THE HIGHLANDERS AND THESTARS.

[Contributed] P A R T I.

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It would not be reasonable to expect I very much evidence of astronomical I precision among a people so placed and conditioned as the Highlanders of Scotland were. Trite, tliey Ihad the advantage of the I country and a clear sky, and they had, as we know, good natural powers o f observation. Their deep valleys and their I h i gh su r r ou ndi ng mo untainst w on I d I certainly prevent a full and unimpeded view of the evening sky. Their prospect I at any time must therefore have been limited and partial, but this, though not favourable to a comprehensive grasp of the heavens, was not without its advantages. They could locate the position and fix the times of constellations and of individual stars over the fixed tops of their mountains with much greater precision from hour to hour and from night tc night, than people living on great plain® or upon the open sea could It is not I clear, however, that they gave much I attention to the stars. They seem to have I been by constitution more introspective I than keenly observant of things outride I their own lives. They were the clay that Ithe philosophers come of, rather1 than I naturalists. W e might wonder also I whether their own old concepts | of Creation, in the early time, and the i Biblical cofcmogony of their l'ater daya I may not have been a cause in giving them ! this bent of mind. Let us, however, see I what tihey did know, so far as we cam Igather. I t is hoped that any even sma^ I fact or name or idea or pertinent ^ra- I ditkm of any kind which our readers may 1possess shall be communicated. I t is amatter for all, rather than for any one person.

THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF TH E SUN.There can be no doubt that the Keltic

people, in all their long history, were very familiar with the Sun. They studied it® course and conduct closely. They were, without doubt, sun worshippers, as their language even now cleatrly shows. Their names for the u airts ” are conclusive upon this point. They call the East “ A n àird an ear,” or, as the older language has it,“ an-oir,” the edge or the direction towards which the face was turned in their worship. The W est was and is, the I“ Ard an iar,” or the behind, the same aa the preposition iar and modern air, I meaning after, a® we have it in every-day I sposch, and in such words as “ iarmad,” I what is left behind, “ earball,” the tail I or the hind member, and so on. The I South waa “ Deas,” or dexter, exactly as I we say of the right hand, “ an lamh deas,” or the hand towards the south, and the left hand was “ Tuath,” or North. This ’ has come down to us abundantly in their superstition, or, ae we should rather s*ay, , in their hereditary religion. To go to the I right was always the correct thing to do, I but to go to the left, “ cli,” or “ fcuatha.1,” I was with them always wrong and in&us- I picious. A u tuathal ” is even now a I useless man., on the left hand course, or I going north. Such, as go south are always I safe! They are in the right way. I

The old pagan festivals were always I fixed with exact reference to the cardinal I points of the sun's course. I t is very I unfortunate that we have nearly lost them all. W e have only a few left like Lunas- dain- and Beal tain. The others, which would have doubtless been most interesting, have been overlain by the Church name®, which were superposed according to a settled policy, aiming not so much , at uprooting the old pagan; customs, aa+o appropriate them, atnd cover them down P.) the new terms of the new faith. This is ho> oid festival of the first-offering's to the Oxi Keltic god Lug, upon Lugnas- dain (the of August), became theLammas or Xlaf-mas, the loaf-nuas, of the Church, tra^ferring pagan gift's toChristian service. The Beailtadn, orfestival of the sun-god, Bel, remains merely in the name now, although it has a solid place in the traditional memory.

_ .We have quite lost the n a n w oi* t he greatsun festivals. The return from the far South

Ul° SiCat Warmer, as the word Grian moans, waa with all northern nations, tl*e great event of the year. I t was the promise of heat and health and husbandry,” as Donnacha, Bàn splendily put® it. W e have lost the time-naine quite, unless it be Yule, which we may have in Iol-ach or joy, to this present day. W e have * also lost the name at the other end of the sun s travel— the summer solstices. W e I have Lady Day there now, or the feast Iof the Annunciation/. , I

AN T-IUCHAR—THE DOG DAYS,This word is clearly another survival, I

and, to my mind, one of the most inter- I esting pieces of flotsam in the language. I A fter thinking of it through the best part I of a lifetime, I cannot even now offer I a clear explanation of it. I t ha® been accepted as meaning the Dog-days, which ■ old people fixed as from 3rd July to 11th \ August. The Highlanders divided' the I period into two parte— “ an t-Iuchar samhraidh aigus an t-Iuchar foghair ”— - I'“ The Dog-days in Summer and in 1 Autumn.” This can be understood. In [■ the Roman time, when the expression I Canicularia had origin with them, there can hardly be any doubt it waa because the smaller Dog-Star, called Procyon, or the “ fore dog,” rose at tli

t h e h i g h l a n d e r s a n d t h eS T A R S .

t[ C o n t r i b u t e d ]

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* AN C R A N N -T H E GREAT BEAR.• *

TUc Great Boar was one of their favourite constellations. They knew it

! well and familiarly. They saw it nightv after night, and y e a r after year, goinground the Pole Star, without ever settingto them. They did not call it the Bear,

1 as almost all nations of the earth did—that is, all nations who could see thenorthern sky. They called it “ AnCrann,” the plough, one of the bestnames ever given to the group. The Americans are fond of calling it the “ D ipper.'’ The French call it the “ Casserole” or sauce-pan; the Germans the “ Wain ” or “ W aggon /’ and the English, “ Charles’ Wain ” and the “ Cleaver.’ ' Of course, there is nothing in these names but a little fancy. The Greeks called it by a mc&L- interesting name, “ Cynosura," or the “ Dog s Tail." They looked upon the I constellation as a dog rather than a bear, I for it is really not a good bear, with so long a tail.

It was their navigating constellation. We should say now, that it ought- to be the Smaller Bear, which has the Pole Star in the tip of its tail, but it is almost certain that this was not the Pole- Star I or the Cynosure in their day. Everyone looked at the Bear or the Dog, particularly sailors. It was the most important mark in the sky. This is how the word “ cynosure *’ has its modern, very peculiar I transferred meaning of anything that- I everybody is keenly anxious to look at, I “ the cynosure of all eyes.” I

Tlie great service of the Plough to the old Highlander was as the recorder of times and seasons. A t the time of the I new year, and for the two winter months onwards, he saw it almost “ on even I keel ” down below the pole, and he saw | it creeping slowly round to the right as the night went on. For six hours it was up on the right, and in the late morning it was turned upside down, above the pole. This is why it was said of a guest who put in a. very long visit that “ he I turned the Plough upside down ” (chuir e car sa, chrann). He had stayed Ithe beiit part of twelve hours. We have I known it even longer than that! They I knew perfectly weU that it came along to à certain point, usually some hill top, every night four minutes earlier than thenight before, and that there was a difference of an hour in its position every fourteen days. They Vviiew that at “ IBrighde” (1st February) it was dowa below, in its natural even, position as a I plough, but that a-s “ Feill Mhichael ” I (29th September) it was at the same hour I of night, right up above and upside down. Thev knew also how to find the Pole Star. I«y 1by a line through the “ soc ” or share of I the Plough, in 'whatever position it was. I

I have no remembrance, nor have I met I with any evidence in our language or lit- I erature, that they knew the old names, or eave themselves anv names to the in- I

. ** Idividua- stars of the Plough. They certain- Ily knew one, and that a very small star,which sits on the middle star of theHandle. This middle star was named" Mizar " by the Arabians, and it- keepsthat name now. Riding on its back is avery small star, which needs good sightail'd a clear night to make out. TheArabs called it “ Alcor,” or “ the test,”for good eyesight. The Highlanderscalled it the “ Bodachan ” or “ Bodachana' Chroinn " (the old man of the Plough).

- The. Germans have a tale regarding this same sniaii star. They call it- HansDumken, or Hans the Thumbikin. Hans ■v/a:1 a waggoner. One day he overtookChrist on a weary journey and gave Him fa lift. Hans was offered a place inheaven, but ho chose rather to drive the^aefgon, as they call the Plough ; so> liewas/ set to drive the team of three horses(the .Handle), and he wais set upon Mizar,the middle horse, for ever. The English*call the star “ Jack on the MiddleHorse/'

The old Eastern names of the stars in ' the Plough are so interesting that I had ! better give and explain them. The Arabs looked upon the constellation as a bear, and the Hebrews as a bier carrying the body of a dead man, with three mourning ■ daughters following— the three stars in the Handle of the Plough. The names remaining to us are a mixture of the two ideas. “ Merak " and “ Dubhe ” in the “ share, ’ and “ Phecda” and “ Megrez” near- I i y parallel with them, are Bear names, I meaning respectively the “ loin ,J of the l bear, the Bear itself and the “ thigh ’ ’ and j the “ root ” of the tail. The other names j belong to Bier, “ Alioth," “ Mizar,” and “ Benetnasch,” in order. The last, sometimes called “ A1 Kaid,” or the “ chief mourner/' is a most interesting name. It means the “ Daughter of the B ier” or niish. This naasli is the word rendered as “ Arcturus ” in the older version of the r -Bible, “ Arcturus with his sons” (Job 38), j which in the revised version isi perhaps . more correctly given as “ The Bear withher train,” but which certainly should be“ The Bier with its daughters,” for * “ Naash” is the Bier, and the “ train” are the daughters, according to the old imagining.

Of the Smaller Bear they did not know anything, so far as I am aware. They, of course, knew the Pole Star well. They knew it was fixed, and always to be found in the same place. They called it t the “ Roul-iùil,” or the “ Guiding Star,” j of the same signification as the old Eng- 1 lish “ Lode Star," which simply means the “ leading” star. The Small Bear— I never heard it called the Small Plough, although by its shape it might be— can 1)6 casilv traced on a clear night starting from the Pole Star, and following the Tail towards the direction of the Handle of the Plough. The Tail, with the exception of the Pole Star, is made up of small ones of only fifth magnitude, and so are the first two next the Tail in the body or square. The two in the front, corresponding to the “ s o c ” of the bigPlough. I have heard called “ NaLaoigh” or the “ Calves.” These are larger, and can easily be been when the smaller ones may not be visible. They a.re usually the “ Guardians of the Pole.” They ar half way from the Pole to the Plough.

THE HIGHLANDERS AND THESTARS.

[Contributed] P A K T III.

