Rudha dubh-Ardtaig was not only a halting place, but, like Eilean-agharbh-uisg, a recognised stance for drovers and travellers to pass a day or night in, and of which more presently. It is recorded that these places and similar spots throughout every glen and valley in the Highlands were accessible to all as places long consecrated by prescription for the public good. Here and in connection with such places I must be pardoned for a slight digression. I have seen in England what appeared to me very remarkable tenacity on the part of the people to old rights something similar to the halting places alluded to. Not only are rights of way through the fields and meadows accessible to the public and maintained by them, but are frequently provided at each end with a stile. I well remember a right of way through the middle of the large dining room in the Ship Tavern, Water Lane, Thames Street, London, and I have seen. the public passing through it repeatedly while dining there myself. Since then the tavern has been turned into merchants' and brokers' offices, but the ancient right of way has been retained through the centre of them. About twenty years ago the Italians resident in London commenced to build a large church for themselves in Hatton Garden, London. I saw it when the walls were nearly finished, when some old residenter in the neighbourhood came forward and declared that he remembered a right-ofway passing through the site of the building. The poor Italians were obliged to pull down all they had built on that site, and leave the rightof-way accessible to the public, though much sympathy was felt at the time for the civil and industrious foreigners. And last but not least, King George IV. attempted to close a right-of-way through Richmond Park, but a cobbler on the confines of the Park brought an interdict against the King. The case was tried before the highest Court in England, and decided in favour of the cobbler. I give these three cases as specimens of what I have seen and heard, and most heartily would I wish to see my countrymen in the Highlands inspired with the same determination to hold their rights with equal tenacity against those who are constantly robbing them of their ancient inheritance. Among other celebrities Allan Dubh MacRanuil of Lundy passed a night in Rudha-dubh-Ardtaig, in Strathglass, with a creach he took from the Mackenzies. This Allan Dubh was the cruel barbarian who burnt the Church of Cille-Chriosd, i.e., Christ Church, near Beauly, in the year 1603. This atrocious deed was done on a Sunday morning, when the whole congregation, chiefly Mackenzies, were at their devotions, all of whom perished either inside the burning pile or by the sword in the attempt to escape through the windows. I have heard old men in Strathglass stating that after Allan Dubh MacRanuil crossed the river at Beauly on his hasty return from the foul massacre he halted on Bruthach-aphuirt, opposite Beauly, about a mile and a half in a straight line from the scene of his diabolical work, and ordered his piper to play up the tune of "Cillechriosta." It was then that the piper for the first time played the melancholy part of the pibroch, the words of which are as follows: Chi mi thallud An smud mor, An smud mor, 'S Cillechriosta In England, as well as in Scotland, I have sometimes heard this pibroch as if the words of the first line ran thus Chi mi smud mor, but I well remember old people in the Highlands saying that the piper who played "Cillechriosta" and omitted the word "thallud" did not follow the original. Over and over again a very old man named Duncan Macrae, who was considered a good judge of pipe music, said that Kenneth Mackenzie from Redcastle, known as "Coinneach Deas," was one of the best pipers that ever played the pibroch of "Cillechriosta," and he always played it as above described, ness. It was from Bruthach-a-phuirt that Allan Dubh made the luckless division of his men when he sent thirty-seven of them round by InverHistory informs us that they were closely chased by Murdoch Mackenzie of Redcastle with a party of men who overtook them at Torbreac, about three miles west of Inverness, where he found them in an ale-house, which he set on fire, and the thirty-seven suffered the same fate which in the earlier part of the day they had so wantonly inflicted on others. Allan Dubh and others crossed over from the Aird to the south side of Urquhart. Allan was soon overtaken by the Mackenzies, and the rest is already well known to the readers of the Celtic Magazine, and of Mackenzie's "History of the Mackenzies," pp. 157-163. It is said that the level valley called Strathglass was at one period a sheet of water extending from Dunfionn, above Beaufort Castle (or Caisteal Dunie), to Cnockfionn, opposite Giusachan, and covering a distance of about fifteen miles in length, with an average breadth of about threequarters of a mile. This valley is bounded on the south and north sides by a continuous range of two parallel hills. From their formation and general appearance one might readily incline to the belief that these hills formed, at some remote period, the two sides of a capacious basin. There are unmistakable traces of cultivation high up—almost on the top of some of these hills. There is an old place of sepulchre, Acha-na-h-eaglais, on the brow of a mountain range, about a mile south-east and considerably above Giusachan. This seems to prove that there were a