{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40323/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40323","id":"gutenberg_40323","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40323","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - British","Category: History - European","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Celtic Magazine","Clans -- Scotland -- Periodicals","Scotland -- Periodicals"],"text":"THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.\n\nNo. VI. APRIL 1876.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE.\n\n[CONTINUED.]\n\n\nStair meanwhile had made up his mind, and through his influence the\ncertificate of MacIan having signed his allegiance was suppressed, and\non the 11th of January, and afterwards on the 16th, instructions signed\nand countersigned by the King came forth in which the inhabitants of\nGlencoe were expressly exempted from the pardon given to the other\nclans, and extreme measures ordered against them. A letter was sent by\nLord Stair to Colonel Hill commanding him to execute the purposes of the\nGovernment, but he showed such reluctance that the commission was given\nto one Colonel Hamilton instead, who had no scruples. He was ordered to\ntake a detachment of 120 men, chiefly belonging to a clan regiment\nlevied by Argyle, and consequently animated by bitter feudal animosity\ntowards the Macdonalds.\n\nTowards the close of January a company of armed Highlanders appear\nwending their way toward the opening of the Valley of Glencoe. The\nMacdonalds, fearing they have come for their arms, send them away to a\nplace of concealment, and then came forth to meet the strangers. They\nfind it is a party of Argyle's soldiers, commanded by Captain Campbell\nof Glenlyon, whose niece (a sister by the way of Rob Roy) is married to\nAlastair Macdonald, one of MacIan's sons. They ask if they have come as\nfriends or foes. They reply, as friends, but as the garrison at\nFort-William is crowded they had been sent to quarter themselves for a\nfew days at Glencoe. They are received with open arms, feuds are\nforgotten, and for a fortnight all is harmony and even hilarity in the\nhamlet.\n\n    Loud in all the clustering cottages\n    Rose sounds of melody and voice of mirth;\n    The measured madness of the dance is there,\n    And the wild rapture of the feast of shells.\n    Warm hands are clasped to hands that firm reply,\n    And friendship glows and brightens into love.\n\nThus for a fortnight matters go on, when on the 1st of February orders\nare issued by Hamilton to his subordinate, Major Duncanson, fixing five\no'clock next morning for the slaughter of all the Macdonalds under\nseventy, and enjoining the various detachments of men to be at their\nposts by that hour to secure the passes of the glen that not one of the\ndoomed race might escape. Especial care was to be taken that the old\nfox and his cubs should not escape, and that (what cool but hellish\nwords), \"that the Government was not to be troubled with prisoners.\"\nThese fell orders Duncanson handed on to Glenlyon, who gladly received\nand proceeded to carry them into execution with prompt and portentous\nfidelity.\n\nWith such injunctions in his pocket, Glenlyon proceeded to act the Judas\npart with consummate skill. He supped and played at cards, on the\nevening of the 12th, with John and Alexander Macdonald--two of his\nintended victims; and he and his lieutenant (Lindsay) accepted an\ninvitation to dine with old MacIan for the next day. At five o'clock on\nthe morning of the 13th Hamilton hoped to have secured all the eastern\npasses to prevent the escape of any fugitives, but, at all events, then\nmust Glenlyon begin his work of death.\n\nAll now is silent over the devoted hamlet. All are sleeping with the\nexception of the two sons of MacIan, who had been led to entertain some\nsuspicions that all was not right. They had observed that the sentinels\nhad been doubled and the guard increased. Some of the soldiers too had\nbeen heard muttering their dislike to the treacherous task to which they\nhad been commissioned. The Macdonalds, in alarm, came to Glenlyon's\nquarters a little after midnight, and found him preparing, along with\nhis men, for immediate service. They asked him what was the meaning of\nall this, and he, with dauntless effrontery, replied that he and his men\nwere intending an expedition against Glengarry, and added, \"If anything\nhad been intended do you think I would not have told Alastair here and\nmy niece.\" The young men are only half satisfied, but return, although\ngrumblingly, to their own dwellings.\n\nOver the valley, meanwhile, a snowstorm has begun to fall, but does not\ncome to its full height till farther on in the morning. The voice of the\nCona is choked in ice. The great heights behind the Sinai of Scotland\nare silent, they have no thunders to forewarn, no lightnings to avenge.\nMacIan himself is sleeping the deep sleep of innocence and security. The\nfatigues and miseries of his journey to Fort-William and Inverary all\nforgotten. Is there no wail of ghost, no cry of spirit coronach, none of\nthose earnest whispers which have been heard among the hills at dead of\nnight, and piercing the darkness with prophecies of fate? We know not,\nand had there been such warning sounds they had given their oracle in\nvain.\n\nSuddenly, at five precisely, a knock is heard at MacIan's door. It is\nopened immediately, and the old man bustles up to dress himself, and to\norder refreshments for his visitors. Look at him as he stands at the\nthreshold of his door, clad in nothing but his shirt, and his long grey\nhair, with looks of friendship and a cup of welcome trembling in his old\nhand; and see his wife has half risen behind him to salute the incomers.\nWithout a moment's warning, without a preliminary word, he is shot dead\nand falls back into her arms. She is next assailed, stript naked, the\ngold rings, from her fingers torn off by the teeth of the soldiers, and\nthen she is struck and trampled on till she is left for dead on the\nground, and next day actually dies. All the clansmen and servants in\nthe same house are massacred, all save one, an old domestic and a\n_sennachie_. He has been unable to sleep all night with melancholy\nthoughts, and falling into a deep sleep ere morning is roused by a\nhorrible dream, leaves the hamlet, dashes through the door, dirks in\nvain striking at his shadow, and hands trying in vain to seize his\nplaid, he runs to the hut where the two brothers are lying and cries\nout, like screams of Banshie through the night, \"Is it time for you to\nbe sleeping while your father is murdered on his own hearth?\"\n\nThey arise in haste, make for the mountains, and by their knowledge of\nthe dark and devious paths through that horrible wilderness, are enabled\nto escape. From every house and hut there now rise shrieks, shouts,\ngroans, and blasphemies, the roar of muskets, the cries of men, women,\nand children blended into one harmony of hell! The snow is now falling\nthick, and is darkening more the dark February morning. Led through the\ngloom, as if following the lurid eyes of some demoniac being, the\nsoldiers find their way from house to house, from one cluster of\ncottages to another, rush in, seize their victims, drag them out, and\nshoot them dead. In Glenlyon's own quarters nine men, including his own\nlandlord, are bound and shot, one of them with General Hill's passport\nin his pocket. A boy of twelve clings to Glenlyon's knees asking for\nmercy and offering to be his servant for life, when one Drummond stabbed\nhim with his dirk as he was uttering a prayer by which even Glenlyon was\naffected. At Auchnain, a hamlet up the glen, Sergeant Barbour and his\ntroops came upon a party of nine men sitting round a fire, and slew\neight of them. The owner of the house in which Barbour had been\nquartered was not hurt, and requested to die in the open air. \"For your\nbread which we have ate,\" said the Sergeant, \"I will grant your\nrequest.\" He was taken out accordingly, but while the soldiers were\npresenting their muskets he threw his plaid over their faces, broke away\nand escaped up the valley.\n\nThirty-eight persons in all, including one or two women and a little\nboy, were put to death, but, besides, many who are supposed to have\nperished in the drifts. The murderers, after massacring the inmates, set\nthe dwellings on fire; and how ghastly and lurid, especially to those\nwho had escaped up the glen, perhaps as far as those mountains called\nthe Three Sisters, bound to-day together by a band of virgin snow, must\nhave seemed the effect of the flames flashing against the white of the\nhills, and which they knew were fed and fattened by the blood of their\nkindred! Many fled half naked into the storm, and through profound\nwreaths of snow, and over savage precipices, reached places of safety.\nThe snow now avails more to save than to destroy since on account of it,\nHamilton with his 400 men was too late to stop the eastern passes\nthrough which many made their escape. Had he come up in time every soul\nhad perished. When he arrived at eleven there was not a Macdonald alive\nin the glen except one old man of eighty, whose worm-like writhings\nprove him still alive--\n\n    One stab, one groan, and the tremendous deed\n    Of massacre is done, at which the heath\n    Which waves o'er all the Highland hills shall blush,\n    And torrents wail for ages, ghosts shall shriek,\n    Hell tremble through its dayless depths, and Heaven\n    Weep, and while weeping grasp its thunderbolts.\n    Beware Glenlyon's blood at _you_ they're armed!\n    Beware the curse of God and of Glencoe!\n\nThe allusion in this last line is to a story told by Stewart of Garth in\nhis \"History of the Highland Regiments,\" and on which a ballad by a\ndeceased poet, B. Symmons, an Irishman of great genius, was founded, and\nappeared originally in _Blackwood's Magazine_. There was a brave\nofficer, Colonel Campbell of Glenlyon, the grandson of the ruffian who\ndisgraced the Campbell name and human nature at Glencoe. A curse was\nsupposed to rest upon the family, and the lands of Glenlyon departed\nrood by rood from his descendants. The grandson, however, was brought up\nby a pious mother, entered the army, and became a prosperous officer. He\nwas pursuing his profession in Canada when a romantic circumstance\noccurred. A young man named Ronald Blair, a private of excellent\ncharacter and true courage, was stationed as a sentinel on an outpost.\nHe loved an Indian maid who came eve after eve to meet him at his post,\nsteering up the St Lawrence her lonely canoe. One night as she left him\na storm raged on the waters and exposed her and her bark to imminent\njeopardy. She shrieked out her lover's name, and called for help.\n\n    The waves have swamped her little boat,\n      She sinks before his eye,\n    And he must keep his dangerous post,\n      And leave her there to die.\n\n    One moment's dreadful strife--love wins,\n      He plunges in the water,\n    The moon is out, his strokes are stout,\n      The swimmer's arm has caught her,\n    And back he bears with gasping heart\n      The forest's matchless daughter.\n\nMeanwhile the picket pass and find his post deserted, and, of course,\nhis life forfeited. He is condemned to die, and Colonel Campbell is\nappointed to superintend his execution. The circumstances transpire. A\nreprieve is sent by the commanding officer with secret orders, however,\nthat the sentence be pushed on to all but the last, and not till the\nprisoner's prayers are over, and the death fillet bound, is the pardon\nto be produced.\n\n    The morrow came, the evening sun\n      Was sinking red and cold,\n    When Ronald Blair a league from camp\n      Was led erect and bold,\n    To die a soldier's death, while low\n      The funeral drum was rolled.\n\nThe musketeers advance to ask the signal when they are to shoot,\nCampbell tells them, \"Reserve your fire till I produce this blue\nhandkerchief.\" The prayer is said, the eyes are bound, the doomed\nsoldier kneels. There is such a silence that a tear might have been\nheard falling to the ground. Campbell's heart beats high with joy and\nfear to think that by drawing out the pardon in his pocket he is to turn\ndespair into delight. He keeps his hand a moment longer on the reprieve,\nand then draws it forth, but with it drew--O God, the handkerchief; the\nsoldiers fire, Ronald Blair falls, and his Indian maid is found clasping\nhis dead body to her breast and dying by his side, and the frenzied\nColonel exclaims--\"The Curse of Heaven and of Glencoe is here.