to have the marriage compleated there by the Chaplain 

of the Regiment in that place, so that in spite of all that T can 

do without making my Clan enter in blood among themselves, 

these unhappy gentlemen have ruined themselves inevitably, for 

that little insolent upstart the Provost of Inverness, who would 

wish to see me and all my j)eople at the Devill, will prosecute 

every man for their lives that have been active in this desperate 

affair, and all my enemies in Inverness and elsewhere will be fond 

to support him in it, and endeavour to give hurtful impressions of


me and my people to the whole kingdom. As it is an affair of the 

last consequence to me and my people, I shall let you know afterwards 

what will become of it." 

The following letter exhibits in a curious light to those who 

live in the days of household suffrage the nature and value of a 

vote in 1741, and the extraordinary exertions which were made 

by the great Families to increase their influence by acquiring 

superiorities : 

— 

•* My Dear Laird of Lochziel, 

" I received the honour and pleasure of your return by my 

express, and I give you a thousand thanks, my dear cousine, for 

the concern that you take in my honour and interests. I own 

that both are more at stake in this county at present than they 

have been for these five and twenty years past, and you cannot 

imagine how much I am vexed at tlie desertion of two ])itiful 

scoundrels* of my name, who do not deserve that any gentleman 

should drink with them. This oblidges me to give you the trouble 

to use all your efforts with your cousine Glenmoriston ; and if 

you and your uncle do pi-evail with him, he will find it very much 

for the interest of his person and family, ftbr M'Leod and I will 

freely and frankly do for him more than the Laird of Grant is 

* Lord Lovat alludes to the same circumstance in a letter addressed to 

Charles Fraser of Inverallochy on 3rd January 1741. One of the " scoundrels 

" was Fraser of Fairfield, whom Lovat described as '' an unnaturall 

traitor, an infamous deserter, and an ungrateful wretch to me, his chief, 

who had done him such signal services. And if I never had done him 

any other service, hut getting him one of the l)est ladys in the vwirld, your 

worthy sister, to be his wife (which cost me both pains and expense), who 

had bore him good children, he i

I of 

I 

} that 

! but 

, and 

\ 

I 

i me 

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12th Lord Lovat. 373 

inclined, or will do, as I give a demonstration of in ilie inclosed 

letter to your uncle. Glenmoriston should remember that if it was 

not for my person allenarly [alone], he would not have hud a vote 

this day for Glenmoriston, nor would he have had the Superiority 

one fur [furrow] of it, Hbr when Grant was buying the estate 

in the Exchequer, he told the Glenmoriston's brother, who is dead, 

he must get the Superiority of all Glenmoriston to himself; 

as Glenmoriston desired me to attend him to the Exchequer, 

to assist him in his affairs and circumstances, upon Grant's 

desiring his whole superiority, I told him that it was a most tyrannick 

demand, and that I would by no means allow of it, that Glen- 

moriston was my near Relation by your family, and since he desired 

to stand by him I would by no means see him wronged, and 

I if he did not leave him the supo'iority of his estate, I would over- 

i bid 

I back 

i he 

I this 

j 

I 

i in, 

i family 

, family 

1 will 

i thoi>ght 

him in the Exchequer, and buy Glenmoriston Estate and give it 

to himself. When he found that I was angry and in earnest, 

told me that he would give the superiority of that estate with 

the property to Glenmoriston, but that he hoped that if the estate 

could make two votes that he would get one of them. I told him 

that Glenmoi'iston might do that as he thought fit. The late 

Glenmoriston was so sensible of this that he swore that he would 

stand by me against all the Grants on earth, and this Glenmoriston 

knows, that I always used him as an affectionate cousine, and 

never refused to do him any service that he asked of me, and if 

he now follows your advice and your uncle's, I will certainly be 

his steadfast friend while I live, and I humbly think that at any 

time I can be more useful to him, to all intents and purposes, 

than the Laird of Grant. 

"My dear Cousine, you see how much I am concerned in 

affiiir, so I earnestly entreat that, with the same ardour that 

I love your person, family and concerns, you may work for me to 

gain this point, that my honour and interest are so much engaged 

and it will be such a singular mark of affectionate friendship 

as I never will forget while there is breath in me, ffor though I 

would do for M'Leod much as for my Brother or son, yet in this 

election I am in a particular manner concerned myself, and my 

and kindred. If we gain it, and beat the Grants, my 

gets honour and reputation by it, but if they beat us they 

triumph, and both I and my interest in this shire will be 

despicable in the south, and by the great men I have 

joined myself to. I can say no stronger thinjcs to you, my dear 

Cousine, so I conclude with trusting to your friendship, which I 

am very sure is sincere towards me."


It appears that in 1742 Lovat lent his house in Edinburgh to 

Lochiel, and the following reference to its merits and depreciation 

of its worthiness for "his dear cousine " is quaint enough to. deserve 

transcribing. After referi-ing to the " terrible journey" and 

" voyage " to the " Metropolis," Lovat goes on to say :— " It gives 

me a singular pleasure to know from yourself that my little house 

accommodates your lady and children. I wish it was the best in 

Edinburgh for your sake and theirs. It is certain that what is of 

it is good. It is both warm, and the large room is very lofty and 

well lighted. I am sorry it is not better furnished, but you have 

in it everything that I had except worn bed cloathes and a few 

necessarys for my kitchino that I could not get here for money, 

there is one advantage that my dear cousin, the Lady Lochiel, will 

have, that it has the easiest stair in Edinburgh, and that it is situated 

in the best part of the town. Would to God that it was 

the best in it in every shape for your sake and hers." 

Lovat is determined that the rules of good manners shall be 

observed by his daughter, for lie writes in the same letter : 

" I am very angry at my daughter, Siby, that she did not go 

and pay her respects to the Lady Lochiel how soon ever she heard 

that she came to towMi, but I ho})e the Lady Lochiel will excu.se 

her youth and bashfulness. I have ordered her to be more in her 

duty in time to come, and to pay her respects every other day to 

the Lady Lochiel." 

There are three letters referring to Cluny's marriage with his 

daughter. Lovat appears to have had great confidence in Lochiel's 

judgment in the matter, but no doubt he is also anxious to avail 

himself of the acquaintance which that chief seems to ha\e had 

with the circumstances of the young lover. Prudent fathers are 

not confined to the 19th century. The following letter, however, 

represents the lover as either very bashful or somewhat unskilful 

in his addresses, as he was a whole week at Beaufort without finding 

an opportunity of " i)Oi)ping the question." 

" My Dear Laird of Lochiel,— 

" As I sincerely have greater confidence in you than in 

many other men on earth, you know, for several reasons, that I 

have past grounds for this confidence that I have in you, this 

entire trust that I have in your friendship for me, and in your 

absolute honour and integrity and upiightness of heart, obliges 

me to send you this express to acquaint you that your cousine, 

Cluny Macpherson, came here, and, after staying some days, he 

—

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12tfi Lord Louat. 375 

desired to speak to me by myself, which I very easily granted. 

After some compliments, he very civilly proposed to many my 

daughter Jenyie, who is with me. I was truly a little surprised ; 

I told him all the obligeing things I could think, and told him 

that I would never let my daughter marry any man if he was of 

the first rank of Scotland beyond her own inclinations. So that 

he must speak to herself before I give him any other answer than 

that I was obliged to him. But the house being very throng 

with strangers, he could not get s))oke to her though he stayed 

a week hei-e. I advised him to make his visit a visit of friendship 

since he had not been here of a long time, and not to speak to her 

till he should make one other visit, and that in the meanti.ne, 

since I had as great confidence in his cousine Lochiel as he 

had, that I would runn one express to you to know your opinion 

and advice which he was pleased with, and said he would likewise 

wi-ite to you. I therefore beg of you, my dear cousine, that you 

let me know candidly and plainly your sentiments without the 

least reserve, as you know I would do to you. I am quite a 

stranger to the gentleman's circumstances, only that I always 

heard that they were not very plentiful. But whatever may be 

in that, as the connection that his family has with yours, was the 

motion that did engage me to do all the good otfices in nay power 

to all the Macphersons when they were much pursuite (?) by the 

Duke of Gordon, so that same argument disposes me to be civil to 

liim, and whatever may happen in his present view I am resolved 

to behave to him so kindly, so as to persuade him that I have a 

greater regard for him and his family on your account than 

I have for most people in the Highlands. The gentleman's 

near concern in you, if people knew my writing, might construct 

it by going in headlong to this aifair. But I assure 

you, my dear cousine, that the plain case is, that I am fully 

convinced that if he was your Brother, it would have no byass 

with you, to advise me to an affair that would not be honourable 

and ht for my family, as I am fully convinced that you will send 

me the real sentiment of your heart and let me know Clunie's 

circumstances, which yon cannot be ignorant ofi". And I declair 

to you upon honour that I will neither speak to my daughter, nor 

to any mortal, until I have your return to this. One of my great 

motives for giving ear to this affair is the view that I have that 

it might unite the Camerons, iNIacphersons, and the Frasers as one 

man, and that such method might be fallen upon them as might 

keep them unite for this age that nothing would alter. But 

this desire will never make me agree to any proposition against


my daughter's inclination, or contrary to a reasonable settlement." 

The above letter is in duplicate, one copy autograph, the 

other written by an amanuensis, but both signed ; one is dated 

the 10th, the other the 18th of February 1742. To the latter is 

appended a Postscript in the same hand-writing as the holograph 

of the 10th. It is as follows : 

— 

"I do assure you, my dear Cousin, tliat if circumstances 

answer in a reasonable manner, that I am in my own inclinations 

entirely for the affair. Adieu, mon cher cusin." 

The next letter on the same subject, wi-itten apparently after 

Lochiel's approval had been obtained, shows the importance 

attached to alliances by marriage as increasing the power and 

influence of the family tlius allied. On the 27th of May of the 

"Your Cousin Clunie has been here 

same year, Lovat writes : — 

these thi-ee weeks past, and I do assure you that I am obliged to 

suffer a great many battles for him. The INI'Intoshes, who are 

madly angry at this Match, endeavour to get all those they converse 

with to cry out against me for making of it, and those who 

don't love that the M'Phersons should be greater than they are, 

or that my family should be stronger than it is, make it there 

bussiness to cry out againit it. But I must do justice to my Lord 

President that all his friends and Relations cry out against it, yet 

he heartily approved of it in this house, wliere he did me the 

honour to dine with me Monday was se'en-night, and after I told 

him plainly all the circumstances, and tliat I trusted myself 

entirely to you, he told me that T could not trust myself to 

an honester man in Scotland than to Locheill, and after what 

I told him, his opinion was that if the young couple lov'd 

one another they might live happily together ; and that it was 

a very proper alliance for my family, and that it strengthened the 

interest of my family more than any low country alliance that I 

could make. His saying so gave me satisfaction, whether he 

thought it or not ; and tho' I have a hundred to one against me 

for making this match, yet I do not repent it, and tho' it were to 

begin again to-morrow I would do the same thing over again, and 

I must tell you that the more I know your Cousine Cluny the 

more I love him for a thorrow good-natur'd, even-tempered, honest 

gentleman. He goes home to look after liis affairs in Badenoch 

for some time, and T precisely design tliat the marriage shall be 

consunnnated towards tho lattcu- end of June. ])ut as I told you 

before, I am positive that T never will allow it to be done till you

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12tli Lord Louat. 377 

ai*e present, so that Dyet must be regulate according to the time 

that your affairs will allow you to come here." * 

According to Lovat, his son-in-law showed no symptoms of 

being a henpecked husband. The last letter, October ] 743, on 

this subject, contains some other amusing matter. After compliments, 

Lovat proceeds :— 

" You are a very lasie correspondent. You never tell me a 

word of the Duke of Argyle's death, nor of the lady Achnubreak's 

dream, nor of Prince (Charles passing the Rhine, nor of King 

Geoi'ge's beating M. de Noailles, nor of Landes being taken, nor 

the Germans having their quarters in Alsace Loraine and Burgundy, 

nor of the Zarina having sent 40,000 men to assist the 

Queen of Hungary. You may think little of all these events, but 

I think them very considerable, and would wish to know the 

sentiments of your great city about them. 

" I must now acquaint you, my dear Cousin, of the situation 

of my family on this side of the Grampians. I am myself much 

trouljled with a cough and cold upon me since this day fortnight 

that I went to Culloden to take leave of the President. I wish 

I had been that day asleep, for my best and largest coach near 

broke her leg one plain ground, and as soon as I came into 

Inverness I got auld (?) of the Duke of Argyle's death, and I had 

no pleasuie or satisfaction in my visit, but breach of promise and 

friendship which you was often and very well acquainted with in 

that corner. Macleod is much more affronted in this affair than 

I am, and that by a man to whom he has been a slave to, and who 

professed the greatest friendship and attachment for him. However, 

every Dogg has his day, and Macleod and I must stand upon 

our own jambs with the assistance of our reall friends and 

relations. 

" Cluny came here Monday night with your brother Archibald, 

your uncle Ludovic had the gout in his meikle, so that he 

could not come, and your brother John was sick of distemper, 

111 a letter fro-n Lord Lovat to the Duke of Gordon dated Beaufort, 

13th August 1742, his lordship alludes to the marriage in the following 

terms:— "As your grace and the worthy Dutchess were so civill to my 

daughter, I think it my duty to acquaint your Grace tliat her aunt, the 

Lady Scatwell, having come here on the Tuesday after your grace went 

away, my dauohter was married next day to the Laird of Cliiny, and tliey 

both behaved to the satisfaction of all who were present ; and as they are 

both goiid-natur'd and of an even temper, I hope tliey will l)c very happy. 

They lunl the honour to succeed your Grace in the lucky velvet bed which 

I hope will have good effect." 

Miscellany of the Spalding Clul) vol. Ill, p. 2.3;").


and he would not como, and Cluny brought nobody witli him but 

In veresci and young Banclier, and anotlier gentleman called Lachlan 

M'Phersou. Duncan Campbell of Clunies came here likewise one 

Monday night, and the Laird of Foulis came here on Thursday, 

and seven of his friends, and dined and stayed all night and was very 

merry, so that my house was very throng, as it almost was every 

other day this C?) and summer. I was mightily desirous that Cluny 

should leave his daughter with me, who is the finest child I ever 

saw. But after he fir.st consented to it, he then resiled and 

carryed her of, which vexed me very much— notwithstand that 

Dr Fraser of Achnagairn gave his positive advice to Cluny not to 

carry away his child in the winter time. But he acted the absolute 

chief, and carried the poor infant away in a credill a horseback. 

Before twenty gentlemen I openly washed my hands from any 

harm that would happen to the child by carrying her away in this 

season. But Cluny took the blame upon himself, and thi-re I left 

it. However, they have had such tine weather that 1 hope the child 

will arrive at Cluny in good health. But T cannot think that a 

house whose walls was not finished two months ago can be very 

wholesome either for the child or for the mother. But it seems 

that Cluny is resolved to v.-ear the Britches and the Petty C!oats 

too, so that I am afraid my cliild will not comb a grey head in 

that country. Howevei-, we must submit and resign all things 

to Providence." 

Subjoined ai-e two extracts from another letter written in 

1743. It would appear that, unless Lovat was indulging in a 

joke or in idle compliment, the relative value of cows in the 

" Aird" and in Lochaber must have changed pretty considerable 

during the last 150 years! But not more than the sentiments 

with regard to hard drinking. Sir Wilfred Lawson would hardly 

write of a gentleman who, as near as possible, killed himself by 

drink that "his death would be a singular loss to his country and 

to his friends." 

" I had the honour to write you a letter by the Post on 

Saturday, and this now goes by a trusty Servant of mine that I 

send South every year with Cows to my Doers, he carrys now 

with him a Cow to John Macfai'lane, and one to William Fraser, 

and T thought to have sent another of my little Highland Cows 

with him for my Dear Cousine, the Lady Lochiel. But I was perswaded 

you would mock me to send you one of the little pitifull 

Cows of this Country when you have much better and larger Cows 

of your own in Lochaber. I have sent a Cow to your Aunt, the 

Lady Balhady, as I use to do every year. ....

— 

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12tli Lord Louat. 371) 

" The Karl o£ Cromarty, after drinking excessively in this 

house of very good wine for Hvc days, went to Dingwall and fell 

adrinking of very bad wine, which made him so sick that he had 

almost died there. The Countess was obliged to come in the midst 

of the night from Tarbat llonse to Dingwall— 14 long miles—she 

having received an Express acquainting her that the Earl was not 

like to live till daylight, liut I thank God he is recovered. His 

death would be a singular loss to his Country and to his friends, 

and particularly, to me which you may see by the Copy of two 

letters that he writt to me after his recovery, which I send yon 

enclosed." 

There is a copy among these papers of a letter from Lovat to 

" my mother's chief," the laird of Macleod, in which after describing 

a severe illness and the remedies applied, which are not worth 

quoting, the following veiy characteristic sentiments are delivered. 

The "faint hopes" which the writer entertains of seeing Macleod's 

grandfather in the next world may of course be read in two ways, 

but it woidd hardly have been agreeable to the grandson. 

" I do assure you that I was not at all uneasy to leave this 

wicked treacherous world, but on the contrary I was pleased with 

the faint hopes of seeing my dear Uncle, your grandfather, and 

the other woi-thy persons that I was concerned in who went before 

me. But it has pleased God to keep me for some more time from 

the happy society of those brave upi-ight honest persons who wei-e 

an honour to their King and to their country, and to make me 

slave as long as Providence pleases among a corrupt generation in 

this poor, unliappy, degenerate Island, where scarce an honest man 

can be found Kara avis in terris, ikc. I am resolved, however, 

to submit and to pray to God that I may keep my integrity 

among the corruption of this age. I pray for my friends as I do 

for myself, and particularly for the laird of Macleod, and for those 

worthy gentleman that think as he does, for I presume to know a 

little of his private sentiments, and, as I thank God they arc now 

just and honourable, I hope they will continue so all your days." 

Macleod was, it appears, in Parliament, and the next pai-agi-aph 

in the letter is somewhat suggestive of what would now be 

called a job. 

" I took the liberty to write to you about getting the premium 

on naval stores. The laird of Grant is more concerned in 

this than any man in Scotland, and I am the next to him, if not 

as much as he is, for I have vast woods upon my Estate which, if 

preserved, will be of great use to my family ; and it would be a 

vast loss to all the gentlemen that have woods ujjon their Estates

— 


if that premium should be taken away, therefore I beg that you 

may speak to that odd creatures the hiirds of Grant and see what 

they will do for themselves." 

The only extract from these letters bearing on political topics, 

which appears worthy of being quottnl, is the following, and its 

interest is, indeed, derived more from the light which it throws 

on the querulousness and suscei>tibilities of its author than from 

any special historical fact wliich it recoi-ds. Students of the 

period (1743) will draw their own conclusions from the complaints 

of Lord Lovat : 

"I am fully persuaded by experience as much as you can be, 

that in this Government there is no regard paid to past services, 

though never so essential, and foi- making new schemes, I am too 

old for that, and though I should both lesolve and lay myself out 

to do essential service to the family of Hanover, I must come 

short of what I have done already for the Government to keep the 

Crown on their head, and the returns I met with were barbarous 

and ungrateful usage. I could say the same of another Court that 

I will now hold my tongue of, so that it has been ray fate to be ill 

used by Courts, except by the glorious Court of France, who did 

me much more honour than I deserved ; and if I was to begin the 

world again, I would never serve any Court, but according as I 

would be rewarded. I hope my children will follow the same 

maxim." 

The account given in another letter of the behaviour of two 

local doctors is very amusing, and seems, at this time of day, almost 

incredible. Lovat writes : 

— 

'* I have been pretty ill with the aigue since you went away, 

so that I was forced to send for Doctor Cuthbert and Doctor 

Fraser, who stayed here for tive days, and all the service they did 

me was to drink ilrunk day and night, for except while they slept 

they were not tive minutes sober since they came to the house, and 

Doctor Cuthbert is still here, and all the medicines they ga^•e were 

severall dishes of laughter wliich happened very often. My servants 

got heavy lifts of them in carrying them from this room to 

their beds. Tt was a thousand pities for they are two pretty 

gentlemen, but Achnagairn has b}' much the advantage of Doctor 

Cuthl)ert, when he is in his own houso he ^scldom drinks, and Doctor 

Cuthb(,'rt is every night druidx in his own house. Howcvar, T bless 

God by my following my own prescription of drinking the infusion 

of severall bitters in Sijanish wine, and of drinking a glass once or 

twice a day of the SpanisJi wine with the Peruvian bark infused

— 

Unpublished Letters of Simon 12tii Lord Louat. 381 

in it, the aigue is almost gone, but this severe storm that never 

had an example in history confines me to this room a perfect 

prisoner these two months past, so that T must have a very good 

and liealthful constitution to have resisted such a closs confinement 

and continuall eating and drinking and sitting \ip without 

any exorcise, but T hope CJod in his mercy will soon delivei- us 

from this stoim, and then I can go abroad and take a little exercise, 

which I hope will restore me into perfect health and strength 

that I may be fit to do some service to my friends and my Countrey, 

wliich I do not despair of." 

