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| Forth like a mouldy bat; and one, with nods

And smiles, lay on the bowsprit-end, and called

And cursed the Harbor-master by his gods.

Does Spring still deck with corals and green And, rotten from the gunwhale to the keel,

Does the moon show behind the hedgerow Sleeps; and methinks she changes as she

They bloom, sing, shine, our absence hin- Till from Night's leash the fine-breath'd dering not;

They are but waiting till ourselves have And that strong hand within unbars the

From Blackwood's Magazin
GLENGARRY AND HIS FAMILY:

about eight miles' rowing, we arrived at Barrisdale, one of our tacksmen's

SOME REMINISCENCES OF A HIGHLAND houses, where we generally spent a

CHIEF.

night. A precious night it was! The governess and three of us children occupied two box-beds in the parlor proper, the wall-paper of which was covered with roses. Immediately after breakfast we all got into the boat again to row round to Inverie by Loch Nevis. But on the occasion of my early remem

THE following account of life in the Highlands of Scotland at the beginning of this century, and the notices of Colonel Ranaldson Macdonell, chief of Glengarry and Clanronald, are based entirely upon the unpublished autobiography of Miss Macdonell of Glengarry, this chief's daughter, and upon mate-brance there was a terrific storm. The rial supplied by her.

I was born at Glengarry, says Miss Macdonell, on Loch Oich, the highest point on the Caledonian Canal, in 1814. I was the fourth daughter of Colonel Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry and Clanronald. There were seven daughters of us and seven sons, of whom six boys died under three years of age, one boy and six girls grew to full age, and the youngest sister died at twelve years of age.

maids were groaning and screaming with fear, and the men declared that we children must all sit in the bottom of the boat. When about half way, it was resolved that we should leave the boat and go across country to Inverie. How the rest of the party accomplished the five miles, I do not know; but I was packed up in a plaid on a Highlander's back, and the sister a year younger than I was carried by the nurse.

Our house at Inverie was a very curious one. A considerable portion Garry cottage, a charming villa near of it was built like an ordinary house Perth, is the first place of which I recol- of stone and lime; but the dininglect anything. There at three years of room, drawing-room, and four bed age I had the measles very severely, rooms were built by my father on the and my eyesight was nearly lost. I old-fashioned wattled system. Magnif, next remember travelling from Glen-icent beams of Scotch fir sprang from garry to Inverie, one of my father's the clay floor to a roof with similar houses, where we generally spent a beams. Between the beams was reg few weeks every summer. The jour-ular basket-work of hazel-wood. The ney in those days was a very curious outside of the walls and the roof were oue. We started from Glengarry in slated. The front door opened into our own carriage; twenty-seven miles this part of the house, and opposite it to Loch Hourn head―stopping half-was another door entering into the way at Tomdown to feed the horses and stone-and-lime part. get something for ourselves at the little inn, which consisted of three rooms, was built of turf, and was always brimful of peat-smoke; this hurt our eyes so much, that we children kept running out and in. I remember on one occasion our father telling us that we had better lie ou our backs on the earthen distance. floor, and we acted on this suggestion The return from Inverie was often for a little. When we reached Loch made over Mambarrisdale, a low pass Hourn we got into a large boat rowed between hills, and about five miles. by four men, generally singing Gaelic long. How the elder members of the, songs to keep time. My elder sister and I, who had splendid voices, used to sing the whole way, each placed on a bench beside one of the rowers. After

The scenery of this part of Knoidart is perfectly beautiful. There were slightly sloping grass hills at the back of our house rising to perhaps two. thousand feet high; with North Morar in front, nearly shutting in the loch,. and the mountains of Rum in the far

family travelled I cannot tell; but my next sister and I were each put in a creel-one on each side of a pony, over whose back we could talk and play to

gether nicely. On these journeys there | songs, and paid attention to make us

was always plenty of men at hand to carry us if we wished.

My mother was a daughter of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, and before her marriage, at twenty-two, had always lived in Edinburgh. On coming to the Highlands she was somewhat bewildered by the sort of life she had to lead. Instead of going to shops for butcher-meat, whole animals were brought into the larder at once; and, that she might really understand how to arrange the pieces for use at table, she got a sheep cut up exactly as if it had been a bullock. The smallness of the sirloins and rounds that this produced may be imagined, but she learned her lesson. Soon after she went north the housekeeper said she was short of needles. To my mother's amazement she heard that none could be got nearer than Inverness, forty-two miles distant! The needles being an absolute necessity, a man with a cart and horse had to be sent for them.