\"\n\nThe troops left the glen with a vast booty--900 kine, 200 ponies, and\nmany sheep and goats. When they had departed the Macdonalds crept from\ntheir lurking places, went back to the spot, collected the scorched\ncarcasses from among the ruins, and buried them there. It is said that\nthe Bard of the Clan took his place on a rock opposite the scene of the\nmassacre and poured out a lament over his slaughtered kinsmen and their\ndesolate dwellings. The subject had been worthy of an Ossian. The scene\nthere is now changed. A house or two only remains where smoked hundreds\nof happy hearths. The thistle and the wild myrtle shake their heads in\nthe winds, and utter their low monody which mingles with, and is swelled\nby the voice of the Cona, all seeming to mourn over crime, and to\npronounce for doom. Yet let our conclusion be that of the Judge of the\nearth Himself when he says vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the\nLord, and who mixes mercy with judgment, and makes the wrath of man to\npraise him in pardon as well as by punishment. Yet this stupendous crime\nwas not to pass wholly unpunished. It was a considerable time ere its\nparticulars and aggravations were fully known. Conceive such an\natrocious massacre perpetrated now! In less than seven days there would\nbe a cry of vengeance from the Land's End to Caithness. Within a\nfortnight demands for the blood of the murderers would be coming in from\nevery part of the British dominions. In a month the ringleaders would\nhave been tried, condemned, and hanged, and even Mr Bruce, the late\nlenient Secretary of State, would not venture to reprieve one of them.\nIt was different then. Not a word of it appeared in the meagre\nnewspapers of that day. Floating rumours there were, but they were all,\nin many particular points, wide of the mark, and it was long ere the\nparticulars condensed into the tragic and terrible tale which is\ncertainly stranger than fiction. Very little interest was then felt in\nHighlands feuds, and as Macaulay truly says, \"To the Londoner of those\ndays Appin was what Caffrarra or Borneo is to us. He was not more moved\nby hearing that some Highland thieves had been surprised and killed,\nthan we are by hearing that a band of Amakosah cattle-stealers had been\ncut off, or that a barkful of Malay pirates had been sunk.\" Gradually,\nhowever, the dark truth came out, and orbed itself into that blood-red\nunity of horror, which has since made the firmest nerves to tremble, and\nthe stoutest knees to shake, which has haunted dreams, inspired poetry,\ncreated new and ghastly shapes of superstition, and which, even yet, as\nthe solitary traveller is plodding his way amidst the shadows of an\nautumn evening, or under the shivering stars of a winter night, can\ndrench the skin and curdle the blood. No wonder though the actors in the\ntragedy felt, in their dire experience afterwards, that the infatuation\nof crime dissolves the moment it is perpetrated; that Breadalbane sought\nthe sons of the murdered MacIan to gain impunity for himself by signing\na document declaring him guiltless; that Glencoe haunted the couch and\nclouded the countenance, and shortened the days of Glenlyon. Hamilton\napparently felt no remorse, and his only regret was that any had\nescaped, and that a colossal crime had been truncated by some colossal\nblunders. He might have said like the Templar in the Talisman, when some\none tells him to tremble, \"I cannot if I would.\" And yet as God comes\noften to men without bell, so there might be some secret passage through\nwhich, on noiseless footsteps, remorse might reach even the sullen\nchamber of his hardened heart.\n\nMany lessons might be derived from the whole story, none, after all,\nmore obvious and none more useful than the old old story of the\ndesperate wickedness of human nature when unpenetrated by brotherly and\nChristian feeling; and that he who has sounded the ocean, the grave, the\ndeepest and the darkest mountain cavern has yet a deeper deep to fathom\nin the abyss of his own heart; and that the moral of the subject may be\nyet more briefly condensed in the one grand line which Shelley has\nborrowed from Burke:--\n\n               \"To fear ourselves and love all human kind.\"\n\n                                                        GEO. GILFILLAN.\n\n\n\n\nPROFESSORSHIP OF CELTIC AT OXFORD.--In a congregation held on Tuesday,\nMarch 7th, a form of statute was promulgated to provide for the\nestablishment of a Professor of the Celtic languages and literature in\nthis University. The Principal and Fellows of Jesus College have offered\nthe sum of \u00a3500 annually, to be applied by the University for the\nfoundation of the professorship, and a further sum of \u00a3100 is to be paid\nfrom the University chest, until an equivalent provision is made from\nsome other source. The statute also provides for the constitution of a\nboard for electing the professor. Such professor will be required to\nreside within the precincts of the University for six months at least,\nin each year, between the tenth day of October and the first of July\nnext following. The professor must apply himself to the study of the\nCeltic languages, literature, and antiquities, and give lectures on\nthose subjects, and also give instruction on the same subject to members\nof the University. He is not to hold any other professorship or public\nreadership in the University. Matters are looking up for the Celtic\nlanguages at last; thanks to the redoubted Professor Blackie. Two Celtic\nProfessorships are now practically established. We understand that\nCharles Mackay, LL.D., F.S.A., the well-known poet, and Celtic scholar,\nis a candidate for the Chair.\n\n\nTHE PROPHECIES OF COINNEACH ODHAR FIOSAICHE--THE BRAHAN SEER.--John\nNoble, bookseller, Inverness, is about to publish those \"Prophecies\"\nin small book form, collected and edited by Alex. Mackenzie of the\n_Celtic Magazine_. Some very remarkable instances of second sight by\nothers than _Coinneach Odhar_ will also be given. Parties forwarding\nany _prophecies_ in their possession, or known in their district, to Mr\nNoble, or to Mr Mackenzie, will be conferring a favour, and will receive\ndue acknowledgment. It is desirable to make the work as complete as\npossible.\n\n\n\n\nTEACHING GAELIC IN HIGHLAND SCHOOLS.\n\n\nTHIS is a question which has for some time engaged the earnest\nconsideration of many who are interested in the welfare of the\nHighlands. Much has been said and written on the subject; on the one\nhand by those who wish to see the language of the inhabitants excluded\nfrom the schools--nay more, use every means at their command, by word\nand deed, to extinguish it altogether. They argue that it is better we\nshould only possess one living language throughout the whole country,\nand that, of course, the language of the Legislature, the Courts of\nJustice, and of Commerce. No doubt a good deal can be said for this view\nof the case, and we shall have something to say regarding it hereafter.\nOn the other hand, we have those who would have the language cultivated,\nsupported, and maintained as an active living tongue, spoken by the\nHighlander and used in the common conversation and business of life; and\nwith that object have it taught in our schools just as we teach English.\nOthers do not exactly go that length. They wish it taught as a Special\nSubject only, in the same way, on the same principle, and with the same\nencouragement to schoolmasters and pupils that is given in the case of\nLatin and Greek, French and German. And last of all, we have those who\nonly go the length of advocating its use for conveying information to\nGaelic-speaking children regarding what they read in their English\nclass-books--making it the medium by which the intelligence of the pupil\nis appealed to, and so enable him the more easily and speedily to\nunderstand and grasp the substance of his lessons in English, a language\nwhich is to him as much a foreign one as Sanscrit or Hindustani.\n\nOn the present occasion we shall refer more particularly to the\nlatter--those who wish to give Gaelic the dignity of being taught as a\nSpecial Subject, and those who only wish it applied as a means with\nwhich to reach the intelligence of the child while receiving an English\neducation. We will admit at the outset, that the primary object of\neducation in the Highlands, as well as elsewhere, must be to fit the\nchildren for the active duties of after life. We will also admit that a\nGaelic education, however perfect, is not enough for this purpose. If\nthis be so--and no writer possessed of ordinary common sense can\nreasonably dispute it--the teaching of Gaelic in our Highland schools\ncan be discussed only as a question of secondary importance; unless we\ncan show that it is through the native language of the scholars that we\ncan best appeal to their intelligence; and, that while giving Gaelic its\nproper place in our system of Highland education, we can also show that\nwe are taking a more direct and more natural course, in the end, to\nsecure a more intelligent and vastly superior English education.\n\nNo one approaching the subject with an unprejudiced mind, after giving\nthe smallest consideration to the subject, can maintain that a system\nwhich wholly ignores the only language known to the child when he enters\nschool for the first time, can be either a sensible, a reasonable, or a\nsuccessful one. It is doubtful if ever such a system was adopted\nanywhere else, at home or abroad, out of the Highlands of Scotland, and\nthe Gaelic-speaking districts of Ireland; but whether, or not, it was\never adopted in the past we are unable, at the present day, to discover\nany trace of such an unnatural, senseless, and, we might say without\nexaggeration, idiotic system in any other part of the world. The\ndisadvantages of such a plan of teaching are so apparent to every one\nexcept those teachers and their friends, who are totally ignorant of the\nlanguage of the children they are so well paid to teach and who, from\nthe manner in which they disregard the necessities of children in\nHighland districts, must, we are afraid, be held to place their own\ninterests and that of their class far above the requirements of the\ncountry; forgetting that the Legislature passed the Education Act not so\nmuch in the interest of teachers as with the view to secure a really\nsubstantial education to the pupils. We much regret that there should be\nany necessity to point this out, as the interest of both teachers and\nchildren should be identical; but this clearly cannot be, so long as\nteachers maintain and advocate a system contrary to reason and common\nsense, and opposed to every system of education throughout the civilized\nworld; and, indeed, quite the reverse of what they do themselves in the\ncase of all other languages taught by them, except that of English to\nGaelic-speaking children. When the pupil is sufficiently advanced in\nEnglish to justify the teacher in taking up any of the Special Subjects,\ndoes he, for instance, while teaching Latin or Greek, French or German,\nbegin by throwing aside the knowledge of English already acquired by his\npupil, and commence to teach these foreign languages in the same way\nadopted by him in teaching the child English--a language quite as\nforeign to him as Latin or Greek, French or German? Does he begin with a\nLatin spelling book without any translations in English and teach him\nthese languages on the same parrot system by which he managed to get him\nto pronounce and read English, in most cases without ever having carried\nwith him the intelligence of his pupils? Not he. He knows better. If he\nwere foolish enough to teach Latin and other foreign languages in such a\nway, he would soon discover that his labours were mainly thrown away,\nand that he would earn few special grants by the time his pupils left\nhim. If it be so very absurd to teach all other languages, on such a\nfalse and ruinous plan, upon what reasonable grounds can the system be\nmaintained in the case of teaching English to a Gaelic-speaking child?\nWe are afraid the only valid reason which can be given is,--that our\nteachers are, as a rule, quite ignorant of Gaelic, and unable to teach\nit; and forsooth! the interests of the rising Gaelic-speaking generation\nare to be sacrificed to suit the convenience of those paid officials who\nare quite unsuitable, and who should never have been appointed to teach\nHighland children until they had acquired a knowledge of the language;\nany more than we would think of engaging a teacher innocent of any\nknowledge of English to teach foreign languages to a child born and bred\nin the Midland Counties of England. Would any one in his senses ever\nthink or dream of such a proposal? and yet this is what some people\nmaintain to be the correct thing to do in the Highlands of Scotland.\n\nGovernment has already admitted and provided in the Code for testing the\nintelligence of the children through their native tongue; but this\nconcession is quite useless where the teacher is ignorant of Gaelic, and\nworse than useless where the examining inspector is positively unable to\ntest them as provided for by the Education Department. Would it not have\nbeen better still had it made provision to reach and rouse the\nintelligence through, and by means of it. The Legislature has also made\nother special provisions for the peculiar situation and educational\nrequirements of the Highlands, and we feel sure, if it can be shown to\nbe a necessity, that the Education Department will also alter the Code\nso as to put teachers who may possibly be kept back a little in the\nfirst two standards, in consequence of any time that may be lost in\nteaching Gaelic, in a more favourable position, and so enable them to\ndraw the same grant as if they devoted their whole time to the exclusive\nteaching of English. We feel sure that no one whose opinion is worthy of\nthe slightest consideration, will, for a moment, attempt to argue\nagainst a system of teaching children through the only language which\nthey understand.