In the same letter is a description of a member of another 

learned profession. It appears there was a lawyer by name Tom 

Brodie in Edinburgh at that time, of whom Lovat writes in these 

somewhat disrespectful terms : 

"I have such experience of Tom Brodic's, sucli a greedy, 

deceitful, treacherous knave tliat I cannot in duty and honour but 

put you on your guard against him, for after my giving him 

liberally my money and my gold for about fourteen or fifteen years, 

and using him rather like a brother than an ordinary lawyer, yet 

the deceitful knave sold me this last year to my adverse party 

by which I have been wronged above £3000 str. He gave up my 

papers to my adverse party, which gave a pretext to the base and 

villainous arbiters to sign a decree of a £1000 str. against me, to 

be paid to my adverse ])arty, who, sincerely and truly before God 

I could declare it if it was my last word, did rob me, I mean 

Pliopachy, of above £4000 of the furniture of my house, and the 

rents of my Estate, and tho' he was not worth five pound on earth 

but what he rob'd me of (for he was downright a beggar when I 

came to Scotland) yet I am decreed to pay him £1000 str. by 

false accounts that he made up against me, but the truth of the 

matter is that Thomas Brodie beii-ay'd me for getting the half or 

the third of the spoil to himself. Your cousin Balladie, who was 

here during the transactions of that villainous decree, knows that 

affixir perfectly, for he took great pains in it. I beg your pardon 

for troubling you with an account of it, but my design is to prevent 

your being cheated and abused by Tom Brodie, who is certainly 

the most dangerous villain that ever went into the Parliament 

house," 

Those who are acquainted with Lovat's style, and the strong 

language in \vhich he inveighs against all whom he fancies have 

injured him, will not perhaps judge too harshly of Tom Brodie. 

In another letter Loât asks Macleod to send him some news-


papers, specifying the LoikIoii Evening Post and Westminster 

Journal, and pi'omises to pay him in " Bewlie sahnon and good 

ckret" wlien he couies to visit him. 

There are also allusions to his wife and her wickedness iu 

some of the letters, but students of the history of the Highlands 

at that period would not find anything which has not already been 

published, and, indeed, Lovat's account of the family dispute is to 

be found in greater detail in some of his letters printed in the 

second volume of that splendid work, "Tlie Lairds of Grant," by 

Dr William Fraser, Edinburgh. 

This paper may be properly brought to a conclusion with a 

letter from young Simon, Master of Lovat, to his fatlier, dated 

Edinburgh, May 22, 1740, when he was 13 years of age. His 

appreciation of the Gaelic language must commend his memory to 

the members of this Association : 

My Dear Papa,—I received the honour and pleasure of 

your Lordship's letter by the last post, and I am exceedmg glad 

to hear that your Lordship is in perfect good health. I am very 

glad that Mr Donald* is in a fair way to get the better of all his 

enemies, and tliat he is almost done with those tyrannick bigot 

clergy of Ross. I believe the Brig, will be very happy in having 

him for a Governour, who, I fancy, has much need of one. I 

am veiy glad that your Lordship is pleased with my write this 

post. I do assure your Lordship I will take as much care of it 

as possible. But whoever has informed your Lordship that I 

neglect the Earse, has greatly misinformed your Lordship, for 

there is none in tliis house, exce})t Mr Blair, but speak Earse, 

and there is not a day but we speak it at dinner, super, and 

brakefast, and I know your I.iOrdship would rather me lose Latin 

and Gi-eek than lose it, and that is the great reason, though I had 

no other to retain it; but I don't believe, though I was to go 

through the world now that I would lose it, and, as to my having 

tlic Edinlnirgh Ton, that is wliat I cannot help ; for when I 

was at Glasgow, I had the Glasgow Ton, and now the Edinburgh 

*This was Mr Donald Fraser, Tutor or "Governour" to Lovat's sons 

Simon and Alexander. The latter is nferr. d to in this letter as "the Brig" 

—Briiâdicr— the nmie usually applied to him ))y his father. Mr Donald 

became niiiiifeter of Killeai nan in 1744, and of Fcrintosii in 1757. At his 

death he left a large niiml>cr of h-tters from Lord Lovat to himself, Lord 

Loudon, and others, and these have now been, placed by his great grandson, 

the Rev. Hector Fraser, Halkirk, in the hands of Mr William Mackay, 

RoHeitor, Inverness, witli a view to their publication in the ne.xt vulume of 

onr Transactions. 

—

— — 

Granting Diplomas by Scottisl) Kings. 383 

Tone, and when I go north 1 will have that Tone. So that there 

is nothing in that but perfect Custom. I was this day dining 

with Brigadier Guest, who received me very kindlj'^, and gave nie 

a letter for your Lordship.— I am, dear pa})a, your Lordship's 

most affectionate Son, 

"Simon Fuaseu. 

"Edinburgh, May 22nd, 17-10 " 

Mr Fraser-Îackintosh's paper was as follows : 

GRANTING DIPLOMAS OF GENTLE BIRTH, Arc, BY 

SCOTTISH KINGS- 

CASE OF LIEUT.-COLONEL ALEXANDER MONRO 

OF OBSDALE, 1G63. 

Numbers of Scotsmen of gentle birth, unable to find suitable 

employment at home, betook themselves particularly during the 

seventeenth century either to foreign militaiy service, or to trade, 

becoming naturalised in the countries wherein they settled. The 

rigour of class and caste made it necessary for these adventurers 

to show an equality of rank, ere they were permitted to as.sociate 

with, or intermarry among, the upper ranks of the natives of Poland, 

Sweden, Germany, and France, to which countries these adventurers 

chiefly resoi't(>d. 

The proper Register of • Birth Briefs is called "The Paper 

Register of the Great Seal," as distinguished fi'om the Great Seal 

Register Proper, which is written on vellum. The Paper Register 

begins about 1590, and is continued to 1707. 

In earlier times, certificates were given by inquests of friends 

and neighbours of repute, styled " homines patriae," and in Burghs 

such certificates were granted after enquiry by the Magistrates and 

Council. Subsequently it was not unusual to issue a Royal War- 

rant, as is seen in the following ctise taken from " The Earl of 

Stirling's Register of Royal Letters," 1 st volume, p. 66. Edinburgh 

1885 :— 

To the Chancellor (of Scotland) 

Right Trusty and Wellbeloved, 

Whereas, one Andrew Arbuthnot, serving, as we are informed, 

under the King of Sweden, has caused humble suit to be 

made unto us that he might have a testificate under our Great 

Seal of that our Kingdom, of his lawful birth and progeny, our 

pleasure is that having informed yourself thereof, that you grant


unto him what is usual to be granted unto other persons, in 

business of the like nature : and for your so doing, these shall be 

your warrant. 

Theobald's, July 21, 1626. 

(Signed) Charles R. 

The earliest instance of a birth brief, or " Litera Prosapia," 

in the Paper Register is dated 26th of January 1637, and from 

that date downwards entries are numerous. It is well known that 

many of these recorded Vjriefs are full of inaccuracies. 

Duncan Forbes, 3rd of Culloden, writing prior to the year 

170-4, and treating of the genealogy of the family of Tolquhon, 

says that Malcolm Forbes, INIarquis ot Montilly, some 30 years 

before, sent to Scotland for his coat-armorial certificate, which was 

given him utterly wrong by tlie then Lord Lyon and his deputy 

clerks. 

— 

It is still competent to issue birth briefs, the course being by 

application to the Lord Lyon, who, upon proper proof being 

established before him, issues a certified pedigree under the seal 

of the Lyon office. 

Colonel Monro of Obsdale's genealogy is shown in the 

annexed. He was grandson of the laird of Fowlis, nephew of 

Major-General Sir Robert Monro, and brother of Lieut.-General 

Sir George Monro. His services are done full j ustice to, neither 

squalor of a prison, tedium of exile, nor loss of fortune in the 

Royal cause daunting him in his zeal and devotion to the Royal 

House of Stuart. 

The following is an exact translation of the original Latin 

brief : 

" Charles, by the grace of God, King of Scotland, England, 

France and Ii-eland, and defender of the faith, to all and -undry 

emperors, kings, princes, dukes, marquises, archbishops, bishops, 

barons, councillors and magistrates of states, and to all and sundry 

or their lieutenants, chief governors of provinces, 

cities, castles, fleets, and finally to all exercising supreme or subordinate 

authority by sea or land in civil or ecclesiastical affairs 

and others whomsoever who shall read or hear these letters 

piitent everlasting greeting in the author of everlasting salvation : 

Whereas the cheif concern of those to whom the supreme administration 

of the commonwealth has been entrusted ought to be that 

due honour should be bestowed on those studious of virtue and 

their posterity, and since we, so far as circumstance will allow 

deligently make it our sedulous care, that whatever rights or distinctions 

of noble blood or of renowned achievement have been

Granting Diplomas by ScottisI] Kings. 385 

derived from ancestors, should remain repaired and protected 

among posterity (unless they shall have revolted fi-om tlie probity 

of their ancestors) in the longest scries that is possil)le to b(^, to 

the end that both the said descendants mindful of their lineage 

should commit nothing unworthy of the unsullied fame and greatness 

of their parents, but inflamed to the like should superadd 

some praise by their own virtue, and accession of light to the 

Ijrightness of their ancestors, and so emulating their forefathers 

afford to us and to their country faithful subjects and citizens in 

all things according to their power. We to our faithful and well 

beloved countryman Alexander INIonro fully imbued in the schools 

and academies of his native country, with the humaner and more 

subtile letters, who in his novitiate of sterner warfare under his 

uncle Sir Robert Monro, Major-General, and Sir George Monro, 

our Lieuteuant-General, most valiant knight, his brother being 

exti-emely well instructed, followed the parly of our most serene 

parent of blessed memory and ours in circumstances sufficiently 

adverse, valiantly fought for us as Lieutenant-Colonel for sixteen 

years, and by his blood and his wounds made a sacrifice to our 

cause and to the glory of his own loyalty, and that to such a degree 

that not by the squalor of a prison nor tedium of exile, nor loss of 

fortune did he suffer his fidelity to his kings due and devoted to be 

stained or besmirched by any blot of treason or supineness of spirit, 

but individually and indefatigably remained a comrade with our 

forces, through straits, through cold, through mountains and all 

that could be inflicted on our faithful subjects in that lamentable 

time of treason : I say, to this most valiant man, and who has 

deserved exceedingly well of us, on his request and supplication 

we deny not for justice and righteousness sake our firm testimony 

to the honours and offices bestowed on Lis ancestors by our forefathers 

the most serene Kings of Scotland (which may be to him 

after careful in- 

in place of a l)enefit among others) . Wherefore 

quiry has been made by illustrious and trust-wcrthy men (to whom 

we intrusted that duty), concerning the descent of the foresaid 

gentleman, it has been found by us, and we therefore make it 

known and certain, and publicly bear witness that it is manifest 

that our well beloved Alexander Monro, Lieutenant-Colonel, was 

born lawful son and of lawful marriage by either parent of noble 

and gentle birth, and for many ages by-past has derived his paternal 

and maternal descent from distinguished and honourable 

families ; to wit, that he is the son of a truly noble gentleman, John 

Monro ot Obsdall, Colonel among the Swedes, and Katharine Gordoun, 

united to John in lawful matrimony and John of Obsdall to


his own and his native country's everlastmg gloiy valorously 

deserved well of the most potent King of Sweden, and was the son 

of George Monro of Obsdall, by Katharine Monro, daughter of 

Andrew Monro of ]\Iiltoun, Ijy Katherine Vrquhart, daughter 

of Thomas, Sheriff of Cromarty, by Anna Abernethy, daughter 

of the distinguished Lord Baron of Sal ton n : And George was 

l)orn of a very illustrious man and chief of liis surname Robert 

Monro of Fowles, by Katherine Eos, daughter of Alexander 

Ros, Laird of Belnagown, by Elizabeth Sinclair, daughter of the 

most famous Eail of Caithness : And Robert was born of the 

former Robert of Fowlis laird thereof (who fell honourably 

fighting valiantly for his country in the battle of Pinkie) 

of Anna Dunbar, daughter of Alexander Dunbar, Sheriff 

of Mor&y, by Jean Falconer, daughter of the laird of Halcartoun 

: Further, this Robert was the son of Hector Monro of 

Foulis, by Katherine Mackenzie, daughter of the lord orchief of the 

Mackenzie's (but now of the most renowned Earl of Seaforth) which 

Hector also had to his father William IMonro of Foulis, a knight 

plainly most valiant for in leading an army at the command of the 

King against certain factious northern men (he perished by ti-eachery) 

and to his mother Anna ]\['I,ean, daughter

Old Highland Industries. 387 

and clear, asked and entreated; that ye treat our contryman, now 

recommended, Sir Alexander Munro, dear to us on so many 

accounts, conspicuous for so many lights of virtures, with all offices 

of civility, love, honour, and dignity, craving again the like favour 

from us, if in anything ye wish to use our assistance; which things, 

as they are all true and sure in themselves, that likewise they 

may be better attested, and more certain to all and sundry, and 

be known to all men as manifest, we have, without reluctance, 

granted these our ]jetters Patent to tlie foresaid Alexander 

Monro: For giving full faith also, to which among all men, we 

have commanded our narrower seal to be appended hereto. 

Given at Edinburgh, the day of the month of September, 

the year from the Virgin's birth, one thousand six hundred 

and sixty three, and the fifteenth year of our reign" 

"By Act of the Lords of Secret Council" 

28th April 188G. 

On this date William Millar, auctioneei", Inverness, was 

elected an ordinary member of the Society. Thereafter, Mr 

Alexander Ross, architect, Inverness, read a paper on the " Old 

Industries of the Highlands." Specimens of native art and industry 

were exhibited and highly admired. Mr Ross's paper was 

as follows : 

— 

OLD HIGHLAND INDUSTRIES. 

In these days of great factories and concentration of labour 

in the production of articles required for the dail}^ use of man, it 

may be interesting and profitable to recall some of the old and 

peculiar modes employed by our country uien for providing food, 

clothing, and implements, but which modes have now almost 

di'^xppeared. 

^lachinery, driven by steam, has doiie away with much hand 

labour, and, under the guiding hand of man, does nearly all the 

work, where mechanical power is required, and thus gets i-id, in a 

large degree, of the gi'eat waste involved in manual labour. This 

centralised production has tended to enlarge and extend our 

towns and seats of industry, and to produce articles for the 

million at a relatively much less cost than could be done by 

hand labour, and, by means of transport and commerce, to send 

machine-made articles into the furthest corners of the earth, civilised 

and uncivilised; hence we find ranged alonsside stone and


flint iinpleinents, tho latest gay and fanoy fabric of Manchester 

and Birmingham. Even the Hindoo and Chinaman's gods and 

idols are manufactured in our British workshops, and many other 

ai'ticles which are considered peculiar to certain nations. I had 

occa.sion to remark this particularly in a Liverpool counting-house, 

for on asking what were the goods they exported from this 

country, a drawer was pulled out and samples displayed. Tliese 

consisted of Spanish hedalgos, s])urs, and brilliant saddles, and 

saddle cloths, Spanish mantillas, ifcc, of gorgeous and rich colours, 

such as that noble animal the " Bi-itish Crocker," always declares 

the British manufacturers can neither rival nor approach. 

It is extremely interesting to study the progress from primi- 

tive machineiy to the most ad\anced and intricate results of 

modern times, and perhaps the Highlands of Scotland afforded till 

recently a very good field for such study. 

The Lowlands of Scotland long retained their ancient practices 

as regards home-mades, and I can myself recall the time before 

the modern lucifer match and vesta were introduced, fire was produced 

by various simple methods, and when the old gaberlunzie 

man wandered round the country, and the chapman paid his accustomed 

visit to supply jewellery, and such literature as was then 

read, the old cruize lamj) with fish oil and rush which supplied 

the poor flicker of light to permit the maids to spin and the 

hinds to read. 

In the Highland Glens the primitive native arts were continued 

to even a later date than in the Lowlands. This would 

naturally arise fi'om the difliculty of intercomnmnication in consequence 

of the want of roads and sparseness of population. Accordingly 

we find the old manners and customs remaining, and the 

old modes of cultivation being practised long after they had disappeared 

from amongst their more advanced countrymen. It is 

to these practices I would iiow draw your attention to-night, and 

perhaps it may be the simplest way and most instructive if I 

take a glance at a few of the more useful and common arts and 

discuss each in detail. 

Beginning with 1st, dwellings and utensils ; lliul, a rieulture ; 

3rd, food ; 4th, clothing ; 5th luxuries ; and 6th, articles of commerce. 

I cannot expect to exhaust any one of these subjects, but I 

may touch on a few of each. 

The dwelling or shelter naturally comes amongst the first re- 

(piirements of a race, and the implements necessary to procure 

food and clothing.


I ncod not go into tlie very early forms of lake dwellings, 

traces of such being found in almost all the islands, natural and 

artificial, in our lochs under the name of crannogs. Nor shall T 

t )uch on the beehive and eird houses so common in Aberdeenshire 

and Caithness, and into which the early Pict could barely crawl. 

{V>y the way, Pennant says the origin of the name Pict, is from 

Pieteich a Thief—an origin, I daresay, some of you may be inclined 

to disput(.\ Their houses were simply little domes of stone 8 or 10 

feet diameter, into which the native crept and lived in the rudest 

and most primitive fashion. At this stage only the simplest instruments 

were available, such as stone hatchets and hammers, 

Hint arrow heads, bone needles, ifec, yet by means of these and the 

action of tire the ancient savage was able to cut down trees, scoop 

out and form them for canoes, dress stones to form the quern, 

and rubbing stones to bruise and gi-ind the grain and roots for 

food. He was also able to foi*ni a mortar pestal of stone, and by 

tish bones form needles to sew the fibre of various plants and 

hooks wherewith to catch a further supply of fish. 

A little further on and metals came to his aid, and we find 

bronze and iron taking the place of stone implements, and gold 

and silver ornaments coming into use, many of tliem exhibiting 

very high culture and taste. 

When our forefathers took to roofing their dwellings with 

timber instead of stone, the form seems to have been generally 

circular, and we have this type in the hut circles, which, as a 

rule, are just of sutticient diameter to permit the space to be 

covered in by cabers placed on the ground or low turf dyke, and 

to converge at the top into a point, and so far a tent, or like a 

conical house. This would seem to have been the usual form of 

dwelling of the native Briton at the time of the Roman Inva- 

sion, for we find the "Candida Casa" at Whithorn of St Ninian in 

the sixth century much thought of as the first stone and lime 

built whitehouse. 

In England the progress in castle building and also of church 

work was progressive, and culminated in the grand cathedrals and 

castles of the thirteenth century. 

In Scotland the jirogress was not so marked and steady, and 

we have no church work to show older than the eleventh century, 

nor of domestic work anything so early. I would, however, remark, 

that from the beginning of the eleventh century till the 

sixteenth century, Scotland can hold her own with any country 

both in ecclesiastical and baronial architecture. Still alongside 

the srreat advances made in baronial and ecclesiastical architecture


the peasantry lived in rude huts and retained many of their old 

modes of working, and continued to supply themselves with homemade 

stufts, both of food and clothing to an extent, and in a manner 

which it would perhaps be well if our modern natives could 

still to some extent imitate and adhere to. The farm house of 

the last century, and also the cottage of the crofter, was supplied 

with a rude plenty, and a variety both of food and clothing, 

•which, if not so elegant as that of the present day, was in many 

respects more healthy and serviceable for family wants, while the 

mode by which everything was turned to account and rendered 

available for food and clothing, forms an entertaining and useful 

line of study. 