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] A’ CHATHAIR--CASSIOPCEIA.

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j I f wo Jook from the middle star in the j1 j Handle of the Plough in a line acroes thej Polo Star, it will bring us to a. group of

.stars which have the shape of an ind'if- j ) ferent M towards the Pole, or an equally j ] irregular W as they are looked at the other j way. This is the constellation Cassiopoeia.I It was called " A ’ Chathair " (the chair)J by the old people. It must be looked at I ’ in the W way, in order to make the chair J ] out. It is difficult even then, unless we f can &ee a very small stair which is nearer j \ tlie Pole than the middle and largest star j I of the group. This small star, which is at J j the top of the front leg, forms with the I ! middle star the very uncomfortable seat.! The two stars forming the back are

_ Cj Ij smaller by a magnitude than the other I ; prominent three. On a clear night it is I Ì a very interesting constellation, and “A ’ j Chathair ” is not altogether a bad imagin- I j ing. In fact, other people ialso saw the j '' chair, and they sat in it, even if upside j •j down, the great Ethiopian Queen I ! Cassiopoeia, placed there by the jealousy I j of somo of the Greek goddesses, as the J \ story is. Cepheus, her husband, lies j

, between her and the Pole. Perseus, her I I sÀwn-law, and his wife, Andromeda, are I J next to her away from the Pole, and with I

a little assistance can be easily picked out. I I None of these, so. far as I know, had a I I Gaelic name. The Eastern name® for the J

, j stars in the group are “ Schedaar,” or “ the I | I breast ” of the queen (at the end of the

hind leg); “ Kapb,” “ the hand” (at the I end of the fore leg); “ the Girdle ” (the | middle star of the group); and the next \ to it is “ Rukbah,” “ the knee.” This, j I constellation, like the Bears, never sets j in our northern lands. I t goes round and j I round the Pole, and always on* the opposite ] side of the Pole from the Plough.] AN SEALGAIR MOR -ORION.| This is the most magnificent constella- j tion in the firmament. The Gaelic people* I knew it intimately, and they heaped* imagination upon it. They clothed the ■j I great figure in their own Highland dress,j in kilt and plaid, in i£ Crioa,” in “ Biodag”I and “ sporran.” The English even, if \ \ reluctantly, are also compelled to do so.1 Orion in trousers is impossible, “ anti- ̂ peris-taltic,” as Carlyle would say; but in s the Highland garb he is a reailly splendid Ì fellow. He is not difficult to find.

Midway down the eastern sky, from eight i o'clock onwards-, he may be seen in all his

!= glory on a clear night. With his great4 retinue of Dogs and the big game round

y about, the sight is perhaps the finest uponjl which the human eve can ever rest. All|j nations have looked upon him as aI mighty hunter, and some have thought—| and for wonderfully good reasons— that

t J he is the Nimrod of the Bible. Into that,| or into the many tales concerning him, I|J cannot, of course, enter.| Let v.s look at the figure on a clear, i

I crisp night. W e can at once pick out II the majestic body, formed o f four con- I

spiouous stars, and divided at the waistby the fine “ studded” b e lt ” of three J i I I'i stars, close together in a short straight

| line. Over the shoulders is the Head, Jj made up of one good star, Has in the I 5 j crown, and two small ones'. The right II I shoulder is the fine star “ Betelguese,” I \ \ meaning “ the Giant's armpit,” o f good III first magnitude iu size. A t the left I ) I shoulder is appropriate enough “ Bella- j i I t r ix / ’ or the “ Huntress,” for Orion had J j a love affair with the goddess Diana-. In I! right leg is “ Saip h ’ ’ or the “ Sword,” a j

name that has evidently cot out of itsI I'right place, for it is not in the Sword.“ Rigel,” a splendid star of distinctly more than first magnitude, is “ the left leg of

( the Giant.” “ An Chios,” the Belt, is made< up of three stars of a good second magni

tude. These are Job’s “ Bands of Orion.”( Their names are, from above downwards,] or from left to right, “ Mint-aka,”1 “ Alnilam,” “ Alnitak,” meaning “ the | belt,” “ the string of beads,” and “ the j girdle ”— all, in a sense, meaning the i whole belt, but now fixed names for the \ several stars. ‘A ’ Bhiodag,” or the Dirk, j j is slung from the latter two. It shows as J three small stars, with a. biggish one at 1 the end of the scabbard or sheath. The ! “ sporrau ” is suspended from the first*,; Mintaka. The great “ Breacan guaile ”| is blowing away on the breeze to the left.■ There are other details, but these must | suffice. A dweller under the thick and

leaden atmosphere of a great- city almost envies the joy with which those more favourable placed may study the details of Great Orion— the “ Sealgair M òr.”

ROUND ABOUT ORION.■ r

Not only is the “ Sealgair Mòr ” the I : finest constellation of the sky, but it is in \ tho richest field of stars in the whole I | heavens. One can see more Great stars J■ at one glance when looking at Orion than I ' there is in all the rest of the sky alto- I | gether. The “ Gobhar bheag,” which we J j already know, is right up above it in the| sky. It we look down from Capella to I I the right, we come upon the familiar I j “ Grioglachan,” the Pleiads. A little to I I the left, half-way towards the shoulders- j J of the “ Sealgair,” may be &een a fine red II star, “ Aldebaran,” or “ the follower ” of J J the Pleiads. I t is the type-star of First j | magnitude for the northern sky. Some, II like Capella, are much brighter than I ; typical first magnitude; others, l ik e !* Regu J us in the “ Corran," and Deneb in f i the “ Crois-tara,” are not sio bright; I ; although near enough to be usually classed ! j as of first magnitude. I f we take a line I ! from Aldebaran through the “ Crios ” of { i the Sealgair, we come to the great “ Dog jil Star,” Sirius, away down on the. left. It V .[1 cannot be missed, for it is by far the most■ I brilliant star in. all the skies. I t is nearly j| as bright as the planet Jupiter just now,\ I and nine or ten times as bright as the i| standard Aldebaran. I cannot imagine'I that it had not a Gaelic name, but I doII *I not know it. U p above, almost in aline

: with the shoulders of Orion, to the left,I is another fine star, the “ Smaller Dog

Star,” with a Greek name, “ Pro-cyon,"I or the “ fore dog.” The leashes on which I these big Dog Stars are, have been called I the constellations of “ Canis Major ” and I “ Can is Minor.” I see no reason why we

should not call them “ An Cìi Mòr ” agus I “ An Cii beag." They are, of course, the J

hunting dogs of the “ Sealgair M òr.” U p I farther, above Procyon, we readily find I the “ Twins ” Castor and Pollux— “ NaI Bràithrean,” as my old friend1 used to

call them. In no part- of the heavens can j so many Great stars be seen at once. There

I are only twenty stars of first magnitude in all the skies, north and south.

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■! “ An Grioglachan ” contains ninei named stars, but o-nlv six are visible to i *ri the naked eye, and five of these are as : small as the “ Bodaclian,” Hans, the< driver of the Waggon, near the Pole. The' group belongs to the constellation Taurus,

‘ ‘ the Bull,” and the flaming Aldebaran ! is Oculus T’auri, or the “ Eye of the (wild) t Bull, at which the great hunter Orion is- ! aiminsr a blow of the bludgeon which he

holds on high in his right hand. W hy11 should not we follow all others, and call t thÌ9 fine constellation “ An Tarbh."■I ■ ■■ ii —.......— i — - i i — ■ i ■> •

; This was written somo weeks ago, so\ that tho positions of tho stars are consider

a b ly altered. Unless Orion is caught in tl.o ’

THE HIGHLANDERS AND THESTARS.

[Contributed] P A R T IV .—CONCLUSION.

IA R C T U R U S -A M BUACHAILLE. f

I have put the Greek name hero first, *

because we axe familiar -with the name, 1especially from the greait drama, of Job. *

I A caution is, however, nec-essary. The ji Arcturus of the magnificent- ninth j] chapter is perhaps not, and that of the ^1 thirty-eighth is certainly not, Arcturus, ^iJ “ A m Buachaille.” H e is mighty in ] I strength which maketh Arcturus, Orion,

1 and Plciades, and the chambers of the *! I ]: South ” is a splendid sweep of the heavens s> — the closed “ chambers of the South/ ’ ^■ which we do not here see, being exceedingly i\ I graphic and grand. “ Can-st thou guide[ Arcturus with his/ sons? ' of the old version 1i of the Bible, is now “ Canst thou leadj I the Bear with her train ?'7 in the new I

I version. The change is almost certainly[correct. “ The Bear and her tra in 7’ is I j

Ursa Major, “ the Plough,” and not ij Arcturus, the single Great- Star, “ Am *' I Buachaille.” Strangely enough, the name* ^■vy Arcturus means the Bear Guard, for it LVwas supposed tc be there watching the Ir3ears in the North, and it is the leadingI star in the constellation Bootes or the II Cow-herd. Thii> mighty star, one of the I

most stupendous bodies in +he universe, | i millions of times bigger than j great sun, is not just now well up.

