copsewood. There are other accompaniments suited to the scene; in particular, a huge upright pillar, or detached fragment of that sort of rock called plum-pudding stone, upon the shore, about a quarter of a mile from the castle. It is called Clack-na-cau, or the Dog's Pillar, because Fingal is said to have used it as a stake to which he bound his celebrated dog Bran. Others say, that when the Lord of the Isles came upon a visit to the Lord of Lorn, the dogs brought for his sport were kept beside this pillar. Upon the whole, a more delightful and romantic spot can scarce be conceived; and it receives a moral interest from the considerations attached to the residence of a family once powerful enough to confront and defeat Robert Bruce, and now sunk into the shade of private life. It is at present possessed by Patrick Mac-Dougal, Esq., the lineal and undisputed representative of the ancient Lords of Lorn. The heir of Dunolly fell lately in Spain, fighting under the Duke of Wellington,-a death well becoming his ancestry.

1

mul lies about a quarter of a mile from the south of this isle (Barra); it is the seat of Mackneil of Barra; there is a store wall round it two stories high, reaching the sea; and within i the wall there is an old tower and an hall, with other hotses about it. There is a little magazine in the tower, to which no stranger has access. I saw the officer called the Coekman, and an old cock he is; when I bid him ferry me over the wa ter to the island, he told me that he was but an inferior officer, his business being to attend in the tower; but if (saya he) the constable, who then stood on the wall, will give you access, I'll ferry you over. I desired him to procure me the constable's permission, and I would reward him; but having | waited some hours for the constable's answer, and not receiving any, I was obliged to return without seeing this famous fort. Macknell and his lady being absent, was the cause of the difficulty, and of my not seeing the place. I was told some weeks after, that the constable was very apprehensive of some design I might have in viewing the fort, and thereby to expose it to the conquest of a foreign power; of which I supposed there was no great cause of fear."

1

ΝΟΤΕ Ι.

Awaked before the rushing prow,
The mimic fires of ocean glow,

Those lightnings of the wave.-P. 419.

The phenomenon called by sailors Sea-fire, is one of the most beautiful and interesting which is witnessed in the Hebrides. At times the ocean appears entirely illuminated around the vessel, and a long train of lambent coruscations are perpetually bursting upon the sides of the vessel, or pursuing her wake through the darkness. These phosphoric appearances, concerning the origin of which naturalists are not agreed in opinion, seem to be called into action by the rapid motion of the ship through the water, and are probably owing to the water being saturated with fish-spawn, or other animal substances. They remind one strongly of the description of the sea-snakes in Mr. Coleridge's wild, but highly poetical ballad of the Ancient Mariner :

"Beyond the shadow of the ship

I watch'd the water-snakes, They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they rear'd, the elvish light Fell off in hoary flakes."

NOTE K.

-The dark fortress.-P. 420.

The fortress of a Hebridean chief was almost always on the sea-shore, for the facility of communication which the ocean afforded. Nothing can be more wild than the situations which they chose, and the devices by which the architects endeavored to defend them. Narrow stairs and arched vaults were the usual mode of access; and the drawbridge appears at Dunstaffnage, and elsewhere, to have fallen from the gate of the building to the top of such a staircase; so that any one advancing with hostile purpose, found himself in a state of exposed and precarious elevation, with a gulf between him and the object of his attack.

These fortresses were guarded with equal care. The duty of the watch devolved chiefly upon an officer called the Cockman, who had the charge of challenging all who approached the castle. The very ancient family of Mac-Niel of Barra kept this attendant at their castle about a hundred years ago. Martin gives the following account of the difliculty which attended his procuring entrance there :-"The little island Kis

NOTE L.

That keen knight, De Argentine.-P. 422.

Sir Egidius, or Giles de Argentine, was one of the mast accomplished knights of the period. He had served in the wars of Henry of Luxemburg with such high repatation, that he was, in popular estimation, the third worthy of the age. Those to whom fame assigned precedence over him were, Henry of Luxemburg himself, and Robert Bruce. Argentin had warred in Palestine, encountered thrice with the Saracens, and had slain two antagonists in each engagement :—an easy matter, he said, for one Christian knight to slay two Prgan dogs. His death corresponded with his high character. Weh Amer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, he was appointed to attend immediately upon the person of Edward II. at Bar nockburn. When the day was utterly lost they forced the king from the field. De Argentine saw the king safe from immediate danger, and then took his leave of him; "God be with you, sir," he said, "it is not my wont to fly." So s ing, he turned his horse, cried his war-cry, plunged into the midst of the combatants, and was slain. Baston, a rhyming monk who had been brought by Edward to celebrate his expected triumph, and who was compelled by the victors to cem pose a poem on his defeat, mentions with some feeling the death of Sir Giles de Argentine :

Nobilis Argenten, pugil inclyte, dulcis Fgidi, Viz scieram mentem cum te succumbere viai.

