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XXXVI

Turn we to Bruce, whose curious ear
Must from Fitz-Louis tidings hear;
With him, a hundred voices tell
Of prodigy and miracle,

"For the mute page had spoke."-
-Page!" said Fitz-Louis, "rather say,
An angel sent from realms of day,
To burst the English yoke.

I saw his plume and bonnet drop,

When hurrying from the mountain top;
A lovely brow, dark locks that wave,
To his bright eyes new lustre gave,

A step as light upon the green,

As if his pinions waved unseen!" "Spoke he with none ?"-" With none-one

word

14

Burst when he saw the Island Lord,'
Returning from the battle-field.”—

"What answer made the Chief?"-“ He kneel'd,

Durst not look up, but mutter'd low,

Some mingled sounds that none might know,
And greeted him 'twixt joy and fear,
As being of superior sphere."

XXXVII

Even upon Bannock's bloody plain, Heap'd then with thousands of the slain, 'Mid victor monarch's musings high, Mirth laugh'd in good King Robert's eye "And bore he such angelic air, Such noble front, such waving hair? Hath Ronald kneel'd to him?" he said, "Then must we call the church to aid—

anfficiently national-and breathes nothing either of that animosity towards England, or that exultation over her defeat, which must have animated all Scotland at the period to which he refers; and ought, consequently, to have been the ruling passion of his poem. Mr. Scott, however, not only dwells fondly on the valor and generosity of the invaders, but actually makes an elaborate apology to the English for having ventured to select for his theme a story which records their disasters. We hope this extreme courtesy is not intended merely to appease critics, and attract readers in the southern part of the isiand-and yet it is difficult to see for what other purposes it could be assumed. Mr. Scott certainly need not have been afraid either of exciting rebellion among his countrymen, or of banging his own liberality and loyalty into question, although, In speaking of the events of that remote period, where an overbearing conqueror was overthrown in a lawless attempt to subade an independent kingdom, he had given full expression to the hatred and exultation which must have prevailed among the victors, and are indeed the only passions which can be supposed to be excited by the story of their exploits. It is not natural, and we are sure it is not poetical, to represent the agents in such tremendous scenes as calm and indulgent judges of the motives or merits of their opponents; and, by lending such a eharacter to the leaders of his host, the author has actually lessened the interest of the mighty fight of Bannockburn, to that which might be supposed to belong to a well-regulated ournament among friendly rivals."-JEFFREY.

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4 "Bruce issues orders for the celebration of the nuptials; whether they were ever solemnized, it is impossible to say. As critics, we should certainly have forbidden the banns; because, although it is conceivable that the mere lapse of time might not have eradicated the passion of Edith, yet how such a circumstance alone, without even the assistance of an interview, could have created one in the bosom of Ronald, is altogether inconceivable. He must have proposed to marry her merely from compassion, or for the sake of her lands; and, upon either supposition, it would have comported with the delicacy of Edith to refuse his proffered hand.”—Quar terly Review.

"To Mr. James Ballantyne.--Dear Sir,-You have now the whole affair, excepting two or three concluding stanzas. As your taste for bride's-cake may induce you to desire to know more of the wedding, I will save you some criticism b saying, I have settled to stop short as above.-Witness m hand, "W. S"

Slone yet more lovely in a form so fair: And, least of all, what 'vails the world should know,

1 The reader is referred to Mr. Hogg's "Pilgrims of the Sun" for some beautiful lines, and a highly interesting note, on the death of the Duchess of Buccleuch. Se ante, p. 412.

2 The Edinburgh Reviewer (Mr. Jeffrey) says, "The story of the Lord of the Isles, in so far as it is fictitious, is palpably deficient both în interest and probability; and, in so far as it is founded on historical truth, seems to us to be objectionable, both for want of incident, and want of variety and connection in the incidents that occur. There is a romantic grandeur, however, in the scenery, and a sort of savage greatness and rude antiquity in many of the characters and events, which relieves the insipidity of the narrative, and atones for many defects in the execution."

