more than counteract her partiality? The worthy old Colonel, notwithstanding his evident affection for his amusing friend Maclaine, might feel more disposed to view him in the light of one of his own family, while he possessed only his present vague claim to that honour than to give him a solid and distinct title to it, by conferring on him the hand of his favourite daughter. Then his prudent helpmate, to whose more steady hand he occasionally appeared disposed to relinquish the reins of domestic government, for which his greater burden of years and a severe stroke of paralysis had almost unfitted him, was evidently in the interest of the more wealthy party, to whom she would, no doubt, lend the whole weight of her authority. But, to counterbalance all these considerations, a powerful argument was furnished by the well-known spirit of the young lady herself, who seemed likely to consult her own inclination in the disposal of her person. Of this Maclaine appeared to be sufficiently aware, and his main efforts were accordingly directed to the securing of her affections, notwithstanding that he neglected not to pay due court to her parents. Though yet no certain conjecture could be formed as to the issue of this interesting affair, there could be no doubt from the unceasing eagerness with which both assailants plied the attack that matters must soon be brought to a crisis. While things were in this position I learned one morning that Cameron of Dunbreckan and some other particular friends were that day expected to dinner at Aberdour. As Maclaine was already there, I congratulated myself on the opportunity I should thus have of observing all the parties together, and hoped to be able thence to draw some plausible conclusion respecting the final determination of the prize. That I might not incur the risk of losing any of the edifying incidents of the day by making myself late for dinner, instead of going on a distant excursion, I complied with the kind request of some of the ladies to assist Captain Maclaine and the Doctor in escorting them to visit some particular scenery in the neighbouring hills. The morning passed away very agreeably in offices of gallantry, and Jacobina, as usual, being the Captain's especial charge, I rejoiced in the excellent opportunities he enjoyed for improving his advantages. The principal object which we had in view was to visit a romantic hollow in the mountains, in which it was said many strange sights had been seen, and as strange sounds had been heard An hollow cave Far underneath a craggy cliff. It lay at the distance of several miles from Auldour, in a deep and gloomy recess of the mountains called Coirre' Bhodaich, or the carle's corrie, in honour of the arch-brownie of the place, a certain mysterious and by no means harmless personage, who was reported to make it his favourite resort. He was wont to accost benighted shepherds, or others who were unfortunate enough to pass that way after nightfall. Though, at first, his language and deportment were sufficiently courteous, he seldom relieved them of his company till he had let them feel the strength of his arın, which was none of the least muscular, or detained them till day-break in his powerful grasp, compelling them to sit with him either on the open heath or within the precincts of his cave. This was no obsolete fable; for on the very day of our excursion a young man lay dangerously ill of the fright and bruises which he had, a few nights previously, received from the rude courtesy of the Bodach glas. He had been found the following morning lying insensible a few yards from the entrance of the cave. The ground, as we ourselves witnessed, still bore indisputable evidence of a stubborn struggle; and though the ill-fated wight himself had ever since been in too delirious a state of mind to give any distinct account of what had befallen him, there could be but one opinion regarding his case. (To be Continued.) A CANADIAN HIGHLANDER ON EVICTIONS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. 136 Seaton Street, Toronto, Canada, May 24th, 1881. SIR-I received from Mr Hugh Miller, of this city, a perusal of your pamphlet on the "Highland Clearances," and I take the liberty of thanking you and conveying to you expressions of my gratitude for the manner in which you in so compressed a form, but clearly and boldly laid before your numerous readers so many painful incidents showing the wanton barbarity with which this wicked system has been carried out. From my earliest recollections, dating back to about 1830, until I left my native land more than a quarter of a century ago, I experienced and saw so much of the privations and sufferings and other evil consequences to thousands of my fellow-countrymen, resulting from wholesale clearances, that my hatred of the system and sense of