1. Dugall, who succeeded him.

Ranald, like his father, was tried in presence of the King and executed at Perth, for some unrecorded crime, in 1513, when he was succeeded by

his son,

XIII. DUGALL MACRANALD MACDONALD, sixth of Moydart, who, for his extreme cruelty and crimes against his own kindred, became detested by the clan. He was in consequence assassinated, and his sons were formally excluded from the succession. He was married, and had several lawful sons. 66 Allan, the eldest son of Dougal, and the undoubted heirmale of the Clanranald, acquired the estate of Morar, which he transmitted to his descendants. He and his successors were always styled 'MacDhughail Mhorair,' i.e., Macdougal of Morar, from their ancestor, Dougal MacRanald."* On the death of Dugall MacRanald, the command of the clan, with the family estates, was given to Alexander Allanson, second son of Allan MacRuari, fourth of Clanranald, and uncle of Dugall MacRanald, assassinated as above. This position Alexander held until his death in 1530. On the exclusion of Dugall's heirs, Ranald Gallda, son of Allan MacRuari by Isabella Fraser of Lovat, became the nearest male heir, but he seems to have taken no steps to assert his rights. This is perhaps not to be wondered at, for he and his friends might naturally conclude that if the clan passed over the nearest legal heirs-male -the sons of Dugall MacRanald-they might with equal justice at least refuse to receive and acknowledge as their chief one whose claim was legally not so good, and whose reputation, in so far as it had reached them, was not such as they would admire in a Chief of Clanranald. Indeed, once the clan had deposed the legal representative and heir-male, we do not see why they were not just as much entitled to choose the elder uncle Alexander and his natural son, John "Muidartach," as they were to choose the younger uncle Ranald Gallda and his successors, who so long as any of Dugall's lawful representatives remained had no legal right to succeed, and of whom they knew nothing, as he had from his youth been brought up with his mother's family at Lovat, from which circumstance they called him Gallda, or the Foreigner.

John "Muidartach," Alexander's son, was a man of unsurpassed capacity and talent in diplomacy and war. His "mental endowments, with his great physical prowess, made him so popular that the circumstance of his illegitimacy was ignored, and on the death of his father, he was unanimously elected by the clan to be their captain and chief—to the exclusion of cousins and his uncle Ranald Gallda, any of whom had legally a preferential claim." A full, graphic, and exceedingly interesting account of the Battle of Blarleine, in which Ranald Gallda was overthrown and slain by John "Muidartach" and his followers, by the Rev. Allan Sinclair, M.A., Kenmore, appeared in the Celtic Magazine, and it is therefore unnecessary to repeat the particulars in detail here; but a short quotation may be given from Gregory (p. 158):-"On the death of Allaster (second son of Allan MacRuari), which took place in 1530, his bastard son, John Moydertach, a man of uncommon talent and ability, was acknowledged by the whole clan as their chief; and he even succeeded in procuring charters to the estates. These he possessed without interrup

*

Gregory's Highlands and Isles, p. 158.

† pp. 89-94, vol, vi,

tion, till, with other chiefs, he was apprehended by James V. in the course of that King's voyage through the Isles in 1540, and placed in prison. Lord Lovat and the Frasers then bestirred themselves for the interest of their kinsman, Ranald Gallda, and made such representations on the subject, that the charters formerly granted to John Moydertach were revoked, and the lands granted to Ranald Gallda, as the heir of his father, Allan MacRuari. The existence of prior legal heirs (the sons of Dougal) seems to have been carefully concealed; and, by the assistance of the Frasers, Ranald was actually placed in possession of the estate, which he held only as long as John Moydertach remained in prison; for immediately on the return of that chief to the Highlands he was joined by the whole of the Clanranald, including the sons of Dougal, and again acknowledged as their chief. Ranald, who had lost favour with the clan. by exhibiting a parsimonious disposition, was expelled from Moydart, and forced to take refuge with Lord Lovat, who once more prepared to assert the rights of his kinsman. The Clanranald, however, did not wait to be attacked, but, assisted by Donald Glas of Keppoch and his tribe, and by the Clanchameron, under their veteran leader, Ewin Allanson of Lochiel, they carried the war into the enemy's country." They soon over-ran the lands of Stratherrick and Abertarff, belonging to Lord Lovat, the lands of Urquhart and Glenmorriston, belonging to the Grants, and even possessed themselves of the Castle of Urquhart. They plundered indiscriminately the whole district, and even aimed at a permanent occupation of the invaded territories. The Earl of Huntly was ultimately sent against them with a large force, among whom we find Lovat, the Laird of Grant, and Ranald Gallda. On the approach of this strong force, the Highlanders of Clanranald retreated to their mountain fastnesses, leaving Huntly and his followers to penetrate through the country without any opposition. Ranald Gallda was again, without opposition, put in possession of Moydart, while their lands were at the same time restored to those who were driven from them by Clanranald and their allies. Huntly now returned with his followers, accompanied out of compliment by Ranald Gallda. The Clanranald kept a close watch upon their movements, followed them at a distance, overtook them at Kinlochlochy, where the desperate Battle of Blarleine was fought, on the 15th of July 1544. Lovat, the Master of Lovat, and Ranald Gallda, with almost all their followers, were slain; the result being that the Clanranald maintained in possession of the estate and chiefship a distinguished leader of their own choosing, the famous John "Muidartach," against one who possessed greater legal claims, and who was supported by all the influence of the feudal law. John "Muidartach afterwards transmitted to his descendants, without serious difficulty, the great possessions which he had so bravely won by the sword.