I however, we watch about ten o'clock, ig better if later, we may see it rising from J the eastern horizon, on a curved line'*

j following that of the handle of the ) Plough. We cannot mistake i t ; there is j nothing there so great. It is by some

I thought more brilliant than Ca-pella, AGhobhar bheag.” I f our Sun were as

I iatr away as .Arcturus, it could not be seen II with the naked eye. I

C Y G N U S -A ’ CHROIS-TARA.j j The ‘ Crois-tara,” or the Highland j j Fiery-Cross, is part of the constellation ! Cygaus^ “ The Swan. ’ It forms really ̂ the mam body of the group, and it is \ called ‘ Crois-tara” because, looking - at j iti in its best position, it is a very good j Cross, or, if the principal stars are lined I in, it makes a boy ’s kite better’ than I anything. When it is looked upon as the I j Swan, H must be in the opposite way toI ^ 105s anc ̂ K ite, the shaft o f the Cross III and the tail of the K ite becoming the I || neck of the Swan. It. is within a trifle1 as far north and as near the Pole as the 4 “ Gobhar bheag,” Capella, is, and at nearly I the same distance from the Pole, but on I opposite side of the sky. A line from I Capella, passing not far below theI " Cat hair,' Cassiopoeia, will fetch across | the sky to the “ Crois-tara.’ ’ Of course,| when Capella. is far up on the sky, the j “ Crois “ is low down, and may not- be

visible, but early at night, even at present, it may be caught before it gets down too low. I t is only four hours of the twenty-four under the horizon at any

I time. Its brightest star is Deneb in the, tail, or at the top of the “ Crois." The word means “ the tail,” as we see in Deneb-ola, “ the lion's tail.” I do not give the names of the other stars in the “ Crois,'' for I wish not to crowd1 these notes by too many names. I f there should be a desire to know, I may do so again. J They are not to be found in any English

*wc*k. j5 AN C O R R A N - L E O . |I The Gaelic is not here- the equivalent }ot the Latin Leo, “ the L ion .” The constellation of £‘ the Lion ” is a large one, land the “ Corran,” or sickle, is only a part of it. I t is most difficult to see

janything like a lion in the group, but the Corran” is so very well marked as to

be easily found. I t is one of the best “ similitudes” in the whole sky, and it is a very good starting place to find other staI. farther on in their apparent course. A month

makes a- difference of two hours. Tho^e that wore low down and late, liko Aietums, ;u 1 now well ujp and early, and thoso high and early are now perhaps gone under in tin1 wost like Orion.

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jTRADITIONS OF ARDTORNISH

CASTLE.[CONTRIBUTED.]

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Both shores of the Souacl of Mull a>re thickly studded with old castles, chiefly situated on high cliffs, overhanging the sea. There are Dunolly Castle and. Duart Ca.st.lo, Ardtornisli Castle and Kinloch- aline Castle, and Aros Castle and Minc;au'ry Castle. The castle of Ardtor- nish, owing to its history and traditions, is possessed of peculiar interest. I t enjoys a situation unequalled for beauty, for Ardtornish point, on which the fort is built, is one one of the finest on the W est Coast of Scotland. The scene of the first two cantos of Sir Walter Scott’s “ Lord of the Isles ” is laid in the castle of Ardtornish j and in. a note at the end of the poem, Scott does full justice to tho fine natural situation of this old fort in the following! words: —

The ruins of Ardtornish Castle are situat ed upjpn a promontory 011 the Morven, or mainland, side -f the Sound of Mull, a. namegiven to the deop arm oi: the sea which divides that island from the continent. The situation is wild and romantic in the highest degree, having on the one hand a high and precipitous chain of rocks overhanging the sea, and on the other the narrow entrance to tlis beautiful salt-water lake called Lochaline, which is in many places finely

I fringed with copse-wood.In- o ld H igh lan d tradition three points

o r prom ontories w ere reckoned finer for situation than any o f the rest on theW est Coast. O f these A rdtorniah Point, was ome, and A rd la m on t P o in t another. T he th ird wate on the coast o f Ro:ss or S u th er la n d ; but th e nam e has escapedthe writer s memory.

The ruins of this old keen are not now very considerable; but tho fort was builtby the Lords of the Isle®, and luring the Middle Ages it was a place of great consequence, being one of their principal strongholds on the mainland of Argyllshire. The wadis that remain are of cyclopia 11' masonry, and the castle was practically impregnable before the use ofartillery and gun powder. The potentates known as Lords of the Isles possessed in early times well nigh independent power, and were very ambitious and very turbulent. Sometimes they were found taking side,9 with the Scottish king, but often they opposed him, and took part with the K ing of England against their native prince. The representative of this independent* principality during the time of Robert the Bruce was Angus Og, or, as Sir Walter Scott calls him, Ronald of the Isles, who espoused the side of the patriot king against Balliol and the English interest. In the spring of 1307,when Bruce, who had been driven out ofScotland by the English, and the Scottish Barons who adhered to that interest, returned from Ireland, Scott makes Bruce a

£ THE OBAN TIMES, SATURDAY, M AY 20, 1909.

IN VERARAY HONOURS MR:n e i l m u n r o , l l .d .

PRESENTATION OF TH E FREEDOMOF THE BURGH.

freedom of the Royal Burgh of Inver- I ky, his native town, w as. conferred upon I Neil Munro. LL.D., on Friday last. The I

tinctiou was offered Mr Munro in reoog- I ion o f hit eminence as a man of letters I I as ;a token of the high estimation his I Q personal qualities have won for him in I - place o f his birth. In thus honouring I

own son, the author of “ The Lost I iroch,” of “ John Splendid,” of “ The I ft Days,” and those other books in which I people, its tenements> its hills and its I

ns, play so vital and moving a part, Inver- I y was honouring itself. The ** freedom I the burgh” is a gift that is never Jightly I towed, and is ono that is justly prized I men o f fame in every walk of life. In the I

lease o f the ancient capital of Argyll it has I only been presented upon a few occasions in I the space o f sixty years. It was received by I Prince -Albert when he visited Inveraray with I Queen Victoria in 1847; by the present Duke I of Argyll when he came o f aget as Marquis 1 of L om e; by the Rev. James Chalmers, the I heroic New Guinea missionary-explorer and I martyr in 1895; and, more recently, by Mr I D. Fisher, solicitor, another worthy native. I

Mr Neil Munro, after receiving his educa- I tion at Church Square Public School, I v^d serving a period in the law office I /*Nhe late Mr Douglas, left Inveraray in I° ° T'J 1 m " en terin g upon th a t jour- I

i pa list* career wliich, leading on to the higher I rfca tltf /of literature, has become so distin- I* ig y i^ d . Mr Munro has always retained a j lcl connection with tho town, in sum- I

V ni^r occupying a house in its Main Street, I « mis understand the scope and principles

j of art; but I know better. I know that if I wrote about the scenes and characters of my native place for fift-v years I should not exhaust its possibilities, however I might misapply them. For th© tilings w© lov© intensely are the only things worth writing about in poetry or romance, and this parish, though you may not think it, is a miniaturo of tne world. (Applause.)

Well, ladies and geutlemen. I'm ashamed to find myself talking away like the traditional “sweetie-wife” all about niyself and my own affairs; it is not, I assure you, habitual, and my excuse for it oiwthis occasion is that the text for my discoRse is strictly prescribed by the circumstances under which I am here, and by Provost MacVicaiJs kind personal allusions to myself and my work. The freedom of Inveraray in bye-past generations was presented far more frequently than now. I read recently in a book by the late Sir James Marwick that Inveraray in 1660 got into trouble before the Convention of Royal Burghs bv making the burgesses of Greenock burgesses of Inveraray en bloc. They did so to extend the commercial relations of Inveraray, which in those days were, as in other royal burghs, strictly confined between freemen burgesses, and the Convention of Royal Burghs had to enact that one condition of hurgess-ship in Inveraray must be residence there. In more recent years,the

Freedom o f this Burghwas granted only to the really great ones of the earth—and in the 18th century there is a long roll of nobles, law lords, and distinguished soldiers who got that honour con- > ferred on them which you confer on me to- ! day. I don't believe they could all have got so fine a casket, and I flatter myself that the people of Inveraray of that period did not know them so well as you know me, and that, after all, is the great and pleasant thing for me in our proceedings to-day— that I am here at horn© among my own folk and that my own folk are pleased with me! (Aypilauaj.) Provost MacVicar, Magistrates and Town Council of Inveraray, I thank you for the high honour you have done me in enrolling me among; th© freemen burgesses of our venerable and historical town. (Prolonged applause.)

On the conclusion of Dr. Munro’s speech Dr. Stewart formally proposed a vote of thanks to the Provost tor presiding The Provost having acknowledged fjle complimentthe proceedings terminated.

THE CORPORATION DINNER.In the evening Dr. Munro was entertained

to a public diuner by the Corporation of Inveraray. The dinner took place in the Argyll Arms Hotel, and was attended by a company of sixty.

Provost MacVicar occupie# the chair, and had on his right Dt . Munro, Mr Murray Smith, Captain Macpherson, Mr H. P. Buchanan, Mr Houston, A .R .S .A .; Dr. Stewart, Hon. Sheriff-Snbstituto of Argyll; Mr Arthur Guthrie, and Mr PlugJi Munro, Gourock. On the loft sat ox-Provosts Guthrie and Maclean, Inveraray; Sir John Tire Primrose, Bart.; ex-Bailie Dick and ex- Bailie Dr. Crawford, all of Glasgow; Rev. P. N. Mackichan, Mr Munro Fraser, H .M .I.S .; Mr H. D. Smith, Mr A. K. Bruce, Gourock; and Mr Somerville, Edinbu r*h.

I Others present- were Baihes Gilmour and MacIntyre (croupiers), Dean of Guild Maitland, Treasurer Stewart, Councillors Maitland, MacIntyre, Scott, Stewart-, and Mac-

INaughton; Messrs John Thomson, Burgh Chamberlain; R. S. Corrigall, Town Clerk; Duncan Macintosh, Depute Town Clerk; John Lindsay, Burgh Prosecutor; and P. C.

I Maitland, surveyor; Messrs A. E. Lowis,I William Robertson, W. W. Chalmers, John I Rose, William Rose. Robert Fraser, Robert

Clark, James Clark, Archibald Gilmour. John MacDougall, J. Spalding, E. J. Sim, and Wm. Campbell; Major Wright, Mr blaster MacArthur, banker; Revs. D. C. Stewart and J. F. Dawson, Inveraray; A. MacCallum,

j Strachur; and Kenneth Maclean, Ardrish- I aig; Messrs J. Macmaster Campbell, Dun.I MacGregor, W. Rankin, E. B. Fleming,I Oban; Mr William Diseelduff, sen., (Dunoon; Mr MacAi-thur, teachcr, St.I Catherine’s; Mr Robertson, teacher, Stra- I chur; and Pipe-Major Ross.I The Rev. P. N. Mackichau said grace. A I sumptuous dinner was served, and during its I courso selections were played in fine style by I the Inveraray Pipe Band, which bv special

instruction of Lord Archibald Campbell turned out in full uniform under Pipe-Major C. Maitland.

I After dinner the toast, list was proceeded I with.I Th§ Provost gave “ The King,” which was I heartily honoured, a verse of th© National

Anthem being sung.

