The Romance of THE Highlands SCENE OF THE MASb.^^ .x>_, OF GLENCOE. liY ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, F.S.A.Scot. 0/^, i\k THE ROMANCE OF THE HIGHLANDS "Sv a O THE ROMANCE OF THE HIGHLANDS BY ALEX. CAMPBELL, F.S.A.Scot. ABERDEEN MILNE & HUTCHISON 1927 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF ATHOLL, P.C, K.T., G.C.V.O., C.B., D.S.O., Lord Lieutenant and Hereditary Sheriff" of Perthshire, A typical Highland Chief, A true Scot and a patriotic Briton. INTRODUCTION. In launching a new volume on an already stocked market it is customary to give a raison d'etre for the hardihood. We say therefore, in extenuation, that the following pages represent fugitive pieces, the occupation of any leisure moments that a busy professional life would allow. They are subjects of deep import to one who was born and lived for many years in one of the most beautiful and historic districts of the Highlands of Perth- shire. What is of interest to one may therefore prove attractive to others. In recent years an increasing interest has been manifested in everything pertaining to the Highlands. Indeed, it almost appears as if Scotland and that portion of it were synonymous. This would account for a representation of the latter symbolising the whole country when topographically described. This is, of course, no new thing. We can trace it back for a century to the lime of George IV who, when on a visit to his ancient realms, arrayed himself in Highland dress. Even his henchman and host, the good Sir Walter Scott, was on that occasion more a Highland Chief than a Border Knight. As if that were not enough, the King proposed the toast of his northern dominions in these words—"I shall simply give you the chieftains and clans of Scotland, and prosperity to the land of cakes." The sentiment of the toast rather elevated the Highlander ovei the rest of the Kingdom. : viii THE ROMANCE OF THE HIGHLANDS. That sentiment has been more in evidence of late years. The Scot may be a Scot in his own country, but when he goes afield he generally finds that Scottish reunions have a distinctly Highland flavour. The kilt may not be always in evidence, but the bagpipes are invariably in the forefront at all important functions. The numerous clan societies that have been formed in this country and abroad have as a main purpose the fostering of the Celtic spirit, and they cast a wide net of very small mesh. The Gael never forgets his nationality. Neither time nor distance can efface from his memory the picture of his native hills nor that of the Sabbath quiet of the secluded valleys. The emigrant longs to see the old land again and those heather-clad slopes that knew him as a youth. Prosperity or poverty only serve to make the tie more secure. Medical men may say that home- sickness is found in all mountain peoples ; but be that as it may, it is a weakness of which no one need feel ashamed. Some of the finer qualities were to be found in the Gaels of former days, while in them the worst of the sins of humanity were absent. For some of the vices of modern days they did not even have names until the English language supplied them. " 'Tis wonderful That an invisible instinct should frame them To loyalty unlearned : honour untaught Civility not seen from others, valour That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop As if it had been sowed." — ; INTRODUCTION. ix Our native land has a wonderful history, and every one should know the story of her greatness. Intertwined and inseparable from it is "The Romance of the Highlands." The Gael has had many historians, but fresh evidence and research have brought much to light, and there is yet room for a new up-to-date history of his country. Skene, Stewart, Logan and others have added much to our knowledge of these matters, and their works deserve all the encomiums that can be given them. Story writers have been still more numerous, and these have been able to weave into their narratives much of the folk- lore of the people. A meet nurse for the novelist is to be found in this " Land of torrent, lake and stream, Wild sea cliff, and corry Land of mist and legend old, Music, song and story." Nothwithstanding the many sources of information which are available, there is, and always has been, a considerable ignorance of the picturesque people of the Highlands—their story, their habits and their customs. At a meeting of The Scottish History Society, held in Edinburgh recently, Mr. Evan M. Barron struck a right note when he said that the Highlands had been looked upon as a wild fringe on the borders of a civilised country, and this view is, to some extent, still held. People were apt to look upon the Highlanders as wild men always eager for war and pillage. He could take any part of Scottish History and prove that at that time there X . THE ROMANCE OF THE HIGHLANDS. was very little difference beween tiie Highlanders as a mass and the Lowlanders as a body. It was, historically, absolutely untrue that the Highlanders were always eager for war and booty, and it was time that that lie was killed for ever. Once a falsehood has got a start, and as long a start as has this fiction regarding the Gael, it is no easy matter to remove it. If it were not for ignorance it would have been done long ago. Few people will believe, for instance, that the Highlander was generally an educated person, that at the time of the Jacobite rebellion every village innkeeper in Northern Perthshire could converse in Latin with the commanders of the Hessian troops, and that within the Highland barrier, and particularly in Skye, the Latin language was acquired for education's sake alone. The Highland people established and supported schools at their own expense in every glen. A country devoted to war and pillage does not think of those things. In matters of religion they showed an example of toleration. Catholic and Protestant could live together in perfect amity in the north. Martin, Pennant and other early travellers admired the moderation of the congregations, and related how they sometimes attended impartially the ministrations of either priest or clergy- man. They were too good Christians to persecute their neighbours. "The religion of the Highlanders," says one writer, "was founded on the simplest principles of Christianity and cherished by strong feeling." A people who believed that punishment for evil-doing — INTRODUCTION. xi would follow them even to the third generation in this life—not to mention the punishment in a life to come had good reason to consider their ways. It is only through bigotry and ignorance that the Highlanders are looked upon as having been disturbers of the peace. There were no more law-abiding people in the world, after they had quite understood the meaning and requirements of that law. They had sometimes to learn this. Let us quote an instance—to drive off a cow or a bullock was previously the work of a gentleman, but the law decided differently. A man who refused ;£30,ooo to betray Prince Charles was hanged for stealing a cow ! This man was, no doubt, in his own opinion, perfectly innocent. He would not have recognised the accusation of having been a thief. From 1747 to 181 7 there were only 90 convictions in all in the various assizes in the Highlands— i to 301,677 of the population. It compared most favourably with "law-abiding" England with a proportion of i to 16,898 of her people. The highest percentage of criminals in the Highlands was among Lord Breadalbane's 8,000 tenants, and yet there were only 2 capital crimes (both charges failed) in that district between 1730 and 1813, a period of 83 years. Public opinion was the great tribunal of the High- lands, and it passed a severer sentence than any Court of Law. A people who were always fighting would not have had much sympathy with the old or infirm. These were always subjects of the respectful care and attention a xii THE ROMANCE OF THE HIGHLANDS. of the Celt. Private benevolence took the place of public funds. When Perthshire was paying ;iC522 for the support of the poor, a matter of one pauper to every 51 of the inhabitants, the fertile county of Sussex was paying out ;{^i6,ooo to I in every 5.5 of its |X)pulation. It was a pleasing characteristic of the Highlanders that they would not accept any relief from public funds if they could possibly do without it. It has been said that the Gael is a visionary— dreamer of dreams, but we need not forget that dreamers have saved their country before now. Nor does it follow that one is less practical when put to the test than another passing through life without dreams. It can be said of the dreamer that he is always an idealist. That he has been a fighter of lost causes is also said of the Gael. This, if true, is no disparagement to him. The crowd is as often wrong as it is right, and if an individual and a nation stand to what they conscientiously believe to be the correct thing, it is to their credit and their honour.