The old farm house kitchen on a winter night of itself gives 

a very perfect picture of what I would like to bring before you, 

and let us for a moment describe it, as T myself can remember one 

nearly half-a-centuiy ago in Forfai-shii-e. The kitchen w-as a stone 

floored apartment, with a large tiieplace, sufficiently capacious 

for a fire of wooden logs, which bui-nt on the heai-th, and to permit 

of one or two sitting alongside it in the recess. Possibly, 

when the farm servants gathered in at night, light would be desirable, 

but there were no candles allowed, except for the ben end 

(that was the portion occupied by the family of a farmer when he 

was of sufficient standing to live apart from the farm servants), 

and how to produce light became the question. In the poorer 

districts the old bog fir was made to do duty, and the Peer man 

had to hold it. Those of ynu who had the pleasure of hearing 

Mr James Linn, of Keith, lecture on Peer men, will recollect his 

very interesting pa^)er and beautiful specimens of stands of iron 

which were made to supersede the Peer man or boy who used to 

hold and replenish the bog fir, or " white candle," when it came 

into use, for it was the good old practice in Aberdeenshire to 

make the beggar, or gaberlunzie man ])ay for his night's quarters 

by keeping the bog fir or candle alight, while others worked or 

amused themselves, and hence the saying of an unsociable person, 

" He'll neither dance nor hand the candle." 

To return to house building, as you no doubt are aware, the crofter 

to this day builds all his own house— it varies in diflerent localities. 

In the Lowlands, the farm labourer's cottage was generally 

built of boulders, or round water-worn stones, and held together 

with clay and straw and plastered inside and out with a smooth 

coating of clay, or in some districts with lime mortar. It was 

roofed with wood rafters more or less manufactured, and the rafters 

again covered with slabs fi-om the nearest saw mill, these in their

O'.ci Highland Industries. 391 

turn overlaid with (li\ ots or sods and linislicd with tliatch of straw. 

The interior was iloored witli beaten clay and divided into two or 

more rooms by a partition of slabs or cabers, the interstices beini^ 

filled in with clay and straw, or in more ambitious cases, wattled 

with hazel and smoothened with clay. The windows were half 

glazed with course glass and the lower half of timbin", with doors 

hinged to open for ventilation. This was the Lowlander's cottage, 

but amongst the hills and on the West Coast the house was still 

more primitive, in these cases the materials had to be used of a 

simpler kind. The walls are ilrystcne, facingoutside and infilled with 

turf in the heart, the roof formed of trees and cabers undressed, and 

roughly fitted as they came to hand. 'J'he construction was also different. 

When a Highlander began to build his house he commenced 

by fixing tl'.e main couples at certain intervals, and the lower portion 

was let into the ground like a post. To the top of these the rafters 

were secured "by a wooden pin and tied across by a tie Ijeam. 

At tlie apex where the rafters met and crossed each other was 

laid longitudinally a long tree or beam, on which the smaller 

cabers or rafters and thatch depended and rested, and hence was 

called the roof-tree, and on it the main security of the fabric depended, 

and displacing the roof-tree was certain to bring the 

whole fabric to the ground, and hence, in the importance of the 

roof tree, and the common and genial toast, " To the Roof-tree," 

no doubt had reference to this important feature in the structure. 

The eli'ect of those old Highland roofs wâs extremely good and 

picturesque, and but few of them now remain ; they are fast disappearing 

before the manufactured timber and slate. The important 

feature of these houses and roofs is that they were entirely 

the work of the natives, and required no foreign or skilled labour 

in their production ; they were entirely the work of the founder, 

who was his own architect and contractor. The cost was in those 

days trifling, the labour not being taken into account ; but, so 

scarce was, and still is, timber on the West Coast, that a crofter 

removing claims and often carries, the roof with him. The 

fire was placed on a stone slab or hearth in the centi'e of the floor, 

and the smoke allowed to find its exit through sundry holes in the 

roof. The result is that a large portion condenses on the rafters of 

the house and forms a rich dark brown varnish, which is utilised 

by the crofter as manure, and I have seen a good picture painted 

with this varnish, the effect much resembling sepia. The custom 

of unroofing annually is still practised, and I have often seen the 

roof lying on the hillside getting washed with the rain. The neighbours, 

on the occasion of a rooting, lend a helping hand, and I


have often seen the roof being removed in the morning and rephvced 

by the evening. 

Tn the Islands, from the greater scarcity of timber, the roof 

and woodwork are still further economised, and stone takes the 

place of timber to a greater extent. In Harris the walls are often 

6 to 8 feet thick, being formed of stone on the outer and inner 

face, the centre being tilled up with moss and sods, while the roof 

is placed on the inner side of the walls, and the great breadth 

forms a rampart on which cattle and children may disport themselves. 

Travelling in Lochabcr on one occasion, I asked what a 

cottage would cost them. The reply was, " Well, it depends on 

the number of couples, but a house could be put up for 50s., but it 

would take £5 to make a right one." 

At the same time as the house was constructed by home 

labour, it was natural that all the furnishings should partake of 

the same primitive character, and accordingly wefinc^ the materials 

at hand were made to serve the ends required by simple home 

manufacture. After the house building, one of the first essentials 

would be cooking utensils, and we find that s simple gricUron and 

pot were indispensable. These were formed of hammered metal, 

and these cauldrons occasionally turn up, mostly of bronze, and 

this may be accounted for by the greater durability and value of 

copper and bronze, and these are always found in ancient examples 

to be of sheets of metal made u|) in pieces and riveted. Many 

specimens of this still exist, but the cast iron pot has entirely superseded 

them in every-day life. The native pottery seems to have 

held its own to a much later date, and the Lewis pottery is well 

known, and in Kilmuir, Skye, the Rev. Mr Macgregor told me he 

had often watched the natives making the craggan for family use. 

Sixty years ago there were in the parish of Kilmuir only three 

teapots, and a single pot represented the entire cooking apparatus 

of a family, in which case the potatoes were boiled in the pot and 

the herrings were placed in the pot over the cooked potatoes, and 

so prepared. 

Dishes of all kinds wei-e scarcely known, and instead thereof 

a square Ijoard above 17 inches across with a rim 3 inches high all 

roiind, called " Clar," served for the dish to hold potatoes and fish, 

and the family seated round a nide table eat their meal from it. Mr 

Macgregor also mentions, tiiat "In many of ihe poorer dwellings 

there was but one horn spoon, which was handed from member to 

member to help themselves in turn." There were but few bowls, 

cups, or dishes of earthenware in these humble dwellings, but many 

of them had wooden cups of various siz(>s which they got froni crews

Old Highland Industries. 

393 

of vos5?cls from the Baltic. They met these vessels in calin weather, 

and ôt planks of wood and dishes of the kind nujiitioned in lieu 

of fresh vegetables which they took on board. 

The people of this district were in the habit of niakini,' large 

pots or jai's of the native clay. These craggans wei-e of various 

sizes, and some of them would contain from three to four imperial 

gallons, but generally they were of smaller size, and made to con- 

tain eight or nine great bottles. 

The clay of which these craggans were made was not found 

in every district, but when found large numbers of these pots or 

craggans were made. 

Îr IMaegi-egor describes the process thus :— " The clay was 

smooth and jilastic, and when required for use it was wrought up 

by the hands for hours together until it was brought to the consistency 

of the putty used by glaziers. When in this state the 

most skilful and tasteful of the family group commenced to form 

the craggan, which they finished in less than two hours' time. The 

first part of it made was the circular bottom, which, like a circular 

cake, they placed upon a broad or Hat stone, always supplying 

themselves from the lump of prepared clay beside them. When 

the bottom was thus formed, they rapidly built upon it all around 

the outer edge to the thickness of about an inch, but careful all 

the time to shape it into the form required. When finished the 

article was coarse, rough, and indented with finger marks, but in 

order to smooth it they scraped it round and round very gently 

with a knife to give it a more seemly appearance. The inside was 

of course left as it was, as there was no access to it. When the 

dish was finished it was put on to a safe place to dry by the heat of 

the sun, and was left in that state for perhaps some weeks, until it 

got properly hard. The next process was to set it in the midst of 

a powerful peat fire in order to burn it, and this step of the manufacture 

frequently ruined the whole concern, in consequence of the 

unequal heat breaking or cracking the vessel. The burning made 

the craggan harder and lighter, and quite ready as a receptacle for 

the family oil. This oil formed an important item in the family 

economy; it was procured from the livers of different kinds offish, 

it was dark in colour, like port wine, but thin and good. TIk; fish 

on arrival were gutted, and the livers were taken out and thrown 

into the pot or craggan, and left there till they melted down into a 

comparatively liquid state. They then set the decayed livers on a 

slow fire to dissolve them completely. In this state they poured 

ofl" the tine oil, put it into a craggan, and threw the refuse on a 

dunghill." 

26


These craggans are still made in the Lewis, and I show a 

specimen, and some cups and saucers. 

Tlie oil was mainly used for lighting the " cruiscan," or lamp, 

and I show you a specimen of the lamp. These lamj^s superseded 

the fir root and in their turn have been superseded by the paraffin 

and modern oil lamps. As you will observe, they are constructed 

with two bowls or spoons, one to hold the oil and wick, the other 

to catch the drip, and by a clever arrangement the upper bowl 

or spoon was made by hooking on to a series of pegs to tilt up as 

the oil was consumed, and so afford a continuous supply of oil to 

the A\ack. 

The mode of producing light was by striking a spark from a 

piece of flint or quartz, which spark falling on a piece of charred 

linen or cotton, set it on fire, and this again was made use of to 

light a rude match made of fir and tippetl with brimstone. 

The making of these matches, or "spunks" as they were 

called, gave occupation in the long evenings to the male part of 

the family, who split up fine pieces of fir, and dipped the ends 

into melted brimstone or sulphur, and thus produced a rude lucifer 

match. Since these " cruiscean" were superseded by the paraffin 

and other lamps, they have been genei'ally reduced to the mean 

use of melting brimstone or sulphur for smoking of bees, and those 

I have recovex'ed were being iised for this purpose by the old 

ladies who kept bees. 

The provision of wicks for these lamps was of some importance, 

and was made of the pith of rushes from the ditches ; and 

I have often as a boy earned a luncheon by gathering and peeling 

these. They were prepared by strijjping off the outer skin, 

and raising by a gentle pressure, the pith in a long piece, very like 

Macaroni ; these were tied in bundles and dried for use. 

Food.— Following up tliese notes on the Domestic Economy 

and Occupation, we naturally come next to the preparation of 

food. Thus we have, say, the meal— Oat and here meal was until 

recently the staple food of the people in Scotland, and the prepara- 

tion of their meal formed an imjiortant industry. Mr ]\Iacgrogor 

mentioned, in the paper before referred to, that he recollected a 

time Avhen loaf or wheaten bread was unknown in Kilmuir. " I 

remember," he says, " when loaves of bread were made at the 

manse for a Communion or Sacramental occasion, when crowds of 

females resorted to the minister's liouse to see the ' aran 

caneach,' that is, the foggy or spongy bread, and on tasting it 

they did not at all relish it, as tliey did not consider it to be at 

all so substantial as their own oaten cakes.


" The mode of preparing the grain for meal varied considerably, 

the most primitive being wliat was called gi-addan meal. 

This was prepared as follows :—The standing oats or l)arley 

having been cut down and brought to a convenient spot, the 

grain is taken in handfuls from the sheaf and held over a pot or 

flat stone and set fire to, and the grain being thus parched and 

dried, the slight teiuli-il is burnt through, anil the grain drops on 

the stone or into the pot. This handful is kept constantly beat 

by a stick to separate the grain more readily from the straw. 

When sufficient grain has been collected, it is stirred about in 

the pot or on the stone till quite diy, it is then fanned, and the 

grain so prepared for the mill." 

I need not describe to you the quern or hand mill; it is well 

known as being composed of two flat stones, the upper one revolving 

on a centre pin and di'iven by hand. The quern has not 

altered in its construction for thousands of years, and I found the 

Bedouin Arabs in Jericho preparing their grain in exactly the 

same way with the quern as I found the girls in Benbecula and 

Harris. It is often referred to in Scripture as the Jews' handmill, 

and no doubt it was a quern which Samson ground on in his 

prison house. 

The manufacture of these mill-stones was of great importance, 

and suitable stones were carried great distances. I liave found in 

the outer Islands many stones, of which tlie only account which 

could be given was, that they were Lochaber stones, and no doubt 

the Margarodite schist of Glenroy is admirably suited t


myself comfortable for the night, hut I vesumod my boots and 

started over the hill, and after stumbling over rocks and bogs 

for a mile or so, we came to the cottage where the operation was 

being carried on. We were just in time. The grain was being 

separated from the straw very much as described by IVIr ^lacgregor, 

and the husks were being taken ott'the grain by stirring the parched 

corn in a pot, the fire still kept burning the grain, and the husking 

and kiln drying were one and tlie same operation. After the grain 

had been thoroughly husked and dried, it was winnowed and ready 

for grinding. The woman who did this took the grains and dropped 

them gently into the centre hole of the upper stone, while she 

turned it with the other hand, and the meal was thrown out round 

the outer rim of the stones. After preparing about a peck of it 

she gathered it up, and with a sieve separated the meal from any 

seeds and impurities. She then proceeded to bake the cake in the 

ordinary way, and when shaped she spread over the upper surface 

some melted sugar and carroway seeds. The baking and firing was 

done in the ordinary way on a flat disc of metal, and when 

sufficiently fired it was cut up and handed round to the members 

of the family and visitors. When warm and fresh, it was very 

palatable, and I enjoyed a portion. Being much interested in the 

custom and operation, I begged a bit of the cake to take home. 

I was presented with a goodly portion, which I brought home on 

trial, and a day or two after my arrival I was describing to some 

friends the opei-ation, and ottered to allow them taste of my fare. 

But I reckoned without my host, for on ordering in the bread I was 

informed by the serving maid that my wife had ordered the precious 

cake to be thrown out to the pigs, it smelt the house so, and I 

must confess that however i)leasing and attractive the cake was 

partaken of in a Highland bothy, fresh, and with all the romance 

of the situation, yet in our refined condition it had lost its sweet- 

ness, and became absolutely ofiensive. So much for our early 

tastes and romantic ideas of Highland life. 

Jamieson, in his work on popular songs and ballads, gives the 

following graphic picture of Highland life in the beginning of the 

present century, and though a little coloured it fairly enough 

describes the amount of home resources of old country life, which, 

alas ! is a thing of the past, and the Highlander now depends too 

much on foreign produce and the regular A'isits of the Glasgow 

steamers for his comforts. He says— " On a very hot day in the 

beginning of autumn, tlie author, when a stripling, was travelling 

afoot over the mountains of Lochaber, from Fort-Augustus to 

Inverness, and when he came to the place where he was to have


breakfasted there was no person at lionie, nor was there any phice 

where refreslnnent was to be had nearer than Dores, which is 

eighteen niih^s from Fort- Augustus. With this disagreea])le jirospect 

he proceeded about tliree miles further, and turned aside to the 

first cottage he saw, where he found a liale looking, lively, tidy, little, 

middle-aged woman spinning wool, with a ])ot on the lire and some 

greens ready to be put into it. She understood no Knglish, and 

his Gaelic was then by no means good, though he spoke it well 

enough to be intelligible. She informed him that she had nothing 

in the house that could be eaten except cheese, a little sour cream, 

and some lohisky. On being asked rather sharply how she could 

dress the greens without meal, she good-humouredly told him 

that there was plenty of meal in the croft, pointing to some unreaped 

barley that stood dead ripe and dry befure the door, and 

if he could wait half-an-hour he should have brose and butter, 

bread and cheese, bread and milk, or anything else that he chose. 

To this he most readily assented, as well on account of the singularity 

of the proposal, as of the necessity of the time ; and the 

good dame set with all possible expedition about her arduous 

undertaking. She first of all broiight him some cream in a bottle, 

telling him, ' He that will not work neither will he eat ; if he 

wished for butter, he must shake that bottle with all his might, 

and sing to it like a mavis all the time; for unless he sung to it no 

butter would come.' She then went to the croft, cut down some 

barley, burnt the straw to dry the grain, rubbed the grain between 

her hands, and threw it up before the wind to separate it from the 

husks ; ground it upon a quem, sifted it, made a bannock of the 

meal, set it up to bake before the fire, and lastly went to milk her 

cow, that was reposing during the heat of the day, and eating some 

outside cabbage leaves ayont the hallau. She sung like a lark 

the whole time, varying the strain according to the employment to 

which it was adapted. In the meanwhile a hen cackled under the 

eaves of the cottage, two new laid eggs were immediately plunged 

into the boiling pot, and in less than half-an-hour the jioor, starv- 

ing, faint and wayworn minstrel, with wonder and delight, sat 

down to a repast that, under such circumstances, would have been 

a feast for a prince." 

The simple mode of preparing meal is still continued, and the 

burning of the grain to remove the ears of corn and get rid of the 

husk was practised in Skye till very recently. 

The meal thus produced was called "graddan" meal, and was 

highly esteemed and sold for several shillings more per boll than 

the ordinary mill-made meal, and the Rev. Mr Macgregor told me


that, in his early clays in Skye, the winter mornings were enlightened 

and enlivened Ijy the appearance of the fires of each family being 

alight preparing the morning food in this manner. "When the 

lairds established regnlar water mills on their estates a few cen- 

turies ago, the millers were empowered by Acts of Parliament to 

search out and break all the quern stones to be found ; and families 

were only allowed to use querns and other means of grinding 

their corn during stormy weather, or such causes as prevented their 

access to the regular mill to which they were thirled. The ganger 

was also a great enemy to the quern, for it was a source of trouble 

to him, by enabling the native to prepare his malt for smuggling, 

an art not altogether unknown in the present day, but rendered 

easier from the removal of the malt duty. 

The Government, kings, lairds, and miller seem to have 

been all combined against the quern from very early times, for not 

only in the following Act passed by King Alexander III. of Scotland, 

viz.:— " That no man shall presume to grinde quheit, maisloch 

or rj'e with hand mills except he be compellit by storm, and be in 

lack of mylnes quhilk should grinde the samen, and in this case 

if a man grindes at hand mylnes, he shall give the throtien measure 

as multer ! and 

if any man contraveins this, our prohibition, he 

shall tyne his hand mills perpetually." Of course this was to 

protect the lairds who had erected water mills, and to enable the 

millers to pay their rents. 

From the quern up to the laird's mill there Avere various 

qualities of mills, and I have seen both in Shetland and in Lewis 

the ui)right wheel at work, and I show you drawings of it. It is 

called a " clappan," from the peculiar noise it makes as the stone I'e- 

volves. The peculiarity, as you will observe, is that the wheel is 

horizontal, and the axle upright, and that the upper stone of the 

mill is fixed to the same axle as the wheel, exactly as if cart 

wheels and axle had been set on one side, one wheel at the water, 

the other at the grindstone. The house must be built over the 

burn of course, so that the motion passes directly to the grinding 

stones. The princij)l(; of the mill is exactly the same as any other. 

It is the peculiar horizontal water wheel which marks it out from 

the ordinary. 

At the same cottage refcrrt'd to at Lochboisdale, I was amused 

watching an old lady of nearly four score preparing her snuflf. 

She took some leaves of ordinary tobacco, and having unrolled 

them and dried them till they were (juite cris]), she put them in a 

bowl, and with the round knob of the tongs she ground them to a 

fine powder, and proceeded to regale herself with a pinch. I was


399 

told that this was not an uncommon way of preparing their snuflf, 

and that they preferred it to the shop snuff from Glastjow, wliich 

they said contained glass, which cut their nostrils and lips. 

In the olden times want of communication and means of transport 

imposed on all our ancestors the necessity of laying up winter 

stores and preparing and preserving food, and at Martinmas the 

meal girnal was fdled, and the mart or cow and other animals 

killed for winter use. 

The preparation and utilisation of all parts of these animals 

for winter use formed no small item in the home industry, and the 

ingenious uses to which all parts of the animal was put and the ingenuity 

it developed, must have been beneficial to the operators. 