"The first line mentions the three chief requisites of a tree knight, noble birth, valor, and courteousness. Few Leon couplets can be produced that have so much sentinest. I wish that I could have collected more ample memorials res cerning a character altogether different from moder maram. Sir Giles d'Argentine was a hero of romance in real life." Se observes the excellent Lord Hailes.

NOTE M.

"Fill me the mighty cup!" he said,

"Erst own'd by royal Somerled.”—P. 422,

A Hebridean drinking cup, of the most ancient and canons workmanship, has been long preserved in the castle of Dur vegan, in Skye, the romantic seat of Mac-Leod of Mac-Leul the chief of that ancient and powerful clan. The horn of

NOTE N.

With solemn step and silver wand,

The Seneschal the presence scann'd
Of these strange guests.-P. 423.

The Sewer, to whom, rather than the Seneschal, the office of arranging the guests of an island chief appertained, was an officer of importance in the family of a Hebridean chief.— "Every family had commonly two stewards, which, in their language, were called Marischal Tach: the first of these served always at home, and was obliged to be versed in the pedigree of all the tribes in the isles, and in the highlands of Scotland; for it was his province to assign every man at table his seat according to his quality; and this was done without one word speaking, only by drawing a score with a white rod, which this Marischal, had in his hand, before the person who was bid by him to sit down: and this was necessary to prevent disorder and contention; and though the Marischal might sometimes be mistaken, the master of the family incurred no censure by such an escape; but this custom has been laid aside of late. They had also cup-bearers, who always filled and carried the cup round the company, and he himself always drank off the first draught. They had likewise purse-masters, who kept their money. Both these officers had an hereditary right to their office in writing, and each of them had a town and land for his service: some of those rights I have seen fairly written on good parchment."-MARTIN'S Western Isles.

NOTE O.

-the rebellious Scottish crew, Who to Rath-Erin's shelter drew

With Carrick's outlaw'd Chief? —P. 424.

It must be remembered by all who have read the Scottish history, that after he had slain Comyn at Dumfries, and asserted his right to the Scottish crown, Robert Bruce was reduced to the greatest extremity by the English and their adherents. He was crowned at Scone by the general consent of the Scottish barons, but his authority endured but a short time. According to the phrase said to have been used by his wife, he was for that year "a summer king, but not a winter one." On the 29th March, 1306, he was crowned king at Scone. Upon the 19th June, in the same year, he was totally defeated at Methven, near Perth; and his most important adherents, with few exceptions, were either executed, or compelled to embrace the English interest, for safety of their lives and fortunes. After this disaster, his life was that of an outlaw, rather than a candidate for monarchy. He separated himself from the females of his retinue, whom he sent for safety to the Castle of Kildrummie, in Aberdeenshire, where they afterwards became captives to England. From Aberdeenshire, Bruce retreated to the mountainous parts of Breadalbane, and approached the borders of Argyleshire. There, as mentioned in the Appendix, Note H, and more fully in Note P, he was defeated by the Lord of Lorn, who had assumed arms against him in revenge of the death of his relative, John the Red Comyn. Escaped from this peril, Bruce, with his few attendants, subsisted by hunting and fishing, until the weather compelled them to seek better sustenance and shelter than the Highland mountains afforded. With great difficulty they crossed, from Rowardennan probably, to the western banks of Lochlomond, partly in a miserable boat, and partly by swimming. The valiant and loyal Earl of Lennox, to whose territories they had now found their way, welcomed them with tears, but was unable to assist them to make an effectual head. The Lord of the Isles, then in possession of great part of Cantyre, received the fugitive monarch and future restorer of his country's inde

pendence, in his castle of Dannaverty, in that district. Ba treason, says Barbour, was so general, that the King durst not abide there. Accordingly, with the remnant of his followers, Bruce embarked for Rath-Erin, or Rachrine, the Recina of Ptolemy, a small island lying almost opposite to the shores of Ballycastle, on the coast of Ireland. The islanders at first filed from their new and armed guests, but upon some explanation submitted themselves to Bruce's sovereignty. He resided among them until the approach of spring [1306], when he again returned to Scotland, with the desperate resolution to reconquer his kingdom, or perish in the attempt. The progress of his success, from its commencement to its completion, forma the brightest period in Scottish history.

