THE peaceful times
for the Highlands, succeeding the massacre of Glencoe, may allow me
now to turn aside a little from the Lairds, and devote this chapter
to miscellaneous thoughts and incidents, suggested by these
inquiries, or connected with them.
I beg pardon for
quoting Latin; but not having Sir John Skene's translation at hand,
I am too diffident as to my knowledge of mediaeval law phraseology,
to give my own as a true version, without affording others an
opportunity of correcting me; moreover, to classical scholars not
acquainted with the writings of the middle ages, such samples may
perchance be interesting. The first specimen is from the laws
ascribed to Malcolm M'Kenneth, who commenced his reign 1003:—
Leges Malcolmi
Mackenneth, Cap. 10.—"Item: ordinaverunt, quod nullus Baro, vel
Comes, vel aliquis alius receptabit malefactorem aliquem, infra
dominationem suam sub poena amissionis curiae suae in perpetuum"—That
is "They" (the King and Barons) "have ordained, that no Baron nor
Count, nor any other, shall receive any malefactor within his
lordship, under the penalty of losing his jurisdiction forever."
The statute of
William the Lion regarding the same subject is far more particular,
and requires active as well as passive obedience; not only
malefactors must not be harboured, they must be pursued :—
Statuta sive Assisae
Wilhelmi Regis, Cap. 7.—Assisa Regis W helmi, facta apud Perth, quam
Episcopi, Abbates, Comites, Barones, Thani, & tota communitas regni,
tenere firmiter juraverunt; quod nee latrones nee interfectores
hominum, nee raptores, nee murdratores, nee alios malefactores,
manu-tenebunt nee receptabunt.
2. Quod tarn de
propriis hominibus, quam de alienis, ubicunque eos poterunt reperire,
pro posse suo, eos ad justitiam adducent; et pro posse suo
Justiciaries terrae manu-tenebunt.
3. Et quod propter
factum judicium aquae, vel ferri, vel duelli, aut cujuscunque modi
judicii nullam sument aut capient pecuniam, aut aliud beneficium,
pro quo effectus justitiae maneat imperfectus.
4. Et quod pro posse
suo, auxiliantes erunt Domino Regi; ad inquirendum malefactores ; ad
vindictam de illis capiendam.
5. Et cum a Domino
Rege requisiti fuerint unusquisque de curia alterius, secundum quod
sciverit, verum testimonium perhibebit.
6. Et Dominus Rex,
curias ipsorum in vadio cepit ; Itaque qui convictus fuerit super
hoc, et assisam hanc infregerit, curiam suam amittet in perpetuum.
"The assize of King
William made at Perth, which the Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons,
Thanes, and the whole community of the Kingdom swore firmly to hold
and observe : That they shall not receive nor maintain robbers,
manslayers, persons guilty of rapine, murderers, nor other
malefactors."
2. "That whether
these be of their own men, or of those of others, they shall bring
them to justice according to their power, wherever they can find
them ; and that, as far as they can, they shall uphold the
justiciaries of the land.
3. "And that for
holding the trial by water, by iron, by duel, or any other mode of
justice, they shall receive or take no money or other gift, where
through the effect of justice may remain imperfect.
4. "And that
according to their power they shall be assisting their Sovereign
Lord the King, in seeking out malefactors for being punished.
5. "And when required
by their Lord the King that each, as far as he knows, shall give
true testimony in regard to the court of the other.
6. "And their Lord
the King has taken their courts in pledge ; therefore whosoever
shall be convicted on this account, and shall infringe this assize*
shall lose his rights of jurisdiction for ever."
