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, and 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 In this history may be traced, though the bard or Flach, who concealed themselves in the glens of Ire-seannachie touches such a delicate discussion with a land. Mac-Cean, hearing of their hiding-places, went gentle hand, the point of difference between the thre 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, a The Mac-Donalds of the north had also descendants; with Anne, daughter of Roderick Mac-Dougal, high claef 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 from every family predilection, friendly to Baliol and Paire. Alexander had only a few of the men of Ross hostile to Bruce. It seems absurd to suppose, that beat 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 power and rank (though the Mac-Dougals had beca if he could find any of the posterity of John Mor alive, much crushed by Robert Bruce), such a connexio to rise, along with him, but Mac-Cean of Ardnamur- should have been that of concubinage; and it appears chan watched him as he sailed past, followed him to more likely that the tempting offer of an alliance with Oransay, and Colonsay, went to the house where he the Bruce family, when they had obtained the decused was, and he and Alexander, son of John Cathanach, superiority in Scotland, induced the good John of Ilay murdered him there. to disinherit to a certain extent his eldest son Ronald. who came of a stock so unpopular as the Mac-Dougak and to call to his succession his younger family, born of Margaret Stuart, daughter of Robert, afterwards King of Scotland. The setting aside of this elder branch of his family was most probably a condition of his new alliance, and his being received into favour with the dy nasty he had always opposed. Nor were the laws of succession at this early period so clearly understood as to bar such transactions. The numerous and stran claims set up to the crown of Scotland, when vacant by the death of Alexander III., make it manifest how very little the indefeasible hereditary right of primogen.ture was valued at that period. In fact, the title of the Bruces themselves to the crown, though justly the m popular, when assumed with the determination of a

«A good while after these things fell out, Donald Galda, son of Alexander, son of Archibald, became major; he, with the advice and direction of the Earl of Moray, came to the isles, and Mac-Leod of the Lewis, and many of the gentry of the isles, rose with him they went by the promontory of Ardnamurchan, where they met Alexander, the son of John Cathanach, were reconciled to him, he joined his men with theirs against Mac-Cean of Ardnamurchan, came upon him at a place called the Silver Craig, where he and his three sons, and a great number of his people, were killed, and Donald Galda was immediately declared Mac-Donald: And, after the affair of Ardnamurchan, all the men of the isles yielded to him, but he did not live above seven or eight weeks after it; he died at Carnaborg, in Mull, without 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 Aclmacoichan, 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 dang h
ter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, and John Baboi, »
grandson of Margaret, the elder daughter of that sam
earl. So that the plea of Bruce was founded upon the
very loose idea that, as the great-grandson of David.
King of Scotland, and the nearest collateral relation of
Alexander III., he was entitled to succeed, in exclusi
of the great-great-grandson of the same David, theu
by an elder daughter. This maxim savoured of the x 5-
cient practice of Scotland, which often called a brott
to succeed to the crown as nearer in blood than

grandchild, or even a son of a deceased monarch. But, a truth, the maxims of inheritance in Scotland were sometimes departed from at periods when they were much more distinctly understood. Such a transposinon took place in the family of Hamilton, in 1513, when the descendants of James, 3d Lord, by Lady Janet Some, were set aside, with an appanage of great value indeed, in order to call to the succession those which he bad by a subsequent marriage with Janet Beaton. In short, many other examples might be quoted to show that the question of legitimacy is not always determined by the fact of succession; and there seems reason to believe that Ronald, descendant of « John of Ila,» by Ann of Lorn, was legitimate, and therefore Lord of the kies de jure, though de facto his younger half brother, Donald, son of his father's second marriage with the princess of Scotland, superseded him in his right, and apparently by his own consent. From this Donald so perferred is descended the family of Sleate, now Lords -Donald. On the other hand, from Ronald, the exraded heir, upon whom a very large appanage was sentied, descended the chiefs of Glengary and Clanro-man, and Sir Andrew Grey, ascended the mountain with wald, each of whom had large possessions, and a numerous vassalage, and boasted a long descent of warlike ancestry. Their common ancestor, Ronald, was murdered 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 pate, whether Donald, who carried on the line of Glengary, 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 are the discussion, since a seannachie of no small mote, who wrote in the 16th century, expresses himself pe this delicate topic in the following words:

the third daughter of John, called the Red Comyn,' who was slain by Bruce in the Dominican church at Dumfries, and hence he was a mortal enemy of that prince, and more than once reduced him to great straits during the early and distressed period of his reign, as we shall have repeated occasion to notice. Bruce, when he began to obtain an ascendancy in Scotland, took the first opportunity in his power to requite these injuries. He marched into Argyleshire to lay waste the country. John of Lorn, son of the chieftain, was posted with his followers in the formidable pass between Dalmally and Bunawe. It is a narrow path along the verge of the huge and precipitous mountain, called Cruachan Ben, and guarded on the other side by a precipice overhanging Loch Awe. The pass seems to the eye of a soldier as strong, as it is wild and romantic to that of an ordinary traveller. But the skill of Bruce had anticipated this difficulty. While his main body, engaged in a skirmish with the men of Lorn, detained their attention to the front of their position, James of Douglas, with Sir Alexander Fraser, Sir William Wise

I have now given you an account of every thing you can expect of the descendants of the clan Colla ie, 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 Scotind. 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 has kindred or relations is the true heir, except these live sons of John, the son of Angus Og, whom I here tdown for you, namely, Ronald and Godfrey, the two

of the daughter of Mac-Donald of Lorn, and Dorld and John Mor, and Alexander Carrach, the three s of Margaret Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, Kag of Scotland.»-Leabhar-dearg.

Note 8. Stanza xi.

the house of Lorn.

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

a select body of archery, and obtained possession of the heights which commanded the pass. A volley of arrows descending upon them directly warned the Argyleshire men of their perilous situation, and their re

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 dispersed 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-
gyleshire, and besieged Dunstaffnage Castle, on the
western shore of Lorn, compelled it to surrender, and
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

The aunt, according to Lord Hailes. But the genealogy is distinctly given by Wintoun:

The third daughter of Red Comyn,

Alysander of Argyle syne,

Took and wedded til his wife,

And on her he gat until his life,

John of Lorn, the whilk gat

Ewen of Lorn after that.

WINTOUN'S Chronicle, Book VIII, c. VI, line 206.

found upon the losing side, owing to their hereditary the most beautiful and interesting which is witnessed enmity to the house of Bruce. Accordingly, upon the in the Hebrides: at times the ocean appears entirely issue of that contest, they were deprived by David II. illuminated around the vessel, and a long train of lam and his successor of by far the greater part of their ex-bent coruscations are perpetually bursting upon the tensive territories, which were conferred upon Stewart, sides of the vessel, or pursuing her wake through the called the Knight of Lorn. The house of Mac-Dougal, darkness. These phosphoric appearances, concerning continued, however, to survive the loss of power, and the origin of which naturalists are not agreed in ope affords a very rare, if not an unique, instance of a fa- nion, seem to be called into action by the rapid motion mily of such unlimited power, and so distinguished of the ship through the water, and are probably owing during the middle ages, surviving the decay of their to the water being saturated with fish-spawn, or other grandeur, and flourishing in a private station. The animal substances. They remind one strongly of the castle of Dunolly, near Oban, with its dependencies, description of the sea-snakes in Mr Coleridge's wild, but was the principal part of what remained to them, with highly poetical ballad of the Ancient Mariner :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.