number of inhabitants located high up here in bygone days. The name of the next cultivated portion of the hill is Druinach, plainly meaning the Druids' field. Whether or not the Druids held possession of the surrounding fields of arable land can only be left to conjecture. It is, however, certain that a considerable portion of the hill lands on each side of Strathglass bear the impress of a rude sort of cultivation at some pre-historic period. The appearance of remote industry through the hills used to be adduced as an element towards proving that what we now see as the valley below was formerly a great lake, of which the long stretch of level fields and meadows, forming the plains of Strathglass from east to west, for about the whole distance already mentioned, is said to have been the bed. I heard one of the best old Seanachies in the district saying, "Cha 'n eil ann san duthich so ach cladach aibhne," meaning that the whole valley was a mere river bed, In support of this view he mentioned the name of Christopher Macrae, a Kintail man, admitted to have been one of the most reliable authorities on such matters in the Highlands. Macrae further stated to him that Strathglass acquired its name on account of the barrier at the east end of the lake, "Glas" being the Gaelic for a lock or barrier. It is asserted that one of the outlets from this lake discharged itself through the small valley south of Fanellan, by Brideag and Lonbuy. Faine-eilean evidently derives its name from a comparison with a ring, or circular island, the whole block of land or davoch being about as broad as it is long. The meandering river so slowly winding its placid course through the fertile plains of Strathglass, unwilling, as it were, to quit its parent hills, turns again half-way round at short intervals. To begin with the davoch of Clachan, its productive broad acres of arable land and splendid hill grazings are bestowed on the south side of the strath. Comar or Cam-ar, on the north side, seems to have been at one period attached to the davoch of Clachan, inasmuch as the burying-ground is always called Clachan of Comar, and the formation of the land clearly proves that the "Glas" at one period passed at the foot of the hills to the north of Comar. The division is impartially continued. On the north side is the great davoch of Invercannich; again, on the south, we have the davoch of Croicheal; the half-davoch of Struy to the north; the half-davoch of Mauld to the south; and the davoch of Erchless to the north; the davoch of Maine and Eskadale to the south; and the davoch of Aigais to the north. Never was there a better division of plain fields than is exhibited here on both sides of the river all the way east to what is called the Druim, ridge, or barrier. When the winter snows are thawing and running through all the glens from the watershed of Strathconan on the north to Glenmoriston on the south, and when they are all accumulated in the valley of Strathglass, they form what appears almost one lake at the foot of the mountains. Thus it has acquired from time immemorial the cognomen of the Sea of Aigais, and by this name it was well known throughout the whole Highlands. It is related that a Strathglass man was once upon a time going across to the Lews. The craft he was in was overtaken by a severe storm, and the seamen wishing to resort to the old Jewish practice of throwing a human being overboard as a peace-offering to the waves, fixed on the Strathglass man as their victim. But the brave Glaiseach was equal to the occasion, and addressed his companions-"Tha bhuil oirbh fhearabh nach robh sibh riamh air cuan Aigais, air Mam-charraidh, nam Monadh Bhreachdaich, ma tha sibha gabhail eagal a so." Which means"It is evident that you never were on the Ocean of Aigais, on the Mam of Carrie, or on the Hills of Breacachy, if you are afraid of this." He then took the helm into his own hands, and steered the vessel safely to the harbour of Stornoway. Well done, my countryman! With these observations I part with the traditional lake of Strathglass, and shall be glad to hear the opinion of some of the more learned members of the Field Club on the subject, and, notwithstanding tradition, will be disposed to abide by the result. (To be Continued.) MATCH-MAKING AMONG THE FRASERS-SIMON, LORD LOVAT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. SIR,-In reference to the article in your October number, under the above head, permit me to say that it is unfortunate that almost all the histories of "The Last of the Martyrs," as Lord Lovat was called in 1747, were written by his enemies, and they all seem to have followed the school-boy's rule-" Hit him again, he's got no friends." Drummond of Bochaldy was almost the only one who spoke kindly of "our good friend, Lord Lovat." Perhaps he used too strong language, for I do not mean to say that Lovat was a saint, but he certainly was not much worse than many of his cotemporaries. Much strain is laid upon his forcible marriage in 1697, with the Earl of Athole's daughter, widow of his cousin Hugh, 11th Lord, who died without male issue; but forcible marriages with heiresses were common enough in Ireland for more than a century later, and Lovat's marriage was not to obtain the money of an heiress, but to recover by that means, if possible, his hereditary title and estates, which the Earl was endeavouring to defraud him of (by breaking the entail), and to which robbery