Within my own recollection I have seen the animal killed and 

the hams and flesh salted ; 

the fat prepared and made into candles ; 

the white and black puddings i)repared ; the horns converted 

into spoons by the travelling tinkers ; the skin tanned and converted 

into shoes, brogues, sieves for corn, and other articles. All 

these operations required a certain amount of skill and experience, 

and the education of the peasantry in such arts must have prepared 

them, in a singularly suitable manner, to form the best emigrants 

and colonists. 

If I follow up this line a little further, we shall find that the 

making of clothes formed also an impoi'tant factor in house work. 

Throughout the Highlands and in many of the Lowland houses 

in Scotland, till the beginning of the century, almost all the ordinary 

worsteds were prepared for the weaver, as well as the linens, 

and even yet I know of some goodly stock of home-made sheeting 

and linens. 

In the better class the dame had her maids to spin in tlie 

evening round the fire, and in the Highland cottage I have seen 

often the old wife and her daughters busy spinning the wool, but 

this is now exceptional and spasmodic. A few years ago the Harris 

cloth, under the encouragement of the late Countess of Dunmore, 

and other ladies, became fashionable, and considerable quantities 

were forced on the market, but after the novelty had passed away, 

the demand subsided. The manufactui-ers took up the trade, and 

with their superior appliances they produced imitations at a 

cheaper rate, and a more finished article for the cockney consumer. 

The preparation of these cloths formed an important and 

picturesque feature in Highland life, and almost every traveller 

during the Jast century described the process more or less. I 

need not therefore go into details. After the wool was cleared,


carded, and dressed, it was the duty of the females to spin it 

into worsted or threads, and the doing so gave occupation to 

the old and infirm as well as the young, and grannie at the 

spinning wheel has always been a favourite subject for Scottish 

painters and jioets. Tlie distaff was a more ancient form of 

spinning, and had the advantage of being done on the hillside, 

and I have met the girls herding on the hillside and busily 

spinning with the distaff. The working of the distaff is very 

simple and picturesque, viz.—A bundle of wool is held under 

the arm and also a staff about 4- feet long, which is allowed to pro- 

ject in front, and over the projecting end passes the thread of 

worsted. The end hangs down a foot or two, and on a spindle 

is hung the whorl or ring of stone, which is the fly-wheel, and which 

is sjmn round from time to time and twists the wool ; gradually 

the thread is fed out from the store under the arm, and as spun it 

is rolled into a ball above the whorl. In almost all cairns and pre- 

historic dwellings, these whorls are to be found, often made of 

steatite, but any soft stone will suit. 

The preparation of the wool for weaving, and also the dyeing 

of it, was a matter which gave scope for much ingenuity, and I 

have made a list of the different dyes used, which may be interest- 

ing. Now the mineral dyes have superseded the native, wliich 

were as a rule vegetable, but alum, copperas, and urine were used to 

clean the wool and fix the colours. 

Many of tha colours were extremely bright and pretty, though 

it was at all times difficult to produce the bright scarlets of the 

regular dyester, and amongst the home-made cloths we find certain 

quantities of the brightest dyes creeping in from the regular manufacturers. 

The following is, however, a list of such dyes and their 

results as I have been able to procure, viz.: 

Dyes. 

1. Heather, witli Alum Dark Green. 

The Heather must he pulled before flowering, 

and from a durk, shady place. 

2. Ci 0' tie, a coarse kind of Lichen {ParmcUa scixalili^) Philamot — Yellowish 

]5ro\vw (colour 

of a dead leaf). 

3. Crottle Corkir (white and ground, and mixed with 

urine) ( Lecanora (artarea) Scarlet or Crimson. 

4. Common Yell) w Wall lAchcnf PanncUa parietina ) Brown. 

5. \\QQV.\îtih{ii\ ( liamalnia iirojndoruni) Red. 

fi. White Crottle (Lecanora paUc'icrnx) Re'l. 

7. Limestone Lichen ('f7?Tfo/(tîrt calc.arca) Scarlet. 

Used liy the peasantry in linu stone districts 

(Shetland, &c.) 

8. Iârk Crottle (ParmcUa ceratophylla) Brown. 

—

— 


9. 

10. 

Wliin Bark (Furze) 

Dulse, a sea-woed, or 

DVKS. 

Circcn. 

Duilisg, "The leaf of the 

water.' Brown. 

11. "Shillister," (Iris) root Black or Grey. 

12. Alder Black. 

13. 

14. 

Soot (Peat) 

Blaeberry, with Alum or Copperas 

Dirty Yellow 

Blue 

15. Blaeberry, with nut Galls Dark Brown 

16. 

17. 

Blaeberry, with Alum, Verdigris and Sal-Ammoniac Purple Red. 

Elder, with Alum Blue. 

IS. Privet Ripe Berries, with salt Scarlet Red. 

19. Do Green. 

20. "Euonymus," (spindle tiee bui-ning bu.sli), with 

Sal-Ammoniac Purple. 

21. Currant (common burning bush), with Alum Brown. 

22. Apple Tre", Ash, and Buckthorn, also Poplar and 

Elm Yellow. 

23. Broom (Common) Lively Green. 

24. Rue (Galium Veruni), or Ladies' Bed Straw Fine Red. 

25. Roi


aromatic plant. The cairmeal (28) is the orohus tuherosus. A 

fenuented liquor was in olden times made from its tuberous roots, 

after being ground down into meal. 

Logwood and Redwood are much in demand now; but these 

are foreign dyes, though long known and used. I saw a dye 

being made in one case in Jura. The large pot was filled witli 

alder leaves and twigs, from which a black dye is prepared by a 

simple infusion (like tea), and the colour is made fast by the 

addition of logwood and copperas. 

The process of dyeing with vegetable home dyes was—To 

wash the thread thoroughly in urine (long kept, and called in 

Gaelic "fual,") rinsed and washed in pure water, then put 

into the boiling pot of dye, which is kept hard a-boil on the fire. 

The thread is now and again lifted out of the pot on the point of 

a stick, and plunged back again till thoroughly dyed. If blue the 

thread is washed in salt water, any other colour in fresh. The 

yarn is then hung out to dry, and Avhen dry is gathei-ed into balls 

or clews, and it is then ready for the weaver's loom. 

I am able to show you a small bit of tartan, dyed in the 

Highlands 130 years ago, and used ever since; the green being 

purely from the heather, the red possibly from Crottle, No. 3. 

After the wool is spun and dyed, and the weaver has made 

the cloth, comes the waulking or feltiiig of the cloth, which in 

manufactories is done by the waulking mill, formerly formed of 

ponderous wooden hammers which beat the cloth in a damp state 

till the open wove cloth is closely felted together and made a suit- 

able protection against wind and rain. In the Highland districts 

women make use of their feet to produce the same result, and a 

picturcisque sight it is to see a dozen or more Highland lassies set 

round in two rows facing each other. The web of cloth is passed 

round in a damp state, each one pressing and pitching it with a 

dash to her next neighbour, and so the cloth is handled, pushed, 

crushed, and welded as to become close and even in texture. The 

process is slow and tedious, but the ladies know how to beguile 

the time, and the song is passed round, each one taking up the 

^•erse in turn, and all joining in the chorus. The effect is very 

])eculiar and often very pleasing, and the waulking songs are 

very popular in all the collections. 

I have on various occasions watched the waulking process, 

but seldom in recent years. It is often the occasion of a little 

boisterous merriment and practical joking, for, should a member of 

the male sex be found prowling near by, he is, if caught, unceremoniously 

thrust into the centz'e of tlie circle and tossed with the


web till, bruised with the rough usage and blackened witli the dye, 

he is ghul to make his escape from the hands of tlie furies. 

LiNKN.—The growing of lint, which had formed a valuable 

and extensive feature amongst the peasantry, came to an end some 

30 or 40 yeare ago, and, except as an experiment, it is never grown 

now. 

It was introduced some 400 or 500 years ago, and was universally 

cultivated tliroughout Scotland. The first I have an 

account of in this quarter is at Portsoy, where lint was first grown 

in 1490. In 1G86, to promote the use of linen, an Act was passed 

ordaining that no corpse of any person whatsoever be buried in 

any shirt, sheet, or anything else, except in plain linen, the cost 

not exceeding 20 shillings Scots per ell. The nearest deacon or 

elder of the parish, with one or two neighbours, were required to 

see that this was complied with. 

The cultivation of lint or flax became a national industry, and 

lint was grown on almost every farm in Scotland, and it was to 

j)romote the linen trade that the British Linen Company was commenced 

in 1746 —it is now, as you are aware, entirely a banking 

company. Factories were established in every district. We had 

an extensive trade in Inverness, and mills were built at Cromarty, 

Spinningdale, and as far north as Kirkwall and Stornoway. Pennant 

gives a statement of the various quantities manufactured in 

each county and town, and accordingly we find that Inverness, 

when at the height of its prosperity in 1770-71, produced 223,798 

yards, at an average price of 6d. per yard, or a total value of 

£6425. 5s. 2d. I can remember the Citadel buildings and Factory, 

now Albert Place,* tilled with handlooms; but Forfarsliire seems to 

have been the gi-eat seat of this trade in Scotland. In my early days, 

in Forfarshire I used to see the lint grown and steeped in pools, or 

" lint pots" as they were called, and every village and clachan had 

its handloom weaver, and from whom as boys we used to beg a 

bunch of threads, or " thrums," as they were called, to make cords 

and strings, and every old wife span the lint to supply the household 

linen. Much of this old linen still remains in old families, 

and my grandmother's entire family linen was home-made. 

The quality of this linen was very superior, and the beauty 

of the patterns and artistic character of the designs is surprising. 

I have been favoured with some very fine specimens from Mr 

Rodei-ick Maclean, of Ardross. These I show you were gi-own at 

Redcastle and Conan in the years 1810-20, and woven by hand- 

* These latter buildings, I am informed, were used for cotton thread 

spinning—not linen weaving.


loom weavers in Inverness—that from Conan woven by one Macpliail, 

hand-loom weaver, in 1855, he being then about seventy 

years old, and was his last weavings. 

Perhaps the most interesting is a tablecloth lent me by Mrs 

Aitken, which bears the name of Marion Elliot, 1722, and a 

specimen, 1 754, of very fine quality. I might multiply specimens, 

but tLine will not permit. 

Potatoes.—A debate arose after Mr Maclean's paper on 

" Rosskeen," the other evening, on the cultivation of potatoes, and 

as this is an important article of food in the Highlands, I shall 

make a few notes as to the introduction of this valuable and universal 

industry, as it has had a very importar t ettect on the habits 

and mode of life in the Highlands. The potato w;us at tii-st viewed 

with jealousy and dislike, and began to be cultivated with hesitation, 

about its moral character, for it was believed " that some of 

the more uncontrollable passions of human nature were favoured 

by its use." 

It is said potatoes were fii'st introduced into Ireland about 

1585, by Sir Walter Raleigh, and so extensively cultivated there 

that they were a succour to the poor when their cereal crops were 

desti'oyed by the soldiers during the civil war. The exact date 

of the introduction of potatoes seems uncertain, for Martin in his 

"Western Isles" says that in 1689 potatoes were the common food 

of the people in Skye. From Ireland they were introduced into 

England about the end of the 17th century, and sold in 1694 

at 6d. and 8d. per pound. They were first heard of in Scotland 

in 1701, and the Duchess of Buccleuch's household book mentions 

the esculent as brought from Edinburgh, and costing 2s. 6d. 

a peck. In 1733 it began to be cultivated in gardens. According 

to Chambers's "Domestic Annals," the field culture of the 

potatoes was first practised in the county of Edinburgh by a 

man Henry Prentice in 1746. Parker says:— "Potatoes were 

introduced into Uist in 1743. In the spring of that year Clan 

Ranald was in Ireland, and saw witli surprise and approbation 

the practice of the country, and brought home a cargo ot potatoes. 

On his arrival the servants were convened, and directions given 

how to plant them, but they all refused, and were immediately 

committed to prison. After a time they gave way, and agreed 

to plant these roots. When ripe, many of the tenants laid these 

potatoes at the laird's door, saying, ' I he laird might order them 

to plant these foolish roots, but he could not make them eat 

them.' " It was ten years latei- before they reached Barra. Some 

doubt on this story is raised by the fact that Martin in his


description of the Western Isles says that in 1689 they were the 

ordinary food of the couunon people in Skye at that date. 

Kelp. - One of the most important industries was Kelp. From 

the eighteenth century, kelp was the great sta})le of Highland export, 

and during the war in the beginning of the century, the kelp 

stores yielded over 5000 tons of kelp, at the average price in tlie 

market of £16 per ton, yielding not less than X80,000, exceeding 

five times the rent of the thirty thousand acres of Hebridean arable 

land. 

Since the introduction of Spanish barilla and other substitutes, 

kelp fell in price from two-thirds to one-third of the former 

average, but as it is manufactured at a cost only of from £3 to 

£4 per ton, it is still produced in the Hebrides, and along the 

West Coast of Scotland. 

Mr A[acleod, the late proprietor of Harris, in a letter to Lord 

Glenelg, then Secretary of State, dated April 10th, 1829, says : 

" The production of and manufacture of kelp, which has existed 

more than 200 years, had for a gi-eat length of time received a 

vigilant and special protection against the articles of foreign or 

British growth or manufacture, which compete with it in the 

mai-ket, namely, barilla, pot and pearl ash, and black ash, the last 

of which is formed by the decomposition of salt, effected chiefly by 

the use of foreign sulphur, which sulphur forms three-fourths of 

the value of the manufactured alkali." 

Up to the year 1822, considerable duties were leviable on all 

the commodities just enumerated, Vjut in that year the duty on salt 

was lowered from 15s. to 2s. a bushel. Shortly afterwards the impost 

on barilla was considerably reduced. This measure was 

quickly succeeded by a repeal of the remainder of the salt duties 

(duties which had lasted more than 130 years), and of the duty on 

alkali made from salt. Close upon this followed a considerable reduction 

in the duty on pot and pearl ash, and an entire removal of 

that on ashes from Canada, and this last step was accompanied by a 

diminution in the duty on foreign sulphur from £15 to 10s. a ton. 

Such is the succession of the measures which now threatens the 

total extinction of the kelp manufacture, and with it (in reference 

to Scotland alone) the ruin of the landed proprietors in the 

Hebrides and on the West Coast, the most serious injury to all 

descriptions of annuitants on kelp estates, and the destitution of a 

population of more than 50,000 souls. Mr Bowie, in his evidence 

before the Select Committee on Emigration in February 1871, says 

— " I know one estate where formerly 1 100 tons of kelp were manufactured 

annually, another where 1200 tons were manufactured 

— 

105


annually; and assuming that the price got at market was only 

£15 a ton, taking the expense of manufacturing and conveying to 

market at £3, we had there a profit of £12 a ton ; so in the one 

case we should have a profit to the proprietors of £13,200 a year, 

and in the other case a profit of £14,400, and this independent of 

the land rental. But the whole of that kelp rental has vanished, 

the proprietors are reduced to their nominal land rental, and 

while so reduced to their land rental they have thrown upon theii* 

hands a large surplus population, whom they cannot assist, and 

for whom they have not the means of employment." 

The mode of manufacturing kelp I shall describe, as it is, 

though often referred to, little known beyond the shores where it 

is collected and manufactured. 

It is a very interesting sight on a fine summer day to see the 

little groups of busy men and women along the shores collecting 

and keeping alight the dried sea weed, and the smoke rising high 

in the air, or drifting in picturesque clouds across the hillocks, forms 

a sight to be long remembered, whilst the odour of iodine strongly 

taints the air, and the pungent fiavour is not unpleasing. 

About the year 1862 the British Sea Weed Company, Limited, 

built chemical works at Dalmuir, near Glasgow, and took a lease 

of the North Uist shores from Sir John Orde, paying as a Royalty 

£1000 a year, for the right of getting all the kelp made on tlie 

North Uist shores. 

In 18G5 over 1200 tons were made in North Uist and shipped 

to Glasgow; the price paid to crofters and cottars was from 35s. 

to G3s. per ton. For the following eight years the average amount 

of kelp made in North Uist wjis about 900 tons. 

On the east side of North Uist there is a number of bays 

and islands, round which a great quantity of what they call cut or 

black sea weed grows on the inshore rocks and stones. 

The weed is cut once in three years, that is to say, the part of 

shore cut this year will not be cut again for three years, so as 

to allow the weed to grow to a full ripe crop. 

The crofters and cottars remove from their homes to the stores 

of these bays and islands and live in sheilings during kelp making, 

generally from 15th June till loth August. 

The first thing to be done is to roof the old sheiling and nuike 

it as comfortable as j)ossible for from four to six people to live in 

for two months. When the tide is out, the weed is cut from the 

rocks and stones with a common corn hook; they take a heather 

rope and warp it all round with sea weed, and stretch it outsiile 

where they are cutting the sea weed. When the tide comes in.


the rope and sea weed float, and at liigli water they drag at both 

ends of tlie rope and pull it ashore, witli the sea weed enclosed, as 

salmon lishers do when dragging for salmon in the River Ness. 

When the tide goes back from the weed that is thus taken 

ashore, the weed is put into creels on horses' backs, and sometimes 

on men and women's backs, and spread on the grass to dry, and 

treated as hay is treated, until it is dry enough to burn. 

When ready for l)ui-ning, say a quantity to make a ton of 

kelp, a trench is formed, which is called a kiln, 12 to 24 feet, by 2 

feet G inches by 2 feet deep, the sides and ends formed witli stones, 

the bottom having a layer of turf. The weed is set aburning by a 

little straw or heather; the weed has to be kept on constantly to 

keep down the flame as much as possible, and exclude the air from 

the burning mass inside. 

The heat is intense during the four to eight hours' burning. 

Men and women do the burning ; some woni(;n are better burners 

than men. When the kiln is full of burning sea weed, two or 

three strong men rake, mix and pound the whole mass together 

with iron clubs, having long handles. When this is done, the 

kiln is covered over with sea weed and stones to keep the kelp 

dry. In twenty-four hours, although still hot, it can be broken 

into large lumps and shipped, if a vessel is waiting. The kelp 

is weighed by the kelp otficer on board the ship, 22^ cwt. to the 

ton. This extra 2^ cwt. is put on for stones, sand, or gravel, 

which sometimes find their way into the kelp, and not always 

unknown to the helper, especially in Ireland; lately 20 cwt. per 

ton is the rule. 

Drift or red weed comes ashore on the west or Atlantic side 

of the Islands, during the whole year. In winter the farmers and 

crofters use it for manuring their land, from June till October. 

It is made into kelp, when there is demand for it. During the 

last five years there has been little demand for kelp. 

The red weed is 50 per cent, more valuable than the cut weed 

for producing Bromide of Potassium, Iodine, Iodide, Potash, 

Salts, kc, (tc. 

The best red weed kelp will produce 20 lbs. of Iodine per ton, 

cut or black weed from 3 to 8 lbs. 

The principal places where kelp is now got from is— Donegal, 

Sligo, Gal way, and Clare, in Ireland ; Orkney, North and South 

Uist, Barra, and Tyree. There is no cut weed kelp made in Ireland, 

all being drift. The price in Ireland is from £4 to £2 

per ton. 

Ropes.— I shall now refer to a few specimens of native ingen-


uity—specimens of which, by the kindness of a few friends, I am 

able to show you. The first is a specimen of rope made from the 

long fibrous roots of the bog fir which grow in the bogs. The gentleman, 

Mr Robertson of Portree, who piocured it for me, said his 

attention was attracted to it one day by observing that, when a 

boat from Rona, moored by it, at the Portree Pier, was blown away 

by the wind, the rope never sank, like a manilla rope, but floated 

by its own buoyancy. These ropes possess great strength, and are 

thoroughly serviceable. The root is split up into long thread-like 

fibres, and then spun like ordinary hemp, and might readily be 

mistaken at first sight for a manilla rope. 

Locks.—By the kindness of Mr L. Ross, Portree, I am able to 

show you two specimens of old-fashioned locks, which are exceedingly 

ingenious, and possess tumblers and all the leading featuroK of a 

patent tumbler lock. I tried to get an old lock, but they ara not 

to be had, but I have been fortunate enough to find a meclianic 

who could make them. These locks are in common use in St 

Kilda, and I found them on all the barns and byres, though of less 

perfect construction than the s})ecimen shown. 

Clocks.—The next is a wooden clock made entirely of beechwood; 

all the wheels and cogs are of wood, except wdiere for axles 

and escapement a small amount of steel and brass are introduced, 

and these seem to be bits of ordinaiy stocking wire. 

