the motley clan of Dunmorven, each tribe had its particular object of veneration; and it was now proposed these should all swear again on their dirks and the Bible, as by this, those who dreaded the penalty of perjury would not kiss the dirk.

Accordingly, some of the people of one tribe showed very considerable dissatisfaction; and one man exclaimed,

Out! I canna do dat, for I will not forswear myself to please any body." Three of his tribe who were present, joined him in making this declaration, and the baillie put down their names as guilty.

The baillie next proposed they should swear by the Bible, their dirk, and name of the chief Qil Roi Dunmorven, thinking that those who made no scruple to swear upon the Bible and the dirk, would pay some respect to the name of their chief; and the oath

being tendered them accordingly, an old man refused it, saying "Thar is hantle o' difference betwixt that an' damning ain's saul;" and as many of his opinion as were privy to the plunder of the goods, feeling the criminality of their conduct, declared they were incapable of taking the oath, as "de chief was de only man they liked"-in plain English, Dunmorven was nearly the only object of their veneration.

The baillie perceiving several who were all this time bold and silent, took from his waistcoat-pocket a small ivory crucifix, rightly imagining that if the Bible, the dirk, and the name Dunmorven could not bind them over to religiously tell the truth, or silently acknowledge their guilt, their veneration for the "Son of the Virgin" would wring confession from their hardened hearts: and he was not mistaken; for the gravity with which he pulled the

image from his pocket, and the dignity with which he raised it in his hand, discovered the inclination of the stouthearted; and, no sooner did the cross meet their eyes, than they crossed themselves and bowed the knee; and the baillie, taking advantage of the tone of mind they now evinced, proposed they should "swear by the Bible and the cross, whether they had plundered the wreck, and where they had hid their booty."

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"What!" said a young man, I confess my sins to Father Macgill, and forswear myself before the Son of our Blessed Lady? na, na, dat wad naer be forgiven me, neither by St. Peter, nor by the Son o' te Blessed Virgin."

It was now pretty evident that almost all these people were implicated in the concealment of the plunder of the cargo; and the magistrate told

them frankly, that if within twentyfour hours it were not restored, he would use the power the renovated laws of his country furnished him with, to bring them to punishment.

And indeed the clan felt the full force of the command; for the Union having deprived the chiefs of their jurisdiction, Dunmorven had lost much of his influence in protecting them from suffering the vengeance of the laws for their depredations: so true it is, that the chiefs had in this respect degenerated from patriarchal nobles to rapacious landlords, as the law which divested them of a formidable retinue, armed with a target, a heavy broadsword, pistol, stock and lock of iron, a dirk, and a skeenocles, had lessened, in the baillie's eyes, that dignity which Dunmorven derived from an opinion of his military importance; and Killdrummie was resolved "no tascal money should

i. The council was just going to be broken up, when a messenger arrived from Dunmorven, saying that the clan must give up the property, and the captain might remove it to the customhouse at Tobermony, or leave it at Dunmorven castle, till he could take it away, or find a purchaser for it.

This news went through the crowd of vassals like lightning; and, before pext evening, all the property of the Dane that had been saved was restored.

Our readers who may not be able to reconcile the conduct of these people, ought to recollect that they had a very distinct idea of the nature of an oath, when they were called upon to swear by the object of their adoration, whether they had plundered the wreck; and from the methods taken by the