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A TRADITIONARY TALE OF THE
WESTERN HIGHLANDS
Angus MacDonald, a son of
Clanranald, having quarrelled with his neighbour and namesake, the Laird
of Morar, he made an irruption into that district, at the head of a
select portion of his followers. One of his men was celebrated for his
dexterity as a marksman; and on their march he gave a proof of this, by
striking the head off the ‘canna’, or moss cotton, with an arrow. This
plant is common on mossy ground in the Highlands ; it is as white as the
driven snow, and not half the size of the lily.
Having got possession of the cattle, Angus was driving away the
‘spreith’ to his own country ; but Dugald of Morar pursued him with a
few servants who happened to be at hand; and, being esteemed a man of
great bravery, Angus had no wish to encounter him. He ordered the
marksman to shoot him with an arrow; but the poor fellow, being
unwilling to injure Dugald, aimed high, and overshot him. Angus observed
this, and expressed his surprise that a man who could hit the ‘canna’
yesterday, could not hit Dugald’s broad forehead that day; and drawing
his sword, swore that he would cleave the marksman’s head should he miss
him again. John then reluctantly drew his 1 bow, and Dugald fell to rise
no more.
Angus got into his hands the only son of the dreaded Morar, then very
young; and the treatment which the unfortunate boy received was
calculated to injure his health and shorten his life. A poor girl, who
attended the calves, had pity on him, and at last contrived to carry him
away, wrapped up in a large fleece of wool. Having escaped from her
pursuers, she made her way to the house of Cameron of Lochiel. Here she
and the boy were most hospitably received; and, according to the custom
of the country in those days, they passed a year and a day without being
asked any question. At the end of that period, Lochiel made inquiry
regarding the boy, and the girl candidly told him her story. He thus
discovered that the boy was the son of his own wife’s sister ; but he
concealed the whole from his lady, of whose secrecy he was not very
confident. But he treated young Ronald with great kindness. Lochiel had
a son much of the same age; the two boys frequently quarrelled, and the
lady was angry to see her own son worsted. She at last swore that " the
girl and her vagabond must quit the house next morning." The generous
Lochiel set out with the boy to Inverness, where he boarded him under a
false name, and placed the woman in the service of a friend in the
neighbourhood, that she might have an eye to his condition.
Ronald received such education as befitted his birth; and when he grew
up to manhood, he paid a visit to Lochiel, his kind benefactor, in
Lochaber, who was so much satisfied with him, that he determined on
giving him his powerful assistance in recovering his paternal estate,
which was then in the possession of Angus.
Lochiel ordered a hundred men to attend himself and Ronald on this
occasion; and they arrived in Morar on a Sunday, when the usurper and
all his people were in church at mass. He congratulated the young man on
the opportunity he now had of avenging his father’s blood, and
destroying all his enemies at once, by burning them in the church.
Ronald humanely objected, that though many of those persons then in the
church were guilty of his father’s death, yet there were others innocent
of that crime; and he declared "that if his estate could not be
recovered otherwise, he would rather want it, and trust to Providence
and his own valour. Lochiel did not at all relish such sentiments, and
left Ronald to his fate.
Ronald took refuge in a cavern, and the daughter of Angus, his only
child, frequently passed that way, in looking after her father’s fold.
He sometimes got into conversation with her; and, though but a child,
she became attached to him. He prevailed upon her to get his shirts
washed for him. Her father having accidentally discovered the linen
bleaching, observed the initial letters of Ronald’s name; and making
inquiry into the circumstances, soon suspected that he was at hand. He
attempted to persuade his daughter to decoy Ronald into his power; but
she told the young man all that her father proposed to her; and he,
finding that Angus was still thirsting for his blood, immediately left
the country, and took the girl along with him. With much difficulty he
conveyed her in safety to Inverness, from whence he procured a passage
to France, where he placed her in a convent. He entered the French army,
and was much distinguished for his bravery; he was thus enabled to
support himself, and to defray the expense of her education. When the
young woman was of age, they were married, and returned to Scotland.
Ronald having obtained strong recommendations to the king, he found
means of being reconciled to Angus, who was then old, and had become
very penitent. He made great professions of friendship and attachment to
Ronald; but his daughter was always doubtful of his sincerity, and it
would appear that she had justly appreciated his disposition. One night,
Ronald having feigned intoxication and retired to rest, the old
barbarian calculated that he would sleep very soundly, and slunk into
his apartment, armed with a dirk, to stab his son-in-law; but the young
man watched the treacherous hypocrite, and put him to death. Ronald
obtained possession of his paternal estate, and, after a long and
prosperous life, became the founder of a very respectable family.—‘Lit.
Gazette.’ |
