Skip to main content

Full text of "Transactions"

See other formats 


T  K  AN  SAC  T  IONS 


THE  GAELIC  SOCIETY  OE  INYERNES! 


VO  I,  U  r.l  E      K  V  1  I 


1890-91 


T  HANS  A  C  T  IONS 


THE  GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF  INVERNESS, 


VOLUME     XVII. 
1890-91. 


RANSACTIONS 


r-y-v  ^\     7 


GAKLIC    SOCIETY 

it  > 

OF    INVILRNIiSS. 


VOLUME     XVII. 

1890-91. 


l',l.!(     SOCiI';r\    OF   INYF.RNKSS. 

.KN    C'UROXICI.F/    OFFICE: 

.I.|\M  MAC.'KAY,  AND  A.  it  \V.  MACK  I   N/IK, 

.I.I:KS.  IXVKRNI-'.SS. 


0. 


GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF   INVERNESS, 


OFFICE-BEARERS  FOR  1890  i  OFFICE-BEARERS  FOR  1891 


CHIEF. 

Ian     Murray     Grant     01'     Gl 
inoriston. 

CHIEFTAINS. 

Bailie  Alex.  Maeken/ic. 
Roderick   Maclean. 
Provosl    !•!  >ss. 

HON.     SECRKTARV. 

\Viiliani  Maekav,  Solicitor. 


CHIEF. 

J.     Douula-     Fletcher    of    Kose- 
hangh. 

CHIEFTAINS. 

Bailie  Alex.  Mackenzie. 
Alexander  Macbain,  M.A. 

HON.     SRCKHTAHV. 

\\ri!liaHi  Miick.-iv,  Solicitor. 


SECRETARY  AND  TlfKASl.'RER.         SECRETARY  AND  L'REASL'HEH. 

Duncan     Mackintosh,     Bank    of      Duncan    Mackintosh,     Bank     of 

Scotland.  Scotland. 


MK.MUHRS    OF    COUNCIL. 

Aiex.  Machain,  M.A. 
•Jolui  Macdonald. 
Willinni  ( iunn. 
D.  il.  Chisholrn. 
II.  V.  Maccalluin. 

LIBRARIAN. 

^'illiarn  Fraser. 


ME.MiiKRS    OF    COUNCIL. 

!  hmcan  ( '.-n/ijjlicll. 
( 'o!in  ( Ihisholin. 
John  Macdonald. 
D.  If.  Chishohn. 
Alexander  M.  Ross. 

LIHHAIUAN. 

William   I^raser. 


I'lPEK.  PIPER. 

Pipe-Major  Ronald  Mackenzie.      ;   Pipe-Major  Ronald  Mackenzie, 

HARD. 

Xoil  Maclcod,  Edinburgh 


Mrs  Mary  Mackellar. 


COMl'NN  GAEUG  INBHIR-NIS. 


CO-SHUIDHBACHADH. 

1.   "S  c  aiiini  u'  < 'liomiiinn  "ToMUNN  <-AII.H; 


•2.  S  c1  tba  an  run  a  Choiiiuilii)  :  —  Na  buill  a  dbeauamh 
ioinhui  's  a'  (Jhailijr;  cimieas  Canainc.  Bardacbd  airus  ("Mull  na 
(laidboaltarbd  :  Hai'dacbd.  Seanacbas,  S^vularbd,  Leabliraiehean 
no-US  >':Tio!  >iiai  ma  >  a  rbanain  sin  a  tlioavnadh  n  diiearnmd  ; 
Loaliiiav-lann  a  cliiir  suas  ami  am  hailc  Inbhir-Xis  dc  leabliraichibh 
aL'n>  SLcriobhainiaibli  aim  an  caDaiii  sam  l»itli  a  bliuineas  do 
CJuiili-ai'li'l.  I'.mnsarliadli,  Iviclidraidbcaclid  a^us  Sheaiiachtisnibh 
na.n  (-Jaidlu'.d  no  do  flniii'bhe  na  ( iaid'u-.-dlaclid  :  coir  -i^us  rlinnan 
(iaidlu'ai  a  dliion  :  airus  na  iiaidlicil  a  shoirhhcarhadh  a  uima  ^'c 
b'c  ait"  am  in  iad. 

:>.  ^  iad  a  Uliitlieas  Dam  bnili.  iMiideachd  a  lisa  ^abhail  suiin 
do  I'utitaibli  i  ( 'hoimiiiin  :  iv-fiix  M>  mar  u'hoibl)  iad  ;>  staiglt  :  - 
TairLi'i'.ili  a-'ii  Miai!  an  :  -iarradair.  dainjrnic-hidh  ball  rile  an  tairu'-se. 
aj^us.  aiu  ai  a.rii  fhoinnuiuili,  ma  ro^lmaicbeas  a  nilior-clmid  Ic 
i.Tannciiiir.  nil  boa:'  bail  dliitli-sc;  no  dhetli-san  rlio  lih-ifb  s  a 
jihaidlu1;!)'  an  comb- 1  Itoiri  :  ruirear  craimi  k-  jioiiair  dlmbli  a^'iis 
udiual.  acb.  u"ii  so  i.tiii  diiLi'bcacli,  feumadh  tri  biiil!  dbrnu'  an  craini 
a  clmi'.  Fc-udaidb  an  ('omunn  i  ri'am  ( 'bcamiardan  a  tlioirt  do 
urrad  us  seacln  i  daoiiu1  cliuitcach. 

I.    I'aidhidb   hall   ("rraniach,  'sa'  bbliadlma    .  .£U    \()      li 

liall  Cumanta                                  .           .           .  0      5      0 

Koghlainti'      .                   ....  0      1      0 

A.u'lis  ni   Hall-boatlia  aon  cbomb-tboirt  do.  770 

T).   ;S  a'  cheud-mhios,  Lrac-b  bliadhna,  roghnaichear,  le  crainn, 
Co-chomhairle  a  riau'ldas  s/nothuichean  a'  ( 'homuinn.  's  o  sin-  -aon 


GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF  INVERNESS, 


CONSTITUTION. 

1.  The  Society  shall  be  culled  the  kv  GAELIC  SOCIETY  OF 
INVERNESS." 

"2.  The  objects  of  the  Societv  are  the  perfecting  of  the  Mem- 
bers in  the  use  of  the  Gaelic  language  :  the  cultivation  of  the 
language,  poetry,  and  music  of  the  Scottish  Highlands  :  the  res 
cuing  from  oblivion  of  Celtic  Poetry,  traditions,  legends,  books, 
and  manuscripts:  the  establishing  in  Inverness  of  a  librarv.  to 
consist  of  books  and  manuscripts,  in  whatever  language,  bearing 
upon  the  genius,  the1  literature,  tin.1,  history,  the1  antiquities,  and 
the  material  interests  of  the  Highlands  and  Highland  people:  the 
vindication  of  the  rights  and  eharader  of  the  Cache  people  :  and. 
generally,  the  furtherance  of  their  interests  whether  at  home  or 
abroad. 

.'$.  The  Society  shall  consist  of  persons  who  take  a  iivelv  in 
r.erest  in  its  objects.  Admission  lo  In.-  as  follows  :  —The  candidate 
shall  be  proposed  in  one  member,  seconded  by  another,  balloted 
for  at  the  next  m"eting.  and.  if  he  or  she  have  a  majority  of  votes 
and  have  paid  the  subscription,  be  declared  ;i  member.  The  ballot 
shall  b>  taken  with  hlack  beans  and  white:  and  no  election  shall 
be  valid  unles>  thirteen  members  vote.  i'iie  Soc.ietv  has  power  to 
elect  distinguished  men  as  lion  >r;irv  Chieftains  to  the  numbe--  of 
seven. 

4.  The  Annual  Subscription  shall  be,  for  - 

Honorary  Members  .  ...     £0    10      ft 

Ordinary  Members  .  .        0      .r>      () 

Apprentices           .  .           .  .           .           .01       0 

A   Life  Member  shall  make  one  pavment  of  .        770 

5.  The  management  of   the  affairs  of   the   Society  shall  be  en- 
trusted to  a   Council,  chosen   annually,  by  ballot,  in    the  month    of 


viii.  CO-SHUI  DHEACHADir. 

< 'h'.'ann,  i  i'i    iar-rhinn.  Oleireach  Urramach,    liimaire,  fonnihasair, 

fiirua  coig  'mill  oile  •— feumaidh  iad  uile  Gailig  a  thuigshin  's  a 
ohruidhiim  '.  airus  ni  coiu'car  dliiubli  coinneamh. 

6.  Cumar  coinneamhan   a'  Ohoniuinn  gach  scaehduin  o  thois- 
racli  an    Dcicheamh  inios  gn  deireadh  Mhairt,  agus  gach  ceithir- 

hi-deuj^  o  thoUcacli  (.-hiblein  ,u-u  deireadh  an  Xaothamh-mios.  'S 
i  a'  Glmilig  a  labhrar  g'ach  oidhche  rnu'n  seac-h  aiu1  a'  ohuid  a's 

iuii'ha,. 

7.  (.'uiridli  a' Cho-cbomhaiiie  la  air  k'tli  anus  an  t-Scachciamli- 
ruic is  air-son  Coinneamh  Bliliadhnail   ai^  ;vn  cuinai1  ( 'o-dLoucliaiim 
au'us  air  an  toirear  dnaiscan  air-sou    Pioljaircaclid  'us  cinii  idiaidh- 
''aiac'ii  i:ik'  :  anns  an  fheasgar  bithidh  co-dlieuchaiun  air  Leu^liadh 

i-iis  ait  Ill-is  [>ardaelul  ajrns  ilos.Lr  nuadli  n^ns  ta.irl'.ta  :  an  dei<>-h  sin 
cuinar  Cuirm  chuidhcachdail  aiu1  am  fai^h  n'thc  Gaidhealach  roji'h- 
iiiun  'sail  :iir'di''»! '.  acli  LJUII  roiiui  a  dliin!t;idl:  diiaibh-san  nadi  inicy 

'  ?r> 

<r;;iliLr.  ()rinlaiiioar  cosdas  na  co-dlieuchainne  le  trusadh  sonraichte 
;i  illieamiamh  a^ns  cuideachadh  iai'i'aid!;  o  '11  t-.-!uaLr!i. 

^.   ('ha   deauar  atharrachadh  sain   birh  air  coimh-dhealbhadh 

a  ( 'hoinuiun  u'tn1  aontachadh  dha  tlirian  de  na'in  bhei]  do  inclid- 
bruidliini]  ^aiii:^  aii1  a"  clilar-ainni.  Ma  's  miann  atharraciiadl)  a 
dheanamh  is  eiginn  sin  a  clinr  an  ceii1  do  ga.ch  ball,  inios.  aig  a' 
'•luiid  a's  luglia,  L'oinih'n  (.'luDimieiiiih  a  dlr'fheudas  an  t-at])arr;!chadli 
ii  dheanamh  i^ondrudii  ball  nacii  bi  a  latiiaii1  roglmachadh  lo 
lamh-aithne. 

0.    Taghaidh   an    (  omnnn    i>ai'd,    IMobaii1',1,    agus   Fear-leabhar- 
lann. 


I  llaichear  gach  Paipear  agus  Leughadli,  agus  giulaiuear  gach 
Deasboireachd  le  run  fosgailto,  diiineil,  dnrachdacli  air-son  na 
hriiiii,  agus  cuirear  gach  ni  air  aghaidh  aim  an  s])i.'irad  caonm,  glan. 
agus  a  roir  riaghailtean  dearbhtn. 


CONSTITUTION.  ix. 

January,  to  consist  of  a  Chief,  three  Chieftains,  an  Honorary 
Secretary,  a  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  five  other  Members  of  the 
Society,  all  of  whom  shall  understand  and  speak  Gaelic  ;  five  to 
form  a  quorum. 

6.  The    Society    shall     hold    its    meetiiurs    weekly    from    the 
beginning  of  October  to  the  end  of  March,  and  fortnightly  from 
the  beginning  of  April  to  the  end  of  September.      The  business 
shall  be  carried  on  in  Gaelic  on  every  alternate  night  at  least. 

7.  There  shall  be  an  Annual  Meeting  in  the  month  of  July, 
the  day  to  be  named  by  the  Committee  for  the  time  being,  when 
Competitions  for  Prizes  shall  take  place  in  Pipe  and  other  High- 
land Music.      In  the  evening  there  shall  be  Competitions  in  Read- 
ing and  Reciting  Gaelic  Poetry  and  Prose,  both,  original  and  select. 
After  which  there  will  be  a  Social   Meeting,  at   which  Gaelic  sub- 
jects  shall   have  the   preference,    but    not   to   such    an  extent  as 
entirely  to  preclude  participation  by  persons   who  do  not  under- 
stand Gaelic.      The  expenses  of  the  competitions  .shall  be  defrayed 
out  of  a  special  fund,  to  which  the  general  public  shall  be  invited 
to  si1 '  -cribe. 

8.  It  is  a  fundamental  rule  of  the  Society  that  no  part  of  the 
Constitution  shall  be  altered  without  the  assent   of  two-thirds  of 
the  Gaelic-speaking  Members  on  the  roll  ;  but  if  any  alterations 
be  required,  due  notice  of  the  same  must  be  given  to  each  member, 
at  least  one  month  before  the  meeting  takes  place  at   which  the 
alteration  is  proposed  to  be  made.      Absent  Members  may  vote  by 
mandates. 

9.  The  Society  shall  elect  a  Bard,  a  Piper,  and  a  Librarian. 


All  Papers  and  Lectures  shall  be  prepared,  and  all  Discussions 
carried  on,  with  an  honest,  earnest,  and  manful  desire  for  truth  ; 
and  all  proceedings  shall  be  conducted  in  a  pure  and  gentle  spirit, 
and  according  to  the  usually  recognised  rules. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Tin-;    regularity  of    the    appearance  of    our    Annual    Volumes    of 

Transactions  for  tliu  past  few  years  has  l>een  broken  on  tin's 
occasion,  and  tiiis,  the  1 7th  Volume,  appears  over  half  a  year 
b'shind  its  nsii;tl  time.  The  Publishing  Committee  of  the  ('ouneil 
regret  that  delay,  but  variou-,  circumstances  mastered  Their  good 
intentions.  The  Volume  includes  the  Society's  work  fora  year, 
beginning  with  the  Annual  Assembly  of  i()th  July,  IS'.HJ,  and 
ending  with  the  last  literary  meeting  of  the  Society,  on  the  L'Dth 
of  April,  MSI.' I .  The  genei  usit  v  of  good  friends;  has  put  an  end 
to  any  fear  hitherto  expressed  of  financial  dillicult  io.-  in  the  pub 
lishing  of  these  larii'e  Annual  Volumes  b\  a  Society  with  a 
subscription  so  small.  Mr  Kletcher  of  Rosrhaugh  contributed 
,£f>0  io  the  publishing  fund;  Sir  K'.umeth  S.  Mackonxie  of  (lair- 
loch,  to;  Mi-  John  Mackay.  Ib-refoi'd,  BL'  2s:  and  Mr  I'aiil 
(1amei'on,  P,l;iir-Athole,  l"l. 

rhe  contents  oi;  the  Volume  v\di.  it  is  hi'lie-yi'd.  bear  com- 
pari-'i;  witii  our  other  Volumes  of  !  he  pas!  do/en  years:  Imt 
thei'>'  are  t'\vo  noyelties  that  require  a  i'e\\  woi'ds  of  explanation- 
Tile  jM'i/e  of  :.' M  >  u'i\''.ii:  l)\'  i  ii'1  Mackintosh  i'or  iiic  best  essay  on 
the  "Social  ( 'ondii  ion  of  tiie  Highlands  -ince  iSOd."  ^us  won  i»y 
Mr  Poison.  Dunbea.th.  and  it  is  published  after  the  i'eirul;ii'  liierar\' 
work  oi'  the  Society  in  the  present  Volume.  Then  follov/s  Mrs 
(Jrain's  translation  of  "  William  Tell  "  into  (Jaelie.  This  appeared 
originally  in  the  columns  of  1  lie  Northern  Clt roni<-le.  The  Council 
of  th"  Society,  moyed  by  the  excellence  of  th  -  translation  ;>nd  b\' 
the  I'epresentations  of  members,  who  offered  to  pay  any  extra  cost. 
sanctioned  its  publication,  and  the  Publishing  Committee  have 
with  pleasure  carried  out  its  liehot. 

The  death  of  the    Key.    !.  C>.  Campbell,  oi'  Tiree.  i-finovcs  from 
the    list    one    of   our    mo>r     valued    coin  ri!>uto]\s.        The    folk-tale 


which  lie  contributed  to  the  present  volume,  will  therefore  be 
re:ul  with  much  melancholy  interest.  He  was  eminent  as 
a  folk-lorisa,  an<l  had  contributed  largeiv  to  various  periodical 
publications,  like  the  Ceftin  }J<tyazine,  Highland  Mimtlily,  and  rhe 
Scottish  <'.'•••''•••••'  R»vi?w.  Folk  talus  were  his  fort?.  ;  and  only  o/.  Hun 
a  fev.  months  of  hi*-  deaih  appeared  his  'oook  on  the  Flan*,  pub- 
lished by  Mr  N'utt  as  rhe  S:th  Volume  of  the  ••'  Waifs  and  Strays 
of  Ce'ik-  Tradition/'  Mr  ('amp'-ell,  who  was  ordained  in  1HG1, 
was  •  <.>;::/  \\\]  invalid,  and  in  his  later  years  was  confined  to  ins 
bed.  \Vi  •  !  •  iioi  go  outside  our  province  in  recording,  \\ith  much 
v  -  ii  :  •''  Dr  \V,  F.  Skeiie,  one  of  isiir  p;re:ite-;t  < '-jitic 

senses  of  T>KI  term,  (,'eitio  :'•'•  ;  :  nd  owe:s  huu  a 
debi  s  • ;  •  •:  •  ,  sjjratif ude  ;  fur  i:  was  he  who  first  and  com^lei  ly 
ivv.'i'S'.-d  :'i:.;  iispec-i  in  wliieli  Scotch  and  English  hisfcori'ius, 
I'-iiiuwiiiu1  L'inkei-toi]  and  !3urt»n,  lo  »ked  uuon  th  olaee  which  the 


I  ran.  •  y  unravel!  xl    ova. 

literal  !•  v  and  aiitiouivies,  Behave  to  record  thai  a.  satisfa.c'fory 
amounl  o;  work  -and  u'ood  work,  too — has  been  done  in  matters 
<'e!t;e.  in  the  summer  of  iasi  year  the  3rd  and  i-h  Volumes  of 
Mr  Nutt's  if  ••  \V  i'.;s  am!  Strays  of  Celtic  Tradition" 

appeared;  the  3d  Volume,  entitled  Folk  and  Hero  Tal.e.^  was  by 
the  Uev.  Mi1  Macdougall,  of  Duror,  and  continues  the  excellent 
series  initiated  in  ihe  "1\\(\  Volume  bv  Mr  Maeiimes.  The  -i-th 
Volume  is  the  iate  Mr  ( Campbell's,  on  the  Fi'Ui*,  where  lie  has 
U'aihered  together  ail  his  lore  abaiit  Fionn  and  his  men.  llev.  Mr 
Maclean  Sinclair  is  still  continuing  his  (raelic  publications,  and 
has  issued  the  iirsi  u\\-vj  volumes  of  a  collection,  under  the  title  of 
"(Jiielie  !>ards."  Many  pieces  appear  in  those  books  for  the  first 
time,  and  the  annotations  are  extremely  good.  The  most 
important  work  of  the  present  year  has  been  the  first  volume  of 
ft?/ffjuice  C"/f><'<>\  the  literary  remains  of  the  late  Dr  Cameron  of 
Urodick,  edited  by  Mr  A.  Maebain  and  Kev.  .1.  Kennedy.  This 
volume  contains  a  life  of  Dr  Cameron,  and  all  his  work  upon  the 
Ossianic  literature.  The  second  volume,  which  will  be  bv  far  the 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlll. 

most  important,  will  contain  the  Fernaig  MS.,  an  important 
unpublished  collection  of  Turner's,  a  glossary  of  Gaelic  etymology, 

and  a  concise  exposition  of  (Gaelic  philology  and  grammar  (this 
last  bv  Mr  Mac-bain).  The  veteran  scholar,  Mr  Hector  Maclean, 
of  Islav,  has  published  a  work  upon  the  Ultonicui  /><>//((ff«,  where 
he  edits  and  translates  the  ballads  that  deal  with  ('uchnlinn  and 
his  story.  Uev.  Dr  Nigel  Macueil!  has  at  hist  produced  his  work 
on  the  Literature  "f  tfu>  LL'ujhlmi'lcr*,  and  it  does  not  belie  the 
high  expectations  formed  of  it.  'Tn'c*  of  fJnj  JIwth'T  is  a  collec- 
tion of  legends  and  romances  bv  Mrs  Mackenzie  (^Seo^iVi  lfi;.ik- 
Inndcr).  and  thev  have  met.  with  \\  ii'vat.  but  deserved,  success. 
Mr  Maedonald's  Pla^t-  Xa/n?*  »f  StrotJiboiji'1  is  an  excellent 
eoiitribution  to  topography,  and  contrasts  strong! v  \vith  Rev.  Mr 
.Johnston's  /V<7<v  N<',H"-<  or  ,SVr> '///,?//.  published  this  year.  In 
addition  to  the-  /f/'//i/<ni<f  J /o»  f /////,  and  the  good  work  done  o\ 
some  of  the  weekly  northern  press,  we  have  to  welcome  a  nc\v 
venture  in  the  ease  f,f  the  ('<•/!{<•  .]/»fif/t/t/,  a  smartly  got  up  little 
magazine  lately  slarted.  Ii  is  \\iih  ;i  brotherly  pleasure  thai  \\c 
record  ?.  hat  the  l-ncbe  Society  of  (Jlasirow  lias  published  its  iii^t 
volume,  v.'hich  i'orins  ;tn  excellent  collection  of  \;.u'ied  \\'ork. 

In  general  (Jelt'c  matter,  the  fiim,'*  over  i'roi'esso]-  Zinnut-r's 
heresies  on  the  Ossianic  question  h;i^  died  down,  but  Ceitic'  mvths 
and  heroic  talcs  are  lei'f  still  on  their  tri'd  as  to  -licir  origins. 
Mr  Alfred  Nut!'  has  a  suLr^i'sLive  article  on  the  progress  of  tin- 
last  two  years  in  this  subject  in  September's  /•'<>//.•/<>,••-.  The  Pro 
fes-or  'uimstdf  has  d.e voted  his  energies  lutelv  r<-ith(!r  to  liu^uislic 
matters.  !>r  \\'hitle\-  Stokes  is  as  vigorous  as  ever:  articles  on 
the  I'ici  -.  ( 'ormac's  itnd  the  uietric;d  glossaries.  Are.,  il-iw  from  his 
pen.  Asi.-oli  has  a  third  tnstalmem  of  his  Old  fj-ish  Vocabulary 
((•lossnriuni  I'alaeo-Tiihernicum),  ;md  Holder  of  his  Old  Celtic 
>'y > l '<(<•/•:  •*' '•//•'•'.:,  Mirou-'h  the  pivss.  Professor  Srrachan,  of  Man- 
chesier,  lias  ajjpe.-ired  as  ,-i  new  (J;ielic  i<hi!ologisT  of  ^reat  promise, 
!ns  ;•;!;•-•;  beii ig  ;i ii  important  paper  o?i  "(Compensatory  L'.'nLrthen 
ings  of  \'owels  in  Irish.''  M.  Loth  has  published  the  words  in  the 
l>rittonic  tongues  (Breton,  \\eb-h,  and  Cornish),  borrowed  from 
Latin.  end  D'Arbois  de  .Inbaiuville  Ijas  m'vcu  to  llu> 


XIV.  INTRODUCTION. 

(  'eltiqne,"  where  lie  gathers  together  in  French  the  Irish  legends. 
It  is  an  excellent  book,  and  the  pity  of  it  is  that  we  have  no  cor- 
responding work  in  Fnglish.  He  refers  to  Macpherson  and  to  the 
1  >eirdre  story  published  in  our  Volume  XIII.,  which  he  translates 
into  French.  Professor  Hhys  has  published  his  .Khind  Lectures 
on  Scottish  Ethnology  in  book  form,  and  been  actively  engaged  on 
folklore  matters  latch'.  A  third  series  of  Windisch's  Irit<'/t,<>  Texte 
lias  appeared,  but  there  is  nothing  of  Scottish  interest  in  it.  Mr 
.Jacobs  lias  edited  for  Mr  XuK,  a  volume  of  Celtic  F>.drt/  Talc*, 
wherein  again  our  Society's  stores  have  'been  drawn  up/on.  l)r 
Kiino  Meyer  has  published  a.  curious  gourmand  ising  romance  of 
Irish  medireval  literature,  fniitled  "MaeConglimie's  Vision,'"  ending 
with  a  valuable  vocabulary.  !n  regard  to  Ireland  particularly, 
besides  two  histories  of  the  early  frish  Church  (Olden  and  Mealy), 
several  interesting  works  have  appeared,  such  as  l)r  Hyde's  Fire- 
<i<lt>  '/V.x.  Wakenun's  At>lii/"ii  i<-*,  Standish  <  )"(  iradv's  Finn-  <md 
//''>-  Companion*.  Kennedy's  Li'<j'*n-<lnry  /r"T/Vtf/r>«.si  (second  edition), 
and  others.  in  regard  to  periodicals,  the  JUTIK-  Cftt/</</e  still 
takes  the  lead,  and  the  6W/?V-  Journal  sti\]  flourishes  under  I'ro- 
fessi  ii  (VGn  iwm  •  \"s  charge. 

In  regard  to  educational  matters  little  has  to  be  recorded,  save 
thai  ii  is  hoped  the  Grants  in  Aid  given  to  the  Coiintv  Councils 
will  l>;j  exclusively  ;'.]_)plied  to  the  I'urtherance  of  higher  education, 
technical  as  well  as  literary  and  scientific.  The  projected  rail- 
way  .  wit}-  grants  (>f  public  moiie\",  are  in  abi.'\';;nee  iusi  n^.-w  : 
>avi-  thai  the  lii.u'hiand  Hail  \vay  has  been  granted  a  subsidy  oi' 
^'"'.(li!i'  ;  iwards  the  extension  of  their  line  from  Stromeferry  to 
Ky  lea  kin.  A  (Commission  to  inuire  into  tine  ;igricu!i  ni'al  suitability 


the  feeling  of  (  'eltic  or  rather  (»aelic—brothcrh(.od,  as  evidenced 
by  (  'San  So(;ieties.  shews  no  signs  of  a  reaction  :  and  it  is  with  sincere 
pleasure  we  record  the  success  of  the  great  Gaelic  gathering  at  '  ;i  ;ii'. 
n  /"  the  Welsh  Kisieddfod.  Our  only  ivgrei  is  that  it,  should  le  called 
tiv  lie1  very  Saxon  and  objectionable  name  of  J/-W  (ttia?  is.  Mo  ii  ). 
when  the  good  Gaelic  word  (.'uiniK1  oi1  an  equivalent  was  al  hand. 

I  N'VKKNKSS.    f>eftnJ>fr.    1^'>.'. 


CO  NTH  NTS. 


Office-bearers  for  1S1JU  and   1SD1         .  v. 

(Constitution     ...  .  .          \"i. 

Introduction     ...  .  .  xi. 

Kighteeuth  Annual  Assembly    .          .  1 

Anihahni  Spe-— liev.  Mi'  Macgrugi  >r.  Kan-   ...  7 

Mearnalachd,   <>r   Weather    Wi>dom      llev.    John    Macrnr\', 

S,ii/ort       .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  17 

Minor  Highland  l-'aniiii« -;  --  N'o.  4.  The  Camerons  of 
Letterfmlav,  stvled  '' Macmartins"  -Mr  Charles  Kra^er- 
Mackintosh,  M.I'.  .  :IL 

Aini'ial  Dinner-  Speeches  !>y  l'royo>!  j|os>  ;  Mr  Alex.  Mac- 
kenzie ;  Mi-  William  Mackay:  Mr  Colin  Chisholm  : 
Hev.  I)r  Norman  Macleod  :  Mr  Aiex.  Marbain,  M.A.  ; 
liaiiie  Alex.  Macken/ie  ....  .45 

The  School  of  liirds  :     AWc-su-rn     Island    Tale      llev.  John 

(  'ampl  tell,   Ti  i'ee  .  .  .  .  .  .  .*JS 

nbsevvatioiis  (>n  lliu'hland  Kthnoiou'v.  .\:i!i  special  reference 

to  Inverness  and  District       Mr  Alexander  Macdonald  .  US 

The  Macdonells  ..!'  Antrim      Mi    Ib-ctor  Maclean.   Islay  So 

S  itherland     Place     Names      Kan-    and    Ton-uc      Mr    John 

Mackay,   Hereford       .  .  .101 

Tli-  Cache  Sony's  of  i '(  I'thshir-"  and  their  ( 'oinpo>ers  Mr 
Tanl  (  'aliieri  in.  Diair-  Vt  ln-li 

Hi-hland  Koivsts.  Ancieni  and  Nh-dern      Mr  Davi  !    Nairnc 

Ca  -lie  lncantati<.]is      Mr  A.  Machain.  M.A. 

D;ir!iess  from  the  K'arliesi  Timo  l»e\  \dani  Cmin, 
i  n\r\ :ess  . 

The  Social  Couditi()!i  of  the  i  i  iu'hlaiid-  since  |S()();  I'ri/e 
l^say  Mr  A.  I'olson.  Dnnbeaih 

C;ii-lic  Translation  of  V\  illiam  Tell       l>\'  Mrs  (ii'ani 


XVI.  CONTENTS. 

PAGI, 

Honorary  Chieftains  ...  ...        355 

Life  Members  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .353 

Honorary  Members  ........        35-1 

Ordinary  Members    ...  ....        355 

Deceased  Members    .  ......        363 

List  of  Books  in  Society's  Library  •  .        305 


TRANSACTIONS. 


ANNUAL  ASSEMBLY. 

THE  Eighteenth  Annual  Assembly  of  the  Society  was  held  in  the 
Music  Hall  on  10th  July,  1890.^  The  platform  was  tastefully 
decorated,  clan  tartans  gracefully  depended  from  either  side, 
surrounded  by  handsome  stags  heads  and  crossed  swords  which 
added  to  the  Highland  character  of  the  decoration,  and  two  eagles 
looked  proudly  down  from  their  perches  as  if  surveying  a  scene 
from  their  native  wilds.  Mr  Ian  M.  Grant  of  Glennioriston,  Chief 
of  the  Society,  was  accompanied  to  the  platform  by  the  following 
gentlemen,  a  number  of  whom,  as  well  as  the  Chief,  did  honour  to 
the  occasion  by  appearing  in  Highland  dress  :  -Mr  Cameron, 
Moniack  Castle;  Provost  Ross;  Major  Paynes;  Major  Kemblc  ; 
Mr  Frascr  of  Millburn  ;  Rev.  Mr  Sinton,  Dores;  Rev.  Mr  Bentinck. 
Kirkhill  ;  Mr  \Vm.  Mackay,  solicitor;  Mr  F.  H.  Macinillan,  Cale- 
donian Bank  ;  Dr  F.  M.  Mackenzie;  Mr  Steele,  Bank  of  Scotland  ; 
Bailie  Stuart;  Mr  .lames  Frascr,  C.F.;  Mr  Douglas  Campbell, 
Kibiiartin;  Bailie  Alex.  Macken/ie  ;  Mr  Alex.  Mackenxie,  Xi-nttish 
II  t<///!<in<I<:r ;  Mr  Colin  Chisholm,  Namur  Cottage;  Mi'  Roderick 
Maclean,  Ardgour;  Mr  William  Gunn  ;  Mr  Mackintosh,  secretary 
of  the  Society,  and  others.  There  was  a  large  attendance  of 
the  members  of  the  Society  and  their  friends,  as  well  a.,  the 
general  public. 

While  the  company  were  assembling,  the  pipers  of  the  Rifle 
Volunteers,  under  Pipe-Major  Ferguson,  perambulated  the  principal 
.streets,  the  Society's  piper,  Pipe-Major  .Ronald  Mackeii/ie,  of  the 
-3rd  Battalion  Seaforth  Highlanders,  at  the  same  time  playing  a 
selection  of  Highland  airs  in  the  entrance  lobbv.  Shortlv  after 
eight  o'clockthe  proceedings  commenced  by  Mr  Duncan  Mackintosh, 
the  secretary,  intimating  apologies  for  absence  from  the  following 
gentlemen  : — Sir  K.  S.  Mackenzie  of  Gairloch  ;  Cluny  Macpherson; 
Mr  Forbes  of  Culloden;  Mr  Chas.  Eraser-Mackintosh,  M.P/:  Sir  H. 
C.  Macandrew  ;  Sheriff  Blair  ;  Mr  Baillie  of  Dochfour  ;  Major 

1 


2  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Jackson,  Swordale  ;  Major  Rose,  Kilravock  ;  Dr  Stewart,  Nether- 
Lochaber ;  Mr  J.  Mackay,  Hereford  ;  Professor  Mackinnon ;  Capt. 
Chisholin,  Glassbuni  ;  Mr  W.  Mackenzie,  secretary,  Crofters  Com- 
mission ;  Mr  A.  C.  Mackenzie,  Maryburgh  ;  Mr  A.  Macpherson, 
Kingussie  ;  Dr  Aitken  ;  Mr  P.  Burgess,  Drumnadrochit  ;  Rev.  A. 
Bissetj  Fort-Augustus,  and  others. 

The  Chairman,  in  opening  the   proceedings,  said  he  desired  to 
tell  the  meeting  how  much  lie  appreciated  the  honour  which  had 
Leon   conferred  upon   him  by  the  Gaelic  Society   of   Inverness   in 
selecting  him  as  their  Chief  for  the  year  1890,  and   how  proud  he 
felt  in   occupying  the  position   of  Chairman  there  that  night.      It 
afforded  him  personally  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  see  such  a  large 
audience  present,  which  was  a  proof  of  the  great  interest  manifested 
by    the  inhabitants  of  the  Capital    of  the  Highlands  and  others  in 
the  work  of  the  Inverness  Gaelic  Society,  whose  object,  as  they  all 
knew,  was  to  gather  together  all  the  different  relics  and   historic 
fragments   belonging  to  their   country,   and  also  to  propagate   the 
studv   of  the   Gaelic  language.      He  had  heard  it  stated  lately  by 
different  people  that  they  would  soon  see  the  Gaelic  language  dying 
out    in  Scotland.      He   hoped   this   was  quite  an  erroneous   idea. 
Those    people   assigned   as   a  reason   the   great   influx  of   English- 
speaking  people — tourists  and  sportsmen — into  their  remote  glens, 
and   also   the    way   in    which   their    children    were    taught   in    the 
schi  ols  now  entirely  in   English,  Gaelic  being  a  secondary  matter. 
He   did  not  wish  to   enter  into  the    vexed  question  of  whether  the 
children"  should  be   taught  to   read  or   write  in  Gaelic  or    English. 
lie    thought   himself    it"   they   were   taught  in    one   subject  it   was 
almost   as  much  as  they  had  time  for,  but  he  believed  there  was  a 
good    deal    in    the    idea,    that    there    was   a  danger   of   the   Gaelic 
language    dying    out   in    the   remote    Highlands.        Therefore    he 
thought  it  was  their  duty  to  strive  to  do  their  best  in  the  interests 
of  this   Society.      He    had  himself   attempted  to  pick  up  as  much 
of    the     language    as    he    could — (applause).        In    knowing    the 
language   they  could  speak  to  the  people  when  thev  met  them  in 
private,  and  then  they  would  get  a  much   better  insight  into  the 
Highland    character— -(applause).       They    would    also    make    the 
people  feel  that  they  should  be  proud  of  having  a  language  which 
was  so  honourably  connected  with  all  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors. 
lie  knew  personally  several  Englishmen,  who  yearly  visit  the  High- 
lands, who  had  taken  the  trouble  of  mastering  a  great  part  of  the 
language,    and  who  are  able  to  talk  to  their  keepers  and  gillies  in 
Gaelic.      He  trusted  a  good  many  Scotchmen  would   follow  their 
example.      The   Gaelic,  as   they  all  knew,   was  the  principal   cause 


Annual  Assembly. 

of  the  well-known  patriotism  of  the  Highlanders,  and  he  thought 
it  would  be  a  national  calamity  if  it  ever  died  out — (hear,  hear). 
Rut  he  was  sure  that  as  long  as  the  members  of  this  Society  took 
an  interest  in  everything  that  related  to  the  historic  associations 
of  the  Highlands,  there  was  not  much  fear  of  such,  a  state  of 
matters  occurring. 

The  following  is  Mr  Sinton's  address  as  it   was   delivered  in 
Gaelic  :— 

Thighcarn  a  Ghlinne-Moireastainn,  agus  sibhse  a  chuideachd 
nasal,  Ghaidhealach,  tha  cruimi  an  so  an  noclul  bho  ioinadh 
gleann,  agus  srath,  agus  eilcan,  's  an  Taobh  Tuath,  cha  bhcag  an 
toilcaehadh  agus  an  t-urram  dhomhsa  gun  d'fhnair  mi  cuireadh 
fialaidh — cuireadh  nach  gabhadh  diultadh — bho  hichd-riaghlaidh 
(Y>munn  Gailig  Inbhirnis,  thighinn  agus  'labhairt  ribh  ;mn  an 
canal!  aosmhor  nan  Gaidhcal  far  an  do  slieas  daoine  a  b'urramaich, 
agus  na  b'ionnsuichte  na  mise  aims  na  bliadhnaichean  a  dh'  fhalbh. 
rhaidh  iarraidh  ormsa  oraid  thabhairt  duibh,  agus  cha'n  e  sin  a 
mha.in,  ,-ich  chaidli  chnir  romham  gu'm  bu  choir  doiuh  <-huir  an  ceil 
amis  an  oraid  chcudna  cia  blasmhor  binn's  tha  na  h--oranan  Gaidh- 
ealach.  Nis,  cha'n  aithne  dhomli  cianiar  ni  mi  so,  mar  scinn  mi 
feai1  na  dha  dhiubh — agus  tha  fliios  agaibh  Fein  na-'b  bitheadh  so 
Frcagrach- — narh  cluinninn  a  dheireadh  bhona  chleir  nan  deanainn 
a  '  itln'd.  A.cli  an  norhd,  cha'n  'oil  feuui  air  oraid  air  bi  uamsa 
rhum  so  leigeadh  ris.  Is  tiamhaidh,  druightcach  an  oraid  nabheil 
sibh  a  faicinn  agus  a  cluinntinn  aig  a  choinneamh  mholr-sa,  dol  air 
a  .'.rhaidh.  Is  taitneach  bhi  '<r,  eisdoachd  ri  fnaim  nam  fc;idan 
naibhreach  bu  chcol  deireanach  ami  an  cluasaibh  clio  liutha.d  <>g- 
shaighdrir  Ghaidhcalaich  air  blaraibh  na  Roinn !v . >rpa-  -mar  bha. 
('oirneal  Tain  an  Fhasfhearna  a  thuit  air  La  Quatro  ?>ras.  Is 
taitneach  bhi  cluinntinn  nan  duanag  milis  o  i)hiiibh  ccolmhor, 
gr'imi  — na  daanagan  agus  na  fiiimi  tha  togail  cuimhne  ah1  laithean 
ar  n-oige,  agus  duisgeadli  sealladh,  "math  'dh'  I'heudta,  orra-san 
tha,  o  cheann  ioma  bl'adhna,  'cnamh  aims  an  uaigli-  -duisgeadli 
s-alladh  mar  an  cendna  air  aitrcabh  ga.olach  air  an  d'  thainig 
atharrachadh  mor.  'S  ia>d  sin  na  fiiinn  tha  na  ('aidhil  bhlath- 
dn-idheach  'seinu  air  machraichean  Australia,  ngus  air  feadh 
coiltcan  gruamach  AiiR'i'ica  mil  Thuath,  a  chleach.d  iad  'nuair 
bhithcadh  iad  buain  an  eorna,  agus  an  a  rah1,  toga!  a  bhunt-'ita.  no 
'cuallach  na  spreidhe  aim  an  tir  nam  beann.  Gc 
iunnsaidh  aite  an  do  t'nog  an  Gaidheal  air,  faodaidli 
r;i  ami  am  briathraibh  a  bhaird — 

"  Mar  ghath  slioluis  do  'm  anain  Fein 
Tlia  sireula  na  h-aimsir  a  dh'  fhalbh." 


4  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

On  cinnteach  cha'n  'eil  an  diugh  acli  beag  cearna  de  'n  t-saoghal 
far  nach  'eil  clanna  nan  Gaidheal  air  an  sgapadh.  0  na  cheud  dol 
a  mach  amis  na  linntean  fada  o  chian,  ah'  fhaodadh  iad  briathra 
an  fhuidh  ghabhail  mar  fhocail-shuaicheantais,  "  Eiribh  agus 
imicbib  i,  or  cha'n  i  so  bhur  n-aite-comhnuidh."  Ach  a  dhainean 
gach  caochladh  thainig  orra,  agus  air  an  duthaich  far  am  bu  dual 
doibh  a  bhi,  tha  iad  mar  aon  fhathasd  ami  an  gradh  bratharai  ri 
guailibh  a  clieile,  cumail  cuimhnc  air  na  daoine  bho  'n  d'  thainig 
iad,  agus  air  na  laithcan  bha  ami ;  cumail  cuimhne  air  gach  fonn, 
agus  oran,  a  dh'  iumisaich  iad  an  tus  bho  '11  athair,  bho  'm  mathair, 
no  bho  'n  leannan.  Gun  tcagamh,  thainig  atharrachadh  air  a 
Grhaidhealtaehd  agus  air  na  Gaidhil,  ach  saoil  sibh  am  bheil  an 
t-atharrachadh  so,  oho  moir  agus  tha  an  t-ainmc  1  Nach  'eil 
beanntaii  siorruidh  an  airde  Tuath  ag  cirigh  le  am  mullaichcan 
colgarra  fo  clieo,  agus  le  an  leacainuean  boidheach  fraoich  ;  nach 
'eil  gach  tobar  dhe  fior  uisge  fionnar  a  mhonaldh,  as  an  d'  ol  an 
soalgair  a  leoir,  a  boilsgeadh  mar  dhoimoan  ami  an  dearrsaibh  ua 
grcino  maidne  ;  nach  'eil  na  li-uillt  bheaga  ri  miivig  sios  air  feadh 
sgaii'iuch  chloiclie,  agus  a  tuirling  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  an  t-srath, 
foluiclite  fo  bliaraicli  uaine  ;  nach  'eil  ua  lochan  ainmeil  agus  na 
h-ahnhiiicheaii  iasgaich  mar  a  bha ;  agus  ioma  dachaidh.  eadar 
chaisteal  agus  bhothan,  far  a  bheil  clanna  nan  Gaidheal  a5 
chomlmuidh  's  an  Taobh  Tuath — am  mac  an  ionaid  athar ?  'S 
lionar  ceami-cinnidh  agus  ceann-tighc  Gaidhealach  aig  a  bheil  coir 
air  fearainn  a  shinnsearachd — tha  Mac  Shimi  ;s  an  Airde,  tha  Mac 
Dhomhnuill  Duibh  's  an  Tir  Al)raich,  tha  Tighearna  Chluaiuidh 
am  Baidcanach,  tha  An  Toiseach  's  a  Mhaigh,  agus  tha  Mac 
Phadruig  an  Glcann-a-Moircastainn,  "Dhainean  co  Theireadh  e." 
Agus  air  feadh  ghleannta  na  Gaidhcaltachd  tha  da  na  tri  ceudan 
mile  dhe  fior  Ghaidhil  a  tha  labhairt  an  canan  matharail,  agus  tha 
gabhail  tlachd  anus  gach  oran,  agus  fonn,  agus  ami  an  caochladh 
deadh  chleachda,  bu  inhiann  le  seann  luchd-aitea.chaidh  na 
duthcha  amis  an  tim  o  chian.  Agus  mar  an  ceudna  gach 
samhradh  agus  ioghar,  tha  na  ciadan  agus  na  mil t can  tighinn  air 
clmairt  o  bhailtean  an  Taobh  Deise,  agus  as  na  talmlminnean  a 
m  ach,  a  shealltiiiun  air  a  ghleann  's  an  robh  iad  og.  Agus  tha 
Coinunn  Gailig  [nbhirnis,  agus  tha  an  cruimieachadh  so,  a 
dcarbhadh  gu  soilleir  ged  tha  na  h-uiie  giiothuch  mar  a  tha,  gu 
lilicil  Gaidhil  aims  an  duthaieh  fhathasd  a  ghal»lias  tlachd  ami  am 
fcaras-chuideachd  ghrinn — Agus  a  nis,  cleas  nam  bard  sguiridh 
mi  mar  thoisich  mi.  Is  taitneach  a  bhi  an  so  'g  eisdcachd  fuaim 
nam  piol).  Is  taitneach  bhi  cluinntinn  fonn  nan  oran.  Ach  is 
baileach  taitneach  siim  bhi  aim  an  cuideachd  a  cheile.  A  dheadh 
Mliic  IMiadvuig  agus  a  chuideachd  nasal.  Slan  leibh. 


Annual  Assembly.  5 

An  interesting  and  thoroughly  Highland  musical  programme 
was  gone  through  by  a  large  company  of  performers,  who  were, 
each  and  all.  the  recipients  of  nattering  honours  from  the  audience, 
which,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  was  quite  delighted  with  the 
rendering  of  the  songs  and  pieces  generally,  and  emphatically 
pronounced  the  Assembly  one  of  the  best  that  the  Society  has  had. 
Mr  Alexander  Ross  opened  the  programme  with  a  Gaelic  marching 
song,  "  Theid  Sinn,"  which  was  very  well  rendered.  Miss  Clara 
Fraser  followed  with  "  The  Maclean's  Gathering,"  of  which,  with 
her  fine  voice,  she  -.mule  the  most,  and  was  deservedly  recalled. 
Miss  Fraser  then  sang  "  Annie  Laurie  "  with  much  taste,  and,  at 
a  later  stage,  rendered  "  Farewell  to  Fuinary  "  with  a  fullness  of 
tone  and  effect  that  were  quickly  appreciated  by  the  audience. 
"Mary  of  Argyle  "  was  snug  by  Mr  D.  Miller  with  delightful 
expression  and  vocal  sweetness,  and,  in  the  second  part,  the  same 
cultured  singer  gave  "  Maegregor's  Gathering.'1  A  couple  of  vocal 
quartets — "  The  tocherless  lass  "  and  "  My  faithful  fair  one  "- 
were  executed  by  Misses  Robertson  and  Fraser,  and  Messrs  Ross 
and  Fniser.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  audience  was  raised  to  a  high 
pitch  by  the  ably  played  Scotch  selections— one  of  which  was  the 
overture  to  "  Rob  Roy  "•  —contributed  bv  Mrs  Mackenzie  of  (3rd 
(piano)  and  Mr  \V.  I).  Davis  (violin),  who  were  loudly  recalled 
after  each  appearance.  The  "Nut-brown  maiden"  was 
expressively  rendered  by  Miss  Gertrude  Cowan.  Two  stirring 
songs,  •''  A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that  "  and  "  .Blue  bonnets  over  the 
border  "  were  spiritedly  sung  by  Mr  J.  A.  Mackenzie,  who  was 
rewarded  with  loud  applause.  "The  crooked  bawbee,"  an  old 
ballad  arranged  as  a  duet,  was  treated  with  such  taste  and  sweet- 
ness of  voices  by  Miss  Kate  Fraser  and  Mr  JMieas  Fraser,  that  it 
was  one  of  the  most  pleasing  items  in  the  programme.  "Cam'  ye 
by  A  thole?"  and  "  Maighdcan  Mhuile,"  in  Gaelic,  were  rendered 
by  Miss  Jessie  Forbes  with  vocal  power.  "Ac  fond  kiss,"  con- 
tributed by  Miss  Kate  Fraser,  displayed  genuine  feeling  and  taste 
on  the  part  of  the  singer,  who  was  received  as  a  well-known 
favourite  only  is.  Excellent  pipe  music  was  played  during  the 
interval  between  the  parts  by  Pipe-Major  Ronald  Mackenzie. 
Master  Sut ton  Clark  smartly  danced  the  "  Scann  trubhais"  and 
"  Highland  Fling."  Four  stalwart  Gaels  also  gave  an  exhibition 
dance  of  the  "Reel  of  lulloch"  in  admirable  style.  The 
pianoforte  accompaniments  were  played  with  much  taste  by  Miss 
C.  Fraser,  Church  Street. 

At  the  close,    I)r  V.  M.    Mackenzie  proposed  a  cordial  vote  of 
thanks  to  the  ladies  and   gentlemen    who   had  entertained  them 


6  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness 

that  evening,  especially  mentioning  Mrs  Mackenzie  of  Orel  and  Mr 
Davis,  who  had  come  long  distances. 

On  the  motion  of  Provost  Ross,  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was 
accorded  to  Glenmoriston  for  presiding.  "  Auld  Lang  Syne  " 
appropriately  concluded  a  most  successful  gathering. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  programme  : — 

TART    I. 

Address CHAIRMAN. 

Song  (Gaelic) — "  Theid  Sinn  " Mr  ALKX.  Ross. 

Song— "The  Maclean's  Gathering" Miss  CLARA  FRASER. 

Song  — "  Mary  of  Argyle  " Mr  D.  MILLER. 

(         "  Tlie  Tocherless  Lass  "          )  Misses  ROBERSON  and  FRASER, 
^ua  ~  \   ("  Gun  Chrodh  gun  Aighoan")    \  and  Messrs  FRASEK  and  Ross. 

Piano  and  Violin  Selections— Scotch  and  Highland  Airs... Mrs  MACKENZIE  of  (3rd 

and  Mr  DAVIS. 

(    '•'  Ho  ro  mo  i  iuhcan  donn  l/hoidheacli  "    1      ,r.      r, 

SOUK— i  -i      »»>  Miss  GERTRUDE  COWAN. 

\  (•'  My  mil  brown  maiden     )  _/ 

Song— "A  man's  a  man  i'or  a'  that  " Mr  JOHN  A.  MACKENZIE. 

Duct— -"The  Crookit  Bawbee"  (Ol.<l  >JaU«<!) Mi^slLvrK  FRASER  and  Mr 

^•]M:AS  FRASER. 
Son  g — "  Cam'  ye  hy  A  thole  " Miss  JESS  1 1<;  FORBES. 

PART    II. 

Address  (Gaelic  Rev.  Mr  SISTON. 

Song—  '•'•  Macgregor's  Gailicring" Mr  1).  MILLER. 

Song— " Ae  loud  Kiss"  (Ancient  Gaelic.  Air) Mi<s  KATK  FRASER. 

Piano  and  Violin  Selections — Scotch  Airs Mrs  MACKLNXIE  of  Ord  and 

Mr  DAVIS. 

Song — "'  j'lue  Bonnets  over  the  1 'order  " Mr  JOHN  A  MACKENZIE. 

Dance—"  iN>ci  of  Tullocli" OGANAICH  Gi-fAii)HEAi.ACn. 

^^.^^V^'-r  1   •  ..Mi,.  JESSIE  FORBES. 

("  Maiden  ot  Mull 


nil  j-iessrrf  FiJAsi-iii  and  Moss. 

Soi  :      '•  Farewell  to  Fiunary" Miss  CLARA  FRASBR. 

"  AuUl  Lanasvne." 


/ •  '>  tit-  NO  i  'EM HER,    1 8'.  '0, 

A  lai'goly  ;ittciidcd  meeting  \vas  held  mi  this  date,  when  Sir 
Henry  C.  Macandrew  delivered  the  inaugural  address  for  session 
1890-91,  the  subject  being  "The  Brchon  Laws/'  Owing  to 
pressure  or  l.Htslness,  Sir  [lenry  was  not  able  to  prepare  his  paper 
for  publication  this  year,  but  it  will  be  printed  in  next  volume  of 
the  Society's  Tr«-ius;iotions.  Mr  William  Maekay,  solicitor,  moved, 
and  ?Jr  Alexander  ,M  a  chain,  M.A.,  seeond-^d,  and  it  was  cordially 
agreed  to,  "That  the  Soeietv  resolve  to  record  its  deep  sense  of  the 
loss  sustained  by  the  Society  in  the  lamented  death  of  Mrs  Mary 


Amhainn  Spe.  7 

Mackellar,  who  has  acted  as  the  Society's  Bard  for  the  past  fifteen 
years,  and  whose  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Gaelic  language, 
and  her  unwearied  interest  in  all  that  tended  to  the  benefit  of  her 
fellow-countrymen,  caused  her  name  to  be  well  known  and  deeply 
revered  among  Highlanders  in  all  parts  of  the  world/''  The 
Secretary  was  instructed  to  forward  an  extract  of  this  minute, 
with  an  expression  rf  the  sincere  coiidoler.ee  of  the  Society,  to  Mrs 
Mackellar' s  friends  in  Lochaber. 


Mtlt.  NOVEMBER,  180U. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  elected  members  at  this  meeting, 
viz.  :  —  Life  member,  Mr  W.  1).  Mackenzie  of  Fan1,  Inverness-shire  ; 
honorary  members,  the  Hon.  Lord  Kyllachy,  Edinburgh,  and  M  i1 
,  Kneas  Macdonell  of  Morar  ;  ordinary  members,  Mi1  .1!.  M.  Birbeck, 
Lochournhead,  Glenelg  ;  Mr  Alexander  Fraser,  solicitor,  Inverness  ; 
Mr  W.  M.  Lindsay,  Jesus  College,  Oxford  ;  Mr  11.  A.  Neil,  Fellow 
of  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge;  and  Mr  Kwen  Maaionald, 
Plockton. 

Thereafter  the  Secretary  read  a  paper  contributed  by  the  Rev. 
John  Macgrcgor,  Fan1,  entitled  Arnhainn  Spe.  Mr  Mae-Tenor's 
paper  was  as  follows  :—  - 

AM  11  A  I  XX  SPK. 

!>'  fhearr  Lam  gun  rohh  i'ear  do  na  seaun   JJhair<l  a  lathair 
son  t'liu  Spe  a   chni'  unu  an  rann.      X  um  biodh   aica.n:sa  an  c 
labhairt    a    bh'  aig    fain     Lorn,    no    ,iig    Alastair    MacMhaigh 
Alastair,  rachainn   an  greiiu    air  dan   a  dheanadli  air  an  amh. 


lirath    S 

air  fad,  eha  ]>hiodii  sgenl  ;i  chaidh  aithris  riamh  aims  am 
tlachd  co  mor.  /Vch  tlia  na  laitiiean  air  dol  seacliad,  agu 
bliadhnachan  air  ruitii.  Theirig  nn  seann  daoine,  's  elia,  ' 
cuimhne  a  nis  air  neart  do  na  nithean  a  thaehtiir  anus  na  H 
fad  air  iaibh.  Seadh,  agus  is  tearc  an  dream  aig  am  bheil  sniiii  air 
eachdraidhean  nan  laitiiean  a  dh'  i'halbh.  N;un  faigheadh  daoine 
an  diugh  a  bhi  a  deanadh  air  an  son  fein,  bu  clujma  le-o  (,-iod  a. 
bhiodh  ri  iiin.seadh  m'  an  dream  a  bh'  aim  ruimhe  su.  Is  fearr  le 
muinntir  an  t-Saoghail,  nithean  an  t-Sae'glia.il  fein.  Cha  n  "eil 
durachd  ach  air  son  airgid,  agus  cunihachd5  agus  gloir  an 
t-saoghail.  Xam  biodh  na  nithean  sin  aca,  leigeadh  iad  ieis  gach 
ni  eile  dol  seachad.  is  math  mini  bheil  (Jomunn  (^aidhlitr 


8  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Inbhirnis  a' gabliail  tlachd  ami  an  eachdraidhean  na  Gaidhealtachd, 
agus  gur  fiach  do  dhuine  sealltuinn  an  combair  a  chuil,  air  son 
naigheachcl  a  thamiiim  as  na  crcagan,  's  as  a  cheo.  Uime  sin, 
tha  mi  a  nis  a  dol  a  thoirt  sal'  air  bruthaichean  Spe,  air  son  sgeil 
a  dheanadh  air  na  daoinc  a  fhuair  an  arach  nain  mcasg,  agus  air 
na  gniomharan  a  rinneadhleo,  'nuair  abha  na  fincachaii  foriaghailt 
nan  ceann  cinnidh. 

ftachamaid  a  suas  gu  mullach  na  Crcigc  Dtiibhe.  'S  i  so  Creag 
Dhubh  Chlcinn  Chatain,  a  ta  a  seasadh  mar  thur  fairc,  ag  arnharc 
;i  sins  ;dr  na  glinn  far  am  1)'  abhaist  do  na  ceatharnaich  a  bin  a' 
gabbail  taimli  'nuair  a  bhiodh  an  cogadh  seachad,  'sa  bhiodh  na 
fiiieachaii  aig  sitb.  Falbhaidh  na  daoine,  's  thig  iad  gu  crich,  ach 
seasaidh  na  sleibhtean,  nam  fianuisean  air  gach  ni  a  thaehairm'an 
cuairt  orra,  o  'n  chcud  latlia  sau  do  gbabli  daoine  comhnuidh  air 
an  talamb.  To^aidh  sinn  am  brutliach  n'n  Bhiallaid,  lainli  ri 
Calldair,  a  ta  a  riiitb  a  sins  o  (Jhleann  na  Beannachair  gu  ruig 
uisgcacban  S[>c.  Is  cas  an  t-slighe  a  ta  air  thoiscacb  oirnn.  Tha 
ereagan,  's  enuic,  's  sluiclid  san  rath  ad,  ''s  cha  b'  fhuilear 'do'n  l)hoc 
carl)  e  rein  airo  a  thoirt,  air  eagal's  gun  tugadh  u  ccum  cli,  ;s  gun 
i-achadh  o  le  crt-ig.  Ach  is  boidheach  urn  fninch  a  ta  a  sgcadacliadh 
an  t-sleibh.  Tha  an  dcarg,  san  concur  a  ruthadh  an  so  mar  a 
rinn  iad,  thoagamh  o  chcanu  mhilltcan  do  bhliadhiiachan.  Am 
lihcil  thu  sgitli  Jt'is  an  dii\iadh  ?  'S  tu  gum  bhcil,  agus  d' 
anail  nad  uchd.  Dean  foighidinn,  's  dean  air  do  shocair.  ( 'lian 
;um  a  ruitli  rcise  a  ta  sinn,  ach  ag  iarmidh  seallaidli  air  an  talamh 
iosal.  S  goirid  gus  an  ruig  sinn  am  mullach,  far  am  feud  sinn 
anail  a  tharruiun,  am  fea.dli  "s  a  dli  amhairceas  sinn  air  gach  tanbh 
m  "an  cuairt  nirnn. 

Innsidh  mi  naighcachd  dhutjiim  righ  mm-  a  blranns  an  Aird'an 
l'"ar.  a  bha  en  uaihhfcach  ''s  gun  do  chuir  e  I'nimhe  tur  a  thogall 
*'o  ai'd  'H  i^'un  amhairceadh  e  sins  air  gach  neach  a  bha  a'  gabliail 
comhnuidh  air  an  talamh.  Thaidh  an  tur  a.  thogail,  agus  air  do'n 
righ  seasadh  air  a  bhinnein  a  1)'  airde  dlicth,  chunnaic  e  an  sluagh 
p.'u  h  iosal  mar  nach  biodh  annta  ach  na  cuilcagan.  rrhug  o  I'ancar 
i-i'iui  i'li'iih  e  a  ins  ;iir  ardaelh.dh  co  mor  'sa  bu  mhath  leis  ns  (,'eann 
an  t-saoghail  ,u'ii  leir.  .\eh  an  uair  a  thog  e  a  shuilean  an  aii'd  os 
a  ciieaini,  ciod  a  chunnaic  e  ach  gun  robh  na  sjteuran  gorma  co 
lad  uaith  s  a  bha  iad  'nuair  a  bha  e  'na  sheasadh  air  an  talamh. 
i  in.'1  sin,  cha  ruig  sinn  a  leas  sanilsinn  gun  teid  againn  air  an 
talamh  fhagail  air  chul,  gcd  a  sheasas  sum  air  i-a  sgorran  is  airde 
ail1  mullach  na  ( Yei^e  Duibhe. 

Amhaircoarnaid  sins,  co  dhuibh,  agus  togamaid  do  bhi  ag 
iomradh  air  I'i^hrean  faoine  na  h-Aird;  an  Kar. 


Amhainn  Spe.  9 

Seall  air  Icathad  a  nis  agus  faic.  Sin  agad  Spc,  a  ruith  aims 
a  chlais  a  bha  aicc  'nuair  a  bha  na  Cuimeinich  nan  uachdarain  air 
Baideineach,  lo  coir  o  fhear  do  sheann  righrean  na  h-Alba.  Anns 
na  laithean  sin  bha  ccann  fine  nan  Cuimeineach  a  riaghladh  nan 
gaisgeach,  anus  a  chaisteal  a  bha  aige  mu  ehoirmeamh  Chimi  a 
Ghiubhsaidh,  air  taol)h  thall  na  h-aimhne.  Bba  na  Cuimeinich 
sin  nan  daoinc  ainineil  gus  an  do  cbuir  iad  fein  agus  Kaibeart 
Brus  a  mach  air  a  cheile.  Cha  bin  fios,  fliad  'sa  mhaireas  an 
saoghal  so,  co  aige  '].)ba  acboire  aims  an  iorghuill  a  db'  eirich  eadar 
an  rigli  agus  an  ceanii  fine.  Feudar  a  bhi  cinnteach  gun  robb 
roinn  do'n  oboiro  aea  le  ebeile,  mar  as  trie  a  thachras,  'nuair  a 
dh'eiricb  an  rigli  air  aim  an  eaglais  Dhuin-Pbris.  Tharruinn  Brus 
air  leis  a  bbiodaig,  agus  dh  i'hag  e  triatli  Bhaideincacb  m  luidbc 
an  sin,  a  toirt  suas  an  deo.  ;S  eoltaeli  gun  tainig  Claim  Chatain 
gu  cumbacbd  na  dheigh  so,  V;  gun  do  sbealbhaich  iad  an  tir. 
'Sann  do  Chlami  a  Pbearsain  a  bbuineadb  a  clmid  a  b'  fhear  do 
Bhaidemeach  o  na  laithean  sin.  Co  as  a  tbainig  iad  ?  Theagamh 
gum  b'  aim  o  Phearsan  ciginn  a  dh'eiricb  an  slioebd.  ('ban 
urrainn  mi  a  radh  gum  blieil  eumitas  sam  bitb  againn  aii1  an  fhear 
so  gu  sonruichte,  ach  's  eoltach  u'lim  Ivan  do'n  eairlais  a  bhuineadh 
<?.  Tha  Claim  a  I'hear.-ain  i/an  steidheachadh  fein  fo  shuaichoantas 
Chloiim  Cbatain,  's  tha  iad  fein  agus  Claim  an  Toisirh  a'  u'iulan 
iomhaigh  a  ehait  air  an  targaid  chatha.  Is  iomadh  blai1  amis  an 
do  sheas  na  gaisgieh  sin  riamli,  o'n  eheud  latlia  's  an  tainig  iad  gu 
taobh  S])e,  gu  ruig  an  latha  'n  diugh. 

Thoir  suil  a  null  a  dh'ionnsuidh  na  h  airde  Deas,  agus  ehi  thu 
Truidheam  a  sruthadh  a  nuas  o  ehrioehaii  Siorramaehd  Plu-irt. 
Tha  Truidheam  a  ruith  a  maeh  gu  Spe,  aig  seann  tigh  lonmhair 
na  b-Anilminn.  Sin  aite  a  ta  ainmeil  ami  an  c-aelulraidh  na 
dutlicba.  ('iod  adli'eiiicb  a  maeh  an  sin  ]  Ciod  ach  blar  mor  a 
ehaidh  a  ehui1  e;idar  ( 'iami  Ctiatain  agus  na  ( 'amshronaich  a  Loeh 
Abar,  o  ehionn  cor  's  cuig  cvud  bliadlma.  Is  math  is  iiach  diiuiim 
iomradh  a  tlioirt  aii'  an  iatlia  sin.  am  feadh 's  a  ta  simru  ar  suidhe 
air  an  tulaich  aii'd  so.  Is  math  gun  tainig  laithean  siorhail  oirnn 
a  nis  co  dbuibh.  l-'eud.-u1  gu  leoir  do  streupaid  a  bhi  's  an  tir,  ach 
eha'n  e  an  claidheamb  moi'a  hiiios  sinn  a  tarruinn  air  son  buaidli  a 
tlioirt  a  maeh  aii1  a  eheile.  !s  fearr  leinn  aig  an  latha  'n  duigh  an 
cath  a  cliur  h'is  an  teanga.idh  's  leis  a  pheami.  'S  iad  sin  na  buill 
airm  is  freagarraiche  leinn  an  ti'aths',  agus  is  einnteaeh  nach  beis 
iad  cnaimh,  's  nacli  tarruinn  iad  fuil.  So  mar  a  dlr'  eirich  a  mach 
a  chuis  air  an  tug  mi  iomradh. 

Jii  linn  High  Kaibeart  a  dha,  bha  sith  eadar  Albaim  's  Sasunn, 
air  son  na  cuid  a  bhu  mhotha.  ('ha  robh  an  riirh  deidheil  air 


10  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

eogadh,  agus  bha  an  rigli  Sasunnach,  Ruiseart  a  dha,  rud  eigiim 
coltach  ris  fein.  Uinn  sin  cha  robh  na  gaisgich  air  an  gairrn  air 
falbli  as  a  Ghaidhealtachd,  gu  bhi  a  seasadh  air  son  saorsa  na 
rioghaehd,  in;\r  a  b'  abhaist,  'iiuair  a  bhioclh  lomhar  a  h'  aon  a 
toirl  oidhirp  air  Albnmi  a  chur  fo  smachd,  Acli  l>ha  an  niread  so 
do  dlianarraclid  anus  an  t-sluagh,  :s  gum  Fenmadh  iad  a  bhi  ri 
streupaid  naui  measg  foin,  do  bhrigh  's  nach  vobh  ni  b'  fhearr  acn 
ri  dhcanadh.  D1T  eirich  aimhreit  amis  a  bhiiadhna  1380.  eadar 
BaidciucacJh  agus  Loch  A  bar,  uiu  tliimchioll  a  inliail  a  bba  air  na 
Camshronaich  aim  am  i'oarann  Mhic  an  Toisich,  laimh  ri  nisge 
Speain.  Bha  e  mor  leis  na  h-Abraich  a  bhi  I'o  c-iiis  sain  l)itb  do 
na  Catanaicli,  agus  cha  phaighcadb  iad  am  in;d  ach  air  an  socair. 
'Xuair  a  thaehray  a  loithid  sin  an  (Hugh,  7s  o  an  Siorram  agus  na 
niaoir  n  rcitichcas  an  gnotliucli.  Anns  an  am  air  am  blioi!  mi  a 
toirt  iomraidh,  cb;t  robli  ineas  ai r  Siorram,  no  air  fear  sam  bith  eilc, 
acli  air  ;m  I'hoaj1  a  thogadh  an  sgiath,  agus  a  tharruiiigeadh  an 
claidhoamli.  'ti  c  bh'  ami  ma  ta,  gun  robh  ^lac  an  Toibich  an 
eisimcil  a  bhi  i\  triall  d;;  Loch  A  bar,  air  cear.ii  a  shluaigh,  agus  a 
])hi  a:  rogail  na  ciichc.  Bhoircadh  e  air  ais  iois,  do  chrobh  nan 
(^amslironach,  uiroad  's  a  l)liiodii  iomchuidli  'na  bheaclid  fein,  air 
sou  na  fiaehan  ioclidadh,  no  theagamh  beagan  tuiile,  a  chum  's 
gum  biodh  rud  aie  air  son  na  rimi  e  do  sliaothair  air  son  a  chnid 


laidh  a  thoirt  air  na  fhiraln    a  bha  ag  aiteachadh  nan   raon 

ruitli  aeh  leum  k-  ('l'-.inn  Ciiatain  air  son  cur  nan 
o.  \  Mi  eii'ich  Mac  an  Toisich  gu  i'earail,  agus  ihui;  e  u'ainn 
line  gu  loir,  :>  bhi  cruinn  air  son  leantuinn  'na  chois.  Chan 
;  ;  igli  a  ghabh  e  air  son  an  arm:!.ilt  u  thional. 
lo  (  liuir  e  a  Clirois  Taraidh  a  macii,  mar  a 
iaithcan  o  she;in.  Chan  eil  e  eu  cosmhuil  gur  e 
>o  a  rmn  u3  ach  ciamar  sam  Irtli  a  fimair  an  sluagti  sanas,  cbarobli 
Icisg  sam  bitii  orra  do]  an  sas.  Tliainig  iad  an  ceaiin  a  choilc,  nan 
Ian  ncart  as  gach  cea.ru-  Claim  an  Toisici:,  's  Claim  a  1'hearsain. 
's  ( 'lann  Bheatliain,  "s  Claim  Daibhidh,  :s  chan  eil  lios  co  tuiile - 
gacli  i'e;ir  a  bha  a.  leaiituiim  brataich  Uhloinn  Cliatain.  Xam 
})'  uiTamn  dhiiinn  ami-arc  air  an  da  fheachd,  a  seasadh  ;ui 
aghaidh  a  cheile  ai^'  lonmhar  na  h  Amhuinn,  mar  a  sheas  iad  air 


Amhahw  Spe.  11 

an  latha  sin,  nach  ami  oirnn  a  bliiodh  an  t-iongantas  an  diugh  '? 
Nach  beag  coltach  ri  cath  a  tana  raointean  sin  aig  an  am  so,  agus 
shin  ag  amliarc  orra  o  mlmllach  na  Creige  Duibho  ?  Chan  i'haic 
sinn  a  iris  ach  am  four  gorm  air  bruaich  na  h  aimhne,  agus  na 
caoirich  ag  itheadh  an  leoir  dhotli,  gun  cliuram,  gun  eagal,  mur 
cnir  load  an  eich  iaruinn  eagal  orra,  \s  e  a  vtiith  lo  t'uaim  an 
tairueinich  eadar  Dail  Ohohmidh 'a  an  Sliabh.  Chan  ionauii  sin 
's  mar  a  blia  coslas  an  aitc  air  latha  a  bhiair.  Theid  mi  an  urras 
gun  deacbaidli  saltairt  a  dhoanadh  air  ai;  talamh,  agus  nach  robh 
neoinein  goal  ri  fhaicinn.  gus  an  do  tliog  iad  eeann  air  an  ath 
Shaaihradh.  Bu  chiataoh  an  sealladh  a  bhiodii  aim,  an  uaira  bha 
na  fineachan  cruinn,  air  an  sgcadachadh  air  son  eatlta.  Chan  oil 
fios  co  mlioud  })io);airo  a  oh.-i  a  soidf-jidh  'H  an  fhaichc  air  gach 
taobh,  acli  is  cinnteach  gun  tuu1  a  ]>l'iiob  mhor  fuaim  gu  L-oii1  air 
blar  lonmhar  na  h  Amliiiinn. 

Is  coltach  gum  bu  lionmhoire  sluagh  Mh.ic 
iadsan  a  thr,inig  a  I .»(  !i  .\ba.r  gu  cur  nan  aghaidh. 
ta  gun  tngadh  muinntir  Bliaidcincacli  a  blmaidl; 
cheud  tarruinn.  ACM  in'  an  deachaidh  iad  an  grc.'i 
's  o  lm;  ami  gun  d'  cirich  conil!  stri  am  incasg  nan  Catanach  iad 
fein.  Thainig  Tighcarna  (-bluainidb,  lo  a  chnideachd,  >;  vagrar 
coir  air  soasadh  aims  a.n  s^oith  dhois  do'n  fhcachd,  Th.-titiig  an 
sin  Mac  Dhaibhidh  ronmhair  na  h  .\mhiiinn,  's  ciia'ohiodh  boo  dba 
acli  gum  faighcadii  o  i'oin  '«  ;i  luchd  leainnliuiini  an  t-aito 
urramach  sin.  Clsaidli  an  cool  air  i'eadh  na  fidlilo,  :s  bhu  acholtas 
air  na  Catanaich  iiach  tarruingoadh  i-id  lann  air  an  iatli;i  sin  idir. 
Bh;i  na  Camslironaicli  a  tarruinn  dluth,  's  ci).-;  robh  moran  nine 
ami  air  son  a  bhi  a  deasl>oireachd  na  cuiso.  Cliaidh  a  choist  a 
cliur  ri  Mac  an  Toisich  c  1'oiu,  co  do'n  da  thriaih  ;iir  an  t 'u'cadh 
ii.ii  t-uri'am.  rrimg  osan  a  mach  a  bhimi  gum  ]/'  ami  aig  Mac 
Dhaibhidh  a  bha  a  choir,  ;s  gum  foumadh  Cluainidh  a^'us  na 
Pcj'.rsanaicli  soasadh  air  an  laiml'i  ciili.  Clsa  <L>  tliaitinii  so  gu  ro 
mliatii  ri  Cluainidli,  agus  air  sllia  a  bhi  diombach  ;s  aim  a 
tharruinn  o  air  falbh  as  a  l>hlar  uilc  gu  loir,  lo  a  shlua.gli  ga 
leaiituimi.  Cha  b1  i'hoairrd  an  gnothucli  so.  Ach  co  dhiubh 
chaidh  an  cath  a  chur.  Shin  aiidathaobh  air  a  choilogu  cruaidh. 
Chaidh  noart  do  Cliloinn  an  Toisich  a  mharbhadh,  's  cha  mhor 
gun  d'fhagadh  fear  do  Chioimi  Daibhidli  a  lathair.  Mo  dheiroadh 
thug  cloinn  a  IMioai'sain  fa  near  gum  biodh  an  lath;i  caillto,  's  gun 
rob! i  an  duthaich  aca  fein  an  cunnart  a  }>hi  air  ;i  sgrios  lois  na  h 
Abraich.  Thaiiiig  Tigliearna  (Jhluainidh,  agus  foach.d  mor  na 
chois.  Chaidh  iadsan  an  sas,  air  us  b'  oiginn  do  na  (Jamshroiiaich 
toirt  thairis.  Thug  na  Catanaich  buaidh  gu  h  iomlan,  agus  shaor 


12  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

iad  Baideineach  o  na  niillteirean.  Chan  fhacas  riamh  a  leithid  do 
latha  anus  an  duthaich  gu  ruig  an  latha  'n  diugh,  's  nar  leigeadh 
an  Freasdal  gun  tachair  a  leithid  tuille. 

Chan  eil  sinn  a  dol  a  dhcanadh  tair  air  na  Camshronaich,  air 
son  ii'im  do  chaill  iad  an  lath  'ud.  Bu  treun,  gaisgeil  iia  daoine 
iad,  agus  clian  eil  reiseaniaid  aims  an  ami  Bhreatunnach  is  fearr  a 
fhuaradh  aims  a  chath,  no  an  tri  fichead  's  an  naoi  deug,  a  chaidh 
a  thogail  le  Ailein  an  Earrachd.  Ach  an  nair  a  theid  da 
bhnidheann  dhaoine  an  carradh  a  cheile,  's  eiginn  gun  toil1  aoii 
taobh  a  inach  a  l)liuaidh  thairis  air  an  taobh  eile.  'S  ami  mar  sin 
a  dh  eirieh  a  maeh  aig  lonmhar  na  h  Amhninn.  Chan  nrrainn 
duinn  a  radii  gun  fainig  fear  sain  bith,  air  aoii  taobh  no  air  an 
taol)h  eile  geari1  air  a  dhleasdanas,  aim  a  bhi  a'  deanadh  mar  a 
b'  fhearr  a  dh  fhendadh  e  air  son  a  ehinnieh  fein.  Bu  mhor  an 
gamhlas  a  hha  eadar  an  da  i'hine  ri  iomadh  linn  na  dhcigh  so.  Cha 
robh  iad  riamli  air  an  reiteaeliadh  gtisan  tai  nig  bliadhna  Thearlaich. 
'N  u'tir  a  dh  eirieh  fineachan  na  h  airde  Tuaith  fo  bhratach  a 
Phrionnsa,  ehaidli  farm  ad  nan  laithean  o  sliean  a  leigeil  air  di 
chuimhne,  agus  sheas  na  Camshronaich  agus  na  Pearsauaich 
guallainn  ri  guallainn,  an  aite  a  bhi  aghaidh  ri  h  aghaidh,  mar  a 
bha  na  h  aithriehean  aca  o  eheann  beul  ri  ceithiv  eheud  bliadhna. 

Ach  an  nair  a  thoisicheas  streupaid,  cha  'n  'eil  i'hios  aig  duine 
ciod  is  ci'iocli  do'n  glmothncli.  Chi  bu  luaithe  a  ehaidli  an 
nanihaid  fhogradh  air  falbh  gu  Spean  's  Lochaidh,  na  thoisieh 
iorghuill  am  measg  nan  Catanach  iad  fein.  Chaidh  Claim  a 
Bhear-ain  agus  Claim  Dhaibhidh  ami  an  amhaichean  a  cheile  mu 
thiniciiioii  coir  na  sgeilhe  deise  aims  a  chath.  Bha  iomadh 
aimhreit  eatorra,  fad  roinih  an  am  air  am  bheil  mi  a'  toirt  iornraidh 
an  traths'.  Cu  cinnteach  cha  b'  ami  ni  'b  ' fhearr  a  tliainig  iad  air 
a  cheile  an  deigh  na  thachair  aig  loimihar  na  h-Amhninn.  'Se 
bh'  arm  ma  ta,  gun  do  chuir  an  da  threibh  so  a  macli  air  a  cheile 
air  a  leithid  do  dhoigh,  's  gun  duraiebdeadh  iad  a  cheile  a  sgrios. 
Fad  dheich  bliadhna  ciia  do  sguir  iad  do  fhoirneart  's  do  shrcupaid, 
gus  mo  dheireaeh  an  thaining  rios  a  dli'ioinisiiidl)  a,n  righ,  eiod  a  l)ha 
taehairt  laimli  ri  uisge  Sjte.  IV  e  .Raibe;irt  a  tri,  a  l)ha  a  nis  na 
shuidhe  air  righ  chuithir  na  h-Alba,  agus  chuir  esan  dithis  no 
triuir  do  na  comhairliclieau  a  b'  nrramaiche  do  nabha  mu  'n  euairt 
air,  a  sioy  do  Bhaideineach,  a  dh  fiieuchaimi  am  rachadh  aca  air 
stad  a  chuir  air  an  iorghuill.  Thainig  na  teachdairean  le  faruni, 
mar  a  ehithear  an  diuu'h  fein  LL'UII  tig  teachdairean  o  ;n  Bhan-righ, 
gu  reiteaeliadh  a  dlieanadh  eadar  uachdarain  agus  tuath.  Ach  is 
eoltach  nacii  robli  e  co  furasda  reiteaeliadh  a  thoirt  mu  'n  euairt 
amis  a  clieathramh  linn  deuu1.  Dlr  fhairtlieh  air  na  teachdairean 


Amhainn  Spe.  13 

sith  a  dheanadh.  Cha  tugadh  na  Gaidhil  feairt  air  na  comhairlean 
a  thainig  o  na  morairean  Gallda.  B'  fhearr  leo  sadadh  air  a  cheile 
leis  a  bhogha  's  leis  a  chlaidheamh,  n  'a  bhi  a  toirt  geill  do  fhacal 
a  thigeadh  o  Pharlamaid  an  Righ.  Air  do  na  teachdairean  a  blii 
gun  fhios  aca  ciod  a  dheanadh  iad,  's  c  thubhairt  iad  ri  cinn  nan 
da  chinneach,  gum  b'  fhearr  dhaibh  a  cheile  fheuchainn  an  lathair 
an  High,  's  an  lathair  na  cuirte  aig  baile  Phcirt,  lamh  ri  Tatha. 
Chan  iarradh  na  ftneachan  comhairle  a  b'  fhearr,  agus  dh'  aontaich 
iad  rithc  gu  h-aoibhneach.  Bu  dona  a  chomhaMe  a  bha'n  so  da 
rircadh,  ach  tha  againn  ri  cuinihuc  a  ghleidhcadh  gun  robh  daoine 
aims  na  laithcan  sin  co  cleachta  ri  eogadh,  's  nach  bu  mhotha 
orra  an  claidheamh  a  tharrainn  no  togail  do  'n  mhonadh  a 
mharbhadh  a  choilich  ruaidh.  Chunnacas  iomchuidh  gun  rachadh 
deicli  fir  fine-head  do  Chloinn  a  Phearsain,  agus  an  t-aireamh  ceudna 
do  Chloinn  Dhaibhidh  a  chur  air  loth  g'i  seasadh  aims  a  chath, 
gus  am  biodh  e  soilleir  eo  taobh  a  bu  treise,  agus  na  dhcigh  sin 
nach  biodh  teagamli  aim  co  do  'n  da  threubh  aig  an  robh  coir 
seasadh  air  an  sgeith  dheis  aims  an  armailt 

Air  jjilltinn  do  na  teachdairean  far  an  robh  an  righ,  dh'  aithris 
iad  air  beul  ua  comhairle  gach  ni  a  chuimaic  's  achual  iad.  'Xuair 
a  dh  iunis  iad  m 'an  ehomhraig  a  bha  ri  bhi  air  a  cur  cadar  aireamh 
taghta  o  'n  da  thaoibh,  l)ha  righ  Raibeart  ro  dhiombach.  l>u 
duinn  cneasda,  siochail  esan,  agus  dh'  oilltieh  e  ri  smuaineachadh 
gnu  rachadh  buidheaim  co  mor  do  dhaoine  foghainteaeh  an  carradh 
a  cheile  'na  lathair  sa,  air  son  a  cheile  a  cliur  gu  dith.  Bu  mhor 
a  b'  fhearr  leis  gum  biodh  iad  uile  air  an  teamaclli,  beo,  slan,  a 
chum  's  gun  seasadli  iad  nam  freiceadan  m'an  cuairt  air,  nan 
tuiteadh  e  mach  eadar  e  fein  agus  an  righ  Sasmmach.  Coma, 
clia  b'  ionann  beachd  na  comhairle  a  bh'  aim  air  cuirt  an  righ. 
Bu  chiatach  leosau  gun  rachadh  an  cath  a  chur.  Dh'  aithnich 
iad  gu  soilleir  gun  cuircadh  e  criocli  air  a  chuid  mhor  do  ua  fir  a 
rachadh  an  sas  aim.  Bha  iad  coma  co  dhiubh  co  taobh  a  bhehvadh 
a  mach  a  bhuaidh,  's  aim  a  b't'hearr  leo  gun  tigcadh  call  orra  !e 
cheile.  Xam  biodh  ua  h'  uile  fear  dhuibh  air  a  chur  gu  has,  dh 
flicudadh  suil  a  bhi  aca  gum  biodh  an  cor  do  ua  treubhan  ui'  b' 
fhasa  a  chumail  fo  smachd.  Air  an  aobhar  sin,  chuir  iad  mar 
fhiachau  air  an  righ,  gun  tugadh  e  a  chead  do  'n  da  cheanu 
cinnidh  an  cath  a  chur  air  bomi, 

Cha  robh  riamh  ditli  treubhautas  air  ua  Gaidhil,  ach  bha 
iomadh  uair  aim,  aims  an  do  leig  iad  leo  i'eiu  a  bhi  air  an  carradh, 
le  daoine  a  bu  mhotha  aig  an  robh  do  ghliocas  an  t-saoghail  so, 
n' a  bha  aca  fein.  Cha  tug  muiimtir  Bhaidoiiieach  an  aire  ciod  an 
rioba'  chaidh  a  chur  rompa  aig  an  am  so.  'Nan  tug  iad  aire  ni 


14  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

'b'fhearr  dhaibh  fein,  clia  b'  urrainn  nach  faiceadh  iad  gum  b'  ami 
a  chnm  nils  a  chaidh  comliairle  iia  catha  'thoirt  dhaibh.  Cha 
1)'  ionann  so  agus  aon  ni  amis  an  do  tliarruinn  iad  an  claidheamh 
roinihe.  'Nuair  a  dli'  eircadh  iad  air  a  chcile  am  measg  nan 
glcann,  dh'  fhcudadh  an  stri'  bhi  dian  gu  Icoir,  scadli  agus  bhiodh 
full  gu  leoir  air  a  dortadh.  Ach  an  uair  a  blieircadh  aon  taobh 
buaidh,  bhiodh  doigh  aig  na  claoine  oilc  air  an  casau  a  thoirt  as, 
au'us  a  bhi  dcas  air  son  an  lann  a  tharruinn  an  ath  uair  a 
bhagraidh  an  namhaid.  'Nuair  a  raohadh  iad  do  Plicirt  's  ami  a 
hh-i  iad  gu  bhi  air  an  dunadli  a  stigh,  mar  gum.  biodli  annta 
caorich.  's  an  f  suing.  Bhiodh  an  comh-thional  do  fhianuiscan  aca 
air  an  aon  taobh,  agus  amhainu  Tatha  air  an  taobh  cilc,  air  chor 
's  nach  1)'  urrainn  do  ncach  dol  as,  fhad  's  a  bhiodh  aon  fhoar  boo 
g'i  s-asadh  'na  aghaidh.  Cha  'n  'oil  teagamh  nach  b'  c  so  a  bh'ann 
am  bcachd  nan  comhairleach  a  bli'  ai  an  ri^'h,  an  uair  a 


'S  c  bh"  aim   co   dhiubh   gun   tug   Raibcart    a    choad    do   na  chin 
chinneach,  's  gun  d;  achaidh  latha  'cliur  air  Icth,  mu  am  na  l:\-ill 

a  ghnothuich  a  bhi  air  a  thoirt  gu  crich. 

rhaidh  na  fir  a  thaghadh,  dcich  tliar  fine-head  air  gach  taobh. 
ri'ii>'i.an  iad  do  I'hoiri  aig  an  am  shuidhiehtc,  's  bu  mlior  a  b'  fhcarr 
;:':•  :!-'  f'li-ni  iad  aig  an  tigh,  rs  nacli  dcacliaidh  iad  7'iaiuli 

thairi.s  air  Druim  Ca'-hdair.  ('liaidh  an  fhaichc'  dlicanadli  dcas, 
I  •  daingniclican  i  i'  an  cuairt,  a  '.'hum  's  nach  !•'  u;:ainn  do  dliuinc 
p,  stigli  ach  na  glcaclidaircan  i;i(t  foin,  agus  nach 
;iig  tVar  dhiublisan  air  do!  a  niach  gus  am  biodh  an  '-loas 
r  scacliad.  !>!ia  an  righ  clinitliir  air  a  li-arda.cha(lh,  air 
irn  }>'\  !cir  do  'n  I'igli  na  li-uilo  car  a  raa-JKid.h  a  clmr,  's  a 
1  iis  gn  rn  robh  a  l)han-righ  i  fcin  air  a  hiiiali  dlveis.  gcd  a 
r  dhi'  ];ld  anus  an  luchairt  a'  dcanadh  chuiiLraidhcan 
Icigheas  air  son  nan  daoiuc  a  bhiodh  air  an  lot 
duine  do  ;ird  uaclidarain  na  rioLrhachd  nacli  i-obh  a 
a  i>!M  nam  fianuisoan  air  giiiomh  co  mor,  's  is  cin 
'!;iiu1  iad  iolacli  g1<>  ndmi'  an  uair  a  thainig  7ia 
t-sca.lladli.  Chn  bhiodh  iad  co  cridhoil  na'in  bi 
soasa.dh  an  aghaidh  nan  (-aidhoal  a  bha  a  nis  a  do1 
a  hhuis.  Thaiuig  na  glcachdairean  ma  ta,  Ici 

dh  air  an  ccann,  's  na  brataichcan  ag  itcalaich  "s  a  ghaoith, 
mar  ua  h-iolaii'can  a'  tional  a  dh'  ionnsuidli  an  air.  P)U  inline  am 
hcud  nach  b'ann  air  son  gnothuich  a  b'  f'hcarr  a  thainig  a  Iciiliid 
do  ciiuiduachd  an  ccann  a  chcile. 

Ach  air  a  chciid  tarruinn,  thainig  ccarb  's  a  ghnothuch,  a 
tlu'ab  stad  a  cliur  air  obair  an  latha  Lru  Icir.  'S 


Amhainn  Spe  15 

robh  fear  do  Chloinn  a  Phearsain  air  chall,  's  nach  robh  ach 
naoidh  tliar  fhichead  deas  aig  tighearna  Chluainidh.  Ciamar 
sam  bith  a  thachair  so,  cha'n  'oil  fios  an  dingh  ciod  a  bu  choireach, 
Theagamh  gu'n  d'  fhas  fear  gu  tinn,  no  gu'n  do  bhuail  an  t-cagal 
c.  !>'  cigimi  amharc  a  macli  air  son  fir  a  sheasadh  an  aitc  an  fhir 
a  chaidh  as  an  t-sealladh.  Bha  gobhainn  ami  am  bailo  IMicirt, 
fear  ris  an  abairte  an  Gobha  Crom,  a  bha  clcachta  re  a  laithean  ri 
cogadh.  Air  dhasan  a  bhi  's  an  lathair,  agns  a  bin  a'  chtinntinn 
ciod  a  thachair,  thainig  c  air  aghaidh,  agus  tairgear  o  fein  gu  dol 
do  'n  chath  air  son  tuarasdail,  gus  gn'ni  biodh  an  t-aircamh  air  a 
dhcanadli  coimlilionta.  Chcall  tighearna  Chluainidh  ;i  thuarasdal 
dlia,  agus  an  sin  l)ha  na  h-uilc  ni  deas. 

Thoisich  am  l)lar,  agus  dli'  cirich  an  da  fhiiic  air  a  eheile.      Rn 
nihuladacli  da  rircadli  an  sealladh.      An  aitc  do  na  Gaidhil  a  blii 


Mharbh  an  Cobha  Crom  fear  do  Chlohm  Diiaibhidh,  agus  air  dlia 
sin  a  dheanadh,  's  ami  a  rimi  c  suidhe,  mar  gu'm  biodh  e  sgith. 
"Ciod  is  ciall  dha  so?"arsa  Cluainidh  ris.  "  Choisinn  mi  mo 
thuarasdal,"  arsa  'm  fear  eile.  "Am  fear  nach  cnnntadh  rium, 
cha  chnmitaiim  ris,"  ;n's;i  'n  triath.  Chaidh  an  gobliainn  an 
a  ris,  agus  chog  e  gu  duincil  gus  an  taiiiig  an  cath  gu  cricli. 
na  IVarsanaich  buaidli,  ;s  cha  d'  fhagadh  do  (.'liloinn  Dh.i.ibliidh 
ach  aon  fhear.  'Xuair  a  cliiinnaif  esan  gn'n  rolih  nn  latha  caillto, 
's  aim  a  thug  e  duibh  Icum  a.  m.'u-h  ail1  'I'aiha.,  au'ns  snamhar  ;;  null 
gu  taobh  tliall  na  h-a.imhne.  'Ciod  a.,  dh'  ^'ifich  dha  tuille  clia'u  Vil 
fios.  'S  coltacli  n;icli  do  hag  an  naii'c>  leis  ifilltinn  do  'n  ,\i)'de 
Tuaitli,  's  (dia'n  'eil  cunntas  cinnteach  againn  tuille  ]>m  'thimchioll. 
<  'iod  sam  l)ith  co  fcai'ail  's  a  bha  na  gai.-gich  ;u'r  an  latha.  so,  iha  c 
na  aobhar  dnilichinn  gu'm  b"  aim  an  aghaidh  a  chcile  a  chaidh  na 
!;  iman  aca  a  tharruinn. 

Sin  ag:td  an  eachdraidh  a  thainig  a  nuns  g'  ar  n-ionnsnidh 
mu  aon  do  na  strcupaidcan  a  bn  mhotha  'bha  riamli  aig  na  Spoich. 
Is  iomadh  gincalacli  a  dh  cirich  agus  ;i  thcirig  o  an  am  sin  <_'.'u  so. 
Ach  nan  di.'igh  nilc  tha  a  Chrcag  Dlmhh  n;i  scasa.dh  ma.i*  fhianuis 
air  iomadh  gniomh  a  thachair  m'  an  cuairt  oirrc.  X;i']ii  hiodh 
teanga  aims  na  clachan  crnaidlio  a')1  am  bh.ci!  sinn  ag  a.mharc, 
rachadh  aca  air  do  naighcachdan  innscadh,  na.  chumadh  ri  (\oiimnn 
Caidhlig  Inbhirnis  gus  an  tigcadh  am  fichcadamh  linn. 

Is  mithich  dhuinn  tcarnadh  as  a  Chreig.  (1huir  sinn  nine  gu 
leoir  seachad  ag  ioniradh  air  na  li-iorghuillean  a  bha  am  mcasg  nan 
Catanach  aims  na  laithean  o  shcan.  Cha  tachair  an  leithidean 
tuille,  's  is  math  gun  thainig  iad  gu  crich.  Rachamaid  beagan  ni  's 


16  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

faide  sios  taobh  na  h-aimhne.  So  agad  Cinn-a-Ghiubhsaidh,  far 
am  blioil  an  t-Oifigoir  Dubh  a  bh' aim  am  Baile 'Chrobhain  na 
shineadh,  ami  an  Clagh  a  Mhuilinn  Cliardaidh,  a  feitheadh  na 
h-aiscirigh.  Co  nach  cual'  iomradh  air  Call  Ghadhaig,  air  an 
Nollaig  mu  dhcireadli  do  '11  chcud  ?  'Sin  naigheaclid  nach  gabh 
innscadb  gu  h-iomlaii,  do  bhrigh  's  nach  thainig  duine  beo  air  ais 
as  an  fhridli.  Ciamar  sam  bith  a  chaidh  na  sealgairean  a  rnharbh- 
adh,  cha'n  'oil  hos.  Tha  iad  a  nis  'nan  luidhe,  taobh  ri  taobh,  far 
an  cluinnear  uisgeachau  Ghoineag  a  ruith  sios  gu  rnig  Spe. 
Buinidh  o  do  chliu  Oifigeir  Bhaile  'Cbrobhain  gu'n  robh  lamb  aige 
aim  an  rciscamaid  a  thogail,  an  ccithir  fichcad  's  a  dba  dheug, 
Reiseamaid  nan  Gordanach.  Blia  na  Gordauaicb  gle  chumhachdach 
's  an  duthaich  so  aon  uair,  ach  tliainig  iad  gu  crich,  agus  cha'n 
fhada  gus  an  iomair  an  sgriobhadh  so  tigliinn  gu  crich  mar  an 
ceudna.  Ach  na  deananiaid  di  chuimhne  air  fear  eile  a  bhuineadh 
do  'n  aitc  so,  Seumas  Mac-a-Phearsaiu,  na'n  Hat.  Cha  mhor  dona 
chaidh  riamb  aracli  aims  a  Ghaidhcaltachd  a  b' ainnioile  no  esan. 
(Ciamar  sum  bith  a  thaiirig  leabhar  '  Hsein  'na  laimh,  's  ami  uaith 
's  an  a  chuaV  an  saoghal  iomradh  air  an  toiscach.  Cha  ruig  sinn 
a  icas  an  tratlis'  a  l>hi  a'  faraid  m'  an  chuis,  do  bhrigh  "s  gun 
deachaidh  gu  looir,  agus  tiiillc  :s  a  choir  a  sgriobhadh  mu  Oisein 
a  cheana.  Jiugadli  Mae-a-Phearsain  am  i'agus  do  Chhm-a- 
Ghinbhsaidh,  amis  a  bhliadlma  17-""^,  agus  dh' c-ug  e  aims  a 
bldiadlma  170(5.  Chaidh  a  rhorp  a  ghiuLin  do  Lunainn,  's  a 
charadh  aim  an  Iviglais  Mlioir  na  h-airdc  'n  lar.  'S  coltach  nach 
bi  lios  cinntoach,  co  tad  s  a  mhaircas  an  saoghal,  co  as  a  thainig 
na  dain  aiu1  Oiscin,  ach  is  matii  co  dbiubh  nach  deachaidh  iad  air 
dial!. 

Air  dol  a  sios  dhuimi  lamb  ri  bruaich  na,  li-aimhnc,  chi  sinn 
Tor  Albhaidli  ayus  Dun  Itat-a-Mhurclmis,  scadh  agus  Crcag 
Ealachaidli,  au'  amharc  a  null  a  dh' ionnsuidb  na'n  (Jarbh  Ijheann. 
'Sin  t'.ci1  am  blicil  da  rircadh  na  bcanntan  arda,  far  am  1'aicrar 
sncadid  nam  l^aoiltoach  na  luidlic  aims  na  siuichd  gu  ruig  an 
Lunasdal.  Tha  ;n  ( 'arn  Gorru,  au'us  Braid  b  Riabhach,  agus  IJuinn 
ibhc  nan  s^asadh  an  sin.  mar  flireiccadan  air  Srath  S]>c. 
an  Alhann  air  fad,  aon  aitc  far  am  l)hcil  ni  's  motha 
do  mhaiso  na  (iaidhcaltachd  n'a  tlia  n  so,  Ach  tha 
.ir  ti^hinn  u'n  crich  Bhaideiiieaeli,  's  Icigidh  sinn  Ic 
fcadhain  eile,  a  bin  a'  cur  cliu  Shrath  Sjie  an  ceil!. 

Thainiu1  iomadh  caochladh  air  an  tir  o  clieann  letli  cheud 
blia'dhna.  Tha  'n  ratliad  iaruinn  a  rnith  re  iomadh  mile  ri  taobh 
na  h-aimhne,  's  nan  tigeadh  air  ('hum  Cbatain  dol  gu  catli  aig 


Amhainn  Spe.  17 

Peirt  a  ris,  cha  b'  ami  d'  an  cois  a  rachadh  iad  troimh  '11  mhonadh. 
Chithear  na  Sasimnaich  agus  na  h-Americanaich,  a  tighinn  gach 
Samhradh,  cha'n  ami  mar  a  b'abhaist  do  na  Camsbronaich  tighinn, 
air  son  crich  agus  marbhaidh,  ach  air  son  a  bhi  air  an  lionadh  Ic 
h-aoibhneas  am  measg  nam  beann.  Tha  triath  na'm  Pearsanacli 
fathast  'na  nachdaran  air  Cluainidh,  agus  do  bhrigb  's  gun  tainig 
e  o  Chloinn  Dhaibliidh  air  aon  taobh  an  tighe,  feudar  a  bhi 
cinnteach  gun  tainig  aimhreit  Pheirt  gu  crich.  Gu  ma  fada 
'shealbhaicheas  e  luchairt  a  shinnsirean.  Thainig  laithean  siochail 
gu  taobh  Spe,  's  cha  chluinncar  tuille  eigheach  na  catha,  agus 
glcangarsaich  na  luiriche  aig  lonmhar  na  h-Amhuinn.  Fagamaid 
beannachd  aig  na  cnuic  's  na  bruthaich  a  ta  ag  eiridh  os  ceami 
ionadan  comhnuidh  nan  gaisgeach  ami  am  Baidcineach.  Bu 
taitneach  leimi  a  bhi  a  bcachd  smuaineachadh  orra,  ach  is  mithich 
sgur. 

B'  e  sud  an  scalladh  eibhinn, 

Bhi  'g  iomachd  air  na  sleibhtean, 

'Nuair  'bhiodh  a  ghrian  ag  eiridli, 

'S  a  bhiodh  na  feidh  's  an  langanaich. 


3rd  DECEMBER,  1890. 

The  paper  for  this  evening  was  contributed  by  the  Uev.  Mr 
John  Macrury,  entitled,  Mairnealachd  cujus  nut  no  dim  rile.  Mr 
Macrury's  paper  was  as  follows  : — 

MAIRNEALACIIL)  AGUS   RUD   XO   DMA  EILE. 

Amis  an  aiiusir  a  dh'  fhalbh  bha  na  Gaidheil  moran  ni  bu 
bheachdaidhe  na  tha  iad  '11  ar  latha  agus  'n  ar  linn-no,  ("ha  r0bh 
guth  no  iornradh  's  an  am  ud  air  na  nithean  a  tha  'togaii  aire 
agus  inntinn  an  t-sluaigh  an  diugh  air  falbli  o  bhith  'toirt  fa  near 
na  nithean  iongantach  a  tha  ri  'in  faieinn  mu  '11  cuairt  dhaibh 
aims  an  t-saoghal.  Cha  robh  paipeirean-naigheachd  aim,  's  an  am 
ud,  a  chum  a  bhith  'tarruinn  an  aire  o  'n  gnothaichean  fliein  ;i 
dh'  ionnsuidh  nithean  a  bha  'tachairt  ami  an  ceamaii  eile  dlie  'n 
t-saoghal,  agus  o  nacli  robh,  bha  'chuid  bu  ghlice  agus  bu  tuigsiche 
de  'n  t-sluagh  a'  gabhail  beachd  gu  dliith  air  gach  ni  a  bha  mu  'n 
cuairt  dhaibh,  araon  air  niuir  agus  air  tir.  Bha  i<ui  gu  sonraichte 
a'  gabhail  beachd  air  mar  a  bha  '11  t-side  ag  atharrachadh  o  am  gu 
am  eadar  da,  cheann  na  bliadhna.  (Jed  nach  robh  iad  foghluimte 
aims  an  t-seadh  anus  am  bheil  am  facal,  foyhlum,  air  a  thuigsinn 

2 


18  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

;n  ar  measg-ne  air  an  latha  'n  diugh,  bha  iad  gle  fh6ghluimte  'nan 
doigh  fhein.  Bha  leabhar  m6r  nadair  fosgailte  fa  'n  coinhair  o 
latha  gu  latha,  agus  am  feadh  's  a  bha  iad  gu  glic,  dichiollach  a' 
feuchaiim  ri  'm  beo-shlaint'  a  thoirt  a  muir  's  a  tir,  bha  iad  aig  a' 
eheart  am  a'  gabhail  beachd  air  mar  a  bha  aimsirean  na  bliadhna 
'tighinn  a  steach,  agus  air  na  eomharraidhean  leis  am  faodadh  iad 
a  thuigsinn  c'  uiii  a  dh'  atharraicheadh  an  t-side.  'N  ar  latha-ne, 
tha  iomadh  doigh  aig  ard  luchd-foghlum  air  fios  fhaotainn  air  mar 
a  tha  atharrachadh  gu  tighinn  air  an  t-side  air  nach  robh  fios  sam 
bith  aig  duine  beo  a  bh'  air  ur  uachdar  an  t-saoghail  o  chionn 
ceud,  no  ceud  gu  leth  bliadhna  roimhe  so.  Ged  a  tha  so  fior,  tha. 
e  mar  an  ceudna  fior  gu'm  b'  fhcarr  a  b'  aitlme  do 'n  chuid  inhoir 
de  11  a  seann  daoine  na  comharraidhean  leis  am  faoidte  aith- 
neacliadh  gu  robh  an  t-side  gu  atharrachadh,  na's  aitlme  do 'n 
chuid  a  's  mo  de  na  bheil  an  diugh  beo,  a  dh'  aindeom  an  euid 
ghlaineachan. 

Neo-ar-thalng  nach  'oil  spalpairean  oga  gu  leor  ami  an  diugh  a 
ni  S]j6rs  agus  feala-dha  gu  trie  mu  na  beachdan  a  bh' aig  na  seann 
daoine  coire  o  '11  d'  thainig  sinn.  Tha  iad  an  tluil  na.ch.  'eil  an 
leithidean  fhein  idir  aim.  rrha  iad  tuilleadh  is  glic  iiam  barail 
fhein,  agus  tha  fnios  againn  gur  e  comharra  'n  dearg  amadain 
duine  'bhith  glic  'na  bharail  fhein.  Air  a  toradh  aithnu 
chraobh.  An  uair  a  (ha  mi  'cnmail  a  maeh  gu  robh  na  Ga 


doigh  na  Gaidheil  an  latha  'n  tliugh,  faodaidh  cuid  ;i 
iarraidh  dearbhaidh  orm.  Cha  'n  "01!  e  idir  duilich  dhomh  dearbh- 
aidhean  ami  am  pail  teas  a  thoirt  seaehad.  Thugamaid  fa  near  na 
tha  de  shean-fhacail  aim  ain  measg  nan  Gaidheal  gus  an  Latha  'n 
diugh.  Dh'aisigeadh  a  nuas  dhuinn  iad  o  linn  gu  linn.  Nach 
anabarrach  mor  an  gliocas  a  th'  air  fhilleadh  a  steach  annta  'I  C'ait 
am  faiglicar  spalpairc,  6g,  f'oghluimte,  eadar  Taigh  lain  Ghrot  an 
Gallaobh,  agus  Caolaa-na-Fraingo,  a  chuireas  briathran  an  altaibh 
a  cheile,  aon  chuid  an  Gailig  no  'm  Beurla,  cho  math's  a  tli'againn 
amis  an  sean-fhaeail  ?  'Nan  tl' rinn  sinne  a  tha  beo  an  dingh 
uibhir  a  tlh'  fheum  de  gach  cotlirom  a  shealbhaich  sinn  s  a,  rum 
na  seanu  Ghaidheil  de  na  cothroman  a  Ijh'  aca  fhein,  lilnodh  gach 
aon  dinjin  moran  ni  bu  glilice,  agus  ni  1)'  fhoghluimte  na  tha  sinn. 
FeiLinaidh  mi  ainmeachadh  inu'n  teid  mi  ni  's  fhaide  nacli  'eil 
mi  ;toirt  ian-chreideas  do  gach  ni  a  dh'fhaodas  mi  chuir  sios  an  so, 
ged  a  dii'aidi'jh  mi  gu  bheil  beachd  ard  again  air  gliocas  agus  tuigse 
nan  seana  ( rhaidhcal.  Is  e  th' amis  an  amhare  again  eunntas  a 
tlioirf.  seachad  air  na  beachdan  a  bh'  aca,  cho  fad  's  is  fhiosrach 
mi. 


Mairnea/achd  agus  rud  no  dha  eile.  19 

Air  eagiil  gu  faod  cuid  a  bliith  ami  nach  tuig  ciod  a  th'  air  a 
chiallachadh  leis  an  fhacal,  "  MAIRNEALA.CHD,"  faodaidh  mi  radh 
gu  blieil  e  'ciallachadh,  An  t-eolas  leis  am  bkeil  e  comasach,  ann  an 
toinhas  beay  no  mor,  air  innseadh  gu  bkeil  an  t-slde  gu  atharrachadh 
no  gu  mairsinn  mar  tlia  i. 

Toisichidh  mi,  ma  ta,  aig  toiseacli  na  bliadlma.  Tlia  sean- 
fliacal  ami  a  tlia  'g  radh,  "  Bidh  aithne  na  bliadlma  gu  loir  aig 
fear  na  h-aon  oidhche."  A  reir  eachdraidh  an  t-sean-fhacaii,  tha 
so  a'  ciallachadh,  gu  faod  am  fear  a  thachras  a  bhith  air  ehuid 
oidhche  ami  an  taigh  amis  nach  robh  e  eolach,  fios  a  bhith  aigo  air 
an  doigh  aims  am  bi  muinntir  an  taighe 'caitheamh  am  beatlia  fad 
na  bliadlma,  ma  ghabhas  e  beachd  sonraichte  air  gach  ni  a  chi  's  a 
chluimieas  e,  agus  air  gach  biadh  a  chuirear  'na  lathair.  l»ha  na 
seana  Ghaidheil  a'  crcidsinn  gu  faodadh  iad  moran  fiosrachaidh 
fhaotainn  mu  thimchioll  co  dhiu  'bhiodh  aimsirean  na  bliadlma  gu 
math  no  gu  h-olc,  le  beachd  curamach  a  ghabhail  air  ciod  i  a' 
ghaoth  a'  dh'  i'hagadli  an  t-seaua  bhliadhna  :iig  a' bhliadlm' iiir. 
A  chum  fios  fhaotainn  air  ciod  i  a'  ghaoth  a  dh' fhagadh  a'  ('hallaig 
cha  ghabhadh  iad  mu  thamh  gus  an  tigeadh  a'  bhliadlm'  iir  a 
steacli.  So  mar  a  chuala  mi  na  briathran  : — 

"  Ma  's  gaoth  a'  (leas, 

Teas  is  toi'adli  ; 
Ma  's  gaoth  a'  tuath, 

Fuachd  is  fcannadli  ; 
]\Ia  '.s  gaoth  an  oar, 

Meas  air  crannadh  ; 
Ma.  's  gaotli  an  iar, 

lasg  gu  caladh.'' 

Ann  an  Uidhist  's  e  thcireadh  iad  mar  bu  trice,  "AFa's  gaotii  an 
iar,  iasg  is  aran,"  nn  wi  ias^r  is  bainne."  A  rcir  choltais  ^u  robh  na 
scann  daoine  a  labliair  na  briathran  so  an  toiseacli,  agus  is;1  tlaoine 
a  blia  'gaii  gnathachadh  o  chionn  ioniadh  linn,  a' creidsiini  gur  i  a' 
ghaoth"  a  dh' fhagadh  a'Chalhiig  a:  -haoth  bu  trice  a  bhiodh  a' 
yeideadh  fad  na  bliadhna.  Cha 'n 'oil  mi  'gabhtiil  (^nu  I'liriu  a 
radh  co  dhiu  tha  gus  nach  'eil  am  bea.chd  s<_>  fior,  ach  tha.  cj  .-vMiili- 
arraiclito  gur  ami  o  'n  deas  a  l)ha  a'  ghaoth  a'  seideadh  an 
agus  a  in  bliadhna  an  uair  a  thainig  a'  hliliadhn'  iir  a  steac 
gu  robh  a'  ghaoth  ni  bu  trice  o  ?n  deas  am  bliadhna  's  an 
aims  a'  Ghaidhealtaclid  na  's  cuimhne  ie  bheag  a  tha  beo.  rrha  e 
furasda  gu  leor  dliuinn  a  thuigsinn  gu  faodadh  a  leiiiii'l  so 
'tachairt  gu  math  trie  's  an  am  a  dh1  i'lialbh,  agus  o  'n  a  blia  na 
daoine  a  bh' ami  o  shean  an  duil  iru'iu  biodh  an  aon  u-haoth  a' 


20  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

seideadh  aig  an  aon  am  arms  gach  cearn  de  'n  t-saoghal,  bha  e 
nadarra  gu  Ie6r  dhaibh  a  bhith  creidsinn  gu  faodadh  "  aithne  na 
bliadhna  gu  leir  a  bhith  aig  fear  na  h-aon  oidhche."  Bha  teas  is 
toradh  gu  Ie6r  amis  a'  Ghaidhealtachd  an  uiridh,  ach  cha  'n 
urrainn  duinn  so  a  radh  am  bliadhna. 

Ach  gabhamaid  beachd  beagan  ni  's  dluithe  air  na  briathran 
so.  Tha,  agus  bha,  agus  bithidh  a'  ghaoth  aj  tuath  fuar.  Tha  'n 
sean-fhacal  ag  radh  — 

"  Ged  thigcadh  a'  gliaoth  a'  tuath  's  an  luchar 
Bidh  am  fuachd  'na  fochar." 

Mar  is  trice  is  ami  leis  a'  gliaoith  a'  tuath  a  tliig  na  sneachdannan 
is  truime  's  is  buaine  a  chithear  aims  a'  Ghaidhealtachd  fad  na 
bliadhna.  Is  iomadh  uair  a  thig  pailteas  sneachda  o  ii  (leas,  ach 
cha  mhair  c  uine  sain  bith.  Tha  'n  sean-fhacal  ag  radh  : — 

"  Cha  tig  uisge  mor  o  'n  tuath, 

'S  cha  tig  sneachda  buan  o  'n  cleas." 

Tha  sean-fhacal  eile  ami  a  tha  'g  radh — "  Aiteamh  na  gaoith  a' 
tuath  air  an  t-sneachda — tuilleadh  a  chur  'na  cheami." 

Chi  shin  uaith  so  ma  bhios  a'  ghaoth  o  '11  tuath  ro  thric  fad  a' 
gheamhraidh  's  an  earraich  gu  in.  bi  moran  sneachda,  agus 
reothaidh,  agus  fuaclid  ami.  A'  bhliadhna  'bhios  so  mar  so  faodar 
a  bhith  cinnteach  guin  bi  am  fodar  garni  ;  agus  air  an  aobhar  sin, 
bidh  crodh  is  cich  is  caoraich  a'  faotahm  a'  bhais  leis  a'  chaoile 
inn  'n  tig  a'  Bhealltuiim. 

Tha  'ghaoth  a'  deas  an  comhnuidh  blath.  Eadhon  an  teis 
meadlion  fuachd  a'  gheamhraidh  agus  an  earraich,  tha  a'  ghaoth 
a'  deas  moran  ni  's  blaithe  na  gaoth  sain  bith  eile.  An  am  an 
fhais  tha  'gliaoth  a'  deas  ro  thlusar  agus  ro  chaomliail  ris  na  lusan 
maotlia  'n  uair  a  tha  iad  a'  gobachadh  troimh  'n  talamh.  Agus 
o  'n  a  tha  toradh  na  bliadhna  ami  an  tomhas  mor  gu  bhith  a  reir 
ceud  1'has  a'  bliarra,  tha  e  ro  fheumail  gu 'ni  biodh  gaoth  bhog, 
bhlath  oil  deas,  aim  an  am  an  fliais.  Mar  is  trice  is  ami  oil  deas 
a  thig  na  h-uisgcachan  a  thaisiclieas  an  talamh  an  uair  a  tha  e  air 
a  ghlasadh  suas  gu  teann  cruaidh  le  reothadh  is  fuaclid  a' gheamh- 
raidh. Aig  am  na  curachd  is  miann  leis  gach  neach  a  chuireas 
jtor  sam  bith  's  an  talamh  gu  ii  tig  fVasan  de  ii  uisge  a  chum  guii 
taisichcar  am  ionn,  agus  an  s'lol  a  chuir  iad  ami.  Mar  a  tha  fios 
againn,  ged  nauli  'oil  a'  ghaoth  a'  deas  fuar  tha  i  fionnar.  Tha 
fionnarachd  a'  toirt  neirt  agus  cuideachaidh  araon  do  ii  ainnihidh. 
agus  do  'n  Ins  an  uair  a  tha  ii  teas  tuilleadh.  is  mor. 


Mairnea/achd  agus  rud  no  dha  ei/e.  21 

Mar  an  ceudna,  is  ami  an  uair  a  bhios  a'  ghrian  an  criclhe  na 
h-aird  a'  deas  is  mo  teas  an  latha.  Mar  so  tha  blaths  is  taiseachd 
is  fionnarachd  a'  tighinn  o  'n  dcas.  Cha  '11  'oil  e  na  ioghnadh  sam 
bith  gu  robh  an  sluagh  a  bha  'nan  comhnuidh  aim  an  cearn  fuar 
de  'n  r\oghachd  ag  amharc  ris  an  aird  a'  dcas  air  son  bidh  agus 
blaiths — da  ni  as  aonais  nach  b'  urrainn  daibh  a  bhith  aon  clmid 
toilichte  no  comhflmrtail.  Bha  iad  a  rcir  choltais  a'  creidsinn  gu 
robh  gach  ni  ceart  ri  tighinn  o  '11  dcas,  agus  gach  ni  ccarr  ri 
tighinn  o  'n  tuath.  'Xan  scalladh  bha  dciscal  is  tuaithcal  co- 
ionnan  ri  ceart  is  ccarr.  13'  c  'n  car  dciscal  an  car  ceart,  agus  b'  e 
'n  car  tuaitheal  an  car  cearr.  Mar  is  trice  theirear  gus  an  latha 
'n  diugh  a'  "  clicarrag"  ris  an  laimh  chli — an  lamh  a  bhios  ris  an 
tuath  an  uair  a  sheasas  duine  agus  'aghaidh  ris  an  aird  an  car. 
Tha  'n  da  fliacal  so,  "ccarr"  agus  "  cli,"  a'  ciallachadh  an  aon  ni 
an  so. 

Ged  nach  tig  a'  bheag  de  slmcachda  o  'n  aird  an  car,  tha 
'ghaoth  an  ear  gle  ghreannacli  fuar  aig  gach  am.  Tha  gliaoth  ni's 
trice  o  'n  car  aims  an  earrach  na  tlia  i  aig  am  sam  bith  cilc  de  'n 
bhliadhna.  So  an  t-ain  amis  am  bi  na  craobhan  a'  cur  a  mach  an 
duillich,  agus  mar  a  tha  fhios  aig  a  h-uilc  garadair,  scargaidli  a' 
ghaoth  an  ear  an  duillcacli  6g,  maoth  ni  's  luaithe  agus  ni's  mo  na 
gaoth  sam  bith  eile.  An  uair  a  thcid  a'  cheud  duillcacli  air  ais  le 
seargadh  na  gaoith  an  car,  gcd  a  dh'  fhaodas  cuid  mhath  dc  mhcas 
cinntiim  air  na  craobhan  's  air  na  preasan,  cha  bhi  am  meas  mar  is 
trice  acli  meanbh.  Is  aim  air  a  slum  so  a  thuirt  an  seann  duine, 
"Ma's  gaoth  an  ear  a  dh' fhag  a'  Challaig,  meas  air  crannadh." 
Is  niinic  a  chuala  mi  d.ioine  ag  ra/lh  an  uair  a  bhiodh  seachduin 
no  dcich  latha  de  shide  tioram,  fuar  ami  le  gaoith  an  ear,  gu  robh 
i  anabarrach  crainntidk.  Tha  'clirann-lach  agus  an  lach-riabhach 
cho  coltach  ri'  chcile  aim  an  cumadh  's  an  datli  ri  da  euii  a 
b' urrainn  duinn  'fhaicinn,  ach  o 'n  a  tha  chrann-lach  beag, 
meanbh,  thugadh  a'  c/i>rm?&-lach  mar  ainm  oirrc.  Ma  tha 
aon  a  dh'  ainmhidhcan  an  achaidh  beag,  meanbh,  incata, 
theirear  gu  bheil  c  crainntidk.  Tha  "meas  air  cramiadh"  a' 
ciallachadh,  "  meas  seargta"  (shrivelled  fruit).  Tha  e  coltach 
nach  cuir  a'  ghaoth  a'  tuath  na  measan  air  an  ais  mar  a  ni  'ghaoth 
an  car,  ged  a  bhiodh  i  \seideadh  gu  math  trie  fad  a'  gheamhraidh 
's  an  carraich.  Dh'  innseadh  dhomh  gur  aim  a  bhios  a'  chraobh 
mheas  ni 's  toraiche  na  b'  abhaist  dhi  a'  bhliadhna  a  bhios  an 
gcamhradli  fuar,  reota,  do  bhrigh  nach  leig  am  fuachd  's  an 
reothadh  Icatha  a  duillcacli  a  chur  a  mach  ro  thrath  air  a' 
bhliadhna. 


22  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Cha  'n  c  mhain  gu  searg  a'  ghaoth  an  car  na  craobhan  agus  na 
prcasan,  .toll  seargaidh  i  mar  an  ceudna  an  t-arbhar.  "  Agus 
dh.'  fhas  suas  'nan  deigh  seaclid  diasan  caola,  agus  air  seargadh  leis 
a'  gliaoith  an  ear." 

Tha  gach  ncach  a  tlia  suas  ri  iasgach  a'  gabhail  bcachd  air  gu 
bli'jll  an  t-iasg  ni  's  dluithe  do  ;n  chiadach  an  uair  a  tlia  'ghaoth 
o  'n  iar  na  tlia  e  ri  gaoitli  s.im  l;ith  cile.  Tha  so  gu  sonraichte 
fior  a  thaobh  nan  Kileanaii  an  lar.  Mur  'oil  mo  chuiiuhne  'gam 
mhealladh  dh'  imiseadli  dhoinli  gu  faighcar  an  t-iasg  ni  7s  pailte 
ris  a'  n'haoith  an  iar,  eadlion  air  taobh  an  ear  na  h-Alba  na 
ghcibhear  c  ri  gaoitli  sam  bith  cile.  Tha  fhios  again  air  so,  gu  ''n 
gabh  an  t-iasg  am  biathadh  ris  a'  ghaoitli  an  iar  's  an  iar-dheas 
anabarracli  matli.  Tha  1'hios  aig  na  iir  a  theid  a  maeli  gu  druim 
a'  chuaiu  an  iar  le  'n  cuid  bhataichean  a  dh'  iasgach  nan  langann 
's  nan  trosg  uach 'oil  gaoth  iasgaich  aim  a 's  fhearr  na  gaotli  an 
iar  no 'n  iar-dheas,  agus  nach  'eil  gaoth-iasgaich  aim  a's  miosa  na 
gaoth  an  ear,  Tha  a'  choart  iii  fior  a  thaobh  nan  lochan  's  nan 
aimhnichcan. 

Thug  mi  fa  near  mar  tlia  gu  'n  can  iad  ami  an  L'idhist, 
"  iasu1  is  aran,"  no,  ''iasg  is  bainne."  Tha  mi  a'  ereidsinn  gu  robh 
aobhar  sonraichte  ami  air  son  gu 'n  do  ghnathaich  muinntir  dha 
Uidhist  agus  Bhcin-a-faoghla  na  briathran  so.  Is  ami  air  taobh 
an  iar  nan  eileanan  so  a  bha  an  aircanih  bn  mho  de  'n  t-sluagh  a' 
gabhail  comlmuidh 's  na  linutcau  a  dh'fhalbh.  ?S  an  am  nd  gu 
h-araidh,  b'ann  as  na  machraichean  a  bha  iad  a'  tcjirt  an  teachd-an- 
tir.  Bhiodh  iad  an  uair  nd,  mar  a  tha  iad  gus  an  latha  ?n  diugh, 
a'  leasaeluidli  nain  machraichean  le  feamainu,  a  ehiomi  nach 
dcanadh  Icasachadh  sam  bith  eile  feum  cho  math  rithe.  Is  i  a' 
i2;haoth  an  iar  a  chuireas  an  fheamaiim  gu  cladaeh.  A'  bhliadhna 
a  bhiodh  a'  ghaoth.  an  iar  a'  s<-ideadli  gu  trie  agus  gu  laidir  i;e  a' 
gheamhraidh  agus  an  earraich,  bhiodh  ])aiiteas  fcamami  air  na 
eladaichean,  agus  bliiodh  an  talamh  air  a  dheadh  leasachadh  leis 
an  flieamaimi  mu  'n  tigeadh  am  na  curachd.  '.Nan  tachradh 
aimsir  i'hahhari'acli  a  bliitli  ami  re  an  t-samhraidh  's  an  fhoghair 
bhiodli  p;tilroas  barra  air  na  machraichean.  An  uair  a  tha  'm  Ijarr 
pailt  tha  :n  t-aran  pailt,  agus  I'aodar  jiailteas  i'odair  is  feoir  a  tlioirt 
do  'n  chrodh.  An  crodh  a  gheibh  pailteas  de  'n  bhiadh  a  shamh- 
radh  's  do  glieamhradh  bidh  pailto.-is  bainnc  aca.  Alar  a  tha  'n 
sea.n-fliacal  ag  radh,  u  'S  aim  as  a  ceann  a  bhligheas  a'  bho." 
Uaith  so  i'aodar  a  thuigsinn  gu  robh  e  'na  aobhar  misnich  agus 
toileachaidli  do  na  seana  daoine  gu  'in  biodh  a'  ghaoth  an  iar  a' 
seideadh  gu  math  trie.  Anns  an  am  nd  bhiodh  daoine  toilichte 
gu  leor  nam  biodh  am  pailteas  aca  de  'n  aran,  de  ;n  iasg  agus  de  'n 
bhaimie. 


Mairnea/achd  agus  rue!  no  dha  eile.  23 

Thig  sinn  a  nis  a  dlr  ionnsuidb  an  F/iaoilick.  0  'n  nach  'eil 
mi  cimiteach  ciod  is  brigh  do  'n  fhacal  "  Fuoileuch"  's  fhcarr  learn 
leigeil  leis  mar  a  tha  e  na  teannadh  ri  'rcubadh  'na  stiallan  as  a 
cheile.  Air  aon  ni  tha  fios  au-am,  's  e  sin,  gur  e  so  an  t-ainm  a 
bh'  aig  na  seann  daoino  air  a'  choig  latha  deug  mu  dheireadb  do  'n 
gheamliradh,  agus  air  a'  cliciul  choig  latlia  dcug  do  'n  oarrach. 
Mar  a  thoireadh  iad  fhoin,  "  Coig  latha  deug  roimh  Fheill  Bride, 
's  coig  latha  deug  'na  dheigh."  B'  e  am  burail  gur  ami  air 
Dihaoinc  a  bha  c  'toiseachadh  agus  a'  sgur.  ;*S'  aim  air  Dihaoine 
thdisicheas  e,  vg-us  air  Dihaoine  'stjuireas  e.''  Do  bhrigh  gur  aim 
air  Dihaoine  a  chensadh  Criosd  bha  moran  aim  a  bha  'creidsimi 
gn  'm  biodh  an  latha  so  mar  mi  trice  iii  bu  mhiosa  na  latha  sam 
bith  eile  do  'n  t-seachduin.  "Bha  am  Faoileach  ri  marsuinii  fad 
mios,  agus  bha  'n  Cearran  's  an  Sguabag  ri  tighinn  'na  dheigh. 
Chuala  mi  aims  an  da  dhoigh  a  leanas  rann  an  Fhaoilich — 

';  Mios  Faoilich, 
Xaoi  latha  gearrainn, 
I'ri  lath;i  sguabaig, 
Suas  an  t-earrach." 
Agus— 

•'  Mios  Faoilich, 
Xaoi  latlia  goarraiini, 
Seachdnin  caillich, 
'Fri  latlia  sguabaig, 
Suas  an  t  earrach/' 

Cha  robh  mi-thoileachadh  sam  l>itii  air  na,  seann  daoino  ris  an 
Fhaoilcach.  () 'm  fein-fhioyrachadh  dh' fhoghluim  iad  nach  robh 
n i  a  h'fhoarr  na  gu'n  tigoadh  an  droch  shido  'na  h-am  I'hein.  Aon 
nair  ;s  gn  'n  tigeadh  am  Faoileach  a  steach  ly  o  am  miann  gu  'n 
cniroadh  e  e  i'hein  an  goill  mar  bu  choir  dha.  !>'  ami  a  roir  na 
seana  clinnntais  a  bha  iad  ag  amharc  air  son  na  Foill  Bi'ule.  Cha 
robh  guth  no  iomradh  air  a"  rmumtais  iiir  's  an  am  nd  idir  amis  a' 
Ghaidhealtachd.  !>u  bheag  orra  side  bhriagha,  c-hiiiin,  bliliith 
amis  an  Fhaoileacli.  Dearbhaidh  an  rann  a  leanas  so — 

"  Faoileach,  Faoileach,  lamb  an  crios, 
Faoilto  mhor,  bu  clioir  bhith  ris  ; 
Crodh  is  caoraich  ruiih  lo  teas, 
(.Jriil  is  caoidh  bu  choir  bliith  ris.'; 

Ach  bu  choir  gu 'm  biodh  boagan  laitliean  do  'n  J'naoiloacli  ciiiin, 
briagha,  blath.  Theireadh  iad— 

"  Tri  laitliean  do  "n  luchar  's  Fhaoileacli, 

'S  tri  laitliean  do  n  Fhaoileacli  's  an  luchar." 


24  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

"  Tha  coir  aig  an  Fhaoilcach  air  tri  lain  a  chur  aims  a'  chlais — a 
Ian  uisge,  a  Ian  sneachda,  agus  a  Ian  dc  thuthadh  nan  taighean." 
"  Tha  tairneinich  anus  an  Fhaoileaoh  cho  mi-nadurra  ri  laogh  a' 
geumnaich  am  broinn  a  mhathar." 

Tha  e  furasda  thiiigsinn  ciod  e  an  t-side  'bn  choir  a  bhith  aims 
an  Fhaoileach — stoirm  is  uisge,  sneachda  's  ciuine,  an  drasta  's  a' 
rithist.  "  Feath  Faoilich,"  's  e  sin  feath  nach  mair  ach  nine 
ghoirid.  Nam  biodh  rcothadh  ami  b'  e  "reothadh  an  lodain  lain 
nach  mair  gus  an  treas  trath."  A  dh' aon  fhacal,  bu  ch6ir  gu'm 
biodh  side  anabarrach  caochlaideach  aim  o  a  thoiseach  gu 
'dheireadh,  mar  gu  ;m  biodh  na  seachd  siantanan  a'  dian  stri 
feuch  co  aca  bu  mh.6  a  chuireadh  iad  fhein  an  geill  fad  a'  mhios. 

An  deigh  an  Fhaoilich  bha  na  na<>i  latha  Gearrain.  Bha  na 
laithean  so  ri  bhith  anabarrach  sgaiteacli,  fuar — cho  fuar  's  nach 
seasadh  ach  an  Gearran  fhein  ris.  Bheireadh  an  Gearran  am  baa 
air  na  ereutairean  laga  a  dh'  fhagadh  am  Faoileach  beo.  Tuigidh 
sinn  so  o  'n  rann  a  leanas  : — 

Thnirt  am  Faoileach  ris  a'  Ghearran, 
"  C'ait  an  d'  fhag  thn  'n  gamhainu  bochd  1 
diuir  mi  'n  t.-seic'  aig  'air  an  fharradh, 
'S  chnir  mi  'n  ceann  aig'  air  an  t-sop/' 
(Ars'  an  Gearran). 

Mu  dheireadh  thall  thigeadh  a'  Sguabag — stoirm  dhearg  nacli 
nior  nach  sguabadh  air  falbh  a  h-uilo  iii  a  bliiodh  air  aghaidh  na 
talmhaimi.  An  sin  thigeadh  an  t-earrach,  agus  cha  tigeadh  gns  a 
sin. 

Tha  e  na  ni  anabarrach  comharraichtc  gu  bheil  co-chordadh 
eadar  na  briathran  a  leanas,  agus  na  tlia  luclid-foghlinn  'nar  latha 
fhein  ag  innseadh  dliuinn  inu  'n  am  amis  am  bheil  ceithir 
aimsirean  na  bliadlma  'toiseachadh.  So  mar  a  thuirt  na  seann 
daoine  :  — 

Fogliar  gu  Xollaig  ; 
(ieamliradh  gu  Fheill  Padraig ; 
l^irrach  gu  Fheill  Peadair  ; 
Samhradh  gu  Fhoill  Michcil. 

Bhiodh  toileachd  nior  i*i  La  Fheill  Padraig — an  seachdarnh  la  deug 
de  mh'ios  meadhonach  an  earraich.  Anns  an  t-seana  chunntais  b' e 
La  Fheill  Padraig  an  naoidheamh  la  tieliead  dc  'n  Mharst.  So 
mar  a  theireadh  na  seann  daoine  : — 

"  La  Fheill  Padraig, 

La  mo  chridhe  's  mo  chleibh, 

La  'dh'  flioghnadh  a  dhuine, 

'S  a  dh'  fhoo-hnadh  dumc  dlia." 


Mairnealachd  agus  rud  no  dha  ei/e.  25 

Bhiodh  a'  cheud  chuid  de  'n  mhlos  Mharst  (am  a'  Ghearrain  's 
na  Sguabaig)  anabarrach  fiadhaich,  fuar,  nam  biodh  an  aimsir 
nadarra.  B'  ami  air  a  shon  so  a  theireadh  iad  gu'm  bu  choir  do'n 
Mharst  tigliinn  a  stench  mar  leoghainn,  agus  a  dol  a  mach  mar 
uan  ;  no  mar  a  theireadh  cuid  eile,  "  Ccanii  nathrach,  agus  earball 
feucaig."  Mur  cuireadh  an  Sguabag  agus  an  Gcarran  iad  i'hein 
geill  mar  bu  choir  dhaibh,  dh'  fhaoiteadh  'bhith  cinnteach  gu  'n 
tigeadh  an  droch  shlde  mu  '11  teirgeadh  an  t-earrach.  'Nan 
tigeadh  am  Marst  a  steach  mar  uan  rachadh  e  inach  mar  leoghainn. 
B'  aim  mu  dheireadh  a'  Mlifi'.vst,  mar  a  thug  mi  fa  near,  a 
thoisicheadh  an  t-oarrach ;  oir  bhiodh  an  geamhradh  ami  gu 
Fheill  Padraig.  Bhiodh  gach  aon  ag  amharc  air  son  side  ''hog, 
bhlath  ;  no  mar  a  theireadh  iad,  "  earrach  eeothar."  Tha  e  air 
aithris  gu  robh  fear  ami  aon  uair  a  tliuirt,  nani  faigheadh  e  side  a 
reir  a  mhiann  gu'm  biodh  barr  gu  leor  air  an  fhearran  aige  co  dhiu 
bhiodh  Dia  leis  gus  nach  biodh.  B'  e  so  an  t-slde  a  mhiannaich  e — 

"Samhradh  brcachd,  riabhach, 

Foghradh  geal,  grianach, 
Geamhradh  reota, 
;S  earracli  cc6thar." 

Nam  b'  fhlor  an  sgeul  bha  Ian  a  dhroma  de  bharr  air  an  fliearami' 
aig  an  duinc  so,  ach  clia  robh  biadli  idir  aim.  Tha  inoran  gliocais 
amis  an  sgeul  so  mar  a  tlf  ami  an  iomadh  sgeul  eile  ;i  th'  air  an 
aithris  mu  nitheaii  naeh  do  t.hacliair  riamh. 

Mu  '11  t-scana  Blicalltuimi  thigcadh  laithcaii  de  shlde  fuar, 
greannach,  le  frasan  's  le  gaoitli  a'  tualli  mar  bu  trice,  ris  an 
canadh  iad,  "  Glaisean  cumhach  in  Bealltuinn." 

Mar  a  bha  am  l^aoilcacli  gu  bhith  fuar,  fiadhaieh  o  tlioiseach 
gu  dcireadh,  ach  na  tri  laitliean  briagha  de  'n  luchar  a  bha  coir 
air  a  bhith  aim,  bha 'n  t-Iuchar  gu  bhith  anabarrach  blath, 
bruthainneach,  ach  a  nihaiii  na  tri  laithean  de  'n  Fhaoileach  -i  bha 
coir  air  a  bhith  aim.  Mar  a  thug  mi  fa  near  ma  tha,  bidh, 

Tri  laithean  de  '11  luchar   s  an  Fhaoilcach, 
'S  tri  laithean  de  'n  Fhaoilcach  's  an  luchar. 

Bha  'n  t-fuchar  a'  toiseachadh  coig  latlia  deug  roimh  Liunasdal, 
agus  a'  criochnachadh  coig  latha  deug  an  deigh  Liimasdail.  (Jha 
;n  'oil  cuimhne  again  co  dhiu  bha  gus  nach  robh  aig  an  iuchar  ri 
toiseachadh  air  latha  araidh  dhc  ;n  t-scachdnin  mar  a  bh'  aig  an 
Fhaoilcach. 

Mu  Fheill  Micheil,  an  uair  a  tha  'n  latha  agus  an  oidhchc  's  an 
aon  fhad,  tha  laithean,  no  ma  dh'  fhaoidte  seachduineaii,  de  shlde 


26  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

ro  thuaireapa  ri  tigliinn  gach  bliadlma  ris  an  canar  "  Stcimieannan 
an  Fhoghair." 

Mu  Shamhuinn  's  e  side  chmin  a  tha  nadarra.  Ach  bidh 
reothadh  ami.  Is  aim  air  son  so  a  thcireadh  na  seann  daoine, 
"  Ivobthanaich  na  Samhna"  ris  an  t-sido  chiuiii  so. 

Mar  an  ccudna  bha  c  nadarra  ^u 'm  biodh  sneachda  ami  mu 
Nollaig.  Mar  a  tha  am  facal  ag  radii,  "  la  blianach  Nollaig  gun 
sneachda." 

So  na  tii'  air  chuimhne  agam  do  na  chuala  mi  o  cliioim  iomadh 
bliadlma  mu  'n  t-side  ris  am  faoidte  duil  a  biiith  o  am  gii  am 
de  'n  bhliadhna.  Ach  tha  fliios  agam  nach  'oil  trian  air  chuimhne 
agam  do  na  chuala  mi  ;  oir  tha  da  bhliadhna  thar  fhiched  o  nach 
robh  mi  a  bheag  a  dh'  iiino  ami  am  Beinn-a-faoghla  far  an  cuala 
mi  'nam  oigc  na  dh'  aithris  mi  roinihc  so,  agus  na  bheil  mi  nis  a' 
dol  a  dh'  aithris. 

Mar  a  dh'  fhaodar  a  thuigsinn  o  na  dh'  ainmich  mi  mar  tha, 
tha  na  comharraidhean  a  thug  mi  seachad  mu  'n  t-side  ami  an  co- 
cheangal  ri  amamiaii  agus  aimsiroan  na  bliadlma  ;  ach  tha 
earraim  mhor  do  '11  bhliadhna  mu  nach  toir  iad  colas  sam  bith 
dhuinn  a  tliaobh  na  side.  A  nis,  innsidh  mi  na  th'  air  chuimhne 
ag;iiii  do  na  comharraidhean  eilo  lois  am  faodar  aithneachadh  cuin 
a  tha  "n  t-side  gu  atharrachadh,  agus  ciod  an  t-atharrachadh  a 
bhios  aim. 

Bha  o  air  a  laii-chreidsinn  aon  uair  y;u'm  biodh  a  h-uile 
Diciaduin  soilloir,  grianach,  ami  an  toiiihas  beag  no  mor,  eadhon 
aim  an  diidlachd  a'  gheamhraidh.  So  mar  a  tha  'n  sean-fhacal  ?g 
a  chur— 

"('ha  robh  Diciaduin  riamli  gun  a'  ghriau  ; 
(1ha  robh  Gcaoihradh  ciar  gun  suial ; 
(Mia  robh  Xollaig  Mhor  gun  i'hcoil  ; 
'S  cha  robii  bean  d'  a  dooiii  gun  t'hear.''' 

A  chionn  gu 'in  b' ann  air  Diciaduin  a  chruthaicheadh  a' ghrian 
tha  o  \\ov  nach  robh  Diciaduin  ri  am  h  gun  a' ghrian.  Bha  muinntir 
a'  crcidsinn  gu  nochda-ih  a'  ghrian  a  h-aghaidh  co  dliiu  air  ail 
latha  dho  :u  t  soacliduin  air  an  do  chruthaicheadh  i.  B'  aithne 
dhomh  iomadh  neach  a  blia  Jg  radii  gu 'n  do  gliabh  iad  boachd  air 
gu  robli  a'  ghrian  ri  'faiciim  a'  bheag  no  mhor  a  dh'  iiino  a  h-uile 
Diciaduin  o  bu  chuimhne  leotlia. 

Mar  an  ooudua,  bha  o  air  a  Ian  chrcidsinn'  gu  'in  biodh  an 
t-uisge  inhor  aim  fad  an  latha  Dihanine  nam  b'  e  's  gu 'm  biodh  an 
t-uisge  aim  gle  mh(jch  's  a'  inhaduinn.  So  m;ir  a  thoirtcadh,  "Ma 
gheibh  an  .\oine  na  bcul  o  aon  uair  cha  dean  i  turadh  fad  an 
latha."  'Xam  biodh  Diliaoinc  lluich  bhithtcadh  cinntoach  gu  'm 
biodh  Didonaich  flinch.  "  JJidh  an  Donach  a  roir  na  h-Aoine." 


Mairnealachd  agus  rud  no  cfha  ei!e.  27 

Bha  ua  scann  daoine  a'  gabliail  beachd  sonrtiichte  air  gach 
atharrachadh  a  dheanadh  a'  ghaoth,  agus  feumaidh  neach  sam 
bith  a  glmbhas  bcaclid  air,  aidoachadh  gu  bheil  gach  atharrachadh 
a  thig  air  a'  ghaoith  na  cliomharradli  anabarrach  math  air  athar- 
rachadh ua  side.  Ma  theid  a'  gliaoth  ttiaitheal,  's  c  sin,  an 
aghaidh  na  groin  o,  faodaidh  gach  neach  a  bhith  cinuteach  gu'm  bi 
an  t-side  gu  h-olc  gus  an  till  i  air  a  h-ais  a  dli'  ionn.suidh  na  h-aird 
o  '11  d'  fhalbh.  Faodaidh  lat.ha  no  dha  de  diieadh  shide  tighinn 
eadhon  an  deigh  do  'n  ghaoith  car  cearr  a  chur  dhith,  ach  cha  tig 
side  chunnabhallaeh  gus  an  fill  ;V  gliaotli  do  'n  taobh  o  'n 
d'  thai  nig  i. 

Ma  bhioj  a'  ghaoth  a'  smr  atharrachadh,  tha  o  na  fhior  droch 
coltas  air  an  t-s\de.  An  uair  a  bhiodh  a'  ghaoth  ag  atharrachadh 
mar  so  theireadh  iad  o  shean,  :'  Tha  'gluiotii  ag  iarraidh  nain  port." 

Ma  bhios  an  t-suie  cho  citiin  's  nacli  nrrainncar  a  dhcanamh  a 
mach  co  an  taobh  o  'in  bhcil  a'  ghaoth,  i'aodar  a  bliith  cinnteacli 
gnr  aim  o  'n  deas  a  shcideas  i,  "  An  uair  a  bhios  a'  gliaoth  air 
chall,  iarr  o  'n  (leas  i.''  Tha  '"n  coniharradh  so  a  cheart  cho 
cinuteach  ris  na  comharraidhean  eile  a  dh' ainmich  mi  mn 'n 
ghaoith.  An  uair  a  tha  '  giiaoth  mar  so  a'  grad  thuiteam,  agns 
an  sin  a'  seideadh  o  :n  deas,  faodar  a  bliith  cinnteacli  gu  'n  tig  an 
t-nisge  nior. 

An  uair  a  tha  'n  t-uisge  mor  ami  cha  bhi  duil  ri  turadh  gus  an 
seid  a'  ghaoth  o  'n  iar.  y\\\.v  a  tha  am  facal  ag  radh  — - 

"  Olc  air  m'nath  lo  fear  ga  h-iarraidh, 
Tliig  i  an  iar  an  deigh  an  uisge." 

Ach  mur  teid  a'  ghaoth  thiin  an  tuath  i'aodar  a  bhith  ciimteach 
gu'n  till  i  air  a  h-ais  gu  deas  mur  bi  frasau  loatha— 

"  (moth  an  iar  gun  fhrois, 
.liidh  i  triall  gu  deas." 

Ged  is  ami  o  'n  (leas  is  mo  a  thig  de  'n  uisge,  is  ami  o  '11  aird 
an  iar  a  dh'  eireas  na  neoil  a  chomhdaielicas  na  speurau  Is  aim 
mar  so  a  tha  'chilis  amis  gach  uite  a  tha  dliith  air  a  chuan  an  iar. 
Mar  a  tha  am  facal  ag  radh,  "  Is  i  an  aird  an  iar  a  shalaicheas 
gach  «iird." 

B'  ami  o  'n  iar  a  dh'  eirich  an  neul  beag  mu  lend  na  boise  a 
chomhdaich  na  speuran  ami  an  uino  glioirid  an  pair  a  bha  Eliah 
am  Faidh  ag  urnuigh  air  mullacli  Churmeil. 

An  uair  a  bhiodh  ceo  is  uisge  mm  aim,  no  ceo  trom  gun  a' 
bheag  a  dh' uisge,  bhiodh  na  seann  daoine  ciimteach  nach  glanadh 
an  ceo  's  an  uisge  mm  air  falbh  ach  le  gaoith  a'  tuath,  no  le  uisge 
mor.  Thoircadh  iad,  "  (Jaotli  a'  tuath  a  sgaoileas  ceo,"  agus, 


28  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness 

'Cha  teid  bas  pathaidh  air  ceo  an  t-searm  t-soluis."  Aon  uair  's 
gu  'in  bristeadh  air  a'  ghealaich  theirtcadh,  an  seann  solus  rithe, 
gu  h-araidh  an  uair  a  bhristeadh  air  a'  cheathramh  mu  dheireadh 
dhi. 

An  uair  a  bhios  an  t-sldc  bristeach  agtis  a  thionndaidheas  a' 
ghaoth  ris  an  tuath,  tha  c  gu  trie  a'  tachairt  gu  bhcil  a'  cheud  da 
latha  dbi  glc  gliarbh,  ach  mar  is  trice  bidh  an  treas  latha  dhi 
ciuin  gu  leor.  Ann  an  cuid  de  na  h-Eileanan  an  lar  their  iad, 
"  Air  an  treas  la  bristidh  a'  ghaoth  a'  tuath  a  cridhe."  Chuala  mi 
na  briathran  a  Icanas  gu  math  trie — 

"  A'  cheud  latha  de  'n  ghaoith  a'  deas, 
An  treas  latha  de  'n  ghaoith  a'  tuath, 
An  dara  latha  de  'n  ghaoith  an  iar, 
'S  a'  ghaoth  an  ear  gach  lal  's  gaeh  uair." 

A  roir  mar  a  thuig  mi  na  briathran  so,  bhiodh  a'  cheud  latha  de 'n 
ghaoith  a'  deas,  an  treas  latha  de  'n  ghaoith  a'  tuath,  agus  an 
dara  latha  de  ;n  ghaoith  an  iar,  ciuin  gu  leor  air  son  seolaidb  agus 
iasgaich  ;  ach  bhiodh  a'  ghaoth  an  ear  an  comhnuidh  cho  ciuin  's 
gu  faodadh  daoine  bataichcan  oibreachadh.  Tha  e  ainmig,  ma 
tha  e  idir,  a'  tachairt,  gu  bheil  gaoth  ard,  no  stoirm  a'  tighinn  o 'n 
aird  an  ear.  Tha  e  anabarrach  comharraichte  gur  aim  ris  an  aird 
an  ear  a  tha  aghaidh  nan  taighean  aig  a'  chuid  a  's  mo  de  sliluagh 
'nan  Kileanan  an  lar.  Is  aim  o  :n  iar 's  o 'n  iar-dhcas  is  trice  a 
thig  na  stoirmeanoii,  agus  o  rn  a  tha  'ghaoth  an  ear  an  comhnuidh 
ni  's  eiuine  na  gaoth  sam  bith  eile,  ged  a  tha  i  gle  fhuar,  is  aim  ris 
an  car  is  freagarraijhe  aghaidh  nan  taigliean  a  bhith. 

"  Feasgar  dearg  is  maduinn  ghorm  coltas  na  deagh  shide." 
Mar  an  ccudna,  bha,  agus  tha  e  ;iia  fhior  dhrooh  coltas  air  an 
t-s'ide  a'  mhaduiim  a  bhi  sgaireach,  dearg. 

An  uair  a  bhios  an  iarmailt  Ian  a  dh' fhir-chlis,  's  iad  a  cur 
nain  both  dhiu  gu  laidir,  i'aodar  a  bhith  cimiteauh  gu  'n  tig  gaoth 
is  uisge  gu  leor  an  nine  ghoirid.  Ach  ma  bhios  na  fir-chlis  gu 
h-iosal  aims  an  aird  a'  tuath,  is  comharradh  air  an  t-sneachda  e. 

Mar  a  dh' aithnichcar  air  na  ncoil  gu  bheil  an  t-uisge  dluth  air 
laimh,  aitlmicliear  mar  an  ceudna  air  na  neoil  an  uair  a  bhios  an 
sneachda  gu  tighinn — 

"  ].>(jun  gorm  agus  barr  lachdunn, 
Pairt  de  choltas  an  t-sneachda." 

An  uair  a  tha  sneachda  mor  gu  tighinn  is  e  clachan  mine  meallain 
a  thig  an  toiseach.  "Xan  deigh  thig  na  pleoiteagan  agus  an 


Mairnealachd  agus  rud  no  dha  ei/e.  29 

cathadh.     Agus  mar  is  trice  is  i  chlach  mlrin  mheallain  a  thig  mu 
dheireadh.     So  mar  a  theircadh  na  seann  daoinc — 

"  Tbiseaeh  is  deireadh  na  sine 
Clachan  mine  meallain." 

Tha  e  furasda  gu  Ie6r  neoil  an  uisge  aithneachadh,  gu  h-araidh 
na  neoil  ris  an  canar  an  "runmich."  Theirear  an  "  runnach"  ris 
na  nc6il  so  a  chionn  gu  bhcil  iad  breac  mar  a  tha  da  thaobh  an 
eisg  ris  an  canar  an  "  runnach  "  Ge  b'  e  uair  a  chit-hoar  na  neoil 
so  faodar  a  bhith  cinnteach  nach  bi  an  t-uisge  fada  gu'n  tighinn. 

An  uair  a  chithear  buaile  mhor  mu'n  ghrein  no  mu'n  ghealaich, 
faodar  a  bhith  cinnteach  gu  bhcil  uisge  agus  gaotli  dlutli  air 
laimh. 

An  uair  a  chithear  na  beanntan  ni  's  dluithe  air  laimh  na  tha 
iad,  is  comharradh  e  gu  bhcil  an  t-uisge  dluth  air  laimh. 

Aithnichidh  na  daoinc  a  tha  fuireach  air  taol)h  an  iar  an 
Eilean  Fhada  air  fuaiin  a'  chladaich  ma  bhios  a'  ghaotli  gu 
seideadh  o  'n  ear. 

Aithnichidh  na  h-iasgairean  agus  na  seoladairean  air  gluasad 
nan  tonn  gu  'm  bi  an  stoirm  faisgc  orra. 

Tha  na  h-eoin  'nam  mairnealaichean  anabarrach  math.  Aig 
iomadh  am  thig  na  faoileagan  agus  na  sgaireagan  uam  ficheadan  o 
na  cladaicheaii  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  nan  achaidhean,  agus  o  'n  a  ghabh 
na  seann  daoinc  bcachd  gu'n  tigeadh  uisgo  trom  no  sncaclida  m6r 
mu  '11  am  amis  am  faiceadh  iad  na  faoileagan  air  feadh  nan 
raointeaiij  tliuirt  iad — 

"  Faoileagan  maiiadli  an  t  sncaclida, 
Scaireagan  manadh  an  uisge. ;' 

Ge  b' e  uair  a  chithear  ealta  de  na  bigeanan-baintighearna  (the 
mountain  linnets)  a'  ceileircadh  gu  binn  air  cliathaich  taighe,  no 
air  craoibh,  no  air  garadh,  faodar  a  bhith  cinnteach  gu'n  tig  side 
gle  fhuair  no  cadlion  sncaclida,  gun  dail. 

~Mn  chithear  breac-an-t-sil  a'  tighinn  dluth  do  na  dorsan  a 
sgrobadh  far  am  bi  na  ccarcan  a'  fa<jtainn  am  bidh,  faodar  a  bhith 
cinnteach  gu'n  tig  laithean  a  dh'  fluor  dliroch  shidc. 

Ijha  daoinc  'gabhail  Ijeachd  air  gu  robh  an  dreadhain-donn  g!o 
dheidheil  air  a  bhith  'dol  a  steach  do  na  tuill  an  uair  a  bhiodh  an 
t-uisge  dliith  air  luimh,  agus  bha  iad  a'  creidsinn  gu'm  b1  aim  a 
chionn  gu  robh  an  t-uisge  gu  sileadh  a  bha  e  dol  's  na  tuill.  Aig 
an  am  cha  robh  fhios  aca,  a  ri'-ir  choltais,  gur  aim  air  na  cuileagan 
a  tha  'n  dreadhain-donn  a'  tighinn  bco.  Is  e  cun  is  lugha  agus  is 


30  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

meata  'th'  anus  an  diithaich  againn  ;  ach  cha  'n  'eil  eun  eile  aims 
an  ealtuinn  air  son  an  d'  rinneadh  a  leithid  a  dh'  ulluchadh  aim  an 
riaghladh  an  Fhreasdail  's  a  rinneadh  air  son  an  dreadhain-duinn. 
An  uair  a  bhios  an  t-uisge  dliith  air  laiinh  theid  a'  chuid  a  's  mo 
de  na  cuileagaii  a  stcach  do  na  tuill,  agus  fo  na  clachan  aims  na 
garaidhean,  agus  so  an  t-am  amis  an  fhuasa  do  '11  dreadhain-donn 
a  shath  de  'n  bhiadh  a 's  fliearr  leis  fhaotaimi.  Beagan  mu:n  sil 
an  t-uisgc  cha  '11  fhaicear  cuileag  a'  gluasad  ach  iia  meanbh- 
chuilcagan  a  bliios  a'  dannsadli  anus  an  fhasgadh  gus  an  cuir  an 
t--uisge  mor  nan  tamli  iad.  Gun  teagamh  sam  bith  faodar  a  radii 
gu  bheil  an  t-uisge  gu  sileadh  an  iiine  ghoirid  ma  chitbcar  an 
dreadhain-donn  a'  dol  gu  math  trie  do  na  tuill. 

Ma  bhios  na  coilich  a'  gairm  an  am  dhaibh  a  bhith  'gabhail  mu 
thamii  is  comharradh  e  gu 'm  bi  'n  t-uisge  ami  mu  'n  Mir  a' 
mhaduinn.  Ma  ghairmeas  iad  an  uair  a  tha  'n  t-uisge  ami  is 
comharradh  e  nach  bi  an  turadh  f'ada  gun  tighinn. 

Direaeh  mar  a  dh'  eireas  a'  ghlaine-shide  mu  'n  teid  an  t-uisge 
as,  mar  sin  teannaidh  na  h-niseagan  i'i  gairm  mu  '11  teid  an  t-uisge 
as. 

Him,  agus  tha  inuhmtir  a'  creid-inn  gu  bheil  an  t-side  aim  an 
toinhas  mor  air  a  riaghladh  leis  a'  ghealaich.  Theireadh  i:-«l  gu  'n 
arharraicheadh  an  t-s'ide  an  uair  a  thigeadh  an  solus  iir,  no  an  uair  a 
bhindh  an  ceathramh  slan,  no  an  uair  a  bhiodh  a'  ghealach  na  h-airdc, 
no  an  uair  a  bhristcadh  air  a.'  cheat hramh  mu  dhcireadh.  Bha  iad 
a'  toirt  fa  near  gu  robh  an  t-skle  ag  atharraehadh  gu  math  rrieaig 
an  am  anus  an  robli  'ghealach  ag  atharraehadh,  agus  o  'n  a  hha  iad 
(•iunteach  gu  leor  gu  robh  lioiiadh  agus  tradhadh  na  fairge  ami  an 
tomhas  mor  fV>  riaghladh  na  gealaich,  bha  iad  an  diiil  gu  robh  an 
t-s'ide  mar  sin  mar  an  ceudna.  Tha  iomadh  neach  a  dh'ionnsuidh 
an  iatha  'n  diugh  nach  toir  ia  near  gu  i'aod  nithean  tachairi  aig  an 
aon  ain  gun  cho-cheangal  sam  bith  a  bhith  catorra.  Biodh  so 
mar  a  tho^ras  e,  blieir  sinn  fa  near  na  beachdan  a  1)1:  aig  na.  ^i-aun 
daoine.  Bha  iad  a'  cividsinn  mar  an  ecudiia  gn  robh  an  solus  a 
thigeadh  a  stcach  air  I  )isathuirne  ri  bliith  anabarrach  lias 
"Soli.!-;  na  Sathurn;i,  gabhaidh  e  'n  cuthach  seachd  uairean. 
an  Lecnih;is  theireadh  i;td,  "  Solus  carraich  's  beam  'ga  inn 
gal)haid!i  c  :n  cuthach  tri  uairean." 


gu  sil  an  t-uisge  mar  is   trice  air   LOIS 
air  a  l'ionadh.'; 

Xa.ch  'eil  an  t-am  again  sn'ur  de  'i 
gu  fas  sibh  cho  sgith  ag  eisdeachd  ris  an  t-seann  seanachus 


Mairnealachd  agus  rud  no  dha  eile.  31 

dh'  fhas   an  gobha  de   'mhathair    an  uair   a   tliiodhlaic    e    seachd 
uairean  i.     Mar  a  tha  '11  sean-fhacal  ag  radii — 

"  Ge  math  an  ceol  feadaireachd 
Foghnaidh  bcagan  dlicth." 

Buaidh  is  piseach  Icis  a'  Chomunn,  an  la  a  cln  's  nach  fliaic. 


10th  DECEMBER,  1890 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Society  held  on  this  date,  Mr  Hugh 
Fraser,  Armadale  Cottage,  Greig  Street,  and  Mr  John  Macken/ie, 
Eskdale  Cottage,  Greig  Street,  were  elected  members  of  the  Society. 
Thereafter  the  Secretary  read  the  first  part  of  Mr  Angus  i'eaton, 
C.E.,  Essay  on  the  Social  Condition  of  the  liiyldamh  since  1800. 


17ili  DECEMBER,  1890. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Society  hold  on  this  date.  Mr  George 
Bnehan  Shirres,  Fellow  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Society.  The  paper  for  the  evening  \vas  contributed 
by  Mr  Charles  Eraser-Mackintosh  on  '/'//."  Camerons  <>/  Lcttrrrfntay, 
ztyh-d  ^lacmartins.  Mi1  Mackintosh's  paper  was  as  follows:  — 

MINOR  HIGHLAND  SEPTS— No.  IV. 

THE    CAMERONS    OF    LFTTEIIFINLAY,  STYLED 
"MACMARTIN." 

While  many  histories  and  memoii's  of  the  Camerons  of  Lochiel 
nave  been  written,  little  or  no  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
Macmartins  of  Letterfinlay,  although  nearly  every  account  makes 
them  out  as  original  heads  of  the  clan.  It  would  he  out  of  place. 
even  if  possible,  to  detail  with  accuracy  the  early  history  of 
Lochaber  or  of  its  inhabitants,  and  its  owners,  native  and  imported, 
During  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  the  familv  of  Mac- 
donald,  which  particularly  favoured  Mackintosh  and  Maclean,  pre- 
dominated, and  no  rights  or  titles  existing  are  known,  except 
those  flowing  from  them.  The  charter  of  13->7  to  Mackintosh  is 
unhappily  mislaid,  and  no  other  of  the  fourteenth  centurv,  to  a 
vassal  in  Lochaber,  unless  to  Maclean,  is  known  to  exist.  Those 
who  have  undertaken  to  write  about  the  Camerons  are  at  one  as 
to  there  being  four  races,  which  ultimately  fell  under  the  leader- 


32  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

ship  of  Lochiel,  as  Captain  of  the  Clan  Cameron,  viz. — (1) 
Macgillonies,  (2)  Lochiel,  (3)  Clan  Soirle,  (4)  Macmartins.  The 
title  of  captain  indicates  that  the  clan  was  not  homogeneous,  and 
that  it  ultimately  became  hereditary,  with  the  title  of  chief,  is 
highly  creditable  to  the  tenacity  and  ability  of  the  successive 
heads  of  Lochiel. 

It  may  be  well  to  examine  the  position  of  those  families  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  : — (1).  The  Macgillonies,  once 
important,  are  conjectured  to  have  been  originally  Macphees,  but, 
having  no  charter  history,  it  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  and  similar 
papers,  to  do  more  than  mention  the  name. 

(2).  The  Lochiel  chroniclers  declare  themselves  unable  to  point 
to  any  Lochaber  charter  earlier  than  1492,  when  Alexander  of  the 
Isles  and  of  Lochalsh,  who  had  in  1472  given  Ewen,  Allan's  son, 
some  lands  in  Lochalsh,  grants  him  lands  in  Lochiel,  by  charter 
dated  12th  July,  1492,  confirmed  in  1495.  That  there  were  no 
older  charters,  which  might  have  been  burnt  in  1746,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  receipt  granted  on  13th  May,  1724,  by  Lochiel 
to  Grant  for  his  titles,  which  had  been  placed  for  safe  custody, 
wherein  the  earliest  is  a  charter  of  1534.  Thus,  before  July, 
1492,  there  is  nothing  documentarily  authentic  establishing  the 
Camerons  of  Lochiel  as  Lochaber  land  owners ;  and  the  famous 
Donald  Dubli  must  have  had  an  antipathy  to  charters,  burning 
those  of  Maclean  when  he  got  the  chance.  Here  it  may  be  as 
well,  as  illustrating  Lochiel's  position  at  the  time,  to  give  a  copy 
of  his  bond  of  man-rent  to  young  Mackintosh.  It  has  been  stated 
in  alleviation  that  this  was  a  mere  act  of  friendship,  inconsequence 
of  Eweu,  Allan's  son,  having  married  Marjory,  Mackintosh's 
daughter  ;  whereas  the  Jady  he  did  marry  (and  in  regard  to  whom 
there  have  been  put  forth  shameful  stories  of  unnatural  conduct 
to  her  children,  and  ridiculous  fables  of  what  occurred  when 
occasionally  compelled  to  speak  to  the  '•  Black  Tailor1'),  was  Mar- 
jory, second  daughter  of  Lachlan  Mackintosh  of  Gallovie,  commonly 
called  Lachlan  Badenoch,  by  his  second  WKC,  Catherine  Grant, 
daughter  of  Sir  Duncan  Grant  of  Grant.  Mr  Mackenzie,  in  his 
history  of  the  clan,  does  not  fall  into  Balhaldie's  error  on  this 
point  : — 

"  P>e  it  kenned  to  all  men  by  these  presents, — Me,  Ewen  Vic 
Allan,  to  be  bound  and  obliged,  and  by  these  my  present  letters 
and  the  faith  in  my  body  to  be  leally  and  truly,  binds  and  obliges 
me  to  a  right  honourable  man,  and  my  true  friend  and  master, 
Ferquhard  Mackintosh,  son  and  apparent  heir  to  Duncan  Mackin- 
tosh, Captain  of  the  Clan  Chattan,  to  be  a  leal,  true,  and  faithful 


The  Oamerons  of  Letterfinlay.  33 

man  and  servant  to  the  said  Ferguhard,  and  that  I  shall  never 
hear  or  see  his  skaith,  but  that  I  shall  warn  him,  and  that  with  all 
my  men,  familiars,  party,  and  purchase,  and  all  others  holding  or 
dependent  upon  me,  shall  take  their  plain  part,  and  supply,  main- 
tain, and  defend  the  said  Ferquhard  Mackintosh  in  all  actions, 
causes,  and  quarrels  that  he  has,  or  shall  have  ado  for  ever,  with 
all  my  goodlv  power,  in  contrary  of  all  that  live  and  is,  or  mav 
die  (except  my  service  owed  to  my  lord  and  master,  Alexander  of 
the  Isles).  And  if  it  shall  happen  as  (God  forbid)  any  freak  of 
distance  to  be  betwixt  the  said  Alexander  and  Ferquhard,  that  the 
foresaid  Kwen  shall  take  part  with  the  said  Ferqnhard,  and  shall 
cause  by  all  my  goodlv  power  the  foresaid  Alexander  of  the  Isles, 
and  Ferquhard  Mackintosh,  to  appoint,  agree,  and  accord;  and  if 
it  shall  h.ippeii  the  said  Alexander  will  not  appoint,  agree,  or 
accord  with  the  said  Ferquhard,  I,  the  said  Kwen  Vic  Allan,  binds 
and  obliges  me,  my  men,  familiars,  party,  purchase,  assistance,  and 
holding,  and  all  others  dependent  upon  me,  to  raise  and  be  upright, 
and  to  take  plain  part  with  all  our  power,  supply,  and  keep  with 
the  said  Farquhar  Mackintosh,  in  contrav  and  against  the  said 
Alexander  of  the  Isles,  unto  the  time  that  they  be  both  fully 
agreed  and  accorded.  Attour  the  said  Alexander  of  the  Isles  is 
bound  and  obliged  that  the  said  Ewen  Vic  Allan  shall  complete 
and  fulfil  all  the  snndrie  points  and  articles  that  is 
here  witnessed.  "In  the  witness  of  the  whelk  tyeing  (tiling?) 
because  I,  the  said  Kwen,  has  no  seal  proper  present  of  my  own, 
with  instance,  I  have  procured  the  seal  of  my  foresaid  lord  and 
master,  Alexander  of  the  Isles,  to  this  my  letter  of  man-rent,  to 
be  appended,  at  Inverness,  the  19th  day  of  the  month  of  February. 
in  the  year  of  God,  1492." 

It  will  be  thus  seen  that  the  Lochicls  owed  all  their  estate  in 
Alexander  of  Lochalsh,  and  he  it  was  who  brought  about  this 
reconciliation  with  Mackintosh,  in  the  handsome  manner  above 
shewn,  and  followed  it  up  by  the  charter  in  the  month  of  July.  The 
Lochiels  and  Mackintoshes  had  been  crossing  swords  for  many  a 
year  prior  to  14-92,  but  this  document  is  the  first  meeting  on 
parchment. 

(.'i).  Let  us  now  turn  to  the  other  branch  of  the  Camerons, 
viz.,  Glencvis,  at  this  period.  Mr  Mackenzie,  in  his  "  History  of 
the  Camerons,"  rather  gingerly  hints  as  to  their  origin  in  these 
words: — '•Indeed,  it  has  been  maintained  that  the  Clenevis 
family  were  originally  not  (.'amorous  at  all,  but  Mamonalus,  who 
settled  there,  under  the  Macdonahls  of  the  Isles,  before  the 
Camerons  h^d  anv  hold  in  the  district,"  There  are  prevnant 

3 


34  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

sentences  in  Glenevis's  letter  of  the  9th  September,  1785,  quoted 
by  Mr  Mackenzie.  I  give  two  or  three  in  illustration  of  my 
present  narrative  : — "  I  proceed  now  to  inform  you  the  family  of 
Gordon  claimed  the  property  of  the  lands  of  Mamore,  which,  find- 
ing they  could  not  peaceably  keep — possession  being  disputed  by 
a  powerful  family  in  this  country  ;  this  and  other  causes  induced 
them  to  give  a  charter  of  the  said  lands  of  Mamore  to  my  pre- 
decessor, which  consequently  entailed  upon  him  the  enmity  of  that 
powerful  family,  and  nearly  lost  him  his  paternal  inheritance  of 
Gleiievis.  In  this  quarrel  my  predecessor  and  yours  frequently 
bled,  and  at  last  were  extirpated,  all  but  one  child,  a  son  of 
Glenevis,  with  whom  his  then  nearest  of  kin. — your  predecessor — 
lied  to  Gordon  Castle,  and  put  himself  under  the  protection  of  his 
superior,  where  he  remained  to  the  age  of  manhood,  when  lie  was, 
by  a  fortunate  change  of  times  and  circumstances,  enabled  to 
resume  the  property  of  Glcnevis  (which  was  also  seized  upon),  and, 
by  relinquishing  his  grant  of  Mamore,  to  establish  peace  between 
said  family  and  Hnntly.  The  lands  given  up,  though  at  a  later 
period,  were  divided  equallv  between  them,  as  thev  continue  to  be 
ut  tiiis  day." 

Sixteen  years  before  Lochiel  had  a  charter  to  any  lands,  and 
shirty-six  years  before  his  first  charter  to  lands  in  Lochaber,  the 
predecessor  of  Glcncvis  received  a  charter  from  John  of  Yla,  Karl 

•f   Ross  and    Lord  of   the    Isles,   dated  at    Dingwall,    20th  April, 
'406,      The   translation  has  been  done  with  the  utmost  care,  not 

'.ily  as  befitting  so  old  a  document,  but  as  containing  the  gift  of 
•Hi  ollice  which  has  puzzled  antiquarians  : — 

"  Be  it  known  to  all  by  these  presents  that  we  John  of  Yla, 
'•'.  irl  of  Ross  and  Lord  of  the  Isles,  have  given  and  granted,  like 
.t,s  bv  these  presents  we  do  give  and  grant  to  our  beloved  Esquire, 
Somerled  (son?)  of  John  (son1?)  of  Somerled,  keeper  of  these 
^resents,  a  davoch  of  our  lands  of  Glennyves,  with  the  pertinents, 
together  with  the  office  which  is  commonly  called  Tocheachdeora 
of  all  our  lands  of  Lochabir  whatsover,  excepting  the  lands  per- 
taining to  our  foster  child  Lachlan  Makgilleon  of  Doward,  in 
Lociiabir,  to  be  holden  and  to  be  had  the  aforesaid  lands  and 
office  to  the  aforesaid  Somerled,  with  all  the  pertinents  and  fruits 
whatsoever,  and  by  all  their  right  measures  and  ancient  bounds 
uuring  all  the  lifetime  of  the  said  Somerled,  and  after  his  decease, 
\ve  bv  these  presents  have  granted  the  said  davoch  of  Glennyves 
a 'id  oth'ce  with  pertinents  to  the  eldest  son  of  the  said  Somerled 
\\lio  for  the  time  maybe,  for  five  years  immediately  thereafter 
following,  in  the  same  manner,  form,  and  effect  as  above,  for  their 


The  Camerons  of  Letterfinlay.  35 

homages  and  faithful  services,  to  be  well  and  faithfully  rendered 
to  us  and  our  heirs  against  moitals  whomsoever  during  the  time 
before  noted,  In  witness  of  the  which  thing  we  have  caused  our 
seal  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents  at  Dingwall  the  twentieth  day 
of  the  month  of  April  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  one  thousand  four 
hundred  and  fifty  six."  (Seal  in  good  preservation). 

The  word  "  Tocheachdeora,"  so  written  by  the  Latin  scribe, 
has,  I  have  said,  puzzled  the  learned,  being  rendered  "  depute  to 
the  mair  of  fee,"  "  Coroner,"  "  Sergeant,"  "  Officer,"  "  equivalent 
to  Bailie,"  and  some  sapient  antiquaries  consulted  as  to  this  deed, 
made  it  "  Governor,  or  High  Sheriff."  None  of  the  definitions 
seem  accurate,  and  I  invite  the  views  of  the  Society,  merely 
indicating  that  in  my  view  it  is  a  compound  word,  and  may  be 
synonimous  witli  the  "  Ostiarius"  at  the  .Royal  Court,  or  "he  who 
was  to  stand  in  front  of  the  door  of  Macdonald  when  in  Loehaber, 
as  guardian." 

The  charter  describes  Somerled  as  "Somerled  John  Somcrlcd," 
but  I  take  this  to  mean  Somerled  son  of  John  who  was  son  of 
Somerled,  and  these  names  can  point  to  no  other  source  than  that 
of  Macdonald,  and  this  Somerled,  known  by  tradition  as  "  Soirle 
Ruagh,"  has  left  his  mark  in  the  Glen  by  such  names  as  Somer- 
led's  Cave,  Somcrled's  Stone,  Somerled's  Burial-place. 

It  has  been  stated,  and  witli  truth,  that  Glenevis  was  generally 
opposed  to  Lochiel,  as  they  had  every  cause  to  be  (being  on  one 
occasion  cut  off  to  one  child),  and  in  support  of  tins  view,  I  give 
the  following  remarkable  document,  entitled  '•  Assurance'  be 
M'Conil  duy  to  Makintoishie,  1577,"  the  spelling  being 
modernised  : — - 

"  lie  it  kenned  to  all  men  by  these  presents.-  Me,  Allane 
Cameron,  chief  and  captain  of  Clan  Cameron,  bearing  the  burden 
of  my  kin  of  ('Ian  Cameron,  that  depends  on  me,  or  takes  m\  part, 
to  have  assured,  and  by  these  presents  assures,  Lachlan  Mackin- 
tosh of  Dunachton,  his  kin,  friends,  servants,  roumes,  steadings, 
and  possessions,  their  bodies,  goods,  and  gear,  movcable  and 
immoveable.  Further,  and  bv  these  presents,  assui'es  Clan  A 'lane 
Vic  Ayne,  (Ian  Aonas  Vic  Avne,  Vic  Avne,  Vic  M'Cvne,  Donald 
Dim  M'Donill  Vic  Ayne,  Vic  M'Oyne,  and  Johanne  Vic  Ayne,  Vic 
Kwen  Kov,  with  the  rest  of  Sioldonquhv-Vie-Soirle,  their  bodies, 
Lroods,  and  gear,  friends  and  tenants,  tenants  and  sub-tenants, 
rooms,  steadings,  and  possessions,  corns,  and  with  all  the  lands 
that  they  possessed  and  manured  last  within  the  bounds  of  Mamore 
•and  Loehaber,  to  be  unhurt,  unharmed,  or  molested  in  any  way  by 
me,  my  kin  or  friends  foresaids,  with  all  others  that  I  may  .stop 


36  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

or  let  from  the  day  and  date  hereof  till  Whitsunday  next,  and 
immediately  following  the  date  hereof,  and  that  they  shall  win 
their  goods  and  gear,  with  their  servants  and  tenants,  upon  their 
own  towns,  and  manure  the  same  as  peaceably,  without  impedi- 
ment made  to  them  by  me  or  any  that  1  may  stop,  during  the 
survivance  of  the  said  assurance  ;  provided  that  I  or  none  in  my 
name  require  meat,  drink,  nor  service  of  them  during  the  time  of 
the  assurance  as  said  is,  except  M'Ayne  Vie  Ewiu  Roy,  guid  talik 
man  (?).  I,  the  forenamed  Allane,  binds  and  obliges  me  that  I 
shall  hold  Johanne  Dim  Vic  E  wen's  sons  in  their  own  towns  until 
Whitsunday,  so  that  they  give  me  meat  and  drink  reasonably  (?) 
as  others  in  the  country,  and  that  I  shall  have  the  .service  of  their 
tenants  who  dwells  upon  the  ground.  The  same  assurance  to 
stand  firm  and  stable  upon  fifteen  days'  premonition,  to  be  made 
at  hinerloqiihy,  git  it  be  the  Erie  of  Huntlie's  pleasure.  Be  this 
my  assurance  given,  written,  and  subscribed  by  me,  at  Lochele, 
the  penulc  of  Januar,  Io77,  before  these  witnesses — Johauno  Vie 
Allister  Duff,  the  sons  of  Ewen  'Vic  Ayne,  Charles  Vic  William, 
with  others  diverse. 

(Signed)        "  ALLANE  CAMRONE,  Lard  oft'  Lochzill. 
"And  I",  Johanne  Macphuil,  Not.,  has  written  and  subscribed  this 
with  my  hand,  in  sign  and  token  of  the  veritie,  tesle  manu  mea,  as 
witness"!  (Initialed)          "  J.   MT." 

The  spelling  of  names  is  the  most  correct  that  can  bo  made  of 
Sir  John  Macphail's  rather  poor  caligraphy.  The  word  "M'Cync,'' 
which  occurs  twice,  is  either  intended  for  "Aync"  or  John,  or 
would  indicate  some  connection  with  Swcyn  or  Macqueen.  The 
document  speaks  for  itself,  and  shews  that  Glenevis  and  other 
dwellers  in  Mamore,  were  obliged  to  ask  Mackintosh's  protection. 
Glencvis  had  been  possessed,  under  the  charter  of  1456,  bv 
Someried,  his  son  John  (styled  u  Dileas"),  and  his  grandson,  Donald 
Vic  Allister  Vie  Soirlo  for  about  a  century,  until  Donald,  much 
pressed  by  Lochiel,  who  had  contrived  ultroneously  to  obtain 
charters  to  Gleiievis  and  other  lands,  considered  it  prudent  to  hold 
his  lands  of  the  Karl  of  Iluntlv,  who  had  meantime  obtained  a. 
Crown  grant  of  the  greater  part  of  Lochaber.  Accordingly,  at 
Klgin,  on  1  ' K  h  September,  1552,  a  minute  of  agreement  was 
passed  between  George,  Karl  of  Huntly,  and  Donald,  whereby  th.' 
latter  agreed  to  resign  Gleiievis  into  the  Queen's  hands,  ns  superior, 
to  be  afterwards  held  of  the  Karl,  and  the  Earl  hound  himself  to 
grant  a  feu  charter,  with  a  feu  of  ten  merks  Scots,  The  necessary 
deeds  were  prepared,  and  charter  and  infeftment  followed,  in  l;)5o. 
Xo  further  title  was  made  up  afterwards  until  1712,  when  Allan. 


The  Camerons  of  Letterfinlay.  37 

Cameron  is  entered  by  the  superior,  as  great-great-great-grandson 
of  Donald,  who  is  styled  in  the  charter,  "  Attavus"  of  Allan.  It 
is  thus  seen  that  Glenevis  was  held  since  1456,  yet  the  astonishing 
statement  is  made  by  Drummond  of  Balhaldie  in  the  first  instance, 
and  slavishly  followed,  that  it  was  not  until  about  1618  Glenevis 
and  others  got  charters  from  Huntly,  and  for  lands  formerly 
possessed  by  them  as  tenants  and  vassels  of  their  chief,  Lochiel. 

Having  cleared  up  the  position  of  the  various  Cameron 
families,  except  one,  which  was  necessary  for  the  sake  of  elucida- 
tion, I  now  deal  with  the  Macmartins,  the  principal  object  of  this 
paper  : — 

(-J).  The  name  of  Letterfinlay,  inseparably  connected  with  the 
Macmartins,  first  occurs  in  the  year  14-66,  when  it,  with  Macomer 
and  Stronaba,  is  found  included  with  other  lands  in  a  charter  by 
John  of  Yla  to  Mackintosh,  dated  at  Inverness,  14th  of  November, 
of  that  year.  One  of  the  witnesses  is  the  well-known  Donald 
"Balloch  ;  and  this  is  the  only  occasion  I  have  observed  him  named 
in  a  Lochaber  writ.  This  charter  was  confirmed  in  1494.  At 
this  period  the  extent  of  the  Mackintosh  possessions  in  Lochaber 
was  immense,  all  secured  by  charters,  viz.: — Glenluie  and  Loch 
Arkaig,  in  1337  ;  Brae-Lochaber,  iu  1443  ,  the  hereditary  bailiary 
and  stewards! lip  of  Lochaber,  1447  ;  Glengarry,  Auchindrome, 
Letterfinlay,  Stronaba,  and  the  two  Leanachans,  in  14GG.  For  a 
long  time  prior  to  this  period  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  Mac- 
martins  had  been  in  actual  possession  of  Lcttcrtinlay,  and  it  may 
be  also  assumed  that  a  Lochiel  married  Macmartin's  daughter  and 
heiress.  Yet.  although  no  charter  appears  to  have  boon  granted 
by  the  Macdonalds  or  subsequent  superiors  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, we  find  the  Macmartins  assuming  a  distinct  importance  and 
footing  in  writs  of  the  period,  commencing  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  titles  referred  to  at  the  sale  in  1851,  do  n  it  go 
further  back  than  1763,  but  there  were  valuable  papers  in  existence 
early  in  tins  century.  Mr  Jas.  Fraser  of  Gortuleg  had  been  pre- 
viously very  desirous  to  get  the  papers,  and  on  7th  January,  1803, 
he  writes: — "The  young  1 'arson  of  Kirkhill,  having  left  this  some- 
days  bygone,  with  his  spouse,  would  have  to  hire  a  chaise  from 
Perth,  in  return  of  which  the  Letterfinlay  white  iron  box  may  be 
sent  to  me."  ]>y  a  subsequent  letter  he  had  received  the  box. 

In  1513,  and  again  in  1533 — (1)  Duncan  Maomartin,  closely 
allied  with  Keppoch,  is  found  ;  in  1548,  Soirle  Macmartin,  and  bv 
1549  the  line  becomes  unbroken.  (2)  In  that  year  Martin  Vie 
Couchie  of  Letterfinlay  appears,  and  is  foster-father  to  Fwen  of 
Lochiel.  There  is  also  found,  in  1570,  Martin  Vic  Conchie  Mac- 


38  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Martin;  and  by  1584  the  ultroncous  claims  of  Lochiel  to  the 
lands,  which  ran  on  from  153-4  to  1580,  appear  to  have  dropped. 
In  1561  one  Duncan  Vic  Ronald  intents  process  in  the  Sheriff 
Court  of  Inverness,  against  Gillc  Martin  Vic  Conchie,  in  Letterfin- 
lav.  (3)  Martin  was  succeeded  by  Duncan,  who  is  found  as  early 
as  1598,  and  had  a  brother  named  Donald.  In  1600  Duncan  of 
Letterfinlay  is  styled  Vic  Conchie.  The  Macmartins  are  found 
after  this  period  in  close  alliance  with  Lochiel,  and  in  1617  they 
were  Locliiel's  chief  supporters  in  obstructing  Mackintosh's  holding 
Steward  Courts  or  crossing  the  Lochy.  The  principal  people  sum- 
moned by  Mackintosh  to  Edinburgh,  to  answer  for  their  conduct  in 
that  vear,  were  Allan  Cameron  of  Lochiel;  Duncan  Cameron,  alias 
Mac  mart  in ;  Dougal  Cameron;  Dougal  Cameron,  alias  Macmartin 
Vic  Allistcr  ;  Donald  Cameron,  alias  Macmartin  ;  and  Ewen  Came- 
ron alias  Mac-martin  Vic  Conchie  Vic  Fwen.  In  June,  1629,  there 
is  found  in  the  records,  Duncan  of  Letterfinlay,  who  fostered  Sir 
Eweu  Cameron,  and  his  son,  Duncan  Oig  Cameron,  alias  Mac- 
martin. 

