natural result of his patriarchal rule. This constituted an efficient control without many examples of severity. At the same time, the mutual dependence of the clansmen on one another, and their frequent meetings for consulting on their common interests, or for repelling common danger, tended to produce and cherish the social and domestic virtues, together with that ease and familiarity which, when well regulated, prove a source of much endearment, and render it necessary for every individual to cultivate a corresponding spirit of civility and complaisance. These manners and dispositions, both of the people and their superiors, furnish a ready explanation of the zeal with which the former followed their chiefs, protected their persons, and supported the honour of their country and name. In the battle of Inverkeithing, between the Royalists and Oliver Cromwell's troops, five hundred of the followers of the Laird of M Lean were left dead on the field. In the heat of the conflict, seven brothers of the clan sacrificed their lives in defence of their leader, Sir Hector Maclean. Being hard pressed by the enemy, he was supported and covered from their attacks by these intrepid men; and as one brother fell, another came up in succession to cover him, crying," Another for Hector." This phrase has continued ever since as a proverb or watch-word when a man encounters any sudden danger that requires instant suc

cour.

The late James Menzies of Culdares, having engaged in the rebellion of 1715, and been taken at Preston in Lancashire, was carried to London, where he was tried and condemned, but afterwards reprieved. * Grateful for this cle

• Two brothers of Culdares were taken prisoners at the same time, and sent to Carlisle Castle. After a confinement of some months, they were released, in consideration of their youth and inexperience; and immediately set off to London to visit their brother, then under sentence of death. Being handsome young men, with fresh complexions, they disguised themselves in women's clothes, and pretending to be Mr Menzies's sisters, were admitted to visit him in prison. They then proposed that one of

mency, he remained at home in 1745, but, retaining a predilection for the old cause, he sent a handsome charger as a present to Prince Charles when advancing through England. The servant who led and delivered the horse was taken prisoner, and carried to Carlisle, where he was tried and condemned. To extort a discovery of the person who sent the horse, threats of immediate execution in case of refusal, and offers of pardon on his giving information, were held out ineffectually to the faithful messenger. He knew, he said, what the consequence of a disclosure would be to his master, and his own life was nothing in the comparison. When brought out for execution he was again pressed to inform on his master. He asked if they were serious in supposing him such a villain. If he did what they desired, and forgot his master and his trust, he could not return to his native country, for Glenlyon would be no home or country for him, as he would be despised and hunted out of the Glen. Accordingly, he kept steady to his trust, and was executed. This trusty servant's name was John Macnaughton, from Glenlyon in Perthshire; he deserves to be mentioned, both on account of his incorruptible fidelity,

them should exchange clothes with their brother, and that he should escape in this disguise. But this he peremptorily refused, on the ground, that, after the lenity shewn them, it would be most ungrateful to engage in such an affair; which, besides, might be productive of unpleasant consequences to the young man who proposed to remain in prison, particularly as he was so lately under a charge of treason and rebellion. They were obliged to take, what they believed to be, their last farewell of their brother, whose firmness of mind, and sense of honour, the immediate prospect of death could not shake. However, he soon met with his reward: he received an unconditional pardon, returned to Scotland along with his brothers, and lived sixty years afterwards in his native glen,- an honourable specimen of an old Highland Patriarch, beloved by his own people, and respected by all within the range of his acquaintance. He died in

1776.

A picture of Prince Charles, mounted on this horse, is in my possession, being a legacy from the daughter of Mr Menzies. A brother of Macnaughton lived for many years on the estate of Garth, and died in 1790. He always went about armed, at least so far armed, that when debarred wearing a sword or dirk, he slung a large knife in his belt. He was

and of his testimony to the honourable principles of the people, and to their detestation of a breach of trust to a kind and honourable master, however great might be the risk, or however fatal the consequences to the individual himself.

For the further exemplification of this attachment of Highlanders to their superiors, I may refer to the celerity with which regiments were raised by them, even in more