sing correctly, by the ear, no end of Jacobite ones, of which our father was very fond. And she also did, at enormous trouble to herself, teach us to sing Gaelic ones, though she knew nothing of that language. Sometimes our father wished us to learn a good old Gaelic song he had once heard one of our maidservants, or perhaps a shepherd's daughter, sing; the servant or country girl was sent into the schoolroom on various occasions till Miss P. and one or more of us mastered the air by the ear, and then she wrote down the words, also by the ear, till we had it fit to sing after dinner, when 'our father corrected any wrong pronunciation; the air was certain to be correct. I know I was working my sampler before M. was sent to school in London, about 1819, when I probably was hardly six years of age. I was always far behind with reading and spelling, in consequence of bad sight. I think we began arithmetic at seven years of age, Our education was of the most prac- as well as writing, and never touched tical kind. At five years of age we the piano till we were nine; French, I were formally taken into the school- think, when we were about eleven ; room, and handed over to the govern- dancing, vocal music, Italian, when ess, in whose bedroom we now slept, we were about sixteen, at which age instead of in the nursery. We at once most of us had final class masters, and began to learn the alphabet and to sew, were at school in London. This arand at six or seven years of age we rangement was not calculated to make were not contemptible needle women. us first-rate musicians or linguists. We made our own pinafores ourselves, Most of our aunts admired my mothand lots of the family underclothing|er's children for their practical usefulwas made in the schoolroom; parts of ness, which their own, though far more everything were done by us at that accomplished, failed in. My mother early age. Every Saturday forenoon, from ten to twelve o'clock, was spent in mending our clothes and darning our stockings. Broken strings had to be unpicked, the worn part cut off by our governess, and the good bit of tape neatly sewed on again. Frocks and pinafores, torn in getting over or through fences, had all to be nicely darned; these we considered very troublesome, and to avoid such work, we often took more care of our clothes. But the two hours of mending were far from dull, as we sang song after song the whole time, at least after Miss P. became our governess. She sang no end of Scotch

cut out most of the family underclothing, and had one of us down from the schoolroom to fold up the pieces neatly as they were cut; so at nine years of age we had a very good idea of cutting out, which we practised in making our own dolls' clothes, which, when new, were dressed as ladies, with bonnets, tippets, cloaks, etc. When these dolls got old and tashed, we painted their faces to look like men, with whiskers, and dressed them as sailors or Highlanders, and even got the gamekeeper to dress the skin of a mouse (head and all), of which we made a suitable purse for our Highlander.

I do not remember if there was a child in the nursery at the time the following event happened, but we three schoolroom children, our governess, and the maidservants, were alone in Glengarry House. It was during the winter, and the elder members of the family and the menservants were all south. One Sunday evening our governess was quietly writing in her own bedroom, not the schoolroom, where we were.

It was a well-understood

Sunday, and all through the week, | lessons. I also remember dancing to we were called at 7 A.M., and did our it when played by one of our tenants in Bible lesson from eight to nine, at his own house. One night my two which hour we breakfasted, which could eldest sisters and our brother settled never have taken us more than ten they would waltz with us, and the piper minutes; then out to play. Sometimes, played the "Highland Laddie." We I may say in general, we three school- had great difficulty in getting him to room children breakfasted alone on play it so as to suit our dancing to it. porridge and milk, and nothing after In the dining-room, our father wonit, no bread and jelly—nothing of the dered what the piper could be about, sort. A plate of porridge and a small and was so angry when he came out bowl of milk must be finished by each and saw us waltzing to the pipes that I of us; for if left, and seen by the gov-do not believe any of us ever did such erness on her return from breakfast, a thing again. we were sent for and had to finish it cold. Now and again we managed to get part of it given to one of the deerhounds, but this was not easily done. From ten to twelve, lessons; at twelve, lunch - oatcake or broth; one to three, walk round the home parks, the same walk every fine day; at three, dinner; at six, supper, porridge, or oatcake and milk. After six, dress and go down to the dining-room at fruit-time, when we always got some; and J. and I had to sing any song we were desired, for rule that none of us should meddle which purpose J. and I were often with the fire, but in due time my sister kept longer, seated on the dining-room J. said the fire would soon die out, and floor, with the baby on one of our laps, put on some peats. Soon after, I prothe other amusing it with a bunch of ceeded to do the same, and to prevent keys, while both of us were singing it my doing so, J. held her dress across song after song. The piper always the fireplace with both her hands; in played during dinner three times, and our struggle about the peats her dress three times after the ladies had left the caught fire, causing a shout which soon dining-room. He played for us too. brought in our governess, who at once As there were only three of us (then) crushed out the flames without catchin the schoolroom, and as four were ing fire herself, though dressed in white required for a reel, a strathspey, or a muslin, with an Indian shawl, in which reel of Tulloch, we were allowed to go one or two small holes were burned. for the housekeeper, mamma's maid, What would people think now of such the nursery or the schoolroom maids, clothing for the dead of winter? cotton to dance with us. We might have the dresses for old and young when inpiper any night; but if we were too doors, with woollen ones above them long between our dances, he was sent when out walking. We children were away, as papa insisted he was not to be constantly out in frost and snow in kept idle for us. The pipes must have our house-dresses. There was a pair been the first instrument we ever heard of white swans on Loch Oich which it played, as the piper played in front of was my particular pleasure and charge the house six days in the week. My to feed during the winter; and when elder sisters and the governess all played out doing so, I was just dressed as if the piano, and one of the menservants in the house, no bonnet, standing on played the flute, which we thought the snow or frosted grass, calling the beautiful. The violin we heard our swans across the water till they came master playing when we had dancing and ate my corn or raw potatoes.