At  tiiis  point  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  description  of  the  lands 
of  Letterfinay,  Macomer,  and  Stronaba,  as  these  were  ultimately 
possessed  and  owned  by  the  Mac-martins.  They  were  in  extent 
nine  UILTRS  of  land,  part  of  the  forty  merklaud  of  Davochnessie, 
and  were  described  thus — "All  and  whole,  the  town  and  lands  of 
Letteri'mlay,  the  town  and  lands  of  Invergluit*  or  Invergloy,  the 
town  and  lam  Is  of  Fortness  or  Forness,  the  lands  of  Stronaba, 
the  lands  of  .Bolnach,  the  town  and  lands  of  M.uecomaraor  Maccomar, 
the  lands  of  Strongluy,  with  the  shealing  of  Acliavorie,  extending 
to  nine  murks  lands,  with  all  and  singular,  houses,  biggings,  yards. 
mosses,  muirs,  tofts,  crots,  parts,  pendicles,  outsetts,  insetts. 
woods,  fishings,  [jropertics,  commonties,  and  commodities,  belong- 
ing thereto,  used  and  wont,  lying  within  the  lordship  of  Loehnber 
and  Shurifr'dom  of  Inverness."  There  were  shcalir.gs  higlier  u])  the 
the  glen  of  the  G]ov,  called  Lnibindhu,  Luibvraid,  and  Luiack. 
The  feu  duty  was  stipulated  at  fifty-six  merks  three  shillings  and 
fourpence  Scots,  t\vo  wedders,  and  a  quarter  of  a  weclder,  two 
lambs,  and  a  quarter  of  a  lamb,  one  stone  butter,  and  a  dozen 
poultry,  with  four  long  carriages,  not  exceeding  forty  miles  ;  also, 
that  no  sale  should  take  [dace  without  a  first  oH'er  to  the  superior, 
under  an  unlaw  of  one  hundred  merks. 

In  the  old  charters  there  were  ridiculous  penalties  as  to  the 
killing  of  deer  or  roe,  or  cutting  the  Gordon  woods  in  Lochaber, 
and  the  following  is  a  curiosity  : — "And  further,  it  shall  not  be 
leisoiue  to  the  said  George  Macmartin,  otherwise  Cameron,  and  his 


The  Camerons  of  Letter/inlay.  39 

foresaids,  to  move  or  alter  the  seats  of  their  shealings  furth  of  the 
place  where  they  were  the  time  the  said  lands  were  first  acquired 
in  feu,  except  they  put  them  further  back  from  the  forest,  but 
that,  they  continue  in  all  time  coming  where  they  first  were/' 

In  old  times  the  two  Ratnllichs  were  always  let  to  Lctter- 
finlay's  people,  so  that  the  family  and  its  branches  were  long  a 
power  in  Lochaber,  possessing  that  fine  block  of  land  fronting  the 
loch  and  the  river  of  Lochy,  extending  from  the  barony  of  Aber- 
tartf  at  the  north-east,  to  the  river  of  Spean  at  the  south-west, 
and  backwards  to  Brae  Roy.  Clen  Roy,  and  lUarour.  The 
divergence  of  the  river  Lochy,  caused  bv  the  construction  of  the 
Caledonian  Canal,  has  in  effect  destroyed  the  famous  Dell  of 
Macomer,  on  which  Highland  hosts  had  so  often  mustered,  and  I 
refer  spcciallv  to  the  "Crameid,"  where,  in  language  nervous  and 
vivid,  the  place1  and  the  assembled  warriors  are  depicted  in  the 
time  of  I  hindee. 

Duncan  of  Letterfinlay,  as  1  have  said,  is  found  in  close  con- 
nection with  Lochiel.  and  as  lie  first  had  to  stand  the  brunt  of 
crossing  Mackintosh's  expeditions,  anil  obstructing  him  at  the  ford 
of  Lochy,  Lochiel  sublet  to  him  the  lands  of  Kylinross,  which, 
though  west  of  the  river,  lay  convenient  to  Macomer,  and  the 
Letterfinlay  familv  for  about  a  centurv,  appear  as  occupants  of 
that  place,  except  the  short  interval  to  be  noted.  The  occupants 
of  Kylinross  in  1GG.°>  were  Martin  Cameron  of  Letter- 
finlay, John  Vic  l;ui  Vic  Coinhie  Vic  Ian,  and  Gilliephatrick 
Vic  Ian  Kvndnish.  'Phis  Duncan  was  succeeded  bv  his  eldest 
son  (-!-)  Duncan  ( )ig,  who  did  not  relish  the  position  of  buffer 
betwixt  Mackintosh  and  Lochiel,  and  in  his  father's  lifetime  fell 
out  with  Sir  Kwen  Cameron,  and  was  dispossessed  of  Kylinross, 
which,  had  been  assigned  him  I A-  his  father  Duncan.  Matters, 
however,  were  made  up,  for  the  Macmartims  were  worth  conciliat- 
ing. Duncan  Oigis  found  in  Hill:  and  1G-I.~>,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  (5)  Martin,  who  is  found  as  owner  prior  to  1  (')('>'.}.  He. 


to  have  been  put  in  possession  before  his  fathers  death.  1  pur- 
pose dealing  with  them  under  one  head.  In  1GG7  Lord  Macdonell, 
as  appears  by  the  Book  of  the  C rants,  interceded  with  Crunt  on 
behalf  of  Donald  Vic  Kwen  M;icmartin  of  Rattuliehbeg,  and  Angus 
Vic  Ian  Roy  Vic  Coil  Macmarrin,  apparent  of  Rattulichmore,  who 
had  been  imprisoned  as  marauders  in  Strathspey.  The  name  of 
the  Lochaber  men  as  "lifters"  was  well  known  in  Moray,  and  there 
is  "  curious  reference  by  Kenneth,  Karl  of  Seafortb,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Lord  Chancellor  of  Scotland,  dated  Klgin,  2~)th  September, 


40  Gaelie  Society  of  Inverness. 

1682,  where  tlic  Earl,  having  been  asked  to  see  as  to  "disaffected" 
ministers  taking  shelter  in  Ross,  says  little  about  then),  being  full 
of  his  own  special  grievance  : — 

"  My  Lord,  —  Ever  since  my  north-coining,  I  have  made  it  my 
business  to  enquire  if  any  of  those  disaffected  ministers  you  spoke 
of  to  me  at  Edinburgh  did  resort  to  the  shire  !  am  concerned  in, 
lout  found  no  such  disorderly  people  in  it  ;  although  we  suffer  so 
much  bv  the  Loehaber  men,  that  if  the  King  and  Council  take 
nut  a u  effectual  course  presently,  many  of  us  in  that  place 
will  not  have  so  much  of  our  own  as  will  pay  the  public  dues." 
Unless  the  Earl  exaggerated,  it  is  clear  the  Loehaber  men, 
when  tiiey  entered  Ross,  performed  the  busine-s  which  brought 
them,  in  a  thorough  manner,  hi  1G8~>  the  name  of  Xeil,  sou  of 
Leiteriinlay,  is  found.  In  1683  the  Marquis  of  Huntly  takes 
proceedings  against  Duncan  Macmartin  of  Lettertinlay. 

[n  the  niuiith  of  September,  iGGo,  occurred  the  murder  (still 
counted  as  the  most  deplorable  event  in  the  annals  of  Loehaber)  of 
the  youths,  Alexander  and  Ronald  Macdonell  of  Keppoch.  Those 
accused  of  the  murder  were  Archibald  Macdonell  in  Keppoch, 
either  cousin  or  uncle1  of  the  bovs  ;  Donald  Oorme  in  Inveroymore  ; 
Alexander  Macdonald  in  Tulloch  ;  Angus  Macdonald  in  Murligaiij 
Allister  Macdonald  in  Bohuntin  ;  Allister  Macdonald  in  Crenachan ; 
Don;ild  Macdonald  in  Blairnahinven ;  and  Angus  Macdonald  in 
Achluaehrach,  {ill  in  the  Brae  of  Lochaber  ;  and  it  would  appear 
that  it  wa.<  not  until  1671  the  murderers  were  prosecuted.  In 
thai  year,  at  the  instance  of  Mackintosh,  as  Steward  of  Loehaber, 
and  of  His  .Majesty's  Advocate,  they  were  summoned  to  appear 
before  the  Lords  of  His  Majesty's  Justiciarle,  in  a  J  ustiee  Court, 
to  be  held  bv  them  within  the  Tolb.x >t h  of  Edinburgh,  u])on  the 
24-th  day  of  July.  Of  course  they  did  not  appear,  and  were 
fug':,.:'1  I.  i  >  v  some  means  Archibald,  the  leader,  was  left  in  pos- 
session, and  having  married  Mary  ( 'ameron,  Lettertinlay  s  daughter, 
became  father  of  the  renowned  Coll  Macdonell  of  Keppoch.  A 
sister  of  .Mary's  was  married,  as  his  second  wife,  to  .John  Mor  Vic 
Allister  Vic  Allan  of  Olenevis. 

would  be  well  to  have  the  exact  truth,-;  of  this  deplorable 
•ss  brought  out  ;  and  mv  disappointment  may  be  conceived, 
>king  over  papers  at  one  tina*  in  the  possession  of  Alex- 
Mackintosh  of  Comiage,  one  of  the  Sheriff's  of  Inverness, 
L-ing  one  with  this  hacking,  "  Lord  Macdonald's  letters  to 
_i'e,  concerning  Allister  M/ Ranald,  IGG-'V'  to  find,  when 
opened,  i  here  was  nothing  within,  the  inside  page  having  been  used 
at  a  later  date,  for  another  purpose.  i  have  mentioned  about  the 


The  Camerons  of  Letterfinlay.  41 

Keppoch  murder  chiefly  because  the  criminal  process  alluded  to 
also  contains  a  separate  charge.  Martin  of  Letterfinlay  had  been 
busy  on  his  own  account,  though  the  crime  was  not  so  aggravated. 
Upon  the  18th  July,  167 1,  lie  and  his  brother,  John  Roy  Cameron, 
were  summoned  to  appear  before  Mackintosh's  Steward. Court  for 
the  murder  and  slaughter  of  Donald  Hoy  Vic  Ian  Vic  Inteire  (the 
wright),  and  for  the  mutilation  and  wounding  of  Angus  Macdonald 
in  Shian,  sometime  in  course  of  the  month  of  June  preceding. 
Angus  compeared  as  a  complainer  for  his  interest,  but  neither  of 
the  defendants.  The  proceedings,  which  lasted  for  vears,  \vere 
•conducted  with  pertinacity,  one  of  the  papers  being,  "  Procedure  at 
a  Court  held  at  Leckroy,  on  21th  February,  1677,  by  Murdo  Mae- 
pherson  of  Clune,  as  Steward  Depute,"  showing  that  Letteriinlay's 
effects,  which  had  been  escheated,  consisted  of  5  score  great  cows, 
worth  2000  nierks  ;  40  young  cows,  400  merks  ;  4  score  bolls 
victual,  480  merks  :  25  pieco  of  horses  and  mares,  720  merks; 
young  horses  and  mares,  200  nierds  :  G  score  sheep,  270  merks  ;  in 
all,  4070  merks.  John  Rov  Cameron's  stock  ran  to  )>  score  great 
cows  and  oO  young  cows,  1500  merks  :  20  piece  of  horses  and 
mares.  GOO  merks;  5  score  head  of  sheep,  2l'5  nierks;  5  young 
horses  and  mares,  105  merles  :  50  bolls  of  victual,  )>00  merks;  in 
all,  27-'$0  merks.  These  were1  very  substantial  properties.  The 
records  of  Privy  Council  from  168)5  to  1G85  contain  numerous 
charges  and  counter-charges,  ?\lackintosh  against  Letterfinlay  and 
Keppoch— these  last  having,  for  the  moment,  a  full  revenge  on 
the  day  of  Mulroy. 

1  now  turn  to  a  more  agreeable  iiicture,  the  mustering  of  the 
clans  at  Delmacomer,  early  in  1(5^0,  under  Dundee:  and  here  is 
a  translation  of  the  description  of  young  i.-tterlinlay  in  the 
Grameid  : — 

"  Here  too  is  Macmarrin  the  younger,  rising-  high  above 
his  whole  line.  Mis  dark  locks  hang  around  Iris  lace  and 
cover  his  checks,  and  his  eyes  shine  like  the  stars,  while  his  neck 
rivals  the  white  flowers.  His  father  and  a  great  force  of  depend- 
ants accompany  him,  and  an  illustrious  <  ompanv  of  his  brethren 
in  their  ranks  surround  him  on  every  side.  He  himself,  in 
variegated  array,  advances  with  loftv  mein.  The  garter  ribbons 
hanging  at  his  leg  were  dyed  with  Corvcian  saffron,  and  with  the 
tint  of  the  Syrian  shell,  as  was  his  plaid.  The  crest  of  his  helmet 
glows  with  floating  plumes,  and  the  trappings  of  his  mounted 
powder  horn  gleam  in  shining  brass,  jh's  sister  had  embroidered 
his  tunic  with  the  red  gold,  and  a  double  line  of  purple  went 
round  his  terrible  shoulders.  Mighty  of  limb,  mighty  in  strength, 


42  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

he  could  uproot  the  old  ash  tree,  or  with  his  teeth  alone  tear  away 
the  hard  iron.  Whenever  he  turns  his  head  and  neck,  his  arms- 
rattle,  and  the  hollow  rocks  seem  to  moan,  and  as  he  treads  the 
plain  the  earth  groans  under  his  weight." 

This  powerful  depiction  may  be  contrasted  with  Allan  Dall,  in 
his  "Inverlochy  (lathering"  : — 

"  'S  ami  d'  ar  coimhearsnaich  araid, 
Mac-'ic-Mhartuinn  na  Leitrach, 
Aig  am  biodh  na  tir  aluinn, 
A  dheanamh  larach  a  shcasamh ; 
A  ghleidheadh  onoir  nan  Gaidheal 
'S  a  rcachadh  dana  iia 'n  leithsgeul, 
lii  linn  cruadail  a 's  gabhaidh, 
Cum  bu  laidtr  an  treis  iad." 

7.  George  Mac  Martin  was  the  next  possessor,  son  of  Martin 
the  younger,  and  was  twice  married.  He  had  seyeral  children 
by  his  first  wife,  from  a  reference  in  the  contract  of  marriage 
with  his  second  wife.  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  Angus  Mackintosh, 
senior,  merchant  in  Inverness,  and  of  Culchlachie.  This  contract 
is  dated  at  Inverness,  14th  December.  I7o2.  The  lady's  tocher 
was  GOOU  morks,  and  she  got  a  jointure  of  ,°>00  merks  secured 
over  Ddlmaeomcr  and  Strongluy.  One  of  the  witnesses,  and 
Letterfinlav's  groomsman,  was  Allan  Cameron,  younger  of 
Lindasiy.  and  he  himself  signs  "George  M<;  Martme.''  Letter- 
finlav  was  dead  prior  to  2Dth  December,  1737,  as  on  that  day 
he  is  referred  to  in  a  deed  as  deceased,  Gcor;;e  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son  (S),  Caphiin  Cosmo  Cordon  Cameron,  who  died 
young  \vithout  issue.  Cosmo  was  captain  in  the  Highland 
regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Archibald  Montgomery,  and  was 
succeeded  by  (9)  < :;''  irji'e  MaeMari  in  C'amenm,  who,u])on  -1-th  August, 
17 ().v),  h;id  himseif  served  heir  to  his  Grand-uncle,  Martin  Cameron 
of  Letterfinlav.  hi  the  service,  Ceorgo  styles  himself  as  son  of 
the  Lite  Kvan  MaeMurtin,  otherwise  Cameron,  sometime  of  Bar- 
lowing  (llatlichbeg  ?),  thereafter  in  Dellifour  of  i'adenoch,  and 
through  the  failure1  of  heirs  male,  descended  of  unHUihile  Martin 
MaeA'arim.  otherwise  Cameron,  of  Letteriinlay,  commonly  called 
Martin  Mor  MacMartin,  he,  (Jeorge,  was  nearest  heir  male  of 
Martin  Mor,  his  Grand-uncle.  There  is  a  tradition  that  George 
was  not  the  lawful  heir,  the  alleged  propinquity  being  falsely 
sworn  to  by  one  named  "  Ian-Mor-na-(  'ath-ruagh."  George  is 
stated  to  have  been  a  herd  lad,  and,  after  his  service  as  heir,  was 
taken  from  the  kitchen  to  the  dining-room,  and  educated.  .John 


The  Camerons  of  Letterfinlay.  43 

Cameron  in  Glenroy,  whose  descendants  are  still  living  in  Brae 
Loehaber,  was  said  to  l»e  son  of  the  true  heir,  and  it  was 
common  report  that  the  successful  claimant's  family  would 
never  prosper.  Certain  it  is  that  George  WPS  in  difficulties 
for  the  last  fifty  years  of  his  life,  being  under  trust  for 
forty-six  years,  and  the  trust  ran  on  till  1840,  a  period  of  fifty- 
seven  years.  George  married,  on  28th  February,  17G7,  Isobcl 
Fraser,  sister  of  Simon  Fraser,  last  Laird  of  Foyers,  of  the  race  of 
"  Huistean  Frangach,"  by  whom  he  had  a  numerous  family,  some 
living  to  very  great  age.  lie  was  of  careless  disposition,  not 
nnmingled  with  obstinacy,  which  involved  his  estate.  Gortuleg, 
in  one  of  his  letters,  calls  him  ''poor  thoughtless  man."  He 
executed  a  trust  in  1783  :  a  bond  of  interdiction  in  1798  ;  a  deed 
of  entail  in  1807,  which  was  held  null  ;  and  a  further  deed  of  trust 
in  1817.  The  family  originally  had  their  residence  at  Letterfinlay, 
but  had  removed  to  Mueomer  by  1770.  In  1788-1700  George 
writes  from  "(laiggin,  hv  the  Xevis,v  as  his  abode.  The  house  of 
Letterfinlay  was  converted  into  an  inn.  Lord  Cockburn  speaks  of 
it  in  1811)  as  comfortable,  but,  in  1841,  as  a  poor  place.  That 
portion  of  land  called  Davochnessie  was  formerly  occupied  by  a 
race  of  Camerons  renowned  above  all  others  for  strength,  activity, 
and  daring.  So  late  as  1780  a  body  of  Macmartin  men,  to  the 
number  of  forty  or  fifty,  as  noted  in  the  "  Hook  of  Grant/'  attacked 
the  lands  of  Glenmoriston,  and  well-nigh  took  the  life  of  the  well- 
known  Aipin  Grant,  the  laird's  brothel'.  To  this  day,  that  a 
Cameron  is  of  the  race  of  Davochnessie  is  held  an  honour,  but  the 
place  itself  now  knows  them  not. 

Without  referring  to  the  clean  sweep  of  the  Ratullichs  by  Mr 
Bel  ford,  let  us  contrast  the  Letteriinlay,  Macomer,  and  Stronaba 
of  to-day  with  these  places  in  1805.  What  they  are  now  may  be 
seen  by  the  Valuation  l!oil  of  181)0-01,  little  over  a  do/en  occu- 
pants. Luckily  i  am  able  to  u'ive  a  full  list  for  1  S0f>.  In  Ma;  ;  <iuer 
and  Torness  there  were  John  Macdiarmid,  Alexander  Cameron, 
shepherd  ;  Donald  Cameron,  Donald  Cameron  Smith  in  Forness, 
Mary  Macintyre— 5.  In  Stronaba— the  Rev.  Thomas  lloss  of 
Kilmonivaig,  John  Cameron,  Catherine  Macarthur,  Alexander 
Macarthur,  George  Cameron,  Donald  Macdonaid,  Alexander  Mac- 
donald,  .John  Mackinnon,  weaver  ;  Katharine  Maekiimon,  Janet 
Cameron,  Flora  Cameron,  John  Macneil,  Duncan  Cameron,  Fvan 
Cameron,  John  Macpherson,  weaver;  John  Macpherson,  labourer; 
John  Maclachlan,  <i.lia*  Cameron— 17.  in  Invergloy-  -John 
Cameron  Vic  Coil-vie- fan  Vic  I  .'Hay,  John  Cameron  Vic  Aonash 
Vic  lan-dhu,  John  Cameron  Vic  Lwen,  Donald  Mor  Cameron,  Fwcn 


44  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Cameron  Vic  Allistor,  Duncan  Cameron,  tailor  ;  Ewen.  Cameron 
Vic  Aonash,  John  Roy  Cameron,  John  Roy  Cameron,  junior  ;  Alex- 
ander Brcck  Cameron,  Samuel  Cameron,  Widow  Mary  Kennedy, 
Ewen  Cameron  Vic  Coil  vie  Ian,  Donald  Ban  Cameron,  and  Donald 
Ban  Cameron  Vic  Ewen  Vic  Allister — 16.  In  Inverskilliroy — 
Martin  Cameron,  Alexander  Brcck  Cameron,  Donald  Ban  Cameron, 
Ewen  Cameron,  Ann  Cameron — 5.  In  Letterfmlay — •Duncan 
Doun  Macnaughton,  Duncan  Macnaughton  Vic  Homas,  residing 
at  Borline  of  Glengarry  ;  Donald  Macnaughton,  John  Macnaughton. 
Evan  Cameron,  innkeeper  ;  Duncan  Cameron — 6.  In  Tartness — 
John  Cameron,  Widow  Anne  Cameron,  and  Widow  Verc  Macdonald 
— 3.  In  Bolluach,  Glengloy,  and  Strongloy — Allan  Cameron, 
tenant  in  Meopie  of  South  Morar  ;  Peter  Stewart,  James  Mackay, 
Donald  Mor  Cameron,  and  Duncan  Roy  Cameron — 5;  in  all,  57 
heads  of  families,  perhaps  300  souls.  The  family  of  George 
Cameron  or  which  !  have  any  note,  consisted  of  four  sons,  Gordon, 
Hugh  John,  Hugh,  Duncan,  and  five  daughters,  Jane,  Isabella, 
Christian,  Anne,  and  Charlotte.  .Miss  Charlotte,  the  youngest 
daughter,  died  at  Macnmer  lath  June,  1  SI '2— -all  the  others  sur- 
vived their  father.  Cpon  George's  death  in  June,  IS^O,  he  was 
succeeded  bv  his  eldest  son  (10)  Gordon  Cameron,  lie  entered  the 
military  service,  and  in  1794.  went  abroad  ui  Erracht's  Regiment. 
.Me  was  one  of  Glengarry's  friends  an  I  supporters  in  the  unfortu- 
nate duel  with  Lieutenant  Norman  Maeleod,  and  when  volunteering 
was  rife  early  in  the  century,  he  raised  a  local  company  called  the 
Letterfinlay  Volunteers.  Like  his  father  he  was  much  embarassed, 
and  he  did  not  survive  him  long,  dying  on  L'Oth  September,  1830. 
He  was  succeeded  bv  Ins  next  brother  (11)  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hugh  Joins,  who  had  served  with  distinction.  The  estate  was 
under  trust  until  1S40,  Colonel  Cameron,  however,  taking  an 
active  part  in  the  administration.  He  was  of  a  proud, 
reserved,  but  honourable  disposition,  quite  unfitted  to  cope 
with  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  him.  To  add  to 
these,  he  had  barely  succeeded,  when  he  found  himself 
involved  in  a  serious  litigation  with  the  Gordon  trustees,  in  refer 
ence  to  the  marches  of  Stronaba  and  Blarour.  He  struggled  on, 
affairs  getting  worse,  until  1S47,  when  he  was  obliged  to  execute  a 
trust  deed.  Fortunately,  he  did  not  live  to  witness  the  actual 
sale  to  Mr  Haillie,  in  November,  IS")!.  Sensitive  in  disposition, 
proud  of  his  descent,  and  of  being  the  oldest  head  of  his  clan, 
Colonel  Cameron's  heart  was  broken  at  the  prospect  of  what  had 
become  inevitable.  1  had  hoped  to  get  access  to  a  memoir  of  his 


The  Camerons  of  Letterfinlay. 

family,  which,  some  forty  years  ago,  I  had  heard  rumoured  as  being 
in  existence  ;  but,  having  failed,  the  genealogy  now  given  is  to  be 
taken  as  subject  to  correction. 

The  last  of  the  Macmartins  was  (12)  Hugh,  who  was  served 
heir  in  1851  to  his  brother  Colonel  Hugh  John,  as  also  to  his 
brother  Duncan.  This  Hugh  and  his  sisters  lived  latterly 
at  Inveruisk-a-Vullin,  in  Glcnluy,  and  none  of  them  having 
married,  the  raco  of  the  Macmartins  through  George,  both  male 
and  female,  terminated.  The  burial  place  of  the  Macmartins 
(Cill-'Icomar)  is  at  Achnanaimlmichcan,  even  now  a  pretty  spot, 
but  no  longer,  through  the  Canal  operations,  to  be  compared  to 
what  it  was  when  really  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers. 

That  there  arc  heirs  of  line,  and  male,  can,  from  what  has 
been  above  stated,  hardly  admit  <-f  doubt;  and  it  would  be  well 
that  such  as  can  establish  their  connection,  should  do  so  legally, 
and  prevent  what  is  at  present  the  vhtual  extinction  of  this 
ancient  and  honourable  House  from  becoming  actual  and  total. 


20  tk  JANUARY,  1891. 
NINETEENTH  ANNUAL  DINNER. 

Tho  Nineteenth  Annual  Dinner  of  the  Society  took  place  in 
the  Station  Hotel  this  evening.  hi  the  unavoidable  absence  of 
Mr  Jan  Murray  Grant  of  Glenuuoriston,  Chief  of  the  Society, 
Provost  .Ross  occupied  the  chair,  and  was  supported  on  the  right 
by  Dr  Norman  Maeleod,  and  on  the  luff,  by  Colonel  Murray,  com- 
manding the  72iiJ  and  79th  Regimental  Districts.  Bailie 
Mackenzie  and  Mr  Alexander  Macbain,  M.A.,  Raining's  School, 
were  croupiers. 

After  dinner,  the  Chairman  proposed  the  loyal  toasts,  followed 
by  that  of  the  Army,  Navy,  and  Reserve  Forces,  which  was 
coupled  with  the  name  of  Colonel  Murray.  Referring  to  the  army, 
the  Provost  said  they  had  two  depots  of  Highland  regiments  at 
Inverness,  but  lie  did  not  think,  that  was  sufficient  to  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  true  military  life.  He  believed  that  comparatively  few 
recruits  were  now  obtained  for  Highland  regiments  in  this  part  of 
the  countrv;  and  it  was  his  opinion  that  if  the  Government  reallv 

u      '  ,, 

meant  to  make   the   regiments    territorial,    and   to    keep   up    their 
proper    strength,    they    must    do   something   more    for  the    North 


46  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

than  merely  to  have  the  depots  of  the  regiments  here.  They  had 
excellent  barracks  at  Inverness,  and  there  was  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  be  extended,  and  a  regiment  sent  north.  This  would 
do  good  to  the  town  of  Inverness,  and  would  also  tend  to  keep  up 
the  strength  of  the  regiment.  fie  hoped  the  Government  would 
consider  this  idea,  and  also  send  companies  of  their  soldiers 
throughout  the  country,  to  inspire  the  people  with  a  mililarv 
spirit,  which  had  to  a  great  extent  been  lost.  The  same  remark 
applied  to  the  navy.  They  heard  much  about  the  navv,  but  saw 
little  of  it.  The  Government  ought  to  encourage  the  people  in 
these  northern  parts  by  sending  ships  oftener  round  the  coast, 
and  so  let  the  sea  faring  and  other  inhabitants  see  what  the  navy 
is  really  like. 

Colonel  Murray,  who  was  cordially  received,  in  the  course  of 
his  reply  said  he  thought  Scotchmen  had  every  reason  to  be  proud 
of  the  men  who  composed  the  national  regiments — (applause). 
There  never  had  been  an  occasion  when  they  failed  to  respond 
most  nobly  to  any  call  of  duty  which  \\as  made  upon  them — (ap- 
plause). With  regard  to  what  the  Chairman  had  said  about 
recruiting,  he  should  only  be  too  glad  t<>  see  more  soldiers  coming 
from  this  district,  more  especirdlv  as  the  militarv  authorities 
wished  to  make  the  regiments  territorial  and  thoroughly  repre- 
sentative of  the  counties  from  \vhi--h  they  were  supposed  to  be 
drawn,  and  in  which  they  to  a  great  extent  were  raised. 

At  this  stage,  die  Secretary,  Mr  Duncan  Mackintosh,  submitted 
the  annual  report  of  the  Executive,  \vhicli  was  as  follows  : — 

"In  submitting  the  nineteenth  annual  report,  the  Council  have 
much  pleasure  in  stating  that  the  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  the 
Society  continues  to  increase.  Within  the  last  year  a  large 
volume  of  Transactions,  consisting  of  upwards  of  3'2Q  pages,  has 
been  issued  to  the  members,  and  that  volume  has  been  well 
received  by  the  press  all  over  the  country.  Volume  XVI.  is  in 
the  press,  and  will  soon  be  delivered  to  the  members.  Already 
this  session  valuable  papers  by  Sir  Henry  C.  Maeandrew  :  Mr 
rrascr-Mackintosh,  M.P.  ;  Re\\  Mr  M'Rury,  Sni/ort  ;  Rev.  Mr 
Macgregor,  Farr  ;  Rev.  Mr  Sinton  ;  Mr  A.  Macbahi  ;  Mr  John 
Mackay,  Hereford;  Mr  Alexander  Macdonald  ;  Mr  Hector  Mac- 
lean, I  slay,  and  others  are  promised.  The  Treasurer's  report  is — 
Balance  from  last  year,  £21)  19s  lid  ;  income  during  year,  £71  lls 
id — total,  £101  lls;  expenditure  during  year,  £!).">  15s  3d; 
balance  on  hand,  £7  IGs  9d.  During  the  past  year  one  life  member, 
five  honorary  members,  and  nineteen  ordinary  members  joined  the 
Society,  and  several  volumes  were  added  to  the  library.  The 


Annual  Dinner.  47 

Council  regret  to  leport  that  only  one  e^uy  was  received  last  year 
in  replv  to  the  pri/e  of  ,£10  10s,  offered  by  the  Society  for  the  best 
essay  on  the  social  condition  of  the  Highlands.  Through  the  kind- 
ness of  The  Mackintosh,  they  again  repeat  the  same  offer  this  year, 
"when,  it  is  hoped,  more  members  will  come  forward  and  compete 
for  the  prize/' 

The  Chairman,  who  was  received  with  loud  applause,  then  rose 
to  propose  the  toast  of  the  evening,  "  Success  to  the  Gaelic  Society 
of  Inverness."  I  may  first  be  allowed,  he  said,  to  thank  you  for 
the  hon'nir  conferred  on  me  in  asking  me  to  take  the  chair  and 
preside  on  this  occasion — the  19th  anniversary  of  the  Society. 
When  I  look  over  the  list  of  eminent  men  who  have  filled  this 
chair  on  similar  occasions,  it  is  with  some  trepidation  1  undertake 
the  work,  hut,  feeling  assured  as  I  do  of  your  kindly  sympathy 
and  indulgence,  1  shall  endeavour  to  do  my  duty.  The  object  of 
the  Gaelic  Society  is  given  out  in  rule  No.  2  of  the  const  itution, 
and  is  of  most  general  character,  viz.,  the  cultivation  of  the 
language,  the  poetry,  and  the  music  of  the  Scottish  Highlands  ; 
the  rescuing  from  oblivion  of  Celtic  poetry,  tradition,  legends, 
hooks,  and  manuscripts  ;  the  establishing  of  a  library,  to  consist 
of  books  and  manuscripts,  in  whatever  language,  bearing  upon  the 
genius,  the  literature,  the  history,  the  antiquities,  and  material 
interest  of  the  Highlands  and  the  Highland  people;  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  rights  and  character  of  the  Gaelic  people,  and  generally 
the  furtherance  of  their  interests,  whether  at  home  or  abroad. 
Now,  we  must  all  admit  that  the  scheme  is  \vide  and  compre- 
hensive enough,  and  we  mav  on  this  occasion  pause  for  a  short 
time  and  ascertain  how  far  the  Society  has  fulfilled  the  objects  and 
aims  laid  down  in  its  prospectus  and  constitution.  To  take  the 
poetry,  traditions,  and  cultivation  of  the  language  first,  1  think  the 
handsome  volumes  issued  for  the  last  nineteen  years  is  a  sufficient 
answer,  and  the  contents  of  these  volumes  sho\v  research  am'  work 
of  which  any  Society  may  be  proud.  Xot  only  is  the  poetrv  and 
tradition  well  represented,  but  the  records  show  determined  and 
commendable  efforts  to  perpetuate  a  knowledge  of  the  Gaelic 
language,  and  obtain  the  recognition  of  it  in  our  Public  Schools. 
In  this  direction  1  think  the  Society  has  fairly  well  done  its  work. 
A  library  of  volumes  appropriate  to  the  work  the  Society  has  in 
view  has  been  established,  but  the  efforts  made  in  this  direction 
have  been  scarcely  so  successful  as  might  be  wished.  In  music  1 
do  not  think  there  has  been  so  much  done,  and  the  volumes 
are  singularly  bare  of  articles  bearing  on  this  subject.  I  note 
.several  articles  by  writers  now,  alas  !  gone  from  amongst  us, 


48  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

notably  one  by  Mr  Hugh  Rose,  in  which  he  dwells  at  some  length 
on  ancient  Highland  music,  and  the  instruments  then  in 
use.  This  is  a  subject  on  which  much  more  might  have  been  done. 
It  is  true  that  we  have  an  annual  gathering,  but  it  can  scarcely  be 
called  a  representative  one,  nor  does  it  confine  itself  to  Gaelic 
music,  nor  Highland  instruments.  In  this  direction  our  Welsh 
cousins  seem  to  have  got  the  lead  of  us,  and  their  "  Eisteddfod  " 
has  become  a  national  institution.  I  observe  that  Professor  Mas- 
son  advocates  the  establishment  of  a  Highland  institution  of  the 
Eisteddfod  kind.  Oban  has  taken  up  the  matter,  and  surely  the 
Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness  will  not  be  behind.  A  Society  in  the 
Capital  of  the  Highlands,  powerful  and  wealthy,  and  with  such  a 
record  as  ours  cannot  fail  to  do  good  and  be  a  success.  In  this 
department  of  music  I  feel  that  the  work  of  the  Society  is 
decidedly  weak.  The  Welsh  Eisteddfod  is,  as  I  understand  it,  a 
system  of  public  competition  in  both  poetry  and  music,  and  was 
ami  is  an  institution  whose  senatus  was  composed  of  all  those 
qualified  in  literary,  bardic,  and  musical  lore.  If  one  can  judge 
by  the  reports  of  the  result  in  Wales,  the  effect  of  this  institution 
lias  been  most  beneficial,  and  has  preserved  the  ballads  and  music 
of  Wales  in  a  marvellous  manner.  I  throw  out  these  hints,  and  I 
think  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  the  Gaelic  Society  should 
take  up  the  nuttier  in  earnest,  and  .-uKivato  the  musical  talent  of 
the  Highlanders  in  a  systematic  manner.  With  regard  to  the 
instruments,  it  is  remarkable  how  completely  the  old  instruments* 
now  the  only  instrument  one  hears  is  the 
In  olden  times,  the  emit,  or  three- 
lyre,  was  the  instrument  on  which  the  bard  accompanied 
;',  and  we  have  ample  proof  that  the  harp  was  also  in  use. 
autiful  instrument  has  entirely  disappeared  from  the  High- 
and the  violin  and  piano  are  their  modern  representatives. 
We  cannot  be  expected  to  go  back  to  i  Iiese  imp<  rfect  and  primitive 
instruments;  but,  at  anyrate,  the  violin,  great  anil  small,  harp, 
and  bagpipe  are  worth  cultivating,  and  these,  with  the  chanter 
ar.d  Scotch  "pipe,  would  give  sutHcient  variety  to  express  the 
nationa!  music,  whilst  original  compositions  in  poetry  should  be 
specially  encouraged.  Our  present  annual  gathering  is  held  in 
July,  at  the  time  of  the  great  Wool  Fair,  but  I  am  not  sure  that 
the  Northern  Meeting  week  would  not  be  a  more  suitable  time. 
The  .1  liLi'hiand  farmers  are  too  busv  and  the  Wool  Fair  is  becoming 
daily  less  important  by  reason  of  auction  sales  and  salesmen, 
whiht  the  Northern  Meeting  week  is  Li'iven  up  to  things  Celtic. 
The  No.  '1  rule  of  the  constitution,  as  1  have  mentioned,  is  wide 
enough,  and  covers  all  Highland  interests,  both  literary  and 


Annual  Dinner.  49 

material,  and  I  think  that  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  refer  to 
the  probable  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants 
from  the  proposed  assistance  by  Govern  nent  in  opening  up  and 
developing  the  Highlands  by  means  of  railways  and  harbours. 
We  have  reason  to  believe  that  material  aid  will  now  be  given, 
and  that  we  may  yet  see  the  condition  of  our  crofter  population 
improved,  and  a  very  considerable  development  of  the  extension 
of  railways  to  various  points  on  the  West  Coast.  In  another 
place  I  have  gone  more  fully  into  the  question,  having  recently, 
when  in  Ireland,  seen  the  working  of  the  light  railways  and  strain 
trams,  and  I  think  it  possible  that  a  number  of  these,  multiplied 
and  extended  to  various  [joints,  would  do  more  good  than  one  fnll- 
sized  and  fully-equipped  railway,  with  all  its  stations  and  officials. 
The  creation  of  harbours  and  the  more  fully  lighting  of  the  coasts 
is  also  very  necessary,  and  it  is  by  means  of  these  and  the 
thorough  opening  up  of  the  country,  rather  than  foolish  and  often 
harmful  eleemosynary  aid  which  has  come  to  be  so  much  the 
practice  in  the  present,  culminating  in  the  amusing  fiasco  of  a 
party  of  Englishmen  going  to  the  marriage  of  the  Queen,  of  St 
Kikla  and  having  to  return  ignominiously  with  the  viands 
untasted.  Lot  the  Government  assist  in  making  harbours,  and 
provide  easy  means  for  reaching  the  southern  markets,  and  I  do 
not  fear  for  the  Highlander.  The  best  mode  of  eviction  is  to 
make  a  good  road,  and  if  it  is  worth  his  while  the  Highlander  will 
soon  find  his  wav  to  the  south  or  the  Colonies.  The  establish- 
ment of  various  industries  at  various  centres  is  also  essential,  ar.d 
if  many  of  our  townsmen  would  put  a  little  of  their  money  h:to 
local  schemes,  instead  of  sending  it  away  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
never  to  return,  they  would  not,  \.  venture  to  think,  ever  regret  it. 
He  asked  the  company  to  drink  to  the  continued  prosperity  of  the 
Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Mr  A.  Mackenzie,  in  proposing  the  toast  of  the  Highland  Mem- 
bers, said  that  whatever  people  on  either  side  might  say  of  them 
he  believed  thev  were  quite  up  to  the  average  of  the  other  Scotch 
members,  and  some  of  them  in  particular  had  done  a  good  deal  for 
the  Highland  people.  But  whatever  they  might  think  of  political 
questions,  there1  was  one  thing  referred  to  by  the  Chairman  on. 
which  lie  thought  all  Highlanders  ought  to  be  perfect!  v  unanimous, 
and  that  was  to  insist  upon  their  representatives,  whatever  views 
they  might  hold  upon  political  questions,  extracting  not  only  from 
the  present  Government,  but  any  other  that  might  come  into 
power,  every  single  sixpence  that  it  was  possible  to  draw  from 
them  for  the  benefit  of  the  Highland  people.  The  Chairman  had 

4 


50  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

been  referring  only  to  the  good  things  in  store  for  them  from  the 
present  Government,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  very  great 
benefits  had  already,  during  the  last  five  years,  been  obtained  for 
the  Highland  people,  largely  through  the  influence  of  members  of 
the  Gaelic  Society.  He  quite  agreed  with  the  Chairman  that  a 
large  number  of  small  railways  in  various  parts  of  the  Highlands 
would  be  much  more  beneficial  to  the  people  for  the  opening  up 
of  the  country  than  one  or  two  great  schemes;  and  this  argument 
applied  with  even  greater  force  to  the  proposal  as  to  piers  and 
harbours.  To  those  who  knew  the  West  Highlands  it  was  per- 
fectly clear  that  a  large  harbour  of  refuge  at  any  particular  point 
would  be  of  very  little  use  to  the  general  body  of  the  people. 
What  was  really  wanted  was  a  large  number  of  small  piers  and 
break  waters  that  would  enable  the  people  in  almost  every  part  of 
the  Highlands  to  conduct  the  fishing  almost  from  their  own  doors. 
Mr  William  Mackay,  in  proposing  "The  Language  and  Litera- 
ture of  the  Gael,"  said  it  was  happily  no  longer  necessary  to  show 
that  their  language  was  worthy  of  preservation,  and  that  they  had 
;.  literature  that  was  worthy  of  study.  They  had  now  not  only 
Celtic  professors  in  Edinburgh  and  Oxford,  but  all  over  the 
country  students  were  hard  at  work  studying  their  language  and 
literature.  But,  while  that  was  the  case,  they  had  to  deplore  the 
loss  of  the  great  and  good  men  who  bore  the  brunt  of  the  fight  in 
the  davs  when  Gaelic  language  and  literature  were  not  so  popular 
as  they  now  were.  They  had  within  recent  years  lost  Dr  Clerk, 
!);•  Maelachlaii,  Dr  Cameron  of  lirodick,  and  !  >r  Charles  Maekay. 
And  within  the  last  few  months  they  had  lost  the  hard  of  their 
Society— Mrs  Mary  Mackellar,  who  occupied  that  honourable 
office  from  L87G  till  September  last,  and  was  an  enthusiast  in  all 
matte]  tended  to  the  welfare  of  the  Highlands.  She  had  an 

!  :  store  of  Gaelic  lore,  wi'ieh  she  dealt  our  periodically 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society,  and  in  the  newspapers  and 
She  was  diligent  in  collecting  and  giving  to  the 
Gaelic  world  the  songs  and  ballads  which  she  found  floating 
among  the  people,  and  her  own  verses  would,  he  ventured  to 
thin  k.  be  remembered  as  long  as  the  Highland  glens  were  inha- 
bited bv  the  children  of  the  Gael.  She  now  slept  in  the  old 
Churrhvard  of  Kilmallie.  Let  them  say  in  her  own  words — 

Sloop  soundly  near  the  ^cloved  homo, 
'Where  often  thou  life's  golden  dream  did  weave  ; 
Sleep  soundly  hy  the  hill  o'er  which  did  ro;>m 
Thy  youthful  feet  on  many  a  joyous  eve. 


Annual  Dinner.  51 

But  while  they  deplore  these  losses  they  must  remember  with 
thankfulness  that  others  were  ready  to  take  the  places  of  the 
departed.  It  might  not  be  out  of  place  especially  to  congratulate 
themselves  on  the  acquisition  to  their  strength  of  the  Rev.  Dr 

Norman  Macleod,  whose  family  had  done  more  for  the  language 
and  literature  of  the  Gael  than  any  other  family  that  could:  be 
named.  The  air  of  Morven  must  have  a  wonderful  effect  on  the 
Celtic  mind.  They  all  knew  the  dictionary  of  old  Dr  Norman 
Macleod,  but  it  might  not  be  so  well  known  that  a  hundred  years 
before  his  time  a  minister  of  Morven,  llev.  Archibald  Campbell, 
was  a  skilled  expounder  of  Gaelic  words.  Mr  Campbell  was 
brought  before  the  Presbytery  in  1733  for  drunkenness.  One  of 
the  witnesses  described  his  condition  on  one  occasion  by  the  word 
coiy/ileiis,  which  the  Presbytery  rendered  into  English  by  the 
words  ''the  worse  of  liquor.''  Mr  Campbell  objected  to  this 
rendering.  "Corglileus,"  said  he,  "or  the  word  inverted,  yl»m-cor, 
shows  no  more  that  that  cheerful  humour  which  a  moderate  glass 
puts  one  in — which  humour  or  temper  is  not  his  ordinary,  or  which 
ho  did  not  fully  discover  at  first  sitting  down.  That  was  the 
term  the  deponent  us  >d  to  express  my  disposition  that,  night,  but 
wr-jiigon-'lv  translated  in  the  minutes.  I  appeal  still  to  the  deponent, 
with  whom  1  was  conversing,  with  some  others,  if  this  be  not  the 
notion  he  ailixes  to  it.  P>ut,  further,  this  phrase,  'the  worse  of 
liquor,'  admits  of  great  Lititude,  for  if  one  exceeds  the  due  me;i>urc 
that  suffices  nature,  which  with  most  constitutions  is  a  single 
dram,  he  oppresses  it,  and  is  indisposed  in  his  health — ar.d  in 
proportion  as  ho  exceeds  this  strict  measure;  so  that  he  may  be 
said  to  do  the  worse  of  liquor  in  both  cases.  Yet  is  it  not  true 
•':•  .  a1  every  sitting,  most  exceed  the  precise  measure  ?"  lie  found 
that  Dr  Macleod  translated  in  his  dictionary  wrf/h/cus  as  "good 
condition,"  so  that  tiie  Presbytery  were,  after  all,  prettv  correct 
in  their  rendering  of  it.  Mr  Mackay  concluded  by  coupling  the 
;  ;  with  the  name  of  Air  Colin  Chisholni,  whom  he  described  a-s 
:  ither  not  only  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness,  bur  of  the 
London  Society,  which  was  much  older. 

Mr  Colin  Chisholni,  who  was  very  cordially  received,  in  reply 
.said  he  had  had  the  honour  of  being  connected  with  Gaelic 
Soci  'ties  since  he  went  to  London  in  183~),  and  lie  could  h  .<nestlv 
s  iv  that  he  had  never  been  connected  with  any  society  that  could 
at  all  compare-  with  them  cither  in  courtesy  or  good  works.  He 
considered  the  Gaelic  Society  was  now  an  honour  to  tho-e  who 
started  it.  Dining  the  nineteen  years  of  its  existence  it  had  :.:one 
on  without  a  hitch,  and  he  was  glad  to  think  that  it  still  continued 


52  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

in  a  flourishing  and  prosperous  condition.  The  only  deficiency 
in  its  proceedings  was,  he  thought,  a  want  of  Gaelic  conversations, 
stories,  and  songs,  which  he  should  like  to  see.  encouraged.  Mr 
Chisholm  concluded  his  remarks  in  Gaelic,  for  which  he  was 
warmly  cheered. 

Dr  Norman  Macleod,  who  was  received  with  loud  applause, 
proposed  the  toast  of  Highland  Education,  and  said — I  may  per- 
haps be  allowed,  before  I  propose  the  toast  which  has  been 
entrusted  to  me,  to  express  the  pleasure  which  it  gives  me  to  be 
present  for  the  first  time  at  the  annual  dinner  of  the  Gaelic  Society 
of  Inverness.  I  have  no  claim  either  to  the  linguistic  acquire- 
ments or  the  antiquarian  lore  which  may  be  supposed  to  distinguish 
those  who  arc  members  of  your  Society,  but,  as  a  Highlander  born 
and  bred,  I  am  in  entire  sympathy  with  the  objects  for  which  it 
exists.  My  toast  is  the  cause  of  Highland  Education.  It  is  a 
subject  which  invites  a  retrospect  and  a  comparison.  Events  move 
quickly  in  these  days  ;  so  quickly,  indeed,  that  some  hearing  me 
may  have  hardly  realised  the  great  and  almost  immeasurable  pro- 
gress which  has  been  made  in  connection  with  Highland  education 
even  within  the  lifetime  of  many  now  present.  Let  me  carry  back 
your  thoughts  to  a  date  memorable  in  this  connection.  It  was  in 
the  year  182-4  that  the  great  education  scheme  of  the  General 
Assembly  was  founded,  mainly  through  the  exertions  of  two  men 
who  deserve,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  this,  to  be  held  in  lasting 
and  grateful  remembrance  by  all  true  Highlanders.  One  was 
Principal  Baird,  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  the  other  my 
own  near  kinsman,  whom  you  will  recognise  under  the  title  of  the 
"  Teachdaire  Gaelach."  These  men  did  much  to  awaken  the 
Church  and  country  to  a  proper  sense  of  the  appalling  educational 
destitution  which  existed  at  that  time  throughout  the  Highlands. 
Take  the  county  of  Argyle,  for  example.  There  were  then  in  that 
county,  according  to  carefully  prepared  statistics,  no  loss  than 
26,32G  children  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15,  for  whom  there  was 
no  provision  whatever,  except  such  as  was  provided  in  a  desultory 
and  intermittent  wav  by  certain  private  societies  which  then 
existed.  It  was  ascertained  that  in  the  six  Synods  of  Ariryle, 
Glenelg,  Uoss,  Sutherland,  Caithness,  Orkney  and  Shetland,  con- 
taining 1-13  parishes  and  a  population  of  1577,730  soul.-',  as  mam- 
as 2~)S  additional  schools  were  urgently  called  for.  As  Into  as 
183.')  the  Education  Commictee,  reporting  on  the  state  of  education 
in  the  Highlands  and  Islands,  founded  on  returns  from  the 
parochial  clergy,  stated  that  the  number  of  the  young  between  G 
and  20  years  of  age,  untaught  to  read,  and  beyond  the  reach  oi:  any 


Annual  Dinner.  53 

of  the  existing  provisions  for  elementary  education,  was  28,070, 
and  that  the  number  between  5  and  20  unable  to  write  was 
84,210.  The  legal  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  Parochial 
Schools  was  in  operation  no  doubt,  and  in  many  instances  their 
slender  endowments  had  been  subdivided  by  a  plurality 
of  schools  to  an  extent  which  frequently  reduced  the 
endowments  of  the  poor  teacher  to  a  minimum,  which 
seems  almost  incredible  in  these  days  of  School  Boards 
and  school  rates,  as  low — I  believe,  as  <£10  or  £15  a  year. 
No  grander  educational  machinery  was  ever  devised  than  the  old 
Parochial  Schools,  to  which  Scotland  owes  so  much,  but  in  the 
Highlands,  in  consequence  of  the  immense  extent  of  parishes 
intersected,  as  we  all  know,  bv  arms  of  the  sea  stretching  far  into 
the  country,  and  by  mountain  ranges,  which  are  covered  for 
months  by  snow,  it  never  had  fair  play,  and  the  result  was  that, 
at  that  time,  and  well  within  the  present  ccnturv,  there  were  tens 
of  thousands  of  children  who  were  practically  without  any  means 
of  religious  or  moral  improvement.  "Well,  gentlemen,  this  is  a 
condition  of  things  which  has  entirely  passed  away.  Whatever 
be  the  deficiencies  of  Highland  education  in  the  present  day,  I 
am  not  aware  that  in  anv  respect  it  will  compare  unfavourably 
with  other  parts  of  the  country.  Very  striking  is  the  contrast 
between  the  palatial  school  buildings  now  to  be  found  in  the 
remotest  glens  and  islands,  and  the  thachcd-roofed,  mud-floored 
huts  which  used  at  that  time  to  bo  dignified  by  the  name  of 
school-houses.  Yet  we  should  never  forget  the  noble  efforts 
which  have  been  made  by  the  generation  which  immediately 
preceded  us  to  promote  the  cause  of  education.  I  refer  more 
particularly  to  the  ministers  and  schoolmasters  of  that  period. 
Ihey  had  dilliculties  to  contend  with  of  which  we  can  form  no  idea, 
and  they  met  them  with  a  coin-age  and  devotion  worthy  of  praise. 
The  Highlands  owe  much  to  the  General  Assembly  Schools,  and 
at  a  later  period,  of  course,  to  the  schools  of  our  Churches,  and 
they  owe  much  to  the  old  Christian  Knowledge  Society.  That 
Society  has  no\v  passed,  so  far  as  it  is  educational,  into  other 
hands,  and  is  to  be  known  henceforth  as  the  Trust  in  behoof  of 
Highland  education.  As  one  of  the  new  Board,  I  have  no  desire 
to  disparage  the  work  which  lies  before  it,  but  I  feel  that  F  can 
express  no  better  wish  for  its  success  than  that  it  may  confer  as 
great  and  lasting  benefits  on  the  Highlands  as  did  the  Society 
throughout  many  years.  And  here  you  will  permit  me  to 
mention  a  point  which  should  be  of  some  interest  to  your  Gaelic 
Society.  I  am  speaking  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  Christian 


54  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness 

Knowledge  in  relation  to  Highland  education.  Had  that  Society 
never  done  more  than  have  translated  the  Word  of  God  into  the 
Gaelic  language  it  would  deserve  to  be  ranked  among  the  greatest 
benefactors  of  Highland  education.  Xow,  you  are  possibly  aware 
that  some  years  ago— -ten  or  twelve,  I  think — the  Society  resolved 
to  issue  a  revised  edition  of  the  Gaelic  Scriptures,  which  had  long 
been  recognised  as  a  most  necessary  and  desirable  step.  For  this 
purpose  a  Commission  of  eminent  Gaelic  scholars,  selected  from 
the  Free  Church  and  the  Church  of  Scotland,  was  appointed.  It 
comprised  some  who.  alas  !  are  no  longer  with  us  — men 
like  the  late.  Dr  Macl.Aiichlan  of  Edinburgh,  and  l)r  Archibald 
Clerk  of  Lvilmallie  ;  Mr  I>ewar,  Kingussie  :  Air  Mackenzie, 
Kilmorack  ;  Professor  Mackinnou  ;  Sheriff  Nicolson  :  Mr 
Blair ;  Dr  Maclean  ;  and  others  whose  names  I  do  not 
remember  at  this  moment.  I  had  myself  the  honour  of  being 
the  Chairman  of  that  Commission,  and  1  may  say  that  I  never  was 
connected  with  any  bod}-  of  gentlemen  who  did  their  work  more 
pleasantly,  and  L  think  more  efficiently.  Well,  we  had  just  com- 
pleted the  revision  of  the  Xcw  Testament  when  those  changes  in. 
the  constitution  of  the  Socictv,  to  which  I  have  referred,  became 
imminent,  and  our  work  was  stopped.  The  Old  Testament — a 
much  easier  and  less  expensive  undertaking  than  the  Xew  Testa- 
ment—has yet  to  be  overtaken.  Under  the  present  scheme,  the 
old  Society  and  the  new  body  may  agree  to  divide  the  cost  between 
them,  but  I.  very  much  fear  that  my  colleagues  in  the  old  Society 
will  find  that  thev  have  no  means  at  their  disposal  for  any  such 
purpose,  and  I  do  not  know  that  the  new  Board  have  any  great 
interest  in  it.  Now,  it  occurs  to  me  that  a  society  like  yours  might 
very  well  bring  some  pressure  to  bear  on  both  the  boards,  and 
might  even,  perhaps,  do  something  to  help  financially.  Unless  the 
work  is  completed,  our  labours  will  be  practically  lost,  inasmuch  as 
the  Xew  Testament  is  stereotyped  in  quarto  size,  and  1  suppose  no 
one  would  think  of  publishing  the  New  Testament -alone  in  that 
form.  One  of  the  objects  which  the  Highland  Trust  is  intended  to 
promote  is  the  teaching  of  Gaelic,  and  it  seems  to  them  to  be 
entirely  in  harmony  with  that  object  that  the  Bible  should  be  given 
to  the  people-,  in  as  pure  and  unadulterated  a  form  as  it  can  be 
presented.  1  have  always  been  a  believer  in  what  is  called  Gaelic 
teaching,  nor  for  any  sentimental  reasons,  but  in  the  interest  of 
English  education  itself.  I  cannot  conceive  how  a  teacher  can 
give  an  English  education  intelligently  who  cannot  avail  himself 
of  the  vernacular  for  the  purposes  of  explanation  and  enforcement, 
and  surely  it  is  reasonable  and  proper  that  Gaelic-speaking  children 


Annual  Dinner.  55 

should  at  least  be  taught  to  read  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue. 
There  is  much  room  for  improvement  in  connection  with  the  whole 
subject  of  the  training  of  Gaelic-speaking  teachers,  whose  way  into 
the  Training  College  is  at  present  practically  closed.  But  I  can- 
not detain  you  longer.  I  have  great  "pleasure  in  connecting  the 
toast  with  the  name  of  a  gentleman  who  is  a  most  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  Highland  education,  as  well  as  an  honoured  and  useful 
member  of  your  Society,  Mr  Macbain. 

Mr  iVlacbain,  in  the  course  of  a  short  reply,  said  he  had  spoken 
to  the  toast  so  often  in  former  years  that  he  did  not  propose  to 
inflict  on  them  a  speech  that  night  upon  the  subject.  With  regard 
to  Highland  education.  Mr  Macleod,  inspector  of  schools,  would 
agree  with  him  in  saying  they  were  doing  extremely  well  in  the 
North.  The  only  difficulty  they  had  to  encounter  was  a  financial 
one.  As  to  the  teaching  of  the  Gaelic  language,  he  was  afraid 
the  school  teachers  were  not  qualified  to  do  it.  There  had  been 
too  great  an  importation  of  teachers  from  the  South,  and,  besides, 
good  Gaelic  teachers  generally  found  their  way  to  the  South,  where, 
finding  themselves  more1  comfortable,  they  of  course  elected  to  stop. 
He  trusted  that,  notwithstanding  these  drawbacks,  the  cause  of 
Highland  education  would  continue  to  ilourish. 

.Bailie  Mackenzie  said  the  toast  lie  had  the  honour  to  propose 
was  the  Agricultural  and  Commercial  [ntcrcsts  of  the  "Northern 
Counties.  It  was  an  important  toast,  embracing  the  welfare  and 
well-being  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole  Highlands  and  Isles, 
and  deserved  more  than  a  passing  remark.  He  thought  lie  was 
justified  in  saying  that  agricultural  and  pastoral  pursuits  had  not 
looked  so  encouraging  for  some  time  as  they  did  at  present. 
Arabic  farmers  had  come  through  years  of  deep  depression  ;  but 
the  cloud  had  now  passed,  and  a  wave  of  prosperity  was  moving 
along,  and  would,  lie  hoped,  continue  for  many  years  to  come. 
There  was  no  doubt  that  proprietors  saw  the  wisdom,  as  well  as 
the  necessity,  of  making  substantial  reductions  of  rent,  and  of 
meeting  their  tenants  in  a  generous  manner,  which  was  a  truo 
indication  on  their  part  of  a  wish  that  their  tenants  should  prosper, 
and  that  their  interests  were  mutual  He  was  sure  no  other 
country  could  produce  such  a  body  of  intelligent,  hard-working 
men,  as  northern  agricultural  i'arme;s  were.  Pastoral  farmers  and 
farmers  changing  holdings  had  received  similar,  if  not  larger, 
reductions  in  rents,  but  there  were  still  many  large  sheep  runs  in 
the  hands  of  several  proprietors,  which  it  would  be  desirable  to  see 
let  to  practical  tenants.  Th<-  Uoval  Commission,  appointed  by 
Her  Majesty's  Government,  to  enquire  as  to  the  condition  of  the 


56  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

crofter  and  cottar  in  the  Highlands,  had  been  doing  good  service 
by  placing  this  large,  loyal  section  of  our  fellow-countrymen  in 
more  hopeful  circumstances,  so  that  all  who  live  from  the  products 
of  the  land  may  do  so  in  comfort  The  commercial  interests  in  our 
northern  provincial  towns  depended,  to  a  large  extent,  on  the 
agricultural  prosperity  of  the  country.  For  many  years  the  tide 
was  entirely  against  the  commercial  trade,  in  consequence  of  the 
agricultural  depression  referred  to,  and  it  will  take  several  years 
to  rebuild  and  restore  it  to  its  normal  condition.  Indeed,  it  was  a 
grave  question  if  the  present  generation  will  see  such  good  times 
in  the  north  again.  There  were  several  reasons  besides  agricultural 
depression  why  commercial  interests  were  crippled.  There  was 
ke-Ji  competition  in  every  branch  of  trade,  and  a  limited  field  of 
operation  ;  their  home  industry  and  local  enterprise  were  not 
sufficiently  encouraged  by  landlords  and  independent  residents. 
Money  was  invested  in  public  com] sanies  and  foreign  ventures 
(which  looked  well  only  on  paper),  and  was  thus  drawn  away  from 
the  north,  whereas  it  could  be  safely  applied  in  various  ways  so  as 
to  develop  home  resources,  such  as  the  purchasing  an, I  improving 
of  land  or  other  industries. 

Mr  A.  F.  Steele,  banker,  said,  in  reply  to  the  toast,  that  situated 
as  the  town  of  Inverness  was,  thrown  out  of  the  field  of 
industrial  or  other  productive  enterprises,  they  could  not 
look  forward  to  any  great  development  or  expansion  in 
thai  direction,  and  consequently  must  look  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  country  districts,  and  that  rested  very  largely 
with  the  agriculturists.  It  was  gratifying  to  know  that 
the  Government  has  had  its  attention  fixed  in  this  direction,  and 
that  very  substantial  aid  was  to  be  given  in  that  way.  For  him- 
self, he  felt  perfectly  satisfied  that  though,  as  purely  commercial 
speculations  for  shareholders,  local  railways  in  the  Highlands 
might  not  yield  immediate  dividends,  they  would  tend  very  much, 
and  speedily,  to  develop  the  country  in  the  way  of  population,  and 
the  extension  of  trade  throughout  these  important  counties.  Our 
own  local  company  was  doing  well  in  that  direction  at  present  ; 
and  they  would  all  be  pleased  to  see  the  Government  putting  its 
hands  in'o  its  pocket,  and  laying  down  railways,  as  the  best 
means  of  increasing  facilities  of  communication  in  the  Highlands, 
which  meant  a  greater  degree  of  prosperity  for  the  Highland 
people.  Inverness  was  the  main  depot  for  the  distribution  of  pro- 
ducts throughout  the  northern  counties,  and  when  the  proposed 
railways  were  opened  the  commercial  interests  of  Inverness  would 


Annual  Dinner.  57 

be  extended  in  an  important  way.  He  was  gratified  to  observe 
tha/t  within  the  last  three  years  the  manufactures  of  Inverness 
had  extended.  He  particularised  the  extension  of  the  tweed 
industry,  and  thought  more  might  still  be  done  in  this  direction. 

Mr  Huntly  Macdonald,  fanner,  Charleston,  briefly  replied  for 
the  agricultural  interest. 

Mr  If.  V.  Maccallum,  in  proposing  the  toast  of  "Success  to 
Kindred  Societies,"  said  that  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of 
those  present  were  members  of  the  Cache  Society  shewed  that  they 
believed  that,  as  members  of  that  Society,  they  enjoyed  certain 
privileges,  and  although  he  spoke  as  a  young  man,  he  was  old 
enough  to  realise  tint  any  societv  that  lifted  its  members  for  a 
fewr  hours  in  the  week  out  of  the  routine  of  their  daily  duties,  and 
away  from  the  rush  of  life,  which  was  so  characteristic  of  this 
century,  conferred  a  great  privilege  upon  its  members.  The 
members  of  this  Societv  would,  therefore,  be  indeed  selfish  if  they 
did  not  wish  all  success  to  kindred  societies,  let  those  societies  have 
for  their  object  the  pursuit  either  of  literature,  science,  or  art. 

Mr  Barron,  in  responding  to  the  toast,  spoke  of  the  importance 
of  the  work  done  by  the  Gaelic  Societv,  Field  Club,  and  kindred 
societies,  and  said  that  in  the  light  of  these  labours  he  had  been 
struck  with  the  necessity  for  a  new  history  of  the  Highlands  being 
written,  shewing,  in  particular,  the  relation  in  which  the  High- 
lands had  stood  to  the  rest  of  the  country.  The  Clan  Histories  by 
Mr  Mackenzie  were  valuable  from  a  genealogical  point  of  view,  and 
of  course  Skene  was  an  unrivalled  authoritv  for  the  period  which 
he  embraced  under  the  title  of  Cdtir  Scofhnt'l.  \\\\\  the  High- 
lands for  a  long  time  continued  to  bo  jealous  of  the  central 
authority,  and  there  were  movements  and  uprisings  which  received 
very  indifferent  treatment  from  ordinary  historians.  It  was  only 
when  the  relations  of  the  Highlands  and  Lowlands  were;  better 
understood  that  they  could  have  a  proper  history  of  Scotland. 

Councillor  (  Minn  proposed  the  toast  of  t  he  non-resident  members, 
which  was  responded  to  by  Mr  .Ihieas  Mackintosh,  The  1  )oune. 
The  other  toasts  were  the  Provost,  Magistrates,  and  Town  Council, 
by  Mi-James  A.  Cossip  ;  the  Clergy,  by  Mr  C.  .1.  Campbell;  the 
Press,  by  Mr  .John  Mackintosh;  the' Chairman,  by  Mr  K.  H.  Mac- 
millan  ;  and  the  Croupiers,  by  Mi-  James  Kos-;.  Caelie  and 
English  songs  were  given  by  various  gentlemen,  and  the  Society's 
piper,  Pipe-Major  Konald  Mackcii/k*,  Seaforth  Highlanders,  played 
selections  of  pipe  music  at  intervals  during  the  evening. 


58  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


21st  JANUARY,  1891. 

The  meeting  this  evening  was  devoted  to  the  Nomination  of 
Oftice-be:irers  for  1891, 


28th  JANUARY,  1801. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Society  the  Office-bearers  for  the  year 
were  duly  electee!  The  following  gentlemen  were  elected 
members  or  the  Society,  viz  : — William  Gillies,  16  Mountgrove 
Road,  .Highbury,  London,  W.  ;  I)r  George  G.  Macdonald,  Inver- 
ness ;  Dr  IMacdonald,  Stratherrick  ;  and  Councillor  Donald 
Macdonald,  Inverness. 


4th  FEBRUARY,  1801. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Society  on  this  date  the  following 
irenth'men  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  vk.  : — Honorary 
.Member-— Mr  W.  J.  Bell,  LL.'i).,  of  Scatwcll  ;  Ordinary  Members- 
Mr  Robert  Maegiilivray,  20  Madras  Street  ;  Mr  Hugh  Macdonald, 
L}0  Chapel  Street,  Inverness;  Rev.  Colin  C.  Mackenzie,  Free 
Church  Manse.  Fasnakylo  ;  and  Mr  Hugh  Muuro,  Ladypool  Lane, 
Birmingham.  Thereafter  the  Secretary  read  a  western  island 
Gaelic  rale,  contributed  by  the  Rev.  John  Campbell,  Tiree, 
entitled,  '£>S''/o//  n"n  <-un,  r/o.  -mac  <>n  F/iucfrrfah',"  with  an  English 
translation.  Mr  < 'amphcll's  paper  was  as  follows  : — 

SCO! I,  XAX   EUX,   XO,   MAC  AX  FHUCADAIR. 

!)uhi'.'  beairteach  a  bh' ami  's  se  am  Fucadair  a  theireadh  iad 
ris.  "S  e  aona  mhac  a  bh'  aige.  A  cheud  seachd  bliadhna  de  aois 
cha  I'oi)!)  am  mac  ri  inoran  sam  bitii  do  mhath  na  cron,  ach  a 
caitheadli  na  h-tiine  mar  a  thoilichcadh  e  fhein  ;  ga  chluich  fiicin 
a  mach  's  a  stigh  le  toil-inntinn  ;  's  a  gabhail  a  bhcidh  ;  's  a  fas 
mor  agus  fallain.  An  ath  sheachd  bliadhna  cha  d'  rinn  e  {ion  char 
ach  's  an  sgoil  ;  's  an  uair  a  bha  a  chuid  sgoil  thairis  cha  rol)h 
sgoilear  ;s  an  aite  cho  math  ris. 

ChuaP  atliivir  gu  '11  robh  fear  aim  a  bha  !tg  iounsachadh  sgoil 
nan  eun  do  dhaoine,  ;s  dlr  farraid  c  de  'nihac  am  biodh  e  toileach  a 


Sgoil  nan  eun,  no,  mac  an  Fhucadair.  59 

dhol  do  'n  sgoil  aige.  Thuirt  am  mac  gu  'm  b'  e  sid  an  sgoil  anus 
am  b'fhearr  ]eis  a  dhol  dhe  na  h-uile.  Dh'  fhalbh  c  fhein  's  athair 
comhla,  's  blia  astar  j'ad  aca  ri  dhol.  'Xuair  a  rainig  iad  am 
maighstir-sgoil  (-ha  ghabliadh  e  sgoilcar  sain  bith  nach  fhanadh 
seachd  bliadhn'  aige.  Acii  chord  iad,  agus  dh'  fhuirich  an  t-oigear 
's  an  sgoil.  Thaobh  's  gu  'n  robh  an  t-astar  fada,  cha  robh  am 
Fueadair  a  tighinn  a  dh5  fhaicinn  a  rahic  ach  an  ceaiin  na  h-uile 
bliadlma.  An  ceami  sia  bliadhn;i  chaidli  e  latlia  'dh'  fhaiciim  a 
mhic,  air  nach  robh  a  nis'  ach  bliadhn'  eilc  's  an  sgoil.  Dh'fharraid 
c  'iiuair  so  do  'n  ruhaighstir-sgoil  eiamar  a  bha  ''mhac  a  tighimi  air 
aghaidh  na  ionnsachad!:.  'riniirt  am  maighstir-sgoil  gu'ii  robh  c  'in 
bcachd,  gu'ii  robh  c  ciio  math  ris  fhein  a  nisc  ;  ach  gu'm  feumadh 
o  bliadhn'  eiie  "thoirt  a  macli.  Air  an  lat.h;i  so,  'nuair  a  bha  am 
Fucadair  a  tillcadh,  chaidh  a  mhac  u'reis  do  :n  rath.ad  leis,  agus 
thubhairt  e  ris  's  an  dcalachadli—  u  Bliadhna  bho  'n  diugli  thigibh 
ga  m:  iarraidii  air  i'ad.  Bithidh  am  maighstir-sgoil  a  g'  iarraidh 
oirbh  in'  fhagail  aige  fhcin,  ach.  tlioir  sibli.sc  ris  nach  Vil  agaibh 
do  cliuideachd  ach  niise,  's  gu  dca.rbli  nach  f'hag  sibh  mi. 
Tairgidh  o 'n  sin  dhinbh  drobli  do  na  h-oich  aigo,  's  Isnaiic  dmiidh, 
ach  tlieir  sibhso  ris  gin1  c  da;»ino  's  ^'ainne  dhuibh-sa  ;  gu  l)bc^l  gu 
leor  do  'n  t-seorsa  sin  agaibh  fhcin  :  "s  mar  chi  si]>h  gu'm  bi  (-sail 
ag  iarraidh  mis'  f'hagaii  aigc,  bheir  sibh  an  aiiv  dha  caiman  ruadli 
aims  an  uinncag,  agus  bhcir  sibh  k'i'ol'.  c,  a  ra.dh;i  ris  n  mhaighstir- 
soil  gii'm  l)i  c  agaibh  mar  cimimhncachan  aii-  'ur  mac.  Ma  bhcir 
sibhsc  lcil)h  an  caiman  bhhidh  misc  stiu'li  roimliibh." 

An  ccann  nan  scachd  bliadlma  dli'  fhalbh  am  Fucadair  a 
dh' iarraidh  a  mhic.  Thuirt.  am  inaighstir-sgcil  ris — !£  :S  i'hcarr 
dhuits'  an  gill'  i'hagaii  again  fhcin.''  Fhrcagair  c  naah  robh  aig' 
ach  c  fhcin.  's  nacli  fhagadh  c  gu  doarbli  c.  Thairg  am  maiglist.il1- 
sgoil  an  sin  dha  drobh  each  ag'.is  ))iiaiic  ciiruidii.  Thuirt  am 
Fucadair  gu'm  b' c  daoine  fhcin  bu  ghaiiine  dhasan  n;i'n  ;-;cors'  ud  ; 
"  .Vcli,"  ors'  cisc,  "  bho  'n  tha  sibh  a  dcanamh  na  h-uircad  au'son  a 
ghillc,  bhcir  misc  Icam  an  caiman  so  mar  chuimlmcachan  air." 
Cha  dubliairt  am  maighstir-sgoil  ris,  "Thou-  leaf  c  na  fag  c,:' 's 
dh'  fhalbh  am  Fuca.;!air  dhachaidh,  'V;  'nua.ir  a  rainig  c  'n  tigh 
bha  a  mhac  a  stigli  roimli'.  Clia  d'rimi  c  i'licin  's  a  mliac  car  an 
latha  sin  ach  a  sraid-imcachd  fcadli  an  fhcaraiim. 

.Bha  iad  mar  sin  gu  ccann  latha  's  bliadlma.  Air  maduinn  is 
iad  a  tillcadh  dhachaidh.  thuirt  a  mhac  ris  an  Fhucadair,  "  A  bhcil 
e  bhur  bca.clid  a  dhol  a  dh'  fhaiciim  an  ioghnaidii  tha  gu  bhi  aig 
mor-mhaithibh  na  dnthcha  ?"  "  DC  'n  t-ioghnadh  ;i  tha  dot  a  bhi 
aca  f  orsa 'm  Fucadair.  "  rl  na.  orsa  mhac,  "  cath  shcobhagan." 
"  Cha  'n  'cil,"  ors'  cisc,  "scobhag  agams'  aim."  -'  Thoirigibh  ga 
fhaiciim,  co-dliiu,"  orsa  'mhac. 


60  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Ghabh  am  Fucadair  a  stigh,  's  rinn  e  e-fhein  cho  glaii  's  cho 
deas  's  a  rinn  e  riamh  ;  's  'nuair  thainig  e  'mach  bha  seobhag  cho 
briagha,  's  a  ciiunnaic  e  aig  a  mhac  dha  aig  a  gheata.  "Ma 
reiceas  sibh,"  orsa  mhac,  "  an  seobhag  na  reicibh  a  chloga;d  a 
th'  air  a  cheann,  air  neo  cha  bhi  mise  stigh  roimhibh."  A  mach  a 
ghabh  am  Fucadair,  's  bha  'n  cath  air  aghaidh  'nuair  'rainig  e. 
Bha  iongantas  uamhasach  air  a  h  uile  duine  c'ait  an  d'  fhuair  am 
Fucadair  an  seobhag  briagh  'bh'aigc.  Dh'  iarr  iad  air  an  seobhag 
inor  ud  a  leigeil  as.  'Nuair  a  leig  c  as  an  seobhag  cha  robh  gin  do 
chach  air  am  buaiVadh  e  'speach  a  bha  '11  comas  a  chorr  feum  a 
dheanamh.  Dh'iarr  iad  an  so  air  an  Fhucadair  an  seobhag  mor  a 
ehasgadh,  "s  thuirt  esan,  "  C'airson,  mata,  a  dh'  iarr  sibh  a  leigeal 
as  T  "  Caisg  e,"  ors'  iadsan,  " 's  an  duais  agad  ri  fhaighinii." 
"  DC  an  duais  a  th' aim  ?"  ors'  am  Fucadair.  "Tha,"  orsa  fear  an 
sin,  "Ian  ud  do  dh"  or,  agus  Ian  ud  do  dh'  airgiod."  Fhuair  am 
Fucadair  sid  "s  charaich  e  aim  am  pot:'  e  :  's  an  ceann  tacain 
thainig  fear  (duin'-uasal)  eile  far  an  robh  am  Fucadair,  's  dh' 
fharniid  c  dheth  an  reiceadh  e  'n  seobhag.  Thuirt  e  ris  nach 
reic'"adh.  'Thuirt  am  fear  eile  na'n  reiceatlh  gu'n  d'thugadh  c  dha 
Ian  ud  do  dh'  or  's  Ian  ud  do  dh'  airgiod.  Reie  am  Fucadair  an 
seobhag,  's  an  uair  a  bha  e  ga  shineadh  seachad  spion  e  a'  chlogaid 
a  bha  mu  'cheann  detli.  "  Thoir  dhomh,"  ors'  'in  fear  a  cheannach 
an  "•eobhag.  "a  chlogaid."  "(red  a  ivic  mi  an  seobhag,  cha  do  reic 
mi  a  chlogaid,"  ors"  esan.  Ghabh  e  dhachaldh  an  latha  sin,  's 
'nir.ir  a  rainig'  e  an  tigh  bha  'mha.c  a  stigh  roimh'.  "  Ciamar  a 
chaidh  diiuibh  an  diugh?"  orsa  mhac  ris.  "Cha  dcachaidh 
riamh  cho  math  learn  's  a  chaidh  'n  diugh,"  ors'  am  Fucadair. 
Chaidh  iad  an  sin  air  sraid-imcachd  mav  a  blia  iad  roimhe. 

An  ceann  latha  's  bliadhna,  thuirt  a  mhac  1'is  an  Fhucadair  an 
robh  e  do!  a  rithisd  a  dh'  fhaicinn  an  ioghnaidh  bha  gu  blri  aig 
inaithibh  an  aite,  's  dh' fharraid  am  Fucadair  gu  de  an  t-ioghnadh 
a  bha  gu  bhi  ac'  an  drasd,  's  thuirt  a  mhac  gun  robh  sabaid  chon. 
"  Ccd  is  iomadh  cu  a  th' agamsa  tha  mi  cinnteach  nach  'eil  a  h-aon 
again  a  fhreagaras  an  sin,"  ors'  am  Fucadair.  Thuirt  a  mhac  ris 
givm  b"  fhearr  tlhasan  a  dhol  air  aghuidh,  co-dhiu.  Ghabh  am 
Fucadair  a  stigh  's  nigh  is  ghlan  e  e-fhein  mar  nach  tl'rinn  e  riamh 
roimhe  ;  s  'nuair  a  thainig  e  'mach,  bha  cu  cho  briagha  's  a 
chunnaic  e  riamh  aig  a  mhac  dha  aig  a  gheata.  Thuirt  a  mhac 
ris,  "  Xis  ma  reiceas  sibh  an  cu  na  reicibh  an  con-iall,  no  ma 
reiceas  cha  bhi  mise  'stigh  roimhibh." 

'Mach  a  ghabh  am  Fucadair  's  'nuair  a  rainig  e  bha  'm  baiteal 
air  aghaidh  Bha  iongantas  air  a  h-uile  duine  c'ait'  an  d'  fhuair 
am  Fucadair  an  cu  mor  a  hh'  aiire.  Dh'  iarr  iad  air  a  leigeal  as  ; 


Sgoil  nan  eun,  no,  mac  an  Fhucadair.  61 

;s  an  uair  a  leig  am  Fucadair  as  an  cu  mor,  cha  robh  cu  a  leigeadh 
esan  as  a  bha  'n  comas  an  corr  feum  a  dheanamh.  "Caisg  do  chu," 
ors'  iadsan.  "(Tairson  a  dh'  iarr  sibh  orm  a  leigeil  as,  mataT  ors' 
am  Fucadair.  "Caisg  do  elm,"  ors'  iadsan,  "tha  'n  duals  agad;" 
's  b'  e  Ian  ud  do  dli'  or,  is  Ian  ud  do  dh'airgiod  an  duals.  '.Nuair 
fhuair  e  '11  duals  cliuir  e  sid  seacbad,  's  thainig  aon  do  na  daoine 
mora  a  clieaimacb  a  clioin  uaithc.  Dh'  fliarraid  c  an  rciceadh  c  'n 
cu,  's  tbuirt  am  Fucadair  nacb  reiccadb.  "  lleie  e,"  ors'  am  i'ear, 
"is  gbcabb  tbu  Ian  ud  do  dh'or  's  Ian  ud  do  dh'airgiod  air  a 
shon."  'Xuair  'thug  am  Fucadair  seacbad  an  cu  spiol  e  dhetli  an 
iall.  "  Thoir  dbomli  fbein  a  choin-iall,"  ors'  am  fear.  "  Gcd 
a  rcic  mi  an  cu  cba  do  reic  mi  a  iall,"  ors'  esan.  "  DC,"  ors' 
an  duiii'-uasal,  "  na  daoine  cruaidh-chridheach  ga'm  bnin  tbu,  no 
'o 'n  d'tbainig  tbu,  'nuair  nach 'eil  tbu  airson  dealacbadb  ri  ni 
sani  bitb  ?"  "  (Iheibb  tlm  flos  air  sin,"  ors'  am  Fucadair;  "  's 
mise  mac  do  Cboinneacb  Reubalach,  's  ogba  do  'mhac  (*Kmiag  na 
Mias."  rriiill  am  Fucadair  dhachaidh,  's  bba  a  mbac  a  stigh 
roimb'.  Dlr  fbarraid  a  mbac  ciamar  a  cbaidii  dba  an  diugh.  Tbuirt 
am  Fucadair  nacb  deacbaidb  riamb  na  b'  fbearr. 

An  atb  bbliadbna  'ritliisd  bba  reis  each  gu  bill  aca,  's  db' 
fbarraid  a  mbac  do  ;n  Fhucadair  an  robh  e  m  bratli  a  dbol  gu  reis 
nan  each.  rriiuirt  e  ged  blia  gu  leor  do  db'  eicb  aigcsan,  nacli 
robb  a  b-aon  din  a  t'brcagarradb  an  sid.  Thuirt  a  mbac  ris  gu'm 
b' fbearr  dba  'dbol  ami  co-dbiu.  A  stigh  ghabh  am  Fucadair 's 
chnir  e  c-i'bcin  air  doigb,  's  a  'nuaii1  a  tbaiuig  e  a  maeb,  bba  stend 
cbo  briagba.  "s  a  cbuiinaic  e  riamb  aig  a  mbac  agus  srian  airgiod 
ami.  Thuirt  a  mbac  vis  'nuair  bba  e  'l'albb.  '"Xis  ma  reiccas 
sibb  an  steud  na  ivicibh  an  t-srian.  Ma  reiccas  sibb  an  t-srian 
cba  bbi  mise  roimbibb."  Db'  i'balbb  am  Fucadair,  's  bba  a  cbluicb 
air  ;i  b-aghaidb  aig  na  daoine  'nnair  a  rainig  e  ;  "s  db'  iarr  lad  air 
an  steud  aigesan  a  cbur  air  nghaidb  'iris.  liinn  c  sin  's  far 
am  b'  isle  do  cb;ich  ;s  ami  a  b'auxlo  do 'n  Fbucadair,  '&  cba 
chumadb  iad  sealladb  air.  Fhuair  am  l.^ucadair  an  duais,  "s 
cbo  matb  ris  a  ebon',  Ian  ud  do  db'  or  is  Ian  ud  do  db'  airgiod  ; 
agus  tbainig  duin'-unsal  ''s  tbairg  e  dba.  a  cheart  ni  a.ii'son 
an  steud.  I! CMC  e  c,  ;s  an  uair  a  bba  e  I'ui-hinn  an  oir  tbuit  c  air 
's  cliaidb  a  sganadb  :  au'us,  mar  is  dual  do  bbuaras  an  oir,  bha  e 
cbo  (Lian  ga  tbriusadb  "s  giin  do  dlii-chuimbnicb  e  niu  'n  t-sriau,  ;s 
leig  e  as  i  ;  's  air  i'albb  gbabb  an  duin'-uasal  's  an  steud  ;  "s  nuair 
a  tbill  esan  dacbaidb  cba  robb  a  mbac  ;i  stigli  roimb'. 

'Xuair  a  raiiiiu  an  duin'  uasal  dbaciiaidb  chcangail  e  'n  steud 
ris  an  nrsainn,  's  tbaiuig  caileau'  bheag  I'uadii  a  db'  ioimsuidh 
an  doruis,  au'us  tbuirt  an  steud  ritbe  i  ga  tboirt  sios  tliuu  au 


62  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

t-srutliain  a  dh'  61  dibhe.  Thnirt  ise  nach  robh  math  dhi  's 
gu  marbhadh  a  h-athair  i.  Dh'  iarr  an  steud  a  rithisd  oirre 
'thoirt  feios  ;  's  thug  i  sios  c  air  an  t-srian  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  an 
t-sruthain.  Dh'  iarr  e  'n  sin  an  t-srian  a  thoirt  as  a  bheul,  air  neo 
nach  b'urrainn  dim  deoch  61.  Oha  deanadh  i  so  idir,  ach  dh' 
fhuusgail  i  'n  ceangal.  Ach  fhuair  an  steud  a  eheann  as,  agus 
'miair  a  thuit  an  t-srian,  Icuni  e  na  Mhanaeh  bcag,  's  dh'  fhalbh 
e  i'cadh  an  loin.  An  sud  a  mach  ghabh  da  dhobhar-chu  dheug 
an  deigh  ;i  Alhanaich  's  dh'  fhairtlaicli  orra  brcith  air.  Fhuair  am. 
Manacli  o  fheiii  a  thiormachadh  air  cloich  anus  an  Ion,  's  leum  e 
na  sheobhag  do  na  spouran  :  fan  sud  a  niach  da  sheobhag 
dhoug  ;is  a  (Iheigh.  :S  cha  d;  rug  iad  air.  Cam  gach 
rat!  i  ad  do  '"n  t-seobhag  ach  a  dol  os  cionn  tigli  an  rigli ;  's 
bh;:  ioiigantas  fuasach  air  a  h-uil'  aon  riamli  a  dha  dheug  do 
sheobhagan  a  blii  a  ruith  na  h-aoin. 

!>ha     nighean    ;in    righ   's   a    ecann   a  mach    air   an  uinncag. 

Lcum   ;in    scobhag  mor  a  bh' air  an  toiscach  na  fhahm'    oir    nm 

rnheadhoin  meur  nighean  an   righ,  :s  an  sud  na  seobhaig  cile  na'ii 

cruitcaraii     ciuil     mu     thiomehioll    tigli    an    rigli.       A     nuair    a 

chaidh    nighean   an    rigli    a    Liidho    am    oidhehe  dli'  innis  osan 

diii   a   li-uilc  car   mar   him.       (.'ha    ghabhadh    na    eruitearaii  ciuil 

ach    am    Faimi' oir  a   l;ha  mu  miieur  nighean  an  righ. 

Suas  ghabh  an  righ   a  dh'  iarraidh  ar  fhaimi'  air  an  nighimi.      An 

lath'-r'-na-niiiaireach  cha  i-obh  i-^u  toileach  aiji  i'ainc  thoirt   seachad 

's  tliilg  i  's  an  tcin  c.      An   sud  na  cruitearan  ciuil  na  'n  da  bholg 

dheug    a,   sheideadh   an   tcine   's  bha  na  h  cilcagan  a  leum    ris  na 

in.      Mu  dhcireadh   bha   am   i'aiimo  dol  an  cuil  chumliang  's 

e  air  gu  scilcir  braiclic1  :))lir  aig  an  rigli.      Dh  "fhas  e  'n  sin  na 

•  •in   braiche.      'X  sud   iadsan  nan  da  clioileach  dlicug,  sios  as 

v  diK'igii  ;i  d;i'  itlie'  na  braiche,  agn.s  dh'  ith    iad  an  leoi1  di  ;  agus 

mar  a  'Hi'  ills  chodail  iad.     'Xuair  a.  clumnaic  esan  gun  do  chodail 

iad  cliuh'  e    car   an    amhuich  an    da  clioileach  dheug,    's   mliarbh  c 

i  id,    's    chaidh    an    tilgeil    a    mach    as  an    tigii.        B"    e    a    cheud 

leaclid  a  I'liuair  am  j^ucadair  air  a  mliac  gun  robh  c  i'liein  's 

nigliean    an    righ    a    dol    a    phosaclh    agu; 

lau  thoilichto  riamli  an  dcii'h  sin. 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  IJIilDS,  Oil,  THJ-:  FULLER'S  SOX. 

A  WESTKRX  ISLAND  TALE. 

This  story  is  of  interest  as  shewing,  more  than  is  ordinarily  the 
case,  an  Eastern  origin.  The  word  Fiifadar,  as  translated  in 
dictionaries,  means  a  Fuller,  but  unless  such  was  the  case  in 


Sgoil  nan  eun,  no,  mac  an  Fhucadair.  63 

former  times,  it  does  not  indicate  a  wealthy  man,  as  was  the  case 
with  the  person  denoted  by  the  name  in  this  tale.  It  rather  points 
to  a  man  well  to  do  in  life.  The  reciter  of  the  story,  when  asked 
what  he  understood  to  be  the  meaning-  of  the  word  Fucadar,  and 
told  the  meaning"  to  be  found  in  dictionaries,  said  that  the  word 
might  mean  a  fuller  of  cloth,  but  that  he  understood  that  it  meant 
here  a  pushing  person,  nsfuca  is  commonly  used  to  denote  a  person 
pushing  his  way  through  a  crowd  or  against  difficulties,  and 
through  obstacles.  Fullers,  dvers,  and  others  whose  occupations 
are  about  cloth-making,  are  not  now  so  highly  esteemed,  but  in 
remoter  ages  every  trade  connected  with  cloth,  from  dyeing  the 
thread  till  the  garment  is  ready  for  wear,  cannot  but  have  occupied 
an  honourable  place.  They  required  knowledge  and  skill  and  con- 
tinuous attention,  and,  when  the  secret  of  the  work  was  not 
commonly  known,  must  have  been  looked  upon  as  wonderful. 

The  number  of  years  devoted  by  his  son  to  each  branch  of 
education  is  worthy  of  particular  attention.  The  iirst  seven  years 
were  allowed  without  any  task,  that  of  growing  and  physically 
developing  being  deemed  a  suilicicnt  task  for  a  child.  At  seven 
he  is  sent  to  school,  and  kept  there  for  another  seven  years,  when 
lie  becomes  fitted  to  studv  the  mvstcrics  of  nature  or  the  School  of 
Birds  (^<jtit!  nan  -in.nj,  in  other  words,  instead  of  being  r-ent  to 
learn  Ins  alphabet  at  an  earlv  au'o,  the  first  seven  years  arc  allowed 
in  idleness,  to  bo  spent  in  the  development  of  the  child's  growth 
and  making  him  strong  in  thews  ami  sinews.  During  that  time 
he  acquires  much  knowledge,  and  thus  is  a  particularly  good  listener 
to  all  kinds  of  tales  and  stories.  Mentally,  h'j  cannot  but  become 
observant  of  muea  and  learn  much,  all  of  greater  value  because 
none  of  thorn  were  set  before  him  as  a  task.  in  early  life  the 
mind  is  peculiarly  receptive  of  lessons  which  may  prove  useful  in 
later  life,  and  without  effort  assimilates  what  may  prove  invaluable. 
The  appetite  for  stories  is  insatiable,  and,  though  the  incidents  of 
a  story  may  in  a  few  months  or  even  da \  s  drop  out  of  memory, 
the  lessons  which  they  teach  are  abiding.  When  ail  the  branches 
of  an  ordinary  good  education  are  gone  through,  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  from  the  first  to  the  sixth  standard,  the  youth  becomes 
iii:ted  for  a  higher  education,  and  even  to  enter  on  the  study  of 
occult  science,  such  as  metamorphosis,  metampyychosis.  tvc.  On 
every  hand  there  is  a,  mystery  in  nature,  and  birds  and  the  lower 
animals  seem  to  have  a  language  of  their  own  which  guides  their 
cries  and  makes  them  understood  by  one  another,  u  Kveii  geese 
understand  one  another "  (linf/i'mllt  i>«  <j«>!<!k  <i  cheile).  V.'hat 
is  called  truth  recognises  onlv  exact  sciences,  such  as  chemistry, 


64  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

mental  philosophy,  humanities,  etc.,  but  in  the  East  sleight  of 
hand,  necromancy,  witchcraft,  and  the  various  delusions  of  sorcery 
occupy  a  much  more  prominent  place,  and  are  more  believed  in. 
Such  tales,  therefore,  as  the  School  of  Birds  find  a  ready  credence 
in  Eastern  countries  and,  in  their  very  nature,  are  more  like 
Eastern  growth  than  anything  belonging  to  the  matter  of  fact  West. 
The  stoi'v,  heard  principal!}'  from  John  Brown,  is  as  follows  : — 

There  was  a  rich  man  who  was  known  as  the  Fucadar  or 
Fuller.  He  had  but  one  son,  who  during  the  first  seven  years  of 
his  life  was  not  doing  very  much  good  or  harm,  but  spending  the 
time  as  it  pleased,  him  to  be  playing  out  and  in,  enjoying  life, 
taking  his  food,  and  growing  big  and  healthy.  During  the  next 
seven  years  he  did  nothing  but  in  school.  AVhen  he  was 
finished  with  his  schooling,  there  was  no  better  scholar  in  the 
place.  His  father  then  heard  that  there  was  one  who  could  teach 
people  the1  School  of  Birds,  and  he  asked  his  son  if  he  would  be 
willing  to  go  to  bo  taught  by  this  man.  His  son  said  that  that 
was  the  school  he  would  best  like  to  go  to  of  any.  He  and  his 
father  wert  away  together.  They  had  a  long  way  to  go,  and  when 
they  reached  the  schoolmaster,  he  would  not  take  any  one  for  a  less 
time  than  seven  years.  They  agreed  with  the  schoolmaster  about 
keeping  him.  As  the  distance  was  long,  the  F uvular  was  only 
able  to  conic  to  sec  his  son  at  the  end  of  every  year.  At  the  end. 
of  the  sixth,  he  went  one  (lav  to  see  him.  His  son  had  now 
but  one  year  to  serve.  This  time  the  Fwadiiv  asked  the  school- 
master iiow  his  son  was  progressing  with  his  learning.  The 
schoolmaster  said  that  he  thought  he  was  as  good  a  scholar  as 
himself  now,  but  that  he  would  have  to  serve  another  year.  'Phis 
day  the  Fw:<ular's  (Fuller's)  son  went  a  part  of  the  way  with  his 
father,  and  he  said  to  him  in  the  parting— "  Come  a  year  from  this 
day  to  take  me  away  altogether.  The  schoolmaster  will  ask  you 
to  leave  me  with  himself,  but  you  will  say  to  him,"  said  he,  ''that 
you  have  no  company  but  myself,  and  for  sure  that  you  will  not 
leave  me.  He  will  then  offer  you  a  drove  of  his  horses  and  a  fold 
of  cattle,  and  you  will  say  to  him  that  men  are  the  scarcest  with 
you,  ami  that  you  have  plenty  of  the  other  sort  yourself ;  and  when 
you  see,''  said  he,  "  that  he  wants  me  to  be  left  with  him,  you  will 
notice  a  red  (ruo'llt.)  dove  in  the  window,  which  you  will  take  with 
you,  and  you  will  say  to  the  master  that  you  will  have  it  as  a 
remembrance  of  me,  and  if  you  take  the  dove,  I  will  be  at  home 
before  yourself.'''1 

At  the  end  of  seven  years  the  Fuller  went  away  for  his  son. 
On  parting,  the  schoolmaster  said  to  him,  "You  better  leave  the 


The  School  of  Birds.  65 

young  man  with  myself."  He  replied  that  he  had  none  but 
himself,  and  that  he  would  not  leave  him.  The  schoolmaster  then 
offered  him  a  drove  of  horses  and  a  fold  of  cattle.  The  Fuller  said 
to  him.  that  men  themselves  were  scarcer  with  him  than  that  sort, 
"  But  since  you  are  pleading  so  much  for  the  young  man,  I  will 
take  this  dove  as  a  keepsake  of  him."  The  schoolmaster  did  not 
say  take  it  or  leave  it.  The  Fuller  went  away  home  ;  and  when 
he  reached,  his  son  was  there  before  him.  They  did  nothing  this 
day  but  walk  about  the  land,  and  were  like  that  for  a  year  and  a 
day.  One  morning  then,  when  they  were  returning  homewards, 
Ins  son  said  to  the  Fuller,  "  Are  you  thinking  of  going  to  see  the 
wonder  that  the  nobility  of  the  country  are  going  to  have  ? " 
"  What  wonder  are  they  going  to  have  1  "  the  Fuller  asked.  "  It 
i>,"  said  his  son,  "  a  hawk  fight." 

"  I  am  not,"  he  said,  "  L  have  no  hawk." 

"  Go  to  see  it,  at  aiiyrate,"  said  the  son.  The  Fuller  went  in 
and  made  himself  as  ready  and  trim  as  he  had  ever  done  iu  his 
life.  When  he  came  out  his  son  had  as  handsome  a  hawk  as  he 
had  ever  seen  for  him  at  the  gate.  "  If  you  sell,"  said  his  son, 
"  the  hawk,  do  not  sell  the  hood  it  has  on  its  head,  or  I  will  not  be- 
at home  before  you." 

Away  went  the  Fuller,  and  the  fight  was  going  on  when  he 
reached.  Every  one  there  wondered  where  he  got  the  fine  hawk 
lie  had,  and  they  asked  him  to  unloose  it.  When  he  did  this,  there 
was  nut  otie  of  the  other  hawks  that  it  struck  its  spur  into  that  was 
of  any  more  use.  They  then  asked  the  Fuller  to  call  off  the  biu1 
hawk,  but  he  said,  "  Whv  then  did  you  ask  it  to  be  let  loose  T' 
"(will  it  off,"  they  said,  "for  you  are  to  get  the  pri/e."  "  What 
pri/e  is  it,"  the  Fuller  said.  "It  is/'  said  one,  "the  full  of  that 
of  gold  and  the  full  of  that  of  silver."  The  Fuller  got  it  and  he  put 
it  in  a  bag.  In  a  short  time  another  came  to  him  and  asked  it'  he 
would  sell  the  hawk.  He  said  he  would  not  sell  it,  but  tlu;  other 
said,  "  If  you  will  sell  it,  you  will  get  the  full  of  that  of  gold  and 
the  full  of  that  of  silver."  On  this,  tnc  Fuller  sold  it  to  him,  and 
when  he  was  handing  it  over  he  pulled  the  hood  olf  its  IK  ad. 
"  Give  me,"  said  the  buyer,  "  the  hood."  "  Though  1  sold  the  hawk 
1  did  not  sell  the  hood,"  he  said.  He  went  away  home  this  day, 
and  when  he  reached,  his  son  was  there  before  him.  "How  did 
vou  get  on  to-day?''  his  son  said  to  him.  "Never  so  weil  as  to- 
day," the  Fuller  said. 

They  were  now  walking  about  together  as  before.  In  a  year 
and  a  day,  his  son  asked  again  of  the  Fuller  if  he  was  this  time 
going  to  see  the  marvel  the  nobles  of  the  country  were  going  to 

5 


66  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

have.  He  asked,  what  marvel  it  was  they  were  going  to  have. 
His  son  said  it  was  a  dog  fight.  "  Though  I  have  plenty  of  dogs, 
I  am  sure  I  have  not  one  that  will  answer  there,"  said  the  Fuller. 
His  son  told  him  he  had  better  go  forward  at  anyrate.  The  Fuller 
went  in,  and  washed  and  dressed  as  he  never  did  before.  When 
he  came  out,  his  son  had  as  fine  a  dog  as  ever  he  saw  in  his  life  at 
the  gate  for  him.  "Now,"  said  his  son,  "if  you  sell  the  dog  do 
not  sell  the  leash,  for  if  you  do,  I  will  not  be  at  home  before  you." 
Out  went  the  Fuller;  and  when  he  reached,  the  fighting  had  com- 
menced. They  were  all  curious  to  know  where  the  Fuller  got  the 
big  dog  he  had,  and  they  asked  him  to  let  it  go  ;  and  when  the 
Fuller  let  it  go,  there  was  no  dog  that  it  let  go  that  was  of  any 
more  use.  "  Call  in  your  dog,  Fuller,"  they  said.  "Why  did  you 
ask  me  to  let  it  go  1 "  said  the  Fuller.  "  Call  your  dog  off,  for  the 
prize  is  yours  ;  "  and  the  prize  was  the  full  of  that  of  gold,  and  the 
full  of  that  of  silver.  When  he  got  the  prize  he  put  it  past.  One 
of  the  great  men  came  then  to  him  to  buy  the  dog.  He 
asked  him  if  he  would  sell  the  dog.  The  Fuller  said  he 
would  not.  "Sell  it,"  said  the  man,  "and  you  will  get 
the  full  of  that  of  gold  and  the  full  of  that  of  silver  for  it." 
When  the  Fuller  gave  the  dog  away,  he  plucked  off  the  leash 
"  Give  the  leash  to  myself,"  said  the  man.  "Though  I  sold  the 
dog  1  did  not  sell  the  leash,"  he  said.  "What,"  said  the  gentle- 
man, "  hard-hearted  people  are  they  that  you  belong  to  or  have 
come  from,  when  you  are  not  willing  to  part  with  anything." 
"You  will  be  told"  that,"  said  the  Fuller.  "I  am  the  son  of 
Kenneth  the  Rebellious,  and  grandson  of  the  son  of  Platterpool."1 

The  Fuller  returned  home,  and  his  son  was  there  before  him. 
His  son  asked  how  he  had  got  on  to-day,  and  the  Fuller  said, 
"  Xever  better." 

Next  year  again  there  was  to  be  a  horse  race,  and  his  son 
asked  the  Fuller  if  he  meant  to  go  to  the  race.  He  replied 
that,  though  ho  had  plenty  of  horses,  he  was  sure  he  had  none 
that  would  suit  there.  His  son  said  to  him  that  he  better  go  at 
anvrate.  In  went  the  Fuller  and  put  himself  in  order,  and  when 
lie  came  out,  his  son  had  as  fine  a  steed  as  ever  was  seen,  and  a 
silver  bridle  on  it.  His  son  said  to  him  when  he  went  away,  "  If 

j  Kenneth  the  Rebel  is  not  mentioned  in  Gaelic  lore  in  any  other  con- 
nection, so  far  as  the  writer  knows.  But  the  "  Son  of  Platter-Pool"  is  well 
known  in  the  Island  of  Tiree  as  a  hobgoblin  or  bugbear  to  frighten  children 
when  they  make  too  much  noise.  He  is  said  to  be  at  the  window,  ready  to 
come  in  and  t->ke  them  away.  His  full  genealogy  is,  the  Son  of  Platterpool, 
from  Grey  worm,  Son  of  Silkworm,  son  of  Caterpillar  (Mac  Glumag  na  Mias, 
«j  Liath  Dhurrag,  V>  Dhurrag-Shiodhe,  o  Bhurrach-Mor). 


The  School  of  Birds.  67 

you  sell  the  horse,  do  not  sell  the  bridle,  or  else  I  will  not  be  at 
home  before  you."  The  Fuller  went,  and  when  he  reached,  the 
men  had  the  play  going  on,  and  they  asked  him  to  put  forward 
his  steed  now.  He  did  so,  and  where  the  others  was  lowest  he 
was  highest,  and  they  could  not  keep  him  in  sight.  He  got  this 
prixc  also,  as  well  as  the  rest,  the  full  of  that  of  gold  and  the  full 
of  that  of  silver,  and  the  gentleman  came  and  offered  him  the 
self-same  thing  for  the  steed.  He  sold  it  then,  but  when  he  was 
getting  the  gold  it  fell  and  was  scattered,  and,  as  belongs  to  the 
greed  of  gold,  lie  was  so  eager  gathering  it  that  he  forgot  about 
the  bridle  and  let  it  go.  Off  went  the  gentleman  with  the  steed, 
and  when  Fuller  returned  home,  his  son  was  not  there  before  him. 
When  the  gentleman  and  the  steed  arrived  at  home,  he  tied 
the  steed  to  the  door-post.  A  little  red  haired  girl  came  to  the 
door,  and  the  steed  said  to  her  to  take  him  down  to  the  streamlet 
for  a  drink,  but  she  said  that  she  durst  not,  for  her  father  would 
kill  her.  The  steed  asked  her  again  to  take  it  down.  She  then 
took  it  by  the  bridle  down  to  the  streamlet.  It  then  asked  the 
bridle  to  be  taken  out  of  its  mouth  or  it  could  not  take  a  drink 
.She  would  not,  however,  take  the  bridle  out  of  its  mouth,  but  she 
undid  a  buckle.  The  steed  was  working  the  bridle  round,  until  at 
last  it  got  its  head  out,  and,  as  the  bridle  fell,  then  all  at  once  Hie 
steed  became  a  small  angel  fish  (mannach  l>e«>/)  and  went  away 
through  the  pools,  and  out  went  twelve  otter  kings  after  it,  and 
they  could  not  overtake  it.  The  angel  fish  (tnmmm-h)  got  itself 
dried  on  a  stone  in  the  pool,  and  it  flew  as  a  hawk  up  in  the  air. 
Out  at  once  went  twelve  other  hawks  after  it,  but  thev 
did  not  overtake  it.  Crooked  was  every  way  for  the  hawk 
but  above  the  king's  house.  Kvery  one  wondered  to  see 
welve  hawks  chasing  one  hawk.  The  king's  daughter  had  her 
head  out  of  a  window,  It  became  (the  big  hawk  that  was  fore- 
mosO  a  gold  ring  on  the  finger  of  the  king's  daughter,  and  the 
others  became  musical  harpers  round  the  king's  house.  When  she 
went  to  sleep  the  ring  told  her  everything  that  had  occurred. 
The  musical  harpers  would  take  no  other  payment  than  the  gold 
ring  thai,  was  on  the  linger  of  the  king's  (laughter.  I'p  went  the 
king  to  ask  the  ring  from  his  daughter.  .Next  day  she  was  not 
willing  to  give  the  ring,  she  threw  it  in  the  fire.  There  thev 
became  twelve  bellows  blowing  the  fire,  and  the  sparks  were  living 
up  to  the  rafters.  At  last  the  ring  was  going  into  a  narrow  corner. 
Then  it  jumped  into  a  pile  of  malt  belonging  to  the  king,  and  it 
became  a  grain  of  malt.  There  they  were  twelve  dunghill  cocks 
•down  sifter  it  to  eat  the  malt,  and  thev  ate  their  h'll  of  the  malt. 


68  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

At  anyrate,  when  they  ate  that,  they  slept.  When  he  saw  that 
they  slept,  lie  twisted  the  necks  of  the  twelve  dunghill  cocks,  and 
killed  them,  and  they  were  thrown  out  of  the  house.  He  himself 
and  the  king's  daughter  were  married,  and  the  first  news  tho 
Fuller  got  of  his  son  was  that  he  was  to  be  married  to  the  king's 
daughter.  And  they  were  happy  ever  after. 


llth  FEBRUARY,  1891. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Society,  Mr  Simon  F.  Donaldson,, 
librarian,  Free  Library,  Inverness,  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Society.  Thereafter  Mr  Alexander  Macdonald,  Inverness,  was 
called  upon  to  read  his  paper  on  "Observations  on  II  if/hi  ami 
Ethnology ,  with  special  refcrenci-  to  Inverness  and  District."  Mr 
Macdonald 's  paper  was  as  follows  :— 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  HIGHLAND   ETHNOLOGY,  WITH 

SPECFAL  REFERENCE  TO  INVERNESS 

AND  THE  DISTRICT. 

Tho  subject  of  Ethnology  is  getting  daily  more  and  more  into 
prominence,  and  the  success  which  has  attended  the  researches 
already  made  by  Dr  Taylor,  Dr  Beddoes,  and  others,  gives  us 
every  encouragement  to  hope  for  even  greater  things  in  the  future 
I'ut  J  would  preface  this  paper  by  a  critical  remark,  which  I  hope 
will  not  be  considered  too  presumptuous  on  my  part  to  make.  In 
my  opinion,  the  mode  of  treatment  hitherto  followed  in  dealing 
with  ethnology  has  been  rather  one-sided,  inasmuch  as  it  does;  not 
give  sufficient  prominence  to  the  psychological  aspect  of  the 
question.  The  science  of  ethnology,  properly  understood,  takes  as 
much  to  do  with  the  mental  as  with  the  physical  characteristics  of 
a  race — indeed,  mental  ethnology  must  be  the  best  and  surest  of 
all  systems  of  reading  the  unwritten  history  of  man.  Some  years 
ago  language  was  the  great  repository  of  history.  I  ventured  to 
predict  that  it.  was  not  a  safe  guide  in  building  up  an  historic 
edifice.  Now,  the  study  of  the  phvsical  features  of  races  is  becom- 
ing the  main  mode  of  laying  down  safe  foundations  in  the  world  of 
history  :  and  I  venture  to  yet  predict  that  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  due  consideration  must  be  given  to  the  systematic 
study  of  the  mind  of  races,  before  the  history  of  races  can  be 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology-  60 

written  correctly.  Philology  must  continue  an  important  means 
of  working  out  many  hidden  principles  bearing  upon  the  early 
movements  of  man  in  the  world ;  but  the  affiliated  studies  of 
form,  features,  and  mind,  must  decide  results.  My  very  cursory 
treatment  of  this  subject  will  then  deal,  in  the  first  place,  with  the 
physical  features  of  the  races  embraced  in  my  paper,  and,  thereafter 
with  the  mental  characteristics  which  we  generally  find  allied  to 
certain  external  appearances. 

But  you  will  naturally  expect  me  to  give  you,  at  the  outset,  an 
idea  of  the  particular  race-elements  at  present  found  in  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland.  This  is,  however,  very  difficult  matter  to  enter 
upon,  as  the  exact  number  of  races  in  our  country  lias  not  yet 
be^n  determined  beyond  dispute.  1  may  mention,  to  begin  with, 
that  by  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  I  mean  geographically  that 
portion  of  this  country  peopled  by  the  Gaelic-speaking  race  ;  and, 
to  arrive  at  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  racial  constitution 
of  these  districts,  I  must  glance  summarily  at  the  early  racial 
history  of  the  British  Isles.  1  think  the  opinion  ought  to  be 
risked  that  the  earlier  migrations  to  our  country  from  the 
( 'ontinent  would  have  been  practically  composed  of  dark  races  ; 
for,  if  \\e  go  back  a  little  upon  the  written  history  of  Britain,  we 
find  that  the  peoples  driven  away  to  the  hills  from  the  plains  by 
succeeding  conquests,  are  to  this  day  racially  dark  ;  while  the1 
conquerors,  on  the  other  hand,  are  mainly  of  the  fair  type.  The 
barrows,  however,  disclose  the  fact  that  at  a  very  early  time 
in  the  history  of  this  country  it  was  inhabited  by  two  considerably 
different  races  —  one  small-limbed,  and  dolicho -cephalic  ;  the 
other  larger-limbed,  and  bmchy-cephalic.  As  to  the  existence  of 
!iu  ;i' -original  race  little  can  be  said.  It  may  here  be  mentioned 
that  there  is  some  evidence  in  our  midst  of  a  non-Aryan  type 
having  at  one  time  come  in  contact  with  us  ;  but  for  a  foundation 
we  should  say  that  the  pro-historic  population  of  .Britain  consisted 
of  two  main  races  —one  long-headed  and  dark-complexioned,  the 
o.t1  er  round-headed  and  xanthous.  Very  much  the  same  may  be 
said  to  apply  to  Ireland,  of  whose  early  traditional  history  little 
of  consequence  can  be  made.  For  all  practical  purposes  we  should 
hold  that  the  Fir-Bolg  of  Ireland — the  legendary  Children 
of  the  Mist;  the  tin-workers  of  Cornwall;  the  Silures  in  Wales, 
as  well  as  all  the  people  of  the  same  element  in  Scotland. 
should  be  classified  as  belonging  to  the  same  parent  race,  and  also 
to  the  earlier  population  of  the  country.  They  were  the  dark  races 
among  us,  while  later  incomers  went  undoubtedly  more  to  swell 
the  fairer  types.  But  there  is  something  peculiar  in  the  fact 


70  Gaelie  Society  of  Inverness- 

that  Loth  Britain  and  Ireland  were  peopled  first  by  dark  races,, 
and  then  almost  simultaneously  by  fair  colonists.  There  must 
have  been  a  bond  of  attraction  at  work  secretly — something  like 
trade  perhaps--- which  historians  have  not  yet  fully  grasped.  Then 
at  the  time  of  the  Roman  invasion  this  country  would  have  con- 
tained the  following  peoples  : — First,  a  possibly  aboriginal  race, 
the  identity  of  which  still  remains  an  open  question  ;  imposed  upon 
this  race  a  small-limbed,  rather  sharp-featured,  darkish  race, 
partaking  of  a  non-Aryan  character  to  a  small  extent;  and  after 
these,  very  probably  a  second  migration  (so  to  speak)  of  a  dark 
race,  probably  brachy-cephalic,  ;md  speaking  a  (Joidelic  tongue. 
These  would  have  been  followed  by  the  fair  or  xanthous  Celts, 
who  spoke  the  ( iaelic  much  as  known  to  us.  As  it  is  generally 
supposed  that  the  influence  of  the  Uomans  upon  the  British 
etimologically  was  practically  nothing,  all  to  be  dealt  with,  then, 
from  our  point  of  view,  is  the  mere  mentioning  of  the  successive 
invasions  of  .lutes,  Angles,  Saxons,  Normans,  and  Scandinavians, 
which,  from  time  to  rime,  took  place,  and  which  brought  over  to 
us  new  peoples  and  new  governments  ;  but,  always  keeping'  in 
mind  that  these  different  peoples  were  considerably  related  to  each 
other  fundamentally.  Taking,  then,  both  Hug-land  and  Scotland  in 
consideration,  we  have  at  this  stage  a  great  process  of  race- 
amalgamation  going  on.  All  those  peoples  are  fast  becoming 
united  in  the  struggle  for  civilisation  ;  and  in  Ireland  we  have' 
principally  the  same,  with  this  difference,  that  there  \va-  lc>s 
Saxonic  or  Anglic  blond  in  the  sister  isle  than  in  Scotland.  There 
\vas  less  of  this  element  in  Scotland  again  than  in  England,  of 
course.  This  would  have  been  the  state  of  matters  racially  in 
Britain  till  about  the  lUth  century,  which  brings  us  on  the 
threshold  of  Scottish  history.  Any  trace  of  an  early  Finnish  race 
having  mixed  with  our  peoples  will  have  no  great  interest  from  the 
point  of  vie\\  of  this  paper.  If  there  was  a  Finnish  type  in  Britain 
further  than  the  traces  of  such  which  fundamental  relationship 
would  account  for,  it  can  be  taken  as  swelling  the  fair  races. 
Among  ail  those  peoples  we  have  altogether  two  head  forms, 
namely,  the  dolichocephalic  (longhead),  and  the  brachy-cephalic 
(round  head).  The  dark  races  are  mainly  long-headed,  but  also 
embrace  an  important  broad-headed  type;  the  fair  races  are 
mainly  broad-headed,  but  also  include  a  large  percentage  of  long- 
heads. Between  these  we  have  a  small  infinity  of  intermediary 
stages,  resulting  in  all  conceivable  cranial  configurations.  But 
the  above  genorali/ation  pretty  correctly  applies  to  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  gives  us  the  different  large  and  small,  regular  and 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  71 

irregular,  types  of  beads  that  we  have  among  us.      Coining  now  to 
the  condition  of  Scotland,  say,  two  centuries  after  the  union  of  the 
Pictish  and  Scottish  crowns   in   the  person  of  Kenneth  M'Alpin, 
the  population  would  have  been   more  or  less  as    follows  : — The 
border  counties  and  East  Coast  were  fundamentally   British,   but 
largely   imposed  upon  by  Germanic  types,   this  element    being   so 
strong  in  the  Lothians  as  to  materially  raise  the  ethnic  cast  of  the 
district.      Along  the  coast  from  the  Lothians  to  Caithness  were  the 
early  settlers,  also  imposed  upon  by  later  lasers,   consisting   of   a 
strong    Germanic    mixture,    particularly    the    Scandinavian  type, 
which  was  stronger  and  purer  in  the  northern  parts.       Mid  South- 
Scotland    had   a   population   of  a  heterogenous  nature,  being  com- 
posed  of   an   imposition   of   Welsh,   Saxons,  and  Angles,  and  some 
Scots  upon  the  earlier  strata  ;   while  the  west  all  along  contained  a 
large  proportion  of  the  dark    races   and  red    Celts;    and,    imposed 
upon    these,    an    important    colony    of    Scots — then    a   somewhat 
mixed  people — from  Ireland,  telling  upon  West  Scotland   in  some- 
what the  same  manner  as  the  Saxons  did  up  »n   England.       Group- 
ing these  now  into  a  broad  ethnological  generalisation,  embracing 
the   whole    population    of    Scotland,    except,    the     Highlands,    the 
elements  in    it   would    be     -fundamentally    the    early   dark    races, 
dolicho-cephalic    mainly,    but    also    brachv-cephalic    to    a    certain 
extent;    above   these   the   xanthous    race,  mainly   braehy-cephalic, 
but,   also    dolicho-cephalic   to    a    degree.       Imposed   on  these  again 
were1  the   purer  Germanic  elements— Saxons  and  Scandinavians-- 
with,    perhaps,  a   more  or  less  equal  percentage   of  long-heads   and 
round-heads   among    them.      These    last    incomers    and    the   ( 'cits 
should    be    pretty    nearly    related,    though    dissimilar   in    physical 
features.       Now,  in  the    Highlands  \vc  should  have,  to  begin    with, 
a.    fundamental    proportion    of  the  dark,  eariv  settlers;   and,  after 
these,  a  strong  colony  of  red   ('ells,  that  settled  and  flourished   in 
the   districts.      These    would    form   the    principal    elements  on  the 
mainland,    while   the    North-East  coast  would   contain,    as   already 
stated,  a  considerable  Germanic   element,  and  the  West    (.'oast  the 
former  two,  with  a  large  proportion  of  Scandinavian  blood,  as  well 
as  a    Scottish   element    from    Ireland    of  greater   strength    than  is 
commonly  supposed.      Pure  Saxonic  blood  was  never  of  great  con- 
sequence in   the    Highlands,  and    depended   upon    migrations   from 
the   south,  after  the   \ornians    began  to   affect  the    history  of  our 
country.      The   Xormans    themselves   are   not  to    be    considered  as 
by  any  means  purely  Saxonic  or  anything  like  it  ;   but    they  intro- 
duced a  civilisation    which  w-'iit    to  augment    Saxonic  influence  all 
round.      Ethiiologicallv,  then,  the    Highlands  should   contain: — A 


72  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

dark-haired,  dark-eyed,  sharp-featured,  long-headed  people,  with  a 
percentage  of  round-heads  among  them,  having  the  same  darkness 
of  skin,  hair,  and  eyes  ;  and  a  fair-haired  (or  red-haired),  light-eyed, 
more  or  less  square-featured,  round-headed  race,  with  a  certain 
number  of  long-heads  among  them,  giving  the  same  fairness  of 
skin,  hair,  and  eves.  Though  the  Scots  were  a  mixed  race,  J 
think  the  dark  types  in  Scotland  must  have  been  re-inforced  by 
the  invasion  from  Ireland.  The  civilisation  and  literature  which 
those  Scoto-Trish  settlers  carried  with  them  would  seem  to  have 
been  assimilated  by  the  dark  races  more  readily  than  by  the  fair. 
It  will  now  be  seen  that,  one  way  or  another,  we  have  a  consider- 
able mixture  of  race-elements  in  the  Highlands  ;  and  it  would  be 
a  nice  field  of  observation  for  ethnologists  to  endeavour  to  deter- 
mine how  those  different  bloods  retain  their  individual  identities 
in  their  actions  and  interactions  upon  each  other  ;  or  to 
see  whether  anv  one  of  them  is  making  for  a  pre- 
dominating balance.  vYhcn  two  or  more  races  meet  and  exist 
side  bv  side,  it  is  found  that  the  stronger  one  generally 
eats  Mi)  the  weaker  and  finally  gains  the  ascendancy.  It  is  verv 
difficult,  however,  to  decide  which  of  two  or  more  races  the 
stro Hirer  one  may  be.  The  stronger  in  civilization  may  not  be  the 
stronger  in  the  ethnic  world.  There  iv;  a  persistence  in  race  which 
has  not  vet  been  fullv  understood;  and  the  great  importance  of 
woman  in  this  direction  lias  been  too  much  overlooked.  Haces 
are  said  to  have  a  direct  tendencv  to  revert  to  originals,  and,  as 
surely  as  the  mind  of  man  will,  by  a  secret  law  of  its  own,  find  its 
balance  or  disrupt,  so  surely  will  a  race  find  its  own  ethnic  balance 
or  die  out,  !  think  the  proper  understanding  of  mixture  in  races 
is  th.vi  it  is  merely  a  state  of  transition  through  which  peoples 
foreign  to  each  other  are  struggling  to  get  back  to  their  respective 
individualities  --  -a  struggle  which,  of  course,  ends  in  the  "survival 
of  the  nt.test.''  1  think,  also,  it  may  be  taken  as  axiomatic  that  if 
numbers  and  conditions  were  equal,  an  aboriginal  race  would  have 
every  advantage.  'Political  influence  is  to  be  considered  in  a 
country  like  ours  :  but  vet  we  should  keep  a  look-out  to  observe 
whether  the  di-erent  peoples  among  us  are  being  merged  back- 
wards into  an  individual  race'  such  as  should  be  considered 
autochthonous.  Already  it  has  been  noticed  that  what  is  u-ually 
kno\\n  as  the  "Celtic  element'"  in  .Britain  is  greater  than  at  one 
time  it  was  thought  to  be.  Of  course  in  this  connection  we  have 
to  consider  that  Kngland,  probably,  has  never  been  thoroughly 
Saxoniscd,  Large  districts  of  it  remained  Celtic  long  after  the 
grea!  invasions  which  s  )  much  altered  the  face  of  the  country  ; 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  73 

and,  even  to  this  day,  whole  communities,  such  as  the  population 
•of  Devonshire,  remain  substantially  Celtic  in  type.  No  doubt  it 
is  difficult  to  determine  what  could  be  taken  for  exclusive  race- 
belongings.  Kven  as  to  the  colour  of  eyes  and  hair  it  is  not  easy 
to  draw  hard  and  fast  lines.  Dr  Beddoes  takes  about  five  hair 
colours  and  three  or  four  eye  colours  in  making  up  his  statistics  of 
the  "  Races  of  Britain."  All  these,  except  two,  are  intermediate. 
They  can  be  dealt  with  as  belonging  in  a  sense  to  both  the  fair 
and  dark  ;  but  can  only  relate  to  the  predominating  tendency 
•of  either.  ft  is  here  that  psychology  serves  to  decide  differ- 
ences. Leaving  aside  what  may  be  the  hair  and  eye  colour 
natural  to  humanity  in  certain  conditions,  it  is  extraordinary  how 
much  the  dark  and  fair  colours  are  mixed  and  intermixed  in 
Europe.  Everywhere  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land  we  find  these  with  their  intermediate  stages.  In  Scotland  there 
is  a  considerable  prevalence  of  brown,  both  in  respect  of  eyes  and 
hair,  so  far  as  !  have  observed.  Is  there  any  relation  between  it 
and  a  possibly  aboriginal  race  ?  Or  is  it  a  climatic  result .1.  Or  is 
it  an  effect  of  mixture  ?  It  is  now  maintained  that  the  hair  does 
get  darker  as  a  result  of  progressive  civilization.  If  has  long  ago 
been  noticed  that  the  hair  of  children  often  turns  from  fair  to  dark 
as  they  advance  in  years  ;  but  in  this  connection  it  is  sometimes 
held  that  hair  in  the  case  of  children  also  changes  from  dark  to 
fair  as  they  get  old.  Hector  Maclean  tells  us  that  he  noticed  a 
yellow  tinge  under  the  hair  of  some  dark  persons  whom  he 
examined.  This  is  not  at  all  uncommon.  Yet  I  find  it  mostly 
in  winter  to  be  so  ;  and  the-  two  facts  ou<rht  to  go  together.  If 
we  could  suppose  that  there  would  be  any  truth  in  the  theory  that 
the  climate  of  Kurope  wa>  at  anvtime  such  as  would  produce  a 
dark  race--  for  we  find  hot  climates  peopled  bv  dark  tribes  —we 
should  be  disposed  to  say  that  the  dark  races  were  an  outcome  of 
that  time  :  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  fair  a  product  of  altered 
climatic  conditions.  The  fair  do  stand  cold  better  than  the  dark 
even  now.  Hut  more  of  this  further  on.  ft  is  the  same  mvstery 
all  round,  from  which  all  we  can  gather  is  that  Nature  secretly 
works  to  strike  a  balance  with  the  laws  of  the  universe  for  her 
figures. 

1  should  now  like  to  give  a  short,  comparative  view  of  the 
main  characteristics  which  we  find  expressed  by  the  two  peoples 
chiefly  making  up  the  population  of  the  Highlands.  This  will 
include  the  mental  and  physical  contrasts  peculiar  t'>  both,  as 
these  struck  me  in  my  observations  upon  them.  I  wish,  however, 
to  make  no  nice  distinctions  between  intermediate  race-stages,  nor 


74  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

to  take  any  particular  notice  of  the  existence  of  small,  more  or 
less  psychologically  unafrecting,  races.  I  shall  begin  with  the 
old  dark  race  ;  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  points  of  difference 
between  them  and  the  fair  is  the  great  and  pronounced  idealism 
of  the  former.  This  has  been  noted  by  most  writers  on  the 
subject,  and  it  has,  no  doubt,  a  considerable  bearing  upon  their 
life  as  a  people.  Arising  out  of  that  idealism  we  find  several  of 
the  characteristics  which  mark  them  out  as,  to  a  certain  extent,  a 
nation  by  themselves.  They  are  dreamy  by  day,  and  believe  in 
night  visions  and  supernatural  appearances  as  a  matter  of  course. 
In  this  connection,  let  us  quote  Solinus,  as  given  by  Mr  Elton  in 
his  "Origins  of  English  History.'1  He  says  of  the  ancient 
Silurians,  the  prototype  of  the  present  dark  races— "  They  are 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  men  and  women  alike 
show  their  skill  in  divination  of  the  future.'''  The  world  of  the 
dark  race,  as  a  whole,  is  one  tilled  with  improbabilities,  and, 
indeed,  impossibilities.  Their  real  relation  to  the  things  which 
go  to  make  up  every -day  life  seems  never  to  be  properly 
understood  by  them.  hi  the  words  of  the  poet,  "  Their 
head-  are  in  the  stars,  while  their  ieet  wade  the  gutter  of  the 
earth.''  Facts  are  of  secondary  consideration,  and  fiction  becomes 
what  I  cannot,  even  at  the  risk  of  being  considered  illogical,  call 
anyt  hing  else  than  <i !•..•<( r^>:r  /'i-alitt/.  Thev  are  given  to  sublime 
rhinking  and  sentimental  imaginings,  which,  if  realisable,  would 
undoii  invert  this  world  into  an  FJysian  Field.  (liven, 

then.,  so  much  to  poetical  conceptions,  it  is  no  wonder  that  they 
are  not  extremely  fond  of  manual  labour.  Thus  they  cannot 
muli  tand  ir  ••.  the  fair  races  get  rich  where  they  cannot.  To 
this  ii'gh  standard  of  idealism  may  also  be  attributed  their  purity 
of  m.irals,  and  perhaps,  as  well,  their  simplicity,  if  unfortunate 
enough  to  commi!  air  thing  like  a  criminal  ollence.  Of  the  dark 
Highlander  ii  is  particularly  n  >tieeable  that  he  cannot  well  deny 
anything  in  this  direction  into  which  he  happens  to  fall.  The 
possibility  of  circumstantial  defence  on  a  plea  of  "not  guilty," 
against  tin  silent  voice  of  conscience,  would  never  occur  to  him. 
l»ut  it  gives  him  infinite  relief  to  unbosom  his  mind,  even 
who  can  punish  him.  Much  of  all  this  could,  per- 
t  raced  in  ultimate  analysis  to  passion.  The  dark 
.nder  is  essentially  a  man  of  deep  passion.  What 
;  he  feels  with  all  his  heart;  and  what  he  covets 
iks  he  should  possess  at  any  cost.  If  disappointed 
ties  melancholy  -sometimes  disagreeably  so.  He  is  also 
Mid,  and  nothing  hurts  him  more  than  to  have  to  ask  a 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  75 

favour  from  any  one.  While  not  historically  the  greatest  lover  of 
freedom,  he  is  independence  incarnate.  Tyranny  of  any  descrip- 
tion maddens  him,  and  the  victory  of  wrong  over  right  saddens 
him.  It  puts  him  into  despair.  He  cannot  tolerate  it.  He  is 
not  inherently  selfish  ;  but  a  selfish  world  makes  him  often  some- 
what revengefully  inclined.  The  dark  races,  all  in  all,  are  a  very 
refined  type  of  man  ;  and  1  think  that  most  of  the  learning 
and  the  mental  civilisation  which  we  have  must  be  ascribed  to 
them.  Culture  seems  to  be  born  with  them.  They  have,  to  a  great 
extent,  bv  intuition,  what  other  peoples  take  a  term  of  lifetime  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of.  They  seem  to  be  creatures  of  mind. 
They  are  extremely  musical  indeed,  would  make  life  '"'  one  grand 
sweet  song."  But,  in  religion,  the  position  they  take  up  is  some- 
what peculiar.  However,  the  art,  associated  with  religion,  should 
have  great  attractions  for  them.  Their  history  on  the,1  Continent 
in  all  times  shows  this  pretty  clearly.  Everywhere,  indeed, 
they  love  art  and  order.  Their  idea  of  money  is  extraordinary. 
So  far  as  I  can  gather,  thev  do  not  look  upon  it  as  a  medium,  but 
more  as  a  thing  to  possess  for  its  own  value — not  altogether  that 
they  love  money  inordinately,  but  they  never  seem  to  have 
acquired  a  thorough  grasp  of  the  nature  of  speculation.  Theirs 
would  be  a  world  without  Budgets  and  Xa'ional  Debts,  without 
banking,  insurances,  and  all  monetary  connections.  While  on  this 
point,  we  may  refer  to  another  quotation  hv  Mr  Kiton  from 
Solinus,  in  which  that  writer,  still  speaking  of  the  ancient 
Silurians,  says— "They  \\ill  have  no  markets  or  money,  but  give 
and  take  in  kind,  getting  all  thcv  want  bv  barter  and  not  bv  sale" 
-(''Origins  of  Kngli^h  llistorv,"  page  }'.V.)).  To  the  fair  race,  all 
money-work,  it  appears,  must  be  ascribed.  The  dark  races  are  not. 
in  common  language,  so  worldly-minded  ;  but  they  arc  more 
highly  strung  in  nerve-tension,  and,  in  every  respect,  more-  sensi- 
tive. They  are  also  more  receptive,  more  impressionable,  and 
more  highly  organised  in  soul-feeling.  Perhaps  this  is  why  they 
are  better  speakers  than  the  fair,  who,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
generally  considered  better  writers.  But  here  1  may  mention  a 
few  imperfections  the  dark  suffer  from.  A  great  and  out- 
standing one  is  the  quality  of  availability,  which  thev  almost 
entirely  lack.  There  is  an  elasticity  in  the  ( lermanic  type,  and 
largely  appearing  in  the  red  Celt,  which  the  dark  man  is  nearly 
devoid  of.  This  is  an  important  source  of  failure  and  disadvantage 
to  him  in  life,  and  accounts  for  many  of  his  weaknesses.  Fol- 
lowing close  upon  it  we  also  find  another  disqualification  no  less 
prominent,  that  of  hesitation.  The  character  of  Langham,  in 


76  Gaelic  Society  of  Inuerness. 

"  Robert  Elsmere,"  represents  the  dark  Highlander  with  remark- 
able correctness  in  this  direction.  These  and  the  proverbial  want 
of  unity,  which  characterised  the  Highlanders  generally,  and  par- 
ticularly the  dark  type,  will  perhaps  have  something  to  do  with 
the  rather  objectless  life  of  the  Scottish  Highlanders  in  past  times. 

Physically  the  dark  type  are  smaller  in  person  than  the  fair, 
and  have  thinner  and  sharper  features.  This  sharpness,  however, 
is  not  given  to  the  face  by  the  nose.  That  organ  is  often  pretty 
thick  and  long  ;  but,  so  far  as  my  observations  went,  not  tending 
prominently  or  characteristically  to  sinuosity.  The  head  is,  in 
the  great  majority  of  cases,  long  or  coffin-shaped,  and  somewhat 
irregular  in  configuration.  The  forehead  recedes  a  good  deal,  and 
is  not  infrequently  a  little  rounded,  the  skull  is  not  prominent  at 
its  base,  and  the  back-head  shows  a  tendency  to  taper  towards 
the  medulla.  The  crown  is  generally  flattish,  and  the  parietals 
and  upper  occiput  bulge  out,  as  if  the  race  had  some  extraordinary 
occasion  to  develop  these  parts,  as  one  would  be  disposed  to  think, 
within  Lnveii  conditions  of  time  <>r  circumstances,  supposing  that 
external  surroundings  really  do  affect  the  configuration  ui'  the 
cranium.  Then,  au'ain,  the  evebrows  and  cheek-bones  are,  as  a 
rule.  |)rominent,  and  the  chin  decidedly  sharp.  The  characteristic 
sharpness  of  the  face  is,  indeed,  very  much  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
appearance  of  the  chin.  One  physical  difference  between  sonic 
men  and  others  struck  me  as  peculiar.  1  should  like  to  know 
what  have  scientists  to  say  about  it.  It  is  this  With  many  of 
this  dark  type,  I  found  the  knee-cap  (patella)  prominent,  as  it 
were,  rising  up  from  the  bones  of  the  knee  joint  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  i  alwavs  found  it  somewhat  sunk  in  the  fair.  In  the 
one  (-use  the  knee  is  sharp  and  angular;  in  the  other,  much  more 
rounded.  !  only  throw  this  out  as  a  suggestion,  but  perhaps  it 
should  so  f;ir  emphasise  the  proverbial  angularity  of  the  dark  race. 
Yet  another  point  of  difference  between  these  and  the  fair.  They 
are.  i  think,  less  apeiitious.  Thev  do  not  eat  so  much,  and  they 
prefer  ligii^,  easily-digested  food  to  heavv  animalistic  diets.  It 
has  also  been  noticed  that  they  take  longer  to  grow  to  maturity, 
and  that  they  live,  and  retain  their  youth,  to  a  considerable  age. 
Phcv  seem  to  possess  a  recuperative  energy  which  renews  their 
systems  long  sifter  they  might  be  called  old.  This  energy,  ho\\  - 
eye!1,  is  remarkably  dependent  upon  their  spirit.  They  are  equally 
susceptible  to  encouragement  and  discouragement. 

While  calling  this  type  small  in  person,  it  must  not  be  under- 
stood that  the  fair  race  have  all  the  strong  men.  So  far  as  1.  have 
been  able  to  ascertain,  a  really  big,  dark  man  is  the  strongest  man 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  77 

to  be  found.  Not  long  ago  I  saw  a  few  men  together,  among 
whom  were  three  of  these  dark  giants.  Their  countenances  put 
me  in  mind  of  the  Cumbrian  type  of  Britons.  They  spoke  Gaelic 
fluently,  and  were  Highlanders  by  birth  and  bringing  up.  Their 
features  were  not  by  any  means  like  those  of  the  fair,  Gaelic- 
speaking  Highlander.  They  had  a  more  antiquated  appearance, 
and  suggested  descent  from  an  earlier  race.  I  believe  I  would  be 
correct  in  saying  that  the  most  of  our  heavy-event  athletes  are 
darker  than  fair,  and  such  names  in  past  history  as  Donald  Dubh 
Balloch,  Evan  Dubh  Locliiall,  Tailleir  Dubh  na  Tuaithe,  etc.,  will 
suggest  themselves  to  the  reader. 

1  now  come  to  the  other  element  in  Highland  ethnology — the 
fair,  or  red  type  ;  and  it  will  be  observed  that  1  want  to  show  the 
ethnic  identity  of  thh  race,  whether  denominated  red  (xanthous), 
or  fair  (yellow),  with  that  historically  known  as  the  Germanic  or 
Teutonic.  Of  course,  we  shall  find  great  differences  between  the 
man  called  the  red  Celt  and  the  one  known  as  the  present-day 
German  ;  but  I  should  humbly  risk  the  opinion  that  these  differ- 
ences are  not  fundamental,  and  could  be  accounted  for  as  results 
of  divergent  paths  in  their  respective  historical  developments. 

But  I  must  here  digress  a  little  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the 
significance  that  we  should  attach  to  the  colours  "  red"  and  "fair" 
historically.  I  need  not  state,  I  am  sure,  that  in  fact  there  is  no 
reason  to  make  any  distinction  between  the  two.  This  colour — 
fair,  red,  yellow,  lightish,  other  than  brown  or  dark ---is  spoken 
of  a  great  deal  in  the  early  histories  of  our  country.  In  Ireland 
the  great  giants  were  golden-haired  and  blue-eyed.  On  this  point, 
Mackenzie,  in  his  introduction  to  the  "  Beauties  of  Celtic  Poetry/' 
page  9,  says  -"To  whatever  cause  is  to  be  attributed  the  general 
mixture  of  dark-complexioned  individuals  among  the  Gael-,  induc- 
ing the  assertion  so  ofien  repeated  that  they  display  the  genuine 
Celtic  hue,  nothing  is  more  particularly  noticed  than  the  fairness 
of  skin,  the  blue  eves,  and  the  yellow  hair  of  all  branches  of  the 
race.  So  anxious  were  the  Gaels  to  improve  the  glowing  bright- 
ness of  their  flowing  locks,  that,  in  the  desire,  to  heighten  bv 
frequent  washing  and  other  artificial  means  its  natural  colour. 
they  hit  on  the  manufacture  ot  soap  (quoting  from  Plinv,  28, 
12).  Continuini:',  he  says  that  the  general  appearance  of  the 
Celts  must  have  been  very  peculiar  to  excite  the  notice1  of  so  main" 
ancient  writers  as  we1  find  referring  to  it.  The  distinction  drawn 
between  the  dark  and  fair  in  these  remarks  is  important  from  our 
point  of  view.  I  think  it  would  be  comparatively  easv  to  identify 
this  "red"  or  "fair"  Celt  with  the  Gern.an  of  a  later  dav.  This. 


78  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

i  lea  is  not  by  any  moans  now,  for  we  find  Tacitus,  when  expressing 
himself  as  uncertain  of  the  original  nationality  of  certain  ancient 
races,  unhesitatingly  remarking  that  the  "Caledonians,  with  their 
red  hair  and  large  limbs,  pointed  clearly  to  a  German  origin"  (as 
quoted  by  Mr  Elton  in  his  "  Origins  of  English  History,"  page 
134).  The  reference  in  tie  "  Albanic  Duan"—"  Ye  well-skilled 
host  of  yellow  hair''- -would  also  apply  to  this  red  Celt,  as  well  as 
the  numerous  references  to  "  fair-haired  heroes "  in  the  great 
Ossiauic  Ballads.  So  much  has  been  made  of  this  in  some  quarters 
that  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  a  position  of  aristocracy  assigned 
to  the  fair  in  Celtic  history,  while  the  darker  population  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  i'i  most  respects  subject  to  them.  But  we 
should  not  be  too  ready  to  grant  belief  to  this  idea,  at  least  with- 
out some  investigation.  Deirdre's  description  of  the  man  whom 
she  wished  to  marry,  as  given  to  us  in  the  beautiful  poem  called 
after  her  name,  would  lead  us  to  understand  that  the  dark  colour 
was  then,  as  now,  to  be  met  with  in  the  higher  circles.  Her 
choice  was  to  be  a  man  with  cheeks  red  as  blood,  witli  skin  white 
as  snow,  and  with  hair  dark  as  the  wings  of  the  raven  ;  and  when 
she  saw  the  sou  of  l/isue,  he  presented  to  her  all  these  charms  in 
combination,  and  she  married  him.  Of  course,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  whiteness  of  skin  in  this  case  makes  the  racial 
identity  of  this  man  somewhat  questionable,  but  instances  are  not 
wanting  where  the  dark  colour  and  heroism — the  heroism  of  the 
ancient  ballads  and  chronicles— are  found  side  by  side.  My  own 
opinion  is  that  little,  if  anv,  significance  should  be  attached  to  the 
frequent  mentions  of  "  dark"  and  "  fair"  in  legendary  and  tradi- 
tional records  ;  for  it  must  be  clear  that  the  bards  are  to  blame 
for  making  much  use  of  stereotyped  phrases  in  poetry,  without 
observing  particularly  whether  they  were  applicable  in  individual 
cases  or  nut.  But,  leaving  all  this  aside  as  matter  of  secondary 
moment,  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  modern  times,  even  in  the 
Highlands,  the  presumption  is  strong  that  the  fair-coloured  race 
have  got,  if  anything,  the  better  of  the  situation.  They  under- 
stand much  more  what  it  is  to  catch  the  things  which  life  is  made 
up  of  than  their  darker  neighbours.  Mechanical  civilisation  is  the 
hereditary  legacv  if  the  fair  race  all  the  world  over.  Put  a  fail- 
man  into  any  part  of  the  world,  and  the  first  thing  he  begins  to 
do  is  to  arrange  for  the  cultivation  of  that  spot.  Work  is  what  he 
feels  at  home  in.  and  he  loves  speculation.  He  does  not  dream  ; 
he  acts.  There  is  a  strung  element  of  this  spirit  in  the  High- 
lands. Indeed,  it  was  on  the  pronounced  and  persistent  nature  of 
the  existence  of  this  spirit  among  such  as  cannot  be  anything  else 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  79 

racially  than  the  descendants  of  the  "red"  Celt,  that  the  writer's 
advocacy  of  the  original  identity  of  this  race  with  the  Germanic 
is  principally  founded.  For  I  have  ever  seen  reason  to  believe 
that  the  elements  of  character  most  natural  to  any  race  oxpress 
themselves  in  the  struggle  for  existence  more  clearly  and  more 
truthfully  than  in  any  of  the  other  numerous  forms  of  racial 
development ;  and,  though  surroundings  and  mediums  alter,  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  self-preserving  functions  in  human 
nature  remain  the  same,  and  betray  themselves  for  ever.  The 
Germanic  type  of  man  has  made  living  an  art  ;  and  accordingly 
we  find  him  everywhere  representing  progressive  civilisation. 
From  several  causes  this  civilising  spirit  did  not  get  room  to 
•express  itself  in  the  Highlands.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  grasping, 
hard-working  persistence  with  which  we  find  some  Highlanders 
pushing  themselves  on  in  the  world  suggests  the  closest  similarity 
to  that  of  the  aggressive  Teuton  But  there  is  one  great  differ- 
ence between  the  two,  and  that  is  that  the  latter  is  generally  more 
open-minded  in  his  dealings;  not  that  the  Highlander  is  unfairly 
close,  but  he  is  unscrupulously  self-provident  and  not  particularly 
considerate  as  to  the  rights  of  individuality.  lie  lives  in  the 
world,  and  very  much  for  the  world.  Yet  he  is  intensely  religious, 
without  allowing  religion  to  interfere  with  him  in  his  speculations  ; 
but  here  it  should  be  mentioned  that  the  struggles  of  this  type  of 
man  for  freedom  of  conscience  in  religion,  and  his  great  interest  in 
personal  libertv  generally,  have  been  noted  in  almost  all  histories 
of  him.  This  is  characteristic  of  his  head  form. 

As  we  should  expect,  this  man  is  a  most  elastic  person,  which 
fiiables  him  to  get  into  favour  with  his  betters  and  the  world 
where  a  less  available  individual  would  fail.  All  things  with  him 
are  means  towards  the  one  end  of  making  himself  powerful  against 
his  fellow-creature.  Home  and  settled  communities,  with  all  their 
complications  and  wheels  within  wheels  arise  from  this  typo  of 
man  :  and  I  should  be  disposed  to  believe  that  Socialism  would 
not  on  any  condition  be  acceptable  to  him.  The  individualism  of 
Liberalism  is  his  political  creed  ;  but  self-aggrandisement,  as 
already  hinted  at,  frequently  overbalances  this,  and  makes  him 
anvthing  but  liberal  where  he  has  the  [tower  to  domineer. 
Learning  and  intelligence  are  in  his  hands  merelv  means  whereby 
to  obtain  other  ends,  and  have  little  or  no  attraction  for  him  as 
Lv>;irces  of  intellectual  pleasure  or  enjoyment.  He  has  some  senti- 
ment and  idealism  in  him  ;  but  he  is  not  led  bv  either  to  do  or 
think  anything.  He  keeps  them  subject  to  his  will  power,  and 
does  not  allow  them  to  enter  into  his  c very-day  movements.  He 


80  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

is  not  given  to  art.  In  all  times  he  has  been  fond  of  show. 
"  Personal  decoration  among  the  early  Britons  consisted  of  a  dress,, 
we  are  told,  which  was  woven  of  many  colours,  and  which  made  a 
gaudy  show.  The  Celts  apparently  had  learned  the  art  of  using 
alternate  colours  for  warp  and  woof,  so  as  to  bring  out  a  pattern 
of  stripes  and  squares.  They  were  fond  of  every  kind  of  orna- 
ment." (Mr  Elton's  "  Origins  of  English  History.")  This  is  quite 
consistent  with  a  very  incipient  stage  of  civilisation.  We  find 
this  type  of  Highlander  also  superstitious  and  strong-headed,  but 
very  faithful.  In  this  direction,  indeed,  he  was  inclined  to  hero- 
worship  till  lately,  and  little  encouragement  would  still  develop 
this  weakness  in  him.  The  relation  of  chieftains  to  clans  in  the 
historv  of  past  times  is  sufficient  proof  of  this.  Physu-allv 
this  man  is  big  and  strong.  He  is  generally  fair-skinned,  in  many 
instances  showing  a  good  deal  of  colour  ;  and  in  others  is  freckled. 
His  hair  is  mostly  fair,  bright-yellow,  or  red  ;  his  eyes  are,  as  a 
rule,  grayish  or  bluish,  in  fact  range  between  all  colours  but  brown- 
black  or  black,  lie  eats  well,  and  is  rather  fond  of  animal  food. 
It  has  been  mentioned,  I  am  aware,  that  he  is  not  so  prone  to 
illness  as  the  dark.  \  should  like  to  know  what  is  the  experience 
of  medical  men  on  this  point.  I  have  heard  it  often  remarked 
that  the  dark  were,  if  anything,  more  subject  to  chest  ailments 
than  the  fair  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  latter  were  more 
susceptible  to  infectious  diseases,  such  as  fevers.  Perhaps  the 
Hue  might  be  drawn  thus  :  troubles  arising  from  an  unhealthy 
condition  of  heat  would  more  affect  the  fair;  whereas  those  arising 
fix tm  an  unhealthy  condition  of  cold  would  tell  more  on  the  dark. 
These,  so  far,  are  the  two  opposing  elements  to  be  found  among 
us  in  general.  But,  in  reality,  the  two  peoples  are  so  inextricably 
mixed  that  it  is  impossible  in  many  a  case  to  say  what  particular 
race  a  subject  may  belong  to  ;  and  it  will  be  interesting  in  this 
connection  to  give  a  quotation  from  M'Firbis — an  old  bard  who 
wrote  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century— made  use  of  bv  Mr 
Elton  in  his  great  work  (pages  lo^-loo).  His  words  are:— 
"  Everyone  who  is  fair,  revengeful,  and  big,  and  every  plunderer, 
and  every  musical  person  and  professor  of  music,  and  all  who  are 
adepts  in  Druidism  and  magic  :  these  are  the  sons  of  the  Tnatha- 
De-Duiinan  in  Firinn"  (the  fairer  population);  but  "  Everv  one 
who  is  hlack-haired,  and  a  tattler,  guileful,  tale-telling,  noisv  and 
contemptible,  every  wretched,  mean,  strolling,  unsteady,  harsh 
and  inhospitable  person,  every  slave,  and  every  mean  thief,  these 
are  the  sons  of  the  Fir-Bolg,  of  Fir-Guiluin,  and  of  the  Fir- 
Domhnan  in  Kirinn "  (the  darker  population).  This  estimate  of 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  81 

the  respective  peoples — the  fair  and  dark — though  containing 
much  truth,  is  strangely  mixed,  and,  in  my  opinion,  not  correct  of 
either.  But  the  races  are  themselves  mixed,  over  and  over  again, 
and  at  any  time  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  t'»  give  delineations  that 
would  cover  all  cases.  The  Highlands  of  Scotland  were  for  years 
a  ground  for  divergent  bloods  and  customs  and  manners  operating 
upon  each  other  ;  and  thus,  racial  characteristics,  at  one  time 
strange  to  a  particular  race,  became  through  imitation  or  com- 
pulsory assimilation,  practically  so  natural  to  them  as  their  own. 

In  Inverness  we  have  this  mixture  as  well  represented  as  we 
should  expect  from  a  town  of  its  history  and  position.  All  centres,  of 
course,  contain  a  mixed  population.  As  a  small  port-town,  Inverness 
has  several  racial  elements  in  it  decidedly  foreign  to  itself,  but,  upon 
the  whole,  it  maintains  its  Highland  connections  fairly  well.  The 
inhabitants  might  be  divided  into  two  portions,  namely,  the  old 
and  the  new.  The  former  woidd  embrace  the  race  element  in  the 
town  belonging  to  it  as  a  purely  Highland  settlement,  and  the 
latter,  the  additions  made  to  these  from  time  to  time  through  the 
introduction  of  civilisation  on  a  greater  scale.  Railway  and 
steamboat  communication  with  the  West  and  South  has  very  much 
affected  the  town  by  bringing  into  it  many  peoples  strange  to  it. 
But  this  is  again  more  than  counterbalanced,  perhaps,  bv  the 
influx  of  young  men  and  women  from  the  neighbouring  districts. 
Yet,  in  sentiment,  the  town  is  practically  becoming  non-Highland 
in  several  respects.  This  transition  process  has  been  going  on  for 
a  lon.u  time,  but  has  been  accelerated  by  the  opening  up  of  the 
country  all  round.  Ktlmologically  the  effect  is  not  so  visible.  Dr 
Beddoes  found  the  non-Highland  element  comparatively  small  in  it 
("  I  laces  of  Britain,"  page  24-2)  ;  but  if  we  take  the  town  from  the 
point  of  view  of  ideals,  we  find  it  almost  entirely  non-Highland—  - 
in  fact,  fast  becoming  a  small  London.  Asa  Highland  town,  Inver- 
ness is  not  what  it  should  be.  For  instance,  the  games  peculiar 
to  the  Highlands,  as  a  small  nationality,  are  out  of  place  and 
discarded  among  us.  The  music  of  the  bagpipes,  an  instrument 
supposed  to  have  peculiar  attractions  for  every  Highlander,  is  in 
Inverness  put  on  a  level  with  caterwauling;  and  the  unfortunate 
man  who  plays  it  is  seriously  suspected  of  incipient  insanity,  except 
by  some  from  tiie  country  who  come  to  make  their  homes  with  us. 
Many  customs  dear  to  the  Highlanders  are  scouted  as  idiosvn- 
crasies,  and  the  language  in  which  the  Highlanders  spoke  and 
wrote  their  history,  in  which  they  "  moved  and  had  their  beinu:," 
is  thought  little  of.  1  mention  this  not  in  any  deprecatory  spirit, 
but  to  show  how  clearly  the  town  is  becoming  noil- Highland  in 

6 


82  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

spirit.  Its  peculiarly  shifting  political  faith  is  good  proof  that  it 
is  still  undergoing  changes. 

The  features  with  which  we  meet  from  day  to  day  are 
interesting.  In  the  parts  facing  the  sea  we  have  the  South  and 
Norse  elements  comparatively  strong,  betraying  their  origin  by 
the  colour  of  their  skin  and  hair.  Along  the  streets  which  form 
the  old  country  connections  we  find,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Celtic 
element  always  purer,  and  abounding  in  excellent  specimens  of 
both  the  dark  and  fair  races. 

The  town  also  offers  exceptional  facilities  to  a  resident  for 
observing  the  ethnology  of  the  districts  around.  Every  day 
brings  us  visitors  from  the  country,  and  periodical  occasions  pro- 
vide us  with  much  material  for  speculation.  These  reveal  the 
peculiarity,  that  certain  types  prevail  on  certain  occasions.  For 
instance,  the  Communion  brings  to  us  a  number  of  rather  square, 
old  looking  heads,  apparently  long,  but  scarcely  so  in  the  cerebral 
parts.  I  have  observed  many  heads  at  large  Communion  gather- 
ings which  seemed  each  to  belong  to  more  than  one  race.  But 
this,  I  understand,  is  not  uncommon.  I  have  found  the  nose  in 
these  cases  pretty  straight,  and  the  face  upon  the  whole,  good, 
and  denoting  very  high  moral  parts,  great  fixity  of  principle,  and 
an  eternity  of  resignation.  Our  feeing  markets,  however,  give  us 
another  cast.  Irregular  faces  and  rather  coarser  features  prevail 
here,  with  lips  inclined  to  thickness,  cheek-bones  high,  and  noses 
of  every  description.  The  foreheads  are  not  always  easily  seen, 
but  I  should  take  them  to  be  on  the  receding  side.  The  eyes  of 
many  of  the  women  are  dark,  and  of  many  of  the  men  greyish  or 
hazel.  The  hair,  at  a  glance,  should  be  considered  as  more  fair 
than  dark.  The  same  features  appear  again  among  us  largely  at 
the  disbanding  of  the  Inverness-shire  Militia.  The  faces  in  this 
case,  are  irregular,  and  denote  passion  ;  but  the  eyes  betray 
much  kindness  of  heart,  though  also  a  susceptibility  to  change, 
if  passions  were  agitated.  Among  these  we  find  some  good  speci- 
mens of  what  "  the  men  of  the  naked  knee  "  were  in  past  times. 
The  Wool  Market  and  the  Northern  Meeting  are  patronised  by  a 
strong  mixture.  Making  a  good  allowance  for  the  unusually  high 
Southern  element  then  among  us,  we  have,  after  all,  a  predomin- 
ance of  Highland  features  on  these  occasions.  Of  course  the 
attendance  at  these  gatherings  may  be  taken  as  made  up  of  the 
better  to  do  and  the  younger  blood,  and  no  one  can  avoid  being 
struck  with  the  greater  regularity  of  countenances  to  be  observed. 
A  most  peculiar  case  attracted  my  attention  last  year  in  the 
Meeting  Park,  where  I  observed  a  pretty  young  girl  having  one 
eve  Iberian  black  and  the  other  Saxonic  blue.  That  was  the 


Observations  on  Highland  Ethnology.  83 

second  time  I  noticed  the  same  thing — the  first  time  in  the  case 
of  a  grown-up  man,  who  was,  as  much  as  one  could  be,  to  look  at, 
a  cross  between  the  dark  and  fair  types.  Such  cases  as  these  are 
rare,  hut  it  is  a  common  thing  to  find  a  few  members  of  a  family 
belonging  to  the  dark  race,  and  their  brothers  and  sisters  repre- 
senting the  fair,  or  vice  versa. 

Their  lives  among  us  what  we  might  in  a  manner  call  a 
separate  tribe — I  mean  the  Gipsies — and  it  has  often  been  a 
matter  of  curiosity  with  me  how  to  classify  them  in  their  relation 
to  our  general  population.  Their  peculiar  habits  must  be  more 
than  mere  accident.  It  seems  to  me  that  they  throw  considerable 
light  upon  the  life  and  customs  of  a  possible  race,  existing  in  quite 
different  circumstances,  and  subject  to  a  quite  different  civilisa- 
tion. I  am  led  to  understand  that  they  are  inclined  to  sneer  at 
settled  living,  and  look  upon  the  "husbandman"  as  infinitely 
beneath  them  in  dignity.  If  I  am  not  mistaken  the  Bedouin  of 
the  desert  entertains  the  very  same  feelings  towards  his  settled- 
down  neighbours.  I  have  often  thought  that  the  sany  froid  with 
which  the  Gipsies  beg  and  accept  charitv  from  their  betters  has 
something  hereditarily  interesting  attached  to  it.  The  Gipsies  are 
as  a  rule  very  dark  ;  but  in  Scotland,  particularly,  there  is  a  large 
proportion  of  the  red  colour  among  them.  The  women  in  several 
respects  suggest  a  great  resemblance  to  some  of  what  we  call  the 
Spanish  element,  which  we  find  here  and  there  scattered  over  the 
country.  But  there  is  a  strong  red  type  of  woman  among  them, 
having  bones  of  great  size  and  strength.  There  is,  however,  a 
nomadic  element  about  them,  which  point  to  very  early  stages  in 
the  history  of  Europe.  In  our  country  they  partake  of  the 
general  characteristics  of  unsettled  humanity  ;  but  it  ought  to  be 
remembered  that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  them  ;md  the 
moving  population  of  the  low  parts  of  great  cities — a  difference, 
indeed,  that  suggests  development  from  a  now  lost  organisation. 

I  have  seen  a  few  interesting  faces  among  them,  though  my 
opportunities  of  observing  were  but  few.  Not  long  ago  I 
saw  one  of  them  begging  for  help  whose  countenance  struck 
me  os  rather  uncommon.  This  person  was  a  woman,  whose 
face  was  particularly  small,  but  whose  features  were  most 
delicately  and  regularly  set.  She  was  dark  in  complexion  and 
hair,  her  nose  was  beautifully  straight,  and  her  lips  much  closer 
than  is  often  seen  among  this  type  of  people.  The  cheek-bones 
were  extremely  small,  and  the  chin  finely  tapered,  with  a  vacant 
expression  on  the  countenance  which  denoted  meditation  and 
melancholic  feeling.  I  saw  a  man  recently  who  had  a  rather 
foreign  face.  His  lips  were  remarkably  thick,  his  cheek- 


84  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness, 

bones  high,  and  his  eves  had  a  kind  of  reddish  tinge  about 
them  ;  altogether  the  general  expression  of  the  face  was 
nigritic.  He  was  a  rather  well-to-do  person.  This  nigritic- 
element  is,  indeed,  more  common  among  us  than  is  generally 
supposed.  I  have  met  with  faces  which  betrayed  African, 
Chinese,  and  Indian  connections.  Some  of  these  features 
have  no  doubt  come  to  us  through  the  marriage  of  people  of  this 
country  with  men  and  women  belonging  to  those  nationalities  ; 
but  this  may  not  account  for  all.  By-the-bye  another  facial 
rarity  is  to  be  seen  at  times  among  the  gipsies.  This  is  a  dark- 
complexioned  face  freckled.  Not  once  or  twice  have  I  noticed 
boys  going  about  with  our  tent-dwellers,  having  dark  hair,  dark 
eyes,  freckled,  dark  skin  ;  and  all  round  a  blackness  which  gave 
them  jin  uninviting  appearance. 

The  Highland  face,  upon  the  whole,  is  yet  rather  irregular. 
But  T  would  be  disposed  to  think  that  the  features  in  general 
should  be  getting  more  regular  one  way  or  another.  At  present  there 
is  nearly  as  much  difference  between  an  ordinary  Highland  face  and 
that  of  an  Englishman,  say  one  hailing  from  Sussex,  as  between  the 
hills  of  the  North  and  the  plains  of  the  South.  The  principal 
points  which  give  irregularity  to  the  Highland  face  at  present  are 
the  chin,  the  lips,  the  cheek-bones,  the  nose,  and  the  eyebrows. 
The  Highland  chin  is  yet,  as  a  rule,  prominent,  a  little  inclined  to 
the  prognathous.  The  lips  are  in  many  cases  thick,  and,  not  in- 
frequently, insufficient  to  cover  the  teeth,  leaving  the  latter  some- 
what exposed,  and  giving  the  mouth  an  ill-looking  largeness.  The 
cheek-bones  are  high  and  sharp,  the  nose  of  uncertain  shapes, 
while  the  eyebrows,  in  numerous  instances,  meet,  and  even  come 
down  on  to  the  nose,  especially  in  men.  The  head  is  very  much 
the  coffin-shaped  of  some  ethnologists  ;  but  in  the  case  of  many  of 
the  dark  type  the  forehead  is  still  too  much  of  the  receding  kind, 
showing  what  phrenologists  term  the  perceptive  faculties  highly 
developed,  while  the  reflective  organs  appear  to  be  not  so  much 
so.  The  rounding  of  the  head  and  the  regularising  of  the  counten- 
ance should,  I  think,  be  the  inevitable  concomitants  of  advancing 
civilisation. 

REMARKS.  —  (1).  This  paper  must  not  be  taken  as  covering 
individual  cases.  (2).  The  observations  embrace  a  great  number 
of  cases,  and  aim  at  a  generalisation,  calculating  from  circum- 
stances and  conditions,  such  as  locality,  history,  character, 
heredity  (where  ascertainable),  colour  of  hair  and  eves,  drc.,  etc. 
(3).  Differences  are  reconciled  with  a  leaning  to  psychological 
preference. 


The  Macdonnells  of  Antrim.  85 


18th  FEBRUARY,  1892. 

The  paper  for  this  evening  was  contributed  by  Mr  Hector 
Maclean,  Islay,  on  the  "  Macdonells  of  Antrim."  Mr  Maclean's 
paper  was  as  follows  : — 

A  SKETCH  OF  THE  MACDONNELLS  OF  ANTRIM. 

Two  great  families  of  the  name  of  Byset  flourished  in  Scotland 
during  the  reign  of  William  the  Lion.  They  had  come  over  at 
first  to  England  with  William  the  Conqueror,  whence  they  came, 
at  a  later  period,  to  Scotland.  One  of  these  great  families  was 
situated  in  the  north,  and  the  other  in  the  south  of  Scotland. 
The  northern  branch  failed  in  the  male  line  with  Sir  John  de 
Byset,  who  left  three  daughters.  Mary,  the  eldest,  inherited 
Lovat,  in  the  Aird,  and  from  her  the  Erasers  of  Lovat  are 
descended  ;  the  second  daughter,  Cecilia,  inherited  Altyre,  in 
Moray,  and  married  a  man  of  the  name  of  Fenton  ;  Sir  Andrew 
de  Bosco  became  the  husband  of  the  third  daughter,  Elizabeth, 
.She  had  for  her  marriage  portion,  along  with  other  lands,  the 
estate  of  Iledcastle,  in  the  Black  Isle,  and  Kilravoek,  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  Nairn. 

The  Bysets  had  become  rivals  of  the  De  Galloways,  Earls  of 
Athol  ;  and  it  happened  in  the  year  l'24'2  that  Patrick,  the  young 
and  popular  Earl  of  Athol,  son  of  Thomas,  son  of  Rowland,  son  of 
Fergus  de  Galloway,  was  found  (lead  in  his  bedroom  at  Hadclington. 
The  house  was  set  on  fire,  so  that  it  might  be  thought  that  his 
death  might  have  been  the  result  of  accident.  The  Bysets  were 
known  to  cherish  inimical  sentiments  towards  the  decease'!  earl  : 
and  they  were  consequently  suspected  of  having  been  instrumental 
in  causing  him  to  be  murdered.  Albeit,  they  were  able  to  pro- 
duce many  witnesses  in  support  of  their  innocence,  including  the 
queen,  who  maintained  on  oath  that  they  were  guiltless,  and  gave 
evidence  to  that  effect.  They  were,  notwithstanding,  condemned 
to  banishment  from  Scotland.  John  and  Walter  Byset  were  com- 
pelled to  take  a  vow  on  oath  to  join  the  crusade,  and  never  to 
return  from  the  Holy  Land.  There  they  were  to  stay  during  the 
remainder  of  their  lives  ;  and  they  had  to  promise  on  solemn  oath 
to  pray  fervently  and  often  at  certain  shrines  for  the  soul  of  the 
deceased  earl.  To  provide  a  respectable  retinue  to  follow  out 
their  journey  they  were  allowed  to  dispose  of  their  extensive  lands, 
as  well  as  of  their  immense  amount  of  stock  and  chattel  property. 


86  Gaelic  Society  of  Inuerness. 

Nevertheless,  they  felt  themselves  outraged  and  unjustly  used 
in  being  punished  at  all,  and  their  haughty  spirit  was  especially 
galled  by  such  humiliating  terms  being  imposed  upon  them.  So,, 
instead  of  going  submissively  to  the  East,  they  did  what  suited 
their  proud  nature  much  better—  cursed  Scotland,  took  their 
journey  westwards,  and  sought  a  home  in  Ireland.  They  had 
with  them  as  much  means  as  was  enough  to  establish  themselves 
in  their  previous  position  as  territorial  lords,  by  buying  extensive 
lands  on  the  coast  of  Antrim  from  Richard  de  Burgo,  Earl  of 
Ulster.  Before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  leading 
family  of  the  Bysets  held  the  seven  lordships  of  the  Antrim  Glens, 
and  later,  by  another  century,  the  sole  heir  to  this  large  property 
was  Margery  Byset.  She  was  the  fifth  in  descent  from  the  first 
settler  John,  and  daughter  of  M<ic  En'ui  jh.nn-  Bistt  (fair-haired 
Son  John  Bvset),  who  was  killed  by  the  followers  of  Sir  Robert 
Savage  near  Carrickfcrgus.  Here  is  the  record  of  this  affair  in 
the  Anna/8  of  Ike  Four  Master*: — 

"A  great  army  was  led  by  Niall  O'Neill,  with  his  sons  and  the 
chieftains  of  Kinel  Owen,  into  Trian-Chongail  against  the  English, 
and  they  burned  and  totallv  plundered  manv  of  the  towns.  The 
English  of  the  territory  assembled  to  oppose  them.  Hugh  O'Neill 
and  Raibilin  Savadge  met  each  in  a  charge  of  cavalry,  and  they 
made  two  powerful  thrusts  of  their  spears  into  each  other's  bodies. 
Raibilin  returned  severely  wounded  to  his  house,  where  Mac  Eoin 
Bis>et  killed  him;  and  Hugh  O'Neill  died  the  third  day  after- 
wards of  the  effect  of  his  wound  ;  and  Mac  Eoin  Bisset,  he  was 
killed  by  Raibilin's  people  the  third  day  after  the  killing  of 
Raibilin  himself." 

Sabia,  daughter  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  was  a  descendant  of  Neill  of 
the  nine  hostages  ( Niatl  Naoigheallach),  so  called  from  the  nine 
hostages  he  was  said  to  have  taken — five  from  the  five  provinces 
hit"  which  Ireland  was  then  divided,  and  four  from  Alba  or 
Scotland. 

Maria  or  Margery  Byset,  the  heiress  to  the  seven  lordships  of 
the  Antrim  Glens,  the  descendant  of  Regal  Irish  families  and  of  a 
Greek  family,  who  were  followers  of  William  the  Conqueror,  was 
sure  to  have  suitors  and  admirers,  and  among  these  suitors  the 
successful  one  was  Eoin  ^fnr  a  J file  (Tall  John  from  Islay),  equally 
illustrious  in  descent.  John  More  Macdonnell  .-ind  Margery  or 
Maria  Byset  were  married  about  the  year  1.391),  by  which  the  lord- 
ships of  the  Antrim  Glens  passed  to  the  Macdonnells  of  Islay. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Owen  Mac  Bisset  and  of  Sabbia,  daughter 


The  Macdonnells  of  Antrim.  87 

of  Hugh  O'Neill,  and  wife  to  Owen  Mac  Bisset,  a  lady  who  is  said 
to  have  surpassed  all  the  ladies  of  the  Clanna  Neill  in  all  good 
parts  requisite  for  the  character  of  a  noble  matron. 

John  More  was  the  second  son  of  John.  Lord  of  the  Isles, 
whose  mother  was  Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  II..  King  of 
Scotland.  His  eldest  brother  was  Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  who 
fought  the  battle  of  Harlaw  against  the  royal  forces  of  Scotland, 
subsequent  to  which  he  was  called  Donald  of  Harlaw,  and  his 
youngest  brother  was  named  Alexander. 

John  More  Macdonnell  about  the  time  of  his  marriage  dwelt 
in  Kintyre,  where  the  family  had  two  seats,  one  at  the  head  of 
Loch  Kilkerra  (Ceann-loch-Chille-Chiaran),  so  called  from  St 
Ciaran,  who  settled  there  in  the  year  536.  The  Macdonnells' 
Castle  stood  at  the  head  of  what  is  the  present  main  street  in 
Campbelton.  The  site  is  known  as  Castle-hill,  whereon  the 
Presbyterians  have  erected  a  wofully  common-place  church 
excessively  unworthy  of  the  poetic  associations  of  the  situation. 
James  IV.,  when  engaged  in  extinguishing  the  Kingdom  of  the 
Isles,  rebuilt  the  Macdonnells'  Castle,  and  named  it  his  "New  Castle 
of  Kilkerane  in  Kvntire.  '  In  1-13G  it  was  fortified  by  James  V., 
but  soon  thereafter  retaken  by  the  Macdonnells.  Another  castle 
stood  near  the  Mull,  known  in  early  times  as  Dundomiell.  It  \vas 
situated  in  the  old  parish  of  Killeau,  or  about  the  centre  of  the 
present  united  parishes  of  Saddell  and  Ski  [mess.  Likely  it  was 
erected  by  Domiell,  son  of  Reginald,  and  grandson  of  Somerled. 
Here  the  charters  given  to  vassals  by  Princes  of  the  Isles  are  said 
to  have  rim  thus  : — "  I,  Macdouuell,  sitting  in  Dundomiell,  give 
you  a  light  to  vour  farm  from  this  day  till  to-morro\v,  and  every 
day  thereafter,  so  long  as  von  have  food  for  the  great  Macdonnell 
of  the  Isles.''  Another  of  these  grants,  conveying  lauds  to  a  chief 
of  the  Mackays,  is  expressed  in  these  terms  : — "  I,  Domiell,  chief 
of  the  Macdonnells,  give  here,  in  mv  castle,  to  Mackay  a  right  to 
Kilmahumag  from  this  day  till  to-morrow,  and  so  on  for  ever." 
The  fortress  of  Dimaverty  was  not  used  as  a  family  residence,  and 
at  the  time  of  John  M ore's  marriage  Cleii  Sauddell  Castle  had 
become  the  possession  of  the  Bishops  of  Argyll.  Forthwith,  sub- 
sequent to  the  marriage,  the  young  married  pair  paid  a  visit  to 
Islay,  where  the  brother  of  the  bridegroom,  "  Domiell  of  Harlaw," 
then  resided.  John  More  Macdonnell  was  styled  Lord  of  Dunyveg 
and  Glennis  ;  the  former  part  of  the  title  was  the  name  of  the 
family  mansion  in  Islay,  and  the  latter  the  name  of  tho  Antrim 
estates  obtained  along  with  his  wife,  Margery  Byset.  He  was  so 
styled  iu  the  year  1400,  which  was  shortly  after  his  marriage.  He 


88  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

had  obtained  from  his  father  120  marklands  of  old  extent,  or 
about  3600  acres,  in  Kintyre,  and  also  60  marklands,  or  about 
1800  acres,  in  Islay.  So  he  and  his  successors  besides  were  styled 
Lords  of  Islay  and  Kintyre,  a  title  whereby  they  were  better 
known  in  Scotland.  It  would  seem  that  John  More  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  portion  of  his  father's  possessions  which  had 
been  settled  on  him  ;  and  disputes  upon  this  point  arose  between 
himself  and  his  brother  Donald,  the  Lord  of  the  Isles.  These 
disputes  ended  in  a  civil  broil,  wherein  John  More  was  overthrown. 
So  he  and  his  adherents  were  obliged  to  make  as  quick  a  retreat 
as  was  possible  for  them  to  the  Glens  of  Antrim.  Here  is  an 
account  of  this  dispute  and  quarrel,  recorded  by  Hugh  Macdonald, 
the  chronicler  of  Sleat : — "About  this  time  lived  the  subtle  and 
wicked  councillor,  the  Green  Abbot  Finnon,  by  whose  daughter 
John  More  had  a  natural  son  called  Ranald  Bane,  of  whom 
descended  the  house  of  Lairgy.  Maclean  fostered  Donald  Balloch, 
John  More's  eldest  legitimate  son,  by  the  Abbot's  advice,  who 
told  John  More  that  he  had  but  a  small  portion  of  his  father's 
estate,  and  that  he  should  seize  upon  all  that  was  beyond  the 
point  of  Ardnamurchan  southward.  The  Abbot  being  a  subtle 
eloquent  man,  brought  over  to  his  side  the  chief  of  the  Macleans 
and  Macleod  of  Harris,  to  get  the  islands  for  themselves  from  the 
Lord  of  the  Isles,  who,  hearing  of  the  insolence  of  the  new  faction, 
raised  some  powerful  forces,  viz.,  the  men  of  Ross.  Macleod  of 
Lewis,  his  own  b -other  Alister  Garrick,  Macintosh,  Mackenzie, 
the  chief  of  the  Camerons,  the  Islanders,  the  men  of  Urquhart  and 
Glemiioristoiij  the  Gleneoe  people,  and  Macneil  of  Barra.  Now 
John  and  his  party  could  not  withstand  the  forces  of  his  brother, 
so,  leaving  Kintyre,  lie  went  to  Galloway.  Macdonald  followed 
them.  John  went  from  Galloway  to  Ireland,  and  remained  in  the 
Glens.  Donald  returned  to  Islav.  John  More  and  his  faction, 
seeing  that  both  they  themselves  and  their  interest  were  like  to 
he  lost,  unless  Macdonald  pardoned  himself  and  spared  the  rest 
for  his  sake,  thought  their  best  course  was  to  go  to  Islay,  where 
Maedonnell  resided  in  Kilcummin  (Kilchoman).  Upon  John 
More's  coming  into  his  brother's  presence,  and  prostrating  him- 
self to  the  ground,  his  brother  rose  and  took  him  up,  and  embraced 
him  kindly.  This  sedition  was  owing  to  Mac  Finnon  and  his  kins- 
man, the  Green  Abbot.  Mac  Finnon  being  found  guilty  and  con- 
victed, was  hanged,  and  the  Abbot  was  all  his  lifetime  confined  to 
Icolumkill,  his  life  being  spared  because  he  was  a  churchman, 
where  he  built  a  stately  tomb  to  himself,  which  is  still  to  be  seen/' 
Collectonea  de,  Reims  Allianicis,  pp.  303,  304- 


The  Macdonnells  of  Antrim.  89 

John  Merc's  brother,  Donald,  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  died 
about  the  year  1425,  at  the  Castle  of  Ardtornish,  in  the 
forty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  his  son,  Alexander,  succeeded 
him,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  had  not  attained 
his  majority.  His  kinsman,  James  I.  of  Scotland,  who  had 
been  tor  eighteen  years  a  prisoner  in  England,  was  now 
released,  and  he  returned  to  his  native  country  to  become  its 
king.  He  seems  to  have  been  jealous,  as  well  as  afraid,  of  the 
great  power  which  the  island  princes  had  attained  by  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  great  earldom  of  .Ross,  which  came  to  them  bv  Mary 
Leslie,  Countess  of  Koss,  the  wife  of  Donald  of  Harlaw,  and  the 
mother  of  Alexander,  Lord  of  the  Isles.  Certain  members  of  the 
Royal  Family  surrounded  James,  on  his  return  to  Scotland,  wh  j 
had  been  disappointed  in  their  hopes  by  the  result  of  the  battle  of 
Harlaw,  and  who,  consequently,  became  the  mortal  enemies  of 
Donald,  who,  after  that  battle. 'secured  possession  of  the  earldom 
•of  Koss,  and  also  of  Alexander,  his  son,  who  was  heir  to  it  in  his 
mother's  right.  It  was  determined  by  James  and  his  Council  that 
the  whole  of  Scotland  should  be  entirelv  ruled  by  one  King,  and 
they  offered  to  take  John  More,  the  uncle  of  Alexander,  into  their 
counsels,  and  even  to  bestow  upon  him  the  lands  which  they 
meditated  to  take  bv  violence  from  his  nephew.  One  James 
Campbell  was  sent  by  the  King,  in  the  meantime,  to  ascertain  if 
John  More  of  Kiutyre,  Maedonnell's  uncle,  would  consent  to  take 
li:s  nephew  !•:  lands  ;  but  it  was  merely  a  stratagem,  to  weaken  the 
Macdonnells,  that  thev  mi^ht  be  the  more  easiiv  subdued.  A 


Kintyre,  asking  him  to  meet  him  at  a  point  called  Ard-dhu,  with 
some  prudent  gentlemen,  and  that  he  had  matters  of  importance 
from  the  King  to  be  communicated  to  him.  John  arrived  ,-it  the 
place  appointed  with  a  sma.il  retinue,  but  James  Campbell  with  a 
large  train.  He  informed  John  .More  of  the  King's  intentions  of 
granting  him  all  the  lands  that  his  nephew  possessed.  John 
replied  he  did  not  perceive  in  what  respect  his  nephew  wronged 
the  King,  who  was  as  deserving  of  his  rights  as  he  could  be  ;  and 
that  he  would  not  accept  of  those  lands,  or  serve  for  them,  till  his 
nephew  should  bo  set  at  liberty,  who  was  himself  as  nearlv  related 
to  the  King  as  he  was.  James  Campbell,  on  hearing  this  response, 
told  him  that  he  was  the  King's  prisoner.  John  made  all  the 
resistance  that  lie  could,  but  was  overcome  by  numbers,  and  slain. 
James  I.  quickly  learned  that  he  had  erred  seriously  in  this 
manner  deceitfully  contriving  the  capture  or  destruction  of  John 
More.  The  murder  excited  a.  profound  feeling  of  indignation 


90  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

through  the  whole  country,  more  particularly  among  such  potent 
and  formidable  opponents  of  the  King's  policy  as  the  Douglases, 
Lindsays,  and  Hamiltons.  James  felt  ashamed,  and  ultimately, 
terrified  by  the  results  of  his  own  dissimulation,  he  protested  that 
he  had  only  instructed  Campbell  to  capture  John  More,  and  at  the 
same  time  he  actually  gave  orders  to  have  Campbell  tried  for  the 
murder.  Campbell,  on  being  convicted,  earnestly  and  strongly 
maintained  that  he  had  the  authority  of  the  King  for  what  he  had 
done.  Nevertheless,  he  could  not  produce  any  written  order  from 
James,  and  he  was  executed.  His  death  was  intended  as  evidence 
of  his  lloyal  but  pusillanimous  master's  innocence  in  the  affair. 
It  was,  notwithstanding,  insufficient  to  assuage  the  fierce  feelings 
of  revenge  which  were  aroused  by  the  base  and  treacherous  murder 
of  John  More  Macdonncll.  The  fire  had  been  kindled,  and  blood 
alone  could  extinguish  its  rapidly  spreading  flames.  This  thirst 
for  vengeance,  intensified  by  the  deceitful  captrre  of  the  youthful 
and  popular  Alexander,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  pervaded  the  Highlands 
and  Isles.  To  meet  this  emergency,  .lames  bestowed  the  lands  of 
Lochaber,  which  had  been  wrested  from  the  Macdonalds,  on  his 
own  kinsman,  the  Karl  of  Mar,  who  immediately  proceeded  to 
raise-  an  army,  which  was  hastily  marshalled  under  the  Karl  of 
Huntly,  Allan  Lord  Caithness,  Kraser  of  Lovat,  Alackay  of  Strath- 
navern,  and  the  Chieftain  of  the  Camerons,  who  prevailed  on 
several  brandies  of  the  Macdonalds  to  join  them,  by  promising 
Thai  i  be  lands  which  they  held  under  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  should 
be  bestowed  upon  them  by  King  James. 

