cording to their demerit. And also he caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he found many of the said lands in non-entry; the which he confiscate and brought home to his own use, and afterward annexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear. Syne brought many of the great men of the isles captive with him, such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, M'Intosh, John Mudyart, M'Khy, M'Kenzie, with many others that I cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in ward and some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time coming. So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good rule and peace; wherefore he had great profit, service, and obedience of people a long time hereafter, and as long as he had the heads of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace and rest, and there was great riches and policy by the king's justice."-Piscottie, p. 152. Note XVI. Rest safe till morning; pity 'twere Such cheek should feel the midnight air.-St. XXXV. p. 63. Hardihood was in every respect so essential to the character of a Highlander, that the reproach of effeminacy was the most bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet it was sometimes hazarded on what we might presume to think slight grounds. It is reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of seventy, that he was sur prised by night on a hunting or military expedition. He wrapped him In his plaid, and lay contentedly down upon the snow, with which the ground happened to be covered. Among his attendants who were preparing to take their rest in the same manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better accommodation, had rolled a large snowball, and placed it below his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom of what he conceived to be degenerate luxury. "Out upon thee," said he, kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it supported, "art thou so effeminate as to need a pillow?" The officer of Engineers, whose curious Letters from the Highlands have been more than once quoted, tells a similar story of Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks: "This and many other stories are romantick; but there is one thing, that at first thought might seem very romantick, of which I have been credibly assured, that when the Highlanders are constrained to lie among the hills, in cold dry windy weather, they sometimes soak the plaid in some river or burne (i. e. brook), and then, holding up a corner of it a little above their heads, they turn themselves round and round, till they are enveloped by the whole mantle. They then lay themselves down on the heath, upon the leeward side of some hill, where the wet and the warmth of their bodies make a steam like that of a boiling kettle. The wet, they say, keeps them warm by thickning the stuff, and keeping the wind from penetrating. "I must confess I should have been apt to question this fact, had I not frequently seen them wet from morning to night; and, even at the beginning of the rain, not so much as stir a few yards to shelter, but continue in it without necessity, till they were, as we say, wet through and through; and that is soon effected by the looseness and spungieness of the plaiding; but the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like a dishclout, and then put on again. "They have been accustomed from their infancy to be often wet, and to take the water like spaniels; and this is become a second nature, and can scarcely be called a hardship to them, insomuch that I used to say, they seemed to be of the duck kind, and to love water as well. Though I never saw this preparation for sleep in windy weather, yet setting out early in a morning from one of the huts, I have seen the marks of their lodging, where the ground has been free from rime or snow, which remained all round the spot where they had lain."-Letters from Scotland. Lond. 1754. 8vo. i. p. 108. Note XVII. His henchman came.—St. XXXV. p. 63. "This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, upon all occa sions, to venture his life in defence of his master; and at drinking bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from whence his title is derived, and watches the conversation, to see if any one offends his patron. "An English officer being in company with a certain chieftain, and several other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argument with the great man; and both being well warmed with usky, at last the dispute grew very hot. "A youth who was henchman, not understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was insulted, and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and snapped it at the officer's head; but the pistol missed fire, otherwise it is more than probable he might have suffered death from the hand of that little vermin. "But it is very disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle with the Highlanders, to see every one of them have his gilly-that is, his ser vant, standing behind him all the while, let what will be the subject of conversation."-Ibid., ii, 159. THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CANTO THE THIRD. The Gathering. TIME rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, Who danced our infancy upon their knee, And told our marvelling boyhood legends store, Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea, How are they blotted from the things that be! How few, all weak and wither'd of their force, Wait, on the verge of dark eternity, Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, To sweep them from our sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course. Yet live there still who can remember well, II. The summer dawn's reflected hue Her chalice oped of silver bright; The lark sent down her revelry; III. No thought of peace, no thought of rest, With deep and deathful meaning fraught ; IV. A heap of wither'd boughs was piled, His naked arms and legs, seam'd o'er, And much, 'twas said, of heathen lore G |