"Story and Song from Loch Ness-Side"

[283]

Our poetry was principally Gaelic, and, all things considered, we enjoyed much genuinely interesting and instructive literary entertainment. The form in which the inf ormation was conveyed involved no task;every- body wished to listen and to learn.

The Ossianic ballads always evoked waroa enthusiasm. As young people, our father and mother had learned many of these oíf by heart; and they could recite on« after another of a very great number. Some of them they had acquired from their own parents, and some from a collection that had gone the round of the district, say some seventy-five or eighty years ago, or thereabout. We remember handing our mother one day a copy of Macpherson's Ossian in Gaelic. She scanned it through, and at once characterised the poems a.s not those she had learned and heard. This was fully verified by our father. Some of tlieir versions differed from even those in "Leabhar na Féinne", by J. P. Campbell; also from those in Gillies' book;certain we have seen reproduced from "The MacLaggan MS.", perhaps, came nearer the versions common in our locality. There was one ballad entitled "Conull Ghuilbinn" which we have as yet seen in only one or two collections; and as it is not commonly known, we include it here as one of those frequently rendered at our winter Céilidhs. Of the numberless compositions of all kinds from time to time under contribution we can only reproduce a few [284] repre sentative ones of (1) such as are not well known, and (2) some that, so far as we know, have never been published. This ballad describes a great contest between the Finga-lians and Conull Ghuilbinn, " mac àrd righ Allt- Eire." Particular prominence is given to the valorous deeds of Oscar, the son of Ossian, by whom the bold Conull was engaged in single combat, and by whose hand he fell. But let the ballad tell the tale:

This is indisputably an ancient ballad, so far as the narrative is concerned; but it certainly contains some words, and even sentiments, which modernise it con­ siderably. Yet it deserves to be well known, and there is no reason to mistake its importance as a beautiful Gaelic epic, of a very high order linguistically and historically.

We would now introduce a fragment which frequently was in evidence. The composition was reputed to be part of one by Màìri Nigh'n Alasdair Buaidh.The verses were well known in Glenmoriston, where the follow ing tradition is told concerning them. According to it there seems to have been some mystery about Mary's paternity. She appears to have been known as the daughter of one Alexander Macleod, who was, according to Mackenzie's biographical sketch (Beauties of Gaelic Poetry), "a descendant of the chief of that clan." It is said, however, to have transpired, when she was pretty well advanced in years, that she was the daughter of a distinguished Macdonald of the time; and that when she discovered the fact she composed a song, the following verses of which are all that we have heard: —

We next submit our version of a touching lament, said to have been composed by his sister, to John Garbh Macleod, one of the most illustrious of the House of Raasay, who, along with his brother and some followers, was drowned while crossing from Skye, where he had been on a visit to relatives: —

We have seldom seen the words of '' Biodag air Mac- Thomais" in print, and we here submit our version of the composition: —

Words, composed at a later date, to the air "Morair Sim," and which were very well known among us, are as follows : —

A song known by the name of " Turus Aonghuis do 'n Ghealaich" used to be sung in our district some years ago. It was composed to a man who lived in Kintail, by a neighbour of the name of MacCulloch, known locally as " An Tàilìear Crùbach." Angus having returned from a ball on one occasion, as it would appear somewhat jolly, his mother upbraided him, and instead of going to bed he went outside and began cutting firewood. Later on he tramped off without leaving any word behind him, and did not return for a day or two. It was on a Sunday, it would seem, that Angus disappeared; and the story went about that he was taken up to the moon for breaking the Sabbath day, same as, according to an ancient legend, had been done to the man in the moon as a punishment for a similar offence. The song, which we complete from Vol. VIII. of " The Transactions of the Inverness Gaelic Society," says: —

The following illustrates another class of songa very- popular in the district. It breathes a sentiment of sound conviviality all round:

The verses would appear to be somewhat in the- nature of a translation of the well-known song, " Sae will w& yet." One of the best convivial songs was "Oran a'' Bhotuil," now almost forgotten:

A song very much in demand was: Am Bee a can Dubh.

And space must be given to one production which enjoyed high favour in the district for long:

[298] There was a local version in Gaelic of the well-known song:" My Heart's in the Highlands":

A very popular song was "An Nighean Bhan tha 'n Acha'-Luachbach." It was composed by a teacher of the name of Donald [299] Fraser - known as " Dòmhull Sgoilear" - and a native of Stratherrick, to a Miss Grant, one of a family of exceedingly good-looking girls, belonging to Glengarry. Fraser had a school there, and saw the lady at a country side sacramental gathering, where he appears to have been struck by her beauty. Both parties and their relatives were well known on Loch Ness-side. Fraser, some time after, became a minister in Ross-shire. The song explains itself:

A few more examples of our popular songs may be given. They are difficult to complete; but we have done our best in that direction, and even a few verses pre served is something worth doing:

" Bràigh Rusgaich" was the composition of a native of Glen-Urquharfc, of the name of John Mac- Dougall, who died in Edinburgh. It is among the best lyrics in Gaelic, and with much art and effect expresses the feelings of a heart longing for the freedom and solitude of Lochness-side : —

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A charming love song, composed by Angus Cameron,. a native of Stratherrick, was in much favour:

[311] A popular study was Ewen MacLaehìan's translation into Gaelic from " The Iliad/' which gave considerable acquaintance with Greek history and mythology, and extended the intellectual horizon greatly. When Archie Grant (" Archie Tàillear"), the local bard, was present - which was not an unusual circumstance, yet always an event - he invariably called for a reading from this magnificent work, by one of the greatest of Gaelic scholars, shouting now and again in positive excitement as the scenes and incidents depicted in this, possibly the greatest of tales, wound themselves around his perfervid imagination. But, particularly in later years, we did not confine ourselves to the native field. Scottish romances and poetry generally received con siderable attention. The Border tales were known; the works of Scott and Byron were read ; the poetry of Burns was frequently quoted ; and the fiction chapters and news of certain newspapers - notably The People's Journal and The Glasgow Mail -were devoured and re told ; while such authors as Shakespeare, Milton, Bunyan (in Gaelic and English), Dickens, Marryat, Southey, Goldsmith, and many others, were anything but strange to us. At the same time, other excellent works were well known in the community, such as Boston's Fourfold State, Fox's Book of Martyrs, Erskine's Sermons, Dugald Buchanan's, Dr Mac Donald's, and Peter Grant's hymns, and last, but not least, the Scriptures - most of all those in the two languages; so that there was at disposal and in active circulation many solid and sound educational facilities among us.We shall not now weary the reader by quotations from our favourite authors, Gaelic and English. We shall, instead, submit a few of the best [312] original, and largely unpublished, productions which first saw light in the circumstances and surroundings we have endeavoured to depict. As will be at once under stood, the subjects were of a miscellaneous character, and essentially of more local than general interest; but, yet, the songs and poems, which were very often the spontaneous effusions of those simple Ceilidh gatherings, can be read with interest wherever the Gaelic language is known. They are characteristically illustrative of Highland life and character in some of their best aspects and moods.

The first that we submit arose from a joke perpetrated by the local wits and bards of the district upon each other. It appears that an old tramp woman came to the Glen on one of her rounds, and put up in a house where several young men had foregathered for a ceilidh. The old woman's presence was made the subject of rhyming, and the bards at once set about addressing each other as follows:

Rob, one of those mentioned in the poem, opens by saying, as if the old wife spoke:

Valentines furnished subjects for the exercise of bardic wit from time to time, as the following poem will show. The story of it is that, having got hold of a somewhat comic-looking picture of an old man, with a small bundle of wands at his side, the wits made it represent a thresher going round looking for work, as the Brownies were at one time believed to be in the habit of doing. The picture was knocked about between one party and another for a long time, with a. fresh message given it by each from whom last despatched. It was sent up Glenmoriston accompanied by the following verses, and was not returned:

Another composition shows the excellent spirit in. which those people treated the incidents and accidents of life from day to day. It is the work of a local bard of the name of John MacDonald, better known as " Iain Glaiseach" - already referred to. John composed & number of pleasing verses, and his muse was always ready to deal with any subject or event that appealed to him - more especially so if there was any possibility of creating a little harmless fun at the expense of some body else. A local worthy, known as "An Tàillear Iain," went out by boat on Loch Ness, for the purpose of bringing back, from a passing steamer, some bread for Mr Fall, who then occupied the Invermoriston Hotel. While on board, the tailor was taken down to the cabin, and, while there, away the boat steamed, taking him all the way to Fort Augustus.

A sort of rhyming, which was, on a small scale, a species of the '' flyting '' at one time common among poets, was freely indulged in some years ago by Gaelic bards. There is an interesting example of how one of our rhymsters deliberately contradicted all that the bard felt inspired to express as absolute truth. The subject is the comparatively unimportant one of two young girls having made a couple of new shirts for Archie Grant, who in a spirit of proud thankfulness said:

The other poet, a very intelligent Highlander, a great seanachie, and an authority on the traditional history of Glenmoriston, said against Grant's praises of the- maidens: —

To a young lady, at this time living in the place, Archie composed a very fine song, which we do not find included in his published work, but which well deserves to be made known. Miss Jane MaeRae was the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, who, on retiring, took a house among us, where he resided for some years. These MacRaes were related to some of the leading families of Kintail and the Isles, and the poet does not forget to mention that in his effusion. The family all turned out remarkably successful, and to their honour, one and all, it must be said that they never lost interest in Loch Ness-side and its associations. The song is as follows:

We have all heard of marrying for money and repenting; in the olden time they did more than repent - they composed songs, in which they gave expression - and generally very effectively - to their disappointment. It is a story of that kind that the following song tells. We have heard its nativity given as Loch Ness-side:

When the maidens of the present enlightened age lose their lovers, they either bring them to a court of law or leave them severely alone. When the young ladies of the olden time lost their sweethearts, they [321] adopted the much more classical course of giving embodiment to their feelings in verse. By the following composition, the authoress, Margaret Macintyre, not so very long ago dead, showed how she felt under the smart of unfulfilled promises:

The following is interesting from its olden-time associations: —

After the Achnanconeran people had been deprived of their hill pastures, where their ancestors had for generations had their shielings, and which for them selves fed a considerable stock of excellent sheep and cattle, those beautiful corries and fertile glens were fenced off. There was planted in the township immediately a gamekeeper, whose duty it was to watch the forest, and prevent poaching. There were, of course, other keepers, here, there, and elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Those keepers were one and all considerate, and they and their families excellent neighbours. Still they represented unpopular authority, and now and again an opportunity was taken of satirising the service. The underquoted verses are an example in point:

Two or three rabbit-trappers lodged for some time during a winter, in the village, and this is how the event was chronicled: —

Chapter 16