Full text of "The Celtic magazine; a monthly periodical devoted to the literature, history, antiquities, folk lore, traditions, and the social and material interests of the Celt at home and abroad"

i 






if 




THE 



CELTIC MAGAZINE: 

\^ 

& JBonthlp 



DEVOTED TO THE 



LITERATURE, HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, 
FOLK LORE, TRADITIONS, 



AND THE 



SOCIAL AND MATERIAL INTERESTS OF THE CELT 
AT HOME AND ABROAD. 



CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A, SCOT,, 

Author of " The History and Genealogies of the Clan Mackenzie" ; " The History of 

the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles"; " The History of the Mathesons "; 

" The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer" ; " The Historical Tales and 

Legends of the Highlands" ; " The History of the Highland 

Clearances"; " The IsleofSkye in 1882-83"-, & c > 



VOL. VI 1 1. 



INVERNESS : A. & W. MACKENZIE, 25 ACADEMY STREET. 

1883. 
All Rights Reserved. 



INVERNESS : PRINTED AT THE COURIER OFFICE. 



DA 



LIBRARY 

728815 

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

.The History of the Camerons. The Editor. 1, 81, 97, 145, 301, 370, 415, 467, and 589 
The Inveraray Proclamation 

Kogart Educational Association and Speech by Mr John Mackay, Hereford ... 

The Gaelic Census ... ... ... 17 

Professor Blackie and the Land Laws 

The Highland Brigade and the Highland Crofters... 

Origin of the Names Douglas and Skene. H. ... 21 

Sheriff Mackintosh and the recent Rogart Eviction Trials ... ... 25 

The Irish " Comhluchd Clann na'n Gaoidhil '' ... ... ... ... 28 

A Run Through Canada and the States. Kenneth Macdonald, F.S.A. Scot. 

29, 89, 109, 229, 275, 360, 429, 479, and 516 
The Sutherland Evictions. A.M. 

Altavona 2nd Notice ... ... ... ... ... 42 

Sculptured Stones of Ross & Cromarty. Captain Colin Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot. 49 

The Late Daniel Mackinlay. A. M 56 

The Highlanders and their Tastes. Dr Begg 

The Glenalmond Highlanders at Wimbledon 

Land Nationalisation Its Necessities and its Aims Review 

Notes and Queries 

The Chief of the Macraes... ... ... ... 67 

Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie of Lochcarron 

Frater and Fraser ... ... ... ... ... ... 67 

Clan Ross ... .. ... ... ... ... ... 177 

Memorial to the Late Rev. Alexander Macgregor, M. A. ... ... ... 75 

Achaluachrach's Bridal. M. A. Rose ... ... ... ... ... 76 

Death of Lewis ROPS, a Native of Tain, in Canada ... ... ... 80 

The Honours of Scotland. M. A. Rose ... ... ... ... 118 and 202 

An Ancient British Hill Fort. N. M'Neil Brodie ... 

Anecdote of " Ali-na-pairc" ... ... ... ... ... ... 126 

Mr William Jolly, H.M.I. S. ... ... ... ... 127 

Depopulation of the County of Argyll. A.M. ... ... ... ... 131 

General Sir Herbert Macpherson, V.C., K.C.B., K.S.I. By " M.A.R.S." ... 134 

First Highland Emigration to Nova Scotia, : Arrival of the Ship " Hector" ... 

The Marquis of Bute on Evictions and the Rights of the People .. ... 156 

Ethics of Political Economy. Malcolm Mackenzie. 157, 213, 285, 309, 349, 449, 522, 547 

Lia-Fail, or the Scottish Coronation Stone. H ... ... 168 

Our First Celtic Professor ... ... ... ... ... ... 171 

On an Ayrshire Custom Thomas Stratton, M.D. ... ... 177 

The Highland Problem and the Government Programme ... ... ... 178 

Inverness Gaelic Society Eleventh Annual Dinner 

Speeches by Sir Kenneth Mackenzie and others ... ... ... 180 

Do. Election of Office Bearers ... ... ... ... ... 257 

Do. Twelfth Annual Gathering Patriotic Speech by H. C. Macandrew... 485 

The Highland Dress. J. G. Mackay ... ... J97, 245, 320, 381, 445, and 508 

The Crofters Great Meeting in Edinburgh ... ... ... ... 209 

Celtic Dyes H. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 211 

Professor Blackie on the Sutherland Clearances ... ... ... ... 228 

The Highland Clearances Press Notices. ... ... ... 241, 347, and 478 

Life of John Duncan, Scotck Weaver and Botanist Review ... ... 242 

Carious Superstitions in Tiree. J. Sands ... ... ... ... 252 

Malcolm Mackenzie and the Braes Crofters ... ... ... ... 255 

Archbishop Tait in Rannoch. Rev. John Sinclair ... ... ... 258 

The Scotsman, Professor Blackie, and the Highland Crofters ... ... 262 

The Perthshire Constitutional sold to Mr Hunter ... ... ... ... 267 

A History of Bob Roy by A. H. Millar, F.S.A. Scot. ... ... ... 267 

The Royal Commission and the Highland Crofters. A.M. ... ... 282, 317, and 369 

Scottish Myths Review ... ... ... ... 291 

Celtic Mythology. Alex. Macbain, M.A. ... 293, 341, 389, 437, 491, and 566 

The Glendale Crofters' Trial ... ... ... ... ... 307 and 308 

The Highland Clearances. -Rev. A. C. Sutherland, B.D. ... ... ... 328 

The late Mrs Helen Matheson or Bell 340 



iv Contents. 

PAGE 

Celtic Languages and Literature. Prize by Professor Blackie ... ... 347 

The Glendale Martyrs Liberated ... ... ... ... ... 359 

Gaelic Names of Plants Review ... ... ... ... ... 377 

The Celtic Lyre Review ... ... ... ... ... ... 397 

The Long Island. By " Strath-na-sealg " ... ... ... ... 398 

The General Assembly of the Free Church and the Highland Crofters ... 407 

The Inverness Highland Land Law Reform Association ... ... ... 426 

The London Highland Laad Law Reform Association Speech by Professor Blaokie 427 

Remarks by Captain Macleod of Gesto on " Canntaireachd " ... ... 434 

A Truly Noble Act The Earl of Kilmarnock and his Son at Culloden ... 444 

The Brave Old Sky e Crofter. W.M. ... ... ... ... ... 458 

Proclamation against Rob Roy Macgregor in 1719 ... ... 476 and 537 

A Celtic Department in Mornineside College, Edinburgh ... ... ... 490 

Lord President Forbes of Culloden. By H. R. M. ... ... ... 500 

" Sin Cnaimh is Cnaim e." Mary Mackellar ... ... ... ... 507 

Cromb's Highlands and Highlanders of Scotland ... ... ... ... 521 

" The Isle of Skye in 1882 and 1883" ... ... ... ... 521, 533, and 579 

Clarsach-an-Doire Review ... ... ... ... ... ... 527 

The Highlanders of New Zealand and their Dis'ressed Countrymen at Home 531 and 584 

The New Canadian Deputy-Minister of the Interior, Mr A. M. Burgess ... 536 

The Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, Ex-Premier of Canada, in Inverness ... 538 

" Peer-Men " and some of their relations. George Linn ... 556 

Decrees of Removal against Crofters in the Isle of Skye 1840 to 1883 564 

The Kilt after 1745 565 

Proposed Civil List to Mary Mackellar ... ... ... ... ... 572 

Lower Fishings of the Ness I. C. Fraser-Mackintosh, F.S.A. Scot., M.P. ... 573 

The Royal Commission and the Scotsman Letters by Dean of Guild Mackenzie 589 

Nether- Locbaber A Review ... ... ... .. ... ... 582 

Droving in 1746 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 586 

Completion of our Eighth Annual Volume .. ... ... ... 586 

POETRY. 

Tne Tartan Avalanche. Alexander Logan ... ... ... ... 10 

My Bonny Rowan Tree. D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... ... 26 

The Greatness of God. Translated by the Rev. John Sinclair, B.D. ... 58 

Lachlan Macdonald of Skeabost. Professor Blackie ... ... ... 96 

Oran Chlann Domhnuill nan Eilean. Alastair Buidhe Mac lamhair (Alex. Campbell) 107 

Mementos of My Father's Grave. D. Macgregor Crerar . 117 

Ex-Voto. W. A. Sim ... ... ... ... ... 167 

A Spray of White Heather. D. Macgregor Crerar ... 210 

Oran na H-oige. John MacCodrnm ... ... ... 236 

Highland Sufferings Highland Wrongs. William Allan ... 240 

Glenquaich.D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... 300 

Argyll Evictions. W. C. 0. ... ... 32? 

Rob Roy's Death. Wm. Allan ... ... 343 

Plea for being a " Gall." J. Sands ... 358 

An Old Strathnaver Man's Ballad ... ... ... 337 

Marbhrann do'n Urramach Alastair MacGhriogair.-Mairi, Nighean'lain Bhain 436 

Oran le Iain Mac Mhurchaidh ... ... ... ... 462 

Oran do Dh-Iarla Dhunmor. F. D. MacDhomhnuill 465 

To-Morrow. D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... 563 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

Origin of the Name Gordon. William Brockie ... 27 
Gaelic Etymologies, and Anecdotes of Sir Allan Cameron of Erracht. Rev! 

Allan Sinclair, M. A. ... ... ... 68 

A Celtic Medical College. " Sgeulaiche" ... ... 71 

The Braes Crofters and Lord Macdonald Correspondence" bet ween Mr Malcolm 

Mackenzie, Dean of Guild Mackenzie, and Messrs J. C. Brodie & Sons W S 72 

Origin of the Macgillony Camerons. "Coirre-an-t'Sith" ... ... '.. ' 105 

M M Mary Mackellar 175 

Roy's Wif.- George D. Macnaughtan ... ... 17 6 

Military Ardour of the Highlanders. A. B. ... 238 

History of the Camerons. Mary Mackellar ... 268 
Mr Patrick Sellar and the Sutherland Clearances Correspondence between 

Thomas Sellar and Alex. Mackenzie, editor of the Celtic Maqazine 338 

The New French Ambassador to Great Britain. Captain A. M. Chisholm 505 

Proclamation against Rob Roy Macgregor. A. H. Millar 537 






THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. LXXXV. NOVEMBER 1882. VOL. VIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 
By the EDITOR. 

I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

IN an old Manuscript history of this family printed with " The 
Memoirs of Locheill" in 1 842, the author says " The Camerons 
have a tradition among them that they were originally descended 
of a younger son of the Royal Family of Denmark, who assisted 
at the restoration of King Fergus II., anno 404. He was called 
Cameron from his crooked nose, as that word imports. But it is 
more probable that they were of the aborigines of the ancient 
Scots or Caledonians that first planted the country." Skene 
quotes the family Manuscript in his " Highlanders of Scotland," 
and agrees with its author that the clan came originally from the 
ancient inhabitants of the District of Lochaber. He says, " with 
this last conclusion I am fully disposed to agree, but John Major 
has placed the matter beyond a doubt, for in mentioning on one 
occasion the Clan Chattan and the Clan Cameron, he says, * Hae 
tribus sunt consanguinese.' They therefore formed a part of, the 
% extensive tribe of Moray, and followed the chief of that race un- 



2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

til the tribe became broken up, in consequence of the success of 
the Mackintoshes in the conflict on the North Inch of Perth in 
1396," after which the Camerons separated themselves from the 
main stem, and assumed a position of independence. Major says 
that " these two tribes are of the same stock, and followed one 
head of their race as chief." Gregory, who agrees with these other 
authorities, says that the Camerons, as far back as he could trace, 
had their seat in Lochaber, and appeared to have been first con- 
nected with the Macdonalds of Islay in the reign of Robert Bruce, 
from whom Agus Og of Isla had a grant of Lochaber. " There 
is reason to believe," he continues, " that the Clan Chameron and 
Clan Chattan had a common origin, and for some time followed one 
chief." They have, however, been separated, according to this 
author, ever since the middle of the fourteenth century, if not 
from an earlier date. Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw, in his re- 
cently published History of the Mackintoshes, makes a sturdy 
attempt to upset the authorities here quoted, founding his argu- 
ment mainly on a difference between the original edition of Major, 
printed at Paris in 1521, and the Edinburgh edition of 1740. We 
can only say here that the ingenious argument used appears to us 
to weaken rather than strengthen the position taken up by the 
author of the Mackintosh History, and in his " Postscript," 
written in reply to Skene's views as set forth in Vol. Ill, Celtic 
Scotland, Mr Mackintosh-Shaw modifies what he previously, in 
the body of his work, contended for. In this Postscript he 
says : " I have no wish to deny the possibility that the two clans 
were connected in their remote origin ; all I say is, that no sufficient 
evidence of such connection has yet appeared, and therefore that 
no writer is justified in affirming the connection as a fact." Com- 
pare this with what he writes at p. 1 29 of the same work, where he 
says that the original reading of Major, and the considerations sug- 
gested by it, "afford very strong evidence that the statements of 
Mr Skene as to the community of stock of Clan Chattan and Clan 
Cameron. . . are in reality unfounded." Skene has also to 
some extent modified the opinion published by him, in 1837, in his 
" Highlanders of Scotland." In that work he maintained that 
the famous combat on the North Inch of Perth was fought be- 
tween the Mackintoshes and the Macphersons, whereas in his 
later work, Celtic Scotland, he comes to the conclusion that the 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 3 

combatants were the Mackintoshes and the Camerons. All our 
leading authorities are thus now at one on this ticklish question. 
Skene's later conclusions on this subject are important. In 
his more recent work he informs us that when the Royal forces 
attacked Alexander, Lord of the Isles, in 1429, and defeated 
him in Lochaber, the two tribes who deserted him and went 
over to the Royalists were, according to Bower, the "Clan Katan 
and Clan Cameron;" while Maurice Buchanan gives them, "more 
correctly, as the Clan de Guyllequhatan and Clan Cameron." On 
Palm Sunday, being the 2Oth of March following, the Clan Chat- 
tan attacked the Clan Cameron when assembled in a church, 
to which they set fire, " and nearly destroyed the whole Clan." 
Though it would seem from these statements that all the Cam- 
erons and Mackintoshes deserted the Lord of Isles on that 
occasion, it is clear that this was not the case, for, after his 
restoration to liberty, the Hebridean chief, in 1443, granted a 
charter to Malcolm Mackintosh of the lands of Keppoch, and, in 
1447, conferred upon him the office of Bailie of the Lordship of 
Lochaber. Ample evidence is forthcoming that the Clan Cameron 
was by no means totally destroyed as stated by the chroniclers. 
" It would thus appear," says Skene, " that a part only of 
these two clans had deserted the Lord of the Isles in 1429, and 
a part adhered to him ; that the conflict on Palm Sunday was 
between the former part of these clans, and that the leaders of 
those who adhered to the Lord of the Isles became afterwards re- 
cognised as captains of the respective clans. It further appears 
that there was, within no distant time after the conflict on the 
North Inch of Perth, a bitter feud between the two clans who had 
deserted the Lord of the Isles, and there are indications that this 
was merely the renewal of an older quarrel, for both clans un- 
doubtedly contested the right to the lands of Glenlui and Lochark- 
aig in Lochaber, to which William Mackintosh received a charter 
from the Lord of the Isles in 1336, while they unquestionably after- 
wards formed a part of the territory possessed by the Camerons. 
By the later historians one of the clans who fought on the North 
Inch of Perth, and who were termed by the earlier chroniclers 
Clan Quhele, are identified with the Clan Chattan, and that this 
identification is well founded so far as regards that part of the 
clan which adhered to the Royal cause, while that, on the part of 



4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the Clan Cameron who followed the same course, and were 
nearly entirely destroyed on Palm Sunday, we may recognise 
their opponents, the Clan Kay, is not without much probability." 
\Ve consider this highly probable; and the fact that Skene 
has found it necessary to depart so far from his earlier theory 
gives it greater weight, and now makes it altogether pretty 
conclusive. 

The Clan Chattan of modern times who followed Mackintosh 
as Captain of the clan, consisted of sixteen septs, but the original 
Clan Chattan was formed of the Clan Mhuirich, or Macphersons, 
the Clan Daibhidh or Davidsons, " who were called the Old Clan 
Chattan," and six others, who came under the protection of 
the clan, namely the Macgillivrays, the Macbeans, the Clan 
MhicGovies, the Clan Tarrel, the Clan Cheann-Duibh, and the 
Sliochd-Gowchruim or Smiths. The Clan MhicGovies were a 
branch of the Camerons, while the Smiths were the decendants of 
the famous Gobha or Smith who took the place of the missing 
man at Perth in 1396. 

On the other hand, the Camerons at that period consisted of 
four branches or septs, known "as the Clan Gillanfhaigh or Gillonie, 
or Camerons of Invermalie and Strone ; the Clan Soirlie, or 
Camerons of Glenevis ; the Clan Mhic Mhartain, or Macmartins of 
Letterfinlay ; and the Camerons of Lochiel. The latter were the 
sept whose head became Captain of Clan Cameron and adhered 
to the Lord of the Isles, while the three former represented the 
part of the clan who seceded from him in 1429. Besides these 
there were dependent septs, the chief of which were the Clan Mhic 
Gilveil or Macmillans, and these were believed to be of the race 
Ilan Chattan. The connection between the two clans is thus 
apparent. Now there are preserved genealogies of both clans 
ic.r earlier forms, written not long after the year 1429 
One 1S termed the 'genealogy of the Clan an Toisig, that 
is the C a n Gillechattan,' and it gives it in two separate lines, 
t represented the Older Mackintoshes. The second 
His t "! GlUechattan Mor > ^e eponymus of the clan. 
T T MU1 ' reaCh ' fr m Wh m the C1 *" Mhuirich 
' " ?\ D mna11 or Donald, called 'an 

8 Th : ?r aspir r d wouid f rm the 

The chief seat of this branch of the clan 






HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 5 

can also be ascertained, for Alexander, Lord of the Isles and 
Earl of Ross, confirms a charter granted by William, Earl of 
Ross, in 1338, of the lands of Dalnafert and Kinrorayth or Kin- 
rara, under reservation of one acre of ground near the Stychan of 
the town of Dalnavert, where was situated the manor of the late 
Seayth, son of Ferchard, and we find a \ Tsead, son of Ferquhar,' 
in the genealogy at the same period. Moreover, the grandson of 
this Seayth was Disiab or Shaw, who thus was contemporary 
with the Shaw who fought in 1396. With regard to the Clan 
Cameron, the invariable tradition is that the head of the Mac- 
gillonies or Macgillanaigh led the clan who fought with the Clan 
Chattan during the long feud between them, and the old genea- 
ology terms the Camerons Clan Maelanfhaigh, or the race of the 
servant of the prophet, and deduces them from a common an- 
cestor, the Clan Maelanfhaigh and the Clan Camshron, and as the 
epithet ' an Caimgilla,' when aspirated, would become ' Kevil,' 
so the word * Fhaigh' in its aspirated form would be represented 
by the ' Hay' of the chroniclers. John Major probably gives the 
clue to the whole transaction, when he tells us that ' these two 
clans' the Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron, which, as we have 
seen, had a certain connection through their dependent septs 
' were of one blood, having but little in lordships, but following 
one head of their race as principal, with their kinsman and de- 
pendents.' He is apparently describing their position before 
these dissensions broke out between them, and his description re- 
fers us back to the period when the two clans formed one tribe, 
possessing the district of Lochaber as their Tuath or country, 
where the lands in dispute Glenlui and Locharkaig were pro- 
bably the official demesne of the 'old Toisech, or head of the 
tribe.' "* The ancient and common origin of the Mackintoshes 
and Can\erons in that of the Old Clan Chattan will, we think, be 
admitted by all whose special theories as to the origin of their 
own families will not be upset or seriously affected by an admis- 
sion of the fact. 

The original possessions of the Camerons were confined to 
the portion of Lochaber lying on the east side of the Loch and 
River of Lochy, held of the Lord of the Isles as superior. The 
more modern possessions of the clan Lochiel and Lochark- 

* Celtic Scotland, Vol. III., pp. 313-318. 



6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

atelying on the west side of these waters were at an earlier 
period granted by the Island lord to Macdonald of Clanran- 
ald, by* whose descendants they were for many generations 
inhabited. Skene holds that, as the Camerons are one of 
those clans whose chief bore the somewhat doubtful title of 
Captain, a strong suspicion exists that the Cameron chiefs were 
of a different branch from the older family, and had, in common 
with the other families among whom the title of captain is found, 
been the oldest cadet, and in that capacity had superseded the 
elder branch at a period when the latter became reduced in posi- 
tion and circumstances. 

The traditionary origin of the Camerons proper clearly 
points to the ancient chiefs of the clan, for, continues the same 
author, "while they are unquestionably of native origin, their 
tradition derives them from a certain Cambro, a Dane, who is 
said to have acquired his property with the chiefship of the clan, 
by marriage with the daughter and heiress of Macmartin of Let- 
terfinlay. The extraordinary identity of all these traditionary 
tales, wherever the title of Captain is used, leaves little room to 
doubt that in this case the Macmartins were the old chiefs of the 
clan, and the Lochiel family were the oldest cadets, whose after- 
position at the head of the clan gave them the title of Captain of 
the Clan Cameron. There is reason to think that, on the acquisi- 
tion of the Captainship of the Clan Chattan, in 1396, by the 
Mackintoshes, the Macmartins adhered to the successful faction, 
while the great body of the Clan, with the Camerons of Lochiel, 
declared themselves independent, and thus the Lochiel family 
gained that position which they have ever since retained."* It 
* supposed that another circumstancethe desertion of the Lord 
)f the Isles by the Clan at Inverlochy in 1431 helped to raise the 
leader of the Lochiel Camerons to the chiefship of the whole clan, 
at a time when the Macmartins, after the victory of the Lord 
the Isles, were furiously attacked, and their leader driven 
2 in Ireland, while his followers had to take refuge in the 
>re mountainous parts of the Cameron country. The Mac- 
s were afterwards unable to assume their former position 
' head of their house, and Cameron of Lochiel, the oldest 
family, assumed the chiefship of the whole clan, 
* Highlanders of Scotland, Vol. II,, pp, 194-195. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 7 

with the title of Captain, and was placed at their head. The 
leader who is said to have first taken up this distinguished 
position was the renowned Donald Dubh from whom the Came- 
ron chiefs take their patronymic of "Mac Dhomh'uill Duibh," 
and of whom at length, in his proper place, hereafter. 

According to the Manuscript of 1450, which begins the 
genealogy of the MacGillonie Camerons with Ewen, son of Donald 
Dubh last mentioned, the descent of the early family chiefs ex- 
tend back from Donald's son in the following order : " Ewen, 
son of Donald Dubh, son of Allan Millony, son of Paul, son of 
Gillepatrick, son of Gillemartan, son of Paul, son of Millony, son 
of Gilleroth,* from whom descended the Clan Cameron and Clan 
Millony ; son of Gillemartan Og, son of Gilleniorgan, son of 
Gillemartan Mor, son of Gilleewen, son of Gillepaul, son of 
Eacada, son of Gartnaid, son of Digail, son of Poulacin, son of 
Art, son of Angus Mor, son of Ere, son of Telt."f This genea- 
logy clearly refers to the " Maelanfhaigh" or Macgillonie stem of 
the family, though it begins with Ewen, son of Donald Dubh, 
who died before his father without issue, when he was succeeded 
by his brother Donald, who represented and carried on the Came- 
ron line of succession, which we shall now proceed to trace from 
its original source, so far as we can with the meagre materials 
within our reach. 

The name Cameron in ancient times was variously written 
in such forms as Cameron, Cambron, Cambrun. The first of 
which we find any trace is, 

i. ANGUS, who married Marion, one of the daughters of 
Kenneth III. King of Scotland, and sister of Bancho, Thane of 
Lochaber, a fact which amply proves that Angus was a person of 
rank and dignity, even at that early period, for Bancho, in addi- 
tion to his position as a Royal Prince, was governor of one of the 
largest Provinces in the Kingdom, Lochaber being said to com- 
prehend, at that time, all the lands between the River Spey and 
the Western Sea. Angus is alleged to have been instrumental 

* Skene says in a foot-note, Vol. III., Celtic Scotland, p. 480, "This is the 
Gilleroth mentioned by Fordun in 1222 as a follower of Macohecan in his insurrec- 
tion, along with whom he witnesses a charter as Gilleroth, son of Gillemartan. 

t Translated by Skene, and printed with the Gaelic original in Celtic Scotland, 
Vol. III. p. 480. 



g THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

in saving Flcancc the son of Bancho, and his own lady's nephew, 
from the cruelty of Macbeth, and to have been rewarded and 
highly esteemed on that account. He is said to have died about 
1020, when he was succeeded by his son. 

2. GILLESPICK OR ARCHIBALD, who joined the loyalists anc 
assisted in the restoration of Malcolm Ceanmore in 1057. For 
this service he was, according to the family historian, raised with 
many others to the dignity of a Lord Baron," on the 25th of 
April in that year ; but such dignities it seems were not heredit- 
ary in Scotland in those days, but ended with the lives of those 
on whom they were conferred, though, in many cases, they were 
renewed to their sons. This does not appear to have happened 
in the case of the Camerons, and the dignity died with its first 
possessor. He was succeeded by his eldest son,* 

3. JOHN CAMERON, said to have lived in the reign of King 
David I., but nothing further is known regarding him. He was 
succeeded by his son, or grandson, 

IV. ROBERT CAMERON. In a donation to the Monastery 
of Cambuskenneth, before 1200, in the reign of William the 
Lyon, Henry, Archdean of Dunkeld ; Alexander, Sheriff of Stirl- 
ing ; Henry de Lamberton ; and this Robert Cambron, are found 
witnesses. He died early in the reign of Alexander II., leaving 
issue 

1. John, his heir and successor. 

2. Robert de Cambron, whose name is mentioned with that 
of his brother in the Chartulary of Scoon in 1239, and is said by 
some to have been the progenitor of the Camerons of Strone. 

3. Hugo, or Hugh, or Ewen de Cambron, mentioned in the 
Chartulary of Arbroath in 1219, but of whose posterity nothing 
is known. 

Robert Cameron was succeeded by his eldest son, 
V. SIR JOHN DE CAMERON, who, as John de Cambrun, is 
witness to a donation in favour of the religious house at Scoon in 
1 234, with Walter, son of Alan, Lord High Steward and Justiciar of 
Scotland ; Walter Cumin, Earl of Menteith ; Adam de Logan ; 
John de Haya ; and his own brother, Robert de Cambrun. He 

*Hc is said to have had a second son, Angus, who had a son Martin, from whom 
ihe Macmartins of Lelterfinlay sprang. This is, however, scarcely consistent with what 
is already stated. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 9 

is also mentioned in connection with some marches, in the Diocese 
of Aberdeen, in 1233 ; and in 1250 he is found designed "Johannes 
de Cambrun, Miles " &c. He had two sons 

1. Robert his heir and successor. 

2. John, mentioned in Pryme's Collections in 1296. He is 
alleged to have been progenitor of the Camerons of Glen-Nevis. 
Sir John died in the reign of Alexander II., and was succeeded by 
his eldest son, 

VI. SIR ROBERT DE CAMERON, one of those who made 
their submission to Edward I. of England, is twice mentioned in 
Pryme's collections, first as dominus Robertus de Cambrun, Miles, 
and afterwards, in 1296, Robertus de Cambrun, Chevalier. He 
was succeeded by his son, 

VII. JOHN DE CAMBRUN also known as "John MacOchtery," 
who made a considerable figure in the reign of Robert I., at which 
early period this clan is said to have been numerous in Lochaber. 
He was one of those who signed the famous letter sent to the 
Pope by the Scottish Nobility in 1320, in which they plead for the 
King's title to the Scottish Crown, and for the independence of 
Scotland. He also joined David II. with a considerable body of his 
followers, whom he commanded in the third Division of the Scots 
army at the battle of Hallidon Hill, on the i$th of July 1333. He 
continued in the King's service until the English were expelled 
from the Kingdom, and the King firmly settled in the government 
of Scotland. It was in his time that the long continued and 
deadly feud between the Camerons and the Mackintoshes first 
began, though it was many years after his death before it was 
finally brought to a close.* 

John was succeeded by his son. 

(To be continued.) 

* The only Chiefs prior to this period named in the Family MS. are the first two 
and the last, Angus, Gillespick, and John. The others are given in Wood's edition 
of Douglas's Baronage, where at this point two Johns are given in succession. The 
acts ascribed to the two Johns of Douglas's Baronage are ascribed to one John in 
the Family MS. We have followed the latter. It is, however, quite impossible 
to secure certainty on a genealogical question so remote in the case of any of our 
Highland Clans. Referring to these discrepancies, the editor of the " Memoirs" says 
that he " has been informed by one of the highest authorities on these subjects, that 
the earlier generations contained in Douglas's Baronage, when not fabulous, were 
not of the Locheill family, but belonged to the family of Camerons of Balligarnoch in 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE TARTAN AVALANCHE. 
Dedicated to Sir Archibald Alison. 



Charge, ye noble-hearted heroes, 

Make the tyrants backward reel ; 
On as did your dauntless fathers 

With their trusty Highland steel ! 
Where the battle fray was fiercest, 

They did death and danger spurn, 
And their free and fearless spirits 

Still within your bosoms burn ! 

Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph ! 

Burst the proud oppressor's chains ! 
Like your own immortal Wallace, 

Noble blood rolls through your veins ! 

Charge for Scotland's stainless honour ! 

Round her deathless laurels twine ! 
Make her'golden page of glory 

With unfading lustre shine ! 
Yours the strath of purple heather, 

Yours the mountain and the glen ; 
Let the despots, by your valour, 

Know these nurse but gallant men ! 

Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph, &c. 

Perthshire, and that the founder of the Locheill branch was Donald Dubh MacAllan, 
the sixth chief according to the Memoirs. "It ought, however, to be observed," 
he continues, " that although the author evidently labours under the impression that 
the first were of the Locheill branch, yet he merely asserts that they were the princi- 
pal men of the name of Cameron of whom he could find any mention in History." 
This is a point which, at least for the present, we must leave where we found it. John 
Cameron is mentioned in a document, dated loth of March 1233, printed by Mr 
Charles Eraser-Mackintosh, p. 24 of his Invemessiana, and, at p. 44 of the same 
work, Robert de Chambroun de Balgligernaucht (? Baligarny) is mentioned in a docu- 
ment, dated the 1 6th of December 1292, by which the King grants him a pension of 
50 merks payable by the burgesses of Inverness. 

* The Highland Brigade, at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir, witrTpipes play- 
ing and a wild ringing cheer, rushed in gallant style through the enemy's fire and car- 
ried the trenches at the point of the bayonet. They had 50 killed and 170 wounded ! 
Apart from the Highlanders, all the rest of the army had only 13 killed and 165 
wounded. Scotland may well be proud of her sons, who still retain the bold martial 
spirit and dashing valour which distinguished them in bygone times. 



THE INVERARAY PROCLAMATION. 11 

Hearts more valiant, true, and loyal, 

Never'trod a battle-field ; 
Far amid the wild war-billows 

Die they may but never yield ! 
Swiftly as the dark hill-torrent 

Dashes to the vale below 
So the avalanche of tartan 

Rushes on to meet the foe ! 
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph, &c. 

To the pibroch, proudly sounding, 

On they bound with hardy pride ; 
In the van the claymore flashes, 

Foemen fall on every side. 
Naught can stay old Scotland's heroes, 

Frowning forts, nor belching guns ! 
On Fame's brilliant scroll, in splendour, 

Shine the brave deeds of her sons ! 

Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph ! 

Burst the proud oppressor's chains ! 
Like your own immortal Wallace, 

Noble blood rolls_through your veins ! 

Edinburgh. ALEXANDER LOGAN. 



THE INVERARAY PROCLAMATION. The disciples of Isaac Walton, who 
find it a difficult task to discover an open water, will relish the proclamation given in 
the Dunoon book as having been made at the Market Cross of Inveraray in the last 
century : 

Ta-hoy ! Te t'ither ahoy ! Ta-hoy 

Three times ! ! ! an' Ta-hoy Whisht ! ! ! 

By command of his Majesty, King George 
an' her Grace te Duke o' Argyll : 

If any body is found fishing aboon te loch, 

or below te loch, afore te loch, or ahint te loch, 

in te loch, or on te loch, aroun' te loch, or 

about te loch, 

She's to be persecutit wi' three persecutions : 

First, she's to be burnt, syne she's to be 

drownt, and then she's to be hangt an' 

if ever she comes back she's to be persecutit 

Wi' a faur waur death. 

God save the King an' her Grace 
te Duke o' Argyll ! 

Literary Notes in the Daily Mail. 



, z THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION AND 
MR JOHN MACKAY, C.E., HEREFORD. 

PROFESSOR BLACKIE, in one of his recent " Highland Sketches " 
in the Scotsman, writes : The Educational Association of 
Rogart of whose seventh anniversary, held under the presi- 
dency of her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland, a short notice 
appeared in your columns, and at which I had the good fortune 
to be present is, I believe, a unique phenomenon in Highland 
parishes, to the importance of which it seems proper to direct the 
attention of the public. Rogart is a parish of considerable extent 
about 10 miles by 6 and as such demanding, for the con- 
venience of children of unripe ages in a raw climate, under the 
new regulations, four separate schools. Mr John Mackay, of 
Hereford, an engineer of well-known efficiency in Wales, being a 
native, and son of a crofter in this parish, and, like all true High- 
landers, possessed by the noble passion of doing good to his 
fellow-countrymen, conceived the idea of uniting these schools in 
a general association for the purposes of common action. This 
scheme, under his wise direction and the co-operation of the 
clergy and other influential persons in the district, leaped at a 
stride into distinct reality, and has already become not the least 
potent factor in the moral machinery of the district. Its action 
is threefold (i) It unites all the four schools of the parish in a 
general competition for prizes, after the fashion of the Ferguson 
scholarships, which are open to the students of all the Scottish 
Universities, giving the most effective spur to a generous rivalry 
among the competing schools, and creating, at the same time, a 
feeling of unity, and nursing the habit of common action, in the 
highest degree beneficial to the best interests of the parish ; (2) 
It supplies a fund large enough to equip any one of the best 
scholars of the parish for a University career, where, after a good 
start, he may be able to fight his own way up into professional 
usefulness; (3) It maintains a library for parochial uses; and (4) 
Has a debating society connected with it for improvement in 
English composition, and the discussion of subjects of human and 
1 interest. I feel quite confident, Mr Editor, that you will 
agree with me in thinking that a local movement of this kind, 



ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 13 

however small it may bulk among the scenes that are enacted on 
more prominent and more pretentious platforms, is a movement, 
not only in itself of great social importance, but in the hope 
which it holds forth of being the germ of educational action on a 
similar principle all over the Highlands, and, it may be, over the 
whole of Scotland. 

Mr Mackay, to whom a grateful address was delivered by 
the parishioners, has appealed, in this movement, to the great 
principle of self-help a principle which, whenever it is called 
into operation, not only achieves the desired result in the prompt- 
est possible way, but achieves it by rousing into full play all 
those moral forces by the action of which a man becomes, in the 
complete sense of the word, a man. Whatever is done for us 
and not by us, however well done, can never make us strong in 
the doing of it ; may only leave us dexterous tools, or well- 
trained puppets, in the hands of those who have done it for us. 
This is the fundamental principle of all true democracy ; the one 
root out of which all individual strength and all social dignity 
proceeds. Some things, no doubt, must be done externally by 
social compulsion that is, by the State and by public law ; 
otherwise, as human nature is constituted, they will either not be 
done at all, or done in a very inadequate fashion. Nevertheless, 
it is well that outside of all State arrangement there should be a 
free field left for voluntary creation ; and one such free field Mr 
Mackay has appropriated in the Rogart Educational Association. 
It is an evil inherent in all centralised systems that they tend to 
apply a rigid rule, in a mechanical way, to all material, however 
diverse, that comes within the sphere of their operation ; while 
the local element, which, as the most characteristic, is not 
seldom the most valuable element in all true culture, under the 
panoramic view of remote redtapists, becomes unduly subordin- 
ated or altogether invisible. An example of this necessary 
peculiarity of centralised optics we find in the systematic omission 
of the native lauguage and the native music, in the favoured 
subjects of the Educational Code for the Highlands; though 
nothing is more certain, on the one hand, that the comparative 
study of Gaelic and English is the best possible intellectual 
exercise for young Celts, just as the comparative study of Latin 
and English is for the young Lowlander ; and, on the other hand, 



I 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

that, for the cultivation of the emotions and the moral nature, the 
national songs and the national music are among the most potent 
instruments that Nature has put into the hands of the educator. 
To counteract this onesidedness, Mr Mackay, with the large views 
of a patriot, and the warm heart of a man, has instituted in 
Rogart a Gaelic class for young persons and adults, in connection 
with the Association, giving prizes, as, indeed, he does largely on 
all occasions, principally out of his own pocket. I have only to 
add that this Association, in its special action for the encourage- 
ment of the mother tongue, points out to Highlanders, with a 
significant index, the only way by which they can hope to have 
anything worthy of the name of a Highland education in High- 
land schools. The men who measure out educational red tape in 
London or Oxford do not seem to have the most remote notion that 
good Highland education consists in drawing out (educo) the best 
elements that God and Nature have put into the Highland breast ; 
their method is to suppose that Highland souls are empty vessels, 
into which knowledge is to be poured in the quality, and accord- 
ing to the quantity, that the Metropolitan man, in the plenitude 
of his codifying and inspectorial wisdom, may weigh out ; a 
method which will have the infallible result of annihilating the 
noble race called Highlanders altogether, and turning them all 
out as the accomplished monkeys and flunkeys and dancing 
bears of omnipotent John Bull. I crave, in conclusion, a place 
for a few complimentary lines 

TO JOHN MACKAY, ESQ., OF HEREFORD, THE FOUNDER OF THE ROGART SCHOOL 
ASSOCIATION, SUTHERLAND. 

Who love the Highlands ? not with murtherous guns, 

Who scour the moor, and chase the flying deer ; 

Who lure the speckled troutling from the mere, 
And hook the strong-nosed salmon, where he runs 
Cleaving the adverse flood. These love their sport ; 

But thou, Mackay, dost love the stout-thewed men, 

Whose sweatful toil redeemed the stony glen, 
And filled wide Europe with the proud report 
Of their high-daring deeds ; and thou didst stir 

In fresh young hearts brave memory of their sires ; 
And mothers hailed in thee God's minister, 

To fan the slumbering flame of patriot fires. 
Who loveth thus loves well, and, nobly wise, 
Weds earth to heaven with worth that never dies. 

JOHN STUART BLACKIE. 



ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 15 

At the meeting of the Association, referred to by Professor 
Blackie, Mr Mackay was presented with the address from the 
people of Rogart, his native village, " as a token at once of their 
high admiration of his character and career, and of their very 
grateful appreciation of his intelligent, liberal, and unwearied 
endeavours to advance the social and intellectual welfare of the 
inhabitants of that, his native, parish." After giving him full 
praises for founding the Rogart Association, the Address pro- 
ceeded. 

It is creditable to you as well as encouraging and pleasing to us to find this 
Society already a power for good in the parish, chief among its many fruits being a 
literary institute, with its debating society, library, and reading-room, as also a sing- 
ing class. Its excellent results are further seen in the creditable position attained in 
grammar schools and Universities by some of those aided by this Association. While, 
no doubt, it is in this parish amongst ourselves that your name and the history of your 
highly creditable and successful career are and will be treasured with a special pride 
and affection, it is well known that your fame as a true Highlander and a benefactor 
of your countrymen is not confined to Rogart, not even to the Highlands. Wherever 
Highlanders are to be found, in the distant colonies of Australia and New Zealand, 
among the brave, industrious Gaelic-speaking settlers of Canada, by the Celts that 
occupy positions of trust and influence on the sunny fields of India, and, nearer home, 
by the Celtic population of the large towns and cities, and of the far-off hamlets of the 
Outer Hebrides, the name of John Mackay, of Swansea, the designation by which 
you are better known, is respected and cherished with a fond regard as an accom- 
plished Highlander a true friend of the people and of the ancient Gaelic tongue, an 
intelligent student of Highland traditions, and a liberal, thoughtful, promoter of the 
best interests of his Highland countrymen, as tillers of the soil, and in all other 
spheres of life. 

Mr Mackay eloquently replied in feeling and patriotic lan- 
guage, after which Professor Blackie delivered, as usual, a telling 
speech. Speaking of the Duchess of Sutherland, who was present, 
and listened to his eloquent and well-deserved encomiums, he 
said. 

I am happy to know that she is the right kind of duchess (Cheers) she is 
a duchess that loves her people. (Loud cheers.) That I know; and any one who 
walks up through Strathpeffer can see that. You will see there white cottages on the 
hill sides, tenanted by the native population the place teeming with a thriving High- 
land peasantry. (Applause.) You will not there see one big house occupied by an 
Elliot or a Paterson, or some outlandish name of that sort. (Great laughter.) The 
Highland peasants are still there like the heather upon the hills, or the old Caledonian 
pines, remaining where they should be. (Cheers.) This is the effect of good manage- 
ment ; and when her Grace looks upon these people we know her sentiments. "These," 
she says, " were my father's tenants, and so far as I can, consistent with good man- 



, 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE, 

agement, they shall be mine, (Cheers.) They shall not leave that property unless it 
be for their better, and mine also." (Applause.) I have been accused of being a 
sonneteer (Laughter) and a sentimentalist, but I would be a brute and a craven- 
hearted beast if I could walk through the Highland glens which I have seen utterly 
desolate (Applause) where we know that thirty or forty years ago there was a happy 
and prosperous population the nursery of our best labourers, of our best soldiers 
(Cheers) but instead of whom we now find ten hundred thousand sheep and one big 
south country farmer (Laughter and applause) I say that with that sight before me 
I weep when I go there. (Applause.) But our duchess loves her people. She knows 
her position and her relation to them she knows that that relationship is higher than 
mere rent -gathering she is not like your miserable shopkeeper and ordinary rent- 
collectors. God forbid ! True nobility has higher aims and higher duties than these 
(Applause) it loves, it honours, it reveres the people. (Applause.) If our aristoc- 
racy look upon the people on merely mercantile principles they will fall into contempt, 
and deservedly so. (Applause.) Now, I am afraid of becoming eloquent (Laughter) 
but I have been called on to speak the thought rises, and you must take it as it 
comes. I am sure there is nothing higher or nobler than the position of the owner of 
a great landed property, if that person looks upon it as an onerous position, and feels 
called upon to improve the land and advance the well-being of the people (Applause) 
I know nothing like it. There is no profession superior to that of elevating the 
position of the people raising them in the physical, intellectual, and moral scale. 
(Applause.) What can be better than that? Some proprietors send some fellows 
down to gather as much money as possible out of the people, and after that let them 
emigrate or starve. Now that is a wretched policy (Applause) and a policy with 
which I know her Grace has no sympathy, for we see in her one of the highest in the 
land doing the noblest and best acts to her people preserving them in the country of 
her fathers and their fathers, encouraging them to improve their possessions and gene- 
rally promoting their interests. (Loud applause.) 

The reader should know that her Grace has large properties of 
her own in the counties of Ross and Cromarty, and it was to 
these and not to Sutherland that the Professor referred. Speak- 
ing of the objects of the Association, the Professor continued- 
Love is the regular bond of society, which binds class and class, and if anybody 
says that cash payment is the only and leading principle, to him I say Maranatha 
(Laughter) a curse upon you ! That man is not a Christian. He is not animated 
with the spirit of the old landlords the love which was the old bond in the time of 
the clans, which some of you with big pockets and small hearts (Laughter) -call 
times of barbarism and thieving (Laughter) I wish to take the liberty which all 
>peechmakers, and sometimes many preachers, take of departing from the subject 
Daughter) in saying a single word to express my view of the aims of such an Asso- 
ion as this. This is one of the things which in these literary days I enjoy. It 
means two things. In the first place, it means self-dependence, and in the second 
(Applause.) That is the root of all true national greatness ; and it follows 
it without it your men become mere puppets or bonny, well-behaved girls. (Great 
ter.) You will get that sort of thing in Austria and under the Jesuits, but in 
have a little manhood the people must be taught to do things for themselves, 
I the sort of education which they want and which they require. The 



THE GAELIC CENSUS. 17 

whole of Scotland is deficient in the matter of secondary education and why ? Be- 
cause the people up in London don't care a copper for you they think that your sal- 
vation must come from London (Great laughter) and that your chief function is to 
let John Bull ride over your necks to bring out all the Celtic soul that is in you. 
But my advice to you is to cultivate all your traditions, especially all your Gaelic 
songs and all your Gaelic legends, and learn the morals which they convey. I do not 
want to prop up the Gaelic by artificial- means, but while it is a living tongue, use it, 
and benefit by it (Applause) and because your aged mother is sixty years, and you 
a strapping young dame, don't kick her into the grave let her tell her story ; for if 
you despise your mother, others will naturally and deservedly despise you. (Ap- 
plause.) 

Nae treasures or pleasures 
Could mak' us happy lang ; 

The heart's aye the part aye 
That mak's us richt or wrang. 

During the proceedings the Rev. Mr Mackay intimated that 
hitherto four girls and five boys had been assisted by the Associ- 
ation at Grammar and Normal Schools. The very first boy the 
Association took in hand one who had lost both his parents at 
an early age went to the Grammar School at Aberdeen. In 
his first year there he got a bursary of iS for two years. After 
attending the Grammar School for two years he entered the 
University, where he carried off a bursary of 20 for four years. 
Last year this same boy obtained another bursary of the value of 
10. 



THE GAELIC CENSUS, 



IN the month of March last year, when the census schedules were 
issued, bearing the puzzling instruction to enumerators and house- 
holders about " habitual " speakers of Gaelic, the worthlessness, 
for any practical purposes, of such a census as was there re- 
quired was pointed out, and our countrymen were warned that 
use would be made of this incomplete and altogether fallacious 
enumeration to institute comparisons as to the relative strength 
of the English and Gaelic speaking districts of our country, a 
comparison which would inevitably tell to the disadvantage of 
the Gaelic speaking people, and which, to those who did not 
know, or did not choose to pay attention to the circumstances 

D 



Ig THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

of the enumeration, would supply a convenient ground for further 
official ignoring of the Highland people and their language. 

That such caution was not uncalled for is now evident from 
the returns by the Registrar-General of the completed census. 
In his report, without the slightest hint as to the notoriously in- 
correct and incomplete character of the Gaelic statistics, he goes 
on to make his calculations of the numerical strength of the 
Gaelic population. In the first place he calls the Gaelic return 
an attempt to give "an accurate account of the numbers of the 
population who in each locality are said to be 'Gaelic-speaking,' 
or to be in the habit of making colloquial use of the Gaelic lan- 
guage." Let our readers mark, " an accurate account," or, as he 
further on says, the percentage of Gaelic speakers "dearly 
shown." He then goes on to state that the percentage of Gaelic 
speakers in the various districts stands thus : The North-Western 
Division, 71-08 per cent, of the population; the West, Midland, 
and Northern Divisions contain 18-49 and 16*99 P^ cent, re- 
spectively. The counties show as follows: Sutherland, 75-31 
per cent; Ross and Cromarty, 71-40; Inverness, 70-80; and 
Argyle, 6o'8i. In the county of Lanark, including the city of 
Glasgow, there are 10,513 persons returned as "Gaelic speakers," 
this number being only ri6 per cent, of the population of that 
county. It is probable that the percentages quoted above may 
be fairly accurate so far as they apply to Highland districts and 
counties, and may be accepted as furnishing an approximation to 
the numbers of persons colloquially speaking the Gaelic language. 
But the natural inference that the remaining percentages represent 
the proportion of English speakers we protest against, because 
they embrace many of the infants and young children of ex- 
clusively Gaelic-speaking people (who will in all probability grow 
up Gaelic speakers) as well as the "unspeakable" children of 
English speaking parents. Manifestly, therefore, the comparison 
is quite unfair. 

It is simply ridiculous to speak of the return for Lanarkshire 
as an "accurate" account of the number of Gaelic speakers. 
Glasgow shows only some 8500. Why, any one who sees the 
Gaelic congregations of that city dismissing on a Sunday fore- 
noon may find in Hope Street alone over 3000 Gaelic speakers 
ssuing from two churches. We venture to say that if the number 



PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND LAND LAWS. 19 

of Gaelic speakers returned for Glasgow were multiplied by seven 
it would be much nearer an accurate return. 

It may be remarked by some that the census only contem- 
plated enumerating those who were habitual speakers of Gaelic, 
and that possibly the returns for Glasgow may be nearly correct. 
But granting that, what is the value of it? or what dependence 
can be put on a census that in Lewis returns the whole popula- 
tion of certain parishes, down to the infants at the breast, as speak- 
ing Gaelic, while in other places the enumerators carefully ex- 
cluded all who were able to converse in Gaelic if they did not do 
so habitually, as was evidentally done in Glasgow ? It is a noto- 
rious fact that many of the enumerators deliberately ignored their 
instructions, and made no enquiries about the filling up of the 
Gaelic column. Even in the town of Inverness we personally know 
of cases where whole families some numbering nine persons 
scarcely any member of whom can express the commonest idea 
intelligently in English who are in every sense Gaelic-speaking 
people only were returned by the enumerators' as English- 
speaking, while they never utter a word of English unless they 
are obliged to do so to make themselves understood. This sort of 
thing holds equally true of other places North and South. 

On the whole, we have no hesitation in pronouncing the re- 
turn of so-called Gaelic speakers as very misleading, indeed 
almost worthless, and would caution Highlanders against any 
statistical uses that may be made of it. 



PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND THE LAND LAWS. Professor Blackic 
writes as follows to the Scotsman: "Sir, I observe a paragraph in your paper of 
the 3rd inst., in which my name is mentioned in connection with 'a land agitation in 
the Highlands,' forthwith to be inaugurated. I write this to state that I gave no 
authority to any person to make such a use of my name. With regard to our Land 
Laws generally, not only in the Highlands, but all over the country, long study and 
observation have convinced me that they are unjust and impolitic in an extreme de- 
gree ; and it may be that, from certain local causes, they are made to act more harshly 
and more perniciously in the Highlands than in the low country. So soon as any 
fundamental changes in these laws shall be put into a practical shape by influential 
politicians and men of business, the leaders in such a movement may calculate on my 
warm sympathy and active co-operation, so far as it may be worth anything. But I 
am a student by profession, and not an agitator, and meddle with questions of legal 
and social reform only in a subsidiary and secondary way." 



20 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



THE HIGHLAND BRIGADE AND THE HIGHLAND 
CROFTERS. 



A VALUED correspondent, referring to a prospective Measure of 
Relief to the Highland Crofters, writes to us as follows : I re- 
joice to think that a measure of relief of this nature is now 
within easy reach. The gallant charge of the Highland Brigade 
at Tel-el-Kebir has again placed the Empire under obligations to 
this contingent of the army, and as the time will soon be at hand 
for rewarding deserving general officers, the claims of the men 
could not be acknowledged by the country in a more befitting 
manner than by conferring freedom and security upon the stock 
from which they are drawn, so that the Highlands may still be 
preserved as a nursery for brave men and bonnie lasses. 

The most effective demonstration that can be made is to get 
up a petition of crofters to Parliament setting forth their griev- 
ances, and praying to be made peasant proprietors with enlarged 
holdings where the land admits of it. A roll should be sent to 
every parish, and ministers of both Churches might be enlisted in 
favour of the step, and be useful in getting it signed. This being 
done, a deputation of crofters, of about 100 men, or say, a repre- 
sentative man from every parish, should be sent to London 
dressed in their usual best garb and Kilmarnock bonnets, with a 
piper at their head, to deliver their petition to Mr Bright or some 
English member of weight and talent for presentation. It would 
be a respectful, a manly, a constitutional, and altogether a unique 
and telling demonstration. Our difficulty is to command the 
attention of Englishmen. Our existence must be made known 
to them, and we ought to show them that we are in earnest. 

The money can be easily found. I think 1000 ought to 
cover all the expenses. I shall be glad to contribute a ten pound 
note myself, although I am not wealthy, but I have wealthy 
friends upon whose liberality I may count. 

The following table, from the Inverness Courier, gives point 
to our correspondent's suggestion : 

THE HIGHLANDERS AT T E L-EL-KEBiR.An examination 
list of the killed and wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, as finally 



NAMES OF DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 21 

made up by Sir Garnet Wolscley, brings out the melancholy 
fact that the Highland regiments suffered more than all the 
other regiments under Wolseley's command put together. The 
number of regiments returned as having been engaged in the 
action is 17. Of these five are Highland regiments. The total 
number of casualties of all ranks is 459. The casualties among 
the Highlanders alone number 245, thus leaving only 214 to be 
divided among the other twelve regiments. Nothing tells more 
eloquently of the heroic part the Highland regiments took in this 
battle. We tabulate their losses as follows : 

Officers Officers Other Ranks Other Ranks 

Killed. Wounded. Killed. Wounded. Missing. 

Black Watch 2 6 7 37 4 

Gordon Highlanders i i 5 29 4 

Cameron Highlanders 3 13 45 

Highland Light Infantry... 3 5 14 52 11 

Seaforth Highlanders ... i 3 

Total 6 15 40 166 19 

The other twelve Regiments 3 12 8 187 3 

Grand total. 9 27 48 353 22 

In other words, five Highland Regiments lost six officers killed, 
and the other twelve regiments together lost only three officers 
killed. The Highland Regiments lost forty non-commissioned 
officers and men killed, and all the others put together lost only 
eight non-commissioned officers and men killed. 



ORIGIN OF THE NAMES DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 

IN the last issue of the Celtic Magazine there appeared an 
account of the origin of the name Gordon from the pen of M. 
A. Rose, and I thought it would not be amiss to present you this 
month with a legendary version of the origin of the names 
Douglas and Skene. The first runs thus : 

Towards the end of the nth century, when Scotland was 
the scene of much bloodshed, there lived in England a youth of 
about twenty-two years of age, who, although at that time a 
hostage at the English Court, was destined to become King of 
Scotland. He was a natural son of Malcolm Canmorc, but his 



22 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



father having been killed at Alnwick, and leaving no children old 
enough to succeed him except Duncan, who, as I have said, was 
detained as a hostage in England, the throne had been seized by 
a brother of the late King, named Donald Bane. 

At length, Duncan obtained his freedom, and the first use he 
made of it was to collect an army and advance to dethrone his 
uncle. Donald immediately marched to meet him, and in a short 
time the rival armies were facing each other upon a level plain, 
which gave neither party any advantage over the other. Donald's 
army, however, far outnumbered that of his nephew, but, nothing 
daunted, Duncan ordered his men to advance, and with wild 
shouts, they threw themselves upon the ranks of the enemy. At 
first, the foe gave way, but immediately after he rallied, and was 
bearing Duncan and his brave little army back, when a horseman 
appeared upon the scene who very quickly changed the aspect of 
affairs. The new comer was of immense stature, and was 
mounted upon a magnificent black horse. Both horse and man 
were defended by massive armour of a dark grey colour, and the 
rider carried a large two-handed sword, a lance, and a mace, 
which consisted of a short, stout staff, to one end of which was 
attached a short chain terminated by a ball of iron studded with 
sharp spikes. 

Shouting to the remnant of Duncan's army to follow him, 
he rushed upon the enemy, making fearful havoc with the dread- 
ful mace. Thus encouraged by his brave demeanour, he was 
followed by most of the survivors of Duncan's army, shouting 
11 Dubh-glas, Dubh-glas, follow the Dubh-glas ;" that is, " Dark- 
grey, Dark-grey, follow the Dark-grey." So unexpected was 
this sudden attack, and so astounded were the enemy at the 
extraordinary prowess of the dark-grey horseman, that they broke 
and fled, and left Duncan victorious in possession of the field. 

As soon as the battle was over, Duncan called the unknown 

rseman to him, and inquired his name and lineage, that he 

be rewarded for his timely aid. Bowing low, the stranger 

Sire, my name is James Macduff, at your Majesty's 

vice, and I am a son of Macduff, Thane of Fife. Hearing of 

advance against Donald Bane, I hastened to offer you my 

>or aid, and by dint of hard riding, I managed to arrive at a 

most seasonable crisis." Duncan replied, ' I am about to reward 



NAMES OF DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 23 

your services by conferring upon you the honour of knighthood, 
but before I do so, are you willing to exchange your name of 
Macduff for that of Dubh-glas, which will be a lasting memorial 
of the occasion which gave rise to it ?" The young gentleman 
signified his willingness to do as Duncan had suggested, and 
bidding him kneel, the new king touched him lightly on the 
shoulder with the flat of his sword, saying, " Arise, Sir James 
Dubh-glas, and accept our best thanks for your brave conduct." 

In due course the name, of Dubh-glas drifted into Douglas, 
and the son of the Thane of Fife became the progenitor of the 
most powerful family in all Scotland. 

Regarding the name of Skene the legend is as follows : 
During the reign of James V. a great hunting expedition was 
organised by the King, which was to consist of some two or three 
hundred noblemen and gentlemen connected with the Court. 
The scene of the hunt was to be Stocket Forest, in Athol, then 
the haunt of wolves, foxes, stags, badgers, hares, rabbits, and 
other game. 

On a fine day in September, the royal party set out for the 
forest, enlivening the journey with jests and snatches of song. 
At length the hunting-ground was reached; several hundred 
beaters were employed to beat the undergrowth and bushes with 
long poles, and, soon, a magnificent stag royal was started. The 
king's deer-hounds were let loose, and in a moment the dark, 
gloomy forest was echoing the deep-toned bay of the hounds, and 
the clear "Tally-ho" and "Yoicks" of the merry huntsmen. All 
were in their element, except the unfortunate object of their 
pursuit, for now the pace at which the noble animal was going 
began to tell upon his form, and the lolling tongue, wild eye, and 
unsteady, rocking gait of the poor fellow made it clear to all that 
he must soon give in. At last, he was driven into a grassy dell, 
at the bottom of which ran a tiny rivulet of purest water. The 
hounds were at his heels, but stooping his graceful head, and 
taking one cool draught, he stood at bay. The foremost hound 
was received upon his deadly horns, and tossed, gashed and 
bleeding, high in air. The second and third met a like fate, but 
then, collecting their energies for a final rush, the whole pack 
simultaneously sprung upon him, and in a few moments, the keen 
blade of the huntsman finished what the hounds had begun. 



24 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Placing the body of the stag upon a pack-horse, the cavalcade 
proceeded, and ere long a gigantic wolf was roused from his lair. 
Again the hounds gave tongue, and the wolf was chased for many 
a mile, until furious, he turned savagely upon his howling pursuers. 
The dogs held back, terrified at his ferocious aspect, but at length 
one of them mustered up sufficient courage, and sprung at the 
wolfs throat. Shaking off the hound with a fierce snarl, the 
brute leaped upon the king's horse, which was foremost, and had 
it not been for the thick leather hunting-boots which his Majesty 
wore, and which resisted the attacks of the wolfs teeth, the King 
would have been seriously wounded. He dealt the animal several 
blows with his heavy hunting whip, but it would not loose its 
hold until a gentleman of the party, one of the family of Strowan, 
drew a short " Sgian " or dirk, which he wore, and attacked the 
ferocious animal in the rear. Releasing the horse, the wolf 
sprung upon this gentleman, when there ensued a terrible 
struggle. The wolf seized him by the right arm, but with the 
left our hero made repeated stabs at the animal's side. The 
combatants fell to the ground, rolling over and over, but at last 
the gentleman arose, fearfully torn, but victorious, and pointing 
to the gasping wolf, he said, presenting his bloody knife to the 
King, "Your Majesty, will you be pleased to give the coup de 
grace" The King took the reeking dirk and cut the animal's 
throat, and then, placing the weapon carefully in his bosom, he 
addressed his preserver, " I have to thank you for my life, brave 
Sir, and I beg that you will allow me to keep the Sgian as a 
memorial of your courage. Meanwhile, I request you to change 
your name of Robertson for that of Sgian or Skene as a slight 
reward for your act, and if ever you wish any favour from me, 
you have only to refer to the weapon, which I have kept, and I 
promise, on the word of a Stuart and a King, that it shall be 
granted you." H. 

DONALD MACLEOD'S "GLOOMY MEMORIES OF SUTHERLAND," edited by the 

Editor of the Celtic Magazine, with, in addition, a complete history of Evictions in 

the Highlands from the Battle of Culloden to the present time, is in the press, and 

be published about Christmas or the New- Year by A. & W. Mackenzie, Publishers, 

iverness. It will form a neatly printed volume of from 300 to 350 pp., uniform with 

Macgregor's Life of Flora Macdonald," and "The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer." 

Subscribers, 4 s.; by post, 4 s. 4 d. Those wishing to secure copies should 

send in their names without delay. 



SHERIFF MACKINTOSH AND THE RECENT 
ROGART EVICTION TRIALS. 

THE Glasgow correspondent of the Oban Times of the 7th of 
October, referring to this trial, says : " The crofter, Andrew 
Mackenzie, who was reinstated by his neighbours recently, was 
tried before the Sheriff at Dornoch on Saturday, and received 
the heavy sentence of one month's imprisonment, without the 
option of a fine. Professor Blackie recently referred to this case 
in the following manner : 

Rogart, however minutely its social condition has been described in that solid 
and instructive little work, "The Chronicles of Stratheden," had it not been for a 
recent revolt of certain recalcitrant crofters against certain public officers engaged in 
the disagreeable duty that occasionally falls to them, might have been to this day a 
name as unknown to most Scottish readers as the name of any parish in Iceland. In- 
to the merits of this unfortunate encounter between legal claims and human feelings I 
have no desire to enter ; my belief is, that in all such cases a little good sense and 
good feeling on the side of the stronger party will go much farther to prevent undesir- 
able collisions between the different classes of society than all the law and all the 
political economy in the libraries. 

People who know the case thoroughly wonder why the case was 
tried before the Sheriff-Principal, and not before the Sheriff-Sub- 
stitute, who was conversant with the local circumstances. In a 
Licensing Court no one having a connection with the "trade" is 
allowed to sit on the bench ; but here we find Sheriff Mackintosh, 
himself a laird, and, in his capacity of advocate in Edinburgh, 
senior counsel in the case of Lord Macdonald against the crofters 
of Ben-Lee, sitting to judge a case which arose out of an attempt 
to evict Mackenzie from his croft, which he has improved to the 
extent of 200. In passing sentence, the Sheriff said "it was at 
the present time especially necessary that the authority of the 
law should be supported and vindicated;" and so we have his 
sentence thirty days' imprisonment, and a fine denied. One can 
understand how difficult it is for a person to administer law 
which concerns himself. If procurator-fiscals should not be 
allowed to act as factors, neither should sheriffs be allowed to 
act as advocates, when their doing so involves them in a peculiar 
manner. It is probable that this may be brought before the 
notice of Parliament by the Federation of Celtic Societies." 



26 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

The same authority in the Times of I4th of October states 
that Sheriff Mackintosh was the guest of the Duke of Sutherland 
in Dunrobin at the time of the trial. We trust this will immedi- 
ately receive official contradiction; for, while we are quite satisfied 
that these social courtesies would not in the least affect the mind 
of the learned Sheriff, we are equally decided that, in present 
circumstances, every precaution should be taken to keep our 
judges above suspicion. 



MY BONNIE ROWAN TREE.* 

Thrice welcome, sweet green spray, 

Cull'd from my Rowan Tree, 
By lov'd ones far away, 

In bonnie Amulree. 

In boyhood's days thy root 

Was planted by my hand, 
Just ere I left my dear, 

My Scottish fatherland ! 

Thou but a sapling then, 

Though now a shelt'ring tree, 
While warblers in thy boughs 

Sing sweetest melodic. 

Oh! handsome Rowan Tree! 

I'm growing old and gray; 
But thou art fresh and green, 

Remote from all decay. 

One boon for which I pray 

A home in Amulree! 
Where friends of yore I'd meet 

Beneath thee, Rowan Tree! 

The Fraochie wimpling by, 

In cadence soft and slow 
Craig Thullich tow'ring high, 

The fragrant woods below. 

The old Kirk on the knowe, 

The graveyard mossy green ; 
Thy bosky birks, Lubchuil ! 

Thy streamlet's silv'ry sheen. 

With warm Breadalbane hearts, 

'Mong those romantic braes, 
I happily could spend 

The gloaming of my days. 

The mem'ries of langsyne 

Bright days of gladsome glee- 
NX e fondly could revive 
" Beneath thee, Rowan Tree! 

D. MACGREGOR CRERAR. 

the w 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME GORDON. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

SIR, The traditional origin of the name of Gordon, mentioned by Charles 
Fraser- Mackintosh, M.P., F.S.A., Scot., in his Antiquarian Notes, and referred to 
by M. A. Rooe in last Celtic Magazine, is one of those punning etymologies that are 
so common, like Tranent from "Try foment," Rutherford from "Rue their ford," 
. Selkirk from " Sell the Kirk," Melrose from " a Mallet and a Rose," &c., &c. Gor- 
don, in Berwickshire, from which the family derives, has evidently got its name from 
its situation -Goirtin, in Gaelic, "a little field of corn;" standing, as the village 
does, on what may be called a fertile oasis, in the midst of barren moors and dismal 
peat mosses. Burke, in his " Peerage and Baronage," says of the Gordons : "Al- 
though there are numerous histories of this illustrious family extant, yet the historians 
do not coincide as to its origin and first settlement in Great Britain. Some bring the 
Gordons from Greece to Gaul, and thence into Scotland, at least a thousand years ago ; 
while others convey them from Spain, Flanders, &c. The more probable conjecture, 
however, is that some of the Gordons came into England with William, Duke of 
Normandy, and into Scotland with King Malcolm Canmore." He goes on to men- 
tion the boar tradition, which may be quite true, but, nevertheless, certainly did not 
give rise to the family name, though it may have given occasion to its bearers assuming 
three boars' heads for their armorial bearing. In the different lists of the conquerors 
of England, published by Bromton, Leland, and Duchesne, and quoted by Thierry, 
we find the names of Gurdon, Gerdoun, Verdon, Verdoun, and Werdoun ; but there 
is nothing except the resemblance in sound to connect them with the Gordons of that 
Ilk, the ancestors of the Dukes of Gordon, Earls and Marquises of Huntly, Earls of 
Aboyne, Earls of Aberdeen, &c. These Gordons are, indeed, by paternal descent, a 
branch of the Setons, who, again, took their name from a place in Haddingtonshire, so 
called " by reason that the town thereof is situate hard upon the sea." Their ancestor 
on the mother's side, an Anglo-Norman, whose proper name is unknown, had the ter- 
ritory of Gordon granted to him, in the reign either of Malcolm Canmore or of David 
I., and assumed from it the surname of Gordon. One of his descendants, probably a 
grandson, named Bertrand de Gurdon, wounded to death King Richard I. of Eng- 
land, while that lion-hearted monarch was engaged in reducing the Castle of Chaluz, 
in Aquetaine, in the year 1199 ; and though he was given his liberty by the generous 
dying King, with a hundred shillings to take him home to Scotland, he was detained, 
flayed alive, and then hanged, by order of Marchadee, the leader of the Brabantine 
mercenaries serving in Richard's army. Richard de Gordon gave lands to the Abbey 
of Kelso in the year 1267. Thomas, his son, was also a benefactor to that religious 
house ; and his grandson, likewise Thomas, " taking upon him the sign of the Cross, 
according to the devotion of those times," left his inheritance to his daughter Alicia, 
who married her kinsman Adam Gordon, to whom she bore a son and heir, Sir Adam 
Gordon, Knight, who, "being a zealous assertor of the independency and freedom of 
his native country, stood in such high favour with King Robert Bruce, that the said 



28 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

King, in consideration of his good services, gave him the Lordship of Strathbolgy, in 
Aberdeenshire," to which he changed his residence, in order to overawe and quell the 
Cumyns. He was killed at the battle of Haledon Hill in 1333. His son and heir, 
Sir Alexander, lost his life at the battle of Durham in 1346, as his great-grandson, Sir 
John, did at the battle of Homildon in 1401. This Sir John left issue by Elizabeth 
his wife, daughter to the Lord Keith, an only daughter of her name, who was her heir ; 
and she, in the year 1408, marrying Sir Alexander Seton, second son to Sir William 
Seton of that Ilk, Robert, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, granted this gentle- 
man a charter, dated 2Oth July, in the same year, of "the lands of the baronies of 
Gordoun and Huntly, Fogow, Fawnys, and Mellerstaines, in Berwickshire, Strath- 
bolgy and Beldygordoun in Aberdeenshire ;" and he was thenceforth styled Alex- 
ander de Seton, Dominus de Gordon. His son, Sir Alexander, resumed the surname 
of Gordon, and placed the arms of that name in the first quarter of his heraldic shield, 
where they have ever since been borne. It would be a waste of room to pursue the 
story further; but I may conclude with the following quotation from Chambers's 
"Gazetteer of Scotland" : "It is understood that when this great historical family 
removed to the North, where for three or four centuries they have possessed more terri- 
torial influence than any other, they carried along with them, and conferred the desig- 
nation of Huntly upon a place in their new domains, from which they afterwards took 
the title of lord, earl, and marquis in succession ; and on being raised to a dukedom 
in the year 1684, the parish of Gordon was resorted to for a new title [extinct in 
1836], though for centuries they had had no seignorial connection with it." 

Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland. WILLIAM BROCKIE. 



THE IRISH "COMHLUCHD CLAN NA'N GAOIDHIL." This Society 
was established in Belfast on the i;th March of the present year to promote the 
revival of the ancient language of the country, and to encourage the study of Irish 
history, music, and antiquities. It owes its origin to the patriotic zeal of a number of 
gentlemen desirous of emulating their countrymen in Dublin and elsewhere, who were 
making laudable efforts towards the resuscitation of the Gaelic tongue, which was 
fast dying out in several districts of the country, where until of late days it was 
universally spoken. The Society already numbers some 150 members, men of every 
shade of religious and political opinions, working harmoniously together for the com- 
mon objects of the Association. Classes have been formed, at which a knowledge of 
telic is imparted by efficient teachers through the medium of the Primers issued by 
iety for the preservation of the Irish Language, together with Dr Joyce's Irish 
mar. The meetings take place during the season on each Monday and Thursday 
vemng, from 8 to 9.30, a portion of the time is devoted to the rehearsal of Irish songs, 
ncipally Dr M 'Hales* translation of Moore's melodies. There is a Library in con- 
n with the Society, containing some 200 volumes, chiefly of Celtic Literature, a 
umber of which have been liberally presented by members and friends, and will 
d as funds permit. Monthly meetings are convened for the purpose of 
I lectures delivered and papers read on popular Gaelic subjects. So far the 
*s proved a success, and we trust it will continue to do so. If Irish Celts 
>ny to use the Roman character in their works, their brother Scottish Celts 
> a greater interest in their proceedings, and the task of learning to read their 
alive tongue would be" much simplified to Irishmen themselves. 



A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot. 



I. 

THE new Canadian province of Manitoba has been so extensively 
advertised, and so frequently written about of late years, that it 
has aroused the interest of thousands of the people of what our 
brethren across the sea call the " old country." The stories told 
of the depth and fertility of its soil, of the salubrity of its cli- 
mate, of its extensive lake system, and its rivers navigable for 
thousands of miles, might lead one to suppose that here an 
earthly Paradise had been discovered, and that to be truly and 
completely happy and prosperous one had only to sever the 
ties which bound him to his home in the Old World and 
make for himself a home in this particular part of the New. 
And, unquestionably, strong inducements are offered to our 
farmers and farm servants, and, indeed, to every one of our 
people who are willing and able to work, to go to the new 
province. To the average Scotsman, with his land-hunger, which 
he cannot in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred gratify at home, 
the offer of a FREE grant of 160 acres of good arable land, with 
the option of purchasing 160 acres more on almost nominal terms, 
is a strong temptation, and thousands of our countrymen, the 
most energetic and industrious of their race, have already availed 
themselves of the offer, and are now settled in the North-West 
Many more are contemplating the same step, and many who do 
not contemplate it, may, by the force of circumstances, and under 
the pressure of our present insane and suicidal system of land 
laws, be compelled to take it on an early day. 

I have never advocated emigration, and so long as there is 
even a distant prospect of our Legislature so amending our 
present laws affecting land as to afford protection to the cultiv- 
ator of the soil for his labour and capital, I shall not advocate it. 
But meantime emigration is &fact. Thousands of our people are 
leaving our shores every year seeking a home elsewhere ; and while 



3 o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

emigration need not be advocated, it must be recognised. Then 
it is unquestionable, that unless a speedy change takes place i 
our laws, or in the manner of administering them, there will 
almost of necessity be a pretty extensive depletion by emigration 
of the already sparse population of the Highlands within a few 
years. 

These considerations, and the fact that Canada is becoming 
a greater favourite with emigrants than it has hitherto been, led 
me to resolve upon spending my short vacation this year (1882) in 
making a visit to the Dominion. 

The steamer " Manitoban," of the Allan Line, left the Clyde 
early on the morning of Saturday, ipth August 1882, and, after 
an uneventful voyage, landed her passengers at Point Levis, 
opposite Quebec, on the morning of Wednesday, 3Oth August. 
I had intended spending a day in the ancient city of Quebec, 
but my experiences during a short walk through it, decided me 
to move on. Quebec, if not a dead city, is a decaying one, and 
the process of decay is all the more melancholy in view of the 
bustling life and rapid growth of almost every other city in 
Canada. The town lies on the north bank of the River St Law- 
rence, and towering above it is the fortress which so long defied 
the brave Wolfe in 1759, but which capitulated to the British 
forces almost immediately after the victory, which, at the cost of 
his own life, the gallant young General achieved on the Heights 
of Abraham over his French adversaries. Quebec is the natural 
outlet for the products of Canada coming down the St Lawrence, 
and the natural centre of distribution of the imports by that river ; 
but, from whatever cause, Quebec has lost the position among 
cities which nature gave her, and has allowed Montreal, a city 
which had not her natural advantages, to take the first place. 

When I arrived in Quebec, the Royal Ensign was floating 
over the Citadel, and, on enquiring the reason, I was told that 
the Princess Louise was there. In a day or two she was to start 
with her husband, the Governor, on a six months' tour to British 
Columbia, by way of Toronto, Niagara, Chicago, and San Fran- 
cisco. The outward portion of this journey they have since ac- 
complished, and as I now write they are being feted in the Pacific 
Province. 

On the south bank of the St Lawrence, opposite Quebec, 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 31 

stands the town of Point Levis, or Levi, which forms the terminus 
at this point of the Grand Trunk Railway. Point Levis is now a 
town of considerable size, but it appears from Mr Macpherson Le 
Moine's "Chronicles of the St Lawrence" that up to 1850 the 
eastern portion of the point used every summer to be thickly 
studded with the bark wigwams of the Micmac Indians or the 
North Shore Montagnais the presumed descendants of the 
warriors who, in 1775 or 1812 (without the privilege of scalping), 
had helped Old England to keep out the irrepressible Yankees. 
The precincts of the city of Quebec being closed to these lawless 
and rum-loving worthies, they each summer paddled their canoes 
to the historic point of Levi, erected bark huts, awaiting patiently 
until the English Commissariat handed them their annual pre- 
sents for services rendered in time of need ; blankets, clothing, 
beads, trinkets for the Indian princesses ; red cloth, feathers, axes, 
ammunition for the Indian princes. * 

From Point Levis to Montreal the distance by the Grand 
Trunk Railway is 172 miles, and a great part of the line runs 
through dreary swamps. It is most unfortunate for Canada that 
for many years her settlers should, immediately after landing, 
have been dragged through this God-forgotten looking part of 
the country, and invited practically to form their opinion of 
Canada from this sample. Why, the effect on a mere visitor is 
so depressing as sometimes to make him wish himself well out of 
such a country. What then must its effect have been on many 
a poor homeless emigrant, whose courage had been gradually 
ebbing during a long sea-voyage, which was taking him day by 
day further from home, and all the associations of childhood and 
youth upon which memory loves to dwell ? Must not such an 
unpromising aspect of the country in which he proposed to- rear 
up a new home have, in many cases, crushed out his little 
remaining courage and hopefulness, and so increased a thousand- 
fold the difficulties in the way of his ultimate prosperity? To 
make the matter worse, the route is not even a short one, the 
line making a long detour southwards to Richmond, and thence 
back northwards to Montreal. 

Shortly before entering Montreal the Grand Trunk Railway 

* " Chronicles of the St Lawrence," by ]. M Le Moine, p. 1 90. 



32 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

passes over the Victoria Bridge, one of the great bridges of the 
world. The bridge is nearly two miles in length, and was com- 
pleted in the year 1859 from the designs of British engineers- 
Robert Stephenson and A. M. Ross. The mere bridging of a 
river nearly two miles in width was not by any means the most 
serious difficulty to be overcome by the engineers. At the point 
where the bridge is built the current runs at the rate of seven 
miles an hour, and when it is remembered that not only all the 
water which passes over Niagara Falls, but also all the additional 
water falling into Lake Ontario from other sources, finds it way 
out by the St Lawrence to the Atlantic, it will be seen how im- 
mense is the pressure which the river must exert over a bridge 
built across it. When to this, however, is added the fact that in 
each year the river is loaded with immense quantities of ice, which 
are hurled and piled against the piers of the bridge, it will be seen 
that the engineers had a task of no ordinary nature in divising a 
bridge calculated to withstand the pressure of the water and ice 
of the St Lawrence, and to carry across that river the railway 
traffic to and from the large and rapidly growing city of Mont- 
real, the commercial capital of the Dominion of Canada. How 
successfully the engineers accomplished their task, and solved all 
the difficulties of the problem submitted to them, is at once seen 
when the bridge is examined. It consists of twenty-five tubes, 
supported by twenty-four piers and two terminal abutments; or 
rather there is a centre tube, and on each side six pairs of double 
tubes. The centre tube is detached at both ends, and the double 
tubes are bolted together and to the piers at their inner junction, 
^and free at their outer ends, which rest upon rollers. Openings 
'are left between each set of double tubes, and in this way ample 
provision is made for the expansion and contraction caused 
by the extremes of the Canadian climate. The tubes are of 
wrought boiler-plate iron, built up with the most careful cal- 
culation of the varying thicknesses of plate, and stiffened with 
angles of iron. They are of the uniform breadth of 16 feet, and 
are arranged for a single track within. Their height varies from 
1 8 ft. 6 in. at the terminal tubes to 22 ft. for the centre tube. The 
centre tube is 60 ft. above the summer level of the river. Besides 
the openings placed for expansion, windows are placed in the 
tubes to afford light. The centre span is 330 feet, all the others 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 33 

are 242 feet. The dimension of the piers, which are built of lime- 
stone, are at their foundations 92 feet by 22^ feet, and at the 
summit 33 feet in the line of the river, and 16 feet in the line of 
the bridge. They descend to a point 30 feet above summer level, 
very gradually increasing in size. At this point the masonry is 
extended horizontally 10 feet on the up-stream side, from whence 
it descends at an angle of 45 degrees to a point 6 feet below 
summer level, and thence perpendicularly to the bed of the river. 
The main increase in the size of the piers is thus upon the up- 
stream side, although the other sides also slightly increase in size 
as they descend. The pressure of the ice upon the piers of the 
bridge in spring and fall is enormous, but the horizontal gain of 
10 feet in the up-stream dimensions of the piers prevents the ice 
from reaching the shaft, and the sharp edges to which the piers 
are brought upon that side form saddles upon which the ice cannot 
rest, but must break asunder or glide aside. From this descrip- 
tion of the bridge, which is an abridgement of one prepared for 
the use of the members of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science which met at Montreal a few days before I 
visited the city, it will be seen how admirably adapted this wonder- 
ful triumph of engineering skill is to fulfil all the conditions neces- 
sary to its continued existence. It has to carry a heavy traffic, it is 
therefore built of wrought-iron stiffened and strengthened, and 
resting on piers of solid masonry of enormous strength ; it is sub- 
jected to intense heat in summer and intense cold in winter, causing 
expansion and contraction of the iron provision is therefore made 
by having the ends of the tubes detached and resting upon rollers 
for the necessary movement without shaking the structure ; and 
lastly, the pressure of water and ice is minimised by having the 
upper sides of the piers made in cut-water form, so that they ofTer 
the smallest possible resistance to the water, and afford no rest 
for the masses of ice which the river projects against them during 
a considerable portion of every year. 

Night was rapidly settling down upon us as our train entered 
between the parapets of Egyptian-looking masonry which form 
the entrance to the long tunnel formed by the bridge. I went 
upon the platform in front of the car in which I had been tra- 
velling, to get if possible an idea of the appearance of the inside 
of the tunnel, but I soon found I could see very little, and the 

C 



34 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

smoke, soot, and live embers, which came flying round my face, 
soon induced me to retreat to the inside of the car and my seat. 
As the train went slowly on its way through the darkness, and 
minute after minute passed, and the horrid din continued, a weird 
feeling crept over even experienced travellers, who were making 
this journey for the first time. I was not therefore much sur- 
prised to find, after a few minutes, a lady, who had crossed the 
Atlantic without any exhibition of nervousness, hide her face, 
first, in her hands, and then in the nearest soft place she could 
find, which happened to be her husband's head or somewhere in 
that neighbourhood. Her husband, a highly orthodox Presby- 
terian minister returning to Canada with a second wife, bore this 
exhibition of weakness with exemplary patience, and when, after 
about ten minutes of darkness and the horrid clamour of rattling 
iron, we emerged into the open air and comparative peace, he pro- 
ceeded to soothe his wife and calm her fears with such effect that 
by the time we reached Montreal she had quite got over her fright. 
Arrived at Montreal, I had to part with all the friends made 
on the voyage across, and notwithstanding the invitations to pay 
a visit, and the half-made promises to do so, none of us met 
again. I especially regretted this in the case of my good friend 
Mr Robert Scott, of Mount Forest, Ontario, whom I was sincerely 
desirous to see again. We occupied the same cabin crossing the 
Atlantic, sat together at table, mingled our meals and our lamen- 
tations during the dreadful period of sea-sickness, and, when we 
had sufficiently recovered to eat sardines, we emptied my brandy- 
flask together in moderate potations to keep these fish at rest. 
The more I knew of Mr Scott the better I liked him, and, 
although I was not able to avail myself of his invitation to pay 
him a visit, I trust that was not the last opportunity I shall have 
of seeing him. 

By the time I had taken a bath and a supper it was too late 
to see much of Montreal, but I saw a little, and on the following 
day, and during three subsequent visits I paid to the city, I saw 
enough of it to enable me to say what it looks like, and to 
express, with the amount of reservation with which a stranger 
ought always to give an opinion on such a subject, an opinion 
on the position and prospects of the city. K. M'D. 

(To be continued.) 



35 
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 



RECENTLY much interest has been shown in the history of the 
" Sutherland Clearances," largely in consequence of the pamphlet 
issued on the subject by the Editor of the Celtic Magazine, Pro- 
fessor Blackie's " Altavona," and Alfred Russell Wallace's " Land 
Nationalisation." Many of our readers have expressed a wish to 
know what has appeared in this now notorious pamphlet, which, 
with the quotations from it, has so much roused the ire and energy 
of the present race of Sellars as to induce them to interfere with 
the sale of the books above named. In response to this wish, 
we give the following from the pamphlet, this portion of it being 
abridged from Donald Macleod's "Gloomy Memories," now in 
the press as part of a complete History of the Highland Clearances 
to be published on an early day: 

The history of the Sutherland clearances would take a bulky volume. Indeed, a 
large tome of 354 pages has been written in their defence by him who 'was mainly 
responsible for them, entitled "An account of the Sutherland Improvements," by James 
Loch, at that time Commissioner for the Marchioness of Stafford and heiress of Suther- 
land. It was the first account I ever read of these so-called improvements ; and it 
was quite enough to convince me, and it will be sufficient to convince any one who 
knows anything of the country, that the improvement of the people, by driving them, 
in the most merciless and cruel manner, from the homes of their fathers, was carried 
out in a huge scale and in the most inconsiderate and heartless manner by those in 
charge of the Sutherland estates. But when one reads the other side, Macleod's 
" Gloomy Memories " now very scarce General Stewart of Garth's " Sketches ' 
of the Highlanders, and other contemporary publications, one wonders that such 
iniquities could ever have been permitted in any Christian country, much less in 
Great Britain, which has done so much for the amelioration of subject races and 
the oppressed in every part of the world, while her own brave sons have been per- 
secuted, oppressed, and banished without compensation by greedy and cold-blooded 
proprietors, who owed their position and their lands to the ancestors of the very men 
they were now treating so cruelly. 

The motives of the landlords, generally led by southern factors worse than them- 
selves, were, in most cases, pure self-interest, and they pursued their policy of exter- 
mination with a recklessness and remorselessness unparelleled in any country where the 
Gospel of peace and charity was preached except, perhaps, unhappy Ireland. Gene- 
rally, law and justice, religion and humanity, were either totally disregarded, or what 
was worse in many cases converted into and applied as instruments of oppression* 
Every conceivable means, short of the musket and the sword, were used to drive the 
natives from the land they loved, and to force them to exchange their crofts and homes 



j 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

-brought originally into cultivation and built by themselves, or by their forefathers 
for wretched patches among the barren rocks on the sea shore, and to depend, after 
losing their cattle and their sheep, and after having their houses burnt about their 
ears or razed to the ground, on the uncertain produce of the sea for subsistence, and 
that in the case of a people who, in many instances, and especially in Sutherland - 
shire, were totally unacquainted with a seafaring life, and quite unfitted to contend 
with its perils. What was true generally of the Highlands, was in the county of 
Sutherland, carried to the greatest extreme. That unfortunate county, according to an 
eye-witness, was made another Moscow. The inhabitants were literally burnt out, 
and every contrivance and ingenious and unrelenting cruelty was eagerly adopted for 
extirpating the race. Many lives were sacrificed by famine and other hardships and 
privations ; hundreds, stripped of their all, emigrated to the Canadas and other parts 
of -America; great numbers, especially of the young and athletic, sought employment 
in the Lowlands and in England, where, few of them being skilled workmen, they 
were obliged even farmers who had lived in comparative affluence in their own coun- 
try to compete with common labourers, in communities where their language and 
simple manners rendered them objects of derision and ridicule. The aged and infirm, 
the widows and orphans, with those of their families who could not think of leaving 
them alone in their helplessness, and a number, whose attachment to the soil which 
contained the ashes of their ancestors, were induced to accept of the wretched allot- 
ments offered them on the wild moors and barren rocks. The mild nature and religi- 
ous training of the Highlanders prevented a resort to that determined resistance and 
revenge which has repeatedly set bounds to the rapacity of landlords in Ireland. 
Their ignorance of the English language, and the want of natural leaders, made it im- 
possible -for them to make their grievances known to the outside world. They were, 
therefore, maltreated with impunity. The ministers generally sided with the oppress- 
ing lairds, who had the Church patronage at their disposal for themselves and for 
their son^ The professed ministers of religion sanctioned the iniquity, " the foulest 
deeds were glossed over, and all the evil which could not be attributed to the natives 
themselves, such as severe seasons, famines, and consequent disease, was by these 
pious gentlemen ascribed to Providence, as a punishment for sin." 

The system of turning out the ancient inhabitants from their native soil through- 
out the Highlands during the first half of the present century has been carried into 
effect in the county of Sutherland with greater severity and revolting cruelty, than in 
any other part of the Highlands, and that though the Countess-Marchioness and her 
husband, the Marquis of Stafford, were by no means devoid of humanity, however 
atrocious, and devoid of human feeling were the acts carried out in their name by 
heartless, -underlings, who represented the ancient tenantry to their superiors as lazy 
and rebellious, though, they maintained, everything was being done for their advant- 
age and improvement. How this was done will be seen in the sequel. South country- 
men were introduced and the land given to them for sheep farms over the heads of 
the native tenantry. These strangers were made justices of the peace and armed with 

Jl sorts of authority in the county, and thus enabled to act in the most harsh and 
tyrannical, fashion, none making them afraid; while the oppressed natives were placed 

>mpletdy.at their mercy. They dare not even complain, for were not their op- 
ssors.also the administrators of the law ? The seventeen parish ministers, with the 
^ception of the Rev. Mr Sage, took the side of the powers that were, exhort- 
ing the people to submit and to stifle their cries of distress, telling them that all their 
came from the hand of their Heavenly Father as a punishment for their past 



THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. ff 

transgressions. Most of these ministers have since rendered their account, and let us 
hope they have been forgiven for such cruel and blasphemous conduct. But One can- 
not help noting, to what horrid uses these men in Sutherlandshire and elsewheYe pro- 
stituted their sacred office and high calling. 

The Sutherland clearances were commenced in a comparatively mild" way 'fit 1 
1807, by the ejection of ninety families from Farr and Lairg. These were provided 
for some fifteen or seventeen miles distant with smaller lots, to which they were 'per-' 
mitted to remove their cattle and plenishing, leaving their crops unprotected, however," 
in the ground from which they were evicted. They had to pull down 1 'their" otd 
houses, remove the timber, and build new ones, during which period r th'ey 'had 
in many cases to sleep under the canopy of heaven. In the autumn they carried 
away, with great difficulty, what remained of their crops, but the fatigue incurred"CosY 
not a few of them their lives, while others contracted diseases which stuck to them dim-' 
ing the remainder of their lives, and shortened their days. 

In 1809 several hundred were evicted from the parishes of Dornoch, Rogaft; Lbthj 
Clyne, and Golspie, under circumstances of much greater severity than those already 
described. Several were driven by various means to leave the country altogether, and 
to those who could not be induced to do so, patches of moor and bog were offered on 
Dornoch Moor and Brora Links quite unfit for cultivation. This process was car^' 
ried on annually until, in 1811, the land from which the people were ejected was' 
divided into large farms, and advertised as huge sheep runs. The country was over- 
run with strangers, who came to look at these extensive tracts. Some of these gentle'- 1 
men got up a cry that they were afraid of their lives among the evicted tenantry.' '"& 
trumped-up story was manufactured that one of the interlopers was pursued by 'Some 
of the natives of Kildonan, and put in bodily fear. The military were sent for from 
Fort-George. The 2 1st Regiment was marched to Dunrobin Castle, with artillery 
and cartloads of ammunition. A great farce was performed; the people were 'sent for 
by the factors to the Castle at a certain hour. They came peaceably, but the -farce 1 
must be gone through; the Riot Act was read; a few sheepish, innocent Highlanders 
were made prisoners, but nothing could be laid to their charge, and they were almost" 
immediately set at liberty, while the soldiers were ordered back to Fort -George,' The 
demonstration, however, had the desired effect in cowing and frightening the people 
into the most absolute submission. They became dismayed and broken-hearted, and 
quietly submitted to their fate. The clergy all this time were assiduous in preaching 
that all the misfortunes of the people were "fore-ordained of God, and denouncing 
the vengeance of Heaven and eternal damnation on all those who would presume to 
make the slightest resistance." At the May term of 1812 large districts of these 
parishes were cleared in the most peaceable manner, the poor creatures foolishly be- 
lieving the false teaching of their selfish and dishonest spiritual guides- save the mark? 
The Earl of Selkirk, who went personally to the district, allured many of the evicted 
people to emigrate to his estates on the Red River in British North America, whither 
a whole ship cargo of them went. After a long and otherwise disastrous passage, they" 
found themselves deceived and deserted by the Earl, left to their unhappy fate in an 
inclement wilderness, without any protection from the hordes of Red Indian savages, 
by whom the district was infested, and who plundered them of their all on their 
arrival, and finally massacred them, save a small remnant who managed to escape,'and 
travelled, through immense difficulties, across trackless forests to Upper Canada: 

The notorious Mr Sellar was at this time sub-factor, and in the spring of 1814 he 
took a large portion of the parishes of Farr and Kildonan into his own hands;'' In 'the 



3 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

month of March the old tenantry received notices to quit at the ensuing May term, and 
a few days after the summonses were served the greater portion of the heath pasture 
was, by his orders, set on fire. By this cruel proceeding the cattle belonging to the 
old tenantry were left without food during the spring, and it was impossible to dispose 
of them at a fair price, the price having fallen after the war; for Napoleon was now 
n prisoner in Elba, and the demand for cattle became temporarily dull, and prices were 
very much reduced. To make matters worse, fodder was unusually scarce this spring, 
and the poor people's cattle depended for subsistence solely on the spring grass which 
sprouts out among the heather, but which this year had been burnt by the factor, who 
would himself reap the benefit when he came into possession later on. 

In May the work of ejectment was again commenced, accompanied by cruelties 
hitherto unknown even in the Highlands. Atrocities were perpetrated which I cannot 
trust myself to describe in my own words. I shall give what is much more valuable 
a description by an eye-witness in his own language. He says: In former removals 
the tenants had been allowed to carry away the timber of their old dwellings to erect 
houses on their new allotments, but now a more summary mode was adopted by set- 
ting fire to them. The able-bodied men were by this time away after their cattle, or 
otherwise engaged at a distance, so that the immediate sufferers by the general house- 
burning that now commenced were the aged and infirm, the women and children. As 
the lands were now in the hands of the factor himself, and were to be occupied as 
sheep farms, and as the people made no resistance, they expected, at least, some in- 
dulgence in the way of permission to occupy their houses and other buildings till they 
could gradually remove, and meanwhile look after their growing crops. Their con- 
sternation was therefore greater, when immediately after the May term-day, a com- 
mencement was made to pull down and set fire to the houses over their heads. The 
old people, women and others, then began to preserve the timber which was their 
own; but the devastators proceeded with the greatest celerity, demolishing all before 
them, and when they had overthrown all the houses in a large tract of country they 
set fire to the wreck. Timber, furniture, and every other article that could not be 
instantly removed was consumed by fire or otherwise utterly destroyed. The proceed- 
ings were carried on with the greatest rapidity and the most reckless cruelty. The 
cries of the victims, the confusion, the despair and horror painted on the counten- 
ances of the one party, and the exulting ferocity of the other, beggar all description. 
In these scenes Mr Sellar was present, and apparently, as sworn by several witnesses 
at his subsequent trial, ordering and directing the whole. Many deaths ensued from 
alarm, from fatigue, and cold, the people having been instantly deprived of shelter, 
and left to the mercies of the elements. Some old men took to the woods and to the 
rocks, wandering about in a state approaching to, or of absolute insanity ; and several 
of them in this situation lived only a few days. Pregnant women were taken in pre- 
mature labour, and several children did not long survive their sufferings. "To these 
scenes," says Donald Macleod, "I was an eye-witness, and am ready to substantiate 
the truth of my statements, not only by my own testimony, but by that of many others 
who were present at the time. In such a scene of general devastation, it is almost 
useless to particularise the cases of individuals; the suffering was great and universal, 
shall, however, notice a very few of the extreme cases of which I was myself an eye- 
witness. John Mackay's wife, Ravigill, in attempting to pull down her house, in the 
ibsence of her husband, to preserve the timber, fell through the roof. She was in 
consequence taken in premature labour, and in that state was exposed to the open air 
and to the view of all the bystanders. Donald Munro, Garvott, lying in a fever, was 



THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 39 

turned out of his house and exposed to the elements. Donald Macbeath, an infirm and 
bed-ridden old man, had the house unroofed over him, and was in that state exposed 
to the wind and rain until death put a period to his sufferings. I was present at the 
pulling down and burning of the house of William Chisholm, Badinloskin, in which 
was lying his wife's mother, an old bed-ridden woman of nearly 100 years of age, none 
of the family being present. I informed the persons about to set fire to the house of 
this circumstance, and prevailed on them to wait until Mr Sellar came. On his arrival, 
I told him of the poor old woman being in a condition unfit for removal, when he re- 
plied, 'Damn her, the old witch, she has lived too long let her burn.' Fire was 
immediately set to the house, and the blankets in which she was carried out were ii> 
flames before she could be got out. She was placed in a little shed, and it w r as with 
great difficulty they were prevented from firing it also. The old woman's daughter 
arrived while the house was on fire, and assisted the neighbours in removing her 
mother out of the flames and smoke, presenting a picture of horror which I shall never 
forget, but cannot attempt to describe." Within five days she was a corpse. 

In 1816 Sellar was charged at Inverness, before the Court of Justiciary, with 
culpable homicide and fire-raising in connection with these proceedings, and, consider- 
ing all the circumstances, it is not at all surprising that he was "honourably" acquitted 
of the grave charges made against him. Almost immediately after, however, he ceased 
to be factor on the Sutherland estates, and Mr Loch came into power. Evictions were 
carried out from 1814 down to 1819 and 1820, pretty much of the same character as 
those already described; but the removal of Mr Young, the chief factor, and Mr Sellar 
from power was hailed with delight by the whole remaining population. Their very 
names had become a terror. Their appearance in any part of the county caused such 
alarm as to make women fall into fits. One woman became so terrified that she be- 
came insane, and whenever she saw any one she did not recognise, she invariably cried 
out in a state of absolute terror " 0?i! sin Sclfar" "Oh! there's Sellar." The 
people, however, soon discovered that the new factors were not much better. Several 
leases which were current would not expire until 1819 and 1820, so that the evictions 
were necessarily only partial from 1814 down to that period. The people were 
reduced to such a state of poverty that even Mr Loch himself, in his "Sutherland 
Improvements, page 76," admits that "Tlieir wretchedness was so great that, after 
pawning everything they possessed to the fishermen on the coast, such as had no cattle 
were reduced to come down from the hills in hundreds for the purpose of gathering 
cockles on the shore. Those who lived in the more remote situations of the county 
were obliged to subsist upon broth made of nettles, thickened with a little oatmeal. 
Those who had cattle had recourse to the still more wretched expedient of bleeding 
them, and mixing the blood with oatmeal, which they afterwards cut into slices and 
fried. Those who had a little money came down and slept all night upon the beach, 
in order to watch the boats returning from the fishing, that they might be in time to 
obtain a part of what had been caught." He, however, omitted to mention the share 
he and his predecessors had taken in reducing the people to such misery, and the fact 
that at this very time he had constables stationed at the Little Ferry to prevent the 
starved tenantry from collecting shellfish in the only place where they could find them. 

He prevailed upon the people to sign documents, consenting to remove at the 
next Whitsunday term, promising at the same time to make good provision for them 
elsewhere. In about a month after the work of demolition and devastation again com- 
menced, and parts of the parishes of Golspie, Rogart, Farr, and the whole of Kildonan 
were in a blaze. Strong parties with faggots and other combustible material were set 



40 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to work; throe hundred houses were given ruthlessly to the flames, and their occupants 
pushed out in the open air without food or shelter. Macleod, who was present, 
describes the horrible scene as follows: 

"The consternation and confusion were extreme; little or no time was given for 
the removal of persons or property; the people striving to remove the sick and the 
helpless before the fire should reach them; next, struggling to save the most valuable 
of their effects. The cries of the women and children, the roaring of the affrighted 
cattle hunted at the same time by the yelling dogs of the shepherds amid the smoke 
and fire altogether presented a scene that completely baffles description it required 
to be seen to be believed.' A dense cloud of smoke enveloped the whole country by 
day and even extended far out to sea ; at night an awfully grand but terrific scene 
presented itself all the houses in an extensive district in flames at once. I myself 
ascended a height about eleven o'clock in the evening, and counted two hundred and 
fifty blazing houses, many of the owners of which were my relations, and all of whom 
I personally knew, but whose present condition whether in or out of the flames I 
could not tell. The conflagration lasted six days, till the whole of the dwellings were 
reduced to ashes or smoking ruins. During one of these days a boat actually lost her 
way in the dense smoke as she approached the shore, but at night was enabled to 
reach a landing-place by the lurid light of the flames." 

The whole of the inhabitants of Kildonan, numbering nearly 2000 souls, except 
three families, were utterly rooted and burnt out, and the whole parish converted into 
a solitary wilderness. The suffering was intense. Some lost their reason. Over a 
hundred souls took passage to Caithness in a small sloop, the master humanely agree- 
ing to take them in the hold, from which he had just unloaded a cargo of quick lime. 
A head storm came on, and they were nine days at sea in the most miserable condition 
men, women, and helpless children huddled up together, with barely any provisions. 
Several died in consequence, and others became invalids for the rest of their days. 
One man, Donald Mackay, whose family was suffering from a severe fever, carried 
two of his children a distance of twenty-five miles to this vessel. Another old man 
took shelter in a meal mill, where he was kept from starvation by licking the meal 
refuse scattered among the dust on the floor, and protected from the rats and other 
vermin by his faithful collie. George Munro, the miller at Farr, who had six of his 
family down with fever, had to remove them in that state to a damp kiln, while his 
home was given to the flames. And all this was done in the name of proprietors who 
certainly were not themselves tyrants in the ordinary sense of the term. 

General Stewart of Garth, about a year after the cruelties perpetrated in Suther- 
land, writes with regret of the unnatural proceedings as " the delusions practised (by 
his subordinates) on a generous and public-spirited proprietor, which have been so per- 
severingly applied, that it would appear as if all feeling of former kindness towards the 
native tenantry had ceased to exist. To them any uncultivated spot of moorland, how- 
ever small, was considered sufficient for the support of a family ; while the most lavish 
encouragement has been given to all the new tenants, on whom, with the erection of 
buildings, the improvement of lands, roads, bridges, &c., upwards of 2 10,000 had 
been expended since 1808 (in fourteen years). With this proof of unprecedented 
liberality, it cannot be sufficiently lamented that an estimate of the character of these 
poor people was taken from the misrepresentation of interested persons, instead of 
judging from the conduct of the same men when brought into the world, where they 
obtained a name and character which have secured the esteem and approbation of men 
high in honour and rank, and, from their talents and experience, perfectly capable of 
judging with correctness. With such proofs of capability, and with such materials for 
carrying on the improvements and maintaining the permanent prosperity of the county, 
when occupied by a hardy, abstemious race, easily led on to a full exertion of their 



THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 41 

faculties by a proper management, there cannot be a question, but that if, instead of 
placing them, as has been done, in situations bearing too near a resemblance to the 
potato-gardens of Ireland, they had been permitted to remain as cultivators of the soil, 
receiving a moderate share of the vast sums lavished on their richer successors, such a 
humane and considerate regard to the prosperity of a whole people would undoubtedly 
have answered every good purpose." He then goes on to show that when the valleys 
and higher grounds were let to the sheep-farmers, the whole native population was 
driven to the sea shore, where they were crowded on small lots of land to earn subsist- 
ence by labour and sea-fishing, the latter so little congenial to their former habits and 
experience. " And these one or two acre lots are represented as improvements!" He 
then asks how in a country, without regular employment or manufactories, a family is 
to be supported on one or two acres ? The thing was impossible, and the consequence 
is that "over the whole of this district, where the sea-shore is accessible, the coast is 
thickly studded with thatched cottages, crowded with starving inhabitants," while 
strangers, with capital, usurp the land and dispossess the swain. Ancient respectable 
tenants, who passed the greater part of their lives in the enjoyment of abundance, and 
in the exercise of hospitality and charity, possessing stocks of ten, twenty, and thirty 
breeding cows, with the usual proportion of other stock, are now pining on one or two 
acres of bad land, with one or two starved cows ; and for this accommodation a calcu- 
lation is made, that they must support their families, and pay the rents of their lots, 
not from the produce, but from the sea. When the herring fishery succeeds, they 
generally satisfy the landlords, whatever privations they may suffer; but when the 
fishing fails, they fall in arrears, and are sequestrated, and their stocks sold to pay the 
rents, their lots given to others, and they and their families turned adrift on the world ; 
but in these trying circumstances, he concludes, "We cannot sufficiently admire their 
meek and patient spirit, supported by the powerful influence of moral and religious 
principle." 

The beautiful Strathnaver, containing a population equal to Kildonan, has been 
cleared in the same heartless manner. 

In 1828, Donald Macleod, after a considerable absence, returned to his native 
Kildonan, where he attended divine service in the parish church, which he found 
attended by a congregation consisting of eight shepherds and their dogs numbering 
between twenty and thirty the minister, and three members of his family. Macleod 
came in too late for the first psalm, but at the conclusion of the service the fine old 
tune " Bangor" was given out, "when the four-footed hearers became excited, got up 
on the seats, and raised a most infernal chorus of howling. Their masters attacked 
them with their crooks, which only made matters worse; the yelping and howling 
continued to the end of the service." And Donald Macleod retired to contemplate 
the painful and shameful scene, and contrast it with what he had previously experienced 
as a member, for many years, of the large and devout congregation that worshipped 
formerly in the parish church of his native valley. 

The Parish Church of Farr was no longer in existence; the fine population of 
Strathnaver was rooted and burnt out during the general conflagration, and presented 
a similar aspect to his own native parish. The church, no longer found necessary, was 
razed to the ground, and its timbers conveyed to construct one of the Sutherland 
"improvements" the Inn at Altnaharra, while the minister's house was converted 
into a dwelling for a fox-hunter. A woman, well-known in the parish, travelling 
through the desolated Strath next year after the evictions, was asked on her return 
home father news, when she replied "Oh, chan eil ach sgiala bronach ! sgiala 
bronach!" "Oh, only sad news, sad news! I have seen the timber of our well 
attended kirk covering the inn at Altnaharra; I have seen the kirk-yard where our 
friends are mouldering filled with tarry sheep, and Mr Sage's study turned into a kennel 
for Robert Gunn's dogs, and I have seen a crow's nest in James Gordon's chimney 
head ;" after which she fell into a paroxysm of grief. A. M. 



42 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 




ALTAVONA FACT AND FICTION FROM MY LIFE IN THE HIGH- 
LANDS. By JOHN STUART BLACKIE, F.R.S.E., Professor of Greek, Edin- 
burgh. Edinburgh : David Douglas. 

[SECOND NOTICE.] 

THE more this work is looked into, the more will the reader be 
astonished at the variety of topics treated ; it is truly a re- 
pertory of most matters connected with the Highlands, in places, 
persons, and problems. Nor less will he be delighted with the 
unusual temperance with which the whole, including difficult 
burning questions, are treated, and the skill and fairness with 
which the different opinions on each are presented. As he 
says himself, and as the world well knows, the Professor has 
"decided views" on most of the important social problems spoken 
of, but, as he also rightly claims, he strives always, when he most 
violently condemns, to appreciate his antagonist's point of view, 
and to state his case as sympathetically as possible. Then 
the mixed olla podrida is seasoned with admirable relishes of 
various kinds, which enhance the piquancy and palatableness 
of the dish. The amount of quotable phrase and sparkling 
point is remarkable in regard to most subjects. Errors or slips 
in style or fact are exceedingly few, as when he follows the vulgar 
mistake of making the whale feed upon herrings (p. 162). The 
whole forms a worthy monument of the author on important 
subjects to which he has devoted his later life; a valuable and 
speaking presentation of his complex, but attractive, personality, 
misunderstood by many, and known only to his intimates ; and a 
contribution to Highland literature of eminent merit. The mere 
enumeration of the many subjects touched by his facile pen would 
fill our pages. Some of these, and we can touch only on a few 
in the wide and fertile field, we can scarcely more than mention, 
to give an idea of the racy variety of the entertainment, just as 
they come to hand. 

Of scenery, he has numerous picturesque sketches, good speci- 
mens of word painting, more in the broad, free, dashing style of 



ALTAVONA. 43 

Sam Bough than in the fine, if not finical, elaborateness of Waller 
Paton, who paints the sweet vignette in the title page. It is to 
be hoped that the book will also help our tourists it will the 
thoughtful to a wider and deeper appreciation of Highland 
scenery than is common, for as the author pleads, sight-seeing 
and scenery are much more " serious affairs" than they are gene- 
rally made ; and that it will shew them in high degree how they 
may become at once both education and enjoyment. 

His portraits of the men he represents are unusually realistic 
and clear, as witness his characterisation of the busy hive of tourists 
on Oban Pier, but better still those of the greater personages he 
talks of such as that " Prince-Apostle" of the Celts, St Columba, 
" a man of tall, stately, and aristocratic appearance, with powerful, 
piercing eyes, and grandly resonant voice" ; "in temper, like St 
Paul, a man of mettle and high spirit, and, like King David, a 
sacred poet ; and if he had a rope for his belt round his middle, 
depend upon it there was a sword hanging from it. In Columba 
I see a really great man the man of lofty thought, fervid love, 
daring adventure, and enduring achievement." 

The Professor, of course, pleads for a broad humanity in all 
men " active, intelligent, heroic and fruitful," and utterly con- 
temns and condemns the systematic stupefaction of manhood in 
monkery. " We are here to fight the battle of life not to shirk 
it. To seek for virtue among such men is like swimming in a 
shallow pool where there is no danger of being drowned ; such 
swimmers will never breast the Hellispont." The breadth and 
freedom he asks for, however, might frighten weak nerves, as 
when he admires the Frenchman who " fell on his knees before 
all the spectators, and gave public thanks to the Architect of the 
Universe" in Fingal's Cave, as doing something, "at once so 
rational, so dramatic, and so devout," which no Scotsman or 
Englishman would do, " the one being girt about with caution, 
the other with pride." 

He scatters his scorn on so-called Highland games, which 
aesthetics and humanity unite in condemning as if Highlanders 
were a poor down-trodden generation who have nothing but legs 
to show, and he wishes "more brain, and less brawn" cultivated 
at such gatherings. 

He bemoans our prevalent want of taste in buildings under 



44 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the dominion "of the great goddess, Utilitaria, whom all Scotland 
and the World worships," though he notes growing improvement 
in this respect, and specially acknowledges that nothing attracts 
his eye so much as " the graceful architecture of the new schools 
throughout the Highlands." He also points out one source 
of the Scotch want of aesthetic culture, in the fact that " Sandy 
sees God only in the conscience and in the Bible, and not in 
nature." 

He gives long pieces of history sometimes of little known 
periods and places, as the story of the Macleans, " high re- 
nowned " in their own little corners ; but also of greater things, 
notably of lona and its mighty influence over British religion, 
sketching the outline of an epic with Columba as its greater 
yEneas. And these chapters of history are wisely attached to 
real places and scenes when these are visited. In the use of these 
he gives an admirable lesson as to how national history should be 
learned in order to be felt and truly realised ; for with Blackie, 
as he says, and as it should be with all wise men and patriots, 
" historical places are like roots from which whole centuries _of 
buried life rise up resuscitated." It is to be feared that his cen- 
sure of our Scotch obtuseness to the influences of the past, and 
our " irreverent carelessness " in regard to some of our finest ec- 
clesiastical ruins until recent years, is quite deserved, when he 
says that " our regular Presbyterian Scot is, in some respects, a 
most irreverent animal." 