Passing over very
many intervening Acts of a similar nature, let us contrast William
the Lion's statute with the following bond :—
"Be it kend till all
men be thir presents, me, Angus M'Donald of Kenknock, fforasmuchas
by the Laws and Acts of Parliament made for suppressing
depredations, thift reift, poinding, * * and conniving with thift
and other crymes, which wer ordinarily committed by the indwellers
in the Highlands, it is statut and ordained, that all heritors,
landlords, wadsetters, lyfrenters, and the heads and chieftains of
clans, should find cautione for yr haill vassels, men-tenents, and
servants. Lykeas, by severall Acts of Council, it is statut and
ordained, that all branches of clans and heads of families should
lykeways find cautione for the men-tenents, servants, and ye persons
of their names descending of their families. Therefore, I, as
principall, and dame Lady Helen Lindsay, Lady Glenlyon, lyfrentrix
of the lands mentioned in her * * *, as caur for me, bind and
oblidge us commonllie and seallie, our airs, excrs and successors,
That I, the said Angus M'Donald, and my haill tenents, servants, and
the persons of my name, descending of my familie, wherever they
dwell, shall commit no murder, manslaughter, deforcement, reifts,
thifts, depredationes, oppen or avowed fyr-raising upon deadly
feuds, nor any other facts or deids contrarrie to the Acts of
Parliament, under the pains of fyve hundred merks, Scots money,
besydes the redressing and repairing of all paines and skaithes :
And farther, that I shall produce before the Comyssioners of
Justiciarie, appoynted for secureing the peace of the Highlands, or
any other his Matie's Justiciarie haveing power for the tyme, all or
any of my men-tenents, servants, and the persons of my name
descending of my familie, whenever I shall be called or lawfullie
cited to yt effect, under the penaltie forsaid, attour implement of
the premyss ; and lykeways to give in yearly lists to the
Comyssioners of Justiciarie, or . any haveing power as sd is, of the
haill persons' names residing within my bounds, above the age of
twelve years, under the penaltie foresaid, &c. &c. Subscribed with
our hands at Fortingall, the twelve day of November, 1701, befor
thir witnesses—Master Alexander Robertson, minister at Fortingall,
and Duncan Campbell of Duneaves. Dun. Campbell, Witness. A. M'Donald
A. Robertson,
Witness. Helen Lindsay.
Strange, in six
hundred years so little change had happened! This bond does not
differ much, except in form, from the assize of William the Lion ;
it takes security against the same evils, and, with a little more
minuteness, provides by similar means for the maintenance of public
safety. The exaction of oaths and promises of fidelity, and
obedience to the law, is invariably a confession of weakness, and
affords occasion for the very things it is intended to prevent. For
the strong government, it is sufficient to publish the law embodying
its will, affixing the punishment due for transgression; and then it
can wait without anxious caution in perfect reliance on its own
strength, to be able, on a breach of the law being committed, to
chastise the offender immediately with the punishment menaced. The
certainty of punishment enables a strong government to dispense with
cruel or capricious rigour; for a small evil, which is sure to
happen, is more dreaded than a great one, from which there is a
strong probability of escape. The Scottish monarchy was always
limited in its power, constitutionally, and the fierce disposition
of the people, the power and lawlessness of the nobles, rendered
practically that power much less than what it was constitutionally
acknowledged to be; yet one is astonished at the fact, so little
political progress had been made in the course of six long
centuries, that William of Orange could not dispense with the
barbarous and clumsy fencing of authority employed by William the
Lion. The causes thickly sewn over the surface of events during that
period are numerous and complicated ; but abstracting the
adventitious, and sinking the secondary ones, the principal causes
are not difficult to be understood. Artificial systems, either in
science or politics, unless recommended by comprehensive simplicity,
or hallowed by the sacred association of years,
easily succumb to unanticipated difficulties, and changes of
character and circumstances.
The social union based upon a general law of
nature, such as the ties of consanguinity, and the reverence and
obedience due to parental authority, sustains without yielding many
rude shocks, and in spite of changes of external form the internal
fabric is the same, and the relative position of parties remains
unaltered as long as the principle on which the junction is founded
has not been abjured by one of the parties themselves. From the days
of Malcolm Ceanmore to the Revolution, the feudal system prevailed
in the charters of land, the phraseology of law, and regulated, or
appeared to regulate generally, the relation of the Chief to the
King ; but the private connection of the Chief and his followers
rested entirely on the antagonistic principle of clanship. The Chief
was feudally the judge; but be the law what it might, and be the
Chief ever so inclined to carry it into effect, that could only be
done to the extent the clan wished. The want of a standing army
forced the King to make himself content with the sort of obedience
his vassals thought convenient to give, and see his excellent laws
come still-born into the world, or, after an active effort or two,
become dead. The very men, who, according to . their feudal tenure,
for the time surrounded his banner, might shortly be rebels