After giving copious citations from what he considers as "the better parts of the poem," the critic says, “to give a complete and impartial idea of it, we ought to subjoin some from its more faulty passages. But this is but an irksome task at all times, and, with such an author as Mr. Scott, is both invidious and unnecessary. His faults are nearly as notorious as his beauties; and we have announced in the outset, that they are equally conspicuous in this as in his other productions. There are innumerable harsh lines and uncouth expressions,—— passages of a coarse and heavy diction,--and details of uninteresting minuteness and oppressive explanation. It is needless, after this, to quote such couplets as

A damsel tired of midnight bark,

Or wanderers of a moulding stark,'—

'Tis a kind youth, but fanciful,
Unfit against the tide to pull ;'—

or to recite the many weary pages which contain the colloquies of Isabel and Edith, and set forth the unintelligible reasous of their unreasonable conduct. The concerns of these two young ladies, indeed, form the heaviest part of the poem. The mawkish generosity of the one, and the piteous fidelity of the other, are equally oppressive to the reader, and do not tend at all to put him in good humor with Lord Ronald,-who, though the beloved of both, and the nominal hero of the work, is certainly as far as possible from an interesting person. The lovers of poetry have a particular aversion to the inconstancy of other lovers,-and especially to that sort of inconstancy which is liable to the suspicion of being partly inspired by worldly ambition, and partly abjured from considerations of a still meaner selfishness. We suspect, therefore, that they will have but little indulgence for the fickleness of the Lord of the Isles, who breaks the troth he had pledged to the heiress of Lorn, as soon as n sees a chance of succeeding with the King's sister, and comes back to the slighted bride, when his royal mistress takes the vows in a convent, and the heiress gets into possession of her lands, by the forfeiture of her brother. These characters, and this story, form the great blemish of the poem, but it has rather less fire and flow and facility, we think, on the whole, than some of the author's other performance,"

The Monthly Reviewer thus assails the title of the poem :-"The Land of the Isles himself, selon les règles of Mr. Scott's compositions, being the hero, is not the first person in the poem. The attendant here is always in white muslin, and Tilburina herself in white linen. Still, among the Deuteroprotoi (or second best) of the author, Lord Ronald holds a re"pectable rank.

He is not so mere a magic-lantern figure, once seen in bower and once in field, as Lord Cranstoun; he ar exceeds that same rabbit boiled to rags without onion or

That one poor garland, twined to deck thy hair Is hung upon thy hearse, to droop and wither there!2

other sauce, De Wilton; and although he certainly falls in finitely short of that accomplished swimmer Malcolm Græme, yet he rises proportionably above the red-haired Redmond. Lord Ronald, indeed, bating his intended marriage with ore woman while he loves another, is a very noble fellow; &.4, were he not so totally eclipsed by The Bruce,' he would have served very well to give a title to any octosyllabic epic, were it even as vigorous and poetical as the present. Nevertheless, it would have been just as proper to call Virgil's divine poem 'The Anchiseid,' as it is to call this The Lord of the Isles.' To all intents and purposes the aforesaid quarto is, and ought to be, The Bruce.'"

The Monthly Reviewer thus concludes his article:-" In some detached passages, the present poem may challenge any of Mr. Scott's compositions; and perhaps in the Abbot's in voluntary blessing it excels any single part of any one of them. The battle, too, and many dispersed lines besides, have transcendent merit. In point of fable, however, it has not the grace and elegance of The Lady of the Lake,' nor the general clearness and vivacity of its narrative; nor the unexpected happiness of its catastrophe; and still less does it aspire to the praise of the complicated, but very proper and well-managed story of Rokeby.' It has nothing so pathetic as The Cypress Wreath nothing so sweetly touching as the last evening scene at Rokeby, before it is broken by Bertram; nothing (with the exception of the Abbot) so awfully melancholy as much of Mortham's history, or so powerful as Bertram's farewell to Edmund. It vies, as we have already said, with Marmion,' in the generally favorite part of that poem; but what has it (with the exception before stated) equal to the immurement of Constance? On the whole, however, we prefer it to Marmion; which, in spite of much merit, always had a sort of noisy royal-circus air with it; a clap-trappery, if we may ver ture on such a word. Marmion,' in short, has become quite identified with Mr. Braham in our minds; and we are there fore not perhaps unbiased judges of its perfections. Finally, we do not hesitate to place The Lord of the Isles' below both of Mr. Scott's remaining longer works; and as to The Lay of the Last Minstrel,' for numerous commonplaces and separate beauties, that poem, we believe, still constitutes one of the highest steps, if not the very highest, in the ladder of the author's reputation. The characters of the present tale (with the exception of 'The Bruce,' who is vividly painted from history-and of some minor sketches) are certainly, in point of invention, of the most norel, that is, of the most Minerva-pres description; and, as to the language and versification, th. poem is in its general course as interior to Rokeby' (by much the most correct and the least justly appreciated of the author'▲ works) as it is in the construction and conduct of its fable It supplies whole pages of the most prosaic narrative; but, as we conclude by recollecting, it displays also whole pages o the noblest poetry."

The British Critic says: "No poem of Mr. Scott has ye. appeared with fairer claims to the public attention. If it have less pathos than the Lady of the Lake, or less display of character than Marmion, it surpasses them both in grandeur of conception, and dignity of versification. It is in every respect decidedly superior to Rokeby; and though it may not reach the Lay of the Last Minstrel in a few splendid passages, it is far more perfect as a whole. The fame of Mr. Scott, among those who are capable of distinguishing the rich ore of poetry from the dross which surrounds it, will receive no small advancement by this last effort of his genius. We discover in it a brilliancy in detached expressions, and a power of language in

the combination of images, which has never yet appeared in any of his previous publications.

"We would also believe that as his strength has increased, so his glaring errors have been diminished. But so imbedded and ingrained are these in the gems of his excellence, that no blindness can overlook, no art can divide or destroy their connection. They must be tried together at the ordeal of time, and descend unseparated to posterity. Could Mr. Scott but endow his purposes with words'-could he but decorate the justice and the splendor of his conceptions with more unalloyed aptness of expression, and more uniform strength and harmony of numbers, he would claim a place in the highest rank among the poets of natural feeling and natural imagery. Even as it is, with all his faults, we love him still; and when he shall cease to write, we shall find it difficult to supply his place with a better."

The Quarterly Reviewer, after giving his outline of the story of the Lord of the Isles, thus proceeds :-"In whatever point of view it be regarded, whether with reference to the incidents it contains, or the agents by whom it is carried on, we think that one less calculated to keep alive the interest and curiosity of the reader could not easily have been conceived. Of the characters, we cannot say much; they are not conceived with any great degree of originality, nor delineated with any particular spirit. Neither are we disposed to criticise with minuteness the incidents of the story; but we conceive that the whole poem, considering it as a narrative poem, is projected upon wrong principles.

"The story is obviously composed of two independent plots, connected with each other merely by the accidental circumstances of time and place. The liberation of Scotland by Bruce has not naturally any more connection with the loves of Ronald and the Maid of Lorn, than with those of Dido and Æneas; nor are we able to conceive any possible motive which should have induced Mr. Scott to weave them as he has done into the same narrative, except the desire of combining the advantages of an heroical, with what we may call, for want of an appropriate word, an ethical subject; an attempt which we feel assured he never would have made, had he duly weighed the very different principles upon which these dissimilar sorts of poetry are founded. Thus, had Mr. Scott introduced the loves of Ronald and the Maid of Lorn as an episode of an epic poem upon the subject of the battle of Bannockburn, its want of connection with the main action might have been excused, in favor of its intrinsic merit; but, by a great singula ity of judgment, he has introduced the battle of Bannockburn as an episode, in the loves of Ronald and the Maid of Lorn. To say nothing of the obvious preposterousness of such a design, abstractedly considered, the effect of it has, we think, decidedly been to destroy that interest which either of them might separately have created: or, if any interest remain respecting the fate of the ill-requited Edith, it is because at no moment of the poem do we feel the slightest degree of it, respecting the enterprise of Bruce.

The many beautiful passages which we have extracted

from the poem, combined with the brief remarks subjoined te each canto, will sufficiently show, that although the Lord of the Isles is not likely to add very much to the reputation of Mr. Scott, yet this must be imputed rather to the greatness of his previous reputation, than to the absolute inferiority of the poem itself. Unfortunately, its merits are merely incidental, while its defects are mixed up with the very elements of the poem. But it is not in the power of Mr. Scott to write with tameness; be the subject what it will (and he could not easily have chosen one more impracticable), he impresses upon whatever scenes he describes, so much movement and activity,-be infuses into his narrative such a flow of life, and, if we may so express ourselves, of animal spirits, that without satisfying the judgment, or moving the feelings, or elevating the mind, or even very greatly interesting the curiosity, he is able to seize upon, and, as it were, exhilarate the imagination of his readers, in a manner which is often truly unaccountable. This quality Mr. Scott possesses in an admirable degree; and supposing that he had no other object in view than to convince the world of the great poetical powers with which he is gifted, the poem before us would be quite sufficient for his purpose. But this is of very inferior importance to the public; what they want is a good poem, and as experience has shown, this can only be constructed upon a solid foundation of taste and judgment and meditation."

romances.

"These passages [referring to the preceding extract from the Quarterly, and that from the Edinburgh Review, at the commencement of the poem] appear to me to condense the result of deliberate and candid reflection, and I have therefore quoted them. The most important remarks of either Essayist on the details of the plot and execution are annexed to the last edition of the poem; and show such an exact coincidence of judgment in two masters of their calling, as had not hitherto been exemplified in the professional criticism of his metrical The defects which both point out, are, I presume, but too completely explained by the preceding statement of the rapidity with which this, the last of those great perfor mances, had been thrown off;-[see Life, vol. v. pp. 13-15] -nor do I see that either Reviewer has failed to do sufficient justice to the beauties which redeem the imperfections of the Lord of the Isles-except as regards the whole character of Bruce, its real hero, and the picture of the Battle of Bannockburn, which, now that one can compare these works from something like the same point of view, does not appear to me in the slightest particular inferior to the Flodden of Marmion.

"This poem is now, I believe, about as popular as Rokeby; but it has never reached the same station in general favor with the Lay, Marmion, or the Lady of the Lake. The first edition of 1800 copies in quarto, was, however, rapidly disposed of, and the separate editions in 8vo, which ensued before his poetical works were collected, amounted together to 15,250 copies. This, in the case of almost any other author, would have been splendid success; but, as compared with what he had previously experienced, even in his Rokeby, and still more so as compared with the enormous circulation at once attained by Lord Byron's early tales, which were then following each other in almost breathless succession, the falling off was decided.”— LOCKHART, vol. v. p. 27.

APPENDIX.

NOTE A.

Thy rugged halls, Artornish! rung.-P. 415.

THE ruins of the Castle of Artornish are situated upon a promontory, on the Morven, or mainland side of the Sound of Mu name given to the deep arm of the sea, which divides that island from the continent. The situation is wild and romantic in the highest degree, having on the one hand a high and precipitous chain of rocks overhanging the sea, and on the other the narrow entrance to the beautiful salt-water lake, called Loch Alline, which is in many places finely fringed with copsewood. The ruins of Artornish are not now very considerable, and consist chiefly of the remains of an old keep, or tower, with fragments of outward defences. But, in former days, it was a place of great consequence, being one of the principal strongholds, which the Lords of the Isles, during the period of their stormy independence, possessed upon the mainland of Argyleshire. Here they assembled what popular tradition calls their parliaments, meaning, I suppose, their cour pleniere, or assembly of feudal and patriarchal vassals and dependents. From this Castle of Artornish, upon the 19th day of October, 1461, John de Yle, designing himself Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, granted, in the style of an independent sovereign, a commission to his trusty and well-beloved cousins, Ronald of the Isles, and Duncan, Arch-Dean of the Isles, for empowering them to enter into a treaty with the most excellent Prince Edward, by the grace of God, King of France and England, and Lord of Ireland. Edward IV., on his part, named Laurence, Bishop of Durham, the Earl of Worcester, the Prior of St. John's, Lord Wenlock, and Mr. Robert Stillington, keeper of the privy seal, his deputies and commissioners, to confer with those named by the Lord of the Isles. The conference terminated in a treaty, by which the Lord of the Isles agreed to become a vassal to the crown of England, and to assist Edward IV. and James, Earl of Douglas, then in banishment, in subduing the realm of Scotland.

The first article provides, that John de Isle, Earl of Ross, with his son Donald Balloch, and his grandson John de Isle, with all their subjects, men, people, and inhabitants, become vassals and liegemen to Edward IV. of England, and assist him in his wars in Scotland or Ireland; and then follow the allowances to be made to the Lord of the Isles, in recompense of his military service, and the provisions for dividing such conquests as their united arms should make upon the mainland of Scotland among the confederates. These appear such curious illustrations of the period, that they are here subjoined:

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Item, The seid John Erle of Rosse shall, from the seid fest of Whittesontyde next comyng, yerely, duryng his lyf, have and take, for fees and wages in tyme of peas, of the seid most high and Christien prince c. mare sterlyng of Englysh money; and in tyme of werre, as long as he shall entende with his myght and power in the said werres, in manner and fourme abovesaid, he shall have wages of ccc. Ib. sterlyng of English money yearly; and after the rate of the tyme that he shall be occupied in the seid werres.

The seid Donald shall, from the seid feste of WhitItem, tesontyde, have and take, during his lyf, yerly, in tyme of peas, for his fees and wages, xx 1. sterlyng of Englysh money: and, when he shall be occupied and intend to the werre, with is myght and power, and in manner and fourme aboveseid,

he shall have and take, for his wages yearly, xl 1. sterlynge of Englysh money; or for the rate of the tyme of werre

"Item, The seid John, sonn and heire apparant of the said Donald, shall have and take, yerely, from the seid fest, for his fees and wages, in the tyme of peas, x 1. sterlynge of Englysh money; and for tyme of werre, and his intendyng thereto, in manner and fourme aboveseid, he shall have, for his fees and wages, yearly xx 1. sterlynge of Englysh money; or after the rate of the tyme that he shall be occupied in the werre And the seid John, th' Erle Donald and John, and eche of them, shall have good and sufficiaunt paiment of the seid fees and wages, as wel for tyme of peas as of werre, accordyng to thees articules and appoyntements. Item, It is appointed, accorded, concluded, and finally determined, that, if it so be that hereafter the said reaume of Scotlande, or the more part thereof, be conquered, subdued, and brought to the obeissance of the seid most high and Christien prince, and his heires, or successoures, of the seid Lionell, in fourme aboveseid descendyng, be the assistance, helpe, and aide of the said John Erle of Rosse, and Donald, and of James Erle of Douglas, then, the said fees and wages for the tyme of peas cessying, the same erles and Donald shall have, by the graunte of the same most Christien prince, all the possessions of the said reaume beyonde Scottishe see, they to be departed equally betwix them: eche of them, his heires and successours, to holde his parte of the seid most Christien prince, his heires and successours, for evermore, in right of his croune of England, by homage and feaute to be done therefore.

"Item, If so be that, by th' aide and assistence of the seid James Erle of Douglas, the said reaume of Scotlande be conquered and subdued as above, then he shall have, enjoie, and inherite all his own possessions, landes, and inheritaunce, on this syde the Scottishe see; that is to saye, betwixt the seid Scottishe see and Englande, such he hath rejoiced and be possessed of before this; there to holde them of the said most high and Christien prince, his heires, and successours, as is abovesaid, for evermore, in right of the coroune of Englonde, as weel the said Erle of Douglas, as his heires and successours, by homage and feaute to be done therefore."-RYMER'S Fœdera Conventiones Litera et cujuscunque generis Acta Publica, fol. vol. v., 1741.

Such was the treaty of Artornish; but it does not appear that the allies ever made any very active effort to realize their ambitious designs. It will serve to show both the power of these reguli, and their independence upon the crown of Scotland.

It is only farther necessary to say of the Castle of Artornish, that it is almost opposite to the Bay of Aros, in the Island of Mull, where there was another castle, the occasional residence of the Lords of the Isles.

NOTE B.

Rude Heiskar's seal through surges dark, Will long pursue the minstrel's bark.-P. 416. The sea. displays a taste for music, which could scarcely be expected from his habits and local predilections. They will long follow a boat in which any musical instrument is played, and even a tune simply whistled has attractions for them.

The Dean of the Isles says of Heiskar, a small uninhabited rock, about twelve (Scottish) miles from the isle of Uist, that an infinite slaughter of seals takes place there.

NOTE C.

a turret's ary head

Slender and steep, and battled roand,

O`erlook'd, dark Mull thy mighty Sound.-P. 417. he Sound of Mull, which divides that island from the continent of Scotland, is one of the most striking scenes which the Hebrides afford to the traveller. Sailing from Oban to Aros, or Tobermory, through a narrow channel, yet deep enough to Dear vessels of the largest burden, he has on his left the bold and mountainous shores of Mull; on the right those of that district of Argyleshire, called Morven, or Morvern, successively indented by deep salt-water lochs, running up many miles inland. To the southeastward arise a prodigious range of mountains, among which Cruachan-Ben is pre-eminent. And to the northeast is the no less huge and picturesque range of the Ardnamurchan hills. Many ruinous castles, situated generally upon cliffs overhanging the ocean, add interest to the scene. Those of Donolly and Dunstaffnage are first passed, then that of Duart, formerly belonging to the chief of the warlike and powerful sept of Macleans, and the scene of Miss Baillie's beautiful tragedy, entitled the Family Legend. Still passing on to the northward, Artornish and Aros become visible upon the opposite shores; and, lastly, Mingarry, and other ruins of less distinguished note. In fine weather, a grander and more impressive scene, both from its natural beauties, and associations with ancient history and tradition, can hardly be imagined. When the weather is rough, the passage is both difficult and dangerous, from the narrowness of the channel, and in part from the number of inland lakes, out of which sally forth a number of conflicting and thwarting tides, making the navigation perilous to open boats. The sudden flaws and gusts of wind which issue without a moment's warning from the mountain glens, are equally formidable. So that in unsettled weather, a stranger, if not much accustomed to the sea, may sometimes add to the other sublime sensations excited by the scene, that feeling of dignity which arises from a sense of danger.

NOTE D.

"these seas behold,

Round twice a hundred islands roll'd,
From Hirt, that hears their northern roar,
To the green Lay's fertile shore.”—P. 417.

cature, consisting of fourteen, sat always here; and there was an appeal to them from all the courts in the isles: the eleventh share of the sum in debate was due to the principal judge There was a big stone of seven foot square, in which there was a deep impression made to receive the feet of Mac-Donald; for he was crowned King of the Isles standing in this stone and swore that he would continue his vassals in the possession of their lands, and do exact justice to all his subjects: and then his father's sword was put into his hand. The Bishop of Argyle and seven priests anointed him king, in presence of all the heads of the tribes in the isles and continent, and were his vassals; at which time the orator rehearsed a catalogue of his ancestors," &c.-MARTIN's Account of the Western Isles, 8vo. London, 1716, p. 240, 1.

NOTE E.

-Mingarry sternly placed,

O'erawes the woodland and the waste.-P. 417. The Castle of Mingarry is situated on the sea-coast of the district of Ardnamurchan. The ruins, which are tolerably entire, are surrounded by a very high wall, forming a kind of polygon, for the purpose of adapting itself to the projecting angles of a precipice overhanging the sea, on which the castle stands. It was anciently the residence of the Mac-lans, a clan of Mac-Donalds, descended from Ian, or John, a grand son of Angus Og, Lord of the Isles. The last time that Mingarry was of military importance, occurs in the celebrated Leabhar dearg, or Red-book of Clanronald, a MS. renowned in the Ossianic controversy. Allaster Mac-Donald, commonly called Colquitto, who commanded the Irish auxiliaries, sext over by the Earl of Antrim, during the great civil war, to the assistance of Montrose, began his enterprise in. 1644, by taking the castles of Kinloch-Alline, and Mingarry, the last of which made considerable resistance, as might, from the strength of the situation, be expected. In the mean while, Allaster Mac Donald's ships, which had brought him over, were attacked in Loch Eisord, in Skye, by an armament sent round by the covenanting parliament, and his own vessel was taken. This circumstance is said chiefly to have induced him to continue in Scotland, where there seemed little prospect of raising an army in behalf of the King. He had no sooner moved eastward to join Montrose, a junction which he effected in the braes of Athole, than the Marquis of Argyle besieged the castle of Mingarry, but without success, Among other warriors and chiefs whom Argyle summoned to his camp to assist upon this occasion, was John of Moidart, the Captain of Clanronald. Clanronald appeared; but, far from yielding effectual assistance to Argyle, he took the opportunity of being in arms to lay waste the district of Sunart, then belonging to the adherents of Argyle, and sent part of the spoil to relieve the Castle of Mingarry. Thus the castle was maintained until relieved by Allaster Mac-Donald (Colquitto), who had been detached for the purpose by Montrose. These particulars are hardly worth mentioning, were they not connected with he memorable successes of Montrose, related by an eyewitness and hitherto unknown to Scottish historians.

The number of the western isles of Scotland exceeds two hundred, of which St. Kilda is the most northerly, anciently called Hirth, or Hirt, probably from "earth," being in fact the whole globe to its inhabitants. Ilay, which now belongs almost entirely to Walter Campbell, Esq., of Shawfield, is by far the most fertile of the Hebrides, and has been greatly improved under the spirited and sagacious management of the present proprietor. This was in ancient times the principal abode of the Lords of the Isles, being, if not the largest, the most important island of their archipelago. In Martin's time, some relics of their grandeur were yet extant. "Loch-Finlagan, about three miles in circumference, affords salmon, irouts, and eels: this lake lies in the centre of the isle. The Somerled was thane of Argyle and Lord of the Isles, about Isle Finlagan, from which this lake hath its name, is in it. It's the middle of the twelfth century. He seems to have ex famous for being once the court in which the great Mac-Doncised his authority in both capacities, independent of the ald, King of the Isles, had his residence; his houses, chapel, crown of Scotland, against which he often stood in hostility &c., are now ruinous. His guards de corps, called Luchttach, He made various incursions upon the western lowlands duric g kept guard on the lake side nearest to the isle; the walls of the reign of Malco'm IV., and seems to have made peace wi their houses are still to be seen there. The high court of judi-him upon the terms of an independent prince, about the yea

NOTE F.

The heir of mighty Somerled.-P. 417.

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