He has some good remarks regarding the Celtic pride of 
ancestry, though in his incursions into this field, with all his 
power of throwing interest round the dry, he is likely to stop 
the common reader by a terrible treatise on Macdonald's genea- 
logical tree in his first chapter. When " Church" boasts that he 
" knows nothing about his grandmother," he exclaims, " the more 
shame to you. The knowledge and esteem of ancestry has [one 
of the few grammatical slips in the volume] been the fruitful 
source whence the most brilliant feats of Celtic chivalry have 
sprung. It is only the modern Celtic form of that instinct of an- 
cestral reverence which caused the Greeks to raise a temple to 
Theseus, and the Romans to do the same honour to Romulus" ; 
though he confesses that this feeling has, no doubt, its degen- 
erate type with not a few, " nothing better than a shallow senti- 



ALTAVONA. 45 

mcntalism, the hobby-horse of a ridiculous vanity, or the full- 
blown bladder of an empty pride." 

Of harder matters, the learned and omnivorous Professor gives 
full taste, but bright, airy, and instructive withal, such as Gaelic 
philology, which he seeks to put on a scientific basis, as against the 
unscientific Gaelic enthusiasts for derivations and its uncorrupted 
priority and superiority to other tongues ; gnarled Geology, as 
exhibited round Oban, and in Kerrera and Mull, in this case 
through the pen of that solemn fossil, the scientist " Hilarius," 
though the Professor trips when he speaks of the limestone of the 
Garveloch Islands, as " one of the most southerly links of the great 
limestone vein which crops out grandly at Inchnadamph and 
uttermost Durness," the Lorn limestone being in a different 
and much more easterly horizon ; and on Botany, on which he 
delightedly discourses in Kerrara, at the brilliant pic-nic that 
figures in his third dialogue, with its superabundent good cheer, 
the liquid elements of which will, we fear, wreck the temperate 
Professor's good fame with the T.T.'S and the G.T.'s, as the Times 
has already more than hinted. 

Of lighter subjects, we have ample store Highland music ; 
Highland poetry, of which he gives some admirable versions ; ori- 
ginal lyrics, all sparklingly good of their kind, and not least, that in 
praise of the Isle of Mist, done in no misty style, by the genial 
Sheriff of Kirkcudbright ; his peculiar views of the functions of 
war in national manhood ; his pro-German " blood and iron " 
sympathies ; his frequent and righteous denunciations of modern 
fashion and affectation and genteel snobbery, which are " smoth- 
ering nature and strangling simplicity"; his fears of the time when, 
"not cousinship and human kindness, but cash payment and politi- 
cal economy shall have become the only bond that binds the 
different classes of society together"; and a host of other pleasant 
and profitable intrusions of glowing lavas into the more regular 
and detailed series of the book. 

Several social subjects are treated more in detail, by our pro- 
Celtic Professor as bearing strongly on local and national well- 
being. Of these, Highland education is one on which he has de- 
cided views, and on which he has frequently spoken. He here again 
dilates on his opinions in favour of Highland culture for the High- 
land child, rich or poor, in addition to the subjects taught in com- 



46 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

mon with Lowland schools. In the training of the upper classes of 
the Highlands, he rightly laments that they are "educated, not as 
Highland lairds, but as young Englishmen," having "deserted the 
national schools and colleges for Eton and Oxford, to be trained 
up in Anglified puppyism and would-be scholarly conceit." 
" They cannot speak a word of Gaelic, and know more of Horace 
and Homer though that may be little enough than of Duncan 
Ban and Alastair Macdonald." They thus become " Highlanders 
for the more part only in pride of pedigree, not in tone of sen- 
timent or in type of culture." He deprecates any severe judg- 
ment of such individuals, the common type of even our old High- 
land proprietors' sons, for " they are what they are by the potent 
influence of birth, education, habit, and tradition." 

On the rational use of Gaelic as a valuable instrument in the 
early education of the Gaelic child, as well as in his after culture, 
he is as strong and as sensible as ever ; and he quotes in the ap- 
pendix the Report of our local pro-Celtic inspector, Mr Jolly, for 
1879, in favour of its use in our Highland schools, which was re- 
cently adopted by the Federation of Celtic Societies as their reply 
to the anti-Celtic opinions of some of his colleagues. The Professor 
puts the whole subject in a nut-shell when he says, " A man may 
have many languages, but he can only have one- mother tongue." 
But on this topic we need not again enter more at length here. 

Another important social subject to which he devotes large 
space is the religion of the Highlands. On this difficult theme, 
will be found in these pages as clear, temperate, reverent, and 
far-reaching a statement of the state of this difficult problem as 
we remember to have seen; combined with an unusually fresh 
and philosophical presentation of the Celtic phase of the religious 
sentiment, such as it has seldom or ever received, for which Pro- 
fessor Blackie should gain our lasting gratitude, including that of 
Dr Kennedy, who will not, we are sure, refuse it. While charac- 
terising our excessive divisiveness in forming sects in Scotland, 
which it would require " peculiar idiopathic microscopes" to dis- 
cern the differences between, he sees in this tendency the activity 
of our national religiousness. He attempts to account for the 
Disruption on grounds on which there will ever be differences of 
opinion, but his views deserve to be examined by both parties. 
He endeavours very successfully to account for the strong anti- 



ALTAVONA. 47 

patronage and seemingly anti-Establishment attitude of the 
Highlanders at the religious revolution of '43, and their present 
pro-Establishment position, in connection with the movement for 
Disestablishing the church. In doctrine, he not unjustly charac- 
terises the Highlander as "the most orthodox, most narrow- 
minded, and the most one-sided of all theologians." But no 
where have the Highlander's special religious views been pre- 
sented in such attractive and reasonable philosophic guise than in 
this book, in regard even to those severer forms of Calvinism 
that are his own pet doctrines, and the antipathy of others. As 
to the average intelligent Highlander's ability to give a reason for 
the faith that is in him, he says to his Oxonian friend, "If you 
do wish to prove your mettle in a stiff theological argument, 
depend upon it, my dear Kit, with all your Oxford Greek and 
all your Aristotelian logic, you will find some Ferintosh evan- 
gelist, even though not a D.D., an antagonist worthy of your 
steel" a not unmerited compliment, though most Lowlanders 
will doubt its truth, 

He strongly and rightly condemns the gloom that haunts 
our Highland religious life and daily walk, as both " a renuncia- 
tion of humanity and a declaration of war against all temporal 
and visible enjoyments a temper the very reverse of that which 
was praised and practised by Socrates and other wise Greeks, 
with whom religion was rather the art of enjoying the present 
life according to reason." He also states an undoubted fact when 
he piquantly says that " There is nothing more difficult for the 
Highland mind to reconcile than gaiety and piety, amusement 
and religion"; a reconciliation which our northern clergy should 
set themselves actively to promote, in the interests of religion and 
morals, and which we hope is now much nearer than it has too 
long been. As was to be expected from such a lay preacher on 
secular subjects on Sunday, he condemns " the Pharisaic formal- 
ism with which our countrymen inculcate Sabbath observance, as, 
beyond doubt, Jewish rather than Christian in its character, and 
as giving to the letter of a statutable enactment a value which be- 
longs only to the laws of eternal and inimitable morality" a 
statement of the Sabbath question at once theological and philo- 
sophical, though making distinctions in the decalogue that some 
will not relish. 



48 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

He highly commends Highland preaching on various grounds. 
He does not believe that its alleged want of practicality applies 
more to it than to the general run of sermons " with which pious 
ears are washed in this country, Sunday after Sunday, with such 
faithfulness of pious routine." He is strong in praise of its fervid 
appeal to the emotions, its addressing the heart above the head, 
even when it offends most against cold pulpit proprieties, for 
" tameness cannot be the style, nor propriety the law, of any sort 
of effective discourse. In the English pulpit by systematically 
cramping nature and damping fervour, you have murdered elo- 
quence," which he holds to exist more in the Highlands than in 
other parts of the country. The function of that peculiar High- 
land religious class, the lay assistant bishops, called "the men," he 
gives an admirable account of, and reason for, and would like to 
see it in existence elsewhere. He describes the class very feli- 
tiously and fairly (p. 333), and holds with truth that they could 
not have acquired the high influence over their fellows they un- 
questionably had, unless they had been endowed with talents cap- 
able of commanding the attention and moulding the minds of an 
intelligent peasantry. 

But we have already been tempted too far for our space into 
the attractive field of prose and poetry exhibited in Altavona. 
One other important and pregnant question now daily claiming 
increased attention and demanding no distant solution, on which 
he enters very fully, the relation of the landowner to the tenant, 
we reserve for a future day. Enough has, we hope, been said to 
show that in this unique work on the Highlands, the intelligent 
reader and surely there are many such interested in the problems 
discussed cannot but rise from its perusal, to recur once more to 
the words of its author, " rich in not a few facts and ideas," and 
with a conviction that the Professor possesses, as he claims, 
" knowledge enough to correct some of the misty conceptions 
that float through the mind of the average Englishman," and, 
he might added, Scotsman, on most subjects connected with the 
Highlands of Scotland. 



TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS.-Several important articles, communications, 
ri queries arc unavoidably left over, but we hope to give most of them in our next 






THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE 



CONDUCTED BY 



ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. LXXXVL DECEMBER 1882. VOL. VIII. 

THE SCULPTURED STONES OF ROSS & CROMARTY 
BY CAPTAIN COLIN MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 



X. 

THE next stone in order for consideration is the Obelisk at 
Shandwick. Cordiner seems to have been the first traveller to 
take any particular notice of it, and thus describes it in his 
Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland : " On a bank 
near the shore, opposite to the ruins of a castellated house, called 
Sandivick, and about three miles east from Feme, a very 
splendid Obelisk is erected, surrounded at the base with large, 
well-cut flag-stones; formed like steps. Both sides of the column 
are elaborately covered with various enrichments, in well-finished 
carved work. The one face presents a sumptuous cross, with a 
figure of St Andreiv on each hand, and some uncouth animals 
and flowerings underneath. The central division on the reverse, 
renders it a piece of antiquity well worthy of preservation : 
there is exhibited in that such a variety of figures, birds, and 
animals, as seemed what might prove a curious subject of investi- 
gation; I have therefore given a distinct delineation of them, at 

D 



50 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the foot of the column, on a larger scale, that their shapes might 
be distinctly ascertained, and the more probable conjectures 
formed of their allusion". This account is contained in a letter 
from Cordiner to Pennant, dated Dornoch, June 131*1, 1776. 
The " delineation" is that of the reverse of the stone, and the 
engraving appears along with the above letterpress in the 
Antiquities and Scenery. In the Remarkable Ruins, Cordiner 
sa y S: __The stone is still in great preservation. Within the 
circle of a few miles in that district, are many similar monuments; 
but most of the others are either fallen down or broken, however, 
many curious fragments of them are still to be seen." A drawing 
of the obverse of the stone also appears in the Remarkable Ruins. 
Dr Stewart says of this cross: " This magnificent Obelisk lies 
near the village of Shandwick, in the Parish of Nigg, about a mile 
westward from the stone at Hilton, and a quarter of a mile from 
the sea shore. It was unfortunately blown down within the last 
ten years [Stewart writes in 1856,] and, in consequence, broken 
into two pieces." Hugh Miller says, Scenes and Legends: " The 
stone of Shandwick is still standing,* and bears on the side 
which corresponds to the obliterated surface of the other [i.e. the 
Hilton slab,] the figure of a large cross, composed of circular 
knobs wrought into an involved and intricate species of fret 
work, which seems formed by the twisting of myriads of snakes. 
In the spaces on the sides of the shaft there are two huge, 
clumsy-looking animals, the one resembling an elephant, and the 
other a lion ; over each of these a St Andrew seems leaning 
forward from his cross; and on the reverse of the obelisk the 
sculpture represents processions, hunting scenes, and combats." 
Dr Stewart does not fall in with all Messrs Cordiner and Miller's 
conclusions. He observes: " It has been supposed that the 
figures on each side of the cross, immediately beneath the trans- 
verse bar, are intended to represent St Andrew on his cross, but 
it may be doubted whether they are not meant to represent 
angels with displayed wings, like those on the stone at Eassie. 
The pillar is of freestone. The raised bosses or knobs on the 
face of the cross appear on many of the Irish monuments, and on 

* In a note he remarks, " since, however, blown down in a storm, and broken 
into three pieces." This is erroneous, as the stone has only been broken in two pieces, 
as described by Dr Stuart. 



SCULPTURED STONES. . 51 

St Martin's cross at lona. The same sort of ornament was long 
continued on the Highland targets." 

The account of the Parish of Nigg, drawn up for the New 
Statistical Account of Scotland by the Rev. Lewis Rose, and re- 
vised in 1836, has the following : " [The cross] at Shandwick is 
called 'Clack a Ckarridhf$\& stone of the bury ing-ground. 'Carridli 
is the Gaelic word for a burial-place ; and it was a mistake, in the 
former Statistical Account, to call this stone ' Clach a Charraigl 
the stone of the rock. It is about 8 feet high, 4 broad, and I thick. 
It has been often described and admired by the lovers of antique 
curiosities. The ground around was, for ages, employed as a 
burying-place, but it has not been used for that purpose within 
the last fifty years. [Since 1786?]." Mr Denoon remarks of the 
cross : "Another stone somewhat similar to the Hilton stone, 
stands on a hill at the back of Shandwick village, on the estate 
of Balnagown. It is about 9 feet high, 3 feet broad, and 6 inches 
thick. It was erected, we are told, over the remains of another 
son of the King of Denmark, who had been wrecked on Craig 
Cary (Cary Rock). These rocks were also called the King's sons, v 
and the stone is called Clach Cary (the Cary stone)." Here we 
have another proof of many of the uncertainties of tradition. Mr 
Denoon refers to the " Cary Rock," and calls the cross itself 
" Clach Cary." Now, this latter name looks very like a repetition 
of the " Clach a Charraig," the stone of t/ie rock, mentioned above, 
and which the Rev. Lewis Rose tells us should be read the stone 
of the burying ground or has it anything to do with Prince 
Carius ? The reader may remember that the spot where the 
Edderton incised stone stands is called " Carry Blair," or the 
battlefield of Carius, and that it is said to mark the grave of a 
certain Prince Carius, who, at the head of a body of " invading 
Norwegian pirates," was defeated and slain there. What a talent 
our ancestors had for ascribing all their antiquities to a foreign 
origin ; and the belief has not died out yet. Both the incised 
obelisks and the beautiful sculptured crosses are ascribed con- 
temporaneously to the Vikings ! It is high time that truthful 
history should be written and error dissipated. In other words, 
that the civilised Pict should be shown to have been the man of 
culture, not the semi-barbarous Northman. 

That the Shandwick stone is the oldest of the crosses of 



52 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Easter Ross, I can scarcely doubt, though the fragmentary state 
of the Tarbat crosses renders it difficult to assign a particular 
date to their erection. I shall, however, later on, endeavour to 
fix an approximate date to the Shandwick cross, but in the 
meantime I deem it best to lay aside theory, and describe the 
stone as it actually appears at present I also beg to refer the 
reader to a note in No. VIII. of these papers, where I pointed out 
that though Cordiner's pictures in the Antiquities and Scenery 
were deserving of praise, those in the Remarkable Ruins were by 
no means reliable. Having now carefully observed and noted 
the discrepancies between Cordiner's sketch in the latter book, the 
Sculptured Stones of Scotland, and the Shandwick cross itself, I 
intend, as I proceed with my description, to point out the errors 
shown in Cordiner's picture of the obverse, as inserted in the 
Remarkable Ruins. This latter I do for the three following reasons. 
Fi rs t_of Dr Stewart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland, only a 
limited number of copies were printed for the Spalding Club ; the 
book is very dear; and it is not generally accessible. Secondly 
It will probably never be reproduced, as a whole, either in its 
present or in a more popular form ; and but a very scanty num- 
ber of its plates have been reproduced, often very faultily by 
means of woodcuts, which must be painfully sought for through 
the pages of a multitude of writers upon archaeology. Thirdly 
That Cordiner's Remarkable Ruins are in the hands of many 
persons, who are as unable to obtain access to the writers latterly 
mentioned, as they are to Dr Stewart's . work itself, and who 
might therefore be led by Cordiner to form erroneous conceptions 
of the Ross-shire monuments, were no steps taken to point out in 
what particulars the plates in the Remarkable Ruins are at fault. 
The first thing to be observed with regard to the obverse of 
the stone is that it is perfectly square at the top, whereas Cordiner 
represents it as being rather pointed. A raised rim seems origin- 
ally to have run all round the stone. What first catches the eye 
is a large Latin cross, occupying the whole upper half of that face 
of the obelisk looking seawards, and having semi-circular pieces 
cut out at the intersection of the arms, a very common Celtic 
pattern, of which stones at Brodie, Elgin, St Vigeans (No. 2), 
Kingoldrum, Kirriemuir, &c., might be cited as examples. Cord-, 
iner on the contrary inserts at the intersections perforated circles, 



SCULPTURED STONES. 53 

a type perfectly distinct from the other and of which the Cross 
(No. 3) at Meigle is a good example. But what constitutes the 
most curious feature of this Shandwick cross is that, instead of 
being filled in with knot or other work, it is ornamented with a 
double row of bosses or knobs. There are ten of these upon each 
of the upper arms, twenty-two upon the lower arm or stem of the 
cross, and four in the centre. These centre four are the smallest ; 
four at each of the intersections, that is sixteen bosses, are of 
medium size ; while the thirty-six, occupying the broader portion 
of the limbs, are the largest. There are, therefore, fifty-six bosses 
in all. Some of these bosses are now almost weathered away. 
From the peculiar shape given by Cordiner to this cross in his 
drawing, he has been unable to represent either the proper position, 
size, form, or number of these bosses. Dr Stuart has called 
attention to this boss ornamentation as resembling that of St 
Martin's Cross at lona and that of various Irish crosses; but I am 
glad to find that he does not raise upon this fact any hypothesis 
as to the Shandwick stone being the work of Irish sculptors. 
The truth is that the boss work was common to all the Celts. It 
maybe found on Sarcophagi at Meigle and St Andrews, and on 
crosses at Dunfallandy, St Madoes, Aberbuno, a fragment at St 
Vigeans, and more especially scattered over the head of the very 
fine cross (No. 4) at Meigle. But the most important fact of all 
is that bosses are used on all the monuments in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the Shandwick stone. The Cross of Nigg is 
most profusely decorated with them, both round and oval, and 
beautifully ornamented ; the border of a fragment of a cross at 
Tarbat is studded with them ; between the intersections of the 
arms, and the circular disc which surrounds the cross on one side 
of the Edderton stone, are four bosses, and also one in the centre ; 
four bosses appear in the four corners of the square which sur- 
rounds the Greek cross on one side of the Rosemarkie obelisk ; 
and there is no reason why the cross which once was engraved 
upon the Hilton slab should not have been similarly ornamented. 
No bosses appear upon the rude symbol-inscribed standing stones. 
Regarding the two spaces above the transverse limbs of the 
cross, we find that the ornamentation of one is quite obliterated, 
while the other contains a rude sort of padlock-shaped ornament, 
as if the padlock were turned upside down ; the handle or catch 



, 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

of the padlock being twisted, and the centre filled, with knot 
work And now I have to call attention to one of Cordmer's 
most flagrant mistakes, which, had he lived in our own day, I 
trust he would never have committed. Doubtless owing to the 
height of the cross, he was unable to make out the state of the spaces 
above the arms,and so he quietly evolved out of his inner conscious- 
ness a couple of kneeling angels, who never could have existed. Of 
these and the two bending priests on the Nigg slab he cooly says, in 
the Remarkable Ruins: 11 The figures in praying postures on the 
fragment [at Nigg,] and those [at Shandwick,] seemed to have 
been similar ones, or angels bending at the cross." He then 
proceeds to argue that these figures, the cross itself, the two^ St 
Andrews on crosses (of which more anon), and the dove placing 
the consecrated wafer on the patten (on the Nigg slab), bear 
testimony that these stones were decorated with figures, &c., 
copied from illuminated missals brought from Rome. He says: 

The missionaries from the Church of Rome, bringing their 

missals and other books along with them, artists would have 
access to sec them. By the taste of the times, these books from 
the Continent were in general illuminated with various paintings. 
The piety of the new converts adopted these as the chief embel- 
lishments for their monumental stones." How then about our 
own primitive Christianity ? How then about St Ninian and St 
Columba who preached the simple gospel to Scotland, long 
before Rome sent us priests to drive the country wild over the 
peculiar form of the tonsure, or the particular day upon which 
Easter should be celebrated ? How about the Columbian 
Gospels of Durrow ? The nearest approach to Celtic art, as far 
as missals are concerned, which I ever saw, was a rude representa- 
tion in an illuminated copy of the Revelation of St John, then in 
the Royal Library of Madrid, depicting the Great Dragon sweeping 
the stars out of heaven with his tail. The form of the old serpent 
reminded me strongly of some of the more uncouth monsters of 
the standing stones. But the famous Codex Argenteus, which I 
have seen in the library of Upsala in Sweden, and which is the 
oldest Christian manuscript I have ever seen, though written in 
letters of silver, and older than the Gospels of Durrow, is not 
illuminated. A certain connection between the embellishment of 
some of the Saxo-Northumbrian crosses, and early Roman Missals, 



SCULPTURED STONES. 55 

may be traced, for it was a Roman missionary, St Augustine, who 
converted the Saxons, but to endeavour to prove that Celtic or- 
nament can be found in any purely Roman Missal, of even the 
ninth, or tenth, or eleventh century, is simply to court ignominious 
failure. Celtic civilization like Celtic art was indigenous, and 
what Saxon and Gothic barbarism actually wrought upon the for- 
mer, the Roman missionary (belauded by Cordiner), endeavoured 
to wreak upon the latter. 

Dr Stuart says : " Mr Westwood reminds us, that of the 
copies of the Holy Scriptures sent into England by St Gregory, 
with the mission of St Augustine, two are still preserved, and that 
they are different in the character of the writing from the Irish, 
as well as remarkable for their wanting the ornamentation which 
is so prominent in these." Owen Jones, in his Grammar of Orna- 
ment, under " Celtic Ornament," remarks " All the most ancient 
Italian manuscripts are entirely destitute of ornamental elabora- 
tion." Does not all this go to prove that the art of illumination 
took its rise among the Celts, who must at that time have reached 
a high pitch of civilisation and culture. 

Vae Victis. Woe to the conquered. The splendid pageants 
of the Roman Church were not long in supplanting the simple 
service of the Culdees. The high mass in the lofty fane blazing 
with gorgeous vestments, gold, and jewels, and redolent of the 
reek of incense, as surely appealed to the senses, as the simple 
service outside the hermit's wattled booth, or rough stone cell, had 
gone home to the heart. But there is a comforting old proverb, 
" Threatened men live long." Palestine was conquered long ago, 
but there are still myriads of Jews. As long as the Celt lives, his 
art will live with him. Many a Highland dirk and snuff-box 
boast to-day the patterns which were in vogue a thousand years 
ago and who shall say that the Highlanders, who, with resistless 
bayonets, charged the murderous lines of Tel-el-Kebir, were one 
whit behind those who died in their blood upon the Muir of 
Drummossie. Amongst an enlightened and chivalrous race, 
native art like native courage will never die! 
(To be continued.) 

MEMOIR OF SIR JAMES MATHESON OF THE LEWS, BART. The 
portion of "The History of the Mathesons" containing this Memoir is not for sale 
separately. It was specially printed for Lady Matheson " for private circulation" only, 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 
THE LATE DANIEL MACKINLAY. 



ONE of the duties which we laid down for ourselves, when 
this periodical came into existence, was to commemorate the good 
deeds of Highlanders who have made for themselves a position 
in Hfc_in the military, literary, or learned professions, or in the 
commercial world. In the latter Daniel Mackinlay, who, on the 
3rd of October last, died at Portobello, aged 72, deserves special 
notice. He was born in 1810, of respectable parents, his father 
being Peter Mackinlay, at one time tenant of the farm of Arnish, 
in the Island of Lews, and his mother Sybella, daughter of 
Captain Kennedy of Stornoway. His career adds another instance 
to the many examples among our countrymen which go to show 
that success does not always depend on the start which one gets 
to begin the world with. Mackinlay was eminently a self-made man. 
His father died while Daniel was a mere boy, leaving his little son 
utterly penniless, and without even the knowledge of the three .R's; 
but, thanks to our Scottish Parochial School system, then in ex- 
istence, and the assistance of a good and wise mother, Daniel, 
naturally a bright intelligent boy, early became a good scholar, 
and soon obtained a private tutorship in the family of Mr 
Maciver of Gress. He afterwards occupied a similar position in 
the family of Mr Stewart, father of the present popular and well- 
known John Stewart of Ensay, late of Duntulm. Subsequently 
he secured a situation in the office of Mr Murdo Robertson of the 
Bill Chamber, Edinburgh ; and from there he got into the office 
of Mr Thomas Mackenzie, younger of Applecross, M.P., and W. S. 
in Edinburgh. From here he was, in 1844, sent to Calcutta to 
take the management of the firm of Gillanders, Arbuthnot, & Co., 
a position which he obtained solely, in consequence of the able 
and judicious manner in which he carried through some legal 
business entrusted to his employer, and in which Mr George 
Arbuthnot, of Morris Bank, was interested. By careful and pru- 
dent management he piloted the house, now under his charge, 
safely over the disastrous failures of 1847-48, when so many 
others came to grief. He continued his successful commercial 
career abroad until 1860, when he was able to return home with 



THE LATE DANIEL MACKINLAY. 57 

a handsome fortune. So much esteemed was he by his brother 
merchants in Calcutta who had previously conferred upon him 
the Presidentship of the Chamber of Commerce the highest 
honour at their disposal that, on his retirement, they had his 
portrait painted and hung up in their Chamber, while at the same 
time they presented him with a valuable service of plate, in re- 
cognition of his services to his brothers in commerce. 

One who knew him intimately informs us that '"though 
Mackinlay was most successful as a merchant, his memory will 
be cherished more for his heart qualities than for those of the head. 
Nothing pleased him so much as doing a good turn for young 
Highlanders. When any one applied for an appointment for any 
Highland lad, Mackinlay would, with the utmost pleasure, enter 
heart and soul into the matter, and do all in his power, which was 
a great deal, generally ending in securing a good appointment 
for the applicant. During his stay in Calcutta, from 1844 to 
1860, he performed many acts of kindness for his countrymen 
which can never be published, but which remain engraved on the 
hearts of the grateful recipients of his liberality and aid. If a 
Lews man landed at that port, and needed anything, Mackinlay 
was sure to find him out and assist him. He was the first who 
recognised the merits of the late Kenneth Macleod, of Greshor- 
nish, and placed him in that position, where, by his own natural 
ability, he quickly amassed a fortune. Mackinlay was, in a word, 
the brightest ornament and the greatest benefactor to the Lews, 
among its own sons, that ever left it. He had always a kindly 
feeling to his native island and its inhabitants at one time 
getting up subscriptions for the widows of its brave fishermen, 
who had perished at sea; at another, interesting himself in the 
welfare of its poor crofter inhabitants ; indeed he was always 
thinking of them." 

Mackinlay has provided several open bursaries of ^"15 and 
10 each, tenable for three years, for competition among the 
youth of the Lews, to encourage and help on those of them tak- 
ing up any of the learned professions. Though he never made 
the slightest effort to make himself so, he was very popular with 
all those who really knew him ; and his friends were not of the 
class who knew him to-day and forgot him to-morrow. They 
were all, like himself, genuine and true, and those of them who 



-s THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

assembled at his grave many of whom came long distances 
felt as if, by his death, they had lost a brother. 

In 1874 he rented the shootings of Gress in the Lews, where 
he afterwards resided for a few years during the sporting season, 
and showed great interest in the position of the poorer inhabitants 
of the Island. In 1870 some correspondence appeared in the 
newspapers about the condition of the Lews crofters, and Mr 
Mackinlay addressed a long letter to Mr Hugh M. Matheson, 
Commissioner for the Island, under Sir James Matheson, Bart, 
which he published at the time, with an appendix of 43 pages, 
and which contains a mass of interesting and valuable information 
regarding the past history of the Island, its management, and the 
condition of its inhabitants. Taking him all in all, he was one of 
those self-made Highlanders of whom not only his own immediate 
friends, but his countrymen generally, may well feel proud, and 
whose name well deserves recognition in a periodical like ours. 

A. M. 



THE GREATNESS OF GOD. 

(From the Gaelic of Dugald Buchanan, 1716-1768.) 



O, what is God or what the name of God ? 

The highest angel cannot comprehend ; 
Nor eye nor thought can reach His dread abode 

Concealed in dazzling brightness without end. 

Himself the fountain whence His Being flows, 

His every attribute is increate ; 
In His own nature on He ever goes, 

His self-perfection bearing up His State. 

Youth and old age come not within the sphere 
Wherein He moves the same from aye to aye ; 

Nor sun nor moon shall measure His career, 
For these compared with Him soon pass away. 

Immortal day proceeds out from His eye, 
When He reveals His glory or His grace ; 

And forthwith all the hosts of heaven high 
Attempt, each with his wings, to veil his face. 



THE GREATNESS OF GOD. 59 

And if in wrath His countenance He shews, 

Terror shall suddenly the skies o'erspread ; 
At His rebuke the ocean backward flows, 

And earth itself is moved with conscious dread. 

The works of Nature flourish and decay ; 

From change to change they ever onward go ; 
But all His actions unity display ; 

And in His Being there's neither ebb nor flow. 

Angels and men to nothing both are nigh, 

The womb whence all have sprung which God hath made ; 
But, being eternal, His perfections high 

Shall, from their very nature, never fade. 

When Nothing heard the voice of His command 

The vast creation rose in Majesty ; 
The earth that teems with life by sea and land ; 

The heavens with all the heavenly host on high. 

Then He looked down and viewed creation all, 

And blessed each creature in its several place ; 
Nor needed change in any, great or small, 

Among His works so good in every case. 

Upon His palm revolves the firmament, 

With every star that twinkles in the skies ; 
In hollow of His hand creation's pent, 

And for support on His strong arm relies.' 

O, God ! who can Thy Being compass round, 

Whose depths all reason tries to sound in vain ? 
Angels and men attempting this are found 

Like mussel-shells that try to grasp the main. 

Thou art a King from all eternity 

To whom this world's but yesterday begun ; 
Oh ! small's the histoiy we've heard of Thee ; 

Nor great of Thine all works beneath the sun. 

Although the sun to nothing should decay, 

With all the planets that on Him attend, 
As little would Thy works miss them away 

As ocean would a drop on finger-end. 

Creation cannot with its glory all 

Reveal to us in full God our strong tower ; 
In total of His works both great and small 

We but perceive an earnest of His power. 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

How vain for us with shallow thought endowed 

To search an ocean that is infinite ; 
The smallest letter of the Name of God 

For our poor reason is too great a weight. 

For there is nought that can with Thee compare 

'Mongst all the mighty works which Thou hast clone 
And 'mongst all men no language can declare 
Thy Name aright, but Thine Own Word alone. 

JOHN SINCLAIR, B.D., Minister of Rannoch. 
Manse of Kinloch- Rannoch. 



THE HIGHLANDERS AND THEIR TASTES.-It has become a favourite 
pretence on the part of some that music and the fine arts are the great means of refin- 
ing and elevating society. Now, music and the fine arts are good in their own place, 
but experience proves that, apart from other elements, they have no tendency what- 
ever to promote a high-toned morality. It may be said, for example, that no class of 
men abhor the introduction of instrumental music into worship more, or care less for 
the fine arts, than the Highlanders ; whilst Italy is the land of ecclesiastical splendour, 
sculpture, and enchanting music. Yet it is of that land that the poet says 

" In florid beauty groves and fields appear ; 
Man is the only growth that dwindles here. 
Though grave, yet trifling, zealous, yet untrue, 
And even in penance planning sins anew. 

My soul, turn from them, turn thee to survey 
Where rougher climes a nobler race display." 

Ruskin, speaking of the Indian Mutiny, suppressed by the Highlanders, says "Out 
of the peat cottage come forth courage, self-sacrifice, purity, and piety, and whatever 
else is fruitful in the work of heaven ; out of the ivory palaces come treachery, cruelty, 
cowardice, idolatry, bestiality, or whatever else is fruitful in the work of hell." All 
our military commanders, including the most recent, turn to the noble Highlanders, 
wedded to their simple forms of devotion, as men true as steel in the discharge of 
duty. Speech by Dr Begg. 

THE GLENALMOND HIGHLANDERS AT WIMBLEDON. The repre- 
sentative of Glenalmond has been again successful in winning the Spencer Cup at 
Wimbledon for the best individual shot in all the Public Schools. The winner this 
year was Lance-Corporal Scott. On the prize day, in the words of the Times, 
" Lance-Corporal Scott, in the Highland uniform of Glenalmond, was loudly cheered 
as he went for the Spencer Cup," and the annual reception of the Glenalmond team 
at Wimbledon shows that "nowhere beats the heart more kindly," not only "than 
beneath the tartan plaid," but than in Scotch breasts in the South at the sight of it. 



6r 



LAND NATIONALISATION ITS NECESSITIES 
AND ITS AIMS.* 



THAT a man like Alfred Russel Wallace, so enthusiastic and 
successful in the pursuit of natural science in its higher rela- 
tions, should withdraw his attention from such studies to write a 
book on the nationalisation of the land is in itself a fact of the 
utmost significance. Those who imagine that the land tenure of 
this country is to continue like the earth itself for ever, should 
ponder, we will not say the conclusions of the work before us, but 
the fact that such a book, and by such a man, should come to be 
written at all. Our author is not a man who is unaccustomed to 
reasoning in the closest possible manner, but not after the manner 
of the school-men, who build portentuous theories on the narrow 
basis of a few first principles which have never been tested by 
experience. On the contrary, it is his habit to compare, analyse, 
test, and combine facts, revealed in actual life, and from these to 
draw out the theory which give them unity and intelligibility. 
This power is so conspicuous in his many charming works on the 
phenomena of sea and land, as to make him a rival some would 
even place him higher of Darwin himself. But keen as was the 
pleasure which Mr Wallace found in tracing the methods which 
nature pursued in the past in order to find an explanation of the 
present earth and all that it contains, he nevertheless has been for 
a long time a sympathising observer of the social condition of 
these islands of ours. One striking peculiarity of the state of 
this country impressed itself on the mind and heart of Mr 
Wallace so much that all his power of thinking was set earnestly 
to work to find its explanation and its remedy for remedy it 
needs as much, nay more, than fever or small-pox. The fact re- 
ferred to is the appalling one that the vast increase of the wealth of 
this country has not diminished its poverty and wretchedness. 
Nay, it seems certain that thousands of our people are sunk in a 
lower hell than they were when millionaires were unknown. The 
sad truth that misery is the lot of multitudes who help to produce 

* By Alfred Russel Wallace, author of " The Malay Archilpelago, " 
"Island Life," etc. London : Trithner & Co. 



62 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the splendid fortunes in which they have no share sufficient t 9 
cover their nakedness, or warm their blood, or fill their stomachs, 
finds its explanation, according to our author, in the absolute 
ownership in land conferred by law on private individuals. Now, 
according to him, if wealth is not only to shed a lustre over a 
select portion of society, but if it is to put reasonable animal 
comfort, and the decencies and refinements of moral and intellec- 
tual life,' within the reach of those whose lot it is to toil with their 
hands, then this private individual and absolute ownership in land 
must cease and determine. This is no hurried and impulsive 
conclusion on the part of our author under the pressure of feeling 
called into play by the dark contrast between the extremes of 
splendour and squalor, of the baronial hall, and the hut at once a 
byre and a dwelling-house, so frequently seen in our country. 
For eighteen years our author has been meditating on this mo- 
mentous subject a subject which the hard facts of existence will 
not suffer to go to sleep until some solution of it is accomplished. 
Mr Wallace may have argued himself into conclusions which are 
impracticable, a favourite phrase of the indolent, the faithless, and 
the timid in all ages, but supported, as they are, with so many 
deplorable facts, and with so much lucid and unimpassioned 
reasoning for passion is suppressed in this book as firmly as if 
it were a study in quaternions no wise man will dismiss them 
without earnest study. 

It is not easy to present in small space Mr Wallace's theory 
of the Nationalisation of the Land. We refer the reader to the 
book itself, which, like the work of every great writer is intensely 
interesting in virtue of its facts, its illustrations, and general spirit, 
apart from the particular theory which it upholds. The chapter, 
for example on landlordism in Scotland will bring a tear to the 
eye of many whose ancestors were dealt with, as if they were so 
much scrub on the land aye, and of many who have themselves 
been so used ; perhaps too it will prick some consciences imperv- 
ious to the arrows of our native and therefore it is supposed 
prejudiced writers our Millers, Macleods, and Mackenzies. 

But let us try to give the reader a general idea of Mr Wallace's 
solution of the Land Problem, and first let us quote what he holds 
to be the necessary requirements of a right solution. 

i. It is clear that landlordism must be replaced by occupying 



LAND NATIONALISATION. 63 

ownership. No less radical reform will get rid of tlrc widespread 
evils of our present system. 

2. Arrangements must be made by which the tenure of the 
holders of land must be secure and permanent, and nothing must 
be permitted to interfere with the free use of the land, or his 
certainty of reaping all the fruits of any labour or outlay he may 
bestow upon it. 

3. Arrangements must be made by which every British 
subject may secure a portion of land for personal occupation at 
its fair agricultural value. 

4. All suitable tracts of unenclosed and waste lands must, 
under certain limitations be open to cultivation by occupying 
owners. 

5. The free sale and transfer of every holder's interest in his 
land must be secured. 

6. In order that these conditions be rendered permanent, 
sub-letting must be absolutely prohibited, and mortgages strictly 
limited. 

But how is it possible to give effect to these conditions, how 
can a tenant become an occupying owner without being a landlord 
under another name, and, therefore, a new source of all the evils 
which flow from our present system of landlordism ? 

Mr Wallace answers The State must become the real 
owner, or ground landlord. The tenant is to be a perpetual 
holder of the land, not its absolute owner the absolute owner 
being the State. This in effect is the feudal theory which makes 
the land belong to the king and all proprietors to be but holders 
of the land from him. It must be borne in mind that Mr Wallace 
would not transfer to the State all that now belongs to the pro- 
prietors of lands. We must make a distinction between the estate 
and what the landlord in his own person or that of his predeces- 
sors, has put upon or into the estate. Nature is responsible for 
the one, cultivation in some form or other for the latter. Mr 
Wallace would have the State take possession of the estate as it 
is, mere land apart from what labour has added to it. Land has 
a natural and inherent value depending in part on the condition 
and position of the soil, in part on such circumstances as popula- 
tion and the necessities which, in the shape of towns, ports, rail- 
roads, etc., and an abundant population create. This value the 



64 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

landlord has, as a whole, no power either of creating or destroy- 
ing When the land is nationalised it will become, in this respect, 
and only in this respect, the absolute property of the State. But 
a cultivated estate has a value which is due to actual improvement, 
apart from its natural value. This consists in houses, fences, 
timber, drains, and roads not made at the public expense. In the 
new scheme the State is not allowed to take possession of this 
portion of the value of land. The characteristic which dis- 
tinguishes this element of the value of land from the inherent 
value, is that as it was created by human energy, so it may be 
destroyed by neglect and wantonness. It is therefore of vital im- 
portance that all that belongs to the land as distinct from the 
land itself, all that is involved in tenant right should become the 
property of the tenant, so that he may if he choose dispose of it, 
in part or whole, in open market, at a profit if he has added to its 
value, at a loss if he allows it to deteriorate. 

But how is he to get possession of it without injury to the 
landlord or the State ? The answer is, that the State will deter- 
mine the value of the land which it takes into its own hand apart 
from what is called the tenant right. For the loss of this the 
State will compensate the landlord by an annuity of equal annual 
value, only terminable on certain conditions. The landlord can- 
not bequeath these annuities to an heir further removed in blood 
than a second cousin, as such can have no just expectation of 
inheriting the property of a relation so far off. In all cases for a 
similar reason the annuities will terminate with the third genera- 
tion. 

Now, in the first place, tenants, after the passing of the Act, 
who wish to become occupying owners, must pay the value of 
this annuity to the State in the form of rent ; and, secondly, they 
must purchase the tenant right from the landlord, \vho will be 
obliged to sell. They may arrange the matter privately ; but 
failing that, a land court will decide the value of the tenant right. 
When the tenant pays his annual rent to the State, and the value 
of the tenant right to the landlord, he becomes a holder of the 
land in perpetuity under the State. This holder may buy as 
much as he can, or sell what he has. He may divide and sub- 
divide his holding, and sell the various parts separately. This 
freedom, however, is to be limited by two stringent restrictions. 



LAND NATIONALISATION. 65 

Sub-letting is to be absolutely forbidden ; in other words, no 
man is to occupy more land than he can occupy personally; for 
sub-letting would be private landlordism under another name. 
The next restriction is that heavy mortgages on the land must 
not be allowed. 

Such is a general view of the theory which Mr Wallace has 
elaborated after years of laborious study. In his book he dis- 
cusses rival solutions of this vast question, and finds them want- 
ing. Besides, he reviews with great clearness those objections 
founded on ethical and political grounds which have been raised 
against the position claimed for the State in relation to the land. 
Further, our author deals, in the frankest way, with the bearing 
of this scheme on the future position of our aristocracy, on our 
towns, our commons, our mines, our taxation, etc. Mr Wallace 
does not hesitate to follow his argument whither it leads him, 
and it has led him to the conviction that he has found a means of 
transferring to the State the ownership of the land without doing 
injury to any existing landlord or expectant heir ; that he has hit 
upon a plan of land tenure which shall combine all the advantages 
of " safe possession and transmissible ownership ;" and that shall 
guard us from the untold evils of the present system, and that 
shall render the land an inexhaustible source of national income. 
If all this be true, may the good time coming put swifter feathers 
in its wing! 

We shall not attempt a criticism of Mr Wallace's theory. 
Gradually society may reach his ideal, but that idea is divided 
from our present circumstances by a gulf so wide that it might 
be dangerous to try to jump it at a bound. If ever realised it 
must be in the way that his own favourite evolution attains its 
end, here a little and there a little in the way of change, though 
let us hope with less waste, and more economy in the matter of 
time. Whatever may be our convictions as to the soundness of 
Mr Wallace's conclusions, most unprejudiced minds will allow 
that he has conclusively shewn that our present system of land 
tenure is productive of results, condemned by philosopher, econo- 
mist, and Christian. The root of the mischief lies in the assump- 
tion made by the landlords that the land is theirs in a manner so 
absolute that they may turn it into a desert. Our fields are ours 
who is Lord over us ? This power must in some way be as- 

E 



66 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

sailed, persistently assailed, until it is razed to the ground, until it 
shall be impossible that facts, brutal facts, like those described by 
Mr Wallace in his chapter on landlordism in Scotland, can ever 
again happen to sully a page of our future history. It is not re- 
volutionary now to argue thus, for the law has taken away from 
the proprietors of 600,000 tenants of this realm the power to in- 
crease their rents at pleasure, or to remove them from their hold- 
ings. Had such a law been in force eighty years ago, Sellar's 
name would not be the reproach it now is, and will be for genera- 
tions unhappy victim of a vicious system. Had we such a law 

now in Scotland, Clyth would have been spared those acts of 
rapacity which are fitted to awaken in the minds of her peaceful 
sons thoughts and feelings whose fruit, if unchecked, can be no- 
thing but evil. We can understand and appreciate the views of men 
who say boldly that, in spite of all the misery which the present 
system of landlordism has let loose on individuals, it is wrong, 
absolutely wrong, and unjust, for the law to curtail the rights of 
the landlord over his land, and so over the human beings who 
dwell upon it. That is a view which can explain itself, and give 
reasons for the hope that is in it. But we cannot understand the 
position of those who hold that it was right to give the tenants of 
Ireland a Land Law which makes them the most independent 
tenants in the world, and yet hold at the same time that a similar 
Act for Scotland is not to be thought of. If by right they mean 
expedient, then they in effect say You, the sons of Erin, because 
you stalk landlords, as landlords stalk deer, and with success, 
shall have a Land Act, but you, sons of the Highlands, because 
you respect the Decalogue, must be left, without one, to the sum- 
mum jus i.e., in the vernacular, to the tender mercy (often cruel 
enough) of your Whig and Tory lords ! ! This is putting a pre- 
mium on assassination. 

The fixed stars and the lairds never change, said the old saw. 
Astronomy shews that the fixed stars do change, and justice is at 
work, and will compel the lairds to change in more ways than 
one. In the meantime those who are interested in the welfare of 
our Highland peasantry should not waste their energies, as they 
will not, striving for the realisation of an ideally perfect system 
e that of Mr Wallace, but should give the legislature no rest 
until the power to evict our peasantry, and to charge them rent 



LAND NATIONALISATION. 6; 

on the labour of their own weary hands, shall be taken out of 
the hands of the proprietor, and shall be given to some impartial 
tribunal appointed by the State. We have nothing to say about 
our great sheep lords they are able to look after themselves, they 
occupy the chief places of the land. Possiby the deer hunting 
millionaire may do to them as they did to the crofter. " Thy 
sword has made woman childless, therefore thy mother shall be 
childless." We hope not however. We believe that the vulgar 
display of our Winans will make the modern deer himself vulgar, 
and send our gentlemen back to the old school of sporting if 
they will gratify the instinct, to learn the best rules and traditions 
of their favourite amusement. Meanwhile what remains of our 
peasantry must be saved shorn as they now are of the best land, 
and of the vast moorland pastures so much more valuable to them 
than their arable land. Our good lairds who do not need any law 
to keep them from doing harm, though they too need better laws 
to help them to do good more abundantly, will not be angry at us 
and if they do we cannot help it for striving to get a law whose 
arm shall restrain the action of grasping, unsympathetic, indolent, 
pleasure-loving and needy landlords. 

To all who take an interest in the land question we recom- 
mend a careful study of Mr Wallace's book. Apart from its 
special theory, it is intensely interesting, suggestive of thought, 
and instructive in many ways. 

A. C. SUTHERLAND. 



Q U E R I E S. 

THE CHIEF OF THE MACRAES. Could you or any of your readers kindly in- 
form me who is the present chief of the Clan Macrae ? 
Nellie Cadoo, Amulty, Coorg, India. FEAR-A-MHUINNTIR CINNTAILE. 

REV. LACHLAN MACKENZIE OF LOCHCARRON. Will any one kindly tell me 
anything of the Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, a famed Highland preacher, and which 
branch of the Mackenzie's he belonged to ? 

Kegworth. M. B. 

Is THE NAME FRATER THE SAME AS FRASER ? Can any of your readers tell me 
whether " Frater " is a corruption of " Fraser ?" I have made enquiries through the 
medium of English papers, but can gather no information on the subject. I shall be 
glad to know whether the name, if changed from " Fraser," was done on account of 
some political trouble ? 

Lome Street, Chester. GEORGE FRATER. 



68 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



GAELIC ETYMOLOGIES, AND INTERESTING ANECDOTES 
ABOUT GENERAL SIR ALLAN CAMERON OF ERRACHT. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

DEAR SIR, In a little volume of mine on local history and traditions, published 
not long ago, I appended a page or two of Gaelic etymologies among others, the 
etymology of Kenmore which name occurs in Scotland, as well as in Ireland. 
Kenmore an Ceannamhor is usually understood to be compounded of ceann, a head 
or end, and mor big the big end of Loch-Tay. But as the east end of Loch-Tay, 
where Kenmore stands, does not seem to be much, if at all, the bigger end of the loch, 
I bethought me of an etymology more descriptive of the locality, and found it, as it 
seems to me, in ceann, and muir simply the end of the lake ; and the same as Ceann- 
loch. The common objection to this is, that muir means salt water exclusively ; and 
cannot apply to a fresh water lake. But the fact is that muir and fairge do not 
signify salt water exclusively. They are if I may so call them generic words, and 
may signify, as the case may be, either salt or fresh water. For example, the trans- 
lators of the Scriptures into Gaelic, render " Sea of Galilee" a fresh water lake 
" Mftir Ghalile" So they also render Sea of Chinnereth, another name for " Sea of 
Galilee" not loch Chineret, \w\. fairge Chineret Num. xxxiv. II. So also in I Kings 
vii. 23, the laver which contained fresh water for priestly ablutions, they translate mtiir 
leaghta; and the sea of glass, in Rev. xv. 2, they render fairge ghloine and the Dead 
Sea, being a salt water lake, ton. fhairgt shalainn, or salt sea.* So did the Hebrews 
use the word yam, sea, as our Gaelic translators of Scripture use m&ir and fairge, in a 
generic sense, to signify fresh or salt water ; and, as in Isaiah xviii. 2, to signify a river. 
When, however, the ocean is meant, yam has usually the article before it, as in Gen. 
xxxii. 12. So also the Greeks use the word thalassa, a sea. In Matt. iv. 18, it refers to 
fresh water, and in Acts x. 6, to salt water. The Gaelic word loch may also signify 
either fresh or salt water. Loch-Tay, Loch-Ness, Loch-Lomond are fresh water lochs ; 
and Loch-Long, Loch-Etive, and Loch-Duich are salt water lochs. 

While on etymological subjects, I may mention what I observed this autumn 
when sojourning for a few days at Strathpeffer, inhaling its fresh, sweet, salubrious 
air, and enjoying its bright scenery namely, the many names of places that seem to 
contain the word f ait e watching as Fairadie or Fodderty, the place of watching ; 
Cnocfaireil, the hill of watching ; Fairburn, Fairabruin, or Fairebeinn, the mountain 
of watching ; and Fyrish, from faire and innis, the place of watching. Probably 
Torres or Farrais is from the same root ; as also Farr, of which there are several in 
our Scotch topography. These, and many more that might be mentioned, may have 
een the Mispehs, or watch towers, of former times ; and before the days of modern 

* Probably fairge water is the root of Fairigag the name of a river ; and also, 
fairigeadh, bathing a word, by the way, which several of our Gaelic lexicographers 
>eem to have overlooked. Muir, short, means water ; and muir, long, a stronghold. 
Hence Dochafuir, Trinafuir, Pitfuir, Beinafuir, and Glenfuir. 



GAELIC ETYMOLOGIES. 69 

telegraphy they must have served important defensive purposes. From the top of 
Knockfarrel, the watchman had a far-reaching view eastwards, along the Firth of 
Cromarty ; and no hostile fleet could approach without timely warning. Also, from 
its summit, as well as from the heights of Fyrish, and the Fairburn Hills, there could 
be seen by night the beacon fire, lighted on the heights of Ruidhe-soluis a most 
suitable, as well as necessary, defensive device against sudden invasions and surprises 
in lawless and unsettled times. 

I have just been re-reading the interesting biography of Sir Allan Cameron 
Ailean nan Earrachd in the first volume of the Celtic Magazine. Let me give one or 
two additional anecdotes of him, as I had them from my friend the late Rev. Alex. 
Macinnes, of Tummel-Bridge and Eannoch himself a Lochaber man, and full of 
entertaining reminiscences of his native district. After his fatal and unhappy duel 
with Cameron of Morshiarlich, as his biographer tells us, Sir Allan fled southwards in 
haste to avoid serious consequences. Whether it so happened that he was insufficiently 
shod, or that in the hurry of his flight he marred his foot gear, I do not recollect. 
Anyhow, seeing a shoemaker's shop by the way, he entered, and asked him if he 
thought he had a pair of shoes ready to fit him ? The shoemaker replied he thought 
he had; and, looking round the walls of his workshop, he spied a pair, which he took 
down, and asked the stranger to try them on. They fitted admirably, and the stranger 
asked the price of them. But finding that, in the hurry of flight that morning, he had 
forgotten his purse, he said to his friend, the shoemaker, that he must meantime give 
him credit for the amount. This the disciple of St Crispin positively declined, alleg- 
ing that they were strangers to each other, and that he must have payment on 
delivery. Whereupon for at times necessity has no law Sir Allan ran for it, with 
the shoes in his possession, and the shoemaker hard in pursuit after him, but to no 
purpose, for the fugitive speedily out-distanced him, an 1 was soon beyond his reach. 
Many years thereafter, a tall handsome man, in full military costume, entered the very 
same shoe-shop, and saluted the shoemaker 

" Cia mar tha thu 'n diugh a Dhdmhail?" 

How are you to-day, Donald ? 

Donald looked up somewhat bewildered at the sudden appearance of this hand- 
some apparition in military uniform, and timorously exclaimed 

" Ma tk le bhur cead, cha 'n eil mise ga 'r n-aithneachadh." 

With your leave, sir, I do not recognise you. 

" Nach eil cuimhn' agad a Dhomhail, air an fhear a thainig le cabhaig 'o cliioun 
a leithid so do bhliadhnaichean a dh' fhiach air, paidhir de do chuid brog; agus 
a thug a chasan as leo, gun do phaigheadh. Nach eil cuimhn' agad air sin, agus cho 
astarach 'sa chaidh thu air a th6ir?" 

Do you not remember, Donald, the man that many years ago came in haste to 
this very shop, tried on a pair of your shoes, ran off without paying you for them? Do 
you not remember that, and how vigorously you pursued him? 

" Ma ta gu dearbh," arsa D6mhal, " 's maith sin 'tha cuimhn' agam air; agus 's mi 
a dh'fhaodadh, oir thug mi builg air buinn mo chasan an latha sin, nach do leighis gu 
ceann mios as a dheighe." 

Indeed I do very well, replied Donald; and well I may, for that day I so blistered 
the soles of my feet that they did not recover it for a month after. 

It appears Sir Allan was at the time this visit took place in that district recruiting 
for his regiment. Aware of this, it began to dawn upon the poor shoemaker who his 
frank and friendly visitor might possibly be, and looking up at him enquiringly, but 



;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

respectfully, he said "An e sibhse Ailean nan Earrachd?" "Are you Allan of 
Earrachd ?" the name by which he was familiarly known among the common people. 
To which Sir Allan replied " Ma ta tha mi 'n duil, gu 'r e sin is trice their iad 
rium aim an Lochaber co dhiu." 

I rather think that is the name by which I am best known in Lochaber, anyhow. 
The price of the shoes was paid down with interest, which Sir Allan insisted, on 
pain of displeasure, the reluctant shoemaker should accept ; and more than this, the 
shoemaker himself was enlisted into his regiment eventually became regimental shoe- 
maker, and as such, we believe, lived to realise a handsome competency. 

As his biographer narrates, Sir Allan fell deeply in love with Miss Philip his 
future wife and hopeless of getting her father's consent to their marriage, eloped 
with her. It appears his first acquaintance with her began in the house of a mutual 
friend; and Mr Philip, having from the first discountenanced the proposed union, saw 
but little of Sir Allan in those earlier years ; and after the lapse of time he seems 
to have lost all recollection of what his appearance was. It is only on this supposition 
that we can explain the incident we are about to narrate. So it was that he and his father- 
in-law sat side by side on this occasion at the same festive board Mr Philip quite un- 
conscious that the handsome officer next him was his own son-in-law. The conversation 
naturally enough took a military turn, and Sir Allan was as entertaining and charming 
socially as he was brave on the battlefield. Mr Philip was quite taken with him, and 
dinner over, he took occasion to ask the name of the entertaining officer who sat on his 
left complimenting him on his fine physique, his gentlemanly manners, and powers of 
conversation. It so happened the question was addressed to a Highland officer who 
knew them both as well as the past estrangement between Philip and his friend of 
Earracht. "Yes!" he replied jocularly, in allusion thereto, "you see, Mr Philip, 
there are gentlemen as well as soldiers among us Scotch Highlanders, although you 
don't seem to think so ; and I opine, that of such a Highlander as you had by you 
this evening, you have no cause to be ashamed were he your son-in-law." " Nor 
would I," was the reply, " had I such a son-in-law." " Well," responded the other, 
"that is your son-in-law you have been now conversing with one of the most dis- 
tinguished officers in the British army." The effect of this reply our readers may 
fancy. Suffice it to say, that in due time Sir Allan was received into favour, and 
ever after the two were knit together as father and son. 

Can you inform me whether Mrs Grant of Carron's song of " Roy's wife" was 
originally composed in English or Gaelic? There is a Perthshire local tradition that 
the Roy of this song was village innkeeper at Aldevalloch, near Kenmore; and that his 
wife having disappointed a northern lover a drover by profession this drover com- 
posed in Gaelic the song which suggested Mrs Grant's English lyric. I am aware that 
Chambers, in his "Songs of Scotland before Burns," says the incident which occa- 
sioned it happened in the Highlands of Aberdeenshire. But a Perthshire correspondent, 
with whom I communicated, says- "I distinctly remember, when a boy, my father 
and grandmother talk of the old song of ' Roy's wife,' as referring to a John Roy 
about Taymouth, whose very handsome wife had jilted the author of the song." The 
following are some verses of the Gaelic version of this song, and I leave you to judge 
whether they bear any resemblance to Mrs Grant's performance: 

Bha mi latha tighin' mu thuath, 

N deigh buair a reic 'sa Cheannach, 

Sud an latha 'rinn mu Ie6n 

N uair Ihcaruinn mi an c6ir Bhraigh-Bhealaich, 



THE CELTIC MEDICAL COLLEGE. 71 

Bean Iain Ruaidh bha 'n Alt-a-bhealaich, 

Bean Iain Ruaidh bha 'n Alt-a-bhealaich, 

'N cualadh sibh mar mheall i mi 

'N uair thearuinn mi mu thir Bhraigh-Bhealaich. 

Thug i geallaidhean gu leor, 

Gu'r mise m' 6nar bh'aic mar leannan. 

Ach dar thionndaidh mi mo chul, 

'S ann thug i suil air Iain a Bhealaich. 

Bha 'gruaidh mar r6s 'sa mhaduinn Mhaigh, 
'Sa slios cho gheal ri c!6imh a chanaich. 
Gnuis bhanail, mhklda, bhoidheach, re"idh, 
O sud an t6 a rinn mo mhealladh. 

Bidh' mi muladach ri m' bhed, 
'S mi air mo lednadh leis an ainnir. 
Ach mo bheannachd tha gu brath 
Do 'n nighean bhan a bha 'm Braigh-Bhealaich. 
" Bean Iain Ruaidh, &c., &c. 

October 1882. ALLAN SINCLAIR. 



THE CELTIC MEDICAL COLLEGE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

SIR, It is a well-known fact that in the palmy days of the Lord of the Isles, the 
art of medicine was highly cultivated in the College of the Ollamhs of Skye, and 
practised on scientific principles, when at the other seats of learning and capitals of 
Europe it was left to superstitious charlatans and barbers. It is to be regretted that 
their learned treatises are now, it is to be feared, irrecoverably lost. My object in 
writing is to bring under your notice a Gaelic MS., belonging to the Skye College of 
Physicians, at one time belonging to the Macleods of Skye, now in the Advocate's 
Library, Edinburgh. It is a Gaelic translation of six books of the classic Latin writ- 
ings of one of the ancient Fathers of Medicine, Celsus Celsus de Medicina. I am 
aware that Gaelic medical terms are lost to the philologist. Neither in any of 
the Gaelic dictionaries, nor in any other printed work, are they to be found. It is 
strange that the Gaelic names and anatomy of the body is better known among women 
than to men. Now that there is in Edinburgh a Celtic Chair, and Doctors of medi- 
cine in Edinburgh anxious to show their knowledge of the tongue used 

" When Adam delved and Eve span." 

Could they do better than give the world these books, with a treatise in Gaelic bring- 
ing the subjects treated of up to the present state of knowledge? Yours, &c., 

SGEULAICHE, 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE BRAES CROFTERS AND LORD MACDONALD. 
A MUNIFICENT OFFER. 



THE following correspondence needs no comment, but we think it worthy of preserva- 
tion in these pages. On the 28th of October the Editor of the Celtic Magazine received 
the subjoined telegram : 

" To Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild of Inverness, from 

Malcolm Mackenzie, Vue du Lac, Guernsey. 

"Tender by telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent due by Braes 
crofters, and to stay proceedings. I write by post and send securities for one thou- 
sand pounds on Monday." 

These instructions were carried out, and the following reply was received in due 
course : 

"5 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, 3Oth Oct. 1882. 

" Sir, We have received your telegram of to-day stating that you are authorised 
by a Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guernsey, to tender payment of the last two years' 
arrears of rent due to Lord Macdonald by the Braes crofters, on condition that all 
proceedings against them are stopped, and that you will be prepared to deposit 
securities for one thousand pounds to-morrow. 

"Although we know nothing of the gentleman you mention, we will communi- 
cate your telegram to Lord Macdonald. At the same time, we must observe,' that 
you seem to be labouring under a misapprehension as to the matter at issue between 
his lordship and the crofters, the proceedings against whom were raised for the pur- 
pose of preventing trespass, and not for recovering arrears of rent. We are, &c., 

(Signed) " JOHN C. BRODIE & SONS. 

" To Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness." 

To the above letter the Editor replied as follows : 

" Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness, November I, 1882. 

"Sirs, I am in receipt of your favour of Monday acknowledging my telegram 
on behalf of Malcolm Mackenzie, Esq., Guernsey, offering to pay arrears of Braes 
crofters on terms stated therein. 

" I was fully aware of the nature of the proceedings against the crofters, though 
possibly Mr Mackenzie was not, and I simply carried out my instructions. I, how- 
ever, think if Lord Macdonald desires to settle amicably with the people that this 
proposal, if it does nothing else, will give him an opportunity of doing so without any 
sacrifice of his position beyond showing a willingness to discuss the matter with the 
view to settle it in a way that will extricate all parties from a difficult position. 

1 Mr Mackenzie has now, through me, deposited securities amounting to over 
1000 in the bank here, and I shall be glad to hear from you when you shall have 
heard from his lordship. I am, Sirs, your obedient servant, 

" A. MACKENZIE. 
Messrs John C. Brodie & Sons, W.S." 



THE BRAES CROFTERS. 73 

The Editor, on seeing Messrs Brodie's letter to him in the Inverness Courier of 
2nd November, wrote another letter to the Messrs Brodie, in the course of which he 
said : " Referring to the second paragraph of my letter of yesterday, permit me to 
express my opinion that a favourable opportunity has now arrived to compromise the 
question in dispute advantageously to both parties, and if I can in any way aid in that 
object, nothing will give me greater satisfaction. I have had no communication either 
direct or indirect with the Braes people since the recent trial, except the telegram 
which has appeared in the papers ; but if a desire is expressed for an amicable arrange- 
ment, I shall be glad to visit them and do what I can to bring such about. I believe 
if a proposal were made to appoint an independent valuator connected with the West, 
and one in whom the people might fairly place confidence as to his knowledge of the 
country and the climate, the question might be settled in a few days. This valuator 
should value the crofts and Ben-Lee together, and name one sum for the whole. 
Though I have no authority for making this proposal, I believe it could be carried out 
to the satisfaction of all concerned, and it would extricate the authorities and Lord 
Macdonald from a most unenviable position." 

To these letters no reply has been received. 

Mr Malcolm Mackenzie followed up his telegram of 28th October with the fol- 
lowing letter, addressed to the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. It was at once pub- 
lished in almost every newspaper in Scotland : 

"A. Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness. 

"Dear Sir, On reading in the Inverness Courier an account of the proceedings 
of Tuesday last against the Braes crofters, I thought that something might be done to 
take everybody out of a difficulty, and wired you the following message : ' Tender by 
telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent due by Braes crofters, and to 
stay proceedings. I write by post, and send securities for one thousand pounds on 
Monday.' 

' ' It appears to me to have now become the duty of every loyal Highlander to 
contribute towards the preservation of order. A fund for that piirpose should be 
opened, and you will please put me down for ten pounds. As you may not be in 
funds, I send the thousand pounds on the security of being indemnified by High- 
landers, trusting entirely to their own sense of duty. 

" I trust that Lord Macdonald will be advised to accept payment of arrears, and 
to leave the people -of the Braes in peace until the Government of the country can 
overtake measures to judge between him and them. It will be a heavy responsibility 
and a disgrace to call soldiers to Skye at the present time. Her Majesty has more 
important work to do with her soldiers than to place them at the service of the Court 
of Session in vindication of an unconstitutional law which is not based on principles 
of justice, and which has, by the progress of events and the evolution of time, become 
inoperative. 

" The Court of Session looks for precedents. Where are there precedents for 
the reign of Queen Victoria? You can telegraph for a cargo of refrigerated meat to 
the Antipodes, and obtain it by steam. 

" The prairies of America are brought into competition with Ben-Lee. The 
Courts, and even the human mind, have been under the domination of the dismal 
theories of Malthus and Ricardo. Why did they not give heed to the sound teach- 
ings of Dr Smith and Dr Chalmers, the great apostles of freedom ? 

" Our dual system is no longer possible. Lord Macdonald does not know what 



74 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to do. Nobody knows what to do. There is an absence of law and justice. Lord 
Macdonald may be a just and benevolent man at least I hope he is ; his factor may be 
a just and benevolent man ; and from the conduct of the ground-officer, he appears to 
be a judicious man. 

" In Scotland the administrator of justice is the robber who deprives the people 
of their natural and indefeasible right to the soil and of the labour which they have 
incorporated with it. Is that not a terrible contingency for any country to be in ? It 
is peculiarly disgraceful that it should be so in respect of the Highland race, who suc- 
cessfully defended their country, their lands, and liberties, against Romans and Nor- 
mans. What have we come to ? Are they going to send for the Highland Brigade 
from Egypt to slaughter the people of Skye ? 

"We call for Mr Gladstone. What can poor Mr Gladstone do, with time 
against him, society in a state of revolt, a demoralised House of Commons, a recal- 
citrant House of Lords, and the Court of Session at its wit's ends ? Let us pray that 
he may be able to act as a governor on this rickety steam-engine of society which, 
under high pressure, and by reason of great friction, is in danger of tearing itself to 
pieces. In the meantime, and until the machine is put in some sort of order, by Rules 
of Procedure and alteration of the law, it is every man's duty to keep her Majesty's 
peace and prevent bloodshed ; and as you appear to me, sir, to be doing yours, like a 
good Seaforth Highlander, or Ross-shire Buff, allow me to subscribe myself, very 
faithfully and loyally yours, 

(Signed) " MAL. MACKENZIE. 

" Guernsey, 24th October 1882." 

The following letters explain themselves : 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE INVERNESS COURIER. 
Celtic Magazine Office, 2 Ness Bank, Inverness, 8th Nov. 1882. 

Sir, I have just received the enclosed letter from Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, 
Guernsey. Please publish it in the Courier, as you have already published the reply 
to my telegram from Lord Macdonald's agents. 

Permit me, at the same time, to state that the sum of ;iooo, in actual cash, has 
now been placed by Mr Mackenzie at my disposal in the Caledonian Bank, and, in 
the event of his offer being entertained by Lord Macdonald, that I shall be ready at 
any moment to implement Mr Mackenzie's offer. I am, &c., 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 

"Guernsey, 4th November, 1882. 
"Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness. 

1 Dear Sir, I am in receipt of your letter of the 1st, enclosing the reply of 
Lord Macdonald's solicitors to your telegram tendering them payment of two years' 
rent due by the Braes crofters. 

" From Lord Macdonald's dignified position, he might be thought entitled to ask 

for an introduction before accepting any assistance on behalf of his tenants ; but 

ting as I was, on the spur of the moment, to prevent bloodshed, and possibly to avert 

* civil war, I did not think that in these hard-money days his solicitors would 

use any objections on the ground of my being unknown to them, especially as I made 

Dean of Guild of Inverness the medium of my communication 

J days of chivalry are gone, and as clan ties and feelings of patriotism and 



THE BRAES CROFTERS. 75 

humanity are no longer of binding obligation, I could not imagine that a firm of soli- 
citors would stand on so much ceremony. 

" Whatever misapprehension Lord Macdonald's advisers are labouring under, 
I can assure them that I am labouring under none as to the real issues between 
him and his crofters. It would, doubtless, suit them to have the case tried on 
a false issue of trespass before a Court which must be bound by former deci- 
sions and prevailing canons as to the rights of Highland landlords. The plea 
of the poor people is that Lord Macdonald is the trespasser, in depriving them of 
their mountain grazings, without consent or compensation, and thereby reducing them 
to abject poverty. What can they do ? It would raise the whole question of consti- 
tutional right, and, as I have said, the Court is bound by former decisions that the 
landlord has the right to resume possession, and to evict and banish the peasantry 
after having first reduced them to the last nettle of subsistence. A sentence of ban- 
ishment used to be regarded as a punishment only next to death, but in the phraseo- 
logy of landlords it is now an ' improvement.' 

"In the days of 'bloody' George of our own ilk, the Court of Session knew 
better how to apply the ' boot' and the thumb screw than constitutional law. Even 
later, such ruffians as old Braxfield recognised no right in the people, and ac- 
cording to their dog Latin they found that the landlord was the only person who 
had a persona standi. It might, indeed, be an interesting question for more en- 
lightened and better men to discuss whether the Crown of Scotland conferred on the 
chieftains by their charters the right of wholesale clearances and forcible banishment 
of the people from their native country ; and when their military service was commuted 
into rent charges if it extended to the landlord the right to make it so oppressive that 
they could not live without appealing to the public bounty for charity. But I fear it 
is now too late to expect the High Court of Scotland to remedy the evil, and that we 
must look to some other Court for redress. 

" It is in the hope that such a Court of equity may be established for Scotland as 
regards land and the well-being of the people that I ventured to offer my assistance, 
and I thought that Lord Macdonald and his advisers would be glad to make it the 
means of getting out of a difficulty, and quashing a case that has become a public 
scandal, instead of standing on ceremony. I am, sir, faithfully yours, 

(Signed) "MAL. MACKENZIE." 



MEMORIAL TO THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER MACGREGOR, M.A. 
We are glad that a movement has been set on foot to erect a memorial to the Rev. 
Alex. Macgregor, so well known to the readers of this magazine ; and we trust that 
the proposal will prove as successful as it deserves. No better Highlander ever 
existed than Mr Macgregor, and we feel sure that our readers will not forget what all 
Highlanders owe to his memory. The Committee state that " the memorial is to take, 
in the first instance, the form of a mural tablet to be erected in the West Church, and 
the surplus funds, if any, will be devoted to some permanent public object to be deter- 
mined upon by the Committee and the subscribers." Subscriptions may be intimated 
to Colonel Stuart, Millburn, Inverness, or to us. 



;6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL. 



IT was the betrothal night of the tacksman of Achaluachrach ; 
the ceremony was over, the party dispersed, he and his young 
bride were taking a moonlight stroll, talking of the happy future 
which lay before them. Achaluachrach was in high spirits, bul 
his gentle companion was quiet, subdued, almost sad. Her lover 
rallied her on the depression she evidently laboured under, and 
laughingly asked if she already repented of her bargain. 

" No," replied the young girl, as she raised her tearful eyes 
to her lover's face, and clung closer to his side, " No, I do not re- 
pent ; but I fear much our marriage will never take place. I have 
had fearful dreams lately, ; this evening when we were con- 
tracted, I seemed to see a white cloud coming between us, and as 
I looked, it took the shape of a shroud, and since we came out, 
twice have I heard the croak of the raven. Ah ! listen, there it is 
again !" she cried, trembling violently, as the ill omened bird 
flew past them. 

Achaluachrach did his best to drive these gloomy fancies 
from the mind of his beloved, laughed at her fears, calling her a 
silly, nervous lassie, and continued, " you must cheer up, and get 
rid of these foolish fancies, for I shall not be able to see you for 
the next day or two, as I start at daybreak to-morrow with a few 
chosen lads, to make a raid on old Rose of Kilravock, in 
Nairnshire, whose fine fat cattle will furnish a grand marriage 
feast for us." 

" Oh ! Duncan," ejaculated the young girl earnestly, " don't 
go. There will be plenty for our marriage without you running 
this risk. My mind sadly misgives me ; you will either be killed 
or wounded. For my sake give up this scheme, and stay at 
home." 

But all her entreaties were in vain; her lover was not to be 
lightly turned from his purpose. He told her not to fear, for there 
was no danger. Kilravock was old, frail, and lame, and would not 
be likely to follow them. 

The lovers took an affectionate farewell of each other, 



ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL. 77 

as they were in sight of the bride's home, which lay on the other 
side of a burn, spanned by a simple rude bridge, formed of 
felled trees thrown across. She had just reached the middle of 
this rustic structure when Achaluachrach turned back, and sprang 
lightly on the bridge to catch another embrace, and whisper a 
last loving word. He was gone again before his bride had time 
to speak ; but when she recollected where she was standing, she 
wrung her hands, and cried aloud, " Alas ! alas ! ! my fears will be 
too true, for ' those who part on a brig will never meet again,' 
oh why did he turn back," said the sobbing girl as she hurried 
home in deep distress. 

The next day Achaluachrach and his friends made the pro- 
mised raid on Kilravock, secured a rich creach> and started home- 
ward in triumph. They reached Strathdearn without molesta- 
tion, and rested for the night at a place called Bro'-clach, where 
there was good pasturage for the tired cattle. The reivers, feel- 
ing quite secure, determined to enjoy themselves, so, taking pos- 
session of a bothy, they killed one of the primest bullocks, and 
made a grand feast. So confident were they, that they neglected 
to take the usual precautions against a surprise, and merely 
placed a young lad to watch outside, and to keep the cattle from 
straying, while all the rest ate, drank, and sang inside the bothy. 
They, however, " reckoned without their host," for Kilravock, al- 
though both old and lame, was too high-spirited to be thus har- 
ried with impunity, so, hastily gathering his men, he followed in 
pursuit. On his way he was joined by men from the districts 
through which he passed, so that by the time he caught sight of 
his stolen property, he found himself at the head of a numerous 
and determined band, among whom was a noted character, John 
Macandrew of Dalnahaitnich, celebrated for his skill with the 
bow and arrow. He was a very small man, not more than five 
feet high, and, as he had no beard, looked more like a boy than a 
man of mature years. He was, however, very strong, courageous, 
and quick-witted, and much liked by his neighbours, who called 
him Ian Beag Macanndra. 

The lad who had to watch the cattle was tired with his long 
day's travelling, and was soon sound asleep. Thus, Kilravock 
and his party were able, favoured by the darkness, to creep up 
and surround the bothy, a shower of arrows being the first inti- 



7 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

mation the reivers had of their being pursued. Their first im- 
pulse was to rush to the door; but as soon as one showed him- 
self he was struck down. Seeing they could not get out, they 
made the best stand they could by shooting their arrows at the 
besiegers ; but here again they were at a disadvantage, for the 
night being so dark they could not distinguish their opponents 
enough to take aim, while the light inside the bothy allowed Kil- 
ravock's men to see the reivers plainly. 

Ian Beag soon picked out Achaluachrach as the leader, from 
the superior style of his dress, and, taking aim, he let fly an arrow 
with such precision that it passed through the tacksman's body 
and pinned him against the wall, killing him instantaneously. 
On seeing this fresh proof of the little man's skill, a comrade 
called out triumphantly, " Dia is buaidh leat Ian Mhic Anndra, 
'tha thamh an Dalnahaitnich" God and victory be with you, 
John Macandrew, that dwells in Dalnahaitnich. Annoyed at 
thus having his name and place of abode made known to the 
enemy, who, he knew well, would try to be revenged upon him, 
Macandrew retaliated by screaming out in his shrill voice 
" Mile mollachd air do theang', Ian Chaim Choilachi" A thou- 
sand curses on your tongue, Gleyed John of Kyllachy. 

While the death of Achaluachrach disheartened his followers, 
it roused Kilravock's men to renewed exertions, so that not a 
single man in the bothy escaped. When they were all dead, the 
besiegers set fire to the frail building, which in a few minutes 
formed a funeral pile over the slain. The only one that escaped 
was the young lad who proved such a faithless sentinel. Fa- 
voured by the darkness of the night, he hid himself, witnessed 
the sad affray, heard all that was said, and then made his escape 
to carry the ill news to the sorrowing bride and her friends. 

We cannot say whether " Gleyed John of Kyllachy" was 
visited with any retaliation for the share he had taken in this 
night's work; but we will tell what befel our diminutive hero, 
Ian Beag Macanndra. He was sharp enough to suspect that,' 
through the ill-advised praise of his indiscreet companion, his 
name would get known to the friends of the slain enemy, and 
that he would be exposed to the full measure of their revenge- he 
accordingly took measures for his safety. 

Outside his house, near the door, stood a very large and full fir 



ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL. 79 

tree, amid the top branches of which he constructed a hiding place 
for himself, and carried up a good store of arrows. To this refuge 
he used to repair every night to prevent his being taken by surprise. 
During the day he trusted to his vigilance and sharp wits to keep 
out of danger. One day when Ian Beag was at some distance 
from the house, he was overtaken by a party of men whom he at 
once knew to be strangers, and guessed what their errand was. 
This was fully confirmed when they asked him if he knew one 
John Macandrew of Dalnahaitnich. On his answering in the 
affirmative, and saying that he was Macandrew's herd, they asked 
him to guide them to the house, and they would pay him for his 
trouble. To this Ian agreed without hesitation, pocketed the 
coin, and led the way to his own house. On reaching the door 
he called out to his wife, telling her that some strangers were 
wanting the master, and asking if he were within. The guidwife 
took her cue at once, and without exhibiting any signs of alarm, 
said her husband was not in the house just then, but would pro- 
bably soon be, and she asked the strangers to come in and rest. 
Then to gain time, and enable her husband to carry out some 
scheme of escape, she bustled about to set provisions before the 
strangers, to which they did good justice. While this was going 
on, Ian Beag stood thoughtfully by the fire holding his trusty 
bow in his hand ; and while turning over in his mind what course 
to pursue, he kept unconsciously bending the large bow, nearly 
as big as himself, and apparently far beyond his physical powers. 
His wife glanced anxiously at him, and fearing the fact of his 
bending the bow might be observed by the strangers and excite 
their suspicions, she stepped quickly up to him and gave him a 
sounding box on the ear, telling him in an angry tone not to idle 
there, but to go and look for his master. Ian, thus rudely roused 
from his reverie, sneaked out of the house with a crestfallen air, 
still carrying the bow in his hand. No sooner had he got out- 
side than he climbed into his hiding place in the tree, fitted an 
arrow to his bow, and called out that his master was coming. 
Hearing this, the strangers hurried to the door, and, as they 
emerged one by one, Ian shot them down with his unfailing 
arrows. Thus poor Achaluachrach's avengers shared the same 
fate as himself. His fair, unwedded bride was overwhelmed with 
grief at thus finding her worst fears so fatally realised. She 



8o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

relieved her overburdened spirit by composing a long pathetic 
Gaelic ballad, in which she related all the dreadful incidents of 
the fray and bewailed her own blasted prospects. 

M. A. ROSE. 



DEATH OF LEWIS ROSS, A NATIVE OF TAIN, IN CANADA. 



ON the 20th of -September last, this gentleman died at Port Hope, Upper Canada, 
where he was resident for the last thirty years. Though in poor circumstances on his 
arrival, he, as the Port Hope Times informs us, " by dint of indomitable perseverance 
and honest dealing built up a business that surpassed all competitors, and he amassed 
quite a competence. He has occupied nearly every elective position that it was in the 
hands of the people to bestow." 

Previous to 1872, he had been President of the East Durham Reform Association, 
and was the chosen candidate to contest the Riding in the Reform, or Liberal, interest 
at the general election of that year. He proved the successful candidate over the 
Conservative nominee by a large majority, and took his seat in Parliament at Ottawa. 
On the resignation of the Government of Sir John A. Macdonald, shortly after that 
contest, he again contested the Riding, and once more secured his election by an in- 
creased majority. He was an unflinching supporter of the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie's 
Government. In 1878, he was for the third time the Reform nominee, but was de- 
feated. He also contested at the General Election in June last. 

Mr Ross has been a member of the Public School Board and Board of Harbour 
Commissioners for a great number of years, and at the time of his death held the posi- 
tion of Chairman of both these bodies. He manifested great interest in the affairs 
of the town, especially in its educational institutions. He was for many years a 
member of the Board of Directors of the Midland Railway, and has also filled the 
position of Acting President during the absence of Mr Cox, the President. Mr Ross 
was an uncompromising advocate of the Midland Railway, and lent every effort in 
upholding the management of that road. In the years of adversity of that 
Railway, he has more than once come forward and given his name for thousands of 
dollars to enable the Company to pay their employes' wages and keep the road 
working. During his Parliamentary career, from 1872 to 1878, he rendered acknow- 
ledged services to the town, and his presence in municipal affairs will be greatly 
missed. Mr Ross was for many years a communicant and a steadfast member of the 
Presbyterian Church. For his personal worth, he was held in the highest esteem, and 
no one in the county was better known. He was friendly with all, whether rich or 
poor, and there is none in the section, no matter how much he may have been op- 
posed to the deceased politically, but will say a kind word of him, and deeply lament 
his sudden demise. He was a native of the parish of Fearn, in Ross-shire, where he 
was born in 1825. In 1852, he married a daughter of John S, Clute, Esq., Collector 
of Customs at Picton, Ont., by whom he leaves eight children three girls and five 
boys. 

These few particulars are extracted from a newspaper that opposed Mr Ross in 
his whole political career, as Canadian papers only can oppose. 



Si 



THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 
By the EDITOR. 



II. 

IX. ALLAN CAMERON, commonly known among his coun- 
trymen as " Allan MacOchtery," which some of our historians have 
rendered " Allan MacUchtred." This does not, however, appear 
to have any meaning, for no such name as Uchtred turns up 
before or after, so far as we can find, in the whole genealogy 
of the clan. A much more likely origin of the name may- 
be found in the ingenious suggestion that it means Allan 
"MacOchdamh Triath," or Allan son of the Eighth Chief. 
If we adopt the family genealogy, as given in the " Memoirs," 
where two Johns are given in succession immediately before 
this Allan, such a designation of him would be strictly accur- 
ate. Its value and probability will at once become apparent to 
those who understand the Gaelic language, and it certainly does 
support the genealogy which gives two chiefs of the name John ; 
though without sufficient consideration, perhaps, we have dropped 
one of them in our last* Allan's reign was of a most turbulent 
character. In his time began the feuds between the clan and the 
Mackintoshes, which have continued more or less inveterate for 
many generations after, and were only finally determined towards 
the end of the seventeenth century. 

There are various versions current, all traditional, of the ori- 
gin of the long-continued and bitter feuds between these two 
powerful families, and one of them has already appeared in the 
Celtic Magazine \ vol. v. pp. 284-86, contributed by the late Patrick 
Macgregor, M.A., Toronto, a native of Badenoch, well acquainted 
with the folk-lore of the district. Many other versions are more 
or less known, but the following is the most recent, and probably 
the most accurate. By the marriage of Eva, only child of Dougal 
Dall MacGilleCattan, chief of the ancient Clan Chattan, to Angus, 

* John, Allan's father, was erroneously called "John Mac Ochtery" in the Novem- 
ber issue. In the "Memoirs" he is styled "John Ochtery," or, according to the 
suggestion in the text, John Ochdamh Triath. 

E 



82 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

sixth chief of Mackintosh, in 1291, when he obtained with her, if 
not the headship of the clan (a question still hotly disputed), at 
least the lands of her father, comprising those of Glenlui and 
Loch Arkaig, in Lochaber. The Mackintoshes, however, do not 
appear to have possessed these lands at this period for any length 
of time, for Angus, who is said to have lived in Glenlui with 
his wife for a few years after his marriage, is soon an exile from 
his home, he having had to flee, from the Lord of Isla, to Bade- 
noch. The lands thus becoming vacant were occupied by the 
Camerons (or the clan afterwards known as the Camerons), who 
continued in them for some years without disturbance. William 
Mackintosh, the son of Angus and Eva, on attaining his majority, 
demanded the lands in question, and, according to one of the 
Mackintosh MSS., obtained, in 1337, from John of Isla, a right 
to the lands of Glenlui and Loch Arkaig. This right being 
disputed by the Camerons, Mackintosh appealed to the sword, 
and a great battle was fought at Drumlui, in which the 
Mackintoshes defeated the Camerons under Donald Alin Mhic 
Evin Mhic Evin. This engagement was followed by others, 
each clan alternately carrying the war into his opponent's country, 
harrying each other's lands and lifting cattle, until we finally 
arrive at the famous battle of Invernahavon, referred to by Mr 
Mackintosh-Shaw as follows : In 1370, according to the Mack- 
intosh MSS. or, as others have it, sixteen years later the 
Camerons, to the number of about four hundred, made a raid 
into Badenoch, and were returning home with the booty they 
had acquired when they were overtaken at Invernahavon by a 
body of the Clan Chattan led by Mackintosh in person. Although 
outnumbering their opponents, the Clan Chattan well nigh ex- 
perienced a signal defeat in the engagement which took place, 
owing to a dispute such as that which in after years contributed 
largely to the disaster at Culloden a dispute as to precedence. 
Mackintosh was accompanied by Macpherson, head of the Clan 
Mhuirich and MacDhaibhidh or Davidson of Invernahavon, with 
their respective septs ; and between these two chieftains a differ- 
ence arose as to which of them should have the command of the 
right wing, the post of honour. It is said that Macpherson 
claimed it as being the male representative of the old chiefs of the 
clan, while Davidson contended that, by the custom of the clans, 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 83 

the honour should be his, as being the oldest cadet, the repre- 
sentative of the oldest surviving branch. Taking the literal appli- 
cation of the custom, Davidson's claim was perhaps justifiable ; 
but the case was peculiar, inasmuch as Macpherson, his senior 
in the clan, did not hold the actual position of chief. As neither 
party would give way, the dispute was referred to Mackintosh, 
who decided in favour of Davidson, thus unfortunately offending 
the Clan Mhuirich, who withdrew in disgust By awarding the 
command to either chieftain, Mackintosh would doubtless have 
given offence to the other; but his decision against the claims of 
Macpherson, besides being somewhat unjust, was highly imprudent, 
as the Macphersons were more numerous than the Mackintoshes 
and the Davidsons together, and without them Mackintosh's force 
was inferior to that of the Camerons. The battle resulted in the 
total defeat of the Mackintoshes and Davidsons, the latter being 
almost entirely cut off But the honour of Clan Chattan was re- 
deemed by the Macphersons, who, generously forgetting for the 
time the slight that had been put upon them, and, remembering 
only that those who had offended them were their brother-clans- 
men and in distress, attacked the Camerons with such vigour 
that they soon changed their victory into defeat and put them 
to flight. The fugitives are said to have taken their flight towards 
Drumouchter, skirting the end of Loch-Ericht, and then turning 
westwards in the direction of the River Treig. According to the 
Rev. L. Shaw, the leader of the Camerons was Charles MacGilony, 
who was killed ; but this is contrary to the tradition of the local- 
ity, which states that " MacDhomhnuil Duibh," the chief, com- 
manded in person.* Charles MacGilony however, figures pro- 
minently in this tradition as an important man among the 
Camerons, and a famous archer. ( 

The author of " The Memoirs of Locheill" gives the Mack- 
intosh version of the battle. He, however, questions their title to 
the disputed lands in Lochaber, but says that the Camerons 
considered their title so good that they fought for it "from 
generation to generation almost to the utter mine of both familys." 



*Domhnull Dubh, and necessarily his son, was not born for years after the 
date of this battle. 

tHistory of Clan Chattan. 



8 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

He then proceeds : " If the Camerons had any other right to the 
estate in question but simple possession, I know not. All I can 
say of the matter is, that very few, especially in these parts, could 
allege a better at that time. The Mackintoshes, however, pretend 
that, besides the story of the marriage, they had a charter or 
patent to those lands from the Lord of the Isles in Anno 1337, 
and that it was confirmed by King David II. in February 1359. 
But the Camerons, it would seem, had little regard to these rights; 
for, in 1370, they invaded the Mackintoshes, and having carried 
away a great booty of cattle, and such other goods as fell in their 
way, they were pursued and overtaken at a place called Inver- 
nahavon, by Lachlan, then Laird of Macintosh, who was routed, 
and who had a whole branch of his clan called the Clan Day cutt 
off to a man. That unhappy tribe payed dear for the honour 
they had in being preferred that day to the van of the battle, in 
opposition to the Macphersons, that claimed it, and so far resented 
the injury which they thought was done them, that they would 
not ingadge att all. But Macintosh, having something of a 
poetical geneius, composed certain ridiculous rhymes, which he 
gave out were made in derision of their [the Macpherson's] . 
cowardice by the Camerons, and thereby irrited them to such a 
degree of furry against them, that they returned next morning, 
attacked and defeated them, while they were burryed in sleep 
and security after their late victory."* 

* This version of the cause that roused the Macphersons to action is given in 
extenso in Ctiairtear nan Gleann, vol. III., p. 331. Donald Mackintosh, in his "Col- 
lection of Gaelic Proverbs," published in 1785, explaining one of the well-known 
proverbs to which the combat on the Inch of Perth gave rise, says : 

Mackintosh, being irritated and disappointed by this behaviour of the Macpher- 
sons, on the night following, sent his own bard to the camp of the Macphersons, as if 
he had come from the Camerons to provoke them to fight, which he accomplished by 
repeating the following satirical lines : 

Tha luchd na foille air an torn, 

Is am Balg-Shuileach donn na dhraip ; 
Cha b' e bhur cairdeas ruinn a bh'ann 

Ach bhur lamh a bhi tais. 

i.e. The false party are on the field, beholding the chief in danger ; it was not your 
love to us that made you abstain from fighting, but merely your own cowardice. 

This reproach so stung Macpherson that, calling up his men, he attacked th<T 
amerons that same night in their camp, and made a dreadful slaughter of them, 
pursued them to the foot of Binn-imhais, and killed their chief, Charles Macgilony, at 
a place called Coire Thearlaich, >., Charles's Valley. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 85 

This sanguinary conflict must have made a deep impression 
on those engaged in it, and it may fairly be assumed, when the 
state of society at that remote period is taken into account, that 
the old enmity and the feuds between the Camerons and the 
Mackintoshes would be largely intensified, and become the cause 
of great slaughter, plunder, and annoyance throughout a consider- 
able portion of the Central and Western Highlands. This state 
of things naturally led up to the famous combat on the Inch at 
Perth, where we have little difficulty now in concluding that the 
Camerons and the Mackintoshes were the contending parties.* 

Allan married a daughter of Drummond of Stobhall, ances- 
tor of the Earls of Perth and Melfort, and by her had two sons 

1. Ewen, who succeeded his father. 

2. Donald, who succeeded his brother Ewen, and was after- 
wards known as the famous Donald Dubh. 

Allan is said to have died in the reign of Robert III. (1390 
1406), when he was succeeded by his eldest son, 

X. EWEN CAMERON, in whose time was fought the famous 
combat on the Inch of Perth, between thirty picked warriors of his 
own clan and thirty of the Clan Mackintosh. The author of the 
" Memoirs" distinctly states, in a footnote to his sketch of Allan 
MacOchtery, referring to the combat, that " this duel happened 
in the time of Ewen his (Allan's) son, though misplaced by mis- 
take" by himself. All that could be written of this sanguinary en- 
gagement is already so well known that little need be said here re- 
garding it, but we may give the Cameron version of it as it appears 
in the family Memoirs. Referring to the conflict at Invernahavon, 
which had in the end proved so disastrous to his clansmen, the 
author says : The Camerons did not long delay to avenge 
themselves on their enemies, and, in a word, their conflicts were 
so frequent, and at the same time so fierce and bloody, that they 
made no small noise at Court. For the parties, besides their own 
strength, had many friends and allies that joined ; so that they 
often brought considerable armies to the field. 

Robert the Third then sat upon the Throne. He was a 
prince of a mild and peaceable temper, and so valetudinary that 

* For an exhaustive and, we think, conclusive discussion of this knotty point, see 
The Clan Battle at Perth, in 1396: by Alexander Mackintosh- Shaw, printed for pri- 
vate circulation, 1874. 



86 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

he was obliged to manage all his affairs by his Ministers. His 
brother, the Duke of Albany, an active and intelligent prince, 
governed at Court ; and two of his nobility, Thomas Dunbar, 
Earl of March, and James Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, commanded 
his troops. These two generals were sent to the Highlands to 
settle these commotions, but finding that they could not execute 
their orders by force, without risking the loss of their army, they 
endeavoured to bring the rival chiefs to some reasonable terms of 
agreement ; and after many overtures they fell upon a proposal 
that was very agreeable to both. It was in a word this : That 
thirty of each side should fight before the King and Court without 
any other arms but their swords, and that the party that should 
happen to be defeated should have an indemnity for all past 
offences ; and that the conquerors, besides the estate in dispute, 
should be honoured with the royal favour. By this method, 
continued they, the plea will be determined in a manner that will 
testify submission and loyalty to the Crown, and give the world 
a lasting proof of the courage and bravery of both parties. 

Pursuant to this treaty, both the chiefs appeared at Court, 
and all preliminaries being adjusted, the King ordered a part of 
the North Inch, or plain upon the banks of the river, near the 
City of Perth, to be enclosed with a deep ditch, in the form of an 
amphitheatre, with seats or benches for the spectators, his Majesty 
himself sitting as judge of the field. 

The fame of the extraordinary combat soon spreading over 
the kingdom drew infinite crowds from all parts to witness so 
memorable an event. The combatants appeared resolute and 
fearless, but, when they were just ready to engage, one of the 
Mackintoshes, who had withdrawn himself from fear, was amiss- 
ing ; whereupon the King demanded that one of the Camerons 
should be removed, but all of them expressing a great unwilling- 
ness to be exempted, one of the spectators, named Henry Wynd, 
a saddler and citizen of Perth, presented himself before the King, 
and offered to supply the place of the absent coward on condition 
that, if his party came off victorious, that he should have a French 
crown of gold for his reward.* 

* Donald Mackintosh, already quoted, and who asserts that the combat was be- 

[acphersons and the Davidsons, gives the following version :- 
The day appointed being come, both parties appeared, but upon mustering the 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 87 

The parties being now equal, to it they fell, and fought with 
all the rage and fury that hatred, revenge, and an insatiable thirst 
of glory could inspire into the breasts of the fiercest of mankind,: 
Like lions and tigers they tore and butchered one another, with- 
out any regard to their own safety, and the reader will find it 
easier to imagine than to express the various passions that agi- 
tated the breasts of the spectators in the different scenes of so 
bloody a tragedy. The king, a good natured prince, was seized 
with an inexpressible horror ; nor was there any present who was 
not shocked at the cruel spectacle. But it was observed that 
Henry Wynd distinguished himself above all others during this 
furious conflict ; as he was not spirited and disordered by the 
same passions as the rest of the party, so he employed his strength 

combatants, the Macphersons wanted one of their number, he having fallen sick ; it 
was proposed to balance the difference by withdrawing one of the Davidsons, but so 
resolved were they upon conquering their opponents, that not one would be prevailed 
upon to quit the danger. In this emergency, one Henry Wynd, a foundling, brought 
up in an hospital at Perth, commonly called an Gobh Crom, i.e., the Crooked Smith, 
offered to supply the sick man's place for a French crown of gold, about three half- 
crowns sterling money, a great sum in those days. Everything being now settled, the 
combatants began with incredible fury, and the Crooked Smith being an able swords- 
man contributed much to the honour of the day, victory declaring for the Macphersons, 
of whom only ten, besides the Gobh Crom, were left alive, and all dangerously 
wounded. The Davidsons were all cut off, except one man, who, remaining unhurt, 
threw himself into the Tay, and escaped. Henry Wynd set out from Perth, after the 
battle, with a horse load of his effects, and swore he would not take up his habitation 
till his load fell, which happened in Strathdon, in Aberdeenshire, where he took up 
his residence. The place is still called, Leac 'ic a Ghobhain, i.e., The Smith's Dwell- 
ing. The Smiths or Gows, and Macglashans, are commonly called Sliochd a Ghobh 
Chruim, i.e., the descendants of the Crooked Smith ; but all agree that he had no pos- 
terity, though he had many followers of the first rank, to the number of twelve, who 
were proud of being reputed the children of so valiant a man ; and the more to in- 
gratiate themselves in his favour, they generally learned to make swords as well as to 
use them, which occasioned their being called Gow, i.e., Smith. His twelve ap- 
prentices spread themselves all over the kingdom. Most of them took the name of 
Mackintosh ; those who write otherwise, own their descent from them, though many 
of them are Macphersons, &c. 

Smith of Ballvarry's motto, " Caraid an am feum," i.e., "A friend in need," 
seems to allude to the Gobh Crom's assisting the Macphersons on the above occasion. 
As soon as the Gobh Crom had killed a man he sat down to rest, and being perceived 
by the captain, he demanded the reason. The other answered that he had performed 
his engagement, and done enough for his wages. The captain replied that no wages 
would be counted to him ; he should have an equivalent for his valour ; upon which 
he immediately got up to fight, and repeated the saying: " Am fear nach 
tadh riuni cha chunntainn w." 



s ^ s THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

and directed his courage with more discretion and play; and to his 
conduct it was principally ascribed that they at last had the advant- 
age of their antagonists. Four of 'the Mackintoshes (all mortally 
wounded) survived, and only one of the Camerons escaped, he 
having the good fortune to remain unhurt, had the address to 
save himself by swimming across the River Tay; nor were the 
miserable victors in a condition to prevent him. The brave 
mercenary, Henry Wynd, likewise survived, without so much as a 
scratch on his body. His valour is still famous among his country- 
men, and gave rise to a proverb, which is commonly repeated when 
any third person unnecessarily engages himself in the quarrels of 
others" He comes in, like Henry Wynd, for his own hand."* 

Such was the issue of this memorable combat, which though 
it did not put an end to the difference betwixt the rival clans, yet 
the most fierce and turbulent among them having been destroyed, 
it suspended the effects of their differences for years after, f 

Ewen Cameron was continually engaged in local feuds and 
skirmishes. He on one occasion fought a duel in vindication of 
the honour of an injured lady, who, in return, celebrated his gal- 
lantry and valour in a beautiful Gaelic song, " still sung," says our 
author, " with pleasure by his posterity." Is it known to the clan 
now? 

He was succeeded by his distinguished son, the famous 
" Domh'ull Dubh Mac Eoghainn," from whom the patronymic of 
the clan, and of whom in our next. 

(To be continued.) 

* Mr Mackintosh Shaw informs us that the Mackintosh MS. History says that the 
absentee on their side was seized with sickness shortly before the fight a not unlikely 
occurrence, considering the temptations which a capital would offer to a semi-barbarous 
Gael. This is a natural suggestion for a Mackintosh to make, but both Bo war and Lesly 
agree with the Cameron chronicler that the absentee Mackintosh "became faint- 
hearted," and was amissing "for fear." In reference to the after history of Henry 
Wynd, Mr Shaw says that " tradition has a pleasing record that this man accompanied 
the remnant of the Clan Chattan champions to their country, was adopted into their 
clan, and became the progenitor of a family, afterwards known as Sliochd a Ghobha 
Chntim (the race of the Crooked Smith.) This record is far from incredible, more 
especially as Bowar represents the Smith of Perth as stipulating for his subsequent 
maintenance if he should leave the field alive. Strathavon is said to have been the 
place where he took up his abode, and here, as well as in the neighbouring localities, 
his reputed descendants have long flourished, and are still to be found. The Smiths or 
Gows generally appear among the septs, of which the Clan Chattan of more modern 
times was composed, and which acknowledged the Chief of Mackintosh as their chief 
and captain. Some families of the name of Smith have the motto, Marie et engenio, 
which is peculiarly appropriate, if any of those bearing it are descendants of the re- 
nowned Smith of Perth. "The Clan Battle at Perth, pp. 16-27. 

t Memoirs of Locheill, Author's Introduction, pp. 10-12. 



8 9 



A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot. 

II. MONTREAL. 

ON the night of my arrival in Montreal I did not move far away 
from my hotel the St Lawrence Hall but for a city which in 
comparison with Glasgow, for instance, is a small one for the 
population of Montreal is less than one-third that of Glasgow 
the spectacle presented by St James' Street at night was suffici- 
ently striking. To begin with, the St Lawrence Hall itself was 
brilliantly lighted, both inside and out, by the electric light, which 
rendered the street in the neighbourhood as bright as day. On 
either side were other buildings similarly lighted, and the effect 
was to give the city in appearance of bustle and life, which, with 
less brilliant lights, it would not present. The effect of the spec- 
tacle upon me was somewhat modified by the recollection of the 
roughness of the streets. The drive from the railway station 
to the hotel gave me my first experience of driving in America, 
and it was by no means a pleasant one. The vehicle was 
dignified with the name of omnibus, and so far as shape and 
general appearance were concerned it closely resembled the car- 
riage bearing the same name at home. A drive of what seemed 
to be rather more than a mile along what I afterwards found to 
be one of the main thoroughfares of Montreal, convinced me for 
the time that whatever general resemblance a Canadian omnibus 
might have to a Scottish one there was an essential difference in 
the matter of springs. As we went bumping along the road, now 
butting our heads against the low roof and next into the waist- 
band of a fellow-passenger opposite, I was forcibly reminded of 
Horace Greeley's famous ride, which reached its climax when, 
after being pounded into a sort of jelly inside the carriage sent 
for him, a sudden bound of the wheels over the rough. road sent 
his head, hat and all the only hard bits remaining through the 
roof. Greeley's driver had some excuse, for he had promised to 
have his famous charge " there by seving." Our Jehu had no 



90 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

such excuse, as there was no anxious crowd awaiting us, and a- 
half hour one way or other would not have mattered. When, 
with aching bones and ruffled temper, I reached the hall, I con- 
cluded in my haste that the Canadians had not yet learned the 
use of springs. In my leisure, I found that Canadians not only 
knew the use of springs, but could teach us a good deal in the 
matter of wheels. Their carriage springs are at least as good as 
ours, and their wheels are a marvel of lightness and strength. As 
a people, however, they seem to have been too busy about other 
things to devote much attention to the making of good roads and 
streets. The Montreal streets I soon found were neither better 
nor worse than the streets in other transatlantic cities, always ex- 
cepting Winnipeg. They are rough, very rough, but yet they are 
driven over, as a rule, more rapidly than our better roads at home 
usually are. A stranger driving over them for the first time will 
not enjoy it, but one soon gets accustomed to it. Comparative 
comfort can, however, be had in the street cars, and to one who 
wishes to see a great deal of a large city in a short time these are 
to be recommended. 

In Montreal, as in the rest of Lower Canada, a British visitor 
is at first surprised at the extent to which French is spoken. But 
when it is remembered that Montreal was originally settled by 
French Catholics in pursuance of an attempt to found in America 
a veritable Kingdom of God as understood by devout Roman 
Catholics, and that more than one-half of the whole population of 
the city now ts of French origin, it ought to form no matter for 
surprise that French is generally spoken. Moreover French law is 
administered in the courts, French deeds are as frequently the 
subject of litigation as English ones, Parliamentary candidates 
deliver speeches in French, and all parliamentary proceedings are 
officially published in French as well as in English. It is no won- 
der, therefore, that in Montreal every person who has received an 
ordinary education is able to read, speak, and write the French 
language as fluently as he does English. 

One of the first acquaintances I made in Montreal was Mr 
Andrew Burns of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, an elder 
brother of our respected townsman, Councillor Burns of Inverness. 
From Mr Burns I received an amount of kindness for which I 
was unable at the time, and am unable yet to thank him ade- 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 91 

quately, but I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude 
to him for the many kindnesses I received at his hands during 
my several visits to Montreal. Mr Burns has been in Canada for 
over twenty-five years, and has filled various important positions 
in connection with the Grand Trunk by far the largest railway 
system in Canada and the position he now holds is one of the 
most important in the system. His success proves that he 
performs his duties with ability, and his popularity with the 
people of Montreal is evidenced by the fact that, when a recent 
promotion removed him to a post where he came less frequently 
into contact with them, they were almost inclined to regret his 
good luck. Mr Burns is still a comparatively young man, and I 
hope he has yet a long career of usefulness before him. Through 
Mr Burns I made the acquaintance of Mr Phippen, of the Central 
Vermont Railway, a Yankee, as he himself said, from Boston, but 
so like a veritable John Bull in figure and speech that I had some 
difficulty in believing him when he told me he was an American. 
During this my first visit to the city I divided my time 
pretty equally between persons and places. One interesting his- 
torical spot to which I paid a visit was the Custom-House, a 
handsome building on the river front, covering a triangular piece 
of ground, which, in the old days, was formed by a little stream 
falling there into the main river. Upon this spot on i8th May 
1642 were laid the foundations of Ville-Marie de Montreal. The 
ceremony was a curious one, as will be seen by the following ex- 
tract from Parkman : " Maisonneuve sprang ashore, and fell on 
his knees. His followers imitated his example, and all joined 
their voices in enthusiastic songs of thanksgiving. Tents, bag- 
gage, arms, and stores were landed. An altar was raised on a 
pleasant spot near at hand, and Mademoiselle Mance, with 
Madame de la Peltrie, aided by her servant, Charlotte Barre, de- 
corated it with a taste which was the admiration of the beholders. 
Now all the company gathered before the shrine. Here stood 
Vimont in the rich vestments of his office. Here were the two 
ladies with their servant, Montinagny, no very willing spectator ; 
and Maisonneuve, a warlike figure, erect and tall, his men cluster- 
ing around him. They kneeled in reverent silence as the Host 
was raised aloft; and when the rite was over the priest turned 
and addressed them ' You are a grain of mustard seed, that shall 



92 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

rise and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. You are 
few, but your work is the work of God. His smile is on you, and 
your children shall fill the land.'" Verily, the grain of mustard 
seed has grown into a tree whose branches overshadow the land, 
as the enthusiastic Vimont predicted. Montreal has now a popu- 
lation of over 140,000, and of these over 100,000 are Roman 
Catholics. I do not know that every one of them is as pious as 
the enthusiasts of the seventeenth century, or that even Catholic 
Montreal is a Kingdom of God on earth; but their churches, 
which are found in every part of the city, are among the most 
magnificent in the world, and their priests jostle the lay passenger 
into the gutter at every street corner. 

Leaving the river-side I first walked and then drove through 
a considerable part of the city, and I soon found why it was 
that when Scotland ran short of ministers she so frequently drew 
upon Montreal, and why when a renegade monk comes to 
enlighten Scotch Presbyterians he has always a good deal to say 
of Montreal. Montreal is a city of churches. It had, as has been 
seen, a religious origin, and it has been trying hard to preserve 
its early reputation ever since. The result is that it is, to put it 
mildly, well supplied with religious edifices. Mark Twain recently 
said, speaking in Montreal, "that he never was in a city before 
where one could not throw a brick-bat without breaking a church 
window." A recent writer on the subject says " The action and 
reaction constantly going on in a community containing an 
unusual number of earnest men of all conceivable shades of 
ecclesiastical opinion naturally excites a corresponding amount 
of zeal which has crystalised into stone and mortar." This may 
be the explanation, and the writer, who lives in Montreal, ought 
to know. I have, however, seen people, by no means eminent 
for piety, go through a performance which looked uncommonly 
like trying to cheat the devil by building a church. 

While crossing the Atlantic I heard a good deal about the 
Rev. Gavin Lang, recently translated to Inverness, who is well- 
known throughout Canada, and especially in Montreal. Of course 
opinion is divided as to the attitude taken up by Mr Lang in 
connection with the application of the Church temporalities on 
the union of the various Presbyterian Churches in Canada some 
years ago ; but, in Montreal at least, his large-hearted toleration, 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 93 

and the heartiness with which he always co-operated with his 
Catholic and Episcopalian fellow Christians, were only spoken of 
to be praised. Toleration is one of the traditions of religious life 
in Montreal. Immediately after the conquest of Canada the 
Protestants used one of the Roman Catholic Churches for wor- 
ship after the morning mass. In 1766, and for twenty years 
afterwards, the Church of England people occupied the church 
of the Recollets every Sunday afternoon. Before 1 792 the Pres- 
byterians used the same church, and when they moved to their own 
first church they presented to the priests of the Recollet Church 
a gift of candles for the High Altar, and of wine for the Mass, as 
a token of goodwill and thanks for the gratuitous use of the 
church. When Mr Lang, after living for some years in the re- 
ligious atmosphere of Montreal, returned to Scotland his first 
public utterance was an offer to co-operate with Christian fellow- 
workers of all denominations. All praise to him, and may his 
example soon be widely followed. 

I went inside only one of the Montreal churches, that com- 
monly called the Cathedral, but the true designation of which is 
the Parish Church of Notre Dame. The church stands upon the 
Place d'Armes, and is so striking an object that it at once attracts 
the attention of a stranger. It is built of limestone, and, looked 
at from the outside, appears a plain and substantial but stately 
building. It is surmounted by two towers, which are over two 
hundred feet high. The inside of the church contrasts strangely 
with the outside. The inside is all paint, gilt, and beautifully 
carved woodwork. It is very brilliant, perhaps too brilliant, 
according to Scotch taste, for a church. Looking back from the 
front of the altar upon the tiers of pews, with the richly decorated 
galleries rising one over the other, one can well believe that the 
church will comfortably hold the 10,000 people which it is said 
to accommodate. My visit was made on a Thursday about mid- 
day. Seated here and there in the pews were worshippers 
engaged in their devotions, and near the altar a delicate-looking 
young woman was kneeling with her pale face turned upwards 
from the time I entered the building until I left, and probably 
for some time before and after. The majority of the people in the 
building were, however, like myself, strangers, who respectfully 
walked on tiptoe through the church, hat in hand, examining the 



94 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

pictures and decorations. For a small sum access can be had 
during the summer months to the top of one of the towers. In 
ascending, the Great Bell, said to be the largest in America, is 
seen. It weighs 29,400 Ibs. From the top a magnificent view 
of the city and surrounding country is obtained, and the visitor 
to Montreal should not miss the sight. An American writer (Mr 
Howells) thus describes the sight " So far as the eye reaches it 
dwells only upon what is magnificent. All the features of that 
landscape are grand. Below you spreads the city, which has less 
than is merely mean in it than any other city of our continent, and 
which is everywhere ennobled by stately civic edifices, adorned 
by tasteful churches and skirted by full-foliaged avenues of 
mansions and villas. Behind it rises the beautiful mountain, 
green with woods and gardens to its crest, and flanked on the 
east by an endless fertile plain, and on the west by another 
expanse through which the Ottawa rushes, turbid and dark, to 
its confluence with the St Lawrence. Then these two mighty 
streams commingled flow past the city, lighting up the vast 
champaign country to the south, while upon the utmost southern 
verge, as on the northern, rise the cloudy summits of far off 
mountains." 