It has been kindly lent me by Mr William Sutherland, of 

Lochcarron, and he says it belonged to his great-grandmother, and 

was brought by her from Fairburn, in the parish of Urray. 

says— 

" I remember the clock very well in my father's house. 

He 

It 

kept excellent time. It had a dial of wood, also hour and minute 

hands of carved wood. The clock must be at least 150 years old. 

If I had taken an interest 

out the maker's name." 

in it when a boy, I might have found 

BuoGUES. —The making of brogues was a matter of some 

importance, and it was not unusual before starting on a journey 

to sit down and make the brogues. These were simply rougli 

leather uppers sewed to the soles without welts, or strips of leather 

which in our modern shoes are considered necessai-y for attaching 

the soles to the upper leather, and which enables the shoemaker to 

produce the elegant and highly-finished articles now made. 

The old brogue maker began by sewing the sole on to the 

upper leather (which he had previously shaped) by means of along 

thong of leather, and when he had done so, he turned the shoe, 

while still soft, outside in, thus concealing the sewing, and pi'oducing 

the finished article. These brogues were not meant to be

Old Highlnrd Industries. 409 

water-tight, but simply as a protection, and their duration was 

not great. 

They are now ahnost extinct, and T liad great difficulty in getting 

a specimen. I am indebted to Mr Macphail, Glenmore, Skye, 

and Mr J. i\racallum, Fort-William, for the specimen now shewn. 

A still more primitive kind of shoe is still used in Shetland, 

namely, the " rivelan." It is, as you will see, a piece of untanned 

leather, 'aken while still flexible, and tied round to the shape of 

the foot, and then allowed to harden. A lace of cord is then 

introduced round the upper edge, and so the shoe is held on. It 

is a curious contrast to see the women working in the peat bogs, 

one half of them clad in modern Indiarubber goloshes, the other 

half in native rivelans. The specimens shown were prepared, and 

worn into shape by a young lady at Scalloway, and cost me 2s Gd. 

The p('oi)le in the outlying districts had to provide themselves 

with most of their utensils, and necessity made them handy and expert 

in many trades, and the custom still obtains of assisting the 

village craftsman. I was struck with this in Jura, for on entering 

one of the cottages I saw the occupant dropping burning peat 

through a small hole 3 or 4 inches in diameter. On asking what 

was the object of this, I was informed he was making peat charcoal. 

I examined the process and found that l)elow this hole was 

a small chamber about 2 feet in diameter, built of stones about 20 

inches deep, and covered with a flat stone very much like the upper 

stone of a quern. 

The peats are burned to a red heat in the open fire and then 

dropped in all aglow through the small hole referred to, and when 

the chamber is quite full sods are placed over the hole to exclude 

the air, and so the charcoal is })repared. This charcoal is used l^y 

the clachan blacksmith, and is said to greatly improve the quality 

of iron. It is not so powerful as coal but answers the purpose otherwise 

very well. The arrangement with the smith is peculiar. 

There were twelve tenants in the clachan or club farm, and each 

pays the smith 15s. per annum for his work, the smith being 

bound on his part to do all jobbing for the tenants. The crofters 

must each pi'ovide and bring his own fuel, blow the bellows and 

work the forehammer. 

In this same clachan, I saw a peculiar kind of pigsty, made 

by building a hollow peat stack against the gable of the house in 

the autumn. Into this hollow, which is capable of accommodating 

three pigs, the young porkers are thrust inside, where they stay 

over winter. Meanwhile the stack is being gradually reduced, and 

by the time the peat is consumed, the pigs are fit for the market. 

27

ilO Gaelic Society of Inverness. 

Drixks.— Of the early beverages of the Highlanders little is 

known. Whey was their common drink, but tradition says that 

a kind of ale was made from the heather, a punch from the mountain 

ash, and mead from honey. Boethius says, — '' Drinks were 

distilled from thyme, mint, and anise." The heather ale was from 

the tops in bloom, which contained a large amount of honey, being 

out, steeped and boiled, and fermented. Honey was also boiled 

with water, and fermented ; and though it is often said the art is 

lost, " Nether-Lochaber" told me he had seen and drunk heather 

ale in Rannoch as late as 1840. While a liquor is got by tapping 

the silver birch—and this is practised at the })resent time 

it is sometimes fortified by spirits, and when kept resembles cider. 

The roots of the " Orobus Tuberosus," the Oor-meil or Carrael 

of the Highlanders, was used for chewing to remove the feeling of 

hunger, and a fermented liquor was also made from it. 

Wine was also made from currant and elder flower. I have 

tasted some red currant wine over 60 years' old, ver^ good and 

strong, although I was assured, on the most reliable evidence, no 

spirit was ever put into it. 

I had written an account of whisky as known to the ancients, 

but I find that Mr. Macdonald, of Dingwall, has so fully gone 

into the question in a former paper, that it would only be repeating 

what has already been thoroughly done by him. I shall, 

therefore, content myself with one or two remarks on this subject, 

as applicable to Scotland and the Highlands. 

Until the close of last century whisky was less used than 

rum and brandy, which were Ian led on the West Coast, aud 

thence conveyed over the interior ; indeed, it was not till the 

beginning of the last century that spirits of any kind were so 

much drunk as ale, vvhich was formerly the universal beverage. 

French wines and bi-andy succeeded the general use of ales 

among the gentry. 

It is said that in the seventeenth and the early part of the 

eighteenth century " Inverness enjoyed almost a monopoly in the 

art and practice of malting, and supplied all the Northern counties. 

One half of the aggregate architecture of the town was a huge and 

unsightly agglomeration of malting houses, kilns and granaries, 

but from the date of the Revolution onward, this trade suflcred a 

gradual decline ; and at one time it threatened to involve the 

whole interests of the community in its fall. So low had the 

times sunk even at the date of the Civil War of 1715-46, that it 

looked almost lik(i a field of ruins the very centre of it containing 

many for.saken and dilapidateil houses." 

—

Old Highland Industries. HI 

"Whisky house is a term, till recently, almost unknown in 

Gaelic. Public houses were called Tit^h-leanna, that is ale houses, 

and had whisky been the ct)mm(>n drink of two hundred years 

ago, there certainly would have been some notice taken of it in 

the laws aftecting the Highlands, the accounts of society as 

it then e\'isted, and mor(! particularly in their songs, tales, and accounts 

of convivial meetings which have come down to us; but 

there is no such thing, while the allusion to ale is very common. 

It is true among the gentry that the latter three-fcurths of the last 

century saw a marked increase of the use of French wines, and 

ale became less used. 

It is not ditiicult to .seek and lind the causes for the introduction 

of whisky into the Highlands, apart from Government 

encouragement. The gradual improvement of agricultuie produced 

more grain, particularly barley, than was required for the 

consumption of the country, much of the crops were reaped in a 

damp and unripe state, and there being no roads it could not be 

conveyed to the Lowdands, where the manufacture of whisky was 

largely carried on, in a state such as to enable the farmer to pay 

to his landloid a gradually inci'easing rent. 

By Act of Parliament the Highland district was marked out 

by an arV)itrary and imaginary line running at the base of the 

Grampians. North of this area no distillation was allowed, 

except from stills contaiiiing 500 gallons, and this, as a matter of 

course, was a complete interdict against the use of barley legally 

within the area, as there was neither consumption for the grain 

nor disposal of the produce, as one still in a few mouths would 

have worked up the whole cro[Js. However, distillation was the 

easie.st way of disposing of it. The people thus were forced into 

illegal distillation in order that they might use their crops, keep 

credit with their landlords, and acquire the more expensive 

necessaries for their families, which an improving state of society 

demanded. 

From the ill judged acts of the Government proceeded illegal distillation, 

and all its subordinate results to the people in the country. 

"We mu.-st distinguish between fermentation and distillation. 

Fermented liquors seem to have been known, common to all races, 

but the first distinct account of distillation, was spirit distilled 

from wine in the 1 3th century. A.t this time Raymond Lully 

of Majorca regarded it as an emanation from the divinity newly 

revealed to man, but hidden from antiquity because the human 

i"ace was too young to use the Vjeverage. The discovery was 

supposed to indicate the end of the world and the consumation


of all things. The liquor was called aqua A-ita>. This spirit was 

inipf)rtod into this country soon after, and its manufacture encouraged 

by Government, with a view to prevent the large export of 

money for French and Dutch spii-its, and in 1695 the Scottish 

Parliament forbade the use of rum as interfering with the " Consumpt 

of strong waters made of malt," and because "the article 

(rum) was rather a drug than a liijuor, and prejudicial to the health 

of all who drank it." 

The common drink of the people till about 1725 was a light 

ale, which sold in pints (equal to two Rnglish quarts), for l!d., and 

hence the name "twopenny." At this time 6d. per bushel of a 

malt tax was imposed, and the Edinburgh brewers struck, and a 

riot took place. The "twopenny" grew scarce, and several of the 

brewers were incarcerated in the Canongate Tolbooth, for not 

exerting themselves to continue the trade of brewing. Fortunately 

they thought better of it and resumed work. 

In Inverness, from 1730 till 17G0, the price of wine was, 

for claret, sherry, and port 14s. to 20s. per dozen. 

Smuggled brandy, claret, and tea wêre common, V)ut in 1744 

the Town Council entered strong protests against them, as, they 

said, " they threatened to destroy the health and morals of the 

people," and the Oouncillors bound themselves to discontinue the 

use of these "extravagant and pernicious commodities in their 

own families." 

In 1761, a Dutch merchantman of 250 tons, loaded with 

wines, brandy, spices, iron, and salt was cast ashore on the coast 

of Strathnaver ; all the country Hocked round, and not knowing 

the strength ot brandy and such foreign liquor, drank to excess of 

it, and it is said that this very ship's lading debauched Caithness 

and Strathnaver to that degree that very many lost their lives 

through their immoderation (see CD. A. Annals, page 103). 

In 1652 a representation to Queen Mary was made i-egarding 

the poverty of the Preshytr rian Clergy. They fây " Most of them 

led a beggar's life ;" and in the proceedings of the General Assembly 

1576, they were compelled to eke out their stijjcnds by 

selling ale, and the question formally put was, " "Whether a minister 

or reader may tap ale, beei', or wine, and keep an open 

tavern V to which it was answered, " Any minister or reader that 

taps ale, or beer, or wine, and keeps an open tavern, should be 

exhorted by the Connnissioners to keep decorum." 

In the Glasgow Town Accounts whisky figures as early as 

1573, under the name of aqua vita', the quart being charged at 

24s., as " The Magistrates and divers honest men " did occasion-

Old Highland Industries 413 

ally treat themselves to a dijune, but this was after the completion 

of some public business, tending to the honour and profit of 

the common weal. 

In 1G97 claret sold at lOd. the mutchkin. 

In 1720 the Edinburgh prices were: —Neat claret, lOd. ; 

strong claret. Is. 3d. ; and white wine, Is. per bottle. 

It has been said no record exists of a honie manufacture of 

whisky till 1708, but this does not seem quite correct, and 

Inverness seems to have been well ahead of the times, for in the 

Town Council books of 1650, the Council ordered three gallons of 

the best aqua vita^ to be distilled, and si.\ pairs of the best white 

plaids to be made and sent South, to be bestowed, by the Town's 

Commissioner in Parliament, on such as he may think proper. 

An amusing conversation is recorded between Dr Johnson 

and Boswell, when in Skye, regarding the drink of the Scots. 

Johnson asserted " That they (the Scots) had hardly any trade, 

any money, or any elegance before the Union. AVe have taught 

you (said he) and will do the same, in time, to all barbarous 

nations." Boswell said— " We had wine before the Union." 

Johnson— " No, sir ; you had some stuff, the refuse of France, 

which would not make you di'unk." Boswell— " I assure you, sir, 

there was a great deal of drunkenness." Johnson— " No, sir 

there were people who died of dropsies, which they contracted, 

trying to get drunk." 

In 1708 about 50,0(iO gallons of whisky were produced, and 

the production went up in 1756 to -433,000 gallons. Shortly after 

this a demand for Scotch whisky sprang up in England, and in 

1776 an import duty of 2s. 6d. per gallon was imposed on all spirits 

sent into England. Here, I think, was another cause of smuggling, 

and it is stated by a recent writer that in that year 300,000 

gallons crossed the Border. Of course, as the restrictions on 

licensed distillers were increased, the temptations were greater to 

the smuggler, and a bill was passed in 1823, sanctioning legal 

distillation at 2s. 6d. per gallon, the Highland proprietors agreeing 

to put down illegal manufactures. Since then the practice has 

gradually declined. Though we speak of Highland smuggling, 

it was by no means confined to the Highlands, though it has 

lingered there longest ; for in Edinburgh in 1777 there were 8 

licenced stills, and about 800 unlicenced. 

Ferintosh smuggling was well known and long practised in 

the district, and much more whisky seemed to come from the dis- 

rict than could well be made. The privilege arose from the losses 

sustained by the Culloden famUy in 1689-90, estimated at 

;


.£49,400. 6s. 8cl. Scot. King William III. gave the family, 

instead of money, the perpetual privilege of distilling from grain 

raised on the estate for a small composition in lieu of excise. 

It was known much abroad, and one author says it produced as 

much whisky as all Scotland put together, and the licence was 

withdrawn in 1785, and a compen.sation of £21,500 paid. The 

greatest sufferers were the Ding^vall lawyers, whose business and 

support mainly depended on defending smugglers and redding 

quarrels from that district. 

Time will not permit me to refer at length to all the occupations 

of the Highlander, and his various devices for |)roviding for 

his daily wants. The merchant and commercial traveller provides 

him with cheaper articles if not so good ; but I think his life has 

lost much of its pictui-esqueness, and his ingenuity and readyhandedness 

seems in a large measure gone or in abeyance. In 

these olden times there was ever ready at hand light, agreeable 

tasks to fill up his time. His long evenings were taken up making 

his brogues, a lock, ropes, fishing tackle, and hunting gear. 

Now everything is purchased, and when not actually engaged in 

regular employment, the Highlander spends his time in idling 

about his doors, or the useless and delusive task of discussing 

politics, his rights and his wrongs, which, by the way, in mj ex- 

perience, he knows far better than his duties. The result of all 

this is that the Highlanders of the West Coast do little for their 

own comfort, and it is consistent with my own knowledge that the 

amount of food and luxuries brought into the Islands is far in 

excess of what they Nvei-e 30 years ago, and that the natives 

seem to make less use of the articles ready to hand than they 

formerly did. For instance, a Highlander does not kill his pig 

and cure it for his family, using all the portions to the 

best advantage. He sells it cheap and imports cui-ed hams 

at a high rate. He does not use his poultry, but sells all his eggs 

by V>arter to little merchants, and purchases tea and sugar and 

coffee to use in his family instead. He does not make soup and 

cook the shellfish so plentiful on the coast, but exports them for, 

after all, a small return, and I cannot regard it as a good sign of 

the times, when everything is imported and little done at home. 

For instance, in the case of the rope made of the moss roots, it 

was a substantial article, and sufficiently good for its purpose, and 

when asked why he did not always make and use such, his reply 

was, " Ach, it's too much bother, we can buy a hemp one easier." 

No doubt this is true, but is it wise? During the long winter 

nights, the time wasted might be profitably occupied by these

— 

Old Ecclesiastical Records of Badencch. 415 

homo-mades, but I fear the inclination is gone, and tlie agitation 

which has been carried on for the last few years has tendofl 

to put a stop to these useful and economical occupations. 

much 

At no time does tlie Highlander ever seem to haô had great 

artistic instincts, oiu; seldom sees a bit of ornamentation or carving, 

or any attempt at drawing. 

Occasionally the handle of a dirk or a walking-stick with a 

big crook is manufactured, but such articles of artistic merit as the 

Swiss mountaineer makes in the long winter nights in his Alpine 

not that the 

village, are foreign to the instincts of the Highlander ; 

skill and ingenuity are altogether wanting, l)ut the mind has been 

turned fi'om it. An active, roving life better suits the Celt, and 

the precarious life of a fisherman, in lieu of the liunt'-r's, pleases 

him better than the drudgery of agriculture and spade labour, and 

even the dangerous and risky occupation of smuggling has gi-eater** 

charms for some of them than iiny regular employment in the long 

winter nights. 

I would not wish to be understood as saying that the Scottish 

Highlander wants the aptitude for adapting himself to his situation, 

nor th(^ capacity of turning anything he requires to account. 

I have shown the contrary in the foregoing notes ; but I think 

the cessation of home work and home-made appliances has rendered 

him too dependent on foreign aid, and led him to look for 

outside support, when he ought to be able to help himself, and 

to turn to his us-^s and comfort much that lies ready to hand, and 

which would save him actual outlay of money, and add much to 

his comfort and pleasure. 

5th May 1886. 

On this date (being the concluding meeting of the Session), 

Paul Liot Bankes of lietterewe, was elected a life member of the 

Society, while Alexander Machardy, chief constable of Invernessshire 

; R. J. Macl)eth, 42 Union Street, Inverness ; Rev. John 

Cameron, R.C., Dornie, Kintail ; John Fraser, 57 High Street, 

Inverness; and Hugh Bannerman, 213 Lord Street, Sou thport, 

were elected ordinary members. Thereafter, the Secretary read 

the following paper by Mr Alexander Macpherson, solicitor, 

Kingussie : 

GLEANINGS FROM THE OLD ECCLESIASTICAL 

RECORDS OF BADENOCH. 

Part I. 

In these times of never-ending ecclesiastical and political


controversies and conflicts, giving rise to such unrest in oui' everyday 

life, one not unfrequently hears long-drawn sighs for the 

" Good old Times" to which no particular epoch has yet been positively 

assigned. Amid the microscopical distinctions so unhappily 

prevailing in our Presbyterian Churches, and the wranglings and 

strife of rival factions, " the spirit of love and of a sound mind "—to 

use the words of the large-hearted Christian leader, so recently 

taken from us— " is often drowned in the uproar of ecclesiastical 

passion." It would, I believe, be productive of the most beneficial 

results in our religious as well as in our political life if, combined 

with the "sweet reasonableness" and large tolei-ance of spirit 

which so pre-eannently characterised Principal Tulloch, we had 

more of such plain honest speaking as that of the great reformer, 

John Knox, who learned, as he himself says, " to call wickedness 

by its own terms—a fig a tig ; a spade a spade." But the so- 

called " March of Civilisation " has changed the whole current of 

our social and religious life, and afi'ected the si)irit of the age to 

such an extent that it may be reasonably doubted whether the 

most orthodox and constitutional Presbyterian in the Highlands 

would now submit to the administration of discipline to which, in 

days gone by, the Kirk-Sessions of Badenoch, without respect of 

persons, so rigorously subjected the wandering sheep of their 

flocks. 

Knox's system of Church discipline has been described as a 

theocracy of such an almost perfect character, that under it the 

Kirk-Sessions of the Church looked after the life and conduct of 

their parishioners so carefully that in ICoO Kirkton, the historian, 

was able to say—" No scandalous person could live, no scandal 

could be concealed in all Scotland, so strict a correspondence was 

there between the Ministers and their congregations." The old 

Church annals of Badenoch contain in this respect abundant evidence 

of the extent to which the Ministers and Elders of byegone 

times in the Highlands acted as ecclesiastical detectives in the 

way of discovering and discouraging " the works of darkness," and 

the gleanings which follow give some indication of the remarkable 

powers exercised for such a long pei'iod by the Courts of the Church. 

These gleanings have been extracted from the old Kirk-Session 

Records of the parishes of Kingussie, Alvie, and Laggan, comprising 

the whole of the extensive district, distinguished by the general 

appellation of Badenoch—so long held and despotically ruled by 

the once powerful family of the Comyns—extending from Corryarrick 

on the west, to Craigellachie, near Aviemore, in the east 

a distance of about forty-tive miles. 

—

Old Ecclesiastical Records of Badenoch. 117 

So early as 1597 a deputation appears to have been appointed 

by the General Assembly to visit the northern Highlands, and in 

a report subsequently presented by the deputation to the Assembly, 

James Melvin (one of their number) states as the results of his 

own observations in the wild and then almost inaccessible district 

of Badenoch. " Indeid, I have ever sensyne regrated the esteat 

of our Hielinds, and am sure gif Cluyst war pretched amang 

them they wald scham monie Lawland professours"—a prediction 

which, if any fearless, independent member of the "Highland 

Host " would ventui'e, after the manner of the old covenanting, 

trumpet-tongued lady-friend of Norman Macleod, simply to ask 

certain Lawland " Principals as well as Professours," to Gang 

ower the fundamentals—might probably beheld to be verified even 

in the present day. 

