The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-06-21
4 ScoTcH TALE.
CHAPTER I.

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CHAPTER I.
Hid away in the loveliest part Of
Perthshire, nesting among the often
sung Braes of Balquhidder, lies Loch
Voel, upon the shores of which Rob
Roy lived and died; and where, in
the quiet lonely kirkyord, rests
"Clan Alpin's omen and her aid" !"
There are M'Gregors still in the
clachan of Balquhidder; M'Gregors
who speak with glistening eye and
heightened color of the chief, and
amongst whom no tales are so popu-
lar as those which treat of the wild
days when the clan with the "name
nameless by day" was at once the
terror and protection of the country.
Every child knows the story of the
feHds between tho M'Lnrens and the
M'Gregors, and how the Stewards of
Appin, coming to help their kins-
men, were met by the clansmen at
the clachan, where Rob Roy chal-
lenged any one of Appin to single
combat, eager, by ever such personal
hazard, to avert the horrors of bat
tie. They will tell you, too, how the
great Duke Of Athol exhausted his
time and patience trying to catch
Rob Roy, and the story of the fune-
raj, when Lady Glenfalloch, think
ing her brother was slain, sprang
upon the Duke, and, dragging him
from his horse, gave him such
taste of the tenderness. of the N'Gre-
gors, that he took timely warming
and retired, leaving Rob to bury his
mother in peace and quiet.
Some ten years ago, o descendant
of Rob Roy's, Helen M'Gregor, was
the beauty of Balquhidder. Helen
was q fair, blue-eyed, golden-h haired
lassie, with whom life had been one
long laugh, and to whom the world
seemed to bear neither frowns nor
clouds. Her father, Tam M'Gregor,
was farmer, and well to do for his
station; his sons helped him on the
hills, and Helen was tidy hand in
the house, quite able to take many
cares from her mothers shoulders.
Their cottage stood away from the
clachan, near the foot of Meal mach.
A lovely little steading it was, too,
with high grey rocks on one side.
on the other an oak and brentwood,
among the branches of which the
soft summer breezes, when they had
kissed the lake into a ripple of de-
light, would sigh, and isper their
pleasant songs of bright md warmer
lands.
Tam's cottage had served the wants
Of many n generation of M'Gregorg;
here little and there little being
added, rs the owners family in
creased or his fortunes prospered
The thatch was matted together by
i!ourishing growth of various plants,
wall-howers and housc-leek predom-
mating. Roses and honey y-sucliles
hourshed in the narrow border, and,
clustering round the windows, met
gay and thriving geraniums, votivo
oterlngs from the gardener ut Glen
buckle, who was one of Helen's many
admirers. Helen, being fancy-frco
herself, was wont to make n Joke
about love; and not caring for either
fairs or gatherings, escaped much of
the gossip which attaches to other
girls; Yet, quietly rs the little
maiden lived, she could no more
avoid lovers than can the violet hide
away her treasures from tho bee.
Love Will venture i'll whar he darnn
Weel be seen," and accordingly
Helen's lovers were neither few nor
slack in making their way to the
iarm; while, much to the girls dis
comfort, her mother took pride
10 herself in counting the stalwart,
Well,to-do lads, who would take
a place oy the ingle nook, and,
while talking to the farmer of the
ewes, wool and markets, would
hope to catch stray glance. kinder
than usual, from Helen; who, how
ever, went on with her spinning as i
no eyes were seeking hers, and there
was no such Thing as love or wooino.
And many q lad doubtless though
with Hobbie Elliott, that "whirlint