Som e Inveraray Military History.Councillor P. MacIntyre submitted the

toast of “ The Imperial Forces.” After remarking upon the fighting qualities of our sailors and soldiers, h© expressed the hope that in future history would repeat itself, and that our Imperial forces would emerge victorious from any struggle that lies before them. (Applause.) Having expressed a disbelief in compulsory military service, he alluded to th© heroic story of the sinking of the troopship Birkenhead, the greater number of the soldiers on board which were of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders. He wenton to recall that during the wars of theFrench Revolution Inveraray contributedmany officers and men to the British forces.Several of these were distinguished soldiersof the time. General Turner, C.B., led thestorming party at the Capture of Elvas, asuburb of Badajoz, and this paved the wayto the capture of this fortress. Colonel Colin Campbell, C.B., led the Royal Scots at the Battle of Vittoria, carried the heights of Abechuco, drove in the French right, and so opened the way to victory. Colonel Colin Campbell was the hero of Grant’s ‘‘ Romance of War.” Lieut. James Johns, R.N., led the boarding-party from the Shannon at the capture of til© Chesapeake, and received the Captain’s sword, which weapon was presented to Lieut. Johns. This sword has been much enquired after, but where it is he (Councillor Maclntyrc) did not know. The military skill and bravery of these distinguished soldiers reflected honour on Inveraray, yet their names and their deeds were well-nigh forgotten. The genius of Neil Munro placed him on a higher pinnacle of fame, -ana his name was better known by British people than were the names of any of those distinguished officers. Though those Inveraray officers won distinguished honours in war, and their military careers shed honour on the Burgh, the fact that Inveraray wa6 the birthplace of Neil Munro makes Inveraray bulk larger in the eyes of the world, and sheds more honour upon the ancient Burgh than all the glory of war and all the martial honours showered upon their old heroes. (Loud applause.)

Major Wright replied. The Territorial movement, to which he and several others present had the honour to belong, would, he believed, eventually exercise a powerful influence in the country, and become a terror to enemies abroad and a source of reliance at home. (Applause.) He thought it was the duty of every young man to join theranks of the Territorial Army. (Hear, hoair.) Personally, he 'believed that this country would never be right till we had compulsion in some form or another. (Hear, hoar.) It eouWl not be expected that the Territorial Soldiers, who went into camp for only a fort- niglit in the year, could be properly trained. In his opiniuu, they were not trained as they ought to be. Jf tJie. woro going to besoldiers, don’t let them play ai- \f__rS. +i,^n-»be soldiers in reality. (Applause.;

The Youngest Burgess,Tho Provost then proposed the toa6t of

the evening, “ The Health of our Youngest Burgess,” the announcement of which was repeived with prolonged applause. The Provost said they were pleased that Dr. Munro had accepted that token of their respect and goodwill, and they hoped that, being now a. freeman, lie would feel an added measure of pride in th© town of his birth, and feel also that it contained for him his indeals of home, of citizenship, of brotherhood—(applause)—and that he must protectits rights and defend its interests. (Applause.) That Dr. Munro was well able to do so by his energy and genius they had no doubt. For this energy and genius that he possessed according to their definition—if they might venture on a definition—was his natural or original thought invested with passion, ̂nd expressed in the language of imagination. (Applause.) They wished a long and prosperous career to their distinguished youngest burgess. And might he more and more rise to higher eminence as the years went on. (Cheers.)

The toast was followed with th© singing of “ He’s a jolly good fellow ” and rounds of cheering, with an added cheer for Mrs Munro.

Dr. Munro’s Reply.Dr. Munro was heartily applauded on ris

ing to reply. He said Jie was occupying that night a eoat which liad some historical associations. He rraa Jed to imderuUtnd t-hafc hia the outside^University of thond e*?‘Pie of thetheir sign manual the genius of lPWed with son. (Applause.) They had said—‘‘ Her© we have something of which we arc proud, something that all the world admires, a man weall love— shall we not say so, and say so in the best manner we can?” (Applause.) They had said so that day. He had been at the “ presentation of the freedom ” to statesmen, premiers, soldiers, all kinds and conditions of men, and lie had never listened to or admired so much anywhere any ceremony of such absolute beauty as th© proceedings of tliat day formed. (Applause.) It was a perfectly unique and beautiful picture of humannature—human natur© in one of its best forms, and expressing itself both on behalf of the people of Inveraray and its worthy son in exquisitely lovely style. (Applause.) In doing tliis they were _ expressing the heart’s desire and the admiration and approval not only of the people of Scotland— for that was easy to say—but of many of the people of England, of Canada, of America; m fact, they were stamping that day their approval upon a line of genius and ability and worthiness, which would circle like a ring round the world. (Applause.) Dr. Crawford concluded with some complimentary references to the municipal administration of Inveraray, commenting humorously on the fact tliat the burgh bad an ample Common Good, and yet no debt ! (Laughter and applause.)

Bailie MacIntyre, in responding, said In -’ veraray Town Council was a good working Council. So far as finances were concernedthey were in a satisfactory state. They had a balance of £168 on th© right side, with everything paid. (Applause.) It was interesting that the Council was composed almost entirely of natives of the burgh, and be thought it reflected great credit on Invent*: ray that it was able to manage its own business, and manage it well. (Applause.) As to conferring the freedom of the burgh on Dr. Munro, Inveraray Town Council had had this in view for many years. They were pleased to place this honour on their dear old friend, Dr. Munro, who came out andin among them. (Applausfc.) Fortune hadi

t

.

i

[ made no change on Dr. Munro; he was the I same to peer and peasant. (Applause.)

* I Every member of the Town Council had been• I enthusiastic in making the preparations for• I the oeremoDv and the dinner, and they were > I very pleased to see that th© day had been

I such a success. (Applause.), I The Guests.

I Bailie* Gilmour proposed the toast of “OurI Guests.” It gave him groat pleasure to wel-I come so many distinguished gentlemen to1 the old'Burgh, and to thank them for helping II to make the memorable occasion such a suc- I cess. Re would associate with the toast the

name—|lrst o f Sir John Ur© Primrose— (ap- plause)f-on© o f Glasgow’s brilliant sons, whom

I the Second City had honoured by placing him I in the, highest civic position, and whose I personal friendship with the new burgess hadI mduced him in spite of his innumerable pub- I lie engagements in the Sout.i, to be present I with them that night. (Applause.) Secondly,I he associated with the toast the name ut I into constant, almost perpetual, touch with . I that human quantity denominated “Neil i I Munroir* (Applause.) When in their old I Court-house tnat day Mr Munro’s fellow- I and townswomen gathered to seeI the Vtrporation put the supreme note of I civic appreciation and recognition upon his I career. on© could imagin© no more simple I and impressive ceremony. Sir John went on I to speak in glowing terms o f the scenes and I characters of Mr Mttnro’s writings, remark

ing that h© thanked God that Jolrti Splendid I had been embodied as a type o f humanity.I To dwell upon Mr Munn/s books was to en- I gender some of the feelings that made theI pc6ition of a guest there that day parth u- I larly attractive and desirable. He and lus I colleagues, who had known Neil Munro in the I dark city of the West, would return to Gias-I Row feeling that they had participated in a

high festival, where native worth had been I acknowledged, where sincerity, simplicity, andI ability had been allied with a high minion.I (Loud applause.) He predicted that they I would liy© long enough to see this man they I called Neil Munro further assert and estab- 1 lisli a claim to be placed upon a pedestal

» I that should be not inconspicuous among Scot- I land’s worthiest eons. (Applause.) . .I Captain Macpherson, Gourock, . j 8 \*\a

- knowledgod the toast. He said +J y rT’ I Dr. Munro in Gourock just as e*' * *C in

Inveraray. There I i-i,i { ___, but said when he steppediu'Jng },. ? .?. ' There’s Ned Munro.” One

I great attraction that Gourock had for Mr f I Munro was that when h© got up to the back t I of his house he could look across to the s I Argyllshire hills and say, “ There’s Ben 3 I Buie!” He was proud to be there that

I night: it gave him great joy to participate* I in honouring Dr. Neil Munro. (Loud ap- " I plause.)" I Mr William Diseeldnff proposed th© healthI I of the Provost, and psid a cordial tribute to’ I the manner in which tile Chief Magistrate5 I had performed th© various duties of the day." I He said that Provost MacVicar had don© his k I part with a simpleness and an effectiveness ) I that he had seldom seen excelled. (Armlause.) t I In adding a stou© to the cairn in honour of . I Dr. Neil Munro, Mr Disselduff entertained I I the company to some lively reminiscences of ; ̂ I the days in which he and Mr Munro were* I associated in tho law office of the late Mr I I Douglas at Inveraray.. I At intervals during: the evening songs were• I exoellently sung by Mr J- H. Rose, Inveraray,/ I and Councillor Rankin, Oban.

u The singing of ‘‘ Auld Lang Syne” andII ‘‘God save the King ” brought the procecd- ■ ings to a close.sf> .r-

?S facia p;laodh Loehodha, 's fada cobhair o Chhum Duihhne. ’Tis a far crv to Loch*Awe, and a distant* help to the Campbells.Nearly forty years ago— the date of

these remiime’ences when as yet t-lie i ailway liad not- penetrated farther westward51 i-han Callander, aaid Ardrishaicr' owas the nearest approach by sea, the saying1 quoted above applied with a,1 most as much force to Lot-li Awe as on that, disastrous day of October, 1594, when the Hai l of 11 untly and bis horsemen met the Campbells in Glen Livet, and scattered them as the midday sun scatters the ini.st on- the mountain.

To reach it from the Lowlands meant more than a. day’s journey by rail orsteamer and coach, so that it might well be said to be “ a. far cry to- Loch Awe to such as elected to seek an a.neler'.- holiday in tire country of Clan Duibhne and I h is happily served to prevent it being over-run and ever-fished, since time,fatigue, and expense are potent factors in causing the stream of travellers toOdwindle as it flows onward, and sport*- men's visits to out of the way inns tend I to resemble fchose of the angels in that I they are few and far between.

Hence i t may be said that tire enterprising few have the place to themselves; and this means much to the angler. The landlord takes him to his bosom, and treats him as a friend of the family; the j gillies and boatmen watch over him with j as loving* cn.r© as if he were* the pearl of Igreat price; and the fish, not having learned to fear the face of man, come to receive their food from his hand as fearlessly as from the hand of St. Francishimself.