its injustice is deeprooted in my heart, and can never be eradicated while life remains. The desolation effected throughout the Highlands, the abject poverty of the few who are huddled together here and there along the sea-shore, the ruin and wretched condition of thousands of moral and virtuous men and women from evil associations and other causes in the cities of Great Britain, and the deplorable and wretched state in which many of them arrive on this continent, all which may be traced directly to this accursed system, I am familiar with from personal observation, and deeply deplore. That such a state of affairs should, in this enlightened age, exist in Great Britain is an inexplicable problem to many, especially on this continent. I have requested your agents here, Messrs James Bain & Son, to send for a supply of the pamphlet with their next monthly parcel of the Celtic Magazine, for which I am a subscriber. I visited the Highlands three years ago, and during ten days spent in my native Isle of Skye, I was almost continually haunted with a sense of melancholy oppression owing to the desolation effected by this system within my own recollection. Mr Macleod, the parish schoolmaster and Registrar of Bracadale, my native parish, informed me that he made a calculation, based on the decrease of the inhabitants during the preceding ten years, and he found that if it continued at the same ratio during the next ten years there would not be a living soul in the parish, and this, in a district where no physical force was used, nor cottages burnt and razed for the purpose of dispossessing the occupants, but where other forces, equally as effective and not less cruel, were at work. I saw some notice in a newspaper lately of a pamphlet, by one Cooper, justifying the evictions in North Uist on the ground that many of the evicted are now comfortable in this country. No doubt they are, and would be so in their own country if governed by liberal land laws such as ours in Canada, We have reason to be thankful that this continent affords such an asylum from tyrannical land laws and landlords, and that honest industry and perseverance generally meet with deserving success. Again thanking you for your manly efforts on behalf of the oppressed and poor against their powerful oppressors,-I am, &c., J. MACPHERSON. [We shall make such arrangements with our agents, Messrs James Bain & Sons, booksellers, 40 King Street, East, Toronto, as will enable them to send "The Highland Clearances," free by post, to any address in the Dominion on receipt by them of sixteen cents. Ed. C.M.] Genealogical Notes and Queries. QUERY. THE DARROCHS OR MACGILLERIACHS: ARE THEY MACDONALDS? Darrochs now in the Island of Jura and in Kintyre. The common tradition among themselves, I understand, is that they were originally Macdonalds. It is said that a party of Macdonalds, on a certain occasion, invaded some of the remoter islands, and that among their number was a powerful youth known by the sobriquet of "MacGille Riabhaich," who always carried a sturdy oak cudgel with him on such occasions. The invaders, by the time they arrived in one of the islands, exhausted all their provender, and had nothing to eat. Landing, they observed a party of the natives gathered round a fire in the open air, over which hung, from three sticks joined in Highland fashion, a large pot. MacGille Riabhaich, expecting that the pot contained something substantial that would allay their hunger, moved as by a sudden impulse, rushed on the natives, plying his oak stick with such effect as to send them scampering in all directions to escape from his sturdy weapon. He then seized the pot, by placing the stick through the suspender, swung it over his shoulder, and carried it away with its reeking contents to his hungry comrades, regardless of the fact that it was burning him. For this daring exploit MacGille Riabhaich secured the bye-name of Darroch or Darrach, the Gaelic equivalent for oak. This tradition is to some extent corroborated by incidents connected with the ancestors of the present Mr Duncan Darroch of Torridon. One of these, also Duncan Darroch, who bought the estate of Gourock, near Greenock, in 1784, was the son of a large farmer, or tacksman, whose grandfather came from the North and settled in Jura. This Duncan Darroch went to Jamaica, where he made a fortune. Returning to Scotland he went to the Heralds' office to matriculate family arms and prove his right to assume those of Macdonald. It appears that his right to do so was admitted; but the Lyon King at Arms at the same time remarked, "We must not lose the memory of the old oak stick and its exploit ;" whereupon the arms now borne by the family were granted to Mr Darroch. From this it would seem that a record then existed of the story of MacGille Riabhaich and his oak