John  M ore's  eldest  son,  Donald  Balloch  (Cael.  fatf/ach,  spotted 
or  speckled),  a  young  man  of  twenty  vears  of  age,  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  Islesmen  and  of  a  small  force  collected  in  the 
glens  of  Antrim.  He  speedily  put  his  men  on  board  a  fleet  of 
galleys,  and  landed  ilu-m  on  the  shore  of  Lochaber,  within  some- 
what more  than  a  mile  of  the  foe.  The  young  Lord  of  the  Isles 
was  at  the  time  a  prisoner  in  Tantallon  Castle,  and  when  he  heard 
of  the  muster  in  the  Highlands,  under  his  cousin  Donald  Balloch, 
he  sent  a  message  from  the  prison  to  encourage  his  kinsmen  and 
subjects  to  face  his  foes  gallantly,  albeit  they  should  never  see 
him  again.  The  Highlanders  and  Islesmen,  fired  with  the  desire  of 
revenge  for  the  murder  of  one  of  their  chiefs,  and  for  the  tyran- 
nical and  unjust  imprisonment  of  another,  were  eager  and  keen 
for  light.  Young  .Maedonnell,  on  reconnoitering  the  position  of 
the  enemy  at  Invcrloehy,  ordered  an  instantaneous  attack.  His. 
men  rushed  forward,  with  unquenchable  thirst  for  vengeance,  at 
the  word  of  command.  The  Lowland  knights,  who  were  very 


The  Macdonnells  of  Antrim.  91 

numerous  in  the  Royal  army,  placed  much  confidence  in  the 
superior  armour  and  discipline1  of  their  men  ;  but  these  advantages 
were  of  no  consequence  against  the  fierce  assault  of  their  Highland 
antagonists,  who  wielded  tli'-ir  broadswords  and  Lochaber  axes 
with  all  the  terrific  energy  and  activity  of  northern  warfare.  One 
thousand  men  of  the  Royal  army  were  killed,  chiefly  in  the  retreat 
from  the  field  of  Inverlochy.  Among  the  slain  were  Allan  Stewart, 
Lord  Caithness,  with  sixteen  of  his  personal  retinue,  and  many 
barons  and  knights  from  the  southern  counties  of  Scotland.  After 
this  great  victory  the  Highland  host  dispersed,  and  returned  to 
their  native  hills  and  glens.  They  lost  no  more  than  fifty  men  on 
the  field  of  Inverlochy. 

Donnell  Balloch,  as  well  as  several  other  leaders,  after  this 
splendid  victory,  in  vengeance  of  the  foul  murder  of  John  More, 
steered  their  galleys  over  the  Channel,  and  sought  rest  and 
security,  of  which  they  stood  greatly  in  need,  in  the  woody  glens 
of  Antrim.  A  dispatch  from  the  Scottish  king  to  O'Xeill  soon 
followed  them,  wherein  King  James  requested  O'Neill  to  send 
back  to  him  Donald  Balloch,  alive  or  dead.  O'Neill,  who  had, 
prior  to  this  request,  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  King  of  Scot- 
land of  mutual  aid  against  England,  sent  King  James  a  human 
head,  which  was  accepted  with  joy  as  that  of  Donnell  Balloch  by 
the  Scottish  Court,  then  at  Perth.  Nevertheless,  Donnell  was 
still  in  possession  of  his  own  head  ;  and,  at  the  time  of  the  trans- 
mission of  the  other  head  to  Scotland,  he  was  using  his  own  head 
in  paying  his  addresses  and  making  love  to  O'Neill's  daughter, 
whom  he  married  shortly  afterwards.  By  the  help  of  his  wife's 
powerful  connections — the  ()'Xeills--he  was  restored,  with  but 
little  delay,  to  his  estates  in  Islay  and  Kintyre. 

It  has  been  asserted  by  some  writers  that  the  king  came  to 
Dunstafthage  after  the  battle  of  Inverlochy,  and  that  .">00  of 
Donald  Balloeh's  followers  were  executed.  These  writers  are 
very  much  mistaken,  for  no  such  thing  ever  took  place.  None  of 
them  was  every  missed,  or  as  much  as  mourned  for,  either  in  the 
Isles  or  in  any  other  place.  Otherwise  the*;  had  their  choice, 
were  they  pursued,  either  to  betake  themselves  to  the  hills  or  to 
go  to  Ireland. 

Although  the  earlier  portion  of  Donald  Balloch's  life  was 
passed  in  tumult  and  warfare,  he  enjoyed  more  than  an  average 
share  of  peace  from  his  marriage  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
about  the  year  1480,  which  took  place  on  Elian  Nave,  on  Loch 
Gruinert,  Islay,  where  the  Macdonnells  had  a  residence. 


92  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

His  son  Eoin  (John),  succeeded  him,  who  married  Sabina,  the 
daughter  of  another  Ulster  chieftain,  named  Felim  O'Neill.  He 
does  not  seem  to  have  lived  long  after  his  marriage.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Eoin,  or  John,  called  Cahanagh,  on  account 
of  being  fostered  in  Northern  Ulster  with  the  O'Cahans.  Other 
Anglicised  forms  of  O'Cathain  are  Caine,  Cane,  Kane,  Keane, 
Keen.  John  Oahanagh  is  in  its  Gaelic  form  Eoin  Cathanack,  who 
was  a  warrior  worth}'  of  his  race. 

Without  any  delay,  after  the  forfeiture  of  the  aged  John, 
Lord  of  the  Isles,  11/1493,  James  IV.  set  oif  speedily  to  the 
Western  Highlands,  to  .receive  personally  the  submission  of  the 
potent  vassals  who  had  given  allegiance  to  the  throne  of  the 
island-kingdom,  but  were  then  readv  to  transfer  their  fealty  to 
the  Scottish  cro\vn.  Among  these  was  John  Cahanagh.  James 
was  especially  anxious  to  conciliate  him,  and  conferred  on  him  the 
honour  of  knighthood.  It  is  supposed  that  James  granted  to  this 
extensive  land  proprietor,  both  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  a  charter 
of  all  his  lands,  reserving  the  fortress  of  Dunaverty,  to  be  occupied, 
when  necessary,  in  the  royal  service.  This  reservation  neverthe- 
less seems  to  have  entirely  expelled  the  weak  commencement  of 
lovaltv  in  the  heart  of  the  island  potentate.  Dunaverty  was  a 
position  strong! v  and  especially  associated  with  the  eventful 
historv  of  his  family  ;  and  he  felt  it  probably  of  greater  impor- 
tance that  it  was  the  place  of  all  others  through  which  his  Antrim 
large  estates  was  more  effectually  preserved.  The  king  was  so 
keen  to  get  his  northern  troubles  thoroughly  settled  that  he 
returned  to  the  island  in  July,  the  ensuing  year,  1494.  He 
brought  \\ith  him  an  imposing  force,  and  he  bore  himself  in  every 
respect  towards  his  island  subjects  as  a  sovereign  who  Avas 
resolved  to  compel  submission.  Without  any  further  explanation 
or  ceremony  bevond  what  he  had  stated  the  preceding  year  to 
John  Cahanagh,  he  took  possession  of  the  Castle  of  Dunaverty, 
placed  in  it,  as  well  as  in  that  of  Tarbert.  a  large  garrison,  and 
supplied  these  castles  amply  with  artillery  and  skilful  gunners. 
Sir  John  Cahanagh  was,  bv  these  proceedings  of  King  James, 
disagreeably  enlightened  regarding  his  intentions.  So  he  decided 
on  his  own  plan  of  action.  He  secretly  assembled  his  faithful 
followers,  watched  for  a  chance  to  expel  the  royal  garrison  from 
Dunaverty,  and  take  possession  of  Kintyre.  King  James  did  not 
anticipate  any  opposition  to  his  arrangements,  and  was  in  the  act 
of  sailing  away  with  his  personal  attendants  from  the  Mull,  when 
Sir  John  stormed  Dunaverty,  and  hanged  the  Governor,  from  the 
wall,  in  sight  of  the  king  and  his  departing  ships. 


The  Macc/onnel/s  of  Antrim.  93 

James  was  unable  to  avenge  this  insult  at  the  time,  yet  he 
contrived  in  his  own  mind,  as  lie  sailed  southwards,  a  dreadful 
amount  of  retribution.  To  accomplish  his  vengeance  he  sum- 
moned the  Earl  of  Argyll  to  his  assistance.  Through  the  agency 
of  Argyll,  a  kinsman  of  Sir  John  Cahanagh  was  found  to  under- 
take the  foul  and  treacherous  seizure  of  the  latter,  with  as  many 
of  the  doomed  family  as  it  was  possible  to  capture.  This  kinsman 
was  John  Mac  Ian  Macdonald  of  Ardnanmrchan,  who  had  a  feud 
with  John  Cahanagh  in  regard  to  the  lands  of  Simart  contiguous  to 
Ardnamurchan.  Mac  Ian,  on  account  of  being  a  kinsman,  had 
better  opportunities  of  perfidiously  seizing  the  Clandonnell  chief 
than  other  more  openly  avowed  enemies.  Mac  Ian  went  to  Islay, 
where  he  visited  his  relations  at  Finlagan  Castle,  who  were  not 
aware  that  lie  visited  them  with  a  deceitful  purpose.  There  he 
seized  Sir  John  Cahanagh  and  two  of  his  sons,  and  brought  them 
to  Edinburgh,  where  they  were  soon  subsequently  found  guilty  of 
high  treason,  and  executed  on  the  Burrowmuir.  Their  bodies 
were  buried  in  the  Church  of  St  Anthony.  These  facts  are 
recorded  by  Hugh  Macdonald  of  Sleat,  and  also  by  the  Macvurich 
manuscript.  They  are  also  mentioned  in  a  charter  from  the  king 
to  John  Mac  Can  of  Ardiiamurchai),  dated  the  24th  of  March,  1499, 
and  preserved  among  the  Argyll  papers,  rewarding  Mae  Ian  of 
Ardnamurchan  for  his  services  in  seizing  Sir  .John,  together  with 
his  sons,  and  several  of  his  accomplices.  This  grant  conveved  to 
the  grantee  lands  in  various  districts  to  the  extent  of  200  marks 
of  old  extent,  or  about  0000  acres,  including  the  portions  dis- 
puted between  the  two  kinsmen  in  Sun  art. 

To  ensure  the  extirpation  of  all  the  sons  of  John  Cahanagh, 
none  of  whom  were  left  alive,  except  Alexander,  who  concealed 
himself  in  the  Antrim  Glens,  Mac  Ian  was  ordered  to  go  after 
him  and  seize  him.  Mac  Ian  hearing  of  his  hiding  places,  went  to 
cut  down  the  woods  of  the  glens  in  order  to  destroy  Alexander, 
and  annihilate  the  whole  family.  At  last  Mac  Tan  and  Alexander 
met.  They  were  reconciled,  and  a  marriage  alliance  took  place. 
Alexander  married  Mac  Tan's  daughter.  This  alliance  likely 
remained  a  secret  to  the  Scottish  King,  who  expressed  his 
disappointment  that  the  entire  extirpation  of  the  Macdoimell 
leaders  could  not  have  been  then  attained.  But  balHod  in  this 
respect,  he  considered  the  next  best  thing  to  be  done  was  to  have 
a  penal  enactment  immediately  passed  in  the  Scottish  Parliament, 
prohibiting  Alexander  of  Islay  and  Kintyre  from  ever  setting  foot 
on  Scottish  soil,  or  owning  an  acre  of  land  in  the  kingdom  of 
Scotland.  A  measure  for  this  purpose  \vas  actually  passed,  and 


94  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

it  continued  in  force  during  the  lifetime  of  James  IV.,  who  was 
killed  at  Flodden  in  1513. 

Notwithstanding,  in  the  interval  the  young  chief  of  the  Clan- 
donnell  had  become  distinguished  in  Ulster.  He  had  been 
followed  thither  by  great  numbers  of  his  own  broken  clan  and  by 
many  soldiers  from  several  smaller  clans  which  had  agreed,  when 
the  kingdom  of  the  Isles  was  surrendered  in  1476,  to  follow  the 
banner  of  the  Clan-Ian-vore.  With  the  aid  of  these  hardy  R?d- 
s/tcmks,  as  they  were  termed,  who  are  largely  represented  at  the 
present  day  in  the  population  of  the  coast  of  Antrim,  Alexander 
Macdonnell  was  enabled  not  only  to  hold  the  family  inheritance  of 
the  Glens,  but  even  effectively  to  check  the  progress  of  the  English 
invader  throughout  Ulster.  James  V.  soon  found  it  to  be  the  best 
policy  to  reverse  the  vindictive  laws  of  his  father  towards  this 
exiled  Scottish  chief.  During  his  occasional  visits  to  his  native 
snore  many  highly  distinguished  marks  of  honour  were  bestowed 
upon  him.  When  we  find  the  last  mention  of  him  in  the  State 
Papers  he  is  returning  from  Scotland  at  the  head  of  8000  men 
provided  by  James  V.,  and  meant  to  counteract  the  warlike 
operations  so  energetically  carried  on  by  the  English  in  Ulster 
during  the  earlier  years  of  the  sixteenth  century.  This  force  was 
added  to  his  own,  and,  so  supplemented,  was  vigorously  and 
successfully  employed,  not  only  in  counteracting  the  English 
invaders  of  Ulster,  but  also  in  consolidating  the  Scottish  settle- 
ments on  the  coast. 

By  his  wife,  Catherine  Mac  Ian,  Alexander  Macdonnell  had  six 
sons  and  three  (laughters.  The  sons  were  all  leaders  among  the 
Scots  of  Ulster.  His  daughter  Mary  married  Hector  More  Mac- 
lean, Lord  of  Dowart,  in  Mull,  and  of  Morvern  or  Kenalban,  in 
Argyllshire.  This  couple  left  two  sons,  namely,  Hector  Oge,  who 
succeeded  his  father  in  the  estates  of  Dowart,  and  Ian  or  John 
Dim,  who  inherited  the  family  property  in  Morvern.  They  had 
also  seven  (laughters,  six  of  whom  were  married  into  leading 
families  of  the  Isles.  Alexander's  second  daughter  was  married 
to  a  chieftain  of  the  Maclcods,  and  the  third  became  the  wife  of 
a,  kinsman  named  Gillaspick  Macdonnell  of  Locale,  in  the  County 
of  Down.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  in  the  year  1545,  granted  lands 
to  .lames,  his  eldest  son,  with  remainder  to  his  brothers  Angus, 
Colla,  Alexander,  Donnell  Gorme,  and  Sorley.  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  and  her  husband,  Francis,  in  1558  renewed  the  grant  of 
1545,  with  remainder  to  his  brothers  Angus,  Coll,  Alexander,  and 
Sorley.  Six  brothers  are  here  distinctly  named  in  the  first  grant,  but 
only  five  in  the  third.  Sorley  Boy  (Somhairle  buidhe,  yellow- haired 


The  Macdonnells  of  Antrim.  95 

Sorley  or  Somerled)  was  the  youngest  of  the  sons.  Four  of  Alex- 
ander's sons  fell  in  the  battle-fields  in  Antrim.  James,  his  eldest 
son,  011  the  death  of  Alexander  of  Islay  and  Kintyre,  succeeded  his 
father  as  the  Chief  of  the  Claudonnell  South.  He  was  the  Lord  of 
Dunyveg  and  the  Glens,  as  well  as  the  military  leader  of  Clan 
Ian-Yore,  or  descendants  of  John  More.  A  short  time  after  his 
father's  restoration  to  Royal  favour  in  Scotland,  when  James  Mac- 
donnell  was  still  a  young  lad,  he  was  invited  to  the  Scottish  Court, 
and  there  put  under  the  care  of  William  Henderson,  Dean  of 
Holyrood,  who  had  been  chosen  to  give  him  such  a  course  of 
education  as  Scottish  noblemen  of  the  same  period  were  believed 
to  require.  It  was  then,  obviously,  that  young  Macdonnell  was 
taught  to  write,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  the  only  one  of  the 
sons  who  had  learned  that  useful  manual  art.  Few,  indeed,  of  the 
Highland  nobility  or  gentry  aspired  then  to  a  knowledge  of  pen- 
manship, as  they  considered  it  as  an  attainment  suitable  for  monks 
and  for  secretaries  for  lords  and  chieftains.  It  was  probably 
during  his  residence  at  Court  that  he  met  the  Lady  Agnes 
Campbell,  a  daughter  of  Colin,  third  Karl  of  Argyll,  to  whom  he 
was  married. 

The  Macdonnells  conquered  the  Route,  the  furthest  north  part 
of  the  county  of  Antrim,  which  they  added  to  their  other  posses- 
sion of  the  Antrim  Glens.  It  was  previously  possessed  by  a  native 
tribe  which  was  named  the  Macquillins.  At  the  death  of  his 
brother  Colla,  to  whom  the  Route  was  allotted  by  Sir  James,  he 
offered  it  then  in  succession  to  his  brothers  Angus  and  Alexander, 
both  of  whom  declined  to  accept  it.  His  youngest  brother,  how- 
ever, Sorley  Boy  (Somhairle  Buidhe),  did  not  refuse  the  offer. 
His  appointment,  notwithstanding,  seems  to  have  been  very  dis- 
agreeable to  the  former  owners,  the  Macquillins,  and  had  likely 
been  the  principal  cause  of  their  struggles,  shortly  thereafter,  to 
re-assert  their  claims  as  owners  of  the  Route.  A  battle  was  fought 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  small  stream  Aura,  in  which  the  Mac- 
quillins were  hopelessly  overthrown.  The  night  before  the  battle, 
Sorley  Hoy  ordered  rushes  to  be  strewn  on  a  dangerous  swamp 
which  lay  between  the  hostile  camps,  and  over  which  the  Mac- 
quillins  imagined  their  foes  intended  to  charge  them  verv  early. 
They  were  deceptively  led  to  believe  that  Sorley 's  road  across  the 
swamp  had  been  made  completely  safe  for  a  charge  of  cavalrv  ;  so 
they  determined  to  move  without  waiting  for  his  attack.  They 
rushed  at  the  swamp.  Their  horses  soon  sank  to  their  saddles 
among  the  thinly-strewn  rushes,  and  were  unable  to  move.  So 
their  riders  became  an  easy  prey  to  the  arrows  and  Lochaber  axes 


96  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness 

of  the  Clandonnell.  It  subsequently  became  a  saying  in  the 
district  that  "  a  rush-bush  was  never  known  to  deceive  anyone  but 
a  Macquillin." 

At  this  time  quarrels  took  place  between  the  English  and  the 
O'Neills.  Shane  O'Neill  quarrelled  with  his  father,  Con,  and  with 
the  English,  and  afterwards  became  reconciled  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 
with  whom,  for  the  time  being,  lie  became  a  favourite.  The  Scots 
of  Antrim  wished  to  keep  neutral,  but  Shane  pronounced  them  to 
be  enemies  to  the  Queen,  and  invaded  their  territories.  He  com- 
menced operations  on  the  5th  of  September,  1560.  He  began 
re-building  a  castle  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  l>ann,  and  sent  a 
detachment  over  the  river  to  occupy  the  monastery  on  the  western 
side,  which  was  held  by  his  men  against  the  Scots  during  a  siege  of 
twenty-four  hours.  In  this  conflict  Sorley  Boy  had  been  wounded. 
O'Neill  actively  employed  himself  in  preparations  for  the  following 
spring.  His  plan  for  the  spring  campaign  was  admirably  arranged 
and  dexterously  put  into  execution.  Early  in  April,  15 60,  all  his 
forces  were  armed,  and  ready  to  engage  in  fighting.  He  deter- 
mined to  attack  the  Macdonnells  in  their  furthest-oil'  positions,  and 
while  it  might  be  impossible  to  call  Sir  James  Macdonnell  to  their 
.'lid.  He  solemnly  celebrated  the  festival  of  Easter,  at  his  Castle 
of  Eedan,  near  the  Newre.  He  marched  on  the  ensuing  Tuesday 
as  far  as  Dromore,  and  thence,  the  next  day,  to  Monynimrock,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Edendufi'earrick.  He  continued  there, 
assembling  his  most  efficient  troops,  until  the  succeeding  Sunday 
afternoon,  and  then  inarched  quiekiv  northwards.  The  Macdon- 
nells were  now  undoubtedly  fullv  aware  of  his  purpose.  Their 
warning  iires  ilamed  along  the  Antrim  headlands  during  that 
Sunday  evening ;  and  not  speedier  had  the  first  flames  ascended 
From  the  hill  near  Torr  Point  than  faithful  Fir  Ghinntire,  or  men 
of  Kintvre,  scixcd  their  weapons  and  manned  their  galleys  with 
indomitable  valour.  Sir  James  Macdonnell,  who  then  resided  at 
his  ancient  Castle  of  Saudell,  without  the  slightest  de-ay  mustered 
the  whole  of  his  available  forces,  and  crossed  the  Channel  oil 
Mav-Eve.  Me  previously  made  arrangements  with  his  brother, 
Alexander  Oge,  to  go  after  him  speedily,  with  whatever  reinforce- 
ments could  be  gathered.  Sir  James  arrived  in  Cushindun  Bay— 
then  named  Bun-Abhann-Diiine1 — as  the  dawn  of  May  morning 
dissolved  the  mists  from  the  promontories  along  the  coast.  At 
the  time  of  his  disembarkation  his  own  castle  at  Red  Bay  was  in 
flames,  and  he  quickly  subsequently  discovered  that  the  work  of 
destruction  was  rapidly  advancing  inside  and  round  the  castle 

1  The  fir.st  syllable  of  Duine  is  short. 


The  Macdonnells  of  Antrim  97 

walls.  Sorley  Boy,  with  the  remnant  of  his  overthrown  force,  a 
few  hours  later  came  forward,  retreating  before  O'Neill.  The 
Kintyrc  men  now  united  with  him.  The  retreat  w»s  continued 
northwards  to  Bailycastle,  where  there  was  hope  that  Alexander 
Oge  would  arrive  that  day  with  assistance.  This  hope  was 
disappointed.  So  Sir  James  arid  Sorley  had  to  prepare  in  the 
best  manner  they  could  for  the  conflict  that  was  shortly  to  follow. 
On  the  morning  of  the  2nd  of  May,  before  five  o'clock,  O'Neill 
moved  forward  and  attacked  them.  O'Neill  had  double  the 
number  of  men  ;  the  Macdonnells  did  not  exceed  one  thousand. 
After  a  sanguinary  contest  the  Macdonnell  host  was  almost 
entirely  annihilated.  Its  otlieers  were  all  either  slain  or  taken 
prisoners.  Few  of  the  men  were  allowed  to  leave  the  field,  and 
yet  fewer  to  survive  the  retreat. 

Sir  .Tame 3  Macdonnell  was  left  to  die  in  O'Neill's  dungeon, 
although  his  release  had  been  asked  from  Shane  by  Queen  Kii/a- 
bcth,  earnestly  sought  by  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  demanded 
by  th<'  ivi.ii  of  Argyll,  in  the  name  of  the  great  lords  of  the 
Western  Highlands  and  tsles.  He  offered  a  vast  ramson  for 
himself,  and  the  Clandonnell  would  freely  give  his  weight  in  ^old. 
Shane,  however,  had  now  secured  his  great  rival  in  Northern 
Ulster,  and  believed  that  MacdonnelFs  destruction  was  the 
removal  of  the  principal  obstacle  to  the  accomplishment  of  his 
own  visions  of  irresistible  supremacy.  There  is  no  direct  evidence 
whether  his  distinguished  prisoner,  who  died  soon  after  his  capture, 
died  of  deliberate  neglect  or  of  violence.  The  Macdonnells,  never- 
theless, freely  and  frequently  charged  Shane  with  the  murder  of 
their  chief.  Mis  own  people  in  Antrim  and  the  Isles  grieved  for 
his  fate,  and  the  Four.  Masters  tell  us — "The  death  of  this  gentle- 
man was  generall v  bewailed;  he  was  a  paragon  of  hospi:ality 
and  prowess,  a  festive  man  of  many  troops,  a  beautiful  and 
munificent  man.  His  peer  was  not  to  be  found  at  that  time 
among  the  Clandonnell  of  Ireland  or  Scotland;  and  his  own 
people  would  not  have  deemed  it  too  much  to  give  his  weight  in 
gold  for  his  ransom,  if  he  could  have  been  ransomed/3 

Shane's  ambition,  which  nothing  else  could  satisfy  than  the 
sovereignty  of  Ulster,  led  him  into  a  hopeless  quarrel  with  the 
English.  Alexander  Oge  Macdonnell,  the  fourth  brother,  accord- 
ing to  an  arrangement  with  Sir  Henry  Sydney,  had  arrived  at 
Cushindun,  to  take  part  in  the  war  against  O'Neill.  Shano 
O'Xeill,  notwithstanding  his  treachery  to  the  Macdonnells,  was 
induced  to  open  negotiations  with  them,  by  some  means,  through 
Sorley  Boy,  whom  he  had  retained  so  long  as  a  captive.  An 


98  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

invitation  was  sent  by  Shane  to  Alexander  Oge,  desiring  that  he 
and  they  should  have  an  amicable  meeting  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  a  permanent  alliance  against  their  common  enemv,  the 
English.  The  invitation  was  joyfully  and  readily  accepted  by  the 
Maedonnells.  It  was  agreed  that  the  meeting  should  take  place 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  present  village  of  Cushindun,  above 
the  bay,  011  the  north-western  slope.  O'Neill  went  thither  at  the 
appointed  time.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  Countess  Dowager 
of  Argyll,  his  secretary,  and  a  little  troop  of  fifty  horsemen.  A 
magnificent  banquet  had  been  prepared  to  inaugurate  the  re-union 
of  the  O'Xi-ills  and  the  Macdonnells.  The  festivities  were  carried 
on  agreeably  for  two  days,  when  one  of  the  Macdonnells  charged 
O'Neill's  secretary  with  originating  or  spreading  a  report  of  a 
marriage  then  said  to  be  contemplated  between  O'Neill  and  the 
widow  of  Sir  James  Macdonnell.  This  re]  tort,  which  had  reached 
the  Government,  and  was  alluded  to  in  a  letter  from  the  Irish 
Deputy  to  the  Council  in  England,  was  considered  by  the  Mac- 
donnells  as  a  base  slander  on  the  lady  of  their  late  chief.  The 
secretary,  instead  of  using  mild  speech,  taunted  the  Macdonnells 
as  not  deserving  the  honour  which  they  appeared  so  desirous  to 
repudiate  ;  and  he  reminded  them  that  O'Neill  was  the  hereditary 
prince  of  Ulster,  so,  consequently,  lie  maintained  that,  by  Ins 
ancient  pedigree,  as  well  as  by  his  high  position,  he  was,  in  every 
respect,  entitled  to  match  even  with  their  Queen,  Mary  of  Scot- 
land. Shane  himself  approached  at  this  point  in  the  conversation, 
indiscreetly  took  up  iiis  secretary's  quarrel,  and,  no  doubt,  spoke 
his  :n;ind  freely  on  the  subject  in  dispute.  The  Macdonnells  were 
exasperated  bv  his  insulting  language,  and,  recollecting  his  former 
treachery  to  them,  drew  their  dirks,  hewed  him  to  pieces,  and 
threw  his  mutilated  remains  into  a  pit,  near  the  place  where  he 
was  slain.  So  the  disaster  on  the  field  of  Glentaisi  was  thus,  to  a 
certain  extent,  avenged,  and  Sorley  l>oy  was  restored  to  freedom, 
after  a  painful  and  mortifying  captivity  of  more  than  two  years. 

Sorley  j.>oy  was  now  the  chief  leader  among  the  Macdonnells  of 
Antrim.  In  June,  1567,  he  crossed  the  Channel  to  Kintyre  :  but 
he  did  not  go  till  he  had  assured  himself  that  the  Scottish  settlers 
in  Antrim  remained  on  their  lands.  He  spent  the  remainder  of 
that  summer  in  the  Isles  and  among  the  hills  of  Argyllshire.  He 
was  successful  in  forming  an  alliance  between  the  Campbells  and 
the  Macdonakls.  So  he  collected  eight  hundred  chosen  men,  and 
returned  to  Ballycastle  on  the  27th  November,  1567.  His  return 
was  speedily  announced  to  the  English  Government  by  both  Piers 


The  Macdonne/ls  of  Antrim.  99 

and  Malbie,  two  of  its  most  energetic  agents  in  the  North.  On 
his  return,  he  re-introduced  himself  modestly  to  the  authorities 
of  the  Pale,  requesting  to  have  quiet  and  immediate  pos- 
session of  the  Glens,  by  grant  from  the  Crown,  winch  were 
his  family  possessions,  and  also  of  the  hinds  of  Monery  and 
Carev.  The  Government  hesitated  and  delayed.  So  Sorley  found 
that  he  had  no  alternative  but  an  appeal  to  arms,  arid  lie  was  not 
slow,  when  thus  obliged,  to  commence  a  quarrel.  I>y  the  begin- 
ning1 of  1568,  the  English  garrisons  along  the  coast,  except  that 
of  Dunluee,  had  disappeared,  and  their  places  were  occupied  by 
bands  of  stern  Islesmen  and  Highlanders.  A  few  months  there- 
after Sorley  was  the  central  figure  of  a  number  of  Ulster  .Lords, 
whom  lie  had  attracted  around  him.  All  these  united  in  a  league 
against  the  Government.  Of  these,  the  two  most  conspicuous, 
after  S:»rley  himself,  were  Brian  Felini  O'Neill,  the  chief  of  Upper 
or  Southern  Ciaimaboy,  a, id  Tuiiough  Luinech  O'Neill,  cousin  of 
Shane,  who  now  renounced  his  allegiance  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  and 
proclaimed  himself  tiie  rightful  hereditary  Prince  of  Ulster.  Xot 
:iii  with  this  significant  movement,  Sorley  returned  to  Scot- 
land, and  secured  an  aliia've  v:il  h  Doniiel!  Gorme  Macdonnell, 
the  patent  Chief  of  Sleat.  With  his  aid  the  Chief  of  Antrim 
qu::  kly  assembled  a  force  of  tU*'<0  men.  which  he  sent  to  the 
Anlri.n  coast  without  delay,  by  means  of  thirty-two  galleys  and 
several  boats.  The  English  ofrcred  no  opposition  to  the  landing 
of  this  formidable  host,  and  there  was  no  c.un])aigning  in  Ulster 
during  the  two  succeeding  years.  The  Macdonneils,  therefore, 
we"  i  Billowed  to  till  their  lands,  and  enjoy  the  triumph  of 
re-en  tering  them  in  peace. 

This  was  truly  an  auspicious  interval  for  Scottish  Antrim 
colonists,  and  during  it  the  Ulster  League  was  extended  and 
strengthened  by  two  distinguished  marriage  alliances.  The  widow 
of  Sir  .lames  Maedonnell,  known  as  Lady  Kintyre,  daughter  to 
Colin,  thir.l  Earl  of  Argvli,  became  the1  wife  of  Suri<aigh  Luinech 
O'Neill  ;  and  her  daughter,  inneei)  i.)nl)h  .Macdonnell  was  married 
to  i  high  O'Donncll  of  Donegal.  Tiie  lady  of  Knit",  re  was  exceed- 
ingly influential  among  her  own  people,  the  Campb'lls,  and  soon 
after  iier  husband's  death  she  became  an  object  oi"  great:  int^i'est 
\viti)  such  Ulster  chiefs  as  then  happened  to  be  in  want  of  wives. 
Whether  she  possessed  gi'ea.t  personal,  eharms  is  not  ivcorded.  but 
she  coiiUl  command  the'  services  of  numerous  redshanks  :  so  with 
Irish  chiefs  this  power  on  the  lady's  part  constituted  a  superior 
claim,  for  that  leader  who  could  bring  the  greatest  number  of 


100  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Scottish  soldiers  into  the  field  was  usually  very  sure  to  come  oft  a 
victor.  The  Northern  League,  which  had  shown  symptoms  of 
decline,  was  revived  and  strengthened,  and  the  redshanks  became 
again  the  most  conspicuous  people  of  Ulster.  Sorley  Boy  fought 
for  many  years  with  the  English  in  defence  of  his  own  and  his 
people's  rights.  He  outwitted  and  circumvented  Essex  and  the 
other  English  rulers  with  whom  he  had  to  deal  in  diplomacy.  He 
regained  one  after  another  all  the  fortresses  in  Antrim  garrisoned 
by  the  English,  and  the  last  and  strongest  of  them,  Dunluce 
(Dun-lios,  strong  fort),  was  taken  by  him.  After  so  long  a  struggle, 
which  was  carried  out  with  consummate  valour  and  sagacity,  as 
he  now  understood  that  Queen  Elizabeth  was  disposed  to  be 
Favourable  to  him,  he  went  to  Dublin,  and  made  his  submission  to 
her,  and  all  his  lands  were  granted  him.  His  submission  was 
made  on  the  llth  of  February,  1580.  So  terminated  successfully 
SorK'v's  long  and  stormy  disputes  and  conflicts  with  the  State. 
He  died  in  1590.  His  wife,  Mary  O'Xoill,  daughter  of  Con,  first 
Ear!  of  Tyrone,  died  in  i-382.  Their  sons  were  Domicll,  Alexander, 
James,  Randal,  and  Angus.  Sorley  Boy  was  succeeded  by  his 
third  son  James,  who  died  at  Dunluee  on  Easter  Monday,  April  13, 
160  1.  l!e  was  a  gay,  a  handsome,  and  a  very  hospitable  knight. 
He  was  a  frequent  guest  of  James  Vi.  of  Scotland,  from  whom  he 
received  the  honour  of  knighthood. 

The  accession  of  James  VI.  of  Scotland  to  the  throne  of 
England  was  a  cause  of  rejoicing  to  the  Macdonnells.  i  vandal 
Macdoimell  succeeded  his  brother  .James.  He  was  the  i'ourcii  son 
of  Soriey  Boy.  He  was  fostered  in  Arran,  and  was  hence  called 
RanuU  Arannctch)  Anglicised  Randal  Arranach.  He  was  created 
Earl  of  Antrim  on  the  1 '2th  December,  18:20.  His  son  Jxuiidal 
.succeeded  him  as  Earl,  and  the  title  of  Marquis  was  sub.sequently 
conferred  on  him.  On  his  death  his  youngest  brother,  Alexander, 
succeeded  him  as  third  Earl  of  Antrim  ;  his  son,  Randal,  was 
fourth  Karl  of  Antrim  :  his  son,  .Alexander,  followed  him  as  fifth 
Earl  of  Antrim  ;  and  his  son,  Randal  William,  was  created  second 
Marquis  of  Antrim.  He  died  in  1791,  and  left  no  male  issue. 
His  eldest  daughter  Anne  Katheri ne,  succeeded  him  as  Viscountess 
Dmiiiiee  and  ( 'ountess  of  Antrim  in  her  own  riirht.  On  her  death 
the  Lady  Charlotte,  youngest  daughter  of  the  second  Marquis  of 
Antrim,  succeeded  as  Countess  of  Antrim  in  her  own  riii'ht.  In 
179'.)  this  lady  married  Hear- Admiral  Lord  Mark  Robert  Kerr, 
third  son  of  1  he  fifth  "Marquis  of  Lothian,  and  by  him  she  had  a 
numerous  family.  The  Countess  Charlotte  died  in  183:"),  and  was 
succeeded  by  her  fifth  son,  Hugh  Seymour,  as  seventh  Earl  of 


The  Macdonne/ls  of  Antrim.  101 

Antrim.  He  married  the  Lady  Laura  Cecilia  Parker,  daughter  of 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Macclesfield,  and  had  by  her  one  daughter,  Helen 
Laura,  who  married  Sir  Malcolm  Macgrcgor.  His  successor  was 
his  brother,  Lord  Mark  Kerr,  who  married  Jane,  daughter  of 
Major  M'Cann  of  Castle wellan.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest 
son,  Randal  William.  This  is  a  long  line,  all  of  whom  were 
worthy,  generous,  and  illustrious. 


2oth  FEBRUARY,  1801. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Society  on  this  date  Mr  John  Cameron, 
S.S.C.,  Edinburgh,  was  elected  a  member.  Thereafter  Mr  William 
Mackay,  solicitor,  read  a  [taper  contributed  by  Mr  John  Mackay, 
C.E.,  J.P.,  Hereford,  on  Sutherland  Place  Names — Parishes  of  Far r 
and  Tongue.  Mr  Mackay's  paper  was  as  follows  : — 

SUTHERLAND  PLACE  NAMES. 

PARIS n    OF    FARR. 

This  is  the  most  extensive  parish  of  Sutherland,  comprising  an 
area  of  195,197  acres,  of  which  343  are  foreshore  and  G442  water; 
it  is  throughout  mountainous,  and  at  the  south-west  boundary 
culminates  at  Mcall-nan-eoin,  one  of  the  peaks  of  ]>eii  chlibric,  in 
a  height  of  31~)4  feet  above  sea  level. 

The  rivers  Naver  and  Strathy,  gently  gliding  along  their 
courses,  fall  into  the  Xorth  Sea,  and  divide  the  parish  into  three 
parts,  Strathnaver,  Armadale,  and  Strathy. 

Along  the  banks  of  these,  more  especially  the  Xaver,  are 
luxuriant  meadow  and  arable  lands,  flanked  by  brown  hills  and 
fragrant  birch  woods.  The  hill  pasture  on  the  high  grounds  in 
the  interior,  away  from  the  coast,  is  reckoned  to  be  the  best  in  the 
county. 

It  was  from  these  two  beautiful  and  fertile  valleys,  that  in 
LSI  1-1 9,  the  inhabitants  were  ruthlessly  driven  to  the  sea  coast, 
and  congested  into  townships  on  the  bays  and  sterile  headlands, 
which  will  be  hereafter  described.  The  area  alloted  to  the  300 
families  displaced  did  not  exceed  8000  acres,  and  upon  this  small 
area  of  rough,  sterile,  rocky,  tempest -exposed  land,  they  have  ever 
since  subsisted.  The  average  arable  land  to  each  family  is  even 
now  only  about  2J-  acres,  reclaimed  by  themselves  from  rocks, 


102  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

moors,  and  mosses,  and  of  enclosed  land,  or  land  susceptible  of 
reclamation  and  cultivation,  there  is  none,  within  the  alloted  area, 
to  reclaim. 

While  the  natives  \vere  thus  huddled  together  and  consisted 
in  the  small  townships  on  the  coast,  180.000  acres  were  devoted  to 
sheep  farms,  of  which  there  are  now  eight,  averaging  22,000  acres 
cadi,  inclusive  of  the  rich  meadow  l;<n<Ss  along  the  Strathy,  the 
Xaver,  and  the  Mudale  rivers,  and  the  sides  of  Lochnaver.  In  the 
face  of  tins,  the  native  population  of  upwards  of  1800  arc  obliged 
to  find  subsistence  upon  4-J-  acres  per  head,  a  less  area  of  land 
than  the  sheep  farmers  allot  to  one  sh;  ep.  Can  the  irony  of 
events  go  further?  Is  n  man  said  to  be  created  in  the  image  of 
his  Maker  of  not  more  value  than  a  slieeo  !  ''To-^pora  mutantur 
nos  mutamur  In  illis." 

!u  the  not  remotely  past,  this  parish  was  a  very  nursery  of 
soldiers.  ;  titil  the  dire  evictions,  the  whole  population  was 
imbued  with  a  martial  spirit  of  no  common  order.  At  the  call  of 
its  two  best  native  chiefs,  two  or  three  companies,  each  100 
strong,  responded  to  the  "call  to  arms"  for  limited  service  in 
Fencible  regiments,  besides  those  who  entered  tiie  regular  High- 
land regiments  of  the  line.  In  1700  254  gallant  young  men 
marched  out  of  Stra-  huaver  in  one  day. 

i  lie  ;;  last  line  of  this  parish  is  indented  bv  bays  to  such  an 
extent  that  measured  along  this  line  it  is  2  I  .V  miles,  while 
measured  in  a  straight  line  it  is  only  11  miles,  These  bays  are 
Fair.  Swordly,  Kirtotny,  Armadale,  and  Strathy,  all  of  them  well 
aduj  ted  for  cod.  haddock,  ling  and  herring  iishing.  These  Rinds 
of  ii  lies  swarm  along  the  coast,  but  for  want  of  any  kind  of  har- 
bours, landing-places,  or  protection  of  boats,  the  population. 
esteemed  able,  expert,  and  intrepid  seamen,  are  unable  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  rich  harvest  the  sea  presents  to  them  all  the 
year  round. 

This  neglect,  inattention,  and  apathy  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  evicted  population,  evinced  by  the  evictors  and  their  succes- 
sors, in  not  providing  small  harbours  and  curing-places  for  the 
evicted  to  earn  a  decent  living  in  the  townships  situated  on  these 
bay^  and  into  which  they  were  forciblv  congested,  is  reallv  the 
most  surprising  in  the  astounding  deeds  committed  in  Sutherland. 

The  coast  also  projects  the  bold  and  sterile  headlands  of  the 
Creag-ruadh,  :}'M  feet  high  ;  Ard-Fair,  :U>9  feet  ;  Kirtomy,  467 
feet  :  Creag-gharbh,  102  feet,  and  Strathy  point,  267  feet.  These 
headlands  or  promontories  ;ire  composed  of  hold,  perpendicular 
rocks,  against  which  the  Xorth  Sea  beats  with  fearful  and 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  103 

thunderous  violence,  and  are  excavated  into  caves  and  caverns  of 
varied  dimensions,  the  resort  of  vast  numbers  of  seals  and  sea 
birds.  Upon  such  headlands,  too,  were  the  evicted  of  Strathnaver 
thrust  and  located. 

in  the  Valley  of  the  Naver,  are  still  seen  the  ruins  of  many 
so-called  Piecish  towers  and  Piets'  houses,  so  situated  that  a  beacon 
fire  could  be  seen  from  the  one  by  the  other,  showing  that  even  in 
prehistoric  times  a  large  population  existed  in  the  beautiful 
Strath.  Scattered  here  and  there  throughout  the  district  are 
numerous  hut  circles,  and  tumuli.  Half  way  up  the  Strath,  at 
Langualc,  "  wore/'  says  Pennant,  "  the  noble  remains  of  a  Druidi- 
cal  temple,  being  a  circle  of  100  feet  in  diameter,  surrounded  by  a 
trench,  so  that  the  earth  formed  a  bank,  in  the  midst  of  it  a 
stone  was  erected  like  a  pillar,  where  the  Druid  stood  and  taugh1". 
There  was  in  the  '  town  '  a  large  building  and  cemetery." 

Lower  down  the  strath,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Xaver,  are  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  Dun,  or  fort,  called  Dan-Videu,  probably 
Scandinavian,  after  Wodin,  or  Odisi,  the  great  deity  of  the  Norso 
warriors. 

"Between  Kirtomy  and  F-my'  says  the  same  writer,  ''is  a 
singular  curiosity,  well  worth  the  pains  of  a  traveller  to  view, 
being  the  remains  of  an  old  square  tower  or  building,  called. 
'  Borwe,'  standing  on  a  small  point  of  rock,  joined  to  the  mainland 
by  a  narrow  nock  ton  feet  wide.  The  point  is  very  high,  on  both 
sides  is  (loop  water,  and  a  tolerable  harbour  for  boats.  This  tower 
seems;  to  have  bo  en  built  bv  the  Norwegians,  and  there  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  oiio  Torquil,  a  warrior  mentioned  by  Torfaeus,  was  the 
person  that  built  it.  But  what  is  most  curious  is,  that,  through 
tho  rock  upon  which  the  tower  stands,  there  is  a  passage  below  of 
200  foot  in  length,  like  a  grand  arch  or  vault,  through  whie1'  they 
row  a  boat.  The  writer  (Mr  Pope  of  lleay),  has  been  one  of  a 
company  that  rowed  through  it.  The  passage  is  so  long  that,  when 
you  enter  at  one  end,  you  fancy  there  is  uo  possibility  to  got  out 
at  tho  other,  and  >','• :i  vt-r.it  i.  [fo\v  this  hard  rock  w:o;  ho;vd  or 
excavated  1  cannot  say,  but  it  is  one  of  i  ho  most  curious  natural 
arches  in  the  whole  known  world." 

Pennant  was  not  informed  by  Mr  Pope  that  this  was  a  strong- 
hold of  tiic  Aiackays  after  tho  expulsion  of  the  Norsemen;  or  that, 
about  15oO,  the  i>.u:l  of  Sutherian  1,  assisted  by  the  Gordons  of 
Huutly  and  Aboyne,  invading  the  Mn-'kay  territory,  bcsciged  this 
stronghold,  took  it,  and  hanged  its  gallant  defender,  .Hory  Mac- 
Lm-Mhor.  Probablvit  was  at  this  time  demolished,  for  its  name 
has  over  since  disappeared  from  record.  \Vhile  tho  Karl  was  thus 


104  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

engaged,  the  Mackays,  by  a  flank  march,  descended  into  the 
south-east  part  of  Sutherland,  ravaged  the  land,  defeated  some 
Sutherland*  and  allies  left  to  defend  the  country,  carried  away 
a  great  prey,  and  returned  into  their  o\vn  country,  eluding  the 
Earl,  who,  after  demolishing  "  Borwe,"  endeavoured  to  intercept 
them. 

At  the-  mouth  of  the  Baligil  burn  are  to  be  -till  seen  the  ruins 
of  a  similar  fort,  perched  on  a  rocky  pinnacle,  the  sea  surrounding 
it  on  three  sides.  It  is  connected,  like  "Borwe,"  to  the  mainland 
by  a  very  narrow  neck,  where  it  is  "fossed,"  and  over  the  fosse 
was  probably  a  drawbridge.  On  the  sea  face  the  tower  was 
circular,  with  a  straight  face  landwards.  This  semi-circular  por- 
tion seems  to  have  been  the  hall.  There  are  indications  of  walls 
leading  to  the  drawbridge,  as  if  forming  an  outer  or  entrance  hall. 
In  the  ildor  of  the  semi-circular  portion  is  an  entrance  to  a 
subterranean  passage  dug  in  the  rock,  Hagged  on  top,  and  led 
down  to  the  sea.  This  passage  is  from  three  to  four  feet  wide, 
and  five  to  six  feet  high.  There  is  no  record  or  mention  of  this 
fort.  The  writer  explored  it  in  September,  ISS9,  corning  upon  it 
by  chance,  having  no  idea  that  such  a  ruin  existed. 

The  locality  of  this  old  fort  presents  to  the  geologist  some 
very  interesting  features.  Here  there  is  a  belt,  of  limestone  of 
very  good  qualitv,  intercalated  with  old  red  strata,  grev,  and  red, 
flagstones,  and  calcareous  shales. 

MOUNTAIN  NAMES. 

Ben-('hlibrie. — A.  mountain  mass,  the  highest  in  Sutherland, 
the  highesr  peak  of  it,  "  Meall-aii-Kohi,"  the  hill  or  eminence  of 
f/tf  bird,  v,  liich  was  the  resort  "of  ihe  ptarmigan.  It  has  several 
other  peaks,  ranging  from  '27^)0  feet  to  :2o()7  feet  in  height, 
scarified  and  bare  from  the  storms  of  winter  and  the  violence  of 
the  elements.  The  definition  of  Clibric  is  doubtful,  from  the 
various  significations  that  may  be  given  to  the  iirst  syllable. 
Cli,  of  which  the  gen.  is  chli,  is  an  O.(i.  (obsolete,  or  oldGaelic) 
word  signifving  strength,  and  brie,  gen.  of  breac.  spotted  or 
speckled.  Hence  the  signification  of  the  term  Cli-breac  would  be, 
Spotted  strength,  the  *'  ^Mountain  of  spotted  strength,"  Spotted  or 
speckled  mountain  of  strength.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  northern 
hide  of  this  mountain,  looking  down  on  Lochnaver  at  its  foot,  has 
a  variegated  or  speckled  appearance.  u(.'li"  still  means  left  hand  or 
left  siik'.  as  "dcas"  does  the  right  hand  or  right  side.  In  olden 
time.-,  a  man  standing  with  his  face  to  the  Orient,  his  right  hand 
represented  the  south,  or  the  meridian  line,  his  left,  the  north,  or 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  105 

Polar  Star.  If  this  analogy  be  accepted,  Cli  would  signify  the 
left  or  north  side  of  the  mountain,  and  the  term  Cli-breac  would 
mean  speckled  north  side,  and  the  definition  would  become,  The 
mountain  of  the  speckled  north  side  ;  but  more  probably  the 
meaning  of  the  word  Clibric  may  be  from  Clcithe,  O.G.  for 
eminence  or  peak,  of  which,  as  we  have  said,  the  mountain  has 
several.  Hence  we  would  have  the  term  Beii-na-Cleithe-bric,  or 
mountain  of  the  spotted  eminences.  The  change  of  pronunciation 
from  Cleithe  to  Cli,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  is  easy.  ( 'liathag  (see 
Lhuyd)  is  O.G.  word  for  back  or  spine.  Hence,  if  we  take  the 
root  word  Cliath  to  have  been  anciently  back,  we  have  l>en-nan- 
Cliath-bric,  or  Mountain  of  the  speckled  back.  Now  we  have  to 
choose  which  is  the  more  probable  derivation  of  the  word,  or 
rather  the  syllable,  Cli  : — 

1.  Cli,  meaning  strength,  Mountain  of  spotted  strength,  or 
rather  Spotted  mountain  of  strength. 

"2.   ( 'li,  left  or  north  side,  Mountain  of  the  speckled  north  side. 

3.  Clcithe,  eminences.  Mountain  of  the  speckled  eminences. 

4.  I'liath,  back,  spine,  Mountain  of  the  speckled  back  or  summit. 
The  writer  favours  Xo.  2.  though  X;.).   3  seems  equally  applicable. 

B?n-stomiiio. — G.,  Beinn-an-tomain.  8toinin<)  is  the  Anglicised 
form  of  Xa-toniain,  tufts  or  bushes.  The  mountain  of  tufts  or 
bushes,  or  small  hillocks.  172S  feet  high. 

Beu-na-glas-choille,  G. —  Mountain  of  the  grev  or  green  wood. 
Glas  in  Welsh  is  bo'h  blue  and  verdant,  (lias,  O.G.,  green, 
verdant  (see  the  23rd  Psalm,  v.  2,  ''An  cluainibh  glas"— in  green, 
or  verdant,  pasture);  1230  feet  high;  Jr.,  glas;  Wei.,  glas.'  blue, 
green;  Arm,  glas:  Corn.,  glas,  blue,  green  :  Corn.,  marc  glas,  a 
grey  horse  ;  Arm.,  march  glas,  a  grey  horse  ;  Gael.,  each  u'las  ;  and 
ir.,  each  glas.,  a  grey  horse. 

CHOC  sgeireach,  (1. — Cnoc,  hill,  or  hillock,  a  common  prefix  in 
Scottish,  Irish,  and  Manx  topography.  It  appears  in  Radnor- 
shire as  "  kiiuck  las,''  proper  spelling,  cnwc-glas.  green  hill  ; 
sgeireach,  rocky,  the  jocky  hill  (172S  feet)  ;  sgeir  =  to  Norse  skcr, 
Gr.  Skiros,  a  rocky  isle  in  the  Greek  Archipelago. 

(ireag-na-h-i  laire,  (}.—  Rock  of  the  eagle,  the  eagle's  rock. 
227<w'  feet  high.  Creag  is  a  primitive  word  of  great  antiquity, 
meaning  everywhere  the  same  :  G.,  creag  or  craig.  rock,  or  rocky 
cliff  ;  Wei.,  careg ;  Ir.,  craig  ;  Manx,  creg,  and  cregg  ;  Manx, 
Carrick,  rock  in  the  sea. 

Creag  dhu-mhor,  G. — The  big  black  rock,  1S20  feet  high; 
G  ,  dubh  ;  Ir.,  dubh  ;  Wei.,  du.  ;  Corn.  Arm.,  douh,  ton  ,  smoked; 
<lu,  black;  Heb.,  dua  ;  Malay,  du,  bad;  Manx,  doo,  black,  dark; 


106  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

(.Jr.,   duinc  dubli  ;  Ir.,  duine  dubh  ;  W.,   dyn  clu  ;  Arm.,  deen  du  ; 
Manx,  doinney  doo,  black  man. 

Meall-an-amar,  G. — Meall-an-amair,  amair  gen.  of  amar,  a 
trough,  a  water  channel,  hill  of  the  water  channel  ;  Gr.,  amar-a,  a 
drain. 

Meall  an-fhiiarun,  G. — Meall-an-fhuarain,  gen.  of  fuaran,  a 
spring,  a  well ;  meal],  common  in  Gaelic  and  Irish  topography  ; 
in.  Scotland,  applied  to  hills  with  rounded  summits  ;  in  Ireland, 
generally  applied  to  hills  and  promontories  with,  bare,  bald  and 
rounded  summits.  The  primary  signification  of  mcali  is  lump, 
mass.  It  is  common  in  Wales  with  flic  same  application,  as  mo  el  ; 
Manx,  niooyl  ;  Meall-aii-fhuarain,  the  hill  of  the  spring  or  well. 
1549  feet  high. 

Meall-na  terniga,  G.  —Hill  jutting  out  in  the  shape  of  a  tongue, 
120.^  ' 

Meall-caiT-preas-iia-ruaig,  G.  —  Hill  of  the  bushy  rock  of  the 
cha-v  [its. 

Beii-chcir' ail,  G. — Geire,  buttock,  and  gval,  white,  mountain 
of  the  white  buttocks.  Beinn-a-eheire-gcal — it  is  said  that  all 
stags,  hinds  and  hares  found  on  an.-]  round  about  this  mountain 
have  white  buttocks  ;  !-):)2  Feet  high. 

Monadh  itairneach,  G.  — Monadh,  moor  ;  stairneach,  noisy — 
ihr  noisy  moorland.  Hero  it  is  an  elevated  moorland  plain,  from 
which  str<  mis  issue  :;;  the  north  and  south,  and  called  uo  from 
ihe  noise  of  tiiu  streams,  or  the  bellowing  of  the  doer  in  the  corries 
helovr. 

Mill  of  the  cudgels,  probably  in  reference  to 

dispn  ,      Ismen  about  disputed  boundaries  of  grazing, 

when  cudgels  \vere  drawn  and  used  :   !r.  hatta  ;  Arm.,  ba/.  ;  Fi\. 
ba1    ',}  :  Gr.,  bat-os  ;   Fr.,  bat-tre,  to  liht! 


Loch  .Ti-.vcr,  v.      Xavor,  from  nacfer.   [coiandie  and  Norwegian 
for   hi     '     ,  id    birch    bark,    with    which    they    cover   their 

house-Tools  (See  Laing,  "A  Tour  in  Xorway'''),  Hence  birch 
wood,  lake  of  the  birch  wood.  Both  Hides  of  this  lake  are  f'ri-i^ed 
with  birch  woods,  so  is  Stra1  mas  •'  leading  from  this  lake.  The 
lake  e;ave  its  name  to  the  river,  ihe  river  to  tlie  Strath.  'tis 
only  2  [7  feel  above  sea  level  ind  therefore  falls  only  :H7  feet  in 
18  miles,  with  an  e-jiiul  f;dl  sill  along  its  course.  At  its  upper 
end  it  roe  dves  the  waters  of  the  Bagastie,  the  Harra,  the  ^Ludale 
rivei'.s,  with  various  smaller  streams  on  each  side  oi"  it.  It  is  6^ 
miles  loiig,  and  \  mile  wide.  Notwithstanding  tlie  definition 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  107 

giving  here  a  Xorse  origin  to  the  river  or  lake  name  Navcr,  ancient 
Greek  and  Roman  geographies  give  another  name  to  this  river,  as 
they  had  done  to  the  Helmsdalc  river  in  Kildonan  in  the  south- 
cast  of  Sutherland,  centuries  previous  to  the  Norse  era.  Ptolemy 
of  Alexandria,  who  flourished  in  the  year  140  of  our  era,  improved 
the  geographies  of  the  times  preceding  his  day,  especially  that  of 
Marinus  of  Tyre.  He  calls  ';  High,"  li-a,  and  the  "  Xavor," 
Xabar-is.  Contemporary  and  subsequent  Roman  geographers  call 
it  Navac-as.  The  change  in  the  letter  b  to  v  frequently  happens. 
Then  Ptolemy's  Xabar-is  easily  becomes  Xavar-is.  Tiie  last 
syllable  is  added  by  the  Greek  geographer  Dimply  for  declension. 
Hence  we  have  Xaver,  the  name  probably  given  by  the  natives  of 
the  day  to  the  Tvrian  explorers  and  manners,  the  same  way  as 
they  gave  <:  High'' to  the  same  men.  What  does  "Xaver"  then 
mean  ?  In  the  Basque  provinces  of  Spain  we  have  a  similar  word. 
"  Xavarrc,"  one  of  the  l>asqno  provinces,  a  Basque,  or  Iberian 
word,  descriptive  of  the  countrv.  Xaba  or  Xava,  Highland,  and 
erri,  country  ;  Xava-erri,  highland  country  ;  Xavar-re,  Xaver. 
May  not  tins  liver  be  of  the  same  origin,  and  signifying  the  river 
of  or  from  the  high  lauds  .' 

Loch-coire-iia-fearna,  G. — Coire,  corrie,  mid  f'earna,  alders, 
whicli  gro\v  luxuriantly  along  its  southern  shore — lake  of  the 
corrie  of  the  aider  \vood.  It  is  515  Foci"  above  sea  level,  ensconced 
by  hills  on  each  side,  discharges  its  waters  by  the  river  Mallard 
into  the  Xaver  at  Vchucss. 

.Loch  na  Cuinnc,  G. — Cuinne,  O.G.,  corner,  or  angle — lake  "f 
the  corner  or  angle,  iu  reference  to  its  shape.  At  this  -angle  there 
is  a  channel  connecting  it  with  Locii-a-Clilar,  and  Loch-a-Chlar  is 
in  the  same  manner  connected  witli  Loch-bad-an-loch.  The 
difference  in  level  being  small,  the  waters  of  one  lake  ar  dis- 
charged into  the  other,  from  the  first-mentioned  to  the  second,  and 
from  the  second  to  the  third,  forming  reservoirs  for  the  iliigh,  or 
Hclmndalc  river.  These  lake  connections  are  locally  called  i'idli, 
O.G.  for  smoothly  flowing  water;  UVi.,  gwy,  now  Wye,  at  ii.ere- 
ford,  Wey,  in  Surrey,  Sussex,  and  Dorset.  The  O.G.  word,  cninnc, 
an  angle,  is  cognate  with  the  Latin  cune-ns,  ;'  wedge  ;  !r.,  coin, 
wedge;  modern  Gaelic,  geinn;  we:ige  ;  (Jr.,  genia,  ;ind  konos, 
wedge;  Wei.,  cyn,  wedge,  and  gaing,  wedge:  Arm.,  guen,  cuen, 
and  cyn,  vedge.  rrh.is  lake  is  o  miles  l(.>ng,  i.  mile  wide  at  the 
angle,  and  ,'39:2  feet  above  sea  level. 

Loch-a-bhealaich,  G.  —  Berilacii,  ;i  pass  between  hills,  a  defile, 
lake  of  the  derile  ;  Wei.,  bwlch  :  ir.,  bealach.  1  j;  mile  by  -|-  mile. 

Loch-Coirc-na-sith,  G.— Coire,  corrie,  and  sitli,  stillness,  lake  of 
the  corrie  of  stillness,  or  lake  of  the  still  and  quiet  corrie. 


108  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Loch-Meadie,  G. — Meide,  O.G.,  neck,  lake  of  the  neck,  in 
reference  to  one  portion  of  it  contracting  into  the  shape  of  a  neck, 
the  other  portions  being  wide.  Another  lake  of  the  same  name 
and  shape  is  in  Tongue  parish. 

Loch  Buidhe  mor,  G.— The  large  yellow  lake. 

Loch  Bnidhc  Beag,  G. — The  small  yellow  lake. 

Loch  na  Caoraeh  G. — Lake  of  the  sheep. 

Loch  mo  Naire,  G. — Lake  of  my  disgrace;  hereby  hangs  a  tale. 
This  is  a  Like  a  mile  below  Dimviden,  east  side  of  Strathnaver, 
celebrated  in  the  north  for  the  extraordinary  curative  properties 
of  its  waters  for  certain  diseases.  The  tradition  relating  to  this 
lake  name,  and  the  healing  virtues  of  its  waters,  is  thus  : — A 
woman  from  Ross-shire  came  to  the  heights  of  Strathnaver,  pre- 
tending to  cure  diseases  by  means  of  water,  into  which  she  had 
previously  immersed  some  pebbles  she  carried  about  with  her.  In 
her  progress  down  the  Strath,  she  lodged  for  the  night  in  Dun- 
viden,  Her  host  wished  to  possess  her  charmed  pebbles,  but, 
suspecting  his  design,  she  decamped.  Finding  she  was  gone,  he 
pursued  her,  and  almost  overtook  her  before  arriving  at  the  lake. 
Seeing  she  could  not  escape  her  pursuer,  in  her  desperation  on 
reaching  the  lake,  she  threw  the  pebbles  into  it,  exclaiming,  in 
Gaelic,  mo  nairo  !  my  shame  !  or,  my  disgrace  !  From  this  inci- 
dental exclamation,  the  lake  received  its  name  ever  after,  Loch  mo 
Naire  !  lake  of  my  disgrace  !  The  pebbles  were  supposed  to 
impart  to  the  waters  of  the  lake  their  curative  efficacy.  There 
are  only  four  days  in  the  year  on  which  its  supposed  cures  may  be 
effected,  u  a  cheud  luain  do'n  raidh,"  the  first  Monday  of  the 
quarter,  that  is,  of  February,  May,  August,  and  November  (okS 
style).  During  February  and  November  no  one  visited  it,  but  in 
May  and  August  numbers  from  Orkney,  Caithness,  Sutherland, 
lloss,  and  even  Inverness,  came  to  this  far-famed  loch.  The  cere- 
monies to  be  observed  were- -Patients  to  be  at  the  loch-side  about 
twelve  o'clock  at  night  ;  as  early  as  one  to  two  o'clock  on  Monday 
the  patient  is  to  plunge,  or  be  plunged,  into  the  loch  three  times  ; 
is  to  drink  of  its  waters  :  to  throw  a  coin  into  it  as  a  sort  of 
tribute  ;  and  must  be  away  from  its  banks,  so  as  to  be  fairly  out 
of  sight  of  its  waters  before  sunrise,  otherwise  no  cure  is  supposed 
to  be  effected. 

However  much  we  may  ridicule  all  this,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  mind,  fortified  by  bolief,  influences  matter.  Those  who 
resorted  to  Locli-mo-Naire  for  cures,  were  persons  afflicted  by 
nervous  complaints  and  disordered  imaginations,  to  whom  a 
journey  of  forty  or  fifty  miles,  plunges  into  the  cold  waters  of  the 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  109 

loch,  and  the  bracing,  healthful  air  of  the  hills  and  glens  contri- 
buted in  no  small  degree  to  the  improvement  and  even  the 
restoration  of  health.  If  there  was,  in  our  modern  opinions,  a 
great  deal  of  folly  in  the  ways  of  "the  days  that  were,"  we  may 
not  deny  that  there  was  a  kernel  of  wisdom,  too. 

Loch-Suidhe,  G. — ouidhe,  seat,  lake  of  the  seat,  see  Joyce  on 
Irish  place  names. 

HIVER  NAMES. 

Naver,  N. — Takes  its  name  from  the  lake  from  which  it  issues; 
uaefer,  birch  bark,  birch  copse  wood.  Sec  lake  names,  ante. 

Mallard,  G. — Mala,  brow,  and  ard,  river  of  '•  the  high  brow," 
in  reference  to  its  rushing  down  the  "  brow  "  of  Strathnaver,  at 
Achness.  It  falls  down  this  brow  150  feet  in  one  mile,  and  forms 
a  series  of  cascades  which  give  the  name  to  Achness,  Achadh-nan- 
Eas.  See  place  names,  post. 

Strathy. — G.,  srath,  valley,  and  Uidhc,  O.G.,  gently  flowing 
water.  The  river  gives  the  name  to  the  strath  ;  Ir.,  srath  ;  Wei., 
ystrad  ;  Corn.,  strath.  The  insertion  of  t  between  s  and  r  is  an 
expedient  for  avoiding  the  combination  of  sound.  It  is  found  in 
.Norse,  stromr,  a  stream  ;  in  the  itiver  Strymon  in  Thrace,  both 
from  the  Sanscrit  root,  sru,  to  ilow.  We  have  the  same  word  in 
Gaelic,  «rath,  strath,  a  strea-.n.  See  Jovco  Irish  .Place  Names,  vol. 
I.  p.  61. 

Allt-fada.  G. — The  long  stream.  Manx,  foddey,  far  (G.,  fada 
's  giorad,  far  and  near  ;  Manx,  foddey  as  gerrit,  far  and  near). 

Allt-na-harra,  G. — Allt-nu-h-aire,  the  stream  or  burn  of  watch- 
ing :  tigh-aire  means  observatory,  and  a  house  in  which  vigils  are 
held  over  a  corpse. 

This  word  is  locally  pronounced  as  if  spelled  Allt-na-h-airbhe, 
hence,  airbhe  may  mean  in  O.G.  profit  or  produce,  the  definition 
then  would  be  the  profitable  or  producing-  stream,  in  reference  to 
fish. 

Allt-staing-a-choirc,  G. — Staing,  gen.  of  stang,  a  pool  or  stand- 
ing water;  a-choire,  ge*n.  of  coire,  a  corrie,  the  stream  of  the  corrie 
pool  ;  G.,  stang.  a  pool  ;  Fr.,  etaug,  pond  or  pool  from  the  Arm. 
stancy,  pool  ;  Scot.,  stank,  the  dam  that  forms  the  pool. 

ISLANDS,  rilOMONTOUIKS,  BAYS. 

Ikmrsay,  N. — From  bjfirr,  wail,  and  ey,  island,  the  wall  island, 
in  reference  to  its  perpendicular  sides.  Ft  is  an  island  on  the  west 
of  Strathy,  and  quite  close  to  the  mainland.  There  is  a  J'irsay  in 
Orkney. 

Ard- f urr,  G. — Farr,  headland.      Sec  Farr. 


110  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Rudha-na-cloiche,  G. — Promontory  of  the  stone. 

Rudha-na-craoibhe,  G. — Promontory  of  the  tree. 

Geodha-glas,  G. — The  grey  geo,  or  creek. 

Geodha-gliamhan,  G. — The  creek  of  the  stirk,  geodh'-a-ghamh- 
dau. 

Geodha-ruadh,  G. — The  red  creek  ;  Lat.,  rufus  ;  Fr.,  rouge  ; 
Wei.,  rhudd  ;  Pro.,  reeth  ;  Arm.,  ryudh  ;  Cor.,  rydh  ;  Scot.,  roy, 
red  haired  ;  Gr.,  ereud-os. 

PLACE  XAMES. 

Achina,  G.  —  Pro.,  achcena,  accent  on  the  second  syllable, 
achadh,  field,  and  caoineadh,  lamentation,  achadh-a-chaoineadh, 
the  field  of  lamentation. 

Ach-na-burin — G.,  Achadh-na-buireadhean,  field  of  the  bellow- 
ing. 

Acn-na-burin — G.,  Achadh-na-burraidhean,  iield  of  the  boors, 
or  the  surly,  uncouth  fellows. 

Achoul— G.,  Achadh-a-chuil,  field  at  the  back,  or  beyond  a 
ridge. 

Aehiueiskich — G.,  Achadh-an-iasgaich,  field  of  the  fishing,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Xaver,  where  salmon  were  landed. 

Acimess — G.,  Achadh  nan-eas,  field  of,  or  near,  the  cascade. 

Ard-iiiskich — G.,  Ard-an-iasgaich,  higlit  above  the  fishing  place. 

A-ghlasraich,  G. — Green  fields,  or  green  spots. 

Alt-vulm — G.,  Allt-a-Hiliuillium,  stream  of  the  mill. 

Altnaba— G.,  Allt-na  ba,  the  co\v  stream,  the  stream  giving  the 
name1  to  the  phice,  or  croft  upon  it. 

Auit-aphurist — G..  Allt-a-])!iuirst,  the  stream  of  the  port  or 
landing-place,  the  hamlet  named  from  the  stream  and  landing 
place. 

ikligil,  X. — l)0i:-gil,  the  township  of  the  ravine  ;  bai,  rcsi- 
clenco  :  g'il,  ravine;  bol,  Xor.se,  is  equivalent  to  baile,  Gaelic. 

!'r;'.\vl — (.-{.,  Braighe-a-bhaile;  upper  part  of  the  township.       I.n 
irs  the  s[)eiling  is,    "  l>rath-\vell."       There    is    Urawl   in   IFal- 
kirk,  ( '-aitliness. 

(.-lork-lnll,  anglicised  form  of  Cnoc-a-chleireach,  hill  of  the 
cleric. 

Crn.sk — G.,  Crasg,  ridge  between  two  valleys,  common  in 
Sut  iicrland. 

(lach-an-rigt;,  G. — The  King's  Stone,  a  pillar  on  the  battlefield 
of  Daiharald. 

(Jiaeh-an-t-sagart-ruadh,  G. — Stone  of  the  red  priest;  an  ecclesi- 
aslic  famous  in  the  Jleay  country  ''in  the  days  of  yore,"  officiated 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  Ill 

in  Durness,  Tongue  and  Stratlmaver,  where  he  is  supposed  to 
have  ended  his  days.  He  is  said  to  have  predicted  the  evictions, 
and  to  have  desired  to  be  buried  in  a  meadow  near  the  banks  of 
the  Naver,  in  sight  of  his  cell,  or  chapel,  at  Skail,  saying,  "  when 
the  river  had  worn  away  its  banks  to  his  grave,  and  carried  away 
his  remains,  then  the  people  would  be  restored  to  their  possessions." 
Some  ten  years  ago,  the  river  had  worn  its  way  very  near  the 
stone  of  tho  red  priest.  The  people  were  jubilant,  recollecting  the 
prophecy  of  the  red  priest,  but  .Mr  Sellar  retarded  its  fulfilment 
by  protecting  the  river  hank,  with  wattles  and  stones,  from 
further  'encroachments  towards  the  "  Clach-an-t  sagart-ruadh." 
Nevertheless  the  people  still  believe  in  the  prophesy  of  the  red 
priest,  and  trust  to  the  mutations  brought  about  by  time. 

Carn-achie,  G. — Carn-aehadh,  field  of  the  cairn,  township  name 
derived  from  a  field  near  a  large  Pictish  tower  by  the  side  of 
Carnachie  burn.  There  is  a  second  Pictish  tower  at  the  upper 
end  of  this  township,  a  bonnie  place,  in  bonnie  Strathnaver. 

Ceanna  Ooille,  G. — Ceann-na  Coille,  Wood  end.  Another 
sunny,  bonnie  place  in  the  same  Strath. 

Coil-lyal,  G. — Coille-liathuil,  greyish  wood,  giving  its  own 
appellation  to  the  township  at  foot  of  the  same  Strath. 

Corri-huran,  G. —  Coire-aii-fhuaran,  the  corrie  of  the  well. 

Dal-charn,  Dail-a-Chairn,  field  of  the  cairns  or  rocks,  in 
reference  to  the  numerous  boulders  of  granite  seen  on  its  surface. 

Dal-langal,  compound  or  composite  word;  Gaelic  and  Xorse. 
Dail  G.,  meadow  ;  laiigal  X.,  langi-dalr,  lang  dale  or  long  dale  ; 
hence,  from  both  languages  we  have  t<iutologi/  in  dal-lang-dal.  The 
Norse  called  the  dale,  Langdale.  The  natives,  on  the  expulsion  of 
the  Xorse,  and  taking  re-possession,  named  it  after  their  own  way, 
from  the  Xors",  prefixing  their  own  term  Dal,  or  Dail,  meadow  — 
meadow  of  the  long  meadow  as  it  is. 

Dal-harald,  G — Harold's  meadow.  Torfacus  relates  that  a 
severe  buttle  was  fought  here  between  the  forces  of  Reginald  of 
the  Isles  (King  of  the  Sudereys),  sont  by  William  the  Lion  to 
expel  the  Xorse  from  Sutherland  and  Caithness,  and  Harold 
Madadson  (son  of  Maddad,  Karl  of  Athole),  Earl  of  Caithness.  Here 
it  was  that  in  11 96  or  1198  the  two  warriors  with  their  armies  met 
on  a  plain,  east  side  of  the  Xaver,  two  miles  from  the  east  end  of 
Lochnaver.  .It  was  a  fair  field  for  the  contest  of  heroes.  Judging 
from  the  numerous  tumuli  and  cairns  still  to  be  seen  on  this 
battlefield,  the  conflict  must  have  been  very  severe.  The  Norse- 
men, commanded  by  Karl  Harold,  were  worsted,  and  retreated 
down  the  strath,  pursued  by  the  Scots,  under  Reginald.  They 


112  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

will  bo  again  heard  of  at  Fiscary.  On  this  battlefield  is  still  seen 
a  pillar  stone  commemorating  Reginald's  victory,  and  to  this  day 
called  Clach-an-righ.  There  are  also  other  stones  and  cairns,  no 
doubt  reared  where  commanders  fought,  fell,  and  were  interred. 

])alvina--G.,  Dal  na-beinne,  or  Dal-bheinne,  the  dal,  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill.  Here  is  a  hill  200  feet  in  height;  or  Dal-mhin,  the 
smooth,  level  dal. 

Farr — G,,  Faire,  watching  ;  faire,  a  height.  Norse,  fjar, 
cattle  ;  i'aor,  sheep.  The  term  Farr  may  be  of  Gaelic  origin,  from 
faire,  watching,  for  the  Xor.se  pirates,  or  from  the  altitude  of  Ard- 
farr,  a  conspicuous  object  ;  or  the  Norsemen  may  have  imposed  it, 
from  tin.'  number  of  cattle  and  sheep  they  found  here  and  in  the 
neighbourhood.  A  Norse  writer,  Dicuil,  states  that  the  Far-oe 
islands  were  so  namod  from  the  multitude  of  sheep  found  in  them 
bv  the  Xorse  invaders.  In  like  manner  the  Norse  invaders  and 
occupants  <<!'  F<;rr  may  have  given,  from  the  same  cause  and  for 
the  same  reason,  its  name  to  this  place,  Far,  signifying,  as  given 
above,  sheep  and  cattle.  If  there  was  a  multitude  of  sheep  in 
this  parish  at  that  time  there  are  more  now. 

The  township  of  Farr  lies  low,  surrounded  by  hills  all  round, 
excejH  at  the  bay,  at  the  end  of  which  it  is.  Here  was  an  ancient 
church  and  ccmetry.  The  township,  with  its  ancient  church,  gave 
its  name  to  the  parish  for  ecclesiastical  and  civil  purposes. 

Fiscary- — G.,  Faisg-airidh,  i'aisg,  near;  airidh,  sheiling — tho 
near  shelling,  fn  the  valley  of  the  Farr  burn,  in  contradistinction 
to  other  shillings  away  on  the  hills. 

On  the  high  grounds  above  Fiscary,  the  Norsemen,  after  their 
defeat  on  Dal-harold,  made  another  stand,  probably  after  being 
reinforced  From  Caithness.  They  chose  their  ground  with  great 
judgm  'lit  on  the  steep  hillside.  Here  they  waited,  and  watched 
for  the  advance  of  Reginald.  .V  blood  v  conflict  must  have  ensued. 
The  Scots  fought  their  way  up  the  hillside,  gradually  forcing  the 
Norse  men  to  the  summit,  upon  which  the  battle  of  heroes  was 
continued  and  fought  till  the  Xorse  men  were  again  defeated,  and 
lied  into  Caithness,  Harold  taking  himself  off  to  the  Orkneys, 
leaving  Reghi.-dd  to  do  as  he  thought  best.  Reginald  remained  in 
the  countrv  for  some  months,  putting  ail'airs  in  order  for  the  King 
of  Scots.  lie  appointed  three  governors  to  rule,  one  in  Thurso, 
one  in  the  ^'outh  of  Sutherland— supposed  to  be  in  Dun-robin  or 
in  one  of  the  Finish  towers  in  the  vicinity — the  third  in  Strath 
naveruia.  Probably  tins  ruler  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Maekays, 
chiefs  oK  Farr.  No  sooner  was  Reginald  awav  than  Harold 
ascertained  the  coast  was  clear.  He  sent  some  of  his  men  over 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  113 

from  Orkney  ;  they  assassinated  the  Thurso  ruler  and  the  South 
Sutherland  ruler.  Hearing  this,  Harold  came  over  from  Orkney 
and  re-took  possession.  Having  misgoverned  the  country,  and 
mutilated  the  Bishop  by  cutting  out  his  tongue,  William  the  Lion 
marched  into  Caithness,  and  brought  the  whole  district  under  his 
own  control,  putting  an  end  to  Norse  superiority  for  ever. 

Fiscary-hill  still  shows  by  the  great  number  of  tumuli  and 
cairns  upon  its  Hank  and  summit  the  severity  of  the  battle  that 
was  waged  upon  it.  In  the  church-yard  of  Farr,  which  is  but  a 
short  distance  from  this  battlefield,  is  a  most  curious  sepulchral 
monument,  which  may  be  of  this  date,  1196  or  '98.  It  is  of 
very  hard  granite,  a  kind  unknown  to  the  district,  well  cut  and 
sculptured,  considering  its  era.  What  the  meaning  of  the 
sculpture  may  be  cannot  be  made  out.  There  being  a  cross  upon 
it,  the  inference  is  that  the  warrior  there  buried  was  not  a  Pagan. 
That  he  was  a  warrior,  and  one  of  distinction,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  shield  upon  it.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the 
principal  commanders  of  the  Norsemen  in  the  battle  of  Fiscarv. 
Torfaeus  has  a  long  story  about  these  battles. 

Fleuchary- — G.,  Flinch  airidh,  the  wet  shelling. 
Grumbmor — G.,  Guirme-mhor,  the  big  green   patches,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  large  green  glades  in  the  place,  interspersed  with  blue 
plants  ;    guirme,    from,  gorm,    blue,   green,   verdant  ;   Wei.,  gwrm, 
dun. 

Grunib-beg — G.,  Guirme-bheag,  the  small  green  glades. 
Invernaver — G.,  Fnbhior  naver,  flat  land  at  the  Naver  mouth. 
Tnshlampie — G.,    limis-lamba,   meadow    of    the  thick  milk,   in 
reference  to  the  cows  fed  upon  its  grass  giving  thick,  rich,  milk. 

Kirtomy,  X.— -(Sea-side  place),  from  KjOr,  copscwood,  and 
tomr,  valueless,  thin;  Kjr»r-tonir,  place  of  thin  scrub  or  brush- 
wood. 

Lednagulin — G.,  Leathad-na-gillean,  slope  of  the  lads,  probablv 
where  they  played. 

Langdale — X.,  Langi-dalr,  langi,  long  ;  dalr,  dale,  long-dale. 
Langi,  frequently  appears  in  Norse  place  names  as  lang-ey,  long- 
island,  langi-fell,  long  moor. 

Mullach,  G. — The  top,  the  summit. 

Mudale  —  N.,  Mosa-dalr,  mosa,  moorland  ;  dalr,  dale;  mos-dale, 
moorland  dale.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  when  dal,  or  dale,  is  an 
affix,  the  origin  of  the  word  is  Norse  ;  when  dal  is  prefix  the 
origin  of  the  whole  must  be  looked  for  in  the  native  language. 

Newlands — Anglicised  term  adopted  for  a  new  township,  at  the 
evictions. 

8 


114  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Poleriscaig — G.,  Poll-ur-iasgaich,  the  new  fishing  pool,  a  town- 
ship formed  at  the  evictions.  No  fishing  had  been  done  from  the 
same  point  before,  hence  the  name.  It  is  at  the  mouth  of  a 
small  stream. 

Rhe  an  chath — G.,  Ruighean-a-chatha,  or  cliaclha,  slopes,  or 
declivity  of  the  narrow  pass ;  ruighean,  slopes  ;  cadha,  a  narrow 
pass ;  or  Ruighean-a-chath,  the  slopes  of  the  battle. 

Rhifail,  G. — Ruighe,  slope  ;  fail,  walls  ;  circular  enclosures, 
slope  of  the  circles  or  circular  enclosures  :  or  Ruighe-a-Phail, 
Paul's  sloj)e. 

Rhiloisk — G.,  Ruighe-loisge,  the  burnt  slope  or  declivity,  in 
reference  to  the  thinness  of  its  soil,  the  grass  upon  it  soon  wither- 
ing by  summer  heat. 

Ricroy — -G.,  Ruighe-cruaidh,  the  hard  slope;  Wei.,  rhiw,  slope. 

lihi  chaistcil — G.,  Ruigh'-a-chaistcil,  the  declivity  to  or  from 
the  castle. 

Rhi-sealbhag— G.,  Ruighc-na-sealbhaig,  sealbhag,  sorrel,  slope 
upon  which  sorrel  grew,  the  sorrel  slope. 

Rossal — G.,  llos-aile,  the  rocky  promontory,  from  ros,  promon- 
tory or  land  jutting  out,  and  aile,  O.G.,  stone,  rock,  in  reference 
here  to  a  shoulder  of  a  hill  jutting  out  in  the  shape  of  a  promon- 
tory, the  face  of  which  is  rock.  This  conspicuous  object  gave 
the  name  to  the  township  adjoining  it,  one  of  the  first,  with  its  17 
families,  evicted  in  Sellar's  campaign  of  1814. 

Skelpick — G.,  Sgeilpeach,  shelvy,  the  natural  aspect  of  this 
township,  situated  on  the  hill  slopes  east  side  of  the  Naver,  the 
hill  side  rises  in  terraces  from  the  haughs  in  the  valley.  It  under- 
went the  fate  of  all  other  townships  in  the  Strath,  evicted,  burnt. 

Skji'il — N.,  Skali,  a  hall  or  dwelling  better  than  the  ordinary. 

Skail — X.,  Skjol,  Pro.,  skiol,  a  sheltered  place. 

Skail — N.,  Skaale,  sheiling. 

Skail,  as  it  now  is,  answers  to  either  of  the  above  definitions. 
It  is  situated  on  the  left  or  west  side  of  the  River  Xaver,  which  to 
favour  it,  as  it  were,  makes  a  great  bend  away  from  it  to  the 
right  or  east  side  of  the  Strath,  leaving  in  the  bend  a  large  area 
of  excellent  meadow  land,  right  in  front  of  the  (once)  township. 
It  is  well  wooded  at  the  back  and  flanks.  There  might  have  been 
a  "  skali  "  or  hall  here  in  Norse  times.  It  is  well  sheltered,  and 
it  may  be  a  certain  fact  that  sheilings  were  attached  to  the  town- 
ship. Here  was  an  ancient  chapel,  probably  the  one  in  which  the 
''  sagairt  ruadh  "  was  wont  to  officiate. 

Swordley — N.,  Svordr,  Ija,  sward  for  mowing;  svordr,  sward, 
Ijfi,  mowing  grass.  The  hamlet  gave  its  name  to  the  bay,  and  to  a 
small  river  running  bv  it. 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  115 

Syre — N.,  Saurr,  sour,  or  swampy  land,  probably  so  named  by 
the  Norsemen  from  the  injury  done  to  the  low  lands  adjoining  by 
the  frequent  overflowing  of  the  Syre  Burn,  which  in  rainy  weather 
came  down  like  a  real  mountain  torrent. 

Armadale,  X. — From  armar,  an  arm  of  the  sea,  or  bay,  and 
dalr,  a  dale,  signifying,  the  dale  of  the  bay,  the  bay-dale.  It  is 
situated  at  the  end  and  west  side  of  the  bay. 

Strath y — G.,  Siath-uidh,  see  River  Names. 

Totegan — (1.,  Totuichean,  plu.  of  tola,  little  knoll,  hence 
totegan  (totaichean),  little  knolls,  miserable  hamlet  on  Strathy 
Head  or  Strathy  Point. 

Truderscaig — G.,  Truid-na-sgithiche,  starlings  of  the  black 
thorns  ;  truid,  starlings  ;  sgithiche,  black  thorns.  Starlings  fre- 
quenting these  thorn  bushes  made  the  place  to  be  noticed.  When 
it  became  a  u  baile,"  or  residence,  it  still  retained  the  name 
originally  given  it.  It  is  an  outlandish  place  in  hills  eastward  of 
Benchlibric,  near  the  boundary  of  the  upper  part  of  Fan-,  with 
Kildonaii.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  hamlet  figured  in  the 
last  raid  of  the  Mackays  into  Caithness  to  apprehend  Smith,  the 
counterfeit  coiner  of  Thurso.  It  was  not  quite  a  bloodless  affair. 
Notwithstanding  the  resistance  of  the  Sinclairs,  the  .Mackays 
-succeeded.  A  more  probable  definition  of  this  word  is  given  in 
Kildonaii. 

Abbreviations. — G.,  Gaelic;  O.G.,  Old,  or  absolute  Gaelic  ;  N., 
Norse  or  Icelandic  ;  Wei.,  Welsh  ;  Arm.,  Armonic  or  Basbreton  \ 
Corn..  Cornish  ;  lr.,  Irish ;  in1.,  French  (modcrs);  Lat.,  Latin  ; 
Gr.,  Greek. 

TONGUE    PARISH. 

Previous  to  172-1  this  district  was  called  Kintail,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  other  Kintails  in  the  Highlands  it  was  designated 
Kintail  Mine  Aoidh,  or  Kintail  of  the  Mackays.  hi  1724  Durness 
parish  was  divided  into  three — Tongue,  Durness,  Eddrachilis. 
Modern  Tongue  parish  comprises  an  area  of  87, -S29  acres,  of  which 
4000  acres  are  water,  2284  acres  foreshore,  and  4-1J  tidal.  hi  the 
parish  are  100  fresh  water  lakes  ;  two  sheep  farms,  Ribigil,  -30,000 
ncres,  and  Melness,  70,000  ;  part  of  the  latter  is  in  Durness  parish. 
The  coast  is  bold  and  rocky,  is  intersected  by  several  creeks,  and 
the  ro^ks  hollowed  into  caves.  Tongue  was  the  seat  of  the  Lords 
of  Reay.  The  view  from  the  bay  of  Tongue  is  remarkably  grand. 
A  lofty  semicircular  range  of  hills  rises  boldly  and  suddenly  from 
the  ocean,  as  it  were,  and  sweeps  all  round  the  bay,  forming  the 
large  enclosed  valley  into  a  stupendous  amphitheatre.  On  the 


11 G  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

west  it  commences  with  a  range  of  hills,  1345  feet  above  the  sear 
runs  along  the  rugged,  trackless,  boggy  mountain  waste  of  the 
Moine,  and  terminates  in  Ben  Hope,  one  of  the  sublimest  moun- 
tains in  the  Highlands.  At  the  southern  extremity  of  this  extensive 
valley  Ben  Laoghal  or  Ben-loyal  starts  up.  The  summits  of  this 
pinnacled  and  almost  perpendicular  mountain  mass,  presents  to 
the  fancy  at  one  point  of  view  the  outlines  of  a  lion  couchant,  and 
at  another,  a  close  resemblance  to  the  royal  arms.  On  the  east 
side,  it  consists  of  a  series  of  rounded  hills,  whose  inner  declivities 
have  been  tracked  with  ancient  cultivation. 

Tli ere  are  not  many  objects  of  antiquity  in  the  parish.  Near 
Tongue  stands  the  ruins  of  Castle  Varrich.  Its  situation  is  very 
prominent,  on  a  precipitous  promontory.  It  was  originally  a 
square  building  of  two  stories,  the  first  arched  in  stone,  the  second 
was  covered  with  wood.  It  still  forms  a  considerable  ruin, 
figuring  finely  in  the  landscape,  though  lost  in  history  and  almost 
in  tradition.  Underneath  it,  in  the  face  of  the  rock,  is  a  cave, 
probably  connected  with  the  inside  of  the  castle.  Into  this  cave, 
it  is  stated,  Ian  Abrach  was  wont  to  retire  in  moments  of  danger. 
This  cave  is  still  called  "  leabaidh  Lin  Abrach."  There  are  many 
circular  towers  in  the  parish,  all  of  them  so  situated  as  to  be  in 
sight  of  each  other,  leading  to  the  belief  they  were  beacon  towers 
to  give  warning  to  the  natives  of  a  Norse  landing.  At  Melness  is 
a  great  Dun,  called  Dun-buidhe,  or  yellow  tower,  or  heap.  It  is 
ruinous,  and  covered  with  soil  and  grass,  so  that  its  original  form 
cannot  be  distinctly  traced.  Tradition  says  that  it  was  built  by 
Dorna-dilla,  King  of  the  Scots.  Near  it  some  years  ago  two 
skeletons  were  unearthed,  one  of  which  was  7  feet  long.  They 
soon  crumbled  into  dust.  Farther  towards  the  sea  there  are 
several  larg'e  tumuli,  circular  in  form,  and  seem  to  have  been  some 
structures,  which  some  say  were  large  folds  to  protect  cattle  from 
wolves,  which  infested  the  district.  Others  state  that  a  battle 
had  been  fought  on  the  spot  between  the  natives  and  the  Norse 
invaders,  and  according  to  the  custom  of  the  day,  the  cairns 
represent  the  burial  places  of  the  fallen  commanders.  Near 
Torrisdale,  on  a  plain,  are  still  seen  the  stones  that  surrounded  a 
Druidic  place  of  worship.  There  are  several  mineral  springs  round 
Tongue,  the  waters  of  one  of  them  is  said  to  resemble  those  of 
MoiVat.  I  Jog  iron  is  frequently  met  with.  Previously  to  the 
expulsion  of  the  Scandinavians,  Tongue  was  a  Norse  settlement, 
testified  by  the  great  number  of  place  names  in  the  vicinity,  of 
undoubted  Norse  origin,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel. 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  117 


MOUNTAINS. 

Ben-loval,  said  to  be  from  leamh,  elm,  and  coille,  wood- 
mountain  of  the  elm  wood  ;  leamh  and  leamlian,  elm,  elm  tree. 
See  Joyce  on  Irish  Place  Names,  instanced  Leven  to  be  derived 
from  leamlian,  elm,  and  Lennox,  anciently  spelled  Levenax,  from 
leamhan,  elm,  and  uisge,  water — the  water  or  river  of  the  elms-  - 
this  river  giving  its  name  to  a  district.  Col.  Robertson  is  of  a 
different  opinion.  Pie  derives  Leven  from  the  (iaelic  adjective  of 
colour,  liath,  grey,  and  amlminn,  river,  in  reference  to  the  colour 
of  its  water.  By  similar  analogy  "  loyal"  may  be  "  liathal,"  greyish, 
referring  to  the  colour  of  the  rocky  precipices  of  syenite  with  which 
this  mountain  sides  abound,  hence  its  definition  would  be,  the 
greyish  mountain.  No  elm  tree,  or  wood,  is  seen  on  its  sides  or 
at  its  foot,  but  there  is  at  this  day  plenty  of  birch,  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  this  mountain  received  its  name  from  the 
colour  of  its  cliffy  sides,  or  from  the  grey  mist  which  almost 
always  envelopes  it. 

On  a  summer  morning,  or  after  a  summer  shower,  when  the 
transparent  mist  is  reposing  on  its  bosom,  or  coiHng  among  its 
peaks,  the  appearance  of  this  mountain  is  very  beautiful  and  often 
fantastic.  Within  the  mountain  chain  formed  by  this  lofty  moun- 
tain, there  are  various  objects  that  constitute  marked  features  in 
the  scenery  of  the  district.  Amongst  them  the  Kyle  of  Tongue 
occupies  a  prominent  place --so  studded  with  islands  at  its  mouth 
that  from  some  points  of  view  its  connection  with  the  ocean  seems 
whollv  intercepted.  The  view  off  "  Ben-liathail,"  is  universally 
admired.  It  is  one  of  the  most  majestic  mountains  in  the  High- 
lands. It  has  been  called  the  Queen  of  Mountains.  At  the 
southern  extremity  of  a  low  extensive  valley,  it  starts  up  majesti- 
cally to  the  height  of  2504  feet  above  sea  level,  presenting 
towards  its  base  an  expanded  breast  of  two  miles,  and  cleft  at  the 
top  into  four  massy,  towering,  and  splintered  peaks,  standing 
boldly  aloof  from  each  other.  The  highest  peak  stands  proudly 
forward  to  occupy  the  foreground,  the  rest  recede  a  little  as  if 
each  were  unwilling  to  protrude  itself  from  a  conscious  inferiority 
to  its  predecessor.  As  a  graceful  finish  to  its  outlines,  it  stretches 
out  an  arm  on  either  side  as  if  to  embrace  condescendingly  the 
other  mountain  ranges,  which  may  well  acknowledge  it  as  chief, 
and  which  may  readily  be  fancied  as  doing  it  homage. 

On  its  west  side  was  the  scene  of  Diarmid's  death,  so  some 
bards  say.  Diarmid's  grave  is  still  shown  to  the  tourist. 

On  the  same  side,  at  a  place  called  Druim-na-Coup,  is  a  mound 
where  probably  the  slain  were  buried  after  the  battle  of  that  name, 


118  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

in  which  the  Sutherland  invaders,  though  superior  in  numbers, 
were  annihilated  by  the  Mackays,  commanded  by  Ian  Aberach,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  15th  century,  as  important  in  its  results  to 
the  Mackays  as  Bannockburn  was  to  the  Scots  and  Scotland. 
Here,  also,  the  French  were  taken  prisoners  in  1746. 

Ben-Hope,  given  in  Durness. 

Hutig— G  .  Thutaig,  cold  blasts,  mountain  of  the  cold  blasts 
when  the  winds  blow  from  the  north-west ;  thutaig,  gen.  phi.  of 
tutag,  cold  blasts,  Old  Gaelic.  It  is  sometimes  pronounced  Putig. 
It  is  spelled  so  in  one  of  Hob  Donn's  poems.  Pntaig  is  also  Old 
Gaelic  for  young  grouse.  It  might  therefore  mean  the  mountain 
of  young  grouse.  More  likely  it  means  the  former,  cold  blasts, 
it  is  1345  feet  above  sea  level. 

Beu-Eudainn — G.,  Eudainn,  gen.  of  eudann,  face,  front — the 
front  mountain,  1250  feet  high,  so  called  in  reference  to  its  front- 
ing another  mountain  at  its  back,  1828  feet  high,  and  named 

Cnoc-urach-na  cuilean,  G. — (Jnoc,  hill,  eminence;  arach,  rearing; 
and  cuilean,  cubs,  whelps,  probably  of  the  the  fox  or  wolf  tribe — 
hill  of  the  whelp  rearing.  "  Arach,"  also  means  slaughter,  there- 
fore the  definition  might  be,  hill  of  the  slaughter  of  whelps  or  paps. 

Carn-ard-aii-tionai,  G. — Carn,  a  heap  of  stones  ;  Manx,  earn  ; 
\V.,  earn  ;  Corn.,  earn  ;  Arm.,  carcn  ;  and  tional,  gathering — the 
cairn,  or  heap  of  the  gathering.  This  is  the  southern  point  of 
Ben-loyal,  2000  feet  high,  probably  so  called  from  the  gathering  of 
the  Mackays  on  its  top,  in  anticipation  of  the  invasion  by  the 
Sutherlands  in  1429,  which  culminated  in  the  conflict  of  Druim- 
na-coup,  so  disastrous  to  Sutherland.  By  the  account  we  have  of 
this  battle,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  advance  guard  of  the  Mac- 
kays concealed  themselves  on  the  flanks  of  this  mountain.  The 
Sutherlands  were  permitted  to  pass  unmolested,  and  having  thus 
passed,  this  advance  guard,  or  strong  reconnoitering  party,  turned 
and  attacked  the  rear,  while  Ian  Aberach  attacked  them  in  flank. 
Anyway,  the  young  Mackay  commander  must  have  used  admirable 
strategy  to  defeat  and  annihiliate  an  enemy  so  much  superior  in 
numbers. 

Sgor-a-clileirich,  G.- — Sgor,  cliff,  and  cleirich,  gen.  pi.  of 
clcireach,  clerk,  or  clergyman,  from  "cleir,"  Gr.,  cleir,  clergy;  W., 
cler,  minstrels  ;  Arm.,  cloer  ;  Manx,  cleragh,  clerk.  This  is  one  of  the 
pinnacles  of  "  Ben  Loyal."  An  ingenious  antiquary  observes  that 
the  learned  men  of  the  Druidic  order,  who,  under  the  primitive 
bardic  system,  were  employed  in  going  periodical  circuits  to 
instruct  the  people,  answered  the  purpose  of  a  priesthood,  but  in 
later  times  the  name  implied  a  society  of  wanderers,  or  those  bards 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  119 

who  strolled  about  like  the  English,  Welsh,  and  Irish  harpists. 
These  wandering  classes  originated  when  the  priesthood  became  a 
distinct  branch  from  the  bardic  system,  for  the  latter  then  ceased 
to  have  sufficient  means  to  support  its  own  members.  As  a 
compensation,  a  law  was  enacted  that  such  as  were  of  this 
description  should  have  regular  periodical  circuits  assigned  to 
them,  and  receive  fee?,  according  to  the  quality  of  those  they 
visited.  This  ended  at  last  in  mendicancy. 

An  Caisteal,  G. — The  castle,  the  fort  ;  another  of  the  pinnacles 
of  "  Ben  Loyal,"  and  the  highest,  2504  feet.  On  this  pinnacle  are 
the  ruins  of  a  building,  called  by  the  natives  Caisteal  na  Druidhich, 
the  Druids'  castle  ;  Lat.,  eastell-um  ;  W.,  castell  ;  Arm.,  castel,  a 
fort,  a  castle. 

Sgor-chonasaite,  G. — See  Conasaite  in  place  nani^s.  Sgor,  cliff, 
sharp-edged,  also,  a  rock  ;  skor,  X.,  an  edge  ;  IT.,  scor  ;  W.,  gor, 
rim,  edge.  This  is  the  northern  point  of  Ben  Loyal,  '2320  feet 
high. 

Meallan-liath,  G.— The  grey  hill. 

LAKH  NAMES. 

Cuil-na-sith,  G. — -Corner  of  peace,  or  stillness,  in  reference  to 
its  sheltered  position.  Cul-na-moine,  the  peat  corner. 

Loch  Chaluim,  G. — Malcolm's  lake,  probably  he  was  drowned 
in  it. 

Loch  Craggie — G.,  Creagach,  takes  its  name  from  a  mountain 
near  it.  Beinne  Chraggie,  rouky  mountain. 

Loch  an  Dithrabh — G.,  Dithreabh,  desert,  or  high  ground,  or 
district  uninhabited,  the  lake  in  the  high  ground.  Dithreabh  or 
Dith-treabh  is  a  common  appellation  in  Sutherland  for  high 
uncultivated,  uninhabited  lands. 

Loch  na  Meide,  O.G. — Xeck,  lake  of  the  neck,  in  reference  to 
its  middle  narrowing  like  a  neck. 

Loch  Slaim,  G. — Great  booty,  lake  of  the  great  take,  in  reference 
to  the  great  quantity  of  salmon  and  trout  found  and  caught  in  it. 

Loch  Crocaeh,  G.  —  Spread  out  like  an  open  hand. 

RIVERS. 

Borgie — X'.,  Borg,  a  fort,  byrgi,  an  enclosure.  This  river  takes 
its  name  from  a  fort  built  on  its  banks  by  the  Xorse. 

Allt-aii-rian,  G. — Ruighan,  dim.  of  ruighe,  small  pasture,  used 
for  summer  grazing  at  a  mountain  foot  ;  W.,  rhiw,  slope,  declivity, 
the  sheiling  stream. 

Allt-na-luibe-mor,  G.  —  Luib,  bends,  stream  of  the  big  bends. 


120  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Allt-acli-na-tot — G.,  Acliadh,  a  field,  tola,  knoll,  stream  of  the 
field  of  knolls. 

Allt-a-])huil,  G. — Puil,  gen.  of  poll,  a  pool,  the  stream  of  the 
pool,  in  reference  to  the  sedgy  little  lake  whence  it  issues. 

Allt-an-t-sionnaioh. — Stream  of  the  fox,  where  foxes  were  often 
seen. 

An  Garbhallt,  G. — The  rough  stream  ;  an  appellation  common 
in  Celtic  language  for  rapid,  turbulent  streams,  or  rivers. 

Allt-dion-a-choire,  G. — Dion,  shelter,  protection  ;  choire,  gen. 
of  ooire,  corrie,  or  hollow — stream  sheltered  by  the  come. 

ISLAXDS,  PROMONTORIES,  BAYS. 

Eilean-a-chaoil,  G. — Oliaoil,  gen.  of  caol,  a  narrow  strait, 
island  of  the  narrow  strait.  This  island  is  separated  from  the 
mainland  at  Melness  by  a  narrow  strait  100  yards  wide. 

Kilcan-nan-ron,  G. — Island  of  the  seals,  that  frequent  its 
caverns.  Separated  from  it  by  a  very  narrow  channel  on  the 
north-west,  is  Kilean  losal,  so  called  from  its  greatly  less  altitude, 
being  only  171  feet  above  sea  level,  while  the  highest  point  of 
Eilean-naii-i'oin  is  747  feet.  About  100  years  ago,  a  phenomenon 
occurred  on  it,  which  terrified  the  natives— the  middle  of  the 
island  sank  bodily  down,  forming  a  valley  across  it. 

Eilean-na-coombj  G. — From  caoimh,  friends,  the  island  of 
friends.  More  likely  coomb  is  a  contraction  of  Gohnnb.  Golumba's 
isle,  from  a  chapel  on  the  island  dedicated  to  Golumba  by  his 
Culdee  missionaries.  There  was  also  a  burying-])! ace  attached  to 
the;  chapel;  traces  of  both  are  still  to  be  seen.  This  island  is  also 
called  Kilean-nan-naoimh,  isle  of  saints. 

\Vhcn  the  wind  blows  from  the  north-west  at  half  tide,  a 
singular  phenomenon  is  seen  and  heard  on  this  island.  The  sea 
then  rushes  in  on  the  south  side,  through  a  fe\v  yards  of  narrow 
channel,  witli  such  impetuosity,  that  it  spouts  up  through  a  hole 
in  the  rocks  to  the  height  of  30  feet  into  the  air,  and  a  few  seconds 
after  a  discharge  of  water  takes  place  from  the  east  side  of  the 
island  with  a  noise  resembling  the  firing  of  artillery. 

Rabbit  Islands. — Modern  appellation,  in  reference  to  the  great 
number  of  rabbits  found  and  killed  upon  them.  These  islands,  in 
the  Hay  of  Tongue,  of  which  there  are  two,  are,  in  ancient  charters, 
called  ""  Vlen  Gald,"  "  Ellen  Gild,"  "  Ealan  a  Ghail,"  probably 
islands  of  the  foreigners,  no  doubt  from  the  Norsemen  frequenting 
them  in  their  piratical  expeditions,  and  eventually  taking  and 
keeping  possession  of  them.  Tradition,  however,  has  another 
origin  for  the  name.  That  the  island  was  so  named  after  the  great 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  121 

Fingalian  hero,  Gaul,  the  son  of  Morni,  who  in  the  frequent  war 
of  the  Fingalians  with  the  men  of  Lochlimi,  here  slew,  after  a 
terrific  hand-to-hand  combat,  a  Loclilhm  chief  named  Torquil,  and 
ever  since  the  island  was  named  after  the  victorous  hero,  Eilean-a- 
Ghail,  Gaul's  Isle. 

Gaol-hog,  G. — A  narrow  strait  between  the  mainland  and 
Columba's  Isle. 

Caolas  raineach,  G. — •Ralneacb,  ferns,  the  ferny  strait.  More 
probably  Caolas-raiiaich,  from  ranaich,  roaring,  the  roaring  strait, 
in  reference  to  the  roar  of  the  waves  impelled  by  the  N.W.  storms 
through  this  narrow  strait,  and  beating  and  breaking  on  the  rocky 
clifts  of  Filean  nan  ron  on  the  one  side,  and  thos,1  of  the  mainland 
on  the  other. 

Cleit-aii-t-Seabhag— G.,  Cleit,  a  perpendicular  rock  ;  N,  klettc, 
a  rock  rising  out  of  the  sea,  and  seabhag,  hawk,  the  hawk  rock. 

Dubh  tSgeir,  G. — Black  rock.  Sgeir,  G-.,  detached  rock,  covered 
by  water  ;  X.,  sker,  a  rock  in  the  sea,  uncovered  at  low  tide.  The 
adjective  is  here  placed  before  the  noun  to  make  it  more  expressive 
• — a  mode  still  retained  in  French,  as  in  Gaelic. 

Geo  Beatain,  G. — Geo,  grodha,  a  creek,  and  Beaton,  man's 
name  ;  probably  Dr  Beaton,  a  famous  physician  in  the  days  of 
Robert  the  2nd,  who  granted  him  several  islands  on  the  north 
coast.  He  afterwards  became  physician  to  the  Mackays  of  Farr, 
who  gave  him  Melncss  in  lieu  of  the  islands.  This  geo  is  in  the 
district  thus  given  him  in  exchange  for  the  islands.  He  was  called 
Ferchar  .Beaton,  /if/he,  or  doctor. 

Geo-nan-eun,  G. — Geo,  a  creels:,  and  eun,  birds,  the  creek  of  the 
birds. 

Lamigo,  N. — From  lamb,  lamb,  and  gja,  geo,  creek  or  chasm, 
into  which  the  sea  enters,  the  creek  of  the  lambs. 

Port-an-fheadairigaig,  G.-  -Port,  a  port,  and  feadaireachd, 
whistling,  the  whistling  port,  in  reference  to  the  wind  whistling 
through  the  crevices  of  its  rockv  sides. 

Port-na-h-uaille,  G. — The  port  of  the  boasting,  in  reference  to  a 
crew  boasting  of  its  safety,  and  shortly  after  losing  their  boat  in 
it,  to  the  delight  of  those  who  warned  the  crew  of  its  dangers. 

Port  vasgo — G.,  Port-an-fhasgaidh,  the  port  of  shelter,  which 
it  naturally  is,  from  the  prevailing  X.\V.  winds  and  storms.  It  is 
near  Melness. 

Kudha-thormaid,  G.-  -Tormaid  s  or  Norman's  promontory. 
Tormaid  is  a  Norse  name,  and  is  still  met  with  in  the  Keay 
country. 

Traighean  Strahan,  G. —  From  traigh,  shore,  and  Strathan, 
place  name,  Strathan  shores. 


122  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 


PLACE  NAMES. 

Achumore — G.,  Achadh,  field,  and  mor,  the  big  field — a  very 
common  Gaelic  appellation. 

Ach-na-bat — G.,  Achadh-na-bata,  being  inland,  the  field  of  the 
cudgels,  probably  from  the  natives  practising  fencing  upon  it. 

Ach-na-huagh — G.,  Achadh-na-h-uamh,  field  of  the  cave. 

Ach-an-inver — G.,  Acliadh-an-inbhir,  field  of  the  flat  land  at 
the  river  mouth. 

Achin-ty-halvin — (i.,  Achadli-an-tigh-ailbhinn,  field  of  the 
house  of  flints,  place,  or  hut,  in  which  flint  arrow-heads  were 
made. 

Achtaly — G.,  Achadh-an-tulaich,  field  of  the  hillocks  or  tumuli. 

Aehtotie— G.,  Achadh-an-tota,  field  of  the  little  knoll. 

Achroldrach — G,,  Achadh-an-eile-thireach,  field  of  the  stranger 
or  foreigner,  or,  achadh-an-toldairtdch,  field  of  the  holes  or  borings. 

Aird  Torrisdale — ti.,  Aird,  height,  of  Torrisdale,  whi3h  is  close 

by. 

Bad-chrask-bhacaidh — G.,  Bad,  a  clump  of  trees,  or  hamlet, 
chrasg,  gen.  of  crasg,  crossway,  cross  route,  and  bac,  bacaidh, 
boggy,  the  clump  of  trees  at  the  boggy  cross  way.  The  term  crapg 
is  frequently  met  with  in  Sutherland,  locally  meaning,  across  the 
intervening  hill,  from  one  valley  to  another. 

Blandy — -N.,  Blauda,  intercourse,  meeting,  a  place  of  meeting. 

Borgie,  X. — From  byrgi,  an  enclosure.  The  place  gives  its 
name  to  the  river  that  flows  by  it.  There  is  a  Borgie  river  in 
Kirkcudbright. 

Brae-tongue — G.,  Braighe-tunga,  the  brae  of  Tongue.  Tunga 
is  Norse,  and  is  pronounced  to  this  day  as  Tunga,  not  like  the 
Gaelic  Teadnga,  which  means  the  same  natural  object,  a  spot  of 
land  in  the  shape  of  a  tongue,  jutting  out  into  the  sea  or  bay. 

Clashvuie — G.,  Clais,  hollow,  and  buidhe,  yellow,  the  yellow 
hollowr. 

Clashed}*— G.,  Clais  fhada,  the  long  hollow. 

Clashvan— G.j  Clais-bhan,  the  pale  or  fair  hollow,  probably  the 
former,  on  account  of  its  unfruitf illness,  or,  it  may  be,  clais-mhan, 
the  lower  hollow,  in  contradiction  to  an  upper  one. 

Clach-clevan — G.,  Clach,  and  clamhan,  kite,  the  stone  of  the 
kite. 

Crossburn—  Anglicised  form  of  Allt-tarsuinn,  the  cross  stream 

(V)ldbackie — N.,  Kaldi,  cold,  and  bakki,  ridge,  kald-bakki,  the 
cold  ridge.  There  are  many  place  names  of  Norse  origin  round 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  123 

about  Tongue,  proving  its  occupation  by  the  Norse  for  more  than 
a  century. 

Conasaid — N.,  Kvenna-setr,  or  sida,  the  lady's  residence, 
spelled  in  charters,  Kien-side  It  may  be  Gaelic,  from  caomhan- 
anar-aitc,  a  place  of  thrift.  More  probably  it  is  of  Norse  origin, 
as  indicated. 

Dalbhraid,  G.,  Dal,  plain,  and  braigheid,  brae,  the  plain  of  the 
brae. 

Dalchairn,  G. — Dal,  plain,  meadow,  and  chairn,  gen.  of  cairn, 
a  heap  of  stones,  plain  or  meadow  of  the  heap  of  stones  ;  probably 
raised  to  commemorate  an  event  of  which  no  record  remains. 

Dalnafree — G.,  Frithe,  deer  forest,  the  plain  of  the  deer  forest. 

Falsidc — N.,  Fell-setr,  the.  hill  residence  or  fell-side,  the  resi- 
dence on  the  fell-side.  The  word  fell  is  common  in  the  Cheviot 
range,  Cumberland,  and  Westmoreland. 

Glack  beath — G.,  Glaic  beithe,  the  birch  hollow. 

Hysbackie — -X.,  Husa-bakki,  the  house  back,  in  reference  to 
the  ridges  at  the  back  of  the  houses. 

Kinloch — G.,  Ceann-na-loeh,  the  lake  end,  in  reference  to  the 
situation  of  a  residence  at  the  end  of  Tongue  bay,  usually  occupied 
by  a  cadet  of  the  Reay  family  up  to  1829. 

Kirkiboll — N.,  Kirkja-boll,  equivalent  to  Kirkton,  or,  in  Gaelic, 
Bal-na-h-eaglais,  church  town,  church  land,  church  town  land. 
Here  was  till  1680  a  chapel  of  ancient  date,  and  the  burial-place  of 
the  Mackay  family.  The  chapel  cemetery  is  still  used.  It  lies  at 
Kirkiboll,  near  the  Claclian  Burn,  between  which  and  the  modern 
church-yard  is  a  portion  of  the  glebe,  locally  known  as  "  Eilean 
tigh-an-t-sagairt,"  island  of  the  priest's  house.  The  Lords  of  Reay 
were  the  first  in  the  north  to  embrace  the  Reformation  doctrines 
and  to  propagate  them,  in  their  own  territory,  by  providing 
ministers  and  building  churches. 

Kintail-— G.,  Ceann-an-t-sail,  the  end  of  the  salt  or  sea  water. 
This  was  the  ancient  name  of  the  district,  and  till  1724,  when  the 
parish,  for  ecclesiastical  and  civil  purposes,  assumed  the  present 
name,  Tongue.  It  was  called  Kintail  Mhic-Aoidh,  to  distinguish 
it  from  other  Kintails  in  the  Highlands. 

Luib-Yulin — G.,  Luib-a-Mlmilean,  the  bends  at  the  mill,  in 
reference  to  several  bends  in  the  river  near  the  mill. 

Melness — N.,  Mel,  benty  grass,  and  ness,  promontory,  the 
promontory  of  the  benty  grass,  and  so  it  is  to  this  dav.  Up  to 
1829,  Melness  was  a  seat  of  a  cadet  of  the  Mackay  family,  and 
rare  warriors  and  swordsmen  thev  used  to  be. 


124  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Midtowii — An  Anglicised  form  of  "  Baile  Meadhonach,"  middle 
town. 

Modsary — X.,  Moda-seyra,  muddy  moorland.  Not  cultivated 
till  the  evictions  of  Ic809. 

Rhiroy — G.,  Ruighe-ruadh,  the  red  declivity. 

llhi  tongue — G.,  Ruighe-thunga,  the  Tongue  declivity,  or  the 
Tongue  hillside.  Khi,  as  a  prefix  in  place  names,  is  very  common 
in  Sutherland,  north  and  south.  !t  is  cammoii  also  in  Wales  as 
rliiw,  an  affix.  For  instance,  Troed-yr-rhiw,  troead,  the  upper  part 
of  the  foot,  which  slopes  to  the  tcK\s,  and  rhiw,  declivity,  signifying 
the  declivity  to  the  foot  ;  G.,  troidh,  foot. 

Ribigill,  X. — -Tn  ancient  charters  it  is  spelled  Kiga-bol,  and 
Rege-boll  ;  Norse  spelling  is  Rygjar-bol,  signifying  the  lady's  house 
and  farm.  It  seems  in  its  modern  form  to  have  had  the  letters  b 
and  g  transposed,  not  an  unusual  circumstance,  to  ease  pronuncia- 
tion. 

Scrabster  -X.,  Skara-bol-stadr,  contracted  in  this  case,  as  in 
Caithness,  to  Scrabstcr.  Skara,  outlying,  bol-stadr,  or  bol-ster, 
homestead,  the  outlying  homesteads. 

Skerray — X.,  Skerja,  isolated  rocks  in  the  sea,  of  which  there 
are  many  on  this  township  coast. 

Skinid — X.,  Skinni,  bleached,  withered,  in  reference  to  the 
grass  grown  on  it.  This  place  is  sometimes  spelled  "  Sgiaiiaid  "  in 
chart  ers. 

Scullomie — -X.,  Skulda-mot,  Skulda-domr,  a  court  or  place  for 
the  payments  of  debts,  fines,  taxes.  Here  rents,  rates,  and  taxes 
and  tines  were  paid  to  the  Xorse  overmen,  so  long  as  they  held 
authority  in  the  district. 

Slcttel — X.,  Slettr,  flat,  smooth,  in  reference  to  the  surface  ; 
slett-lendi,  flat  land. 

Talmine — X.,  Tollr,  toll,  and  minnr,  less,  ov  free,  toll-minnr, 
toll  free,  a  landing  place  at  which  no  dues  were  charged  ;  con- 
tracted to  Toll-minn,  Talmine — the  r  changed  toe  for  the  euphony 
of  the  Gaelic. 

Torrisdale  —X.,  Thors-dalr,  thor's-dal,  the  dal  of  Tlior,  as 
Thurso,  from  Thor-sae,  the  water  of  Thor. 

Tubeg —(").,  Taobh-boag,  the  small  side,  in  reference  to  area  of 
land,  often  met  with  in  Sutherland,  as  Tu-beg,  Tu-mor;  W.,  tu,  side; 
Arm.,  tu,  side  ;  Arm.,  cus  an  tu  all,  from  the  other  side  ;  G.,  as  an 
tu  eile,  from  the  other  side.  This  is  a  remarkable  similarity 
between  Armonic  and  Gaelic.  Tu,  in  Sutherland,  is  pronounced  as 
it  is  written  here  in  AVelsh  and  Armonic.  Welsh  pronunciation  is 


Sutherland  Place  Names.  125 

tee,  Armonic,  tu.  Taobh  is  Irish  Gaelic,  imported  into  Argyll. 
Tu  must  have  been  the  ancient  Caledonian  pronunciation,  still 
retained  in  Sutherland. 

Tongue,  N. — Noticed  elsewhere.  From  Tunga,  a  spit  of  land 
jutting  out  into  the  bay  in  the  shape  or  a  tongue.  There  are 
many  tongs  in  the  Hebrides.  There  is  a  Tongue  and  Tongueland 
in  Kirkcudbright,  as  well  as  a  river  Borgie,  leading  to  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  Mackay  chief  with  some  followers  may  have  come 
from  this  district  of  Galloway  in  the  army  of  Reginald  of  the  Isles 
in  1196  or  '98;  and,  after  defeating  Harold  Maddadson  in  Stratli- 
naver,  and  compelling  him  to  flee  to  Orkney,  installed  a  Mackay 
of  Galloway  as  ruler  of  the  northern  district,  of  which  Tongue  was 
the  centre  ;  and  011  the  "  Lion  King,"  a  year  or  two  afterwards, 
being  compelled  to  come  north  to  expell  Harold,  confirmed  the 
Gallowegian,  left  by  Regnald  in  Tongue,  in  the  territory  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  gave  Hugh  Freaskin,  ancestor  of  the  Sutherland 
family,  for  his  services  during  the  last  expedition,  the  southern 
part  of  the  country — called  by  the  Norse,  Sudrland — from  which 
Harold  had  Reginald's  governor  expelled  by  assassins,  or,  in 
other  words,  by  assassination.  At  the  same  time,  Hugh  Freskyn's 
wife,  Christina,  was  gifted  by  King  William,  or  her  husband,  with 
the  superiority  of  Farr. 

Tongue  is  a  beautiful  locality,  with  its  woodlands,  natural  and 
artificial,  and  superb  gardens,  its  delightful  sea  views,  and  majestic 
mountain  scenery. 

Varrieh — G.,  Bhar-raich,  in  reference  to  its  situation  on  the 
highest  point  of  a  precipitous  rock,  facing  the  Bay  of  Tongue,  .°>00 
feet  above  sea  level,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  the  Norse- 
men, afterwards  occupied  by  the  Mackay  chiefs.  Tradition  states 
that  Ian  Aberach,  famed  in  Sutherland  for  heroism  and  patriotism, 
resided  in  it,  and  his  father,  Angus  Du,  before  him.  ( 'aisteil 
Bhar-raich,  signifies  the  castle  on  the  highest  point. 

Uamh  mhor  Fhraisgil — Fraisgil's  great  cave,  said  to  extend 
more  than  half  a  mile  underground,  and  to  be  from  50  to  '20  feet 
in  height.  There  arc  in  this  parish  several  subterranean  retreats, 
artificially  constructed,  into  which  the  natives  resorted  in  times  of 
danger.  There  are  also  a  number  of  tumuli  in  various  localities  in 
the  parish. 


126  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


4th  MARCH,  1891. 

The  paper  for  this  evening  was  by  Mr  Paul  Cameron,  Blair- 
A thole,  on  Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs  and  their  Composers.  Mr 
( 'ameron  was  present  himself  and  read  his  paper.  The  paper  was 
as  follows  : — 

PERTHSHIRE  GAELIC  SONGS. 

A  chirm  suidhe,  agus  a  dhaoin-nailse, — Tha  e  na  thoileachas 
mor  dhomhj  bin  maille  ribh  air  an  oidhche  nocbd.  Riamh  o  na 
ghabh  mi  colas  air  bhur  ruintean  teo-chridheach,  agus  ur  saothair 
iuachmhoir  as  loth  gach  ni  a  bhuineas  do  "  Thir  nani  beaini,  nan 
gleami,  J,s  nan  gaisgcach  "  bha  togradh  again,  gu  cuideacha'  leibh, 
na  ni  b'  urrainn  domh  aig  am  sain  bith,  sin  a  dhcanamh.  Air 
dhomh  cuircadh  fliaotainn  bho  ur  deagh  run-chleireach  Mr 
Macantoisich  gu  ni-eigin  chuir  thugaibh,  dli'  aontaich  mi  ri  sin 
a  dheanamh  le  beagan  de  Bhardachd  Gaidhealach  Shiorrachd 
Pheaivt  a  thoirt  fo  'r  :n  aire.  Tha  ii  t-siorrachd  bhoidheach  sin 
co  cheangailte  ri  Jr  siorraclid  ainmeil  fein,  agus  bu  mhaith  an 
airidh  an  co-cliomunn  daimlieil  so  bhi  air  a  chumail  suas.  Tha 
luclid-labhairt  na  Gaidhlig  a  fas  na's  lugha  ;s  na's  luglia  'an 
Siorraclid  Phcairt,  agus  ma  thuitcas  gun  teid  a  Chainnt  aosda  gu 
tur  as  an  t-sealladh  innte,  saoile  mi,  nach  beag  an  t-eolas,  agus  an 
tlachd  (bidh  sin  an  earbsa)  a  gheibhear  bho  na  h-orain  so  gc  b'e 
co  a  leugbas  iad..  Bi'dh  am  fear-cachdraidh,  maith-dh-fhaoide 
ceudan  bliadhna  an  dcighc  so,  ga'n  raimsacha'  le  mor-ehuram, 
agus  a  togail  suas  fo  'chomhair  cruth,  us  drcach,  na  li-iimtinii 
a  dheilbh  iad,  maille  vis  gach  nos,  us  clcachda,  tha  ainmichte 
nam  mcasg.  C.'ha  ruig  mi  leas  tuillc  a  radha  as  an  loth,  acli  gu 
bheil  ini  ''n  dochas,  gu'n  toir  e  uircad  de  thaitneas  dhuibhsa  'bhi 
ga'n  eisdeachd,  's  a  thug  e  dhonihsa  bin  ga'n  tional.  Tha  cheud 
oran,  air  '"('all  Bat  lonarghairridh,"  le 

ALASTAIR  CAIMBEUL, 

a    bha    na    thailear   aim   an    Srath-ghruaidh   'an    Athull,    agus    a 
chaochail  mii'ii  bhliadhna  IcSlO. 

Tha  'n  t-Ionarghairridh  so  a  faotaiim  an  aimn  bho  loiiar-na- 
h-amlma  ;tha  'gciridh  a  Loch  (Jairridh  airmonadh  Dhruim-uaclidair, 
agus  tha  taoma  a  staigh  do  Amhainn  Theamhail  mu  dha  mhile 
suas  bho  Bhaile-chloichridh.  IV  c  a.obhair  an  orain  chianali  so  ;  gun 
dcach  oclid  pearsa diag  a  bhathadh,  air  dhaibh  bhi  pillcadh  dliach- 
aidh  bh'  air  na  Feill-ma-Chalinaig  aim  an  toiseach  a  Mhart  17G7. 
Thuit  gu  'n  robh  an  amhainn  air  na  tiarraibh  le  tnil  bhrais — agus 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  127 

gun  do  dhiultar  an  t-aisig,  ach  mu  dheireadh  gun  d'  aontaich  fear 
an  aisig  'dhol  leotha  ;  leum  iad  staigh  cho  brais  anus  a  bhata  agus 
reir  coslais  's  ami  uaithc  sin  a  dh'  eirich  an  sgiorradh  bronach. 

Rinii  Alastair  oran  eile,  agus  's  truagh  nach  gabhadh  e  faotainn, 
oir  's  e  oran  ro  bhuadhar  a  bha'ii  "Aoire  nan  Radan."  Bha'u  duine 
coir  so  ga  sharach,  mar  blia  ioma  duine  coire  cile  's  an  t-saoghal 
so,  's  bhiodli  a  reir  cleachdadh  na  duthcha,  poc  aige  's  a  mhuilleann, 
chum  cuideacha  fhaighinn  uapsa  a  b'  urrainn  a  sheachna.  Chaidh 
h-uilc  ni  gu  maith  car  moran  tiom,  ach  mu  dlieire  dhruidh, 
deudach  gheur  an  radaiu  air  cuid  Alastair,  ach  mo  dhruidh, 
dhruidh  briathrau  gcura  Alastair  orrasan,  oir  thcirear  gun  d'  fhag 
gach  aon  dhiubh  an  duthaich — mar  thubhairt  fear  araidh,  "agus 
cabhag  air  an  iosgaidean." 

ORAX    AIR    CALL    BAT    IOXARGIIAIRR1DH. 

Lf  Alastair  Cainibeul. 

Fcasgar  la  Fhcill-ma-Chalmaig 

Bti  mli or  earchull  iia  feille, 

Chailear  Bat  lonarghairridh 

Mu  am  dhol  fodha  na  grcinc  ; 

Ach  a  dhaoin'  tliugaibh  airc 

Cha  'n  'oil  mearachd  no  brcig  aim 

Am  bas  a  dh'  orduich  an  Triatli  dhuiim, 

Cha.  ghabli  e  siaclia  no  luumadh. 

A  High  mhoir  th' air  a  chaithir, 
'S  a  tha  feitheamh  gn  leir  oirini, 
'Thug  ua  daoino  o'n  taighibh 
M)h'  ionnsaidh  uighir  na  i'eillo  ; 
Chruimiich  thus  as  gach  ait  iad 
Thun  a  bhais  o'n  's  e  b'  eiginn, 
'S  'nuair  a  chaidli  iad  's  a  bhata 
Cha  robli  dail  dliaibh  ach  geilleadh. 

0  bhothu  !  a  dhaotnc, 

Xach  fuaight  an  Saoghal  riim  uilc, 

C'  uirn'  nach  cuireamaid  i'aoin'  e, 

'S  ntich  'oil  aon  ncach  a'  fuireach  ; 

Ged  bu  liuuc  an  saoghal 

'Xuair  tliig  am  maor  lois  an  t-suman,1 

Cha-n  fliag  e  simi  oidhche 

'N  dcigli  na  troisdc  chaidh  clumiadh. 

]  leis  a  chuireadli. 


128  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

0  'n  bha  'n  uair  air  a  euraadh, 

'S  nacli  b'  urrainu  duine  dhiubh  'tioimdadb 

'Sior  iarguiu  na  dh'  f huirich 

Bu  truagh  turas  l  nam  banntrach  ; 

'Nam  taicc  nan  traitheaii 

Bhiodh  na  paisdean  a  drandail, 

lad  a  'g  eigbeacli  's  a  ranaich 

Mar  nan  's  a  rnhathair  air  faontra. 

Mar  uaiii  gun  mhathair  air  faontra 
Gheibbte  claim  's  iad  gun  atliair, 
'S  iad  gu  lutha  an  crichc 
Daonan  dhi  am  fear  taighe  ; 
Clia  tog  aighir  gu  dilimi 
Na  ni  chi  iad  i'i  'n  latha, 
\S  cha  tog  fiodhal  no  music 
Tuilleadh  'n  inntimi  mar  bha  i.  2 

Tha  na  mnatban  fo  chradh  dlietli, 
'S  beag  an  t-ioghnadli  dboibli  cinntc, 
A  Rigb  buin  rimi  gu  baigbeil 
'Nuair  tliig  am  bus  nach  gabh  pilltiini  ; 
'Nuair  a  tlicid  sinn  's  an  aiiart 
Gleidh  ar  n-anamana  priscil, 
'S  aim  aig  l)at  [oiiarghairridh 
'Bha  'n  uair  chabhagach  clirichc. 

'S  ami  'bha  'n  iolaich  's  a  ghlaoidliich 
Da  thaobh  lonarghairridh, 
'S  iad  ag  amharc  nan  daoinc 
Anns  an  fhaochaig  ga  'm  fairig  ; 
'Nuair  a  ghairmeas  am  maor  sinn, 
Cha-ii  fhaodar  fuiroacli  aig  bailo  : 
Aig  ccami  mu  dheireadh  ar  saoghail 
Ar  'n  atliair  naomha  'bhi  mar  rimi. 

]ma  na  Stiubliartaicb  s])ciscalt, 
'S  bha  grois  diu'  's  a  bhata  ; 
'S  olc  an  treubhantas  duine 
( 'huir  an  euimart  a  bhatbadli  ; 
Nam  bidli  fios  mar  a  thaehair 
Mu  'n  do  sgoilt  e  na  chlaraibh, 
'S  mor  a  bheireadh  iad  seachad 
'Chionn  air  talarnli  'bin  sabliailt. 

1  tuireadh.          ~  no,  mar  chaklhe. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  129 

Bha  caithris  la  agus  oidhche 

Aig  oighrc  Fonnchastail, 

Ga  'n  sireadh  's  na  bruachaibh 

Is  e  flinch  fuar  aim  na  chaiseart. 

Thoill  e  beannaclid  na  tuatha 

Agus  fhuair  c  gu  pailt  i, 

Gu  'in  paigh'  an  High  math  na  dhuais  c 

'S  goal  a  chluasag  's  a  leabaidh. 

Tha  Heiri  mor  Stiubhart 

Lan  musgaiim  gun  cliadal, 

(.•ha  d'i'ha.n1  o  caislig  no  luban, 

No  gninnd  puill  gun  dheadh  bheachdach  ; 

Le  dubhanan  dubailt 

'G  iarraidh  grunnd  na  dubh-aigein, 

Agus  mordhanan  dubhghorm  1 

'S  croinne  ghiubhais  gam  brogadh. 

'S  ami  an  sid  bha  na  bradaiii 
Air  a  aigeal  -  nan  sincadh, 
Gun  an  dull  ri  dhol  dhacliaidh 
Dh'  fhag  sid  reachd  air  an  dilsinn  ; 
Gun  toir  Ni-math  dhuinn  smuaineach 
Mar  shar  bhuachaille  ciiinteacli, 
Blii  inn  thiomchal  ar  cuairte 
'Xuair  a  bhuailear  a'  tiom  sinn. 

Cha  b'  aim  f<>  cunlaidli  an  t-sleiblic 
Dh' I'liag  Hoiri  'clmid  daoine, 
'Nuaii1  a  t'huair  e  vi  chcil  iad, 
Bha  ciblmeas  'us  aoidh  air  : 
lliim  e    n  1'iiidh    us  an  caramh 
^lau  an  aigli  elm  robh  fuill  ami, 
'S  chuir  e  gcarrain  ;s  na  tarnaibli, 
'Xuair  a  dh'  fhairnich  air  daoine. 

;Xuair  bha  'n  cuirp  air  a  chlodach, 

Bha  iad  docliart  ri  ghiulain, 

'X  sin  chaidh  cairtcan  nan  siubhal, 

7S  clia-ii  aithnichtc  bruthach  scach  iirlar  ; 

Oha  robh  baigh  ri  mac  lairc, 

(?a  'n  cuir  do  I>hlar  chum  na  h-urach — 

Cha-n  'oil  o  boo  do  Sliiol  Adhamh 

Neach  thug  barr  ami  an  iuil  ort. 

1  no,  (lu-ghorin.          -  chladach. 


130  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Bu  tu  seise  na'm  banntrach, 

Agus  ceann  nan  diol-deiree, 

'S  trie  a  bha  iad  mu  d'  chit  chin , 

Cha  d'  iarr  thu  idir  an  treigsin  ; 

Faotamn  cal  agus  aran 

Mill  'us  bainne  le  chcile — 

Cha  ghabli  c  innseadh  na  labhairt 

Na  rinn  tlui  'chaitheadh  ri  feumnaieh. 

Tha  Oighre  Fonnehastail 

(in  h-artneulaeh  bronach, 

An  ti  chunnaic  's  naeh  fhaeadh, 

Bha  dhnais  aige  ;s  bu  mhor  e  ; 

.Dli't'liag  e  'Bhaintigliearna  thlachdmhor, 

Gun  tinn,  gun  eas-shlaint,  gun  leonadh, 

'Nnair  a  tliainig  c  dliachaidh 

Fliuair  c  paisgte  air  iiord  i. 

'S  nior  a  ghabh  e  do  niluilad 

'Us  na  eliunnaic  c  'dhoruinn  ; 

'S  aim  a  thaisg  e  'ehlach-bliunait, 

'Stcacli  I'o  dhuileag  a  ehota  ; 

Leag  e  'n  eallaoh  bu  truiine 

Air  an  Ti  a  1);  urrainn  a  chomlmadh  ; 

'S  'nuair  thig  am  maor  leis  an  t-shuman 

A  High  glachd  uile  mar  Job  shin. 

AOXGHAS  CAQJBEUL. 

Ruga'  am  bard  suimdacli  deas-bhriathracli  so,  mu  na  bldiadlma 
1710,  agus  chaochail  emu  1814.  Bha  e  ]>osda  air  Anna  Cliaimbeul 
ngus  bha  sia'nai1  theaglilaich  aea.  5S  e  hard  Kadar  a'  Mliucaidh,  a 
glieibheadli  e  na  latlia,  agus  bu  mhath  b'fhiach  e  l>ard  a  channtain 
vis  s  ainmig  a  glieibhear  smuain  clio  coileanta,na  briatliarcliolurach 
's  a  glieibhcar  aigesan.  B'  i'hiach  an  aon  Ithard  so  a  Siorraehd 
I'hcairt,  oraid  slmasrnhor  dha  fhciu  gu  a  Ian  bliuaidhcan  iomlan 
a  nochda.'  dhuibh.  Acli  fodhnadh  an  luinneag  shugraidh  so  a 
leanas  aig  an  am.  rhuir  Aonghas,  macli  a  cliuid  oran  ami  an 
leabliar  laghach  beag  amis  a  bldiadlma  178-").  Ach  c'ait  an  gabh 
c  gleidliG,  clia  gbabh  ach  tea  re,  :s  einnte  naeh  d'fiiuair  ATae 
Coinnieh  e,  air  neo  bhiodli  ribhcid  shunndaieh  Aonghais  a'  goirseinn 
am  measg  sar  obair  nani  bard.  P)ithidh  sinn  an  deagh  dhoehas  gu 
I'aigh  oigridh  na  Gaidhealtachd  eolas  airsan  i'hathast.  rlTha  ;in  aon 
i'honn  air  an  luimicig  so  clio  togarach  's  is  aitlme  dliomh  measg 
nam  fuinn  (rhaidhcalach.  Saoile  mi,  ear  mar  tha  "  Theid  mi 
dhaeiiaidli  '('hro  Chinntailc." 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  131 


RAXXAX    BHO    LUINXEAG    GHAOIL. 

Luinneag — 0-ho  nigbean,  hiri  nigbean, 

0-ho  nighean,  'chhni  duinn  aluinn, 
Mo  ghaol  cailinn  dhonn  na  buailc, 
'S  ami  a  tha  mo  luaidh  's  an  Airidli. 

Tboir  mo  shoraidh  'us  mo  bheannachd 
Dh'  fhios  na  li-ainnir  'bhoil  mo  ghradh-sa, 
'S  innis  gu  blieil  mi  fo  smuaiiirean, 
O  na  chaidh  mi  suas  do  'n  Bliraighe. 

'S  trie  mi  daonan  'g  amharc  suas  uam, 
liis  na  bruachaibh  'n  d'  fhuarar  m'  arach 
Far  am  b!  abliaist  duinn  Jbhi  sugradh, 
(4cd  a  eliuir  tlm  cul  an  drast  rium. 

Ach  mo  chailinn  gahlisa  truas  dliiam, 
Pill  gu  luath  rinm  as  na  frig  mi, 
'S  air  a  mhead  's  gun  can  an  sluagh  riim, 
Bidh  shin  cluaineis  mar  a  b'  abhaist. 

Doucl  mar  diailc  a  d'  bheulan  diithtc, 
Mar  an  eala  ghoal  do  bhragad, 
Loam  bu  mhilse  pog  o  'n  ribhiim 
Na  na  fiogais  fo  mo  chairean. 

'S  snasmhor  Ijuaghadi  glan  an  cuailein, 

])h'  fh;is  mar  ghruaig  oil  suas  mu  'd  bhi'aighe, 

Na  1)  uilc  ciabh  a'  sniomli  mu'n  C'.iairt 

("ii  bacldach,  dualaeh,  cuachacli,  I'ainneadi. 


'S  aim  tini'j;  \\ 

l)hut  an  latha  chaidh  mi  "n 

S  mor  gn  l>:  t'hcari1  dhomii  hhi  a 

(TCM!  nacli  i'airichean  mi  brath  as. 


13-j  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

'S  truagh  nach  robh  mi  'n  ciste  dhuinte 
Anns  an  nir  an  deigh  's  mo  charamh, 
Far  nach  cliiiniiiini  'bin  ga  d'  phusadh 
Hi  fear  eilc  's  tu  ga  m'  fhagail. 

Gur  am  pill  thu  ga  la-luain  rium, 

Ge  nach  truagh  leat  'bin  ga  m'  aichshenn, 

Gus  an  cairear  amis  an  naigh  mi 

Choidh  cha  toir  mi  fuath,  ach  gradh  dhut. 

0-ho  nighean,  liiri  nighean, 
0-ho  nighean,  chinii  duinn  aluiim, 
Mo  ghaol  cailinn  dlionn  na  buaile, 
'S  ami  a  tha  mo  hiaidh  's  an  Airidh. 

DA'IDH  CAIMBEUL. 

iviigadh  Daibhidh  Caimbcul  air  Sliosmin,  Locha  Raineach, 
aims  a  bhliadlma  1798,  agus  eliaochail  e  le  bas  sgiorail  's  <i 
bliliadhna  1830.  IV  e  Daibhidh  mac  Dhonuill  mhic  Ghilleasp' 
inhic  Dhonuill  Bhain.  .l)ha  an  t-oran  a  loanas  air  a  dheaiuunh 
do  Slicsidh  Mheiiine  an  (!ois-a-]>hilcadh,  agus  uaithe  sin,  canar  ris 
ic  Gran  Seisidh  Chois-a-Bhilcadh." 

ORAX    f-E    CrlLLE    GO,   AIH    DA    CIILUiXNTlNX    CUX    00  PIIOS    A    LEAXNAX 
'X    UAIR    A    IJIIA    E    AS    AX    DUTUAICII. 

Air  fonn — "  TJta  mi  muladd.rh  dioinhaiT." 

'S  mi  bhi  tamnll  air  astar, 

O  'n  ait  an  d'  altrum  mi  og, 
Chualas  sgeul  nach  cuis  o'haire, 

]\Io  ghradhsa  'bhi  poisd  ; 
J>S  ged  tha  cnid  rium  ag  radliainn, 

De  'n  sta  bhi  ri  bron, 
?N  gaol  a  tluig  mi  am  phtiistcan, 

IS'i  mi  aracli  ri  in'  blieo. 

Lnin near/ — Oi.uh  iir  a  clml  dualaich, 

Fhuair  buaidh  thai*  gach  ninaoi, 
'S  e  do  o-luxol  rinn  mo  bhuaireadh, 

JS  cliuir  tuailcas  'am  cheann  ; 
Ged  a  chnir  thu  mi  suarach, 

'S  ged  a  dh'fhuaraicli  do  ghradh ; 
Bidh  mi  tnille  fu  smuainreaii, 

()  nach  d'  fhuair  mi  do  lamb. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  133 

Cha  robh  mi  dh'  aois  ach  dcich  bliadhna, 

'N  nair  'ghabh  mi  ciat  dhiot  an  tiis, 
"S  gach  aon  latha  ga  'mhiadaeh 

'S  tu  sior  riarach  mo  shul  ; 
'S  beag  an  t-ioghn'  mi  bin  dnilich, 

Trom,  mnladach,  ciuirt, 
Thn  'bin  'n  diugh  aig  fear  eile, 

'S  mise  'seasamh  air  chid. 

Ach  's  e  's  eiginn  domh  iimseadh, 

'S  cha  'n  eil  brigh  'bin  ga  chlcith, 
Gu  'n  robh  mi  6g  aims  an  tiom, 

Is,  air  bheag  pris  agus  meas  ; 
Cha  chunnta  mo  ehaoirich, 

'S  cha  deach  taod  ami  am  each  ; 
'S  ni  's  mo  thug  'n  Fheillmartninn, 

Riamh  mal  domh  a  steach. 

Ach  nan  d'  rinn  thu  learn  lubaclh 

'Glicng  ur  nan  suil  tlath, 
Cha-n  fhaicte  luchd  duth'ch  thu, 

Fo  churam  11,11  'n  mhal  ; 
'S  ami  a  bhidh-micl  gn  surdail, 

'Dol  am  miiirne  gach  la  ; 
'S  bhidh  daoin-nailse  na  diithcha, 

Toirt  umlilachd  do  m'  ghradh. 

Ach  nis  sgnircam  do  thuireadh, 

'S  leigeam  mulad  i'o  laiinh, 
;S  innseam  aogas  na  cruinneig, 

'S  deise  cuir  aims  an  danns  ; 
Maiglideann  shnairce,  dheas,  chuimcir, 

Bha  suidhicht,  gun  mheang  • 
Mhealladh  gaol  o  na  gillcan, 

Ged  is  mil  is  an  cainnt. 

Gur  c  's  cleachd  do  luchd  oran, 

Bin  sainhlach  ros  ris  gach  grnaidh  ; 
'S  ma  bhios  bilean  car  boidheach, 

Mar  chaoran  meoir  iad  'n  tra'  bhnain  5 
Bidh  gach  suil  ac  mar  dhearcaig, 

Bhios  am  fasgadh  nam  brnach, 
'8  gur  samhladh  do  chasan, 

Am  bradan  geal  thig  o  'n  chuan. 


134  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Cha-ii  'oil  fliir  aim  an  garaidb, 

Gc  daicheil  an  siiuadh, 
No  lus  ami  am  fasaeh 

No 'n  taobh  gairieh  a  chuain, 
Cha  do  ciiimi  an  glaic  aonaich, 

No  air  eraobh  an  coill  uain, 
Na  ni  coirneas  do  m'  ghaolsa, 

Gradh  nan  daoin  o  'n  taobh-tuatli. 

Acli  ge  boidlieach  do  phearsa. 

Is  go  dreachnihor  do  glinuis, 
Gc  binne  do  ehomhradh, 

Nan  snieoraeh  seinn  ciiiil  ; 
Ged  is  gile  nan  eanaeh, 

Do  clheud  thana  gliil  dliliitli, 
Is  ge  eiibhraidh  learn  t-anail, 

Na  croinn  mheala  to  dliriucbd. 

Gba-n  iad  sin,  ge  bu  looir  iad, 

Clmir  mi  'n  toir  ort  a  ruin, 
Acli  miad  do  mliisnicb  is  d'  eolais, 

Tbair  oigridb  ilo  dlmtli'cb  ; 
;S  c  l)bi  cuimhiieach  do  chonihradh, 

'S  do  roglia  scoil  aims  gacli  eiiis, 
Ts  nacb  d'  fbaod  sinn  blii  cornbladh, 

Dli'fbag  in  deoir  air  mo  sbuil. 

Fbuair  tbusa  mar  fbagail, 

Gacli  buaidh  a  b'  aill  Icinn  air  ninai,. 
Soimbe,  stuama,  na  d'  lu'ulur, 

Caomh,  cuirdeil,  ri  saoi'  ; 
C'aoimbiicil,  blatb,  ri  lucbd  oislein,  ! 

Deanamli  feiiin  dbaibb  fo  laimh  ; 
JS  trie  a  thug  thu  an  deiree, 

'S  cha  b' c  'n  cigm  libiodb  ami. 

'S  trie  a  thai  nig  mi  dbacbaidb, 

Bbar  machair  nan  (iall, 
Sgitli,  fiinn,  air  blicag  eadail, 

Trom,  airtnculach,  mall  ; 
Our  e  eoimhneas  mo  chaileig, 

'S  i  am  gblacabh  gu  tcann, 
Dh' fhogradh  mi-ghean  o  m'  aiiv,  - 

'S  bbeireadb  dbomb  fallaineaebd  slaint. 

1  cu-slaint.  -  ni'  aigne. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  135 

'S  aim  an  dubhar  nan  craobh, 

Far  an  taom  an  sruth  uain', 
Dh' eisdeachd  ur-lnaidh  mo  ghaoil-sa, 

'S  trie  a  dh'  aom  mi  mo  chinas  ; 
Cha  b'  e  tagradh  na  faoineachd, 

Air  'm  bu  chaomh  leat  bhi  luaidh 
Acli  rogha  tnigs'  agns  ceille, 

Mar  bu  bheus  do  inhuaoi  nails'. 

Na  faighinns'  mo  dhurachd, 

Mo  run,  is  mo  mhiann, 
Cha  bhiodh  iarrtas  a'  m'  urnuigh, 

Ach  bhi  dluth  riut  a  chiall  ; 
'S  mor  gu'm  b'  annsa  na  duthaich, 

Bhi  riut  sugradh  gun  fhiamh, 
Far  an  goircadh  an  smudan, 

Is  an  dlnithe  am  fiar.  l 

Gu  de  'n  sta  bin  ga  chnimhneach, 

Chuir  a  cliuibhle  car  tual, 
'S  far  'n  robh  duil-leam  ri  caoimhneas, 

Cha  robh  an  raoir  aim  ach  fuath  ; 
Gu  bheil  gaol  nan  og-mhaighdeann, 

Cearr  mar  bhoillsge  na  li-uair, 
'S  gu  dluth  air  na  deighse, 

Thig  duibh'i1'  agns  fuaclid. 

Na  'n  do  ghabli  mi  an  leasan, 
A  bheirinn  do  chach, 

'X  <j'iui  <-h<<i*i  t/iotrt  do  mlinaoi  : 
Cha  bhiodh  m'  aodainn  co  preasach, 

(inn  do  leisgenl  'bhi  ami  ; 
Ach  gaol  'thoirt  do  the  dhiu', 

Gun  eirig  ga  eheann. 

Ach  ged  rinn  thu,  'ghaoil,  m'  fhagail, 

Is  do  lamh  'thoirt  dh'  fhear  ur  ; 
Cha  chluinnte  gu  brath  mi, 

Ach  ag  ardach  do  chliu  ; 
'S  ged  tha  mi  an  drasta, 

Fad  a  thamli  as  an  dii'ich, 
'S  toil-inntinn  bhi  'g  eisdeachd, 

Deagh  sgeul  ort,  a  ruin. 

1  four. 


136  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


DONULL  CAIMBEUL. 

Rugadh  Donull  Caimbeul  aig  an  Spicleal,  na  mar  theirte  ris  an 
nis  Dail-an-Spideil  air  rathad  Dhruim-Uachdair,  far  an  robh 
tuathanas  aig  athair,  's  a  bhliadhna,  a  reir  mo  bheachd,  1798,  agus 
theasd  e  ami  an  Cinn-a-Ghiusaidh  mu  1875.  A  bharrachd  air  an 
uran  so,  sgriobh  mise,  blio  aitliris  feiu,  da  oran  eile  do  chuidsan,  aoii 
dhiubli  sin  "  Duanag  a  Chiobair,"  agus  an  t-aou  eile  "  Gu'm  bu 
slau  do  na  fearaibh  tlieid  tliairis  an  cuan."  l>u  mbaitb  learn  an 
t-oran  so  thoirt  fo  'nr  beaclid,  oir  tbug  duin  nasal  coir,  agus  iior 
Ghael,  a  tlia  dileas  do  'n  Chomunn  so,  scaebad  dbnibb  a  chcart 
luiimeag,  bbo  cbeann  coig  bliadhna  mar  gn  'm  biodh  i  air  a 
dcanamh  le  Uillcim  Mac  Bheathan  blia  'n  Cinne-Ghiusaidh.  Tlia 
mi  chin teach  nach  b'c  Maiglistir  Cailein  Siosal  a  bbcircadh  nrram,  na 
ainm  luinncig  duine  sain  bitli  do  dh'  dbuiu'  eile,  cba  b'  e.  'S  aim 
tba  Ciisau  agus  gach  aon  eile,  tlia  cruinneachadb  air  son  a 
Chomuinn  so  a  gabhail  mar  a  gheibh  iad,  airus  an  uair  a  tbachras 
ni  ]nar  so,  cba  'n  fbios  doiub  doigb  na  \s  fearr  na  barail  agus 
ughdarras  duine  innse,  cbum  's  gu  bi  colas  air  a  mbeudacbadb, 
agus  mcaracbd  air  a  lugbadacb.  Tha  "  Duanag  a  Cbiobair"  a 
rinn  Donull  Caimbeul  mar  an  ccudmi,  cbo  aitbniclite  ;s  nacb  ruig 
misc  leas  an  corr  a  radlia  mu  deibhiuu,  P> 'i  Peigidh  t>ban  so 
pivitbar  Sbeumais  Stiubbarfc,  ''blia  aim  am  Baile-mlmillionn, 
( rblinne-Banachair. 

ORAX    DO    PIIKIGIDII    STIUBHAP.T,    AM    HAILE-CIIJIODHAIN, 
AM    15AIDEAXACH. 

A  Plieigidb  blian  o'n  tlia  tbu  laghacb, 
'J'hcigidb  bban  o'n  tba  tbu  grinn, 
M'heigidb  blian  o'n  tba  tbu  briagba, 
Bidb  tu  'in  bliadbna  ami  ad  mlmaoi. 

Am  feasgair  Sabaid  liba  sinn  combla, 
(Jhnir  iad  an  ordugh  dbombs'  na  sninn, 
(4u'n  robb  ocbdnav  dbiubh  ga  d' iarraidh, 
'S  t.b oir  learn  i'bin  gur  briagba  'n  t-suim. 
rbeigidh  blian,  Arc. 

Gu  bbeil  breabair  rnadb  na  Sroine 

'(!•  iarraidli  coir  ort-sa  mar  mlmaoi. 

'S  inor  gum  b'i'hearr  dbut  Donnacha  Dho'nuill, 

(Jhuireadh  doigb  air  'eicb  'us  croinn. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  137 

Gn  bheil  Alidli  Ncill  ga  d'  iarraidh, 
'S  taighean  sgliat  aigc  'tha  grinn, 
Acli  ma  bheir  e  snas  an  t-Sliabh  thu, 
Bidh  sile  dinar  ami  tha  mi  cimit'. 

Tha  Ian  Toiseach,  oigear  snairc', 
An  dull  do  blmanndaclia'  mar  mlinaoi, 
Ach  gcd  's  iomadh  fear  tha  'n  toir  ort, 
Cha  'n  fhaod  thu  ''phosadh  ach  a  li-aon. 

Gu  blicil  Donnacha  ban  mac  Iain, 
Gille  cridhcil  's  c  r<>  ghrimi, 
Ach  ma  ni  thu  ni.se  i'hagail, 
Cha  toir  o  'lamh  do  the  a  choidh. 

Gu  blicil  Aoii.Li'has  ruadh  an  claehair. 

An  duil  a  <T  fha'-al-sa  'bhi  cimit', 

'8  mor  gu'm  1)'  fhcarr  Icis  Tmi  ;s  an  tcasaich, 

T\Ia  's  e  's  nach  frea.sdail  thu  e  :n  tiom. 

(jii  bhcil  ciobair  NOid  an  toir  ort, 
Giullan  stoiltc,  laghach  criiiini, 
'S  gar  a  bhcil  aig  ;ich  an  oigc, 
Bhiodh  e  deonach  Icat  mar  mhnaoi. 

Tha  Mac-Gili])  mcasg  na  h-aircamh, 
Bliios  a  tala,   I'cigidli  glirinn, 
Ach  'nuair  dhuiii'  iad  air  am  batliaich, 
])h'fhau'  sid  casan  craitcach 


'Xnair  a  thcid  thu  sios  do   n  t-scarmain, 
Tha  maidscir  airin  a  tainh    s  an  -t.nn, 
\S  nuair  a  ghcibh  c  ii  cota-dearg  air, 
;S  dcas  a  dli"  flialbhas  silth  air_//W(/. 

<Jlia  robh  ach  oclidnar  tos  na  bliadhne, 
Bha  ga  d'  iarraidh-sa  mar  mhnaoi, 
Ach  an  nisc,  tha  scaclid-diag  aim 
Dlmblaig  sid  an  riadh   s  an  t-siiim. 

Ach  nam  bithinn-sa  cho  bnadhar. 
Ls  do  bhuanndacha3  dhomh  fhin, 
Bhidh  i  again  air  mo  chluasaig, 
'S  bheirinn  suas  do  Ghoidhueae:  i. 


138  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

GILLEASPUIC  CAIMBEUL. 

Air  an  fhicheadamh  la  's  a  h-aon  de  December  1881,  chaidh  mi 
dh'fhaicimi  Ghilleaspuic  Chaimbcil  aig  Ccaiin  Loch-eire,  bha  e  an  sin 
na  sheami  duinc  agus  fior-dliroch  f huachd  aige.  Tha  mi  'g  ainmeach- 
adh  so  do  bhrigh  mar  biodh  am  fuaohd  sin  aige,  gu  'm  faodadh 
nioran  tuille  de  dh'  orain  tliaitneach  bin  agam  air  an  sgriobha  bho'n 
duine  choir.  Ach  bha  mi  gn  mor  an  comain  a  mhnatha  a  dh'asluich 
ris  ni-eigin  thoirt  dhomh,  mar  chaimhneaclum  air  mo  cheilidh. 
Dh' innis  e  dhomh  mn  'mhathair,  Searlait  ^sic  an  Toisich,  odha  an 
(luine  ainmeil  sin,  "  Fear-fad  a  choin  uidhir,"  agus  mn  dheighinn 
athar,  agns  gnr  aim  an  [onarchadain  am  Bunraineach  a  rngadh  e  air 
a  choigeamh  scachdain  dhc  'n  Earrach  1804,  chnir  e  niach  a  chuid 
oran  ami  an  leabhar  an  1S.Y1.  An  dcigh  moran  comhradh,  thnirt 
e,  l'  'S  iomaclh  oran  beag  'us  duanag  a  rinn  mi,  air  nach  bi  cuimhn* 
gu  brath,  ach  tha  aon  oran  a  rinn  mi  nach  bu  mhaith  learn  dhol  air 
di-chuimhn',  's  e  sin  cumlia  Shir  Iain."  Sgriobh  mi  am  cumha,  's 
thoir  learn,  gur  maiseach  smuain  'us  briathar  a  bhaird. 

MARBHRANX    DO    SHIR    IAIN    MAC-GRIOGAIR, 

A  chaockat'l  ann  an  Eiletnian  na  h-Oigh,  '*  <f  bkliadhna  1851. 

'S  ami  air  di-ciadainn  thahi  an  s.u'cul, 

A  dh'  fhag  na  ceudan  cianail, 

An  aon  la  dctig  de  nihios  a  cheitein, 

Dheng  am  fear  bu  mhiann  leinn  ; 

l)ha  tuireadh  bliroiii  aig  aois  ?us  oig 

A  ghabh  gnc  colas  riamh  ort, 

( )'n  chaill  thn  'n  deo  's  nach  eil  thu  bco, 

(iur  mor  an  aobhar  iargainn. 

'S  ann  ail1  Kileanan  na  h-Oigh 
A  fhuair  thn  coir  mar  riaghlair, 
O  Bhann-righ  Bhreatnnn  le  Ian  deoin 
(ki  (V  ordugli  'chuir  an  gniomh  ann  ; 
Ach,  's  gearr  an  iiin  a  mhair  thn  beo, 
Chuir  High  na  gloir  ga  d'  iarraidli, 
O'li  's  e  fein  a  b'  airidh  coir 
Air  spiorad  mor  na  tialachd. 

'S  e  Sir  Iain,  tha  mi  Inaidh 

An  gallan  nasal  fior  ghlan, 

'S  e  fath  mo  lihroin  gu'n  d'fhalbh  thn  bhuainn, 

A  null  thair  chuaintean  fiadhaich  ; 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  139 

'S  ami  air  di-luain  ehaidh  chreubh  bha  fiiar, 
A  chuir  's  an  uaigh  le  ciadan, 
'S  an  tir  aincoil  fada  bhuainn 
'An  cistc  luaidli  gu  dionach. 

Chaidh  iomradh  air  do  bhas  an  coin 

Air  fad  's  air  lead  na  Criosdachd, 

Gur  ioma  suil  'bha  silcadh  dlieur, 

'N  uair  tliain  an  sgeul  gu  'n  chrioch  thu  ; 

Do  chairdean  fein  's  do  ehloinn  gu  Icir, 

Ri  tuireadh  dlieur  ga  d'  iargainn, 

Is  d'  fhior  bheaii-chomain  agus  ghaoil, 

(in  dubhaeh,  caoineacli,  cianail. 

IJha  ciuchdran  truagh  a  incasg  do  thuath, 
Mar  uain  an  dcigh  's  an  dioladh, 
Na  deoir  a'  tuiteani  sios  le  'n  gruaidh 
Is  osnaich  chruaidh  ga'm  piaiiadh  ; 
O'n  thain  an  sgeul  thu  blii  's  an  uaigh, 
'S  nach  d'  fhuair  iad  thu  ri  thiodhlag, 
Tha  sid  mar  shaighcle  gt  nr  nam  feoil 
A'  cuir  am  bron  am  miadachd. 

0  's  beag  an  t-ioglma  learn  air  dhoigh, 

Ged  tha  am  bron  ga'n  Icireadh, 

'S  a  mhiad  's  ;i  phairtieh  thu  de  d'  ghradh, 

Hi  tuath,  ri  daimh,  'us  feuirmaich  ; 

Air  truaghan  rianih  (,-ha  d'  rinn  thu  tair, 

Cha  b'  e  do  nadur  fhein  e, 

x\ch  ioclid  'us  bias  o  ehridhe  tlath, 

Nach  tug  bonn  gradh  do  'n  eueoir. 

'S  aim  thain  am  buille  druiteach  trom 

A  dh'  fhag  ur  fonn  neo-eibhinn, 

An  t-ur  chrann  uaine  'b'  aile  snnagh, 

Ceann  feadhn'  air  sluagh  'bha  treubhach  ; 

Do  thilge  sios  o  d'  bhonn  gu  blar 

Thug  faillinn  air  na  geugan, 

'S  ged  tha  na  fhirain  og  a'  fas, 

Tha  shin  fo  ehradh  mil  d'  dheimhimi. 

'S  e  'n  ros  is  trathaidh  'thig  fo  bhlatli, 
Gu  trie  is  trathaidh  'chrionas, 
'S  c  'n  t-nbhall  aillidli  's  fearr  's  a  gharadh, 
'S  trathaidh  'theid  a  spionadh. 


140  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

'S  c  gaoth  a  Mb  art  a  rlhocbaimi  tra 
An  c ru n  is  aille  fiamhachd, 
'S  e  reoth'  a  Cheiteiii  sgath  a  bhlath, 
De  'n  fhluran  aluinn  cbiatacb. 

LUX  CAIMBEUL. 

Mu  thiomchall  Iain  Chaimbeul  's  fheudar  dhomb  a  radh  nach 
aithne  dhonih  ni  inn  dheibhinn  acli  an  t-oran  caitlireamacb  a 
dh'fhag  e  againn  "  Oran  an  t-Saighdeir,"  a  sgriobh  mi  bbo  aithris 
Mhrs  Stiubbart  am  Baile-na-B<»daeh,  an  Srath-teamhail,  's  i  dh' 
aois,  deicb  'us  eeithir  tiehead.  Thug  mi  taing  dbi  gun  teagamh 
airson  a  dcagb  chuimhne,  agus  bcainiacbd  airson  a  deagb  aois. 

ORAX    AX    T-SAIGIIDKAH. 

tirisd — Illean  bi'bli  nllamb  le  'r  'n  armaibb  guineacb 
(ai  laidir  duineil  an  on  air  an  Higb, 
Ma  'n  tig  oirnnc  fada  l)ilb'db  'n  riogbacbd  so  againn, 
Is  pilleadb  sinn  dacbaidb  do  Bbrcatunn  a  ris. 

JV  e  TJWf'ar  comanndair  's  bu  deas  air  ar  ccanu  c, 
'N  uair  tbog  e  dbuinn  camnan  air  Mount- M onetsi ; 
An  rl'i  o  'n  robli  sinne  clia  b'  c  an  run  pilleadb, 
Js  eiridb  ar  gillcan  gn  ruig  Fontrfjlii. 

A  Bostan  a  meavsa  bu  bboidbcacb  ar  trend  an,1 
l)ol  suas  gu  ]\>hit-1<-ltJii.  db'  fheucb  do  dbeircadb  dbuinn, 
Bha  ludbaicli  'us  Frangaicb  's  na  ]ireasan  gu  tcann  oirnn, 
'S  iad  moidbidb  gu  tcan  air  an  sgalp  a  tboirt  dinn. 

Dar  rainear  J'ort/d/ti  bu  jdiailt  fear  'us  to  dliiubb, 
Blia  canntain  ri  cbeile  's  eruaidb  !n  sgeul  so  ri  sbeinn, 
'S  ged  tbigeadb  iad  uile  bu  gbearr  dliail)li  an  turas, 
J^buair  Gaidbeil  riamli  an  t-urram  air  muir  'us  air  tir. 

.Mliic  Sbirnidb  na  li-Airde  's  leat  onair  ;s  l>uaidb-laracb, 
Thu  fuileacbdacb  dan'  'us  eba  b'abli'st  dut  bin  crion, 
'S  gu  'm  faic  mi  tbu  sabbailt  Ian  piseacb  'us  graise, 
A  'in  muncbar  na  b-Airde  an  ait'  Mhorrair  Sliiom. 

Tliainig  ordugb  gu  grad  oirnn  bbo  cboirnoal  's  bbo  cbaiptcin, 
lain  Cliaimbeul,  bi  tapaidh  is  dean  'air  blii  trcun, 
Thu  fhein  's  do  chiiid  ghillean  a  dh'  fhalbli,  gar  am  ]jilleadb, 
Dhol  an  Kaglais  'ud  urrad  a  dh'  fhuireach  's  an  oidhch'. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  141 

Cha-n  aim  'chrabhadh  no  dh'  urimigh  chaidh  sinne  do'n  Teampuil, 
Ach  choinneach  ar  naimhdean  's  bu  claim  sid  dhuinn, 
'S  na  'm  biodh  'Do'tair  Nocsa  anis  air  a  chrochadh, 
Bhiodh  m'  imitinn  aig  soistinn  's  aig  socair  a  chaoidh. 

Blieir  mo  shoraidh  do  Raineach  do  dhuthaich  mo  sheanair, 
Far  an  deanadh  iad  m'  fharraid  le  carthunn  gun  dith, 
Ged  tha  mi  na'm  shaighdeir  gu  'm  faighimi  cuid  oidhch'  ami, 
Is  dheanadh  iad  m'  fhoiglmeachd  le  caoimhncas  an  cridh'. 

8  bheir  an  t-soraidh  so  sios  bhuaiu  a-  dh'  ioimsaidh  (  "tiutriona, 
S  na  gabliadh  i  rni-thlachd  cha  do  dhi-chuimhnich  mi  i, 
Gcd  chuir  iad  an  sas  mi  's  ami  leis  an  lamh  laidir, 
'S  ma  bhitheas  mi  'lathair  cha-iv  aicbeadli  mi  i. 

Illean  bi'bh  ullainh  le  'r  n  armaibh  guineach, 

Gu  laidir  duineil  an  onair  an  High, 

Ma  'n  tig  oirnne  fada  bith'dh  rn  rioghaclid  so  againn, 

Is  pilleadh  sinn  dachaidh  do  Bhreatunn  a  ris. 


PATRIC 

Tha  Patric  Caimbeul  a  tighinn  a  nis  oirnn  le  :t  Marbhrami 
do'n  Alhr  Euin  .Mac  Ala^taiiy'  a  tha  noclidadh  ard  bhuaidlieau 
bardaclul,  agus  grais,  cha  b?  ioghna  sin,  oir  bha  ?n  duinc:  math  so 
na  lochrain  iuil  na  dhuthaich  i'heiii  re  Ictli  cliiad  l)liadhna.  Liugadh 
e  an  Ruadhslirutli-ghearr,  an  Gleann-liobhan,  amis  a  bliliadhna 
1789.  Jiha  e  na  mhaighistir-sgoile  cai1  letli-chiad  bliadlma  amis  a 
Ghleann  sin.  IMios  e  Maiivarad  nighc-an  l^honuill  ^Ilne  I-'havchair 
M'Ktrcltei',  an  Ruadhshruth,  agus  bha  iiaoiuear  theaghlaich  ac-i. 
Theasd  Patric  ami  an  l^GT. 

MAHJill-IJANX    AX    CLniHXK    Alii    MR    EOIX    ^lACALISTlR, 

A  Ika  air  fv*  n<t   Mhinistcir  <UDI  <>n   Gleannliobhunv,  a  ritfii*  mi 
Duneidein,  nn  dkt'ujh  xiu  '<ni  -Vv////,  <i<j-us  niu  <//teircadh  ann  an 
Eileiu  Arrciitiii,  !<'  a.vu  dc  a  iiwh'l-eisdecichd, 

0  bliliadhna  'n  dealachaidh  mo  thruaigh  ! 
Och  !   's  lionmhor  tcachdair  'chaidh  tliuirt  uainn  : 
'S  iad  'bin  na  'n  Inidhe  'n  diugh  sa'n  uaigli  ; 
Gur  iuimdrahm  chruaidh  d'  ar  n-annam  e. 

Tha  aon  dliinbh  sud  mu  'n  deanainn  s^enl, 
Xa  'n  rachadh  learn  a  chur  r*n  ct'-ill, 
'S  is  tcarc  an  diuu'li,  's  is  fad  «'  ch<;il, 
Am  measu'  na  cltMr  a  shamhnil-sa. 


142  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Be  sgeul  a  bhais  dhuinn  fa  ar  broin, 

'S  bu  lionmhor  siiil  on'  shruth  no  dcoir 

'S  air  dichumhn'  leinn  clia  d'theid  d'ar  deoin  ; 

Olid  Mhaighstir  Eoin  Mine  Alaistir. 

''Sann  aig'  bha  'n  t-sbuil  bha  soilleir  geur. 
Is  dreach  a  glmuis  'g  cur  iuil  an  ceill ; 
Le  pearsa  inncalt  'dhcas  gun  leig ; 
Be  'n  saighdcar  treun  ra  fhaiciuu  c. 

"S  mar  l)ha  r'a  fbaicinn  aim  na  glmiiis, 
Bha  ghiiiomh  's  a  chleaclida  aims  gach  ciiis  ; 
Olm  d'fhaillnieli  niisneacU  e  na  lutli's, 
;S  elia  teichcadh  'n  euil  mar  g'healtair'  e. 

An  i'hiriim  bhiodh  na  chrulhe  steacli, 
Sud  labhradh  e,  gu  ri'idli  a  maeli, 
>Sa  clioisncadh  fabhoir  riamb  \>  neach  ; 
Sc  nacb  do  cbleaclicl  bin  sodalacb. 

[>e  tuigse  naduir,  blia  toirv  liai'r  ; 
A  blnvtli  's  gacli  irnntinifb.  clia  bhiodli  coarr  : 
'\S  on  chitheadh  roimlie  ciod  a  b'fhcarr, 
])hiodh  ciall  is  gradli  na  cljomhairlo. 

.Acli  Li'ed  an  ciiisio'u  '"n  r  sbaoghail  fhaoin, 
.1)1  la  eliomliairl'  ciallach  riaiuh  do  dhaoin  : 
Si  cans  an  anama  flmair  a  gliaol  ; 
'Sann  rinn  e  saoitliir  Mi-i  harraielite. 

Mn  "n  dc'ach  e  dli'  fiiaotiilnn  foglihun  einn, 
Tlia  mm !i  a.  s  measail  aim  ar  linn  — 
Oliaidh  dlu-jirlihadii  air  <i'ti  roldi  e  t  inn, 
Lc  pJai^'li  K,'  'n  d'  mhillte  anam  air. 

Oh'iidli  dlicavbbadli  (Ilia,  u'ti  rcbh  e   n  sas, 
Aiic  ceartas  i  )hia,  t'o  bliinn  a  bhais  ; 
'S  mar  sc-alladh  Crio.sd  ;ur  ;mn  na  u'liras, 
<'ii  'in  bliiddli  e  cail It'  u'un  tcasvaihin. 

lie  geallad 

(!u  "n  LMiirto  'n  S])ioraid  naomlia  nua>, 
A  dliearljhadb  pt-acaidh  air  a  ssliluagh  ; 
"S  an  neach  ud  fhuair  sir  aithne  air. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  143 

'S  cha  b'  ami  air  peacadh  mhain  fhuair  eol ; 
Ach  fos  air  Chriosd  air  teachd  sail  fhcoil ; 
A  riaraich  ceartas  air  gach  seol  ; 
'S  fhuair  trocair  do  na  ceannaircich. 

Be  sud  a  bhrosnaich  e  ma  thra, 
Dhol  'sheirm  dhuimi  soisgeul  nan  saor  ghras  ; 
'S  cha  b'  ami  mar  iomadh  'ruith  irar  la, 
Gun  ghairm  on  aird  bin  'n  toiseach  ac'. 

'Sa  se  mo  bheachcl  gu  'n  seas  c  fior, 

'S  ni  teisteas  eachdraidh  'm  beaclid  so  dhion  ; 

Mar  d'fhuair  na  'n  oig  iad  eagal  I  .Ha, 

GUT  tcarc  fhuair  riamh  san  Oilthigh  c. 

Is  ged  a  dh'  fhoghlum  aon  gu  reidh, 
'S  glc  sgairteil  teagn.sg'  chuir  an  ceil, 
Gun  ghras  thoirt  buaidh  na  chridhe  fein  ; 
Fo  'n  ghort'  bith  :n  trend  da  n  aodhair  e. 

Ach  dhasan  b'  aithne  'o  clior  fein, 

Gor  anama  thruagli  fo  dhite  Dhe, 

Le  nadiir  truaillidli  's  iad  a  'n  ceill, 

;S  mo  chreach  !   iad  fein  gun  aitlm'  ac'  air. 

'X  uair  labhradh  c  riu  ami  an  gradh, 
Bhiodh  'n  cor  'g  cuir  air  a  chridhe  cradh, 
Sud  chit'  sa  'n  diirachd  is  sa  'n  spairn, 
Bhiodh  teachd  le  cainnt  na  faireachduinii. 

Ach  's  tur  chaidli  'n  fhaireaehduinn  air  ciil, 
Och  !   ;s  tcaic  r'a  fhaicinn  deur  o  slniil  ! 
Is  easbhuidh  sud  is  eagal  duinn, 
Gu  'm  l)heil  cinn-iiiil  nacli  gearain  air. 

'S  is  aobhar  eagail  Icinn  f'araon, 

Gu  'm  blieil  an  diugh  's  gach  cearn  de  'n  t-shaogh'l  ; 

Luclid  aidich  's  teachdairean  araon, 

\  inlieasas  laom  air   n  eagal-ne. 

Tha  nieas  u'ur  leoir  an  t-aideach  loin, 
;S  gin:  easl)hnidh  creideamh  cridhe  troni  ; 
;S  gach  ionic-heist  dheireas  amis  a  chom 
Nach  eil  ami  bonn,  ach  breisileach. 


144  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Tha  cnid  do  theachdairean,  mo  tliruaigh  ! 

'S  garni  itlir  bheir  air  ath-breth  luaidh, 

'S  aim  shaoileadh  tu  dhoibh  feiu  's  da  '11  sluagli, 

Nach  robh  iad  fuaths'  na  h-eiseamail. 

Ach  clia  be  sud  an  teagasg  claon, 

A  bhiodh  aig  tcaehdairo  mo  ghaoil  ; 

Ach  theiroadh  ris  gach  noacli  san  t-saogh'i, 

Gun  chaochladh  nacli  robh  teasairg'  dhoibh. 

Is  theagaisg  gur  h-e  gin  nan  gras, 

A  shaoradh  anain  truagh  on  bhas  ; 

Le  'n  sealladh  e  a  ris  an  aird, 

'S  chuir  beatii'  an  lamb  a  chreidimh  dha. 

JS  na  li-anama  bochd  a  bhiodh  fo  Icon, 
On'  mothach'  fein  gun  neart  's  gun  trcoir  ; 
Sc  stiuradli  diroaeh  dlr  iunnsaidh  '11  stoir, 
S;i."m  bliL'il  na  leoir,  ?s  ra  sheachanadh. 

'S  cha  b'  aim  mar  neach  bhiodh  deanamh  sgeul, 

Air  ratliad  mor,  an  diithaich  ci.t'in  ; 

An  rath  ad  riamh  nach  i'hac  e  iV-in, 

'S  nach  d'  rinn  aon  choum  a  choiseachd  dho. 


Ach  dh' aitliniclieadh  tu,  na  glnirli  \s  na  glmiii. 
'X  am  labhairt  d;*,  ri  anama  bruir, 
Nacli  b:  ami  U1  ainoolas  mu  'n  ciiis, 
lUia/ii  stiiira'lh  rhm  c  theagasg  dhoibh. 

i'o  iuinpacli  phcacach  bha  na  shiiil, 
Mar  dhlcasiias  araidh  u-;ich  ceann-iuil  ; 
Slid  riamh  c-ha  d"  fhag  e  air  a  chid, 
'X  aon  chiipaid  aims  do  shcasamh  o. 

An  cridhe'  liliiorradh,  b'  o  a  rim, 
Is  pcacaich  mliarbl),  lihi  air  an  diisg'  ; 
(>  'm  fasg'ail.ili  Itrcig"  a.  bhi  ga  'n  rnsg/ 
'S  an  stiiir'  gu  didcin  diongnihalla  : 

O  chiimhiiant  guiomh  an  cur  fa  sgaoil  ; 
Sam  ]x')s   ri  Ci'iosd  an  daimli  a  ghaoil, 
Tre  'm  bithoadh  coir  aca  gu  saoi1, 
Do  n  oighreachd  's  daor  a  chcamiyic'i  e. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  145 

Do  'n  oigridh'  bhuineadh  dha  mar  threud, 
'Sa  ghleann  sa  'n  robh  e  'n  tus  a  dhreuchd  ; 
Bu  dian  a  dh'  earail  e  gun  eis' 
lad  phill'  o  chcum  an  seachairain. 

'S  roimh  chruinneach  dhoibh  gu  pos'  no  feill, 
No  ait'  sa  'm  biodh  iad  dol  le  cheil'. 
'Se  sparradh  orr'  a  h-uchd  a  Dhe, 
Gach  lochd  's  mi-blicus  a  sheachanadh. 

'S  bha  earail  daonnan  faotuinn  btiaidh, 

Air  sean  is  6g  a  mcasg  an  t-shlnaigh  ; 
A  chum  ri  faicill  iad  nan  gluas'd, 
Xach  toillt'  leo  uaithsan  achmhasan. 

l>u  durachdach,  a  bhiodh  c  'n  sas, 
A  tagradh  dian  aig  cathair  grais, 
Air  son  na  'in  frasan  bheireadh  fas, 
'S  a  lionodh  Ian  na  linncachan. 

Oir  b'  fhiosrach  e  gu  'm  biodh  an  sluagh, 
A'  fantuinn  marbh,  fo  glilais  na  h-uaigh, 
Mar  biodh  an  spiorad  tcachd  le  bhuaidh, 
A  dh'  fhogradh  'n  cruais,  's  an  aineolais, 

liu  luachmhor  aim  na  shealladh  iiin', 
'S  do  'n  fhi-oil  thoirt  socair  cha  b'  e  run  ; 
l)ii  mhoc'h  gach  la  bhiodh  air  a  ghlun, 
'S  mar  lunndaire  cha  chaid'leadh  e. 

Tha  cuid  ni  iirnuigh  fhada  fhuar 
'San  fhollais,  ami  am  fianuis  sluaigh  ; 
Ach  iuiidraimi  anama  nach  cuir  uair 
1  )o  'n  uaigneas  fad  na  seachdain  iad. 

Ach  iadsan  fhuair  an  cridhe  iir, 
Xo'm  fradharc  fhuair  o  'n  t-shahh  shul  ; 
liith  gnothueh  trie  ac'  air  an  ghin, 
'S  na  cuilltibh  far  nach  fhaicear  iad. 

Si  'n  urnuigh  dhiomhair  do  gach  aon, 

M\\o\  esan  's  dh'  earail,  gu  ro  chaomh, 

Sa  cheist  chuir  ris  gach  6g  is  aosd, 

'X  robh  'n  gaol  di  's  'n  robh  ga  coirahlionadh. 

10 


146  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Bha  cuideachd  dha  mar  churam  riamh, 
Aon  tcaghlach'  bhi  gun  aodhradh  Dhia, 
JS  le  dillseachd  dh'imiis  dhoibh  o  'n  Triadh, 
Mini  chorruich  dhian  bha  luidhe  OIT'. 

Bu  toigh  leis  trie,  'bin  deanamh  sgeul 
Mil  'n  fhois  tha  feitheamh  pobuill  De  ; 
Ga'  misneachadh,  bhi  ruitli  na  reis  ; 
'S  a  reiteach  dhoibh  an  deacairean. 

'S  mar  aodhair  dilcas  bu  mhor  end, 
A  sholar  loin  chum  treoir  a  threud  ; 
Cha  b'  fhada  riamh,  air  latha  Dhe 
Bhiodh  'ghrian  air  eiridh  roimhesan. 


'B  iad  luchd  a  chomuhm  pobul  De, 
;S  gach  ait'  an  robh  e  fad  a  re  ; 
Bhiodh  'ghuth,  sa  shealladh,  dol  le  cheil 
A  noehd'  a  speis  gu  soilleir  dhoibh. 

So  eliu  a  ehomuinn  gheibli  do  speis, 

"S  tha  taitneadh  ruit  na  'n  cainnt  's  na  'in  beus, 

Le  'm  fearr  a  dli'  aithnichear  do  gline, 

Xo  ciod  le  d'  bheul  a  theireadh  tn. 

Jjii  nihor  a  glina,  a  nochd  c  dh'  t'liuath, 
Lo  pheacadh  nadair,  agu«  gluas'd  ; 
'S  cha  chcadaiclicadh  e  'in  feasd  d'  a  shluagh, 
Nan  suain  gu  buan  bhi  luidhe  ami. 

Bha  dhiadheachd  follaiscaeh  's  gach  ait, 
Mar  bhrdl'  air  sliabh  nacli  folaich  sgail, 
Is  chnm  sud  pcacaich  iV^in  fo  sgath  ; 
IJlia  laithreaclid  dhoibh  mar  chronachadh. 

;S  gacli  teachdaire  a  chualas  riamh, 

Air  ;n  deach  an  onoir'  chnr  le  Dia. 

Air  pcacaich  choisneadh  'dh'  iunusaidh  Cliriosd, 

l)ha  tlachd  do  'n  diadheachd  soiileir  aunt'. 

"S  a  shhiagh  Ghliniiliobhuinn,  's  Nigg  ma  thuatli, 
A  Ghael  Dlrtmeidin,  's  Arrrain  slums  ; 
Xach  e  an  teistcs  th?  air  a  luaidh, 
A  fhuair  sibli  a  Mac  Alastair. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  147 

Ach  se  a  their  sibh,  's  gun  bhi  cearr, 
"  'S  fad  air  a  chliu  a  thain'  thu  gearr ; 
Sa  'n  diugh  se  's  ciiram  dhuinn,  gur  nar 
Nach  d'  lean  gu  slan  sinn  eiseimplcir." 

Nis  sguiridh  mise  a  bin  stri, 
Ri  'chliu  a  chur  an  ceill  gu  mm  ; 
Cha  mhor  a  chual'  e  bhiodh  dhe  sgith, 
Oir  sanu  bha  bhn  na  theagasg-san. 

Tha  nis  e  seach'  gach  bron  is  cradh  ; 
Oir  chaidh  e  steach  do  ghloir  nach  traigh  : 
JS  an  Slanuighear  do  '11  tug  e  gradh, 
Thug  seilbh  gu  brath  air  sonas  da. 

Is  thubhairt  ris  'nuair  rain'  e  shuas, 
"  On  bha  thu  nrinneach  's  na  fhuair, 
Thig  nis,  is  gab  lisa  mar  do  dhuais, 
Lan  aoibhneas  buan  do  Thighearna." 

Nis  shluagh  na  h-iirnuigh  anus  gach  ait, 
0  !  chum  ar  gluinibh  Icibh  gu  '11  dail  ! 
'S  bhur  cridho  doirtibh  mach  an  laith'r  ! 
An  Ti  le  bhas  a  chcannaich  sibh. 

Gu  faic  sinn  fathasd  e  na  ghloir, 

Aig  imeaclid'  mcasg  na  'n  coiimleir  oir  • 

'S  a  tarruing  phcacach  steach  da  chro, 

'S  'g  cur  deoin  na  'n  inntinn  cheaunaircich. 

Sa  '11  sin  bhcir  ceanuaircich  dha  geill, 
'S  bidh  ainadain  a  faighcil  ceill ; 
Xa  bacaich  thruagh  a  ruith  Jsa  leum, 
'S  na  naoimh  ri  eibhncas  maille  riu. 