the Earl's daughter must have been, at least, a consenting party. It is also said that Lovat treated his last wife, Primrose Campbell, whom he married in 1733, with barbarous cruelty, which I can hardly believe, for, if so, her brother, the Duke of Argyll, would scarcely have continued to befriend the Master of Lovat. John Fraser was a consistent Jacobite to the last. He was outlawed, and to prevent any pursuit Lovat always gave out that his brother John was dead He, however, generally resided in France, but often visited Scotland under the assumed names of John Dubh, John MacThomas, and, I believe, also John Corsan. His daughter, Katharine, married, and had a daughter Elizabeth, my grandmother, born in 1738. The Duke of Argyll was her godfather, and after she was grown up she was invited once, if not twice, to Inveraray Castle, and after she was married in 1762, the Duke offered her some appointment about the palace, which she declined. The Duke was Hereditary Grand Master of the Household. Some years after my grand parents re moved to Holland. Now, the only tie whatever between them was that my grandmother was daughter of his brother-in-law, Lovat's niece, and is it at all probable if Lovat had treated Argyll's sister so cruelly, that the Duke would have continued his kindness to Lovat's connections? Many persons form their opinions of Lovat in a measure from Hogarth's portrait, but it must not be forgotten that Hogarth was a caricaturist, and he appears to have made a picture that would sell, and Lovat has therefore been likened to a 66 cunning old fox.” A truer portrait is that by Le Clere or Clare (10 x 12), painted about 1716, and engraved by Simon, of which I have a copy. Under it is engraved "The Right Honourable Simon, Lord Frasier (sic) of Lovat, Chief of the Clan of the Frasers, &c," I believe it is very rare. He is represented as clothed in armour. It is engraved in Thompson's Jacobites, London, 1845, and Mrs Thompson told me that it was copied from the original mezzotinto given to her by Kirkpatrick Sharp. TORONTO. B. HOMER DIXON, THE CLAN SYSTEM. PROFESSOR BLACKIE has issued in pamphlet form his excellent inaugural address recently delivered by him as Chief of the Gaelic Society of Perth. He wails over "the sad sequence of misfortunes and blunders which abolished the clan system with all its admirable social steam and social cement, without substituting anything in its place, rather leaving a void where there had been fulness, and inoculating with virus of a systematic selfishness the veins of a society which had been bound together by the strong ties of mutual esteem and regard," and then proceeds-Let us ask what the clan system was, and wherein consisted the great virtue which enabled it to maintain a numerous, sturdy, and serviceable population in districts where not a single human being is now to be found, except a gamekeeper for some English aristocrat or London plutocrat, or a shepherd or a dairymaid to represent a Titanic dealer in wool and mutton living in Dumfries or Kirkcudbright. The word clan means a child; so the clan system was simply a type of social organism in which the members of society were bound together, as brother to brother, under the leadership of a common father. This idea is, as you will lightly see, a legacy from the patriarchal times; and not bad times these were-though without gas and steam-engines, and telegrams and cash accounts-as the names of Abraham and Job and not a few other mighty men in Bible history largely testify. In fact, the clan system, as a form of government, was not only not a bad system, but, in respect of the moral cement which held the different classes of society together, it was the best possible system that ever has been or ever will be devised. Of course, those who are accustomed to look back on what they call the dark ages with contempt, and who believe blindly in the modern commercial system, and the progress of the world by mechanical dexterities and material accumulations, will not accept this; but it is true nevertheless. The moral element in society is the blood, and the blood is the life. Every society is progressive or retrogressive-in the highest sense of the word progress-only in proportion as the moral bond which holds the different classes, together is becoming stronger or weaker; and this is a bond with which cash payments and bankers' accounts have nothing at all to do; love and mutual esteem growing out of kindly social relations are the only elements of which this moral bond can consist. Now, as it is a matter both of public history and of personal experience that this bond did exist and assert itself under the clan system by deeds of devotion and fidelity, generosity and self-sacrifice, unsurpassed in the annals of the human race, it follows. plainly that, so far as this one true cement of the social edifice is concerned, the clan system, within its own limits, was the best possible. One only defect it had; it had a tendency to weaken as the circle of its action widened, and was thus less fitted for a great kingdom than for a small province. It is remarkable, however, and greatly to the honour of the clan system in Scotland, that, though the clansmen sometimes preferred the private interest of their chief to the public service of the Sovereign, under common circumstances, as ample pages of history show, their loyalty to the Crown was as remarkable as their fidelity to their chiefs, |