When the rapidl^ lengthening cla.ys and brighter skies of m id-Am il summon theO w * 1swallow northward, and when the domestic repose of the dweller in town is roughly ;:vvepi away by the spring-cleaning broom, the angler, should he be a, true son of the rod, feels within him the call of the wild and straightway paicks up his traps to hurry off to the mountains. Far beyond the smoke of Glasgow lie sees the snowO Ilying white in the corries of Cruacha.ii and its' jagged peaks cutting the deep blue of the sky, while, in fancy, the echoes of the boatmen's chorus linger yet in his ears : —

Tlia. tigh’n fodliam, fodliam, fodlmn,Tliu iigli’ ii fodliam eiridh —

which, by the way, was what they sangto Dr. Sam uel Johnson as they ferriedb Ihint over to Rnasvay in September of the year of grace, ] 773.

So in the fresh, clear morning air, with an occasional whiff of the peat' reek to remind us that we are again in the .Highlands, we skirt the wide expanse *A Crinan Moss with the rough low hills cf Knap dale to the south of it, along whose base the red funnel of some chance steamer on its*' passage from Loch Fyne to Loch Crinan betrays the whereabouts: of- the canal, and before us to the wett, where the opposing hills creep down to the loch, the* wooded heights of Callt.cn Mòr, and beyond them, by the sea,the old tower of Duntroon, with its storvcf the piper once held captive within its walls, who longed for three hands-, “ two for the pipes and one for the broad sword,” as. lie played up a warning to his fellow-< I a nsi nen of t-he a mbu sh that was -,e tfor them , w ith the result that his right hand was sum m arily struck off by order o f the lady o f the castle, which finished I his p ip in g for ever. O r that song o f the jfairies, bent on some p ilfering errand, and reared away b^ the cry that D u n vu ilg was burning, who*, fled hom ew ards shrieking— j

Dunbhuilg ri theine,M’òrd is m’ innean,Mo chi.ste mhòr mine, IMo chlann beag ,»s mo dliaohio rnùra J Agus La cl ri theine. j

(Dunvulig is on fire; My hammer and 1anvil; My big kist of meal; my men iuul I my children ; They are all on fire). I

Which pioves at ail events that fairies I were interested in the arts of metalworking and husbandry, if in- no other useful occupation. Then by Kilmartiu an-d the woods of Creag-an-Tairbh, pact the ruined Castle of Carnassary, where once dwelt Carswell, that Bishop of the Isles, who translated K nox ’s Prayer Book into Gaelic; “ An Carsalach Mòr tbit ’n. Carnasaraidh tha< na- ciiig* cairt n a chasan (big* Carswell of Carnassary, whose Leg si were five quarters long), and whoso greed and rapacity, according to the rhyme, were proportionate to the length of li is shanks; till w'e reach the

Q •

f-'outhern end of the loch, where the boat,with its couple of oarsmen, waits to carryus the ten-mile low to our destination.

Loch Awe, as possibly may not beknown to every reader, lies for the mostpart of its length of twenty-six miles,among low, grassy or heathery lulls, withtheir nether slopes generally clothed bycopse-wood or by forests of larch and.spruce. It winds in such a manner thatrarely oaa lnore than a few miles be seen

■ ;u> a stretch, thus tending to open up a.fresh combination of natural features tothe eye of the traveller. Rocky promon I tcries diversify its shores, close to which islands appear now and again, capped j with the ruins of some mediaeval strong- j hold or ecclesiastical remains, all ofw hich cou ld tell a story of their ow n, *n Iwhich it is to be feared strife and blood- Ished, at least in the case of the castles, I would be found to play a prominent part. J

As you arrive at its northern end, t-he surrounding landscape loses the open character which has hitherto characterised it, and loftier eminences close in the view, lending to its shores a stern and gloomy ruggedness hitherto wanting. Unlike the bulk of Highland' lochs which receive a river at one end and part with it at the other, Loch Awe discharges its watei'd close to where its feeder enters,from, a narrow arm skirting; the base of( jBen Cruachan, out of which it drains itself seawards towards Loch Et-ive.

Soon we are off on our way up the loch, with trolling rods out in the hope

»

OLD MEMORIES OF LOCH

[Contributed.]i

; V A llT Ì V -C on c la s io i ! .Ì (

Duncan Ban owed bis appointmcI tho Edinburgh Town Guard to the :j ciicc of tho 1'.]a r 1 or Breadalbane, wliI him know lliat lie wished to befriendj and was a axiom, to procure him :I •«•

situalion that might put him com1 vivciy at his eciio. Poor Duncan reti his thanks, axel asked his Lords!,

j interest t:o ect him into the Edinbur.-,I ̂ Vl] Town Guard, where the pay vacs .sixpenc | a. day ! In, English, the title., of. his: four I most popular pieces are “ M y Fair Young I M a ry / ' “ The Corrie of tho Mist,” “ Ben I Dova.n,” and “ The Song of the F^xes,”| iu w hich he calls upon the foxes to w orry | ('-very grey-faced sheep that has crossed 1 the. H igh lan d border. M acintvreJ 3| resembles Homer in so far that he could | neither read nor write, being totally

illiterate ae we understand it, but in. his* days the Highlander’s education took an

oral form, and the art of composition was- I j instilled into the mind by recitations rf 1 tho best of Gaelic prose a.nd verse. One ’ who had the poetic gift might thus be j ; thoroughly imbued with thci best tradi-■ tion,' of his native tongue, and lia.ve both• O ̂ Iear raid manner attuned' to perfect' I rhythm. His work bears thus not only tho impress of personal genius, but is

! fashioned on the purest models of Celtic■ vei-c, a.nd Ì3 free, moreover, tljiough his I : ignorance of English, from any tincture j j o f that influence, having this advantage j j over Burns;, whose- work was often on- I jfecbled by striving to imitate the EnghVnj manner. In “ Ben D oran” and “ The j C on ic of the Mist,” he pours forth his j I soul in wraise of his native mountainsI ̂ Ii and tho red deer that frequent them.' H is presence m ay be said to permeate I I)rmnalba.n as that o f Burns the banks J

; o f D o o n , and to those fam iliar w ith his jI verse Glen Orchy and Glen Etivo still j | ’-end back the echoes of “ Coire I jcheathaich ” and “ Bcinn Do rain. ” II From this same monument to Duncan j Ba;n. cue looks down on as fair and varied J j a country of mountain and Hood as one I could wish to see. Upon Loch Awe,

| healing on its broad bosom green or J j wooded islands backing in the brilliant I | April sunshine, islands; whose ruined | castles toll of the fighting days of old ;j i:-;la.ilda on which the crumbling remains j of some monastic house recall t he holy

men and women who in troublous times i sought a shelter there from the strife I ijuoui'd them wherein to- pass their lives J (in prayer and good deeds, till the ’lleiermation cam© awl east them forth, vuid made their abiding places desolate ; jiir'iandfJ where the clustering' headstones pnark tine graves of the clansmen, to which jcven yet tho dead and the mourners pass over in boats in picturesque procession; (while, over a-.ll, Ben Cruaichan and BenjLaeidh stand like twin sentinels guarding 'tho heathery hills and nestling woods of IXiorn, frowning down also, on the wallsI ^b ud battlements: of ancient Kilchurn, the 1etronghokl of .that tough old warrior," Dom-ichadh clubh na Cnriachd” (BlackDuncan- of the Cowl), the ancestor and/ *progenitor of all the Breaclalbauey. And, almost at our feet, lie the church, manse, hotel, and houses of Dalmal ly, tho C!a

i

\

I and L in co ln ; tlie„ funeral sermons c Massillon and Bossuet; public monument

I of all sorts; a resting place in Westmin J ster A b b e y ; funeral ritea of every kind ;

the memorial tablets and stones of our I churchyards., as well as the lonely cairn I on the hillside are all only diverse wa.ysi

of showing respect to the dead. Hence the' Gaelic proverb “ Cuiridh mi clach ri d ’ ! charn,” meaning “ I will add a stone to thy cairn, and keep the remembrance of I tliee alive.” Ilonce also the Latin adage, 1 “ De mortuis.” It has been always reck- J oned infamous to speak ill about the dead. J Homer says that it is unholy over dead [■ men to boast; and Solon passed a law to |! prevent anvone from spreading evil o f I; the dead. Probably this respect for the II dead arose partly from the notion that |{ the ghost of the departed had power to I

[ hurt the living by haunting them. Hence Is. i Queen Dido threatens Aeneas, “ When I r

am dead my ghost will haunt thee in every I* place. Wretch, thou shalt have d u e l punishment.” r

<

T H E M O l lV E N W I S I I I N G -S T O N E .

[C O NTRIBUTED.]l

j On the Morven side of the Sound of .

| M ull, on tho Killundine estate, there isj a very curious stone, with a large open-| ing in it a few feet from the ground. I t is

locally known a*» tho Wishing Stone,I from an old belief that wishes indulged in on■ passing through the hole of the stone had

a favourable issue. The stone is a huge; fragment of trap-rock called a geological‘ dike from its wall-like or dike-like form.i Such dikes are common on both side® ofj the Sound. “ In sailing,” says Hughi Miller, “ along the west coast of Scotland

iu a clear sunny day, that gives to each; projecting crag its deep patch o f shadow,! these fragments of walls, of vastly more; ancient date than the oldest and most . ___

! venerable of our Scottish ruins, may be i seen rising from the beach along the faces

of grassy banks or rounded tuff-formed precipices and communicating to the general scenery one of its most characteristic features.”