\n\nTo teach thus, successfully, it would be best to adopt class books and\ngrammars in the earlier stages, in both languages, as is done elsewhere,\nin every case where a foreign language is taught. These might be given\nup, when the pupil arrived at the third standard. After this he could\npick up all the requisite knowledge of Gaelic with little difficulty;\nfor be it observed, we are at present only advocating the use of Gaelic\nas a _medium_ for imparting a sound and intelligent English education.\nWe are happy to know that it is still the practice, particularly in\nthose districts where a snobbish aping of Cockneyism has yet failed to\noverpower and crush out the old devotional spirit of the Gael, for the\nparents to conduct family worship, at least twice a day, by the reading\nof a Chapter and a Psalm out of the Gaelic Bible, while the children,\nwho come to the age of discretion, have to follow the reader in their\nGaelic Bibles, and thus they soon learn to read Gaelic perfectly. We\nthink it, therefore, quite unnecessary to teach Gaelic beyond the stage\nat which it fails to be useful in helping to a better and more\nintelligent understanding of their English class-books, except to those\nwho are to become ministers or schoolmasters; when the teacher, in the\ncase of smart boys, should be encouraged to take it up and teach it as a\nSpecial Subject.\n\nWe fully appreciate, and make allowance for, the difficulty to be\novercome in providing a special set of Gaelic and English elementary\nschool-books specially suited for the Highlands, and would be disposed\nto forego the unquestionable advantages derivable from them were we\nsatisfied that the teachers were capable and willing to make up to some\nextent for the defect by fully explaining the meaning of the elementary\nEnglish lessons to the children through their mother tongue; and then\nteach Gaelic as a Special Subject in the more advanced standards to\nthose who intended to continue their education with the view of\nfollowing any of the learned professions. We had ample and conclusive\nproof that Gaelic reading can be acquired by Gaelic-speaking children in\na very short time. Not long ago the Gaelic Society of Inverness offered\nprizes in the Parish of Gairloch to the best Gaelic scholars; for the\nbest reading, the best spelling, and the best translations from Gaelic\ninto English, and from English into Gaelic. We were informed by some of\nthe teachers that before these prizes were offered they never taught\nGaelic to the children; and even when they decided to compete, only\ntaught it privately after ordinary school hours. The progress made, as\nexhibited by the examination was, on such short notice, really\nmarvellous. The reading and spelling were almost perfect, and the\ntranslations were such that we believe translations from English to\nLatin and Greek, or _vice vers\u00e2_, of equal faithfulness would secure a\nbursary in some of our Universities. We are writing from actual\nexperience, having taken a part in the examination; and one single fact\nof this kind ought to have more weight in argument than all the theories\nwhich those who are ignorant of the facts can propound.\n\nWe have repeatedly heard and seen objections made that a Gaelic\neducation was calculated to hinder the Gaelic-speaking child in his\nprogress in English, and that he could not overcome the difficulty of\nacquiring a correct English pronunciation with the same ease and\nfacility as if first taught to read it. We have even heard it stated\nseriously that a Highlander who read and wrote Gaelic could never be a\ngood English writer, and were challenged to prove the contrary.\n\nWhen we first went to school we knew not a single word of English. We\nattended one where it was the rule that no English was to be taught\nuntil we were able to read the Gaelic Testament, after which we had to\ntranslate our Bible lesson on alternate mornings from English into\nGaelic, and from Gaelic into English. There were eight or nine other\nschools in the Parish, in one only--the girls' school--in which the same\nrule was applied. We had an excellent teacher who taught Latin and Greek\n(and we think, in one instance, Hebrew) to the more advanced pupils. We\nhave made enquiries as to the result, and find that from forty to fifty\nof the boys who were taught in our school have raised themselves to good\nsocial positions throughout England, the South of Scotland, and the\nColonies. The few who remained at home are known to be the most\nintelligent and best informed in the Parish; and the great majority of\nthose who have been educated on the system now in fashion have forgotten\nall they have ever learned and have taken to the herring fishing, while\na miserable existence about their parents' crofts is enough to satisfy\ntheir highest ambition.\n\nIt is quite unnecessary to prove that those who advanced their social\nposition from home, have acquired a better pronunciation than those who\nhave never left it, and who have forgotten all they were ever taught;\nand in reply to the objection that those who are taught Gaelic can never\nwrite English with the same ease and fluency as those who obtain an\nexclusively English education, we assert that those of our Highland\ncountrymen who knew, spoke, and wrote Gaelic best are pre-eminent\namongst us as the best writers of English--such, for instance, as \"Old\"\nNorman Macleod; the late Dr Norman Macleod; Dr Macleod of Morven and his\nthree sons; Sir James Mackintosh; Dr Mackintosh Mackay; John Mackenzie\nof the \"Beauties of Gaelic Poetry;\" Dr Maclauchlan; Dr Clerk, Kilmallie;\nSheriff Nicolson; Mr Cameron of Renton; James Macpherson, of Ossianic\nfame; Dr Kennedy, Dingwall; Mr Blair, Glasgow; \"Nether-Lochaber;\" D.\nMackinnon, Edinburgh; The Macdonalds of Fort-William and of the\n\"Times;\" and many others we could mention. We shall be delighted to see\nproduced a list of writers from the Highlands, even if possessed of the\nso-called qualification of a total ignorance of the Gaelic language to\nequal these men in English composition. The contention of our opponents\nis really so irrational and absurd as to be unworthy of notice, were it\nnot that we see men of position seriously giving expression to such\nabsurdities. We have even seen a gentleman who has been elevated since,\nmuch to the surprise of the profession, to the position of an inspector\nof schools, stoutly maintaining it in large type in the columns of one\nof our northern newspapers. Such arguments amount to this--that a real\nand thorough knowledge of his native language, whether it be Gaelic,\nEnglish, or French, is a drawback and a disqualification for acquiring\nand writing a foreign one, and that the greater his ignorance of his\nnative tongue the greater the proficiency of a scholar in a foreign one;\nwhile common sense, (which is unfortunately, in educational circles,\nsometimes, and especially on this question, very uncommon), and all the\nexperience of the past go to prove the very opposite.\n\nIt is pleasant to find the rational view making steady progress even among\nthose who were understood for a long time to hold a different opinion. Mr\nJolly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, who is unfortunately ignorant\nof the native language of the children whom he examines professionally,\nexpressed himself unfavourable to teaching Gaelic in Highland schools,\nbefore he had time to examine the question for himself; but having looked\nthe matter in the face, and given it serious consideration, we are\ngratified to find him stating at the last annual meeting of the Gaelic\nSociety that he belonged to the class who desired that Gaelic should be\nused for getting at the intelligence of the children when reading English;\nand who afterwards wished the Gaelic language and literature to be\nintroduced when the children had mastered the mechanical difficulties of\nreading, and were able to enter into the meaning and spirit of what they\nread. \"Although a Lowlander he had every sympathy with those who desired\nto preserve the Gaelic; and he held exactly the same views on the subject\nof Gaelic teaching as are held by Professor Blackie, the Rev. Alex.\nMacgregor, and Dr Clerk, Kilmallie.\" We have a pretty good idea as to what\nthe Rev. Mr Macgregor's views on the question are, as well as Professor\nBlackie's, and are therefore quite satisfied with Mr Jolly's. The\nProfessor, we are happy to say, has engaged to give expression to his, in\na definite form, on an early date in these pages; and we feel sure that\nthey will satisfy all reasonable men.\n\nWe attach great value to the expression of such an opinion as Mr\nJolly's, arrived at after mature deliberation and observation of the\nrequirements of the Highlands; from one who is himself a stranger to the\nlanguage, and who would naturally be prejudiced against it; for we must\nkeep in mind that in expressing such a favourable opinion he was to some\nextent weakening his own position as an Inspector of Schools, unable to\nexamine in a language which he honestly affirmed, and with a candour\nwhich deserves acknowledgment, ought to be used, and at a certain stage\ntaught in the schools. We are quite satisfied to place this opinion\nagainst the views of another inspector in the north, whose only reply\nto the advocates of Gaelic in our schools is--that such a system would\nlimit the sphere from which to choose teachers--forgetting, or choosing\nto ignore, that the teachers ought and must accommodate themselves to\nthe system which all rational men admit to be the only true and\nsuccessful one, and the only one practised everywhere else out of the\nHighlands. A gentleman who could publicly use such an argument as, \"If\nthe language ought to be kept alive by being taught in school, surely\nEdinburgh and Glasgow are the places where this should be done, where\nthe children know nothing of it, and not in the Highlands where the\nchildren already speak it with fluency,\"--is perfectly innocent of the\nreal question at issue, and deserves little notice or attention in the\ncontroversy.\n\nWe have by no means exhausted the subject, but shall, meanwhile, content\nourselves by laying down the following propositions:--(1), That it being\nan acknowledged educational principle that the unknown can only be made\nsuccessfully known through the known; and as this principle is not only\nacknowledged but practised everywhere else out of the Scottish Highlands\nwe must hold it to be the only rational one to adopt there also; unless it\ncan be shown that the Highlander is constructed intellectually entirely\ndifferent from the rest of humanity. We must therefore, to be rational,\nteach the unknown English through the known Gaelic: (2), We must adapt the\nCode to the requirements of the special circumstances of the case: (3),\nOur teachers must keep in mind that after all, they are only a part\n(although a very important part), of the system by which Parliament has\nwisely decided to place education within the reach of every child in\nScotland, and if it can be shown--and it is self-evident--that teachers\nwho are ignorant of the Gaelic language are not competent or suitable to\ncarry out the intentions of the Legislature, they must just accommodate\nthemselves to the requirements of their position, and qualify properly to\ndischarge their duties by acquiring a sufficient knowledge of Gaelic to\nenable them to impart education according to the only rational system, in\nuse, in all civilised communities: (4), To get the full benefit of the\nconcessions already made by the Education Department as to the testing of\nthe child's intelligent understanding of his English reading by means of\nhis native language, it is absolutely necessary that our Inspectors of\nSchools should have a sufficient knowledge of Gaelic to enable them to\ntest the understanding of the children as intended by the Department, and\nnow provided for, in the Code.\n\nThe great and primary question is, how to impart a sound education to\nthe rising generation? The means--the teaching staff--are only important\nin so far as they serve to bring about the great end and principal\nobject of all--an education in the true sense of the term.[A]\n\n                                                                 A. M.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[A] Since the above was in type Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, M.P., has given\nnotice of his intention, upon Friday, 31st March, to call attention to the\nScottish Education Code of 1876, and to move a resolution on the subject\nof Gaelic teaching in the schools in Gaelic-speaking districts.\n\n\n\n\nGENERAL SIR ALAN CAMERON, K.C.B.,\n\nCOLONEL 79TH CAMERON HIGHLANDERS.\n\n[CONTINUED.]