After leaving the Church of Notre Dame I continued my 
walk through the city, not knowing in the least where I was, or 
where I was going to, and caring very little so long as my watch 
showed me the time had not arrived when I must jump into the 
handiest conveyance to get back to my hotel to meet my friend 
Mr Burns. Walking onwards I came upon an open space from 
which I could see the river. Overlooking the river I saw a 
column, and on the column a statue, and near them two large 
guns. The statue was one of Lord Nelson, and the guns two of 
those taken at Sebastopol, and presented to the city by the 
Home Government. The column and statue were placed in 
their present position (the place is, I believe, called Jacques Car- 
tier Square) soon after Nelson's death at Trafalgar, and they look- 
as if the only attentions they had received since were the reverse 
of kindly. The gun-carriages are old and dilapidated, and the 
guns were falling out of them. The whole place has an appear- 
ance of neglect which seems to indicate that Montreal has for- 
gotten to revere the hero in whose honour it erected a statue in 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 95 

1 808. As to the guns, if they are left alone for a year or two longer 
they will part with what is left of their carriages, and either roll 
into the river, or bury themselves in the mud in which the trucks 
of their carriages are already nearly out of sight. For the credit 
of Montreal I hope some energetic alderman will call attention 
to the condition of the Nelson Statue, and either have it buried 
out of sight or put into a state worthy of the hero it was meant 
to commemorate, and of the beautiful city in which it stands. 

The appearance presented by Montreal when looked at from 
the river is one of its most pleasing aspects. A long line of 
quays faced with grey limestone runs along the river side, and 
there, nearly 1000 miles from the Atlantic and 250 miles above 
salt water, the largest ocean-going vessels lie afloat at their moor- 
ings loading and discharging their cargoes. During the season 
the navigation of the St Lawrence is open, three large ocean 
steamships sail weekly from Montreal to Liverpool, and two to 
Glasgow, while five other lines have fortnightly sailings to Britain 
or the Continent of Europe. These represent only the regular 
lines, and do not include the numerous steamers trading to the 
port, which do not have fixed days for sailing. In 1880 the value 
of the exports from Montreal exceeded 6,000,000 sterling, while 
the imports exceeded 7,000,000. This large trade did not come 
into existence without effort on the part of Montreal. Quebec is 
1 60 miles nearer the Atlantic, and would appear to be the natural 
seaport of Canada, and, but for the enterprise of Montreal, it 
would be the actual seaport. 

About midway between Montreal and Quebec the St Law- 
rence opens out into the Lake St Peter, the greater part of the 
channel through which was comparatively shallow. Upwards of 
thirty years ago, however, the Harbour Commissioners of Mon- 
treal commenced operations, having for their object the deepening 
of the shallow parts of the channel, and these operations have 
continued ever since. The result is that now the channel is so 
deepened that there is a minimum depth of twenty-five feet at 
low water, and the deepened channel is 300 feet wide at its 
narrowest part. But for these extensive operations it would be 
impossible for the large ocean-going vessels which now frequent 
the harbour of Montreal to come near that port. They would be 
compelled to load and discharge at Quebec. As it is, it is so rare 



96 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

an occurrence for a large vessel to stop short at Quebec without 
going up the river to Montreal, that in a Quebec paper, published 
on the day I left Canada, a special article in prominent type 
chronicled and commented on the fact that a large vessel, the 
name of which was given, had discharged her cargo, and was to 
load a return cargo of timber at Quebec without going up the 
river. There does not appear to be any good reason why Quebec 
should not have an independent and flourishing trade of her 
own without in any way interfering with Montreal. Near Quebec 
there is a large extent of heavily timbered country, and this, if 
energetically and judiciously worked, would form a nucleus, round 
which the trade of the port might once more be developed. 

K. M'D. 

(To be continued.) 



LACHLAN MACDONALD OF SKEABOST. 

PROFESSOR BLACKIE, in a sketch of this really good and truly 
patriotic Highlander contributed to the Scotsman, wrote the fol- 
lowing lines " in praise of the good laird of Skeabost, and in 
illustration of that most orthodox doctrine that we are here, not 
for the purpose of plashing in shallow pools, of what foolish 
young gentlemen and idle lordlings call pleasure, but for creating 
good out of evil, and beauty out of ugliness, by well-directed 
energy" : 

Skeabost, albeit no breadth of glowing skies 

Flings floods of light on this mist-mantled isle, 

Thou, like a god, hast shaped with plastic toil 
The waste into a blooming Paradise. 
On lazy loons let Heaven drop fatness ; they, 

In their own fat drone out their languid lives ; 

But in harsh fate's despite the brave man thrives, 
And gains in strength from sweatful day to day. 
There are who dream of gods that nothing do, 

But round Jove's festal board they sit and sip 

Deep bowls of nectar with luxurious lip ; 
But our God works ; and we His work pursue, 

Most like to Him when we subdue the crude 

Chaotic mass, rejoicing in the GOOD. 



THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. LXXXVII. JANUARY 1883. VOL. VIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 
By the EDITOR. 



III. 

XI. DONALD CAMERON, known among the Highlanders as 
Domhnull Dubh, or Black Donald, and from whom the chief of 
the clan takes his patronymic of " MacDhomh'uill Duibh," suc- 
ceeded his brother Ewen, at a turbulent period in the history of 
the Highlands. He was with Donald, second Lord of the Isles, 
at the battle of Harlaw, in 1411, where many of his followers 
were slain. He also joined Alexander, third Lord of the Isles, 
in 1429, when the Island lord, at the head of a large force, burnt 
and pillaged the town of Inverness, and then retired, with his 
followers, to Lochaber, where he was met by King James in 
person, commanding a powerful body of royalists, who, taking the 
Lord of the Isles unexpectedly, routed his followers. On the 
appearance of the king the Camerons and the Mackintoshes 
deserted the Lord of the Isles and joined the royalists. Alexander 
sued for peace, and shortly after came to terms with the king. 
His friends, however, did not forgive the Camerons for deserting 
him and going over to the king at Lochaber, and Donald Balloch 
ultimately took full revenge upon the clan, compelling themselves 

G 



9 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to escape to their mountain fastnesses, and their chief to flee for 
safety to Ireland, where he remained for several years ; while in 
his absence, his lands of Lochaber, of which the Lord of the 
Isles was superior, were bestowed upon John Garve Maclean, 
progenitor and founder of the Macleans of Coll.* Domhnull 
Dubh, however, after a time, returned and drove the Macleans out 
of the district, killing their young chief, John "Abrach" (so 
called from his residence in Lochaber), who disputed possession 
with him.f 

Gregory, after referring to these proceedings, states that 
John, Earl of Ross, granted the same lands at a later period to 
John Maclean of Lochbuy, and again to Celestine, Lord of 
Lochalsh. " It is natural," he says, " to suppose that the Clan- 
chameron, the actual occupants of Lochiel, would resist these 
various claims ; and we know that John Maclean, second Laird 
of Coll, having held the estate for a time by force, was at length 
killed by the Camerons, in Lochaber, which checked for a time 
the pretensions of the Clan Gillean. But as the whole of that 
powerful tribe were now involved in the feud some from a 
desire to revenge the death of Coll, others from their obligations 
to support the claims of Lochbuy the chief of the Camerons 
was forced to strengthen himself by acknowledging the claim of 
the Lord of Lochalsh [to whom the Earl of Ross granted the 
Cameron lands after he granted them to Maclean.] The latter 
[Lochalsh] immediately received Cameron as his vassal in 
Lochiel, and thus became bound to maintain him in possession 
against all who pretended to dispute his right to the estate."J 
The Macgillonies, curiously enough, supported the Macleans 
against the rest of the Camerons on this occasion. For this 
they suffered very severely afterwards, but ultimately became 
reconciled to their immediate friends, and they nearly all adopted 
the name of Cameron. 

* For a full account of the proceedings at Harlaw, Inverness, and Lochaber, see 
The History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, by the same author, pp. 
60 to 87. 

t Seannachie's History of the Macleans, p. 306. Skene calls Maclean " Ewen." 

J History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, p. 76. In a charter, 
dated 1492, Alexander of Lochalsh styles himself "Lord of Lochiel." 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS, 99 

The lands of Lochiel were, according to the best authorities, 
" probably included in those of Louchabre in the grant of the 
Earldom of Moray by King Robert Bruce to Thomas Ranulph 
between 1307 and 1314. In the year 1372, or 1373, King Robert 
II. confirmed a grant by John of Yle to Reginald of Yle his son 
of 60 marklands in Lochabre, including Loche and Kylmald 
(apparently Lochiel and Kilmalie). In 1461 John of Yle, Earl 
of Ross and Lord of the Isles, granted to his kinsman John the 
son of Murdac M'Gilleoin of Lochboyg the following lands in 
Locheale in his lordship of Lochaber, namely, the lands of Banvy, 
Mykannich, Fyelyn and Creglwing, Corpych, Innerat, Achydo, 
Kilmailze, Achymoleag, Drumfarmolloch, Faneworwill, Fasfarna, 
Stonsonleak, Correbeg, Achitolledoun, Keanloch, Drumnasalze, 
Culenap, Nahohacha, Clerechaik, Mischerolach, Crew, Salachan, 
and the half of Lyndaly." The same authority says that the lands 
of Locharkaig were included in the Earldom of Moray, granted 
as above to Thomas Randulph, between 1307 and 1314, and that 
"in 1336 John of Isla, afterwards Lord of the Isles, granted the 
lands of Glenluy and Locharkaig to William Macintosh, chief of 
Clanchattan. From that period the lands are said to have been 
the subject of a deadly feud between the Clanchattan and the 
Clanchameron for upwards of three hundred years. In 1372, or 
1373, King Robert II. confirmed a grant of the lands of Lochar- 
kage, made by John Yle to Reginald of Yle his son. Between the 
years 1443 and 1447, Alexander, Lord of the Isles, is said to 
have confirmed to Malcolm Macintosh, chief of the Clanchattan, 
his lands in Lochaber (including Glenluy and Locharkaig), and 
to have granted him the office of Bailie of the district. For 
several years after 1497, the same lands, belonging to the Clan- 
chattan, were forcibly held by the Clanchameron." * We shall 
have occasion to notice the consequent feuds and sanguinary 
fights between the two clans as we proceed. Meanwhile it may 
be well to give the family chronicler's version of the incidents, to 
which we have just referred. 

Having described the part Donald Dubh and his followers took 
at Harlaw and at Inverlochy, and their desertion, with the Mack- 
intoshes, at the latter, from the Earl of Ross to the King, he says 
that, "though the Camerons and Mackintoshes agreed in their 

* Origines Parochiales Scotiae, Part I. Vol. II. 181-183. 



TOO THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

principles of loyalty, yet their formal quarrell about the estate 
divided them as much as ever, and brought them to an engadge- 
ment on Palm Sunday, which was fought with that obstinacy 
and furry that most of the Mackintoshes, and almost the whole 
tribe of the Camerons, were cutt to peices." He then gives an 
account of Donald Balloch's victory, shortly after, over the Royal 
forces, under the Earls of Mar and Caithness, when the latter 
was killed, and the former wounded, making a narrow escape with 
his life; and then proceeds to say that "Donald Balloch, having 
now no enemy to oppose him, he turned his fury against the 
Camerons, and wasted all Lochaber with fire and sword. Donald 
[Dubh], their chief, drew all this mischief upon him and his clan 
for doeing their duty," and he further informs us that, in addition 
to his chief having deserted the Earl of Ross and joined the king on 
the previous occasion, he now, when Donald Balloch himself com- 
manded the Islanders, added a fresh cause of resentment ; for he 
not only positively refused to assist in the present rebellion, but 
he openly declared for the king, and was drawing his men to- 
gether in order to join his generals when they were unhappily 
defeated by Donald and his followers from the Isles. "This 
double defection enraged the victorious Balloch to such a degree 
of fury that he came to a resolution of extirpating the whole 
clan, but they wisely gave way, and retreated to the mountains, 
till the storm blew over. Donald, their chief, was obliged to take 
shelter in Ireland, though some say that he went not thither till 
some time thereafter that he was condemned to banishment, by 
an unjust decree of the Earl of Ross, and the Counceil of Parlia- 
ment, as some people affect to call it. ... Donald, chief of the 
Camerons, was soon recalled from Ireland by the groans of his 
people, who were crewelly oppressed and plundered by a robber 
from the north, called Hector Bui M'Coan, who, with a party of 
ruffians tooke the opportunity of his absence to infest the coun- 
trey. Being joyned by a sufficient party of his clan, he pursued 
the robbers, who fled upon the news of his arival, and overtook 
them at the head of Lochness. But Hector, with his prisoners, 
for he had taken many, and among them Samuel Cameron of 
Gleneviss, head of an antient tribe of that clan, escaped him by 
takeing sanctuary in a strong house called Castle Spiriten, where 
he barbarously murdered them. In revenge of their death, 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 101 

Donald caused two of Hector's sons, with others of their gang 
who had falen into his hands, to be hanged in view of the father, 
a wretch so excessively savage that he refused to deliver them by 
way of exchainge, though earnestly pressed to it." The author 
then gives an account of the contentions between the Camerons 
and the Macleans already referred to, in which the latter were 
defeated, and their leader killed, at Corpach. When Donald Dubh 
became " Master of the charters he [Maclean] had from the Earl 
of Ross, he destroyed them," and chased Maclean's surviving fol- 
lowers out of Lochaber. " Donald's next business," he continues, 
"was with the Mackintoshes. Alexander, then chief of that 
clan, had not only reconciled himself with the Earl, but so far in- 
sinuated himself into his favours, that he obtained from him a 
charter to the disputed lands of Glenlui and Locharkicke, and 
some time thereafter procured a grant of the stewartry and Bail- 
liarey of all Lochaber. In a word, he tooke possession of the 
estate, which occasioned many feirce skirmishes, and the issue 
was that the Mackintoshes were in the end obliged to retire into 
their own countrey. The rest of his estate, which had been like- 
waise given away, he soone recovered, and possessed in peace dur- 
ing his life." * 

The Lord of the Isles, shortly after his liberation, was 
made Justiciar of the Kingdom of Scotland north of the Forth, 
and, soon after, a perfect understanding seems to have been 
arrived at between him and Mackintosh ; while his enmity to 
the Camerons seems, if possible, to have become more intense 
than ever. The reconciliation with Mackintosh, according to a 
recent writer, " is the more strange, as he appears never to have 
forgiven the Camerons for the part they had taken against him 
in 1429. The unvaried loyalty exhibited by the chiefs of 
Mackintosh to his family previously to 1429, and the good service 
done his father at Harlaw by Malcolm Mackintosh himself, no 
doubt went a great way in inclining him to show favour to the 
Clan Chattan ; yet so far as former loyalty was concerned, the 
Camerons were equally entitled to consideration. There must, 
therefore, have been some reason for the difference of conduct 
which Alexander pursued towards the two clans, for the munifi- 

* Memoirs of Loch e 'ill ', Author's Introduction, pp. 16-19. 



102 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

cencc with which he treated the one, and for the rigour with 
which he persecuted the other. This reason may possibly lie in 
the fact that while Mackintosh had been openly on the side of 
the king for some time before Alexander's defeat in Lochaber, 
the chief of the Camerons had Contributed, in no small degree, 
to that defeat, by his desertion on the eve or after the commence- 
ment of the campaign. Another reason may be that Alexander 
hoped, by making the Clan Chattan his instruments in hunting 
down the Camerons, to obtain revenge on both clans at the same 
time, by giving them a pretext for slaughtering each other. 
However this may be, one of his first proceedings on being 
made Justiciar of the North, was to take measures against the 
Camerons. He had an excuse for pursuing them, ready to 
his hand, in their resistance to Mackintosh's claims on the lands 
of Glenlui and Locharkaig ; and it was with his connivance, if 
not with his authority, that the Clan Chattan began, in 1441, to 
invade and harry the Cameron lands. In this year a sanguinary 
conflict took place at Craig Cailloch between the two clans, 
in which Mackintosh's second son, Lachlan ' Badenoch,' was 
wounded, and Gillichallum, his brother, killed. This was fol- 
lowed by a raid under Duncan, Malcolm's eldest son, in which 
the Cameron lands were harried. In the end, Donald Dubh, 
then chief of the Camerons, was forced by the inveterate ani- 
mosity of the Justiciar to flee to Ireland." * 

Donald Dubh is admitted on all hands to have been a man 
of extraordinary parts, combining great prudence with bravery 
and other righting qualities of the very highest order, and no 
better evidence is required of his great popularity among his own 
people than the fact that the chiefs of the clan continue to be 
styled after him in the vernacular to this day as " MacDhomh'uill 
Duibh." He is said to have married the heiress of Macmartin 
of Letterfinlay, to have succeeded to her property, and, at the 
same time, to have united by this marriage the Camerons and 
Macmartins, not only under one chief, but so completely that 
most of the Macmartins adopted the name of Cameron. He 
is said, in the "Memoirs," to have had two sons, Ewen and 
Donald, both of whom are stated to have succeeded him, one 

History oj (he Mackintoshes ami Clan Chatting by Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 103 

after the other. This can scarcely be correct. Indeed, the 
author himself describes them in a manner which proves that even 
if two chiefs of the names mentioned had succeeded they could 
not have been brothers ; for while he calls the first " Ewen 
M'Coilduy," or Ewen the son of Donald, he calls the latter 
Donald Dow M'Evven, or Donald Dubh son of Ewen. Neither 
of these appear on record, while Skene, Gregory, and all the best 
authorities agree that Donald Dubh was succeeded by his son, 

XII. ALLAN CAMERON, so well known in the history and 
traditionary lore of his country as " Ailean MacDhomh'uill 
Duibh." He became a vassal of Celestine, Lord of Lochalsh, 
and keeper of his Castle of Strone, in Lochcarron.* In 1472 
Celestine "granted lands in Ross to Allan the son of Donald 
Duff, Captain of the Clancamroun." ( These lands comprised 
the twelve merk lands of Kishorn, and, in the charter, Celestine 
calls him his " beloved kinsman, Allan, the son of Donald Duff, 
or Dow, Captain of the Clan Cameron," to whom the lands are 
given, and to the heirs-male lawfully begotten, or to be be- 
gotten, between him and Mariot, lawful daughter to Angus, 
Dominus de Isles, and, in default, to his other heirs-male by any 
subsequent marriage, and, these failing, to the heirs-male of 
Ewen, his brother german, and, failing these, to return to the 
granter and his heirs. The document is dated the last day of 
November 1472. Allan is also described in several charters to his 
successors as the son of Donald Dubh ; but it is quite clear, from 
the charter just quoted, that he must have had a brother Ewen, 
though it is equally clear from Allan's designation, as Captain of 
the clan, during Ewen's life, that Ewen was a younger brother. 

Allan MacDhomh'uill Duibh is acknowledged to have been 
one of the bravest warriors of his time. He is said "to have 
made thirty-two expeditions into his enemy's country for the 
thirty-two years that he lived, and three more for the three- 
fourths of a year that he was in his mother's womb. Whatever 
truth may be in this, it is certain that his good fortune failed him 
in the end ; for being too much elated with his former successes 
he again made preparations for another invasion, of which his 
next neighbour, Keppoch (who, for I know not what reason, had 

* Gregory's Highlands and Isles; and Reg. of Great Seal XII. 203. 

t Origines ParochiaUs Scotiae; and Reg* Great Seal Lib. XIII., No, 203, 



,04 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

conceived an enmity against Allan), having information, he ad- 
vised Mackintosh of the design, and promising to follow him in 
the rear with all the men he could raise, he formed a plot for 
cutting his party to pieces. Allan had no notice of the contriv- 
ance, and, despising an enemy which he had so often insulted, 
proceeded in his intended invasion. Mackintosh was prepared to 
oppose him, but artfully delayed engaging till Keppoch came up, 
and attacked him in the rear. In short, the Camerons were ob- 
liged, after an obstinate fight, and the death of their chief, who 
was killed during the heat of the action, to give way, in their 
turn, to the superior numbers of the confederates." * 

The family manuscript says that Allan married Marion, 
daughter of Angus, Lord of the Isles, and grandchild of the Earl 
of Ross. This cannot be correct. Angus Og of the Isles, who is 
referred to, had no daughters that we know of, nor was he ever 
in reality Lord of the Isles ; for he died several years before his 
father. He was an illegitimate son, and the only issue of his 
of whom anything is known, is the famous Donald Dubh, after- 
wards styled Lord of the Isles, whose legitimacy of birth has also 
been stoutly contested. Allan, in point of fact, married Mariot, 
daughter of Angus Macdonald, known among the Highlanders 
as "Aonghas na Feairte," second of Keppoch, who is styled 
" Angus de Insulis," in a charter of confirmation granted to 
" Alano Donaldi capitanei de Clan-Cameron et heredibus inter 
ipsum Alanum et Mariotam Angussii de Insulis." The lady's 
paternal grandfather was thus, Alastair Carrach Macdonald, third 
son of John, first Lord of the Isles, by his second wife, Lady 
Margaret, daughter of King Robert II. of Scotland. Alastair 
Carrach himself is referred to in a complaint by William, Bishop 
of Moray, in 1398, as " Magnificus vir et potens, Alexander de In- 
sulis, Dominus de Louchabre."f This is at least as good and 
illustrious an ancestry as the tainted one claimed by the family 
genealogist from Angus Og, the bastard son of John, fourth and 
last Earl of Ross, and Lord of the Isles. 

Allan was succeeded by his son, Ewen MacAllan. 

* Memoirs of Locheill, Author's Introduction, p. 24. 

t The History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, by the same author, pp. 
479-480. 

(To be continued,) 



105 



ORIGIN OF THE MACGILLONY CAMERONS. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

SIR, In the Celtic Magazine for November you have commenced the interesting 
history of the Clan Cameron, and whatever be the origin of the clan, whether Danish 
or Celtic, the origin of the name is unquestionably pure Gaelic Cam-a-shroin or 
Sroin-cham. At page 5 you interpret the word Macgillony or Macgillanaigh to 
mean the Son of the Prophet. Our tradition concerning that name is different 
in Argyllshire, and somewhat as follows : 

At an early period in history, possibly the period referred to at page 6 of the 
magazine, when Cambro, the Dane, is said to have married an heiress, a daughter of 
the chief of the Cameron Clan had occasion to be on a stormy day on the rocky sea- 
board of Corpach, where the waves were lashed into foam by the fury of the tempest. 
There, in a sheltered cove, protected from the blast by rocky cliffs, on either side, she 
found, partly covered by the foam, a basket, in which there was carefully put up a 
male child of heal and healthy appearance. The child was taken home, and brought 
up in the family of the chief, and, on coming of age, he assumed the name of Cameron, 
but he was never acknowledged by the clan to be a Cameron, he having not a crooked 
but a straight nose. 

This Gill-onfhaidh, or Son of the Tempest, married an heiress of a sept of the 
Clan Cameron, whose descendants became very numerous in Lochaber and so 
recent as to be in my own recollection. The difference between the two branches 
was carefully noted by old men of my native parish. The Camerons of the crooked 
nose resided in Cowal from my earliest recollection, but on one of the other branches 
coming to the district, I can well remember an old man saying Cha Chamshronach 
idir e, V ami a tha e do Chloinn-ic-Onaidh-nan-Toitean a thainig air tir aig a 
Choi'paich. 

There is much meaning in a name, as instituted by our ancestors, and historians, 
like Dr Skene, however highly-gifted and educated they may be, should not be 
allowed to transmogrify those names to square with modern notions. 

The Sroin-cham branch of the clan has been noted from time immemorial for the 
keen relish they have for flesh. In the village of Cladaich, on Lochawe side, there 
once met a happy wedding party. The best man was a gentleman a Campbell 
and an officer in the army. When seated at the supper-table there sat right opposite 
him a gentleman of the Clan Cameron. On finishing meals at wedding parties, modest 
jesting became a frequent pastime. With a design to produce a jest, Campbell fixed 
his fork into a well polished bone on his plate, and handed it across the table to 
Cameron, which was the signal to him to favour the company with a jest, or a verse 
of poetry. Taking the bone in his hand, Cameron replied as follows : 

An Sergant Caimbeul so shuas, 
Duine uasal o bhun nan cnoc, 
Shin e 'n droll dhomh thar a bhord, 
Ach b'ait leis gu leor a bhi na chorp, 



I0 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

'S ged thug sinne speis do 'n fheoil, 
'S car a bhi n 'ar sroin na deigh, 
Tha pairt eile 's caime beoil, 
Cho deigheal air an fheoil ruinn fein. 

To show what a keen relish for flesh was peculiar to this branch of the clan, whether 
in Cladaich or in other parts of the Highlands, the following story will illustrate : 
About fifty-five years ago, there was situated in the district of Arisaig, in Inverness- 
shire, a John Weir, an officer of excise. His chief duties were to prevent the smug- 
ling of whisky. Mr Weir had occasion to be on business in the town of Inverness, 
and when passing the jail, whether on the Castlehill or elsewhere in the town, I know 
not, he saw a man's hand between the iron bars, as if waving him to come upstairs. 
He was not aware that any one inside knew him, and was passing without paying 
any attention to the prisoner, on seeing which a voice from within was heard to say, 
Ian, a ghaolaich, thig a nzos;on. hearing which he ascended the stair; was admitted to 
the prisoner's cell ; and, to his astonishment, there he found a neighbour of his own, a 
farmer in comfortable circumstances. Mr Weir, in astonishment, exclaimed 

" Ciod air an fsaoghal Aonghuis, a chuir an so thu /" 

" Och! Ian a ghaolaich, nach eil fhios agad 7" 

" Fios, cha 'n eil aon fhios agamsa" 

''''Nach rob/i Biorach a bha ' sid ; Biorach air an do rinn mi greim." 

" Ciod am buaireadh a thug dhuitse greim a dheanadh air Biorach duine eile, 's 
gu Icor do Bhioraich agadfein ?" 

"Oc/i! Ian, a ghaolaich, nach eil fhios agad? Na Caina-shronaich so! na 
Cam a-shronich da m bheil mise; saoil thu?m faigh iad bias air feoil, ach an fheoil 
bhradach /" 

When meeting with one of the Cameron Clan, Mr Weir often related the story of 
Angus and the Biorach, he being greatly amused by the concluding sentence of the 
apology Angus made for being a prisoner in the jail of Inverness. 

Mr Weir afterwards removed to Kirkintilloch, where he died. He and his widow 
are buried in the kirkyard of Kilmun. 

At page 213 of the Teachdaire Gaelach there is an account of a meeting of Loch- 
iel and the Duke of Athol, the conclusion of which agrees with the foregoing re- 
garding the Cameron clan, and their relish for Feoil. 

A chlanna nan con thigibh 'n so, 
A chlanna nan con thigibh 'n so, 
A chlanna nan con thigibh 'n so, 
S gheobh sibh feoil. 

COIRRE-AN-T' SITH. 



[We are much obliged to our good and valued friend for his interesting letter ; 
and further communications from him, or from any others, for private use or for 
publication, in connection with the history and traditions of the Camerons, will be 
much esteemed by THE EDITOR.] 



ORAN CHLANN DOMHNUILL NAN EILEAN. 

LE ALASTAIR BUIDHE MAC IAMHAIR (ALEXANDER CAMPBELL). 



[Lord Macdonald, on one occasion, invited Alastair Btiidhe to visit him at Arma- 
dale Castle. The bard went, and was so well received and so respectfully treated 
that he composed the following song, since printed in the "Mountain Songster" without 
the author's name. It is the only one of the bard's poems which has ever secured 
the dignity of type, until we began to give them in the Celtic Magazine} : 

Air Form " Cabarfeidh." 

Beir soraidh uam gum eolas, 

Gu Troterneis, 'se b' aite learn, 
An talamh maiseach, boidheach, 

An tir ro ordail mhearcaiteach, 
Far 'm bheil na daoine coire, 

Dh' fhas fialaidh, m6r, neo-acaineach ; 
Mnai uaisl' is suairce comhradh, 

Gun ghruaim, gun phrois an taice dhoibh. 
An tir ro-fhairmeil, chliuiteach, ainmeal, 

Mhuirneach, mheamnach, mhacanta ; 
Bu lionmhor, sealbhach, iasg na fairge, 

Trie ga mharbhadh 'n taice riu ; 
Thig bradan tarra-gheal, inneach, mealgach, 

Iteach, earra-ghlan, breac-lannach : 
Am fonn 'an dearbhte 'n cinn an t-arbhar 

Diasach, ceanna-mhor, pailt-ghraineach. 

B'i sud an duthaich fhialaidh 

Air an e'ireadh grian gu moch-thrathach 
Tir Itibach, sthrathach, iosal, 

Gu monach, sliabhach, gucagach ; 
Tir chruachach, sguabach, liontach 

Tir mheasail, mhiaghail, thrusganach 
Tir mh6r 'tha coir gu biatachd, 

Tir bh6idheach, lianach, lusanach. 
Tir bhuadhach, bhlath, gun chruas, gun chas, 

A' tigh'nn fo bhlath gu ruiteagach ; 
An grunnd a b'fhearr o shliabh gu traigh, 

Gu fasach, lanach, sultmhorra : 
Crodh-laoigh 's gach ait', a' sior bhreth ail, 

Gu bliochdach, darach, sruth-bhainneach ; 
Is grinn a' ghair aig fuaim nam ba 

'Dol suas ri aird nan uchdanan. 



I08 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Bi'dh mnathan donna, duallach, 

'N an dail gu cuachach, cuinneagach, 
'S iad modhail, banail, stuama, 

Neo-ghruamach, uasal, iriosal ; 
Le'n alach glan mu'n cuairt doibh 

'G an togail suas gu h-innealta, 
'S iad f&n gu laghach, suairce, 

Gu caoimhneil, cuanda cinneadail. 
Bi'dh 6ighean mine, boidheach, finealt', 

St6ilte, rioghail, ion-ghradhach 
Gun fhuachd, gun ghris, gun ghruaim, gun sgios, 

Ro shnuagh'or, finealt, binneagach : 
A's pairt diubh 'sior chur aird air ni, 

Gun chas, gun strith, gun iomadan ; 
A's pairt, mar chi, le lanachd ni, 

'Cur faigh'm air siod' 's air ghrinneasan. 

Bidh daoine tlachdmhor, c6ir ann 

Ag 61 mu bh6rd gu h-oileineach, 
Nach mall, 's nach gann mu'm p6ca, 

'S nach di d'an st6ras teir'eachdain ; 
B' i sud an Fhine mh6rail, 

Clann-D6mhnuill Mh6r nan Eileanan, 
Nach inndrinn ann an d6-bheairt, 

'S nach t6isich air ni 'cheileadh iad. 
Na laoich 'bha treun ri km an fheuma, 

Cr6dha, gleusda, fearachail ; 
'Bha ullamh, re"idh, gu siubhal sl&bh, 

Gu ruitheach, leumach, deannalach ; 
Gur math an t-dideadh-crios am fell', 

Am breacan eutrom, ainneamh, orr' 
An uair a dh'e'ighte 'cheud ratreut 

Gu dol 's an streup gu ceannasach. 

'N uair thogte 'bhratach bhalla-bhreac 

Gu meamnach os ceann churaidhean, 
'Ur laochraidh thlachdmhor, dhealbhach, 

Gur garg an taobh a chuireas iad, 
Nan &readh fraoch no fearg orr', 

Gu'm b' anmanta, garbh, guineach iad ; 
Cha phillear sibh le armailt 

Ged dheanadh Alba cruinneachadh. 
Bi'dh loingeas bhreid-gheal, cuan 'g a reubadh, 

Se61ach, reultach, iullagach, 
Lamh-dhearg 'ga h-6igheach, cinn 'g am beum, 

Aig se6id nach g6ill do chunnartan ; 
An taobh a dh'&ght' iad, b' ullamh, r&dh iad, 

'S mairg d' am b' 6iginn fuireach riu ; 
Bi'dh fe6il gu f&sd aig e6in an t-sWibh' 

? S gach se6rsa b<Sisd a chruinnichcas ! 



109 



A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot. 

III. MONTREAL AND GLENGARRY. 

RUNNING along the river front for a mile and a-half is a solid 
wall protected by" a rail, and in front, about ten feet lower than 
the street, are the wharves, so that the visitor standing on the 
street above, or leaning on the protecting rail, can look down 
upon the traffic of the busy harbour without feeling himself in 
the way, or running the risk of being run over by any of the 
many vehicles continually passing to and fro carrying goods to 
and from the harbour. If the visitor chooses to walk along the 
river front he will be pleasantly surprised to find that instead of 
having as he might expect, if he is accustomed to walk in the 
neighbourhood of harbours to pick his way carefully along a 
filthy unsavoury thoroughfare, he has before him a street as clean 
and free from impediments as he needs wish to walk on. 

To return to the City. The occasion of my visit to the 
harbour was to engage my berth for the return voyage. The 
office of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company (the Allan 
Line) is on the river street facing the harbour, and there I was 
treated with that scant courtesy which appears characteristic of 
the employes of this firm in all their principal offices, the one 
honourable exception whom I came across being Mr Macdermott, 
of the Glasgow office. 

I spent so much time in making myself familiar with 
Montreal that the time I had fixed for going westward arrived 
without my having made the acquaintance of several gentlemen 
to whom I had been favoured with letters of introduction. Most 
of these I subsequently met. One I have not yet seen. This is 
Mr John Macdonald, a native of Tain, and now an accountant in 
extensive practice in Montreal. After my return home I learned 
that Mr Macdonald, seeing from one of the morning newspapers 
that I had registered at the St Lawrence Hall, had called there 



no THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

for me only to find that I had left for Quebec. I regret not 
having met Mr Macdonald, of whom I had heard much, and I 
thank him for his intended kindness to a stranger in a strange 
land. 

One of the gentlemen, the pleasure of making whose 
acquaintance I had to postpone on the occasion of my first visit 
to Montreal, was the Hon. D. Macmaster, Q.C,M.P., a successful 
lawyer and a rising politician. I had employed some of my time 
on the voyage across the Atlantic in reading one of Mr Mac- 
master's political speeches while contesting the county of Glen- 
garry, Ontario, at the recent general election in Canada. A great 
part of the speech read very like a personal attack on his opponent 
and to me its tone was so distasteful that I was by no means 
prepossessed in favour of its author. It was, perhaps, therefore as 
well that I did not see Mr Macmaster while I was new to Canada. 
When I came to know a little more of Canadian politics and the 
amenities of political life in that great Dominion, my views were 
considerably modified. In Canada political discussion seems to 
include not only abuse of your opponent's works, but of himself. 
That being so, a young man fighting a great political battle 
would hardly be expected to commence with a crusade against 
the prevailing tone of political controversy. To do so would have 
been unwise, and Mr Macmaster, who is one of the most success- 
ful of the younger members of the Canadian Bar, and who, 
although still a young man, has been a prominent politician for 
several years, was not the sort of person to imperil his success by 
an appearance of quixotry. He was successful, and that, too, 
although his opponent was the late Lieutenant-Governor of On- 
tario, and probably the strongest candidate who could have "been 
run by his party. 

GLENGARRY. 

In the evening I left Montreal for Lancaster, a town between 
fifty and sixty miles further west on the line of the Grand Trunk 
Railway. The line runs along the left bank of the St Lawrence. 
On we sped through a beautiful country in the cool evening 
air, past Lachine, where the early French navigator, coming 
to a place where the St Lawrence widened into a small lake, 
thought he had at last found the true road to China, and gave 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. in 

the place the name which it bears to this day ; past Saint Anne 
Bout de L'Isle where the mighty Ottawa, after a course of over 
600 miles, pours its muddy waters into the St Lawrence; past 
numerous little villages and towns frequently named by the de- 
vout French settlers after some obscure saint, and sometimes 
after obscurer sinners, until, just as evening was wearing into 
night, we steamed into Lancaster Station. A telegram I had 
sent in the early part of the day to Mr Macrae, the pro- 
prietor of one of the hotels in the place and the son of an 
emigrant from Kintail in the bad days" of old, had the effect of 
placing a team at my disposal on the arrival of the train to carry 
me to my destination, the village of Williamstown, some five 
miles from Lancaster. Before proceeding up the country, how- 
ever, I went into the town of Lancaster, first to ascertain whether 
I was really on the track of the friends I purposed visiting, and 
in the second place to make the acquaintance of Mr Macrae, 
of whom I had read in the Celtic Magazine of February 1880. 
Mr Macrae as a host is all he was in 1879, but since that time he 
has lost his eldest son, him to whom he looked to be the stay of 
his old age, and the light of the father's life seems to have gone 
out when his son was taken from him. 

My enquiries proving satisfactory, I was, after a short stay 
in Lancaster, driving at a brisk pace through the dull but bracing 
night air towards Williamstown, Glengarry. 

And this was Glengarry the other Glengarry across the 
Atlantic. This name was the record left by the banished High- 
lander of his loyalty to his native country, notwithstanding its 
indifference to his fate, of his love of his native glen, notwith- 
standing that his last glimpse of it had been caught through 
blinding tears wrung from him by the relentless cruelty with 
which he and his children were hunted out of home and country 
by those who ought to have been their natural protectors. But 
who has fared better in the years that have gone bye since the 
Glengarry and Knoydart evictions the evictor or the evicted ? 
Go to Glengarry, go to Knoydart, and find how many acres 
remain in the family of the evictors. Not one. How, on the 
other hand, has it fared with the evicted ? When they were 
hounded out of the lands which were by right their own, they 
made themselves new homes in a new country, and, to make their 



H2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

homes as homelike as possible, they fell upon the strange conceit of 
calling their new country by the old name, and Glengarry it is to 
this day. And this Glengarry now belongs to their sons, while 
in the home glen the name of their oppressors is forgotten. 

Glenelg, Morar, and Kintail also contributed their quota of 
evicted Highlanders to people the Canadian Glengarry, and now 
the descendants of people who left Scotland, homeless and penni- 
less, within the memory of men yet alive, are landed proprietors, 
cultivating, in most cases, their own land, and living in circum- 
stances always of comfort, and frequently of affluence. 

If the road could have been left out of account, the surround- 
ings were favourable for musing. But in Canadian travelling, the 
road cannot be left out of account. Fortunately, here it was soft 
and dry, and when the wheels suddenly sank down into a two- 
feet deep rut, the sensation was not altogether unlike being tossed 
in a blanket or thrown into a feather bed. I was curious to know 
how the road looked after a spell of wet weather, and began to 
ply my driver with questions, but he was not very communicative. 
What he said, however, seemed to amount to this, that it is never 
wet here for any length of time in summer the roads are 
dry, and, although soft, easily driven over in winter everything 
is frost-bound and hard, and it really does not matter much 
whether you have a road to drive your buggy or sleigh on or not 
a field serves as well ; for a short time in spring things are wet 
and disagreeable, but the period is so short, and the roads are so 
little used during it, that their state causes little inconvenience. 
Three weeks afterwards it was my misfortune to drive over that 
same road, and a mile or two more between the town of Lan- 
caster and the River St Lawrence, and when, looking like an 
animated sample of Canadian soil, I arrived at my destination, I 
thought that that young man had deliberately imposed on a 
simple stranger. 

All this while, however, I am driving towards Williamstown, 
where, about 10 P.M., I was landed at the door of the friends I 
had come to see. Nearly thirty years had elapsed since they had 
seen any one from home, and now there was naturally a great 
deal to ask and tell. When, after hours spent in talking of 
home, of the still living, and of the loved ones who were dead, I 
laid my head on my pillow, I felt that I realised for the first time 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 113 

that an emigrant has often to suffer more than mere physical 
hardships. Home-sickness is sometimes a sad reality, involving 
physical consequences which no amount of material comfort away 
from home can cure. How many, I wonder, of the Highlanders 
lying in the little church-yard opposite my window that night in 
Williamstown, a church-yard containing the dust of many of the 
original settlers of Glengarry, could tell of hearts broken by the 
severance of home ties, by a life-sentence of banishment ? Was 
their cry heard ? Surely it was. We ought not, perhaps, to call 
the misfortunes of our fellow-men judgments, and yet standing 
among the graves of the Highland emigrants of Glengarry, and 
looking back upon the history of their oppressors, one almost 
instinctively remembers that it was the God whom both oppressed 
and oppressor worshipped, who said " The cry of the children of 
Israel is come unto me," and again, " If thou afflict them in any 
wise, and they cry at all unto me, I shall surely hear their cry, 
and my wrath shall wax hot." 

Early in the morning I was astir, and out seeing Williams- 
town. It is not much to look at. The houses are mostly of 
wood, covered with shingles, and the business premises shops 
and inns are the same. It would be putting it too strongly to 
say there was an air of decay about the place, but there is cer- 
tainly a want of life. But it is only a village, for a new country 
a pretty old village, and in many things like a similar place at 
home. The fact is, I suppose, that the place is too far from either 
of the lines of railway running through the County of Glengarry, 
and too near the town of Lancaster to have much chance of be- 
coming anything more than a mere village. Many of the inhabi- 
tants are old settlers who took up their abode in Williamstown 
before their was a railway in the county, and now when they 
find themselves situated between two lines of railway communi- 
cation one the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, and the other 
the Eastern Division of the Canadian Pacific system both too 
far away to do them any good, and one of them near enough to do 
them perhaps a little harm, they are too old to care about making 
another change, and so they sit down contentedly where they 
are. But it would be a mistake to suppose, because Williams- 
town is not a growing place, that its people are not comfortable, 
and, as a rule, well to do. Everybody seems comfortable, and 

II 



ii 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

although Glengarry does not move fast enough to please the 
people of Toronto, its people as a whole are well to do. There 
are of course exceptions. In one or two cases farms were pointed 
out to me which had, until a year or two ago, been owned by 
Scotch settlers, who, it was said, being unable to work the land to 
profit, sold out to French Canadians from the Lower Province, 
who are now making money where the Scotsmen failed. As a 
rule the French Canadian is not noted for energy, especially as 
a farmer, and the fact that a few Scotsmen have been sup- 
planted in Glengarry by a corresponding number of Frenchmen, 
or rather Canadians of French descent, was several times quoted 
to me as if the whole of the Scotch Colony in Glengarry were 
tainted with the vice of the two or three men who are said to 
have failed where success was possible. It need hardly be said, 
however, that what has occurred does not by any means prove 
that the whole of the Scotch Canadians in Glengarry are inferior 
in energy and business capacity to their neighbours, and yet it was 
subsequently put to me in this way by men who could not be sus- 
pected of a desire to discredit our countrymen, and their own, in 
Canada. They put it so, however, to justify a practice which I 
took the liberty of condemning, that of separating Scottish 
settlers, a subject to which I shall presently refer. 

There have been, however, removals from farms in Glengarry 
during the past few years, brought about by causes which have 
operated in other parts of the Dominion as well as throughout all 
the older States of America. The owner of a good farm in 
Ontario can sell it at from forty to one hundred dollars per acre, 
while by moving westward to Manitoba or the North West 
Territory he can purchase a farm of virgin soil of unsurpassed 
fertility for from one to ten dollars per acre. Indeed, it need 
never cost him anything like the latter sum unless he is very 
difficult to please, or desires to acquire a particular section for 
speculative purposes. He can have the choice of the best wheat 
producing lands in the world, situated within easy distance of the 
line of the Canadian Pacific Railway for two and a-half dollars 
per acre, one half of which will be repaid to him for every acre 
brought under cultivation within four years. As the original 
price of the land is payable one-sixth in cash, and the balance in 
five annual instalments, beginning a year after entry, it will be 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 115 

seen that for a man with limited means and a large family to 
provide for, the inducement to go westward is strong. Take the 
case of a farmer in Ontario who owns a farm of 200 acres and 
has six sons. If he remains in Ontario he cannot do much for 
the lads. The farm is too small to divide among them, and the 
father's whole means are tied up in it and the stock upon it He 
cannot even provide his sons with capital to make a fair start for 
themselves either at home or in the West if he is to stick to his 
Ontario home. In these circumstances his farm, which is worth 
probably sixty dollars per acre, is put into the market, and fetches 
twelve thousand dollars (2406). With this sum, and the pro- 
ceeds of the stock, the whole family go to the West, and in a few 
weeks the father and each of his six sons are settled in farms 
each as large as the one they left, and probably more fertile. 
The payment of the first instalments of the purchase price takes 
less than six hundred dollars (120), so that, leaving out of 
account the proceeds of the stock of the old farm, the family have 
still a capital of 11,400 dollars, or about 2280, to work upon. 
At the end of five years, if they are industrious, their farms are 
their own, at a total cost for the whole seven of 1750 dollars, a 
little over 350, or about one-seventh of the price fetched by the 
one farm in Ontario. This, it need scarcely be said, is a result 
which could not have been brought about had the family re- 
mained at home. But even this is by no means the best that a 
family such as I have instanced can do for themselves in the 
West, for, by the manner in which the prairie lands of the North- 
West are surveyed for settlement, each member of the family 
might take up a free homestead grant of 160 acres in one section, 
and. purchase an adjoining quarter section of 160 acres of railway 
lands. In this way each of them would acquire a farm of 320 
acres at a cost less by one-fifth than I have given for a 200 
acre farm. Moreover, the family would not be separated, for by 
the admirable arrangements of the Canadian Government in hav- 
ing free homestead land, and land which can be acquired only by 
purchase, laid out in alternate sections (640 acres), the members 
of a family who wish to settle near each other can have all their 
farms adjoining without losing any of the benefits of separate 
settlement. 

There have been cases of unsuccessful farming, I have no 



n6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

doubt, in Glengarry as elsewhere, and among Scotch settlers as 
among settlers of other nationalities, but that every case where a 
Scotch settler sells his farm is to be accounted for by want of 
success where success was possible, I do not believe. In Toronto, 
when I questioned the wisdom of the policy pursued in the 
Government of separating Scotch settlers from each other, while 
settlers from other countries were afforded facilities for living 
together, I was told that my countrymen never did well as 
farmers when they were left to themselves and formed a purely 
Scotch settlement, and Glengarry was quoted as an instance; 
while, on the other hand, it was stated that when mixed with 
settlers of other nationalities the emulative spirit of the Scotsman 
was roused, and he became the best farmer, the most successful 
merchant, and the most prominent man in his district. I could 
not see then, and I cannot yet see, that Glengarry exhibits any- 
thing to warrant so sweeping a charge against purely Scottish 
settlements. The farmers of Morayshire, of Easter Ross, and of 
East Lothian are mainly, if not entirely Scotsmen, and if there is 
land in Canada better farmed than the land in these districts of 
Scotland, I did not sec it. What Scotsmen can do here they can 
do in Canada. It does not require any admixture of a foreign 
element to make Scotsmen prosperous in Scotland, and it is 
difficult to understand why such an admixture should be necessary 
in Canada. I do not say that Glengarry is all it might be, all 
that I would like it to be, a model for the rest of Ontario, but I 
do say, after paying it a second visit, and going through a great 
part of two of the four townships into which the country is 
divided Charlottenburgh and Lancaster that the farming of 
Glengarry, so far as I was able to judge of it, is at least equal to 
the average of Canada. 

It is time now, however, to be moving westwards. On a 
dull heavy morning my friend Jack Sullivan, having carefully 
packed me into his buggy as if he feared I might be broken in 
transit, drove me into Lancaster in good time for the westward 
train. Time enough fortunately to see and make the acquaint- 
ance of a few more Highlanders two of them Macdonalds 
uncle and nephew, both genuine Celts, who would persist in ad- 
dressing me in Gaelic, and could not be got to understand how it 
was that a native of Inverness, and a friend of the Editor of the 



MEMENTOS OF MY FATHER'S GRAVE. u; 

Celtic Magazine, did not know his native language. I deplored 
the shortsightedness of those responsible for my upbringing in 
neglecting so important a branch of my education ; reminded 
them that in my youth Gaelic was not so fashionable an acquire- 
ment, as, thanks very much to my friend Professor Blackie, it has 
since become ; and then, having drowned all discord in a drop of 
old rye, I left my new-found friends with a qualified promise to 
take the earliest opportunity of remedying the defect in my edu- 
cation. K. M'D, 
(To be continued.) 



MEMENTOS OF MY FATHER'S GRAVE.* 



Soft, silky leaves of freshest green, 

Which grew upon my father's grave ; 
Mementos hallowed of a man 

Whose heart was warm, sincere, and brave. 

Of humble sphere, but noble aims, 

He calmly stemmed life's stormy sea ; 
Upright and manly, frank and pure, 

A trusty friend, and true was he. 

A loving husband, faithful, kind, 

A tender father, wise, discreet ; 
Our weal his chief concern, delight, 

His happy home made labour sweet. 

His words were few, for well he weighed 

Each thought and subject ere he spoke ; 
In humour rich ; and oft essayed 

A simple, pleasant, harmless joke. 

My father ! thy blest memory 

I dearly cherish day by day ; 
And for its sake I'll prize these leaves 

Which grew above thy sacred clay. 

And when life's course with me is run, 

When soon or late I must resign 
This earthly frame, oh, may it rest 
Beneath a turf as green as thine ! 
New York. DUNCAN MACGREGOK CRERAR. 

* Written on receiving a few beautifully fresh green leaves, which grew on our 
father's grave, from my brother Alexander, to whom the above verses are most 
affectionately inscribed. 



1,8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 
BY M. A. ROSE. 



I. 

OF the hundreds who yearly visit Edinburgh, and among other 
sights, go to gaze on the Regalia, how few know the history 
of these national relics ; the many dangers and vicissitudes they 
have passed through ; the narrow escape they once had of 
falling into the hands of Oliver Cromwell, and thus being most 
probably lost to Scotland for ever. Hence, we think, that a 
glance at their history may not prove altogether uninteresting. 

The ancient Regalia, or, to use the old name, the Honours 
of Scotland, fell into the hands of the victorious Edward I., who, 
having gained his purpose by using the weak and facile John 
Baliol as his tool, as soon as that purpose was accomplished, felt 
no compunction in despoiling the newly made king, not only of 
all real power, but even of the insignia of authority. In 1296 
Baliol was summoned to appear before Edward at the Castle of 
Montrose, and there, to use the words of the old writer, Wyntown, 
was " dyspoyled." 

" Of all hys robys of royalte : 
The pelure thai tuk off his tabart, 
(Twme Tabart he was callyt efteyrwart.) 
And all othire insyngnys, 
That fel to kyngis on ony wys, 
Bathe scepter, swerd, crowne, and ryng, 
Frae this Jhon that he made kyng, 
Halyly fra hym tuk thai thare, 
And made hym of the kynryk bare : 
Than this Jhon tuk a qwhyt wand, 
And gave up in-til Edwardis hand, 
Of this kynryk all the rycht, 
That he than had, or have mycht, 
Fra hym and all his ayris thare, 
Tharept to claime it nevyr mare." 

What Edward did with the Honours, thus ruthlessly obtained, is 
not known ; most probably the gold and jewels were sold to help 
to defray the expenses of his army ; certain it is that they were 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 119 

never seen in Scotland again. This is borne out by the fact that, 
when Bruce first succeeded in asserting his right to the Scottish 
Throne, and was crowned at Scone, the ancient Regalia were not in 
existence ; or, at least, if they were, they were not within his reach, 
for a temporary circle or coronal of gold was made for the pur- 
pose, and even this poor substitute for the ancient crown fell into 
the hands of the English after the defeat of Bruce at the dis- 
astrous battle of Methven. 

It is supposed that the present Crown was made by order of 
Robert Bruce after he had again succeeded in gaining the throne, 
as it was said to be the one used at the coronation of his son, 
David II., in 1329. At all events the learned in such matters 
declare the workmanship of the older portion of the Crown to be 
as early as the fourteenth century. The precious stones in it are 
in a rough state ; whereas in all workmanship of a later date the 
stones are cut into facets. Again, previous to the time of Bruce, 
all the representations of the Scottish Crown, on coins and seals, 
show a diadem ornamented with fleurs de Us only ; but after his 
time, ti\z fleurs de Us are interchanged with crosses, as appears on 
the present crown. Next in point of antiquity comes the Sword 
of State, which is a beautiful specimen of early art, not only 
interesting to the antiquary, but also to the lover of art as an 
example of the great perfection attained by the artificers of the 
sixteenth century. This sword was presented to King James IV. 
by Pope Julius II. in the year 1507. The handle is richly chased, 
and the sheath covered with filigree work, executed with great 
delicacy and skill. Representations of the Papal Tiara and the 
keys of St Peter are intermingled with the foliage of oak leaves 
and acorns, the personal device of Pope Julius. His Holiness 
also presented to the king at the same time a consecrated hat, 
both of which presents were delivered with great ceremony and 
solemnity in the Church of Holyrood by the Papal Legate and 
the Abbot of Dunfermline. 

The Sceptre is of a somewhat later date. When James V. 
was preparing for his alliance with one of the princesses of France 
he would naturally wish that his Regalia should be as splendid as 
possible, and it is said that he took advantage of his visit to Paris, 
in 1536, to employ some of the noted artists of that city to make 
a Sceptre for him, as well as to very materially alter and improve 



120 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the Crown, by adding two concentric circles, surmounted at the 
point of intersection by a mound of gold, enamelled, and a large 
cross patee, upon which is engraved J.R.V. It is evident that 
these circles or arches did not form part of the original crown ; 
for the workmanship is of a different and inferior description, the 
metal is not of the same quality, the gold being less pure than 
that used in the diadem, to which the added arches are attached 
by gold tacks. In the Advocates' Library there is a MS. diary 
of Lord Fountainhall, in which there is a memorandum to the 
effect that "the Crown of Scotland is not the ancient one, but 
was casten of new by James V." We expect this statement must 
be taken in the limited sense of King James having added to 
and altered the original crown, and not that he made an entirely 
new one. 

The Sceptre bears the same initials as the Crown, viz., J.R.V., 
and is surmounted by a large mass of rock crystal with peculiar 
setting, which, from the rudeness of its style, appears out of char- 
acter with the rest of the workmanship, and seems to point to a 
much earlier period of art. It has been suggested that this stone, 
" which in the wardrobe inventories is dignified with the name of 
a 'great beryll,' was an amulet which had made part of the more 
ancient Sceptre of the Scottish kings. 

The Honours were always used at the coronation of the Mon- 
arch, and when Parliament assembled they used to be borne in 
solemn procession to the Hall of Assembly, and worn by the 
Sovereign. In his absence they were laid on the table in front of 
the throne as emblems of the royal authority, and the king's con- 
sent to Acts of Parliament was signified by touching them with 
the Sceptre. 

The different articles of the Regalia were entrusted to the 
care of the Earl Marshall of Scotland, which high office was 
hereditary in the family of Keith; but during the time when 
Parliament was not sitting the Regalia were kept with the rest of 
the royal treasure in the Jewel House, under the care of the 
Treasurer. This arrangement was made in consequence of the 
Earl Marshall's estates and castles being so far north, and at 
such a distance from the seat of Government. 

In an inventory of the royal treasure, taken in 1539, the Re- 
galia are thus described : 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 121 

" JOWELLIS. 

" Item, ane crowne of gold, sett with perle and precious stanis. 

" Item, in primis diamentis, tuenty. 

" Item, of fyne orient perle thre scoir and aucht, wantand ane 
floure delice of gold. 

" Item, ane septour, with ane grete bereal and ane perle in the 
heid of it 

" Item, twa swerdis of honour, with twa beltis, the auld belt 
wantand foure stuthis. 

" Item, the hatt that come fra the Paip, of grey velvett, with 
the Haly Gaist set all with orient perle." 

In another inventory, taken in 1 542, they are thus described 

" Item, in the first his grace's croun, full of precius stanes 
and orient perle, with ane septur set with ane greit barrell. 

" Item, twa swerdis of honour, with twa beltis wantand four 
stuthis. 

"Item, ane rob royall of purpour velvatt lynitt with armin, and 
ane kirtill of the samyne velvatt, lynitt in the foir breistis with 
armyn and heid siclyk. 

" Item, the Queen's Grace's croun, set haill with the perle and 
precious stanis, with ane sceptour with ane quhyte hand." 

Again, in 1621, a more accurate description is given in the 
inventory, in which all the blemishes are mentioned ; for instance, 
it says that ten of the small cJialloms, or spaces, were filled with 
blue enamel instead of stones ; two cJialloms quite empty, and two 
other filled in with white stones, also, that the top of the Sceptre 
was broken, and that the handle and scabbard of the Sword of 
State had been damaged, all of which injuries, we believe, to be 
still observable. 

One of the swords mentioned in the inventories, as well as 
" the queen's graces croun, the hatt that come frae the Paip, and 
the rob royall of purpour velvatt," have long since disappeared, 
leaving only the three articles, the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of 
State. 

When James VI. succeeded to the Crown of England he 
took south with him most of the royal treasure ; but the Honours 
were considered to belong exclusively to the Scottish Nation, and 



I22 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

were left as before in charge of the Treasurer when Parliament 
was not sitting. 

It is stated that when Charles I. was crowned he wished to 
have the Honours of Scotland sent to London for that purpose ; 
but the Scottish Privy Council would not allow them to be taken 
out of the kingdom. So highly did Charles value the ancient 
Regalra of his ancestors, coupled it may be with a desire to please 
the national pride of his Northern subjects, that, after his corona- 
tion in London, he made a journey to Edinburgh, and was there 
again crowned with the Honours of Scotland. 

This incident closes what we might term the first and most 
glorious part of the history of the Regalia. Within a very few 
years of the time when they figured at the coronation of Charles 
I., amid the applause of a whole nation, the political sky became 
darkened with the worst of all tempests a civil war. 

On the 6th of June 1651, the Scottish Parliament sat amid 
the confusion and turmoil caused by the advance of Cromwell and 
.his victorious Ironsides. Edinburgh was no longer a safe place 
for the Honours, and one of the last acts of the Parliament was to 
order the Earl Marshall to remove the Regalia for better safety 
to his " strong Castle of Dunottor, within the shyre of Mearns, as 
a place of greatest security and distance from the Enemie." Soon 
after this was done, the Earl Marshall was himself called to the 
field in the service of his king. In this dilemma he chose Captain 
George Ogilvie of Barras, a prudent, brave, and loyal soldier, who 
had served with distinction in the German Wars, as his lieu- 
tenant, and granted a commission to him, dated 8th July 1651, 
in which he gives him the entire charge of Dunnottar Castle, the 
Regalia, and many valuable documents, which had been placed 
in his hands for safety. 

Sir John Keith (the Earl Marshall) went to England, en- 
gaged in the battle of Worcester, was afterwards captured, and 
sent a prisoner to London, where he was confined in the 
Tower. In the meantime Captain Ogilvie began to fear for the 
safety of his valuable charge, as he had neither men, ammunition, 
nor provisions sufficient to stand a long siege, with which he was 
now threatened. In this strait he applied for instructions and 
advice to John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, the Chancellor, His 
lordship replied that as neither the Parliament nor the Committee 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 123 

of Estates had met, he could give no positive advice nor order on 
his own responsibility; and he goes on to say, "if you want provi- 
sions, soldiers, and ammunition, and cannot hold out against all 
the assaults of the enemy, which is feared you cannot do, if hard 
put to it, I know of no better expedient than that the Honours be 
speedily and safely transported to some remote and strong castle 
in the Highlands; and I wish you had delivered them to the 
Lord Balcarres, as was desired by the Committee of Estates ; nor 
do I know any better way for the preservation of these things and 
your exoneration. And it will be an irreparable loss and shame 
if these things shall be taken by the enemy, and very dishonour- 
able for yourself." 

Thus Captain Ogilvie was placed in a very unenviable posi- 
tion, with the great responsibility on his shoulders of the safe 
keeping of the Honours of the nation, without adequate means to 
defend them from assault. True, he might have relieved himself 
by delivering them to the Earl of Balcarres, as desired by the Com- 
mittee of Estates, but he did not consider their order a sufficient 
warrant ; for he says in a letter to Balcarres, " haveing reseaved 
the charge of that hous (the Castle of Dunotter) and what was 
intrustett therein, from the Earll Marshell, and then by a parti- 
cular warrand under his Majestie's own hand," ... "I con- 
ceave that ther is no place in this kingdom quhair they cane be 
more secure nor quhair they ar, and with less charges, if the 
Comitie of Estaits be pleased to tak order tymeouslie for furnish- 
ing of me with such things as is necessar for defence of this hous." 

Ogilvie soon found, however, that Dunnottar was not a suffi- 
ciently secure place, for it was closely besieged by the Parlia- 
mentary army, and was summoned to surrender three several 
times, first by General Overton, on the 8th November 1651, again, 
on the 22nd of the same month, by General Button, and lastly, 
by General Lambert, on the 3rd January 1652, who offered him 
most honourable terms, which Ogilvie refused in the following- 
spirited letter : " Honored Sir, I have receaved yours for sur- 
rendering the Castle of Dunnotter, the lyk whereoff I have re- 
ceaved from sundrie of your officiars befor, and have given answers 
therto: that being intrusted be his Majestic I wold not surrender 
the same upon any hazard whatsomever, but intends, by the help 
of the Lord, to maintainc the same till I shall have orders from 



124 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

his Majestic in the contrair. I shall be as loath as any to occasi- 
onc the effusione of blood, whereoff too much hath bene alreadie, 
but shall be far more loath to betray the trust imposed upon me. 
I cannot but thank you for your offers, and remaine, Sir, your 
servant, GEORGE OGILVY." 

January 7, 1652. 

And this brave soldier did actually hold his own against the 
might of Cromwell, until the month of May, the same year, when 
he received a letter from the Earl Marshall saying that he had 
resolved to put himself, his fortune, and prosperity, freely into the 
hands of the Lord General, and make the best terms he could 
for his future liberty, and, consequently, ordered Ogilvie to sur- 
render his Castle of Dunnottar to Major-General Deane, on the 
most favourable conditions he could make. 

One can well imagine that Ogilvie was not sorry to be thus 
relieved of his arduous and dangerous post ; he immediately set 
about making arrangements for vacating Dunnottar Castle, and 
corresponded with General Deane as to the terms for " the randi- 
tione of the Castle." He succeeded in getting very handsome 
terms, as such a gallant soldier deserved; and, on the 24th of 
May 1652, he and his small garrison marched out with drums 
beating and colours flying. 

One of the conditions of the surrender of Dunnottar was that 
the Honours of Scotland should be given up to the English 
General; but Captain Ogilvie, though quite willing to give up 
the castle at the command of its owner, was too good a patriot to 
tamely submit to be the instrument of disgracing his nation 
by allowing its Regalia to fall into the hands of the enemy. He 
had accordingly taken precautions for the safety of these na- 
tional relics, the particulars of which must be left for another 
paper. 



THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. We are glad to intimate a 
series of papers on the Ethics of Political Economy, by Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guern- 
sey. The first will appear in our next issue. Among other errors and confusion of 
thought prevalent on this subject, Mr Mackenzie will point out what he considers unsound 
in the recently published works of Mr Alfred Russell Wallace, and Mr Henry George, 
on the Nationalisation of the Land. The Celtic Magazine being entirely non-political, 
from a party point of view, we shall be glad to hear all sides, from whatever social 
standpoint, on this important subject, 



125 



AN ANCIENT BRITISH HILL-FORT. 



NEAR the south angle of Renfrewshire, in the parish of Mearns, a 
rugged and abrupt looking hill called Dun-Carnock Dun-Carnach 
in Gaelic, or Din-Cyrniog in British stands towering about 400 
feet above the subjacent fields. This hill is a remarkable feature 
in the landscape, and wears a hoary antiquated aspect. Like its 
venerable relation, Dumbarton Rock, it has two summits, the 
eastern top being the higher and more narrow one, while the 
western end of the hill is flatter and broader, with a perennial 
fountain of water in its centre. The huge rocks and boulders 
that stand out from the green fallow turf are overgrown with 
moss and grey lichens, the accumulation of ages. The ascent to 
this lower summit is almost perpendicular, and round the more 
accessible portion of its brow are still to be seen the formidable 
remains of an ancient wall, curving round what appears to have 
been once a strongly fortified area. This wall, as well as the 
other relics of art about the hill, points back to a very remote 
period, probably to a time anterior to the Norman invasion. It 
may be as old as the time of the Roman occupation, and may 
have been built by our Caledonian forefathers to defend them- 
selves against the hosts of Caesar, and occupied as a convenient 
place of rendezvous from which to rush with better effect upon 
the daring invaders and drive them out of the country. We may 
imagine this to have been a citadel of warriors for many cen- 
turies, perhaps at one time a garrison and sallying point of Fingal, 
the son of Morni, and his host of heroes, when they defended 
Albion of the sounding streams and hoary rocks against the well- 
armed forces of the King of the World. 

Whatever may have been its particular history, Dun-Carnock 
must have been a notorious place of strength and importance to 
the early Caledonians that sleep beneath the green sod of this 
ancient fort, and under the many cairns and tumuli of the far 
spreading strath. And as little or no mention of this place is 
made in the history of our country, we may safely presume that 
it, in common with Din-Glas and Dun-Briton, was late in yield- 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

ing, if ever it did, to the persistent and aggressive Saxons, who 
sought to make themselves the dominant people over the whole 

island. 

As a garrison and place of defence, it is well situated, so as 
to command a view of all the ample Vale of Clyde, from the roof- 
shaped hill of Tintock that stands on the South-eastern horizon, 
and from the sloping ranges of Campsie Fells and Kilpatrick 
Braes, to the Rock of Dumbarton and the Highland mountains, 
that blend with the clouds of the North. Between those extreme 
points there are many interesting and remarkable features, and 
many of their names are evidently of early British origin, such as 
Cathkin, Carnmunnock, Dychmont, Camslang, Glasford, Strath- 
aven, Carmvath, Campsie, Glasgow, etc.; and as these British names 
occur more frequently in this than in any other district of Southern 
Scotland, we may presume that ancient British was spoken in this 
region long after it had blended into the Gaelic, or given place to 
the Saxon in other parts of South Britain. Yet so closely has 
the early British nomenclature clung to the rocks and streams, 
hollows and hills of Stratli Chvyd, that we may look upon them 
as undying echoes from the past of the rude and hardy race that 
dwelt in the woods of Caledonia, when first mentioned in history 
by Tacitus; and so characteristic of Wales, are the names of places, 
that a Welshman on a tour through the country might easily 
fancy himself on a visit to some part of his own Principality. 

N. M'NEIL BRODIE. 
Halifax, N.S. 



ALI-NA-PAIRC. Having read the anecdote regarding 
this local character, which appeared in a recent number, "Mac 
Iain" sends us one which is almost equally good. It is as 
follows : Ali went one day into the kitchen at Holme Rose, 
where he had often been before and since, and having received a 
large bone to pick, he walked outside with it ; for he was too much 
of a gentleman to sit in any kitchen to dinner. He went to the 
side of a hedge close by, and began to pick his bone, when, 
shortly afterwards, Mr Rose happened to pass by, and, on seeing 
Ali, said, " Hollo, Ali, are you here ?" " Aye, aye," answered Ali, 
"you will speak to me, Mr Rose, when you see that I have some- 
thing." 



12; 



MR WILLIAM JOLLY, HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTOR 
OF SCHOOLS. 



SUSPICIOUSNESS of strangers, especially if they speak only the 
language of the Saxon, was, at times, we fear, characteristic of 
the Highland race. It was this trait of our character which Sir 
Walter Scott put, perhaps in its most forbidding aspect, in the 
mouth of the heroic Amazon, who guarded the Pass at Aberfoyle, 
when she demanded of the sycophantic Glasgow Bailie " What 
fellow are you that dare to claim kindred with the Macregor, and 
neither wear his dress nor speak his language ? What are you 
that have the tongue and the habit of the hound, and yet seek to 
lie down with the deer ?" On the other hand, it was, and is no 
less true of us, as a people, that we very warmly recognise, and 
no less cordially reciprocate, kindness and appreciative sympathy, 
when these are extended toward us by those at whose hands we 
might have expected different treatment. We yield to none in 
the sincerity with which the deepest feelings of our nature express, 
when circumstances require it, the sentiment that moved the Jews 
of old to plead for blessings on the household of a friendly and 
generous alien " He loveth our nation." We are not sure that 
we have always done full justice to our Southern friends in our 
doubts, for, after all, we must confess that, while not a few of 
the great and the powerful of our own race have proved recreant 
to the trust imposed upon them of providing for the comfort and 
happiness of the Highland people we have had among us many 
large-hearted strangers capable of appreciating what is good in 
the race, and willing to devote themselves to the task of educat- 
ing our people in the exercise and development of the latest 
powers and possibilities of their nature. Pre-eminent among these 
stands out the name of Professor Blackie, and, perhaps, second 
to his, in a quieter though less conspicuous way, is that of Mr 
William Jolly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, whose de- 
parture from Inverness suggest these reflections. 

About fourteen years ago Mr Jolly came among us a com- 
plete stranger, familiar with neither our people, our language, nor 



128 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

our country. He had not been long in our midst, however, when 
he showed that his position here was not to be the cold and per- 
functory one of a mere official. With that ardent and enthusias- 
tic temperament which is so conspicuous a feature of his charac- 
ter, he assiduously and sympathetically devoted himself to the 
study of our social condition and capabilities as a people, and the 
best methods for rendering effective whatever would tend to the 
elevation and social advancement of the Highlanders. Edu- 
cation with Mr Jolly meant no mere cramming of the mind with 
the dry details of the three R's. It has always been his desire 
rather by creating an internal interest in and thirst for know- 
ledge to promote to its highest purpose the faculty of self-educa- 
tion ; and, while he did not discourage the most minute and care- 
ful attention to the ordinary scholastic methods of instruction, he 
was ever ready to avail himself of the rich and ready accessories 
which surrounding nature afforded. He found " tongues in trees, 
books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in 
eveiy thing." 

Those against the use of the Gaelic language, for the purpose 
of conveying instruction in Highland schools, found in Mr Jolly 
a most uncompromising opponent, and on more than one occasion, 
during his sojourn in the North, he gave unmistakeable utterance 
to his sentiments on that question. Specially was this the case 
at the annual supper of the Gaelic Society of Inverness in Janu- 
ary 1880, when he expressed his strong dissent from views antag- 
onistic to the use of the Gaelic language, urged by several of 
his brother inspectors in the Highlands. Further, in his official 
report to the Education Department, in 1878, he made 
special reference to the subject, stating fully his opinion that, 
while English ought to receive the first attention as the " lan- 
guage of trade, commerce, current literature, and general inter- 
course necessary for success in life, and desired by Highlanders 
themselves," Gaelic should be used in the oral teaching of Eng- 
lish, this being the method which reason and wisdom would sug- 
gest, and that it should also be afterwards taught on account of 
the importance of Gaelic literature as an instrument of education 
and culture to the Gaelic people." 

It was not, however, merely in connection with what con- 
cerned their specific education that Mr Jolly's large-hearted and 



MR WILLIAM JOLLY. 129 

kindly solicitude went forth toward the Highland people. Any 
movement that tended to their moral and social good found in 
him a staunch and active friend. This interest in our country 
and people was warmly expressed when, last month, he was pre- 
sented with a silver tea service and a purse of sovereigns, as a 
token of the respect and esteem in which he was held by all who 
came into contact with him, while he went out and in among us. 
The presentation was made by Sheriff Blair in choice, appro- 
priate, and complimentary language, which found an approving 
response in the heart of every one present. 

Referring to his appointment fourteen years ago, Mr Jolly 
said that he came full of the idea which possessed the minds of 
so many Saxons, that he was coming to a " barren country and 
wild rocks of culture," but he had to confess heartily and 
honestly that his experience had led him to adopt entirely different 
views ; and well do his life and work in the North testify to the 
fact. He then proceeded : 

" No one knows Scotland that does not know the Celtic por- 
tion of it, with all its special problems and special circumstances; 
and I am glad to have had opportunities of being on the spot, and 
of studying these northern portions of our country, and forming my 
own conclusions respecting the different problems it presents, and 
the progress effected. The people, the Celtic people, are them- 
selves a most remarkable and most interesting part of the com- 
munity. Although they are wanting in certain elements of, per- 
haps, the moral stamina and sturdy independence of the Saxon, 
they have other elements in their character which are wanting in 
the Saxon, and which put them on the highest pinnacle of cul- 
ture. They are, in spite of recent exhibitions, a law-loving and 
a law-abiding people, honest, silent, and careful in their work, 
devoted to the domestic circle, willing to live independent lives, 
satisfied with little, and, indeed, happy with that little. And they 
have certain elements of emotional and other parts of culture 
which go to make the true gentleman and the true lady. These 
elements, when combined with Saxon sturdiness and Saxon in- 
dependence, have largely contributed to make our population 
what it is, and have given our culture and our poetry those dis- 
tinguishing characteristics for which it is justly admired. I have 
had, as Inspector of Schools, opportunities of moving amongst the 



1 30 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

people and of observing them, and the opinion which I 
have now expressed is a deliberate conviction upon my part. 
What I have seen will enable me, in going South, to correct 
certain prevalent impressions that are erroneous regarding the 
people of the Highlands impressions formed on special presen- 
tations of character which one now and again comes across, but 
which do not in any degree give an accurate idea of the people 
Highlanders are. I am proud of having an opportunity of 
correcting these impressions, and of bearing testimony to 
the worth of the Highland people. Questions regarding their 
social position have now acquired an importance which they 
never had before, and I have no doubt the issue will be a much 
greater and a better contentment when there is an adjustment of 
certain questions that have now arisen between landlord and 
tenant. I think the country is rising to the importance of 
improving the condition of the Highlanders in a way it has 
never done before ; and I think we shall only be wise, as a people, 
when we understand that we ought to have a contented peasantry 
in our Highland glens, instead of making these glens other men's 
playgrounds, such as some of them are at present." 

Our statement would be incomplete did we not make some 
reference to Mr Jolly's important labours in the walks of science 
and literature. In the work of the local Scientific Society and 
Field Club he always manifested the most lively interest, acting 
frequently as leader in some department, on occasion of their 
summer excursions, and giving the benefit of his varied know- 
ledge and experience. 

Mr Jolly's contributions to literature, though not numerous, 
are of considerable importance. His largest work, that on Edu- 
cation, based on the labours of Combe, is a valuable addition to 
the already extensive literature of the subject. From his pen 
have also come a most interesting little work on "Burns at 
Mossgiel;" a life of John Duncan, the Alford botanical weaver, 
now in the press ; and various articles on the serial literature of 
the country, among them being several papers chiefly on High- 
land education, social life and 1'iterature, with which the pages of 
the Celtic Magazine have on repeated occasions been enriched. 



DEPOPULATION OF THE COUNTY OF ARGYLL. 

SOME very extraordinary public utterances were recently made 
by two gentlemen closely connected with the County of Argyll, 
questioning or attempting to explain away statements made in the 
House of Commons by Mr D. H. Macfarlane, M.P., to the effect 
that the rural population was, from various causes, fast disappear- 
ing from the Highlands. These utterances were, one, by a no 
less distinguished person than the Duke of Argyll, who published 
his remarkable propositions in the Times ; the other by Mr John 
Ramsay, M.P., the Islay distiller, who imposed his baseless as- 
sertions on his brother members in the House of Commons. 
These oracles should have known better. They must clearly 
have taken no trouble whatever to ascertain the facts for them- 
selves, or, having ascertained them, kept them back that the 
public might be misled on a question with which, it is obvious to 
all, the personal interests of both are largely mixed up. 

Let us see how the assertions of these authorities agree with 
the actual facts. In 1831 the population of the County of Argyll 
was 100,973 \ m l $4 l it was 97,37 1 ; in 1851 it was reduced to 
88,567 ; and in 1881 it was down to 76,468. Of the latter 
number the Registrar- General classifies 30,387 as urban, or the 
population of " towns and villages," leaving us only 46,081 as the 
total rural population of the county of Argyll at the date of the 
last census, in 1881. 

It will be necessary to keep in mind that in 1831 the county 
could not be said to have had many " town and village " in- 
habitants not more than from 12,000 to 15,000 at most 
These resided chiefly in Campbelton, Inveraray, and Oban ; and 
if we deduct from the total population for that year, numbering 
100,973, even the larger estimate, 15,000, of an urban or town 
population, we have still left, in 1831, an actual rural population of 
8 5>973> or within a fraction of double the whole>ural population 
of the county in 1881. In other words, the rural population of 
Argyllshire is reduced in fifty years from 85,973 to 46,081, or 
nearly one-half! ." 

The increase of the urban or town population is going on at 
a fairly rapid rate Campbelton, Dunoon, Oban, Ballachulish, 



I 32 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Blairmorc and Strone, Innellan, Lochgilphead, Tarbet, and 
Tighnabruaich, combined, having added no less than some 
5 500 to the population of the county in the ten years from 1 87 1 
to 1 88 1. These populous places will be found respectively in the 
parishes of Campbelton, Lismore and Appin, Dunoon and Kil- 
mun, Glassary, Kilcalmonell and Kilberry, and in Kilfinan ; and 
this will at once account for the comparatively good figure which 
these parishes make in the subjoined tabulated statement. The 
table given below will show exactly in which parishes and at 
what rate depopulation progressed during the last fifty years. 
In many instances the population was larger before 1831 than at 
that date, but the years given will generally give us the best 
idea of how the matter stood throughout that whole period. The 
state of the population given in 1831 was before the famine 
which occurred in 1836; while 1841 comes in between that of 
1836 and 1846-47, during which period large numbers were 
sent away, or left for the Colonies. There was no famine be- 
tween 1851 and 1 88 1, a time during which the population was 
reduced from 88,567 to 76,468, notwithstanding the great increase 
which took place simultaneously in the " town and village " sec- 
tion of the people in the county, as well as throughout the 
country generally. 

Though the subjoined table is not quite so complete as we 
shall yet make it, still it will be found of considerable interest 
and value, in the face of such absurd and groundless statements as 
those to which we have referred, coming from such high authori- 
ties ! The table, when completed, will afterwards form one of a 
series, applicable to the whole northern counties, in course of 
preparation, and similarly arranged, and which is to appear in 
the Editor's History of the Highland Clearances, to be issued this 
month by the publishers of the Celtic Magazine. We venture 
to think that they will not only prove interesting, but really 
useful, at a time like this, in helping to remove the dust thrown 
for so many years past in the eyes of the public on this question 
of Highland depopulation by individuals personally interested in 
concealing the actual facts from those who have it in their power 
to put an effective check on the few unpatriotic proprietors in the 
North who are mainly responsible for 'clearing the country, by 
one means or another, for their own selfish ends. 



DEPOPULATION OF COUNTY OF ARGYLL. 133 

Statement showing Population in 1831, 1841, 1851, and i88i y of 
all the Parishes in whole or in part in the County of A rgyll : 

1831 1841 1851 1881 

Ardchattan and Muckairn - 2420 2264 2313 2005 

Ardnamurchan - - ... 5581 5446 4105 

Campbelton - - 9472 9539 9381 9755 

Craignish - 892 970 873 451 

Dunoon and Kilmun - - ... 2853 4518 8002 

Gigha and Cara - - 534 550 547 382 

Glassary - 4054 5369 4711 4348 

Glenorchy and Inishail - - 1806 831 1450 1705 

Inveraray - - 2233 2277 2229 946 

Inverchaolain - 596 699 474 407 

Jura and Colonsay - 2205 2291 1901 1343 

Kilbrandon and Kilchattan - 2833 2602 2375 1767 

Kilcalmonell and Kilberry - ... 2460 2859 2304 

Kilchoman - - 4822 4505 4142 2547 

Kilchrenan and Dalavich - 1096 894 776 504 

Kildalton - - 3065 3315 3310 2271 

Kilfinan ~ 2004 lSl6 I( ^95 2153 

Kilfinichen and Kilviceuen - 3819 4102 3054 1982 

Killarrow and Kilmeny - 7105 7341 4882 2756 

Killean and Kilchenzie - 2866 2401 2219 1368 

Kilmalie - 4210 -- 5397 - - 5235 4157 

Kilmartin - - 1475 1213 1144 811 

Kilmodan - *. 648 578 500 323 

Kilmore and Kilbride - - 2836 4327 3131 5142 

Kilninian and Kilmore - - ... 4322 3954 2540 

Kilninver and Kilmelford - 1072 970 714 405 

Knapdale, North - - 2583 2170 1666 927 

Knapdale, South - - 2137 1537 2178 2536 

Lismore and Appin - - 4365 4193 4097 - - 3433 

Lochgoilhead and Kilmorich 1196 noo 834 870 

Morvern - 2036 1781 1547 828 

Saddell and Skipness - - 2152 1798 1504 1163 

Small Isles - - 1015 993 916 550 

Southend - - 2120 1598 - - 1406 - 955 

Strachur and Stralachan - 1083 - - 1086 - 915 932 

Tiree and Coll \< ^ - 5769 6096 4818 3376 

Torosay - ... 1616 1361 - - 1102 

A. M, 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



GENERAL SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON, V.C., 
K.C.B., K.S.I. 



IN Sir Herbert Macpherson we are glad to recognise a true born 
Highlander, and we feel sure that a few pages of the Celtic Maga- 
zine cannot be occupied more fittingly, or in a way more grati- 
fying to our readers, than by some short account of his family con- 
nections and career. 

Sir Herbert's grandfather was James Macpherson, for many 
years factor on the Cawdor estates, and tenant of the farm of 
Ardersier a gentleman who, in the early years of the century, 
was widely known and highly respected in this district of coun- 
try. Mr Macpherson had eight sons, all of whom lived to man- 
hood, and served their country in the army or the navy, and in 
those stirring times saw much service. When the /8th High- 
landers was raised and embodied at Fort-George, two of these 
sons raised parties of men for it, and entered it, one afterwards 
killed in Java, as captain, and the other, then a mere lad, as en- 
sign. The latter, Duncan Macpherson, was the father of Sir 
Herbert. He served in the 78th until he rose to the command of 
the regiment, which he held for some years, and then, on the 
death of his mother, retired from the army, and settled at Arder- 
sier, where he and his family lived for a considerable time. 
Colonel Macpherson married Miss Campbell, daughter of Mr 
Campbell of Fornighty and of his wife, a daughter of Mr Mack- 
intosh of Kyllachy, and sister of the famous Sir James Mackin- 
tosh. Of this marriage there was a numerous family of sons and 
daughters. The eldest was the late Sir James Macpherson, 
K.C.B. ; the youngest the subject of the present notice. 

Sir Herbert was born at Ardersier, and passed a great part 
of his early life there and in the neighbourhood. He received 
part of his education at the Nairn Academy, residing, while at- 
tending that school, with an aunt, who was widow of Dr Smith, 
the assistant-surgeon of the " Victory" at the Battle of Trafalgar, 
and one of the attendants on Lord Nelson at his death. Family 



SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON. 135 

history, early association, and personal predilection, all combined 
to point to the army as the proper career for Herbert Macpherson, 
but devoid of money and of influence, and with nothing to point 
to in support of his application for a Commission but the services 
of his father and his uncles, it seemed for a long time very un- 
likely that the application would be successful. In 1844, having 
almost despaired of obtaining a Commission, he went into an 
office in London, but at that time the /8th, which was stationed 
in Scinde, was attacked by an epidemic of cholera so violent that 
there were fears that the regiment would be annihilated. On 
the intelligence reaching this country young Macpherson waited 
himself on Lord Fitzroy Somerset, then Adjutant-General, and 
specially asked for a Commission in the 78th. Lord Fitzroy was 
so pleased with the pluck of the young man in asking for a Com- 
mission in what then seemed to be a doomed regiment that he pro- 
mised the granting of his request. He was gazetted an Ensign 
on the 26th of February 1845, anc * soon after joined the regiment. 
He obtained his Lieutenancy in January 1848; soon after became 
Adjutant of his regiment, and soon obtained the reputation of 
being one of the smartest Adjutants in India. He had also the 
reputation of being one of the best riders and keenest sportsmen. 
In 1855 he was stationed with his regiment at Aden, and going 
on a hunting expedition into the interior with two friends the 
party were attacked at night by assassins in the hut in which they 
were sleeping. Macpherson was awakened by the groans of one 
of his companions, who was mortally wounded, and springing up 
he rushed at a man whom he could only see dimly in the imper- 
fect light. On trying to grapple with his antagonist, he found 
that he was naked, and that his body was smeared with oil, so 
that it was impossible to hold him, and after a fearful struggle 
the ruffian made his escape, leaving Macpherson senseless, and 
with eight fearful wounds on his body. Thanks to a good con- 
stitution, however, he soon recovered. 

The first military service in which Sir Herbert was employed 
was with his regiment in the Persian War of 1856-7, under Sir 
James Outram, the regiment being in the brigade commanded by 
Sir Henry Havelock. He was engaged in all the fighting in this 
campaign, and for it he has a medal and clasp. By the time the 
regiment returned to India the Mutiny had broken out, and on 



I3 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

arrival at Calcutta the regiment was at once sent on under Sir 
Henry Havelock on his glorious march, or rather progress of 
battles, to the relief of Lucknow. In Havelock's final fight, 
when he entered the Residency, Macpherson won the proudest 
and most coveted destinction of a soldier, the Victoria Cross. 
When with his regiment he was making his way through the 
city, fire was opened on them from some guns in a cross street ; 
for an instant the regiment hesitated, but the gallant Adjutant, 
collecting one or two men, charged the guns, cut down the 
gunners, and silenced them, and for this deed of daring he bears 
the Victoria Cross. He was one of the first to reach the de- 
fences of the Residency, and might have been the first man to enter 
it, but as his regiment was then under a hot fire he preferred to 
remain with, and encourage, his men. As it was he crossed the 
ditch alongside of the gallant General Niel, who there fell by his 
side. After the first relief of the Residency the 78th was quartered 
at the Alumbaugh, and in the final relief Macpherson acted as 
Brigade-Major in the force under the command of Sir Colin 
Campbell. In 1857 he became a Captain, in 1858 a Brevet- 
Major, and when his regiment was ordered home he accepted the 
option which was then offered him of exchanging into the Bengal 
Staff Corps, and was appointed by Lord Clyde to the command 
of a Ghoorka regiment. In command of this regiment he saw 
much service in Hugara, in the Looshai expedition, in lowaki, 
and in some of the cold weather manoeuvres he earned the repu- 
tation of an able tactician and strategist. When Lord Beacons- 
field formed his famous resolution to astonish the world by calling 
an army from the East to correct the balance of power in the 
West, Macpherson was one of the distinguished batch of Victoria 
Cross men who were chosen for Divisional and Brigade commands, 
and who, much to their disappointment, found that they had 
been brought not to fight but to take part in a theatrical spectacle, 
He returned to the command of his regiment, but was soon called 
into the field in command of a brigade under Sir Samuel Brown 
in the first advance into Afghanistan. The first duty assigned 
to him and his brigade was a march by mountain tracks, so as to 
get in rear of Ali Musjid, and cut off the retreat of the garrison 
if they should attempt to escape when the fort was attacked by 
Sir S. Brown. Macpherson remonstrated against the orders, 



SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON. 137 

pointing out that the time allowed him to accomplish the march 
was insufficient, but without effect, and like a good soldier he set 
himself to do his best The difficulties of the march were 
incredible, great part of it being accomplished by night over 
tracks where men could only march in single file, and the light 
mountain guns had to be taken to pieces and lowered over preci- 
pices by ropes. He accomplished his task, however, within the 
time allotted to him, but only to find that a demonstration having 
been made against the fort a day sooner than had been arranged, 
it was evacuated fully twelve hours before he was informed the 
attack would take place, and he arrived in the Valley of the 
Kyber only in time to catch sight of the rear guard of the re- 
treating garrison as his weary brigade were threading their way 
down the hills. It is said that in sheer vexation he rode after 
the enemy himself, and fired his pistols at them as a challenge. 
In the whole operations of this campaign he bore a prominent 
part, and for his services was created a C.B., and when, after the 
murder of Cavignari, a force was again sent to Cabul under 
General Roberts, he was again chosen to command a Brigade. 
When the rising of the Afghans took place, which ultimately 
forced General Roberts to take shelter in the Cantonments of 
Sherpore, Macpherson with his brigade, consisting of Ghoorkas 
and the Q2nd Highlanders, supported by a body of cavalry, was 
sent out some miles to intercept and defeat in detail two bodies 
of Afghans who. were advancing in different directions with the 
purpose of forming a junction. He advanced to the junction of 
the roads by which the enemy were supposed to be advancing, 
leaving, according to orders, the cavalry some miles in his rear. 
He encountered and completely defeated one body of the enemy, 
when hearing firing some miles from him, where he had no reason 
to believe that any of our troops were, with the instinct of a 
soldier he guessed that something was wrong, and marched 
rapidly in the direction of the sound, firing salvos with his artillery 
to show that he was coming. He arrived at the scene of action 
only to find that his cavalry, which, without his knowledge, had 
been withdrawn by the orders of General Roberts, had attacked 
and been defeated by a body of the enemy, and had retreated, 
and he could just see the enemy in full march on Cabul. He at 
once pursued, and managed to throw himself between the enemy 



i 3 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

and the city and cantonments, and thereby in all probability 
saved the army from disaster. He remained for several days out- 
side the cantonments constantly engaged with the enemy, and 
his brigade was the last to be withdrawn into the cantonments. 
When at last he received the order to bring in his brigade, he 
found that he had to accomplish a march of several miles over 
open ground with his flank exposed to an enemy in overwhelm- 
ing numbers and flushed with success, but this difficult operation 
he accomplished with brilliant success, bringing in all his baggage 
and wounded men under incessant attack, some of his men being 
killed within a few yards of the entrenchment 

In all the subsequent operations he bore a prominent part. 
He was with General Roberts in the famous march to Candahar, 
and in the final battle he and his Ghoorkas and Highlanders 
bore the principal part. Succeeding in his first attack, and tak- 
ing advantage of the emulous enthusiasm of the two races of 
Highlanders, he pushed on without waiting for supports, and was 
able to signal the capture of the enemy's camp to General 
Roberts long before that General expected that it would take 
place. For his services in this campaign he was created a K.C.B., 
and on his visiting Inverness two years ago, the Capital of the 
Highlands and of his. native county, recognised his merit, and 
manifested the satisfaction of the community in his success as a 
Highland soldier by conferring on him the Freedom of the Burgh. 
On his return to India he was appointed to the Divisional 
command at Allahabad, and when it was resolved to send a con- 
tingent from India to co-operate with the army in Egypt, he was, 
with the loudly expressed approval of the Indian Army, chosen 
for the command. What occurred in Egypt is so recent that it is 
unnecessary to dwell on it in detail. The Indian Contingent 
was composed of native infantry and cavalry regiments, of the 

72nd Regiment the First Battalion of Seaforth Highlanders and, 
no doubt, to the great satisfaction of General Macpherson, of two 
companies of the Second Battalion the old ;8th to which his 
own son, a boy who only entered the army a few months before, 
was attached. Considering the delay which was caused by the 
deficiency of transport for the troops which went from this coun- 
try, it is well worthy of record that the Indian troops left India 

o perfectly equipped that they could have landed anywhere, and 



SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON. 139 

marched anywhere, without any transport but what they brought 
with them, and that the first railway engine available on the line 
from Ismailia to Tel-el-Kebir was one which the Indian Contin- 
gent had brought from Bombay. Three days after the last of 
the Indian troops reached Ismailia, Sir Herbert's brigade marched 
for Kassassin, which it reached on the following day. After a 
rest, it crossed the Canal, and on the following morning it took 
its part in the famous Battle of Tel-el-Kebir. It is to be noticed 
that the part assigned to the contingent was the attack of the 
Egyptians on the south side of the Canal, that they were ordered 
not to advance till some time after the troops on the north side, 
and that in consequence they were discovered by the enemy when 
they were still 1 500 yards from them. Ovej- this distance, led by 
the Highlanders, they advanced under fire of artillery strongly 
posted, and, at last, receiving the order from the General to 
" Rush" the guns, they charged with the bayonet into the battery, 
and bayoneted the gunners who did not take flight. Advancing 
along the south side of the Canal, driving the enemy before him, Sir 
Herbert met General Wolseley at the bridge beyond the enemy's 
camp. Sir Garnet enquired whether his brigade was able to march 
to Zagazig, as none of the other troops were. He was at once 
answered in the affirmative, and without rest or refreshment, save 
the biscuits which they carried in their haversacks, they started on 
their march of thirty miles through the desert in the blazing heat 
of an Egyptian sun. About three o'clock Sir Herbert and his 
staff, accompanied by only 30 Indian troopers, rode into Zagazig 
and, riding at once to the Railway Station, succeeded in captur- 
ing five trains filled with armed men, who were about to 
start for Cairo, the soldiers either throwing down their arms and 
running away, or surrendering. The infantry arrived an hour or 
two later, not a man having fallen out. Immediately on his 
arrival at Zagazig, Sir Herbert telegraphed to the Governor of 
Cairo that he was there with his whole Brigade, and would be in 
Cairo next day ; and it is believed that the intelligence of his 
extraordinary march did more to' paralyse the enemy, and render 
complete the victory of Tel-el-Kebir, than any other event in the 
campaign. On the following morning a party of Highlanders 
were in a train ready and eager to start for Cairo, which they 
would have been the first to reach, when orders were telegraphed 



i 4 o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

from Sir Garnet that they were not to proceed, the reason being, 
it is understood, that it was thought necessary the Guards should 
do something, and the Highlanders, who had got the start of 
them, were kept back, that they might be the first troops to 
enter Cairo. For his services in Egypt, Sir Herbert has been 
created a Knight of the Star of India. 

Such is a short sketch of the services of the gallant soldier, 
who, as we go to press, is again among us and about to be 
honoured by his fellow-burgesses, by the presentation to him by the 
Town Council, in name of the community, of a Highland claymore, 
with appropriate inscription, and by entertaining him to a public 
banquet under the patronage of the Provost, Magistrates, and 
Town Council. His career is not by any means without pre- 
cedent, but it is one of which all of his race may well be proud. 
Without fortune or influence, by steady adherence to duty, by 
doing bravely and well whatever it came in his way to do, he has 
literally fought his way into the front rank of soldiers shown 
himself to be fit for any command, and to be, as Sir Garnet 
Wolseley has described him, " a pillar of strength to any army 
with which he may be connected." He shows once more that 

" The path of duty is the way to glory." 

M.A.R.S. 



FIRST HIGHLAND EMIGRATION TO NOVA SCOTIA: 
ARRIVAL OF THE SHIP " HECTOR." 



ON Friday evening, the 8th December last, Mr Alexander Mac- 
kenzie, Editor of the Celtic Magazine, delivered, in Buckie, one of 
a serious of lectures arranged every winter under the auspices of 
the Buckie Literary Institution, a thriving Association, for the 
success of which a West Coast Highlander, Mr John Macdonald, 
banker, deserves a large portion of credit. The lecture was en- 
titled " A Tour in Canada, from Cape Breton to Niagara." The 
portion of it which refers to the arrival of the ship " Hector" with 
the first cargo of Highlanders, numbering about two hundred souls, 
and a few incidents in their after experience may prove interesting 
to the reader. There were only sixteen families in the settle- 



FIRST HIGHLAND EMIGRATION, 141 

ment on the arrival of these pioneers, and these were soon after- 
wards reduced to five. The Lecturer proceeded : 

The arrival of the ship Hector, in 1773, was the first, as well as the most im- 
portant, event in the history of Highland emigration, or indeed of any emigration to 
the Lower Provinces of British North America. The Hector was engaged in this 
traffic for several years, and brought out, in 1770, a band of Scottish emigrants. She 
belonged to Mr Pagan, a Greenock merchant, and landed a band of Scots in Boston, 
in that year. This Pagan and a Dr Witherspoon bought three shares of land in 
Pictou, and they engaged a Mr John Ross as their agent to accompany the Hector to 
Scotland, to bring out as many colonists as possible. To these they offered a free 
passage, a farm, and a year's free provisions. Ross arrived in Scotland with the 
vessel, and drew a glowing picture of the land and of the other manifold advantages 
to be found in the new country. The Highlanders knew nothing of the difficulties 
awaiting them in a land covered over with a dense unbroken forest, and, tempted by 
the prospect of owning splendid farms of their own, they were imposed upon, and 
many of them agreed to accompany him across the Atlantic. Calling first at Greenock, 
three families and five single young men joined the vessel at that port. She then 
sailed to Lochbroom, in Ross-shire, where she received 33 families and 25 single men, 
the whole of her passengers numbering about 200 souls. This band, in the beginning 
of July I773> bade a final farewell to their native land, not a soul on board having 
ever crossed the Atlantic, except a single sailor and John Ross, the agent. As they 
were leaving, a piper came on board whg had not paid his passage; the captain 
ordered him ashore, but the strains of the national instrument affected those on board 
so much that they pleaded to have him allowed to accompany them, and offered to 
share their own rations with him, in exchange for his music, during the passage. 
Their request was granted, and his performance aided in no small degree to cheer the 
noble band of pioneers in their long voyage of eleven weeks, in a miserable hulk, 
across the Atlantic. The pilgrim band kept up their spirits, as best they could, by 
song, pipe music, dancing, wrestling, and other amusements, through the long and 
painful voyage. The ship was so rotten that the passengers could pick the wood out 
of her sides with their fingers. They met with a severe gale off the Newfoundland 
coast, and were driven back so far that it took them about fourteen days to get again 
to the point where the gale first met them. The accommodation was wretched. 
Smallpox and dysentery broke out among the passengers. Eighteen of the children 
died, and were committed to the deep, amidst such anguish and heart-rending agony 
as only a Highlander can fully appreciate. Their stock of provisions became ex- 
hausted, the water became scarce and bad, the remnant of provisions left consisted 
mainly of salt meat, which, from the scarcity of water, added greatly to their suffer- 
ings. The oatcake, carried by them, became mouldy, so that much of it was thrown 
away before they dreamt of having such a long passage ; but, fortunately for them, one 
of the passengers, Hugh Macleod, more prudent than the others, gathered up the de- 
spised scraps into a bag, and during the last few days of the voyage his fellows were 
glad to join him in devouring this refuse to keep soul and body together. At last, 
however, on the I5th of September, the Hector dropped anchor in the harbour, op- 
posite where the town of Pictou now stands. Though the Highland dress was then 
proscribed at home, this emigrant band carried theirs along with them, and, in cele- 
bration of their arrival, many of the younger men donned their national dress to 
which a few of them were able to add the Sgian Dubh and the claymore while the 



I 42 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE, 

piper blew up his pipes with might and main, its thrilling tones, for the first time, 
startling the denizens of the endless forest, and its echoes resounding through the 
wild solitude. The stream of Scottish emigration which flowed in after years, not 
only over Pictou, but over the greater portion of the Eastern Province of Nova Scotia, 
Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, portions of New Brunswick, and even the Upper 
Provinces of Canada, began with the arrival of the Hector; for those who came in 
her, in after years, communicated with their friends and induced them to join; and 
the stream continued to deepen and widen ever since. The Scottish immigrants are 
admitted upon all hands to have given its backbone of moral and religious strength to 
the Province, and to those brought over from the Highlands in this vessel is due the 
honour of being in the forefront the pioneers and vanguard. 

But how different was the reality to the expectations of these poor creatures, 
led by the plausibility of the emigration agent, to expect free estates on their arrival. 
The whole scene, as far as the eye could see, was a dense forest. They crowded on 
the deck to take stock of their future home, and their hearts sank within them. They 
were landed without the provisions promised them, and without shelter of any kind, 
and were only able by the aid of those few who were there before them, to erect 
camps of the rudest and most primitive description, to shelter their wives and their 
children from the elements. Their feelings of disappointment were most bitter, when 
they compared the actual facts with the free farms and the comfort promised them by 
the lying emigration agent. Many of them sat down in the forest and wept bitterly ; 
hardly any provisions were possessed by the few who were before them, and what 
there was among them was soon devoured, making all old and new comers almost 
destitute. It was now too late to raise any crops that year. To make matters worse, 
they were sent some three miles into the forest, so that they could not even take 
advantage, with the same ease, of any fish that might be caught in the harbour. The 
whole thing appeared an utter mockery. To unskilled men the work of clearing 
seemed hopeless ; they were naturally afraid of the Red Indian and of the wild beasts 
of the forest ; without roads or paths, they were frightened to move for fear of getting 
lost in the unbroken forest. Can we wonder that, in such circumstances, they refused 
to settle on the company's lands ? though, in consequence, when provisions arrived, 
the agents refused to give them any. Ross and the company quarrelled, and he ulti- 
mately left the new-comers to their fate. The few of them who had a little money 
bought what provisions they could from the agents, while others, less fortunate, 
exchanged their clothes for food ; but the greater number had neither money nor 
clothes to spend or exchange, and they were all left quite destitute. Thus driven to 
extremity, they determined to have the provisions retained by the agents, right or 
wrong, and two of them went to claim them. They were positively refused, but they 
determined to take what they could by force. They seized the agents, tied them, took 
their guns from them, which they hid at a distance ; told them that they must have 
the food for their families, but that they were quite willing and determined to pay for 
them, if ever they were able to do so. They then carefully weighed, or measured, 
the various articles, took account of what each man received and left, except one, a 
powerful and determined fellow, who was left behind to release the two agents. 
This he did, after allowing sufficient time for his friends to get to a safe distance, and 
he informed the prisoners where they could find their guns. Intelligence was sent to 
Halifax that the Highlanders were in rebellion, from whence orders were sent to a 
Captain Archibald in Truro, to march his company of militia to suppress and pacify 
the rebels ; but to his honour be it said, he, point blank, refused, and sent word that 



FIRST HIGHLAND EMIGRATION. 143 

he would 'do no such thing. I know the Highlanders,' he said, 'and if they are 
fairly treated there will be no trouble with them.' Finally, orders were given to 
supply them with provisions, and Mr Paterson, one of the agents, it is said, used after- 
wards to say that the Highlanders who arrived in poverty, and who had been so badly 
treated, had paid him every farthing with which he had trusted them. 

It would be tedious to describe the sufferings which they afterwards endured. 
Many of them left. Others, fathers, mothers, and children, bound themselves away 
as virtual slaves in other settlements for a mere subsistence. Those who remained 
lived in small huts, covered only with the bark or branches of trees to shelter them 
from the bitter winter cold, of the severity of which they had no previous conception. 
They had to walk some eighty miles, through a trackless forest in deep snow to Truro, 
to obtain a few bushels of potatoes, or a little flour in exchange for their labour, 
dragging them back all the way on their backs. A man by the name of Hugh Fraser, 
after having exhausted every means of procuring food for his starving family, resorted 
to the desperate expedient of cutting down a birch tree and boiling the buds for his 
little ones. On another occasion a small supply of potatoes, which had been brought 
from a long distance for seed, were planted, but the family were so severely pinched 
that they had to dig up some of the splits and eat them after they were planted. 
Various other incidents of hardships experienced by the same family and that one of 
the families who had brought some means with them will give an idea of the horrors 
endured by these pioneers for the first few years after their arrival. The remem- 
brance of these terrible days sank deep into the minds of that generation, and long 
after, even to this day, the narration of the scenes and cruel hardships through which 
they had to pass, beguiled, and now beguiles, many a winter's night as they sit by 
their now comfortable firesides. 

In the following spring they set to work, and soon improved their position. 
They cleared some of the forest, and planted a larger crop. They learned to hunt the 
moose, a kind of large deer. They began to cut timber, and sent a cargo from Pictou 
the first of a trade very profitably and extensively carried on ever since. The 
population had, however, grown less than it was before their arrival ; for in this year 
it amounted only to 78 persons. The produce raised was 269 bushels of wheat, 13 of 
rye, 56 of peas, 36 of barley, 100 of oats, and 340 Ibs. of flax. The farm stock con- 
sisted of 13 oxen, 13 cows, 15 young neat cattle, 25 sheep, and one pig. One of the 
modes of laying up a supply of food for the winter was to dig up a large quantity of 
clams, or large oysters, pile them in large heaps on the sea shore, and then cover 
them over with sand, though they were often, in winter, obliged to cut through ice 
more than a foot thick to get at them. 

This narrative will give a fair idea of the hardships experienced by the earlier 
emigrants to Nova Scotia, though in some cases matters were not quite so bad. In 
Prince Edward Island, however, a colony from Lockerbie, in Dumfries-shire, who 
came out in 1774, seemed to have fared even worse. They commenced operations 
on the Island with fair prospects of success, when a visitation or plague of locusts, or 
field mice, broke out, and consumed everything, even the potatoes in the ground ; and 
for eighteen months the settlers experienced all the miseries of a famine, having for 
several months only what lobsters or shell-fish they could gather on the sea-shore. 
The winter brought them to such a state of weakness that they were unable to convey 
food a reasonable distance, even when they had means to buy it. 

In this pitiful position they heard that the Pictou people were making progress, 
and that they had some provisions to spare. They sent one of their number to make 



144 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

enquiry- One of the American settlers, when he came to Pictou, brought a few slaves 
with him, and at this time, he had just been to Truro to sell one of them, and brought 
home some provisions with the proceeds of the sale of the negro. The messenger 
from Prince Edward Island was putting up at this man's house. He was a bit of a 
humourist, and continued cheerful in spite of all his troubles. On his return to the 
Island, the people congregated to hear the news. 'What kind of place is Pictou?' 
enquired one. ' Oh, an awful place. Why, I was staying with a man who was just 
eating the last of his nigger ;' and the poor creatures were reduced to such a point 
themselves that they actually believed the people of Pictou to be in such a con- 
dition as to oblige them to live on the flesh of their coloured servants. They 
were told, however, that matters were not quite so bad as that, and fifteen families 
left Prince Edward Island for the earlier settlement, where, for a time, they fared 
little better, but afterwards became prosperous and happy. A few of their children, 
and thousands of their grandchildren, are now living in comfort and plenty. But who 
can think of these early hardships and cruel existences without condemning the cruel 
and heartless Highland and Scottish lairds, who made existence at home almost as 
miserable for those noble fellows, and who then drove them in thousands out of their 
native land, not caring one iota whether they sank in the Atlantic, or were starved to 
death on a strange and uncongenial soil ? Retributive justice demands that posterity 
should execrate the memories of the authors of such misery and horrid cruelty. It 
may seem uncharitable to speak thus of the dead ; but it is impossible to forget their 
inhuman conduct, though, no thanks to them cruel tigers in human form it has 
turned out for the better, for the descendants of those who were -banished to what 
was then infinitely worse than transportation for the worst crimes. Such criminals 
were looked after and cared for ; but those poor fellows, driven out of their homes by 
the Highland lairds, and sent across yonder, were left to starve, helpless and uncared 
for. Their descendants are now a prosperous and thriving people, and retribution is 
at hand. The descendants of the evicted from Sutherland, Ross, Inverness shires, 
and elsewhere, to Canada, are producing enormous quantities of food, and millions 
of cattle, to pour them into the old country. What will be the consequence ? The 
sheep-farmer the primary and original cause of the evictions has already suffered. 
The price of stock in Scotland must inevitably fall. Rents must follow, and the joint 
authors of the original iniquity will, as a class, now suffer the natural and just penalty 
of their past misconduct. 

What has been said of those who first colonised Pictou may also, with, equal 
truth, be said of the whole of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 
They, however, soon got over the first difficulties in the New World, and rapidly 
became prosperous, as they gradually cleared the forest and brought the land under 
the plough. 

The whole of Nova Scotia is exceedingly rich in minerals, especially the district 
round Pictou, where we have the thickest seam of coal in the world, being for 33 to 
40 feet deep, and only 212 feet under the surface. There are about 1600 miners 
regularly employed in the Pictou mines alone. The coal area of the Province is esti- 
mated at 9000 square miles. Pictou town has a population of between three and four 
thousand souls, while the country has some thirty-five thousand, of whom about thirty- 
two thousand are Protestants of the bluest type. The whole Presbytery kept out 
of the Union of all the Presbyterian bodies in Canada a few years ago. 



THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



CONDUCTED BY 



ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. LXXXVIII. FEBRUARY 1883. VOL. VIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 
By the EDITOR. 



IV. 

XII. EWEN CAMERON, commonly known among his own 
countrymen as "Eoghainn MacAilein," succeeded his father, and 
became one of the most distinguished Highland chiefs of his time. 
He formed a marriage alliance (his second) with Mackintosh, 
mainly with the view of bringing about more amicable relations 
between the two families. In this he was disappointed; their 
feuds became, if possible, more intense than ever ; more sanguin- 
ary battles were fought between them, much to the loss and de- 
triment of both parties; but in the end, the Camerons, under 
their vigorous, judicious, and brave chief, proved quite able to 
hold their own against the Mackintoshes. 

In 1491 Ewen joined Alexander of Lochalsh, with the Clan 
Ranalds of Garmoran, and of Lochaber, and the Clan Chattan, in 
his famous raid to the county of Ross, which ended in the forfeiture 
of the Earldom of Ross and Lordship of the Isles. Advancing from 
Lochaber to Badenoch, where the Mackintoshes joined them, and 
thence to Inverness, where they stormed the Royal Castle, Mack- 

K 



I 4 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

intosh placing a garrison in it. They afterwards proceeded 
across Kessock Ferry, and plundered the lands of Sir Alexander 
Urquhart, Sheriff of Cromarty, from which they carried away a 
large booty. The details of this expedition are already known to 
the readers who have perused the History of the Mackenzie* and 
the History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, and need 
not be further commented upon at present. The Lords of Loch- 
alsh appear at this time to have had strong claims upon the 
Camerons to follow them in the field ; for the former were supe- 
riors, under the Lord of the Isles, of the lands of Lochiel in 
Lochaber,* in addition to the claims of a close marriage alliance, 
for, according to Hugh Macdonald, the Sleat historian, Alexander 
of Lochalsh gave Ewen, Captain of Clan Cameron, who suc- 
ceeded his father, Allan, as heritable keeper of the Castle of Strome 
in Lochcarron, one of his sisters in marriage. In 1492 the Lord 
of Lochalsh styles himself also of Lochiel. On the 29th of July in 
the same year "Alexander of the Isles, of Lochalch, and Lochiel, 
granted to Ewen, the son of Alan, the son of Donald, captain of 
the Clancamroun, the lands of Cray, Salchan, Banwe, Corpach, 
Kilmalzhe, Achedo, Anat, Achetiley, Drumfermalach, Fanmoyr- 
mell, Fassefarn, Corebeg,Owechan,Aychetioldowne,Chanloychiel, 
Kowilknap, Drumnassall, Clachak, and Clochfyne, in Locheil." f 
In the following August he obtained another charter, from the 
same Lord of Lochalsh, of the thirty merklands of Lochiel. In 
1494, James IV. confirmed to John MacGilleon of Lochbuy the 
lands granted to him [in Lochiel] in 1461 by John, Lord of the 
Isles, by whom they had been forfeited to the King. On the 24th 
of October 1495, the same king confirmed to Ewen, the son of 
Alan, the lands granted to him in 1492 by Alexander of the 
Isles. Under elate of 1520, Ewen appears again on record in the 
Argyll inventory. In 1522 the lands of Banvy and others in 
Lochiel, included in the grant of 1461, were resigned by Maclean 
of Lochbuy, and then granted by James V. to Sir John Camp- 
bell of Calder. This grant was confirmed in 1526. Two years 
later the same lands were resigned by Calder, and granted by the 
same king to Colin, Earl of Argyll. In 1528 Ewen Cameron 

* Reg. of Great Seal, vi. 116; xiii., 203. Gregory, p. 59. 
Origines Parochiahs Scotiae; Reg. of Great Seal, and Argyll Charters. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 147 

resigned to the King the thirty merklands of Lochiel, as specified 
in the grant of 1492, and these, with other lands at the same time 
resigned by Ewen, the King granted him anew, incorporating the 
whole into the Barony of Lochicl. In the same year the King 
granted the same lands, apparently, to John Maclean of Coll. In 
1531. E\ven Alanson appears on record in the Register of the 
. Great Seal as " Captain of the parentela of Clancameroun." In 
1536 Donald is mentioned, in the same record, as Ewen's heir. 
In 1539 Ewen resigned the thirty merklands of Lochiel, and 
James V. *at once re-granted these lands to him in life-rent, and 
to his grandson, Ewen Cameron, in heritage ; his eldest son, 
Donald above referred to, having in the meantime died, during 
his father's lifetime. Ewen Alanson appears again on record in 
1541, and in 1546 Queen Mary granted to the Earl of Huntly 
the escheat of certain lands which heritably belonged to Ewen 
Alanson of Lochiel, including the lands of Lochiel, and the place 
and fortalice of Torcastle, in the Lordship of Lochaber. In 1553 
the Queen granted the lands to the same earl, these having been 
" forfeited by Ewen Allansoun of Locheill for the crimes of 
treason and lese majesty." 

