of the enemy, and the result of the campaign, they urged, might depend upon whether they should win or lose the first battle. The Highlanders, though hardy and brave, these young gentlemen alleged, were only raw and undisciplined troops, who had not seen blood; that they were much fatigued by the want of food, and by their long and rapid march; not having had even the common necessaries of life. Various other reasons were urged for continuing on the defensive where they were for the present, and their arguments were stated with so much plausibility and apparent conclusiveness that they were silently and generally accepted, until Alexander Macdonald of Glengarry spoke out, and declared that though it was quite true that the Highlanders had suffered on the march, as had been so eloquently described, yet these hardships did not affect them as they would soldiers who were bred in an easier and more plentiful mode of life; they would be able and willing to engage the enemy at once, for nothing delighted them more than hardy and adventurous exploits. If they were kept back until attacked by the enemy they would lose that spirit and resolution which invariably characterised them when they were the aggressors. The Highland chiefs generally concurred in Glengarry's remarks, but Dundee, observing that Lochiel had still continued silent, withheld his own opinion until he heard what the experienced Chief of the Camerons had to say on the all-important subject under discussion. "For he has not only done great things himself, but had such great experience, that he cannot miss to make a right judgment of the matter, and, therefore, his views shall determine mine." Lochiel, in reply, depreciated what he himself had done in the past, and modestly urged that no example could be taken from his experience. The reason why he had not spoken during the discussion, was that he had already determined to submit to his lordship in all things, as his conduct was so well adapted to the genius of the Highlanders, but as he commanded him to express his opinion it was in one sentence. "To fight immediately, for our men are in heart; they are so far from being afraid of their enemies, that they are eager and keen to engage them, lest they escape from their hands, as they have so often done. Though we have few men, they are good, and I can assure your Lordship that not one of them will fail you." He strongly urged the propriety of fighting at once, even though he might

only have one man to the enemy's three, and, addressing Dundee, he said "Be assured, my Lord, that if once we are fairly engaged we will either lose our army or secure a complete victory. Our men love always to be in action. Your Lordship never heard them complain of hunger or fatigue while they were in chase of their enemy, which at all times were equal to us in numbers. Employ them in hasty and desperate enterprises, and you will oblige them; and I have always observed that when I fought under the greatest disadvantage as to numbers, I had still the completest victory. Let us take this occasion to show our zeal and courage in the cause of our King and country, and that we dare attack an army of fanatics and rebels at the odds of nearly two to one. Their great superiority in numbers will give a necessary reputation to our victory; and not only frighten them from meddling with a people conducted by such a General, and animated by such a cause, but will encourage the whole kingdom to declare in our favour." Such a spirited and warlike oration naturally pleased the brave Dundee, whose eyes brightened with a sparkle of satisfaction and delight during its delivery; and he pointed out to the other officers that the sentiments and arguments expressed by Lochiel were those of one who had formed his conclusions and judgment from the infallible test of long experience, and an intimate acquaintance with the people and the subject upon which he had so eloquently addressed them. No further objections were offered to the course urged by the brave Sir Ewen, and it was unanimously agreed that they should fight at once, a resolution received with exclamations of joy by all the Highlanders, to the great gratification of their General. Before the Council of War separated, however, Lochiel begged to be heard once more while he addressed a few words to Dundee himself, which he did in these terms:-" My Lord, I have just now declared, in presence of this honourable company, that I was resolved to give an implicit obedience to all your Lordship's commands; but I humbly beg leave, in name of these gentlemen, to give the word of command for this once. It is the voice of your Council; and their orders are that you do not engage personally. Your Lordship's business is to have an eye on all parts, and issue your commands as you think proper; it is ours to execute them with promptitude and courage. On your Lordship depends not only the fate of this brave little army, but

also of our King and country. If your Lordship deny us this reasonable demand, for my own part, I declare that neither I, nor any that I am concerned in, shall draw a sword on this important occasion, whatever construction may be put upon my conduct." In this appeal Lochiel was supported by the whole Council, but Dundee asked to be heard in reply, addressing them thus:"Gentlemen, as I am absolutely convinced, and have had repeated proofs of your zeal for the King's service, and of your affection to me, as his General and your friend, so I am fully sensible that my engaging personally this day may be of some loss if I shall chance to be killed; but I beg leave of you, however, to allow me to give one harvest-day to the King, my master, that I may have an opportunity of convincing the brave Clans that I can hazard my life in that service as freely as the meanest of them. Ye know their temper, gentlemen, and if they do not think that I have personal courage enough, they will not esteem me hereafter, nor obey my commands with cheerfulness. Allow me this single

favour, and I promise, upon my honour, never again to risk my person while I have the honour of commanding you." Finding him so determined, the Council gave way, and at once broke up to prepare for immediate action.