\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE first duty which Major Cameron had now (1794) imposed on him by his\n\"Letter of Service\" was to recommend the officers from the \"half-pay\nlist\" to be associated with him in raising the regiment. In the\ndisposition of these he was to a certain extent under the guidance of\nhis own inclination to have as many as he could, of his old American\nbrother-officers, with him in the undertaking. After the selection was\nmade, the names were submitted to the War Office and approved. Reference\nto the list of officers selected will prove that Major Cameron was not\nunmindful of his brother-officers of the \"Royal Emigrant Regiment,\" his\nchoice consisting of five officers of the Clan M'Lean, while two only\nbelonged to his own. The reason of the numerical difference will be\nunderstood to be, in consequence of the above stated restrictions. When\nthe \"half-pay list\" was exhausted, by distribution among the numerous\ncorps being embodied, and Major Cameron was released from the War Office\nregulations, the commissions in the regiment were always given to his\nLochaber relatives, as the army list of subsequent years will testify.\n\nAlthough Major Cameron had been, by this time, absent from Lochaber a\nnumber of years, yet he was not an entire stranger, for he was from time\nto time heard of. He had been advised by his brother that the rage and\nirritation occasioned by the result of the duel had greatly subsided, if\nnot, indeed, entirely disappeared, and that his arrival in the country\nwas not at all likely to revive them. On receipt of this intelligence\nMajor Cameron, with politic calculation, arranged that he should arrive\nin his native place on one of the first days of November, which\narrangement would give him the opportunity of meeting the greater part\nof the country people of all classes, this being the week of the winter\nmarket at Fort-William. The idea also struck him that, as he was to be\nengaged in \"His Majesty's service,\" the Government might give him, for\nhis own and his officers' accommodation, quarters in the garrison. His\napplication to the Board of Ordnance, to this effect, proved successful,\nand the building known as \"Government House\" was placed at his disposal.\nHis family, at this time, consisted of three sons, respectively named\nPhilips, Donald, and Nathaniel; the first and last after their mother's\nfather, and the other after his own father (he of the '45). The eldest\ntwo accompanied him to the Highlands, and remained there long enough to\nacquire some acquaintance with the Gaelic language, an acquisition which\nthey often declared afterwards to have served them advantageously in\ntheir relationship with the soldiers of the 93d.\n\nThe day at last arrived when Alan, after an absence of twenty-one years,\nwas to look again on his native hills, an event which, no doubt,\ngladdened and warmed his Highland heart. It is stated that he timed his\nfirst appearance to take place on the last day of the market, and he\nobserved it punctually. This enabled the people, if so inclined, to meet\nhim without interfering with their business affairs. His brother was\nmost useful to him in making proper preparations for his reception.\nQuite a multitude went out to meet him and his companions, a mile or so,\nand accorded him a most enthusiastic reception. It has, indeed, been\nsaid, that the ovation and the escort of that day resembled more that\nusually awarded to an illustrious conqueror than that to a mere\nfield-officer of the British army. Alan gave instructions to make that\nand subsequent days a carnival of hospitality--feasting and rejoicing\nwithout limit. After a reasonable time, however, festivities must\nterminate, and business commence. A writer of ripe experience, on\nHighland subjects, adverts to the anxious state of public feeling at\nthis time[B]--\"In 1793, and the succeeding years, the whole strength and\nresources of the United Kingdom were called into action. In the northern\ncorner a full proportion was secured. A people struggling against the\ndisadvantages of a boisterous climate and barren soil, could not be\nexpected to contribute money. But the personal services of young and\nactive men were ready when required for the defence of the liberty and\nindependence of their country.\" Producing so many defenders of the\nState, as these glens have done, they ought to have been saved from a\nsystem which has changed the character of, if not altogether extirpated,\ntheir hardy inhabitants.\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTHE business of \"raising\" the regiment was now (1793-94) to commence in\nreal earnest, and as it was the Major's desire that the complement\nshould be made up of as many as he could induce to join from his own and\nthe adjacent districts, his officers and himself visited every part\nround about, and with so much success that, between Lochaber, Appin,\nMull, and Morven, 750 men were collected at Fort-William, within a\nperiod of less than two months; at any rate the official accounts record\nthat number to have been inspected and approved by General Leslie on the\n3d January (1794).[C] General Stewart states, \"in the instance of the\nembodiment of the 79th no bounty was allowed by Government, and the men\nwere therefore recruited at the solo expense of Mr Cameron and his\nofficers; nevertheless the measure of the success will be understood by\nthe early date of their inspection at Stirling, where they received the\ndenomination of the 79th Cameron Highlanders.\" The Major was now\ndesirous to repair as quickly as possible to the place appointed for\ninspection, that he might get his corps numbered, and with that\ndetermination, ordered every man to be in readiness for the journey\nsouthwards. Great was the excitement in the little village adjoining the\ngarrison of Fort-William, on that winter's morning, when Cameron and his\nfollowers collected on its parade-ground, to have the roll called by\n\"old Archie Maclean\" (their first Adjutant), preparatory to bidding\nfarewell to Lochaber--a last farewell by the greater part of them.\nThe nearest and dearest must part, and such was the case with the\nLochabermen and their friends, now that \"they promised to help King\nGeorge.\" With Alan at their head, this devoted band filed off in well\nregulated order, marching with steady step through the village, the\npipers leading, playing the well-known march--\"_Gabhaidh sinn an rathad\nmor_\" (We'll keep the high road), while large numbers of the country\npeople convoyed them on their route a considerable distance, reluctant\nto give the final farewell; deferring it till they were reminded that\nthey had now a long way to go back. Their affection probably laid them\nunder a spell that \"farewell was such sweet sorrow, they could not say\nfarewell till to-morrow.\" A string of horses preceded them, to different\nstages, with their creels well provided with creature comforts desirable\nfor their long journey, along indifferent paths, and over bleak\nmountains, to Stirling. At that season of the year, the weather was very\nsevere, and the absence of any habitations on the way did not admit of\nany halting; therefore it was decided to continue their onward course\nwithout interruption, except the short intervals necessary for\nrefreshments. This decision enabled them to reach the rendezvous at noon\nof the third day, when after a day or two's rest, drilling was resumed\nwithout intermission, in consequence of which persistency, the corps\nwere in a fair state of order by the time the inspecting officer\narrived. \"The Cameron Highlanders\" underwent this ordeal of military and\nmedical inspection to the General's entire satisfaction, and he duly\nreported the result to the War Office, and, being the first to be so\nreported the corps received the first and subsequent number of 79th (the\n78th, Mackenzie's Ross-shire regiment, had been completed in the month\nof March of the previous year). Meanwhile the exigencies of the service\nbecoming pressing, the \"Office\" was induced to dispatch urgent orders to\nCameron to augment the regiment with the necessary 250 men to raise it\nto a total strength of 1000 rank and file. In obedience to this summons,\nhe, with others of his officers, lost no time in returning to the\ndistricts of the Highlands from whence they came. If further proof were\nneeded of the popularity of Cameron, the fact that he collected the 250\nrecruits wanted, and reported them at the same place (Stirling), in the\nshort space of five and twenty days, will be sufficiently convincing.\nWhen the 1000 men were completed on the 30th January (1794), Alan was\nadvanced to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the regiment![D] This marvellous\nrapidity may be contrasted with the fact, that when Mr Cameron of\nFassifern was offered a company in the corps being raised by the Marquis\nof Huntly in the following month of February, he was obliged to have\nrecourse to the assistance of his brother-in-law, Macneil of Barra, to\ncomplete the number of 100 men. He could only secure nineteen men in his\nown district of Lochaber, notwithstanding that he was aided by the\npersonal influence of his cousin Lochiel. Alan Cameron did not seek, nor\ndid he receive the slightest favour from the Chief of his clan, for\nreasons which may be subsequently referred to.[E]\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nTHE colours for the 79th had been prepared, and immediately on its being\nregistered they were presented (1794), after which the regiment received\nthe route for Ireland. There they remained till the following June,\nwhere their uniform reached them, which, being the Highland dress, was\nsimilar to that of the other Highland corps, except in the matter of\n\"facings,\" which were green. Although the tartan of the Clan Cameron is\none of the handsomest patterns; the ground and prevailing colour being\nred, it was thought unsuitable for wear with the scarlet jacket; but\nthat was not a sufficient reason for its non-adoption as the tartan of\nthe \"Cameron Highlanders,\" inasmuch as the tartan worn (the Stewart) by\nthe 72d is of still brighter colour than the Cameron. Neither of these\nwas the real reason which caused the clan tartan's non-adoption by the\n79th.[F] Alan choose rather to have a tartan of his own (or rather\nhis mother's) design. That pattern is so well known as to need no\ndescription. The first supply was provided by Messrs Holms of Paisley\n(now of Greenhead, Glasgow), and designated the \"Cameron Earrachd,\" as\ndistinguished from that of the Cameron proper. It is the pattern chosen\nby the Highland company of the Liverpool Rifle Corps, and by the 2d\nLochaber Company, of which Lochiel was captain.[G]\n\nThe Cameron Regiment had scarcely completed its equipment, when it was\nordered to embark for Flanders to reinforce the British and Austrian\narmies under the command of the Duke of York, against the French. They\nwere joined in this expedition by their countrymen of the 42d and the\n78th. Their arrival proved to be of the utmost consequence, inasmuch as\nthat by their support, in reserve, they helped, by a victory over\nPicheqru to retrieve a disaster experienced by the Duke shortly before\nthat. This engagement lasted from an early hour till the afternoon, and\nits decision was weighing in the balance, when the Duke charged with the\nBritish troops into the centre of the French army, bayonet in hand, and\nthus, brought hostilities to an end for the day. This success, however,\nwas of small advantage, as the allies were subsequently compelled to\nretreat before the overwhelming forces of the French, and, retiring\ntowards Westphalia, endured the most dreadful hardship and suffering,\nboth from its inhospitable inhabitants, and the rigour of its climate\n(the winter and spring of 1794-5), the elements of which proved more\nfatal to the British army than the fire of the enemy. The Camerons lost\n200 men. The contingent of the British army withdrew from the Continent\nafter this fruitless campaign, embarking in April at Bremen. The 79th\nwas ordered for quarters to the Isle of Wight, where it remained till\nthe month of July, when it received the route for India, and Colonel\nCameron was ordered to recruit the regiment to the extent of its losses\nin Flanders.\n\n                        (_To be Continued._)\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[B] General Stewart's Sketches, vol. II., pp. 245-6.\n\n[C] Historical Record of the 79th Regiment by Captain Robert Jamieson,\nEdinburgh, 1863.\n\n[D] Captain Jamieson's Historical Record, Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1863.\n\n[E] The Rev. Mr Clerk's Memoir of Colonel Cameron of Fassifern, p. 109.\n\n[F] Mr Cameron of Lochiel, and Mr Cameron of Earrachd (Alan's father), had\nbeen, or were, at differences about the ownership of part of the property,\nwhen it was alleged that the latter was hardly used in the matter, by the\nformer and his trustees, of whom Cameron of Fassifern was the most active.\nThis misunderstanding led to a coolness between the families.\n\n[G] It was returned to the Lord-Lieutenant by this company under the\ndesignation of \"Cameron Lochiel.\" The captain's attention was drawn to the\nmisnomer, who disclaimed any knowledge of the error. It has transpired\nsince to have been the act of an officer of the corps, now deceased, who\nmust have committed this paltry piece of piracy, either from ignorance or\nsubserviency.