themselves, and were materially interested in not bringing the
disobedient to severe account. It was only when the selfish passions
of his followers were enlisted on the side of justice by mortal
feuds, or grants of escheated goods, the King's letters of fire and
sword were put really in force. The character given by Fordun of the
Highlanders of the fourteenth century is not far from being
applicable through the whole period of clanship. " The island or
mountain race is wild and untamed, rude and without morals
(obedience to the Church he means) capable of rapine, loving
idleness, of a teachable and astute nature, of comely appearance,
but rendered deformed by dress (the kilted-plaid forsooth); equally
hostile and cruel to the people and tongue of England, as well as to
(the lowland division of) their own nation, on account of the
diversity of language ; but faithful to their King and country, and
easily subjected to the law, if brought under control? In the
concluding sentence the venerable chronicler seems to lay the blame
of the lawlessness of the Highlands upon the chiefs. King and
statesmen wished the chiefs to adopt the feudal system in its
rigour, and the whole scope of their efforts tended in that
direction ; perhaps the latter at times were willing enough if they
could; but how were they to deny the brotherhood of blood, to refuse
the grasp of friendship to faithful clansmen, while these had arms
in their hands, and tradition and practice sanctioned the deposition
and death of a degenerate chief? One virtue Fordun cheerfully
concedes, "fidelity to the King and kingdom." It is historically
true, as well as in accordance with the leading principles of the
Celtic race. Within, the claim of equality of blood rendered
nugatory every plan of improvement, and scouted restrictions not in
accordance with clan sentiments and immemorial practice; without, it
presented the boldest front of military aggression, and rushed on
the foe with the watchword, "Sons of the Gael, shoulder to
shoulder!" The King, to them, was the chief of the great clan,
comprising the nation, the successor of the Gallic Vergobretus or
British Pendragon; the head captain in time of war; in peace, little
or nothing above others. When danger and dishonour menaced the King
and kingdom, the wild chivalry of the mountains was ever
conspicuously in front. Eighteen of the existing clans fought at
Bannockburn; when James IV. fell at
Flodden, "beside him lay Argyle and Athole," and many other chiefs
of main and isle. An affront to the kingdom was an affront to every
clansman personally, and the King could rely on their swords to wipe
away the disgrace ; but as for the laws of his domestic government,
they just commanded assent as far as they were backed by force, or
accorded with clan interests and predilections.
But for all the tenacity with which Highlanders
clung to ancient institutions and modes of thought, they could not
have held out against surrounding influences and persevering efforts
so long, had it not been for the inaccessible nature of their
mountains. Till incorporated under the protection of the general
laws, till it was no longer necessary for each man to guard his
head, of necessity clanship maintained its vigour. Judicious Acts of
Parliament, and transient exhibitions of vigour on the part of the
central government, had no permanent effect. The Highlands had to be
treated as the barbarous neighbour of a civilised country, until
General Wade laid their recesses bare, united them to the rest of
the kingdom by the bands of commerce and acquaintance, enabled
Government to concentrate at a short notice any amount of force
where danger was threatened, and, by a prudent disposition of
military posts, made it easy to foresee and anticipate each hostile
outburst. The measures for which the rebellions of '15 and '45
formed the apology, such as the disarming and diskilting Acts, were
the supplement to the General's labours; the executive was
now strong enough to dispense with vicarious factorships, to protect
and punish every individual in the Highlands; and the resumption of
heritable jurisdictions was the earnest of its power and
determination to do so. Wade, notwithstanding the escapade of
Ossian's grave, and two or three similar exploits, knew well how to
humour the Highlanders, and respect sentiments so different from his
own. In a letter to Mr. Forbes of Culloden, then Lord-Advocate, the
General describes an entertainment given him by Cearnaich or "cattle
lifters" in the following terms:—
"The knight and I
travelled in my carriage with great ease and pleasure to the feast
of the oxen which the highwaymen had prepared for us opposite
Lochgarry, where we found four oxen roasting at the same time, in
great order and solemnity. We dined in a tent pitched for that
purpose. The beef was excellent; and we had plenty of bumpers, not
forgetting your Lordship's and Culloden's health; and, after three
hours' stay, took leave of our benefactors the highwaymen, and
arrived at the hut at Dalnacardoch before it was dark."
Here was easy conduct
with a vengeance for the Commander-in-Chief of the forces in North
Britain; but it was chiefly thus he obtained the love and respect of
the Highlanders. Except in the prosecution of his engineering plans,
which he allowed no obstacle to oppose or turn aside, Wade was
indeed so just and accommodating as to win the goodwill of all
parties. M'Donald the Bard, a stiff Jacobite, thus "salutes"
Wade—the translation is Struan's :—
"Hail! fav'rite of
Great Britain's throne,
Prime executor of her law;
Whose skill and forward zeal alone
Could fierceness to submission draw.