stick. The oak, or Darrach, is prominent on the family arms, and the parchment, in Lord Kinnoul's name, dated 1794, describes the grantee as "Duncan Darroch, Esquire of Gourock, chief of that ancient name the patronymic of which is McIliriach." This gentleman's son, Lieutenant-General Duncan Darroch, was appointed to the command of the Glengarry Fencibles, on the occasion of some disorders in the regiment, as it was expected that he, being a Macdonald, would be more likely to secure discipline than an officer having no connection with the clan. The result justified this expectation; for in the Royal Military Calender (London 1816), vol. iii., p. 52, I find that "General Darroch, in 1799, was appointed to command the Glengarry Fencibles with the local rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and in that situation received the public thanks of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (Marquis Cornwallis) for bringing the regiment into a proper state of discipline; for, upon his taking the command, there were great feuds between the Protestant and Roman Catholic officers and men.' Lieutenant-General Darroch was the grandfather of Mr Duncan Darroch, now of Gourock and Torridon. The Darrochs have always considered themselves Macdonalds, and they wear the Macdonald tartan. According to tradition, Macdonald of Staffa, son of Macdonald of Boisdale, about a hundred years ago gave a great feast at which a woman of the name of Darroch attended. One of those present objected to her on the ground, as he alleged, that she was not of the clan; whereupon Staffa corrected him, and called out to the woman, saying, "Come up here and sit by me; you have a better right than any one; the oak is the true Macdonald." I am told that one MacGille Riabhaich in Coll was the Laird's right-hand man, and that there is a chasm still shown in the island which he leapt, and which is called to this day, "MacGille Riabhaich's leap." This exhausts my information about MacGille Riabhaich and the Darrochs, and I shall esteem it a great favour if any one can help me, by historical or traditional evidence, to supply the missing link between them and the Macdonalds, A.M. THE EARLY SCENES OF FLORA MACDONALD'S LIFE, WITH SEVERAL INCIDENTAL ALLUSIONS TO THE By the Rev. ALEX, MACGREGOR, M.A., Inverness. MATTERS were now hastening to an important crisis. Each successive day added to the intensity of danger to the unfortunate Charles. It was not without many hair-breadth escapes and many striking exhibitions of loyalty on the part of his steadfast friends, that he was hitherto preserved from his vigilant pursuers. For several weeks the search for the Prince was rendered more vigorous, by its being known to his enemies that he was undoubtedly within the narrow bounds of a comparatively small island. As has been said, the possibility of his escape, according to Miss Flora's shrewd opinion, might be considered miraculous, or at all events marvellous. It will ever be recorded to the honour of the Highlanders that out of the host of persons, mostly of inferior station in life, with whom the Prince came in contact, not one was tempted by the great bribe offered to betray him. At Ormiclade another large meeting of friends was held at night, to mature the plans and preparations to be immediately resorted to for the hazardous adventure. Lady Clanranold stated that she for one felt entirely disposed to be guided by Flora's suggestions, as she had agreed to become the heroine of the dangerous enterprise. Flora said but little, yet with the air of a calm but independent spirit she might be supposed to personify Smollett's beautiful ode, and to exclaim, Thy spirit, Independence, let me share, Lord of the Lion heart, and Eagle eye, Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky. The numerous party greatly admired Flora's whole conduct in the matter, and complimented her upon the apparent judiciousness of her plans, all agreeing, however, that they must be acted upon with all possible expedition. Flora was no doubt greatly influenced by the principles of sympathy and of pure humanity in contributing to the safety of the Prince apart from all political views. She had learned all about his miserable state; about the cold, damp cave in which he had taken refuge; about his gaunt, haggard, and half-famished appearance; and about his clothes being in tatters from his solitary wanderings for so many weeks amid the caves and recesses of these sterile mountains. At all these things her woman's heart relented. The pure sympathy of her nature yielded to the pressure of the demand. In short, a spirit of romantic chivalry overcame every other consideration, and with a sublimity of heroism worthy of the blood of Clanranold, she declared her readiness to yield and to die in the attempt to save her Prince! |