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SONGS AND MELODIES OF THE GAEL.\n\n\nTHE Gael, their language, their songs, and their melodies, will live or\ndie together. If the one sinks they shall all sink. If the one rises\nthey shall all rise. If the one dies they shall die together, and shall\nall be buried in the same grave. Is it possible that a people, with such\na language, such songs, and such delicious melodies, shall vanish and\ndisappear from the earth, and their place become occupied by others? It\ncannot happen, and I candidly assert for myself that, were the whole of\nthe Breadalbane Estate mine, I would willingly part with it for the sake\nof being able to master the songs and the melodies of my Highland\ncountrymen. I have reason to be thankful for the circumstances in which\nI was placed in the days of my youth. I had eight brothers and a sister.\nMy father had a fine ear for music, and an excellent voice, and\nfrequently gratified our young ears, during the long winter evenings, by\nplaying on the Jew's harp and singing the words connected with the\ndifferent Highland airs. There was also a man in our immediate\nneighbourhood who was frequently in the house, who played on the violin,\nand who was one of the best players of our native airs I ever listened\nto. The consequence was that as I grew up I was very fond of singing,\nand to this moment of my life I do not think that it had any bad effect\nupon me; and certainly my fondness for Gaelic songs was the first thing\nthat led me to read the Gaelic language. From fifteen to the age of\ntwenty I herded my father's sheep among the Grampians. The following is\na true description of my state then:--\n\n    'Nuair bha e 'na bhalach              A laddie so merry\n    Gu sunndach, 's lan aighear,          'Mong green grass and heather,\n    'S mac-talla 'ga aithris              The voice of the echo\n    A cantuinn nan oran,                  Rehearsing his story:\n    Toirt air na cruaidh chreagan,        The mountains so rocky\n    Le 'n teangannan sgeigeil,            To mimic and mock him,\n    Gu fileant 'ga fhreagradh,            Becoming all vocal\n    Gu ceileireach ceolmhor.              Like songsters so joyful.\n\nAbout the age of twenty a change came over me, when I forsook the songs,\nbut not their melodies, and had recourse to Buchanan's, M'Gregor's, and\nGrant's hymns as a source of gratification. I was, in a measure,\nprepared to enjoy them, as I found several of the melodies I used to\nsing, in the hymns. M'Gregor was my great favourite. He was every inch a\nman, a Gael, a scholar, a poet, a Christian, and a great divine. I\nregret that his hymns are not more extensively known. Forty-two years\nago I composed several hymns--six or seven years afterwards a few\nmore--but during the last ten years, I suppose, nearly fifty. I have\ndone as much as I could to regenerate the songs of my country. My\npredecessors carefully avoided cheerful and lively airs, especially\nthose with a chorus, but I find these generally, when the subject is\napplicable to them, the most powerful and the most appropriate for use\nin connection with the preaching of the gospel. Last summer I sang one\nof them in a Free Church, on a Sabbath evening, to the Gaelic part of\nthe congregation. As I was descending from the pulpit, the Gaelic\nprecentor, and a deacon, whispered in my ears, \"_Tha i sin fad air\nthoiseach air laoidhean Shanci_.\" (That is far before Sankey's hymns.)\n\nSo far as I know, singing Gaelic songs has had no evil effect upon our\ncountrymen. Indeed, singing is one of the prettiest, and one of the most\nharmless things connected with human nature, even in its degenerate\nstate. A man who can sing a Gaelic song well is properly considered a\nfavourite. It is felt that he spreads kindness, and infuses joy and\nhappiness in the social circle--the language and the sweet melody of the\npiece will banish all melancholy and bitter feelings from the mind. A\nman influenced by a wicked malicious disposition is certainly not\ndisposed to sing. The practice they have of fulling or shrinking cloth\nin the West Highlands has had a great tendency to keep up the native\nmelodies. Five, six, or seven females are seated in a circle facing one\nanother. The cloth having been steeped, is folded in a circle. Each\nholds it in both hands, while they raise it as high as the breast, and\nthen bring it down with a thump on the board. In this way it goes\ngradually round from the one to the other. A person standing outside\nwould only hear one thump. The chosen leader commences the song, all\nunite, and by raising and lowering their hands they beat time to the\ntune. This generally attracts a crowd of listeners. I have seldom\nlistened to finer singing.\n\nLachlan M'Lean, the author of \"Adam and Eve,\" and one of the greatest\nenthusiasts for the language, the songs, and the music of the Gael, that\never lived, was one day on board a steamer going from Tobermory to Oban.\nA number of Skye females were on board. He placed them seated in a\ncircle on deck, and they commenced singing, with their handkerchiefs in\ntheir hands, to the great delight of all on board, with the exception of\nan elderly austere professor of religion, who frowned upon them and\nsilenced them. If such be the effect of real religion, I have yet to\nlearn it. I have no doubt the same man, if he could, would prevent the\nlarks from singing; and as well attempt to do the one as the other. I am\ncertain that he would rather have his ears stuffed with cotton than\nlisten to _Piobaireachd Dho'il Duibh_ played on the bagpipes.\n\nRobert Burns has been greatly vilified by a certain class of preachers. He\nand his songs have been held forth as a great curse to his countrymen; but\nwhen these Rev. Divines and their hot, but mistaken, zeal is forgotten,\nRobert Burns will shine forth, and in the long run will be found to be a\ngreater blessing to his country than his accusers. For certainly no man\never did more to keep up the native language and the melodies of the\nLowland Scotch than he has done. The same is equally true respecting our\nHighland bards. _Taing dhuit a Dhonnachaidh Bhain, agus do d' chomh-Bhaird\nairson nan oranan gasda, agus nam fuinn bhinn a dh'fhag sibh againn._ I am\ncertain that the Scotch must return to the melodies in their native\nlanguage. Sankey's melodies may do for a short time, but will never find a\nlasting lodgment in the Scottish heart like their own delicious melodies.\nThere is as inseparable a connection between _their_ melodies and their\nnative language, as there is between our Highland melodies and our native\nGaelic. The Gaelic may easily take up their melodies, but the English\nnever.\n\nThose tunes that are used in public worship have no melody to my soul\nlike our native airs, and it is utterly impossible for me to feel\notherwise. This assertion will find a testimony in the bosoms of men,\nalthough their prejudices may be opposed to it. Where is the man that\nwould compose a song in praise of his fellow-creature, that would\nattempt to sing it to a psalm tune? Should he do so, all men would look\nupon him as a blockhead. And what is the great difference between\npraising a fellow-creature and praising the Redeemer? I can conceive\nnone, except that the latter deserves a sweeter, and, if possible, a\nmore delicious melody. I think it was Rowland Hill who wisely said that\n\"he could not see why the devil should have all the finest tunes,\" and I\nquite agree with him.\n\nIt is also a fact, although I understand English as well as Gaelic, that\nit has not the same effect upon me in singing it. Although the English\nwere sung with the greatest art, and in the best possible style, it\nwould neither warm our hearts nor melt our souls like singing in Gaelic.\nI feel that the great \"mistress of art\" has a tendency to puff me up,\nwhereas I have no such feelings in my Gaelic. Perhaps one-third of the\nsongs of the Gael are love songs, and the delicacy of feeling which is\nmanifest in most of them is extraordinary. They will not offend the most\nrefined ear; so that we have reason to be proud of our race in that\nrespect. Our songs may be divided into two classes--the cheerful and\nplaintive. In the former we have M'Lachlan's \"_Air fatll-ir-inn,\nill-ir-inn, uill-er-inn o_.\" M'Intyre's song to his spouse, \"_Mhairi\nbhan og_,\" and \"_Ho mo Mhairi Laghach_\"--translated by Professor Blackie\nin the first number of the _Celtic_. These are instances of lyric poetry\nas beautiful as ever saw the light, and melodies as sweet as can be\nlistened to. In the other may be placed \"_Fhir a bhata 's na ho ro\neile_,\" which was lately sung in Inveraray Castle in the presence of Her\nMajesty. Another is:--\n\n    A Mhalaidh bhoidheach,\n    A Mhalaidh ghaolach,\n    A Mhalaidh bhoidheach,\n    Gur mor mo ghaol duit,\n    A Mhalaidh bhoidheach,\n    'S tu leon 's a chlaoidh mi,\n    'S a dh'fhag mi bronach\n    Gun doigh air d'fhaotainn.\n\nWhat a delicious piece! how full of sweet melody! Can the English\nlanguage produce its equal? Poor fellow, he was sincere. The deer would\nbe seen on wings in the air, fish on tops of mountains high, and _black_\nsnow resting on the tree branches, before his love to her would undergo\nany change.\n\nPerhaps one-fourth of our songs are Elegies to the departed; and the\nmelodies to which these are sung are as plaintive and melting as can be\nlistened to. I place at the head of this class the \"Massacre of\nGlencoe,\" and Maclachlan's Elegy, to the same air, in memory of\nProfessor Beattie of Aberdeen. I said in my \"Address to Highlanders\"\nthat the Fort-William people might, on the top of Ben Nevis, defy the\nEnglish and broad Scotch to produce its equal:--\n\n    Ghaoil, a ghaoil, de na fearaibh,\n    'S fuar an nochd air an darach do chr\u00e8,\n    'S fuar an nochd air a bhord thu,\n    Fhiuran uasail bu stold ann a'd bheus,\n    'N cridhe firinneach soilleir,\n    D'am bu spideal duais foille na sannt,\n    Nochd gun phlosg air an deile\n    Sin mo dhosguinn nach breugach mo rann.\n\nIt is utterly impossible to give a proper expression of that piece in\nany other language.\n\nLachlan M'Lean, already referred to, composed an elegy, to a daughter of\nthe Laird of Coll, who died in London and was buried there, to the same\nair:--\n\n    Och! nach deach do thoirt dachaidh\n    O mhearg nigheana Shassuinn 's an uair,\n    Is do charadh le m\u014drachd.\n    Ann an cois na Traigh mhor mar bu dual;\n    Fo dhidean bhallachan arda\n    Far am bheil do chaomh mhathair 'na suain,\n    'S far am feudadh do chairdean,\n    Dol gach feasgair chuir failte air t'uaigh.\n\nI entered his shop soon after this appeared in the _Teachdaire Gaelach_,\nand sung him some verses of it. He could scarcely believe that it was\nhis own composition. He seemed in a reverie, his eyes speaking\ninexpressibles.\n\n\"_Gaoir nam Ban Muileach_\"--(The wail of the Mull women)--is another\nextraordinary piece. I am sorry that I could not get hold of it.\nM'Gregor also has three hymns suited to this beautiful air. There is a\ngood deal of monotony in singing the few first lines, but it reaches a\ngrand climax of expression at the sixth. The last line is repeated\ntwice. When two or three sing it together, and the whole join in chorus\nat the sixth line, I have seldom heard singing like it.\n\nDr M'Donald composed an elegy, to the Rev. Mr Robertson, with a very\nplaintive air--the air of a song occasioned by the great loss at Caig--\n\n    Ochan nan och, is och mo leon,\n    Tha fear mo ruin an diugh fo'n fhoid,\n    Tha fear mo ruin an diugh fo'n fhoid,\n    'S cha teid air ceol no aighear leam.\n\nMany of the songs of the Gael might be called patriotic songs, and they\nmake us feel proud that we are Gaels. Their daring feats in the field of\nstrife against the enemies of our country, as at Bannockburn, Waterloo,\nAlma, &c., are celebrated in song. Their quarrels, amongst themselves,\nis the only thing that makes us feel ashamed of them. Several of their\nsongs raise us in our own estimation, with good cause, above our\nneighbours the Lowlanders, the English, and the French. The songs of the\nGael embrace every variety--their language, mountains, corries, straths,\nglens, rivers, streams, horses, dogs, cows, deer, sheep, goats, guns,\nfield labour, herding, boats, sailing, fishing, hunting, weddings--some\nof them as funny as they can be, and some the most sarcastic that was\never written. There is always something sweet and pretty about them. The\nartless simplicity of the language, with its extraordinary power of\nexpression, gives them an agreeable access to the mind, which no other\nlanguage can ever give.