'S  gu  'n  deonuich  Dia,  na  shaoibhreas  grais, 
(jlu  '11  doirt  e  '11  Spioraid,  oirnn  gu  'n  dail ; 
(Ju  'n  toir  do  li  t-shiol  chaidh  chur  bhi  fas, 
'S  gu'ii  tog  e  'in  bas  de  'r  comhthionail. 

MOU  Ci-IAMSHROX. 

Dh'fhag  Mor  Chamshron  d;i  oran  againn  tha  Ian  de  ghaol 
scargte,  mo  thruaigh.  Bha  i  fuireach  'an  Cillc-choimain  'an 
JJaineach,  far  'n  do  choachail  i  mu  1815. 


U8  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


NA    FEARAIBH    OGA. 

Le  MOT  Chamskron,  no  mar  a  theirte  ritke,  MOT ''in  Aonghais,  a  l>ha 
conackadh  an  CiUe-chonnain  an  Raineach. 

'S  meallt'  an  cridhe  tha  'n  an  com' 
Aig  na  feanubh  oga, 
'S  mills  an  teanga  tha  na  'n  ccann, 
A  mliealladh  gach  og  bhean  ; 
(red  a  bhios  c  'n  diugh  an  gcall  ort, 
'S  c  air  thith  do  phosadh, 
Bidhs  c  maireach  ami  na  laimh 
Air  luing  's  i  dol  a  sheoladh. 
(Jed  a  bhios,  etc, 

Acli  ogiinaich  a  tha  mi  cumhadh, 
Dh'  fliag  thu  'n  diugh  fo  Icon  mi, 
Mheall  thu  mi  mar  inheall  an  t-nbhal 
'Bhean  bu  mhntha  solas  ; 
(Jus  'n  do  mhiannaich  i  le  'suil  c, 
'X  dnil  nach  robh  e  neo-ghlan, 
'S  c  'mcas  bu  bhuirbe  chaidh  a  thoirmeasg, 
Dh'  fliag  sid  searbh  gu  leoir  e. 
(Jus  'n  do,  etc. 

Nach  cealgach  dhutsa  blii  'g  a  m'  chumail 
Amis  na  h-uille  doclias, 
Na'n  guillinn-se  do  d'  bhriathran  blasd, 
Cha  tigeadli  dad  vi  in'  blieo  orm  ; 
Na'n  geilleadh  !  ach  clia  d'gheill  mi  d'chainnt, 
'S  gach  gealladh  aim  toirt  solais, 
Ach  'n  n  air  a  theid  mi  as  an  t-sealladh, 
"  'S  coma  learn  an  oinseach  !" 
Xa  'n  geilleadli,  etc. 

Na  'm  fuiceadh  sibh  na  ileasgaicliean 
Is  dels  a  theid  an  ordugh, 
Am  tiuran  's  boidhchc  theid  a  macli, 
l»idli  maighdeann  dheas  an  toil1  air  : 
Acli  dh'fhaoidte  gu  'in  bi  gaoid  fo  chois 
Na  tiiobh  ri  bean  a  cot  a, 

Mai1  bhuirb'  an  eas  o'n  gliarbli-glileann  ch;is, 
rroirt  oilbheimi  deas  gu  leoir  di. 
Ach  dh'fhaoidte,  etc. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  149 

GUI*  blasda  briathrach  cainnt  iian  gillean, 
Tighinn  o  'm  bilean  boidheach, 
Threigiiin  mo  chairdean  's  mo  chinneadh, 
'S  cha  tillinn-se  ri  m'  bheo  riu  ; 
'Us  shiubhlain  leat  's  cha  'n  iarrainn  spreidh, 
Na  'm  biodh  tu  fciii  learn  deonach, 
Tha  'cheilg  a  d'  bheul  'ga  chur  an  ceil], 
'S  e  sid  an  sgeul  bha  coinhdaicht. 
'Us  shiubhlain,  etc. 

'S  mor  a  tha  dc  dh'  amaideachd, 
'An  aoradh  na  cloinn'  oige, 
'S  cha  lugha  tha  do  'n  amharas 
Na  'n  caithe-beatha  gorach  ; 
Bidh  'n  toanga  chiuin  a'  labhairt  rinn, 
'S  am  bcul  o 'm  binn  'thig  comhradh, 
'S  an  cridlic  fionnar  fada  uaiiin, 
Clio  luath  ri  gaillean  reota. 
Bidh  'n  toanga,  etc. 

Beannaclid  leat,  's  gun  mhairg  a  d!  dhcigh, 
'Us  taobh  ri  to  is  boidhchc, 
Mu  's  tu  foin  a'  d'  ghoalladli  'thrcig, 
}S  nach  mi  do  cheile  deonach  ; 
Mar  bhat  air  chuan  's  e  tarruinn  uaiun, 
'&  luclid  in'  fhuath  a'  cur  nan  seol  rith', 
'S  do  nadur  fhein  mar  ghaoth  ro  fhuar, 
'S  e  'tilgeadh  uam  a  blioidhchcad. 
Mar  bhat  air  chuan,  etc. 

PARKA  CAMSHPtOX. 

Bu  mhac  Parra  Camshron  do  dh'  Alastair  Camshron,  aig 
Socach  Shrnthan  an  Athull.  Chaochail  Paraig  mu  1830  na 
slieann  duine. 

OUAX    DO    ISJJEIL    STIUJJIIART, 

Niyhean  Shandi   St'whhart,   />/t  <ni)i*  na   cluaintean   an   Gleanna- 

(ifirTCt?  Aihuill)  air  did  Sanndi  Coinneack  an   RvAdli-nan-Coileach, 

a  plioxatlh  mu  Jn  hhliadhna  1701. 

Gur  tuirseach  oidhche  ;n  Xollaig  sinn 

'N  tigh-osd  ag  ol  ar  gloineachan, 

Sior  chuimhneaeli  air  an  ainnir  sin, 

Chaidh  bhuainn  air  bhannan  posd'. 

Sior  chuimhneach  air  an  ainnir  sin, 
Chaidh  bhuainn  air  bhannan  posd'. 


150  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Gur  e  do  nadur  furanach, 

A  ghaoil  a  dhj  fhag  fo  mhulad  sinn, 

'S  mor  d'  ionndrachdainn  '11  taigh  cuideacha', 

Na'm  cruimieach  na'in  l)an  og. 

'S  mor  d'  ionndrachdainn  'n  taigli  cuideacha', 
Na  'ni  cruinneach  na'in  ban  og. 

Gur  iomadh  fleasgach  suairce, 
Dh'  fhag  thu  's  an  tir  fo  smuainrean  dheth, 
A  chunnta  spreidh  air  fuar-bheanntan, 
Is  buaile  chruidh  air  Ion. 

A  chunnta  spreidh  air  fuar-bheanntan, 

Is  buaile  chruidh  air  Ion. 

Tha  fir  a  Bhraigh'  gu  cinnteach  aim, 

'\S  tha  roinn  air  siath  na  tire  ami, 

De  fhleasgaich  nasal  shiobhailte, 

Do  '11  grin  n  'n  tig  ad  'us  cleoc. 

De  fldeasgaich  nasal  sliiobhailte, 
Do  'n  grinn  'n  tig  ad  'us  cleoc. 

An  am  bin  falbh  air  ast.tr  leat, 
High  gn'in  bu  sunndach  sgairteil  iad, 
Na  neasgaieh  shiubhlach  bhras-bhiiilleach, 
Fo  'n  lasadh  fudar  gorm. 

Na  fleasgaich  shiubhlach  bhras-bhuilleach, 
Fo 'n  lasadh  i'uadar  gorm. 

Dar  raiir  iad  taigh-na-bainnse  letli' 
Ged  b'  arda  aims  na  gleaimtan  e, 
Bh.a  coinnlean  laist'  's  na  scomraichcan, 
fs  aighir  aim  le  ceol. 

Bha  coinnlean  laist'  's  na  seoinraicheau, 
Ts  aighir  aim  le  ceol. 

Bha  togsaidean  gan  taomach  aim, 
Bha  fion  'us  Hocair  daora  aim, 
l>ha  uisge  beatha  craobhach  aim, 
'S  e  milis  caoinh  ri  61. 

Bha  uisge  beatha  craobhach  aim, 

'S  e  milis  caonih  ri  61. 

I)ha  nigh'neagau  ri  sugradh  aim, 
'S  daoin'  ou'  a'  danns  air  urlar  aim 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  ir>l 

Bha  deochan-slainte  dubailt  aim, 
Cuir  caiream  dlu'  mu'n  bhord. 

Bha  deochan-slainte  dubailt  aim, 

Cuir  caiream  dlu'  mu'n  bhord. 

Bha  beoir  'us'braimdaidh  ladair  ami, 
'S  bha  fidhleireachd  gu  'r  'n  ailes  ami, 
'S  gach  ni  a  dheanadh  sta  dlminii  ami, 
Cur  blath's  air  gillean  6g. 

'S  gach  ni  a  dheanadh  sta  dhuiim  aim, 

Cur  blath's  air  gillean  og. 

A.  Shanndi  oig  gur  uallach  thu, 
Tha  ceist  bhan  og  'us  ghruagach  ort, 
Gu'n  siubhladh  iad  am  t'uadacli  leat, 
(.TIT  ard  taigh-tuath  nam  l)o. 

(TU'II  shiubhladh  iad  am  fuadach  leat, 

Gu  ard  taiu'h-tuath  narn  bo. 


Ach  'nis,  o  'n  thain'  an  latlia  oil 
'S  gar  eigin  diiinn  blii  dealachadh, 
Gu'm  bu  slan  ga'n  tacliair  dhut, 
'S  thu  'n  glacaibli  Shanndi  oig. 

Gu'm  bu  slan  gun  tachair  dhut, 

'S  thu  'n  glacaibh  Shanndi  oig. 

Deoch  slaint'  an  fhir  tlia  sinnte  riut, 
Bho  '11  's  e  do  cheile  cinnteach  e, 
'S  e  mheudaieh  dhuiim  olio  dilcas  e, 
Gu'n  d'fhuair  e  'n  ribhinn  posd. 

'S  e  mheudaieh  dhuiim  cho  dileas  e, 

(TU'II  d'fhuair  e  'n  ribhinn  posd. 

SOMHAIRLK  CAMSHROX. 

Bha  Somliairle  Camshron  na  fhiglieadair  aig  Bun-chadain,  mu 
mhile  dh' astar  o  Cheannloch  Raineach.  Dli'eug  e  mu  1792.  IV  i 
a  mhaighdeann  aillidli  a  choisinn  gaol,  is  cliu  a  Bhaird,  Seonaid 
bhan  Stlubhart,  nighcan  Ghileasp'  an  lonarchadain.  B>ha  i  na 
h-ighinn  air  leth  boidheach,  ach,  air  dhi  sealladh  na  darna  suil  ;i 
challa  leis  a  bhric,  blioidich  i,  nach  posadh  i  duine  gu  bratli. 
Chaidh  oran  Shomhairle,  chuir  an  clo  'an  leabhar  a  Ghilleasaiclv 
an  1786,  agus  do  bhrigli  gu  faighear  e  gun  mhor  dragh  'an  leabh- 
raicliean  eilc  mar  an  ceudna,  toghnaidli  a  cheud  rann  dhe  'n  oran 
ainmeil  so. 


lf>  2  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

MI  'M  SHUIDHE  'M  OXAR. 

Lc  Somhairle  Camshron,  'an  Rain  each. 

Air  fon n — "  Coire-c/ieatkaich" 

Mi  "in  shuidhe  In  onar,  air  tulaich  bhoidhich, 

;S  mi  gabhail  orain,  's  cha  teid  e  loam  ; 

Mo  cliridhe  'n  comhnuidh  mar  chloich  air  mointich, 

Is  moran  seoil  aig'  air  dol  gu  grunnd. 

Gil  grunnd  clia  teid  c  gun  fhios  do  'n  Eucaig  ; 

'S  ma  ni  i  'n  reito  gur  fhcairrd  a  chuis  ; 

•'S  inur  tagh  i  fcin  mi,  gur  leis  an  Eug  mi, 

Le  shaighdibh  gcura  tigh'n  orm  as  ur. 

ALASTAIU  CAXNAXACH. 

Cliaidh  an  fhailtc  a  Icanas  a  dheanamh  lo  Alastair  Cannaiiach 
nig  taobh  a  Gharbh-nisg  tcann  air  Oillmachug,  tlia  suas  bho 
dialasraid.  Faic  an  Tcachdaire  Gaclaeh  1830,  slios  193,  tha 'g 
nidlia — "Tha  uircad  dc  fhior  cliaoimhucas  amis  an  litir  a  fhuair 
sinn  o  'n  t -senna  Ghael  o  thaobh  a  Gharbh-uisg,  agus  nach  nrrainn 
duinn  an  dan  a  leanas  a  chumail  air  ais,  god  thcagamli,  gun  abair 
i .:u id  de  dliaoine,  nach  bn  choir  dhuinnc  ni  tha  moladh  an 
Teachdairc  c<>  mor  a  chur  ami.  ; 

J-'AILT  AN   TP:ACIIDAIRE  (;IFAELAICII. 

I-'ailt  ort  fein  a  Thcachdaire  (ihaelieli, 

A  cbend  la  de 'n  }>hli;ulhn'  uir, 

?S  gu  ma  li-iomadli  '   l)liadhn'  a  chi  thu  dhiubh 

Mu'n  dall  an  t-eng  do  sliu.il. 

Is  fiuran  og  tha  flathail  thu, 
Tha  air  tcachd  oirnn  as  ur, 
'S  mar  thuii't  Koghann  Brocaire, 
O  !   's  aim  ad'  cheann  tha  'n  tur. 

0  !  's  ami  tha  'n  t-iul  's  an  sgoileireachd, 
(•ed  tha  thu  fhathast  og, 
;S  ami  shaoilcadh  daoiir  gnr  co-aois  tliu 
Do  ii  chomachaig  bhan  "s  an  t-sroin.- 

1  (Ju  V  ioina.         -  Do  chuinhachag  na  sroin  } 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  153 

Gach  iiincal  smuiol  le  'n  carbadan, 
'S  tu  dhealbhas  dhuinii  gu'n  strigh — 
Tha  thu1  colach  niu  ua  rionnagan — 
Co  maith  's  air  inuir  is  tir, 

Tha  eachdraidh  shear)  mu'ii  Phrionns'  2  agad 
Ga  'n  aithris  duiini  as  iir, 
Co  soillcir  's  thug  1110  shean-athair  dhuimi 
A  sheasamli  'in  Prionns'  gu  chid. 

Do  dhain  is  t-orain  luinueagach, 

Tha  iad  co  blasd'  r'au  luaidh  ; 

'&  gur  deiinhin  Icani  gur  caraid  thu 

Do  Mhairi  nigh'n  Alastair  Kuaidh. 

'S  fear  lutliar  anus  a  choiseachd  thu 
Do  chosau  's  iad  tlia  luatli  ; 
Gheibhoar  '11  Kiloan  Araiun  tliu, 
'S  aig  Tigh  lain  (ilirot  's  taobh-tuath.:! 

'Sior  ghuidhcam  failt'  is  furau  diit, 
Is  cridhe  suimdach  '  slau, 
'S  gu'm  biodli  do  tliaigli  yuu  snidhe  aim 
'S  do  chiste  nihinc  hin. 

DOXNACHA  CUIMKAXACK, 
M<ic  a  Chuinieanaich  Mhoir  an  Camyliouran  <ni  Raineach. 

Kugadh  Douuacha  s<j  niii'ii  bhliadhna  177S.  Phos  e  Floraidh 
Chainsliron,  nighcaii  Aonghais  nihic  Dhouuill  mhio  Dhounacha  j 
agus  blui  aca  'theaghlach  niu  '11  d'fhalbli  iad  do  America  mu  1S'22, 
]aiu,  Seunias,  agus  lasbail.  Chaidh  an  t-oran  a  loanas  a  dlieau- 
ainli  do  Pheigidh  Cliamshrou,  uiglieaii  Iain  ( 'haiushroiu,  's  an 
Tigh-mhor  an  Camghouran  slmas. 

P:ALA  NAN   CUAINTKAX. 

Mi  air  nv  iiiliuu  am  leabaidh, 

0'  !  cha  chadal  's  'jlia  tamh, 

Clii  mi  Kala  nan  Cuaiutcan, 

Ga  toirt  uam  tli'aii1  mo  clieanu  ; 

'N  deigh  's  mo  lion  'chuir  ma'n  cuairt  di, 

'S  a  cuairtcach  gu  traigh, 

Bha  mo  dhubhan  gun  bldadh  air, 

'S  gu'm  l)ii  diamhain  mo  dhau. 

1  'S  tu  ?         "  caclulraidhean  niu  '11  rin-ionns.          :1  <ru  tuatli. 


154  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Bha  mo  dhubhan  gun  bhiadh  air, 
'S  mi  gun  airgiod  am  phoc, 
No  mo  chrodh  air  na  buailtean, 
No  caoiricb  ga  'n  cuairteach  gu  cro, 
No  mo  laraicbcaii  searaich, 
Ga  '11  tearnadh  gu  bailo  le  ccol ; 
Och  !  's  ami  rinn  thu  mo  mhealladh 
Mar  rinn  ludas  'nuair  dli'  iarr  e  'phog. 

B'  olc  an  car  a  rinn  Judas, 

'Nuair  dliiult  c  bhi  dileas  do  'n  choir, 

Ghabh  c  comhairP  a  mhealltair, 

'S  thug  e  mhaighsth  thairis  do  'n  mhod  ; 

God  a  thug  mi  dliut  samhladh 

Le  tuit'mas  cainnte  mo  bheoil, 

B'  c  mo  dhurachd  gu'n  teagamh, 

Bha  sinte  ri  d'  leisreadh  ri  m'  bheo. 

Ged  b'  c  sid  mo  Ian  durachd, 

0  na  dliiult  thu  mo  chaidreamh  an  drast, 

Cha  'n  ioghna  dhomhsa  bhi  dileas, 

Go  1)'  e  neach  do  'n  innshm  mar  bha  ; 

Go  b'  e  aon  nea'jh  do  'n  innsinn, 

Miad  ur  briodul  thai1  chach, 

\S  thu  aim  ghlacan  gu  diomhair, 

'S  do  ghealladli  ch<>  cinntoach  's  am  bas. 

Blia  do  ghealladli  clio  ciunteach, 
'S  ged  a  sgriobht  c  le  ]>cann, 
Air  a  dhaimhiieach  o  'n  lUiiobull 

Gu  'm  bith  tu  dileas  's  gaeh  am  ; 

Ach  nuj  theid  mi  gu  coir  leat, 

Mar  bu  chor  dhomh  dol  aim, 

'S  mi  a  dhcanadh  do  phosadh, 

Lc  m'  uile  dheoin  ;s  aim  gu  '11  taing. 

Nach  'oil  eag;\l  ortsa  a  d'  an  a  in 
Airson  :bhi  eathaich  a'  d'  ehainnt, 
Nach  'oil  thu  fo  churam 
Airson  nan  eiimhnantaii  teann  ; 
Airson  nan  cumhiiantan  daimlmean, 
A  bli'  againn  's  a  ghleann, 
Pos  'us  ceangal  gun  fhios, 
God  bhitliinu  brist  le  do  u'hradh. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  155 

Gur  tn  'meaim  aims  a  gharadh, 
'S  cubhraidh  faile  ri  m'  shroin, 
'S  tu  'gheug  iir  a  dlr  fbas  aluinn, 
Null  's  a  nail  lc  gaoitb  mhoir  ; 
Thainig  osag  dc  'n  ioma-ghaoith, 
Sguab  i  aou  dc  na  ineoir, 
'S  an  ath-sgriob  thug-  i  ritbist, 
Rinn  i  'n  t  sligbe  bu  clior. 

Ged  'rinn  tbusa  an  t-slighe, 
'S  dh'  fhag  thu  niiso  fo  bhron, 
Mar  fhear  garadh  gun  mbios  mi, 
Mar  dbuine  misgeach  ag  ol, 
Mar  shaighdcir  gun  chlaidheamh, 
Mar  gbobhainn  gun  ord, 
Mar  shcalgair  gun  glnmna, 
No  mar  chuilcan  gun  sroin. 

Mar  chuilean  gun  sroin  mi, 

'S  mi  air  cul  luirg  an  roin, 

'Nuair  shaoil  leis  bin  aige, 

Damh  cabracb  na  eroic  ; 

Fhleasgaicli  oig  na  cuir  d' earbsa 

Anns  a  chalg  th'  air  an  fhiadh, 

Ged  fhaigh  thu  greim  air  bhar  croic  air 

Na  cuir  do  dliochas  na  bliian. 

Na  cuir  doclias  ro  laidir 

Ann  am  l>ata  gun  stiuir, 

No  's  a  hlireac  air  an  linne. 

No  an  eilid  nan  stuc, 

Anns  an  run  tlv  air  a  chladach 

Na  cuir  idir  do  dhnil, 

No  's  an  t-sioimach  bheag  charrach, 

Ged  robh  e  'm  fagas  do  d  elm. 

Greim  air  earr  air  a  bhradan, 

No  air  ehois  deiridh  air  nadb, 

No  air  sgeith  muiee-mara, 

'S  gn  'm  bu  sleamliain  i  rianifi  ; 

Greim  air  cbliathaich  air  loinghcas, 

'S  ceart  co-ionnan  an  gniomb, 

'Us  air  lamb  na  b-ur  cbailinn 

Bba  li'a  m'  mlioalladli  seacbd  bliadbn'. 


156  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness, 

Ach  c'uim  am  bithmn  fo  mlmlad, 

Fo  thuireadh  no  pramh, 

Agus  fios  aig  an  t-saoghal 

Co  a  dh'aom  aims  an  fhail'n  ; 

Mar  {hug  Eubh  'n  car  as  an  duiu  aic, 

'Xuair  bha  iad  's  a  ghar', 

'S  aim  mar  sin  tha  mis'  Icatsa 

Air  mo  mhcalladh  an  drast. 

Air  mo  mhealladh  a  tlia  mi 

Le  do  mhanran  's  gach  uair, 

Ach  c'uim  an  cuiriim  ort  coirre, 

Xa  'n  fana'  tu  bhuam  ; 

'Xuair  bhithiini  fo  amghar, 

Bhidh  do  lamh  orm  iiiu'n  cuairt, 

'(T  radh — "  De  ii  smuaiiireaii  th'air  d'aire," 

Cha  toir  fear  gu  brath  misc  bhuat. 

Is  iomian  sid  's  mar  a  thachair 

Do  'n  aisleaehan  iir, 

;X  gaol,  chaolaich  a  ehasan, 

Agus  dh"  fliail  e  a  cliriui  ; 

Ghoid  e  'blioichead  a  bh'  aige, 

Agus  ])hrap  e  a  ghnuis, 

Mar  chraoibh  gun  fhrenmhaii  air  seachda, 

'S  i  neo-dlireachmhor  do  'n  t-suil. 

Jiu  tu  an  rimhinn  uir  uasail 

Le  d  chuman  'us  buarach  a'  d'  dhorn, 

Tarruing  suas  le  d'  chuid  gliruagach, 

Air  feadh  'chruidh  ruaidh  tliain'  a  lioid, 

A  chruidh  dhuibli  thain'  a  lie, 

;S  a  chruidh  bhain  thain'  a  Leobhs', 

'S  car  thu  'Dhrobhair  nan  ciadan, 

Fear  thionnda  lionnihor  nan  corn. 

\S  tu  "n  fhaoilinn  is  gile, 
Xo  sneachd  ga  chur  air  an  Ion, 
'S  tu  'n  taimachan  ceutach, 
'S  a  Bheinn-Kibhinn  'm  l)i  'n  ceo  ; 
S  tu  'chuthag  ghorm  cheutach, 
Maduinn  cheitein  cliiuinn  cheoth'r. 
:S  tu  'n  smeoracli  air  gheugan, 
'S  fheadan  u'leuiste  chum  ceoil. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  157 

Gur  tu  'n  liath-cliearc  's  an  doire, 

'S  muich'  a  ghoirreas  le  fuaim, 

'S  tu  mo  cheol  dol  a  chadal 

'S  amis  a  mhaduinn  '11  am  gluasd  ; 

An  Tigli-mora  nan  uimieag, 

'S  ard  a  chluinncan  mo  run, 

'S  ami  an  coille  nam  badan, 

'S  trie  am  ghlacan  bha  thu. 

DONULL  DEORA. 
A  bha  f ana  did  ann  an  Ardtrasgairt,  teann  air  Fairtecliil  I . 

Tha  e  air  a  radlia  gun  do  chuir  Donull  so  mach  leabhar  oraiu, 
de  shaothair  fein,  agus  's  e  an  cliu  a  fhuair  mi  oirre  gu'n  robh  iad 
blasda,  sunndach,  agus  Ian  tuigsc.  Bho  nach  fhaca  mi  an  leabhar 
riamh  cha  'n  urrainn  mi  an  cor  a  radlia,  ach  na  rannan  a  leanas  a 
thoirt  seachad.  Fhuair  mi  iad  bho  mo  charaid  Mr  Camshron  ann 
am  Fairtechill. 

15EACAN    RAXX    BHO    OKAX    GAOIT.. 

Gnr  mor  an  guin  eridhe  dhomh 

O'n  chaidh  mi  'n  Ruidhe  nairdc, 

Far  am  bheil  na  h-ioiiagan 

'S  gu  'm  bithiiin  riutlia  maiiran  ; 

Tha  iad  snaircc  beusach 

Ho  phailt'  an  ceill  's  an  naire, 

Cha  cheilimi-sc  air  neach  fo  'n  ghrein, 

Nach  b'  ait  loam  fhoin  bhi  lamh-riu. 

I  )h'  fhagaiunse  am  baile  so 
F.c  cal)haig  gun  bhonn  sgjith  OITP, 
'8  ann  learn  fhcin  nach  b'  aireach  e 
Na'm  bidh  a  chailinn  blath  rium  : 
Na'm  faighean  lo  toil  clc'ir  i, 
'rj\)il  fhein  ;us  toil  a  cairdcan, 
Am  fad  's  a  bhithinn  marunn  boo, 
IjC  m'  dhcoin  cha  deanaiii  d'  aichcn.dh. 

Am  fad  's  bu  bheo  gu  dilinn  mi, 
'S  mi  i'hin  nach  deanadh  d'  aicheadh 
P>u  mhor  a  ghaoil  'tlioil-inntiuu  learn, 
Xa  'm  bithinn  cinnt'  ad'  ghradhsa; 
Nan  gealladh  tu  mo  phosadh, 
'S  nach  biodh  do  dhoigli  ri  m'  fhagai], 
( 'huirinn  scol  air  thu  bhi  mar-riuni 
(Jus  an  saarradh  bas  sinn. 


158  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

'S  lionmhor  buaidh  nach  aithris  mi, 

Tha  air  a  chaileag  bheusach, 

Tha  snairc'  na  gnuis  mar  eala 

Rinn  mo  chridh'  a  mhealla  'm  chrenbhaig  ; 

Cha-n  'eil  ros  an  garadh, 

'X  uair  is  boidhche  'bhlath  air  gheugan, 

Bheir  barrachd  aim  am  fiamhachd  ort, 

;S  gu'm  b'  e  mo  mhiaim  bin  re  riut. 

AL  AST  AIR  FOIRBKIS. 

Bha  Alastair  na  Sheairtsean,  amis  an  "  Fhreiccadan-Dhubh 
An  deigh  dha  an  t-arm  fhagail,  blia  c  fanachd  'am  Fas  re  ioma 
bliadhna.  Chaochail  e  'am  Peairt. 

ORAX    DO    CHORNA1L    DA1UII1DH    STIUBIIART,    TIUATH    GHART. 

Am  Brat  srol  th'  amis  an  Fhraing 
Xach  d'  fhuair  tamailt  o  thus, 
Clmirte  sios  e  do  'n  Faphaid 
A  dh'  fhcuchainn  a  chliu  ; 
Bha  thusa  'us  do  reiscaniiiid 
Fhcin  air  do  cliul. 
An  da-fhiclicad  'us  a  dha 
Sid  Inclid  caramh  gacli  cuis. 

(Jhuir  sibli  Frangaich  nan  ymur 
Aig  Alexandria  nan  tur, 
"S  thug  sibh  uap  an  eular  riomliach, 
Bha  miagliail  nan  cuirt. 

''S  aim  air  faielie  Mhai.la 

S  an  t-Samhradh  tlmig  sibh  buaidh, 

(led  bu  lionmhor  na  Frangaich 

?S  gaeh  camp  a  bha  shnas  ; 

"  Bha  'n  Tri-nchcad  's  an  ochd-dcug  aim," 

^sa  treun-fhir  ri  d'  chluais, 

15'  iad  sid  na  seoid  a  Dha'idh 

Xach  fhaghadh  tu  'n  cruas. 

Na  nor  Ghaidheil  gun  gliruaim, 
Reachadh  dan  aims  an  ruaig, 
'S  ehuireadh  iomain  air  do  naimhdean, 
'S  imch  blar  aims  do  bhuail. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs-  159 

'Nuair  chaidh  sibh  Mhartinica 
;S  do  na  Innsean  's  an  lar, 
Chaidh  do  chabhlach  air  traigh  ami 
'S  gu'm  b'  ailte  an  triall ; 
'N  uair  d'  eight  tu  advans  ! 
Sid  a  b'annsa  Ic&t  riamh, 
Bhidh  tri-chlaisich  ga  'n  rusgadh 
'S  fail  a  bruchd'  air  an  fhiar. 

Aig  na  fiurain  gu'n  ghiomh, 
Ghuineach  chlaidhcach  gu'n  fhiamh, 
;S  'nuair  bheireadh  tu  dhaibh  ordugh, 


Tha  thn  dh'  fhuil  nan  righrcan, 

Bha  miaghail  nan  la, 

Siol  Bhanco  do  rircamli 

Nach  diobradli  do  chas ; 

'S  iomadh  baintigliearna  pliriseil, 

Tha  'n  tith  air  do  lamli, 

'S  cha  'n  fhacas  anus  an  tir  so 

Na  dhiobradh  dluit  gradh. 

Bu  tu  (.'oirneal  nan  buadh, 
Roimh  bhragad  tarrninn  suas, 
B'  {i.rd  a  chluinnt'  do  chomannd 
Anns  na  rangan  do  'n  t-sluaigh. 

Ach  mo  dh'  fhalbh  thu  bhuainn  air  sgrlob 

:S  tu  air  thitli  dhol  an  Fhraing, 

On  'm  bu  shin  a  bhios  tu 

l!i  linn  do  dhol  ami  ; 

Cha-n  'oil  trian  dc  na  b'  fhiach  thu 

Fo  d' riaghailt  amis  an  am, 

'S  na  faighiims'  e  gu  'm  dhurachd 

B'  c  'n  emu  cliuir  imi  d'  cheann. 

'S  fhada  loam,  i'hir  tlia  thu  bhuainn, 
'S  guidhcam  buaidh  leat  's  gach  uair, 
'S  ami  tha  'n  aoidh  ri  fhaicinn  daonnan 
'N  a  d'  aodaiim  gun  ghruaim. 


160  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

CEIT  FHOIRBEIS, 

A  ruyaJh,  agus  a  cliaocJiail  an  Cairidh  an  Raineach^  na  /for 
sheana-aois  mu  '?i  Wiliadhna  1826. 

ORAN    GAOIL, 

Air  a  dheanamh  do  Mhac-Fhir  Dhimteamhalach. 
Lc  Ceit   Fhoirbeis,  a  Cairidh  an  llaineach  as  leth  banacharaid  dhi. 

Tha  mo  chridhe  ciuirte, 

'S  neo-shunndach  mi  'n  drast  ; 

Mu  dheibhinn  an  fhiurain, 

Dh'  fhag  an  duthaich  di-mairt  ; 

Mu  dheibhinn  an  oigeir, 

Is  boichche  na  each  ; 

Cur  gile  thu  fo  d'  chota 

Na'n  sneachd  og  ga  chur  tlath. 

( )ganaich  threibhich, 
'S  mor  t-fheum  amis  gach  cus  ; 
Cur  mor  thug  mi  gh,-u>l  dhuit, 
'S  cha  bhreug  tha  mi  'g  radii, 
Cur  mor  thug  mi  ghaol  dhuit, 
Ce  faontrach  mi  'n  drast ; 
'S  gus  an  dean  thu  pilltiim, 
Bidh  m'  inntinn  gu  lar. 

Tha  mo  chridhe  mar  an  luaidh', 
Cha  ghluais  c  ach  mar  lie  ; 
Ced  theid  mi  measg  oigridh, 
Ced  oil  mi  's  ged  ith  ; 
Tha  m'  aigne  trom  fo  thursadh, 
(Jar  an  rnisg  mi  i  ri  each  ; 
Mu  dheibhinn  an  fhiurain 
Dh'  fhag  an  duthaich  di-mairt. 

(Hg  ghasta  a  chul-dualaieh, 
Mai'caich  uaibhreach  nan  srann  ; 
IV  e  sud  an  ni  bu  deoin  leat, 
Bin  '\\  coisridh  nach  gann  ; 
( 'ha  !)"  ami  mar  bhalach  iimaidh, 
A  ruisgcadli  leat  cainnt  : 
Boul  a  lablsradh  an  i'hirinn, 
Mar  gu;n  sgriobht'  i  le  peann. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs. 

Mar  iir-ros  an  garadh, 

Nach  d'  foas  air  mheangan  dris  ; 

Ceann-tighe  na  'm  fear  ura, 

Mar  chraoibh  a  lubadh  le  meas  ; 

Gur  raise  bha  ro  dheonach, 

Air  do  phosadh  gun  fhios  ; 

B'  fhearr  na  mar  rinu  thu  m'  fhagail, 

Mo  chnramh  fo  lie. 

Us  beag  an  t  ioghnadh  dhomhsa, 

'Bhi  bronaeh  ad  dheigh  ; 

'S  a  liutlirid  latha  bha  shin, 

A  manran  leinn  fhein  ; 

A  in  ire  'us  a  eluaineis 

An  nagneas  air  ehach, 

'S  ma  dh'  flialbii  thu  uainn  air  chuantain, 

Mo  thruaighc  mi  gu  brath. 

— O  !   eha  'n  aobhar  thruais  thu, 
Mo  ghruagach  ghlan  og  ; 
Gar  an  dean  mi  piJltinn, 
Tha  thu  oinntoacli  a'  m'  stor  ; 
'S  trie  shiubhail  mi  'n  oidhehe 
Air  caoimliiioas  do  phoiic, 
''S  bu  blrilaeh  mi  na  'n  di-chuinihniun, 
Brioda!  d;>  bheoil. 

Ise — 'S  neo-bh;ilachail  a  dh' fhas  thu. 
\S  tu  ;s  aille  tlr  ami  mo  bheachd  ; 
Our  guirme  do  shuilean, 
Xa  'n  driuehd  air  an  t-slait  ; 
(TIU-  binne  learn  do  ehomhradh 
Xa  smeorach  'am  ])reas  ; 
S  gur  inii.se  learn  do  phogan, 
Xa  beoir  agus  mil. 

Aeh  a  Chaiptein  oig, 
Cha-n  c  do  stor  air  'blieil  mi  'n  deigh  ; 
()lu  'm  b'  annsa  na'n  erodh  guaill-fhioim, 
Bhi  gJuasad  ad'  dheigh  ; 
O  'n  fhuair  thu  'n  t-eideadh  iir 
'S  trie  na  deoir  a  ruith  le  m'  ghruaidh  ; 
'S  mor  a  b'  aiiMs  thu  bhi  7s  dutliai-'li, 
'.S  aims  an  Dun  ]  mar  bu  dual. 
J  Ann.s  an  Dun 

!  i 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Thug  niise  aims  an  Dun  ud, 
Gle  shunndach  car  seal ; 
A  mire  'us  a  sugradh 
Am  inuini  'us  an  gean, 
Ach  tha  mi  nis  mar  chluaran, 
Ga  'n  dualchas  fas  ban, 
Gus  am  pill  an  t-uasal, 
A  ghluais  uainn  di-mairt. 

AXXA    GHAIRXKIR, 

Nightman  Garradair  bha  fair  each  (inn  Ceann-na-laimht,  mg 
ArdldrnicJt  '<tn 


ORAX     DO    MHAIDSE1R    MEIXNE. 

Le  Anna  Ghaimear,  a  bha  tamh  aig  Ceann-na-laimhe,  'an 
Ardlairich  an  Raineach. 

Guidheam  buaidh  leis  an  fhiuran. 
Dh'  f  has  measail  suairce  na  ghinlain, 
(Jlilac  thu  cruadal  'us  curam, 
:S  og  a  fhag  thu  an  duthaich  ; 
'S  cha  nan  a  bliuidhinn  droch  el  in  dlmt  a  bha  sin. 

Ach  gach  neach  a  chuir  iuil  ort, 
Fad  no  goirrid  a  dh'  nine, 
Xo  na  dh'  iarradh  tighinn  dluth  ort, 
Bho  'n  la  thainig  thu  'n  tus  oirnn, 
Bha  thu  leirsinneach  iulmhor, 
'S  dhearl)h  thu  fhein  anus  gach  cuis  e  ; 
Kir.iair  tiiu  'n  t-urrani  on  chrun  's  do  luchd  pairtidh. 

Sgathan  maisoach  na  h-armailt, 
Dh'fhas  gu  cruinn-bhallach  dealbliach, 
Sar  chomandair  fo  armachd 

S  mairg  a  thogadh  am  fearg  thu, 
'S  mait-h  thig  claidheamh  chinn-uirgt/id. 
Ami  a  d'  lamh  bu  neo-chearbach  : 
[•'c, sr  do  mhisnich  's  u'lc  'ainmig  a  tha  e. 

( 'hiiin  thu  'bhroilleach  nan  og;ui, 
An  li  chuir  fala'  a'  d'  phoraibh, 
Shio]  naui  Meinncarach  inora 
GM  ',!!  bi  na  Tallachadh  boidhench, 
( iliC'ihlitt1  culi't  ;inn  a'  d'  Shei>m,!.r, 
Mnirncach  aighcarach  ceolmhor  ; 
S  tion  Sjiainteach  nam  o!  do  dhcnoh  slainte. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  163 

Bho  thaobh  eile  na  corach, 
Cha  l)ii  shuarach  do  sheorsa, 
Xa  fir  ghrinne  dheas  bhoidheach, 
0  Ghleann-eibheis  nan  coinhlan, 
Mar  sin  :us  bun  Lochaidh, 
Far  am  faighte  luclid  comhraig, 
Reachadh  brais  leis  na  seoid  bu  neo-sgathach. 

Gu  'in  b'  c  cleachda  do  dhualchuis, 
Bhi  gu  iorasal  nasal, 
Bhi  gu  siobhailte  suairce, 
Bhi  gu  baigheil  ri  sluagh  thu  ; 
Bidh  deagh  iornradh  'g  a  luaidh  ort, 
Anns  gach  cearn  anus  an  gluais  thu  ; 
\S  toilcach  inntinn  do  'n  t-sluagh  sin  o'n  d' fhas  thu. 

An  t-og  misneachail  treubhach, 
Cha  b'jinn  do'n  ghealtachd  a  gheil  thu  ; 
rS  niaith  thig  dels'  air  fear  <V  e'ugais, 
;I.)h'  aou  alt  air  an  teid  i, 
Breacan  balla-bhreac  na  feile, 
Osain  ghearr  'bhi  'g  a  reir  sin  : 
:S  gach  beairt  'bhiudh  an  tididh  nan  Gaidheil. 

rrha  thu  1'arasta  fiorghlic, 
'S  toigh  leat  ceartas  'us  firinn  ; 
Cha-n  'oil  gnothach  mu  'in  bi  thu, 
Xach  fhaightc  gun  stri  leat, 
Fhuair  thu  nis  na  bha  dhith  ort 
Ann  an  ath-ghoirrid  thioma  : 
\a  fir  ghlana  cho  glirinn  's  theid  air  s.'iile. 

r.uchd  nan  leadanan  cul-donn 
'S  nam  boincidean  du-ghorm, 
Le  bhur  cuilbhcaran  dubailt 

Air  an  cuniail  le  curani, 
Dheanadh  niarbha  ;us  sgiursa, 
'X  am  'ar  'u  ai'machd  a  rusgadh, 
S  "ur  :n  aghaidh  gu  dluth  air  litiur  naimhdean. 

( riiidheam  deagh  thoileach  inntinn, 

Do  na  dlf  fhalbh  as  an  tir  Tear, 

Kadar  uaislean  'us  islean, 

'S  (1  'n  Ghriogarach  fhior-ghlan, 

Xach  dean  a  mhisneach  a  dhiobairt, 

'X  I'huil  arda  nach  strioclula, 

'S  bheireadh  srachad  Ian  diola'  do  'naimlulcaTi. 


164  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Sgcul  a  b'  ait  learn  's  an  t-saoghal, 
De  na  b'  urrainii  mi  fhaotainn, 
'X  deigh  's  na  h-uile  ui  'sgaoile, 
'S  gach  blar  a  bhi  dh'  aon  taobh  ; 
(In  'm  biodh  urram  gach  aon  diubh 
Aig  Maidseir  Meinne  's  a  dhaoine, 
Dream  mileanta,  faobhach,  's  an  arfhaich. 

ANNA  G  HOB  HA, 

Nighean  Mairearad  Ghobha,  a  bha  fuireachd  aig  Cuiltdosgainn 
am  Gleann-eireachdidh. 

Bha  i  comharaichte  air  eideinean  Chathdathan  a  dheanamh 
agus  tlia  dearbh  agam  gu'n  robh  an  taigh  aice  ri  beo  gun  mhal. 
Tha  "  Luinneag  an  Fhoghairidh,"  a  toirt  soileireach  dhuinn  air 
an  t-saothair,  a  bha  ri  dheanamh  air  son  am  beo-shlaint  's  an  am 
sin.  Ohaidh  Anna  Ghobha  gn  a  dachaidh  bhuan  nm  dha  fhichead 
bliadhna  air  ais. 

LUIKXEAG   AN    FHOGHAIRIDH. 

Le  Anna  Ghobha,  air  dhi  dhol  thun  an  Fhoghairidh  Ghalld  anus  M 
bhliadhna  1827. 

Air  fonn — u  Posda,  ceangailte  tra." 

tSfisd — 0  b'  fhearr  nacli  tiginn  's  an  am, 
A  dh'ionnsaidh  machair  nan  Gall, 
Gun  airde,  gun  leabaidh,  gun  fhodar, 
A  'g  iarraidh  obair  's  gach  ait. 

Gun  cV  rainig  mi  'n  Leitir  an  toiseach, 
'S  mi  'n  dull  ri  cosnadh  na  b'  fhearr, 
Gun  deanainse  airgiod  'us  <>r  ann, 
'N  uair  reachain  air  doigh  mar  a  b'abh'ist  ; 
Ach  labhair  na  fior-ghillean  eoire, 
'S  e  'm  broii  tliu  thigliinn  cho  tra  ; 
Cha-ii  !eil  againn  coirco  no  eorn;i, 
lUiios  alniicti  n-.i's  leoir  gu  dimairt. 

Na  Vn  oindli  fior  fliios  aig  (lann  Donr>achaidh, 

.\  :  T-ii;-;'u'  tha  ormsa  an  drast, 


Air  L'r.'i.iiH'au  do  clilisoai^au  ('.'hL'tr  ; 
<-;:  'n  f.'iriivadh  iad  eacii  ;igus  gille, 
GM  h-eallamh  n'a  'm  shireadh  a  nail, 
>  chrt-u  i'iin<radh  iad  nii.se  na  b'  fhaide, 
A  fritheal  air  obnir  nan  C-^al]. 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  165 

Mo  bhitheas  mo  shaoghal-sa  marunu, 
'S  gu  'm  pill  mi  Bhraigh  Athull  gun  dail, 
A  dh'  innsc  do  m'  chairdean  's  luchd  colais, 
Gacli  drid-fliortan  chomhlaich  mi  'n  drast ; 
Bidh  botal  'us  gloine  air  bord  ami, 
'S  sinn  ola'  deoch  -slaintc  nan  Gael, 
Am  caistealan  toilicht'  glan,  ordail, 
Gun  churam  ri  m'  bheo  orm  o'n  mhal. 

'N  uair  ruigeas  mi  dhachaidh,  ''s  chan-fhada, 

Theid  surd  air  an  tartan  gun  dail, 

Bidh  dels'  ami  do  Ohoirneal  Mae  Dhonuill, 

Is  te  do  Mhac  Choinnich  riiinntail  ; 

'S  bidh  misc  nam  shuidhe  'a  in'  sheomar, 

Le  m'  chohmeal  air  bord  mar  a  b'abh'ist, 

A  deanamh  a  Chadath  's  a  Chlothain, 

'S  cha-n  fhaic  iad  ri  m'  bbeo  mi  mcasg  Gball. 

0  ]>'  flicar  nacb  tigiim  's  an  am, 
A  dh'ionnsuidli  macliair  nan  ('Jail, 
Gun  airdo,  gun  leabaidh,  gun  fliodar, 
A  'g  iarraidh  ol>air  's  gacli  ait. 

DOXXACHA  (JOBHA, 
Mac  Phadruig  Mhic  DhonuiU  Ruadk  Gholhd  bka'n  Ach-an-ruidht. 

\V  e  Donnacha  Gobha  so  a  cliuir  a  macb  orain  bbiim  bean  a 
sh(\-inar,  mnaoi  Dhonuill  Ruaidh  Ghobha,  agus  a  cliuir  ainm 
flicin  air  toiseach  an  leabhair  sin,  mar  Dhoimach  Mac-an-Toisicli, 
1831.  Rugadh  Donnacha  anus  an  Tulaicli  'an  Gleann-eireachdidh 
nm  180o.  Phos  e  to  mhuinntir  Shiorrachd  Hois,  theasd  e  'n 
Dnneidinn  mu  1846.  Bha  mi  tior  colach  air  Iain  Camsbrou  do 'n 
doach  an  t-oran  smiorail  so  a  dhoanamh,  agus  b'  c  an  duine 
tiathail,  suairc  e.  Theasd  e  na  thaigh  fein,  an  Oillechonnain,  nm 
dheich  bliadhn'  air  ais. 

ORAX    DO    DIl'    IAIN    CAMSTIROX, 

'An  Cille-chonnain  'an  Raincacli,  tha  '11  drast  an  Dun-eidinn. 

Le  Donnacha  Gobha. 
Air fonn — "A  chuachag  nan  craobh." 

Bheir  an  t-soraidh  so  l)huam 

Gu  Iain  (.'auishron  le  buaidh, 
Air  d'  aimn  dheaninn  luaidh  le  eibhneas  ; 

Na  ;m  bu  bhard  mi  gu  duan, 

Chuirinn  aird  air  "s  an  uair, 
Dheanainn  oran  gu  luath  cliuir  an  ceill  dut, 


166  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Fleasgach  siobhailte  suairc', 

Fearail  fior-ghlic  gu  'n  ghruahn, 
Cha-n  'oil  mi-thlachda  fuaighte  ri  bheusan  ; 

'S  iomad  ribliinn  dheas  og, 

Bheiroadh  unite  cle  'n  or 
Anns  an  tiom  chionn  bhi  poiste  o'n  chleir  riut. 

Fear  do  ghliocais  's  do  riagh'lt', 

Tha  e  tearc  feadh  nan  crioch, 
Bu  sheachranach  ciad  dliin  an  Albainn  ; 

Thig  an  ami  riut  's  gach  rian 

Ann  an  cainnt  's  ami  an  gniomh, 
Ann  an  ionusach,  'an  cial  is  an  eauachainn. 

Bn  tu  poiteir  an  fhion, 

Dheanadh  61  'us  a  dliiol, 
Cha  I/ami  an  geocaircachd  fliiar  no  le  cealg'reauhd 

Nan  deanainn  combnard  chuir  sios, 

Miad  do  mhorachd   us  t-fhiacb, 
Bha  cor  agus  niios  ami  gu  seanachas. 

'S  ami  'ni  Braigb  Raineaoh  na  'in  bo, 

Fhuair  tlm  dj  arach  as  t-oig, 
Cha  do  chloachd  tliu  fo  'd'  bhrogan  an  cabhsair  ; 

Ach  siubhal  ghlacan  fcoir, 

'S  do  gliunna  fo  d'  sgoid? 
Bbidh  daimh-mbnlluich  nan  croc  dol  air  cball  loat. 

Aon  damisair  a  b'fhearr, 

Cha  do  shaltair  air  blar, 
No  sgriobhair  air  clar  'chaidh  'n  taobli  tball  dliut  ; 

Bu  tn  'n  sgoileir  thair  chajli, 

Ann  am  Beurla  ?s  an  Ciailig, 
Ciod  a  cbcaird  thigeadh  ccarr  gu  do  laimh  ort, 

\S  math  thig  breacan  'am  foil, 

Os  cionn  bacan  do  shlcisd, 
Air  a  phlcata  gu  rcidh  ami  an  ordngh  ; 

Cota  tartain  ga  rcir, 

Air  a  bhasadh  ri  cheil, 
liu  mhaiscach  fear  t-eugais  measg  coisridh. 

Osain  mheanbh-bhallach  ur, 

Mu  do  chal])an  cruinn  dlnth, 
Paidhir  ghartan  o'n  l)huth  chosta  or  dhnt  ; 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  K>7 

Boineid  dhatht'  air  a  chrun 
Aims  an  fhasan  is  uir'( 
Bu  tlachdmhor  air  thus  na  'm  fear  6g  thu. 

Thig  sid  ort  's  an  uair 

Mu  do  leasra'  mu  'n  euairt, 
Crios  an  leathar  's  e  nuadh  as  an  Olainnd  ; 

Claidhe'  ceanna-bheairteach  cruaidh, 

Air  a  thasga'  na  thruaill, 
Paidhir  dhag  air  a  chruachaimi  mar  chomhla'. 

Plasg  Ian  'n  fhudar  lorn  chruaidh, 

Gunna  diibailt  's  crios  guaill, 
Dhcana  udlaich  iiam  bruachan  a  leona  ; 

Bheireadh  tarmach  a  nuas, 

Coileaeh-dubh  is  coin  ruadh', 
Bhiodh  an  eal  air  a  chuan  's  i  gu  'n  deo  leat. 

Tha  thu  ciuin  ami  an  sith, 

Tha  thu  borb  ami  an  strith, 
(iur  mairg  bhiodh  an  ti  air  d'  fheuchaiim  ; 

'N  uair  a  thionndadli  ort  fearg, 

Tha  thu  ceannsgalach  garg, 
'S  tearc  fear  aim  an  Alb'  bheireadh  bourn  dhut. 

Xan  tigeadh  naimhdean  a'  d'  dhail, 

Chum  do  chall  gun  chion-fath, 
Bu  lionmhor  'a  d'  phairt  iad  a  dheireadh  ; 

'S  iomad  Camshronach  ailt, 

Keachadh  dian  aim  a  d'  chas, 
'Sgathadh  sios  mar  an  eal  do  luchd  eucoir. 

Bidh  Lochiall  leat  air  thus, 

A rd  Thriath  na  'm  fear  iir, 
(/ha  b'  fhiamliach  ua  'm  cuis  a  reiteach  ; 

Bhiodh  na  ciadan  ri  chul, 

Claidheach,  sgiatbach,  nach  diult, 
Keachadh  sios  leis  an  tusa  na  streupaid. 

Sid  an  ceannard  fhuair  ainm 

Anns  an  t-scaim  tiom  an  Alb', 
'S  trie  a  fhuair  e  a  dhearbh  ami  an  deuchainn  ; 

Oed  bha  naimhdean  air  sealg 

Ann  an  gamhlas  ro  gharbh, 
Fhuair  e  onair  ;us  ainm  o  Kigti  Seumas.1 

1  Seurlas  ? 


168  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Dh'  eireadh  rist  leat  ri  'thaobh, 

Fear  an  Farraehd  Ic  dh-iohr, 
Sid  a  cheatharu,  uacii  bidh  faohr  na  n  eight  iad  : 

'S  iad  a  g.^arra  lo  f;iob'<ar, 

Mar  fhalaisg  ri  fraoeh, 
Feasirar  Karraich  's  a  ghaoth  era  seide. 

Dh'  innseadh  Bonipart  tliall, 

(lu  'm  bu  troni  leis  a  chall, 
(iu  'n  il'  thachair  ris  ceann  an  leir-sirrios  ; 

'S  lionmhor  marcaich  fk'h-siK-aiig, 

Kinn  tliu  chasgart  's  an  Filming, 
Chnir  thu  dhachaidh  <z\\n  clicaun  <j:u    n  Icirsinn. 

()  (rhle;inn-I  iiheis  'in  bi  'n  ce;>, 

Thig  na  fir  th-i  irn  'n  Li'ho. 
Doch-an-Fhasaidh  's  an  t-Sruiu  le  c;u;i!e  ; 

Claim  'Ic  Mhairtein  na  s(.H)id. 

Reachadh  dan  leat   s  an  loir, 
Dlieanadh  cnanihan  'us  fvoil  a  rcr.b  i', 

;S  ioinad  niilto  a  bharr, 

Nach  inns"  mi  an  drasr, 
Bheireadh  bmn-ghrad  a  l)ha;s  air  hi'-hd  t-encoii1  ; 

Bliiodh  droch  dliiol  air  a  ii'lirais:..:, 

'S  mair     a  dV'ia.r  radii  na  "i1  dail. 


(..'o  thagradh  In  'n  strith. 

No  Vjhairradli  dliiot  cis. 
(tii  'm  b'  i'haoin  doibh  an  ni  'IK!  ura  fhcuchainii  ; 

Macli  o  annachd  an  lUgli, 

(1'ait  an  coiimeachadh  in  ni, 
A  thairgeadh  bonn  spideag  no  bcnm  dimt. 

'Sliar  Chamshronaich  o'n  far, 

Tha  mo  sheanachas  ^u  criocli, 
8  cha  d'  ainniicl)  mi  trian  do  do  bhc-nsan  ; 

Dean  a  ghloine  a  lion', 

'S  do  dheocli  slaintc  theid  sios, 
De  "n  riim  thain'  a  nios  a'  Sinu'-ca. 

MAIJiKAKAD  (JHOhHA. 

S  i  so  mo  roghainn  do  ar  luchd-oraii,  am  boircaimacli  aoidlieil 
bhanail.  Tha  sruthaiian  l)latha  caoimlnicil,  a  irlmath  a'  rnilh  am 
mcasg  a  cnid  luinneagaii  sunndach  :  mor  Ldiradh  do  cardean  agus 
f'u>r  speis  do  dnthaicli.  P>n  nighoan  i  do  JMiarra  mor  Mac- 


Perthshire  Gaelic  Songs.  169 

griogair,  bh' ana  an  Camuseireachd-mor  'am  Braigh-Raineach. 
Phos  i  Don  nil  ruacth  Gobha  'an  Ach-an-ruidhe,  agus  bha  ccathrar 
theaghlach  aoa  a  thainig  gu  aois.  Thoasd  Mairearad  inu  1820. 

OROXAN. 

Le   Mairearad   Ghobha,   bean    Dhoimill  Ruaidh   Ghobha,    bha   na 

thuathanach  an  Aoh-an-ruidho,  teann  air  Socach-Shruthain 

an  Athnll. 

Ka-ill  ilo  na  ho  ru, 
A-ill  o  na  hi  ri  u, 
Fa-ill  ilo  na  ho  rii, 
'S  i  n ic)  run  rno  leanabhsa. 

Baldh,  baidh  ba,  mo  ghradh, 
Moigeag  bheag  a  chimiein  bhain, 
Moigoag  bheag  a  chinnoin  bliain, 
Gur  i  annsaoh  mamaidh  i. 

Chaidli  na  caoirich  oirnn  o  stath, 
Cha-n  'oil  bainno  ao  no  til, 
Ciod  an  comas  th'  air  a  ghraidh, 
God  thainig  oal!  an  Karraieh  oirnn. 

Tha  na  h-eich  air  dol  gun  fheuin, 
Am  biriohoan  's  o  crom  nan  deigli, 
Aoh  mo  dh  I'halhhas  iad  gu  loir, 
'S  ami  their  mi-fhein  gin1  broamas  o. 

( lia-n  ami  an  saibhroas  mor  an  t-saoghail, 
Tha  sonas  buan  a  chiimo  daoin  : 
rS  mairg  a  bhoiroadh  moran  gaoil 
Do  nithoan  t'aoine  faileasach. 

(HH!  a  chairneniide  stor, 
Chumcadh  saibhoir  sinn  ri    r  boo, 
;N  uair  a  chairear  sinn  fo  'n  fhoid, 
Cha  mh or  a  theid  's  an  talamh  leinn. 

(•Jed  robh  ni  'us  maoin  aig  neach, 
:iS  trio  an  smaoin  so  ami  a  m'  bhoaohd, 
Mar  stinirear  lois  a  chnis  gu  oeart. 
Gur  fhoarr  an  neach  tha  aimbcartaoh. 


170  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Mar  dean  iad  iochd  ri  daoine  truagh, 
Is  luigheachd  'rcir  am  maoin  thoirt  'nap, 
Sud  an  iii  do  'n  tug  mi  fuatb, 
Cridhe  cruaidh  air  teanuachadh. 

Ach  mo  bhitheas  t-athair  beo, 
Gleidheas  e  dhninn  crodh  air  Ion, 
Caoirich  signs  uain  inu'n  chro, 
Is  bheir  a  bhotach  searrach  dhuinn. 

Fa-ill  ile  na  ho  ru, 
A-ill  o  na  hi  ri  u. 
Fa-ill  ile  na  ho  ru, 
'S  i  mo  run  mo  leanabhsa. 


lit k  MARCH,  18  91. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Society  on  this  date,  the  Rev.  Mr 
Thomas  Sinton,  Dores,  was  to  have  read  a  paper  on  the  Celtic 
Church  in  Jjadenodi,  but  Mr  Sinton  having  been  unavoidably 
detained,  the  meeting  formed  into  a  "  Ceilidh,"  when  a  very 
pleasant  evening  was  spent  with  songs  and  stories. 


I8tk  MARCH,  1891. 

At  the  meeting  on  this  date  Mr  David  Xairne  read  a  paper  on 
Highland  Woods,  Ancient  and  Modern.  Mr  Xairne's  paper  was 
as  follows  : — 


XOTKS  OX  HIGHLAND  WOODS,  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN. 

Inverness-shire  is  not  only  the  largest  county  in  Great  Britain, 
bnt  the  best  wooded,  and  whether  taken  from  an  archaic  or  a 
modern  point  of  view,  it  affords  us  the  most  interesting  illustrations 
of  what  the  ancient  forests  of  Scotland  were,  and  what  modern 
plantations  have  become.  In  its  glens  and  straths  there  are  many 
evidences  to  be  found  of  the  great  forests  of  oak  and  fir  which 
constituted  the  primeval  grandeur  of  our  country  ;  in  other  places, 
on  its  heaths  and  moors,  we  can  vividlv  imagine  what  a  naked  and 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  171 

desolate  land  Scotland  must  have  been  in  the  seventeenth  century 
when,  as  the  result  of  centuries  of  waste  and  wanton  destruction, 
the  forests  had  disappeared,  and  the  nation  cried  out  for  more 
timber  •  and  now,  the  flourishing  plantations  which  grace  our 
straths,  glens,  and  hillsides  suggest  to  one  the  silvan  glories  of  a 
thousand  years  ago.  These  remarks  indicate  the  lines  upon  which 
I  propose  dealing  with  my  subject — and  it  is  one  which,  by  the 
way,  has  not  yet  found  a  place  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society. 
This  latter  circumstance  reminds  me  that  a  little  latitude  might 
be  taken  with  the  earlier  and  more  general  aspects  of  tree  history, 
especially  as  I  have  found  the  literature  of  the  subject  scarce 
and  fragmentary.  It  will  be  interesting  to  glance  at  the  condition 
of  Scotland  prior  to  and  during  the  dark  ages  ;  the  middle  ages, 
when  the  nation  \vas  consolidating  itself,  and  hiving  the  foundation 
of  its  agricultural  and  commercial  importance,  are  instructive, 
chiefly  through  the  enactments  of  Parliaments  which  had  became 
distracted  over  the  treeless  condition  of  the  country  ;  while  the 
disappearance  and  re-appearance  of  the  woods  within  the  last  two 
centuries  form  a  curious  chapter  in  Scottish  history.  In  Inverness- 
shire  itself,  with  its  163.000  acres  of  woods,  it  will  only  be  necessary 
to  deal  with  the  leading  estates,  so  far  as  they  illustrate  the 
matter.  In  Strathspey,  we  linve  on  the  Seatield  property  the 
greatest  planting  experiment  on  record,  viz.,  50,000  acres  ;  the 
Lovat  country  it  is  important  to  deal  with  as  a  noted  instance  of 
perpetuating  woods  by  natural  reproduction  ;  and  on  the  Lochiel 
estate  we  will  find,  perhaps,  more  relics  of  byegone  ages,  and  better 
examples  of  the  fir  in  its  native  fastnesses,  than  can  be  found 
elsewhere  in  Scotland. 

Historians  invariably  remind  us,  in  a  poetic  form  of  language, 
that  at  the  dawn  of  our  history,  when  the  Roman  legions  made 
their  advent,  Scotland  was  one  dark  and  dreary  forest,  as 
impenetrable  as  that  of  Central  Africa,  and  inhabitated  by  a  race 
only  a  little  bigger  and  scarcely  less  savage.  I  am  not  disposed  to 
adopt  that  extreme  view  of  our  ancestors,  nor  do  I  think  the 
country  was  so  densely  tree-grown  as  some  imaginative  writers 
represent,  The  red  haired,  large  limbed,  naked,  and  bare-footed 
Caledonians  of  Tacitus  fought  in  chariots,  with  themselves,  and 
when  they  opposed  the  Roman  hosts.  Chariots  suggest  large  open 
spaces;  the  rearing  of  black  cattle  required  pasture.  But, 
generally  speaking,  Scotland  was  then  a  tree-grown  country,  with 
its  greatest  forest  extending  into  Badenoch  and  Strathspey,  and 
ramifying  into  every  Highland  strath  until  it  spread  over 
Sntherlandshire,  and  vanished  in  the  sterility  of  Caithness.  Let  us 


172  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

pass  this  early  chapter  of  forest  history  in  hurried  review.  As  the 
eye  dwells  on  the  natural  pine  forests  of  Strathspey,  their  vast 
expanse  swelling  boldly  up  the  mountain  sides,  the  contrast  of  the 
dazzling  snow  patches  on  the  Cairngorms  deepening  the  hue  of 
their  sombre  green,  the  imagination  takes  a  roving  excursion  far 
into  the  retreating  centuries,  and  one  is  speedily  entranced 
with  the  kaleidoscope  of  a  silvan  romance.  First  comes  Scot- 
land in  its  primeval  grandeur  of  mountain,  forest,  and 
flood,  the  war  cry  of  the  sturdv  aborigines  rinding  an 
echo  in  the  woods  wherever  the  tribal  battle  was  waged  : 
or  the  shout  of  the  barbarian  sportsmen  as  they  merrily, 
with  bo^v.  sling,  and  lance,  pursue  the  crusade  against  the  wolves, 
and  the  bears,  mid  the  reindeer  in  the  fastnesses.  Here  is  Scottish 
freedom  in  embrvo  ;  and  what  a  curious  picture  the  imagination 
makes  of  that  mysterious  period.  The  peaceful  scene  changes, 
and  there  is  commotion  in  the  forest,  and  a  rendezvous  by  the 
river  of  Spey.  Tribal  differences  are  forgotten,  and  the  wild 
denizens  of  the  wood  are  allowed  to  range  unmolested.  The  long 
heard  of  invader  lias  at  last  planted  his  foot  on  Caledonian  soil, 
and  the  ancient  race  of  the  Highlands  gather,  in  their  rude 
panoply  of  war,  to  make  common  cause  against  the  foe.  Blood 
flows  freely  in  the  drrampian  forests,  and  many  brave  deeds  are 
done,  but  steadily  the  [Ionian  legions  cut  their  way  through  the 
pathless  tracks  of  Strathspey,  and  bye-and-by  they  stand  victorious 
on  the  gently-lapped  shores  of  the  Moray  Firth.  Victorious  !  but 
at  what  a  cost,  Sullenly,  the  native  warriors  seek  the  silent  forest 
glades,  happy  only  in  the  thought  that  50,000  men  of  the  invading 
hosrs  have  fallen  as  the  trees  they  felled,  and  that  their  carcases 
make  sleek  the  wolves  of  Strathspey  and  the  Don.  Time  has 
passed,  and  there  is  again  a  gathering  of  Caledonians  in  Strath- 
spey. The  instruments  of  war  have  been  laid  aside.  Huge 
carcases  of  the  native  bull,  the  elk,  and  the  reindeer  are  brought 
in,  and  fires  arc  altla/e  ;  the  plunder  of  war  is  exhibited,  and  pre- 
parations are  made  for  a  feast  such  as  has  not  yet  been  witnessed 
by  Spey's  marshy  banks.  For  the  strongholds  of  the  Roman 
invader  are  deserted,  the  forests  no  longer  resound  to  their  martial 
tread,  and  the  mighty  firs  of  Dutliil  cease  to  bend  to  their  axes. 
Barbarian  tactics  and  courage  have  succeeded,  in  the  long  run, 
against  the  gleaming  battalions  of  Rome,  and  North  Scotland  is 
once  more  a  free1  countrv.  Another  period  passes,  and  the 
warriors  of  the  Highland  forests  march  westward  to  fight  an 
invader  who  defies  them  and  refuses  to  be  shaken  off.  The  clash 
of  buttle  is  heard  through  the  whole  century  long  ;  forest  fires 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  173 

blacken  and  desolate  the  country  ;  gradually  the  turmoil  ceases,  and 
there  is  a  mingling  and  an  absorption  of  races.  The  scene  ends 
peacefully  at  Scone,  in  the  heart  of  a  forest,  where  the  clans  gather 
to  do  homage  to  the  Scottish  king.  Caledonia  retains  its  pine 
woods  in  diminished  plenty  ;  and  the  foundation  of  its  rude  agricul- 
ture is  to  be  laid  ;  but  the  times  are  still  rude,  and  the  early  kings 
have  rough  work  before  them.  The  struggles  in  which  they 
engage  with  the  Vikings  and  the  Danes  slowly  weld  the  kingdom 
into  unity  and  consistency,  and  Scottish  nationality  emerges  a  con- 
crete thing.  And  so  we  glide  into  the  middle  ages  ;  and  nothing 
seems  so  permanent  as  the  Strathspey  pine  forests  in  the  midst  of 
so  much  revolution  and  change.  But  they,  too,  give  way,  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  country.  At  last  the  law  comes  to  the  rescue 
of  the  outraged  forests,  now  threatened  with  extinction,  except  in 
the  remote  Highlands,  by  the  cry  for  more  land  and  less  timber. 
It  was  a  h.-ird  struggle,  this  one  about  timber,  against  evil  design 
and  accident,  carelessness  and  cupiditv  :  and  as  the  eve  rests  to-day 
on  the  forests  of  Duthil,and  Abernethy  and  Rot.hiemurclms, one  feels 
thankful  that  remnants  of  the  primeval  pines  survived  the  destruc- 
tive centuries  to  associate  the  present  with  the  past  silvan  glories 
of  the  land. 

ANCIENT    FOREST    LEGISLATION. 

During  the  two  hundred  vears  which  intervened  between  the 
death  of  William  the  Lion  and  the  ascent  of  King  James  the  First 
to  the  throne  of  Scotland,  the  woods  and  forests  of  the  country 
suffered  great  destruction.  From  the  time  John  Baliol  servilelv 
sold  the  independence  of  his  country,  revolted,  and,  attired  in  his 
shirt  and  drawers,  again  abjectlv  submitted  to  the  haughtv  King 
Fdward  in  the  kirkvard  of  Strickathrow  -  lit  place  for  such  a 
circumstance—  the  country  was  being  almost  perpetually  wasted 
by  the  ravages  of  war.  Wallace,  .Robert  the  Bruce,  his  son  David 
11.,  the  false  Albanv,  and  King  Blearie  (Robert  II.)  rose  in 
succession  and  acted  their  eventful  ;md  chequered  parts  ;  the  tide 
of  war  flowed  and  ebbed  over  the  land  ;  and,  latterly,  outrage  and 
violence  prevailed,  and  security  for  life  and  property  was  unknown. 
When  King  James  reached  Scotland  in  1  -I  :H,  happy  in  the 
restoration  of  his  freedom,  and  in  the  possession  of  his  £;  milk- 
white  dove,'"'  now  become  bis  <.,|ucen,  he  found  his  kingdom  in  a 
wretched  condition.  The  feudal  nobles,  accustomed  to  a  weak  and 
feeble  (Jovernmcnt,  kept  the  whole  country  in  confusion  with  their 
feuds  and  revenges,  their  tierce  wars  on  one  another,  and  their 
cruel  oppressions  of  the  people  The  law  was  a  dead  letter,  and 


174  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

theft  and  robbery  were  acts  almost  licensed  by  custom.  James  in 
his  second  Parliament  found  it  necessary  to  pass,  among  other 
beneficent  laws,  an  Act  for  the  preservation  of  forest  trees  and 
greenwood,  a  proof  that  the  immense  forests  which  had  once 
covered  the  face  of  the  country,  and  were  so  strictly  guarded  by 
William  the  Lion,  were  fast  disappearing,  and  that  a  scarcity  of 
timber  had  begun  to  be  apprehended.  The  houses  of  the  people 
were  in  those  days  for  the  most  part  constructed  of  wood,  and  if 
there  was  growing  timber  in  the  vicinity  paterfamilias  did  not 
.scruple  to  provide  himself  with  the  best  of  materials  in  the  shape 
of  matured  oak,  without  reckoning  with  the  owner.  The  first 
enactment  was  directed  against  the  steulers  of  greenwood  and 
fruit,  the  breakers  of  orchards,  the  peelers  of  trees,  and  the 
destroyers  of  wood.  Such  depredations  were  generally  committed 
under  cover  of  darkness,  and  under  the  statute  here  referred  to  a 
modern  lawyer  would  have  no  difficulty  in  getting  off  his  client  if 
the  oil'ence  happened  to  have  taken  place  during  the  day  time. 
Clear  and  to  the  point,  so  far  as  they  went,  those  ancient  laws 
were,  however,  suited  to  the  rough  administration  of  the  times. 
Technical  objections  as  to  relevancy  and  irrelevancies  were  then 
unknown  ;  but  as  the  nation  grew  in  civilisation  and  intelligence 
it  is  interesting  to  observe  the  increasing  complexity  with  which 
the  legal  net  was  woven.  The  penalty  attached  to  any  of  the 
crimes  mentioned  in  the  Act  described  was  forty  shillings  to  the 
King  should  a  conviction  be  obtained  before  the  justice,  and  the 
stealcrs  of  wood  had,  in  addition,  to  indemnify  the  partv 
"skaithcd." 

The  year  after  the  discovery  of  America,  .lames  the  Fourth, 
considering  "  the  great  and  unnumerable  riches  that  is  tinte  in 
Fault  of  schippes,"  .set  himself  to  create  a  Scottish  fleet.  All 
burghs  and  towns  within  the  realm  suitably  situated  were  ordered 
to  build,  according  to  their  substance,  ships  of  not  less  than 
twenty  tons,  properly  equipped  for  fishing  and  commerce,  for  the 
desire  of  the  king  in  the  first  place,  though  he  had  "  policic  and 
conquest  ''  as  his  ulterior  aim,  was  to  create  a  nursery  of  skilled 
and  hardy  seamen.  Shipwrights  and  cannon  founders  were1 
brought  fro> n  abroad,  and  the  king,  in  his  enthusiasm,  personallv 
superintended  the  building  of  ships  of  war.  In  course  of  time  he 
made  the  navy  of  Scotland  a  powerful  one  for  that  period,  and  the 
Scottish  Hag  inspired  respect  in  all  seas.  The  construction  of  so 
many  shins  was  an  enormous  drain  upon  the'  woods  and  forests  of 
the  country  :  and  sonic  ten  years  afterwards  we  find  another  law 
"n  the  statute  book  "  aiicnt  the  artickle  of  ^Tcene  wood,  because 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  175 

that  the  wood  of  Scotland  is  utterly  destroyed."  Strangely 
enough,  however,  the  scarcity  of  timber  is  not  even  partly  referred 
to  the  building  of  a  navy,  but  to  the  circumstance  that  the  fine  for 
the  malicious  felling  or  burning  of  it  was  so  little  Henceforth  the 
penalty  was  to  be  five  pounds,  and  the  old  Act  was  renewed 
with  this  exception.  That  this  was  not  exactly  the 
policy  required  in  the  circumstances  is  proved  by  subsequent 
enactments.  For  the  protection  of  trees  a  heavy  fine  was  all  good 
enough  if  vigorously  enforced,  but  as  regards  the  restoration  of  the 
woods  and  forests  that  had  been  destroyed  it  was  of  no  practical 
moment.  In  the  course  of  some  thirty  years  the  general  barren 
condition  of  the  country  called  into  existence  a  law  for  the 
planting  of  woods,  forests,  and  orchards.  This  was  in  the  fourth 
Parliament  of  King  James  the  Fifth  (1535).  It  was  ordained 
that  every  man,  spiritual  or  temporal,  having  lands  of  the  value 
of  a  hundred  pounds,  and  in  whose  lands  there  was  no  timber,  was 
to  plant  trees  to  the  extent  of  three  acres,  or  under,  "  as  his 
heritage  is  mnir  or  less  ;"  and  tenants  of  such  lands  were  to  plant 
yearly  "  for  every  marke  land  ane  tree.''  The  penalty  for  non- 
compliance  was  ten  pounds.  At  the  same  time  the  crime  of 
destroying  green  wood  by  cutting,  peeling,  burning,  or  felling  was 
to  be  more  seriously  punished.  For  the  first  offence  a  fine  of  ten 
pounds  was  to  be  exacted,  for  the  second  offence  twenty  pounds, 
and  if  a  person  broke  the  law  a  third  time  he  was  to  suffer  death  ! 
The  adoption  of  these  extreme  measures  indicates  the  straits  to 
which  the  nation  was  reduced  for  timber.  Kven  the  King's  own 
forests  had  suffered,  and  it  became  necessary  to  pass  an  Act  for 
their  better  preservation  and  protection  for  the  pasturing  of  wild 
beasts  and  hunting.  Horse,  sheep,  and  cattle  found  trespassing 
in  the  Royal  forests  in  future  were  to  be  escheated  to  the  King. 
Timber  now  came  to  be  imported,  and  in  1540  a  law  was  passed 
empoimding  the  Provosts,  Bailies,  and  Councils  of  Burghs  to  fix 
the  prices  of  wine,  salt,  and  timber  at  all  ports  at  which  cargoes 
were  landed,  including  Inverness.  The  cause  of  this  enactment  was 
"  the  exorbitant  dearth  and  prices  of  wine,  salt,  and  thinner.'"'  A 
reasonable  price  having  been  fixed,  the  King  was  to  be  first  served, 
then  the  nobles  of  the  realm,  such  as  prelates  and  barons,  and 
afterwards  the  lieges  of  lower  degree.  In  order  that  the  civic  func- 
tionaries might  be  able  to  act  as  arbiters  in  the  matter  of  prices, 
they  were  required  to  make  inquiry  as  to  how  timber,  wine,  and 
salt  were  selling  in  other  countries.  The  Parliament  of  Queen 
Mary  amended  this  law  in  so  far  as  the  price  fixed  had  to  be  pub- 
lished for  four  davs  before  anv  sales  could  be  effected. 


176  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

The  forest  laws  of  King  James  the  Sixth  consisted  of  three 
Acts,  all  having  particular  reference  to  the  destruction  and  decay 
of  the  royal  forests.  As  to  the  necessity  for,  and  the  tenor  of 
those  statutes,  they  form  a  significant  comment  on  the  character 
of  the  period.  It  would  seem  that  the  people  continued  to  study 
their  own  convenience  and  perpetuate  their  habits  in  preference  to 
the  royal  commands,  for  in  no  other  department  of  law-making  in 
the  olden  times  was  there  so  much  enacting,  and  re-enacting,  and 
confessions  of  failure  than  in  forest  legislation.  The  three  Acts  to 
which  we  allude  are  an  illustration  in  point.  In  1592  James  the 
Sixth  passed  a  law  for  the  better  keeping  of  the  royal  parks  and 
forests.  The  preamble  states  that  great  skaith  had  been  done  to 
such  property  in  consequence  of  the  liberty  "  every  man  "  usurped 
by  putting  all  kinds  of  "  guddes  "  in  them.  The  parks  and  forests 
had  been  utterly  destroyed,  and  rendered  unprofitable  for  his 
Majesty's  use.  It  was  therefore  ordained  that  whatever  animals 
were  pastured  in  the  forests  without  a  licence  were  to  be  forfeited 
to  the  King,  and  proclamation  of  the  law  was  ordered  to  be  made 
in  the  parochial  kirks  and  at  the  market  crosses  in  the  burghs 
next  adjacent  to  the  parks  and  forests.  Instead  of  being 
diminished,  the  evil  increased,  and  so  in  the  short  space  of  two 
years  after.  Parliament  is  again  found  legislating  011  the  subject 
more?  comprehensively  and  severely.  It  was  observed,  says  the  new 
statute,  that  the  woods,  forests,  deer,  and  fowl  were  daily  decreas- 
ing, by  reason  of  the  Acts  and  statutes  set  down  against  the 
destroyers  of  woods  and  forests,  and  slayers  of  wild  beasts,  not 
being  put  into  execution.  Persons  took  the  liberty  to  destroy  and 
slay  "at  their  awin  appetites"  The  burden  of  the  new  Act  was 
that,  "  for  the  better  entertainment  of  his  royal  pastime  in  the 
time  coming,"  persons  who  cut  timber  or  green  wood  within  his 
Majesty's  woods  or  parks,  or  should  slav  deer,  pheasants,  fowls, 
partridges,  or  other  wild  fowl  with  gun,  cross-bow,  handbow,  dogs 
or  girn.  without  special  licence  and  tolerance,  or  who  killed  deer 
which  had  strayed  in  times  of  storms  to  barnyards,  were  to  have 
their  whole  goods  escheated,  and  a  criminal  prosecution  instituted. 
All  animals  found  pasturing  within  the  confines  of  the  forests  were 
to  be  confiscated.  Hunting  or  shooting  within  even  a  radius  of 
six  miles  of  i  he  royal  woods,  parks,  castles,  and  palaces  were  to  be 
punished  with  a  fine  of  a  hundred  pounds,  or  imprisonment  if  the 
person  was  nor  good  for  that  amount.  These  sweeping  measures 
did  not,  however,  restrain  the  law-breakers,  and  twenty-three 
years  afterwards,  for  the  third  time  in  the  reign  of  James  the 
ent  again  had  furest  legislation  under  review.  The 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  177 

tone  of  this  Act  was  even  more  bewailing  than  the  others.  It  is 
regretted  that  the  forests  within  the  realm  in  which  deer  are  kept 
are  altogether  wasted  and  decayed  by  shiellings,  pasturing  of 
horses,  mares,  cattle,  oxen  ani  other  bestial,  cutting  of  woods 
within  the  said  forests,  shooting  and  slaying  of  deer,  venison,  and 
wild  fowl,  and  that  divers  "  loveable  "  Acts,  laws,  and  statutes  for 
the  punishment  of  transgressors  had  not  been  put  duly  into  execu- 
tion in  time  gone  bye.  The  reason  mentioned  for  the  inefficacy 
of  the  laws  is  that  the  keepers  of  the  forests  and  others  having 
right  thereto  had  no  power  or  jurisdiction  to  punish,  and  accord- 
ingly in  all  time  coming  foresters  have  conferred  on  them  full 
power,  privilege,  and  jurisdiction  to  call,  convene,  and  pursue 
before  them  all  transgressors  of  the  Acts  and  statutes,  hold  courts, 
and  inflict  punishments. 

The  unique  proceeding  of  constituting  keepers  of  forests  judges 
in  breaches  of  forest  laws  appears  to  have  been  effectual  in  check- 
ing theft,  trespass,  and  poaching.  At  all  events,  the  suppression 
of  such  offences  was  not  again  made  the  subject  of  exceptional 
legislation.  By  the  time  Charles  the  Second  came  to  the  throne 
in  1061,  all  the  ancient  Acts,  including  the  one  last  quoted,  had 
fallen  into  desuetude.  Henceforward  legislation  had  for  its  object 
more1  the  encouragement  of  planting  than  the  punishment  of 
thieves  and  poachers.  The  first  Parliament  of  Charles  revived  the 
Act  above  noticed  for  the  planting  of  woods,  forests,  and  orchards, 
passed  by  the  fourth  Parliament  of  .James  the  Fifth,  and  not,  as 
the  Act  in  question  has  it,  by  the  fourth  Parliament  of  James  the" 
Fi-r.«t.  At  this  period  a  small  beginning  had  been  made  in  plant- 
ing the  country,  and  the  little  that  had  been  done  only  showed 
how  expedient  and  necessary  it  was  that  more  be  accomplished  in 
this  line,  alike  for  the  purposes  of  shipping  and  building  and  the 
improvement  of  the  countrv.  According  to  Sheriff  Barclay,  the 
Act  of  Charles  the  Second  is  still  parti v  in  observance.  It  was 
urdaiiicd  that  every  heritor,  life-renter,  and  wodsetter  within  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  Scotland,  with  ,£1000  of  yearly  valued  rent, 
shall  (inclose  four  acres  of  land  yearlv  at  least,  and  plant  the  hame 
about  with  oak,  elm,  ash,  plain,  sauch,  and  other  timber  at  three 
yards  distance.  The  enclosing  of  lauds  bv  planting  and  ditching 
was  also  provided  for ;  and  for  the  better  encouragement  of 
heritors,  and  for  the  preserving  of  the  planting  and  enclosures,  it 
was  farther  enacted  that  whoever  cut  or  broke  trees  should  pay 
the  heritors  £'20  for  each  tree,  and  in  the  event  of  the  offending 
party  not  being  able  to  meet  the  line,  he  was  to  be  liable  to  labour 
for  the  space  of  six  weeks  to  the  heritor,  in  return  for  "  meat  and 

12 


178  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

drink  allanerly."  It  will  be  observed  that  tree  cutting  was  again 
lifted  out  of  the  category  of  crime,  and  no  doubt  at  the  state  of 
civilisation  the  country  had  reached,  the  penalty  of  death  attached 
by  James  the  Fifth  to  such  oftences  was  considered  barbarous. 
Various  other  laws  were  passed  in  the  seventeenth  century  for  the 
punishment  of  timber  thieves  and  malicious  destroyers  of  trees, 
but  the  fine  does  not  exceed  £10  Scots.  About  the  end  of  this 
century  proprietors  had  taken  up  tree  planting  with  something 
like  earnestness,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  were 
induced  to  do  so  by  considerations  of  profit  more  than  by  the 
statutes  anent  planting. 

THE    DESTRUCTION    AND     RE-APPEARANCE    OF    WOODS    IN     SCOTLAND 

CURIOUS  HOOK  BY  THE  LAIRD  OF  BORLUM DR  JOHXSOS'a  TOUR. 

The  history  of  every  country  shows  that  forests  have  decayed 
before  the  advance  of  civilization,  by  a  law  which  was  perhaps 
never  in  more  vigorous  operation  than  at  the  present  time,  when 
colonisation  is  proceeding  briskly,  and  vast  tracts  of  country  are 
being  cleared  for  the  plough.  But  there  is  a  material  difference 
between  decay  and  total  disappearance.  Colonists  of  to-day  foresee 
the  suicidal  policy  of  clearing  the  country  of  their  adoption 
entirely  of  timber,  but  our  forefathers  seem  to  have  been 
charmingly  oblivious  to  the  ultimate  result  of  continually  cutting 
down,  and  never  growing,  either  by  guarding  the  natural  forests, 
or  by  planting.  However,  the  circumstances  were  extenuating. 
National  wars  and  intestinal  broils  for  centuries  absorbed  the 
attention  and  the  energies  of  the  nobles,  and  prevented  them 
giving  much  attention  to  the  beautifying  of  their  estates,  or  to  the 
future  wants  of  the  nation,  particularly  in  the  Highlands.  It  was 
only  after  the  Crowns  had  been  joined  by  the  accession  of  James 
the  Sixth  of  Scotland  to  the  throne  vacated  by  Queen  Elizabeth, 
that  plantations  began  to  be  formed  sparingly,  and  the  ecclesias- 
tical peace  of  Scotland  had  been  secured  before  anything  like  a 
taste  for  planting  was  general.  By  this  time  the  eighteenth 
century  had  been  ushered  in.  England  was  far  in  advance  of  this 
country  in  respect  of  planting,  thanks  to  such  men  as  Evelyn,  who 
took  up  the  cause  of  tree  culture  with  enthusiasm.  For  in 
England  the  clearances  of  timber  had  been  no  less  remarkable  than 
they  were  in  Scotland.  In  the  extensive  transference  of  property 
on  the  sci/ure  of  Church  lands  by  Henry  the  Kighth  (1537),  much 
timber  was  sold  by  the  new  owners,  for  the  cowled  occupants  of 
the  monasteries  in  the  fertile  districts  in  which  they  settled,  both 
in  England  and  Scotland,  took  a  pride  in  surrounding  their 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  179 

establishments  with  silvan  beauty.  Some  of  the  oldest  and  most 
noted  trees  in  Scotland,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Capon  Oak  at 
Jedburgh,  reared  themselves  under  the  shadows  of  the  monasteries 
and  abbeys.  Hollingshead  states  that  so  much  timber  was  thrown 
into  the  market  after  the  downfall  of  the  monasteries  that 
cottagers  who  formerly  built  their  dwellings  of  the  willow  and 
other  cheap  and  common  woods  now  constructed  them  of  the  best 
oak.  The  demand  for  timber  constantly  increased,  and  the  value 
of  arable  land  rising  at  the  same  time,  the  natural  forests  became 
greatly  circumscribed,  till  at  last  timber  came  to  be  imported. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  did  proprietors  of  lands  think  of  protecting 
the  native  woods,  and  afterwards  of  enclosing  waste  ground  and 
allowing  it  to  be  naturally  sown.  Planting  was  not  general  in 
England  till  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  half  a 
century  and  more  sooner  than  in  Scotland. 

John  Evelyn  was,  as  has  been  said,  the  first  who,  in  1G64, 
rendered  an  extremely  important  service  to  the  cause  of  arbori- 
culture by  the  publication  of  his  Silva,  a  quaint  and  interesting 
work  which  excited  much  interest  at  the  time,  and  is  now  regarded 
as  a  valuable  curiosity.  He  pleads  the  national  importance  of 
timber-growing  with  all  the  force  of  argument  and  eloquence  at 
the  command  of  a  facile  pen,  and  cites  some  strange  things  in 
support  of  his  contention.  "  I  have  heard,"  he  says,  "  that  in  the 
great  expedition  of  lf)88  it  was  expressly  enjoined  the  Spanish 
commanders  of  that  classical  Armada  that  if,  after  landing,  they 
should  not.  be  able  to  subdue  our  nation  and  make  good  their 
conquest,  they  should  yet  be  sure  not  to  leave  a  tree  standing  in 
the  forest  of  Dean."  'Phis  by  way  of  showing  that  the  country's 
enemies  appreciated  the  value  of  timber  to  a  nation  so  mwh  that 
they  planned  its  destruction  as  a  means  of  weakening  the  British 
Empire.  Coal  had  not  come  into  anything  like  general  use  in 
Evelyn's  time,  and  much  wood  was  consumed  as  fuel.  The 
increase  of  "  devouring  iron  mills,"  or  foundries,  he  accordingly 
condemns  as  a  sore  drain  on  the  timber  of  the  country,  and  lie 
exclaims  in  his  indignation,  "Oh  that  some  of  them  were  even 
removed  into  another  country,'1  as  they  threatened  to  ruin  old 
England.  It  would  be  better,  he  thinks,  for  the  nation  to 
purchase  its  iron  ready-made  from  America  than  to  exhaust  the 
woods  at  home  in  its  manufacture.  He  also  mentions  with 
approval  a  curious  statute  passed  by  Queen  Elizabeth  against  the 
converting  of  timber  trees  into  charcoal  or  other  fuel  for  the  use 
of  iron  mills  if  the  trees  were  one  foot  square  and  grew  within 
fourteen  miles  of  the  sea  or  navigable  rivers.  King  James  the 


180  Gaelic  Society  of  Inuerness. 

First  of  England  granted  a  patent  to  one  of  his  subjects  in  1612 
for  a  scheme  which  the  patentee  estimated  would  effect  a  saving  of 
£300,000  a  year  in  timber.  His  secret  was  to  melt  iron  and  other 
metals  with  pit  coal  and  sea  coal  (the  name  coal  first  went  by  in 
London,  as  it  was  mostly  conveyed  to  the  metropolis  in  ships),  but, 
like  many  another  patent,  it  did  not  succeed.  That  is  a  great 
pity,  says  Evelyn.  At  one  time,  he  says  in  another  part  of  his- 
discourse,  the  whole  island  was  one  vast  forest,  and  wood  was  so 
abounding  that  the  people  got  as  much  as  they  liked  for  the- 
carrving,  whereas  as  he  wrote  it  was  so  scarce  that  it  was  sold  by 
weight.  Even  the  great  Caledonian  Forest  of  Scotland  had  been 
demolished,  so  that  there  was  not  a  single  tree  to  show  for  it. 
His  lament  in  this  particular  is,  by  the  way,  an  exaggeration  of 
the  case.  So  much  for  John  Evelyn;  he  died  in  1706  at  the  age 
of  86,  thus  proving,  as  he  says  in  his  book,  that  the  planting  of 
many  trees  conduces  to  long  life.  Let  us  hope  that  it  was  also 
equally  true  of  him,  as  he  ventures  to  predict  of  others,  that  his 
plantations  ensured  his  entrance  into  "those  glorious  regions 
above,  the  celestial  Paradise  planted  with  perennial  groves  and 
trees,  all  bearing  immortal  fruit." 

lu  17:27  a  very  curious  book  bearing  on  the  bleak  and  barren 
aspect  of  Scotland  was  issued  from  the  Edinburgh  press.  A 
pencilled  note  on  the  copy  before  us  states  that  it  was  written  by 
Brigadier  Mackintosh  of  Borlum,  while  a  prisoner  in  the  Castle  of 
Edinburgh.  We  believe  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement, 
though  there  is  110  clue  to  the  authorship  on  the  title  page,  which. 
simply  bears  that  it  is  the  work  of  "a  lover  of  his  country." 
The  title  of  the  volume  is,  after  the  fashion  of  the  time, 
ample  and  explanatory  - — •  "  An  essay  on  ways  and  means 
for  enclosing,  fallowing,  planting,  ifcc.,  Scotland  ;  and 
that  in  sixteen  years  at  farthest."  On  the  same  page  is 
the  announcement  that  the  volume  was  "printed  and  sold  at  Mr 
Fairhairn's  shop  in  the  Parliament  Close  (Edinburgh):  and  at  Mr 
Millar's,  over  against  St  Clemen's  Church  in  the  Strand,  London." 
The  author  gives  many  evidences  of  a  classical  education  ;  indeed, 
the  allusions  to  Creek  and  lloman  literature  are  somewhat 
pedantic  and  obtrusive  in  a  work  devoted  to  the  discussion  of 
practical  agriculture.  However,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  shrewd 
thinking  and  pointed  speaking  in  the  essay,  and  whatever  its 
influence  may  have  been,  the  policy  advocated  for  improving  the 
appearance  of  the  country,  the  system  of  agriculture,  and  the 
condition  of  the  people,  was  timeoiis,  and  proceeded  on  correct 
lines,  barring  perhaps  his  proposal  that  his  scheme  should  be 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  181 

carried  out  by  force  of  statute.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  ease 
that  in  the  reafforesting  of  the  country,  enlightened  sentiment  had 
greater  effect  than  the  terrors  of  the  law,  and  by  the  time  this 
publication  saw  the  light,  proprietors  had  begun  to  turn  their 
attention  both  to  planting  and  fallowing.  The  essay  is  addressed 
to  the  British  Parliament,  and  it  would  seem,  from  the  opening 
sentences  of  the  dedication,  that  the  author  in  his  retirement  had 
some  doubts  concerning  its  reception  in  high  quarters.  "  Xo 
doubt,"  he  says,  "but  some  of  your  lordships'  too  officious  friends 
in  Scotland,  to  show  how  zealous  they  are  to  serve  you,  and  how 
watchful  against  any  attempts  may  touch  your  interest  or  dignity, 
may  not  only  anticipate  but  endeavour  to  give  to  your  lordships  a 
wrong  turn  of  my  only  design  in  writing  this  little  essay  ;  and  by 
the  first  post  write  : — Here  in  an  anojif/mows  and  xaucy  fellow  has 
writ  a  piece,  and  pretends  improvements,  but  in  It  he  squints  at  i/ouf 
superiorities:  we  advise  your  lordships  you  knock  tliix  plauxilAe. 
P'linplilct  on  Hie  head,  and  not  allow  it  a  motion  in  Parliament.'" 
While  repudiating  any  attempt  against  superiorities,  lie  boldly 
states  his  opinion  that  if  he  was  superior  lie  would  prefer  "  the 
solid  greatness  of  enlarging  his  estate,  to  the  empty,  very  often 
useless,  one  of  being  superior/'  Vassals,  he  points  out,  are 
uiisuited  to  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  times.  In  days  gone 
by  they  were  useful  in  the  hunting  field,  but  the  word  hunting 
was  now  obsolete,  for  there  was  a  standing  law  against  such  con- 
vocations ;  and  even  if  there  was  not  a  law,  there  was  nothing  to 
hunt,  as  the  few  mountains  and  wastes  left  to  red  deer  were  rented 
by  the  superiors  themselves  for  the  raising  of  black  cattle. 

Our  author  describes  Scotland  as  barren  and  uninteresting. 
Generally  speaking,  the  country  was  destitute  of  woods,  and  some 
shires  were  entirely  without  a  bush  or  stake  in  them.  Hut  he 
observed  a  more  general  disposition  among  the  gentry  towards 
improving  than  formerly,  and  in  many  shires  some  ''  virtuous  and 
generous  gentlemen  "  had  already  given  a  good  example  in  planting 
and  enclosing.  Those  worthy  patriots  who  had  begun  to  give  a 
new  aspect  of  beauty  to  their  seats,  he  considers  worthy  of  having 
their  names  transmitted  to  posterity  in  letters  of  gold.  Among 
others  he  mentions  the  Duchess  of  Gordon;  Sir  William  Gordon 
of  Invergordon  ;  a  Mr  Murray,  who  had  reclaimed  many  acres  of 
rich  meadow  out  of  a  large  lake  in  Moray  ;  and  General  Ross,  the 
laird  of  Balnagown,  "a  favourite  of  the  virtuous  and  beneficent 
goddess  Ceres,  as  well  as  of  the  martial  and  eloquent  gods  Mars 
and  Mercury,  for  in  his  retirement  he  has  convinced  the  world 
that  he  can,  in  a  remote  country  seat,  make  himself  conspicuous 


182  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

as  well  as  in  the  army  and  senate  house."  Since  the  union  of  the 
two  kingdoms,  proprietors  had  generally  been  in  the  habit  of 
spending  their  time  and  money  in  London,  and  as  their  estates 
were  entrusted,  as  regards  management,  to  chamberlains  and 
factors,  whose  principal  object  was  to  supply  their  employers  with 
money,  there  was  not  much  incentive  to  rapid  improvement.  Mr 
Mackintosh  regrets  the  indolence  of  the  proprietors,  and  reminds 
them  of  the  industry  of  the  people  of  former  ages.  Had  the 
people  of  a  former  period  not  torn  the  land  then  ploughed  out  of 
moors,  woods,  and  even  rocks,  and  that  at  a  time  when  they  were 
constantly  in  arms,  they  of  the  later  ages  would,  he  thought, 
certainly  have  starved.  On  what  estate  had  a  rig  of  arable  land 
been  added  sines  the  union  of  the  two  crowns,  though  there  had 
been  better  opportunities  for  improving  the  acres  left  by 
industrious  predecessors?  Forests  and  woods  which  formerly 
covered  so  much  of  the  country  had  disappeared,  and  left  room  for 
the  enlargement  of  the  patrimony  left  by  industrious  ancestors, 
but  things  went  from  bad  to  worse,  and  luxury  and  spend- 
thriftincss  held  sway.  The  land  was  slovenly  tilled,  the  system  of 
agriculture  wretched,  and  the  country  starving  for  wood — truly  a 
terrible  state  of  things  for  a  patriotic  mind  to  contemplate. 

The  scheme  here  propounded  for  the  planting  and  enclosing  of 
the  nation  was  simple  enough.  Proprietors  and  tenants  were  to 
be  compelled  to  enclose  and  plant  so  many  acres  of  their  lands 
yearly,  the  former  obtaining  the  means  for  estate  improvements 
by  staying  at  home,  free  from  the  importunate  attacks  of  "  duns 
and  harpies,"  and  so  retrenching  their  expenditure  ;  the  latter 
affording  the  means  in  return  for  being  relieved  of  all  manner  of 
service  to  his  landlord,  except  the  furnishing  of  firewood.  "  For 
in  Scotland,  the  nation  being  entirely  destitute  of  forest,  or, 
indeed,  any  quantity  of  woods  to  furnish  burn  wood,  and  pit-coal 
being  found  but  in  a  little  corner  of  it,  both  of  which  tiring  might 
be  carried  by  a  few  loads;  and  a  cellar  of  coals,  or  a  moderate 
stack  of  burnwood,  will  serve  for  firing  to  a  gentleman's  house  in 
luiigland  or  in  the  south  of  Scotland  a  year;  whereas  20,  yea  40, 
that  bulk  or  number  of  loads  will  not  serve  of  the  dried  moss  they 
use  in  the  most  parts  of  Scotland;  wherefore,  I  am  afraid  my 
funnel-  must  serve  his  landlord  in  tiring  as  formerly.'''  Besides 
throwing  some  light  on  the  household  economy  of  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  this  passage  illustrates  the  strange 
literary  style  of  the  book.  At  this  period,  it  was  one  thing  to 
resolve  upon  planting,  and  quite  another  thing  to  obtain  plants. 
Transit  was  not  only  difficult  and  expensive,  but  plants  were 


notes  on  Highland  Woods.  183 

exceedingly  scarce.  At  a  much  later  period,  when  planting  was 
begun  in  Strathspey,  we  believe  the  plants  were  carried  in  baskets 
on  people's  backs  all  the  way  from  Perth.  At  the  time  of  which 
our  author  speaks,  the  country  had  been  so  denuded  of  woods, 
forests,  and  even  hedgerows,  that  quicksets  were  not  obtainable. 
Speaking  to  this  great  obstacle  to  a  policy  of  planting,  the  laird  of 
Borlurn  suggests  that  the  quicksets  must  be  procured  from 
England  or  Holland  until  this  nation  could  raise  nurseries  of  its 
own.  There  were  but  few  nurserymen  in  Scotland  then,  and 
scarcity  gave  rise  to  extortion,  To  obviate  this  drawback,  he 
proposed  the  formation  of  nurseries  in  each  shire,  to  be  managed 
by  a  well  skilled  gardener,  who  was  to  be  allowed  a  competent 
salary  by  public  contribution  until  lie  raised  trees  sufficient  to  sell 
at  a  profit,  procuring  the  seedlings  from  England  or  Holland, 
where  they  were  sold  at  a  cheap  rate,  witli  public  money.  In 
England  much  had  already  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
planting,  and  our  author  proposes  the  employment  of  English 
labourers  in  the  beautifving  of  Scotch  acres,  sj  that  it  might  be 
said  that  Scotland,  from  being  one  of  the  poorest,  ugliest,  and 
most  barren  countries  of  Europe,  had  become  in  a  very  few 
years  one  of  the  richest,  most  beautiful,  and  fertile  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  It  was  a  strange  circumstance  that 
the  general  population  regarded  enclosing  and  planting 
with  aversion,  and  did  everything  they  could  to  prevent 
the  improvement.  The  public  seemed  to  view  the  new  policy  with 
alarm,  as  threatening  their  liberties  and  privileges,  and  weakening 
their  hold  on  the  land.  On  this  point,  Borluin  says  :-  -';  If  we 
don't  procure  their  concurrence  we  shall  very  hardly  improve 
either  our  mains  or  some  parcels  of  our  estates,  much  less  the 
whole  ;  for  generally  these  men.  women,  and  children  have  con- 
ceived such  aversion  to  enclosing,  that  thev  will  and  do,  and  I 
have  felt  it,  destroy  bv  night  what  you  do  by  day  ;  they'll  drive 
their  cattle  and  break  down  your  new  and  unsolid  bank,  break, 
yen,  cut  your  trees,  and  that  so  cunningly  that  next  day  he  who 
did,  or  ordered  the  doing  of  it,  shall  bestir  himself  the  most  active 
to  find  out  the  wicked  folks  that  last  night  broke  so  inanv  of  the 
laird's  planting."  Several  Acts  were  passed  to  prevent  such 
enormities,  and  there  was  a  continual  hunt  for  criminals.  Money 
was  scarce  too,  consequent  in  a  great  measure  en  a  more  luxurious 
style  of  living  introduced  since  the  Union,  and  there  were  many 
objections  to  the  planting  policv  on  the  ground  that  it  cost  money, 
and  that  there  was  more  necessity  for  encouraging  the  native 
industries,  the  herring  fishing  for  example,  and  so  create  wealth 


184  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

before  going  in  for   ornament.       But  as  Defoe  says  in  his  Cale- 
donia : — - 

"  With  wealth  and  people  happy,  rich   and  free, 
You'd  first  improve  the  land  and  then  the  sea." 

About  half-a-century  later  (1773)  Dr  Samuel  Johnson  made 
his  celebrated  tour  to  the  Hebrides.  In  the  interval  between  this 
famous  journey  of  the  lexicographer  and  the  publication  we  have 
just  given  an  account  of,  a  great  deal  had  been  accomplished,  and 
was  still  being  accomplished,  in  the  beautifying  of  the  couiitrysi'le, 
but  such  had  been  the  nakedness  of  the  land  that  an  enorm- 
ous amount  of  planting  had  to  be  done  before  the  appearance  of 
the  country  "was  much  altered.  Dr  Johnson  seems  to  have  over- 
looked the-  comparatively  young  plantations,  and  countenanced 
only  old  tives,  remnants  of  the  silvan  grandeur  of  a  former  age. 
Such  monarchs  were,  of  course,  few  and  far  between.  Hearing 
this  in  mind,  the  Doctors  observations  on  the  want  of  trees  are 
more  intelligible  : — 

"From  the  bank  of  the  Tweed  to  St  Andrews  1  had  never  seen 
a  single  tree,  which  I  did  not  believe  to  have  grown  up  far  within 
the  present  centurv.  Now  and  then  about  a  gentleman's  house 
stands  a  small  plantation,  which  in  Scotch  is  called  a  policy,  but 
of  these  there  are  few,  and  those  few  all  verv  young.  The  variety 
of  sun  and  shade  is  here  utterlv  unknown.  There  is  no  tree1  for 
cither  shelter  or  timber.  The  oak  and  the  thorn  is  equally  a 
strange'!-,  and  the  whole  country  is  extended  in  uniform  nakedness, 
except  that  in  the  road  between  Kirkcaldy  and  ( 'owpar,  I  passed 
F"r  a  few  yards  between  two  hedges.  A  tree  might  be  a  show  in 
Scotland  as  a  horse  in  Venice.  At  St  Andrews  Mr  Boswell  found 
only  one,  and  recommended  it  to  my  notice:  I  told  him  that  it 
was  rough  and  low,  or  looked  as  if  1  thought  so.  This,  said  he,  is 
nothing  to  another  a  few  miles  off.  J  v\as  still  less  delighted  to 
hear  that  another  tree  was  not  to  be  seen  nearer.  Nay,  said  a 
gentleman  that  stood  by,  I  know  but  of  this  and  that  tree  in  the 
country.  The  lowlands  of  Scotland  had  once  undoubtedly  an 
equal  portion  of  wood*  with  other  countries.  Forests  are  every- 
where gradually  diminished,  as  architecture  and  cultivation  pre- 
vail by  the  increase  of  people  and  the  introduction  of  arts.  J>ut  1 
believe  few  regions  have  been  denuded  like  this,  where  many 
centuries-  must  have  passed  in  waste  without  the  least  thought  of 
future  supply.  Davies  observes,  in  his  account  of  Ireland,  that 
no  Irishman  had  ever  planted  an  orchard.  For  that  negligence 
some  excuse  might  be  drawn  from  an  unsettled  state  of  life,  and 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  185 

the  instability  of  property  ;  but  in  Scotland  possession  has  long 
been  secure  and  inheritance  regular,  yet  it  may  be  doubtful 
whether,  before  the  Union,  any  man  between  Edinburgh  and 
England  had  ever  set  a  tree." 

Scotch  proprietors  had  begun  to  feel  a  little  proud  of 
their  plantations,  and  .Johnson's  "Journey"  was  much  abused 
on  account  of  what  was  said  on  the  subject  of  trees.  .Bos  well 
smoothed  matters  considerably  in  his  "Journal,''  published 
after  the  death  of  Johnson,  by  explaining  his  friend's  mental 
attitude  on  the  subject.  l!e  expected  to  find  a  landscape 
similarly  clothed  in  foliage  to  that  of  England,  and  was  dis- 
appointed, for,  comparatively  speaking,  Scotland  was  naked,  even 
in  the  estimation  of  the  conscientious  biographer  of  the  great  man. 
When  I )r  Johnson  refers  to  the  country  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Fort- Augustus,  he  again  remarks  that  the  country  is  totally 
denuded  of  its  wood,  but  that  stumps  both  of  oaks  and  lirs  showed 
that  there  had  once  boon  a  forest  of  large  timber.  Curiously 
enough,  Boswell  did  not  come  across  quite  &o  much  desolation; 
but  then  he  is  more  correct  in  detail,  and  Johnson  is  delightfully 
general  in  what  he  says  of  iris  journey,  excepting  perhaps  when  lie 
speaks  of  his  dinner.  "it  was  a  delightful  dav,"  says  Boswell, 
"  Loch  Xess,  and  the  road  upon  the  side  of  it,  shaded  with  birch 
trees,  and  the  hills  above  it,  pleased  us  much.''  The  woods,  had 
he  penetrated  some  of  our  Highland  glens,  would  have  pleased  him 
as  much  as  the  magniHcence  of  the  seencrv  :  for,  as  will,  be  shown 
farther  on,  there  were  at  this  i  hue  many  large  areas  of  nat  ural  forest 
in  existence.  The  Doctor  generalised  too  much  in  his  narrative. 
When  leaving  Fort-Augustus  he  must  have  passed  through  a 
fringe  ot  the  old  forest  of  Dalcattack,  which  lies  on  the  west  of 
the  .Moriston  Kiver,  and  facing  Loch  Xess.  where  manv  old  trees 
should  have  been  visible.  On  the  Loch  Xess  side,  this  extensive 
forest  was  composed  of  oak  and  birch  ;  and  on  the  shady  side  of 
the  glen  the  native  fir  flourished  and  still  flourishes,  some  of  the 
trees  being  at  least  loO  vears  old.  in  106o,  we  are  told  that  a  ship 
of  prodigious  bigness,  for  bulk  and  burden — never  such  a  one  had 
been  seen  on  the  north  seas  --was  built  at  Inverness  from  tir  and 
oak  wood  supplied  from  Dale-attack  by  Lord  Lovat,  who  still  owns 
the  property.  The  antiquity  of  the-  forests  of  the  Caledonian 
valley  is  attested  by  the  circumstance  that  while  Loch  Dochfour 
was  being  deepened  in  connection  with  the  construction  of  the 
canal,  a  piece  of  oak  tree  was  dredged  up  which  measured  .';0  feet 
round,  and  it  appeared  to  be  a  small  portion  of  the  original  tree, 
which  probably  contained  '2'20  cubic  feet  of  timber.  It  was  black 


186  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

as  ebony,  and  perfectly  fresh  at  heart.  Trees  of  a  size  never  seen 
growing  in  this  country  have  been  dug  up  on  the  mainland  of 
Scotland,  and  also  in  the  islands,  where  nowadays  a  tree  will  not 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  PLANTING    IN    SCOTLAND  —  PLANTATIONS    IN    INVER- 
NESS-SHIRE —  PREMIUMS  FOR  PLANTING  —  ACREAGE  UNDER  WOOD. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  little  planting 
effected  in  Scotland,  and  particularly  in  the  Northern  Counties, 
consisted  principally  of  ornamental  avenues  and  clumps  to  beautify 
the  ancestral  homes  of  the  landed  gentry.  The  taste  for  these 
embellishments  was  mainly  acquired  in  England.  After  the  union 
of  the  English  and  Scottish  Crowns  in  the  person  of  James  the 
Sixth,  the  nobility  and  gentry  followed  the  Court  to  London,  and 
there  spent  the  incomes  their  estates  yielded,  and  from  which 
Scotland  was  wont  to  be  beneh'tted.  The  Highland  Chiefs  tasted 
the  gaieties  and  luxuries  of  metropolitan  life  when  they  journeyed 
thither  with  loyal  or  business  motives,  and  gradually  they  fell  in 
with  the  fashion  of  their  day.  At  the  period  of  which  we  speak, 
the  hoarv  clansman  might  have  said  — 
"Mansions  uice 

Knew  their  own  masters. 

Now  the  legitimate  and  rightful  lord 

Ts  but  a  transient  guest.'' 

But  undoubtedly  one  beneficial  result  of  this  intercourse  with 
England  was  the  spread  of  more  enlightened  views  regarding 
tillage  and  planting.  The  homes  of  old  England  were  generally 
enshrined  in  a  wealth  of  silvan  beauty,  and  tree  culture  was 
becoming  an  important  department  with  English  landholders, 
who  had  a  view  both  to  profit  and  embellishment.  Arboriculture 
was  now  a  distinct  science,  and  a  progressive  one  too.  As  far 
back  as  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  new  trees  had  been 
extensively  introduced  into  England,  among  others  the  spruce  fir, 
the  stone  pine,  the  evergreen  cypress,  the  sweet  bay,  and  the 
walnut.  Some  time  later  the  evergreen  oak  and  arborvitfe  made 
their  appearance.  The  first  accounts  we  have  of  the  introduction 
of  many  of  the  timber  trees  are  given  by  botanists  and  apothecaries 
in  London,  who  gathered  together  everv  description  of  foreign 
herbage,  and  formed  the  most  extensive  collections  of  medicinal 
plants  extant  at  the  time.  Botanic  gardens  began  to  be  established 
throughout  England  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  the  introduction  of  hardy  trees  was  thus  greatly  facilitated. 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  187 

In  Scotland  the  Botanic  Garden  was  formed  in  1680,  and  in  1683 
the  cedar  of  Lebanon  was  one  of  the  trees  introduced  into  it.  The 
most  important  foreign  trees  which  made  their  appearance  in  this 
country  during  the  seventeenth  century  were  the  cedar,  the  silver 
fir,  the  larch,  horse  chestnut,  American  plane,  black  and  white 
American  spruce  firs,  scarlet  oak,  Norway  maple,  weeping  willow, 
and  many  others.  During  thf  eighteenth  century  the  number  of 
species  of  foreign  plants  introduced  was  very  large,  amounting  to 
nearly  500,  but  three-fourths  of  these  were  shrubs.  The  timber 
trees  consisted  chiefly  of  oaks,  pines,  poplars,  maples,  and  thorns, 
species  or  varieties  of  trees  formerly  introduced.  It  will  be  seen 
from  these  extensive  importations  that  the  British  arboretum  stood 
much  in  need  of  improvement,  enlarged  though  it  had  been  to 
some  extent  by  the  Romans,  and  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages. 
In  their  intercourse  with  England,  Scotch  lairds  came  into  full 
contact  with  the  new  enthusiasm  for  tree  planting,  and  they  could 
not  but  notice  the  beneficial  effect  produced  on  the  country,  both 
from  a  beautifying  and  a  commercial  aspect.  Scotland,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  experiencing  a  timber  famine,  the  natural  forests  having 
been  destroyed  through  indiscriminate  cutting  and  the  pasturing  of 
cattle  in  them,  for  the  young  trees  were  eaten  up  as  they  appeared. 
Had  this  practice  of  pasturing  flocks  been  put  a  stoppage 
to  sooner  than  it  was,  the  native  forests  of  Scotland  would 
have  been  of  much  greater  extent  than  they  are  to-day. 
When  once  the  Scotch  nobility  took  up  planting  in  earnest,  they 
carried  out  their  ideas  with  characteristic  vigour.  They  were  no 
longer  content  just  to  see  their  castles 

"  Embosomed  deep  in  tufted  trees," 

but  set  about  making  the  most  of  the  ground  on  their  respective 
estates  considered  suitable  for  the  growth  of  profitable  wood. 
Notwithstanding  the  numerous  importations  of  foreign  trees,  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  introduction  of  the  larch  into  Scotland  from 
England  (where  it  had  existed  for  a  century)  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  was  the  greatest  acquisition  of  the  time, 
and  distinguished  the  period  beyond  any  other  circumstance  con- 
nected with  British  arboriculture.  A  writer  on  this  subject  states 
that  between  1730  and  1740  larch  plants  were  in  great  request  by 
many  of  the  Scottish  landowners,  who  planted  them  to  a  small 
extent  as  an  experiment,  and  generally  ruined  them  by  inserting 
them  in  soil  too  rich  and  cultivated  for  their  future  success.  The 
only  distinct  account  we  have  of  the  planting  of  these  trees,  however, 
is  given  in  a  statement  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  High- 


188  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

land  Society,  which  says  that  the  first  larches  planted  in  Athole 
were  brought  from  London  by  Mr  Menzies  of  Migevy  in  1738,  and 
consisted  of  sixteen  plants.  Five  were  planted  at  Dunkeld  and 
eleven  at  Blair.  Of  the  five,  two  still  grace  the  lawn  at  Dunkeld, 
and  are  known  by  the  name  of  "  the  parent  larches."  The  largest 
of  them  at  present  measures  22  ft.  in  girth  at  one  foot  from  the 
ground.  Of  those  planted  at  Blair,  one  106  ft.  high  was  cut  down, 
from  which  a  coffin  v\as  made  for  the  celebrated  Duke  of  Athole, 
who  planted  the  tree  so  extensively.  About  10,000  imperial  acres 
of  larches  were  planted  on  the  Athole  estate  between  1738  and 
1820. 

The  Laird  of  Culloden  seems  to  have  been  among  the  earliest 
planters  in  Inverness -shire,  having  completed  a  considerable 
plantation  of  Scotch  lir  between' 1730  and  1740.  About  17GO  an 
extensive  planting  was  begun  on  the  estate  of  Kinmyles,  where 
every  acre  of  land  that  was  incapable  of  being  improved  to  arable 
land  was  planted.  The  utilisation  of  ground  that,  is  unimprovable, 
by  planting  trees  suited  to  the  character  of  the  soil,  is  the  great 
secret  of  the  profitable  growth  of  timber,  and  we  are  told  that 
other  proprietors  followed  the  example  given  at  Kinmyles.  ''One 
gentleman  in  particular/'  says  the  writer  of  the  Statistical  Account 
of  the  parish  of  Inverness  (1794),  "who  kept  an  account  of  his 
operations,  planted  15,000  forest  trees  of  the  following  kind,  dm. 
birch,  oak,  and  sycamore,  which  occupied  a  space  of  800  acres  on 
Duncan,  one  of  the  Drumalbin  range  of  mountains  ;  in  short,  the 
face-  of  tin's  range  to  the  east,  and  as  far  as  the  property  of  this 
gentleman  in  this  parish  extends  to  the  west — with  the  exception 
of  what  was  fit  for  arable — in  all.  about  six  miles  is  covered  with 
thriving  plantations.  Planting  is  still  going  on  with  little  remis- 
sion, so  that  in  a  few  years  there  will  probably  not  be  a  single  acre 
useless  in  this  parish."  The  woods  here  referred  to  are  still 
perpetuated,  and  contain  much,  valuable  timber. 

Hugh  Rose  of  Kilravock  is  mentioned  bv  the  writer  of  the 
second  Statistical  Account  (1845),  the  Rev.  Alex.  Campbell, 
minister  of  the  parish  of  ( Voy  and  Dalcross,  as  one  of  the  earliest 
planters  in  Inverness-shire.  He  must  have  made  the  plantation 
referred  to  in  the  following  paragraph  about  1740,  if  Mr  Campbell 
is  correct. — "About  100  years  ago,''  says  our  authority,  "Hugh 
Rose,  the  thirteenth  of  that  name,  planted  a  considerable  extent  of 
moor  to  the  north  of  the  castle  ;  and  such  was  the  state  of  the 
country  and  want  of  roads  that  the  fir  plants  were  carried  from 
Perth  in  creels  suspended  from  crook  saddles.  They  have  grown 
to  a  large  size,  and  are  of  the  best  quality.  It  appears,  however, 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  189 

that  in  the  same  place  there  had  been  a  plantation  of  the  Cale- 
donian pine,  some  of  which  are  still  standing,  and  of  uncommon 
dimensions,  serving  for  years  as  landmarks  to  mariners  in  the 
Moray  Firth.  Their  lateral  branches  are  equal  in  size  to  planted 
fir  of  forty  years'  growth.  One  lately  cut  down  shewed  the 
venerable  age  of  180  years,  and  there  are  some  remaining 
apparently  much  more  ancient  ;  whereas,  the  fir  of  Canadian 
origin,  now  generally  planted,  seldom  lives  above  80  years,  and,  in 
most  cases,  shows  before  that  period  symptoms  of  decay.  It  were 
well  that  the  seeds  of  our  ancient  forest  pines  were  sown,  as  they 
are  more  congenial  to  our  soil  and  climate.  About  the  year  1776, 
Mr  Davidson  of  Cantray  planted  about  300  acres  on  a  useless  and 
arid  waste  not  worth  Gd  per  acre,  the  proceeds  of  which,  being 
carefully  marked  from  the  time  of  thinning,  till  the  whole  was 
sold  about  twelve  years  ago,  were  found  to  exceed  the  simple  fee 
of  that  part  of  the  Cantray  property,  yielding  now  about  £1000 
of  rent,  by  nearly  double  the  original  purchase  price  ;  besides,  the 
moor,  formerly  useless,  is  now,  by  the  foliage  of  the  trees,  con- 
verted into  excellent  pasture.  That  venerable-  patriot,  at  various- 
periods,  planted  nearly  1000  acres.  Plantations  were  made  to 
much  the  same  extent,  and  much  about  the  same  time,  by  the  late 
Mrs  Hose  of  Kilravock — a  lady  remarkable  for  all  those  graces  and 
accomplishments  that  adorn  the  female  character,  as  well  as  for 
high  literary  acquirements  and  practical  good  sense.  The  pro- 
prietors of  Culloden,  Holm,  and  Leys  contributed  their  share  in 
beautifying  the  countrv  bv  planting  :  and  lately  the  proprietor  of 
lusher  has  planted  upwards  of  400  acres  with  larch,  oak,  and 
other  kinds  of  wood." 

Leaving  the  eighteenth  century  and  scanning  the  present,  we 
find  that  the  Highland  and  Agricultural  Society,  by  ottering 
various  premiums  for  the  introduction  of  new  timber  trees, 
and  for  extensive  planting,  has  done  much  to  increase  the  tree 
acreage  throughout  the  country.  The  Seafiekl  plantations 
are  the  most  remarkable  achievement  of  the  kind  in  Scot- 
land, not  omitting  those  of  A  thole.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr 
Thos.  Hunter's  "  Woods,  Forests,  and  Estates  of  Perthshire,"  an 
admirable  book  lately  issued,  for  our  account  of  the  Highland 
Society's  operations  in  the  way  of  encouraging  planting  between 
1809  and  1823.  "  When  the  Highland  and  Agricultural  Society 
was  founded  in  1784,  another  decided  advance  was  made.  In 
1809  the  Society,  convinced  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  ground, 
especially  on  the  north-west  coast,  of  Scotland,  which  it  would  be 
advantageous  both  for  proprietors  and  the  country  to  have 


190  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

planted,  offered  honorary  premiums  to  proprietors  in  this  part  of 
the  country  who  should,  betwixt  February,  1810,  and  10th  April. 
1812,  plant  the  greatest  extent  of  ground,  after  being  properly 
enclosed  ;  one  half  of  the  plants  to  be  larch  or  hardwood.  The 
premiums  excited  considerable  attention,  and  the  result  was  that 
a  gold  meda),  bearing  a  suitable  inscription,  was  awarded  to  each 
of  the  following  gentlemen  : — Alex.  Maclean  of  Ardgour,  Alex. 
Maclean  of  Coll,  Ranald  Macdonald  of  Staffa,  Hugh  Innes  of 
Lochalsh,  M.P.,  and  John  Mackenzie  of  Applecross,  all  of  whom 
had  formed  extensive  plantations  on  their  properties.  In  1821 
and  1822  honorary  premiums  were  awarded  for  the  greatest  extent 
of  ground  planted  and  enclosed  within  the  county  of  Dumbarton, 
the  Isle  of  Skyc  and  small  islands  adjacent,  as  well  as  the  Black 
Isle  in  Ross-shire.  The  first  premium  (a  piece  of  plate  valued  at 
15  guineas)  for  the  islands  was  awarded  to  Lord  Macdonald  of  the 
Isles  (who  thus  in  part  redeemed  a  promise  made  in  1616  at 
Edinburgh,  when  he  was  engaged  to  build  civil  and  comlie  houses, 
and  have  planting  about  them),  who  planted  149,600  trees  ;  and  a 
similar  premium  for  the  mainland  was  awarded  to  Colin  Mackenzie 
of  Kilcoy,  who  planted  501,000  trees,  on  about  379  acres.  A  piece  of 
plate,  value  15  guineas,  was  also  awarded  to  H.  Macdonald  Buchanan 
or  Drumakill,  Dumbartonshire,  and  Sir  James  Colquhoun  of  Luss. 
The  first  premium  awarded  to  a  tenant  for  planting  appears  to 
have  been  in  1823,  Avhen  eight  guineas  were  granted  to  Lachlan 
M'Lcan,  tacksman  of  Tallisker,  Isle  of  Skye,  as  a  mark  of  the 
Society's  approbation  for  his  having  planted  a  considerable  extent 
of  ground,  after  being  properly  enclosed,  upon  his  farm.  In  the 
following  year  we  note  that  a  piece  of  plate,  valued  15  guineas, 
was  voted  to  Colonel  M'Xeill,  of  Barra,  for  extensive  planting." 
'With  reference  to  the  last-mentioned  undertaking,  we  believe 
Colonel  M'Neill  transplanted  his  trees,  \vhich  were  doing  extremely 
well,  in  ground  about  his  mansion-house,  as  an  embellishment; 
but  they  had  not  the  same  shelter,  and,  the  soil  being  light  sand, 
they  pined  away. 

So  much  has  been  accomplished,  and  is  still  being  accomplished, 
in  Inverness-shire  by  planting,  that  the  county  at  the  present 
moment  contains  about  60,000  acres  of  wood  more  than  any  other 
county  in  Scotland.  According  to  a  return  obtained  in  1812,  the 
acreage  then  under  wood  in  Scotland  was  913,695.  Writing  in 
1727,  Mr  Mackintosh  of  Borlum,  alreadv  referred  to,  remarks  : — 
"  Generally  our  country  is  destitute  of  woods,  some  shires  entirely 
without  a  bush  or  a  stake  in  them  ;''  so  that  the  energy  of  Scotch 
proprietors  in  beautifying  the  country  was  something  remarkable 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods. 


191 


during  the  eighteenth  century.  In  a  state  of  nakedness  at  the 
opening  of  one  century,  when  it  entered  upon  the  next,  every 
Scottish  hill,  dale,  and  plain  was  richly  and  luxuriantly  bestowed 
with  that  silvan  scenery  which  never  palls.  The  demand  for 
timber  lessening  about  the  year  1815,  proprietors  preferred  to  reap 
what  profit  they  could  rather  than  commence  new  undertakings, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  the  timber  began  to  disappear,  and 
was  not  replaced  to  the  same  extent,  nor  so  much  with  a  view  to 
profit.  Sixty  years  elapsed  ere  Government  called  for  another 
return  for  woods,  and  then,  that  is  in  1872,  it  appeared  that 
there  had  been  a  falling  off'  to  the  extent  of  179,205  acres  in 
Scotland  since  1812.  The  next  return  shewed  that  plantations 
in  Scotland  had  again  rapidly  recovered  lost  ground,  there 
being  an  increase  of  95,000  acres  in  nine  years,  but  that  progress 
has  not  been  maintained.  A  comparison  of  four  of  the  returns 
obtained  for  Scotland  during  the  century  gives  the  following 
result  :— 


Acres. 

1812 918,695 

1872 734.490 

1881 829,476 

1888 829,000 


Decrease.         Increase. 


179,205 

89,219 
476 


94,986 


According  to  the  acreage  of  the  two  countries  it  is  interesting  to 
observe  that  Scotland,  notwithstanding  its  mountainous  surface, 
is  equally  well  wooded  as  England.  The  following  extract  from 
the  returns  for  Scotland  will  show  the  relative  positions  of  Inver- 
ness and  the  Northern  Counties  in  respect  of  woods,  orchards,  and 
nursery  grounds  : — 


COUNTIES. 

WOODS. 
Coppices  or 
plantations,  ex- 
cepling  gorse 
land  and  garden 
shrubbery. 

ORCHARDS. 

Acreage   of 
aral  >le  or  grass 
lands,  but  also 
used  for  fruit 
trues  of  any  kind 

NURSERY 
GROUNDS. 

Lands  used  by 
lurscryinen  for 
growing  trees, 
shrubs,  &c.     ' 

Inverness  

Aberdeen 

162,795 
106  677 

26 
34 

80 
214 

Perth  
Kl(rin  or  Aloray 

94,563 
50  130 

398 
20 

105 
93 

Ross  and  Croinarty  

43,201 

18 

10 

Arg;vle 

4°  741 

3 

2 

Sutherland   

12,260 

Nairn    . 

13  241 

12 

3 

Caithness  

'210 

192  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

The   four  counties   which   head   the    list    in  the  Agricultural 
Returns  for  1888  are  as  follows  : 

Acres  of  Wood. 

Inverness 162,795 

Surrey 114,375 

Hants 111,863 

Aberdeen 106,677 


STRATHSPEY— PROTECTING    THE    OLD    FORESTS — FIRES — IRONWORKS  — 
REMAUKABE    SALES    OF    PINE YORK    COMPANY'S    OPERATIONS. 

Upper  Strathspey  would,  in  remote  times,  form  about  the 
centre  of  the  great  Caledonian  forest,  which  is  said  to  have 
extended  from  Glenlyoii  and  Rarmoch  to  Strathspey  and  Strath- 
glass,  and  from  Glencoe  eastward  to  the  Braes  of  Mar.  llothie- 
murchus  derives  its  etymology  from  the  Gaelic  Rath-mor-gius  or 
the  great  stretch  of  fir,  a  designation  not  inappropriate  at  the  pre- 
sent time.  In  many  parts  of  Strathspey,  now  bleak  and  bare, 
labourers  in  the  course  of  excavating  operations  have  turned  up 
trunks  of  trees,  enormous  in  their  dimensions,  from  the  moss — • 
which  is,  as  everybody  knows,  remarkable  for  its  preservative- 
qualities — where  they  had  lain  for  centuries.  From  its  inland, 
inaccessible  situation — speaking  of  times  gone  by — Strathspey 
must  have  been  less  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  invading  foe, 
who,  in  ancient  days,  waged  incessant,  war  against  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  the  Caledonian  mountains,  and  hence  the  Spey  por- 
tion of  the  historic  forest  remained  for  a  much  longer  period  com- 
paratively intact.  The  extreme  suitability  of  the  soil  in  Strathspey 
also  favoured  the  perpetuation  of  the  forest,  new  generations  of  the 
pine  springing  up  quickly  on  ground  which  had  been  cleared  either 
by  fire  or  axe.  As  civilisation  progressed,  and  the  growing 
population  took  to  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  husbandry,  the  Strath- 
spey forests,  like  those  in  other  parts  of  Scotland,  disappeared 
before  the  plough,  neglect,  and  the  other  human  agencies  at  work 
in  tree  destruction.  Had  the  land  been  more  adapted  than  it  is 
for  agriculture,  the  pine  tree  might,  nay  would,  have  been  unable 
to  hold  its  ground  against  the  encroachments  of  the  farmer.  But 
there  were  vast  stretches,  some  of  them  now  peaty  bogs,  where  the 
pine  WHS  nature's  best  ;tnd  onlv  crop,  and  there  it  was  left  in  all 
its  wild  glory.  The  farmer  demanded,  however,  that  his  flocks 
should  have  the  liberty  of  the  forest  herbage,  which  added  another 
danger  ;  for  the  naturally  sown  seedlings  were  eaten  up  or 
trampled  upon,  and  the  younger  generations  of  pines  were  neither 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  193 

so  numerous   nor  so   grand   as  their  ancestors.     Sometimes,  too, 
devastating  tires  would  break  out   and  lay  bare  whole  districts. 
Such  tires,  says   Mr    W.    Fraser   in  his  "  Chiefs  of  Grant,"  were  of 
frequent  occurrence.       One  occurred  accidentally   in  the  forest  of 
Abernethy  in   the   year   1746,  and   resulted  in  the  destruction  of 
near  2.V  million  trees  before  the  progress  of  the  conflagration  was 
arrested.     On   the  occasion   of  another  forest   tire,   said   to  have 
taken   place  about    1770,    and   to  have  threatened  disastrous  con- 
sequences, the  laird  sent  the  "  fiery  cross"  through  Glen-Urquhart, 
to  summon,  his  dependants.       These   assembled  to   the  number  of 
500,  armed  with  axes,  but  they  succeeded  in  arresting  the  progress 
of  the  flames  only  by  cutting  a   gap   500  yards  in  width  between 
the    burning   wood   and  the   rest   of  the   forest.     In  the  days  of 
the       clan       feuds,        it       can       well       be       imagined        that 
forest  tires  were  not   always  accidental  in   their  origin.      It  was 
always  a  sweet   revenge   to  see  the  sky   ruddy  with  the  glare  of 
names  in  an  enemy's  country,  and  the  deed  was  easily  and  quickly 
done,  without  a  hostile  marshalling  of  the  clan.      The  forests  on 
the  Urquhart  estate  of  the  Grant  family  were  peculiarly  liable  to 
such  revengeful  visitations,  and  the  lairds  had  frequent  recourse 
to  the  powers  of  law,  and  the  more  effectual  power,  in  these  days, 
of  arms,  in  defence  of  the  extensive  woods   which  then,  as  now, 
beautifv  the  glen.      Xor  did  such  dangers  all  come  from   without. 
The  people  of  l/rquhart,  whom  the  Government  were  so  anxious 
that  the  lairds  of  Grant    should  civilise,  appear  to  have  subjected 
the  woods  to  very  harsh  measures,  the  depredators  no  doubt  feel- 
ing secure  because  of  their  remoteness  from  the  home  of  the  chief 
in  Strathspey.      A  case  arising  out  of  these  practices  was  settled 
by  the    Earl  of  Moray  in   the  Sheriff-Court  at  Inverness,  on    17th 
October,    1  ;")():'>.      (L)uite    a   trade    in    stolen    wood    seems    10    have 
sprung  up,  and   William    Fraser  of  Sfronie,  son-in-law  of  the  laird 
of  Grant,  who    appears  to  have   had  charge  of  Urquhart  and  some 
of    the    Lovat    property,    adopted    as    a    repressive    measure    the 
expedient    of  stopping   the    passage   of    Loch    Xess.      One    Donald 
M'lnnes  Mor  complained  of  the  blockade,  and  the    question  went 
into  Court.      The  defender,  in  his  reply,  admitted  the  charge,  and 
gave  as  his  reason  the  damage  done  to  the   woods  "  pcrtenying  to 
him.  to  my  Lord    Lowet,  and  the    Laird  of  Grant,  of  the   quhilkis 
he   beris   in  charge,  continuallie   cuttit,  pelit,  and  destroiit  be   the 
travel  lores  upon  the  said  loucht."     The  decision  in  the  complaint 
was —First,   that    the   passage   of  the   loch    should    be   "  frie  and 
unstoppit'    in  all  time  to  come,  and    that  no  impediment    be  made 
to  any  of  the  lieges.      Secondly,  to  prevent  the  woods  being  " cuttit, 

13 


194  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

pelit,  and  destroiit,"  a  power  of  search  was  henceforth  given  to  the 
provost  and  bailies  of  Inverness,  that  they  might  arrest  all  green 
timber  and  bark  brought  to  the  town's  market  for  sale,  in  any 
way,  and  from  any  place,  unless  the  bringer  of  the  wood  could 
produce  a  certificate  from  the  baron  on  whose  lands  he  had  got 
the  trees.  Failing  such  certificate,  all  such  wood,  sold  or  unsold, 
was  to  be  forfeited,  and  any  one  who  had  bought  the  wood  before 
the  otlicial  inspection  was  to  lose  his  money  if  the  wood  was 
arrested.  This  Act  was  to  come  into  operation  on  1st  November, 
1503  ;  and  stringent  provisions  Avere  also  made  for  staying  the 
transit  of  all  timber  from  the  port  of  Inverness.  From  the 
thorough  nature  of  these  precautions,  the  offence  seems  to  have 
developed  into  a  very  serious  one  ;  but  the  effect  was  not  lasting 
on  the  timber  thieA'Cs  of  Glen-Urquhart.  Probably  also  the 
Magistrates  of  Inverness  got  tired  of  certificate-collecting  ;  at  all 
events,  ten  years  after,  we  find  the  laird  of  Grant  again  complaining 
that  his  woods  of  Urquhart,  which  lie  had  been  at  great  pains  to 
preserve,  were  being  wantonly  destroyed  by  the  tenants.  It  is 
said  that  Highlanders  never  counted  it  a  theft  to  take  a  tree  from 
the  forest  or  a  fish  from  the  river  ;  and  it  seems  from  the  terms  of 
the  complaint,  that  in  this  instance  the  Urquhart  people  were 
simply  enforcing  an  old  right,  including  forest  pasturage,  which  had 
belonged  to  their  ancestors  in  the  loose  times  in  which  they  lived. 
The  enclosing  and  preserving  of  the  forest  of  Clunie  would  very 
probablv  be  regarded  as  an  unwarranted  withdrawal  of  an 
important  privilege,  and  we  can  imagine  the  lieges  of  that  glen  as 
much  incensed  over  the  new  fangicd  ways  of  the  laird  as  any 
small  crofter  in  Skyc  feels  over  the  deer  forests  of  the  present  day. 
The  laird's  petition  drew  a  letter  of  inhibition  from  King  James 
the  Sixth,  dated  13  March,  1573.  It  sets  forth  that  "  Johne 
Grant  of  Frcwchye,"  that  being  then  the  name  of  the  Grant  estate 
in  Strathspey,  had  baen  at  great  expense  in  "  dyking,  parking,  and 
haining  of  the  green  Avoode  and  gowand  trees  and  medoes,"  Avithin 
Clunie  parish,  but  that  the  tenants  and  occupiers,  having  their 
steadings  in  the  vicinity,  had  been  as  busy  "  be  day  as  vunder 
scilencc  and  cloude  of  nycht,"  in  breaking  down  the  dykes,  ai:-d 
allowing  their  cattle  and  horses  to  destroy  the  growing  trees, 
which  were  also  cut  down  and  appropriated  to  the  purposes  of  the 
tenants.  As  a  "  scharp  rernid  thereto,"  the  King  ordained  that 
the  names  of  the  offenders  were  to  be  proclaimed  in  public  in  their 
parish  kirks  ;  and  a  further  proclamation  was  to  be  made  at 
Inverness,  inhibiting  all  from  destroying  the  woods,  under  pain  of 
the  penalties  already  enforced  by  Parliament  for  their  protection. 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods,  195 

These  cases  are  worth  mentioning,  as  local  illustrations  of  the 
causes  which  were  at  work  in  the  destruction  of  woods  (hiring  this 
period,  notwithstanding  the  energetic  efforts  that  were  made  to 
preserve  them. 

The  Highland  forests  began  to  acquire  a  more  distinct  com- 
mercial value,  such  as  it  was,  abont  the  beginning  of  the  17th 
century.  Scotch  and  English  merchants  became  the  purchasers 
of  vast  stretches  of  wood  in  the  north,  and  the  bulk  of  the  timber 
found  its  way  into  the  shipbuilding  yards  and  the  smelt  ing- 
furnaces  both  in  England  and  Scotland.  The  foundation  of  the 
great  British  Navy  was  being  laid  in  England.  After  the  struggle 
of  the  Spanish  Armada,  the  tonnage  of  English  ships  was  steadily 
increased,  and  the  style  of  building  revolutionised.  The  lofty 
forecastles  and  poops,  which  had  made  earlier  ships  resemble 
Chinese  junks,  were  abolished,  and  the  modern  two-deckers, 
which,  between  then  and  the  era.  of  iron  ships,  rendered  such. 
effective  service  in  British  battles,  came  in  their  place.  These 
shipbuilding  operations  gave  an  impetus  to  the  trade  in  timber, 
and  as  the  English  forests  had  been  very  much  eaten  Tip  by  this 
time  between  shipbuilding  and  iron  working,  Scotland  must  have 
benefitted  to  a  considerable  extent  by  the  demand  for  wood. 
About  this  period,  it  would  also  appear,  several  ironworks  were 
founded  in  various  parts  of  the  Highlands  in  convenient  proximity 
to  the  native  pine  forests.  How  the  promoters  of  these  enter- 
prises were  induced  to  enter  upon  such  undertakings  in  remote 
Highland  glens  are  geological  and  economical  mysteries  which 
have  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  explained.  A  minimum  of  iron- 
stone and  a  maximum  of  wood,  which  was  the  only  fuel  then  used 
for  smelting,  must  have  been  the  general  conditions  which  a  little 
experience  revealed.  Highland  ironworks  had  a  shortlived  career, 
and  tradition  knows  very  little  about  the  mining  operations  con- 
nected with  their  working.  In  an  estate  settlement  entered  into 
by  Sir  John  Grant  in  the  year  1034,  he  reserves  "liberty  to  draw 
dams  and  passages  to  the  ironworks  in  Qrquhart,  with  liberty  to 
put  and  build  the  said  ironworks  on  the  lands,  providing  Sir  John 
and  his  foresaids  upheld  the  rental  of  the  lands  wherethrough  and 
whereon  the  said  dams,  passages,  and  ironworks  should  be  drawn 
and  built,  and  reserving  in  the  same  way  the  use  of  the  whole 
woods  thereof  for  the  use  of  the  ironworks,  '  except  to  serve  the 
use  of  the  countrey  furthe  of  the  woodis  of  Lochliter,  Inshebreines, 
Gartalic,  and  Dulsangie,'  at  the  will  of  the  tenants  and  inhabi- 
tants." The  minister  of  Urquhart  makes  no  mention  of  iron- 
works in  his  statistical  account,  and  his  geological  remarks  do  not 


196  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

favour  the  supposition  of  their  having  existed,  at  least  owing  to 
ore  found  in  the  glen.  "  No  beds  of  cremate  of  iron  or  other 
useful  minerals  have  as  vet  been  discovered,"  he  says,  speaking  of 
a  formation  of  unstratified  serpentine  rock.  Probably  the 
explanation  is  that  Sir  John  Grant  was  about  this  time  prosecuting 
a  diligent  search  for  ironstone  on  his  estates  as  a  profitable  means' 
of  disposing  of  his  pine  forests.  Three  years  before  the  settle- 
ment just  mentioned  he  concluded  a  big  sale  of  wood  in  Strathspey 
with  one  Captain  Mason,  and  the  contract  bears  that  if  any  iron- 
stone or  minerals  shall  be  found  during  its  fulfilment  within  the 
lands  described,  Sir  John  binds  himself  to  join  in  co-partnership 
with  Captain  Mason,  and  to  furnish  half  the  charges  for  erecting 
ironworks.  No  discovery  of  this  nature  appears,  however,  to  have 
been  made. 

Sir  John  Grant,  who  succeeded  to  the  Grant  estates  in  1622, 
entered  into  several  important  transactions  in  Highland  timber, 
the  principal  one  being  the  sale  of  his  own  woods  in  Strathspey, 
which  indicates  that  the  forests  there  still  existed  in  luxuriance  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  A  sale  was  concluded  with  Capt.  John 
Mason,  who  seems  to  have  represented  the  Karl  of  Tullibardine,  of 
a  strangely  imbusiness-like  character.  It  included  the  woods  of 
the  parishes  of  Abernethie,  Kincardine,  and  Glencairnie  (or 
Duthil),  which  were  placed  at  the  pleasure  of  the  purchaser  for  a 
period  of  forty-one  years,  the  only  stipulation  being,  that  the 
rights  of  Sir  John  and  his  tenants  to  cut  and  transport  as  much 
wooi]  as  they  required  should  he  respected.  The  purchase  price 
was  £20,000  Scots,  or  ,£1666  of  our  money,  a  figure  which  shows 
the  low  value  of  timber  in  Strathspey  over  2*50  years  ago,  owing, 
to  want  of  facilities  for  transport.  Sir  John  guaranteed  the 
purchaser  "free  transport,  carriage,  and  convoy  of  the  said  woods 
and  timber  throw  and  doune  the  river  of  Spey  to  the  sea,  without 
paying  toll  or  tax  to  ony  persone  or  persones,"  and  liberty  to  build 
a  house  and  a  timber  wharf  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Shortly 
after  his  accession  to  the  estate,  Sir  John  entered  into  a  contract 
with  the  Laird  of  Lundie,  wherebv  he  became  purchaser  of  the 
woods  of  certain  lands  in  Morar.  Lundie,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
was  one  of  the  principal  actors  in  the  historical  "raid  of 
Gillechriost,"  which  took  place  in  1G03.  By  his  agreement  with 
Lundie,  Sir  John  became  possessor  of  all  the  woods  and  growing 
trees  on  the  lands  of  "  Killeismorache,  Kilnamuk,  Swordelane, 
Arethomechanane,  and  Brakegarrowneintoir  " — names  it  is  scarcely 
possible  now  to  recognise— on  lease  for  31  years,  he  undertaking 
to  sell  the  timber  and  give  two-thirds  of  the  price  he  obtained  to 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  197 

the  laird  of  Lundic.  The  contract  relates  that  the  woods  here 
mentioned  were  altogether  unprofitable  ;  that  hatred  and  deadly 
feuds  had  been  incurred  in  guarding  them  from  molestation,  and 
that  no  merchant  would  buy  the  woods  owing  to  the  risk  of  losing 
his  life.  The  latter  sentence  forms  a  singular  comment  on  the 
state  of  Glengarry  at  this  period  ;  and  the  fact  that  the  laird  of 
Lunclie  could  not  sign  his  name  to  the  above  contract,  but  had  to 
get  his  hand  guided  by  the  notary,  also  throws  some  light  on  the 
educational  acquirements  of  Highland  proprietors  of  the  time. 
Sir  John — a  love  for  trees  appears  to  have  run  in  the  family — had 
also  a  transaction  in  timber  which  lias  a  connection  with  the  three 
century  quarrel  between  the  Mackintoshes  ;\hid  Lochiel  for  the 
possession  of  Glenlui  and  Loeharkaig.  He  was  the  means  of 
bringing  about  a  temporary  understanding  with  Lochiel.  while  the 
young  chief  of  clan  Mackintosh,  to  whom  Sir  John  was  tutor  and 
uncle,  was  in  his  minority.  The  terms  of  agreement  were  that,  in 
the  meantime,  Lochiel  should  obtain  a  lease  of  the  lands  of  Glenlui 
and  Loeharkaig,  until  The  Mackintosh  was  in  a  position  to  deal 
with  the  dispute  himself,  and  that  all  the  woods  on  the  lands  so 
leased  should  be  reserved  to  the  laird  of  Grant,  who  expressed  his 
intention  of  selling  them  for  the  benefit  of  his  nephew's  estate. 
Security  was  given  by  Lochiel  that  the  purchasers  and  workers 
would  be  respected,  lie  receiving  the  tenth  part  of  the  price  for 
which  the  woods  should  be  sold.  He  bound  himself  to  defend  the 
merchants,  cutters,  and  transporters,  not  only  from  molestation 
by  his  clansmen,  but  "  frae  all  vither  forrame  peopill,"  as  Lords 
Lovat  and  Kintail  were  bound  to  the  merchants  that  had  bought 
their  woods. 

The  woods  of  Strathspey  were  nature's  own  sowing  in  the  17th 
and  iSth  centuries,  there  being  no  attempt  at  forest  management. 
The  contracts  with  wood  merchants  were  cheap,  loose  in  their 
terms,  and  prolonged,  and  the  tenants  of  the  adjacent  lands  had 
their  own  sweet  will  of  the  forests,  both  in  respect  of  grazing  and 
taking  timber.  That  the  forests,  in  these  circumstances,  should 
have  yielded  even  the  fitful  revenue  they  did  says  a  good  deal  for 
nature,  and  the  capabilities  of  the  tree  and  the  soil.  By  the 
beginning  of  the  ISth  centurv,  timber  had  acquired  a  very  much 
greater  value,  and  the  transactions  were  of  a  more  business-like 
character.  This  appears  from  a  sale  effected  in  1728  by  Sir 
James  Grant  with  the  great  York  Buildings  Gompany.  By  the 
terms  of  the  contract  this  ( 'ompany  was  granted  a  lease  of  the 
forests  of  Abcrnethy  for  fifteen  years,  during  which  they  were  to 
i'.ut  and  transport  to  sea  G0,000  fir  trees.  For  this  right  the 


198  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Company  were  to  pay  the  sum  of  j£7000  sterling  in  the  course  of 
seven  years.  The  principal  station  of  the  Company  was  at  Coul- 
nakyle,  which  was  also  leased  to  them,  and  they  began  by  erecting 
sawmills  and  iron  furnaces,  and  making  roads  and  bridges  in  the 
woods.  Their  chief  agent  and  superintendent  was  Mr  Stephens, 
who  resided  at  Coulnakyle.  He  had  previously  been  a  member  of 
Parliament,  and  such,  we  are  told,  was  the  credit  and  influence  of 
the  Company,  that  for  some  years  his  notes  of  hand  passed  readily 
for  cash  in  Strathspey  and  the  neighbourhood,  as  bank  notes  now 
do.  Rev.  Mr  Grant,  in  his  Statistical  Account.  1794,  designated 
the  Company  as  "the  most  profuse  and  profligate  sets  that  were 
ever  hoard  of  in  this  country."  "They  used  to  display  their 
vanity  by  bonfires,  and  opening  hogsheads  of  brandy  to  the  country 
people,  by  which  five  of  them  died  in  one  night."  The  Company 
ultimately  became  insolvent,  leaving  the  place  without  clearing  off 
their  debt  to  the  laird  of  Grant,  but  also  leaving  among  the 
inhabitants  a  knowledge  of  their  improved  system  of  working  the 
forests,  the  effect  of  which  was,  in  some  respects,  beneficial.  One 
of  the  improvements  introduced  was  the  making  of  rafts,  whereby 
large  quantities  of  timber  were  floated  down  to  the  sea.  Before 
this  1  ime,  Mr  Grant  observes,  some  trifling  rafts  were  sent  down 
the  river  in  a  very  awkward  and  hazardous  manner.  Ten  or 
twelve  do/ens  of  deals  were  tied  together,  and  conducted  down 
stream  by  a  man,  sitting  in  what  was  called  a  curracli.  This 
vessel  was  made  of  a  hide,  in  the  shape  and  about  the  size  of  a 
brewery  kettle,  broader  above  than  below,  with  ribs  or  hoops  of 
wood,  and  a  cross  stick  for  the  man  to  sit  on,  who,  with  a  paddle 
in  his  hand,  went  before  the  raft,  to  which  the  curracli  was 
attached  bv  a  rope.  Currdchs  were  so  light  that  men  carried 
them  on  their  backs  home1  from  Speymouth.  The  Grants  of 
Tulchan  are  reported  to  have  been  the  first  to  attempt  the  transport 
of  timber  from  the  rich  pine  forests  of  Rothieniurchus,  Abcrnethy, 
and  Glenmore  to  the  river's  mouth  by  the  currach.  it  may  here 
be  mentioned,  in  1730,  The  Chisholm  sold  to  the  York  Buildings 
Company,  "his  wood  of  whatever  kind,  lying,  standing,  and  grow- 
ing on  his  kinds  and  estate  for  the  space  of  thirty  years,  together 
with  all  mines  and  minerals  that  may  be  discovered  on  the  said 
lands,  with  power  to  the  Company  to  manufacture,  use,  and 
dispose  upon  the  subjects  disposed  as  their  property  at  pleasure," 
for  the  sum  of  £2000.  But  bv  this  time  the  Company  had  got 
into  difficulties,  and  the  contract  was  not  fulfilled.  Soon  after  it 
was  signed  wood  cutters  set  to  work,  and  cut  down  2,400  great 
trees,  which  were  allowed  to  lie  and  rot,  and  all  the  return 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  199 

received  by  The   (Jhisholm    was  a  decree,  in  absence,  for  payment 
of  the  contract  price. 

After  the  failure  of  the  York  Buildings  Company,  in  1731, 
contracts  were  frequently  entered  into  by  the  lairds  of  Grant  for 
the  sale  of  woods  ;  and  one  made  by  Sir  James  Grant  with  two 
London  merchants,  for  the  sale  of  100,000  of  the  best  pines  of 
Abernethy  and  Duthil,  stipulated  that  his  eldest  son,  Mr  Ludovick 
Grant,  should  become  partner  with  them.  A  still  later  contract 
was  made,  in  1769,  for  the  sale  of  one  million  choice  fir  trees  of 
Abernethy  and  Duhian,  to  be  cut  during  the  ensuing  fifteen  years. 
Other  evidence  is  extant  that  Scotland  was  not  so  destitute  of 
woods  as  was  represented.  So  late  as  1790  the  Gienmore  fir 
woods  sold  for  £10,000,  and  shipbuilding  was  busy  at  Speymouth, 
from  timber  here  supplied.  But  while  this  is  so,  it  was,  as  we 
have  said,  only  in  these  remote  places  (Gienmore  defied  many  a 
wood  contractor  before  then)  it  survived  in  any  quantity.  Aber- 
nctli,  Gleiimorc  (Duke  of  Gordon),  Rothiemurehus,  and  Gleiifishie 
(Mr  Mackintosh)  were,  in  L7UO,  said  to  contain  more  wood  than 
was  to  be  found  in  Scotland  altogether. 

STRATiLSPKY EXTENT    OF    PLANTATIONS PLANTING     FIl'tM     THE 

NURSERY. 

After  the  extensive  clearances  incessantly  carried  on  during 
the  1  Stli  centnrv,  Strathspey  looked  bleak  and  naked,  ami  the  eye 
sought  in  vain  for  that  silvan  (-harm  which  was  its  native  glory, 
but  hud  passed  away  under  the  woodman's  axe.  But  a  new  era 
was  about  to  dawn  :  and  just  as  List  centurv  is  noted  for  the 
disappearance  of  Speyside  woods,  so  will  the  19th  century  be 
memorable  for  their  re-appearance  in  even  greater  luxuriance. 
Planting  seems  to  have  been  commenced  on  the  Strathspey  poses- 
sions  of  the  He  use  of  <=rant  in  1S11  ;  at  least  the  memoranda  do 
not  go  farther  back  than  that  year,  and  if  any  planting  had  been 
effected  before  then  it  must  have  been  on  a  small  scale.  Sir 
Krancis  AY.  Grant— -l<S10-r>;> — was  the  large? t  planter  of  frees  in 
Great  Britain  in  the  present  century.  By  1817,  it  is  recorded  that 
he  had  phnted  3 1  Ji^i.'vlH^  Young  trees- — Scotch  fir,  larch,  and 
hardwoods-  -an  extent  which  had  not  been  approached  by  a  British 
landowner  since  the  vast  plantations  made  by  the  Duke  of  A  thole, 
in  the  middle  of  the  previous  century.  For  these  plantations, 
which  were  effected  in  the  districts  of  Gullen,  Strathspev,  and 
Glen-Urquhart,  he  was  awarded  the  gold  medal  of  the  Highland 
and  Agricultural  Societv.  His  successor  continued  these  opera- 
tions even  on  a  more  Lnu'antic  scale,  and  with  the  intention  of 


200  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

extending  the  whole  area  of  woods  on  the  property  to  60,000 
acres.  But  death  stepped  in  ;  two  chiefs  were  laid  in  the  grave  in 
rapid  succession  ;  and  when  50,000  acres  had  been  placed  under 
wood  the  policy  of  the  estate  was  in  this  matter  changed.  Tree 
planting  was  entirely  and  abruptly  stopped.  On  a  rough  estimate, 
the  number  of  trees  planted  on  the  Scan  eld  estates  during  the  last 
half  century  cannot  be  muc^  short  of  two  hundred  millions.  The 
three  great  divisional  forests  are  those  of  Duthil,  Grantown,  and 
Abernethy,  where  crops  of  grand  timber  arc  being  reared,  such  as 
never  before  clad  the  hillsides  in  this  old  home  of  the  pine.  Tree 
planting  may  be  a  slow  method  of  making  a  fortune,  but  it  must 
be  a  marvellously  sure  one.  Between  thirty  and  fifty  years  hence, 
the  revenue  these  mighty  forests  will  yield  should  prove  tremendous, 
and  a  wood-cutting  industry  will  be  set  up  such  as  was  never 
eclipsed  even  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  famous  Y'ork  Company. 
With  planting  on  such  a  magnitude  in  progress,  the  establishment 
of  a  nursery  was  a  necessity  on  practical  as  well  as  economic 
grounds.  One,  over  twelve  acres  in  extent,  was  established  in 
!  S.l  1-,  the  site  selected  being  at  Abernethy,  where,  on  the  occasion  of 
our  visit,  in  1884-,  there  were  considerably  over  two  million  plants 
preparing  for  transference  to  the  hillbMes.  Although  the  nursery 
was  so  large,  the  wood  manager,  Mr  .).  (-.  Thompson,  who  entered 
the  service  of  the  estate  in  l<Sf)(J,  was  seldom  able  to  grow  all  the 
plants  he  required  for  the  plantations,  for  the  well  known  reason 
i  hat  it  is  impossible  to  keep  ground  continuously  under  a  crop  of 
iir  plants.  In  buying  in  plants,  the  wood  manager  had  necessarily 
to  be  careful,  for  the  native  fir  of  Strathspey  is  an  altogether 
superior  tree,  and  it  would  never  have  done  to  give  a  degenerate 
species  a  habitation  alongside  it.  In  alluding  to  this  point,  G rigor 
remarks  that  "several  instances  are  known  of  plantations  grown 
from  seeds  during  last  century  from  the  celebrated  native  forests 
on  the  Spey,  and  although  they  occupy  soil  of  various  qualities,  the 
Timber  in  all  these  woods  has  been  famed  for  its  quality,  while,  in 
several  instances,  adjoining  woods  of  the  same  age,  and  on  the 
same  description  of  soil,  grown  from  degenerate  plantations,  yielded 
wood  very  inferior,  the  inarch  boundary  of  the  lands  sometimes 
forming  the  line  between  the  good  and  the  bad  timber."  About 
twenty  years  ago,  when  planting  on  the  Strathspey  estates  had 
reached  its  period  of  greatest  activity,  upwards  of  two  millions  of 
] tlants  we're  put  into  the  ground  each  year.  Planting  was  begun 
in  October,  and  continued  till  the  spring.  By  this  arrangement 
the  plant  suffers  no  check  in  its  growth,  for  it  is  transferred  when 
in  a  ripened  state,  and,  if  it  takes  at  all  congenially  to  its  home, 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  201 

it  responds  to  the  impulse  of  the  next  season  as  usual.  When  a 
piece  of  ground  was  to  he  planted,  the  operations  consisted  always 
of  enclosing,  and  generally  draining-  Sometimes  the  natural 
drainage  was  so  good  that  the  expense  of  artificial  drainage  was 
not  necessary,  but  when  such  work  was  required,  it  was  usually 
done  a  summer  or  two  before  the  planting  began,  in  order  that 
the  soil  might  have  time  to  dry,  for  the  fir  likes  a  well-drained 
bed  ;  hence  its  magnificence  in  Strathspey,  where  the  character  of 
the  soil  is  a  dry  gravel,  with  a  porous  sub-soil,  and  very  little  in  it 
of  the  nature  of  pan.  '•  There  is  no  other  tree  that  grows  so 
freely,"  says  (« rigor,  "and  produces  timber  so  valuable  on  poor 
.soil  of  very  opposite  qualities.  It  luxuriates  on  the  dry  and 
graveilv  heath-covered  moors,  its  roots  penetrate  among  the 
fissures  and  c/V/V/x  of  rocks,  and  support  the  tree  in  the  most 
scanty  resources  of  almost  every  formation."  This  has  been  the 
wood  manager's  experience  of  the  pine  tree  in  the  great  under- 
taking he  lias  so  successfully  managed  during  the  last  thirty  years. 
The  plantations  have  generally  been  formed  on  moor  ground, 
previously  used  for  graxing  purposes,  and  some  of  it  very  poor 
even  fur  that.  But  there  the  pine  flourishes.  The  process  of 
planting  is  not  so  tedious  as  one  would  suppose.  T\vo  foresters, 
assisted  by  a  woman,  will,  in  fair  ground,  plant  1100  trees  per  day 
each,  which  is  sufficient  for  an  acre,  placing  the  plants  4.V  feet 
apart.  Planting  is  commonly  done  with  a  garden  spade,  with 
which  the  ground  is  generally  cut  in  the  form  of,  as  nearly  as  we 
can  here  describe,  a  ~J~,  the  plant  being  inserted  in  the  intersection 
of  the  cuts  while  the  turf  is  raised  by  the  spade.  The  forester 
then  withdraws  the  spade,  presses  down  the  turf  with  his  foot,  and 
leaves  the  young  tir  to  take  care  of  itself.  Frequently  as 
many  as  1000  acres  have  been  planted  in  one  year  on 
the  Seaheld  estate  by  this  simple  a?;d  rapid  method.  It  is 
remarkable  that  plants  which  have  been  reared  in  excellent  soil 
and  carefully  tended  for  three  or  four  years,  should  take  so  kindly 
to  the  bleak  and  impoverished  moorland;  but  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  flourishing  pines  in  Speyside  proclaim  that  this  is 
the  valuable  nature  of  the  tree.  While  the  Seafield  estates  have 
become  famous  as  the  scene  of  the  greatest  planting  experiment  on 
record,  and  attract  practical  men  and  forestry  students  from  all 
quarters  of  the  globe,  it  must  not  be  considered  that  the  tree  pro- 
pagation is  entirely  confined  to  artificial  means.  Here,  as  at 
Lovat,  the  forests  are  perpetuated  on  a  considerable  scale  by 
natural  sowing  ;  and  with  the  greatest  success.  Writing  on  this 
subject  in  1881,  a  French  Professor  says  : — "  It  is  easy  in  Scotland 


202  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

to  perpetuate  a  forest  by  natural  means,  and  of  this  a  practical 
proof  was  given  us  in  two  forests  which  \ve  visited,  one  near 
Grantown,  and  the  other  at  Beauly.  In  these  the  results  obtained, 
under  the  skilful  and  intelligent  direction  of  the  gentlemen  who 
manage  these  forests,  form  a  striking  example  of  what  may  be  done 
in  the  way  of  reproducing  forests  by  natural  means."  Arboricul- 
turists have  nothing  but  praise  to  bestow  upon  the  management  of 
Inverness  woods  ;  and  it  is  matter  for  prideful  gratification  to 
think  that  Inverness-shire  is  not  only  the  greatest  tree  bearing* 
county  in  'Britain,  but  is  also  the  home  of  the  best  and  most  scien- 
tific system  of  forestry.  Many  years  must  still  elapse,  however, 
before  the  Strathspey  forests  attain  their  period  of  greatest 
interest  to  the  arboricultural  student. 

THE     LOVAT      ESTATE — NATURAL     REPRODUCTION TREE      DISEASES— 

FIRST    LARCHES     IN    THE    HIGHLANDS. 

The  valley  which  has  as  its  centrepiece  the  massive  pile  of 
Beaufort  ('astle  derives  much  of  its  beauty  from  the  dense  woods 
which  clothe  its  slopes,  and  dispute  for  supremacy  with  the  green 
fi'.'lds  of  the  plain.  There  is  no  doubt  that  here,  as  in  other  High- 
land glen:,  the  Scotch  pine  has  found  a  natural  home  from  early 
times,  but  the  statement  may  be  ha/ardcd  without  grievous  risk, 
that  the  valley  never  possessed  more  silvan  charm  than  it  does  at 
the  present  dav.  During  the  past  centurv  the  area  under  timber 
on  the  Lovat  estate  has  been  greatly  augmented  bv  planting, 
while  the  natural  pine  woods  have  been  rendered  more  productive 
and  valuable  by  the  scientific  practice  of  regeneration  by  natural 
sowing,  a  system  carried  out  in  the  great  forests  of  Europe,  India, 
and  the  Colonies.  For  this  reason  the  Beaufort  woods  possess  a 
unique  interest  to  the  student  of  forestry.  There  are  a  few  fine 
old  beech,  oak,  and  pines  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Castle,  which 
indicate  that  in  times  before  Culloden  the  chiefs  of  Clan  Eraser 
found  opportunities,  amid  warlike  pursuits,  to  bcaut.itV  their  pro- 
perty with  trees,  but  the  first  extensive  plantings  carried  out  were 
made  while  the  estate  was  under  the  management  of  a  Government 
Commissioner.  \Yhena  chief  of  the  clan  again  took  possession  of 
the  ancestral  acres,  the  example  thus  shown  bore  excellent  fruit. 
The  Kight  lion.  Thomas  Alexander  Eraser,  in  whose  person  the 
title  of  Baron  was  again  revived,  became  one  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  and  intelligent  arboriculturists  the  north  has  seen. 
During  his  long  tenure  of  the  estate,  10,OCO  acres  were  planted 
with  Scotch  pine  and  larch,  and  the  system  of  natural  regeneration 
was  introduced  in  the  old  woods,  and  practised  wi:h  a  success 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods,  20-> 

which  is  still  the  admiration  of  scientific  foresters.  For  about  a 
quarter  of  a  century  the  woods  have  been  managed  by  Mr  D. 
De\var,  and  under  his  practical  skill  they  have  attained  a  high 
degree  of  perfection.  As  to  the  relative  merits  of  planting  versus 
natural  afforestation,  those  who  advise  planting  say  that  a  more 
uniform  crop  of  plants  is  obtained,  whereas  by  allowing  the  trees 
to  sow  their  own  seed  the  element  of  uncertain  cropping  has  to  be 
considered.  It  is  possible  that  the  natural  crop  m;iv  not  be 
satisfactory  for  a  year  or  two,  and  time  is  thereby  lost  ;  but  at 
Beaufort  the  disadvantages  of  natural  sowing  are  not  apparent, 
the  plants  being  as  a  rule  well  distributed  and  regular,  while  the 
uniformity  in  the  ages  of  the  trees  is  remarkable. 

The  most  interesting  and  instructive  illustration  of  the  natural 
reproduction  of  the  pine  is  found  in  Balblair  Wood,  some  sixty  or 
eighty  acres  of  which  have  been  regenerated.  This  wood  stands  in 
the  vicinity  of  picturesque  Kilinorack.  Lord  Lovat  began  the 
work  of  regeneration  here  nearly  half  a  century  ago.  and  the  pro- 
cess was  carried  on  systematically  for  over  twenty  years.  The 
result  is  now  seen  in  a  full  crop  of  healthv,  well-developed  trees  of 
different  ages,  the  youngest  having  about  28  years'  growth. 
Owing  to  the  light,  gravelly  character  of  the  soil,  the  rate  of 
growth  has  not  been  so  rapid  as  on  other  portions  of  the  estate 
where  the  ground  is  richer.  The  height  of  the  trees  is,  however, 
satisfactory,  and  in  course  of  time  the  wood  will  possess  ail  the 
value  that  attaches  to  slow-grown  tir.  In  accordance  with  a  well- 
established  ride  in  forestry,  the  regenerating  process  was  begun  at 
the  east  end.  of  the  ground,  so  as  to  work  against  the  prevailing 
winds,  which  in  this  part  of  the  conntrv  are  westerly  in  the  months 
of  June  and  Julv,  when  the  fir  sheds  its  seed.  Fir  seed 
being  of  the  i;  winged''  variety,  as  the  cones  open  under  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  it  is  blown  away  and  spread  over  the  ground  prepared 
for  its  reception.  No  one  who  inspects  this  wood  can  entertain  a 
doubt  as  to  the  efficacy  of  natural  reproduction.  The  seedlings 
came  up  in  thousands,  covering  the  ground  like  a  crop  of  grass, 
and  in  the  more  advanced  sections  the  management  has  been  so 
excellent  that  better  results  could  scarcely  have  been  obtained  by 
artificial  planting.  Sir  Dietrich  Brandis,  late  inspector-general  of 
forests  in  India,  and  who  may  be  said  to  have  created  the  Indian 
forest  department,  made  an  inspection  of  the  Lovat  woods  "2-")  years 
ago,  and  was  particularly  interested  in  the  Balblair  one,  which  he 
declared  to  be  the  best  example  of  natural  reproduction  he  had 
seen  in  this  country. 


204  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

It  has  been  observed  that  in  all  the  natural  pine  forests  in  the 
Highlands,  as  for  instance  in  Glengarry,  Glen-Urquhart,  Achna- 
carry,  Glen-Moriston,  Strathglass,  and  otlicr  valleys  branching  off 
from  the  Great  Glen,  the  Scotch  fir  is  invariably  found  on  the 
north  or  shady  side  of  the  hills,  while  on  the  opposite  side  oak, 
bird),  and  other  trees  find  a  congenial  situation.  This  shews  that 
the  pine  germinates  best  in  shaded,  moist  ground.  Shaw,  in  his 
History  of  Moray,  notes  with  characteristic  shrewdness,  a  habit  of 
the  Scotch  fir,  which  Mr  Dewar  has  verified  on  the  Lovat  estate. 
lie  ;:ays  :— — "  Here  I  cannot  but  observe,  as  peculiar  to  fir  woods, 
that  they  grew  and  spread  always  to  the  east,  or  between  the 
north  and  the  south-east,  never  to  the  west  or  the  south-west. 
The  cause  of  this  seemed  to  be  that  in  the  rronths  of  July  and 
August  the  groat  heat  opens  the  fir  apples  then  ripe,  and  the 
winds  of  that  season  blowing  from  south  west  to  west  south-west, 
drives  the  seed  out  of  the  open  husks  to  the  east  and  neighbouring 
earths/' 

With  regard  to  the  larch,  some  interesting  experiments  have 
been  made  on  the  estate  to  test  the  suitability  of  the  timber  for 
house  carpentry.  There  is  a.  prejudice  against  using  larch  timber 
for  constructive  purposes,  on  account  of  its  tendency  to  warp,  and 
its  utility  is  very  much  confined  to  railway  sleepers  and  other 
heavy  planking  ;  but  the  late  Lord  Lovat,  desirous  of  making  use 
of  some  of  his  fine  t  roes,  introduced  the  wood  with  considerable 
success  into  the  new  castle,  (''are  was  taken  to  steep  the  trees  in 
the  mill  pond  for  three  months,  and  when  thus  seasoned  the 
adaptability  of  the  wood  for  open  roofing  and  such  work  appears 
satisfactory,  while  its  appearance  is  ornamental.  The  larch 
appears  to  thrive  exceptionally  well  at  Beaufort.  At  the  forestry 
exhibition,  held  in  Edinburgh,  a  section  of  a  tree  which  had  been 
cut  down  for  the  new  castle  was  shown  and  attracted  attention  as 
an  instance  of  remaikable  tree  growth.  Though  only  64  years  of 
age,  the  tree  contained  112  cubic  feet  of  timber,  some  of  the 
annual  increments  being  quite  half  an  inch  dee}).  It  was  used  for 
one  of  the  main  beams  in  the  grand  hall  of  the  castle.  Another 
interesting  fact  is  that  this  tree  was  selected,  among  others,  from 
a  wood  planted  by  the  present  Lord  Lovat's  grandfather,  who  died 
in  187"),  so  that  it  must  have  contained  not  less  than  between  80 
and  DO  cubic  fe:t  of  timber  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Baron. 
.Even  in  the  case  of  such  a  fast  timber  producing  tree  as  the  larch, 
that  circumstance  is  rare. 

One  of  the  finest  pine  woods  on  the  estate  is  that  of  Boblainie, 
which  covers  the  incline  in  the  back-ground  of  the  valley  to  the 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  205 

extent  of  over  2000  acres.  The  oldest  portion  of  this  forest  was 
planted  while  the  estate  was  in  the  hands  of  Government.  Many 
of  the  original  trees  still  survive,  and  are  easily  distinguished  by 
their  massive  trunks,  but  the  majority  have  succumbed  to  the 
woodman's  axe  to  make  room  for  a  younger  generation.  The 
naturally  sown  trees  are  of  various  ages,  and  all  have  obtained 
growth  enough  to  make  the  wood  safe  as  a  resort  for  deer. 
Sporting  considerations  have  produced  many  change  in  Highland 
estate  management,  and  at  Beaufort  they  have  completely  arrested 
the  further  increase  of  the  forests  either  by  planting  or  natural 
reproduction.  The  moment  deer  get  access  to  a  wood  the  seeding 
trees  have  not  the  remotest  chance  of  escape,  their  tender  shoots 
forming  a  dainty  morsel  eagerly  sought  after  during  the  winter 
months.  It  thus  appears  that  the  excellent  s}rstem  of  forestry 
which  has  distinguished  the  Lovat  estate  for  the  last  half  century 
has,  for  economic  reasons,  lost  its  continuity — a  contingency  which 
will  always  be  liable  to  arise  so  long  as  the  woods  and  forests  in 
the  country  are  private  property. 

Mr  DC  war  maintains  that  cattle  are  an  excellent  medium  for 
preparing  a  seed  bed,  as  they  keep  down  the  heather  and  grass, 
and  assist  in  breaking  up  the  ground  and  making  it  suitable  for 
the  reception  of  the  seed,  which  is  also  trampled  in,  and  thus 
germinates  rapidly.  The  lurch  belt  we  inspected  strongly 
corroborates  this  opinion  ;  and  the  fact  that  a  piece  of  ground 
near  by,  to  which  the  cows  had  no  access,  bears  little  or  no  larch 
at  all,  although  similarly  exposed  to  the  fall  of  seed,  gives  it- 
further  weight.  With  sheep  it  is  otherwise.  The  extension  of 
many  of  t lie  natural  forests  which  beautified  the  hillsides  ceased 
with  the  introduction  of  sheep-farming,  as  this  otherwise  useful 
animal  devours  the  young  pine  roots  with  avidity.  In  Fanellan 
wood,  the  greater  por  ion  of  which  was  formed  by  the  present 
laird's  grandfather  some  eighty  years  ago,  there  are  sonic  grand 
fir  about  a  hundred  years  old.  On  an  average  these  fir  trees,  it  is 
estimated,  contain  from  sixty  to  eighty  cubic  feet  of  timber. 
Selecting  a  few  at  random,  we  found  that  a  fe-v  feet  from  the 
ground  they  girthed  from  seven  to  ten  feet. 

A  characteristic  of  the  Lovat  woods  is  the  entire  absence  of 
disease  amonu'  both  larch  and  fir.  On  the  occasion  of  Professor 
Schlich's  inspection  the  other  year  of  the  Little  Wood,  which  con- 
sists mostly  of  larch,  the  remarkably  healthv  state  of  the  trees 
was  commented  upon,  and  contrasted  with  the  deplorablv  diseased 
condition  of  some  larch  plantations  in  another  Highland  countv. 
801110  discussion  took  place  on  that  occasion  regarding  the  origin 


206  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

of  the  larch  disease,  known  as  the  canker,  or  blister,  which  is  worth 
noting,  seeing  there  is  a  considerable  diversity  of  opinion  on  the 
subject  amongst  foresters.  Mr  Macgregor,  who  has  an  extensive 
experience  of  the  disease  in  the  Athole  forests,  where  it  has  done 
very  great  damage,  attributes  blister  to  the  insect  coccus  larices, 
which  occasionally  appears  in  young  plantations,  and  affects  the 
trees  very  injuriously.  Professor  Schlich,  again,  believes  that  it 
is  caused  by  the  spores  of  a  minute  fungus  establishing  itself  in 
the  tissues  of  the  trees  where  a  branch  has  been  broken  or  blown 
off,  or  any  injury  otherwise  done  to  the  plant.  On  the  other 
hand,  Mr  Dewar  maintains  that  the  coccos  is  a  result  and  not  a 
cause  of  the  disease.  Severe  frosts,  planting  in  situations 
unfavourable  to  the  healthy  development  of  the  tree,  or  anything 
else  that  affects  its  constitution  or  vitality,  may,  he  thinks,  be  the 
primary  cause  of  the  canker,  just  as  unhealthy  animals  were  more 
subject  to  the  ailments  of  their  species,  such  as  vermin,  than  those 
in  robust  health.  This  seems  a  very  sensible  solution  of  the 
problem,  and  harmonises  with  human  experience,  that  insects 
flourish  on  a  subject  which  is  already  diseased. 

Those  interested  in  forestry  were  much  concerned,  some  time 
ago,  by  the  appearance  of  a  kind  of  caterpillar  which  attacked  the 
young  shoots  of  the  Scotch  fir  so  voraciously  that  the  trees  were  in 
a  short  time  entirely  denuded  of  their  leaves.  About  twenty 
years  ago  the  insect  attacked  fifteen  acres  of  fir  on  the  Lovat 
estate  at  Beaufort.  Strangely  enough  the  insect  confined  its  feed- 
ing operations  to  the  old  leaves,  so  that  although  the  development 
of  the  trees  was  retarded,  they  ultimately  recovered,  and  no  real 
damage  was  sustained.  Had  the  current  shoots  been  attacked, 
the  trees  would  of  course  have  been  doomed.  The  insect  dis- 
appeared as  suddenly  and  mysteriously  as  it  had  arrived,  and  lias 
not  been  seen  again  till  the  other  summer,  when  it  made  a  raid  in 
a  young  plantation  of  some  ten  years'  growth  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Fort- Augustus,  and  with  much  the  same  results.  It  is 
the  larvae  of  the  Sophyrus  pini,  or  pine  saw  fly,  and  is  common  to 
the  pine  woods  in  the  north  of  Europe,  but  has  hitherto  been  little 
known  in  this  country.  The  summer  of  some  twenty  years  ago 
Avas  similar  to  the  one  just  experienced,  so  that  its  appearance 
seems  to  depend  upon  drought  and  heat. 

The  finest  larch  tree  on  the  property,  and  perhaps  the  best 
example  of  the  species  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  stands  by  the  side 
of  the  Bruiach  Burn.  It  girths  fully  1 2  feet  at  sixty  inches  from 
the  ground,  carrying  its  circumference  well  up,  and  lias  a  grand 
stem  about  100  feet  high,  while  the  spread  of  its  branches  is 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  207 

graceful.  Besides  its  stately  proportions  this  tree  is  noteworthy  • 
it  has  in  fact  a  history  which  carries  us  back  to  the  introduction 
of  the  larch  into  Scotland.  ft  \vas  one  of  the  Belladram  lot, 
which,  as  all  interested  in  the  larch  will  have  read,  were  obtained 
surreptitiously  in  Athole  about  the  year  1738,  when  the  "planting 
Duke  "  of  that  Ilk  began  the  extensive  larch  plantations  for  which 
the  Athole  estates  are  famous.  The  story  related  in  Perthshire 
regarding  the  Belladrum  trees  differs  entirely  from  the  version 
that  has  been  handed  down  in  the  Lovat  family.  Hunter  states, 
in  his  "  Woods,  forests,  and  estates  of  Perthshire,"  that  the  then 
proprietor  of  Belladrum,  who  possessed  keen  arboricultural  tastes, 
visited  the  Duke  of  Athole  at  Dunkeld  House  when  the  planting 
of  the  larch  was  going  on,  and  that,  by  the  potent  means  of  a 
dram,  he  induced  the  gardener  to  part  with  a  bundle  of  the 
plants,  which  he  carried  North  in  quiet  triumph.  The  other 
tradition  is  that  the  factor  on  the  Lovat  property  chanced  to  be 
crossing  one  of  the  ferries  on  the  Tay,  there  being  no  bridges  at 
that  period,  while  a  quantity  of  larch  plants  were  in  course  of 
transit  to  the  Athole  plantations,  and  naturally  displayed  much 
interest  in  the  new  tree.  Observing  his  master's  curiosity,  and 
surmising  that  he  would  like  to  possess  a  few  plants,  his  servant 
managed  to  appropriate  a  bundle,  and  conceal  it  in  the  convey- 
ance, while  the  Athole  men  were  being  treated  to  a  dram  in  the 
inn.  He  did  not  disclose  what  he  had  done  till  home  was  reached, 
and  the  enormous  difficulty  of  travelling  in  those  days  precluded 
all  idea  of  restoring  the  trees  to  their  ducal  owner.  Such,  at 
anyrate,  is  the  excuse  given.  The  trees  were  planted  out  in 
Belladrum,  where  the  factor  resided,  and  also  on  the  Bruiach 
Burn.  Those  trees  are  therefore  contemporary  with  some  of  the 
oldest  larches  011  the  Athole  property,  and  may  be  termed  the 
parent  larches  of  the  North  Highlands. 

THE  LOCHIKL   ESTATE NEW  PLANTATIONS — ACIINACARRY  :    THE  BEECH 

WALK REMARKABLE  PLANE  AND  OTHER  TREES — ANCIENT  OAKS — 

BEST  PINE  FOREST  IN  SCOTLAND. 

When  the  forfeited  estates  reverted  to  Lochiel,  over  a  hundred 
years  ago,  it  was  reported  that  there  were  10,000  acres  of  natural 
wood  on  the  property,  or  a  fourteenth  part  of  its  whole  extent, 
notwithstanding  that  while  the  estates  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Crown  their  management  was  entrusted  to  a  commissioner,  named 
Butter,  whose  policy  seems  to  have  been  highly  unpopular  in 
Lochaber,  and  not  conducive  to  its  tree  growing  interests.  A 


208  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Gaelic  song,  composed  about  the  time  the  estates  were  restored  to 
the  family,  laments  that  the  pine  wood,  one  of  the  glories  of  the 
estate,  had,  under  his  management,  become  a  tangled  desert. 
There  is  no  doubt  a  magnificent  quantity  of  pine  and  other  timber 
had  been  cut  down  by  the  commissioner,  for  what  purpose  is  not 
precisely  known.  The  song  alluded  to  contains  the  following 
verse.  It  bewails  the  disappearance  of  the  pine  wood  and  the 
scattering  of  the  clan,  but  hopes  that  the  old  order  of  things,  at 
least  as  regards  the  Cameron  people,  will  be  resumed  when  the 
long-lost  chief  returns  to  his  paternal  home  : — 

"  .I)h'  fhalbli  do  Ghuiseach  na  duslach  fhasaich, 
'S  tha  do  dhaoiii'  air  sgaoil  's  gach  aite, 
Aig  a  Bhutrach  ga  'n  cuir  o  aiteach  : 
Nuair  tliig  tliu  dhachaigh  gu  'n  cuir  thu  aird  orr." 