To the geologist Morven presents some ; interesting features* A t the top of Ben j ladan there ia a small circular tarn, pos- sessing great depth of water, the crater

; of an extinct volcano. On both shores c f Lochaline we have deposits of oolite

! and lias, with numerous fossils1; while | lime-stone and free-stone are also abund- ■; ant. In, 1877 an important geological dis-f Gcvery was made in this neighbourhood.; A t lnniemore, near Ardtornish C'astle,

just above lowest spring tide mark, on seme reeky ledges tlicre exposed, bat. difficult. of access, the eminent geologist,

, Professor Judd found undoubted plantj remains of the Carboniferous Period. The1 existence of these coal rocks under theI tide line in Morven is a most singular andI significant fact, for before this it wasj stoutly asserted that no representative ofJ the Carboniferous Period was to be foundI in the Highland area. Celtic folks, how- Jj ever, are not great devotees of the fashion- jI able study o f geology. In the “ Reminis- >j cences of a Highland Parish,” by the lateI D r. Norman Macleod, we find a shepherdI giving his impressions of the value o fJ geology, and his opinion of the enthusiasts 1I who engage in it to a companion, in the>*■ following m anner:— “ There was one who !

gave me his bag to carry to the inn by a jj short cut. across the hills, while he walkedI by another road. I was wondering myself II wny it was so dreadfully heavy, and when I! I got out sight I was determined to Io • # . __ I| see what was m. 1*:- I opened it, and what j ̂ do you think was? But I need not j \ ask you to guess, for you would never I\ find out. I t was stonea! “ Stones,” ex- I ; claimed his companion, opening his eyes.‘ “ Stoned! well, w ell; that beats all I ever

heard or knew of th em ! And did you carry it ? ” “ Carry it ! Do you think I was as mad as himself? N o ; I emptied I • them all out, but I filled the bag again Jfrom the cairn near the house, and gave him good measure for his money !”

Though not much interested in things; geological, Highlanders have always mani- j •

j festccl a more than ordinary respect for i

! things of preternatural and mysterious description. Some superstitious beliefs that onoe had influence over them were no doubt sombre and hurtful enough, and we are glad they have vanished to return no m ore ; but others were so romantic and so poetical, and of so picturesque a cast that we confess to some slight degree ot regret at their disappearance. Of the latter we have a l±appy illustration in the tradition connected with the Wishing Stone. Several vet survive who have passed through the o p e n i n g in this stone;

I but I fancy they have done so with a I somewhat gay and sceptical spirit, for, as j far as tlnf* present generation of Morven j folks are concerned, the age of supersti- j tio-n ia gone. But when belief in the tra

dition was prevalent, it would be interest- ̂ ing to know what wishes were desired

when passing through the stone. The invalid would wish for restoration to health ; the poor would wish for riches; tho malicious would wish to be revenged on hÌ3 adversary; some would wish for success in business, and others for success in love ; some would wish to get a distant

■ friend safe home again, and others a. sick* friend restored to health ; some would wish

‘ j for children, and some for beauty; some j would desire’the gift of knowing futurity,\ and others would wish for long life.

I Hugh Miller, in his “ Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland, tells a strange story bearing on our subject. > John Reid, a Cromarty shipmaster, was , paying his addresses to Helen Stuart, one ' of Crcmarty’s pretty girls. H e could only .

think and dream of Helen Stuart aind her image followed him wherever he f^iled Want wo«id he not do to secure ;

'4 of Helen. Stuart! lie believed,| in the superstitions of Cromaxty; and he jf knew that near the Dropping Cave, a j.j mermaid occasionally appeared who had j

I strange power over human destiny, and , could grant three wishes. One Mh.y morning John Reid, creeping among the I crags, stole to the shelf of stone on whichI ^ 7I tho mermaid was seated. She attempted I to throw herself in the water, but in aI moment the arms o f John Reid were I around her waist. She shrieked and j struggled, but the thought o f Helen I Stuart put strength into his arms, and he 1 succeeded in retaining her. “ Man, what 1 with m e?” she said in a tone o f voice j sweet as a bird, but so unearthly that it I made his blood run cold. “ Wishes three,”I he replied, and began to enumerate them.1 The first was safety at sea; the second, j uninterrupted prosperity; the third, he I did not tell to anyone but the mermaid,*1 and yet nobody doubted what it was. i “ Quit, and have,” replied the strange | creature; and John Reid, slackening his 1 hold, she sprang into the sea. Wiping J his brow, and now with hope in his breast,1 he ascended the slope of the hill, and im- | mediately met Helen Stuart, along with ! a common acquaintance, near the Lover’s

Leap. “ The charm,” thought John Reid,“ already begins to work.”

Such beliefs were by no means confined | to the Highlands. A t Grasmere, in the• Lake Country, where Wordsworth had liisi

home for nuuny years, there stood a gate ' iu the poet's life-time called the Wishing

Gate, from a belief that wishes formed while leaning on it had a happy issue. Wordsworth wrote some verses on the

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Grasmere Wishing Gate, from which the following may be quoted : —

Smile if thou wilt, but not in vain I f some, by ceaseless pain outworn,

Here crave an easier l o t ;I f some have thirsted to renew A broken vow, or bind a true,

With firmer, holier knot.f And not in vain, when thoughts are castI Upon the irrevocable past, t Some penitent sincere,i May ior a worthier future sigh,I W hile trickles from his downcast eye j No unavailing tear./ The worldling, pining to be freed f From turmoil, who can turn or speed; The current of his fate,' Might stop before this favoured scene,

At Nature’s call, nor blush to lean Upon the Wishing-gate.

The Morveu Wishing Stone is situated beside the public road, and1 at this spot funeral parties usually rest for ai short

; interval to take refreshments, and to erect a small cairn to the memory of the departed ; and now near the stone a hundred such cairns are to be seen. The ceremony

; of cairn raising is still prevalent in many I parts of the Highlands. On whatever t spot a person is found dead a few stones 1 are immediately gathered, and ai small s cairn is raised, and every passenger pays • I his tribute o f a stone. The custom of

I honouring the dead is common to all \ nations. The funeral or«,iinrn*. c - //Pa.v1' c]pg

I If. as Dr. Seth Low said, “ in Scotlandj fcvery loch was a poem and every moun

tain' a monument,” what a peerless collection of noble monuments do.es Bonnie

I Scotland possess. Ben Nevis, Ben Maori hui, Ben Lomond, Ben Ledi are all familial’ nam.es, and each one set ini a region of surpassing beauty. In many parts of Scotland wo find a peculiar formation of mountain called, from that very peculiarity, a “ Pap.” Travellers to Oban viai the Crinan Canal, golfers at Maclirihanish, are familiar with the peculiarly-shaped mountains in the island

' of Jura, known as the Paps of Jura.Travellers from Ob an to the Outer

i Hebrides, to Skye, and MaJlaig are I familiar with the Paps o f Rhum. Seven- ' teen miles from Mallaig, they, together i ’with the island of Eigg, form the back- ! ground of what lias been called “ the finest ! seascape in the British Isles." Viewed I from the loggia of the hot e 12 the scene is | very beautiful indeecf. Tourists visiting ! Gleaico© a.re bound to notice that grimo

sentinel posted ait the entrance to the I “ G len off W e e p in g / ' the P ap o f Glencoe. ; J A n o th e r pecu liar form ation of m ou n

ta in is called a Scuir. P ossib ly th e most faniou*iS Scuir in tlie w orld is that o f E igg.Jftouu’ding A rdn am u rclian P cin t, it at on ce bursts in to view, and is a prom inent la n d m a rk . Skye is fam ous fo r its M ou n ta in scenery, the series o f peaks

, l i i o w n as t h e Cuchullins being w orld Ifamous. The peaks do not differ much in ; lmiglit, the highest being Scuir Derg (the; Red Peak), 3233 feet. The one usuallyi * climbed is known as Scuir-na-Gillea,n (the I I Young Man’s Hill). These scuirs are I

visited annually by thousands, but there I exists another, away in the remote district I

j of Knoyd'art, at the head of Loch Nevis, I which I might say is absolutely unknown I to*, and never visited by, the general pub- I li’u, and yet it is quite unique in its way, I "a,nd forma as magjnificent a bit of I

j scenery as the heart of man, could desire. I I allude toi Scuir-na-Ciche, or the Peak I

I o£ the Pap or of the Breast. Alexander | the Great lamented that there were no I ! m ore worlds for him to conquer. Many I I tourists think they have visited every J | part of Scotland worth visiting, have i *• dene ’’ everything that was worth doing, i I make bold to say that the beauties of the ! Highlands ha.vo not yet been exhausted.| iThero are endless places absolutely un- '. It n own to the ordinary tourist. Norway,

for many, has cast, its spell over myriads 1 of travellers, who delight to explore its

fiords, and to visit it again and again; and yet the west coast of the “ land of

I brown heath and shaggy wood ” has many I 'inns of the sea as beautiful as any iimtheI land of “ The Midnight Sun. ’ The dis- I trict, over which Scuir-na-Ciche keeps J I watch and guard is one of these. The 1 tourist has now for the first time, practi- I cally the opportunity afforded him. of I exploring these parts. By arrangement I | with the Postmaster General, a mail boat I | has for some months left Mallaig three f | times a week for the head of Loch Nevis, I J to the very base o f Scuir-na-Ciche. Form-J l erly letters and passengers were carried I 1 only to Inverie; letters for the remoter I j districts being conveyed by post ruinners I.3 bv wa v of Morar. It v I) U n d e r the new system, th e dwellers in I i th ese lonely p a ils arse now m ore frequent- J ; ly b rou gh t in to touch- w ith the outer | w or ld . A few tourist steamers enter L och | iN evis durin g the season, but rarely do1 | 3

j th ey pass through the rushing waters o f \ \ f th e narrows, and so the beauty of the | i | aipper portion o

200 THE CELTIC MONTHLY.

OUR MUSICAL PAGE.

Tha buaidh air an uisge-bheatti.

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T he following song is said to be the composition of Iain A lac Mhurehaidh, the Kintail bard. A variant of the song appears in The CelticAfrtgazine, Vol. I., 1875*6, p. 337. In thatversion, the final verse of the chorus reads:— “ Bu mhath la teth is fuare.” In verse I., “ Ian

yy reads “ Ian a’ ghuraich” ; and ana curraighversion which I have heard sung has “ làn na gusgaig.” But I have been unable to discover

There arewhat anv of these words mean.V I

important, as well as unimportant, differences between the two versions. This is the longer of the two; and is taken from a MS. copy of Gaelic Songs of Kintail, written from the recitation of old people of the district, by Alexander Matheson, ship-owner, Dornie, now in the hands of Mr. A. K. Forbes, Edinburgh. The tune was taken down by myself from the voice of Mr. John Cameron, a native of Ballachulish.