\n\nThe power these melodies have over the Gael is really extraordinary. I\nwas told by a piper, who was at the Battle of Alma, that when on the eve\nof closing with the Russians, he, contrary to orders, played \"_Sud mar\nchaidh 'n cal a' dholaidh, aig na Bodaich Ghallda_,\" which had a most\npowerful effect upon the men, on which account alone he was pardoned. I\nsaw a man who heard a piper playing \"_Tulloch gorm_\" in the East Indies,\nand it made him weep like a child. About two years ago a young man, a\nnative of Oban, was out far in the country, in Australia, and having\nentered a hotel, he saw a man who had the appearance of being a\nHighlander, in the sitting-room. He (of Oban) was in a room on the\nopposite side of the passage, and thought to himself \"If he is a Gael\nI'll soon find out,\" and leaving the door partially open, that he might\nsee him without being seen, he commenced playing, on the flute, the most\nplaintive Highland airs. No sooner did he begin than the other began to\nmove his body backward and forward. At last he bent down his body,\ncovering both his eyes with the palms of his hands, and began to sob out\n\"_Och! och mise; och! och mise_.\" He (my informant) then played some\nmarching airs, and instantly the other raised his head and began to beat\ntime with both feet. At last he played some dancing airs, when one foot\nonly was engaged in beating time. He then raised a hearty laugh and\nclosed the door with a bang. The man rushed forward, but finding the\ndoor closed he settled down a little. The door was opened, and what a\nmeeting of friends! what union of hearts! what kindness of feeling! what\njoy! What was the cause of all these? What but the melodies of the Gael.\n\nNow, I am certain that were I to listen to the native melodies of my\ncountry in distant parts of the world, I would also weep. But there is\nnothing that ever I listened to that would affect me so much as: \"_Crodh\nChailean_.\" Many a cow has been milked to that air, and many a fond\nmother soothed her child to rest with it, and I am sure it would be a\ngreater accomplishment for young ladies to be able to sing it properly\nthan any German or Italian air they could play on the piano:\n\n      Bha crodh aig Mac Chailean,\n    Bheireadh bainne dhomh fhein,\n    Eadar Bealtuinn is Samhainn,\n    Gun ghamhuinn, gun laogh,\n    Crodh ciar, crodh ballach,\n    Crodh Alastair Mhaoil,\n    Crodh lionadh nan gogan,\n    'S crodh thogail nan laogh.\n\nShaw composed several hymns to this air.\n\nI suppose there is not a class of people on the face of the earth that\nhave finer imaginations than the Gael. This has arisen partly, no doubt,\nfrom their language, so adapted for lyric poetry and composition, and\nverses calculated to give scope to the imaginative faculty. It has\narisen likewise from the place of their birth. The roaring Atlantic, the\ngrandeur of the resounding flood in their rocky glens. Waterfalls, down\ndashing torrents, fast flowing rivers. The scream of the curlew, the\nlapwing, the plover, and the shrill whistle of the eagle. The shadows of\nthe clouds seen moving majestically along in the distance--all these\nhave a great tendency to move and to give wing to the imagination. But I\nbelieve that the ditties they have been accustomed to hear sung in their\nyouth have had a far greater effect upon them. Could these be all\ncollected they would form a rare collection. How often has \"_Gille\nCallum_\" been sung--\n\n    Gheibh thu bean air da pheghinn,\n    Rogh is tagh air bonn-a-se,\n    Rug an luchag uan boirionn,\n    'S thug i dhachaidh cual chonnaidh.\n\nWhen one begins to tell what is not true, it is better to tell\nfalsehoods which no one can believe. Now I am certain that children at\nthe age of four would not believe \"Gille Callum's\" lies, and would\nunderstand at once that they were all for fun, and still it would have\nthe effect of setting them a-thinking, perhaps more than had it been\nsober truth.\n\nThe following I have frequently heard:--\n\n    H'uid, uid eachan,\n    C'ait am bi sinn nochdan,\n    Ann am baile Pheairtean,\n    Ciod a gheibh sinn ann,\n    Aran agus leann,\n    'S crap an cul a chinn,\n    'S chead dachaidh.\n\n_Huid, uid_ is used in Perthshire for making horses run. The boy is set\nastride on a man's knee, which is kept in motion like a trotting horse.\nStretching both his hands, the boy, in imagination, is trotting to\nPerth, where he expects bread and ale; and as a finish to the whole, a\nknock on the back of the head, and leave to go home. Many a hearty laugh\nhave I seen boys enjoy when they got the knock on the head. Another\nis--seizing a child's hand, and beginning at the thumb giving the\nfollowing names--\"_Ordag, colgag, meur fad, Mac Nab, rag mhearlach nan\ncaorach 's nan gobhar, cuir gad ris, cuir gad ris._\" Reaching the small\nfinger, the thief is seized and severely scourged with the rod, and a\nroar of laughter is raised by the youngsters. Placing a child between\nthe knees and slowly placing the one foot before another with the\nfollowing words, is another--\n\n    Cia mar theid na coin do n' mhuileann\n    Mar sud, 's mar so,\n    'S bheir iad ullag as a phoc so,\n    'S ullag as a phoc sin,\n\nAnd then moving them quicker--\n\n    'S thig iad dachaidh air an trot,\n    Trit, trot, dhachaidh.\n\n_Ullag_ means the quantity of meal raised by the three fingers. What a\nglee of hilarity is raised when the quick motion commences?\n\nThe following is a very imaginative piece, descriptive of a flighty\nindividual who proposes to do more than he can accomplish:--\n\n    Cheann a'n Tobermhuire           Head in Tobermory,\n    'S a chollainn 's a Chrianan,    Body in Crianan,\n    Cas a'm Boad hoi-e,              Foot in Boad (Bute) hoi-e,\n    'S a chas eil a'n Grianaig       Other foot in Grianaig (Greenock).\n\nIt is a most melancholy fact, that at present there is a combined and a\ndetermined effort put forth to banish the native language, and the\nnative melodies of the Gael entirely from the country, and to bring the\nwhole population under the sway of the artificial language taught in our\nschools, and of its artificial melodies. The foreigner represents our\nlanguage as low and vulgar, quite destitute of the sterling qualities\npeculiar to his own; and consequently not deserving either to be held\nfast, or to be worthy of attentive study. And in order that he may be\nthe more successful in his effort, he pretends to be our greatest, our\nonly friend; heartily disposed to make us learned, wealthy and\nhonourable, yes, and, of course, pious too. I say to him at once,\nwithout any ceremony, keep back, sir, give over your fallacious, your\nblustering bombast, we know the hollowness of your pretensions. The Gael\nhas a language and melodies already, superior to any that you can give\nhim, and would you attempt to rob him of his birthright and inheritance,\nwhich is dear to him as his heart's blood? Every true friend of the Gael\nwould certainly give him a good English education; but instead of doing\naway with his own language and melodies, it would be such an English\neducation as would ground him more than ever in a knowledge of his own.\nIs it not an acknowledged fact that, there is nothing that grounds\nstudents more thoroughly in a knowledge of a language than to translate\nit from his own. This mode of teaching is perhaps more troublesome to\nschoolmasters at first, but when once fairly tried and put in practice,\nit will, without doubt, be the most agreeable and the most successful\npart of their work, and would not have such a deadening effect, either\nupon their own minds, or upon those of their scholars.\n\n                                                   ARCHD. FARQUHARSON.\n\nISLAND OF TIREE.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HARP BRINGETH JOY UNTO ME.\n\n\n    O autumn! to me thou art dearest,\n      Thou bringest deep thoughts to me now,\n    For the leaves in the forest are searest,\n      And the foliage falls from each bough.\n\n    And then as the day was declining,\n      While nature was wont to repose,\n    A sage on his harp was reclining\n      Who sang of Lochaber's bravoes.\n\n    He played and he sang of their glory,\n      Their deeds which the ages admire;\n    Then softly, then wildly, their story\n      He told on the strings of his lyre.\n\n    While praise on the heroes he lavished,\n      And lauded their triumphs again,\n    A maid came a-list'ning, enravished--\n      Enrapt by his charming refrain.\n\n    O! bright were the beams of her smiling,\n      I sigh for the peace on her brow,\n    Not a trace on her features of guiling,\n      My heart singeth songs to her now.\n\n    Inspired by the rapturous measure,\n      This fair one skipt over the lea:\n    One morning I sought the young treasure,\n      Now dear as my soul she's to me.\n\n                              DONALD MACGREGOR.\n    Member of the Gaelic Society of London.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HIGHLAND CEILIDH.\n\n(CONTINUED.)\n\n\n\"_Oh! nach be 'n ceatharnach am fleasgach, bu mhor am beud cuir as da\ngun chothrom na Feinne_\" (Ah! what a valiant youth, it would be a pity\nto extinguish him without according him Fingalian fair play), shouted\nseveral voices at once. \"Did you ever hear the story about Glengarry and\nhis old castle, when he was buried alive with Macranuil under the\nfoundation?\" asked _Alastair Mac Eachain Duibh_. \"I heard it, when, last\nyear in Strathglass, and you shall hear it.\" At this stage \"Norman\"\nexhibited signs of his intention to go away for the night, when several\nmembers of the circle, backed up by the old bard, requested the favour\nof one more story ere he departed. Norman would rather hear _Alastair's_\nstory of Glengarry, and would wait for it. \"No, no,\" exclaimed\n_Alastair_, \"you can have my story any time; let us have one more from\nNorman before he leaves, and I will give mine afterwards, for he may\nnever come back to see us again.\" \"That I will,\" says Norman, \"as often\nas I can, for I have just found out a source of enjoyment and amusement\nwhich I did not at all expect to meet with in this remote corner of the\ncountry. However, to please you, I'll give you a story about Castle\nUrquhart; and afterwards recite a poem of my own composition on the\nCastle, and on the elopement of Barbara, daughter of Grant of Grant,\nwith Colin Mackenzie, \"High-Chief of Kintail.\"\n\nGlen Urquhart, where Castle Urquhart is situated, is one of the\nmost beautiful of our Highland valleys, distant from Inverness some\nfourteen miles, and expands first from the waters of Loch Ness into a\nsemicircular plain, divided into fields by hedgerows, and having its\nhillsides beautifully diversified by woods and cultivated grounds. The\nvalley then runs upwards some ten miles to Corriemonie, through a tract\nof haughland beautifully cultivated, and leading to a rocky pass or\ngorge half-way upwards or thereabouts, which, on turning an inland\nvalley, as it were, is attained, almost circular, and containing Loch\nMeiglie, a beautiful small sheet of water, the edges of which are\nstudded with houses, green lawns, and cultivated grounds. Over a\nheathy ridge, beyond these two or three miles, we reach the flat of\nCorriemonie, adorned by some very large ash and beech trees, where the\nland is highly cultivated, at an elevation of eight or nine hundred feet\nabove, and twenty-five miles distant from, the sea. At the base of\nMealfourvonie, a small circular lake of a few acres in extent exists,\nwhich was once thought to be unfathomable, and to have a subterranean\ncommunication with Loch Ness. From it flows the Aultsigh Burn, a\nstreamlet which, tumbling down a rocky channel, at the base of one of\nthe grandest frontlets of rock in the Highlands, nearly fifteen hundred\nfeet high, empties itself into Loch Ness within three miles of\nGlenmoriston. Besides the magnificent and rocky scenery to be seen in\nthe course of this burn, it displays, at its mouth, an unusually\nbeautiful waterfall, and another about two miles further up, shaded with\nfoliage of the richest colour. A tributary of the Coiltie, called the\nDhivach, amid beautiful and dense groves of birch, displays a waterfall,\nas high and picturesque as that of Foyers; and near the source of the\nEnneric river, which flows from Corriemonie into the still waters of\nLoch Meigle, another small, though highly picturesque cascade, called\nthe Fall of Moral, is to be seen. Near it, is a cave large enough to\nreceive sixteen or twenty persons. Several of the principal gentlemen of\nthe district concealed themselves here from the Hanoverian troops during\nthe troubles of the '45.\n\nOn the southern promontory of Urquhart Bay are the ruins of the Castle,\nrising over the dark waters of the Loch, which, off this point, is 125\nfathoms in depth. The castle has the appearance of having been a strong\nand extensive building. The mouldings of the corbel table which remain\nare as sharp as on the day they were first carved, and indicate a date\nabout the beginning of the 14th century. The antiquary will notice a\npeculiar arrangement in the windows for pouring molten lead on the heads\nof the assailants. It overhangs the lake, and is built on a detached\nrock separated from the adjoining hill, at the base of which it lies, by\na moat of about twenty-five feet deep and sixteen feet broad. The rock\nis crowned by the remains of a high wall or curtain, surrounding the\nbuilding, the principal part of which, a strong square keep of three\nstoreys, is still standing, surmounted by four square hanging turrets.