Regarding the parsimony and alleged effeminacy of Ranald Gallda we find the following in the Clanranald Family History (pp. 92-93):-" This interference of Lovat could ill be brooked by the Macdonalds, and the unlimited control which they observed the former to have over his young friend, convinced the clan that what they had heard of his effeminacy, was but too true, for it was circulated in the country that he was a boy, unfit for command or rule. A circumstance, trifling in itself, tended to strengthen this conviction. A day or two after Ranald's arrival at Castletirrim, preparations were made for a feast to be given to the clan on

his succession. Many sheep and cattle were slaughtered, and Ranald observing a great number of fires in the court of the Castle, and the busy faces of the cooks employed in dressing immense quantities of victual, inquired the cause of such a scene, when he was informed that the 'feast of welcome' was to be given on that day, in honour of his succession; and, unused to the sight of such feasts, and having no idea of such preparations, he unfortunately observed that a few hens might do as well.' Such an observation was not lost upon the clan; they despised the man who could, for a moment, think of departing from the ancient practice, and they were confirmed in their belief of his weakness and want of spirit. They rose in arms and expelled both him and Lovat from the Castle, and the feast which was prepared for them served to commemorate the election of John (Muidartach), who was formally declared chief of the clan." This occurred on Ranald's first appearance at Castletirrim. At the desperate Battle of Blarleine he amply proved by his heroism that whether the charge of parsimoniousness was well founded or not, effeminacy had no seat in his soul; for it is admitted by friends and foes that no one exhibited greater bravery and determination on that bloody field than he did.

He was never married, but left three natural sons, Allan, John, and Alexander, all of whom received a charter of legitimation from the Crown, dated 18th of June 1555; and, on the 28th of January 1562, Allan, the eldest son, received a gift of the non-entry duties of his father's lands of Moydart and Arisaig since his father's death in July 1544. This Allan left one son, Angus, who, as we shall see, afterwards claimed and held the lands of Arisaig and Moydart, until he was dispossessed of them by Donald, John "Muidartach's" grandson, for which act he was forfeited and declared a rebel; but this sentence, on the death of the children of Angus--a son and daughter-was soon after removed. The result of the Battle of Blarleine cleared the way from active opposition to John "Muidartach," and left him in indisputed possession as Captain and actual Chief of Clanranald of Moydart. How he conducted himself in that responsible and honourable position we shall see in our next.

(To be Continued.)

THE MACDONALDS OF GLENGARRY—A CORRECTION.In our last a few errors have crept into the family genealogy, all of which will be corrected in the separate work. In all cases where Stewart appears it should be Stuart. Sir William Stuart Forbes, Bart. (p. 297), is of "Monymusk and Pitsligo." James Edmund Stuart, son of Jemima Rebecca, third daughter of Alastair Ranaldson Macdonell, fifteenth of Glengarry, was born in 1851, not in 1854. Allan Brown, son of Giulelmina, is in Australia, not in New Zealand. Josephine Bennet, who married Æneas Ranaldson, sixteenth of Glengarry, was grand-niece, not niece, of the Bishop of Cloyne. At p. 297, the paragraph "Margaret, who married Major Downing," &c., should read "Margaret, who married Major Downing, killed during the Peninsular war, with issue-one son, George Downing, captain in the Madras Army, who married Margaret Macdonald, daughter of Coll Macdonald of Dalness, W.S., with issue, an only child, Elizabeth Margaret Downing Macdonald, who married Dugald Stuart of Lochcarron, eldest son of the late Right Honourable Sir John Stuart of Ballachulish and Lochcarron, vice-chancellor."

TALES AND ADVENTURES OF A BOTANIST: ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MANNERS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE

HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND,

AULDOUR.