"Thro' rugged rocks
you forced a way,
Where trade and commerce now are found;
The indigent look brisk and gay,
Since plenty does thro' you abound.
"The steepest mountain
ope's her womb,
To let her sons and hero meet:
Who could have dreamed it was her doom
E'er to have vy'd with London street."
Struan himself is no
less emphatic. In the lines, "Tay Bridge to her Founder," he makes
the bridge see and foretell the important consequences of the
Marshal's labours. Tay Bridge was built 1733 :—
"Long hath old Scotia
dissolution feared, Till you, her kind auspicious star appeared; But
soon as the celestial Power came down To smile on labour and on
sloth to frown, Scotia, reviving, raised her drooping crown, Discord
and barrenness confessed their doom— One closed her feuds, the other
ope'd her womb; Rocks inaccessible a passage know, And men innured
to arms address the plough.
No less surprising
was the daring scheme That fixed my station on this rapid stream.
The north and south rejoice to see me stand, Uniting in my function,
hand to hand, Commerce and concord—life of every land.
But who could force
rough nature thus to ply, Becalm the torrents, and make rocks to
fly? What art, what temper, and what manly toil Could smooth the
rudest sons of Britain's isle?
Methinks the reader's
anxious till he is told That Wade was skilful and that Wade was
bold. Thus shall his name for Britain's glory rise Till sun and moon
shall tumble from the skies."
It must be confessed
there is more than mouthing here; the eccentric chief of Clan
Donnochie (Robertsons) had a great deal of common sense, and
rejoiced, though a zealous Jacobite, at the prospect opened up to
his loved and distracted fatherland. The opening up of a market for
the fir-wood of Rannoch was also an arrangement touching him
personally. From this source he drew considerable sums during the
remainder of his life.
The following extract
of "Lybell of Mod. and Locality— Mr. Fergus Ferguson Agt. the
Heritors of Fortingall and Killiechonan, 1727," affords an authentic
glimpse of the social condition of the people and state of the
country at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The parish of
Fortingall was just like its neighbours, so that it may be taken as
a fair description of most Highland parishes at that time:—
"George, &c.—Forasmuchas
it is humbly meant and shown to us by our lovitt, Mr. Fergus
Ferguson, minr. of the Gospell at the united paroches of ftortingall
and Killiechonen, Moderator of the Presbitry of Dunkeld, and Mr.
John Dundas of Philypston, advocate, procurator for the Church of
Scotland, that the forsaid united Parishes are of a very Large
Extent, the one Extreme part thereof, from the Church of ffortingall
where the minr's manse is, to the outmost parts of the lands of
Balfracks, is five miles due east; the oyr Extreme is the head of
Glenlyon, which from the said Kirk is Distant ten miles west: The
united Parish of Killiechonen is Distant from that of ffortingall
seventeen miles North-west; and it being customary for people there
to goe to the Shealls both in summar and winter, at that time the
people of Glenlyon are about twenty miles from the Church of
ffortingall, and those of Ranoch twelve miles from the Kirk of
Killiechonen. In the forsaid united parishes there are four places
for publick worship—viz., at Breano in Glenlyon, Eight miles west
from the Church of ffortingall, and Kinloch-Ranoch, Eight miles and
ane half from the parish Church, and Killiechonen thirteen miles and
ane half from the parish Church—which places the minr. supplys by
preaching Services both summar and winter. Then betwixt the Kirk of
ffortingall and Killiechonen there is a long tract of hills, and
through the parish diverse impetuous Rivers—viz., Tay, Lyon, and the
River that Flows out of Loch Rannoch, besides several oyrs Burns ;
which hills, Burns, and waters are often impassable, and mostly it
is so in the winter. In the forsaid parishes there are about three
thousand Examinable persons, all which occasion great trouble,
ffatigue, and Charges to the minister in travelling through that
vast bounds, preaching, visiting, Baptising, and Catechising : And
though there be a sufficiencie of fund in the forsaid parishes for
stipends to two minrs, the rentall thereof being Ten Thousand nine
hundred fifty one pound Eight shillings, and fourty bolls of
victual, according to a rentall thereof, which is as ffolows —viz.,
The Lands of Struan and oyrs, which pertained to the Deceast
Alexander Robertson of Struan, fifteen hundred sixty-six pounds ;
The Lands of Slismin and oyrs, which pertained to Sir Robert Menzies
of Weems, sixteen hundred and sixteen pounds; The lands of
Innerhadden and oyrs, pertaining to his Grace James, Duke of Athole,
wadsett to Mr. Duncan Stewart, Two hundred pounds Scots; The two-merk
land of Dalichosine in Bunrannoch, pertaining to the forsaid Duke,
one hundred merks; The lands of Lassentulloch, Temper, and
Tullochcrosk, wadsett by the lorsaid Duke to James Stewart in