According to Shaw, the historian of "The Province of IMoray," 

Kingussie was a parsonage dedicated to St Colum (Columba), and 

Insh a vicarage dedicated to St Ewan. " How early", says 

Shaw, " these parishes were united 1 lind not." Insh was erected 

as a Parliamentary Church, declared to be a quoad sacra parish 

by the General Assembly in 1833, and erected as such by the Court 

of Teinds in 1 869. The village of Kingussie occupies the precints of 

the ancient Priory founded by George, Earl of Huntly about the year 

1490, and traces of the Chapel of the Monastery are still to be seen 

in the old Church-yard behind the village. "There were," as stated 

by Shaw, " Chapels at Invertromie and Noid, and Brigida's Chapel 

at Benchar." 

The existing Records of the Parish of Kingussie and Insh 

date back to the induction of the Rev. William Blair as minister 

of the Parish in September 1721. There is an unfortunate gap 

from 2oth June 1732, to l-jth June 1746, in regard to which there 

is an explanatory memorandum inserted to the effect "that through 

thefrequent changes of Session Clerks, many confusions, defects, and 

disorders have happened in the Minuts. The Minuts in Mr John 

Macpherson's time, who dyed at Aberdeen, are lost, and also the 

Minuts in time of Mr John Grant, schoolmaster and Session Clei-k." 

The glimpses whichtheKirk-Session Records furnish of the religious 

and social state of the Highlands during the last century, are such 

as may, after all, tend to make the sighs for the so-called " Good 

old Times" less deep, and render us somewdiat more contented 

with the times in which wo now live. One of the most striking 

features of these Records is the bui'ning zeal which appears t(j 

have animated the Ministers and Eldei-s of the time in ferreting 

out and chronicling the most minute particulars bearing upon the


wanderings of the erring slieej) of the Kingussie fold. In numerous 

instances several closely- written pages are devoted to the 

narration of a single case of discipline. Many of the details recorded 

are such as would not certainly be legarded in the present 

day as tending to editication, and only such gleanings are given 

as are of general interest in the way of illustrating the manners and 

customs prevailing among the Highland people, down in the case 

of so lie parishes even to the third or fourth decade of the present 

century. 

It would appear that there were black sheep calling for the 

exercise of ecclesiastical discipline in those days even among the 

"Ministers' men." At the Session Meeting on 21st March 1725, 

"John Macdonald, in Kingussie,' was appointed to make "public 

satisfaction " for drinking a whole Fabbath night till ten o'clock 

next morning, and " caballing" with other men and "some women" 

in the Minister's house, "the Minister being that day in the parish 

of Insh." Apparently the too-trustful Minister had in his temporary 

absence, left all his belongings under John's charge, and the 

"caballers," it is recorded, not only consumed ?11 the aquavitae in 

the Ministers house " at ye time," but also " four pints aquavitie, 

carried out of William Frasers house." John maintained that 

" they had but three chapins aquavitie,'' and boldly defended " the 

innocency of theii meeting by their not being drunk as he alledges." 

Proving anything liut obsequious to the appointment of the Ses- 

sion, John, as " the ringleader of the cabal," was solemnly referred 

to the Presbytery of the bounds for contumacy. The Presbytery 

in turn remitted him back to the Session, " to satisfie according to 

their appointment, otherwise be charged before the Comissary and 

be punished in his Person and Goods, in case of not satisfying for 

his prophanation of the Lord's day, and insnaring oyrs forsaid to 

ye same sin." The crest-fallen John had perforce no escape for it 

in the end, but humbly to stand before the congregation and be 

" severly rebuked for his wickedness." 

Here is a singular enactment by the Kingussie Session anent 

"JPennie Weddings," which appear to have been prevalent in 

Badenoch down even to within living memory : 

^' April Ath 1725.—The Session enacts that nocoupplebe matrimonially 

contracted within tlie united parishes of Kingussie and 

Insh till they give in into the hands of the Session Clerk 3 lbs. 

Scots or a white plaid, or any other like penniuHortli, worth 3 lbs. 

Scots as pledge that they should not have pennie weddings, otherwise 

to forlite their pledges if they resile." 

A few months laU'v it is recorded that " Malcolm Bain in 

—


Milntown of Kintjussit' '" \v;is delated and rebuked for a " inaiiifost 

breacli of the Lord's day, by solliii

— 


'^ July lOtli, 172G.—The Session imderstanding yt jt are a 

great many stragglers and vagabonds come into tliis Parisli without 

testimonials, as also a great many dissolute and unmarried 

women from different parts of the kingdom, commonly follow 

the soldiers at the Barrack of Ruthven, and are sheltered in some 

houses in the Parish, where they and the soldiers have frequent 

mettings, and very often upon the Lord's day, to the great scandal 

of religion, and profanation of ye Sabbath : Therefore the Session 

think it necessary to apply to the Civil Judge that all such as 

shelter such women and vagabonds shall be condignly punished, 

and fined in twenty pounds Scots toties qnoties, and this to be intimated 

from the Pul])it." 

A week later the Decreet of 

follows 

the Bailie is referred to as 

: 

'' July \^h, 172G.— This day it is informed yt the Session 

had applied to the Baillic, in pursuance of a former resolution 

anent vagabonds and strangers coming into the Parish witi)Out 

testimonials, and that the Baillie hath passed a Decreet of ten 

pounds Scots toiies quoties agt all person or persons that shall 

harbour such vagabonds for three nights successively, which Act 

was this day intimated from the Pulpit that none pretend ignorance." 

We have next the complaint of an alien settler at Ruthven, 

against his Highland Janet, who had— probably from incompatibility 

of temper—failed " to do him ye duties of a mai-ried wife." 

^^ September 2tSth, 1726.—This day Donald Rotson, in Ruthven, 

compeared before the Session, and gave in a complaint before 

the Session against Janet Gi'ant, his married wife, showing yt ye 

said Janet hath deserted him some time ago, and that he cannot 

prevaile with her to return to him, or to do him ye duties of a 

married wife, and entreats the Session would summond her before 

them, and prevaile with her to be reconciled to him, or els give a 

reason why she will not. The Session, considering yt ye course 

that said Janet has taken is a manifest perjury and breach of her 

marriage vows, and yrfor is ground of scandal and offence, do 

appoint her to be summond to next Session ; meantime, that the 

Minister and Donald M'Pherson, of Culinlin, converse with her yr 

anent and make rejtort." 

It is subsequently recorded that the rebellious Janet was 

ultimately persuaded by the Session to retiu'ii to her disconsolate 

Donald. Alas, however, for the vanity of Donald's wishes ! 

Nearly six years later the long-suliering mortal appeared before 

—

— 


the Session, and gave in a petition, showing that the faithless 

Janet ha I "deserted him these five years past, not knowing qr 

she is." Poor Donald's patience had ai)parently become quite 

exhausted, and he beseeches the Session " that he might have 

liberty to marry anoyr." The Session considered the case of 

such an intricate nature, that we are told they referred the 

matter to the Presbytery, but T have been unable to trace whether 

Donald subsequently obtained the " liberty " he so ardently desired. 

Here is one of many similar entries of "grievous scandals " 

and "breach of Sabbath": 

^^ July 0th, 1727.— The Session do iind the following account 

to be true and genuine, namely, that upon the eleventh of June, 

being the Lord's day, it happened that Alister Roy, in Croft's 

sheep, had run into Donald Ban, in Dell of Killiehuntly's corn, 

and Donald Ban's wife hastening to take ym away in order to 

house them, Alister Roy's wife and daitghter came and took them 

away by force, qrupon the said jNIarjorie craved a pledge qch was 

refused, and then she went and took away a door as pledge brevi 

mamt ; then Alister Roy's wife and daughter took hold of her and 

pulled and tore ye linnens off her head, and gave her several 

scandalous names, upon qch Donald Ban came out and attacked 

the said Alister, and had some blows with hands and feet, 

hinc inde." 

In a subsequent minute we tind a "John M'Lawrence and 

James Robertson in Brae-Ruthven " delated foi' being both drunk 

on the Lord's day.


— 

— 

others for want of room (|ch frequently occasions an intolerable 

ajid unwholesome small in the Congregation, and may have very 

bad efll'cts on the people while attending Divine worbhip. The 

Session do refer tlie consideration yrof to tlic Pbty entreating they 

may put a stop to such a bade practice." 

Tiie fiddling propensities of the Badenoeli people of the time 

appear to have been altogether irrepressible, and to have, for a 

lengthened period, greatly exercised the reforming zeal of the 

Kingussie Session. Here is one of numerous entries of what the 

Session term " heathenish practices " at Leickwakes 

March lOth, 1728.—This day were called John Campbell, in 

Kinvonigag, John M'Edward, in Knockichican, and Donald 

M'Alvea, in Killiehuntly, and only conijieared John M 'Edward, 

who confessed that he had a tiddler in liis house at tlie Ijcickwake 

of a dead person, but said he did not think it a sin, it leingso long 

a custoine in this country. The Session finding tliat it is not easie 

to rout out so prevailing a custonie, do agree that for the more 

eflectual discouraging such a heathenisli practice, the INlinister represent 

from the Pulpit how undecent and unbecoming to the 

designs of ye Christian religion such an abuse is, they all appoint 

that the civil Judge be applied for suppressing the same." 

The result of the application to the Civil Judge is recorded a 

few days later as follows : 

" March \lth, 1728.—This day tlie Minister read from the 

pulpit an Act of the Court, enacting and ordaining tliat all fiddlers 

playing at any Leickwakes in time coming shall pay to James 

Gordon, Procui-ator-Fiscal of Court, five ])ounds Scots for each 

contravention, and each person who calls or entertains them in 

their families shall pay to the said James Gordon twenty pounds 

Scots for each contravention, and the said James Gordon is hereby 

empowered to seize any fiddlers t-o playing at Leickwakes, and to 

secure ym until they pay their fines, and find caution they shall 

not play at Leickwakes in time coming." 

The watchful Session appear to have been fully alive to the 

possible danger of allowing unaccredited interlopers to settle in the 

Parish. In one of their minutes, an " Angus M'Intire, now in 

Coirarnisdel "—even although a " Mac " and presumably a Highlander—is 

peremptorily summoned to a])pear before them to " give 

an account of himself, as a stranger come into the Parish without 

a testimonial." 

Tn the next extract we have an enactment directed against 

matrimonial contracts on the Saturdays : 

—

Old Ecclesiastical Records of Badenoch. ^23 

^^ December 6th, 1728.—The Session finding that it is a 

common practice foi- people to contract in order to matrimony upon 

the Saturdays, by which they frequently sit up in Change-liouses, 

and incroach upon the Lord's day. The Session do enact yt none 

shall be contracted upon the Saturdays within this Parish in time 

coming, and that tliis may be intimated from the Pulpit, that none 

pretend ignorance." 

In tlie following year, it is recorded that " ^Mary Kennedy in 

Benchar, while being reproved for her sin, uttered several foolish 

and impertinent expressions." Mary appears to have been a 

regular Jezebel, and we are told that she " gave such great offence " 

tliat she was there and then bodily " seized " by the redoubtable 

Ivi'k officer, brought before the Session, and sentenced 

in sackloath next Lord's day and be rebuked." 

" to stand 

Li the beginning of 1729 we come upon an entry, indicating 

the extent to which the Kingussie Session had anticipated the 

famous Forbes Mackenzie by at least a century and a half 

" January 6th, 1729.—Kenneth Macpherson, changekeeper, 

in Balnespick, compearing was examined anent his entertaining 

severals in his house upon the Lord's Day, and found he was 

guilty of the forsaid abuse, and likewise yt it has been a prevailing 

custome in the Parish for people to assembler together in 

Taverns, especially after divine service, to remain till late at night. 

The Session for preventing such an abuse do enact yt all changekeepers 

within the Parish be henceforth discharged from giving 

to any person yt may frequent yr houses on the day forsaid above 

a cha])ine a piece as they shall be answerable." 

With all the zeal of the Session what strikes one as remarkable 

is that if the delinquents confined themselves to the moderate (1) 

allowance of " a chapine a piece " on the " Sabbath " they might 

apparently, without any fear of being subjected to the punishment 

of standing in the " publick place of repentance," indulge to their 

heart's content in the most liberal ])otations oi " aquavitie " on 

any other day of the week. 

We have next the judgment of the Session anent what is 

termed the ".scand'ilous abuse of gathering nuts upon the 

Sabbath."— 

" August \lth, 1719.— The Minister understanding that it is a 

common practice in this Parish with severals, especially with 

children and servants, to prophane the Lord's Day hy fre(|uenting 

the woods and gathering nuts upon the Sabbath, made })ul>lick 

intimation from the Pulpit, that if any person or persons, young or 

old, should be found guilty of said scandalous abuse, that they 

!

— 


should be insisted against fox- breach of Sabbath and punished 

accordingly, and that the Heads of families would be made lyable 

for the transgressions of their children and servants in these 

Here is the case of two worthies falling " a scolding " on 

the Lord's Day, with an apparent ferocity not excelled even in the 

memorable battle of the Kilkenny cats, and all " about eating 

of corn." 

" May ?>\st, 1730.—This day there was delated to the Session 

a scandal yt broke forth last Lord's Day after divine service betwixt 

Alexander Keannich in Knockicchien and James Glass Turner in 

Knockichalich in Killihuntly, showing that the said Alexander 

Keannich was travelling with an armsfull of peats, and, meeting 

with said Glass, they fell a scolding about eating of corn, and 

yrafter did beat and bruise one anoyr until they were separated by 

the neighbours, viz.:-— Donald Fraser, Angus Kennedy, and 

Finlay Ferguson, weaver, all in Knockichalicli or yr abouts." 

The Session, finding that this was " a notorious breach of the 

Lord's Day, very much to be testified against, appointed the 

delinquents to stand before the congregation and be rebuked." 

Here is the case of a jealous husband tempted, as he owned, " by 

Satan " making his uneasy wife, Elspet, " swear upon a knife."— 

"Jinie '2nd, ITS*^.—This day compeared John Stuart in 

Farlettor, and Elspet Kennedy, his wife, who were confronted, and 

the said John being interrogate Imo, If he entertained any 

jealousie of his wife with Duncan Gordon in Farelettor, owned he 

did ; 2nd, being asked what grounds and presumptions he had to 

do so, answered that sometime in March hist a stirk in the town 

being amissing, he observed the said Duncan and his wife separate 

from the company in search of that beast—-that then Satan, he 

owned, had tempted him to entertain a jealousie ; 3rd, being asked 

if he put her to an oath of purgation, owned he drew a knife and 

obliged her to swear, as she would answer to God in the Great 

Day, that she would never have any oft'spring or succession, if 

she did not tell the truth, and that he had done this three or four 

times, and once upon a Lord's Day ; 4th, being asked if his wife 

complied with the said oath, both he anil she owned she did. She 

being asked what made her leave her own house, answered yt he 

was daily so inieasy to her that she was obliged to leave him, and 

declared that she would never return until she got satisfaction for 

the scandal that was raised upon lier. The Session considering 

that this is an aliair of an intricate nature, refer to the Presbytery 

for advice."

Old Ecclesiastical Records of Badenocli. 425 

We have next a batch of four sadly-misiûiclecl Highlanders 

dealt with by the Session '* for lisliing upon a Sabbath evening." 

" Oc/obrr Ifli, 1730. —This day Thomas and Mm-dow ]\Iac- 

. 

pherson and John Shaw in Invereshie being summoned and called, 

compeared, and being interrogate anent their guilt in ])rophaning 

the J_,ord's Day l>y fishing, as was delated. They owned that they 

tislied upon a Sabbath evening u})on the water of Fesliie at 

Dugarie. Compeared also John Macpherson, boatman at Insh, 

who owned liimself guilty of art and part in buying the said fish 

yt night, all of tliem being rebuked and reproved. The Session 

considered the whole afiair, and appointed ym to compeare before 

the congregation here Sabbath come a fortnight, and be sharply 

rebuked for ye said transgression." 

In the next extract we have the case of a husband and wife 

delated for '_' a customary practice of bakeing bread upon the 

Lord's Day." 

— 

— 

" October I8th, 1730.—This day, Anne Macpherson, spouse to 

Donald Fraser in Knochachalich, formerly delated, being sumd. and 

called, compeared with her husband, and owned only that she did 

bake a little bannock for an herd, who was to go off early next 

morning." 

Anne's ingenious plea that it was " only a little bannock for an 

herd," led the Session, it is recorded, to let off the culprit with a 

—You must ne-s'er do it again, Anne—in the shape of " asharpe 

Sessional rebuke with certification." 

From the following entry it would appear there must have 

been a considerable number of bad halfpennies in circulation in 

the Highlands at the time, but apparently the "bawbees," bad as 

they were, were considered by the contributors yood enough for 

the Church box : 

''December 2ith, 1730.—There is found in the box Two 

pounds and eleven sh, Scot., over and above what is marked, 

qch makes twentie-seven lbs. and eighteen sh., Scots. intheTreasrs 

hands, of quch tliere is of bad halfpennies thirteen 2>ounds seven 

sh. Scots., wereof there are are twelve sh. st. given at ninepence 

per pound weight, which amounts to two sh, three pence st. of 

good money." 

Here is the record of the dealing of the Session with parties 

travelling on a Lord's Day " with a great many horse." 

''November 2lst, 1731.—This day William Maclean and 

Donald INIacpherson in Farlotter, John Macpherson in Toli\a, 

and William Shaw in Knockanbeg, formerly delated, being called 

compeared, and being asked if they and some oyrs in the Parish 

2 

—

— 


of Inch did travel on a, Lord's Day with a gi-eat many horse 

loa(hied with meal, confessing guilt, they were sharply rebuked, 

and such of them as were masters of families were ordained to 

stand before tlie Congregation, and servants were dismissed with 

a sharjie rebuke before tlie Session with cei-titication." 

Passing over a period of about seveiiteen years, we come to 

tlie case of an exceptionally wild Highlander asking a spade from 

his neighbours, and tlie terrible language, and dire results, which 

followed their refusal of that much prized implement. 

"June 2nd, 1748.— This day was laid before the Session a 

coiii]>laint and petition from Jean Cameron, spouse to Duncan 

Macnicol in Ruthven, against Peter M'Konnich, alias Macdonald 

in Kuthven, and Janet Mackenzie his spouse, setting 

forth that upon the 2nd day of May last, the said Peter 

came to 

not get. 

the complainer's house asking a spade, which he did 

He then said that if he had her husband behind a 

hedge he would stamp ujioii his belly, and reproached her 

publicly in the following words :—D n you for a B h your 

Fayr was hang'd and d n me if I will deny it ; and as he was 

passing through the streets said d n his soul if he should deny 

what he had said, and that the said Janet his wife, uttered the 

words in the streets of Ruthven that the said Jean Cameron's 

fiither and uncle were both hanged for theft, and beseeching the 

Session to take theee scandalous reflections under their considera- 

tion, and that the guilty persons may be censured and brought to 

condign punishment. The Session having reasoned thereupon 

agreed that such abusive language defaming and scandalizing the 

memory of the dead, and entailing infamy upon their posterity, is 

in itself injurious and unchristian, and to be discoui-aged in liuman 

society, and if proven relevant to infer Church censure." 

Several closely written pages of the Session Records are taken 

up with the depositions of the witnesses. Here is the Session 

judgment : 

"The Session having summed up the evidence, do find 

that . . . both Peter Macdonald and his wife Janet 

ought to 1)0 subjected to the censure of the Church— the rather 

that yre were this day laid before the Session suflicii'iit testimonials 

•the complainer's father liv'd and dy'd under the reputation of an 

honest man—wherefore the Session unanimously agree that the 

said Peter and his wife Janet shall stand before the Congregation 

at Kingussie next Lord's Day in the publick place of repentance, 

and be sharjily rebuked for their oflence, and for terror to others ; 

and the Session do petition the Judge Ordinary here present to 

—

— 


cause secure their persons in prison until they find caution to fulfill 

and obtemper this sentence, as also until they secure the peace 

by a Bond of Lawburrows." 