THE weary traveller who has pursued his journey for many tiresome hours over the bleak heaths of Strath-Eihre, hails with joy the smiling mansion of Auldour, which suddenly bursts upon his view as he turns the steep ridge of Druim-na-gair. If an equestrian he checks his steed, or if more humbly provided with the means of locomotion, he seats himself on the grey stone by the way-side to feast his eyes for a short time with the goodly prospect before him. When he has hastily run over the general coup d'œil, he proceeds to examine in detail the various parts which enter into the composition of the landscape.

The house, an irregular old building without any pretensions to elegance, may not long arrest his contemplations, except for the pleasing air of comfort which surrounds it. But he fails not to admire the well-chosen site, a commanding elevation near the junction of the rival streams of the Eihre and the Luina. In the disposition of the grounds nature has left little for the hand of art to improve. Wherever the latter has been called in, convenience and utility seem to have directed her labours rather than the hopeless desire of adding to the charms of the scenery, on the severe but captivating features of which her frivolous ornaments were utterly thrown away. The garden, well protected from the bleak winds of the north and east by an aged clump of elms and beeches, lies immediately behind the house. Thriving plantations skirt the base of the adjoining hills; and the neatly enclosed fields-some pastured by cattle, some waving with yellow grain, and some covered with hay-cocks-impress the mind at once with the conviction that the proprietor of Auldour is no negligent agriculturist.

The snug and cheerful aspect of the whole, heightened by contrast with the rugged and dreary waste which the lonely tourist has left behind him, has so reviving an influence on his spirits that, though he should have no prospect of making Auldour a stage, he resumes his journey with increased alacrity. Much more delightful are his feelings, however, if, in addition to these pleasing emotions, he enjoys the anticipation of a warm welcome from the amiable family who make this their residence. Their dinner-hour is probably long past; but he knows well, unless this be his first visit to Auldour, that he can never enter that hospitable mansion without finding ready and ample provision for his wants.

If matters of importance, however, should render expedition requisite on his journey, of all things let him beware of coming within the enchanted walls of that abode of so much that is pleasing to its guests, for if once he give his horse the rein and suffer him to follow his own inclination, on reaching the avenue that leads to the gate, he may count it among the certainties of the way-faring man's experience that, for that day, his travels are at an end, and his most urgent business must await

the return of another morn. Let it not be supposed, however, that the hospitality of Auldour is of that antiquated kind which would do violence, by its well meant importunity, to the free will of the guest. Both the landlord and his amiable partner have been accustomed to move in those circles of society, in which such over-wrought and teasing civilities are fortunately unknown, yet it often happens that, when once the stranger is fairly seated at their social hearth, he feels little inclination to depart on a hurry; or if he prevail upon himself to make an effort to be gone, a very slight opposition is sufficient in most cases to conquer his resolution; especially if the arguments of the host or hostess be enforced by the lowering aspect and surly voice of the elements without--a phenomenon not of uncommon occurrence there.

To induce him to prolong his visit there are seldom wanting other powerful motives calculated to act on the particular turn of his mind whatever it may be. If a young man, and liable to any tender susceptibilities, he would do well to watch with care the movements of his eye and heart; for certain lovely shoots of wit and beauty are there, whose fascination is not easily resisted; and though their charms, except in one or two instances, are not yet fully expanded, they are young ladies-to drop the metaphor-of such attractions, both of person and manners, as one might not readily expect to meet with in the wilds of Strath-Eihre. It will be the cavalier's own fault if he does not find the hours which he spends amongst them pass swiftly and pleasantly away; for their powers of entertaining are multifarious, and they are never shy nor sparing in the use of them when they perceive that they are acceptable, or that any attempt is made to second their exertions to please. Whether the visitor be of a gay and buoyant cast of mind, or of too sedate a temper for the frolics of youthful glee, many inducements remain to make him linger delighted at Auldour. He must possess a very anomalous frame of spirit indeed if he can reap neither amusement nor instruction from one or other of the company which daily assemble there towards nightfall; and that in such numbers, considering the scattered population of the neighbourhood, as might tempt one to suppose that, with the pelting rain, they had suddenly dropped from the clouds.

I had the honour to present to Colonel Mackenzie a brief introductory card, which procured me a very flattering reception, and an obliging request to make myself at home at Auldour so long as I found anything to interest me in the vicinity. Whether or not this proved an inducement to make me explore the mountainous tracts around with greater diligence I cannot say; but sure it is I found them uncommonly rich in rare and curious plants, and was thus detained a guest at Auldour much longer than I had anticipated. I experienced, however, no diminution of kindness though I thus taxed the hospitality of the house. On the contrary the longer I stayed I had the happiness to find that my footing in the family became daily more domestic; so that I had been in danger, perhaps, of occasionally forgetting my distance, if I had not been frequently reminded of it by observing that there were present other guests yet more favoured than myself.

A skilful observer of character could hardly have a better field than was here spread out before the eye whereon to exercise his powers of discrimination. It is not my intention, however, to undertake the task, so