The following lands were, in 1492, granted by Alexander 
of the Isles of Lochalsh to Ewen, the son of Alan, Captain of 
Clan Cameron, namely, the two merklands of Achandarrach and 
Lundie ; two of Fernaig-mhor ; two of Cuil-mhor and Acha- 
more ; two of Fernaig Bheag, " Fudanamine" and "Acheache;" 
two of Acha-na-Connlaich and Braintrath ; two of "Culthnok," 
Ach-na-cloich, Blar-garbh, and Acheae ; and two merklands of 
Avernish and Wochterory [PAuchtertyre] in Lochalsh. These 
fourteen merklands in all were confirmed to him by James IV. 
in 1495. In 1528 they were resigned by Ewen Alanson, and 
"for his good service" they were erected by the king into a por- 
tion of the Barony of Lochiel. These Lochalsh lands were in- 
cluded in the resignation of 1539, and in the re-grant to Ewen and 
his grandson in the same year. A portion of Ewen's possessions 
in Lochalsh were afterwards, in 1 548, granted by Queen Mary to 
John Grant of Culcabock, near Inverness, they having been 
apprised in his favour for the sum of 758. I2s. id., as satisfac- 
tion for a "spulzie" committed on his lands by Ewen Cameron 
and others. The lands thus apprised included Achandarrach 



I 4 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

and Lundic, Fernaig - mhor, Fernaig - bheag, Fynnyman, and 
Achacroy, making in all five merks out of the fourteen. The 
remaining nine merks were similarly apprised to John Grant of 
Freuchie, with other twelve merks in the vicinity, the property 
of Alastair Maclan MacAlastair of Glengarry; as also twelve 
merks, being the hereditary fee of his son, Angus, all of which 
had been apprised for the sum of 10,770. 133. 4d. for satisfac- 
tion of a "spulzie" committed by Glengarry, his son, and their 
accomplices.* These lands do not appear to have returned to 
the Camerons, but were afterwards held for a time by Glengarry, 
in right of his wife, Margaret de Insulis, daughter of Alexander, 
Lord of Lochalsh. 

In 1496 Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, Hector Maclean of 
Duart, John Macian of Ardnamurchan, Allan MacRuari of Moy- 
dart, and Donald Angusson of Keppoch, appeared before the Lords 
of Council, and bound themselves, "by the extension of their 
lands," to the Earl of Argyll on behalf of the King, to abstain 
from mutual injuries and molestations, under a penalty of ^"500. f 

Ewen of Lochiel, Macleod of Dunvegan, and Maclean of 
Duart, were the first Highland chiefs to join Donald Dubh of the 
Isles in his attempt to gain the Island Lordship, and for his share 
in this rebellion Lochiel was, in 1504, forfeited as a traitor, but he 
seems soon after to have again got into favour at Court. 

In 1514 an Act of Council was passed, appointing persons 
of influence in the Highlands to take charge of particular divi- 
sions of the northern counties as Lieutenants. Ewen Cameron 
of Lochiel and William Mackintosh of Mackintosh were ap- 
pointed guardians in this capacity in Lochaber. 

About 1524 Sir John Campbell of Calder, whose patrimony 
lay in Lorn, acquired, from Maclean of Lochbuy, certain claims, 
which that gentleman had hitherto made without effect to the 
lands of Lochiel, Duror, and Glencoe. Sir John made good use 
of the position and opportunities which possession of these claims 
had secured to him. At first he was violently resisted by the 
Camerons and Stewarts, the occupants of the lands in question, 
and suffered many injuries from them in the course of this dis- 
But, by transferring his title to these lands to his brother 

* Reg. Mag. Sig. 
fthe Lord of Council, vii. vo . 39, quoted by Gregory. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 149 

Argyll, and employing the influence of that nobleman, Calder 
succeeded in establishing a certain degree of authority over the 
unruly inhabitants, in a mode then of very frequent occurrence. 
Ewen Allanson of Lochiel, and Allan Stewart of Duror, were, by 
the arbitration of friends, ordered to pay to Calder a large sum 
of damages, and, likewise, to give him, for themselves, their child- 
ren, kin, and friends, their bond of man-rent and service against 
all manner of men, except the King and the Earl of Argyll. In 
consideration of these bonds of service, three-fourths of the dam- 
ages awarded were remitted by Calder, who became bound also 
to give his bond of maintenance in return. Finally, if the said 
Ewen and Allan should do good service to Sir John in helping 
him to obtain and enjoy lands and possessions, they were to be 
rewarded by him therefor, at the discretion of the arbiters.* 

According to the family seanachie, Ewen invaded the coun- 
try of the Mackays in the far north. " What the quarrel was," 
he says, " I know not, but it drew on an invasion from the 
Camerons, and an engagement wherein the Mackays were de- 
feated, and the Laird of Foulis, chief of the Monroes, who assisted 
them, killed on the spot." The same writer continues "Hitherto 
Lochiel had success in all his attempts. The vigour of his genius 
and courage bore him through all his difficulties. He had a 
flourishing family and an opulent fortune, but the death of his 
eldest son, Donald, which happened about this time, plunged him 
into so deep a melancholy that he, on a sudden, resolved to give 
up the world, and apply himself to the works of religion and 
peace. To expiate for his former crimes he set out on a pil- 
grimage to Rome, but, arriving in Holland, he found himself 
unable to bear up against the fatigue of so long a journey, and, 
therefore, he sent one Macphail, a priest, who was his chaplain 
and confessor, to do that job for him with the Pope. One part 
of the penance enjoined upon him by his Holiness was to build 
six chapels to as many saints, which he performed. Some of 
them are still extant, and the ruins of the rest are yet to be seen 
in Lochaber and the bordering countries. He also built a castle 
on the banks of the River Lochy, called Tor Castle, from the 
rock on which it was situated. Mackintosh afterwards de- 

* Gregory, pp. 126-127, 



,- T11K CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

signed himself by this castle, because it was built upon the 
grounds in dispute. However, it became the seat of the 
family of Lochiel, till it was demolished by Sir Ewen Cameron, 
with the view of building a more convenient house." Ewen's 
eldest son and heir, Donald, appears to have been a man 
of great promise, and his father gave him, what was con- 
sidered in those days, a very liberal education, and he "soon 
came to have a relish for the elegancies and politenesses of 
society. His father's estate was such as enabled him to live 
in a rank equal to any of the young chiefs, his contemporaries, 
and his own behaviour soon got him a character among the 
courtiers. But the person with whom he contracted the most 
intimate friendship was George, the fourth Earl of Huntly. This 
Lord was then a young man, in so great a reputation at 
Court, that his Majesty honoured him with the government of 
the kingdom, during a voyage of gallantry that he made to the 
Court of France, in August 1535, in order to marry Magdalen, 
the eldest daughter of France, to whom he had been formerly be- 
trothed. So much was Donald in favour with that Earl that he 
complimented him with a valuable estate conterminous with his 
own, and lying eastward of the lake and river of Lochy. The 
charter is given by George, Earl of Huntly, to the Honourable 
Donald Cameron, son, and heir apparent, to Ewen Cameron, alias 
Allanson, of Lochiel, of the lands of Letterfinlay, Stronabaw, and 
Lyndaly, lying within the lordship of Lochaber, and sheriffdom 
of Inverness. The holding is blench, and bears date, at Edin- 
burgh, 1 6th February, 1 534." Donald, who died before his father, 
was married to Anne, daughter of Sir James Grant of Grant, 
by whom he had two sons, Ewen and Donald, both of whom 
respectively succeeded to the estates of Lochiel after the death 
of their grandfather. 

Ewen, at the head of his followers, fought with John Moyd- 
artach of Clanranald, in 1 544, against the Erasers, at the battle 
of Kin-Loch-Lochy, better known as Blar-nan-Leine," the details 
of which are already known at length to the readers of the Celtic 
Magazine* and for this he got into disfavour with Huntly, then 

* Sec also The History of the Maatonahts and Lords of the hies, by the same 
author, pp. 381 to 395. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 151 

Lieutenant of the North. Lochiel, also, in 1 546, gave counten- 
ance to the rebellion of the Earl of Lennox, he having, among 
other things, written in that year to the Lord-Deputy of Ireland, 
promising his services to the English King, and saying that he 
had marched to the Lowlands, and taken a prey both from 
Huntly and Argyll. He also asked support for, and recom- 
mended, James Macdonald of Dunyveg who had for a short 
time assumed the title of Lord of the Isles, and whom Ewen 
styles in his letter, as the " narrest of Ayr to the hous of the 
Yllis," and as a brave young man, " with great strength of kins- 
men." Through the instrumentality of William Mackintosh of 
Mackintosh, who joined Huntly with a large force, to subdue the 
rebels, and lay the country waste, Ewen Cameron, and Ranald, 
son of Donald Glas of Keppoch, were, with several others, appre- 
hended; imprisoned for a short time in the Castle of Ruthven; 
after which they were tried, at Elgin, by a jury of landed gentle- 
men, for high treason, for the part they had taken at Blar-nan- 
Leine, and in the rebellion of the Earl of Lennox. They were 
both found guilty, and beheaded, and their heads were exposed 
over the gates of the town, while several of their followers, who 
had been captured along with them, were hanged. 

In addition to the Constabulary of Strome Castle, previously 
granted to Alan, Ewen's father, in 1472 with the twelve merk- 
lands of Kishorn, for the maintenance and faithful keeping of the 
Castle already possessed by him Alexander of Lochalsh, in 
1492, granted " Ewin, the son of Alan, Captain of Clancamroun," 
2os. of Strome Carranach, 2os. of Slumbay, IDS. of the quarter of 
" Doune," and 303. of the three quarters of Achintee, in the 
Lordship of Lochcarron. These were confirmed to Ewen, along 
with his other lands, in 1495; and, in 1528, they were included in 
the new grant erecting all his lands into the Barony of Lochiel. 

On the 6th of March 1539, the Castle of Strome, with the 
lands attached to it, were granted by James IV. to Alexander of 
Glengarry and Margaret of the Isles, his wife, on her resignation 
of them. On the i ith of April, in the same year, Ewen Cameron 
resigned these with other lands. Strome and Kishorn, with 
others, were in 1546 forfeited for the crime of treason and lese 
majesty, and they never after formed any portion of the posses- 
sions of Cameron of Lochiel. They soon after passed to the 



I52 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Macdonalds of Glengarry, and ultimately to the Mackenzies of 
Kintail and Seaforth. 

The charter of 1472, by Alexander of Lochalsh, is appar- 
ently the first charter of any lands possessed by the Camerons of 
Lochiel. The author of the Memoirs briefly referring to the 
grants of 1472 says, "the family I am wryting of can produce 
non older than those I have mentioned, whereby it is now im- 
possible to discover what the extent of their estate formerly was." 

In 1528 James V. granted Ewen "for his good service, and 
for a certain pecuniary composition," the 40 merklands of Glen- 
lui and Locharkaig, with half of the Bailliary of Lochaber, 
"which were formerly possessed by his father, Alan, Donald's 
son, of the king's predecessors, and were in the king's hands by 
reason of Alan's death."* These were also confirmed, in 1 539, to 
himself in life-rent and to his grandson, Ewen, in heritage. In 
1544, a previous grant of them in 1505, is confirmed, by Queen 
Mary, to William Mackintosh of Dunachton, but, in 1552, these 
lands and others are granted to Alexander, Lord Gordon, they 
having in the meantime been forfeited by William Mackintosh 
for the crimes of treason and lese majesty. They subsequently 
changed hands repeatedly, until they finally became the undis- 
puted and undisturbed possession of the Camerons of Lochiel.f 

Referring to the acquisitions of this chief, Skene says that, 
" He appears, in consequence of his feudal claims, to have ac- 
quired almost the whole estates which belonged to the Chief of 
Clanranald, and to have so effectually crushed that family that 
their chiefship was soon after usurped by a branch of the family. 
It was during the life of Ewen that the last Lord of the Isles was 
forfeited, and as the Crown readily gave charters to all the inde- 
pendent clans of the lands in their possession, Ewen Cameron 
easily obtained a feudal title to the whole of his possessions, as 

* Origines Parochiaks Scotiac. 

tReferring to the acquisition of Locharkaig and Lochiel by the Camerons, first by 

Allan MacDhomh'uill Duibh, Skene says:-" This property had formed part of the 

sions of the Clan Ranald, and had been held by them of Godfrey of the Isles, 

d his son Alexander, the eldest branch of the family. After the death of Alex- 

amerons appear to have acquired a feudal title to these lands, while the 

uiicl of Clan I claimed them as male ^^-Highlanders of Scotland, vol. ii., 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 153 

well those which he inherited from his father as those which he 
wrested from the neighbouring clans ; and at this period may be 
dated the establishment of the Camerons in that station of im- 
portance and consideration which they have ever since main- 
tained." * 

When the Highland chiefs were called upon to take out 
charters for their lands after the forfeiture of the last Lord of the 
Isles, Ewen set out for Edinburgh, and procured from James IV. 
a confirmation of his previous charters from Alexander of Loch- 
alsh, " in presence," the author of the Memoirs informs us, " of all 
the great officers of the Crown, and of many other noble lords, 
spiritual and temporal, who are all designed witnesses to it." He 
remained for some time at Court, and got into favour with the 
King, whom he afterwards loyally supported in all his wars, in- 
cluding the disastrous battle of Flodden, from which Ewen was 
fortunate enough to escape alive. 

During the minority of James V., Lochiel faithfully adhered 
to the fortunes of John, Duke of Albany, then governor of the 
kingdom. When he took charge of the Government he had no 
more faithful subject than Cameron of Lochiel, who aided him in 
all his wars, became a great favourite at Court, for which he was 
fully rewarded by the charter granted to him by the King in 
1528, erecting all his lands into the Barony of Lochiel, already 
referred to, and the charter in which the Captain of Clan 
Cameron is for the first time designed "of Lochiel." In 1531 he 
obtained a charter to the lands of Inverlochy, Torlundy, and 
others, in the lordship of Lochaber, extending to thirteen merk- 
lands of old extent, " which belonged to the King in property, 
but were never in his rental, and were occupied by the inhabi- 
tants of the Isles and others, who had no right to them," for a 
payment of forty merks yearly. At the same time, and for a 
similar amount, per annum, the King granted him the lands of 
Invergarry, Kilinane, Laggan, and Achindrom, of the old extent 
of twelve merks, all of which also belonged to the King in property, 
but never were in his rental, and were also occupied by the 
inhabitants of the Isles and others, who had no right to them. In 
1536 the same King granted to "Donald Camroun, the son and 

* Highlanders oj Scotland, vol. ii., pp. 197-198. 



i; 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

heir of Ewin Allanson, Captain of Clancamroun, the non-entry 
and other dues of various lands, including the 6 land of 
Sleisgarow in Glengarry." This grant was repeated in the 
following year. He also, in 1536, received a charter, dated the 
8th of November, granting him the lands of Knoydart, Glen 
Nevis, and others in Inverness-shire. 

It appears that, in 1492, Ewen had granted a bond of man- 
rent to Farquhar (whose sister he afterwards married), apparent 
heir to his father, Duncan Mackintosh of Mackintosh, in which 
he bound himself to assist and defend him against all men, even 
his own superior, Alexander Macdonald of Lochalsh, in case the 
latter, in the event of dispute with Mackintosh, should refuse to 
arrange terms. In 1497, however, after Farquhar's imprison- 
ment in the Castle of Dunbar, and immediately on the death of 
his father, Duncan Mackintosh, the Camerons broke through 
their engagement, refused to make any acknowledgment to 
Mackintosh for the lands they occupied in Lochaber, and then 
invaded the Braes of Badenoch and Strathnairn, plundering all 
the Mackintosh lands in those districts. 

Farquhar's cousin, William Mackintosh, son of Lachlan 
Badenoch, led the clan in the absence of the chief, and after 
punishing the Macgregors of Rannoch and Appin, and the Clan 
Ian of Glencoe, who accompanied the invaders, he turned his 
attention to the Camerons. u His cousin, Dougal Mor MacGhilli- 
challum, offered to ' daunton the Camerons for some time ' if he 
were allowed thirty fighting men, and the use of the lands of 
Borlum for a year. His offer being accepted, he set about carry- 
ing out his plan, which was to sail up Loch-Ness in the night- 
time and surprise and lay waste some part of the Cameron lands, 
returning to his head-quarters before the invaded country could 
be raised against him. He was completely successful, makino- 
several of these inroads at unexpected times to the no small dis- 
quiet of the Lochabrians." This version is from the historian of 
the enemy.* 

Gregory says that, about the year 1500, the feud which 
had so long subsisted between the Camerons and the Mac- 
leans, regarding the lands of Lochiel, broke out into renewed 



* Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw' 



History of Clan Chat (an. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 155 

violence. The Macleans carried off a large number of cattle 
from Lochaber, an injury which was soon after fully revenged 
by the Camerons. These broils were stopped for a time through 
the influence of Argyll, when the Macleans, who appear on 
this occasion to have been the aggressors, received a tempor- 
ary respite [under the Privy Seal. A few years later, however, 
the old quarrel was revived, and another feud was carried on for 
some time with great bitterness. Indeed, traces are found of 
these quarrels between the two families during the greater part 
of the reign of James V., who died in 1542. 

Such is a sketch of the career of the greatest chief the Clan 
Cameron had yet produced, and, if we accept the authority of the 
family historian, " a chief of the greatest abilities of any of his 
time. He is still famous," he says, " in these parts for his courage 
and military conduct, for the greatest part of his life was em- 
ployed in warlike adventures, either in the service of the Crown, 
or his own private quarrels. However, he was so far from ne- 
glecting the government and policy of his [own] country that his 
people increased in numbers and riches, as his estate did in value 
and extent. In a word, he omitted no opportunity of serving the 
interest of his family ; and in this was much wiser than any of 
his predecessors, that he was careful to secure his large and 
extensive possessions to his posterity by authentic charters;" a 
few only of which he refers to as being then extant. 

He married, first, a daughter of Cclestine of Lochalsh,* 
brother of John, last Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, with 
issue 

i. Donald, his heir, who married, as we have seen, Anne, 
daughter of Sir James Grant of Grant, with issue, (i) Ewen 
Beag, who succeeded his grandfather, Ewen Alanson, and (2) 
Donald, who succeeded his brother Ewen. Donald, Ewen's 
eldest son and heir, died long before his father, between the 
years 1536 and 1539. 



* Hugh Macdonald, the Sleat seanachie, in the Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis, 
p. 320. This alliance will account for the Constableship of Strome Castle having 
been conferred upon Ewen Alanson, and upon his eldest son, by the Lords of Lochalsh 
in succession, as well for the lands bestowed upon him by each of them in Lochaber, 
Lochcarron, and Lochalsh. 



itf THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Ewen married, secondly, Marjory, daughter of Duncan 
Mackintosh of Mackintosh,* with issue 

2. Donald, afterwards one of Allan Cameron's tutors, and 
progenitor of the family of Erracht He was assassinated at a 
meeting of the clan held at Inverlochy Castle. 

3. John, another of the tutors, progenitor of the Camerons 
of Kin-Lochiel. He was beheaded at the Castle of Dunstaffnage. 

Ewen, as we have already noticed, was executed in 1 547, at 
Elgin, for high treason, when he was succeeded by his grandson, 

EWEN CAMERON, generally called " Little Ewen," to dis- 
tinguish him from his grandfather, and of whom in our next. 

( To be continued.) 



THE MARQUIS OF BUTE ON EVICTIONS AND THE RIGHTS OF 
THE PEOPLE. His Lordship, in a recent lecture on "The Tendencies of certain 
Races," before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, made, for a proprietor, the fol- 
lowing remarkable statement regarding the Celts of Scotland and Ireland : " The 
Irish are animated by a feeling of nationality, which, however we may regret or con- 
demn the acts of some of them, we cannot regard in itself without sympathy and ad- 
miration. You must have remarked how marvellously their political schemes are ship- 
wrecked by the number of divisions and dissensions among them. This tribal system 
[in both countries] practically means, I take it, that the land belongs not to individuals 
in proprietorship, but to the inhabitants of the district in common. I believe that, in 
the purest development of the Gaelic polity, the office of chief was elective every time, 
with the choice confined to the members of a certain family; but even were it strictly 
hereditary when the chiefs ancestor was chosen by his fellow-tribesmen, they intended 
to invest him with certain well-defined political rights, but certainly not with the power 
of turning themselves out of the common tribe territory. The change into proprietorship 
such as prevail in other races was abruptly effected by James VI. in Ireland ; but among 
ourselves, although slowly brought on by the influence of feudal ideas ideas which 
never had in Ireland any but a very limited sphere of operation was yet practically 
and chiefly the consequence of the '45, a movement which I cannot help regarding as 
in itself a race movement, of Celt against Teuton, and in which, as is usually, if not 
invariably, found in history to be the case in the event of such collisions, the Celts 
were worsted. Hence, when, as in Ireland, with which I need not concern my- 
self farther, but which it seems to me that no curious student of ethnology can regard 
as an outside or exceptional case, in a study of Gallo-Keltism, our indignation is in- 
voked to reprobate such acts as what are called the Sutherland clearings, for instance, 
and more recent cases of the same kind. The real idea underlying the denunciations is 
that the proprietor is making use of a mediaeval or modern fiction to commit what is 
morally a breach of covenant. I think that that is what it comes to, though those who 
speak most upon such subjects do not always, if I may say it that should not, put their 
<nvn case so well as I venture to think I do." 

* Memoirs of Lochcill, Author's Introduction, p. 25, and Douglas's Baronage. 



157 



THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 



I. INTRODUCTORY. 

IN the September number of this modest magazine I felt it my 
duty to put myself forward to contest the views of a respected 
Highland proprietor against the advisability of creating a peasant 
proprietary. In discussing that subject, so as not to complicate 
it, I avoided the more general question of Land Law reform, 
which now occupies so large a share of the public attention, and 
which concerns the well-being of the people generally, especially 
Highlanders, more than any other subject affecting their social 
and material comfort and advancement. 

Society is agitated to its very foundation, and it behoves us 
to bring to the consideration of the subject minds imbued with a 
regard for fundamental principles of truth and justice, by the 
light of reason and experience. We find that those who are in 
possession of the soil, and those who wish to wrest it out of their 
hands, appeal to the same theories of political economy in sup- 
port of their arguments, so that landlords and socialists would be 
at death-grips but for the bulk and strength of a vast commercial 
commuuity which interposes between them. 

It is urged by some landlords that the principles. upon which 
the Irish Land Act proceeds are opposed to the principles of 
political economy. Then, if the principles of the Act are founded 
in justice, the theories of political economy which do not tally 
with it require careful consideration and revision. The reader 
will here probably throw up his hands in dismay and exclaim, 
" Who on earth can understand the * dismal science ' called poli- 
tical economy ?" Lochiel, of whose ancestral domains honour- 
able mention is made in the "Wealth of Nations," made the frank 
confession, at a recent meeting of Highlanders, that he did not 
understand it, and the Prime Minister is said to have sent it to 
Jupiter and Saturn. For myself, I could well wish that he had 
given it a less exalted position, and consigned it rather to the 
limbo of all incomprehensible absurdities, and reconstructed it on 
intelligible principles. 



i 5 S THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

There are still, however, many who pin their faith to what 
they call political economy, and it is well to inquire into the 
extent and limit of their faith, and more particularly into the 
nature of the things and transactions to which they refer. 

Political economy naturally divides itself into two parts, as re- 
gards productive labour. Adam Smith refers to the agricultural 
system, and to the commercial system. His references to agri- 
culture, although incisive, are brief. In his time the country was 
suffering chiefly from restrictions on commerce, and he devoted 
all his energy to the exposure of the pernicious effects of mono- 
polies and restrictions. The removal of these has been effected, 
and freedom of trade has been adopted as the policy of the State, 
and we know the blessed effect that has had upon our own in- 
dustries, and on the general condition of the world. 

The inherent vice of the agricultural system had not, in his 
time, shown itself to any very great extent, as those who were 
engaged in the industry were acting under natural feelings of the 
interdependence of a receding age. But in respect of both 
systems, he always applied his fundamental principles, and we 
find the expression "justice, freedom, and equality," constantly 
recurring in his works. 

The fundamental truths upon which the "Wealth of Nations" 
is based are the following : (i) That labour is the foundation of 
all exchange value, and (2) that freedom of labour, or the removal 
of all restrictions and restraints is necessary, in order to obtain 
the best economic result. 

Crabbed utilitarians and infidel materialists came after him, 
who thought they would raise political economy to the position 
of an exact science, by formulating theories and coining definitions 
which, by logical inference, result in a practical denial of truth. 
These theories, so confusing to the human mind, have had the 
most pernicious effect, not only on the conduct of individual land- 
lords, but also on the policy of the State. 

At this stage, I am not going to discuss these at any length. 
Without using the technical expressions of geometrical and arith- 
metical ratios, I may reduce the theorem of the Reverend Mal- 
thus to the capacity of the ordinary reader by describing it as ap- 
plying the multiplication table to the human race, and the rule of 
simple addition to the culturable area of the globe; and the argu- 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 159 

ment is that, as the multiplication table is certain to overtake 
simple addition, mankind must look out for the worst, or go in 
quest of another world. The theorem might be very amusing to 
a school boy on the third form, and at the bottom of his class, 
but it pleased the landlords so much that they raised the Reverend 
Malthus to the dignity of a philosopher. 

Any one can see the absurdity of applying the rigid rules of 
arithmetic to the two most flexible subjects that can engage our 
serious thought man's conduct in a state of freedom, and under 
a sense of responsibility on the one part, and the great capabilities 
of the materials of the earth responding to his labour, on the 
other. 

It led, however, to the degrading conclusion that man is not 
fit to be entrusted with freedom, and must be governed by some 
superior beings exercising tyranny over his food and social habits. 
We are suffering from feudalism in thought, as well as in action. 
It should seem strange, indeed, at this time of day, to give a prac- 
tical denial to the original command " Be fruitful, and multiply, 
and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; and have dominion over 
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every 
living thing that moveth upon the earth." 

We are not within sight of limits. The demand for labour 
exists everywhere, even among the teeming millions of India. 
What do we hear from Cyprus? The locusts there devour 
more human food than the inhabitants. The Governor says that 
the only thing to keep them down is cultivation. They multiply 
so rapidly in the jungle, that they swarm down on the fields and 
devour the crops. A report says : 

The Government endeavoured to check the plague by offering a piastre per oke, 
equivalent to. a halfpenny per pound, for the eggs, a price subsequently raised, as the 
eggs became scarce, to three times that amount. Incredible as it may appear, between 
July 1 88 1 and the beginning of February 1882, one thousand three hundred and 
twenty-nine tons and a-half of eggs had been brought in and destroyed. Statisticians 
can calculate the fabulous number of eggs which is represented by this weight; but 
the imagination fails to realise the immensity of the figures. Even this prodigious 
destruction of eggs was, however, insufficient to cheque the plague, and five thousand 
five hundred screens, each fifty yards long, and eight thousand one hundred traps, 
were brought into play against the enemy. It is believed that only an increased 
population, and so an increased area of cultivation, will eradicate the locust ; for as 
it only lays its eggs in uncultivated ground, where they will not be disturbed by the 
plough, their numbers will decrease as the available area for their production 
diminishes. 



I6o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Further comment on the Reverend Malthus and the Bible 
might weaken the conclusion to be drawn from the contrast. 

But a still more pernicious theory than the Malthusian one 
was propounded by Ricardo, which forms the battle ground 
between the landlords and the socialists, and which gives a prac- 
tical denial to Adam Smith's proposition that labour is the 
foundation of all exchange value. It is called the theory of rent, 
and demands a more thorough discussion than I can here give 
even a forecast of. 

The two maxims which appear to comprise the entire politi- 
cal economy of some prominent politicians consist in the two 
expressions" freedom of contract" and " buy in the cheapest 
market and sell in the dearest," without, apparently, understand- 
ing the difference between the agricultural system and the com- 
mercial system. It must be apparent to every one that there is 
nothing in commerce of the same nature as the soil, subject to 
the same equities and vicissitudes ; nor is there a class in com- 
merce claiming exemption from the universal law of labour and 
risks as landlords do ; neither is there a relationship between any 
two classes in commerce such as subsists between landlords and 
agriculturists. There are, in short, two principles which are like 
oil and water : they will not mix. The commercial principle is 
direct, and leads to accumulation and wealth ; the dual agri- 
cultural principle is inverse^ and tends to dissipation and poverty. 
It is difficult to conceive how the one principle can apply to the 
other. But the task has recently been undertaken by the Duke 
of Argyll. 

One of the great sources of the confusion of thought which 
exists on the subject is the use of false analogies, and the appli- 
cation of commercial terms to a transaction which is unknown to 
free commerce, so that when you are speaking of one thing you 
are thinking of another. This is the dialectic jugglery which 
plays so many tricks with the feeble human understanding. 

The object of these papers is to make an attempt, however 
feeble, to clear the mind of those illusions which are so apt to be 
produced by the use of false analogies and definitions. I may 
here so far anticipate, as to ask the reader to distinguish between 
land as the subject matter of contract, and rent as actually the 
thing trafficked in, as, for instance, in the purchase of an estate, it 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 161 

is reported as at so many years value of the rental. The inquiry 
will, then, resolve itself into these two questions What is land ? 
and what is land rent ? My desire is to make the subject as clear 
to readers of the most ordinary intelligence, as it appears to my 
own mind, and I crave the indulgence of practised writers, as I 
am not used to composition. Let me first attempt an analysis of 

THE TWO PRINCIPLES. 

The cause, as I conceive it, why the public mind is so 
clouded and perplexed on a subject which ought in itself to be 
very simple, if viewed in the light of reason and justice, is that 
fundamental principles of freedom and equal rights are subor- 
dinated to other considerations, and land is treated of as if it 
were an ordinary article of commerce. It must appear to every 
one that the germinating property of the soil, liable as it is to the 
vicissitudes of the weather, and its products to blight and disease, 
has no analogy to ordinary commercial property, or the leasing 
of land to any ordinary commercial contract. Yet, in argument, 
nothing is more common than to find the supporters of our 
dual system resorting to analogy. The most distinguished and 
talented offender in this respect is the Duke of Argyll, who has 
written a pamphlet under the title, " The Commercial Principles, 
applicable to Contracts for the Hire of Land." 

In this treatise the noble Duke tells of his having once heard 
a socialist speak, and as he repeats the same story in the Con- 
temporary Review for March last, I give that edition of it. He is 
reviewing a pamphlet written by an English freehold farmer (Mr 
Prout), in which that gentleman gives an account of his improve- 
ments. The sentence objected to runs as follows : 

I am convinced that the greatest impediment to the extension of my husbandry 
over the heavy lands of the Kingdom lies in the fact that no law yet provides any 
safeguard that a tenant shall obtain the full fruits of his enterprise. 

This appears to have roused the noble Duke, and he com- 
ments upon it thus : 

I pass over the objection that it is not the business of the law to secure the 
"full fruits" or indeed any fruits for any kind of enterprise, otherwise than by re- 
specting and enforcing all contracts between man and man. . . . The Socialist 
doctrines in respect of the rights and the rewards of labour are largely founded on the 
same deceptive phrases. One of these doctrines is that no man should ever make any 

L 



1 62 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

profit out of another man's labour. I recollect hearing this doctrine laid down with 
the most perfect good humour, and in the most perfect simplicity of mind, by a London 
artisan, in a meeting held many years ago for the discussion of economical subjects. 
He said he could never understand how it ever could be just that any man should de- 
rive profit from the labour of another. Now, this doctrine rests upon the assertion 
identical both in form and in substance with the assertion of Mr Prout that every 
labourer should enjoy the "full fruits" of his labour. 

No man in trade and commerce professes to make money 
out of other men's labour. Let the reader reflect. Labour is 
simply a necessity of human life, without which nothing. Does 
the physician, clergyman, or lawyer profess to earn his wages by 
any other labour than his own? In trade every employer of 
reproductive labour pays the wages at the market rate, and is 
remunerated for his own labour and capital by profit on the pro- 
duct. It very frequently happens, as every one knows, that he 
makes a loss by the labour which he himself employs ; but in 
any case there is no one over him to claim any share in the fruits 
of his enterprise, except what he pays to society in the shape of 
taxes. Mr Prout, being a freeholder, is in this happy position, 
and he may congratulate himself on the fact. 

The labourer, if I may so speak, is a different genus from 
the capitalist, of very ancient origin, and of whom it is said, what- 
ever his occupation may be, " the labourer is worthy of his hire." 
Society has not yet arrived at any plan by which to estimate the 
cost of production, except by the wages of labour. When the 
labourer has received his wages, as measured in money, he has 
received the full fruits of his labour. Any further eventual fruits 
belong not to him, but to the vast socialism in which all are 
fellow-workers together, except the landlord, who, as such, claims 
the privilege of idleness in virtue of his taxing power over other 
men's labonr and capital. Could the noble Duke afford to enter 
on the discussion, we should have liked very much to know the 
result. The question lies between his class and the socialists. 
The working community may rest at ease. In short, this is the 
working of the commercial principle, under which every man is a 
freeman, and by which no man forfeits to another any portion of 
the fruits of his labour. By putting a shallow truism in the 
mouth of a socialist, the noble Duke has simply presented us 
with a mare's nest. 

Let me now turn to the agricultural principle, and avail my- 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 163 

self of the noble Duke's illustration of its working and benefits. 
In a somewhat remarkable speech (for a Highlander) made in the 
House of Lords on ist July 1881, the Duke of Argyll is reported 
in the Times to have spoken as follows : 

" I now pass on to the question of the confiscation of improvements one of the 
most important heads of the accusation to which I ask the attention of your lordships. 
In most of the speeches by members of the Land League, I am sorry to say also in 
speeches which are not those of the League, constant accusations are made that land- 
lords are confiscating the tenants' improvements by basing increases of rent on such 
improvements. I have searched these Blue-Books without finding any data for any 
such statement as that which, as I have said, is so frequently made. There is a hill- 
side in the West of Ireland, the property of Colonel Pitt Kennedy. It was a barren 
moorland not worth in its natural state a shilling an acre ; but it now consists of 
thriving farms bearing excellent crops. Now, what were the circumstances in which 
the change took place? Colonel Pitt Kennedy brought the people to the moorland, 
and said: " Cultivate and improve this moorland, and you shall have it the first seven 
years for next to nothing one shilling an acre. The eighth year you shall pay two 
shillings an acre; the twelfth four shillings," and so on. At the end of twenty years 
the rent reaches fourteen shillings an acre; the people were happy and contented; and 
the whole operation is praised by Professor Baldwin. The ultimate rent was 1300 per 
cent, above the original value of the land. It was raised entirely on what is called 
the tenants' improvements. The landlord made no outlay except ^"300 for a road. 
Now, was that or not a legitimate operation? Everybody knows that it was a legiti- 
mate operation, and that it depends on this principle the tenant's work on the land- 
lord's capital. 

To me, who am a commercial man, it really seems a wonder 
that socialists are so " good humoured." If the rate of increase 
progressed at the same ratio for forty years it will be found that 
the rental would come to about 20 per acre, and, on this prin- 
ciple, there is no reason at all why it should not. 

Not only the merest tyro in political economy, but even men 
of the most ordinary intelligence draw a distinction between land 
and capital, and one would certainly think that the Duke of 
Argyll knew the difference. The plastic human mind, however, 
is so liable to be impressed and influenced by one's condition, 
avocations, and surroundings as to run the risk of mistaking 
things external to his experience for things which are actually in 
his possession. " What Ireland requires is capital," and " What 
will Ireland do if the landlords take away their capital?" are 
questions which are painfully familiar to our ears. If land is 
capital it would be a strange phenomenon to see the landlords of 
Ireland walk away with the soil, and leaving the poor people on 



1 64 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the bare rock; and yet, I am disposed to think, that some politi- 
cians would regard the phenomenon without regret. 

The noble Duke asks the question" Was that or not a legi- 
timate operation?" and, like Pilate, who inquired what was truth, 
did not wait for an answer. In Ireland the "improvement" took 
place by bringing the people to the hill-side, but in the Highlands 
the "improvement" was effected by driving them away. Really 
the land question is more of a study in psychology than in econo- 
mics. It was a beautiful improvement to the hill-side, and, no 
doubt, a very great improvement on Colonel Pitt Kennedy's in- 
come, but the improvement on the condition of Ireland testifies 
that " improvements" may be effected whilst a country decays. 
It is quite clear if, like Mr Prout, the people ,had bought the hill- 
side, the full fruits of their labour would have accrued to them- 
selves. It is equally clear that if Colonel Pitt Kennedy had re- 
claimed the land by means of paid labour at its market value he 
could not derive 1*300 per cent, per annum at the end of twenty 
years. The difference is exactly the amount in which the people 
were robbed on principle. 

From the fact that the agricultural principle acts in an in- 
verse order, whilst the commercial principle acts in a direct 
order, I am disposed to think landowners cannot regard things in 
their natural order of time and place. A landlord is supposed, 
for the purposes of argument, to be like a shopkeeper to whom a 
whole population must come for their wants. Colonel Pitt Ken- 
nedy may have been on the hill-side before the people, but in the 
Highlands and Islands the people were there before the land- 
lords, and as a general rule I believe that to be the case all over 
the country. 

In the same way, by the doctrine of " freedom of contract," 
it is assumed that the agricultural population is in a constant 
state of locomotion, looking for farms as foot-passengers in 
the High Street of a town might be looking for the " hire" of 
sewing machines. No account is taken of those two great 
factors in commerce and human life time and distance nor of 
associations of locality, and the ties of friendship over a whole 
country side. Over all of these any despot can exercise his 
uncontrollable power, and commercial principles, it should seem, 
must bear the blame. 






ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 165 

The Duke of Argyll argues that the question being a matter 
of contract, it is not the business of law to interpose. Every 
other economic relationship in the commercial world has under- 
gone a change in the law; but land, on commercial principles, it 
should seem, is too sacred a subject to be subjected to equity. 
Does a contract, then, justify all transactions? A Turkish pasha 
contracts with his Government for a judicial appointment, or a 
revenue collectorate, so that he may amass wealth, in the one 
case by the bribes of suitors, and in the other by oppression; but 
no one will say that the contract justifies these transactions. 

It is argued in the Duke's pamphlet that the tendency of 
modern legislation has been towards individual freedom by re- 
moving restrictive laws from the Statute-Book, such as the aboli- 
tion of the usury laws. Money, as an instrument of exchange, is 
a necessity of commerce, but, being the product of human labour, 
it is capable of increase with increase of population and demand ; 
and even if it were not, the inventive genius of man has found a 
substitute in paper. Where then is the analogy? But although 
the usurer is not now under penal laws, he is still an object of 
contempt in society, and commerce takes no account of him, as 
he trades upon the necessity or folly of his customer. From the 
attributes of land, to be engaged in " hiring" and " lending" it on 
the principles of the usurer is no trade for a respectable man. 
Would not a flush of shame suffuse the dusky cheeks of a Jew 
usurer at being caught charging the rate of interest on his coin 
which Colonel Pitt Kennedy by law received for his land? In 
virtue of his lending right over a barren hill-side, was he not in a 
position, as Highland proprietors still are, to interpose between 
the hungry mouth and the gratuitous gift of God in the germin- 
ating property of the soil, and practically to say to starvelings, 
" Your labour and your money, or your life?" 

The commercial principle can never apply until land is re- 
garded as the raw material to be bought and sold in freehold, 
just the same as manufacturers buy the crude materials which 
they subject to reproductive labour, and sell as finished articles. 
This is not the place to attempt a forecast of how an ethic-econo- 
mic prohibitory law against the " hiring" and " lending" of land 
would remedy the existing great evils of our land tenure without 
prejudice to any just rights of landlords, The great inequalities 



1 66 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

in respect of land are as apparent to the lovers of constitutional 
freedom as they are to extreme socialists. But my object here is 
to trace out some of those theories and analogies which obscure 
and perplex the mind. 

Before I have done, however, with the comparison of the two 
principles, let me direct the reader's mind to the land law of 
contracts and the commercial law of contracts. The noble Duke 
says " It is not the business of the law to secure the full fruits 
or, indeed, any fruits for any kind of enterprise, otherwise 
than by respecting and enforcing all contracts between man and 
man." This is strict law, and equity is not allowed to step in; 
as, for instance, when a man loses the fruits of his labour, not 
through any fault or want of prescience on his own part, but by 
the act of God, such as the loss of his crops by blight and grub, 
and of his cattle and sheep by epidemic. He may go to the land- 
lord and say " My lord, I have not only lost the fruits of my 
labour, but also a great part of my capital ; your land has, by the 
dispensations of Providence, yielded me nothing this year. I 
pray you let me off my rent." By strict law the landlord says 
" That is your affair ; I live by my rent ; I incur no risk ; I am 
not subject to the dispensations of Providence ; ' I stay here on 
my bond.' " A law that can lead to such a conclusion is immoral 
in the highest sense. In commercial law, if a man is in a state of 
duress when making a contract, or a " contingency " takes place 
which could not be foreseen, or ought to have been included in 
the contract, a court of equity will grant relief. 

In praise of the excellence of Scots law, the noble Duke, in 
his treatise, says that it was founded on the wisdom of the 
Romans, who, he says, were great in art and war, but, above all, 
in law. The Venetians were great also in art and war, but, above 
all, in commerce; and the great dramatist personified in Shylock 
and Portia the distinction which I call attention to. To save 
the reader the trouble of looking up the reference, I give the 
quotation : 

"Portia (Equity) Why, this bond is forfeit ; 

And lawfully by this the Jew may claim 
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off, 
Nearest the merchant's heart Be merciful ; 
Take thrice thy money ; bid me tear the bond. 



EX VOTO. 167 

Shylock (Law) When it is paid according to the tenor. 
It doth appear you are a worthy judge ; 
You know the law, your exposition 
Hath been most sound : I charge you by the law, 
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, 
Proceed to judgment : by my soul I swear, 
There is no power in the tongue of man 
To alter me : I stay here on my bond. 

Portia Tarry a little there is something else 

This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood ; 

The words expressly are a pound of flesh. 

Then take thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh ; 

But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed 

One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods 

Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate 

Unto the State of Venice." 

While I have freely availed myself of the sharp weapons of 
controversial criticisms, I beg the reader to feel assured that I 
entertain a high respect for the noble Duke's person, character, 
and talents, and a thorough belief in his dialectic skill to defend 
his position so far as it is tenable. 

Having by the foregoing discussion briefly, and inadequately, 
laid down that there are two systems of industry, and two sharply 
defined principles of law and practice, I proceed next to elucidate 
that all-important question What is Land ? and to draw con- 
clusions which carry the subject specially into the region of the 
highest ethics. MALCOLM MACKENZIE. 



EX VOTO. 

(THURSDAY, i6TH MARCH 1882.) 



Your voice restores Arcadia to-night, 

And we, enchanted out of time and space, 

Tread the green floor of Fancy's land, and gaze 

Past the forgotten foot-lamps and their light, 

Into the vanished world of pastoral, 

Where, on the branch, some blossom-haunting bee 

Hangs charmed of his sordid industry, 

And golden on gold hair slant sun-lights fall. 

Rosalind, Perdita, and Amoret, 

Sweet names that lie within the heart asleep, 

Waiting the lightest touch of thought to leap 

In music, by your side to-night we set 

A sister name for memory to keep, 

Saved out of time, and sealed beyond regret, 

W, A, SIM, 



168 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



LIA-FAIL, OR THE SCOTTISH CORONATION 
STONE. 



THE early history of the famous Lia, Liag, or Leug Fail, in which 
the Celtic portion of our countrymen have at least as much in- 
terest as any others, is involved in obscurity, and rests entirely 
upon the traditions handed down from the old Celtic bards and 
seanachies. According to Dr Maclagan's interesting work on 
Scottish Myths, it was Lug MacEithlenn, King of the Irish Celts, 
who first brought the stone into Ireland from near Carmuirs, 
in Lothian. Again, it is said that Simon Breac, a Nemidean, 
caught the stone on the fluke of his anchor, and that the Danes 
took it to Ireland from Manand. Another account is that Conn, 
King of Ireland, was walking by the shore with his Druid priests 
and bards, when he happened to set his foot upon a large stone, 
which, upon being struck, emitted a hollow sound. Surprised at 
the phenomenon, Conn asked the priests the name of the stone, 
where it had come from, and what the sound portended ? The 
priests took fifty-three days to consider, and then informed Conn 
that the name of the stone was Fal, that it came from the Isle of 
Man, that it was set up in a place called Temair or Tara in the 
Island of Fal, and that it was to remain for ever in the land of 
Tailtin ; also, that the sound was only forthcoming when the 
stone was touched by the rightful king, and that the number of 
sounds emitted foretold the number of kings of the race of Conn 
who should succeed him. Conn was delighted at this account of 
the stone, and ordered it to be taken to the palace, and carefully 
preserved. The fame of the stone went abroad far and near, and 
came to the ears of the Scots, who were at that time engaged in 
a knotty point as to the legitimate succession to the throne. An 
embassy was at once dispatched to Ireland, to beg a loan of the 
stone until they could decide the question, but the virtues of the 
stone had suddenly departed (presumably upon the birth of 
Christ). This was unknown to the Scots, and the Irish, wishing 
to be friendly, readily consented to lend the stone, without hint- 



LIA-FAIL. 169 

ing that it would be of no use. The Scots, however, refused to 
return the relic, and, as the Irish did not think it worth recover- 
ing, it remained in Scotland, and was placed in Dunstaffhage 
Palace, in Argyllshire. 

Some affirm that it is the stone which formed Jacob's pillow 
in the plain of Luz or Bethel, when he dreamed of the great 
ladder reaching up to heaven; that it was taken to Brigantia, 
in the province of Gallicia, in Spain, where King Gathelus used it 
as his throne; and that thence it was carried away to Ireland by 
Simon Breac, above mentioned, who was King of the Scots about 
700 B.C. From Ireland it was conveyed to lona by King Fergus 
I., about the year 330 B.C.; thence to DunstafTnage ; and, in the 
year 850 A.D., it was placed in Scone Abbey by Kenneth Mac- 
alpin. About this time a superstition gained ground, that, 
wherever the stone should be, a Scottish king should reign, and 
Kenneth is said to have caused the following rhyme to be en- 
graved upon it in the Irish character: 

" Cinne Scuit saor am fine, 
Mar breug am faistine : 
Far am faighear an Lia-fail 
Dlighe flaitheas do ghabhail," 

which Hector Boethius translated into Latin as follows: 

" Ne fallat fatum, Scoti, quocunque locatum 
Invenient lapidem hunc, regnare tenentur ibidem." 

The common English rhyme is : 

" Except old saws do feign, 
And wizards' wits be blind, 
The Scots in place must reign, 
Where they this stone shall find," 

another being 

" Consider, Scot, where'er you find this stone, 
If fates fail not, there fixed must be your throne." 

The translation generally received as the true one is 

"The race of the free Scots shall nourish, if this prediction ba not false : wherever 
the stone of destiny is found, they shall prevail by the right of heaven." 

This prediction has been verified in the cases of Gathelus, Simon 
Breac, Kenneth Macalpin, and James I. 



i;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

In 1296, Edward I. of England carried it away with him, 
and placed it in the chapel of Edward the Confessor, in West- 
minster Abbey. He is said to have caused the inscription upon 
it, before alluded to, to be chiselled off, in order to destroy all 
record of the unfortunate country which he had so ruthlessly 
despoiled. The stone was then enclosed in a wooden chair, and 
was used at the coronation of Henry IV., as appears from the 
following account of the coronation of that King, in Riley's 
Chronica Monasterii S. Albani : " Introducto rege, et in cathe- 
drato sede regali super lapidem qui dicitur 'Regale Regni Scotiae,' 
cantabatur Antiphona." 

The office of placing the Sovereigns of Scotland upon the 
stone for the ceremony of coronation was the hereditary right of 
the Earls of Fife. The preservation of the relic was regarded by 
the Scottish nation as of great moment, and in the year 1327 a 
treaty was drawn up between Scotland and England, one of the 
clauses of which stipulated that Lia-fail should be restored, but 
the population of. London rose in a riotous manner, and refused 
to allow the emblem of Edward the First's success to be re- 
moved from England. In 1363, in a secret treaty entered into 
by David II. and Edward III., it was agreed that the coronation 
stone should be removed from England to Scone, and that the 
Kings of England were henceforth to be crowned of Scotland 
upon the stone at Scone. This treaty, however, was never rati- 
fied. 

As seen at present in the chapel of Edward the Confessor, 
Westminster, the relic is an oblong stone of about twenty-two 
inches in length, thirteen in breadth, and eleven in depth. It is 
of a dark steel colour, interspersed with veins of red, and is com- 
posed apparently of a sort of limestone which is still found near 
Dundee. There is an iron ring at each end of it, provided with 
careful arrangements to prevent them breaking off by the weight 
of the stone when lifted. 

In Scotland, the stone is known by the names of Lia-fail, 
the Coronation-Stone, Jacob's Stone, the Fatal Marble Stone, 
the Scottish Palladium, the Black Stone, the Stone of Destiny, 
the Stone of Fortune, and several others. 

H, 



OUR FIRST CELTIC PROFESSOR. 



ON Friday, the 22nd of December, after we had gone to press 
with the January number, Mr Donald Mackinnon, M.A., was 
unanimously elected Professor of Celtic Languages, History, 
Literature, and Antiquities, in the University of Edinburgh, an 
appointment which has given very general satisfaction in Celtic 
circles. The Patrons are the Curators of the University and 
Professor Blackie. We have from the beginning felt a keen inter- 
est in the eventual election of the first occupant of the Chair, and 
we are quite satisfied that, taking everything into consideration, no 
better appointment could have been made. In this connection 
it may not be amiss to reproduce a few remarks which we 
made in the Celtic Magazine for September 1877, and which 
had unfortunately caused some little friction, and perhaps annoy- 
ance, in certain quarters, at the time. It has indeed been seriously 
stated that our premature intimation of what was to be, or what 
should be, was, in a degree, responsible for the delay in the 
appointment which has now taken place. Be that as it may, we are 
glad to find that the two gentlemen whose names we then men- 
tioned as possible candidates were since two of Mr Mackinnon's 
strongest supporters for the Professorship, and it would be 
difficult to find two better qualified to express an opinion on 
such a subject than the Rev. Thomas Maclauchlan, LL.D., and 
Sheriff Nicolson, of Kirkcudbright. 

The remarks which we published in 1877, are, with a slight 
variation of one sentence, as follows : 

THE NEW CELTIC PROFESSOR FOR EDINBURGH. There has been a good 
deal of speculation of late as to who the coming Professor of Celtic is to be. It 
is understood that the Council of the University have decided to leave the choice 
of the first occupant of the Chair entirely with Professor Blackie, and this is as 
it should be; for, without him, there would have been no Chair to fill. We are 
happy to learn that the man has been already virtually decided upon, and that the 
future Celtic Professor will be D. Mackinnon, M.A., of the Gael, and Secretary to 
the Edinburgh School Board. Mr Mackinnon had a distinguished career in the 
University, and is a first-class general scholar. He is a native of Colonsay, and in 
working his way up from the bottom of the ladder, he has given ample proof of the 
qualities required in our first Celtic Professor. He has, throughout his course in the 
University, and since, paid special attention to Celtic literature, and his papers in 



I72 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the 6V*/ on " Litreachas nan Gaidheal" (The Literature of the Highlanders), show 
an extensive knowledge, and a due appreciation, of the subject under consideration. 
While we have others, among the rising generation of Celtic students, quite equal to 
Mr Mackinnon in Celtic scholarship, we are not aware of ariy amongst them equal to 
him in the higher education and in general culture. Some names have been men- 
tioned as candidates for the Chair whose work in the Celtic field is a mere caricature 
and burlesque on Celtic philology. Others who have been mentioned, such as the 
Rev. Dr Maclauchlan and Sheriff Nicolson, are, no doubt, well qualified, but one is, 
perhaps, too advanced in years, and both too comfortably settled down in life, in their 
respective social positions, to care about devoting the labour and close application 
absolutely necessary for a successful Professor of Celtic, who must give a reason for 
his existence, and go over and cultivate an extensive field, hitherto comparatively un- 
touched, even by our best native Celtic scholars. It requires a young man with 
proved ability, yearning to distinguish himself in Celtic research, to fill this Chair 
with credit to himself, to its distinguished founder, and to the literature of the Celts; 
and Mr Mackinnon is unquestionably the most likely man. Professor Blackie is, per- 
haps, the only man who would, or could, have made such an independent and excel- 
lent choice, where so much influence was certain to be used to secure the post for 
more influential but less able candidates. 

In his application Mr Mackinnon says: 

Gaelic is my mother tongue, and I have read it and written, as well as spoken 
the language, from my boyhood. For the last twelve years I have devoted such 
leisure time as I could afford to the scientific study of my native language and the 
kindred tongues; and I am quite familiar with the standard works on these subjects 
published in recent years by Zeuss, Skene, Stokes, Windisch, and others. My pub- 
lished contributions to Gaelic and Celtic Literature consist, with few exceptions, of 
papers printed in a magazine called the Gael. .... During the last few years 
I have collected materials for a New Edition of Reid's Bibliotheca Scoto-Celtica. I 
have also transcribed, arranged, and annotated the Fernaig MS. a collection of 
Gaelic poetry made in 1688, and now the property of William F. Skene, Esq., LL.D., 
Historiographer- Royal for Scotland. The MS. is written phonetically, like the Dean 
of Lismore's MS., and consists of upwards of 6000 lines of unpublished Gaelic poetry 
by Bishop Cars well, Sir John Stewart of Appin, and others. For the last eighteen 
months I have acted as Secretary and member of a Commission appointed by the 
Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge for the revision of the Gaelic Scrip- 
tures. 

Sir Alexander Grant, Bart, Principal of the University of Edin- 
burgh, wrote so long ago as ist January 1871 : 

I have the honour to certify that Mr Donald Mackinnon has completed an hon- 
ourable career as a student in this University. He obtained at different times class 
prizes for Latin, logic, mathematics, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, English 
literature, and metaphysics. In April 1868 the Macpherson Bursary was awarded to 
him after competition. In November 1869 he passed his examination for M. A. degree 
with first-class honours in mental philosophy. In the same month he obtained the 
Hamilton Fellowship in mental philosophy one of the highest distinctions which 
this University has to offer. The professors under whom he has studied have a high 
opinion of his abilities and character. 



OUR FIRST CELTIC PROFESSOR. 173 

Sheriff Nicolson writes under date of iSth November 1882 : 

I have long taken a deep interest in the foundation of a Celtic Chair in the 
University of Edinburgh: I wrote circulars on the subject twenty years ago. Since 
the dream of those days has become a reality (thanks to my dear and honoured friend, 
Professor Blackie!), I have felt some anxiety in view of the time when the Chair must 
be filled, especially after it became certain that none of our older and most eminent 
workers in the field of Celtic literature would be available for the office : I refer speci- 
ally to Mr Skene, Mr Stokes, Dr Maclauchlan, and Dr Clerk. 

That anxiety has been much lightened by knowing that Mr Donald Mackinnon 
is about to become a candidate. I see no reason for withholding the opinion, as all 
the curators know me, that if the patronage of this Chair were in my gift, I should 
without hesitation confer the office on him. I should feel assured in doing so that the 
desires and anticipations of those who have taken most interest in founding the Chair 
would not be disappointed, and that Celtic literature would be worthily represented 
in the University of Edinburgh. 

I shall briefly indicate what Mr Mackinnon's qualifications are, special and general. 

I don't know any other man in Scotland more thoroughly master than he is of 
Gaelic Grammar, whose knowledge of it is more exact and reasoned. Nor do I 
know any equal to him as a writer of our vernacular Gaelic. Of this he has given 
abundant proof, infer alia, in two remarkable series of papers, in a Gaelic magazine 
called the Gael, the one on Gaelic proverbs, the other on Gaelic literature. The style 
of these papers is thoroughly idiomatic that of a man who thinks in Gaelic, instead of 
translating from English, as many respectable preachers do, who pass for fair Gaelic 
scholars. The ease with which Mr Mackinnon can express, in good Gaelic, thoughts 
and modes of speech that have never been rendered familiar in that language, is very 
uncommon. The matter of these papers is not less remarkable than the form, show- 
ing thorough acquaintance with the subjects, and breadth of view in treating them. 
They give the impression of being the work of a vigorous and critical intellect, ex- 
pressing itself naturally with clearness and power. 

Mr Mackinnon's knowledge of Celtic philology and literature in general has 
not been exhibited to the world yet, so far as I know, in print. But I don't attach 
great importance to such exhibition I think it would be unwise to insist on it as a 
sine qua non for a candidate. It sometimes happens, unfortunately, to prove to those 
acquainted with the subjects something quite different from what it was intended to 
demonstrate. My acquaintance with Mr Mackinnon leads me to believe that, in 
capacity to deal with the subjects which the occupant of the Celtic Chair is bound to 
know and teach, he may safely be trusted to do credit to himself and the Univer- 
sity. Whether as a lecturer on such subjects, or as a teacher of Gaelic to those who 
may avail themselves of that important part of the new Professor's duties, I should 
look with confidence to his achieving success. His style in English is not less excel- 
lent than in Gaelic, and he possesses the gift of clear exposition in a high degree. 

As to his general merits, his career at the University of Edinburgh was dis- 
tinguished throughout, of which, as examiner at the time in philosophy and English 
literature, I can speak with distinct recollection of the high character and thorough- 
ness of his papers. The Highlands have not sent, so far as I know, to the University 
of Edinburgh in recent times a more distinguished student than Mr Mackinnon. 

He is in the prime of life, has a great capacity for work, and is one of those 
who still maintain, in the midst of a busy life and exacting details, the academic spirit 
and philosophic mind. He is straightforward and independent, and free from pre- 



I 74 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

judices, even on Celtic questions, to a degree not common among warm-blooded 
Highlanders. 

I earnestly hope the attendance at the Celtic class may be good; but whatever 
it may be, I have no fear that the office would ever prove a caput mortuum in the 
hands of Mr Donald Mackinnon. 

The Rev. Archibald Clerk, LL.D., minister of Kilmallie, writes : 

I have had the pleasure of being well acquainted with Mr Donald Mackinnon 
for a considerable time; and during the last eighteen months I have been very closely 
associated with him in preparing for the press, under the auspices of the Christian 
Knowledge Society, a revised edition of the Gaelic Scriptures. I have thus had ample 
opportunities of estimating his knowledge of the Gaelic language, and I assert, with- 
out hesitation, that I consider him the most accurate Gaelic scholar within the range 
of my acquaintance. He is quite familiar with the various spoken dialects of the 
language. He has carefully examined its scanty literature, whether in print or MS., 
and has, with the eye of an accomplished philologist, studied its peculiar structure. 

There are other important qualifications, besides philological attainment, neces- 
sary to fit a person to discharge aright the various duties required of the occupant of 
the Celtic Chair, for which Mr Mackinnon is a candidate, and these also he possesses 
in an eminent degree. He has thorough knowledge of, and sympathy with, the 
people whose history, character, and institutions the Professor would be expected to 
illustrate. He is well able to compare these with the history and institutions of other 
nations. His attainments, both in classics and philosophy, are of a high order, as is 
proved by the very distinguished position which he won in the University of Edin- 
burgh. I know that he has continued to be a steady and systematic student. He has 
added the knowledge of modern languages to that of the classics, and is in every 
respect well abreast of the learning of the present day. 

But what, in my opinion, specially qualifies Mr Mackinnon for the office which 
he seeks is that he possesses a very clear, vigorous intellect, sound practical judgment, 
thorough candour, and independence of character, rendering him loyal to truth, and 
fearless in its support. 

The unsettled and very unsatisfactory state of almost all Gaelic questions im- 
peratively demands the possession of such qualities in the occupant of the Celtic Chair. 
The orthography of the language is still a subject of unceasing contention - every dis- 
trict claiming supremacy for its own dialect every writer for his own theory. All 
that pertains to Celtic character and history is most unduly depreciated by one class 
of writers, and just as unduly extolled by another. Mr Mackinnon is able to collect 
carefully and to record impartially all the facts which can still be gathered regarding 
those controverted subjects; and he has another most valuable quality, in being master 
of a style which is remarkably clear and concise. He is highly fitted for the duties 
of the Chair in its scientific aspects; and for its practical department -the teaching 
students good vernacular Gaelic no one can surpass him. For the credit and useful- 
ness of the Chair, as well as for his own sake, I heartily wish him success in his candi- 
dature. 

Among others who testified to Mr Mackinnon's qualifications 
for the Celtic Professorship are The Right Reverend Angus 
Macdonald, D.D., Bishop of Argyll and the Isles ; Rev. Thomas 
Maclauchlan, LL.D.; Rev. Robert Blair, Cambuslang ; Rev. J. 



THE MAGILLONY CAMERONS, 175 

Cameron Lccs, D.D., St Giles's, Edinburgh ; Rev. Norman Mac- 
leod, St Stephen's, Edinburgh ; Rev. John Maclean, Tarbert ; 
Rev. Neil Dewar, Free Church, Kingussie; Rev. William Watson, 
Kiltearn ; Rev. Alexander Lee, Free Church, Nairn ; Rev. Alex. 
J. Macquarrie, Fort- William ; Mr D. Campbell Black, M.D.; 
Professor Calderwood, LL.D., Edinburgh ; Rev. Archibald Scott, 
D.D., St George's, Edinburgh; Professor S. S. Laurie, Edinburgh; 
Rev. David Duff, LL.D., Professor of Church History ; the Rev. 
A. C. Sutherland, B.D., Strathbraan ; the Rev. Dr Begg ; the 
Rev. J. G. Campbell, Tiree ; Professor Kelland ; and the late 
Lord Colonsay. 

(Ecrrresponbetue. 



THE MACGILLONY CAMERONS. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

SIR, Having read the letter of your correspondent, " Coirre-an-t-Sith," with 
much interest, I beg to be permitted to show where I differ from him. First 
"Onfhadh" is not tempest, and, therefore, " Son of the tempest" could not be the 
interpretation of the name " Gill'-Onfhaidh." According to tradition, it was on a fine 
day, when there were but small waves on Lochiel, that the author of the being of the 
Camerons of that ilk was washed ashore. One person, who saw the casket containing 
him, wanted to get a boat and see what the value of this " flotsam" might be, and 
save it from becoming "jetsam." Another person present assured him that he 
might wait with patience; that the force of the waves would soon send it ashore 
" Cuiridh onfhadh na tuinne gu tir e." This came to pass; and when they opened the 
casket they found the child, and forthwith he was yclept "Gille-an-Onfhaidh." His 
son, " Beolan Mor," the warrior, was the first Mac'ill'-Onfhaidh. 

There is an old dancing tune still sung in Lochaber said to be composed about 
Beolan, which shows that he was famous in more ways than one. It goes thus 

Mear thu, mear thu, mear thu, 
Mear thu, mear thu, Mhic'ill'-Onfhaidh. 
Bu mhath a bhiodh na h-igheanan, 
Mur bhi' thu Mhic'ill'-Onfhaidh, &c. 

The Macgillonys were never spoken of in Lochaber as Cloinn-'ic-'ill'-Onfhaidh; 
it is invariably " Sliochd-'iU'-Onfhaidh." 

It is not in connection with the name of Gille-an-Onfhaidh that the saying about 
the " Toitean'' is quoted. The saying in Lochaber is " Mac gille-mhaoil an toitean, 
a thainig air tir 's a Chorpaich." This was another waif of the ocean who became 
the ancestor of the MacMillans of Loch-Arkaig, and the legend of the " toitean" is as 
follows: 

When this child was washed ashore at Corpach, it was found that precautions of 



I7 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

a curious kind were taken against his starving. A toitcan, or bit of flesh, was tied in 
his hand, and he was sucking it. A string attached to his hand was fixed to his foot ; 
the reason for this was easily seen. If the child were choking he would kick, and 
then the string would pull the hand, with its dangerous morsel, away from the mouth. 
It was never said of the Camerons that they were specially fond of flesh, although 
the words of their Gathering Song began with " Thigibh an so, chlanna na'n con, 's 
gheibh sibh feoil" " Come hither, children of the dogs, and you'll get flesh." These 
words merely rose incidentally out of the words of the Duke of Athol. True, the 
bard that attacked " Ian Lorn" said: 

" Be abhaisd fir a bhraigh so, 
Da thaobh Lochial is Arisaig, 
Gu'm biodh sgian 's an darna brain air 
Airson urrad ar a dh' fheoil." 

Yet that did not refer specially to the Camerons more than to the other clans that oc- 
cupied the regions referred to. Butter was the great luxury of the Camerons, as 
handed down to us in a proverb to this day 

" Camshronaich bhog an ime, 
Dh' itheadh an t-im 'bhar na sginne 
Sileadhasabhlaich." 

When the lifting of cattle was a gentlemanly occupation, the Camerons excelled 
in it, as they have ever done in every deed of daring up to young Donald, who was 
the first to mount the walls and fall dead at Tel-el-Kebir. 

In reference to the bone that " Coirre-an-t-Sith" speaks of as handed by a Camp- 
bell to a Cameron at a wedding, it was a common custom to hand the tail of a sheep, 
when cut off the gigot, to any one present who was a bard, and he was expected 
forthwith to compose some verses. This was done to Duncan Ban, in Edinburgh, 
when at the marriage of a Macintyre girl. I only remember the first lines of his re- 
sponse 

" O'n a fhuair mi e gun sireadh, 

'S cinnteach mi gun dean e math dhomh, 
Mi aig bainnis mo bhean chinnidh, 
'S lamh a mhinistear ga ghearradh." 
I am, sir, &c., MARY MACKELLAR. 



ROY'S WIFE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Manse of Ardoch, Braco, Perthshire, 2nd January 1883. 

SIR, In the December number of your Magazine there is a letter from the Rev 

Allan Sinclair, in which he asks the following question, "Can you inform me whether 

rant of Carron's song of 'Roy's wife' was originally composed in English or Gaelic?" 

d which concludes by giving the Gaelic version. I think I am able to give Mr 

nclair the required information. Originally composed in English, it was translated 

Gaelic about fifty years ago by my grandfather, Mr Duncan Macnaughtan, at that 

schoolmaster at Moreinsh, on Lochtayside, about three miles east from the village 



AN AYRSHIRE CUSTOM, 17; 



of Killin. It was never published, but it was given by him to a strolling musician, by 
name, Duncan Macdiarmid, who went about the country teaching singing classes. My 
father recognised the words at once on reading them in the pages of your Magazine. 

My grandfather was in the habit of translating the better known English songs 
and poems into his native language. Some of these were contributed by him to the 
magazine called " The Gaelic Messenger," edited many years ago by Dr Norman Mac- 
leod, the elder. My father has still in his possession the original manuscripts of the 
following Gaelic translations : "The Ode to the Cuckoo," by Logan ; " The^Better 
Land," by Mrs Hemans; "The Graves of a Household," by the same; "The Des- 
truction of Sennacherib," by Byron ; " Home, Sweet Home," " My Peggy is a young 
thing," " Highland Mary," and " The Land o' the Leal." These, if of any interest 
to your readers, he, I am sure, would be quite willing to place at their disposal. I am, 
yours, &c., 

GEORGE D. MACNAUGHTAN. 



ON AN AYRSHIRE CUSTOM CALLED THE TAUNEL. Lately from 
notices in the Ardrossan Herald and in Notes and Queries, it is very interesting 
to hear [that in Ayrshire, at, the end of harvest, children make a small fire by 
the wayside, and call it a tauncl. They speak of it as the taunel. It is strange 
that this word was not known to Dr Jamieson of the Scottish Dictionary. One cor- 
respondent refers to the Gaelic teine, fire. Another refers to tional, gathering (as to 
the harvest). If we refer to teine alone, the termination el is not accounted for. Re- 
ferring to t tonal alone, there is no allusion made to fire, which seems to be essential. 
Perhaps at some early period, it was called teine-tionail, the fire made on account of 
the harvest. In the course of centuries, this may have been shortened by leaving out 
the first word. This is possible, but not likely. To the consideration of the reader I 
offer the following guess: Taunel is from teine > fire and Beal, the god Baal, Bel or 
Belus. Of Beal, the genative is Beil, or rather Bheil : bh is sounded like v. In the 
course of twenty centuries it would easily happen that the sound of bh would be 
slurred over, and then softened into nothing. Taunel is the fire of Baal ; Beltane i* 
Baal's fire. Beside me I have six Gaelic dictionaries ; taunel is not to be found in 
them. As some persons think that at one time that part of Scotland was occupied by 
Celtic inhabitants of the Kymric division, I have looked at three Welsh dictionaries, 
and cannot find the word. It is strange that the custom is not referred to in the two 
Statistical Accounts. It would be well if observers in different parts of Scotland 
would take the trouble to notice if such a custom exists in their neighbourhood. I do 
not wish to interfere with the credit due to the correspondent who suggested teine; it 
is the termination el that was not accounted for by him. It is strange that there is a 
survival of Pagan worship among the seven-year-old members of the Ayrshire com- 
munity. THOMAS STRATTON, M.D. 

Devonport, Devon. 



QUERY. 

Ross. Will any of the numerous readers of the Celtic Magazine kindly inform 
me if the clan Ross are of Scandinavian origin ; if there is a sept of the Rosses of Nor- 
man descent ; and, if Ross of Balnagown is acknowledged to be the head of the 
Clan ? A TRANSATLANTIC ROSS. 

M 



i;8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE HIGHLAND PROBLEM AND THE 
GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME. 



IN a leading article thus headed, the Greenock Telegraph of 5th 
January says : 

That the present Ministry reflect the prevailing sentiments of the country with 
unusual fulness and accuracy, may be freely admitted ; but there is at least one ques- 
tion with respect to which we doubt whether the Government have yet succeeded in 
realising the extent and depth of the feeling that exists in the constituencies. To- 
wards the close of last session, it will be remembered, when Mr Macfarlane brought 
forward his resolution relating to the condition of the Highlands, he met with but 
scanty encouragement from the Ministerial benches. To the surprise and regret of 
many of his best friends in Scotland, the Lord Advocate was found supporting the 
monstrous contention of a Scottish member, who happens also to be a leading pro- 
prietor in Argyllshire, that the Highlands have not been undergoing a process of de- 
population. In common with several of our contemporaries, we ventured to express 
our astonishment, not unmingled with indignation, at the line taken in the debate by 
Mr Balfour; and further examination of the subject has certainly not tended to weaken 
our sense of the great injustice to truth and to the Liberal Government, which the 
Lord Advocate perpetrated when he lent the weight of his personal reputation and 
official dignity to support statements of interested parties that were so inconsistent 
with the facts of the case. 

How far astray Mr Balfour wandered is demonstrated by the statistics which 
the public-spirited editor of the Celtic Magazine supplies in the January number of 
that excellent periodical. These show that since the census of 1831 the population of 
the county of Argyll has actually declined from 100,973 to 76,468 a reduction of 
nearly 25,000. Nor is this all, or the worst. As of the latter number no fewer than 
30,387 are people belonging to urban populations in the county, we are conducted 
to the conclusion that the rural population has in reality been reduced from 85,973 to 
46,081. In other words, and to put it more plainly, the rural population in Argyll- 
shire has within the last half century been reduced by nearly one-half ! in the teeth 
of which tremendous and terrible fact, not only men like the Duke of Argyll, and Mr 
Ramsay of Kildalton, but even the Lord- Advocate in Mr Gladstone's Government has 
had the temerity to assert that Mr Macfarlane's comparatively moderate statement re- 
specting depopulation was entirely unfounded. 

Various incidents have brought the matter into bold relief during the interven- 
ing months since the subject was discussed in the House of Commons. The case of 
the Skye crofters, and that of the flagrant attempt to eject the crofters on the Kintail 

?, have excited a very profound feeling all over the country, and the result of this 

ill more emphatic demand that a Royal Commission shall be appointed to elicit 

the actual facts, and to supply the Legislature with the materials for the setting right 

which is most obviously wrong. We are pleased to see the demand uttered by 

L! spokesmen, such as the new member for Liverpool, at the meeting of the 

ion of Celtic Societies, held in the Queen of the Mersey" on Tuesday. Mr 



THE HIGHLAND PROBLEM. 179 

Samuel Smith, M.P., though a Lowlander, has a knowledge of the Highlands, and 
we rejoice to find a man of his high standing and well-known thoughtfulness declaring 
his conviction that the Highland crofters are certainly entitled at the very least to 
advantages as real and substantial as those which have been conferred upon the small 
occupiers in Ireland. It is, indeed, little to the credit of the Government of this 
country that a population so law-abiding, and in every respect so worthy, as that of 
our Scottish Highlands should be neglected just because they bear their sufferings 
with such pathetic meekness. The shameful paradox that is involved in this style of 
treatment, compared with that which has been bestowed upon a nation of law-breakers, 
has deeply impressed the hearts of thousands in the constituencies, and roused an 
indignation which will, we believe, compel the Government to take action for the 
purpose of redressing the wrongs to which our Highland compatriots have been sub- 
jected for so many years. 

The Christian Leader, a deservedly successful weekly, started 
last year, under the editorship of the accomplished writer of 
" Literary Notes " in the North British Daily Mail, makes the 
following reference to the same state of things : 

The condition of the Highlands demands much more serious attention from our 
statesmen than it has yet received; and it is a humiliating reflection that the duty is 
neglected because of the peaceful and law-abiding character of the people. They 
would probably be better attended to if they were less deserving. This is a sad blot 
on our boasted civilisation. 

It is so far satisfactory, however, to learn that in the closing hours of 1882 peace 
was restored in the Island of Skye. Lord Macdonald, the absentee proprietor, after 
a personal visit, has at last taken the step which it was his duty to have taken long 
ago; the point urged, we believe with justice, by the crofters of the Braes has been 
conceded, and they have at once hastened to pay their rents. If all the owners of the 
soil in the North were animated by the humane sentiments of Mr Mackenzie of Kin- 
tail, who has so nobly maintained the rights of his crofters against a sporting lessee 
who puts his own selfish pleasure above every other consideration, we should soon see 
a happier state of things among the Highlanders. The Laird of Kintail recognises 
the fact that his crofters have a permanent and inalienable title to live in the land of 
their fathers as well as himself an admission which greatly shocks the hidebound 
pedants who look upon a bit of modern parchment as the only basis of tenure. If Mr 
Mackenzie's theory is not recognised as a valid one, it will simply show that history is 
ignored, and law and justice in this connection dissevered. 

The statements so very confidently advanced by the Duke of Argyll and Mr 
Ramsay, M.P., and which Lord Advocate Balfour so readily accepted with respect to 
the alleged depopulation of the Highlands, are refuted in a striking article which ap- 
pears in the January number of the Celtic Magazine. Since the census of 1831 the 
population of Argyllshire has actually declined from 100,973 to 76,468; and as of the 
latter number no fewer than 30,387 are classified as urban, the conclusion is reached 
that the rural population has been reduced in fifty years from 85,973 1046,081, or 
nearly one-half! Yet a few months ago the three Liberal politicians above-named 
were stoutly denying that the population had decreased. 



,So THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY ELEVENTH ANNUAL 
DINNER. 



SPEECHES BY SIR KENNETH S. MACKENZIE OF GAIRLOCH, BARONET, 
LORD-LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY OF ROSSj AND OTHERS. 

THE annual dinner of the Gaelic Society of Inverness was held in the Station 
Hotel, Inverness, on Tuesday night. There were over sixty gentlemen present. 
The chair was occupied by Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart., who was 
supported on the right by Mr Allan R. Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail; Dr Macnee, 
Inverness; Provost Fraser; and Mr William Mackay, solicitor, Hon. Secretary of 
the Society; and on the left by Councillor Macandrew, Sheriff-Clerk of Inverness- 
shire; Mr Walter Carruthers, Gordonville; and Mr George J. Campbell, solicitor. 
The vice-chairmen were Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Editor of the Celtic Magazine, 
and Mr Colin Chisholm, Inverness. Among the assemblage were Rev.-R. Mori- 
son, Kintail; Dr F. M. Mackenzie, High Street; Mr Robert Grant, of Macdougall 
and Co. ; Mr John Macdonald, banker, Buckie; Mr A. C. Mackenzie, Maryburgh ; Mi- 
Roderick Macrae, Beauly; Mr James Fraser, Mauld; Mr Fraser, C.E., Inverness; 
Mr Duncan, Fern Villa; Councillor W. G. Stuart; Mr James Barren, Editor of the 
Inverness Courier; Mr Kenneth Macdonald, Town-Clerk; Mr Wm. Mackenzie, 
clothier, Bridge Street ; Mr John Noble, Castle Street ; Mr Duncan Mactavish, agri- 
cultural merchant; Mr Andrew Davidson, sculptor; Mr Finlay Maciver, Art Gallery, 
Church Street ; Mr Alexander Mackenzie, merchant, Church Street ; Mr Griffin, In- 
land Revenue; Mr Cockburn, Royal Academy; Mr Mackintosh, commission-agent; 
Mr William Bain of the Courier; Mr Alexander Mactavish, Castle Street ; Councillor 
Charles Mackay ; Mr Macraild, writer, Inverness ; Mr F. Campbell, draper, High 
Street; Mr P. Campbell, Bridge Street; Mr Duncan Campbell, editor of the 
Chronicle; Mr Nairne, sub-editor do.; Mr W. L. Henderson, of the Advertiser; 
Mr Cameron, commercial traveller; Mr Macgregor, solicitor; Mr John E. Mac- 
donald, Bridge Street ; Mr Mackintosh, ironmonger, High Street ; Mr John 
Whyte, librarian; Mr Hector Maclennan, commercial traveller; Mr A. Macbain, 
M.A., Raining's School; Mr Mackenzie, Caledonian Bank; Mr Gillanders, grocer ; 
Mr Win. Gunn, draper, Castle Street; Mr Kenneth F.' Macrae, Flowerdale 
Villa, Grcig Street ; Mr Ramsay, teacher ; Mr D. Chisholm, Castle Street ; 
Mr Alick Campbell, Kyleakin, Skye; Mr Macbean, assistant inspector of poor ; 
Mr T. D. Campbell, draper; Mr Mackinnon, book-agent; Mr F. Murray, Sunny- 
side, Inverness; Mr William Mackenzie, secretary of the Society ; &c. Apologies for 
unavoidable absence were received from several members. The Rev. Mr Morison 
said grace, and returned thanks. Mr Cesari, the manager of the Hotel, served an 
excellent dinner. 

The Chairman proposed the Queen in Gaelic, eliciting much applause. After 
the loyal toasts, and the toast of the Army, Navy, and Reserve Forces, replied to 
by Major Macandrew, Mr Walter Carruthers proposed the Lords-Lieutenant of the 
Highland Counties. The Secretary's report was then read. The work of the Society 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 181 

had during the year been carried on with success and promise. The income amounted 
to u$' 1 9s. 9d., and the expenditure to ,94. ijs. 3d. There is thus a balance to 
the good on the year of 21. 6s. 6d. 

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, on rising to propose the toast of the evening, was 
received with loud and prolonged cheers. He spoke as follows : We are all glad to 
hear from the Secretary's report (which has just been read) of the prosperity of the 
Society during the past year. It had of late suffered to a certain extent from the want 
of a proper place to meet in, but now it has been provided with most suitable quarters 
in the Free Library Buildings, where its meetings will take place with greater regu- 
larity than they have recently been doing, and as we have all seen from the news- 
papers a successful beginning was made last week, when a paper was read by my 
friend the Dean of Guild. (Cheers.) We have had losses in the past year to regret, 
but we have had no defections from our ranks. Chief among our losses is that of Mr 
Jolly, whose departure from Inverness the North of Scotland has had reason to regret. 
(Applause.) 

NON-POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY. 

But our constitution has been so interpreted by the good sense of the Society 
as to avert anything like that tendency to disruption which the Scotsman thinks 
is inherent in Celtic organisations. We have declined to be turned into a political 
association (Applause) have thrown cold water on the attempt to introduce party 
politics at our meetings, and have so been able to retain a membership of persons of 
all shades of political opinions. (Applause.) The Society has gone so far in its 
determination to be neutral as to have practically withdrawn from the Federation of 
Celtic Societies, because the Federation was identifying itself with certain demands 
for land law reform and extension of the franchise that partook of a party character. 
Not that there are not many of our members who, as individuals, sympathise in these 
demands, but even they are of opinion that, as a Society, we should have nothing to 
do with any movement that would risk our disruption, and wisely, therefore, as I think, 
the Society limits its aim to those which are either of a literary or social character. 
(Applause.) 

THE OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY, 

As set forth in the second article of its constitution, may be classed under three heads. 
There is first, the cultivation of the Gaelic language ; then the rescuing from oblivion 
of unrecorded Celtic literature and traditions ; and, lastly, the furtherance of the 
interests of the people of the Highlands. As regards the first of these objects, the 
Society did at one time take active steps to cultivate a grammatical knowledge of 
Gaelic among its members and other residents in Inverness. But it has done in- 
directly a much greater service than this. It found in existence, among many of those 
who thought themselves the more educated Highlanders, a false shame of their mother 
tongue, and this Society and kindred influences have been the means of absolutely 
and entirely dissipating that feeling. (Cheers.) We have also occasionally offered 
prizes in school districts for the study of Gaelic. This year we are holding a com- 
petition in Lochaber, and as that is a thoroughly Highland district, the competition is 
expected to be veiy successful. The Society may, therefore, claim to have been 
fairly carrying out the objects at which it aimed in respect to the cultivation of the 
Gaelic language. (Cheers.) Hardly so much can be said for it in reference toils 
proposal to rescue from oblivion 



1 82 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CELTIC LITERATURE AND TRADITIONS. 

For the contents of the Secretary's Celtic portfolio, the Society is much indebted 
to him. But for these the Society's Transactions would of late years have been, I 
fear, rather barren. In the way of rescuing traditions that may throw light on na- 
tional history, nothing has yet been done, and among our members there should be 
some, I think, who ought to be able to gather up matters of this sort that would be 
extremely interesting. There is no doubt among Highlanders a delicate sensitiveness 
with regard to the reputation of their race, and they dread publishing anything that 
might seem, in the remotest degree, to reflect on the manners or character of their 
ancestors. This is an estimable sentiment, but it may be carried too far. Under no 
garb do we find humanity reaching perfection, and if this Society is to carry out its 
intention of recording tradition, it must be content to show the Highlands of old as 
they were, not as we might wish they had been ; to record the failings as well as the 
virtues of the time. If unwarranted illusions exist we must not fear to dispel them. 
No doubt we should sift the traditions as far as we can, always taking care, however, 
not to colour them by our own prejudices, and remembering that the first of all re- 
quirements in writing history is absolute veracity. Now, gentlemen, there are his- 
torical questions connected with the Highlands on which we very much want the 
light of tradition cast. You may have noticed that Dr Cameron, one of our legis- 
lators, who takes a warm and generous interest in the Highlands, said lately at Liver- 
pool, and, I think, has said it in the House of Commons, that, " Prior to the rising of 
1745, the Highland occupiers had a distinct proprietory right on the soil they tilled." 
Here you have a historical statement, undoubtedly made in all good faith by a man of 
reputation, in proof of which there is no accessible documentary evidence that I know 
of. The statement is no doubt made on the strength of traditions that have come to 
Dr Cameron's knowledge. Why should not this Society gather up any traditions it 
can relative to ancient land tenure in the Highlands? That, gentlemen, would be a 
distinct object to set before us, and, I think, too, that it is one which is worthy of a 
Society such as this. (Applause.) It is not a political question. It is a question 
simply of historical interest, and one on which it is well that the world should be en- 
lightened. Rights which have lapsed for nearly a century and a-half can have no 
practical bearing in virtue of their previous existence on contemporary politics, and 
their investigation cannot be barred by anything in the nature of party feeling, since 
the interest they possess is purely historical. Again, we have constant reference to 
the 

MILITARY ARDOUR OF THE HIGHLANDERS 

In the latter half of the last century, as shown in the great number of regiments then 

here. There is no question regarding the number of regiments that were raised 

here any as to the excellence of the material of which they were composed. 

ighland regiments have always been remarkable for their valour and their good 

>ur, and have distinguished themselves whenever brought into action under fit 

iders. (Cheers.) But was there really a great deal of military ardour in the 

ds during the last century ? We are quite in the dark, so far as printed records 

oncerned as to whether, when these regiments were first raised, the rank and 

:ed of their own free will to the standard, or whether they were pressed into 

* by chiefs and lairds who wanted commissions for their sons. (Hear, hear, 

ic time is not yet so distant but that ample traditionary information 

ubject should be procurable, There are very curious and startling tales in 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 183 

this connection in and around the district whence our secretary comes which it might 
not be difficult for him to get recorded. He has already, I learn, given a lecture on 
the Highland regiments, which must have turned his attention in this direction. In 
any case, investigation by those competent to conduct it, whether confirming the 
belief in the military ardour of the last century Highlander or not, could not fail to 
produce interesting results. (Cheers.) Other points will doubtless cross your minds 
on which it would be desirable to gather up traditional history, and in doing which 
the Society would be carrying out the literary part of its programme more fully than 
it has of late years done. I cannot pass from the reference to Celtic literature without 
congratulating the Society that Professor Blackie's 

CELTIC CHAIR 

Is now filled ; a great event for the Celtic scholars of Scotland. Whoever occupies 
my position here next year will, I hope, be able to speak of the work the new pro- 
fessor has performed. At present, while looking forward to this with interest and 
hope, we still find ourselves thinking of him to whose untiring efforts the founding 
of the Chair is solely due, who never ceases to advocate what he thinks the rights, 
and to vindicate the character of the Gaelic people, and who, in pursuit of this object, 
had last year published a most interesting work of fiction, dealing with social questions 
in the Highlands, which, in too complimentary terms, he has been good enough to dedi- 
cate to me. (Applause.) I suppose most of you have read "Altavona," and have 
seen how warm and generous towards all good Highlanders is the feeling that breathes 
through it. (Applause.) All honour to Professor Blackie. (Cheers.) He has now 
retired from his profession, but may he have long enjoyment of his well-earned repose, 
and always feel assured that, as sympathy begets sympathy, so Highlanders, whether 
agreeing with him in all things or not, will never forget what he has done for them, or 
fail to reciprocate the kindly feelings he has shown them. (Cheers.) He is very keen 
at present to provide a prize fund of about ^140 a-year for the more effective working 
of the Celtic Chair. He is very sanguine about getting it. He does not ask for a 
capital sum to produce this income, but for an annual contribution from all the Gaelic 
and Highland Societies throughout the kingdom. The object is a good one, and I 
commend it to the Gaelic Society of Inverness. (Applause.) 

TESTIMONIAL TO PROFESSOR BLACKIE. 

I cannot leave this subject without calling the attention of the gentlemen here 
present to the testimonial from Highlanders which is to be presented to the Pro- 
fessor. Our friend is the last man in the world to measure gratitude by a golden 
standard, and he knows well enough that we have not the wealth of the great com- 
mercial centres; yet I hope we shall all do what we can to make this a substantial 
mark of our appreciation of the Professor's services. (Cheers.) In connection with 
the Society's relations to Celtic literature, let me remind members that we have a 
bard of our own 

MRS MARY MACKELLAR, 

the most gifted, I suppose, of the Gaelic poets of the day. Rather to our discredit, a 
testimonial which it was lately proposed to present her to some extent fell through. 
Literary labour is not very remunerative, and I daresay the appreciation of her coun- 
trymen might not be unacceptably shown to Mrs Mackellar, in demanding for her one 
of those pensions from the Civil List sometimes bestowed on literary workers. (Ap- 
plause.) So far as I know, no Gaelic worker is in receipt of such a pension. One 



I84 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

such we might surely have in recognition of the Highland tongue, and I would pro- 
pose that we correspond with kindred societies and get up a combined petition for 
the bestowal of a pension on Mrs Mackellar, and that Mr Fraser-Mackintosh or Dr 
Cameron be asked to support it. (Loud applause. ) 

THE RIGHTS OF THE HIGHLANDERS. 

The third object of the Society was to further the interests of the people of the 
Highlands. I have already referred to the fact that we have thought it right not to 
enter on party questions in doing this. The abstract rights of the existing occupiers 
of the soil, the rights they ought to have as distinct from those they possess, we leave 
to others to discuss, satisfied if we can create a public opinion which shall lead the 
legal owners of land to take a pride in the well-being of their tenantry, induce them to 
foster the Highlander in his own country, and to improve his position, and to advance 
his interests there. (Cheers.) We think that as a Society, we are confining our aims 
to that with which we are most fitted to deal when we occupy ourselves with social to 
the exclusion of political questions, and in so doing we gather strength from members 
of all political parties which we should otherwise fail to secure. (Applause.) It is 
perhaps not easy to point to any particular event which marks our success in influ- 
encing public opinion, but within the period we have been associated, the more de- 
pendent members of our Highland population have come to be regarded, I think, 
with increased tenderness, and that is, so far, evidence that in this department our 
Society's influence has not been exerted in vain. (Cheers.) It is not, however, with 
proprietors only that our influence may avail for good. If the proprietors can do 
something for their tenants, these may also do something for themselves. 

DISTRESS AND OVERCROWDING IN THE WEST. 

We have this year, unhappily, a great scarcity on the West Coast. The un- 
fortunate circumstances which exist just now in the Lews, and to which such promin- 
ence has been given, obtain to an almost equal degree through the islands and coasts 
of the West. Potatoes have been nearly an absolute failure. The grain crop was to 
a great extent swept away by the gale of ist October, and the fishing has not been 
successful. We have had no year that threatens to approach so nearly to one of 
famine since 1848, and though I feel very strongly that the distribution of public 
charity is demoralising to its recipients, and that no appeal for it should be made while 
it can be avoided ; yet I am afraid that to prevent starvation it will be necessary to 
offer some amount of public relief in many parts of the West Coast besides the Lews 
before the next crop comes in, and I think the Society might with advantage en- 
deavour to ascertain what the extent of the scarcity is likely to be, and to promote, if 
need be, a public subscription to meet it. A famine is threatened, and I am afraid 
there will be absolute starvation before the next crop is gathered in. But while feeling 
deeply, as we all must, for the suffering likely to ensue, and doing our best to avert 
it, one cannot help asking, "Are these West Coast populations always to continue so 
living from hand to mouth as to necessitate a reliance on outside help when unfavour- 
able seasons occur ?" I hope not. We have crofter populations on the East Coast 
who are as independent as any of that class of life in Britain. They are no doubt 
more favourably placed than their fellows on the West for obtaining employment for 
wages. On the other hand, they have, as a rule, no hill pasture, no fish at their doors, 
and, commonly enough, no peats. I can show you in the Black Isle crofts of five 
acres as well cultivated as any of the large farms adjacent to them, and whose occupiers, 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 185 

if they do not live in luxury, are yet never in the course of their lives in fear of want. 
Individual cases of misfortune there may be among them, but these are all within reach 
of local effort. But none of these crofters would dream of subdividing their crofts 
among their family, nor does it occur to the young men to marry without providing a 
home for their bride. Unfortunately it too frequently happens in the West Coast and 
in the Islands that no such feeling of providence prevents many of the young people 
from marrying and settling on their parent's croft, subdividing among two or more 
families a piece of ground already barely sufficient to maintain one. Overcrowding is 
there an evil against which proprietors, if they wish to do their duty, must resolutely 
set their faces, for it necessarily tends to starvation and misery, and to the destruction 
of that independence which more than anything else incites to the maintenance of law 
and order. (Cheers.) Outsiders speak of the prohibition of marriage, which is heard 
of on West Coast properties, as an instance of landlord tyranny, not understand- 
ing that it is not marriage that is objected to, but the settling of two families where 
there is room only for one. (Hear, hear.) It may be contended and I believe with 
perfect truth that the early marriages in the West account largely for the high tone 
of sexual morality there. I believe that is quite true; but, after all, that is a one-sided 
morality surely which would encourage the increase of the population without provid- 
ing for its sustenance. On 

THE CROFTER QUESTION 

I speak from an experience, and from opportunities of observation possessed by com- 
paratively few of those who make it the subject of their criticism. For close on 
thirty years I have had personal dealings with some five hundred crofter tenants, be- 
tween whom and myself, I think I may say without presumption, there has been the 
utmost mutual confidence. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I know their feelings pretty well, 
and from all I have seen and heard in other parts of the West, I know the people 
themselves "recognise as fully as I do, that their poverty results from overcrowding, 
though individually they may be unable to resist the temptation to squat on a parent's 
croft. Now, there may be properties (though they are certainly not so numerous as is 
frequently assumed), where more elbow room might be given to the crofters without 
shifting them from their present homes. (Applause. ) There may be others where 
relief from the pressure of population might be obtained by colonising large farms ; 
but this would require an expenditure beyond the means of most proprietors and 
crofters. Where, however, such measures are practicable it would certainly be de- 
sirable to resort to them. There are strong reasons for not thinning population by 

COMPULSORY EVICTION, 

irrespective of its cruelty. (Cheers.) Even did it result in bettering the material 
condition, both of those who go and those who remain, it leaves with the former a 
bitter sense of wrong, and creates in the latter a feeling of insecurity. Moreover, 
human nature, and especially Highland nature, resents improvements forced on it. 
(Cheers.) The spread of education will, I am confident, have a marked effect upon 
the position of the West Coast crofter. Already are greater habits of providence 
showing themselves in the younger generation wherever schools have been efficient, 
and when these habits have become general, overcrowding will cease, and I venture 
to think there will then be an end to the necessity for appeals for relief when unfor- 
tunate seasons occur. (Applause.) 

A PERSONAL EXPLANATION. 

Allow me before I sit down to say a word personal to myself. It has been 

N 



!86 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

brought under my notice by more than one individual that a certain ambiguity in 
words which I last year used in all innocency of heart has led the small tenantry of 
the North to look askant on me as one who is unfriendly towards them, and who 
would willingly see them supplanted. If there were any truth whatever in the sus- 
picion that I harbour such thoughts, I should be very much out of place in this chair. 
(Applause.) The confidence of Gaelic-speaking people in this Society would very 
naturally and very properly be shaken, and I think it right, in the interests of the 
Society, as well as for my own credit, to take this opportunity of repudiating any such 
ideas. (Cheers.) On the occasion I have referred to, I did undoubtedly express the 
opinion that the tendency of modern agriculture in Britain was to throw farming more 
and more into the hands of capitalists, but I also took occasion to say that this tend- 
ency, which I thought I saw, was one which I personally deplore. (Cheers.) I 
should be very glad indeed to think that my fears were altogether groundless, and I 
saw some facts stated lately which certainly lead to the conclusion that I was mis- 
taken. Within the last ten days the Scotsman noticed a Parliamentary return, from 
which it appeared that between 1875 and 1880 there was in the county of Ross an in- 
crease of 331 in the number of holdings of less than 50 acres extent. That is a fact 
which should give us all great satisfaction, because concurrently with this, I think 
(making allowance for the depression of the times) that there has been no real check to 
that continuous improvement in the condition of the smaller tenantry and of the 
labouring classes, the progress of which has been so marked in the last thirty-five 
years. (Applause.) Be the tendency of the time, however, what it may, the small 
tenants of the North have no sincerer friend than they have in me, and I think they 
may rest assured that the Society is most anxious to use such influence as it possesses 
for their good. (Applause. ) Let us hope that that influence, directed as it is to 
social reforms, and exerted with a just moderation, may be a power for good among 
all classes in the Highlands ; and let me beg that each and all of you, while firmly re- 
solving to do what you can towards realising this hope, will now join me heartily in 
drinking success to the Gaelic Society of Inverness. (Loud cheers.) 

Mr Allan R. Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail, proposed our Highland Members of Par- 
liament in appropriate terms. 

Councillor H. C. Macandrew, in proposing Celtic Literature and the Celtic 
Chair, said Celtic literature is one of the objects which this Society took upon itself 
to cultivate, and I think many members of the Society are now in the position, as I 
am myself, of knowing very much more of Celtic literature since the Society began 
than they did before. I know that it was a very common opinion that Celtic litera- 
ture was confined to some poems of doubtful origin, known under the name of Ossian, 
and to some songs which we may have heard sung by the people among whom we 
may have mingled. But now, I have nc doubt, many of you know that Celtic litera- 
ture was of very wide extent, and that, while the Saxons and the Normans, whom we 
have hitherto been taught to look upon as superior beings, were, as we know now, 
ignorant barbarians, Celtic literature had attained a high position among the litera- 
tures of the world. We know also that, while the ancestors of our Norman aris- 
tocracy were totally ignorant of learning, and, in many instances, were plundering Celtic 
monasteries, the Culdee monks were wandering all over Europe, planting a literature 
and a religious civilisation which have enabled a learned German, who never was in 
England, Scotland, or Ireland, to compile a grammar of the Celtic language a work 
rt only of great learning, and of great merit as a work of the kind, but one of very 
high philological interest and value. Many of you know also that, contemporary 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 18; 

with that literature, there grew up with our ancestors in Ireland a school of art, which 
attained a very high degree of perfection, and of which we have many examples sent 
down. The ornamentations of these days in wood work and metal work are finer, 
perhaps, than can be seen in any part of the world, and our house ornamenters, our 
ornamenters of books ornamental workers of almost every kind have endeavoured 
vainly to imitate the work of that simple people who lived in bee-hive houses, or in 
the wood and stone monasteries scattered among the rocky coasts of Scotland and 
Ireland. We can trace to these days we can indeed trace to the hands of St 
Columba one of the most beautiful ornamentations of a missal in the world. 
Since that time very great changes have taken place. We get day by day great con- 
tributions to the Celtic literature from the sister country of Ireland, and if anybody 
might pass a criticism, one cannot but be struck in reading these contributions with 
the characteristic, in the higher style of literature, of its intrinsic purity. I do not 
know if there is a high-class poem in any language which a person could read in a 
mixed assembly of men and women without a blush upon the check, except the poem 
ofOssian. (Applause.) While the poetry of chivalry, which was supposed to teach 
high ideas of female virtue and military heroism, became foul in its tendency, these 
old Gaelic poems remained pure as the light of day. (Applause.) How this vener- 
able art of poetry works has been handed down to us, we all know, and learn more 
and more every day ; but it is an important consideration whether Celtic literature 
shall continue to be a living literature, or whether it must in future be one dependent 
upon the records of the past. A foreign language has forced itself in upon us ; foreign 
manners and customs have over-ridden the Celtic life which existed long ago. I have 
been one of those who have always said that the preservation of the Celtic people was 
a y duty even higher than the preservation of their literature. The first time I spoke to 
this Society, I got a rebuke from Professor Blackie for uttering this sentiment, to 
which I still adhere, and I am glad to say Professor Blackie and others have now 
adopted the same view. (Applause.) While it should be the aim of the Society to 
preserve the native race upon the soil, it would well become the people to cultivate 
literature, and it is an encouraging thing to find that so many people not only speak 
the language fluently but use it to give expression to their highest thoughts. Poetry 
deals with the highest feelings and actions of a people, as these stand forth in history. 
The highest and the noblest expressions of the feelings and the actions of a people 
have come forth long after the existence of those feelings, and the performance of those 
actions themselves. The poems of Homer were written long after the siege of Troy ; 
and it is only when all that has been known of the life of a people stands out in the 
forefront that literature begins to express itself. Whether Celtic literature has a future 
or not, we know this, that Celtic literature has had a being, and we know also 
that among the Celtic people there have existed feelings and actions which 
may well inspire hope as to its future. Long after the ideas of chivalry had 
vanished from the world the people of our Scottish Highlands rose as one man for 
the cause of a prince whose ancestors no living man had seen on the throne. 
They risked their fortunes, they risked their lives many of them sacrificed their lives 
to restore the representative of that ancient race to an ancient possession. I have 
often thought that, when the time comes when that story stands forth in all its truth, 
n all its glory when the high, noble, and chivalrous feelings of the people shall 
have been fully and properly appreciated there can be no nobler theme for an epic 
poem in the world. We may well hope that the story of that memorable period of 
the history of the Celtic people of Scotland will yet be chronicled in a % way worthy of 



j88 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the actions themselves, and of the chivalrous feelings which prompted them. (Ap- 
plause.) Councillor Macandrew in conclusion, referred to the Celtic Chair, and com- 
mended the wisdom of the Universities in selecting a gentleman conversant not only 
with modern Gaelic, but the ancient language and its literature. 

Mr Wm. Mackenzie, secretary of the Society, who replied to this toast, after 
alluding generally to some of Councillor Macandrew's observations, said In the few 
seconds allotted to me I will endeavour to glance as briefly as possible at the character 
of our literature, the vicissitudes it has undergone, and its present state (Cheers.) 

ENGLISH WORKS BEARING ON CELTIC SUBJECTS. 

In speaking of Celtic literature, I will mainly confine my observations to works 
composed in the Celtic languages, and will not trouble you by dwelling on the numer- 
ous works written in English bearing on Celtic literature and antiquities. But stand- 
ing as I do before this meeting in the Highland capital, it would be unpardonable in 
me if I failed to notice the many excellent works falling under this category which are 
published at our own doors. (Hear, hear.) The literary activity of our friend, Mr 
Alex. Mackenzie (Applause) is well known to most m embers of this Society, but I 
have no doubt you will all be surprised to learn that during the past eight years he has 
written and published not fewer than twenty-two different volumes (Cheers) all of 
which I believe, have been financially a success. (Cheers.) Time will not permit of my 
dwelling on Welsh literature, and with regard to it, it is sufficient to state that 
not only is it very extensive, but it is also in a most flourishing condition. (Cheers.) 
Now, to deal more in detail with our own Gaelic literature (Hear, hear.) 

GAELIC LITERATURE ITS CHARACTER. 

That literature is in the main poetical. Is the Gael, it will perhaps be asked, 
such a poetical animal (Laughter) that he disdains giving expression to his senti- 
ments in prose ? Not exactly, but there are certain causes which account for the pre- 
dominance of poetry over prose in his literature. The first stage of a language is that in 
which the songs and poems are rehearsed, and rhythmical verse, it is generally acknow- 
ledged, is the first form of composition. The rude primeval tribes went forth to war, 
and the praises of the victors or the lamentations for the slain were recorded in verse. 
(Cheers.) The bards composed and rehearsed their narratives in verse, and their 
words were handed down from generation to generation on the lips of the people. 
The same could not happen in the case of prose. However graphic a prose account 
the Seanachie might compose of any particular event, it would not be handed down 
to posterity in the original words : each narrator would employ his own language. 
(Cheers.) "Is math bu ch6ir na h-6rain a dheanamh an toiseach 's a liuthad fear- 
millidh 'th'orra" (Laughter) (Songs ought to be well composed at first, for those 
who spoil them are many) said the bard. If that be in any measure true of poetry, 
where the memory is aided by measured lines and rhymes, how much more must it be 
true in the case of prose ? (Cheers.) In a country like the Highlands, where the art 
of writing was not of old general, need we wonder if the bards and seanachies who 
were naturally anxious that their compositions should go down to posterity in as perfect 
a form as possible, adopted the means best calculated to attain that end, namely, 
rhymed verse. And hence the abundance of poetry in the literature of the Gael. 
(Cheers.) 

GAELIC PROSE LITERATURE. 

In the case of rising nationalities, the spread of letters carries in its train the cul- 
n of prose, but that has not occurred in the case of the Highlands. Attempts 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 189 

made to get up an original prose literature were not crowned with success ; and the 
Teachdaire Gaidhealach, Fear-Tathaich nani Beann, Cuairtear nan Gkann> the Gaidk- 
eal, and others, have all failed to secure for themselves a permanent footing. And 
why has this been the case ? There were no doubt certain more or less unfortunate 
circumstances, to which I need not more particularly allude, connected with several 
of these publications themselves ; but the real explanation of their failure is owing to 
other and more deeply-rooted causes. (Cheers.) 

OBJECTS FOR WHICH PARISH SCHOOLS WERE ESTABLISHED. 

Chief among these was the influence exerted by the clergy and the lairds, coupled 
with the total neglect of the language itself as a medium and means of instruction. 
(Cheers.) The Act of the Privy Council for the foundation of our parish schools, 
which is dated loth December 1616, declared "That the vulgar Inglish toung be 
universallie plantit, and the Irishe, which is one of the chiefe and principall causis of 
the continewance of barbaritie and incivilitie amongis the inhabitants of the His and 
Heylandis be abolisheit and removeit." (Laughter and applause.) That, gentlemen, 
was the resolution of the Privy Council of 266 years ago, but notwithstanding all the 
influence exerted to carry it into effect, the " Irishe language" that is the Gaelic has 
not been "abolisheit and removeit" quite yet. (Loud Applause.) 

WEST HIGHLAND LAIRDS. 

In the case of the West Highland lairds the want of a knowledge of English was 
a very serious disability ; for the Privy Council in the same year passed an act in 
which the Island chiefs were accused of " neglecting the education of their children," 
and declaring that had they been sent " to the inland in thairyouthe, and thair traynit 
vp in vertew, learnyng, and the Inglish tunge, thay wold baif bene bettir preparit to 
reforme thair countreis and to reduce the same to Godliness, obedience, and civilitie." 
(Laughter.) It was therefore ordained and enacted " that the haill chiftanes and prin- 
cipall clannit men of the Yllis, that thay and every ane of them, send thair bairnis 
being past nyne yeiris of age to the scoollis in the inland to be trayned vp in virtew, 
learnyng, and the Inglish tunge." It was also ordained " that no personis quhatsom- 
evir in the Yllis salbe servit air to thair faither or uther predicessouris, nor acknow- 
legit as tenentis to his Maiesty, vnless they can write, reid, and speake Inglische." 
(Laughter.) The lairds so completely conformed to this act that not only did they 
learn English, but they lost all knowledge of Gaelic, until to-day a Gaelic-speaking 
Highland proprietor, such as our Chairman of this evening, is a Rara Avis indeed. 
They are, however, beginning to see their mistake, and although the present Lochiel 
and the present Lord Macdonald, for instance, are both unacquainted with Gaelic, the 
same cannot be said of their sons, who are acquiring an intimate knowledge of the 
ancient tongue. 

THE HIGHLAND CLERGY. 

But while the influence of the lairds in the past was more or less passive as against 
the cultivation of Gaelic literature, the influence of the Highland clergy as a class 
was actively asserted against it, if I exclude such notable exceptions as the Dean 
of Lismore in the distant past; Dr Thomas Ross, Dr John Smith, Dr Norman 
Macleod, and Dr Mackintosh Mackay in more recent times; and Dr Maclauch- 
lan, Rev. William Ross, Rev. Alexander Cameron, Rev. Alexander Stewart, our 
late friend the Rev. Mr Macgregor (Applause) in our own time ; and in the same 
connection I must allude to the reverend gentleman who is here with us this evening 



190 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the Rev. Mr Morison, Kintail (Applause) a gentleman who has been interesting 
himself in all Celtic movements, and from whose manse are now going forth to the 
public numerous genuine Highland melodies which every lover of Highland music 
ought to possess. (Applause.) From the days of Bishop Carswell down to our own 
times, the influence of the Highland clergy has been in the main strongly against 
whatever was secular in Celtic prose, poetry, and music. Carswell, who was appointed 
Bishop of the Isles in 1 564, set himself in opposition to the bards and seanachies of 
the time; and, in the dedicatory epistle to his famous prayer-book, he says that "great 
is the blindness and darkness of sin and ignorance and of understanding among the 
composers, and writers, and supporters of the Gaelic, in that they prefer and practice 
the framing of vain, hurtful, lying, earthly stories about the Tuath de Dannan, and 
about the sons of Milesius, and about the heroes, and Fionn MacCumhail, with his 
giants," than to write and compose more sacred things. (Cheers.) The result of 
Carswell's attitude was that, instead of his becoming a successful agent in the spread 
of religion, he became exceedingly unpopular, and a butt for the Gaelic wits and 
satirists of the time. But his clerical successors in the West did not profit by his 
example; for to the present day they persist in following the identical course which 
brought about his unpopularity. (Cheers.) 

THE BAGPIPE A CONTRABAND ARTICLE. 

To a large proportion of the West Highland clergy of the present day, anything secular 
is regarded as unholy. (Laughter. ) The bagpipe is a contraband article, which is as 
carefully concealed from the eye of the pastor, as an illicit still is concealed from the eye 
of the gauger (Laughter) and woe betide the man who has music or dancing at his 
wedding against the wish of his minister, if he should ever have occasion to ask that 
minister to perform the rite of baptism. (Laughter and applause.) 

BIGOTRY OF SOME CLERGYMEN. 