Donnaphuil, Three hundred six pound thirteen shillings four pennies
; The lands in Glenlyon and oyrs, pertaining to James Menzies of
Culdairs, Two thousand two hundred twenty-five pound one shilling
four pennies; Easter More and Kenknock, belonging to Angus M'Donalds,
Elder and younger of Kenknock, four hundred merks; The west end of
ffortingall and oyrs, pertaining to John Campbell of Glenlyon, nine
hundred sixty pound and six bolls bear, and for his lands of
Glenlyon one thousand merks ; The lands of------and oyrs, pertaining
to William Stewart of Drumchary, ffive hundred pound ; The lands of
Easter end of ffortingall, belonging to Lord George Murray of Garth,
seven hundred seventy seven pound . thirteen shillings four pennies;
Duneaves, Moncrieff, and oyrs, pertaining to John Campbell of
Duneaves, one Thousand pound; The lands of Baelfrack and oyrs,
pertaining to James Menzies of Bale-fracks, one Thousand pound; and
the lands of Lagancailtie and oyrs, belonging to Captain James
Menzies of Cernenie, Twenty-eight bolls victual: And that by diverse
Acts of Parliament it is ordained that minrs. of the Gospell be
provided in competent Stipends, with a fund for furnishing communion
Elements, yet nevertheless the minr. of the forsaid parishes hath no
Decreet for the same, and the use & wont is only about five
hundred merks yearly and the payment thereof very uncertain, it
being collected from house to house in small quantities : And
therefore," &c. &c.
In the parish of
Fortingall, during the space of 129 years, property has changed
hands to a great extent as the following table will show :—
Estates. Proprietors,
1727, Proprietors, 1856.
Struan,.....................Robertson...Robertson.
Slismin,....................Menzies......Menzies.
Innerhadden,..............Athole........Stewart.
Dalchosnie,...............Athole........Sir
J. W. M'Donald.
Lassentulloch,............Athole........Stewart.
Tullochcrosk,.............Athole........M'Donald
of St. Martins.
Fortingall,.................Campbell....
Garden of Troup.
Drumcharry,..............Stewart.......M'Donald
of St. Martins.
Meggernie,...............Menzies.......Menzies.
Chesthill,..................Campbell.....Menzies.
Garth,......................Murray........M'Donald of St. Martins.
Dun
eaves,.................Campbell.....Breadalbane.
Moncrieff (or
Culdares),Campbell.....Menzies.
Bolfracks,.................Menzies.......Breadalbane.
Lagan,.....................Menzies.......Breadalbane.
There is a
considerable decrease in the population. If to the three thousand
examinable persons—that is, persons above 14 years of age—we add
one-fifth for children, the population in 1727 would be 3,600. The
census population of 1851 was 2,485, showing a decrease of 1,115,
and yet the parish of Fortingall has not been cleared like some of
its neighbours. In 1727 the upland parts of the parish were reserved
for sheilings. These are now large sheep farms. At the above date,
as much as possible was made of the lower grounds in the way of
cultivation. The arable ground was laid out in two divisions ; the
more fertile, or infield, being under crop yearly, while the
inferior division, or outfield, was only laid under crop
occasionally—being in the interval under grass, and the folds placed
on it for the purpose of manuring. Taking the whole under regular
and occasional cultivation, the arable acreage at the beginning of
the eighteenth century might be one-third more than it Is at
present. Not many sheep were kept, and they were regularly housed in
winter. The herds were the great source of wealth; and in hard
summers, when meal was scarce, their milk and blood constituted the
principal means of subsistence. If the winter was not very severe,
the young cattle were kept on the grazings till February, and herds
of small Highland ponies were not housed at all. In a good spring
the cattle were driven to the sheilings for a few weeks, to give the
grass on the lower ground time to grow, and then taken home. June
was the time for the second and more universal flitting. The young
women and children, and a few old men to keep all in order,
accompanied the herds ; most of the matrons and grown-up males
remained at home for the harvest work. It was a happy day of bustle
and anticipation that for setting out to the sheilings. The old men
and boys, driving the cattle, went first. The girls followed guiding
or leading horses, laden with their household goods—churns,
cheese-presses, crocks, dairy utensils of all shapes and sizes, but
mostly all of one material, birchwood—pots, crooks, small bags of
meal, and old hose metamorphosed into salt-cellars—in short, the
whole household goods and gear of the mountain hut, and that was not
bulky, for one horse carried it, and perhaps on the top of all the
presiding deity, the laughing maid, with ribbon or snood round her
long twining tresses, who proudly anticipates her temporary rule
over beast and man, and the joyful greeting from friends in the
neighbouring sheiling.