The Session had, it will be seen, taken the precaution to 

have the Baillie, or Judfje Ordinary, present with them on the 

occasion, and it is satisfactory to find tliat the wild and foulmouthed 

Peter, and his fitly-mated Janet, were there and then 

subjected to the "condign punishment" they so justly deserved. 

The sentence of " James Stewart," the Baillie of the time, is appended 

in the Records to the Session judgment, and runs as follows 

: 

"The Baillie ordains the persons of the said Peter ÎcDonald 

and his wife Janet to be imprisoned within the Tolbooth of Ruthven, 

untill they find caution conform to the above sentence. 

Apparently the Kingu.ssie Session regarded the Apostolic injunction 

to " be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby 

some have entertained angels unawares," as of a very limited ap- 

plication. Judging from results, it is to be feared that in some parts 

of the Highlands, even in the present day, " angels' visits" are 

"few and far between." In the old turbulent times in Badenoch 

the prospect of such visits appears to have been considered so very 

remote that the canny Session felt constrained to restrict to a 

single night the time within which a " stranger" could be developed 

into such a visitor, and the efficacy of his visit exemplified. So 

distrustful was the Session of importations from other quarters 

that any " stranger" coming into the District without suflicient 

ci-edentials was bracketed with the wandering " vagabond." Here 

is the stringent pioliibition directed against either the one or the 

other being entertained in the Parish " two nights on end" :— 

^^ June ISth, 1749.—The Session considering tint there are 

several strangers and vagabonds who come into this Parish without 

certificates and are sheltered therein, the Session agree to apply to 

the Judge-Ordinary if the persons of all such will be apprehended 

and incarcerated, and that such as entertain one or more of them 

two nights on end shall be fined in "iOs. sterling." 

Here are the very moderate dues fixed by the Session for 

digging the gra\-es of every '• person " come of age and of every 

" child ; " " the gentlemen," it will be observed—doubtless with -a 

lively anticipation of favoui-s to come—being " left to their own 

discration " : 

— 

"June 2Src[, 1749.—The Kirk-Session considering that it 

would be exti-emely convenient for the Parish the Kirk Officer 

should be employed in digging the gi-aves, and do appoint him to do

— 


yt service to any that shall employ him, and yt he shall have a 

sixpence for every person come to age and fourpence for every 

child, and the gentlemen shall be left to their own discration ; 

and the Session appoint then- Clerk to give him a crown out of 

their boxt for buying tools." 

We come next upon the 

by the Session 

record of a singular payment made 

: 

" December 9th, 1750.—Petition John M'Intosh, Court Officer 

at Ruthven, creaving that the Kirk-Session may allow him payment 

for his trouble and pains at the Session Desire in apprehending 

the person of Christian Guthrie, and incarcerating and retaining 

her in the Tolbooth of Ruthven for the space of 21 days, by which 

he is entitled to prison wages. The Session appointed 3 sh. and 

Gd str. to be given him, and that the Minister pay him out of the 

funds in his hands." 

In of the following year we have the complaint of a 

greviously afflicted "Jean Macpherson," mated to a more than 

ordinarily boozy and wicked tailor body, who made a "football" 

of his own infant :— 

" Fehruarij \Oth, 1751.—Compeared Jean Macpherson, spouse 

to John M'Intire, taylor in Ruthven, complaining on her said 

husband, that he is a habitual drunkard, frequenting changehouses, 

spending his efiects, ruining his family, beating the complainer, 

and selling his back cloaths and bed cloaths for liquor, and 

that, when he comes home drunk, he tosses his own infant like a 

foot-ball, and threatens to take away her own life ; she therefore 

begged the Session that they would put a stop to the progress of 

his wicked life, and secure tlie safety of the complainer and her 

child, and that they would disoharge all the Change-keepers in the 

Parish from giving him liquor." 

The deliverance of the Session in the case of the unfortunate 

" Jean" would surely satisfy the most ardent temperance reformer 

of the present day : — 

" The Session, considering this complaint, and being persuaded 

of the verity of the facts, do agree to petition the Judge- 

Ordinary to interpose his authority that no Change-keepers or 

sellers of liquor votsoever shall gift or sell liquor of any kind, 

either ale or aquavitie, to the said John, under the failzie of 

twenty shillings str., the one-half of which to be applied for the 

support of the complainer and her child, and that this act, when 

obtained, shall be intimated from the Pulpit." 

Similar interesting extracts from the Kingussie Records could 

be almost indefinitely multiplied, but the gleanings already given

Celtic Den'uation of English Riuer Names. 429 

have extended to such a length, that I must, in tlio meantime, 

desist. Next Session I propose to give some furthei- such gleanings, 

includin«r extracts from the Records of the Parishes of Alvie 

Dr A. H. F. Cameron has contributed the following notes in 

reference to his paper in last year's volume of Transactions, on the 

CELTIC DERIVATION OF ENGLISH RIVER NAMES. 

He says :—I should like to add a few notes on the derivation 

of river names. The first I wish to mention is the name Yar or 

Yare, which is probably derived from Earr, an end, a boundary. 

Allan supposed to mean a gi-eat river may be from Allaidh 

Abhaian, the wild, tiei'ce river. I think the influence of Celtic 

river names may be traced even in the heart of London. I have 

mentioned my belief that the name Bourne is the Gaelic Burn 

and in a curious work, entitled " London and its Environs Described," 

published in the year 1761, under the word Holborn, I 

find the following, " This street was anciently a village called Oldborne, 

built on the bank of a brook or borne,* called Olborne or 

Holbourn, that sprung up near middle row and flowed down the 

hill in a clear current till it fell into the river of Wells at Holboi'n 

Bridge. Tyburn, too, where the last Jacobite execution took 

place, was, on the same authority, anciently a village situated on 

the eastern bank of the rivulet Tyburn, fi'om whence it took its 

name. 

I should like to correct one or t'yo printer's errors in my paperin 

the last volume of the Transactions. The name of the Teme 

in Worcestershire is misspelt, and the second root mentioned by 

Mr I. Taylor should be Dwr not Devon. 

Scotland with the spelling hum." 

* Webster gives " Bourn, a brook, a torrent, a rivulet, obaolete used in 

;

MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. 

HONORARY CHIEFTAINS. 

Sir Kenneth S. INIackenzic of (iaiilocli, Uart. 

Professor John Stuart lilarkie, K(linl)urgh University 

Charles Fraser-Maekiutosh of Druinniond, ]M.P. 

Colin Chisliolin, Namur Cottage, Inscrness 

Alex. Nicolson, M.A., LL.D., advocate, sheritt'-substitute, Kirkcudbright 

LIFE MEMBERS. 

Bankes, Paul Liot, of Letterewe, Koss-shire 

Baillie, James E. B., of Dochfour 

Bui'gess, Pet^r, factor for Glenmoriston, Druranadrochit 

Campbell, Alasdair, of Kiluiartin, C len-Urquhart 

Chisholm-Gooden, James, 33 Tavistock Square, London 

Chisholm of Chisholm, R D. M., Erchless Castle 

Ferguson, R. C. Munro, of Novar 

Fletcher, J. Douglas, of Rosehaugh 

Finlay, R. B., Q.C., M.P., London 

Fraser-Mackintosh, Charles, of Drummond, M.P. 

Macdonald, Lachlan, of Skaebost, Skye 

Mackay, Donald, Gampola, Kandy, Ceylon 

Mackay, Geoi'ge F., Roxburgh, Otago, New Zealand 

Mackay, James, Roxburgh, Otago, JSew Zealand 

Mackay, John, C.E., Hereford 

Mackay, John, of Ben Reay 

Mackenzie, Sir Kenneth S., of Gairloch, Bart. 

Mackenzie, Allan R., yr. of Kintail 

Matheson, Sir Kenneth, of Lochalsh, Bart. 

Scobie, Captain N., late of Fearn, Ross-shire 

HONORARY MEMBERS 

Blair, Sheriff, Inverness 

Bourke, Very Rev. Canon, Kilcolman, Claremorris, Mayo 

Burgess, Alexander, Caledonian Bank, Gairloch 

Cameron, Donald, Woodville, Nairn 

Cameron, Ewen, manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank 

ing Company, at Shanghai


Cameron, James Randal, Jacksonville, Oregon 

Campl)ell, Duncan, editor, " Northern Chronicle," Inverness 

Campbell, George IMurray, Jamaica 

Chisholm, Captain A. INIacra, Glassburn, Strathglass 

Davidson, Donald, of Drummond Park, Inverness 

Dunmore, the Kight Hon. the Earl of 

Ferguson, Miss Marion, 23 Grove road, St John's Wood, London 

Fraser, Alexander, agent for the Commercial Bank of Scotland, 

Inverness 

Fraser, A. T. F., clothier. Church Street, Inverness 

Grant, John, Cardiff, Wales 

Grant, Field-Marshal Sir Patrick, G.C.B., Chelsea, London 

Grant, Robert, of Messrs Macdougall & Co., Inverness 

Grant, Major, Drumbuie, Glen-TJrquhart 

Innes, Charles, solicitor, Inverness 

Jolly, William, H.M. Inspector of Schools, Pollockshields, Glasgow 

Macandrew, H. C, sheriff-clerk of Inverness-shire 

Macallister, Councillor T. S., Inverness 

Macbean, William, Imperial Hotel, Inverness 

MacConnachie, John, M.I.O.E., Mayor of Cardiff 

Macdonald, Alexander, of Edenwood 

Macdonald, Allan, solicitor, Inverness 

Macdonald, Andrew, solicitor, Inverness 

Macdonald, Captain D. P., Ben-Nevis Distillery, Fort-William 

Macdonald, John, Marine Hotel, Nairn 

Macfarlane, Alex., Caleilonian Hotel, Inverness 

Mackay, Charles, LL.D., Fern Dell Cottage, near Dorking 

Mackenzie, P. A. C, Rio de Janeiro 

Mackenzie, Rev. A. D., Free Church, Kilmorack 

Mackenzie, Major Colin, late of 78th Highlanders, 49 Pall Mall, 

London 

Mackenzie, Mackav D., National Provincial Bank, Gateshead-on- 

Tyne 

Mackenzie, Malcolm, St Martin's, Guernsey 

Mackenzie, Osgood H., of Inverewe, Pool ewe 

Mackintosh of Mackintosh, INIoyhall 

Mackintosh, Angus, of Holme, Palace Chambers, i) Bridge Street, 

Westminster 

Mackintosh, Eneas W., of Raigmore 

Mackintosh, P. A., C.E., Bridgend, Glammorgan 

Macmillian, E. H., manager of the Caledonian Bank, Inverness 

Macpherson, Colonel, of Glentruim, Kingussie

Members. 433 

Menzies, John, Banavie Hotel, Fort-William 

Moir, Dr F. F. M., Aberdeen 

Rose, Major, of Kilravock 

Ross, Rev. William, Cowcaddons Free Church, Glasgow 

Scott, Roderick, solicitor, Inverness 

Shaw, A. INIackintosh, Secretary's Office, G.P.O., London 

Stewju-t, Col. Charles, C.B., O.M.G., C.I.E., Ornockenach, Gatehouse 

of Fleet 

Stoddart, Even, Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia 

Sutherland, Evan Charles, of Skibo 

Wilson, P. G., Inverness 

ORDINARY MEMBERS. 

Aitken, Dr Thomas, Lunatic Asylum, Inverness 

Baillie, Peter, Inverness 

Bannerman, Hugh, 213 Lord Sti-eet, South port 

Barclay, John, accountant, Inverness 

Barron, James, " Courier" Office, Inverness 

Bisset, Rev. Alexander, R.C., Stratherrick 

Black, G. F., National Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh 

Buchanan, F. C, Clarinnish, Row, Helensburgh 

Cameron, Miss M. E., of Innseagan, Fort-William 

Cameron, A. H. F., 2 Shield Road, Livei-pool 

Cameron, Rev. Alex., Sleat, Skye 

Cameron, Donald, of Lochiel 

Cameron, D., teacher, Blairour, Aonachan, Lochaber 

Cameron, Rev. John, Dornie, Strome Ferry 

Cameron, William, Keeper of the Castle of Inverness 

Campbell, Angus, hotel-keeper. Tongue 

Campbell, Fi-aser (of Eraser & Catnphell), High Street, Inverness 

Campbell, George J., solicitor, Inverness 

Campbell, Paul, shoemaker, Bridge Street, Inverness 

Campbell, T. D. (of Gumming & Campbell), Inverness 

Carter, J. J., Inland Revenue Collector, Inverness 

Cesari, E., Station Hotel, Inverness 

Chisholm, Alpin, High Street, Inverness 

Chisholm, D. H., 21 Castle Street, Inverness 

Chisholm, Duncan, coal merchant, Inverness 

Chisholm, Archibald, P.F., Lochmaddy 

Chisho m, Colin, Namur Cottage, Inverness 

Chisholm, Simon, Flowerdale, Gairloch 

Clunas, James, Nairn


Cockburn, Thomas, Royal Academy, Inverness 

Cook, James, commission agent, Inverness 

Cran, Jolin, Kirkton, Bunchrew 

Gumming, James, Allanfearn, Inverness 

Davidson, Andrew, scul])tor, Inverness 

Davidson, D., Waverley Hotel, Inverness 

Davidson, John, grocer, Inglis Street, Inverness 

Davidson, William, Ruthven, Stratherrick 

Dott, Donald, Caledonian Bank, Lochmaddy 

Durie, William, H.INI. Customs, Londonderry 

Douglas, William, Town and County Bank, Inverness 

Elliot, Matthew, flesher, Inverness 

Fergusson, Charles, The Gardens, Cally, Gatehouse, Kirkcudbrightshire 

Fergusson, D. H., pipe major, I.H.R.V., Inverness 

Forbes, Duncan, of Culloden 

Forsyth, John H., wme merchant, Inverness 

Fraser, ^neas (Innes & Mackay), Inverness 

Fraser, Alexander, solicitoi-, Inverness 

Fraser, Alexandei', Schoolhouse, Kingussie 

Fraser, A. R., South Africa 

Fraser, Miss Catherine, 25 Academy Street, Inverness 

Fraser, D., Glenelg 

Fraser, Donald, registrar, Inverness 

Fraser, Dr Hugh A., Morven, by Fort-William 

Fraser, Wra,, Elgin, Illinois 

Fraser, Rev. James, Erchless, Strathglass 

Fraser, James, C.E., Inverness 

Fraser, James, Mauld, Strathglass 

Fraser, John, Rowan Cottage, Kenneth Street, Inverness 

Fraser, Miss H. G., Farraline Villa, North Berwick 

Fraser, Miss Mary, 2 Ness Walk, Inverness 

Fraser, Rodei-ick, contractor, Argyle Street, Inveiniess 

Fraser, William, Haugh Brewery, Inverness 

Galloway, George, chemist, Inverness 

Gillanders, K. A., Drummond Street, Inverness 

Gillanders, John, teacher, Denny 

Gow, Alex., "Dundee Advertiser," Dundee 

Glass, C. C, 122 North Street, St Andrews 

Grant, Rev. J., E.G. Manse, Kilmuir, Skye 

Grant, Dr Ogilvie, Inverness 

Grant, William, INIanchester 

Gray, James, slater. Friar's Street, Inverness

Members. 

436 

Gunn, "William, draper, Castle Street, Inverness 

Hood, Thomas, chemist, Patrick Street, Cork 

Horno, Jolin, 41 Soutlisido Koad, riiverness 

Jerram, C S., Woodoote House, Windlesliam 

Kennedy, Neil, Kishorn, Loehcarron 

Kerr, Thomasi^ Caledonian Bank, Inverness 

Livingston, Colin, J''ort-William 

Macbain, Alexander, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., head-master, Raining's 

Sc'iool, Inveixiess 

Macbc .n, Mrs, g.ocer, Neale Place, Rose Street, Inverness 

Macbean, W. Charles, solicitor, 22 Union Street, Inverness 

Macbean, Ex-Bailie William, Union Street, Inverness 

Macbean, George, writer. Church Street, Inverness 

Macbean, James, 77 Church Street, Inverness 

Macbeth, R. J., 42 Union Street, Inverness 

IVIacCord, Collector of Customs, Inverness 

Macdonald, Alex., Audit Office, Highland Railway, Inverness 

Macdonald, Alexander, messenger-at-arms, Inverness 

Macdonald, Alexander, flesher, New Mai'ket, Inverness 

Macdonald, Chaides, Knocknageal, by Inverness 

Macdonald, David, St Andrew's Street, Aberdeen 

Macdonald, Dr William, Port Elizabeth, South Africa 

Macdonald, John, banker, Buckie 

Macdonald, Thomas, builder, Hilton, Inverness 

Macdonald, Donald, flesher. New Market, Inverness 

Macdonald, D. C, solicitor, Aberdeen 

Macdonald, Finlay, Druidaig, Kintail 

Macdonald, Hugh, 2 Petty Street, Inverness 

Macdonald, Huntly, Mile-end, Inverness 

Macdonald, John, supervisor, Dingwall 

Macdonald, John, merchant. Castle street, Cnverness 

Macdonald, John, superintendent of police, Inverness 

Macdonald, Kenneth, town-clerk, Inverness 

Macdonald, Ewen, flesher. New Market, Inverness 

Macdonald, William, sheriff-clerk-depute, Inverness 

]\Iacdonald, John, 14 Shore Street, Inverness 

Macdonald, William, master carpenter, lunes Street, Inverness 

Macdonald, Ralph Erskine, Corindah, by Bowen, Downs, Queensland 

Macdonald, Dr Sinclair, Inverness 

Macdonald, William, clerk, 63 Church Street, Inverness 

Macdonald, Altona, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. 

Macdonald, Alexander, G2 Tomnahurich Street, Inverness


Macdonell, Alexander, prison warder, Inverness 

Macgillivray, Finlay, solicitor, Inverness 

Macgillivray, William, Denny Street, Inverness 

Macgregor, Alexander, solicitor, Inverness 

Macgregor, John, hotel-keeper, Invermoriston 

Macliardy, Alex., chief constable. The Castle, Inverness 

Macintyre, Donald, Episcopal School, Inverness 

Maciver, Duncan, Church Street, Inverness 

Mackay, Bailie Charles, Culduthel Road, Inverness 

Mackay, James John, London 

Mackay, Rev. G. W., Beauly 

Mackay, William, solicitor, Church Street, Inverness 

Mackay, William, bookseller, High Street, Inverness 

Mackay, William, Elmbank, Drummond, Inverness 

Mackenzie, Mrs, Silverwells, Inverness 

Mackenzie, Alexander, editor, " Celtic Magazine," Inverness 

Mackenzie, Alexander, wine merchant, Church Street, Inverness 

Mackenzie, A. C, teacher, Maryburgh, Dingwall 

Mackenzie, Andrew, ironmonger, Alness 

Mackenzie, Dr F. M., Inverness 

Mackenzie, H. F., Caledonian Bank, Dornoch 

Mackenzie, John, Auchenstewart, Wishaw 

Mackenzie, John, grocer, 1 Greig Street, Inverness 

Mackenzie, Simon (Harrison & Co.), Chambers Street, Edinburgh 

Mackenzie, William, Clarence Cottage, Drummond, Inverness 

Mackenzie, William, clothier. Bridge Streot, Inverness 

Mackintosii, Duncan, Bank of Scotland, Inverness 

Maclachlan, Dugald, Caledonian Bank, Portree 

Maclachlan, Duncan, publisher, C4 South Bridge, Edinburgh 

Maclachlan, Dr Alexander, Beauly 

Maclachlan, Rev. Lachlan, St Columba Church, Glasgow 

Maclennan, John, teacher, Inverasdale, Gairloch 

Maclennan, Alex.. Macdougall's Tartan Warehouse, Inverness 

Maclennan, Dr D. U., Widnes, near Liverpool 

Maclennan, Alex., flesher. New IVIarket, Inverness 

Maclennan, Angus, factor, Askernish, South Uist 

Maclennan, Donald, commission agent, Inverness 

Mackintosh, Hugh, ironmonger, Inverness 

Maclean, Alex., teacher, Oulloden 

Maclean, Roderick, factor, Ardross, Alness 

Macleay, W. A., birdstuffer, Inverness 

Macleish, D., banker. Fort-William 

Macleod, Reginald, Dunvogan Castle, Skye

Members. 