(To be continued.)

THE ORIGIN OF THREE GAELIC PROVERBS.

THE origin of the many proverbs, of which the Gaelic language furnishes such a store, is often a most interesting and instructive study, affording, as it does, so many glimpses into the character and customs of the ancient Highlander. We venture to present the reader with three little stories which have been the foundations of the same number of Gaelic proverbs.

There lived in Islay a certain farmer, who, at one time, decided to remove to another dwelling. On the day before he intended to flit, he invited some of his neighbours to a farewell gathering. His house was small, and while the feast was proceeding, the guests suffered some inconvenience from overcrowding. Seeing this, their host told his son, a boy about ten years old, to take his meat away to a corner, so as to give the rest more In rather reluctantly obeying this order, the boy, acci

room.

dentally or intentionally, spilt a portion of his victuals upon the floor, and, being rebuked for his carelessness, he replied “ Is iomadh ni a chailleas fear na h-imrich" (Many things are lost by him that removes.) The force of this observation, in his own circumstances, so struck the father that he resolved not to remove after all, and the boy's words have passed into a proverb, which is often applied to those about to make a flitting.

Another common saying is-"Thugadh gach fear coin a cragaibh dha fein" (Let every man take birds from rocks for himself), and it is said to have originated as follows:-Two men went out one day to catch sea-birds. One of them passed a rope round his body, and the other dropped him down over the edge of the rocks where the birds nested. The man at the top held the rope, and the other crept along the ledges and caught the birds. When he had secured as many as he could carry, he shouted to his companion to pull him up. The other cried out, and asked what was to be his share of the birds. The reply came up in the words of the proverb. "Well, well," said he who held the rope, "let every one hold a rope for himself," and letting go his hold, his companion, with the birds, fell to the foot of the rocks, where he was instantaneously killed.

The well-known Alastair MacCholla Chiotaich, who fought under Montrose, is credited with being the first to utter the proverb-"'S truagh nach bu cheaird gu leir sibh an diúgh" (I wish you were all tinkers to-day.) At the battle of Auldearn, Macdonald was cut off from the rest of his men, and surrounded by a number of the enemy in a small sheep fold. It would have gone hard with him but for a poor tinker from Athole, named Stewart, who, seeing Macdonald's plight, rushed gallantly to his rescue, and used his broadsword to such effect that the enemy fled. Alastair thanked his preserver, asked him who he was, and where he came from. The poor man, ashamed to avow his occupation, replied that he was not worth asking about, nor, indeed, worthy of being called a man at all. Macdonald assured him that what he had done that day would make up for anything else, and after much pressing, Stewart told him his name and occupation; upon which Macdonald made the observation, which has been handed down to posterity in the words quoted.

H. R. M.

THE DISARMING ACT AND THE PROSCRIPTION OF THE HIGHLAND DRESS.

BY J. G. MACKAY.

I.

WE often hear the question asked, Why have the Highlanders discontinued to wear their own national dress? There are many Cockneys who even yet imagine that in Scotland the people still wear nothing but tartan, speak but a barbarous language which no one can understand, and eat only Scotch haggis, and drink whisky. When, therefore, they invest their brawny limbs in the costume of the clans, and start out to "do the Highlands," imagining themselves the prototype of Roderick Mhic Alpein Duibh, or some such Highland chief, and find themselves the only representatives of the typical Highlander, while every one around them has his limbs encased in the ordinary habiliments of the rest of the world, they think they have made a discovery that the whole thing is a delusion, the mendacious fabrication of some modern London Celt, anxious to get up the name of his country. by palming his own fanciful invention on a credulous public as the garb of his race. The dress is, therefore, pronounced a fancy dress, and of modern invention. There are now even many Highlanders who know so little about it that they cannot name the various articles constituting the dress, while there are very few who know the tartan of their own clan, or the cause of the dress being discontinued.

To give an account of the Disarming Act and the proscription of the dress, it is necessary to go back to the time of the rebellion of 1715. The Highlanders played such a prominent part both in that and the previous struggle, and proved such powerful antagonists, that the Government found it necessary to devise some means of reducing them to order.

In 1718 an Act was passed "declaring it unlawful for any person or persons (except such as were therein described) to carry arms within the shires of Dumbarton, Stirling, Perth, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, Argyll, Forfar, Banff, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgin, and Ross;" but that Act not being sufficient to accomplish the ends desired, it was further