During  the  century  which  has  elapsed  since  Lochiel's  advent,  a 
considerable  amount  of  mature  timber  has  also  been  cut  down, 
but  the  planting  accomplished  will,  in  a  great  measure,  counter- 
balance this  loss.  The  hillsides,  from  the  march  with  Invergarry 
to  Chines,  gro\\  some  fine  hazel  and  other  trees.  From  (Jlunes, 
along  Loch  Arkaig  by  the  public  road,  to  a  distance  of  nearly 
thirteen  miles,  birch,  ash,  alder,  and  oak  give  river  and  loch  a 
deep  silvan  fringe,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  interval  between 
Auclmasoul  and  Ardachie.  On  the  south  side  of  the  loch,  from 
the  shores  of  Loch  Lochy  to  the  tops  of  Glen  Meallie  and  Loch 
Arkaig,  a  stretch  of  about  sixteen  miles,  there  are  dee])  belts  of 
pine  and  other  trees.  Again,  on  the  north  side  of  Loch  Fil,  from 
the  farm  of  Aimat,  the  wood — principally  oak,  birch,  and  alder, 
with  a  few  Scots  tir  and  spruce — extends  for  upwards  of  ten  miles,, 
each  of  the  numerous  glens  having  a  considerable  quantity  of 
timber  lining  their  sides.  Turning  towards  the  march  at  Halla- 
chulish,  we  find  excellent  ash,  oak,  birch,  and  alder  growing  nearly 
all  the  way  to  Fort-William. 

Achnacarry  Castle  is  situate  close  by  the  outlet  of  Loch  Arkaig, 
in  a  valley  which,  for  picturesque  beauty,  is  not  easily  matched  in 
the  Highlands.  The  front  windows  command  a  glimpse  of  Loch 
Lochv  and  a  panorama  of  mountains  bevond  ;  north  and  south  it 
is  hemmed  in  by  densely- wooded  hills  and  [tine-grown  ridges  ;  and 
westwards,  Loch  Arkaig  extends  in  a  silvery  stretch  of  fifteen, 
miles,  environed  by  forest  and  mountain.  Within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  building,  the  Arkaig,  fresh  from  the  loch,  and  its 
torrent  swollen  by  the  flow  of  the  Kaig,  rushes  impetuously  on 
its  short  career  to  Loch  Lochy.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  209 

Castle  there  is  a  variety  of  old  and  remarkable  trees,  which  must 
have  been  planted  some  time  before  the  destruction  of  the 
ancestral  residence  in  1846.  The  story  of  the  beech  walk  is 
beautifully  told  in  Lady  Middleton's  "  Ballad  of  the  Beeches," 
which  we  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  : — 

Oh  !    [  have  stood  by  the  river  side 
When  the  spate  came  rolling  down  ; 

And  marked  the  rush  of  the  rolling  tide, 
In  volume  frothed  and  brown. 

Oh  !    I  have  wandered  beneath  the  shade 

Of  the  statelv  avenue, — 
Kie  the  summer  green  begins  to  ride 

To  its  gold  autumnal  hue. 

And  mingling  with  the  waters'  roar. 

And  sough  of  wind-stirred  leaves. 
A  waft  of  old  ancestral  lore 

My  listless  sense  receives. 

Commands  the  Chief:    "My  woodmen  all 

Attend  me  in  the  vale, 
And  bring  me  saplings  straight  and  tall 

To  brave  the  wintry  gale. 

"  I   would  erect  upon  the  plain 

A  stately  avenue  : 
Shall  pass  each  ('ameron  chief  and  train 

In  after-time  there-through. 


They  marked  the  standing  for  the  tree-- 
On spots  apart  and  wide, 

That  each  might  vaunt  him  to  the  bree/.e 
In  isolated  pride. 

!>ut  lo  !  arose  a  might  v  (TV 

Across  the  lovely  land 

"Our  rightful  king  doth  straight ly  InV 

To  claim  each  loyal  brand  ! 

I  ! 


MO  Gaelic  Society  of  Inuerness. 

"  From  foreign  shores  to  seek  his  own  : 

Now  up  and  follow  me, 
For  never  was  a  Cameron  known 

Could  fail  in  loyalty  !" 

So  spake  Loehiel  in  high  command — 

"  Leave  all,  for  ill  or  weal  ! 
The  king  may  claim  each  heart  and  hand 

That  vassal  to  Lochiel. 

"Then  dig  a  trench  upon  the  bank 

Where  Arkaig  rolls  along, 
And  set  my  beechen  babes  in  rank, 

To  listen  to  her  song. 

"  And  set  them  close  to  keep  them  warm 
All  through  the  lengthy  days, 

Till  back  I  come,  in  fitting  form, 
Mine  avenue  to  raise  S" 

They  dug  a  trench  upon  the  bank 

Where  Arkaig  rolls  along, 
And  set  the  saplings  all  in  rank 

To  listen  to  her  song. 

But  o'er  them  time  and  reasons  passed, 
And  by  them  sang  the  stream  : 

Nor  might  that  chief  return  at  last 
His  purpose  to  redeem  : 

For  drear  the  coronach  did  sound 

O'er  all  the  west  countree, 
And  a  nobler  plant  was  laid  in  ground 

Than  a  sapling  beechen  tree. 

Ochone  it  is  !   for  the  great  and  brave, 
For  the  hapless  Stuart  race. 

For  the  cause  such  followers  might  not  save, 
And  tlu>  rule  thev  deemed  disgrace. 


Surely  no  grander  moi 

( 'an  rise.   Lochiel,  to  thee, 
Than  the  bcerheu  bower  of  brahehes-brnt 

In  homage  proud  and  tree  ? 

For  closely  IJTCW  the  trees  in  rank, 

As  close  as  they  could  grow, 
Within  their  trench  upon  the  bank 

Beside  the  river's  flow. 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  i'll 

Their  clasping  boughs  in  clanship  twine, 

Like  souls  of  the  'parted  brave, 
That  ever  whisper  in  words  divine 

Through  the  music  of  wind  and  wave. 

Fair  bides  the  light  on  a  golden  throne 

Of  their  autumn  leaves  at  even  : 
And  that  golden  warrior  soul  is  gone 

To  shine  with  the  leal  in  heaven. 

The  "  beechen  babes ''  form  a  belt  ten  yards  broad,  and 
extending  along  the  river  side  for  nearly  400  yards.  There  are 
three  breaks  in  the  line,  in  two  of  which  the  original  trees 
probably  failed  to  grow.  Their  places  were  supplied  with  other 
beech  saplings,  which  are  growing  well,  but  are  considerably  less 
in  height  and  girth.  While  six  of  the  largest  of  the  original 
•"babes"  girth  respectively  0  ft.,  S  ft.  0  in.,  N  Ft.,  7ft.  10  in., 
7  ft.  (>  in.,  and  7  ft.  4  in.,  the  younger  trees  measure  from 
'2  ft.  (>  in.  to  4  ft.  .">  in.  The  third  gap  was  caused  by  seven 
splendid  trees  coming  to  grief  during  the  memorable  gale  which 
caused  the  Tay  Bridge  calamity.  The  trees  have  attained  a  height 
of  about  70  feet,  and  they  give  shelter  to  a  beautiful  avenue 
running  along  Arkaig's  banks.  In  summer  the  foliage  is  so  dense 
that  protection  is  afforded  from  the  heaviest  rain  shower.  AYe 
scarcely  think  there  is  another  instance  of  so  much  valuable 
"Limber  being  produced  on  so  small  an  extent  of  ground.  The 
stems  of  the  trees,  in  consequence  of  the  closeness  with  which  they 
grow,  are  tall  and  bare  to  an  unusual  height,  and  thev  swing  to 
the  gale  with  an  ease  which  ensures  their  existence  as  vigorous 
trees  for  many  years.  When  Cumberland's  soldiers  visited 
.Vchnacarry,  the  beeches  would  be  too  insignificant  to  attract  their 
notice,  but  it  is  said  thev  gratified  their  destructivcness  bv  blowing 
TO  pieces  with  powder  manv  of  the  large  trees  about  the1  place. 
We  trust  tlr.it  the  Beech  Walk  may  long  escape  every  destructive 
influence— Hourishing  to  preserve  the'  memory  of  a  chivalrous  and 
a  good  Hi' in. 

The  avenue  itself  stands  in  the  I'ark  in  front,  of  the  ('astle,  to 
which  it  has  never  been  used  as  an  approach.  Nearest  the  house 
the  beeches  were  cut  down  some  years  ago  in  order  to  open  up  the 
view,  but  the  avenue  still  contains  a  considerable  number  of 
magnificent  trees.  They  gro\\  in  double  rows,  and  their  massive 
>tems  and  spreading  branches  form  a  conspicuous  ornament  in  the 
surroundings  of  the  ('astle.  Having  reached  their  full  growth. 
•\\hich  the  f<i<j«t  nt//r>it/<-</  attains  in  about  \~>^  years,  several  of 


212  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

the  trees  have  been  damaged  by  the  gales  which  sweep  down  the- 
valley  of  the  Arkaig.  One  of  the  beeches  measures  17  feet  in 
circumference  at  five  feet  from  the  ground,  but  it  has  a  deformed 
appearance  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  one  of  its  principal 
branches.  The  best  specimen  for  girth  and  spread  of  branches- 
stands  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  north  row.  Near  the  roots 
it  girths  IS  ft.  (>  in.,  and  three  feet  up  it  is  14  feet.  The  trunk, 
which  is  not  more  than  •">  feet  in  length,  splits  itself  into  eight  or 
nine  great  limbs,  which  ramify  in  the  most  wonderful  way.  In 
height  the  tree  stands  about  forty  feet,  and  the  spread  of  its 
branches  covers  a  radius  of  2-'>0  feet.  Close  by  this  line  beech 
there  is  a  clump  of  three  beeches  growing  close  to  each  other  as  if 
the  order  of  their  planting  had  been  disturbed.  The  largest  of  the 
three  measures  13  feet,  but  a  big  branch  has  been  wrenched  off  by 
the  wind,  and  the  trunk  is  split  almost  to  the  roots. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  castle  there  are  several  tine  avenues 
»f  the  classical  plane  tree.  The  Lochiel  of  the  '45,  by  whom  these 
trees  must  have  been  planted,  appears  to  have  had  a  partiality  for 
this  tree,  in  the  embowering  shade  of  which  I'lato  delighted  to 
discourse  to  his  pupils,  and  \\hich  was  much  associated  with  the 
intellect  of  Athens.  One  of  the  avenues  forms  the  approach  to  the 
castle.  The  trees  in  the  avenue  measure  6,  7,  and  S  feet  in  cir- 
cumference, and  exhibit  all  the  gracefulness  of  stem  and  leafv 
canopy  for  which  the  plane  tree  is  noted.  A  short  avenue  of  this 
tree,  standing  at  right  angles  to  the  castle  approach,  is  di>- 
islied  by  the  name1  of  ihe  Cumberland  planes.  The  story 
hat  the  1  Mike  of  Cumberland's  soldiers,  at  the  burning  of  the 
astle  in  1716,  hung  them1  cooking  utensils  on  these1  tre-es, 
appearance  favours  the  tradition.  Some  of  the*  trees  arc 
istinctlv  marked  bv  a  deep1  hollow  strip,  to  a  height  of 
•en  three  and  four  feet,  as  if  the  pails  had  been  injured  bv 
Xot withstanding  the  injurv  done  these.1  planes  when  young., 
have  grown  into  iniiiie-nse  trees  of  beautiful  shape-.  They 
nrc  from  7  to  10  fee-t  in  circumference,  the  average  girti. 
nearly  (>  feet.  In  the  vicinity  of  this  aveMiue  there1  aiv  a 
lanes  e>f  eve'ii  bigger  growth,  the  largest  measuring  12  feet 
in  circumference.  Thse  specimens  of  the  plane  tree  probably  rank 
among  the  best  to  be  found  in  Scotland. 

On  the  bank  of   the    Arkaig.  close  to  the    site  of   the  old  castk 

the  only  trace  of   \\hich  is  a.  small  piece1  of   blackened  ivy -grown 

wall      there1  still  stands  a  portion  of   what    formerly  was  a    fishing 

towi  i1.      Tradition  ha^  it  that   there  was  a  cruive  at  this  part  of  the 

river,    and     uhe-n     the     salmon    g'ot     in,    it.    bv    some    iu^e-niou.- 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  2i:'> 

mechanical  contrivance,  the  secret  of  which  has  evidently  been 
lost,  caused  a  bell  to  ring  in  the  tower,  by  which  the  attendant 
was  summoned  to  secure  the  fish.  The  arch  and  walls  of  tin- 
tower  are  still  there,  but  the  upper  and  principal  portion  of  the 
building  ;lnd  the  roof  are  gone.  In  the  centre  of  what  was  the 
tower  there  grows  a  splendid  ash  tree.  It  must  have  been  self- 
sown.  Jn  the  memorv  of  an  old  man  not  long  dead,  its  dimensions 
wore  those  of  an  ordinary  walking  stick,  and  its  circumference  is 
now  8  ft.  9  in.  at  .°>  ft.  from  the  ground.  It  has  a  clear  bole  of 
about  30  ft.,  beautifully  proportioned,  and  a  bark  of  the  finest 
texture  we  ever  remember  seeing  on  an  ash  tree.  Its  favourable, 
situation — close  by  a  running  stream,  and  under  the  shelter  of 
tin1  old  tower — has  favoured  its  rapid  and  graceful  development. 

Pursuing  the  walk  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  we  enter  a 
chestnut  grove,  in  which  there  are  a  group  of  Spanish  chestnuts, 
and  a  horse  chestnut  known  by  the  name  of  "'  the  hanging  tree/'' 
The  latter  is  an  inferior  specimen  of  the  common  species,  and 
accords  in  appearance  and  shape  with  the  melancholy  purpose  to 
which  it,  is  said  to  have  been  devoted,  viz..  for  hanging  eaterans 
and  others  in  the  olden  time.  From  the  rout  there  springs  four 
dejected  steins,  one  of  which  stretches  itself  in  bow  shape  to  a 
length  of  about  40  feet,  and  with  sufficient  height  to  serve  the 
mournful  purpose  of  a  gibbet.  It  is  now  propped  up.  Three  of 
the  Spanish  chestnuts,  at  .'>  ft.  from  the  ground,  measure  \'l  ft. 
\  in.,  !)  ft.,  and  S  ft.  4  in.  respectively.  Being  thriving  trees,  they 
will  attain  a  much  greater  thickness,  if  their  close  relationship  is 
not  against  their  development.  Tin;  largest  chestnut  we  have 
heard  of  in  Scotland  .-tands  on  the  lawn  at  Castle  Leod,  Strath- 
peiier.  At  the  height  of  •'»  ft.  it  girths  over  '20  ft.  in  <-iivum- 
fer<  nee  ;  but  Cregor  describes  a  Spanish  chestnut  on  the  property 
of  Lord  Dueie,  in  Gloucestershire,  which  some  years  ago  measured 
4~)  ft.  in  girth. 

Among  the  other  noteworthy  trees  near  the  Castle  is  a  splendid 
hnvh  about  100  feet  in  height,  and  measuring  at  follows  at  the 
base,  1-)  ft.  S  in.:  •')  ft.  up,  (..(  ft.  In  the  park,  not  far  from  the 
beech  walk,  there  is  a  birch  of  remarkable  dimensions— -perhaps 
the  largest  tree  of  the  birch  kind  in  Scotland.  The  stem  is  G  ft. 
high,  and  at  the  centre  i;  has  a  circumference  of  !•'>  ft.,  and  still 
higher  of  14  ft.  G  in.  Throe  enormous  brandies  spring  from  the 
trunk,  one  measuring  7  ft.,  and  another  G  ft.  in  girth.  It  is  a 
veritable  "Silvan  (^ueen,"  with  charming  display  of  branch  ;  and 
it  does  not  seem  at  all  out  of  place  in  the  policies  near  the  chaste 
plane  tree,  though  arborists  have  sentimentally  relegated  it  to  the 
rugged  scenes  of  nature. 


'214  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

In  the  considerable  portions  of  ancient  pine  and  oak  forests 
surviving  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Achnacarry,  there  are  a  number 
of  extremely  old  oak  trees.  They  are  to  be  discovered  here  and 
there — time-whittled  and  storm-shattered  remnants  of  their  former 
selves — interesting  memorials  of  the  departed  glory  of  the  ancient 
forest  that  has  been  aP  wede  away.  The  freshest  of  the  three  we 
visited  stands  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  public  road  as  it 
approaches  the  policies  of  the  Castle,  in  the  part  of  the  old  forest 
occupying  the  shoulder  of  the  hill  overlooking  Loch  Lochy. 
Before  it  lost  its  top,  which  appears  to  have  succumbed  to  the 
recurring  gale  a  considerable  time  ago,  it  must  have  been  a 
magnificent  tree.  The  trunk  as  thus  divested  stands  about  30 
fc<'t  high,  ;ind  from  its  upper  part  spring  two  main  limits,  each  of 
which  at  their  junction  with  the  parent  stem  girth  6  feet  or  more. 
These  brandies  have  still  a  thriving  appearance,  and  evidence  an 
amount  of  vitalitv  in  the  tree  which  the  aged  trunk  somewhat 
belies. 

ill  lingers  in  thee,  and  puts  forth 
lot  contemptible  of  what  she  can. 


ference  of  the  tree  at  •">  t'ert  from  the  ground  is  -1  ft., 
and  at  G  ft.  it  measures  '2'-\  f't.,  which  is  nearly  its  thickest  part. 
Around  there  is  some  tine  oak.  and  lir  timber,  but,  in  comparison 
with  this  antiquity,  they  are  of  tender  growth.  The  two  other 
venerable  trees,  or  rather  relics,  for  they  are  much  decayed,  av 
found  in  the  old  wood  of  ( 'raigunish,  on  the  north  side  of  Loci, 
Arkaig,  and  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Castle.  They  are  the 
remains  of  what,  in  some  remote  time,  were  evidently  stately  trees, 
A  series  of  large,  knottv  growths  disfigure  the  almost  bare  trunks, 
the  circumference  of  which  is  greater  at  •">  feet  high  than 
immediately  above  the  roots.  There  is  no  visible  spreading  basis 
of  roots,  a  thick,  bo.ugy  accumulation  of  centuries  concealing  every 
vestige  of  the  foundations.  The  largest  of  the  stumps  measures 
'24  feet  round.  Internally  the  tree1  is  rotten,  but  the  rind 
betokens  the  presence  of  lingering  life  by  sending  out  a  few 
branches  and  offshoots.  The  remarkable  thing  about  these  trunks 
is,  that  young  birch  and  oak  trees  spring  from  their  lifeless  hearts. 
In  the  one  we  have  more  particularly  described,  a  thriving  birch 
tree  of  at  least  IN  inches  in  circumference  shoots  healthily  from 
the  top  of  the  decaved  trunk,  and  appears  at  a  first  glimpse  to 
have  become  identified  with  the  upper  part  of  the  old  tree.  But 
a  rift,  in  the  side  of  the  trunk  enables  the  birch  to  be  traced  as  a 
distinct  tree  until  it  buries  itself  in  the  roots  of  the  oak.  The 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  215 

young  oak  is  of  a  smaller  growth  than  the  birch,  and  like  thy 
other,  it  derives  its  whole  sustenance  from  the  roots  of  the  oM 
trunk.  These  curiosities  are  frequently  to  he  met  with  in  old 
forests. 

An  interesting  question  is  the  probable  age  of  these  ancienl 
relies  of  former  silvan  grandeur.  We  are  disposed  to  give  them 
an  antiquity  of  about  a  thousand  years.  Nor  do  \ve  think  this  an 
exaggeration  ;  in  fact,  on  consideration,  it  is  more  likely  to  be 
under  the  mark.  Some  of  the  most  remarkable  oaks  in  England  — 
and  there  the  tree  finds  a  far  more  congenial  home  than  in  these 
northern  latitudes  —which  ^iith  but  a  few  feet  more,  are  reported 
to  be  a  thousand  years  old.  The  kin  Li1  oak  at  Windsor  forest  is 
said  to  have  been  a  favourite  tree  of  William  the  ( Ymqueror  ;  it 
measures  26  feet  in  circumference  at  three  feet  from  the  ground 
(our  best  specimen  girths  2.°>  feet  at  six  feet  above  the  ground), 
and  has  stood  upwards  of  1000  years.  The  "  ( 'apon  Tree/'  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  oaks  in  Scotland,  and  growing  in  a.  sheltered 
vallev  close  to  the  old  abbey  of  Jedburgh,  in  Roxburghshire,  girths 
20  feet,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  large  tret1  and  a  favourite  one 
with  the  monks  of  the  abbey  in  the  thirteenth  century.  It  would 
seem  a  moderate  computation,  therefore,  to  credit  the  Aehnaearrv 
oaks  with  an  existence  of  ten  centuries.  Their  decayed  condition 
must  also  be  taken  into  account  ;  and  the  fact,  that 


The  old  forest  of  Glcnmeallie  proper  covers  the  southern  slope 
of  the  glen  for  a  distance  of  about  four  miles,  but,  in  reality,  the 
forest  begins  at  Loch-Loehy,  and  is,  therefore,  fully  six  miles  lonu1. 
In  the  glen  it  ascends  the  mountain  sides  to  an  altitud"  of  close 
upon  1000  feet,  and  presents  to  the  eye  a  wide  and  dense  expanse 
of  dark  green  that  contrasted  dismally,  on  the  occasion  of  our 
visit,  with  the  snow-clad  mountains  towering  above. 

"  This    is    the    prinneval    forest  :    the    murmuring    pines    and    the 

hemlocks, 
Bearded    with    moss,    and    in    garments   green,    indistinct   in    the 

twilight, 

Stand  like  Druids  of  old,  with  voices  sad  and  prophetic  ; 
Stand  like  harpers  hoar,  with  beards  that  rest  in  their  bosoms." 

Speaking  of  the  pines,  (iregor  says  : — "  It  is  an  alpine  tree,  prefer- 
ring the  elevated  situation,  a  northern  exposure,  and  a  cool 
climate."  fJ-lenmeallie  forest  possesses  all  these  requisites  to  a 


-10  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuemess. 

degree,  and  the  fine  development  of  the  trees,  as  well  as  the  excel- 
lent   quality    of    the    timber,    attest,    that    the    situation    accords 
perfectly    with    the  nature  of   the   pine.      The    wood    of  the  Ulcn- 
meallie  pine  is  beautifully  coloured,  finely  grained,  and   extremely 
durable.      Touching  the  latter  quality,  we  noticed  some  pine  wood 
furnishings  in  one  of  the  offices  at  Achnacarrv.  which  are  as  fresh 
to-day  as  when  newly  constructed   forty  years   ago.      We  scarcely 
think  there  is  another  pine  forest  in   Scotland  to  rival  Glenmeallie 
in  the  si/e   and  perfection  of  its  timber.      It  contains  some  giant 
trees,  which  could  only,  one  suspects,  he  equalled  by  such  tree^  as 
grew  in  the  famous  forest  of   Glenmorc.       The  latter  forest,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  furnished  timber  to  build  forty- 
seven  sail  of  ships,  of  upwards  of  19,000  tons  burthen.      A  deal  cut 
from    the    centre    of    the   largest    tree    measured    •">   feet   .")    inches 
broad,  and  the  layers  of  wood  from  its  centre  to  each  side  indicated 
an   age   of   '23~>   years.      The   girth   of   this   tree,  which    was    named 
''The    Lady  of  the  Woods."  would  be   about    11)   feet       There   are 
trees   of    equal    magnitude   in    (Jlenmeallie   foivst.      We    had   only 
time  to  take  a  run  through  the    Invermeallie  end.  of  the   forest  on 
the  occasion  of  our  visit — a  tempestuous  day-    and  within  a  radius 
of  half-a-mile  we  came  across  trees  of  striking  grandeur.      The  most 
notable,  principally  on  account  of  its  magnificent    ramifications,  is 
named  ".Miss  Cameron's  tree,"  or  more  poetical!  v,    "'The  ^Mieen  of 
the  Old  Forest/''      It  appropriately  stands  amidst  the  most  rugged 
beauty    of    the    prinueval    forest,    guarded    bv    the    massive    and 
umbrageous  proportions  of  its  juniors.      The   girih  of  this  pine,  at 
its  narrowest  part,  3  feet  from  the  swell  of  the  roots,  is  IS  feet.     It 
bifurcates    into   seven    enormous    limbs.      About    the    point   where 
those  spring  from    the  parent  stem   the   circumference  is   fully  lM 
i'eet.       Four  of  the  limbs  are  of  themselves,   as  regards  girth,  very 
large    trees.      The    thickest    tapes    1  •">    feet  :   the    next.    \'2    feet:   a 
third,   10  feet  (i  inches  :   and  the  fourth  was  not    within  reach,  but 
its  girth  cannot  be  less  than   \'2  feet.     Taken  together,  those  limbs 
give  a  total  girth  of  47  feet  0  inches,  without    including  the  other 
three  branches,  which  are  by  no  means  weaklings.      The  spread    'i 
the  brandies  or  the  height  of  the  tree1  could  not  he  calculated  with 
anything  like  certaintv  :   its  magnitude  in  thes.-  respects  can,  how- 
ever, be  imagined  from  the  figures  given. 

An  extensive  and  valuable  wood,  called  (Jnsarh,  or  the  Pinery, 
was  tan  down  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  by  the  grandfather 
of  the  present  Lochiel.  to  whom  the  estates  were  restored  in  ITS  \. 
.A  few  hoary  old  giants  still  remain  to  mark  the  site  of  this  forest. 
The  largest  representative  has  a  clean  trunk  of  \'2  ft.  0  in.,  and  at 


ivotes  on  Highland  Woods.  '217 

mid  distance  it  girths  2:2  ft.  S  in.,  and  lias  thus  a  diameter  of  7  ft. 
8  in.  If  felled  and  cut  up,  this  drusach  giant  would  yield  a  centre 
plank  of  at  least  10  by  7,  which  excels  the  Glenmore  tree  consi 
•dcrably. 

An  ash  tree  in  the  churchyard  of  Kilmallie,  the  Parish  < 'hurch 
of  the  Lochiel  family,  burnt  down  during  the  troubles  in  1740, 
was  long  considered  as  the  largest  and  most  remarkable  tree  in 
Scotland.  Its  remains  were  measured  in  1  704,  and  at  the  ground 
its  circumference  was  no  less  than  ~)S  feet- —("  Walker's  Kssuvs/ 
page  17).  '' This  tree  stood  on  a  deep  rich  soil,  only  about  30 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  in  Lochiel,  with  a  small  rivulet 
running  within  a  few  paces  of  it."  These  particulars  are  taken 
from  London's  •'  Aboretnm  Fruticetum,"  page  L;2G,  and  it  requires 
such  authority  to  bring  anyone  in  the  present  day  to  believe  that 
there  existed  such  a  monarch  of  the  woods.  But  London's 
mentioning  it  proves  clear! v  that  he  believed  in  its  existence.  The 
•destruction  was,  it  need  scarcely  be  said,  the  work  of  Cumberland's 
soldiers,  who  committed  many  acts  of  barbaritv.  worse  even  than 
this  piece  of  vandalism.  There  is  not  a  trace  of  this  majest'C  tree 
now  to  be  discovered  in  the  churchyard  of  Kilmallie  or  its  neigh- 
bourhood, nor  are  we  aware  of  the  remains  of  any  other  trees  on 
the  Lochiel  estate  lit  to  stand  beside1  it  :  bur  we  mav  mention  an 
interesting  fragment  of  an  oak  tree  standing  on  the  bank  of  the 
river  Lny,  on  the  farm  of  Strone,  about  1.1  miles  above  the  public 
road.  It  is  merely  the  outer  shell  of  one  side  of  il  that  remains. 
It  stands  S  or  0  feet  in  height,  and  every  year  clothes  a  eon-.ider- 
able  number  of  short  shoots  in  thick  and  fresh  foliage,  bur  these 
shoots  do  not  seem  to  lengthen  or  shorten.  For  many  years  the 
old  tree  lias  held  its  o\\n,  without  u';nn  or  loss.  Its  circumference 
is  said  bv  competent,  authority  to  have  been  upwards  of  '2-t-  feet 
when  in  its  prime. 

niJST   XVIJSKKV   AT    IN  VERNESS-— LAND  AGITATION   AND    TREK  PLANTING 
—  THE    PRESENT    AND    THE    FUTURE. 

This  sketch  would  not  be  complete  without  a  reference  to  the 
tree-rearing  industry  which  has  been  carried  on  at  Inverness  for 
the  last,  half  century,  whereby  the  facilities  for  afforestation  in  the 
Highlands  have  been  much  increased.  The  first  nursery  esta- 
blished in  the  north  for  the  systematic  production  of  forest  trees 
was  at  M.uirtown,  and  was  carried  on  by  two  brothers  of  the  name 
•of  Fraser.  This  was  about  70  years  ago.  They  were  succeeded 
by  the  Dicksons  (.James  and  George),  who  took  a  lease  of  suitable 
ground  at  Millburn,  and  carried  on  a  large  business  successfully 


i'18  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

for  a  considerable  period.  Over  half  a  century  ago,  at  the  time- 
when  the  demand  for  forest  trees  was  just  beginning  to  make 
itself  felt  in  the  north,  Mr  Charles  Lawson,  late  Lord  Provost  of 
Edinburgh,  and  nurserv  and  seedsman  to  the  Highland  and  Agri- 
cultural Society,  re-established  the  nursery  business  at  Muirtown, 
\vhcre  it  is  still  carried  on.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Messrs 
Howden  Brothers.  Under  them,  and  subsequently  under  Messrs 
llowden  A-  Company,  the  business  was  extended,  as  increased 
facilities  for  the  transmission  of  trees  were  established.  Messrs 
llowden  A:  Company  now  hold  a  considerable  extent  of  the  best 
land  in  Sir  Kenneth  .1.  Mathcson's  Inverness  property,  and  though 
added  tolatelv,  if  is  vcarlv  being  found  more  and  more  insufficient 
for  the  requirements  of  the  trade.  'This  plant-growing  establish- 
ment is  very  well  known,  not  only  in  the  north,  but  also  throughout 
the  Tinted  Kingdom,  and  an  hour  or  two  may  be  well  spent  in  it. 
The  grounds  are  laid  oit' and  kept  in  a  style  which  would  do  credit 
to  any  gentleman's  garden.  While  large  spaces  are  devoted  to  the 
successful  cultivation  of  hardwood  and  Fruit  trees,  roses,  and  hardy 
tlnwei'iuu  plants,  the  bulk  of  the  ground  is  necessarily  occupied  by 
endless  thousands  of  young  trees  of  all  ages  for  forest  planting.  To 
give  some  idea  of  the  numbers  of  these  produced  annually,  it  is  com- 
puted that  of  Scotch  tir  and  larch  alone,  one  and  two  years  old 
seedlings,  there  are  not  less  that  S,OUO,000  to  10,000,000.  This 
does  not  include  about  3,000,000  more1,  which  have  been,  trans- 
planted, from  one  to  three  years,  and  are  now  ready  to  be  sent  out. 
These  figures  applv  onlv  to  Scotch  fir  and.  larch  ;  other  coniferous 
ir^es.  which  arc  not  planted  nearlv  so  extensively,  mav  be  num- 
bered by  the  hundred  thousand— such  as  spruce,  silver  fir, 
Austrian,  Corsican,  and  mountain  pines.  The  annual  output  of 
i'Test  trees  from  these  nurseries  mav  safelv  be  estimated  at  close 
"ii  •">, 000,000.  The  half  of  this  number  is  to  be  planted  out  per- 
manently. Generally  speaking,  in  hill  ground  planting,  about 
.">oOO  plants  are  put  into  one  acre.  This  represents,  then,  a  total 
of  about  700  acres  planted  every  year  with  trees  grown  by  this 
firm.  The  bulk  of  the  plants,  as  mav  be  expected,  is  dispersed  in 
the  Northern  and  \Vesteni  Counties,  but  a  goodly  number  find 
their  way  farther  south,  and  even  into  England  and  Ireland 

The  forming  of  new  plantations  in  the  North  within  the  last 
decade  has  not  increased  :  has  not.  in  fact,  reached  the  average. 
The  recent  crofter  agitation,  and  the  consequent  insecurity  which 
landholders  felt,  effectually  prevented  the  expenditure  of  any 
moneys  in  the  wav  of  estate1  improvement.  This  was  the  chief 
reason  why  so  little  was  done1.  Trade  of  all  description  was  par- 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  219 

alysed,  and  investments  which  did  not  promise  security  and  an 
immediate  return  were  simply  not  within  an  area  of  consideration. 
During  the  five  years  or  so  while  this  state  of  things  lasted,  tree- 
growing  was  nearly  at  a  standstill.  Nurserymen  grew  tired  of 
cultivating  young  forest  trees,  which  year  after  year  had  to  be 
burned  to  make  room  for  a  younger  stock.  What  were  sold  were 
disposed  of  at  miserable  prices.  The  purchaser  could  make  his 
own  ] trice,  and  the  grower  was  only  too  glad  to  get  rid  of  his 
stock  at  anything  it  would  fetch.  One-year-old  tir  trees  realised. 
in  some  cases,  Sd  ;  two  years  old,  Is  to  Is  od  per  1000;  trans 
planted  trees,  one  and  two  years,  2s  and  .'Is  Gd  per  1000  were 
common  prices.  Larch  were  also  exceedingly  cheap,  though  they 
did  not  reach  the  starvation  prices  of  tir.  Within  the  last  year  or 
two,  however,  with  a  geneially  reviving  trade,  and  a  better  feeliiii: 
of  security  in  land,  the  prices  of  trees  have  gone  up  verv  con- 
siderably, and  what  nurserymen  were  glad  to  sell  ar  ">s  Gd  five 
years  ago.  could  last  season  much  more  easily  be  sold  at  12s  Gd. 
The  demand,  mainly  owin^'  to  the  lonu'  severe  winter,  was  not 
sufficient  of  itself  to  account  for  this  abnormal  rise1  in  price --the 
demand  for  trees  was  comparatively  good,  but  the  scarcity  of  the 
article  itself  was  the  main  cause.  (irowers  for  some  years  had 
sttidied  how  to  keep  down  their  stocks,  and  many  of  them  had 
succeeded  so  well  that  when  better  time^  came  they  found  them- 
selves almost  without  the  article1  in  demand.  The  scarcity  of 
Scotch  fir  seed  for  a  season  or  two  has  had  an  elfect  ill  putting  up  the 
[trices  of  this  tree.  In  a  year  or  two,  when  prices  have  become 
normal,  the  probable  value  of  Scotch  fir,  2  years  seedlings,  1  year 
transplanted,  will  be  from  6s  to  1  Os  per  1000.  Larch  being  a 
very  variable  crop,  subject  as  it  is  to  frost  blights  in  spring  and 
early  summer,  which  frequently  destroys  a  whole  crop  in  a  single 
night,  will  always  be  dearer  than  fir,  and  their  [trices  yven  more 
fluctuating— --1  os  to  ISs  per  1000  for  the  same  age  is  about  their 
real  value.  The  late  Mr  -John  (1  rigor,  Korres,  mentions  in  his 
work  on  Arboriculture  that  on  one  occasion  he  supplied  the  trees, 
consisting  of  Scotch  fir  and  larch  half  and  half,  and  planted  them 
(ait  in  moor  ground,  at  the  total  cost  per  acre  of  something  like 
10s.  Even  with  a  plentiful  crop  of  trees,  and  a  desire  to  get  rid 
of  them  at  any  [trice;  even  with  cheap  labour  and  a  subject  easy 
to  plant  ;  even  with  verv  young  trees,  which,  besides  being 
cheaper,  are  also  much  more  easy  to  plant,  10s  per  acre  is  prob- 
ably the  lowest  [trice  at  which  such  work  was  ever  done,  or  ever 
will  be  done,  A  rough  estimate  of  the  cost  per  acre  for  'plants 
and  planting  now,  with  transplanted  trees,  is  from  40s  to  50s  per 


2-20  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

acre.  Of  course,  if  the  area  to  be  planted  is  a  large  one,  the  cost 
will  be  proportionally  less.  As  we  have  stated,  for  some  five  or 
six  years  no  appreciable  increase  has  been  made  to  the  acreage  of 
plantations  in  the  North,  or  indeed  anywhere  in  the  kingdom. 
AYithin  the  last  year  or  two  plantations  of  considerable  magnitude 
have  been  formed,  chiefly  at  Inchbae  and  Oairloch  in  Ross-shire, 
and  at  Farr,  Dunmaglass,  and  Inverlochy,  in  Inverness-shire.  No 
doubt  when  rail  .vavs  and  roads  have  been  constructed  throughout 
the  Highlands,  a  much  greater  impel" us  will  be  given  to  this  great 
and  important  question,  not  only  to  the  landlord  and  to  the 
labourer,  but  also  to  the  nation  itself,  of  planting  up  with  such  a 
remunerative  and  even  weather-improving  crop  the  boundless  areas 
of  waste  lands  -practically  worthless  in  their  present  state — so 
common  particularly  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 

But  there  will  always  be  two  important  retarding  causes  at 
work— sheep  farming  and  sporting.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
century  the  institution  of  sheen  rearing  on  a  large  scale  had  a. 
distinct  effect  upon  the  Highland  forests.  The  area  under  wood 
ceased  its  natural  expansion,  the  \oung  seedlings  being  all  eaten 
iij),  while  the  herbage  got  so  rough  that  there  was  not  a  suitable1 
bed  for  the  seed  to  fall  in.  On  the  other  hand,  black  cattle, 
which  formerly  occupied  the  hills  and  valleys  in  large  numbers, 
were  favourable  to  the  production  "f  forests,  a>  thev  kept  the 
herbage  down  and  trampled  the  seed  into  the  ground,  the  result 
being  that  wherever  thev  fed  in  the  proximity  of  a  wood  a 
luxuriant  crop  of  trees  invariably  made  its  appearance.  It  may 
be  mentioned  that  the  first  sheep  farm  in  the  north  was  established 
at  Corrimony  in  1797,  the  farmers  coming  from  the  south  ;  the 
next  was  Knoektiu.  As  the1  fashion  spread  the  black  cattle  disap- 
peared. Then  came  another  enemy  of  the  woods  --deer — within 
the  last  half  century.  Natural  reproduction  can  never  goon  in 
or  about  thi'  forests  where  deer  are  present,  as  they  destroy  the 
young  trees  with  avidity  :  and  as  long  as  deer  forests  pay  their 
owners  fabulous  rents,  there  will  be  no  incentive  to  any  great  general 
expansion  of  wood  forests  in  the  Highland  Counties  -the  argument 
that  such  a  policy  would  enrich  as  well  as  improve  the  country 
not  being  sufficient  in  itself.  'Mi  several  lar^'e  estates  where 
afforestation  used  to  be  carried  0:1  systematically,  the  sporting 
considerations  which  now  govern  everything  have  put  a  complete 
stop  to  tree-growing  operations,  and  henceforth,  in  such  instances, 
the  area  under  trees  must  decrease,  and  not  increase.  It  is  a  great 
pity  that  the  golden  rule  of  striking  the  medium  course  is  not 
adopted  in  relation  to  sporting  and  tree1  growing.  Trees  are 


Notes  on  Highland  Woods.  '221 

undoubtedly  a  grand  investment  to  make  with  such  land  to  work 
upon  as  is  so  plentiful  in  the  Highlands.  Thousands  and  thousands 
of  acres  under  slice])  are  not  worth  more  than  a  shilling  or  two 
shillings  per  acre.  Under  trees,  these  poor  acres  would  ultimately 
develop  into  a  mine  of  wealth  to  the  owner,  while  the  country 
would  reap  an  advantage  in  timber  which  it  can  never  do,  from  the 
same  ground,  in  mutton.  As  regards  the  outlook  for  such  estates 
as  those  of  Strathspey,  where  so  manv  millions  of  voung  trees  are 
slo\vly  approaching  maturity,  it  is  at  the  present  moment  nothing 
less  than  promising.  Kven  Australia  is  now  drawing  upon  the 
resources  of  the  l>altic  pine  forests,  which,  under  the  excessive 
drain,  will  probably  be  worked  to  death  within  the  next  half 
century,  if  not  much  sooner.  Railways  are  increasing,  and  as  they 
increase  the  demand  for  timber  must  grow  more  urgent,  and  con- 
sequently the  prices  will  improve.  As  foreign  sources  fail,  the 
native  wood  must  be  drawn  upon  for  building  purposes  And  as  a 
result  of  the  modern  tendency  of  things,  trees  will  repav  their 
growers  at  an  earlier  period  than  hitherto.  It  is  now  possible 
for  a  proprietor  to  see  trees  planted  which  will  yield  him  a  revenue 
in  his  old  age.  That  in  Former  times  was  scarcely  possible  for  the 
planter,  and  his  successor  invariably  reaped  the  financial  benefits 
of  his  enterprise  :  but  now  our  pine  woods  arc  cut  down  for 
railway  purposes  long  before  they  reach  maturity.  Instead  of  being- 
allowed  to  grow  for  SO  or  100  years,  which  is  the  time  fir  takes  to 
reach  mature  dimensions,  ii  is  cut  down  at  40  or  00  years  ;  so 
that  it  may  be  *aid  that  the  age  of  old  fir  is  passing  away  before 
the  exigencies  of  the  time,  and  that  such  grand  forests  as  those 
vhich  are  the  pride  of  Loehid's  property,  will  be  remembered  with 
pride  but  rarely  seen  again.  hi  conclusion,  it  need  onlv  be  added 
that  while  Inverness-shire  has  reason  for  congratulation  upon  its 
arboricultural  advancement,  the  forests,  here  as  elsewhere,  can 
never  attain  perfection  until  law  or  the  State  steps  in  and  insists 
upon  continuity  in  tree  product  ion. 


At  this  meeting,  Mr  llu.uh  Crant,  1<  Douglas  !low, 
was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Society.  Thc 
Alexander  Macbain  was  called  on  to  read  hi.-,  paper 
Incantation*.  Mr  Macbain's  paper  was  as  follows  : 


222  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

(  ;AKLKJ  INCANTATIONS. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The  belief  in  incantations,  like  that  in  the  evil  eye,  is  world-wide 
and  world-old.  An  incantation  consists  of  a  formula  of  words 
which  is  recited  to  bring  about  certain  physical  results  to  which 
the  meaning  of  the  words  has  some  correspondence  more  or  less 
direct.  Thus,  in  Scotland,  a  sprain  is  cured  in  this  way.  A  black 
woollen  thread,  with  nine  knots  made  upon  it,  is  tied  round  the 
sprained  limb,  and  while  the  thread  is  being  put  on,  the  operator 
mutters  these  words  : — 

The  Lord  rade 

And  the  foal  slade  ; 

He  lighted, 

And  lie  righted, 

Set  joint  to  joint, 

Done  to  bone, 

And  sinew  to  sinew, 

Heal  in  the  Holy  (Ihost's  name! 

The  principle  underlying  this  spell  is  that  of  analog}' — the  recital 
uf  what  the  Lord  did,  with  a  call  for,  or  expectation  of,  similar 
healing,  is  supposed  to  effect  the  healing  process.  But  another 
aspect  of  the  matter  appears  in  the  following  English  charm  for 

cramp  : — Stand  firmly  on  the  leg  affected,  and  repeat  with 
appri  ipriale  gesture  :-  - 

The  devil  is  tying  a  knot  in  my  leg, 

Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  unloose  it,  I  beg; 

( 'rossos  three  we  make  to  ease  us, 

Two  for  the  thieves,  and  one  for  Jesus. 

Here  is  an  evident  reference  to  the  action  of  demons,  who,  in 
certain  stages  of  culture,  are  supposed  to  cause  all  manner  o) 
diseases.  To  expel  this  demon  a  more  potent  power  had  to  be 
invoked,  and  this  is  done  bv  a  set  formula,  generally  in  metre. 
Here,  then,  the  virtue  <>f  the  '"spoken  word"  or  magic  formula 
lie^  in  the  fact  of  its  being  addressed  to  ;*  supposed  living  spirit  or 
agent,  capable  of  understanding  and  acting  upon  it  ;  and  this  is 
the  case  in  most  charms,  and  ultimately  this  animistic  notion  may 
be  the  foundation  o!'  them  all,  win.  1  her  analogical  and  symbolical, 
or  directly  invoking  demon  or  god  powers.  Among  savages  the 


Gaelic  Incantations.  223 

poetic  and  musical  arts  are  used  almost  for  this  purpose  alone.  If 
one  asks  an  Indian  of  the  West  for  a  love-song,  lie  will  tell  him 
that  a  philtre  is  really  much  more  efficacious.  "  If  you  ask  one  of 
them,''  says  Kohl,  who  travelled  among  the  Red  Indians,  "  to  sing 
you  a  simple  innocent  hymn,  in  praise  of  Nature,  a  spring  or  jovial 
hunting  stave,  lie  never  gives  you  anything  hut  a  form  of  incanta- 
tion, with  which  he  says  you  will  be  ahle  to  call  to  you  all  the 
birds  from  the  sky,  and  all  the  foxes  and  wolves  from  their  caves 
mid  burrows."  The  Maoris  call  incantations  kfi i-i'/cias,  and  employ 
them  in  actual  life,  such  as  for  raising  the  wind  by  their  means. 
The  hero  in  their  myths  splits  rocks  before  him  witli  a  fan-ukta, 
just  as  the  girls  in  the  Kaffir  and  Bushman  talcs  do  ;  and  by  the 
same  means  he  can  assume  any  animal  shape,  be  it  bird  or  beast. 
The  Finns  are  famed  for  their  magic  songs,  but  we  shall  quote  only 
this  blood-stopping1  formula  : — "  Listen,  U  blood,  instead  of  Mowing, 
instead  of  pouring1  forth  thy  warm  stream.  Stop,  O  blood,  like  a 
wall  ;  stop,  like  a  hedge  ;  stop,  like  a  reef  in  the  sea;  like  a  stiff 
sedge  ill  the  moss;  like  a  boulder  in  the  field  ;  like  a  pine  in  the 
\vood."  For  the  antiquity  of  these  and  like  incantations  we  may 
appeal  to  ancient  ( 'haldca,  the  land  of  Magic.  Fortunately,  a 
considerable  lx.nl v  of  incantations  "has  been  preserved  in  the  cunei- 
form inscriptions,  and  of  these  one  specimen  must  suffice  : — 

Painful  fever,  violent  fever, 
The  fever  which  never  leaves  man, 
Unremitting  fever, 
The  lingering  fever,  malignant  fever. 

Spirit   of   the   heavens,  conjure  it  !      Spirit  of    the'    Karth  con- 
jure it  ! 

Among  the  Aryan  nations,  ancient  and  modern,  the  belief  in 
incantations  has  been  strong.  Indeed,  a  good  case  has  been  made 
put  that  some  charms  can  be  traced  to  the  times  <»f  primitive 
Aryan  unitv.  The  sprain  charm  with  \\hich  we  be^an  to  exemplify 
the  subject  of  incantations  is  very  widelv  spread  over  Aryan 
ground.  It  appears  in  one  or  two  forms  in  (Gaelic,  as  for  instance 
thus : — 

( 'haidh  (  'riosd  a  niacli 
Sa"  mhaduinn    mhoich, 
S  fhuair  e  casan  nan  each, 
Air  am  bristeadh  mu  seach. 
( 'huir  e  cnaimh  ri  cnaimh, 
Agus  feith  ri  feith, 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Agus  feoil  ri  feoil, 
Agus  craicionn  ri  craicionn, 
'S  mar  leighis  esan  sin 
Gu'n  leighis  mise  so. 

This  means  that  Christ  early  in  the  morning  found  the  horses'" 
legs  broken,  and  he  put  "  bone  to  bone,  vein  to  vein,  flesh  to  flesh, 
skin  to  skin,  arid  as  he  healed  that  so  may  T  heal  this,"  at  the 
same  time  tying  a  worsted  thread  on  the  injured  limb.  Similarly 
in  Orkney,  after  telling  that  the  Saviour's  horse  "slade,"  we  arc 
told  that  he  put 

Sinew  to  sinew,  joint  to  joint, 
Blood  to  blood,  and  bone  to  bone. 
Mend  thou  in  (Joel's  name  ! 

Xorway  and  Denmark  have  almost  verbatim  copies,  and  in  the 
heathen  German  times  we  meet  in  the  Merseburg  charm  for  the 
lamed  horse  the  same  words,  only  it  is  'Balders  horse  that  is 
lamed,  and  Woden  works  the  cure  by  putting 

Ben  /i  bena,  bluot  y.i  Lluoda, 

Lid  '/\  giliden,  sose  gelimida  sin- 
bone  to  bone,  blood  to  blood,   and  joint  to  joint,   as    if   they  were 
glued  together.      With   this  the  Sanskrit    charm    in   the    Atharva 
Veda  has  been  very  properly  compared  : — 

Let  marrow  join  to  marrow,  and  let  limb  to  limb  be  joined, 
Grow  tlesh  that  had  fallen  away,  and  now  every  bone  also  grow, 
Marrow  now  unite'  with  marrow,  and  let  hide  on  hide  arise. 

Cato.  an  early  Latin  author,  has  left  a  charm  for  dislocation, 
which,  however,  as  often  happens,  is  but  a  mere  jargon  without 
sense.  In  the  great  Greek  poem  of  the  Odvssey,  the  kinsfolk  of 
Odvssey  sing  a  song  of  healing  over  the  wound  which  was  dealt 
him  bv  the  boar's  tusk,  and  Sophocles,  the  tragic  poet,  speaks  of 
the  follv  of  muttering  incantations  over  wounds  that  need  the 
•Mir^'con's  knife.  Theocritus  of  Syracuse,  a  Greek  poet  of  the  third 
century  before  Christ,  devotes  his  second  idyll  to  the  incantations 
of  the  love-lorn  Simaetha,  who  tries  to  bring  back  her  lover  by 
symbolic-  charms  and  incantations,  whose  burden  Mr  Symouds 
turns  neatly  by  the  line — 

Wheel  of  my  magic  spell,  draw  thou  that  man  to  my  dwelling. 


Gaelic  Incantations.  225 

We  get  a  glimpse  of  the  dire  incantations  resorted  to  by  the 
superstitious  women  of  Home  in  the  terrible  rites  practised  by 
Horace's  Canidia,  whose  charms  could  draw  down  the  moon,  a 
phrase  he  often  repeats,  as  does  also  Virgil.  Pliny,  who  doubt- 
fully discusses  the  question  of  the  use  of  charms,  records  that  even 
the  great  Caesar,  after  a  carriage  accident  which  befel  him,  used 
to  repeat  a  charm  three  times  for  safety  whenever  he  rode  there- 
after. 

Enough  has  been  said  by  way  of  proving  the  universality  and 
antiquity  of  charms  as  a  method  of  healing,  harming,  and  pro- 
tecting. The  Fnglish  word  "charm"  is  derived  through  old 
French  from  the  Latin  rnrmen,  a  song,  incantation  ;  and  it  covers 
nearly  the  whole  extent  of  this  class  of  superstition,  though 
"  spell :'  is  used  for  the  idea  of  fascination  or  bewitching.  A 
person  is  "  laid  under  spells  "  but  cured  or  protected  by  charms. 
There  are  several  words  in  Gaelic  for  these  ideas.  The  spell  is  in 
Irish  called  f/rtix,  which  also  means  a  prohibition  or  taboo.  The 
word  <jms  is  also  known  in  Gaelic,  but  the  idea  of  bespelling 
a  person  is  represented  really  by  two  modern  words- — *ian 
and  rox<tfj,  the  former  being  used  for  placing  on  one  a 
protective  spell,  and  the  latter  for  a  mischievous  spell.  The 
charm  pure  and  simple  is  now  called  <-ol(tx,  literally  ''  know- 
ledge," and  also  or  or  ortlta  (prayer?),  but  the  older  name 
(>l>fi><ni,  <}'><«i,  or  ?'/"'//,  which  appears  in  old  Irish  as  vjrfka, 
and  in  Manx  as  nMce,  still  survives  in  the  words  of  the 
charms,  and  has  caused  some  ludicrous  mistakes  to  translators. 
In  fact,  this  is  not  the  only  old  word  or  idea  that  has  survived  in 
these  curious  rhvmes.  The  Fai-tlt  Fiada  of  early  Irish.,  and  the 
/•''///  Fl<i  of  more  modern  Irish,  appears  on  Gaelic  ground  as  Fntfi- 
-//'[/,! •  or  F<i  /?'///r,  and  is  explained  by  a  Gairloch  man  as  "  the 
[lower  of  screening  oneself  from,  every  person  one  wi.-Jics."  For 
instance,  a  smuggler  possessed  of  this  charm  has  only  to  touch 
his  brewing  utensils,  and  no  gauge]'  can.  see  them  or  him.  Poachers 
similarly  can  lay  a  spell  on  their  game  so  as  to  make1  it  wholly 
invi>.ible,  or,  if  not  so,  as  some  hold,  to  make  only  the  heart  of  the 
'lead  animal  lie  seen.  This  power  is  conferred  by  a  rhyme  which 
fortunately  now  is  in  public  possession,  for  it  has  been  more  than 
once  published.  The  Fa  Fithe  is  therefore  a  spell.  In  the  Irish. 
tales,  the  Tuatha  I  >e  !>ananu  make  use  of  it,  arid  it  seems  to 
cause  a  magic  mist  which  they  can  cast  over  themselves,  though 
once  at  least  it  is  represented  as  a  magic  cloak.  Its  ultimate 
meaning  i.-,  doubtful,  so  far  as  present  knowledge  goe>.  St 
Pai  rick's  famous  Gaelic  hvmn  is  known  bv  the  same  til!::  a  title 


2-26  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

which  in  the  early  Irish  appears  as  Faed  Fiada,  which  Dr 
Whitley  Stokes  interprets  as  the  Deer's  Cry,  for  Patrick  and  his 
companions  escaped  by  the  recital  of  this  hymn,  appearing  to 
their  enemies  in  passing  as  but  so  many  deer  !  O'Beirne  Crowe 
gave  the  translation  as  Guardsman's  Cry,  but  these  translations 
carry  little  or  no  elucidation  of  the  later  ideas  connected  with  the 
expression. 

When  the  art  of  writing  was  introduced,  it  was  at  once  made 
use  of  in  charms.  Amulets  had  inscriptions  cut  on  them,  and 
slips  of  paper  or  parchment  with  incantations  written  on  them 
A-erc  worn  about  the  person.  Toothache  charms,  for  instance, 
"nave  so  been  used,  and  cases  have  been  known  where  the  paper, 
with  the  charm  thereon  written,  has  been  lost  for  some  time 
unwittingly,  and  as  soon  as  ever  the  loss  has  become  known,  the 
toothache  has  come  back',  to  employ  the  graphic  expression  actually 
made  use  of,  "like  u  shot."  The  "rune"  letters  of  the  Teutons, 
just  like  the  Ogams  of  the  Celts,  were  used  for  purposes  of  sorcery. 
Indeed  the  word  "rune,"  which  is  also  the  Gaelic  /•//«,  seems  pro- 
perl  v  to  mean  secrecy,  and  it  was  long  considered  a  wonderful 
<ecret  how  one  man  could  bv  such  simple  strokes  communicate 
his  thoughts  to  another.  From  this  it  was  a  natural  step  to 
attribute  to  runes  a.  secret  magic  power,  and  accordingly  we  have 

'.(.•counts  of  their  use  as  charms.  The  Futhorc  runic  alphabet  is 
found  inscribed  on  various  things  used  or  worn,  (.'specially  <>u 
-words.  Bryuhild,  as  the  Kdda  tells  us,  taught  Sigurd  the  virtue 

'f  runes  thus  : — 

Victory-runes  must  thou  know 
If  thou  wilt  victory  gain, 
('at  them  on  thy  sword-hilt, 
Others  cut  on  the  blade. 
And  twice  name  Tyr. 
Storm-runes  must  thou  cut, 
If  thou  wilt  guarded  have 
Thy  ship  in  the  breakers'  roar. 
Thought-runes  must,  thou  know, 
Wilt  thou  than  others  wiser  be. 
Woden  li  *th  these  runes 
Himself  devised. 

The  Gaelic  Celts  attributed  virtues  in  a  somewhat  similar  way  to 
ih-jir  Ogams.  Dalan,  the  druid  of  Koehaid  Airem.  took  four  rods 
of  yew  and  wrote  Ogams  on  them,  and  by  their  means,  mid  his  key 


Gaelic  Incantations.  227 

of  seership,  discovered  that  Eochaicl's  Queen  was  in  Fairyland. 
The  King  of  Alban's  son  inscribes  an  Ogam  on  Cuchulinn's  spear, 
and  that  hero  is  enabled  thereby  to  take  a  sea  voyage  unerringly 
in  search  of  some  friends.  The  secret  virtue  of  Ogams  is  also 
recognised  in  their  use  by  Cuchulinn  on  the  Tain  Ho  Chualgne,  a 
use  which  is  of  the  nature  of  a  taboo  rather  than  mere  warning  off 
to  his  foes.  The  disuse  of  Ogam  in  mediaeval  times  renders  it 
difficult  to  discover  many  examples  of  its  employment  in  charms, 
but  it  is  clear  that  in  Druidic  and  early  Christian  times  it  was  in 
great  vogue  for  purposes  of  magic. 

The  virtue  of  the  spoken  word  was  pushed  to  an  extreme  among 
the  Uael  in  their  belief  that  poets,  especially  satirists,  could 
give  physical  effect  to  their  sentiments  as  expressed  in  verse.  The 
satirists  were  believed  to  have  the  power,  by  means  of  their  verse, 
to  cause  not  an  injury  of  reputation  merely,  but  a  physical  injury 
as  well.  Deformities,  such  as  blisters  on  the  face  and  body,  were 
expected  to  result  from  a  satire,  and  the  legends  record  that  they 
did  result.  Hence  no  refusal  was  given  to  a  bard,  whatever  he 
asked — at  least  in  the  heroic  age1,  for  their  arro_rance  1  trough t 
matters  to  a  head  in  the  7th  century,  and  thev  lost  much  of  their 
pristine  power.  On  a  refusal,  the  bard  promptly  said,  "  I  will 
satirise  you,"  and  then  he  gained  his  point.  The  death  scene  of 
Cuchulinn  illustrates  this  well.  He  can  fall  onlvbv  his  own  spear, 
which  the  enemy  must  get.  So  a  satirist  comes  to  him  and  says- - 

"  That  spear  to  me.'' 

"  1  swear  my  people's  oath,"  said  Cuchulinn.  u  that  thou  dost 
not  want  it  more  than  I  do.  The  men  of  Erin  are  on  me  here  and 
I  on  them.'' 

"  I  will  revile  thee,  if  thou  givest  it  not,"  says  the  satirist. 

"  I  have  never  been  reviled  yet  because  of  my  niggardliness.'' 

With  that  Cuchulinn  flung  the  spear  at  him,  with  its  handle 
foremost,  and  it  passed  through  his  head  and  killed  nine  on  the 
other  side  of  him. 

That  satirist  received  his  deserts  !  The  belief  represented  here 
has  not  yet  died  out,  for  a  poetess  lately  deceased  has  more  than 
once  told  the  \\riter  how  she  was  feared  bv  certain  superstitious 
people  on  this  very  score — that  not  merely  a  moral  but  a  phvsical 
injury  should  be  done  them  by  a  satiric  rhyme  or  poem.  The 
Caelic  for  satire  is  uoir,  and  there  are  several  such  in  the  language. 
Some  last  century  MSS.  represent  a  poetical  duel  as  once  taking 
place  between  Lord  Macdonald  of  the  Isles  and  Maccailein  More  of 
Argyle,  which  ran  thus  : — 


22tf  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Mac  Cailein  : 

Tha  mi  eolach  anus  gacli  ceaird  ; 
Le  h-aoirc  ni  'n  claoidhte  mo  cholg. 
Ge  b'  c  bheireadh  a  inacli  m'  fhearg, 
Bhiodli  c  dearg  mar  dhril  nan  ord. 

Mac  DomJinuilt : 

Ni  'in  b'  usa  buntainn  ri  m'  shamhail-s', 
'S  mi  mar  cheaim  nathrach  's  teang  air  chrith  ; 
'S  mi  mar  eisg  an  deis  a  bearraidh, 
'S  beist  air  buin  a  li-earra  dhi. 

Translated  :  — 

Aryylc  : 

\  am  learned  in  every  art  ; 
\Vith  satire  my  rage  could  not  1)0  overcome. 
\\  liosoever  would  draw  forth  my  wrath 
\Voidd  lie  red  (blistered)  like  sparkles  from  the  hammer. 

77t>'  Lord  of  the  7>vVx  ; 

X"  easier  were  it  to  deal  with  my  like  : 

T  am  like  the  adder's  head,  and  its  tongue  vibrating  ; 

kike  an  eel  after  its  being  docked, 

And  a  beast  that  has  its  tail  cut  off. 

The  name  of  the  sixteenth  century  Irish  and  Scottish  bard, 
Aliens  O'Dalv,  called  Aonghus  Xan  Aoir,  or  Angus  the  Satirist,  is 
still  remembered  in  the1  Highlands  with  dread,  and  many  of  his 
'/o?V,s'  are  handed  down,  in  Scotland  only  Chisholm  of  Strathglass 
pleased  him- — and  lie  did  not  !  Jmt  there  are  several  aoh's  or 
satires  on  vermin,  like  raits  and  mice,  which  are  really  intended  to 
satirise  these  animals  out  of  the  locality.  The  following  spell 
against  mice  is  attributed  to  Aonghus  Xan  Aoir.  It  appeal's  in 
t  he  Di/r.inaire  :-  - 

A  h-nile  inch  fhirionn  is  bhoirionn, 
l-'adar  Cnocan  i  )ail-na-C:i]'ra 
Amis  lonbluxr  Alld  a.'  mliuilinn, 
l>ithibh  ullaihli  gn  dol  thairis. 
(iabhaidh  seacliad  air  an  dam, 
!>eagan  am  bj'aigh  a"  mhuilinn, 
Cumaidh  sios  ratliiid-mnir  an  1  >iuc, 
Seachad  ciii  'I'oni  na  li-aire. 


Gaelic  Incantations-  229 

Ruigibh  an  sin  Drochaicl-Nibheis, 

Tha  i  tioram,  's  bithidh  thairis. 

Uabhaidh  sios  cul  nan  garadh, 

Seachnaibh  an  t-Sraid,  tha  i  soilleir, 

Mu'm  much  iad  sibb  fo  'n  casan, 

"S  mu'n  saltair  iad  nur  goillc. 

Tha  figheadair  an  eeann  shios  a'  bhaile, 

Agus  ciste  mliiuc  air  a  chiilaobh. 

Fanaibh  an  sin  gus  an  abaich  eorna  Shiuna  ; 

Agus  cho  ccart  's  gu'm  bcil  boinn'  iiisg'  an  Lochaidh, 

Cuimhnichibh  an  t-6rdugh  'chleachdadh. 

This  is  merely  an  elaborate  order  fov  the  mice  to  go  over  from  one 
place,  directions  being  minutely  given,  to  another,  where  more 
food  awaits  them  ;  and  let  them  do  it  evermore  !  An  even  better 
"  mouse"  charm  is  published  in  the  12th  volume  of  the  Celtic 
Mayazine  (p.  257),  and  a  particularly  excellent  "rat"  spell  is 
published  in  "  Nether-Lochabers ''  Jlen  A7rvis  «n<l  Clmcrx*,  at  ])agc 
4,  with  a  translation. 

Another  belief  in  connection  with  tliese  charms  is  remarkable 
as  finding  its  proper  parallel  only  in  present  savage  or  barbarous 
life,  though  prevalent  in  old  Kgypt  'Phis  consists  in  a  magic 
value  being  attached  to  a  person's  name.  Among  the  Kgyptians, 
to  know  the  name  of  a  god  or  spirit  gave  the  person  knowing  it 
the  power  over  him  nolens  rolc-nt.  Pliny  relates  how  the  Romans 
used  to  find  out  the  name  of  the  gods  of  any  city  thev  besieged, 
and  called  upon  him  to  come  over  to  them  as  able  to  give  higher 
-acrifices.  The  Jews  neve)1  named  the  name  of  their  (Jod,  so  that 
it  lias  been  a  matter  of  doubt  how  exactly  the  name  "Jehovah  " 
was  pronounced.  A  man  and  his  name  are  therefore,  in  i  jrtain 
stages  of  culture,  regarded  as  convertible  terms  :  to  injure  the 
one  is  to  injure  the  other.  If  a  Lapp  child  falls  ill,  its  name  must 
be  changed.  In  Borneo  the  same  is  done  to  cheat  the  (lemons 
that  plague  it.  Among  the  Finns,  to  know  the  name  and  origin 
of  any  being — man  or  demon,  human  or  demoniac  disease-bringer 
---gives  power  over  him.  It  is  so  in  certain  (Jaelic  charms.  The 
name  of  the  person  has  carefully  to  be  repeated,  and  it  must  be 
the  person's  real  name;  a  wrong  paternity  attributed  to  any 
person  entails  a  wrong  name,  and  a  consequent  failure  in  the 
efficacy  of  the  charm.  The  blood  of  an  unbaptised  person  cannot 
of  course  be  stopped  by  a  charm,  for  he  has  no  name  recognised 
by  the  supernatural  powers.  It  is  equally  important  in  the  cure 
of  cattle  to  know  the  name  of  the  animal  upon  which  the  charm 


"230  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

is  worked  ;  and  it  is  asserted  that  witches  and  other  "  bespellers" 
require  the  name  of  a  cow,  or  a  hair  from  its  hide,  to  work  their 
wicked  will. 

The  taking-  the  name  of  the  Deity  in  vain  breaks  one  of  the 
ten  commandments,  as  everyone  knows  ;  but  it  is  highly  improper 
— nay  very  dangerous — to  rashly  invoke  any  supernatural  power. 
The  invoking  of  the  devil  by  rashly  calling  on  his  name  mig-ht 
bring  him  before  the  votary  ;  and  adjuration  or  oath  might  do  the 
same.  Of  course  witches  could  call  him  up  on  set  purpose  by 
their  incantations.  It  is  not,  perhaps,  so  well  known  that  fairies 
and  other  powers  could  also  so  appear  if  their  name  was  raxlily 
invoked  ;  for  only  witches  purposely  invoked  supernatural  beings 
like  the-  devil  and  the  fairies.  A  story  may  illustrate  this.  On 
a  hot,  broiling  day,  a  woman  was  toiling'  on  alone,  when  feeling* 
very  thirsty  she  .said,  "  Xach  truagh  nach  robh  mo  phathadh-s;i 
air  Bean  a'  Ohlugain  !"  (I'ity  my  thirst  was  not  on  the  Uoodwife 
of  (rlugan).  Suddenly  a  woman  dressed  in  green  appeared  with  a 
quaidi  of  milk.  The  other  was  taken  aback.  "Take  this;  it 
will  do  you  no  harm/'  But  she  refused,  saying  she  did  not  need 
it.  The  fairv  replied,  u  (Jun  robh  galar  na  te  a  chuir  a'  cheud 
chir  a'  cheud  aoine  na  ceann  orm  ma  ni  e  cron  ort  !"  (Mav  the 
disease  that  came  on  the  first  woman  that  put  the  first  comb  in 
her  hair  on  the  first  Friday  (or  fast)  be  on  to  me,  if  it  will  hurt 
you).  "  I )<'•  an  galar  bha  'n  sin1?"  (What  disease  was  that's) 
"  I  bhasachadh  gun  mhac,  gun  nighean."  (That  she  died  without 
son  or  daughter). 

rriie  exact  line  of  demarcation  on  the  one  hand  between  what 
is  an  incantation  and  what  is  a  prayer  or  hymn,  and  on  the  other 
hand  between  an  incantation  and  an  ordinary  secular  song,  is  often 
difficult  to  draw.  It  is  not  merely  incantations  and  charms  that 
trench  closely  on  the  religious.  What  is  religious  passes 
imperceptibly  into  what  is  purely  superstitious,  especially  if  the 
culture  of  the  people  is  not  high.  Superstition  is  nearly  all  a 
survival  of  Paganism  into  Christian  times  ;  and  in  the  incantations 
flit-  names  of  Christ,  his  apostles,  and  the  Virgin  Mary  took  those 
of  the  old  heathen  gods.  We  have  already  quoted  the  "  sprain" 
charm,  and  in  its  heathen  (ierman  form  we  saw  that  it  was 
Haider's  horse  that  was  lamed,  but  in  the  modern  charms  it  is  the 
horse  of  the  Lord  : — 

"  The  Lord  rade 

And  the  foal  slade." 
Or 


Gaelic  Incantations.  231 

Many  meduuval  hymns  and  prayers  \\ere  used  as  mere  incanta- 
tions. After  all,  heathen  prayers  were  and  are  often  incantations 
or  magic  formuhe,  compelling'  the  attention  of  the  divine  being  by 
mere  ritual.  As  Kenan  points  out,  the  Roman  prayer  was  a 
magic  formnhe  effecting  its  object  without  reference  to  the  moral 
disposition  of  the  worshipper.  If  the  rites  and  words  were  gone 
through  duly — rite,  as  they  said,  that  is  according  to  rite,  then  the 
desired  effect  took  place  independent  altogether  of  the  character 
of  the  person  worshipping:  there  was  no  idea  of  sin  or  repentance; 
it  was  all  a  give  and  take  ;  u  I  otfer  a  kid — rite,  you  give  me  so  and 
so,"  or  "  ff  you  save  me  in  the  danger  I  am  to  pass  through,  L  will 
kill  so  many  victim i  at  your  altar,  or  I  will  erect  a  temple  for 
you.''1  Similarly  the  Khassia  of  Xorth-East  India,  who  worship 
dead  ancestors,  offer  to  put  up  an  extra  pillar  stone  to  a  dead 
relative  if  help  is  given.  If  the  help  come  not,  often  some  of  the 
pillar  stones  ah'cady  erected  are  knocked  down  !  Some  early 
Christian  ( 'eltic  hvmns  are  mere  charms.  We  may  instance  the 
Latin  hymn  known  as  the  Lorica  or  i%  Mailcoat  '"  of  Gildas,  which 
probably  goes  back  to  the  7th  century.  The  author  of  it  prays 
that  death  come  not  that  year,  that  he  be  defended  from  his  i'oes 
by  angels  and  saints,  and  that  Cod  defend  him  in  all  his  limbs  and 
members,  which  are  duly  named.  lie  says: 

"  Domine,  esto  lorica  tutissima 
Krga  membra,  crira  mea  viscera,  Are.'' 

Anyone  that  sang  this  hymn  frequently  had  seven  years'  addi- 
tional life  and  a  third  of  his  sins  wiped  out,  and  any  day  he  sang 
it,  demons  and  I'oes  and  death  could  not  touch  him.  The  elaborate 
hymn  of  St  Columbus,  called  the  AH.us,  was  good  as  a  charm  for 
the  sick,  and  his  •'  Xoli,  pater,  indulgere  "  was  potent  against  tire, 
thunder,  and  lightning.  St  Patrick's  hymn,  the  I'Yieth  Fiada,  has 
been  a,  famous  charm.  Here  the  devotee,1  binds  himself  to  tin- 
Trinity,  to  the  power  of  Christ's  life,  to  the  power  of  the  heavenly 
hierarchy,  to  the  powers  of  nature1,  and  to  Cod's  power  to  direct  and 
defend  him  against  demons,  vices,  Arc.,  and  finally,  he  invokes  all 
these  powers  against  tyranny,  incantations,  idolatry,  black  gentile 
laws,  "  against,  spells  of  women,  and  smiths,  and  druids,"  and 
against  poison,  wounds  and  drowning;  let  Christ  be  all  round  him  ; 
and  so  he  binds  himself  to  these  powers.  The  prologue  to  this  hymn 
tell  us  that  Patrick  made  it  to  protect  himself  and  his  monks  against 
the  ambush  of  his  foes,  so  that  they  escaped  in  the  guise  of  deer. 
This  hymn  "  is  a  corslet  of  faith  for  the  protection  of  body  and 
soul  against  demons,  and  men,  and  vices.  Kvery  one  who  shall 


Gaelic  Society  of  /nuemess. 

sing  it  every  day,  with  pious  meditation  on  God,  demons  shall  not 
stand  before  his  face  ;  it  will  be  a  defence  against  every  poison 
and  envy  ;  it  will  be  a  safeguard  against  sudden  death,  and  a 
corslet  to  his  soul  after  death." 

In  this  connection,  the  beautiful  hvmns  collected  by  Mr 
Carmichael  in  Uist  at  once  occur  to  one.  Some  of  them  are  just 
on  the  indefinable  borderland  that  seperates  Christianity  and 
Paganism,  and  others  again  incline  to  a  doubtful  position  between 
a  literary  croon  and  an  incantation.  We  may  quote  one  or  two. 
This  one  refers  to  smothering  or  "  smooring  "  the  fire  at  night 
before  retiring  to  rest  : — 

UHNUIGU    SMALAIDH    AN    TEINE. 

(  Prayer  on  Smooriny   the   Fire). 

Tha  mi  'snialadh  an  teine, 

Mar  a  smalas  Mac  Moire  ; 

Gu  ma  slan  dha'n  taigh  's  dha'n  teine, 

Gu  ma  slim  dha'n  chuideachd  uile. 

Co  siod  air  an  lAr  'I      Peadair  agus  Pal. 

Co  air  a  bhios  an  fhaire  an  nochd  1 

Beul  De  a  tlnVradh,  aingeal  J)e  a  labhradh. 

Aingeal  an  dorus  gach  taighe, 

Ca'r  comhnadh  's  ga'r  gleidlieadh, 

Gin)  tig  la  geal  am  maireach. 

Translation - 

I  smoor  the  fire, 

As  it  is  smoored  by  the  Son  of  Mary, 

Blest  be  the  house,  blest  be  the  fire, 

And  blessed  be  the  people  all. 

Who  are  those  on  the  floor?     Peter  and  Paul. 

Fpoii  whom  devolves  the  watching  this  night? 

rpon  fair  gentle  Mary  and  her  Son. 

The  mouth  of  God  said,  the  angel  of  Cod  tells. 

An  angel  in  the  door  of  every  house. 

To  shield  and  to  protect  us  all, 

Till  bright  daylight  comes  in  the  morning. 

There  is  similarly  a,  longer  one  for  going  to  bed,  called  the 
'•  Bed  Blessing  ;;'  also  hymns  for  blessing  in  going  with  cattle  to 
the  shealings,  the  "  Herding  Blessing,''  and  the  following  one  is 
intended  to  consecrate  the  seed  before  putting  it  in  the  soil.  The 
person  reciting  the  Consecration  Hymn  went  sun-wise  (Jeisfil),  and 
chanted 


Gaelic  Incantations.  233 

"  Theid  mise  niacli  a  chur  an  t-sil, 
An  ainni  an  Ti  a  bhcir  air  fas, 
Cuiridh  mi  in'  aodan  sa'  ghaoith, 
Is  tilgidh  mi  baslach  an  aird." 

Translation — 

I  go  forth  to  sow  the  seed 

In  the  name  of  Him  who  makes  it  grow. 

I.  will  set  my  face  to  the  wind, 

And  throw  a  handful  upwards. 

The  following  milking  song  is  secular-superstitious,  a  croon  or  a 
charm  combined,  intended  to  soothe  the  restlessness  of  a  cow  that 
has  lost  her  calf;  and  the  reference  in  the  first  verse  is  to  the 
Laoiciomi  or  "  Tulchan  "  substituted  for  the  real  calf  :— 

IIAXACIIAK;  NAM  BO. 
(The  milJ:-n>fild  of  the  cow*). 

O,  m'  aghan  !   ho  m'ngh  rnin  ! 
M'  aghan  crulh,  coir  gradhach, 
An  ainm  an  Ard  If'igh, 
(iabli  ri  d?  laogh  ! 

An  oidhche  bha  am  Buaehaille  inuigh, 
Cha  deachaidh  bnarach  air  boin, 
( 'ha  deachaidh  geum  a  beul  laoigh, 

A.  caoincadh  Buachaille  'chruidh  ! 

Thig,  a  Mhoire,'s  Idigh  a  bho, 
rrhig,  a  P)hnde,''s  comraig  i  ; 
Thig,  a  Chaluim  Chille  chaoimh, 

Js  iadh  do  dha  laimli  niu  nr  blioin  ! 

Mo  bho  lurach,  dhul)h,  bo  na  h-airidh 
156  a''  bhathigh  !   mathair  laogh  ! 
Liiban  siamaii;  air  crodh  na  tire, 

Bnarach  shiod  air  ni'  aghan  gaoil  ! 

'S  a  bho  dhubh  sin,  's  a  bho  dhubh, 
?S  ionnan  galar  dhornhs'  is  dhuts,' 
Thnsa  caoidh  do  cheud  laogh  caoin  — 

Mise  's  m'  aona  rnhac  gaoil- fo'n  mhuir  ! 


234  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Translation — 

0,  mv  heifer,  ho  !  my  gentle  heifer, 
My  heifer  so  full  of  heart,  generous  and  kind, 
In  the  name  of  the  High  King 
Take  to  thy  calf. 

That  night  the  Herdsman  was;  out, 
No  shackle  went  on  n  cow 
Nor  ceased  a  low  from  a  calf 

Wailing  the  Herdsman  of  the  nock. 

Come,  Mary  (Virgin),  and  milk  the  cow  ; 
Come,  Bridget,  and  encompass  her, 
Come,  Calum  Cille,  the  beneficent, 

And  wind  thine  arms  around  my  cow. 

My  lovely  black  cow,  the  pride  of  the  sheiling  ! 
First  cow  of  the  hvre,  choicest  mother  of  calves  ! 
AVisps  of  straw  round  other  cows  of  the  town  land, 
I  Jut  a  shackle  of  silk  on  mv  heifer  so  loved. 

Thou  black  cow  !   mine  own  gentle  black  cow  ! 
The  same  disease  ntllicts  thee  and  me  ; 
Thou  art  grieving  for  thv  beautiful  first  calf, 

And  I  for  mine  only  beloved  son  under  the  sea. 

Similarly  several  operative  song.-,  trench  closely  on  being 
incantations  for  success  in  the  work  on  hand.  The  weird  quern 
and  waulking  songs  do  not  oppear  to  be  altogether  free  from  the 
tainl  of  incantation. 


\\ 'c  shall  begin  first  with  the  .syW/x?  or  bespelling  charms, 
known  in  (Jaclie  as  yet.ixo  or  xiana  (signum,  blessing).  Thereafter 
we  shall  consider  the  healing  charms  for  man  and  beast.  The 
<!<>d*  or  spell  is  generally  wicked  :  it  is  the  work  of  an  adverse 
power,  and,  as  a  consequence,  we  cannot  get  any  specimens  of  this 
form  of  incantation  with  ease.  For  instance,  a  spell  could  be  laid 
on  a  man  going  out  to  shoot,  unknown  to  him,  and  he  would  be 
unsuccessful  that  day.  Such  a  spell  is  a  rom<l,  and,  though  the 
"  ros-id"  still  exists  among  us,  we  have  failed  in  persuading  any- 
body to  reveal  it.  Of  course,  the  folktales  contain  bespelling 
fornmhe,  for  in  them  the  hero  or  heroine  do  many  wonders  by 
means  of  spoken  words.  The  favourite  form  for  the  folktale  spell 


Gaelic  Incantations  235 

is  this — "  Tim  mise  'cur  ort  mar  gheasaibh  's  mar  ehroisibh,  's  mar 
uaoidh  buaraichean  mmitlm  sithe  siiibhla,  seacharaiu,  laochan  beag 
a's  ineataiche  's  a's  mi-threoiriche  ua  thu  fein  a  thoivt  a  chiini,  's 
nan  cluas,  's  nan  comada  beatha  diot,  niur  faigh  thu  inach,  &c." 
u  I  lay  on  you  as  spells  and  crosses,  and  as  nine  fetters  of  a  fairy, 
travelling,  wandering  woman,  that  a  little  fellow  more  timid  and 
more  feeble  than  yourself  deprive  you  of  your  head,  your  ears, 
and  your  powers  of  life,  unless  you  discover''  or  "do,"  Arc.1 

The  Fatli  Fithc,  spell,  which,  as  already  stated,  poachers  once 
made  use  of,  and  smugglers  lately,  and  now  even,  Mud  means  of 
escape  by,  is  as  follows  : 

Fa  Mthe  cuiream  ort 
Bho  elm,  bho  chat 
Bho  bho,  bho  each, 
Bho  dhuine,  bho  bheau, 
Bho  ghille,  bho  nighean. 
'S  blio  leanabh  beag, 
(Jus  an  tig  mist'  ritlii^d, 
An  ainm  an  Athar.  a'  Mine,  's  an  Spioraid  Naoimh. 

"  A  rnagic    cloud    I    put   on    thce   from 

woman,  lad,  lass,  and  little  child,  till  I 

Trinity."2 

The  first  two  words  are  the   old    Faeth  Fiada,  as  now  pronounced. 

This  spell  rendered  the  person  invisible. 

The  preventive  charm  or  x!<i.n  \^  represented  by  a  very  i'am 
formula  intended  to  preserve  a  man  from  wounding  or  harm  fi 
the  time  when  he  left  the  presence  of  the  charmer  till  he  caino 
back,  and  it  was  usually  put  on  those  going  to  battle.  V-'ii  so 
protected,  for  instance,  at  Cnlloden,  had  only  to  take  their  plaids 
off  their  shoulders  and  shake  out  of  them  the  bullets  that  hit 
them!  It  was  the  Sian,  j>ur  ej'cr/lencc,  and  is  as  follows  :-  --The 
charmer  and  his  protege  go  to  a  retired  spot.  Here  the  recipient 
of  the  charm  goes  on  his  knees  :  the  charmer  lays  his  hand  on 
his  head,  and,  with  eyes  shut,  lie  utters  the  following  rhyme, 
going  round  him  sunwise  twice.  And  he  goes  round  him  once 
anti-sumvisc,  saying  a  different  rhyme.  Both  these  rhymes,  which 
after  much  trouble  we  have  been  Fortunate  enough  to  get,  run 
thus  : — Going  sunwise,  he  says- 

1  See  Folk  anil  Hero  Tales  of  Argyllshire,  pau;e  :U»i. 
'-'  Gaelic  Society  Transactions  VIII..  p.  \-27.  un-1  XIV..  ]>.  'Jt>4. 


236  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

Sian  a  cliuir  Moire  air  Mac  ort, 

Sian  ro'  marbhadh,  sian  ro'  lot  ort, 

Sian  cadar  a'  chiocli  7s  a  glilun, 

Sian  eadar  a'  ghlim  's  a?  bhroit  ort, 

Sian  nan  Tri  aim  an  aon  ort, 

()  mhullach  do  cl  inn  gu  bonn  do  chois  ort  : 

Sian  seaehd  paidir1  a  h-aon  ort, 

Sian  seachd  paidir  a  dha  ort, 

Sian  seaclid  paidir  a  tri  ort 

Sian  seaclid  paidir  a  ceithir  ort, 

Sian  scachd  paidir  a  coig  ort, 

Sian  seaclid  paidir  a  sia  ort, 

Sian   seaclid   paidir    nan    seaclid    paidir   dol    deisil   ri 

dcagh  narach  ort,  ga  do  glileidhcadh  blio  bheud 's 

bho  inhi-thapadh. 

<Joing  anti-snnwisc,  he  says — 

riogaid  na  slainte  mu  d;  cheann, 

Cearcall  a'  chimilmaint  mu  d'  amhaich, 

(Jchd-eididh  an  t-s-igairt  inn  d'  bhroillcaoh. 

Ma's  rnaig  l>ho  'n  taobh-rhuil, 

Brogan  na  h-()igh  ga  d?  ghiulan  gu  hiath. 

Sian  nan  Tri  ami  an  aon  ort 

Bho  mlmllach  do  chmn  gu  bonn  do  shall, 

Agus  sian  paidir  nan  seachd  ]»aidir 

Dol  tuaitheal  is  deiseil,  deiseil  is  tuairheal, 

(>u  d'  ghleidheadh  bho  d'chul 

IJlio  luaidh  's  bho  chlaidheamh, 

I>]io  lot  's  blio  mharbhadh, 

Gu  uair  is  am  do  hhais. 

The  ])erso:i  on  whom  the  charm  is  placed  then  rises  and  departs, 
mit  the  charmist  remains  standing  with  eyes  shut,  and  he  does 
not  open  them  till  the  other  is  out  of  sight.  The  charmed  one 
is  safe  from  death  or  wounds  till  the  charmist  sees  him  again. 
The  translation  is  as  follows  :  - 

The  charm  that  Mary  placed  on  her  son  he  on  you, 

('harm  from  slaying,  charm  from  wounding, 

<  'harm  between  pap  and  knee, 

(,'harm  between  knee  and  breast  on  you, 

1  A.s   our   informant  liad   it.   the    word    was    »-.adai\_    which,    following   the 
Analogy  ot'  other  charms,  we  have  corrected  into  paidir. 


Gaelic  Incantations.  -237 

Charm  of  the  Three  in  One  on  you, 

From  top  of  head  to  sole  of  foot. 

Charm  of  seven  paters  once  on  you, 

Charm  of  seven  paters  twice  on  you, 

Charm  of  seven  paters  thrice  on  you, 

Charm  of  seven  paters  four  times  on  you, 

Charm  of  seven  pater*  five  times  on  you, 

Charm  of  seven  pater*  six  times  on  you, 

Charm  of  the  seven  paters  of  the  seven  paters  going  sunwise 

in  lucky  hour  on  you,  a-keeping  you  from  harm  and 

accident. 

Anti-sun  wise — 

The  helmet  of  Salvation  about  vour  head, 

Tlu-  ring  of  the  Covenant  about  vour  neck. 

The  priest's  breast-plate  about  vour  breast  ; 

If  it  be  retreat  on  the  rear, 

The  shoes  of  the  Virgin  to  take  you  swiftly  away. 

Charm  of  the  Three  in  One  on  you 

Krom  crown  of  head  to  sole  of  foot, 

And  the  charm  of  the  pater  of  the  seven  paters 

A-going  anti-sunwise  and  sunwise,  sunwise  and  anti-sunwise, 

To  protect  you  from  behind 

From  lead  and  from  sword, 

From  wound  and  from  slaying, 

Till  the  hour  and  time  of  your  death. 

The  following  is  a.  charm  to  help  in  the  correct  interpretation 
of  dreams.  The  charmer  repeats  the  following,  and  then  the 
dream  is  unravelled  :  — 

Chunnaic  mi  aislinu1  an  raoir 

'S  mi  'njiiu  shuid.il  air  sliabh.  rath  ; 

!  )lr  innis  Peadar  e  do  Pho! 

'S  thuirt  PI  >1  gu'm  bu  mhath  : 

Aeh  breithneachdainn  Chriosd  ro:  Phol 

( in  thusa  chumail  ceart. 

I  saw  a  vision  last  niu'hr 
And  me  sitting  on  a  mount  < 
Peter  told  it  to   Paul 


But  the  judgment  ot  Christ  before  Paul's 
TO  kuep  vou  riu'lit. 


"238  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

The  following  is  a  charm  given  by  "  Nether-Lochaber"  as  good 
against  the  demon  of  the  dust-cloud.  "As  it  swirls  along,"  he 
says,  "  as  it  approaches,  you  are  instantly  to  close  your  eyes  and 
mouth  as  tightly  as  possible,  at  the  same  time  turning  your  back 
upon  it  until  it  has  swept  by,  mentally  repeating — for  you  are 
not  to  open  your  mouth,  nor  as  much  as  breathe,  as  long  as  you 
can  help  it — this  rhyme  : — 

Gacli  cumaii  is  mias  is  meadar, 

Gu  Pol,  gu  Peadair  's  gu  Bride; 

Dion,  is  seun,  is  gleidh  mi  o  olc  's  o  chunnart, 

Air  a  bhcalach,  's  air  a  mhullach, 

'S  air  an  tulaich  ud  thall  ; 

Pol  is  Peadair  is  Bride  caomh  ! 

'Which  lie  translates- — 

1)0  the  care  of  milk  pail,  and  bowl,  and  cog 

(liven  to  Peter  and  Paul  and  Saint  Bride  ; 

Wherever  I  wander  protect  me,  ye  Saints  ! 

Let  not  evil  nor  harm  me  betide  ; 

Hear  me,  Peter  and  Paul,  and  gentle  Saint  Bride  I1 

We  now  come  to  the  spell  for  prevention  of  the  results  arising 
from  the  "Evil  Kye.'  The  following  is  a  preventive  charm  to 
keep  the  evil  eye  oft'  one's  cows.  It  is  called  "  Kolas  an  Torranain," 
and  was  got  by  Mr  Carmiehae],  when  he  was  in  list..  The  torraufn, 
he  explains,  was  described  to  him  as  a  flowering  plant,  growing  in 
rocky  hill  places,  the  bloom  of  which  is  large  and  pap-like.  The 
tide  is  said  to  affect  it,  for  while  the  tide  flows,  it  is  filled  with  the 
"dew  of  bliss/"  and  dries  up  again  with  the  ebb.  It  has  to  be 
culled  (luring  the  flow  of  the  tide,  placed  under  one  of  the  milk 
pails,  and  in  placing  it  this  charm  is  repeated  three  times,  making 
at  each  time  a  circle  sunwise,  with  the  plant  over  the  vessel  : — 

Buaineams'  thu,  thorranain, 
e  'd  uile  bheannachd  ;s  le  'd  uile  bhuaidh  : 
hainig  na  naoi  sonais 
,eis  na  naoi  earranan 
.e  buaidh  an  torranain  ; 
.amh  Bhride  learn! 

Tha  mi  nis  gad  bhuaiu. 

1  Tti:''.(t  Hat -\ei-is  ((nd  (Hciv. 


Gaelic  Incantations.  239 

Buaineams'  tliu,  thorranain, 
Le  'd  thoradh  inara  's  tir, 
Ri  lionadh  gun  traoghadh, 
Lc  'd  lamhwa,  Bhride  mhm, 
Colum  naomli  gam  sheoladh, 
Odhran  caomli  gam  dhion, 
Is  Micheil  nan  steud  uaibhreach 
'Cur  buaidh  anus  an  ni. 

Tha  mo  lus  lurach  a  nis  air  a  bhuain. 

Which  translates—- 
Let me  pluck  thee,  Torannan  ! 
With  all  thy  blessedness  and  all  thv  virtue. 
The  nine  blessings  came  with  the  nine  parts, 
By  the  virtue  of  the  Torannan  ; 
The  hand  of  St  Bride  with  me, 
I  am  now  to  pluck  thee. 
Let  me  pluck  thee,  Torannan  ! 
With  thine  increase  as  to  sea  and  laud  ; 
With  the  Mowing  tide  that  shall  know  no  ebbing, 
By  the  assistance  of  chaste  St  Bride. 
The  holv  St  (-oluniba  directing  me, 
(Gentle  St  Odhran  protecting  me, 
And  St  Michael  of  high-crested  steeds, 
Imparting  virtue  to  the  matter  the  while, 

My  beaute  »n>  plant  is  now  plucked  I1 

II.     FOK    THE    EVIL    EYE. 

When  the  "  evil  eve"  has  ''  lain''  on  any  one,  there  are  various 
means  of  cure.  The  most  usual  is  the'  cure  by  water  off  silver  ; 
and  this  cure  was  effected  with  or  without  a  rhyme  charm.  The 
Hindus  opercindt  with  the  incantation  was  as  follows: — Coins  of 
gold,  silver,  and  copper  are  put  in  a  basin  full  of  water.  The 
charmer  repeats  the'  t-<>ln<  or  incantation,  and  in  doing  so  blows  on 
the  Avater  with  his  breath.  The  water  is  then  sprinkled  on  the 
sutterer.  The  charm  is  as  follows  : — 

'S  e  'n  t-suil  a  chi 

"S  e  'n  cridhe  a  smuaiuicheas, 

:S  e  'n  teanga  labhras. 

'S  mise  'n  triuir  gu  tilleadh  so  ortsa,  A.I)., 

An  ainm  an  Athar,  a'  Mine,  's  an  Spioraid  Naoimh. 

1  T«:ixt  /loi-Xerix  <nul  1'lb-ncvc,  ]».  1S^. 


240  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

Translated— 

'Tis  the  eye  that  sees,  the  heart  that  thinks,  and  the  tongue 
that  speaks.  I  am  the  three  to  turn  this  off  you,  A.  B.,  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  etc. 

The  charm,  apart  from  the  "  silver"  water,  is  known  as  "  Eolas 
a'  Chronacliaidh,"  or  "  Charm  for  the  Ucproof,"  or  it  may  be  called 
"  Casg  Beum-suil.''  "Stopping  Injury  by  Eye."  John  Mackenzie, 
in  his  fieauties  <>f  Gaelic  Poetry,  p.  268,  gives  the  following  Gaelic 
charm  for  it,  saying  that  during  its  repetition  "the  singular 
operation  of  filling  a  bottle  with  water  is  carried  on,  and  the 
incantation  was  so  sung  as  to  chime  with  the  gurgling  of  the 
liquid  as  it  was  poured  into  the  vessel.  ' 

Dcanam-sa  dhut-sa  eolas  air  suil, 

A  uchd  ;Ille  Phadruig  naoimli, 

Air  at  amhaich  is  stad  earrbuill, 

Air  naoi  conair  "s  air  naoi  conachair, 

'S  air  naoi  bean  seang  sith, 

Air  suil  seaua-gliille,  's  air  sealladh  seana-nihna  ; 

Mas  a  .suil  fir  i,  i  lasadh  mar  bhigh, 

Mas  a  sui!  mhnath    i,  i  bhi  dh'  easbhuidh  a  cich. 

Kalcadair  i'uar  agus  t'uaraclid  da  Tuil, 

Air  a  ni,  's  air  a  daoinc, 

Air  a  crodh  ;s  air  a  caoraich  Fein. 

Let  me  perform  for  you  a  charm  for  the  evil-eye, 

l.'Yom  the  breast  of  holy  (Jit-Patrick, 

Airaiust:  swelling  of  neck  and  stoppage  of  bowels, 

Au'ainst  nine  "('oii;iir"  and  nine  "Conachair," 

And  nine  slender  fairies. 

Against  an  old  l)acluilor's  eye.  and  an  old  wife's  eye. 

If  a  man's  eve  may  it  flame  lik"  resin, 

If  a  woman's  eye  may  she  want  her  breast  : 

A  cold  plunge  and  coldness  to  her  blood, 

And  to  her  geal,  to  her  m<jn, 

To  her  cattle  and  sheep. 


Gaelic  Incantations.  24 

Paidir  a  coig, 
Paidir  a  sea, 
Paidir  a  seachd 

'S  neart  nan  seachd  paidirean  a' 
sgaoileadh  do  ghalair  air  na 
clachan  glas  ud  thall. 

Which  means — 

Paters  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7, 

And  may  the  strength  of  the  seven  paters 

Cast  out  your  disease  amidst  the  gray-stones  over  by. 

In  the  Maclean  AISS.  the  following  charms  are  given  for  the 
"evil  eye":— 

Kolus  Bheim  shul, 
le  Xic  Aoidli 

Paidir  Mhuire  h-aon,  Arc.  Aon  sail  a  thug  an  airo  dhuit,  A.l>. 
(person  named  who  is  unwell),  mar  thionndadhas  a'  ghaofh  air  a 
chnoc,  gu  tionndadh  an  ole  orra  t'eiu.  Mar  thionndadhas,  Arc.,  ri 
radh  tri  uaire  h-airis. 

[(.'harm  for  evil  eyes,  by  Miss  (?)  Mackay.  Pater  of  Mary  one, 
Arc.  Whatever  eye  took  notice  of  you,  A.U.,  as  the  wind  turns  on 
the  hillock,  mav  their  evil  turn  on  themselves.  As  the  wind,  Arc. 
{to  be  repeated  three  times).] 


Saltruighidh  mis  air  an  t-suil  mar  shaltruigheas  Kala  ar  Tigh 
nocht.  Ta  neart  gaoithe  again  air,  ta  neart  greine  again  air,  r.a 
neart  mhic  Ki  neamh  agus  talmhainn  again  air.  Trian  air  na 
dacha  glasa — 's  trian  air  a  mhulr  nihoir  as  i  fein  acfuinn  as  fhean1 
ga  ghiulan.  Ann  ainin,  Arc. 

[Ann  Campbell's  charm  for  evil  eye.  I  will  stamp  on  the  eye 
as  the  swan  on  her  house  to-night.  I  have  power  of  wind  over  it, 
I  have  power  of  sun  over  it,  I  have  power  of  the  Son  of  the  King 
of  heaven  and  earth  over  it  One-third  on  the  grev  stones — one- 
third  on  the  great  sea,  as  being  more  able  to  bear  it.  In  the 
name  of,  A:c.] 

This  last  charm  is  somewhat  obscure,  and  one  of  the  ;'  thirds'"' 
is  evidently  lost. 

iG 


21-2  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


III.    FOR    THE    DISEASES    OF    MAN. 

Charms  were,  like  the  mountebank's  medicine,  capable  of 
curing  all  diseases  incident  to  humanity,  but  each  disease  required 
its  own  special  charm.  A  vast  body  of  such  medical  literature 
must  have  existed,  but  only  a  very  fragmentary  portion  can  now 
be  recovered.  The  leading  diseases  for  which  we  have  incantations 
are  the  following — we  give  them  in  alphabetical  order  and  in  non- 
medical  language — Bleeding,  Colic,  Sore  Eyes,  Sprain,  Strangury, 
Swelling  of  the  Breast,  Toothache,  "Fallen"  Uvula,  Warts  and 
Worms.  We  shall  consider  the  charms  for  each  of  these  in  the 
above  order,  reserving  the  numerous  charms  for  toothache  for  a 
separate  section. 

11  lood-Sta  un  ch  in<j. 

Some  people  were  believed  to  have  a  gift  or  power  of  stopping 
bleeding,  or  indeed  flowing  of  any  kind.  They  could  do  it  by  the 
\\ord  of  their  power,  it  seems,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  stories 
told.  One  of  the  charms  made  use  of,  known  MS  Buciidh  Casyadh 
Fola,  or  Power  of  Staunching  Blood,  is  as  follows  : — 

Tha  mise  dunadh  an  lot  so  mar  dhun  Dia  Flaithneas  air  luchd- 
gearraidh  fuilt  agus  feusaig  air  latha  na  Sabaid. 

Translated  :  "  I  am  closing  this  wound  as  God  closed  heaven 
against  those  who  cut  hair  and  beard  on  the  Sabbath  day." 

In  Kiii»-lisli  and  other  charms,  the  Biblical  character  introduced  is 
Christ,  and  reference  is  made  to  his  stopping  Jordan  flood  at  his 
baptism,  or  to  the  bleeding  from  his  side  by  Loiiginus'  spear  at 
the  crucifixion. 

Colic, 

This  ailment  is  known  either  as  Gfreim  Mionaich  (Bowel 
Scixure),  or  Xnaim  Mirmaich  (Knotting  of  the  Bowels) ; 
and  the  co/ax,  or  chorm  for  it,  required  a  preliminary 
story  to  make  its  meaning  and  the  cause  of  its  efficiency  clear. 
The  story  is  briefly  this  :  Christ,  in  escaping  once  from  the  Jews, 
sought  refuge  in  a  house,  where  the  good  wife  was  a  believer  in. 
him,  but  the  goodinan  was  not.  The  latter  met  him  outside,  and 
received  him  grimly,  but  he  entered  the  house  and  was  hospitably 
entertained  by  the  wife,  who  hid  him  under  a  covering  of  cal<)  an 
fin,  or  beard  of  flax,  in  a  corner,  so  that  lie  escaped  the  search  of 
his  foes.  In  leaving  he  gave  the  woman  the  following  tolas,  both 
to  commemorate  her  kindness  and  relieve  suffering  humanity* 


Gaelic  Incantations.  243 

The  person  suffering  from  colic  has  to  rub  the  afflicted  part,  and 
as  he  does  so,  to  repeat  the  words  of  the  charm,  which  are  : — 

An  ainm  an  Athar,  a'  Mhic,  's  an  Spioraid  Naoimh  ! 

Duine  fiat  a  muigh, 

Bean  fhial  a  stigh, 

Criosd  'na  Inighe  air  calg  an  lin — 

'S  math  an  leigheas  air  an  t-seilg  sin.1 

Which  means — 

In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  ! 
A  fierce  churlish  man  without, 
A  hospitable  wife  in  the  house, 
Christ  a-lying  on  the  beard  of  flax — 
That  is  a  good  cure  for  the  spleen. 

A  less  complete  form  of  the  charm  was  got  by  "Xether-Lochaber,"2 
which  after  the  invocation  to  the  Trinity  runs  the  second  aiad 
third  lines  together  thus — • 

Bean  fhial,  duinc  dian. 
But  the  last  two  lines  are  the  same  as  the  above. 

Sore  Eyes. 

We  have  no  fewer  than  three  rhyme  charms  for  opthalmia. 
The  first  one  which  we  give  was  published  in  Cuairtear  nan  Gleann 
for  July,  184:2,  and  is,  with  directions  for  use,  as  follows: — Take  a 
vessel  full  of  water  from  a  spring,  and  place  therein  a  silver  coin. 
Repeat  the  rhyme  here  given  over  the  water,  and  thereafter  anoint 
with  it  the  sore  eye  or  eyes  repeatedly.  The  rhyme  is  entitled 
'•  Kolas  nan  Sul,"  and  is — 

Obaidh  nan  gear  shiil, 

An  obaidh  's  fet'irr  fo'n  ghreui  ; 

Obaidh  Dhe,  an  uile-mhor. 

1'Yile  Mhairi,  feile  Dlie, 

rY-ile  gach  sagairt  's  gach  cleir  ; 

Feile  Michael  nani  feart,:>> 

'Chairieh  amis  a'  ghrein  a  neart. 

1  Gaelic  Soc.  Trans.  VIII.,  p.  124. 
-  Inrernf.ss  Courier,  '20th  June,  1872. 

:;  For  obaidh,  the  Cuairtear  has  the  al>sunl  obie,  wliich  shows  that  the  con- 
tributor did  not  understand  the  word.  Kqually  funny  is  tlie  comparison  of 
it  liy  one  writer  of  eminence  to  Ohi,  a  supernatural  power  c' aimed  by  wiswrcU 
ai.d  witches  of  the  West  Indies. 


244  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Which  may  be  rendered — 

A  charm  for  sore  smarting  eyes, 
The  best  charm  under  the  sun ; 
The  charm  of  God,  the  all  great. 
Beneficence  of  Mary,  beneficence  of  God, 
Beneficence  of  each  priest  and  each  cleric  ; 
Beneficence  of  Michael,  the  strenuous, 
Who  bestowed  on  the  sun  its  strength. 

The  following  is  a  cure  for  the  leainhnud,  or  stye  in  the  eye, 
as  sent  us  by  a  young  man  from  Sntherlandshive.  Jiepcat  the 
following  without  once  drawing  breath  :  — 

Thainig  cailleach  a  Loch-Abair 
''Shireadh  sgadain  a  Loch-Bhvaoin. 
Cha  d'  iarr  i  air  pcighimi 
Ach  na  chunntadh  i  gun  anail — 

Sgidear  sgadan  h-aon,  sgidear  sgadau  dim,  sgidear  sgadan 
tri sgidear  sgadan  ceud  ! 

Which  means — 

A  earlin  came  from  Lochabcr 
To  seek  herring  from  Lochbvoom. 
She  did  not  ask  for  the  penny 

But  what  she  could  count  without  drawing  breath. 
Scatter  "  sgadan"  (herring)  one  ;  scatter  sgadan,  two  ; 
scatter  sgadan,  one  hundred  ! 

A  simple  form  of  the  above  leuinhnud  charm  is  as  follows  : — 
Go  on  repeating  the  following  words  as  long  as  you  can  without 
drawing  breath  : — 

Leamhnud  h-aon, 
Leamhnud  dim, 
Leamhnud  tri, 

which  means — 

Stye  one, 
Stye  two, 
Stye  three, 

&C.,  cfcc. 

For  fear  that  any  one  may  think  that  there  really  must  be 
some  virtue  in  repeating  the  numerals  as  far  as  one  can  do  it 


Gaelic  Incantations.  245 

without  drawing  breath,  that,  possibly,  the  medical  principle  of 
"  counter-irritation  "  is  here  invoked,  we  hasten  to  give  the  follow- 
ing form  of  the  incantation,  where  the  charmer,  not  the  patient, 
repeats  the  words.  The  charmer,  pointing  at  the  eye  and  punctu- 
ating his  variations  with  the  forefinger,  says,  without  drawing 
breath,  if  possible,  this  : — 

Ma  thig  a  h-aon  ort, 

Gu  m'  aim  nach  tigeadh  dha  ort ; 

Ma  thig  a  dha  ort, 

Gu  m'  aim  nach  tigeadh  tri  ort  ; 

Ma  etc.  (4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9), 

Ma  thig  naoi  ort, 

Gu  m'  aim  nach  tigeadh  deich  ort, 

Ma  thig  deich  ort, 

Gu  m'  aim  nach  tig  leamhnud  ^nn  ad  sliuil  sin 

tuilleadh.  (A  breath  allowed). 

Ma  thig  deich  ort, 
Gu  m'  ami  nach  tigeadh  naoi  ort, 
Ma  thig  naoi,  etc.  (8,  7,  6,  5,  4,  3,  2,  as  long  as 

breath  holds). 

The  translation  is  : — 

If  one  (stye)  come  on  you, 

May  it  be  that  two  don't  come  ; 

If  two  come,  may  there  not  come  three 

(So  on  till  ten,  where  one  breath  may  be 
taken,  then  back  again  till  breath  fails), 
If  ten  come  on  you, 
Mav  it  be  that  nine  won't  come,  etc. 

The  following  is  a  charm  given  by  "  Nether  Lochaber  "  in  his 
first  book,  for  sore  eyes,  which  he  heads  as  "  Leigheas  Sul ": — 

Luibh  Challum  Chille  agus  speir, 

Meannt  agus  tn-bhilead  corr, 

Bainne  atharla  nach  do  rug  laogh  ; 

Bruich  iad  is  cairich  air  breid, 

'S  cuir  sid  rid'  shuil  aig  tra-noin, 

Air  an  Athair,  am  Mar  agus  Spiorad  nan  grus, 

'S  air  Ostal  na  soiree  ;  bi'dh  do  shiiilean  slan 

Mu'n  eirich  a'  gheallach  's  mu'n  till  an  Ian. 


246  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

In  English,  it  runs — 

(Take  of)  St  Columba's  wort  and  dandelion, 

(Of)  mint  and  a  perfect  plant  of  marsh  trefoil, 

(Take  of)  milk  from  the  udder  of  a  quey 

(That  is   heavy    with   calf,   but    that    has    not    actually 

calved), 

Boil,  and  spread  the  mixture  on  a  cloth  ; 
Put  it  to  your  eyes  at  noon-tide, 
In  the  name  of  Father,  Sun,  and  Spirit  of  Grace, 
And  in  the  name  of   (John)  the  Apostle  of  Love,   and 

your  eyes  shall  be  well 
Bcforo  the  next  rising  of  the  moon,  before  the  turning 

of  next  flood-tide. 

Sprain. 

In  the  introductory  section,  it  was  pointed  out  that 
charms  for  sprains  are  very  widespread,  and  very  old  among 
Aryan  nations,  probably  going  back  so  far  as  the  period 
of  the  original  Aryan  race.  They  exist  in  much  the  same  form  in 
the  ancient  Sanskrit,  the  old  German,  and  the  modern  Gaelic  and 
Teutonic  dialects.  The  Gaelic  incantation  for  sprain  is  called 
"  Eolas  Sgoehadh  Feith e,"  Charm  for  Sprain  of  Vein,  or  "Kolas 
an  t-Sniomh,"  Charm  for  Twist  or  Dislocation.  There  are  many 
editions  of  it,  but  all  refer  to  one  original  form.  The  best  form  is 
as  follows  : — The  charmer  puts  a  thread  into  his  mouth,  repeats 
the  rhyme  here  given,  and  then  ties  the  thread  round  the  injured 
part,  where  it  is  left  till  it  falls  off  itself.  The  rhyme  is — 

Chaidh  Criosda  mach 
Sa'  mhaduinn  mhoich, 
'S  fhuair  e  casan  nan  each, 
Air  am  bristeadh  mu  seach, 
Chuir  e  cnaimh  ri  cnaimh, 
Agus  feith  ri  feith, 
Agus  feoil  ri  feoil, 
Agus  craicionn  ri  craicionn, 
'S  mar  leighis  esan  sin 
Gu'n  leighis  rnise  so. 

Translated — 

Christ  went  forth 

In  the  early  morn, 

And  found  the  horses'  legs  broken  across. 

I  fe  put  bone  to  bone, 


Gaelic  Incantations.  '247 

Sinew  to  sinew, 
Flesh  to  flesh, 
And  skin  to  skin  ; 
And  as  He  healed  that 
May  I  heal  this. 

The  following  is  a  good  version  of  the  same  charm  : — The 
charmer  takes  a  white  (preferably)  linen  thread  between  his  teeth 
while  repeating  the  following  rhyme  ;  three  knots  are  to  be  put- 
on  the  thread,  and  then  it  is  wound  round  the  sprained  part  :— 

Dh'  cirich  Criosd  maduinn  mhoch, 

Is  fhuair  e  casan  mm  each  briste; 

Cliuir  e  sniuais  ri  snmais, 

Chuir  e  cmiimh  ri  cnaimh, 

Chuir  e  feith  ri  feith, 

Agus  mur  leighis  e  sin 

(in  leighis  e  so  dhuts' — A.B.1 

The  following  version  first  appeared  in  Cuairtear  nan  Glean, 
on  the  page  already  cited  : — 

Chaidh  Bride  mach 
Air  maduinn  mhoich 
Le  caraid  each. 
Hliris  fear  ac'  a  chas. 
Cliuir  e  glun  ri  glun, 
Is  cnaimh  ri  cnaimh, 
Is  feith  ri  feith. 
"Mar  leighis  esan  sin, 
Gu~  leighis  mise  so. 

St  Bride  went  out  at  early  morn  with  a  pair  of  horses.  One 
broke  its  leg.  He  (sic  !)  put  knee  to  knee,  bone  to  bone,  and  vein 
to  vein ;  and  as  he  healed  that,  may  I  heal  this. 

A  degraded  form  appears  in  this  one  : — 

Chaidh  Criosd  a  mach, 
Is  bhris  e  chas, 
is  f'uil  r'a  fuil, 
Feoil  r'a  feoil, 
Cnamli  r'a  cnaimh, 
Alt  r'a  alt, 

1  The  last  line  means  ;<  May  lie  heal  this  for  you — A.  B.,  the  preceding  part 

practically  as  the  first  form. 

2  In  the  Cuairtear  the  yu  of  the  last  line  is  misprinted  cha. 


•24H  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Smior  r'a  smior 

Agus  mus  d'  rainig  e  an.  lar 

Bha  e  slan. 

Mar  sin  bi  gu  math,  A.B. 

Another  degraded  form  is  this  : — 

Paidir  Mhoire  h-aon, 
Baidir  Mhoire  dha, 
Paidir  Mhoire  tri — 
Chaidh  Criosd  air  muin  as, 
'S  thug  e  sniomh  dha  chas, 
'S  mu'n  d'  rainig  e  an  lar 
Bha  e  slan  air  ais. 

This  contains  the  curious  expression,  "  Pater  of  Mary" — once, 
twice,  thrice  ;  and  the  animal  mounted  is  the  ass. 

It  is  to  some  form  of  this  sprain  charm  that  Colonel  John  Roy 
Stewart  refers  in  the  poem  known  as  his  "  Prayer."  The  particular 
verse  meant  runs  thus  :  — 

Ni  mi  'n  ubaidh  rinn  Peadar  do  Phol 
JS  a  luighean  air  fas  leum  bruaich, 
Seachd  paidir,  'n  ainm  sagairt  is  pap, 
Ga  chuir  ris  'na  phlasd  mu  'n  cuairt. 

Here  he  offers  to  perform  the  charm  which  Peter  did  for  Paul 
when  he  sprained  his  ankle,  viz.,  seven  paters  to  priest  and  pope 
put  as  plaster  around  it. 

Stranyury. 

This  trouble  is  known  in  Gaelic  as  "  Casg-Uisge,"  or  Reten- 
tion of  Water.  Charms  for  its  cure  are  among  the  oldest 
Gaelic  documents  that  we  have,  for  magic  rhymes  calculated 
to  cure  it  appear  in  the  old  Irish  MSS.,  both  in  Britain  and  on  the 
Continent.  Unfortunately,  the  only  charm  that  has  been  pro- 
cured in  these  later  days  is  incomplete.  It  urns  thus  : — 

Triuir  a  thachair  orm  a  tighinn  as  an   Roimh, 

Peadar  agus  Pol.     'S  e  bu  clusgadh  dhoibh  's  iad  nan  codal  suain. 
Dh'  iarr  Moire  mhin  as  aon  losa  Criosda  stad  a  chur 
le  f  huil  's  ruith  chuir  le  f  liual ;  's  e  'thighinn  gu  min  gun  trioblaid 
strith,  mar  uisge  le  gleann. 


Gaelic  Incantations. 

Three  met  me  coming  from  Rome 

Peter  and  Paul 

What  awakened  them  as  they  slept  soundly.     .     .     . 

Meek  Mary  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ 

Desired  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to  his  blood, 

And  that  his  urine  should  run  ; 

So  that  it  would  pass  smoothly 

Without  trouble  or  distress, 

As  water  down  a  glen. 

Swelling  of  Breast. 

The  following  is  a  charm  for  At  Cich,  Swelling  of  the  Breast,, 
whether  in  human  females  or  in  animals.  The  directions  are  as 
follows  : — Find  a  stone  about  the  size  of  your  fist  ;  it  must  be 
almost  buried  in  the  ground  in  its  natural  state.  Take  it  out 
about  sunrise,  and  rub  it  to  the  pap  or  udder ;  replace  it  carefully, 
and  do  the  same  at  sunset.  In  the  act  of  rubbing,  repeat  the  fol- 
lowing words  : — 

An  ainni  an  Athar,  a  Mine,  's  an  Spioraid  Naoimh  ! 
Suathadh  laimh  Chriosd  air  cioch  Mhuire,  an  Oigh, 
Ghrad  thraogh  an  t-at, 
Mar  sin  gun  traoghadh  a'  chlach  so  thusa  ! 

Which  means,  after  invoking  the  Trinity — 

The  rubbing  of  Christ's  hand  on  the  Virgin  Mary's  breast  ; 

Quickly  allayed  the  swelling  ; 

Similarly  may  this  stone  abate  the  swelling  for  thee  ! 

A  general  name  for  such  swellings  of  the  breast  or  of  the 
udder  is  Rnaidhe  or  Redness,  which  meant  a  lodging  of  the  milk 
therein.  The  following  charm  is  good,  again,  to  cure  man  or 
beast  : — 

Tha  eolas  again  air  an  Ruaidhe, 
Gur  ami  air  Imaidh  's  air  bliochd, 
A  chuir  Moir'  a  tonnaibh  a  chin, 
'S  a  chuir  Brighde  a  roinn  a  fuilt  : 
'Chriosda,  faicibh  sibhse  chioch  sin  air  at : 
Gu  ma  slan  a  chioch  's  gu  ma  crion  an  t-at  ; 
Trian  an  diugh  's  trian  am  maireach, 
'S  uile  gu  leir  an  earar. 


250  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

I  possess  a  charm  for  the  Redness, 

It  is  for  produce  and  milk, 

Which  Mary  took  from  the  crown  of  her  head 

And  Bridget  from  the  shedding  of  her  hair. 

Oh  !  Christ,  ses  ye  (*ic)  that  breast  swollen  : 

May  the  breast  be  healed  and  the  swelling  disappear  ; 

One-third  to-day  ;  one-third  to-morrow  ; 

And  the  remainder  the  day  after. 

Uvula-"  Raising," 

The  incantation  for  the  "  raising  of  the  uvula'''  was  known  as 
eo/as  dock  ihlugain,  Charm  for  the  Throat-Nipple.  The  little  red, 
nipple-like  sea-weed  found  in  pools  of  salt  water  when  the  tide  is 
out,  and  called  in  (laelic  nJltuinn  dhcarff,  is  procured  and  tied  to  the 
crook  while  the  following  words  are  repeated  :  — "  Ann  an  ainm  an 
Athar,  a'  Mhic  agus  an  Spioraid  Naoimli,  air  cioch-shlugain  A.  13. 
(person's  name)."  This  is  an  appeal  to  the  Trinity  "for  the  uvula 
of  A.  B." 


The  incantation  for  warts  is  exceedingly  simple.  The  person 
affected  is  directed  to  nil)  the  moisture  of  the  mouth  or  saliva  to 
the  wart,  and  keep  saying  — 

Olla  bhidh  gum  beanuaicheaeh 
Air  a  h-uile  gin  do  na  foinneachan. 


That  is  to  sa  — 


Oil  of  food,  may  them  bless 
Each  one  of  the  warts. 


This  charm,  though  evidently  not  in  full,  is  contemptuously 
given  by  Mackenzie  in  his  AVm^V.s  of  Gaelic  Poetry,  and  runs 
thus  :  — 

Mharbhaimi  dubhag,  's  niharbhainn  doirbheag, 

Is  naoi  naoinear  dhe  an  seorsa  ; 
'8  fiolar  crion  nan  casan  lionmhor, 

Bu  mlior  ])ianadh  air  feadh  feola,  Ac. 

Translated  — 

I  would  kill  a  black  one,  and  I  would  kill  a  bad  one, 

And  nine  nine  ones  of  their  kind  ; 
And  the  little  nescock  of  numerous  legs, 

That  causes  great  pain  mid  the  flesh,  Ac. 


Gaelic  Incantations. 


IV.    FOR    TOOTHACHE. 

Toothache  is  not,  as  some  think,  one  more  case  of  physical 
degeneracy  entailed  upon  us  by  our  modern  civilisation ;  for  the 
holed  tooth  of  the  British  barrow  suggests  the  dental  sufferings  of 
our  primitive  ancestors  ;  nor  has  the  modern  savage  any  immunity 
from  toothache,  though  he  does  live  "according  to  nature" 
There  is  ample  evidence  of  the  prevalence  of  toothache  among  the 
ancient  nations,  and  numerous  are  the  recipes  which  are  found  in 
the  medical  literature  of  Greece  and  Koine.  If  Marcellus  of 
Bordeaux  (circ.,  410  A.D.)  represents,  as  the  great  Jacob  Grimm 
fondly  believed,  the  experience  of  the  Cauls  in  medical  lore,  then 
we  may  take  it  that  the  ancient  Celts  were  past  masters  in  the 
cure  of  toothache,  whether  by  drug  or  charm.  The  following  is 
the  incantation,  or  carmen,  with  directions  as  to  its  use,  which 
Marcellus  gives  for  toothache,  and  which  he  says  lias  proved  of 
miraculous  benefit  in  actual  experience  : — "  Luna  decrescente,  die 
Martis  sive  die  Jovis  ;  haec  verba  dices  scpties,  '  Argidam  margi- 
dam  sturgidam.'  "  This  means  that  in  the  wane  of  the  moon,  on 
Tuesday  or  Thursday,  you  are  to  say  seven  times,  "Argidam 
margidam  sturgidam."  We  cannot  follow  Grimm  into  the  jungle 
of  derivation  from  Celtic  roots,  and  must  leave  these  three  words 
as  meaningless  as  we  found  them. 

A  common  method  of  curing  or  preventing  toothache,  whicii  is 
still  in  vogue,  is  as  follows  : — A  skilled,  or  "  skeely,"  person  writes 
out  an  incantation  on  a  slip  of  paper,  and  gives  it  to  the  sufferer 
from  toothache,  and  he  or  she  keeps  this  carefullv  about  their 
person,  generally  sewn  in  the  inside  of  their  clothing.  The 
following  is  a  quaint  description  of  the  whole  system,  sent  us  by 
one  who  has  had  experience  of  it  : — "  Some  men  cure  toothache  in 
the  following  way — Thev  write  out  a  line  or  two  on  a  small  slip  of 
paper,  and  then  fold  it  up,  and  hand  it  to  the  sufferer,  who  must 
not  on  any  account  open  it,  If  he  does,  the  worse  for  himself,  for 
the  toothache  will  at  once  come  back.  I  know  a  young  woman 
who  once  got  this  line.  She  placed  it  carefully  in  the  lining  of 
her  corset.  One  day,  however,  she  happened  to  be  washing,  and, 
having  neglected  to  remove  the  line,  she  destroyed  it  in  the  process 
of  washing  this  particular  article  of  attire.  She  told  me  that  the 
toothache  came  back  like  a  shot,  and  she  had  to  give  up  her 
washing  that  day.  A  second  line,  she  said,  would  do  her  no  good, 
and  so  the  toothache  ever  since  has  been  paying  her  an  unwelcome 
visit  now  and  then." 

The  words  of  the  charm  thus  written  on  paper  are  not  by  any 
means  alwavs  in  Gaelic,  for  too  often  the  difficulty  of  writing  the 


•2.V2  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

native  tongue  prevents  this.  English  and  Latin  charms  are 
found  instead,  and  one  of  each  we  shall  now  present  to  our  readers. 
The  following  very  common  English  charm  was  lately  caught 
going  its  round  : — 

St  Peter  sat  on  a  new-rolled  stone 

Weeping  and  wailing  ; 

Jesus  came  by,  and  said — 

What  ails  you,  Peter  '( 

Oh,  Lord,  my  God,  the  toothache. 

Jesus  said,  Be  healed  ; 

And  whoever  will  carry 

These  few  lines  for  My  name's  sake 

Will  never  feel  the  toothache. 

A  Latin  form  of  the  same  charm  is  to  be  found  in  the  Maclagais 
MSS.  The  piece  of  paper  on  which  it  is  written  was  in  actual  use, 
for  it  shows  the  marks  and  worn  corners  of  the  original  folding, 
and  makes  a  neat  folded  slip  of  a  little  over  an  inch  square.  The 
Latin  is  very  barbarous,  and  shows  a  royal  contempt  for  grammar, 
facts  which  prove  that  the  writer  w.-ts  entirely 'ignorant  of  the 
language  which  he  was  transcribing.  Mr  Maclagan  dockets  the 
paper  sarcastically  thus  : — "  Eolusan  ciallacha  cumhachdach  !" 
(Wise,  potent  charms).  The  charm  is  as  follows,  the  lacuna,  near 
the  end  being  caused  by  the  wearing  of  the  paper  : — 

"Petrus  sedit  ex  marrnorum  Lapis  Dominus  Noster  vcnit  et 
Dixit  petrus  quid  te  gravit,  petrus  respondit  dominus  Meus  Caput 
et  Dentes  meos  vexant  me  Dominus  Noster  Dicat  surge  petrus 
salva  til  non  solum  tu  sed  etiam  omnia  qui  teneant  haec  mea  dicta 
per  virtutem  l)e  haec  verbis  Dominus  Noster  et  in  ejus  Nomine 
Dice  runs  pestis  non  moleste  te  Detri  Minius  Pratrus." 

There  are  several  Gaelic  incantations  for  toothache,  and  most 
of  them  imply  the  wide-spread  belief  that  toothache  is  caused  by 
a  worm  burrowing  in,  under,  or  above  the  tooth.  The  Gaelic  for 
toothache  is  Jei<hj,  which  is  derived  from  deud,  a  tooth,  allied  to 
the  Latin  dent  of  den*,  but  a  commoner  word  is  cnuimk  or,  pro- 
perly, croim/t,  which  in  reality  means  "  worm  "  or  "  maggot,"  and 
is  still  used  in  that  sense. 

The  following  Middle  Irish  charm  from  the  Lebar  Brecc  is 
interesting  as  showing  the  existence  of  the  belief  in  the  cruimh  or 
worm  among  the  Gaels  of  old,  and,  further,  as  explaining  the 


Gaelic  Incantations.  253 

introduction   of  the  idea  of  orda<j  or  thumb  in  a  charm  quoted 
later  on.      The  words  run  thus  : — 

Ordu  Thomais  togaide 
i  toeb  Crist  cen  chinaid 
ron-icca  mo  deta  cen  guba 
ar  cliruma  is  ar  idhain 

et  pater  ])rius  et  post. 

That  is  to  sa  v — 

.May  the  thumb  of  chosen  Thomas 
in  the  side  of  guiltless  Christ 
heal  my  teetli  without  lamentation 
from  worms  and  from  pangs. 

And.  a  Paternoster  Ix'forc  <md  <ift<-r.[ 

A  short  and  neat  charm,  which  introduces  Peter  as  the  sufferer 
from  the  <Toi,,ih.  runs  thus  : — 

(Bha  'n  eroimh  air  l)eadar) 
Leighis  losa  Peadar,  leighis  Peadar  Pol, 
Leighis  Pol  an  domhan  leis  na  tri  facail 
aig  fosa  a'  leantuinn,  ''  Bi  gu  math.'"' 

Which  means — 

(Peter  had  the  toothache), 
.lesus  healed  Peter,  Peter  healed  Paul, 
Paul  healed  the  world  by  following  the  three 
words  of  .lesus,  kk  Be  thou  well." 

The  two  charms  that  follow  mutually  throw  light  on  one 
-another,  and  they  both  have'  a  more  than  ordinary  interest 
attached  to  their  origin.  The  first  charm,  which  has  already  been 
published  (untranslated),  was  taken  down  some  two  decades  au'o 
by  Mr  Mackay,  solicitor,  Inverness,  from  the  recitation  of  the  late 
Angus  Macdonald,  the  first  bard  of  the  Inverness  Gaelic  Society, 
and  he  again  had  learned  it  from  the  Hard  Conanach  (1780-1832). 

J  The  reference  to  the  above  1  owe  to  Dr  Whitley  Stokes.  It  is  published 
in  the  Recue  Cdtique,  v.  392,  by  Dr  Stokes,  who  further  quotes  a  Punjabi  or 
Indian  charm  that  implies  a  similar  belief.  The  heist,  however,  in  the  latter 
case  is  the  weevil,  which  is  supposed  to  eat  into  decayed  teeth  and  make  them 
black.  The  charm  tells  the  black  weevil  that  it  will  die  by  the  blessing  of 
.Shikh  Farid,  "  the  Teacher  Saint,  1,  2,  3,  4.  5.  t>.  7,  Foh  !  Foh  !  Foh  !" 


254  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

We  may  hence  understand  the  completeness  of  the  charm,  which  is 
as  follows  : — 

Seachd  paidir  a  h-aon, 

Seachd  paidir  a  dha 

Seachd  paidir  a  tri, 

Seachd  paidir  a  ceithir, 

Seachd  paidir  a  coig 

Seachd  paidir  a  sia 

Seachd  paidir  a  seachd. 
An  orra  rinii  Muire  mhin 
Do  Phadruig  nasal  aluinn, 
Air  chroimh,  air  cheann,  air  chinn, 
Air  ruaidh',  air  at,  air  arraing. 
Thuirt  Abraham  ri  Tosa  Criosd 
'S  iad  a'  falbh  air  siiabh  Bheitris, 
"  Cha'n  nrrainn  mise  coiseachd 
No  mairoeachd  leis  an  deideadh." 
Thuirt  Tosa  Criosd  ri  Abraham  : 
"  Cha  bhi  chroimh  sin  anus  a  cheann  sin  : — 
Maeh  an  deideadh  !  macli  an  deideadh  !" 
Da  uair  an  deigh  cheile. 
Fios  air  neamli  is  fios  air  talamh, 
Fios  aig  do  rigii  air  do  glialar  ; 
( Yoimh  is  deideadh  chuir  fo'n  talamh. 

Seaclid  paidir  a  h-aon, 

Seachd  paidir  a  dha, 

Seaclid  paidir  a  tri, 

Seachd  paidir  a  ceithir, 

Seachd  paidir  a  coig, 

Seachd  paidir  a  sia, 

Seachd  paidir  a  seachd, 
Xcart  nan  seachd  paidir 
lliim  Muire  inhor  a  Dhe  nan  dul, 
Do'n  chleireach  naomli.  cur  do  dhonas  is  do  dholas 
Air  a'  chlach  glilas  ud  thall, 
'S  air  bviidheaini  na  h-eucorach  ! 
rriie  translation  of  this  is — 

Seven  paters  one, 

Seven  paters  two, 

[So  3,  4,  5,  G,  and  7]. 

The  incantation  that  Mary  the  Meek  made 
For  Patrick,  the  noble  and  beauteous, 
(Jainst  toothache  and  soreness  of  head  and  bone, 
'Gainst  erysipelas,  swelling,  and  stitch. 


Gaelic  Incantations.  255 

Abraham  said  to  Jesus  Christ 

As  they  walked  on  the  slope  of  Bethris  : 

"  I  have  not  the  power  of  walking 

Or  of  riding  because  of  toothache." 

Said  Jesus  Christ  to  Abraham  : 

"  Tooth  worm  will  not  be  in  that  head  ; 

Out  the  toothache  !  out  the  toothache  !" 

Twice  repeated  after  other. 

Known  in  Heaven,  known  on  earth, 

Known  to  thy  King  is  thy  disease, 

Toothworm  and  toothache  to  be  placed  under  earth. 

Seven  paters  one, 
[2,  3,  4,  5,  G,  and  7]. 
May  the  strength  of  the  seven  paters 
That  Mary  the  Mighty  made  to  the  God  of  the  Elements, 
For  the  holy  cleric,  put  thy  evil  and  pain 
On  the  grey  stone  over  yonder 
And  on  the  workers  of  wrong ! 

Such,  then,  is  the  first  of  the  two  parallel  charms.  The 
second  one  comes  from  Kishorn,  famed  in  the  Ordnance  Gazetteer  as 
having  given  a  toothache  charm  to  the  Antiquarian  Museum  of 
Edinburgh.  The  instructions  and  words  of  our  charm  are  as 
follows:  —  A  stick  of  hazel  wood,  some  five  inches  long  and 
pointed  at  one  end,  is  to  be  kept  between  the  teeth  while  the 
following  words  are  repeated  (the  charmer  performing  first  to  teach 
the  sufferer  how  to  act  and  speak) — 

Kami  rinn  l>nd  mhin 
Do  Phadruig  uasal,  an  ard  righ, 
Air  rnaidhe,  air  at,  air  arraing. 
Ord-ig  rheadair,  agus  ordag  Thoil 
Sgaras  a'  chneidh  bho  'n  chnuimh  ; 
Ordag  Mhic  Dhe  air  neamh 
Leighis  gach  deud-chiieidh. 

Thubhairt  Abraham  ri  losa  Criosd  nach  b'  urrainn  e  coiseachd 
na  mairceachd  leis  an  deud-chneidh.  Thubhairt  losa  Criosd  ri 
Abraham  air  an  t-sliabh  clieudna  nach  biodh  du  or  ud  san  aon 
ceann  leis  an  deud-clmeidh. 

1  See  Gaelic  Society  Transactions  Vo'.  VIII.  p.  l-i." 


256  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Which  means — 

The  rhyme  that  Bridget  the  Meek  made 
For  Patrick,  the  noble  high  King, 
'Gainst  erysipelas,  swelling  and  stitch. 
Thumb  of  Peter  and  Thumb  of  Paul 
That  will  separate  the  ache  from  the  bone  ; 
The  thumb  of  the  Son  of  God  in  heaven 
That  can  cure  every  tooth-pain. 

Abraham  said  to  Jesus  Christ  that  he  could  not  walk  or  ride 
because  of  the  tooth-pain.  Jesus  Christ  said  to  Abraham  on  the 
same  hill  slope  (Bethris  ?)  that  there  would  not  be  further  pain  in 
that  head  from  toothache. 

This  second  charm  is  manifestly  incomplete  in  some  points, 
but  doubtless  it  has  been  equally  as  efficacious  as  the  fuller  one- 
handed  down  from  the  Bard  Conanach  ! 

Here  is  another  Kishorn  toothache  charm,  received,  as  so  many 
of  these  have  been,  from  my  good  friend  Mr  Don.  Kennedy.  The 
swelling  of  the  face  and  the  rare  but  possible  breaking  through 
the  cheek  of  the  purulent  matter,  and  the  erysipelas  and  such 
complications  consequent  on  toothache  in  the  upper  teeth,  doubt- 
less gave  rise  to  the  idea  of  a  worm  travelling  from  the  tooth  and 
coming  out  at  any  point  about  the  head.  There  is  a  Gaelic  name 
for  this  worm  ;  it  is  called  "  An  Deudag  Bheist  "—the  tooth  beast 
or  worm.  The  following  is  an  elaborate  charm  calculated  to  kill 
the  worm  and  allay  all  swelling  of  the  head  and  toothache.  The 
charmer  lays  his  hand  on  the  part  where  the  pain  is  and  says  : — 

larmni  do  chcann,  ainmheinneach, 
!>ior  ad  earball  a  tholladh  d'  ainmheinn  ! 
l)h'  orduich  Kigh  neimh  do  mharbhadh  ; 
Gini  tiileadh  Criosd  urchas 
'S  gach  aon  bheist  aim  an  so  ; 
Air  an  fhealan  '  dhubh, 
Air  an  fhealan  dhonn, 
Air  an  an  fhealan  uaine  ; 

Fear  dubh  goisneach,  fear  tionn  fada,  donn  lotaidh  ; 
Ma  tha  iad  a  inuigli,  gu'n  dol  a  stigh, 
Ma  tha  iad  a  stigh,  gu'n  dol  a  mach, 
Ach  iad  a  lobhadh,  's  a  bhrothadh,  's  a  chnamhadh 
'san  fheoil  'sain  beil  iad. 

J  For  jkcalan.   the  word  we  got  was  eala   (swan),  which  we  have  corrected 
according  to  analogy  with  other  charms. 


Gaelic  Incantations.  2o7 

Aon  's  a  dha  air  a'  bheist, 
Aon  's  a  tvi  air  a'  bheist, 
Aon  's  a  ceithir  air  a'  bheist, 
Aon  's  a  coig  air  a  bheist, 
Aon  's  a  sia  air  a'  bheist, 
Aon  's  a  seachd  air  a'  bheist. 
Aon  's  a  h-ochd  air  a'  bheist, 
Aon  's  a  naoi  air  a'  bhcist, 
Naoi  's  a  h-ochd  air  a'  bheist, 
A  h-oehd  's  a  seachd  air  a  bheist, 
Seachd  's  a  sia  air  a'  bheist, 
Sia  's  a  coig  air  a'  bheist, 
Coig  's  a  ceithir  air  a'  bheist, 
Ceithir  's  a  tri  air  a'  bheist, 
Tri  's  a  dha  air  a'  bheist, 
Dha  's  a  h-aon  air  a'  bheist  • 
Translated — 

Iron  in  thy  head,  ill-disposed  one, 

A  spit  in  thy  tail  to  spike  thv  evil  work  ! 

The  King  of  heaven  ordered  thy  killing  ! 

May  Christ  turn  back  malady 

And  each  worm  that  is  here  ; 

'Gainst  the  black  nescock, 

'Gainst  the  brown  nescock, 

'Gainst  the  green  nescock, 

The  dark  hairv  one,  the  white  long  one,  brown 

wounding  one  ; 

If  they  are  outside,  niay  they  not  go  in; 
If  they  are  inside,  may  they  not  go  out, 
But  rot,  slough,  and  decay  in  the  flesh  in  which 

they  are. 

One  and  two  against  the  worm, 
One  and  three  against  the  worm. 

[And  so  4,  5,  G,  7,  8,  and  1)]. 
Nine  and  eight  against  the  worm, 
Eight  and  seven  against  the  worm. 

[And  so  back  again  to  one]. 

Such  is  the  charm  against  An  Dem  lay  Hheixf,  the  travelling  tooth- 
worm. 

We  shall  end  this  section  on  toothache  charms  by  quoting  two 
incantations  connected  with  two  wells  in  the  north.  In  North 
Uist,  at  the  foot  of  a  rugged  mountain,  called  Mairrbhol,  there  is 

17 


258  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

a  well  that  cures  toothache,  to  which  offerings  of  coins,  rings,  pins, 
etc.,  are  made,  these  being  deposited  in  or  about  the  well.  The 
sufferer  from  toothache  drinks  of  the  water  and  repeats  the  follow- 
ing formula  : — 

Tha  misc  a'  cromadh  sios  an  ainm  an  Athar,   a'  Mhic  agus  an 
Spioraid  Naoimh,  agus  mi  dol  a  dh'  fhagail  cradh  mo  chinn  aims, 
an  tobar  nach  traogh  a  chaoidh. 
That  is  to  say — 

T  am  a-bending  down  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit,  and  a-going  to  leave  the  pain  of  my  head  in  the  fount 
that  will  not  fail  for  ever. 

This  well,  we  are  assured,  unfailingly  cures  toothache  ;  but  it  is  a 
far  cry  to  North  Uist,  and  it  is  with  some  pleasure  we  record  that 
Aultbea  has  a  further  claim  to  be  the  terminus  of  the  new  railway, 
inasmuch  as  it  possesses  a  well  which  "  cures  the  toothache 
wonderfully."  The  particular  spot  where  the  well  is  is  at 
Slaggan,  near  Aultbea.  One  goes  to  the  well,  and  selects  a  stone 
near  it  covered  with  moss  (crotal).  He  then  takes  from  the  well 
a  mouthful  of  water,  which  lie  must  not  swallow,  but  lie  goes  to 
the  moss-covered  stone  with  it,  removes  the  moss,  pours  the  water 
from  his  mouth  on  the  spot,  and,  in  replacing  the  moss,  says  :-— 

Uisge  Domlmaich  'muigh, 
Croimh  is  dcide  'stigli. 
\Vhich  means — 

Out  is  the  holy  water, 
In  is  the  toothache. 

That  is  to  sav,  the  water  j^oes  out  from  the  mouth,  and  the 
toothache  is  shut  up  under  the  moss  and  into  the  stone  ! 

V.     FOR    ANIMALS. 

Charms  and  magic  rhymes  existed  in  great  numbers,  calculated 
to  prevent  or  cure  the  diseases  incident  to  the  animals  about  the 
farms  and  holdings,  and  more  especially  for  the  cure  of  the  cows. 
One  preventive  charm  for  the  "Evil  Eye"  was  given  in  section 
one — the  "Torranan  Spell."  The  following  spell  was  intended  to  stop 
the  barking  of  dogs  as  one  approached  the  farm-house.  It  was  especi- 
ally important  for  thieves  and  cattle-lifters  that  the  voice  of  the 
watch-dog  should  not  give  the  alarm  to  the  inmates  that,  under 
the  safe  cover  of  night,  the  thief  was  creeping  up  to  the  buildings. 


Gaelic  Incantations  259 

A  spell  to  quieten  the  faithful  dog  under  these  circumstances,  or 
indeed  to  stop  dogs  barking  under  any  conditions  of  annoyance, 
occurs  in  the  Maclagan  MSS.,  and  is  here  reproduced  for  the  first 
time.  It  is  written  on  a  scrap  of  paper  somewhat  carelessly,  and 
the  meaning  is  a  little  obscure.  The  Gaelic  is  given  here  as  it 
stands  in  the  MS.  The  title  runs  thus  : — 

Ubag  a  chasgadh  coin  o  thabhan, 
No  a  Ghlas-ghairm. 

(Incantation  for  stopping  a  dog  from  barking,  or  the  lock-cry). 
The  words  run  thus  :  — 

Co  e  'm  Baile  so  romhain  ? 

Ta  Baile  nan  gai  mime. 

Xa  gaireadh  na  coin  no  gu'n  gaireadh  na  gaimhne. 

Tri  ceothixn  «Sr  ceotlian  crith, 

Bheir  air  a  chrobh  cothartaich  A:  air  an  Talanih   ugh  pluib  A: 

cot  hart  coin. 
Ta  mi  guidheadh  air  Riogli  nan  Dul  na  ta  nad  shuil  a  bin  aii 

mo  theanga. 

Which  may  me;ni  this  : — 

What  is  this  farm  before  us  ? 

This  is  the  farm  of  the  stirks. 

Let  the  dogs  cry  (crow)  not  till  the  stirks  cry. 

Three  mist-showers  and  mist-showers  with  tremor, 

Which    will    make   the    cattle  bark  and  the  earth  egg-plump 

and  dog-bark. 
1  pray  the  King  of  the  Klements  that  what  is  in  thine  eye  be 

on  mv  tongue. 

The  obscure  words  are  '/direadh,  which  in  the  modern  language 
means  ''crowing,''  rcof/i'Ut,  froth' m  crith,  and  ugh  pluib ^  where  the 
reading  of  the  11  in  'mjh  is  not  absolutely  certain,  nor  of  the  -n  in 
x/i.ui/,  which  could  be  read  as  a. 

Passing  from  this  difficult  charm,  we  ccme  to  incantations  for 
the  difficulties  and  ailments  incident  to  cattle.  And  first  come 
the 

MILKING    SPELLS. 

Milk-maids  have  been  wont  in  many  places  to  sing  to  their  cows 
in  the  process  of  milking.  These  croons  or  lullabies  are  called  in 
the  Isles  "  Taladh  Xam  Banachagy'  the  Lullaby  of  the  Milkmaids. 
Tliev  varv  in  tone  and  measure  to  suit  the  different  actions  of 


260  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

milking,  and  the  cows  in  some  cases  get  so  accustomed  to  them 
that  they  won't  give  their  milk  without  them,  even  insisting  on 
favourite  airs.  Mr  Carmichael,  in  his  Uist  Hymns,  has  brought 
one  or  two  of  these  characteristic  croons  together.  There  is  but 
one  step  between  these  songs  and  the  charms  which  we  are  now  to 
deal  with.  It  is,  for  instance,  troublesome  to  make  a  cow,  on  her 
first  calf,  to  give  the  milk  to  the  milk-maid  without  the  calf.  The 
following  charm  is  intended  to  overcome  this  difficulty. 

To  //lake  o  Cow  <jivc  the  Milk. 

Let  the  dairy-maid  get  the  leg  or  shank  bone  of  a  swan  ;  then  let 
her  catch,  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity,  each  teat  and  draw  the  milk 
finely  through  the  bone,  saying,  as  she  does  so,  the  following  : — 

I  )eothal  na  ba  air  an  laogh, 

Deothal  an  laoigh  air  a  bhainne  ; 

Feadan  caol  troinih  lorg  eala, 

Air  a  tharruing  le  oigh  ehiallach,  ciiannach  ; 

Thoir-sa  'm  bainne  gu  rianail,  toileach  ; 

An  ainm  an  Athar,  Arc. 

That  is  to  say — 

The  sucking  of  the  cow  on  the  calf, 
The  sucking  of  the  calf  on  the  milk  : 
A  tiny  sjxmtlet  through  a  swan's  shank. 
Drawn  by  a  prudent,  pretty  maid  : 
Give  thou  the  milk  orderlv  and  williim'lv  ; 
In  the  name  of,  Arc. 

The  following  is  another  s])ell  having  the  same  object  in  view 
-  -that  is,  to  make  a  cow  give  her  milk  after  being  deprived  of  her 
calf.  It  has  been  already  published  by  Mr  \V.  Mackenzie,  and  he 
calls  it 

Eol 


An  t-Kolas  a  rinn  Calum  Cille 
Dh'  aona  bho  na  caillich 
Air  Thabhairt  a'  bhainne 
'N  deigh  inarbhadh  a  laoigh, 
Bho  feithean  a  droma 
On  feithean  a  tarra, 


Gaelic  Incantations.  261 

'S  bho  fhcithcan  a  tana 
Gu  fcithean  a  da  thaobh, 
Bho  bhun  a  da  chluaise 
Gu  snmais  a  da  leise  ; 
Air  thabhairt  a'  bliainne 
Air  mharl)hadh  d'  a  laou'h. 


Translated  : — 


The  charm  that  Columba  wrought 
For  the  onlv  cow  of  the  old  wife, 
For  the  giving  of  the  milk 
After  the  killing  of  her  calf, 
Be  from  the  veins  of  her  back 
To  the  veins  of  her  belly, 
From  the  veins  of  her  belly 
To  the  veins  of  her  side, 
From  the  roots  of  her  two  ears 
To  the  joints  of  her  two  thighs  : 
For  the  giving  of  the  milk 
After  the  killing  of  her  calf. 

(,'ATTI.E  DISEASE. 

From  these  spells  we  now  pass  to  the  cure  of  and  charms  for 
various  cattle  diseases.  We  begin  with  two  general  charms,  calcu- 
lated to  cure  any  cattle  disease  at  all.  The  first,  with  modus 
operandi,  is  as  follows  : — Should  anv  more  of  the  cattle  die,  open 
the  first  beast,  take  out  the  liver,  lungs,  and  heart,  and  put  them 
in  a  bag.  Carry  this  across  the  first  burn,  on  the  neighbouring 
estate,  and  there  bury  it.  While  crossing  the  stream  for  this  pur- 
pose, repeat  this  rhyme  :  — 

Fhir  a  sheid  a'  ghaoth  o  dhcas, 

Tog  leat  an  t-earchall  so  thar  an  eas  ; 

Tog  leat  a  mhi-dhurachd 

Dh'  ionnsuidh  'n  taobh  as  an  d'thainigte  leis. 

Which  means  : — 

Thou  that  makest  the  south  winds  blow, 
Take  this  disease  across  the  water  ; 
Take  away  with  Thee  this  ill-wish 
To  the  quarter  whence  it  was  brought. 


262  Gaelic  Society  of  Inuemess. 

The  second  general  charm  belongs  to  Mr  Carmichael's  excellent 
collections  of  Island  superstitions,  and  is  published  in  "  Nether- 
Lochaber."  1  The  charm  can  be  used  for  disease  of  man  or  beast, 
and  in  the  latter  case,  a  worsted  thread  is  tied  round  the  tail,  the 
thread  having  undergone  much  mysterious  spitting,  handling,  and 
"  incantating,"  by  the  woman  from  whom  it  is  got.  The  following 
rann  or  spell  is  muttered  over  it  at  the  time  of  its  "  consecra- 
tion" :— 

Rann  Leif/kcas  Galar  Crmdh. 

Criosd'  is  Ostail  is  Eoin, 
An  triuir  sin  is  binne  gloir, 
A  dh-eirich  a  dheanadh  na  h-6ra, 
Roimh  dhorus  na  Cathrach, 
No  air  glun  deas  De  Mhic. 
Air  na  mnathan  mur-shuilcach, 
'S  air  na  saighdean  sitheadach  ; 
Dithis  a  lasachadh  alt  agus  gan  adhachadh 
Agus  triur  a  chuireas  mi  an  urra  riu  sin, 
An  t-Athair,  's  am  Mac  's  an  Spiorad  Xaomli  ; 
Ccithir  ghalara  fichead  an  airnibh  duine  's  beathaich, 
i)ia  'gan  sgriobadh,  Dia  !gan  sguabadli, 
As  t-fhuil,  as  t-fhcoil  's  ad'  ohnuimh  's  ad'  smuais  ; 
S  mar  a  thog  Criosd  'mcas  air  bharra  gach  crann, 
Cun  1)'  ami  a.  thogas  K  dhiot-sa 
Cach  siiil,  gach  gnu  's  gach  farmad, 
O'n  la  an  ditigh  gu  latha  deireannach  do  shaoghail.    Amen. 

In  English — 

A  Healing  Incantation  for  Diseases  in  Cattle. 

Christ  and  his  Apostle  and  John, 
These  three  of  most  excellent  glory. 
That  ascended  to  make  supplication 
Through  the  gateway  of  the  city, 
Fast  by  the  right  knee  of  Cod's  own  Son. 
As  regards  evil-eyed  [lit,  wall-eyed]  women; 
As  regards  swift-speeding  elf-arrows; 
Two  to  strengthen  and  renovate  the  joints, 
And  three  to  back  (these  two)  as  sureties — 
The  Father,  the  Son,  the  Holy  Chost  : 

To  t'our-and -twenty  diseases  are  the  reins  of  man  and  beast 
(subject)  ; 


Gaelic  Incantations.  263 

God  utterly  extirpate,  sweep  away,  and  eradicate  them 

From  out  thy  blood  and  flesh,  thy  bones  and  marrow, 

And  as  Christ  uplifted  its  proper  foliage 

To  the  extremities  of  the  branches  on  each  tree-top, 

So  may  He  uplift  from  off  and  out  of  thee 

Each  (evil)  eye,  each  frowning  look,  malice,  and  envy, 

From  this  day  forth  to  the  world's  last  day.     Amen. 

The  first  ailment  in  the  order  of  the  alphabet  which  we  shall  take 
up  is — 

Failure  in  Chewing  the  Cud. 

A  cow  may  lose  the  power  or  inclination  of  chewing  its  cud,  and, 
to  cure  it,  we  must  first  know  the  name  of  the  cow.  Let  us  say 
the  name  is  Odhrag  or  the  Dun.  Then,  as  it  lies  on  the  ground, 
the  "  wise"  person  says  : — 

Odhrag,  mu  dh:  ith  thu  fiar  naoi  gleami  nan  naoi  criochan, 
Odhrag,  e'irich  is  cnarnh  do  chivean. 

(Dim  cow,  if  thou  hast  eaten  the  grass  of  the  nine  glens  of 
nine  bounds,  Dun  one,  arise  and  chew  thy  cud.) 

Therewith  give  the  beast  a  slap,  and  get  her  on  her  legs,  and  she 
will  be  all  right. 

Th«  Mumps. 

The  mumps  in  cattle  is  called  in  Gaelic  the  "  Poc  duhli."  The 
person  who  could  work  the  cure  by  a  charm  went  straddle-ways 
over  the  beast's  back  and  said  : — 

Eolas  air  a'  phot', 

Kolas  air  a'  phoc, 

Eolas  air  a'  phoc, 

Mur  bhitheas  tu  beo,  bithidh, 

;S  niur  bi,  leig  lc.it, 

(Knowledge  of  the  mumps,  etc.  ;  if  thou  wilt  live,  thou  wilt 
live  ;  if  not,  why  then  go.) 

The  concluding  ceremony  is  the  same  as  in  the  last  case. 
The  Ruaidhe  or  Milk-Redness 

The  lodging  of  the  milk  in  the  breast  of  a  woman  or  in  the 
udder  of  a  cow  was  cured  by  charms,  as  well  as  by  other  super- 
stitious means.  The  charms  have  already  been  given,  in  the  case 
of  human  ailments,  in  the  third  section.  They  are  the  same  for 
cattle. 


•264  -  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

The  Tairbliean. 

This  disease  in  cattle  appears  to  answer  to  colic  in  human 
beings.  It  was  often  brought  on  by  eating  too  much  grass.  The 
charms  for  it  are  numerous,  but  they  are  clearly  one  version  of 
some  primitive  copy.  The  notion  underlying  them  is  that  the 
tairfi/iean  is  a  worm,  and  one  correspondent  tells  us  that  indeed 
there  are  two  kinds  of  tairbhemi — male  and  female.  The  one  is 
cured  by  striking  the  animal  with  the  right  brace  or  shoulder 
strap  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  ;  the  other 
is  cured  by  the  following  charms.  The  following  is  the  version  of 
the  charm  given  by  Mr  \V.  Maekeime  : — 

An  t-Eolas  a  rinn  Calum-Cille 

Dh'  aona  mhart  na  caillich  ; 

Bha  cas  Chalum  Cliille  sa'  churachan 

'S  a  chas  eil'  air  tir  : — 

"xV  thairbhein,  a  thainig  thar  chuan 

'S  o  bliun  na  trdmhaiim  fada  thall — 

Air  mhial,  air  bhalg, 

Air  ghalar  dearg. 

A  lughdachadh  do  bliuilge, 

'S  a  mharbhadh  do  mliial, 

A  mharbhadh  fiolan  fionn, 

A  mharbhadh  fiolan  donn, 

A  mharbhadh  biast  do  leann, 

A  niharbhadh  an  tairbhein, 

(m'm  faigli  tliu  leasachadh — 

Au'hachain  tog  do  cheann." 


\V 


ncii  means — 


The  charm  that  Columba  wrought 

For  tlie  old  wife's  only  cow  ; 

Columba's  one  foot  was  in  the  boatie 

And  the  other  on  land  : — 

"  Thou  /T?'wm,  that  earnest  over  sea 

And  from  the  foundations  of  the  earth  far  beyond 

Against  worm  (beast),  against  swelling, 

Against  the  red  disease. 

To  reduce  thy  swelling, 

And  to  kill  thy  worm, 

To  kill  the  white  nescock, 

To  kill  the  brown  nescock, 


Gaelic  Incantations.  265- 

To  kill  the  worm  in  thy  bile, 
To  kill  the  tarvan, 
May  thou  get  relief — 
Dear  cow,  raise  thine  head." 

St  Columba  and  his  curach  is  introduced  into  the  following  version 
of  it  lately  picked  up  at  Aultbca  : — 

Paidir  l  Mhoire  a  h-aon, 

Paidir  Mhoire  dha, 

Paidir  Mhoire  tri, 

Mu  sheachd  paidrichean  agus  mu  sheachd  uairean. 
Ceithir  Feath  Fi;ulh  l  fichead  eadar  da  shlimiean  na  ba, 
Leth  dliiubh  sin  air  'n  toir  dho  'n  cliridhe 
Agus  an  leth  h-eilc  dho  na  h-airnean 
Oas  air  mnir  's  ens  air  tir 
Agus  cas  eile  sa'  cluirachan  : 
At  eadar  bian  agus  sithioini  ; 

Gii'm  beannachadh  Dia  a'  l)ho  is  na  tlia  'na  corp, 
Agus  gu'n  toireadh  K  leigheas  dhi  l)lio  'n  tairbhcan. 

The  above  may  be  translated  : — 

Pater  of  Mary  one,  two,  three  ! 

The  seven  Paters  and  seven  times  ! 

Four  and  twenty  F<jth  Fia  (magic  clouds  or  rhymes)  between 

the  two  shoulders  of  the  cow  ; 
Half  of  these  to  be  given  for  the  heart, 
And  the  other  half  for  the  kidneys. 
One  foot  on  sea,  one  foot  in  the  cxracli. 
Swelling  between  skin  and  flesh. 
May  God  bless  the  cow  and  what  is  in  her  body. 
And  grant  her  cure  from  the  tarvan. 

The  following  is  a  (ilen-Moriston  version  of  the  same  charm  :  — 

Ni  mi  'n  obaig  a  rinn  Calum-Cille 

Do  dh'  aon  bho  na  caillich — 

Air  a  bhulg  's  air  a  bhalg, 

'S  air  a'  ghalair  dhearg  's  aii  an  tairbhean. 

Bristidh  misc  'in  builgean, 

'S  marbhaidh  Moire  'mhialag 

1  A.-;  the  reciter  had  these  words  Paidir  Mhoire  sounded  P eadar  Moire, 
and  Ftath  Fiad'n  was  Feith  Fiar. 


266  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

I  shall  perform  the  charm 

Performed  by  St  Columba 

For  the  old  woman's  one  cow 

For  swelling  and  blisters, 

The  erysipelas  and  dropsy  (tarvan). 

I  shall  burst  the  swelling 

And  St  Mary  will  kill  the  worm. 

In  the  Courier  of  June  20th,  1872,  "  Nether  Lochaber  "  gives  a 
version  of  the  above  charm  which  presents  nothing  characteristic  ; 
but  the  learned  author  explains  the  tairbhean  as  an  incubating 
skin  worm,  a  view  which  is  contrary  to  the  general  conception  of 
what  the  tairbhean  is. 


XHh  APRIL,  1891. 

Mr  Thomas  Boyd,  bookseller,  Oban,  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Society  at  this  meeting.  The  paper  for  the  evening  was  con- 
tributed by  the  Rev.  Adam  Gunn,  Durness,  entitled,  Durness  from 
tit.*-  Earliest  Time*.  Mr  Gmm's  pap^r  was  as  follows  :— • 

DURXESS   FROM  THK  EARLIEST  TIMES. 

The  story  I  have  resolved  to  tell  you  is  a  long  one,  and  it  has 
never  been  told  consecutively  before.  I  am  free  therefore  to 
choose  my  own  method  in  telling  the  tale  ;  and  I  intend,  above  all, 
that  the  method  will  be  simple. 

Like  everything  else  in  this  world,  the  beginning  is  surrounded 
with  darkness,  and  the  end  is  not  yet  :  and  the  value  of  all 
attempts  of  this  kind  is  measured  by  the  success  with  which  the 
clouds  of  antiquity  are  removed,  and  the  past  is  made  to  yield  its 
hidden  story.  Whether  we  have,  or  have  not,  as  yet  entered  upon 
the  latter  days  I  know  not  :  but  certain  it  is,  that  in  no  period  in 
our  world's  history  were  such  attempts  made  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  early  davs  as  in  ours.  In  almost  every  branch  of 
scientific  inquiry,  there  are  two  sets  of  workers — one  eagerly 
surveying  the  future  in  quest  of  new  discoveries,  another 
laboriously  sifting  the  past  for  the  sake  of  eliminating  the  golden 
grains  of  truth  which  lie  buried  in  the  rubbish.  The  early  history 
of  our  native  land  is  being  subjected  to  the  most  thorough  and 
minute  analysis  :  the  geologist  is  busv  with  pick  and  hammer  in 
giving  our  rocks  and  mountain-chains  a  tongue  ;  the  topographist, 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  -67 

•with  a  livelier  imagination  and  a  more  sanguine  hope  of  success, 
learns  the  history  of  the  past  in  the  place-names  of  the  present  ; 
while  the  archaeologist  furnishes  his  quota  from  the  archives  of 
Universities  and  the  charter-chests  of  kings.  Surely  when  all  the 
sciences  are  thus  in  travail,  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  the 
product  of  the  future  will  be  something  marvellous  :  that  we  are 
on  the  eve  of  some  great  discovery  which  will  change  our  ways  of 
life  and  raise  us  yet  another  stage  in  the  scale  of  being. 

I. — THE    ABORIGINES. 

As  yet  indeed  the  past  history  of  our  own  land  is  made  to  tell  its 
tale  but  stubbornly  ;  for  a  dense  cloud  hangs  over  the  early  move- 
ments of  man  everywhere.  Far  back  as  we  can  go  with  any 
degree  of  certainty  we  find  a  race  in  our  island-home  anterior  to 
our  Celtic  forefathers  ;  a  small-boned,  black-haired,  puny  race  of 
men  who  lived  in  the  winter  months  in  caves,  and  in  wattled  huts 
in  summer.  These  were  not  our  ancestors,  though  I  should 
hesitate  to  say  that  we  are  altogether  free  from  all  traces  of  this 
pigmy  race.  They  are  made  to  speak  a  language  which  philologists 
in  the  main  identify  as  Iberian  ;  and  the  student  of  place-names 
finds  this  language  often  a  convenience  by  relegating  to  this 
unknown  tongue  any  word  which  he  cannot  otherwise  decipher. 
The  part  they  played  in  our  early  history  is  hidden  from  our  view 
by  the  mists  of  antiquity  ;  for  they  possessed  the  land  at  a  time 
when  the  lion  and  tiger  prowled  in  jungles  over  spots  where  statelv 
domes  now  rear  their  heads.  Their  ways  of  life  were  rude  and 
primitive;  without  nocks  or  herds,  without  skill  or  union,  theirs 
was  the  pure  barbaric  life  which  is  content  with  the  present  fare, 
and  is  careless  of  the  future.  They  made  little  impression  upon 
the  wildness  of  nature  around  them  ;  for  they  knew  not.  how  to 
"  subdue  the  earth  and  make  it  fruitful,1  and  by  the  working  of 
that  inexorable  law,  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  they  were  destined 
soon  to  give  way  to  a  healthier,  braver,  stouter  race.  l>ut  have 
they  left  any  traces  behind  them — anv  footprints  to  show  the  wav 
by  which  they  have  travelled  ?  Traces  of  their  occupation  indeed 
are  few  ;  besides  one  or  two  idioms  in  the  Celtic  language  which 
are  not  of  Aryan  origin,  and  some  half-dozen  words  which  may  find 
their  explanation  in  this  old  tongue,  we  have  no  literary  remains 
of  this  pre-historic  race.  There  are.  however,  other  monuments  of 
antiquity  in  our  midst  which  may,  very  possibly,  be  the  work  of 
this  early  tribe.  These  are  the  underground  dwellings  scattered 
over  the  land  from  the  southernmost  country  in  Scotland  to 


268  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Maeshow,  in  Orkney.  These  abodes  are  sometimes  large  and 
roomy ;  and  the  probable  theory  is  that  they  were  made  to 
accommodate,  during  the  storms  of  winter  or  the  dangers  of  war, 
the  leading  families  of  these  wandering  savages.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  one  of  the  largest  in  the  land  is  in  this  Parish — on 
the  western  shore  of  Loch  Eriboll,  the  demcnsions  of  which,  ns 
given  in  the  Old  Statistical  Account,  are  40  feet  long,  6  feet  high 
by  G  feet  wide. 

But  there  is  another  witness  which  may  be  cited  in  discussing 
questions  of  antiquity  to  whose  evidence  the  greatest  weight  is 
due— I  mean  xupcrxtition.  Highland  superstition  is  in  itself  a 
subject  of  profound  interest  ;  and  a  thorough  examination  of  its 
contents  is  being  made  to  yield  astonishing  results.  In  this  field 
of  inquiry  a  foremost  place  is  taken  by  a  prominent  member  of 
vour  own  Society  :  and  to  us  in  the  far  North  it  is  satisfactory  to 
observe  that  a  large  amount  of  material  is  contributed  by  Suther- 
landshire.  Now  of  all  the  superstitions  which  our  ancestors  have 
bequeathed  to  us,  none  holds  its  ground  so  firmly  as  our  belief  in 
the  existence  of  fairies  ;  and  I  feel  sure  that  our  conceptions 
regarding  them  are  due  in  a  great  measure  to 
the  character  of  the  race  we  are  now  discussing. 
Take  for  example  the  leading  characteristics  of  Highland  fairies. 
We  find  them,  all  in  all,  a  rather  harmless  race  of  beings-  -small 
men,  dwelling  in  cavities  of  the  earth,  much  inclined  to  music  and 
Feasting,  and  taking  very  little  interest  in  what  passes  above 
ground.  How  and  why  have  our  ancestors  come  to  believe  in  the 
existence  of  such  beings?  There  must  have  been  some  reason  for 
it,  for  beliefs  of  this  kind  do  not  rise  spontaneously  in  the  human 
mind.  Now,  it  is  something  to  know,  in  view  of  this  belief,  that 
once  upon  a  time  there  were  actually  little  men  prowling  in  our 
forests  who  neither  toiled  nor  spun  ;  who  lived  upon,  roots  of  the 
earth,  fish  of  the  stream,  and  product  of  the  chase.  When  the 
large-limbed,  warrior  Celts  poured  in  hordes  across  the  Channel, 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  these  insignificant  tribes 
retreated  before  them  into  the  denser  parts  of  the  forest,  hiding 
themselves  by  day  in  their  underground  dwellings,  and  appearing 
"lily  at  night  to  secure  the  necessaries  of  life.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  our  heathen  ancestors  should  look  upon  them  as  supernatural 
beings.  Their  movements  were  of  the  most  uncertain  kind  ;  their 
wavs  of  life  mysterious.  When  the  ancient  Caledonian  had 
chased  the  prey  too  far  into  the  forest,  and  found  himself  unable 
to  retrace  his  steps,  we  may  suppose  him  looking  out  for  a  resting- 
place  for  the  night,  on  some  green  knoll  where  he  might  stretch 


D  urn  ess  from  the  Earliest  Times.  269 

his  weary  limbs  in  safety  till  the  break  of  day.  But  no  sooner 
has  he  laid  his  head  on  the  greensward  pillow,  than  he  is  startled 
to  hear  the  sounds  of  music,  issuing  he  knows  not  whence.  He 
strains  both  eyes  and  ears  to  ascertain  the  cause  :  and,  at  last, 
pressing  his  head  closer  to  the  ground,  he  finds  to  his  dismay 
that  it  proceeds  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  For  him  there  is 
110  more  rest  that  night.  In  the  early  morning  he  narrates  his 
tale  to  a  group  of  awe-struck  listeners,  and  it  loses  none  of  its 
weirdness  in  the  telling.  In  some  such  scene  as  this  may  we  find 
the  little  stream  arising,  which  during  the  roll  of  centuries  has 
expanded  into  a  broad  majestic  river. 

We  arc  not,  however,  to  suppose  that  our  ancient  Caledonian 
•escaped  on  all  occasions  so  happily.  There  is  a  wide-  spread  belief 
in  the  deadly  efficacy  of  the  saiyhead-sithich  (fairy  arrow),  which 
seems  to  point  to  an  opposite  conclusion.  Xumbers  of  these  are 
to  be  found  embedded  in  our  Highland  moors:  and  in  quarters 
where  the  fairies  vet  hold  a  precarious  footing,  they  prove  as 
deadly  as  ever.  Thus  it  is  that  when  a  cow  or  horse  drops  dead 
suddenly,  r,  is  the  work  of  some  envious  fairy,  bent  upon  destruc- 
tion. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  once  upon  a  time  human  life 
was  far  from  safe  in  the  heart  of  a  Caledonian  forest,  and  to 
ascribe  the  work  of  death  to  beings  of  another  order  was  only 
natural,  when  the  hand  that  drew  the  bow  was  invisible. 

II. — TILE    (TLUKI-:    MISSIONARIES. 

How  long  this  early  tribe  managed  to  preserve  their  separate 
existence  in  the  presence  of  the  ever-increasing  Celt,  historv  does 
not  record.  It  is  the  way  with  all  aborigines  to  die'  a  natural 
•death;  and  if  we  were  to  cast  about  for  a  stage  of  eivilisal  ion 
representing  them  in  the  /enith  of  their  power,  we  slu.uld  find  it 
in  the  pigmies  of  Central  Africa,  while'  the  Australian  Maori 
would  furnish  us  with  a  parallel  of  their  gradual  decav.  It  is 
very  probable  that  not  a  trace  of  them  could  be  found  when  our 
northern  shores  began  to  be  threatened  by  the  Xorse  invaders. 

Hut  before  the  Norse  invasion  took  place,  strangers  of  a  gentler 
mien  found  their  way  to  far  (Jape  Wrath.  These  were  the 
Culdee  missionaries  from  the  monastery  of  lona.  Fired  with 
apostolic  /eal,  they  carried  the  truths  of  Christianity  far  and  wide, 
and  effected  settlements  among  the  islands  and  on  the  western 
sea-board  at  a  very  early  date.  Xor  did  they  rest  content  here. 
Some  of  these  early  pioneers  sailed  in  their  wattle-curraghs  to  the 
Orkney  Isles  ,  while  others,  crossing  the  mainland,  found  their 


270  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

way  to  the  Continent,  and  became  the  scribes  of  the  Continental 
monasteries.  In  this  way  it  happens  that  for  the  literary  remains 
of  the  Culdee  Missionaries  we  must  look  rather  to  the  records  of 
the  religions  houses  on  the  Continent  than  to  those  of  our  own 
land.  Their  chief  work  there  was  that  of  transcribing  the  Gospels 
in  the  Latin  tongue  ;  but  a  gloss  here,  and  a  marginal  entry  there, 
in  the  Gaelic  language,  reveal  the  nationality  of  the  scribe.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  each  monastery  in  our  own  land 
took  care  to  possess  a  written  record  of  its  history,  although 
hardly  a  truce  of  these  can  now  be  found.  The  Norsemen  made 
it  a  special  part  of  their  mission  to  desecrate  and  destroy  the 
religious  houses. 

l>ut  there  was  one  record  which  it  defied  them  to  efface.  That 
is  the  topographical  ;  and  by  means  of  it  we  can  form  a  good  idea 
of  the  movements  of  these  Christian  pioneers.  About  two  years 
after  lauding  in  loua  Columba  found  himself  face  to  face  with 
King  Brude  on  the  banks  of  the  Ness.  The  object  of  his  visit  was 
political — to  secure  leave  to  preach  the  Gospel  among  the  Northern 
I'icts.  This  was  granted  ;  and  under  royal  auspices  the  work  of 
propaganda  was  fairly  begun.  Their  method  seems  to  have  been 
as  follows  : — They  first  of  all  selected  a  suitable  spot  for  an  estab- 
lishment, on  which  they  built  their  bee-hive  cells.  They  next 
turned  their  attention  to  agriculture,  for  the  monastery  must  be 
self-supporting;  and  judging  from  the  sites  still  discernible  it  is 
clear  that  in  the  work  of  selection  thoy  manifested  considerable 
skill.  They  were  in  this  way  a  colonising  as  well  as  a  Christian- 
ising power,  Some  vears  would  thus  be  spent  in  settling  them- 
selves in  their  new  quarters — gradually  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the 
surrounding  country,  and,  in  the  extreme  North  at  any  rate,  a 
knowledge  of  the  language.  AYith  regard  to  the  south- western 
part  of  Scotland,  where  the  Dalri ad ic  colony  had  previously  settled, 
it  is  likely  that  the  Culdees  would  not  require  an  interpreter. 
Hut  in  the  North  it  was  different  ;  and  Columba  required  the 
services  of  an  interpreter  both  in  his  negotiations  with  King  Brude, 
and  in  the  conversion  of  the  Skve  Chieftain  Art-brannan.  The 
chief  o] (position  thev  had  to  encounter  cam;1  from  the  Druid,  whose 
power  waned  in  exact  proportion  to  their  success.  The  chieftain 
would  soon  discover  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear,  but  a  good  deal 
to  gain  from  the  residence  and  influence  of  those  holy  men  of  God 
(( 'eilc-Dc)  :  and  as  a  rule  he  left  them  unmolested.  Not  so,  how- 
ever, the  hruid.  It  was  to  him  a  matter  of  life  or  death  ;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  ancient  Caledonia  was  once  the  scene 
of  that  cruelty,  treachery  and  bloodshed  which  we  find  described 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  '271 

in  the  graphic  pages  of  Paton,  Harmington,  and  Mackay  of  Uganda. 
In  the  Parish  of  Durness  Balnacille  was  selected  for  the  site  of  the 
monastery,  and  from  thence  derives  its  name.  It  is  a  beautiful 
land-locked  bay  with  Fan-id  Head  stretching  out  to  the  East,  and 
the  bold  cliffs  of  Cape  Wrath  sheltering  it  from  the  gales  of  the 
Atlantic.  For  purposes  of  agriculture  no  spot  in  the  Parish  can 
compete  with  it — a  fact  which  is  sufficiently  vouched  for  when  it 
is  stated  that  in  modern  times  it  has  been  converted  into  a  sheep 
farm.  No  small  part  of  its  beauty  is  due  to  a  long  stretch  of 
pearly  white  sands  which,  in  the  glow  of  sunset,  combine  with  the 
blue  and  green  on  either  side  to  make  a  lovely  landscape. 

This  of  Balnacille  was  one  of  the  earliest  Culdee  settlements  in 
Sutherland.  Xo  place  was  better  adapted  for  a  centre  from  which 
to  evangelize  the  surrounding  country.  In  their  light  skiffs  of 
wattle  and  cow-hide,  they  could  visit  in  a  few  hours  their  brethren 
on  the  Eilean-nan-naomh,  to  the  east,  or  penetrate  for  miles' into 
the  interior,  along  the  banks  of  Loch  Eriboll.  The  tribes  kthey 
came  to  Christianise  paid  little  attention  to  the  arts  of  peace. 
Their  hands  were  more  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the  bow  and 
spear  than  to  that  of  the  plough  and  mattock.  But  a  change 
soon  began  to  make  itself  evident.  In  the  course  of  time  the 
young  became  educated,  and  old  Christianised.  A  reign  of  peace 
ensued,  and  the  face  of  the  country  showed  signs  of  civilisation. 
For  two  hundred  years  Balnacille  was  the  centre  of  light  and 
learning  ;  hamlets  grew  and  multiplied  in  the  vicinitv  of  the 
Monastery,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  took  the  place  of  the 
excitement  of  the  chase.  Hoary-headed  warriors  laid  bv  the  spear 
and  battle-axe,  and  took  up  the  spelling-book  ;  while  the  village 
maiden  forbore  to  sing  the  war-like  odes  of  Ossian  when  they  were 
introduced  to  the  gentler  productions  of  the  Christian  muse  in  the 
hvmns  of  St  Patrick  and  the  Amra  of  Columcille. 


HI. — THE    NORSK    INVASION. 

Hut  a  change  was  at  hand.  That  scourge  of  early  Celtic 
Christianity — the  Xorse  invaders — broke  loose  upon  our  Scottish 
shores,  and  for  three  centuries  enveloped  the  land  in  heathen 
darkness.  At  tirst  they  came  in  quest  of  booty  and  plunder,  and 
sei/.ed  upon  the  treasures  of  the  religious  establishments  with 
avidity.  Nothing  escaped  their  ravages  ;  three  times  in 
succession  was  the  lamp  of  lona  extinguished,  and  the  lesser 
monasteries  of  the  sea-coast  shared  the  same  fate. 

The  shores  of  Caithness  and  Sutherland,  from  their  proximity 
to  the  Orkney  Isles,  were  early  infested  with  these  ruthless 


272  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

pirates.  Pagans  themselves,  they  had  no  scruples  in  making  the 
monasteries  their  prey,  and  what  they  could  not  carry  away  with 
them  they  subjected  to  the  fire  and  sword.  In  this  way  the  labour 
of  years  was  undone,  and  the  history  of  the  early  Celtic  Church 
abruptly  closed. 

At  first  these  raids  were  only  occasional  and  of  short  duration, 
but  after  a  time  they  became  more  frequent,  until  at  last  per- 
manent settlements  were  effected  in  convenient  situations.  The 
place-names  of  our  parish  show  the  completeness  of  its  subjugation 
to  the  foreign  power  ;  and  the  traditional  tales  so  common  about 
a  century  ago  about  the  "  fleets  of  Lochlin  "  preserved  almost  to 
our  own  time  the  records  of  their  invasion.  With  the  single 
exception  of  Balnacille,  all  the  principal  place-names  are  Scandi- 
navian, such  as  Eriboll  (township  of  the  pebble),  Sango  (sand- 
goc),  Keoldale  (kvle  and  dale),  Smoo,  Kerwick,  Cape  Wrath 
(Horaf),  and  the  latter  part  at  any  rate  of  the  parish  name, 
Dur-ness.1  In  connection  with  the  nomenclature,  it  is  a 
noticeable  and  significant  fact  that  the  most  fertile  places  generally 
boar  a  Scandinavian  name,  while  the  more  rugged  and  least 
accessible  portions  preserve  the  old  Celtic. 

We  may  rest  assured  that  settlements  were  not  effected  without 
a  severe  struggle  with  the  native  population.  The  many  tumuli 
which  are  met  with  so  frequently  on  the  north  coast  are  ascribed  by 
tradition  to  this  period,  and  point  out  the  battle-fields  of  the 
contending  parties.  If  we  look  upon  the  ninth  century  as  the 
incubating  period  of  the  Norse  invasion,  we  are  left  with  the  tenth, 
eleventh,  and  twelfth  centuries  as  the  period  of  occupation. 
During  this  period  active  hostilities  would  cease,  and  a  certain 

1  A'arious  etymologies  have  l>een  given  of  the  nsmc  of  the  parish  :  — 

(<T  Deer-ness — "Promontory  of  the  deer.  L  rd  Reay's  deer  forest  is  hero. 
This  would  make  it  Xor.se. 

(/>     Dorruin-ness  :   G.  and  N.  —  Point  of  storms. 

(r)    Dohar-ness  :   (i.  and  N.— Point  of  the  water  :  peuin.sula. 

(d)  \Ve  are  not  satisfied  with  any  of  the  above  and  we  venture  another, 
with  reasons  :  — 

1.  The   principal  township   in   the   vicinity  of  the  Monastery  is  Dnrln^  ; 

Gaelic,  an  diiUt-rinn,  with  the  accent  sunk  on  the  first  syllabic  ;  we 
have  also  a  similar  village  named  Lerin  :  G  .elie.  an  li  thrum. 

2.  Both  terms  describe  well  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  places  so 

called— the  black  point  ;  the  half -point.  Ihirine  soil  is  black  ;  the 
rest  of  the  parish,  light  and  sandy  ;  the  article  shows  we  ought  to 
look  for  the  origin  in  the 

3.  Gaelic.     The  Norsemen  took  the  mine  of  the  principal  township,  and, 

not  knowing  the  force  of  rlnn  />oinf,  sharpened  it  still  more  in  his 
own  way,  and  made  it  J)  urines*. 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  273 

fusion  of  the  hostile  races  would  take  place.  We  read  that  on  one 
occasion  a  peace  was  concluded  at  Carn-righ,  an  eminence  over- 
looking Durness,  between  Sweyn,  King  of  Norway,  and  Malcolm 
[I.  of  Scotland. 

The  effects  of  this  occupation  are  traceable  in  the  place-names, 
in  the  language,  and  in  the  moral  and  physical  characteristics  of 
the  people.  I  have  on  a  former  occasion  tried  to  estimate  the 
influence  of  the  Noise  language  upon  the  Gaelic  of  Sutherland,  and 
already  referred  to  its  effect  on  the  topographical  record.  What 
we  owe  to  the  Norseman  in  the  physical  and  moral  spheres  can  never 
be  ascertained  with  certainty ;  but  that  a  blending  of  the  races 
took  place  is  absolutely  certain.  To  them  are  due  the  light,  sandy 
hair,  the  blue  eye,  and  the  powerful  imagination  which  characterise 
the  native  population  of  the  North  Coast;  and  judging  from  the 
adventurous  spirit,  ready  tact,  and  sanguine  temperament  of  the 
people  of  this  Parish  it  would  seem  as  if  they  could  lay  claim  to  a 
more  than  average  share  of  the  blood  of  the  Vikings. 

Jt  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  conditions  of  life  whic'i 
obtained  in  Sutherlandsliire  under  Norse  rule.  We  may  gather  a 
few  facts  bearing  on  this  from  the  pages  of  Torfaeus,  but  thev  are 
exceedingly  meagre.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
peace  established  in  Ard-Durness — which  is  by  mistake  located  in 
Strath-Naver  ;  and  we  further  learn  from  the  same  source  that 
Alexander,  King  of  Scotland,  took  Sutherland  from  Magnus  II., 
Karl  of  Orkney  in  1:231,  which  until  then  was  reckoned  part  of  the 
Orkney  Earldom.  It  is  likely  that  along  the  sea-coast  a  bi-lingual 
race  would  spring  up  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  a  complete 
fusion  ever  took  place.  The  dominant  Norseman  imposed  tribute 
upon  the  vanquished  population ;  and  claimed  for  himself  the 
richest  parts  of  the  soil.  But  in  everything  save  military  power, 
the  conquered  were  superior  to  their  conquerors.  They  were 
superior  in  point  of  numbers  and  civilisation  ;  and  the  presence  of 
the  Norwegian  fleet  alone  accounts  for  the  quiet  submission  of  the 
Celt  to  the  foreign  power.  When  this  received  a  check  at  Largs, 
and  the  storms  of  the  North  Coast  completed  the  destruction  of 
the  fleet,  Norwegian  rule  may  be  said  to  have  ceased  in  Scotland. 
Thereafter  a  process  of  evacuation  set  in  ;  and  the  more  determined 
and  adventurous  spirits,  who  would  not  submit  to  the  new  order 
of  things,  looked  about  for  new  lands  and  eventually  settled  hi 
Iceland.  They  carried  with  them  there  the  principles  of  civilisa- 
tion and  the  truths  of  Christianity. 

18 


274  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

IV. THE    CLAN    PERIOD. 

The  last  encounter  between  the  Norsemen  and  the  native 
population  took  place  towards  the  close  of  the  13th  century.  In 
1263  Haco,  King  of  Norway,  made  vast  preparations  to  go  to  the 
rescue  of  his  countrymen  in  the  Hebrides.  Three  of  his  captains, 
Erling,  Ivarson,  and  Andrew  Nicolson  had  got  the  start  of  the 
main  fleet,  and  resolved  to  while  away  the  time  by  making  a 
descent  upon  Durness.  They  sailed  their  galleys  up  the  Kriboll 
Loch,  and  then  disembarked,  probably  on  the  Kriboll  side.  Thence 
"  they  went  up  the  country,  burnt  twenty  hamlets,  and  destroyed 
a  castle.''  From  the  description  given  it  is  clear  that  this  descent 
was  made  upon  the  villages  lying  to  the  south-east  of  Loch  Kriboll, 
and  that  the  Castle  referred  to  is  the  far-famed  Dornadilla,  Lmt 
the  fortunes  of  war  are  variable.  When  Haco  returned  from  the 
West,  and  his  fleet  lay  becalmed  in  the  Cia-fiord  (Loch  Kriboll) 
after  rounding  Cape  Wrath,  some  of  his  men,  in  ignorance  of  what 
had  taken  place,  landed  to  secure  a  supply  of  water.  They  were 
immediately  surrounded  "  by  the  Scots  and  slain,  and  their  graves 
are  pointed  out  to  this  day. 

