Fraser, where Sir Robert and Captain Munro, with several other gentlemen were, and set fire to the straw-thatch of the house, on the alarm of which, Sir Robert and the gentlemen within the house came to the gate of the close, where a live coal was extinguished, which had been put to the straw-thatch. Then retiring into the house, to avoid any recounter with the mob, and to prevent mischief, they were thereafter alarmed by a servant acquainting them that they were undone, the mob being ready in great numbers to press in upon them from the streets; whereupon, the Sheriff, with Sir Robert, the Provost, and the two Bailies of the town, went to the close, and from that to the gate leading to the street, where the Sheriff read the proclamation against mobs, explained the same in Irish, and he and the rest of the gentlemen used their utmost endeavours to sooth and mollify them; but, instead of that, with greater rage, and uttering dreadful menaces, they attacked the gentlemen, pouring vollies of stones into the close where they were standing, particularly from a stairhead overlooking the close on the west, and over the roof of the house from the street, by which several were hurt, and the gentlemen obliged to retire to a low room in Bailie Fraser's house, which had no access or communication to the street either by door or window, in which place they continued confined and besieged for about two hours, during which time the windows of the storey above where they had been sitting were broken down by the stones thrown at them by the mob. Whilst thus pinned up, and apprehending every moment to be put to death, they got what arms they could for their defence, but they fired no shot that day, a part of the said arms being a blunderbus without flint or shot. They then heard a report of three shots in the streets; upon which they, in a body, left the room, and came out to the street, where they were informed that about twelve or fourteen men (among whom were three or four constables) with a few arms, but mostly with clubs and staves, were come from the country, upon information of the gentlemen being besieged, and in hazard of their lives; that those men being attacked by the mob, had fired the said three shots, and that they heard Mrs Mackenzie, who is since dead, and one man were wounded; and soon after one of the gentlemen in the company was sent to dress their wounds."

Such is the statement of the affair as given in by, or for, Sir Robert. Both accounts are said to be in terms of two precognitions taken at different times; but Tulloch's party alleged that the witnesses examined on behalf of Sir Robert were his brothers, his

gardener, butler, groom, and certain of his dependents. Warrants were issued by the Justiciary Court for the apprehension of Sir Robert and Captain Munro, and the case set down for trial in Edinburgh, but on Sir Robert's application the trial of the case was removed to the Circuit Court at Inverness. The jury returned a unanimous verdict against Sir Robert and his brother, fining them £200. Sir Robert appealed against this decision, but I have as yet been unable to discover with what result, the old documents from which I have unearthed the above being silent on that point.

11TH MARCH 1885.

On this date, the Secretary read a paper by Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart., on a Contract of Friendship, dated 1549, between Mackenzie of Kintail, Lord Lovat, and Chisholm of Comar. Sir Kenneth's paper was as follows :—

OLD CONTRACTS OF FRIENDSHIP.

In the sale catalogue of the Abertarff books and papers, which were disposed of at Inverness towards the close of last autumn, I was attracted by the entry, "Contract of friendship, Alexander Lord Lovat and John Chisholm, John Mackenzie, and Kenneth Mackenzie, 2nd May 1549;" and having given a commission for the purchase of this document, I became the possessor of a rather torn and ragged half sheet of foolscap, which was folded and endorsed "Contract of mutuall frendship betwix my Lord Louat and Jone M'Kenze of Kintaill." Internally the writing was in good preservation, except where the paper was torn ; but it contained some words in which the characters and abbreviations were almost illegible. As illustrative of the state of society in the Highlands in the middle of the 16th century, it may have an interest for the Gaelic Society of Inverness, one of whose objects is to rescue from oblivion manuscripts bearing on the history of the Gaelic people. The document, which, so far as I am aware, has not hitherto been published, is as follows:

"At Bewling ye second day of may in ye yeir of God ane thousand vc and xlix yiers it is appointit aggreit & fynale endit betwex ane nobill & potent lord Alexander Lord frayser of Louet Johne Chessolm of Comer on ye tane part and Johne M'Kenze of Kyntaill and Kennocht M'Kenze his sone and apperand ayr on ye toyr part in maner form and effect as eftr followis, that is to say

ye sayd Johne M'Kenze of Kyntaill and Kennocht M'Kenze his sone hes bundin and oblist yam selffis be ye faytht and treutht in yair bodeis ye haly ewangelist tucheit corporly that yai sall defend matayne & tak afald pt wt ye sayd Lord frayser of Louet and Johne Chessolm of Comer in yair querellis quhat sumeuyr in contrar all mortall man ye authorite my Lord of huntlie ye Erle of Suthyrland & James Grant of Fruquhy allanerly exceppit And in lykwyss ye sayd Lord frayser & Johne Chessolm of Comer hes bundin & oblist yam selffis be ye faytht and treutht in yr bodeis ye haly ewangelist tucheit corporly yat yai sall defend matayne and tak afald pt wt ye sayde Johne Mckenze and Kennocht his sone in contrar all man mortall ye authorite my lord of huntlye & ye lard of Balnagowyn allanerle exceppit and yis band of kyndnes mayd becauss of ye tendyrnes & kyndnes qlk hes beyne abefoyr betwex or forbears; and [for observing ?] and keeping and fulfilling of yis or band of kyndnes ye sayd Johne McKenze and Kennocht my sone hes subscribit and selit our part hereof to remane interchengeble wt ye sayd Lord frayser and Johne Chessolm. At Bewling the yeir day effoyr wretin before yir wytness Hewchon Symson off Brigend Alexander Bayne and Sir Wylleam Dow chaplane wt wderis diueress. And in lykwss ye sayds pteis abune wretin hes bundin & oblist yair kyn freynds [and serwands?] in maner form as is abune wretin.