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. Narrow stairs and arched vaults were the usual mode of access, and the draw-bridge appears at Dunstaffnage, and elsewhere, to have fallen from the gate of the building to the top of such a staircase: so that any one, advancing with hostile purpose, found himself in a state of exposed and precarious elevation, with a

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 ance, as large apparently as Artornish or Dunstaffnage. These fragments inclose a court-yard, of which the keep probably formed one side: the entrance being by a steep ascent from the neck of the isthmus, formerly 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 very ancient fathe other two romantic eminences tufted with copse-castle about an hundred years ago. Martin gives the mily of Mac-Niel of Barra kept this attendant at the wood. There are other accompaniments suited to the scene, in particular a huge upright pillar, or detached fragment of that sort of rock called plum-pudding stone, upon the shore, about a quarter of a mile from

gulph between him and the object of his attack.

following account of the difficulty which attended his procuring entrance there:

« The little island Kismul lies about a quarter of

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 twe to which he bound his celebrated dog Bran. Others storeys high, reaching the sea; and within the wal 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, were kept beside this pillar. Upon the whole a more which no stranger has access. I saw the officer called 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 the attached to the residence of a family once powerful he was but an inferior officer, his business being to 21enough to confront and defeat Robert Bruce, and now tend in the tower; but if (says he) the constable, sunk into the shade of private life. It is at present then stood on the wall, will give you access, I'll ferry possessed by Patrick Mac-Dougal, Esq., the lineal and you over. I desired him to procure me the constables undisputed representative of the ancient Lords of Lorn.permission, and I would reward him; but having wait The heir of Dunolly fell lately in Spain, fighting under the Duke of Wellington,-a death well becoming his ancestry.

Note 9. Stanza xxi.

Those lightnings of the wave.

ed some hours for the constable's answer, and not re-
ceiving any, I was obliged to return without seeing this
famous fort. Macneil and his lady being absent,
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 Sea-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, Ufo Johanis Mich Magni Principis de Hr Manae he was appointed to attend immediately upon the per-Vich Liahia Magryneil et sperat Domino Ihesu dari son of Edward II. When the day was utterly lost, clementiam illorum opera. Fecit Anno Domini 993 they forced the king from the field. De Argentine saw Onili Oimi. Which may run in English: Ufo, the son the king safe from immediate danger, and then took of John, the son of Magnus, Prince of Man, the grandhis leave of him: « God be with you, sir,» he said, «< it son of Liahia Macgryneil, trusts in the Lord Jesus that is not my wont to fly.» So saying, he turned his their works (i. e. his own and those of his ancestors) horse, cried his war-cry, plunged into the midst of the will obtain mercy. Oneil Oimi made this in the year combatants, and was slain. Baston, a rhyming monk of God nine hundred and ninety-three. 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.

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 altogether different from modern manners. Sir Giles d'Argentine was a hero of romance in real life.»> So observes the excellent Lord Hailes.

Note 2. Stanza iv.

Fill me the mighty cup! he said,
Erst own'd by royal Somerled..

pow

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 early 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 cups thus elegantly formed, and highly valued, were by no means utensils of mere show. Martin gives the following account of the festivals of his time, and 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 A Hebridean drinking-cup, of the most ancient and Round; for the company sat in a circle, the cup-bearer curious workmanship, has been long preserved in the filled the drink round to them, and all was drank out, castle of Dunvegan, in Skye, the romantic seat of Mac-whatever the liquor was, whether strong or weak; they Leod, of Mac-Leod, the chief of that ancient and continued drinking sometimes twenty-four, sometimes erful clan. The horn of Rorie More, preserved in the forty-eight hours. It was reckoned a piece of manhood same family, and recorded by Dr Johnson, is not to be to drink until they became drunk, and there were two compared with this piece of antiquity, which is one of men with a barrow attending punctually on such octhe greatest curiosities in Scotland. The following is a casions. They stood at the door until some became pretty accurate description of its shape and dimensions, drunk, and they carry'd them upon the barrow to bed, bat cannot, I fear, be perfectly understood without a and returned again to their post as long as any contidrawing. nued 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 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

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:

« 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, upon 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 reckoning 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

"

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. ried the cup round the company, and he himself always They had also cup-bearers, who always filled and cardrank 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 inactive.

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

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 << The six nights I remained in the Dunvegan, it was Scottish history, that after he had slain Comyn at Dum- | not a show of hospitality I met with there, but a plen-fries, and asserted his right to the Scottish crown, tiful feast in thy fair hall among thy numerous host of heroes.

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. Accordspect 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, 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

was for that year « a summer king, but not a winter 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. After this 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