In  order  to  provide  against  such  inroads  as  the  preceding,  a 
certain  amount  of  organisation  became  necessary,  and  in  this  way 
:i  beginning  was  made  of  what  is  known  as  the  Clan  system.  The 
Kings  of  Scotland  were  willing  to  recognise  the  services  of  the 
most  successful  leaders  against  those  invaders,  and  portions  of 
land  were  freely  granted  in  return  for  such  services.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  this  was  the  origin  of  the  two  leading  clans  in 
Sutherlandshire — the  Sutherlands  and  Mackays.  And  not  only 
were1  lands  given  for  military  services,  but  for  other  purposes  as 
well.  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  had  granted  a  charter  to  Fare-hard, 
the  King's  physician,  of  certain  portions  of  Durness,  and  we  find 
under  the  date  1379  this  charter  duly  confirmed  by  King  liobert 
II.,  giving  the  lands  of  Melness  and  two  parts  of  Hope  to  the  same 
Farquar,  and  nine  years  subsequently  giving,  in  addition,  a  large 
number  of  islands  on  the  North  Coast,  including  Kilean  Hoan  and 
Kilean  Choery,  in  Loch  Kriboll.1 

1  la  this  connection  it  is  curious  to  observe  how  traditions  come  down 
through  the  generations.  There  yet  lives  in  Durness  an  old  man  (great- 
grandson  of  Kol>  Dunn  the  poe')  who  is  thoroughly  convinced  he  could  make 
good  his  claim  to  all  these  islands,  on  the  ground  of  direct  descent  from  the 
famous  physician.  According  to  his  version,  his  rer  owned  ancestor  effected 
the  cure  of  the  King  by  the  timely  discoveiy  of  a  white  serpent,  and  the  words 
of  the  charter  ran  :  — 

"  Xa  h-uile  h-eilean  tha  's  a'  mhuir 
Kadar  Storr  is  Stroma  'n  t-sruth." 
which  substantially  agrees  with  the  islands  named  in  the  charter  of  1386. 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  275 

What  is  now  embraced  in  the  parish  of  Durness  frequently 
changed  hands  during  the  clan  period.  At  one  time  it  would 
seem  to  have  formed  part  of  the  possessions  of  the  House  of 
Sutherland  ;  at  another  time  we  find  it  in  possession  of  the  Mac- 
kays,  while  the  Macleods  of  Assynt,  who  gradually  developed  into 
the  leading  power  in  the  west  of  Sutherland,  also  claimed  a  con- 
nection. From  about  the  year  1500  till  its  recent  absorption 
into  the  Sutherland  estates,  it  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 
Lords  of  Reay.  The  following  notes  serve  to  show  the  uncertain 
character  of  its  tenure  about  this  period  :— 

In  1499,  for  the  good  service  of  Odo  Mackay,  James  TV. 
granted  him  in  heritage  certain  lands,  including  Davoch  Kriboll, 
\vhich  had  been  forfeited  by  Alexander  Sutherland  for  treason. 

In  1511,  by  a  deed  at  Inverane,  Donald  MacCorrachie  resigned 
the  lands  of  Melness,  Mussel,  and  Hope,  in  favour  of  Y  Mackay 
and  his  son  John. 

In  1530,  James  V.  gave  Hope,  Huinlcam.  Arnaboll,  Kriboll, 
Mussel,  Kintail,  and  Westmoine,  in  heritage  to  William  Suther- 
land of  Duff  us — the  dues  of  said  lands. 

In  1539  the  same  King  gave  to  Sir  Donald  Mackay  of  Strath- 
naver,  in  heritage,  the  free  barony  of  Farr  created  anew,  including 
Davoch  Friboll,  Hoan,  and  the  lands  of  Hope. 

This  last  gift  brought  about  a  dispute  between  the  Sutherland* 
and  Mackays,  in  the  settlement  of  which  we  find  the  Karl  of  Moray 
.arbiter  in  1542. 

During  this  period,  a  formidable  chieftain  obtained  consider- 
able power  in  Durness.  This  was  Donald  MacMurrach-mac-Ian- 
mhor.  He  was  a  Macleod,  and  originally  hailed  from  Lewis.  It 
is  likely  that  owing  to  some  misdeeds  he  had  to  flee  his  native 
island,  and  he  wns  harboured  for  some  time  bv  Macleod  of  Assynt. 
We  next  find  him  as  chief  of  the  Macleods  of  Durness,  and  holding 
in  life-rent  the  lauds  of  Westmoin.  This  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Hugh  Mackay  of  Far,  father  of  Donald,  first  Lord  Reay.  At 
this  period  what  is  now  known  as  the  Reay  country  was  held  as 
follows  : — From  Cape  AVrath  to  Assynt,  by  Donald,  brother  of 
said  Hugh,  or  as  he  is  better  known  in  history,  u  Huistean  Dubli 
nan  tuagh "  (Black  Hugh  of  axes)  ;  Durness,  by  Donald  Mac- 
Murchon  in  life-rent  ;  Strathhalladale,  by  Xiel  Mackay,  a  near 
kinsman  of  the  Chief;  and  the  remainder  of  the  Mackay  country 
by  Hugh  himself.  When  Donald,  first  Lord  Reay,  succeeded  to 
the  property  and  title,  he  succeeded  in  gaining  possession  and 
charter  rights  to  the  whole  of  the  Reay  country  ;  and  ever  since, 


276  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

the  Master  of  Reay  always  resided  in  Balnakil,  Durness,  in  the 
present  Mansion  House,  which  up  to  that  date  was  the  Bishop's 
residence. 

Donald  Macmurrachadh  was  the  Rob  Roy  of  Sutherland.  It 
was  to  secure  his  friendship  that  Hugh  Mackay  granted  him 
possession  of  the  lands  of  Westmoin.  In  those  days  it  was 
necessary  to  carry  out  many  plots  which  would  not  bear  strict 
investigation,  and  for  such  purposes  Donald  could  always  be  relied 
upon  by  his  master.  He  had  a  very  easy  conscience,  great 
personal  strength,  and  was  a  man  of  unlimited  resources.  E^act  and 
legend  are  so  mixed  in  regard  to  his  career  that  it  is  impossible 
now  to  sift  the  false  from  the  true ;  and  innumerable  stories 
circulate  round  his  name.  In  a  recess  in  the  wall  of  the  old  church 
at  Balnakil,  his  stone  coffin  may  yet  be  seen;  the  inscription  reads- 
as  follows  : — 

Donald  Mac-Murchon 
Hier  lyis  lo  : 
Vas  il  to  his  f re  end. 
Var  to  his  fo  : 
True  to  his  Maister 
In  wierd  or  wo  : 

1623. 

It  would  appear  that  he  had  a  presentiment  that  those  whom  he 
had  wronged  when  in  life  would  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  his 
remains,  and  it  was  to  prevent  this  that  he  gave  1000  merks  to 
the  Master  of  Reay,  when  building  the  Church,  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  within  it  the  right  of  sepulchre. 

In  the  Ju.-.ticiarv  Records,  under  the  date  of  10th  December,. 
1()G^,  mention  is  made  of  another  Durness  warrior  of  some  note  in 
his  day.     This  was  William  Mackay  or  Maccomash,  who  had  his 
fl'iruii    in    the  time  of  John,    Lord  Reay.      This   latter   nobleman 
possessed  the  lands  of  Spittal  in  Caithness,  but  found  it  difficult  to 
•e  their  rents.      So  lie  took  the  law  into  his  own  hands  ;  made 
d    upi'ii  Caithness  and   carried   off  a  great  booty.      The  Karl 
aithness   naturally    resented   this,    and   criminal   letters    were 
'il  against  the  raiders,  '•'  making  mention  that  the  said  William 
'' '(iii>:\sh,   in   Durness,   and  others,   in  the  year  1649,  under  the 
immand   of    Xiel    Mackay,    kinsman   of   Lord   Reay,   robbed  and 
spoiled  the  said   country  of  Caithness,'1  but  the  diet  was  deserted, 
ar.d  the-  proceedings  terminated. 

The  most  important  local  family  at  this  time  was  that  of 
I'.iirley,  near  Balnakil.  This  family  was  connected  with  the 
Scoiirv  branch  of  the  Mackavs  ;  and  furnished  some  of  the  ablest 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  277 

men  that  ever  bore  the  name.  Donald  of  Borley  was  second  son 
of  Scourie,  and  brother  of  General  Mackay  who  fought  against 
Dundee.  He  had  a  son  who  succeeded  him  in  the  lands  of  Borley, 
Captain  William  Mackay:  and  under  date  18th  May,  1675,  he 
obtains  a  charter  from  Lord  Reay  of  the  Scourie  district.  He  led 
a  company  of  Mackavs  at  the  battle  of  Worcester,  on  the  side  of 
Charles  II.  His  brothers  also  were  men  of  note.  Donald,  who 
took  a  leading  part  in  what  is  known  as  the  Darien  Scheme,  and 
which  ended  in  failure;  and  the  Rev.  John  Mackay,  who  was 
educated  at  St  Andrews  and  on  the  Continent,  and  became 
minister  first  of  Durness,  and  afterwards  of  Lairg.  He  was 
succeeded  there  by  his  son,  Rev.  Thomas  Mackay,  whose  family 
also  was  distinguished.  It  was  a  son  of  this  clergyman  of  Lairg 
that  wrote  the  "Shipwreck  of  the  Juno,"  to  whom  Byron  owes  so 
much  in  "  Don  Juan." 

All  through  this  period,  the  eldest  son  of  the  chief  resided  at 
Balnakiel.  It  was  impossible  to  estimate  the  value  of  such  an 
.arrangement  in  civilising  a  region  which  until  then  was  so  isolated. 
Owing  to  this  it  happened  that  the  natives  of  the  most  inaccess- 
ible portion  in  the  north  were  brought  into  personal  contact  with 
men  of  wealth  ai.nl  culture,  and  the  effect  made  itself  manifest  in 
their  general  bearing.  They  became  more  intelligent,  sprightly, 
and  chivalrous  than  their  neighbours,  and  there  is  a  valid  founda-' 
tion  in  fact,  as  well  as  evidence  of  caustic  Celtic  humour,  for  the 
name  by  winch  they  are  known  in  a  neighbouring  parish-—  i((ii*l/'/'u 
Dhuirinask  (Durness  gentry). 

V. — ECCLESIASTICAL    UECORDS. 

Perhaps  in  no  way  was  the  beneficial  effect  of  the  Balnakil 
Mansion  House  more  apparent  than  in  securing  for  the  natives 
from  time  to  time  the  services  of  the  ablest  and  most  cultured 
clergymen.  It  may  at  first  sight  appear  strange  that  such  an 
outlandish  parish  as  Dnrness  could  command  such  men  ;  men  who 
not  only  had  brilliant  careers  at  our  Scotch  Universities,  but  who 
also  drank  deeply  at  the  Continental  seats  of  learning.  The 
reason  was  twofold.  In  the  first  place  the  parish  of  Durness, 
until  recent  times,  was  a  very  large  one- — including  the  three 
parishes  of  Tongue,  Durness,  and  Eddrachillis.  In  the  second 
place,  the  Reay  family  was  among  the  first  to  adopt  the  Protestant 
religion,  and  took  a  special  pride  in  securing  the  services  of  the 
ablest  men.  One  of  the  Lord  Reays  made  it  a  boast,  that  for 
praying,  preaching,  and  singing,  "he  would  back  the  Presbytery 


278  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

of  Tongue  against  any  other  Presbytery  in  Scotland."  The  clergy- 
man to  whom  ho  referred  as  so  proficient  in  singing  was  Mr 
Murdo  Macdonald,  A.M.,  minister  of  Dnrness,  of  whom  more  in 
the  sequel. 

The  story  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Durness  would,  of 
itself,  form  no  inconsiderable  essay.  It  begins,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  the  Culdee  Missionaries  settling  in  Balnakil,  who  underwent 
the  same  kind  of  usage  from  the  warlike  sons  of  Lochlin  as  their 
lona  brethren.  But  they  did  not  give  up  the  struggle  in  despair, 
for  we  find  that  the  Church  of  Durness,  between  the  years  "  1223 
and  12-15,  was  assigned  by  Bishop  Gilbert  to  find  light  and 
incense  for  the  Cathedral  Church  at  Dornoch."  It  would  be 
unreasonable  to  expect  a  connected  history  of  the  fortunes  of  this 
monastery,  for  such  does  not  exist,  but,  judging  from  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  the  north  coast,  it  would  appear  that  while  the 
influence  of  the  Celtic  Church  waned  in  proportion  to  the 
aggressions  of  Koine,  Balnakil  Monastery  would  have  been  among  the 
last  to  come  under  such  influence.  In  England,  which  had  been 
Christianised  mainly  by  Papal  emissaries,  it  was  but  natural  that 
the}'  should  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  lloman  See.  But 
it  was  quite  otherwise  in  Scotland,  and  down  to  the  14th  century, 
the  Scottish  Kings  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Scottish  clergy  or; 
the  other,  resented  with  all  their  might  the  foreign  influence. 
But  it  was  a  losing  battle  in  which  they  were  engaged  ;  the 
Scottish  clergy  retired  gradually  before  the  representatives  of 
J Ionic,  first  from  England,  and  latterly  from  the  south  of  Scotland. 
But  as  late  as  1320,  eight  earls  and  thirty-one  barons  of  Scotland 
sent  a  spirited  remonstrance  to  the  Pope,  asserting  their  deter- 
mination to  preserve  their  ancient  freedom  alike  in  State  and 
Church,  declaring  at  the  same  time  their  spiritual  obedience  to 
Home.  The  Culdees  continued  until  the  fourteenth  century,  when 
they  were  finally  superseded  by  a  regular  order  of  clergy  owing 
allegiance  in  worship  and  ritual  to  liome.  But  in  the  more 
inaccessible  districts  there  is  no  question  that  they  held  out 
against  the  innovations  of  Home  much  longer  ;  and  the  same 
century  which  saw  the  decline  of  the  Scottish  Church,  saw  the 
rise  of  the  Lollards  and  the  AVickliffites.  Considering  the  slower 
pace  of  events  in  our  northern  peninsula,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  the  influence  of  the  Culdees  remained  until  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  this  accounts  for  the  almost  entire  absence  of 
traditions  relating  to  Roman  Catholic  priests  in  the  north  coast. 
In  no  part  of  Scotland  was  the  Reformation  earlier  launched  and 
more  effectually  carried  out  than  in  the  Reay  country,  where  the 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  279 

soil  had  been  favourable  for  its  reception,  through  the  labours  of 
the  Culdees.  Roman  Catholicism  flourished  but  a  short  time 
here,  and  was  looked  upon  by  the  people  as  an  exotic  plant. 
The  only  tradition  which  the  writer  heard,  which  owes 
its  origin  to  this  influence,  is  that  about  a  certain  priest  called  the 
"  Sagart  Ruadh,"  and  the  curious  thing  in  connection  with  him 
is  that  almost  every  parish  in  the  North  Coast  preserves  very 
much  the  same  traditions  concerning  him,  and  claims  his  grave. 
In  Durness,  a  spot  is  pointed  out  where  he  had  a  chapel  ;  iu 
Strathnaver  again,  fort}-  miles  distant,  his  grave  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  valley  of  the  Naver.  When  the  river  will  have  removed  his 
bones  (and  it  is  now  within  a  few  yards  of  it)  the  tradition  is  that 
"the  Cheviot  sheep  will  give  way  again  to  men."  In  one  way  the 
scantiness  of  materials  dating  from  this  period  is  very  natural, 
when  we  consider  that  the  chief,  Hugh  Mackay  of  Far,  and  father 
of  1st  Lord  Reay,  adopted  with  his  clansmen  the  principles  of  the 
Reformation.  He  flourished  between  1571  and  1614.  So 
attached  was  the  family  to  the  cau.se  of  religious  freedom  that  his 
son,  Sir  Donald,  mentioned  above,  served  on  the  Continent  under 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  drew  so  largely  upon  the  resources  of  his 
estate  to  equip  him  in  this  undertaking  that  it  never  afterwards 
recovered  financially. 

I  shall  bring  the  ecclesiastical  record  of  the  parish  to  a  close  by 
subjoining  a  number  of  notices,  gathered  from  many  sources  in  the 
Advocates'  and  Free  Library,  Edinburgh,  adding,  where  possible, 
further  information  from  local  tradition. 

1541.-  James  V.  presented  the  vicarage  of  Ard-Durncss  to  Mr 
John  Jackson,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Sir  Gilbert  Dynocht.  He 
resided  in  Balnakil  House. 

1544.  -  -Mr  John  Jackson  was  still  vicar. 

1551.— On  a  letter  from  Queen  Mary  to  the  Bishop  Elect  of 
Caithness,  the  latter  received  Robert,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  as  tenant 
of  the  lands  of  Durness  and  teinds  of  the  parish.  In  1559  the 
same  Bishop  granted  the  same  lands  in  heritage  to  John,  Karl  of 
Sutherland. 

Between  1561  and  1566,  the  teinds  of  the  parish  continued  to 
be  leased  with  the  lands  and  Barony  of  Ard-Durness. 

In  1567,  John  Reid  is  appointed  exhorter  there.  At  this  time 
the  parish  extended  for  fifty  miles  from  east  to  west. 

1576. --King  James  VI.  presented  the  vicarage  to  George 
M  ernes. 

15(80. — (Date  of  National  Covenant — directed  against  Popery) 
the  said  George  Mernes  "is  placid  conform  to  warrant."  He  is 


280  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

said  to  have  dcmitted  before  8th  March  1580,  when  William 
Mcrncs  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  by  James  VI. 

16 — .  —  Mr  Alexander  Munro  was  appointed  to  the  benefice  in 
the  first  half  of  the  17th  century.  He  is  styled  in  Macrae's  MS. 
"  catechist  of  Strathnavcr  " — which  at  the  time  formed  part  of  the 
parish  of  Durness.  He  found  the  natives  in  a  state  of  heathenism 
almost,  so  far  as  religion  was  concerned,  which  demonstrates  what 
many  a  writer  has  affirmed  concerning  the  religion  of  Scotland  in 
the  centuries  between  the  decline  of  the  Celtic  Church  and  the 
Reformation,  that  for  its  influence  on  the  moral  and  intellectual 
life  of  the  people,  it  may  be  said  to  have  had  no  existence.  The 
labours  of  Sandy  Munro,  as  he  is  called  by  tradition,  were  greatly 
blessed.  He  was  no  mean  poet,  and  translated  or  paraphrased 
portions  of  Scripture  for  the  benefit  of  his  parishioners.  Some  of 
these  are  preserved  in  Macrae's  MS.,  and  are  of  much  interest  as 
showing  the  northern  dialect  of  Gaelic  as  it  existed  about  two 
or  nearly  three  centuries  ago — being  written  phonetically.  He 
was  converted  under  the  preaching  of  Mr  Robert  Bruce, 
second  son  of  Bruce  of  Airth.  one  of  the  barons  of  Scotland, 
and  a  connection  of  the  Royal  Bruces.  This  took  place 
while  the  latter  was  prisoner  at  Inverness,  on  account  of  resisting 
the  Episcopal  designs  of  James  the  Sixth.  Soon  after  he  believed 
lie  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  calling  him  to  the  ministry,  and 
informing  him  of  this  his  future  settlement.  He  studied  for  the 
<  'hurch,  and  was  duly  lijcnsed  and  ordained  for  this  remote  p-vrish, 
through  the  influence  of  the  Reay  family,  whose  leanings  were 
with  the  evangelical  party.  His  son,  Hew  Munro,  succeeded  to 
the  benefice,  and  his  daughter  Christian  married  John  Mackay  of 
Achncss,  chieftain  of  the  Clan  Abrach  branch  of  the  Mackay s. 

For  some  years,  since  the  death  of  the  preceding  incumbent  in 
1(553,  the  parish  was  vacant,  and  the  Presbytery  Record  of  Caith- 
ness shows,  under  date  5th  Dec.,  1051),  that  Mr  Alexander  Clerk, 
minister  at,  Latheron,  was  scut  to  officiate  in  Strathnaver,  "  accord- 
ing to  the  Lord  of  Hhaes  desire  to  supplie  them."  The  same 
Record  contains  also  the  following  :—"  Wick,  4  Doc.,  1(>GO.— All 
brethren  present,  except  David  Munro.  absent  in  Strathnaver/'' 

"  Thnrso,  Jan.  1st,  1GG1.  —  Letter  presented  showing  that  Mr 
David  Munro  had  come  the  length  of  Strathic,  but  was  detained 
there  by  tempestuous  weather.  Excuse  admitted." 

Thurso,  Sept.  2G,  1GG2.— The  said  my  Lord  Bishop,  and  the 
brethren  of  ye  Presbytery  present,  Mr  Hewe  Munro  (son  of  Sandy 
Munro  above)  had  his  populare  sermon  on  Math.  xiii.  24,  as  a  part 
of  his  trial,  in  order  to  his  call  to  the  ('hurch  of  Durines,  in 


Durness  from  the  Earliest  Times.  281 

Strathnaverne,  and  being  removed  was  approven.  This  was  the 
first  meeting  after  Prelacy  was  restored. 

1663. — Ordained  said  Hew  Munro  to  Durness.  From  this 
date  forward  there  are  many  references  in  the  Presbytery  Record 
complaining  of  his  non-attendance  at  the  meetings.  He  excused 
himself  on  the  grounds  of  distance,  and  difficulty  of  the  journey, 
but  was  sharply  admonished.  He  did  not  take  the  test  in  1681, 
but  on  petitioning  the  Privy  Council,  he  was  allowed  to  do  so 
before  his  Ordinary  on  16th  March,  1682.  He  died  in  possession 
of  his  benefice  in  1698,  aged  59  years,  in  the  36th  year  of  his 
ministery.  A  daughter,  Isabella,  married  Robert  Mackay  of 
Achness. 

A  vacancy  again  occurs  between  1700  and  1707,  and  we  find 
the  General  Assembly  of  1704  directing  to  send  "a  probationer 
having  Irish  (Gaelic)  to  Caithness,  with  a  special  eye  to  Durness." 

1707.— John  Mackay,  A.M.,  3rd  son  of  Captain  Wm.  af  Borley, 
referred  to  above,  was  ordained  minister  of  the  parish.  It  was  on 
a  distinct  understanding  that  the  parish  should  be  divided,  and 
another  minister  placed  in  it.  This  promise  was  set  aside  by 
George,  Lord  Rcay,  the  heritor.  A  lawsuit  followed,  and  the 
minister  failed  in  his  endeavour  to  secure  justice,  with  the  result 
that  a  call  to  another  charge  was  procured  for  him,  and  he  was 
transferred  to  Lairg  in  1713;  after  a  ministry  of  about  seven  years 
in  his  native  parish.  This  lawsuit  preyed  alike  on  his  health  and 
resources,  but  at  Lairg  he  proved  of  great  service  in  civilising  the 
rude  inhabitants,  the  Earl  of  Sutherland  conferring  upon  him 
power  to  inflict  corporeal  punishment  where  necessary.  He  was 
educated  first  at  St  Andrews,  and  then  on  the  Continent,  and  con- 
nected as  he  was  with  the  Reay  family,  was  a  man  of  culture  as 
well  as  education.  He  was  of  great  physical  strength,  which  was 
much  required  in  those  days,  when  moral  suasion  failed  ;  and 
tradition  points  to  an  island  in  Loch  Shin,  where  this  worthy 
divine  imprisoned  for  a  time  his  more  lawless  parishioners.  Left 
alone  there  during  the  night,  there  is  no  question  but  the  method, 
acting  in  concert  with  their  fears  and  superstitions,  would  have  a 
salutary  effect. 

1715.- — George  Brodie  appointed  to  the  parish  by  the  Presby- 
tery, jure  devoluto.  It  was  in  his  time  that  the  parish  was  divided 
by  the  Commissioners  of  Teinds  (1724),  and  he  betook  himself  on 
its  erection  to  the  newly-created  parish  of  Kddrachilis. 

The  next  incumbent  was  Mr  Miirdo  Macdonald,  A.M.,  who  was 
inducted  in  1726.  An  account  of  the  diary  kept  by  him  was 
furnished  some  years  ago  to  your  Society  by  Mr  Hew  Morrison,  now 


282  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

of  the  Free  Library,  Edinburgh.  He  way  minister  of  the  parish  for 
nearly  40  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr  Thomson,  whose  daughter 
married  the  pre-Disruption  minister  of  Durness,  Rev.  Mr  Finlater. 
]>ut  as  my  paper  has  already  exceeded  the  length  usually  granted 
to  such  contributions,  T  must  reserve  for  a  future  occasion  the 
events  in  Church  and  State  during  this  most  interesting  period. 
It  was  during  Mr  Murdo's  ministry  that  Rob  Donn,  the  Reay 
country  bard,  and  native  of  Durness,  flourished;  and  injustice  to 
this  interesting  period  of  our  parochial  history,  I  must  draw  this 
paper  to  a  close. 


PRIZE  J<:S$A  r. 

The  prize  of  ten  guineas  offered  by  The  Mackintosh  of 
Mackintosh,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Society,  for  the  best  essay 
on  "Tin-  Social  I'ro'/ren.*  of  tit*-  lli'/htand*  since  ItfoO,''  was  won  by 
Mr  A.  Poison,  teacher,  Ihmbeath.  Mr  Poison's  essivy  is  as 
follows  :— 

THK    SOCIAL    PROGRESS    OF    THE    HIGHLANDS 

SINCE    l.SOO. 

For  people  and  nations  a  period  of  one  hundred  years  is  generally 
regarded  bv  students  of  sociology  as  rather  a  short  one  for  the  pur- 
pose of  contrasting  and  comparing  the  social  state  at  it*  beginning 
and  end.  The  progress  made  by  the  Highlands  is,  however,  quite 
a  marked  exception  to  this  general  rule.  To  old  people  still  alive, 
and  more  especially  to  students  of  Highland  history,  it  is  abun- 
dantly evident  that  the  social  condition  of  the  people,  as 
well  as  the  face  of  the  country,  has  undergone  extraordinary 
changes  within  this  comparatively  short  period.  Up  to  the  middle 
of  last  centurv  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  was  as  much  an 
unknown  land  as  manv  parts  of  the  interior  of  Africa  still  are. 

Lord  Macaulav,  in  writing  of  the  period  immediately  succeed- 
ing the  Revolution,  and  depending  for  his  information  on  Captain 
Hurt's  letters  from  Scotland  and  other  documents  written  in  the 
early  part  of  last  centurv  bv  Southrons,  who  had  themselves  never 
seen  the  Highlands,  says,  that  if  an  observer  were  to  pass  through 
the  Highlands  then— ''He  would  have  to  endure  hardships  as 
great  as  if  he  had  sojourned  among  the  Esqtiimeaux  or  the 
S;unoyeds.  .  .  .  In  many  dwellings  the  furniture,  the  food, 
the  clothing,  uav,  the  very  hair  and  skin  of  his  hosts,  would  have 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  283 

put  his  philosophy  to  the  proof.  His  lodging  would  sometimes 
have  been  in  a  hut  of  which  every  nook  would  have  swarmed  with 
vermin.  He  would  have  inhaled  an  atmosphere  thick  with  peat 
smoke,  and  foul  with  a  hundred  noisome  exhalations.  At  supper, 
grain  fit  only  for  horses  would  have  been  set  before  him,  accom- 
panied by  a  cake  of  blood  drawn  from  living  cows.  Some  of  the 
company  with  which  lie  would  have  feasted  would  have  been 
covered  with  cutaneous  eruptions,  and  others  would  have  been 
smeared  with  tar  like  sheep.  His  couch  would  have  been 
bare  earth,  dry  or  wet  as  the  weather  might  be,  and  from  that 
couch  he  would  have  risen,  half-poisoned  with  stench,  half-blind 
with  the  reek  of  turf,  and  half-mad  with  itch.''  Several  of  the 
particulars  of  this  dark  picture  of  the  conditions  under  which 
Highlanders  had  to  live  are  repeated  by  other  writers,  but  there 
is  grave  reason  to  doubt  that  it  ever  could  apply  to  the  whole 
Highlands,  or  even  to  any  part  of  it  in  its  entirety.  But  notwith- 
standing what  must  have  been  the  rather  hurtful  influence  of  some 
such  surroundings  it  had  even  then  to  be  admitted  that  High- 
landers possessed  a  superiority  of  general  character.  Macaulay 
further  on  says,  regarding  them,  "  As  there  was  no  other  part  of 
the  island  where  men  sordidly  clothed,  lodged,  and  fed,  indulged 
themselves  to  such  a  degree  in  the  idle  sauntering  habits  of  an 
aristocracy,  so  there  was  no  other  part  of  the  island  where 
such  men  had  in  such  a  degree  the  better  qualities  of  an. 
aristocracy,  grace,  and  dignity  of  manner,  self-respect,  and  that 
noble  sensibility  which  makes  dishonour  more  terrible  than  death. 
A  gentleman  from  Skye  or  Lochaber,  whose  clothes  were  begrimed 
with  the  accumulated  tilth  of  years,  and  whose  hovel  smelt  worse 
than  an  English  hog-stye,  would  often  do  the  honours  of  that 
hovel  with  a  lofty  courtesy  worthy  of  the  splendid  circle  01  Ver- 
sailles. Though  he  had  as  little  book-learning  as  the  most  stupid 
ploughboys  of  England,  it  would  be  a  great  error  to  put  him  in  the 
same  intellectual  rank  with  such  ploughboys."  This  estimate  of 
Highlanders  has  since  then  been  endorsed  by  many  a  writer  who 
has  had  opportunities  of  knowing  them  well,  and  no  later  than 
1884,  such  an  eminent  authority  as  the  Royal  Commission  sent  to 
enquire  into  the  crofters  grievances  said,  "The  crofter  and  cottar 
population  of  the  Highlands  and  Islands,  small  though  it  be,  is  a 
nursery  of  good  workers  and  citi/ens  for  the  whole  empire.  In 
this  respect  the  stock  is  exceptionally  valuable.  By  sound 
physical  constitution,  native  intelligence,  and  good  moral  training, 
it  is  particularly  fitted  to  recruit  the  people  of  our  industrial 
centres."  This  superiority  of  character  has  stood  not  only  High- 


284  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

landers  themselves  in  good  stead,  but  the  whole  nation  as  well,  for 
had  they  been  less  noble  than  they  are,  it  is  extremely  unlikely 
that  they  could  have  quietly  borne  the  privations,  hardships, 
insults,  and  wrongs  which  they  have  so  often  been  called  on  to 
endure,  or  would  have  borne  themselves  with  so  much  valour  when 
the  empire  was  imperilled. 

In  considering  this  people's  social  progress  it  will  conduce 
to  clearness  to  trace  the  progress  made  in  each  branch  of  what 
constitutes  their  social  condition,  and  it  is,  therefore,  necessary  to 
show  — 

I.  How  those  depending  on  the  soil  and  the  surrounding  soil — 
farmer,    crofter,    labourer,    and    fisherman — have    had     their    lot 
ameliorated. 

II.  How   in   religion   and   morals,    superstition  and   ignorance 
have  given  place  to  an  educated   and  efficient  pastorate  and  high 
ideals  of  Christian  duty  on  the  part  of  the  laity. 

III.  How  in   education,    in  place  of  a   people   among  whom  a 
century   ago  persons   who  could  sign   there   names  were  rare,  and 
among  the  older  of  whom  a  prejudice  to  learning  existed,  the  young 
are  now   attending   schools   in  an    increasing   ratio,  and   the  older 
people  are  willing  to  sacrifice  much  for  the  sake  of  the  education  of 
their  children. 

IV.  How  in  politics,    a  people    who  had    then  no   voice   in  the 
making  of  the  laws  by  which  they  were  governed  are  now  virtually 
self-governed,    and  how   they  who  were    precluded  from  taking  an 
interest  in  anything  beyond  their  village  commune  now  take  a  keen 
and  patriotic  interest  in  the  affairs  of  a  great  nation. 

V.  How   in  such   matters  as   sanitation,  care   of  the  poor,  etc.. 
changes  for  the  better  have  been  made. 

RELATION  OF  PEOPLE  AND  LAND. 

From  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  by  which  they  are 
surrounded,  it  is  evident  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  Highland 
people  must  depend  on  agricultural  pursuits  for  their  livelihood. 
This  is  very  distinctly  shown  by  the  census  of  1881,  from  which 
the  following  table  is  constructed  : — - 


Cla«s  i>f  Occupation. 

\gricultural  

Perceiitime  for 
Highlands. 

51-4 

Percentage  fo: 
all  Scotland. 

18-8 

Industrial  
Commercial  .. 

29-9 
6-5 

59-3 

10-8 

The    relation    which    the    people   bear   to    the    land    on    which 
they   depend    affords  some  estimate    of  their  social  state,   and  it 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  285 

is  interesting  to  notice  the  several  changes  which  this  haa 
undergone.  Prior  to  the  '45,  the  clan  system  was  almost 
universal  in  the  Highlands.  Much  has  been  written  in  defence 
and  condemnation  of  the  system,  and  we  find  Mrs  Grant  of 
Laggan  writing,  "Nothing  can  be  more  erroneous  than  the 
prevalent  idea  that  a  Highland  chief  was  an  ignorant  and 
unprincipled  tyrant,  who  rewarded  the  abject  submission  of  his 
followers  with  relentless  cruelty  and  rigorous  oppression.  If 
ferocious  in  disposition,  or  weak  in  understanding,  he  was  curbed 
and  directed  by  the  elders  of  his  tribe,  who,  by  inviolable  custom, 
were  his  standing  councillors,  without  whose  advice  no  measure  of 
any  kind  was  decided."  General  Stewart  of  Garth  says,  "The 
chief's  sway  was  chiefly  paternal.  Reverence  for  his  authority, 
and  gratitude  for  his  protection,  winch  was  generally  extended  to 
shield  the  rights  of  his  clansmen  against  the  aggression  of 
strangers,  were  the  natural  results  of  his  patriarchal  rule.  This 
constituted  an  efficient  control,  without  many  examples  of 
severity."  On  the  other  hand,  l>urt  had  to  write,  "  The  chief  does 
not  think  the  present  abject  condition  of  the  clan  towards  him  to 
be  sufficient  ;  but  entertains  that  tyrannical  and  detestable  maxim 
that  to  render  them  poor  would  double  the  tie  of  their  obedience, 
and  accordingly  he  makes  use  of  all  oppressive  means  to  that  end." 
These  pictures  are  very  likely  drawn  from  particular  instances 
which  came  under  the  notice  of  the  writers,  and  none  of  them  can 
be  true  of  the  whole.  Tt,  however,  seems  that  the  chief  resided 
among  his  people,  settled  their  disputes,  received  rent  in  kind, 
was  hospitable  to  all,  and,  in  short — 

"Never  closed  the  iron  door 
Against  the  desolate  and  poor  ;" 

but  protecting  and  being  protected  by  his  fellow-clansmen,  who 
were  loyal  and  faithful  to  him  and  to  one  another  even  to  the 
death,  and  depending  for  little  on  the  outside  world. 

The  laws  which  followed  the  suppression  of  "  the  forty-five ?> 
altered  the  relations  of  chief  and  people,  and  thereafter  until  1886 
the  relation  between  them  was  that  of  landlord  and  tenant — 
purely  a  commercial  one.  There  was,  however,  little  evidence  of 
the  change  until  something  like  twenty  years  had  elapsed  under 
the  new  regime,  for  it  was  onlv  about  the  year  1770  that  the 
beginning  of  the  "  economic  transformation "  was  noticeable. 
Then  followed  many  of  the  "  clearances,"  the  formation  of  large 
.slice])  farms,  and  of  congested  seaside  townships  and  villages.  Of 


286  Gaelic  Society  of  Inuerness. 

the  effect  of  this  change  on  the  condition  of  the  people  much  has 
been  written,  but  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that  it  was  a 
mistake,  and  that  it  is  matter  for  regret  that  the  experiment  was 
not  made  of  leaving  this  peasantry  where  they  were  and  of  making 
their  rents  a  fair  one,  of  improving  modes  of  cultivation,  and  of 
inducing  the  surplus  population,  if  such  there  were,  to  migrate 
either  to  other  cultivable  lands  or  to  the  sea-shore  to  engage  in 
fishing.  The  mistake  was,  however,  made,  and  in  doing  it  many 
a  landlord  threw  away  the  love  of  his  people — a  heritage  which 
his  ancestors  had  for  ages  esteemed  above  all  things — and  the 
population  of  the  time  suffered.  Though  after  1820  evictions 
were  not  carried  out  on  the  previous  large  scale,  still,  when- 
ever a  croft  or  crofter  stood  in  the  landlord's  wav,  or  his 
factor  was  crossed  in  any  wise,  bullying,  and,  if  that  were 
unsatisfactory,  then  eviction  was  resorted  to,  whatever  might  be 
the  suffering  thereby  caused  to  the  evicted. 

As  time  passed  on  the  people  began  to  feel  their  importance, 
the  more  especially  after  the  passing  of  the  various  Franchise 
Bills  and  the  more  general  spread  of  education  ;  and  the  result  was 
the  agitation  which  culminated  in  the  passing  of  the  Crofters'  Act 
of  1886,  which  freed  the  people  from  the  fear  of  the  power  of 
arbitrary  landlords,  and  under  which  a  large  number  of  crofters 
have  with  confidence  set  about  improving  their  holdings  and 
homes. 

It  is  of  interest  to  know  how  the  people  lived  under  these 
systems,  and  to  see  what  progress  has  been  made  in  affording 
them  not  only  an  assured  regular  supply  of  the  necessaries  of  life, 
but  also  of  those  small  luxuries  which  help  to  make  life  more 
than  a  dailv  struggle  for  existence,  and  of  those  things  which 
make  men  less  like  the  dumb  driven  cattle. 

It  is  extremely  probable  that  while  the  clan  system  prevailed, 
because  of  the  frequent  feuds,  and  the  want  of  roads  or  means  of 
intercommunication,  every  district  must  depend  on  its  own 
resources  for  the  means  of  subsistence.  Fish  of  all  kinds  would  be 
got  in  the  districts  bordering  on  the  sea.  Salmon  would  be  got  in 
the  rivers,  and  the  flesh  of  their  cattle1  must  have  been  used  by 
themselves.  But  should  the  supplies  of  any  district  for  any 
reason  fail,  then  the  pressure  of  want  would  be  felt  in  all  its 
keenness,  and  many  would  have  to  succumb,  as  the  knowledge  of 
a  district's  want  could  scarcely  be  known  beyond  a  limited  circle, 
and  the  tardy  means  of  transit,  even  when  help  was  vouchsafed, 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  287 

must  have  brought  relief  at  a  very  late  stage.  According  to 
Martin,  who  wrote  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
"  The  diet  used  by  the  natives  consists  of  fresh  food,  for  they 
.seldom  taste  any  that  is  salted,  except  butter  ;  the  generality  eat 
but  little  flesh,  and  only  persons  of  distinction  eat  it  every  day 
and  make  three  meals,  for  all  the  rest  eat  only  two,  and  they  eat 
more  boiled  than  roasted.  Their  ordinary  diet  is  butter,  cheese, 
milk,  potato,  coleworts,  brochan,  i.e.,  oatmeal  and  water  boiled  ; 
the  latter  taken  with  some  bread  is  the  constant  food  of  several 
thousands  of  both  sexes  in  this  (Skye)  and  other  islands  during 
the  winter  and  spring  ;  yet  they  undergo  many  fatigues  both  by 
.sea  and  land,  and  are  very  healthful." 

Pennant  visited  the  north  of  Scotland,  towards  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  witnessed  the  transformation  in  the 
condition  of  the  population,  which  resulted  because  "  deprived  of 
his  state,  of  his  patriarchal  and  feudal  privileges,  the  Highland 
landlord  seems  to  have  resolved  upon  the  part  of  a  hard  task- 
master as  a  satisfaction  to  his  wounded  pride,  for  the  immunities 
he  had  forfeited."  Of  the  condition  of  the  people  of  Skye, 
Pennant  says  that  the  poor  were  left  to  Providence's  care.  They 
prowled  along  the  shore  to  pick  up  limpets  and  other  shell-fish,  the 
casual  repasts  of  hundreds  during  part  of  the  year.  Hundreds 
annually  dragged  through  the  season  a  wretched  life,  and  numbers 
unknown,  in  all  parts  of  the  Highlands,  fell  beneath  the  pressure, 
some  of  hunger,  more  of  the  putrid  fever,  the  epidemic  of  the 
coasts,  originating  from  unwholesome  food,  which  they  had  to  use 
in  their  dire  necessity.  In  Mull,  Rum,  ('anna,  Colonsay,  and  Fslav 
the  story  of  semi-starvation  is  the  same.  Regarding  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Arran  he  says,  "No  time  can  be  spared  for  amusement  of 
any  kind  ;  the  whole  being  given  up  to  providing  the  means  of 
paying  their  rent,  of  laying  in  their  fuel,  or  getting  a  scanty 
pittance  of  meat  and  clothing.'' 

The  methods  of  cultivation  were  laborious  and  hence  expensive 
in  the  extreme.  In  many  parts  corn  lands  were  tilled  solely  by 
the  caschrom.  Where  there  was  a  plough  it  took  three  men  to 
manage  it — one  to  hold  it,  a  second  to  drive  the  four  horses 
abreast,  and  a  third  to  follow  with  the  spade  to  rectify  the 
"imperfections  of  the  tilth."  Thus  three  men  and  four  horses  did 
the  work  which  two  horses  and  one  man  now  do. 

The  tenure  by  which,  during  the  latter  part  of  last  century 
and  the  early  part  of  this,  the  majority  of  the  people  held 
their  lands  was  of  a  kind  to  discountenance  the  making  of  any 


288  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

permanent  improvements.  Dr  Walker,  who  was  commissioned  to 
write  a  report  of  the  state  of  the  Western  Isles  to  the  now  defunct 
Commissioners  of  the  annexed  estates,  says  of  them  in  his 
economical  history  :  "  All  the  sub-tenants,  who  were  the  great  body 
of  the  people  in  the  Highlands,  are  tenant  at  will  of  the  tacksmaii 
or  farmer,  and  are,  therefore,  placed  in  a  state  of  subjection  that 
is  not  only  unreasonable,  but  unprofitable,  both  to  themselves  and 
their  superiors.  The  tacksman  generally  has  one  day  in  the  week 
of  the  sub-tenant's  labour  all  the  year  round,  which,  with  the 
spring  and  harvest  work  and  other  occasions,  will  amount  to  one- 
third  of  the  whole  annual  labour.  He  can,  therefore,  have  neither 
ability  nor  opportunity  to  attempt  any  improvements,  which  many 
of  these  sub-tenants  would  undoubtedly  do,  were  they  but  masters 
of  their  time,  and  independent  in  their  possessions."  Beneath 
these  sub-tenants  were  the  scallags,  who  were  practically  the 
slaves  of  laird,  tacksman,  or  sub-tenant.  Five  days  in  the  week 
the  scallag  had  to  work  for  his  master,  the  sixth  was  allowed  to 
himself  for  the  cultivation  of  some  scrap  of  land,  which  was 
assigned  to  him,  where  he  raised  for  himself  kail,  barley,  and 
potatoes,  which  with  some  fish  formed  the  staple  of  his  food 

The  dwellings  of  the  people  would  seem  to  have  been  of 
the  most  wretched  description.  Holes  in  the  thatch  served  for 
windows.  The  fireplace  was  in  the  centre  of  the  floor,  and  the 
smoke  was  allowed  to  find  its  way  out  as  best  it  could.  Beds  as 
we  have  known  them  were  unknown,  and  each  person  rolled  him- 
self in  whatever  clothes  he  could,  and  lay  on  the  floor,  whatever 
the  weather.  Such,  then,  was  the  condition  of  the  people  of  the 
Highlands  during  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  and  the  early 
part  of  this.  From  that  time  to  this  their  condition  has  been 
gradually  ameliorated,  but  certainly  not  at  the  same  rate  in  all 
parts,  and  nowhere  as  yet  so  much  as  those  who  know  them 
would  wish. 

One  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  production  of  this  improved 
state  is  the  construction  of  the  means  of  inter-communication 
atforded  (1)  bv  the  roads  made  first  for  military  purposes,  and 
then  by  the  joint  action  of  the  Government  and  the  northern 
proprietors.  In  making  these,  it  is  said  that  the  amount  of  joint 
expenditure  exceeded  £460,000,  that  upwards  of  1200  miles  of 
new  roads  were  repaired,  and  1436  bridges,  and  11,450  covered 
drains  were  constructed.  Since  then,  proprietors  and  Commis- 
sioners of  Supply  have  had  many  more  miles  constructed  and 
upheld,  and  the  recently-appointed  County  Councils  are,  it  would 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands. 


289 


seem,  further  to  enhance  the  boon  of  easy  inter-communication  by 
the  construction  of  many  more  miles  of  road  in  hitherto  neglected 
localities  ;  (2)  by  the  construction  and  continued  use  of  the  Cale- 
donian Canal  since  1821  ;  (3)  by  the  Highland  Railway,  opened 
first  to  Inverness,  then  to  Dingwall,  Tain,  Golspie,  Helmsdale, 
Wick,  Thurso,  and  Stromeferry  ;  and  (4)  by  the  establishment  of 
postal  and  telegraph  facilities  in  even  the  very  remote  parts  of  the 
Highlands. 

By  all  these  means,  not  only  are  goods  transmitted  hither  and 
thither  with  quickness,  and  prices  thus  equalised,  as  well  as  a 
plethora  or  famine  prevented,  but  the  knowledge  of  the  higher 
social  state  attained  elsewhere  is  conveyed  to  the  people,  and  as  it 
is  characteristic  of  Highland  self-respect  to  strive  after  the 
realisation  of  the  higher  ideals,  it  is  found  that  where  communica- 
tion has  been  longest  open,  the  social  condition  of  the  population 
is,  in  most  particulars,  of  a  higher  standard  than  where  such 
communication  has  been  only  recently  opened. 

The  following  table  shows  (1)  the  price  of  agricultural  labour 
in  1790,  and  (2)  during  the  first  thirty  years  of  this  century  :  — 


1 

790 

18 

20 

County 

Wages 
per 
i    week 
in 
Winter 

Summer 

Wages 
with 
Board 
in 

Harvest 

Women 

Winter 

Summer 

Hoard 
Harvest 
Wages 

Women 

I 

Ai'gyle  

S.   D. 

4  0 

S.   D. 

6  0 

S.    D. 

6  0 

D. 

4 

S.     I). 

6  0 

S.     D. 

9  0 

s.   n. 
9  0 

i>. 
i 

Inverness.. 

4  0 

G  0 

6  0 

4 

G  0 

9  0 

9  0 

I 

1  loss      and 

Cromarty. 

2  G 

3  G 

3  0 

3 

5  G 

8  0 

G  0 

6 

Sutherland 

2  G 

.3  6 

3  0 

3 

5  6 

8  0 

G  0 

G 

Caithness.. 

3  0 

5  6 

4  0 

3 

G  0 

8  0 

7  0 

G 

i 

19 


290  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

Price  of  the  necessaries  of  life  in  1800  : — 


County 

!  Wheat 
IJboll 

Barley 

Oats 
%1  boll 

'Oatmeal 
$  peck 

Butter 
rt7  stone 

Cheese  |    Beef 
I-5  stone  1    $  Ib. 

$  doz. 

D.     '    S.      ]1. 

4    12  0 


Argyle  ..........  i  ,19  0  :        -    ,1 

I  I  ill 

Inverness  .......  ;20  0    18  0  ;15  0  ,0   1U    10,50 

I 
Koss    and  Cro- 


marty  .........  .18  0    16  0    1     2  J12  0 

Sutherland  .....  i  12  0    10  012   ,12   0 

Caithness  ..  —    !l2  0  !16  0  !1      2  T2  0 


4  0 
6   0 

5  0 


t 


From  these  tables  if  is  interesting  to  note  that  though  the 
necessaries  of  life  have  sin<-e  then  risen  in  price,  vet  tiie  remunera- 
tion of  all  kinds  of  agricullur.il  labour  has  risen  in  everv  county 
in  a  much  higher  ratio,  thus  LrivinLT  those  w!i"  depend  on  the  land 
a  much  greater  purchasing  power.  The  net';  results  of  the  changes 
v.'iiich  have  taken  place  in  the  Highlands  are,  to  all  who  depend 
on  the  land,  (1)  a  higher  standard  of  comfort  than  at  the  opening 
of  the  century  ;  (2)  securitv  of  tenure  to  all  crofters  who  may 
have  been  harassed  bv  arMtrarv  landlords,  whom  this  class  cannot 
n<'W  have  any  reason  to  fear;  ()'>)  houses,  clothing,  and  fo<.)d  art- 
of  a  better  class,  and  are  now  moi'e  regularly  secured  ;  (4)  the 
conveniences  of  life  are  much  more  common  :  and  (-I)  the  people 
are  possessed  of  a.  higher  and  wider  intelligence. 


•nil-:   FISHERIES. 

The  importance  of  the  fishing  industry  to  Highlanders  may  he 
inferred  from  the  fact,  that  at  leant  twelve  per  cent,  of  all  males 
in  the  Highlands  above  twentv  vears  of  age  are  fishermen,  and 
that,  nearly  half  of  the  fishermen  in  Scotland  live  in  Highland 
counties. 

fn  the  early  part  of  the  century,  arms  of  the  sea  yielded  a 
sufficiency  for  the  population  that  could  then  be  served,  because 
the  means  of  transit  were  exceedingly  ditlicult  and  salt  was  dear. 
At  that  time  the  boats  were  small,  without  deck  or  any  means 
which  would  conduce  to  the  comfort  and  safety  of  the  men.  The 
fishing  gear  was  good  of  its  kind,  but  rather  clumsy,  and  not  the 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  291 

best  adapted  for  the  work.  The  boats  which  have  gradually 
superseded  those  are  longer  of  keel,  decked,  and  generally  have  a 
stove  and  some  .sleeping  accommodation  for  the  crew.  Fishing 
gear  is  of  light  and  superior  make.  The  men  can  venture  far  out 
into  the  open  sea,  and  the  total  catch  has  been  almost  regularly 
rising  each  year  during  the  present  century,  as  markets  for  the 
disposal  of  the  fish,  fresh  and  cured,  have  been  opened,  and  the 
prices  realised  have  been  such  as  to  afford  encouragement  to  the 
toilers. 

Although  in  recent  years  the  industry  has  been  depressed  from 
a  variety  of  causes,  chiefly  over-speculation,  and  the  raising  of 
Continental  tariffs — there  is  again  evidence  of  its  reviving  and  of 
affording  lucrative  employment  to  many  of  the  people.  To  the 
attainment  of  this  end,  the  construction  of  light  railways,  piers, 
harbours,  and  landing  places,  for  which  Government  aid  is  in 
certain  localities  conditionally  promised,  will  n'ive  verv  material 
aid. 

The  following  table  shows  the  progress  made  in  the  annual 
catch  at  certain  periods  during  the  century  :- 

Vr.u-.  Barrels  Cured.  Ftiiv?l,s  KxporteJ. 

IS  10  00,1 80  35,8-48 

LS20  :;-U!M  253,516 

1830  326,  .">;-)  7  181,654 

I8.r>o  770,G08  310,250 

18s'0  1,473,(>00  1,009,811 

The  estimated  monov  value  of  the  wh«;le  Scotch  fisheries  was 
;n  1810  only  £500,000, 'while  in  1.S8U  it  was  .-1:2,210.790,  and  ihe 
greater  part  of  this  increased  value  is  due  to  its  successful  prosecu- 
tion in  the  Highlands 

KEUoIOUS    Pkooh'Kss. 

The  high  moral    tone  and   general   good 
landers  have  been  testified  by  observers  fur  a 
is  confirmed    by   official    records   which    sho\\ 
among    them.        i leaders    of    such     books    as 
Doniesfiat)  cannot,  however,   help  coining   to 
the  conduct  <»f  the  people  was.  in    the   earlv 
superior  to  their  creed. 

People  do  not  change  their  religion  ([iiickly,  and  for  a  long 
time  after  the  Reformation  Highlanders  were  really  Episcopalians, 
though  nominally  Presbyterian.-;,  and  entertained  a  strong 
.antipathy  to  the  settlement  of  Whig  ministers  in  their  midst.  Mr 


292  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Sage  tells  that  when  Rev.  Mr  Pope  was  settled  in  Reay  very  few 
of  the  parishioners  came  to  hear  him,  they  rather  spending  the 
time  at  an  inn  a  few  hundred  yards  away  from  the  manse.  One 
Sunday  evening  they  came  to  him  and  invited  him  to  join  them. 
He  declined  the  invitation  and  rated  them  on  their  manner  of 
spending  Sunday.  Their  reply  was,  "  You  are  most  ungrateful  to- 
refuse  our  hospitality,  and  if  you  think  we  are  to  give  up  the 
customs  of  our  fathers  for  you,  or  all  the  Whig  ministers  of  the 
country,  you'll  find  yourself  in  error.  But  conic  along  with  us,, 
for  if  we  repeat  your  words  to  our  neighbours  they'll  call  you  to 
such  a  reckoning  that  you'll  be  wishing  you  had  never  uttered 
them."  Mr  Pope  was  firm,  and  soon  a  dozen  and  a  half  drunken 
men  came  to  him  and  asked  him  to  drink.  Ho  refused,  and  after 
they  assaulted  him  he  put  the  whole  gang  of  them  to  rout  with 
his  "bailie,"  as  he  called  the  cudgel  with  which  he  dealt  out 
punishment  to  his  offending  parishioners.  The  churches  of  the 
time  were  low,  ill-lighted,  irregularly  seated  buildings,  thatched 
with  heather  roofs.  To  these  churches  the  people  could  only  with 
difficulty  be  got  to  go,  and  in  some  parishes  the  elders  chosen  were 
not  only  the  most  decent  and  orderly  men  in  the  parish,  but  also 
the  strongest,  as  those  who  had  erred  and  refused  to  submit  to 
church  discipline  were  compelled  to  attend  and  make  public  pro- 
fession of  repentance. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
ministers  themselves  were  much  ahead  of  the  people  among  whom 
they  ministered,  and  although  there  is  evidence  that  a  few  were 
uneducated  and  rude  in  the  extreme,  the  drawing  up  of  the  state- 
ments which  constituted  Sir  John  Sinclair's  old  statistical  account 
is  of  itself  evidence  of  their  comrnonscnse  and  education.  AH. 
regards  the  people  who  waited  on  their  ministrations  there  is  no 
denying  that  whatever  clnp'ch  they  professedly  adhered  to  super- 
stition was  rampant.  Of  the  nature  of  this  superstition  two  views 
have  been  taken.  General  Stewart  of  (nirth  laments  its  decay, 
and  speaks  of  them  as  the  innocent,  attractive,  and  often  sublime 
superstitions  of  the  Highlanders— superstitions  which  inculcate  no 
relentless  intolerance,  nor  impiously  dealt  out  perdition  and  Divine 
wrath  against  rival  sects — superstition  which  taught  men  to 
believe  that  a  dishonourable  act  attached  disgrace  to  a  whole 
kindred  and  district,  and  that  murder,  treachery,  oppression,  and 
all  kinds  of  wickedness  would  not  only  be  punished  in  the  person 
of  the  transgressor  himself,  but  would  be  visited  on  future  gcnora- 
rons.  Martin,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  how  gross  and  degrading 
the  superstitions  were,  and  says  that  in  the  Island  of  Lewis,  on 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  293 

the  first  day  of  May,  a  man  was  sent  very  early  to  cross  a  certain 
stream,  which,  if  a  woman  crossed  first,  no  salmon  could  ascend  ; 
.another  stream  never  whitened  linen  ;  in  the  water  of  a  certain 
well  no  meat  could  be  boiled ;  persons  suffering  from  jaundice 
were  cured  by  the  application  of  a  hot  iron  to  the  backbone  ;  the 
fever-stricken  were  cured  by  fanning  them  with  the  leaves  of  a 
Bible ;  a  valley  was  haunted  by  spirits,  and  no  one  dared  set  foot 
in  it  without  first  pronouncing  three  sentences  of  adulation  to 
propitiate  them  ;  a  change  of  wind  before  landing  at  a  particular 
spot  was  an  omen  requiring  an  immediate  return  homewards,  but 
if  they  landed  they  uncovered  and  pivoted  round  "sunways." 
When  thev  commenced  a  voyage  it  was  the  height  of  impiety  to 
proceed  without  first  pulling  the  boat  round  and  round  from  East 
to  West.  Under  the  spread  of  education  and  an  enlightening 
gospel  many  of  these  superstitions  have  disappeared,  and  what 
remains  are  beliefs  cherished  in  secret  only,  never  openly 
disseminated,  and  acted  on  rather  shamefacedly.  Against  them 
all  the  Church  fought,  and  it  is  creditable  to  it  that  during  the 
first  quarter  of  the  century  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  the  High- 
lands commanded  much  influence,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the  Disrup- 
tion of  1843  was  without  any  rival  in  the  doing  of  religious  work. 
Of  the  "ten  years'  conflict"  and  the  period  of  bitterness  which 
succeeded  it  there  is  little  need  to  write  here,  beyond  saying  that 
the  spirit  which  seeni<j<l  to  animate  spiritual  advisers  and  rival 
sects,  was  not  that  which  was  generally  characteristic  of  High- 
landers, and  certainly  was  not  that  laid  down  in  the  sermon  on 
the  mount.  It  is,  however,  matter  of  congratulation  that  the 
now  well-educated  and  efficiently-trained  ministers  of  the  various 
churches  are  realising  that  thev  are  engaged  in  the  same  j'rand 
work,  and  are  in  manv  places  doing  it  in  perfect  unison.  The 
people  have  not  been  slow  to  recognise  this,  and  show  their 
appreciation  of  ministerial  work  and  doctrine  by  attending  the 
churches  in  increasing  numbers,  there  being  now  few  Highlanders 
who  can  in  Church  language  be  called  altogether  k'  lapsed.'1  This 
attendance  on  divine  ordinances  is  followed  by  a  high  standard  of 
morality. 

In  one  particular  the  result  of  this  can  be  tabulated.  The 
census  of  1891  shows  that  while  in  all  Scotland  the  proportion  of 
men  above  fifteen  years  of  age  who  are  bachelors  is  45  per  cent., 
in  the  Highlands  it  is  51  per  cent.;  and  that  while  in  all  Scotland 
the'fnumber  of  spinsters  over  fifteen  years  is  43  per  cent,, [the 
number  in  the  Highlands  is  49  per  cent.  Again,  in  all  Scotland 
16j)er  cent,  of  married  men  and  19  per  cent,  of  married  women 


294  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuemess. 

are  under  thirty  years  of  age,  the  similar  percentages  for  the 
Highland  counties  are  only  7  for  men  and  11  for  women.  But 
notwithstanding  that  a  greater  proportion  of  Highlanders  thus 
remain  single,  and  those  who  marry  do  so  later  in  life  than  the 
average  for  all  Scotland,  yet  the  rate  of  illegitimacy  is  lower  than 
that  for  the  whole  of  Scotland.  In  1881  S'3  per  cent  of  the  births 
in  Scotland  were  illegitimate.,  and  in  the  Highlands  only  7  per 
cent.  This  state  of  matters  is  surely  excellent  proof  of  much 
prudence  and  a  high  standard  of  morality  among  the  Highland 
people. 

EDUCATIONAL    PROGRESS. 

Of  all  the  changes  which  have  been  made  in  the  north  the 
most  marked  has  been  that  in  the  educational  condition  of  the 
people.  It  is  true  that  in  1616  some  parish  schools  were  esta- 
blished in  the  Highlands,  and  the  Privy  Council  which  granted 
tins  boon  declared  their  wish  "  that  the  vulgar  Inglishe  toting  be 
imiversallie  plantit,  and  the  Frishe,  which  is  one  of  the  chief  and 
principal!  causis  of  the  continuance  of  barbaritie  and  incivilitie 
amongis  the  inhabitants  of  the  His  and  He  viand  is,  be  abolishit  and 
removeit."  The  same  Pi-ivy  Council  also  ordained  that  the  eldest 
sons  of  West  Highland  chiefs  would  not  be  served  heirs  to  their 
fathers  unless  they  could  read,  write,  and  speak  English.  The  result 
was  that  while  the  young  gents  were  "traynit  up  in  vertew,  learny- 
ing,  and  the  Inglishe toung"  they  were  losing  all  knowledge  of  Gaelic, 
and  for  a  long  time  thereafter  English  was  the  language  of  High- 
land aristocrats,  and  it  is  perhaps  because  of  this  that  the  weaker 
among  the  Highland  people  have  sometimes  in  the  past  disowned, 
when  in  the  south,  the  knowledge  of  their  mother  tongue,  and 
that  a  prejudice  has  so  long  existed  against  it  as  a  school  language. 
Happily,  such  feelings  are  now  reversed,  and  natives,  wherever  they 
be,  seem  proud  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  the  High- 
lands and  the  language  of  its  people. 

At  the  opening  of  this  century  nothing  whatever  of  any  con- 
sequence had  been  done  for  the  education  of  the  great  body  of  the 
people,  and  it  would  seem  that  then,  and  for  sometime  thereafter, 
those  in  authority  justified  the  truth  of  Lord  Cockburn's  assertion 
that  the  principle  was  reverenced  as  indisputable,  that  the 
ignorance  of  the  people  was  necessary  to  their  obedience  to  the 
law. 

Light,  however,  did  break  at  last,  and  in  1824  the  General 
Assembly  formed  their  great  Education  Scheme.  Dr  Norman 
Macleod  says  that  there  were  then  in  the  county  of  Argyle 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  295 

according  to  carefully  prepared  statistics,  no  less  than  26,326 
children  between  the  age  of  five  and  fifteen,  for  whom  there  was 
no  provision  whatever,  except  such  as  was  provided  in  a  desultory 
and  intermittent  way  by  certain  private  societies  which  then 
existed,  ft  was  ascertained  that  in  the  six  Synods  of  Argyle, 
Glenelg,  lioss.  Sutherland,  Orkney,  and  Shetland,  containing  143 
parishes,  and  a  population  of  377,730  souls,  as  many  as  258 
additional  schools  were  urgently  called  for.  As  late  as  1833 
the  Educational  Committee  reporting  on  the  state  of  education  in 
the  Highlands  and  Islands,  founded  on  returns  from  the  parochial 
clergy,  stated  that  the  number  of  young  between  six  and  twenty 
years  of  age,  untaught  to  read,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  any  of 
the  existing  provisions  for  elemental'}'  education,  was  28,070,  and 
that  the  number  between  five  and  twenty  unable  to  write  was 
8  [,210.  The  parochial  school  system  was  then  legally  maintained, 
but  because  of  the  large  extent,  physical  configuration,  and  the 
roadless  condition  of  many  parishes,  it  never  could  produce  in  the 
Highlands  the  amount  of  good  which  followed  its  establishment  in 
!/>wlaiid  parishes.  The  Highland  School  Act  of  1838  did  much 
for  several  outiving  districts,  which,  to  this  day,  continue  to 
receive  the  funds  voted  to  them  under  the  Act. 

After  the  Disruption  of  1843  the  Free  Church  also  established 
many  schools  in  northern  parishes,  and  between  rival  schools,  the 
education  of  the  voung  was  well  looked  after  and  went  on  apace 
with  the  result  that  the  greater  the  number  of  schools  and  scholars 
attending  them,  and  the  better  the  education  given,  the  more 
clamorous  did  the  demand  for  more  education  become  ;  and  in  the 
Highlands  it,  was  certainly  shown  that  there  is  truth  in  the  maxim 
which  says,  that  the  demand  for  education  is  alwavs  in  the  inverse 
ratio  to  the  need,  of  it. 

With  the  resources  at  the  command  of  school  managers, 
matters  were  making  good  progress  up  to  1872,  when  the 
Education  (Scotland)  Act  was  passed,  and  the  carrying  out  of  its 
enactments  have'  marked  an  epoch  in  Highland  education,  for  not 
only  had  school  accommodation  to  be  provided  for  every  child  of 
school  age,  but  every  child  was  to  be  compelled  to  occtipv  that 
accommodation.  Though  the  difficulties  of  doing  this  are  more 
numerous  and  arduous  in  the  Highlands  than  in  any  other  part  of 
Scotland,  it  is  extremely  creditable  to  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  that  the  average  population  attending  school  compares 
favourably  with  that  of  the  whole  of  Scotland. 

This  is  brought  out  in  the  following  table,  which  shows  the 
percentage  of  the  population  (JX81)  receiving  education  at  various 


296  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

ages    up    to    fifteen  years  in  all  Scotland  and   in    the   Highland 
onn ties  : — 


Place. 

All  Scotland  

Percentage 
under 
5  vears. 

2-77 

Percentage 
between 
5  and  15  vearts. 

78-98 

Percentage  of 
Population 
receiving 
Fd  u  cation. 

19-28 

(  Caithness  

...     4-03 

87-71 

21-91 

Sutherland  
Ross  and  Cromarty  .  .  . 
Inverness  

...     3-54 
...     '2-94 
...     5-04 

85-27 

88-88 
87-86 

18-43 
20-43 
20-97 

Arcrvll.. 

3  16 

83-47 

20-04 

The  following  table  compiled  from  the  Blue-Books  of  the 
Education  Department  shows  how  extremely  rapid  has  been  the 
progress  made  since  1872.  From  the  first  report  issued  by  the 
Department  after  the  passing  of  the  Act,  the  following  figures  are 
taken  :  — 


School        A^nZnoe. 


Annual  Grant. 


Argyll  ..................  99  5,254  £2,700  2  6 

Caithness  ...............  32  2.237  1,220  8  4 

Sutherland  ............  31  1.310  949  18  4 

Moss  and  Cromarty...  71  4,595  2,680  18  0 

Inverness  ..........  .....  65  4,823  2,677  14  4 

298         18,419       .£10,228   11      6 

I'Ynm  the  Educational  Department's  tenth  (1883)  annual 
report  the  following  particulars  are  taken  for  comparison  :  — 

««*•  S?h°oo°lJ.      Atl™fce.  Annual  Grant. 

Argyll  ..................  159  8,410  £8,857  7  0 

Caithness  ...............  61  4,551  4,304  7  6 

Sutherland  .............  41  1,871  1,373  8  4 

Ross  and  Cromarty...  131  8,356  5,898  6  2 

Inverness  ..........  .....  157  8,65S  8,679  12  2 

549          31,846       £29,113     1      2 

Since  1883  the  number  of  schools  has  decreased,  as  a  number 
of  small  neighbouring  ones  have  been  merged  into  larger  new  ones 
with  good  results.  The  regularity  of  attendance  and  the  efficiency 
of  instruction  have  also  increased,  as  is  shown  by  the  Blue  Books 
published  since  then.  Quite  recently  the  school  fees,  which  had 
been  in  some  measure  a  bar  to  the  poorer  classes,  have  been 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  297 

remitted.  It  is  hoped  than  when  education  is  free  up  to,  and 
perhaps  within,  the  gates  of  our  universities,  that  other  means 
may  be  found  to  let  the  ehild  of  the  poorest  get  the  education 
thus  afforded,  provided  that  his  character  and  abilities  prove  that 
this  would  be  desirable  for  his  own  and  the  public  good,  and  that 
the  Highlands  may  continue  to  furnish  to  the  learned  professions 
— as  has  been  done  in  the  past — a  larger  proportion  than  any 
other  district  of  equal  population. 


POLITICAL    PROGRESS. 

The  political  changes  which  have  passed  over  the  whole  country 
have  been  shared  by  the  people  of  the  Highlands,  and  what  pro- 
gress has  been  made  in  this  respect  is  that  which  it  shares  in 
common  with  the  entire  kingdom. 

Prior  to  the  abolition  of  Heritable  Jurisdiction,  the  system  of 
irovernment  was  patriarchal,  and  the  heads  of  clans  had  practically 
all  power  in  their  hands.  Since  the  middle  of  last  century  the 
machinery  of  law  has  existed,  but  in  it  the  common  people  for  a 
long  time  had  n<*  confidence,  and  scarcely  ever  expected  to  win  a 
case  if  their  opponent  were  ;i  man  of  wealth.  This  dread  of 
receiving  injustice  where  justice  ought  with  certainty  to  be  got 
has  happily  in  part  passed  away. 

From  the  patriarchal  (the  oldest  form  of  government)  political 
power  passed  away  into  the  hands  of  a  class,  as  from  that  time 
until  1832,  only  "  freeholders"  had  the  light  of  voting,  and  of 
those  there  were  few  in  the  Highlands,  hi  the  whole  of  Scotland 
there  were  not  more  than  two  thousand  voters  who  returned  the 
then  forty-five  members,  and  of  these  the  twenty  freeholders  of 
Sutherlandshire  returned  one.  As  a  class  these  members  of  Par- 
liament naturallv  paid  chief  regard  to  the  advantages  of  the  class 
to  which  thev  belonged. 

The  change  from  government  by  class  to  that  by  the  people 
was  made  by  the  great  Reform  Act  of  1832,  and  since  then  legis- 
lation recognises  no  class  and  no  favourites.  A  still  wider  interest 
in  matters  political  was  given  by  the  Ivcforrn  Acts  of  1867  and 
1884,  with  the  result  in  the  Highlands,  at  least,  an  intense 
interest  is  taken  in  political  matters,  and,  as  a  secondary  result, 
the  circulation  of  newspapers  has  increased  fully  twenty-fold 
within  the  past  twentv  years,  so  that  Highlanders  are  now  surely 


298  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

prevented  from  the  narrowing  influences  of  the  purely  local,  and 
from  believing 

"  The  crackle  of  their  bourg 
The  murmur  of  the  world." 

The  burden  of  self-government  has  been  still  further  laid  upon 
them  by  the  Local  Government  (Scotland)  Act,  and  such  benefits 
as  can  possibly  be  expected  from  the  County  Councils  will,  doubt- 
less, be  realised  ;  and  when,  extended  powers  are  granted  them,  the 
democracy  will  ebct  councillors,  who,  by  their  works,  will  show 
that  in  the  important  work  of  self-government  Highlanders  are 
ever  found  exercising  their  political  powers  wisely  and  well. 

SANITARY     1'KOOKESS. 

It  is  matter  of  much  regret  that  the  progress  made  in  matters 
sanitary  during  the  century  has  not  at  all  been  commensurate 
with  that  made  in  most  other  particulars.  Only  a  few  months 
ago,  a  competent  authority  reported  that  00  per  cent,  of  the 
houses  in  the  Island  of  Lewis  wore  in  an  unsanitar\  condition,  and 
he  .uave  particulars  which,  when  compared  with  the  .statements  of 
observers  early  in  the  century,  show  how  very  little  progress  has 
been  ma.de  in  this  matter.  Though  the  percentage  of  unsanitary 
houses  is  probably  not  so  high  in  the  other  parts,  yet  it  is  very 
evident  to  any  one  travelling  through  the  north  that  a  great  num- 
ber are  still  not  what  they  ought  to  be  in  the  interests  of  health. 
The  Royal  Crofter  Commission  report  that  "no  one  concerned  for 
the  elevation  of  the  Highland  people  can  fail  to  desire  an  improve- 
ment in  this  particular,  no  one  can  doubt  if  they  are  well  con- 
ducted and  robust,  it  is  in  spite  of  their  lodging  and  in  consequence 
of  counteracting  causes,  and  that  if  they  enjoyed  the  benefit  of 
purer  and  brighter  homes  they  would  prosper  more."  They 
further  say,  "  The  ancient  model  of  Highland  habitation  may, 
indeed,  be  contemplated  with  too  much  indulgence  by  those  whose 
minds  are  not  duly  possessed  by  considerations  of  utility  and 
sanitation,  for  it  is  associated  in  fancy  with  all  that  is  most  pleas- 
ing and  romantic  in  the  manners  and  history  of  the  people,  while 
in  form  and  colour  it  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  landscape  and 
the  shore.  The  white  house  ma}'  be  seen  anywhere  now. 
It  is  not  attractive  and  not  picturesque,  but  is  usually  built  apart 
from  the  byre,  and  it  is  tolerably  dry,  light,  and  free  from  smoke. 
It  stands  half-wav  between  the  original  hovel  of  the  Celtic 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  299 

peasant  and  the  comfortable  and  comely  dwelling  which  the 
substantial  crofter  of  the  future  may,  we  trust,  possess." 

Tt  almost  seems  a  pity  that  these  black  houses  do  not,  in 
some  measure,  make  the  inhabitants  unhappy,  and  so  induce  them 
to  make  their  houses  cleaner,  brighter,  and  more  comfortable  in 
every  respect.  Count}'  Cout-.cils  under  powers  invested  in  them 
will,  however,  bring  the  true  state  of  matters  to  light,  and  means 
will  then  surely  be  devised  to  change  a  state  of  matters  which  is 
neither  for  the  individual  nor  the  public  good. 

Census  returns  show  that  in  several  particulars  considerable 
progress  has  been.  made,  in  1.881  the  number  of  persons  to  an 
inhabited  house  in  all  Scotland  was  5*05,  which  figure  also 
represents  the  number  to  each  house  in  the  Highlands.  The  num- 
ber of  rooms  to  a  house  in  all  Scotland  is  .'VI 7,  while  in  the  High- 
land counties  it  is  -'V55,  and  the  number  of  persons  to  a  room  for 
all  Scotland  is  1'59,  and  for  the  Highlands  it  is  1'4.'>.  If,  however, 
the  like  calculation  be  made  for  the  "Western  Tsles  alone  it  is  found 
that  there  are  4'8G  persons  to  a  family  and  .")••>.'>  persons  to  a 
house,  2 '69  rooms  to  a  house,  and  I'D 4  persons  to  a  room,  which 
indicates  an  accommodation  considerably  less  than  the-  average  for 
Scotland.  It  is,  however,  a  very  satisfactory  sign  of  progress  that 
while  the  number  of  families  in  the  Highland  counties  remained 
practically  the  same  between  1871  and  1881,  the  number  of 
inhabited  houses  had  increased  about  5  per  cent.,  and  the  numbei 
of  rooms  with  one  or  more  windows  l-~>  per  cent.  [t  is  expected 
that  when  the  details  of  last  year's  census  are  made  known,  a  still 
further  increase  in  this  direction  will  be  shown,  as  well  as  a 
decrease  in  the  already  small  number  of  families  living  in  rooms 
without  windows.  It  would  appear  that,  almost  in  spite  of  the 
unsanitary  state  of  the  dwellings,  the  death-rate  has,  during  the 
century,  been  falling.  In  1881  it  was  16-2  per  1000  in  the  High- 
land counties,  while  for  the  same  year  it  was  19-3  for  the  whole  of 
Scotland,  and  this  healthy  eminenee  it  has  regularly  retained, 
which  proves  that  the  outdoor  active  life  of  crofters  and  fishermen 
is  more  conducive  to  longevity  than  the  less  simple  manner  of  liv- 
ing in  the  confined  cities  of  the  south. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  fact  that  in 
the  five  counties  of  Inverness,  Ross,  Cromarty.  Sutherland,  and 
Argyll,  the  population  during  the  first  forty  years  of  the  century 
increased  steadily,  attaining  its  maximum  in  1841.  Between  1841 
and  1871  it  decreased  at  a  considerable  rate.  From  1871  to  1881 
the  population  appeared  to  be  perfectly  stationary. 


300  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

The  following  table  shows  the  exact  progress  :  — 


Census. 

1801 
1811 
1821 
1831 
1841 
1851 
1861 
1871 
1881 


Total 

Increase  or  De- 

Highland Population. 

crease  per  cent 

232,200 

—  . 

256,600 

11 

285,800 

11 

296,108 

4 

298,637 

1 

294,298 

1 

274,637 

7 

268,966 

2 

268,993 

— 

THE    POOR. 


Under  the  clan  system  there  were  no  "  poor"  so-called,  as  al* 
had  a  right  to  the  means  of  livelihood  so  long  as  that  was  within 
the  chief's  power.  Thereafter  the  (  'hurches  took  the  matter  up, 
until  it  was  in  great  measure  taken  out  of  their  hands  by  the  Act 
of  1840.  In  many  poor  Highland  parishes  the  burden  of  the 
taxation  which  this  cast  upon  the  people  was  considered  heavy  and 
irritating,  but  this  feeling  is  disappearing,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  see 
that  the  number  of  paupers  in  the  Highlands  has,  during  recent 
years,  regularly  decreased,  and  that  those  who  really  are  compelled 
to  become  paupers  have  more  attention  paid  to  them.  It  is  only 
fair  to  add  that  there  exists  among  the  vast  majority  of  the  High- 
land people  a  wholesome  spirit  of  independence  which  makes  them 
struggle  onward  long  and  bravely  rather  than  become  dependent 
on  parochial  relief. 

it  is  not  only  in  the  few  particulars  more  especially  dealt  with 
in  this  paper  that  rapid  progress  has  been  made,  but  in  almost 
every  branch  of  industry  if  we  except  one  or  two,  but  chiefly  the 
manufacture  of  kelp. 

And  this  progress  has  been  attended  with  a  corresponding  rise 
in  the  social  state  of  the  people,  which  will  become  the  more 
marked  when  such  obstacles  as  still  retard  progress  are  removed. 
(grievances  will,  however,  always  remain.  Because  of  the  ever 
onward  moving  and  shifting  conditions  of  human  life,  what  to  us 
may  to-day  be  regarded  as  a  necessary  right,  will  to  our  children 
be  a  hindrance  and  a  wrong  ;  but  with  government  in  the  hands 
of  the  people  the  conditions  of  life  will  easily  be  modified  to  suit 
existing  circumstances,  for  — 

"  The  old  order  changeth,  giving  place  to  the  new  ; 
Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world." 


The  Social  Progress  of  the  Highlands.  301 

It  is  as  yet  well-nigh  impossible  to  appreciate  the  recent 
rapidly  succeeding  changes,  for,  as  Herbert  Spencer  says,  "  In 
a  society  living,  growing,  changing,  every  new  factor  becomes 
a  permanent  force,  modifying  more  or  less  the  direction  of 
movement  determined  by  the  aggregate  of  forces.  Never  simple 
and  direct,  but  by  the  co-operation  of  so  many  causes  made 
irregular,  involved,  and  always  rhythmical,  the  course  of  social 
change  cannot  be  judged  of  in  general  direction  by  inspecting  any 
small  portion  of  it.  Each  action  will  inevitably  be  followed,  after 
a  while,  by  some  direct  or  indirect  reaction,  and  this  again  by  a 
reaction,  and,  until  the  successive  effects  have  shown  themselves, 
no  one  can  say  how  the  total  motion  will  be  modified." 

Tt  is,  however,  earnestly  hoped  that  the  aggregate  of  the  forces 
now  at  work  will  have  the  effect  not  only  of  raising  the  people  to 
a  still  higher  platform  in  every  matter  which  pertains  to  their 
social  state,  but  that  tho  educational  and  religious  influences  at 
work  may  also  be  the  means  of  getting  Highlanders  to  realise  that 
the  chief  end  of  man  is  "  to  glorify  God,  and  to  enjoy  Him  for 
ever/' 


302  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

UILLE  AM      TELL.* 

DAS'    DEALBH-CHLUICH    LE    FIUEDRICH   SCHILLER. 

Air  ectdcM'-tkean-gctchctdh  o  '/t  Gheannailteach  <ju  Oaili'j 

LE  K.  W.  G. 

[ALL   RIGHTS   HF/'jEHVF.nl. 
DO  'N     LEU(rIlAJ>AlR. 

Ann  an  tionndadh  an  Dain  Ghearmailtich  so  gu  Gailig  ghleidh  mi  fa  in'  chomliair  an 
seadh  a  thoirt,  eho  diuth  's  a  bha  c  'in  chomas,  agus  aig  a  cheart  am,  cho  litreachail  's  a 
dh'  fheudadh  e  bliith.  Thug  mi  oidheirp,  mar  an  ceudna,  air  a  ghne-dhoigh  chur  an 
ordugh  a  leanailt. 

A  ehionn  nach 'cil  facal  's  a'  Ghdlig  air  son  ylavicrx,  's  c  sin  na  cruachan  inora  do 
shneachd  sior-reodhta,  a's  eigh  a  tha  air  sloiblite  Suisserland,  tha  am  facal,  Firn  a' 
seasamh  air  a  shon,  's  e  so  am  laeal  a  tha  na  Suissich  iad  fein  a'  cleachdadh,  agus  tha  e 
na 's  coltaiohe  ris  a' Ghailig  na  tha  am  facal  Frangach.  Air  son  na  h-aon  aobhair  tha 
fj< nise  a'  se-asumh  air  sou  chamois^  seorsa  paibhre  no  carba.  nacli  'eil  'a  an  dutliaich  so. 

Their  na  Sui.-:-ieh  A/j>,  a  mliaia  ri  monadh  fcurach.  'Xuair  a  tha  e  'n  t-am  do'n 
eh rod h  tighimi  dachaidh  tha  am  .Briarhaillo  a'  cluich  fonn  "  Sreuda  nam  B6,"  air 
adliain-  mhoir,  no  dud;u-h.  Tlia  aon  mluii't  amis  g.ich  treud  aii-  am  bhcil  bann  m' a 
h-amliaich.  lc  sreath  do  c-lilaga  lieag  aii1.  Tim  tim  mart  so  a'  dol  air  ceami  ;in  ti'eid,  agu- 
tha  i;id  uil<;  'Icannaclid  a  ciicile.  li-aon  an  dcigh  h-anin,  mar  a  cliithear  na  caoiiich  ri 
oidhcho-shamhraidh  a'  dol  d'an  ait.e  taimh  air  a'  mhonadh.  'S  e  fonn  dhiubh  so— -oir  tha 
tnoran  dii;  ami  ris  am  bheil  na  ti'i  duanagan  aig  toiseach  an  Dain  air  an  cur  :— Gheibhear 
"  Srouda  nam  !5o.;>  ami  an  Leabhai1  .l-'hoim  fo'n  ainm  "Ran/  des  Vaches,"  DH 
"  Kidn  cihcn." 

Sgri»l)li  am  ]5ard  a  eheud.  da  rann  air  a  r!u-:;d  ICisimpleir  a  chaidh  a  chur  an  laimh 
li-aon  d»  ['aisleaun  na  ('uift.  Tha  learn  nach  I'hcudar  bi'iathi'an  a's  f  reagraiche  fhaotainn 


Tha  aon  m  eile  dh'  fhaodar  a  radh.  ('ha  ;n  Vil  ainm  no  dreuchd  'nai1  mca^g-ne  i  ha 
uilc  gu  loira  co-chordadh  ]•!  oiiigirh  an  l(jinpairc— (jJe.s.slor,  Ccannard  na  Daingniche,  agus 
Tea/  a"  bliat  a-!  'huidiic.  ;i  oha  lh;ti!'i<  aif  a  chlachair  agus  a  luchd-oibre.  'S  c  Maoir  a  bha 
annta  uile,  air  an  cuir  thairis  air  an  t-slua^h  aig  an  am  sin  a  clium  an  ciosnachadh  : 
!  li'-ii'car  a".n  .111  euchdruidh  nan  Gear  mail  teach  "Am  riaghaladh  n-un  3Iaoi'"  i'i-  na 
b1i;tdhn:ichan  sin.  Clia  'n  'cil  facal,  no  bloigh-fa'viil  air  nacli  deachar  thairis  gu  curamach, 
agus  ma  gheibli  ;ni  L'.'iigha'lair  letii  an  toilcachaidh  ami  n;i  Icughadh '«  a  fimuir  miso 
ann  'na  dheasachadh,  bi;dh  mo  thoileachadli-sa  air  a  dhublaehadh. 

•  Nca;ly  five  years  n-o  I  l.egan  to  attempt  the  translation  of  Schiller's  "  Wiili.-iiu  Ttil."  Kur 
oil1  thin,;.  I  v,-t;i';'(l  tsi  learn  to  think  in  Gaelic,  and  thus  be  able  to  sjr  ;ik  (J-ieiii-  ih'.-ntly;  fir 
a,M>'her.  1  lni;i:i.'il  Vo  ^ive  my  HiuhlaTi.l  c.ninf  ryiui'ii  ••>.  'ieii^hcful  taste  of  the  ji'ood  thin^.  i-tore'l  up 
in  ill-;  literature  of  other  u.tio-is,  of  ]ieop!e  whom  w-  eoM-ider  as  alien  and  foreign,  yet  \vith  f-'el- 
ii.us  and  syni;iathie-  rlo-ely  akin  t;i  oui1  o\v;i.  \\'i.-  ne'-il  r  >  liave  ;)ur  sympathies  e\;ianii'.;d  ;  \vc 
n<  •  d  t;>  Kct  out  of  the  few  narrow  ^roov;  s  in  wh'ch  our  tiio'.i^his  are  >ipt  to  run  ;  to  get  above  our- 
selves, so  th  it  our  petty  individuality  may  he  merged  in  the  good  of  the  whole. 

It  t  iok  tie-  ;  i)  ire.  niitni'-nts  of  three  years  to  complete  the  translation  of  "  William  Tell.1'  I  c-in 
no\v  set!  much  to  amend,  yet,  such  as  it  is,  I  hei;  my  countrymen  to  accept  the  \vork  a^  u.  loving 
^ifr,  as  carefully  v.'nui^ht  out  as  circumstances  would  alli>w. 

If  it  lio  the  means  of  stirring  the  amhitinn  of  those  who  have  leisure  and  ability  to  tread 
farther  still  in  the  same  track,  1  shall  not  have  spent  my  time  in  vain.  K.  \V.  (}. 


William  Tell. 


303 


UILLEAM   TELL. 

'Xuair  spealtar  nearta  borb  o'  cheil  le  naimhdeas, 

'S  tha  'm  boile  dall  a'  dusgadh  air  m'  an  cuairt  ; 

An  uair  an  comhstri  bhuidheann,  's  gair  na  h-aimhreit 

Tha  guth  a  eheartais  air  a  shlugadh  '.suas  ; 

'Xuair  thogas  droch  bheart  suas  a  ccann,  a's  ainneart 

Gu  dalrna  gach  ni  naomli  a'  briseadh  nuas, 

Acur  na  Staid  air  fuasgla'  ghleidh  air  sreiu  i — 

Do  'n  chungaidh  sin  cha  deanar  daiu  a  ghleusadh  ! 

Ach  'nuair  tha  pobull  coir,  d'  an  leoir  an  treudan, 
'8  an  cuideachd  fein,  gun  mhiann  air  seilbhean  ccin, 
A'  tilgeadh  dhiu,  mar  mhasladh,  cuing  na  h-eu-reirt 
A's  iad  'nan  corruich  'toirt  do'n  t-seirce  speis  ; 
Eadhon  'an  soirbhe  ichadh  's  'am  buaidh  tha  beusach  — 
Tha'n  gniomh  neo-bhas.mhor,  's  tin  a  chur  an  ceill. 
Deaibh  ceart  uinr  so  dhuibh  iv.;chdaidh  mi  le  solas, 
Eisimpleir  neart  a'o  buaidh  na  h-Aoiiachd  uinlheirc. 


EAM      TELL. 

DAN"   DKAI.UII  CHLI/ICII  ANN  AN  Cr:<;    KAKUAIXN. 


.A' a  rtar.<a 
Herman   (Jessler,    Fear-riaghlaidh    thairis 

Siorramachdan  Miits  agns  Uri. 
Bherner,  Baran  Attinghausen. 
Ulrich  'o  Undents,  mac  a  Pheathar. 
Bherner  Wtautfacher. 
Conrad  llnnn. 
Itsel  Reding 
Iain  a  Bhalla. 
]>eorsa  Tnathauach. 
Ulrich,  an  gobhainn. 
lost,  a  chlachain. 
Bhalti-r  Furst. 
Uilleam  Tell. 
Raosselinann,  an  sagart. 
Peadannann,  an  cleireach 
Kuoni,  am  buaclnille. 
Bherni,  an  sivilgiii'1. 
Ruodi.  an  t-iasu -;ir. 
Arnold  bho'n  Mln-lchdal. 
Conrad  ISaningart-n. 
Meier  bho'n  >-irnen. 
tStruth  blio'n  Bhinceiliiei1. 
Clans  bho'n  Fine. 
Bureha>'d  an:  iJniiie1. 
Arnold  bho'n  Se!)h  i. 
Pfeifer  blio  Lnt.se!  n. 
Cunts  bho'n  (jh<;rsan. 
lenni,  balach  an  Las^-iir. 
Seppi,  balach  a'  Bhnachaille. 
<jort'inl,  bean  Slanit'icijer. 
Hedbhig.  bean  Tell,  ni-tiean  First. 
Berta  blio'n  linintc,  bati-oighre  bheartach. 
Anngard.  i 

^I'iii!"  -M..a,han-,h,thch». 

UiS"'    |«Warh.l.I.»n. 
Friesshardt.     i  ^ 
Leuthohl.         i' 


(f 
I'll 


Itud')l])li  birj  ll;u-ri.-!,   Uasal  a  biia  thairis   air 

marc-shluagh  (Hiessler. 
Stnssie,  maor-coille. 
Maighstir  Stier  bho  Uri. 
Righ-theachdaive. 
Maor-peanasachaiclh. 
Maighstir  nan    Clachairean,    a    ghillean    agus 

luchd-cuideachaidh. 
Luchd-buaireis  fhosgail teach. 
Manaich. 

Marc-shluagh  Gliessler  agus  Landt-nberg. 
Moran  sluaigh,  tir,  a'.s  nuiathan,  as  na  iSiorrain- 

achdan-coillteach. 

A'Cur.ci)  KARHANX.— A' CiiKi.'i)  Roixx. 

Bniaciian    cix-ag  tch   anl    Loch- nan  -  Ceitliir— 

Siorram  ichdan— Coillteach,  Coirre-- 

Suits  mar  coinneai/ih. 

Tli  ;  camus  Ixjag  air  an  Loch,  bo<  h  in  dli;  h  air 
a'  chltdacli,  balachan  ;ui  las. air  na  bha:a  'g  a 
iitnivam  1h<  in  ,i.ir  ais  '.s  air  aghaidh.  A  null  tliairis 
air  an  Loch  chithear  !oin:i:an  mine,  t'rith- 
bhailtean,  aaus  briilte-fearainn  Suits  'nan  Inidhe 
aim  an  dearsa  soilleir  na  greiiif.  Air  ai  3  limh 
(;hii  ih.i  sgnir  na  II  sclv^n  ri  t'lsaicinn  .;.ii  an 
ciriiii.e'icliadh  le  ncoil  ;  air  an  l.iimh  ^.neis 
chitlit'M-,  fat}'  air  faibli,  Htnaidh-sHioil.hro  iri 
ii-ei^!ie.  Ci'.iinne  .rctio)  inn  "Hanx  des  \'  .rijes/' 
amis  gliongarsaich  bhinu  nan  dag  a  iiii'isjj;  a' 
chiuidh. 

AX  T-!AS;;AIII  ()<;  (a1   suinn  's  a'  bhata) --Air 
fonn,  "ilanx  des  Vaches"— 
Th<>.  rn    l.o'jhan  ;an  Si.illii' a' cnireadli  gn  Miaiuli 

aim. 

liha'n  giullan  ri  tlianlih 'na  chadal  gu  snm'iich, 
:N  sin  chu.tlaig  c  liinu-cheol, 
M  tr  thendan  clio  .n!iim, 
Mar  cbaonih-ghnth  nan  aingeal 
Tha  :m  1'arras  a'  seinn. 
Ach  air  dnsgadh  o  'aisling  le  solas  'HA  chri, 


304 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Feuch    tonnan    ag  ealaidh  m'a  bhroilleach  a 
nios ! 

A's,  gu  h-ard,  as  an  doimhne 
Tha  'g  eiridh  an  glaodh — 
Gu'n  talaidh  rai  'n  cad'laiche 
'S  learns'  thu,  mo  laogh  ! 

AM  BUACHAILLE  (air  a'  bheinn)— Variation  of 
the  :'Ranz  des  Vaches" — 

A  chluaintean  an  aigh  ! 
A  lointean  tha  boidheach  ! 
Gur  cianail  mo  shoraidh, 
Tha'  n  Samhradh  air  triall. 
Ach  thig  mi  le  'm  spreidh    gu   direadh  nam 

beannta, 
'Nuair  a  dhuisgear  na  dain  leis  a'  chuthaig  's  na 

gleaunta, 
'Nuair  tha'n  Talamli  'gacomhdach  le  maise  nam 

blaith, 

'Nuair  a  thaomas  na  h-uillt  aims  a'  cheitein  o  'n 
bhraigh. 

A  chluaintean  an  aigli  ! 
A  lointean  tha  grianail  ! 
Mo  chead  leibh  gu  cianail 
Tha  'n  Samhradh  air  triall. 

SKALGAIR    NAN    ARD-IUIEANN   (A1    tighinn   a's 

t-seallailh   m'ar  coinneamh  air  mullach  creige 

ihoire  — Second  variation — 

Tha  torrunn  nan  ard-bheann  mar  bheuchdaich 

i>an  speur, 

Cha  chriothnaich  an   sealgair  air  bruachaibh 
nam  beur ; 

Thar  raointean  na  h-eighe 
Theid  esan  gun  sgath, 
An  .sin  cha  tig  earrach 
Le  ailleachd,  a's  fas  ; 
'Xa  luidhe  fo  chasan  tha  fairge  de  cheo, 
<iach   liaile  's  tigh-comhnaidh   cha'n    fhaicear 
na  's  nip 

Chi  e  plathadh  de  'n  t-saoghal 
'Nuair  sgoiltear  na  nenil, 
'An  iochdar  a'  chuain  ml 
(rorm-mhachair  an  fheoir. 
i.'1'ha     caochladh     tighinn     air    aghaidh    na 
dull. cha,  cluinnear  a  measgnam  beann  bru-uiail 
arus  spealtadh  a'  dol  air  aghaidh,  tha  dubhradh 
neoil  a'  grad-ruith  thairis  air  an  tir.] 

Th  i  Ruodi,  an  t-ia>gair,  a1  toirt  ceum  a  m  ich 
a-  a  hhothan,  tha  Bherni,  an  sealgair,  a'  tcarnadh 
o  mheasg  nan  creag,  tha  Kuoni,  am  buachaille, 
H'  i  ighinn  leis  a  ghogan  bhainne  air  a  ghualainn  ; 
S-  ppi,  am  balach  aige,  'g  a  leanachd. 
K i.'ODi— (ireas  ort,  a  lenni.  Thoir  gu  tir  am  bata. 
Tha  ma'ir-liath  nan  gleanu  aig  laimh,  tha  'm 

Firn  a'  bairich, 

Tha  Clach-nan-Ursgeula'cur  oirr'acurraichd, 
's  is  fuar  e  seideadh  mias  o  bheur  nan  rieul  ; 
Bi'dh'n  stoirm  a  nuas  inu'iu  tios  duinn  c'ait 

am  bheil  sinn. 
Kv ONI—  Tha  'n   t-uisge  tighinn  Fhir-an-aiseig. 

Tha  mo  chaoirich 
Atr  itli'  an  fheoir  mar  nach  robh  greim  an 

diuu.h  ac', 
's  tha   Fireach  trang  a'  sgriobadh    &uas    na 

h-nracb. 
Jin  KUM  -  'I  ha  'n  t-iasg  a'  leum,  a'.s  tha  'chearc- 

ui>ti'cu  trie 
'Dol  fodln.    Tha  a'  ghaillion  air  a  rathad. 


KUONI  (ris  a'bhalach)—  A  Sheppi,  seall  nach'eil 

an  crodh  air  faondra. 
SEPPI  —  Ni  mi  an  Lisel  dhonn  a  mach,  air  &f 

ghliongarsaich. 
KUONI—  'S  i  's  fhaide  theic?,  mata,  bidh  each 

am  fagus. 
Ruoni—  'S  ann  agad  'tha  na  clagain  ghrinn,  a 

Bhuachaille. 
BHERNI—  'S  tha  'n  fheudail  briagh—  An  leatsa 

thaiad,  'ille? 
KUONI—  Cha  'n  'eil  na  h-uiread  sin  de  bheartas 

a  gam- 
'S  le  m'  mhaigstir  nasal  iad,  Triath  Atting- 

hausen, 

A's  tha  gnch  te  dhiu  air  a  cunntas  dhomb. 
RUODI  —  Nach  boidheach  thig  do'nbho  am  bann 

m'  a  muineal, 
KUONI—  'rt  ann  aic'  tha  rios  gur  h-i  ceann-iuil 

'na  sreud, 
Na'n    toirinn    dhith    e    sguireadh    i    a    dh' 

ionaltradh. 
Ruo!!i  —  ("ha  'n  'eil  thu  'd  chiall,  beotbach  gun 

tur.  mar  sin. 
BHERNI  —  'Sfurasdaradh.  Achf/maigainmhidh 

tur  ; 
'S  ann  dltuliiie's  aithne  sin,  'tha  sealg  nan 

gemsen. 

Tha  fear  dhiu  air  a  chur  gu  freiceadan, 
'Nuair  tha  iad  air  an  fheur  ag  ionaltradh, 
'S  tha  chinas  a'  biorachadh,  a'.s  bheir  e'n  sana* 
Gu    soilleir    cruaidh,  ma  dhluthaicheas    an 

Sealgiiir. 
RUODI    (ris    a'    Bhuachaille)—  'N    ann    a'    dol 

dachddh  tha  thu? 

KUONI  —  Tha  an  Alp  gu  buileach  air  a  lomadh. 
BHERNI—  Beannachd  leat, 
A's  gu'm  a  mhath  a  gheibh  thu  dhachaidh 

'Bhuachaille. 
KUONI—  Mar  sin   leat  fhein  ;   Cha'n  ann  o  d1 

thurus-sa 

A  thig-jar  daonnan  tearuinte  gu  baile. 
RUODI—  Slid  fear  a'  tigh'n  'na  ruith  an  cabhaig 

chruaidh. 

BIIKRM—  '-  aitline  dhomh  e—  Biumgarten  o 
Altsellan.  (Conrad  Baumgarten  anail  'na 
uclid,  's  e  'g  a  thilgeadh  fhein  'nan  teis- 


BAUMI;  \HTKN—  Do  bhat',  air  sgath  a' 

Fhir  an  aiseie  ! 
Rroni—  t»o,  so,  co  uirre  tha  chabhag? 
BAUMGARTEN—  FuasgRil  i  ! 

Cuir  thairis  mi  !     A's  teasraig  mi  o'n  bhas  ! 
KUONI  —  De  th'  nrt  a  dluiine? 
BilEKM-Co  a  tha  'g  ad  rung? 
BAUMIIARTKN  (ris  an  lasgair)—  Greas  ort,  greas 

ort,  's  iad  direach  aig  mo  sliailtean  ! 
Tha  nmrcaichean  an  t-Siorraim  as  mo  dheigh; 
Ma  thuiteas  mi  'nan  lamhan  's  duine  marbh 

mi. 
RUOPI  -—  <  'ar  son   a  tha'n  luchd-marcachd  air 

do  thoir? 
BAUMUAKTEN—  Sabhail    mi    'n    toiseach,    bidh 

nine  an  t-in  ri  cainnt  riut. 
BHKRNI—  'I  ha    hridean    fola   oit,   ciod  a  th'air 

tachai--t  ? 
BAUMGARTEN—  CeHnnard  Dun  Rossberg,  oifig- 

each  an  loinpiir'  — 
Kuo.M-'N    e  Bholfensiasen  !     'N   esan  Ihi  'a 

ad  ruiig  ? 


William  Tell. 


305 


BAUMGARTEN— Cha   dean    e    dochann   tuille, 

mharbh  mi  e. 
IAD  UILE  (a'  leum  air  an  ais)— Gu'n  sealladh 

Trocair  oirnne.    Ciod  a  rinn  thu  ? 
BAUMGARTEN — Ni  'dheanadh  duine  saor  's  am 

bith  'am  aite ! 

Mo  choir  mar  Fhear-an-tighe  ghnathaich  mi 
'Na  aghaidh-san  a  chuir  gu  naire  m'  ainm, 
A's  ainm  mo  mhnatha. 
KUONI — An  d'rinn  Fear  an  Duin 

Dochann  'sam  bith  air  d'onoir  ? 
BAUMGARTEN — Mur  do  rinn 

'S  e  Dia,  's  an  tuadh  agam  'chuir  grabadh 

air 
Nach     d'fhuair     a    mhiann    mi-bheusach 

coimhlionadh. 
BHERNI — A's  rinn  thu  leis  an  tuaidh  a  cheann 

a  spealtadh  ? 
KUONI — O,  inn's  dhuinn  h-uile  car,   tha  uin' 

agad 

Am  feadh  a  tha  e  cur  a'  bhata  mach. 
BAUMGARTEN— Bha  mi's    a'  choille,   'gearradh 

fiodh,  'nuair  thainig 

Mo  bhean  'na  ruith,  a  cridh'  's  a  phlosgartaich 
Le  geilt  a's  fuathas.     Bha  Fear-an-Duin'  's  an 

tigh, 
Dh'    orduich  e  dh'  i  gach  goireas  chur  air 

doigh, 

A  chum  gu'm  failceadh  'se  e  fhein  !    Am  feadh 
A  bha  i'  deasachadh  gach  ni,  mar  dh'  aithn', 
Guidhe    nso-cheadaicht'    rinn    e    'chur    m'a 

coinneamh 

Theich  i  o  'n  tigh,  'na  leum,  'gam  iarruidh-sa. 
Ruith  mis'  am  dheaunaibh,   diieach  mar  a 

bha  mi 
'S  le  m'  thuaidhe,  cliuir  mi  crois  air,  's  e  's 

an  uisge. 
BHERNI— Rinn  thu  gu  maith,   cha  smad,    da 

thaobh,  aon  duin'  thu. 
KUONI— An   cu-luirge  esan  !      Fhuair  e  'nis  a 

dhuais  ! 
'S  fhad  o  'n  a  thoill  e  i,  'thaobh  muinntir 

Unterwalden. 
BAUMGARTEN— Chaidh  ;n  gniomh  a  dheanamh 

ainmeil ;  tha  'n  toir  am  dheigh. 
Am  feadh  'tha  sinn  a'  bruidhinn — Mis'  ? — tha 
'n  uine  ruith — 

(Tha  'n  tairneanach  a'  toiseachadh). 
KUONI— Clis,    cuir    an    duine   coir  a  null,   a 

Phortair  ! 
RUODI — Neo-chomasach.    Thadoinionn  gharbh 

a'  tighinn. 

Feumaidh  tu  feitheamh  greis. 
BAUMGARTEN — Feitheamh  !    Mo  ehreach  ! 
Feitheamh  cha  '11  urrainn  mi.     B'e  moille  'm 

bas  dpmh— 
KUONI  (ris  an  lasgair)— Feuch  ris  le  comhnadh 

J>he  !     Bu  choir  ar  lamh 
Bhith    deas   a  chuideachadh   ar  coimhears- 

nach  ; 
Faodaidh  a  leithid  eile  tachairt  dhuinne. 

(Gair  thonn  a's  thairneanaich). 
RUODI— Fhuair  a'  ghaoth-deas  mar  sgaoil,  tha 

thu  a'  faicinn 
Cho  ard  's  tha  'n  Loch  ag  at ;  cha  'n  urrainn 

domh, 

An  aghaidh  gaoith  a's  thonn  am  bata  stiuradh. 
BAUMGARTEN  (a'glasadh  a  lamhan  mu  ghlunaibh 
an  lasgair)— 


Gu  'n  tugadh  Dia  dhuit  comhnadh  ann  ad 

fheum 

A  reir  na  trocair  'nochdas  tusa  dhomhsa. 
BHERNI— Tha   bheath'  's  a  chuis.      Bi  iochd 

mhor,  Fhir-an-aiseig. 
KUONI— 'S  Fear-tighe  e,  tha  bean  a's  paisdean 

aige  ! 

(Buiilean  tairneanaich  thairis  agus  thairis). 
RUODI—  Ciod  ?  Nach  'eil  beatha  agamsa  ri  chall  ? 
Tha,   mar    an  ceudna,   bean    a's    clann    'am 

dhachaidh 

Mar  th'  aige-san— Amhaircibh  air  an  Loch, 
A'  chaoir,  's  an  luasgadh,  a's  a'  gheil  a  th'  ann 
'S  gach  sruth  tha  tigh'n  'na  chuibhleagan  le 

bruthach 

A'  togail  gaoir  'n  ar  n-aghaidh  as  an  Doimhne  ! 
Bu  toilichte  a  dheanainn  chobhair  air 
An  duine  coir,  ach  tha  e  glan  a'm  chomas, 
Nach  'eil  sibh  fhein  a'  faicinn  mar  a  tha  e? 
BAUMGARTEN  (fathasd  air  a  ghluinean)— 
'8    fheudar,    mata,    tuiteam    an    laimh    mo 

namhaid, 
Fearann    na   tearuinteachd  cho  dluth  fa  m' 

chomhair ! 

Sud  e  'na  luidhe  thall  !    Ruigidh  mo  shuil  air, 
A's    ruigidh     fuaim    mo    ghuth    a    null    g'a 

ionnsuidh, 

lha  'n  sin  am  bata  bheireadh  thairis  mi, 
A's  mis'  an  so,  gun  duil  dol  as,  no  doigh  air  ! 
KUONI— Faic,  co  tha  tigh'n? 
BHKRNI— '8  e  Toll  a  th'  ann,  o  Bhuirgleann. 

(Tell,  le  bhogha-tarsuinn). 
TELL— Co  'n  duin'  tha  'n  so  a'  guidhe  air  son 

cobhdr  ? 

KUONI — Is  duin'  e  o  Alxellen  'sheas  a  SUMS 
Gu  onoir  fhein  a  dhion,  a's  Bholfensiess, 
Maor  leis  an  Righ,  a  bha  an  Daingneach 

Rossberg, 
Rinn    e    a    mharbhadh  —  Marcaichean    an 

t-Siorraim 

Tha  air  a  thoir,  's  iad  direach  aig  a  shailtean. 
Tha  'ghuidhe  ris  an  lasgair  so,  'chur  thairi*, 
Tha  es'  an  geilt  roimh  'n  stoirm  's  cha  teid  e 

mach. 
RUODI— Sin  agaibh  Tell,  's  aithne  dha  'n  stiuir 

a  chluich, 
Bheir     esan    fianuis    c'  dhiu    t"ia  'n    rud  ri 

fheachainn. 

TELL — Bheir  air<;  a  dhuine,  dulan  do  gach  ni. 
(Buiilean  cruaidh  tairneanaich,  an  loch  a'  taom- 

adh  l_e  toirm  a  nios). 
RUODI — B'e  sin  mi  fhein  a  thilgeadh  arms  an 

t-slochd  ! 

Co  'n  duine  ghleidh  a  cliial!  a  dheanadh  sin? 
TELL— 'S  e  fhe'  a  thig  mu  ilheireav  h  'n  smaoin  a* 

ghaisgich 
Cuir  d'   earbs'  'an    T)ia,  saor  es'  tha   fulang 

foirneart. 
RUODI -Comhairlo  thtght',  's  thu  sabhailte  's 

a'  phurt  ! 

Sin  duit  am  bata,  's  sud  an  Loch,  feuch  fhein  e  ! 
TELL  —  Nochdaidh     an    Doimhne   truas   cha 

nochd  am  Bailli. 
Feuch  ris,  a  Phortair  ! 

NA     BUACIIILLEAN     'S     AN    SEALGAIR — Saor  6  ? 

Saor  e  !    Saor  e  ! 

RUODI— Ged  b'  e  mo  bhrathair,  no  mo  leanabh 
fhein  e, 


20 


306 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Cha   ghabh   e  bhith ;    's  e   'n   diugh  Feill 

Shimoin  's  ludais, 
Mar  sin,  tha  'n  Loch  air  bhainidh  "sireadh 

'iobairt. 
TELL — 'S  a  chuis  so  cha  dean  briathra  faoin  an 

gnothuch  ; 

Abair,  anteid  thu  thairis,  Fhir-an-aiseig? 
RUODI— 'S  mise  nach  teid  ! 
TELL— An  ainm  ar  De  mata  ! 
An  so  am  bata  !    Bheir  mi  ionnsuidh  air 
Le  m'  neart  faoin  fhein. 
KUONI— Mo  laocban  Tell ! 
BllERM-Smior  an  t-sar-chompanaich. 
BAUMGARTEN — M'  fhear-teasraiginn, 
A's  in'  aingeal  thu,  gu  m'  bheabha  'chaomhn- 

adh  Tell ! 
TELL— Ni  mi.  gu  dearbh,  o  neart  a'  Mhaoir  do 

spionadh  ! 
'S    e    Cumhachd    Eile    'ghleidheas  thu  o  'n 

stoirm. 
Ach  b'fhearr  thu  thuiteam  ann  an  laimh  do 

Dhe, 
Na'n  lamhan  dhaoin'.    (Ris  a'  Bhuachaill)  Ma 

thig  ni  saogh'lta  rium 
Fhir-duthch'  thoir  thusa  comhfhurtachd  do 

m'  mhnaoi. 

Cha  b'  urrainn  domh  a  sheachnadh  'n  ni  a 
rinn  mi. 

(Tha  e  leum  a  stigh  do  'n  bhata). 
KUOM  (ris  an   lasgair)— Tha  thu  an  so    mar 

mhaighstir  air  an  stiuir. 
'S   an    ni    'ghabh   Tell    fo   's  laimh    cha   'n 

fheuchadh  tuna  ! 
RUODI — Tha  iomadh  duine  'tha  na's  fearr  na 

mise 

Aig  nach  'eil  cri'  no  misneach  dol  da  reir-san, 
Dithis    da   leth-bhreac     cha  'n     'eil    air    an 

t-sliabh. 
BHERM  (a!  direadh  air   creig) — Tha  e    'mach 

cheana,  Dia  'g  ad  chomhnadh  'laochain  ! 
Faic  mar  tha  'm  batachan  a"  tulgail  thall 
A  measg  nan  tonn  ! 

KUOM — 'S  e  'n  rathad  sin  tha  'n  sruth— 
Cha  'n  f  haic  mi  e  na's  f  haide.     Ach  stad  ort, 

sin  e  ! 
Tha  'n    treun    gu    foghainteach     troimh    'n 

chaoir  a'  stri ! 
SErri — Win   marcaichean  an  t-Siorraim  tigh'n 

'nan  sradan. 
KUOM — 'S  iad  direach  'th'  ann.  B'  i  sin  an  fhoir 

's  an  airc. 

(Kuidheann  de  Luclul-eich  Landenberg). 
A  CH    ri)   MIURCACH — Thoiribh  a    mach   am 

mortair  'chuir  sibh'm  falach  ! 
DAR\   MARCACII — Thainig  e  'n  rathad  so,   cha 

ruig  sibh  leas  a  chleith. 
KUOM  agns  RUODI— Co  tha  sibh  'ciallachadh,  a 

mh'.rcaichean  ? 
A  CIIEUD  MHARCACH  (a*  toirt  an  airedo'n  bhata) 

— 'De,  'n  Donas,  chi  mi  'n  sud? 
BHERM — 'N  e  'm  fear  's  a'  bhata 
Tha    sibh     ag     iarruidh  ? — Marcaichibh    air 

adhart ! 
Ma  ghreasas  sibh,  gheibh  sibh   an  ealachd 

greim  air. 

DARA  MARCACII — Am  mallachd,  fhuair  e  as  ! 
A  CIIEUD  MIIARC.  (ris  a'  Bhuachaille  's  an  lasg- 
air)— Rinn  sibhs'  a  chomhnadh, 
Paighidh  sibh  air  a  shon— Togaibh  an  treudan ! 


Leagaibh  am  bothan,  lasair  ris,  «u  lar  leis  ! 

:(Tha  iad  a'  greasadh  air  falbh). 
SEPPI   (a*   ruith   'nan    deigh) — Oh,   na   h-uain 

agam ! 
KUOM     Cga    leanailt) — Ochoin,     ochoin,    mo 

threud ! 

BHERM— Na  coin-luirge  ! 
RUODI    (a'  fasgadh  a  lamhan)— A  Fhreasdail 

ehothromaich 
C'uin  a  thig  Fear  a  theasraigeas  an  Tir  so  ! 

AN  DARA  ROINN. 

Aig  Steinen  ann  an  Suits,  craobh  teile  air 
beulaobh  tigh  Stauffacher,  taobh  an  rathaid- 
mhoir,  dluth  do'n  drochaid. 

Bherner     Stauffacher,     agus      Pfeifer     bho 
Lutsern  a'  tighinn  air  an  aghaidh  a'  conaltradh 
ri  'cheile. 
PFEIFER— Seadh,  seadh,    a   Stauffacher,   mar 

thubhairt  mi  riut. 

Na  boidich  d'  umhlachd  'thoirt  do  Austria 
Ma   ghabh's    e    seachanadh.      Gu    gramail, 

tapaidh 
Ri  d'  rioghachd  seas,  mar  rinn  thus  gus  a 

nis. 

'S  a'  d'  shaorsa  mor  o  shean  gu'n  gleidheadh 
Dia  thu  ! 
(A'  beireachd  air  laimh  air  gu  cridheil,  's 

a'  dol  a  dh'  fhalbh). 
STAUFFACHER— Dean  fuireach  gus  am  faic  thu 

bean-an-tighe. 
A's   theid    do    bheatha    'dheanadh    leis    na 

h-againn. 
PFEIFER— Taing  dhuit !    Tha  agam  Gersau  'n 

diugh  ri  'ruigheachd 
Leis  gach  ni  cruaidh  a  thig  ert  troimh  meud- 

mhoir, 

A's  sannt  nam  Maor  biodh  agad   oighidinn 
'S  goiricl  a  dh'  fheudas  caochladh   tigh'nn 

mu'n  cuairt 

Achfaiyheadh  Austria  greim  ort, 's  leis  thu 
'm  feasd. 

(Tha  e  a'  falbh.  Tha  Stauffacher  a'suidhe 
'sios  gu  trom-inntinneach  air  aite-suidhe 
'tha  aig  bun  na  craoibh.  Fhuair  an  so 
e  a  bhean,  Gertrud  ;  sheas  i  dluth  dha 
car  ghreis,  a'  beachdachadh  air  gu 
tosdach). 
GERTRUD— Cho  durachdach,  a  luaidh  !  Cha  'n 

aithn'ghinn  thu. 

Tha  ioma  latha  o  'n  a  thug  mi  'n  aire 
Gun  diog  a  radh,  mar  a  tha  trioblaid-inntinn 
A'  toirt  nam  preasa  troma  air  do  mhala. 
Le  iargain  shamhach  tha  do  chri  'ga  fhasgadh, 
Earb  rium  an  gnothuch ;    's    mi  do    cheile 

dhileas, 

Mo  leth  de  d'  iomagain  tha  mi  'tagradh  uait. 
(Tha  Stuaffacher  a'  sineadh  a  mach  a  lamh 

dhi  gu  tosdach). 
Inn's  dhomh'  de'm  mulad  is  urrainn  drughadh 

ort  ? 

Tha  beannachd  air  do  dhichioll,  blath  na  rath 
Air  d'  uile  sheilbhe,  thn  na  saibhlean  Ian, 
Treuda  nam  bo,  's  na  h-eich,  's  a  chulaidh  's 

fhearr, 
Gu  snasmhor,  sleamhain  le  'n  deadh  fheur- 

achadh, 
Air  tilleadh  dhachaidh  tearuinte  o  'n  bheinn, 


William  Tel/. 


307 


Gu'n  geamhrachadh  gu  socair  arms  a'  phras- 

aich. 
Tha  'n  sin  do  thigh,  cho  briagh  ri  tigh-mor 

tighearn ; 

N<i  seomraichean  air  an  ur-linteachadh. 
Le  tiodh  a's  boidhche  snuadh,  de  bhun  nan 

craobh, 

'S  air  a  dheadh  orduchadh  a  teir  ar  n-inbhe  ; 
Le  ioma  uinneag  tha  e  aoidheil,  soilleir  ; 
Le  dealbh  nan  suaicheantas,  do  ioma  dath, 
A's    sgeith     do    Theaghlaich    tha    am  balla 

riorahach, 

'S  le  briathra  glic,  a  leughas  am  fear-turuis, 
A'  meorachadh  !e  ioghnadh  air  an  seadh, 
Am  feadh  a  tha  e  leigeadh  dheth  a  sgios. 
STAUFFACUKR — Tha  'n  tigh  an  roghcidh-uidhearn 

agus  orclugh, 
Ach,  Och— tha  'n  steidh  'toirt  geill  air  an  do 

thog  sinn  ! 
GERTRUD — A  ghraidh,  cia  mar  a  tha  thu  'tuigs- 

inn  sin  ? 
STAUFFACHER— O  cheann  a  ghoirid,  shuidh  mi, 

mar  an  diugh, 

Fo  'n  chraoibhe  so,  a'  beachdachadh  le  solas 
Air  m'  uile  obair  shnasrnhor,  choimhlionta, 
'Nuair  thain'  o  Chussnacht  'nuas, — an  caisteal 

aige— 

Am  Maor  a'  marcachd  seachad  le  'luchd-eich. 
Sheas  e  mu  choinnimh  'n  tighe  sole  ioghnadh, 
Ach  dh'  eirich  mi  gu  luath,  'toirt  tin-aim  dha 
Mar  a  bu  choir,  's  chaidh  mi  'na  choinneamh- 

san 
A  chuir,  le  'chumhachd  tighearnail,  an  t-Iomp- 

air' 

'S  an  tir  so  thairis  oirnn.     Co  leis  an  tigh  ? 
Le  droch-run  dh'fharraid  e,  's  dcadh-fhios  aig' 

air. 

Fhreagair  mi.'gabhail  again  f hein  gu  h-ealamh, 
Tha'n  tigh,  le  'r  cead,  le'm  thriath  an  t-Iomp- 

aire, 
Leibhse,    am    Maor    aige,    a's    learns'    mar 

thuathanach. 

A's  fhreagair  esan  :— 'S  mis'  an  Tainistear 
'Tha  riaghladh  na  duthch'  an  ait'  an  lonipair 
Cha  'n  i  mo  thoil-sa  gu'n  dean  tuathanach 
Aitreabh  mar  so,  air  a  laimh  fhein,  a  thogail, 
'S  tigh'nn  beo  gu  saor  mar  uachdaran  's  an  tir, 
A's  gheibh  mi  doigh  gu  grabadh  a  chur  oirbh. 
Air  so  a  radh  dha,  thar  e  air  a  rathad 
A'  marcachd  as  an  ait  gu  h-ardanach. 
Ach  dh'f huirich  mise,  m'  anam  Ian  de  thriobl- 

aid, 
A'  smaointeach'  air  an   fhacal  thubh'rt  an 

t-Olc, 
GERTRUD — M'fhear-tighe  gaolach,  a's  mo  cheile 

ionmhuinn  ! 

An  gabh  thu  facal  tuigseach  bho  do  mhnaoi? 
'S  i  m'  uaill  gur  h-ann  de  theaghlach  uasal 

Iberg, 

An  duine  foghluimte,  a  thainig  mi. 
'S  na  h-oidhchean  fada,  bhiodh  mo  pheathr- 

aichean 
'S  mi  fhein  'nar  suidhe  trang  a'  sniamh  na 

h-olainn, 

A's  ceannardan  an  t-sluaigh  a'  cruinneachadh 
Mu'n  cuairt  de  m'  athair  ;  leughadh  iad  gu  clil 
Na  seana  sgriobhaidhean  a  bh'  air  na  craicinn 
Mu'n  t-seann  deadh  lompaire  's  mu  inhaith  na 

rioghachd 


A'  toirt  am  beachd  d'  a  chcil  a  'm  briathra 

tuigseach. 

Do  ioma  facal  druighteach  thug  mi  aire, 
Do  reusanachadh  geur  nan  daoine  glic, 
Do  ruintean  durachdach  nan  daoine  maith, 
A's  dhruid  mi    suas,    gu   tosdach,    iad    'am 

chridhe. 
Eisd  rium  mar  sin,  a  nis,  's  thoir  suim  do  m' 

fhacal, 
Air  a'  cheart  ni  'tha'n  diugh  'na  dhragh  air  d' 

inntinn-s'. 
Tha'm    Maor  'am    mi-thlachd  riut,   na'm  b 

urrainn  e 
Bu  toil  ieis,  ann  an  doigh  air  bith,  do  chiurr- 

adh, 
Tha  thu  'd  chnap-starra  dha,  oir,  muiuntir 

Suits 
'S  tu  ghleidh    gun  striochdadh    do  'n  tigh 

phrionnsail  ur ; 

Ach  seas  gu  gramail,  dileas  ris  an  Rioghachd 
Mar  na  sean  daoine  riachail  a  bha  romhad. 
Nach  ann  mar  so  a  tha  ?    Abair  ma's  breug  e 
STAUFFACHER— Gun  ag,  's  e  so  a's  bun  do  mhi 

run  (Jhessler. 
GERTRUD— Tha   'fharmad    riut,     'chionn    thu 

bhith  'n  so  cho  sona 
A'd  dhuine  saor,  'dgh'nnbeoair  d'oighreachd 

fhein, 

Cha'n  eil  te  aige-san.    Tha  'n  tigh  so  agads' 
O'n  lompair'  fhein    's    o  'n    Rioghachd  mar 

thuathanas ; 

Tha  uiread  choir  agad  do  thigh  a  nochdadh 
'S  th'  aig  prionnsa  aims  an  tir  a  nochdadh 

'fhearainn  ; 

Oir  tighearn  eile  cha'n  'eil  os  do  cheann 
Ach  esan  's  airde  inbh  'sa  Chriosduidheachd. 
'S  e   'm  fear  so  'mac  a's  oighe  'n  teaghlach 

'athar, 

S  e  cleoc  an  Ridire  na  h-aige  dh'  oighreachd  ! 
Mar  sin,  air  soirbheachadh  an  duine  choir 
Tha  'shuil,  gun  chlos,  a'  iiaradh  farmadach, 
S  tha  'chridhe  uaibhreach  Ian   do  nimh  a 

mhi-ruin. 

\S  fhad  o'n  a  bhoidich  e  do  chur-sa  fodha — 
Ach  cha'n   'eil  dochann  fathast  air  tigh'nn 

ort— 
Am    feith     thu     gus    am     bi    Hm     air    do 

chreineadh, 
'Nuair  gheibh  a  dhroch-run  borb  na  chuir  e 

roinih  ? 

An  duinn  crionna  ullaichidh  roimh-Iaimh. 
STAUFFACHHR— 'De  'tha  ri  dheanamh? 
GERTRUD  (a'    dol    n-i   's  dluithe)— Kisd  ri  m 

chomhairle  ! 

Tha  fhios  agad  mar  tha,  an  so  'an  Suits, 
Na  daoine  's  fhearr  ri  gearan  air  gach  taobh 
Air  sannt  a's  gairge  Maor-an-fhearainn  so. 
Na  biodh  aon  teagamh  ort,  tha  muinntir  Uri 
A's   Unterbhalden  shuas,   cho  searbh  ruinn 

fhein 
Do  'n  chiosnachadh  's  do  'n  chuing  'tha  iad  a 

giulan — 
A  chionn  tha  Landenberg,   taobh   thall   an 

Loch, 

Cho  ladarna  ri  Gessler  ann  an  so— 
Cha'n  'eile  aon  bhatan-iasgaich  'thig  a  nail, 
Gun  naigheachd  ur  ri  innseadh  dhuinn  mu 

thoiseach 


308 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


An    fhoirneirt   a's   na   h-iorghuill   'thog  na 

Maoir. 
Bu  mhaith  an    ni  rna'n    trusadh    grainnean 

dhibh 
Gu    cloigh    a   thoirt   m'   an   cuairt  a  ni  an 

t-uallach 

Na  's  fhasa  'ghiulan.     Tha  mi  uile-chinnteach 
Nach  treig  ar  Dia  sibh.     Bi'dh  E  fabharach 
Do  'n  chuis  'tha  ceart,  a's  bheir  se  i  gu  crich — 
Nach  'eil  'an  Uri  caraid  air  bith  agid 
Da  'in  biodh   e  tearuint'  dhuit  do  chridhe 

f  hosgladh  ? 
T.VUFFACHER — '8  ioma  fear  treun  tha  'n  s-in 

a's  aithnc  dhorah, 

A's  triathan  rnora  'tha  fo  mheas  a's  cliu 
Tha  eolach  orm,  a's  dh'  earbainn  annt'  gun 

gheilt. 

(Tha  e  'g  eiridh  'na  sheasamh). 
A  l>)hean,  am  bhroilleach  tha  thu  .dusgadh 

doinnean 

De  smuaintean  nach  'eil  tearuinte  a  ghiulan  ! 
An  ni  bu  diomhaire  'am  thaobh  a  stigh 
Thamiing  thu  chum  an  t-soluis,  's  chuir  fa 

m'  chomhair, 

'S  an  ni  air  an  do  dhiult  mi  beachdachadh. 
Le  teanga  dheas,  neo-sgathach  labhair  thusa. 
An  d'  thug  thu  ceart  fainear  a'  chomhairle 
A  thug  thu  dhomh  ?    Dheanadh  tu  aimhreit 

gharbh 
A's  fuaim  airm-chogaidh  'ghairm  a  stigh  do'n 

ghleann  so 
Far    am    bheil    sith    gu     samhach    'gabhail 

comhnuidh — 
Gu'n  gabhamaid  os  laimh,  sluagh  lag,  neo- 

chleachdt' 
Riaiuh    ach    ri  buachailleachd,   seasamh  an 

aghaidn 
Maighstir  an  t-saoghail?    Cha'n  'eil  a  dhith 

orra 
Ach  an  deadh  leth-sgeul  fliaotainn  gu'n  neart- 

cogaidh 
Fhuas.tiladh  'n  ar  n-aghaidh,'  s  an  sgaoithean 

eheatharnach 

'Leigeil  fa  sgaoil  air  an  tir  thruagh  so  againn, 
A  chum  gu'n  tuireadh  coraichean  na  buadha 
An  conri-;  dhoibh  ar  smachdachadh  gu  goirt, 
'.S  fo  'sgaile  peannasachaidh  laghail  cheairt, 
Ar  seann  Litrichean-saorsa 'mhilleadh  oirnn. 
GERTUVD — 'S  tir  siblise  cuideachd,  's  aithne 

dhuibh  tuaidh  a  chluich, 
Do      'n      mhisneachail      bheir      Dia      Ian- 

chuideachadh  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Oh,     'bhean!     Is     uile-bheist 

cutliaicli,  gairhneach 
An  cogadh  daonnan  ;  buailidh  e  an  treud 
\S  am  buachaille  le  cheile. 
GERTRUD— Feumaidh  duine 
Gach  ni  a  chuireas  Freasdal  air,  a  ghiulan, 
Le  eucoir  cha  chuir  cridhe  uasal  'suas. 
STAUFFACHER— Tha  'n  tigh  so  'thog  sinn,  'toirt 

toillinntinn  dhuit— 
Loisgeadh  an  cogadh  sgriosail  e  gu  lar. 
GERTRUD— B'  i  mo  laimh  fhein  'chuireadh  an 

lasair  ris 

Ach  mi  bhi  fiosraichte  mo  chridh'  bhi  leagta 
Air  muith  an  t-saoghail  so. 
STAUFFACHER— Tha  thu  cur  creideas 
'Am    baighealachd  a'    chinne   -daoin'!      An 

cogadh 


Cha  chaomh'n  an  leanabh  maoth  a  tha  's  a 

chreathall. 
GERTRUD — 'An  Neamh  tha  Caraid  aig  an  neo- 

chiontach  ! 
Air  d'  aghaidh  seall,  'Bherner,  na  b'  ann  air 

d'  ais  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Sinne,  na   fir,    thuiteadh   gun 

gkeilt  's  a  chath 

Ach  sibhse,  aig  an  tigh,  'd  e  thachradh  ribh 
GERTRUD — 'S  trie  a  tha  'roghainn  fosgailte  do 

'n  lag, 

Aon  leum  o'n  drochaid  sin,  's  bhithinn-sa  saor. 
STAUFFACMER  ('g  a  glacadh  'n  a  ghairdeinean)— 

Co  aig  a  bheil  coir  cridhe  mar  th'  agadsa 
A  theannachadh  r'  a  bhroilleach,  nach  biodh 

deas 

Gu  cathachadh  air  son  a  thigh's  a  theallaich, 
Gun  fhiamh  roimh  chumhachd  airm  righ  air 

an  t-saoghal? 

Theid  mi  an  ceart-uair  fhein  a  null  gu  Uri 
Far  am  bheil  Bhalter  Furst,  mo  charaid  dileas, 
A  tha  dh'  aon  bheachd  rium  mu  na  h-amannan 

so. 

Tha,  cuideachd,  ann  a  sin,  an  ridir  uasal, 
Triath  Attinghausen-Ged  thain'  o  shliochd 

cho  ard  e, 
Tha  gradh  aige  do  'n  t-sluagh,  's  tha  e  toirt 

urraim 
Do  na  seann  chleachduinnean.    Leo-san    le 

cheile 
Gabhaidh  mi  comhairle,  a  dh'  fheuchainn  cia 

mar 

A  ghleidheas  sinn,  gu  duineil,  aige  fhein 
Namhaid  ar  duthcha  -Beannachd  leat  a  ruin  ! 
Stiuir  thus',  am  feadh  tha  mise  fada  uait, 
Le  inntinn  thuigeasch,  reisimeid  an  tighe — 
Luchd-turuis  chrabhach,   gu  Tigh   Dhe  'dol 

seachad, 
Am     manach     'trusadh    deirc    air    son    na 

h-Abaid, 

Bum  riu  gu  rial,  thoir  seachnd  dhoibh  gu  pailt 
'.S  cuir  air  an  slighe  iad  gu  suilbhire. 
Cha  cheil  gu  brath  tigh  stauffacher  a  cheann 
Ach  tha  e,  amis  an  t  seadh  a's  farsuinge, 
Taobh  an  rathaid-mhor,  mar  fhardach  fhos- 

gailte, 

Do  'n  choigreach  'thig  air  allaban  gu  'dhorus. 

(Am  feadh  a  tha  iad  a"  dol  as  an  t-sealladh, 

tha  Tell  agus  Baumgarten  a'  tighinn  am 

follais,  agus  a'  dluthachadh  oirnn). 

TELL     (ri      Baumgarten)  —  Cha  'n    'eil    feuin 

tuilleadh  agad  orm  a  nis 
Rach  thus'  a  null  do  'n  tigh  ud  ;  gheibh  thu 

'n  sin 

A'  fuireach  Stauffacher,  a  tha  mar  athair 
Do  dhuin'  air  bith  a  th'  air  a  sharuchadh. 
Ach,  stad  ort,  sin  a  fhein — Leau  mise, 

tiugainn  ! 

(Tha  iad  a'   dol  a  suas  'g  a  ionnsuidh. 
Tha  'n  sealladh  a'  caochladh). 

AN  TREAS  ROINN. 

Aite  Fosgailteach,  dluth  air  Altorf. 

Air  mullach   cnuic,   air  an  taobh  a's  fhaide 

o'n  fhear-amhairc,chithear  daingneach  'ga  togail, 

a  tha  cho  fad  air  aghiidh  gu  bheil  cruth  an 

iomlain  ri  fhaicinn.     Tha  'n  taobh  cuil  crioch- 

naichte,  tha  'n  taobh-beoil  direach  'ga  thogail, 


William  Tell. 


309 


tha  gach  faradh  agus  lobhta-seasaidh  fathast  ri 
aodainn  a  bhalla,  leis  an  luchd-oibre  a'  direadh 
's  a'  tearnadh  orra.  Air  a'  rnhullach  a's  airde  do 
'n  togail  tha  'n  dgleatair  tvang— tha  na  h-uile  ni 
air  ghluasad  a' cur  na  h-oibre  air  aghaidh. 
Maor.  Maighstir  nan  Clachairean.  A 

Ghillean  's  an  Luchd-frithealaidh. 
AM  MAOR  (le  a  bhata-dreuchd,  a'  greasad  an 

luchd-oibre) — 

Na  bi'bh  'ga  ghabhail  tuille  's  socair.     Clis  ! 
A  nail  na  clachan  sin  air  son  a'  bhalla, 
An  so  an  t-aol,  togaibh  aol-tathaidh  leibh 
Gu  luath  !    'S  gu  'm  faic  am  Maor  an  uair  a 

thige 

Gu'm  bheil  an  obair  'dol  gu  maith  air  adhart, 
Cha'n  fhearr  sibh  na  na  seilcheagan,  cho  mall. 

(Ri  da  fhear-oibre  'tha  tarruing  luchda). 
An  ealach  sin  ?    'S  a  mhionaid  so  'dha  uiread  ! 
Is  a  slaodairean,  's  an  doigh  so  'goid  na  tiin  ! 
A  CHEUD  GHILLE— \S  cruaidh  gur  sinn  fhein  a 

bhiodh  a'  tarruing  chlach 
A   thogail    dhuinn    fhein  priosain  a's    tigh- 

cheannais  ! 
MAOR— Co  uime  'tha  thu  canran  ?    Sluagh  gun 

fheum, 

Cha  ghabh  iad  cur  ri  ni  ach  bleodhainn  cruidh 
A's    lunndaireachd    air    feadli    nam    bruth- 

aichean. 
SEANN  DUINE  (a'  leigeil  'anail)— Cha  'n  'eil  e  'm 

chomas  tuille  'dheanamh. 
AM  MAOR  (a'  toirt  crathaidh  dha)— Sgairteil, 
A  bhodaich,  cuir  an  obair  air  a  h'aghaidh. 
A  CHEUD  GRILLE— Bheil  cridhe  idir  agad  ann 

ad  chom  ? 

Seann  duine,  'ni  ach  gann  e  fhein  a  ghiulan, 
A    chur    gu    obair    chruaidh    mar  so  a    dh' 

aindeoin  ? 
AM   MAIGHSTIR   's   A  GHILLEAN— Ni  gaoir  a' 

leithid  so  Neamh  fein  a  ruigheachd  ! 
AM  MAOR— Sealladh  ribh  fhein,  tha  mise  dol  a 

reir 

Mar  'tha  mo  dhreuchd  'g  am  orduchadh. 
DARA  GILLK— A  Mhaoir, 

'D  e  'n  t-ainm  a  bheir  sibh  air  an  daingnich  so 
Tha  sinn   a'  togail,  'nuair  a  bhios  i  crioch- 

naichte? 
AM  MAOR — "  Ciosnachair  Uri,"  bheir  sinn  oirre  ! 

Chionn 
Fuidh  'n  chuing  aice  theid  a  thoirt  oirbhse 

cromadh. 

NA  GILLKAN— Ciosnachair  Uri ! 
AM  MAOR — 'D  e  'n  t-aobhar  gair  'tha  'n  sin  ? 
AN  DARA  GILLE — Leis  an  tighein  so  ciosnaichidh 

sibh  Uri  ? 
A  CHEUD  GHILLE— Stad  thusa  dh'  fheuch  co 

meud  de  dhuintean-fhamh 
Mar  so  a  dh'  fheumas  iad  a  charnadh  'suas, 
Gus  am  bi  uibhir  ann  gu'n  dean  iad  beinn 
Cho  mhor  dhiu,  ris  an  te  a's  bige  'n  Uri ! 

(Tha  am  Maor  a'  dol  as  an  t-sealladh  air 

an  taobh-cuil). 
AM  MAIGHSTIR— An  t-ord  a  bh'  agam  ns  an 

togail  mhallaichte 

Tilgidh    mi    sios    do    ghrunnd    an    loch    a's 
doimhn'  e  ! 

(Tha  Tell  agus  Stauffacher  a'  tighinn) 
STAUFFACHER— Och,    b'fhearr    nach    d'rugadh 
mi  gu'n  rud  so  fhaicinn  ! 


TELL— Deanamaid  coiseachd,  cha'n  'eil  maith 

'bhi  'n  so  ! 
STUFFACHER— Bheil  mi  da  rir'  an  Uri,  tir  na 

saorsa  ? 
MAIGHSTIR  NAN  CLACHAIREAN— Na'm  faiceadh 

sibh  na  seileirean,  a  mhaighstir, 
'Tha  fo  na  tuir  !     Esan  'theid  annta  sin, 
Cha  chluinn  am  feasda  tuille  glaodh  a'  choil- 

lich. 

STAUFFACHER— A  Tin  a's  airde 
MAIGHSTIR — Seallaibh  air  cliathaichean 
Nam  balla  dion,  air  neart  gach  balla-taic, 
A'  seasamh  mar  gu'in  biodh  iad  air  an  togail 
Gu  marsuinn  re  na  siorruidheachd  an  sin  ! 
TELL— An  ni  a  thogas  lamh,  ni  lamh  a  leagail. 

(Ris  na  beanntaibh  a'  sealltuinn). 
Aitreabh  na  Saorsa    shuidhich   Dia  E  fein 
dhuinn. 

(Cluinnear  fuaim  druma,  tha  daoine 
tighinn  le  ad  air  barr  maide  fada,  fear- 
gairm  'g  an  leanachd,  mnathan  agus 
clann,  le  gaoir  a's  troimh-cheile,  a* 
drobhadh  as  an  deigh). 
A  CHEUD  GHILLE—  De  's  ciall  do  'n  druma? 

Gabhaibh  beachd  ! 

MAIGHSTIR  NAN  CLACHAIREAN— 'De  'n  seorsa 
Luchd-siubhail  Di-mairt-inid  bhies  an  so, 
'S  de  's  ciall  do  'n  aid  ? 
FEAR-GAIRM— An  ainm  an  lompaire, 

Eisdibh  ! 
NA  GILLEAN— Nach  cuisd  sibh  nis,  a's  thugaibh 

aire! 
FEAR-GAIRM— An    Ad    so    'tha    sibh    'faicinn, 

fhearaibh  Uri ! 

Air  post  ard  theid  a  nis  a  togail  'suas, 
'S  a  cur  's  an  ait'  a's  aird  am  meadhon  Altorf. 
'S  e  so  a's  run  's  a's  toil  le  Maor-an-fhearainn  : 
Do'n  Aid  gu'n  toirear  onoir  mar  dha  fein, 
Le  glunaibh  lubt,  's  le  ceann  neo-chomhdaichte 
Tha  modh  ri  thabhairt  dh'  i— mar  so,  an  Righ 
Gheibh  aithne  orrasan  'tha  umhal  da. 
A'.s  co  air  bith  'ni  dimeas  air  an  aithne 
Theid  ubhla  air,  le 'thoirt  gu  buileach  thairis, 
E  fein,  's  na  bhuineas  dha,  do  laimh  an  Righ. 
(Tha  'n  sluagh  a'  deanamh  glag  gaire,  tha 
'n  druma  'g  a  bualadh,  tha  iad  a'  dol  as 
an  t-sealladh). 
A  CHEUD  GHILLE— Do  an  rud  ur  nach  cualas 

iomradh  riamh  air 
Tha  'n  ceann  a'  Mhaoir  !    Sinn  a  thoirt  modh 

do  aid  ! 

An  cuala  gin  agaibh  a'  leithid  riamh  ? 
MAIGHSTIR    NAN   CLACHAIREAN— Gu    'n  luba- 

maid  ar  glun  do  aid  !    Am  bheil  e 
Ri  fala-dha  ri  daoine  coire  steidlieil? 
A  CHEUD  GHILLE— Na'm  b'  e  'n  crun  rioghail 

a  bhiodh  ann,  b'  e  sin 

Gu  dearbh  Ad  Austria  :  chunnaic  mi  an  crun 
An  crochadh  thairis  air  an  Righ-chathair 
Far  an  d'  thug  iad  dhuinu  coraichean  ar  fear- 

ainn. 
MAIGHSTIR  NAN  CLACHAiREAN-Ad  na  h-Austria. 

Thugaibh  sibhse  'n  aire, 
Is  ribe  th'  ann  gu  'r  brath  do  Austria  ! 
GILLEAN    UILE— Cha    striochd    duin'  onarach 

do  'n  tamailt  so. 

MHAIGHSTIR  NAN  CLACHAIREAN— Thigibh,  a's 
deanamaid  le  each  co-chordadh. 


310 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


(Tha  iad  a'  tearnadh  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  an 

taobh  cuil). 

TELL — A  nis  tha  eolas  agad  air  an  iomlan. 
Mo  bheannachd  leat  an  traths'  a  Mhaighstir 

Bherner  ! 
STAUFFACHER— C'ait 'bheil  thu  do!?    Na  teich 

cho  luath  air  falbh. 
TELL— Bidh  ionndrainn  aig  an  tigh  ac'  oim. 

Hlan  leat. 
STAUFFACHER— Tba    ruoran    ann    am    chridhe 

'theirinn  riut. 
TELL— Cha'n   eutromaich  na  'briathra   cridhe 

trom. 
STAUFFACHER — Ach  dh'  fbeudadh  gniomhara 

na  briathv'  a  leanachd. 
TELL — '8  i  'n  aon  ghiiiomh  dliuinn  'bhi  tosdach 

foighidneach. 
STAUFFACHER— An   giulain    duine    ni    a    tha 

do-ghiulan  ? 
TELL— Cba  mbair  ach  gearr  an  ceannas  'gheibh- 

ear  ealamli. 

'Nuair  dh'  eireas  a'  gbaoth  deas  le  neart  a  suas 
A  slugan  dorch'  nan  gleann,  tbeid  aims  gach 

tigh 

An  teine  leigeadh  as  ;  greasaidh  gach  long 
A  dh'ionnsuidh    cala :    sguabaidh  an    Anail 

threun 

Gun  lorg,  gun  dochann  thairis  air  an  talamh. 
Cumamuld  uile  samhaeh  aig  an  tigh  ; 
Fagar  an  sith  na  daoine  siobhalta. 
STAUFFACHER — Am  bheil  thu  ciallachadh? 
TELL — Nach  lot  an  nathair 
Mur  teid  a  brosnuchadh.     Fasaidh  iad  sgith 
lad  fheiii  ma  dheireadh  thall,  an  uair  a  chi  iad 
Gu  bbeil  na  dutbcbanna  a'  fantuinn  suaimh- 

neacb. 
STAUFFACHER  —  Bu   mhor   na    dheanamaid  le 

seasaivh  comhladh. 
TELL— 'Nuair  bhrieear  long  's  e'n  duine  sirgilte 

A's  usa  'ni  e  fhein  a  chuideachadh. 
STAUFFACHER— An  cuir  thu  dhiot,  clio  fuar,  an 

gnothuch  coitchionn  ? 
TELL — Air  fbein  a  mlr.iin  cunntaidh  gach  aon  le 

cinnt. 
STAUFFACHER — Co-cheangailte,  an  lag  maraon 

bi'dli  neart-mhor. 

TELL — 'N  a  aonar  's  ann  a's  trei^e  duiue  laidir. 
STAUFFACHER — Mar  sin  cha'n  fhaod  an  duthaich 

amharc  riutsa 
'Nuair  ghlaeas  i  'na  cruaidh-chas  airm    na 

h-eigii  n  ? 
TELL  (a  toirt  a  lamh  d_a)— Thug  Tell  uan  caillt1 

a  slochd  an  diibhaigein 
Saoil    thus'     an     teicheadh     e   air    falbh    o 

"chairdean  ? 

Ach  ciod  air  bith  a  ni  sibh  fagaiMi  mise 
Taobh  mach  na  comhairle  !    Cha'n  nrrainn 

dhomhsa 

Seasamh  a  dearbhadh,  a's  a  tnghadh  chuisean  ; 
Ach  biodh  run  suidhichte  a:  feithearah  orm, 
Glaodhaibh  ri  Tell,  cha'n  fhaillinnich  e  sibh. 
('J'ha    iad    a'     dol    as    ;m    t-s^alladh    air 
rathaidean      eadar-dhealaicht.e,        tha 
troimh-cheil     obann    ag    eiriiih     m'an 
cuairt  do  na  lobhtaichean). 
AM  MAIGIISTTR  (a'  ruith  a  nunn) — 'J)e  th'  ann  ? 
A     CIIEUD     GHJLLE    (a1     tighinn     dluth     a' 
glaodhaich)— Thuit  an  sgleatair  o  dhruiin 
an  tighe  ! 


(Tha   Berta   a"   dian-ruith  a'  stigh.      A 

Luchd-frithealaidh). 
BERTHA— A  bheil  e  air  a  bhruthadh  1  Ruithibh, 

tearnaibh, 
Cuidichibh  e  ma  's  comasach  a  chomhnadb. 

Teasraigilih  e,  tha  or  agaibh  an  sin 

(A1     tilgeadh   a    seudan    am   measg    an 

t-sluaigh). 
AM    MAIGHSTIR — Fhur  n-or;    Air    dhuibh  an 

t-athair  a's  a  chlann, 
An  duin'  a»us  a  bhean  o  cheile  'sgaradh, 
A's  doruinn  thoirt  air  aghaidh  'n  t-saoghail 

nile, 

Bheil  riugh-iir  agaibh  gu'n  dean  or  a  suas  e  ? 
Togaibh  oirbh  !  'S  e  daoine  sona  sunntach 
A  bh'  annainn  gus  an  d'  thainig  sibbs'  nar 

measg, 

'N  'ur  luib-sa  thainig  eu-dochas  a  stigh. 
BERTHA  (lis  a  Mhaor,  a  thil  air  ais)— A  bheil  e 
beo? 
(Tha  am  Maor  a'  toirt  sanas  nach  'eil). 

A  chaisteil  mhi-fhortanaich, 
Do  bhalla  tha  le  mallachdan  'ga  thogail 
'S  do  mhallachdan  bi'dh  e  'naaite-comhnuidh ! 
(Tha  i  'falbh). 

AN  CF.ATHRAMH  Roixx. 

Tha  Bhalter  Furst  agus  Arnold  fo  'n  Mhelchdal 

a'  tighinn  aig  an  aon  am  o  rathaidean  eadar- 

dhealaicbte. 

MELCIIDAL— A  Mhaighstir  Bhalter  Furst 

BHALTF.R  FURST — Na'n  tigeadh  duin'  oirnn  ! 
Dean  fuireach  far  am  bheil  thu.     Tha  luchd- 

brathaidh 
M'  an  cuairt  oirnn. 

MELCHDAL— Nach  'eil  guth  idir  agaibh  dhpmh 
A    Unterbhalden  1      Nach    'eil    ding   air  m 

Athair  ? 

Cba  gbiulain  mi  na  's  fhaide  le  bhi  'n  so 
Am  phriosanacb,  a'  cur  na  h-uine  seachad 
Gu  diomhanach     'De  'n  cron  airidh  air  peanas 
A  chuir  mi  'n  gniomh,   gu'm  feumainn  mi 

fhein  fholacb 

Mar  gu'm  bu  mhortair  mi  ?    Coire  air  bith 
Cha  ghabh  cur   as  mo  leith,  ach,   'nuair  a 

thainig 

Am  balach  ladarna,  air  aithn'  a'  Mhaoir, 
A  thogail  leis,  's  mo  shuil  ag  amharc  air, 
A'  chning  a  b'  fhearr  a  bh'  againn  do  na 

daimh, 
Le    strachd  de  'n  bhata  gu'n  do  bhrist  mi 

'chorag. 
BHALTF.R  FURST— Tha  thu  tuille  's  bras.    B'  e 

gille  'Mhawir  a'  bh'  ann. 
B'  e  d'  uachdaran  a  chuir  ad  ionnsuidh  e. 
Bha  thu  's  a  cbionnt,  bha  e  mar  fhiachadh  ort 
Gabhail    gu    samhach    ris,    's    an  smachd  a 

ghiulan 
Gu  'de  air  bith  cho   trom   's  a  bhiodh  am 

peanas. 

MELCHDAL — An  egu'neisJinn  ris  an  t-seanachas 
A  thug  am  balach  gobacb  dhomh  : — "  Ma  tha 
Aig  cr  itearan  a'  mhiann  gu  aran  itbeadh 
Rachadh  iad  fbein  a's  tairneadh  iad  an  crann!" 
Ruig  e  an  cridh'  agam  am  balach  fhaicinn 
A'  toirt  nam  beothaichean  boidheach  as  a' 

chrann. 
Mar  gu'n  do  thuig  na  creutairean  nach  robh 


William  Tell. 


311 


An  gnothuch  ceart,   s  ann  'thoisich  iad  air 

raoiceadh 
S'  air  purradh  fhad  's  a  bh'  aca  le  an  adhairc- 

ean. 
N  sin  fhuair  mo  chorruich  ceart  lan-uaetidar 

orm, 

A  s,  m'  an  robh  f hios  're  ciod  a  bha  m  i  deanamh, 

Thug  mi  am  buille  cruaidh  do  lamb,  a'  ghille. 

BHALTER  FURST — 'S  gann  a  ni  sitine  cumail 

oirnn  fein  ; 

Ciamar  a  cheannsaichear  an  oige  bhras? 
MELCHDAL— 'S  e  m'  Athair  a  tha  "cur  a'  chruad- 

ail  orm— 

Tha  uibhir  fheum  aige  air  curarn  's  aire. 
'S  beag  air  a'  Mhaor  e,  chionn  gu'n  d'rinn  e 

riamh 

Seasamh  gu  duineil  air  son  saors  a  s  ceartas. 
Bithidh  iad  cinnteach  air  an  aobhar  sin 
Ainneart  a  chleachdadh  ris  an  t-seann-duine, 
'8  gun  neach  a  sheasas  eadar  e  's  an  reasgachd. 
Thigeadh  na  thograsj  bheir  mi  mi-fhein   a 

suas. 
BHALTER   FURST— Feith  thusa  fathast  greis  ; 

dean  foighdinn 
Gus  an  tig  n'os  g'  ar  n-ionnsuidh  'nail  o  'n 

Choill. 

Tha  cuid-eiginn  a'  bualadh  aig  an  dorus, 
Falbh— Feudaidh  'bhi  gur  teachdair'  th'  ann 

o'n  Mhaor-- 

Bi  falbh  a  stigh,  cha'n  'eil  thu,  ann  an  Uri, 
Tearuint'  o  ehairdean  Landenberger,  mionakl, 
Oir  tha  'n  luchd-ioireigne  a'  toirt  an  laimh 
Do  aon  a'  cheil'. 
MELCHDAL— Tha  iad  a'  teagasg  dhuinne 

An  ni  bu  coir  dhuinn  fhein  a  dheanamh. 
BH  ALTER  FURST— Falbh  ! 
Ma  bhios  e  tearuint'  ni  mi  glaodh  riut  tilleadh. 
(Tha  llelchdal  a'  dol  a  stigh). 
An  duine  truagh,  cha'n  'eil  a'  chridh'  again 
A  leigeadh  ris  dha  m'  mnharus  in'  an  olc 
'Tha  'n  dan  da— Co  tha  sin  ?    Cha  luaith'  ni 

dorus 

Diosgan,  nach'eil  mi  'fuitheamh  mi-fhortan. 
Tha  ceilg  a's  amharus  ri  feall-fholach 
'S  na  h-uile  cearn  a's  cuil  ;  luchd-frithealaidh 
Aintighearnais  'g  am  fnchdadh  fhein  a  stigh 
Gu  ruig  an  ionad  's  diomhaire  's  na  tighean  ; 
Cha  'n  fhad'  ach  gus  am  feum  sinn  glasan  's 

croinn 

'Chur  air  na  dorsan,  ma  theid  so  air  adhart. 

(Tha    e    a'    fosq;ladh    an  doruis  agus    le 

clisgeadh,  a'  toirt  cenm  air  :ns,  air  do 

Bherner  stanfEacher  coiseachd  A  st'"gh). 

Ciod    'tha    mi    faicinn  ?    Thusa,   'Mhaiglistir 

Blierner  ' 
Air  m'  fhacal  fhein  !     Mo  charaid  measail, 

ionmhuinn 
— Ri  unh  cha  do  chuir  taobh  stigh  mo  stah>n- 

each  cas 
Duine  a  b'fhiachala.    'S  e  slaint'  do  bheatha 

tigh'nn 

Fo  dhruim  an  tighe  so  !    'De  thug  a  nail  thu  ? 
Ciofcl  'tha  thu  sireadh  bhos  an  so  'an  Uri '.' 
STAUFFACHER    (a1  sineadh  a   laimh   dha)— Na 

seann  amannan,  agus  an  t-seann  Suisse. 
BHALTER  FURST— Thug  thus'  iad  leat  a  nail. 

Faic  tha  mi  gu  maith, 
Tha  sealladh  d'  aodainn  a'  cur  blath's  am 

chridhe. 


Dean  sxiidhe,  Mhaighstir  Bherner— Ciamar  a 

dh'  fhag 

Thu  Gertrud,  do  Bhean-tighe  shiobhalta, 
A's  nighean  thuigseach  Iberg  fholuimte? 
Gach  coigreach,  air  a  rathad  troimh  ghleann 

Mheinrad 
Do  'n  Eadailt,  as  a  h  uile  cearn  de  'n  Ghear 

mailt 

Tha  moladh  fialaidheachd  a's  suaircdo  thighe, 
Ach,  abair,  an  ann  direach  a  Fluellen 
A  thainig  thu  an  so,  nach  d'  thug  thu  suil  m' 

an  cuairt 

'An  aite  'sarn  bith  eile  air  an  rathad, 
M'  an  d'thain*  thu  thairis  air  an  stairsnich  so 
STALFFACIIKR  —  Tha   obair    iongantach    ur   a 

chunnaic  mi 
Gu  dearbh,  nach  d  thug  dhomh  moran  toil- 

eachaidh. 
BHALTEU  FURST— O,  charaid,  annsant-sealladh 

sin  tha'n  t-iomlann  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Cha  robh  a  leithid  sin  an  Uri 

riamh — 
Tigh-teannaehaidh    cha   robh,    an   cuimhne 

dhaoin' 

'S  an  aite  so,  b'  i  'n  aon  tigh  teann  an  uaigh. 
BHALTER  FURST— '.S  i  uaigh  na  saors'  i,  's  tu 

'thug  dh'  i  a  h-ainm. 
STAUFFACHER — A    Mhaighstir  Bhalter    Furst, 

cha  cheil  mi  ort 
Nach    ann  le    faoin-run    diomhain    brath    a 

ghabhail 

Air  na  tli-i  dol  air  adhart  'thainig  mi. 
Tha  eallach    thrum    de    iomaguinn    air    mo 

chridhe— 

Foirneart  tha  mi  air  fhagail  aig  an  tigh, 
A's  f oirneart  fhuair  mi  'n  so  air  thoiseach  orm 
Tha  'n    nul  'tha    sinn    a'  seasamh  glan  do- 

ghinlan, 
A's  ceann  no  crioch  na  teinn  cha  'n  'eil  ri 

fhaicinn, 

Bha'n  Suisseach  saor  o  chian  gu  ruig  an  am  so, 
A's    chleachd    sinn    riamh    gu'm    buinteadh 

rtiinn  gu  suairc. 

Cha  deach  ar  duthaich  riamh  ro'  'leithid  so 
O'n    cheud    la    dh'    iomain  arach   trend  air 

sliabli. 
BHALTKR  FURST— Seadh,  tha'n  do'  air  adhart 

so  gun  eisimpleir ! 

Tha,  cuideachd,  ar  triath  nasal  Attinghausen 
A  chunnaic  na  seann  amannan  e  fein, 
])e'n  bheaclul  nach  coir  clliuinn  so  na's  fhaide 

'ghinlan. 
STAUFI-'ACHKR — Tha  thall  'sa  Choille  gnothuch 

goirt  air  tat.hairt, 
'S    gn    fuilteach    theid     a    dhioladh— Bholf- 

ensiesen, 
Maor    lei.s    an    lomp.tire,    'bha     n    Caisteal 

Itosberg. 

Bha  iarrtus  air  moas  toirmisgte  a  bhuain  ; 
Bean  Bhaumgarten,  'tha  fuiveacli  ;tig  Alxellen, 
B'  i  'run  mi-gimathacliadh  a  dhe-inamh  oirre, 
A's  blnutil  a  fear  a  sios  e  leis  an  tuaidh. 
BHALTKR  KUH>T— O,  br^itheanais  an  J  ighearn 

tha  i  id  ceart  ! 
Baumgarten,    thuirt     thu,     duine    modhail, 

stuama, 

Ach  theasraigeadh  e,  's  fhuair  e  aite-folaich  ? 
STAUFFACHER— Chuidich  do  Chliamhuin-sa  e 

thar  an  loch  ; 


312 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Aig  Steinen  tha  e  agam-sa  am  falach— 
Thug   a   cheart    duine    cunntas  dhomh  mil 

dheighinn 

Ni  'tha  na  's  oillteil'  fhathast,  's  e  sin  an  rud 

A  thachair  ann  an  Sarnen  ;  faisgidh  e  cridhe 

Gach  duine  maith  a  chluinneas  iomradh  air. 

BIIALTER  FURST  (a'  toirt  geur  aire)— Abair  air 

d'  adhart,  ciod  a  bh'  ann? 
STAUFFACHEK— 'Am  Melchdal 
Direach  's  an  ait'  an  gabhadh  tu  an  rathad 
Gu  Ce^rns,  tha  duine  cothromacha'  fuireach, 
Knric  bho  'n  Halden  'sea  their  iad  ris, 
Bha  buaidh  aig  'fhacal  anns  a'  choimhthional. 
BIIALTER  FURST — Co  do  nacli  aithne  eV    De 

th'air  tighinn  air  ? 
Criochnaich  do  naigheachd ! 
STAUFFACHER— Air  son  coire  faoin 
Chuir  Landenberger  ubhla  air  a  mhac, 
Dh'  aithn  e  na  daimli,  a'  phaidhir  dhiubh  a 

b'fhearr, 
'Thoirt  as  a'  chrann ;  'n  sin  thug  an  giullan 

buille 
Do'n  t-seirbheiseach  le  'bhata,  's  theich  air 

falbh. 
BHALTER  FURST  (le  dian  aire)— Ach  'Athair— 

abair  ciod  a  thainig  ris-san? 
STAUFFACHER— Dh'    aithn    Landenberg    du'n 

Athair  tighinn  'na  lath.iir, 
Dh1  orduich  e  dha  a  mhac  a  liubhairt  'suas  ; 
'S     'nuair    'thug     an    seann-duin'    mionnan 

tirinneach 

Nach  b'  fhios  da  ni  air  bith  m'  an  fhogarach, 
Ghairm    Landenberger    an    Luchd-pianaidh 

'stigh 

BIIALTER  FURST  (a  leum  g'  a  ionnsuidh,  agus  a' 

feuchaiim  a  thoirt  a  leith-taobh)  - 
Cum  ort,  na  h-innis  tuille  ! 
STAUFFACHER  (a  ghuth  a'   dol  na  's  airde)— 

"Ma  fhuair  am  mac 

Air  falbh,  tin  thusa  agam  ann  am  lamhan  !" 
'N  sin  thug  e  orr'  a  thilgeadh  air  an  lar 
'.-•  an  stailinn  bhiorach  a    chur  troimh    na 

suilean — 

BHALTER  FURST— A  Fhlaitheis  chothromaich  ! 
MELCHDAL   (a'   leum   a   stigh)  —  'S  na  suilean 

thuirtthu? 
STAUFFACHER  (le  ioghnadh,  ri  Bhalter  Furst)— 

Co  e  'n  duine  so  ? 
MELCHDAL  (a'  deanamh  greim  teann  air)— 'S  na 

suilean  !    Bruidhinn  ! 
BHALTKR  FUHST— Ocli,  uch,  a  Bhroin,  gur  tusa 

'n  t-aobliar  truaighs  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Co  tli'  ann?     (',\uair  a   thug 

Bhalter  Kurst  an  *anus  dha). 
N  e  'mine  '.'    A  Thiehearn  chothromaich  ! 
MELCHDAL— 'S  raise  cho  fada  uaith  !     An  da 

shuil  aige  ! 
BH  ALTER  FURST— Ceannsaich  thu  fein  !     Gu 

duineil  giulan  e  ! 
MELCHDAL— Agams'  tha  choire,  's  ann  air  sgath 

mo  ohiont-sa  ! 

Tha  7ii-  Athair  dull  !    Tha  e  da  rireadh  dall  ! 

Tha  'n  leirsinn  aigu  buileach  air  a  dalladh? 

STAUI •FACHER—  '.s  e  sin  e.    Tobair  a  sheallaidh 

sliruth  air  falbh. 

Solus  na  grein'  cha'n  fhaic  e  'ris  gu  brath. 
BHALTER  FURST— Nach  caomh'n  thu  'chradh  ! 


MELCHDAL— Gu  brath,  gu  brath  a  ris  ! 

(Tha  e  cur  a  lamh  gu  teann  thairis  air  a 
shuilean,  's  a'  cumail  samhach  car  prioba 
no  dha  ;  tha  e  'n  sin  a'  tionndadh  o 
h-a<->n  gu  h-aon  agus  a'  bruidhinn  le 
tiomachadh  agus  deoir  'na  ghuth). 
O,  's  tiodhlac  'tha  do-smuainteach'  priseil 

neamhaidh 

Solus  na  sul — Gach  bith  tha  'tarruing  beatha 
O'n  t-solus,  tha  na  h-uile  creutair  sona — 
An  luibh  i  fein,  a'  tionndadh  gu  toilichte 
A  dh'  ionnsuidh    'n    t-soluis.     'S  fenmaidh 

esan  suit! he 

Mpthachail,  anns  an  oidhch'— 'an  dorchadas 
Air  nach  tig  crioch— cha'n  fhaigh  e'm  feasda 

tuilleadh 

A  bheothachadh  le  guirme  blath  nan  Ion, 
Greis  ghrinn  nam  blaith',  an  giuthas  staideil 

ruadh 

Cha'n  fhaic  e  tuilleadh— Cha  bu  ni  am  bas, 
Ach  a  bhi  beo  gun  leirsinn,  's  doruinn  sin — 
C'arson  a  dh'  amhairceas  cho  sibh  muladach 
A  nail  orm  ?    Tha  da  shuil  fhallain  agaio, 
'S  cha'n  urrainn  dhomh  a  h-aon  diubh  'thoirt 

do  'm  Athair, 

No  aon  ghath-soluis  tla  a  cuan  na  soills' 
A  tha  cur  doille  orrn  le  'dhealradh  boillsgeach. 
STAUFFACHER— Do  dhoilgheas  '.s  eiginn  dhomh 

a  mheudachadh, 

An  ait  a  leigheas — Tuilleadh  tha  'ga  dhith  ! 
Chreach   Maor-an-fhearainn    e  da  chuid  gu 

h-iomlan  ! 

Aon  ni  cha  d'  fhag  e  aige  ach  a  lorg, 
Gu  falbh  o  tigh  gu  tigh,  dall  agus  lomnochd. 
MELCHDAL — r\i  ach  a  lorg  do'n  duine  liath,  gun 

sealladh  ! 

Creachte  gu  tur,  's  dp  sholus  glan  na  greine, 
An  oighreachd  choitcheann  aig  an   diblidh 

thruagh — 
Na    bruidhnibh   rium    air   fantuinn    no    air 

falach  ! 

'I)e  'n  seorsa  cladhaire  a  bh:  annam  riamh 
'Bhi  smuainteach'  orm  fein  a's  nach  b'  ann 

ort-xa ! 
Gu  'm  fagainn-sa   do  cheann   gaolach    mar 

urras 
An    laimh    fir-cuthaich  !      A  leith    taobh  'n 

fhaicill  mheat, 

A  sheallas  roimpa-Ni  ach  dioghaltas  fuilteach 
Cha  sasaich  mi.    A  null  tliairis  gabhaidh  mi — 
Clia  ruig  sibh  'leas  mo  bhac«idh — Cuiridh  mi 
Ain  Maor  gu  'dhulan  e  'thoirt  dhomh  air  ais 
An  da  shuil  a  rinn  e  thoirt  air  falbh  o  in 

Athair— 
Am  measg  a  mharc-shluagh  uile  gheibh  mi 

mach  e— 
Cha  ni  mo  bheatha  tuilleadh  learn  mur  faigh 

mi 
Dian-theas   mo  ghoimh    do-labkairt   fhionn- 

arachadh 
Am  fuil  a  chridhe.      (Ilia   e  tionndadh    gu 

falbh). 

BHALTKR  FURST— Fuirieh  !    'I)e  dheanadh  tu 
'Na  aahaidh  ?    Hud  e  'na  shuidhe  'n  Sarnen, 
A  bhaile  tighearnail  ard,  a'  deanamh  sgallais 
Air  corruich    anfhann,  'a   e    'na    dhaingnich 
laidir, 


William  Tell. 


313 


MELCHDAL— Ged  bhiodh  a  chomhnuidh  ahuaa 

"an  Luchairt-eighe 

Na  Sreicthorn,  no  na  's  airde,  far  am  bheil 
O   shiorruidheachd    an   Oigh*    fo   sgail   'na 

suidhe— 
Dheanainn  g'  a  ionnsuidh  slighe ;  faigheam 

fichead 
De  'n  oigridh,  a  dh'  aon  inntinn,  a  dhol  comb' 

rium, 
Ghabhainn  fo  's  laimh  briseadh  a  stigh  d'  a 

dhaingnich. 
'S  mur  lean  duin'  idir  mi,  'n  uair  bhios  sibh 

uile 

Ri  caoidh  air  son  'ur  bothain  a's  'ur  treudan, 
'N  uair  ehromar  sibh  a  sios  fo  chuing  'n  fhir- 

fhoirneirt, 

Gairmidh  mi  'n  ceann  a  cbeil  na  buachaillean 
A  th'  air  na  sleibhte,  an  sin,  fo  'n  iarmailt 

shaor, 
Far    an    teid    tuigseadh  shoilleir,   's    cridhe 

fallain 
A   ghleidheadh,  ni  mi  'n  naigheachd  aithris 

dhoibh 
M'  an  aingidheacbd  dheisneach  so  'tba  nis  air 

tachairt. 
STAUFFACHER  (ri   Bhalter   Furst)— Tha   e  air 

tigh'nn  gu  airde — Am  feith  sinn,  gus 
An  tig  a'  chuid  a's  mios'  oirnn  ? 
MELCHDAL— Ciod  a's  miosa 
Roimh  'm  bi  sinn  gealtach,  'nuair  nach  'eil 

Reul  na  sul 

Ri  bhi  na  's  fhaide  tearuinte  'nar  cinn  ? 
'Bheil    sinn    mata    gun    airm  ?      C'  arson    a 

chleachd  sinn 
A'  chrois-bhogh'  tharruing,  's  an  tuadh-chatha 

throm 
A  chluich  gu  laidir,  ealant'?    Gheibh  gach 

creutair 
Ball-airm  na  h-eiginn  ann  an  teinn  a  chruaidh- 

chas, 
Tionndaidh   'm    fladh    'tha  fannachadh,    a's 

nochdaidh 

E  'chabar  eagallach  do'n  lodhainn  chon, 
Tilgidh  a'  ghemse  'n  sealgair  anns  an  t-sjochd, 
A's  ainmhidh  calld'  a  chroinn,  seirbheiseach 

soirbh 

An  duine,  a  ni  gu  foighidneach  fo  'n  chuing 
Treun-neart    a  ruhuineil  mhoir  a  chromadh 

sios, 

Bheir  e  'n  duibh-leum  a  suas,  ma  ruigear  e, 
'S  a"  gabhail  cuims'  le  adhairc  churahachdaich 
Le  urchair  tilgidh  se  a  namh  'a  an  speur. 
BHALTER  FURST  —  Na  'm  biodh  na  tri  Duth- 

channa  dh'  aon  inntinn 
Ruinne  'nar  triuir  theagamh  gu'n  gabhadh 
Rud-eigin  deanamh. 
STAUFFACHER — Ma  thogas  Uri  glaodh, 
A's  Unterbhalden  deas  g'  a  cuideachadh, 
Cha'n  fhuirich  muinntir    Suits  air  deireadh 

orra. 
MELCHDAL — 'S  ioma  tllu-charaid  dhomhs'  tha 

'n  Unterbhalden 
A's  cha'n  'eil  f-ar  "nam  measg  dhiubh  nach 

biodh  toileach 

A  cheann  na  'choluinn  a  chur  ann  an  cunnart 
Ach  e  'bhi  'n  comas  da  cul-taic  no  dion 
A  thoirt  do  chach— O  Aithriche  na  Tir  so ! 

*The  Jungfrau. 


Laimh  ribhs',  a  tha  lan-eolach,  foghluimte, 
'Nar  dithis,  cha'n  'eil  annams'  ach  an  giullan — 
Mo  ghuth-sa  feumaidh  'bhi   'na   thosd,    gu 

modhail 
'An  Cuirt  na  Soirr'achd :    Ach  na  deanaibh 

dimeas 
A  chionn  gu  bheil  mi  og,  's  nach  fhac'  mi 

moran, 
Air  m'  fhacal,  's  air  mo  chomhairle.    Cha'n 

ann 
Do  mhianna  bras  na  h-oige  'tha  mi  striochd- 

adh, 
Ach  neart  mo  ghuin,  a's  cradh  mo  dhoilghis 

geur. 

Is  aithrichean  sibhfein,  air  ceann  'ur  tighean, 
Nach  b'i  bhur  durachd  gu'm  biodh  agaibh 

mac 
Steidhdl,   d'  ur    ciabhan    priseil    'bheiresolh 

urram, 

'-S  a  dhionadh  Reul  bhur  sul  gu  furachail  ? 
O,  ged  nach  d'  thainig  fathast  doclianri  oirbh 
'An  corp  na  'n  cuid,   a's    tha    bhur   suilean 

agaibh 

GU  fallain,  soilleir,  tearuinte  'n  'ur  ceann, 
Na  biodh,  mar  sin,  ar  n-airc-ne  coimheach 

leibh. 
Tha  thairis  oirbhse  mar  an  ceudna  7n  croch- 

adh 
Sleagh  fear-na-foireigne.     Rinn  sibh  an  duth- 

aich 

A  tharruing  leibh,  air  falbh  0  Austria  ; 
Cionnt  eile  cha  robh  aca  'n  aghaidh  in'  Athar, 
Tha  sibhs'  co-chionntach  ris,  's  fo  'n  diteadh 

cheudna. 
STAUFFACHER — (ri    Bhalter    Furst)  -Dean    d' 

inntinn  suas  ! 

Tha  mise  dcas  gu  d'  leanailts'. 
BHALTER    FURST— Cluinnidh    sinn    comhaide 

nan  triathan  uasal 

Aig  Sillinnen,  a's  ann  an  Attinghausen — 
Tha  'r  learn  gu'n  coisinn  d'  ainm-sa  cairdean 

dhuinn. 
MELCHDAL— C'ait  a  bheil  ainrn  'an  Shabh-na- 

Coill  gu  leir 

Airidh  air  tuille  urram  na  bhur  n-ainrn-sa  — 
Bhur  n-ainmeannan  le  cheil  ?    'Na  leitliid  sin 
De    chuinneadh     cinnteach    cu.'idh    daoine 

creideas, 
Tha  'ghliong  a  th'  aca  rnaith  air  feadh  na 

duthcha. 
Tha  agaibh  oighreachd  bheairteach  na  deaclh- 

bheus 

O'r  sinnsreadh,  mheudaich  sibh  gu  pailte  i  : — 
'De  'm  feum  a  th'  air  daoin'-uaisle  "I    C/omh- 

dhuineaniaid 
Leinn  fhein  an  gnothuch  !    Ged  nach  biodh 

againn  ach 

Sinn  fein  's  an  duthaich  !    Is  i  mo  bharai'-sa 

Gu  'n  tigeamaid  air  doigh  sinn  fein  a  dhion. 

STAUFFACHER — Cha  'n  'eil  an  tein  a  th'  oirnne 

a  choir  cho  trorn 

'Na  luidhe  air  na  h-r.aislean  ;  oir  an  sruth, 
'Nacaoir,  a  ruidhleadh  air  an  ionad  iochdracb, 
Cha  d'  rainig  fathast   air   an   ionad   uaehcl- 

rach — 

Gidheadh  cha  toir  iad  dhuinn  an  cuideach- 
adh, 
Ma  's   ann  fo  airm  a  gheibh  iad    an   ceud 

shealladh 

21 


314 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Air  suidheachadh  na  tire. 
BHALTER  FURST — Na'm  biodh  breitheamh 
Eadar  sinn  's  Austria,  dh'  fheudadh  coir  a's 

ceartas 
'Bhi   air   an    socrachadh.      Ach   'se    ar    n- 

lompaire, 
Am  Bieitheamh    's    airde,  'tha  'gar  cumail 

fodha — 

Mar  sin  's  arm  trid  ar  qairdean  fein  'ni  Dia 
A  r  comhnadh.    Sireadh  sibhs'  a  mach  fir  Suits. 
A's  trusaidh  mise  cairdean  ann  an  Uri, 
Ach  co  a  chuireas  sinn  gu  Unterbhalden? 
MKI.CHDAL — Cuiribh    mise    null — Co    aig   'tha 

uibhir  choir? 
BHALTKH  FURST — Cha 'n  aontaich  mi  dha  sin, 

tha  thu  air  aoidheachd 
'Am  thigh-sa,  feumaidh  mi  do  ghleidheadh 

tearuint'. 
MELCHDAI.— O,     Itigibh     learn !      Gach    ath- 

ghoiri'l,  a's  bealach, 
Gach  frith-rath'd  feadh  nan  creagan  's  aithne 

clhomh 

!rt  tha  c  iivcl'  an  ann  gu  leoir  a  cheileadh  mi 
C'm  iiKi'mhdean,  's  fasgadh  bheireadh  dhomh 

gun  glmiaim. 
STAUFFACHKR — Leig  leis  dol  thairis,  's  Dia  bhi 

niaillo  ris, 

Cha  'n  Vil  an  sud  am  fear  a  bhrathadh  e, 
'i'liM,  iad  air  gabhail  grain  cho  dubh  do'n  fhoir- 

neart 

>-ach  faighear  inneal  a  ni  obair  dha. 
Theid   an     Alzellen     cuides'.chd,     shios    fo'n 

Clioillidh, 
An  'lie  a  dlmsgadh  's   companaich  a  chois- 

neadh. 
MKLCHDAr,— Ciamar  a  gheibhear  fios  o 'cheil 

1:     '. 

A  ir  dhi.igh  nach  duisgear  amharus  nam  Maor  ? 
8TAL'FF.\ciiKR— r>h'  fhtudaimiid  coinneachadh 

'.ig  1'ivib  no  Brunren, 

Far  a.m  *  nuii  loingeis-niharsantachd  a  taghal. 
Bl!M.TK;i   Fi'lvST— -Ch:i'n    fiiaod    ,dnn    dol   cho 

bitheanta  m'an  obaii;. 

Ei.sd  i-Ji    ri   in'    bharail-sa— Shios    taobh    an 
l-.cli, 

Iniiiih    chii     f-.r  an   gabh   duin'   an 
t-ai-'eag 

i.  ceart  mu  choinneamli  Clach- 
:  an  nr-sjji  ;:1, 

'.'  !;  :  io    -ii  u  i:.':"e:ic';,  f^ij'iclite  's  s.n  doirc, 
.  'n    :uitli  'thug  na  buachaillyati  jnar  ainm 

A  ••his.-r.i;  gu  'n  deach  a  choillo  'spionadh  as. 
•  \\  do  diuhnich-sti  a'  oriochnachadh 
(A'  tioiDi'linlh  ri  >!elchd;il) 

•h-ne  ;  a'.s  blieiiv-ialh  l>ata  sibJise 
'  •. '  i  i  inndadh  vi  Sfc  •ni!'-;cli»ir) 
li-hhciriil  ;•  null  H  >;uits. 

•    .       -  ,  Lh    idvMii  f;t.s;iil 

Ai.  .   ii-^ichch'   a\s   cuiiidli  ss'irc  gu 

A.  ,  ioirbli,  ri  f;(>n  a  cheilo, 

[easRch 
:  .  a  tlia  dh' aon  chridhe 'd  inntinn 

Co-chruinnicht' air  an  duigh  so,  gheibh  sinn 

bniidhinn 
C.u  cialliidi,  thairis  air  a'  gnothuch  choitch- 


'S  dol  ris  gu  misneachail,  le  comhnadh  Dhe. 
STAUFFACHER—  Bi'dh  e  mar  sin.     Sin  dhomh 

do  dheas  laimh  dhileas 
A  nail  do  the-sa  ;  Mar  a  tha  sinne  'n  dingh 
Triuir  Fhear,  le'r  lamhan  toinnt'  'an  aon  a 

cheile, 

Mar  sin  ni  sinn  gu  treibhdhireach,  gun  cheilg, 
Seasamh  a  suas  air  son  tri  Duthchanna, 
Gu'n  dion  's  am  fasgadh  ann  am  beatha  no  'm 

bas. 
BHALTER  FURST  agus  MELCHDAL—  Am  beatha 

no  'm  bas  ! 

(Tha  iad  a'  seasamh  greis  mhaith  'nan 
tosd,  le  'n  lamhan  toinnte  'na  cheile). 
MELCHDAL—  M'  Athair  aosda,  dall, 
Lathana  saors'  cha'n  'eil  e  'd  chomas  fhaicinn  ; 
Ach  cluinnidh  tu  e  'nuair  o  Alp  gu  Alp 
A  dh'  eireas  suas  'na  caoiribh  a'  rnrois-taraidh, 
'S    a    thuiteas    daingneach    laidir    an    Fhir- 

fhoirneirt, 
A's    theid    an    Suisseach    ait  a  stigh  gu    d' 

bhothan 
A    ghiuian     sgeul    an    aoibhneis    'chum    do 

chluais, 
A  ni  le  'dhealradh  d'  oidhche  soilieir  dhuit  ! 

AN  DARA  EARRAIN.    A'  CFEUD  ROINN. 

For-sheomar  Gothach,  riomhach  le  suaich- 
eantais  agus  clogaidcan.  Am  Baran,  duine 
liath,  ard,  deas  direach,  mu  cliuig  a's  ceithir- 
fichead,  ann  am  peiteag-mholach,  a'  Icigeil  a 
thaif.1  air  bata  le  cromag  do  adhairc  ghemse. 
Cuoni  f*.gus  seathnar  sheirbheiseach  tile  'nan 
seasamh  m'  an  cuairt  da,  le  rasdalan  agus  fail. 
Ulrich  O  Riulents  o'  tighinn  a  stigh  ann  an 
eudach  ridire. 
liUDENT.s—  r.J'ii3  ^ii  'n  f-o  oncSe—  Ciod  i  bhur  toil 

a  nis  ? 
ATTINGHAUSEN—  Ceadaich  dhomh  'n  toiseach 

an  deoch-mhaidne  ol 

Le  m'  sheirbheisich,  a  reir  seann  ghnath  an 
tighe. 
(Ilia  e  ag  ol  a  bicoir,  a  tha,  an  sin,  air  a 

chur  m'  an  cuairt  orra  air  fad). 
B'abhaist  tihfcmh  feiu  'bhi  loo  '\n  dail  's  an 

coill- 
A  riaghladh,  le  m'  slmil,    an  saothair  's  an 

dichicll, 

Ceavt  nrir  a  stir.ir  mo  bhratach  iad  's  a  chath  ; 
Cha  dean  mi,  '.nis  ach  riaghladh  '.«  an  tigh, 
Mur  tig  am  ionnsuidh  gathan  blath  na  greine 
Ch'i  'n   fheud  mi  dol  g'    an  hireadh  air  na 

beannta 
Tli,  'chuiiirt  gu  sior  na  's  cuinge  dol  's  na  's 

cuir.ge 

'S  am  bheil,  gu  fadalach,  mo  bheatha  'gluasad 
A  chum  ria    cu:-iirt  H'S    deireannaich    's    a's 

cuing", 

Far  an  ;i.  ;<PAS  :mh  air  a  bhej'ha 
Cha'n  'eil  mi  ach  4ic  fhail^as  fan>»  a  i-is, 
'«  eh:;,  lihi  mi  -Lrli  am  airiiu  an  uiiie  ghoirid. 
CUON1  (a1  tairgsinn  a  bhiceir  do  Jiudents)  —  S 
dhuil-.^a,  ua--:dl  oig. 
('Muair  a  tha  Kudents  an  teagarah    an 
gabh  se  e). 

Siuthad,  a's  ol  e  ! 

Fo  aon  chridhe,  cho  mhaith  ri  a  aon  bhiceir, 
Tha  e  a'  tighinn. 


)  —  So 


William  Tell. 