The younger portion of the community did always,
indeed, look forward to these annual migrations with the greatest
pleasure. It was something to be thrown on their own resources, to
be left to wander day by day through the lonely mountains, and with
minds imbued with deep sentiments and poetic superstitions, to meet
and contemplate the sublimity and loveliness of nature amidst her
solitudes. Fishing and fowling afforded an unlimited field for
exercise and amusement; for then, beyond the precincts of the
forest, game laws were unknown ; grouse, hares, &c, had not yet come
to be considered a part or accident of property. And when all
gathered in the evening about the huts clustered on the side of the
burn, when the calves were in the fold, and the cows turned back to
the brae, the harper produced the Clarskack, and the
gay-hearted tenants of the Ruidhe turned out to dance on the
green, or mayhap the grey-headed Senachie, as the shadows of night
deepened, and shrouded the cliff and corrie, recounted to them
tragic stories of disappointed love and terrible revenge, or tales
of the fairies and of perturbed spirits that walked the earth for
their sins.
The extract already given shows one minister
could scarcely labour very successfully in religious matters in such
a wide district. Well, I am sorry to confess, religion, as now the
word is understood, had then very little hold over some of the
parishioners of Fortingall. An attendance at the parish church on
the great festival days, and an observance in private of a few
superstitious rites—some derived from Rome, some from
Druidism—constituted almost the sum total of their religion. The
memoirs of Dugald Buchanan tell how the Rannoch people met on the
Sundays to play at football, &c, and the rest of the parish was not
much better. Buchanan brought about in Rannoch a great social
reform, in regard at least to the observance of the Sabbath, and
outward duties of religion. M'Arthur, a man of similar character and
profession, laboured contemporaneously for the same end in Glenlyon.
Attaching himself to the young, as the more susceptible of
improvement, he followed them to the sheilings, and carried on his
Bible teaching there. On the sheep farm of Lochs, formerly the
sheilings of the district of Roro, a conical hillock, rising from a
level boggy plain, erects itself like a sentinel over the
neighbouring land and water, at the east end of Loch Daimdhe. Here
M'Arthur congregated his untutored hearers, and translated for them,
each Sunday, a chapter of the Bible, and a piece of Matthew Henry's
Commentary—for the Irish Bibles of 1690 were possessed and
understood but by few, and Stewart of Killin had not yet finished
his Gaelic translation. Let me ask, in parenthesis, how could the
Highlanders have been so unmindful of the minister of Killin's
claims on their gratitude ? No memorial of their love and reverence,
not even the rudest, marks his final resting-place in the churchyard
of Killin ; yet he was the first man who gave them the Word of God
in their own language. It was through his unrequited labours that
the Government and Church were, after many fruitless efforts,
successful in civilising and Christianising the Highlands and isles.
In honouring him, they would honour themselves, and the priceless
legacy he bequeathed them and their children. James Stewart, as much
as, perhaps more than, any bard warrior, or philosopher, was the
benefactor of his race. Shall it always be said that he sleeps in
the grave, into which he had sunk wearied and impoverished by his
stupendous work, uncared for and unhonoured by the people whom his
labours helped to enroll in the catalogue of fervent Christians ?
To return to M'Arthur: he and his hearers were on
a certain Sabbath disturbed amidst their devotions by the yelling of
the dogs, which, having accompanied their owners to the religious
exercise, and not feeling so edified as the bipeds, had gone on a
little excursion of their own, and had started a deer in a
neighbouring den, and thereby caused the sudden clamour. The deer
meeting the hillock congregation in front, and the dogs following
behind, took the water near the spot where they were assembled.