NOTE P.

The Brooch of Lorn.-P. 424.

It has been generally mentioned in the preceding notes, that Bobert Bruce, after his defeat at Methven, being hard pressed by the English, endeavored, with the dispirited remnant of his followers, to escape from Breadalbane and the mountaim of Perthshire into the Argyleshire Highlands. But he was encountered and repulsed, after a very severe engagement, by the Lord of Lorn. Bruce's personal strength and courage were never displayed to greater advantage than in this conflict. There is a tradition in the family of the Mac-Dongals of Lorn, that their chieftain engaged in personal battle with Bruce himself, while the latter was employed in protecting the retreat of his men; that Mac-Dougal was struck down by the king, whose strength of body was equal to his vigor of mind, and would have been slain on the spot, had not two of Lorn's vassals, a father and son, whom tradition terms MacKeoch, rescued him, by seizing the mantle of the monarch, and dragging him from above his adversary. Bruce rid himself of these foes by two blows of his redoubted battle-axe, bat was so closely pressed by the other followers of Lorn, that he was forced to abandon the mantle, and brooch which fastened it, clasped in the dying grasp of the Mac-Keochs. A studded brooch, said to have been that which King Robert lost spot this occasion, was long preserved in the family of Mac-Dougal, and was lost in a fire which consumed their temporary resi dence.

The metrical history of Barbour throws an air of credibility upon the tradition, although it does not entirely coincide either in the names or number of the vassals by whom Bruce was assailed, and makes no mention of the personal danger of Lora, or of the loss of Bruce's mantle. The last circumstance, iz deed, might be warrantably omitted.

1

According to Barbour, the King, with his handful of fal lowers, not amounting probably to three hundred men, mcountered Lorn with about a thousand Argyleshire men, in Glen-Douchart, at the head of Breadalbane, near Teyndram. The place of action is still called Dalry, or the King's Field. The field of battle was unfavorable to Bruce's adherents, who were chiefly men-at-arms. Many of the horses were slain by the long pole-axes, of which the Argyleshire Scottish had learned the use from the Norwegians. At length Brace commanded a retreat up a narrow and difficult pass, he himself bringing up the rear, and repeatedly turning and driving back the more venturous assailants. Lorn, observing the skill and valor used by his enemy in protecting the retreat of his followers, "Methinks, Murthokson," said he, addressing one of ha followers, "he resembles Gol Mak-morn, protecting his followers from Fingal."-" A most unworthy comparison," observes the Archdeacon of Aberdeen, unsuspicions of the future fame of these names; "he might with more propriety have compared the King to Sir Gaudefer de Layrs, protecting the

long entertained, that the person who struck his dagger in Comyn's heart, was not the representative of the honourable family of Kirkpatrick in Nithsdale. Roger de K. was made prisoner at the battle of Durham, in 1346. Roger de Kirkpatrick was alive on the 6th of August, 1357; for, on that day, Humphry, the son and heir of Roger de K., is proposed as one of the young gentlemen who were to be hostages for David Bruce. Roger de K. Miles was present at the parliament held in Edinburgh, 25th September, 1357, and he is mentioned as alive 34 October, 1357 (Federa); it follows, of necessary consequence, that Roger de K., murdered in June, 1357, must have Leen a different person.'-Annals of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 242.

"To this it may be answered, that at the period of the regent's murder, there were only two families of the name of Kirkpatrick (nearly allied to each other) in existence-Stephen Kirkpatrick, styled in the Chartulary of Kelso (1278) Dominus villa de Closeburn, Filius et hæres Domini Ade de Kirkpatrick, Militis (whose father, Ivone de Kirkpatrick, witnesses a charter of Robert Brus, Lord of Annandale, before the year 1141), had two sons, Sir Roger, who carried on the line of Closeburn, and Duncan, who married Isobel, daughter and heiress of Sir David Torthorwald of that Ilk; they had a charter of the lands of Torthorwald from King Robert Brus, dated 10th August, the year being omitted-Umphray, the son of Duncan and Isobel, got a charter of Torthorwold from the king, 16th July, 1322-his son, Roger of Torthorwold, got a charter from John the Grahame, son of Sir John Grahame, of Moskessen, of an annual rent of 40 shillings, out of the lands of Overdryft, 1355-his son, William Kirkpatrick, grants a charter to John of Garroch, of the twa merk land of Glengip and Garvellgill, within the tenement of Wamphray, 22d April, 1372. From this, it appears that the Torthorwald branch was not concerned in the affair of Comyn's murder, and the inflictions of Providence which ensued: Duncan Kirkpatrick, if we are to believe the Blind Minstrel, was the firm friend of Wallace, to whom he was related :