315 


ATTINOHUSEN Falbhaibh  a  nis,  mo  chlann, 

Air  a'   cheud  Fheasgar-Feill    a  tbig    m'   an 

cuairt 

Mu  ghnotbuichean  na  Dutbch'  bi'dh  cothrom 
bruidhiim. 
(Tha  na  seirbheisicb  a'  dol  a  mach), 

Attinghauscn  agus  Rudents. 
ATTINGHAUSEN— Tha  thusa  'n  so,  an  eideadh  's 

ann  an  uidheam, 

Bi'dh  tu  a'  dol  gu  Altorf,  gu  baile  'n  Duin  ? 
RUDENTS— Tha  oncle,  a's  cha  'n  fheud  mi  moille 

'dheanamh 

ATTINGHAUSEN— Bheil  aibhir  sin   de  chabhag 

ort?  Ciamar  ? 

Am  bheil  an  tirn  cho  spiocach  air  a  tomhas 
A  mach  do  d'  oige,  naeh  'eil  tuille  nine 
Agad  r'  a  chaitheamh  air  seann  bhrath  'r-do 

mhathar  ? 
RUDENTS — Tha  mi  a"  faicinn  nach  'eil  feum  a  so 

orm, 
Cha'n  'eil  mi  ach    am    choigreach  anns    an 

tigh  so. 
ATTiNGHAUSEN(le  'shuilgu  dila'  beachdachadh 

air,    tacain     maith) — Cha    'n    'eil,   gu  ini- 

fhortanach. 

Ach  's  i  cuid 
A's  duilghe    nach    'eil    thu  aig  an  tigh  ad 

dhachaidh  ! 
Och   Ulli !    Ulli  !     Cha'n   aithne   dhomh   thu 

nis. 
Tha  thu  'an  sioda  riomhach,  a'n,  mar  mhor- 

chuis, 

Tha  thu,  le  uaill,  a'  caitheamh  it'  na  pencaig, 
Thilg  thu  an  cleoca-purpuir  mu  do  ghuaillibh  ! 
Air  an  fhear-duthcha  tha  thu  'g  amhare  sios 
Gu  dimeasach,  a's  tha  thu  'gabhail  athaidh 
Roimh  fhailte  chridhei]. 
RUDENIS— Bheir  mi  dha  gu  toileacu 
Am  meas  a's  cubhaidh  'thabhairt.     Diultaidh 

mi 

A  choir  a  ghabha.s  o  air  fein  'thoirt  uam. 
ATTINGHAUSEN— Tha  'n  tit-  air  fad  'na  luidhe  fo 

chorruicb  thrum 
An  righ— tha  cridh'   gach  duine  maith  Ian 

iom'  guin 
M'  an     ainneart    chruadalach  'tha    sinn    a' 

fulang — 
Ort-sa     a    mhain    cha'n    'eil    an    deuchainn 

choitchionn 
A'   deanamh  drughaidh— 'S  ann    a  chithear 

thusa 
'Gad   dhealachadh   o  d'chuideachd   fein   's  o 

d'chairdean, 
'S  a:   snasamh  suas  air    taobh   naimlide   do 

dhuthcha, 

M'  ar  n-eiginn  biuidhnidh  tu  gu  tarcuiseach, 
Tha  thu  a'  ruith  gu  faon  an  deigh  toiliuntinn, 
Tha  thu  ri  miodal  ris  na  h  Uachelarain 
A    chum   an   deadh-ghean,    a's    am    meas   a 

chosnadh, 
A's     Tir    do    shinnsre    fuidh    an    sgiursadh 

fuilteach. 
RUDENTS— Tha  'n  tir  a'  fulang  foirneirt— ach 

c'arson  ? 
Co    'tha    'ga    tilgeadh    'n    coir-a-chinn    's    a 

chas  so  ? 
Aon  fhacal  beag  's  e  sin  na  chostadh  e, 


Gu  fuasgladh  fhaotainn    o    bhur  teinn  'am 

prioba, 

A's  lompair'  suairce,  trocaireach  a  chosnfdh. 
An-aoibhinn  dhoibh-san  a  tha  'gleidheadh  an 

t-sluaigh 
Le  'n  suilean  duinnt,  's  g'  r.m  brosuuchadh  gu 

stri 
An  aghaidh  ni  a  bhiodh  'na  thairbhe  fhior 

dhoibh. 
Air    sgath    am    buannachd    feiu    tha  i;td  a' 

eumail 

Kan  Siorramachdan-Coillteach  air  an  nis 
Gun  mhionnan  dliglieacli  'tlioirt  do  Austria, 
Mar  a  thug  uile  dhutlichanna  m'  ar  timchioll. 
'S  maith  'thig  e  dhoibh  'bhi  'measg  nan  Triath 

'nan  suidhe, 

'S  ann  'chum  nach  M  triath  idir  os  a  cheami 
A  ghabha.-  duin'  an  t-Iompaireiiiar  Thighetirn. 
ATriXGHAUSEN — Am  feum  mi  eisdeachd  ris  a' 

leith  d  so, 
O  d'  bhilibh-sa  ? 

RUDENTS— Chuir  sibh  tbuige  mi, 
A's    leigiljh    learn     crioch    a     chur     air    mo 

chaiiuit — 

D  e  'n  seorsa  neach  a  th'  annaibh  fein  an  so  ? 
Am  bheil  cho  beag  do  mhoralachd  '11  ar  nadur 
Nach  iarradh  sibh  dreuchd  a  bu  mheasaile, 
No  a  b'  airde  na  nhi  'n  so  'u  :ur  ridire, 
'S  'n  'ur  breitheamh  thairis  air 'ur  ciobairean  ? 
Ciod  e?     Nach  rogltainn  i  "ou  chliuvaiclie 
Bhur     n-umhlachd     dhligheil    'thoivt    do    'r 

Tighearn  ringhail 
Heasamh   ri  'thaobh   an  camp   dcalrach   ii;in 

lann, 

Seach  a  bVii  co'-ionnan  ri  bhur  seirbheisich, 
'S    a'   suidhe   'n    'ur    breitheamh   am   measg 

thuathanach? 
ATTINGHAUSEN— (Jch  Ulli !  Ulli  !   's  mis-'  dli' 

aithuicheas  i, 

(futli  min  a  bhuaireadair  !     'S  I,-;e  a  mheall 
I)i>  chinas  gu  deas,  's  a  chuir  an  niiuh  a,  d 

chiidhe  ! 
RUDENTS— Se.tdh,  ni  mi  aideachadh,  cha  dean 

mi  cleith  air, 
Tha  goimli  a'  dol  a  stigh  gu  doimhneachd 

m'  auma, 

An  uair  a  thoisicheas  na  coigrich  -in 
Ri  mugadh  air  ar  n-uaisle-thuath •inachail 
Cha  cliuir  mi  suas  ua  's  fhaide  leis  an  dol  so, 
Am  feadh  'tha'n  oigridh  nasal  air  garh  taobh, 

dhirin 
A'   cosnadh    cliu    dhoibh    fein    fo    bhrataeh 

Ilapsburg, 
Tha   mise   'm   thamh   gu   diomhanach  air  m' 

oighreachd, 

Ceitein  mo  bheatha  feumaidh  mise  cliall 
Thairis  air  obair-latha  shuarach  choitcliionii. 
An  aitean  eile  tha  nithe  'gabhail  ;iit 
'Na  luidhe  air  taobh  thali  nan  sleibhtc  sin 
Tlia    saogh'l    a   chliu,  dealrach   le  gniomhra 

gloir-mhoir, 
Mo  chlogaid  sa    's  rao   sgiath   tha  ann    am 

Thalia 
Meirgte  'nan  crochadh  ;  guth  misneachail  na 

troinbaid, 
Glaodh    an    Fhir-ghairm,    'chum    cleas    nan 

airm  a'  cuireadh, 
Cha  ruig  iad  air  na  gleannta  cianail  so  ; 


316 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Cha  'n  'eil  aon  fhuaim  r'  a  chluinntinn  ann  a 

so 

Ach  dranndail  leibicleach  "  Sreuda  nam  B6" 
A's   gliogarsaich    nan   clag   am   measg   nan 

treudan. 
ATTINGIIAUSEN— Oh  'dhuine  thruaigh,    's  ann 

ort-sa  thain'  an  sgleo, 
Th.iiTuing    faoin-dhearsa  meailtach  thu  air 

seachran  ! 

Dean  diraeas  air  an  tir  's  an  d'  rugadh  tu, 
Gabh  naire  do  gach  cleachduinn  mhaith  a 

thainig 
O  chian  an  t-sgaohail  a  nuas  o  d'  shinnsear- 

achd, 

Ach  thig  an  latha  'n  uair  a  thionndaidheas  tu 
Le  deura  geirt,  a's  tagradh  trom  a'  mhulaid, 
A   dh'  ionnstiidh  sleiohte  chairdeil  d'  aith- 

riche, 

'.s  an  ceol  so  air  am  bheil  thu  'g  amharc  sios 
Le  uiread  ghrain  an  ceart  uair,  ann  ad  fhadal, 
"Sreuda    nam    Bo"    bheir    fasgadh    air    do 

chridhe 
Le  cudthrom  tiamhaidh  druidhidh  'stigh  air 

d'  anam 

'iVuair  eliluinneas  tu  am  fonn  an  tir  nan  Gall. 
Oh  's  cumhachdach  an  ceangal  naduir  sin 
A  tha  le  cuibhreach  gaoil  a  snuim  an  duine, 
Gu  daingeann,  ris  an  tir  's  an  d'  rugadh  e  ! 
An  sanghal  cealgach,    fuar    cha    dhachaidh 

dhuit-sa ; 

An  sud,  an  cuirt  uaibhreach  an  Tpinpaire, 
Le  d'   chridhe  treibhdhireach   bi'   dh  tu  gu 

siorruidh 
'A  d'  choigreach  ann  a  measg.     Cha  'n  ionnan 

bhuaidhean, 
Riu-san   a  dh'  fhoghluim  thu  air  feadh  nan 

gleann, 

A  ni  an  saoghal  mor  a  tl  agradh  uait. 
Bi  thusa  falbh,  thoir  d'  anam  ann  an  eiric 
(.Jabh    fearann,    bi     ad     sheirbheiseach    do 

tliriathan 
Nuair    dli'   fhaoilidh  tu  'bhi  'd  thriath  thu 

fein  a's  riaghladh 
Thairis   air  d'   oighreachd  fein,  'am  fearann 

Od'i,  Ulli  !  Ulli  ?    Fuirich  le  do  chuideachd  ! 
Nit  rach  gu  Altorf— Oh  na  dean  a  treigsinn, 
Kud  'tha  cho  priseil— duthaich  d'  aithriche  ! 
'S  mi  neach  a's  deireanaich'  de  in'  shliochd  gu 

leir, 
8   an  la  an  caochail  mi  thig  crioch  air  m' 

ainm, 
Tha  'n  sin  mo  chlogaid,   a's  mo  sgiath   an 

crochadh  ; 
Theid    iad    le  cheil'    a    charadh  learn   's  an 

uaigh. 
Am  feum,  da  rir'  an  snmain  tigh'nn  thairis 

orm 

Am  feadh  a  tha  mi  'toirt  a  suas  na  h-anail 
Nach  'eil  thu  acli  a'  feitheamh  dunadh  mo 

shul 

Cu  dol  a  null  gu  cuirt  a'  Bharain  uir  so 
',->  an  oighieachd  uasal,  a  flmair  mi  saor  o  m' 

Dliia, 
'S  a  ghleidh  mi  saor,   a  ghabhail   o    laimh 

Austria  ! 
Krm  NTS     Is  diomhain  dhuinne  stri  an  aghaidh 

,111  High, 
Is  ieis  an  domhan  ;  an  dean  sinne  'mhain, 


Gu  danarra,  sinn  fein  a  chruadhachadh 
'Xar    ceann-laidireachd,     anns     an     dochas 

fhaoin 

An  t-slabhruidh  dhuthchanna  a  bhriseadh  air, 
A  tharruing  e  gu  cumhachdach  m'  an  cuairt 

oirnn  ? 

Is  Ieis  na  margaidhean,  na  moidean  's  Ieis, 
Na  rithaidibh-mora  marsandachd,  'sgu  ruig 
An    traill-each    fein,    a'  tairuing  air  Beinn- 

Ghotard 
Gach   aon    diu  feumaidh  cis   a  phaigheadh 

dhasan, 

Mar  lion  m'  ar  timchioll  fcha  na  fearainn  aige 
G'ar  cuartachadh,  's  g'ar  druideadh  teann  a 

stigh. 
An  dean  an  Rioghachd  ar  dion  ?    An  urrainn 

di 

I  fein  a  dhion  an  aghaidh  Austria, 
D'  am  bheil  an  neart  a'  dol  am  meud  gach 

latha? 

Mar  cuidich  Dia  sinn,  cha'n  'eil  air  an  talamh 
An  t-Iompaire  a  ni  ar  cuideachadh. 
'D  e  'bheirear  air  son  facal  lompairean 
An  uair  'tha  'chridh'  aca  na  bailtean  sin, 
A  ghabh  f o  sgiath  na  h-iolaire  am  fasgadh, 
A  thoirt  a  suas,  mar  urras,  as  an  rioghachd. 
'Nan  cas  mu  airgiod,  no  an  teinn  a'  chogaidh  ? 
Ni  h-eadh,  oncle,  is  buanachd  e,  a's  gliocas 
Sealltuinn  air  thoiseach  oirnn  's  na  laitbean 

doirbh  so, 

Am  measg  nan  roinnean  a  tha  gabhail  aite, 
\S  ri    ceannard    cumhachdach    sinn    fein    a 

cheangal. 
Theid  crun  na  h-Iompaireachd  o  shliochd  gu 

sliochd, 

Aige-san  cha'n  'eil  cuimhn"  air  seirbheis  dileas, 
Ach  deanamaid  do  Thriath  na  tir  deadh 

sheirbheis  : — 

'S  e  's  ciall  da  sin,  duine  'bhi  cur  an  t-sil 
'S  an  am  a  tha  ri  teachd. 
ATTINGHAUSEN — Bheil  thu,  mata,  clio  glic  ? 
'S  na  's  leirsinniche  na  do  shinnsre  uasal, 
A  rinn  ar  sgath  neamhnaid    luachmhor  na 

saorsa 

Cogadh,  mar  laoich,  eadhon  gu  fuil  a's  bas  ? 
Gabh  aiseag  gu  Lutsern,  flosraich  an  sin 
Ciamar  'tha  tighearnas  cruaidh  Austria, 
Mar  eallach  throrn,  a'  saruchadh  nan  duthch- 

annan, 
Thig  iad  ar  chum  a  spreidh  's  ar  caoraich 

aireamh, 
Ar    n-airidhean    's    ar    beanntan    theid    a 

naheasadb, 
Bacadh    theid    a    chur   leo   air   eunlaith    's 

sithionn 
'S  na  frithean  saor    againn  ;  an  cachaileith- 

cise 
Cuiridh   iad     tarsuing    air    gach    geata    's 

drochaid, 

Theid  iad  a's  cuiridh  iad  an  ciacras  fein 
Gu  fearran  fhaighinn  fa  chomhair  na  boch- 

duinn  againn, 

A's  paighidh  iad  an  cogaidhean  le  'r  fuil-ne — 
Ni  h-eadh,  ma  's  fheudar  fuil  a  dhortadh  idir, 
Air  ar  sgatli  fein  biodh  e,  bi'  dh  e  na  's  saoire 
Dhuinn  saorsa  'chosnadh,  seach  an  trailleachd 

thaireil  ! 
RUDKNTS— 'D  e  's  urrainn  dhuinne,  sluagh  de 

bhudch  ullean, 


William  Tell. 


317 


Fheuchainn  an  aghaidh  armailt  Ailebeart ! 
ATTINOHAUSEN  —  Foghluim,   a  bhalaich,    gne 

na'in  buachaillean  so 

A  thuigsinn  !  'S  maith  a's  aithne  dhomhs'  e, 
Oir  rinn  mi  'n  treorachadh  gu  trie  's  a 

chomhraig, 

Chunnaic  mi  iad  a'  cath  aig  blar  Fabhents. 
Thig  iad  gu  cuing^  a  sparradh  air  ar  muineal 
A  tha  sinn  suidhicht'  air  nach  giulain  sinn. 
Oh,  foghluim  fhaireachduinn  co  'n  t-sliochd 

o  'm  bheil  thu  ! 
Air  sgath  gloir  dhiomhain,  a's  faoin-uaill  gun 

sta, 
Na  tilg  a  leth-taobh  neamhnaid  d'  fhiachal- 

achd— 
A  bhi  air   d'  ainmeachadh  mar    Cheannard 

thairis 

Air  pobull  saor,  a  ni,  o  ghradh  a  mhain, 
An  seirbheis  toileach  dhuit  a  choisrigeadh, 
'An  cath  's  am  bas  a  sheasas  dileas  riut — 
Gu'm  b'  e  sinn  d'  uaill,  dean  bosd  de  'n  uaisle 

sin — 

Ceangail  gu  teann  na  boinn  's  an  d'  rugadh  tu, 
Ri  <T  dhuthaich,  a's  ri  d'  mhuinntir  aon  thu 

fein, 

A's  gramaich  riu  le  d'  uile  chridhe  's  neart, 
An  so  tha  freumha  diongmhalta  do  threise  ; 
'S  an  t-saoghal  choimheach  ud  bidh  tu  leat 

fein 

Lag  mar  a  chuilc,  a  ni  gach  gaoth  a  bhriseadh. 
Oh,  thig,  tha  fada  q  nach  fac  thu  sinn, 
Dearbh  sinn  an  diugh,  direach  air  son  aon 

latha— 

Na  rach  gu  Altorf — eiscl  rium  's  na  rach  ann 
Direach  an  diugh  ;  Thoir  an  t-aon  latha  so 
A  suas,  gu  toileach,  mar  ghean-maith  do  d' 

chairdean. 

(Tha  e  a  deanamh  greim  air  a  laimh). 
RUDENTS— Ach    thug    mi    m'    fhacal— Leigibh 

leam— Cha'n  fheud  mi, 
Oir  tha  mi  ceangailte. 
ATTINGHAUSEN   (a1    leigeil    as  a    laimh,   's    a' 

bruidhinn  gu  durachdach— Tha  thu  ceang- 

ailte— 
Tha,  a  dhuine  thruaigh,  ach  cha'n  ann  le  d' 

fhacal, 

No  boid  air  bith  a  tha  thu  air  do  cheangal 
Ach  teud  a'  ghaoil  ! 

(Tha  Rudents  a'  tionndadh  air  falbh). 
Cleith  e,  ma  thogras  tu, 
Ach  s  i  a'  mhaighdeann  og  Berta  o  Bhrunec 
A  tha  'gad  tharruing-sa  gu  Baile  'n  Duin, 
'S    'gad    chuibhreachadh    an   seirbheis    an 

lompaire. 
Le  cul  a  chur  ri  d'  dhuthaich  fein  's  a  treig- 

sinn 

An  og  Bhean-uasal  chosnadh  tu  mar  dhuais, 
Na  rueall  thu  fein  !  Is  ann  le  run  do  ribeadh 
'Tha  iad  a1  gleidheadh  na  mna-oig  fa  d' 

chomhair, 

Ach  cha  'n  ann  dhuits'  a  chuir  iad  i  air  leth. 
RUDENTS — Rinn    mi    gu    leoir    a  chluinntinn. 

Beannachd  leibh.         (Tha  e  a'  dol  a  inach). 
ATTINGHAUSEN -Oganaich  amaidich.  nach  stad 

thu  !    Dh'  fhalbh  e  ! 
Cha'n  urrainn  mi  a  ghleidheadh,  no  a  shaor- 

adh— 

Mar  hin  chuir  Bholfensiessen  cul  ri  'dhuth- 
aich, 


A's  leanaidh  muinntir  eil"  e  mar  an  ceudna, 
Draoidheachd   nan   coigreach    tha  le  cumh- 

achd  laidir 

A  taladh  leis  ar  n-oigridh  thar  nam  beannta. 
Oh,    mi-fhortan    na    h-uair    sin  anns  an    d' 

thainig 

An  coimheach  do  ar  gleannta  samhach  ciuin, 
A  thilgeadh  bun  os  ceann,   's  a'  mhilleadh 

oirnn 
Na  cleachduinnean  neo-lochdach,  coir  a  bh' 

againn ! 

Tha  annasan  a'  taomadh  oirnn  a  stigh 
Mar  thuil,  gu  bras  ;  's  a'  sgaradh  as  a  cheile 
Na  nithe  seana,  n'achail.    Thu  airnsir  eile 
A'  teachd  ;  tha  ginealach  ag  eiridh  suas 
De    bheachdan,    's    dhoighean    eadar-dheal- 

aichte 

O'n  aithriche  !    'D  e  th'  agam-sa  r'a  dheanamh 
Na  's  fhaide  'n  so?     Tha  iad-san  anns  an 

uaigh, 
Na    daoine   leis   am  b'  abhaist  dhomh    'bhi 

riaghladh, 
'S  am  measg  an  robh  mo  bheatha  air  a  caith- 

eamh. 

An  aimsir  agam-sa  bithidh,  an  uine  ghearr, 
Fo  'n  uir  na  luidhe  ;  's  maith  dhoibh-san  uil'  e 
Nach  ruig  a  leas  'bhi  beo  's  na  timean  ur'  so. 

AN  DARA  ROINN. 

Lon  le  creagan  ard  agus  coille  m'  a  thimchioll. 
Air  na  creagan  tha  staidhrichean  le  callaid  ri 
an  taobh,  agus  mar  an  ceudna  faraidhean,  air 
am  faicear  an  deigh  uine  ghoirid-muinntir- 
duthcha  a'  tearnadh.  Air  an  taobh-cuil 
chithear  an  Loch,  agus  tar.suinn  air,  ann  an 
solus  na  gealaich,  bogha-frois.  Tha  beanntan 
arda  a'  dunadh  a  stigh  an  t-seallaidh  air  a 
chulaobh,  agus  sleibhtean-eighe  a  tha  na  's 
airde  fathast  a  togail  an  sguirr  os  an  ceann. 
'J  ha  'n  oidhche  'na  luidhe  air  an  tir  air  fad,  ach 
tha  'n  Loch,  agus  na  sleibhtean  geal  eighe,  a' 
dearsadh  ann  an  solus  na  gealaich. 

Melchdal,  Baumgarten,  Bhincelrid,  Meier  o 
yhirnen,  Burcard  aig  Buihel,  Arnold  o 
Shebha,  Claus  o'n  Fhlue  le  c^athrar  eile 
de  mhuinntir-duthcha,  uilt  a'  giulan 
airm. 

MELCHDAL  (fathast  air  taobh-cuil  an  t-seall- 
aidh)— 
A  nios  am  dheigh-sa  Fheara,  tha  am  frith- 

rath'd 

A  nis  a*  fosgladh  suas  air  thoiseach  oirnn  ! 
Tha  mi  ag  aithneachadh  na  craige  ud 
Le  croiseag  bheag  'na  seasamh  air  a  mullach  ; 
Tha  sinn  aig  ceann  ar  criche,  so  an  Rutli. 

(A'  tighinn  air  adhart  le  leusan). 
BHINCELRID — Eisdibh ! 
SEBHA— Glan  falamh. 

MEIER— Cha  'n  'eil  duin'  ann.    Is  sinn, 
A  Unterbhald  a  th'air  a'ghrunnd  antoiseach. 
MELCHDAL— 'D  e  'n  t-am  a  dh'  oidhche  'tha  e  ? 
BAUMGARTEN— Tha  'm  Fear-faire 
Air  Selisburg  an  deigh  da  uair  a  ghairm. 
(Cluinnear  fuaim  cluig  fad  air  falbh). 
MEIER— Bi'bh  samhach  !    Eisdibh  ! 
BURCARD — Nach  grinn  buille  clag  bheag 
Caibeil-na-frith,  a'  gainu  gu  maduinnean, 


318 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


A  seirra  gu  soillier  binn  a  nail  a  Suits. 

O    FLUE — Giulanaidh    'n    t-adhar    glan    an 

fhuaim  cho  facia. 
MELCHDAL — So,  faighibh  grainnean  barrlaich, 

cuid  agaibh, 

A's  cuiribh  srad  ris,  gu'm  bi  lasag  againn 
A'  feitheamh  air  na  fir,  an  uair  a  thig  iad. 
(Tha    da    fhear-duthcha    a'    falbh    g'    a 

thrusadh). 
SEBHA — 'S  boidheach  an  oidhche  ghealaich  i. 

Tha  'n  Loch 
'Na  luidhe  'n  sin,  cho  ciuin,  's  cho  min  ri 

sgathan. 

BURCARD — Tha  aiseag  furasd  aca  'n  nochd. 
BHINCELRID— (a1    seoladh   ris   an    Loch)— E ! 

Seallaibh  ! 
Seallaibh  'sud  thall  !    Nach  'eil  sibh  'faicinn 

dad? 
MEIER— 'D  e  'rud  a  tha'nn?    Mar  'eil,  mata, 

gu  cinnteach  ? 

Bogha-froise,  'n  teis-meadhoin  na  h-oidhche  ! 
MELCHDAL — Solus  na  gcalaich,  'sea  tha  'ga 

dhealbh. 
O    FLUE— 'S     ainneamh,  's    is    iongantach    an 

conihara  so. 

Tha  iomad  aon  nach  faca  riarnh  a  lelthid 
SEBHA— Tha  dithis  ann ;  seallaibh,  tha  fear  is 

baine, 

'Na  sheasamh  os  a  cheann. 
BAUMGAKTEN — Tha  bata  beag 
A'    tigh'nn    a    nail,     an    ceart-uair,   direach 

fuiuhe. 
MELCHDAL— 'S  e    Stauffacher  a  th'  ann,   's  a 

gheolajj  aige, 

Cha  chum  an  duine  coir  sinn  fada  'feitheamh. 
(Tha  e  'dol  le  Bau;ngarten  gu  taobh  an 

Loch). 
MEIER -'o   iad  muinntir  Uri  's  fhaide  'tha  ri 

moille. 
BURCARD — Tha  cuairt  mhor  aca-san  ri  dol  m' 

an  bheinn 

A  chum  an  car  a  thoirt  as  an  luchd-.-anuis 
A  tha  's  na  h-uile  ait  aig  maor-an-fhearain, 
(Re    na   h-uine   tha   dithis   de   'n   luchd- 
uuthcha  air  gealabhan  a  lasadh  am 
meadhon  an  aite). 
MELCHDAL  (air  a'  chladach)— Co  'th'  ann  ?    Am 

focal -sanuia  ! 
STAUFFACHKK  (as  a  bata)— Cairde  na  tir. 

Tha  iad  uile  a  dol  as  an  t-sealladh,  an 
coinneamh  nam  muinntir  a  tha  tighinn. 
Tha  Stauffacher,  Itsel  Reding,  lain  a 
Bhalla,  Deorsa  Tualhanach,  Conrad 
Hunn,  Ulrich  Gobhainn,  lost  aChlachain, 
agus  triuir  eile  a'  leum  air  tir,  as  a' 
bhata,  a  h-uile  gin  ac'  armaichte  mar  a 
tha  each. 

IAD  UILE  (a'  toirt  glaodh) — Failte  dliuibh  ! 
Am  feadh  a  tha  each  a'   cur  seachad  na  h- 
uine   agus   a'   cur   failt   air   a'   cheile  air 
taobh-cuil  an  t-seallaidh,  tha  Melchdal  a' 
tighinn  air  adhart  le  Stauffacher. 
MELCHDAL— Oh,      'Mhaighstir      Stauffacher! 

Chunnaic  mi  esan 

Aig  nach  'eil  comas  amharc  orm-sa  tuilleadh  ! 
Rinn  mi  mo  lamh  a  leagail  air  a  shuileau 
Agus    dian-thogradh     teinntidh     diogh'ltais 
dh'ol  mi 


A  grian  a  shealladh  'th'  air  a  smaladh  as 
STAUFFACHER— Na  h-abair  diog  air  diogh'ltas. 

Cha  'n  e  dioghTtas 

'Tha  cheana  seachad,  ach  an  t-olc  'tha  bagradh 
A  dheanamaid  a  choinneachadh  an  traths', 
Ach  inn's  dhomh  'de  'rinn   thu  an    Unter- 

bhalcien, 
'De    'bhuidhinn    thu    air    son    an    Aobhair 

Choitcheann, 

A's  ciamar  a  chaidh  agad  air  dol  as, 
'1  hu  fein,  o  ribeachan  a's  foill  luchd-brath- 

aidh. 
MELCHDAL  —  Troimh    shleibhtean    eagallach 

Shurenne  ghabh  mi, 

Thar  roinntean  eighe,  farsuing-sgaoillte  fasail, 
Far   nach    'eil    guth    aoin    creutair  beo  r'  a 

chluinntinn 

Ach  rochdal  gharg  an  Lammergeier  reasgaich, 
Gus  an  do  ruig  mi  Bealaich-ard-an-t-sleibh 
Far  am  bi  buachaillean  na  h-Engelberg 
A's  feadhain  Uri  trie  a'  dheanamh  glaodh, 
'S  a  failteachadh  a'  cheile  anus  an  t-samhradh, 
Agus  ag  ionaltradh  an  treudan  comhladh. 
Chaisg    mi    mo    thart    le    bainne    fuar    nan 

Gletsher, 
'Na    chobhar   geal,    a'    stealladh  troimh  na 

claisean. 

A  stigh  do  bhothain  leth-uaireach  nan  Aireach 
Chaidh  mi,  's  gun  duin'  annta,  mi  fein  'am 

aonar 

Mar  aoidh  's  fear-tighe,  gus  an  cV  rainig  mi 
Frith-bhailtean,  's  cornhnuidhean  na  muinntir 

sin 

A  chleachd  a  bhi  'n  co-chomunn  aon  a  cheile. 
Bha,     cheana,     glaodh    na    gairisinn    ur    so 

'thachalr 

Airgaoir  a  thogail  anns  na  gleanntan  sin. 
Jomradh  mo  mhi-fhorta'"n,  rinn  uiraiu  crabh- 

ach 

Air  thoiseach  orm  a  ghiulan  thun  gach  doiuis 
Aig  an  do  bhuil  mi  re  mo  thuruis  uile. 
Fhuair  mi  Ian  dioinb  gach  anam  glan  neo- 

chealgach 
Thairis  air  cumhachd  dalma  'n  Tighearnais 

nuaidh  so  ; 

Oir,  mar  na  Beanntan  ac',  o  linn  gu  linn, 
A"  toirt  a  mach  gu  sior  nan  luithean  ceudna, 
Na  h-uilld  gun  nihughadh  riochd  a'  sruthadh 

sios, 
Na  neulta  fein   's  na    gaoitheadh  'tha,   gun 

fhiaradh 

A'  gibhail  nan  aon  slighean  troimh  an  speur. 
Mar  sin  tha  'n  so  na  seana  chleachduinnean 
A'  tigh'nn  o'n  t-seanair  nuas  a  chum  an  odha. 
Cha'n  fhuiling  iad  gu  h-obann  doighean  ura 
Bhi  air  an  sparradh  air  a'  chaithe-beatha 
Riaghailteaeh    ris    an    robh    iad    cleaehdte 

riamh. 
Shin  iad  a  mach  dhomh  'n  deas  lamh  chruaidh 

aca, 

Thug  iad  na  sleaghan  meirgte  'nuas  o'n  bhalla. 
Dhealraich  o'n  suil  solus  amhisnich  aoibhinn 
A  ghlac  an  cridhe  'n  uair  a  dh'  ainmich  mi 
Na   h-ainmean  sin  'tha  coisrigt'  feadh  nam 

beann 

Bhur  n-ainm  fhein's  Bhalter  Furst— An  ni  sin, 
"Tha  ceart  'n  'ur  beachd-se,  bhoidich  iads'  a 

dheanamh, 
Eadhon  gu  bas  bhoidich  iad  sibhs'  a  leantuinn. 


William  Tell. 


Mar  sin  fo  fhasgadh  naomha  coir  na  h-aoidh- 

eachd 

Gu  tearuint'  ghreas  mi  eadar  Baile  's  Baile, 
'S  an  uair  a  thainig  mi  gu  gleann  mo  dhach- 

aidh. 
'S  am  bheil  luchd-daimh  dhomh  'chomhnuidh 

'm  fad  's  am  fag_in, 
'Nuair  fhuair  mi   m'  Athair,  dall,  a's  air  a 

chreachadh, 
Air    connlach    coigrich,    a    tigh'nn    beo    air 

caoimhneas 

Dhaoine  le  baigh  a's  seirc  annt'  

STAUFFACHER— A  Thighearna  Neirah  ! 
MELCHDAL— Cha  d'  rinn  mi  gul !    Cha  b'an  le 

deoir  na  laigse 

A  dhoirt  mi  neart  a 's  teas  nap  chraidh  a  mach, 
'Nam  bhroilleach  ghlais  mi  e  mar  ionmhas 

priseil, 
Ach    rn'    inntinn    suidhichte    a    mhain    air 

gniomhra. 

Streap  mi  gach  eas  a's  coirre  anns  an  t-sliabh. 
Cha  robh  aon  ghleann  cho  diouihair  nach  do 

ghlac 
Mo  t-healladh  e,  's  nach  d'fhuair  mo  chas  a 

mach  ; 
Gu  ruig   bun    reodht'  a'  ghletsher  rinn  mi 

taghal, 

A's  fhuair  rni  bpthain  air  an  aiteachadh 
A's  anns  gach  ait  an  deachaidh  bonn  mo  choi.se 
Fhuair  mi  co-ionarm  fuath  an  aghaidh  foir- 

neirt ; 

A  chionn  gu  ruig  a  chrioch  a's  iomallaich" 
'!S  am  faighear  creutair  idir  's  am  bheil  anai!. 
Fur  a  bheil  talamh  cruaidh  a'  diultadh  toraidh, 
Tha  sannt  nam  Maor  a'  creachadh  anns  gach 

cearn — 

Cridhe  nan  daoine  coire  truagh  sin  uile 
Le  gath  mo  bhriathra  guineach  bi.rosnuich 

mi, 

Is  leinn  iad  uile  eadar  chorp  a's  anam. 
STAUFFACHER— '8  mor  na  chaidh  agad  air,  'an 

uine  ghoirid. 
MELCHDAL— Ach  rinu  mi  tuille  'e  sin.   'S  iad  na 

dahunichean 
Rosbeig,   a's   Sarnen,   roimh  'bheil   geilt  an 

t-sluaigh ; 

Oir  flheibh  an  namhaid,  cul  am  balla-craige, 
E  fein  gu  deas  a  dhion,  's  an  tir  a  mhilleadh. 
Le  m' shuilean  feiri  bu  mhiann  learn  fhiosrach- 

adh ; 
Bha  mi  aig  Sarnen,  's  chaidh  mi  stigh  do'n 

Daingneach. 
STAUFFACHER— Bha  dh'  aghaidh  agad  dol  do 

ghara  'n  Tiogair  ? 
MELCHDAL— Chaidh    mi    an    sin    'an    eideadh 

Kilthireach 

Chunnaic  mi  Maor-an-fhearainn  aig  a  bhord 
A.  ruidhtearachd— Thugaibh  breith  mar  'eii 
Mo  chridhff  a»am  air  a  cheannsachddh  ; 
Chunnaic  mi  'n  Namhaid  's  cha  do  gf-.earr  mi 

sios  e. 
STAUFFACHER— Bha  'in    fortan  fabharach,   gu 

d^arhh,  ri  d'  dhanachd. 
(lie  na  h-uine  tha'n  luchd-duthch  'eile  air 
tighinn  am  follais,  agus  air  dluthach- 
adh  riu  'nan  dithis). 

Ach  inn  's  dhomh  'nis,  co  iad  na  cairde  so, 
'S  na  daoine  maithe  uile  'rinn  do  leantuinn  ? 
Cuir  mi  'an  eolas  orra  's  fosglamaid 


Ar  cridheachan  gu  muinghinneach  ri  cheile. 
MEIER— Co  do  nach  aithne  sibhse    's    na   tri 

Dulhchanna? 

Is  mise  Meier  o  Sharnen  ;  an  duine  so 
'S  e  mac  mo  pheathar,  Strnth  o  Bhincelrid. 
STAUFFACHER — Is  ainm  sin  air  nach  'eil   sin 

aineolach, 
'S    e    Bhincelrid    a    bh'ann,     a   mharbh   a" 

bheithir 
'S  an  Rumaiche,  aig  Sarnen  ;  's  a  thuit  's  a' 

chleachd. 
BHINCELRID— B'e     sin     mo     shinnsear-sa,     a 

Mhaighstir  Bherner. 
MELCHDAL    (a*    leigeadh   ris    dha    da    fhear- 

duthcha)— 

'.S  ann  cul  na  coille  'tha  iad  so  a'  fuireach, 
Buinidh  iad  do  Thigh-manach  Engelberg 
Cha  dean  sibh  tair  orra,  ged  's  traillean  iad, 
'S  cha'n  ann  mar  sinn'  air  oighreachd  shaor 

'nar  suidhe ; 

Tha  gradh  aca  do'n  Tir,  'stha  iad,  'nan  dithis, 
A  thuilleadh  air  a  sin,  fo  theistneas  maith. 
STAUFJACHER  (Lliu  'nan  dithis)— 
Sinibh  'ur  lamh  dhomh.     'S  maith  do'n  duine 

sin 

Nach  'eil  an  eismeil  maighstir  air  an  talamh  ; 

'S  mor  luach  na  h-onoir  ann  an  inbh  air  bith. 

CONRAD  HUNN— So  Maighstir  Reding,  an  seann 

Jihailidh  againn. 
MKIKR — 'S  ann  domha's  nithne'e.     M'eascaraid 

Jsa  nihod 
Mu  shean  bhall-sinnsearachd  a  tha  aig  lagh 

learn. 

A  Mhaighstir  Reding,  ged  is  naimhdean  sinn 
'Sa  chuiit,  tha  a machd  eadaruinn  an  so. 

('Ilia  e  a'  toirt  crathadh  d'alaimh). 
STAUFKACHER— Thubhairt  thu  sin  gu  maith. 
BHINCELRID— Kiadibh  !    Sin  agaildi  iad  ! 
S'  i  duiladi  muinntir  LTri  th'  ann  a  sinn. 

(Cliithear  air  an  laimh-dheas  a's  chli,  fir 
fo   airm  le    leusan   a'   tearnadh    nan 
creag). 
IAIN     A    BHALLA— Faicibh !       Xach     'oil    am 

MiuMeir  a,  fein, 

Seirbheiseach  naomha  Dhe,  a  tearnadh  leo? 
Cha    chum   an    rathad    doirbh,    no    oillt  na 

h-oidhche 

Am  Bnachaiir  dileas  coir  air  falbh  o  'threud. 
BAUMGARTEN— Tha'n  Cleireach  leis,  a's  Maigh- 
stir Blister  Furst, 

A cli  Tell  cha'n  fhaic  mi  feadh  na  cuideachd 
uile. 

Bhalter  Furst,  Raosselman  am  Ministeir, 
Paruig  an  Cleireach,  Cuoni  am  buachailJe, 
Blierni  an  sea.]gair,  J-Juudi  an  t-ia.--gair,  le 
cuignear  eile  de  luchd-authcha.  Tha  ann 
dnihh  gu  li-ir,  tri-deug-'ar-fhichead,  t:lia 
iad  a' tighinn  air  adhart  a  dh'  ioniisuidh 
an  tei'ie,  y^us  a'  sea-amh  m'a  thinichio!]. 
BHALTER  KURST — 'S  ann  air  an  doighe  so,  air  ar 

c'riccijan  fein, 

A's  air  an  fhearann  far  an  deach'  ar  n-aracli 
Is   fheml;tr   tigh'nn,    gun   fhiu.s,   an  ceann   a 

cheile, 

'.San  t-seapnil  luar  a  bhios  na  mortairean. 
'S  fo  sgail  na  h-oidhch'a  bheir,  am  bitheantas, 
Coingheall  d'a  cleoca  tiugh  do  Chiont's  do 

Cheannairc, 
A  sheachnas  suil  na  greine— coir  a's  ceartas 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


A  thoirt  a  mach  dhuinn  fein,  gnothuch  cho 

soilteir 
Ri   aghaidh   dhealrach   fhosgailt'  meadhon- 

latha. 
MELCHDAL— Coma  leibh,  sniomhaidh  siun  's  an 

oidhch'  an  snath 

A's  caithidh  sinn  an  clo  ri  solus  la. 
EAOSSELMAN— Eisdibh    an   ni   chuir   Dia   am 

chridhe,  'chairde  ! 

Tha  sinn  an  so  mar  chuirt  na  Siorramachd 
A'  seasamh   ann  an  aite  'n  t-sluaigh  gu  h- 

iomlan. 

Mar  sin,  biodh  ar  co-thional  socruichte 
A  reir  sean  nos  na  Tir  an  am  na  sithe  ; 
Bitheadh  an  teinn  's  a  bheil  sinn  dhuinn  'na 

leth-sgeul 

Ma  thachras  ni  neo-laghail  ann  ar  coinneamh. 

Tha  Dia  's  gach  ait  's  am  f  ritheil  duine  ceartas, 

Agus  tha  sinn  fo  iannailt-'san  'n  ar  seasamh. 

STAUFFACIIER — Seadh,    coinnicheamaid  a  reir 

nan  gnath  o  shean  ; 
A's  ged  tha  'n  oidhch'  ann  dealraidh  ceartas 

oirnn. 
MELCHDAL— A's  ged  nach  'eil  lan-aireamh  'n 

t-sluaigh  againn, 
Tha  'n  cridhe  leinn,  tha  'n  raghadh  dhiu  a 

lathair. 
CONRAD  HUNN— 'S  mur  'eil  na  seana  leabh- 

raichean  aig  laimh 
Gidheadh    tha    'n    reachdan    air   ar   cridhe 

sgriobhte. 
RAOSSELMAN — Cruinnicheamaid  m'  an   cuairt, 

ma  ta,  gun  dail 
Cuirear  'nan  seaaamh  claidhmhnean  a'  chumh- 

achd  ! 
IAIN  A'  BHALLA — Seasadh  Fear-riaghlaidh  'suas 

'na  aite  fein, 

A's  seasadh  'oifigich  a  suas  r'a  thaobh  ! 
AN  CLEI REACH— Ach  tha  tri  Pobuill  ann.    Co 

'nis  de'n  tri 
D'an  coir  dhuinn    ceannas  a  thoirt    air  an 

iomlan  ? 
MEIER— Air  son  na  h-onoir  sin  biodh  Suits  a's 

Uri 

A'  stri,  ach  seasaidh  Unterbhald  a  leth-taobh. 
MELCHDAL — Seadh,  seasaidh  sinn  air  ais ;  's  e 

sinn  'tha  'g  asluchadh 
Cuideachaidh  o  ar  cairdean  cumhachdach. 
STUAFFACHER— 'S  le  Uri  'n  claidheamh  ;  chaidh 

do  ahnath  a  bhratach 
Air   thoiseach    air    ar   feachd  's    na    turuis 

Roiiuheaeh. 
BHALTER  FURST -Onoir  a'  chlaidheimh  is  le 

Suits  a  nihain, 
Is  uaill  leinn  uile  'n  stoc  o  !n  d'  thain'  ar 

sliochd. 
RAOSSELMAN— A'  chomh-stri    shuairce  leigibh 

learn  gu  cairdeil 

A  shocruchadh  :  Ni  Suits  's  a  chomhairle, 
A's  Uri  aims  a'  champ  dol  air  ar  ceann. 
BHALTER  FUR.ST  (a'  sineadh  nan  claidhmhnean 

do  wtauffacher)— Gabh  iad  ! 
STAUFFACIIER — Cha  ghabh,  an  onoir  biodh  do'n 

aois. 
DEORSA  TUATHANACH— Ulrich  an  gobhain,  's  e 

an  duine  's  sine. 

IAIN  A'  BHALLA — Is  duine  treun  e,  ach  cha 'n 
'eil  e  saor  ; 


Cha  ghabhar  trail!  mar  bhreitheamh  ann  an 

Suits. 
STAUFFACHER— Nach  'ell  an  so  againn  ar  sean 

Fear-riaghlaidh  ? 
Co  'b  fhearr  a  dh'  iarramaid  na  Maighstir 

Reding  ? 
BHALTER    FURST— Biodh    esan    dhuinn    'na 

Bhreitheamh  a's  'na  Cheannard  ? 
Gach  aon  ri  'n  cord  sin  tpgadh  e  a  lamh. 

(Tha  iad  uile  a'  togaii  na  laimhe  deise). 
REDING  (a'  seasamh  'n  am  meadhpn)— Cha  'n 

urrainn  domh  mq  lamh  a  chur  air  leabhar, 
Ach  air  na  reulta  siorruidh  bheir  mi  mionnan, 
O'n  cheartas  ghlan  nach  teid  mi  'thaobh  gu 
brath. 

(Tha  dithis  de  na  claidhmhnean  air  an  cur 

'n  an  seasamh  m'  a  choinneamh,  tha 

na  fir   a'    seasamh   'nan    sreith   m'a 

thimchioll,  Suits  anns  a'  mheadhon — 

air  thoiseach    air— Uri    air    a  laimh 

dheis,  agus  air  a  laimh  chli,  Unter- 

bhalden.    Tha  e  a'  seasamh  a'  leigeil 

a  thai<  air  a  chlaidheamh-mor). 

Ciod  'thug  an  so  tri  cinnidhean  nan  sliabh 

Aig  rneadhon-oidhch'  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  cladach 

fhuar 
An  Loch,  gun  aoidheachd  ann   no  fasgadh 

tlghe  ? 

Ciod  e  'n  choimh-cheangal  ur  'tha  sinn  a  nis 
Ri  'shuidheachadh  an  so  fo  reulta  neimh  ? 
STAUFFACHER    (a'    seasamh    taobh    stigh   na 

sreith)— 
Cha  chumhnant  ur  's  am  bith  'tha  sinn  a 

deanamh, 
Ach    coirnhcheangal    a    rinn,    o    chiann,    ar 

sinnsear 

A  dheanamaid  ath-nuadhachadh  an  nochd  ! 
Biodh  fhios    agaibh,   a  chairde,  'tha  'n  co- 

bhoinn  rium, 
Ged   tha   an    Loch    'g    ar    sgaradh    a's    na 

sleibhtean, 

A's  tha  gach  pobuill  dhinn  'g  a  riaghladh  fein, 
Tha  sinn  de  'n  aon  sliochd,  tha  sinn  de  'n  aon 

fhuil, 

'S  ann  a  aon  dachaidh  'thainig  sinn  a  mach  ! 
BHINCELRID— Mar  sin,  is  rior,  mar  chanar  anns 

na  dain, 
Gu'n  d'thainig  sinn   o    dhuthaich  chein  air 

imrich  ? 
O,  aithris  dhuinn  na  's  aithne  dhuit  de  'n 

sgeul, 

A  chum  gu'n  socruichear  an  cumhnant  nuadh 
Air  a'  choimhcheangal  a  bha  ann  o  shean. 
STAUFFACHER— Eisdibh,  ma  ta,  ri  sgeul  nam 

Buachaillean, 

Bha  cinneach  mor  ann,  cul  na  duthcha  so 
Rathad  na  h-airde  tuaith,  a  bha  'n  an  eiginn 
Fo  ghorta  chruaidh.     'S  a  cha^  so  anns  an 

robh  iad 

Rinn  Comhairle  an  t-sluaigh  a  shecruchadh, 
Gach  deicheamh  saor-dhuin'  air  an  tuiteadh 

c  ran  n  chur, 

Gu'n  treigeadh  e  a  dhuthaich — Thachair  sin  ! 
Thog  iad  a  mach,  a'  caoidh,  rir  agus  mnathan, 
Feachd  mor,  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  tir  na  h-airde- 

deas, 

Le  'n  claidheamh  rinn  iad  slighe  troimh  an 
Ghearmailt', 


William  Tell. 


321 


Gus  an  do  rainig  iad  Ard-thir  nan  sliabh  so. 
A's  air  an  fheachd  cha  d'thaimg  sgitheachaclh 
Gus  an  deach'  iad  a  stigh  do  'n  fhas-ghleann 

fhiadhaich 

Far  am  bheil  am  Muotta,  eadar  lointean 
An  diugh  a'  siubhal — Anns  au  aite  so 
Cha  robh    aon    lorg    de  'n    chinne-daoin'  ri 

fhaicinn 

Acli  bothan  aonaranach  taobh  a'  chladaich. 
An  so  bha  duine  'feitheamh  air  an  aiseag — 
Ach  bha  an  Loch  fo  bhruaillean  raor,  's  cha 

robh 

E  comasach  do  'n  t-slnagh  dol  thairis  air  ; 
Bheachdaich    iad    na    bu    dluithe    air   an 

duthaich. 
Thug  iad  fainear  beartas  nan  coilltean  mais- 

each. 
Fhuair  iad  a  mach  tobraichean  maithe  fior- 

uisg' 

Bha  'r  leo  gu'n  d'fhuair  iad  aon  uair  eil'  air  ais 
D'an  duthaich  ghaolach.  Chuir  iad  rornpa 

fanachd. 

Th«ig  iad  an  sin  an  scan  frith-bhaile  Suits, 
A's  chuir  tad  seachad  ioma  latha  goirt. 
M'  an  d'fhuair  iad  freumhan  diongmhalta  nan 

craobh, 

Aig  an  rohh  greim  cho  farsuing  air  an  talamh, 
A  ghart-ghl  .nadh,  's  an  t-aite  'reiteachadh — 
Fadheoidh,  an  uair  nach  robh  gu  leoir  de 

fhearann 

Aca,  air  son  an  aireimh  shluaigh  a  bh'ann, 
Chaidh  iad  air  adhart  thun  a'  Mhonadh- 

dhuibh, 

Seadh,  eadhon  gu  ruig  Bheisland,  far  am  bheil 
1'obull  de  chanain  eile,  folaichte 
Air     chul     blullachan     siomiidh     eighe    's 

shneachd. 

Chuir  iad  a  suas'sa  Chernbliald  Baile-Stants, 
Shuidhichiad  Altorf  aim  an  gleann  na  Reuss— 
Ach  ghleidli  iad  riamh  cuimlm'  air  an  sinnsir- 

eachd  ; 

Am  measg  nan  sliochdan  coigricb  uile  'thainig 
A  stigh  do  'n  Tir  o'n  am  sin  gus  a  iris, 
Gheibh    muinntir    Suits  a    cheiie  'mach  gu 

h-ealamh, 

'S  e  'n  cridhe  blath  a  dh'  aitlmicheas  an  fhuil. 
(Tha  e  'sineadh  a  mach  a  lamh  air  a  dheis 

agus  air  a  chli). 
IAIN   A'   BHAU.A  —  Seadh,   tha  sinn   a  dh1  aon 

chridhe,  a  dh'  aim  fliuil  ! 
IAD  TTiij.;  (a'  crathadh  lamhana'  cheile)--Is  aon 

sluagh    sinn,    theid    sinn    mar    aon    m   'ar 

gnothuch. 
STAUFFACHER— Tha    dream    eile   'n    ar  tir    fo 

chuing  a'  choimhich, 
Striochd  iad  guh-iriosal  fo  smachd  a  Bhuadh- 

air. 

Tha,  eadhon  ami  ar  criochan  fein,  a'  fuireach 
Moran  de  Shasunnaich  a  tha  'nan  iochd'rain, 
Fo  ughdarras  coin>heach,  agus  tha  an  claim 
'N  an  oighreachan  air  iochd'ranachd  an  athar. 
Ach  sinne  'tha  de  fhior  shean  stoc  na  Suits, 
Ghleidh  .sinn  a  ghnath  an  t-saorsamar  ar  coir, 
Riamh  cht  do  lub  ar  glun  fo  phrionnsachan, 
O'r  saor-thoil  fein  ghabh  sinn  i'i  dk>n  an  lom- 

P'eir'. 
RAOSSELMAN— "  O'r  saor-thoil  fein  fo  sgail  's  fo 

dhion  na  Rioghachd," 
Sgriobh  lompair'  Fridrith  e  mar  sin  'na  litir. 


STAUFFACHER— Gidheadh  cha  'n  'eil  an  duine 

saor  gun  mhaighstir. 
Feumaidh    Priomh-cheannard    a    bhi   ann, 

Ard-bhreitheamh, 
Far  am  faigh  duine  ceartas  anns  a'  chomh- 

stri. 

Thug,  air  an  aobhar  sin,  ar  n-aithriche 
An  t-urram  so  do  'n  lompair'  thar  an  fhear- 

ainn 

A  bhuidhinn  iad  le  'n  saothair  as  an  fhasach, 
Oir  is  Triath  e  air  a'  Ghearmailt,  's  air  an 

Eadailt, 

A's  mar  na  saor-dhaoin'  eile  ann  a  rioghachd, 
Ghabh  iad  'n  a    sheirbheis  urramach    's  an 

Arm  ; 

Oir  is  e  so  aon  dleasanas  sonruichte 
A  tha  mar  fhiachadh  air  an  t-saor-dhuine, 
An    rioghachd    a  tha  'ga  dhion  a  dhion  gu 

toileach. 
MELCHDAL— Is  coraharradh  traill  ni  'thuilleadh 

air  a  sin. 
STAUFFACHER— An   uair   a  chaidh  an  sluagh- 

ghairm  feadh  na  duthcha, 
Lean    iad   a^   bhratach  rioghail,  chuir  iad  a 

bhlair. 

Chaidh  iad  do  'n  Eadailt  leis,  a'  giulan  airm, 
'Chum  crun  na  Roimh  a  slmidheachadh  air  a 

cheann. 

Fhritheil  iad,  aig  an  tigh,  gu  ciallach  ciuin, 
A  reir  scan  chleachduinn,  fuidli  an  laghan 

fein, 

Na  cuisean  aca  ;  aig  an  lompaire 
A  nihain  bha  coir  binn-bais  a  thoirt  a  mach. 
A  chum  na  cuise  so  a  fhrithealadh, 
liha  Morair  ard  a  bh'  air  a  chur  air  leth, 
Aig  nach  robh  oighreachd  arms  an  duthaich 

so, 

An  uair  'bha  breith  ri  thoirt  air  cionta-fola 
Ghairm  iad    a  stigh   e   's  fuidh   an  iarmailt 

fhosgailt' 
Labhair  e  'cheart-bhreith  'mach,  gu  simplidh 

soillier, 
Gun  gheilt  no  fhiamh  roimh  aghaidh  duin' 

air  bith, 

C'  aite  'bheil  lorg  an  so  gur  iochdarain  sinn  ? 

An  ti  d'  an  aithne  atharrach,  bruidlmeadh  e  ! 

Ax  TUATHANACH— Ni  h-eadh,  tha  h-uile  cuis 

mar  'tha  thu  'g  radii, 

Tighearnas  air  'f  hoirneadh  oirnn  a  dh'  aindeoin 
Riamh  air  an  t-saoghal  cha  do  ghiulain  sinn. 
STAUFFACHER— Dhiult  sinn  do  'n  lompaire  e 

fein  ar  n-umhlachd. 
Air  dha,  air  sgatli  nan  sagairt,  ceartas  fhiar- 

adh. 

An  uair  a  ghabh  muinntir  na  h-Abaide 
Aig  Elnsiedeln,  coir  air  ar  monadh-feurach, 
Air  an  robh  spreidh  againn  bho  am  ar  sinn- 

sear, 

Agus  a  thug  an  t-Aba  'mach  sean  litir, 
A  thiodhlaic  dha  an  grunnd  neo-aitichte, 
Air  nach  robh  coir  aig  duine  seach  a  cheile — 
Ghleidh    iad  ar    lath'reachd-ne     tur    as    an 

t-sealladh — 
An    sin     thubhairt  sinne:    "Tha  bhur  litir 

fealltach  ! 

Cha  'n  urrainn  lompaire  an  ni  a's  ieinne 
A  thoirt  air  falbh  do  dhuin'  air  bith,  mar 

thiodhlac ; 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


A's   ma   ni   'n    rioghachd  ceartas   aicheamh 

dhuinn 
Ni  sinn  gu  maith  as  eugmhais  rioghachd  'n  ar 

beanntan." 

Mar  sin  labhair  ar  sinnsir  !     An  dean  sinne, 
An  clanu,  masladh  na  cninge  nr  so  'ghiulan, 
Bho  iochclaran  coigreach  an  cuir  sinn  a  suas 
Le  giollachd  nach  robh  'chridh'  aig  lompaire 
Air  bitli  'na  chumhachd  riarah  a    thairgse 

dhuinn  ? 
Chruthaicheadh,  mar  gu'm  b'eadh,  an  grunnd 

so  leinn 

Le  'r  dicliioll  fein  as  na  sean  choillte  fasail, 
A  bha  'n  an  dachaidh  aig  na  math-ghainhna, 
A's  rinn  sinn  e  'na  aite-coinhnuidh  dhaoine  ; 
Sgrios  sinn  gu  tur  sliochd  phuinnseanta  nain 

beithir, 

A  bhris  a  raach  oirnn  as  na  mointichean  ; 
Reub  sinn  an  sgaile  ulas  de  cheo  a  bha 
Os  ceann  an  fhHsaich  M>  an  sior  an  crochadh, 
Sneal.'j;  sinn  a'  charraig  chruaidh,  thar  beul  an 

t-sluichcl 
Thilg  sinn  an  droohaid  thearuint'  do  'n  Cheat1- 

thuruis  : 

Coir  mile  bliadhna  air  an  talamh  so 
Tha  ag  dune— Agus  tha  'chridh'  aig  duine, 
Seirbheiseach  eoiyreaeh  uaislean.tighinn  an  so 
(hi  slahhniidhean  a.  dhe:niamh  dhuinn,  's  an 

sparradh, 
Le  masladh  oirnn,   a's   sinn  'n  ar  dhurhaieh 

fein  ? 

O  'ieithid  de  fhoirneart nach  Vil  doigh  dol  as? 

(1  ha  ghrisad  in  or  am  measg  na-i  (Koine). 

Ni  h-padh,  tha  cadho.i  criorh   ri   cunihachd 

foirneirt. 

An  nair  nai-h  f-ngh  SMI  duine  sarnichte 
Coart'vs,  air  taobh  air  bir.h  ri  'n  amhahc  e, 
An  uair  abhios  an),  0:11  do-ghinlsiM     glaeaidh  e 
S ;  >i  i  iiri 'u!h  as  nr, a's  treoird'a  chridh' one  si  all, 
A'.-  bh(-ir  <•  Villas  din  fein  na  roraiche.tM 
A  th'air  an  tasgadh  tt-arnii-.i/slni'-.s  an  sud  dha, 
Nach   ga'nl^    gu    Itraili  toirt  uaiih.    a  tl:.i    do 

bhvis-adh, 

A's  sii/iiui  ill  mar  na  it.'ul1:  i  fein  '*  an  s]i-'ViT — 
Se  in  ordngh  Naduir  iVin  tin-id  car  :iir-a-caoin, 
An  uair  a  tlii."iu;d:i,idheas  duin'  an  aghaidh 

dhaoine— 

An  t-inneal  dt-ire.innnc}i  a  '  liein-'ar  dlu1.. 
A:i  u  tir  a  ting  traeh  meadhnn  ^ile  gearr, 
';s  e  sin  an  claidheainh.  Tha  c«>ir  ;ig  iir;n  ar 

seilhh 

Is  luachmhoire  a  dhionan  aglmidh  foirneirt-- 
Tha  sinn  a'  se  ;  st;mh   .-u-ts  ;iir  son  ar  dut.h  Tn-li, 
Air  son  ar  mnai,  agus  air  son  nr  cloinn  ! 
TAD   I'fLK  (a'  Larruii.g  an  claidhinhnean)— Tha 

sinn  a'  .^easamh  air  son  mnai,  a's  rlohin  ! 

A  N   I)  V  R  A    K  A  R 1 1  *  N  N . 

RAOSSKLMAV  (:i*  se^^amh  taobh  na  sreith)— Mu 

''.•:  -!:•(•  sil.h  'a  1-  -].>  gh,  thnv  d'oh  fainear  gu 

m:vitit  ! 
Feml  •;    i  ch  i 

!•'•  d-ii  ••!'•  'i  (.  }  •  '  •  ••••  ;.  ^impair".     \on 
'S  ii  >-ie  nn  cho    :  .  Hi  e,  's  -.;'i    \\\  a 

c^au:  ais 

A  tha.  'g  :ir  s;Lni"h-;dh  a'  .-odal  ribh. 
(JabUaiiih   an   ni   a   tliairgeadh    dluiibb    cho 

bitheant", 


Sgaraibh   sibh   fein   o  'n   Tempaireachd   gu 
bnileacb, 

Aidichinh  uachdaranachd  na  h- Austria 

IAIN   A'    15ITALLA  — Ciod  'thuirt  am  Ministeir? 

Slenchdndh  do  An.-l:  ia  ! 
BURCVRD— Na  h-eisdihh  ris  ! 
BHINCKLRID— Comhairle  bratbadair, 

Namhaid  do  'n  tir ! 
RKDiMr— Socair,  a  chompanaich  ! 
SEBHA— Sleuchdadh  do  Austria,  's  i  'n  deigh  ar 

creineadh  ! 
0  FLUE— Gu'n  tugamaid  a  suas,  fo  bhagradh 

ainneirt, 

An  rud  a  dhiultadb  leinn  do  chiuineas  seimh  ! 

MEIER— Bu  traillean  'an  da  rireadh  sinn  an  sin, 

'S   bu    mhaith   a    thoillearnaid    a   bhi    'nar 

trail1  enn  ! 
TAIN  A'   BIIALLA— Gearramaid  esan  as  o  choir 

ran  '-nisseHch 

A  thi-ir  p.on  sniid  mu  gheill  do  Austria  ! 
Fhir-i  iaghlai.lh.  b'  i  mo  chonihairle  gur  e  so 
A  cheud  lagh-duthcha  'bheireamaid  a  mach. 
MEICTIDAI.— Biodh  e  mar  sin.     Gun  choir  gun 

mv;;in  bitheadh 

An  *\  'tlieir  diog  mu  gheill  do  Austria. 
NH  gabhadh  duine  'stigh  gu  taobh  a  thein'  e. 
LTlLK  (a*  togail  na  laimhe  deise)— \S  i  sin  ar  toil, 

bio  ih  e  'n  a  )agh  ! 

RK;»!N(;  fan  reiah  nine  ghoirid) -Is  lagh  e. 
1{.'.(.)SSKI,.\'A.\— 'I  hi   sibh   si   nis,  tre  'ji  lagh   so. 

saor  gu  dearbli. 

Chi  tanuiii'i  Aust-ii  le  diorras  uaibli 
An   rud   nacli   u' rinn   i   'chosn-idh   uaibli   gu 

C:iii'iiii  

I(.>ST    A'    C;iLAri!/i!\  —  Air    ; .dhart    ordugh    n 

lath ;  ! 

ItKPiNt;  — A  chompanaich  ! 
Am    i  iu'il   gach   mc-ndhon  suairce  chean'  air 

fhencliahin  V 

Fmidai'Mi  e  l>hi  nach  n'o.->  do  ;n  risih  mar  'tha  ; 
I-'h' ilia 'idtj   n;K'h   an:i   le  'ihoil  'tha  sinn  a' 

fulang. 

'  -.     ii  inn  dheirearlh  so  feuchamaid  fathast — 
J]:.i.  'n  gl;'.>:  rr  }-\\\\.\  an  d -iidheamh.  cuireamaid 
Ar  u  -aran  ann  a  luthair.     Is  uamhasach, 
Kadhon   's   an   :u^)har   cheart.   cumlrichd    a' 

chliiidheimh. 
Thig  comhnadh  "!)he  a  mhain  an  uair  nach 

urrainn 

An  duin'  e  fein  a  chuideachadli  na  's  fhaide. 
S'l'-vrFi'  -•.('!!  'ii{  (ii  Ciaira:!   Hnnn) — 'Si  d' aite-sa 

do  chonihairle  'thutili'iirt.     Labhair. 
CONRAD  !!r.v\— <  haidh  mi  do  luchairt  Rhein- 

feid  Ihun  an  Hi-h, 
Mu  ria.'-hladh   teann  nam  Maor  a  dheanamh 

geavain, 

'^  a  dh'fhaotainn  liiir  uaith,  u'  daingneachadh 
Ar  saorsa  m  i.r  o  siiean,  a  reir  nan  cleachduinn 
A  riiin  g,-.ch  lo:i.p  iir'  ur  air  thoiseach  air. 
Khu-.i:1  mi  :.n  ?.in  A  feithsr.mh,  teacbdairean 
()  iomad  ait,  o    n  bia,  !s  taobh  na  Hhein  ; 
}•  Sin'.ir  i  i-;  '  •  :  :      ':ai:!hean  mu  'n 

A's    thill    i  .  ;  '•,    tn'ilichte,    d'   an 

Acli  mis..'  '!ii)i;u'n,  aa  teaclidair'  auaibh-se, 
!-heo]a.dh  a  stigh  a?;  lathair  na  Oomhairle, 
.\  thu.'.v.  le  briathra  falamh.  domh  mo  chead  : 


William  Tell. 


"  Cha  robh,  an  ceart-uair,  uine  aig  an  lomp- 

aire  ; 
Bhiodh  cuiinhn'  aig',  uair-eiginn,  amharc  in'  ar 

deighinn  :" 

'8  air  dhomh  'bhi  dol  le  ceumaibh  airsneaiaeh 
Roiruh  'n  luchairt,  chunnaic  mi  'n  Diuchd  og 

Iain 

'N  a  sheasamh  dluth  air  uinneag-mhor,  a'  gnl 
';3  m'  an  cuairt  air,  uaislean  Bhart,  a's  Teger- 

feld. 
Rinn  iad  so  glaodh  rinm  :  —  "  Cuitlichibh  sibb 

fein  ! 

O'n  High  na  bi'bh  a'  sealltuinn  air  son  ceartais. 
Nach  'eil  e  'creachadh  raac  a  bhrathar  fein, 
'.S  a'  gleidheadh  'oighreachd  laghail  uaith  air 

ais  ? 
Tha    'n    Diuchd    a'    gnidhe    air    son   cnid  a 

mhathar, 

Tha  e  air  tighinn  gu  aois,  tha'n  t-rnn  aha  'MS 
Am  fears  nn,  a's  na  daoin'  aige  a  riaghladh. 
Ciod  an   fhreagairfc  a  fhuair  e'.'     I  run  beag 

bhlathan 

Chuireadh  air  ceann  a'  ghille  leis  an  ll\y\\  : 
'S  i  sin  a'  mhaise  's  fre^garraich'  do  'n  oigc.'1 
IAIN  A'   BHALIA  —  iha  sibh  a'  cluinntinn  sin. 
Coir  agus  ceaHas 
Cha  toir  an  High  dhuibh  !    Cuitlichibh  sibh 

fein  ! 
REDING—  Meadhon  eile  cha'n'cil  againn.  Thug- 

aibh  breith, 

Ciamar  a  stiurar  It-inn  ar  cuis  1>:  fairili 
Gu  crioch  a  bheir  toil-inntinn  do  gach  ciidhe. 
BHAI/TFR   FUKST  (;i'   seasamh   tanKh   siinh   na 

sreith)— 

Fuadaichidh  sinn  rim  foirei^noadh  urnlneil  •'<>  ; 
Ni  sinn  ar  s.jaa:i,  choraichean  a  ghi-  idhendh, 
Mar  'thugadh  dlminn  i-td  \^  ar  n-Athraiclman, 
Cha  leijj  sinn  ruitli  li/isrj  fein,  ;:u  uranru'li.-uih 
Le  miaun  sun  svein  a  dh'ionnsuidh  coivoati  ur. 
Gleidheadli  an  lii^h  an  ni  's  It  is  ,;n  !:i-h, 
A's  co  air  bith  ais  am  bheil  'I  i^hcai-'ii'. 
lliugadh  e  st-ir'nliei-;  din  ;=..  icir  -.  dhk;  'sdaivMs. 
MEIT:'.<.  —  'iha  m'  fhearannh'  air  ;•  ^i^Mi.ui  fo 

Austria. 
BIIAI  I'KR  KUUST—  Do  Austiin  Ie:;naiil3i  tus'  air 

dlighe  iocii.-ii;. 
IAIN  A'  CLACHATN—  Tha  misu  'p:uirhe;u'ii  (is  do 

Rappersuail. 
BHAi/J'KR  FUKST—  Each  thus'  air  u'  adhart  a' 

toirt  cis  a's  i:a.in. 
RAOSSELMAN—  Oo'n  B];aint;-lu>avi)a  aiu  Tsuirch 

tha  mise  fo  bhoid. 
IALTKii  FUHST—  A  dlisiie  t't-in  blieir  thnsa  do 


'n  "•  ish-mhantrh. 
STAUVFACHER—  Tlia  iniso  saor  o  tlJdi-he  ,ic!i  do 

'n  Hioghaclnl. 
BHALTER  FURST—  An  ni  a   mhain   a's   fhendar 

dhuinn  dol  ris, 

Deananiaid  sin,  cha  teid  siiin  ceuiii  na's  rii'iiile. 
Fuadaicheamaid  na  Maoir  le  'n  seir)»jieisich, 
A's  briseamaid  a  HUMS  na  d'lingnu'he  in  ; 
Gun  durtadh  fol.-i,  ma  bhios  e  'n  ai1  coria.-. 
Faiceadh  an  t-f<;ni;)air(:  mar  --vi  »u  -.ai'.eir 
Gu  h-i  an  oiiUnn  a  clruir  ciraiize  sinn 
Gu   cuing  ar  n-nrram  dii^heacli  a  ;hilgv:idh 

dhinn. 

Ma  chi  e  sinne  'cumail  casg  oinm  tern, 
Theagamh  gu  'n  eleidh  e  'fhearg  gu  seolt'  fo 

smaehd. 


Oir  duisgidh  slnagli,  a  cheannsaicheasiad  fein 

l.e  'n  claidheamh  aim  nan  lamhan,  eaijal  ceart. 

REDi>(;-Ach  ciainar  a  tha  sinn  ri  'tlioirt  gu 

crich  ? 
Tha  airm  a"  chog.iidh  ami  nn  laimh  an  namh- 

aid. 
Air  chi'.mt  cha  dean  e  striochdadh  dhuinn  'an 

sith. 
STAUFAACHER— Striochclaidb,  cho  luath  's  a  chi 

e  sinn  fo  airm  : 
Thig  sinn  gun  lliios,   m'  an   urrainn   da  'bhi 

ullamh. 
MEIKII— Tha  sin  gu  msitli  na  's  nsa  'radh  na 

'(iheanamh. 

Tha  amis  an  tir  da  dhaingneach  laidir  mlior', 
Bh^ir  i-td  do  'n  namhaid  dion  's  birh  iad  'nan 

uamhas 

'Xuair  'thig  an  High  a  nu  is  g'  ar  ciosnachadh. 
Ilo>sl)erg  n.'*  Sarnen  's  fheudar  a  chur  fo<4ha 
Mn'n  togar  sleagh  anus  na  tri  Duthchanria. 
STAUFtACHFR    Le    dai!    cho    fada    gheibh    an 

n.-;mhaid  sanus  ; 

Cha  ghabli  a  mm  cleith  's  iios  ais;  uibhir  uimp. 
MKIKR  — Clia'n    fhaighear    brathadair    's    an 

Dnthaich-choillteach. 
RAOSSF.LMAN  —  Jilirathadh    de;u:li    end    's    an 

aoi;hr;r.  cuid  againn. 
BHAi.i'f •  ii    FIRM'-. Ma    clmivear    .-.eacliad  uina 

bidli  an  j.)nn 

Aig  Altorf  air  a  chriochnachadh,  a's  gheibh 
Am    Maor    e   fein    a   dhaingiieachadh    'n  ar 

n-aghaidh. 
MF.I-  R  -'.S  aim  oirbh  fein  a  mhain  a  smuaiutich 

sibhsp. 

Ax  CLMRKACU— Agns  tin  sibhse  neo-cheart. 
MEIER— .-iune  neo-(  lieart  ! 

Tha  'chi'idh'  aig  I'ri  sin  a  radh  n  ar  n-aodann  ! 
REDINCJ— Air'nr'bi  id  tosdaibh  !  Thami'guidhe 

oirbh! 

MK(i-:!{  — •  t-adh.  ma  tha  Huits  a's  Uri  air  a  cheile 

A  tii!r;/sini-',  tVumaidh  sinno  cumail  samhach. 

I{I-.D!.N(;— 'S    ihf'nd'ir   'ur    toirt    an   lathair    na 

(  umhairle, 

Tiia  -ibli  :;/  togail  ^imhreit  It!  'ur  braise  ! 
>Jach  'eii  sinn  uiln  's^asindi  's  mi  aon  aobh.ir  '; 
BIII?,(.'I;LHIIJ— JN'a'n  cuireamaid  air  ais  a'  ci;is  gu 

Nollaig, 

'-Mia  e  'na  chle.H'hduinr.  aig  na  Nis'nnaich  uile 
Do!  thuti  a'  Caistr'il  lo  geau-math  do'n  Mhaor. 
ii'  urrainn  mu  dheicli  no  dusan  de  na  tir 
Dol  ieo  do  'n  .!>im  gun  n.mharus  a  thi-^ail. 
iJi  nib  aca  'in  f  :lach  orra  stuib  iiihatli  iavuitm, 
A  tiic-id  gu  furasd'  amis  na  bataichean, 
Oir  ciia  'n  'eil  duine  a  toirt  ainn  do  'n  Dun. 
jiio'di  ;i'  chui.l  mhor  dliinn  aims  a'  ciioili  'am 

falach. 
'.S  cho  luath   's  a  gheibh  each  feannas  air  a 

gheata 

Gu  daiogean,  ividJi,  st-iiieav  an  dudach  Ieo, 
llrb-id1!  an  companaich  o  'n  ionad-falaich, 
'.S  gun  mhoran  tiulie;idli   dragii  is   leinn   an 

Cnistea). 
MKi.CHn.vi,— Dun     ftox.-.bcig    g:>.bbaidh    mis'   os 

lai'iih  a  streap, 
Tha  'cliiiilieag  air  a  bheil  mi  'n  gaol  'na  traill 

ami, 

B'fhurarida  dhomh  a  briodal  thun  nah-ninneig 
Kuidli  'n  leth-sgenl  cothrom  biuidhne  flmot- 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Aon   uair  's  gu  'm   faighinnse  gu  ceann  an 

fharaidh 
Cha  b'  fhada  'bhioclh  mo  chairdean  as  ino 

dheigh. 

REDING— An  i  bhur  toil  a'  mhoille  so  a  dhean- 
amh? 
(Tha  a'  clmid  a's  mo  dhiu  a'  togail  an 

laimh). 
STAUFFACHER  ('g  an  cunntas)-Tha  tuilleadh  's 

fichead  ann  an  aghaidh  dusan  ! 
BHALTER  FURST— 'iNuair,  air  an  latha  'theid  a 

shocruchadh, 

A  lha'n  da  dhaingneach  ri  bhi  air  an  leagail, 
O  bheinn  gu  beinn  theid  a'    chrois-taraidh 

'lasadh ! 

Gairraear  an  sluagh  gu  luath  an  ceann  a  cheile 
A   dh'  aon  bhuidhean,  gu  Priomh-aite  gach 

Duthaich  ! 
'Nuair  'chi    na    Maoir  fo  airm  sinn  'an  da- 

rireadh 

Bheir  iad  a  suas  a'  chomh-stri,  creidibh  mise, 
'.S  'an  ealachd  biclh  iad    taingeil  leth-sgeul 

fhaotainn 

Gu  seapadh  as  an  tir  le  craicionn  slan. 
STAUFFACHER— 'S  e  Gessler  an  t-aon  duine  a 

bheir  dragh  dhuinn, 
'S    duin'    uamhasach    e  le  'lucbd-eich  m'an 

cuairt  air  ; 

Cha  gheill  e  anns  a  bhlar  gun  doitadh  fola, 
Seadh,  eadhon  as  an  tir  againn  air  'fliuadach' 
Bhiodh  esan  fathast    dhuinn  'na    chulaidli- 

eagail. 
Tha  geilt  orm  nach  teid  againn  air  a  chaomh- 

naclh, 
'S    cha    mhor    nach    biodli    e   cunnartach    a 

clheanamh. 
BAI MGARTEN — 'Bheil  cunnart  aim  r'a  sheasamh, 

cuiribh  mis'  ann  I 

'S  e  Tell  d'an  toir  mi  taing  air  son  mobheatha. 
Bu  toilichte  a  shaothraichinn,  mar  thraill, 
Aig  obair  dhiblidh,  air  son  math  na  duthcha, 
M'  onoir  fhein  dhion  mi,  's  riaraich  mi  mo 

chridhe. 
REDING — Bheir  tiui  m'  an  cuairt  a'  Chomhairle 

a's  fearr. 
Feitheamaid    e   le    foighidinn.      'S    fheudar 

earbsa 

A'  chur,  an  tomhas,  amis  an  am  ri  teachd. 
Acli  faicibh,  fhad  's  'tha  sinne  fathast  trang 
Mu  obair-la  na  h-oidhch',  air  aird  nan  cruach 
Tha  solus  glan  na  maidne  ur  a'  lasadh 
Le    dealradh    tla— ;S    mithich    dhuinn     uile 

sgaoileadh, 

Mu  'n  tig  Ian  sholus  latha  oirnn  gun  fliios. 
BHALTER  FUKST— Na  gabhaibh  iomagain,  cir  is 

athaiseach 

A  gheilleas  dorchadas  nan  gleann  do  'n  la. 
(Tha  iad  uile,  a  dh'aan  inntinn,  a  togail 
an  adaichean,    agus    ag    amharc  or 
nine,  gu  tosdach,  air  rughadh  dearg 
na  faire,  air  mullaeh  nan  sleibhte). 
RKDING— Air  an  la  ur  a  tha  'g  ar  failteachadh 
Air    thoiseach    air    gach    sluagh    gu    h-iosal 

fodhainn, 

'S  na  bailtean  aim  antromadas  a  chomhnaidh, 
Le  'r  boid  an  cumhnant  nuadh  so  nasgaidh 

sinn. 

'X  ar  sluagh  de  bhraithrean  aointe  mairidh 
s*inn. 


Cha  dealaich  cas  na  cunnart  sinn  o  cheil'. 
(Tha  iad  uile  ag  radh  nam  briathra  ceudna 

'n  a  dheigh,  a'  togail  tri  meoir). 
Mairidh  sinn  sapr  mar  bha  ar  n-Aithriche, 
Am  bas  a  roghainn  air  a  bhi  'n  ar  traillean. 

(Mar  gu  h-ard). 

Ar  n-earbsa  cuiridh  sinn  's  an  Dia  a's  airde, 
A's    cha    bhi    ^agal    oirnn  roimh  cumhachd 

dhaoine. 
(Mar  gu  h-ard.     Tha  iad  uile  a'  crathadh 

lainhan  a  cheile  gu  cridheil). 
STAUFFACHER — Rachadh  a  h-uile  duine  'nis  gu 

samhach 
Dhachaidh  thun  a  luchd-daimh  's  a  chompan- 

aich. 

An  ti  'n  ar  measg  a  tha  'n  a  bhuachaille, 
Geamhraicheadh   e  aig  an  tigh  a  threud  'n 

sitb, 

Agus  'an  samhchair  cairde  coisneadh  e 
D'  ar  co-cheangal.   An  rud  a's  fheudar  fhulang 
Gu  ruig  an  t-am  sin,  giulainibh  gu  duineil ! 
Leigibh  le  cunntas  an  fhir-fhoimeirt  ruith 
Oho  ard  's  a  thogras  e,  ^u  ruig  an  la  sin 
'S  am  feum  na  fiachan,  sonruichte  a's  coitch- 

eann, 

A  bhi,  a  dh'  aon  bheum,  air  an  diolaidh  leis. 
Cumadh     gach     aon    a    chorruich    ceart    fo 

cheannsal, 

'S  airson  an  i-jmlain  carnadh  e  a  dhiogh'ltas  ; 
A  chionn,  g.-ich  aon  fa  leth  a  ni  e  fein 
Gu  glic  n  chuidtachadh  'na  chuisean  fein, 
Tha  e  a  buidhinn  na  creiche  dhuinn  air  fact. 
(Th;t  iad  a'  sgaoileadh,  cho  tosdach  'sa's  urrainn 

doibh,  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  tri  rathaidean  eadar- 

dhealaichte.      Tha    'n     t-aite     car    ghreis 

falamh,  fosgailte,  am  feadh  a  tha  a'  ghiian 

ag  eiridh  thairis  air  na  slcibhtean-eige). 

AN  TREAS  EARRANN.    A'  CHEUD  ROINN. 
A  Chuii  t  mu  'n  cuairt  an  dorus  Tell.    Tell  leis 
an  tuadh  'na  laimh  ;  Hedbhig  (a  bhean)  trang  ri 
obair-tighe  ;  Bhalter  agus  Uilleam,  air  an  taobh 
cuil,  a'  cleasachd  le  crois-bhogha  bheag. 
BHALTER  (a'  seinn)— 

Thar  nan  gleann  's  nan  sleibhte, 
Moch  aig  eiridh  grein, 
Tliig  a  ruag  nan  eilid, 
Fear  a'  bhogha  threin. 

Mar  is  triath  am  tir-eun 
Ard  thar  ealt'  nan  speur ; 
Fear  nan  saighead,  's  righ  e 
Thar  na  seilg  gu  leir. 

s>  leis  na  tha  's  na  frithean 
4ir  a'  bheinn  ud  shuas, 
Eun  air  sgeith,  na  sithionn, 
Bheir  na  saighde  nuas. 

(A'  tighinn  'na  leiim). 
Bhrist  an  t-sreang  orm  !    Ceanglaibh  dhoinh 

i,  athair. 

TELL— Cha  clieangail,  cuidichidh  sealgair  maith 
e  fein. 

('( ha  na  balachain  a'  dol  as  an  rathad). 
HEDBHIG    Gu'n  tugadh  Dia  nach  ionnsuicheadh 

iad  am  feasd  i  ! 

TELL  —  lonnsnichidh    iad    a    h-uile    rud.      Is 
fheudar 


William  Tell. 


325 


Easan  a  bheir  e  fein  roimh  'n  t-saogh'l  gu 

sgairteil 

A  uheanamh  acfhuinneach  gu  clion  a's  cath. 
HEDBHIG— Mo  thruaigh,  cha 'n  fhan  iad  toil- 

icht'  aig  an  tigh. 
TELL — A.  bhean,  cha  'n  'eil  dol  agams' air  na 's 

mo. 

Cha  d'  rinneadh  raise  air  son  iomain  threud  ; 
'8  toil  leamsa  comharadh  a  theicheas  uam 
Gun  chlos  a  ruag     Cha  'n  'eil  mo  bheatha 

sona 

Muir  toir  gach  la  rucl  dbomh  as  uv  ri  ghlacadh. 
HEDBHIG— 'S  cha  smuaintich  thu  air  iom'gain 

bean-an-tighe, 

A'  feitheamh  riut  le  cridh'  an  impis  sgaineadh. 
Lion  oillt  mi  'n  uair  a  dh'  inn's  na  gillean 

dhomh 

Na  chual'  iad  mu  do  thuruis  chunnartach. 
Gach  uair  a  thig  thu  'dh'  f  hagail  beannachd 

again 
Tha  mi  air  chritli  nach  till  thu  m'  ionnsuidh 

tuilleadh. 

Chi  mi  thu  air  na  sleibhte  tiadhaich  eigli' 
A'  dol  air  seachran,  na,  p  sgorr  gu  sgorr, 
A'  toirt  an  leum,  's  a'  tuiteam  eatorra. 
Chi  mi  a'  ghemsc  hochd  a  th'  air  a  ruigheachd 
A'  tionndadh  ort  le  leum  a's  sibh  'n  'ur  dithis 
A'    ruidhleadh    sios    do    iochdar    ilubh    an 

t-sluichd. 
Chi  mi,  'am  prioba,  am  beum-sneachd  'gad 

phronnadh 

No  'n  gletser  mealltach  fo  do  chos  a'  fosglailh 
A  beul  gun  iochd,  's  'gad  dhunadh  beo  's  an 

uaigh— 

Mo  chreach,  a'n  ceud  cruth  eadar-dhealaichte 
Tha  'm    bas    a'  glacadh  sealgair  treun  nam 

beann  ! 

'Si  'n  pbair  thubaisteach,  neo-thoiliclit'  ise, 
A  bheir  air  duine  dol,  gu  cunnart  beatha, 
O  la  gu  la  'na  ruith  thar  oir  an  t-sluichd  ! 
TELL — Am  fear  a  dh'  amhairceas  gu  brisg  in'  a 

thimchioll, 

Le  column  's  ceann  aige  cho  slan  ri  bradan, 
\S  a  cbuireas  earbsa  ann  'na  Chruithear  dileas, 
Bheir  esan  as  gach  teinn  e  fein  gu  furasd'  ; 
Cha'n  'eil  a'  bheinn  gu  brath  'na  culaidh  eagail 
Do  'n  duine  'rugadh  a's  a  thogadh  oirre. 

(Tha  e  air  obair  a  chriochnachadh,  agus 

tha  e  a'  cur  seachad  na  h-acfhuinn). 
A  nis,  is  i  mo  bbeachd  gu'n  seas  do  dhorus, 
Gu  diongmhalta,  car  latha  's  bliadhn"  na 

dheigh  so  : 
Cha  chuir  sinn  feuni  air  saor,  a's  tuadh  's  an 

tigh. 

(Tha  e  togail  'aid). 
HEDBHIG-— C'aite  'blieil  thu  'dol .' 
TELL— Gu  Altorf,  thun  d'  at  liar. 
IlEDBHl';  —  Tha  rud-eiginn  le  cunnart  ami  a  thaic 
A'  ruith  'ad  inntinn  ?  Aidich  dhomh  nach  'eil  '>. 
TEL< — Ciod  air  an  t-saoghal    a  chuir    sin  'ad 

cheann '.' 
HEDBHIG- -Tha  rud-ciginn  'nar  measg 'ga  chur 

'an  ordugh 
An  aghaidh  nam  Maor.    Bha  coinneamh  air 

an  Rutli, 
Tha  fhios  'm  air — 's  tha  thusa  'an  co-bhoinn 

riu. 


TELL— Cha  robh  mis' ann— ach  cinnteach  seas- 

aidh  mi 

Air  son  mo  dhuthaich  ma  bhios  feum  aic'  orm. 
HEDBHIG— Sparraidh  iad  thusa  'n  teis-meaflhoin 

a'  chunnairt ! 

'S  i  'chuid  is  duilghe  'thu'teas  ortsa  daonnan. 
TELL — Leagar  a'  chis  air  duine  'rcir  a  chuibh- 

rinn. 
HEDBHIG— A's  chuir  thu  'n  t-Unterbhaldnear 

thar  an  aiseig 
'Am  meadhon  na  stoirm— 's  iongnadh  gu  'n 

d'  f  huair  sibh  as  : 
Nach  robh  smuain  idir  agad  air    beann  no 

clann? 
TELL— 'S  ann  oirbh  a  smuaintich  mi,  a  bhean 

mo  ghaoil. 

Theasraig  mi  beatha  athar  air  son  a  chloiime. 
HEDBHIG— Am  bata  'chur  a  mach  's  na  tonnan 

beuchdach ! 

Cha  b'  e  sin  idir  earbsa  chur  'n  Dia, 
'8  e  buaireadh  Dhe  a  theirinn-sa  r'  a  leithid. 
TELL — Cha  mlior  a  choimhlionas  an  duine  sin 

A  sheasas  tuille  's  fad'  a  beachdachadh. 
HEDBHIG— Tha  thusa  cneasda,   deas  gu  cuid- 

eachadh, 

Ni  thu  tiirn  coimhearsnaich  do  dhuin'  air  bith, 
Ach  ann  an  teinn  cha  chuidich  duine  thusa. 
TELL--  Nar  leagadh  Dia  gu  'in  bi  mi  'n  eismeil 
comhnadh ! 
(Tha  e  'toirt  leis  a  chrois-bliogha  agus  na 

saighdean). 
HEDBHIG-  -'De  'ni  thu  leis  a'  bhogha  ?    Fag  'an 

so  i ! 

TELL— Na'm  fagaiim  ise  bhiodh  mo  lamha  dhith 
orm.  (Tha  na  balachain  a'  tilleadh). 

BIIALTER-  -Athair,  c'aite  'bheil  sibh  a'  dol  ? 
TELL  -Gu  Altorf, 
A  laochain,  thun  an  t-seanair— An  tig  thu 

learn  '.' 

BHALTKU — >S  mi  'thig,  gu  toilichte. 
HEDBHIG— Tha  'in  Maor  an  .sin 

Aig  a  cheart  am  so.     Cum  air  falbh  o  Altorf. 
TELL — 'S  e  'n  diugh  an  latha  'bha  e  ri  dol  ann. 
HEDBHIG  -'8  a  chionn  gur  e,  fuirich  ach  gus  'im 

falbh  e  ; 
Na  toir  thu  fein  'n  a  chuimhne,  's  beag  air 

sinn. 

TKLL — Is  beag  a  choire  a  ni  'mhi  run  ormsa. 
Gluaiseam  gu  ceart,  cha  chuir  aon  namhaid 

h'arnh  orm. 
HEDBIHG— 'a  iad  daoine  ceart  is  mo  a  dhuisgea.r 

fhuath. 
TELL    Direach  a  chionn    nach  faigh  e  greim 

orra ; 

Riumsa  cha  gliabh  e  gnothuch,  's  e  mo  bharail. 
HEDBHIG— Seadh,  tha  thu  dearbhta  as '.' 
TELI,     •  •  cheann  a  ghoirid 
Chaidli  mi  a  shoalg  thar  a  ghrunud  fhiadh- 

aich  ud 
Braigh  Ghlinne  Shach,  gun  aileadh  cois  g'  am 

stiuradh, 
Aig  dol  air  adhart  dhomh  thar  frith-rath'd 

creagach 
Far   nach  robh  roghainn  ann,   ach    gabhail 

romham  ; 

Bha  bruach    na  creige  'n    crochadh    os    mo 
cheann, 


326 


Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 


A's  f od ham  bheuchd  an  Shacb,  'na  caoir  a' 
siubhal. 

(Tha  'u  da  bhalacban  a'  druideadh  dluth 
dha,  h-aon  air  gach  taobh,  agus  ag 
amharc  'na  aodann  leis  an  iougnadh 
a's  modha). 

'8  an  aitc  sin  thainig  am  Maor'am  choinneamh, 
Ksan,  'na  aonar,  leamsa,  's  mise  leis-san, 
Duine  ri  duine,  an  slochd  ri  t-iobh  ar  coise  : 
Cho  hiath  'a  a  thug  am  Maor  an  aivo  dhomh, 
'S  a  dh'  aithnich  e  mi— mis'  air  an  deanadh  e 
O  cheann  a  ghoirid  peanas  trom  a  leagadh, 
Air  son  gle  bheagan  aobliair — 's  a  chuunai  •  e 
Mi  'tighinn    'na  choinneamh  le   'm   bhogha 

treun  'am  laimh, 
Dh'  flias  aodann  ban,  a's  chrith  a  ghluinnean 

fuidhe  ; 
Chunnaic  mi  e  a'  tighinn  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  .sin 

dheth 

Gu  n  tuiteadh  e  gu'n  lugha?  air  a'  chraig. 
Lion  truas  mo  chridlie  ?-iha,   chaidli  mi  git 

modhail 
G'  a  iomifcuidh,  's  thubhairt  mi  :— Is  mise 

th'  ann 

A  Maighstir  G easier.     Acli  cha  b'  urramn  da 
An  t-aon  smid  bhochd  fhaighinn  a  mach  o' 

bhilean, 
Le  'lamh  a  mliain  smeid  e   rium  dol   air  m' 

adhart  ; 
Dlr  fhalbii  mi  's  chur  mi  a  sheirblieisich  dr  a 

ionnsuidh. 
HEDBHIG  —  Chriothnaich  am  Maor    roimli    d' 

ghnuis — mo  thruaigh  thusa  ! 
Cha  mhaith  e  dhuit  gu  'm  faca  tu  a  laigse. 
TELL — Air  s«m  an  aobhair  sin  tha  mi  'ga  sheacli- 

nadh, 

A's  cha  bhi  iarnvidh  nige-san  air  m'  fhaicinn-s'. 
HEDBHIG — Fuinch  an  diugli  air  falbh  o  'n  aite 

sin 
Rach  thusa  'sheo.lg  do  'n  bheinn  a  roghainn 

air. 

TELL— Ciodath'ort? 

HEDHHIG — 1  haiomagain  orm.   FuincJi  air  falbli. 
TEIJ>— C'ar  son  'tha  thu  'air  dr;ig:i  ort  fuin  gun 

aobhar? 
HEDHHIG— A  chionn  gut  ann  gun  aobhar.  "Tell, 

fuirich  leinn. 
TELL  — Gheall  mi,   a  bhean  mo   ghaoil,  gu'n 

rachainn  ann. 
HEDBH-G  — Am   feum   thu   falbh  '.'     Mata,   fag 

dhomh  mo  ghiuilain  ! 
BHALTKR— Ch;i  'n  fling,  a  mhathair,  falbhaidh 

mi  le  m'  athair. 
HEDBHIG— A  Bhalti,  saoil  an  fcreigeadh  tu  do 

mhathair? 

BH ALTER—  Bheir  mi  rud  boidheach  dhachaidh 
dhuibh  o  n  t-?eanair. 

(Time  a'  fblbh  le  atliair). 
UlLLEAM       A    mhtithair.    tha    mise    'fuireuch 

leibhse. 
HEDHHIG  (a'  tilgeadh  a  lamhan  in'  ;i  thimchioll) 

— Tlia  a  iaoigh  '. 

Ach  's  tusa  \1  aonar  a  th'  air  fhagaii  again  ' 
(Tha  i  a'  dol  gu  dorus-mor  na  cuirte,  agus 
a'  cumail  a  suil  re  nine  fhada  air  an 
dithis  a  th'  air  falbh). 


AN  TREAS  EARRANN.      AN  DARA  ROINN. 

Duthaich     choilltpacb,     fhiadhaich,     dhuinte. 

Steallrtirean.  a'  tacmadh  'nan  smuid  thar 

nan  creagan. 
Bsrta  ann  an  eide-sei'g  ;  arm  an  tiota  'na  deigh, 

Rudents. 
BEKTA    (rithe    fein)— Tha    e    'gam    leanachd. 

Cheibh  mi  mu-dheireadh  thall 
]\fi  fein  a  mhineachadh. 
RUDENTS  (!e  ceum  cabhagach  a'  tighinn  a'  stigh) 

— A  Bhan-tighearna, 
Fhuair  mi.  mu-dh-ireadh  thall,  'n  'ur  n-aonar 

sibh 
Tha  bruaclia'i  creagach,  cas,  inu  'n  cuairfc  'g 

ai'  druideadh, 
'-S  an  fhasach  so  cha  (-hluinncar  sinn  's  cha'n 

fhaicear, 
Cha  lefg  mo  chridlie  learn  'bhi  'm  thosd  na  's 

fhaidhe 

BEJITA — 'Bheil  cinnt  agaibh  nach  'eil  an  t-sealg 

'g  ar  le;inachd  ? 
RUDENTS— Tha  'n  t-sea^  an  sud  fa  'r  c<  mhair — 

mur  glac;  mi  'n  cnthrom, 

A  tha  cho  luachmhor,  caillidli  ml  am  feasd  e — 
Keumaidh   mi   nis   mo    bhinn    a   chluinntinn 

uaibh 
Kadhon  ma's  ann  gu  'r  ;  g  ir;Mih  uam  gu  sior- 

ruidh. 

O  !   rio.1  a  tha  'toiit  dhuibh  bbur  sealladh  tla 
Fho'ach  fo  choslas  gruaim  ?    Ach  co  e  mise 
Gu'n  deanainn-sa.  mo  siunl  a  tliogail  ribhse? 
]\I'  ainm  cha  'n  'e:l  fntlnst  iomraiteach  ;  cha'n 

flieud  mi 

Mi-fein  a  mlieas  a'n  hireamh  ard  nan  rirlir 
Curanta,   cliuiteach,   ann   ;i'i    dreuchd  's  'am 

morchuis 
A'  deairadh  oirbli  mu'n  cuairt,  's  gun  tamh 

'g'urbriodal. 
'S  iad  gi'adh  it's  treibhdhireas  a  mhain  mo 

stor-  i'a • 

BKRr:\v  (le   durachd   gheur)— Tha  dh'  aghaidh 

agnibh  bruHhinn  mu  thrf  ibhdhireas 
Agus  mu  gbradh,  siblise  a  tha  neo-dhdeas 
'V  'IT  dleasdanus  iomchuidli  do'ur  coimhears- 

iii.ich  ; 

Traill  A'istn'a,  a  reic  e  feits  do'n  ch  ligreach, 

Do'n  fheai-  a  Ilia  a'  saruchadh  a  dhuthchaV 

Ruor;NTS— 'Mr.i  siblise  'tilgeadh  so  a  suas  'am 

aodann? 

Co  "shir  mi  air  an  taobh  sin  -ich  sibh  fein? 
BERTA — Bha  liutJnir  agailili  'an  da-rireiulh  in' 

fhaotainn 
Air  taobh  na  h-ainneart?     Blieirinn  mo  iamb 

Do  G hek-lt;r  fein  (Kear-saruchaidh  a  phobuill) 
M'  an  tugainn  i  do  mhac  mi-nadurra 
Na  Siiiss.  a  thug  c  f<-in  a  sua?:,  gu  socraeh, 
(in  bhi  'na  inne'al  ann  an  laimh  an  Niimhaid. 
RTDENT^— O.  cha  'n  e  vo  ris  an  rcbh  h'ughair 

BERTA— Ciauiar  ?    Xaeli  i  a  chuideachd  fein  a's 

dbiithe 
Do   cbridhe  'n   diiine  mhf.ith?     C3    aite  am 

faighear 

Dleasnas  a's  measaile  le  nadur  nasal, 
Na  'seasamhmar  f  hear-dion  do  neo-chiontachd, 
Ceartas  a  chumail  riusan  a  tha  saruicht'  ? 


William  Tell. 


Tha  m'  anam  air  a  chradhadh  air  son  an 

t-sluaigh, 

Tha  mi  a'  fulang  leo  ;  tha  iad  cho  modhail, 
Agus  aig  a'  cheart  am  cho  Ian  de  neart 
Nach  urrainn  donihsa  gun  an  gradhachacth, 
Tha  iad  a'  tarruing  in'  uile  chridh'  d'  an  ion- 

nsuidh 

A's  tha  mo  mheas  a'  meudachadh  such  la. 
Ach  sibhse,   d'  an  d'   thug  nadur,   's  inbhe 

Ridir 
Coir-breith,  a's  cothrom  air    an  dion   's   an 

comhnadh, 

Gklheadh  a  >hreig  iad,  agus,  gu  neo-dhileas, 
A  tha  air  del  a  nunn  gu  taobh  an  Namhaid, 
'S  a'  deanaiah  shlabhruidhean  air  son  'ur 

duthcha, 
'S    e    sihhse  'tha    'cur    mi-thlachd    orin,   a's 

doilglieas  ; 

"S  aim  tnr  a  dh'  aindeoin  air  mo  chrmhe  'tha  e 
Mur  d'  rinn  mi  roimh  so  'ur  fuathachadh. 
RUDENTS  —  Nach.  e  li'jr  mhaith  mo  shluaigh  a 

dh'iarrainn-sa 

Fo  riaghladh  cumhachdach  na  h-Austi  i  i  ? 
Mhealadh  iad  sith  -- 
BERTA—  MhKiUdh  iad  trailiealaehd  ! 
Chuitichidh  *ibh  ant-s-ior-a  as  an  daingneach 
Mu  dlunreadh  'dh  'fhagadh  aic'  air  uachdar 

talaimh. 

Tha  tuigse  aig  an  t-sluaah  na  '.-;  fearr  iifi  .sin 
Ciod  a  th-i  'chum  am  maith.  Faoin-chuslas 

maith 
Cha  mheall  am  Hosracludh  r.eu-mh  -arachd- 

ach. 
Ach   chaidh    an   li-.m  a  thilgeudh  tliar   bhur 

cinn-sa. 
RUDEiVrs—  'Bherta  !  's  be;;g  oH>h  mi.  t!;a  si;!]i 

'deanamh  tair  onn  ! 
BERTA—  Na  'n  d'  rinn  isii  si.-i  's  e  'h'u  ;  ;  dliomh. 

Ach,  e.-an 

Fhfticinnfodhlmeap.seuih.a'toiritinni.iimnas, 
K-imii  ''uni'a  »hi-adh^ch;idljg.i  tf.ileucli. 
-O,  H-h'dit.i!  iil)erl:;i  !    Tiia  si!)h  V,  aon 

phrioba 

'(Jam  thogiiil  ;-uas  gn  aii'tu;  ;;oibl)inn  sonai.'-, 
Agus  ';:am  i  hilg'.'.'idh  ,sio.->  i;ii  ii(;iinhr:yMchd 

truaigh  : 
BERTA-—  Cha'n  'oil    idir,   an    uai.-Ki    ,-11111    bhur 

nadur 

Cha'n  'eil  gu  buili^ichaira  mliuchadli  "i.-thast  ! 
An  grinneas  a  tha  'nutli  's  an  fiuiil  Jigaibh 
Cli-i    ghabli:i(!li    a.    clmr    fodh'   as    c;ugmli:iis 

ainneart. 

Ach  's  iuaitl.1  gur  i  a's  laic1.  ire  i;a  sibhs.\ 
'.S  gu'r  n-aindcoiii  tha  sibh  fatiiast  mai':!!  a'.-s 

nasal  ! 
RTDKNTS—  Tha.  t-arbsa  agaibli  aimam  ?    I;h;nia. 

Bherta, 

Bhithinn  na  dlieanainn  ni  air  bitli  athogradh 
Bhur  gradhsa  ! 

BERTA—  Bithibh,  a  mhain,  an  ni  air  -;on 
An  <!each  'ur  cruthacha-'h  !••  nadur  ":':::;-;  ! 


Fanaibh  air  U'.l)iriir 
'ietisni'.'li  a  i;..  ii-h  ^lir  son  'ur  coi 
UDKM'S  —  .Mo  i.h;-u;iigh  !     (  iuni 

ninn  sibhse, 

Ciamar,  gu  bratli,  a  ghcPoJiir.n  idir  c->ir  oirbh 
Ma    thcid     mi    'n     aghaidh     cumhachd    an 

lompaire  • 


Nach  ann  fo  thoil  ainneartach  'ur  fear-cinnidh 

A  tha  gu  toann  'ur  lamh-sa  air  a  gleidheadh  ? 

BKKTA— 'S  an  anus  an  duthaich  choillteach  a 

tha  m'  fhearainn 
Na'm  biodh  na  Huissich  saor  bhithinns'  ann 

cuideachd. 
KuDEX'i'S— (),  Rherta,  ciod  an  sealladh  a  nochd 

sibli  dhomli  ! 
BERTA — Na  h-earb  tre  dheadh-ghean  Austria 

mis'  a  cliosnadh  ; 
A  lamh  tha  sinte  mach  a  dh'ionnsuidh  m' 

oighreachd, 

Fa  run  a  h-aonadh  ris  an  Oighreachd  mhor. 
Tha  'n  ciocras  fearainn  sin,  a  shluigeadh  sua.s 
An  t-saorsa  agaibhse,  'gam  mhaoidheadh-sa 
Aig  a'  chpart  am,  air  son  an  aobhair  cheildna  ! 
A  charaid,  tha  mi  air  mo  cliur  air  leth 
.Mar  thabhartas  ;  mar  dhuais  theid  mo  tlioirt 

seachad 
Do    chuideiginn    mu'n    cliuirt    a    choisneas 

labli-ir 

An  sud.  fir  am  blieil  foill,  a's  cuilbheartan 
A'  dnl  air  adlurt— air  falbh  a  dh'ionnsuidh 

cuirt 
An  lomp  lire— tha  c 'n  >nn  beachd  mo  thar- 

ruing 
Tha  'n   snd   a'  feitheamh   orm   cuibhrichean 

posaidii 

T>  fuathach  learn— cha'n  'eil  dol  asdhomhann 
.Mur  dean  an  gradli  mo  theasragainn— Bhur 

grauh-r-;- ! 
Ri- DENT.-;  -Dheanadh  sibh  teilichte  sibh  fein  311 

so, 
l>u  leoir  loibli  a  bhi  learn  'n  am  dhuthaich 

fein  '! 

O  Blierta,  ciod  a  bin  'n  am  thngradh  dian 
A  m-ii-h  d<> 'n  t-s  loghal  ach  oidheirp  sibhse 

tha<  tiiinn  ''. 

sibh'-e.  a  nili.iin  shir  mi  air  slighe  na  gloire, 
Mo  (!h<-'ii:h  air  urram  fliuair  a  steiclh 'n  am 

ghrauh'. 
N'  aiw  >>'  uri.unn  duibh  'ur  beatlia  'chaitheamh 

leam-sa 

Duinte  a.  :--tig}i  aims  a'  gbleann  shamhach  so, 
'S   Y.r   cul    <\   t:ii  uindadh    air    an    t-saoghal 

uaibhreach 
Au  sin  tha  crioch  mo  snairn-sa  air  a  ruigh- 

eachd ; 
Faodaidh.  an   sin,  sruth  bras  an  t-saoghail 

bhuairte 
Sadadh  ri  taobli  bnneh  dliiongmhalta  nam 

l»eann  so  -- 
Aon   togradli    luainoach   tuilleadh  cha'n  eil 

again 

\  <l)i   loiiHsuidh  caitlio-beatha  's  farsuinge — 
Kaodaidh.  an  sin,  na  creagan  so  mu'n  cuairt 

oinui, 

Am  b.-t'la  ard  neo-ghluasdach  a  thogail, 
Agu^  an  uleannau  sona  duinte  so 
!'•>-;;;  la -Hi  a  suas  :i  agliaidh  neiinh  a  mhaiu 
,  ,\  bHh  c  air  a  lionadh  tHiomh  le  soillse  ! 

BKilTA        Hli     c;!U    g'.l     loir    :l!l    )li     a     sll.lOll     IttO 

\  bin  Lhu,  clia'ti  :eil  m  earbsanir  amealkdh  ! 
iii'fiENT.s—  Air  t'uibh  gu  isratli.  an  doille-inritinn 

ghorach 

A  mheall  mi  !     Ci'heibh  mi  sonas  aig  an  tigh. 
An  so,  am  measg  nam  bruthaichean  's  nan 

loinntean 


Gaelic  Society  o/  Inverness. 


Far  an  do  chleasaich  mi  gu  h-aoibhinn  eutrom, 
Far  nach  'eil  tore,  no  creag,  no  lagan  boid- 

heach 

Nach  toir  air  ais  gu'm  chuimhne  mile  solas, 
A's  tha  gach  craobh,   a's  preas,   a's  fuaran 

aluinn 

Co-ionann  learn  ri  cairde  caomh  mo  ghaoil, 
Bheireadh  tu  ann  am  dhuthaich  fein  dhomh 

coir  ort  ? 
O,  's  maith  a  thug  mi  gaol  dh'  i  riamh  !    Tha 

fhios 'm 
Air  thalamh  nach  biodh  gean  orm  an  taobh 

mach  dhith. 
BERTA— C'aite  am  biodh  I-an-t-sonais  dhuit  ri 

fhaotainn 

Mur  b'  ann  an  so,  'an  tir  na  neo-chionta 
An    so,    far    am    bheil  dachaidh    thearuint' 

fathast 

Aig  an  t-seann  dilseachd  agns  threibhdhireas 
A  b'  abhaist  a  bhi  eadar  duine  's  duine, 
Far  nach  'eil  ceaig,  no  breug  a'  tuinneachadh  ? 
An  so  cha  tig  am  farmad  a  chur  dragh 
Air  obair  glan  ar  n-aoibhneis,  ach,  gu  reidh 
Sruthaidh  o  la  gu  la  na  h-uairean  seachad. 
'Jliusa  chi  mi  an  sud,  gu  duineil  fiachail 
Am  rneassr  nan  sar  a's  cliuitiche  acheud  fhear, 
Le  measa's  deadh-ghean  air  do  chuartachadh, 
Eadhon  mar  righ  ag  oibreachadh  'n  a  riogh- 

achd. 
RUDKMS— Thusa chi  mise'ad  libhinnam  measg 

bhan, 

Am  banalchd  a's  tinealta,  le  gliocas 
A  riaghiadh  os  ceann  obair  an  tighe, 
A'  togail  Paras  arm  am  dhachaidh  dhomh, 
A's  mar  an  t-Earrach,  air  an  talamh  loin, 
A  blaithean  grinn  a'  sgapadh  aims  gach  ait', 
A  sgeadachadh  mo  bheatha-sa  le  maise, 
•S  a'  dusgadli  aoibli  a's  cridhealas  mu'n  cuairt 

ort. 
BERTA— Mo  charaid,   feuch   c'arson  a  bha  mi 

'caoidh  ! 

Thu  fein  fhaicinn  a  sgrios,  a'  tilgeadh  uait 
An  toileachaidh  so  'a  airde  leat  'ad  blieatha. 
Mo  thruaigh  mi  !     Ciamar  a  rachadh  leamsa 
Aa  m  feumainn  ridir  naiblireach  mor  a  bean- 

tninn, 
Fear-ciosnachaidh— a    stigh    d'    a    chaisteal- 

dubh  .- 

Kalla  no  dun  cha'n  'eil  an  so  ou  Iu  .sgaTudh 
Bho  shluagh  a  mhiannaichinn  a  dheanamh 

ambhinn. 
RruK.NTS— Ach   ciamar    a    ghtibh    mi    n    ribe 

'thilgKulh  dhiom 
A    chuir    mi   fein   le   'm   ghoraich'    tliar    mu 

cheann ': 
BEKTA— Srachd  thai-  do  mlmineal  i,  le  misneach 

dhuineil  ! 

Thigheadh  an  rud  a  tlioilicheas-    seas  ri  d' 
shluagh 

Tha  coir-breith  agad  sin  a  dheanamh 

(Dudaichean   na   seilg  air  an   cluinntinn 
fad  as). 

Tha  'n  t-sealg 
A  tighinn  na's  dluithe— falbh,  feumar  deal- 

achadh, 

Dean  cath  air  son  do  dhuthaich,  as  dohag  oil ' 
Oir    tha  «in    uir  air  chrith    roimh  an    aoii 
namhaiil 


'S  i  an  aon  saorsa  a  ni  saor  sinn  uile  ! 

[Tha  iad  a'  falbh. 
AN  TREAS  EARRANN.    AN  TBEAS  ROINN. 

Lon  laimh  ri  Altorf. 

Air  an  taobh  beoil  tha  craobhan,  air  an  taobh 
cuil  tha  an  Ad  air  barr  stuib.  Tha  an  sealladh 
air  a  dhunadh  a  stigh  le  Beinn-na-draoidh- 
eacnd,*  os  ceann  am  bheil  sliabh-eighe  ag  eiridh 
gu  maiseach. 

Friesshard  agus  Leatold  air  freiceadan. 

FniESSHARD— Tha  sinn  an  so  ri  freiceadan  gun 

rheum. 

Duine  cha  tig  g'ar  coir,  air  eagal  modh 
A  thoirt  do'n  Aid  so  againn.     .Roimh  so 
B!  abhaist  an  t-aite  'bhi  cho  trang  ri  faidhir  ; 
Tha'n  fhaiche  so  mar  fhasach,  riamh  o'n  latha 
A  chaidh  am  Bochdan  a  chur  air  an  stob. 
LEUTOLD— Cha'n  'eil  ach  slaodaire  an  drasd  's  a 

rithis. 
'Toirt  dheth  a  bhoinneid  phrabach  's  an  dol 

seachad 
Gu    aimheal    a    chur    oirnn.     Theid    dacine 

nachail 

Astar  mu  'n  cuairt  mu  'n  crom  iad  druim  ri  Ad. 
FRIESSHARD— Feumaidh  iad  gabhail  seachad 

air  a  so 
'Nuair  'thig  a'  Chuirt  a  mach,  aig  meadhon- 

latha. 

Bha  tiughair  again— la  o  cheann  a  ghoirid— 
Gu  'm  faighinn  grainnean  math  a  chur  an  sas, 
Oir  cha  robh  smuaint  air  modh  a  thoirt  do  'n 

T~ug  Raosselman,  am  ministeir,  gu  grad 
An  aire  dha,— 's  e  air  a  cheum  a'  tilleadh 
O  'bhi  a'  frithealadh  air  duine  tinn— 
Sheas  e  an  so,  direach  air  beul  an  stuib, 
Le  samhlaidhean  na  sacramaid  'na  lamhan, 
JJh'  fheum  Para  Cleireach  gliongadh  leis  a' 

chlagan  ; 
Thuit  gach  fear  riamli  'sa  chuideachd  air  a 

ghluinnean, 
A's  dh1  fheum  mi  fhein  a  dheanamli  comh'ri 

each— 
Clirom  iad  do'n  Chisteig-naoinih,  i-lia  b'  ann 

tlo'n  Aid. 

LEUTOI.U— A  chompanaich,  's  ann  'tha  mi  fhein 

a'  saoilsinn 

Gu  bheil  sinn  air  ar  cur  an  so  air  brangas 
Air  beul  na  li-Aid'.    Is  tamailt  e  do  mharcaicli 
Seasamh  mar  fhreiceadan  air  beulaobh  Aid'  — 
Js'i  duine  smiorail  'sam  bith  dimeas  oirnn. 
Gu  'n  deanadh  duine   modh  a  thoirt  do  Aid  - 
Air  m'  fhirinn  fhein  's  e  reachd  gun  ttir  a  th' 

ann 
FRIESSHARD— Urram  do  Aid  fhalaimh,  c'arson 

nach  toirteadh  ': 

Nach  iomadh  c-Iaigionn  falamh  'ni  thu  modh 
dha'.' 

(Ilildegart,   Melchtild,  agus   Ealasaid,  le 
an  claim  a'  tighinn  agus  a'  seasamh 
'nan  sreath  mu  n  cuairt  air  an  stob). 
LEUTOLD -'.S  tha  uibhir  de  'n  gliill'-easgaidh 

annad-sa, 

Blieireadh  tu  dragh  air  daoinecoir  anasgaidb. 
Rachadh  na  tlioilicheas  seachad  air  an  Aid, 

"The  Bannberg. 


William  Tell. 


329 


Cha  seall  mo  shuils'  an  rathad  aca  tuilleadh. 
MELCHTILD— Tha  sin  am  Maor  an  crochadh— 

'ur  bou  d'ia,  chlann  ! 

EALASAID — 'Eudail,  n  i'm  falbhadh  e's  an  ad  aig' 
fhagail, 

'S  i  'n  duthaich  nach  bu  mhisd  a  chulaobh 

fhaicinn  ! 

FRIESSHARD  ('g  am  fuadach  air  falbh)— 
An  gabh  sibh  as  a  so  !   Mnathan  na  mallachd ! 
Co  'tha  'g  'ur  n-iarraidh  !    Cuiribh  an  so  bhur 

fir, 
Ma  tha  fonn  orra  'n  lagh  a  chur  gu  dulan  ! 

(Tha  na  mnathan  a'  falbh). 
Tha  Tell  a'  tighinn  a  nios,  am  balachan  aige 
air  laimh  ;  thaiad  a'  gabhail  seachad  air  an  Aid 
gun  an  aire  'thoirt  dh'  i,  an  aghaidh  ris  na 
beanntan. 
BHALTER  (le  'chorag  a'  leigeadh  ris  Beinn-na- 

draoidheechd) — 

Athair,  am  bheil  e  fior  ma  bheirear  buille 
Le  tuaidh  do  chraoibh  'sam  bith  a  th'  air  a' 

bheinn  ud, 

Gu'n  tig  an  fhuil  aisde? 
TELL— Co  'thuirt  sin,  a  laochain  ? 
BHALTER — 'S  e  'm  buachaille  mor  a  bha  'ga 

innseadh  dhuinn — 
Tha  draoidheachd  air  na  craobhan,   thubh- 

airt  e, 

'S  ma  ni  sinn  cron  orra,  cinnidh  ar  lamh 
An   aird— an  deigh    dhuinn    ;-iubhal — as    an 

talamh. 
TELL-Cinnteach  gu  leoir  tha  iad'nan  craobhan 

coisright'. 
Am  faic  thu'n    sud  na    Firnen,   aidhearcean 

geala 

Cho  ardgu'n  caillear  sealladh  dhiu  'sail  speur? 
BllALTF.it— 'S  iad  sin  na  Gletseren  'bhios  sinn  a' 

cluinntinn, 
A'    dcanamh     uibhir     stairn     air    fcadh    na 

h-oidhche, 
'S  o'm  bheil  na  beuman  sgrlosail  Sueachd  a' 

tuiteam. 
TELL— Seadh  direach,  agus  bhiodh,  o  cheann  a 

fada, 

Altorf  'na  luidhe,  pronn,  fo  bheuman-sneachd 
Mur-bhith  a'  choille  ghiuthais  shuas  an  sud— 
Feachd-duthcha  treun — a  sheas  'g  a  dhion  o 

sgrios. 

BHALTER  (an  deigh  beachachadh  car  tiota)— 
Athair,  am  bheil  tir  'sam  bitli  gun  bheanntan 

aim? 
TELL— Na'n  tearnadh  duine  bho  na  cruachan 

againn' 

Ruigeadh  e  duthaich  a  tha  farsuing,  reidh, 
Cha  chluinnedr    fuaim    nan    eas   'an  sin    a' 

taomadh, 

Na  h-aimhnichean  tha  'ruiih  gu  lubach  seimh  ; 
Clii  duine  'h~uile  cearn  mu'n  cuairt  gun 

bhacadh, 

Tha  'n  coirce  'cinntinn  ard  an  dailtean  briagh 
Tha  'n  tir,  gu  amharc  air,  mar  glaradh 

maiseach. 
BHALTER— '.S  c'arson,  athair,  nach  racliamaid 

gu  math 
A   sios   a   dh'   fhuireach    amis    an   duthaich 

briagh  sin 
Seach  a  bhi  ann  an  -so  le  geilt  'gar  cubadh  ? 


TELL— Tha  'n  duthaich  aluinn,  maith  eadhon 

mar  Pharas 
Ach  cha  'n  e  'n  treabhaiche  a  bhios  a"  meal- 

tuinn 
A   bheannachd    phailt'   a    tha    an    cois    a 

shaothair. 
BHALTKR — Nach  'eil  na  daoine  'fuireacb,  mar 

'tha  sibhse, 

Saor  air  am  tearann  fein  ? 
TELL— '.s  ann  Ms  an  Easbuig, 

Agus  an  High  a  tha  na  dailtean  aca. 
BHALTER— Ach  saoil  nach  feud  iad  sealgach 

aims  a'  choille  ? 
TELL — Is  leis    an    triath  an    sithionn    a's   an 

eunlaith. 
BHALTER— Nach    fend    iad   iasgach    anns    na 

h-uilld  mata? 
TELL — Is  leis  an  High  na-huilld,  an  loch,  's  an 

salann. 
BIIALT'-R — Co  e  an  Righ  mata,  roimh 'cr,  bheil 

au  eagal? 
TELL— An  Ti  a  tha  'g  am  beathachadh  's  'g  an 

dion. 
BHALTER — Xach  urrainn  iad  an  air'  'thoirt  orra 

fein  ? 
TELL — Cha  'n  earb  na  coimhearsnaich  a  cheil' 

an  sud. 
BHALTER— Athair,    bhiodh    an    tir   fharsuing 

cumhann  leamsa, 

'S  fearrabhi  fuireach  fonabeuman-sneachda. 
TP:LL — Seadh,  's  mor  'is  fearr  a  laochain  sleibh- 

tean-eighe 
A'  seasamh  aig  do  chul  seach  daoine  ocla. 

(Tha  iad  a'  dol  a  ghabhail  seachad). 
BHALTER  -hh,   athair,  faic  an  ad  air  barr  a' 

chabair! 

TELL — Nach  coma  leinne  'n  ad  !    Tiugainn  air 
aclhart. 

I'Jha  e  air  ti  'dol  seachad,  an  xiair  a  tha 
Friesshard  a'  tighinn  'na  choinneamh 
le  a  shleagh  a  suas). 

FRIESSHARD  -'An  ainm  an  lompaire  !    Tha  thu 

ri  stad  ! 
TELL  (a'  deananih  greim  air  an  t-sleagh)— 

D  e 'tha  dhith  ort  ?    C'arson  a  ghleidheadh 

tu  mi  ? 
FRIESSHARD— Bhrist  thu  an  aithne  ;  feumaidh 

tu  tighinn  Jeinne. 
LEUTOLD-  Cha  d'  rinn  thu  modh  do  'Aid,  'an 

gabhail  seachad 
TELL — Leig  as  mi,  'charaid. 
FRIESSHARO — Air  falbh  do  'n  phriosan  ort ! 
BHALTKR — M'   athair    do  'n    phrioson  !    Cuid- 
eachailh  !    Cuideachadh  ! 

(A1  ruith  air  adhart). 
'An    so,    fheara  !     Cuidichibh    iii'   athair,    a 

dhaoine  ! 

Ainneart !  Ainneart  !  Tha  iad  'g  a  chur  an  sas ! 
(Raosselman,    am    Ministelr,    Faruig    an 
Clei reach,   agus   triuir   fhear    eile   a' 
tighinn  air  an  adhart). 

PARA  CLEI  RICH— 'D  e  'th'  ann  ? 

RAOSSELMAN  -C'arson  a  ghlacadh  tu  an  duine  ? 

FRIESSHARD— Is  namhaid  e  do'n  Righ, 's  fear- 

ceannairc  e  ! 
TELL  (a'  beirsinn  air  le  braise) — Mise  'am  fhear- 

ceannairc  ! 

23 


330 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


RAOSSELMAN — A  charaid,  tha  thu  'm  mearachd, 
'S  e  Tell  a  th'  ann,  fear-duthcha  siothchail 

coir. 
BHALTER  (a1  toirt  an  aire  do  Bhalter  Furst,  agus 

a'  ruith  'na  choinneamh — 
A  Sheanair,  cuidichibh  !    Tha  m'  athair  fo 

ainneart. 

FRIESSHARD— Do  'n  phriosan  ort ! 
BHALTER  FURST  (a'  greasad  a  nios)— 
Stad  !    Seasaidh  mi'n  urras  air  ! 
'An  ainra  an  Fhortain,  Tell  ciod  a  th'  air 
tachairt? 
(Tha  Melchdal  agus  Stauffacher  a'tighinn 

a  nios). 
FRIESSHARD— Ard-uachdaranachd  a'  Bhaillidh 

thar  na  duthcha 

Cha  'n  aidiche  e,  a's  tha  e  'deanamh  tair  air. 
STAUFFACHER — Rinn   Tell,  da-rireadh  so,  am 

bheil  thu  'g  radh  ? 
MELCHDAL — A  spolochdaire,  's  i'n  deargbhreug 

a  th'agad  ! 
LEUTOLD— '  ha  d'  rinn  e  modh'  do  'n  Aid  's  a 

ghabhail  seachad. 
BHALTER  FURST — Agus  air  son  so  theid  a  chur 

anns  a'  phrio.san? 

A  charaid,  gabh  ri  in'  urras  a's  It-ig  as  e. 
FRIESSHARD— Bach  thus'anurras  air  do  choluinn 

fein  ! 

Ni  sinn'ar  dleasdannas — Thugaibh  air  falbh  e  ! 
MELCHDAL  (ris  an  luchd-duthcha) — !'S  i  ainneart 

narach  a  th  i  'so,  a  mhuinntir  ! 
An  giulain  sinn  gu'n  toir  iad  leo  an  duine 
Cu  ladarna,  mar  so,  fa  chomhair  ar  suilean? 
PARV  CLEI  REACH — Cha  seas  sinn  e,  is  shine's 

tieise,  'chairde, 

Gnala  fi  guala  seasaidh  sinn  a  cheili-. 
FRIESSHiRD— Co     agaibh    'thi'id    an    uj.Ji.tidh 

reaclul  a'  Mhaoir? 
T.  n  i  R  (eile    de    Luchcl-duthcha)— Cuidichidh 

sinne  sibh. 
M)  e  th'  ann?    Gu  lar  iad  ! 

(Ilildegard,    Melchtild,   agus   Ealasaid  a' 

tilleadh  air  an  ais). 

TELL — Ni  mi  mi-fein  achuideachadh  an  ealachd 
Falbhaibh,  a  mhuinntir.     Na  'm  biodb  feum 

air  spionnadh 
An    gabhainn    geilt,    saoil    sibh,    roirnh    'm 

biodagan? 
MELCHUAL(ri  Friesshard)—  Thoirasar  meadlion 

e,  m  i  tha  'chridli'  agad  ! 
FURST     agus     tSTAUFfACHER — Air    d'    athais ! 

Socair  ! 

FRIESSHARD  (a' glaodhaich) — Ar-a-macb!  Oann- 
airc  ! 

(Cluinnear  dudaidiean  seilge). 
NA  M  NATHAN — Sin  am  Maor  a'  tighinn  ! 
FRiESsiiARi)  (a1  togail  a    ghuth)— Ar-a-mach  ! 

Ceannairc  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Raoichd   thus'    a   shlaightire  ! 

llan  gus  an  spreadh  thu  ! 
RAOSSELMAN— An  cum  thu  samhach  ? 
MF.I.CIIDAL — Duin  do  ghlochd,  a  chlap-sgain  ! 
FRIKSSHARD— Foir,   foir    air  seirbheiseach    an 

lagh  's  na  rioghach.l  ! 

FURST— Tha  'sin  am  Maor  !     Mo  thruaigh,  ciod 
a  thig  ruinne  ? 


Gessler,  air  muin  eich,  seabhag-sailg  air  caol  a 
dhuirn,  Rudolf  bho  Harras,  Bertaagus  Rudents, 
buidheann  mhoi   sheirbheiseach  fo  airm  'gan 
leantuinn,  agus  a'  seasamh,  le  'n  sleaghan  fada, 
mu  'n  cuairt  an  iomlain. 
RUDOLF— Ait',  aite  do  'n  Mhaor ! 
GES  LSR— Sgaoilibh  o  'cheile  iad, 
C'ar  son  a  thrus  an  sluajih?    Co  'bha  'glaodh- 

aich  foir  ? 

Co  'bh'  ann  ?    Bu  mhaith  learn  fir.s. 
(Hi  Friesshard)— Seas  thusa  mach  ! 
Co  thu,  's  c'ar  son  a  yihlac  thu  'n  duine  so? 
FRIESSHARD  —  Uachdarain  chumhachdaich,  's 

fear-airm  leat  fein  mi, 
Air  freiceadan  an  so  air  beul  na  h-Aid. 
Uhlac  mi  an  duine  so  direach  's  a  ghniomh 
A'  gabhail  seach  gun  mhodh  -\  thoirt  do'n  Aid. 
Bha  mi  'ga,  chur  an  sas  a  reir  bhur  n-ordugh, 
Ach  dh'  fheuch  an  sluagh  le  ainneait  a  thoirt 

u.un. 

GESSLER  (an  deigh  dha  'bhi  mionaid  'na  thosd) — 
Am  bheil  thu 'deanamh  dimeas air  an  lomuair' 
A's  ormsa,  "Tell,  a  tha  'na  ainm  a'  riaghladh, 
Gu  'n  diult  thu  modh  do  'n  Aid  a  chroch  mi  'n 

so, 
Gu    dearbhadh    cinnteach   a    chur    air   'ur 

n-umhlachd  ? 
D-och-run  do  cluidhe  rinn  thu  'bhrathadh 

dhorah. 
TELL— A   mhaighstir   choir,  thoir  miitheanas 

domh  !     Cha  b'  ann 

A'  deair-mh  tarcuis  oiibh  a  bha  mi  idir, 
Ach  cha  do  ghabh  mi  mnhail  's  an  dol  seachad. 
C.ia   'n   ainm   dliomh  T.'CLL,  in.i  's  ann  'gam 

dheoin  a  bha  e, 

Gabhaibh  mo  leisgetil,  cha  tachair  e  a  ritliis. 
(J  i'>M,i:u  (an  deigh  a  blii  greis  'na  thosd)— 
Toll,    tha   thu   'd    mhaighstir   air    a'    chrois- 

bhogha, 
Chaiilh  a  radii  rium  nach  tig  duin'  eile  suas 

riut? 
BHALTER— 'S  tha  sin  iior,  <a  mhaighsfclr  ;  tilgidh 

in'  athair 
Ubhal  bho  chraoibh  dhuibh  aig  cuig  ficliead 

ceum. 

GESSLER— An  leats'  an  giullan,  'Tell? 
TELL—  Is  learn,  a  mhaighstir. 
GESSLER— 'Bheil  duine  cloinne  'thuilleadh  air- 

san  a  gad? 
TELL — Tha  dithis  ghiullan  ann,  a  mhaighstir 

choir. 

G  ESSLKR — A's  co  de'n  diiihis  dhiu  a's  docha  le  it  ? 
TELL — Tha  iad  an  aon  chuid  ionmhuinn  learn  le 

cheile. 

GFSSLER— A  nis  mata,  Tell,  ma  chuimsicheas  tu 
Ubhal  air  craoibh  aig  as'ar  ceud  ceum  uaipe 
Bheir  thu  Ian  dearbhadh  ann  am  lathair  air 

d'  ealdhain  — 

Gabh  a'  chrois-bhogha— tha  i  aig  do  lamb- 
Dean  thu  fein  deas  gn  cuimseachadh  air  ubhal 
A  theid  a  chur  air  ceann  do  bhalachain — 
Gabh  cuim:e  mhaith,  bheirinn  a'  chomhairl' 

ort, 

A  chi^itin,  mu;1  bu:iil  do  sLaighead  a!'1  an  ubhal 
Ai;.:  a'  cheuil  ioiuisuidh,  caillidh  tu  do  cheann  ! 
(Tha  uamhuun  ri  fh.ticinn  aims  gach  gnuis    . 
TELL    A  mhaighstir — 'd  e  'n  rud  uamliasach 
tha 


William  Tell. 


331 


'N  'ur  beachd  do  ra'  thaobh  ? — Bho  cheann  mo 

leinibh  tha  mi— 
Ni  h-eadh,  a  mhaighstir  elixir,  cha  'n  fheud  e 

'bhith 
Gu  'n  tigeadh  sin  'n  'ur  smuaint — Nar  leigeadh 

Dia  e— 
Cha  b'  urrainn  sibh  gu  brath,  an  ceart  dha- 

rireadh, 

Sireadh  air  athair  a  leithid  sin  a  dheanamh  ! 
GESSLER — Feucliaidh  tti  air  an  ubhal,  air  ceann 

do  mhic — 

Tha  mi  'ga  shireadh  ort,  's  tha  tlm  ri  'dhean- 
amh. 

TELL— Tha  mi  ri  cuim«e  'ghabhail  leis  a'  bhogha 
Air  a'  cheann  ghaolach    aig  mo  bhalachan 

fein?— 
'.S    fhearr  learn   dol  than  a'  bhais  na  aoist- 

achadh  ! 
GESSLER — Feuch  e,  no  basaich  ft  in  's  do  L>an- 

aMi  conihladh. 
TELL— Dheanadh  sibh  mi  'am  mhortair  air  mo 

f.-hiulkn  ! 

A  mhaighstir,  cha'n  'eil  clann  agiibh,  mar  sin 
Faireachduinm    cridhe   Athar  cha  'n  aithne 

dhuibh. 
GESSLEK — Se.idh,  'Tell,  tha  thu  air  tighi;  n  g'  ad 

ionnsuidh  fein 

Gu  h-ealamh  ;  thuivt  ind  rium  gur  duin'  thu 
A   bhio;  li  a'   coiseachd  mar  gu  'n  robh  thu 

'bruadar, 

Gu  bheil  thu  neonarh  ann  R.d  dhoighean  uile 
'S  gur  toigh  Icat  nilheanan  neo-chumanta, 
Mar  sin  tha  mi  air  geall  neo-chumanta 
A  chur  fa  'd  chomhair.   Bheachdaicheadh  fear 

eilc, 

rhuireadh  e  air  a  mht  igh  na  cui.senn  aige— 
Theid  thusa— dall 'g  ad  dhu>in-gu  dian  air 

adhait, 

A'.s  theid  thu  'n  sr-s  IP  d'  uile  neart  's  a  chiii". 
BERT.'.— (.),  sguiribh  a  'heart  dheth  nan  daoine 

bo  eh' hi  ! 
Tha  iad    air  chrith,  a's  ban  le    ireilt  m'  ur 

timchioll— 
Cha  'n  'eil  iad  cleachdte  ri  'ur  bri'i;hra-sa 

A  ;;h  bhail  n'in  ;;m  beach  I  m  ir  iheahi.-'.'.hr*. 
GE.SSLER— Co  'their  gur  feala-dlvi,  a  th'  ami  !,m 

airn  ? 
(Tha  e  'sineadh  a  Inmh  a  dh' ionnsuidh 

grug  craoibh  a  tha  os  a  chennr). 
Tha     so     an     t-ubh-il  —  Deanaibh     -at',     a 

mhuinnlir — 
Tomh'sibh      a     ma  oh    an     t-astrir    T.iar     is 

cleachdta— 

(.'cithir  iichi.vid  -  i'.i^-'^.g— cha  tt>ir  na':^  l;;.^h;'<. 
I^'a  lhuille;»,:'!h  air  a  sin.     Ki;ni  i>s-m  ui'iJl  ;:s 
C-M'n  iividli  "  f,  dliuine  HUM..-!  ai  ;  c;  tui  diiiu — 
'Ji!g,    Fhir-a'-bhogh-,    's    biodh  do    chuiiusc 

cir.5it.eu-h  ! 
Ri  DOLK— Mo  chreach  !    Thi  so  air  tigliini:  -,u 

da.-rirendh  ! 
(•u-;:ih    '-i'-    <i'    Mhaor,    mo  ghiuilan    air  do 

Rhluinnean, 
A  (ih*  flieuch  an  dean  hin  raaith— air  son  do 

biir-.iilia  ! 
BHALTKR  r'CRST  (fo  'f<.nail,  ri  Melclidala  th.1.  :dv 

eiginn  a'  ceaniisachadh  a  mhi-fhoighidinn)— 
Bi  samh;  ch,  tha  ml  'guidhe,  cum  ort  ft  in  ! 
BERTA— 'Uachdarain,;deanadh  so  do  riaradiadh; 
Tha  e  an  aghaidh  naduir,  amhghar  atliar 


A    thionndadh    's  an  doigh  so  gu  culaidh- 

mhagaidh. 

Ma  thoill  an  duine  bochd  so  corp  a's  anam 
A  chall  tre  choire  fhaoin,  air  m'  fhirinn  ghloin  ! 
Dh'  f hulling  e  cheana  'm  bas  deich  uairean 

thairis, 
Leig  dhachaidh  e  gun  lochd  d'  a  thighein- 

tubha  ; 
Tha  e  air  eolas  a  chur  oirbh  ;  bidh  cuimhn" 

aige, 

'S  aig  clann  a  chloinne,  air  an  latha  so. 
GESSLER— Fosglaibh  an  t-slighe  !    Cli.s,  c'ar  son 

do  mhoille 

Thoill  thu  do  bheatha  'chall,  tha  e  am  chnmas 
Do  chur  gu  bas,  a's  feuch  gu  h-iochdmhor, 

tha  mi 

A'  cur  do  chor  ann  do  laimh  sheolta  fein. 
Cha'n  urrainn  duine  'radh  gur  cruaidh  a  bhinn 
Ma  nithear  ;iir  a  chir  e  fein  'n  a  mhaighstir. 
Rlnn  thusa  bosd  a  d'shuil  neo-mhearachdach. 
Ro-mh;uth  !    A  shealgair,  dealbh  a  nis  dhtiinn 

d'  ealtlhain  ! 
Tha    am    ball  cuimse    airidh  ort,   's  ard  do 

dhiiftis  ! 

Amaisidh  duine  cumant  air  an  t-suil-dhubh 
Am  nicanhon  na  targaid,  ach  their  raise  sar 
Ris-san  a  thaisbeanas,  gu  deas,  a  sheoltachd 
Gun  chaechladh,  aig  gach  am,  a's  anns  gach 

a-:te— 

A\g  iiach  'eil  'aigne  'dol  'na  laimh  's  na  shuil. 
BHALTER   FURST  ('ga  thilgeadh  fein  a  sios  na 

lathair)— 
'Uashdarain,  's  aithne  dhuinn  gu  maith  bhur 

cumhachd, 
Ach    leigibh     seachad    coir,    a's    nochdaibh 

trocair ! 
Thng;.ibh  leibh  leth  mo  mhaoin— gabhaibh  na 

tli'  again  ! 
Acli  caomhnaibh  athair  o  dheanamh  tuirn  cho 

oillteil. 
BliAi/r;  11  TRLL— A  sheanair,  na  lubaibh  glun 

do  'n  duine  chealgach  ! 
Tnnsibh  dhoinh    c'ait'    an    .seas  mi.      Cha'n 

eng  >.l  domh. 
Bheir    m'    athair   eun  air  sgeilh  a    nuas  le 

'shaighead 

Chi  teid  e  cearr  'am  bualadh  cri  ih'  a  leinibh. 
STAUFFACIIEII— Nach  gluais  neo-chiont  an  lein- 
ibh s;bh,  a  Mhaoir '! 
RAO-SKr.MVN'— U,    cuimhnichibh,  tha    Dia    air 

ai-l'j  Ni'imh 
D'  am    feum    sibh    cunntas  a  theiit  air  'ar 

briathrau. 

G.'  Si:i.::n  (le  a  laimh  a'  comharracludh  a'  bhal- 
achan doibh)— 

Ojuv.gLiibh  e  ris  a' chrann-teil'  ud  ! 
Bn  •  LThR— Mo  cheangal ! 
Cha  ruig  sibii  leas  mo  cheangal !  Seasaidh  mi 
(ju-i  eaiig  -i  char uhulh,  cho  bidh  ri  nan, 
<  'ha  dean  mi  uibhir  's  anail  bheag  a  tharuing. 
Ach  oeanglai.h  sui  's  cha'n  urrainn  mi  'blii 

samhacn, 

Bhithinn  ait'  son  gach  r«ll  a  shracadh  dhiora. 
RUDOLF— A  l.Uichain,  leigidh  tu,   mafca,  breid 

air  do  shuiieun  ! 
BIIAI.TER — C'ar  son  a  cheangladh  sibh  eadhon 

mo  shuilean  ? 
Am  bheil  sibh 'smuainteach'  gu'm  bi  eagal  orm 


332 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Boimh  shaighead,  's  i  an  lamhan  cinnteach  m* 

athar  ? 
Seasaidh  mi  teann,  cha  dean  mi  rosg  a  phriob- 

adh. 
Greasaibh,  athair,  feuchaibh  gur  fear-bogha 

sibh! 

Tha  e  'cur  teagaimh  annaibh,  tha  duil  aige 
Gu'n  sgrios  e  sin — Tilgibh  an  t-ubhal,  buail- 

ibhe 

Gu  mi-thlackd  a  chur  air  an  duine  mhosach  ! 
(Tha  e  'dol  agus  a'  seasainh  fo  'n  chrann- 
teile,  tha  'n  t-ubhal  air  a  chur  air  a 
cheann). 
MELCHDAL-Cipd?      An     coimhlionar    fo     na 

suilean  againn 
Encoir  cho  gailbheach  ?     C'ar  son  a  rinn  sinn 

boidean  ? 
STAUFFACHER — Tha  sin  an  diomhain.    Cha  'n 

'eil  airm  againn  ; 

Nach  faic  thu  coill  de  lannan  timchioll  oirnn. 
Pia  'thoirt  naaitheanais  dhoibh-san  a  chomh- 

airlich  dail  ! 
GESSLER  (ri  Tell)— Gu  d'  obair.   Ma  bhios  duine 

'caitheamh  airm 

Cha  'n  ann  an  diomhain.    Tha  e  cunnartach 
A  bhi  a'  giulan  inneal-bais  mu  'n  cuairt, 
Tillidh  an  t-saighead  air  an  duine  'thilg  i. 
Tha  a1   choir  ard  so    'tha  'n   luchd-duthcha 

'gabhail 

A1  tabhairt  oilbheum  do  Ard-Thriath  na  tire, 
Na  caitheadh  airm  ach  neach  a  striochdas 

dhasan. 
Bka    thusa    'gabhail    tlachd    'am    bogha   'a 

saighead, 

Ro-mhaith,  ball-cuimse  taghaidh  mise  clhuit. 
TELL  (a1  tarruinn  a  bhogha  agus  a'  cur  saighead 

air)— 

Fosglaibh  dhomh  sliglae  !    Aite  dhoroh  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Ciod,  'Tell  ?     Gu  brath  cha  'n 

f heuch— 1  ha  thu  air  bhall-chrith 
Cho  luath  ri  duilleig,  tha  do  lamli  a'  crith' 
'S  do  ghluinnean  mar  gu'm  failnicheadh  iacl 

fodhad 

TELL  (a'  leigeil  leis  a'  bhogha  sleamhnachadh  a 

sios) — 

Tha  'h-uile  ni  a'  snamh  air  thoiseach  orin. 
NA  MNATHAN — A  Fhreasdail  chothromaich  ! 
TELL  (ris  a'  Bhaillidh)— Na  cuiribh  ehuigt  mi 
Gu'm  shaighead  a  thilgeadh.     Sin  dhuibh  mo 
chridhe ! 

(Tha  e  a'  rusgadh  a  bhroillich). 

Gairmibh  'ur  marcaichean  gu  'm  sgath  a  sios  ! 

GESSLF;R— Cha  'n  i  do  bheatha  idir  a  tha  'uhith 

orm. 
Bu  mhaith  learn  dearbhadh  air  do  chuimse 

fhaicinn. 

Ni  tliusa  'h-uile  rud,  cha  Qiheataich  dad  thu, 
Glacaidh  tu  'n  stiuir  cho  ealamh  ris  a'  bhogha  ; 
Cha  chuir  a'  ghaillion  oillt  ort,  ma  bhios  duine 
Ri  theasragainn.     Cuidich  thu  fein  a  nis, 
Thusa  a  theasraigeas  cho  deas  dream  eile  ! 
(Tha  Tell  a  seasamh  ann  an  spairn  eagallach, 
a  lamhan  ag  oibreachadh  agus   a  shuilean  a' 
tionndadh  aig  aon  am  le  feirg,  a  dh'  ionnsuidh 
Gessler,  aig  an  am  eile,  le  durachd,  a  suas  gu 
neamh.    Ann  am  prioba  na  sul,  tha  e  a'  glacadh 
a  bhalg-shaighead,  a'  tarruing  an  dura  saighead 
as,  agus  'ga  chur  ann  a  chrios.    Tha  'm  Baillidh 
a'  gabhail  beachd  air  a,  h-uile  car). 


BIIALTER  (fo  'n  chraoibh-teile) — Athair,  nach 

tilg  sibh  !    Cha  'n  'eil  eagal  orm  ! 
TELL— Feumaidh  e  'bhi  ! 

(Tha  e  a'  tighinn  g'  a  ionnsuidh  fein  agus 

a'  deanamh  de  is  a  bhogha  gu  tarruing). 

RUDENTS  (a  bha  fad  na  h-uine  fo  ghluasad- 

inntinn  cho  dian  gur  gann  a  bha  e  a'  cumail 

air  fein) — 

"Uachdarain,  tha  'n  t-am 
Nach  cuireadh  sibh  a'  chuis  na  's  fhaid'  air 

adhart, 
Cha  dean  sibh  e — Cha  robh  ach  dearbhadh 

ann — 

Ruig  sibh  'nr  crioch— Oir  this  a'  ghairge  gearr 
Air  a'  chrich  cheart  ma  theid  i  tuille  's  fada. 
Ma  bhios  an  t-sreang  ro-theann  brisear  am 

bogha, 

An  uair  'is  teinne  'n  'gad  's  ann  'bhrisear  e. 
GESSLER — Bi  thus'  ad  thosd  gus  an  teid  bruidh- 

RUDENTS— Feumaidh  mi  labhairt !     Feudaidh 

mi  a  dlieanamh  ! 

Onoir  an  lompaire  tha  luachmhor  learn, 
'S  e  fuath  a  choisneas  riaghladh  mar  so  dha. 
Cha  'n  i  so  toil  an  Righ,  tha  mise  fiosraich— 
Cha  toill  mo  shluagh  a  leithid  so  de  liodairt, 
Agus  clia'n  'eil  Ian-choir  agaibh  'thoirt  dhoibh. 
GESSLER — Seadh  !    Tha  thu  dalma  ! 
RUDKNTS— Bha  mi  ann  am  thosd 

A' gabhail  eallaris  gach  gniomh  an-iochdmhor, 
Dhuin  mi  mo  shuilean  air  na  bha  mi  'faicinn, 
Mo  chridhe  goirt,  le  corruich  a'  cur  thairis, 
B'  fheudar    gu    teann    a    ghlasadh    ann    am 

bhroilleach  ; 
Ach  1)'  e  neo-dhilseachd  a  bliiodh  ann  do  'm 

duthaich, 

Agus  do  'n  lompaire  'bhi  'm  thosd  na 's  fhaide. 

BERTA  ('ga  tilgeadh  fein  eadar  e  agus  Gessler)— 

Cniridh  tu  'n  duine  cuthaich  sin  air  bainidh  ! 

RUDKNTS  — Threigmi  mo  chinneadh.thionndaidh 

mi  mo  chulaobh 
Riusan  a    tha  dh' aon  fhuil  rium,   thilg  mi 

dhiora 
Gach  cheangal  naduir,  a  chum  sibhs'  a  leannt- 

uinn — 

Chreid  mi  gur  i  a'  chuid  a  b'fhearr  a  rinn  mi 
Ann  a  bhi  daingneachadh  cumhachd  an  Righ— 
Tha  nis  an  s<:ail  air  tuiteam  o  mo  shuilean— 
Le  uamhas  clii  mi  'n  slochd  air  thoisich  orm, 
Mo    thuigse    gearr-sheallach    thug    sibh    air 

seachran 
Jlheall    sibli  mo  chridhe  earbsach— Bha  mi 

Mo  shluagh  a  sgrios,   fo  dhurachd  maith  a 

GESSLER— A  leithid  de  ladarnachd  ri  d'  Thriath, 

'dhuin'oig? 
RUDKNTS— 'S  e  'n  t-Iompaire  mo  thighearna, 

cha  sibhse — 

Rugadh  cho  saor  ribh  fein  mi,  neo-air-thaing 
Mur  'eil  co-inbhe  again  ribh  mar  Ridir.  _ 
Mur  bitheadii  sibh  'an  so  'an  aimn  an  Righ 
!>'  an  toir  mi  urram.  ged  a  bheirear  m  isladh 
'N  'ur  riochd-sa  air,  thilginn  a  sios  a'  mheatag 
Mur  coinneamh,   agus  bhicdh  e  oirbh  mar 

fhiachadh 

Freagairt  a  thabhairt  a  reir  gnath  nan  Ruhr. 
Seadh,  sineidibh  air  bhur  marcaichean — Cha 

'n  'eil 


William  Tell. 


Mise  an  so  mar  iadsan— 

(A.'  sineadh  a  laimh  a  chum  an  t-sluaigh)— 

Gun  bhall-arm 
Tha  claidheamh  agam,  ma  thig  neach  'g  am 

choir 

STAUFFACHER  (a1  toirt  glaoidh)— Tha  'n  t-ubhal 

air  tuiteam  ! 

(Am  feadh  a  bha  aghaidh  a  h-uile  duine  air  a 
thionndadh  ris  an  taobh  so,  agus  a  thilg  Herta  i 
fein  eadar  Undents  agus  an  t-Uachdaran,  tha 
Tell  air  an  t-saighead  a  thilgeadh). 
RVOSSELM.AN— Tha  'n  giullan  beo  ! 
MORAN  GHUTHANNA  -Dh'  amais  e  air  an  ubhal  ! 
(Tha   Bhalter   Furst  gu  tuiteam  aim   an 

laigse,  Berta  a'  cutnail  taice  ris). 
GESSLER  (le  iongnadh)-Ciod  1    An  do  thilg  e 

air  ?    An  t-uamhas  duine  ! 
BERTA— Tha  'm  balachan  beo  !     Thigibh  d'  ur 

n-ionnsuidh  fein  ! 
BHALTER  TELL  (a'  tighinn  'na  leum  leis  an 

ubhal)- 

Athair,  so  an  t-ubhal  !  Xach  robh  f hios  again 
Nach  leonadh  sibh  gu  brath  'ur  balachan  fei.-'. 
(Tha  Tell  ag  aomadh  air  adhart  mar  gu  'n  robh 
a  shuilean  fathast  a'  leanachd  na  saighde— tha 
a  chrois-bhogha  a'  sleamhnachadh  gu  jar— an 
uair  a  tha  e  'faicinn  a  bhalachain  a'  tighiun  tha 
e  a'  greasad  'na  chomhail  le  gairdeannan  fosg- 
aiite,  agus  air  dlia  a  thogail  tha  e  'g  a  phasgadh 
gu  teann  ri  'bhroilleach  ;  tha  e  an  .sin  a'  cull  a 
neart  agus  gu  tuiteam  ann  an  laigse.  Tha 
cridhe  a  h-uile  duine  mu  'n  cuairt  air  a 
ghluasad). 

BERTA— Gu  'n  sealladh  Trocair  oirnn  ! 
BHALTER  FURST  (ri  Tell  agus  a  ghiullan)— 

Mo  chlann  !  mo  chlann  ! 
S  I'AUFFACHER— Moladh  gu'n  robh  do  JJhia  ! 
LEUTOLD— B'  i  sin  an  urchair  ! 
Theid  iomradh  oirre  gu  iinri  11.11  dheireadh  'n 

t-saoghail. 
RUDOLF  —  Theid    sgeul    a    dheanatnh    air    an 

t-sealgair  I  ell 

Fhad  's  a  bhios  bei'in  a'  seasamh  air  a  hunair. 
('I'ha  e  a' sineadh  an  ubhail  do  'n  Uachd- 

aran). 
GESSLER -Air  m'  fhacal,  air  a  sgoltadh  roimh'n 

teis-meadhoin  ! 
.Sar  obair  chuims'  da-rireadh.  bheir  mi  'cliliu 

dha. 
RAOSSELMAN  —  Tha    'n    urchair    taghtu.     ach 

an-aoibhinn  dhasan 
A  dli'  fhoirn  air  adbart  Tell  gu  Dia  a  bhuair- 

eadh  ! 
STAUFFACHER — 'Tell,  thig  g'  ad  dh'  ionnsuidh 

fein,  seas  air  do  chasan, 

Gu  duinell  dh1  fhuasgail  thu  thu  fein,  's  a  ni-; 
Gu    t-nor    '.s    gun    dochann    faodaiuh    tu   dol 

dachaidh. 

RAOSSELMAN- -Tiugainn,  a's  thoir  air  ai.s  do  'n 
mhathair  a  mac  ! 

('I'ha  iad  a'  feuchainn  a  thoirt  air  falhh  )eo). 
GESSLER— 'Tell,  ei.sd  rium  ! 
TELL    (a'    tilleadh)— Ciod,   a  mhriighstiv,  a  ha 

mhaith  leibh  ? 
GESSLER — Chuir  thu  'am  falach  saighead  eil'  ad 

chrios— 

Seadh,  chunnaic  mi  gu  maith  thu  !    C'ar  son 
a  bha  i 't 


TELL  (fq  amhluadh)— Tha  sin  'na  chleachd- 

uinn  aig  na  sealgairean. 
GESSLER— 'Tell,    cha  'n   e   sin  a  bh'  ann,  cha 

ghabh  mi  'n  fhreagairt  ; 

Bha  rud-eigiun  a  thuilleadh  ann  ad  bheachd  ; 
Abair  an  fhirinn  ghlan  gu  saor  a  inach 
A's  ciod  air  bith  e  tha  <!o  bheatha  cinnteach, 
C'ar  son  a  thug  thu  leat  an  dara  saighead  ? 
TELL — Mata,    a    mhaighstir,    o'n    a  rinn  sibh 

cinnteach, 

Mo  bheatha  dhomh  -bheir  mi  dhuibh  brod  na 
firinn. 

(Thi  e  a'  tarruing  na  saiyhde  as  a  chrios, 
agus  a  shuil  air  a'  Alhaor  le  sealladh 
eagallach). 

Na'm  biodh  a'  cheud  te  air  mo  leanabh  aleon, 
Chuirinn  an  dara  saighe.td  troiinh  'n  chridh' 

agaibhse, 

Air  chinnt  cha  rachainn  cearr  'an  amas  oirbhse. 
GESSLER  —  Seadh,   mata,   'Tell,  gheall  mi  do 

bheatha  dhuit, 

M'  fhacal  mar  Ridir  thug  mi,  gleidhidh  mi  i — 
Ach    air    do    dhroch-ruu    fhiosrachidh    cho 

deaibhta. 
Togaidh  mi  learn  thu,  's  theid  do  ghleidheadh 

tearuint' 

Far  nach  ruis  grian  no  gealach  ort  na  's  mo, 
'S  bidh  mise  tearuint'  o  na  saighdean  agad. 
Cuiribh  'an  sas  e  'Illean  !     Ceanglaibh  e  ! 

(Tha  iad  a'  ceangal  Tell). 
STAUFFACIIEK. — Ciod,  Uachdarain  !  Ni  sibh  mar 

so  ri  duine 

A  rinn  Lamb  Dhe  gu  follaiseach  a  dhion  ? 
GESSLER— Chi  sinn  an  saor  I  e  an  dara  uuir. 
Thugaibh  air  bord  mo  bhat'  e  ;    Leanaidh  mi 

sibh 

'Am  prioba,  bheir  mi  fein  thun  Cussnacht  e. 
RAOSSKLMAN  —  C'ha  'n   'eil    a  chridh'    agaibh, 

eadlion  an  t-Iompair', 

Ch:fn  'oil  a  chridh'  aige  a  leithid  a  dheanamh. 
Tha  sin  an  aghaidh  ar  litrichean-saorsa  ! 
GESSLER— Ach  c'ait'  am    l)heil  'ur  litrichean- 
saorsa  '.' 

An  d'rinn  an  t-Iompaire  an  tlaingnenchadh ? 
Cha   d'rinn  e  '11  dainsrneachadh.     Is  ann  tre 

umhlachd 

A  th;i  am  fabhar  so  agaibh  ri  'chosiiadh. 
Tha  'h  uiie  gin  aguibh  'n  'ur  ceannaircich 
AD  aghaidh  lagh  an  Jligh,  tha  sibh  a'  fadadh 
Kuintean  an-dana  ar-a-mach  a  dhoanamh. 
'S  aithno  dhomh  sibh — tha  mi  a'  faicinn  troimh 
A  h-uile  h-aon  agaibh  gu  soilieir — Ksan 
Tha  mi  a'  toirt  an  ceart-uair  as  bhur  meadhon, 
Ach  tha  sibh  uile  cjireach  cho  ma_ith  ris-san. 
Ksan  'tha  giic  'u  ?nr  mea.-g  ionnsuicheadh  e 
A  theanga' 'ghleidheadh,  agus  a  bin  umhil. 
(Tha  e  a'  fulbh,   Berta,  Rudents,  llarras, 
agus     na     gillcan      'ga     leanntuinn, 
Kriessharil  agus   Leutold   a'   fuiieach 
air  dei feadh). 

Bn.vi.'1'Kii  FI'RST  (ami  an  cradh  genr  cridhe)— 
Tha  t1  air  falbli  ;  tha  e  s-in  deigh  cuir  roiniii', 
]\Ii  fein  aans  mo  theaghlach  uile  'sgrios  ! 
STAL'Ki-'AC'HER  (ri  Tell)— C'ar  son  a  chuir  thu  'm 

beisd  cho  faiia  cliuige  ! 
TELL  —Am  fear  a  dh'  fhuiling  cradh  cho  goirt  ri 

'm  chradh-sa 
Ceannsaicheadh  'se  e  fein  ma  's  urrainn  e 


334 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


STAUFFACHER— O,  tha  na  h-uile  gin  againn  'an 

geimhlibh  ! 
MUINNTIR  -  DUTHCHA   (a'    dluthachadh    mu  'n 

cuairt  air  Tell) — 

Ardochas  deirionnach  tha  caillte  leatsa. 
LEUTOLD  (a'  tighinn  dluth)— Tell,  's  duilich  learn 

— Acb  feumaidh  mi  'bhi  urahal. 
TELL— Mo  bheannachd  leibb  ! 
BHALTER  TELL  (le  briste-cridhe,  a'  cur  a  lamhan 

m'  a  mhuineal)— 

O,  m'athair  !     M'  athair  laghach  ! 
TELL  (a'  togail  alaimh  gu  neamh) — 'S  aim  shuas 

an  sud  'tha  d' at  hair  !     Amlmirc  ris-san  ! 
STAUFFACHER  —  'Tell,   nach  'eil  guth  agad  ri 

chur  gu  d'  mhnaoi  ? 

TELL  (a'  teannachadh  a  bhalachan  ri  'uchd)— 
Tha  'n   giu'lan  slan ;    dhomhsa  bheir  I)ia  a 

chomhnaclh. 

(Tha  e  'g  a  fhuaseladh  feiu  uapa  gu  grail 
agus  a'  leanachd  an  Luchd  airm). 

AN  CEATHRAMH  FARRANN.  A'  CHEUD  ROINN 
An  Cladach  air  taohh  an  ear  Loch-nan -ceithir 
— Siorramachdan— Coillteaoh.  Tha  sgnirr  vgus 
stalhchnn  cas  an  taobh  an  iar  a'  dunadh  a  stigh 
an  t-seallaidh.  Tha  luaspadh  air  an  Loch,  tha 
srann  nil  gaoithe.  signs  -bisreadh  nan  Unn  a' 
dol  na  's  airde  an  drasoa  's  a  riMiis  tha  ti-in'- 
athair  pgus  tairneanach  aim. 

Cuns  o  Ghersau,  lasgnir  agus  a  Bhalachan. 
CUNS— Chunnfiie  mi  e  le  'm  shnilean,  creidibh 

mi, 

Thachair  e  uile  mar  a  dh'  inn's  mi  dhuibh. 
IASC;  AIR— Jell  air  a  thoirt  'na  phriosanach  do 

i  bussnacht, 

An  duine  '!.»'  'hearr 's  an  tir,  an  lamh  'bu  treine 
Ach  sinn  !i  sheasudh,  suas  ;;ir  son  :ir  saorsa. 
CU.NS— Tha  'm  Baillidii  fhein 'g  a  thoirt  li-is  th-a- 

an  Loch, 

Bha  i  M!  a'  deanamh  dons  gu  dol  air  bord 
Air    dhomh     Fiue'.cn   fh'igai!  ;     ach    ma   dh' 

fhaoidte 
Gu  'n   d'  rinn   an   stoinn,   a   tha   gu  orn.s  ag 

eiridli, 

'S  a  chuir  mi  fein,  trim  taing,  an  so  ;.-iv  ?ir 
^iiiii'i'i';:!  a   chur  'nan  car  narh  (;'flrv:iv  i;id 

yeoladh. 
IASGAIK — rj\-ll  aim  an  gehyihlihh  ana  an  laiinh 

a'  Mhtu.ir  S 

Tlv-id  >i  cluir,  creid  mi,  domhain  gu  leoir  fo  Iha 
N  ;ch  !'iiic  t  solus  ;-e:ii  :in  i  uiui  tuilleailh  ! 
A  cliioi'n  I  idh  gvi!t  air-.san  a  ruig  rlio  :'.;o"rt  e, 
R(  i7n!i    a    dl:i  ;;'h:iltas   ceart   :ia  'iu    I'io-.ili  e 

fuasgailte. 
Ci:>s— '.i'li-',.  '-r  sean  I?ia«Ii!ai:',  cuideric];d.  i;hu;Ua 

mi, 

Tvi:;th  A{iin;,]':iusr']i,  nir  :\  ltiril':'i-bli.:ii.s. 
lAS(!Aiu — i'ri  ca.r  m:  1 1  av  n-acair  f-li  ivc  n^vuli, 
'I'll. i  aige-nan  a  mhain  ;i  chi-i^h'  .1  ^nuh 
A  i-lio'i'ii!  mias  guc'-ir  an  t-sluai<;h  a  tb 
Ci:v,  -'ii'ii   '.,;::  iili  ir.n   air  lan-n  iclsd  it    fhaot- 

siinn;  wlunleibh; 
Thcid    mi>'  a   \~ull    <!•;   'n   Ciil;ich.;:i   isiv   son 

fioidhcaclul  ; 
Clia  ;ii  '<  il  msiiih  smuainteachailh  ;ih-  faibh  an 

dnigh. 

IASGAIR— Tha  Tell  an  sas,  tha- 'in  Jiaran  inaith 
a  caochladh  ! 


Togaidh  Ainneart  gu  ladarna  a  ceann, 
Tilgidh  i  nair  a's  naisneachd  tur  air  chul ; 
Tha  beul  na  firinn  a's  a'  cheartais  balbh, 
An  t-suil  gheur  air  a  dalladh,  an  gairdean  sin 
A  bheireadh    fuasgladh    dhuinn   'an    slabh- 

ruidhean  ! 
AM    BALACHAN  — Tha   e    'cur   clach-mheallain 

throm.     Thigibh  a  stigh 
Do  'n  bhothan,  athair  ;  cha  'n  'eil  comhfhurt- 

achd 

Fuircach  'an  so  's  an  tigh  cho  fo^gailte. 
IASGAIR — ScMdibh,  a.'  ghaoithean  !    Boillsgibh,  a 

dheulanaich  ! 

Sgnltaibh  o  cheiV,  'nenla  !     Doirtibh  a  nuas 
A  shruithean  neinib,  cuiribh  an  tir  fo  dhilinn, 
Sgriosaibh  's  an  eitein  ginealach  naeh  d'  rug- 

adh  ! 

Gabhfubh,  a  dhuile  borba,  tighearnas  ; 
Tillibh  air  ais  gu'r  dachaidh  amis  an  fh^sach 
A  mhangana,  agus  a  mhadaidh  alluidh, 
Is  !eihh  an  duthaich.     Co  againn  le  'in  b'  aill 
Fuireach  as  eugnihais  saorsa  anns  an  ai^e  ! 
BALACIIAN — Fisdibh  ri  goil  a'  chaoil,  ri  beuchd 

na  cuairt-ghaoith, 
]i  iamb  cha  robh  dairirich  coltach  ris  'sa  ghlaic 

so  ! 
IASGAIR— Air  ccann    a  leir.ibh  fein  cuimse   a 

ghabhail, 

Riamh  roimh'  cha  deach  orduchadh  do  athair  ? 
Agus  cha'n  eirich  Nadur  aim  an  corruich. 
A    su:s  'n    a    aghaidh  —  O,    cha    trhabhainn 

iongnadh 

Na  stallachan  sin  fhaicinn  thun  an  T.och 
TJan  aomadh  fein,  na  pguir  ml  shuas, 
Baidealan    reodht'  na    h-eigh,    air    nach  do 

dhruigh 

An  t-ait^amh  ri'imh  o  L.\  a  chruthachaidh, 
Bho  'm  binnein  ard  a  leagliadh  mar  a'  clit  ir. 
Na   beiimtan   air  an  .sgoltadh,  na  sleanntan 

ciar 

'(i  am  Hlle-.idh  air  a  rhei!',  no  tuil  a  sgrios, 
An   dara  uair,   gach  cnrahnuidh  dh  ;oin'  a'r 

thala!i:h  ! 

(Tha  gliongarsairh  air  a  cliluinutinn). 
AM  BALACHAN— Kisdibh,   tha  ciag  a'   buakuih 

air  an  aoi!^i,lh, 

Ci-mt'.Mch  tha  iad  a'  fnicmn  bnt'  an  cunnart, 
'H  tii  i  'ji   dag  'g-i.ii  ti-usadii  air  sen  urnuigh 

'dheanamh. 
lASfjAiu— .Mo  thruaigh,  an  loiv;-  a  th'  far  a  sligh' 

an  ft'.ut-n.iir 

'G'a  tulgidh  aims  ?„'  chreadhail  eagallaich  so  ! 
Stiuir  cha  .loan  ffam  a  so,  an  st;nr^'i,;ir 
liithi-ili,  e  fein,  fo  i  heannsal  aigan  doinnionn. 
Chn'chiiifi  a'  ghaoth's  na  tonnan  !eis  av  duine 
Mar  gu  'm  bu  chnioi\a  e — Am  fad  's  :n<i  f^gus 
<rha'n  'i'ii  aon  chamus  anns  am  f-ii/jh  e  fa-^adh  ! 
<:\\  corrach  doi;bb_,  ;>u  eiridli  ard  fa '(homhair, 
Tin,  crcno-an  gru:an:ich,  air  nach  f ocgail  dorus, 
Ap  togail  aodann  d;:r  iH^'-bhM.ighci-  ri-;. 
AM  R\L.*CHAN  (a,'  sf>allt'unn  ris  an  laimh  chli) — 

A;  li  lir  !      -  in  lon^  a'  lij'iijiii  a  Fluelen  ! 
IASI;  \iu--Dia  a  th-i-L  C"iuhnadh  do  na  daoine 

bocbda! 
Aon    uair  's  gn  'n  ;<lae    a'  churnhann  so  a' 

ghaillionn 
Le  rutliao'i  sadaidh  i  mu  'n  cuairt   s  mu  'n 

cuairt  air, 
Mar  a  ni  leomhan,  ann  a  gharradh  iaruinn 


William  Tell. 


335 


Casadh  gun  tamh,  a's  cath  an  aghaidh  nan 

crann, 
Aig  sireadh  doruis  dha  le  beuchdaich  dhiomh- 

ain  ; 

A  chionn  tha  balla  ailbhinn  thun  an  speur 
'Ga  druideadh  air  gach  t?obh  's  a  Bhealach  so. 
BALACHAN— Birlinn  a'  Mhaoir,  's  i  th'  ana  bho 

Uri,  athair, 

Faicibh  am  mullach  dearg  oirre,  's  'm  bratach. 
IASGAIR— A  cheartais  Dhe  !    'S  e  fein  a  th'  aim 

gu  cinnteach, 

An  t-  Cachdaran,  a  tha  tighinn  thar  an  aiseig — 
Sud  e  a'  seolacth  agus  th-.i  a  chionta 
Aige  'ga  giulan  leis  air  bord  ni  luinge  ! 
Fhuair    gairdean    diogh'ltais    e    a    mach    gu 

h-ealamh, 

Tuigidh  e  gu  bheil  Uachdaran  's  treise 
Thairis  air  fein  a  nis.     Cha  toir  na  tonnan 
Feart  air  a  ghuth  ;  a»us  cha  chrom  na  creag  ui 
An  ceann  gu  modhail  ris  an  aid  aige— 
A  laochain,  na  dean  urnuigh,  na  dean  greirn 
Air  Laimh  a'  Bhreitheimh,  gu  bacadh  a  chur 

oirre  ! 
AM  BALACIIAN — f  ha  'n  ann  air  son  an  Uachd- 

arain  'tha  mi  'g  urnuigh, 

Ach  air  son  Tell,  a  th' air  an  t-soitheach  leis. 
IASGAIR— Mo    thraaigh,    neo-reusantachd    nan 

duilean  dall  ! 

A  cliionn  nach  fend  aon  pheacach  faighinn  as, 

An  sgrios  Thu  'n  stiundair  corah  'ris  an  Jong? 

AM     BALACHAN — Faicibh,     flmair    iad     seach 

BuggHgrat  gu  tearuint' 

Ach  thilg  a'  ghaoth,  a  slieid  a  rnias  cho  laidir 

Bho  'n  Chrannaig-dhuibh,  air  ai.->  a  rithisd  iad 

Gu  Acsenberg.    Cha'n'eil  mi  nis  'gaiu  fai  'inn. 

IASGAIR— Tha  iad  a'  dluth .ichadh  ri-s  an  Sgim- 

bhearnach, 
Far  am  bheil  uibhii1  bhataichoan  'g  am  brise- 

adh, 

Mur  oibrich  iad  an  long  mu'u  cuairt  gu  seolta 
Theid  i  'na  sgionabhagan  aig  Uisge-Flue 
A  tha  a'  rui.h  mar  bheirm  a  stigh  's  an  Loch. 
Tha  'n  radha  stiuradair  air  bord  aca, 
Na  'in  b'  urrainn  duiu'  an   teasr>iiginn,   b'  e 

Tell  e  ; 
Ach  tha  a  lamh  's  a  ghairdean-san  'an  geinih- 

lean. 

Uillcam  Tell  leis  a  chrois-bhogha. 
Tha  e  a'  tighinn  air  adhart  le  ceumaa  ealamh, 
ag   amharc   mu  'n   cuairt   le   iongantas   agus  a' 
nochdfidh  gu  bheil  fhaireachduinnean   air   an 
gluasad   air   an   doigh   'is   laidire.       Tha   e   'ga 
thilgeadh  fein  air  an  lar,  le  a  lamhan  sinte  a,ir 
an  talainh  agus  an  sin  air  an  togail  a  suas  gu 
neamh. 
AM  BALACIIAN  (a'  toirt  an  aire  dha)— Co  'm  fear 

'tha  stid,  athair,  a  th'air  a  ghluinnean? 
IASGA  R — Tha  a  kmhan  ris  an  lar  a'  greimeach- 

adh 

A's  tha  e  mar  gu 'm  bi(;dh  e  thar  a  bheachd. 
AM  BALACHAN  (a'  tighinn  air  adhart)— 'Dj  tha 

mi  'faicinn?     Athair,  thigibh  an  so  ! 
IASGAIR  (a'  dlathachidh  ris)— Co  'th'ann?    A 

Thighearna  Neimh  !     'S  e  'I'ell  a  th'  aim  ! 
Ciamar  a  thainig  sibh  an  so  ?    O,  innsibli  ! 
AM  BALACHAN— Nach  robh  sibh   ceangailt'  ac' 
air  bord  na  birlinn  ? 


IASGAIR— Cha  robh  sibh  air  'ur  toirt  air  falbh 

do  Chussnacht  ? 
TELL  (ag  amharc  mu  'n  cuairt  air) — Fhuair  mi 

dol  as. 
IASGAI  u  's  am  BALACHAN— Dol  as  !  O,  miorbhuil 

Dhe! 

AM  BALACII-VN— Co  as  a  fhuair  sibh  'so  ? 
TELL— Fhuair  as  a'  hhata. 
IASGAIR — Ciod? 

AM  BALACIIAN— C'aite  'bheil  am  Maor? 
TELL — Air  bharr  nan  t  ;nn. 
IASGAIR— Am  bheil  e  comasach  ?    Ach  sibhse  ? 
Ciamar  a  flmair  sibh  saor  o  gheimhlean  a's  o 

ghailli.inn? 
TELL — Fhuair   fcrid  roimh-eolas  grasmhor  Dhe. 

Ach  eisdibh  ! 

IASG.MR  's  am  BALACHAN— O,  innsibh,  innsibh  ! 
TELL— Am  bheil  tins  agaibh 

A  h-uile  ni  mar  'thachair  dhorah  aig  Altorf  ? 
IASGAIR— A  h  uile  car  dheth,  rachaibh  air  'ur 

n-adkart. 
TELL—  Gu  'n  d'rinn  am  Maor  mo  chur  an  sas,  's 

mo  cheangal, 
'8  gu  'n  robh  e  los  mo  thoirt  air  falbh  do 

Chussnacht? 
IASGAIR— '8  gu  'n  deachaidh  e  air  bord  leibh  aig 

Fluelen, 

'S  airhne  dhomh  'h-uile  diog.     Innsibli  a  nis 
Ciamar  a  fhuair  sibh  teicheadh  as  an  t-saoith- 

each? 

TLLL— Bha  mi  's  a  bliat'  am  luidhe,  ceangailte 
Le  iall-ui  teann,  gun  airm,  air  -luil  a  thoirt 
A  suas  gu  buileach.     Cha  robh  h'ugliair  again 
Gu  'm  f  liciini,  tuilleadh,  solus  aoibhinn  latha 
No    aghaidh    chaoimh    mo    cheile,    a's    mo 

chloinne, 
">s  le  mnlad  sheall  mi  air  an  fhonn  mu'n  cuairt 

dnmh 

IASGAIII— A  dliuiue  thruaigh  ! 
TKLL--Sheol  sinn  m-ir  sin,  air  falbh, 
Am  Maor,  Rudolf  o  Ilarras  a's  na  gillean. 
Ach  bha  mo  bhogh-sa,  leis  a'  bhalg-shaighead, 
Shio.s  aims  an  deireadh,  direach  aig  an  stiuir. 
'S  air  dhuiim  tighinn  thun  ua  glaice  sin  troimh 

'in  bheil 

An  Acsen-bheag  a'  ruith,  aig  ordugh  Freasdail 
Jiliris  oiran,  a  nuas  o  dchlais  chiar  a  Ghotaird, 
Doinnioun  cho  mhortach,  ghabhaidh,  a  dail- 

adh  oirnn 
(fu  'a  d'  fhailnicli  cridhe  gach  fear-stluir  a 

bii'  againn, 

'S  shaoil  sinn  gu'n  robh  sinn  uile  ri  clol  fodha. 
Cliuaia  mi  'n  sin  h-aou  de  na  seirbheisich, 
A  tionndadh  ris  a"  Mhaoir,  's  ag  radhainn  ris  : 
A  mhauhstir,  tlia  sibh  'coin  fainearna  h-eitiinn 
'.S  am  l)heil  sibh  fein  a's  sinue,  gu  blieil  sinn 
Tliar  bruach  na  siorruidheachd  air  a's  dheth 

'gar  n-iomain  ; 

Tha  'n  sgioba  air  an  ciall  a  chall  le  li-eagal, 
'S  a  thuilleadhaira  sin,  cha'n'eil  iad  eolach — 
Ach,  feuchaibh,  is  duine  Itiidir  Uilleam  Tell, 
Anus  is  aithne  dasan  bat'  a  stiuradk— 
'De  theireadh  sil)h  a  nis  ri  'chur  gu  feum, 
(id    comhnadh    a   thoirt   dhuinn   'an   am  air 

n-airc? 
Thionndaidh  am  Maor  rium— Tell,  na'm  biodh 

tu  earbsach 

Ar  toirt  gu  sabhailt  as  a'  ghaillionn  so, 
Bheirinn  gu  deonach  dhiot  na  ceanglaicheau  i 


336 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


A's  fhreagair   mi  —  "Le   comhnaclh    Dhe,    a 

mhaighstir, 

Dh'  earbainn  'ur  tpirt  gu  tearuint'  as  a  so." 
Fhuair  mi,  mar  sin,  cuidhteas  de  'm  chuibh- 

richean ; 
Ghlac  mi  an  stiuir  '$  chaidh  sinn  gu  reidh  air 

adhart. 
Ach  bha  mi  'siaradh  daonnan  thun  na  leth- 

taobh, 
Far  an  robh  m'  airm  'nan  luidhe,  's  bha  'mi 

gleidheadh 

Suil  bhiorach,  fad  na  h-uine,  air  a'  bhruaich, 
Gu  leum  a  mach  cho  luath  's  a  gheibhinn 

cothrom. 

'S  air  toirt  an  aire  dhornh  do  bhile  creige 
A  bh'  air  sron  chorrach,  a  ruith  a  mach  's  an 

Loch  - 
IASGAIR — Aig  cas  na  h-Acsen-mhoir,  's  aithne 

dhomh  i, 
Ach  cha  do  shaoil  mi  e  bhi  comasach — 

Tha  i  cho  cas — 'leum  oirre  as  a'  bhata 

TELL— Dh'  orduich  mi  do  na  balaich  iad  a  dh' 

iomram 

Gu  sgiobalta  gu  taobh  na  sroine  ud 
"  An  sin,"  ghlaoidh  mi,  "  tha  'chuid  a's  miosa 

thains  !" 
Le  sgriob  chaidh  sinn  a  stigh  's  ruig  sinn  a 

cliathaich  ; 

Ghuidh  mi  gras  Dhe  'bhi  learn,  uile  spionnadh 
in'  anina 
Chuir  mi  's  gach  feith  a's  cuisle,  deireadh  a' 

bhata 
Dhinn  mi    cho  teann    's  a  ghabhadh  ris  a' 

chreig, 
Sgiab  mi  learn  m'  airm,  thug  mi  'n  duibh-leum 

ud  thairis, 
'S  le  stailceadh  garbh  de  m'  chois  'an  cuir  mo 

chuil, 
Shleamhnaich  an   sgoth  air  ais  do  'n  clioire 

ghoileach — 

Tuilgadh  i  air  na  tonnan,  ma  's  toil  Dhe  e  ! 
Fhuair  inise  'n  so  sabhailte  as  an  stoirm, 
'S  o  chumhachd  dhaoine-rud'ia  miosa  fathast. 
IASGAIR— 'Tell,  tha  an  Tighearna  air  miorbhuil 

shoilleir 

Oibreachadh  air  do  shon  ;  cha  rn  urrainn  mi 
Fathast  ach  gann  mo  shuilean  fein  a  chreid- 

sinn— 

Ach,  abair,  c'aite  'bheil  thu  'dol  a  nis  ? 
Tearuinteachd  chi    bhi    ami    dhuit  anns   a' 

chearn  so 
Aon  uair  's  gu 'm  faigh  am  Maor  slan  as  a' 

ghaillinn. 

TELL— Chuala  mi  e  ag  radh  ri  cuideiginn, 
'Nuair  bha  mi  'm   shineadh    ceangailte  's  a 

bhata, 

Gu  'n  robh  e  toileach  dol  air  tir  aig  Brunnen, 
Agus  mo  thoirt  thar  Suits  do  'n  daingneach 

aige. 

IASGAIR  —An  ann  air  tir  a  theid  e  fad  an  rathaid? 
TELL— 'S  e  sin  a  bheachd. 
IAM.JAIR — Folaich  thu  (ein,  mata, 
Gun  dail,  a  chionn  cha  dean  am  Freasdal 
Do  chuideachadh  an  dara  uair  o  'laiinli. 
TELL— Seol  dhomh  an  t-ath-ghoiiid  thun  Arth 

a's  Cussnacht. 
IASGAIR— Tha 'n  rathad-mor  a'  dol  thar  Arth  a's 

Stcinen, 
Ach  tha  sligh'  eil'  i?  uaigneiche  's  'is  giorra 


Thar    Lobherts,    seolaidh   'n    giullan    agam 

dhuit  i. 

TELL  (a'  beirsinn  air  laimh  air) — Dia  a  thoirt 
paigheadh  dhuit.  Mo  beannachd  leat. 

(Tha  e  a'  fhalbh,  agus  a'  tilleadh  air  ais). 
Nach  robh  thu  aig  an  Kutli  comh'ri  each  ? 
Tha  learn  gu'n  deachaidh  d'ainm-sa  ainmeach- 

adh. 
IASGAIR — Bha  mi  an  sin,  a's  ghabh  mi  orm  na 

boidean. 
TELL — Nochd  dhomh  an  caoimhneas  so  mata  ; 

gun  teid  thu 
Gu  Biirglen  ;  tha  mo  bhean  gu  truagh  mu  'm 

dheigiiinn, 

Inn's  dh'i  gu  bheil  mi  tearuinte,  's  am  falach. 
IASGAIR— Ach  c'ait'  an  abair  mi  'tha  sibh  a' 

teicheadh. 
TELL  —  Gheibh  thu  m'  athair-ceile   leatha,  's 

feadhain  eile 

A  cluidh  fo  blioidean  comhla  aig  an  Rutli — 
Biodh  iad  'am  misneach  mhaith,   a's  biodh 

iad  tapaidh, 

Tha  gairdean  Tell  'na  chomas  fein  a  rithis  ; 
Cha  'n  fhad  ach  gus  an  cluinn  iad  tuilleadh 

umam. 
IASGAIR— 'D  e  tha 'n  'ur  beachd  ?    Innsibh  gu 

saor  dhomh  e. 
TELL — Aon  uair  's  gu  bheil  e  deanta  gheibh 

sibh  tios  air. 
IASGAIR— Cuir  air    an    t-sligh'    e,    'lenni — Dia 

'dhol  leis  ! 
Bheir  e  gu  crich  an  rud  a  chuir  e  roimhe. 