one of the last I recollect of the ancient race, and gave a very favourable impression of their general manner and appearance. By trade he was a smith; and although of the lowest order of the people, he walked about with an air and manner that might have become a Field-Marshall. He spoke with great force and fluency of language, and, although most respectful to those to whom he thought respect was due, he had an appearance of independence and ease, that strangers, ignorant of the language and character of the people, might have supposed to proceed from impudence. As he always carried arms when legally permitted, so he showed on one occasion that he knew how to handle them. When the Black Watch was quartered on the banks of the rivers Tay and Lyon in 1741, an affray arose between a few of the soldiers and some of the people at a fair at Kenmore. Some of the Breadalbane men took the part of the soldiers, and, as many were armed, swords were quickly drawn, and one of the former killed, when their opponents, with whom was Macnaughton, and a smith, (to whom he was then an apprentice,) retreated and fled to the ferry-boat across the Tay. There was no bridge, and the ferryman seeing the fray, chained his boat. Macnaughton was the first at the river side, and leaping into the boat, followed by his master the smith, with a single stroke of his broadsword cut the chain, and crossing the river, fixed the boat on the opposite side,and thus prevented an immediate pursuit. Indeed, no farther steps were taken. The Earl of Breadalbane, who was then at Taymouth, was immediately sent for. On inquiry, he found that the whole had originated from an accidental reflection thrown out by a soldier of one of the Argyle companies against the Atholemen, then supposed to be Jacobites, and that it was difficult to ascertain who gave the fatal blow. The man who was killed was an old warrior of nearly eighty years of age. with Lord Breadalbane's men, under Campbell of Glenlyon, at the battle of Sheriffmuir; and, as his side lost their cause, he swore never to shave again. He kept his word, and as his beard grew till it reached his girdle, he got the name of Padric na Phaisaig, " Peter with the Beard." Lachlan Maclean, presently living near Tay bridge, in his ninety-fifth year, and in perfect possession of all his faculties, was present at this affray.

He had been

peaceable times, when the spirit of clanship had been considerably broken, and the feudal tenures in a great measure dissolved. Of this some remarkable instances will be found in the history of the Highland regiments. We have innumerable examples, too, of the force of that disinterested fidelity which, till a very recent period, spurred on the Highlanders to follow their chieftains to the cannon's mouth, and produced displays of national feeling and intrepidity, which have procured for them a name and character not to be soon forgotten. The promptitude and zeal with which they formerly adopted the quarrels of their chiefs, and obeyed the slightest signal for action, are described in the following verses with an ardour and rapidity which present as lively and graphical a picture as words can convey.

"He whistled shrill,

And he was answered from the hill;
Wild as the scream of the curlew
From crag to crag the signal flew;
Instant thro' copse and heath arose
Bonnets and spears and bended bows,
On right, on left, above, below,
Sprung up at once the lurking foe;
From shingles green the lances start,
The bracken bush sends forth the dart,
The rushes and the willow wand

Are bristling into axe and brand,
And every tuft of broom gives life
To plaided warriors, armed for strife.
That whistle garrisoned the glen
With full four hundred fighting men,
As if the yawning hill to heaven
A subterranean host had given.
Watching their leaders' beck and will,
All silent then they stood, and still,

Like the loose crags, whose threatening mass,
Long tottering o'er the hollow pass,

As if an infant's touch could urge

Their headlong passage down the verge;

With step and weapon forward flung,
Upon the mountains' sides they hung." *

Yet the strength of this attachment and zeal did not extinguish the proper sense of independence. In some instances they even proceeded so far as to depose such chiefs as had degraded their name and family, or were unfit for their situations, transferring their allegiance to the next in succession, if more deserving. This happened in the case of the families of Macdonald of Clanronald and Macdonell of Keppoch. Two chiefs were deposed and set aside. The rejected chief of the former clan was killed, without issue, in an attempt to preserve his estate and authority +; the descendants of the latter are still in existence. But, even when they did not resort to such severe measures, their chiefs were often successfully opposed. ‡

It may be thought absurd to quote a poetical description to authenticate a well-known fact. That, however, being established, the poetical description is merely introduced, because the delineation is perfect, and the ardour and rapidity of the diction present a livelier picture of what actually existed, than any other words can convey. The poet displays consummate judgment in seizing, for the purpose of description, a circumstance in the highest degree picturesque and poetical.

+ The rejected chief of Clanronald was supported by his friend and brother chief Lord Lovat, and the clan Fraser. As was usual in those times, the question was decided by the sword. The strength of both sides being mustered, a desperate conflict ensued, and the Macdonalds confirmed their independence by victory. The hereditary chief was killed, together with his friend Lord Lovat, and a great number of followers of each party. The next in succession considered as more deserving, was appointed to head the clan. In this battle, which took place in July 1544, the combatants threw off their jackets and vests, and fought in their shirts. From this circumstance it has been called Blar na Lein, the "Battle of the Shirts."

A son of a former Laird of Grant, known in tradition by the name of Laird Humphry, presented, in his conduct and fate, a striking illustration of the power occasionally exerted by the Elders of a clan. He was, in some respects, what the Highlanders admire,-handsome, courageous, open-hearted and open-handed. But, by the indulgence of a weak and fond father, and the influence of violent and unrestrained passions, he became licentious and depraved, lost all respect for his father, and used to