I know of one West Highland minister who has not for many a day spoken to his 
nearest neighbour of the same denomination, because that neighbour committed the 
heinous sin of attending a soiree or concert where a number of secular songs were 
sung ! (Applause.) Another divine in the same locality has recently been in a state 
of great agitation because an important personage in the district, whom he had hitherto 
regarded as pious, had actually so far forgotten himself as to partake in a shinty 
match, or something of that description! (Laughter.) From this clergyman's turn of 
mind one would naturally expect to find in him an admirer of works of imagination 
(Laughter) for at no distant date he sought to enlighten his Gaelic hearers by nar- 
rating to them a dialogue which, he said, took place between Jonah when in the belly 
of the whale and a number of little fishes who were his associates there ! (Laughter 
and applause. ) To quote the rev. gentleman's own words " lasgan beaga groda 's 
faileadh loibhte 'n Diabhuil fhein diubh." (Great laughter.) But this interesting con- 
versation came to an abrupt end, for on account of the rolling of the whale and the raging 
of the turbulent billows, poor Jonah became sea-sick ! (Great laughter. ) To this man 
and many of his class a Gaelic song is simply a work of the devil, and all the influence 
they possess is asserted against secular Celtic literature. (Cheers.) The result is that 
healthy secular literature is being banished by them, while it is extremely doubtful if the 
interests of true religion are thereby promoted. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) But not- 
withstanding all the influences to which I have alluded, the Highlanders have a very 
considerable literary heritage, of which we well may feel proud. (Cheers.) 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 191 

IRISH LITERATURE. 

Our Irish cousins, too, can boast of literary treasures in poetry and prose works 
by the way with which all educated Gaelic-speaking Highlanders ought to be more 
intimately acquainted than they unfortunately are. Such works as the* annals of the 
Four Masters compiled by Franciscan monks and the History of Ireland, by Dr 
Keating, are relics of antiquity which possess far more interest to me than much of 
our modern romance. (Applause ) The work of the Four Masters, for instance, 
which was begun in 1632, gives minute and also amusing details of facts and 
fictions of the remote past. Beginning with the creation of the world, it narrates im- 
portant events in almost every year downwards to the time of the Four Masters them- 
selves. (Applause.) We are told, for instance, that forty days before the flood 
Ceasair, a grand-daughter of Noah, came to Ireland with fifty girls and three men ; 
and Dr Keating, in his "For.us feasa air Eirinn," alluding to the same event, quotes the 
following verse from an ancient chronicler in proof of his statement : 

" Ceasair Inghion Bheatha buain, 
Dalta Sabhail mhic Manuaill, 
An cheid-bhean chalma ro chinn 
D'inis Banbha rd n-dilinn." 

Dr Keating also gives an account of the creation of Adam, and goes on to state that 
when he (Adam) was fifteen years of age he was blessed with a son and daughter. 
(Laughter.) Sir Kenneth may regret the prevalence of early marriages on the West 
Coast, but I don't think the Western Celts can compare with Adam in that respect. 
(Great laughter.) Twins at the age of fifteen is not an event that is common in 
these climes. (Laughter.) Adam next adds to his race when he is 30 twins again 
(Laughter) and when he is 130 his youngest son Seth is born very respectable 
intervals between the different events. (Laughter.) Among other items of in- 
formation to which our author treats us, I must not fail to mention his detailed 
account of the conquests of Ireland before the flood. (Laughter.) And now, 
in conclusion, let me briefly glance at the present and the future, and at the pre- 
sent moment the Celtic field displays considerable literary activity. We have the 
Celtic Magazine in Inverness dealing with the history, antiquities, and social condition 
of the Highlands; the Scottish Celtic Review in Glasgow dealing with the language 
philologically; and the Revue Celtique in Paris, in which learned foreigners discuss 
numerous questions in connection with our race. Two months ago a valuable addition 
has been made to our magazine literature, for then the Gaelic Union an Irish Society 
somewhat similar to our own started their Gaelic Journal, a publication which bids 
fair to be a success. (Applause. ) But while all these are of interest in themselves, 
we, in Scotland at the present time, look, perhaps, with even greater interest to the 

CELTIC CHAIR, 

which has just been fully established. (Applause.) The new Professor, who if he 
could would have been with us to-night, is a Highlander, who, by sheer hard work, 
raised himself to his present honourable position. (Applause.) He is in the prime 
of life, and if intelligence, activity, and perseverance will ensure success, we may con- 
fidently look forward to excellent Celtic work under the guidance of Professor Mac- 
kinnon. (Applause.) In particular, we may reasonably hope that the Highland 
clergy of the future will look upon our secular Celtic literature whether written or 
floating over the country as a treasure to be preserved, rather than as a demon tp be 
suppressed. 



i 92 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONCLUSION. 

In this age when a knowledge of English is an absolute necessity to ensure success 
in life, I do not know that we need look to a great spread of Celtic literature. It 
therefore, all the more behoves us to use our every endeavour to rescue from oblivion 
the literary treasures which our Highland forefathers have bequeathed to us, not only 
that we may ourselves be benefitted thereby, but also that the wit and wisdom which 
are so characteristic of the literature of the Gael may be objects of admiration, as well 
as sources of instruction, to generations yet unborn. (Loud cheers.) 

Mr William Mackayj proposing the Agricultural Interests of the Highlands, said 
On this occasion it may not be out of place to glance shortly at the state of agricul- 
ture in the past, and on the relationship that of old existed between landlord and 
tenant. I am sorry to say that on these points very erroneous ideas prevail, and as no 
good can come from drawing pictures of the past which, however beautiful and pleasing 
to us, are historically untrue, I shall endeavour to indicate briefly how matters really 
stood, as shown by ancient leases, minutes of baron courts, and other original docu- 
ments. First, the feudal system, about which one hears a great deal of nonsense 
now-a-days spoken, was established in the Highlands as early as the thirteenth 
century, since which time the chiefs have held the lands as absolute proprietors under 
written titles in terms similar to those which were common over the rest of Scotland. 
In virtue of these titles the chiefs exercised the rights of ownership, and leased the 
lands to tenants for rent or other consideration. As a fair example of the ancient 
Highland lease, I may refer to one, granted in 1631 by Sir Duncan Campbell of Glen- 
orchy to Ronald Campbell, of the lands of Elrig and others, for a period of five years. 
By this document the tenant binds himself to pay to the proprietor a yearly money 
rent of ^15. 135. 4d. Scots; to supply him yearly with six firlots bear, 172 stones of 
cheese, the half of a good cow (Laughter) six sufficient wedders, a gallon of sufficient 
aquavitse (Laughter) and a white plaid; to be ready himself with four good men to 
serve Sir Duncan in his wars; and to give the services of himself and other six men " in 
other employments" when required. The tenant was bound to remove at the termina- 
tion of the lease, and during its currency he was subject to the landlord's baron court, 
the bailie of which sometimes exercised the most unlimited jurisdiction at one sitting 
sentencing thieves to death, inflicting fines for killing game or cutting wood or turf, 
giving judgments in suits for debt, issuing agricultural rules and regulations, and fixing 
the prices to be charged by weavers and shoemakers. I have only time to give a few 
examples of the doings of these courts. At various times between 1618 and 1642 the 
bailie of Glenorchy enacted that a fine of j2O Scots should be paid by every person 
who would give meat, drink, or house-room to any man guilty of killing deer, roe, 
black-cock, or black-fish without the laird's licence; that no person cast peats, except 
with Lowland peat-spades, under the pain of 10 (Laughter) that no person have 
swine, under the pain of confiscation thereof, and a fine of 10; that no broom be 
cut without the laird's licence; that every tenant make four "croscattis of iron" an- 
nually for slaying of the wolf, under the penalty of $ ; that no tenant suffer rook, 
hooded crow, or pyat to "big or clek" within their bounds, under the penalty of 405 
-(Laughter and applause) that every tenant who has any cottar on his land without 
peats, and a kailyard, and some corn land, shall pay $ of a fine to the laird; that 
destroyers of wood shall be subject to a penalty of 20 for each offence, and that in- 
formants of such offences shall be entitled to 10 of reward from the laird; that no 
person labour or manure any kind of land within the space of sixteen feet of any river 
such as the Orchy, Dochart, or Lochy, and of eight feet of any other great water less 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 193 

than the said rivers ; that for every cow found in the forest of Mamelorne a penalty of 
405. shall be paid by the owner to* the laird, and a penalty of five merks for each horse 
or mare found so trespassing ; that whoever has a scabbed horse and puts him out 
unwatched, except on his own grass, it shall be lawful for any man that finds and 
apprehends the said scabbed horse, to throw him over a craig and break his neck 
(Laughter) that no wife drink in the alehouse except in the company of her husband, 
and that all tenants pay their ale bills monthly ; that all querns be broken, and that all 
tenants grind their corn at the mills, and pay the multure ; that no tenant sell any 
barley, oats, pease, or meal until the rent be paid to the laird, under the penalty of 
10 and forfeiture of the thing so sold ; and that tenants at their removal be bound to 
leave their houses in good order and repair. For breaches of the baron court regula- 
tions fines were exacted all over the Highlands, and as they found their way to the 
landlord's pocket, they must have been a source of considerable revenue to him. At 
a court held by John Grant of Corriemony in 1691 seventy-eight tenants were found 
guilty of various offences, such as the killing of deer, roe, blackcock, and muirfowl, 
and the cutting of wood and green sward, and were fined in various sums amount- 
ing in all to 885 Scots, or 73. 155. sterling. What that amount really repre- 
sented in 1691 may be judged from the fact that a good cow then sold for i 
sterling, and a good horse for 305. sterling. The baron courts continued to exercise 
full jurisdiction until the heritable jurisdiction were abolished after the '45 ; and 
instead of the feudal system having been introduced into the Highlands after Cul- 
loden, that battle was rather the first nail in the coffin of the system, which, as I have 
said, flourished since the I3th century. In addition to the oppressive authority of the 
baron bailies, and the harsh conditions on which the people held their lands, the 
tenants of the past suffered from other evils unknown to their successors of the present 
day. Wolves and foxes abounded, and on one farm in Breadalbane four mares, a year- 
old horse, and a year-old quey were killed by wolves in 1594. Then, the still more 
formidable cattle-lifters were a terrific scourge, and as an example of their deeds I may 
mention that during a raid made by Badenoch men on Glen-Urquhart in 1663, they, 
in the dead of night, carried away forty cattle, burnt down twenty-two houses and 
barns, with their contents, and severely wounded the poor people who endeavoured to 
protect their own. 

Mr Barren, of the Inverness Courier, proposed Kindred Societies. The societies, 
he remarked, that existed for the benefit of the people of the Scottish Highlands mostly 
dated from a period twelve or fifteen years since ; and their establishment was due 
to the feeling that the Highlanders required to unite and assert themselves in an age 
of change and dissolution. This combination, and the energy which marked these 
societies, had been productive of remarkable results. They had united scattered 
forces, they had vindicated historical claims, they had stirred the enthusiasm of the 
Celtic race, they had made the empire familiar with Highland sentiment, with High- 
land chivalry, and also with Highland wrongs, with Highland sufferings, and with 
Highland endurance. (Cheers.) Among their accomplishments, positive and sub- 
stantial, was the Celtic Chair in the University of Edinburgh. (Cheers.) He trusted 
that the endeavours of all these Highland Societies to accomplish their objects would 
be characterised by firmness, sobriety, self-control, and practical wisdom. Let them 
show that the taunts of the poet who spoke of 

" The schoolboy heat, 
The blind hysterics of the Celt" 



i 94 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

was not true as regards the Highland people, and that they were as well qualified as 
any other people to carry on their work by patient methods by a gradual process 
which step by step improves the present, and yet respects the laws and the institutions 
of the past. (Loud cheers. ) 

Mr fames Fraser, C.E., President of the Field Club, replied. 

Highland Education was proposed by Dr F. M. Mackenzie, and responded to by 
Mr Alexander Macbain, M.A., Rector of Raining School, Inverness, and by Mr A. 
C. Mackenzie, Maryburgh. 

Mr Alex. Macbain, M.A , in his reply, after a few preliminary remarks, insisted 
upon the recognition by the Government of Gaelic as a special subject in the code 
(Applause) - a concession which must somehow or other be wrung from them. (Ap- 
plause.) Small as the concession may appear to some, yet, closely considered, it is 
one of vast importance in its results. And one of these results will be a reflex action 
from the higher stages on the lower stages of school work, that is, on the lower 
standards. If teachers are encouraged to teach Gaelic to the higher pupils, they will 
also not neglect it at the lower stage of their educational course. It does look not a 
little anomalous that children who do not know a word of English should yet be 
taught that language without any use being made of their mother tongue. In theory 
the thing is utterly absurd, and in practice it would be found equally so, were not the 
Celts of the Highlands a race highly gifted and developed, heirs of ages of intellectual 
activity and of race characteristics, which rise superior to any blundering and stupidity 
on the part of their modern rulers. (Applause.) As a matter of fact, and a wonder- 
ful thing it undoubtedly is, the Highland counties are, at the very least, up to the 
average standard of passes of the rest of Scotland. (Applause. ) Still more wonderful 
to say, the Island of Lews, the most intensely Gaelic of all, makes about the best 
passes of any rural district in Scotland ; a fact which says a great deal for the other- 
wise well proven cleverness of the Lews people. (Applause). We are tempted to ask 
what Highland children would have done if they had the same advantages as the Eng- 
lish, and not been hampered by bilingualism. But one or two concessions have 
already been wrung from the Government in connection with Gaelic ; the examining of 
children for intelligence in Gaelic, with the consequent appointment of Gaelic-speaking 
inspectors, and also the power to teach Gaelic within Governmental school hours. 
This last is an entirely illusory concession, unless the examination is made less strict 
in the English subjects. Practically, only one concession has been gained, and the 
next one to be forced from the Government is the placing of Gaelic among the specific 
subjects. I cannot understand why we are so remiss in taking action in this matter. 
It must surely be from the fact that some think the concession too insignificant to worry 
about. But in reality it is a concession of great importance, as I have already said. 
The adoption of Gaelic as a specific subject will react on the whole school curriculum, 
and nearly effect all that the Society has ever been aiming at in the teaching of Gaelic 
and English together. But in any case Gaelic as a specific subject will be of immense 
benefit to the higher professional needs of the Highlands. (Applause). To take the 
glaring instance of one profession -and that, too, perhaps the highest in the scale- 
there is great difficulty in getting young men able to preach Gaelic, and this 
arises from inattention to the language in school days. It has been plausibly 
objected that, in spite of sentiment, teachers won't take advantage of Gaelic 
being a specific subject. And, as a matter of fact, some of them are teaching 
Gaelic under present circumstances to their higher pupils in order to meet the re- 
quirements of the annual examinations held for bursaries offered by various benevolent 



THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 195 

societies, among which I am sorry to see our society not taking its place. Bursaries 
for the Celtic Chair, as proposed by the Blackie testimonial, will prove an immense 
stimulus to the study of the language. (Applause.) There can be little doubt that 
grants from the Government and bursaries from the societies will bring Gaelic to be 
the most popular of specific subjects both with teachers and pupils. The Government 
won't move in the matter until we do two things. The first is to prove the urgent 
need, not from a sentimental but a practical point of view, of our demands, and then 
to put before them a draft scheme of the course of study required for Gaelic as a 
specific subject, and guarantee suitable text-books. There are plenty here to-night 
quite capable of taking those matters in hand, officials, too, of the Society. (Ap- 
plause. ) 

Mr Mackenzie also replied. 

Mr Colin Chisholm proposed the Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of In- 
verness, in the vernacular, in the following terms : A Thighearna Ghearrloch a tha 
mar bu dual, 's an Ard-chathair, fhir na bonn-chathrach agus a dhaoine uaisle gu leir 
Chuir an Comunn so mar fhiachan ormsa deoch slainte luchd-riaghlaidh baile Inbhir- 
nis a thogail; 's e sin ri radh Ard-mhaor a bhaile so, gach frith -bhreitheamh's gach 
comhairliche tha air an taghadh gu coir a sheasamh's gu ceartas a dheanamh eadar 
duine 's duine air feadh baile Inbhirnis. A reir mo bharail fein tha iad comasach, 
eolach, deonach, air gach atharrachadh a bhitheas gu feum a -Bhaile a dheanamh. Tha 
Ian-choir aca air deadh-run gach aon tha chomhnaidh an taobh stigh do cheithir chear- 
naibh a bhaile so. 'S math an aire tha Comh-chomhairle Inbhirnis a toirt air na tha 
'n earbsa riu. Mo thruaighe* am fear a dh'fheuchas ri uiread aon oirleach do chladach 
mara, do Ion mointich, no do thalamh air bith eile, fliuch no tioram,-a ghearradh bho 
choir dhligheach Inbhirnis. Gheibh e mach air a chost nach cuir geilt, sochair, no 
aineolas, amaladh air Comhairle Inbhirnis. Bhiodh e ro thoilichte learn moran de'n 
gleusdachd 's de'n treuntas innse dhuibh. Tha cuid agaibh fein cho eolach air am 
buadhan 'sa tha mise. Ach theagamh nach eil fios agaibh uile gu'm bheil iad a cuir 
seachad roinn mhor d'en latha agus earrainn de'n oidhche a dian chuir air adhart 
maith Inbhirnis. Tha iad fior-thoilltinnach air toil mhaith 's air deadh-run muinntir 
a bhaile so. Lionaibh na glaineachean gu'm bar, 's traighibh iad gu'n grunnd air 
deadh shlainte Riaghladairean Inbhirnis. (Loud cheers.) 

Provost Fraser suitably replied, partly in Gaelic. 

Mr Alex. Mackenzie, of the Celtic Magazine, proposed the Non-resident Mem- 
bers. He expressed pleasure at hearing the Chairman, and his own immediate chief, 
proposing the first toast on the list in Gaelic. Mr Mackenzie never heard him making 
a set Gaelic speech before, but he knew long ago that Sir Kenneth could both speak 
and read Gaelic fairly well. On his own property he always talked in Gaelic to 
the hundreds of people on his property, grasping the poor old woman, the decrepit 
old man, or the youth of those homes of toil cordially by the hand whenever he met 
them, and expressing himself always in the Gaelic language, as was his wont, in terms 
of kindness and sympathy that touched the warmest chords in their hearts. (Cheers.) 
The result was that, in a pre-eminent degree, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie was beloved by 
every person from the school-boy to the oldest crofter that lived on his estates. 
(Renewed cheers.) The Chairman's exertions in the cause of education were un- 
equalled by those of any other gentleman in the country. As a thinker on social and 
political subjects he was unsurpassed; as a considerate landlord he had no equal; his 
heart was full of the broadest and the most generous sympathies; and the result was 
that not only did his schools produce, even before the days of School Boards, the best 



i 9 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

achievements among those of the crofter districts of the Highlands, but his crofts pro- 
duced a class of people as fine in physique and in every other respect, as could be found 
in the world. (Cheers.) In respect that Sir Kenneth lived in Ross-shire, he was a 
non-resident member; and he was, therefore, entitled to speak of him in proposing the 
toast: he was, however, always in the North among his people. The strictly non- 
resident members were among the best friends of the Society, and in this respect Mr 
Mackenzie mentioned pre-eminently, amid cheers, the name of Professor Blackie, who 
was entitled to the warmest gratitude of all Highlanders in every quarter of the globe. 
(Cheers.) Mr Mackenzie coupled the toast with the name of Mr John Macdonald, 
banker, Buckie, to whose unobtrusive researches in Celtic topography especially he 
paid a cordial tribute. 

Mr Macdonald made a suitable reply. 

Mr George J. Campbell, solicitor, proposed the Clergy, to which 

The Rev. R. Morison, Kintail, replied. In the course of an excellent speech, he 
regretted the absence of the local clergy from the dinner, and said "It is somewhat sad 
to contemplate that but for the accidental presence here of a solitary wanderer from the 
West Coast, this toast must have passed unacknowledged." As to the reference made 
to the clergy by the Secretary in his reply for Celtic Literature, Mr Morison said : 
" I truly believe that the great mass of the clergy of the Highlands sympathise 
heartily with the objects of your Society, and that what appears to him to have been a 
desire to extinguish the Gaelic in days gone bye was really a desire to benefit the 
people by promoting the learning of English. They wanted Gaelic and English to go 
on hand in hand, and side by side. The clergy saw that the clinging of the people to 
Gaelic solely was an obstacle to their advancement. Therefore they desired them to 
learn English also. In other words, the clergy did not want to discourage Gaelic ; 
but to endeavour to get the people to learn English. If that were so, I can't see how 
any person can fairly say that they were far wrong. As to those who denounced 
Gaelic and the bagpipes, I do not stand here as an apologist. (Hear, hear.) I am 
not one of those who would describe the national instrument as the devil's bellows. 
On the contrary, I think it would be a very good thing if we cultivated a little -more 
of the national music, our national melodies, amongst us." (Applause.) Mr Morison 
then pointed out that the Highlands owed a very great deal to the clergy particularly 
the high education which was characteristic of Scotland ; and the voice of the country 
in recent years, in elections to the Boards which now governed national education 
furnished abundant testimony that the masses of the people of Scotland still desired 
that a great part of our education should still remain in the hands of the clergy. The 
clergy, he continued, have still some power, some influence for good. They will best 
promote religion, and discharge their duty, by working in a spirit of peace and good- 
will one towards another one Church towards another by fighting, not against each 
other, but against the common foes of all religion and virtue. 

The Press was proposed by Mr Whyte, librarian, and acknowledged by Mr Walter 
Carruthers of the Inverness Courier. The health of the Chairman, given by Mr Wm. 
Mackay, was pledged with Highland honours. The Croupiers were proposed by Mr 
W. G. Stuart, who had himself added largely, by song and recitation, to the enjoy- 
ment of those present, and whose health was specially pledged by the Chairman. 
During the dinner, Pipe-Major Alexander Maclennan, the Society's piper, played ap- 
propriate music as usual. 

Great credit is due to the Secretary for the success of the meeting ; and Mr Cesari 
served one of the best dinners ever laid before the Society. 

The meeting did not seperate until twenty minutes past one o'clock on Wednesday 
morning, bringing to a close one of the happiest meetings ever held under the auspices 
of the Society. 



THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES, by the Editor, 
will be ready in a few days. See advertisement. 

A Supplement of four pages extra is given this month to admit of a full report of 
the Gaelic Society Dinner, notwithstanding which " A Tour in Canada" and "The 
Honours of Scotland" have been crowded out, 



THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. LXXXIX. MARCH 1883. VOL. VIII. 

THE HIGHLAND DRESS, 

BY J. G. MACKAY. 

L CLAN TARTANS. 

Oh, first of garbs, garment of happy fate ! 

So long employed, of such an antique date ; 

Look back some thousand years till records fail, 

And lose themselves in some romantic tale ; 

We'll find our god-like fathers nobly scorned 

To be by any other dress adorned. ALLAN RAMSAY. 

THERE is nothing which so much distinguished the Highlanders 
of Scotland as their very picturesque costume, which has been for 
so many ages peculiar to themselves. That the Highland garb 
is very ancient there cannot be the slightest doubt, though some 
writers affect to believe that it is of modern invention. 

We can gather sufficient from the works of ancient writers to 
prove that tartans were worn in the Highlands at a very remote 
period, but their knowledge of the language and customs of the 
people was so very meagre that they could hardly be expected 
to be very minute in their descriptions. The art of dyeing was 
known among the Celts at a very early period. Diodorus Siculus, 
who wrote A.D. 230, says that the Gauls "wore coats stained with 
various colours." In our own country, in the Druidical times, the 
Ard-righ had seven different colours in his dress, the Druidical 
tunic had six, and that of the nobles or maormors had four. 

O 



I 9 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

There cannot be any doubt but tartans originated from these 
costumes, and came to be divided into distinctive patterns so 
soon as the people began to be divided into clans. The tartans 
themselves give the best possible proof of this, for by taking the 
set of any sect or group of clans of the same stock, we find a very 
great resemblance in the design. In almost every instance they 
have all been formed from the pattern worn by the progenitor of 
the sect. This is very noticeable in that of the descendants of 
the Lord of the Isles, viz., Macdonalds, Macdougalls, Macalisters, 
and Macintyres. The various branches of the Clann Chatain> 
viz., Mackintoshes, Macphersons, Macbeans, Macgillivrays, Mac- 
queens, etc., etc. The Siol Alpein, viz., Macgregors, Macquarries, 
Grants, Macnabs, Mackinnons, and Macphees ; the descendants 
of Connachar, viz., Mackays, Forbeses, and Urquharts ; the clan 
Andrias, viz., Rosses, Macraes, Mathesons, and several others. 

The fact of these clans having adopted patterns so very 
much after the same design proves most conclusively that their 
various tartans were invented at the time of the formation of the 
clans. Many of them lived at a great distance, and had very 
little communication with each other. Each branch of a clan, as 
it asserted its own independence, added a few lines of other 
colours to the tartan of the parent stock, to make a distinction 
for itself, but kept enough of the original design to show the 
relationship. This same system is seen very distinctly in the 
armorial bearings ; while each clan has devices representing events 
in its own history, the family relationship is shown by some em- 
blems relating to their common ancestors : thus, the different 
branches of the Clann Chatain have the cat, either as a crest or a 
device, on their shield. The Macdonalds, Macdougalls, and 
Macalisters have each the lamh-dhearg and the galley. The 
Mackays, Urquharts, and Forbeses have three boars' heads 
muzzled on their shield. 

Besides this very strong circumstantial evidence, we have the 
testimony of Martin* and several others to prove that tartans were 
worn, as distinctive clan patterns, at a very remote period. Mar- 
tin says : 

" The Plad, wore only by the Men, is made of fine Wool, the Thred as fine as 
can be made of that kind; it consists of divers colours, and there is a great deal of 
Ingenuity required in sorting the Colours, so as to be agreeable to the nicest fancy. 
* Martin's tour to the Western Isles, 1692 ; pub. in London. 1702. 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 199 

" For this reason the Women are at great pains, first to give an exact Pattern to 
the Plad upon a piece of Wood, having the number of every Thred of the stripe on it. 

" Every Isle differs from each other in their fancy of making Plads, as to the 
Stripes in Breadth and Colours. This Humour is as different thro' the main Land of 
the Highlands, in so far that they who have seen those places, are able at the first 
view of a Man's Plad to guess the Place of his Residence." 

Beague, in his history of the Campaigns in Scotland in 1548- 
1549, printed in Paris 1556, states "they (the Scotch army) were 
followed by the Highlanders, and these last go almost naked, 
they have painted waistcoats and a sort of woollen covering, 
variously coloured" 

As the Author wrote in French, it is not likely he understood 
the terms tartan, plaid, or kilt, and to him the Highlanders would 
have all the appearance of going almost naked, and the fancy 
colouring of the tartan would look as if it were painted. 

The author of " Certayne Matters Concerning Scotland," 
1597, says, "that the Highlanders delight much in marbled 
clothes, specially that has long stripes of sundrie colours ; their 
predecessors used short mantles of divers colours, sundrie ways 
devided." 

In the accounts of John, Bishop of Glasgow, treasurer to 
King James III. 1471, the following items occur : 

Ane elne and ane halve of blue Tartane, to lyne his 

gowne of cloth of gold ... ... ... . .. i 10 o 

Four elne and ane halve of Tartane for a sparwort 

aboun his credill, price ane elne, IDS. ... ... 2 5 o 

Halve ane elne of doble Tartane to lyne ridin collars to 

her ladye the Quene, price ... ... ... o 8 o 

Pinkerton, who viewed everything Celtic with a jaundiced 
eye, considered the Highland dress " beggarly effeminate, grossly 
indecent, and absurd, with the tasteless regularity and vulgar 
glare of the tartans." 

The colours of the tartan are not more red or glaring than 
the Peer's robes, military uniforms, or the Royal livery, and yet, 
these are not considered vulgar. One of the most distinguished 
artists of his age, Mr West, President of the Royal Academy, 
differs from this opinion. He has expressed " his surprise at the 
blending and arranging of the colours, and considers that great 



200 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

art that is to say, much knowledge of the principles of colouring 
with pleasing effect has been displayed in the composition of 
several of the Clan tartans; regarding them in general, as speci- 
mens of natural taste, something analogous to the affecting but 
artless strains of the native music of Scotland." 

In " Eustace's Classical Tour," in treating of the various 
costumes of the European and Asiatic nations, he says regarding 
the Highland dress " In one corner of Great Britain a dress is 
worn by which the two extremes are avoided. It has the easy 
folds of a drapery, which takes away from it the constrained and 
angular air of the ordinary habits, and is, at the same time 
sufficiently light and succinct to answer all the purposes of 
activity and ready motion." 

Such, then, are the opinions of men who are much more 
likely to be correct than spiteful writers like Pinkerton, and they 
cannot be said to be prejudiced either one way or another. 

Tartans were divided into three classes Clan, Dress, and 
Hunting. The dress was formed from the ground of the clan 
pattern by making the larger checks white ; this was intended 
for women's wear. The hunting was formed in the same manner, 
by making the larger checks green, brown, or some other dark 
colour, so as to make it serviceable for every-day wear, or, as its 
name implies, for hunting. George Buchanan says (1612) "For 
the most part they are brown, near to the color of the hadder, to 
the effect that when they lie down amongst the hadder, the bright 
color of their plaids shall not bewray them." 

The cloth worn by the women was finer and lighter in the 
make; the checks were larger in the tartan; and the colours 
made brighter and more showy. The women took a great pride 
in the manufacture of their different fabrics, so that very great 
perfection was attained both in weaving and dyeing. There are 
examples to be seen at the present day of tartans woven more 
than a hundred years ago; and when we consider the primitive 
means that were at hand, it is very difficult for us to believe that 
our ancestors were such barbarous savages as some would have 
us to understand. 

There was a great deal of taste displayed in getting up the 
various colours, so as to blend properly with each other. On 
account of the different arrangements of the various tartans, the 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 201 

shades of colour are changed in many of them, some having a 
lighter blue, green, or red than others, and some a darker; while 
others have a shade of green or blue peculiar to themselves, such 
as the Mactavish, which has a remarkable green that we find in 
no other. The Mackay has also a peculiar shade of green ; and 
the Macnab has a particular red, something like what is now 
called majenla. 

The varying of the shades of colour depended upon the 
other colours with which they had to blend. Thus a green had 
to be brightened or deepened, according to the shade of blue, 
yellow, or red to be used with it. 

Martin thus describes the dress worn by the women : 

" The ancient Dress wore by the Women, called Arisaid, is a white Plad, having 
a few small stripes of black, blue, and red ; it reached from the Neck to the Heels, 
and was tied before on the Breast with a Buckle of Silver, or Brass, according to the 
Quality of the Person. 

" I have seen some of the former of an hundred Marks value ; it was broad as an 
Ordinary Pewter Plate, the whole curiously engraven with various Animals, &c. 

"There was a lesser Buckle, which was wore in the middle of the larger, and 
above two Ounces weight ; it had in the Centre a large piece of Crystal, or some 
finer Stone, and this was set all round with several finer Stones of a lesser size. 

"The Plad, being pleated all round, was tied with a Belt below the Breast. 
The Belt was of Leather, and several pieces of Silver intermixed with the Leather, 
Like a Chain. 

"The lower end of the Belt was a Piece of Plate about eight inches long, and 
three in breath, curiously engraven, the end which was adorned with fine Stones, or 
pieces of red Coral. " 

"They wore Sleeves of Scarlet Cloth, clos'd at the end as Men's Vests, with 
Gold Lace round'em, having Plate buttons, set with fine Stones. 

"The Head-dress was a fine Kerchief of Linan strait about the Head, hanging 
down the Back Taper-wise. A large lock of Hair hangs down their Checks above 
their Breast, the lower end tied with a Knot of Ribbands." 

It has been predicted "that the tasteless regularity and 
vulgar glare of the tartan would for ever prevent its adoption by 
genteel society." How different the change of opinion ! After 
all the vituperations of jealous and abusive writers, tartan is now 
recognised by the English themselves as the most graceful drapery 
in Europe. It is worn by her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, 
who seems to take a special pride in it ; it adorns the ladies and 
courtiers who surround the throne ; and not only does it appear . 
to advantage at some of our most brilliant gatherings, but is 
exceedingly popular throughout the civilised world. 

(To be continued.) 



202 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 
BY M. A. ROSE. 



II. 

ALTHOUGH Captain Ogilvie found himself obliged to surrender 
Dunnottar, he determined, if possible, to preserve the Honours 
from falling into the hands of the English. But the difficulty 
was, how to get them removed to a place of safety, when the 
castle was so closely besieged, that scarcely a mouse could escape 
without being seen ; and hiding them inside the castle would be 
worse than useless, for they were almost sure to be found. Be- 
sides, he had no security but that the castle might be burnt, when 
his precious charge would be irretrievably lost. In this dilemma 
he did what most wise men do. He consulted his wife to see if 
her woman's wit could help him out of his difficulty. After some 
consideration, Mrs Ogilvie fixed upon a plan. She would herself 
arrange to get the Honours out of the castle and concealed in a 
place unknown to her husband, so that he could, when questioned, 
safely deny all knowledge of them. Ogilvie gladly agreed to this 
proposal, and his wife proceeded to carry out her scheme. The 
Rev. Mr Grainger, minister of Kinneff, and his wife, were intimate 
personal friends of Mrs Ogilvie, and she determined to seek their 
aid. Accordingly, she obtained permission from Colonel Thomas 
Morgan, the officer in command of the besieging force, for her 
friend, Mrs Grainger, to visit her for a few hours, and to take away 
with her a quantity of flax which she wanted spun. The two 
friends consulted together, and quickly arranged their plans, 
which, considering the shortness of time at their disposal, and 
the difficulties in their way, showed a good deal of ingenuity 
and courage on the part of the two worthy ladies. 

Dunnottar Castle being unapproachable on horseback, there 
being a deep chasm between the castle gate and the mainland, 
Mrs Grainger had to dismount and leave her horse in the English 
camp. Colonel Morgan himself assisted her to alight, and gal- 
lantly led her up to the castle gate. After a long and anxious 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 203 

consultation, the ladies concealed the Crown about Mrs Grainger's 
person, trusting that the long and full cloak she wore would effec- 
tively hide it They then carefully packed the Sceptre and Sword 
in a large bundle of flax, which was placed on the back of a stout 
servant girl, who little dreamt of the importance or the value of 
her load. The belt belonging to the Sword of State Mrs Ogilvie 
kept, and carefully concealed it in the masonry of one of the walls 
of the castle ; and when, long afterwards, it was taken from its 
strange hiding place, it was found so securely packed that it was 
none the worse. 

It is very probable that Mrs Ogilvie kept the belt by her as 
a future proof that the Honours had been in their possession, and 
it is said that it is still preserved in the Ogilvie family. 

When, her visit being ended, Mrs Grainger again made her 
appearance in the English camp, Colonel Morgan assisted her to 
her saddle, a courtesy the good lady would have gladly declined, if 
she could ; for she trembled lest he should discover her momen- 
tous secret. She, however, managed to retain her composure, and 
thanking the Englishman for his attention, rode slowly away, fol- 
lowed by the girl carrying the bundle of flax ; and in this very 
undignified manner the Honours of Scotland made their exit from 
the Castle of Dunnottar. On Mrs Grainger's arrival at home, her 
husband took charge of the Honours, and having carefully packed 
them up, he buried them inside his church. 

Upon the English taking possession of Dunnottar, they de- 
manded, according to the articles of agreement, that the Honours 
of Scotland should either be delivered up, or a satisfactory ac- 
count given of where they were. Captain Ogilvie at once pro- 
tested that they were not in the castle, and stoutly denied all 
knowledge of where they were concealed. Naturally enough this 
improbable statement was not believed. He was seized, and con- 
fined a close prisoner in the castle of which he had been so lately 
the commander. His wife was also imprisoned, and closely ques- 
tioned, and it is said even threatened with torture ; but she stood 
firm, always giving the same answer, namely, that she had de- 
delivered the Honours into the hands of the Earl Marshall, who 
had carried them abroad to Charles II. This account, though 
probable enough, did not satisfy the English officer, who detained 
her a close prisoner, and sent a party of soldiers to Barras House 



_> 04 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to apprehend Captain Ogilvie's only son, William, thinking that, 
by punishing their son, they might prevail upon the parents to 
divulge their secret Fortunately, however, the lad got timely 
notice of his danger, and escaped to some friends in Angus, 
where he remained for a long time concealed. 

Captain Ogilvie and his wife were kept prisoners for a whole 
year, and treated with great harshness, a sentinel being always 
posted at the door of their apartment, and another in the room 
with them, in order, if possible, to pick up any hints of the secret 
from their conversation. The worthy couple, however, were not 
to be caught napping, always adhering, without the slightest pre- 
varication, to the same story, so that, at last, their version of the 
affair was believed, and on the solicitations of numerous friends, 
General Dean consented to set them at liberty, on condition that 
they should not travel more than three miles from " their own 
house of Barras," and that they should render themselves again 
prisoners on demand, under a heavy bond, for which a friend, 
George Graham of Morphie, became cautioner. That they were 
kept under strict surveillance, is proved by the fact that some 
time afterwards they had to find additional security for their 
safety, in a new bond, dated rst February 1653. 

Some time after Mrs Ogilvie died, faithfully keeping her 
secret to the last, and Ogilvie himself lived under the same re- 
straint until the Restoration ; but, in spite of the vigilance of his 
enemies, he managed to keep up a regular correspondence with 
the minister of Kinneff, and each month sent clean linen cloths 
to Mr Grainger, with instructions to take the Honours up, and 
wrap them anew in fresh cloths to prevent them getting tar- 
nished by their long concealment; all which instructions the rev. 
gentleman faithfully carried out. 

At the Restoration, among the many claimants upon Royal 
recognition and gratitude, the Dowager Lady Keith, mother of 
the Earl Marshall, who was still abroad, presented a claim on 
behalf of her son as being the preserver of the Honours, without 
making any reference to the important share Captain Ogilvie 
and his wife had taken in the matter. On her representation, 
the King raised Sir John Keith to the peerage, with the title of 
Earl of Kintore, and granted him a pension for life. In the 
meantime Captain Ogilvie, finding himself likely to be over- 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 205 

looked, and his services forgotten, sent his son William to Lon- 
don to present a petition to the King on his behalf, setting forth 
his version of the affair, and stating that he was the real pre- 
server of the Honours. The King did not know how to decide 
between the two claimants, and consulted the Earl of Lauder- 
dale, who, with his usual acuteness, argued thus : if Sir John 
Keith had preserved the Honours he would still have them in 
his possession ; on the other hand, if Ogilvie's claim was just, he 
would be able to produce the Regalia, which would at once decide 
the matter. Accordingly Lauderdale sent the following letter to 
William Ogilvie in answer to his petition : 

"WHITEHALL, 28th September 1660. 

" His Majesty ordains the petitioner's father to deliver his 
Crown, Sceptre, and Sword, to the Earl Marischal of Scotland, and 
to get his receipt of them. 

(Signed) " LAUDERDAILL." 

On learning this, the Dowager Lady Keith endeavoured to per- 
suade the Rev. Mr Grainger to deliver them up to her ; but the 
minister stood firm to his trust, and would not give them up to 
anyone but Captain Ogilvie, who, being informed of her lady- 
ship's attempt to bribe Mr Grainger, immediately went to the 
church, exhumed the Sceptre and carried it to his own house, at 
the same time taking the following acknowledgement from the 
faithful minister of Kinneff : 

" Whereas I have received a discharge from George Ogilvie 
of Barras of the Honours of this kingdom, and he hath got no 
more but the Sceptre: therefore I oblige myself, that the rest, 
viz., the Crown and Sword, shall be forthcoming at demand, by 
this my ticket Written and subscrived this day I received the 
discharge, 28th September 1660. 

(Signed) " M. J. GRAINGER." 

A few days afterwards Captain Ogilvie received a command from 
the King to deliver up the Honours to the Earl Marshall, which 
order Ogilvie at once obeyed, and got the following receipt writ- 
ten by the Earl Marshall's own hand : 

" At Dunottar, the 8th day of October 1660, I, William Earl 
Marischal, grants me to have received from George Ogilvie of 
Barras the Crown, Sword, and Sceptre, the ancient monuments of 



206 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

this kingdom, entire and complete, in the same condition they 
were entrusted by me to him, and discharge the foresaid George 
Ogilvie of his receipt thereof, by this my subscription. Day and 

place foresaid. 

(Signed) " MARISCHAL." 

On getting this proof in corroboration of his petition, Captain 
Ogilvie journeyed to London and obtained an audience of the 
King, who received him very graciously; and, being fully con- 
vinced that he was indeed the real preserver of the Honours, 
created him a baronet by patent, dated at Whitehall, 5th March 
1 66 1, and granted him a new charter of the lands of Barras, in 
which document the services of himself and wife are fully acknow- 
ledged as the preservers of the Honours of Scotland. 

After the death of Sir George Ogilvie, his son, Sir William, 
being annoyed at the account of the matter as published in Nis- 
bet's " Book of Heraldry " in which all the honour was given to 
the Earl of Kintore, while no notice was taken of Sir George 
Ogilvie's services he, with the assistance of his son David, pub- 
lished a pamphlet in 1701, entitled "A True Account of the 
Preservation of the Regalia of Scotland, viz., Crown, Sword, and 
Sceptre, from falling into the hands of the English Usurpers. 
Be Sir George Ogilvie of Barras, Kt. and Baronet, with the 
Blazon of that Family." 

The statements made in this pamphlet led, in 1702, to an 
action of libel before the Privy Council of Scotland, at the in- 
stance of John, Earl of Kintore, who contended that the late Sir 
George Ogilvie was only the deputy of the Earl Marshall in the 
matter; that it was the Dowager Lady Keith who had devised 
the method of getting the Honours out of Dunnottar, and that it 
was the stratagem of the Earl Marshall's writing home from Paris 
that he had the Honours in his keeping that lulled the suspicions 
of the English ; and, in support of this, the pursuer produced, 
among several other documents, " ane recept granted by Mr 
James Grainger, minister att KinnefT, to the Countess Marishall, 
beareing him to have in his custody the Honours of the King- 
dom, viz., the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword, and where the samen 
were absconded that the said Countess might have access thereto, 
dated the thirty-first day of March 1652," which is as follows : 

" I, Mr James Grainger, minister at Kinneff, grant me to 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 207 

have in my custody the Honours of the Kingdom, viz., Crown, 
Sceptre, and Sword. For the Crown and Sceptre I raised the 
pavement-stone just before the pulpit, in the night tyme, and 
digged under it ane hole, and put them in there, and rilled up 
the hole, and layed down the stone just as it was before, and 
removed the mould that remained, that none would have dis- 
cerned the stone to have been raised at all. The Sword again, 
at the west end of the church, amongst some common saits that 
stand there, I digged down in the ground betwixt the twa fore- 
most of these saits, and laid it down within the case of it, and 
covered it up, as that removing the superfluous mould it could 
not be discerned by any body ; and if it shall please God to call 
me by death before they be called for, your ladyship will find 
them in that place." 

The Privy Council decided in the Earl's favour, and ordered 
the pamphlet to be burnt at the Cross by the hands of the com- 
mon hangman, and sentenced David Ogilvie, as one of the de- 
fendants, to pay a fine of twelve hundred pounds Scots. 

This sentence seems certainly to have been far too severe on 
the Ogilvies, for although it may have been quite true that the 
Earl Marshall and his mother were cognisant of the scheme, or 
even may have devised it, yet it is perfectly certain that Sir 
George and his wife were the chief actors, as well as the greatest 
sufferers, and, consequently, were entitled to the chief reward. 
As for the worthy minister of Kinneff, after the Restoration the 
thanks of the Committee of Estates were formally tendered to 
him, and a sum of two thousand merks presented to his wife, 
Christian Fletcher, " as a reward of her courageous loyalty." 

At the time of the Union between England and Scotland, 
when the minds of the great mass of the people were agitated 
and indignant at what they considered a surrender of their na- 
tional independence, the opposers of the Union, taking advantage 
of the popular feeling, circulated a report that the Honours were 
to be sent away to England, as a token of the complete subjection 
of Scotland as a nation, This statement, absurd and unfounded 
as it was, yet gained credence among the people, who gave utter- 
ance to their sentiments so plainly, that to allay their suspicions 
it was found necessary to insert a special clause in the Treaty of 
Union, to this effect, " That the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of 



20 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

State, Records of Parliament, &c., continue to be kept as they 
are, within that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland ; 
and that they shall so remain in all times coming, notwithstand- 
ing the Union." 

On the 1 6th of January 1707, the Regalia made their last 
official appearance, the Sceptre being used to ratify the Treaty 
of Union, when the Chancellor, the Earl of Seafield, is reported 
to have said, as he handed it back to the clerk, with a scornful 
air, " There is an end of an auld sang." 

After this, there being no Scottish Parliament, the duty 
of taking charge of the Honours devolved altogether on the 
Treasurer. The Earl Marshall in delivering them up for the 
last time, showed a very different feeling to the Earl of Seafield, 
and handed in a long protest that they should not be removed 
from the Castle of Edinburgh, without notice being given to him, 
or to his successor in title and office. 

The now useless Honours were packed away in a large oak 
chest, fastened with three keys, and deposited in the Crown 
Room of Edinburgh Castle, a strong vaulted room, which was 
immediately securely locked and barred. 

For a long time rumours were rife among the populace that 
the Regalia were either destroyed or conveyed into England, 
which impression was strengthened by their being no longer 
visible ; but as time passed, and people began to discover the 
benefits of the Union, the feeling of irritation which at first 
existed gradually died out, and with it, the anxiety about the 
Honours. Thus, the venerable relics remained undisturbed, 
neglected, and forgotten, for the long period of a hundred and 
ten years, until people began to doubt of their existence. Only 
once, during that time, was the Crown Room entered ; and that 
was in 1794, when, by special warrant under the Royal sign- 
manual, some Commissioners went in search of certain records 
which were supposed to be there. There was, however, nothing in 
the room except the strong oak chest, which the Commissioners 
had no authority to open. The apartment was again secured 
with additional fastenings, and the fate of the Honours remained 
as uncertain as ever. In 1817 George IV., then Prince Regent, 
ordered the room to be opened, and the chest examined, to see 
if the Regalia were really there. Among the officials entrusted 



THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 209 

with this duty was Sir Walter Scott, then one of the Principal 
Clerks of Session, whose graphic description of the scene of the 
emotion with which these long-lost-sight-of relics were regarded 
as they passed from hand to hand, and of the enthusiasm with 
which the news of their safety was received by the people 
of Edinburgh is doubtless well known to the reader. See- 
ing the interest exhibited by all classes in their ancient 
National Regalia, the Prince Regent ordered that they should 
in future be placed in a position in which the public might have 
an opportunity of seeing them. They were accordingly given 
in charge of some of the Officers of State, and deposited for 
exhibition, duly protected from injury, and carefully guarded, in 
the Castle of Edinburgh, where they are now to be seen. 

M. A. ROSE. 



THE CROFTERS. At a meeting of about 2500 people, held in Edinburgh, on 
the 7th of February, Mr Duncan Maclaren, ex-M.P., in the chair, the following 
resolutions were carried unanimously : 

Moved by the Rev. Dr BEGG, seconded by Mr D. H. MACFARLANE, M.P., and 
supported by Mr MILLAR of Scrabster 

I. That this meeting views with alarm the present condition of the Highlands of 
Scotland, and calls upon Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into 
the alleged grievances of the peasantry, and the extensive depopulation of fertile dis- 
tricts for purposes of sport. 

Moved by Principal RAINY, seconded by Dr GARMENT, and supported by Dean 
of Guild MACKENZIE, Inverness 

II. That this meeting desires to impress on Government the urgent need existing 
for such reforms as the following, viz. -.Security to the crofters against capricious 
eviction and rack-renting ; compensation for all value their industry may add to the 
soil, and inducement to extend their holdings by the reclamation of waste lands ; as 
also the utilisation for productive purposes of the vast tracts of country at present 
under deer. 

Moved by Professor BLACKIE 

III. That this Meeting, recognising the necessity at this juncture for united 
action on the part of all friends of the Highlands, heartily endorses the objects 
of the Edinburgh Highland Land Law Reform Association as follows, viz: (i.) 
To obtain for the Highland peasantry legislative security against capricious 
eviction and rack-renting, and to promote the amelioration of their condition 
generally. (2.) To collect information regarding the present extensive occupation 
of the Highlands by Deer Forests, and to agitate for a mitigation of this evil, and 
against further depopulation of productive districts for such purposes. (3. ) To pro- 
vide a basis for combined action in favour of such changes in the land laws as may be 
necessary to secure the foregoing objects and recommends the formation of similar 
Associations throughout the country, 



210 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

A SPRAY OF WHITE HEATHER.* 



I lovingly greet thee, sweet spray of white heather ! 

With a heartfelt emotion I would not conceal, 
Thou com'st from a friend true in shade and bright weather, 

Who in kindness is warm as in friendship she's leal. 

Good fortune and luck aye attend me together, 
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me, 

Charmed emblem of both! bonnie spray of white heather, 
From the land of my fathers far over the sea. 

Fair token, thou'rt chaste as the heart of the sender, 

Bringing fond recollections of life's early day, 
Of kin, friends, and country, and ties the most tender, 

Ere from kin, friends, and country I wandered away. 

Good fortune and luck aye attend me together, 
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me, 

Charmed emblem of both! bonnie spray of white heather, 
From the land of my fathers far over the sea. 

I never may see, pretty spray of white heather, 
Caledonia's loved glens and her mountains so grand ; 

I may ne'er again with the dear ones foregather, 
But my blessings on them and my dear native land ! 

Good fortune and luck aye attend me together, 
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me, 

Charmed emblem of both ! bonnie spray of white heather, 
From the land of my fathers far over the sea. 

Thou gift of a friend ! I will treasure thee dearly 
Till my journey shall end in that long peaceful rest ; 

When some loving hand mine had oft pressed sincerely 

May "with tenderness place thee, sweet spray, on my breast ! 

Good fortune and luck aye attend me together, 
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me, 

Charmed emblem of both ! bonnie spray of white heather, 
From the land of my fathers far over the sen. 

New York, September 1882. DUNCAN MACGREGOR CRERAR. 

* Written on receiving a beautiful spray of heather from Mrs William Black, wife 
of the eminent novelist, and to whom the verses are inscribed with the esteem and 
gratitude of the author. 



211 



CELTIC DYES 



To give an account of the various ways in which the ancient 
Celts procured the dyes for their cloths and tartans, is necessarily, 
owing to the very scanty knowledge we have, a matter of extreme 
difficulty, but the following notes may prove interesting to the 
reader : 

YELLOW. The bark of the crab-apple, and the leaves of the 
common birch-tree, both yielded a yellow dye, but the quality of 
that extracted from the latter tree was far surpassed by that of 
the dwarf birch. A decoction of the spotted arssmart with alum, 
or fir-club moss, which was the substitute for alum, the plant 
called bird's-foot trefoil, the green tops and flowers of heather, 
and the meadow saffron, were all used to dye different shades of 
yellow. St John's wort and alum, or club-moss, also produced 
a fine yellow, which was much used. 

PURPLE. This colour was obtained from the bilberry or 
blaeberry, and also from the crowberry boiled with alum or 
club-moss. The lichen called cudbear, or crotal geal, was exten- 
sively used for dying purple. The process of extracting the dye 
is thus described by Mr Cameron in his valuable work on The 
Gaelic Names of Plants: "It (the lichen) is first dried in the 
sun, then pulverised and steeped, commonly in urine, and the 
vessel made air-tight. In this state it is suffered to remain for 
three weeks, when it is fit to be boiled in the yarn which it is to 
colour." The writer then proceeds " In many Highland dis- 
tricts many of the peasants get their living by scraping off this 
lichen with an iron hoop, and sending it to the Glasgow market." 
In reviewing the above work, the Northern Chronicle says: 
" Mr Cameron is mistaken in supposing that Highland peasants 
yet get their living by gathering the ' crotal corcur,' and sending 
it to the Glasgow market. The peace of 1815 put an end to that 
industry. The * crotal ' grows undisturbed on mountain stones, 
and the very scrapers, which were a generation ago to be found 
in most houses in the Highlands, have to some become puzzling 
curiosities." This crotal geal or corcur is, however, gathered and 



212 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

extensively used to this day for dying the far-famed Gairloch 
hose, and any old Highland woman will tell you that the wearers 
of hose dyed with a decoction of this lichen are singularly ex- 
empted from having their feet inflamed or blistered with walking 
long distances. 

RED OR SCARLET. According to Logan, scarlet was ex- 
tracted from the grain of a kind of bramble, called by the Celts, 
us ; also from the hyacinth and the rue. The root of a plant, 
called the yellow bedstraw, also furnished a red dye. Lightfoot 
says : The Highlanders use the roots to dye red colour. Their 
manner of doing so is this : The bark is stripped of the roots, 
in which bark the virtue principally lies. They then boil the 
roots thus stripped in water, to extract what little virtue remains 
in them, and after taking them out, they last of all put the bark 
into the liquor, and boil that and the yarn they intend to dye 
together, adding alum to fix the colour." A red colour was also 
obtained from the bark of the black thorn. 

BLACK. In almost all the black dyes, copperas was an essen- 
tial constituent ; thus, by boiling the bark of the alder with cop- 
peras, a magnificent black dye was the result ; and by boiling the 
bark of the briar, and also that of the oak, with the same sub- 
stance, black was produced. A deep black was extracted from 
the bark of the common willow. 

BLUE. This colour was generally obtained from woad. In 
reference to this plant, Mr Cameron writes as follows : " The 
ancient Celts used to stain their bodies with a preparation from 
this plant. Its pale-blue hue was supposed to enhance their 
beauty, according to the fashion of the time." When woad was 
not obtainable, elecampane boiled with whortle-berries served 
the same purpose, and produced a bright blue colour. 

CRIMSON was obtained from the hyacinth, the whortle-berry, 
and the corcur, or crotil geal (Logan). 

BROWN was extracted from elder-berries, oak, white willow, 
and the crotal, a sort of lichen. H. 



A number of the Glasgow business friends of Thomas Mackenzie, Esq., J.P. and 
merchant, Lochinver, presented him, on the occasion of his recent marriage, with a 
token of their high esteem and respect for him in the shape of silver plate. Daily 
Mail,Jany. 22, /SSj. 



213 



THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

II 

WHAT is LAND? 

IN every scientific inquiry the first prerequisite is to give a correct 
definition of the thing treated of, or, in other words, to predicate 
some attribute or quality which it implies. In this way land is 
defined by some political economists as a " natural monopoly," 
and now popularly spoken of as a monopoly. Those who are 
opposed to private property in land think it, no doubt, a good 
thing to have laid hold upon a bad name so as to stigmatise 
that of which they disapprove. This is a trick which is neither 
new nor far-sighted ; for assuredly, sooner or later, Truth, although 
obscured and retarded, will in the end assert her claim to recog- 
nition and consent. 

Let us not be carried away by the mere sound of words, but 
carefully consider and realise what the words mean. A monopoly 
is the exclusion of competition. It has reference to some article 
of commerce, or to some trade, such, for instance, as the trade of 
the East Indies under the old East India Company. It must be 
subject to one will, or to the mutual consent, or common con- 
currence, of a body of individuals, and cannot be maintained in 
trade unless protected and enforced by the exercise of sovereign 
authority. The trade of India was started by two companies 
the Scotch and English each holding a royal charter of mono- 
poly ; but, as is well, known, competitions arose between them, 
and they found it necessary to amalgamate in order to establish 
a close monopoly. A monopoly cannot be maintained except 
by the power of some supreme authority. It is therefore a 
matter of human invention and political action. But land, or 
the rude materials of the earth, is not the produce of labour. To 
say that land is a natural monopoly is a contradiction in terms, 
and, therefore, an absurdity. Who is the monopoliser? It 
would be quite improper to say that the Author of nature is ; for 
the object of monopoly is profit, and all His gifts are gratuitous. 

P 



2I4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

In actual fact we find that competition does exist in land, 
whether held in freehold or leased out on hire, and those who 
decry private property in land give a decided advantage to their 
opponents in argument by maintaining a definition which is false 
and absurd. Indeed, so inconsistent are they that, in advocating 
a transfer of the land of the country to Government, they in fact 
advocate a Government monopoly, which is, however, a very 
intelligible and possibly beneficial monopoly. 

It was Ricardo, the author of so much confusion in political 
economy, who introduced the term ; and Stuart Mill, the god of 
the Socialists, by way of improving upon the false definition, 
qualified it by predicating of it that it was a " natural monopoly," 
and thereby made confusion worse confounded. 

Mr Isaac L. Rice, in the North American Review for June 
last, writes as follows on this point : 

Ricardo, conscious of the error of designating landed property as a monopoly, 
terms this property a partial monopoly. But the phrase partial monopoly is a con- 
tradiction in terms. The word monopoly carries within itself the meaning that the 
entire species of property to which it is applied is controlled by a single will. The 
moment that one has only a partial control of a certain kind of property, there is no 
longer a monopoly. To say that a man who owns an acre of ground has a partial 
monopoly of all the evil of the country, is as barren of meaning as it is to say that a 
man who owns a coat has a partial monopoly of all the coats. 

I am disposed to think that shallow theorists may have been 
led astray by an expression made use of by Adam Smith, who, 
in writing of the rent of land, said : "The rent of land, therefore, 
considered as the price paid for the use of land, is natitrally a 
monopoly price." But the reader will at once perceive that say- 
ing the rent of land is in the nature of a monopoly price is very 
different to saying that land itself is a natural monopoly. The 
philosophic mind of Adam Smith could not conceive such an 
absurdity. 

After exposing this definition to the ridicule I have quoted, 
Mr Rice proceeds to define land as property. Does this remove 
our difficulty? By no means, for the question arises, What is 
property? I may further direct the mind of the reader to the 
expression which is so often misapplied, viz.: "The sacred rights 
of property." As a matter of convenience, lawyers divide pro- 
perty into two classes real and personal ; but this is not a 
scientific definition. Property is a belonging, and by natural 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 215 

instinct man in his rude state does not recognise any property as 
sacred except what has been appropriated by labour. The Eng- 
lish language makes this broad distinction, for all unenclosed 
land is termed " common," as opposed to " sacred." Until lately 
hares and rabbits were "sacred" to landlords, but by natural 
instinct the casual killing of them with a stick or a stone was not 
regarded as a crime. Then, whatever is the produce of labour is 
a belonging, and whether in land or in moveable property is re- 
garded as sacred to him who bestowed the labour, or paid the 
wages of labour to the labourer. Hence, it should follow, that 
property in land upon which no labour has been bestowed, is, by 
natural instinct, and by the English language, common property. 

As to legal phraseology, is my ship not as much a property 
as my land and houses? Does the term property, or real pro- 
perty, predicate an attribute of land which is distinctive and 
descriptive of it, apart from other property? If not, we cannot 
accept it as a correct definition. 

It will be admitted by everyone that the produce of labour 
is property. But land is not the produce of labour, but the gra- 
tuitous gift of God. Therefore, it is not property in the sense of 
the word which renders property sacred. 

Then the question remains, What can we predicate as an 
attribute of land which may be accepted by all the world as a 
correct definition? That land is a natural agent no one can deny, 
and all natural agents have one attribute in common that of 
possessing power. All natural agents are powers. Land is a 
natural agent. Therefore, land is power. To put the syllogism 
in a negative form: all natural agents are not monopolies, nor 
property. Land is a natural agent ; therefore land is neither 
monopoly nor property. The reader will probably say, "You 
prove too much." No, indeed, I do not. I am perfectly con- 
sistent with my belief and principles. Labour is the only thing 
which has exchange value. The labour which has been incor- 
porated with the soil is the only property which is sacred. The 
attributes of land, as power, are as gratuitous as the water that 
turns the mill-wheel, and the wind that fills the sail. 

Seeing that I have exposed, as I hope with some degree of 
success, the fallacy and danger to truth of applying commercial 
terms as descriptive of land, our difficulty lies with the limited 



216 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

range of our ideas and narrow capability of language to find one 
descriptive term for that which has no analogy within the cog- 
nisance of our conception. I think, however, that it is sufficient 
for all practical discourse to define land as the originating and 
sustaining Power of Life. Land is, therefore, not natural mono- 
poly, but natural power. 

No doubt the term power is one which covers a wide field, 
and is often loosely used and misapplied. Without entering into 
the metaphysical subject of discussing it, and as to how we form 
our idea regarding it, it is sufficient to define it both in its moral 
and physical sense as that which sets in motion. To say, then, 
that land is power is what no one can controvert, because (i) it 
sets life in motion and sustains it ; (2) it is dominion, which con- 
veys the notion of and implies power ; and (3) its products set 
commerce in motion, which is the subject of economics. Further, 
monopoly, as we have seen, is indivisible, whilst power has the 
attribute of divisibility ; and when I come to treat of Law I shall 
have occasion to refer to the piecemeal alienation and piecemeal 
aggregation law of Prussia, which, in its conception and applica- 
tion by the great Stein, was founded on the fundamental prin- 
ciples of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, and on the ethics of 
Emmanuel Kant, whose leading idea of an ethic law was its 
universality " Let your law be so founded in principles of justice 
as to be capable of universal application." 

Land, as a natural agent, is not only immediate power, as, if 
I may so speak, the matrix upon which the other natural agents 
act, but is the expression of the will of a higher power (who set 
the worlds in motion) towards man, His rational creature, and 
greatest work of His hand. This is recognised by all the 
churches in observing a Thanksgiving-day for the harvest. How 
could the churches offer prayers and thanksgiving for the success 
of a monopoly ! What is nature ? What is man ? What is 
God ? These are questions which carry us to the Inner Temple 
of the soul, the consideration of which transcend, but ought to 
govern, ethics and economics alike. 

The earth belongs unto the Lord, 

And all that it contains, 
The world that is inhabited, 

And all that there remains. 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 217 

I am no Socialist in any bad sense of the term, but a British 
Constitutionalist. The land of every country belongs to the 
people of that country as a whole. The Crown is lord para- 
mount of the soil, and, as such, the vicegerent of God the owner. 
Individual owners are mere occupiers. The position of British 
landlords is one of usurpation and appropriation of what does 
not belong to them, by exercising a taxing power, in their own 
right, which ought to appertain to the State alone. 

The consideration of this subject naturally falls under the 
question 

WHAT is VALUE ? 

No clear understanding can be obtained with regard to the 
nature and equities of rent without first guarding the reader 
against a misuse of the word value. Incalculable mischief arises 
from the misuse and misapplication of words, especially when the 
subject treated of partakes of the nature of abstract ideas in the 
province of science and philosophy. In connection with the 
study of the business of life no word has been more discussed 
and tortured. In its general meaning, and when loosely used, no 
great harm can arise, but its double meaning in political economy 
produces an illusion, and marks, as it were, a fugitive idea or 
notion which plays tricks with the imagination, and, like a 
phantom, eludes the grasp of the wondering enquirer. 

On the very threshold of his enquiry Adam Smith cautioned 
the reader against this illusion, and as to the use of words gener- 
ally he speaks as follows in one of his philosophical essays : 

A notion, as long as it is expressed in very general language, as long as it is 
not much rested upon, nor attempted to be very particularly and distinctly explained, 
passes easily enough through the indolent imagination accustomed to substitute words 
in the room of ideas. 

Being aware of this, he cautioned the reader and it was all the 
more necessary for him to do so, seeing that the groundwork of 
his system was to place value in human labour as against the 
French economist, Quesnay, whose theory was then in vogue, and 
which proceeded on the idea that land was the source of wealth. 
Of course land is the source of life and of all things. Land and 
labour are the two necessities the one gratuitous, the other 
onerous. 

But as to the word value : J. R. Macculloch very well ex- 



218 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

presses the difference between the two notions which are con- 
veyed by it when applied to material objects : 

The word value has been very frequently employed to express, not only the 
exchangeable worth of a commodity, or its capacity of exchanging for other commodi- 
ties, but also its utility or capacity of satisfying our wants, and of contributing to our 
comforts and enjoyments. But it is obvious that the utility of commodities that the 
capacity of bread, for instance, to appease hunger, or of water to quench thirst is a 
totally different and distinct quality from their capacity of exchanging for other com- 
modities. Dr Smith perceived this difference, and showed the importance of carefully 
distinguishing between the utility, or, as he expressed it, the ''value in use" of com- 
modities and their value in exchange. But he did not always keep this distinction in 
view, and it has very often been lost sight of by subsequent writers. There can be no 
doubt, indeed, that the confounding together of these opposite qualities has been one 
of the principal causes of confusion and obscurity in which many branches of the 
science, not in themselves difficult, are still involved. When, for instance, we say 
that water is highly valuable, we unquestionably attach a very different meaning to the 
phrase from what we attach to it when we say that gold is valuable. 

Here, the uninitiated reader will naturally ask " But why is 
there so much importance attached to this distinction?" The 
logic of justice is a terrible weapon to evil-doers when carried to 
its ultimate conclusion. The injustice may be felt, but a flaw in 
the logic may, and very often does, amount to the escape of the 
culprit. If labour is the foundation and measure of all real ex- 
change value, hence it should follow that all natural agents and 
products have no value in exchange, except what is imparted to 
them, or incorporated with them in human labour. But without 
giving any labour or service of his own, the landlord makes a 
charge in rent for that which has no value. He clearly gets 
something for nothing. Then the landlord, as such, must be a 
very uneconomic factor in the composition of values. 

Although it is in connection with rent that the fundamental 
theory or law of value possesses its greatest, if not, indeed, all its 
practical importance, there are other phases of the discussion 
which seem to have landed the utilitarians, or those who place 
value in materiality, in a fog. For instance, Stuart Mill is of this 
number. Strangely enough, he postpones the discussion of the 
subject until he comes to consider of exchanges, after first treat- 
ing of landed property and rent, as if the fundamental law of 
value were of secondary consideration, instead of being the very 
essence of the question ; and Mr Fawcet, in his very excellent 
"Manual of Political Economy," follows the same arrangement 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 219 

of his subject. These writers explain the phenomena of value, 
and call them laws of value, as, for instance, placing value in de- 
mand and supply. This is the same as if we were to say that 
the law of gravitation consisted in the perturbations in the orbits 
of the planets instead of illustrating and proving the law of 
gravitation by the phenomena of perturbations. 

Another phase of the question is the contemplation of a 
general rise or fall in values. The suggestion of such a question 
indicates, as Adam Smith says, " an indolent imagination," for it 
is in the remuneration of labour that a change must take place 
before any change can take place in value. It is in the abund- 
ance or scarcity of nature that the rewards of labour consist ; 
and money, the adopted standard, being a product of nature, its 
value consists, like every other value in exchange, not in any 
virtue inherent in it, but in the labour of the digger. Stuart 
Mill speaks of price as not being the same as value, but he uses 
the word value where he should use the word price, a mistake 
which Adam Smith never makes. Price is merely numbers 
expressing the equivalent demanded for the commodity, in what- 
ever denomination it may happen to consist. In comparing 
values, it is money that has to be considered as a medium of 
. exchange, standard, and equivalent. The abundance or scarcity 
in rewarding the common labourer regulates the amount of labour 
bestowed upon that industry, so that it finally resolves itself into 
v labour for labour, at the average rewards of labour of ordinary 
workmen, just the same as one man may exchange a boll of meal 
with another man for a cran of herrings the labour of the peasant 
for the labour of the fisherman. So the labour of the digger, with 
all other labours. Everything is measured by the labour of the 
common man. It will be a very interesting question for us to 
consider, later, how the products of nature are placed there, in 
proportion to the wants and necessities of men. It is sufficient 
to remark here that this is a line of thought which the school of 
" indolent imagination " was not in the habit of pursuing. 

The school represented by Malthus, Ricardo, and the Mills, 
has dominated political economy, and practically superseded 
and perverted Adam Smith's great work by placing value in 
utility, and thereby rendered the science unintelligible, because 
illogical Stuart Mill, who is now regarded as the greatest 



2 2o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

authority on the subject, consistently enough with his utility 
theory, always speaks of value as relative. 

Now, in practical experience, we know that the value of 
labour is brought to a standard, and is therefore comparative. It 
is the "use" of things which is relative to our wants and desires, 
and relative to one another in regard to the degree in which they 
satisfy these. But, to show that Stuart Mill was landed in a fog, 
it is only necessary to compare his confidence with his own 
. admitted failure, and then the reader may estimate the relative 
values of the "Wealth of Nations," and John Stuart Mill's 
" Principles of Political Economy ". 

" Happily," says he, "there is nothing in the laws of value which remains for the 
present or any future writer to clear up ; the theory of the subject is complete ; the 
only difficulty to be overcome is that of so stating it as to solve by anticipation the 
chief perplexities which occur in applying it : and to do this, some minuteness of 
exposition, and considerable demands on the patience of the reader, are unavoidable. 
He will be amply repaid, however (if a stranger to these inquiries), by the ease and 
rapidity with which a thorough understanding of this subject will enable him to 
fathom most of the remaining questions of political economy." 

To any one who has read the " Wealth of Nations," or even 
left the precincts of the nursery, this must seem more like the 
speech of a showman or a clairvoyant than an appropriate intro- 
duction to a practical subject I do not wish to tax the patience of 
the reader by making him wade through the deeps and shallows of 
sophistries and " perplexities," but simply invite him to compare 
this confident tone with the result. In a summary of these 
expositions the following wonderful admissions of failure are 
made : 

We have now attained a favourable point for looking back, and taking a simul- 
taneous view of the space which we have traversed since the commencement of this 
book. The following are the principles of the theory of value, so far as we have yet 
ascertained them. 

The closing sentence to this summary is to the same effect 

The further adaptation of the theory of value to the varieties of existing or 
possible industrial systems may be left with great advantage to the intelligent reader. 
It is well said by Montesquieu, " It is not always advisable so completely to exhaust 
a subject, as to leave nothing to be done by the reader. The important thing is not 
to be read, but to excite the reader to thought." 

Strange performance for an unread book ! 
In case it may be thought that these criticisms proceed from 
some acerbity of disposition, or from some vain passion for dis- 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 221 

play, instead of from an honest desire to arrive at a correct 
conception of truth, I must delay the reader for a little longer in 
order to point out how a wordy dialectician got entangled in the 
meshes of a network of false theories and inappropriate terms. 

Of this I am certain, that there is a law of value, as certain 
as the law of gravitation, by which to demonstrate all the pheno- 
mena of economic life. 

The word value is the key-note of political economy, from 
which to produce the full diapason of sweet sounds, but Stuart 
Mill has been playing dissonance, inasmuch as he tried to discourse 
sweet music by simultaneously thrumming on different scales. 

Let the reader reflect on the absurdity of supposing different 
laws of gravitation in one system, and then he will be able to 
realise the ignorance and confusion displayed in contemplating 
different laws of value. Like the attempt of the ancients to 
understand astronomy on the theory of cycles and epicycles, it is 
so with intelligent readers to understand the political economy of 
the school of indolent imagination, as demonstrated by Stuart 
Mill. To illustrate this idea further, let us suppose labour, in a 
state of freedom and liberty, to be embodied, and moving in its 
orbit like, say, Jupiter. Demand and supply acts upon it, as does 
the attraction of interior and exterior planets upon Jupiter, which 
accounts for the phenomena of perturbations, as demand and sup- 
ply do for the rise and fall of prices. 

But the generic idea of value appertains to a mental percep- 
tion or law of human thought as to justice and fair dealing, which 
is primary and fundamental, and thereby giving it the unity and 
character of law. 

Now, every one must know that it is abundance or scarcity 
that regulates the price of commodities. It is nature that re- 
wards, and the fruits of earth and sea are her gratuitous gifts. 
The extent to which she responds to human labour regulates the 
rewards of primary labour, which sets all labour in motion. 
Hence, it should follow that the greater the abundance wrested 
from nature, the greater will be the wealth and comfort of all. 
For instance, the price of corn depends upon the abundance or 
scarcity of the harvest. It is so also with regard to the herring 
fishing, the cotton crop, the supply of wool and hides, fruit and 
hops, iron ore and coal, gold and silver, diamonds and rubies, 



222 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

and so on. The prosecution of these industries, and of all other 
industries, depends upon finding an outlet, and thus we find the 
eagerness with which producers search for new markets for their 
commodities. But, by an inversion, Stuart Mill says that de- 
mand precedes and creates supply. This gives a poor account of 
the enterprise of the British merchant. He also confounds the 
action of demand and supply with that of abundance and scarcity. 
Not to burden the sequence of my argument, I shall give only 
one example. 

"The supply of a commodity," he says, "is an intelligible expression: it means 
the quantity offered for sale ; the quantity that is to be had at a given time and place 
by those who wish to purchase it. But what is meant by the demand? Not the mere 
desire for a commodity. A beggar may desire a diamond ; but this desire, however 
great, will have no influence on the price. Writers have therefore given a more 
limited sense to demand ; and have defined it, the wish to possess, combined with the 
power of purchasing. To distinguish demand in this technical sense from the de- 
mand which is synonymous with desire, they call the former effectual demand. 
[Readers who have read Pascal's Provincial Letters will be reminded by this of the 
casuistry as to effectual and proximate grace.] After this explanation, it is usually 
supposed that there remains no further dimculty, and that the value [price] depends 
upon the rates between the effectual demand, as thus defined, and the supply. 

"These phrases, however, fail to satisfy anyone who requires clear ideas and a 
perfectly precise impression of them. Some confusion must always attach to a phrase 
so inappropriate as that of a ratio between two things not of the same denomination. 
What ratio can there be between a quantity and a desire, or even a desire combined with 
power ? A ratio between demand and supply is only intelligible if by demand we 
mean the quantity demanded, and if the ratio intended is that between the quantity 
demanded and the quantity supplied. But again, the quantity demanded is not a 
fixed quantity, even at the same time and place ; it varies according to the value 
[price] ; if the thing is cheap, there is usually a demand for more of it than when it is 
dear. The demand, therefore, partly depends upon the value [price]. But it was 
before laid down that the value depends on the demand. . From this contradiction 
how can we extricate ourselves ? How solve the paradox of two things, each depending 
on the other ? " 

How indeed ? I could not imagine that anyone who had 
read the "Wealth of Nations " should have so completely mis- 
understood the nature of the question which is here so apparently 
mystified in a cloud of words. A ratio can be established be- 
tween abundance and scarcity, which are of the very essence 
of the question, whereas demand and supply is merely a local 
feature in a fall and rise of prices.* 

* When the quantity is proportioned to the requirements of the market it is the 
mean or natural state, Then the just and natural value may be said to agree with 
the price. 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 223 

The following classification may help the reader to a better 
understanding of this complex word in its various applications : 

(i.) GRATUITOUS VALUE. Natural agents, utility of things 
in use, such as seaweed and shell-fish picked up on the sea-shore. 
Also, in an abstract sense, the value of friendship and friendly 
advice. 

(2.) ONEROUS VALUE. Labour bestowed on land and sea 
in production, and on adapting materials for the use of man; 
the labour and services of men in their distribution by sea and 
land, roads, rivers, and canals, and all other methods of exchange. 
Also all services of men to one another in the civil and moral 
government of society and protection of the State literary and 
professional men, &c. 

(3.) FANCY VALUE. This is of an aesthetic kind, which is 
not governed or estimated by the laws of trade, and the price 
paid, although estimated in money, is not in any proportion to 
cost of production or the utility of the article. These are works 
of art, articles of vertu, things sought after for their rarity and 
beauty. The services of musicians, actors, showmen, and such 
like, who administer to our amusement* 

Although reluctant to interrupt my own argument, I must 
give one more specimen of the confusion and trifling which mark 
the treatment of this important subject by a professional writer 
who foisted himself into ephemeral fame by attacks on Scotch 
philosophy, and who passes as the greatest authority on the 
science of wealth and government of society. The authority 
cited by Stuart Mill is De Quincey, and from the highly imagin- 
ary example of the law of demand and supply, I am disposed to 
think De Quincey must have been under the influence of opium, 
for it does greater credit to his imagination than to his sagacity, 
and indicates the same amount of ignorance regarding the practi- 
cal business of life as characterises the whole treatment of the law 
of value by Stuart Mill, who says. 

As was pointed out in the last chapter, the utility of a thing in the estimation 
of a purchaser is the extreme limit of its exchange value : higher the value cannot 
ascend; peculiar circumstances are required to raise it so high. This topic is happily 

* It will be observed the landlord qua landlord can find no place in these cate- 
gories, 



224 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

illustrated by Mr De Quincey : " Walk into almost any possible shop, buy the first 
article you see : What will determine its price? In the ninety-nine cases out of a 
hundred, simply the element D difficulty of attainment. The other element U, or 
intrinsic utility, will be perfectly inoperative. Let the thing (measured by its uses) 
be, for your purposes, worth ten guineas, so that you would rather give ten guineas 
than lose it ; yet, if the difficulty of producing it be only worth one guinea, one guinea 
is the price which it will bear. But still not the less, though U is inoperative, can U 
be supposed absent? By no possibility; for, if it had been absent, assuredly you 
would not have bought the article even at the lowest price. U acts upon you, though 
it does not act upon the price. On the other hand, in the hundredth case, we will 
suppose the circumstances reversed : you are on Lake Superior in a steamboat, making 
your way to an unsettled region, 800 miles ahead of civilisation, and consciously with 
no chance at all of purchasing any luxury whatsoever, little luxury or big luxury, for 
the space of ten years to come. One fellow-passenger, whom you will part with before 
sunset, has a powerful musical snuff-box. Knowing by experience the power of such 
a toy over your own feelings, the magic with which at times it lulls your agitation of 
mind, you are vehemently desirous to purchase it. In the hour of leaving London 
you had forgot to do so ; here is a final chance. But the owner, aware of your situa- 
tion not less than yourself, is determined to operate by a strain pushed to the very 
uttermost upon U, upon the intrinsic worth of the article in your individual estimate 
for your individual purposes. Pie will not hear of D as any controlling power or miti- 
gating agency in the case ; and, finally, although at six guineas a-piece in London or 
Paris you might have loaded a waggon with such boxes, you pay sixty rather than lose 
it, when the last knell of the clock has sounded, which summons you to buy now or to 
forfeit for ever. Here, as before, only one clement is operative : before it was D, 
now it is U. But, after all, D was not absent, though inoperative. The inertness of 
D allowed U to put forth its total effect. The practical compression of D being with- 
drawn, U springs up, like water in a pump when released from the pressure of air. 
Yet still that D was present to your thoughts, though the price was otherwise regu- 
lated, is evident ; both because U and D must co-exist in order to found any case of 
exchange value whatever, and because undeniably you take into very particular con- 
sideration this D, the extreme difficulty of attainment (which here is the greatest pos- 
sible, viz., an impossibility) before you consent to have the price reached up to U. 
The special D has vanished; but it is replaced in your thoughts by an unlimited D. 
Undoubtedly you have submitted to U in extremity as the regulating force of the price; 
but it was under a sense of D's latent presence. Yet D is so far from exerting any 
positive force, that the retirement of D from all agency whatever on the price this it 
is which creates, as it were, a perfect vacuum, and through that vacuum U rushes up 
to its highest and ultimate gradation." On this jargon Stuart Mill begins to comment 
thus: "This case, in which the value is wholly regulated by the necessities or desires 
of the purchaser, is the case of strict and absolute monopoly." 

If Stuart Mill had ever given signs of possessing any humour, 
or any sense of the ludicrous, one might suppose that he meant 
the above as a burlesque upon a subject which he regarded as too 
trivial for the serious consideration of a philosopher ; but from 
his well-known character we can hardly suppose that to have 
been his object. We must therefore conclude, as indeed we 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 225 

have already seen, that he was utterly unable to explain the 
phenomena of value on his utilitarian theories. 

But let me briefly explain the action of demand and supply. 
It must be borne in mind that Adam Smith was contemplating 
the commerce of the world and elucidating its movements and 
laws from a fundamental proposition. Now, it must be clear to 
every one that, if that proposition is controverted or superseded, 
another system must take its place if it deserve the name of 
science ; and, in speaking of political economy, it would be well 
to ask those who profess to have any belief in it, or attach im- 
portance to it, Which political economy that of the Scotch 
Idealists, or that of the English Materialists ? But to proceed. 
Now, we know that a great part of the capital of every country is 
invested in a stock of commodities, and Adam Smith always 
refers to this as capital stock ; but the school have dropped the 
term, and we now hear of nothing but capital. We know, further, 
that the markets of the world, and even retail shops, are supplied 
with stock which is very often equal to six months' consumption 
or supply. The supply is therefore always in advance of the 
demand, but buyers, as we know, watch the abundance or 
scarcity in production with the keenest interest. For instance, 
let us take the Liverpool cotton market. The reports of the 
American Agricultural Bureau are looked for with greater 
interest than the Queen's speech. Every fluctuation in the 
arrivals at the American ports is carefully, what is called, dis- 
counted, and, at the same time, the arrivals and deliveries at 
Liverpool are daily and hourly reported ; the brokers' ears are 
sharper than those of an eavesdropper, and their eyes than needles 
a piercing look of intelligence darts from every corner, and 
scans the expression of every face in the Exchange. Bargains 
are going on and sales effected, the price oscillating by, what 
Adam Smith calls, the higgling of the market. Under these 
processes prices rise above and fall below the line of natural value, 
like (as I have already said) the perturbations of a planet in its 
orbit. This is the case with every market in the world. I, then, 
ask every reader if it requires the illustration of a musical snuff- 
box on Lake Superior to make him understand it ? 

Now, let me set before the reader the fundamental law laid 
down in the "Wealth of Nations," and the terms of the inquiry 



226 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

which the great author set himself to investigate, and which, let 
it be observed, are expressed with that precision, simplicity, and 
clearness of thought which can hardly be surpassed : 

I. What is the real measure of this exchangeable value; or, wherein consists the 
real price of all commodities? 

II. What are the different parts of which this real price is composed or made up? 

III. And what are the different circumstances which sometimes raise some or 
all of these different parts of price above, and sometimes sink them below, their 
natural or ordinary rate; or, what are the causes which sometimes hinder the market 
price of commodities from coinciding exactly with what may be called their natural 
price ? 

In answer to this essential and primary proposition, as well 
as in order to illustrate and prove from the greatest authority the 
validity of my own observations, let me give a few extracts : 

' ' Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all com- 
modities." 

" Labour alone, therefore, never varying in its own value, is alone the ultimate 
and real standard by which the value of all commodities can at all times and places be 
estimated and compared* It is their real price; money is their nominal price only." 

" Labour, therefore, it appears, evidently is the only universal, as well as the 
only accurate, measure of value, or the only standard by which we can compare the 
values of different commodities at all times and at all places." 

Now, need the reader wonder that the so-called political 
economy of the utilitarian school should have become unintelli- 
gible as a science of logical deductions. 

But there is still another conception of the mind as to value, 
which carries it into the sphere of ethics designated in the Ethics 
of Aristotle, namely, Distributive Justice. He writes : 

It follows, therefore, that the just must imply four terms at least; for the persons 
to whom the just relates are two, and the things that are the subjects of the actions 
are two. And there will be the same equality between the persons and between the 
things; for as the things are to one another, so are the persons, for if the persons are 
unequal, they will not have equal things. 

But hence all disputes arise when equal persons have unequal things, or unequal 
persons have, and have assigned to them, equal things. Again, this is clear from the 
expression "according to worth" (value), for, in the distribution, all agree that justice 
ought to be according to some standard of worth. . . . Justice is, therefore, 
something proportionate; for proportion is the property not of arithmetical numbers 
only, but of number universally; for proportion is an equality of ratio, and implies four 
terms at least. Now, it is clear that disjunctive proportion implies four terms; but 
continuous proportion is in four terms also, for it will use one term in place of two, 
and mention it twice. For instance, as A to B so is B to C; B has therefore been 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 227 

mentioned twice. So that if B be put down twice, the terms of the proportion are 
four. Moreover, the just also implies four terms at least, the ratio is the same, for the 
persons and the things are similarly divided. Therefore, as the term A to the term B, 
so will be the term C to the term D; and therefore, alternately, as A to C so B to D. 
So that the whole also bears the same proportion to the whole which the distribution 
puts together in pairs; and if it puts them together in this way, it puts them together 
justly. The conjunction, therefore, of A and C and of B and D is the just in the dis- 
tribution; and this just is a mean, that is, a mean between those things which are con- 
trary to proportion; for the proportionate is a mean, and the just is proportionate. 

As already said, some economists were engaged upon the 
idea of a general rise or a general fall in all values. Now, the 
idea is an absurd one, for, regarding value as a mean proportional, 
no change can take place in it until a change takes place in either 
of the extremes ; and we find this to be the case in actual experi- 
ence with regard to labour and money, the standard of value. If 
we apply the " continuous proportion," the formula would read 
thus : As the produce of labour is to value, so is value to money, 
which is also the produce of labour. It should, therefore, appear 
that value consists in labour, and that its rewards depend upon 
the amount of exertion and rewards from the products and 
bounties of nature. 

Then, with regard to " disjunctive proportion," he says that 
there are two persons and two things, and as the two persons are 
unequal, they cannot have equal things. Each ought to have 
according to his worth or merit. In commerce, for instance, 
there are only two persons and two things : the employer and 
labourer, or employed ; capital and labour ; the rewards are 
profits and wages. We can, therefore, say according to the 
formula : As wages are to profits, so is the labourer to the em- 
ployer ; or, as labour is to capital, so is the labourer to the capi- 
talist I may safely leave it to the intelligent reader to work out 
by examples such practical applications of the proportionals, by 
alternating and compounding them, as his own experience may 
suggest to him. 

To large employers of labour the practical working out of 
this formula might be very useful in obviating disputes and 
strikes, if they could first condescend or agree upon the propor- 
tion between labour and capital, wages and profit 

But it will be seen that, in a dual system of agriculture, there 
are three persons the landlord, the farmer, and the labourer 



228 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

and only two things ; land and labour. Therefore, the landlord, 
as such, cannot come within the equation of justice. 

Having so far quoted the world-famed philosopher, it is most 
appropriate to these pages, and to my subject, that I should call 
attention to the estimation in which he held the Highlanders. In 
treating of the mean of virtue, he remarks with regard to bravery 
as follows : 

But those who are in the extreme of excess there are two kinds, one who is ex- 
cessive in fearlessness, who is not named (and we have often stated that many of these 
extremes are not named); but he (if, as is said of the Celts, he fears nothing, neither 
earthquake nor waves) may be called mad or insensate. 

Ah me ! he fears the landlord and factors, but not the earth- 
quakes and waves ! 

Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE. 

(To be continued.) 



PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 

The following Letter to the Editor appeared in the Scotsman of February the i;th: 
" 9 Douglas Crescent, Edinburgh, February 10, 1883. Sir, I have received letters 
from persons whose opinion I respect, complaining of my use of the term ' infamous,' 
in connection with the well-known evictions in Strathnaver which took place at the 
beginning of the present century. I am perfectly willing to recall that term, and to 
say that these clearances were ' harsh and inhuman.' That is all that I ever said in 
my printed work, and all that I cared to say about them. I may say, however, also, 
that, in my opinion, they were unwise and impolitic in the highest degree ; and the 
only excuse for them is, that they were perpetrated under the operation of land laws 
which gave, and still give, to the lords of the soil and their agents and underlings, 
what in practice amounts to an absolute power over the native population of the glens. 
Those who wish to study in detail the sad history of Highland depopulations under the 
influence of unjust land laws, commercial greed, and administrative neglect, should 
read 'The History of Highland Clearances,' recently published by A. Mackenzie (of 
the Celtic Magazine), Inverness. I have been also requested to state where the 
passage from Sismondi occurs, quoted by me in my address at the crofters' meeting. 
The passage runs thus : ' If the lords of the soil in the Highlands once begin to think 
they have no need of the people, the people may take it into their head some day that 
they have no need of them,' and will be found in the Etudes sur V Economic Politique, 
parj. C. L. Simonde de Sismondi, Paris, 1837, Vol. I. p. 238. I am, &c., 

"JOHN STUART BLACKIE." 



HISTORY OF THE MATHESONS. -Mr Alexander Mackenzie has compiled 
a History and Genealogy of the Mathesons which gives a very full and interesting 
account of the fortunes of this important Highland family more fortunate than some 
others which have played a part in our past history, in that its decayed fortunes have 
been superbly restored in the last and piesent generations. The book includes 
some valuable incidental information about the condition of the Highlands in the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Scotsman, January 2jth t 1883. 



22 9 



A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A, Scot. 

IV. FROM GLENGARRY TO TORONTO. 

AMERICAN railway travelling has been frequently described. 
The cars have a platform and steps at each end, where also the 
doors are. A passage runs along the centre of the car from end 
to end, and by means of the platforms the traveller can stand in 
the open air as he journeys, and see the country through which 
he passes, in a manner and to an extent which would be impos- 
sible in our trains, or he can pass from car to car through the 
whole train, changing his company, or enjoying a quiet weed just 
when it suits him. 

When I left Lancaster I intended to follow the Grand Trunk 
Line as far as Prescott, a distance of about sixty miles, and there 
take the St Lawrence and Ottawa Railway for Ottawa, the Capi- 
tal of the Dominion. I had been informed, however, before 
leaving Lancaster that the Canadian Pacific Company were work- 
ing the line from Prescott to the Capital, and that only freight 
trains were being run over it, and that to get from the Grand 
Trunk System to Ottawa I should have to go on to Brockville, 
about thirteen miles beyond Prescott, and there join the Canadian 
Pacific Railway. The Grand Trunk officials at Lancaster could 
not or would not give me any information, but referred me to the 
conductor of the train I was to travel by. Depending upon getting 
information from this official I had my baggage checked for 
Prescott from Lancaster. I took the earliest opportunity of in- 
terviewing the conductor of the train, but, with many expressions 
of regret, he declared his inability to give me any information 
about the line from Prescott. By this time, the weather which 
had been threatening all the morning declared itself, and the rain 
came down in torrents. At times it became so heavy as to ap- 
pear almost like a solid body of water. The prospect of being 
left at a wayside station on such a day to wait an hour or two 
for the departure of a train that might possibly not depart at all 

Q 



2 3 o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

was by no means inviting, and I accordingly decided to go right 
on to Toronto, and leave Ottawa until my return from the West. 
The difficulty, however, was my baggage. It was checked to 
Prescott, and unless I looked very sharply after it, it would be 
landed there and left behind. This was a difficulty I did not 
attach much importance to, but the baggage-man apparently saw 
difficulties which I did not, and after first declaring " it could 
not be done," got rid of me at last by promising to see what 
could be done when we got to Prescott. This suited me well 
enough, and when we got to Prescott I was in front of the 
baggage waggon almost before the train stopped, and by a 
judicious use of the influences at my disposal, which, although 
limited, were powerful, the difficulties were overcome, and my 
baggage re-checked to Toronto. 

I had now a journey of over 220 miles before me, with over 
nine hours to do it in, and I sat down to wait for the inquisitive 
American so familiar to readers on this side the Atlantic, and so 
unfamiliar to travellers on the other side the gentleman who, 
without introduction, comes up to you on a railway car, and, hav- 
ing settled himself comfortably on the opposite seat and expector- 
ated a mouthful of tobacco-juice over your boots, begins, " Waal, 
stranger, I guess you're a Britisher! What dew you think of this 
great country?" and then proceeds to examine you in detail as to 
your age, parentage, business, and destination. I was simple 
enough to believe that, if I managed to look innocent and unoc- 
cupied, the typical Yankee of the books would develop himself. 
I tried to look innocent with what success I cannot say, and I 
certainly was unoccupied, but the fish would not bite, or the sort 
of Yank I wanted was not about. So I thought at the time. 
Now, after travelling over about six thousand miles of American 
soil without meeting a single specimen, or seeing any person who 
had met one, I am inclined to think the species is extinct, if, 
indeed, it ever existed. 

It soon became evident that unless I managed to open a 
conversation with some person myself I would be left to pursue 
my journey in silence. This was not at all what I had bargained 
for, as I had calculated on obtaining a good deal of information 
from my fellow-travellers while moving from one place to another. 
True, in making this calculation I had counted on the assistance 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 231 

of the "inquisitive American" to open the conversation, when, 
being fairly proficient in asking questions, I meant to turn the 
tables on him and find out what he knew. But now the Ameri- 
can failing me, I had to depend entirely on my own resources. 
I began to move about from seat to seat and car to car looking 
and listening for a sign or sound which might indicate where a 
paying vein of conversation might be struck. By-and-bye, in 
the last car but one of the train I came on two gentlemen, both 
apparently men of education, discussing politics. I sat down on 
the seat opposite them, which happened to be vacant, and as the 
conversation was carried on in tones loud enough to be audible 
further away than I was, I had no occasion to disguise the fact 
that I was listening to what was said. I was not long a mere 
listener, however. After a short time one of the speakers left 
the train, and I resolved, if possible, to engage the remaining 
one in conversation. He was a man of apparently between 
forty and fifty years of age, of middle size, and with a 
shrewd but withal a kindly face. A conversation was soon 
started, and mutual explanations brought out the fact that 
we were to be travelling companions for several hours, and 
that my newly-made friend was a Mr Eraser, a dry-goods mer- 
chant in Picton, Ontario. Mr Eraser is a Canadian born, but 
he told me he believed his father came from Scotland, but from 
what part he did not know. On mentioning Mr Eraser's name 
afterwards to Mr Hugh Miller, of Toronto, that gentleman stated 
that he believed Mr Eraser's father had come from about Strath- 
peffer. Picton, where Mr Eraser is located, is a town situated 
on the Bay of Quinte, and the business in which that gentle- 
man is interested is one of the largest in the place. From Picton, 
as from other parts of Ontario, there has been a considerable 
movement westwards of late years. Young men of energy and 
ability, after a few years experience behind the counter, fired 
with a desire to better their position, go westward to Manitoba, 
or the North-West Territory, and some of them to British 
Columbia, and there with their slender capital begin in a small 
way in a new settlement, grow with the place, and in a few years 
become men of comparatively large means. There have been so 
many instances of success of this kind that, according to my 
informant, Ontario is being constantly depleted of its store assist- 



232 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

ants or clerks, and there is consequently always room for new 
men. In his own business he told me boys received usually 200 
dollars a-year to begin with, and after four or five years service 
they received 400 a-year, rising afterwards as they increased in 
experience and usefulness, to 500 and 600 dollars a year. These 
wages are not particularly high, but they compare favourably with 
the wages of the same class in this country, in towns of similar 
size to Picton, which has only about 3000 inhabitants. I did not 
ascertain what the cost of living, to a man earning these wages, 
would be, but I leafned that experienced milliners were paid as 
high as 400 dollars a year, and that sewing girls, who might be 
described as learners, were paid at the rate of four dollars a week, 
while they could live comfortably on two and a-half dollars. The 
cost of a single man's board and lodging would, of course, be very 
much the same, so that in both cases there is a fair margin for 
saving, even when allowance is made for the increased cost of 
clothing and other necessaries, over the cost of corresponding 
articles on this side. Domestic servants are paid eight, ten, and 
twelve dollars per month sometimes, but rarely, as low as six 
dollars with a constant demand for them. Saving habits 
seem to be the rule with all classes, although there are 
many exceptions. Every store clerk aspires to have a store 
of his own, and most farm labourers aspire to be farmers, but 
generally when the clerk desires to open a store he moves to 
a new locality, and a farm servant becoming a farmer has often 
to do likewise. Of farm servants who have become large and 
wealthy farmers the number is legion, and of clerks who have 
become wealthy merchants the number is also large. One in- 
stance among many of the latter kind mentioned to me was that 
of a young man who, after a few years' experience behind the 
counter, left Picton nine years ago with a few hundred dollars he 
had saved of his earnings. He settled in a western village 
which has now become a town, and at the time my informant 
spoke he had amassed a fortune of 50,000 dollars, and was making 
from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars a-year. Shrewdness in 
selecting a locality to settle in counts for a good deal, and luck 
counts for more. Given these two, men of average ability and 
industry rapidly amass a competency, and this is especially true 
of settlers in the new North- West, 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 233 

Canadian politics are, I believe, as little known by the gene- 
rality of my countrymen as they were by me when I first set foot 
on Canadian soil. But politics bulk much more largely in the 
mind of the average Canadian than they do with the average 
Scotsman. We are politicians at election time; they are politi- 
cians all the time. You can rarely converse with a Canadian for 
a quarter of an hour, however carefully you may wish to avoid 
politics, without finding out to which of the political parties in* 
the Dominion he is attached. So with my friend from Picton. 
He was talking politics when I first saw him, and, although the 
subject with which we had started led away from politics for a 
time, we soon returned to them. In fact, the cause of the pre- 
sent material prosperity of Canada is made a political question. 
I could not have done better than follow my friend into politics. 
A traveller in Canada hears and reads many things which he 
cannot understand unless he understands the politics of the 
country; and during my whole tour I did not meet any person 
who spoke more intelligently on the principles of the two political 
parties than this unpretentious dry-goods merchant. The two 
parties are generally known as Liberals and Conservatives, but 
the Conservatives prefer the name " Liberal-Conservative," while 
they call their opponents "Grits," and sometimes the "Grit-Rouge 
Party." The Conservative Leader is the present Prime Minister of 
Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald, while the Liberals were, until 
lately, led by the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, the late Prime 
Minister. Mr Mackenzie recently resigned the leadership of 
the party on account of ill-health ; but he is still regarded all 
through the Dominion as the real head of the party whose policy 
is his, and there can be little doubt that should the Liberals again 
succeed to power during Mr Mackenzie's lifetime, the man 
whose sterling native integrity a long political life has failed to 
touch, and whose praise is in the mouth of every Canadian, 
political foe as well as friend, (for he has no personal foe), will 
become again the nominal as well as the real leader and head of 
the party. 

The two questions which occupy the most prominent part 
in the Canadian political mind at present are the Land Question 
and the so-called National Policy of the present Government; 
but there is this difference between the two, that while the latter 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE 

interests the whole of Canada more or less from Nova Scotia to 
British Columbia, the former, for the present, interests chiefly the 
actual or intending Western settler. My travelling companion did 
not apparently interest himself very much in the squatter ques- 
tion, or in the policy which guided the Government in its land 
grants, but he took a very decided and intelligent interest in the 
question of Protection, the "National Policy" of Sir John A. Mac- 
donald. A Liberal on every other question, he was a Tory and 
Protectionist on this. For the Leader of the Liberal party (Mr 
Mackenzie), he expressed the highest admiration, and said that 
he had been a strong supporter of himself and his party until 
the question of protecting native industries became a test ques- 
tion in politics. When this occurred he fought with the party 
against whom he had previously acted, and he apparently was 
satisfied that in doing so he had done well. It is almost impossi- 
ble for a person trained in the traditions of Free Trade, as nearly 
every person in this country is, to accept right-off the state- 
ment of any person in any country, that Protection, under certain 
circumstances, or under any circumstances, is a good thing, and I 
therefore readily entered the lists in support of our National Policy 
as against the policy bearing the same name in Canada. My object, 
however, was to obtain information, and I took care to do little 
more than lead my opponent on in defence of the Canadian system. 
The present Government in Canada went into office several years 
ago, pledged to a Protectionist policy, and, after remaining in 
office some five years, they went to the country again on the same 
issue, and were again returned to power, so that there can be no 
doubt what the Canadian mind is on the subject. Whether the 
Canadian is right or wrong, time only will show ; but there is no 
doubt that at present the country is more prosperous than it was 
before the present policy was inaugurated. The people are earn- 
ing more money, and are therefore more contented ; the Revenue 
flourishes, and trade flourishes with it ; and while things continue 
to wear their present rosy hue, no amount of argument, based on 
abstract theories of political economy, will convince the Canadian 
that Protection ought to be abandoned for even such a moderate 
measure of Free Trade as he enjoyed before the advent of Sir 
John Macdonald's party to power. The examples given by my 
informant of individual and collective progress under the present 




THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 235 

system seemed to satisfy him, if it did not satisfy me, that Pro- 
tection had saved Canada. It was to be expected that, under a 
system of Protection, particular individuals interested in protected 
industries should benefit, but it has usually been contended that 
they profited at the expense of the consumer, and that the masses 
suffered that the individual might grow rich. In Canada my 
friend averred this experience had not been realised. Until the 
system of Protection was inaugurated, the manufacturer carried 
on his business at a loss, and the labourer was unable to earn 
enough to purchase what he required of the commodities which 
Free Trade enabled him to buy more cheaply than they can be 
purchased now. A few years ago about 2000 unemployed and 
starving men robbed the bread carts in Montreal. Last summer 
the same men, unskilled labourers most if not all of them, not 
content with the wages they were receiving (25 cents per hour), 
struck work for 30 cents, or is. 3d. per hour. In other depart- 
ments of labour the result is the same. Work has become abun- 
dant, and wages high. While this change has taken place in the 
earnings of the labourer, my informant averred there had been 
no material change in the cost of living. Under the old system 
he maintained that, although certain necessaries might be cheaper 
than they are at present, the labouring classes were so poor, in 
consequence of the frequent want of employment, that they were 
unable to purchase them, while now their increased wages enable 
them, not only to pay the increased price of necessaries, but to 
indulge in certain luxuries, and yet save money. Whether all 
this prosperity is to be attributed to Protection, as against Free 
Trade, I cannot say. Even in our country of Free Trade, we 
know something of the fluctuations of commerce. A series of 
bad years is followed by a series of good ones, and vice versa, and 
if, at the beginning of the new cycle, a change of commercial 
policy took place, it might get the credit or discredit of a result 
for which it was not in any way responsible. Whether this has 
been the case in Canada or not, I do not venture to say. The 
Canadians are satisfied with their present prosperity, and so long 
as they are satisfied, no outsider need criticise their system. 

K. M'D. 
(To be continued.) 



236 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



ORAN NA H-OIGE. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Sir, I send you a copy of " Oran na h-oige," an unpub- 
lished song by John MacCodrum, the Uist Bard. I give it as I 
took it down from the recitation of Donald Laing, residing at 
Howmore, in South Uist, a man who was possessed of great 
stores of Gaelic poetry, both published and unpublished, but was 
some years ago gathered to his fathers. The accompanying 
poem seems to have suffered to some extent in the course of 
oral tradition. Verse 2 contains two lines taken out of Alex- 
ander Macdonald's " Oran a Gheamhraidh." Borrowing is 
difficult to impute to so original a bard as MacCodrum himself, 
and must have been inserted to supply lines which dropped out 
of the reciter's memory. Verses 7 and 10 do not convey the 
poet's meaning with his usual clearness, and must to some extent 
have suffered also since receiving their original form. The word 
deaghad in verse 7 is in use in Uist, and signifies mode of living, 
but seems to be a corruption of the English word diet. The 
poem on the whole is well worthy of preservation. Yours, &c., 

A. M'D. 

ORAN NA H-OIGE. 

An toiseach nam bhliadhnaichean ur, 

Deireadh gheamhraidhean udlaidh nam fras, 

'Nuair is anmoiche dh'eireas a ghrian, 

'S is lionmhoire shileas an sneachd, 

Bi'dh gach leanabh, gach naoidhean bochd maoth, 

A' gabhail gu saothair 's gu cnead, 

Aig geirid an fhaileidh 's an fhuachd, 

Nach faodar an gluasad bho nead. 

'N toiseach earraich bi'dh gearran fliuch garbh 

Chuireas caluinn gach ainmhidh air ais, 

" Thig tein' adhair, thig torunn 'na dheigh, 

Thig gaillionn, thig eireadh, nach lag." 

Bi'dh gach leanabh, gach naoidhean bochd maoth, 

Nach urrainn doibh innse 'de staid. 

Gun eirbheirt, gun asdar, gun luth, 

Gus an teirig an dubhlachd air fad. 

Am mart tioram ri todhar nan crann, 
A' sughadh gach allt 'us gach eas ; 
Gach luibh 'bhios an garadh no 'n coill, 
Gun snodhach, gun duilleach, gun mheas. 



ORAN NA H-OIGE, 237 

Bi'dh turadh fuar, fionnar, gun bhlas, 
A crubadh gach ail a thig ris ; 
Bi'dh gach creutair 'n robh aiceid o'n Mhart 
Tigh'nn air eiginn o'n bhas, no dol leis. 

Mios grianach, ur, fheurach, an aigh, 

'M bi gach luibh a' cur blath os a ceann, 

Nach boidheach bhi 'g arach gach luis, 

Ur, alluinn, fo ghucaig, 's fo dhriuchd ! 

Bi gach deoiridh 'n robh aiceid o'n Mhart 

Fas gu buadhach, snuadhmhor, glan, ur, 

Le eirbheirt, le coiseach, 's le cainnt, 

'N deigh gach bochdainn 's gach sgraing chur air chul. 

Baile Bhealltuinn nan cuinneag 's nan st6p, 
Nam measraichean mora lom-lan, 
Trom torrach, le uibhean 's le coin, 
Le bainne, le feoil, 's le gruth bau. 
Fasaidh gillean cho mear ris na feidh, 
Ri mire, ri leum, 'us ri snamh, 
lad gun lethtrom, gun airtneul, gun sgios, 
Sior ghreasad gu ire 's gu fas. 

Mios dubharrach, bruthainneach, blath, 

Bheir sineadh 'us fas air a' ghart : 

Fasaidh gillean an iongantas m6r 

Le iomadaidh bosd agus beairt. 

lad gun stamhnadh, gun mhunadh 'nan ceill, 

Cuid de 'n nadur cho fiadhaich ri each, 

'N duil nach 'eil e 's nach robh e fo'n ghrein, 

Ni chuireas riu fein aig meud neart. 

'N tusa 'n dume 'm bheil iomadaidh bosd, 
C'uim' nach amhairc thu foil air gach taobh? 
A bhi beairteach seach iomadaidh neach, 
No bhi taitneach mu choinneamh nan sttl ? 
'N tigh creadha so 'm bheil thu 'n ad thamh, 
Cheis chneadhaig, ni cnamh anns an uir, 
Ma 's droch dheaghad a bh' agad 'san fheoil, 
Thig fhathasd ort d6ruinn 'ga chionn. 

Cia mar dh'eireas do 'n choluinn 'n robh 'm bosd, 
'Nuair a theid i 'sa' bhord chiste dhluth? 
Cia mar dh'eireas do 'n teanga 'n robh cheilg, 
No do 'n chridhe bha deilbh a mhi-run? 
No do dh'uinneagan buairidh nam miann, 
Dh'fhag bruaillean a'd' inntinn o thus : 
'S grannda 'n sloe anns an robh iad a'd' cheann, 
'N deigh a stopadh le poll 'us le uir. 



23 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

'N deigh a stopadh le poll 'us le uir 
Anns a' chlosaich gun diubh is beag toirt, 
'S am beagan a thug thu leat sios, 
Bheirear buileach e dhiot anns an t-sloc ; 
Cia 'n aghaidh bu mhaisiche fiamh? 
Cia do shuilean, cia t-fhiaclan, cia t-fhalt? 
Cia na meoirean an glacaibh nan lamh, 
'Bha cur seachad gach spairn a rug ort? 

'Nuair a dh'fhalbhas an samhradh ciuin blath, 

Theid gach uamhar 's gach ardan air chul, 

Bi'dh cnuimh-itheann 'gar 'n ithe 's gur searg 

Ris an abair iad farmad 'us tnu ; 

'Nuair nach foghainn 'na dh'fhoghnadh de'n bhiadh, 

'S nach foghuinn 'na lionas a bhru, 

Cha robh. bheairteas aig Solamh 's aig lob 

'Na' thoilicheadh comhla do shuil. 

Gur e 'n gaisgeach nach gealtach am bks, 
Leis an coingeis an saoibhir no 'm bochd, 
'Nuair a thilgeas e 'n gath nach teid iomrall 
Cho cuimseach ri urchair a mhoisg. 
Cha 'n amhairc e dh'inbhe no dh'uaisl', 
Ach gach ardan 's gach uamhar 'na 'thosd, 
'S ni cinnteach 'shiol Adhamh o thus, 
Bas nadurr' 'us cunntas 'na chois. 



MILITARY ARDOUR OF THE HIGHLANDERS. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

GREENOCK, loth February 1883. 

SIR, In the Celtic Magazine of this month, I find Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, in 
his address at the Gaelic Society annual meeting, remarking "We have constant refer- 
ence to the military ardour of the Highlanders, in the latter half of the last century, as 
shown in the great number of regiments then raised here. There is no question regard- 
ing the number of regiments that were raised, nor is there any as to the excellence of 
the material of which they were composed. The Highland regiments have always 
been remarkable for their valour and their good behaviour, and have distinguished 
themselves whenever brought into action under fit commanders. But was there really 
a great deal of military ardour in the Highlands during the last century ? We are 
quite in the dark so far as printed records are concerned, as to whether when these 
regiments were first raised, the rank and file flocked of their own free will to the 
standard, or whether they were pressed into the service by chiefs and lairds, who 
wanted commissions for their sons. The time is not so distant but that ample 
traditionary information on the subject should be procurable." 

This is a very pertinent suggestion for a Celtic society to consider, and on which 
some light is very desirable. In our day the military ardour of the Highlanders, and 
their good fighting qualities in the past, seem, with many, to- be their chief claim for 



MILITARY ARDOUR OF HIGHLANDERS. 239 

consideration, and a stranger that does not know their thoughts and habits would be 
ready to conclude that Scottish Highlanders as a race are so constituted that they 
take a special delight in fighting without much cause, and are ready to say with Burns : 
" Bring a Scotchman frae the hills, 
Clap in his cheek a Hieland gill ; 
Say such is royal Geordie's will, 

And there the foe, 
He has nae thocht, but how to kill 
Twa at a blow." 

Such language is only a perversion of the facts, for the native Highlanders were, and 
are, much attached to their hearths and homes, however humble ; and it required a 
great pressure to make them become knights-errant to fight the miserable wars of the 
Georges. 

Sir Kenneth says we have no printed records bearing on this subject. Very true. 
Of this subject we have no such records as we have of the villanies of the press-gang 
in our sea-ports about that time ; still we know enough of the evil deeds of some of 
the lairds to make our blood yet boil. 

I shall relate some of the hardships endured in a parish in the district of Cowal, 
which, I presume, was not an exception to other parts of the Highlands. An in- 
fluential laird in this parish had a large family of sons, to whom the Government 
offered inducements of posts in the army if they would recruit so many men. These 
young scions, with their retainers, went round the country and seized upon all passable 
men, whether single or married. My grandfather, a married man, and a tailor to- 
trade, was plying his calling, with a fellow-tradesman, in one of the farm-houses at the 
head of the parish, and before they were aware, the laird's sons and their retainers got 
scent of their being there, and surrounded the house. My grandfather was caught, 
yet so determined was he to be free, that he slipped out of the house, made a rush into 
a near brook and took up a stone with which he broke his leg ; but the other tailor 
being a powerful man, made a dash, got clear of his captors, left the country, and never 
returned. This incident is told in Mr J. F. Campbell's Tales, in a foot-note to the 
story of " Conal Gulban." 