C. M. P.•k

Oleus G. Sets,(

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. r d : S | . , S | i s I S, : S I . , f r s i : s i . , 1 1 | d ., r*

: n., jTha buaidh air an uisge-bheath1 ; Tha buaidh air nacli còir a chletli;

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Fine.d 1 1 . , 11 i 1 1., 1 1 : f i s i , s i.— : n . , r ! d : d . ,

Tha buaidh air an uisge - bheath' ; !tt ro-mhath teth is fuar e.B a n n #

, d r ., r : n . n s s : s ,, s 1. 1 : s ., n |1 n, r .— : d . , jAm fear a bliios air thuraban : A’ sniaoineachdainn a li-uile rud,

{ , d r . r : m. f 1 s . , s : s . , f n. d : f . , nB.C.

I r : f . ,Gu'm lv fheairrd* e lan na curraigh Gus a mhulad a chur uaidhe.

’S am fear a thubhairt le anbharra Gu'm b’ ole a’ chaitheadh-aimsir e, Na’m faigheadh e gun airgead e

Cha dealaicheadh e oho luath ris.3. Bu nihath do fhear an eallaich e

(iu direadh bheann is bhealaichean ;’IS gu’n traoghadh e luths analach

Gu tJ fhàgail fallan, fuasgailt’.4. Is aitlme dhomh co dh’ ladh e :

Luchd-fearainn-.shaoir is dròbhairean ; Na ccannaichean’s na h-òsdairean ;

\S cha tugadh seòltair fuatli dha."». Is math thu gu cur spoireid

Anns an fhear a bhitheas £islein

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ST. A N D R E W ’S BAN N ER .

T H E S O N G O F T H E C LA YM O R E.

They forged me up by the burn side, They took me from mother earth ;

And the noble hands of clansmen Gave to me my war-like birth.

In a pool in the burn they cooled me To temper my infant frame,

They gave me an edge on the grindstone, Keen as the lightning’s flame.

A gallant lad then bore meThrough many a midnight fray,

And I ’ve seen many blackened hearths Before the dawn of day.

For the thirst of blood was in me,It ran through my steely frame,

And I ’ve seen men fall before me Like a sickle among the grain.

But these days of deeds of daring Shall return to me no more,

I was broken like the clansmen,On the bloody ’Lochy’s* shore.

Oh ! What of the lad that bore me *' That is a tale of yore,

Of the noble death of a Campbell By dark Inverlochy’s shore.

Oh ! what of the men that made me ?They sleep by the standing stone,

With the Highland hills about them,Where their spirits free do roam.

J. M. C a m p b e l l , of Saddell.* Inverlochy.

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[T h e undernoted spirited verses appeared iu The Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday, November 29, 1854. The verses, which are unsigned, were produced by some patriotic Scotchman during the memorable Crimean W ar.]

Aberdeen. K o r e r t M u r d o c h L a w r a n c e .

Saint Andrew’s banner waves to war,And, answering with wild 44 hurrah,”

Come Bonnets Blue, from Braes of Mar,And Belted Plaids from far Loch Awe.

Lochiel pours forth its Camerons bold,Kiutail its kilted Caber-faes ;

And loyal Stuart from Appin old,And Fraser-men from Buchan’s Braes,

Let Farquharsons from Loch-na-gar,And Forbeses from leal Strathdon,

Join westland Whigs from wild Stranraer,And Tories from Loch-Torridon.

Macdonalds from Glengarry come,From Keppoch, Moidart, Armadale,

And Cromarty gives forth each son,From Gairloch, Coull, and Flowerdale.

The Black Watch from the chivalrous north, Embraces Scotland’s cherished names—

Crawford and Cameron, Douglas, Forth,Grants, Murrays, Erskines,Chisholms, Grahams.

Come, gallant Gordons, sire and son,Frae Spey to Ythan, Don to Dee ;

Strathavon, Huntly, Haddo, come,From Morven, Noth, and Benachie.

They come ' they come ! 0 Hero-band,God and His hosts defend your right!

The best hopes of your native land,Are for you, with you, in the fight.

We clasp your children in our arms,Your wives we make a sacred care,

We feel each mother’s fond alarms,And every mourner’s anguish share.

Our prayers are yours, to shield from sin,And consecrate the fields you die on ;

Then on ! through death and battles’ din,Saint Andrew guards the Scottish Lion !

BEALACH A’ M H O R B H E IN N —T H E P A S S OF T H E MORVEN.

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L A M E N T FOR M O R V E N .

\( Translated from the Gaelic of Dr. J o h n M a c l a c h i ,a n , \ of Rahoy, Parish of Morven, Argyllshire.

* Fonn och ! mar tha mi.0 sad my thoughts as I stroll this morning,

Through forests green and through glen and com e, Where roamed of old the immortal heroes,

Renowned in legend, in song and story.

C h o r u s .

For bonnie Morven thy braes and mountains The countless herds of the stranger cover,

There’s not a span for thy kilted heroes,Though with bright gold they could gild it over.

0 harsh the sounds from the glens and eorries,That at the dawning my slumbers waken,

The stranger’s tongue o’er thy hills resounding, Proclaim thy sous have their home forsaken.

No more is heard upon Beltane morning,The bell on moor, the song in bovver;

No more at dawn is slipped the greyhound ; By Highland lads in their pride and power.1 And when I gaze on your towering mountains,

Where Fingal reigned in his day of glory,fJ here’s naught but collies and flocks unnumbered,

With Lowland boors on thy braes before me.%tOn scaur and mountain, in glen and corrie,

Of yore the red deer’s romantic haven,' Now naught is seen but the Lowland stranger,I With hands the hue of the wing of raven.*$

! The scenes of old from thy hills have faded,O dark the legend and sad the story,

! No more at gloaming the voice of maiden,, In lilt awakens the glen and eorrie.; Ami when I gaze on your fertile green glens, f Despoiled of those once thy pride and glory,I The scene recalls when in vision eerie,$

'Poo well the gray seer foretold thy story, tD u n c a n Liv i n h s t o n i:.

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j Portsmouth, Ohio, U.S.A.

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* Owing to the use o f chemicals the hands of shepherds are always stained black.

t Tradition says that Thomas of Krcildoune prophesied that sheep would banish Vhe plough from Scotland.

F a I K N K U ' l l D T u o m a i h .

“ ( 'uiridh a’ obaora an h o c as an talamh,Midh meal o ir am him g a c h glinne,'S Alhain ’ n a eriosan g e a la . ”

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“ Cuir idh peiiveall na eaora ’n erann air an fh aradh ."“ T ho sheep 's j a w will p u t th e p lo u g h on th e h e n -ro o s t .1'

This saying or prophecy is also attributed to the fatuous High land seer, Kenneth Mackenzie - Coineadl: Odhar.

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] Kky (I. M odtrato , beating twice in the measure.

j ( ì1 l. r : n : r | s : — : — r : r : f | n : r : d r : n : r | s : — : — r : n : f j n : — : d Jj \S fada bhuam fhin bonn Beinn Eadarainn ; ’8 fada bliuam fhin Bealach a’ MhòrbheinnJ Fare ye well noo, lofty Bon Ederin, Fare ye well noo, Pass o ’ the Mor - veil,

( 1\ r : n : r | s : — r : r : f | m : r : d r : f : n I n : r : d Si : 1,: d | r : —: d jI ’S fada bhuam fhin bonn Beinn Eadarainu; ’S fada gun teagamh bhuam Bealach a’ Mhòrbheinn.j Fare ye well noo, bonnie Ben Ederin, Farewell for ever dear Pass of the Morven.

1 / Ii I r : m : r I s : — 1 : a : f | s : f : m r : n : r I s : — r : m : f | n : — : d )! Bho bhonn gu bonn, bonn Beinn Eadarainn, Bho bonn gu bonn Bealach a’ Mhòrbheinn

Green are thy knowes, bonnie Ben - Ederin, Cosey thy howes, Pass o ’ the Morven,

( I r : m : r | s : : s 1 : s : f | s : f : n r : f : n | n : r : d s ( : 1( : d I r : — : d’S fada bhuam fhin bonn Beinn Eadarain, \S fada gun teagamh bliuam Bealach a’ Mhòrbheinn.

i Bare are the knowes awa frae Ben Ederin, Cauld are the iiowes awa frae thee, Morven.

Bho chul nam beann, bonn nani bealaichean, Smooth are the hills roun’ thee, Ben Ederin,Bho chùl nam beann, Bealach a’ Mhbrbheinn ; Pure are the rills rushing down Morven ;

j Bho cliùl nam beann bonn nan bealaichean-- Rough are the hills far frae Ben Ederin,] '8 fada gun teagamh bhuam Bealach a* Mhòrbheinn. Dark are the rivulets far frae thee, Morven.) Cid nam monaidhean bial nam bealaichean ; Knowes and rough hills far frae Ben Ederin,» Cul nam monaidhean Bealach a’ Mhòrbheinn, Howes and dark rills far frae thee, Morven, '‘ Cid nam monaidhean bial nam bealaichean— Are na like thine, thou bonnie Ben Ederin, Ì

S fada gun teagamh bhuam Bealach a5 Mhòrbheinn. Are na like thine, thou Pass o ’ the Morven. 1

A N C IE N T C U S T O M S .

B y N iv e n N o r t h .T h e subject of ancient customs is always an interesting one, and my attention has been directed to a notice re Highland honours. Now, as some customs might not be generally know’ll, I thought it might be worth wrhile to reproduce a report I wrote some time ago in “ The Book of Sports of the Club of True Highlanders.” Having been engaged for some years in investigating the antiquity of the manners, dress, and arms of the Highlanders, I have jotted down notes from different authorities, some of which, relating to customs observed at feasts, &c., are not generally known.