"Johne McKenze of Kyntail wt my

hand led at ye pen

"Kennocht McKenze wt my hand led at ye pen."

Bonds of this nature seem to have been not uncommon at the period when the above contract was entered into. Law received but doubtful recognition, or at least its rule was too frequently superseded by that of might; and men who could not rely on their own strength as sufficient for their protection were glad to purchase the support of their more powerful neighbours, or exemption from their ill-will, or to strengthen the bonds of alliance with their kinsmen and friends. There seem to have been at least three distinct classes of bonds employed for these purposes.

(1) There were bonds of assurance in which one man undertook not to molest another. Thus, on 22nd October 1527, Hector Mackintosh, Captain of the Clan Chattan,* assures Ewen Alanson, Captain of the Clan Cameron, "hymeself, his kyne, party, purcheis and enyrdance, his & thare landis, gudis purcheis and

* Shaw's Mackintoshes and Clan Chatten, p. 198.

enyrdance" up to "ye fest of St Androw nixt to come." We may feel pretty sure that Ewen Alanson would need to keep good watch after the feast of St Andrew, the 30th of November following, but this bond secures him forty night's of peaceful sleep, so far at least as the Clan Chattan were concerned. Bonds of assurance were not always so limited in point of time. In 1593 Hugh Rose of Kilravock received* a bond of assurance from Huntly securing him and his dependents against molestation "be ws, our army, kyn, freyndis or Allane McConill dw off Locheall, Alexr. McRennald of Gargawche, our dependaris, their serwandis, dependaris or awaitteris wpoune thame, in ony maner of way:" and this assurance was to hold good till recalled.

(2) Another class of protective bond was that of manrent given by inferiors to superiors, under which protection was stipulated for, in return for a life-long obligation of military service. This seems to have been very commonly resorted to. It must not be supposed that all bonds of manrent were of this nature. In some the obligation was for menial service, and the stipulated return was a mere matter of wages. There has been preserved a bond† of this kind in which Thomas Davidson binds himself with a servant, to serve Hugh Rose of Kilravock as a gardener for a year, and thereafter if it pleases Kilravock for the rest of his life, receiving therefor during the first year meat for himself and his servant, and four pennies each working day, with a fee of one mark for the servant for the year, and also a chamber to lodge in; thereafter Kilravock, if he retains him, is to build him a house and give him such wages as are usually given to men of his craft. Four pennies a day, or two shillings Scots for six days work, is twopence of our money as weekly wage, while the servant's annual fee was but 1s. 13d. The special feature of bonds of manrent, whether the obligations undertaken were of military or menial service, appears to be that they bound for life to a state of vassalage. They seem to be, indeed, a relic of slavery or serfdom, the manrent service being even assignable.

When Sir Jno. Campbell, brother to Colin, 3rd Earl of Argyll, made good his claim in right of his wife, Lady Muriel Calder, to the Cawdor estates, he found himself far from home and friends. Sheriff Nicolson, quoting Gregory, gives the proverb, "Is fada an éubh o Loch Obha, 'us cobhair o Chlann O'Duibhne," as having originated at a battle in Glenlivat between Huntly and Argyll in

* Kilvavock papers, p. 274.

+ Kilravock papers, p. 204.

1594. But in the book of the Thanes of Cawdor, where the proverb is given thus, *"S' fhada glaodh o Lochow; s' fhada cobhair o chlann dhoaine" [the last word evidently misspelt], it is said to have originated in a contest for the possession of the person of Lady Muriel Calder in 1500. Campbell of Inverliver had been sent by Archibald, 2nd Earl of Argyll, to take the child from her maternal grandfather at Kilravock, and bring her to Inveraray, Argyll and Kilravock having obtained a gift of tutors dative to her, and Argyll having the ward of her marriage. Inverliver was opposed by two of her uncles, Alexander and Hugh Calder, who overtook him with a superior party at Daltullich, and, pressing him to fight, caused him to utter the ejaculation which has passed into a proverb. Whichever story is true, whether the proverb originated before or after Sir John Campbell's time, there can be little doubt that the idea it expresses, a sense of imminent danger, and of distant relief, might very well have been uppermost in the knight's mind as he took possession of his wife's heritage. It was in these circumstances that his brother, the Earl of Argyll, assigned to him in the year 1522,+ "the manrent and seruice of our traist frendis, and seruandis Alexander McAllane McRoyri and Donald Gromach McDonald Gallach and all thar kyne frendis and seruandis that dependis one them, etc." Such an assignation, though rare, is said by Mr Cosmo Innes to be "not without parallel." When bonds of manrent were given by considerable personages, they may sometimes have been compelled to do so by the pressure of circumstances; but quite as frequently such bonds had a commercial character, and were given as a quid pro quô, a return for gifts of land or other favours. The bond of the Grants in 1546, which is cited in the footnote, was given by them in consideration of their having been infeft in liferent by Huntly in "his sex dawachs of his landis of Strathoune

with the forest and glen of Glenawne, and keping of the hous and fortalice of Drummyne, togidder with the bailliorye of the lorschipe of Strathoune," and similarly in 1550 the Laird of Fowlis gives his bond of manrent to Huntly "for the quhilk (he says) the said nobill and mychty Lord hes giffen me his bond of mantenans, togidder with the sume of foarte pundis wsuall mone of Scotland to

* Cawdor Papers, p. 104.

+ Cawdor Papers, p. 144.

Among the Gordon Castle Papers (Spalding Miscellany IV. p. 214) there is preserved a bond of manrent given in 1546 to Huntly by ". us James Grant of Freuchye, and Johnne the Grant, my eldest sone and appearand ayre."