My grandfather being now disabled, was allowed to go home the best way he 
could, but his troubles did not end there. In about ten years he was seized by the 
press-gang in Greenock, and was put on board a man-of-war, which was sent to the 
west of Ireland, where he remained for six months, when a humane officer from Argyll- 
shire, on board, learned of his circumstances, interceded on his behalf, and got him 
released. Another man in the same parish escaped from the recruiters into a cave, 
where his wife supplied him with food at night. One stormy evening, as he came to 
the mouth of the cave, he saw a clump of heather moving above him, which he mistook 
for his pursuers. In order to escape he made a desperate bound over a rock, which 
dislocated his shoulder, and then ventured home. Many others fled from their pursuers 
to the North Country herring fishing, in some cases without anything but their body 
clothing. 

No doubt the lairds managed to entrap many brave fellows in that district, 
which helped to make the original Highland regiments famous. But it was neither 
their military ardour nor any sympathy they had for the extremities of the Government 
that made them become soldiers, but the misfortune of being kidnapped, and forced 
into a foreign service. 

A. B. 



2 4 o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

HIGHLAND SUFFERINGS; HIGHLAND WRONGS. 



"The Highlanders required to unite and assert themselves in an age of change 

and dissolution They had made the empire familiar with .... 

HIGHLAND WRONGS AND HIGHLAND SUFFERINGS." Speech of Mr Ban-on at In- 
verness Gaelic Society's Meeting. 

' ' Highland suffer ings ! Highland wrongs /" 
Theme of sorrow's tales and songs ; 
What are these? O ! speaker tell, 
Thou who know'st the Highlands well ; 
Dost thou blush for Highland fame 
At the deeds thou durst not name? 
Art thou fearful lest the story 
Should confound each Whig and Tory, 
And deprive thee of the smile 
Which can only weaklings wile ? 
Hast thou not a Highland heart, 
Or the sympathetic part 
To denounce or to expose 
, Wrongs which are thy country's woes? 
What is nobler in a man 
Than in doing all he can 
By his voice and by his pen 
For his suffering countrymen? 
Suffering ! and for what? or why? 
Answer me with truth's reply ; 
Answer me ! as one of those 
Now enduring Highland woes ; 
Answer me ! if thou hast felt 
Wrongs that would a hard heart melt; 
Answer me ! if thou hast borne 
Aught of others' hate and scorn ; 
Answer me ! if thou hast been 
Where Eviction's deeds were seen ; 
Answer me ! if thou hast known 
Sorrows by another sown. 
O ! that thou should'st fear to speak, 
O ! that thou should'st be so weak, 
Thou whose intellectual might 
Shines with no uncertain light; 
Unto every man belongs 
Liberty to battle wrongs, 
And canst thou be silent when 
Sufferings blight thy fellow-men? 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 241 

Say, would'st thou a wrong suppress 
When it brings unhappiness? 
Would'st thou not all evils curb 
When they social peace disturb? 
Would'st thou not do deeds of good 
For a stricken neighbourhood? 
If thou fear'st to do thy duty, 
Where is Life's divinest beauty ? 
Highland sufferings! Highland ivrongs! 
Sound them far with thunder's gongs; 
From the wave- washed Hebrides! 
From the isles in Highland seas! 
From the shielings in each glen! 
From ten thousand suffering men! 
Hark! the cry of wakening might, 
" Help us in our war of right!" 
Ye whose hearts to justice lean, 
Ye who know what sufferings mean, 
Ye who pity can bestow, 
Ye who feel love's purest glow, 
Ye who would for Scotland's fame 
Sweep away her blots of shame 
Give reply ! a million-tongued, 
" Scotland shall not see ye wronged!" 
Sunderland. WM. ALLAN. 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. Nothing could be more opportune than 
the appearance at the present moment of "A History of the Highland Clearances," 
by Mr Alexander Mackenzie, F.S.A., Scot., the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. Into 
the 528 pages of which the book is composed he has gathered all the most significant 
literature of the entire subject, beginning with that remarkable record, Donald Mac- 
leod's "Gloomy Memories of the Highlands," which has been out of print for many a 
year. . . . Macleod's narrative, which bears the stamp of truth on every line, is 
one calculated to stir righteous indignation in every heart ; and its reproduction can- 
not fail to-day to be productive of important practical results. It is followed by a 
series of admirably arranged opinions on the Sutherland Clearances by writers of 
authority. -. . . To these succeed accounts of evictions in other parts of the High- 
lands ; and the closing section of the work is devoted to a detailed report of all the 
recent proceedings in the Isle of Skye^ and a valuable appendix giving the population 
returns of each of the Highland counties from 1801 down to the latest census. Mr 
Mackenzie, it will be perceived, has produced a volume that ought to be in the hands 
of every member of the Legislature, and which is simply indispensable to all who 
would rightly understand the problem now awaiting solution. When we turn from 
this book to the current proceedings in Parliament, it is with a feeling of impatience 
that we find the spirit of cold and haughty legal pedantry still predominant in official 
quarters. But Mr Mackenzie will have the satisfaction, we believe, of seeing his 
volume produce a result that must give him infinitely more pleasure than any praise 
such as might fairly be bestowed upon it for its literary merits. Himself the son of a 
crofter, he has rendered a service to that class which will secure for his name an 
enduring place in the annals of Scottish patriotism. " Literary Notes'" in the Daily 
Mail of iqth Febmary. 



"THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS," and several other contributions, 
are unavoidably held over, 



2 4 2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 




7 HE LIFE OF JOHN DUNCAN, SCOTCH WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 

By WILLIAM JOLLY, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, and 

Co., 1883. 

IT is Sydney Smith, we think, who points the lesson to be derived from the story of 
the Deluge. At a certain period in the history of the world, he wittily relates, man- 
kind was peculiarly favoured : the average duration of human life was something like 
a thousand years. But the Flood came. The human race was destroyed, with the 
exception of Noah and his three sons. After the Flood the average duration of the 
lives of men was cut down from a thousand years to three score and ten. What is 
the lesson ? Prior to the Flood, men could afford to lounge over a pamphlet for ten 
years ; subsequent to the Flood, men, whether in the act of reading or in that of 
hearing, were compelled to carefully consider time. The world of to-day is a different 
world from that of the time of Noah. Writers of to-day, therefore, as well as 
speakers, ought to take to heart the warning Gaze at Noah, and be brief ! 

Mr Jolly's book is unnecessarily long : the writer has forgot the fact that human 
beings have not now the time at their disposal which they seem to have had prior to 
the Deluge. In every other respect, however, the work of our friend is one which 
will command a place in English literature. It is one which will ever maintain a high 
position in that path of literature which the writings of Mr Smiles have rendered 
peculiarly attractive. Mr Jolly's book, like the best of the books of Mr Smiles, is the 
narrative of merit in obscurity, of genuine work performed under unspeakable con- 
ditions of hardship and poverty, of sturdy manhood and independence in circum- 
stances the most antagonistic that can be conceived to the cultivation of the higher 
aspirations of human nature. John Duncan is a man who, as a botanist, scientific 
men must in all time admire, and whose achievements in other parts of know- 
ledge, will, taking into account the environment, be regarded only with feelings 
of wonder and appreciation. But for Mr Jolly's love of genuine worth, and his 
deeply seated and universally acknowledged love of truth, the poor Alford weaver 
would to-day have been unknown. We should have lost a story of victory in poverty, 
and sustained individuality under circumstances of the most distressing nature. 
Duncan was a man whose companion, from the cradle to the grave, was Want. And 
yet he was a man whose achievements in botanical science are not unworthy of 
members of the Royal Society. The man who had framed a " watch-dial" for himself 
forty years before such a thing was brought forward to the world, with exultation and 
certainty of profit as a great invention, and who had formed a botanical collection 
which was to become a treasure in the University of Aberdeen, was something more 
than an ordinary man. And yet how poor and how obscure ! 
" Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

John Duncan was born in Stonehaven in 1794, and he died in 1881. Not having 
been born in wedlock, the world can never know anything of those who went before 
him. All that we know of the boyhood of the botanist are circumstances the most 
unfavourable that can be conceived to mental development. His earlier years of 



LIFE OF JOHN DUNCAN. 243 

approaching manhood were spent as a herd boy, and as an ill-used weaver's apprentice 
in Drumlithie. He was sixteen years of age when he began, under the tuition of 
kindly women as poor as he, to learn the alphabet; and Mr Jolly tells how that " we 
have no evidence of his learning to write till almost twenty years after he came to 
Drumlithie in 1828, when we .find him in his thirty-fourth year, laboriously working at 
a copy-book !" But once on the road to knowledge, John Duncan never flagged till 
he reached the limit of possibility. We find him ever on the move as a humble 
weaver from one place to another in Aberdeenshire, till he settles in Alford. In a 
worldly aspect he grows poorer. For an unfortunate marriage, a second courtship, 
and that revolution in-the simple trade of the weaver which was brought about by the 
introduction of steam and advanced machinery, kept him ever on the verge of poverty. 
And yet with every move from place to place the mind of this remarkable man grows, 
and continually his store of knowledge becomes enlarged. We read of the raw youth 
who began to learn to read at sixteen, and who began to learn to write at thirty-four, 
becoming soon a student of astrology, a critic of Culpepper, an astronomer with 
powers of observation of no mean order, a politician well acquainted with many 
of the fundamental principles of good government, a leading member of advanced 
debating societies, a reader of essays on astronomy, the history of weaving, an advocate 
of the teaching of natural history to children ; and, lastly, but in every sense the 
most important, a botanist whose success in this department of science, and whose 
enthusiastic love of study are worthy of universal admiration. The great result of his 
life labour is the splendid botanical collection which is now the property, as a gift 
by John Duncan, of the University of Aberdeen. It consists of 

1 . A general collection of about 500 species, arranged according to the twenty- 
four classes of Linnaeus, including ferns, in various books. 

2. A book containing an almost complete collection of species, about 150, re- 
presenting the flora of the Vale of Alford, many being rare. 

3. A book of about 50 specimens of the grasses of the Alford district. 

4. A book of about 50 specimens of the cryptogamic plants of the same district, 
chiefly mosses and lichens. 

The whole world knows the story of the last days of the Aberdeenshire weaver how 
that Mr Jolly discovered him while he was in want and obscurity, and how that he, 
out of the fullness of his heart and love of science, endeavoured to befriend him. But 
the world does not know all. In 1873 ( vfe write it with pain), so low were his cir- 
cumstances, that the old man (now 79 years old) " took to bed sick with melancholy 
heart-ache," for the first time in his life losing hope amidst the gathering blackness. 
Want pressed upon him, and he was compelled to go to the Inspector of Poor. 

" That officer took note in his books, which bear that 'his average earnings were 
only about two shillings a week ; he was failing in strength, and his trade was almost 
gone.' He then received five shillings, and at the first meeting of the Board, on the 
I7th of November 1874, he was formally admitted on the roll of paupers, at an allow- 
ance of three shillings weekly ; and one of the usual pauper's cards for entering the 
sums received, inscribed with his name and number, lies before me. That badge was 
the consummation of his shame, as it felt to him, and seemed to stamp him with the 
brand of Cain, \vhich all men might read." 

To Mr Jolly is due the honour and an honour of no mean magnitude it is of raising 
this good man from that position to the condition in which he died. In the last years 
of his life John Duncan received donations for his homely comfort from every corner 
of the kingdom. The Queen on the throne sent him a ten-pound note, and had he 
lived, the Queen would have visited him in his humble cot last year. He died amid 
companions that had been the most foreign to his career comfort and honour, 



244 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

We have room for only three quotations. The first is a picture of rural comfort, 
which, before the march of "scientific" farmers (a phrase which now-a-days means de- 
creased rent-rolls and depopulation) has completely disappeared. 

" Every householder had his workshop attached to his house. lie rented, more- 
over, a large garden and a considerable croft of land of from two to four acres, and 
kept' a cow. At early morn every day, as certainly as the sun rose, the blast of the 
horn of the common village cowherd resounded over the vale ; when from every gate 
a cow joined the general herd, which was led by him to the wide common in the hol- 
low, below the town to the north, now under cultivation. The same merry sound 
was heard in the evening, when he returned with his lowing charge, and every animal 
went of her own accord to her own byre, bearing rich treasures for the pail. The 



places such 

his cattle in an ancient town in Angus, where the writer was born." 

Our second quotation illustrates the remarkable love of science which the subject of 
this book possessed. At the age of 84 he set out on a twelve miles' walk to find a 
certain plant. What enthusiasm ! 

" When he got well up the hill, a dreadful storm of thunder, lightning, and 
heavy rain descended upon him and speedily drenched him to the skin. Still he held 
on, searching over all the spots where he had found it before. But all in vain : the 
shy favourite was nowhere to be seen, and he had reluctantly and with a heavy heart 
to retrace his steps homewards, defeated a rare sensation with John in such explora- 
tions and he felt the disappointment to the very core. Yet, with all the strenuous 
eagerness of youth in an aged body, he could not thus lose the day, and recalling that 
another rare plant used to grow on the south side of the hill, he determined to go in 
search of it. The midnight shades were now descending amidst the pouring rain; but 
it was midsummer, and darkness would be short. So he climbed the eastern shoulder 
of the hill to the source of the Culhay Burn, for the plant grew somewhere along its 
bed. This stream flows there between steep banks covered with brushwood in places, 
and the old man had to grope his way down its channel in search of the prize he 
sought. But as this dirty work would have soiled his old blue coat, he took it off in 
the drenching pelt, and in his shirt-sleeves, clambered down the burn and along a 
neighbouring dike till he found it !" 

The third quotation shows very clearly how contemptible is the social life in the towns 
or cities of to-day. When John Duncan, full of honour, was in Aberdeen city only a 
few years since, he was asked to visit houses of consideration. But 

"Latterly, John's old-world attire and unconventional ways rather disturbed the 
ladies in the households of the friends he used to visit, as violating the proprieties of 
city life, to which the sex are so ardently devoted, and the want of which they find it 
difficult to condone, when they are not strong and pronounced enough to shake off 
the bondage in special circumstances, as in John's case. Of ' the proper,' one of the 
first articles in the female creed standing even before ' the right,' shall we say? the 
ancient weaver had not the dimmest glimpse even in the city, and it certainly was not 
a little trying to feminine nerves to receive so outre a visitor, whose appearance could 
not fail to draw the public eye in a way far from soothing to feminine notions regu- 
lated by the social demands of 'the genteel.' On occasions but these were few 
the petty annoyances thus created found expression in remonstrance, which was in the 
old man's eyes certainly unexpected, if not a good deal painful, and which he was not 
slow to mention to his male friends with indignant surprise and rebellion when it oc- 
curred." 

As we stated at the outset, Mr Jolly's book is capable, to a very considerable extent, 
of condensation. With this reservation, we must say that he has accomplished a work 
which will long stand out as an example of his broad and generous sympathies, his 
true scientific culture, and his warm-hearted appreciation of faithful work, and noble 
achievements. 






THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. XC. APRIL 1883. VOL. VIII. 

THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 
BY J. G. MACKAY. 

II ANTIQUITY OF THE KILT. 

'Se 'feile preasach tlachd mo ruin, 
"S osan nach ruig faisg an gltin, 
'S cota breac nam basan dlti, 
'S bonaid dhti-ghorm thogarrach. 

IN the previous chapter we have given a description of Clan 
Tartans, proving conclusively that they were worn in the High- 
lands at a very remote period, and also that they were arranged 
into distinctive clan patterns, as we now have them. We will 
now proceed to give an account of the different forms in which 
the dress was worn, and as in most other matters referring to the 
Highlands the dress has been subjected to a great amount of 
ignorant criticism. We will at same time place before our readers 
indubitable evidence of the great age and authenticity of the 
dress. 

The sculptured stones of Scotland give clear and decided 
evidence of the great antiquity of the dress, and their period 
may be said to extend from the sixth to the ninth century. 
There is one at Dupplin, in Perthshire; Forres, in Morayshire; 
and Nigg, in Ross-shire, each representing figures in the High- 
land dress. 

R 



24 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Some years ago, a sculptured stone was dug up from the 
ruins of the Roman wall (which was constructed in the year 
140), representing three figures dressed exactly in the ancient 
garb of the Gael. There is also a sculptured slab in the Anti- 
quarian Museum, Edinburgh, which was found at Dull, in Perth- 
shire, some years ago, which represents several figures in the 
Highland dress. 

In Kilmuir, Skye, there is a rock bearing a natural repre- 
sentation of the dress. It is called " Creag an Fheilidh," or the 
rock of the kilt, from its marked resemblance to the checkered 
plaits of the kilt. This name must be coeval with the arrival of 
the Gael in Skye, for, bearing a natural representation, it could 
not get the name from any event or accident. 

In the Norwegian Sagas, in reference to the expedition of 
King Magnus to the Western Isles, in the year 1093, ft * s sa id 
that he adopted the costumes in use in the western lands, and like- 
wise many of his followers ; and for this he was called Magnus 
Barefoot. The seal of Alexander I., whose reign began in the 
year 1 107, represents that monarch in the feileadh-beag, or kilt as 
now worn. King David L, who began his reign in the year 1 1 24, 
and Malcolm IV. in 1153, used a seal identical with that used by 
Alexander L; and their adopting it proves that they wore the 
dress represented. 

The dress was anciently of various forms, to suit the re- 
quirements of the wearer. The "triubhais" or truis, were made of 
tartan, cut crossways, and worn tight to the skin, after the style 
of breeches, and fastened at the knee with a buckle. It required 
considerable skill to make a pair of truis, as the tartan had to be 
matched at the seams so as to show the pattern. The sets were 
generally smaller in the tartan than that used for plaids. 

The " breacan-feile," or belted plaid, was made of twelve ells 
of tartan, i.e t six ells of double tartan, which, being plaited, was 
fastened round the body with a belt, the lower part forming the 
kilt, and the other half being fixed to the shoulder by a brooch, 
hung down behind, and thus formed the plaid, in the same shape 
as the belted plaids now used by the military, which is an imita- 
tion of it. 

There was great neatness displayed in arranging the plaits, 
so as to show the set of the tartan. This was a particularly con- 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 247 

venient form of the dress, as the plaid hung loosely behind ; it did 
not encumber the arms, and in wet weather could be thrown over 
the shoulders ; while in the event of camping out at night, it could 
be thrown loose, and covered the whole body. It was principally 
worn on warlike expeditions, or when going any distance from 
home. It was called the belted plaid from the fact of its being 
simply made of a piece of tartan, unsewn, and fixed round the 
body with a belt. 

The " feileadh-beag," or little kilt, same as still worn, was 
made of six ells of single tartan, which, being plaited and sewn, 
was fixed round the waist with a strap, half a yard being left 
plain at each end, which crossed each other in front This is one 
of the parts of the dress for which a modern invention is claimed. 
This claim, which first saw the light of day in the form of 
an anonymous letter in the Scots Magazine, in 1798, though 
echoed by several writers who took upon themselves to write on 
the Highlands, has never been admitted by any one who can be 
taken as an authority. The date of the pretended invention of 
the kilt is 1728. It is said that in that year Parkinson, the 
superintendent of the Lead Mines at Tyndrum, finding his High- 
land labourers encumbered with their belted plaids, taught them 
to separate the plaid from the kilt, and sew it in its present form. 

To any one acquainted with the manners and customs of 
the Highlanders this must seem a very ridiculous and unlikely 
story, but, nevertheless, it has been accepted by many writers, 
none of whom, however, can give any proof for their assertion 
further than this anonymous scribbler, and it is surprising, after all 
the research of our learned antiquarians, to find even the editor* 
of the latest edition of the " History of the Highland Clans " 
re-echoing such a silly fable. 

Next to Ossian's poems there is no subject connected with 
the Highlands that has caused more discussion or ill-feeling than 
the reputed invention of the kilt. There is not a national move- 
ment in which the Highlanders are specially mentioned, but this 
fable is "trotted" out by jealous and acrimonious writers to 
smother our national pride. 

It is unfortunate that the ancient Highlanders left so much 

*John S. Keltic, F.S.A. 



24 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

of their history, customs, and manners to be recorded by others, 
who, from the remote and inaccessible nature of the country and 
their ignorance of the language, could not be expected to do 
them justice, and as in everything else, ancient writers on the 
Highlands are very obscure in their descriptions of the dress, 
and while they give a sort of an idea of the " breacan-feile," or 
belted plaid, as being the most complicated and attractive part 
of the dress, they pay little attention to the " feileadh-beag." 

Martin, in his " Tour to the Western Isles," published in 
1702, gives a very good account of it. He says "The plaid 
is tied round the middle with a leather belt. It is plaited from 
the waste to the knee very nicely. This dress for footmen is found 
much easier and lighter than breeches or trowis." He also gives 
a description of the " breacan-guaille," or shoulder plaid, which 
was only worn with the "feileadh-beag" or kilt. He says " The 
length of it is commonly seven double ells. The one end hangs 
by the middle over the left arm ; the other, going round the 
body, hangs by the end over the left arm also. The right hand 
is to be at liberty to do anything upon occasion." 

Martin visited St Kilda in 1697, an d says "The men at 
this day wear a short doublet to their waste ; about that (i.e. y the 
waist) a double plat of plad, both ends joined together by the 
bone of a fulmar. The plad reaches no further than the knee, 
and is above the haunches girt about with a belt of leather." 
This is a most minute description of the " feileadh-beag," and 
should be sufficient in itself to put the matter beyond the possi- 
bility of a doubt, but we can bring forward even much stronger 
evidence than this. On the armorial bearings of the Burnets of 
Leys in Aberdeenshire, the dexter supporter is a " Highlander in 
hunting garb," viz. Feileadh-beag, and short Highland jacket, 
exactly the same as worn at the present day; date of patent, 2ist 
April 1626. Sir George Mackenzie, who died 37 years before 
Parkinson's time, says " The Burnets of Leys carry a High- 
lander in Hunting garb, and a greyhound as supporter on 
their arms, to show that they were the King's foresters in the 
north." 

The Mackenzies of Coul, in Ross-shire, have, as dexter sup- 
porter on their arms, a Highlander dressed in the kilt and shoulder 
plaid, same as worn at the present day; date of patent, i6th Oct. 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 249 

1673. The clans Macrae and Macgillivray have also as supporters 
Highlanders dressed in \hzfeileadh-beag. 

In a book printed in London in 1720, "The Life of Mr 
Duncan Campbell," there is a drawing representing the subject 
of the work, dressed in an unmistakable feileadh-beag or kilt, 
with the following note referring to it. " Our young boy, now 
between six and seven, delighted in wearing a little bonnet and 
plaid, thinking it looked very manly in his countrymen. His 
father indulged him in that dress, which is truly antique and 
heroic." This is the nicest representation of the dress we have 
seen, the kilt, bonnet, hose, and everything so clear and distinct 
that it would pass muster at the present day. 

In "Burt's Letters from the North of Scotland, 1728," also 
published in London, there are several plates showing the different 
forms of the dress, viz. Breacan an fheilidh, or belted plaid; 
feileadtibeag) or kilt, with shoulder plaid, as now worn ; and 
triubhaiS) or truis. He makes no mention of Parkinson, and he 
certainly would have done so if there was any truth in the story. 

The feileadh-beag (philabeg) is often mentioned in Jacobite 
songs composed at the time of the rising of 1715. The kilt and 
plaid is also mentioned in a very old Gaelic song, Macgriogair o 
RiiadJi-Shnith. Besides all this, we have it on the testimony of 
Blind Harry that the great Scottish patriot Wallace wore the 
kilt. He tells us that when Wallace was in school in Dundee he 
was insulted and assaulted by the son of Selbye, the governor ; 
and he points out most distinctly that he not only wore the High- 
land dress, which he calls " Ersche Mantill," but tells that " it war 
thi kynd to wer," showing most conclusively that Wallace was 
considered to be a Highlander, and that the tartan was his na- 
tional dress. 

We now hold that we have completely settled this ques- 
tion, and, in the face of such a chain of evidence, it is amus- 
ing to think that such a silly assertion should ever have been 
made. It betrays very great ignorance of the customs and manners 
of the Highlanders to suppose that, if they were sufficiently in- 
genious to design the tartan, and to plait it into the form of the 
belted-plaid, which is a very intricate contrivance, that they 
should not think of dividing the kilt and plaid, when occasion 
required it, without the assistance of an Englishman. The thing 



250 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

is so positively absurd that we cannot conceive how any sensible 
person should repeat it. 

We will now proceed to give a description of the various 
articles which compose the dress. 

The doublet or coat (in Gaelic, cota-gearr] was sometimes 
made of tartan cloth, cut crossways, the size of the checks being 
less than in the kilt or plaid. This style of coat was called cota 

fiaraidh. 

For every-day wear the coats were generally made of a drab 
cloth. This colour was produced by a mixture of natural black 
and white, with a quantity of crotal-dyed wool. This was called 
cota lackdunn. For full or court dress, the- coats were made of 
velvet, and richly embroidered with silver lace and buttons. We 
have proof of velvet being used for coats at an early age. In the 
accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, in August 
1538, we find the following entry regarding a Highland dress for 
King James V.: 

" Item in the first for ij elnis ane quarter cine of variant colorit velvet to be the 
Kingis Grace, ane schort Heland coit. Price of the elne vi. lib- Summa xiij. lib. x s. 

" Item for iii. elnis quarter elne greene taffatys to lyne the said coit with price 
of the elne x summa xxxij s- viA" 

Hose. Before the invention of knitting, the hose were 
made of tartan, the same as in the kilt. They were also made 
crossways, and required a great amount of ingenuity to match the 
checks. After knitting was invented, they were made of differ- 
ent patterns, and very great perfection was acquired in imitating 
the various checks of the tartan. 

Shoes. Martin says "The shoes antiently wore were a 
piece of the Hide of a Deer, Cow, or Horse, with the hair on, 
being tied behind and before with a point of leather." This is 
the cuaran. It was much in the style of the sandals worn by 
Eastern nations. It is this that gave rise to the term, " Rough- 
footed Scots." " Feumaidh fear nan cuaran eiridh uair roimh 
fhear nam br6g." Martin says again "The generality now wear 
shoes, having one thin Sole only, and shaped after the right and 
left Foot, so that what is for one Foot will not serve the other." 
The shoes were usually peaked at the point. The uppers were 
of one piece, and sewn to the soles, and then turned inside out. 
They were open up the front, and drawn together with thongs. 
These shoes were called brogan tionndaidh. 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 251 

I think it was a Lochcarron bard who said 

'S math thig osan air do chalp 

Brog bhiorach dhubh 's lughach lorg. 

Shoe buckles are a modern addition to the dress, and I do 
not think they are any improvement. 
Donnachadh Ban says 

Fhuair sinn ad agus cle6c 

'S cha bhuineadh an seors' ud dhuinn 

Bucail a' dunadh ar br6ig 

'Se 'm barr-iall bu bh6iche leinn. 

The sporrans were made of the skins of wild animals badger, 
otter, wild cat, or goatskin. The latter were often ornamented 
with silver mountings, but they were neither so large nor so gaudy 
as those now worn. 

The bonnet was of different shapes in different districts, but 
the broad form, such as is now styled " Prince Charlie," is the most 
ancient. 

The dress was capable of being very richly ornamented. 
The plaid was fastened at the shoulder by a brooch of silver, 
often studded with precious stones, and embellished with devices 
of thistles, animals, etc. There was also a brooch worn in the 
bonnet, with the wearer's crest and motto engraved on it. In the 
bonnet was also the badge or Suaicheantas of the clan and usually 
one or more eagle's feathers, according to the rank of the wearer. 
A chief wore three, a chieftain two, a duine-uasal or gentleman 
one. 

John Taylor, the Water Poet, made an excursion to Scot- 
land in the year 1618, of which he published an account, under 
the title of the " Pennylesse Pilgrimage," and in which there is 
an amusing description of the Highland dress. He says, " Their 
habit is . shoose with but one sole apiece, stockings which they 
call hose, made of a warm stuffe of divers colours, which they 
call tartan. As for breeches, many of them nor their forefathers 
never wore any, but, a jerkin of the same stuff as their hose is 
made, with a plaed about their shoulders, which is a mantle of 
divers colours, much finer and lighter stuffe than the hose, with 
blue flat caps on their heads, a handkerchief knit with two 
knots about ther necks, and thus they are atyred." 

(To be continued.) 



252 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE:. 

CURIOUS SUPERSTITIONS IN TIREE. 

By J. SANDS. 



ALTHOUGH the inhabitants of Tiree are in general an intelligent, 
as well as kind-hearted, race, who would progress if they had an 
opportunity, some superstitions, which have descended from a 
very remote period, still linger amongst them. Customs which 
originated when the sun was an object of worship survive to this 
day, although the Gospel has been preached in the island since 
the year 565, when Baithean (a cousin of Columba's) landed at 
Soraby, and founded a monastery there. Marriage parties still 
take care to turn to the right hand (Deasail), and not to the left, 
when they enter the church. The same rule is observed when a 
body is to be laid in the grave. When boats are launched from 
the shore the bow is brought round (although it may be a little 
inconvenient) agreeably to the apparent course of the sun. Nine 
was a sacred number with the ancient Scandinavians, as well as 
Celts, and this part of the Pagan creed is still respected. Water 
taken from the tops of nine waves, and in which nine stones have 
been boiled, is believed to be an infallible cure for the jaundice. 
The shirt of the patient, after being dipped in this magic infusion, 
is put on wet. I was acquainted with a man on whom this 
remedy was recently tried, but without effect, as he was on the 
brink of death, and whisky had been ordered from Glasgow to 
regale the mourners at his funeral. As intoxicants are not pro- 
curable on the island (the Duke of Argyll having abolished all 
the public-houses) provident relatives are obliged to send for a 
supply to Glasgow when a death is anticipated. Water taken 
from nine springs or streams in which cresses grow, is also, when 
applied in the same way, believed to be an effectual cure for 
jaundice. On the west side of the island there is a rock with a 
hole in it, through which children are passed when suffering from 
whooping cough, or other complaints. 

Sick cattle were, and probably still are, treated in a curious 
way. The doctor being provided with a cogue of cream and an 
oatcake, sits on the sick cow, or other animal, and repeats the 



CURIOUS SUPERSTITIONS IN TIREE. *$$ 

following verse, nine times nine times, taking a bit and a sip be- 
tween each repetition : 

" Greim is glug, mise air do mhuin, 
Ma bhitheas thu beo 's maith ; 
'S mar a bi leigear dhuit."* 

The cream and the bannock are the doctor's fee. 

When a gun is fired at a wedding, care is taken that the 
shots shall be odd numbers. Three is safe, five and nine are also 
considered lucky. 

About five years ago a woman left her child upon the shore 
that it might be taken away by the fairies, and her own infant 
restored. She was obliged, however, to take back the changeling 
after it had been exposed for some hours, as the daoine beaga 
never appeared. At this date a minister on the island has 
refused to baptize the children of a parishioner, because he swears 
that a woman has bewitched his cows, and abstracted the virtue 
from their milk. 

Some houses are believed to be haunted by fairies, although 
it is only certain gifted individuals who can see them. In one 
cabin they were wont to sit in swarms upon the rafters, and had 
the impudence even to drop down now and again, and seize a 
potato out of the pot. Eventually they became such a nuisance 
that the tenant of the house (who was a taishear) determined to 
build a new dwelling and to abandon the old one. Unfortun- 
ately, when the new cabin was almost finished, he (materials 
being scarce) took a stone out of the haunted hut, with the result 
that all the fairies came along with it, so that his new home was 
as much infested as the old one had been. 

At Mannal there is a little green hillock (which had proba- 
bly been used to rest the coffin on, as it was being carried to the 
grave), but which was believed to possess magical properties. Not 
long ago, a stone lay upon the top, and fishermen were in the 
habit of turning the end of it towards any part of the horizon 
that they wished a breeze to come from. There is a story told 
about this hillock, which may be as well repeated in rhyme as in 
prose : 

* This old rhyme was given to me by Mr John Maclean, the Tiree Bard, who has 
written some songs which are very popular in the island. 



254 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

At Mannal, in Tiree, may still be seen 

A cttoc gorm, or hillock, round and green, 

Such as the fairies lived in long ago 

(A tale that may be true for all we know),* 

And to this cnoc two men one day there came, 

A sire and son Macdonald was their name 

To fetch a stone that through the turf appeared, 

And build it in a cottage they had reared ; 

But when the stone that lay upon the top 

The son had carried off it would not stop, 

But to the cnoc came floating through the air, 

And lay down in its old position there ; 

A second time he tried, but all in vain, 

The stone rose up, and hurried home again ; 

A third determined trial he made, but still 

The stone returned to the fairy hill ; 

And at the same self moment, strange to tell, 

The stubborn youth turned fearfully unwell. 

His muscles took the cramp, and lumps like eggs 

Arose upon his arms, as well as legs, 

He fell upon the ground in pain and fright, 

And cursed and howled for help with all his might, 

Nor did he quite recover from the shock 

Until the stone was buried in the cnoc. 

I wish that every ancient kirk and fort 

And cnoc were built with stones of that same sort, 

And that the wretch might suffer sharper pains 

Who would destroy such valuable remains. 

On a beautiful evening last autumn, when digging for relics 
amongst the rubbish that had been thrown from a pre-historic 
dun, or hill-fort, I happened to raise my head above the surface, 
and seeing a man passing with a fishing rod on his shoulder, 
asked him, by way of salutation, " Are you going to fish ?" This 
was an extremely unlucky question, probably aggravated by the 
grave-like quarter from whence it came, and the man, without 
answering a word, turned about and trudged home again. I 
have heard of a woman (who ought to have known better) putting 
the same question to her husband, who, on the instant, in his 
anger and vexation, smashed his fishing-rod on the ground. 

But the glorious sun of education now shines in Tiree as 
elsewhere, and the fogs of superstition will, in the course of another 

* Mr J. F. Campbell, in his Highland Tales, expresses the opinion that fairies 
had a real existence- that they were a small race of human beings, who inhabited 
these islands in distant prc-historic times. 



THE BRAES CROFTERS. 255 

generation, have vanished before it. There are already four 
Board Schools in the island, and there would be a fifth, were it 
not that the Ladies' Association, in connection with the Free 
Church, support a wretched seminary at Ballamartin, which affords 
the Board an excuse for neglecting its duty and getting a proper 
schoolhouse erected and permanent teacher appointed ; but I 
believe the ladies have begun to see the mischief they are doing, 
and are to hand over their school to the Board without delay. 
The newspapers are withal beginning to circulate in the island, 
and the proceedings of the rebellious crofters in Skye are watched 
with special interest. 



MR MALCOLM MACKENZIE AND THE BRAES 
CROFTERS. 



THE reader will recollect that a few months ago Mr Malcolm 
Mackenzie, Guernsey, generously offered, through the Editor 
of the Celtic Magazine, to pay two years' arrears of rent 
for the Braes Crofters on condition that the proceedings 
raised against them in the Court of Session by Lord Mac- 
donald should be at once stopped. This offer was not 
accepted by his lordship, and, therefore, Mr Mackenzie was 
not under any further obligation legal or moral in the 
matter. He has, however, generously chosen to make the 
people a donation of 100, to indicate his opinion of the manner 
in which they had been treated last year by the proprietor, and 
the hardship and inconvenience which they had in consequence 
endured. He decided to pay a whole year's rent of Ben Lee, so 
that the people might have time to stock it before it became a 
burden on them by the payment of rent. The consequence of 
this liberal act is, that the rent being . an after-hand one, the 
crofters will possess Ben Lee for two years before they will have 
to pay any rent for it themselves, a most decided and substantial 
advantage to the poor people, after the petty persecution which 
they had to endure at the hands of their proprietor, and present 
representative of the great Macdonald chiefs. We take the 



256 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

following account of the Editor's recent visit to the Braes from 
the Free Press of Saturday, the 24th of February last : 

VISIT OF DEAN OF GUILD MACKENZIE. 

Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Inverness, who had been to the Braes of Portree this 
week as the representative of Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, of Guernsey, returned home last 
night. The Dean's visit and its character having become known in the Braes, the 
people gathered in large numbers to welcome him. On Thursday morning several of 
them came towards Portree to meet him, and by the time he was at Gedintaillear, the 
nearest township, he was in the midst of a large and jubilant crowd. In the course 
of his interview with the people, he explained that he was there as the agent of Mr 
Mackenzie, the gentleman who had offered to pay all their arrears if the proceedings 
against them were stopped ; but Lord Macdonald having refused that offer, there was 
no further claim on Mr Mackenzie. The Dean explained, however, that Mr Mac- 
kenzie strongly sympathised with the people in the position in which they were 
placed, and he was desirous of giving them help. He was to pay the first year's rent 
of Ben Lee, 74. 155., and he (the Dean) had purchased a ton of first-class meal from 
Mr John Macdonald, Exchange, Inverness, which, along with certain sums of money, 
he was about to distribute among the more necessitous crofters. The Dean then went 
through the three townships for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the 
people, particularly of the widow tenants, with the view of being enabled to distribute 
the meal and money among the most necessitous. Having satisfied himself as to their 
condition, he wrote out orders in favour of twenty-eight different persons, and made 
arrangements with a Portree gentleman who has taken a friendly interest in the people 
to give the meal to the parties presenting these orders. No one got less than half a 
boll, and many got a boll each. The widow tenants got most of the meal and nearly all 
the cash distributed, as, for want of stock to place on Ben Lee, they cannot get the full 
benefit of their share of the rent paid for it, and matters are thus fairly balanced. 
The people expressed their gratitude to Mr Malcolm Mackenzie and the Dean in the 
strongest terms, and hoped that both would long be spared to benefit their fellow- 
countrymen. They expressed their regret that, in an unguarded moment, they 
had authorised a reverend gentleman from Inverness (on that gentleman's own sugges- 
tion) to communicate with Mr Malcolm Mackenzie on their behalf. The Dean, on 
returning to Portree, called on Mr Alexander Macdonald, Lord Macdonald's 
factor, and offered him the Ben Lee rent. Mr Macdonald required a written offer. 
This the Dean formally gave, stating that, on behalf of Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, 
he tendered the sum of 74. 155., being the rent of Ben Lee due by the 
Braes crofters at Martinmas 1883. This being a payment in advance, Mr Mac- 
kenzie conditioned a deduction of 5 per cent., with the view of distributing it 
among the crofters. The factor could not then give a definite answer, but he stated 
that an official reply would be sent in due time. The Dean then told Mr Macdonald 
that he had anticipated there might be some difficulty in their accepting the rent 

st now, and as he was determined to be relieved of the money, he had arranged 
with the people that morning to deposit the money in bank in the joint names of the 

ctor and a crofter from each township (whom the people, at his request, had chosen). 

3ean thereupon proceeded to the Caledonian Bank, Portree, and there deposited 

the sum of 74. , SSi> payable to the order of Neil Buchanan, Peinchorrain ; Alex- 

Fmlayson, Balmeanach (one of those convicted of assaulting Martin) ; William 

ion, Gedintaillear ; and Alexander Macdonald, as factor for Lord Macdonald ; it 



THE BRAES CROFTERS. 257 

being expressly declared in the receipt that the money was for the purpose of paying 
the rent of Ben Lee, and for no other purpose. He at the same time instructed the 
bank-agent to intimate this deposit to these four gentlemen. The sum distributed by 
Mr Mackenzie in meal and money amounted to the value of 100. 

It appears that some of the poorer Braes crofters have not yet been able to pay 
their arrears, and to a number of such persons a circular in the following terms has 

just been sent : 

"Macdonald Estate Office, Portree, ipth February 1883. 

"Dear Sir, I regret to observe that your part of the proposed agreement with 
Lord Macdonald about your becoming tenant of Ben Lee, in addition to your present 
holding, has not been fulfilled. I am much disappointed and surprised that this is the 
case after all that passed on the subject. I shall be ready to receive your rents here 
during the next three weeks. I regret being under the necessity of reminding you that, 
unless you pay your rents, you cannot hold your lands. I trust, however, you will be 
able to make payment, which will be more satisfactory to all concerned. 

"Your obedient servant, 

"ALEXANDER MACDONALD, 

" Factor for Lord Macdonald." 

The Crofters, it is said, complain bitterly that they are now under threat of 
eviction, while if the generous offer of Mr Malcolm Mackenzie had been accepted, 
Lord Macdonald would have had his arrears in full, and they would be for the present 
quite independent. 

[In connection with the foregoing, the Rev. James Reid, Free Church Minister of 
Portree, addressed a letter to the Daily Mail of 2nd March, and other newspapers, 
from which we quote the following : " Sometime ago the Braes crofters' dispute about 
Ben Lee was amicably settled. The people got back the hill at an annual rent of ^74 
155. At a comparatively early stage of the contest Mr Mackenzie, Guernsey, appeared 
as the generous friend of the crofters and a lover of peace and goodwill between 
proprietors and their tenants, and offered to pay all past arrears of rent for the crofters, 
on condition that all legal proceedings against them should then cease. This generous 
offer was not accepted. Mr Mackenzie's sympathy was not, however, alienated from the 
people, nor his interest in their welfare at all diminished. In proof of this, Mr Mackenzie, 
of the Celtic Magazine, a true friend of the Highlanders, visited the Braes on Thursday 
last, and had the pleasure of arranging for the distribution of a ton of meal and some 
money among the widows and the more necessitous of the crofters, and of depositing 
in the Caledonian Bank, Portree, a full year's rent of Ben Lee (74. 155.) in advance; 
and all the generous outcome of the sympathy of Mr Mackenzie, Guernsey. To that 
gentleman the crofters feel deeply indebted for all his genuine interest in them, and 
they deputed me to offer him, through the press, their most grateful thanks, which I 
hereby do with very great pleasure indeed."] 



OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS. 

At the Annual Meeting for the election of Office-bearers of the Gaelic Society for 1883, 
the following were duly elected by ballot : Chief, The Earl of Dunmore ; Senior 
Chieftain, Alex. Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot., editor of the Celtic Magazine; second do. , 
John Macdonald, merchant, Exchange ; third do., Alex. Macbain, M.A., Raining's 
School. Hon. Secretary, William Mackay, solicitor. Secretary, William Mackenzie, 
Free Press Office. Treasurer, Duncan Mackintosh, Bank of Scotland. Members 
of Council Colin Chisholm, Namur Cottage ; Charles Mackay, contractor ; G. J. 
Campbell, solicitor ; John Whyte, Porterfield House ; A. R. Macraild, writer. 
Librarian, John Whyte ; Bard, Mrs Mary Mackellar ; Piper, Pipe-Major Maclennan. 



258 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

ARCHBISHOP TAIT IN RANNOCH. 



IN the autumn of 1863, and again in that of 1865, the late Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, then Bishop of London, and Mrs Tait, 
visited Rannoch for the ben'efit of their health. All the people 
in the district, high and low, resident and visitor, were charmed 
with the urbanity, homeliness, and truly Christian bearing of the 
distinguished pair ; and although the visits they paid were short, 
the impression made by them on the people of Rannoch are still 
very vivid, and are not likely soon to fade away. 

The Episcopal party put up at the only inn then in Kinloch- 
Rannoch ; and there is a story told, seemingly on good authority, 
which well illustrates the pious and simple habits of the departed 
prelate. One day Mrs Tait brought the landlady to the Bishop's 
room to order dinner. When they entered, his lordship was en- 
gaged in reading the Bible. " What shall we have for dinner to- 
day ?" asked his wife in her usual winning way. He raised his 
head, turned round, put his hands down, one on each knee, and 
looking so benevolently, said, " My dear, why are you so solicit- 
ous about what we shall have for dinner ? I am sure our hostess 
will do her best to serve us ; and we will be content \vith what- 
ever she has to give." 

At the instigation of a young lady whose aged husband then 
had the shootings of Craganour, somebody asked his lordship if 
he would hold a service in the schoolhouse of Kinloch on the fol- 
lowing Sunday. He replied, " I have come to Rannoch not for 
preaching, but for the benefit of my health ; but I shall consult 
my better-half about the matter." The result of this consultation 
was that intimation was sent through Rannoch that the Lord 
Bishop of London was to have morning service in the school- 
house of Kinloch-Rannoch on the following Sunday; and this 
notice drew a good audience. 

On the Sunday morning before service there was some diffi- 
culty as to how and where the Bishop was to get his surplice put 
on. The schoolmaster was away at his holidays, his dwelling- 



ARCHBISHOP TAIT IN RANNOCH. 259 

house was locked up, and to walk up from the inn dressed in full 
canonicals was out of the question. A little, handy, facetious 
carpenter who then lived, and wrought at his trade, in the village, 
and who, on account of his having been across the Atlantic, was 
called " American John," came to the rescue. On being intro- 
duced as the most suitable " beadle " in the place, John, when the 
difficulty was broached to him, said, " Well, would your lordship 
like I should treat you as I should have done were we in the 
backwoods of America?" " Nothing would please me better," 
replied his lordship. So John, undertaking the business, led the 
Bishop into the schoolmaster's peat-house, there put on his surplice, 
etc., for him, and then remarked with great glee, " England and 
Scotland are united here to-day !" 

The Bishop entered the school-house, and having read the 
morning service of the Church of England, preached with much 
acceptance from ist Corinthians, I. 23-24 verses "But we preach 
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the 
Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews 
and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." 
The same day, by a curious coincidence, the Bishop of St 
Andrews drove up from Tummel-Bridge, and held an evening 
service in the school-room. The Anglican Bishop and Mrs Tait 
attended. And it was remarked by good judges, that, although a 
learned and accomplished man, Dr Wordsworth appeared very 
shaky when preaching in the presence of the Bishop of London ! 

When all the services of the day were over, the Bishop re- 
marked to Mrs Tait: "The little man that attended me to-day in 
the peat-house has real Scotch humour in him ; and I should like 
so much if he would go along with us to-morrow to Schiehallion." 
. " By all means," said Mrs Tait, " and I will arrange about bring- 
ing him." 

On Monday morning at ten o'clock, the following party 
started for Schiehallion, the Lord Bishop of London, and Mrs 
Tait, one on each side of " American John " teasing him, and 
Donald Kennedy, the police constable of the district in plain 
clothes walking behind them. As they walked along, peal of 
laughter followed peal from the joyous company. The Bishop 
evidently understood the true philosophy of life and well-being. 
With him there was a time for hard study, and a time for gravity 



26o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE 

and devotion ; and also a time for recreation and hilarious merri- 
ment. 

Having reached Wester Tempar, they struck south from the 
county road, and were soon climbing Schiehallion. This moun- 
tain, steep, conical, bare and picturesque, rises to the height of 
over 3500 feet above sea-level, and 2800 feet above the level of 
Loch-Rannoch ; and it is famed among men of science over the 
whole world, as the mountain selected by Maskelyne for making 
observations by the pendulum, or for determining the weight of 
the earth. The remarkably regular shape of the mountain, 
approximating in its main body to that of the earth, together with 
the homogeneous structure of the rock of which it is mainly com- 
posed, made him fix on Schiehallion, as, on the whole, the 
subject best adapted for making such experiments on ; and this 
has invested what had always been the most unique and char- 
acteristic feature in the scenery of Rannoch with an interest 
peculiar to itself. 

The Bishop had not proceeded very far in his ascent of the 
mountain when, to use John's expressive words, "he began to 
blow and pech, and say it was hard work." At length, coming to 
a green level spot, he stood and looked back. " John," said he, 
" I don't wonder although you Highlanders love your country. 
What a glorious sight of lake, imbosomed in green trees and herb- 
age, and beautiful mountains near and far, and that fine river 
coming winding down the strath glittering in the sun like a long 
silver thread." " Yes, my lord," said John, " we love our country 
dearly. I was in America, and I came home for the love I bore 
to Rannoch." "Do all the poor people love Rannoch in the 
same way?" asked Mrs Tait. " Yes they do, ma'am," said John, 
" and if they could make a living at all they would not like to 
leave the place." " By-the-bye, John," said the Bishop, " I've ob- 
served a great many houses knocked down and in ruins here and 
there throughout Rannoch: will you explain to me what is the 
cause of that?" " Well," replied John, " I'm sure your lordship 
can explain better than I can how rams' horns blew down the 
walls of Jericho ; it was also rams' horns that blew down so many 
walls in Rannoch." " Bravo! John," said the Bishop, " that's very 
good! I shall never forget your illustration of the walls of 
Jericho. But who is that nice young man you have taken along 



ARCHBISHOP TAIT IN RANNOCH. 261 

with you?" " Well, my lord," replied John, " Donald Kennedy is 
his name, a nice well-behaved and intelligent lad, and worthy of 
a better situation than being our police constable; and I hope 
your lordship will do something for him." "Well, John," said 
the Bishop, " I may do something for him for your own sake, 
and specially as a small return for the lesson you have given me 
in theology." " Take out your note-book then," said John, " and 
mark down his name, so that you may not forget." The Bishop 
laughed, and with great good nature did what he was told. 

The party then proceeded to climb, and after many a halt, 
and talk, and laugh, they at length reached the top of 
Schiehallion. His lordship and Mrs Tait were overjoyed ; and 
" American John" gave them the names of every peak and loch, 
and lochlet and castle, to be seen all round from that com- 
manding position. Thereafter they descended, and John was 
amply rewarded for the information and amusement he had 
afforded them; but curiously enough the Bishop gave nothing 
to the police-constable. 

The Bishop and Mrs Tait left Kinloch in the course of a 
few days, and no more was heard of them for some time. At 
the end of three weeks, however, " American John" got a letter to 
say that the Bishop of London had secured a situation for Donald 
Kennedy, worth 100 a-year, with immediate entry. Donald went 
up to London, entered the situation, and continued to occupy it 
with great comfort till his death, which occurred two years ago. 

" American John " died about three years ago. He was 
quite an original, and a general favourite in Rannoch. His great 
British hero was the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he placed 
above everybody else, and whose conversations with himself he 
delighted to recount to people frequenting his workshop. " The 
Bishop of London is my preacher," he would say ; " Ah ! he's a 
nice man. I told him so and so." " The Bishop of London, now 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, said so and so to me, and he is a 
pretty good authority!" Then he would turn to another sub- 
ject, " This is how we used to do in the backwoods of America." 
" Ha ! you know nothing : you were never out of Rannoch ; I 
was in America, and know something." Peace be to John, and 
to his hero the Archbishop ! 

JOHN SINCLAIR, Minister of Rannoch.. 

S 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE SCOTSMAN, PROFESSOR BLACKIE, AND 
THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 



IN a recent issue of the Scotsman, Professor Blackie published 
a letter, which we subjoin, setting forth his views on the present 
agitation and disturbance among the crofters in Glendale, Isle 
of Skye. This letter the Scotsman, as the special organ of the 
Scottish Landocracy, could not conveniently swallow, and in 
trying to dispose of it by a less dangerous process, it lost its 
head. It has done more ; it has thrown away the semblance 
of any ingenuousness and fair-dealing which innocent people 
thought had yet remained to it. 

Professor Blackie, speaking for himself and those who agreed 
with him, wrote " Our sympathies lie emphatically with the 
law-breakers in this case ;" that is, with those who had broken 
the law in Glendale ; for he says immediately after, in the same 
paragraph of which the above quoted sentence forms a part 
"We know that this Glendale outbreak is a mere sympton of a 
deeply-rdoted social disease for which the land oligarchy and 
the Land Laws are answerable at the bar of eternal justice." 
The Scotsman, with characteristic unscrupulousness when deal- 
ing with an opponent, which no other publication in Scotland 
has yet attained to, twists this plain statement into a charge 
against Professor Blackie of sympathising "with law-breakers as 
such." 

The Professor further says, and says truly, " that there is no 
tyranny in Europe nor even in Asiatic Turkey practically 
more grinding than the tyranny which, under our present Land 
Laws, the lord of the soil, with his commissioner, factor, and 
ground-officer, may, in remote districts, exercise over the High- 
land crofters." How does the Scotsman deal with this carefully- 
qualified statement? " It is to be read," it says, " as stating that 
this grinding tyranny is practised." It certainly should have 
been both written and read to that effect as regards the conduct 
during the present century of many of the class referred to. 
Professor Blackie, however, does not go that length about any 



SCOTSMAN AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 263 

lords of the soil, commissioners, or factors, but the Scotsman 
magniloquently declares, notwithstanding, that " it is a baseless 
calumny to say or to hint that landlords and factors are, as a 
whole, guilty of tyranny and oppression." The italics in these 
quotations are ours. 

Who ever said or hinted any such thing as is here placed 
in Professor Blackie's mouth. Neither in his letter to the Scots- 
man, nor anywhere else, did he ever say anything of the kind. 
He has often, in our hearing, and to the knowledge of his unfair 
and unscrupulous accuser, said the very reverse. No one has 
written more warmly in favour of good landlords and considerate 
factors than he has done, and many good specimens of both are, 
happily, still to be found in the Highlands. 

Enough has been said to show the nature of the attack so 
violently made upon him, but we may fairly ask what right has 
the Scotsman to assume to itself the position which it has done 
on the Highland Crofter Question ? At any rate it is proper in 
the circumstances that we give a few reasons why it should not be 
for a moment listened to by any one who has the interest of the 
native population of the Highlands at heart, for its conductors 
show singular ignorance of the facts as to the position and in- 
terests of the Crofters, and it has never failed to malign and mis- 
represent them. 

The Scotsman itself, conducted, as it is, under influences 
foreign to Scotland and Scotchmen, naturally tries to encourage 
proceedings in the Highlands, which would obliterate and destroy 
all traces of Celtic nationality ; and, to accomplish this end, it 
delights in fostering a system by which the southern sheep 
farmer and the English sportsman monopolise the Highlands, 
and drive the native population out of the country, caring not 
whither they go. 

While the paper in question has always proved itself the in- 
veterate and uncompromising enemy of the Highland Crofters, this 
anti-Celtic feeling has, if possible, become more intensified in 
recent years. 

In 1 878 -the Scotsman sent to the Highlands and Islands a 
" Special Commissioner" to describe the condition of the crofters, 
whose main purpose seems to have been, if we may judge by results, 
to misrepresent and vilify them ; and he has taken little trouble, 



2 6 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

before making his ignorant aspersions, to ascertain the facts. It is 
capable of proof that he described the whole of North and South 
Uist, Benbecula, and Barra a district of country seventy to 
eighty miles long from north to south, and containing a popula- 
tion of 12,503 souls without ever leaving the neighbourhood of 
Lochmaddy. The same state of things can be proved in the 
case of a wide district of the parish of Gairloch and other West 
Coast estates. The public were led to believe all this time 
that the " Special Commissioner " was giving the results of his 
personal experience, and of his own investigation into the cir- 
cumstances and surroundings of the people ! Were the con- 
ductors of the paper cognisant of these facts ? We know that 
letters pointing them out were refused insertion by the Editor. 

In February last the Scotsman sent another " Special Com- 
missioner" to the West, to give its readers an impartial (!) ac- 
count of the disturbances in the Isle of Skye, especially in Glen- 
dale. Those who knew anything about the subject at once saw, 
when this Commissioner's letters appeared, that they were little 
else than a badly-arranged hash made up from Sir John MacNeill's 
Report, the New Statistical Account for the parishes of Bracadale 
and Duirinish, and stale stories repeatedly told by the factor to 
ourselves, among others, before the " Special Commissioner" of 
the Scotsman ever visited the Isle of Skye. But this was not all ! 
While he was supposed by the misinformed portion of the public 
to have derived his information from independent sources, he 
was actually found to be the guest of the factor for Glendale, 
from whose residence, at Edinbane, nearly thirty miles from 
Glendale the district supposed to have been described his 
letters were dated. Here the "Special Correspondent," sent 
by the Scotsman to Skye when the "Jackal" paid her visit to 
Glendale, actually found the "Special Commissioner" of his 
journal, presumably much to his disgust and annoyance; for 
the position of affairs had been discovered by the other repre- 
sentatives of the Scottish and English press who visited Skye on 
that occasion, and who, with many of the natives, naturally 
chuckled and sneered at the supposed impartiality of the informa- 
tion obtained and published by the Scotsman under such con- 
ditions. It may be stated that the "Commissioner's" recall 
soon followed the arrival of the " Special Correspondent" at head- 



SCOTSMAN AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 265 

quarters, and it may be fairly surmised that there was some con- 
nection between the one event and the other. A few of the natives 
are wicked enough to say that some fat sheep had almost simul- 
taneously disappeared from the district, but what became of them 
has not been clearly ascertained. It is, however, quite under- 
stood that no one but the owner is in any way responsible for 
their disappearance. 

An exposure of the sources from which the Scotsman and a 
few other newspapers receive their Skye local correspondence 
might prove interesting, and we may yet feel called upon, in the. 
interest of the people of Skye, to enlighten the reader on that 
subject. 

May we not meanwhile fairly ask, Is this a paper which the 
Scottish people ought to accept as a safe guide on any question 
affecting the Highlanders? Its very name has become a misnomer 
in recent years, edited, as it is, by an English Catholic, under 
whose guidance the once renowned and brilliant Scotsman 
in spirit and objects, as well as in name, has become the violent 
antagonist of institutions the most highly cherished and revered 
by Scotsmen, and whose attacks upon these are only equalled by 
its ridicule of the Catholic Church, religion, and creed. It is impos- 
sible for any good Scotsman not to feel regret for the fall in 
recent years of a paper in which we all felt a natural pride from 
a position in which intellectual power and marked ability were 
its distinguishing characteristics, to one of mere common-place, 
in which it is principally distinguished by disingenuousness of 
argument and personal scurrility. 

The support by the Scotsman of any one, under its present 
guidance, is the surest proof that he who secures it is no real friend 
of the Highlanders. 

The following is Professor Blackie's letter on the Skye 
Crofters, referred to above, and published in the Scotsman of 
Wednesday, the 28th of February last: 

9 DOUGLAS CRESCENT, EDINBURGH, Feb. 27. 

Sir, As your columns have always been open to the statement of adverse views, 
and as your tone lately seems to run somewhat sweepingly against the opinions 
entertained by myself and many members of the Liberal party who have most 
practical acquaintance with the Highlands, I crave the liberty to state our 
view of the Skye Crofters' case with all succinctness. Our sympathies lie 



266 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

emphatically with the law-breakers in this case, and we are strongly of opinion 
that the real guilt lies with the law-makers that is, historically, the oligarchs 
of the soil and the British public, who, after the abolition of the clan system 
in 1746, made no recognition of the consuetudinary rights of the people in the 
land, and who, from ignorance or apathy, have allowed laws to remain on the statute- 
book the direct action of which, when not counteracted by kindly influences, is to over- 
ride, overwhelm, and at last exterminate the best element of the local population. It 
is a matter of the smallest consequence, in our view, whether the case for the crofters 
in the present instance, be legally right or wrong. We know that this Glendale out- 
break is a mere symptom of a deeply-seated social disease, for which the land oligarchy 
and the Land Laws are answerable at the bar of eternal justice. We know, and 
thousands can rise to testify to it, that there is no tyranny in Europe nor even 
in Asiatic Turkey practically more grinding than the tyranny which, under 
our present Land Laws, the lord of the soil, with his commissioner, factor, and 
ground officer, may, in remote Highland districts, exercise over the Highland 
crofters. With these convictions, we have no hesitation in saying that we regard 
the Glendale crofters as martyrs rather than criminals not because they are 
legally in the right, or because it is in any case right to break the law, but 
because the law is radically wrong, and by its very nature instigates a healthy human 
conscience to the violation which it condemns. When the law is unjust, and the devil, 
so to speak, sits as God's vicegerent on a local throne, it is nothing wonderful that 
rebellion should break out, and that the rebels should in such cases be not seldom the 
very select and elect of the land. Such rebels were the Milanese, who revolted against 
the Austrian rule in Lombardy, and drew out their lives sorrowfully in the dark cells 
of Moravian prisons. Such rebels were our gallant forefathers the men who fell at 
Rullion Green, Aird's Moss, and Bothwell Brig, and shed their blood to purchase for 
us liberty to breathe on our own Scottish soil, and to read our own Bibles without 
Anglican dictation. Whatever deeds of blood were perpetrated during the whole 
seven-and-twenty years of Charles II. and his pig-headed successor were done with 
the sanction of the law ; and on a smaller and less bloody field the extirpation of the 
noble race of mountain peasantry that inhabited the once populous Highland glens 
was done with the sanction of law. The law was always in favour of the men who had 
the power ; never in favour of those whose natural weakness made them an easy prey 
to the ambition, cupidity, or indifference of their superiors. The law could always be 
used to enrich the few and to impoverish the many. Laws were made with solemn 
show and executed with unsparing severity, to preserve the game, but never to pre- 
serve the people. This is our view of the matter. Instead, therefore, of hastily 
blaming these unfortunate people, let us go to the root of the evil, and not, like quack 
doctors, treat a skin disease with external lotions and superficial appliances, when the 
only cure lies in reforming the whole habit of social life, and sending a strong current 
of fresh blood through the veins. Let us unite heart and hand for a radical reform of 
all landlord-made law ! This is my programme ; and I am ready to stand by it, though 
it should rain laws from the statute-book as thick as pike-staves upon the land. Land 
Law reform is the only banner under which the Liberal party can hope to gain 
glorious victories at the present hour ; and, if they should fail to see their opportunity, 
and timidly take counsel from law cunningly confused with right, and from a political 
economy which confounds well-being with wealth, the Tories may act more wisely. 
They are not the worst landlords in the Highlands, to my knowledge ; and if God in 
his providence should only send us a second Lord Beaconsfield there is no saying what 



SCOTSMAN AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 26; 

they might be educated to do. I subjoin a more succinct expression of these senti- 
ments in verse : 

THE SKYE CROFTERS. 

A loud voice blames the men who break the law ; 

I rather blame who made the laws to break, 

Who pressed the yoke so close upon the neck 

Of the hard-driven beast, and rubbed the raw, 

That in a fretful fit it kicked the board 

And tossed the rider. Blame your want of skill, 

Blind oligarchs, and your uneven will 

To maim the peasant and to arm the lord. 

Woe unto you, the grasping crew who join 

Wide field to field, and house to house, that you 

May live sole lords of earth, and rack and screw 

The poor to trick forth Mammon's gilded shrine ! 

God is not mocked, whose bolt their head shall smite 

Who stamp His name on Might and call it Right. 

JOHN STUART BLACKIE. 



THE PERTHSHIRE CONSTITUTIONAL. This newspaper, so long and 
so well conducted by Mr J. Watson Lyall, now better and more widely known as 
proprietor and editor of Lyall's " Sportsman's Guide," has recently changed hands. 
The paper, plant, and property have been purchased by Mr Thomas Hunter (the act- 
ing editor of the paper for several years back) and by the commercial manager of the 
publishing department, under whose joint management, we have no doubt, the Con- 
stitutional will fully maintain its old reputation as a first-class county paper and 
literary critic. 

A HISTORY OF ROB ROY. Mr A. H. Millar, F.S.A., Scot., of the 
Dundee Advertiser, has just completed a history of Rob Roy, and it is to be issued 
immediately. The Athenceum of Saturday, ijth February, says : "That the author 
has made use in it of many of the documents and letters in the collections of the Duke 
of Argyll, the Duke of Montrose, the Duke of Athole, and Sir Robert Menzies. 
Many mythical stories which have long been in circulation regarding Rob Roy have 
been discarded, and the incidents in his career are for the first time placed in proper 
chronological order. The part which he played in the Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 is 
carefully explained. A fac-simile reproduction will be given of an unpublished plan 
of the battle of Glenshiel, the use of which the Duke of Marlborough has granted." 
Mr Millar is already well known in the literary world as the author of " Traditions 
and Stories of Scottish Castles," and a "Life of Queen Mary." There is no subject 
of more interest to Highlanders than the famous Rob Roy, of whom a really authentic 
history has long been desiderated, and Mr Millar is well qualified and has had special 
facilities to do him justice. The work is to be illustrated by Mr D. Small. The book 
may be ordered from this office. Price, 35. 6d., by post, 35. Qd. 

CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. A series of papers on this interesting subject, by 
Mr Alexander Macbain, M.A., will be commenced in our May issue, 



2 68 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

% 

HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

SIR, As a Cameron, interested in the history of my race, 

perhaps you will permit me at this stage of your account of the 
Clan to give you a few traditions that refer specially to this 
period, of which you are writing. 

These traditions are valuable, as each item in them is con- 
firmed by the different histories of those stormy times. First, 
however, let me correct two mistakes in your last issue. You 
say at page 150 that Donald, son of Ewen Allanson, left two sons, 
both of whom succeeded respectively to the estate of Lochiel, 
after the death of , their grandfather. Now, instead of two sons, 
Donald Mac Eo^hain left three sons, the youngest being Ian 
Dubh, or, as he was commonly called, " Ian Dubh Dhruim- 
na-Saille," his grandfather having given him -that place as a 
" gabhail" or " gavel." 

Though Ian Dubh did not succeed to the chiefship, yet he 
is historically the most important of the three brothers, as his 
son Allan became chief of the clan in his boyhood, and was the 
progenitor of all the chiefs from that time to the present day. 

The " Sliochd Ian Duibh" sept held Druim-na-Saille until 
about thirty years ago, when Dr Ewen Cameron, who had served 
in the East Indiaman " Earl of Balcarres" died suddenly in his 
prime, leaving a widow Miss Margaret Kennedy of Lianachan 
and an infant son, who immediately thereafter left the place. I 
believe this son is still in life. My mother's great-grandfather, 
Allan Cameron, or " Mac Ian Duibh," as he was called, occupied 
this Ian Dubh's house in the '45, and at it Prince Charles gave 
forth the counter proclamation offering ,30,000 for the head of 
King George. Over the ford in front of this old historic house 
Prince Charles led his army across the River Fionna-lith. My 
grandmother was born in this house, and when my grand-uncle, Dr 
Donald Cameron, returned to Lochaber, having retired from the 
Navy after the Peninsular War, he was. never called by the people 
Dr Cameron. It was always "An Doctair Mac Ian Duibh" thus 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 269 

emphatically declaring him the representative of that sept. The 
chief, of course, had an older patronymic, although in reality he 
was, and is, the real " Mac Ian Duibh." 

Again, you say that Donald, son of Ewen Allanson, was 
the progenitor of the family of Earrachd ; whereas Ewen was 
the name, as is proven by their patronymic of " Sliochd Eoghain 
'ic Eoghain " unto this day, as his brother John of Kinlochiel's 
descendants are known as " Sliochd Ian 'ic Eoghain." 

These remarks, however, are only by the way the subject 
of this letter being emphatically 

TAILLEAR DUBH NA TUAIGHE 'CHUIR AN RUAIG 
AIR MAC-AN-TOISICH. 

EOGHAIN BEAG MAC DHO'ILL 'ic EOGHAIN succeeded his 
grandfather as chief of the Clan Cameron. He never was married, 
unless, indeed, he was handfasted according to the custom of the 
time to the lady who was the mother of his son his only child. 
The lady was the daughter of Macdougall of Lome. 

This happened when Ewen was very young, and the lady's 
father concealed his resentment until Ewen was chief. He then, 
on some plausible pretence, got him to visit him, when he im- 
prisoned him in Inch - Connel Castle, in Eilean - na - Cloiche, 
Lochow. He was slain there by one MacArthur, whilst his 
clansmen, headed by his foster-father, Mac J ic Mhartinn of Letter- 
finlay, were trying to effect his escape. 

His son, " Donull Mac Eoghain Bhig," was in his father's 
charge from his infancy, and was sent secretly to a tailor's wife, 
in Blar-na'n-Cleireach, or Lundavra, to be nursed, from which 
circumstance came the name of " An Taillear Dubh," by which 
he was known all his life. We find him named Donald, prob- 
ably for his grandfather, and tradition says that he was brought 
up by Maclachlan of Coiruanan, hereditary standard-bearer to 
Lochiel, who became his foster-father. 

The boy grew up to be a brave and wise man, famous for his 
powers of sarcasm and ready wit, but more so for the skill with 
which he wielded his battle-axe, the great weapon of the warriors 
of Lochaber. From this distinguishing qualification came his 
sobriquet of " Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," which has clung to 
him through the ages. 



2;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

It is said that when John of Kinlochiel and Ewen of Earrachd 
murdered their chief, "Donull Dubh Mac Dho'ill 'ic Eoghain," they 
thought the chiefship and estate would fall into their own hands, 
but in this they were sorely disappointed, for the widow of the 
youngest of their three nephews gave birth to twin sons. The 
eldest was, of course, at once proclaimed chief, whilst the 
youngest, who was Tanaistear, fell heir to the "gavel" of Druim-na- 
Saille, and became the ancestor of the Camerons of that branch. 

Tradition says that the mother of these twin boys was a 
Mackintosh, and that she hated the clan of her spouse with a 
great hatred. 

As the mother of young Lochiel she went to live in one of 
the homes of the chief, "Eilean na'n Craobh," and it is there that 
we find "Donald," or rather "Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," first ap- 
pearing prominently in tradition. 

The " Taillear" hated the Mackintoshes, and nothing pleased 
him better than to wield his axe against them on the battle-field. 

He, in return, was hated by the Mackintoshes, especially by 
Ian Dubh's widow, and by John of Kinlocheil, and Ewen of 
Earrachd, the sons of the second wife of Ewen Allanson, Marjory 
Mackintosh, said by some historians to be daughter of Lachlan 
Badenoch, and not of Duncan Mackintosh, as is said in the 
Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, quoted by you on 
this head. 

On the first occasion in which the "Taillear Dubh" appears 
in tradition as a hero he must have been a young man. 
There had been a skirmish with the Mackintoshes, in which 
many of them were slain. The " Taillear" was the person de- 
puted to carry the tidings to the lady at " Eilean na'n Craobh," 
a task which many a brave man would shrink from, knowing the 
strong nature and the Mackintosh proclivities of the lady. The 
" Taillear" went fearlessly, and walked straightway into her pre- 
sence, battle-axe in hand. The lady cried out sternly, " Thig a 
nuas, a Thaillear, ach fag do thuagh shios" (Come in, tailor, but 
leave your axe without), to which the young warrior responded, 

" Far am bi mi fhein bi' mo thuagh" (Where I will be my 
axe will be). 

"Ciamar a chaidh an latha?" (How did the day go?) asked 
the lady. 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 271 

"Oh!" cried the tailor, "gheibheadh tu bian cait air da 
pheighinn agus rogha is tagha air plane " (You could get a cat's 
skin for twopence, and pick and choice for a plack). On hearing 
this, the lady in a rage threw the infant heir into the fire, and in 
a moment the " tailor " lifted his battle-axe above her head, cry- 
ing " A bhean a rug an leanabh tog an leanabh " (Woman 
who gave birth to the child, lift the child) which she instantane- 
ously did. 

There was then a council held among the clan as to what 
was to be done with this unnatural mother, for it was not thought 
safe to leave their young chief in the hands of one who had 
proved so unworthy of her position. 

They decided, therefore, to send the lady back to her own 
people, as she had forfeited all right to be considered a member 
of the Clan Cameron. The manner in which this resolution was 
carried out was as follows : She was placed on horseback with 
her face to the animal's tail, and so driven within the boundary 
line of the Mackintosh domains. She was accompanied by a 
few Mackenzies who had come from Brahan Castle to assist the 
Camerons in that day's battle. 

The Mackenzies were afterwards rewarded by getting land 
on the estate of Lochiel, and their descendants are in North 
Ballachulish to this day. It would fill a book to tell of 
the feuds between this alien race and " Sliochd a Ghamhna 
Mhaoil Duinn," which was the patronymic of the Camerons of 
Onich, who were descended from an illegitimate son of a Mac- 
Sorlie of Glen-Nevis. The clan also resolved not to leave the 
infant chief to the guardianship of his grand-uncles of Kinlochiel 
and Earrachd. He was, therefore, sent to Mull, probably to the 
widow of his uncle, Donald Dubh, who was a lady of the Duart 
family. " Donull Mac Eoghain Bhig" or " Taillear Dubh na 
Tuaighe " went meantime to reside with his grandmother, Lady 
Grant of Grant, from which place he was in the course of time 
called by a party of his clan, that he might protect them from 
the oppression of Kinlochiel and Earrachd, who were acting in a 
most autocratic manner towards them. 

The " Taillear" became again their leader in battle, and it is 
said that in every field in which he fought against the Mackin- 
toshes he was victorious. So successful was he that the people 



2 ;2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

began to suspect that he had a fairy origin, and that a special 
charm was upon him. He was not only famous for his use of 
the "axe," but was fleet-footed as the mountain deer, which 
stood him in good stead on one occasion. He was out hunting, 
and accidentally fell into the hands of the Mackintoshes. They 
were quite jubilant over his capture, and longing to see his blood 
shed. 

" Had I fallen into your hands like this what would you do 
with me ?" asked the Mackintosh of his captive. 

" I would at least give you a chance for your life, and if you 
could get free I would let you," replied the " Taillear." 

" Then I shall do so with you. You will not have to say you 
outstrip the Mackintosh in generosity," exclaimed the chief. 
He then formed his men into a ring, with the " Taillear" in the 
centre, saying, " Men, present your arms, and if he rushes upon 
you it will but make an end of him the quicker." 

The " Taillear" began to wield his battle-axe, as if trying to 
make an opening here and there, by which he could escape. He 
threatened to break the circle at different points, and at length 
his quick eye saw where the men were beginning to be off their 
guard, and, making a sudden dash, he sprang from what seemed 
the arms of death. He ran as fast as his fleet feet could carry 
him, pursued by his enraged enemies, the foremost among them 
being their chief. At last the " Taillear" came to a broad ditch 
which he leaped lightly, and got safe across. The Mackintosh 
leaped after him, but fell into the mire. The "Taillear Dubh" 
raised his axe above his head, and said to the floundering chief, 
" Dh'fhaodainn, ach cha dean mi." "I might, but I will not." 
The Mackintosh, pleased with the generosity of his foe, waved 
his men back from the pursuit, and the "Taillear" gave him his 
hand and pulled him out of the ditch. 

The place where this happened is not far from the banks of 
the Caledonian Canal at Gairlochy. The spot where he made 
the leap is to this day called " Leum an Taillear," and the ditch, 
though now filled up, still bears the name of " Lochan Mhic-an- 
Toisich." 

Mucomer was the scene of his last battle with the Mack- 
intoshes, and on the evening of that day he was seen climbing 
the mountain side at Coilleros, where there runs a stream 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 273 

known as " Ault-gormshuil," called after the celebrated Lochaber 
witch of that name. The " Taillear Dubh " was never seen in 
Lochaber again. All sorts of surmises were made about his dis- 
appearance. Some said he was murdered by command of the 
young chief, Ailean Maclan Duibh, who had now returned 
home. The enemies of the "Taillear Dubh" had made the young 
lad believe that he wanted to be chief himself; that he was 
stealing the hearts of the people with that intention ; and that he 
asserted his being the child of a lawful marriage, and therefore 
not illegitimate. It is said that the chief believed these tales, and 
consented to the death of his relative. When he, therefore, dis- 
appeared, there was great indignation among his friends, who be- 
lieved him to have been murdered. 

Those who believed in his fairy origin thought now that he 
had gone back to his people, having fulfilled the work given to 
him to do. Others said that, being tired of fighting, he had retired 
to some Monastery, and that he was seen in the district of Cowal. 

So great a favourite was this brave and unselfish man among 
his people, that their indignation waxed so hot against their chief 
as to make him again leave the country. The clan believed that 
he had consented to the murder of their hero ; therefore, he did 
not feel safe among them, and he retired to Appin until their 
fury would abate. 

Now comes a page of this history that proves truth to 
be stranger than fiction. After the fate of this brave man had 
been enveloped in darkness for centuries it is now accounted for, 
and made clear; and it is proved that the "Taillear Dubh" did 
seek safety in Cowal, where he married and left a family, and we 
find at the present day one of his descendants in the Reverend 
Dr Taylor, Professor of Church History in the Edinburgh Uni- 
versity. The name of Taylor evidently came from " Cloinn an 
Taillear " " The Children of the Tailor " referring of course to 
the sobriquet of " Donull Mac Eoghain Bhig." 

Without knowing that any tradition existed in Lochaber 
about their ancestor, the Taylors of Stratheachaig knew that he 
was named " Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," that his real name was 
" Donald Dubh," and that he was the offspring of a chief of 
Lochiel. On one of the oldest tombstones of the family the 
" Tuagh" or " battle-axe" is carved not the more modern, long 



274 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE 

handled, prettily designed Lochaber axe, but the old, deadly- 
looking one, having a short handle, with a rope attached to it, 
and which was the axe always used by the leaders in battle, a 
specimen of which is in the hands of Mr Colin Livingston, Fort- 
William. The Maclachlans of Strath-Lachlan were said to be 
descended from the Camerons, and to be related to the Maclach- 
lans of Coiruanan, and that may have been the link that led 
him to that district for safety ; or it may have been that his 
maternal grandfather got the Earl of Argyll to give him a hold- 
ing there. 

The " Taillear Dubh" was in special danger from the families 
of Earrachd and Kinlochiel, as in defence of the absent chief he 
had been the cause of the death of these veteran relatives, who 
were playing into the hands of their kinsmen, the Mackintoshes. 
Ewen of Earrachd was murdered at Inverlochy, where the oppos- 
ing parties of the clan met in council ; John of Kinlochiel was 
beheaded at Dunstaffnage by order of the Earl of Argyll, whom 
the "Taillear Dubh" got to espouse the quarrel through the 
influence of his grandfather, Macdougall of Lome. When "Allan 
Mac Ian Duibh" returned again to take the power into his own 
hands and reign, he came to understand that his relative, " Donull 
Mac Eoghain Bhig," alias "Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," had 
always been his best friend. He heard of how he had saved him 
from his heartless mother, and had watched over his interests 
through all the years of his absence. Then he was sorry that he 
had blamed him wrongfully, and to make amends, as well as to 
please his offended clan, he paid the memory of the brave man 
the compliment of placing him in his coat of arms as supporter 
on either side, with his battle-axe held up conspicuously. There 
he remains still, and his name lives in the songs, proverbs, and 
traditions of his native land ; and next, perhaps, to the great Sir 
Ewen, he is their ideal warrior and hero. His name awakens 
their pride and their affection; and as long as there is 
a Cameron in Lochaber, or Gaelic spoken, there the name of 
" Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe" will be remembered. 

I am, &c, 

MARY MACKELLAR. 



275 



A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot. 



V. TORONTO. 

BETWEEN four and five in the afternoon we made a short stop- 
page at the city of Kingston, at one time the capital of Upper 
Canada, a city which is of peculiar interest for a Highlander, as 
the home of Evan MacColl, the Bard of Loch-Fyne, a poet whose 
works are read by Highlanders all over the world ; and not only 
himself a poet, but the father of Mary MacColl, the talented 
authoress of "Bide a Wee," a collection of poems by the daughter 
in no way inferior to those which have come from the father's pen. 
At this time it was my intention to pay a visit to Kingston on my 
return journey, but this intention I was unfortunately not able to 
carry into effect. I had wished to make the acquaintance of the 
bard, but I discovered in Toronto that, at the only time I could 
have paid a visit to Kingston, he was in another part of Canada. 
The railway line passes to the rear of Kingston, so that I was not 
able to see much of the city; but the fact that next to Halifax 
and Quebec, it is one of the strongest fortified places in the Domi- 
nion, makes it interesting to the visitor. Its fortifications, how- 
ever, I did not see, and of course cannot describe> except by bor- 
rowing from sources which are equally available to my reader as 
they are to me. 

About eight in the evening I parted with my friend Mr Eraser, 
who had to travel by a branch line, and thereafter by steamer on 
Lake Ontario to reach his destination ; and for the remainder of 
my journey to Toronto, which occupied nearly three hours, I 
roamed about from seat to seat, and car to car, seeking the Ameri- 
can of the books the man who would talk on the slightest pro- 
vocation, or none at all but I did not find him. About 1 1 P.M. 
Toronto was reached, and within ten minutes afterwards, while 
I was attending to my baggage, I was made aware, by loud 
cheering in another part of the Depot, that a special train which 
had been coming after us the whole day, had arrived, bearing 
the Marquis and Marchioness of Lome, who were then just after 
setting out on their tour to British Columbia, 



2 ;6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

The day had been an unpleasant one perhaps the most 
unpleasant during my whole tour rain having poured in torrents 
during the greater part of it, and I was glad to reach my snug 
quarters in the Walker House, where, after supper and a bath, I 
slept the sleep of the weary. In the morning I devoted an hour to 
the examination of a map of the city, and made myself as familiar 
as a stranger can by means of a map with the various tramway 
routes. This done I sallied forth to make myself practically 
acquainted with the city; and following a habit which I can re- 
commend to anyone who wishes to get quickly familiar with a 
large city, I stepped on the first street car I encountered, and 
from it, after a while, I transferred myself to another, and still 
another, until in the course of a very short time I traversed a 
considerable part of the city, and made myself familiar with the 
situations and directions of the principal thoroughfares. 

The city is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, about 
thirty miles from its western end. The portion of the city next 
the Lake is situated on rather low ground, but the ground rises 
with a gentle slope, until a few miles from the Lake shore the top 
of a gently sloping ridge is reached, from whence the visitor can 
look down upon the city, and see it stretched like a panorama 
below him. The site was chosen in 1793 by Governor Simcoe, 
the first Governor of Upper Canada. At that time the name of 
the future city was York, and the predecessors of the men who 
now proudly call Toronto the " Queen City of the West," knew 
their town as " Muddy York," and one of them described it as 
" fitter for a frog or beaver meadow, than a habitation for human 
beings." The Governor, however, was far-sighted enough to see 
that the situation of the city as a commercial centre would more 
than compensate for the natural defects of its situation, and the 
marvellous progress which Toronto has made in the 90 years 
which have elapsed since its first houses were built, justifies the 
wisdom of its founder. When the site was chosen it was little 
better than a marsh, and the swampy ground gave rise to agues and 
fevers to such an extent that the settlement of the city was very 
much retarded in its earlier years. Another circumstance con- 
tributed to retard its progress. This was the great European war 
at the end of the last century, and the beginning of the present, 
which, by destroying the men who might otherwise have become 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES, 27; 

emigrants, prevented the natural growth of the colony. Nearly 
thirty years after its foundation it had less than 1400 inhabitants, 
but soon after it began to grow more rapidly, and in 1856 it had 
a population of over 40,000. In 1859 the seat of the Government 
was removed from Toronto to Quebec, and this tended to reduce 
the population somewhat, but since that time the city has ad- 
vanced with marvellous strides, and its population now amounts 
to about 90,000; or, if Yorkville, a suburb on the north of the city, 
is included, to about 100,000. At the time of my visit, a vote 
was taken in Yorkville on the question whether they should 
unite with the city of Toronto, when, by a large majority, the in- 
habitants declared for union, so that now Yorkville is actually a 
part of the city of Toronto. 

When the site of the city was chosen by Governor Simcoe, 
the only inhabitants were two families of Indians. Ninety years is 
not a long period, even in the history of an American city, yet I 
did not wholly realise the comparatively brief space in which 
Toronto has grown to its present size, until in course of conversa- 
tion with Mr Harman, the City Treasurer, he informed me that 
his grandfather, who was one of the earliest settlers in Toronto, 
had seen Indian wigwams on the site where the Grand Trunk 
Railway Station now stands. The present name of the city is 
more modern even than the city itself. York became Toronto 
during the Governorship and at the instance of Sir John Colbornc. 
The derivation of the later name is somewhat obscure, one opinion 
being that it is derived from the Mohawk Dr-on-do " trees on the 
island," another that it is derived from an Indian word meaning 
" place of meeting." Between the two opinions I cannot decide. 
The name has a pleasant sound, and both parties are agreed that 
it is an old and an Indian one. 

The principal street of the city is King Street, which runs 
east and west, almost parallel to Lake Ontario, and at no great 
distance above it. It is a fine spacious street, and on each side 
is lined by magnificent buildings which would do credit to any 
city, either in the old or in the new world. The street is already 
built upon for a distance of three miles, and it is being rapidly 
extended at both ends. Next in importance, if not, indeed, equal 
to it, is Yonge Street, which, beginning at Front Street, nearer 
the Lake than King Street, and parallel to it, runs northwards, in- 

T 



2 ;3 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

tersecting King Street, and dividing the city into two almost equal 
parts. When I asked in Toronto the length of Yonge Street, 
the reply was " 30 miles," and this is substantially true, for build- 
ings extend all along the line of Yonge Street to Holland Land- 
ing, to which it leads. Apart from its great length, Yonge Street 
is historically interesting, for it dates back to the days of Governor 
Simcoe, who fixed upon the site of the city. The Governor 
seems to have been one of the most clear-sighted men who ever 
ruled Canada, and in 1794 he opened up the road, now known as 
Yonge Street, as a portage from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe. 
By this means he shortened and cheapened the route to Mac- 
kinaw, then the great depot of the fur trade. On the opening of 
this route, the North-West Fur Company, which was established 
by Frobisher and Mactavish of Montreal in 1782, and which in 
1796 employed 2000 hands, instead of sending their supplies by the 
River Ottawa by canoes, sent batteaux by the St Lawrence. These 
were carted across the portages (one of which was Yonge Street), 
and delivered their cargoes in Mackinaw at a saving of 10 to 
15 per ton. 

What curious visions this history brings up! Who, now tra- 
velling in Canada in a Pullman car, or Palace steamboat, remem- 
bers that at a comparatively recent date the whole commerce of 
Canada was carried on by means of the birch-bark canoe or the 
large batteau, and yet so it is? The birch-bark canoe, which 
might be anywhere between 9 and 30 feet in length, was navigated 
along the Canadian rivers and lakes where they were navigable, 
and when the navigation came to an end, the cargo was unloaded, 
and carried on the backs of the voyageurs to the next navigable 
water, the canoe being carried in the same way. This was called 
the portage. At the end of the portage, the canoe was launched, 
the cargo laden, and the water journey resumed. In this way 
hundreds of miles of country were traversed, and thousands of 
tons of merchandise transported. Prior to the opening up 
of the route from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe by the road 
which is now Yonge Street of Toronto, the Great North-West- 
ern Depot of the Fur Trade was reached by canoe ; but with 
the opening up of this route the larger class of boat known 
as the batteau came to be used. The batteau is a large flat- 
bottomed skiff, sharp at both ends, about 40 feet long, and 6 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 279 

to 8 feet wide in the middle, and capable of carrying about 5 
tons. When these reached the end of the navigable water, they 
were either dragged by means of ropes by men and oxen up the 
shallow rapids, or were unloaded, and carted across the portages. 
They were provided with masts and lug sails, an anchor and four 
oars, and a crew of four men and a pilot. Their draught of 
water, with 40 barrels of flour on board was only 20 inches, and 
as they could not be capsized in the excitement of a rapid, and 
were able by their light draught to creep along shallow waters, 
they were found in many cases preferable to the canoe, when 
considerable quantities of goods had to be transported. These 
clumsy-looking, but very serviceable, vessels were for many years 
transported along the route, part of which now forms one of the 
busiest thoroughfares in Canada. By-and-bye the batteau was 
to some extent replaced by the larger Durham boat or barge, 
which held its own until both were superseded by the railway 
and steamboat The birch-bark canoe still retains very much of 
its own place in the further away districts of the new world, 
where the backwoodsman will set out alone on a journey of 
several weeks duration with his canoe. During the day it will 
transport him along the rivers and lakes, and at night it forms 
when turned over, his protection from rain and dew. 

But to return to Toronto. Like most other Western cities, it 
is yet in its timber age. The streets are paved with wooden 
blocks where they are paved at all ; the footways are formed of 
planks, many of them very fine pieces of timber from fifteen to 
eighteen inches in width ; and the curb and gutters are formed 
of the same material. Away from the business part of the city, 
many of the houses are entirely built of timber, and the roofs are 
covered with shingles. 

Everywhere throughout the city there are magnificent public 
and private buildings. The residence of the Lieutenant-Governor 
of Ontario, fronting Simcoe and King Streets, is designed in the 
modern French style of architecture. The walls are of red brick, 
relieved with Ohio cut stone dressings, with galvanised iron cor- 
nices painted to imitate stone. This material is apparently found 
suitable to the climate of Ontario. The main building is three 
storeys in height, and has a Mansard roof in which part of the 
third storey is situated. In the centre of the building, as seen 
from Simcoe Street, there rises a tower 70 feet high, finished 



2 8o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

with a handsome wrought iron railing. The main building has a 
frontage to King Street of about 90 feet, and the kitchen wing, 
which is two storeys high, about 100 feet more. The main 
entrance is under the tower facing Simcoe Street, and is covered 
by a handsomely carved porch supported on clusters of Corinthian 
columns. The whole building, though somewhat ornate in detail, 
has a substantial appearance, and until its full extent is seen might 
be mistaken for the residence of a wealthy merchant, rather than 
the official residence of the Governor of a large Province. Perhaps 
the most beautiful building in Toronto, however, is the Osgoode 
Hall, which is named after the Hon. Wm. Osgoode, the first Chief 
Justice of Upper Canada. This building I only saw the outside 
of during my first visit to Toronto, but on my return I was taken 
through the whole of the interior by Colonel Denison, the Stipen- 
diary Magistrate of Toronto. The building is of the classic 
style, and the Central Hall is one of the most beautiful I have 
seen. The building contains Court-rooms and offices for the 
Superior Law Courts of the Province, and it also contains a very 
fine Library. In the various parts of the building there are 
portraits of the Judges who have from time to time occupied 
seats on the bench of the Supreme Court, and if I recollect aright 
a fine portrait of Lord DurTerin, the most popular of Canadian 
Governors General. 

One of the first buildings which the visitor to Toronto will 
observe, is Saint James's Cathedral. This is the principal Epis- 
copal church in the city, and it is the fourth church which has 
occupied the same site, the last one having been burnt thirty or 
forty years ago. It is of early English architecture, and is 
beautifully executed. About 10 years ago the tower, which is 
1 50 feet high, was completed. The spire, which is 306 feet high, 
is said to be the highest in America. The clock, which took the 
first prize at the exhibition of Vienna, was presented to the 
Dean and Church Wardens on Christinas eve, 1876. The move- 
ment of the clock is the largest in the world, except that of 
Westminster. It plays the Cambridge chimes on the smaller 
bells every quarter of an hour, and strikes the hour of the day 
on the largest bell. During the day the noise of the street 
traffic to a considerable extent drowns the chimes, but at night, 
the sweet tones of Saint James's are heard over a larje portion 
of the busiest part of the city. 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 281 

After an hour spent in going through the streets, I called 
upon Mr Hugh Miller, to whom I carried two letters of introduc- 
tion, one from his relative, Mr Gumming, Allanfearn, and the 
other from the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. From Mr Miller I 
received a warm welcome, as every person hailing from the capital 
of the Highlands does. Forty years ago he left Inverness and 
settled in Toronto, and he has been witness to the many changes 
which have taken place in the latter city in that period during 
which it has grown from a town of 14,000 inhabitants to its pre- 
sent size. Through Mr Miller I made many new acquaintances 
in Toronto, from all of whom I experienced the greatest kindness. 
I was desirous before going further West to know something of 
agriculture in the Province of Ontario, and the advantages which 
that province offers to emigrants, and having informed Mr Miller 
of this, he accompanied me to the office of the Immigration De- 
partment, when Mr Spence, the secretary, not only supplied m? 
with a pile of literature on the subject, but afforded me informa- 
tion which no book supplies. Ontario, while it has no prairie 
land to give free grants of to settlers, has advantages of its own 
to offer to immigrants. It has many cities and towns, and a great 
portion of its land has been settled and under cultivation for a 
long time. The farmers are, as a rule, well to do, and an immi- 
grant without means of stocking land of his own can obtain em- 
ployment for himself and his family, on terms which will enable 
him, while gaining valuable experience, to save money, while he 
lives in a manner which, when compared with the life of an agri- 
cultural labourer at home, is comparative luxury. After a few 
years spent in this way the servant may, if he prefers to remain 
in Ontario, obtain a grant of land in the unsettled part of the 
province, and although his agricultural pursuits will be interfered 
with for a time by the timber on his land, he will find a market 
for the wood at a price which will more than compensate him for 
his labour in cutting it. The land which has not yet been taken 
up in Ontario is comparatively poor, and if the intending farmer 
is not able with his own capital, and what he can borrow, to pur- 
chase a clear farm, his better course is admittedly to go West, 
where, with the experience he has gained, he will be able, if he is 
industrious and intelligent, to make for himself a comfortable 
home. K, M'D, 

(To be continued.) 



282 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND THE 
HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 



A ROYAL Commission to inquire into the condition of the High- 
land Crofters has just been granted by the Government. When 
the writer of these lines first suggested the appointment of this 
Commission, as far back as 1877, the idea was generally con- 
sidered ridiculous, but it is now an accomplished historical fact. 
The Editor of the Celtic Magazine, on the I7th of October 1877, 
asked Mr Charles Eraser-Mackintosh, M.P., while addressing his 
constituents in the Music Hall, Inverness, the following question, 
amid the general laughter of the audience : 

Keeping in view that the Government has graciously considered the reputed 
scarcity of crabs and lobsters, and of herrings and gar vies, on our Highland coast, of 
sufficient importance to justify them in granting two separate Royal Commissions of 
Inquiry will you, in your place in Parliament, next session, move that a similar 
Commission be granted to inquire into the present impoverished and wretched con- 
dition and, in some places, the scarcity of men and women in the Highlands ; the 
cause of this state of things ; and the most effectual remedy for ameliorating the con- 
dition of the Highland Crofters generally?" 

Mr Eraser-Mackintosh made the following reply, which, with the 
question, will be found in the local papers at the time : 

A Member of Parliament had a certain power, and only a certain power. Now, 
the question which was here raised was a very large one, and he did not think that he 
would have the slightest chance of getting such a Commission as was referred to, unless 
the Government was prepared for the demand beforehand, and unless the request was 
strengthened by a general expression of feeling in its favour throughout the country. 
If Mr Mackenzie, who had written an able article on the subject, which had attracted 
great attention, and others with him, could by petition, or by deputation to the Prime 
Minister, pave the way for a motion, he would be very glad to make it. His moving 
in the matter without adequate support would hamper and hurt the laudable object Mr 
Mackenzie had at heart. 

Since that date the question has never been lost sight of, and in- 
fluential Highlanders extended their support in public and in 
private to pave the way for action in the House of Commons. 
The Gaelic Society of Inverness soon after petitioned Parliament 
in favour of a Royal Commission of Inquiry. Towards the end 
of 1880 a public meeting, held in Inverness, and presided over by 
Mr Eraser-Mackintosh, M. P., petitioned in favour of it; the Fede- 



ROYAL COMMISSION AND CROFTERS. 283 

ration of Celtic Societies took the matter up ; the Gaelic Society 
of Perth ; the Highland Law Reform Associations of Inverness 
and Edinburgh got up large meetings, and petitioned Parlia- 
ment ; Mr Eraser-Mackintosh, M.P. ; Dr Cameron, M.P. ; Mi- 
Dick Peddie, M.P. ; Sir George Campbell, M.P. ; D. H. Macfar- 
lane, M.P. ; and others, kept the question before the House of 
Commons and the country ; and, on the 22nd of February last, 
Mr Eraser-Mackintosh, M.P., got up a Memorial, signed by 
twenty-one Scottish Members of Parliament, to the Home Secre- 
tary, which was forwarded, accompanied by the following letter : 

5 Clarges Street, W., 23rd Feb. 1883. 

DEAR SIR WILLIAM, I have never taken up your time by letter or interview 
before in reference to the state of the crofter and rural population of the Highlands and 
Islands of Scotland, but now feel constrained to do so. 

It is upwards of two years since I presided at a public meeting at Inverness, 
where the position was discussed, and enquiry desiderated. A notice on the subject 
was put on the paper of the House by me in the summer of 1881, and again early in 
1882. A formal resolution praying for inquiry by Royal Commission was tabled. I 
was, however, never lucky enough to get a first place for the discussion, and I have 
failed for any night open prior to the ensuing Easter Recess. 

In these circumstances, feeling very unhappy at the present state of matters, and 
believing that many of my poor countrymen are looking to me for Parliamentary 
assistance, I beg to represent to you as strongly as I can that 

1st. The people themselves desire such inquiry ; and on this I may refer to a 
curious petition presented by me on Wednesday from Glendale, to all appearance the 
true and unprompted views of the crofters. 

2nd. The public in Scotland by numerous meetings and otherwise show that they 
concur. 

3rd. The press of Scotland, from the Scotsman downwards, may be said to be un- 
animous. 

4th. The landlords generally, and officials in the disturbed districts are not averse; 
and 

5th, and lastly, I have felt it my duty within the last two or three days to 
ascertain the mind of the Scottish members. There are seven members of Govern- 
ment, and one incapacitated, reducing our number for present purposes to 52. Several 
are not in town, but two are known to have publicly expressed themselves in favour 
of inquiry, viz., Mr Dick Peddie and Mr William Holmes. Of those to whom I have 
appealed, 21, including several Conservatives, have signed the memorial enclosed." 
Seven, though they hesitated to sign, have expressed their approval of inquiry. I 
have only found four decidedly hostile. 

I may, therefore, assure you that a large majority of the unofficial Scottish, mem- 
bers are favourable ; and this, coupled with what I have said in the preceding four 
articles, should satisfy the Government no longer to delay. 

For my own part, I could not have believed that so soon after the meeting at 
Inverness in December 1880 the agitation should have gone to such a pitch. 

I am as clear as any one that the law should be upheld, yet it will be im; rudent 



284 T11K CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to delay till every legal point be adjusted. I fear new ones will be constantly cropping 

up. Yours faithfully. 

C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH. 

To Sir W. Vernon Harcourt, M.P. 

The Memorial, with its signatories, is as follows : 

To the Secretary of State for the Home Department. 

We, the undersigned Scottish members of the House of Commons, while fully 
recognising the necessity of vindicating the authority of the law, consider that, under 
existing circumstances, it is most important that a Royal Commission of Inquiry into 
the condition of the crofter and rural population of the Highlands and Islands of Scot- 
land should be granted by the Government without delay. 

C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH. S. WILLIAMSON. 

GEORGE ANDERSON. FRANK HENDERSON. 

CHARLES CAMERON. R. W. COCHRAN-PATRICK. 

T. R. BUCHANAN. G. ARMITSTEAD. 

G. CAMPBELL. JOHN C. DALRYMPLE HAY. 

J. STEWART. CLAUD ALEXANDER. 

ANDREW GRANT. JAMES ALEX. CAMPBELL. 

ROBERT FARQUHARSON. ARCHIBALD ORR-EWING. 

ALEX. H. GORDON. G. BALFOUR. 

J. W. BARCLAY. S. D. WADDY. 

PETER M 'LAG AN. 
22nd February 1883. 

The seven members referred to in Mr Fraser-Mackintosh's 
letter to Sir William Harcourt, as hesitating to sign, were, we 
understand, Mr Fender (Wick Burghs) ; Sir Alexander Matheson, 
Baronet (County of Ross) ; Sir Donald Currie (County of Perth) ; 
Mr Parker (Burgh of Perth) ; Mr Bolton (County of Stirling) ; 
Mr Campbell (Ayr Burghs) ; and Mr Dalrymple (County of 
Bute). Those distinctly opposed to any inquiry were Sir T. E. 
Colbroke (County of Lanark); Sir H. Maxwell (County of 
Wigtown) ; Mr E. Noel (Dumfries Burghs) ; and Mr Preston 
Bruce (County of Fife). 

Lord Colin Campbell (County of Argyll) has since intimated 
that had he been asked he would have signed the Memorial to 
Government. None of the others were seen, as they were either 
out of London or absent from the House. 

It will be noticed, we believe, with very general regret and 
surprise, that not a single Northern Member of Parliament, 
except Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, has signed the Memorial. If any 
proof were wanted that inquiry was looked forward to by the 
northern landlords with disfavour, and, in some instances, with 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 285 

dismay though they feel that it has now become necessary- 
it would be found in this significant fact. It should also con- 
vince the Government of the necessity of making the Royal 
Commission really effective by placing men upon it who will 
counteract the landlord opposition and aristocratic influence, 
which will certainly have to be met in the course of the inquiry 
on every point where the facts are likely to tell against the land- 
lords and their agents. Unless the other side is strongly repre- 
sented, so as to meet, on something like equal grounds, the power, 
wealth, and influence of those whose conduct has made this 
inquiry necessary, the Royal Commission had better never to 
have been granted. It will only prove the commencement in 
earnest of an agitation on the Land Question, the end of which 
no one can predict. 

Considering the stage which the question has now reached, 
we think we are justified in reproducing what Mr Fraser-Mack- 
intosh writes to us on the 5th of March. He says, alluding to 
the question put to him by the writer in the Inverness Music 
Hall, and already referred to " I see that you put the ques- 
tion very broadly in 1877, and you are therefore alone entitled 
to the full credit of initiating the movement." The reader will 
not be surprised if, in these circumstances, we shall watch the 
composition of the Commission, as well as its proceedings 
throughout, with more than ordinary interest. 

A. M. 



THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 



III. WHAT is RENT? 

RELATIVE to the subject of these papers there is an activity of 
thought, combined with an indefinable feeling that something 
must be done, which no one is able to understand, and which can 
only be described by the trite French expression, " It is some- 
thing in the air." This, indeed, is no less true of the physical 
world than it is of the world of mind, for with adverse seasons, 
potato blight, and cattle epidemics, it may well be said " it is 
something in the air." Events are, therefore, likely to solve the 



2 86 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

knotty points of economic science more than the speculations of 
philosophers. Still, as these speculations appertain to funda- 
mental doctrines which influence human thought and action, in 
the most important social and economic relations, it is all the 
more necessary to expose and eliminate error. Legislative at- 
tempts at a practical compromise of existing difficulties may 
effect some temporary relief, but such legislation cannot be of an 
enduring nature, unless it proceed upon sound fundamental prin- 
ciples. 

The space at my disposal in these pages does not admit of 
such a full examination of the much controverted subject of rent, 
as its importance, as well as its abstruseness, demands ; but with- 
out imposing too much upon the good nature of the Editor, or 
upon the patience of the reader, I may be able to review the dis- 
cussion so far as to present, in brief outline, what appears to me 
to produce the confusion of thought regarding it. 

I have already called attention to the fact that there are two 
principles of productive industry the agricultural and commercial 

and that the one is inverse, whilst the other is direct. I have 

also defined land as natural power, as a correction upon the 
definition of the utilitarian school, who refer to it as natural 
monopoly. In taking an ethical view of the subject, the import- 
ance of a correct definition must appear, as it leads the mind to 
consider it in the higher and more important relationship of 
power to freedom, justice, and equality. Following the example, 
of Adam Smith and his adherents, who place all exchangeable 
value in labour, I was obliged to give a brief analysis of that 
subject, and in doing so I was able, at all events, to show that 
those who place exchange value in utility, materiality, demand 
and supply, and such like, could not give a logical and intelligible 
explanation of the phenomena of trade and commerce. 

It still remains, however, to be shown how the labour theory 
of value can explain how an acre of land in the City of London 
is worth ,100,000, whilst another on a Highland mountain side, 
which neither spade nor plough has tickled into a smiling harvest, 
is worth only a few shillings, but still possessing exchange value, 
as proved by the fact that it pays rent. This is the unsolved 
problem of economic science, and before we can accept Mr 
George's " remedy," or Mr Russell Wallace's " land nationalisa- 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 287 

tion," we ought to solve the difficulty, if it is within the compass 
and comprehension of the human intellect to do so. 

In his " History of Civilisation" Buckle mentions the nature 
of the difficulty, and, as Mr George refers to the passage and has 
made it the groundwork of his eloquent book, " Progress and 
Poverty," I quote it: 

" Thus far as to the different ways in which climate and soil affect the creation of 
wealth. But another point of equal, or perhaps of superior, importance remains be- 
hind. After the wealth has been created, a question arises as to how it is to be dis- 
tributed ; that is to say, what proportion is to go to the upper classes, and what to the 
lower. In an advanced stage of society this depends upon several circumstances of 
great complexity, and which it is not necessary here to examine. But in a very early 
stage of society, and before its later and refined complications have begun, it may, I 
think, be proved that the distribution of wealth is, like its creation, governed entirely 
by physical laws ; and that those laws are, moreover, so active as to have invariably 
kept a vast majority of the inhabitants of the fairest portion of the globe in a condition 
of constant and inextricable poverty. If this can be demonstrated, the immense im- 
portance of such laws is manifest. For, since wealth is an undoubted source of power, 
it is evident that, supposing other things equal, an inquiry into the distribution of 
wealth is an inquiry into the distribution of power, and, as such, will throw great light 
on the origin of those social and political inequalities, the play and opposition of which 
form a considerable part of the history of every civilised country." 

In a foot note he adds 

"Indeed, many of them are still unknown ; for, as M. Key justly observes, most 
writers pay too exclusive an attention to the production of wealth, and neglect the 
laws of its distribution. In confirmation of this, I may mention the theory of rent, 
which was only discovered about half a century ago, and which is connected with so 
many subtle arguments that it is not yet generally adopted, and even some of its advo- 
cates have shown themselves unequal to defend their own cause. The great law of 
the ratio between cost of labour and the profits of stock, is the highest generalisation 
we have reached respecting the distribution of wealth j but it cannot be consistently 
admitted by any one who holds that rent enters into price." 

It will be seen from this quotation that rent is the disturbing 
element, or unresolved factor, in proportionals, which in free in- 
dustries are capable of being applied in accordance with a per- 
ception of the mind as to some law of distributive justice. Now, 
if this disturbing element were eliminated, or resolved into some 
other proportional, or that part of it which cannot be so resolved 
regarded as an accruing residuum belonging to the state, or to 
society, capable of being ascertained and appropriated, it seems 
to me that the Rule of Three might be applied to political 
economy. 



2 SS TIIK CKLTIC MAGAZIXK. 

It must be explained here to the uninitiated that the rent of 
land, or, rather that part of the rent of land, which is the subject 
of perplexity, is what accrues to the landlord over and above the 
interest upon his expenditure in reclaiming land, building stead- 
ings, dykes, and all other ameliorations. Ricardo defined it as a 
charge made for the use of the indestructible powers of the soil, 
or, in other words, its germinating property. Both landlords and 
socialists place value (money value) in this and fight over it. 
Still further, working upon this notion, he propounded a theory 
of rent which has been seized upon by materialists, and which 
Stuart Mill, by a common custom of utilitarians, calls the laiv of 
rent ; for their theories, it should seem, must be regarded as funda- 
mental laws. The ordinary reader, in Scotland particularly, 
where the will of the landlord is almost the only recognised law 
of rent, will be very curious to know what this law is. Well, here 
it is. 

"It is only, then, because land is not unlimited in quantity and uniform in 
quality, and because in the progress of population land of an inferior quality, or less 
advantageously situated, is called into cultivation, that rent is ever paid for the use of 
it. When, in the progress of society, land of the second degree of fertility is taken 
into cultivation, rent immediately commences on that of the first quality, and the 
amount of that rent will depend on the difference in the quality of these two portions 
of land. When land of the third quality is taken into cultivation rent immediately 
commences on the second, and is regulated, as before, by the difference in their pro- 
ductive powers. At the same time the rent of the first quality will rise, for that must 
always be above the rent of the second, by the difference between the produce which 
they yield with a given quantity of capital and labour. With every step in the pro- 
gress of population which shall oblige a country to have recourse to land of a worse 
quality, to enable it to raise its supply of food, rent on all the more fertile land will 
rise." 

The absurdity of this theory must be apparent to every prac- 
tical farmer, for on every large farm, as well as in every large 
field, there are varieties of soil of different degrees of fertility. 
The first tithing that was farmed, or used agriculturally, in Eng- 
land, probably contained all the varieties of soil, of conformation, 
and of scenery which the aspect of an English county presents at 
the present day; and yet with no scarcity of land of the same 
quality round about, the people must have paid rent to the supe- 
rior, whether sovereign or subject. These varieties which render 
nature so beautiful, and so well adapted as a habitation for man, 
in producing corn, trees, grazings of all sorts, and cover for fowls, 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 289 

are by Ricardo termed " gradations," and the misuse of words is 
very apt to produce confusion of thought. 

Land of a low degree of fertility may be raised to a high 
degree by the application of labour, lime, phosphates, and man- 
ures. Besides, in the progress of society, as we know from his- 
tory, the descent has often been towards deeper and more fertile 
soils, such, for instance, as the marshes of Lincoln, many of the 
swamps of Scotland, and in India and on the Continent to the 
deep and fertile soils of banks and deltas of rivers. Are the free 
lands in the Western States of less fertility than land in the 
neighbourhood of New York, or the free lands of Manitoba than 
lands in the neighbourhood of Montreal? But if situation ac- 
counts for rent, what then becomes of the indestructible powers 
of the soil ; but what is the value of any theory of rent which 
leaves out the ground rent of town lands and rent of mines? 
The reader must see that to ask these questions is to refute com- 
pletely the theory as to gradations of soil and descent to lower 
soils. 

At this stage, however, I shall not detain the reader by fur- 
ther illustrations to show the absurdity and falseness of this de- 
lusive and pernicious theory which places value in land apart 
from human labour ; but will proceed to show the confusion and 
uncertainty which an adherence to it produced on so great a 
logician as Stuart Mill, and by-and-bye we shall examine the 
dangerous conclusions to which it led Mr Henry George. Mill 
says : 

" This theory of rent, first propounded at the end of last century by Dr Ander- 
son, and which, neglected at the time, was almost simultaneously re-discovertd, 
twenty years later, by Sir Edward West, Mr Malthus, and Mr Ricardo. It is one of 
the cardinal doctrines of political economy ; and until it was understood, no consistent 
explanation could be given of many of the more complicated industrial phenomena.' 

This confident and dogmatic tone pervades the whole of Mill's 
writings; and yet, with his great command of sophistical argu- 
ment, he makes such admissions of failure that the subject is 
made contemptible. In the sequel to this declaration, he says: 

" It is not pretended that the facts of any concrete case conform with absolute 
precision to this or any other scientific principle. We must never forget that the 

truths of political economy are truths only in the rough 'i his constitutes 

a law of rent, as near the truth as suck a law can possibly be ; though, of course, 



29 o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE 

modified or disturbed in individual cases, by pending contracts, individual miscal- 
culations, the influence of habit, and even the particular feelings and dispositions of 
the persons concerned." 

The reader will be disposed, I think, to agree with me in the 
opinion that a law which is subject to so many modifications, 
and requires so many apologies, may be as good in the breach as 
in the performance. 