(Tha  iad  a'  falbh). 

A'  CEATIIRAMH  EARRANN.    AN  DARA  ROINN. 

Aros  Attinghausen. 

Am   Baran   'na  luidhe    air    beinge  mhor,   a 
faotainn  a  l>hais.     Bhalter  Furst,  Stauffacher, 
jMelchdal,  agus  Baumgarten  a'  frithealadh  dha. 
Bhalter  ! 'ell  air  a  ghluinnean  laimh  ris. 
BHALTKR  FURST— Tha  a  chrioch  air  tighinn, 

tha  e  seachad  leis. 
STAI  i-'FACHER— Tha  leam-sa  nach  e  coltas  bais 

a  tli'  air — 

Seall,  tha  an  iteag  air  a  bhile  'gluasad. 
'J  ha  'cliadal  ciuin  's    tha  aoigh  thairis    air 
'aodann. 
(Tha  Baumgarten  a'  dpi  thun  an  doruis 

agus  a'  bruit!  hinn  ri  cuideiginn). 
FURST  (ri  Paumgarten)— Co  th'  ann  ? 
BAUMGARTEN —Bean  Uilleam.     Deanaibhguth 

rithe  ; 

Tha  toil  aice  an  giullan  fhaicinn  cuideachd. 
BHALTKR  FURST— An    urrainn  domhsa   comh- 

fhurtachda  thoirt  dh'  i? 

Am  bheil  e  again  fein  '!  Nach  'eil  gach  doruinn 
"Sa  bheatha  so  'ga  charnadh  air  mo  cheann  ? 
HEDBHIG  (a' pucadh  a  stigh)— C'aite 'bheil  mo 
leanabh  ?    J-eigibh  learn, 

Feumadh  mi  fhaicinn 

STAUFFACHER— Cumaibh  oirbh  fein,  a  bhean  ! 
Cuimhnichibh  gur  e  tigh  a'  bhais  's  am  bheil 

sinn  

IlEDbiiiG  ('ga  tilgeadh  fein  air  muineal  a'  bhal- 
achain)— Mo  Bhalti  fhein  !  A's  tha  thu  beo 
agam  ! 

BHALTER  (a'  cur  a  lamhan  timchioll  oire)— Mo 
mhathair  bhochd  ! 


William  Tell. 


337 


HEDBHIG— Am  bheil  an  fhirinn  ann  ? 
Nach  d'  thainig  ni  ruit  ? 

(Ag  amharc  gu  durachdach  air). 
'S  a'  bheil  e  comasaeh 

Am  b'  urrainn  e  da  rireadh  feuchain-i  ort  ? 
Ciaraar  a  b'  urrainn  e  ?   O,  cha'n  'eil  cridh'  aige, 
Air  ceann  a  leinibh  fein  saighead  a  thiigeadh  ! 
BIIALTER    FURST— Rinn  e    le    goimh  e  a  bha 

'fasgadh  an  ma. 

Gun  a'h'irrach  a'g'  air,  b'e  pris  a  hheath'  e. 
HEDBHIG— O,   na  'n  robh  cridhe  athar  ann  a 

chom, 

Mu'n  deanamh  e  a  leithid  sinn  de  gniomh 
B'e  'm  bas  a  roghnaicheadh  e  m  le  uair  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Bu  choir  dhuibh  freasdal  gras- 
mhor  De  'a  mholadh, 

A  threoraich  e  cho  maith 

HEDBHIG— An  urrainn  domh-sa 
A  dhi-chuimhneachadh  mar  a  dh'fhaodadh 

tachairt  ! 

O,  ged  a  bhithinn  beo  gu  ceithir-fichead 
Cha  tig  an  latha  'ieigeas  mi  a'm  shuil  e  — 
Am    paisde    chi    mi   'chaoidh   'na    sheasamh 

ceangailt' 

A's  athair  leis  a  bhoglri  a  tarruing  air. 
MKLCHDAI. — A  bhean,  am  fios  duibii  mar  a  ruig 

am  Maor  e  ? 
HEDBHIG— O,  cridhe  garg  nam  fear  !     Ma  theid 

'ur  n-uabhar 

A  ghortachadh  clia'n  fhiu  leibh  ni  'na  dhoigh  ; 
'N  'ur  corruich  dhall,  iobraidh  sibh  aims  a 

chleas 

Cridhe  na  mathar  agus  ceann  an  leinibh  ! 
BAUMGARTEN — Nach  cruaidh  gu  leoir  leibh  [cor 

an  duin'  agaibh 
Gun    tuilleadh    a    chur   ris    le    trod,    '.s   cur- 

iomchoir '.' 

Xach  'eil  smua.int'  idir  air  a  dh(Mi.ci;ai:ni-.--:ui? 
HEDBHIG  (a  tionndadh  agus  a  spleuchdadh  air)— 
Nach  'eil  acb  deoir  ri  thairgse  ag  id-sa 
'S  do  charaid  ann  an  ca.s  ?   C'ait'  ;>ii  r./bh  thusa 
An  uair  a  cheangail  iad  an  sar  le  ialLui  '! 
C'aite  an  robh  do  chomhnadh-sa  an  .-in? 
Gu  socrach  ghabh  thn  ealla  ri  do  chara;d 
'G  a  ghiulan  as  'ur  measg — Am  b'  aim  mar  sin 
A  luimhsich  Tell  's  na  cuisean  agadsa  ? 
Seadh,  an  do  shea-1  e  a  'cur  dheth,  's  a  bron 
An  uair  a  bha  luchd-eicha  Mlni"ir  ad  dheigh, 
'ri  air  thoiseaeh  ort  an  Loch,  an  caoir,  a  beachd- 

fdch ''! 
Cha   b'  ann  le  deura  faoin  a  ghabh  e  truas 

dhiot, 

A  stigh  de'n  bhata  leum  e,  cha  robli  guth  air 
A    bhean    no  'chlat.n,   a's  thug  e  fuasgladh 

dhuit 

BIIALTER  FURST-   Ciod  a  bha  ami  ar  comas-ne 

a  dheanamh 
Gu   'thoirt  o'n  lamhan — aireamh    cho    beag 

dhinn  ann, 

Agus  as  eugmhais  airm? 
HicOBiliG  ('ga  tilgeadh  fein  air  a  bhroilleach)-- 

0,  m'  athair  b< did  ! 

Agus  tha  sibh.se,  cuideachd,  ait  a  chall  ! 
'S  an  tir  gu  h-iomlan,  chaill  sinii  e  air  fad  ! 
Tha  e  'na  dhith  d.'iuinn  idle  ;  och^n  miso, 
Thasinne  'dhith  air-san  !   J)ia  'ga  neartachadb, 
Nach  faigh  eu-dochas  aite  ann  a  chridhe  ! 
Caoimhneas  aon  charaid  beo  cln  ruig  am  feasd 


A  sios  d'a    ionnsuidh  'n   iochdar   dubh   an 

daingnich — 

Na  'm  fasadh  e  gu  tinn  !  O,  's  cinnteach  e  ! 
Bheir  duhhra  tais  a  phriosain  trioblaid  air  ; 
Mar  fhraoch  nan  cruach,  a  chailleas  dath  a's 

dreach 
Ma  theid  a  thoirt  o'n  bhruaich  's  a  chur  's  an 

uinneig 

Cha  tig  e  beo  ach  ann  an  suil  na  grein, 
Ag  ol  mar  iocshlaint  anail  ghlan  nam  fuar- 

bheann. 
JCsan  'ai>   geimhlean  !    'S  i  'n  t-saorsa  anail 

anma, 

Cha'n  f  han  e  beo  'an  tochar  nan  toll-dubh  ud  ! 
STAUFFACHKR— Na  gabh  cho  bras  e.    Ni  sinn 

nil'  ar  dichioll 

Gu  a  phriosan  fhosgladh  dha. 
HEDBHIO— Ciod  a  ni,sibhse,a'sgunesan  agaibh? 
J>ha  dochas  ann  fhad'  sa  bha  Tell  aig  saorsa, 
AH  sin  bha  caraid  aig  an  neo-chionta. 
'S    Fear-corn hnaidh    aige-san    a  dh'  fhuiling 

ainneart, 

Bheireadh  Tell  fuasgladh  dogach  aon  agaibh, 
Cha  d'  thug  sibh.  uile  comhladh  fuasgladh 

dbasan  ! 
BAUMOARTEX— Cuisdibh  !    Tha  e  'toirt  carach- 

adh  air  fein. 
ATTIMGIIAUSEN  (a  suidhe  suas)— C'ait'  am  bheil 

c  ? 

S'l'Al   I-  TAG  HER — Co  ? 

ATTINGIIAUSEN— Tha  e  gj  am  dhiobradh, 

(Tarn  threigsinn  aig  a  mliionaid  dheirionnach  ! 
STAUFFACHER — 'S  e  'm  fear  og  a  tha  'na  bheachd 

•  -an  deachaidh  ties  air? 
BiiM.TKH    FURST— Chaidh    cur  g'a    iarruidh— 

(i  lacaibh  comhfhurtachd, 
l''huair  e  a.ithn'  air  a  chiidhc,  is  leinn  fein  e. 
ATTINGHAUSEX— Bhruidhinne  suas,  thuirt  sibh, 

air  ^on  a  dhuthcha? 
STAUFFACHER— Le  geire  ghaisgeil. 
ATTiNtiiiAUSEN — ("'arson  nach  'eil  e  'tigliinn 
'ri  gu'n  toirinn  dha  mo  bheannachd  dheirionn- 

ach? 

Tlia  mi  a  faireachduinn  na  criche  dluth. 
STAUFFACHER— Ni  h-uadh,  a  mhaighstir  uasail, 

i'inn  an  cadal 
Dlnir  n-urachadh,  a's  tha  'ur  sealladh  beo- 

thail. 
ATTKNGHAUSEN— Far  am  bheil  cradh  thabeatha, 

dh'  fhag  an  cradh  mi, 

Tha  in'  amhghar  air  dol  seachad,   mar  mo 
dhochas, 

(Tha  e  a'  toirt  an  aire  do  'n  bhalachan) 
Co  leis  an  giullan  ? 

BHALTFR  FURST— Thugaibh  'urbeannachd  dha  ! 
ri  e  m'  oglia  e,  a's  tha  e  'nis  gun  athair. 

(Tha  Hedbhig  agus  am  balachan  a  tuiteam 
air  an  gluinean  fa  chomhair  an  t-sean- 
duine). 
A'rTiN(;iiAUSF.x— 'N  'ur  dileachdain  tha  mi  'g  'ur 

fagail  uile, 

A  h-uile  gin  agaibh— Mo  thruaighe  mi, 
(iur  li-e  an  sealladh  deirionnaeh  air  tlialamh 
A  fhuair  mo  shuil,  mo  dhuthaich  a'  dol  t'odha  ! 
Lan  clirich  mo  bhliadhn'  a  ruigeachd,  auus  leo 
Gach  dachas  ait  a'  dol  a  sios  uo'n  uaigb  learn  ! 
STAUFFACHER  (ri  Bhalter  Furst)— An  kigsinn 
falbh  !ois  nnns  a  mhulad  throm  so? 

24 


338 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Soillsicheamaid  uair  dheirionnach  a  bheatha 
Le    dealradh  blath  ar    dochais—  Air   Triath 

ionmhuinn, 
Togaibh  a  suas  'ur  n-inntinn  !    Oir  cha'n  'eil 

sinn 

Gu  buileach  air  ar  treigsinn,  na  cho  caillte 
Nach  faodar  fathast  f  uasgladh  fhaotainn  leinn 
ATTINGHAUSEN—  Co  a  bheir  fuasgladh  dhuibh? 
BHALTER  FURST—  Ar  lamhan  fein. 
Eisdibh  !    Tha  na  tri  duthchanna  air  cordadh 
Gu'n  cuidich  iad  gu  h-iomlan  an  luchd-foir- 

neirt, 
Tha  'n  cumhnant  naisgte  ;  thug  sinn  bold  d'a 

cheile. 

Mu'n  toisich  cursa  na  bliadhn'-uir  air  ruith, 
Thatar  ri  dol,  le  dluigh,  au  taic  na  h-oibre, 
Gabhaidh    bhur  duslach    fois  'an    duthaich 

shaor. 
ATTINGHAUSEN—  O,  'bheil  a  cho-bhoinn  air  a 

co-dhunadh  ? 

MELCHDAL—  Eiridh  na  tri  duthchanna  le  cheile 
Air  an  aon  latha  ;  tha  sinn  uile  deas, 
(Jhaidh  ar  run-diomhair  —  gus  a  nis  co-dhiu— 
A  ghleidheadh  gu  math  uaigneach.    Tha  an 

grunnd 

Fo  chasan  an  luchd-foirneirt,  cosach,  feallsa, 
Lathan  an  riaghlaidh  tha  air  an  aireamh, 
Cha'n  fhaighear  lorg  's  an  tir  dhiu,  'n  uine 

ghoirid. 
ATTINGHAUSEN  —  Ciod  inu  na  daingnichean  a  th' 

aims  an  duthaich  ? 
MELCHDAL  —  Air  an  aon  latha  tuitidh  iad  air 

fad. 
ATTINGHAUSEN—  Am  bheil  na  h-uaislean  leibh 

aims  a  cho-bhoinn  so  ? 
STAUKFACHER—  Tha    fiughair    ag;dnn    ri   an 

comhnadh-san 

Ma  thachras  gu'n  tig  feum  air.     Gus  a  nis 
Is  i;ul  ;in  Tuath  a  mhain  a  ghaVih  na  boidean. 
ATTINGHAUSEN—  An  d'  rinn  an  Tuath  a  leithid 
sin  do  ghniomh 


A  ghabhai!  orra  fein  gun  chomlniadh  uai;;lean, 
'Bheil  uiljhir  inhuinh 
neart  fein  ? 


m  aig  an  t-shluagh  'nan 


Faodaidh  sinn  triall  a  sios  d«>  'n  uaigh  gu 

soisneach, 
Mairidh  an  sluagh  'n  ar  deigh—  tre  bhuaitlhean 

ura 

Maise  na  Daonnachd  cumar  ar  a  h-adhart. 
(Tha  e  a  leagadh  a  laruh    air    ceann  a 
bhalachain,  a  tha  air  a  ghluinean  fa 
'chomhair). 
O   d'  cheann-sa,   'ruin,   air    an   do   sheas  an 

t-ubhal, 

Brisidh  a  mach  gu  h-urar  saors'  is  airde  ; 
Thuit    na     seann     nithe,    tha    an    linn    air 

caochladh, 

Tha  beatha  nuadh  ag  ciridh  air  an  laraich. 
STAUI-FACIIER  (ri  Bhalter  Furst)—  Faic  thus'  an 

t-soills'  tha  dearsadli  as  a  shuil, 
ChVn  e  sin  smaladh  Naduir,  a'  dol  as, 
Ach  briseadh  faire  beatha  nuadh  ag  eiridh. 
ATTINGHAUSKN  —  Bho  an  sean  chaistealan  crom- 

aidh  an  uaisle  'nuas, 

Le  luchd  nani  bailtean  theid  i  'an  co-blioinn, 
Oibrichidh  iad  maith  a  cheile  laimh  air  laimh  ; 
'An   Uechtland  cheanna  thoisich   sin,  's  'an 

Turgau, 
Beam  nasal  tha  a  togail  a  ceann  flathail, 


Freiburg,  is  baile  diongmhalt  dhaoine  saor  i, 
Tha  Zurich  smiorail  air  a  cuideachdan 
A  chur  fo  airm,  mar  fheachd  air  son  a  chath, 
An  aghaidh  neart  nam  ballan  bith-bhuan  aca 
Cumhachd  nan  Righre  brisear  ann  'na  bhloigh- 
dean. 

(Tha  e  a  labhairt  nam  briathran  a  leanas 
mar  aon  a  faicinntaisbein,  a  ghuth  ag 
eiridh  mar  aon  air  a  dheachdadh  le 
spiorad  faistneachd). 

Chi  mi  na  Prionnsaichean,  's  na  Tighearnan, 
A  tearnadh  ann  an  acfhuinn-eogaidh  greadh- 

nach 

Gu  cath  le  Pobull  neo-choireach  nan  Ah-each. 
Theid  beatha  's  bas  gu  dulan  arms  a  chomh- 

stri, 
Theid  ioma  Bealach  's  Gleann  a  dheanamh 

glormhor 

Tre  ainm  nam  blara  fuilteach  'theid  a  chur. 
Tilgidh  'ra  Fear-duthch  'e  fein,  le  broilieach 

ruisgte, 
An    aghaidh  barr  nan    sleagh,   mar   iobairt 

shaor ! 

Brisidh  e  iad,  a's  tuitidh  blath  na  h-uaisle, 
Togaidh,   le  caithream-buadh,   an  t-saors'  a 
bratach. 
(A'  deanamh    greim    air   laimh    Bhalter 

Furst  agus  Stauffacher). 
Seasaibh,  mar  sin,  gu  dluth  ri  aon  a  cheile — 
Guteaim'sgu  bith-bhuan— na  biodh  cearna 

saor 

("ciinh^ach  no  doichiollach  ri  cearna  t-ile — 
L'uiribh  luchd-fuire  air  na  beanntan  agaibh, 
A  chum  gu'n  aon,  's  gu'n  tion.il  iad  gu 

h-ealainh 

Na  cuideachdean  fa  leth  a  tha  'n  co-blioinn — 

Bithibh  aointe— aointe — aointe. 

Tha  e  a  tuiteandi  air  ais  air  a  chlua-'aig — na 

lamhan  aige  fathast,  anns  a  bhas,  a  gleidheadh 

gieim  air  iamhan  a  dha  cliaraid.     'i'ha  Furst 

agus  Stauffacher  ag  amliarc  air  fad  uine,  'n  an 

tusd  ;  tha  iad  an   sin  'ga  leigeadh  as,  agus  a 

tionndadh   air   falbh   o   ';i   chuideachd,   gu  am 

bron  a  leigeadh  a  mach.     Tha  na  seirbheisich  a 

trusadh  a  stigh  gu  tosdach,  agus  a  dlutliachadh 

ris,  le  miilad  agus  oradh-cridhe  air  gach  aghaidh ; 

tha  cuid  dhiubh  a'  dol  air  an  gluiuean,  a  beirsinn 

air  a  laimh  agus  'ga  pogadh.     Am  feadh  a  tha 

so  a'  dol  air  adhart,  tha  clag  a  bhaile  a'  bualadh. 

Undents,  riusan  air  an  ainmeachadh  gu  h-ard. 

RUDEATS  (a  tighinn  a  stigh  le  cabhaig)  — 

A'    bheil    e    'lathair?     An    urrainn    da    mo 

chluinntinn  ? 

BHALTER    FURST   (fathast    le  'aghaidh    air    a 
tionndadh    air    falbh,    agus  le  a    laimh    a 
comharrachadh  a  mach  mar  a  bha  ai;huis)— 
Is  sibh.-e  'nis  ar  Tighearn'  's  ar  Fear-dion. 
Tha'n  oighreachd  so  a  nis  fo  ainm  eile. 
RUDENTS  (a1  toirt  an  aire  do  'n  chorp,  agus  a 
seasamh,    air    a    ghlacadji    le    cradh    goirt 
cridhe(— O,  saoilan  d'thainig  m'aithreaclias 
cho  anmoch 
\Snach  dean  e  math  dha?— O,  a  Thighearna 

mhaitli, 

Nach  fhaodadh  e  'bliith  air  a  cheadachadh 
A  clmisle  a  thoirt  buille  na  dha  'thuilleadh, 
Gu  'chumail  beo  ach  gus  am  faiceadh  e 
An  t-a.tharrachadh  athainig  air  mo  chridhe  ? 


William  Tell. 


339 


Rinn  mise  dimeas  air  a  bhriathra  dileas. 
Am  feadh  a  bha  e  'siubhal  anns  an  t -solus — 
Dh'  fhalbh  e  a  nis,  dh'  fhalbh  e  gu  siorruidh 

uam, 
'S  an  dleasnas  so  mar  fhiachadh  orm  neo- 

dhiolta  ?— 
O,  innsibh  dhomh  !    An  d'  fhalbh  e  ann  am 

feirg  riinn? 
STAUFFACHER — A'  caochladh,  fhtiair  e  fios  air 

mar  a  linn  sibh, 

Bhur  misneach  ann  an  labhairt  bheannaich  e. 
RUDENTS  (a1  dol  air  a  ghluinean  lamh  ris  an 

t-seann  duine  mharbh)— 
Seadh  fbir-mo-chridhe  !  Laimh  ri  d'  dhuslach 

beannaicht', 

Do'n  chre  gun  deo  thami  a  tabhairt  m'fhacail 
Le  d'  laimh  fhuair,  ghaolaich  paisgte  ann  am 

laimh-sa 

Reub  mi  o  m'anam  cuibhrichean  a  choisgrich  ; 
Air  m'  aiseag  tha  mi  do  mo  shluagh  's  do  in' 

Dhuthaich, 

O  so  a  mach  gu  brath  cha'n  'eil,  's  cha  bhi  mi 
Ach  ann  am  Suisseach  eadar  chorp  a's  anam  — 
(Ag  eiridh) — Tha  sibh  a  caoidh  'ur  caraid, 

athair  gach  aon — 

Ach  ged  a  tha,na  cailleadh  h-aon  a  mhisneach  ; 
Cha'n  i  an  oighreachd  aige  'mham  a  thuit  orm, 
Tha  '11  spiorad  aige  'tuirling  orm  a  nuas, 
Tha  'chridho  annam,  bheir  mi  treise  in'  oige 
A  chum  na  h-oibre  sin  a  choimhlionadh 
Nach  ruigeadli  aois-san  air,  ged  a  bu  mhath 

leis. 
Aithriche  coir,  thugaibh,  gach  aon,  'ur  lamh 

dhomh  ! 
Melchdal,    bheir    thusa    dhomh    do    the-sa 

cuideachd  ! 
O,   smuaintich  ort — Na  tiormdaidh  uai"n  air 

falbh  ! 
Gabh  ri  mo  mhionnan,  gabh  ri  m'  blioidean 

dileas. 
BLALTER   FURST— Thoir    dha    do   lamh.    Tlia 

aithreachas  a  chridhe 

A  toilltinn  gu'm  biodli  muinghin  againn  ann. 
MELCHDAL— Mar    neo-ni    mheasadh    am    fear- 

duthcha  leibh 

Abraibh,  ciod  ris  am  faod  sinn  amharc  uaibh  ? 
RUDENT.S— Na  cuimhnich  ann  am  aghaidh  mear- 

achd  m'  oige  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Bithibh  aointe — b'  e   so   facal 

deirionnach 
Ar  n-athair   ionmhuinn — Gleidhibh    e  'n  ar 

cuimhne. 
MELCHDAL— So  dhuihh  mo  lamh  'I    Biodh  fhios 

agaibh,  Fhir-uasail, 

Gur  fhiach  cmthadh  do  lamh  an  Tuathanaich 
Uibhir  ri  facal  seasmhach  duin'  air  bith. 
Ciod  e  an  Ridir  as  ar  n-eugmhais-ne? 

Ar  n-inbhe  tha  na  's  sine  na  'ur  te-sa 

RUDKNTS— Is  measail  learn  i,  '3  dionaidh  mi  le 

m'  shleagh  i. 
MELCHDAL— An  gairdean  sin  a  chiosnaicheas  an 

talamh 

Ge  cruaidh  i,  's  a  blieir  oirre  toradh  'ghiulan, 

Foghnaidh  athrei-e — lebhurcead,  a  Bharain, 

Gu  broilleaeh  duine  fein  a  dhion,  gu  smiorail. 

RUDKNTS — Ni    sibhse    mis'  a  dhion,   a's    mise 

sibhse, 
Mar  sin  tre  aon  a  cheile  bidh  sinn  laidir. 


Ach  ciod  am  feum  air  bruldhinn,  le  ar  duth» 

aich 
'Na  cobhartach,  fo  fhoirneart  teann  a  choig- 

rich? 
Aon  uair  's  gu'm  faigh  sinn  saor  an  grunnd  o 

naimhdean 
Ni  sinn,  an  sin,  gach  cuis  a  reiteachadh. 

(An  deigh  dha  fanachd  samhach  tiota). 
Cha'n  'eil  sibh  a'  toirt  freagradh  ?  Ciod  ?  nach 

toill  mi 
Fathast    gu   'n    cuireadh    sibh  'ur    n-earbsa 

annam  ? 
'S  fheudar,  mata,  a  dheoin  na  'dh'  aindeoin 

pirbh, 
Mi  fein  fhoirneadh  a  stigh  'n  'ur  ruintean 

diomhair. 
Cho-cruinnich    sibh — Bhoidich    sibh    aig    an 

Rutli— 

Tha  fios  agam— tios  air  gach  ni  a  rinnea_dh. 
An  rud  nach  d'  earb  sibh  rium  ghleidh  mi 

dhomh  fein 

Mar  urras  coisrigte,  gu  dileas  teann. 
Cha  robli  mi  riainh  amnamhaid  do  mo  dhuth- 

aich. 
'S    mise    nach  togadh  lamh  am    feasd  'n  a 

h-aghaidh. 

Ach 's  olc  a  rinn  sibh  dail  a  chur  'n  'ur  gniomh, 

Thuit  Tell  gu  grad  'n  a  iobairt  do  'ur  mairneal. 

STAUFFACHER  —  Ach  mhionnaich   sinn  gu  'm 

feitheamaid  gu  Nollaig. 

RUDENT.S— Cha  robh  mi  leibh,  cha  mho  a  thug 
mi  boidean, 

Ma  dh'  f heitheas  sibhs'  theid  mis'  an  greim 

MELCHDAL— Ciod?    Ni  sibh 

RUDENTS— Mar  aon  de  Aithriche  na  tire  tha  mi 
A  nis  'g  am  chunntas  fein,  's  i  a  cheud  dleasnas 
A  th.-i  mar  fhiachadh  orm  sibhse  a  dhion. 
BHALTER  FURST — An  duslach  ionmhuinn  so  a 

chur  fo  'n  uir, 

'S  i  dleasdannas  is  dluithe  oirbh  's  is  naoimhe. 
RUDKNTS— Aon  uair  's  gu'm    faigheamaid    an 

duthaich  saor 

ChrunaTnaid  e,  's  e  air  a  chaisil-chro  ! 
O,  'chairde  !  Cha'n  iad  a  mhain  bhur  cuisean- 

sa 
Ach  m'  fheadhain  fhein  air  s  >n  am  feumar 

cath 
An    aghaidh    fear    an    fhoirneirt— Thugaibh 

eisdeachd  ! 

Tha  Berta  agam  air  dol  as  an  t-soalladh, 
Gun    fhios     duinn    chaidh    a    giulan    as    ar 

meadhon, 

Air  falbli  mar  chreich  aig  ainneart  ladarna  ! 
STAUFFACHER — Bha  'chridh'  aig  Gessler  gniomh 

cho  ainneartach 

Gun  sgath  a  dheanamh  air  bean-uasal  shaor? 
RUDKNTS— Mo    chairde  !     Bba    mi  'gealltuinn 

duibh  mo  chomhnadh 
Acli  feumaidh    mis'  a  thagradh  uaibhs'    an 

toiseach. 

Chaidh  ise's  ionmhuinn  learn  a  spioladhuam, 
Co  aig  'tha  fios  c'ait'  an  do  cheil  a  Bheisd  i, 
No  ciod  an  t-olc  a  dh'fhaodas  tachairt  dh'i 
Mu  'n  lub  a  cridhe  gu  'bhi  air  a  chuibhreach" 
Le  ceanglaicliean  a  bhiodh  'n  an  grain  leatha! 
Na    treigibh    mi  ;    O,    thugaibh    dhomh    'ur 

comhnadh 
Gu  ise  'theasragainn— Tha  gaol  aic'  oirbli, 


340 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Thoill  is'  o  'n  duthaich  e,  gu  'm  biodh  gach 

gairdean 
A     tarruing,    air    a    sgath,    a    chlaidheimh 

ruisgte  - 
BH  ALTER    FURST—  'De    'gliabhadh    sibh    fo    's 

laimh  ? 

BUDENTS  —  Cha  'n  fhios  domh  ciod  ! 
'S  an  dorchadas  a  tha  'g  a  folach  num. 
'An  goimh  mo  theagamh,  's  m'  eadar-chomh- 

airle 

Aon  ni  a  mhain  tha  soilleir  ann  am  inntinn  — 
O  laraich  bhriste  cumhachd  borb  an   flu-jir- 

neirt— 

A  sin  a  mhain  theid  againn  air  a  cl  idhach. 
Gach  daingneach  leagamaid  gu  lar  a  sios, 
Ach  as  a  phriosan  bheir  sinn  i  a  nios. 
MELCIIDAL  —  Air  adhart  leibh  !    Leanaidh  sinn 

sibh  gu  deonach. 

C'  arson  a  dh'fhagamaid  gus  an  la-maireach 
A  chuis  a  ghabhas  coimhlionadh  an  diugh  ? 
Bha  Tell  aig  saorsa  'n  uair  a  bhoidich  sinn 
D'a  cheile  aig  an  Rutli,  cha  robh  fathast 
An  tubaist  chianail  so  air  tachairt  dha. 
Tha  feum  na  h-uair  a  tagradh  riaghailt  eile  ; 
Co  'tha  cho  meat'  nach  teid  e  'n  greim  a  nis  ! 
BUDENTS  —  Armaichibh  sibh  fein,  biodh  deas  air 

son  na  h-oibre 

A  chionn,  na  's  luaithe  na  a  b'  urrainn  geola 
Fir-gnothuich    dol    air    sgeith,   le  sruth    a's 

seirbheas 
Buigidh  d'  ur  n-ionnsuidh  teachdaireachd  ar 

buaidh  ; 

Cho  luath  's  a  chi  sibh  lasair  air  na  beannta, 
Tuitibh  mar  ghailli"iin  Geamhiaidii  air  an 

Namhaid, 
Aitreabh  an  Fhoirneirt  brisibh  as  a  cheile. 

[Tha  iad  a  falbh. 
AN  CEATHRAMH  EAIIRAINN.    AN  TRKAS  ROINN. 

Beidac-h  cumhann  dluth  air  Cussnacht. 
Tearnar  o'n  taobh  cuil  a  nuas  eadar  creigan. 
Tha  luchd-tuiuis  air  am  faicinn  air  a'  bhruthach 
f.'ula  mu'n  tig  iad  am  follais  air  an  taobh  i.euil. 
Tha  creagan  a'  dunadh  a  stigh  an  t-seallaidh  gu 
h-iomlan  ;  air  h-a.)ii  de  na  creagan  a's  faig>e  tha 
bile  air  a  chomhdachadh  le  preasan  agus  fas- 
choille. 

TELL  (a'tighinn  am  follais  leis  a  chrois-bliogha)— 
Boimh'n  bhealach  chumhann  so  feumaidh  e 

tighinn  ! 
Cha'n  fhaigh  e  'stigh  do  Chussnaclit  rathad 

eile— 
Bheir  mi    gu   crich  a  so  e  —  Tha'n   cothram 

miith, 

Cumaidh  na  preasan  fearn  mi  as  a  shealladh, 
O  'n  torn  so  amaismh  mo  shaighead  air  ; 
Cuingead  an  rathaid  cuiiidh  grabadh  on  a 
Nach    urrainn  iad    mo    ruaig.     bocruich    do 

chunntas 

A  nis,  (u'ssler,  !e  'd  Chruithfliear,  oir  ihn.  agad 
Ri  gabhail  romhad,  ruith  do  yhloine  'niach. 
Gu     ciuin,    neo-lochdach    Ijha    mo    chaithe- 

beatha— 
Biamli  cha  do  thionndaidh  mi  an  t-saighead 

again 

Ach  ann  an  aghaidh  beothaichean  na  coille, 
Aon  smuaint  air  inort  cha  d'thainig  ann  am 


Gach  boiune  baigh  a's  caoimhneis  a  bha  'm 

chom 
Gu  gamhlas  thionndaidh  thu,  's  gu  nimh  na 

nathrach  ; 

Ri  uamhdsan  rinn  thusa  cleachdte  mi— 
Ksan  a  ghabhadh  cuims'  air  ceann  a  leinibh, 
Air  critlhe  a  Namh  's  urrainn  e  amas  cuid- 

eachd. 
MCI  bhalachain  bheag,  na  broin,  mo  bhean 

mhath,  dhileas. 

'S  fheudar  an  dion  o'd  chprruich-sa,  a  Mhaoir ! 
An  sud,  an  uair  a  thai-ruing  mi  an  tait'eid— 
'S    mo  lamh    air    chrith,   a's    le    toilinntinn 

mhallaicht' 

A  thug  thu  orm  a  thionndadh  air  mo  leanabh — 
An  uair  a  thraogh  mo  neart  fo  uamharr  m' 

amhghair, 
A  dh'  asluich  mi  gu  diomliain  ort  mo  chaomh- 

nadh, 

Gheall  mi  dhomh  fein  le  bqidean  uamhasach, 
Nach  ouala  neach  ach  Dia  air  Neainh  a  mhain, 
Gur  e  do  chridhe-sa  an  ath  bhall-cuimse 
A  leiginn  urchair  air.     An  rud  a  gheall  mi 
'8  a  chuir  mi  romham  ann  an  uair  na  doruinn, 
Is  dlighe  nai:inh  e,  coimhlionaidh  mi  e. 
Is  tu  mo  Riaghlair,  a's  Maor  mo  Righ 
Ach,  an  Righ  fein,  cha  luathsaicheadh  e 
Eadhon  dha  fein  an  dol  air  adhart  agads'. 
Chuir  e  do'n  tir  thu  a  chum  breitheanais 
A   thoirt— au  cruaidh,    oir  tha    e  diombach 

ruinn. 

Chi  b'ann  a  chum  gu'n  cuireadh  tu  an  gniomh 
Gach   drooh-bheart  ghraineil,   le   toilinntinn 

mhortach, 

Gu  tearuinte,  gun  pheannas  a  thigh'nn  ort  ; 
Tha  Dia  ann  a  bheir  dioladh  's  peanas  goirt. 
Thus'  thug  an  deuchainn  chruaidh  orm,  thig 

a  mach," 

Mo  stor  thu  'nis,  mo  sheud  is  priseile — 
Bheir  mi  bitll-cuimse  dhuit  air  nach  do  dhruigh 
hiamh  «uidhe  giMir  an  amhghair  gus  a  nis— 
Ach  iairtlicliitih  stir  cur  'nad  aghaidh-sa. 
Agus  mo  thiureid  dliileas,  thusa  cuideachd 
A  rinn  deadh  sheirbheis  dhomh  's  na  cleasan 

aoibhinn, 

Na  treig  mi 's  an  da-rireadh  uatnhasaich  so  ! 
Cum  diongmhalta  do  ghreim  a  nis,  moshreang 

mhath, 

A  chuir  cho  bitheantaant-saigheadghnineach 
Air  sgeiih  dliomh  anus  amath'air  dol  seachad, 
A  chi  inn,  mur  ruig  an  te  ^o  cridh'  ar  Namh 
Cha'n  'i-il  te  oil'  ann  air  am  fakh  mi  lamh. 
(ilia  luchd-turuis  a'  dol  seachad,  air  an 

lathad). 

Feithidh  mi  air  an  aite-shuidhe  chloiche 
A  th'air  a  chur  a  chum  gu'm  faigh  luchd-turuis 
An  sgios  a  leigeil  tachdiinn  ann  an  so — 
'J  ha  'li-uile  duine  riamh  a'  gabhail  seachad 
Air  an  <\<:i\\'  eile  mar  nach  buineadh  iad 
J)o'n  aon  taobh-duthcha.     Cha'n  'eil  smid  'ga 

labhairt, 

Cha'n  fharraid  duine  ciamar  a  theid  dhuinn — 
Tha  'n  so  a'  gabhail  seat-lid,  am  marsanta 
I^e  curam  ual:aichte,  am  Feiv-tuiuis 
CUin  mh'.»rau  air  a  dhiuim  no  ann  a  sporran, 
Am    manacli    crabhach,    am    Fear-reubainn 

duaichnidh, 


'S  tusa  'chuir  sganradh  orm  a  irjad  na  sithe, 


William  Tell. 


Fear   aighearach    nan    cleas.    Fear    eiulain 

bathair 

Le  'each  trom-luchdaichte  o  thirean  cein, 
Oir    bheir    gach    slighe    shin    gu    ceann    an 

t-saoghail. 

Tha  'h-uile  gin  diubh  air  a  ghnothuch  fein  — 
'S  e  am  mort  a'  chuis  'tha  mise  as  a  dheiah  ! 
Roimh  so,  'n  uair  a  bhiodh  'ur  n-atha  r  bho'n 

tigh, 

Mo  laochain  bheaga,  thogadh  sibhse  iolach 
Aig  tilleadh  dha  ;  a  chionn  cha  d'  thain'  e 

riaiiih 
Dhacliaidh    gun    riul-eiginn    a    (hoirt    d'   ur 

n-ionnsuidh. 
Ma  dh'  fheudte  nach  biodh  ami  ach  fluran 

boidheich, 

No  eun  neo-chumanta,  no  saighead-shith  — 
I\Iar  gheibhear  air  na  cnuic  'na  uaireannan, 
Tha  'shuil  an  drascl  air  creach  nach  ionann 

idir, 
Air  taobh  na  slighe  fhiadhaich  tha  e  'feith- 

earah, 

Le  mort  a'  snamh  'na  inntinn  :  'S  aim  air  son 
Beatha  an  namhaid  'tha  e  ri  feall-fho  ach. 
Gidheadh  'a    aim      irbhse  'mhain    a    tha    a 

smuaintean, 

Mar  aig  an  am  ml,  tearnaidh  e  sibh  fatliast. 
Gn  'r  n(-o-chionta  a  dhion,  a  ehlann  bheag 

laghach 

Tairngidh  e'n  taifeid  aig'  air  Fear-a-chuthaich  ! 
Tha  mi  a'  sealg  air  sithionn  neo-chumanta, 
An  gabh  an  sealgair  umhail  ged  a  dh'  fheumar 
Fad  lathan.annan  dubhagan  a' Glieamhraidh 
Seapadh  mu'n  cuairt,  a'  toirt  duibh-leum  an 

uamhais 
Bho  ;-hreag  gu  creag,  a'  streap  ri  sgorr.in  eorr- 

acli, 

'Ga  ghlaoghadh  fein  gu  trie  le  'flmil  fein  riu, 
Gn  earbag  bhochd  a  ghlacadh  :  Tlia  'an  so 
ll'a  chosnadli  duui-i  a's  luachmhoire  g'i  mor. 
Crid.-'e  an  Namhaid  sin  a  ehuireaiih  as  dom'h. 
(Tlia  ceol  iollagach  air  a  chluinntinn  fad 

as,  ach  a'  tighinn  na  's  dluithe). 
Fad  lionn  mo  bheatha  laimhsichmi  am  hoglri 
A    re  r    deadh  chleachduiiin    sealgair   u'>    tir- 

builg, 

Dh'ionnsuich  mi  'h-uile  doigh's  an  cleachd  ir  e. 
Chuir  mi  an  t-s  n'ghead  trie  'an  suil  na  tar^aid, 
'S  ioma  duais  bhoidheach  a  thug  mise  dhach- 

aiclh 
Bho  cbleasan  aighsarach.     Ach  tilgidli  mi  'n 

diugh 

Urchair  a  chuireas  crun  orra  gu  h-iomlan 
Agus  a  bhuidhneas  dhomh  an  duais  a's  ainlo 
A  tha  ri'dioisneadh  aim  an  cuairt  nan  sliabh. 
(Tha  buiiais  a'  gabhail  seachad,  agus  a'  dol  a 
suas  troimli  'n  Bhealach.     Tha  Tell  a'  gabh-iil 
beachd  orra,  aleigtil  a  chudthrom  air  a  bhogha. 
Tha  i^tussi,  maor-coiile,  a1  deanamh  a  suas  ris). 
STIJSSI— 'S  e  sin  Clostermeier  a  Morlisachen 
A   tha 'n   a   fhear-bainns'   an   diugh:    Inline 

beartach, 

(.'ha  luglia  na  deich  airidhean  a  tli'  aigo 
Air  feadh  nan  Alpen.     'J  ha  iad  air  an  ratliad 
A  thoirt  Bean-na  bainns'  a  nail  a  Iinisee 
'8   arm  aca  'bhios  an  roichd  an   nochd'  an 

Cu-si!ach\ 


Tiugainn  !    Tha  'n  cuireadh  air  a  thoirt  gu 

saor 

Do  h-uile  duine  coir  a  thogras  tighinn. 
TELL— Cha  b'fheaird'  a"  bhanais  aoidh  le  inn- 
tinn throm. 
STUSSI  — Ma  tha  ni  'cur  ort,  tilg  gu  smachdail 

dhiol  e  ! 

Glac  IIH  thig  ann  ad  ratliad  ;  tha  na  h-amannan 
An  ceart-uair  cruaidh  ;  uiar  sin,  bu  choir  do 

dhuiue 

Solas  a  ghabhail  'n  uair  a  glieibh  e  'n  cothrom. 
An  so  tha  bmais,  an  sud  tha  tiodhlacadh. 
TKLL — 'S  trie  'bheir  an  darna  h-aon  mu  'n  cuairt 

an  t-aon  eile 
STUSSI — 's  e  doigh  an  t  saughai!  e.     Tha  driod- 

fhortiin 
A'  tachairt  aims  gacli  cearn  :    Thi  beum  mor 

sneaclida 

Air  tuiteam  ann  an  Glarus,  agus  cliathaich 
Hhein  Ghlairnis  air  dol  fodhaannsan  talamh. 
TELL — Am  bheil  na  beanntan  fein  a'  crioth- 

nachadh  ? 

Cha'n  'eil  ni  idir  air  an  talamh  seasmhach. 
yxussi— Tha    iongantais  'an    aitean  eile  cuid- 

eachd, 

Bhruidhinn  mi  an  la  roimh  ri  fear  a  Badein 
'Bha,  mar  bu  choltach,  Ridire  a'  marcachd 
A  dh'  ioimsuitlh  an  High.     'Nuak  bha  e  air  a 

rat had 
Thainig  sgaoth  choinnspeach  air,   a    ghabh 

do  'n  each, 

Lot  i'ul  cbo  gailbheach  e  gu  'n  do  thuit  e  sios 
Murbh,  air  an  lar,  bho'n  clifadh  a  dh'fhuiling  e, 
A's  dh'  fheum  an  Ridir  bochd  an  ratliad  a 

elioi-;eachd. 

TKLL — Bhuilicheadh  yath  air  creutairean  'tha 
anmhunn. 

(Armgart  — bean    bhoehd— a'    tighinn   le 
croithein  phaisdean,  agus  a'  seasamh 
Jeo  aig  heulaobh  a'  Uhewlaich). 
STTSSI— Tha  feadhain  an   dull  gu  'r  comhara  a 

th'  aim 

Air  mi-fhorfcan  mor  ri  tuiteam  uir  an  tir. 
Air    gniomhara     'Lhios     dubh     an    aghaidh 

Xaduir. 
TELL — Tin 'n   leith'de  sin  de  ghriomharan  a' 

tachairt 

A  h-uile  la,  gnu  chomliara  iniprbhuileach, 
Air  bitli  a  thabhairt  iios  roimh  laimh  mu 'n 

deighinn. 
STUSSI-- (iu  cinnteach  tha,  is  math  do  'n  fhear 

adh'fhaodis 

Oibreachadh  air  a  chroit  'an  sith.  a's  suidlie 
Aig   taobh  a  theallaich   f-in  gun  dragh  gun 

iomagain. 
TELL— Cha  'n  fhaigh  an  duine  's  t\>arr  fantuinn 

'an  sith 

Ma  tha  droch  coimhearsnaich  am  mi-run  ris. 

(Tha  Tell  ag  amharc  gu  trie  le   dugh-tir 

neo-shocair,  ri  mullaeh  a'  Bliealairh). 

STUSSI  — Slan    leibh.      '1  ha  sibh    a'    feitheamh 

cuideiginn 

TKLL— 'S  mise  tha  sin. 
STl.'ssi  — .Mo  blieannaehd  leibh  mata, 
Coinneaehadli      solisaeh      ri     'r     cuideaehd 

dhiubh! 

Tha  sibh  de  mhuinntir  Uri.    Tha  tiughair  ris 
An  Urramach,  an  Riaghlair  as  a  sin  an  diugh. 


342 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


FEAR-TURUIS— Cha  ruig  leas  tuilleadh  fiughair 

a  bhi  agaibh 
Gu'n  tig  am  Maor  an  diugh.    Tha  na  aibhn- 

ichean 

'N  an  tail  an  deigh  nan  sputan  uisg'  a  rinn  e, 
Tha  h-uile  drochaid  riamh  sguabta  air  falbh. 
(Tha  Tell  a'  seasanih  a  suas). 
ARMGART  (a'  tighinn  air  adhart)— Cha'n  eil  am 

Maor  a'  tigbinn  ! 
STUSSI— An  robh  dad 

A  dhi  ort  leis  ? 
ARMGART — Mo  chreacli,  's  ann  agams'  a  bha 

sin  ! 

STU-SI— C'arson 

A  tha  thu  'g  ad  chur  fhein  air  tuoiseach  air 
'8  a  bheal". cli  chumhann  so? 
ARMGART — A  chionn  nach  faigh  e 
A  null  na  nail  uam,  feumaidh  e  mo  chluinn- 

tinn. 
FRIESSHARD  (a'  tighinn    le  deitir  a  nuas   am 

B^alach,  a'  ghlaodhaich)  - 
Gabhadh  a  h-ui'e  duine  as  an  rathad 
'8  mo  Thriath  am   Maor   a'   tighinn  as    mo 

dheigh 
A'  marcachd. 

[Tha  Tell  a'  dol  as  an  t-sealladh. 
ARMGART  (le  aoibhneas) — Tha  'n  t-uachdaran  a' 

tighinn  ! 

Tha  i  a'  dol  adhart  leis  a  chloinn  gu  taobh 
beoil  an  t-seallaidh.  Tha  Gessler  agus  Rudolf 
o  Ilarras,  air  muin  eich,  a'  tighinn 'n  ar  sealladh 
aig  mullach  a'  Bhealach. 

STUSSI  (ri  Friesshard) — Ciamar    a  fhuair  ,sitb 

thairis  air  an  uisge, 
'S  gu'n    d'thug  an  tuil    iri  drochaidean  air 

falbh  ? 
FRIESSHARD— Rinn    .sinne,   'elm-aid,    cath    an 

aghaidh  an  Loch, 
'S  heag  .suini  a  ghabhas  sinn  do  thuil  na'm 

beann. 
STUSSI— An  robh  'm  bat'  agaibh  's  a  ghaillionn 

uamharr'  ud? 
FRIFSSIIARD — 'S    ise     bha    sin?      Cha    teid  _e 

chaoidh  a  m'aire  ! 

STUSSI — Hoch  !     stad  a's  inn's  dhuinn  uirae  ! 
FKIKSSHAUD — Cha'n  fhaod  mi  stad, 
Tha  bh'  nam   ruith  thun  a'  chaisteil  a  thoirt 

sanas, 

Gu  bheil  an  t-uachdaran  'an  so  a'  tighinu. 
STUSSI  -Na'n    robh    na    bha   '.s    an    long  nan 

daoine  nuiithe 
Guch   :'.uine  is  Inch  a  bh'  innte  chaidh  do'n 

ghrunnd. 

Theid  sguidhearan  mar  stid  roimli  thein  'a's 
ui.-'ge. 

(A'  toirt  suil  mu'n  cuaiit). 
C'a  te  'bheil  fear-nam-beann  a  bha  bruidhinn 

riiim  ? 

(Gessler  agus  Rudolf  o  Harras  air  iiiuin  eich). 
GKSSLLR—  Abair  na  thogras  tu,  '.s  mi  seirbheis- 

each 

An  Righ,  a's  feumaidh  mi  a  thoileichadh, 
Clia  b'  ann  a  chum  an  shiagh  a  bheadaradh, 
Na  ;i  bhriodal  a  chur  e  do'n  (luthaich  mi  : 
Umhlachd,  sin  aithne-san  ;  's  i  srnior  na  ceisde,- 
C'  dhiubh  's  iad  na  croiteirean  na'n  t-Iompaire 
A  th'i  ri  bhi  'nam  maighstirean  's  an  tir? 


ARMGART— 'S  e  so  mo  chothrom  !    Ni  mi  'nis 
mo  ghuidhe  ! 

(Tha  i  a'  tighinn  gu  gealtach  air  adhart). 
GESSLER— Cuimhnich  cha  b'  ann  air  sp;ath  na 

feala-dha 

A  chaidh  an  Ad  a  chur  a  suas  aig  Altorf, 
Na    fathast.   a  chum    cridh'  an  t-sluaigh  a 

dhearbhadh, 

'S  aithne  dhomh  iad  o  shean.     Ach  rinn  mi  e 
'Direach  a  dh'  aon  obair  gu  an  ionnsuchadh 
Na  h-amhaichean  sin  ac' — a  ghleidheas  iad 
Clio    direach  ann  am    lathalr— a    chromadh 

dhomh. 

Chuir  mi  an  t-aobhar  oilbheum  so'n  an  rathad 
A  chum  gu'n  glac  an  suil  e,  a's  gu'n  gleidh  e 
'Nan  cuimhn'   an  Triath  a    b'  aill  leo  dhi- 

chuimhn  eachadh. 
RUDOLF— Tha  coirean  aig  a'  phobull  mar  an 

ceudna. 
GESSLER— Cha'n  am  so  gu  an  cur  air  a  mheigh- 

thomhais  ! 
Tha'n  ceart-uair  gnothuiche  mori,  cudthrom- 

ach, 
G'    am    bualadh    air     an    inneinn  :     Tha    e 

iomchaidh 
Gu'n  cinneadh  cumhachd  teaghlach  rioghail 

Hapsburg. 

An  ni  a  thoisicheadh  air  mhodh  clio  cliuiteach 
Fo  laimh  an   Athar,  chuireadh  am  mac  air 

adhart. 
Tha    'm    pobull    beag    so    'na    chnap-starra 

daonnan, 
'S  an  rathad  oirnn.     'S  fheudar  an  ciosnach- 

adh 

Air  aon  doigh  no  doigh  e;le,  mar  a  dh'  fhaodas. 

(Tha  iad  a'  dol  air   an   adhart.     Tha  a 

bhean  bhochd  'g  i  tilgeadh  fein  a  sios 

an  lathair  an  uachdarain). 

ARMGART  — Trocair,    a    Mhoir-fhir !     Tha    mi 

'guidhe  ceartais  ! 
(JKSSLKR — Ciod  air  an  t-saogh'i  is  ciall  duit,  a' 

tighinn  air  m'  aodann 
'An   so    air    an    rath'd-mhor !    Gabh    as    an 

rathad  ! 
ARMGART— Tha'n  duin'  agam  'n  a  luidh    aims 

a'  T'hriosan  ; 

A  dhileachdain  a  gla.odlnich  lir  son  arain— 
'J'ha,  mi  a!  guidhe  uirbli  gu'n  gabh  sibh  truas 

ilhinn, 

A  inhaighstir,  ann  am  ar  n-eighinn  chruaidh. 
RUDOLF — Co  f  1m,  a  bhean  ?  Co  e  an  duin'  agad  ? 
ARMGART — Faladair  bochd,  'tha  fuireach  air 

lieinn  Rigi. 
'H  i  'cheird  aige  'bhi  gt-arradh  an  fheoir  fhiadh- 

ain 

Bho    bheul    nan    slochd,    's    air    feadh    nan 
stacannan, 

Far  naeli  bi  'chiidh'  aig  feudail  cas  a  chur 

RUDOLF  (ri  Gessler)— Ceird  bhochd  a's  mhulad- 

ach,  air  m'  fhaeal  fhein  ! 

Guidheam  gu'n  leig  sibh  as  an  duine  truagh  ! 
Kutrom  no  trom,  ciamar  air  bith  a  choire, 
Tha  peauas  trom  gu  leoir  aige  'na  cheird. 

(Ris  a'  rahnaoi). 
Theld    ceartas    a    thoirt    duit    shuas    aig  a' 

chaisteal— 

Theid  eisdeachd  riut,  cha  'n  aite  freagarrach 
so. 


William  Tell. 


343 


ARMGART— Cha  tekl  mi  aon  cheum  as  an  ait' 

sam  bheil  mi 
Ach  gus  an  toir  am  mor-fhear  m'  fhear  air  ais 

dhomh  ! 

'S  e  so  an  seathadb  mios  o'n  'tha  e  'n  sas, 
'8  is  diomhain  dha  bhi  feitheamh    binn  a 

bhreitheimh. 
GESSLER— A  bhean,  bheireadh  tu  buaidh  gun 

taing  orm  !     Tog  ort  ! 
ARMGART— Ceartas,    a    Mhaoir !      Tha     mi    a' 

tagradh  ceartais 

Is  tu  breitheamh  na  tir  an  ait'  an  lompair' 
'S  an  aite  Dhe  ;  coimhlion  do  dhleasdannas, 
Ma  tha  thu  fein  an  duil  ri  ceartas  fhaotainn 
O  Neamh.deonaieh  an  ceartas  ceiuina  dhuitine  ! 
GESSLKR — Tog  ort  !     A'm   sbealladh  na  graisg 

ladarna  ! 

ARMGART  (a'  deanamh  greim  air  srian  an  eich) — 
Cha    tog.     Ni  tuilleadh    cha'n  'eil    ri    chall 

againn. 
A  Mhaoir,  cha'n  fhaigh  do  chas  dol  ceum  na's 

fhaide 
Ach  gus  am  faigh  mi  ceartas — seadh,   cuir 

griiaim  ort  ! 
Sporchd    orm    gu    tiadhaich    fo    do    mliala 

bhruachail, 

Cho  fad  's  a  thogras  tu— tha  ar  fu-angais 
Air  dol  cho  fada,  ilia  sinn  caoin-shuaracb 
C'  dhiubh  tha  thu  toillchte  na  diombach 

ruinn. 
GESSLKR — A  bhean,  gabh  as  an  rat  had  orm,  air 

neo 

Saltraidh  an  t-each  ag-im  fo  'chasan  thu  ! 
ARMGART— Ma  thoga'r  !    .so  ! 

(Tha  i  a'  slaodadh  na  cl  >inne  tJiiin  -in  lair, 
agus  'ga  tilg>adh  fein  air  an  rathadair 
thoiseach  air). 

Rach  ulh  e  thairis  oirnn, 

Saltradh  nn  t-each  rig-id  mi  fiiein's  mo  chlann 
Fo  'chruuihean,  's  mi  nach  caraieh  as  a  su  ! 

Cha  so  an  rud  'is  mio-vi  'linn  thu  riamh • 

HUDOLK— A  bhean ,  tha  thu  air  bainidh  ! 
ARMGAKT  (ie  tuilieadh  deine) — 'S  fhada  mhor 
A  ghleMh  thu  tir  an  loinptiro  f;>  M  sluiil  ! 
O,  cha'n  'eil  annam-sa  ach  boinovmach  ! 
Na  'm  b'  fhear  mi  dhyanainn  rud-eigina  a  b' 

fhearr 

IV a  luiilhu  'n  so  'san  uir  a'  glaodhaich  riut. 
(Tha  ctol  na  bainnse  air  a  chluinnlina  a 
rithis,   bho    mhullach    a'   Bheaiaich, 
ach,  fann,  a  thaobh  an  astair). 
GESSLER— </ ait' a  bheil,  mo  ghillean  ?    Ni  mi 

rud-eiginn 

D'  an  gabh  mi  aithreaclias,  mur  toir  iad  leo  i. 
RUDOLF— Lo  'r  cead,  ch:;'n  fhaigh  na  giilean  air 

an  adhart, 
Tha  cuideachd  bainnse  'dol  roimh  'n  Bhealach 

so. 
GESSLER— Tha    mi   'am    riaghlair   tuiiloadh   's 

seinih  do'n  dream  so — 
Cha  deachaidh  ceangal  fathast  air  an  t-.-an- 

gaidh, 

Mar  sin,  cha'n  'eil  iad  fathast  fo  ar  smaig 
Mar  a  bu  choir,  ach  bidh  e  tur  air  atharrM.ch 
An  deigh  an  ia-diugli.     Cuiiidh  ;iii  glas-ghuib 

orra, 

Brisidh  mi  'ninntinn  dhanarra  so  aca, 
Bheir    mise  'nuas    an    straic,    cromaidh    mi 
fodham 


Spiorad  na  aaorsa.    Bheir  mi  achd  ur  a  stigh 
Thar  fad  a's  leud  na  tire.     Bheir  mi— 

(Tha  saighead  a'  dol  troimh  a  chridhe, 

tha  e  a'  cur  a  lamh  a  suas  ris,  agus  a' 

dol  a  th'.iiteam.     l^e  guth  fann). 

Gu'n  ueunadh  Dia  trocair  a  nochdadh  dhomh  ! 

RUDOLF— A  Mhoir-fhir?  Ciod?    Co  as  a  thainig 

so? 
ARMGART  (ag  eiridh)— Mort,  mort !    Tuitidh  e  ! 

Fhuair  e  urchair  ! 

Faicibh  an  t-saighead,  tha  i  'n  sas  'na  chridhe. 
RUDOLF  (a'  leum  bharr  an  eich) —  iod  an 

gniomh  oillteil  a  tlia  so  air  ta  hairfc  ? 
A  i  higiiearna  !     Mo  cbreach,  a  Kidire, 
liuidh  air  son  trocair  oir  is  duirie  marbh  thu  ! 
GESSLKR— 'S  i  saighead  Tell  a  th'ann. 

( Iha  e  a'  sleamhnach'tdh  bharr  an  eich, 

f?gus  tha  Rudolf  'ga  chuideachadh  a 

nunn  thun  an  t-suidheachan  chloiche). 

TI-.LL  ('ga  leigeadh  fein  ris,  shuas  air  mullach  na 

cieige) — 

Dh'  aithnich  thu  'n  t-saighead, 
Na  h-iarr  te  eile  !    Tha  na  bothain  saqr, 
An  neo-chiontach  tha  tearuinte  o  'd  lairnh, 
Cha  deau  thu  dochann  air  an  duthaich  tuill- 
eadh. 
(Tha  e  a'  dol  as  an   t-sealladh.      Tha  'n 

sluagh  a'  taomadh  a  stigh). 
NTi'SS!  (air  thus' 's  air  thoiseach — 'J)e  th'ann? 

<'i.;d  air  ;ui  t-saogh-il  a  th'  air  tachairt  ? 
ARMGAHT— Chaidh  saighea.l  a    chur  ami    am 

Maor-an-fhearainn. 
A^i  PoBL'LL— Co  amis  an  deach  an  urchair? 

(Am  fulfill  a  tha  a'  cheud  bhuidhionn  de 
chuideachd  na  bainnse  a'  tighinn  thun  an  taobh 
booi!,  tin  a'  chuid  ma  dheireadh  dhiubh  shuas 
air  mullach  a'  bhruthaich,  agus  ttia  an  ceol  a' 
dol  :tir  adhart;. 

RUDOLF  o  H ARRAS — Falbhaibli,  ruithibh 
A  <ih;  it  raidh  cuideachp.dll,  's  e  call  na  fola  ! 
Jtachaibh  air  toir  a  mhortair  !     Ochan  thu  ! 
A   ilhuine   thruaigh,   agus   's   u   so   is    crioch 

dhuit  ; 

('ha  ii  ei-dvadh  tu  ri  'm  shanus  ann  an  am  ! 
STt'SSi— Air  m'  fhirinn,  tha  e  'n  sin  gun  deo  'na 

liiidhe, 

Cho  'nan  ri  breid. 

MOHAN  GHUTHVNNA — Co  e  a  rinn  a;i  gniomh? 
ItuiH)!.?-— Am  bheil  na  daoine  air  an  ciall  a 

chall 

Gu'n  dean  iad  ceol  thar  mort?    Cuiribh  'nan 
tosd  iad  ! 
(Tha  'n  ceol  a'  stad  ann  am  prioba,  tha 

tuilleadh  sluaigh  a'  tighinn  dluth). 
A  inhaighstir,  imihibh  dhomh  ma  's  urrainn 

duibh  - 
Am   bheil  ni  a  mhiannaichidh  sibh    earbsa 

rium? 

(Tha  Gessler  a'  deanamh  sanuis  eiginn  le  a 
laimh,  an  nair  nach  'eil  iad  'ga  thuigsinu  tha  e 
Van  deanamh  thairis  a  rithis  le  tuilleadh  braise). 
RUDOLF  o  H  ARRAS — C'ait'  am  bu  mhaith  leibh 

mi  a  dhol  ?    J)o  Chussnacht  'i 
('Jia  'n  'eil  mi  'tuigsinn  ;  O,  na  bithibh  diomb- 
ach, 
Coma  leibh  nithe  talamhaiilh,  biodh  'ur  n-aire 


344 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Socruichte  air  an  t-siorruidheachd  'tha  dluih 

dhuibh. 

(Tin  cuideaehd  na  biinnse  a'  tarruing  dluth, 
agus  a'  seasarah  mu  'n  cuairt,   ag  amharc  air 
Gessler  le  oillt,  gun  chornh-fhulangas). 
STUSSI — Seallaibh  cbo  ban  's  a  tha  e — tha  'm  >  as 

a  snamh 
Mu'n  chridh'   aige  — tha  ceo  'tigh'nn   air  a 

shuilean. 

ARMGAKT  (a'  togail  a  suas  h-aon  de  'n  chloinn)— 
Feuchaibh,     a    ch'ann,    mar     gheibh    Fear- 

foirneirt  bas  ! 
RUDOLF    o    HARRAS— Mnathan    a'    chuthaich, 

'bheil  sibh  gun  mhothachadh, 
Gu'm  biodh  a  leithid  so  de  shealladh  sgreat- 

aidh 

'N  a  roic  do  'r  snilean  ?  Thoiribh  lamh  dhomh, 
So,  thugaibh  cuideachadh — Xach  'eil  duin'  ann 
A  thairngeasan  gath  goirta'  bhroilleacli  learn? 
NA  MNATIIAN  (a'  seasamh  air  an  ais)— 
Gu'n  cuireamaide  corai>  air  an  duine 
A  bhualadh  sios  le  lainh  an  Tighearna  ? 
RUDOLF  o  HARRAS— Mo  nihallachd  oirbh  ! 

(A'  tarruing  a  chlaidheimh). 
STUSSI  (a'  cur   a  lamh   air  a  ghairdean)— Ma 

bhios  a  chridh'  agaibh  ! 
Tha  .sibh  nig  crioch  bhur  tighearnais.    Thuit 

am  Fear 

A  bhruth  air  tir  fo  'shail  ;  cha  'n  fhuiling  sinn 
Tuilleadh  co-eigneachadh  a  dheanamh  oirnn, 
Is  daoine  saor  sinn, 

Ui  LE  (le  iolach) — '1  ha  an  Duthaich  saor  ! 
RUDOLF    o   HARRAS— An    d' thainig  e  gu  so? 

Bheil  crioch  air  umhlachd, 
'S  air  urram  cheana  ? 

(His  an  luchd-leamhuinn  a  tha  a'  droohadh 
a  stigh). 

Tin  sibh  uile  'f.udim 

A'  mliuirt  oilltcil  a  ch'-iidh  a  chur  an  gniomh 
'An   so.     Is   diomh'iin    coinhnadh   'sam   bith 

iarruidh. 

Is  diomhain,  mar  an  ceudna,  toir  a  chuir 
An  deigli  a  mhortair  ;  tha  curam  eile  oirnn — 
Gun    mhoille,    greasaibh    oirbh    a    stigli    do 

Chussnncht, 

Daingneach  an  Tompaire  a  ghltidhadh  dha  ! 
Chaidh,   ann    am    prioba,   ceanglaichean    an 

dleasnais 

Agus  na  riaghailt  fhuasgladh,  cha'n  'eil  earbsa 
Ri  'chur  'an  dilseachd  duine  seach  duin  'eile. 
ARMGART— Deanaibh  aite  !     So  na  Manaich  a' 
tighinn. 
(Am  feadh  a  tha'n  luchd-airm  a'  falbh,  tha 

sia  Manaich  a'  tighinn  dluth). 
STUSSI— Cho  lualh  's  a  tha  an  iobairt  marbh, 

Trusaidh  na  fithith  thnn  a  chairbh. 
NA  MANAICII  (a/  seasamh  'nan  leth-chuairt  mu 
thiomchioll  air  a'  mharbh,  agus  a'  seiun  ann 
an  guth  tiamhaidh,  iosal) — 
Is  trie  am  bis  a'  deanamh  SMS, 

Gu  grad,  air  claim  nan  daoin' 
Cha'ii  eisd  e'n  glaodh,  tha'n  guidhe  faoin, 

Is  gearr  an  triall  's  an  t-saogh'l, 
An    scan,    's    an     t-og  —  cha    'n    fhaod    iad 

feitbeamh, 
Deas  no  neo  (liic;i-  m-ir  bliios  am  beatha 


'S    fheudar    dhoibh    comhail   'thoirt    do  'n 
Bhreitheamh  ! 

[Tha  iad  a'  falbh. 
AN  CUIGEAMH  ERRVNN.    A'  CHEUD  ROINN. 

Aite  fosgailteach,  dluth  air  Altorf. 
Aig  an  taobh  cuil  tha  daingneach  Ciosnach- 
air-Uri,  leiy  na  lol>htan-seasaimh  mar  amis  an 
t-sealladh  anns  an  treasarnh  Koin  de  'n  cheud 
Earrann.  Air  an  laimh  chli  gheibhear  sealladh 
a'  fosgladh  a  mach  air  moran  bheanntan,  tha  a' 
chrois-taraidh  a'  lo.-gadh  air  gach  aon  diubh. 
Tha  'n  fhaire  direach  a'  briseadh  ;  tha  cluig  a' 
bualadh  am  fad'  agus  am  fagus. 
Ruodi,  Cuoni,  Bhe'-ni,  Maiahstir  nan  Clachair- 
ean,  a^us  moran  eile  de  Luchd-duthoha, 

mnathan  agus  clann  mar  an  ceudn-t. 
RUODI— Nach  faic  sibh  a'  chrois-taraidh  air  na 

beanntan  ? 
MAIGII.  NAN  CLACIL— Cluinnibh  fuaim  nan  clag 

a  nail  thar  na  coilltean  ! 
RUODI— Ruagadh  na  Maimhdean  ! 
MAIGII.  NAN  CLACIL— Ghlacadh  na  Daingnich- 

ean  ! 

RUODI— Agus  tha  sinne,  Muinntir  Uri,  fathast 
'N  ar  tamh,  a'   leigeadb  leis  an  Daingneach 

seasamh  ? 

An  e  gur  sinne  'tha  ri  bin  air  deireadh 
Ann  a  bhi  'g  ar  gairm  fein  'n  ar  popuil  saor  ? 
MAIGH.  NAN  CLACIL— An  e  gu'n  leig  sinn  leis  a' 

chuing  sin  seasamh 
A    bha  ri  ar  co-eigneachadh?    A  suas  sibh 

'Illean  ! 
Gu  lar  leis  ! 

UILE — A  nuas  e  !    'Nuas  fi  !    'Nuas  e  ! 
RUODI— C'aite  'bheil  Stier,  a  Uri  ? 
STIKU— Tin  mi  so. 

Ciod  a  tha  mi  ri  'dheanamh  ? 
RUODI— Kacb  an  aird 
Gu  KiuUach  torr-na-faire,  agu.s  seid 
A  leithi'l  de  dhairiiiich  as  an  dudach  agad 
Gu'n   duisg  a  h-uile  gleann  a's  cieag  's  an 

cluthaich, 

A'  freagairt  do  mhac-talla  aon  a  cheile 
A  ghairin  nam  fear  'n  an  drobhan  as  na  glinn 
'S  na  braigheachaii  d'ar  n-iorinsuidh. 

(Tin,    Stier    a'  f.ilbh.     Bhalter    Furst    a' 

tighinn). 

BIIALTER  FUKST— stadaibh  !     Stadaibh  ! 
A'  chairde  !     (.'ha  'n'eil  flos  na  forthais  agaiiin 
Ciod  a  tha  Suits  na  Unterbhalden  ris. 
Feitheamaid  gus  an  tig  teachdair'  uapa-san. 
RUODI  —  Feitheamaid    ciod  ?       Tha     Fear-na- 

foirneirt  marbh, 

Tha  latha  ge.il  na  saors'  air  eiridh  oirnn. 
MAIGII.  NAN  CLACIL— Nach  leoir  Icibh  teachd- 

airean  lasrach  nan  cruach, 
A'  togail  smuid  mu  'n  cuairt  oirnn  air  gach 

beinn? 

Ruoci— So,  thugaibli  lamh,  a  h-uile  gin  agaibh, 
Fir    agus    mnathan  !      JBristibh    a    nuas    na 

lobhtan  ! 
Spealgaibh    na    l>oghachan  !      Leagaibh    na 

ballachan  ! 
Na  fagir  leinn  iu>n  clilach  dhiubh  air  muin 

cloiche. 

MAIGII.  NAN  CLACIL— So,   'Illean  !      'S  iad  ar 
lamhan  fein  a  thog  iad 


William  Tell. 


345 


'S  ann  dhuinn  'is  aithne  an  cur  as  a  cheile. 
UlLE — Tiugainneamaid,    leagamaid    a    sios    an 
Daingneach  ! 
(Tha  iad  'g  an  tilgeadh  fein  air  an  togail 

0  na  h-uile  taobh). 

BHALTKR   FURST  —  Thoisich   an   obair.      Cha 
ghabh  casg  cur  orra. 

(Melchdal  agus  Baumgarten  a'  tighinn). 
MELCHDAL  —  Ciod?     Tha    an    Daingneach  so 

fathast  na  sheasamh, 

A's  Caisteal  iSharnen  cheana  ann  an  luaithre, 
Agus  tha  'n  Rossberg  thall  na  lavaich  cuid- 

eachd  •> 
BHALTER  FUKST — An  tusa  'th'anna  Mhelchdal, 

an  i  saorsa 
A  tha  thu  'toirt  d'  ar  n-ionn*uidh  ?    Abair,  gu 

clis, 

Am  bheil  an  naimhead  air  a  ruag  gu  buileach 
As  i  a  tvi  Duthchanna? 

MELCHDAL  (a.1  cur  a  ghairdeanan  niu  thimchiull) 
-  Tha  'n  gmimd  gu  leir 
Glan    air    a    chartadli    rlhiubh.       Deanaibh 

g  tirtleachas 

A  ?>]  *"in  atlriir  choir,  aims  a  cbeart  uair  so 
Anns  am  blieil  sin  a'  bhruulhinn,  cha'n'til 

tuilleaclh 
Fear-foirneirt   ami    an    duUiaich    shaor    nan 

Suisseach. 
BHALTKR    FI-RST— O,    inn's    domh,    ciaiuar    a 

chaidli  lan-uachdar 
Fhaotainn  leibh  air  na  daingnichean  ? 
MELCHDAL— B1  e  Undents 
A  thug  a  rnacli,  le  'thapachd  smiorail,  Sarnen, 
Streap  mis',  an  oidhche  roimh  sin,  Dun  Ross- 
berg. 

A  eh  innsidli  mi  a  h-uile  car  mar  thachair. 
An  uair,  aig  teichfe-idh  do  na  naimlulean  as, 
A  cluiir  sinn  teine  ris  an  Dun  gu  sunndach, 
Bha  cheana  'ghris  a'  dhol  'na  caoir  gu  neamh, 
Ruith  Dietelm,  balach  Ghessler,  far  an  robh 

sinn, 
A's  ghla :>dh  e,  fhad  's  a  bh'aiue,  gu 'n  robli 

Berta, 

Ban-tighearna  Bhrunec,  aims  na  lasraichean. 
BHALT Kit  FUXST— Mo  civach,  an  tvuaghan  ! 

(Tha  bruansgail  air  a  chluainntinn,  agtis 

splaid  inn  sailthean  a'  tuiteam). 
MELCHDAL— Bha  i  'n  sin  fein 
Air  a  toirt  ann  gu'n  fhios  aigordugh  Gliessler. 
Leurn  Undents  mar  gu'n  deach  e  as  a  chiall — 
Oir  chuala  sinn  na  puist,  's  na  staidhrichean 
Cheana  'toirt  geill,  agustroi'n  deatarh  thainig 
Glaodh  cruaidh   na  h-eiginn  oirnn  o'n  Mhald- 

aig  bhochd. 

BHALTER  FHURST— Ach  tha  i  sabhailte  ! 
MKLCHDAL— 'S  a  mhionaid  ud 
Cha  b'  e  maol-sneimh  a  dhaanadh  feum,  no 

seasamh 
A'n  eadar-chomhaiile,   acli   clisteachd  high- 

n.hor 
A   i ih'  fhoghnadh  !     Mur  biodh   ann  ach  an 

duin'-uasal, 
Bhitheamaid    caonntach    air  ar  beatha,    dh 

fhaoidte  ! 
Ach  b'  e  ar  companach  e,    'an  cornh-bhoinn 

ruinn, 

Agus  bha  gaol  aig  Berta  air  ar  pobull— 
Mar  sin  chur  sinn  ar  beatha  ann  ar  laimh 


Agus,  'n  ar  leum,  a  stigh  do  'n  teine  ghabh 

sinn. 

BHALTER  FURST— Ach  tha  i  sabhailte  V 
MKLCHDAL— '8  ise  tha  sin, 
Rudents  a's  mise,  thug  sinn  i  le  cheile 
A  mach  roi  'n  lasair,  agus  air  ar  culaobh, 
Le  dairirich  thuit  an  obair-fhiodh  a  sligh. 
An  sin,  an  uair  a  dh'  fhairich  i  gu'n  rol)h 
I  sabhailte,  's  a  thog  i  a  suil  gu  Neamh. 
An  sin,  thilg  am  Morair  og  e  fein  air  m'uchd, 
'S  gun  fhacal  air  a  labhairt  thall  na  bh<;s 
Dhruideadh   coimhcheangal  eadar   sii'ii  'n  ar 

dithis 
A    rinneadh     cruaidh    a's    diongmhalta    tre 

theine  ; 
'S  a  chaoidh  nacli  brisear,  troimh  gach  uile 

dheuchainn 
A  bhios  'an  dan  duinn. 
BHALTER  FURST— C'aite  'bheil  Lnndenbcri;  -• 
MELCHDAL— Taobh   thall    liealacli    !ihiiii..uig. 

Cha  robh  e:m  blieachd 
Gu'm  faigheadh  esan  a  rinn  m'  stliair  ila'l, 
D(.l  as  an  duthaich  «o  le  'she  iihu'li  :»iue. 
Chaidli  mi  le  loir 'nadheigh,  a's  iin:i  mi  jjicim 

air. 

Thug  mi  edhachii'lii  It-am  ;  a  it? ra-  .n  m'-ithar 
Thilg  mi  a  sios  e,  bha  mo  claidhe.  unli  i  ni.-gte 
I). 'as  os  a  cluMJiii  ;  urn  -huiilh  an  sean  duine 
Ch'>  durachdacli,  L.U'II  .U-aiiaiiiJ)  tn;  •  •.]'••  air, 
(<u"n   d'Lhug  mi    'iilu-aili'    air   ais   (iha.    an1  a 

sgath-san. 

Chaidh  e  fo  bhoid  nacli  tilleadh  e  do'n  tit- 
Thug  e  a  bhoid  as  ur,  gun  diogh'ltas  i  u-niidh, 
Ghleidhidh  e    iad— dli'  fhairi.  h    e    n:  art    ar 

gairdean. 
BIIALTKR  FURST— 'S  maith  dhint-.sa  w,  nach  d' 

thug  thu  sal  na  fola 
Air  uair  na  buaidh',  ach  gu'n  do  ghleidh  thu 

gUn  i  1 
CLAVN  (a'  ruith  BT.U  n   cuairt   le   nureau   nodh, 

agus  cabair  as  na  lobhtan)  — 
Saorsa  !   Saorsa  !    Fhuair  an  duth'iich  - -i<  r>a  ! 
(Tha  dudach  Uri  air  a  seideadh  1»>  m-ait). 
BIIALTKR  FURST— B'  i  sin  an  Flieill  !    Chi  iii« 

chuimlmicha  chlann  i 

'S  an  latha  'm  fas  am  fait  ch<>  ghoal  iis  a 
bhainne. 

(Tha  na  caileagan  a'  tighinn  'n  an  croith- 

lean,  a'  giulan  na  h-Aid  air   ban-   an 

stuib.      Tha  'n  t-ait'  air  a  lionadh  le 

sluagh). 

RUODI— Tha  so    an    Ad  ris  an    robh    sum    ri 

beiceadh. 
BAUMUARTKN— Thugaibh  'ur  comhairle,  ciod  a 

ni  sinn  leatha  ? 
BIIALTKR  FURST— Och,   ochain   fhein  !    .sueas 

in'  ogha-sa  fo  'n  Aid  so  ! 
MORAN    GHUTHANNA  —  Na    ribeagan    leatha, 

cuimhneachan  an  Fhoirneirt '. 
Oairibh  's  an  teine  i ! 

BHALTER  FURST — Cha  chairich,  leigibh  le^tha, 
Ma  bhai  roimh  so  'n  a  h-inneal  foiineirt, 
•Seasadh  i  tuilleadh  'in    feasd  mar  fhiuiuis 
saorsa  ! 

(Tha  'n  luchd-duthcha,  tir,  ranathan,  agus 
clann,  a' suidhe 'nan  letn-chuaiit,  air 
na  cabair  agus  na  sparran  briste). 
MELCHDAL— Sosinnairarbaile-mor,  co  'chuireaa 
as  sinn  ! 


346 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


Le  fuigheal!  cumhachd  Ainneart  fo  ar  casan  ! 
Is  glonnhcir  mar  a  chaidh  a  thoirt  gu  crich, 
A's  mar  a  choimhlionarlh  gach  ni  fa  leth, 
Mar  'bhoiflich  sinn,  mo  chorapanaich,  's  an 

Rutli  ! 
BHALTEK  FURST— Cha  'n  i  so  crioch  na  h-obair, 

ach  a  toiseach. 
Tha    feum    a  nis  air  misneach,  's    aonachd 

dhaingean. 

Cha  clmir  an  Righ  dheth  uine,  creidibh  mise, 
Ann  an  tigh'nn  oirnn,  gu  dioghaltas  a  dhean- 

amh 

Air  bais  a  Mhaoir ;  a's  iadsan  a  chuibhticheadh, 
lomain  air  ais,  's  an  gleidheadh  thaiiis  oimn 
Le  neart  a'  chlaidheimh. 
MELCHDAL— Thigeadh  e  mata 
Le  airin  a  chumhachd,  dli'  fhuadaich  sinn  o'r 

meadhon 
Ar  naimhdean,  gltidhidh  sinn  iad  an  taobh 

mach  dhinn. 
RUODI — '.  ha'n  'eil  ach  beagan  bhealaichean  's 

an  tir 
Le  'r  cuirp  fein  duinidh  sinn  gach  beam  "s 

na  creagan. 
BAUMGARTEN  — Aointe  tlia  sin,    ri   'cheil',  le 

cuinhnant  sior 
Roimh  arnuiitean  an  High  cha  ghabh  sinn 

e.igal  ! 

iRaosseimann  agus  Staufi'acher  a'  tighinn). 
RAOSSKLMANN  (u'  coiseachd  a  stigh)  -  'S  iad  so 

breitheanais  uamhasach  an  Tighearn. 
AN  LUCHD-DUTHCHA— Ciod  a  th'  air  tachairt '.' 
RAOSSKLMANM — Is  eagaliach  an  linn 

'S  an  ii:  f  t'.uhir  sinn  nil'  ar  crannachur  ! 
BHALTKII  KUKST— Nach  innis  s-ibh 

Ci*"l  a  ghabh  ait.e  V    U,  th  i  sibh'  an  so, 

A  Mhafghbtir  Biu-,ner  !     (.  i<ul  'ur  naigheachd 

dhuim: '; 

AN  LI-CIH>-I)<.  riHCHA— Ciod  c.  tb'air  t  chairt  ? 
RAOSSKI..MA.NN  --  Ciuinnibh,      a's     gal)haibh 

i.  ngnaclii  ! 
STAVFFACHER— Bho  aubh  a--c'agal  in  or  chaidh  ar 

cur  saor 

BAOSSKLMANX— Chaidh  mort  a  dlieanamh  air  an 

Ijinpaiie. 
lii!  \I.TI.II  FtRST— Ochoin  !     Ochoin  ! 

(ili't  an  sluagh  a(  riuiiineadiadh   mu  'n 

cuairt  air  Stauffacher). 

Ul   K— Ciod  V    Air  a  mhort  !     An  t-Iorepaire  ! 
Mi  LCHDAL— Neo-choma  ach  '.   Co  uaitli  a  thain' 

;  a  naigheachd  '.' 
ST.»frKACHER—   lui  an  n-dgheachcl  fior.    Thuit 

Icmpair'  Ailibeart 
Aiv:   J-iituiig,  le  Inimh  a  mhortair    '.s  e  Iain 

Muiilear, 
I'uiiK'  cho  cit :idoa>acli  '.s  a  th'anns  an  dnth- 

aich 
A   'hug  an  i-^ul  <t' :tr  n-iunnsuidh  a  Schaff- 

u  ,u  e  •. 
J.Jn  \LI.ER  Fune-T— Co  'ghai.h  os  laimh  a  leithid 

i  e  .uiniicinli  sgre  ruheil  ; 
Sr.-U    FACiiKit— ',s  o  dh'  fhag  cho  sgreimheili, 

;>  "  duin'  a  rinn  i. 
B'  e  laia,  mac  a  bhiatli  n-,  Dine  na  Suabia 

ghabli  «s  iaimli's  a  thuggu  ciich  an  gniomh. 
Mi.   c  ,DAL— 'liheil  fh  os'iteghluais  e  gu  brath'r 
itlur  a  in  hurt '/ 


STAUFFACHER— Bha  'n  t-Ioinpaire  a*  gleidheadh 

oighreachd  'athar 

Air  ais  uaith,  's  e  'g  a  sireadh  air  gun  stad. 
Chaiil  e  a  h-uile  foighdinn,  a's  chreid  e 
Gu'n  robh  e  'in  beachd  an  lompaire  a  gleidh- 
eadh 

Air  ;;  shon  fein,  a's  e^san  a  chur  dheth — 
Ma  dh'fhaoidte,  le  Ad  basbuig. — Liamar  air 

bith 

Mar  a  bha  'chuis  sin,  dh'  fhot-gail  an  duin'  og 
A  chinas  ri  comhairle  a  chompairiich 
'S  an  Arm  ;  le  triathan  urrnmach 
Eschenbaci',  Tegerfeldeii,  T^art,  a's  Palm  ; 
Chomh-dhuin'  e    nach  robh    ceartas  him   ri 

fhaotinn, 

A's  ghabh  so  air  fein  dioghaltas  a  dheanamh. 
BHALTI-R  Fun ST— Ach  inn's  dliuinn  mar  a  bha, 

gu  cri'x-h  a'  gnothuich. 
STAUFFACHER— Mharcaich  an   Righ  a  r.uas  o 

Stein  gu  Kaden. 
Gu  dol  thun  Rheinfeld,  far  am  bheil  a  luch- 

airt  ; 

Bha  CMinh-ris  Iain  agus  Leopold, 
An  da  phrionnsa,  agns  cuideachd  fhlathail 
De  thriatlmn  ut  ran  ach,  mar  dhinn,  'ga  lean- 

tuinn. 

Air  dhoibh  tigh'nn  thun  an  aisig  air  an  l?euss, 
A  stigh  do'n  bata  dhrobh  na  mortairt-an, 
Air  dhoigh  nach  d'  fhuair  aon  eile  de'n  luchd- 

leHiimhuinn 
Air  bcrd  comh-ris  an  Righ,  a's  dh'fhalbh  iad 

thairi-;. 

An  sin,  an  nair  a  bha  an  t-Iompaire 
A' marcachd  troinih  na  dailteaii—  .'Na  luidhe 

fodhpa 

Tha  s-eann  bhaile  mor,  a  bh'  ami  'an  liin  tean 
An  iodhal-aoraidh — Agus  sean  Dun  Hap^i-utg 
Mu'n  cfintr  amh,  as  an  do  cbinn  rnorhvii'i  a 

slili  ch'i, 
Chnir  an  Dim:  Iain  a  bhiodag  ami  a  bii-cill- 

e,ch. 
Shixth  Hmlolf.  'ligheanr,   Phailm,  an  t  sl^agh 

troimh  a  cliorp 
'S  rinn  Tighearn'  Eschenbach    a    cheat. u    a 

spealtadh, 

Mar  sin,  thuit  e  'n  a  fhuil  air  'oighreachii  fein 
A's  air  a  mhort^dh  le  a  chuideaclid  feiii. 
('hunnacas  leo-san  air  taobh  ttuill  an  ui-gi- 
Mar  a  chaidh  dha.  ach  bha  an  abhainn  mln  r 
Katorra  's  esan  ;  ni  cha  robh  'n  an  comas 
Ach  eigheach  faoin  a  chaoidh 's  na  h-oi!lt  ;t 

thogarl. 
Bha  sean  l)hean  bhochd  aig  ta».'bli  an  ra'  !:aid- 

rnh  ir, 

'N  a  h-uchd-sa  thug  an  High  a  su.is  an  d  n. 
MELCHDAL — Ksan  lei-  am  bu  mhiuiiu  ans;.ngh'l 

gu  leir, 

'S  gle  thnth  H  chladhaich  e  MI;  u.-igh  illi-;  f-in  ! 
STAUFFACHEM— Tha'n  tir  mu 'n  cuairt  ai    fad. 

air  iMbhiiil  uamhais, 

Gach  tlf-vilach  arms  na  glinn  tha  (hiinte  t- -tiiii, 
Tha  h-ui!e  Comunn  fa  It  tha'  dion  an  cri  t-h   n 
Sean  /urich  fein,  ohuin  i  a  gtataicheai". 
Ged    'sheas     iad    fosg  ill'    le   deieh-blim  lina- 

tichead. 
Tha,  air  an  darna  taobh,  oillt  roimh  'n  ludul- 

mortaidh 
A  r    an    taobh    eile,    geilt    toimh    ludi  !-;in- 

diogli'ltais. 


William  Tell. 


347 


A  chionn,  thi  Ban-righinn  Hungary  a'  tighinn, 
Armaicluo  le  tuui.-fogr  idh  's  ascaoin-eaglais, 
'S  cha  'a  aithne  dh'  ise  s-irc,  no  gnnneas 

f.toilidh 

An  t-sliochd  o  'n  d'thainig  i  ;  theid  i  'gu  'dulan 
'An  dioUdh  has  a  h-athir  air  sli  >ch-l  nam 

mortair. 
Cha  i>hi  iad  feiu  no 'n  c'ann,   no  clann   an 

cloinne, 
Seadh,   no  an  traillean — tearuinte  o  'n  Ban- 

righ  : 

Gu  ruin  an  stairsneach  aig  an  Inchairtean, 
Bhoidich  i  fUnuisean  a  charna  asda 
Air  uaigii  a  h-at.har,  agas  i  fein  fhaUceadh 
Mar  arm  an  driuchd  a'  cheitein  anns  an  fhu.il 

ac'. 
MELCHDAL— Am  bheil  forfijais  aca  aiv  na  mort- 

airean. 
STAUFFACHER— Clio  lu:-it,h  's  a  choimhlion  iad  an 

gniomh,  theich  iad 

A'  gabh  til  cti  g  slighean  eadir-dhealaiehte, 
Gun  duil  ri  tachairt  air  a  rheile  tuilleadh— 
Tha'n  iMiicog,  lai  i,  air  faondra  air  an  t-sliabh. 
BHALTER  FURST— Toradh  eha  d'fhuair  iad  ann 

an  cois  an  ci.'iita. 

Chi  ghiulain  diogh'lta.s  toi\tdh,  's  ann  air  fein 
A  tldg  c  beo  :  tin  morfc  na  sholas  da 
A'>  si  richear  a  bhlas  le  graim>alachd. 
STAUFFACHKH— buanchd  cha  'n  fhaigh  namort- 

aireaii  o'ri  gniomh, 

Ac  i  fio  i--iid<i  sinne  toradh  beannaichte 
Na  toiiii   !e  laiuhan  glan,  a  bhuain  o  'n  droch- 

bheart. 

Chaidh  nallach  geilt  ro-mhor  a  thogal  dhinn  ; 
Tha  '•  -ainiiaid  mor  isa  sa  rvi  'ids  air  tuiteam. 
Th-  id  an  t-slat  rioghail,  air  a  glruiadli,  thairis 
A  Tuaghltuh  Hapsburg  gn  slioclid  ei^inn  eile, 
Cuiuaidh,  an  sin,  an  ItiKghach  t  a  SU;I.H  a  <-oir 
fc«aor-thaghadh  a  dheauamh,  mar  a  b"  abhaist 

did. 
BIIALTKR    FURST  agus  moran   eile— An  cuala 

sibli  dad  ? 
STAUFFACHER— Tha  Jforair  Lncsonburg 

OiH-'ia  air  ainrneachadh  h>  nMr;m  glmthan. 
BHVLTKK    i-unsr— 's   math   dhuinne   gu  'n   do 

sh-rrt.-  ^-inii  h'rinneach 
Air  tio!-h  na  Kinghachd.     Tha  duil  a  nis  ri 

Cfartas  ! 
STAUFFACHKR— Bidh  feum  aig  an  Triath  ur  air 

c  tird-an  tapaidh  — 
Dionaidh  c  .sinn  o  dhiogh'Itas  Anstiin. 

( i  ha  an  Inchd-dnth  h  ;  a'  crath-idhlair.han 

a  cheile  le  toi  innrinn;. 
lj,ira  Cieireacli  ie  Righ-thenchdaire. 
PARA  (JI.I'IRKACH — '!ha  "u  so  agaibli  ceannardan 

c..ir  na  Duthcha. 
KAO-SKI.M  »N  agns  niuran  cile—  -A  Chleirich,  ciod 

'ur  n.'iiiilipachd  '( 
PARA  CLi.iaKACii — Tha  'n  so  sgriobhadh 

A  i!i  \^  ;«.'i  Teachdnire  d'ar  n-ioiiiisuidh  nile. 
Un.i':   !   )    i'baltHv    Furst)— Biitibh   an   seula  's 

le  iph  ibh  o  ! 

15u  -. :  T,-.H  s  OUST  .a'  Icughidh)— "  Do  dhaoine 
<  'o  h  anm-h  TJii,  Snits  it's  Unterbhalden, — 
Fai  re,  d:--adh-ghean,  agus  gach  guidhe  mai  h, 

l:li"  an  i.han-righ  halasaid" 

M    u A  \  ('i!XJTHA»A — Ach  ii"d  is  ciall 

J.',,  h  .  on  Hhan-vigh,  th  i  a  rioglr-iclid  thairis? 


BHALTER  FURST—"  'An  am  a  deuchainn  ghoirt, 
's  a  bron  m  r  bhanntraich, 
A's  ann  an  troimli-cheile  iantinn,  thairis  uir 
Ant  siublial  fuilteach  aig  a  Tighearna, 
Tha  cninihrie  aice  air  an  dilseachd  dhluth 
A    nuchdadh   riamh   o   sliean   le  sliochd  nan 

Suisseach." 
MELCHl)AL~Cha  robh  aon  chnimhn'  aic'  oirnn 

an  tini  a  solais  ! 
RAOSSK.LMANN  -  Tosd  !   Leigibli  leinn  a  chluinn- 

tinn  ! 
BHALTER  FURST  (a'  leughaidh)— "Tba  i  'cur 

e-irl  sa  anns  a'  pho'onll  dhileas 
Nach  arnhairc  iad  ach  leis  a'  ghrain  a7?  nK^dna 
Orra-san  a  I. ha  ciontach  de  'n  ghniomh  sgreat- 

aidli  ; 

Agus  tiia  duil  a's  fiughair  aig  a'  Bhan-righ 
Nach  f  iigli  na  inortaman  co-oibreachadh, 
No  cuideachadli  anus  na  tri  duthchannM  ; 
An  aite  sia  a  diieanamh,  gu  'in  a  fmrr  leo 
An  ti.irt  a  su  •;,.  gun  dail  do  iaimli  an  J.)iogh'it- 

air, 
A'    ruinii'r.es'cliadh    a'    chaoi  nhncis    a's    an 

deAdh-shean 
A  fh'.'ur  i»id,  I'iaiiih  o  shoan,  bbo  'Iheaglilach 

Tl-i.pS'  >urg." 
MORA.N  GUTIIANNA— Caoiinlinea?,  ^gus  dheadli- 

ghoan  ! 
STAUFFACHER— Fhuiir    hi'in.    gu    t'earbh,  o  'n 

atlnir  moran  <lea:ili-ahe,ui  ; 
Ach  riod  :in  cliu  a  ))heirt-ar    if  a  mliicV 
An  do  choinh-dhaingiiich  e  ar  litir-saousa, 
M.ir,  gns  a  nin,  a  iit:n  gai:h  Idinpjji,'  tile  ? 
An   d'  thug   e   cerirt-blnvith,   a   u'h    coir    a's 

dlijihti, 

Gu  dion  a  thoirt  do'n  neo-chiontach 'n  a  airc? 
An  d'  rinn  e  uibliir  '.s  eissteachd  ris  na  Teachd- 

airean 

A  chuir  sinn  ann  an  am  ar  teinn  d'a  ionnsuidh  ? 
H-a<>n  de  na  nicv;e  sin  cha  d'rinn  an  '-sigh. 
Uibhir  's  a  h-ann  ch-i  d'rinn  e  air  ar  son, 
Muv  bhi'dh  gu'n  d'thng  sin  fein  ar  coir  a  niach 
Le  ar  1  liinh  la'uiii  iein,  blri  esan  coma 
C'iu  bhitheanaaid   'an  cruaidh-chas   no  nach 

bitheadh. 

Buidheachas  dh-t-Hau?    Cha  b'  e  buidheachas 
An  hi'.l  a  .-huir  c  a. ins  na  yiiini  si;.;;  agair.n. 
Sheas  e  air  iona<l  ar-1,  blia  e'..  u.  cli   mas 
'    A  bhi  'n  a  atluiif  dogach  povnl!  fuidhe  ; 
Cha  b' fhiu  leis  sin    bu   doch-i  leis  Ktotlrach- 

adli 

Air  son  achuideachd  fein,  a's  faod  ;i  lh  i-idsan 

Air  son  an  d  oi'^rii'h  e.  a  bhi  'g  a  ;-h  xnncniili  ! 

BiiAi/rKJi   FURST— (  ha  teg  sinn  ioluch  tli  iti< 

air  a  thuite.iia, 

Ni  mo  a  gleidht-as  sinn  an  f-olc  'n  nr  cuinihne 
A   fhuair  sinn   aiy   u  h/iinh  ;  biodh   sin    fad' 

nainn  ! 

Ach  gu  n  robh  sin-  e  Viol  a  glribbail  os  lainih 
])iov)h'lfcas  ,'t  dh.'am-:iidi  cir  SMU  ba-<  an  V:i;;h, 
Nach  <i'  rinn,  air  aon  doigli  na  doiiili  eile, 

maith  dhuinn, 
No  iadsan  nach  d'rinn  cron  oirnn  ;;   ghour- 

leanHihuinn, 
Cha  'n  'eil  mar  flri.-ichadh  oirnn,  ch  i  fh"e  giir 

dhuinn. 

'S  e  tabh^vtas  >a'n-thoil  a  l«heir  an  gradh, 
Fuasglai.lli  am  has  HIU  beo  o  dldigliean  sea:  bh 
Dhasan  clia'n  ioc  sinn  tuilleadh— tha  e  marbh  ! 


348 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


MELCHDAL— Agus  ma  tha  a  Ean-righ,  ann  a 

seomar 

A  gul  ach  gus  an  ruig  a  caoidh  na  Neamhan 
Tha  'n  sluagh  'n  ar  lathair,  o  amghar  air  an 

saoradh, 

A'  togail  gaoir  an  taingealachd  an  aird — 
ladsan    a    bhuaineadh    deoir,    cuireadh    iad 
gradh. 

[Tha  an  Righ-theachdaive  a'  falbh). 
STAT TEACHER  (ris  an  t-sluagh)— C'ait'  am  bheil 

Tell  ?    Cha  'n  'eil  sann  ceart  as  'eugmhais 
Fear-oibreachaidh  ar  saorsa  !  'S  i  a  lamli  san 
A   b'fhearr  'n  ar  measg  ;    's  e  a  bu  ghoirte 

Mh'  fhuiling. 

Thitiibh,  achamle,  learn  gun  dail  g'ashireadh, 
'.S  gu'n  cuir  sinn  uile  failte  air  an  cridheil. 

[Tha  iad  uile  a'  falbh. 

AN  CUIGEAMII  KRRA.NN.      AN  DAK.-V  ROJNN. 

Tauhh  a  stigh  bothan  Tel!. 

Tha  uriosach  air  an  teallaich.    Tin  an  dorus  'na 
shvasamh  f<  suaiite,  a  toirt  sealiadh  a  mach 

air  an  duthaich. 

Hedbhig,  Bhalter,  agus  Tillem). 
lIi-:i>r,niG  —  An   dhigh  fhein  tha  'ur  n-athair  a 

t:;.'h'ti!i  dachaidh. 

A  dilann,  a  chl.ann  !  t!i;i  c  buo  sl-m,  a's  saor, 
Aiius  tha  .-hiHH  saor,  's  a  h-uiie  liuine  : 
As  's  e  'ur  n-athair-sa  a  shaor  an  duthaich. 
BHAi,;i:u — Bha  mise  cnideiichd  ann,  nach  rubh, 

a  iii'  athair ': 
Chaidh  saiiihead  m'athar  gle  dhluth  air  mo 

mharbhadli 

A's  cha  do  chrith  mi  roimpe. 
UEnimiG  (a'  cur  a  la.mli an  timchioll  air)— Scadh, 

a  laochain, 

Chaidhd' aiseag  dhomh  air  ais.    An  dara  uair 
Uugidh  tu  dhomh  as  ur.     Da  uair  thairis 
(  h  lidh  mi  ro  '.-haothair  math  .r  air  do  sgath  ! 
Ach  tha  sin  seach — tha  sibh  'n  'ur  dithis  agam. 
A's  tha  'ur  n-athair  cuideachd  a  tighinn  an 
diugh  ! 
(Tha   manach   a  tighinn  thun   dorus  an 

tighe) 
UH.LKAM —  A    mhathair.    faicibh— sin    agaibh 

manach  bochd  ! 

Cinnreach  bidli  e  ag  iarruidh  deirce  uaibh. 
Hi:i)!;:fio — Thoir  thusa  'stigh  e, 's  bheir  sinn 

d ha  deoch-slainte  ; 

Biodii  fhios  aige  gur  e  so  tigh  an  aoibhneis. 
(Tha  i  a'  dol  a  stigh,  agus  a  tilleadh  gu 

grad  le  biceir). 
L'n.i.EAM  (ria  a  mhanach)— Thigibh  a  stigh  a 

dhuine  mhaitb,  a's  bheir 
Mo  mhathair  deoch  dhuibh. 
BHALTER— Thigibh,  leigibh  'ur  sgios 

A's  theid  sibh  air  'ur  n-adhart  neartaichte. 
AM    MANACH  (ag  amharc  mu  'n  cuairt  air  le 

sealiadh  neo-shocair) — 

('•'ait'  am  bheil  mi  ?    Co  'n  duthaich  a  tha  so  ? 
BHALTER  —  An    deachaidh    sibh    air  seachran 

'nuair  nach  tios  dnibh'.' 

Tha  sibh  'am  Bnrglen,  ann  an  dufchaich  Uri, 
Far  an  teid  duine  'stigh  do  gleann  na  Schach. 
AM  MANACH  (ri  Heclbhig,  a  tha  a'  tarruing  air 

ais  uaith)— 

'Bheil  sibh  leibh  fein  !    Am  bheil 'ur  fear  a 
stigh  ? 


HEDBHIG— Tha  suil  agam  a  h-uile  mionaid  ris— 
Ach  ciod  a  th'  oirbh  a  dhuine  ?   Tha  eagal  orm 
Nach  e  rucl  math  'sana  bith  a  thug  a  so  sibh. 
Ach,   co    air  bith  sibh,   tha    sibh    feumach, 

siuthaidibh  ! 
MANACH- Ge  mor  mo  chiocras,  agus  m' fheum 

air  Ion, 
Cha  'n  ith  's  cha  'n  ol  mi  gus  an  inn's  sibh 

dhomh 

HEDBHIG— Na    bean  domh  !    Cum  air    falbh! 

Seas  astar  bh'  uam 
Ma    tha    thu  t  ileach  mi  'thoirt    eisdeachd 

dhuit, 
MANACH — Tha  mi'toirt  boidean,  air  do  theallach 

fhialaidh, 
'S  air  cinn  do  leanabain  chaoimh. 

(Tha  e  a'  cur  a  lainih  air  ceann  gach  aon 

d«  na  balachain). 
HI-DISIIK;— Cum  bho  na  leanaba  ! 
Ciod  a  tha  d'  bheachd,  a  dhuiht  ?    Cha  Mhan- 
ach thu  ! 

Cha  Manach  idir  a  th,  annad  ?    Cha'n  \  il  sith 
Fo  'n   ch-tmhdach   agad-sa   a'   gabhail  comh- 

nuidh  ! 

Nocosl:is  si:h  cha'n  fh  >ic  mi  ann  ad  aogas. 
MANACH  -'S  mi  duiu'  is  truaigii'  ath'airaghaidh 

an  domhaiii. 
HEDBHKJ  — Tru-is  laidir  duisgidh  mi-fhortan  's  a 

chridhe! 
Ach  romhad-sa  tha  mo  thaobh-.stigh  a'uonn- 

dadh. 

BllALir.!;  (a'  toirt  lenm  as) — A   mhathair,   sin 
m'  athair  ! 

[Tha  e  falbh  a  mach  'n  a  ruith. 
IlEaiunu— A  Tighearna  mlinith  ! 

(Air  ti   dol  a  mach,  ach  air  chrith,  agus 

gun  chomas  carachadh). 
UILI.EAM  (a'  vuiMi  an  (lei:.',h  Bi;alter)  — 

O,  m'  alhair  g^olach  ! 
TKI.I, — So  mi  air  ais,  a  chlann — 
Ach  c.'uite  'blieil  'ur  math.air '! 

BHALTER— Aig  an  dorus, 
'X  a  seasamh,  cha 'n  urrainn  i  tighinn  o  um 

na'a  fhfiida 

Tha  i  air  chrith  le  eagal  agus  s<  las. 
TEI.L— O,  Hedbhig,   liedbhig,  mathair  ciiaomh 

mo  chloinne, 
Thug  Dia  dhomh  comhnadh,  cha'n  'eil  tuill- 

eadh  comas 
Aig  Fear-an-fhoirneirt  sgaradh  ti  chur  oinin 

(lha  am  Manach  a'toirt  aire  dhoibh). 
HEDIUIIG  (a  lanihan  m'  a  muiiieal)— Tel),  i  ach 

mis'  a  dh'  fhuiling  air  do  shpn-.sa  ': 
TELL— Leig  as  do  chuimhne  sin,  bi  foisi  eich, 

subhach, 

Tha  mi  air  ais  'an  so.     'S  e  so  mo  bhothan  ! 

Tha  mi  a  ris  am  measg  mo  chuideachd  fein  ! 

UILI.EAM— Ach,  athair,  c'ait'am  bheil  am  bogha. 

agaibh  ? 

Cha  'n  fhaic  mi  e. 

TELL— Cha  'n  fhaic  thu  tuilleadh  e, 
Le  nithe  naomha  thu  e  taisgte  suas, 
Cha    tionndaidh    mi    air    damh-na-croic'   e 

tuilleadh. 
HEDBHIG— O,  'Tell,  'Tell ! 

(Tha  Tell  a'  tarruing  air  ais,  agus  a  leigeil 

le  a  lamhan  tuiteam). 
TEI.L— 'D  e  'tha  'cur  eagal  ort,  a  Bhean  ? 


William  Tell. 


349 


HEDBHIG— Ciamar— ciamar  a  thill  thu?     Am 

bheil  do  lamh — 
Am/aod  mi  beanntuinn  rithe  ? 
TELL  (gu  criaheil,  ruisneachail) — An  lamh  sin 
Rinn  i  thu  fein  a  clhion,  a's  shaor  i  'n  Duth- 

aich! 

Gun  gheilt  gun  fhiarah,  gu  Neamh  fandaidh 
mi  'togail. 
(Tha    am     Manach     a'   toirt    carachaclh 

ealamh,  tha  e  a  'toirt  an  aire  clha). 
TELL— Co  e  am  manach  so  ? 
HEDBHIG— Chaidh  e  a  m'  aire  ! 

Ach  bruidhinn  thusa  ris,  tha  e  'cur  oillt  orm. 
AM  MANACH  (a  tighinn  na  's  dluithe)— 

An  tusa  Tell  sin  tre  'n  do  thuit  am  Maor  ? 
TELL— Is  mi  cha  'n  'eil  mi  'dol  g'  a  chleith  air 

duine. 

MANACH— Is  tusa  Tell  ?    Gu  tior  is  i  Lamh  Dhe 

A  rinn  mo  threorachadh  fo  dhruim  do  thighe. 

TELL  (le  a  shuil  g'a  thomhas  blio  mhullach  gu 

bonn)  -Cha  mhanach  thu  !     Co  thu  ? 
AM  MANACH— Marbh  thus'  am  Maor 

Oir  rinn  e  eucoir  ort— Mharbh  mise  cuideachd 
Esan  a  dhiult  dhomh  ceartas—  Bha  e  uibhir 
'N  a  namhaid  dhuits'  agus  a  bha  e  dhomhsa, 

Cuir  mi.V  an  Puthaich  saor  uaith 

TELL  (a  seasamh  air  ais)-Is  tusa — 

Uamhasach  !— A   chlann  !    a   chlann.    a  .stigh 

sibh  ! 

Rach  thus'  a  stij;h  cuideachd,   a  bhean  mo 
ghaoil  ! 

Falbh,  falbh  !   A  dhuine  thruaigh  bu  tusa 

HEDH  G— Co  e? 

TELL— N  a  faraid  dliiom  !     Hi  falbh  !     Bi  falbh 

a  luach  — 
Cha  'n  fhaod  a  chlann  aon   fhacal  dlieth   a 

chluinntinn. 

Totr  as  an  tigh— Xa  biodh  a  rhridh'  agad 
'Bhi  fuireach  t'uidh  an  aondruira-tigheriu-san. 
HKDBHK;   —  Mo    chreach  !      Ciud    a    tha  so  ! 
TuigainneaiE  aid  ! 

[A'  falbh  leis  a'  chloinn. 

TEL',     (ris     a'    Mhanach)  —  Is    tusa     Dine    na 
li-Austria — Is  Hi  !     Mharbh  thu  an  t-Iomp- 
aire,  do  thriath,  's  Brath'r-'l'athar. 
Dire  IAIN— Hob  e  de  m'  eighreachd  mi. 
TELL-  Brathair  de  d'atliair, 
I)'    lompaire    mharbh    thu  !      Agus    tha    an 

talamh 

Far  hast  'gad  ghiuian,  tha  'ghrian  'toirt  dhuit  a 
solus  ! 

Diuc  IAIN— Tell,  eisd,  m'an  dean  thu 

TELL— Tha  do  lamhan  a'  ruith 
Le  mil  l)hrath'r-d'athar,  agus  d'  lompaire. 
'S  tha  'chridh'  agad  cas  a  chur  aim  am  thigh 

glan-sa,  ? 

Tha  'chridh'  agad  d'aodann  a  leigidh  fhaicinn 

DC  dhuine  onorach,  a's  aoidheachd  iarruidh? 

Diuc  IAIN — Bha  riughair  again  trocair  fhaotainn 

uait-sa  ; 
IJinn    thusa,    cuideachd,    diogh'ltas    air    do 

Namhaid. 

TELL— A  dhuine  thruaiah!  Am  bheil  e  comasach 
Gu  'n  deanadh  ou  gniomh  fuilteach  a  ghloir- 

mhiann 

Le  dleasnas  athar  a  cho-mheasgachadh? 
An  do  sheas  thusa  suas  gu  flor-ghloine 
D'fhardach  a  dhion?    Gu  ceann  gaolach  do 
leinibh 


A  theasraiginn  ?    No  iadsan  'is  dluithe  dhuit 
Agus  'is  ionmhuinn  leat,  a  choimhid  teann 
Bho'n  olc  a  b'  uamhasaiche  'b'  urrainn  tach- 

airt  ? 

Ri  Neamh  mo  lamhan  glan  tha  mi  a'  togail, 
Mo    mhallachd    biouh"  ort    fein    a's    air    do 

gniomh — 
Dhiol  mise  fiauhanriorghlannaomhna  Daonn- 

achd, 

Thug  thusa  masladh  oirre— Cha'n  'eil  cuid 
No  pairt  agam  leat— Mhort  thusa  d'  Fhear- 

daimh. 

Rinn  mise  Luchd-mo-ghaoil  a  tlireasraiginn. 
Diuc    IAIN— Tha    thu  'g    am    fhuadach    uait, 

gun  chomli-fhurteachd 
Agus  as  eughmais  dochas? 
TELL— 'S  ann  a  tha  sgreamh  air  nr  fheoil 
Am  feadh  a  tha  mi'  gleidheadh  cainnte  riut. 
Bi  falbh  ?  A's  «abh  do  rathad  oillteil  romhad  ! 
Fag  in'  fhardach,  comhnuidh  ghlan  na  Neo- 

chiontachd  ! 
Diuc  IAI.N  (a1  tionndadh  gu  falbh)-Mar  sin  cha 

'n  urrainn  domli  'bin  beo  na's  fhaide, 
Cha  mhaith  learn  fantuinn  beo  ! 
TELL— 'I  ha  thu  'cur  trims  orm 

Air  a  shon  sin— A  'I  ighe-mia  Neimh  ?  Cho  og, 
Agus  blio  shliochd  cho  nasal,  Ogha  Rudolf, 
Mo   Thriath    is    m'   I<  nipaire,   'na    Mhortair 

truagh 
Air  theicheadh,  'n  a  sheasamh  air  mo  stairs- 

neacli 

Mar  dhiol-deirc  a  'guidhe—  ormsa,  duine bochd  ! 

[A!  falach  aghaidh. 

Diuc    f.viN  —  Guilibh    ma  's     urrainn    duibh, 

cuireadh  mo  clior 

Truas  air  'ur  n-anani •-  tha  e  uanihasach — 
Is  Frionn-a  mi-  co-dhiu  's  e  Prionnsa  bh' ann 

am — 
Chi  b' urrainn  domh  mo  mhiann  mi-fhoighid- 

neach 
A  cheannsachadh.      Blia  end  a'   cnamh   mo 

chridh  e — 
Chunnaic   mi    oige    Leopold,   mac-brath'r-m'- 

athar, 

Cruinte  le  urram,  le  feavann  air  a  dhioladh, 
Am  feadh  a  ghleidheadh  mise,  a  chonili-a'-ise, 
Mar  gu'm  bu  chile'lg  mi,  fo'  oidradid  thraill- 

eil  — 
TELL— A  dhuine  thruaigh,  thuig  d'  oncle  ciod  a 

bh'annad 

An  uH.ir  a  Dhiult  e  fearann  's  daoine  dhuit  ! 
Gliocas  a  bharail  ort  dh'fhirinnich  thu  'nis 
(Ju  h-oillteil,  tre  do  gliniomh  mi  nadurra. 
C'ait'  an  do  th-ich  do  chompanaich  's  a  chiont '/ 
DIUC  IAIN — Tha  iad  'sgach  cearn  v  dh'ionnsuidh 

'n  deach  am  fogradh 
Le  spiorad  (liogh'ltais  ;  seallatlh  dhiubh  cha 

d'fhuair  mi, 

Blio'n  latha  'thachair  gniomh  a  mhi-fhortain. 
TELL — An  aithne  dhuit  gu  bheil  an  high  an  toir 

ort, 
Gu    bheil    thu  air  do  luibhairt  'suas  do  d' 

namhaid, 

A's  air  do  thoirmeasg  do  na  cairdean  agad? 
Diuc  IAIN — 's  ann  air  an  aobhar  sin  a  tha  mi 

'seachnadh 

A  h-uile  rathad  fosgailte,  :s  tha  geilt  orm 
Bualadh  aigdorus,  agus  a  tha  mi  'firreach 


350 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 


's   na    h-aitean    fasail  :    Tha    mi   in'  thuath 

dhomh  fein, 

Air  allaban  air  feadh  narn  beann.  Ma  chi  rai 
Mo  choltas  fein  's  an  allt  bhe;r  e  orm  cJisgeadh, 
O,  raa  tha  innidh  throcair  ann  bhur  coin, 

Na  daonachd 

(Tha  e  a'  tuiteam  a  sios  fa  'chomhair). 
TKI.L  (a'  tionndadh  air  falbh) — >eas  !    .Seas  a 

suas  air  do  chasan  ! 
Due  IAIN — ch*  seas  ach  gus  an  si:\  sibh  lamh 

bhur  comhnadh. 
TKI.L — An  urrainn  domh  do  chuideachadh?    An 

urrainn 

Peacach  air  bith  combnadh  a  dheannmh  riut? 
Ach  seas  a  suas — riamar  air  bith  cho 

sgreimhail 

's  a  blia  do  dheanadas— Is  duine  tlm — 
Is  duine  raise  mar  an  ceudna — Kirich, 
Cln,  tionndiidh,   Tell,  gun  chomhfhurtachd 

!iir  falbh  thu  — 

M  mi   na   dh'  fhaodas   mi,    's   na  bhios  'am 
chomas. 
(A'  leum  gu  a  chasan  agns  a'  dean.imh 

greim  air  lamh  Tel!). 
Dice  IAI.N--O.   Tell,  bho   shlochd    eu-dochais 

shaor  thu  m'  anain  ! 
Tr.i.L  — Ltig  as  mo  lamh— Fenrnaidh  tu  teich- 

eadh— An  so 

Cha  ghabh  thu  folach— Nacr.ir  ri  d'chunntas  e 
Gu'n  gabh  thu  cleith  gun  fhios,  gheibheadh 

iad  bratli  ort — 
<   ait-j  am  bheil  e  'd  inntinn  dol  ?    Co'n  duth- 

aich 

's  am  faigh  thu  fasgadh? 
Dire  IAIN—  Och,  cha'n  fhins  domh  *in  ! 
TKM.— Kisd  ris   an   ni   'tha   Dha   'cur  aim    am 

chridhe 

A  stigh  do  thir  tia  h-Edailt  gabh  do  thurus. 
Cii  Baile  Pheadair ;  tilg  thu  fein  aig  casan 
A  Phapa,  aidich  dha  do  chiuut1, 
Guidh  air  son  trocair  's  maitheanas  do  d' 

anam. 
Dire  IAIN-  Xach  liubhradla  esan  mi  a  suas  do'n 

Diogh'ltair? 
TELL— Gabh  ciod  air  bith    a    ni    e  mar  o    n 

Tighearn'. 
Dire  IAIN— -Ciamar  a  gheibh  mi'n  rathad  do  n 

Tir  aineoil, 
Cha'n  aithne.dhomh  an  t-slighe,  bhiodh  eagal 

orm 
Mi   iein  aonadh  ri  cuideachd   choigrich   air 

bith. 
TELL— Innsidh  mi  'n  rathad  dhuit— thoir  aire 

mhath  ! 

Diridh  tu'snas  a  dh'  ionnsuidh  abhainn  Reuss, 
A  tha'  a  taomadh  bras  a  nuas  o'n  Bheinn. 
Dire  IAIN  (a'  toirt  clisgeadh  air  ais)— 
Am  feuui  rai  amharc  oirre  ?    B  ise  'n  abhainn 
A  shruth  ri  taobh  mo  ghniomh  ! 
TELL— Air  beul  slochd  creagach 
Tha   'n    rathad    a'    ruith,    agus    tha    moran 

chroisean 

Mar  chomharan  air  ;  chaidh  iad  sin  a  thogail 

A  chiniia  1  cuimhne  suas  air  an  luchd-turuis 

A  bli'air  an  tiodhlacadh  fo  bhenman-sneachd. 

Diuc  IAIN— Uamhasan  Naduir  cha  chuir  ea,gal 

orm 

Ma  gheibh  mi  ceannsal  thairis  air  an  doruinn 
A  tha  gun  tamh  a'  dusgadh  ann  am  chridhe. 


TELL— Aig  cois  gach  crois  a  tha  ri  taobh  do 
shlighe 

Ai  f  tuiteam  dhuit,  le  deoir  an  ionracais. 
Aidich  do  lochd  ;  an  sin,  ma  theid  gu  math 

dhuit 
Gu  ceann  slighe  an  uamhais  ;  mur  sput  a' 

bheinn 
A  h-anail  reodht"  a  nuas  thar  oir  an  DROM* 

ort 

Thig  thu  mi  drochaid  a  tha  'dol  'n  a  sinur. 
Mur  tuit  i  sios  fo  uallach  trom  do  chiont, 
Aon  uair's  gu  bheil  i  tearuint  air  do  chulaobh, 
Fosglaidh  fa'd  comhair  dorus  mor  dubh  creige, 
R;amh  cha  do  shoillsich  solu^s  latha  'stighair, 
Do  gleannan  soilieir,  noidheach.ach  na  fuirich, 
'An  dachaidh    .sin    an   t-sonais — rach    air  d' 

ad  hart 

Le  reumaii  cabhagacb— coir  clia'n  'eil  agad 
Air  nine  a  chur  seachad  far  a  bheil  feith 
A'  gabhai!  corahnuidh. 
Diuc  IAIN— C).  m'fhear-cinnidh  nasal, 
Rudolf  o  Hapsburg  !     ASUS  's  ann  aiar  so 
'Tha  d'   ogha  truagh  ri   d'  Eioghachd-sa    a 

choiseachd ! 

TELL— Mar  sin,  gun  stad  a'  diivadh,  ruigidh  tu 
Braigheachan  ard  Hheinn  Ghotard  far  a  bheil 
Na  loch;; in  sin  a  tha  gu  r-iorruMh  lan^ 
Tha  sruithean  Neimli  'g  an  lionadh  thun  am 

beu). 
Fagnidh  tu'n  sin  beannachd  nig  tir  na  Geanu- 

ailt, 

Sruth  aoibhinn  ei!e  tror»raicbidh  do  cheum 
A  si ds  gu  tir  na  h-1  adail*,  f»r  an)  fai«h  thu 
DQ  bhoid  a  chorah-lionadh  gu  treibhdireach — 

(Tha  fonn  Srenda-nam-bo  air  a  chlninn- 
tinn  air  a  chluich  *u-  airoamh  mhor 
de  dhud  aichean  nan  aireacl.)- 

Th\  mi  a'  chhiinntinn  ghuthanna.    Hi  falbh  ! 
HKDKHIG  (a*  ruith  a  stigh)- Tell,  c'ait  a  bheil 

thu  ?    Tha  sin  m'  athair  aj  tighinn 
Le   cuideachd   aoibhinn    nan    comh-bhoinnte 

uile. 
DIUC  IAIN  (ga  fholacb  ftinl— Mo  thruaigh  mil 

Cha  'n  fhaod  mi  'hhi  air  rn'  fhaicinn 
A  measg  na  cuideachd  aighear. 
TP:LL — A  bhean  mo  t'haoil, 

Cuir  biadh  a's  deoch  a  sios  do  'n  duine  so. 
Thoir  dha  su  saor  an  rud  is  fearr  a  h-agad, 
Na  caoimhain  tiodhlacan  a  dhoirteadh  air 
Tha  turns    fada    roimh,   's  cha  'n    fhaigh  e 

aoidheachd. 

Greas  ort  !     '!  ha  iad  aig  laimh  ! 
HEDBHIG— Ach  co  a  th'  ann  ? 
TELL— NA    farraid    dhiom,    's   an    uair    a    dh' 

fhalbhas  e, 

Tionndaidh  air  falbh,  nach  faic  thu  c'ion  a 
theid  e  ! 

Tha  Di"C  Iain  a  dol  gu  h-ealamh  a  null  far  a 

bheil  Tell,  ach  tha  Tell  a  smeideadh, 

le  a  laimh,  e  du'fhalbh 

An  uair  a  tha  iad  nan  dithis  a  dol  gu  rathaMean 

eadar-dhealaichte  tha  an  sealladh  a  caochladh, 

agus  anns 


William  Tell. 


351 


AN  T-SEATHAMH   ROINN. 

Chithear  iochclar  a'  ghlinne  inn  'n  cuairt  air 
tigh  Tell  air  a  lionadh  le  sluagh,  a  null  a  dh' 
ionnsuidh  nan  cnoc  a  tha  'g  a  dhunadh  a 
stigh.  Tha  tuilleadh  luchd-duthcha  a'  tighinn 
th'iiris  air  dmchaid  shuas  air  a  hheinn,  o  'm 
bheil  an  abhainn  Schach  a'  taomadh  "na  tuil. 
Tha  Bhalter  Furst  a'  tighinn  leis  au  da  bhal- 
achan  air  lainih  aige.  Tha  MelchcUl  agus 
Stauffacher  a'  tijrhinn  air  adhart,  tha  mnran  eile 
a'  teannadh  dluth  air  an  culaobh.  An  uair  a 
tha  Tell  a'  tighinn  am  foliais  tha  gaoir  an 
iol  .ich  ag  eiridli  o  'n  t-sluagh  anns  gach  cearn. 
UILE— Tell!  Mile  faillte!  Ar  dion  thu,  's  ar 
Fear-saoradh  ! 

Am  fea-lh  a  tha  inoran  diubh  a  ci  uinneachadh 
mn  'n  cuairt  air  Tell,  cuid  diubh  a'  cur  an 
lamhan  timchioll  air,  agus  '-uid  eile  a'breith  air 
laimh  air,  tha  Tvudents  aaus  Kerta  a'  tighinn  air 
adhart.  Th-i  Rudents  a'  dol  gu  cairdeil  am 
measg  an  luchd-duthcha.  Tha  Berta  a'  teann- 
achadh  Iledbhig  r'a  cridlie.  Am  feadh  a  tha 
so  nile  a'  dol  air  adlWrt  tha  mac-talla  nan  c-reag 


's  nan  gleann  a'  freagairt  a'  chiuil  a  tin,  na 
Buachaillean  a'  cluich  air  na  dudaichean  aca. 
Air  dha  so  uile  stad,  tha  Berta  a'  seasamh  a 
mach  am  meadhon  an  t-sluaigh. 
BERTA— A  mhuinntir  Suits  !    A  Luchd-duthcha 

'an  co-bhoinn  ! 

An  gabh  sibh  mise  anns  a'  chumhnant  leibh? 
Mibe,  a'  cheud  neach  a  fhuair  fasgadh  uait>h 
'An  Tir  naSaorsa.     Ann  bhur  lamhan  tveun 
Tha  mi  a'  cur  mo  choirean.     An   gabh  sibh 

rium 
Mar  bhur  bean-duthcha,  gu  mo  dliion  's  mo 

chomhnadh  ? 
LUCHD-DUTHA — Sinn  a  ni  sin  leir  cuid  's  le'r 

beatha ! 

BERTA—  Ma  seadh ! 
Mo    choir    do  'n    Fhleasgach    og  so    tha  mi 

'luihhairt, 
Le  'm  laimh  ;  Ban  Suiseach  shuor  da  dhuine 

saor '', 

RUDENTS  —  Agus    tha    mise    a'    cur    saor    mo 
thraillean. 

A  CHRIOCII. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 


HONORARY    CHIEFTAINS. 

Sir  Kenneth  S.  Macken/ie  of  Gair'°'-h,  Bart. 

Professor  John  Stuart  Blaekic,  Edinburgh  Finy  rsity 

Charles  Fraser-Mackiiitosli  of  Drummond,  M.P. 

Colin  rhisholm  Xamur  Cottage,  Inverness 

Alex.  Xicolson,  M.A.,  I, L.I).,  advocate,  sheriff-substitute,  Greenuck 

LIFE    MEMBERS. 

Baillie,  -lames  K.  B.,  of  Dochfour 

Bank os,  P.  Liot,  of  Letterevre 

Brodie,  W.  A.  G.,  lo  Rutland  Squar 

Burgoss,  Peter,  factor  tor  Gleinnoristt 

Campbell,  Alasdair,  of  Kilmartin,  Glen-Vrqnhart 

Chisholm  of  Chisliohn,  •>•')  Tavistock  Sijiiare,  London 

Ferguson,  i'.  ('.  Munro,  of  Xovai1.  M.I'. 

Fletcher,  .1.   Douglas,  of  Ifosoliaugh 

Fletcher,  Kit/rov  ('..  Letliam  (Grange,  Arbr 

Finlay.  H.   P,.,  (/.('.,  M.I'.,   London 

Frasor-Mackintosh,  Charles,  of  Drimmmnd. 

Frasei',  Donald,  of  Millburn,  Iu\"erness 

Grant,   I  an  Murray,  of  (  deuiiioriston 

Jackson,  Major  Handle,  of  Swordale,  l^vaiiton 

Maedonald,   Laehian,  of  Skaohost,  Skye 

Maefarlane,  I).  JL,  -10  Portiuan  Sqiian1,  London 

Mackay,  Donald,  Gampola,  Kandv,  ('eyloii 

Mackay,  (ieorge  K.,  Roxburgh,  Otago,  New  Zea^md 

Mac-kay,  James,  Roxburgh,  Olago,  Xe\v  Zealand 

Mackay,   Jolin,  ((.K,,  .1. P.,  Hereford 

Mackay,  John,  of  Ben  Reay 

Mackenzie,  Sir  Kenneth  S.,  of  Gairloch,  F5art. 

Mackenzie,  Sir  Allan  R.,  of  Kintail,  P>art, 

Mackenzie,  AY.  I).,  of  (den  Kyllachy  and  Farr,  Inverness 

Mathefeon,  Sir  Kenneth,  of  Lochalsh,  Bart. 

Scobie,  Captain  X.,  late  of   Fearn,  Ross-shire 


354  Gaelic  Society  of  fnuerness. 


HONORARY   MEMBERS. 

Aitkon,  Percy  H.,  barrister-at-law,  The  Temple,  London 

Beith,  Gilbert,  7  Royal  Bank  Place,  Glasgow 

Bell,  Sir  William  J.,  LL.D.,  of  Scatwcll 

Blair,  Sheriff,  Inverness 

Brown,  J.  A.  Harvie,  Dunipace,  Larbert 

Burgess,  Alexander,  Caledonian  Bank,  Gairloch 

Cameron,  Ewen,  manager  of  the  Hong  Kong  and  Shanghai  Bank- 
ing Company,  London 

Cameron,  James  Randal,  Jacksonville,  Oregon 

Cameron,  Sir  Charles,  President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons, 
Dublin 

Campbell,  Alexander.  Victoria  Hotel,  Inverness 

Campbell,  Duncan,  editor,  "  Northern  ( •hroniele,"  Inverness 

Campbell,  George  Murray,  .lamaici 

Chisholm,  Captain  A.  Maera,  Classburn,  Strai  hgla-s 

Chisholm,  Roderick  Cooden,  33  Tavisrock  Square,  London 

Davidson,  Sheriff,  of  Dnmimond  Park,  Inverness 

falconer,  Dr  J.,  St  Ann's,  Lass\va<le,  Midlothian 

Fraser,  Alexander,  ex -Provost,  Tigh-an  eilan,  Dore*  Road,  Inverness 

Eraser,  A.  T.  F.,  clothier.  Church  Srreet,  Fnyeniess 

Grant,  Brigade-Surgeon  Alex.,   iveav   House,   Inverness 

(Ti'anf,   Hugh,   17  Douglas  Row,   Inverness 

Grant,  Ian  Mac]>herson,  yr.  nf  IVillindalloch 

Grant,  John,  jun.,  ().dvhaid\,  Gl(;n-[Trqidiart 

Grant,  Field-Marshal  Sir  Patrick.  G.C.B.,  Chelsea,  London 

Grant,  Robert,  Colonel,  Beanaehan,  Inverness 

[lines,  (diaries,  solicitor,   Inverness 

Jolly,  William,  H.M.  Inspector  of  Schools,  Pollockshields,  (Uasgow 

Lord  Kyllachy,  Tlie  Hon  ,   Kdiuburgh 

Macandrevv,  Sir  II.  ('.,  sheritt-clei'k  of   Inverness-shire 

Macallister,  liailie  T.  S.,  In\'crn^'-s 

Macbean,  William,   [inperial  Hottd,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Alexander,  "-9  Xeven  Square,  London,  S.W. 

Macdonald,  Allan,  solicitor,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Andrew,  solicitor.   Invei'iiess 

Macdonald,  Miss  C.  K.,  \Voodbuni  House,  Morningside,  Fdinburgh 

Macdonell,  .^neas,  of  Moi-ai',  21   Rutland  Square,  Fdiuburgh 

Macdougall,  Miss  C.  F,,  WooJburn  House,  Morningside,  Edin- 
burgh 

Macfarlane,  Alex.,  George  Hotel,  Nottingham 

Mackenzie,  P.  A.  C.,  Rio  do  Janeiro 


Members.  355 

Mackenzie,  Rev.  A.  1).,  'Brae vi lie,  Victoria  Circus.  Inverness 
Mackenzie,    Mackay   P.,    National   Provincial    Bank  of    England, 

Clifton,  Bristol 

Mackinnon,  Godfrey  F.,  Dnnain  House,  Inverness 
Mackintosh  of  Mackintosh,  Moyhall 
Mackintosh,  Angus,  of    Holme,  Palace  Chambers,  9  Bridge  Street 

Westminster 

Mackintosh,  Eneas  W.,  of  Raigmorc 
Mackintosh,  Miss  Amy  B.,  of  Dalmun/.ie 
Mackintosh,  P.  A.,  C.E.,  Burv,  Lancashire 
Maclean,  Professor.).  I'.,  Earlville,  La  Sail  e  County,  fllinois 
Macleod,  Rev.  Dr  Xorman,  Ravenswood,   Inverness 
Macleod,  Reginald,  Woodhall,  Juniper  Green,  Edinburgh 
Macmillan,  E.  H.,  manager  of  the  Caledonian  Bank,  Inverness 
Macpherson,  Colonel  Ewen,  of  Cluny 
Maepherson,  (1harles  J.  B.,  of  Bellville,  Kingnssie 
Macpherson,  Ccorge,  8  \Valnnt  Street,  Philadelphia,  U.S.A. 
Macpherson,  Colonel,  of  Glentruim,  Kingiissie 
Robertson,  John  L.,  IT.M.  Inspector  of  Schools,  Inverness 
Rose,  Major,  of  Kilravock 
Scott,  Roderick,  solicitor.  Inverness 

Shaw,  A.  Mackintosh,  Secret. iry's  OiHce,  C.P.O..  Lomlon 
Sinclair,  George,  (Jaledonian  Hole!,   Inverness 
Sinclair,  J.  S.,  yr.  of  I  tarrock 
Smith,  J.  M.,  \\oodlands,  Inverness 
Stewart,   Col.  (Miarles,    MC.B.,  (1..\[.<J..  C.I.E.,  r>  I  Redcliff  Square, 

South  Kensington,  S.  \V. 

Tweed  mouth,  The  Right  Honourable  Lord,  Guisachaii  House,  Beauly 
Watson,  Rev.  [).,  I). P.,  Beavcrton,  Ontario,  r^anada 


ORDINARY    MEMBERS. 

Aitken,  Hugh,  Broom  Ivnowe,  Carniyle  Avenue,  Tuleross,  Glasgow 

Bannerman,  Hugh,  27-")  Lord  Street,  Southport 

Barren,  James,  editor,  '•  !n\'erness  <'ourier,';  Inverness 

Baxter,  Frederick,  seedsman,   Inverness 

Beaton,  Angus  J.,  C.K.,  Bank  Villas,  Marsden,  Huddersfield 

Bentinck,  Rev.  Chas.  I).,  lv((.  Manse,  Kirkhill,  Inverness 

Rirkbeck,  Robert,  '20  Berkeley  Square,  London 

Bissct,  Rev.  Alexander,  R.C.,  Nairn 

Black,  E.  A.,  solicitor,  Inver  less 

Black,  G.  F.,  National  Antiquarian  Museum,  Edinburgh 

Black,  John,  Palace  Hotel,  Inverness 


356  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Boyd,  Thomas,  bookseller,  Oban 

Brodic,  J.  P.,  Glenalbyn  Hotel,  Inverness 

Buchanan,  F.  C.,  Clarinnish,  Row,  Heleiisburgh 

Cameron,  Donald,  of  Lochiel,  Achnacarry  House,  Fort-William 

Cameron,  A.  H.  F.,  Greenfield,  Bath  Road,  Worcester 

Cameron,  Rev.  Angus,  St  John's  Rectory,  Arpafeelie 

Cameron,  Colin,  ironmonger,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Cameron,  Ewen,  writer,  Edinburgh 

Cameron,  D.  M.,  wholesale  grocer,  Dempster  Gardens 

Cameron,  I).,  teacher,  Blairour,  Spean-Bridge,  Kingussie 

Cameron,  John,  S.S.C.,  40  Castle  Street,  Edinburgh 

Cameron,  John,  bookseller,  Union  Street,  Inverness 

Cameron,  Miss  M.  E.,  of  hmscagan,  Fort- William 

Cameron,  Paul,  Blair- A  thole 

Cameron,  Rev.  Alex.,  Sleat,  Skye 

Cameron,  Rev.  John,  R.C.,  Beaulv 

Cameron,  Rev.  William,  minister  of  Poolewe 

Campbell,  Eraser  (of  Eraser  £  Campbell),  High  Street,  Inverness 

Campbell,  George  J.,  solicitor.  Inverness 

Campbell,  James,  builder,  Ardross  Place,  Inverness 

Campbell,  The  Rev.  John,  Kilmore  Manse,  (rlen-Vrquhart 

Campbell,  James  Lennox,  5  Victoria  Place,  Br< nighty  Ferry 

(1am])bell,  John,  jun.,  inspector  of  poor,  Kingussie 

Campbell,  Paul,  shoemaker,  ( 'astle  Street,  Inverness 

Campbell,  T.  1).  (of  dimming  A:  Campbell),  Inverness 

Carmichael,  Alexander,  29  Llaeburn  Place,  Edinburgh 

Cesari,  E.,  Station  Hotel,   Inverness 

Chisholm.  Rev.  Alexander,  R.C.,  Xairn 

Chisholm,  C.  C.,  65  Kilbowie  Road,  Clyde-bank,  Dumbarton 

Chisholm,  D.  H.,  21   Castle  Street,  Inverness 

Chisholm,  Duncan,  coal  inerchant,  Inverness 

Chisholm,  Archibald,  P.E.,  Lochmaddy 

Chisholm,  Colin,  Namur  Cottage,  Inverness 

Clark,  David  K.,  reporter,  (Charles  Street,  Inverness 

Cockburn,  Thomas,  Royal  Academy,  Inverness 

Cook,  James,  commission  agent,  Inverness 

Cook,  John,  commission  agent,  21  Southside  Road,  Inverness 

('ran,  John,  Kirkton,  Bunchrew 

Crerar,  Alexander,  merchant,  Kingussie 

Davidson,  Andrew,  sculptor,  Inverness 

Davidson,  I).,  Waverley  Hotel,  Inverness 

Davidson,  William,  Ruthven,  Stratherrick 

Dewur,  Daniel,  Beaufort 


Members.  357 

Dick,  Mrs,  Greenhill,  Lower  Drummon:! 
Donaldson,  Simon  F.,  librarian,  Free  Library,  Inverness 
Ferguson,  Charles,  Johnstone  Terrace,  Edinburgh 
Ferguson,  D.  H.,  pipe-major,  I.H.R.V.,  Inverness 
Finlayson,  Dr,  Munlochy 

Finlayson,  John,  rector,  Farraline  Institution,  Inverness 
Finlayson,  John,   commercial  traveller,  Hillside  Villa,  Inverness 
Forbes,  Duncan,  of  Culloden 
Forsyth,  John  H.,  wine  merchant,  Inverness 
Frascr,  Alexander,  clerk,  High  Street,  Inverness 
Fraser,  /Eneas  ([lines  cV:  Mackay),  Inverness 
Fraser,  Alex.,  draper,  K>  Church  Street 
Fraser,  Alexander,  solicitor,  Inverness 
Frascr.  A.  R.,  South   Africa 

Fraser,  Miss  Catherine,  4_!  Union  Street,  Inverness 
Fraser,  D.  Mnnro,   II. M.  Inspector  of  Schools,  Glasgow 
Fraser,  Hugh,  Armadale  Cottage,  (In. 
Fraser,  Dr  Hugh  F.,  Northern  hitirm 
Yascr,  James,  C.K.,  Inverness 
'Yascr,  James,  Maultl,  Strathglass 
•Yaser,  J'olm,  draper,  ^O  Him'i  Street,  Nairn 
'Yaser,  Miss  Marv,  '2  Ness  \Vaik,  Inverne.-s 
'Yaser,  Roderick,  contractor,  Aruyle  Street,  Inverness 
'Yaser,  William,  School  Board  officer,   Upper  Kessock  Street 
jralloway,  Ceorge.  chemist,   Inverness 
Cillanders,  K.  A.,   Dnim:nond  Street, 
(iillanders,  John,  trurhcr.   Denny 
(Jillies,   Norman,  govui'iior,   i'oorlions 
(iillics,  \Villiam,    1.0  .Muuntgrove  Road,  Highbury,  London,  W. 
Class,  (1.  C.,  122  North  Street,  Si   Andrews 
Cow,    James    Mackintosh,     F.S.A.    Scot.,     Union    .Bank,    Hunter's 

Square,  Edinburgh 

Grant,  George  Maepherson,  The  Castle,  Ballinddlloch 
dlrant,  Rev.  ,).,  \\.(\  Manse,  Ivilmuir,  Skye 
(irant,   Dr  Ogilvie,  Inverness 
Grant,  Rev.  Donald,  Dornoch 

Crant,  J.  B.,  factor  and  commissioner  for  The  Chisholm,  Erchless 
Grant,  F.  W.,  Marvhill,  Inverness 

(rrant,  William,  Secretary,  Sun  Fire  Office,  Manchester 
Gray,  James,  slater,  Friar's  Street,  Inverness 
Gray,  John,  T.,  Rosehaugh  House,  Fort  rose 
(Jiinn,  Rev.  Adam,  Durness,  Lairg. 
Gunn,  John,  F.R.V.S.,  F.R.S.(r.S.,  The  Geographical  Institute,  Park 

Road,  Edinburgh 


358  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Gunn,  William,  draper,  Lombard  Street,  Inverness 

Henderson,  John,  factor  for  Kosehaugh,  Fortrose 

Holt,  John  B.,  Abbey  School,  Fort- Augustus 

Hood,  John,  English  and  Scottish  Law  Life  Association,  Edinburgh 

Hood,  Thomas,  chemist,  11  Broad  Street,  Bristol 

Home,  John,  Victoria  Terrace,  Inverness 

Horrigan,  J  ,  collector  of  Inland  Revenue,  Inverness 

Jameson,  Walter,  Glenarm,  Co.  Antrim,  Ireland 

Jerram,  C.  &.,  Preyot  House,  Petworth 

Kemp,  D.  William,  Ivy,  Lodge,  Trinity,  Edinburgh 

Kenard,  Cecil,  Sconser  Lodge,  Skve 

Kennedy,  Ewen,  Newtonmore,  Kingussic 

Kennedy,  Rev.  John,  Cattacoil,  Arran 

Kerr,  Dr,  Inverness 

Kerr,  Cathel,  Free  Church  College,  Aberdeen 

Kerr,  Thomas,  agent,  North  of  Scotland  Bank,  Inverness 

Lawrence,  William,  SwordaU1,  EvantoH 

Lindsay,  W.  M.,  Jes^s  College,  O.xfnrd 

Livingston,  Colin,  Kort- William 

Lumsden,  Miss  Louisa  limes,  Glenbogie,  Rhyme,  Aberdeenshire 

Lyon,  Bailie,  Abeideen 

Macaulay,  A.  N.,  Cumberland  Street,  Edinburgh 

Macbain,    Alexander,  M.  V.,  F.S.A.    Scot.,  rector,  liaining's  School, 

Maobean,  William,  .'>.">  L'nion  Street 
Mac-bean,  George,  writer,  QueensgaTc,   Inverness 
Macbean,  James,  jeweller,  Union  Street,  inviM'iiess 
Macbean,  Lacldan,  editor,  '' l^ifeshirc  Advertiser,"  Kirkcaldy 
.Macbeth,  .R.  ,!.,  Architect,  Queensgate,  Inverness 
Maccallum,  Henry  \\,  solicitor,  Queensgate,  Inverness 
Maccallum,  John,  builder,  Fort-AVilliam 
Maccowan,  Rev.  J.,  Cromdale 
^lacdonald,  Professor  A.  G.,  Trui-o,  Nov;t  Scotia 
^lacdonald.  Alex.,  Audit  OtHce,  Highland  Kaihvay,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  Alex.,  Station  Hotel,  Torres 
Macdonald,  Alexander,  02  Toinnahurich  Street,  Inverness 
Maedonald,  Rev.  Allan,  R.C.,  Dalibrog,  North  Uist 
Macdonald,  Charles,  Knocknageal,  b\-  Inverness 
Maedonald,  Rev.  Charles,  Mingarry,  *Loeh  Shiel,  Salen 
Macdonald,  David,  St  Andrew's  Street,  Aberdeen 
Macdonald,  D.,    Inland  Revenue  ofu-er,  \ie\vforth  House,  Cellar- 
dyke,  Eifeshire 


Members.  359 

Macdonald,  Dr  I).,  Glen-Urquhart 

Macdonald,  Dr  G.  G.,  Aberdeen 

Macdonald,  Councillor  Donald,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Ewen,  Badchro,  Gairloch 

Macdonald,  Hugh,  20  Chapel  Street,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Hugh,  Audit  Office,  Highland  Railway,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  James,  builder  contractor,  Kingussie 

Macdonald,  James,  hotel-keeper,  Fort-William 

Macdonald,  John,  banker,  Buekic 

Macdonald,  Thomas,  builder,  Hilton,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  Donald,  ficsher,  Xew  Market,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  D.  C.,  solicitor,  Aberdeen 

Macdonald,    John,    collector,    Inland    Revenue,    Somerset    House 

London 

Macdonald,  John,  wholesale  merchant,  Castle  Street,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  John,  superintendent  of  police,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  John,  Loch  Krieht  Hotel,  Dulwhinnie 
Macdonaid,  Kenneth,  town-clerk,  Inverness 

Macdonald,  L.,  ( '.  and  .M.  engineer.  Altoona.  Pennsylvania,  L.S.A. 
Macdonald,  Ronald,  headmaster,  Central  School,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  William,  sheritt-elcrk-deimte,  Inverness 
Macdonald,  \Vil!i;ui;,  contractor,  George  Street,  Inverness 
Macdougall,  Alexander,  bookseller,   ForMVilliam 
Macdougall,  i'ev.  R.,  Resolis  Invergordon 
Maefarlane,  Pet  or,  chemist.  Fort-William 
Macgillivray,  Fiulay,  solici;or,  Inverness 
Macgillivray,  Robert,  20  Madras  Street,   Inverness 
Macgregor,  Alexander,  solicitor,  Inverness 
MacuTegor,  John,  Dnncraig  Villa,  FairfioM  Road,   Inverness 
Macgregor,  !'.  J.,  ironmonger,  !>ridge  Street 


Machardy,  Aiex..  chief 

^\1  ac  i  i  i  nes,  Malcoliu 

Macintyi'e  Malcohij,  Fort-William 

Macintyre,  P.  !>.,  Commissioner,  (Jrofters' Commission 

Macintyre,  IV'ter,  G  Parliament  Scpiarc,  Kdinlnn-gh 

Macintvre,  J,,  ])alna(-oil,  ]>rora. 

Maciver,   i)uncan,  ('hurch  Street,   [nvernesx 

Mackay,  /Eneas,  bookseller,  Stirling 

Mackay,  (..'liarlcs,  contractor,  Di'mjister  (Gardens,  Inverness 

Mackav,  Donald,  Braemore,  Dunbeath 

Mackay,  Rev.  G.  W.,  Killin,  Pc'rthshire 

Mackay,  Thomas,  14  Henderson  Row.  Edinburgh 


360  Gaelic  Society  of  /nuerness. 

Mackay,  William,  solicitor,  Queensgate,  Inverness 

Mackay,  William,  bookseller,  High  Street,  Inverness 

Mackay,  William,  contractor,  Dempster  Gardens,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Mrs,  Silverwells,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Alexander,  editor,  "  Scottish  Highlander,'"  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Bailie  Alexander,  Silverwells,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  A.  (  '.,  teacher,  Marylmrgh,  Pingwall 

Mackenzie,  Andrew,  ironmonger,  Alness 

Mackenzie,  Colin  C.,  F.C.  Manse,  Fasnakyl- 

Mackenzie,  Pr  F.  M..  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  Hector  Rose,  solicitor,   Inverness 

Mackenzie,  John.  Ardhur.  Sjiylair  Road,  Kdinbnrgh 

Mackenzie,  John,  grocer,   1  Creig  Street,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  John,  limes  Street,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  John,  jnn..  Dunvegan,  Portree 

Mackenzie,  Murdo,  Inland  Revenue,  Inverness 

Mackenzie,  M.  T.,  M.B.  iv.  C.M.,  Sealnaig,   Lochnmddy 

Mackenzie,  X.  !'..  banker,  Fort-William 

Mackenzie.  W.,  manaer   Molmll 

aml)ers  Street,  Kdinburgh 
s'   Commission,    Ardgo\van 


Street,   Inverness 
Ro,sd,  Surbiton,  Snri'ev 
Mackenzie,  !)r  I'.  .1.,  M..V..  Silverwells,    Inverness 
Mackinnon,  Hector,   i)fiti-h   Linen  Co.  !xmk,  Inverness 
Mackintosh,  .l^neas,  The  l)oune,  Daviot 
Macintosh,  Rev.  John,  Fort-  William 
.Mackintosh,  Ihincan,  Rank  of  Scotland,  Inverness 
Mackintosh,  Hugh,  ironmonger,  Inverness 
Mackintosh.  .Neil,  yr.,  of  Raigmore 
Mackintosh,  Rev.  A.,  Chapel  House,  Fort-William 
Mackintosh,  Lachlan,  merchant,  Kingnssie 
Mackintosh,  R,  L.,  wine  merchant,  Bridge  Street,  Inverness 
Mackintosh,  William,  Drnmmuir  Estate  Otttce,  Keith 
Maclachlan,  Dngald,  Caledonian  R>ank,  Portree 
Maclachlan,  Duncan,  Public  Library,  Edinburgh 
Maclean,  Rev.  P.,  Diminish,  Portree 
Maclean,  Peter,  solicitor,  Lochmaddy 
Maclean,  Roderick,  factor,  Ardross,  Alness 
Macleish,  P.,  banker,  Fort-  William 
Maclennan,  Alex.,  flesher,  New  Market,  Inverness 


Members.  361 

Maclennan,  John,  Bilbster  Public  School,  Wick 

Maclennan,  Dr  John,  Milton,  Glen-Urquhart 

Maclennan,  Rev.  I).  S.,  Laggan,  Kingussie 

Macleod,  D.,  H.M.  Inspector  of  Schools,  Inverness 

Macleod,  G.  G.,  teacher,  Gledneld  Public  School,  Ardgay 

Macleod,  Henry  Dunning,  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Club,  London 

Macleod,  Murdo,  37  Chamber  Street,  Edinburgh 

Macleod,  Neil,  7  Royal  Exchange,  Edinburgh,  Bard  to  the  Society 

Macleod,  Neil  M.,  "Scottish  Highlander"  Office,  Inverness 

Macrnillan,  D.,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Macnee,  James,  M.D.,  Inverness 

Macphail,  Alex.,  Forbes  Field,  Great  Western  Road,  Aberdeen 

Macphail,  I.  R.  N,,  advocate,  Edinburgh 

Macphail,  Rev.  J.  S.,  Free  Church  Manse,  Griminish,  Benbecula 

Macpherson,  Alex.,  solicitor,  Kingussie 

Macpherson,  Alexander,  1  Laurieston  Terrace,  Edinburgh 

Macpherson,    Captain,    J.    F.,    Caledonian    United    Service    Club, 

Edinburgh 

Macpherson,  Duncan,  Union  Street,  Inverness 
Macpherson,  Duncan,  Inverguseran,  Knoydart 
Macpherson,  George,  Scottish  Widows'  Fund,  St  Andrew's  Square, 

Edinburgh 

Macpherson,  Hector,  7  View  Place.  Inverness 
Macpherson,  John,  Glen-Affric  Hotel,  Strathglass 
Macpherson,  Alex.,  grocer,  Inglis  Street,  Inverness 
Macqueen,  Rev.  John,  Chapel  House,  Inverness 
Macrae,  A.  Fraser,  172  St  Vincent  Street,  Glasgow 
Macrae,  Rev.  Farquhar,  M.A.,  E.G.  Manse,  Invergarry 
Macrae,  Rev.  A.,  Free  Church  Manse,  Clachan,  Kintyre 
Macrae,  R.,  postmaster,  Beauly 
Macrae,  John,  solicitor,  Dingwall 
Macrae,  John,  M.D.,  Craigville,  Laggan,  Kingussie 
Macrae,  Kenneth,  Dayville,  Grant  County,  Oregon 
Macritchie,  A.  J.,  solicitor,  Inverness 
Macrury,  Rev.  John,  Snizort,  Skye 

Mactavisli,  Alexander,  Ironmonger,  Castle  Street,  Inverness 
Mactavish,  Duncan,  High  Street,  Inverness 
Mactavisli,  P.  D.,  solicitor,  Inverness 
Macnish,  Rev.  Dr.  Cornwall,  Ontario,  Canada 
Macvean,  C.  S.,  Killiemore  House,  Pennyghael,  Mull 
Masson,  Rev.  Donald,  M.D.,  57  Albany  Place,  Edinburgh 
Matheson,  Dr  Farquhar,  Soho  Square,  London 
Matheson,  Gilbert,  draper,  Inverness 

20 


362  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

Matheson,  R.  F.,  factor,  Tarbert,  by  Portree 

Maxwell,  Thomas  Edward  Hall,  of  Dargavel,  Dunolly,  Inverness 

Medlock,  Arthur,  Bridge  Street,  Inverness 

Menzies,  Duncan,  former,  Blairich,  Rogart 

Millar,  William,  auctioneer,  Thornton,  Dumfries 

Miller,  E.  T.,  Fort-William 

Miller,  Dr,  Belford  Hospital,  Fort-William 

Mitchell,  William,  draper,  Fort-William 

Morgan,  Arthur,  G  Parliament  Square,  Edinburgh. 

Morrison,  Hew,  Free  Library.  Edinburgh 

Morrison,  William,  schoolmaster,  Dingwall 

Mortimer,  John,  34 -i  Great  Western  Road,  Aberdeen 

Miuiro,  H.  H.,  Eden  (Cottage,  Ladypool  Lane,  Birmingham 

Munro,  Rev.  Robert,  B.D.,  Old  Kilpatriok,  near  Glasgow 

Murdoch,  John,  Horton  Cottage,  Uddingstone 

Murray,  Francis,  The  Lodge,   Portree 

Murray,  James,  M.D.,  Inverness 

Nairne,  David,  sub-editor,  "  Northern  Chronicle  " 

Xicolson,    Alex.,     M.A.,     LL.D..     advocate,     sheriff-substitute    of 

Greenock 

Xicolson,  Donald,  Primrose  Cottage,  Uig,  Portree 
Xeil,  Pi.  A.,  Fellow  of  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge 
Noble,  John,  bookseller,  Castle  Street,  Inverness 
O'Hara,    Thomas,    Inspector  of    National    Schools,    Portarlington 

Ireland 

O'Growney,  Professor  Eugene,  Maynooth  College.  Ireland 
llitchie,  llev.  K.  L.,  Creich,  Sutherlandshire 
liobertson,  John,  Tartan  Warehouse,  Fort-William 
Robertson,  Rev.  Duncan,  The  Manse,  Tarbert,  Lochfyne 
Kobson,  A.  Mackav,  Constitution  Street,  Leith 
Ross,  A.  A[.,  "The  North  Star,"  Dingwall 
Ross,  Provost  Alex.,  Inverness 
Ross,  George,  ironmonger,  Dingwall 
Ross,  Hugh,  V.S.,  Union  Road,  Inverness 
Ross,  James,  solicitor,  Inverness 
Ross,  James,  hotelkeeper,  Broadford,  Skye 
Ross,  John,  procurator-fiscal,  Stornoway 
Ross,  Bailie  Jonathan,  Inverness 
Sharp,  !).,  SI  Scott  Street,  ( raroethill,  Glasgow 
Shirres,  George  Buchan,  Fellow  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge 
Siepmann,  Otto,  The  College,  Inverness 
Simpson,  George  B.,  Droughty -"Ferry 
Sinclair,  Rev.  A.  Maclean,  Belfast,  Prince  Edward's  Island 


Members. 

Sinclair,  Rev.  Colin,  Kirkhill 

Sinton,  Rev.  Thomas,  Dores,  Inverness 

Smart,  P.  H.,  drawing-master,  Inverness 

Spalding,  William  C.   Adampore,  South  Thibet,  India 

Steele,  A.  F.,  agent,  Bank  of  Scotland,  Inverness 

Stewart,  Colin  J.,  Dingwall 

Stewart,  A.  J.,  grocer,  (Tnion  Street 

Strickland,  Robert,  Clutha  Cottage,  Kenneth  Street 

Stuart,  ex-Bailie  W.  (J.,  Inverness 

Sutherland,  George  Miller,  solicitoi1,  "\Vick 

Sutherland,  The  Rev.  George,  Beauly 

Sutherland,  Hector,  town-clerk,  Wick 

Sutherland,  John,  rector,  Andersonian  Institution,  Forres 

Terry,  Rev.  Edward,  Methodist  Manse,  Dundee 

Thomson,  Hugh,  stockbroker,  Inverness 

Thomson,  Rev.  R.  W.,  Fodderty,  Strathpcffer 

Thoyts,  Canon,  Tain 

Urquhart,  Robert,  jnn.,  solicitor,  Forres 

Wallace,  Thomas,  rector,  High  School,  Inverness 

Warren,  John,  accountant,  British  Linen  Co.  Bank,  Kingussie 

Whyte,  David,  photographer,  Church  Street,  Inverness 

Whyte,  Duncan,  live-stock  agent,  22G  Duke  Street,  Glasgow 

Whjte,  John,  "  Leader1'  Office,  Edinburgh 

Wilson,  George,  S.S.C.,  'JO  Young  Street.  Edinburgh 

DECEASED  MEMBERS. 

Aitken,  Dr  Thomas,  Lunatic;  Asylum,  hi  v  em  ess 

Davidson,  John,  grocer,  Inverness 

Fraser,  Miss  Hannah  (J..  Farraline  Villa,  North  Berwick 

Macbean,  Dean  of  («uild  James,  Inverness 

Maccallum,  Dr  C.  H.  !>.,  Elm  Lodge,  Austruther 

Macdonald,  Ca}>tain  D.  I'.,  Fort-William 

Macdonald,  Finlay,  Druidaig,  Kintail 

Macdonald,  Ralph  Krskine,  Corindah,  Queensland 

Macleay,  W.  A.,  birdstuff'er.  Inverness 

Macnie,  Rev.  Angus,  Free  (Jluireh  Manse,  Glen-Urquhart 

Macraild,  A.  R.,  Fort-William 

Tod,  David,  Kingsburgh.  Skye 


LIST  OF  BOOKS 


THE    SOCIETY'S    LIBRARY. 


NAMES  OK  HOOKS.  DONOR. 

Ossian's      Poems     (H.     Society's     edition,)   Colonel     Mackenzie 

Gaelic  and  Latin),  ."»  vols.            .          .  \  of  Parkmonnt 

Smith's  Gaelic  Antiquities                    .          .  ditto 

Smith's  Seann   Dana                     .           .           .  ditto 
Highland     Society's     Report    on     Ossian's 

Poems       ......  ditto 

Stewart's  Sketches  of  the  Highlands,  '2  vols  ditto 
Skenc's  Picts  and  Scots     .... 

Da  in  Osiein  Mine  Fhinn  .                     .  ditto 

Macteod's  Oran  Xnadli  Guelach  ditto 

All  Teaclulaire  Gaelach,  1S:>9-30        .  ditto 
Carew's  Ecclesiastical  Histor     of  Ireland   .      Mr  \V.  Mac'.-iv 


(  'oinu'd's  i'eul  colas             ....  dit  to 

Mucbiuclilan's  Celtic  Gleanings          .          .  Rev.  Dr  Maclanchlan 

Marlaiichlaifs  j'lariy  Scottish  Churcli           .  ditto 

The  Dean  of  Lisinore's  I  look      .          .          .  ditto 

Miiclcod  an<!    De\var's   Gaelic  Dictionary     .  ditto 

Highland  Society's  do.,  '2  vols.            .          .  Sir  Ken.  S.  Mackenzie 

of  G;iirloch,   Bart. 

Kitson\s  Caledonians,  Picts  and  Scots  ditto 

Dr  \Valkcr's  Hehri.les.  :'  vols    .          .  ditto 
Cam]  >1  tell''  s    Language.   !'oetr\,    and    M  isic 

of  tlie  Highland  Clans        .                     .  Mr  John  Murdoch 
M  a  en  i  col's  Remarks  on  Dr  Johnston's  Tour 

in  the  Hebrides 
Somers'  T.ettci's  from  tin1  Highlands 


366 


Gaelic  Society  of  Inuerness. 


NAMES    OF    BOOKS. 

Cameron's  Chemistry  of  Agriculture 

Sketches  of  I  slay      ..... 

Cameron's  Historv  of  Skve 

Kennedy's  Bardic  Stories  of  Ireland 

Micky's  Agricultural  (-lass  Book 

Orain  Chaelach  AI.liic  Dlmnleiblie 

The  Wolf  of  Badenoch      .... 

familiar  Illustrations  of  Scottish  Life 
Antiquity  of  the  (raelic  Language     . 
The  Dauntless  lied  Hugh  of  Tyrcomiell    . 
The  Kilchoman  People  Vindicated    . 
Caraid  a'  (xhaidheil     Sermon   . 
Highland   Clearances   the   Cause  of    High- 
laiid   rYimines   ..... 

Co-operative  Associations 

Lecture  ...... 

Review  oi'  "  Kight  Days  in  l.slav  ': 

Cold  I  )iggings  in  Sutherland    . 

Review  of  Language  of  Ireland 

I  lighl.-tiid  (  'haracter          .... 

An  Teaehdaire  (iaeluoh,   !SL.)().:-O 

The  Scottish  Regalia         .... 

Campbell  s  West  Highland  Tales..    I   vols    . 
Bliadhna  Thearlaich          .... 

Maei'arlane's  (  Collection  of  Caelic  Poems     . 
old  (Gaelic  Bible  (partly  MSS.) 

MacH  ale's,  Archbishop,  Irish  Pentateuch. 
Irisii  Translation  of  Moore's  Melodies 

The  Hull  "  IneilaNiis  "  <  L;if  in,  Knu'lish, 
<  laelic-,  and  i-'reneh)  .... 
Celtic  Language  and  Dialects  .  ,  . 
Boiirkt.  s  Irish  Crammer  .... 
Bourke's  Ivtsy  Lessons  in  Irisii  .  . 

Mackomie's  Beauties  of  Caelic  Poetr         . 


DONOR. 

Mr  John  Murdoch 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 


tto 
ditto 


ditto 

ditto 

ditto 

ditto 
Ilev.    \\r.    I  loss,    (Jlas- 

gow 

Hev.  A.  Macgregor 
ditto 


Mae-Crimuion's  I'iob.-i.ireaclid    .          .          . 
St  rat  ion's  C;i(jlic  Origin  of  Creek  and  Latin 
Gaelic  Translation  of  Apocrypha  (by  Rev. 

A.  Macgregor)  ....  ditto 

Buchanan's  ilistoria  Scotia:       .          .          .      Mr  William  Macka 
The  Came  Laws,  by  R.  C.  Tolmie     .          .  ditto 


Library. 


NAMES    OF    BOOKS. 

St  James's  Magazine,  vol.  i. 
Fingal  (edition  1702) 

Collection  of  English  Poems  (2  vols.) 
Philologic  Uses  of  the  Celtic  Tongue 
Scoto-Celtic  Philology 

Dana  Gisein  (Maolauuhlan's  edition). 

Munro's  Gaelic-  Primer 

M 'Alpine's  Gaelic  Dictionary    . 

M'Pherson's  Dnanaire 

Munro's  Gaelic  Grammar 

Grain  Mhic-an-t-Saoir 

Grain  Uilleim  Ross .          .          .          , 

Ceithir  Searmoinean,  le  Dr  Dewar     . 

Carsewell's  Prayer  Book  (Gaelic) 

Scots'  Magazine  (1757)     . 

Historv  of  the  Rebellion,  1745-40     . 

Welsh' Bible     . 

Old  Gaelic  Xew  Testament 

Adhamh  agus  Kubli  (Adam  anil  Kv) 

Old  Gaelic  Bible 

Grain  Ailein  Dughallaich 

Macphersoii's  Poem's  of  O.ssian 

An  Gaidheal  for  1.873 

Grain,  cruhmiehte  le  Mac-an-Tiiaineav 

The  Gospels,  in  eiuht  Celtic  diali 
Fraser  of  Knojki^'s  Highland  Music 

The  Clan    Baffle   at    Perth,  by  Mr   A.    . 

Shaw 

The  Scottish  Metrical  Psalms   . 

Sailm  Dhaibhidh  Anieadreachd  (  Ivi.  i('>-"' 

Biographical       Dictionary      of       hanine 

Scotsmen  (!)  vols.j     . 
Grain  Gliilleaslmig  Grannd 
Clarsach  nan  Beann 
Fulangas  C'hriost 
Dain  Spioradail 


UONOII. 

Mi1      Mackay,      book 

seller,  Inverness 
( '.  Fraser-Mackintoshj 

Ivsii.,  M.P. 
Mr  I).  Mackintosh 
Air  D.  Maciver 
Lord   Xeaves,    LL.D., 

F.R.S.K. 

Maclachlan  it  Stewart 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
dirto 

Purchased 
Mr  A.  Macbean 
Mr  !).  Mackintosh 
Mv  L    Mackintosli 
Mr  !,  Macbean 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 
ditto 

The  Publishers 
Mr      A.      Mackintosh 

Sh;t\v.  Loi,  !on 
Mi-  ,!.    M;-ckay,   .!.P.. 

Sk-reford 

Mr    Mack.-n/ie,    Bank 
Laiii'.   in\'.'rncss 


Mr     A.     \\.    Macraild, 

Inverness 
Mr  ,) .  ( 'raigie,  1  )undee 

ditto. 

ditto. 

ditto. 


368  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

NAMES  OF  BOOKS.  DONOR. 

Spiritual  Songs  (Gaelic  and  English)          .  Mr  J.  Craigie,  Dundee 

Alexander  Macdonald's  Gaelic  Poems         .  ditto 

Orain  Mhic-an-t-Saoir        ....  ditto 

Leabhar  nan  Ceist    .....  ditto 

Co-eigneachadh  Soisgeulach  (Boston)         .  ditto 

History  of  the  Druids  (Toland's)        .          .  ditto 

Melodies  from  the  Gaelic  ....  ditto 

Maclean's  History  of  the  Celtic  Language.  ditto 

Leabhar  Sailm           .....  ditto 

Origin  and  descent  of  the  Gael           .          .  ditto 

Stewart's  Gaelic  Grammar        .         .         .  ditto 
Macpherson's       Caledonian       Antiquities 

(1798) ditto 

Biboul  Xoimbh  (London,  1855)          .          .  ditto 

Searmona  Mhie-Dhiarmaid         .          .          .  ditto 

Dain  Oisein      .                     ....  ditto 

Fingal  (1798) ditto 

Life  of  Columba  (1798)    ....  ditto 

Orain  Moil)  Ohuinn  Mhic-Aoidh         .          .  ditto 

Dain  leis  an  I  rr.  I.  Lees            .          .          .  ditto 

Searmons  leis  an  I  "IT.  E.  Blarach      .          .  ditto 
Kaglais  na  h-Alba,   leis  an    Trr  A.  Clare, 

Inbhirnis            .....  ditto 

liourke's  Arvan  Origin  of  the  Gaelic  Mace  Mr  J.   Mackay,    Here- 
ford "' 

Reid's  Bibliotheca  Scoto-Celtiea         .          .  ditto 

Munro's  Gaelic  Primer  (3  copies  in  library)  Purchased 
Eaehdraidb  na  h-Alba,  le  A.  MacCoinnich 

(3  copies)           .....  The  Author. 

Dain  Ghailig  leis  an  I' IT.  1.  Lees       .          .  Mev.  Dr   Lees,  Paisley 
Philologic    ("sos  of  the   Celtic   Tongue,  by 

Professor  Geddes  (1872)    .          .         '.  The  Author 

Philologic  Cses  of  the  Celtic  Tongue  (1873)  ditto 

Poems  by  Ossian,  in  metre  (1796)     .          .  Mr     .-lie*.     Kennedy, 

Bohuntin 
Proceedings  of  the  Historical  and  Arclueo- 

loirical         Association       of        Ireland 

(1870 -SO) The  Society 

Shaw's  Gaelic  Dictionary  (1780)        .          .  Mev.  A.  Mafgregor. 

History  of  the  Culdees,  Maccallum's.          .  ditto 

Macdiarmid's  Gaelic  Sermons  (MS.  1773).  ditto 

Gaelic  Grammar,  Irish  character  (1808)     .  Rev.  A.  Macgregor 


Library. 


369 


NAMES    OF    BOOKS. 

Gaelic  Pentateuch,  Irish  character    . 

Gaelic  Book  of  Common  Prayer  (1819) 

Gaelic  Psalter,  Irish  character . 

Transactions  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of 
Inverness,  13  vols.  .... 

Bibliotheca  Scoto-Celtica 

Orain  le  Rob  Donn  .... 

Leabhar  Oran  Gaidhealach 

Vible  Casherick,  Manx      .... 

Biobla  Xaomtha,  Irish      .... 

Dr  Smith's  Seaim  Dana    .... 

Evan's  Welsh  Grammar  and  Vocabulary    . 

Orain  Uilleim  Ros    ..... 

Orain  Dhoimacha  Bhain  .... 

Co-chrniiineachadh  Orain  Ghailig 

Book  of  Psalms,  Irish        .... 

Orain  Xnadh  Ghaidhealach,  le  A.  Mac- 
dhomhnuill  ..... 

Laoidhean  o'n  Sgriobtnir,  I).  Dewar . 

Leabhar  Oran  Gailig          .... 

Am  Phobia  Xaomtha  (1690) 

The  Family  of  lona.          .... 

Grant's  Origin  and  Descent  of  the  Gaol 

Rathad  Dhe  gu  Sith 

Dain  Spioradail,  Or.  I.  Griogalach    . 

Dara  Leabhar  airson  nan  Sgoilean  Gaidh- 
ealach .  .  .  . 

Treas  Leabhar  do.  do.        .... 

What  Patriotism,  Justice,  and  Christianity 
demand  for  India 

Orain  Ghaidhealach 

Priolo's  Illustrntons  from  <>ssian 

Photograph  of  Gaelic  Charter,  1  10S. 


The  Celtic  Magazine,  vol.  i. 
Do.,  vols.  ii.  to  xi. 
Elementary  Lessons  in  Gaelic 
Stewart's  (Gaelic  (Jrammai1 
Irish  Pedigrees,  by  O'llart 
Dan  an  Deirg  agus   Tiomna,    ( 
lisli  Translation),  '2  eopies 
(i-aelic  and  l^nglish  Vocabulary  (1741) 


DONOR 

Rev.  A.  Macgregor 

ditto 
ditto 


Purchased 

I  lev.    YV.    Ross,    (i  las- 
go  w 

The  Publishers 
Purchased 
The  Author 
M r  1 ).  Mackintosh 
The  Author 

Mr  C.  S.  .Ierram. 
Rev.  A.  Mat'gregor 


370  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness. 

NAMES    OF    BOOK^.  DONOR. 

Aryan    Origin    of   the    Celtic     Race    and  1  Mr    John    Mackay, 

Language          .          .          .          .          .  /  Hereford 

Old  Map  of  Scotland  (17-46)     .          .          .  Mr    Colin    M'Callum, 

London 

Collection  of  Harp  Music  .          .          .  Mr  Charles  Fergusson 

Valuation  Roll  of  the  County  of  Inverness 

(1869-70)          .         .         .         .         .  ditto 

Do.  do.      Ross  (1871-72)       .  ditto 

Inverness  Directory  (1809-70)  .  ditto 

Greek  Testament     .....  ditto 

Greek  Lexicon         .....  ditto 

Gospel  of  St  John  adapted  to  the    Hamil- 

tonian  System  (Latin)        .          .          .  ditto 

Historic  de  Gil  Bias  de  Santillane  (French)  ditto 

Prophecies  of  the  Brahan  Seer,  2nd  edition  Mr  A.  Mackenzie 

My  Schools  and  Schoolmasters  .          .  Mr  James  Heid 

Gaelic  Etymology  of  the  Knglish  Language 

Dr  Charles  Mackay  .  .  J.  Mackay,  Swansea 

The  Highland  Kcho  .  Purchased 

The    Highland     Xewspaper,    complete,     i 

volumes  ......  Purchased 

Hebrew — Celtic  Affinity,  Dr  St  ration          .  The  Author 

Illustrations   of    Waverlev,    published    for  )   ... 

,,       ,  •••<•!>  '  Miss  braser,  rarralme 

the  hoval    Association   tor  Promoting          .-.,,      ,.    .,        .  , 
.i      ,-,- '      v   -     •     o  1/1  >p-\          (       Villa.  N.  Berwick 

the  Hue  Arts  m  Scotland  (186o)        .  ) 

Illustrations  of    Heart    of    Midlothian,  do. 

do  (1878)          .....  ditto 

Illustrations  of  The  Bride  of  Lannnermnir. 

do.  do.  (1875) ditto 

Illustrations  of  lied  Gauntlet,  do.  do.  (1S76)  ditto 

Illustrations  of  the  Fair  Maid  of  Perth      .  ditto 

Illustrations  of  the  Legend  of  Montrosc     .  ditto 

Gunn  on  the  Harp  in  the  Highlands  .      Miss  Cameron  of  Inn- 

seagan 
English  Translation  of  Buchanan's  uLat ha  | 

'Bhreitheanais,"      bv     the      Rev.      J.      Translator 

Sinclair,  Kinloeh-Raiiiioch  (1880)        .  I 
An    t-Oranaichc,    compiled    by    Archibald 

Sinclair  fLSSQ)  '  .          .  .      Compiler 

Danaibh   Spionidail,  A:C.,  le   Seumas   Mao  (  A.  >laclean,  coal  mer- 

Bheathahij  Inverness  (1880)       .          .  I       chant,  Inverness. 
Macdiarmid's  Sermons  in  (iaolic  (180-i)     .     Colin       MacCallurn, 

London 


Library.  371 


NAMES    OF    BOOKS. 

Bute  Docks,  Cardiff',  by  .lohn  M 'Comiadiie, 

C.K.  (1876)       .  '       .          .          .          .     The  Author. 

Observations  on  the   Present  State  of   the  )  ,  , 

Highland-.,    bv  the    Karl    of  Selkirk '•"    I,lack;l->r'     J>l<' 
(1806) | 

Collection    of    Gaelic    Songs,    bv    Ranald  I  ''   '  ;^ucJianail5Clarm- 

Macdonald  (1806)      .  '  (        uwh»    Kow»    Hclens- 

burgh 

Mary  Alackcllar's  Poems  and  Songs  (1880)      The  Author. 

Dr  O'Gallagher's  Sermons  in  Irish  (1877).     John     Mackay,    J.P., 

Hereford 
John    Mill    Burton's    Misiorv    of    Scotland/    L.         Maedonald        of 

((J  vols.) i  Skaobost 

Burt's  Letters  from  the  North  of  Scotland 

(2  vols.) ditto 

A  Genealogical    Account  of    the    Highland  j 

Families  of  Sha\v,  bv    A.  Mackintosh  .The  Author 

Shaw  (1*77)     .  .  j 

History     of     the     ('Ian     ChnUan..     by     A. 

Mackintosh  Shavr  (1880)  .  .  .      The  Author 

Leabliair      an      t-Se.an      Tionma      air      na\ 

<ltarruing      on      Teanguidh     i'ghdar-  j 

rach    go    Gaididig    fro    churam    agus  I  A.    P.     MaoRaild,     In- 

saothai'    an    'io'-tirr      I' ilia. m      Bhedel.   /  verness 

lioimlie    so     Kri^io;.;1    (  'hillenihorie    "n  I 

Ju-in  (1830)       .  '  •          J 

Edmund  Burke'-;  Works,  8  vols.         .          .      Mi' Colin  Chisholm. 
Land    Statistics    of    Inverness,    iJoss.    and  j 

Cromarry  in  jii-1  Year  i^T!.  b\-  ii.  C.  '-The  Author 

l^raser       ....  .  I 

Chureh   of    Scotland    Assembly     Papers 

The  Poolewe  Case      .  .      .Mi-  \V.  Mackenzie 

Ossian's     l^ing.-ii      rendered     into      hleroie  '    A.      M.     h\    Cameron, 

Verse,  by   ,!<] \ven  Camo'on  (1777)          .  »          Ks^.  of  ivd\erield 
Ossian's     i^ingai    reiK'ered.    into    verse    bv 

Archibald  Maedonald  (^"1808)      .          .  ditto 

Clarsach     an     !)oire — Gaelic     Poems,     bv 

Neil  ^^ac^.'od     .....      The  Author 
MacDiarmid's  Gaelic  Sermons   .  .  .      Mr  Colin    MacCallum, 

London 
Leabhar    ('onimtin    n;ui    I^ior   (ihael   -The 

Book  of  the  Club  of  True  Highlanders      Purchased 


372 


Gaelic  Society  of  Innernsss. 


NAMES    OF    BOOKS.  DOS  OR. 

Grammar  of  the  Gaelic  Language  (Irish), 

by  E.  O'C Mr  H.  C.  Fraser 

Esquisse  de  la  Religion  des  Gaulois.     Par 

M.  Henri  Gaidoz.      1879   .          .          .     M.  Gaidoz 
Notice    sur   les    Inscriptions    Latinos    de 

I'lrlande.        Par     M.    Henri     Gaidoz. 

1878 M.  Gaidoz 

Melusine  Recueil  de  Mythologie,  etc.      Par 

MM.  Gaidoz  et  Holland.     1878          .     M.  Gaidoz 
Guide  to  Sutherlandshire,  by  Hew  Morrison     The  Author 
Transactions  of  the  Royal    National   Eist-  \  Mr  J.    Mackay,   J.P.} 

eddfod  of  Wales         .          .          .          .  j  Hereford 

Bute   Docks.  Cardiff,  by  J.  Macconnachie, 

M.l.C.K.  .          .      "    .          ,          .          .     The  Author 
In  Memorial!! — Karl  of  Seafield          .          .      The     Dowager-Count- 
ess of  Seafield 
Past   and    Present    Position   of    the   Skye  )   L.  Macdonald  of  Skae- 

( Crofters    .          .          .          .          .          .  j  bost 

American  Journal  of  Philologv 

Revue1  Celtique,  vol.  \  I.,  Xo.  3          .          .      M.  Gaidoz 

Xotes    on    St    Clement's    Church,  Rowdill, 

Harris      ......      Mr  A.  Ross,  Inverness 

X'otes  on  Clan  Chattan  Names  .          .      J.  Maepherson,  M.I). 

The  Proverbs  of  Wales    ....      Mr   J.    Mackay,    J. P., 

Hereford 
J.  D.  Dixon's  Gaiiioch      ....     Mr  A.  Burgess,  banker, 

Gairloch 
Struan's  Poems         .....  Mr  A.  Kennedy 

The  Writings  of  Eola        ....      Mr    John    Mackay   of 

Ben  Hi-ay 
The  Proverbs  of  AVales,  by  T.  II.  Roberts  .      Mr    J.    Mackay,  J.P., 

Hereford 
An    Old   Scots    Brigade,    by  John    Mackay, 

Hcrrisdale          .  .'  .  ditto 

Cromb's  Iligldand  Brigade         .          .          .  ditto 

Glossary  of  Obscure  \\ords  in  Shakespeare 

and  his  Contemporaries,  by  I  )r  Chas. 

Mackay     ......  diito 

I'ococke's  Tour  in  Scotland,  issued  by  the  )    Mr  I  >.  \Vil!iain  Kemp, 

Historical  Society  of  Scotland     .  .  !  Edinburgh 

Walcott's  Scottish  (1hurcli          .          .          .      Mr  A.    l>urgess,  (Jair- 

loch 


Library.  373 

NAMES  OF  BOOKS.  DONOR. 

Dick  Lander's  Highland  Legends      .          .     Mr  A.  Burgess,  Gair- 

loch 

Book  of  Scottish  Story     ....  ditto 

Stuart  Papers  .....  ditto 

The   Constitution    and    Bye-Laws   of    the|  Mr    John    Mackay   of 

Scots  Charitable  Society  of  Boston     .  j  Ben  Reay 

Notes  on  Early  Iron  Smelting  in  Slither- 1  Mr  D.  AVilliam  Kern]), 

land         .....  j  Edinburgh 

Artificial  Lighting   .....  ditto 

The  Mountain  Heath,  by  David  Macdonald     Mr  A.  II.  .F.  Cameron 

of  Lakefield 
Oratio  Dominica       .....     Mr  John  Mackay,  J. P., 

II oreford 
Old    Testament    in  the     Irish     Language,     Mr     Paul     Cameron, 

by  Dr  William  Bedel,  1685         .          .  Blair- A  thole 

The  Hermit  in  Edinburgh         .          .          .     Dr  Cameron, Liverpool 

The  History  of  the  Macleans,  by  Professor  )  -p 

T    T»   •»>     i  f  Purchased 

J.  P.  Maclean j 

Fingal's  Cave,  StafFa,  2  vols.,  by  Professor  )         ,. 
J.  P.  Maclean j 

„,     ^         ,,       .,,  I  Mr  John  Mackay,  J.I'., 

The  Reay  Fencibles          .         .         .         .  >  ir      *     i 

J  j  hi  ere  ford 

Reliquiic     Celtics.        Vol.     I.— Os.sianica,  \ 

with  Memoir  of  Dr  Cameron.     Edited  (  ™,      „,., 
,       .,      .      ,,     ,  A,   .  ,  0        /•  1  he  Editors 

by  Mr  A.   Macbean,   M.A.,   and  Rev. 

John  Kennedy  .... 

The    Elements    of    Banking.      By    Henry  \  T]       . 

T~\        •       AT     i      i  |   i. i i c  ^ v n L  1 1 or 

Dniinmg  Macleod     .          .          .          .  J 

John    Laurie,     an     Eccentric     Sutherland  1  r|M       . 

7A       .    .  '       1}     r,    A,T    T^  f  Hie  Author 

Dominie.      By  U.  VV.  Ivemp 

Irish  New  Testament        .  .          .      Or     Cameron,     Wo 

coster 
Report  of  the  Worcester  Diocesan  Archi-  \ 

tectural  and  Archaeological  Society    .  J 
Manuscript  Collection  of  Music.      By  John  { 

Anderson,  musical  master,  Inverness  .  J 
Place    Names    of    Scotland,    by    Rev.    Mr 

Johnston  .  Mr  W.  A.  (',.  Brodie 


PB 
1501 
G3 
v.17 


'Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness 
Transactions 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY