318

and

the posterity of John Mor of the Isles and Cantyre. For | army for the purpose of taking possession, and a ship John Cathanach, son of John, son of Donald Ballach, came from England with a supply of money to carry son of John Mor, son of John, son of Angus Og (the on the war, which landed at Mull, and the money was chief of the descendants of John Mor), and John Mor, given to Mac-Lean of Duart to be distributed among son of John Cathanach, and young John, son of John the commanders of the army, which they not receiving Cathanach, and young Donald Ballach, son of John in proportion as it should have been distributed among Cathanach, were treacherously taken by Mac-Cean in them, caused the army to disperse, which, when the the island of Finlagan, in Isla, and carried to Edinburgh, Earl of Lennox heard, he disbanded his own men, where he got them hanged at the Burrow-muir, and made it up with the king: Mac-Donald went to Ireland their bodies were buried in the church of St Anthony, to raise men, but he died on his way to Dublin, at called the New Church. There were none left alive at Drogheda, of a fever, without issue of either sons or that time of the children of John Cathanach, except daughters.» Alexander, the son of John Cathanach, and Agnes Flach, who concealed themselves in the glens of Ire-seannachie touches such a delicate discussion with a In this history may be traced, though the bard or land. Mac-Cean, hearing of their hiding-places, went gentle hand, the point of difference between the three to cut down the woods of these glens, in order to de- principal septs descended from the Lords of the Isles. stroy Alexander and extirpate the whole race. At length The first question, and one of no easy solution, where Mac-Cean and Alexander met, were reconciled, and a so little evidence is produced, respects the nature of the marriage alliance took place; Alexander married Mac- connexion of John, called by the Archdean of the Isles Cean's daughter, and she brought him good children. « the Good John of Ila,» and « the last Lord of the Isles,» The Mac-Donalds of the north had also descendants; with Anne, daughter of Roderick Mac-Dougal, high chief for, after the death of John, Lord of the Isles, and Earl of Lorn. In the absence of positive evidence, presumpof Ross, and the murder of Angus, Alexander, the son tive must be resorted to, and I own it appears to render of Archibald, the son of Alexander of the Isles, took it in the highest degree improbable that this connexion possession, and John was in possession of the earldom was otherwise than legitimate. In the wars between of Ross, and the north bordering country; he married David II. and Edward Baliol, John of the Isles espoused a daughter of the Earl of Moray, of whom some of the the Balio interest, to which he was probably determen of the north had descended. The Mac-Kenzies rose mined by his alliance with Roderick of Lorn, who was, against Alexander, and fought the battle called Blar na Paire. Alexander had only a few of the men of Ross hostile to Bruce. It seems absurd to suppose, that befrom every family predilection, friendly to Baliol and at the battle. He went after that battle to take posses-tween two chiefs of the same descent, and nearly equal sion of the Isles, and sailed in a ship to the south to see if he could find any of the posterity of John Mor alive, to rise, along with him, but Mac-Cean of Ardnamurchan watched him as he sailed past, followed him to Oransay, and Colonsay, went to the house where he was, and he and Alexander, son of John Cathanach, murdered him there.

power and rank (though the Mac-Dougals had been much crushed by Robert Bruce), such a connexion should have been that of concubinage; and it appears more likely that the tempting offer of an alliance with the Bruce family, when they had obtained the decided superiority in Scotland, induced «the good John of Ila»> to disinherit to a certain extent his eldest son Ronald, «A good while after these things fell out, Donald who came of a stock so unpopular as the Mac-Dougals, Galda, son of Alexander, son of Archibald, became ma- and to call to his succession his younger family, born of jor; he, with the advice and direction of the Earl of Margaret Stuart, daughter of Robert, afterwards King Moray, came to the isles, and Mac-Leod of the Lewis, of Scotland. The setting aside of this elder branch of and many of the gentry of the isles, rose with him his family was most probably a condition of his new they went by the promontory of Ardnamurchan, where alliance, and his being received into favour with the dythey met Alexander, the son of John Cathanach, were nasty he had always opposed. Nor were the laws of reconciled to him, he joined his men with theirs against succession at this early period so clearly understood as Mac-Cean of Ardnamurchan, came upon him at a place to bar such transactions. The numerous and strange called the Silver Craig, where he and his three sons, claims set up to the crown of Scotland, when vacant by and a great number of his people, were killed, and Do- the death of Alexander III., make it manifest how very nald Galda was immediately declared Mac-Donald: And, little the indefeasible hereditary right of primogeniture after the affair of Ardnamurchan, all the men of the was valued at that period. In fact, the title of the isles yielded to him, but he did not live above seven or Bruces themselves to the crown, though justly the most eight weeks after it; he died at Carnaborg, in Mull, popular, when assumed with the determination of aswithout issue. He had three sisters, daughters of Alex-serting the independence of Scotland, was, upon pure ander, son of Archibald, who were portioned in the north upon the continent, but the earldom of Ross was kept for them. Alexander the son of Archibald, had a natural son, called John Cam, of whom is descended Achnacoichan, in Ramoch, and Donald Gorm, son of Ronald, son of Alexander Duson, of John Cam. Donald Du, son of Angus, son of John of the Isles, son of Alexander of the Isles, son of Donald of the Isles, son of John of the Isles, son of Angus Og, namely, the true heir of the Isles and Ross, came after his release from captivity to the Isles, and convened the men thereof, and he and the Earl of Lennox agreed to raise a great

principle, greatly inferior to that of Baliol. For Bruce, the competitor, claimed as son of Isabella, second daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, and John Baliol, as grandson of Margaret, the elder daughter of that same earl. So that the plea of Bruce was founded upon the very loose idea that, as the great-grandson of David I., King of Scotland, and the nearest collateral relation of Alexander III., he was entitled to succeed, in exclusion of the great-great-grandson of the same David, though by an elder daughter. This maxim savoured of the ancient practice of Scotland, which often called a brother to succeed to the crown as nearer in blood than a

a select body of archery, and obtained possession of the
heights which commanded the pass. A volley of ar-
rows descending upon them directly warned the Ar-
gyleshire men of their perilous situation, and their re-

grandchild, or even a son of a deceased monarch. But, the third daughter of John, called the Red Comyn,'
in truth, the maxims of inheritance in Scotland were who was slain by Bruce in the Dominican church at
sometimes departed from at periods when they were Dumfries, and hence he was a mortal enemy of that
much more distinctly understood. Such a transposi-prince, and more than once reduced him to great straits
tion took place in the family of Hamilton, in 1513, during the early and distressed period of his reign, as
when the descendants of James, 3d Lord, by Lady Janet we shall have repeated occasion to notice. Bruce,
Home, were set aside, with an appanage of great value when he began to obtain an ascendancy in Scotland,
indeed, in order to call to the succession those which he took the first opportunity in his power to requite these
had by a subsequent marriage with Janet Beaton.
In injuries. He marched into Argyleshire to lay waste the
short, many other examples might be quoted to show country. John of Lorn, son of the chieftain, was post-
that the question of legitimacy is not always determined ed with his followers in the formidable pass between
by the fact of succession; and there seems reason to Dalmally and Bunawe. It is a narrow path along the
believe that Ronald, descendant of « John of Ila,» by verge of the huge and precipitous mountain, called
Ann of Lorn, was legitimate, and therefore Lord of the Cruachan Ben, and guarded on the other side by a pre-
Isles de jure, though de facto his younger half brother, cipice overhanging Loch Awe. The pass seems to the
Donald, son of his father's second marriage with the eye of a soldier as strong, as it is wild and romantic to
princess of Scotland, superseded him in his right, and that of an ordinary traveller. But the skill of Bruce
apparently by his own consent. From this Donald so
had anticipated this difficulty. While his main body,
preferred is descended the family of Sleate, now Lords engaged in a skirmish with the men of Lorn, detained
Mac-Donald. On the other hand, from Ronald, the ex- their attention to the front of their position, James of
cluded heir, upon whom a very large appanage was Douglas, with Sir Alexander Fraser, Sir William Wise-
settled, descended the chiefs of Glengary and Clanro-man, and Sir Andrew Grey, ascended the mountain with
nald, each of whom had large possessions, and a nu-
merous vassalage, and boasted a long descent of warlike
ancestry. Their common ancestor, Ronald, was mur-
dered by the Earl of Ross at the monastery of Elcho,
A. D. 1346. I believe it has been subject of fierce dis-sistance, which had hitherto been bold and manly, was
pute, whether Donald, who carried on the line of Glen-
gary, or Allan of Moidart, the ancestor of the captains
of Clanronald, was the eldest son of Ronald, the son of
John of Ila. A humble Lowlander may be permitted to
waive the discussion, since a seannachie of no small
note, who wrote in the 16th century, expresses himself
this delicate topic in the following words :-
<< I have now given you an account of every thing
you can expect of the descendants of the clan Colla
(i. e. the Mac-Donalds), to the death of Donald Du at
Drogheda, namely, the true line of those who possessed
the Isles, Ross, and the mountainous countries of Scot-
land. It was Donald, the son of Angus, that was killed
at Inverness, by his own harper (Mac-i'Cairbre), son of
John of the Isles, son of Alexander, son of Donald, son
of John, son of Angus Og. And I know not which of
his kindred or relations is the true heir, except these
five sons of John, the son of Angus Og, whom I here
set down for you, namely, Ronald and Godfrey, the two
sons of the daughter of Mac-Donald of Lorn, and Do-
nald and John Mor, and Alexander Carrach, the three
sons of Margaret Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart,
King of Scotland.»-Leabhar-dearg.

upon

Note 8. Stanza xi.

the house of Lorn.

The house of Lorn, as we observed in a former note, was, like the Lords of the Isles, descended from a son of Somerled, slain at Renfrew in 1164. This son obtained the succession of his main-land territories, comprehending the greater part of the three districts of Lorn, in Argyleshire, and of course might rather be considered as petty princes than feudal barons. They assumed the patronymic appellation of Mac-Dougal, by which they are distinguished in the history of the middle ages. The Lord of Lorn, who flourished during the wars of Bruce, was Allaster (or Alexander) MacDougal, called Allaster of Argyle. He had married

changed into a precipitate flight. The deep and rapid
river of Awe was then (we learn the fact from Barbour
with some surprise) crossed by a bridge. This bridge
the mountaineers attempted to demolish, but Bruce's
followers were too close upon their rear: they were,
therefore, without refuge and defence, and were dis-
persed with great slaughter. John of Lorn, suspicious
of the event, had early betaken himself to the galleys
which he had upon the lake; but the feelings which
Barbour assigns to him, while witnessing the rout and
slaughter of his followers, exculpate him from the
charge of cowardice.

To John of Lorn it should displease,

I trow, when he his men might see
Be slain and chased in the hill,
That he might set no help theretill.
But it angers as greatumly
To good hearts that are worthy,
To see their foes fulfill their will
As to themselves to tholl the ill.

After this decisive engagement, Bruce laid waste Ar-
western shore of Lorn, compelled it to surrender, and
gyleshire, and besieged Dunstaffnage Castle, on the
placed in that principal strong-hold of the Mac-Dougals
a garrison and governor of his own. The elder Mac-
Dougal, now wearied with the contest, submitted to the
victor: but his son, « rebellious,» says Barbour, « as he
wont to be,»> fled to England by sea.
When the wars
between the Bruce and Baliol factions again broke out
in the reign of David II., the Lords of Lorn were again

4

found upon the losing side, owing to their hereditary enmity to the house of Bruce. Accordingly, upon the issue of that contest, they were deprived by David II. and his successor of by far the greater part of their extensive territories, which were conferred upon Stewart, called the Knight of Lorn. The house of Mac-Dougal, continued, however, to survive the loss of power, and affords a very rare, if not an unique, instance of a family of such unlimited power, and so distinguished during the middle ages, surviving the decay of their grandeur, and flourishing in a private station. The castle of Dunolly, near Oban, with its dependencies, was the principal part of what remained to them, with their right of chieftainship over the families of their name and blood. These they continued to enjoy until the year 1715, when the representative incurred the penalty of forfeiture, for his accession to the insurrection of that period; thus losing the remains of his inheritance, to replace upon the throne the descendants of those princes, whose accession his ancestors had opposed at the expense of their feudal grandeur. The estate was, however, restored about 1745, to the father of the present proprietor, whom family experience had taught the hazard of interfering with the established government, and who remained quiet upon that occasion. He therefore regained his property when many Highland chiefs lost theirs.

the most beautiful and interesting which is witnessed
in the Hebrides: at times the ocean appears entirely
illuminated around the vessel, and a long train of lam-
bent coruscations are perpetually bursting upon the
sides of the vessel, or pursuing her wake through the
darkness. These phosphoric appearances, concerning
the origin of which naturalists are not agreed in opi-
nion, seem to be called into action by the rapid motion
of the ship through the water, and are probably owing
to the water being saturated with fish-spawn, or other
animal substances. They remind one strongly of the
description of the sea-snakes in Mr Coleridge's wild, but
highly poetical ballad of the Ancient Mariner :-
Beyond the shadow of the ship

I watched the water-snakes,

They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they rear'd, the elvish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.

Note 10. Stanza xxiv.
Hewn in the rock, a passage there
Sought the dark fortress by a stair

So strait, so high, so steep,
With peasant's staff one valiant hand
Might well the dizzy pass have mann'd,
'Gainst hundreds arm'd with spear and brand,

And plunged them in the deep.

The fortress of a Hebridean chief was almost always on the sea-shore, for the facility of communication which the ocean afforded. Nothing can be more wild than the situations which they chose, and the devices by which the architects endeavoured to defend them. of access, and the draw-bridge appears at Dunstaffnage, Narrow stairs and arched vaults were the usual mode

any

Nothing can be more wildly beautiful than the situation of Dunolly. The ruins are situated upon a bold and precipitous promontory, overhanging Loch Etive, and distant about a mile from the village and port of Oban. The principal part which remains is the donjon or keep; but fragments of other builings, overgrown with ivy, attest that it had been once a place of import-and elsewhere, to have fallen from the gate of the ance, as large apparently as Artornish or Dunstaffnage. building to the top of such a staircase: so that These fragments inclose a court-yard, of which the one, advancing with hostile purpose, found himself in keep probably formed one side: the entrance being by a state of exposed and precarious elevation, with a a steep ascent from the neck of the isthmus, formerly gulph between him and the object of his attack. These fortresses were guarded with equal care. The cut across by a moat, and defended doubtless by outworks and a draw-bridge. Beneath the castle stands duty of the watch devolved chiefly upon an officer the present mansion of the family, having on the one called the Cockman, who had the charge of challenging hand Loch Etive, with its islands and mountains, on all who approached the castle. The ancient fathe other two romantic eminences tufted with copse-mily of Mac-Niel of Barra kept this attendant at their wood. There are other accompaniments suited to the castle about an hundred years ago. Martin gives the scene, in particular a huge upright pillar, or detached following account of the difficulty which attended his fragment of that sort of rock called plum-pudding procuring entrance there:stone, upon the shore, about a quarter of a mile from

very

«The little island Kismul lies about a quarter of a

the castle. It is called clach-na-cau, or the Dog's mile from the south of this isle (Barra); it is the seat Pillar, because Fingal is said to have used it as a stake of Macneil of Barra; there is a stone wall round it two to which he bound his celebrated dog Bran. Others storeys high, reaching the sea; and within the wall say, that when the Lord of the Isles came upon a visit there is an old tower and an hall, with other houses to the Lord of Lorn, the dogs brought for his sport about it. There is a little magazine in the tower, to which no stranger has access. I saw the officer called were kept beside this pillar. Upon the whole a more delightful and romantic spot can scarce be conceived; the Cockman, and an old cock he is: when I bid him and it receives a moral interest from the considerations ferry me over the water to the island, he told me that attached to the residence of a family once powerful he was but an inferior officer, his business being to atenough to confront and defeat Robert Bruce, and now sunk into the shade of private life. It is at present possessed by Patrick Mac-Dougal, Esq., the lineal and undisputed representative of the ancient Lords of Lorn. The heir of Dunolly fell lately in Spain, fighting under the Duke of Wellington,-a death well becoming his

ancestry.

Note Stanza xxi.

9.

Those lightnings of the wave.

tend in the tower; but if (says he) the constable, who then stood on the wall, will give you access, I'll ferry you over. I desired him to procure me the constable's permission, and I would reward him; but having waited some hours for the constable's answer, and not receiving any, I was obliged to return without seeing this famous fort. Macneil and his lady being absent, was the cause of this difficulty, and of my not seeing the place. I was told, some weeks after, that the constable

The phenomenon called by sailors Sca-fire, is one of was very apprehensive of some design I might have in

CANTO II.

Note 1. Stanza iii.

De Argentine.

viewing the fort, and thereby to expose it to the con-mented, about three-fourths of an inch in breadth quest of a foreign power; of which I supposed there Beneath this ledge the shape of the cup is rounded off, was no great cause of fear.» and terminates in a flat circle, like that of a tea-cup; four short feet support the whole. Above the projecting ledge the shape of the cup is nearly square, projecting outward at the brim. The cup is made of wood (oak to all appearance), but most curiously wrought and embossed with silver work, which projects from the vessel. There are a number of regular projecting sockets, which appear to have been set with stones; two or three of them still hold pieces of coral, the rest are empty. At the four corners of the projecting ledge or cornice, are four sockets, much larger, probably for pebbles or precious stones. The workmanship of the silver is extremely elegant, and appears to have been highly gilded. The ledge, brim, and legs of the cup, are of silver. The family tradition bears that it was the property of Neil Ghlune-dhu, or Blackknee. But who this Neil was, no one pretends to say. Around the edge of the cup is a legend, perfectly legible, in the Saxon black letter, which may be read at length thus:

Sir Egidius, or Giles de Argentine, was one of the most accomplished knights of the period. He had served in the wars of Henry of Luxemberg with such high reputation, that he was, in popular estimation, the third worthy of the age. Those to whom fame assigned precedence over him were, Henry of Luxemberg himself, and Robert Bruce. Argentine had warred in Palestine, encountered thrice with the Saracens, and had slain two antagonists in each engagement. An easy matter, he said, for one christian knight to slay two pagan dogs. His death corresponded with his high character. With Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, he was appointed to attend immediately upon the person of Edward II. When the day was utterly lost, they forced the king from the field. De Argentine saw the king safe from immediate danger, and then took his leave of him: « God be with you, sir,» he said, «<it is not my wont to fly.» So saying, he turned his horse, cried his war-cry, plunged into the midst of the combatants, and was slain. Baston, a rhyming monk who had been brought by Edward to celebrate his expected triumph, and who was compelled by the victors to compose a poem on his defeat, mentions with some feeling the death of Sir Giles de Argentine :--

Nobilis Argenten, pugil inclyte, dulcis Egidi,
Vix scieram mentem cum te succumbere vidi.

Ufo Johanis Mich Magni Principis de Hr Manae Vich Liahia Magryneil et sperat Domino Ihesu dari clementiam illorum opera. Fecit Anno Domini 993 Onili Oimi. Which may run in English: Ufo, the son of John, the son of Magnus, Prince of Man, the grandson of Liahia Macgryneil, trusts in the Lord Jesus that their works (i. e. his own and those of his ancestors) will obtain mercy. Oneil Oimi made this in the year of God nine hundred and ninety-three.

But this version does not include the puzzling letters HR before the word Manae. Within the mouth of the cup the word Jesus is repeated four times. From this and other circumstances it would seem to have been a chalice. This circumstance may perhaps account for the use of two Arabic numerals, 93. These figures were introduced by Pope Sylvester, A. D. 991, and might be used in a vessel formed for church service so carly as 993. The workmanship of the whole cup is extremely elegant, and resembles, I am told, antiques of the same nature preserved in Ireland.

<«< The first line mentions the three chief requisites of a true knight—noble birth, valour, and courteousness. Few Leonine couplets can be produced that have so much sentiment. I wish that I could have collected more ample memorials concerning a character altogeThe cups thus elegantly formed, and highly valued, ther different from modern manners. Sir Giles d'Arwere by no means utensils of mere show. Martin gives gentine was a hero of romance in real life.» So observes the following account of the festivals of his time, and the excellent Lord Hailes.

Note 2. Stanza iv.

Fill me the mighty cup! he said,

Erst own'd by royal Somerled,

pow

A Hebridean drinking-cup, of the most ancient and curious workmanship, has been long preserved in the castle of Dunvegan, in Skye, the romantic seat of MacLeod, of Mac-Leod, the chief of that ancient and erful clan. The horn of Rorie More, preserved in the same family, and recorded by Dr Johnson, is not to be compared with this piece of antiquity, which is one of the greatest curiosities in Scotland. The following is a pretty accurate description of its shape and dimensions, but cannot, I fear, be perfectly understood without a drawing.

This very curious piece of antiquity is nine inches and three-quarters in inside depth, and ten and a half in height on the outside, the extreme measure over the lips being four inches and a half. The cup is divided into two parts by a wrought ledge, beautifully orna

I have heard similar instances of brutality in the Lowlands at no very distant period.

<< The manner of drinking used by the chief men of the Isles is called in their language Streah, i. e. a Round; for the company sat in a circle, the cup-bearer filled the drink round to them, and all was drank out, whatever the liquor was, whether strong or weak; they continued drinking sometimes twenty-four, sometimes forty-eight hours. It was reckoned a piece of manhood to drink until they became drunk, and there were two men with a barrow attending punctually on such occasions. They stood at the door until some became drunk, and they carry'd them upon the barrow to bed, and returned again to their post as long as any continued fresh, and so carried off the whole company, one by one, as they became drunk. Several of my acquaintance have been witnesses to this custom of drinking, but it is now abolished,»

This savage custom was not entirely done away within this last generation. I have heard of a gentle

man who happened to be a water-drinker, and was permitted to abstain from the strong potations of the company. The bearers carried away one man after another, till no one was left but this Scottish Mirglip. They then came to do him the same good office, which, however, he declined as unnecessary, and proposed to walk to his bed-room. It was a permission he could not obtain. Never such a thing had happened, they said, in the castle! that it was impossible but he must require their assistance, at any rate he must submit to receive it; and carried him off in the barrow accordingly. A classical penalty was sometimes imposed on those who baulked the rules of good fellowship by evading their share of the banquet. The same author continues:

upon

Among persons of distinction it was reckoned an affront put upon any company to broach a piece of wine, ale, or aquavitæ, and not to see it all drank out at one meeting. If any man chance to go out from the company, though but for a few minutes, he is obliged, his return, and before he take his seat, to make an apology for his absence in rhyme: which if he can not perform, he is liable to such a share of the reckon ing as the company thinks fit to impose: which custom obtains in many places still, and is called Bianchiz Bard, which, in their language, signifies the poet's congratulating the company.>>

Few cups were better, at least more actively, employed in the rude hospitality of the period, than those of Dunvegan; one of which we have just described. There is in the Leabhar-dearg, a song, intimating the Overflowing gratitude of a bard of Clan-Ronald, after the exuberance of a Hebridean festival at the patriarchal fortress of Mac-Leod. The translation being obviously very literal, has greatly flattened, as I am informed, the enthusiastic gratitude of the ancient bard; and it must be owned that the works of Homer or Virgil, to say nothing of Mac-Vuirich, might have suffered by their

have afforded. But Johnson has already described a similar scene in the same ancient patriarchal residence of the Lords of Mac-Leod.

« Whatever is imaged in the wildest tales, if giants, dragons, and enchantment be excepted, would be felt by him, who, wandering in the mountains without a guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should be carried, amidst his terror and uncertainty, to the hospitality and elegance of Rassay or Dunvegan.>>

Note 3. Stanza vi.

With solemn step, and silver wand,
The seneschal the presence scann'd
Of these strange guests.

The Sewer, to whom, rather than the Seneschal, the office of arranging the guests of an island chief: appertained, was an office of importance in the family of an Hebridean chief.

«

Every family had commonly two stewards, which, in their language, were called Marischall Tach: the first of these served always at home, and was obliged to be versed in the pedigree of all the tribes in the Isles, and in the Highlands of Scotland; for it was his province to assign every man at table his seat according to his quality; and this was done without one word speaking, only by drawing a score with a white rod, which this Marischall had in his hand, before the person who was bid by him to sit down: and this was necessary to prevent disorder and contention; and though the Marischall might sometimes be mistaken, the master of the family incurred no censure by such an escape; but this custom has been laid aside of late. They had also cup-bearers, who always filled and carried the cup round the company, and he himself always drank off the first draught. They had likewise pursemasters, who kept their money. Both these officers had an hereditary right to their office in writing, and each of them had a town and land for his service: some of those rights I have seen fairly written on good

transfusion through such a medium. It is pretty parchment.»-MARTIN'S Western Isles.

plain, that when the tribute of poetical praise was
bestowed, the horn of Rorie More had not been in-
active.

Upon Sir Rodric Mor Macleod, by Niall Mor
Mac-Vuirich.

« The six nights I remained in the Dunvegan, it was not a show of hospitality I met with there, but a plentiful feast in thy fair hall among thy numerous host of

heroes.

Note 4. Stanza ix.

the rebellious Scottish crew, Who to Rath-Erin's shelter drew, With Carrick's outlaw'd chief.

It must be remembered by all who have read the Scottish history, that after he had slain Comyn at Dumfries, and asserted his right to the Scottish crown, Robert Bruce was reduced to the greatest extremity by the English and their adherents. He was crowned at << The family placed all around under the protection Scone by the general consent of the Scottish barons, of their great chief, raised by his prosperity and re-but his authority endured but a short time. spect for his warlike feats, now enjoying the companying to the phrase said to have been used by his wife, he of his friends at the feast,-amidst the sound of harps, was for that year « a summer king, but not a winter overflowing cups, and happy youth unaccustomed to guile, or feud, partaking of the generous fare by a flaming fire.

Mighty chief, liberal to all in your princely mansion, filled with your numerous warlike host, whose generous wine would overcome the hardiest heroes, yet we continued to enjoy the feast, so happy our host, so generous our fare.»-Translated by D. Mac-Intosh.

It would be unpardonable in a modern bard, who has experienced the hospitality of Dunvegan Castle in the present day, to omit paying his own tribute of gratitude for a reception more elegant indeed, but not less kindly sincere, than Sir Roderick More himself could

Accord

After this

one.»> On the 29th March, 1306, he was crowned king
at Scone. Upon the 19th June, in the same year, he
was totally defeated at Methven, near Perth; and his
most important adherents, with a few exceptions, ei-
ther executed, or compelled to embrace the English in-
terest, for safety of their lives and fortunes.
disaster his life was that of an outlaw, rather than a
candidate for monarchy. He separated himself from
the females of his retinue, whom he sent for safety to
the castle of Kildrummie, in Aberdeenshire, where
they afterward became captives to England. From
Aberdeenshire, Bruce retreated to the mountainous
parts of Breadalbane, and approached the borders of