Without further discussion of the question, it is quite suffi- 
cient to mention that this political economy, of which it is a car- 
dinal principle, and of which the reader hears so much out of the 
mouths of landlords, politicians, and public journalists, consists 
of vicious theories of population, values, and law of rent, pro- 
pounded by Malthus, Ricardo, and Mill, which result in a com- 
plete subversion of the fundamental principles laid down and ex- 
plained by Scotland's greatest philosopher. 

As a distinguishing feature of this controversy, it is not a 
little remarkable that those who are ranged against the utilitarian 
school, and are adherents of Adam Smith, should not only be 
distinguished by great power of intellect, but also imbued with a 
deep sense of the evident order and design of nature, combined 
with a hopeful view of man's better destiny in the world, and a 
broad sympathy with labouring and suffering humanity. Of 
these the most eminent are Dr Chalmers, Dr Whewell, and the 
the brilliant-minded Frenchman, Frederic Bastiat, whose early 
death was a great loss to the science, for he left only a few 
sentences on the subject of rent Dr Chalmers discussed the 
theory fully and conclusively, as I think, although Mill passes 
him over on this point, whilst he quotes him on another of no 
importance (the consideration of a general glut) where he was 
more vulnerable. Dr Chalmers refers the theoiy to a cause 
which lies at the root of many of the fallacies and confusions 
connected with land. He says : 

"The real cause of rent is the more strenuous competition of labourers and 
capitalists, now more numerous than before, and this cause, assigned by Dr Smith, 
ought not to be superseded, as if it were a distinct and different cause, by that which, 
in fact, is but a consequence, from itself. This inversion of the truth has led to 
vicious conclusions in political economy ; and as is the effect of every false principle, 
it has mystified the science." 

Having thus far briefly reviewed the debateable ground be- 
tween two schools of economists, regarding the most important 



SCOTTISH MYTHS. 291 

part of it, in its social and political aspect, I shall delay to a 
future occasion the further examination of the question. 

As I have cited so many eminent authors who are opposed 
to this theory, and seeing that Mr Henry George bases his whole 
argument upon it, I consider that he makes a very bold assertion 
when he says : 

" And in accepting the law of rent, which, since the time of Ricardo, has been 
accepted by every economist of standing, and which, like a geometrical axiom, has 
but to be understood to compel assent, the law of interest and law of wages, as I have 
stated them, are inferentially accepted, as its necessary sequences." 

By-and-bye we shall see the value of Mr George's geometrical 
axioms and arithmetical proportionals ; but in the meantime it 
is quite sufficient to assert, as a matter of fact, that the most 
eminent thinkers amongst European economists reject the 
Ricardian theory, and that hardly any American of note accepts 
it as a scientific truth. 

Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE. 

(To be continued.) 



SCOTTISH MYTHS: NOTES ON SCOTTISH HISTORY AND TRADI- 
TIONS. By ROBERT CRAIG MACLAGAN, M.D. Edinburgh : Maclachlan 
and Stewart. 

WHAT Dr Charles Mackay has done for Gaelic etymology, Dr Maclagan has set 
himself to do for the mythology of the Gael. And he has succeeded to his heart's 
content ; not only has he drawn our noble heritage of myth into contempt, but he has 
done more he has dragged it through the mire. We do not know whether to laugh 
or to weep over this bad book, a book bad both in style and matter. In the first 
place, the work is a string of notes, more or less disconnected, without chapters or 
headings of any kind, yet containing an index, which we found very useful in turning 
up words to see the different etymologies given at various points in the book for the 
same word. Again, the work, purporting to be by a scientific man, is thoroughly un- 
scientific. Its history is untrustworthy, save when he quotes ; his ancient geography 
is much at fault the catuvelauni on the Thames are classed together with the Miati 
of Mearns quite indiscriminately. The author does not know the rudiments of myth* 
ology, and as to the science of language, he knows absolutely nothing of its principles. 
With him, truly, consonants count for nothing, and vowels for very much less. His 
use of the Greek language, for example for he seriously brings our ancestors from 



29 2 THK CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Thrace and other such places, and his frequent references to the Greek lexicon of 
Damm, tend to drive the reader to dwell with peculiar emphasis on that author's 
name. The book deals chiefly with two points -the ethnology and myths of Scot- 
land. From the confused mass of indigested material presented us, we pick out the 
following facts : "The invaders of Britain were of various nationalities Belgian 
Gauls, Germans, Thracians, &c. Their descendants came to use the language spoken 
by their Celtic mothers in Alba and Erin ; while much of their tradition was derived 
from their foreign forefathers." And hence it is that Dr Maclagan can lay nearly 
every language in Europe under contribution to unravel the difficulties of Celtic myths 
and names. The Roman soldiers especially the Batavi and Tungri, who turn up at 
every odd corner in the book, why, we cannot say - mingle with the Scottish natives. 
Hence "the Scots were illegitimate, the Picts claimed their mothers position in 
society, the Attecotts, carrying their feelings to a natural conclusion, disliked their 
fathers, and were called after the two Greek words atta, father, and kotos, hatred ;" 
while the derivation of the name Scots is from the Greek word skotios, " illegitimate," 
duly found in Damm ! Dr Maclagan takes this unpatriotic view of his ancestors ior a 
deep scientific reason; that reason is the phallic worship. Like every beginner in 
mythologic science, he has a craze for some unity of explanation, and this unity he 
finds not in the solar worship, of which he says little, but in the phallic worship, by 
which he explains all sorts of traditions, customs, relics, and names. In fact he re- 
duces every proper name to either a bowl, cup, bell, pillar, altar, pole, or cross ; or 
else to terms signifying love, lust, or wantonness with their physical and other mental 
concomitants. Even his own name of Maclagan he spares not ; it means the son of 
the bell, and hence its phallic connection. Poor St Fillan may well turn in his grave ! 
The root of the name Fillan is phallos, and is seen besides in Fal (lia fal), catu- 
velaunos, Valentine, &c. St Columba fares no better ; his name evidently comes from 
Latin columna, a pillar, and hence the sequel. To these derivations we might add 
hundreds of others equally wild and preposterous ; on such principles, or rather such 
want of principles of philology, any name can be derived from anything, provided the 
linguistic net is cast wide enough. And, as a consequence, double and even triple 
derivations are calmly offered us from which to take our choice ; sometimes this 
happens inadvertently. The great Welsh King Cunedda, who lived about the end of 
the Roman occupation, is identified with Cnaeus Agricola, who lived three hundred 
years before, for, as he naively puts it, "Cnaeus requires little ingenuity to make it 
Cunaethus !" No, indeed ! Yet in another place this Cunedda is obliviously derived 
as from "dog-shore," conu-aot ! He connects Arthur somehow with Agricola; both 
their names mean " farmer," and they fought much the same battles, he holds. But 
we have said too much of this book. We protest against such crude and immature 
workmanship being foisted upon us under the honoured name of " Scottish Myths." 



MR SELLAR'S TRIAL. A full report of Sellar's trial in 1816 will be issued 
by A. & W. Mackenzie, publishers of the Celtic Magazine, in a few days. This will 
give the public an opportunity of judging the whole question for themselves. It has 
become so rare that it is scarcely possible to procure a copy of it. 






THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. XCI. MAY 1883. VOL. VIII. 

CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A. 

I. 

THE field of Mythology, strictly defined, embraces the fabulous 
events believed in by a nation and the religious doctrines implied 
in these. But the term is for convenience' sake extended so as 
to include the kindred subject of folk-lore. Now folk-lore in- 
cludes all those popular stories of which the fairy tales of our 
nursery are a good illustration, and where the religious element 
implied in Mythology is absent. The term Celtic Mythology, in 
these papers, is understood, therefore, to include the popular 
traditions and legendary tales of the Celts, the fabulous actions 
and exploits of their heroes and deities, the traditions of their 
early migrations, their fairy tales, and the popular beliefs in 
regard to the supernatural world. The scope of the discussion 
will include an introductory paper or two on the general principles 
of Mythology its cause and spread, and the connection of the 
Mythology of the Celts with those of the kindred nations of 
Europe and Asia. 

CHARACTER OF MYTH. 

"There was once a farmer, and he had three daughters. 
They were washing clothes at a river. A hoodie crow came 
round, and he said to the eldest one, ' 'M-pos-u-mi Will you 
marry me farmer's daughter ?' * I won't, indeed, you ugly 

T 



294 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

brute; an ugly brute is a hoodie,' said she. He came to the 
second one on the morrow, and he said to her, ' 'M-pos-u-mi 
Wilt thou wed me?' 'Not I, indeed,' said she; ' an ugly brute is 
a hoodie.' The third day he said to the youngest, ' 'M-pos-u-mi 
Wilt thou wed me farmer's daughter ?' ' I will wed thee,' 
said she ; ' a pretty creature is the hoodie.' And on the morrow 
they married. 

" The hoodie said to her, ' Whether wouldst thou rather that 
I should be a hoodie by day and a man at night ; or be a hoodie 
at night and a man by day ?' ' I would rather that thou wert a 
man by day and a hoodie at night,' says she. After this he was 
a splendid fellow by day and a hoodie at night. A few days 
after he got married he took her to his own house. 

" At the birth of the first child, there came at night the very 
finest music that ever was heard about the house. Every one 
slept, and the child was taken away. Her father came to the 
door in the morning, and he was both sorrowful and wrathful that 
the child was taken away. 

" The same thing, despite their watching, happened at the 
birth of the second child ; music sleep and stealing of the child. 
The same thing happened, too, at the birth of the third child, but 
on the morning of the next day they went to another house that 
they had, himself and his wife and his sisters-in-law. He said to 
them by the way, ' See that you have not forgotten something.' 
The wife said, * I forgot my coarse comb.' The coach in which 
they were fell a withered faggot, and he flew away as a hoodie ! 

" Her two sisters returned, and she followed after him. 
When he would be on a hill-top, she would follow to try and 
catch him ; and when she would reach the top of a hill, he would 
be in the hollow on the other side. When night came, and she 
was tired, she had no place of rest or dwelling. She saw a little 
house of light far from her, and though far from her, she was not 
long in reaching it. 

"When she reached the house she stood deserted at the 
door. She saw a little laddie about the house, and she yearned 
after him exceedingly. The house-wife told her to come in, that 
she knew her cheer and travel. She lay down, and no sooner 
did the day come than she rose. She went out, and as she was 
going from hill to hill, saw a hoodie, whom she followed as on the 
day before. She came to a second house ; saw a second laddie ; 






CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 295 

pursued the hoodie on a third day, and arrived at night at a third 
house. Here she was told she must not sleep, but be clever and 
catch the hoodie when he would visit her during night. But she 
slept ; he came where she was, and let fall a ring on her right 
hand. Now, when she woke, she tried to catch hold of him, and 
she caught a feather of his wing. He left the feather with her, 
and went away. In the morning she did not know what to do 
till the house-wife told her that he had gone over a hill of poison, 
over which she could not go without horse shoes on her hands 
and feet. She gave her man's clothes, and told her to learn 
smithying till she could make horse-shoes for herself. 

" This she did, and got over the hill of poison. But on the 
day of her arrival, she found that her husband was to be married 
to the daughter of a great gentleman that was in the town. As 
festivities were in progress, the cook of the house asked the 
stranger to take his place and make the wedding meal. She 
watched the bridegroom, and let fall the ring and feather in the 
broth intended for him. With the first spoon he took up the 
ring, with the next the feather. He asked for the person who 
cooked the meal, and said, 'that now was his married wife.' The 
spells went off him. They turned back over the hill of poison, 
she throwing the horse-shoes behind her to him, as she went a 
bit forward, and he following her. They went to the three houses 
where she had been. These were the houses of his three sisters ; 
and they took with them their three sons, and they came home to 
their own home, and they were happy." * 

Such is a good specimen of the folk-tale, and the folk-tales 
are merely the modern representatives of the old Mythology 
merely the detritus, as it were, of the old myths which dealt with 
the gods and the heroes of the race. In the above tale we are in 
quite a different world from the practical and scientific views of 
the iQth century; we have birds speaking and acting as rational 
beings, and yet exciting no wonder to the human beings they 
come in contact with ; supernatural spells whereby men may be 
turned into animals ; a marriage with a bird, which partially 
breaks these spells, and the bird becomes a man for part of 
the day; supernatural kidnapping, ending in the disappearance 
of the man-bird ; and pursuit of him by the wife through fairy 

* Abridged from Campbell's West Highland Tales, vol. i, p. 63. 



296 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

regions of charms and spells and untold hardships a pursuit 
which ends successfully. It looks all a wild maze of childish 
nonsense, unworthy of a moment's serious consideration ; it would 
certainly appear to be a hopeless subject for scientific research ; 
for what could science, whose object is truth, have to do with a 
tissue of absurdities and falsehoods ? But this view is a super- 
ficial one, though it is the one commonly held. On looking 
more deeply into the matter, we shall find that after all there is 
a method in the madness of Mythology, and that the incon- 
gruous mass of tales and broken-down myths that make up a 
nation's folk-lore is susceptible of scientific treatment. Science 
first attacks the problem by the method of comparison ; it com- 
pares the myths and tales of one nation with those of another, 
with the view of discovering similarities. The outlines, for ex- 
ample, of the tale already given, exist not merely in one or two 
more tales in our own folk-lore, but can also be traced over all 
the continent of Europe, as well as in many parts of Asia. The 
outline of the tale is this The youngest and best of three 
daughters is married or given up to some unsightly being or 
monster, who in reality is a most beautiful youth, but who is 
under certain spells to remain in a low form of life until some 
maiden is found to marry him. He then regains his natural 
form, though, as a rule, only partially; and the newly- 
married pair have to work out his complete redemption 
from the spells. But, just as he is about to be free from 
the spells, the curiosity or disobedience of the wife ruins every- 
thing; he disappears, and then follows for the wife the dark 
period of wandering and toil, which can be brought to an end 
only by the achievement of tasks, generally three in number, 
each hopelessly beyond human powers. The husband, who 
meanwhile has forgotten, owing to the nature of the spells upon 
him, all about his wife, is on the eve of marrying another, when 
the last task of all is accomplished by the persevering courage of 
the wife. The spells then leave him for ever, and happiness 
reigns in the household ever after. 

There are in our Highland folk-lore one or two versions of 
this same tale. The story of the "Daughter of the Skies," in Mr 
Campbell's book, is one variation. Here the hoodie-crow is re- 
placed by a little doggie, and the wife's disobedience is clearly 
brought out, while the supernatural machinery the magical 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 297 

scissors and needle, for example is much more elaborate. The 
tale also is found in Norway ; in the Norse tale, " East of the 
Sun and West of the Moon," the hero appears at first as a white 
bear, who, on his marriage with the heroine, becomes a man by 
night. She must not, however, see him, for light must not fall on 
his body or else he at once disappears. But the wife, instigated 
by her mother, steals a sight of him by lamp-light, with the con- 
sequence that he awakes and vanishes. Then follow her trials, 
pursuit, and recovery of him. The beautiful Greek tale of Psyche 
and Cupid is but a variation of the same myth. Psyche, the 
youngest of three royal daughters, incurs the wrath of Venus, 
who sends Cupid to inspire her with love for something con- 
temptible ; as Titania, in Shakespeare, is made to fall in love with 
the transformed weaver, Bottom. But Cupid, captivated by her 
beauty, falls in love with her himself, conveys her to a secret 
cave, and visits her only at night, under strict charge of her not 
attempting to see him by any light. Her jealous sisters persuade 
her that she is married to some ugly monster, and she accord- 
ingly determines to disobey his injunctions, and inspect him by 
lamp-light. In so doing, she allows in her admiration of his 
beauty, a drop of hot oil to fall on his shoulder, and he awakes, 
and escapes. She suffers woes untold in her pursuit of him, 
being finally a slave in the household of Venus, who treats her 
very cruelly. But, of course, she recovers her lost lover at long 
last. And, again, in India, in the old religious books of the 
Brahmins, is a somewhat similar tale the story of Urvasi and 
Pururavas, the main features of which are the same as the Gaelic 
and Greek tales already given. To the English reader, the well- 
known tale of " Beauty and the Beast" will at once occur as an 
exact parallel to all these. And, if we take the myths where the 
heroine is the loathly monster, we shall find an equally wide 
distribution. We have the Hindu tale, where the Princess is 
disguised as a withered old woman ; the Loathly Lady of Teu- 
tonic Mythology; and the Celtic story of Diarmad's love for the 
daughter of the king of the Land under the Waves, who appears 
first as a hideous monster, and becomes, on approaching Diarmad, 
the most beautiful woman ever seen. 

Thus, then, we have traced the same myth among nations so 
widely apart as the Celts and Hindus, while, intermediate between 
these, we found it among the Greeks and Teutons. And some 



29 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

myths are even more widely distributed than that; the tale of the 
'imprisoned maiden and the hero who rescues her from the dragon 
or monster appears among all the nations of Europe as well as 
among many of the nations of Asia. Hence, from India in the 
East, to Ireland in the West, we may find a great mass of mythi- 
cal tales common to the various nations. And this being the 
case, it may plainly become a matter of scientific enquiry, first, 
What the cause of these peculiar myths and tales can be ? and, 
secondly, What the significance is of their wide distribution ? 

CAUSE OF MYTH. 

The cause and origin of these myths have puzzled philoso- 
phers of all ages, and it is only a generation ago when the first 
unravelling of the difficult problem really took place. In olden 
times their origin was set down to the well-known faculty of 
invention that man possesses ; they were mere inventions and 
fictions, mostly purposeless, though some were evidently in- 
tended for explanations of natural phenomena or of historical 
events, and others again for the conveyance of moral truth. 
There were practically two schools of myth-explainers ; those 
who regarded myths as mere allegories or parables, and 
from them extracted codes of moral obligation and hidden 
knowledge of the mysteries of nature ; and, again, those 
who, so to speak, "rationalised" the myths that is to say, 
those who explained myths as exaggerated real events. Some 
of these explained, for example, Jupiter as king of Crete 
in the pre-historic times; and, again, the giant that Jack 
killed, according to such explanations, was not necessarily 
far exceeding the natural limit of six or seven feet in height, 
for the only point to notice was that he was a big burly 
brute of little sense, overcome by the astuteness of a much lesser 
man. But this theory gets into grave difficulties when it 
grapples with the supernatural and the supranatural ; in fact, it 
fails ignominiously. And as to the allegorical theory, while it has 
no difficulty in explaining Jack the Giant Killer as merely the 
personification of the truth that power of mind is superior to 
power of body, that theory is completely wrecked in explaining 
the myths of Jupiter and the gods generally. No allegory can 
explain most of these myths, especially the older myths; while 
the different explanations given by different " allegorizers " of 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 293 

even the simplest myths point to a fundamental error in this 
theory. Now, it must not be supposed that both allegory and 
real events had no share in the formation of myths ; they were, 
indeed, most potent factors in the later stages of Mythology, and 
must have existed all along as a cause for myth. Another theory 
may be noticed in passing as to the origin of myths in regard to 
the deities and cosmogony of the world. It may be called the 
" degradation " theory, and the principle of it is this : As all 
languages were supposed by theologians to be descendants of the 
original Hebrew tongue spoken in Eden, so the Mythology of all 
nations must be more or less a broken-down remembrance of the 
Hebrew religion and philosophy, first imparted to man in the 
Garden of Eden. The stoutest supporter of this view is Mr 
Gladstone. He goes so far as to hold that distinct traces of the 
Trinity can be found in Greek Mythology, and he consequently 
resolves Zeus, Appollo, and Athena into the three persons of the 
Trinity ! Supposing for a moment that this theory of the 
degradation of myth was true, or, indeed, that our only explana- 
tion was either or both of the other theories, what a mass of 
senseless wickedness and immorality much of the deservedly 
admired Greek Mythology would be? Such theories would 
argue equal wickedness in the race from whose fancy such inven- 
tions sprung: for the Greek Olympus is very full of rapine, pari- 
cide, and vice. Yet the Greeks were neither an immoral nor 
degraded race, but far otherwise. It is this dark side of a 
nation's Mythology that has puzzled and shocked so many 
philosophers, and made shipwreck of their theories as to the 
origin of myths. 

With the rise of the science of language and its marked 
success, all within this century, a complete revolution has taken 
place, not merely in the case of philology itself, but also in the 
kindred subjects of Ethnology and Mythology. The methods 
adopted in linguistic research have also been adopted in the case 
of Mythology first, all preconceptions and national prejudices 
have been put aside ; then a careful, even painful examination 
and comparison of languages have been made, to find laws of 
interchange of sounds ; a consequent discovery of the relationships 
between languages has taken place ; and lastly, a discussion as 
to the origin of language is thus rendered possible. Exactly 
the same methods have been employed in the elucidation of 



3 oo THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

myths, with a success that, on the whole, is gratifying. In so 
airy and fanciful a subject, results of such strict scientific accuracy 
cannot be obtained as in the kindred science of language. And 
a good deal of harm has also been done, even with scientific 
methods, by pressing some theories of explanation too far. Some 
Mythologists, for example, are too apt to reduce every myth to a 
myth about the sun, and hence the evil repute of the " solar 
myth " theory. But this is merely a good theory injudiciously 
used ; it does not alter the fact of the importance in Mythology 
of the sun worship. 



GLENQUAICH. 

[THE Breadalbane Clearances were effected on an extensive scale ; and Glen- 
quaich, rendered classic by the genius of Sir Walter Scott in " Waverley," probably 
suffered more by this scourge than any other locality in the district. These evictions 
were the work of John, second Marquis of Breadalbane, who died at Lausanne in 
1862, and his factor, Wyllie, a name, speaking from experience, that is redolent of 
unhallowed memories to the honest, well-to-do Breadalbane settlers in Canada.] 

I well remember when this lonely glen 

Was thickly peopled with a race of men 

Whose sires from foe were never known to turn, 

Who fought and won with Bruce at Bannockburn ; 

(Alas, at Flodden and Culloden too !) 

In Egypt, India, Spain, at Waterloo, 

Or wheresoe'er their country called them forth, 

Aye ready were the brave sons of the North ; 

Their gallant deeds will never cease to be 

The brightest page in British history. 

Forgotten this to their descendants dear, 
Harsh rule their lot and cruelties severe ; 
Alas ! from homes their father's swords had won, 
Were driven forth from much-loved Caledon, 
From all held sacred forced like brutes away, 
The young, the stalwart, and the old and gray, 
By lordling's whim and crafty factor's sway. 

Evicted thus were Albyn's sons of fame, 
Their lands are teeming now with sheep and game ! 
How sad and lonesome this once happy glen, 
Where, oh Glenquaich ! have gone thy gallant men ? 

Doomed on whom falls the heartless factor's frown, 
Oh, God, arise and crush such tyrants down ! 

v v DUNCAN MACGREGOR CRERAR. 

^ew \ork. 



301 



THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 
By the EDITOR. 

V. 

XIII. EWEN CAMERON, was called " Eoghainn Beag " to 
distinguish him from his grandfather, Eoghainn MacAilein, who, 
as we have seen in our last chapter, outlived Donald, his eldest 
son (Eoghainn Beag's father), for many years. Eoghainn Beag, 
in consequence, succeeded his grandfather as thirteenth chief of 
the clan, but nothing is known of his short and apparently un- 
eventful career, except the manner in which he met his death in 
early life. When quite a young man he became acquainted with 
a daughter of Macdougall of Lome, by whom he had a son, 
" Domhnull MacEoghainn Bhig," better known as " Taillear 
Dubh na Tuaighe," afterwards one of the most celebrated 
warriors of the clan, and whose career was well described by 
Mrs Mary Mackellar in our last issue. 

The cause and manner of the death of the chief is thus de- 
scribed : "Being in his younger years much enamoured of a 
daughter of the Laird of Macdougall, he found the lady so 'com- 
plisant' that she fell with child to him. Her father dissembled 
his resentment and artfully drew Lochiel to a communing in Is- 
land-na-Cloiche, where, having previously concealed a party of 
men, he made him his prisoner, upon his refusing to marry her, 
and shut him up in the Castle of Inch-Connel, in Lochow, a 
freshwater lake, at a good distance from Lochaber, to which his 
friends could not have easy access, on account of the difficulty of 
providing themselves with boats. As soon as the news came to 
Lochaber, his clan resolved to hazard all for his relief, and, hav- 
ing made the necessary preparations, his foster-father, Martin 
MacDhonnachaidh of Letter-Finlay, chief of the MacMartins, 
an ancient and numerous tribe of the Camerons, put himself at 
the head of a numerous party, and soon made himself master of 
the castle. Lochiel was then playing at cards with his keeper or 
governor, named Mac Arthur, and was so overjoyed at his ap- 
proaching delivery, that, observing him much alarmed at the 



302 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

noise made by the assailants, he over-hastily discovered the de- 
sign for which he paid dear. For the villain [MacArthur,] to 
satisfy his own and his master's resentment, immediately ex- 
tinguished the lights, and thrusting his dirk or poniard below the 
table, which stood between them, wounded him in the belly. 
His deliverers, in the meantime, rushing into his apartment, 
carried him to their boats, where, the night being cold, he called 
for an oar to heat himself with exercise, but upon stretching his 
body, he became first sensible of his wound, which soon after 
proved mortal. His party having landed and put him to bed re- 
turned to the castle, and, in revenge of his death, dispatched Mac- 
Arthur and all the men that were with him." * Ewen Beag and 
his followers refused to attend a Royal Court held at Inverness in 
1552, when a commission was granted to the Earls of Huntly and 
Argyll against the Camerons and the Macdonalds of Clanranald, 
who proceeded to Lochaber against them, but the result is in- 
volved in obscurity. Ewen died about this time; but whether 
he was captured and executed under Huntly's commission, has 
not been ascertained. It is, however, placed beyond dispute that 
he must have died before 1554, for in that year Queen Mary 
granted to George, Earl of Huntly and Murray, the nonentry 
dues of all the lands belonging to " the deceased Ewin Camroun, 
alias Littil Ewin, Captain of the Clancamroun, and also the mar- 
riage of his brother and heir, Donald Dow, or other lawful heir."f 
Leaving no legitimate issue, he was succeeded by his brother, 
XIV. DONALD CAMERON, commonly known as " Domhnull 
Dubh Mac Dhomhnuill," who is found on record in 1 564. In that 
year Queen Mary granted to "Donald Cameroun, the son and 
heir of the deceased Donald Cameroun or Alansoun of Locheill, 
the five pennylands, called Lettirfinlay, of the old extent of 403. ; 
the five pennylands, called Stronnabaw, of the same old extent ; 
and the five pennylands of Lindalie, of the old extent of 505., all 
of which were formerly held by them of the deceased George, Earl 
of Huntlie, by whom the lands were forfeited.''^ The Earl of 
Huntly had been convicted and forfeited for high treason in the 
previous year for his opposition to the Queen during her visit to 
Inverness. On that occasion Donald Cameron of Lochiel joined 

* Memoirs of Lochiel, pp. 33-34. f Origines Parochiaks Scotiae. 
%0rigines Parochiaks Scotiae^ Vol. ii., Part ii., p. 177, 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 303 

her Majesty against the forces of the rebellious Earl, arriving 
too late to meet her at Inverness, but just in time to take a part 
with his followers in the battle of Corrichy. His lands had been 
forfeited with those of the Earl, who was Lochiel's superior, but 
on application they were restored as a reward for his personal 
loyalty on this occasion, and the faithful services previously 
rendered by him since he had assumed the chiefship of his clan. 
The charter differed from the previous one, insomuch that it was 
changed from a blench few into a ward, but, according to the 
family chronicler, ennobled with all the immunities and privileges 
that the Earl and his predecessors formerly enjoyed. 

Donald was murdered, during a violent dispute that broke out 
among the clan towards the end of Queen Mary's reign, by some 
of his own kinsmen, the chief instruments of his death being his 
uncles, Ewen, progenitor of the Camerons of Erracht; and John, 
the founder of the family of Kinlochiel, both younger sons of 
Ewen Allanson, twelfth chief, who was executed, as we have al- 
ready seen, with Donald Glas Macdonald of Keppoch, at Elgin, 
in 1547* 

According to the " Memoirs," he was married to a daughter 
of the Laird of Maclean, by whom he had a posthumous son, 
who succeeded his father. Here the author of the " Memoirs" is 
undoubtedly in error. If this Donald Dubh was really married, 
he does not appear to have left any issue. And, according to all 
the authorities, as well as the current traditions of the country, he 
was succeeded as chief by his infant nephew, son of Ian Dubh or 
Black John, a third son of Donald, the eldest son of Ewen Allan- 
son, twelfth chief, by Anne Grant of Grant. This young chief 
was 

XV. ALLAN CAMERON, generally described in contemporary 
records as Alan " Mac Ian Duibh," but sometimes as Alan " Mac 
Dhomhnuill Duibh," the latter applied to him, it seems, as the pat- 
ronymic of the clan. This will account for the error into which 
the author of the " Memoirs " has fallen in calling him the son of 
" Donald Dubh," his predecessor in the chiefship, while in point 
of fact he was Donald's nephew, and direct progenitor of the pre- 
sent head of the house of Lochiel. His granduncles, Erracht and 
Kinlochiel, took possession of the estate, on the pretence that 

* See p. 156, where the progenitor of Erracht is erroneously called Donald. 



3 o 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

they were acting as Allan's natural guardians, but it was 
feared by the more immediate friends of the young chief 
that his life was not safe from his grasping relatives if he 
should remain in Lochaber. They, therefore, had him re- 
moved to Mull, to be brought up and cared for under the 
charge of his mother's relations, the Macleans of Duart. During 
his absence the clan was governed by his uncles, but Gregory 
informs us that, they having made themselves obnoxious by 
their insolence and tyranny, Donald Mac Eoghainn Bhig, "the 
bastard son of a former chief," was brought forward by a party 
in the clan to oppose them. The Laird of Mackintosh, taking 
advantage of these dissensions, invaded the Cameron territory, 
and forced Erracht and Kinlochiel to enter into a treaty regard- 
ing the disputed lands of Glenluy and Locharkaig, which was 
considered very disadvantageous to the Camerons ; and the feel- 
ing displayed by the clan when the terms of this treaty became 
known was so strong that the uncles, who entered into it, were 
compelled to repudiate it, and to prepare at once for an immediate 
attack on the Mackintoshes. To strengthen themselves in the 
expedition against Clan Chattan, they attempted a reconciliation 
with Donald Mac Eoghainn, better known as " Taillear Dubh na 
Tuaighe," and arranged a meeting with him and some of his 
followers at the Castle of Inverlochy, where Ewen of Erracht was 
murdered by some of Donald's followers, and John of Kinlochiel 
was compelled to leave the district ; but the latter was afterwards 
apprehended by the Earl of Argyll, at the instance of Donald 
the Bastard, and executed at the Castle of Dunstaffnage. Allan 
of Lochiel was then called home, when, induced by false reports 
of evil intentions alleged to be entertained towards him by 
Donald Mac Eoghainn, he consented to have him put to death,* 
an act so strongly resented by the clan, with whom Donald was a 
great favourite, that Allan himself was obliged to leave Lochaber 
for a time, until, while resident in Appin, he nearly lost his life 
in a local broil, the clan invited him home, and, about the year 
1585, he again assumed command of his clan.f 

* Allan was told on his return that not only was Donald Mac Eoghainn Bhig re- 
sponsible for the death of Allan's uncles, but that he was guilty of the more criminal 
design of depriving Allan himself of his life and fortune, " upon pretence that he 
. was no bastard, but the son of a lawful marriage." 

t Gregory, Highlands and Isles, pp, 228-229. 






HISTORY OF THE CAMERON'S. 305 

When Allan first returned to Lochaber he was about seven- 
teen years of age. The broil which had nearly cost him his life in 
Appin is thus described at length in the " Memoirs :" " The Laird 
of Glenurchy, predecessor to the Earl of Breadalbane, chosing to 
hold a Baron court in that neighbourhood, Lochiel went thither 
to divert himself, and there, accidentally meeting with one Mac- 
dougall of Fairlochine, a near relation of the bastard, he challenged 
him upon some unmannerly expressions which he had formerly 
dropped against him with relation to that gentleman's death. 
But Macdougall, instead of excusing himself, gave such a rude 
answer as provoked Lochiel to make a blow at him with his 
sword, and some of the bye-standers, willing to prevent the con- 
sequences, seized and held him [Lochiel] fast. While he made a 
most violent struggle to get loose, one of his servants, happening 
to come up at the same time, fancied that he was apprehended by 
Glenurchy's orders, whom he foolishly suspected to have designs 
upon his life. This put the fellow into such a rage that he had 
not patience to examine into the matter ; but, encountering with 
Archibald, Glenurchy's eldest son, whom the noise of the bustle had 
drawn thither in that unlucky juncture, he barbarously plunged 
his dagger into his heart. The multitude, upon this, turned their 
swords against the unhappy fellow, but he, with his dirk in the one 
hand, and his sword in the other, defended himself with that in- 
credible valour, that it is likely he would have escaped by the 
favour of approaching night, if he had not, as he retreated back- 
ward, stumbled upon a plough that took him behind and brought 
him to the ground, where he was cut to pieces. No sooner had 
the enraged multitude dispatched the servant than they furiously 
rushed upon the master, who, though he received several wounds, 
had the good fortune, after a vigorous and gallant defence, to 
make his escape, wherein he was much assisted by the darkness 
of the night, which covered his retreat. The news of this, and 
several other adventures, made his clan impatient to have him 
among them. All their divisions were now at an end, and their 
chief was of sufficient age and capacity to manage his own affairs, 
so that he was welcomed to Lochaber with universal joy." 

Allan was a brave chief. He made several raids into the 
Mackintosh country, carrying away with him large booties on 
those occasions. In the quarrels which then raged so hotly 
between the Earls of Moray and Huntly, Lochiel joined the 



306 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

latter, and guarded the Castle of Ruthven for Huntly, while he 
attempted unsuccessfully to repair it. This involved Lochiel in 
constant feuds and sanguinary conflicts with the Mackintoshes, 
but he generally succeeded in getting the best of them, and was 
often able to carry a rich spoil from the enemy's country to his 
own. 

In a letter by Robert Bowes to Lord Burleigh, dated the 23rd 
of September 1591, describing what the king, who was then 
at Perth, was doing, he mentions, among other things, his 
Majesty's attempt to appease the quarrels and slaughters which 
then daily occurred between the Earl of Huntly and the lairds 
of Grant and Mackintosh, with others, in which the lairds of 
Lochaber and Cameron had " killed XLI. of Macintoyshes men, 
and XXIII. tennants of Grant, and hurt the Larde of Balen- 
dalough." Soon after this Lochiel again defeated the Mackin- 
toshes on their own lands of Badenoch, with a loss of fifty men. 

An indenture was entered into between Huntly and Allan 
Cameron of Lochiel, dated 6th of March 1590-1, by which the 
latter became bound to assist Huntly against all his enemies, 
particularly the Mackintoshes and Grants ; while the Earl, on the 
other hand, engaged to reward Allan to his entire satisfaction, 
and promised him that he should enter into no agreement with 
his own opponents which did not also include Lochiel. In terms 
of this agreement, Allan Cameron fought with Huntly at the 
battle of Glenlivet, in 1594, where, at the head of a few of his 
clan, he performed signal service against his old enemies, the 
Mackintoshes, whom " he defeated, and pursued with great eager- 
ness, and did Huntly such services as merited a different reward 
from that which he afterwards got," an account of which, with the 
remaining portion of Allan's career, must be held over for our 
next. 

(To be continued.) 



NEW GAELIC PUBLICATION. Mr Neil Macleod, one of the best and 
sweetest of living Gaelic bards, has a selection of his Poems and Songs in the press, 
under the title of "Clarsach an Doire." The work will be issued immediately by 
Messrs Maclachlan & Stewart, Edinburgh, and A. & W. Mackenzie, Celtic Magazine 
Office, Inverness. 



307 

THE GLENDALE CROFTERS. 

THE result of the trial of the Glendale crofters has been in strict accord with the 
expectations of all who have studied the long and sorrowful story of which this is the 
latest chapter. The Judges are obliged to act upon statutes framed by a class in their 
own interests ; and in the present instance it was hardly possible for them to be more 
lenient than they have been. It is beyond their Lordships' province to rise to the 
region of equity; and the administrators of the law in Scotland have never been known 
to violate its letter, except, perhaps, where they had to deal with a statute passed in the 
interest of tempei'ance or to give the farmer a title to destroy the rabbits feeding upon 
his crops. Then, as in that queer case from Kelso the other day, the statute is apt to 
kick the beam in the interest of the public-house ; and nobody needs to be told how 
the Court of Session drove more than the proverbial coach-and-six through the 
Rabbits Bill, and made of no account the law that had been newly enacted at West- 
minster for the protection of the farmer. All these things are duly noted by the 
public, and the sentence passed on the crofters has this moral disadvantage attaching 
to it that nobody thinks any the worse of the poor men who are now in prison. They 
were loudly cheered as they left the dock ; their families will be well seen to in spite 
of the Scotsmatfs sneers at their friends while they remain in custody ; and they will 
be certain to get a warm welcome from the public when the day of liberation arrives. 
It does not seem to be a desirable thing that the moral sense of the community 
should be excited in favour of men who have been sent to jail. Either that moral 
sense or the law with which it conflicts must be defective. In the present case we do 
not believe that the feeling of the community can be said to be at fault. If any one 
wishes to become fully acquainted with the facts that account for the feeling, let him pro- 
cure the handsome volume that has just been issued under the title of "The History of 
the Highland Clearances."* Its author, Mr A. Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot., who fills 
the office of Dean of Guild at Inverness, is singled out, along with Professor Blackie, 
by the Edinburgh organ of the Parliament House and the Whig oligarchy for 
special reprobation. Our contemporary, in its impression of yesterday, assails him 
with great violence and in language which strikes us as perilously near libel. It 
says he is responsible for putting the Glendale men in prison, and that he will 
leave them to pay the penalty now that they are reaping the fruit of the advice 
that he and his friends have given. Mr Mackenzie will probably never dream 
of making legal reprisals upon his culminator ; nor has he the slightest occasion 
to be ashamed of the work for which he is so bitterly abused by the Scotsman. 
He has the satisfaction of knowing that his efforts to deliver the crofters from that 
condition of poverty to which they have been reduced by a system of legalised spolia- 
tion and robbery have not been in vain, and that they are now on the eve of leading 
to most important results. It is this fact, doubtless, that explains the increasing 
acerbity of the organ of the so-called political economists and of the legal pedants at 
Edinburgh. It is terribly annoyed to see a Royal Commission granted, and still 
more, perhaps, to discover that in spite of all its prophesying the people of this country 
have arrived at the decided conclusion that the crofters are the victims of a huge in- 
justice, and that their grievous wrongs must be redressed. Mr Mackenzie's book 
places it beyond all doubt that, when they have not been cruelly evicted after the 
gentle manner of the Sutherland Clearances, where the mother in childbed and the 

Published at the office of the Celtic Magazine in Inverness, by Messrs A. & W. Mackenzie. 



3 o8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

aged grandparents unable to rise from their chairs have been lifted out on to the road- 
side, while the dwelling in which they had spent their life was reduced before their 
eyes to ashes, the Highland peasantry have been systematically deprived of the graz- 
ing ground, without which it was impossible for them to make a comfortable living. 
In this way a pretext has been manufactured for the lying allegation that their country 
is not able to support them, and that the only alternative is expatriation. This is the 
grand outstanding fact illustrated on every page of the record. The poor people have 
been driven from the good ground on which they made a good living to bad ground 
on which nobody could live ; they have been ousted from their peaceful glens and 
thrown like weeds upon the sea-shore ; and then overcrowding has been urged as an 
excuse for the process of depopulation. The entire system is one worthier of despotic 
Russia than of constitutional Britain. It makes our blood run cold to read of the 
enormities that have been perpetrated, which the law has ever been ready to screen, 
and the Scotsman to vindicate with its pretentious philosophy and its affected reverence 
for a law to which it has always rendered abject submission except when it was 
mulcted in damages for defaming Mr Duncan M'Laren. In that case it took leave to 
speak of the law in terms which it would no doubt deem most flagitious were they em- 
ployed by the Glendale crofters to-day. We observe that Mr Mackenzie has been 
called to account by Mr Thomas Sellar, a son of the Duke of Sutherland's old factor, 
for reprinting what Donald Macleod wrote in his " Gloomy Memories " about Mr 
Sellar's case. We cannot help thinking that Mr Thomas Sellar has been ill-advised. 
He may make matters worse so far as his family name is concerned ; we do not see 
how he will be able to improve them. Mr Mackenzie has taken the proper course. 
He will immediately issue a reprint of the full report of Sellar's trial, which took place 
in 1816. This will give the public an opportunity of judging the whole question foi 
themselves. The report has become so rare that it is scarcely possible to procure a 
copy of it. The surviving friends of Mr Mackid have no reason to regret the resurrec- 
tion of this trial. It will throw a lurid light on the story of the Highland evictions ; 
and it will probably do a public good by intensifying the determination of the public 
that the impending inquiry must be a reality and not a sham. Leader, Greenock 
Telegraph, 



THE GLENDALE CROFTERS. The Glendale Crofters, as is well known, 
were convicted of a technical Contempt of Court for Breach of Interdict the Judges 
dealing with the law and the facts in their own case and sentenced to two months 
imprisonment. The Editor of the Celtic Magazine visited them in Calton Prison, 
Edinburgh, on the 6th of April, and intimated to them, as he had done at a meeting 
of friends on the previous evening in the Royal Hotel, Edinburgh, that he had 
succeeded in collecting a sum of 20 among Inverness friends to aid in the mainten- 
ance of themselves and families during their incarceration. The men expressed 
themselves extremely grateful for the interest taken by outsiders in their case, and 
requested Mr Mackenzie to intimate to their friends that they are more comfortable in 
prison than they could have possibly anticipated ; that every official was as considerate 
as the regulations would allow ; and that they had not-hing but good to say of everyone 
connected with the prison. They were all in the same room, and were provided with 
the best bedding and a fire, while their food was regularly sent in to them three times 
a day from a restaurant. They asked Mr Mackenzie to request their friends at home 
not to commit any act which would bring odium on those who sympathised with them 
outside, and that they should keep strictly within the law. John Morrison the eldest 
of the three had been complaining, but he was fast recovering, and the others were in 
excellent health and spirits. Believing as they did that the circumstance was not 
accidental, they were much delighted at the enlivenment of their evenings by frequently 
hearing the bagpipes in the neighbourhood playing familiar airs, an arrangement by 
their Edinburgh friends of a remarkably considerate and delicate nature. 






309 
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

IV. WHAT is RENT ? -(Continued.) 

THE appearance of Mr George's book, " Progress and Poverty," 
marks an era in the development of thought on the subject of 
land in English-speaking countries, not on account of any scientific 
merit which it possesses, but because it appeals most powerfully 
to an already awakened public conscience, roused into activity 
by a sense of injustice and inequality, which could only arise by 
the existence of privilege and unequal laws. This feeling is not 
confined to countries like the United Kingdom and India, with 
their teeming populations ; but it also extends to the United 
States, the Dominion of Canada, and the Australian Colonies. 

Only for its wide circulation, and for the large share of the 
public attention which his book has commanded, it would be 
hardly necessary to notice Mr George's discussion of what he calls 
" The laws of distribution," but as rent forms the main subject, or 
problem, of which he professes to have given a scientific solution, 
I shall make a brief digression in order to show how completely 
he fails to explain the phenomenon of natural rent, and how an 
adherence to Ricardo's theory seems to have mystified him, and 
led him to a dangerous conclusion. 

I may remind the reader that, in a former paper, I pointed 
out how the landlord, as such, could not find a place in my class- 
ification of values, nor in an equation of justice according to 
Aristotle's formula of distribution. For the same reason, as I 
shall subsequently show, natural rent cannot become a term in 
proportionals, but, strange to say, Mr George not only gives a 
law of rent, but he makes it also a term in his laivs of distribu- 
tion, while he finishes up by proposing its confiscation. 

To any one who has a proper conception of what law is, 
especially natural law, it must appear evident that the reason for 
confiscation is that a thing is unlawful. This inconsistency of 
reason, or argument, is hardly more remarkable than Mr George's 
method of dealing with profit and interest : 

"Thus, neither in its common meaning, nor in the meaning expressly assigned to it 
in the current political economy, can profits have any place in the discussion of the 

U 



3IO THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

distribution of wealth between the three factors of production. Either in its common 
meaning, or in the meaning expressly assigned to it, to talk about the distribution of 
wealth into rent, wages, and profits, is like talking of the division of mankind into 
men, women, and human beings." [Shakespeare divided mankind into men, women, 

and children.] 

"Yet, this, to the utter bewilderment of the reader, is what is done in all the 
standard works.' After formally decomposing profits into wages of superintendence, 
compensation for risk and interest the net return for the use of capital they proceed 
to treat of the distribution of wealth between the rent of land, the wages of labour, and 
the profits of capital. 

" I doubt not that there are thousands of men who have vainly puzzled their 
brains over this confusion of terms, and abandoned the effort in despair, thinking that 
as the fault could not be in such great thinkers, it must be in their own stupidity. 
If it is any consolation to such men they may turn to Buckle's ' History of Civilisa- 
tion,' and see how a man who certainly got a marvelously clear idea of what he read, 
and who read carefully the principal economists, from Smith down, was inextricably 
confused by this jumble of profits and interest. For Buckle (vol. I., chap. II., and 
notes), persistently speaks of the distribution of wealth into rent, wages, interest, 
and profits." 

In my last article, I quoted in full the passage referred to, 
chiefly with a view to point out that Ricardo's theory is the bone 
of contention. Buckle does not mention interest as a term, for 
the very good reason that he regarded, like all others, interest to 
be included under the more general and comprehensive term, 
profit. The gist of the passage is expressed in the following 
sentence : 

" The great law of the ratio between the cost of labour and the profits of stock, 
is the highest generalisation we have reached respecting the distribution of wealth, but 
it cannot be consistently admitted by any one who holds that rent enters into price. " 

But, to show further how grossly Mr George misrepresents 
Buckle, who appears to have been as clear upon the subject of 
which he treats as Mr George is confused, I shall give one more 
quotation. In the third volume, p. 336, he says : 

" But what is more remarkable still, is, that their author (Hume,) subsequently 
detected the fundamental error which Adam Smith committed, and which vitiates 
many of his conclusions. The error consists in his -having resolved price into three 
components, namely, wages, profit, and rent, whereas it is known that price is a corn- 
id of wages and profit, and that rent is not an element of it. This discovery is the 
stone of political economy ; but it is established by an argument so long and 
ied that most minds are unable to pursue it without stumbling, and the majority 
of those who acquiesce in it are influenced by the great writers to whom they pay 
rence, and whose judgment they follow." 

It must be clear to everyone that the ratio must be between 
wages and profit, and not between wages and interest, Even if 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 311 

Mr George could change the terminology of political economy, 
he cannot alter our ordinary apprehension of things. To substi- 
tute the word interest for the word profit will not make business 
men keep their books differently, or make us believe that two 
things which are essentially different in their operations can be 
otherwise described than under their proper names. Interest, as 
everyone knows, is what is paid for the use of money, and the 
ordinary rate in every country depends on the average rate of 
profits. We can even conceive of wealth to become so abund- 
ant, and so generally diffused among all classes in a country, as 
to render borrowing unnecessary for productive purposes, and 
yet there would be profits, and a ratio between wages and profits. 
The author of " Progress and Poverty " devotes eight chap- 
ters to the discussion of what he terms the " Laws of Distribu- 
tion," and professes to propound a law of wages, a law of interest, 
and a law of rent, and to crown these with a geometrical cer- 
tainty he devotes a chapter to the "correlation and co-ordination 
of these laws." 

"The laws of the distribution of wealth are obviously laws of proportion, and 
must be so related to each other that any two being given, the third may be inferred." 

As an example of this law of proportion, he says : 

"To fix Dick's share at 40 per cent., and Harry's share at 35 per cent., is to fix 
Tom's share at 25 per cent." 

Proportion is a ride of ratios, and on this side of the Atlantic 
there are usually three terms given in order to ascertain a fourth. 
We do not say, as 40 is to 35, so is 25 to the whole, because that 
would be absurd. If the produce be divided in three shares it is 
no longer a question of ratio. But Mr George himself, conscious 
that there was something wrong, remarks : "In truth, the prim- 
ary division of wealth is dual, not tripartite'' Then, as the Rule of 
Three does not fit in with the argument, this new light on economic 
science is to be explained by a tripartite proportional ! 

But the cause of Mr George's confusion is, I think, to be ex- 
plained on the supposition that he mistakes the properties of 
a triangle for the properties of proportionals, and, perhaps, this 
is the reason why he adopts the term tripartite. Now, we know 
that the three angles of any triangle, taken together, are equal to 
two right angles ; and that, two angles being given, we know the 
remaining angle ; or, one angle being given, we know the sum 



3 , 2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

of the other two angles. So, in like manner, if we know Tom's 
and Dick's shares we know Harry's ; or, if we know Tom's share 
we know the sum of Dick's and Harry's. 

What is this but to say what Adam Smith said, namely, that 
the price of produce was divided between wages, profit, and rent? 

But the generalisation to which Buckle refers, as the most 
advanced step in political economy, is a ratio between wages and 
profits of which rent does not form a component part. This 
fact is of the highest significance, but it cannot be explained on 
Ricardo's materialistic theory of rent arising from a resort to lower 
gradations of soil, upon which Mr George depends for his deduc- 
tions. Although this is not the place to discuss it, I may so far 
anticipate as to suggest that the converse of this theory is the 
true one. Rent, or that increase of value of the superficies which 
accrues to the landlord over and above the labour bestowed upon 
the ameliorations, arises from the increase of population, and from 
this greater density of population there is a residuum, arising 
from the conjoint action of society, which reverts on the land, 
over and above the average remuneration of individual labour. 
This evidently does not enter into price, nor fall a burden upon 
anyone. Therefore, the increase in the value of the superficies of 
land evidently follows a law of increase of population, as we 
clearly see in the growth of towns, and this increase graduates from 
a focus, or centre being highest where the pressure is greatest 
and diminishes outward as the squares of the distances increase. 
This applies to agricultural land as well, for land in the vicinity 
of large towns bring a higher rent than those at a greater distance 
of the same quality. We also find that with the increase and 
greater density of population, there is a corresponding increase 
in the expenses of the government of society, both municipal and 
imperial. Then this phenomenon of increasing rent, which ac- 
crues to the landlord, and does not enter into price, acquires over- 
whelming significance, inasmuch at it points to a law of design 
in connection with human society in a state of civilised organi- 
zation, in the pursuit of peaceful industry; for the Great Designer, 
who placed the coal and iron, the silver and gold, and all other 
ities in the earth, in their due proportions, would seem to have 
>rovided a fund for the revenue of the Soverign for the civil and 
moral government of man, whilst leaving to each individual 
workman the full fruits of his own labour. Such a law of increase 



i 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 313 

would seem to form a connecting link, as it were, between the 
moral and physical world. 

Taking this view of the subject, it will be easily seen that 
this residuum could not form a term in proportionals or follow a 
law of distribution, and I have already shown that the theory of 
gradations of soil is not true in fact, even in respect of agri- 
cultural land, whilst it leads to the pernicious conclusion that 
value resides in materiality apart from human labour. This 
belief has vitiated Mr George's argument, and led him to a 
dangerous conclusion. 

Having so far indicated my own line of thought, I shall now 
proceed to examine briefly the manner in which he formulates 
his laws of distribution. 

It has already been pointed out that Mr George has com- 
pletely misapprehended the idea of ratio, as explained by Buckle, 
and the way in which he regards profits and interest shows a 
want of familiarity with commercial pursuits. 

"The harmony and correlation of the laws of distribution, as we have now appre- 
hended them, are in striking contrast with the want of harmony which characterises 
these laws as presented by the current political economy." 

Then he contrasts, in tabulated form, what he makes out to be the 
current statement with " the true statement," which latter, it is 
needless to say, is his own, and with the discussion of which I 
am for the present only concerned. 

"Rent depends on the margin of cultivation rising as it falls, and falling as it 
rises. 

" Wages depend on the margin of cultivation falling as it falls, and rising as it 
rises. 

" Interest (its ratio with wages being fixed by the net power of increase which 
attaches to capital) depends on the margin of cultivation falling as it falls, and rising 
as it rises." 

" In the current statement the laws of distribution have no common centre, no 
mutual relation ; they are not the correlating divisions of a whole, but measures of 
different quality. In the statement we have given, they spring from one point, support 
and supplement each other, and form the correlating division of a complete whole." 

In the name of science, and under cover of misapplied and 
delusive words, more incoherent nonsense was never pawned 
upon an intelligent public. What is the common centre of this 
tripartite proportional ? The gradations of soil, it should seem, 
must now become " the margin of cultivation," and Mr George 
includes in this margin of cultivation the ground rent of rapidly 
increasing towns in the West. 



3 , 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

To show the flimsy artifice of substituting interest for profit 
it is only necessary to call attention to the enclosed qualification 
of " its ratio with wages being fixed by the net power of increase 
which attaches to capital." What is the power of increase, but 
profit ? But apart from verbal criticism, I deny that rent depends 
on the margin of cultivation anywhere, and assert that increase 
of rent everywhere depends on the increase of population. I deny 
that wages (actual) depend on the margin of cultivation, and 
assert that they depend upon freedom of labour in a state of 
development of industry and the proportion of labourers to the 
amount of work required. I deny that interest correlates and co- 
ordinates with rent. Interest, in every country, depends upon, 
and is an index of, the average rate of profits. To say that rent 
rises as wages fall is not true, because both rent and wages have 
been rising together in the United Kingdom, although not in the 
same ratio. To say that rent rises as interest falls is true, but it 
is evident that this depends upon increase of population and in- 
crease of wealth, and not upon " the margin of cultivation," for 
that margin has been stationary whilst rents were rising and 
interest falling. There may be a coincidence, but the cause 
assigned is an inversion of the truth. However, if the " laws of 
distribution," as defined by Mr George, " spring from one point 
(let us suppose it to be the margin of cultivation, or rent) support 
and supplement each other in harmonious correlation and co- 
ordination, what more do we want ? What must strike everyone 
as strange is, that after constructing this harmonious, tripartite 
law of distribution, Mr George should proceed to confiscate one 
of the sides which spring from one point, supplement and support^ 
and correlate and co-ordinate with, one another : 

" I do not propose either to purchase or to confiscate private property in land. 
The first would be unjust ; the second, needless. Let the individuals who now hold 
it still retain, if they want to, possession of what they are pleased to call their land. 
Let them continue to call it their land. Let them buy and sell, and bequeath and de- 
vise it. We may safely leave them the shell, if we take the kernel. It is not necessary 
to confiscate land, it is only necessary to confiscate rent. 

"What I therefore propose as the simple, yet sovereign remedy, which will 

taise wages, increase the earnings of capital, extirpate pauperism, abolish poverty, 

remunerative employment to whoever wishes it, afford free scope to human 

powers, lessen crime, elevate morals and taste and intelligence, purify government, 

1 carry civilisation to yet nobler heights, is-/<? appropriate rent by taxation." 

The confiscation of rent is a much simpler "law of distribu- 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 315 

tion " than to find a ratio in a tripartite proportional, but it has 
the disadvantage of being attended with great practical diffi- 
culties. 

It would, however, be ungenerous not to admit that Mr 
George's book contains expositions on population, on wealth, on 
labour and capital which are original and striking, whilst, by 
his eloquence, he has made a subject of more than ordinary dry- 
ness to general readers one of absorbing interest, and has thus 
contributed to its discussion by the working classes, who are 
more deeply affected by existing abuses of power than any other. 

The evil does not consist, however, as Mr George leads the 
reader to suppose, in any inequality in the incidence of taxation, 
nor yet in any supposed virtue in the inherent qualities of the soil, 
so much as in moral causes the restraints upon human freedom, 
and the infraction of an evident law of nature, by the operation of 
a vicious principle. 

To the mind of the humblest workman who reads these 
pages, the idea of confiscation must appear unjust, and he must 
regard with repugnance a measure of state which, to say the 
least of it, would involve the innocent with the guilty. To con- 
fiscate conveys the idea of punishment, and to my mind it would 
be as just to confiscate 3 per cent, consols as the rent of persons 
who came by property through the operation of national law. 
In respect of agricultural land, the labour that has been incor- 
porated with it in reclaiming it from forest, flood, and marsh, 
may be regarded as the kernel, and the solum is more like the 
shell. To suppose that a fiscal revolution, which should appro- 
priate that part of rent which forms the scientific difficulty of 
political economists, in lieu of other taxes, would effect such a 
social millenium as Mr George pictures in his glowing style is 
quite illusory, /or it would net amount to probably more than 
ten shillings per head of the whole population,, as tithes and 
other local taxes which now fall on the land, would have to be 
paid out of the imperial exchequer. Yet it must be allowed that 
such a reform in our fiscal system, brought about by gradual 
steps, would have great advantages ; but, under the present dual 
tenure, such a change would only tend to aggravate the evil, as 
the cause lies deeper, and is more insidious than any burden of 
taxation. 

It is, therefore, not to the confiscation of rent, or to its appro- 



3 ,6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

priation by taxation, that we must look for a remedy. We must 
rather look for it in the enjoyment of perfect freedom and justice. 
By the divorcement of all ethical considerations from political 
economy it has been turned into the worship of Moloch and the 
philosophy of the devil the aim and definition of which is con- 
fusion of thought and action. Freedom first and political economy 
after. It is not the confiscation of rent by the State, but its 
proscription, demanded by the united voice of a free people, as an 
elemen of tyranny and oppression, which displaces population, 
saps our industries and enables landlords to live as idle parasites 
upon the labour and capital of others. The right of usuriously 
lending land ought not to be delegated by the State to any 
private subject Land, being natural power, this privilege con- 
fers sovereign right upon the subject, by which he is enabled to 
extend his bounds, from a lust of power, in order that he may 
exercise tyranny and oppression. The exercise of such a right 
is incompatible with the enjoyment of perfect freedom, the want 
of which, in all countries, and in all ages of the world, has been 
the fruitful cause of oppression, poverty, and crime, producing 
wars, revolutions, anarchy, and bloodshed. 

Fortunately for England, her freehold system preserved her 
from the fate of less favoured nations, but she herself is now 
suffering in her agricultural industry, aye, and in the political in- 
dependence of her farmers, through the operation of class-made 
laws, by which freeholds have been engrossed into large estates, not 
for legitimate industry, but to gratify a vulgar passion for power. 
To my ears, and no doubt to the ears of all lovers of constitutional 
liberty, that fine expressive old English word freehold possess a 
charm ; and it is to be regretted that Dr Russell Wallace has not 
used the words "resumption" and "freeholder" instead of "Na- 
tionalisation" and " occupying owner." The gradual resumption 
of the land-tax (which is synonymous with the rent of political 
economy), and the prohibition to lease or sub-let land would 
meet all the requirements of perfect freedom and justice. Thus 
far, but very little further, every friend of progress, every good 
citizen, every man who is in sympathy with the rights of labour, 
ought cordially to support, and to canvas at every hustings, the 
programme of the Nationalisation Society. 

Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE. 



THE CROFTER ROYAL COMMISSION. 



REFERRING in our last issue to the fact that not a single Northern 
Member of Parliament signed the requisition presented to 
Government, asking for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into 
the grievances of the Highland crofters, we wrote : " If any 
proof were wanted that inquiry was looked forward to by the 
northern landlords with disfavour, and, in some instances, with 
dismay though they feel that it has now become necessary 
it would be found in this significant fact. It should also con- 
vince the Government of the necessity of making the Royal 
Commission really effective by placing Tnen upon it who will 
counteract the landlord opposition and aristocratic influence, 
which will certainly have to be met in the course of the inquiry 
on every point where the facts are likely to tell against the land- 
lords and their agents. Unless the other side is strongly repre- 
sented, so as to meet, on something like equal grounds, the power, 
wealth, and influence of those whose conduct has made this 
inquiry necessary, the Royal Commission had better never to 
have been granted. It will only prove the commencement in 
earnest of an agitation on the Land Question, the end of which 
no one can predict." We are still of the same opinion, and the 
sequel will assuredly prove that we were right in our predictions. 
But how have the Government acted? They have appointed 
a Commission which has been universally condemned by every 
Association, every individual, and by almost every newspaper 
throughout the country that advocated its appointment. In that 
condemnation, after the most full and careful consideration, and 
fully alive to the serious responsibility involved in such a step, 
we are compelled to join; and we do so with the greater reluct- 
ance from the high respect which we entertain for all the members 
of the Commission as individuals, apart from the duties which in 
this case they have been called upon to perform. Nothing will 
satisfy the public short of making the cruel evictions of the past 
impossible in future in the Highlands by giving the people a per- 
manent interest in the soil they cultivate. That a recommenda- 
tion to that effect can emanate from a Royal Commission com- 



3I 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

posed as this one is, is scarcely conceivable. Nor is it to be expected 
that they can rise so far above the common failings of humanity as 
to be very anxious to procure evidence which will lead to legislation 
in that direction. Are Sir Kenneth Mackenzie and Lochiel, for in- 
stance, at all likely to recommend the modification of their pre- 
sent rights of property, or the abolition or material curtailment 
of deer forests, from which they and their class derive a great 
portion of their revenues? If they do so they will prove them- 
selves more than human. But no one would complain if their 
position and interests as proprietors were counter-balanced on the 
Commission by the presence of such true representatives of the 
crofters, as Sir Kenneth, Lochiel, and the Chairman are of the 
landlords and their class interests. 

If any evidence were wanted to place it beyond question 
that the Commission was one-sided and antagonistic to the inter- 
ests and claims of the crofters, it would be found in the fact that 
its composition has been generally commended and approved by 
the Scotsman, the Northern Chronicle, and the Inverness, Courier, 
three newspapers whose position in the past has been one of 
strong and long-sustained antagonism and misrepresentation of 
the Highland peasantry, and, at the same time, of powerful and 
steady support of their oppressors and their cruel conduct. 

As if the approval of these three landlord organs, and the 
general disapproval by actual condemnation in distinct terms, or 
complete silence, of all the other newspapers in the country, were 
not sufficient, we find another distinguished authority, on the 
same side, Mr Donald Macdonald, Tormore whose factorial 
reign in the Isle of Skye, and especially in Glendale, had so much 
to do in finally securing for us the Commission of Inquiry declar- 
ing in a letter, published in the Northern Chronicle, and in the 
Scotsman, of the nth of April, that its composition was, in all 
respects, "unexceptionable;" for, he continues, I am confident 
the result [of the Inquiry] will not only prove beneficial to my 
worthy, but misguided, fellow-islesmen, but will also vindicate 
many sorely-maligned proprietors and factors from the charges 
made against them by untruthful outside agitators, not to speak 
f others, who, while personally conversant with local conditions, 
have not scrupled to throw out inferences which no view of the 
facts can justify." 



THE CROFTER ROYAL COMMISSION. 319 

With a testimonial like this, and from such a quarter, it would 
be a pure waste of space to say another word on the composition 
and character of the Royal Commission to inquire into the griev- 
ances of the crofters in the Highlands and Islands, composed, as 
it is, of four landed proprietors, one lawyer (who is also a landed 
proprietor's son,) and the Professor of Celtic in the University of 
Edinburgh, who never exhibited any special interest in, or so far 
as known, paid any special attention to, the subject of the inquiry, 
and whose time, in the opinion of many of the subscribers to the 
Celtic Chair .Fund, would have been far better and more con- 
sistently employed in the necessary preparation for the important 
duties of his Chair. 

The nature of the Commission makes it all the more necessary 
that evidence be brought forward from the crofters' side, and no 
effort should be spared to secure that it is forthcoming. It is, how- 
ever, much to be feared, that the Societies and individuals who 
would have seen that this was done, had the composition of the 
Commission given general, or even partial satisfaction, will lose 
heart, and accept what many believe to be the inevitable, without 
any effort to put forward the best witnesses ; and that the crofters 
themselves will not give evidence unless they are encouraged to 
do so, and, at the same time, assured that no evictions or petty 
persecutions will follow, from laird or factor, in consequence of 
their telling the truth. It is only by a carefully conducted cross- 
examination that all the facts can be expiscated, and unless 
Counsel is admitted in the interest of the crofters for that purpose, 
the evidence obtained by the members of the Commission will, 
we fear, prove of little value. Let us, however, now that we 
have secured the Commission, make the best of it ; and, if it fails 
to give satisfaction, the people, by a more powerful, legitimate, 
and persistent agitation, will still have the remedy in their own 
hands. A. M. 



THE ROYAL COMMISSION is officially stated to meet at Dunvegan, ten miles 
from Glendale, on the I5th of May, and at Broadford, in the other end of Skye, on 
the following day. John Macpherson, the leading and most intelligent man in Glen- 
dale, now in prison, is one of the witnesses to be put forward by the Glendale crofters, 
but his sentence does not expire until the day on which the Commission is to meet at 
Dunvegan. It is, therefore, physically impossible that Macpherson can be present. 
Apart from this, those who know the district, and the nature and extent of the 
grievances of the people of Glendale, are satisfied that a searching and complete 
inquiry, which should be in the Glen itself, would take, not one day, but the greater 
part of a week ! 



3 20 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE, 

THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 
BY J. G. MACKAY. 

III. HIGHLAND ARMS. 

Fir aigeannach, mheamnach, 
Le glas-lann an ceanna-bheart, 
'S i sgaiteach gu barra-dheis, 

'S i ana-barrach geur, 
An taice ri targaid, 
Crios breac nam ball airgeid, 
'S an dag nach robh cearbach 

Gun tearmunn nan sg&th 
Le'n gunnacha glana, 
Nach diultadh dhaibh aingeal 
Spoir ur air an teannadh 

Gu daingeann nan gleu 
Gu cuinnsearach, biodagach, 
Fudarach, miosarach, 
Adharcach, miosail, 

Gu misneachail, treun. 

THE armour of the Highlanders formed such an important part 
of their attire that it may very properly be treated under this 
heading. Before the passing of the Disarming Act, they seldom 
laid aside their arms of defence, and never appeared abroad with- 
out their military weapons. 

The Highlanders adhered as fondly to their own peculiar 
style of weapons as they did to their dress. We have the 
authority of Tacitus and Herodian for saying, that they were in 
their time, A.D. 207, exactly the same as was in use in 1745 
(with of course an improvement in the manufacture), viz.: long 
broadswords, " Pagiones" or daggers, corresponding with the 
Highland dirk, and small round shtelds. Coats of mail seem to 
have been little used among them ; they relied more on their 
own strength and dexterity than on any defensive armour, 
which they considered an encumbrance, if not an indication of 
cowardice. At the battle of the Standard, 1 138, Malise, Earl of 
Strathern, a Gaelic chief, remonstrated with the Scottish King 
against his designs of placing his squadrons of Norman auxil- 
liarics, who were clothed from head to foot in steel, in the front 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 321 

of the battle. " Why," said he, " will you commit yourself so 
confidently to these Normans? I wear no defensive armour, yet 
none of them will go before me this day into the battle." 

In Ty tier's " History of Scotland," the following account of 
their arms is given from Etheld-redus de bello Standardi: 
" They were armed with long spears pointed with steel, swords, 
darts or javelines (the Sgian dubh\ and made use of a hooked 
weapon of steel, with which they made hold of their enemies (the 
Lochaber axe), and their shields were formed of strong cowhide." 
This corresponds exactly with the arms mentioned in the poems 
of Ossian. In Cath Loduinn, Duan I., we have the following 
graphic description : 

Glac-sa sgiath t'athair a'd 'laimh 

Tha cruaidh mar charraig nan cos 

Thilg Suaran a shleagh gu grad 

Stad as chridh i an scan chraoibh Loduinn 

Tharruing na suinn ri cheile 

Le'n lannaibh a' beumadh comhraig; 

Bha cruaidh a' spealtadh air cruaidh, 

Luiriche fuaim agus maile ; 

Ghearr Mac Luinn na h-iallan uallach ; 

Thuit an sgiath bhallach san laraich ; 

Chaisg an righ a lamh gu h-ard, 

Le faicinn SOT Shuairain gun airm ; 

Thionndaidh a shuil fhiadhaich 'na cheann 

Agus thilg e lann air lar; 

Tharruing e cheum mall 'on t-sliabh 

Fonn 6rain a' tuchadh 'na chliabh. 

At the celebrated battle on the North Inch of Perth, fought 
in the year 1396, between two parties of the Clan Chatain, the 
arms used were precisely the same as mentioned by Ossian. 
Andrew Wyntown, who wrote about 1400, speaks of " the Wyld 
Wykkyd Helandmen" thus 

At Sanct Johnstone beside the Frevis 
All thai entrit in Barreris 
Wyth bow and ax, knyf and sword 
To deil amang thaim thair last word. 

The historian, John Major, who wrote in 1512, thus describes 
their arms : " They use a bow and quiver, and a halbert well 
sharpened, as they possess good veins of native iron. They carry 
large daggers under their belts ; their legs are frequently naked 



322 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

under the thigh; in winter they carry a mantle for an upper 

garment." 

John Taylor, the water poet, who made a tour in Scotland 
in the year 1618, says "Their weapons are long bowes with 
forked arrowes, swords and targets, harquebusses, muskets, dirks 
and Loquhabor axes." In a Satirical, by William Clelland, on 
the Expedition of the Highland Host, 1678, we have the following 
amusing description of the Highland officers: 

With brogues, trues, and pirnie plaides, 
With good blew bonnets on their heads, 
Which on the one side had a flipe 
Adorned with a tobacco pipe, 
With dirk, snap work, and snuff-mull, 
A bagg which they with onions fill ; 
And as their strick observers say, 
A tupe horn filled with usquebay, 
A slasht out coat beneath their plaids, 
A targe of timber, nails, and hides, 
With a long two-handed sword 
As good's the country can afford. 
Had they not need of bulk and bones 
Who fight with all these arms at once? 

The Highlanders being naturally a bold, active, and hardy 
race, they were trained from their infancy to the use of their 
weapons, and studied lightness and freedom in their dress and 
accoutrements more than artificial defence. A man of physical 
weakness or incapacity was looked upon with pity and contempt, 
while a person guilty of cowardice was shunned with the utmost 
abhorrence. 

Martin gives a most interesting description of the customs 
prevalent in the Western Isles in his time. He says : 

" Every heir or young chieftain of a tribe was oblig'd in 
honour to give a publick specimen of his valour, before he was 
own'd and declared governor or leader of his people, who obey'd 
and followed him upon all occasions. This chieftain was usually 
attended by a retinue of young men of quality, who had not be- 
forehand given proof of their valour, and were ambitious of such 
an opportunity to signalize themselves. 

" It was usual for the captain to lead them, and to make a 
desperate incursion on some neighbour or other that they were 
in feud with ; and they were oblig'd to bring by open force the 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. ' 323 

cattel they found in the lands they attack'd, or to die in the 
attempt. After the performance of this atchievement, the young 
chieftain was ever after reputed valiant and worthy of govern- 
ment, and such as were of his retinue acquir'd the like reputa- 
tion. This custom being reciprocally us'd among them, was not 
reputed robbery, for the damage which one tribe sustain'd by 
this essay of the chieftain of .another, was repaired when their 
chieftain came in his turn to make his specimen ; but I have not 
heard an instance of this practice for these sixty years past." 

The formalities observed at the entrance of these chieftains 
upon the government of their clans were as follows : 

"A heap of stones was erected in form of a pyramid, on the 
top of which the young chieftain was plac'd, his friends and fol- 
lowers standing in a circle round about him, his elevation signi- 
fying his authority over them, and their standing below their 
subjection to him. One of his principal friends delivered into 
his hands the sword wore by his father, and there was a white 
rod delivered to him likewise at the same time. Immediately 
after, the chief Druid (or orator) stood close to the pyramid and 
pronounced a rhetorical panegyrick, setting forth the ancient 
pedigree, valour, and liberality of the family, as incentives to the 
young chieftain, and fit for his imitation. 

" It was their custom, when any chieftain marched upon a 
military expedition, to draw some blood from 'the first animal 
that chanced to meet them upon the enemy's ground, and there- 
after to sprinkle some of it upon their colours. This they con- 
sidered as a good omen of success. They had their fixed officers, 
who were ready to attend them upon all occasions, whether mili- 
tary or civil. Some families continue them from father to son, 
particularly Sir Donald Macdonald has his principal standard- 
bearer and quartermaster. The latter has a right to all the 
hides of cows killed upon any of the occasions mentioned above, 
and this I have seen exacted punctually, though the officer had 
no charter for the same, but only custom. They had a constant 
sentinel on the top of their houses, called the Gockman, or, in the 
English tongue, Cockman ; who was obliged to watch day and 
night, and at the approach of anybody to ask, Who comes there ? 
This officer is continued in Barray still, and has the perquisites 
due to his place paid to him duly at two terms of the year. 



324 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

There was a competent number of young gentlemen called 
Luchk-tach (Luchd-taic) or Guard de corps, who always attended 
the chieftain at home and abroad. They were well train'd in 
managing the sword and target, in wrestling, swimming, jumping, 
dancing, shooting with bow and arrows, and were stout seamen. 

" Every chieftain had a bold armour-bearer, whose business 
was to attend the person of his master night and day to prevent 
any surprise, and this man was called Galloglach ; he had also a 
double portion of meat assigned him at every meal. The measure 
of meat usually given him is call'd to this day Bieyfir (Biadh- 
fir^), that is a man's portion, meaning thereby an extraordinary 
man, whose strength and courage distinguish'd him from the 
common sort. 

" Before they engaged the enemy in battle, the chief Druid 
harangu'd the army to excite their courage. He was plac'd on 
an eminence from whence he address'd himself to all of them 
standing about him, putting them in mind of what great things 
were perform'd by the valour of their ancestors, raised their hopes 
of victory and honour, and dispell'd their fears by all the topicks 
that natural courage could suggest After this harangue, the 
army gave a general shout and then charged the enemy stoutly. 
This in the antient language is call'd Brosnichiy Kah (BrosnacJiadh 
Cath) i.e., an incentive to war. This custom of shouting aloud 
is believed to have taken its rise from an instinct of nature, it 
being attributed to most nations that have been of a martial 
genius: as by Homer to the Trojans, by Tacitus to the Germans, 
and by Livy to the Gauls." 

William Sacheverell, Governor of the Isle of Mann, who was 
employed in 1688 in the attempt to raise the " Florida," one of 
the Spanish Armada lost at Tobermory a century previous, 
gives an account of the dress and arms of the Highlanders as" he 
saw them in Mull at that time, which is well worthy of being given 
in full. He says "During my stay I generally observed the 
men to be large-bodied, stout, subtile, active, patient of cold and 
hunger. There appeared to be in all their actions a certain gen- 
erous air of freedom, and contempt of those trifles, luxuries, and 
ambitions which we so serviley creep after; they bound their 
appetites by their necessities, and their happiness consists, not in 
having much, but in coveting little. The women seem to have 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 325 

the same sentiments with the men, though their habits (their 
dress) were mean, and they had not our sort of breeding; yet in 
many of them there was a natural beauty and graceful modesty 
which never fails of attracting. 

" The usual outward habit of both sexes is the Pladd ; the 
women's much finer, the colours more lively, and the squares 
larger than the men's, and put me in mind of the ancient Picts. 
This serves them for a veil, and covers both head and body. The 
men wear theirs after another manner, especially when designed 
for ornament; it is loose, and flowing like the mantles our 
painters give their heroes; their thighs are bare, with brawny 
muscles ; Nature has drawn all her strokes bold and masterly ; 
a thin brogue on the foot, a short buskin of various colours on 
the leg, tied above the calf with a striped pair of garters ; a large 
shot pouch in front, on each side of which hangs a pistol and 
dagger ; a round target on their backs, a blue bonnet on their 
heads; in one hand a broadsword, and a musket in the other. 
Perhaps no nation goes better armed, and I assure you they will 
handle them with bravery and dexterity, especially the sword 
and target, as our veteran regiments found to their cost at 
Killecrankie." 

The Highlanders were at all times noted for the rapidity of 
their movements ; on account of their being so lightly clad and 
light of foot, they were sometimes employed in the Scottish wars 
to act along with cavalry, one between each horse ; and we are 
informed that they kept pace with the horses in all their move- 
ments, let them go ever so quickly, and they did terrible execu- 
tion. The soldiers of Mackay's regiment, in the wars of 
Gustavus Adolphus, acted as auxiliaries to the cavalry in the 
same manner. 

The author of " Certayne Manners," already quoted, says : 
"They have large bodies, and prodigious strong; and two quali- 
ties above all other nations : hardy to endure fatigue, cold, and 
hardships; and wonderfully swift of foot. The latter is such an 
advantage in the field that I know of none like it, for if they 
conquer no enemy can escape them, and if they run even the 
horse can hardly overtake them. There were some, as I said 
before, that went out in parties with the horse." 

Their mode of fighting was characteristic of themselves : they 

X 



32 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

marched boldly and resolutely up to the enemy till within shot, 
when they halted and discharged their muskets or arrows, as the 
case might be, then, drawing their claymores, with one sudden 
cry they rushed on the enemy before he had time to recover 
from the discharge ; such was the rapidity and fury of the on- 
slaught that the most disciplined troops rarely, if ever, could 
stand before them, and once the claymores were among them the 
day was decided. Their onset was so terrible that even Dr John- 
son admits " that the best troops in Europe could with difficulty 
sustain the first shock of it, and if the swords of the Highlanders 
once came in contact with them their defeat was inevitable." 

After firing, the muskets were thrown to the ground, as they 
rarely fired a second volley, and, on many occasions, they even 
stripped themselves of their plaids and jackets, and fought in 
their shirt-sleeves, as at Blar-na-leine a battle fought between 
the Erasers and Macdonalds in 1 544, and also at Tippermuir, 
Sheriffmuir, and Killiecrankie. Many writers would have us be- 
lieve that they fought with nothing on but their sh'irts, but the 
stupidity of such an assertion must be plain to any one who 
chooses to think of it. This idea arose from the fact of those 
who stripped themselves, as mentioned above, being dressed in 
the feileadh-beag and shoulder plaid ; and the latter being wrapped 
round the shoulders, would encumber the arms and hinder them 
in the use of their weapons; whereas, if they had been dressed 
in the belted-plaid, it, being fastened on the left shoulder, and 
hanging loosely behind, left the arms perfectly free. This was 
the very purpose for which the belted-plaid was intended; for, 
while it left them perfectly free in the use of their arms, it 
afforded them sufficient covering for camping out, and was con- 
venient to carry. 

Martin gives a most minute description of the mode of fight- 
ing, and completely explodes the idea of their stripping to their 
shirts. He says " The antient way was by pitched battles ; 
and for arms some had broad two-handed swords and head 
pieces, and others bows and arrows. When all their arrows were 
spent they attacked each other, sword in hand. Since the inven- 
tion of guns they are very early accustomed to use them, and 
carry their pieces with them wherever they go ; they likewise 
learn to handle the broadsword and target. The chief of each 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 327 

tribe advances with his followers, within shot of the enemy, having 
first laid aside their upper garments , and after one general dis- 
charge they attack them sword in hand, having their targets on 
their left hand (as they did at Killecrankie), which soon brings 
the matter to an issue, and verifies the observation made of them 
by some historians, Aut mors Cito, out Victoria l&ta" 

The wisdom of throwing aside their muskets and plaids may 
be questioned, and it is certainly not in accordance with the 
modern ideas of warfare ; but where everything depended upon 
lightness and rapidity of motion, the advantage of being free from 
incumbrance is plain. The reason given by themselves is, that 
after the muskets were discharged they did not require them at 
the time, as they never fired a second volley; if they were victorious, 
they could easily pick them up again, and if killed they had no 
further use for them. It can easily be imagined that fiery and 
passionate men like the Highlanders would ill brook the idea of 
peppering at the enemy at a distance, or being shot like so many 
pheasants at a battue, with such a trusty and decisive weapon as 
the claymore in their hands ; they always considered that the mus- 
ket was a weapon for little men and cowards. 
(To be continued.) 



ARGYLL EVICTIONS. 

Written on board the steamer" LORD OF THE ISLES" during a trip to Inveraray. 

THOSE straths and glens, with waving ferns, where sheep and lambs now stray, 
Could muster at the pibroch sound, to forage or to fray, 
Five thousand of the bravest men, e'er stood in rank and file, 
To do the bidding of their chief, or die for old Argyll. 

Alas ! where are those heroes now, uprooted from the soil ! 

Some driven off to other lands, some to our towns to toil. 

Now, should the " Fiery Cross " go round, by vale or mountain steep, 

Those straths and glens might well resound " Put red coats on your sheep." 

Great God on high, whose mighty eye looks down on all below, 
Whose ear is open to the cry, the patriot's cry of woe, 
Why should Thine own eternal laws, who did creation plan, 
And formed us like Thy very self, man like his fellow-man, 

Be broken by a selfish few, who claim the lion's share, 

And drive poor mortals from the soil, while there is room to spare ; 

Ho ! spirits of the mighty dead breathe down upon your bones, 

Till ghastly hosts, with martial tread, shake parliaments and thrones. 

Arise, ye sons of noble sires awake, shake off your slumber, 
Blow Freedom's spark until it fires, and rolls in awful thunder 
From end to end of Britain's Isle, from platform and from press, 
Till Lords and Commons grant just laws, and cruel wrongs redress. 
Greenock. W.O.C. 



328 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES.* 

WITH certain modifications Mr Mackenzie might have pre- 
fixed as a motto to his " History of the Highland Clearances," 
recently published, the famous invocation with which the Iliad 
opens : 

"Achilles' baneful wrath resound, O, Goddess that imposed 
Infinite sorrows on the Greeks, and many brave souls loosed 
From breasts heroic ; sent them far to that invisible cave 
That no light comforts ; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave." 

The fierce anger of the Grecian chief let loose the dogs of 
pestilence and defeat upon his army, so that by troops to death 
they went. The havoc of war is, however, in most cases soon 
mended, and its miseries soon covered with a fresh and kindly 
sward. It was not generous rage, which may glance in the 
bosom of even a wise man, that moved our Highland chiefs to 
perpetrate upon their people the revolting deeds chronicled in 
the painful pages of this very interesting book. Their motive 
was of a different stamp. Our chiefs had fallen out of sympathy 
with their people they mingled with the foreigner and learnt his 
ways. The old language was lost, the old ways with their rude 
simplicity became distasteful, became offensive to them as peat 
reek to a city-bred man. Then the old rent was not sufficient to 
meet the demands of life in the capital, to meet the cost of 
equipages, horses, dogs, and worse. Greedy capitalists were at 
hand to whisper in the ear of impecunious pleasure-loving lairds 
that the glens, if their inhabitants were removed, would bring 
more money. The factor, with an eye to save himself trouble, 
rejoicing in the thought of having gentlemen farmers for his 
companions, instead of being under the necessities of attend- 
ing to the little and irritating details which arise from the 
circumstances of a multiplied crofter life, said amen to the dan- 
gerous suggestions of greed. The voice of the serpent, subtle to 
deceive, was heard, and the glory of the chiefs shook its wing and 
left the land. But there were other chiefs of a different mould 
to whom the tempter came with appeals, not to their own per- 

* By Alexander Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot, Inverness: A. & W. Mackenzie. 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 329 

sonal necessities, but with bright descriptions of the good that 
should accrue to the people themselves, and to the country gener- 
ally, by their transportation across the sea to the West, or to the 
shores of their own seas at home. This is notably true of the 
Sutherland family, whose doings figure so largely in the mourn- 
ful record to which Mr Mackenzie has anew and so powerfully 
directed the attention of the public, now so thoroughly educated 
by Irish Land Acts and otherwise in such matters. It will be 
matter of everlasting regret to thousands that the Sutherland 
shield was permitted to be stained by the dirty hands of men 
whom oceans of ink cannot wash clean. It was the misfortune 
of Sutherland that the Duchess-Countess lost both her parents, 
when but a child, and that she was brought up in " Babylon," far 
away from the Zion of her ancestors. As an orphan, and as the 
sole surviving representative of a proud and honoured name, the 
interest excited in her among her people was intense. This 
interest was kindled into a flame of devotion to her person and 
her rights, when Sutherland of Forse, in Caithness, endeavoured 
to secure the Earldom to himself as the male heir; but the "grey 
mare proved the better horse," and Forse had to be content with 
his plain name and house. The county of Sutherland was ablaze 
with joy at the victory of their infant Countess. The Reay 
country caught the enthusiasm, and Rob Donn sang, in glowing 
terms, the virtues of the young lady's forefathers, congratulated 
her on the good fortune which made her the heir of their fame, hon- 
our, and wealth. Alas ! circumstances, which are detailed in the 
"Highland Clearances," connected with the noble lady's education 
and married life, made it impossible for her to understand the 
people who poured out such an abundance of affection around 
her when in her cradle her position was threatened, and con- 
tinued to reverence her until love and reverence and trust were 
extinguished in the fires that consumed their pastures while still 
legally their own, and finally the huts which their own hands had 
reared. Pride in the history of a family hoary with an antiquity 
lost in the far off times, was changed into hatred bitter as gall 
and wormwood. Yet this Duchess and her noble husband wished 
to do well, and would have done well had they but taken some 
trouble. Their liberality was unbounded, yet they were hated by 
the vast majority of the inhabitants of their Highland county, 



33 o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

More than 200,000 were spent, and yet, when the Countess 
died, a preacher, a man of a different kidney from those timid 
preachers whom Donald Macleod indignantly holds up. to scorn, 
gave expression to the prevailing feeling when he said in the 
pulpit that " the Countess was in heaven if the oppressors of the 
poor go there r Cursed be the system that could produce a state of 
feeling among a Highland population that could applaud such a 
terrible sentence in a funeral sermon. Covetousness and the 
"dismal science" put on the garb of philanthropy, told the good 
lady that the people who would have died for her were ignorant, 
vicious savages who, many of them, had " never heard the name 
of Jesus," who lived upon the warm blood of their live cattle 
tempered with nettles. She believed the slander, and the darling 
of Sutherland became its execration. The great slanderer him- 
self was punished when, in his old age, at Wick, during an election 
contest, he was met by a long procession headed with a sheep, 
painted in Sutherland tartan, on a raised platform many feet 
high, and with a miniature cottage with smoke oozing through 
its tiny roof. It is said that he broke his heart. If he did his 
own was not the first or the second that he broke. 

One of the saddest things in this book is the abject cowardice 
of the parish ministers, the natural leaders of the people, when as 
yet there was no dissent and no newspapers in the North worthy 
of the name. Passive obedience was their favourite doctrine. 
Right enough, but should they be passive while their flocks were 
being torn and scattered. I can understand why Rob Donn 
should have said bitterly, and in severe terms : 

Is e meas ministeir sgireachd 

Bhi na chriosduidh mar fhasan, &c., &c. 

If the ecclesiastical struggle of Scotland in this century shall have 
no other fruit than the severance of the connection between the 
Patron and the Church, it deserves the thanks of the country. 
The minister is now free to speak without fear, if he has a tongue 
to use. The effect of his silence when he should have spoken 
has been very great in various ways, which cannot be more par- 
ticularly referred to here. But let us not be too severe even on 
men who stood by and said nothing when " the flesh of their 
people was eaten, and their skin flayed from off them." Their 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 33! 

position was a trying one, there was no public opinion to back 
them up if they stood in the breach, no members of Parliament 
to put questions to bring to light the obscure works of cruelty. 
Some even of those mentioned in no friendly terms, lived to re- 
gret their past indifference, were roused to take the side of the 
weak as against the strong, and right manfully suffered in the 
cause of truth and liberty. It is but simple justice to the memory 
of the Mackenzies of Tongue and Farr to make this addition and 
modification to the scathing denunciations wrung from the proud, 
indignant, and suffering heart of Macleod. We shall, perhaps, too, 
be more charitable in judging those simple and isolated country 
ministers, to whom the great Lord was the " breath of their nos- 
trils," if we call to mind that the authoress of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," the unflinching advocate of the slave, who, perhaps, more 
than any other individual, was responsible for the terrible civil 
war in the blood of which slavery was washed away, was so fas- 
cinated with the bewitching beauty of the humanities of Dunrobin, 
that she took the side of Loch, as against Donald Macleod and 
Hugh Miller. We have reason to believe that Macleod led her 
to see that the " Sunny Memories of Sutherland " had a North 
side where there were in abundance memories that were not 
sunny.* But we should not be surprised if the power and worth 
which blinded the judgment of a Republican, who won her fame 
by pleading the cause of the outcast, should also have prevented 
the Sutherland ministers, as a whole, from winning the glory of 
martyrdom in an unpopular cause. 

But this book is not without testimonies from the pulpit in 
behalf of the victims of a misguided land policy. The name of 
Sage is still green in the hearts of a very few who still remember 
him and the tragic sorrows which brought down his grey hairs 
in sorrow to the grave. For generations to come his name will 
be remembered, far and wide, by the descendants of the dispersed 
of Kildonan. In incisive, characteristic speech, full of truth and 
power, Dr Kennedy shows that the oppressor need expect no 
quarter from his keen claymore, any more than the heretic or the 
innovator, who tampers with the form of worship which nourished 

* It may be stated as a fact of considerable interest, in connection with the 
Clearances, that Mrs Beecher Stowe's defence of Loch and the Sutherland family has 
has been suppressed in the later editions of her "Sunny Memories, "ED. C. M. 



332 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

the great Fathers of the North. Long may his bow abide in 
strength, though sometimes its arrows may pierce a friend as 
well as a foe. It is pleasing to know also that the tongue of the 
greatest prose writer in Gaelic did not allow aristocrat though 
he was in his sympathies the deeds of the landlord to pass with- 
out strong protest; and that, in this respect, he was seconded in 
wise, sagacious, and patriotic sentences by Dr Maclauchlan, who, 
but for ill-health, would not be silent at the present time preg- 
nant as it is with hope for the down-trodden. 

No doubt, too, many other brave words were spoken which 
are forgotten. To our own knowledge, Norman Macleod of 
Trumisgarry, fearlessly acquitted himself in North Uist, in con- 
nection with the madness of the tyrant there. Mr Macleod had 
the rare grace of being better at suffering than at speaking, of 
being more at home in applying at all hazards his principles than 
in expounding them. But, unfortunately for his fame, Uist has 
not produced a Donald Macleod. Perhaps he is coming. But 
enough on this point. To many who think that a minister has 
nothing to do with the social comforts of the people, and that 
their opinion on such questions is of no more value than a shep- 
herd's on navigation, it will be more interesting to know that Mr 
Mackenzie has given us in his volume the deliberate judgment 
on the Highland Clearances of some of the most distinguished 
men of the century, not only in our own country, but abroad. 
Here are the opinions, not of excited priests, but of Generals, liter- 
ary men, scientific men, philanthropists, editors, statesmen, and 
even of hard-headed, cool political economists. The chorus of their 
song is an unqualified condemnation of the treatment which our 
Highland peasantry received on the soil that in part at least was 
by right their own. Indeed, we gather from some remarks in 
this book that it is now beginning to dawn on the landlords them- 
selves that they have been guilty of a huge blunder in expatri- 
ating so many of their tenants. We hope this is true. Could 
they be induced to take the same pride, the same interest in their 
tenants as an officer does in his regiment, the land question would 
not be so difficult to solve. 

We have said that the deeds of suffering recorded in this 
book were allowed by those in power because they believed they 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 333 

would be productive of good to the landlord, to the evicted, to 
those who were not banished, and to the country at large. Has 
this anticipation been realised? Is the manhood of the Celts 
who still remain of a higher order? Do we look in vain now for 
the poverty to which the produce of an ebb tide is a sad neces- 
sity? Is the eye never offended and the feelings wounded by 
mud cabins, where we must reach the hearth over a pavement of 
dung formed by the beasts which share the same room with 
their owner? Is the wealth of the country so much increased by 
the profit of sheep and deer that the rates are not oppressive ? 
Is the land blessed with happiness, with content ? Is there the 
absence of those materials which furnish the agitator with the 
elements of his dangerous power ? If we could believe that the 
sufferings of the past have resulted in a nobler life to the crofters 
who still exist, or in the amelioration of their external condition, 
so that they have enough to eat and to put on, then, though a 
sympathetic tear would naturally fall on the sufferings involved 
in the transition to the new and happier state of things, one 
should not complain, but rejoice that the blood of the fallen has 
enriched the soil for those who survive. If this were the fruit of 
the social changes in the Highlands, which are now in every- 
body's mouth, we should no more find fault with the pain which 
accompanied them than we should with the pain of a surgical 
operation. Have we this consolation ? The question seems 
absurd enough in presence of the condition of many parts of the 
country at this moment, when the cry of hunger, the most 
terrible of all cries, is heard in various parts of the land. It is 
obvious, then, that the new system, with its consolidation of farms, 
whether for the butcher or the sportsman, has not brought plenty 
to the land. It is a curious fact, though not surprising to those 
who understand the question, that at this moment those portions 
of the Highlands where the old custom of combining arable land 
and pasture prevails, are at the present moment the most con- 
tented and prosperous. This seems to be the case even where 
the antiquated run-rig system obtains, and it is a startling com- 
mentary on the worth of the prophecies by which our modern 
improvers justified their conduct and soothed their consciences. 
We have hunger on the very skirts of our deer forests, and plenty 



334 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE, 

in those remote spots where the shadow of the despised middle 
ages still rests.* 

But then our Mollisons tell us, amid the plaudits of Whig 
editors, that all would be well, but for the laziness of the inhabi- 
tants. It seems the men won't fish, and the women don't earn 
their I2s. a day like the women of the East. Now comparisons 
are odious. It may be perfectly true indeed, it is true that an 
average West Highland fisherman is neither so daring nor so 
successful a fisherman as those, say, of Buckie. It takes some 
generations to make a thorough-bred fisherman as it takes to 
make a thorough-bred gentleman, or anything else that is thor- 
ough-bred. The Buckie men were not forced from the hills, from 
following sheep, to be manufactured into mariners. The High- 
landers were, and the wonder is that they can do what they do 
in the sea-faring line. Let it be remembered, too, that for a long 
time there was no market for fresh fish. Be it not forgotten that 
the Highlander has not the means to furnish himself with boats 
of the strength and capacity of the East Coast boats. In more 
places than one the Highlander has acquired the skill and cour- 
age needed to make a good fisherman. But he need not be lazy 
though he is not at home on the rolling billow. The Celtic 
women, too, though they can't earn I2s. a day, work as hard as 
their more fortunate sisters of another tongue. Dragging kelp 
is not a lazier job than cleaning fish. The Jew is not lazy, but 
when he was a slave, his ears were dinned with the cry, " Ye are 
lazy," while his back smarted under the lash of his very lazy, but 
very cruel, accuser. Make the Celt independent, secure him 
from being robbed of his own by arbitrary power, and if he does 
not change the face of the little spot of nature assigned to him, 
then let him give place to those who will. But if the Celt is lazy 
is it not possible that the position he is placed in by those in 
power is justly chargeable with responsibility for this detestable 
vice? No man would be very active if so situated that his activity 
would not be rewarded, that the fruit of his industry might at any 

* Vide a powerful paper on the Highlands by John Rae, in the Contemporary 
Review for March. Mr Rae's paper deserves and will reward the most careful study. 
It is gratifying to see a disciplined intellect like Mr Rae's taking up, and with much 
effect, the cause of the poor, and earning for itself the blessing of him that was ready 
to perish. The crofters have now found a fit audience, for they have found tongues to 
speak for them which will compel even the deaf to hear. 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 335 

moment be seized by another. Such is the position of the ma- 
jority of our crofters. Those of us who hold that a grievous and 
foolish wrong has been done, in the name of progress and good- 
will to men, to the Highlands by the proprietors, are supposed to 
hold that there should be no change. The charge is absurd. 
What we hold is that the changes in question have been brought 
about in such a way as to aggravate the old evils, such as over- 
crowding, which made change necessary. Our population, we 
are told, is as large as ever. Granted. What does this involve? 
No one will venture to say that the population has the same 
amount of land as before, so that the assumption means over- 
crowding of a terrible kind somewhere an overcrowding which 
can never be far removed from squalor, wretchedness, and famine. 

Now, this state of things must not be allowed to continue. 
Either let us go on to weed out the inhabitants of the coast, as 
we did that of the inland valleys, or else let them have land 
enough to call forth their highest physical and intellectual 
energies. 

We have been looking at this question from the peasants' 
point of view, but from the landlords' point of view a mistake has 
been made. His rent is not what it might have been, any more 
than the comfort of his peasantry. We know a small township on 
the estate of Clyth which, in the early part of the century, being 
regarded as "fit only for beasts," was let for 7. The same 
ground is now let for more than 200 ! This increase was the 
result of the labour of evicted crofters from Sutherland, who were 
allowed to settle on the dreary waste referred to. These " bar- 
barous " crofters trenched, drained, fenced, and built their huts 
with the extraordinary result mentioned. 

Then where is the influence of the lairds as leaders of men ? 
Is it not heard also on all hands that the soil which is tilled does 
not yield what it once yielded. Then, though the Duke of Argyll 
tells us that sheep are real reclaimers of land, is it not known that 
the pasture on which they feed is fast deteriorating? This is 
even made an excuse now for deer forests. Verily, it is a hard 
task to untie the knot which has been made. That task is to 
raise the status of the crofter. It is pleasant to see Lady Cath- 
'cart recognising this duty. With a higher status, with more land, 
the crofter will acquire that self-respect and independence which 



33 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

will lead him to educate his children in such a way as to foster in 
them a spirit of enterprise which will make them seek their for- 
tunes anywhere rather than remain in misery at home. 

It may possibly be right that the Highland peasantry 
should disappear. It may be for the good of the nation. But 
if so, we hope the nation herself will look into the matter, as 
indeed, she is doing. The decision must not be left in the hand 
of the individual landlord. Even the Red Indian is now pro- 
tected in his poor rights, and, if only for the sake of artistic 
variety, what remains of an old race should not, without good 
reason, be allowed to vanish or live in abject, hopeless poverty. 
A crofter's life must be a hard one, but with fair-play, with security, 
with wise guidance and careful instruction by his superiors, it 
is infinitely preferable to the life of myriads in our great cities. 
This view strongly impressed itself on my mind when my duties 
as a missionary brought me into close contact with many of the 
slums and wynds of Edinburgh. There is a possibility of success 
in the towns, which cannot be found in the country, but there is 
a possibility of sinking to a lower depth. I have often met 
Highlanders in those one-roomed houses in the city to which Mr 
Bright referred in terms which must have given a shock to those 
who think that there is nothing but progress to be seen among 
us, and in my heart I wished them, and their puny children, 
away in the worst huts in the Lews. The savour of a Highland 
hut, at once a byre and a home, is fragrant as the smell of 
Lebanon compared to the savour of many of those places where 
thousands in our cities live. Cities are a necessity, and in them 
we must look for the noblest specimens of. humanity, but they 
br'ieed a rottenness, physi-al and moral, 'which will end in death, 
unless a fresh stream- of healthy, rural manhood shall constantly 
flow into and purify their seething -corruption. Surely the source 
of this stream is to be found in a well-conditioned peasantry re- 
moved from the corrupting influence of wealth on the one side, 
and on the other from the enfeebling effects of a despairing 
poverty. 

Now, it is clear that despair, conscious or unconscious, is of 
necessity the familiar friend of many of our crofters. There is at 
present no chance for him to rise at home in the social scale. 
Everything above him is too high for him to aspire to, and so, 



THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 337 

perhaps, he wrings his hands, and does not do what he might do. 
Thus our cities have a much higher interest in the land question 
than that of mutton. They need strong men of sound limb, and 
high character, as well as mutton. Under a better system of land 
tenure they would have more of both and of a higher quality. At 
the same time the small farmer who cultivates his own farm is 
more to be envied than his son who goes into the town. Only a 
small minority can ever rise above the condition they were born 
in. We need take no account of them in thinking of what is for 
the general weal of the majority, who are and will be doomed to 
physical toil. But toil on the hillside is preferable, under right 
conditions, to toil in the factory. Said a learned advocate once 
to me " Weed out your crofters, and send them to the cities." 
(His oldest son, a fine boy of ten, was playing at the time on the 
heather hy his side). " Sir," I said to him, " you know city life, 
you know the circumstances of the artizan, and his labourers. 
Suppose, now, you were under the hard necessity of choosing for 
your son, there, an average crofter's life, or that of a working 
man - in . . a large town, which of the stern alternatives would 
you prefer?" My gifted and philanthropic friend was silent 
for a moment, and then replied with warmth, " I should choose 
the croft rather "tKarr'the mill for him." Quite so. At the 
same time there will always be a surplus which must leave 
their homes, and the better off they are at home, the better fitted 
will they be to benefit themselves and the new places they go to. 
I trust that in the coming struggle in behalf of an oppressed, but 
still noble race, our true Highland lairds alas, that they, too, 
should have been so much cleared out will distinguish them- 
selves by a genuine love of country and kin. 

Mr Mackenzie deserves the best thanks of the community 
for drawing attention, in his able book, to the past sufferings of 
the Highlands, and to the social condition which has directly 
sprung from them. 

A. C. SUTHERLAND. 



SELLAR'S TRIAL. Mr Mackenzie of the Celtic Magazine has issued his 
promised reprint of "The Trial of Patrick Sellar." It is a very curious document 
indeed, and illustrates the fact that considerable progress in the way of a pure adminis 
tration of the law has been effected in Scotland since the year 1816. Christian Leader. 



33 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 




MR PATRICK SELLAR AND THE SUTHERLAND 
CLEARANCES. 

The following correspondence, which explains itself, will, just now, prove inter- 
esting. It was crushed out of our last issue : 

HALL GROVE, BAGSHOT, 2nd March 1883. 

SIR, As an executor, and the eldest son of the late Mr Patrick Sellar, I have to 
address you with reference to a book recently published by you, and entitled "The 
History of the Highland Clearances." 

In that book you reprint as authoritative and trustworthy the letters of Donald 
Macleod. These letters originally published, as it would appear, in or about the 
year 1840, in the Edinb^irgh Weekly Chronicle (a newspaper which at no time was of 
any authority in Scotland, and then was in its last days) contain false and calumnious 
accusations against my father accusations which you reproduce as if they were true. 

No reader of your book could suppose from its contents that, as the fact is, every 
article of Macleod's accusations had been embodied in the indictment preferred against 
my father at the trial in April 1816, when he was declared to be completely exonerated 
by the unanimous verdict of a Scottish jury of 15 men, in whose verdict the presiding 
Judge expressed his " entire concurrence." The whole of the malicious and baseless 
accusations preferred against my father the identical accusations made long subse- 
quently by Macleod fell at once to the ground for want of evidence to support them, 
when brought to the test of a judicial enquiry. 

But, further, you publish in Macleod's fifth letter, also as authoritative and trust- 
worthy, a letter from the Sheriff-Substitute, Mr Robert Mackid, to Lord Stafford, 
dated 3<Dth May 1815, containing a series of similarly false and malicious accusations 
against my father. Mr Mackid's accusations, which led to the trial of April 1816, 
where they were found to be baseless, led also to an action being brought by my 
father against him, and that action only ended by the abject submission of the de- 
fendant and by his writing a letter of retractation and regret, of which the following is 
a copy : 

11 DRUMMUIE, 22nd September 1817. 

" Sir, Being impressed with the perfect conviction and belief that the state- 
ments to your prejudice, contained in the precognition which I took in Strathnaver, in 
May 1817, were, to such an extent, exaggerations as to amount to absolute falsehoods, 
I am free to admit that, led away by the clamour excited against you, on account of 
the discharge of the duties of your office, as factor for the Marchioness of Stafford, in 
introducing a new system of management on the Sutherland estate, I gave a degree of 
credit to those mis-statements of which I am now thoroughly ashamed, and which I 
most sincerely and deeply regret. From the aspersions thro\vn on your character, 
I trust you need not doubt that you are already fully acquitted in the eyes of the world. 
That you would be entitled to exemplary damages from me, for my participation in 
the injury done you, I am most sensible ; and I shall, therefore, not only acknow- 
ledge it as a most important obligation conferred on me and on my innocent family, 
if you will have the goodness to drop your lawsuit against me, but I shall also pay the 
expenses of that suit, and place at your disposal towards the reimbursement of the 
previous expenses which this most unfortunate business has occasioned to you, any 
ium you may exact, when made acquainted with the state of my affairs trusting to 
your generosity to have consideration to the heavy expense my defence has cost me, 



THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 339 

and that my connection with the unfortunate affair has induced me to resign the office 
of Sheriff-Substitute of Sutherland. I beg further to add, that in case of your com- 
pliance with my wish here expressed, you are to be at liberty to make any use you 
please of this letter, except publishing it in the newspapers, which I doubt not you 
will see the propriety of objecting to. I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

"ROBERT MACKID. 

" Addressed to Patrick Sellar, Esq., of Westfield, Culmaily." 

This letter is formally recorded in the Books of Council and Session at Dornoch, 
and the original was inserted in open Court, in the Sheriff Court Books of Sutherland- 
shire, and registered as a "probative writ," on November I3th, 1817, and you can 
refer to it accordingly. Mr Mackid paid the costs of the action against him and sub- 
stantial damages, and he also resigned his office of Sheriff-Substitute. 

I put it to you whether, in common fairness, and even supposing you could justify 
the reproduction under any circumstances of these calumnies of Mackid and Macleod, 
you were not and are not bound to give your readers some indication that those 
identical calumnies were, every one of them, the same which had been long before dis- 
proved in a Court of Law, and to make them aware that Mackid had abjectly retracted 
in writing his share of the calumnies, while Macleod's were stale reproductions, five- 
and-twenty years after the events, of what at the utmost certain witnesses had pro- 
fessed themselves at the preliminary examination to be ready to state, but which they 
could not sustain an oath at the trial. 

It is not easy to conceive that you can have been ignorant of the record of the 
trial, or of the retractation by Mackid of the accusations contained in his wicked letter 
of the 3Oth May 1815. Nor is it easy to understand for what cause you have repro- 
duced those disproved calumnies against a dead man calumnies, holding up to public 
execration one whose accusers had collapsed at the touch of legal investigation, and 
who had been legally proved to be, and (as appears from the evidence given at the 
trial), was absolutely innocent of the charges preferred against him. 

I now ask you what reparation you are prepared to make for your reproduction 
of these false and wicked calumnies, holding myself free to take such course in the 
the matter as may seem proper after I learn your decision ? Yours faithfully. 

THO. SELLAR. 

Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., F.S.A. Scot., Editor of the 
Celtic Magazine^ Inverness. 

" CELTIC MAGAZINE " OFFICE, 

* INVERNESS, March 5th, 1883. 

SIR, I am in receipt of your favour of 2nd inst. You can scarcely expect me to 
reply to it in detail, keeping in view its last two lines. 

I may, however, say that the objects I had in view are set forth in the preface to 
my book, and that it could not possibly have been meant to damage anyone. 

I was acquainted with the result of Mr Sellar's trial in 1816. Macleod states it, 
and the book contains it. I am now preparing a new edition of the trial for the press, 
so that the public may be in possession of all the facts of the case. It would have 
been printed ere now were it not that my copy of it wants a few leaves, and I am 
waiting for a complete one which is to reach me to-morrow.* 

"I was not aware of the existence of Mackid's letter, which you quote, or I would 
certainly have printed it in a foot-note, and I will do so yet if the work goes into a 
second edition ; for I have no personal feeling in the matter. 

* Since published, with Introductory Remarks, and can be had free, by post, from the Celtic 
Magazine Office, for 13 postage stamps. ED. C. M, 



340 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



That Macleod's letters were to be reproduced in my " Highland Clearances " 
was advertised for months ; and I happen to know that members of your family were 
aware of the fact. It therefore seems somewhat curious that you or some of them did 
not call my attention to Mackid's letter. When you consider that, according to the 
conditions declared in the letter itself, it was not to appear in the newspapers at the 
time, it was not a document which was at all likely to be much known, except to those 
more immediately concerned. 

You would have noticed that some sentences in Macleod's book have been left 
out, and others considerably toned down in my work. 

The great facts of the Sutherland Clearances, as described in Macleod's book, and 
fully corroborated by other writers, are as true historically as those of the massacre of 
Cawnpore, and I cannot understand how any one, however closely interested, can 
expect that such a chapter in the History of the Highlands, with its various lessons, 
can be permitted to fall into oblivion. 

Your father was acquitted of the specific charges brought against him in Court ; 
but the object of my book is to make it impossible that a law should be allowed to re- 
main on the Statute-Book which still permits the same cruelties to be legally carried 
out in the Highlands as were carried out in Sutherland during the first half of the 
present century. 

I am of opinion that I have, in all the circumstances of the times in which we 
live, simply done my duty in re-publishing so much of Macleod's book. If I am 
wrong in this opinion I must prepare myself for the consequences of my error. Mean- 
while, and in view of your threat, I cannot enter into any further personal correspond- 
ence on the subject. With all respect, I am, sir, yours faithfully, 

A. MACKENZIE. 

Thomas Sellar, Esq., Hall Grove, Bagshot. 



THE LATE MRS HELEN MATHESON OR BELL. -On the ;th April, 
and almost under the shadow of the house' in which, eighty-four years ago, she was 
born, the grave closed over the remains of Mrs Helen Matheson or Bell, the last sur- 
vivor of a family which once exercised no small influence in the North. Her father 
was Colin Matheson of Bennetsfield, the acknowledged chief of his clan, and once the 
proprietor of the valuable estates of Bennetsfield, and the two Suddies. Her mother 
was Grace, daughter of Patrick Grant of Glenmoriston, while her maternal grand- 
mother was a daughter of James Grant of Rothiemurchus.' This connection of the 
Bennetsfield family with that of Rothiemurchus was of material service to the large 
family seven sons and seven daughters of which Mrs Belt was the last survivor; 
for Sir John Peter Grant the first, to his many other excellent qualities, added the 
good old Highland virtue of a kindly interest in his deserving relatives. Hence the 
early connection with our Indian Empire of Mrs Bell, her brother Patrick, and 
his sons. In India she married Dr William Bell, of the H.E.I.C. Service, a man of 
kindly heart and sincere piety, the friend of Metcalf, Pennifather, and other orna- 
icnts of the Indian school of evangelical religion. Of this school the late Mrs Bell 

a worthy disciple; and there are many in Inverness who will long miss her 
cheering words and simple, unostentatious, charities. She was gathered to her fathers 

e old churchyard of Suddie, her nephew, Colin Milne-Miller of Kincurdy, acting 
as chief mourner. He is the last of her race-the Mathesons of Bennetsfield-to own 
i the county where once they held large and valuable estates. 



THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. XCIL JUNE 1883. VOL. VIII. 

CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A. 

II. CAUSE OF MYTH (Continued.) 

THE theory of the cause of myth that finds most favour at the 
present time is that which explains myth in connection with, 
and dependence on, language ; while at the same time due regard 
is had to the other possible sources of it in allegory, analogy, and 
real, though exaggerated, events. The way in which language 
gives rise to myth can, however, be understood only after a con- 
sideration of the mental powers, state of culture, and consequent 
interpretation of nature which existed among primitive and myth- 
making men. Language is but the physical side, as it were, of 
mythology, and the mental side of it must be considered before 
the action of language can be appreciated properly. The origin 
of myth springs from the same cause as the origin of science ; 
they are both man's attempt to interpret his surroundings. Myth 
is but the badly remembered interpretation of nature given in 
the youth and inexperience of the world when the feelings were 
predominant ; science is the same interpretation in the old age 
of the world, given under the influence of the " freezing reason's 
colder part." Man in the myth-making stage was ignorant of 
the cause and real character of the mighty natural forces around 
him ignorant even of the unaltering uniformity of nature 



34 2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

indeed the only thing the Celts said they were afraid of was that 
the heavens should fall ! The relations of cause and effect they 
interpreted by their own feelings and will-power ; every moving 
thing, animate or inanimate, was regarded as impelled by a force 
akirTto that which impelled man; that is, by a will-force. Even 
stationary nature the everlasting hills and the solid earth was 
endowed with feeling, will, and thought. All the mental powers 
that man found controlling his own actions were unconsciously 
transferred to nature. A personal life was accordingly attributed 
to sun, moon, clouds, winds, and the other natural powers ; they 
were looked upon as performing their special functions by means 
of faculties of mind and body analogous to those of man or beast. 
The varying phenomena of the sky, morn and eve, noon and 
black-clouded night, were the product of the life that dwelt in 
each. The eclipse of the sun, for example a most dreaded event 
in ancient times was supposed to be caused by a wild beast 
attempting to sWallow the lord of day ; and men poured forth, as 
some savages do yet, with timbrels and drums, to frighten away 
the monster. The clouds were cows with swelling udders, milked 
by the sun and wind of heaven the cattle of the sun under the 
care of the wind. The thunder was the roar of a mighty beast ; 
the lightning, a serpent darting at its prey. Modern savages are 
in much this state of culture, and their beliefs have helped greatly 
in unravelling the problem of mythology. The ideas which 
children form of outward nature exemplifies in some degree the 
mythic age through which the race in its childhood passed. " To 
a little child not only are all living creatures endowed with 
human intelligence, but everything is alive. In his world, pussy 
takes rank with ' Pa' and * Ma' in point of intelligence. He beats 
the chairs against which he has knocked his head ; the fire that 
burns his finger is * naughty fire' ; and the stars that shine through 
his bedroom window are eyes like mamma's, or pussy's, only 
brighter." 

It was on these wrong impressions this anthropomorphic 
view of nature that language was founded. Language, in 
man's passing to a higher state of culture, still kept, stereotyped 
and fixed, the old personal explanations and statements about 
nature; the language did not change, but man's views of natural 
causes and events changed very much as he got more civilised 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 343 

more free from the influence of his feelings, and more under the 
sway of his reasoning powers. The knowledge and ideas of 
earlier men were thus, as it were, fossilised in language, and when 
the feeling and personification impressed on language had passed 
into a more intellectual age, the result was misinterpretation and 
a too literal acceptance of many of the warm and vivid epithets 
employed of old. The personal explanation of the sun's motion, 
for instance, and the attributes and epithets given to it, all 
charged with life and feeling, were in the course of time and 
language taken in a more literal way, and, since slightly more 
scientific views were held as to the real nature of the sun, the old 
explanations were fastened to a separate sun-god, and thus a 
divorce was made between the sun and the personality given to 
it in the old epithets and explanations. The result was that 
there came to be a sun and a sun-god, Apollo, quite separate ; and 
the life-history given to this sun -god was taken from the explana- 
tions formerly given, in personal and anthropomorphic language, 
of the sun's daily and yearly course, his " rising" and " setting," 
for example, expressions which, though anthropomorphic, are 
still in use. A myth cannot, therefore, well arise unless the true 
meaning of a word or phrase has been forgotten, and a false 
meaning or explanation fastened on it. We may take an ex- 
ample from Greek mythology to illustrate this. Prometheus, the 
fire-bringer, is merely the personification of the wooden fire-drill; 
for the word is derived from the same source as the Sanscrit 
pramanthas, the " fire machine." Transplanted to Greek soil, the 
word lost its original signification with the loss of the thing sig- 
nified, and became a mythological name, for which a new etymo- 
logy had to be coined. Now, "promethes," in Greek, means 
"provident," and so Prometheus, the fire-bringer, was transformed 
into the wise representative of forethought, who stole the fire from 
heaven for suffering humanity; and a brother was supplied him 
in the foolish Epimetheus or "afterthought." And thereby 
hangs one of the most famous and noble myths of antiquity. 

Gaelic, in its modern shape even, presents some very start- 
ling personifications of natural objects. The regular expression 
for " The sun is setting" is " Tha a' ghrian 'dol a laidhe" " going 
to bed." Mr Campbell, in his very literal and picturesque trans- 
lation of the West Highland tales, does not hesitate to follow the 



344 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

Gaelic even in its most personal metaphors.^ " Beul na h-oidhche," 
"nightfall," is given literally as "the mouth of night." Gaelic 
poetry too, is as a rule much more instinct with life and feeling 
in dealing with natural objects than English poetry. Ossian's 
address to the setting sun may be quoted to show what a mine 
of metaphor, and consequent mythology, exists in our poetic and 
elevated language 

" An d' fhag thu gorm astar nan speur, 
A mhic gun bheud, a's 6r-bhuidh' ciabh ? 
Tha dorsan na h-oidhche dhuit reidh, 
Agus pailliun do chlos san iar. 
Thig na stuaidh mu'n cuairt gu mall, 
A choimhead fir a's glaine gruaidh, 
A' togail fo eagal an ceann 
Ri d' fhaicinn cho aillidh 'n ad shuain. 
Gabhsa cadal ann ad chds, 
A ghrian, a's till o d' chlos le aoibhneas." 

These lines bring us back to the anthropomorphism of the Vedic 
hymns of India, to which alone, in their richness of personification 
and mythic power, they can be compared. 

Allied to the linguistic theory of myth is also the simpler 

case of those myths consciously started to explain the names of 

nations, countries, and places. A common method of accounting 

for a national name was to invent an ancestor or patriarch who 

bore that name in an individual form. Britain, so say the myths, 

is so named from Brutus, grandson of ^Eneas, the Trojan hero, 

who first ruled here. Scotland gets its name from Scota, the 

daughter of Pharaoh. The names of places are dealt with in the 

same way, and, if the name is anyways significant, the myth takes 

the lines indicated by the popular etymology of the name. This 

is the origin of the name of Loch-Ness : " k Where Loch-Ness now 

s there was once a fine glen. A woman went one day to the well 

to fetch water, and the spring flowed so much that she got 

frightened, left her pitcher, and ran for her life. Getting to the 

top of a hill, she turned about and saw the glen filled with water. 

'Aha!' said she, ' tha loch ann a nis ;' and hence the lake was 

called Loch-Ness." A somewhat similar account is given of the 

origin and name of Loch-Neagh, in Ireland, and Loch-Awe, in 

Argyleshire. 

From such myths as the last we gradually pass to myths 
that do not depend in the least on the quibbling and changes of 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 345 

language, but are, consciously or unconsciously, forged explana- 
tions of national customs, historical events, or natural phenomena. 
Thus the custom among the Picts whereby the succession was in 
the female line, was mythically explained by Bede, thus : The 
Picts, having invaded Scotland, came to terms with the indigen- 
ous Gaels, and, as they brought no women with them, the compact 
was that, if the Gaels gave them their daughters as wives, the 
succession would be in the female line. Again, has the reader 
ever thought why the sea is salt? Well, this is the reason why. 
A man once got possession, it is needless to detail how, of a 
fairy quern which was " good to grind anything," only requiring 
certain cabalistic words to set it going or to stop it. A ship 
captain bought it to grind salt for him on his voyage. In mid- 
ocean the captain gave the quern the necessary order to grind 
salt, and it did ; but unfortunately he forgot the incantation for 
stopping it. The quern ground on and filled the ship with salt 
till it sank to the bottom of the sea, where the quern is still 
grinding salt. And that is the reason why the sea is salt If 
any one is sceptical, just let him taste the sea water and he will 
know its truth ! 

SPREAD OF MYTH. 

Closely akin to the consideration of the cause of myth is the 
question why myths and tales, evidently of the same origin, exist 
among nations differing widely both in language and locality. 
We found that tales of transformed lovers, descending even to 
similarities in minute details, and hence showing evidences of a 
common source, existed among all the chief nations of Europe, 
Western Asia, and India. Besides, other myths of a more 
general character are found all over the world. Now, what is the 
cause of this wide distribution of the same myths ? Two or three 
explanations are offered for this, each of which can correctly ex- 
plain why some particular myths or tales, but none of which can 
explain why the whole body of mythology and folk-lore, is so 
widely distributed. Some hold that the stories and myths have 
been borrowed or transmitted from one nation to another ; travel- 
lers and translators, they think, will account for nearly the whole 
of them. While it cannot be denied that many tales have permeated 
from one nation to another, this will by no means account for the 
similarities of myths among two nations or more, in whose langu- 



34 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

age and customs these myths are so deeply embedded and in- 
grooved that we should have to say the language too was bor- 
rowed. If a myth, and, to a less degree, a tale, depend on a 
nation's language its modes of thought and expression, if the 
roots of the proper names be embedded in the language, and 
consequently obscured, that myth and that tale must belong to 
that nation. They belong to that nation's inheritance as much as 
its language. Of course, care must be exercised in deciding 
what is really the peculiar property of a nation, and distinction 
made between the various classes into which the materials of 
mythology and folk-lore fall. "That certain deities occur in 
India, Greece, and Germany, having the same names and the 
same character, is a fact that can no longer be denied. That 
certain heroes, too, known to Indians, Greeks, and Romans, point 
to one and the same origin for these nations, both by their name 
and by their history, is a fact by this time admitted by all whose 
admission is of real value. As heroes are in most cases gods 
in disguise, there is nothing startling in the fact that nations who 
had worshipped the same gods should also have preserved some 
common legends of demigods or heroes, nay, even in a later 
phase of thought, of fairies and ghosts. The case, however, be- 
comes much more problematical when we ask whether stories 
also, fables told with a decided moral purpose, formed part of 
that earliest Aryan inheritance?" Here Max Miiller draws a dis- 
tinct line between fables with a moral or educative purpose and 
the rest of the materials of mythology, and he has clearly demon- 
strated that many such are borrowed. The fables of ALsop have 
been adopted into every language in Europe, and the moral 
tales of the Indians, after many vicissitudes, found a "local 
habitation" in the pages of La Fontaine and others. Another 
explanation for the distribution of myths is that primitive men 
worked in similar grooves wherever they lived; man's circum- 
stances being the same, his ideas and the expression of them will 
present strong resemblances everywhere. This view will account 
for the myths that are most widely distributed over the earth's 
surface. Jack the Giant-Killer, for instance, appears in the Zulu 
story of Uhlakanyana, who cheats the cannibal giant and his 
mother, to the latter of whom he had been delivered to be 
boiled, and whom he cunningly succeeds in substituting for him- 



CELTIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. 347 

self. But the theory can apply only in a general way ; to the 
great body of myths common to certain nations it cannot apply 
at all; it does not touch their deep and often detailed resem- 
blances. What harmonises best with the facts of mythologic 
distribution is the grouping of nations into families proved to be 
genealogically allied from possessing a common body of myths 
and tales that must be descended from a parent stock. Although 
the facts of comparative mythology are sufficiently strong of 
themselves to prove the common origin of the nations from India 
to Ireland, yet it is satisfactory that the science of language has 
already proved the common descent of these nations, as far at 
least as language is concerned. Linguists have called the parent 
nation, from which they have sprung, the Aryan nation, a name 
which shall be adopted in this discussion. The only other group 
of nations that can satisfactorily be shown by their language and 
mythology to possess a common descent is the Semitic, which 
includes the Hebrews, Chaldeans, and Arabians. The Aryan 
and Semitic races have nothing in common, except what is bor- 
rowed, either in the matter of language or myth. When we are 
told that the Celtic god Bel is the same as the Semitic Baal, we 
may conclude that the assertion is, more than likely, both un- 
scientific and untrue. 

(To be continued.) 



THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. We heartily 
commend Mr Mackenzie's volume of 528 closely-printed pages as a valuable store- 
house of information to all who are interested in the grievances of the Highland 
crofters. . . . We would especially advise those who have derived their ideas of 
the crofters' grievances from the grossly one-sided and sensational statements of the 
Scotsman to read the plain, unvarnished tale of Mr Mackenzie, who has studied the 
question on the spot, and has no personal interest in misleading the public. London 
Echo. 

CELTIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. Professor Blackie has 
offered a Prize of ^25 to the Students of the Class of Celtic Languages and Literature 
in the University of Edinburgh, for Session 1883-4, and a Prize of the same amount in 
Session 1884-5. The Prize will be competed for at the close of the Session in each 
year. Candidates will be examined in the following subjects: (i.) Transla- 
tion of a passage of Latin Prose, ad aperturam ; (2.) Translation of a passage of 
Greek Prose, ad aperturam ; (3.) Elements of Sanscrit Grammar ; (4.) Comparative 
Philology ; (5.) Gaelic. We hope to see this excellent example widely followed. 



34 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



ROB ROY'S DEATH.* 



[SUNDERLAND, April 24, 1883. Dear Mr Mackenzie. On reading Mr A. H. 
Millar's lately published " History of Rob Roy," I was agreeably surprised to find 
that Rob's exit was utterly devoid of "startling incidents " as the tales by tradition 
have it. Mr Millar has conclusively shown that Rob died quietly in his own house, 
surrounded by his friends ; hence the enclosed alteration of my former poem on his 
death which appeared in "Heather Bells." Yours truly, WM. ALLAN.] 

Night drew her dark mantle o'er gloomy Balquhidder, 

The mist clouds rolled down from each mountain's rough breast, 
And wild wailed the wind o'er the dew-laden heather, 

In tones of despair for the hero's unrest. 
The cold touch of death on Macgregor was falling, 

His eagle eyes gleamed 'neath life's lingering fires, 
While far-away voices he heard softly calling, 

And saw the grey ghosts of his warrior sires. 

" Who comes !" spake Macgregor, " that step is a foeman's, 

My death-sharpened ear knows an enemy's tread, 
Away, ye pale phantoms ! ye voices and omens ! 

Bring bring me my claymore, wrap round me my plaid! 
What ! Rob Roy defenceless ? Ha ! ha ! it shall never 

Be said that Macgregor was powerless to smite; 
A thousand death's terrors may haunt me ere ever 

A foe shall behold me bereft of my might." 

As calm as a monarch in glory reposing, 

So lay the old Chief, with his clansmen around; 
As bold as a warrior with enemies closing, 

Death's slogan he heard, and rejoiced at the sound. 
" Who doubts me," he whispered; " unconquered I'm dying, 

My bed is the heather I trod in my pride, 
My tartan, unsullied, around me is lying, 

My sword's in my hand, and a friend by my side.'* 

Afar o'er the mountains strange echoes were trailing, 

And deep was the sorrow Balquhidder then saw, 
The coronach's numbers of anguish were wailing 

Around the cold couch of the vanquished outlaw. 
Forever, away from the scenes of his glory, 

They laid him to rest 'mid the dust of the brave; 
And Scotland will cherish the fame of his story, 

As long as her heather bells bloom on his grave. 

WM. ALLAN 

from "Heather Bells," April 1883. 



349 
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

V. THE PRINCIPLE OF RENT. 

EVERY action of nature, connected with, and necessary to, human 
life and advancement, would seem to be in a state of flux and 
development. Whatever is rigid and opposes a restraint to this 
process of development produces irritation and disturbance. A 
dual land tenure is essentially of this nature, and has, more or 
less, in every age and in every country, produced like effects. We 
must, therefore, conclude that something is fundamentally wrong 
which is at variance with natural harmonies, or, in other words, 
which does not accord with the instincts of freedom and justice. 
This is now felt on every hand, and although the best thought of 
the age is eagerly directed towards some solution, in a final and 
fundamental law, interested motives, the influence of habit, the 
established relations of classes, sentimental associations, and the 
sanction of usage, play so powerful a part that pure reason can 
hardly penetrate the mists in which it is thus enveloped. The 
age travels fast. The effects of inventions and the progress of 
mankind would seem to have outrun the march of thought. We 
look for precedents, and think that the condition of things that 
suited our free-and-easy going forefathers a century ago, with a 
population of one-fourth the present, and not one-tenth part of 
the wealth, is adapted to meet the exigencies of our greatly 
altered times. 

The subject on which Adam Smith is thought most im- 
perfect is his treatment of rent, and it cannot be denied by his 
greatest admirers that, in some passages, he attributes value to 
land which seems to be inconsistent with his fundamental theory 
that all exchange value consists in labour. These seeming 
contradictions, or obscurities, arise probably not so much from 
confusion of thought as from not having always distinguished 
between the rent of the landlord which resolves itself into profit 
on his outlay, and that part which accrues to him in excess of 
this, and which in reality is the rent of political economy. Much 
obscurity and inconvenience arise in this way from the use of one 
word in reference to a thing which is compounded of component 



350 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

parts. But even, after making every allowance in this respect, it 
must be admitted, I think, that the idea of a natural law of rent 
may have escaped his comprehensive and acute mind. No doubt, 
he attributes the phenomenon to its correct cause increase of 
population and competition which, of course, would place it in 
labour. The great importance he attached to agricultural indus- 
try, as the original labour which supports all other labour, ap- 
pears, however, to have led materialists to think that he gave 
countenance to the idea, which, in fact, his work was intended to 
refute, namely, that land has value apart from human labour. 
The schools appear to me, however, to have been more eager to 
seize upon what remained doubtful than to expand upon what 
was free from ambiguity. If he did not condemn rent, or dis- 
cover its law, he had little to say in its favour, whilst he pointed 
to it as the most legitimate subject for direct taxation. 

Notwithstanding the logical hiatus which has been found in 
the " Wealth of Nations " on the subject of rent, it may still be re- 
garded as the best text-book, and its definitions as the most ex- 
plicit, whilst it is not too much to say of the author that he con T 
tributed more towards enlightened legislation, and the happiness 
of a larger section of the human race, than all the economists who 
either preceded or followed him. 

To illustrate the principle of rent, and in order the better 
to demonstrate its law, on the theory that labour is the founda- 
tion of all exchangeable value, the reader will excuse me for 
giving extracts from what Adam Smith says on the subject, to 
show that its principle is one of taxation, and that its proper 
name is land-tax. 

" As soon as the land of any country has become private property, the landlords, 
like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for 
its natural produce. The wood of the forest, the grass of the field, and all the natura 
fruits of the earth, which, when land was in common, cost the labourer only the 
trouble of gathering them, come even to him to have an additional price fixed upon 
them. He must, then, pay for the licence to gather them ; and must give up to the 
landlord a portion of what his labour either collects or produces. This portion, or, 
what comes to the same thing, the price of this portion, constitutes the rent of land, 
and in the price of the greater part of commodities makes a third component part. 

" The real value of all the different component parts of price, it must be observed, 
is measured by the quantity of labour which they can, each of them, purchase or com- 
mand. Labour measures the value not only of that part of price which resolves itself 
into labour, but of that which resolves itself into rent, and of that which resolves itself 
into profit." 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 351 

In my last article reference was made to the statement in 
the latter paragraph that rent formed a component part of price. 
Buckle points out that price is made up of wages and profit, and 
refers to the following passage in the " Wealth of Nations " as the 
true statement: 

" Rent, it is to be observed, therefore enters into the composition of the price of 
commodities in a different way from wages and profit. High or low wages and profit 
are the causes of high or low price ; high or low rent is the effect of it. " Buckle re- 
marks: "This latter opinion we now know to be the true one; it is, however, in- 
compatible with that expressed in the first passage. For, if rent is the effect or price, 
it cannot be a component part of it." 

This question will be better understood when we come to 
treat of the law of rent. In the meantime, it is sufficient to point 
out that its action is to cut into wages and profit. // cuts inward 
and reacts outward. As a commercial transaction between man 
and man, its action is inverse, unnatural. Nothing puzzles a 
schoolboy's brain so much as to convert an inverse into a direct 
proportional, and the economists have not yet been able to solve 
the problem of rent, just because, like blind moles " burrowing i' 
the ground," they looked for its law in gradations of soil, instead 
of looking for it in gradations of labour. 

What is commonly called the rights of property is, so far as 
the rent of political economy is concerned, the right to exercise a 
taxing principle, which is vicious in its operation. It places in 
the hands of individuals an instrument of power and oppression. 
It is only in the hands of the Sovereign or State that such a 
principle is safe, and very often that which ought to accrue to the 
Sovereign is appropriated by the subject. To make it clear that 
this is so, let me quote further from the same authority: 

" He sometimes demands rent for what is altogether incapable of human improve- 
ment. Kelp is a species of sea- weed, which, when burnt, yields an alkaline salt, use- 
ful for making glass, soap, and for several other purposes. It grows in several parts 
of Great Britain, particularly in Scotland, upon such rocks only as lie within the high- 
water mark, which are twice every day covered with the sea, and of which the pro- 
duce, therefore, was never augmented by human industry. The landlord, however, 
whose estate is bounded by a kelp shore of this kind, demands a rent for it as much 
as for his corn-fields. 

" The sea in the neighbourhood of the Islands of Shetland is more than commonly 
abundant in fish, which make a great part of the subsistence of their inhabitants. But 
in order to profit by the produce of the water, they must have a habitation upon the 
neighbouring land. The rent of the landlord is in proportion, not to what the farmer 
can make by the land, but to what he can make both by the land and by the water. 



352 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

It is partly paid in sea-fish ; and one of the very few instances in which rent makes a 
part of the price of that commodity is to be found in that country. 

-But what all the violence of the feudal institutions could never have effected, 
the silent and insensible operation of foreign commerce and manufactures brought 
about These gradually furnished the great proprietors with something for which 
they could exchange the whole surplus produce of their lands, and which they could 
consume themselves without sharing it with either tenants or retainers All for our- 
.elves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been 
the vile maxim of the masters of mankind." 

One more quotation to show that rent is not only the land- 
tax of the State, but to furnish an instance where its delegation 
to the zemindars of Bengal has been attended with the evil 
effects which are experienced in the United Kingdom. 

" The land-tax or land-rent which used to be paid to the Mahomedan Govern- 
ment of Bengal before the country fell into the hands of the East India Company is 
said to have amounted to about a fifth part of the produce. The land-tax of ancient 
Egypt is said likewise to have amounted to a fifth part. 

"In Asia this sort of land-tax is said to interest the sovereign in the improvement 
and cultivation of land. The sovereigns of China, those of Bengal, while under Ma- 
homedan Government, and those of ancient Egypt, are said accordingly to have been 
extremely attentive to the making and maintaining good roads and navigable canals, 
n order to increase as much as possible both the quantity and value of every part of 
the produce of the land, by procuring to every part of it the most extensive market 
which their own dominion could afford." 

In nearly all Asiatic countries, and particularly in India, the 
cultivator holds the land direct from Government. His right, 
indeed, is original and indefeasible, paying the land-rent or land- 
tax through headmen of villages and districts, who, like the 
feudal chiefs, had certain duties and jurisdictions but no pro- 
prietorial right. Such was the case in Bengal until 1793, when 
the East Indian Company made a fixed settlement of the revenue 
with the zemindars, which conferred upon them proprietorial 
rights, inasmuch as they were made free to levy rent in their own 
right on the principle of " freedom of contract," whilst they paid 
a fixed sum to Government. The unfortunate population was 
handed over to the rapacity of revenue collectors, and the Gov- 
ernment surrendered the future increment of the land-tax, whilst 
leaving unborn generations at the mercy of irresponsible tyrants. 
This unwise measure has been most oppressive to the ryots, or 
cultivators, and has resulted in a loss to the Government of India 
of ten millions sterling per annum at the present value of the land. 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 353 

The case of Bengal is one of peculiar interest to the British 
economist and legislature, as it presents an almost exact counter- 
part of what has taken place at home. Repeated legislative 
enactments of a temporising character have from time to time 
been passed with a view to counteract or mitigate the funda- 
mental mistake that had been committed, but they have all 
proved of no avail. The Government of India cannot put Bengal 
back to 1793. Just as I write, I read in the Times of yesterday 
(9th April) the following telegram from Culcutta : 

" There is a great consternation and dismay among the Behar zemindars on the 
publication of the Bengal Tenant Bill. Right of occupancy is given to the ryots if they 
have held the smallest bit of land for twelve years. In all lands subsequently held by 
them, irrespective of length of holding, transferibility is given to such rights. Freedom 
of contract is denied to the zemindars. The maximum of enhancement is fixed at a 
fifth of the value of the produce. Existing rates are interfered with. All this is 
against permanent settlement. At a monster meeting of zemindars of Arrah to-day, 
presided over by Maharajah Doomra, at which all the zemindars, Europeans included, 
were present, resolutions were passed, condemning the bill, and protesting against 
infringement of permanent settlement. " 

All this is against permanent settlement ! What is per- 
manent, except freedom and justice ? 

As a matter of revenue, the "permanent settlement," by 
which British landowners pay a fixed land-tax of 1,050,000 
on the valuation of 1692, is a greater injustice to the British tax- 
payer than the loss of revenue which has resulted to the Govern- 
ment of India, for, on the rating of one-fifth, the British 
Exchequer ought to derive twenty-six millions sterling from 
land. British landlords are, therefore, like the zemindars of 
Bengal, by unjust legislation, in possession of the revenue of the 
Sovereign; but what is still worse, they wield the taxing power of 
the Sovereign over the wages and profits of farmers. 

In the presence of agricultural distress, and with the 
existence of something like famine in our midst, could we but 
compare the present with the past, and estimate our greater 
capacity for meeting every such adverse contingency, it should go 
far to convince us that the universal scheme of increase and 
development is not checked by the " niggardliness " of nature, 
but by the sordidness and injustice of the masters of mankind. 
We think of India as teeming with a starving and redundant 
population. We do not think of her idle, fattened, greasy, and 
besotted rajahs and zemindars. We do not think of her unoccu- 



354 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

pied wastes and immense food-yielding capacities. Burmah, for 
instance, exports one-half of her rice crop, and only one-ninth 
part of her culturable area is under actual cultivation. Within 
the last few years the exports of wheat from Bombay have risen 
from nothing to the value of nearly four millions sterling last 
year, obtained from the black soils of Rajpootana, which are of as 
great fertility as the black soils of Southern Russia. 

In truth, what has taken place in Bengal is nearly an exact 
counterpart of what took place in the Highlands. Feudal chief- 
tains were turned into landlords, and sheep farms have been to 
the crofters what indigo planting has been to the ryots. Whisky 
distilling has been turned into a practical Government monopoly, 
as the cultivation of the poppy has been turned into a Govern- 
ment monopoly of opium. To raise the revenue of the State by 
the nefarious means of administering to the vices of mankind, 
and to relinquish the natural revenue, which appears, by a law of 
nature, to be designed for the Sovereign, into the hands of idle 
oppressors, is surely enough to call down the displeasure of 
Heaven, if we still believe in a scheme of moral government. 

The kelp rent furnishes an instance of greater public and 
economic injustice than the history of any civilised country can 
supply. No people in the world has been visited by so stern an 
adversity of fortune as the Highlanders of Scotland. The kelp 
trade was of as little advantage to the people as the introduction 
of the potato, for the gratuitous gifts of nature, which, in the 
progress of civilisation, ought to have greatly added to their 
resources, merely enabled the chieftains to deprive them of their 
ancient pastoral domains on the one hand, and on the other to 
appropriate the fruits of their labour. 

If they had been quite free to gather the sea-weed on their 
own account, and to sell the burnt kelp, the proceeds of their 
industry would have enabled them to buy up the whole High- 
lands back again, and brought them into a high state of cultiva- 
tion. The introduction of Spanish barilla supplied a cheaper 
material for the manufactures in which kelp was used, but the 
trade might have longer survived if the enterprise of the people 
had been allowed full play, and under that condition of freedom 
possibly some genius might have discovered a more economic 
method of preparation. As the sea-weed is produced without 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 355 

the aid of any human labour upon Crown lands, it was clearly an 
act of injustice towards the British public to have been taxed by 
a few individuals in respect of soap and glass for what was pro- 
duced on public property. Still there appear to be men of some 
education who regard the free introduction of Spanish barilla as 
an act of confiscation of the property of Highland proprietors. 

Sometime ago I was more than surprised to read in the 
pages of this magazine that a Christian minister viewed the matter 
in this light. He says 

" The Act abolishing the duty on Spanish barilla, which, in one year, entirely 
swept away the kelp trade, from which his predecessors (Lord Macdonald's) had been 
deriving a revenue of ,20,000 a-year, and the Highland Chief, Macdonald of Clan 
Ranald, by the same Act of Parliament, lost a revenue of ; 18,000 a-year. All the 
sea-board landowners lost in the same proportion, and, as a matter of course, they had 
no longer the means of giving employment to their tenants, who used to make a good 
deal of money by manufacturing kelp. With such sudden and unlooked-for confiscation 
of property, is it any cause of wonder that Highland proprietors got into financial diffi- 
culties?" 

As the foreshores and the sea-weed are still there, it is diffi- 
cult to know what was confiscated, unless, indeed, the Act con- 
tained a clause of manumission, in which case the Highland pro- 
prietors, like the West Indies slaveowners, might have established 
a claim for compensation. But, as the Highlanders have always 
been considered free men, and, as the sea-weed was produced on 
Crown lands, it appears to me that the Parliament ought to have 
instructed the Woods and Forests Department to call for a count 
and reckoning from the Highland proprietors. 

A belief in the divine right of kings was a mild form of 
superstition as compared with this infatuation, which one is sur- 
prised to find still lingering in a dark corner of the Highlands. 
With a revenue of 18,000 and 20,000 a-year the Macdonalds 
ought to have accummulated great wealth. How they came to 
poverty over it, and how their tenants are paupers upon a Man- 
sion House Fund, will probably be best explained by another 
quotation from the "Wealth of Nations": 

" t or a pair of diamond buckles, perhaps, or for something as frivolous and use- 
less, they exchanged the maintenance, or, what is the same thing, the price of the 
maintenance of a thousand men for a year, and with it the whole weight and authority 
which it could give them. The buckles, however, were to be all their own, and no 
human creature was to have any share of them ; whereas in the more ancient method 
of expense they must have shared with at least a thousand people." 



35 <5 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

The clergyman who deplores the confiscation of the rent of 
kelp has evidently a great sympathy with the owners of diamond 
buckles ! 

It is very erroneously supposed that the evils of our British 
land tenures arise out of the immense estates into which the 
country is divided. That, in fact, is rather a mitigation than an 
aggravation of the system, for large and wealthy owners are 
likely to deal indulgently with their tenants. No doubt the 
great facility that has been given to speculative farmers has 
tended to banish a lusty peasantry to the larger towns, and 
driven some to the poorhouse, but a great sub-division of the 
land would not cure that evil. The fact that we import about 
;5O,ooo,ooo worth of the produce of petite culture is a proof that, 
although large farms may have shown a greater amount of sur- 
plus produce in grain and live stock, there may arise to the nation 
an actual loss in men and more requisite articles of consumption 
which are not so easily obtained at a moderate price as meat and 
grain, whilst a depletion of the rural population is a great loss to 
the trade of the towns. 

But, although those countries where land is more sub-divided 
are more amply supplied with that class of produce at cheaper 
rates, and possess a more numerous and more prosperous 
peasantry the root-evil appears in a still more aggravated form on 
small estates than on large properties. This has been experienced 
in Ireland, where the worst of all landlords were small and needy 
speculators drawn from the commercial classes. In the Low 
Countries, as M. de Laveleye informs us, this class of owners, 
who, instead of working their own land, resort to letting it out, 
the tenants are rack-rented, and are miserably poor. The evil is, 
therefore, not one of degree, but one of kind. 

The correspondent of the Times at Shanghai, writing some months ago, testifies 
to the same result in China : " The land laws are by no means unfavourable to the 
distribution of wealth. Indeed, theorists who are fond of advocating the land for the 
people in the form of peasant proprietorship might take a leaf from the Chinese 
Statute-Book on this head. The general rule is that there can be no proprietorship in 
waste lands. All land not under tillage belongs to the Crown, but can be converted 
into private property by the simple expedient of bringing it under cultivation and 
undertaking to pay the taxes. The cultivator thereupon receives a Government title 
free of cost which is good against all the world." 

Then as to the evil effects of sub-letting, he adds 



ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 357 

" The possession of a plot of land, however small, implies at least something in 
the way of capital, but below these again there is another class of cultivators, who, as 
tenants, farm the land of those who from circumstances or disposition do not care to 
do so themselves. . . . These cultivators are invariably men of no capital, their 
stock-in-trade consisting of a few rude and simple instruments costing a mere trifle, 
It is on this class that the pinch of poverty falls in bad years." 

It, therefore, appears to be a matter of universal experience 
that the cultivator who owns land is always possessed of some- 
thing good against the pinch of poverty, whilst tenant farmers, 
unless large capitalists, are everywhere an oppressed and beggarly 
lot. 

Now, as the institution of property in Great Britain is based 
upon a title from the Crown, as lord paramount, all owners may 
be regarded as tenants, and it is clearly competent for the Crown 
by advice of Parliament to issue an edict forbidding the subletting 
of land, as a custom which is found to be contrary to public policy. 
Then every owner of land might be safely allowed to do what he 
likes with his own to work it by hired labour, or sell what he 
might find too much for his capital to stock, or of too great an 
extent for his supervision. This, however, appertains more to 
the domain of practical politics, and I shall therefore conclude 
this paper by making a summary of the foregoing remarks as to 
the principle of rent. 

1. Its origin is a sovereign right, or the taxing power of the 
Sovereign. This land-tax, by a law of increase, increases as popu- 
lation increases. By its inverse action, when it exceeds the 
natural appreciation of the superficies ; it cuts into wages and profit, 
and reacts on price in limiting production. 

2. A taxing power over the gratuitous gifts of nature is in 
reality a tax upon the whole people. Its appropriation by a 
portion of the subjects is a species of usurpation, and its delega- 
tion by the Sovereign is an unjust abnegation of sovereign right. 

3. It is contrary, as a business relationship, to the scheme of 
nature, inasmuch as the flexible nature of the soil does not admit 
of adjusting equities, for the landlord may confiscate the labour 
of the tenant, and the tenant may rob the landlord by exhaust- 
ing the soil. Further, inasmuch as a fixed rent is a certain 
amount for an uncertain return, it is a species of gambling in the 
dispensations of Providence. 

So long as the right to lend or sub-let land is conceded to 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

subjects in any country-in America and Australia, as well as in 
Europe-the same consequences must follow-the engrossment 
of lame tracts of country in view of increase of population, and then 
taking advantage of their necessity. The law in every country 
regarding land might be expressed in the following well-known 
lines: 

" Neither a borrower nor a lender be, 
For loan oft loses both itself and friend, 
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry." 

Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE. 



PLEA FOR BEING A -GALL," YET SYMPATHIZING WITH 
THE GAIDHEAL 



IN Aberbrothock I was born, 
An ancient town that none can scorn 
(Tho' more than thirty years have passed 
Since I was in my birthplace last), 
And where to-day you may behold 
The ruins of an Abbey old, 
Which tho' bereft of all its glory, 
Will live for aye in Scottish story, 
And all my forbears I may say 
Belonged to Counties North the Tay, 
And half the blood within my frame 
From Sgiathanach and Strathspey came : 
Wherefore as it appears to me, 
A true-born Scotsman I must be ; 
Yet when in some Hebridean Isle 
I chose to pitch my tent a while, 
Some agent of the Laird, in fright 
Lest his transactions come to light, 
Will say to me, " You are a Gall 
And have no business here at all, 
With everything you interfere 
As if you were the master here, 
And all we think it best to hide 
You learn and publish far and wide. 
You tell the Laird what he should do 
As though the land belonged to you, 
And, though a coigreach and intruder, 
Scold him in cainnt that can't be ruder; 
You take evicted crofters' parts 
And fan rebellion in their hearts, 



PLEA FOR BEING A GALL. 359 

Till they their disaffection vent 

In bold appeals to Parliament; 

Their hopes, long crushed, you raise to life, 

And seem to glory in the strife, 

You are a fire-brand and a curse, 

To Gaidhealtachd never came a worse, 

You do more mischief where you settle 

Than would the Colorado beetle, 

And if the law would but agree 

I'd have you tossed into the sea." 

But by their leave I am a Scot, 

Who feels at home in every spot, 

From Tweed's broad stream to John o'Groat, 

From Eilean h-Iort to Buchanness, 

And if therein I see distress 

I have a right to use my pen 

When it can help my countrymen. 

That man I do not much admire 

Who feels but for his native shire ; 

The thoughts of whose contracted mind 

To his own parish are confined ; 

Who fancies all beyond that place 

A foreign and inferior race ; 

Who would to suit his narrow view 

Divide poor Scotland into two 

As for myself I. feel akin 

To all who dwell in A Ibinn. ]. SANDS. 



THE GLENDALE "MARTYRS." The three crofters imprisoned for two 
months in Edinburgh for breach of interdict were liberated on Tuesday, I5th May, at 
8 A.M., when they were met by about 1000 people, headed by two pipers, who marched 
to the Ship Hotel, and there entertained the liberated men to a public breakfast. The 
same evening John Macpherson, after visiting friends in Glasgow, proceeded to Skye 
by Strome Ferry, so that he might reach Glendale in time to be examined by the 
Royal Commission on the following Saturday. It became known in Skye that Mac- 
pherson was coming, and the Portree and Braes people determined to give him a 
warm reception. As the "Clydesdale" approached the Braes, three bonfires were 
seen ablaze, and several flags were flying in the breeze. When the steamer rounded 
into Portree Bay, a large crowd could be seen on the pier, while numbers were flock- 
ing from all parts of the village in the same direction. Macpherson having been ob- 
served on deck the crowd cheered vociferously, while hats were raised and handker- 
chiefs waved by the assembled multitude. Before he could place his foot on shore he 
was raised on the shoulders of four stalwart fellows, who carried him aloft, hat in hand, 
and bowing to the crowd, amid the enthusiasm of the people, to the Portree Hotel, 
Colin, the piper, leading the way, playing appropriate airs. Macpherson, on his ar- 
rival at the hotel, addressed the people, warmly thanking all his friends and the 
friends of the people of Skye, North and South, and urging upon his countrymen to 
insist upon getting justice now that it was within their reach. " If Joseph," he said, 
"had never been sent into Egyptian bondage, the children of Israel might never have 
got out of it." He believed the imprisonment of the Glendale crofters had done 
more to remove landlord tyranny and oppression from Skye than anything which hap- 
pened during the present century. He was afterwards entertained in Mr Macinnes's 
excellently conducted hotel. Several of the Braes men came all the way to Portree to 
honour one whom they esteem as the leading martyr in the crofter cause. 



3 6o 



THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 



A RUN-THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 

BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot. 

VI. ONTARIO. 

THE great Province of Ontario is entitled to something 
more than mere passing notice, and Toronto, its capital, is per- 
haps the best point from which to take a general survey of it. 
The extent of the Province is variously estimated at from 120,000 
to 200,000 square miles the lowest estimate thus making it 
about equal in size to Great Britain and Ireland. What the ex- 
act figures are will not be known until the whole Province has 
been surveyed. A great part of its territory, however, situated to 
the north of the townships fronting the St Lawrence, and to the 
north-west, consists of lands which are at present unpeopled, and 
a great part of which will probably remain so for some years to 
come. The settled portion of the Province of Ontario extends 
to something like 50,000 square miles about the size of Eng- 
land and it is with this part of its territory we have now to deal. 
Beginning in the east, at the boundary with Quebec, the Pro- 
vince stretches westwards along the St Lawrence, the shores of 
Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, Lake Erie, the Detroit River, 
Lake St Clair (a small lake situated between Lakes Huron and 
Erie), Lake Huron, with the large land-locked sea known as 
the Georgian Bay, then eastwards by Lake Nipissing to the 
Ottawa River, and so down again to the St Lawrence. This is 
the territory which, although only a part of the real Province of 
Ontario, is generally meant when that Province is now spoken or 
written about. But it would be a mistake to suppose that this is 
the only part of Ontario fit for settlement. Year by year the 
limits of settlement are extending, and, in spite of the counter- 
attraction of Manitoba, Ontaria will not only hold its own, but 
will doubtless continue to grow. 

Notwithstanding the nearness of the two Provinces to each 
other, their constant intercommunication and political union, 
Ontario, even to a casual visitor, makes an impression entirely 
distinct from that made by Quebec. The large proportion which 
French-speaking people bear to the total population in the latter 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 361 

Province gives it a semi-foreign aspect, although the loyalty of 
its people and its press one might almost say their ultra-loyalty 
impresses one very strongly with the truth of the late Sir 
George Carder's reply to the enquiry of the Queen when she 
asked "What, Sir George, is a French Canadian?" "Your 
Majesty," he replied, " he is an Englishman who speaks French." 
Yet, although in sentiment the French Canadian is an English- 
man, the fact that he speaks a language foreign to his fellow- 
subjects at home has a tendency at first to make an English- 
speaking stranger wonder why he is loyal, as if his loyalty re- 
quired to be accounted for. In Ontario, on the other hand, 
except on the boundary of Quebec, French is scarcely ever heard. 
Ontario is in fact the English-speaking Province of older Canada, 
and the emigrant or visitor from this country at once finds him- 
self at home. In course of time another great English-speaking 
province, or, more properly, several English-speaking provinces, 
will grow up in the North-west, in Manitoba and the region 
beyond ; but at present this description is applicable only to 
Ontario, and this fact, together with its comparative nearness to 
this country, draws to Ontario a number of emigrants, who, but 
for the greater distance, and the natural disinclination of persons 
accustomed to live in a thickly-peopled country to transport 
themselves to a thinly-peopled one, would probably go further 
west. The large number of Scotch settlers and men of Scotch 
descent in Ontario, and the generous warmth with which they 
welcome a wayfaring fellow-countryman, tend of course to make 
the first impressions of the Province pleasant to a Scottish visitor; 
but, apart from this feeling of friendship, the two Provinces strike 
a stranger as standing out from each other, as having not only 
different languages, but distinct habits, feelings, and modes of 
thought ; and of the two, Ontario, as might be expected, 
approaches nearer to our home standard. 

The River St Lawrence has already been referred to, and 
the amount of water which it carries to the Atlantic has been 
mentioned. But figures give a very inadequate idea of the water 
system of North America. It is only when one comes to sail 
upon the American rivers and lakes that their size is fairly 
realised. Lake Ontario, the smallest of the five great lakes 
drained by the St Lawrence, is 190 miles long, and 55 miles 



362 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

wide at its broadest part, and has an area of between five and 
six thousand square miles ; while Lake Huron, the second 
largest in size, is 280 miles long, 105 miles wide exclusive 
of the Georgian Bay, has a total area of 20,400 square miles, and 
has its surface studded with no less than 3000 considerable 
islands. Superior, the largest of the lakes, whose northern and 
eastern shores are formed by the Province of Ontario, is 420 
miles long, 160 miles wide, and 1750 miles in circumference, and 
covers an area of 32,000 square miles. This great inland sea has 
a drainage area of about 100,000 square miles, and receives the 
waters of 200 streams, 30 of them being of considerable size. 
Looking at these lakes on a map, dwarfed as they are by the 
continent around them, they do not impress one as being very 
large, but the traveller upon them finds it very difficult to realise 
that he is sailing only on inland lakes, and not on the open 
ocean. Speaking of the voyage along the Lake of the Woods, 
a comparatively small lake compared with Superior or Huron, 
Lord Dufferin once said to a Winnipeg audience that the 
traveller would be surprised to find himself as sea-sick as ever he 
had been crossing the Atlantic, a remark which applies with even 
greater force to the larger lakes, where the voyager may sail 
for days together without seeing land. This water system gives 
to the whole of Canada, but especially to the Province of 
Ontario, commercial advantages of the first importance. Almost 
every part of the Province is brought within easy distance of the 
world's market by two competing lines of transit, ship and rail, 
and in this way neither mode is so expensive as to burden the 
the profits of the farmer. 

The position of Toronto, on the shore of Lake Ontario, 
makes it the natural centre for collecting and distributing the 
greater part of the produce of Central Ontario. Its people have 
made the best use of their natural advantages, and by means of 
their energy and integrity, Toronto is rapidly becoming a for- 
midable rival to Montreal as the commercial centre of Canada, 
although the position of the latter city, at the head of the ocean 
navigation, and the fact that most of the great railway interests 
of Canada are centered there, make it highly improbable that it 
will ever be outstripped by its western rival. 

Ontario has been called the Garden of the Dominion of 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 363 

Canada, and the title seems fairly earned. In course of a very 
few years, Ontario, as a wheat-producing country, will be dis- 
tanced by Manitoba and the North-west, but it must remain the 
great fruit-producing province, both the climate and the soil of a 
great part of it being apparently peculiarly adapted for fruit- 
growing. But it is not merely a fruit-producing country it is, 
all over, a good agricultural country also. Beginning at the ex- 
treme south-west of the Province, on the borders of Lake Erie, 
the land produces all the cereals, including Indian corn, while at 
the same time it is well adapted to the growth of the finer kinds 
of fruit, as grapes and peaches, and large quantities of grapes are 
grown every year for export. In the counties on the shores of 
Lake Huron, including the southern part of the Georgian Bay, 
the principal crops are wheat, barley, and oats, but grapes and 
peaches are also produced along the shores of the Georgian Bay 
in large quantities, and that part of the Province is famed for the 
quality and the vast quantity of plums it produces. In the 
inland western counties there is some timber-land; but the soil 
where cleared is good and well watered, while the land under 
cultivation produces wheat, barley, and oats. The counties 
bordering on Lake Ontario are the longest settled in the Province, 
and there both farming and gardening have made the greatest 
progress. Both climate and soil are favourable for the cultivation 
of all sorts of cereals and fruits, and the practice of holding 
every year local exhibitions of products has in the^ past tended, 
by giving rise to healthy competition, to improve both fruits and 
crops. These exhibitions are not by any means confined to the 
Lake Ontario counties they are held under the auspices of local 
societies all over the Province. Ontario is full of organizations 
for the promotion and encouragement of anything or everything. 
Ten years ago the Province contained three hundred societies, 
organized according to law for the promotion of agriculture, horti- 
culture, and the mechanical arts, the principal means adopted 
being the holding of annual exhibitions in their several localities. 
Since that time the number has not decreased, although it is now 
beginning to be felt that there may be too much of even such a good 
thing as exhibitions. During the month of September last there 
was in Toronto an exhibition of the products of various industries 
of the district ; a day or two after it closed, a Provincial Exhibition 



3 6 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

was opened at Kingston ; and, overlapping both, there was a great 
exhibition in Montreal. The Toronto and Montreal Exhibitions 
I was present at, and both of them were large and successful ; 
and, judging from the newspaper reports which I saw at the time, 
not only in Ontario, but in Manitoba, which sent an exhibit to 
Kingston, the exhibition at the latter city was highly successful 
also, but yet one of the principal speakers during the Montreal 
Exhibition struck a chord to which his hearers heartily responded, 
when he said that the Dominion was wasting its strength by 
holding a large number of local exhibitions, which in effect com- 
peted with each other, entailed a heavy tax upon exhibitors, and 
prevented the holding of one large exhibition representing the 
whole of Canada. From the manner in which this speech was 
received by the Canadian press, it seems probable that for the 
future the number of local exhibitions may decrease, and while in 
the present circumstances of the country, this need not, perhaps, 
be regretted, it should not be forgotten that the Ontario of to-day 
(to keep to the Province of which I am writing), with some four 
thousand miles of railway, is somewhat different from the Ontario 
of thirty years ago, when the Province had not one mile of rail- 
way ; and that, while in many cases local exhibitions may now 
have ceased to perform any useful function, to their existence in 
the past much of the past advancement and present prosperity of 
Ontario are due. 

But to return to the products of Ontario. Butter and 
cheese are produced in large quantities for export, and a 
large number of cattle are also exported. In the twelve 
months ending 3Oth June 1878, Canada exported of her own 
produce, exclusive of shipments made at her ports of produce 
from the States, 13,000,000 Ibs. of butter, and 38,000,000 Ibs. of 
cheese. The figures for subsequent years, if we had them, 
would probably show a very large increase over 1878, as the ex- 
portation of cheese alone had, at that time, doubled in five years. 
Barley is almost always a sure crop in Ontario, and produces 
from 30 to 40 bushels per acre, while fall wheat, with good farm- 
ing, is said to produce from 35 to 40 bushels per acre, and with 
indifferent farming from 20 to 25. Spring wheat, oats, and peas 
also produce heavy crops. Indian corn is grown, but principally 
for green fodder. Stock-raising for the market is a business 



THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 365 

which is also engaged in pretty extensively, and in this branch of 
industry the experience of the Ontario farmer approaches more 
nearly to that of the British farmer than in many other parts of 
America. Ontario has no great runs of prairie pasture, such as 
exist further west in Canada, and in many parts of the States, 
but its climate and soil afford special facilities for preparing the 
raw material produced on the prairies for the market. A British 
farmer, writing of his experience in Ontario, says " We can take 
a Durham or Hereford cross steer from its milk when six months 
old, put it upon green or dry fodders, according to the season of 
the year, with bran and peas meal, or corn meal, and within 24 
months, place it on our seaboard at an average live weight of 1400 
Ibs., and at a cost not exceeding 14. In this and all its connec- 
tions there necessarily arises a large profit." This is probably 
true enough, yet during all the time I was in Canada I was not 
able to get a beef steak which any ordinary teeth could get 
through with comfort, but this may have arisen through all the 
best beef being sent to the British market. 

It is from fruit-growing, however, that Ontario landowners 
and occupiers obtain the best returns. This industry is encour- 
aged by an association, which, in addition to its revenue from 
members' subscriptions, receives a handsome subsidy from the 
Provincial Government. The many varieties of apples produced 
in Ontario, I can say from personal experience, are unsurpassed 
for size, flavour, and beauty, and they are produced in very large 
quantities. Peaches and strawberries are also extensively culti- 
vated, and, during the season, the latter fruit is delivered at the 
different Lake Ports and Railway Depots in cart-loads. At pre- 
sent a considerable trade is done with Britain in apples, and the 
Canadians believe that, with some care in packing, the trade will 
be largely developed in a very few years. In the interest of all 
lovers of really good fruit, I sincerely hope they are right. 

A Scottish Judge recently remarked in my presence, in course 
of a conversation on Canadian farming, that there was no such 
thing as payment of rent for farming land in Canada, and this seems 
to be a pretty general opinion. It is, however, a mistake. The agri- 
cultural tenant is not altogether unknown, although he is not so 
frequently met with as in this country. In the counties bordering 
on Lake Erie, farms may be leased for from 6s. to 2os. per acre. 



366 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

In the Niagara district the renting of farms is not common, but 
they may be had for about I2s. per acre. In the Lake Huron 
counties rents range from 8s. to i8s., according to the state of 
cultivation, and the common length of the lease seems to be 
about five years. In the midland counties a farm of 100 
acres may be rented for from 20 to 80, and in some cases 
rents of 2Os. per acre are obtained. In the northern counties 
rents are as low as 2s. per acre, while in the counties border- 
ing on Lake Ontario they mount up, in some cases, to 28s. 
per acre. But after all the tenant-farmer is the exception in 
Canada. Of 367,862 persons who, according to the census of 
1871, occupied land in the four Provinces of Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, 324,160 were owners, 39,5^3 
tenants, and only 2119 farm labourers or servants, so that tenant- 
farmers and farmers tilling their own land were in the proportion 
of something like one to nine, a proportion which probably still 
holds good for the same Provinces. Farms too, as a rule, are of 
moderate size, there being in Ontario comparatively few holdings 
of over 200 acres. Of the total number of landholders already 
given, over 223,000 held between 50 and 200 acres, while of the 
remainder, holding less than 50 and more than 200 acres, the 
majority were in Quebec, where, on the one hand, the French 
law of inheritance leads to the subdivision of the land among 
families, and, on the other, the old French Seigniories have 
established and perpetuated a class of large landed proprietors 
with their tenant-farmers. 

The tenant-farmer in Ontario knows that, by the exercise of 
industry and frugality, he can become proprietor of as much land 
as he can turn to good account. If he is not able, or does not 
desire to purchase the farm of which he is tenant, he may obtain 
an allotment of Free-Grant land from Government, or he may 
purchase wild land which can be had from Government at an 
average price of one dollar per acre. If he is within easy dis- 
tance of the land so acquired, the farmer may, with the assistance 
of his family, clear a great portion of it in the winter, while he 
still continues to cultivate the farm of which he is tenant. Or if 
the new land is further away he may construct a log cabin and 
fulfil the conditions of residence during the season when ordi- 
nary farm work cannot be done, and at the same time clear the 



AN OLD STRATHNAVER MAN'S BALLAD. 367 

new land. In this way, in the course of a few years, he may 
remove to a farm of which he is proprietor, and which will by 
that time have been sufficiently cleared to enable him to live 
upon it, and parts of which will probably have borne several 
crops before the owner comes to reside upon it permanently. But 
even should this method of acquiring a farm of his own not be 
possible to a tenant-farmer on account of his distance from the 
Free-Grant or unsettled lands, he may, if he is industrious and 
careful, easily acquire a cleared farm as proprietor. Land is 
cheap and plentiful, and Ontario is full of loan companies who 
are always anxious to do business, and who do a large and in 
almost every case a safe as well as profitable business, and the 
acquisition of a farm for himself is made all the more easy to the 
tenant-farmer by the fact that he can borrow money, not only on 
the security of the farm itself, but of the stock and crop on it. 

K. M'D. 

( To be continued.) 



AN OLD STRATHNAVER MAN'S BALLAD. 



Composed on the occasion of opposing the nomination of a certain Nobleman as 
Patron of the Glasgow Northern Benevolent Society. 

TUNE" WhcW be King but Charlie. " 

When I was a young, a thoughtless lad, 

Along the banks of Naver (!) 
Soldiering was then the trade 

That got us lands and favour ! 
Come Angus, come Ronald, come Iver and Donald, 

No men on earth are braver ; 
If you but list, the lands then, trust, 
Are your's, said Factor Shaver. 

It was our fate to take the bait 

Laid out by Factor Slaver; 
With coats of red, to fire and blood, 

We sped from Shin and Naver ! 
Yes, Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

To Ireland went to save her ; 
The croppies fled, with wounds and dread 
No corps than ours was braver. 



3 68 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

When peace came round, our lands we found, 

By Donnan, Shin, and Naver ; 
Where our forbears, for thousand years, 

Had crops, and flocks, and favour. 
Then Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Had mutton and beef of flavour, 
Had sheep and wool, and pantries full, 
And dainties sweet of savour. 

But soon, alas ! it came to pass, * 

That sheep got high in favour ; 
The lady grand, that claimed our land, 

Was led by Factor Slave-her ! 
When Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Who'd fight and die to save her, 
In sad dismay, were forced away 
From Donnan, Shin, and Naver ! 

This, then, the promise of the land, 

Was broke by Factor Shaver ; 
His rude command none could withstand, 

Or plans, his wealth to favour ! 
Though Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Might say the lands of Naver 
Were their's, deserved as long preserved, 
By their forefathers' valour ! 

Theories, ready to dupe our lady, 

Were broached by Factor Crave-her; 
To his command she did attend, 

To heartless plans he drave her ! 
Poor Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Distressed, perplexed, did waver ; 
While Factor Greed, with reckless speed, 
Seized on the best of Naver ! 

Factor Vaults, with Jezebel faults, 

Has never lost her favour, 
Nor Factor Lake, who wrote and spake 

That sour of sweet did savour ! 
While Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

The men the lands that gave her, 
Must now give place to Southron race, 
Not better yet nor braver ! 

Far worse than Egypt's wasting plaguesj 

Wrought dismal desolation, 
Glens, straths yes, parishes at once 

Were swept of population ! 



AN OLD STRATHNAVER MAN'S BALLAD. 369 

Yet Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Thus brought to faint starvation, 
Were told that now, without a plough, 

Their state was exaltation. 

The Factors crammed them on hard moors, 

Unfit for fir plantation, 
Where neither sheep, nor hen, could keep 

Itself from bleak starvation ! 
Where Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Sunk deep in degradation 
(To Highland race, a foul disgrace), 
As paupers on the nation ! 

Yet finest land, is left to stand, 

Quite in a state of nature, 
Without a dyke, or drain, or plough, 

Or trace of human creature ! 
While Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Men of strength and stature, 

Are languishing without a plough, 

On moors of grimest feature ! 

Twenty thousand, 'long the shores, * 

'Mongst rocks and moors are starving, 
Without a prospect any more 
To rise by their deserving ! 
While trampled o'er they're by a score, 

Who all the power reserving, 
Of hoarding princely wealth in store, 
As clear to all observing ! 

Some went down to Glasgow town, 

Got on, though some are weavers 
But suiting best, the more went west, 

To chase the elks and beavers ! 
Where Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald, 

Who did their best endeavour, 
Got to their feet, with crops of wheat, 
Far off from Factor Shaver ! 



THE ROYAL COMMISSION. The evidence led in the Isle of Skye alone is 
admitted on all hands to have more than justified the issue of the Royal Commission, 
by the Government, to enquire into the grievances of the Highland crofters. The 
landlords stand aghast at the disclosures already made, in spite of the terror under 
which some of the witnesses gave their evidence. 

* Dornoch and elsewhere along the Coast. 



3 ;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 
By the EDITOR. 



VI. 

ALLAN CAMERON'S reign proved one of the most cloudy and dis- 
astrous in the history of the clan, though he was one of its bravest 
and most distinguished chiefs. His constant feuds with the 
Mackintoshes and with the Earls of Huntly and Argyll kept 
him in constant hot water, and in the end he lost the greater 
portion of the lands which had been acquired by his predecessors ; 
while he was, for a time at least, at the same time compelled to 
acknowledge Argyll as his superior, and to hold the remaining 
portion of his lands as this Earl's vassal. The family Seannachie 
gives a most interesting, and on the whole correct, narrative of 
these and of the other local feuds which occurred during Allan's 
rule, and we shall draw upon him pretty freely in this chapter. 
He describes how Mackintosh resolved to be revenged upon 
Cameron of Lochiel for past raids into his country, and how for 
that purpose he prevailed upon the Earl of Argyll, whose sister he 
had married, to invade Lochaber from the .West, while, with all 
the forces he could raise, he himself attacked him from the North, 
expecting that he would thus compel his antagonist to submit to 
such terms as he would be pleased to offer him. Lochiel, though 
he knew nothing of this confederacy, was so much on his guard, 
that Mackintosh found him quite prepared to stop his passage 
across the Lochy. Both parties continued inactive for several 
days. But provisions at last failing him, Mackintosh was reduced 
to great straits, Lochiel's party increased daily, and there was no 
appearance of the expected assistance to his opponent from 
Argyll ; so that Mackintosh was ultimately obliged to take ad- 
vantage of the night by beating a retreat. Lochiel, suspecting 
that a stratagem was intended by his opponent, pursued him 
with great caution, until, convinced that the enemy had really 
retired, he would have been glad to have overtaken him and 
given him battle, but Mackintosh was soon out of reach.* 

* History of the Mackintoshes > pp. 298-99, 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 371 

No sooner had Allan returned to the Isle of Lochiel, where 
he then lived, than he was informed of the arrival of another body 
of the enemy from the West, which not a little surprised him ; 
for he was far from expecting any invasion from that quarter. 
This force was commanded by Campbell of Ardkinlas, who 
drew up his men, about 800, at Achinloinbeg, opposite the island, 
but on being informed that the Mackintoshes had left, he retired to 
Inchdoricher, where he was well sheltered, and resolved to re- 
main there for the night. 

Lochiel, who had that morning dispersed his followers, imme- 
diately issued orders to have them again convened with all haste, 
and with his ordinary servants, only eleven in number, he man- 
aged to find his way, by private paths, where the Campbells had 
encamped, and having carefully viewed them, he resolved to try 
to frighten them away with the few followers he had. He thought 
the attempt might be made without much danger, for they were 
surrounded by lofty hills and dense woods on every side. With 
this object he placed his men at suitable distances from each 
other, and instructed them to fire, all at once, upon a given signal, 
and then to fall upon their faces on the ground. This perform- 
ance was repeatedly gone through, and the enemy, several of 
whom were killed, became greatly alarmed. Thinking they had 
been surrounded on all sides, and afraid to advance or retreat, 
they continued where they were until morning, when they hur- 
riedly retired and returned home. 

But the severe laws that were exacted at the time for reduc- 
ing the Highlands and for settling the peace of the country, gave 
Allan much more uneasiness than all the power of his enemies, 
and in the end did him greater injury. The Ministers of State, 
observing that the public were defrauded of the Crown rents and 
revenues in many parts, procured an Act of Parliament com- 
manding all chiefs and proprietors of estates in the Highlands 
and Islands holding of the Crown to appear personally in the 
Court of Exchequer before the 2Oth day of May following, under 
pain of forfeiture, and not only to exhibit all their charters and 
writs, but also to find bail and security to pay the Crown 
revenues, to make redress to all parties injured by losses and 
damages previously sustained, and to live peaceably in all time 
coming. 



3 ; 2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

This was a terrible blow to Lochiel, for he could not appear 
in consequence of the sentence of forfeiture and proscription pre- 
viously passed against him, and as yet unremoved, "whereby 
he lost one of the best estates in the Highlands." All this was 
owing to his enemy Mackintosh, who engaged him in the fatal 
league with the Earl of Huntly, who not only neglected Lochiel, 
contrary to express stipulation when he made his peace with 
the King, but with the greatest ingratitude, took advantage of 
Cameron's misfortunes. 

Lochiel took every means in his power to procure a remission, 
so as to enable him to obey the Act of Parliament. But the time 
was so short, and the avarice of the courtiers so great (for they 
made a good market of these forfeitures), that he did not succeed, 
and the Act was vigorously enforced. Lochiel finding himself 
thus in the greatest danger of losing his whole estate, and 
foreseeing that he would soon be surrounded by a multitude of 
new enemies, as it would be the interest of all who shared in it 
to reduce his power and keep him down, he resolved to arrange 
his differences with Mackintosh, who was willing to accept any 
terms which admitted his right of property to the lands in dis- 
pute, in the form of a regular treaty. Meantime, Mackintosh, 
immediately after his return from Edinburgh, where he went to 
Court to obtain new charters to his estate, on giving obedience to 
the new Act, invaded Lochaber at the head of a large force. 
He was, however, met by Lochiel, who was quite prepared to give 
him a warm reception. Friends on both sides interposed, and, in 
1 598, brought about an arrangement by which both parties agreed 
to the following articles : 

"Mackintosh mortgaged to Lochiel and his heirs one half of the lands in dispute 
for the sum of 6000 merks, and gave him the other half for the service of the men 
living upon them for 19 years ; LochiePs former title was reserved entire, but forfeit - 
able with the money in case he should occasion a rupture of the friendship and amity 
then brought about between them, by any subsequent invasion or act of hostility, and 
Mackintosh became bound to preserve the same under very severe penalties." 

While Lochiel was busy in arranging means for saving or recover- 
ing other parts of his property, an accident occurred that discon- 
certed all his measures, and drew new enemies upon him. 
Donald Maclan of Ardnamurchan, who had been betrothed to 
one of Lochiel's daughters, was basely murdered by -his own 
uncle, while he was providing himself with a suitable equipage 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 373 

for his wedding, which, according to custom of the times, he was 
to have celebrated with great magnificence. The murderer, com- 
monly known as " Mac Mhic Eoghainn," was a man of gigantic 
size and strength, and possessed the district of Suainart on 
lease from his nephew, Maclan, whom he killed ; not, it is said, in 
resentment of any injury done to him, but with the view of succeed- 
ing him in his estate and command of the clan as the next heir. For 
Maclan, Lochiel had the highest esteem on account of his many 
excellent qualities ; and he no sooner heard of his death than he 
determined to revenge it. The murderer, in dread of Lochiel's re- 
sentment, fled with all his goods and cattle to the Island of Mull, 
to place himself under the protection of Lauchlan Mor Maclean, of 
Duart, who was his near relative on the mother's side. Lochiel, 
getting information of his precipitate flight, pursued him with 
the few men he had about him, not exceeding sixty, and captured 
his goods, but notwithstanding the haste he had made, Mac 
Mhic Eoghainn himself escaped across the Sound of Mull. Mac- 
lean, seeing all that had passed, from the opposite shore, dispatched 
his eldest son, Hector, with 220 men, with Mac Mhic Eoghainn 
at their head, to recover the goods. Lochiel, now finding himself 
obliged to fight, posted his men in an advantageous position, 
which largely made up for his deficiency in numbers. Mac 
Mhic Eoghainn, armed cap-a-pie, advanced with an air which 
indicated the highest contempt for his enemy ; but, feeling warm 
under the weight of his armour, he raised his helmet to admit the 
fresh air. One of Lochiel's archers at once observed this, and, 
taking his unerring aim, he pierced him in the fore-head with 
an arrow, killing him on the spot. 

The death of Mac Mhic Eoghainn so dispirited his followers 
that Lochiel secured an easy victory over them. Hector Maclean 
and twenty of his party were taken prisoners, but Lochiel imme- 
diately released them without ransom. Lachlan Mor himself 
crossed the Sound of Mull during the action, and pursued Lochiel 
with a much larger force than his own, but he managed to escape 
without much loss. 

Maclean was at the time engaged in a feud with the Mac- 
donalds of Islay, in which he was soon after mortally wounded, 
when he expressed his grief that he had so much offended his 
nephew, Lochiel, " for," said he, "he is the only chief in the High- 

2 A 



374 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE, 

lands of sufficient courage, conduct, and power to revenge my 
death, and I am confident that, if I had not injured arid provoked 
him in the manner I have done, he would not have allowed him- 
self much rest till he had effected it" Lochiel was no sooner in- 
formed of these remarks and the death of his uncle than he re- 
solved to be revenged. He marched against the Macdonalds of 
Islay at the head of his clan, defeated them in a bloody battle, and 
took Hector Maclean of Lochbuy, who aided the Macdonalds 
against his own chief, with several of his followers, prisoners of 
war, and detained them in chains for six months. Lochbuy, 
however, soon after had ample opportunity of being even with 
Lochiel. 

This adventure gave Lochiel's enemies great advantage over 
him at Court, where his son John, a young man of great ability, 
was busily engaged in negotiating a settlement, and was in a fair 
way of succeeding. But those who expected to get possession of 
the portions of his lands contiguous to their own, exaggerated 
everything against him so much, that they, in the end, prevailed. 
* The Lord Kintail, predecessor to the Earl of Seaforth, got the 
estates of Lochalsh, Lochcarron, and Strome, from Sir Alexander 
Hay, the Secretary of State, who was the King's donatory to 
these arid all the other forfeitures. The lands of Laggan, and 
Achadrome, Invergarry, .Balnane, and others, were obtained by 
the Laird of Glengarry and the Baron of Lovat, and his several 
estates in Lochaber fell to the share of others. In a word, he was 
stripped of the whole, except the disputed lands of Glenbuy and 
Locharkike, which he still peaceably enjoyed by virtue of his late 
treaty with Mackintosh," which had been entered into in 1 598. 

In this unfortunate predicament, Lochiel found it prudent to 
arrange matters with those who had obtained rights to his northern 
estates, because they lay so far away, and were not inhabited by 
his own clansmen. But as to his Lochaber lands, he resolved to 
retain the possession of them at all hazards. 

The estate of Lochiel had been purchased from the Secretary, 
by Hector Maclean of Lochbuy, for a very small sum. But that 
gentleman finding, after several fruitless attempts, that he could 
not secure possession, in 1609, made it over to the Earl of Argyll, 
for the sum of 400 merks, the very same amount that he had 
paid for it himself. Argyll's design in this purchase was probably 



HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 375 

not to keep the estate for himself, but seems rather- to have been 
with the view of augmenting his power, by forcing Lochiel to 
hold it direct from himself before he would consent to restore it. 
Several meetings took place between them, but they were unable 
to agree upon terms. The whole question was then submitted to 
his Majesty, and Clanranald whose mother Allan had married 
some years before was employed to negotiate for Lochiel at 
Court. 

The King had succeeded to the English crown in 1603, and 
though he was " naturally merciful and just, yet he was somewhat 
too credulous, and very apt to take impressions from such as 
were about him, whereby he was often exposed to the artifice of 
subtle and designing politicians ; many innocent persons suffered 
by this foible. But especially, after his going to England, where, 
being at a distance, he had not the opportunity to examine 
matters as he ought, and probably would have done, had he been 
nearer. Of this the unfortunate Clan Macgregor afford us a 
melancholy instance." The King was so prejudiced against them 
that he resolved to get them utterly extirpated, and not only 
did he give the Earl of Argyll a commission to carry out his 
purpose, but wrote to all the chiefs and others of power in the 
Highlands to assist him vigorously promising high rewards 
to such as should contribute most to the destruction of the 
Macgregors. Lochiel " was often solicited to join in that cruel 
confederacy, but he was too well acquainted with their story 
to comply until the necessity of his own affairs obliged him ; 
for his Majesty would hear of nothing in his justification 
upon any other terms, so that he was in the end forced to 
enter into indentures with the Earl of Argyll, as his Majesty's 
Lieutenant, and the Earl of Dunbar, Lord Treasurer, whereby 
the King became obliged not only to restore him to his 
estate, holding of the crown, but likewise to receive him as his 
tenant and vassal for the lands of Glenlui and Locharkig ; and, 
in a word, to free him from all dependence and vassalage of any 
sort. The contract contains several other conditions in favour 
of Lochiel, who, though he never designed to injure the proscribed 
Macgregors, his faithful friends, yet he thought there was no 
crime in embracing that opportunity to recover his estate, and 
ingratiate himself with his Majesty. Clanranald was also a party 



37 6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to all these contracts, in behalf of his father-in-law, whom he 
served with uncommon zeal. He was a youth of extraordinary 
qualities, a polite courtier, and very adroit in the management of 
business. He had formerly, in name of Lochiel, agreed with the 
Earl of Argyll respecting the Barony of Lochiel, the terms of 
which were submitted to the King. With these two contracts he 
set out, and upon his arrival at Salisbury, where the Court then 
resided, he found a ready compliance from the King to all his 
demands ; for his indignation against the Macgregors was as 
strong as ever. This appears from his letter to Lochiel, Where- 
in, after reciting Clanranald's negotiations, with the conditions of 
the two indentures, his Majesty is pleased to ratify them in the most 
ample manner, and assures him that, upon performances of the ser- 
vices thereby stipulated, they should be executed and fulfilled, and 
the charters and rights to his estate expedited, according to law. 
' Your neighbour,' continues his Majesty, ' hath likeways shown 
unto us the articles set down and agreed upon betwixt the Earl 
of Argyll and him, concerning the prosecution of our said service, 
whereby the Earl hath submitted unto us his right and title ac- 
claimed by him to your lands of Lochiel, and hath promitted to 
underly, and perform what we shall decern thereanent. You 
may be very glad that the Earl hath taken this course, for we 
shall so determine in that matter for your welfare and security, as 
in reason, equity, and justice we ought to do; and if your right to 
these lands be not good, we will be a means that the Earl shall 
make the same better ; and, therefore, we will desire you, as you 
would have us blot out of our memory your former life, and to 
esteem and protect you, as our own vassal, tenant, and good sub- 
ject, that you go on faithfully and carefully in this service, and 
prosecute the same to the final end thereof, in such form as you 
shall receive directions from the Earl of Argyll, our Lieutenant; 
and, in the meantime, that you seek all good occasions whereby 
you may do some service by yourself, and how soon the same is 
ended, you shall do well to repair to us that you may receive your 
promised reward, and understand our further pleasure concerning 
such other services as we shall employ you in," &c. 

His Majesty also promises to cause the Marquis of Huntly 
to do him justice with respect to a difference which existed be- 
tween 'them, and of which hereafter, 



GAELIC NAMES OF PLANTS. 37; 

Lochiel declined to attack the Macgregors. They had often 
aided him in his wars, and he was too well acquainted with their 
sad story to act the barbarous part that was assigned to him by the 
commission. Rather than be concerned in such horrid barbarities 
he preferred to treat with Argyll direct with the view to recover a 
legal title to the estate of Lochiel ; and he submitted in the end 
to terms which he had often previously refused. He agreed to 
renounce his former title, and to take a charter from Argyll in 
favour of his son John, holding the estate of him and his heirs 
taxt-ward, and paying yearly the sum of 100 merks Scots feu- 
duty. This bargain was concluded on the 22nd of August 1612 ; 
the sum which he paid to Argyll, as the price of the lands, being 
400 merks, the same sum as his lordship had previously paid 
Lochbuy for it. 

(To be continued.) 



GAELIC NAMES OF PLANTS. By JOHN CAMERON. 
Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons. 1883. 

MR CAMERON, in his " Gaelic Names of Plants," has taken up 
a subject which is practically new, and which certainly is interest- 
ing, as well as scientifically important. But the advantage of 
freshness of subject is often counterbalanced by the great diffi- 
culty there is in dealing with a new subject, and this difficulty is 
very much increased in the case of popular botany in general, 
and Gaelic botany in particular. Even under the most 
favourable circumstances, it is often very difficult to reduce the 
vagueness of the popular names to anything like strict scientific 
truth, and in the case of the Gaelic names of plants that 
difficulty is more than doubled, for latterly English names have 
asserted their place instead of the less special or less general 
Gaelic names, which have been, perhaps, forgotten, and are likely 
enough not recorded in the dictionaries; and, further, many native 
names are being lost, because the necessity for, and the interest 
in, herbal knowledge is on the wane. There is, consequently, a 
difficulty of assigning the Gaelic names we possess correctly, for, 
as Mr Cameron says, " the difficulty of the ordinary botanical 
student is here reversed : he has the plant, but cannot tell the 
name here the name existed, but the plant required to be found 



37 8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

to which the name applied." Perhaps no people have ever been 
keener observers of nature than the Celts ; their power of grasping 
the salient points of a landscape, for example, and so naming it, is 
attested by the graphic topographical names our country possesses. 
And Mr Cameron's work is a further testimony to the general 
fact of the Gael's keenness of observation, and to the particular 
fact of the minute knowledge he had of trivial differences in plants, 
as attested by the names used. No subject can better show the 
strong objectivity of Gaelic poetry than this ; in fact, such a poet 
as Duncan Ban is painfully minute in his names and descriptions 
of plants and flowers ; a good-sized dictionary could be made 
even from the names in his poems ! But nothing can be finer 
than the stanza in his brother poet's "Aged Bard's Wish," 
where he pictures himself reclining amid the flowers : 

" Biodh sobhrach bhhn a's aillidh snuadh, 

Mu'n cuairt do m' thulaich 's uain' fo dhriuchd, 
'S an nebinean beag ri m' lamh air cluain, 
'S an ealbhuidtt aig mo chluais gu h-ur." 

In Gaelic lyric poetry and song, plants and flowers afforded the 
richest field for similes and metaphors ; a characteristic couplet 
may be quoted 

" Do ghruaidh mar r6s 
'S do ph6g mar ubhal." 

Of course, the aspects of nature were of more importance to 
earlier men than to us, who are comfortably housed and fed, 
compared with them; and especially were plants and flowers 
more vitally important to them than to the dilettanteism of 
modern popular botany, for plants stood to them in the relation 
of drug-shop and drysaltery, besides their use for charms and 
badges. 

Mr Cameron has done an excellent piece of work in this 
book. He has struggled energetically, and pretty successfully, 
with the difficulty of the subject; he has undertaken numerous 
journeys into the Highlands among the Gaelic-speaking popu- 
lation " in order, if possible, to settle disputed names, to fix the 
plant to which the name was applied, and to collect others pre- 
viously unrecorded." Such disinterested energy and labour de- 
serve our heartiest commendations, and all the more so when at- 
tended with such success. Mr Cameron acknowledges his 
indebtedness to the various vocabularies and dictionaries that 



GAELIC NAMES OF PLANTS. 379 

have preceded his work, and more especially to the " Flora 
Scotica" of Lightfoot, to which Mr Stuart of Killin contributed 
the Gaelic names. We are sorry that he has not indicated more 
pointedly his great indebtedness to the articles by Mr Charles 
Fergusson, gardener a few years ago at Raigmore, which ap- 
peared in the Celtic Magazine, vol. iv.; though, in the body of his 
book, Mr Cameron quotes freely from these articles, simply ac- 
knowledging them as from " Fergusson." 

The scientific part of the work, that is, the classification of 
the plants, is in full accord with the most approved views on this 
subject, and the names of each class, sub-class, and individual 
plant, are given in all the barbarous panoply of scientific Latin. 
Copious indices, both Gaelic and English, will enable the ordi- 
nary reader to find any plant he wishes under its proper class and 
sub-class. Each individual article gives, first, the scientific name 
in Latin or Latinised Greek ; then comes the English name, and 
after it the Gaelic, and, where possible, the Irish name ; and 
even the Welsh name appears not unfrequently. Thereafter, Mr 
Cameron, as a rule, discusses the etymology of the Gaelic name, 
and there generally follow brief but pregnant references to the 
popular medicinal use of the plant, the superstitions attached to 
it, the practical use made of it in dyeing and other purposes, 
and, lastly, if it be a clan badge, the fact is stated. Historical 
accounts of the plants, indicating whether they are native or im- 
ported, are not given, an unfortunate omission, in consequence 
of which we often cannot appreciate the Gaelic name at its true 
value. Many of the Gaelic names given are mere variations or 
translations of the English. For instance, the plane-tree appears 
under the Gaelic name of plinntrinn, a clear corruption of the 
English name; yet Mr Fergusson says the tree is native to the 
Highlands, though, from Mr Cameron's work, we should be in 
doubt about it. Mr Cameron deprecates the wrath of Gaelic 
purists in regard to the want of uniformity in the orthography, 
especially as between Irish and Scotch Gaelic, and in this matter 
we heartily sympathise with him. There are several misprints in 
the Gaelic, especially in the poetry quoted, and among these we 
would fain place "luachair bog" for " luachair bhog." But these 
are small blemishes on excellent work. 

Mr Cameron cannot, however, be let off so easily in the 



3 8o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

matter of etymology. It is scarcely prudent in the unsettled 
state of Gaelic etymology to venture on the derivation of the 
Gaelic names at all. If this must be done, it was plainly 
Mr Cameron's duty to consult the best authorities, instead of 
such semi-scientific writers as Canon Bourke. Zeuss, Ebel, and 
Stokes, the proper authorities, are ignored. Mr Cameron's ety- 
mology is, as a rule, simply atrocious, and when he is right, he is 
so more by chance than for any scientific reason. He quotes 
Bourke's derivation of robur : " ro, excelling, and Celtic bur, de- 
velopment" A glance at Lewis & Short's Latin Dictionary 
would have saved him from this error. In other places he pro- 
perly rejects so-called Celtic roots, most of which are mere inven- 
tions. " Fir" he says, " in English, comes from the Greek pur, 
fire, because good for fire" ! That is a good enough derivation 
for a hundred years ago, when there was no science of language, 
and no Skeat or Max Muller to consult. As a consequence, in 
this very matter of the derivation of " fir," he loses one of the 
acutest pieces of scientific reasoning that the science of language 
can boast of. Max Muller draws attention to the fact that the 
names for fir, oak, and beech interchange in the different Euro- 
pean languages. For instance, the Sanskrit root dar means a 
tree, and appears in the English word " tree" itself, while in Gaelic 
and Greek the same root means oak. Again, pJtegus in Greek is 
oak, in Latin fagus is the beech, and the English " beech" is from 
the same root. Curiously there does not appear to be a proper 
Gaelic word for beech. Further, the English word "fir" is allied 
in root to Latin quercus, oak, and to the Gaelic craobh and crann. 
We have, then, in these tree-names interchanges of this kind : 
what is tree in Gaelic is oak in Latin and fir in English ; what is 
oak in Gaelic is tree in English. Why is this? Probably, as 
Max Muller would say, the Celts arrived in Europe when fir was 
predominant, and retained the name fir as a general word even 
when the fir was superseded by the oak in the bronze age, while 
the Teutons may have arrived only in the oak age (dar, root), 
and extended the name similarly to the general signification of 
tree. At any rate, such guesses are scientifically based, whereas 
Mr Cameron's etymology is indifferent to scientific principles. 

The book is well got up, on the whole highly creditable to 
the author, and is a work without which no Celtic library can be 
considered complete. 



3*1 

THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 
BY J. G. MACKAY. 

IV. HIGHLAND ARMS. 

" 'N diugh fein," thuirt Mac-Stairn, "an diugh fein 

Briseam sa' bheinn an t-sleagh. 

'Maireach bidh do righ-sa gun ghleus 

Agus Suaran 's a threin aig fleagh." 

"Am maireach biodh fleagh aig an triath," 

Thuirt righ Mhoirbheinn fo fhiamh-ghair', 

" 'N-diugh cuiream an comhrag air sliabh, 

'S briseadhmaid an sgiath bu shar. 

Oisein, seas suas ri mo laimh, 

Ghaill, togsa do lann, fhir mhdir ; 

Fhearghuis, tarruing taifeid nach mall ; 

Tilgs' Fhillein, do chrann bu chorr. 

Togaibhs' 'ur sgiathan gu h-ard, 

Mar ghealach fo sgail' san speur ; 

Biodh 'ur sleaghan mar theachdair a' bhais ; 

Leanuibh, leanuibh mo chliu 's mi f&n ; 

Bi'bh coimeas do chiad sa' bhlar." 

OSSIAN. 

The sword appears to have been a common weapon of the 
Celtic nations. Those used by the Highlanders were of great 
length, double edged, and formed to cut and thrust The most 
ancient seems to be the two-handed sword with the cross guards. 
This is the original ClaidJieamh-inbr, and was a terrible weapon in 
the hands of a powerful warrior. From its length and unwieldiness 
it was not so suitable for close quarters, the swordsman having 
frequently to step back in order to deal a blow; but at the 
requisite distance it did terrible execution. The strength of a 
man was indicated by the length of his sword. Fraoch, a cele- 
brated Celtic warrior, is represented as carrying one as broad as 
the plank of a ship. The sword, preserved in Dumbarton Castle, 
said to be the weapon used by the great Scottish patriot Wallace, 
is of enormous length, though it wants the point. 

The basket hilt, same as now seen, is also of considerable 
antiquity. It is used with the one hand, the basket forming a 
complete guard for the hand, and by its weight balancing the long 
and heavy blade. These blades were also straight, two-edged 



382 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

formed to cut and thrust, and had a double channel from the hilt 
to within a few inches of the point. The Island of Islay was at 
one time famous for the manufacture of these hilts, on account of 
which they were frequently called lann a chinn Hick. A great 
many blades were imported from the Continent, but those of 
Spanish manufacture were most prized. We find frequent 
mention made of them in the works of the Gaelic bards. 
Alexander Macdonald says in Oran do Phrmnnsa Tearlach 

" 'S bhiodh am feileadh 'san fhasan, 
Mar ri gartanan sgarlaid, 
Feile cuaich air bhachd easgaid; 
Paidhir phiostal 's lann Spainnteach" 

The Highlanders were not, however, without swordmakers 
of their own, besides the many smiths and armourers in different 
parts of the country, who supplied their kinsmen with weapons. 
There was one, the excellence of whose blades has not even yet 
been surpassed. This was the great Andrea Ferrara. He was 
able to make armour that could resist the best Sheffield-made 
arrow heads, and to make sword blades that would vie with the 
best weapons of Toledo and Milan. He is supposed to have 
learned the art in the Italian city of that name (after which he is 
named), and to have practised it in secrecy somewhere in the 
Highlands of Banffshire. His blades were tempered to such a 
degree that the point could be made to touch the hilt, and spring 
back uninjured ; the old saying, " The claymore may bend but 
never break," has probably arisen from the excellence of those 
blades. 

He is said to have worked in a dark cellar underground, so 
as to enable him to see the effect of the heat on the metal, and to 
watch the nicety of the tempering, and at the same time to pre- 
serve the secrecy of his art. Several of his blades are still to be 
seen, and are very highly prized, so much so, that some unscru- 
pulous persons have stamped his name on blades of spurious 
manufacture, in order to pass them off as his make. The forgery 
is, however, easily detected, the name being struck into the blade 
by means of a stamp. It may be seen to be modern; the name on 
the genuine blades is cut with a chisel, is not so even or regular, 
and is worn with the blade. 

We have recently made a discovery which, we believe, may 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 383 

have something to do with the excellence of Ferrara's blades. 
One of his blades, which was very much corroded with rust, was 
sent to a cutler to polish ; being very much worn, it had to be 
ground down considerably, when a different colour of metal was 
discernible in several parts of the blade. On examination it was 
found to be made up of three pieces of metal beautifully welded 
together, the centre being of highly tempered iron, over which 
was a covering of steel, welded together at the edges and 
magnificently tempered. The object of such a combination is 
apparent, having thus the. strength of the iron and the edge of 
the steel, while the action of the one part on the other gave it its 
peculiar elasticity. 

The Highlanders put very great value on the Claidheamh- 
mbr. They frequently ornamented them with mottoes and 
devices, inciting the owner to deeds of daring and honour. We 
have seen one with the suitable motto 

" Na tarruing mi gun aobhar, 
'S na gleidh mi gun onair." 

It was also customary to call them by some descriptive name, 
frequently from the name of the maker, or some incident in its 
history. This was a very ancient custom, and was practised in the 
days of Ossian. Fingal's sword was titled the Son of Luna, after 
a famous smith of that name. Ossian celebrates the smith's 
praises, and mentions the titles of the swords of the various 
Fingalian heroes in the following descriptive poem : 

" O'b' aighearach sinn an dara mhaireach, 
Ann an ceardach Luin 'ic Liomhain; 
Gu'm bu mhaith ar n' ur-chlaidh'ne, 
'S ar deagh shleaghan foda righne. 
B'e Mac an Luin lann Mhic Cumhail, 
Nach d' fhag fuigheal riabh dh' fheoil daoine ; 
Gu'm b'i'n Drui'-lannach lann Oscair, 
'S gu'm b'i Chosgarrach lann Chaoillte. 
Gu'm bi Liomhanach lann Dhiarmaid, 
B'iomadh fear fiadhaich a mharbh i ; 
'S agam fein bha Gearr-nan-calan, 
Bu gharg farum 'n am nan garbh-chath." 

On the death of ancient warriors their arms were frequently 
buried along with them, and also their favourite hound, whether 
to show their occupation, or from a belief that they might require 
them beyond the grave, it is difficult to say. Even in our own 



3 8 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

day it is customary to place the arms of a departed warrior on 
his coffin till the time of interment. Of the burial of Diarmid 
and Graine, Ossian sings 

" Chairich sinn an dithis san raon, 
A bhogha 'sa shleagh ri taobh Dhiarmaid ; 
'S le Graine thaisgeadh leinn an guineach 
A lot a muineal, 's a braghad." 

The burial of the sons of Uisneach is also described as fol- 
lows : 

" An tri sgiath a 's an tri sleagha 

Anns an leabai chumhainn chuireadh ; 
'S chaireadh an tri chlaidheana cruaidhe 
Sint' an s6imh-uaigh nan cathan ; 
An tri choin 's an tri seabhaig leithir, 
Le 'n trie a bheirte gach buaidh sheilge." 

Among the Highlanders the sword was handed down from 
father to son for many generations; and the idea of a youth bear- 
ing his father's sword was enough to nerve his arm and stimulate 
him to deeds of glory. This feeling is also beautifully illustrated 
in the lines of " The Irish Minstrel Boy" 

" The Minstrel boy to the war is gone, 
In the ranks of death you'll find him ; 
His father's sword he has girded on, 
And his wild harp slung behind him, 
* Land of Song,' said the warrior-bard, 
' Tho' all the world betrays thee, 
One s^vonl at least thy rights shall guard, 
One faith/til harp shall praise thee.' " 

To retain untarnished the glorious fame of their ancestors, 
was one of the proudest traits of the Celtic character ; it was at 
all times the dying injunction of the Celtic warrior to his sorrow- 
ing children, and, perhaps, there is no command that has oftener 
been given or more strictly adhered to than the words of Fingal 

" Lean gu dluth ri cliu do shinnsear, 
'S na dibir a bhi mar iadsan." 

The old warrior shows how he was himself imbued with this 
feeling, in his words to Oscar 

" ' Mhic mo mhic,' thuirt an righ, 
'Oscair na stri, 'na t-oige, 
Chunnam do chlaidheamh nach min; 
Bha m' uaill mu m' shinnsear m6r. 
Leansa cliu na dh'aom a chaoidh ; 
Mar d' aithraiche biosa fein,' " 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 385 

After all that has come and gone, it is wonderful the hold this 
feeling has still on the Highland character. Let the poor High- 
lander be ever so lowly, ever so much oppressed, he still retains 
the noble sentiment that causes him to respect himself, should it 
be only for the memory of the departed. It is this feeling that 
has enabled our Highland soldiers to accomplish feats which 
would be impossible to any other, and even yet, though only the 
wrecks of their former selves, the renown of their ancient glory 
has created such an esprit de corps as to be infectious, even to 
John Bull himself. 

Say to a Highland boy, "Cuimhnich na daoine bho'n d'thainig 
dhu," and he immediately accomplishes a task which previously 
was unsurmountable. Long may this feeling form a trait in the 
Highland character. 

The loss of a sword in battle was considered an everlasting 
disgrace. Donnachadh Ban, who was present at the battle of 
Falkirk, as a substitute for another, " considering discretion the 
best part of valour," in his haste to secure his own safety, lost 
his employer's sword. On presenting himself for his hire, he 
was refused payment without delivering the sword. If Duncan 
was devoid of courage on the field of battle, he was not without 
the means of having his revenge : he composed a song on the 
battle, in which he chastises the owner of the sword, and excuses 
himself for its loss as follows : 

" 'Nuair a chruinnich iad na'n ceudan, 
'N la sin air sliabh na h-eaglais 
Bha ratreud air luchd na Beurla, 
'S ann daibh fein a b-eigin teicheadh. 
Ged a chaill mi anns an &m sin 
Claidheamh ceannart Chloinn-an-Leisdeir, 
Claidheamh bearnach a mhi-fhortain, 
'S ann bu choltach e ri greidlein." 

The claymore continued to be worn by the Highland Regi- 
ments till about the middle of the American War, when, by an 
order from the War Office, it was laid aside by the private soldiers. 
Very great dissatisfaction was felt at this change, for, besides the 
partiality of the men to their favourite weapon, it was shown 
several times that the broadsword, in the grasp of a firm hand, is 
a better weapon in close fighting than the bayonet. General 
Stewart says 



3 86 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

" If the first push of the bayonet misses its aim, or happens to be parried, it is 
not easy to recover the weapon, and repeat the thrust, if the enemy is bold enough to 
stand firm ; but it is not so with the sword, which may be readily withdrawn from its 
blow, wielded with celerity, and directed to any part of the body, particularly to the 
head and arms ; while its motions defend the person using it." 

We might give many instances of the expertness of Highland- 
ers in handling the sword, and the success with which, on many 
occasions, they opposed the most disciplined troops, though armed 
with all the modern implements of warfare. A few such anec- 
dotes may not be uninteresting. 

In the year 1654, a body of English soldiers (some accounts 
say 300) were sent from the garrison at Inverlochy to kill Loch- 
iel's cattle, and destroy the woods on his property, so as to leave 
no place of concealment for the Camerons, who were very trouble- 
some to the garrison. Lochiel, having heard of the expedition, 
resolved to frustrate the attempt, and hastily collecting 36 of his 
followers, they met the Englishmen as they were landing. The 
one-half of the soldiers carried axes to fell the woods, while the 
others were armed to protect them. 

The Camerons concealed themselves among the trees till the 
English were landed, when they let fly a shower of arrows, and 
then rushed on them, claymore in hand. The English, who were 
armed with muskets and bayonets, fired a volley on the Camerons 
as they were rushing down the beach, but with no effect. The 
combat was short, but obstinate. The Englishmen fought with 
coolness and intrepidity, but they were soon driven into the sea, 
the Highlanders following them into the water up to the chin. 
One of the soldiers, having managed to get into a boat, was in 
the act of taking aim at Lochiel, when the latter dived his head 
under water, escaping so narrowly that the bullet grazed his head. 

Another marksman was foiled by the affection of Lochiel's 
foster-brother, who threw himself between the Englishman and 
the object of his aim, and was killed by the ball intended for his 
chief. 

During the engagement, the English officer, who was reputed 
an excellent swordsman, besides being a very powerful man, 
singled out Lochiel for a personal encounter. Lochiel having 
disarmed the officer, the latter sprang on to him, and in the 
struggle Which followed, they both fell to the ground, the Eng- 



THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 387 

lishman above. He was in the act of grasping at his sword, 
which lay near the place where they fell, when the chief, seeing no 
other chance, grasped him by the throat with his teeth, and held 
him so firmly as to choke him. He was afterwards heard to say 
that it was the sweetest morsel that ever he had tasted. 

As most readers will be familiar with the details of the vari- 
ous battles fought between the Highlanders and the regular 
troops during Montrose's campaigns and the two rebellions, it 
may be more interesting to give a few anecdotes of personal en- 
counters. 

At the battle of Aboukir, Serjeant John Macrae, of the 
Ross-shire Highlanders, single-handed, killed six of the enemy 
with his broadsword, when at last he made a dash out of the 
ranks on a Turk, whom he cut down. He was killed by a blow 
from behind, as he was returning to the square. 

John Campbell, an Argyllshire man, a soldier in the Black 
Watch, did a similar feat at Fontenoy. Having killed nine men, 
single-handed, with the claymore, his arm was carried away by a 
cannon ball on attacking the tenth. 

At Culloden, Gillies Macbain, seeing the Campbells attack- 
ing the Highland army by means of a breach made in a wall, 
attacked them as they were coming through the breach, and be- 
fore he fell, overpowered by numbers, he made fourteen of his 
enemies bite the dust. 

William Chisholm, a native of Strathglass, killed sixteen at 
Culloden (three of them being troopers) before he was over- 
powered. His wife composed a very beautiful and touching 
elegy on his death, which is still a great favourite in the North. 

In one of the many battles between the Sutherland and 
Caithness men, one of the former, named Iain Mor Riabhach Mac- 
kay, committed a terrible havoc among the Caithness men. 
Having taken up his position in a narrow pass through which 
they would have to go, he quietly waited the result of the battle, 
under the expectation of his own friends being victorious, and, as 
the sequel shows, he was not disappointed. The Caithness men, 
having been worsted in the battle, fled to their own country, little 
knowing who was before them in the pass. On rushed the fugi- 
tives, thinking that if the pass was overgained they were safe, 
when up jumps Iain M6r, with his huge, two-handed sword, which 



3 88 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

he wielded so successfully that only one Caithness man, like Job's 
messenger, got safely home to tell the mournful tale. 

Many years after this, when this Strathnaver warrior was on 
his deathbed, he was visited by the parish priest, who earnestly 
advised him to confess his sins and make a clean breast of it 
" Is there anything," inquired the priest, " that lies particularly 
heavy on your conscience ?" " No," said he, raising himself with 
a great effort, and striking his fist on the pillow, " No, nothing, 
but that I let that vagabond of a Caithness man escape me !" 

THE LOCHABER AXE. 

This was, next to the claymore, the favourite weapon ; and 
we can well imagine what a powerful instrument it was in the 
hands of a Herculean Highlander. Being furnished with a hook 
on the top, it was used for scaling walls ) tearing down barricades, 
and was well adapted for opposing cavalry ; being fitted with a 
long handle, it could reach the rider and pull him down off the 
horse, with little danger to the party using it. 

THE DIRK OR " BIODAG." 

This was both a useful and ornamental arm, and when used 
in the left hand, together with the target and claymore, it was a 
most deadly weapon, being held in such a position that on any 
portion of an opponent's body being left unguarded, it was always 
ready for a fatal thrust. 

These weapons were great favourites, being so convenient for 
a sudden emergency. Besides being serviceable for killing deer 
or any other animal, they were furnished with a knife and fork for 
carving purposes ; and, latterly, some had a snuff-mull fitted into the 
top, but, of course, this must be a comparatively modern addition. 

There is a tradition that it was a taunt given to Robert 
Bruce, for carving meat with his dirk, that incited him to take 
up the cause of his country so quickly. It is said that on one 
occasion, after some skirmish between the Scotch and English 
(Bruce having been fighting against his countrymen), he was 
carving a sirloin of beef with his dirk, when some Englishmen 
jeered him on his using the same knife to carve his food as he did 
to carve his countrymen. Bruce took the hint in a different way 
from what the Englishmen would have wished. 
(To be continued.) 



THE 

CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

CONDUCTED BY 

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot. 
No. XCIIL JULY 1883. VOL. VIII. 

CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A. 

III. THE ARYAN NATION. 

FROM the comparison of roots in the various present and 
past descendants of the original Aryan tongue, and, in a less 
degree, from a comparison of their myths, we are enabled to form 
a fair idea of the culture and religion of the Aryans. Not only 
can radical elements expressing such objects and relations as 
father, mother, brother, daughter, husband, brother-in-law, cow 
dog, horse, cattle, ox, corn, mill, earth, sky, water, star, and hun- 
dreds more, be found identically the same, in the various branches 
of the Aryan tongue, now or sometime spoken, but they can also 
be proved to possess the elements of a mythological phraseology 
clearly descended from a common source. In the matter of cul- 
ture, the Aryans were organised in communities framed on the 
model of the patriarchal household. They had adopted a system 
of regular marriage with an elaborate grading of kinships and 
marriage affinities. In the household the father was king and 
priest, for -there was also a family religion ; the wife and the rest 
of the family, though subservient to the patria potestas, were far 
from being slaves ; while, outside the household, grades and ranks 
of nobility or kinship were strictly marked. Comfortable houses 
and clustered villages, clearings and stations, with paths and 

2 B 



390 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE, 

roads, were in existence ; the precious metals, together with 
copper, tin, and bronze, were in use, but iron was probably un- 
known. The domestic animals had long been tamed and named, 
for cattle and flocks composed their chief wealth, though the 
plough tilled the field and 'corn was grown and crushed in the 
mills and querns. They could count to one hundred at the very 
least, for the root of c'eud, " kund-rz&" is common to all the 
descendant tongues, and they had divided the year into seasons 
and months a fact which is especially proved by the root for 
month being taken from the name given to the moon, " the 
measurer." They spoke a language that was highly inflected and 
complex; that is to say, the relation between words and the 
relations of time (or tense) and mood were expressed by changes 
in the terminations of words. On the whole, the Aryans were 
high in the barbaric state of culture, as opposed, on the one hand 
to the savage, and, on the other, to the civilised state of progress. 
In regard to Religion and Mythology, the Aryans were in 
much the same stage of advancement as in their culture generally. 
As their culture and language had required long ages to reach up 
to the state of comparative excellence at which they had arrived, 
so, too, their religion must have passed through lower phases 
until it reached the well-developed cosmos of Aryan times. And 
as there are not wanting many signs of those earlier stages of 
belief both in Aryan Mythology and in the mythologies of the 
descendant nations, it is necessary to glance briefly at what these 
stages may have been. Belief in the supernatural exists, and has 
existed, in all races of men whose beliefs we have any knowledge 
of. The lowest phase of this belief is known as "Animism," and 
consists in believing that what is presented to us in our dreams 
and visions has a real existence. Savage man makes no distinc- 
tion between his dreaming and waking existence. He sees the 
" shadows" of the dead in his sleep, and firmly believes in their 
objective reality. But not merely the dead alone have shadows 
or spirits ; the living, too, have spirits or duplicates of self. 
Animals, also, and material objects, have souls, for is not the 
dead hero seen in dreams wearing the ghosts of arms sword 
and hatchet, and such like that he possessed in life? The 
worship of ancestors would appear to have been the first form in 
which these beliefs took the shape of an active religion or worship 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 391 

of higher beings. Ancestor worship, though first, is by no means 
lost in subsequent stages, for of all forms it is the most persistent 
in its survival. Modern China and ancient Rome are prominent 
proofs of this fact. From ancestors, it is an easy step to worship 
the ghosts of other persons ; sometimes these were looked on as 
beneficent, and at other times as maleficent, beings, whose help 
was to be invoked or whose wrath was to be deprecated. 
Ghosts, ancestral and other, might inhabit natural objects 
trees, rivers, wells, and animals ; and this, combined with the 
worship of the actual ghosts of these objects, sometimes gave 
rise to " fetishism," so well called the worship of " stocks and 
stones." Totemism, again, consists in the worship of a tribal 
badge; some clan or nation worship a particular object, gene- 
rally an animal, a form of worship which may easily have 
sprung from ancestor worship, since the ancestral ghost may 
have taken that particular form. Some go so far as to assert 
that the names of some of the Highland and Irish clans and 
their badges are remnants or remembrances of this worship, and 
appeal in proof is especially made to the clan " Chattan," with 
its animal crest, the cat. The next stage is the worship of the 
nature-spirits, or the natural powers as seen in objects of outward 
nature clouds, lightning, and sky. This gives rise to polytheism 
proper, and, perhaps, prior to that, to henotheism, as Max Miiller 
has so well named that " totemic" worship of one especial element 
of nature, making it for the moment the supreme deity with all 
the attributes that are applicable to it embellished and exhausted. 
In polytheism the plurality of deities is expressed ; in henotheism 
it is implied. Polytheism generally presents a dynastic system of 
gods under the rule of one supreme king or father, while heno- 
theism implies a co-ordination of deities. " These deities," says Mr 
Sayce, " are necessarily suggested by nature; the variety of nature 
overpowers in an infantile state of society the unity for which the 
mind of man is ever yearning. Gradually, however, the attributes 
applied to the objects and powers of nature take the place of the 
latter ; the sun becomes Apollo, the storm Ares. Deities are 
multiplied with the multiplication of the epithets which the 
mythopoeic age changes into divinities and demi-gods, and side 
by side with a developed Mythology goes a developed pantheon. 
The polytheism, which the infinite variety of nature made inevit- 



392 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

able, continues long after the nature -worship that underlay it has 
grown faint and forgotten. A time at last comes when even 
abstract names have to submit to the common process ; temples 
are raised to Terror and Fear, to Love and Reverence ; and the 
doom of the old polytheism of nature is at hand. When once the 
spirit of divinity has been breathed into abstractions of the 
human mind, it cannot be long before their essential unity is 
recognised, and they are all summed up under the one higher 
abstraction of monotheism." 

But this quotation anticipates the history of Aryan Myth- 
ology in the descendant nations. Aryan religion itself was a fully 
developed henotheism, or rather a polytheism, where the Supreme 
Deity was different at different times in the eyes of the same 
worshipper. At one time, to take the Vedic hymns as represen- 
tative of the oldest and nearest stratum of religious thought to 
the Aryan religion, Indra is the only god whom the singer recog- 
nises, and he exhausts his religious vocabulary on his praise 
alone ; and at another time Varuna receives all worship, at 
another it is Agni. Indra represents the heaven-god, more 
especially in the view of a rain-giving deity, for the root is 
the same as the English water, and is seen also in the sacred 
River Indus. Agni is the god of fire ; Varuna, of the canopy of 
heaven the Greek Uranus. Comparing and analysing the ele- 
ments of Teutonic, Greek, and Hindu Mythology, for example, 
we may arrive at a tolerably clear conception of the Aryan pan- 
theon and religious cultus. It would seem the chief deity was 
connected with the worship of light ; the shining canopy of 
heaven was the head of the Aryan Olympus. The Gaelic word 
dia (and diu day); Sanscrit, Dyaus; Greek, Zeus; Latin, deus and 
y-piter; and English, Tiw (as seen in Tuesday), are from the 
primitive name of this god, their common root being div> shining. 
Hence dia originally meant the bright sky, and Jupiter, the " sky- 
father," is the Roman version of " Father in Heaven." Fire, in 
all its manifestations, was an especial object of worship ; Agni is 
the Vedic name of this diety, which appears in Latin ignis, and 
Gaelic ain (heat), but the Gaelic equivalent deity would appear 
to have been the Dagda," or the Great Good Fire. The sun 
and moon were prominent among the deities, the sun being the 
most in favour, perhaps, of all the gods. The epithets applied to 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 393 

him are innumerable, and, as a consequence, scarcely two nations 
have the same name for the sun-god, and nearly all have one or 
two deities that are phases of solar worship. The Sanscrit, surya; 
Latin, sol; Greek, Julio s ; English, sun; and Gaelic, solus, present 
the chief root the first four actually meaning the " sun," and being 
used as the name of the sun-deity often. 

And there were other gods hardly inferior to these gods; 
such were what we may call the " meteorological" deities the 
regulators of weather and seasons. Prominent among these was 
the thunder god, who brings thunder and rain ; in the Vedic 
hymns his place is filled by the chief god Indra ; in Latin he is 
the Jupiter Tonans ; in the Norse Mythology, he appears as 
Thor who is next in importance to Odin himself; and in the 
Celtic Mythology, he is known as Taranis. The storm god was 
worshipped under the title of Maruts, the Latin Mars, and 
Greek Ares. The wind, Vata, the Gaelic gaoth, had a high posi- 
tion among the deities, but among the descendant nations its 
position is not quite so high, unless we connect with it the god 
Hermes, who in Greek Mythology is clearly a wind god both in 
his connection with music and as messenger to the gods. 

The gods we have hitherto discussed belong to the intangi- 
ble objects of nature the sky, stars, sun, dawn, and, perhaps, so 
too the " weather" gods. Max Miiller gives two other possible 
classes of deified objects: semi-tangible objects such as trees, 
mountains, the sea, the earth. These objects supply the material 
for what he calls the semi-deities. And thirdly, lowest of all, are 
tangible objects, such as " stocks and stones" and other elements 
of fetishism. The worship of semi-tangible objects shows clearly 
a remnant of the old animism, for these objects are endowed in 
savage culture with spirits of a personal type. "The lowest 
races," says Mr Tylor, " not only talk of such nature-spirits, but 
deal with them in a thoroughly personal way, which shows how 
they are modelled on human souls. Modern travellers have seen 
North Americans paddling their canoes past a dangerous place 
on the river, and throwing in a bit of tobacco with a prayer to 
the river-spirit to let them pass. An African wood cutter who 
has made the first cut at a great tree has been known to take the 
precaution of pouring some palm-oil on the ground, that the 
angry tree-spirit coming out may stop to lick it up, while the 



39 4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 

man runs for his life. The state of mind to which these nature- 
spirits belong must have been almost as clearly remembered by 
the Greeks, when they could still fancy the nymphs of the lovely 
groves and springs and grassy meadows coming up to the council 
of the Olympian gods, or the dryads growing with the leafy 
pines and oaks, and uttering screams of pain when the wood- 
man's axe strikes the trunk." These nature spirits play a most 
important part in folk-lore, appearing in the tales of the river 
demon, the water kelpie, who drowns his victim in the whirl- 
pool ; and in the giants, trolls, and dwarfs, who represent moun- 
tain and earth spirits ; the healing waters of sacred wells have 
only adopted saints' names in place of the old pagan deity; while 
the little elves and fairies of the woods are but dim recollections 
of the old forest spirits. 

Of magic, a word or two may be said. It must be remem- 
bered that the gods could change their shape at pleasure ; their 
normal shape "among Aryan nations was the human, but they 
could assume the shape of particular men or beasts, or even of 
inanimate objects, for Jupiter came into Danae's prison in a 
shower of gold. Perseus' magical hat of darkness and shoes of 
swiftness belong to the same cloud-changing character. Spells 
and enchantments form an important feature of magical powers, 
and have their origin in spirit-explanations of the numbing power 
of frost, the relaxing power of heat, the power of drugs, as of the 
Indian Soma, and doubtless in the magnetic influence exerted by 
some men and animals, notably the serpent And if we descend 
still lower, we find magic as a rule depend on a false use of 
analogies. The Zulu who has to buy cattle may be seen chew- 
ing a bit of wood, in order to soften the breast of the seller he is 
dealing with, for as the wood gets softer in his mouth, the seller's 
heart is supposed also to soften. Such superstitions exist even 
in our own country to the present day. The writer of this has 
known of a case where a clay body "corpan -creadha," was 
actually made and stuck over with nails and pins, and placed 
in a stream channel to waste away. As the clay wasted, so with 
sharp pangs would waste away the person for whom it was 
intended. 

The ethical side of the Aryan religion presented some in- 
teresting features. The contest between the powers of light and 



CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 395 

darkness Dyaus and Indra on one side against Ahriman or 
Vritra, the bright sun-god against the snake-god of darkness, 
Apollo strangling the Python, represents a real ethical idea- 
good overcoming evil. Sacrifice and prayer, temple and altar, 
were known ; and sin and sin-offering were familiar ideas to the 
Aryans. A shadowy spirit existence after death was believed 
in ; heroes were taken to the halls of the gods, but the kingdom 
of Hades was the general abode of spirits, where the good and 
the evil got their deserts. 

ARYAN MYTHS. 

We shall now see how the Aryans dealt in one or two cases 
with the actions of their gods, and how this gave rise to a mythi- 
cal life history of them in later times. It was around the sun- 
god that most of these myths were gathering. Off-spring of 
night, whom he slays, he loves the dawn maiden, Daphne 
" rosy-fingered morn," who flies from his embrace over the azure 
plains of Heaven, but, Cinderella-like, leaves a golden streak of 
light behind her whereby she may be followed and found. The 
sun has his toils, too, in the pursuit ; storm-clouds intercept his 
path ; at times even the eclipse monster swallows him ; and he 
has to toil for mean creatures like men to give them light and 
heat, owing to the spells put upon him. But at length he over- 
takes, in the evening, his morning love, the dawn, now the even- 
ing dawn, who consoles him as he descends beneath the wave. In 
some such strains must the old Aryans have spoken of the sun's 
career and actions, and sung the praises of the Being who guided 
his flying coursers over the plains of Heaven. Later ages rational- 
ised the myth into the loves and actions of Apollo and Daphne, 
Hercules and Dejanira, and others innumerable. The myth is 
broken down to a folk-tale, which appears in a variety of modern