\nThis outward wall encloses a spacious yard, and is in some places\nterraced. In the angles were platforms for the convenience of the\ndefending soldiery. The entrance was by a spacious gateway between two\nguard rooms, projected beyond the general line of the walls, and was\nguarded by more than one massive portal and a huge portcullis to make\nsecurity doubly sure. These entrance towers were much in the style of\narchitecture peculiar to the Castles of Edward I. of England, and in\nfront of them lay the drawbridge across the outer moat. The whole works\nwere extensive and strong, and the masonry was better finished than is\ncommon in the generality of Scottish strongholds.\n\nThe first siege Urquhart Castle is known to have sustained was in the\nyear 1303, when it was taken by the officers of Edward I. who were sent\nforward by him, to subdue the country, from Kildrummie near Nairn,\nbeyond which he did not advance in person, and of all the strongholds in\nthe north, it was that which longest resisted his arms.\n\nAlexander de Bois, the brave governor and his garrison, were put to the\nsword. Sir Robert Lauder of Quarrelwood in Morayshire, governor of the\nCastle in A.D. 1334, maintained it against the Baliol faction. His\ndaughter, marrying the Earl of Strathglass, the offspring of their\nunion, Sir Robert Chisholm of that Ilk, became Laird of Quarrelwood in\nright of his grandfather. After this period it is known to have been a\nRoyal fort or garrison; but it is very likely it was so also at the\ncommencement of the 14th century, and existed, as such, in the reigns of\nthe Alexanders and other Scottish sovereigns, and formed one of a chain\nof fortresses erected for national defence, and for insuring internal\npeace. In 1359 the barony and the Castle of Urquhart were disponed by\nDavid II. to William, Earl of Sutherland, and his son John. In 1509 it\nfell into the hands of the chief of the Clan Grant, and in that family's\npossession it has continued to this day.\n\nHow it came into the possession of John Grant the 10th Laird, surnamed\nthe \"Bard,\" is not known; but it was not won by the broadsword, from\nHuntly, the Lieutenant-General of the king. It has been the boast of the\nchiefs of the Clan Grant that no dark deeds of rapine and blood have\nbeen transmitted to posterity by any of their race. Their history is\nunique among Highland clans, in that, down to the period of the\ndisarming after Culloden, the broadswords of the Grants were as spotless\nas a lady's bodkin. True it is, there were some dark deeds enacted\nbetween the Grants of Carron and Ballindalloch; and at the battles of\nCromdale and Culloden, the Grants of Glenmoriston were present, but far\notherwise was the boast of the Grants of Strathspey--a gifted ancestry\nseemed to transmit hereditary virtues, and each successive scion of the\nhouse seemed to emulate the peaceful habits of his predecessor. That\nthis amiable life did not conceal craven hearts is abundantly evident\nfrom the history of our country. There is a continual record of gallant\ndeeds and noble bearing in their records down to the present time, and\nthere are few families whose names, like the Napiers and the Grants, are\nmore conspicuous in our military annals. But their rise into a powerful\nclan was due to the more peaceful gifts, of \"fortunate alliances,\" and\n\"Royal bounties.\"\n\nIt is much to be regretted that so little has been transmitted to\nposterity of the history of this splendid ruin of Castle Urquhart.\n\nThe probability is that it is connected with many a dark event over\nwhich the turbulence of the intervening period and the obscurity of its\nsituation have cast a shade of oblivion.\n\nThe most prominent part of the present mass, the fine square tower of\nthe north-eastern extremity of the building is supposed to have been the\nkeep, and is still pretty entire. From this point, the view is superb.\nIt commands Loch Ness from one end to the other, and is an object on\nwhich the traveller fixes an admiring gaze as the steamer paddles her\nmerry way along the mountain-shadowed water. On a calm day the dashing\necho of the Fall of Foyers bursts fitfully across the Loch, and when the\nmeridian sun lights up the green earth after a midsummer shower, a\nglimpse of the distant cataract may be occasionally caught, slipping\nlike a gloriously spangled avalanche to the dark depths below. \"My\nstory,\" said Norman, \"in which the castle was the principal scene of\naction is quite characteristic of the times referred to. A gentleman of\nrank who had been out with the Prince and had been wounded at Culloden,\nfound himself on the evening of that disastrous day, on the banks of the\nriver Farigaig, opposite Urquhart Castle. He had been helped so far by\ntwo faithful retainers, one of whom, a fox-hunter, was a native of the\nvale of Urquhart. This man, perceiving the gentleman was unable to\nproceed further, and seeing a boat moored to the shore, proposed that\nthey should cross to the old Castle, in a vault of which, known only to\na few of the country people, they might remain secure from all pursuit.\nThe hint was readily complied with, and, in less than a couple of hours,\nthey found themselves entombed in the ruins of Urquhart Castle, where\nsleep shortly overpowered them, and, the sun was high in the heavens\nnext day ere any of them awoke. The gentleman's wound having been\npartially dressed, the fox-hunter's comrade yawningly observed 'that a\nbit of something to eat would be a Godsend.' 'By my troth it would,'\nsaid the fox-hunter, 'and if my little Mary knew aught of poor _Eoghainn\nBrocair's_ (Ewan the fox-hunter) plight, she would endeavour to relieve\nhim though Sassenach bullets were flying about her ears.' 'By heaven!\nour lurking-place is discovered!' whispered the gentleman, 'do you not\nobserve a shadow hovering about the entrance.' ''Tis the shadow of a\nfriend' replied the _Brocair_; and in an instant a long-bodied,\nshort-legged Highland terrier sprung into the vault. '_Craicean, a\ndhuine bhochd_,' said the overjoyed fox-hunter, hugging the faithful\nanimal to his bosom, 'this is the kindest visit you ever paid me.' As\nsoon as the shades of evening had darkened their retreat, _Eoghainn_\nuntied his garter, and binding it round the dog's neck, caressed him,\nand pointing up the Glen, bade him go and bring the _Brocair_ some food.\nThe poor terrier looked wistfully in his face, and with a shake of his\ntail, quietly took his departure. In about four hours '_Craicean_'\nreappeared and endeavoured by every imaginable sign to make _Eoghainn_\nfollow him outside. With this the _Brocair_ complied, but in a few\nseconds he re-entered accompanied by another person. _Eoghainn_ having\ncovered the only entrance to the cave with their plaids, struck a light\nand introduced, to his astonished friends, his betrothed young Mary\nMaclauchlan. The poor girl had understood by the garter which bound the\nterrier's neck, and which she herself had woven, that her _Eoghainn_ was\nin the neighbourhood, and hastened to his relief with all the ready\nprovision she could procure; and not least, in the estimation of at\nleast two of the fugitives, the feeling maiden had brought them a sip of\nunblemished whisky. In this manner they had been supplied with aliment\nfor some time, when one night their fair visitor failed to come as\nusual. This, though it created no immediate alarm, somewhat astonished\nthem; but when the second night came and neither Mary nor her shaggy\ncompanion arrived, _Eoghainn's_ uneasiness, on Mary's account, overcame\nevery other feeling, and, in spite of all remonstrance, he ventured\nforth, in order to ascertain the cause of her delay. The night was dark\nand squally, and _Eoghainn_ was proceeding up his native glen like one\nwho felt that the very sound of his tread might betray him to death.\nWith a beating heart he had walked upwards of two miles, when his ears\nwere saluted with the distant report of a musket. Springing aside he\nconcealed himself in a thicket which overhung the river. Here he\nremained but a very short time when he was joined by the _Craicean_\ndragging after him a cord, several yards in length. This circumstance\nbrought the cold sweat from the brow of the _Brocair_. He knew that\ntheir enemies were in pursuit of them, that the cord had been affixed to\nthe dogs neck in order that he might lead to their place of concealment;\nand alas! _Eoghainn_ feared much that his betrothed was at the mercy of\nhis pursuers. What was to be done? The moment was big with fate, but he\nwas determined to meet it like a man. Cutting the cord and whispering to\nthe terrier, \"_cul mo chois_\" (back of my heel) he again ventured to the\nroad and moved warily onward. On arriving at an old wicker-wrought barn,\nhe saw a light streaming from it, when creeping towards it, he observed\na party of the enemy surrounding poor Mary Maclauchlan, who was, at the\nmoment, undergoing a close examination by their officer. 'Come girl,'\nsaid he, 'though that blind rascal has let your dog escape, who would\ncertainly have introduced us to the rebels, _you_ will surely consult\nyour own safety by guiding me to the spot; nay, I know you will, here is\nmy purse in token of my future friendship, and in order to conceal your\nshare in the transaction you and I shall walk together to a place where\nyou may point me out the lurking place of these fellows, and leave the\nrest to me; and do you,' continued he, turning to his party, 'remain all\nready until you hear a whistle, when instantly make for the spot.' The\n_Brocair_ crouched, as many a time he did, but never before did his\nheart beat at such a rate. As the officer and his passive guide took the\nroad to the old Castle, _Eoghainn_ followed close in their wake, and,\nwhen they had proceeded about a mile from the barn, they came upon the\nold hill road when Mary made a dead halt, as if quite at a loss how to\nact. 'Proceed, girl,' thundered the officer, 'I care not one farthing\nfor my own life, and if you do not instantly conduct me to the spot\nwhere the bloody rebels are concealed, this weapon,' drawing his sword\n'shall, within two minutes, penetrate your cunning heart.' The poor girl\ntrembled and staggered as the officer pointed his sword to her bosom,\nwhen the voice of _Eoghainn_ fell on his ear like the knell of death,\n'Turn your weapon this way, brave sir,' said the _Brocair_, 'Turn it\nthis way,' and in a moment the officer and his shivered sword lay at his\nfeet. 'Oh, for heaven's sake,' screamed the fainting girl, 'meddle not\nwith his life.' 'No, no, Mary; I shall not dirty my hands in his blood.\nI have only given him the weight of my oak sapling, so that he may sleep\nsoundly till we are safe from the fangs of his bloodhounds.' That very\nnight the fugitives left Urquhart Castle and got safe to the forests of\nBadenoch, where they skulked about with Lochiel and his few followers\nuntil the gentleman escaped to France, when _Eoghainn Brocair_ and his\ncompanion ventured once more, as they themselves expressed it, 'to the\ncommunion of Christians.' The offspring of the _Brocair_ and Mary\nMaclauchlan are still in Lochaber.\"\n\n                                                          ALASTAIR OG.\n\n                          (_To be Continued._)\n\n\n\n\n                          THE LAST OF THE CLAN.\n\n\"_After many years he returned to die._\"\n\n\n    The last of the clansmen, grey-bearded and hoary,\n      Sat lone by the old castle's ruin-wrapt shade,\n    Where proudly his chief in the bloom of his glory\n      Oft mustered his heroes for battle arrayed:\n    He wept as he gazed on its beauties departed,\n      He sighed in despair for its gloom of decay,\n    Cold-shrouded his soul, and he sung broken-hearted,\n      With grief-shaking voice a wild woe-sounding lay.--\n            \"Weary, weary, sad returning,\n              Exiled long in other climes,\n            Hope's last flame, slow, feebly burning\n              Seeks the home of olden times:\n            In my joy why am I weeping?\n              Where my kindred? Where my clan?\n            Whispers from the mountains creeping,\n              Tell me 'I'm the only man.'\n    \"Yon tempest-starred mountains still loom in their grandeur,\n      The loud rushing torrents still sweep thro' the glen,\n    Thro' low-moaning forests dim spirits still wander,\n      But where are the songs and the voices of men?\n    Tell me, storied ruins! where, where are their slumbers?\n      Where now are the mighty no foe could withstand?\n    The voice of the silence in echoing numbers,\n      Breathes sadly the tale of fate's merciless hand.\n\n    \"Ah me! thro' the black clouds, one star shines in heaven,\n      And flings o'er the darkness its fast waning light,\n    'Tis to me an omen so tenderly given,\n      Foretelling that soon I will sink in my night:\n    The coronach slowly again is far pealing!\n      The grey ghosts of kinsmen I fondly can trace!\n    Around me they gather! and silent are kneeling,\n      To gaze in deep sorrow on all of their race!\n            Slowly, slowly, sadly viewing\n              With their weird mysterious scan,\n            Desolation's gloomy ruin!