Notwithstanding M'Arthur's entreaties, his hearers in a moment
changed into keen huntsmen, and dispersed at the top of their speed
for the different places where the stag was thought likely to land.
The issue of the sport was unsuccessful. One man threw his axe at
the deer's head, when swimming to the shore, but missed, and the axe
sank into the lake. On this, some of the more pious began to suggest
it was the devil in deer's likeness, that came to interrupt their
devotions ; but the hero of the axe protested, declaring, "devil or
no devil, it was, notwithstanding, a fat stag of ten, and I would
have killed him were he a devil ever so much, if I had another axe."
Though things of this sort did happen at times, M'Arthur's efforts
bore much fruit, and his memory was for a long time religiously
revered. Here is another anecdote of the same description. A
Glenlyon woman who died 40 or 50 years ago, when nearly a 100 years
of age, in telling her sheiling experience, used to
add, to the horror of her more pious descendants, "Fionn-aghleann mo
chridhe thar nach bidhe Di-domhnuich"—i.e. "Finglen of my
heart, where there would be no Sunday." Finglen, or the "Glen of the
Feinne," was a shelling in the Braes of Glenlyon, adjoining the old
royal forest of Ben-taskerly, or, as then called, Coirecheathaich.
The foresters, sometime before the year 1740, built a hut on the
march overlooking Finglen, and there watched the cattle and pounded
them when trespassing. The sheiling maidens, after two or three
exploits of this kind on the part of their neighbours, got
exasperated, and formed the doughty resolution of pulling their hut
about the foresters' ears, and making them decamp tnstanter.
A Sunday, of all days in the week, was chosen, because most of the
foresters were then absent. The furious maidens carried the fortress
of turf by a coup-de-main, pelted the foresters present to
perfection, and left not a stone or rather a turf standing on the
other. The foresters were so ungallant as to make a formal complaint
to the Earl of Breadalbane, and he put the machinery of legal
punishment in motion. It was easily done at that time. Sir Duncan
Cameron with Lochnell's company of the Black Watch was then guarding
the peace of the district, and a detachment of it pounced upon the
Amazons, hurried them to Perth, bare headed and bare footed as they
stood, and * clapped them into jail. They were tried, but got off
with flying colours. Their landlord, James Menzies of Culdares, like
a true Highlander, attended court to see justice done; he became
security for their future good behaviour; and when they were
liberated he placed himself and his piper at their head and marched
through Perth to the defiant strains of
"Gabhaidh mise'n rathad mor,
Olc, air mhath le each e." "
On the road I go; on the road I go;
Where'er I like I'll go,
Be others pleased or no."
This was the occasion of beginning a lawsuit
about bounds which nearly ruined the heir of the Crowner.
But though the Highlanders were, as shown,
careless about religion, the kirk-session at that date exercised an
important jurisdiction over the whole field of morals, trenching
much, indeed, upon what now exclusively belongs to the civil courts.
Of all judicatories it was the most respected and best obeyed ; for
the Highlanders, remiss and careless in other matter, set great
store by the ordinances of baptism and communion; and the cutty-stool
and sackcloth gown were much more dreaded in 1700 than the threats
of the law and "tout" of the royal horn. Seeing there were few
restrictions on the intercourse of the sexes, and considering the
oblique idea they had of some other moral duties, it is astonishing
to find how little the evil of illegitimacy prevailed; and it is
mortifying to think that the snood and poetry of 1700 were far more
efficient in guarding the stream of domestic affection pure and
undefiled, than the boasted knowledge and gospel light of 1856.
"Love strong as death, pure as the mountain spring," was the theme
of poet and senachie. The loss of the snood, the emblem of
maidenhood, carried in itself a sentence of social ostracism.
A frail one of the better class, who went astray
with a man below her station, was the cause of a tragic catastrophe
in the preceding century (1640 or thereabouts), which legend and
song yet conspire to keep in memory. She was a daughter of Campbell
of Lawers, and fell in love with her father's harper
or fiddler. Her degradation became known to the family. Her brothers
watched and caught her and her swain together in a sheiling on the
side of Benlawers. The fiddler run for sweet life, with the
infuriated youths at his heels. When making a desperate leap over a
rock, he fell and broke his leg. The avengers of family honour were
upon him, and barbarously maltreated him. The reel tune
commemorating the circumstance is well known to the lovers of
Highland music—"Nighean Tighearna Labhair," &c.