Maclcod, John, IVryrtlci Bank, Drunnnond, Inverness 

Macleod, Noil, " The Skye Bard," 7 Royal Exchange, Edinburgh 

Macinillan, D., Church Street, Inverness 

Macnee, Dr, Inverness 

Macphail, Alexander, Strathi)etter 

Macphail, Alex., Kuthven House, Aberdeen 

Macpherson, Duncan, 8 Druniuiond Street, Inverness 

Macpherson, Alex., solicitor, Kingussie 

Maci)herson, Hugli, Castle Street, Inverness 

Macpherson, John, Glen-AtlVic Hotel, Strathglass 

Macrae, A. Fraser, 172 St Vincent Street, Glasgow 

Macrae, Rev. A., Free Church Manse, Clachan, Kintyre 

Macrae, Rev. Angus, F.C, Glen-Urquhart 

Macrae, Duncan, Ardintonl, Lochalsh 

Macrae, R., postmaster, Beauly 

Macrae, John, solicitor, Dingwall 

Macrae, Kenneth, Dayville, Grant County, Oregon 

Macraild, A. R., Fort- William 

Macritchie, A. J., solicitor, Inverness 

Mactavish, Alexander, ironmonger, Castle Street, Inverness 

Mactavish, Duncan, High Street, Inverness 

Matheson, Dr Farquhar, Soho Square, London 

Medlock, Arthur, Bridge Street, Inverness 

Menzies, Duncan, farmer, Blairich, Rogart 

Millar, William, auctioneer, Inverness 

Mitchell, Alex., The Dispensary, Inverness 

Morrison, Hew, Andover House, Brechin 

Morrison, J. A., Fairfield Road, Inverness 

Morrison, William, schoolmaster, Dingvvall 

Morrison, Dr D., West Bow, Edinburgh 

Mortimer, John, 344 Great Western Road, Aberdeen 

Munro, A. R., Eden Cottage, Ladypool Lane, Birmingham 

Murdoch, John, Meikle Aikenhead, Cathcart 

Murray, Francis, Lentran 

Nicolson, Alex., M.A., LL.D., advocate, sherifi"- substitute of 

Greenock 

Noble, John, bookseller, Castle Street, Inverness 

O'Hara, Thomas, Inspector of National Schools, Portarlington, 

Ireland 

Ramsay, Donald, 3 Anderson Street, Inverness 

Robson, A. Mackay, Constitution Street, Leith 

Rose, Hugh, solicitor, Inverne.ss 

Ross, A. M., '* Northern Chronicle," Inverness 

437


Ross, Alex., architect, Inverness 

Ross, Alex., traveller, Teaninich Distillery, Alness 

Ross, D. R., inspector of poor, Glen-Urquhart 

Ross, Duncan, Hilton, Inverness 

Ross, George, ironmonger, Dingwall 

Ross, Jonathan, merchant, Inverness 

Sharp, D., 81 Scott Street, Garnethill, Glasgow 

Shaw, David, Caledonian Bank, Bouar-Bridge 

Simpson, George B., Broughty-Ferry 

Sinton, Rev. Thomas, Glengarry 

Smart, P. H., drawing-master, Inverness 

Stewart, Colin J., Dingwall 

Stuart, W. G., draper. Castle Street, Inverness 

Sutherland, Rev. A. C, Adelaide 

Sutherland, George Miller, solicitor, Wick 

Thomson, Rev. R. W., FoddeHy, Strathpeffer 

Thomson, John, 57 Ai-gyle Place, Aberdeen 

Thoyts, Canon, Tain 

Whyte, David, Church Street, Inverness 

Whyte, John, librarian. Free Library, Inverness 

Wilson, George, S.S.C, 20 Young Street, Edinburgh 

APPRENTICES. 

Cameron, Ewen, Edinburgh 

Carter, Eldon M., Craigellachie Villa, Millburn, Inverness 

Clmholm, C. C, factor's office, Highland Railway 

Maccorquodale, Roderick, 42 Union Street, Invei'ness 

Mackenzie, Hector Rose, Park House, Inverness 

Mackintosh, John, clerk, 74 Church Street, Inverness 

deceasb:d members. 

Rev. Dr Thomas Maclachlan, Edinburgh 

E. H. Wood of Raasay 

Dr Duncan Mackay, Inverness 

Dr Thomas Stratton, Devonport

LIST 

BOOKS IN THE SOCIETY'S LIBRARY. 

NAMES OF BOOKS. 

Ossian's Poems (H. Society's edition 

Gaelic and Latin), 3 vols. 

Smith's Gaelic Antiquities 

Smith's Seann Dana ... 

Highland Society's Report on Ossian's 

Poems .... 

Stewart's Sketches of the Highlands, 2 vols 

Skene's Picts and Scots . 

Dain Osiein Mhic Fhinn 

Macleod's Gran Nuadh Gaelach, 

An Teachdaire Gaelach, 1829-30 . 

Carew's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland 

Grain Ghilleasbuig Ghrannd, two copies 

Connell's Eeul-eolas 

Maclauchlan's Celtic Gleanings 

Maclauchlan's Early Scottish Church 

The Dean of Lismore's Book . 

Macleod and Dewar's Gaelic Dictionary 

Highland Society's do., 2 vols 

Ritson's Caledonians, Picts, and Scots 

Dr Walker's Hebrides, 2 vols 

Campbell's Language, Poetry, and Music 

of the Highland Clans . 

Macnicol's Remarks on Dr Johnston's Tour 

in the Hebrides . 

Somers' Letters from the Highlands 

Colonel JMackenzie 

of Park mount 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Mr W. Mackay 

Mr Charles Mackay 

ditto 

Rev Dr Maclauchlan 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Sir Ken. S. Mackenzie 

of Gairloch, Bart. 

ditto 

ditto 

jNIr John Murdocli 

ditto 

ditto



Cameron's Chemistry of Agriculture 

Sketches of Islay .... 

Cameron's History of Skye 

Kennedy's Bardic Stories of Ireland 

Hicky's Agiicultural Class-Book 

Grain Ghaelach Mhic Dlumleibhe . 

The Wolf of l5adenoch . 

Familiar Illustrations of Scottish Life 

Antiquity of the Gaelic Language . 

The "Dauntless Red Hugh of Tyrconnell 

The Kilchoman People Vindicated . 

Caraid a' Ghaidheal—Sermon . 

Highland Cleai-ances the Cause of High 

land Famines 

Co-operative Associations 

Lecture...... 

Review of " Eight Days in Islay " . 

Gold Diggings in Sutherland . 

Review of Language of Ireland 

Highland Character 

An Teachdaire Gaelach, 1829-30 

The Scottish Regalia 

Campbell's West Highland Tales, 4 vols 

Bliadhna Thearlaich 

Macfarlane's Collection of Gaelic Poems 

Old Gaelic Bible (partly MSS.) 

MacHale's, Ai-chbishop, Irish Pentatcucl 

Irish Translation of Moore's INIelodies 

The Bull " InefFabilis " (Latin, English 

Gaelic and French) 

Celtic Language and Dialects . 

Boiirke's Irish Grammar 

Bourke's Easy Lessons in Irish 

Mackenzie's Beauties of Gaelic Poetry 

Mac-Crimmon's Piobaireachd . 

Stratton's Gaelic Origin of Greek and Latin 

Gaelic Translation of Apocrypha (by Rev 

A. Macgregor) .... 

Buchanan's Historia Scotiae 

The Game Laws, by R. G. Tolmie . 

DONOR. 

Mr John Murdoch 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

•litto 

ditto 

ditto 

cUtto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Mr Alex. Mackenzie 

ditto 

Miss Hood 

J. Mackenzie, ]\[.D., 

of Eileanach 

Canon Bourke 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Rev. W. Ross, Glasgow 

Rev. A. Macgregor 

ditto 

ditt« 

Mr William Mackay 

ditto

NAME OF BOOKS. 

St James's Magazine, vol. i. 

Fingal (edition 1762) 

Collection of English Poems (2 vols.) 

Philologic Uses of the Celtic 'J'ongue 

Seoto-Celtic Philology 

Dana Oisein (Maclauchlaii's edition) 

Munro's Gaelic Primer . 

M 'Alpine's Gaelic Dictionary . 

M'Pherson's Duanaire . 

Munro's Gaelic Grammar 

Grain Mhic-an-t-Saoir 

Grain Uilleim Ros.... 

Ceitliir Searmoinean, le Dr Dewar . 

Carswell's Prayer Book (Gaelic) 

Scot's Magazine (1757) . 

History of the Rebellion, 1745-46 . 

Welsh Bible 

Old Gaelic New Testament 

Adhamh agus Eubh (Adam and Eve) 

Old Gaelic Bible .... 

Grain Ailein Dughallaich 

^[acpherson's Poems of Ossian 

An Gaidheal for 1873 

Grain, cruinnichte le Mac-an-Tiiainear 

The Gospels, in eight Celtic dialects 

Eraser of Knockie's Highland Music 

The Clan Battle at Perth, by Mr A. M 

Shaw ..... 

The Scottish Metrical Psalms . 

Sailm Dhaibhidh Ameadreachd (Ed. 1C59) 

Biographical Dictionary of Eminent ) 

Scotsmen (1) vols.) 

Grain Ghilleasbuig Grannd 

Clarsach nam Beann 

Fulangas Chriost . 

Dain Spioradail 

Library. 441 

DONOR. 

Mr Mackay, bookseller, 

Inverness 

G Fraser-Mackintosh, 

Esq., M P. 

Mr D. Mackintosh 

Mr D. Maciver 

Lord Neaves, LL.D , 

F.R.S.E. 

Maclachlan &, Stewart 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Purcliased 

Mr A. Macbcan 

Mr D. ISIackintosh 

Mr L. Mackintosh 

Mr L. Macbean 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

The Publishers 

Mr A. Mackintosii 

Shaw, London 

Mr J. Mackay, C.E., 

Hereford 

Mr Mackenzie, Bank 

Lane, Inverness 

The Author 

Mr J. Eraser, Glasgow 

Mr A. R. Macraild, 

Inverness 

Mr J. Graigie, Dundee 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

29


NAMES OP BOOKS. 

Spiritual Songs (Gaelic and English) 

Alexander Macdonald's Gaelic Poems 

Orain Mhic-an-t-Saoir 

Leabhar nan Ceist .... 

Co-eigneachadli Soisgeulach (Boston) 

History of the Druids (Toland's) 

Melodies from the Gaelic 

Maclean's History of the Celtic Language 

Leabhair Sailm .... 

Origin and Descent of tlic Gael 

Stewart's Gaelic Grammar 

Macpherson's Caledonian Antiquities 

(1798) 

Biboul Noimbli (London, 1855) 

Searmona Mhic-Dhiarmaid 

Dain Oisein ..... 

Fingal(1798) 

Life of Columba (1798) . 

Orain Roib Dhuinn Mhic-Aoidh 

Dain leis an Urr, I. Lees 

Searmons leis an Urr, E. Blarach . 

Eaglais na h-Alba, leis an Urr A. Clare, 

Inbhirnis ..... 

Bourke's Ai-yan Origin of the Gaelic Race 

Reid's Bibliotheca Scoto-Celtica 

Munro's Gaelic Primer (three copies in 

library) ..... 

Eachdraidh na h-Alba, le A. MacOoinnich 

(three copies) .... 

Dain Ghailig leis an Urr. I. Lees . 

Philologic Uses of the Celtic Tongue, by 

Professor Geddes (1872) 

Philologic Usesof the Celtic Tonguo(1873) 

Poems by Ossian, in metre (179G) . 

Proceedings of the Historical and Archaeological 

Association of Ireland 

(1870-86) 

Shaw's Gaelic Dictionary (1780) 

. 

History of the Culdecs, Maccallum's 

Macdiarmid's Gaelic Sermons (MS. 1773) 

DONOR. 

Mr J. Craigie, Dundee 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Mr J. Mackay, Hereford 

ditto 

Purchased 

The Author 

Rev. Dr Lees, Paisley 

The Author 

ditto 

Mr Alex. Kennedy, 

Bohuntin 

The Society 

Rev. A. Macgregnr 

ditto 

ditto 

'

NAMES OF ROOKS. 

Gaelic Grammar, Irish character (1808) 

Gaelic Pentateuch, Irish character . 

Gaelic Book of Common Prayer (1819) 

Gaelic Psalter, Irish character 

Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, 

12 vols. ... 

Bibliotheca Scoto-Celtica 

Oi-ain le Rob Donn ... 

Leabhar Oran Gaidhealach 

Vible Casherick, Manx . 

Biobla Xaomtha, Irish . 

Dr Smith's Sean Dana . 

Evans' Welsh Grammar and Vocabulary 

Grain Uilleim Rois 

Grain Dhonnacha Bhain 

Co-cluuinneachadh Grain Ghailig . 

Book of Psalms, Irish .... 

Grain Nuadh Ghaidhealach, le A. Mac 

Dhomhnuill.... 

Laoidhean o'u Sgi-iobtuir, D. Dewar 

Leabhar Oran Gailig 

An\ Biobla Naomtha (1690) . 

The Family of lona 

Gi-ant's Origin and Descent of the Gael 

Rathad Dhe gu Sith 

Dain Spioradail, Ijrr. I. Griogalach 

Dai-a Leabhar airson nan Sgoileau Gaidh 

ealach ..... 

Treas Leabhar do., do. 

What Patriotism, Justice, and Christianity 

demand for India 

Grain Ghaidhealach 

Priolo's Illustrations from Ossian 

Photograph of Gaelic Charter, 1108 

The Celtic Magazine, vol. i. 

Do. vols. ii. to X. . 

Elementary Lessons in Gaelic 

Stewart's Gaelic Granniiar 

Irish Pedigrees, by O'Hart 

Dan an Deirg agiis Tionnia Ghuill (E^ng 

lish Translation), two copies 

. 

Library. 443 

DONOR. 

Rev. A. Macgi-egor 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Purchased 

Rev. W. Ross, Glasgow 

The Publishers 

Purchased 

The Author 

Mr D. Mackintosh 

The Author 

Mr C. S, Jerram

Hi Gaelic Society of Inueniess. 


Gaelic and Eucflish Vocabulary (174:1) 

. 

Ai-yan Origiu of the Celtic Race and 

Language ..... 

Old Map of Scotland (1746) . 

Collection of Harp Music 

Valuation Roll of the County of Inverness 

(lSGy-70) 

Do. do. Ross (1871-72) . 

Inverness Directory (18G9-70) 

Greek Testament 

Greek Lexicon ..... 

Gospel of St John adapted to the Hamiltonian 

System (Latin) . 

Histoire de Gil Bias de Santillane( French) 

Prophecies of the Brahan Seer, 2nd edition 

My Schools and Schoolmasters 

Gaelic Etymology of the English Language 

Dr Charles Mackay 

The Highland Echo .... 

The Highlander Newspaper, complete, 4 

volumes ..... 

Hebrew—Celtic Affinity, Dr Stratton 

Illustrations of Waverley, published for 

the Royal Association for Promoting 

the Fine Arts in Scotland (18G5) . 

Illustrations of Heart of Midlothian, do. 

do. (1873) 

Illustrations of the Bride of Lammermuir, 

do. do. (1875) .... 

J llustrationsof Red Gauntlet, do., do. (187G) 

Illustrations of the Fair ]\Iaid of Perth . 

Illustrations of the Legend of Montrose . 

Gunn on the Harp in the Highlands 

" 

English Translation of Buchanan's "Latha 

'Bhreitheanais," by the Rev. J. 

Sinclair, Kinloch-Rannoch (1880)] 

An t-Oranaiche, compiled by Arcliibald 

Sinclair (1880) . . . . 

Danaibh Spioradal, ike, le Seumas Mac- 

Bheuthain, Inverness (1880) 

DONOR. 

Rev. A. Macgrcgor 

Mr John Mackay, 

Hereford 

Mr Colin M'Callum 

London 

Mr Charles Fergusson 

ditto 

tlitto 

cUtto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Mr A. Mackenzie 

Mr James Raid 

J. Mackay, Sv,'ansea 

Purchased 

Purchased 

The Author 

Miss Frasei-, Farraline 

Villa, N. Berwick 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

Miss Cameron of Inn- 

Translator 

Comi»iler 

A. Maclean, coal merchant, 

Inverness

Library. 445 

NAMES OF BOOKS. DONOR. 

Macdiarmid's Sermons in Gaelic (1804) 

The Autlior 

. Colin IMacCalluni, 

London 

Bute DockSjCardiff, by John M'Connacliio, 

C.E. (187G) .... 

C)bservations on the Present State of tlie ] 

Highhmds, by the Earl of Selkirk } John Mackay, C.E., 

(1806) J Hereford 

Collection of Gaelic Songs by Ranald ] F. C. Buchanan, Clar- 

Macdonald (1806) . . . \ innisli, Row, Helens- 

Mary Mackellar's Poems and Songs (1880) 

Dr O'Gallagher's Sermons in Irish (1877) 

J 

burgh 

The Author 

John Makay, C.E., 

Hereford. 

John Hill Burton's History of Scotland ) L. Macdonald of 

(9 vols.) I Skaebost 

Burt's Letters from the North of Scotland 

(2 vols.) ditto 

A Genealogical Account of the Highland ] 

Families of Shaw, by A. Mack- \ The Author 

intosh Shaw (1877) . . . 

j 

History of the Clan Chattan, by A. 

Author 

The Mackintosh Shaw (1880) . . 

Leabhau- an t-Sean Tiomna 

dtarruing on Teanguidh 

air na ] 

Uglidar- I 

rach go Gaidhlig tre cliuram agus ! A. R. Macraild, Insaothar 

an doctiir 

Roimlie so Easpog 

Uiliam Bhedel [ 

Chillemhorie 'n 

verness 

j 

Erin (1830) . . 

Edmund Burke's Works, 8 vols. 

. 

. 

.J 

. Mr Colin Chisholm 

Land Statistics of Inverness, Ross, and ] 

Cromarty in the year 1871, by H. [ The Author 

C. Eraser J 

Church of Scotland Assembly Papers 

The Poolewe Case . . . Mr 

Ossian's Fingal rendered into Heroic ) A. H. F. Cameron, 

Verse, by Ewen Cameron (1777) Esq. of Lakeficld 

J 

Ossian's Fingal rendered into verse by 

Archibald Macdonald (1808) . ditto 

Clarsach an Doire—Gaelic Poems, by 

Neil Macleod .... The Author 

MacDiarmid's Gaelic Sermons . 

— 

. \ 

J 

W. Mackenzie 

^^' MacOallum 

^^^l^^ 

London


XAMES OP BOOKS. 

Laebhar Couuinn nan Fior Ghael—The 

DONOR. 

Book of the Club of True Highlanders 

Purchased 

Grammar of the Gaelic Language (Irish), 

by E. O'C Mr H. C. Fraser 

Esquisse de la Religion des Gaulois. Par 

M. Henri Gaidoz. 1879 . . M. Gaidoz 

Notice sur les Inscriptions Latines de 

rirlande. Par M. Henri Gaidoz. 

1878 

Melusine Recueil de Mythologie, &c. Par 

M. Gaidoz 

M. Gaidoz 

MM. Gaidoz et Rolland. 1878 . 

Guide to Sutherlandshire, by Hew Morri- ) rpi * +1 

son . . . . . 

.J 

Transactions of the Royal National Eist- ) Mr J. ISIackay, C.E., 

eddfod of Wales . . . 

. j Hereford 

Bute Docks, Cardiff, by J. Macconnachie, ] rr\ a 1.1, 

The Author 

M.I.C.E. . . . . : 

I 

In Memoriam -Earl of Seafield . . \ 

^he Dowager-Countess 

01 beaneld 

Past and Present Position of the 

( 

Skye L. INIacdonald of Skae- 

(^ 

Crofters 

American Journal of Philology 

J 

host 

Revue Celtique, vol. vi., No. 3 . . M. Gaidoz 

Notes on St Clement's Church, Rowdill, 

Harris . . . . .A. Ross, Inverness 

Notes on Clan Chattan Names . 

Mr J. Mackay, C.E., 

. J. Mac])herson, M.D. 

rr, T5 1 I 

,n. , 

The Proverbs of W ales , . . . < 

^ • H f 1 

,o>^t 

,

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