\n              All of kindred! all of clan!\n            Ah! my heart, my heart is fainting,\n              Strangely shaking are my limbs,\n            Heav'nward see! their fingers pointing,\n              And my vision trembling swims.\n            Slowly, slowly, all-pervading,\n              O'er me steals their chilly breath,\n            See! the single star is fading,\n              Ling'ring in the joy of death,\n                Darkness swiftly o'er me gathers,\n              Softly fade these visions wan,\n                Welcome give, ye spirit fathers,\n              I'm the Last of all the Clan!\"\n\n                                          WM. ALLAN.\n\n    SUNDERLAND.\n\n\n\n\n_LITERATURE._\n\n_BARON BRUNO OR THE UNBELIEVING PHILOSOPHER, AND OTHER FAIRY STORIES._\n_By_ LOUISA MORGAN. Macmillan & Co.\n\n\nWE do not care for Fairy Tales, as a rule, but we have read this book\nwith genuine pleasure. It is written in a pleasant, easy style, and\nthough it has the full complement of witchcraft, enchanted princesses,\nand, sudden transformations, it deals more with human sympathies and\naffections than is usual, in this class of literature. There are five\ndifferent stories, of which the scene of two is laid in Germany, one in\nDenmark, one in Wales, and the other in the Highlands of Scotland. Baron\nBruno, or the Unbelieving Philosopher, is the story of the Prime\nMinister at the Grand Ducal Court of Rumple Stiltzein. The Baron is not\nonly a clever Statesman, but a Philosopher and Astronomer; albeit, a\nsceptic in religious matters. He is so wrapt up in his abstruse studies\nthat he ignores the pleasures of domestic life, and lives a solitary man\nwithout wife or children. At last he begins to feel the loneliness of\nhis home life, and overcome in spite of himself, he cries aloud--\"To you\ndistant stars! I nightly offer the homage of a constant worshipper;\nwould that you in return could give me to know the spell of love, and\nteach me what it is that inspires the painter, the poet, and the lover.\"\nThis impassioned address is immediately answered by the appearance of a\nbeautiful maiden, who informs him that she is sent to teach him the\nspell of love, and to try to lead him through the influence of human\naffections to believe in the immortality of the soul. She becomes his\nwife, but exacts a promise from him, that once every month she is to\nspend the evening hours in undisturbed solitude, as her life depends on\nthe strict observance of this. She also tells him that if he doubts her\nfaith even for a moment she will have to leave him and return to her\ncelestial home. They live happily for a time, but at length, through the\nmachinations of a wicked Countess Olga, a spinster of uncertain age, who\nhad hoped to have gained the Baron for herself, he becomes uneasy, and\none night is so worked upon by the wily insinuations of the spiteful\nCountess, and irritated at the non-appearance of his wife at a Grand\nState Ball, that he rushes home in a frenzy of suspicion, and regardless\nof his promise, breaks in on the Baroness' seclusion. The result is\ndisastrous, the child dies and his wife returns to her starry home; but\nher mission is fulfilled, for over the death-bed of his infant--a scene\nfull of pathos--his heart softens and he avows his belief. This story is\ncapitally told, and considerable humour is displayed in the account of a\ngrand Court Dinner, at which the young Prince and his mischievous\ncompanions amuse themselves by sticking burrs on the footmen's silk\nstockings, much to the discomfiture of the poor flunkeys, the dismay of\nthe high officials, and the indignation of the Grand Duke.\n\n\"Esgair: The Bride of Llyn Idwyl,\" is founded on an old Welsh Legend,\nand is a graceful, though rather weird story. \"Eothwald, the young\nsculptor,\" tells how a Mermaiden was wooed and won, but in Eothwald's\nbreast the artist was stronger than the lover, and the poor Mermaid died\nbroken-hearted.\n\n\"Fido and Fidunia\" is the longest of the tales, and will, we think, be\nthe favourite with young folks. Fido is the very embodiment of canine\nsagacity, and poor, plain, unsophisticated Fidunia is a well drawn\ncharacter, though she seems to be rather hardly dealt by. There is one\nthing which may be considered a defect in this otherwise charming book;\nall the heroines, though amiable and faultless, come to a sad end. They\nare made the scapegoats of their masculine companions. Though this is\ntoo often the case in real life, it is much more pleasant in a Fairy\nTale, that all the amiable characters should be married and \"live happy\never after.\"\n\nEud\u00e6mon, the hero of the Highland story, is the son of Valbion, the wild\nsea-king, who has deserted him and his mother. Eud\u00e6mon, as may be\nsupposed from his mixed parentage, is a singular being, living a\nhermit-like life in the lonely Castle Brochel, on the Island of Raasay.\nCarefully educated by his mother, he knows all the medicinal properties\nof herbs and minerals. This, combined with magic lore inherited from his\nfather, enables him to perform such wonderful cures that he is known far\nand wide as \"The Enchanter of the North.\" His fame reaches the Lowlands,\nwhere lives a beautiful princess, afflicted, through the magical spells\nof Valbion, with dumbness. Her parents bring her to Castle Brochel in\nthe hope that Eud\u00e6mon may work her cure. He begins by teaching her the\ngame of chess, and then tries the power of music. This enables her to\nsing but not to speak. To complete the cure it is necessary that she\nshould visit the abode of the powerful Valbion himself in the mysterious\nsubmerged halls of Thuisto--an expedition fraught with great danger; and\nwhich, though it proves the means of restoring speech to the princess,\nproves fatal to Eud\u00e6mon, through the indiscretion of the Queen. The poor\nPrincess in gaining the use of her tongue loses her heart, and, like a\nsecond Ophelia, goes distracted, for the loss of her lover.\n\nThe following is given as the Highland Legend of Castle Brochel, on\nwhich the story is founded:--\n\n   On the eastern side of the Isle of Raasay there still stands a lonely\n   ruin known as Castle Brochel. Parched upon precipitous rocks at the\n   very verge of the ocean, it is easy to imagine how, armed and\n   provisioned, this fortress held its own amid the perpetual warfare of\n   early Celtic times. Castle Brochel has always borne a doubtful\n   reputation. According to tradition, it was originally built with the\n   price of blood, for the ancient legend runs somewhat after this\n   fashion. Shiel Torquil went forth with his dogs one morning to hunt\n   the red deer on the wild mountains Blaven and Glamaig, in the\n   neighbouring Island of Skye. Sheil Torquil had with him only one\n   retainer, but he was a host in himself, being surnamed, from his\n   immense size and strength, the Gillie More. After some time they\n   sighted a stag. In the ardour of the chase the dogs soon ran out of\n   sight, pursuing their quarry towards the shore at Sligachan. Now it\n   so happened that the young Kreshinish in his galley was anchored on\n   that side of the island within sight of the beach. He saw the hunted\n   animal about to take to the water, and swim, as deer are often known\n   to do, across the narrow strait which lies between Skye and Raasay.\n   Kreshinish and his men at once landed and took possession, not only\n   of the stag itself, but of the dogs which, panting and exhausted,\n   were unable to offer any resistance. Shiel Torquil presently appeared\n   on the scene and angrily asked for his deer and his hounds.\n   Kreshinish refused to deliver them up. A bloody struggle ensued,\n   during which the Gillie More inflicted a fatal wound upon the\n   ill-fated young chieftain who unwittingly (at first) had interfered\n   with the sports of another. This brought the affray to a speedy\n   conclusion, and Shiel Torquil with his follower carried off deer and\n   dogs in triumph. Not long after this the poor old father of\n   Kreshinish came to Skye to seek for the murderer of his son, and\n   publicly offered the reward of a bag of silver to any one who would\n   show him the guilty man. The Gillie More, hearing of the promised\n   guerdon, boldly entered the presence of the elder Kreshinish.\n   Confessing that he himself had slain the youthful chieftain, he urged\n   in self-defence the young man's overbearing conduct in attempting to\n   carry off Shiel Torquil's stag-hounds and game. The bereaved father,\n   obliged by the stringent laws of Highland honour to fulfil his solemn\n   promise, reluctantly bestowed the bag of silver on the very man who\n   had cut off his only child in the early bloom of manhood. The Gillie\n   More, however, haunted by remorse, and still fearing the avenger's\n   footstep, entreated his master to accept the money and build\n   therewith a retreat for them both. Shiel Torquil granted his\n   henchman's request. After some time spent in searching for a suitable\n   site, they at last selected the wild easterly shore of Raasay. Here\n   were speedily raised the frowning walls of Castle Brochel. Secured\n   from sudden attack by the inaccessible situation of their refuge, the\n   Gillie More and his master lived in peace for many years. Their\n   retired habits, and their dislike to intruders, coupled with this\n   strange tale of robbery and murder, caused the Castle, though\n   newly-built, to be regarded with no friendly eye. When they died, it\n   was left untenanted for a considerable time. Many reports were\n   circulated concerning the strange sights and sounds to be seen and\n   heard at the eerie hour of twilight, or amid the silent watches of\n   the night, by the belated traveller who chanced to pass that way by\n   sea or by land. At the period of which we speak, Castle Brochel had,\n   however, for some time been inhabited by a being whose origin was\n   partially shrouded in mystery, the gloomy Eud\u00e6mon, known as the\n   \"Enchanter of the North.\"\n\nIt will be seen that our author is ignorant of the Gaelic language; for\nshe thinks _Shiel Torquil_--or correctly, _Siol Torquil_--is a proper\nname, and applies it to a person, instead of a sept or branch of the\nMacleods. She is also defective in her knowledge of Hebridean geography.\nOld _Kreshinish_--correctly _Grishernish_--comes _to_ Skye, while we all\nknow the place, and the man, who was called after it, to be _in_ Skye.\n\nWe are divulging no secret however, in stating that, although the author\nappears to be but indifferently acquainted with the Highlands, she is of\nHighland extraction. And now that the connection is re-established by\nher brother, John Darroch, Esq., by his recent purchase of the Estate of\nTorridon, she will enjoy better opportunities of making herself more\nfully acquainted with the country of her ancestors.\n\nThe book is beautifully illustrated by R. Caldecott.\n\n\n   LOGAN'S SCOTTISH GAEL.--This publication, by Hugh Mackenzie, Bank\n   Lane, has reached the fourth part. In the third we have coloured and\n   well executed plates of the Bonnets of the Highlanders, and the\n   Sporans of the different Highland Regiments; after which we have an\n   account of the peculiar Oaths of the Gael; the Chief's Body Guard;\n   Mode of Drawing up the Highland Armies; Right of certain Clans to\n   certain positions; Military tactics and Mode of Attack; Valour of the\n   Celtic Females; Duties of the Bards; Origin, Adaptation to the\n   country, and Equity of Clanship; Fosterage; Mode of Electing Chiefs,\n   and Titles of Celtic Nobility; Origin of Feudal Tenures; Creachs;\n   Blackmail; &c., &c. Part four treats of Gaelic Law and Law Terms;\n   Judges; Punishments; Manner of Dress; Painting the Body; Animal's\n   Skins; Origin of Clan Tartans; Native Dyes; Costumes; Bonnet; Shield\n   Ornaments; Women's Dress; Defensive Armour; Mail and Helmets;\n   Shields, and other interesting matter. Great credit is due to the\n   publisher for the expeditious progress he is making in bringing out\n   the work.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTES\n\nThe following amendments to the text have been made:\n\np. 164 \"consumate\" changed to \"consummate\"; \"neice\" changed to \"niece\";\n\np. 180 \"inseperable\" changed to \"inseparable\";\n\np. 181 double quotes in front of \"Ghaoil\" deleted; \"S tu\" changed to \"'S\ntu\";\n\np. 183 closing quotes added after \"och mise\";\n\np. 192 \"abtruse\" changed to \"abstruse\";\n\np. 194 comma after \"work\" changed to full stop.\n\n\nThe spellings \"Inverary\" and \"Inveraray\", \"Shiel\" and \"Sheil\" appear in\nthis text.\n\nThe spelling \"Conceive\" on p. 167 has been left unchanged.\n\nThere should probably be an extra double quotation mark after \"High-Chief\nof Kintail\" on p. 186, but no addition has been made.\n\n\"Picheqru\" on p. 178 should probably be \"Pichegru\" but has been left\nunchanged.","title":"The Celtic Magazine, Vol. I, No. VI, April 1876: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History, Antiquities, Folk Lore, Traditions, and the Social and Material Interests of the Celt at Home and Abroad","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":17662}