Ane Kyrk Patrick, that cruel was and keyne,
In Esdail wod that half yer he had beyne;
With Ingliss men he couth nocht weyll accord,
Off Torthorowald he Barron was and Lord,
Off kyn he was, and Wallace modyr ner ;'-&c.
B. v., v. 920;

But this baron seems to have had no share in the adventures of King Robert; the crest of his family, as it still remains on a carved stone built into a cottage wall, in the village of Torthorwald, bears some resemblance, says Grose, to a rose.

"Universal tradition, and all our later historians, have attributed the regent's death-blow to Sir Roger K., of Closeburn. The author of the MS. History of the Iresbytery of Penpont, in the Advocates' Library, affirms, that the crest and motto were given by the King on that occasion and proceeds to relate some circumstances respecting a grant to a cottager and his wife in the vicinity of Closeburn Castle, which are certainly authentic, and strongly vouch for the truth of the other report. The steep hill,' says he, called the Dune of Tynron, of a considerable height, upon the top of which there hath been some habitation or fort. There have been in ancient times, on all hands of it, very thick woods, and great about that place, which made it the more inaccessible, into which K. Ro. Bruce is said to have been conducted by Roger Kirkpatrick, of Closeburn, after they had killed the Cumin at Dumfriess, which is nine miles from this place, whereabout it is probable that he did abide for some time thereafter; and it is reported, that during his abode there, he did often divert to a poor man's cottage, named Brownrig, situate in a small parrel of stony ground, encompassed with thick woods, where he was content sometimes with such mean accommodation as the place could afford. The poor man's wife being advised to peition the King for somewhat, was so modest in her desires,

that she sought no more but security for the croft in her hus bånd's possession, and a liberty of pasturage for a very few cattle of different kinds on the hill, and the rest of the bounds Of which privilege that ancient family, by the injury of time, hath a long time been, and is, deprived: but the croft contin ues in the possession of the heirs and successours lineally descended of this Brownrig and his wife: so that this family, being more ancient than rich, doth yet continue in the same, and, as they say, retains the old charter."-MS. History of the Presbytery of Penpont, in the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh.

NOTE T.

Barendown fled fast away,

Fled the fiery De la Haye.-P. 424.

These knights are enumerated by Barbour among the smal number of Bruce's adherents, who remained in arms with him after the battle of Methven.

"With him was a bold baron,
Schyr William the Baroundoun,

Schyr Gilbert de la Haye alsua."

There were more than one of the noble family of Hay engaged in Bruce's cause; but the principal was Gilbert de la Haye, Lord of Errol, a stanch adherent to King Robert's interest, I and whom he rewarded by creating him hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, a title which he used 16th March, 1308, where, in a letter from the peers of Scotland to Philp the Fair of France, he is designed Gilbertus de Hay Constabe larius Scotie. He was slain at the battle of Halidoun-hil Hugh de la Haye, his brother was made prisoner at the battle of Methven.

NOTE U.

Well hast thou framed, Old Man, thy strains,
To praise the hand that pays thy pains.-P. 425.

The character of the Highland bards, however high in an earlier period of society, seems soon to have degenerated. The Irish affirm, that in their kindred tribes severe laws became necessary to restrain their avarice. In the High and they seem gradually to have sunk into contempt, as well a the orators, or men of speech, with whose office that of family poet was often united." The orators, in their language caed Isdane, were in high esteem both in these islands and the comtinent; until within these forty years, they sat always among the nobles and chiefs of families in the streah, or carde. Their houses and little villages were sanctuaries, as well as churches, and they took place before doctors of physick. The orators, after the Druids were extinct, were brought in to preserve the genealogy of families, and to repeat the same at every succession of chiefs; and upon the occasion of mar riages and births, they made epithalamiums and panegyricks, which the poet or bard pronounced. The orators, by the force of their eloquence, had a powerful ascendant over the greatest men in their time; for if any orator did but ask the habit, arms, horse, or any other thing belonging to the greatest man in these islands, it was readily granted them, sometimes out of respect, and sometimes for fear of being exclaimed against by a satyre, which, in those days, was reckoned a great dishonour. But these gentlemen becoming insolent, lost ever since both the profit and esteem which was formerly due to their character; for neither their panegyricks nor satyres are regarded to what they have been, and they are now allowed but a small salary. I must not omit to relate their way of