In 1636 Warde says healths were drunk “ on bare k n e e s ;” and Frank Buckland mentions that an ancestor of a friend of his assisted in distributing cheese, bread and beer to the Highlanders after the retreat from Derby in 1745, and that they thanked her in Gaelic, “-on their knees when leaving.” Armstrong says another custom was “ to drink over the left t h u m b a n d , at a jovial meeting, if any mail retired, even for a short tim$, on his return he was obliged, before he resumed his seat, to apologise in rhyme. If he could or did not, he had to pay such portion of the reckoning as the company might decide o i l ; it was called “ beannachd a bhàird.” M ‘Pherson says (1868) when the Hebridian chiefs and captains returned home after a successful expedition they summoned their friends to a grand entertainment; bards and seannachies flocked in from every quarter; pipers and harpers had a right to appear.

Those entertainments were wild and cheerful, nor were they unattended with the pleasures of the sentiments and unrefined tastes of the times. The bards sang and the young women

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danced ; the trunks of the trees covered with : moss, were laid in the order of a table from one

end of the hall to the o th er ; whole deer and beeves were laid before them on rough boards, or hurdles of rods wove together. Their pipers played while they sat at table, and silence was observed by all. After the feast was over they had ludicrous entertainments, of which some are still acted in the Highlands. Then the females retired and the old and young warriors sat down in order from the chieftain, according to their proximity in blood to him. The harp was then touched, the song was raised, and the sliga chreachainn, or the drinking shell went round. Brande says (1793) in Edinburgh they drank immoderately to save the ladies (a very gallant and delicate attention no doubt).

In an old poem, “ The Piper of Peebles,” I find:Cam’ to the feast, they dined thereout;

“ A vast o’ fouk a’ round about Twa pair o’ pipers playing gude Ahout the table as they fe d .”

Sir Walter Scott, in 1829, thus describes a festival of the Celtic Society at which he pre- sided, and the members will at once see how nearly it describes the meetings of the Club of True Highlanders :— “ In the evening I presided at the annual festival of the Celtic Club. I like this society, and willingly give myself to be excited by the sight of handsome young men with plaids and claymores, and all the alertness and spirit of Highlanders in their native garb. There was the usual degree of excitation, excellent dancing, capital songs—a general inclination to please and be pleased.......................W e had many guests, some of whom— English officers— seemed both amused and surprised at our wild ways, especially at the dancing without ladies, and the mode of drinking favourite toasts by springing up with one foot on the bench and one on the table.” In a letter written some years before the above he says :— “ Besides all this, I have before my eyes the terrors of a certain Highland association who dine bonneted ; and kilted in the old fashion.”

Having described several customs, let me .take one or two societies and critically analyse 1the manner in which Highland Honours are ,given. Take them in seniority. The Highland ■Society ; the honours are thus mentioned in the '

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Illustrated London News of 1872: The foot isplaced on the table ; the words given are : <

x“ Suas e, fSuas e, Suas e ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !

, Up with it, up with it, up with i t ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! \hurrah ! !

Sios e, sios e, sios e ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !Down with it, down with it, down with it ! Hurrah ! *

hurrah ! hurrah ! 'So dhuibh, so dhuibh, so dhuihh ! Hurrah ! hurrah !

hurrah !Here’s to you, here's to you, here’s to you ! tt*11 *

hurrah ! hurrah !s

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times sunways. The custom was observed round the new-born babe, round houses with a burning brand as a protection from fire, and round the grave at “ the last scene of all. ” In fact, in ancient Highland fashion, if you wished to invoke prosperity on anything or anybody in the most solemn manner possible, you could not use a more appropriate ceremony than that in use at the Club of True Highlanders.

Finally, let us examine the objections against the custom and its antiquity. A letter appeared some time ago stating (1) that a Mr. Mackay informed the writer that the custom was introduced in a scene by Mr. Murray in Edinburgh ; (2) that the custom was indulged in by the Celtic Society, as noticed by Sir Walter Scott — “ it had not, however, at the time of Sir Walter’s reference (1829) received the dignity of Highland Honours, (3) but therein described as wild ways,” (4) Mr. Mclan, after 1836, conferred the title of Highland Honours on the custom at a dinner of the Highland Society.

To this I would point out (1) another authority a short time ago stated that it was invented by Englishmen and produced at Drury Lane, showing how hearsay evidence becomes unwittingly distorted, and how little value it has in matters of history; (2) a copy, dated 1825, of the liiiles, passed shortly after the foundation of the Club of True Highlanders, says that “ honours ” are only to be given by the C hief; Sir Walter Scott speaks in unqualified praise of the doings of the Celtic Club— placing the foot on the table is mentioned as if it were an old- established custom and not a new invention (in fact, he says they dined in the old-fashioned way), and the term “ wild w ays” especially refers to dancing without the ladies; (4) Mr. Mclan, being a member of the Club of True Highlanders, simply did what he had often done before at the Club meetings.

With regard to another objection, when the shoe is on the table, the keenest and closest inspection could find no hidden mystery in it or anywhere else, and no one with manly feelings would waste his energiesonthe unprofitable task.

W e see, therefore, the slender foundation on which a few gentlemen (in their zeal for improving instead of preserving everything) base their assertions. On the otlier hand we have authentic records that the custom has been observed for upwards of half a century by the leading Highland Societies and other authorities, and has the expressed approval of Sir Walter Scott, a man the purity of whose writings and actions stand high above all others as a glorious example, and who was selected, as the man most fitted by his knowledge of ancient Highland ways, to organise the reception given to the King when he visited Dun-edin,

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Slid dlniibh, sud dhuibli, sud dhuibh ! Hurrah !hurrah ! hurrah !

There’s to you, there’s to you, there’s to you ! Hurrah !hurrah ! hurrah !

A nis, a uis, a nis ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !Now then, now then, now then ! Hurrah ! hurrah !

hurrah !A rithist, a rithist, a rithist! Hurrah! hurrah ! hurrah ! Again, again, again ; Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !Sguab as e, sguab as e, sguab as e ! Hurrah ! hurrah !

hurrah !Quaff it off*, quaff it off', quaff' it off ! Hurrah ! hurrah !

hurrah !With this last exclamation, having drained his glass, each jovial Highlander throws it behind him over the left shoulder, and there is a glorious smash on the floor all round the table.” I am of opinion, for reasons that will appear further on, that the words “ So dhuibh,” “ Sud dhuibh,” “ A rithist,” “ Sguab as e,” and the custom of breaking glasses, although ancient, are additions to the primitive manner.

Before referring to the custom of the Club of True Highlanders, I must observe that a great many persons forget or do not know that suas and sios was the ancient form for west and east; it is used sometimes in that sense now, and does not, therefore, necessarily mean up ami down. The manner at the Club is th is; the warder and piper stand at attention, the toast is given, the liquor is tasted, and the glass is replaced on the table; the Chief and members then place one foot on the chair and the other on the table, and pronounce the follow ing:—Suas e, suas e, suas e ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !West with it, west with it, west with it ! Hurrah !

hurrah ! hurrah !Sios e, sios e, sios e ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !East with it, east with it, east with i t ! Hurrah !

hurrah ! hurrah !Nis, nis, nis ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !Now, now, now ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !the piper striking in at the last with a bar or two of music. The glasses are not smashed ; the members originally, I believe, used the cuach of yew and the drinking shell. Now, in carefully analysing the arrangement of the words, we find that there are three expressions, repeated three tim es; with three hurrahs after each expression has been repeated three times.

Again, which is the way the toast is to go? “ To the west with it,” then “ To the east with it,” i.e., the toast is to go Deis-iuil, or the prosperous way— i.e., the way of the sun, each man, while pronouncing the words, uncovering and waving his “ bonaid” sunways. And what then 1 The Druids, when they wished prosperity to anything, marched three times round their temple sunways, from east to west, and from west to east. A person to express thanks for favours received, would walk round the benefactor three times sunways; the fisherman before commencing his voyage would row round three

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! FATHER ALLAN MACDONALDM E M O R I A L .CELTIC CROSS UNVEILED IN ERISKAY.

CEREMONY IN A GALE,

The ni-uiy friends and admirers of the lat-e j \ la th e r Allan Macdonald have good reason j , j to be pleased tliat their efforts to perpetuate I f his m euory have met with suck success. On I t Thursday, October 14th, there was unveiled I Ì tile very Iwtndsoirie memorial btone which has Ii *f v I

i recently been crocted over the grave of the I devoted pastor of the Isle of Eriskay, I

A Mass of Requiem for the sonl of the j lato Father Allan, whose anniversary was I on tho 8th October, was sung in the bcauti- I ful little chapel, which had been built by his I

‘ exertions, and hud been finished bnt a short J , tim© before his death. I' The celebrant of the mass was Rev. Hugh I 1 Cameron, assisted by Rev. William Mac- I ! kenssie and lley. John Macneil, whilst there I

wore .present in the sanctuary Very Rev. I Dr. Rogan, Paisley; Rev. William Mac-j Lellan, Rev. John Macmillan, Rev. John I

< Clark, and Rev, Odo Blundell, O.S.B, The I J Gregorian Chant was rendered by the little I j fisher school children, under the direction I

S' of Mr Ambrose Coghlan, |After the Absolution, the Rev, William ; Mackenzie spoke in touching terms of the '!life and labours of Father Allan Macdouald, who had sacrificed his health and strength in administering to the people of the distant islands of South Uist and of Eriskay. To these last he was especially a father, having devoted himself for eleven years to the betterment of their suingimdings, spiritual and

tvaiporal. No place on earth was so dearto this devoted priest as the storm-swept island, where were gathered some five hundred souls, to whom it was his greatestpleasure to afford the consolations of religion.In their favour he renounced the attractions \ of the larger cities, where his great attainments as a Gaelic scholar iron Id have secured

I him many honours. Father Mackenzie re- j fcrred to the simple and holy life of Father 1 Allan, which made him a model priest, a I model, indeed, whom it was a real pleasure I to follow. jI It had been intended to proceed at once 1 I after mass to the unveiling ceremony, but I

j| the storm—and the storms of Eriskay are I j| not easily fought against—made this impos- j I eible. Later in the afternoon, however, the j

j| gale lessened somewhat, and the clergy pro- I I ceeded quietly to the cemetery, where they 1 I were soon joined by a largo number of tho I J congregation. As clergy and people, with I 1 heads uncovered, knelt around tho grave on jI the cold, wet grass, whilst the gale had but (

II little abated, few could refrain from recall- I (j ing the conditions under which Father Allan I j| had spent the greater part of his life. The J )j day was a typical Eriskay d